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Conall sat next to Celia and put his head against the wall. As he thought, no one wanted him around. He closed his eyes and began thinking what would happen if he just left. Sure, it would be an instant way to cure the tension, but in the long run everything would just be worse. He would alienate anyone that wasn't already, reinforce the prejudices against him, and worst of all, hurt Celia. That thought contorted Conall's face into anger, but once he forced away the thought, his face went back to normal. He opened his eyes when he heard someone else, and watched as he entered. He ignored the tension from the the guitarist, and closed his eyes again.

Al looked between the two couples and smiled to himself. Such awkwardness... Not that he was helping to relieve it with his own attitude.

When Celia answered, he felt his heart skip a beat, and he pretended to inspect the guitar to hide his surprised face. "A-alright then. A serenade...?" He started a familiar tune to everyone and in an obviously joking voice, he began to sing, "When the mooooon hits the skyyyy like a big-a PIZZA PIE, that's amoooorreeee. When the world starts to shiiine like you've had too much wiiine, that's amore!"

Laughing, he stopped and started playing scales. "Alright, alright, seriously." A song came into mind that he thought the girls would like, and he started to play Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls. It was a popular song, so he figured they'd like the familiarity. ... That, and he really liked the song. Al glanced at everyone in the room so he cold see if they liked it or not, but really, there was only one person whose opinion mattered a lot to him.

Kiyoko didn't push away as Ray put his arms around her. In truth, it was the food + openeing the door that had drew her away for a moment, so she relaxed in his arms as she listened to Al play his guitar. At first, he was joking a bit, and she let out a small giggle; the look on his face had been priceless.

Then she noticed something...

When Celia had asked him to play, his entire face had lit up like a firefly, the happiest she had ever seen him. It was as if.........no, it couldn't be, could it? It'd give him a reason for his depressed mood (other then Renji ditching him, which was strange in itself). And then the drama would come in. But, still, did he have a crush on Celia? It was too early to tell.

She recgonized the song instantly, and began to hum it to herself as she played; she could sing sort of well, but she got strange fright in front of others. As he finished, she agreed with Celia. "That was pretty good. How long have you been playing the guitar?" she asked him.

Shriou also grinned. "Heh, I dunno who picked it either, but I agree it's a bit odd." he said as the short man walked away. He noticed that Adrienne face lit up at the sight of food, and heard a rumble of her stomach again. Before he knew it, he was being dragged as she pulled him through the teacher crowds and to the table, where plates and untensils were also waiting to be used, and food waiting to be eaten.

((Sorry for lateness guys, and longness of post! Senior Boards were tonight. I'm free from Senior Project now! biggrin

Now for plot twist #.5- not a big one but dramatic. xd ))

Kiyoko nodded in understanding, as she finished her pudding. She knew what he meant about playing a instrument for a long time; she had been playing the violin as long as she could remember. Not because her mom and dad forced her to, but because she wanted to. She has recently been learning to play piano as well, but she's not nearly as good as with the violin. She plays first violin, along with some others, meaning they are harder parts and usually more dominant throughout a piece.

She wrinkled her nose in thought; what songs could be played on the guitar?

"Alright, alright!" Shirou agreed, as he also picked up a plate and began to put food on the table. It was almost the same as what the students had to choose from, except not packaged up for safety and was more decorative as far as how they were set on the table. He grabbed a cheezeburger and a side salad, and poured some coke into a cup.

Lucy was chatting with her group of cheerleaders, mostly about gossip and who was out of fashion. After all, it's hard to miss a fashion mistake! There just happened to be a pause when two girls walked by, having an giggling conversation.

"So, did you hear about Ray finally getting a girl?"
Lucy practically leaned her neck and craned it towards the passing girls, muttering for the cheerleaders to keep conversation. She then started walking behind them, silently and unnoticed as the chatting pompom ladies stopped their suspicious silence. One girl was obviously a math-science geek, with her large textbooks. This was Ellie, a overall smart and trustworthy girl; Lucy knew she wouldn't lie, so whatever this was was more than a silly rumor. She titled her glasses as she was talking with her free hand, and she spoke to a girl holding a camera. Most likely in the Photography class, Maria, Lucy thought her name was. She was also in drama, which was always the place to spread news throughout the school. They were having a hush-hush conversation, and Lucy had to strain her ears to hear.
"No, not at all! Which moron did he pick? Anne the fashion police, that stupid Lucy woman?" Maria asked, quite interested. Lucy glared at the girl but not enough to give her the someone-is-watching-us look.
"Aw, she's actually not a moron, that's the sweet part." The glasses girl responded, and Lucy raised an eyebrow. Then who was it?
"Oooooh, who is it?"
"It's that new girl, Kiyoko. She's in my computer class. She's actually quite a sweetheart!"
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?! He actually went for someone respectable? He's not messing with her, is he?" Maria asked worriedly.
"No joke. He was holding her hand in line. And he's quite serious; I heard him acutally apologize to her for going after some other girl. I had passed the art room; I think they were in there."
Both girls awwed and ran off, Lucy stopping dead. She leaned on one of the lockers and slid down it, stopping just before her rear hit hte ground. He's.........going out.......with that little brat! He perferred that newbish quiet stupid girl over ME?! The NERVE! She told him, I bet. She did; there's no other word for it. She's gonna get it now! she thought to herself in an underscribeable anger.

Celia smiled and shrugged. "I wouldn't know what to request. I don't know what you can play. And honestly, I can't think of any songs..." she crinkling her nose and then laughed a bit. She opened up her salad and poured the packed out dressing that it came with all over it. She moved the salad around in the plasitc bowl and took a bite. After swallowing she looked back at Al. "Anything's fine. You're very good." she smiled.

With that, she went back to eating. She wanted to eat while she had the chance; while food was still available. How much could they hold here? Certainly not enough for all the students and teachers for a couple of days? These questions bothered her a bit.

Ray smiled as he saw her wrinkle her nose. "You're so cute..." he whispered in her ear. He knew that she didn't like him flirting, but it was more a complement, right? He kissed her cheek gently and let her eat. He had eaten some of his food already and wasn't really hungry at the moment. He couldn't stop thinking about how a couple of hours could change so much. It was a surreal thought.

Alastair's gaze darkened as Renji walked in, but he covered it with a smile. "Welcome back, Renji." Since the other boy didn't say anything about what had happened, Al decided not to say anything either. The less drama, the better.

When he heard what Celia said, Al had to completely look down to hide his silly grin. So, she thought he was good, eh? "Well, since you guys can't think of anything, I'll pick another one." He began tapping his foot as a bootleg sort of drumming, adding some slaps onto the guitar itself, and played Two Coins by Dispatch. "I stick loneliness, your lips, and the two coins of your eyes, into my pocket..." His voice wasn't bad, as note recognition sort of came along with learning an instrument, but it wasn't professional. It fit though. He was hoping a more ... happy song would cheer everyone up.

~...~...~...~

Adrienne took a cheeseburger as well but opted for water as a drink instead. She walked over to a recently empty table and made herself comfortable. Most of her nervousness in front of Shirou had disappeared in favor of satisfying her hunger. She took a large bite and waited until she had swallowed it before talking to him.

"So, Shirou, where are you from?"

A pleasant smile washed over her features as she looked down at her food. "I'm from New York. Grew up in a tiny apartment with my parents and my six younger siblings. ...It was tough, but nice. We're really close. I'm like their second mother, since I had to care of them so much." Adrienne said with a smile, twisting the glass of water in her hand. "Rootwood sounds nice. I didn't know they had English towns there. Was it a settlement from war days?"