[L] The Awry Girls Club for Hopeless Outsiders.

[BlackMint_12]

The new girl.

“So, let me get this straight;” Kyle said, trying to understand Claire’s story as they walked through the lunchroom trying to find a seat. “You’re telling us that Madeline Hunter was in you room? In your room? With you?”
Claire smiled when she saw Sarah roll her eyes.
“Yes, Kyle, for the fifth time, she was in her room.” She said with noticeable exasperation. “Can we move on to the next part of the story now, please?”
“Yes, thank you Sarah. So, she’s knocking on my window, I don’t-“ She was interrupted by an absent minded Kyle.
“I just can’t believe it… I mean, I’ve been in this place for over…” He used his fingers to count. “…over twelve years! She has never been in my room and you…you’ve only been here for a month!”
“You also have to consider the matter of fact that she just came back from her trip two nights ago, too. And really, what reasons would she have to be in your room?” Sarah added.
“You’re not making me feel any better, Sahara.” He said, bluntly.
“Well, that’s just great then, because making you feel better wasn’t even remotely my intention. Besides, she hasn’t been here that long anyway. I have been your classmate for over eleven years and I don’t even know where your room is.”
“Well, who cares? I don’t want you in my room.”
“Oh, is that’s how it is? Well, maybe you should ask Madeline Hunter to help you with your homework, then. With some luck, somewhere along her trip, she might have learned how to read.”
“I know that it might be difficult for you to understand it, since you have no idea when it comes to it, but just because someone has a social life doesn’t mean they’re idiots.”
“Excuse me, but even when I think that you look almost charming –in a ridiculous kind of way, of course- when you try to make long sentences, I’m afraid that I’ll have to tell you that Madeline Hunter’s commonness would still be the same if she had the social life of the Hunchback of Notre Dame.”
“Funny, I thought you were gonna use yourself as an example.”
“Well, I had a lot of options to choose from; you were one of the strongest, but I didn’t want to expose you as moking me for something you yourself are terrible at. After all, didn’t you eat right next to her once? And what was it that happened? Oh, right, you couldn’t even ask her to hand you a fork.”
“Why don’t you just b-”
“Ok, ok, that’s enough guys...!” Claire interrupted them laughing. After a month, she was used to seeing them fight, and she found it quite amusing.
Sarah and Kyle were best friends since before they had a conscience. Their families were friends, so they had to be friends too. Their relationship was pretty much like that all the time, but anyone could see that they really cared for each other. Claire would often wonder how long it would take them to see that they liked each other just a little bit too much.
They were the only ones Claire could talk to without feeling like she was being analyzed or tested. They were a year older than her, though, so she couldn’t see them much.
“What I don’t understand, though, is why she had to go through my window, I mean, why didn’t she just walk through the dorms entrance?”
“You can’t be wandering around campus at midnight, you know” Sarah began to say. She glanced at Kyle. “If you get caught, you get suspended, no matter who you are. I’ve always wondered how she did it... Wait.” She smiled. “Your dorm is the only one with a view to the campus. At least, the only one in our building, but the boys have one too... You said there was a hole in your window?”
Claire nodded. “A piece is missing.”
Sarah snapped her fingers. “So that’s how she gets away with it! She climbs the buildings and she gets in and out of them through those holes! I bet there’s one just like yours in the other room.”
“...Wow.” Claire thought about it for a second. “And why does she wander around campus at night?”
Sarah and Kyle looked at each other.
“She comes to our building...” Kyle said.
“She’s really popular. A “cool” girl,” Sarah said, in an annoyed tone of voice. “She hangs out with the coolest guys, has cool friends, goes to cool parties, gets drunk cooler than the not-so-cool people like us would…”
“You’re just jealous because she’s fun and interesting and you’re dull.”
“How would you know? You've never even talked to her. And why on earth would I be jealous?”
They kept arguing for quite a while, but at this point Claire wasn’t listening anymore. She felt a strong pang of disappointment, as if she had expected them to tell her that she was different, for some reason. She didn’t quite understand why that made her a little sad. She had seen something in her eyes, something that just didn’t fit the description. She decided she would figure Madeline Hunter out by herself.
There were no signs of the icy weather from just a couple of days earlier. The sun was shinning like it should have been all along, flowers had blossomed without anyone noticing it, and butterflies and birds were all around now, or so it seemed. Something warm and new was in the air. ~*~  

[BlackMint_12]

Blond and angry.

