Survival Of The Fittest

((Start: Misa Achtland))

Blink.

Blink.

"Name.  Social security number.  Address.  Telephone number."

Misa Achtland slumped over the table of the library, occasionally bringing her hand up to brush a stray strand of blonde hair from her eyes as she scanned over what felt like the hundredth college admittance application that she had filled out.  "Keep your options open".  That was what her father kept telling her.  Meanwhile, he was busy shoving her toward declaring a major in medicine.

Yeah dad... that's really keeping my options open, isn't it?

Maybe he was right.  Maybe she should have spent the past four years making herself more 'well rounded' before college.  Looking over her resume, it really wasn't that impressive.  Other than a few short-lived summer stints at local retail shops, she had no job experience to speak of, sans several years of volunteer work at her dad's clinic.

Did that even count as volunteer work?  In a way, it was more like forced labor.  Not that she didn't enjoy helping her mom and father, but there had been a lot of times over the past four years that she'd been a little jealous of friends who had been able to work at the mall, or the Castle, or really anywhere besides their family's private business.  Looking back on it, she couldn't help feeling like she'd missed out on a few things throughout her teenage years.

The library was quiet, except for the hushed hissings of a couple of other students sitting at the table around the corner, and Misa found herself staring out the large windows of the second story of Aurora High School.  You could see most of the campus from the library, although there wasn't much to see today except gray, cloudy skies.

That was pretty typical for Seattle winters.

It was funny, now that she thought about it.  Most of the schools she had applied to had been within Seattle city limits, or a very short commute away.  Her parents had been very insistent that she stay home during her tenure at college.  She hadn't said anything at the time, but she had adamantly opposed the idea.  There was something about the dreary Seattle weather that she had never liked, and she had always thought herself better suited somewhere warmer -- and with sunlight.

The whole "college experience" was something she had simply accepted that she would miss out on early on.  Her father, while he was a kind man, was very firm, and had very set ideas about what his daughter would and would not do.  It had translated into the friends she hung out with, boyfriends (ones he didn't approve of immediately got the boot, whether she felt differently or not), the places she went.  Just about everything, really.  Misa was what would be considered a "good" kid.  She didn't really party, or drink, or engage in any of the typical high school shenanigans that most students partake in.

She had always had a passing curiosity about such things, but had always been fearful enough of the wrath of her father that she never dared to venture out to parties, or lie about where she was going to meet up with friends he didn't approve of.  In fact, although she hated to blame him for it, his overprotective nature had really restricted most everything she had done for the entirety of high school.

Her eyes fell back toward the paper sitting in front of her.  It had to be submitted within the next few days, and although she really had no interest in this particular school, she knew she had to complete it.

"Ethnicity."

A soft sigh escaped her lips.  What business was it of theirs, anyway?  And besides that, wasn't it illegal to ask questions like age, sex, and ethnicity on job applications?  What made college applications so special?  Hastily checking the "two or more races" box, she continued to move down the page.

She had never really liked the fact that she was half-Asian.  If someone asked her why, though, she never had any real answer for it.  She didn't dislike her mother, or that side of her family.  She just didn't like the idea of it, and she especially didn't like the stereotypes placed on most Asian children.  It was stupid stuff, like "they're all smart" and "they all know karate".  How did the fact that her mother came to the United States when she was still a child make her 'smarter' than the average Caucasian-American?

And then there were the stigmas that were expected of her by her mother's side of the family.  For example, her family never seemed to like anyone she dated.  If she had to take a stab at why, Misa would've immediately guessed it was because they were never Asian.  Even her mother seemed to share this viewpoint, at least somewhat -- something that made absolutely no sense to Misa, seeing as Chiharu (or Chi, as she was more well-known) had married a Caucasian man herself.

She brushed her bangs from her face once again, and found herself leaning on her elbow, ink pen hanging limply in her left hand, as she went back to staring out the window.  Her light pink lips pursed slightly as she caught sight of a couple of students she didn't know high-tailing it for their vehicles -- cutting class, it looked like.  Sometimes she really wished she could do something that crazy as well.

(Gray Emerson continued from New and Shiny)

Gray had been looking for someone to hang out with for a while, but luck hadn't been on his side. On the plus side he'd managed to skate to Aurora High and around it a few times in his search so he was comfortable on the new board. He was currently on the second floor looking for someone he had hung with at anytime the year before. Gray had always found first days back easier if you had someone you knew to talk too. You could discuss any changes and get used to them. It was also less lonely, so that was a plus.

