A/N - Just a little something I thought up while making lunch and recalling a movie I saw about a week ago. I'd very much appreciate any reviews that show you're interested in this little creation of mine.

Disclaimer: All MCL characters are property of ChiNoMiko. I gain no profit from writing this. Kimm Anne – the sort of "Candy" of this story - is my own Original Character only. Any future Original Characters that are added as the story goes will be pointed at the beginning of the chapter they appear in.

Uneasy (un-eas-y)

Adjective:
1. Lacking a sense of security; anxioius or apprehensive
2. Affording no ease of reassurance

oOo

A hustle and bustle was occurring as usual in the classroom. The Students were either seated and engrossed in their work or chattering with a partner beside them. The quiet natured teacher sat at his desk, his attention mainly on assisting the equally quiet Violette with an assignment. If anything, the room could be mistaken as chaotic from an outsider's point of view, but to everyone involved in this chaos and disarray, this was routine; a regular occurrence for these students, both rebellious and obedient.

In the halls, there was a repeated clap of shoes coming down the well-kept halls. "At the end of this hallway is the staircase that leads to the upper floor of this building. Your science class is held up there." The Principle's voice explained, her hands gesturing to the aforementioned staircase, "And beneath those stairs is the door to the basement. It is a true mess, though." She approached the door to the noisy class, the voices of the exuberant students easily being heard. She could even hear one student shouting something about wanting his game back. "And this here is your homeroom. Your school day begins here every day. Be sure to arrive on time to every class." She said, the faintest sound of a strict tone in her words as her gray brows furrowed together slightly before her expression returned to the warm and kind smile.

Even when the door opened, the classroom continued to be out of control. The Principal was just about to announce her arrival when a stray wad of crumpled paper missed its original target and hit the elderly woman's forehead, a startled sound coming from her. When that paper hit, the class silenced, mainly in fear as she frowned, inhaled slowly, and then exhaled just as slow. Students quickly hurried to their seats once more, immediately putting up the appearance of perfect students. A forced smile came over her as she attempted to keep calm, and she headed to the front, a young lady following her tail.

"Students," the Principle began, "I am glad to see you all so…Content on school grounds. I'm here to introduce to you the newest student to Sweet Amoris. This is Miss Kimm Anne, coming here from…" Trailing off, the woman glanced to her right where the girl stood, "Ah, well, my dear, why am I doing all the talking? Go on, introduce yourself." She said, encouraging the student to speak up.

Worn down brown army boots stepped forward, and dark jade eyes scanned the room through the unevenly cut blue-black bangs. Taking a slight breath, the rather unexpressive girl spoke out to the students before her, "My name is Kimm Anne, with two 'M's on the Kimm. I'm a sophomore here at Sweet Amoris and I just moved here from…From Riverton. That's about five hours away from here. We had to come in the middle of the first semester because of sudden changes back home." She explained, discreetly chewing at her tongue as she stood there uneasily. She was certainly a sight, however. Her short midnight hair was cut unevenly, strands standing in the back of her head, and her clothing of a gray hooded jacket and indigo loose jeans had certainly seen better days, wrinkles on the clothes and their color clearly fading out from both age and multiple washes.

Behind Kimm, the teacher was being addressed by the Principle, "Mr. Faraize, please ensure that Miss Anne receives a proper introduction into your lessons and that she is able to catch up with the class."

Quickly turning, Kimm slightly raised a hand to gain the attention, "Uhm, excuse me, ma'am. You don't need to request that. I can catch up easily, I promise." She murmured, "I promise, Mr. Faraize, I will catch up to your lessons by the end of the week."

The raven haired teacher gave a slight nod, "Very well, Miss Anne. If you are up to the challenge then by all means. Please take a seat beside Armin – the boy with the purple scarf – and if you require any assistance in the work this week, please do not hesitate to ask. I'd like you to see me after class so I may give to you the work for tonight."

With the new student comfortable in her new seat, and the Principle gone, the chatter slowly rose back to its regular volume. With no person to speak to, however, Kimm remained as still as a stump, hands stuffed into the front pockets of her hooded jacket. Her dark eyes looked at the pristine desk she was given, not a single carving etched into the smooth wood.

