Survival Of The Fittest

((Simon Fletcher's Introduction))

The Bayview Book Fair was not exactly the most profitable school fundraiser. For one, nobody ever seemed to know that it existed: in the first 3 years that Simon helped out there was no advertising at all. He supposed that either Mrs. Collins was appealing to Bayview's psychic population or she didn't care about the book fair at all. As a senior- and the only one who had volunteered to help out-it fell to Simon to run the whole thing. He had put up some half-hearted posters proclaiming a large selection of novels, but it seemed that the same effort that went into setting up the book fair went into ordering the books for it. All of them fit in the small side room that Mrs. Collins designated for them.

Simon leaned back into the small chair he had placed at the side of the room. His efforts had paid off: five students had stopped in this morning, none of them his friends. Seven students had visited last period as well. Since it seemed that the temporary surge in numbers had subsided, he pulled on his homework and a newly sharpened pencil. Simon always had at least two on hand. There was something about the edge of a blunt pencil that bothered him.

He started with his AP European History. The question seemed simple enough: Who was the greatest victor in World War II.

That's...interesting. His teacher really did like to give open ended questions, didn't he? Is it asking who contributed most to Allied victory or who got the most out of the war? After some quick consideration, Simon decided to answer both questions at once.

Many factors contributed to the Allied success in World War II, making it hard to pinpoint one battle or country. It could even be said that Germany's costly strategic blunders made it the country that set the Allied victory in stone. However, it is agreed on by most historians that the psychological turning point of the war was the Battle of Stalingrad. Before this confrontation, Germany and the Axis were winning the war. After it, they were losing. Therefore, the Soviet Union must be chosen as the nation that "won" the war for the Allies, due to it's incredible resilience during Stalingrad and the whole of Operation Barbarossa...

The boy's writing trailed off another figure entered the room. It was a freshman girl who didn't seem to look up for her feet for the entire time she scanned the bookshelves. She made a quick decision on one novel and seemed to shove the money for it at Simon. He took it with a quick grin and waved her out.

There must be something else going on today. Simon leaned back in his chair for about the 3rd time in a few minutes. He decided to answer the rest of his homework question later, when he had enough time to make it coherent sounding. Ah...maybe I'll go find something else to do when the book fair closes. He fingered the pendant he wore absentmindedly. For now...this is good for me.

((John Smith's introduction))

John enters the library and looks around for the book fair. He knows the school library doesn't stock manga, unlike the public library, but figured he'd take a look anyway. He shifts his backpack, covered in seven Dragon Ball buttons, on his back and keeps looking, seeing a poster for the fair next to a door. He walks towards it, his thoughts on the homework he should be doing in this free period. Some stupid history paper... He doesn't know why he took that lesson, it never interested him. It's why he's wasting his time here, looking for manga he shouldn't be buying so he can read it and further put off doing his homework.

He enters the room and sees someone there already. He must be the one running this event rather than the librarian. He looks familiar - probably a senior like him. There are few who look like a short Dilbert, after all. He keeps himself from smirking at that thought as he looks to the shelves, as mean as it is. There's plenty of people who make fun of his weight, after all. And he's not even that big...

"Nice lot of books..." he says, not wanting to simply be silent. He picks up a copy of The Hobbit and looks it over, turning it to see the blurb. He's never been that interested in Western literature, except for what is required reading for English class. Translated Japanese books are much better, he finds. It would be a little strange of him to just walk in and ask if he has any manga hidden somewhere. "Isn't this a sequel to Lord Of The Rings...?"

((Hey guys, I don't mean to be a pain, but it'd be great if everything was kept in past tense as outlined in the rules (specifically Rule #2). It makes things much easier to read. Thanks!))

Simon looked up and blinked. He didn't know the boy who asked the question, but he thought he remembered having him in
his AP Euro History class. Yes, that was right. The guy was a senior, by the name of John...something. Other then that, Simon didn't really know that much about him.

"It's the prequel to Lord of the Rings. It's basicly about Bilbo's journey; how he met Gandalf, found the ring. That kind of stuff. I can't remeber much, I read it a long time ago, but I liked it." Since the end of this slightly long explaination left a rather awkward silence, Simon added. "Hey, are you in Anime Club?" He gestured to the Dragon Ball pins to show why he asked. "We've got a small manga section on the right. Not much, but some pretty good stuff."

Adding manga to the book fair had been Jason Larger-the old leader of the Anime Club and the only other student who had helped with the book fair-'s idea. That had been 2 years ago, when Simon was younger and even quieter. It had been implanted this year, after Jason had graduated.

Simon smiled awkwardly at the newcomer as he pointed the manga section out. He had learned a long time ago to be as amiable as posible. When you were friendly to people, they were more likely to like you. When people liked you, they were less likely to throw your books in a puddle. This discovery had served him well over the years.

"Thanks..." John nodded as he put the book down and looked over where Simon pointed. "There's an Anime club...?"
He didn't understand why he didn't know about that. Had he really been so fixated on keeping it as a hobby between his friends and him? Sure, he'd seen others with Pokémon cards or Naruto stuff, but he didn't think there was a club.

He stepped over and looked at the titles on offer. At least he didn't need to worry about making a bad impression on a girl...
He picked up volume six of Love Hina and took his wallet out of his pocket.
"How much?" He asked. He was hoping there was a discount on the cover price, unlike the comicbok store or the bokstore. He had enough for full price, but like anyone, he'd be happy about cheap books.

"Uh huh. We don't really have a big setup for this year yet, but we're in the club list and the new leaders will probably call the first meeting soon"
Simon flipped over the book to glance at it's barcode, with a bright red sticker overtop of it.
"That'll be $7.99, no tax." He stated, handing it back to John.

