n i c e t o meet y o u ,

"—Hebe, I went to work early today, to figure out some stuff with my new boss. :3 I left money and a map for you on the table. —"

Hebe groggily picked up the note, waiting for her sight to adjust so that she could read it properly. Her mom, had, after all, left it dangling in front of her face. She sighed. This was the annoying thing about having a shelf above your head while you slept. Her mother had attached a hook to it, and whenever she had to leave a message for Hebe, she'd attach a note to a string and leave it just atop Hebe's nose.

She got up and got ready, slipping down the stairs of their new townhouse. Sure enough, the money and map were there. She grabbed her iPod, put the money in her pocket, and got her bag. It was some comfort to have her A&E bag with her. This was simply because it was a souvenir from a vacation that her parents and she went to when she was younger to Canada.

"Okay, get there, say hi, sit down, learn. Easy," Hebe smiled to herself, humming as she took out the map and unfolded it. She frowned—it looked unfamiliar. This was the point where she realized it was upside-down. After flipping it, Hebe somehow managed to get to school in good time.

The school was huge--bigger than her last school. This meant, indefinitely, that there were more people. Hebe had phased from calm and orderly to a nervous wreck. "Get learn, say down, sit hi, there."

"Pfft." At this sound, Hebe whipped around, jumpy and rigid. There was a boy standing there, the fresh scent of cigarette lingering on his lips. She wrinkled her nose at the smell. It was sweet, but her mom didn't approve of Hebe liking the scent of cigarettes. Neither had any of her friends, including Jiro.

"Did you just say, 'Get learn, say down, sit hi, there'?" A smooth smirk graced his thin face.

Hebe flushed red. She didn't realize that she'd mixed up her words. Flustered, she ignored him and kept on walking. He shrugged and disappeared. Hebe found her classroom and stepped in.

“Oh, are you the new student?” The teacher had a goatee and high cheeks. Hebe already liked him. She nodded and he motioned for her to stand beside him; in which she trotted over faithfully and stared at the rest of the people, who were gradually beginning to notice her and stare back.

“Hey class, we have those two new students today, mmkay?” At this, Hebe looked around. Two? There was her—which equaled one that she knew of. There came a knock at the door, and everyone burst into whispers again, as the teacher went to get the door. And in came two people. Hebe’s eyes widened and she blinked, snapping her eyelids back open quickly.

“JIRO? What!” Hebe’s voice shot up two octaves with her last word. “What! What!?”

“Bee, you sound broken. Shut up.” Jiro returned, raising an eyebrow with an amused expression on his face. Ignoring the two newbie students, the teacher turned to the third boy. Hebe turned her attention to him as well, and recognized him as the boy from a few minutes before.

“Aaron,” he spoke slowly, obviously not too happy, “You’re late. Again.”

“Pfsh, only by—” At which this Aaron snuck a peek at the clock, “—maybe four minutes. Be happy I even bothered showing up for class.” His voice was dead as well, indicating that he was completely serious.

“Of course, your highness. Detention at lunch,” the teacher smiled. “Scram and,” now his voice dropped to a low whisper that only Jiro, Hebe and Aaron could hear, “I advise you to quit smoking before class starts.” Aaron’s eyes flashed as he went to his seat, where the three girls sitting by him began to talk to him gleefully. He smiled easily, and from across the room, Hebe cocked her head to the side, as she wondered why he was smiling if he obviously wasn’t happy. Then she scoffed at herself for being stupid—after all, it wasn’t like Hebe’s smiles were all 100% real, guaranteed.

“This is Hebe, that’s Jiro. Mmkay, so take your seats. Hebe, you can go sit…” The teacher scanned the room for a suitable empty seat. “Hmm. Actually, go sit where Mei is sitting. Raise your hand, Mei.” A clearly disgruntled girl reluctantly raised her hand. She was one of the girls who were fawning over Aaron.

“Mei, you can go sit in that empty seat by the back. And Jiro, go sit by the window behind Hebe. Oh, right. My name’s Lou, but you can call me Lou.”

Hebe grimaced at the look that Mei shot her before she picked her things up primly and moved to the back. Hebe put her empty binder down, and held one hand in the other. Her hands always got cold easily, and currently, they felt like ice. Jiro tapped her shoulder and tossed her a balled-up note, and she opened it and read it.

[[Talk to you later.

[[initially written & added april 9 09.