Wish (Peregrine x lxngdon)

[Peregrine]

The Snyders dressed Avila in a silky grey turtleneck, loose-fitting black jeans, and flat-heeled boots for her first day of school. She'd tried to head downstairs with the fluffy purple pajama-bottoms she'd been wearing for the past three days, but was immediately caught by Amanda, her foster mother and psychologist, and brought back upstairs. The young woman had tried to blank-face her way through the fitting process, but had eventually agreed to compromise when Amanda said she could wear the pajama-bottoms if she also wore the frilly, tight fitting, pink halter dress the woman pulled out from who-knew-where in the depths of her closet.

Luckily for Avila, Amanda was perfectly content with a simple outfit, and didn't try and play dress-up-doll with the dark haired teenager like she might have done with her own daughter. Avila stared moodily into the mirror for several long moments, tugging at the hem of the flowing top in an attempt to get it to lay straight across her shoulders, before sighing and heading for the stairs once more.

Richard Snyder, Amanda's husband, was standing in front of the stove with several pancakes on a plate next to him, and two more frying in a large pan in front of him. He was wearing a loose -fitting black tshirt with the words "I'm an information technology specialist, what's your superpower?" plastered across his back. At the counter-seats opposite the man, two children sat. The younger, Alice, was stabbing vigorously at the maple syrup soaked plate with the tip of her fork, before lifting up tiny fragments of pancake to her mouth. Kevin, her older brother, had already worked his way three-quarters through a stack three tall. He glanced up at Avila's silent entrance to the kitchen, before huffing through his nose and turning to look back at his plate.

Avila ignored him, choosing instead to walk up towards Richard and nod slightly as he silently handed her a plate with two pancakes topped with butter. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he worked in customer support for a living, but Richard seemed to get her in a way that no one else in the family did. Or maybe it was simply the fact that he rarely spoke more than five words to her. Either way, Avila was grateful for his silence, and sat down at the counter, placing young Alice in between herself and Kevin.

Only then did the brown haired, blue eyed girl finally seem to notice the presence of another person in the kithcen. She looked up and smiled at Avila, before dropping her fork and reaching for the young woman's long black hair, which cascaded over her shoulders. Out of the corner of her eye, most of her attention still focused on the plate of pancakes, Avila caught Alice's hand before it could actually touch her hair.

"Sticky fingers," she scolded lightly, and Alice giggled before withdrawing her hand and picking up her fork again.

Amanda came down the stairs almost immediately afterwords, walking up to Richard and kissing him on the cheek even as she picked up her own plate. Alice grimaced, making a 'blech' noise, while Kevin rolled his eyes. Amanda turned around to smile at them. "Ready for school?" she asked cheerfully.

Alice shook her head vigerously, while Kevin simply finished chewing his last mouthful of pancake, picked up his dish, and walked over to the sink. Amanda caught his arm as he walked by. "Kevin..." she prompted, gentle but also firm.

He shrugged his arm out of her grip. "Yeah, mom. I got it already."

Avila looked away. She'd accidentally stumbled upon Amanda and Kevin arguing a couple of nights ago, when Amanda had asked her son to look after Avila somewhat during the day. The teenage boy, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with his strange, new, disturbed foster sister, and had done everything in his power to keep from promising any measure of cooperation. They'd stopped talking almost immediately when they noticed Avila, but the girl had no doubt they'd resumed the conversation at a later date. Judging by that short exchange, Amanda had managed to extract some sort of promise from her son, or at least agreement that he'd do his best.

It didn't take much longer for Avila, Amanda, and Alice to finish their pancakes, adding to the pile of dirty dishes in the sink. Kevin scooped up his backpack, while Amanda handed Avila a black satchel the two of them had picked out about a week ago, and filled with something resembling school supplies. Avila sighed as she took the satchel, but silently followed Kevin out to the car.

It was a silent and awkward 10 minute drive to the school. Amanda tried on a couple of occasions to start a bit of conversation, but neither Kevin nor Avila were particularly interested in participating. Eventually she gave up, finishing the drive in silence before pulling to a halt in front of the main entrance so Kevin and Avila could hop out.

"You know where to go?" Amanda once more confirmed with Kevin. He offered little more than a curt nod in exchange, but that seemed to satisfy the woman. She smiled at the two of them. "Have a good day. I'll be back to pick you up when school lets out."

"Bye, mom," Kevin said, before closing the door on her. He turned to look at Avila, all but frowning at her. Avila didn't say anything, simply holding him in place with her pale, grey eyes. Eventually he sighed, grabbing her shoulder and all but tugging her along.

"Come on," he said, dropping his hand immediately as Avila leveled him with another glare. "I'll take you to the Special Needs office." He started marching away immediately, and Avila followed after him.

As soon as they were out of sight of Amanda, who had been watching them walk away from the drop-off zone, Kevin turned around to stare at her. "You get this straight. You may be living with my family, but that doesn't make you my sister. I don't want you trying to find me during the day, or bothering my friends, got that? I don't need someone like you following after me."

Avila didn't even bother to nod. "Like I'd want to anyway," she replied instead, before taking the initiative to start walking towards the main entrance again, leaving Kevin to quick-step after her.

Kevin placed himself back in front, before winding off down the hallways, eventually coming to a stop in front of a frosted-glass door labeled as the 'Study Center'. "There," he said, gesturing to the door. "You're looking for Ms. Carter. Good luck."

Without further ado he turned and walked away.