I must have an anti-friend field.

Gray had seen a lot of people around school but no one he knew particularly well. The Library was now he last hope. If no one he knew was in it he was planning on seeing how many steps he could jump down in one of the streets by the school. You always needed a plan B after all.

He pushed the door leading to the library open and quietly entered. He didn't want to draw too much attention since he had a skateboard in his right hand and he was fairly sure the librarian wouldn't appreciate him bringing it in with him. His luck finally came through for him, Misa Achtland was sitting at one of the tables. Gray was pretty good friends with Misa. So seeing her was a pleasant experience. He looked around to see if the librarian was nearby and after seeing her at her desk, he made his way over to Misa; taking care to ensure that the view of the skateboard was blocked by his body.
She was staring out of the window, not noticing him approaching. He pulled one of the chairs that had been left to one side to where Misa was sitting and dropped his bag off his shoulder.

"Hey Misa."

Gray wondered what she was doing. It wasn't exactly normal behaviour to be in the library on the first day back.

((OOC: Sorry it took a bit to get back to you on this, my boyfriend's family has been in town all weekend so I've only had time to do sporadic profile approvals and whatnot since Friday night.))

The sound of a chair sliding against the library floor caught her attention, and Misa snapped out of her reverie in time to notice Gray Emerson taking a seat at the table next to her.  She smiled as he greeted her and nodded in acknowledgement, letting the pencil she had been holding fall limply out of her hand.  The company actually served as a welcome distraction -- and a break from the tediousness of what she was doing.

"What's up?" she responded, her voice in a half-hushed tone for fear that Mrs. Garvey, the school's librarian, would come rushing over to hush them.

She could already catch a glimpse of the older librarian out of the corner of her eye.  She hadn't risen from her desk, but her attention seemed to have drifted toward their general direction.  Misa wasn't particularly surprised.  She -- and many other students -- had overheard Mrs. Garvey passing on gossip she had overheard on more than one occasion.  Students, teachers, it didn't really matter who it was about, the woman seemed to live for any and all juicy gossip she could get her hands on.  To see that she had perked her head up to listen in was no surprise at all.

She wasn't a particularly mean woman -- although she came off as being very stern, at least in regards to the library, and Misa figured that the second she spotted the skateboard Gray was cleverly concealing, she'd be ushering him out of the area.  Misa couldn't help but shake her head and laugh almost inaudibly as the woman 'discretely' -- or so she seemed to think -- tried to listen in.

"I guess she fell out of the loop over winter break.  Seems like she's pretty intent on getting ahold of some good gossip to blab in the teachers' lounge later," Misa mused very quietly.

She didn't dislike Mrs. Garvey.  But, she didn't exactly like the woman either.  Maybe it was more that she didn't feel like it was appropriate for the older woman to gossip about students the way that she did.  Then again, she had probably been doing it for years, and no one had batted an eyelash.  It really made Misa wonder how many other teachers partook in things like that.  Somewhere in the back of her mind, she couldn't help but wonder what, if anything, had been said about her in the faculty lounge.

The idea of that made her feel more than a little self-conscious.

For the amount of time and effort that she put into her grades, appearance, and the like, Misa had never enjoyed attention being drawn to her.  She had never liked standing out in the crowd.  Her father often teased her about it, telling her she should never be content to be "just part of the herd", and that she should always try to stand out from her peers.  It was something else he had really been pushing with college right around the corner.  "How do you expect these schools to notice you if you don't try to be extraordinary?" he'd asked her once.

But thinking on it, maybe standing out in the crowd wasn't so bad.  Gray seemed perfectly content with the reputation he'd earned around school for some of the pretty reckless stunts he'd pulled over the years.  Then again -- at least as far as she knew -- he'd never actually done the skateboarding stunts for attention.  In fact, he had always seemed pretty nonchalant about it -- like maybe he did things just because he felt like it, regardless of what others thought.  She really envied him for that.  She had always been so afraid of social faux pas that she never really allowed herself to be silly, or do something crazy and stand-outish.  Instead, she'd always just let herself come off as mild-mannered.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Mrs. Garvey rising from her seat.  The older librarian brushed her hands down the legs of her black pant-suit to straighten out the creases, and moved toward the front of her desk, temporarily stopping to cast another glance at the other students on the other side of the row of bookcases.  After watching them for few moments, the short woman began to pace around the library slowly.  Misa had to actively refrain from rolling her eyes.