After doing a little research, Claire learned a couple of interesting things about Madeline. She was considerably popular between the boys and a great subject of discussion for girls. She came from one of the wealthiest families in the school but with no family tradition whatsoever, and had been attending there for the last eight years or so. She had also been recently absent because of a notoriously extended two-week trip around Africa. I couldn’t help it- lions are just SO cute! She had said to her parents when they went to pick her up almost two months later. Or at least that’s what one of the girls said she did.
Classes were particularly boring that day. She was pretty sure that she had failed her test, too, and had no breaks that matched Kyle’s and Sarah’s. Madeline Hunter was in every single one of her classes, and so were a few other girls she did not know.
She was playing with one of her pens when she felt like she was being watched. This wasn't so strange, though, for she had to deal with the looks and the gossips everywhere she'd go. She raised her head and saw a very scary looking blond girl that seemed to be smiling at her with a weird expression. Four girls stood still behind her smiling as well.
“Ah, finally!” She said, in an excited voice. “I had to struggle for a month to get that useless Principal of ours to put us in the same classes! It obviously takes him a little while to process orders when they come in big words, but it seems that he eventually ends up doing what he’s told.” Some of the girls behind her nodded enthusiastically. Claire opened her mouth but was instantly interrupted.
“I just wanted to make sure that you know that I’m at your service, for anything you need. My parents and your parents were really good friends, you know, before they…”
Silence grew between them.
“…Before they died?”
The girl went pale for a second and then laughed so loud that every single person in the classroom turned to look at her. She simply pointed at Claire pretending that she was whipping her tears.
“Yes, oh, what a great sense of humor you have!”
Claire felt her head tilt just as if she were a dog. What is wrong with this girl…?
“Well, anyway, that was it. I’m usually around campus, and if you don’t find me there, just ask the maids. They’re not the smartest women you’ll ever meet –they are maids, after all, but they should know how to point directions.” She said as she winked at her. And again, some of the girls nodded as they laughed.
Claire was starting to get really annoyed, so she was happy to see her leave. However, just as she turned to walk away, one of the girls shyly called her attention.
“Nar, I don't think you introduced yourself…”
“Of course I didn’t, you silly” She said, with a fake smile. “It would be like saying the obvious. There is no need for it when it comes to people like us. Maybe if I was introducing you…” The idea seemed to amuse her.
“As a matter of fact there is,” Claire said, visibly irritated. “I don’t know who you are.”
The girl’s eyes opened widely. She covered her mouth with one hand.
“Oh god, how could I forget about it- I’m so sorry.” And she really looked sorry. “I completely forgot about it. You’ve been living with, with… oh my god. It’s not your fault, that you don’t know me! It’s your uncles’ fault; those awful people. You must be so relieved to finally be where you belong, away from them and their people…”
“How dare you-”
The bell rang just as she was about to stand up and start yelling.
“It’s okay, really.” She said, as she reached for her arm. “My name is Narcissa Astra. It’s a pleasure to meet you, heiress of the Ambrose family. We’ll talk some more after class.”
Claire mumbled an incomprehensible answer between "Yeah, yeah" and "I'd rather die". God, what an idiot…
As she walked away from Claire, she bumped into a girl who seemed to be carrying every single book from the library. She stumbled a little but managed to stay on her feet; the girl, however, fell hard on the floor, her books lying all over the classroom. Narcissa threw her a furious look.
“Watch your step, you commoner!” There was a particularly unpleasant tone on those words.
Claire stood up to help the girl pick up her things.
“No, it’s fine, I got it…” She said, trying to get all her books in one hand just to end up dropping them again.
“Let me help you, it’ll be much easier.”
The girl thought about it for a second and eventually nodded, clearly frightened.
“Okay, I guess…”
This girl was not like the rest.  