A short, slightly plump blonde haired woman stood up as soon as Avila entered the room, a friendly smile on her face. "Avila Snyder?" she asked politely.

"Don't call me that," Avila responded instantly, voice somewhat sharp, a small frown forming on her face. Her unfriendly reply didn't seem to phase the woman in the least, if her unwavering smile was any indication.

"Alright," she aquiesced gently. "What should I call you, then?"

"Just Avila," the young woman responded, words clipped. "Is fine. Snyder isn't my name." Part of Avila desperately wished the woman would ask what her surname was, if just so she'd get the chance to say it to someone again. Even though, by all records, no one with her surname had been alive since the 11th century, let alone someone in the US. Even though the name was just supposed to be another one of her delusions.

But either this teacher had been briefed on Avila's supposed delusions, or she simply knew better than to ask about something that was clearly such a touchy subject, because she simply nodded. "Avila, then. My name is Jessica Carter. Welcome to Lansing High."

Avila nodded, but otherwise didn't say anything. Instead, her eyes roamed around the room, which was a strange combination of large tables, countertops, bean bags, and school supplies. Ms. Carter followed her gaze, and continued to speak, unpreturbed by Avila's lack of response. "This is the Stucy Center. It's where we work with any of the kids in our department who need a bit of... extra assistance in the learning process. You'll start every day here, until we've had a chance to see if you can settle in to any of the classes independently."

Ms. Carter paused, her gaze sympathetic, but didn't otherwise change the way she was speaking. "Unfortunately, things are a bit... tight, since you are starting in the middle of a semester. I really wanted to take the time to show you around the school myself, but I'm afraid I have another obligation that I just can't get out of." She smiled, trying to get some sort of response out of the young woman. Avila didn't bother with more than a near-imperceptible shrug.

"Well," Ms. Carter continued. "Instead I got permission for the president of the student council to take first period to show you around. Her name's Jacob. She's a really sweet girl, and I'm sure you two will get along swimmingly." Ms. Carter gestured towards the empty room. "The rest of our students should be showing up soon. In the meantime, have a seat anywhere you like. Jake should be along shortly, and then I'll be on my way. I'll see you again at the start of the lunch period, and will take you around to meet your new teachers. If everything goes well, you should be able to start sitting in on classes within a couple of days!"

Internally, Avila couldn't help but roll her eyes internally at the woman's over-the-top enthusiasm. However, she didn't let her annoyance at the woman's chatter show on her face, instead she offered an almost imperceptible nod, before moving over to sit down on a hard, plastic chair next to the door.

 

[lxngdon]

j a c o b
​

The Ashlyn house was always empty in the mornings, besides Jacob and the staff. But the staff were so adept at remaining silent and out of the way — just as Jacob's parents liked them — that they may as well not have been there at all. It was a lonely existence, but one Jacob was used to. She knew that was a bit sad, but honestly, since the age of twelve she had never really known another way of living, so she had nothing to compare her home life of relative solitude to.

To call the Ashlyn dwelling a house was one of the biggest understatements of the history of the human race, and it was one that would make Robert Ashlyn's eye twitch with irritation, as he did not spend over five million US dollars building this mansion for it to be assimilated to one of the cloned structures one saw in common suburbia. The place was purely massive — it was three storeys tall, and each of those storeys was about the size of three large houses put together. The ground floor boasted a ballroom, a massive dining hall, the type of commercial kitchen you would see in a Michelin-star restaurant, an opulent foyer and a richly decorated reception room for Robert Ashlyn and his wife to entertain guests that had not risen high enough up the social ladder to be permitted into other areas of the house. Half of the second storey was comprised of the massive library they had, bigger than the Lansing town library itself. The other half was made up of the games room, the drawing room, the small cinema they hardly used and a trophy room where Robert Ashlyn kept all his prized possessions. The third and final storey was made of eight bedrooms, but only two of those rooms had ever been slept in — Jacob's parents' closest to the door on the left, and Jacob's own, as far away as possible on the right.

Each bedroom contained a small foyer, a luxury bathroom equipped with a jacuzzi and a shower with several different settings, a study, a spare room for hobbies, a walk-in closet as big as the bathroom, and the actual sleeping chamber. Jacob's walls were cream with gold trimmings, the carpet cream and immaculately kept. Her desk, armoires, chairs and bed frame were all made of the richest mahogany wood. The bathroom was all rose gold marble. The edges of her couches, armchairs, chaise and bedspread were gold but the actual fabric was the most regal of blues.

It was in this bedroom that Jacob Ashlyn was woken from a relaxing sleep that at five-thirty that morning by an alarm that played Panic! At the Disco's Girls/Girls/Boys. She peeled off her silk eyemask to see the woven reiteration of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel emblazoned on the underside of her canopy bed. Jacob got out of bed, her baby pink nightgown spilling to the floor, and ordered breakfast on the house phone as she drifted into her bedroom to choose an outfit for the day.

After about fifteen minutes of careful deliberation, Jacob chose a white Yigal Azrouel pencil skirt with a pastel floral print on it, a pastel pink Luisa Spagnoli blouse with a lacy white collar and a matching pastel pink blazer of the same brand. On her feet she wore business-like white Sargossa pumps. She accessorised nicely with simple pearl earrings, a pearl necklace and a gold bracelet. For makeup, Jacob did a simple rose gold eyeshadow look, a baby pink lipstick and a shimmery gold highlighter, and then curled her rich brown hair so it fell in simple waves, kept off her face with a white headband.

