Anne twirled her pencil absently in her fingers, listening with some degree of attention to her professor pedantically lecture the class. She'd been interested in taking a literature course, and being that Contemporary Classics had been the only option at her arrival at the school, she'd taken it happily. Unfortunately, it seemed the professor for the class was a bit...well, dull. Even with her great fondness for all things literate she could barely manage to stay awake through the elderly woman's rambling.

Finally losing interest (she knew quite enough about Alastor, or The Spirit of Solitude already), her attention turned to her clothing. The uniform was identical to those of the girls sitting in the small lecture hall with her (short blue skirt, white blouse, blue vest), except she had donned her winter jacket atop her vest to hide her arms, and wore white stockings to conceal her legs. Neither was strictly speaking against the rules, and no one had said anything to her about them yet, so...to hide her scars she wore them every day, without fail. Sadly, the school was almost always hot...



Anne sighed deeply and brushed her fingers through her dark, faintly lavender hair, absently making sure the right side of her face was still concealed. Who do I pair up with...I still don't know anyone in this class... she thought to herself, watching the other students pair off quickly, picking their friends, or roommates to do the project. She rather hated the idea of having to work with someone else, but...it was an assignment.

Finally, her eye settled on the other new arrival in the class, an orange haired girl with a very serious demeanor about her. No one else had approached her for the project either. Anne put her books away in her bag, then rose and took a deep breath before quietly shuffling over to the girl.

"Excuse m-me....if you d-don't have...a p-partner in m-mind for the...p-project...would y-you mind w-working...w-with me? I'm...n-new here as well...and I d-don't think...anyone else w-will want to...." she mumbled timidly, glancing up to meet the Irish girl's gaze briefly as she spoke, before looking away again nervously.

"Hm?" The girl's eyes were forced strive to get a good look at this stranger. She was a student just like her, and a timid one at that. Her hair was black, but it had a purplish tint which mislead Melanie's perception of her. It was certainly not dyed. Melanie smiled sweetly to the shuffling, shy girl. There had been a time when she was that girl- shy to a fault, but Melanie was under the impression that it was not because of her gothic demeanor. "Thanks. I didn't know who to ask. Its tough being the new kid." Even though she said this with confidence, it was her first time as the new student. Ever.

She was always the experienced guru that everybody would turn to, the totem pole in the night, the lighthouse for the lost. Now, she was hopelessly lost in a giant school filled to the brim with... girly girls.
In truth, Melanie did not truly hate the girl's who dawdled about, doing their nails and murmuring stabbing words into their neighbor's backs. But she had no desire to become one of the either. What use would looking pretty be, when there were no guys around?
And guys... guys disgusted her with their pig-like ways. But she probably get along with them more than she would have cared to admit. So, lost in the struggle of staying in the middle, Melanie never really learned how to make friends with girls. Lucky for her, there were kids like her- new, lost but hopefully less clueless than she was.

"So...is there a good place for us to get some to eat and talk about Frankenstein? Because I REALLY like this book, though talking on an empty stomach can be pretty brutal, wouldn't you say? By the way, I'm Melanie."

Anne shifted from foot to foot as the other girl studied her, her fingers twirling in the long bangs hiding half her face, making absolutely certain nothing showed of her scars. No sense scaring away the only person left to pair off with. She returned the sweet smile with a faint smile of her own, the corners of her lips just barely turning up. She nodded in response to the "tough being new" statement, well aware of that herself. She'd already been singled out by a few girls for harassment as it was...

Something about this orange haired girl made her feel less anxious though, like she didn't have to worry as much about that sort of treatment from her. Maybe it was the way she held herself, straight and tall. Maybe it was the direct intensity of her eyes. Regardless, she seemed more likely to put a stop to teasing than to start it.

"Oh...I'm Anne. N-nice to meet y-you...Melanie." she smiled more brightly and dipped her head slightly in greeting, the expression actually reaching her one visible eye this time. "And w-we can....p-probably go t-to...the cafeteria...or one of t-the places...in t-the mall l-level...of the d-dorm....if y-you prefer? I'm....f-fine wherever...." She shrugged her shoulders gently, glancing towards the door as she spoke, seeing if any of her tormentors were in the hall waiting for her today. Thankfully, it seemed safe for the moment.

