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The sky was covered with dark, wool-gray clouds, the crisp air hinting at the promise of snow to fall later that evening. Carter stood before Meadowview High School, staring as if it was staring back. He was surprised he had found it – then again, it was difficult to not find. He leaned against the chain-linked fence that separated it from the rest of the city, curling his fingers around the links as he stared at the graffiti decorating the school.

Tomorrow he would go in there and fill out his papers, then attend his first day of class.

He wondered if it would be like his old school (granted that one wasn't fenced off and he knew people there): shoved to the back of the classroom, forgotten except for his hair. He loved his hair, even if other students usually preferred to stare at it than the teacher – oops.

Carter froze as the bell tiredly rang, followed by a flood of students gossiping and chatting as they left. Some stopped to stare at him, others ignored him, and others whispered behind their hands. New meat? Likely, but Carter quickly unlaced his hands and leaned against the fence. If he could just wait the rush out, he could probably slip inside and get his paper work sorted early... that is, unless the school staff fled the campus just as fast as the students.

There wasn't anything wrong with waiting, he discovered. Despite the fact that it was winter, the girls at Meadowview still looked nice in their bright orange uniforms. He couldn't help but to follow a few of them, switching his gaze from one to another, trying not to linger. As nice it as it would be to look at certain parts of the female anatomy.... Well, getting known as the "perv" before his first day wouldn't help him much. Nor would getting into a fight, if the talk of a boarding school for "troubled teens" was true.

As Natasha approached and took a place next to him, he glanced and grinned. "Problem? What do you mean?" He asked, turning to face her with a grin. "I dunno, I find it pretty nice... I'm Carter, but Carter will do just as fine."

At Natasha's movement, Carter looked closely at his backpack and winced. It didn't look too comfortable that high on her back, nor was it very flattering. He personally preferred a messenger bag, as a regular backpack was too heavy in the back area for his liking. Granted, a backpack had the added cushion of protecting your back when a skateboard tries to run out from under you, but the novelty wears off when your teachers make you haul your textbooks home. That poor skateboard's nose was a wreck because of that particular incident and the amount of times it crashed into walls the last time he tried it!

"Thanks! I'll take that as a compliment," he beamed. "If the weather was nicer I wouldn't be standing here, but..." The boy shrugged, "But what can you do, really? The snow's not thick enough to really do anything, and it looks like most of the snow was already used in a snowball fight some time ago."

"But nevertheless... Nah. I just moved in yesterday. 'm waiting for the rush to get over so I can pick up my uniform for tomorrow and get all that stuff sorted out of the way. Meet the teachers if they're still here, find my locker, get to know my textbooks... the usual drill." He pulled a face at the last item, clearly not looking forward to the books.

Upon hearing that, Carter sighed and looked disappointed. "Man, of all the times to move, it'd have to be too late... Oh well, maybe it'll snow again later!" He threw a hopeful look up towards the clouds, stared, then dropped his gaze upon realizing that he had no idea how to tell snow clouds from regular clouds. Or even what snow-clouds looked like in general.

He winced, then shrugged. "Yeah, tell me about the timing," he groaned, "Moving from a place with no snow to a place that has lots of it? Cold. Middle of the schoolyear? Interesting. Moving in time to miss a snowball fight? Huge bummer!"

He stood away from the fence and grinned broadly, "Whatever gave you that idea?" Carter asked, shoving his hands into his pockets. Let's see, a snug-looking dark green jacket complete with the bottom-loop of a wallet chain hanging out from under it, hooked to a pair of pants that were black with a faded skull emblem and pockets... Yep. Either he was a colorful goth or skater, or one of those strange artistic types that refused to conform to a group while maintaining an all-black wardrobe. Hm.

"I think I need to go to... um..." Carter pulled out a folded square of paper from his pocket, unfolding it. "The... main office? I need to pick up my uniform, locker, and anything else that you guys have here."

Carter shrugged. "Here and there -- I've lived in several places before finally moving here. My parents kept getting moved around thanks to their job, though hopefully their final bid'll be here. Moving's not too bad, but when you do it enough..." He laughed, "It was pretty interesting! Besides, it's been awhile since I've been in a place with snow."

He moved towards the building with her, stopping to stare at her chiding. "O-orange? You mean you guys wear that all year around? That bright orange, that everyone was wearing?"

The boy then did something that Natasha was probably not expecting.

"Yesssss! I LOVE the color orange! This is awesome!"

"Yeah! It's a bright color that catches attention," he explained, "And it's... I don't know! Just looking at it makes me feel pumped. It doesn't scream like red, but it's... nice."

He shrugged, then pulled open the door to the school and held it open for her. Carter then caught her expression and tilted his head to one side. "Huh? Did I say something odd or...?"

"What, you mean people don't like it? Tch!" Carter shook his head, "I mean, yeah no offense or anything not many people look, well, good in it." Carter replied, before realizing he was beginning to tread on Very Dangerous Ground where Females were Concerned. "Buuut knowing schools, uniforms are probably designed with student misery in mind, haha!"

Carter followed the girl and looked in the directions she indicated. The gym, now... That was one thing he had to check out before leaving! "How crowded are the halls usually?" He asked, "And what's the homework like? Would you like me to carry your books for you or...?" In all honesty, he just wanted to see how heavy her books were.

“Nnrgh!” He grunted as the books came into his possession, nearly dropping them. He swung it onto his back and shifted the weight until it was more or less comfortable (it was less). Hopefully there wouldn't be any other guys around to question is masculinity by carrying a feminine backpack. At least it didn't clinker and clatter with an over-assortment of charms that his siblings favored. They served like a warning bell, alerting to everyone HEY HEY I HAVE BLING ON MY BACKPACK LOOKIT IIIIIIT.

It was quite annoying to have the teacher stop in the middle of lecture and stare at you as you nudged said over-charm'd backpack in front of you to break up the monotony of lectures, too.

“I like to think it's faaabulous,” he replied, puffing out his chest and squaring his shoulders before flipping his hair and continuing in a falsetto voice, “It would match my shoes and everything daaahlink.”

He followed her tour with his eyes, nodding to himself and quietly repeating the locations under his breath. Would he remember where everything was? Probably not, but then again he was doomed to wander the hallways with a paper clutched in his hands, trying to match door IDs to his class list. He removed the bag and offered it to her, shamelessly peering inside. “Huh, same size as usual lockers,” he remarked. “I got stuck in one once. The janitor ended up having to break the lock 'cause it turns out it wasn't my locker! Ahh, that was a good day, got to skip a test and everything!”