Survival Of The Fittest

(And then, there was only one (library)))
Dorothy was buried in her work. Not literally, but from a certain angle, especially when entering the library, you would see a pile of textbooks whining about math.  If you move closer, you'd realize that an high school student was listening to a playlist on YouTube while calculating the slope of a curve.

If you tiptoed toward her without realizing it, you'd even see the doodle in her math book where flying pigs were eating the graphs and a young woman with butterfly wings dancing. The latter looked like a witch burning, though. She scratched it away with her ballpoint pen. Good riddance, she didn't need bad vibes while doing math.

She felt like throwing up, maybe it was because of the heat? So she took off her jacket. But her stomach was still feeling down, so she stuff a cracker in her mouth, trying to make the least amount of sound possible. She didn't want to get kicked out of the library for something dumb like eating. It was a basic need anyways. Nobody's going to care.

What time is it? Rea awoke from her sleep in the library. She tried standing up, but with a thud her head connected with a bookshelf.
"Argh! Son of a..." She yelled, but then trailed off when she realised where she was. She tried standing up again, this time being more careful to not accidentally hit her head on a solid block of wood.

Rubbing her eyes, she slowly got to her feet, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the light. She checked her watch, but the display read blank. She needed to get some batteries into that thing, and soon. But in the meantime, she should ask someone what time it was. Reliance on the kindness of strangers. What am I, homeless?

She looked around the Library for a few moments, before laying eyes on someone she thought she had seen before, though she couldn't recall where. She stumbled towards this person, still not quite awake, and before long Rea was towering over her, her shadow on the girl's books alerting her to Rea's presence.

"Sorry, I was just wondering if you had the time?" she asked the girl.

[Georgia Lee Day continued from Go Home, Georgia Lee]

People were yelling in the library. It wasn't even that people weren't trying to be quiet, which in and of itself was frankly inconsiderate. People were actually trying to be louder. They were going out of their way to disturb their fellow students. They sat, in a peaceful, quiet space meant for individual reading and silent study and thought, presumably "oh this is lovely, let's ruin it."

Georgia Lee glanced up from her book, Monsters of the Dark Continent: The Fauna of Africa, toward the source of the racket. It was a girl, tall, whom she recognized from the year above her, though she couldn't think of her name. Naturally she was the height of a small building, and naturally she weighed about as much as Georgia Lee's book. Perhaps she'd met Fiyori, shopping for clothes at whatever shop sold clothes for NBA players, and they'd swapped tips on how best to aggravate Georgia Lee. Perhaps when one gets to a certain height and a certain skinniness, it just became too hard to get blood to the part of the brain that made one considerate.

Georgia Lee leafed through her book briefly, to see if she was anywhere near the section on Giraffes. She wasn't, and Georgia Lee was loath to skip ahead. A pity, she thought. It would be interesting to see whether Giraffes were also thoughtless and horrible toward their peers.

The tall girl was talking to someone now. Just to really make sure that person was thoroughly disturbed, no doubt. Why take the chance that her shrieking hadn't completely derailed everyone's train of thought, after all. At least the girl was thorough in her commitment to ruining the study space for everyone else, Georgia Lee supposed.

She debated whether to say anything. On principle she should, she knew, but it had not, in past, worked well for her. Getting into some argument with this girl would not aid her study in any way, and would only distract her further. Not to mention, it'd give her and Fiyori something to talk about when they were grazing on the leaves of trees together, or... doing whatever else it was that Giraffes did. Being mascots for Toys 'R Us. Giving birth to enormous young. That sort of thing.

No, it was best to keep to herself in this, Georgia Lee decided. She settled for simply giving the girl the dirtiest of dirty looks and then returned to her study, trying to focus herself. If the girl felt the need to be distracting others, it was no doubt because she herself was failing, and wanted to drag her peers down with her. Georgia Lee refused to take the bait.