"Hey, don't be so nervous. Which one's closer? We'll head there and get straight to work, ok?" Melanie tried to cajol the frightened girl. When her eyes fearfully shifted to the door, Melanie recognized a shudder of fear. "Tell you what, Anne. If anybody tries to pick on you, they'll also have to pick on me. Let's see what they'd have to say to mean right hook!" Melanie put on courageous show of boxing with the air. She moved effortlessly along the floor, pausing to look at her.

"I'll even lead the way! Just point me in the right direction!" Something in Melanie want to cheer this girl up. She seemed so much like her best friend back at home, Molly. She refused to even eat until she knew it was safe to move her hand. But being with Melanie quickly changed that.

Anne blinked a few times as she looked back at Melanie, taking a step back when the other girl began punching the air. She watched with interest though, as it seemed (in her limited experience) that the orange haired girl really knew how to fight. She chuckled softly and nodded, a bit relieved in fact to be pairing with someone like Melanie. She didn't like the idea of fighting, but with someone like her around, maybe the girl with the lighter would leave her alone.

"Alright...j-just...go to the end of t-the hall...and d-down the stairs...out the f-front door...and w-we'll go from there..." she murmured as she shuffled towards the door, nodding along with her directions. "The c-cafeteria will...p-probably be quieter....at t-this time of d-day..." She waited for Melanie to lead the way as she said, drifting a step or two behind her, and to the right, keeping her in sight of her good eye, her right hand lightly touching the wall to make sure she didn't run into it.

It was at that moment when Melanie noticed that one of the girl's eyes was damaged. A pit dropped in her heart as she realized that is was burn scar, but she quickly turned to the door, and grabbed Anne's free hand. "Well then, let's go." She smiled in a gentle way and walked through the door. So far, the coast was clear. She lead the way along Anne's directions, and found the predictably empty cafeteria.
"You wanna go find somewhere to sit, while I grab something to eat?" She asked Anne, wondering if she would like anything as well.

The dark haired girl flinched slightly at having her hand grabbed, but suppressed the urge to pull free. Instead, Anne shuffled along behind Melanie more quickly, pointing out the way they were supposed to go at each turning. She saw one of the girls who had cornered her in the bathroom, but without the rest of her posse, the girl kept walking, pretending not to see her. Just as well, as Anne had no desire to start something, especially with her new acquaintance tugging her along. Something about the fiery Irish girl made her think she was more likely to start swinging than talking, and Anne didn't want that kind of trouble to start on her account.

At the cafeteria, she nodded slightly to Melanie and pointed towards her usual corner, hemmed in by a wall and a large window to the quad. "I'll b-be over t-there...and I already ate t-this morning...s-so I'm not t-hat hungry yet....b-but thank you..." she murmured, smiling softly at the offer. As the other girl walked off to get her food, Anne shuffled to the table in the corner and started pulling out the materials they'd need, pens and a notebook. She'd go back to her room for a copy of the book if necessary...but she doubted she'd need it. She could almost quote the entire thing from memory...some days it paid to be a bookworm.

"... and those Hash Brown. Thank you!" Melanie finished, as she took her order and walked over to Anne's table. It was in a pleasant corner of the Cafeteria, with plenty of light shining through. She noted that Anne was well prepared- she had everything they need...

Except the book. Melanie did not know why someone like Anne wouldn't carry the book (unless the memorized it, of course) for one of their own classes. Melanie easily remedied this by pulling out her own copy of the book.
"So... which side do you want? Human, or Monster?" Melanie asked, spooning the yogurt she had selected and popping it into her mouth.

Anne fidgeted nervously, her eye closing as she thought over the contents of the book. She hadn't really felt strongly either way about the Creature in the story, having been more interested in the mad Doctor herself. But, that wasn't what the assignment was about...

"I t-think I'll....take the s-standpoint of...the Creature as a h-human...if y-you don't m-mind?" she mumbled softly, only opening her eye at the end of the sentence. She looked over the other girl's tray of food warily, ready to breathe shallowly if she saw bacon or sausage. The smells of that kind of thing tended to make her...uncomfortable. Though it did please her to see that at least Melanie had a copy of the text handy.