Misa greeted him with a smile and nod as he sat down.

"What's up?"

She was keeping her voice quiet, made sense. Neither of them wanted the librarian coming over to tell them to be quiet. Gray never could quite remember her name, it was similar to gravy he knew that much but he never did spend enough time in the library to know it. He shrugged

"Not much. I've been looking for someone to talk too for a while now. I'd almost given up when I came in here, but hey things just work out for me I guess."

Didn't work out with the car though.

"Almost always work out." Gray corrected himself. He noticed Misa shaking her head and trying to laugh silently. Turning he saw the librarian peering in their direction. His hand subconsciously shifted the skateboard further under the table and his bag. She wasn't exactly being subtle about the fact she was trying to listen in, or maybe she was trying to be subtle and failing he didn't really know or care.

"I guess she fell out of the loop over winter break. Seems like she's pretty intent on getting ahold of some good gossip to blab in the teachers' lounge later,"

Gray turned back to Misa.

"She can try." he whispered. "What gossip can you get from us though? I mean other then the fact we talked or is that enough to count? I don't really pay attention to how gossip works."

It was true Gray didn't care and couldn't remember a time when he did care what people said or thought about him. It just seemed to be how he was as a person. He didn't care what people told him about others either. If they were alright to him he'd be fine with them regardless of what he rest of the school thought. Everyone had an opinion, accept it, move on and live your life. Same applied to his biggest passions, skating, snowboarding and surfing. People could think or say what they wanted it was their right. Didn't mean he was going to change for them though.

He got the feeling Misa sometimes thought the same thing, but that she seemed to care more about what people thought. Gray had once come in with a gash across his whole index finger and some stitches in his head where it had met concrete. Imagining Misa coming in looking like that was hard. She put effort into her appearance. Gray just threw on his hat, shoes and then whatever else he felt like. It did explain why he was wearing a Birdhouse t-shirt that he hadn't actually seen before.

He heard the scraping of a chair and turned again to see the librarian getting up from her desk. He quickly leaned under the table and opened his bag, sliding as much of the skateboard as he could inside before zipping it to as close to closed as he could get it. He had to settle for hiding the front of the board between his legs and hoping she didn't look too closely at him. Sitting back up straight he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Don't want to lose my new board." He whispered to Misa. " I spent most of last night putting it together." He glanced at the librarian as she started to walk around the room.

"Also what's her name...I've kinda forgotten."

Gray's comment about Mrs. Garvey's snooping amused her, and she smiled slightly.  It was true, there wasn't much to pick up from their conversation that she could pass on in the faculty lounge.  Then again, Misa couldn't help but wonder if there had to be anything interesting at all.  Maybe that old goat simply made things up.  Somehow, she sort of seemed like the type.

She noticed Gray fidgeting in his seat and scurrying to hide his skateboard from view as Mrs. Garvey rose from her chair and started snooping around the library.  His comment about not wanting to lose his board was hardly surprising, and the older librarian would most definitely confiscate it if she caught sight of it.

What do they do with those things, anyway?

She couldn't help but picture Mrs. Garvey sliding down the handrail of one of the concrete stairways outside.  It seemed absolutely absurd.  No, it was absolutey absurd.  Still, it was a humorous thought.  Several members of the Aurora High School staff had very little tolerance for students bringing "inappropriate" items to school.  The ones that were really uptight about it would snatch almost anything away in an instant -- cell phones, iPods, basically anything they could get away with.

It always seemed strange to her that they stashed the items in their desk, like they were in safe hands there, or something.  Thinking on it, she imagined that Mrs. Garvey probably took away a lot of cell phones and other electronic devices if she caught someone on them in the library.

And as much of a busybody as she was, she probably spent the entire afternoon going through everyone's text messages.

Gray was talking again, muttering a question regarding the librarian's name.  He didn't know it?  Well, that really wasn't all that surprising.  What was surprising, actually, was him hanging out in the library.  This was the last place she could really imagine him.  It wasn't that he was lazy or didn't care about his grades -- he did fine in school, at least as far as she knew -- he just never seemed to have any real use for this place.

