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She would have been foolish to think that with her promotion there wouldn't be some additional responsibility, but the sheer amount of it was what had surprised her. Selena was an organised girl, but a week into her new full-time secretarial position and she was still struggling a little to juggle everything. She was definitely getting there, though, and so when the dark-haired man strolled up to the desk she knew who he was before he introduced himself. It was right here, on her orange sticky-note (orange meant important!).

"Ah, Mr Black," she answered, polite and courteous in her mannerisms. She stood as he approached and offered a wide smile, her hair neatly arranged with a selection of sparkly hair-grips and her attire smart. "The dean has been expecting you - his office is this way." She smiled again, this time extending it to the younger boy standing beside him, as she shuffled out from behind her desk and showed him to the door of the dean's office. She knocked briskly on the door, waiting for a 'come in' before twisting the handle and holding the door open for the visitor. Once he'd entered, she allowed the door to swing shut behind him, waiting for the satisfying 'click' of the hatch before she turned back to Chase and offered a wider grin. "Hey there."

Her polite manner disappeared in an instant - whilst years of ballet kept her posture all but perfect, her demeanor suddenly became a lot warmer and more welcoming as she returned to her desk, lifting herself up to sit on the corner. It got boring being by herself in the office all day, so any chance of a conversation she was going to grab with both hands. "I'm Selena." She extended a hand to the boy, eyes drifting up to the bright streak in his hair, "That's a pretty cool style you have."

She glanced to the door Chase's father had just entered, and offered him a sympathetic smile, "I can relate. My dad's a d**k too."

After a small pause he shook her hand, although he seemed rather awkward about the whole thing. She wasn't sure why - she wasn't intimidating was she? Selena frowned inwardly at the thought, but outwardly was still smiling and making a conscious effort to look as welcoming as possible. She wondered briefly if he'd sit, but he'd been standing for a while now so she assumed that was how he was most comfortable.

When Chase finally started speaking her smile stretched a little further, the corners of her lips twitching in amusement. To start with she'd been wondering if he was mute, and now he didn't seem to be able to stop talking! She got the feeling that he'd been stuck inside for a while, bottling this all up. Sometimes all it took was someone willing to listen, and Selena had always been told she was a good listener. He seemed to catch himself and apologised, but Selena dismissed it with a wave. "Don't worry about it. Sometimes you just need to let go, y'know?"

At least he was smiling now...sort of. "My dad's in jail for screwing my whole family, and sort of the country in general, over." It was almost like it was a competition, who's dad was more of a d**k. Selena knew that in her eyes, it would always be Percival.

The compliment came as a surprise, so much so that her smile faltered and her eyes widened, her face somewhat reminiscent of a deer caught in headlights. She quickly caught herself however, offering her own, somewhat embarrassed smile back. Oh god, her cheeks weren't going pink were they? "Heh...thanks." She wasn't really sure what to say, so tried to play along, "You're not so bad yourself."

Glancing at her nails, feeling that was a better bet than looking at his face and turning a distinctly un-beautiful shade of tomato, she changed the subject, "So are you on house arrest or something at the moment?"

She responded to his sympathy with a small, grateful smile, but then quickly moved on. Selena watched as he played with his hair, a larger smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. It was almost...endearing, the way he did that, a habit that he probably didn't realize he had. She didn't know whether she should be saying cute, especially if this kid used to be a student here. That was just inappropriate, surely?

The blonde rolled her eyes as he spoke again, though the grin that had stretched her lips gave away that it was a joke. He wasn't even allowed to the gym? "What did you do to deserve lockdown, then?" This might be invading personal space a little, so Selena toned down the grin and merely looked interested. If he didn't want to tell, he didn't have to, she wouldn't be offended. Heck, she'd have told him to stop being nosy if he'd pushed her on the subject of her own father, so she wouldn't blame him for telling her the same thing.

Still, she was curious.

Ah, running away. Selena nodded, looking to her feet for a moment as she pondered how, for her family, it had been the other way around. Her father had been the one trying to do the running.