Something about the assignment struck her as odd, though she couldn't put her finger on what exactly. Perhaps it was just the nightmares she'd been having recently, of monsters made from her own friends, or historical figures. She really needed to get more real, restful sleep...if only she could. Shaking her head slightly, she smiled at Melanie and shrugged gently. "Though I d-don't really...m-mind taking either....s-side of the d-discussion..."

"Well, ok. I'll take the other side then." She made a quick glance at her meal. Just some yogurt, and blueberry pancake and hash browns. She also had a glass of Orange juice, but she had learned to be vary of orange juice- no everybody makes it the same way. She picked at it as she took her notebook and jotted down their names and their respective sides. She then looked up at Anne, and asked,

"Anne, why do you think the monster is human?"

She nodded slightly and thought on where to start. After a few moments consideration she looked at the table and started making little circles on the surface of the wood with her fingertips, speaking softly.

"T-to start with....the Creature is m-made of human p-parts....t-taken from multiple b-bodies...and t-those of criminals at t-that...b-but still...its c-creation is entirely...of humans...s-so at the m-most basic...l-level, it is "human"...j-just not p-purely one h-human..."

She smiled faintly, as this point was mostly a bit of a joke. Still, it had some validity, though she could see it being used in either stance's favor.

Melanie smiled appreciatively. She caught onto what Anne was talking about. It was pure humorous, but that argument could so easily go the other way. Melanie decided to twist the logic on itself...

After she swallowed her piece of pancake.

"But couldn't it go the other way? I mean, isn't a human being supposed to be a singular being? A lot of things are required for one to be classified as a human being. Only it's appearance is human, and even so, that appearance is a mottled mix of human. I mean, didn't the book mention something about different colored fingers?"

Melanie smiled as she ate another piece of her pancake.

Her fingers continued making the circles, now looping out in larger motions to connect them, almost like she was drawing a pattern.

"By t-that l-logic...a human has t-to be completely w-whole...to be considered h-human....do w-we call amputee's m-monsters? Or...p-people with d-dischromatia of the s-skin? N-no....w-we t-take the imperfections into account...and afford t-them the s-same basic humanity...w-why shouldn't it b-be the same...f-for the Creature? It is...in the s-sum of its parts...a c-complete biological h-human...j-just assembled m-more...haphazardly t-than m-most of us..."

She paused a moment and giggled softly, unable to completely keep a straight face with that argument. It was like comparing humans to machines.

Boy, the conversation had barely begun, but they were already treading into deep territory.
"But note that I mentioned that humans were defined by multiple measurements. A physical condition that can be related to a naturally occuring process can be considered human. What occurred with Frankenstein's monster is that parts from multiple, long deceased human beings were used to create a being from recycled flesh. Does that not strike you as artificial?"
Melanie's poor writing hand was having trouble writing all the words that they spoke. Then it struck Melanie. She took out her all but useless cell phone, and cycled through the menu.

"You don't mind if I just record the conversation and transcribe it later, would you?" asked as her thumb stalled over the record button.

She shook her head at the recorder, waving for her to go on and turn it on.

"I d-don't mind.." she mumbled, thinking of her rebuttal.

"Artificial p-perhaps...b-but no less h-human. If n-natural c-creation is a s-standard of....h-humanity then any b-baby born f-from....artificial insemination m-must also be...c-considered inhuman...as t-the semen used m-may....h-have been collected f-from....a m-man no d-dead....in f-fact such is...t-the case in quite a f-few instances...involving t-the death...of a husband in a h-high profile...couple, w-with the wife undergoing insemination m-months...even y-years after t-the fact. F-further, in vitro fertilization...w-would fall under the s-same stigma...as t-the process is d-decidedly unnatural, w-with both egg and semen....h-harvested and m-mated outside...of a human b-body. T-taking already g-grown flesh...is h-hardly any d-different....unless y-you speak of maturation....or c-chronology."

She smiled thinly, rather enjoying playing Devil's advocate.