She, on the other hand, spent a fair bit of time in here.  Although, that was mostly because it was quiet, and with her dad pushing as hard as he had been about college, it gave her a chance to study, or focus on something like the college application she was procrastinating on.  She had discovered early on that if she spent time out on the campus with her classmates, she had no initiative to focus on things like this.

"Garvey," Misa responded quietly, rolling her eyes as she glanced toward the wandering woman again, "Mrs. Garvey."

don't mean to bust in. hoping this is still open.
((Tito del Sol: Start))

When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.

That was a quote by Ernest Hemingway, and as far as Tito del Sol could see, Mrs. Garvey lived and died by the first part of it.


As much as Tito hated it, he did admit that his height- or lack of it- made it incredibly tough to browse through the higher bookshelves in the library. He begrudgingly remembered the year before; whenever he had to go to the library on an assignment, it was Mrs. Garvey, plastic grin on her face, step-ladder in her hands, waiting to greet him. At first he thought it was just her being polite, but as the school year had gone on, he was appalled to learn that she was attempting to use him as a tabloid. While he was using the ladder finding a book, she was peppering him with questions. Did so and so break up with so and so? She was surprisingly good when it came to writers like Hunter S. Thompson, one of Tito's idols- but it was hard to keep up any admiration with her when she was repeatedly trying to pry in on student life.

People who read the tabloids deserve to be lied to.

That was Jerry Seinfeld. Tito had no like of Seinfeld, but he had a decent point. All gossip does is spread lies and start up preconceptions of people that most of the time, you hadn't even met.

Last year, Tito obliged her- only problem is, all of it was false. She didn't know the difference, though. Or maybe she did. Would explain why she had stuffed her step ladder in the closet and Tito was on tip-toes attempting to find another book.

"Don't want to lose my new board.I spent most of last night putting it together."

Tito craned his neck- a very Garvey-ish action- and saw two classmates conversing, one of them desperately trying to shield his skateboard from view. He wasn't sure if it worked, because Mrs. Garvey was still watching the two intently, like a wild animal stalking its prey.

What would my dad do?

Be a gentleman.

Sweeping up to the two- Gray and... someone he he had completely forgotten, which worried him, because he never forgot a lady's name- Tito coughed loudly, even though it was a little bit forced and probably came off as fake. "Hey, guys."

Then, in a whisper: "Mrs. Garvey thinks I'm with the newspaper. I am, but I'm not really on duty or anything. But she won't bother you guys..." and glancing at Gray's backpack, "Or try and confiscate anything."

del Sol promptly flashed a smile, hoping to steer the librarian away. Probably not, but maybe so, worth a try.

"Garvey, Mrs. Garvey."

Gray made sure made sure she wasn't within earshot before replying.

"I knew it was similar to gravy."

Gray wasn't all too surprised he didn't know her name. That would have required him to actually use the library and that never happened. He'd just never actually needed to use the library. He managed to do well enough to pass without it so why bother. If he was honest though he preferred doing just about anything other than study, like practice skateboarding which is what he did most of the time.

Gray then realised he still hadn't asked Misa what she was doing. He had thought it was weird for someone to be in the library working so soon after returning from the break but he'd never found out why.

"So anyway Misa what ar-" He was interrupted by a cough.

"Hey, guys."

Gray turned to see Tito del Sol standing by the table. He was a nice guy but Gray hadn't had too much interaction with him so he didn't really have much to base that on not like he cared anyway.

"Mrs. Garvey thinks I'm with the newspaper. I am, but I'm not really on duty or anything. But she won't bother you guys, or try and confiscate anything."

As he said the second part of the sentence he glanced at Gray's bag.

He knows about the skateboard then.

Gray scratched the back of his neck again.

"I hope not."

Gray really didn't feel like having his board confiscated on its first day of use. It would be a pain trying to get it back if it was too. His old board had been confiscated once after someone had said he wouldn't try riding it through a hallway; they had been wrong and it took him a good week to get the board back. Walking to and from the school took a lot longer and was a much more boring experience so he wasn't up for doing it again. Although since he had two boards now if one got confiscated he could just use the other one, and completely defeat the point of having the first board confiscated. Gray shook his head as Tito smiled in Mrs. Garvey's direction. This could end badly he just had a feeling, on a more positive note it could be entertaining.

Thump. Clatter clatter clatter.

