"...What are you doing?" Eduard's fingers flew nimbly acoss the keyboard keys, glasses reflecting the artificial bright light the computer screen released into the otherwise dark schoolroom. He used his free hand to scratch at the back of his blond head, mind fully concentrated on the research paper he was working on before him.

"Excuse me?" He tapped away more, desperately hoping to finish at least a few more thousand words on the assignment before the downpour just outside got worse and he had to stumble home, soaking wet.

"What are you, deaf?" a voice screamed near the back of his mind. It was then he realized he wasn't alone when his computer screen suddenly blacked out and he noticed an arm outstretched over his shoulder, finger pressed firmly on the power button. Panic raised in his body and his mouth fell wide open in shock, the sudden situation washing over him. "Geez, you dipstick. Took that much to get you to notice me?" He whirled around to face the horrid person, turning out to be a young girl who, despite her (demonstrated) sharp tongue, was quite obviously junior to him by at least two years.

"You do realize that was an extremely important assignment I've been working on for the past few hours, right?" he growled, glowering at the girl. She simply shrugged it off and plopped herself down onto a chair opposite of him. The two were currently in the computer lab in the school, the time being at least six (last Eduard checked) and most had vacated the building. Rain steadily poured outside, creating a set rhythm, and the girl tapped her fingers gently on the sturdy desks the computers sat on.

"Your fault," she said carelessly. "I do hate being ignored, y'know." He noticed she had a rather strong accent, different from ones he was used to ringing in his ears - British? Australian? Perhaps a very odd American one - though it did sound familiar. The girl had slightly thick eyebrows and curly, kind of frizzy light chestnut brown hair, tied up in a side-ponytail with a scrunchy that held a pink flower on it. She donned a plain white blouse with a casual fuchsia jacket thrown over sloppily and highwater jeans, finally paired with a horribly dirty tennis shoes that were probably a couple years old. He didn't recognize her at all.

"That doesn't mean you have to go and turn my computer off!" he yelled, rather uncharacteristic of him. She arched an eyebrow and glanced at him for a moment, digging the dirt out of her short, stubby nails.

"At least I saved you from that," she retaliated venomously, nodding curtly at the computer he had been working on. "It's way past school hours, and if you stayed here any longer, you'd have gotten in serious trouble," she continued. "The school gates are already locked, so that means you'll have to climb over that lovely brick wall," she added, gazing over out the window at said wall briefly. "Kirkland's still here, by the way, so I'm surprised you haven't been kicked out sooner." Eduard shivered a bit at the mention of Kirkland - Arthur Kirkland was his school's student council president, a British boy with ridiculously thick eyebrows and a pissy attitude, treating almost everyone he met like dirt, save for Alfred Jones (though everyone knew he had a fondness for the boy as a sibling, though the feelings weren't necessarily returned) and the girl pretty much everyone (save for herself) knew he liked, Sisia Vogel Zwingli.

"My work may be deleted, though," he grumbled. "I wrote over ten thousand words on that. I slaved away..." The girl snorted, spinning around in her blue swivel chair.

"Whatever. I just need you to get out now, before both of us get in deep water." With that, she rose from her seat and began to step over to the door, before snapping back around and glaring at him hauntingly, impatiently beckoning him over. And with a disconteted sigh, he picked up his laptop, shoving it in his messenger bag, and reluctantly trudged after her, walking silently down the school corridors to avoid alerting Arthur of their prescence. There was, however, an almost-encounter with him, though the nameless girl had shoved him into the janitor's closet with her, shutting is just enough for him to not see them with her foot, pushing him back out when he'd passed almost as quickly as she'd pulled him in.

They'd eventually reached their destination outside, rain pouring down even harder than it had before - as Eduard had pleaded not to happen. Mud caked their legs thickly as the duo made their way to the brick wall of the school, glancing up at the top of it with discomfort and unsure feelings rising in both their stomaches. The girl was the first to speak, groaning.

"Great," she mumbled grumpily, taking to smashing her foot into the muddy puddle below her, getting filthy rainwater over herself and Eduard. "Marvelous, just plain fuckin' spiffy." Eduard pursed his lips at that last part - if she was as young as she looked, she really shouldn't be saying such words. She turned to him, hands clutching either side of her in an attempt to warm herself up in the chilly rain. "What do we do now, genius?"

"You could lift me up," he suggested, regretting it the second he saw her expression change to something dark. "Look, I don't even know you -" He paused. "...What even is your name?" Annoyed, she snappily replied,

"Melanie O'Neill." She stomped over to the slippery brick wall and slide her slender fingers into the cracks, lifting herself up a bit off the ground before she unexpectedly tumbled to the ground and mud streaked all over her face and stuck to her hair. Eduard held in a chuckle, looking around the campus for an escape route? He'd admit that such a situation as he was in, all happening so quickly and randomly, had never popped up in his mind as a possibility. He never thought he'd be encountered by a stranger, who'd turn off his precious laptop while he was working and then send him through the school and outside where they tried to escape without being seen by the dreaded Arthur Kirkland - but here he was, watching as Melanie pushed herself off the ground with frustration burning in her caramel eyes.

"We could try going through the back - "

"Hey! What are you two doing loitering around the school grounds this late?" They both turned their heads to see the unpleasant figure of Arthur, his eyebrows being the thing that stood out the most from their distance. Melanie's eyes widened and with a quick head motion, she nodded for Eduard to head on to the other side of the school.

"I'll take care of it," she whispered coarsely, eyeing Arthur as he stomped towards them with his lime green umbrella shielding him from the gale. Eduard took the freebie, silently mouthing a 'thank you' to her as he sprinted off, ignoring Arthur's shouts for him to come back and 'be a man'. He stopped as soon as he reached the trees, which would hide him from sight enough if he decided to come and search for him, and plopped down on the ground, leaning against the rough trunk of one of the trees. He waited there, panting, to see if Melanie would return, but after a while, he finally gave up and wandered around until he reached the low wired fence at the back of the school, which he climbed over with ease and ran all the way home from.

(X)

Eduard walked throughout the polished hallways as the bell signaling the end of school rang and schoolboys and schoolgirls alike rushed past him to their lockers. As he made his way to his own, he noticed a flash of light brown hair in the window of an otherwise seemingly empty classroom. Curisoity taking him, he pushed it open and peered inside, finding Arthur scolding Melanie, Angelique (the poor girl he dragged around) standing awkwardly by his side and frequently sending pitiful looks Melanie's way.

The former stranger happened to notice him in the doorway and grinned a bit, winking and sending a thumbs-up his way, cinnamon eyes twinkling to warn him their first bizarre encounter would not be their last. He gently smiles and ducks out before Arthur can notice him and leans against the plaster wall, pulling out his laptop from his sidebag. She's lucky, he thinks, that he actually had a good first impression on her, and that his half-finished report had been auto-saved.

(is it bad that I see wy as the sassmaster)