Welcome to Gaia! ::

Danika had risen at sunrise that morning feeling surprisingly nervous about going to the new academy. Having kept poor grades and long since stopped caring, it was almost unnerving to find herself with butterflies in her stomach. She supposed that even she wasn't immune to the fear of change.

The girl had requested to be dropped off early that morning so that she would have time to walk around the campus before the other students began their travelings. It was a strange feeling to know that she wouldn't be going home after school, but rather to the dorms. Going home only on the weekends was going to be a bit depressing for Danika due to the lack of serenity and familiarity of her things, but the greenhouse and library were fairly extensive at the Crystal Academy so she mentally consoled herself and fell to a neutral meditative state.

She hadn't actually seen her new dorm yet. All she knew was that she was without a room mate, which suited her quite well. Danika was almost tempted to go see the room now, but decided that could wait til after classes. For now, she was curious to see which students were the early risers. It wasn't for any particular reason, just a habit of scouting other's habits. Routine made abnormalties pop out all the more blatantly, so being able to note those habits of people were a caution sign for Danika.

Having scouted out the campus the day before, Danika was already prepared to find her classes without getting lost. After aimlessly wandering around for some time, she spotted a flower that had been carelessly uprooted in one of the floewr beds. She stared at it for a long minute, quickly looking to her left, then her right, followed by her sidling up to it and gingerly shifting the soil to make room for it. Once the flower was rooted and properly standing, Danika clapped her hands together.

So she had scouted her classrooms, but she hadn't quite made note of where the restrooms were just yet. She stared at the dirt on her hands, giving an annoyed sigh as she started to walk again, this time to try and find some source of water. She saw another student approaching from the opposite direction and paused, unable to decide if she should ask for directions. Last time she did that, it ended up being a rather awkward moment. No, she could find it on her own. She did, however, make eye contact and gave a polite nod, hoping that this wasn't the kind of school where everyone knew everyone and new kids stuck out.

Danika was surprised to have been spoken to, quickly hiding her hands casually behind her back. She was flustered, and a bit angry at having been called out on how lost she always seemed to be looking these days, not to mention she still had pent up frustration from her previous failed socializing attempt.

"Being new automatically makes me lost?" She asked, her voice a flat, neutral tone, dark eyes shining. It occured to her that she was just taking her anger out on a poor stranger now, rebuking herself for her poor choice of words. Danika took a quiet, deep breath, mentally apologizing for her rudeness while not being able to bring herself to verbalize it.

"If I am so new, then by what experiences would you know upon which to read my face when you have never seen it before? I could have been laughing and you wouldn't have been able to tell." Neutral and cold though she may be, Danika also admittedly had a short temper. Though, considering she didn't laugh all that much, it was probably a poor analogy to use.

Despite her flaring emotions, she managed to lasso them in and force herself back to apathy. This was a girl she didn't know and probably wouldn't see again, so getting herself worked up over it was a waste of time. And, really, insulting people was the last thing she needed to be doing. She didn't need any enemies at school when she had enough to deal with elsewhere.

Her brows knit in self conflict, Danika looked the girl in the eyes, "I apologize for my sharp words, that was terrible of me."

"Oh, I wasn't laughing. I'm lost." Danika was no liar, at least.

She sheepishly held forth her hands, still covered with a film of soil, "Well, I know where I'm at so not technically lost, but I seem unable to find a restroom."

Well, that wasn't awkward. Not at all.

Glad that the main wave of tension seemed to have passed, Danika gave a relieved breath. So, that way, right, hall, left, or was it left, right? "If you don't have any prior engagments, I'd appreciate it."

She thought back to old magazine clippings she had read in the library, "A long time ago whenever there were pictures of a house, I remember the bathroom photo was at such an angle as to hide the toilet and sink as they were improper to show. I wonder if this was built on a similar concept."

Danika had, of course, heard of the Hillsworth school when she was investigating the online brochures for schools in the area with her father, however this was the first she had heard anything of its reputation.

"I don't know much of the students at Hillsworth. I heard it was an all-boys school so I thought it similar in nature to this one?" She inquired, curious over the venom in the other girl's voice. Was it really that bad? Perhaps their teachers didn't all have their PhDs yet.

"Ah, thank you Mili." Pleased to have finally met a faucet (unsurprisingly shiny with floral scented hand soap), Danika set about to scrubbing her hands clean.

Worried now that the Hillsworth school was something of a terror, she let her imagination play with it for a few seconds before mentally sighing and pushing it off in favor of reality. It was probably that the boys were either stuck up, rude, crass, or flirted too much. Or all of the above.

"Ah, pardon. I am Danika." She nodded, drying her hands on the towel. Even the towl, disposable though it may be, felt like it would have cost a lot.

Not wanting to fall into another awkward silence, Danika decided to try out the concept of idle chit chat, not looking up from the towel, "What classes have you had so far? Anything interesting?"