"Hey."

Startled, the young lady jumped somewhat as something prodded at her shoulder. Her hand came up to hold the place she'd been touched as her head whirled to the side. She was greeted by highly amused laughter from two very similar boys. Armin and Alexy gave the girl matching smiles as their laughter quickly died down. "Sorry." Armin apologized, a hand coming up in an apologetic manner, "Didn't think you'd be so scared. Welcome to the class." He kept smiling even as Kimm regarded his greeting with a very uneasy nod, "My name's Armin, as you know. This is my brother, Alexy." His thumb pointed to the blue haired twin who regarded the girl with a more than welcoming smile before Armin continued, "How long have you been in town?"

"Just a week…I moved here on Monday and spent all week filling out the paper work for the school." Kimm answered, hands coming out to rest on the desk's surface and her eyes following them, "I haven't even seen the town itself. I've just been doing paperwork and getting ready for school." Her head quickly turned back to Armin when she heard his chair scrape loudly against the floor. He had scooted to be right in front of her face and she quickly leaned away from his as her nose touched his.

"If you haven't seen town, then come with me and Alexy today after school!" the game loving boy suggested in an elated tone, blue eyes alit with excitement, "Come on, it'll be fun! We're dragging Kentin along with us so Alexy can pick out some new clothes for him. The kid's got a horrible taste in fashion." As he said that, his grin and words were slowly aimed behind Kimm. Curious, Her the girl turned around to follow Armin's gaze. She saw the brunet boy in camouflage pants sitting at his desk, working away diligently. By the way his brown brows twitched, it was clear he had heard the joking words from the gamer, but he said nothing.

Grabbing at the tan skinned girl's arm, Armin leaned forward again, "So, what do you say? You wanna tag along?" he was practically pleading for her company, blue eyes widening as his lip began to pout, "Please, Kim-Kim~?"

At the sound of the odd little pet name, Kimm nearly stiffened, her grass colored eyes widening a fraction. Her lips slightly twitched as she thought over the response she'd give, and she finally gave a small nod, "Okay…" Her words were quiet though; unsure if this was the right answer. She began feeling a sensation of regret when she was embraced tightly by the raven. A small breathe was squeezed out of her as her sides were squished by Armin's arms.

"Awesome! Awesome!" The excitement in Armin was so great he somewhat nuzzled the girl's shoulder. His joy was cut short as he was pulled back to his seat by the scarf around his neck. Choking somewhat, Armin fell back into his chair and rubbed his neck as he shot a nasty glare to Alexy, who was shaking his head slowly, playfully chastising his twin brother.

Returning to her previous position – sitting with her hands in her pockets and her head somewhat down – Kimm made herself smile slightly. Half forced, the smile was mainly to satisfy the cheerful boy beside her, and her attempts went noticed, the smile she forced out bringing an even brighter one from the raven haired young boy. She wouldn't lie to herself, though, that the idea of spending the afternoon with these boys didn't make her a tad nervous. She wasn't shy, nor awkward, nor antisocial, but she was just…Uneasy to spend time with people of her age. Would they notice her incredibly old clothing? Or how her hair isn't all the way clean and freshly washed? Or that her hands were practically stained with dirt and grime no matter how hard she washed them in the school's bathroom? She was already hoping they wouldn't.

Classes breezed by, and Kimm was given the honor of being led around by the ever so friendly Iris. Her "tour" of the school with the Principle was helpful, but with the school being so large, she found herself getting lost easily. She was grateful that Iris literally held her by the hand to lead her around.

"So you know your way around now?"

The two were standing at the staircase by the basement, Kimm's locker being placed right in front of the unused basement. She liked it, though. It was in a relatively easy spot to find, after all. Putting unneeded books into the locker, Kimm gave a nod, "Yeah, I think so. At least I know where my classes are, and I'll learn the rest of the places through the year." She had a good memory, but it took at least one or two tours of a place before she would began making her own mental map.