[BlackMint_12]

The Commoner.

The two girls managed to pick all the books up before the teacher arrived.
"...Come, the seat next to mine is empty. Come on, the teacher's coming!" Claire told her, hurrying to her seat.
Amy Richards -that was the girl's name- was indeed nothing like the rest. Her average score was 95,/100, and she was an important member of almost every single club the school had to offer. The ones she could actually get in to, that is, for she was, as that obnoxious girl had called her, a commoner. The first commoner to ever step a foot in Henry I Institute with no obligation of doing the laundry and the only one left who was actually able to keep up with the ridiculous score that she was forced to get as a minimum. It was, Claire assumed, some rich family's attempt to get rid of some of the guilt they had been carrying on their backs.
Amy was, Claire noticed right away, not the most talkative person she had known. She was obviously really shy, and the abuse she had to take from all those rich brats didn't help her at all. She had been attending there since she was nine, and, for what Claire had seen by that time, she thought it would be a safe bet to say that she had no friends.
She took notes the whole time. Even when the teacher wasn't speaking, even when they were just doing exercises, she would write things down and read them over and over again to see if there were no mistakes.
Claire had spent most of the class staring at the girl next to her. She kept wondering exactly why she hadn’t spoken to her until now; she seemed nice and simple, and, more importantly, she seemed to be as lonely as she was. Maybe they could have helped each other or something, like outcasts usually do in those cheesy teen movies her former classmates used to watch. She asked herself if her desire to “help” the shy girl made her a good person or just a desperate one. After all, she thought, she didn’t even know if she was trying to be some institute heroin, or just trying to help herself, and she wasn’t eally pleased with either of her options. On her defense, though (she liked to have both sides of the story when it came to her mental arguments), she had barely left her room for anything else that her classes since she had arrived, so having met Sarah and Kyle, or anyone at all for all that was worth, had not been intentional, and was most definitely in no way some kind of reward for her efforts on being polite to strangers and/or making friends. How could she be making friends with all the homework and exams she had been having? It was absurd to think that she could actually have the time to worry about someone else’s problems in those conditions.
...Ok, yeah... So maybe I’m not as nice and unselfish as I thought anyway. She noticed that her thoughts on the subject were going slightly out of proportion and decided to give it a rest.
She felt a chill going through her spine. Something was making her feel uncomfortable... she was feeling watched, again. What...? She turned her head slowly only to find Narcissa staring at her like in some sort of trance. Oh, so that was it. Narcissa quickly snapped out of it and waved at her whispering a really excited "Hiii!" to which she responded bluntly with a nod. But even when she had already turned to face the teacher again -and had made sure that Narcissa had done the same- she still had the same feeling, like she was being examined really carefully by someone with no real interest in hiding it. She turned once again to tell that annoying girl to focus on the class but realized that Nacissa was, in fact, doing so. Her eyes scanned the classroom for a second, and didn’t take her long to find what she was unintentionally looking for. Sitting on the last row, there they were, those beautiful, deep, silverish eyes. Yes, that was the gaze that had been burning on her neck. She felt as if someone had punched her really hard on the stomach. It's that feeling from last night... Why is she smiling? Something wasn't right inside of her.
Madeline's smile was warm and tender, and the look upon her eyes...
"Miss Ambrose, are you alright?"
The teacher's voice took her out of her thoughts. She turned embarrassed as she realized that now everyone was staring at her.
"Y-yes, thank you for asking, Miss Blurrin."
But everyone was staring at her, and she never enjoyed being the center of attention.
Amy took her eyes off her papers for the first time. Miss Blurrin insisted.
"...Are you sure? I wouldn't like you to get worse because you didn't get treated when you should have. Would you go and ask one of the nurses, just in case?"
Everyone.
"But I'm..."
Even Madeline Hunter.
"You really don't look good. Your hands are shaking, your face is all red..." Amy said. The second her eyes found Claire's, she lowered her head blushing furiously. "I mean, maybe you should go, although my advice has no value, really, you don't have to take it if you don't want to... It doesn't mean...anything..."
Claire didn't really listen to any of the last part. What is wrong with me?! She felt her cheeks on fire.
She had to get away from that place.
"Yes, Miss Blurrin, I will go and check that I haven't caught any kind of flu or... something..."
She heard someone speak.
"I can escort her to the nursery if you want me too, ma'am."
"Well, Madeline, aren't you cooperative today-"
"I'm fine!" Claire said, as she ran off.
She could still feel everyone's gaze after she had stepped outside of the building; her deep grey eyes, staring... ~*~  

