Michael followed listening to the world around her as she did, taking particular note of what Anne said. she shook her head slightly.
"If changing'll make you uncomfortable you don't have to, long as you're comfortable anything you wear is fine, was just offering a little advice, i mean the air conditioning is a little strong inside so it's hard to tell, i just looked out the window at what others were wearing this morning is all."

She scratched at her neck a little nervously as she tried to explain herself seeing how uncomfortable it looked like what she said had made Anne. the elevator opened and Michael stepped in calmly turning on her heel.
"Will be a nice day either way. I bet it'll be fun to see what there is to do around the island right?

She nodded, forcing herself to smile. She rather enjoyed how cool they kept the building (though she kept her own room colder still).

"I know...I j-just can't s-stand to...show t-that much skin." she mumbled lightly, telling the complete truth, just not for the more common reasons. She absently plucked at her sleeves, tugging the right one down further over her hand. She stepped into the elevator after Michael and pressed the button for the 4th floor, then turning to lean against the wall while they waited for it to rise.

"Mhmm. F-from what I read...in the b-brochure...they've g-got a complete athletics c-compound...and I've s-seen some of the f-forest surrounding...t-the campus already...during s-some of my c-classes..." she stuttered out, her aura twisting an unwholesome shade at the lat bit, as a memory of her walking "nightmare" flitted through her mind. She shivered slightly. It wasn't often you had your throat cut in a dream...

Michael leaned softly against the opposite wall of the elevator as it moved. she listened as her new friend spoke nodding slightly even though she wasn't given a reason, she understood there was something uncomfortable there; she wouldn't talk about her limp to someone she just met either.
"Athletics and a forest huh, do hope they have more than just that, i mean we are stuck on this island for years until we graduate so there has to be some sort of recreation i mean... I'd hate to have to just go to my room and play games and music as my only way to have fun that isn't in a book or working out."
she saw the rather sickly tone of her aura then, abject horror, that's the only word she could use to describe it but, she didn't say anything she just looked to the floor.
saying some's aura is dark is a one way trip to the outcast label, don't need that again.
she thought keeping her worry to herself for now.
"So what are classes like? and uhm are the uniforms all as short as I saw the weekend students wearing in there or...?"

She considered for a moment, then nodded downward, back towards the mall floor of the building.

"T-there are some shops b-back down there...a b-bookstore...s-some clothing s-stores....I d-didn't really look t-that hard y-yet. There m-might be a movie t-theater s-somewhere to...or a r-rental place for m-movies...." she shrugged as she spoke, not really familiar with...well, anything but the bookstore, but she'd heard of these other things before, so assumed they might be entertaining.

"Oh...they're m-mostly like you'd expect...t-though s-some of the professors...are a b-bit odd....my Enviro Science t-teacher for example...always w-wants to take the c-class outside..." she sighed at this, as she was rather sick of the "nature walks" and boring lectures from that particular woman. "Aside f-from that, they d-don't seem...t-to difficult y-yet."

At the question of the uniforms, Anne made a pained expression, blushing faintly. She nodded sadly, waving one sleeve back and forth as she spoke, belying her agitation about the subject.

"Y-yes...every student h-has to wear t-that..."uniform"...if y-you can call it t-that...I w-wear stockings under m-my skirt....and m-my winter j-jacket...everyday...j-just so I don't f-feel so exposed."

she couldn't help but shiver slightly at that. She'd never worn skirts in her life, first time was bad enough but having to wear what was essentially a pleated mini-skirt for the first time wearing a skirt was far worse.
"Fantastic... any rule against wearing leggings under the skirt?"
she asked simply scratching her hairline a little uncomfortably at the idea of wearing anything that didn't hide her panties should wind blow.
The elevator opened and she stepped out first smiling fantly having eased her mind as much as she could.
"Oh well, no need to be mad about things you can't control, meet back here when we're done?"

She considered for a few moments, then shook her head.

"I d-didn't read anything...s-saying they were....and n-no one has s-said anything...about m-my stockings...s-so I guess t-they...should b-be fine?" she offered uncertainly. She wasn't even sure if what she wore was against the rules, let alone anything else. But, no one had seemed to think anything of it, so...

She nodded at Michael's suggestion and shuffled back to her own room, slipping inside and moving to replace her slippers with sturdier leather walking shoes. After tying them securely, she paused in the doorway, then decided to grab her umbrella from the closet, a large, pale gray one. Now ready to venture out into the day, she wandered back towards the elevator, stopping some distance away and leaning against the wall. She'd go closer when she saw Michael arrive, but for now, really didn't want to run into anyone else trying to go to breakfast.

went to her room to change, it wasn't a hard choice, she didn't want to make her friend uncomfortable. she changed into sa simple set of clothes, cloth pants and a cloth t-shirt, nothing special, no prints or anything like that. she looked down smiling faintly walking out and towards the elevator again.
"Hey Anne, there you are. you really don't like people huh?"
((sorry about how short this is >.<))

She fidgeted with her umbrella and shrugged slightly at the question, looking at the floor.