Iris's bright eyes shined as she felt proud of her new fellow student, "That's good. Trust me, when you see the whole school and learn where everything is, it'll be really small to you." She gave a rather crooked smile, knowing full well that her words were true, "But, hey, I gotta go. My mom wants me home in time to help her with some stuff around the house. But if you ever need anything, do not be afraid to ask, though! I'll be happy to help you with anything."

Giving Iris a friendly good bye, Kimm kneeled down to tighten the laces of the army boots she wore. Behind her she could hear the double hallway doors opening. Paying no mind to it, though, the new student finished up her laces and began pushing herself up to stand, but a swift shove on her behind sent her scrambling forward, landing roughly on the floor and knocking the wind out of her. With laughter bubbling behind her, she got to her knees and glanced back to find group of girls mocking her.

Amber reached down and gave a harsh shove to the girl's head, her hands tangling into the dark hair as she did so, "Look at you. You're so disgusting." The blonde sneered, "You think no one notices that your hair is this nasty mess or that your clothes are dirtier than an unwashed gutter? Everyone has been laughing at you since you came here." Smirking, she leaned down somewhat and rudely whispered, "Do us all a favor, take a shower and stay out of our faces. We can practically smell your stench from the end of the halls."

The group walked on, their hyena-like laughter echoing behind them. Amber's voice could barely be heard as she spoke, "Ew, her hair is so greasy. I can still feel it on my hands. I'm going to need to scrub with hot water to get it all off." Kimm, however, remained on the ground. Bringing her hand up, the girl ran it through her scraggily dark hair, easily feeling the oily sensation in her blue tinted hair. Her tan complexion was also carrying a faint layer of oil, and she knew that. The fact that someone finally pointed out her worst fear left the girl more than a little upset.

"Kimmy-Kim!" Looking up, the girl forced away the upset look from her face and stood, turning back to her still open locker as Armin and Alexy approached, the latter of the two having his arms tightly around the arm of Kentin, a sour look on the military boy's face that was directed right at the blue haired teenager that dragged him around.

Armin came up to the girl, body leaning against the wall of lockers, "So, you ready to go? We've gotta catch the next bus to the mall in about ten five minutes."

Without even turning toward him, the dark haired lass stuffed another book into her bag, "Ah- I can't. I got a call from, uhm…from home and I need to go now. Maybe some other day." Slamming the locker shut and keeping her gaze away from any of three boys, Kimm clutched her bag to her chest and moved away from the gamer, shoving between Alexy and Kentin, forcing the two to separate, much to the latter's relief. She hastily retreated down the hall and to the doorways, using one hand to yank her hood up and hide away her hair, paranoid of any other eyes that would notice its lack of cleanliness. She could feel the eyes of the boys on her back though, and it hurt her more than the insults Amber had thrown at her.

'Look at you. You're so disgusting.'

The blonde's insults still echoed in Kimm's head as she hurried to the bus stop. Her aforementioned memory helped her memorize the times of which her bus arrived to take her home. She hardly waited outside before it arrived and she climbed on without hesitation, dropping the necessary change into slot and taking a seat in the far back, away from the few people occupying the bus. There were very little people onboard, as usual. When the bus began to move, her jade eyes moved to the window she sat near, and she saw the twins and Kentin come out, barely seeing the bus leave with her on it.

Seated in the back, the poorly dressed girl gave a slow frown as she pulled her knees to her chest, curling up into her seat. She genuinely had been looking forward to spending time with the trio, after having shaken off the earlier nervousness from entering new territory. She never did get to go out with other teenagers, and it would have been a good excuse to stay away from home.

'Home…'

The thought of going home dampened her already soaked mood. Her frown deepened and she slightly glared at the floor. As the bus rode on, moving deeper into Sweet Amoris, Kimm lifted a sleeve to her nose, taking in the smell from her hoodie. She couldn't deny that it did have a slight stench to it…A good scrubbing to the hoodie was necessary. Looking outside, she hoped the sun would still be out by the time she arrived home. If not, she may have to attend school tomorrow with a still-damp sweater and that would be flat out uncomfortable, especially with it still being late Spring and the air holding a light chill in the early morning during school.

"Last stop: Downtown, Maple Drive."