[BlackMint_12]

The Garden of Eternity.

Claire was not one of those girls who would get so nervous just from being stared at. She was kind of used to it, to be honest, being the only girl who would play with the boys from her block without running to her uncle and aunt because they hit her. Coming to think of it, she was used to being stared at by boys, mostly by her friends, so maybe, she thought, what made her feel so uncomfortable was the matter of fact that she didn't quite know how to react when it came to a crowd... or a girl. A simple "What?" would have been enough to make a guy look away.
She realized that she had been walking very slowly, and decided to speed up a little.
"Cl- Miss Ambrose!"
Miss Blurrin ran towards her. She looked worried and rather clumsy. Claire could see that she lacked the confidence that most professors from the Institute had, and was remarkably young.
"Are you... alright?" She corrected herself. "I mean, I am aware of the matter of fact that you are not well, but my question is really about-"
"Yes, Miss Blurrin, I'm fine, thank you..." She doubted for a second. "...I... don't really know what's wrong with me."
"Oh, ok then. Well, you have been through so much lately, so much change in your life, and everything..."
Claire nodded. A lot had changed, definitely. Miss Blurrin hesitated for a second, and then spoke again.
"...You have been catching up on all the assignments ever since you got here, haven't you? Maybe you're just plain tired. I'm not supposed to do this, but, perhaps -after you go to the nursery and check that it isn't anything serious, perhaps you could take the day off? Someone has to cut you some slack. Fresh air may do you some good. I'll go by the dorms after dinner and hand you your homework. Don't worry about it. Please, get some rest and try to stay away from the Principal and other professors... just don't let them see you're not in class."
Claire was more than happy that she didn't have to get inside that classroom again, at least for the rest of the day. She thanked her and decided that she would go to the nursery, mostly to help Miss Blurrin from getting in trouble. Truth be told, she was exhausted.
She sighed. She knew that her little scene would give Narcissa a nice solid excuse to talk to her again, and that did not amuse her. She could practically hear her say something about how a commoner's disease would affect rich people differently, and maybe even the smallest cold, when it came from one of them, could be fatal. She decided to put the whole incident out of her mind and enjoy the rest of the day.
It was a beautiful day, indeed. Spring had always been her favorite time of the year. She loved the colors, the sounds, the smell of it. Days seemed to be way more pleasant, more enjoyable. There was just so much to choose from. She, however, a little to her dislike, had been born right in the middle of autumn.
She walked aimlessly for quite some time, until she practically ran into the garden. She had never seen this place before, she was sure. The exceptionally fresh grass was so bright, and it contrasted beautifully with the many different types of flowers that had been put strategically so that seen as a whole, shapes would pop up. Thousands and thousands of red, pink, and white roses made a perfect giant rose drawn on the floor, each color being the light and shadows on it, and the color of the rose itself; vivid red. Hundreds of tulips of every possible color were a part of eclectic yet very complex figures that ran across the garden, somehow pointing at every greek column from the building's lower floor and its galleries. And there were other flowers, just as beautiful, but, sadly, those were the only two types of flowers she knew by name. Claire was a little surprised when she realized that she was the only one there, and mentally kicked herself for not seeing it before.
Someone's voice took her out of her thoughts.
"... So that's one of the very few things that changed since you graduated. I'm sure that I don't need to give you two a tour, right?"
Someone laughed hysterically, but she wasn't sure if it was just one person or ten. If it was just one person, though, he or she was quite loud. She instinctively hid behind a column -and hit her head with something hard, stone like-,and tried to listen, but could only catch bits of the conversation.
"...And it's truly unique, what you've done to the garden. Such good taste, nothing too presumptuous, yet you can see that it cost you a lot of money." Said a man.
"Yes, that's the way we wanted it. It's been this way for a while, now. Coming to think of it, it's been a while since I saw you here too, walking down this galleries..." The Principal's voice was unmistakable. This time a woman answered him.
"...It's been a while, yes. Too long, perhaps."
"...You know you're always welcome here; think of it as your home"
"Thank you, Frederick. That means a lot to us."
"...Well, as you know, we've had quite shocking news not too long ago!"
"...I know what you mean! ...Is such a wonderful coincidence...!"
Claire could've swore she heard someone snort.
"Well, anyway, she should be at class now, so maybe I can show you her dorm, so you can actually see the modifications that I was talking about."
She could hear the steps walking away from her now, so she quietly moved around the column to head to the nursery for once and for all.
She didn't think her plan through, though, and hit her head again with what now was clear to her, was sort of an angel's head popping out of the side of the column. She examined it for a minute. So much for good taste... The other thing she hadn't planned very thoroughly was that, being a group, there was a small chance that one of them could stay behind for a second, admiring the garden, maybe, or tying his or her shoe. And so there she was, rubbing her head on the side, staring at the most puzzling girl she had ever seen. Claire opened her mouth to excuse herself, but found nothing to say. She had been caught.  