Miriam yelped as she landed on her butt. She had been reaching for a book on a particularly high shelf when she had managed to tip backwards, grasping at the shelf to stop her fall. Instead, all this did was cause a bunch of books to fall around her. She hurried to pick them all up, before...

Mrs. Garvey had already rounded the corner at that point, looking for whoever caused the commotion. When her eyes fell upon Miriam, she simply sighed.

"I'm r-really sorry! Really really s-sorry!" Miriam said hurriedly, bowing. This wouldn't be the first time Miriam had caused a commotion in here; she spent a lot of her free time at school in the library, absorbing whatever material was there that caught her interest. Her clumsiness meant that this kind of thing was completely inevitable.

Mrs. Garvey simply shook her head and gave Miriam a look. It was a look that said, "Try your best to not let it happen again."

Miriam stood up, taking the book she was reaching for and putting the rest back. She peeked her head out from between the bookshelves, hoping nobody had seen that.

"Um..."

Gravy.

Misa giggled at Gray's response.  She wasn't sure why she hadn't ever thought of it.  Then again, she didn't exactly associate things with food.  Her attention turned back to Gray, who had started to ask her a question, until another voice caught her attention.

Tito del Sol wasn't someone that she knew particularly well.  Or at all, actually.  She knew the name, and she'd seen him around once or twice, but he wasn't someone she had ever hung out with.  Thinking on it, she didn't know much about him at all, other than that he was part of the school's newspaper.

"Hey," she responded with a soft smile.

If nothing else, she could appreciate the fact that he was trying to deter Mrs. Garvey from coming their direction.  She didn't really want to deal with a scene -- although Gray was a pretty laid-back person, so he'd probably just shrug off his board being confiscated, even if he really didn't want it happening.  Mrs. Garvey would be the one to turn it into a showing, more than likely.

She watched the old librarian glance at Tito, who smiled.  The expression on the woman's face as she looked at him was pretty indistinguishable.  Misa couldn't tell if she was even mildly interested in what he was up to, or not.  Fortunately, the sound of books clattering to the ground caught the old woman's attention, and she promptly rounded a corner to attending to the yelp that had echoed out in the fairly-empty library.

Misa raised an eyebrow, and tilted her head to the side in an effort to get a better view of the commotion.  She couldn't see what had happened from where the three were sitting, but it sounded like books had fallen off the shelf on someone.  Given the general disarray of Aurora High School's library, it wasn't really any wonder that something had fallen over on someone.  It happened fairly frequently, from what she had noticed.

She could hear the person who had knocked over the books apologizing profusely to Mrs. Garvey, who said nothing in return.  It was a girl, from the sound of it, but the voice belonged to someone she didn't recognize.  Assuming the older woman had walked off and left the girl to clean up the mess, Misa rose from her seat, leaving the application she'd been working on at the table.

"Be right back," she informed the duo she had been talking with, before walking toward the sound of the commotion.

By the time Misa made it around the corner, the girl had all but finished putting the books back on the shelf.  The brown-haired girl was about the same height as Misa, and roughly the same size.  She could certainly sympathize with her -- being so short made it quite difficult to reach some of the higher shelves in the library.

She brushed a strand of blonde bangs out of her face once again, and bit her bottom lip.  She had intended on helping the girl pick the books up.  However, it looked like she had already finished it herself.

"Are you okay?" Misa directed toward the other student, "This library is really a mess."

"I hope not."

Yeah, really, Tito thought. It was becoming readily apparent that this idea was pretty dangerous, because chances are the librarian could just as well come over anyway. That'd be stup-

"Be right back," the young lady stated. It wasn't until she was already around the corner of the messy catacomb that masqueraded as a library that Tito finally realized she was Misa Achtland. It bothered Tito that he couldn't remember a name- his dad always did. On the other hand, he wasn't entirely sure if he even had been in many classes with her throughout the years in high school.


del Sol glanced up at the perilously stacked books and creaking shelves. It partly bothered him that this wing of the library was in such shoddy condition, yet it took even longer to find the things he was looking for thanks to barely clearing 5'3" in height on a good day. Wish I had an elevator.

"I didn't mean to like, barge in on you two like that though," he added. He kept his gaze straight ahead- Gray was probably three, maybe four or five inches taller than him. By all accounts he was a reserved, calm guy, but Tito didn't know him personally. That stunk. "But you know how Mrs. Garvey gets. Man, we've been going to this school for four years and we really don't know each other, do we?"

