“I don’t believe that my counselor signed me up for this class”, I mumbled to myself. I’d never shown any interest in a computer class or computers at all, that counselor must hate me. I would have much rather been taking an art class or something dealing with biology, or nature instead of sitting at a monitor screen for an hour every day. Non the less, I wondered in and scanned the room.

There were two computers per table, and about 10 tables in the room. I chose to head to the back of the room, so I could pile all my bags and books against the wall behind me. There were two seats left, one with a pretty girl with a sassy expression, who looked like she would talk too much. But, at the table next to her was a girl that looked a bit calmer. After all this was the first class of the day, and I didn’t like to do much “chatting” before noon.

The closer I got to my seat of torture, I focused in on her green hair, and almost sickly pale skin. She seemed about my same build, maybe taller though, and had a scar on her face that I was curious about, but would never ask for the details, at least not yet.

“Hi”, I said softly, as I plopped down in the seat next to her, tossing all my stuff behind me after grabbing a notebook and pencil to take notes. “Opps, sorry”, I giggled as I collided elbows with my new “tablemate”, for the instructor just notified us that we are now assigned to the seats we are in.

I didn't 'HAVE' to show up to classes on my second day (or so the administration had told me) since I didn't have uniforms yet. I wanted to though so, I forced myself to talk to someone a bit larger than myself and borrowed a uniform for the day. The skirt was down to my knees and the blouse was obviously a size or two too large for me but, it was regulation at least.
I decided to attend a computer class I'd had some interest in, I'd always had an affinity with electronics and computers so I thought it would make a nice segway into how things were done here.
I'd sat in the back of the room alone, and had hoped for it to stay that way, from past experience I expected most girls wouldn't want to sit next to a new girl, and would even less want to sit next to a girl that looked like they'd be silent for the entire semester.
Unfortunately I was proven wrong when a brunette came to join me and sat beside me before hitting my elbow with her own.
wonderful I have a clumsy oaf sitting next to me...
was my first thought before It registered she'd said hello.
“hello...”
It wasn't a 'happy' tone but, it wasn't angry at least, we were stuck together for the remainder of the semester it seemed though so I'd have to tolerate her, it would probably be best she didn't hate me completely so I tried to hold back my contempt.

I could tell the girl with the pale green hair was not going to be the friendly type, but that has never bothered me before, and surely wouldn’t today. I was irritated enough all my own, for being in this class.

I got settled and managed to get the darn thing turned on, and the loading page popped up like magic, thank God. But from then on, I was lost. I had hoped the un-talkative girl next to me, who seemed to know exactly what she was doing, would just jump in and help me, but hmmm… I might have been waiting a while.

Not being really the patient type, and not wanting the whole class to know I had no computer clues, I whispered my desk mate for help. “Hi, umm, I’m Alli. Sorry to trouble you but could you show me how you got to that screen prompt?”, I whispered.

I was already pretty far ahead of what the other students in the room were doing I was certain of that much. I cracked my knuckles simply as my fingers ran across the keys, I wasn't even really paying attention to what I was doing, or that's how I was sure it looked to most people.
Then my tablemate spoke to me, notmally I wouldn't have answered but, the hesitation in her voice led me to think she really did need help. I stopped what I was doing on my computer before I'd shift my seat over a little bit so I could reach her keyboard. I took over her mouse and then adjusted my glasses.
”Watch what I do and rememver it alright? I'll try to go slow enough for you to take notes.”
I didn't offer her my name, it didn't seem very important to me, and the less people to know my name, the less likely rumors were to be spread about me, especially since i'd seen girls with blue hair around campus as well as several other odd colors.
I went through the motions of getting her to the proper program and then initiating the proper sequences as if it were second nature to me. When i'd finally gotten her to that window I put in several commands and another window openned listing several dozen different commands and a basic description of each.
”there you are... do you think you can remember that?”

As I had hoped, the short-tempered girl next to me, took pity. She stopped what she was doing and leaned over to guide me through. As much as a professional artist can show a person off the street the art of painting a masterpiece in 10 minutes, she tried her best to show me what to do. I took frantic notes with my illegible shorthand, and watched her with one eye, while I watched my paper with the other.

“Ah, ya … sure. I got it all here in my notes”, I said with unconvincing lies to confirm my tablemate’s question. I was sure I would need to ask her the next day too, but I would try that night to decipher my notes, so as to be less of a burden for her.

I was somehow able to kind of keep up with the instructor after that. My stomach was growling, and I reached into my bag to pull out a scone I snagged before running in. “Want any?” I whispered, showing her a peak of the tasty pastry hidden inside my napkin.

