Shay walked through the halls with purpose, exiting the building’s front doors.

Then... she slowed down to wave to a group of her classmates.

--”Hi Shayyyyy~!!”

--”Hey, Pres, we’re headed to the karaoke cafe right now!”

Oh. That sounded fun. Even though she’d be hanging out with people she didn’t know--

--”Hey, are you stupid? The President’s not gonna hang out with you just because you asked.”

--”Oh, I’m so sorry!! I just thought--”

--”Sorry, Miss Pres. Have a good day!!”

--”Maybe hang out with us next time!!”

“Stay safe,” Shay waved, inwardly crushed by her own awkwardness.

Maybe she should have said ‘yes’ right away. It would have been out of character for her image, but she would have loved a distraction from the... stuff she was going through.

She’d always politely refused those kinds of invitations before...

Home responsibilities. School work.

...Secrecy. Fear of embarrassment.

It was her own fault for self-sabotaging her social life. That didn’t make her feel any better about it, though.

She made her way to the courtyard fountain, heading toward the one, single friend she had in school.

...She had to wait in line to see her, though.

A second-year girl stepped in front of her friend, raising her arms like she was praising the sun.

”Senpai of the pool,” she said, “what is your wisdom?"

An adorable brown girl of Indian descent popped her head out of the water, wearing a neon-colored set of diving goggles and a snorkel.

She dyed the inner layer of her short hair a gorgeous aqua blue, but the way she kept just above the water line made her two-tone locks look like octopus tentacles.

“BewAaaare the gardens behind the scHoOoOL~” she warned in a campy, show-offy manner.

--and she said it through the snorkel, just to be... extra.

The two second-years shrank back in fear.

“I-is it because of the vampire that lives there?” the friend asked.

“It’s because it’s pRivAte pRoperTyyyYyy~” Aquila moaned.

She took her mouthpiece out before adding, “But seriously, don’t go back there. It’s not really a secret, but the school received a complaint.”

Made sense.

The girls calmed down, gave gratitude to their senpai of the pool, and went about their business.

Aquila Davey was something of an anomaly at their school... but, for whatever reason, no one, not even the teachers, seemed to mind her... quirkiness.

She dressed how she liked, in a range from cute: anime cosplay and cartoon pajamas to... epic: plastic armor pieces and sci-fi military uniforms-- with show-accurate ribbons and dangly decorations.

She was also the go-to girl for interesting gossip. She had a huge group of friends and her natural charm made her really easy to talk to.

She was a shining example of not caring what people thought about her. And that... made people care about her-- or at least trust her enough to share their deepest, darkest secrets.

Shay was a little jealous of that... but, realistically, even thinking about talking to a single unfamiliar person ramped up her anxiety. The whole time, she’d be thinking about how she’d be judged for her manner of speech, her vocabulary, her expressions and body language... her makeup?

She offered her hand, Aquila taking it and pulling herself out of the water.

Of course, she whipped her short hair up and back like she was a mermaid.

“Hey, Shay,” she said. “Did you have a question?”

“Am I allowed to ask why you were in the school fountain?”

Aquila took off her goggles, grabbing a nearby towel to dry her hair.

Her eyes were an enchanting greyish-blue; they really popped, especially against her darker skin tone.

“I was making sure it was safe for the swim team,” she said.

Shay looked past her. The fountain was nowhere near big enough for recreational swimming-- much less their swim team.

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But sure. Why not?

“And what about the plant nursery behind the school?” she asked, “Did you check out that place too? --is it safe?”

“I did,” Aquila nodded. “It’s safe for humans, but... eh, some of the things there are really sensitive. And you do have to watch out for things that’ll poke or cut you~”

Her expression suddenly turned serious, “Pink Camellias.”

“Pink... Camellias?”

That was... strangely specific.

“Pink Camellias,” Aquila grinned. “They’re affordable.”

“And... what about the vampire?” Shay asked.

It was... a risky question. Shay hated looking and sounding stupid-- and openly admitting that she still wanted to believe in fairytales despite her age was doing exactly that.

“The owner’s not a vampire,” Aquila replied. “I mean-- it’d be more interesting if she was, but she’s not.”

Hah. Of course not. Shay shook her head. She was glad she didn’t get mocked for asking.