After eating her breakfast in her sitting room, which consisted of fluffy butter croissants and a blueberry yoghurt, Jacob transferred all of her school things from her blue Louise Et Cie to her white Capalovori and then used the elevator to travel down to the ground floor. The valet — the property was so big that their multi-layer garage was far from the actual dwelling so they had a valet — was already waiting with her silver convertible Mercedes out the front. Jacob thanked him, gave him a smile, accepted the keys, and was then on her way.

She listened to Panic! At the Disco on shuffle as she drove, and after about half an hour — the Ashlyn property was pretty out of the way, even as the rich parts of Lansing went — she arrived at school. Jacob parked her car in the Student Body President's place, put the roof up and locked it, picked up her bag and then made her way inside. Students milled about, likely praying for an extra twenty minutes so they could get their homework done before first period, but Jacob Ashlyn strode in exuding confidence and purpose. There was never a moment when Jacob had nothing to do, but she thrived off that stress. It had made her into a stronger person, an individual who could persist against anything and take control of any trying situation. These values were ones that Jacob was really quite proud of.

She arrived at the Study Centre, a location she had only visited a few times but one she still knew quite well, as as the Student Body President for the last three years, Jacob quite often had duties to perform here. She walked in and was at first confused as it seemed there was no one in the room. She frowned and looked around, and then when she sighted the dark-haired girl sitting beside the door, she jumped with little yelp of surprise.

But Jacob quickly recovered and let out a little laugh of amusement. "Oh, forgive me, you just gave me a bit of a fright, I didn't see you there," she chuckled. Jacob's accent stuck out like a sore thumb in Lansing. She had been born and raised in London for the first ten years of her life and thus spoke with the type of sophisticated English accent the Queen of England sported.

Jacob stepped forward with a hand outstretched and a big smile on her face. "Avila, right? Welcome to Lansing, it's lovely to meet you. My name is Jacob Ashlyn, I'll be showing you around the school first period today."

 

[Peregrine]

After making sure that Avila was seated and comfortable, Ms. Carter offered another warm smile, before turning away and passing through one of the side doors that connected to the Study Center. Through the open door Avila could hear the faint sounds of Ms. Carter rummaging about, opening drawers, moving papers, and occasionally muttering quietly to herself. Apparently Avila's arrival had interrupted whatever preparations she'd been doing for whatever it was she was supposed to be doing during first period.

Avila put the woman's rummaging out of her mind, instead paying attention to the sounds of countless people passing by in the hallway outside the door. The entire concept of this high school was all but foreign to the young woman. Sure, she'd known schools existed. She'd even visited a university once with her grandfather. But her parents had known her education was far too important to leave in the hands of strangers, and they'd brought in carefully screened tutors for what they couldn't reasonably teach themselves. She'd certainly never had to deal with anything like these masses of loud, smelly, rowdy...

Avila's train of thought was interrupted when the door to the Study Center swung open again, the hinges squealing just enough to be obnoxious, while the bell hung on the handle chimed and clattered in response to the sudden movement. Avila turned her head just far enough sideways to catch a glimpse of the girl who entered.

Avila's first impression of Jacob was to wonder whether or not the girl had somehow managed to end up on the losing side of a confrontation with that frilly, pink dress from Amanda's closet. Everything on her seemed to be pink, white, or some combination of the two.

Avila's second thought was to wonder if it was normal for the girl to boldly walk into a room before she even knew what was there. Back at home, her real home, not the place she was staying with the Snyders, such a lack of attention from anyone in the household, maids, guards, or even Avila herself, would have been grounds for strict and immediate punishment. Then again, she also supposed that this girl didn't have to worry about assassinations or prickly family members on a regular basis.

Avila's third reaction was to blink in confusion, momentarily wondering if this girl had also fallen into the world through a portal. Everything about her, from the way she spoke, to her name, and even her clothes, didn't seem to match up with anything Avila had seen of the people of Lansing. She sniffed carefully, eyes scanning Jacob up and down. No, she might have looked out of place, but there wasn't a trace of anything beyond a normal human in her scent. She was a perfectly normal, if somewhat... exotic... member of the town, and the high school.

Only then did Avila reach out her hand in turn, catching Jacob's hand in her own, and offering an entirely polite handshake. However, other than that, she remained mute.

Luckily for the awkwardness Avila's actions might have otherwise caused, Ms. Carter chose that moment to enter the conversation. "Jacob?" she called out, voice slightly tinny from the echoes within the room. "Is that you?"

A moment later, and Ms. Carter's blonde head popped out from around the door frame. "Oh, good. Thank you so much for showing Avila around for me. As I said before, I really wanted to do it myself, but sometimes the circumstances simply fall that way. Nothing to do about it now! I hope it won't be too hard for you to find notes for your class?" Not waiting for an answer, Jessica ducked back into the office. There was the momentary sound of more rummaging, before she emerged fully with a stack of papers clasped between one arm and her bosom.

"I'm off, then!" she proclaimed, moving into the Study Center room, before hurrying towards the exit door. "Mrs. Valletta will be here by second period, and she'll be able to help finish getting Avila settled. Have fun, girls!"

And then she was gone, leaving nothing behind but the tinny ringing of the bell on the door, and the faint sound of sticky hinges. Avila let out a quiet breath, nearing a sigh, while she rubbed the spot between her eyebrows for a moment. Finally, she looked up at Jacob again. "Shall we go," Avila asked, voice vapid.

