I'm the new cancer, [Wolf]

[nightmaremuse]

It was late evening; the sun was setting. While many students retreated to their dorms for the night, other more nocturnal species came out to enjoy the night air. Matt, predictably, was one of these. He sat on the edge of the woods in the shadows, so as not to be noticed by those walking along the shore. What remained of a candy cane protruded from his mouth, wriggling occasionally as he slowly consumed it.
The lake was very still, and not a ghost of a breeze brushed the trees. It was a very calm evening. Matt liked the stillness; after a day of school, the crowded, bustling hallways and the maddening classrooms filled with impatient students who couldn't hold themselves still for more than five seconds, he craved some solitude. And, of course, something sweet.

[ωΘĿƒ]

Caroline marched down to the shoreline, calm, eerily so. She wasn't usually calm, but her bad experience with a freaky stranger sobered her to the fact that this place was dangerous.

It all seemed so dangerous...

She had her clothes with her, only wearing her bathing suit as she had been before, but this time she carried something else in the small roll of clothes and towel - a knife.

She really didn't know how to use it... More like, she'd signed up for a quick extracurricular class in self defense, and had taken it for all of one day. Still, it was something. At least she could feel the cold metal from inside the roll of towel and think that she was safe from any wackos that might be lurking.

And she knew they were lurking...

Stopping at the edge of the lake, staring into the water and noticing a boy there, a sudden stab of dejavu overcame her. She didn't want to swim anymore....

Cringing at the water as it gently billowed to the touch of the wind, she backed away from the water, not even a pinkey toe wet. Sighing, she sat down on one of the large rocks at the edge, holding her towel and clothes tightly to herself and trying not to look at the guy out of the corner of her eye.

This is exactly what happened last time...
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[nightmaremuse]

His gaze shifted from the surface of the water to a slim form approaching. A girl in a bathing suit walked to the shore, towel in hand, but then seemed to freeze. She must have noticed him. As a small breeze finally dared to stroke the water, Matt lifted his nose to meet it. Snf snf... snf, snf. Oh, a human. ... Ick. Humans didn't taste good - fortunately for them. The girl slowly sat down on the rocks, though her posture was tense. He could smell a hint of adrenaline in her. Why was she so nervous? Snf snf snf snf. His olfactory, however, could not answer this.

Brows furrowing slightly as if with concentration, he wriggled the end of the candy cane at the girl, like it was some offensive gesture.

[ωΘĿƒ]

Seeking something funny happen, and not knowing what it was, Caroline turned to look. The boy was eating... a candy cane? That was weird... Why would he be eating candy? Was he a sweet tooth or something?

Anyways, the gesture he made with the candy cane was almost like the slash of a very small, very striped sword. Caroline felt a flush of feeling in her tense and tightly wound chest. Then, she giggled.

What was he doing?

She was watching him with a bit of guilt now. She didn't want to be rude and blankly stare at the guy. She might **** him off and cause something bad to happen. But... he was just so funny. Where did he even get a candy cane around here? That store in the creepy town?

She didn't like going to that town. All the other kids were afraid of it, but when she went, everyone there was really nice to her. That was a little scary... She didn't even know all the strange, old fashioned people that seemed almost happy to see her.

She guessed he must have got it from there then. Even though she'd never been in that store, it looked fun to go shopping through. By the looks of him, this guy must live there. He sure did look happy with his candy cane.

"Oh, sorry." She bent her head down, shyly, very uncharacteristically of her. "I didn't mean to stare."

She was still smiling at the thought of the funny motion he'd made, but her hair was long and thick, and it streamed off her shoulders to provide a nice private curtain for her face.

As long as she didn't see him, he didn't see her. She had never wished harder that that statement was true.
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[nightmaremuse]

The girl turned just in time to see the movement of his candy cane. Her tension was suddenly eased, and she giggled. Matt frowned. How dare she mock his frustration! He wriggled the treat again defiantly. She stared at him a moment more, still smiling about the gesture, then apologized. No one ever meant to stare, but it sure happened a lot. He briefly removed his candy cane from his mouth. "... I know." He answered lightly, returning the candy cane to its place.
He absently wondered why she had been so nervous before. She could have walked off to find another spot to swim. He had heard some garms had an ominous aura about them; was he that way? In some ways he wouldn't mind such an aura, but he wouldn't want people to be tense around him all the time.

[ωΘĿƒ]

Carloine tipped her head to the side, her hair splaying out farther down her forehead, and covering her face more completely. She didn't want that though. She inched her two index fingers up, and parted the little flowing curtain to frown at the guy.

He knew? How did he know? What did he know?

"That's a funny thing to say..." She closed the curtain, trying not to look at him anymore.

She sort of felt like she needed to make eye contact, but it looked like he didn't want to be stared at, so she did her best not to. He had also wiggled his candy cane at her again, but this time she had stifled her giggling and remained quiet behind her protective curtain of hair.

"I guess you're right though... You do know that I didn't mean to. People just... stare like that sometimes. You can kind of see it coming."

