The hard part of a normal day at St. Claire's was lunchtime. Though the food itself was far above the normally nonexistent standards of school food, it took Chord's first day to learn the hard way he shouldn't be there. At least as far as Xander was concerned.

After having his lunch taken and dumped on him that first day, he quelled the bullying by hiding himself in the library ever since. In one particular corner where the manga series were stocked and held.

After that first meeting with Scarlett, he saw her everywhere he went. With her fiery red hair, he saw her long before she saw him and he made sure he went the opposite way.

After three days of avoiding her, he accidentally ran into her in between classes. Because of her small size, her balance was knocked out as she started to fall back. Acting on instinct, Chord reached out and grabbed her wrist, his whole hand could be wrapped around it twice over, pulling her to him.

When he realized it was her, he froze with his feet cemented to the spot and body rigid. When he saw her bright, friendly smile, he felt the ba-bump ba-bump of his heart go out of sync for a moment before it righted itself. He removed his hand like he'd been slapped across the face.

"Oh, hi! Nice save. That would've been a nasty fall, huh?" She chuckled, not missing a beat, readjusting the papers beginning to fall out of her folder.

She wasn't affected by a large black Shamu almost knocking her on her ass. Letting her go, Chord mumbled an apology, his eyes cast downward.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I'm the dumbass who wasn't watching where she was going. Almost four days here and can you believe I still get myself lost? I swear, this place is larger than Grant's Tomb."

He looked at her in surprise. She wasn't going to blame him? Even though he surely was to blame for bumping into her. He lost count of how many times someone blamed him for something or other; his fault or not. He just learned to accept the blame and go on about his day.

"Wait a second, haven't we met before?" She scrunched up her face, trying to focus. "If I had my darn glasses, I could probably see better. I think I left them at the house when I overslept this morning."

His eyes went up to where her glasses sat on top of her head and he couldn't help but smile in amusement. "Have you checked on top of your head?" he offered. Why was he still talking to her? It wasn't like she didn't have better things to do and people to see than him. Once she saw his face, she'd change her tune.

Reaching up, Scarlett let out an embarrassed laugh as she put them over her eyes. "Oh hell, I'm surrounded by actual humans and not dull colored blurs. Awesome sauce." She looked back at Chord. "Wait, I do know you!"

"No, no you don't. I t-think you have me confused. Excuse me, but I s-should get going." He brushed past her to leave, but he bit back a curse when he heard her footsteps catching up.

"Yes, I do! You were that guy that asshole pushed, right? The jock with no balls nor brains but a whole lot of ignorance." Walking in step with him, she didn't miss a beat as she kept talking. "I'm Scarlett, by the way. Scarlett Everett. I didn't get a chance to introduce myself the other day."

Chord kept walking towards the library. Why was she following him? Didn't she know what she was asking for when talking to him? He looked around, seeing more than a few people looking at them with distaste and judgment, whispering.

He sighed. Chord expected this. Xander made it obvious to everyone that if you talked to him, you'd end up in the same place as Chord himself. Any time he was close to making a friend, Xander made sure that ended quickly enough. It wouldn't take long before he'd find out about her trying to talk to him. It wouldn't surprise Chord if Xander showed an interest in Scarlett, even. After all, his type was any walking girl with legs.

"What exactly are you looking at?" Her question caught him by surprise enough he stopped walking. She looked at him unquestioningly, so unaware and unafraid of just what precarious of a situation she was in. "Can you please look at me? You have hardly looked at me and I've run my mouth since you met me."

Chord met her eyes. Blue eyes as clear as the sky and as intense as any he'd ever met. Only, unlike the ones he normally got, this one didn't make him feel afraid. It didn't make him feel horrible.

"Is there something on my face?" She pressed her hand on her cheeks, searching. "I don't have jam on me, right? Because that would happen to me."

Chord laughed, quickly covering his mouth. Her eyes widened for a moment before she smiled. The sight of it made him happy for some reason. Why was that? It wasn't like they were friends or anything.

"Look, uh, Scarlett?" She nodded, and he went on, "I appreciate you trying to talk to me. Really but you're kicking a dying horse. You're better off talking with Xander Payne or someone else."

"What the fuck is a Xander Payne?"

His eyebrows quirked up. "The dude from the other day."

"Ah, right. The name fits the douchebaggery." She tapped the chin in thought one moment, pointing to him the next. "Why would I want to be associated with him? He's a jerk. I hate jerks."

Chord pinched the bridge of his nose. Either she didn't get the message or was that oblivious. Either way, the quicker he cut off whatever ties she was trying to establish, the better for them both.

"Then someone else. I'm sure there is someone as weird as you. I am not though, so I would appreciate it if you left me alone. Now, goodbye. Again."

As he walked off towards the library, Chord couldn't help but feel a part of him wanting to turn back to apologize. But he held tough as he opened the doors to the library.

He could see her in the reflection of the glass on the door, still standing where he left her.  The only thing different was there was a hint of sadness in her eyes and that small pain in his chest grew into a stab, his footsteps growing heavy as he turned away from her entirely.

I'm sorry, Scarlett. You're better off staying away from me. When it came to a specialty, I was an expert in ruining everything around me. The last thing you need is to be caught up in the hell I'm in.