[BlackMint_12]

The girl that couldn't smile

Few seconds had passed since the two girls found each other, but for Claire, it felt like hours. She was just plain terrified that she was going to be forced to pay a visit to the Principal's office, and get Miss Blurrin in trouble just because she didn't do what she was supposed to. I'm an idiot; I'm a soon-to-be-grounded idiot. Look at her, she's about to tell. She will probably scream, I mean, I jumped out of nowhere. She's...
But the girl didn't look scared, nor did she look like she was about to scream, or even talk at all. Now that Claire had calmed herself a little, she noticed that this girl actually looked kind of... indifferent.
She examined her briefly. Right in front of her there was a tall, expressionless girl with rather long black hair held on a low ponytail. She looked a lot like her, to be honest. Well, like a more attractive version of herself, that is. The most significant difference were the eyes. Claire's were vivid green, and the girl's were kind of a shade in between blue and violet. She looked calm and cold, and apparently had no intention whatsoever of saying a word.
"...Agnes, are you coming? We don't want to keep Frederick waiting."
Claire heard the man walking to where she was and saw the girl walk slowly away from her. It looked like she didn't want her to be caught.
"It's a beautiful place, isn't it?"
There was a long moment of silence, and then she spoke. Her voice was just as cold as her eyes.
"...I guess."
"My most precious memories are all from this place. Most of my friends and business partners come from it, and our family friends too. I met your mother here..."
"...I know." Agnes said. Her voice was slightly louder now. "Should we get going now?"
"...You don't sound too happy about this."
"It's the just the joy that makes me speechless."
"Listen to me. This is really important for us, ok? This is the place where you belong. These are the people you belong to. We've let you have it your way until now, but that's not going to happen anymore. We've put this off for too long. This is your last chance to be where you're supposed to be. I thought we'd made ourselves clear."
"I thought so too, and yet, here I am. So let's go and get this over with."
"Is everything alright, my friends?" The Principal had obviously noticed their absence.
"Yes, we were just taking another look at the garden. Agnes has a thing for gardens."
"Oh, do you?" He asked her. The man answered for her.
"Yes, she does. Anyway, what were you saying...?"
"Oh! Yes, yes. Come with me. As I said, she is in class right now, so there shouldn't be any problems..."
Claire bent from behind the column to take a glance at them. The man was tall and had black hair just like Agnes. She couldn't see his eyes though, but his voice was just as cold as hers. She saw him lean to her and say something like "You're going to love it here" to which she answered with a clear "...Whatever". They were leaving. Claire saw Agnes look over her shoulder for a second before she started walking.
"So, Frederick, you're telling me that absolutely nothing has changed from the rules?"
"Not a single rule has been changed. Except for that little detail..."
"Ugh, let's not even talk about it. Those people..." He shook his head. "But, anything else?"
"Not since our founders made the book. Everything's the same here."
"Wonderful."  