She didn't bother to peek out when she spoke this time, but she did want to focus completely on him now. She wanted to make sure he wasn't a threat like the last guy she'd met.

Judging by the candy cane, she didn't think so, but you never knew. He might be a really scary person on the inside.
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[nightmaremuse]

This time the girl didn't laugh at his gesture. He said a lot of funny things, apparently; people were always giggling at him like she had a few moments ago. After frowning at him, her hair fell all about her face, concealing it quite effectively. "People stare at me all the time..." He mumbled. He couldn't be sure if she had even understood what he said, but he said it more to himself than her anyway.
He leaned back on his arms, stretching a little as he did so. His candy cane shifted from the left to the right of his lips. Although her hair hid her face, Matt could tell she was still nervous. She seemed almost suspicious. He wondered why his casual posture was doing nothing for her nerves.... Canines often spoke in body language; if one relaxed, the other could also relax. But the girl was not relaxing.

Another breeze drifted by, the leaves of the trees behind him rustling softly. The wind pushed at his bangs, briefly exposing black-brown eyes. He was staring past the girl, out to the lake, though no particular emotion could be found even in the depths of his gaze.

[ωΘĿƒ]

]
Caroline felt like she was being stared at. She couldn't explain it, but she felt like there were eyes running all up and down her, and that thought made her shiver. She hugged her legs up around her, peeking out of her little hair curtain as she did. She was right! He was staring at her!

She jumped up, outraged. Who the heck did he think he was?! Staring at her like that! That's the stuff people like that other guy were made out of. Creepy, homicidal maniacs that waited until you were all alone before they got all slicey on you!

She paused there, because it was then that she realized he wasn't actually string at her, but something behind her. She blushed, embarrassed. Stupid girl. She should pay more attention... She should know better than that... She tried to see what he was looking at, but it just seemed he was staring in general, not really looking at anything specific. The way he looked though, it was a little... strange. He was kind of like a doll, all lifeless and dead.

She cleared her throat trying to forget the mistake she'd made. People stared at him? She was sure they did! He was one of those weird people, the kind she would usually laugh nervously at because they obviously had no social skills to speak of.

Caroline had loads of social skills. She was a social queen.

She walked up to him, trying to understand. Why did people like him do that? Did they just like to be alone? Did they just like to stare blankly off into space like plastic dolls? She guessed so... They would probably try to talk to other people if they wanted to. That's what Caroline did when she felt lonely. She could just hook up with any random group of people, and fit right in there.

She wondered if he had ever been in a "group of people" before.

Speaking of groups, she didn't have a date to the ball. She'd need one if she was going to look nice, but she wasn't sure anymore... After that whole thing with that guy at the lake, she didn't trust guys. Guys were meat heads.

Well, most guys. The guys that weren't meat heads stared at lakes like plastic dolls.

"Maybe it's because they don't get you?" She offered. "You do look a little intimidating."
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[nightmaremuse]

Beginning to space out, Matt's attention was caught by movement before it wandered too far. The girl approached him; she appeared more at ease now. His gaze having shifted to her, his eyes met hers.
His face went blank. A vivid red appeared in his eyes, swirling outwards from the pupils like red dye being mixed into a bowl of water until it filled his irises. He seemed unresponsive for almost a minute. Then the red abruptly receded, disappearing back into his pupil as quickly as it had appeared. He blinked, then realizing his eyes were exposed. Not wanting his eye contact to give the girl the chills, he shook his bangs back into place, moving his gaze away from her.

Intimidating? He looked down at his small form. He was not very tall or strong; he couldn't imagine how he might intimidate someone. Glancing up at her, he tilted his head questioningly much like a puppy might.

[ωΘĿƒ]

Caroline saw the boy tip his head and look at her, almost like he was a dog. She didn't see his eyes though. He had hidden them when she walked up, and she wondered why, absentmindedly.

Then, she snapped back. Right... He wanted something, but he wasn't talking to her. He looked like he was asking a question.

"Um, why are people scared of you?" She guessed at the question he was trying to ask. "Well, you aren't... normal, you know?"

It was then that she realized how stupid she sounded. The whole school wasn't normal! Why was she worrying about one kid? He wasn't any different than all the other oddball people in this place. He was just smaller than them. Most looked kinda eerie, especially the guys. It was like a gaggle of circus freaks, and she was the only curious spectator among them.

She was the only normal one here... but that sort of made her abnormal, didn't it?

"You know what, nevermind. You aren't weird. Not here, at least."

She sighed, braiding a few strands of her hair together nervously. Almost to herself, she added something.

"I'm the outsider here... I hate this place."

Grudgingly, she glared at the pebbly shore of the lake. She hated being the only one like herself. She needed friends, followers, people that would copy her and admire her. She needed that, and she wouldn't get it here.

Completely off subject, she spouted out a question.

"Do you have a date for the ball yet, or is it just me?"
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[nightmaremuse]

A normal person would have found being called not normal rude; although Matt wasn't aware of that, he was aware he was weird. He watched her frown somewhat as she seemed to think over what she had said. He rubbed his head, disagreeing with her now that she disagreed with herself. But he didn't say anything.