"I...g-get nervous...around t-too many people...and s-some...aren't v-very nice..." she stammered, thinking of one group in particular ("No one wants to see an ugly bitch like you around anyway!") before shaking her head slowly and holding the umbrella to her chest defensively.

"Its n-not that...I d-don't l-like people...I'm...j-just afraid of t-them..." she mumbled softly, shuffling her feet without moving from her spot against the wall.

Michael brushed her hair with a hand once or twice as she moved closer to Anne patting her on the upper arm, the shoulder being just a little bit uncomfortable to reach.
"Don't see why, you're a nice girl far as I can tell, and pardon my french, but most people aren't total dicks anyway few and far between. Guess I could understand though, Some people do have the bad luck to never meet anything but the lesser half."
she herself included in that, but she went the opposite path of the abused, the path of vendetta rather than avoidance. she stretched softly nodding once more.
"And besides if anyone here bothers you, you've got a friend willing to back you up now."
she offered a sly grin to Anne and a peace sign.

The taller girl froze as Michael patted her arm, for a moment terrified that she would feel the scars covering her skin through the fabric of her shirt. Thankfully, it seemed to be an unneeded fear as the shorter girl continued on. Anne smiled gratefully at the commiseration, nodding her head gravely at the last bit, as she had more than her fair share of "bad luck".

"Oh...t-thank you....b-but I'm usually...f-fine..." she smiled softly, even though she was lying. She couldn't stand to think of getting anyone, let alone a friend, get involved in her problems. The fact that she cared enough to offer was enough for Anne.

"S-so...where d-do you want t-to start?" she said softly, shuffling back towards the elevator.

Michael smiled comfortingly before moving towards the elevator in thought.
"Good question, school's supposed to be pretty big isn't it? Sooo... think we should start from the center and go outward or start at the edge and work back to the dorms?"
either way was fine with michael honestly, she just liked the idea of exploring with a friend and shirking her responsibilities; right now namely getting ready to start classes in 2 days.
"Those are the best Idea's I've got... I'm better at conversation, SO why'd you decide to come to this school anyway? I'm sure there were a ton of others that you could've gotten into, even with a little bit of a social phobia."

she tried to be gentle about mentioning the social phobia, it was a diagnosis she probably wasn't making very well but, as far as she could tell it suited how she was acting.

She nodded slightly, pondering which idea was better. Honestly, either sounded fine to her as well, but she was being asked to choose so...

"S-start at the edge...and w-work our w-way back? T-that way....we know w-we'll have s-something...t-to eat or d-drink....at h-hand when...w-we're done?" she offered quietly, pressing the button to call the elevator back to their floor. It seemed like a good enough idea.



Anne looked away slightly, her eye shifting to the floor. That ugly, slippery color in her aura that seemed to hide behind the others flared for a moment before fading again. She couldn't help but remember her vision, the one that had sent her fleeing in terror from her best friend.

"I...n-n-needed to g-get away...." was all she could manage to say, shuffling into the elevator as it opened. She took a deep breath and stared at the floor for a moment longer before glancing up with a wan smile. "It w-was...f-for the b-best that...I l-left quickly...and t-this was t-the only....p-place I c-could find..t-to go on...immediate n-notice...."

She nodded with a bit of an understanding sigh offered to her new friend. She knew what having to get away felt like; she'd done it once or twice, though not as drastically as it sounded like she had to. She decided though, that it would be best not to bother her for the details of why.

"Oh, well Least it's better than my reason... My scholarships to Yale and NYU kinda disappeared, no traces that they ever exists and the court wouldn't honor the letters I had and had a free ride here so I took it."

Anne hadn't asked but, it only seemed fair to offer what she received. She stepped into the elevator waiting for Anne.
"sooo first we walk to the island's edge then? Wonder if it's a cliff or a beach through the woods."

Anne's smile widened gratefully as Michael didn't press the issue, her gaze sliding back up to her new friend. She considered the other girl's circumstances thoughtfully, a bit intrigued about the issue with her scholarships. She'd never even applied to any colleges herself, not having had the time.

"Hmm? Oh....I h-heard there's a....b-beach somewhere n-nearby....t-though I'm n-not....sure w-where....m-maybe we'll f-find it today?" she offered quietly, having overheard some upperclassmen mention it as she passed them in the halls. She debated mentioning some of the other things she'd overheard, but....well, she didn't want to seem weird...weirder, at any rate. Sighing softly, she pressed the button for the ground floor.

"Y-you must....have done q-quite well....in h-highschool to...g-get scholarships...t-to those schools..." she murmured, partly to make conversation, partly because she was curious.

"Would be nice, might even be able to take a swim later if we still have daylight when we're done looking around."
She smiled at the thought, it had been awhile since she went for a swim, in fact she hadn't been for a swim since her accident and was wondering if she could still hold her breath for as long as she used to. Even with practice holding her breath on land there was no substitute for the pressure of water against her chest.
"As for high school, yeah I did pretty well for myself, straight As in honors classes, 2300 SAT, student council president... Worked my ass off though had little time for myself."
beyond her one hobby which she did while she was at school, who would suspect the small quiet good-goody of being a serial thief after all? let alone the class president.
"Still, guess this isn't the worst school ever... I read some good things about it."