I've been going to this school for four years and I haven't grown an inch.

Gray watched as Mrs Garvey barely acknowledged Tito. He half expected her to walk over and ask what he wanted, but she was distracted by the sound of books falling to the floor.

That was lucky.

As Mrs Garvey moved away to check what the commotion was Gray let his bag drop back onto the floor. It looked like he was going to be able to keep his skateboard for a little longer. Misa made an attempt to see what was going on but couldn't get a good view.

"Be right back."

Knowing Misa she was probably going to see if the person who had knocked the books over needed any help. She was a kind person who accepted people for what they were so it wasn't really much of a surprise that she could be checking if someone needed help.
"I didn't mean to like, barge in on you two like that though,"

Huh...oh right, Tito's still here.

Gray didn't exactly know Tito very well...ok at all. He did seem to be making an effort to seem friendly and polite though and Gray could appreciate that. Tito must have been slightly nervous because he didn't know either him or Misa very well, so he was probably trying to make a good impression.

"But you know how Mrs. Garvey gets. Man, we've been going to this school for four years and we really don't know each other, do we?"

Gray turned and looked at Tito. He was right they'd been going to the same school for four years and they didn't know each other. Gray may have possible heard Tito's name mentioned at some point but there was no way he was going to remember. He didn't know anything about Tito, he wasn't even sure if Tito knew anything about him. It was weird thinking about it like that. Standing next to him was a guy that had been in the same building as him for a long portion of Gray's life, and yet they'd never really spoken. It wasn't like the school was even that big. Gray found it interesting of stuff like that could happen.

"It's cool. I don't mind and I don't think Misa minds. Oh and about Mrs. Garvey, I don't know how she gets since well Misa had to remind me of her name. You're right though we don't know each other. Which is weird considering four years is a long time to be in a building with the same people almost every day. Not that I'm surprised I don't know everyone, I don't even remember the last time I even came into the library."

Miriam had just finished putting back the last book when a voice cause her to jump. She turn towards the voice, finding a girl there. Miriam didn't recognize her, but she was asking her if she was okay.

"U-Um... yeah, I am. Th-Th-Thanks..." she muttered.

She held the book she had come for close to her chest. Her arms covered the front of the book, as if she was afraid to show the cover. She shifted uncomfortably.

"Anyways... um. Th-Thanks, I... I'm going to go, i-if that's okay..."

She walked around the girl, and headed out of the aisles. She paused, looking around at the tables, seeing two more people at one. She quickly turned away, and began to head to Mrs. Garvey's desk to check the book out.

Then her right foot hooked her left foot and she fell forward, dropping the book in the process. As she landed she held her arms out to cushion the fall. As a result, a scrape found its way onto Miriam's elbow.

"Oww..."

Today... was not a good day.

((Miriam Castille continued in One Step Forwards, Two Steps Back.))

The girl -- Misa still couldn't put a name to her face -- insisted that she was fine, thanking Misa for asking, but not really seeming too interested in talking.  This impression was only more affirmed when the girl nervously stated that she was going to go before making a beeline out of the aisles.

Strange...

The blonde folded her arms across her stomach, watching as the other girl headed out of the aisle.  It was strange to think that she had been attending Aurora High School for four years now, and she still didn't know the names of several of her classmates.  Then again, it was an inner city public school.  Maybe that was just bound to happen.

But still... what a strange girl.  Do I... scare her or something?

For whatever reason, that thought made Misa self-conscious.  Was there some way she had presented herself that had made the other girl uncomfortable?  She stood there for a moment, overthinking the encounter while absently tugging on the sleeve of her jacket before realizing that she could still hear Gray and Tito talking at the table.

Sighing inaudibly, she headed back toward the table where the two boys were still standing.  Mrs. Garvey had returned to her desk to check the girl's book out, which made the chances of Gray's skateboard being confiscated much slimmer.  She didn't return to her seat, but instead, leaned up against the table she had been sitting at, picking up the college application she had been working on and slipping it into the backpack she had left sitting next to her chair.

"Looks like you're safe for now," she mused with a quiet laugh, nodding toward Mrs. Garvey's desk.

She paused for moment, blue eyes glancing around the library, but she couldn't see the girl who had dropped the books anymore.

"Who was that?" she inquired quietly, "Is she new?"