 

[lxngdon]

j a c o b
​

Jacob wasn't surprised when Avila said nothing and only shook her hand. She was knew, so she was most likely experiencing some nerves about being in a new place with all of these people she didn't know. Jacob could remember the same feeling when she had first moved here from England. But of course it was different. Jacob, even then, had exuded wealth and confidence so it had taken her no time at all to become comfortable with the students in Lansing. Now, it was like she had been there from birth, just like all of her classmates.

Sometimes, what with the way she was so involved with the community, it actually felt like she had been there longer.

"Of course, it's no trouble whatsoever, Ms Carter, have a good day," Jacob said pleasantly to the older woman. She knew the majority of the staff at Lansing High pretty well, as she was directly involved with them for a variety of different reasons. So, she knew Ms Carter truly would have shown Avila around if she had had the time, and that the new girl would be in good hands with Mrs Valletta when she took over later.

Jacob turned back to Avila and gave her a quick assessment. She was pretty and tall, and Jacob liked her sweater. She seemed nervous, though that was to be expected, of course. She also seemed like she was a little confused, or perhaps intimidated due to being in a new place. Jacob had been told by the principal when he had asked her to lead this tour that Avila was going to be in Special Ed, but that didn't influence her judgement of the girl at all. Jacob was one of the least judgemental people in the whole world.

"Yes, let's go." Jacob offered the girl a kind smile and proceeded to lead her out into the hallway. She had given many a tour like this, as it was quite often her responsibility to show around new students — sometimes she even volunteered to do it if she had a spare minute. So, she knew exactly what to do.

Jacob was incredibly methodical in the way she approached just about everything. The majority of tasks she undertook had a distinct set of steps she had to take to do them correctly and if she swayed from that routine even slightly she could possibly get physically uncomfortable. In this situation, the first step was to show Avila to her locker. Jacob checked the note she had written down in the back of her day planner to find both Avila's locker number and combination.

So, she walked Avila there and tapped her pink-painted fingernails on the metal door of Locker 271. "Home sweet home. Here's your combination," Jacob said, scrawling the set of numbers on a pink sticky note from the stack she kept in her bag and then stepping away so Avila could open her new storage space.

"So, Avila, where have you moved from?" Jake inquired politely. "We don't get many new students here, really. I'm from England myself."

 

[Peregrine]

Avila stood up fluidly from her chair as Jacob began to walk, falling in only a half-step behind the pink-clothed girl. Despite the boots on her feet she walked all but silently, and if she hadn't been close enough to Jacob's shoulder for the girl to catch a glimpse of her out of the corner of her eye, it would have been more than possible to not realize she'd followed along.

By this point the hallways had mostly emptied out, as a large majority of the students had already filed into their first period classrooms. A few still dug around inside of their lockers, picking up or depositing spare belongings, but it certainly made it easy for the two girls to make their way down the corridor.

Like the rest of the Special Ed lockers, Avila's locker was located just around the corner from the Study Center, running up against an outside wall of the building, where not too many students would pass on a regular basis. This would give the Special Ed students who weren't as comfortable in crowds the space they needed to function, not that Avila knew anything about that.

They came to a halt in front of one of the little metal doors, before Jake handed Avila a scrap of brilliant pink paper that perfectly matched her jacket. She glanced down at it, carefully studying the string of numbers Jacob had carefully printed out in neat handwriting, wondering what exactly she was supposed to do with this. It probably had something to do with the knob of numbers on the metallic door in front of her, but Avila had never had reason to work with a combination before this point.

Just a moment after Avila turned around, prepared to ask what exactly she was supposed to be doing with this little strip of paper and string of numbers, Jacob began to speak again, taking another stab at casual conversation. However, the plan was destined to backfire on her, although not for the reasons she might have expected.

After all, Avila froze. In an instant, all kinds of thoughts seemed to pass behind her clouded eyes. Most prominently among them was the faces of her foster family. Alice, listening with wide-eyes excitement to her descriptions of another life, before someone else in the family would show up and shuttle her away. Kevin's judgemental gaze and snorts of derision. Richard, unable to meet her eyes, forcibly changing the subject. Amanda, seated on a chair, on a couch, at her desk, at a coffee table, perched on the edge of the counter, patiently and repeatedly reminding her that there was no such thing as magic, that her bloodline was nothing but a figment of her imagination, that there was no way to travel between dimensions, that she'd suffered a lot, that it was all going to be okay...

No, it wasn't fucking going to be okay. She'd lost her family, her history, her entire world, she'd almost lost her life. She wasn't about to sacrifice the memories of the only home she'd ever known. Not for anything. Avila's shoulders squared up, almost as though she was intending to march into battle, and a steely look flashed in the depths of her grey eyes. She met Jacob's gaze almost demanding. Or, perhaps it would be more accurate to say 'like she was preparing to take a bite from the other girl'.

"I came from another world," Avila responded, the tightening of her fingers the only thing that gave away the stress she was currently under. "And I don't know what to do with this," she continued, shoving the pink sticky note back towards Jacob.

 

[lxngdon]

j a c o b
​

Jacob would be lying if she said she didn't feel fear when Avila looked at her that way. Her eyes widened and her heart sped up. She could only describe that look as a predatory one, one that indicated that this girl was someone with power. Someone who was intimidating. Someone who should be feared.

And then, there was what she actually said. I came from another world. Jacob was aware that Avila was in Special Ed for a reason. She obviously was not privy to the girl's psychiatric report but based on what she had just said, there was justification for the special care she was receiving from the school board. Jacob could only imagine what the poor dear had been diagnosed with.