[BlackMint_12]

Good Morning, Nurse Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogery...

Claire was standing in front of the nursery before she even knew it. She knocked and waited quietly. She had had more incidents in one day that what she had in the entire last month. The world seemed to be going through some kind of chaotic stage in which she was apparently involved. Great, more changes...
A short, chubby woman looked through one of the nursery's windows. The knock had obviously woken her up. She yawned widely as she opened the door.
"Oh, my, my, what time is it? Time flies when you're doing something you love..." She looked as if she were talking to herself. She then noticed Claire and greeted her with a big smile. "Oh! Hello there!"
Claire was a little surprised by her cheerful tone.
" Oh! Uhm, hi..."
"How can I help you? You're not here to get Professor Wright's pills, are you? Because I told that old man that I wasn't giving him anymore pills until he did what he promised, and he still keeps bringing students to beg me to give them to him. They are useless anyway, if he doesn't do what he's supposed to... I'm not giving him anymore pills."
"No, I'm not here because of that, I...- my teacher, Miss Blurrin, she thinks that I might be sick."
Claire was almost sure that she saw the nurse's eyes get brighter. If she hadn't known better, she would have thought that she was actually happy about it.
"Oh, that's... just..." She looked as if she were trying to restrain her joy. "Come in, then! Let's see..." She started looking for something that turned out to be a thermometer. "Sit right over there... I'll just check your temperature." She grabbed a tag that was hanging from her rope with one hand and pointed at it with the other one. "This-" she started to say "is my name." Claire stared at it for a while.
"So, Nurse Llanfairpwll- I'm sorry, I don't think I know how to pronounce that..." She said, frankly.
"Oh, don't worry about it, haven't met anyone who can actually say the whole thing. You can call me Nurse Llanfair, if you want."
"Thank you. It's... where is it from?"
"It's from Wales. I think it's the name of a city. How did we end up with the name of a city as our last name, you ask? No idea. It's kind of original, though."
"Yeah, but isn't it...?" Claire thought about it for a second, and then decided to let it pass. "Never mind."
"So, tell me, what is exactly wrong with you? Are you feeling dizzy? Nauseous, maybe? Have you been feeling like you're not yourself, lately?"
"No, no, nothing like that, I just...well, coming to think of it," Claire said, "I did feel kind of dizzy a while ago... maybe." And I've definitely not been feeling quite like myself, lately...
"Ah! That could be extremely serious! Have you been pregnant recently?"
"Uhm... no...?"
"It could be a tumor then, perhaps..."
"...I...hope not?"
Suddenly, Nurse Llanfair, who had been flicking through the pages of an old dusty medicine book, turned to face Claire. The look of her absolutely terrified patient was enough to fully wake her up. She shook her head in embarrassment.
"I'm so sorry. I just... no one ever comes here anymore, every single kid in this school has his or her own personal doctor... It gets lonely, you know? It feels like I haven't treated anyone in ages. It was almost comforting to believe for a second that I had a real case. I didn't mean to scare you. Your chances of having a tumor at this age are very small anyway, so cheer up!"
"I... ok?"
Nurse Llanfair continued as if nothing had happened.
"Well, your temperature is normal, and you seem fine to me, although you do look a little pale. Are you always this pale?"
"I have no idea, I guess I am..."
"Ah, you know what? I just realized that I haven't asked your name."
Claire stood there, quiet, for a moment. Yeah, well, you haven't asked for my symptoms either...
"...Ambrose. Claire Ambr-"
It all happened too quickly. She didn't quite know how or when, but before she knew it, Nurse Llanfair was holding her remarkably tight on what seemed to be some kind of hug.
"Oh, my poor child!"
"Wha-"
"You don't have to say a thing. After everything you've been through...!"
"...I-!"
"The professors talk about you all the time. Such a terrible thing...! You deserve to rest. I'll make you a note. You can take the next three days off. Have some fun. Get a tan -you're too pale, seriously. Get the school's responsibilities off your mind. Just come see me if you need more time, or if you need to talk...! I'm always here."
She finally managed to pull away from the hug. What is wrong with this people?!
"...I... yeah, thanks, I'll... bye."
And she ran off as fast as she could.
So, this was the reason why she liked Kyle and Sarah so much.  

