~~~~~~~~~Alyse's POV~~~~~~~~~

Hours had gone by in a snap of a finger, and it was lunch time before I even knew it. As I walked to my locker, I could see Varian already putting his books in his.

When he noticed me, he gave me a smile. "Hey, how's your first day going?"

"Good so far, what about yours?"

"Kinda slow if I'm being honest." He chuckled before closing his locker. "School's central plaza or cafeteria?"

"Huh?"

"Where do you wanna go eat?"

"Oh, heh, the cafeteria."

He nodded before starting to walk away, and I followed shortly behind. The cafeteria had a really unique smell, and it wasn't exactly the best, so that already made me feel a little weird.

But what kinda surprised me was how in every table, everyone looked similar to each other, but completely different from the other tables. There were the punks from before, there were people that all had musical instruments, people that had all sorts of jewelry, you get the idea.

I had always thought the little stereotypical clicks were only in movies, but what my eyes see at the moment prove me wrong.

Varian led me over to where the plates of food were, and I had to admit the food smelled pretty good. I then followed him over to one of the empty tables, sitting down.

He had already started eating his food, but quiet meals have always been a bore to me. "So, Varian, any hobbies?"

Rubbing the back of his neck, I noticed his cheeks grow a bit pink in embarrassment. "Y-You might think it's weird.."

I tilted my head, now curious. He stayed quiet for a bit before letting out a sigh. "Well, I've always had a love for science, especially chemistry, like my dad. I just- I-I don't know, there's something so intriguing about-"

"About learning and discovering everything about the unknown?"

He stared at me, his eyes a little wide at how I finished the sentence. "Y-Yeah, that's- that's it..!"

I smiled. "I'm not exactly the biggest fan of science, but I get what you mean. There's always that small pinch of curiosity that forces you into finding out more."

"Wow, you're the first one to actually agree with me!" There was an excited smile on his face, and I felt good to see I had made someone so happy!

His smile then shrunk a bit to something more shy. "A lot of people just make fun of me for it.. so I'm glad you agree.."

"I'm not gonna make fun of you for something that makes you happy, as long as you're not hurting yourself or others then you should be proud to have found something you love so much."

Varian stared at me for a while, and I felt myself shrink a bit. Had I said something wrong..?

"You know, I've never met anyone like you, Alyse."

"Huh?" I tilted my head, confused to what he meant.

"You're starting high school, meaning you're a teenager, yet you're so... pure and kind, it's really unkindly to find someone like you. I know I only just met you today, but I can tell you have a really warm personality."

I couldn't help but smile, it has always been an important aspect for me to be kind to everyone since you never know what they might be going through. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"It was meant to be so okay." He said with a small chuckle.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Mabel and Dipper walking inside. An idea popped in my head before looking at Varian. "Hey, would you mind if I invited a few others to sit with us?"

He looked at me, a little confused. "I mean, I guess it's fine."

I nodded before waving at the two people I had met in the bus. "Mabel, Dipper, over here!"

Mabel immediately smiled at the sight of me, dragging Dipper over. "Alyse, hi!"

"Guys, this is Varian, he's my locker neighbor. Varian, these are Mabel and Dipper."

"We met in the bus this morning!!" Mabel added as she sat beside me, hugging me and getting a giggle from me.

Varian gave a small wave. "It's nice to meet you."

Mabel immediately started chatting up a conversation, but I had noticed Dipper was focused on some sort of journal he had, deep in thought with a frustrated look.

Growing curious, I asked. "Hey Dipper, what are you working on?"

"Hm? This? Oh, I just- Trying to solve something."

"You have a project already?!"

He shook his head at my question. "No, I found something in the woods a few weeks ago and have been trying to figure out what it is and can do. I remembered an old experiment I was taught back in seventh grade and decided to test it out, but-"

"Nerd!!" Mabel yelled, flopping her brother's cap over his face with a laugh.

He let out a sigh, taking off his cap and fixing his hair. "Besides Mabel distracting me 24/7, I seem to be doing something wrong.."

"You're missing calcium."

"Huh?" He looked at Varian, a little surprise at such a casual answer.

Varian leaned over, pointing at the pages in Dipper's notebook. "It's not carbon, it's calcium. I remember the experiment you're trying to do, and it's correct, except you're putting carbon rocks instead of solid calcium."

"What?!" Dipper stared dumbfounded at his notebook before letting his head fall on it, and Varian sat back down as he let out a groan. "How did I make such a mistake..?!"

"Booooring!! You're both nerds!!" Mabel huffed, clearly wanting to change the subject, and I rolled my eyes with a smile.

I was glad those two were starting to get along.

However, at the sound of the doors open, I felt a sudden chill go up my spine, making me shiver a bit. What was that?

What got me nervous was how the other's behaviors changed. Mabel quickly grew quiet and shrunk back in her chair, Dipper had lowered the front of his cap a bit to cover his face, and Varian stayed facing us, using his hand to cover part of his face.

"Uh, guys, what's going on..?"

"Diana's here..!" Mabel whispered at me, gripping the end of her ponytail.

Curiosity got the best of me, and I turned around to see who they were so scared of. It was the girl from before, the one with the purple hair. Her presence alone made everyone shrink back as she walked, keeping a deadly glare on her face.

Yikes, someone needs to go to the spa.

"Alright, so she's here, why's everyone acting like she's Satan?" I asked, still not really seeing the point in this.

Varian moved his hand away to look at me, his voice low. "She's one of the two only people at this school with an upper advantage.."

"She has... magic...!!!" Mabel covered her face with her hair.

I still didn't understand the fear. "So.... what, you guys are anti-magic or something?"

"No, we don't have anything against magic.." Dipper started, and Varian continued.

"But Diana's not one to use her powers with mercy.."

"Hah, you again?!" We all turned to see Diana standing in front of someone else who was on the floor. I instantly recognize the girl, the same girl she was bullying before.

By the way Annabel had spoken to me earlier, it was obvious she had a hard time talking to people, and speaking for herself.

What bothered me was the fact that no one was doing anything to help her, or anything at all! Everyone just stared at them with an apologetic expression, it made me angry!

"Hey!!" Everyone's gaze turned to me when I spoke, standing up from my chair.

Diana's eyes narrowed in recognition, I had been the girl to stand against her twice on the first day now. I could hear the others yelling whispers, asking me what I was doing.

And to be honest, I didn't know myself, I just hated the idea of leaving someone alone when they're being harassed.

Thanks for reading!!! 'Till next time!!!

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