[[Fiyori Senay continued from Spotted Peckers: Black Ocean]]

Humans sleep in cycles. That was common knowledge. Well, at least she figured it was common knowledge. And she figured it was common knowledge because she knew it. Humans sleep in cycles. 90 minutes, give or take. In Fiyori's case, she discovered that it took her pretty much 80 minutes for one sleep cycle. That was pretty convenient knowledge. Took her some while to figure it out, too. Did wonders, though.

So if she had to wake up at 7 AM, she would go to bed at shortly after midnight. Roughly fifteen minutes of laying in bed, then she'd go through five cycles. And then she'd wake up at the end of one. And she'd wake up refreshed. Not tired. Not groggy. It was heavenly. It was odd, too. That methodical approach, the discipline to go to bed at a certain time. It was difficult, yeah. But she did it. And she was kinda proud of herself. And proud of the results.

The point was that when Fiyori Senay entered the library, she did not do so to catch some sleep or nap time - or as is more common, eat something. No, she was there and for some reason kinda awake. With nothing to do, and yet not bored. She was in such a good mood, she could've just sneaked up on Rainy and give her a big hug from behind. Share the love and all.

She decided against it. Not out of consideration. But because she was anticipating something. Fiyori watched her target, there sitting all alone. She was reading a book, and yet Fiyori could feel it.

Hah, there it was. That stinky eye of hers was great. Though, surprisingly, Rainy didn't comment. Fiyori tilted her head, and she giggled.

She considered, and giggled a bit louder.

So many things were happening at once in the library: people talking, people hitting themselves on objects, people yelling, and a person casting a shadow over her doodles. It took some time for Dorothy to register the information, to process what she was hearing, and to stop what she was doing. With the Taylor Swift's blasting in her earphones, it was hard to understand what the mysterious shadow caster someone was saying. She pulled out her earphones and turned around mouthing a slow 'what'.

" ... 'he time?" It was the only word thing she understood from the skinny, confused student. She looked like a mess, but her face reminded her of someone.

Oh, it was just Rea. That was her name, right? They knew each other because their mom worked at the same place as a doctor and a nurse. They also shared their first-aid knowledge, but that was it. They were polar opposites, really.

Anyways, she seemed lost like she was taken from another dimension. Did she fell asleep in the library? That must have been awkward. From fragments of conversation with her, Dorothy understood that Rea didn't have good night of sleep. She believed it was insomnia that disturbed her non-existing sleep schedule.

"I'm sorry but what did you just say? I missed out on that part." She was aware enough of her peers to ask Rea without using her normal voice, using a more quiet and hushed one. She didn't want to disturb everyone in the room.

Rea rubbed her eyes, and stared down at the diminutive girl.
"The time. I was wondering if you had the time." She became irritated with having to repeat herself to the dwarfish student below her. Before she could answer, Rea's head snapped to one side, narrowing her eyes at another student who seemed intent on staring at her.

"Hold on," She said. "I think that girl is staring at me. Do you know what her name is?"
Rea's eyes fell on the girl she was speaking to again. "And while I'm here, haven't I seen you somewhere around before?"

Georgia Lee returned to her book, fanning the pages along the spine, as one would a deck of cards, feeling the gaps where pages had been torn out, like open wounds. She'd gone to the librarian after discovering the vandalism, outraged. There'd been only one another person who'd checked the book out before Georgia Lee, and she'd pointed to all the missing pages and demanded action, only to have been laughed at.

"You can thank Soaz for the missing pages," she'd been told.

"Suez?" It wasn't a name that was familiar to Georgia Lee. It certainly wasn't the one written neatly in the index card of the book, listing everyone who'd checked the book out. Some student who simply tore pages out of books without even getting the book out? It seemed so much worse, somehow.

"SoAZ. The State of Arizona. People donate these books, y'know, but when they're illustrated, sometimes it isn't appropriate for students. This one there were people in, ahh, a state of nature. Naked, y'know. But it's a beautiful book, very old, so we don't want to just throw it away. The pages get taken out, the book goes back onto the shelf, and..." The librarian had shrugged, seeming sheepish.