[BlackMint_12]

A little bit of Hope.

Claire was walking through the Main Hall when she heard the bell ring.
So, she thought, three days. Three days plus the weekend, that gives me five days to catch up. Although maybe I shouldn't keep missing classes, I'm already way behind...
It was pretty obvious that she wasn't going to take Nurse Llanfair's advice about forgetting about school. Quite the opposite, actually.
The bell was in fact a long, complicated melody played on a piano, and it was considerably hard to ignore. If I don't head to my room now I won't be able to get there until the next class begins... and, even worse, I might run into Narcissa as I try to get there... I need to hurry.
Her room was pretty easy to get to even though it was on the third floor, mostly because there were a thousand ways to get to it. Chances were Narcissa would take one of the big, glorious stairs from the front so that everyone could see her, so she was going take one from the back -which was designed for employees, and made it far more modest but a lot more useful.
She thought about those people she had seen a while ago. There was something about them that just didn't seem right. And that girl, Agnes... there was definitely something wrong with her.
A thought amused her. She had been talking to more people in the last few hours that in the entire last month. It wasn't so shocking, though. The only girl she had seen around before was Amy -she remembered her because she was always carrying a million books-, and the rest of them were kind of a mystery to her. And there were thousands of other students she had never talked to yet. I should already see the stairs... oh, there they are.
"Well, well." A voice behind her said. "What do we have here."
Claire turned as fast as it was humanly possible. A very good looking girl was walking towards her with a weird smile on her face, as if she knew something Claire didn't. She noticed she wasn't wearing an uniform.
"Another one, uh? That makes four already. This year should be fun."
"Excuse me?"
She kept smiling. "...Newbies. I counted four newbies this year." Claire had the feeling that the girl was standing a little bit too close to her and unconsciously took a step backwards -and bumped into a wall-, but just as she did so, the girl took a step forward and got even closer. She could feel her breath on her face as she spoke.
"Am I right? You're a newbie, aren't you?"
Claire wasn't the kind of girl who would let someone corner her. She moved to a side and answered her, regaining some composure.
"Yes, I'm new. I've been here for a month or so." Silence grew between them, as the girl seemed to have been confused by her answer. Claire noticed the she had tanned skin and black eyes, and her hair was brown -not like Madeline Hunter's hair (who was almost blond), she thought, but a lot darker-, and rather short. She had an accent, too. Suddenly the girl seemed to have understood what had happened, and laughed. Claire still didn't.
"Oh, right," She said, sounding a little amused. "ok. Well, welcome to the Institute then, new girl."
Claire stared at her for a second.
"...You really don't know who I am?"
The girl raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Should I?"
Claire felt a sudden relief. "No, no." She extended her hand to the stranger. "I'm Claire. Claire Ambrose."
"You can call me Hope, Claire Ambrose." The stranger said, as she extended hers. Claire realized she was smiling when the girl smiled back.
"Well, I should get going..."
"That's fine. I'm waiting for someone, so I'll stay here."
"I guess I'll see you around..."
"That's for sure."
She started climbing the stairs. The girl watched her until she disappeared from her sight.
"I'm new here? Did she think...?" She smiled again moving her head from side to side. "Newbies... they're so adorable sometimes."

