The Story Chapter 1

"Have you seen the new kid?"
"Checked out the noob?"

Whispers like this could be heard all along the corridor, but no people were seen. The shy girl tailed Roger around, afraid to be left behind. She had long blonde hair, unusually straight, and large emerald eyes. The girl looked bored of Wammy's already.

'Mello likes eye-candy, so maybe I should tell him about her. No doubt that he already knows, though.' Near thought, edging away from the crowd. He hated noisy, crowded places, especially when they're all kids.
Mello narrowed his eyes and smirked when he saw her, already imagining what pranks he could pull…but just one glimpse reminded him of someone, oh yeah, himself. She looked insecure, like everyone was an enemy. He leaned back in an old chair, making it creak. It was lunch time, but Mello was never hungry for anything apart from chocolate. The blonde walked around, hoping to see an empty table.


"Yo new kid! I bet you're gonna eat alone today. I don't like it, so have a seat." He gestured to the vacant bench and took a large bite out of the chocolate bar. Seeing him savour it made her stomach churn with discomfort. The food was a bit 'ew', but she ate like a starving wolf. "Aren't you gonna introduce yourself? I'm Mello, welcome to Wammy's House."
"Mello is a girl's name?" she piped.
"Be glad that you were born a girl, and that I never hit girls."
"I'm Mel-"
"What?!"
"Short for Melanie. I'm not interesting so there's nothing much you need to know about me."
"Oh." Another boring nerd-face? There are enough of them here.
"Why do you eat so much chocolate? I saw you eating one when I passed by the dorms." That question was difficult to answer. Mello didn't know why he ate chocolate, he just did. He shrugged off the question and took another chomp.
"Well…"


Near came over. He twirled his pale hair while precariously balancing the tray of food with his other hand. Obviously annoyed with the interruption, Mello had a small coughing fit to recapture Mel's attention. She let out a weary sigh and turned to the finished food.
"What's the next lesson?" Mel asked no one in particular.
"English." Near told her. Melanie nodded in acknowledgement. She had been hoping for Mello to answer the question.
"There's an important essay due, and I haven't printed it out yet." Mello's celadon eyes flashed with sudden hostility. He rose and roughly pushed the chair back, revealing a pair of tight leather pants and boots. Watching his anger made Melanie want to reach out and help, like his heart's voice was calling to her. Nobody would understand, not even herself. Then she had a hunch that somebody really was calling her…
"Hey-ah! Come on, let's go!" Near (he's younger), ever impatient (a virtue he would learn later), was tugging on her skirt, almost pulling it down. She relented and followed him absentmindedly, her mind still fixed on Mello, and her sagacious gaze trained on his back all the way to the classroom. A reddish-brown haired boy with orange goggles and an old DS was perched on a wooden stool, his mouth hanging open 

with concentration, his cigarette balanced dangerously on his lower lip.
"Hey Matt. Did you do the essay?" Near asked. But the other did not answer, too absorbed in the game he was playing.
Mello groaned, letting his head fall onto the desk, flaxen hair cascading everywhere. It stayed at exactly the right angle to be reflected by the sun's warm rays, which were immediately obscured by dull clouds when other classmates walked in.
"Holy bloody fucking shit." Mello's voice was muffled but Mel could still make out what he was saying.