Georgia Lee hadn't been quite sure how to react to that. It was a beautiful book, but that seemed to her like all the more reason not to destroy it. Better, surely, for it to be elsewhere whole than in the library in pieces. She wondered what had happened to the pieces. Perhaps one of the janitors had found them. Perhaps they were holding them now, and they were right at this moment wishing for the book that they fit into.

Probably not, she decided.

Her focus went back to the page. It was yellowed and the font was small and delicate, making it hard to read, but at the moment she wanted to be distracted. She needed something to absorb her, to stop her from snapping at the tallest land mammal in the world.

"In the evening of the eighteenth day, we came across the city of the apes. Here the trees were packed more densely with the beasts than any London thoroughfare, and both my companion and myself and myself were quite taken aback at the many sets of eyes that we found alighting upon ourselves. Abasi, who by that time had taken the role of our chief guide, sensed our discomfort and set to put us at ease.

"Worry not, my friends. These creatures do not seek your harm. Theirs is the way of peace, and if you do not disturb them, they shall not disturb you."

We were heartened at this, and - "

A cackle, like a cartoon witch, interrupted Georgia Lee's reading. She looked up and yes, there she was. Fiyori Senay. A human praying mantis, but worse. At least with a praying mantis, when it bit your head off you first got to... no, that was vulgar. Georgia Lee dismissed the thought.

It seemed inappropriate that Fiyori could enter the library silently. There should have been thunder rolling, Georgia Lee thought. Birds dropping dead from the sky, wolves howling and babies screaming. Ride of the Valkyries playing, perhaps, or the evil song from Star Wars. Maybe her shrieking little laugh was Fiyori's way of letting everyone know they were in the presence of the devil. She was doing people a favour, perhaps. Georgia Lee tried to put the giant insect out of her mind.

Then she laughed again.

Georgia Lee looked up, and her eyes met Fiyori's compound ones, looking almost human behind her thick glasses. Georgia Lee blinked first, and hated herself for it. Why was Fiyori looking at her? Was it Georgia Lee that the other girl had been laughing at? She couldn't see what it was she was doing that would amuse the other girl. Perhaps for someone like that, the sight of someone actually studying was so novel that it provoked laughter. They said simple things pleased simple minds, after all, and Georgia Lee couldn't help but notice the complete absence of books in Fiyori's vicinity. But no, there were plenty of others reading in the room, so why it was her that Fiyori's gaze was fixed on her?

It was making Georgia Lee uncomfortable.

She closed the book, marking her page with a bookmark decorated with dancing puffins. Georgia Lee loved puffins. The book was precious to her, somehow, and the idea of having Fiyori coming and mocking it repelled her. She slipped it back into her bag, opening a physics textbook infront of her, instead. Another glance at Fiyori confirmed that yes, the other girl was still staring at her. Well, Georgia Lee would let her stare. Perhaps Fiyori might learn what actual study looked like.

Embracing her newfound role as rolemodel, Georgia Lee turned her thoughts to her study.

Ah, so she did notice. Of course Rainy would notice. That was the point. The question was, how would she react? Fiyori leaned against a nearby shelf. Rainy looked over to her. And back to her. Little glances. But their eyes met. Fiyori smirked, but in the end she bared her teeth.

She kept watching. Watching. Staring. Gazing. Viewing. She didn't giggle, at least. Just looked. And Rainy looked back. Here and there. Fleeting, but always returning to meet her gaze. Accidentally, perhaps. Fiyori made sure to lock her eyes on Rainy's, but she figured the girl only wanted to check. You know, see whether Fiyori was still there. Whether she was still looking. Maybe if she was already stepping forwards. Maybe if there were some emergency exits she should look out for.

Maybe she figured Fiyori would just go away if she kept up like this.

Ah, another chuckle. Couldn't help it. Rainy felt uneasy. Had a book open, but as soon as she noticed Fiyori, she exchanged it with something else. Fiyori wasn't sure. Not sure what the new book was about. It didn't look that old. From the pages Rainy just opened, Fiyori'd hazard a guess. Physics. Math. Some other kind of science.

