Chapter One: First Impressions.

Lanna walked into the class room boldly. It was her first day at this school. She had just transferred. She didn't want to show how nervous or scared she was. Lanna kept a look of indifference as she stood at the front of the class to introduce herself. "My name is Lanna Howling."
"Lanna would you like to take the seat available next to Ayumi?" The teacher points to the empty chair beside a girl and Lanna walked over and she put her bag down before sitting down.
In the back seat was a red-haired girl who was dead asleep in her seat. Her head is propped up on her textbook and notebooks, and she's gnawing on her lip in her sleep. Lanna's bemused by the teachers lack of reaction to this and seemed to ignore the sleepy girl who Lanna now sat beside. She couldn't help but smile though just a little at least at the girls' cute expression. But not wanting to be distracted by the task at hand she sat back in her seat more comfortably before getting out a book and her pen so that she could begin taking any necessary notes for the class ahead of her.
The girl's eyes opened half way, a sort of blank expression upon her face with sleepy looking eyes. The eyes were an amber, almost red, color, and they stared at Lanna for a moment. "A new student... Blegh... Fresh meat." Is all that the red headed girl mutters; just loud enough to be heard by the closest kids, who giggled at the sleepy comment. Lanna heard the comment crystal clear of course and a small frown threatened to furrow her brow. She looks over to the other girls still rather sleepy expression. She's in the midst of a battle of emotional reactionas to what to do. What to say?! 'I won't let her make me look weak.' Lanna thought to herself as her 'I'm annoyed-o-metre rose within her. She stops her writing momentarily and decides to lean closer to the red head as she whispered; "hey now, that's not very nice to say to your new class mate- the seating arrangements are permanent here; so let's agree not to say those things to each other~"
Lanna had thought herself to be quiet clever and not over reacting or under reacting. But the girls reaction to her words are unexpected as the first insult. Lanna watches as her lips twitched into a smug smile, and she leant forward to whisper in the ear of the guy in front of her. He sniggers nastily and passes the message on to all his buddies, starting a gossip string. The girl lays her head back down, still smiling at me with a hint of malice. "Welcome to my world, Howlie"
Lanna sits back up and glances at the board, her notes and then to Ayumi. She had to admit she was curious as to what was whispered while at the same time irked that she may have made a screw up by answering the girls' twisted comment. "Hmph, well thanks for the welcome...Ayumi." Lanna muttered in reply she decided that she'd have to be careful with this strange girl...at least until she found out more about her...
"You're welcome, fresh meat" Her eyes slide closed yet again, and she's asleep almost immediately. The other students are still giggling and whispering about the comment Ayumi had started, laughing about it behind their hands. They were pulling a classic move. Trying not to let Lanna see how they were laughing at her while making it obvious that they were laughing at her. Lanna felt her anger begin to stir deep inside her she gritted her teeth before letting out a breath. This was gonna be hard. But she couldn't allow anything that happened in her last school repeat here too! She glanced at the people behind her and then pretended to be REALLY busy writing down the notes. The other students eventually quiet down, only just in time for the school bell to ring and the class to end. Everyone but Ayumi seemed to jump from their seats. Laughing, calling their friend's names...Lanna watched them sighing at their regularity. She stood up and glanced beside her; the redhead stretches, yawning a bit before lifting her head and resting her chin on her hands "Meh..."
Lanna put her books away and then looks at the red head again. She was pretty attractive, but that just seemed to piss Lanna off more. Who was she? Lanna knew she should leave. Have a little self control maybe. But she stood there and said in a low voice so that the teacher didn't hear; "What...did you say?"
Ayumi yawns a bit again, then looks over at Lanna indifferance painted on her doll-like face. "Hm? Oh, that. I said 'Fresh Meat for the football team. Fresh Meat for the cheerleaders.'" She grins at the other girl, her unusually sharp canines flashing in the light. Then she stands and walks off.
Lanna stood baffled for a moment in a bit of a daze. Until the teacher says, "Are you okay Lanna?"
"F-Fine!" Lanna says stiffly leaving her seat completely. "Thank you miss." She picked up her bag and rushed out of the class before the teacher could stop her. 'That damn Ayumi! Who the hell is she; and what was she talking about? All this 'fresh meat' shit.' "Shit, shit, shit!" She murmurs walking briskly into the lunch courtyard. Not wanting to draw attention Lanna decided it would probably be best to stop doing that. She let out a sigh and scanned the area to figure out where to sit. Her eyes eventually rested upon her class mate. Ayumi was sitting by herself against the wall of the library building. Her hair was loose around her shoulders, and Lanna noticed she was nibbling on a small red strawberry as she read what appeared to be a thick novel that lay in her lap. Not one person is sitting near her, nor do they even glance her way from their seats. Lanna sees an opportunity and glances around. She didn't know where to sit...and Ayumi WAS going to be the person she'd be seated next to for the rest of the year...Lanna made up her mind and walked over and sat stubbornly beside the smaller figure of Ayumi. She glances up, a look of surprise on her face before she puts back on an indifferent mask. "So, Howlie..." She says, but the words trail off... She had no idea what to say. So she shrugged and went back to her reading.
"Hmmn, yeah...so Ayumi..." Lanna doesn't know much what to say neither; she gets out a bacon and cheese sandwich and takes a bite before asking, "What book you reading?"
"A Thousand Grains of Sand..." She mutters, trying to hide the surprise that someone was talking to her and asking about her book. Almost reluctantly, she pulls a box of strawberries from her bag and holds it out. "Want one?"
Progress! Lanna thought to herself. She smiled happily, "yes please, I love strawberries, they're my fave fruit...are they yours too?"
The smaller girl nods a bit, almost shyly. "My cousins own a strawberry farm outside of town. I go every other weekend to get fresh berries."
Lannas surprised at the sudden shyness and quietness of the smaller red head. Not at all the little fireball from class. "Wow, that's neato." She really didn't know what else to say to that.
Ayumi smiles, then the smile dies away as quickly as it was born. She returns to her reading, licking strawberry juice off her fingers. Lanna smiles and sits back and continues eating her lunch. It was good. And she felt great to sit by Ayumi without too much awkwardness. Ayumi simply keeps reading, trying to focus on the words on the page, not the ones in her head. Lanna finishes her sandwich and merrily yawns stretching out and leaning back. She smiled and looked up to the sky; completely relaxed.
But too soon, did the bell ring signing that lunch had come to its end, and Ayumi stands, grabbing her bag and her book before melting into the crowd of bodies moving towards their classes. Lanna watches her go and frowns a little. 'Hmph! And I here I was thinking that I was odd...' she thought to herself grabbing her timetable from her bag before heading to her next class....I wonder if we share any other classes, She found herself wondering.