A New Start...(AKATALA!!)

[Archangel]

Heather Z. Moon || Human college student

A new start was just what she needed. She had longed for the freshness of freedom sense her aunt had picked her up at the orphan home when she was four. She had wished hopefully for a brand new beginning for up thirteen years now to no prevail. Now however, it seemed the sun was beginning to shine down on her. She basked in its warmth and ate the fruit it bared.

Yes, her aunt was mentally insane now. However, her aunt was an evil witch and she had it coming to her. Yes, she had also had a near death experience, but hadn't she lived? It was certainly traumatic, but it was time to move on, and move on she had. Her old life was but a mere dream now; less than a dream. It seemed like she had been stuck in a trance her whole childhood, and now she was finally awake.

Heather stood in her dorm room, looking at herself in the mirror. She had come to the University of Southern California just that fall. She had fallen into the regular pattern easily. It had been a nice way to ease into a new skin. She always was lucky in Autumn. It just seemed to be her season. The year had gone progressively fast now looking back on it.

She hadn't made any friends, true, but she was free. She had her own life in her own hands and it was her that was making the decisions. Not anyone else, and that's the way she liked it. Best of all, going into college early had let her escape the horrors of her daily routine in high school. There were no more bullies here, frats, smart snobs, none of that. What she cherished most, though? No Aaron Brunswick. Hopefully she would never see the wretch ever again. Besides her aunt, he had gotten an honorable mention when it came to tormenting her.

The girl pulled her fingers through her short, mousy brown hair and flipped her backpack over one shoulder. It was 9:40 AM and her class would begin in twenty minutes. She looked over her shoulder once at the mirror before exiting the room. Everything had changed, and she felt it was for the better.

Heather found the campus appealing with its expanses of greenery and the tall stone building looking regal and dignified with its many arches. It was also somewhat of a haven for her. She could lean against the trees or sit on one of the benches and feel utterly untouchable. It was a feeling she thought she had maybe only felt in her dreams- until now, that is.

Entering the building, she turned into a couple corridors before finally coming to the classroom. Apparently there was a new student, which seemed odd seeing that not many people joined this late in the year. If one were going to get a transfer they would have either done it earlier in the semester or next year altogether. She opened the door and her eyes started scanning the masses of students standing around waiting for the class to begin.

Heather's eyes immediately sought the new boy out. She wished she hadn't. She could barely believe her eyes. The instructor came in and immediately everyone took their seats. She could sit far away, she thought absently, as she headed for a seat. A girl rushed passed her and took it for herself, though. Heather looked around the large classroom that could have held up to 100 kids. To her dismay everyone had the same idea as her. The only seats left empty were by the new boy. She must have stood there for awhile, for the lesson began. Dumbfounded and flustered, Heather trudged towards the nearest empty seat and plopped down next to Aaron Brunswick. Maybe she had thought too fast when she had believed things had finally turned up for her.

[Akatala]

Ahren Aspenn Emberrosa aka Aaron Brunswick
Supporting Cast: Zach Downen, Dave Prather, and Keito Yamada

Another town, another school. Aaron Brunswick was a late sign-up but with some help from three young men he had somehow attracted to him simply by asking one of them for campus directions on his first day here. Zach, a German descendant with long blond hair and teal eyes, was tolerable with his docile temperament, surprisingly bright intellect, and his astounding ability to keep his two warring friends under control. Well, most of the time. Keito was a short Japanese young man with caramel eyes and skin to match his long but decently feather layered black java hair. His clothes were trendy and his personality was entirely comical. Though he was always up to mischief, it always had a motive of amusement, however crude it might sometimes be. Dave was a tall, athletic-built thorn in one's ass. He had a sort of Johnny Depp face but with bright green Irish eyes and bleached hair gelled into crimson-tipped three inch spikes on top. His clothes were goth and his tongue and attitude were pure acid. Aaron wondered how the hell the other two put up with him, but he really didn't care. Zach had been nice enough to step in and help him get around campus. Though it seemed as though Zach was actually playing the role of baby-sitter for the other two who were only just now going through college in their early twenties after Zach had already graduated. Zach claimed he was taking the class as a refresher.

They had found seats relatively early, and Aaron had proceeded to sit and watch the drama between the other three until class started. He made a mental note to tell the three to make a Youtube comedy series. They could make some decent money acting like such monkeys. People liked that sort of thing these days.

The three were currently embroiled in an argument that had started from some historical note on some Elizabethan literature when somehow Keito and Dave turned it into a duel with comic book lances and 3-ring-binder shields. Zach was yelling at them to at least get the lines right for the battle of Tibolt and Mercutio of Romeo and Juliet. Aaron had been watching with a brow lifted in idle amusement when the air shifted and he caught scent, then sight of the one woman he had been searching the country for, determined to recapture.

The moment she walked through the door, though it seemed like he was still watching the Three Stooges duke it out, his attention was actually entirely on her. Aaron couldn't even breath as he watched Mouse cross the room to find a seat in the amphitheater-style classroom that easily fit close to a hundred students into one session. Still, with so much peripheral, including the chaos on the opposite side of him, Aaron was compelled to watch in blissful agony as Mouse closed the distance to sit down, of all places, next to him! He hid his shaky breath by using his own notebook to whack all three of the stooges next to him, telling them they were all three idiotic morons. Zach at least had the decency to apologize. The other too, pretended to ignore him with Keito pushing the argument into swift Japanese that had Dave working to keep up and Zach and Aaron giving up.

At that moment, Aaron turned to focus his eyes entirely on Heather. He made it appear as though he were suddenly shocked to see her, which wasn't so far from the truth, simply delayed reactions finally allowed to show. His voice was as mystified as his face, which, for once as genuine as he spoke, "Mouse! How in the name of God did you manage to pop up here of all places?"