With her stop being the last, Kimm got to her feet and stepped off the bus. She checked once more on how the sun was, and found that if she hurried, she could possibly wash her all her clothes and hang them out in time to get at least somewhat dry, and then they would hopefully dry the rest overnight. Throwing her bag onto her back, the young sophomore ran down the street.

Downtown Maple was hardly anything like its name. It wasn't sweet or well-kept. Maple Drive was part of the poorer part of Downtown Amoris, far from the beach, far from school, far from the well-educated and mannered citizens. It was nearly considered the slums were the lower class and homeless dwelled. It wasn't as bad as one would imagine, but it could be better. And unfortunate circumstances left Kimm Anne's family as part of the group close to rock bottom.

The worn army boots quickly climbed the metal fire escape of the complex, heading to the second floor. The open window was covered up by a large wooden board, the board easily towering over her even when it was leaning against the wall and covering up the open window. Moving it aside, Kimm climbed inside and dragged the board back over the opening.

"I'm home."

Her announcement was answered by silence. Slowly sliding her backpack off her shoulders, she let it drop to her left hand, the bag slightly dragging across the floor as the student slowly walked down the unlit hallway and into what was supposed to be the living room of the apartment. Home to her was this: An empty and unused apartment with no lights, water, or heating. Furniture that was left behind was in piss poor shape, the fabric of the couches tearing off and the counters already chipping. The fried that had been left behind was empty, after Kimm had spent the first day at Sweet Amoris cleaning out the abandoned and molded food from the appliance. She still remembered the disgust she felt as she pulled everything out and chucked it out the window and letting it hit the ground two floors down. At one point she nearly thought an old leftover casserole was ready to crawl out of the fridge by itself...

"Mom?"

Again, there was no answer. Checking the bedroom, all Kimm found was the dirty mattress on the floor midst the broken glass and old trash her mother always threw around. This wasn't a surprise to her. It actually would have been more surprising to find her mother dead asleep on the mattress than not finding her at all.

She wasted no more time calling for her mother and dropped her bag onto the mattress before leaving it, slowly finding and gathering her clothes from the floor. By the way everything was strewn around, she suspected her mother had collected whatever money should scratch up and left for a while. At most, the woman would be absent for a few days, if not the rest of the week. With her clothes gathered, she began making her trek out the apartment door and down the metal stairs to the basement of the complex.

With the front doors barricaded, she was unable to simply go outside and come back in like a normal person. Kimm was forced to travel to the basement and use an old hose to wash and clean herself. Stripping down to nothing, and leaving herself in the nude, the girl pulled the old stool over to her and sat down to begin washing everything. The laundry soap was she had stolen from the Laundromat in her old town, and she had kept it stored up in cardboard box that she was forced to carry around for the five hour trip.

It took a good half hour to scrub every article of clothing enough to rid it all of any bad smells. Folding it all up in an old laundry basket that she'd found while rummaging on her first day, the naked lass rushed off once more, intent on reaching her apartment once more to lay the clothes near the window and hoping the setting sun would at least dry out most of the water from her clothes and that they'd dry up completely overnight. By the time she had reached the apartment and had laid out her clothes in the sun, her legs ached from having to climb the stairs twice. She remained undressed, having washed even her sleepwear, and moved to the kitchen. The grime covered tiles were near brown with filth as her bare feet stepped over them all. She opened a cabinet and pulled out the small amount of bread they had left over. She then bent over and pulled a small ice chest from the corner. Inside the ice cube filled box was a half-eaten package of cold cut ham and cheese slices. With no other alternative, a sandwich was made, along with a sticky note that said 'Note: Ice chest needs refilling' and she headed off to the bedroom, eating her meal as she went.

An hour or two was spent doing homework, the caramel skinned girl sitting nude on her bed as she did her schoolwork as casually as one would normally do, with the goal of cutting a good portion of her backed up assignments of the week. She was completely comfortable with sitting this way, not at all bothered by how absurd and pathetic her life really was. No real home, no real meals, no water to wash-

Eyes widening, Kimm suddenly threw her book aside, grabbed the near empty bottle of shampoo from a cardboard box beside her, and ran out of the room once more, making yet another exhausting trip to the basement.