He tilted his head again. "... Why are you here, if you don't like it?" He asked quietly. Matt was pretty simple. If he didn't want to do something, he wouldn't do it. Thus, he didn't much understand why she would be here if she didn't want to be. He didn't understand what made her an outsider, either. There were other humans here, as few as they were. Since there were so few, wouldn't they band together? They were social creatures like that, weren't they?

He blinked slowly, not appearing at all startled despite her question being completely out of the blue - or frightened, for that matter, despite being a little socially challenged. ".... No," he answered. Not a hint of his thoughts or feelings were apparent in his tone. He seemed almost eerily calm.

[ωΘĿƒ]

Caroline looked up, questioningly. Why? Why was she here? She really hadn't thought about that... Why was she here? She could get into any school she wanted, so why had she landed herself in this one? Had she even paid any attention when picking a highschool?

The answer, sadly, was yes. Yes she had paid attention, and yes she had picked this one, out of any other place she could have gone. Brushing her hair back, sighing as she did, she looked at him, sadly.

"You know... I don't know why I'm telling you this, but I don't even like Washington. I'm a Californian girl. I used to surf everyday after school..."

She looked back down, her hair dropping back into place. Stupid Washington.... Stupid green, foresty state. She wanted the ocean. She wanted San Fran and Sacramento. And she really, really wanted a vegan Chipotle wrap.

They had those in California... They had lots of vegan stuff in California. Not that she was a vegan, but it was probably a comfort food of some kind for her.

"I came here because... I heard it was, strange, you know? It wasn't like other schools."

She laughed at it now, the irony.

"The tabloids said this place was really off the wall as far as prestigious schools went."

Not tabloids. She didn't read tabloids, but it wouldn't have been any better if she had. Her information source was faulty - had been that way for years. She sulked, thinking about how stupid she'd been to pick a school based on its "crazy" reputation. She had thought "crazy" meant the parties were that much more fun.

Unconsciously, she rubbed her eyes, though she wasn't crying yet.

"Little did I know that it wasn't crazy in a good way. People here are just mental."

He didn't have a date? Well, that wasn't surprising. She didn't figure him as the date type. But why then did it make her feel better that he didn't? Maybe she was happy that here, at least they still had people that didn't get the whole social thing. It made her feel better that she wasn't the only one alone.

But he looked like he sort of wanted to be alone. She sure as hell didn't.
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[nightmaremuse]

Matt's nose scrunched a little at the thought of California. It had never sounded appealing to him; much too sunny and social, and full of weirdos. Though, apparently this girl was from there, and she didn't seem that weird.

He glanced at her as she mentioned the school was reputed to be strange. Was she amongst the human population here who weren't aware of where the school's focus was? That could be troublesome. Matt had a small reputation as one of the creatures who didn't try very hard to keep his cover. "... Mental...." He parroted quietly. Perhaps she had just insulted him, but he wasn't offended. The last of his candy cane was sucked into his mouth with a short vacuuming sound.

[ωΘĿƒ]

Caroline sniffed, sadly. She realized she was being a bit of a baby, and that thought made her angry. She shouldn't be crying. She had made a stupid decision, and now she had to deal with it. That was life.

"I'm sorry." She said, wiping away her tears. "I uh, didn't mean to call you mental. I'm sure you're as normal as people get in this school."

That... didn't sound like too much of an improvement, but then again, it was true. People here obviously weren't normal, so being as normal as most people would be just normal enough. Sounded right, but she didn't know if he would see it that way or not.

Snapping out of it, she remembered that she really didn't care what he thought. He was weird. She didn't talk to weird people.

But then why was she talking to him...?

"Ah forget it!" She growled, even more angry now. "So do you know anyone who doesn't have a date for this ball thing? I could use a little stability in the form of a wild and crazy party... I think I'm desperate now." She sighed.
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[nightmaremuse]

He glanced at her warily, noticing she was crying a little. He began studying the ground to distract himself and not feel awkward, fingers plucking up two small stones and setting them together. "... Not really," he said quietly. Matt was always an oddball, even at a school like this. It didn't much matter to him, though. He didn't need much to be content with life.

By now his hands were forming a small pyramid of little stones on the ground in front of him. The girl's sorrowful temperament abruptly changed in a short outburst, and suddenly she seemed frustrated, as if she had been talking about something for hours and was now sick of it, even though she had only been talking a few minutes. Matt stopped listening after the 'do you know anyone'. He didn't really know anyone. Occasionally someone would talk to him on a dare or out of pity, but it never got anywhere. It didn't help that he would sometimes intentionally make it difficult for someone to talk to him, or worse outright scare them off. That sort of thing amused him, though he often felt bad afterwards - especially with those nice people who sincerely wanted to befriend him.
Glancing at her again, she had calmed down a little but still seemed a bit irritated, sighing tiredly. "... I don't know anyone...." He answered, tone lacking any hint of sadness for what a sad statement it was.