"Hey, pretty lady! How about icecream sodas after class?" Keito suddenly shouted out to Heather, while, looking as though he were trying to leapfrog Dave who was between Keito and Aaron.

Dave responded by soundly knocking the Asian boy backwards into the aisle, "You would only embarrass her, you cheeky asswipe!"

"How do you know? We just met her!" Keito retaliated as he flipped back to his feet in a worm move.

"Because the both of you are already embarrassing me!" Zach growled, warning them that his temper was running thin.

"Ah-ha! So your true colors finally show, Blondie! We always knew you were a girl on the inside!" Dave laughed.

"And we always knew you were an ass!" Zach accused as he swatted at Dave with Dave's own binder. Then he swatted at Keito and back at Dave again, "Now both of you sit down and shut up before I have to take you outside!" Then he turned to bow toward Aaron and the woman, "I apologize for the childish actions of my comrades here, Miss. They seem to have regressed back to ninth grade upon entering the building. Please, do ignore them."

Dave and Keito seemed to be dying in silent laughter at some unknown joke at Zach's expense while the well-dressed young man retook his seat and began reading through his own textbook. Aaron's death glare at the lot of them seemed to have, for once, gone completely unnoticed. Finally, he simply let out a low-throated growl as his eyes shimmered somehow in the heat of his annoyance. He shook it off then looked back to Heather, "Yeah, ignore the lot of them. They seemed to be all a few crayons shy of a box. Perhaps even worse then those louts.. oh nevermind! Just forget it all!"

He turned his irritated glare toward the slate blackboard down below, then to the beaker on the chemistry table. He idly wondered if he could heat it with his rage from this distance. When the metal in the legs of his own seat got hot next to his feet, he killed the very thought. No, bad idea! He squeezed his eyes shut, probably seeming to appear to hate the girl next to him all over again. What a mess! He would have to work overtime on his plans if ha had any shot at catching the Mouse this time. If he lost her this time, Danu only knew what he would do...

ooc: Not quite happy with the portrayal of the Stooges. Will have to work on those three, it's been a while since I've written of them. Ahren needed some minions. Ah well. I'll just have to work at those three.

[Archangel]

Heather Z. Moon || Human college student

Of course, Heather thought bitterly as memories from high school emerged in her brain, Aaron snags the idiots of the school to be his little sidekicks.

She didn't even reply to their antics or the Lion's question. She simply took out her notebook and began to scribble notes. If she could only concentrate on the class, the four, well, mostly Aaron, would be forgotten. She just had to ignore him. However, she felt herself failing as soon as she began. As memories erupted in her mind, playing over and over like a broken record playing a bad song, she felt herself lose part of her grip on her organized life. She felt as though she were watching as her carefully planned structure fell to pieces around her. There was a loud snap as her pencil broke.

Keep writing! She thought desperately, No one will notice..right?!?

So wrong, so very wrong. Her pencil made a terrible rasping sound as it was dragged around the paper in her scheme of fake writing. She gulped and pulled out a pen from her bag almost frantically. Weird how one guy could send your world crashing down in a veil of smoke and fire. Before she started writing once again, she took a deep breath to calm her racing heart, then began to calmly write. It was more difficult to pretend like she didn't know Aaron than she thought it would be. She stole a glance at him from the corner of her eyes every so often. She told herself it was to make sure he wasn't looking at her, but Heather wasn't really too sure. Something about him scared her to the bone, but at the same time she couldn't help feeling that the two of them both were like cats among dogs. Heather always dismissed this thought too soon to muse on it, though.

So occupied with her thoughts, she barely noticed how hard she was pressing her pen against the paper. Pencils break. Pen's tear. So with a dreadful rend, her pen tore a jagged rip through the middle of her paper. Heather looked at it aghast, as did most of the people around her. She let out a nervous breath as the attention dissipated around her a few minutes later. Then she turned her notebook a few pages to find a blank sheet. Her hands were shaking from a mixture of strong emotion and total embarrassment when her pen slipped through her fingers to roll under Aaron's chair.

No! No, no, no, she pleaded in her mind desperately, Why me of all people? Why does this happen now?

She put her hand downwards to reach for the pen that was idly lying by his feet, as if it were mocking her. With determination, she fumbled around in her chair before realizing she'd have to crawl down to get it. The sensible thing to do would have been to ask Aaron nicely to retrieve her little writing utensil. Heather, couldn't bring herself to do that, though. So, there she was, reaching out an arm to a pen that was so obviously out of her reach, looking like an arrogant moron all the while.

[/blockquote]

[Akatala]

Aaron Brunswick etc.

Aaron peripherally watched the young woman attempt to dish him the silent treatment only to make a mini-scene herself fumbling with her pen and such. As class started, Zack shut his two buddies up to pay attention. Meanwhile, Aaron's attention seemed to be on the teacher who walked in below and started writing on his chalk board immediately with class information. Except, he could hardly be-still a twitch in his jaw that kept silent his amusement at Heather fumbling futilely for her writing utensil. Finally, Aaron reached down to seize the pen from under his chair. he couldn't help but pick it up with the hand opposite Heather, then fiddle idly with it for a minute.. or two, before using his other hand to nonchalantly hold it in the air tilted within Heather's reach.

Then, on second thought, he pulled it back to scribble on a sheet of paper in his notebook. The sheet of paper along with the pen then arrived on her desk. Elegant cursive on the note said:

No one has harmed you since you left Hell, have they?
Please be honest.

ooc: @_@ pardon the shortness. The Stooges didn't want to play this time.