”Good, good.”
I offered before returning to my seat and my work ay my computer. I moved ahead in my work blinking slightly something popped into my head and I continued quickly beyond what the professor had instructed. His next instruction came when he had returned to his console, by that time I had just finished what he was just asking us to do.
more predictable project than I thought I guess...
Alli beside me spoke next and I glanced to her and the scone she had. I hadn't had much to eat since i'd gotten to the school he day before honestly. I was kind of hungry but... I was wondering if this girl was trying to get me in trouble or not... though if I was caught she would be to...
”I suppose a small bit wouldn't hurt...”
it was loud enough to hear next to me that I was really hungry... it was a bit embarassing how loud one's body could be against the mind's will.

It was good she accepted my offer. I could hear her tummy rumbling, and if it was like mine, it would only get louder and louder if ignored. It wasn’t much, but it might help to hold her till next break. She hadn’t given me her name, but the fact that she would eat my food showed that she trusted me enough to know I wouldn’t try to poison her.

I would have never had such suspicions myself before coming to a school, where slipping something in a student’s food was acceptable. She was new here after all, and soon enough she might become for leary of those around her, but not today.

“Sorry to bug you again, and I hope this will be my last interruption but … what’s your name?”, I felt it far enough to ask, so I could stop thinking of her as the girl with green hair.

I glanced to my table mate, I was for the most part ignoring the professor at this point, for some reason I felt like I knew everything he was going to say already, I didn't know some things about myself then of course, and I really DID know what he was going to say but, no spoilers that's a story for another time isn't it?
”If you must know my name is Jeanette, and I really dislike being called Jean... I've already dealt with more than enough Jean Gray jokes for a lifetime thank you.”

I was a little paranoid about people and what they might say to me, as for the jean gray jokes, again that would be spoilers if I mentioned it now. I decided however I might as well tell her my favored nickname before she asked, she'd be sitting next to me for the entire semester and no doubt I'd be seeing her outside of class when she needed help on assignments.

”Though if you really dislike using so many sylibles as I know people dislike wasting even a millisecond of breath on proper names, you may call me Rose.”
Rose, was the only nickname I'd ever liked... got it when I was fifteen from the first boy to ever spend any time talking to me. Was a sweet guy but, it never amounted to more than a really sweet friend... turned out he was gay, story-of-my-life.

Although I didn’t let on, I was delighted that she told me her name, and her nickname at that. I might have even been a little attracted to her, on a subconscious level. I wasn’t “into girls”, but being here on the island, and being forced to be intimate with a girl or two, even a close friend, has somehow opened my concepts a bit. All I knew at this point, was that I love making new friends and although she might appear to be a little “shut off”, I was sure we would be the best of friends soon.

Rose had a resistance that inspired me to break through, whether she knew it or not, but I wouldn’t push, not too much. “Well, nice to meet you then, Rose. Which ever you prefer though is fine with me. If you like Jeanette better, I will call you Jeanette. My real name is Allirabeth. I usually tell people Alli for the same reason you said”, I paused to let out a whispered chuckle. “I knw exactly what you mean. You can call me either Alli, or Allirabeth.”

The professor caught me talking to Rose, and shot me a glance. I quickly sat back in my seat and went back to trying to keep up with her directions. Surely bugging my “new friend” every two seconds isn’t going to get me any brownie points with her, or the teacher, so I shut up for the moment. Obviously Jeanette had the wrong sized uniform on, not accentuating her curves properly, but the evidence that she was female still showed, and I glanced down her frame as I looked away.

I'd noticed the teacher look at alli and decided it was best not to say anything else right now lest I get detention on my first day of class. I knew that wouldn't look good on me to anyone at all.
I waited until class was over to reply to alli, I didn't have much of a choice but to get used to her after all so I decided then was as good a time as any other.
I stood and gathered what few things i'd brought with me before looking to Alli.
”Rose is fine and I like Allirabeth actually, much better than alli or beth. I was going to go get something to eat if you'd care to join me, we will have to get used to spending time together since we sit next to on e another I am quite certain we'll have to do projects together some time.”
I was trying to sound friendly but, I was pretty sure I sounded like I was a bit frustrated with the entire thing, I did smile a bit though to her. I hoped I wasn't being offputting.
((I'm just a little rusty it seems))

((rusty? Not at all, lol))

I think I was blushing as the new student said she preferred Allirabeth, my full name over the nickname. I don’t know why it flattered me so, maybe because only my mother and my last boyfriend called me that as a sign of their affection. “Sure”, I agreed to go eat with her, although feelings of affection somehow quickly turned to obligation, but I thought it would be nice anyways.