But it was not her position to judge. Her role here was to show the girl around and welcome her to Lansing High. So Jacob quickly recovered, steeled herself and prepared to continue with the tour.

"I'll show you," Jacob offered sweetly, reaching over to the combination lock and then carefully explaining to Avila how to unlock her locker. It was a simple combination so she hopefully wouldn't have too much trouble. Once Avila had secured her things inside, Jacob proceeded with the tour around the school.

She showed Avila the main buildings -- the English, Math, Science, Arts, Performing Arts and Humanities departments, as well as the cafeteria, the theatre, the gym, the library, the field and the football courts. She made sure to highlight absolutely everything Avila might consider important or even interesting. When she had showed her everything, she lead her back to the Study Centre and handed her a paper map.

"So this is where you are now," Jacob told her, marking the Study Centre with an X, using a pink pen. "And you don't have a timetable yet, but I'll show you where all the important stuff is," she continued, indicating the cafeteria, library and gym with little stars. "And that's about it! I hope I was helpful today. So you have any questions?"

 

[Peregrine]

Ignored again.

All things considered, Avila supposed this was the best reaction she could reasonably hope for. In a world completely devoid of magic, the only conclusion people could come to upon hearing her stories was that she was completely delusional, making up stories to cover up some sort of deep-seated trauma, and completely unable to understand reality. The police officer who had found her bleeding on the streets had done his best to gently dissuade her, before handing her off to some state worker. The state worker had immediately passed her to a psychiatrist, who eventually passed her on to Amanda. All of them, to a person, had given her confused looks of pity whenever she spoke of her past, and had softened their words like they were talking to some small, wounded animal whenever they spoke to her.

With Jacob, it was more like she hadn't spoken at all. She didn't mention it, didn't even seem to acknowledge that Avila had said something utterly abnormal. Instead, she simply took the piece of paper back, as though Avila had done nothing more than politely ask for help on how to open the lock.

What more could she really expect?

At least the combination seemed easy enough to manage. Spin to the right a bunch of times, then stop at the first number. Back again, pass over the second number once, stop at it on the second go around, and finally end on the third number, lifting the handle immediately afterwards. Easy enough to manage, but far from secure, if the rattle of the hinges when she opened the metal door was any indication, and far from spacious. Avila didn't think she'd even be able to fit her shoulder bag in the space without crushing something important. How she missed magic. She was certain that, in her world, there would have been a magical lock on this door, sealing it closed until the right magical signature approached, and the space inside would have stretched to accommodate anything that was put into it, like the door to her father's safe had done. That would have been a real locker.

Avila didn't put anything in the locker, preferring to keep her belongings in the bag next to her side. At first she tried to close the thing gently, only for it to improperly latch, requiring her to shove it a couple of times to get it to fully latch again. Avila let out a short sigh.

With the introduction to her locker complete, Jacob set off on the rest of the tour. Avila followed after her with tight, quick steps, hiding the listless depression lingering in the back of her gaze. Avila didn't have much to compare the school to. She'd never seen a high school before, not in this world or her own. However, no matter how hard she tried, she could not rate it as anything higher than mediocre, and even that was giving it some slack. Parts of the school were too cold, others were too hot. One light bulb was out, while another one flickered constantly. Half of the school was buried deep enough in the building that it was impossible for natural light to illuminate anything, washing everything an uncomfortable blue-grey. This was where she was supposed to spend seven hours every day, five days a week? Once upon a time, she never would have stood for such humiliation.

At the end of the loop, they were standing right back in front of the Study Center. Avila had barely spoken more than five words the entire tour, most of her responses being tightly limited to murmured noises of agreement or dissent depending on what Jacob happened to be talking about. At least she didn't think she'd get lost in the future. The building was small, and far from complicated.

Avila took the map, folding it in half before smoothly tucking it somewhere in her shoulder bag. "No questions," Avila replied, almost doubling her total word count. "Thank you for the tour." She wouldn't forget the formalities, even if she didn't think much of the place.

With that, Avila prepared to enter the Study Center. She supposed it was time for these people to check if she was retarded as well as delusional.

 

[lxngdon]

j a c o b
​

After dropping Avila off at the Study Centre, Jacob went to her own locker to collect the books she needed for her classes, as well as the papers she needed to sort through regarding the preparations for homecoming. Jacob rarely had any free time, but she liked it that way. She liked being constantly busy and having something to occupy herself with — the idea of being bored was quite literally sickening to her. She even considered things like going to the hairdresser or getting a manicure to be tasks. She wrote them in her planner and everything.

Several of her friends asked her about the new girl — news here spread like wildfire — but Jacob didn't tell them anything other than her name and that she seemed nice. She knew the talk of the town would be what Avila had actually said to her, about being from another world. But if there was anything Jacob couldn't stand, it was meaningless gossip, so she kept that to herself. Besides, it was cruel to make a laughingstock of someone else, especially someone who seemed to have some underlying issues. And Jacob prided herself upon being kind.

Lunch time came. Jacob absolutely never got lunch from the cafeteria, she didn't like the way it tasted and she shuddered to think the conditions under which it was prepared. She always brought lunch from home, tailored specifically to her tastes by their professional chef. Today, she had been made a delicious dish consisting of pumpkin, sweet potato, succulent roast lamb and brown rice, kept warm for her in a special container and accompanied with freshly baked bread buns.