No, no. The intention here was clear. Who did she think was she fooling? If that was supposed to be posturing, Fiyori was disappointed, if a little amusing. Still, Rainy could do better.

Fiyori scratched her neck. A few pieces of dead skin cells burrowed themselves between her nails. She licked her lips, and walked forwards.

"A student is accidentally too loud and even has the audacity to ask for the time?"

She pointed towards Rea and Dorothy. A bit theatrically, but that was the fun part.

"Honestly, I'm surprised. I figured you would've snapped at them."

Fiyori reached her. She stretched her hand out, wanted to touch her head. Pat it a bit. She hesitated, and instead laid it down on the table.

"Or at me."

This was probably going to be a mistake.

Jeremy knew this, and at the same time had no idea what he was going to get into by walking into the library.

((Jeremy Frasier, continued from Not My Tempo))

Poor impulse control, y'know? There's an opportunity that arises, it looks like something that's a good idea and there's nothing that necessarily suggests that it's a bad thing to do and honestly you just want to do it and it's so inviting that you rush in without really properly thinking. Flash forward to after it's done, it turned out to be not a good idea and while everyone else involved has likely forgotten about it you haven't and it's always in the backend of your mind, sneering at you and making you cringe every time you're forced to remember it. A lot of the experiences that Jeremy would rather forget would go under the definition he just outlined, and yet even as he grew older and he became more aware of this idea that maybe he shouldn't just rush into a situation without thinking about it he still did it; maybe not as much as he used to but enough times for him to still be annoyed at himself for it.

Because like, he was kinda lonely today. He had yet to actually have a conversation with someone who was at the level of him respecting them or knowing them or him at the very least finding them interesting. Every time he had opened his mouth today he was either exchanging pleasantries, talking to someone he found honestly kinda boring or talking to Adelaide, who honestly he should have switched seats away from at this point but didn't really want to make it seem that he had given up on trying to challenge her. He was heading to a group that he knew would at the very least accept him, but the chances of them pining his interest couldn't really be relied on.

So, when he saw that library door and looked at his watch, figuring that he could spare a couple minutes, he decided that fuck it, if it was empty or if it was boring or if it was internally killing him he could make an excuse and bail. Wouldn't even need to if it was the first one, but whatever, minor things.

So he walked in. Immediately saw four people, which meant that if a fifth joined it'd be kinda crowded. Looking further though it was more like two groups of two. Still would be crowded if he joined but given his poor impulse control there was absolutely nothing that was going to go wrong. Actually it was likely that everything would go wrong here, but at least if this happened and this was going to be a moment he would hate then at least maybe he'd be able to push one of his other mistakes out of his mind. Too much save data and something had to be deleted, or something. May as well try.

So he went forward, and gave a bit of a closer look so he could figure out who everyone else was. Fiyori Senay. Georgia Lee Day. Dorothy Shelly. Rea Adams. He knew Fiyori (and there was something on his mind about her, so at least he had a little bit of a draw there), he knew about Georgia (stuck up and thought she was smarter than everyone else, apparently; might be confusing her with Jasmine from the year below though). Dorothy and Rea who made up the other group he had no clue about. Wildcard. Might be interesting, might not be. Probably the latter. Who knew.

Given that Fiyori was in the tier of "interesting people" in the list he had in his head, though, he figured that it was better to pick the known good choice rather than the wildcard choice. He went to the table directly opposing the Fiyori/Georgia duo and sat down, taking the book with the most interesting spine as he went.

He opened the book, looking around. Best to judge the situation before joining it? Maybe.

Rea just wanted the time and who she was. Not that much of a big deal, really. Most people forgot Dorothy after meeting, they just needed a little refresher and they'll be just fine. She seemed kinda irritate and kinda annoyed though, but wasn't that her everyday mood? Or maybe it was jus the mood she had around Dorothy? Or mayb-

Check the time, goddammit. She muttered a 'yeah sure' while spinning her body around toward the table. She pulled on the cord of of her earphones, saving her cellphone from the weight of the pencil case. She pressed on the home button. Twice. Activating the voice of Siri asking about what she needed to do. She pushed a third time and there it was: the time.