Claire could already hear the Principal's voice coming from inside her room and was deciding whether she should wait for them to leave or walk into it just to have more people talking about her when she saw Agnes waiting outside looking not too happy, and a lot of maids taking what seemed to be furniture inside.
"No. This is her room. I don't want to be here. I want a room for my own."

This could not be good.  

[BlackMint_12]

Memories from two seconds ago.

Claire was staring at the mirror as if she had never seen her own face before. Everything was so strange, so bizarre... Luckily, she had found a place where she knew she would be alone. The bathrooms from the first floor were always empty.
"I should get used to it, right?" She told herself. "How hard can this be?"
It wasn't just that she couldn't find her classes, nor her room, but she was so behind in lectures and reading material that she was starting to wonder if what was left of the year -which had just started- would be enough to catch up. She had only been there for about a week and, to be honest, that had been enough to terrify her.
A rather short girl walked into the bathroom but didn't seem to notice her right away. Claire was quite amused by the fact that she seemed to be talking to herself enthusiastically. She was holding a jacket.
"That idiot... if whatever he has doesn't kill him, I will. Oh!" She missed stepping on Claire's bagpack by miracle, and this was enough to take her off her trance.
"Oh, hello there. You're new here."
"Uhm, yes. Hi." Claire answered, rather clumsily. Is it that obvious...? She was already used to having people question her like she was some sort of high profile criminal, but that didn't make it any more pleasant. This girl, however, didn't seem to be too eager to start the interrogation. Instead, she started trying some earrings. Claire thought that if it was possible for shiny things to light someone's eyes on fire, this earrings should be it. She had never seen anything that looked so... expensive.
They kept glancing at each other every once in a while, until Claire, for the first time since she was in the school, broke the silence.
"...So..."
The girl raised an eyebrow as she looked at her. She sighed as she put the earrings away.
"A gift from my mother. They're supposed to be classy and all that... I just have to wear them when she comes to visit."
"...Oh."
"It's rather strange to have new students that are this old..." Claire was almost offended by that comment, " How old are you?"
"...Seventeen."
"Hm. You're a year younger than me. I guess that makes me an old lady." She joked. Claire smiled.
"...I'm Claire."
The girl bowed with her head.
"Sarah. I'd tell you my last name, but I'd rather hear yours first. My family seems to be a little unpopular lately."
Claire hesitated.
"...Maybe we could skip our last names, then?"
"Oh, you see, now I just have to know. You've got me intrigued, woman."
"Well, alright then... it's Ambrose, which apparently seems to be some kind of magic word that makes people behave really weird."
"Oh, but it is, girl. It is like a magic word;" She said. "sorry about your parents."
"I didn't know them."
"Oh," Sarah looked surprised." then I guess you're lucky."
"Excuse me?"
"Well, if you never met them, you can't really miss them, right? I mean, I'm sure it hurts, but at least it doesn't hurt as much as it would if you had actually known them... It's a horrible thing, to loose a parent. At least this way you get to live without missing them that much. I apologize if I'm making a stupid comment, I don't know how you're feeling."
"It's ok. They died when I was three. I hardly remember their faces, and my uncles were the ones who raised me, so I guess you're right."
"Oh."
There was an awkward silence, and then Sarah's eyes simply lit up.
"You know what you need? You need a friend," She said "and I can be one. After all, I must be a good friend. I'm washing the moron's jacket for him... Oh, you have to meet Kyle. He's not the brightest guy on school, but he has a kind heart... I think. Unfortunately, he happens to be sick now, which is why he thought it was a great idea to puke all over his jacket. Come on."
She didn't quite know why, but she followed her. And she made friends with them. They had had lunch together ever since that day. Well, ever since Kyle got better. Maybe Sarah was right. Maybe she really needed friends.

This thought came to her mind as she saw Agnes argue with her parents. She seemed lonely, and she was obviously alone. And right there, hiding behind the stairs and watching the girl she didn't know throw sarcastic comments and threatening looks at everyone who dared to stare at her, she felt an urge to help. Just because everyone can use a friend. Even rich, cold brats- I mean, girls.