Jacob walked into the cafeteria and quickly scanned the room. Her friends were all seated at their usual table. In fact, most of the students appeared to be seated in the exact same places they had been sitting here for years. Jacob wouldn't call Lansing a hierarchical school, like the ones you saw in movies where everyone was divided into stereotypical cliques and the queen bee ruled over everything. No, she would consider this a rather progressive school with people with different interests making up each 'group'. But still, it was impossible to deny that those groups felt worlds apart sometimes.

Jacob searched for Avila but she couldn't find her in the room. She was making her way to her friends when she noticed the girl sitting outside under a tree. Feeling sad for her, since it was never fun to eat alone, Jacob stepped outside and approached her with a kind smile on her face.

"Mind if I sit with you?"

 

[Peregrine]

Despite the fact that Jacob had undoubtedly been very thorough on her tour, they still hadn't fully gotten through first period when Avila opened the door to the Study Center. Four heads immediately turned in her direction. Three belonged to students, all of them boys. The fourth was another teacher, one Avila hadn't met yet. She had long, curly hair, dark brown but bleached towards the tips, bright green eye shadow that brightened the color of her hazel eyes, and a soft smile.

"Did you finish your tour, Avila?" she asked. "Mrs. Valletta isn't back yet. My name is Isabelle. You can call me that, if you like, or Bella is fine. That's what everyone else calls me." She smiled further, before gesturing to the table where the other boys were sitting. "These are your classmates for the Study Center. That's Robert on the left..." A boy with a narrow face, wide ears, large front teeth, and curled fingers glanced up at her briefly, before looking away again, tapping on the table. "Max in the middle..." a short, rotund boy with narrow eyes offered her the smallest of thin-lipped smiles. "And Liam on the right." The only blonde haired boy among the group offered Avila a big grin when his name was mentioned, before shyly ducking his head. "Anything you'd like to let them know about yourself, Avila?"

Avila shook her head once, deliberately, before moving over to a chair by the door. "I'll wait here for Mrs. Valletta," she said.

Isabelle frowned slightly, clearly not pleased by Avila's lack of participation. "Avila," she scolded, taking on the disappointed mom voice. "One of the rules we have here in the study center is that, even if you don't succeed, you need to try. That didn't sound very much like trying."

Avila sighed faintly through her nose. She already didn't like Isabelle. It was like she was trying to make Avila think she was her friend, while really she was just an instructor. She just didn't have the decency to speak and behave truthfully. She also knew with high levels of confidence that this Isabelle wouldn't leave her alone until she said something.

"Fine," Avila said, her voice mock cheerful. She knew exactly what to say to get people of this world to leave her alone. "I grew up eating raw human hearts of people my parents killed. They were delicious."

"Avila!" Isabelle immediately snapped. "Lies are not..." However, she was forced to interrupt her tirade as the rest of the room abruptly devolved into chaos. Liam let out a scream, which immediately set off Robert, who began hitting the table. Max managed to stay calm for a few moments longer, before Avila looked at him and licked her lips. The boy immediately burst into tears. Clearly flustered, Isabelle glared at Avila. "We'll talk about this later!" she proclaimed, before trying to settle down the room's other occupants. Avila took this moment to slip around the table, and take a seat in the spare chair in Mrs. Valletta's office.

The chaos she had incited was enough to last through the remainder of first period and well into the passing period. Things only calmed down when a heavy-set woman with black hair streaked with grey entered the room. Mrs. Valletta quickly took control of the scene, distracting the three boys with various tasks and get them working again. She exchanged a quick, hushed conversation with Isabelle, before making her way to her office. As soon as she noticed Avila sitting in her office, she closed the door, all but shutting out the noise from the Study Center and hallway.

"Do you know why what you just did was a problem, Avila?" Mrs. Valletta asked. Avila remained silent, but this seemed to suit the older woman just fine. "You didn't share to get to know your new fellows. You did it to upset them. Whatever you might have said in those circumstances doesn't matter. The reason you did it, does." She pinned Avila under a harsh gaze.

"I know you are smarter than them. You probably have confidence that you could get them to dance in the palm of your hand, if you wanted to. But, for that very reason, you're going to apologize to them when we are done here. You owe that to them."

Avila glowered at Mrs. Valletta, but the woman firmly met her gaze. Eventually, Avila broke eye contact first, dropping her eyes to her hands folded in her lap. She could almost imagine her parents would have told her something similar, if she'd dared to behave like that to the children of one of the lower families. She had too much nobility to succumb to their level. "Alright," she agreed.

Mrs. Valletta nodded. "Good," she agreed, the smile she gave crinkling the corners of her eyes. "Let's get started, then."

Avila spent the next two hours in a mixture of short tests and talking with Mrs. Valletta about her answers. Ms. Carter returned about halfway through third period, but didn't interrupt the two, instead settling down to help Isabelle work with the other students. Avila wasn't a stranger to taking tests, although having them delivered on a piece of paper instead of through practical application was quite unfamiliar. All the same, Mrs. Valletta's eyes always seemed to be shuttered, leaving Avila absolutely uncertain about how she was doing. She had no idea if she was meeting Mrs. Valletta's expectations of her level, rising above them, or falling utterly short.

She had to keep reminding herself that she didn't care. This school was just a placeholder until she could find a way to wake her bloodlines back up again.

Eventually, a bell rang, and Mrs. Valletta set down the piece of paper she'd been reading. "Lunch hour," she said, with a smile. "You know where the cafeteria is, yes?"

Avila nodded, standing up from Mrs. Valletta's desk, and grabbing her bag from the floor. Just as she was about to walk out the door, she was brought to a halt by the sound of her own name.