At the ground floor, kneeling on the cold concrete, Kimm scrubbed at her dark hair, attempting to conserve what little shampoo she had left. She decided to leave it at a single wash instead of washing twice. Shutting off her water, the young girl remained there, holding the old hose in her hand and letting the water drip off the ends of her poorly cut hair. Her green eyes stared off at the ground before she inhaled deeply and then exhaled shakily. A thick wave of embarrassment and self-pity was crashing over her so hard she could practically feel it covering her nude form. She could practically feel the thick sensation all around her, constricting her tightly until she felt she'd burst from the pressure, tears and screams threatening to spill out of her with no control. This was her life. A miserable excuse for living. An embarrassment to herself.

She loathed it all, yet forced herself to accept it. After all, it had become so normal that she could hardly see herself living any other way. She could hardly see herself doing anything past attending high school, really. She was convinced by those in her life that she was, and always would be, the grime that stained life's beautiful canvas. A mere piece of garbage in the streets, and she'd live and die that way and end up as a poorly marked grave on the side of some creek. And she believed it.

With her pity party coming to an end, Kimm stood back up and retreated to her apartment room. Without any towels, she was forced to simply roam through the complex as she was until she reached her mattress. The evening was spent cramming as much work into her night before she tossed the books back into her bag, satisfied with how much work she managed to complete. From the corner of the mattress, the hapless girl dragged it over herself and curled up on her side, the blanket rough and scratchy against her skin. It too needed washing, but with it already beginning to get late, the girl made herself put the washing on her list of things to do another day. Perhaps she could do it this weekend if the weather didn't get colder.

oOo

It was freezing the next day, a small blanket of snow having decided to form overnight in Sweet Amoris. Even in the early mornings, there was still light snow falling from the gray clouds, but everyone guessed that it would soon cease by near noon. However, snow was a misfortune for Kimm. The air was freezing, leaving her shivering all night. While she managed to remain asleep through it, she still suffered from it, her skin icy cold under the miserable excuse for a blanket.

Grass green eyes flickered open and were suddenly squeezed shut behind short lashes as Kimm tightened her curled up form in a pathetic attempt at bringing her body some heat. Her blue tinted hair was splayed across the mattress, bits falling into her face as she pulled the itchy blanket around her form, despite how it did little to keep her warm. There was hesitation in her as she debated getting up. Even with the sliver of fabric around her, it would be even chillier if she threw it off. The only real motivation she had that helped her to throw the blanket off was the fact she had school and couldn't risk missing a single day.

The first thing to check on was her clothing, which she found had dried up a decent amount, though they were still fairly damp. With no other choice, the girl pulled on a bra and underwear and picked out some very worn down loose camouflage cargo pants and an equally worn down and somewhat faded thin long sleeve shirt that hugged her arms and body. Grabbing the same army boots from the day before, she pulled them on and tucked them under her cargos before returning to the bedroom and grabbing her bag. With no sweater, Kimm was forced to shiver as she crawled out of the same window as the day before and head down the fire escape to the ground below.

The public bus came not a minute after she had arrived at the bus stop and she curled up in the back once more as it headed to Sweet Amoris high, bag held tight against her chest. She kept her attention outside, watching as they slowly drove out of downtown and into the seaside area of Sweet Amoris.

As soon as school came into view, Kimm uncurled herself and rubbed her arms to gather warmth before she had to go out into the lightly snowed streets. Her hands quickly rubbed her arms even as she walked down the aisle and down the bus steps.

The white slush crunched beneath her boots as she stepped down and crossed the courtyard. She trembled, feeling the dampness of her clothes shoot a chill up and down her back.

"Kimmy-Kim!"

The shouting from Armin was starting to become very familiar to the girl, as well as the way he would practically pounce on her to hug her. She gave a quiet breath of surprise as the game addict enveloped her body with his arms, closely followed by the arms of Alexy, putting her in a sort of hug sandwich which she didn't argue about.

"You two are going to suffocate the poor girl if you keep that up." This voice was unrecognizable to the girl and she glanced to one side to see the same brunet boy from class. She remembered that Armin had called him Kentin.

