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Spring is truly the best season to go jogging. Perfect weather, not too hot, not too cold. Everything is coming back to life. Look, these trees were so pretty people stopped to take pictures…
… wait a minute.
Alessa stopped trotting several feet after going past the white-haired girl. Slowing down, she stared at the girl behind her, bothered by an unexpected flash. Somehow, she was familiar, and her inexistent sixth sense tingled. She seemed busy, but that didn’t stop the brunette from approaching her with a curious look on her face and ask politely: “E-excuse me, you’re reminding me of someone… have we met?”
Hadn’t she seen that exact hairstyle in a TV show? Or something like that? It’s always awkward not to be able to pinpoint such details right away.

An eyebrow was raised as the brunette searched for a worthy reply. It didn’t come to her right away. “No, no, I’m not at Crystal, but…”
Hesitation, more hesitation. It was right on the tip of her tongue, but what was it, exactly?
Without a warning, her dark eyes went wide in en epiphany. “Ah! Oh my gosh!” she exclaimed.

The genre savvy should not have started worrying at that point, nor those who knew Alessa.

Relief came fast with the following sentence. “You were at my birthday! Of course!” Her mouth went agape as the recollections of that day hurried into her mind. “Someone told you to give me the Tarantino package! Oh dear, I should thank you, that was my best gift of the day” she explained while moving her hands thoughtlessly in excitation. Even though she didn’t think that girl was directly responsible for the idea, she wanted to make sure she was properly congratulated. “I-I hope I’m not disturbing you! Oh gosh. Do you… do you remember who told you to give me that? I don’t have the slightest clue who did it.” Actually, she was oddly attracted by the “secret admirer” option, no matter how unlikely it was. As she became a bit less calm due to the sudden rush of memories, she failed to notice much more about Aurora's attitude other than she must have had a clue about the whole even. Hopefully, she wasn't ashamed at having had any actual contact with a Meadowviewer; she'd heard bad stories about such snubby girls.

Naivety wasn’t exactly the brunette’s most important flaw. Her judgment was ordinarily reasonable.
Ordinarily.
This time, the story she was given fit the (admittedly crazy) mental scenario she had had in her mind for a while. One of her brow rose, as she recited a short list of characteristics out loud, with an underlying scepticism that was shrinking with each word. She wrongly attributed the cringe to the logical embarrassment of being associated in any way with someone publicly considered a “terrorist”.
“Not so strange. A terrorist? Was it someone, like… with white boots? White gloves? Tan, with long white hair? About your height?”
If Aurora had doubted the power of the glamour any time before, she’d just gotten the confirmation it was extremely strong. That, or she could as well have deduced Alessa David was extremely dense.
“Please tell me that’s the person! This is… someone I need to find”, she replied as an awkward justification. Pretending she knew Polaris well wouldn’t benefit anyone here. “Ah, I must sound silly, but I’ve seen her once, just once. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t help her or anything. It’s complicated. I can explain.”
She’d rather not pass off as the accomplice of a Sailor.

It was Alessa's turn to sigh in relief and speak without restraint. "Thank God, you know who I'm talking about! Oh dear, what are the odds I'd find you like that, while jogging?"
Then she remembered the very topic could be considered very suspicious (and even more so, when you remembered she basically lied at the police and blamed a small case of amnesia so that she could avoid giving any information on the Sailor), and the volume of her voice synchronized with that of the pale-haired girl.

Seeing the pinky, she smiled brightly, in remembrance of her own promises she made back in the time, promises she never broke. She felt like she had just found a trustworthy ally. She raised her own hand to complete the pinky swear. "I don't know what's your opinion on those "Sailor scout" persons", she whispered with confidence, "and I don't know if that's what they all do either or not, but..."
Her voice became hesitant, though still had jolly undertones. "… this girl, she saved my life. I think. Maybe she is a terrorist, but I want to at least thank her for that, but, well, tracking down these people is basically impossible! So, I owe her something important."
It was the first time in months she had the occasion to share her secret. A fraction of that weight was lifted from her shoulders.

Alessa's face shone with genuine happiness for a short instant, her cheeks bright with a red glow as she released her own finger. “It's so funny, don't you think? In such a big city... it's a small world, after all.” Again, her lips formed a relieved and grateful smile. One less thing she had to worry about.
There was a short silence before she dared speak again. “I... don't know if you'll see her again, but I hope we do. I was glad to meet you... what was your name again?” The sudden rush of emotion blurred her mind, and she wasn't sure anymore what she or the other student had said minutes before. “The name's Alessa. I'm at Meadowview – did I tell you that already? I'm not sure – and I come around here often for a daily jogging when the weather allows it.” Her blush faded slowly, as she regained her composure.

“Oh, you need to take pictures? That's an interesting homework. Pictures of what?”, remarked Alessa, before asking her favourite question: “Is there any way I can help?”
She'd started jogging in place without even noticing.