Survival Of The Fittest

...so now not only was this cretin not going away, he was being annoying as well. Honestly, nobody get the concept of library = silence anymore?

"I didn't just 'take her things whenever I felt like it'. I borrowed a highlighter. And I am intending to return it when I next see her. I don't steal." Placing her palms flat on the desk in front of her, she stared him down over the top of her binder.

"I fail to see how this is any of your business. I'm trying to studying. Please. Leave."

"Do you even know her?" William asked, raising an eyebrow at the girl, adding after a moment, "I mean, it may be difficult to return it to her if you don't know who she is."

It was around this point that William realized that he had perhaps gone a tad bit overboard. "Uh, hey, sorry if I accused you of being a thief, I guess I got a bit worked up." He said a bit sheepishly. "I'll… I'll just leave you to your studying now. Might go check on that girl, she ran out of here pretty fast." He continued while walking away, not even really talking to Jacquard now. "Wonder if I'll even be able to catch up, could be anywhere now with that speed." He muttered to himself, heading out of the library.

(( William Haig continued in The Intellectuals))

(Simon's first appearance)

Simon sighed and slumped in his chair

It wasn't like he'd been trying to work--not really. He didn't go out of his way to take difficult classes, and his current exams weren't really much of a worry (except, perhaps, for Pre-Calculus: then again, he didn't think he had any chance of passing that class in the first place).

And then Lucy dropped all her stuff, got harassed and abandoned by a few different people, and rushed out in embarrassment. "Silly girl," he grumbled to himself, then got to his feet and started stuffing his own junk back into his backpack. Had to make sure she was alright: from what little he'd seen of her, Lucy did not have the world's highest self-confidence.

God damn it, he thought irritably. People should be less...

Don't get bitter, boy.

He nodded and set off after her.

(Simon continued in Tending the Flowers)

Jacquard didn't bother replying to William. It was fairly clear that he had no idea what was going on, and was simply sticking himself where he didn't belong. Instead, she returned to her notes - taking an almost vindictive pleasure in using the highlighter she had borrowed - and began to once more ignore the people around her.

When the bell rang, she tucked the pen into her pocket. She would return it, because that was the correct thing to do. Then, straightening her back and limping away proudly, she went to class.

((Jacquard Broughten continued elsewhere))