This guy...He's definately in my grade. Everyone in my history class is a senior. It's weird that I've never seen him before. Then again, Simon generally was nervous around people had didn't know. Most of his friends had known him for a very long time. It was possible that he had just never really got to talking to John. There were a lot of kids in the yearbook last year that he couldn't place, come to think of it.

Simon snapped himself out of his thoughts quickly.
"So...have you started that history essay yet? It's kind of neat how open-ended it is. I just started the first paragraph today."
He bit his tongue too late. Never mention schoolwork when you're around people who've never met. Very few of them find it vaguely interesting, like you. Hopefully, the comment would pass and be forgotten.

"Uhh... Yeah..." John nodded as he got eight dollar notes out and handed them over. It's a lie, but he didn't know this guy well enough to say he was putting it off so he could half-ass it at the end of the deadline.

"I'm not that far into it though." He decided to say, just in case Simon decided to discuss it with him. "You know... Got other things to do instead of homework."
He returned his gaze to the shelves whilst he waited for his change. He didn't like discussing school work with his friends, let alone a more-or-less stranger.

Simon neatly folded the notes and put them into a small metal box beside him. It was time for a new subject, that was for sure.

"Yeah...I'm pretty busy too. Anyway, you should check Anime Club out when it starts up again. We're planning on having a booth at Minneapolis Anime Convention in June."
He didn't mention that he had never gone himself; cons involved too many people for his liking. Simon was far better with small groups.

He handed John a penny from the box. "Here's your change." He added.

"Thanks." John nodded, taking the penny and putting it in his wallet. He opened his bag and put his new book inside, then put his wallet in his pocket.
"Will the booth be, like, selling stuff?" He asked. He already had his ticket to the con. He bought it on the day they came out on sale, wanting to benefit from the lower price. It always went up just before the weekend was there.
He started to move towards the door, not wanting to waste his entire free period in here.

"Yep. Some of the folks are selling drawings, this one girl is making a bunch of cat-hats. Someone else is making jewelry." Simon had been in the club when the plans for MACon were discussed. He himself had offered up some bookmarks he made on the computer with another members drawings. Even though Simon wasn't going himself, he had to admit that it was fun to help out. Ever since he had entered high school, Simon was eager to make up for the times in middle school when he had done nothing but focus on grades, reading, and a little bit ogfgaming.

"Thanks for stopping by." He smiled at John. "We appreciate your support for the library. Or whatever."
He was too emberessed to say the lines Mrs. Collins gave him with a straight face.
"Um...My name's Simon Fletcher." He added. "I'm open if you miss a histroy class or something..."

((Introducing Robert Lerger.))

Robert entered the library, barely sparing a glance for Mrs. Collins, the librarian. He hurried out of her strict gaze, moving toward the back room he had heard there was some event taking place in. A book fair, or something like that. It occurred to him that he had not attended a school sponsored- although, was it school sponsored? He had only seen a few hand made signs up, which was barely anything- book fair since elementary school. He mentally shrugged, glancing at a few book titles as he loitered outside the door. He really hoped the room was larger then it seemed from the outside; it was really damaging to one's social status to have a panic attack over a small room. He sighed, turning away from the door for a moment. He heard voices within and winced slightly. Social situations were not good for him. He stared at the books on the shelf in front of him, supposedly perusing them. Of course, they were about extraordinarily boring things.

"I'm John." John nodded, wondering why Simon just added his last name to his greeting. So long as he remembered his face, he didn't need his surname. Unless he thought he was going to add him into his cellphone?
"I'll keep you in mind if I need any help." he said, giving him a smile. "Thanks for the manga."

He exited the room and moves around Robert.
"Excuse me..." he added as he did so, not wanting to be rude. He needed to find somewhere to read this manga now - he wasn't going to read it here. He always felt odd reading non-library books in the library - like he was stealing desk space. He headed to the door and exited the library.

((John Smith continued in Requiem for Lost Sanctuary - in E-minor ))

Robert stuttered something under his breath as the kid walked past. Well, no avoiding it now, he supposed. He turned, took a slow breath and entered the room. He nodded greetings to the guy at the desk, turning to the Science Fiction novels and looking through them. He noted a few books he had seen at the book store, but these seemed a lot cheaper. He flipped through them idly, glancing at a few pages before tucking them under his good arm. He glanced at the student attendant of the... rather diminutive book fair. He turned, stumbling over his own two feet and falling into a book shelf. He fell, twisting to the left slightly so he didn't land on his bad arm, his lips already forming an apology as he fell.

Simon looked up from his paper (Another example of the large gains made by the Soivet Union was shown in the Conference at Yalta...) to see the other boy on the floor. It was another person he knew only vaguely, this one named...something that started with an R. Simon was generally better at remembering faces then names, but he did make an effort to learn both. Since he didn't go out of his way to meet people, the group of students whose names he knew was quite low.

He stood up and walked toward the student, offering his hand. "You okay?"

The guy looked fine, but it was always best to be sure. Despite having a doctor as his father, Simon knew very little about injuries. It appeared, however, that the bookcase had taken slightly more damage, the edge of it bumping into the wall. The novels themsleves appeared to be fine, as only two feel out. Simon could deal with those later; if there was no visable marks, Mrs. Collins wouldn't mind.

Crap. Conversation. Robert looked up at the guy for a moment before taking his hand and pulling himself up. "I'm alright. Sorry about the books...." he said, looking down at the books that had fallen off of the shelf. He rubbed his head where it had impacted the shelf, looking for the books he had been planning to purchase. He grabbed them off the floor, turning to the student attendee and holding them out. "I would like to purchase these," he said, slipping out of a conversational tone and into a more formal one.