"It's Dorothy, we met once or twice at the hospital 'coz our moms work at the same place," she said that a little tiny bit too loud, trying to save herself on a 'shhhh!' from someone like the librarian, she whispered, "its lunch and it's ele-"

Wait, that's someone staring at Rea. Man, those eyes were filled with disdain, but Dorothy tried her best to be as quiet as possible. Not enough for some people apparently. Dorothy wasn't the only one realizing that because Rea asked about the girl. She just raised her shoulder quickly and let out a sigh. It was just someone with a bad day.

She'd love if it was just it. Just a bitter student with a bad day, but something was off. Like something was out of place. Where she was sitting, she saw another girl giggling and chuckling. Then what followed was out of a play, a movie, something on TV or whatever, not something real. The girl, well more the woman with her height and demeanors, pointed toward Dorothy and Rea. That was so weird, especially what she said. Did Fiyori, or Fiori or Fyino or Fioni or Fyuni, and Something Lee knew each other? Were they friends or something?

Well, that was weird.

"Anyways," she said to Rea, her eyes still locked on the scene, "how are you doing?"

Rea was too tired to deal with this. Fiyori, a girl she had never actually met, had walked towards her and dramatically pointed at her, apparently mad at Rea for making noise in the library. Which was odd, considering that from what she had heard around the school the girl was more interested in drugs and partying than graduating. So either she was trying to turn over a new leaf and get serious about her schooling life, or the more obvious answer of trying to mock her. Which was exactly what she needed right now.

Rea yawned, and rubbed her eyes, before finally sitting down next to Dot. Without realising it, she had closed her eyes and had begun to drift off to sleep.
She shook herself awake, fairly used to this sort of thing by now, and became aware of her surroundings. Straightening her hair, she turned to the bespectacled dwarf next to her.

"I'm doing alright," she replied to Dot's question. "I could do with knowing who those people are over there. And why that girl decided to point at me."

It was around this time that a Rea noticed a boy she from her year level standing near the entrance of the library. He was one of the few people at the school who was taller than she was, and by a good dozen centimetres too. Dammit. Not centimetres, inches. Nobody she knew here used the metric system, and after moving here she had been making a diligent effort to learn the ways of the Imperial System.

The boy walked forwards, then stopped to look at the two groups of girls sitting down. After briefly looking at both of them, he walked towards a table near the other group. He wasn't checking her out, was he?

"Oh, and who's the giraffe over there?" She asked Dot.

Fiyori was up in her face. The girl was so close that Georgia Lee could see herself clearly reflected in those enormous, coke-bottle glasses. The eyes behind them were cold, and malice almost seemed to shine out of those storm-coloured pupils, as if they were little evil torches. Georgia Lee stared back into them, trying to hide her annoyance. She could feel her hands trembling, and so she grabbed her bag and pulled it onto her lap, so as to bring them out of sight. It was clear that all Fiyori wanted was to get under her skin, and Georgia Lee didn't want to give her the satisfaction.

What was it about her that made people want to hurt her? There must've been something, for it'd been happening all of Georgia Lee's life. When she was young, her sisters had mocked her for being weak, for being dependent on their parents, for being devoid of talent or accomplishment. She'd treated that like a checklist, and fixed every one of those faults. She'd become perfect, and how did people respond? Now they insulted her for working too hard, for being too talented, too accomplished. Her success scared people: it made them look at themselves, and see how little they'd done, and how much they'd squandered their gifts and their time.

Still, plenty of the student body was weak and was talentless, and nobody seemed to rub their faces in it. There were other students who worked hard too, and who did well too, and Georgia Lee was sure that they were able to sit down to read for five minutes without being harassed. No, there was something about her, it would seem, that inspired this level of hatred from her peers. Some mannerism maybe, or perhaps a particular feature of her face. She was a magnet for resentment. She was a jar of honey, and people's petty insecurities swarmed about her like ugly, useless flies.