Kentin walked over and managed to use his hands to pry Alexy off of Kimm, the sight looking as though Alexy was clinging with a death grip, "You two have no regards for personal space." The military boy added with a reprimanding tone.

"She's fine, though. If she minded, she'd say something." Alexy casually argued with a grin on his face.

Kimm didn't smile nor frown, only watched the two before she felt Armin shift oddly at her side, his arms – which still held her – feeling her arms. His hold on her loosened and he instead grabbed her upper arms and made her face him. The usual chipper look to him was replaced by a curious and somewhat concerned frown as he looked her up and down. Uneasy, Kimm awkwardly tightened her hold on her bag, "What…?" she asked uncertainly.

The raven haired teenager kept frowning as he answered, "Well, it's just- You're clothes are wet." He stated, "Did you fall in the snow or something on your way here? You're going to freeze to death or get sick, you know?" His voice was heavily laced with concern as he looked her in the eye.

Before she could even answer, another hand was feeling her sleeves, and she saw it was Alexy, the same expression coming over him as he realized that she really was wet. Kimm didn't let Alexy voice his concerns, though, and she shifted away from between the two, "I-It's okay. I just had to do laundry yesterday and I don't have a dryer, so I just let my clothes dry out overnight, but I didn't realize it would snow…" She wasn't lying, of course. She only hoped they wouldn't pry or anything.

"Well, then, why not just wear something that wasn't washed?" The lass nearly cursed at Alexy's logic, and she was afraid she'd have to end up telling them she didn't have much of a wardrobe.

Kimm's savior ended up being Kentin, who grabbed Alexy's neon orange sleeve and Armin's signature purple scarf, pulling on both and making Armin gag somewhat. "Okay, you two. Just leave the poor girl alone and get inside. We're all freezing our toes off anyway." He said and lightly shoved the two away, "Go on."

The twins walked off, Alexy glancing back with a smile, "Okay, fine, but don't try to weasel out of shopping today, you got it? You, too, Kimm! We're all going this time no matter what you say!"

As they left, Kimm glanced to Kentin, "You guys didn't go yesterday…?" she asked.

Without looking at her, Kentin shrugged somewhat, "Alexy said he didn't want to go if you weren't going. Said that it was a good chance for you to make friends and that it'd be a waste to just go with you gone."

"Oh…"

A somewhat awkward silence followed after that, the two standing side by side and looking the direction that the two boys had gone in. In the silence, Kentin had glanced over to Kimm and saw her shoulder shaking, her lips pursed lightly as she tried to suppress the urge to vocalize her shivering. His green eyes watched her for a while before gave a very quiet exhale.

Standing there, Kimm suddenly felt something being placed gently over her shoulders. She tensed slightly and quickly looked to see that Kentin had placed his jacket over her. The brunet gave her a smile and ruffled her blue-black hair, "Keep it for today. You'll get a cold if you don't stay warm." He said before walking past her and toward the school.

Kimm remained where she stood, no longer shaking as she slowly set down her bag to properly slide her arms through the sleeves. The jacket was much too big for her, and the sleeves easily covered her hands. Her shaking fingers zipped up the front and she drew the hood over her head. Once properly covered, the girl let the warmth sink in before she smiled softly and nuzzled her nose into the material, and nearly smiled more as the scent of some body spray hit her. A sudden wave of giddiness overcame her and she began giggling from how odd she felt. Kindness from a boy had never happened to her before, and she felt so silly enjoying the smell coming off his sweater.

The joy was short lived, unfortunately, as she was suddenly shoved from behind and into the white slush. The word 'move' was shouted when she was pushed and designer boots stepped past Kimm's head as she lay there in the snow. She could hear the familiar snickering from Amber and her friends and she sighed somewhat before getting up off the ground, dusting off the snow that stuck to Kentin's jacket. Back on her feet, Kimm stared to the school and let herself remember what she had been thinking of prior to her interruption. Smiling slightly, she hugged herself slightly before grabbing her bag and rushing to class.

oOo

Affection (af-fec-tion)

Noun:
1. A gentle feeling of fondness or liking

A/N - Completion of Chapter 1. Reviews are nice.