"Avila," Mrs. Valletta said, her voice prompting. "Don't forget to apologize."

Avila nodded once, shortly, before walking out into the room. Several pairs of eyes turned to her, and Avila met the gazes of the three other boys. She took a short, deep breath, before squaring her shoulders. "I'm sorry for upsetting you."

Robert didn't do anything to acknowledge her apology, and Max twitched when they made eye contact. Only Liam smiled at her. "Itth okaaay," he slurred through his smile. "Ai ddo thaat koo ffen ai getth upshet."

Avila blinked. "Eat hearts?" she asked, slightly bewildered.

Liam giggled. "Noooo," he instructed. "Thay meen thinths." He reached over, to the side of the table, grabbing a brown paper bag that Isabelle had just brought over. "Endoy lunth!" he cheered, before reaching into the bag and pulling out a bunch of crackers and cheese. "Thon't eaaat anybooothy!"

Avila couldn't resist cracking a smile as she left the room.

-----

Avila didn't bother to head to the cafeteria. The only person there she might know was Kevin, and she had no desire to see him. Since her lunch was already in her bag, she made her way outside of the school, circling around the building until she found a large tree. She sat down there comfortably, taking a moment to lean back against her hands and tip her head backwards. She took a deep breath, which ultimately led into a sigh. The air smelled vaguely like exhaust, souring the inside of her nose. She had yet to find any truly clean air since she'd come to this world.

Shaking her head, Avila scooted backwards until her back was pressed against the bark of the tree. Then she began to rummage around in her bag until she found a sandwich bag with a slightly squished egg salad sandwich inside. Once upon a time, Avila was certain she would have turned her nose up at such a fare. The bread was cheap and all but flavorless, the filling oddly greasy, and some of the salad squished onto her fingers when she fished the sandwich out from the bag. However, her memories of hunger were still too strong for her to actually turn her nose up at it.

She was just about to take a bite when she suddenly noticed someone emerging from the door of the cafeteria. It only took her an instant to recognize the girl's pink jacket. Jacob seemed to have something to say to her.

Avila promptly took a bite, hoping the mouthful of food might spare her from having to respond to whatever it was Jacob presumably wanted to talk about. Instead, she was faced with a simple question.

Still chewing, Avila gestured to the ground with an upturned palm, one eyebrow quirked as though to say "I don't own the ground."

 

[lxngdon]

j a c o b
​

Jacob didn't receive a verbal response but if she was being completely honest, she hadn't really expected one. She was a considerate person and she knew that Avila had some considerations to be made, so Jacob was more than willing to do so for her. She believed that being kind to everyone was of the utmost importance — unless they were complete trash — and being kind included being patient and understanding. Luckily, those were some of Jacob's talents.

So Jacob sat. Well, first she pulled out a piece of thin plastic she kept in her bag for this reason, so she didn't get grass stains on her clothes, and then she sat. She did so like a lady, with both legs curled to one side instead of a cross-legged position, and she carefully balanced her container of stew on her lap. Jacob first opened a bun and filled it up with the rice and stew, and then she closed it and took a bite. It was simple and homey food, but it had been made with the complexity and care of a professional chef. So, it was right up Jacob's alley.

Jacob looked over at the other girl curiously. Everything about her screamed mystery and strangeness. Like an enigma Jacob wanted to figure out. She couldn't deny that the girl was absolutely beautiful and every gay bone in Jacob's body was informing her of this fact. But Jacob wasn't sure if there was anything there to pursue. It wouldn't be fair on Avila if she was still acclimatising to the new environment. And besides, Jacob didn't even know if she was gay or not.

Jacob turned an eye to that egg salad sandwich the other girl held and could immediately tell that it was horrible, and that she didn't like it. So, she cut open another bun, filled it with stew, wrapped it in a napkin and leaned over to offer it to Avila.

"You can try this if you like. It's got lamb, sweet potato, pumpkin, rice, some spices ... it's really nice, I think you'll enjoy it."

 

[Peregrine]

Jacob sat down slowly, and Avila found herself correspondingly slowing her chewing as well. Basic etiquette told her she had to at least greet the other girl, offer some sort of small talk. But she didn't want to open the door for more conversation with Jacob. She'd been talking all morning, and she was more than tired of it. As though to delay the impending conversation, Avila took another bite of the sandwich before she fully finished chewing the first. All the same, she figured it would only delay Jacob starting to speak for so long.

But, even after seating herself, Jacob didn't begin to talk. For several agonizing moments, Avila continued to brace for conversation, before it suddenly seemed to occur to her that Jacob might not have come out here to talk. Maybe she, too, liked eating her meals under tall trees. The idea didn't really seem all that likely to her, but the longer it went since Jacob showed up, the more possible it seemed.

It was like some tightly wound spring inside of Avila released all at once. The stiffness in her shoulders seemed to relax somewhat, while her rigidly straight spine returned to a more natural curve. She finished chewing this second bite properly, swallowed carefully, and took a slow, deep breath.

This was going to be fine. She only needed to get through three more hours with Mrs. Valletta today before she'd be able to go back to the Snyders' house. She was certain she could make it that long without biting anybody, and maybe...

The smell of the food hit Avila as soon as Jake opened the container, causing her train of thought to immediately disrupt. She couldn't stop herself from glancing over, staring into the stew, before taking another sniff. Lamb, pumpkin, sweet potato. Turmeric. Thyme, oregano, onion, cilantro. Something in there smelled vaguely like banana. It was an absolutely tantalizing combination of smells, not weakened at all by the mild, earthy fragrance of rice, or the rich yeasty scent of the bun. The only thing that separated it from something she might have eaten back home was the absence of the sharp, rich scent of fresh blood and bone marrow from cooked bones.

