School was...

Jenny ran a hand through her dark hair and shook her head. School was school. It didn’t matter if she was in southern California like she’d been or on a small island like she was now, school was exactly the same. The teachers went out of their way to completely overwhelm her and all her classmates with work. Like some kind of sadistic test to see who could take what. The only difference was the uniforms and the fact that every teacher had an unhealthy fascination with sex. I have never heard vectors explained like that before, Jenny thought with a grin.

“I could...” she murmured to herself, glancing over at her bed and to the small bedside table. As good as a little self exploration might feel, she finally decided, Jenny knew she needed to finish her read lest she be completely and totally lost when it came time for class tomorrow. So she turned back to her desk, crossing one stocking covered leg over the other.

I heard about a new girl and decided to be funny.

I approached the room wearing a thick and long overcoat ant no shoes. It was a bit chilly, but the island was a hot place, so such coats seemed out of place. I was from a colder climate, though, so I owned such things. I knocked on the new girl's door and hoped to get her attention totally on me before playing my little joke. Not that that would be difficult, I seemed a natural at getting the attention of pretty girls. I sighed. The jacket was a bit uncomfortable in the heat, and the sooner I executed my diabolical plan, the better.

Her taking her time getting the door, though, gave me time to reflect on my plan. A girl with a trench coat on on a semi-tropical island... I didn't quite have the cloak-and-dagger of the island's top predators down just yet, but God help me, I was trying. I had a reputation as 'the infamous Linnis' to uphold, after all.

It was time to be impressive.

The sudden, unexpected knock at the door caused Jenny to jump a bit in her seat. “Just a sec,” Jenny called as she dropped her pen onto her notebook and looked around. Her room was in serious need of a Mary Poppins’ song but Jenny possessed neither singing ability nor magical power so the likelihood of that was slim to none.

“Just need to uh...” Jenny didn’t finish the thought, as she rushed around her room; she threw her comforter up so her bed looked made and crammed her clothes here there and everywhere because out of sight was better than nothing. Satisfied that it her room was neat enough, Jenny gave herself a glance over in the mirror, straightened her skirt and opened the door.

“Sorry,” she started, totally prepared to explain why her room wasn’t neat and why that shouldn’t earn her demerits, but she stopped when she realized the visitor wasn’t a teacher but a student. “Hi?” Jenny asked. The girl was wearing a coat that looked too warm for the island and that struck Jenny as odd. Quickly, however, she shrugged it off because if she’d learned nothing in her few days here it was that every girl seemed to march to the beat of their own drummer.

"Hey, I'm Linnis Van Ryan, my wife an I go to school here... I'm kinda well-known... I wouldn't say 'popular', 'cause I'm too nerdy and not ditzy enough for a sorority," I laughed, "But I wanted to welcome you and give you a sort of houswarming gift. Can I come in?"

I was starting to panic. I was brazen, but not usually this brazen... but the shock factor was so exciting and so I soldered on. I wasn't going to back out this late in the game anyway.

Jenny smiled, "Jenny." She stepped to the side, allowing Linnis to enter if she wanted. "Sure come in," she said. "Sorry it's kind of messy."

I wasn't really looking at anything when I walked in and looked around, I was just calming my nerves. "Mind closing the door?" I asked casually, "I don't want other students jealous of your gift."

"Not at all," Jenny said with a shake of her head. She stepped past Linnis and pulled the door closed with a click. "Want something to drink?" she asked.

"Good, yes. Water's fine." My mouth was dry from the anticipation of my big event, and anything would be helpful when it came to putting me at ease.