Aquila was her only friend in school.

And, consistent with her character, she didn’t judge her or make her feel special or different. She was always very sweet, a great listener, and--

“Hey, are you coming?”

Aquila had started walking off in her rainbow flip-flops. She’d turned to look back with an annoyed pout.

Shay caught up in a few hastened and slightly embarrassed steps.

Maybe she wasn’t as close to Aquila as she would have liked, but they were definitely still friends.

“Shay, you’re not dating Andy, right?”

“Ew. No,” Shay replied almost instantly. “Is that what people are saying about me?”

“No, they know better,” Aquila smirked. “It’s still your second-most popular ship, though.”

“And... who’s the first?”

Also, how was she even getting that information? Did she go around school with a clipboard taking a poll?

“According to the votes, it’s me!” Aquila declared proudly.

“Really?” Shay replied in a flat voice.

“The election was rigged,” Aquila said with a sparkle in her eyes,” courtesy of yours, truly. Oh, and if you were curious, glasses-guy made it to third place.”

James?

With her?

Shay furrowed her brows.

He wasn’t... bad-looking.

But a ship was just a ship. It was thought up by other people without the consideration of persons involved. As far as she knew, James didn’t like her like that.

“Oh, did you hear about what happened to second place?” Aquila asked.

Shay frowned, subconsciously clutching her bag closer to her.

“Y...eah,” she said, ”He got into an accident, right?”

“Tss, no,” Aquila giggled, “That wasn’t an accident. But I’m talking about the locker room thing.”

“Oh, no,” Shay said, nibbling at her lip. “What about the locker room?”

Aquila explained.

There was... a lot of information that Shay did not want to hear.

“Oh, that’s dis-GuStiNg!” she said. “Is that what usually happens in boys’ locker rooms?”

“I dunno, probably,” Aquila shrugged. “I heard they draw a lot of dicks on the walls.”

“...W-why?”

“It’s an eternal MySteRyyy~” Aquila shook her head, “Guys have been carving penises into rocks since ancient times.”

“Gross,” Shay frowned.

“You won’t find any guy in our school who isn’t.”

Yeah...

Shay didn’t know very many guys-- and not well... but she was inclined to agree.

She thought of the mysterious, silver-haired man.

She tried to imagine him drawing... things on a wall.

N... no.

She couldn’t. She got as far as envisioning him in his clean-cut, professional suit-- but then she kept thinking about the curve of his jawline.

And... his eyes.

--the eyes she asked to touch.

Shay shook the thought out of her head before she fell into a spiral of depression.

“Can we talk for a bit?”

Aquila eyed her with suspicion, “Don’t you go home around this time?”

“It’s... about a guy.”

“BehhHHh. It’s not about that dick-toucher, is it?”

“Ew. Just. No,” Shay said-- she insisted.

After hearing about what Andy was really like, she was determined to avoid him when he got back from the hospital. Hopefully, she could avoid him for the rest of the school year.

Aquila took Shay’s hands in hers, “Well, in that case, I always have time for you!”

...

Things happened.

Shay used Aquila’s house phone to leave a voicemail for her aunt... not that she expected her to care where she was.

She got the red stains off of her bag. Vinegar and elbow grease.

She had an... interesting dinner, courtesy of Aquila’s mom.

The only thing she could identify on the table was rice.

She did have to get through a politeness battle before she could eat, though: pretending to not be hungry, insisting that she didn’t want to impose~

Then, she made sure to be vocal about how thankful she was for everyone being so kind and thoughtful.

Those were her honest feelings, so that wasn’t too bad. She loved staying at Aquila’s house, surrounded by warmth and love and the barrage of questions from Aki’s younger siblings... or cousins, err-- her family members.

She would have gone over more often, but Indian culture had a lot of similarities to Chinese. Aki’s mom insisted that she was always welcome, and there was a lot of sincerity in her actions and how she said it. But there was a thin, incredibly imprecise line between staying and overstaying.

Asian politeness culture was just like that. Also, she really liked Aki’s mom, and never wanted her to think badly of her.

Aquila walked into the room, fresh out the shower, frantically toweling her hair.

“So!” she grinned, mid-towel. “Reveal to me your SeCreTs.”