She'd assumed that he'd been purposefully vague and that his explanation would conclude there, but suddenly he was talking and talking and didn't seem able to stop. The blonde lifted her head, blue eyes meeting his and keeping the gaze as Chase let his life story stumble out of his mouth. She was surprised - after all, he hardly knew her - but at the same time she got the very strong feeling that he needed this, that he needed someone to listen, and so she shuffled her bum to make herself more comfortable and did just that.

Her expression was one of interest as she listened, giving away nothing else as she watched him carefully. She was amazed that parents could manage to hold such control over their child, especially a teenager who was presumably more than capable of looking after themselves. He looked to the floor but she kept her attention on him, watching his hair instead. All soon became clear however, and with a nod to show she understood and it all made sense, Selena finally broke the eye contact to look at her shoes again. She had a scuff on one, how annoying.

What was she supposed to say that to? The kid had pretty much just laid bare everything that was crap about his life, and she wasn't sure what she was expected to say. "That...that really sucks, Chase." She looked up to him again, offering a small, shy smile, trying to tease one out of him in return. She always liked it better when people were smiling, especially their eyes - eyes were supposed to be the window to your thoughts and your soul, and when a person smiled you could see their happiness reflected in them.

"You look much better now," she continued, chewing the inside of her lip, "But I'm guessing he won't let you leave again?" She assumed it was a stupid question, since he certainly would have done so already if the opportunity was there. Reaching a hand up to scratch an itch on her eyebrow, Selena sighed softly. "I guess the only thing to do is play lapdog, at least for the time being. Build up his trust, make him think you've changed. Heck, you could say I talked sense into you - then bam, first chance you get you run."

She wondered if she'd said the wrong thing - it was a difficult situation to be in, and she'd tried to remain positive but realistic. It was horrible when someone was trying to convince you that you were just being dramatic, but at the same time she didn't want to agree with him that s**t happens and send him plummeting further into the dark depths of despair. She wanted to strike a middle ground, but that there was where the difficulty lay.

Chase finally spoke up, slowly at first, and the blonde offered a reassuring smile as he did so. Selena was treading carefully, not wanting to upset her new friend, and so she let him speak without interrupting. Heck, he may have just told her what he was going through, but she still couldn't even begin to figure out everything going on in his head. People were complicated, and she'd learnt the hard way that you shouldn't assume anything about anyone. Not even your family.

The reassurance in her expression faded a little along with her smile, and her nostrils flared as she breathed out heavily. It had been silly of her to assume that he hadn't already thought of every possible escape method, but she'd wanted to help. The smile that brightened his face caused hers to suddenly jump back, however, and she laughed a little as he suggested hanging around more.

"I'm sure I could find something for you to do to make yourself useful. It does get kinda lonely around here, especially in the school holidays." She liked the idea, although she doubted the budget would stretch enough to be able to afford him a wage. Still, that didn't seem to be what he was after. "I could, y'know, instill a sense of responsibility or something. Being the responsible, sensible, polite girl I am." She winked at him, lips stretching to a grin.

He seemed up for it, which was nice. If she was creeping him out or he didn't particularly want the company, it would just be awkward having him here - for both of them. But he seemed genuinely eager, and so she smiled and nodded and made a mental note to mention it to the dean later that afternoon. "I can do that!"

But all good things had to come to an end, and time always seemed to fly when you were having fun. The door to the dean's office clicked open, and Selena hastily hopped off of her desk, flashing a bright smile at Chase before her expression faded back to one of politeness, the blonde giving a polite nod as the two men exitted the office and said their goodbyes. Walking back around to her side of the desk, she scribbled something on a post-it note before returning to her previous position, reaching out a hand to shake Chase's hand as his father came back into earshot.

"It was nice to meet you Chase, I hope you can help me organise my filing again sometime." Her smile was warm, but not too bright, and when she took her hand away she left the crumpled post-it note in his hand.

When he opened it later he'd find her phone number.