Misa immediately regretted asking that question.  What if she wasn't?  What if she had gone to school here for the past four years, and Misa had just been completely oblivious to her existence.  What if she sat next to her, or behind her, in one of their classes, and had never even noticed her?  Somehow, the idea of that made the blonde feel really bad.

It's not like she knew everyone at Aurora High.  She didn't even know Tito very well, and she was standing there talking to him.  But, that was just it.  She at least knew his name.  That girl -- one of her classmates -- may as well have been a stranger on the sidewalk, and that really bothered Misa, as someone who made it such a large point to be friendly to everyone, and to try to include others and make them feel welcome.

Stop overthinking it so much.  Does it really even matter?  If you don't know now, it's not going to make a difference in the next couple of months.  Graduation is right around the corner.

(I'm really sorry for the delay in activity from me. I'd rather not go down about my health issues in the public forum, but I'm healthy now.)


It was pretty bothersome to Tito now that he had thought about it- but something he guessed wouldn't be out of reason. There had to be at least a hundred plus in the senior class alone. When Gray mentioned not remembering the last time he'd been in the library, del Sol felt a twinge of regret. It was probably just sarcasm, but even so four years had passed- a lot had happened.

Four years puts a lot in perspective. I can go to college and just get away. And live my life without worrying about straying down right or wrong paths.
 
And here was Tito del Sol with two of them. He had spent a significant time at Aurora and spent most of his life in Seattle, and he had probably seen Gray and Misa around town- but it was probably in the same way one sees a car drive by, and he wasn't sure if they remembered him at all.

Alternatively, he thought. I haven't been completely ignored yet. So that's a start.

Somewhere, he could see his father looking down and smiling. See what being a gentleman gets you?

There were many answers to that inquiry, probably.

Tito had never been the introspective type, but he was caught lost in thought to the point where he didn't immediately notice Misa returning. 

From what Tito could recall, she seemed like a sociable girl. She had returned from the commotion looking slightly... Puzzled? 

"Who was that? ....Is she new?"

Tito shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure." 

This was half-right: Tito was not sure, primarily because he wasn't unable to see the other girl. For a fleeting moment, del Sol thought of stilts. Brushing a hand through his black hair, he quietly hummed, as if to show he was trying to think of who "she" was. 

"I'm really sorry, Misa. I don't think I saw her face clearly." Then, cracking a wry smile: "She looked taller than me... That means I only have about... What, 70 other kids to sort through?" Why is all my humor so self-deprecating?

"Looks like you're safe for now,"

Misa returned and informed Gray that he had gotten away with having his skateboard in the library for the time being, which was good news for him.

"Oh cool. Looks like I can relax again."

Not that Gray ever stopped relaxing if he was being honest. He just found it helped people gauge his mood better, since when your mood only really switches between bored, relaxed, tired and excited it could be hard for people to judge what mood he was in. Well unless he was excited. It was easy for them to tell then. The other three were probably interchangeable to people who didn't know him. It wasn't as if that was a bad thing though. It meant that people had to pay attention when they talked to him. Otherwise they'd probably miss something he said.

"Who was that? Is she new?"

Misa had started asking about the girl she had just gone to help. Gray hadn't actually seen the person so he didn't have any idea who they could be.

"So it was a girl right? Yeah I got nothing. I didn't get a look at her."

He was such a beacon of helpfulness. Well he found it funny at least. Gray considered himself pretty useless if someone needed help with their social life or social interaction. He assumed he wasn't really that good at it since he hung around with a group of people that were fine just hanging out. He had the basics down, but the social politics and cliques around the school may as well not have existed, he was blind to them anyway.

"I'm really sorry, Misa. I don't think I saw her face clearly. She looked taller than me... That means I only have about... What, 70 other kids to sort through?"

Gray shook his head; Tito wasn't really that small only a few inches below Gray so he was probably what about 5'3" or 5'4". Although Gray couldn't remember how close to average he was, meaning there was a good chance he was wrong.

"Maybe you'll see her around. I mean now that you know what she looks like and all. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Me and Tito were just mentioning how we barely talked before now. I'm sure you'll see her again."

It wasn't like the school was that big. Although the fact the school had an open campus may have been a good reason why some students never met others. If they had a different timetable and left the campus whenever they didn't have a lesson they would probably not see some people. He assumed that was what had happened with Misa and the girl she had asked about. It made sense to him.