Of all the flies, Fiyori was by far the ugliest and most useless. Georgia Lee had asked about her, after their first encounter. Her grades were a joke, of course. A stoner too, of course, and probably a junkie as well. Georgia Lee glanced at the ridiculous billowy poncho that hung off of Fiyori's gangly frame, hiding the insides of her elbows. Why else would someone wear something like that? Perhaps it was some sort of drug-fueled mania that explained the girl's obsession with Georgia Lee too, because obsessed she clearly was.

The two of them couldn't be in a room together without Fiyori making some comment, trying to provoke Georgia Lee. All it would take was Fiyori setting her eyes on her for the giantess to lumber over and start picking on her. Presumably devoid of purpose and meaning in life, finding no appeal to studying or working hard or contributing meaningfully to her community, Fiyori Senay had instead made it her sole mission to aggravate Georgia Lee.

It wasn't fair. Georgia Lee wanted to scream at the girl, to shout in her face that she'd done nothing to her, that there was no reason for this, and to leave her alone. Of course that was exactly what Fiyori wanted, and Georgia Lee was perceptive enough to know that.

She could feel eyes on her. The other students in the library, watching her, waiting to see what she'd do. An audience for Fiyori's little show. Fiyori was grinning, her too-wide mouth splitting her face in half like a halloween pumpkin, her breath reeking of nicotine. Because of course it did. Georgia Lee breathed in, through her mouth.

Engaging Fiyori wasn't going to change anything. It wouldn't make it better, wouldn't make her stop. All it would do was encourage her, let her know that if she kept going, if she pushed a little harder, Georgia Lee would break. There was no way Georgia Lee was going to give her the satisfaction. Not in a million years, in a million libraries. Not if Fiyori interrupted the reading of every book Georgia Lee ever picked up.

She pushed the textbook away from her and stood, zipping up her bag. Georgia Lee was far from calm, but she had enough control of herself to at least passably fake it. She made sure her hands were steady, made sure her breathing was even, made sure she stood up straight. Lifting the strap of her bag onto her shoulder she looked Fiyori in the eye. Even with the girl's stooping, gargoyle-like posture, Georgia Lee still had to tilt her head back.

"Actually, I was just leaving." It was a lie, but she could study elsewhere. The library was her first choice, since it was the most peaceful, but there wouldn't be peace to be found here while Fiyori skulked about.

Still, there was no need to let that grotesque, hulking praying mantis know that she'd driven Georgia Lee off. Her little insect mind might have interpreted it as a victory, and that might have encouraged her, so Georgia Lee gave her a smile, crinkling her eyes to make it look genuine, and clasped the bicep of the girl's skeletal arm in a gesture of faux-friendship as she headed out.

She didn't spare her a backwards glance.

[Georgia Lee day, continued in Acid Rain]

She did not notice him. Jeremy, that is. She did not even notice Rea and Dorothy. She noticed them before. Obviously. She could still do that, of course. Fiyori had a pair of ears, after all. They were - regardless of mother's words - well-functioning. So the physical sensation their voices reaching her ears persisted, and yet here she was. Standing atop, above Rainy. And she couldn't hear them. Not even as a distraction on the side or the static chattering of a typical background scene. No, she couldn't hear anything but what was so right in front of her.

She was breathing. She was breathing too. Fiyori stared into her eyes. She stared back. There was so much in them. Hate, maybe. Disgust, yes. Definitely disgust. A repulsion, reflected in her movements, reflected in the way she breathed, even. For some reason, seeing her breathe like that, hearing her do so, and meeting her eyes in that locked state. For some reason, it disgusted Fiyori, too.

She didn't know why. She couldn't know why.

Then, all of a sudden. Something changed. She took a hold of her book. She raised herself from the chair. She gave Fiyori a quick smile. A fake one, obviously, but one faked-well. And yet, all Fiyori could give as answer was a confused look. Then she grabbed her arm. Clasped it, just lightly.

Took her. Left her.