She was a quick mover, so I pushed myself to hurry up as I packed my things to join her. “I’m almost ready”, I announced so she knew I was still coming with her. I liked everything tidy in my bag, so it took me a while to organize as I put things away. Soon I jumped up through my bag over my shoulder and ran to catch up to the trailing green hair.

I found myself unordinarily quiet as we walked. I guess I didn’t want to say the wrong thing, and then it popped out. “How did you get that scar?”, I gestured towards her face. I hoped it wasn’t too personal of a story. Rose didn’t seem the type to want to open up and tell me all about herself, but fingers crossed, she would tell me. I smiled innocently at her as we walked through the cafeteria door, “I hope it’s not too … well, that it’s ok that I asked?”, I said raising my eyebrows and the pitch of my voice.

I waited outside the classroom door for her for more than I normally would; I didn't like to wait for people since they never had the kindness to wait for me but, I had little choice really. I had at least three months in the company of Allirabeth in that class and who knew if she was in other classes of mine. When she finally caught up we began to walk pretty quietly.

Then she asked about my scar and I couldn't help but sigh faintly to myself.
”Good eyes, most people think it's just a tattoo... got it when I tried out for cheer leading in high school, didn't have a football team was just one of those routine squads. Lets just say I wasn't very popular and they dropped me, caused some permanent damage to the eye too, so now I have to wear these glasses or half my vision is a blurred mess. It's not like it's a secret or anything.”
I offered a somewhat comforting smile before I added with a slight nervous cough.

”I tell anyone that notices though so don't think it's because I trust you or anything.”
which was true enough, just not many noticed or cared.

The food here was nothing like back home in my country, so I tended to indulge more then I probably should. “I’ll have a large fries, large cheese burger, a large root beer float, and a large piece of chocolate cake please”, I asked the cafeteria lady. She of course didn’t think anything of my usual order at this point, but I wondered if my new friend would think I was a total “pig”. “The portions aren’t really “large”, I just like saying it. Saw it in a movie once, and it makes me laugh each time, so I order it just like that everyday for lunch.” After scrapping a bit of frosting off the top of the piece of cake, I moved forward to scan the room.

I saw a small table had just opened up close by, and I walked over quickly to snag it. “It’s a little busy at this time of day due to a common break in most classes”, I attempted to bring the new student up to speed. “Besides half the girls, just like me, don’t have time to eat a proper meal before morning classes. I’d rather sleep until the last final minute, then sadly rush around and make it to class just in time”, I said with an almost proud smile on my face. Truth being that I never wanted to take a chance being the first or last one in the halls, but I’d never let on to her the real reason.

“What about you Rose? Or are you an early riser?” I hoped to get to know my new classmate better. Who knows we might have a lot in common, and only time will tell.

I ordered about the same amount of food as her, though I got a chicken Caesar with some oil & vinegar and some lemon sweet tea and vegitables in a butter sauce.
”Seriously, Allirabeth, you don't have to explain yourself, it's not like I ordered less than you did, we all get hungry and most people like sweets now and then.”
I offered a bit of a smile, I couldn't help but find the nervousness she was showing just a bit cute; I had a thing about cute, it made me trust people a little more, I guess I was kinda shallow, still am. She asked me if I was an early riser and I just offered a friendly shrug as I ate for a few minutes before talking again.
“I'm a pretty early to rise girl, it was sort of hard wired into me, I haven't been able to sleep in even when I've tried. Really sucks to be perfectly honest.”
I remembered all the 6am wake up calls i'd had in my childhood and the repeated inspections, and then the nervous shivers I got whenever I actually WAS hiding something somewhere but, I wasn't about to tell someone I barely knew about my life as an orphan.
”Anyway... after this, what are you going to do may I ask? I find it rather insufferable to spend an entire day alone and since you are one of the few people I know and have spoken to after all, I wouldn't hate spending it getting to know a classmate.”

We both seemed to be girls with healthy appetites although you would never know it from our slender waists. She appeared to drift for a minute as she explained her not being able to sleep in, her straying eyes searching for memories past. I found myself wondering to find solutions whenever someone seems troubled in any way, and I was thinking of the back rubs I often give to my younger cousin Ana, when she can’t sleep. I was only halfway listening to her question and her need to qualify why she wanted to spend some time with me, but I made out enough to know that Rose wanted to hang out more.

“I’m done with classes for the day”, which was a lie. I had two more classes, but I at this moment the thought of a possible detention didn’t outweigh the opportunity to spend the day in the sun with a new friend. “what do you want to do? I could take you down to the beach, the color of the sand and water is quite amazing”, one of my first loves here on the island. I was hesitant to go there alone and even with only one friend after what happened the first time I went there, but I figured as long as we made it home before dark we’d be ok. I really should tell her about what had happened to me here, I thought, but maybe she will be safe.