She forced herself to look away, glancing down at the egg salad sandwich in her own hands. Covertly, she licked her lips, befor shaking her head and taking another bite. The Snyders did their best, but neither Richard or Amanda were cooks, and most of their meals came frozen from the fridge, or prepackaged in a bag, box, or can. It was nothing like whatever Jacob had brought.

Out of the corner of her eye, Avila caught a glimpse of unexpected motion approaching her, and her head snapped around, only to see a bun, neatly wrapped in a napkin, being presented to her. For one wild moment, Avila thought Jacob wanted to show off, boast about how impressive her food was. Then she spoke, And Avila's eyes widened in surprise.

She hesitated for a few moments before she nodded, reaching over to snag the wrapped bun from Jacob and bring it closer to her face. Avila took a deep breath in through her nose, eyes half closed and almost fluttering in appreciation at the scent. A moment later, and she took a neat bite.

"The meat is overcooked," she mumbled unconsciously through the mouthful, the seemingly critical words belied by the look of near ecstasy that covered her face. The faint wrinkle between her brows that had been present almost perpetually since she'd arrived at the school vanished for a couple of moment as she chewed more.

It wans't until Avila swallowed that she seemed to realize she'd said something quite rude. A faint blush stained her cheeks, while her eyes dropped. Where had all the training her parents had given her gone?

"I'm sorry," Avila apologized carefully, forcing herself to lift her eyes to meet Jacob's gaze. "My family... cooked meat very rare, and I was enjoying it so much I didn't pay attention to what I was saying." She let go of the bun with one hand to rub awkwardly at the side of her jaw, before returning the hand to its former purchase. "Thank you. It's really good."

 

[lxngdon]

j a c o b
​

Jacob smiled when Avila took the offered food and then returned to her previous seat. Knowing that she was able to help another human being never failed to make Jacob happy. She wasn't sure what caused that in her, but she definitely considered it to be her best quality, something she genuinely liked about herself. And she knew it was something that other people liked about her as well.

Jacob didn't really mind when Avila said the meat was overcooked. She guessed it was up to preference -- she herself preferred rare steaks, but this was stew, meaning it had to be cooked longer so of course it would be a bit tough. Jacob didn't get offended when Avila made that comment but the other girl still seemed to think she had said something rude. Jake guessed it could have been interpreted that way by a less considerate person, but in all honesty it didn't really affect her.

"Don't worry about it, I get what you mean," Jacob said. "I like rare meat too, but I guess because it's a stew, it has to be cooked longer so all the flavours can be infused." Jacob shrugged and took another bite. Even if the meat was a little more chewy than she would have liked, it was absolutely delicious. Her chefs had outdone themselves once again.

Jacob found herself wondering what Avila would think if she knew that this meal had come from a professional chef that worked for Jacob and her family exclusively. A lot of people, when they learned how rich Jacob was, immediately assumed she was a snob or that she thought she was better than other people. That could not have been further from the truth, however, and those who knew her well would testify to that. But still, sometimes Jacob didn't realise the fact that she mentioned things like personal chefs and private tutors and holiday homes in China in regular conversation, which then prompted people to make assumptions about her.

"I'm glad you like it," Jacob said to the other girl. She took yet another bite of her bun, chewed and swallowed, and then glanced at the egg sandwich with a small, dry smile on her face. "I'm guessing you're not particularly enjoying that."

 

[Peregrine]

The two girls chewed their food in silence for several more moments. Avila was taking careful bites to make sure she didn't make a mess of Amanda's clothes, even as she cradled the bun in both hands to make sure the stew inside didn't end up dribbling out from the bottom. It was a truly magnificent meal for a packed lunch, and she couldn't help but wonder if Jacob had some particularly good fortune to be able to bring along such food, or if her luck was simply particularly bad. Her gaze drifted back towards the egg salad sandwich.

As though reading her mind, or perhaps simply catching sight of the path of her gaze, Jacob spoke again, casually pointing out Avila's distaste towards her meal. The black-haired girl's lips pressed together into a thin line for a moment, before she carefully corrected her posture.

"It's food," she replied, memory almost immediately flashing back to the over a year's period when every meal had been questionable. "And I'm glad to have something to fill my stomach." It was the proper answer for her to give, she felt. No matter how she felt about the food, there was no denying that the Snyders were feeding her out of their own pocket. If it wasn't for them, Avila didn't know what she'd be eating at all. However, as she glanced over into Jacob's eyes, something in the other girls' dark gaze prompted her towards honesty. "But, no. I wasn't enjoying it."

 

[lxngdon]

j a c o b
​

Jacob didn't know what it was like to have to eat food you didn't like. She had grown up being fed delicacies that were catered specifically to her tastes, and of course it helped that she liked most foods that weren't greasy or fat-filled. But seeing people like Avila having to just eat what they were given was incredibly strange because never in her entire life had she been in such a position.

But she guessed it was a good mindset to have. Eat what you're given, and all. It taught gratitude and humility. But Jacob was incredibly grateful and humble already, without having to eat food she didn't like.

"Fair enough," said Jacob. Silently, she decided to bring a second serving of her lunch for Avila tomorrow, so she didn't have to eat a greasy egg salad sandwich again. She had a tendency to take newcomers under her wing, acclimatise them to their new environment and make them feel welcome. Avila was no exception.