Fiyori looked after her, but She didn't look back. Fiyori looked, and gazed, and watched, and viewed and seethed in blinding rage. Drool welled up in her, her fingers burrowed deep into the old and soft wood of the table. All she could see where flashes of white and all she could hear was the thumping of her heart. All she could feel was the chair she threw to the side and all she could do was her leap after Her.

[[Fiyori Senay continued in Acid Rain]]

"Hey, I'm not a giraffe," Jeremy said, talking to nobody in particular but words being directed at the person who just called him a giraffe. "I don't know what animal I'd actually be but my tallness definitely doesn't come from my neck."

Little odd how he was able to hear that but that was his ears, for you. They were weird. Sometimes they could be really good at listening to individual things like individual layers of songs or conversations from another group of people he was talking to but sometimes they just decided to mess with him and he needed to ask what someone said three times before he could finally understand. It was annoying when that happened, it made him look kinda like an idiot and it gave his parents fuel against him so preferrably he wanted his hearing to be above average, rather than far below average. Luckily for him, today was a good day for his sense of hearing or something. Made this situation a little more bearable for him. The fact that he had been called a giraffe going in was a sign that he was going to regret this, but at least he could actually be smart about things.

Also not a good sign was the fact that the one person he had actual experience talking to and the other person that he actually knew a little about had just left. Georgia first, with Fiyori following. He wasn't really sure what was up with that, but given that neither even spared a glance at him he both assumed and hoped that it wasn't him. Wait, if they didn't even notice him how could it be an issue with him? Okay, good point. It had nothing to do with him. In that case, it wasn't really his problem then. Maybe one of the two who didn't leave would be interested in why that happened and maybe they would follow but Jeremy wasn't really interested in making it his problem. He could always just say sorry to Fiyori about ditching her with Brendan another time. He still had a bit of school left to do that.

Although he was now alone with the less interesting group, which might be a little bit of a problem. Well okay, "less interesting" might be a little mean and it was definitely him jumping to conclusions. Maybe these two people he didn't really know were entertaining people! It wouldn't be a total surprise! Still, his main avenue to interacting with the group just up and left, and although one of those two made reference to him with him responding he wasn't really sure whether that would continue or not. Still, he was at a desk, and the opportunity was there, so maybe he should just look at the book a bit more before he made a judgement?

Yeah, that seemed like a good plan. Wait, he had been thinking up that phrase a lot recently. Wasn't really quite sure where specifically he thought up the phrase but maybe he'd have to look up a thesaurus. Put some variety in his brain as well as in his daily life.

He didn't even look at her when he spoke. He just stared down at his book, speech thrown in the vague direction of Rea.

There was definitely something off about this guy. The way he walked into the library, stood there staring at each of the girls individually for what seemed to her minutes, and then sat down by himself, opening a book and becoming lost in it.

Of course, the boy wasn't the strangest occurrence in the library in the last ten minutes, as a severely damaged chair lying on the floor would show. The two girls on one of the other tables had apparently had a fight, a large one by the looks of things.

The darker-haired one with the glasses had become enraged by the other, dramatically throwing a chair to the ground in a fit of rage.

Rea had no idea why, though. All she saw happen was the other girl clasp the dark-haired one by the arm and walk off. Which seemingly enraged her. Maybe there was something wrong with her? After all, this was the same girl who had theatrically pointed at her, accusing her of being overly loud in the library, so maybe she wasn't fully herself today?

From what she'd heard around the school, a rumoured drug habit might have something to do with it. But what did she know, she wasn't an accomplished neurosurgeon like her mother (yet).

But that was all over now, and she probably didn't want to know anyway. And besides, the boy had spoken to her (and proven exceptionally good hearing in the process).

"Fine, what animal would you be then?" She replied to him. "And who are you, anyway, and what were you doing staring at us when you walked in?"
Rea had decided to get information about the boy from the boy himself, suddenly disregarding the option to have a quiet conversation in the library and substituting it with a rather louder conversation across the library.

This, coupled with the somewhat loud noise she made waking up made her wonder how long it would be before she was kicked out. Even if she was, though, it wasn't much of a problem.

There were plenty more places in the school to sleep.