Title:
Beginnings
Characters:
Angela & Temperance
Prompt:
Beginnings
Word
Count: 712
Rating:
K
Summary:
The start of a great friendship.
---
It was cold and dark outside with big fat snowflakes falling from the sky. The ground was already covered thick layer of snow. Angela Montenegro sighed. Great, how am I going to get home tonight? I hate night classes. Her eyes darted to the clock on the wall just as the professor announced it was break time.
"Wow, that's really impressive."
She turned to the girl sitting next to her. "Huh?"
"Your skulls." The girl motioned with her head and strands of rust coloured hair fell into her face. She brushed it aside impatiently.
Angela looked down at her notebook. Instead of line after line of notes, there were drawings of skulls from different angles with arrows leading to scribbles. "These? Oh, they're just doodles. But thanks."
The girl's steel blue eyes continued to dart towards her notebook. After five minutes of awkward glances between the two girls, Angela asked, "Do you… want me to draw some skulls in your notebook?"
"You'd do that for me?"
"Yeah. It'll only take me a couple of minutes."
So she took the girl's notebook and started doodling skulls all over the place. She had drawn five skulls from different angles by the time the professor started his lecture again.
"Wow, thanks," the girl whispered eyeing the pictures with odd appreciation. Angela gave her a smile before zoning out again.
---
Another foot of snow had fallen by the time class at ten o'clock. Angela could barely see in front of her, the snow was coming down so hard. She ended up standing in between two pillars and staring at the sky in defeat.
"Hey…"
Angela spun around. It was the girl who sat next to her in class along with a stack of textbooks in her arms.
"Are you walking home in this?"
"I have to walk twenty minutes to get to my bus stop. You know how big this campus is… No doubt my shoes and jeans are going to get soaked and that's only if the busses are still up and running." Angela replied, glancing down at her runners and sighing. "What about you?"
"I live on campus."
"Oh. Lucky…"
"I live on campus because I was a foster kid. I don't really have a home elsewhere."
Angela looked up in surprise and was about to apologize but saw the girl's face was expressionless. An awkward silence dawned on them. What were you supposed to say to something like that?
The girl cleared her throat. "I'm sorry. I'm really bad with making conversation. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."
Angela grinned. "It's okay. As long as you don't burst out into tears or anything awkward like that. Here, let me help you with your books, at least part of the way. I have to go by the dorms to get to the bus stop anyway."
"Thanks…"
The duo started walking towards the direction of the dorms.
"And thanks again, for drawing the skulls. I'm a horrible artist, and pictures really help with studying."
"No problem at all. What else are you taking anyway?" The textbook on top of the pile she was carrying read An Introduction to Theory in Anthropology. "Anthropology major, I'm guessing?"
"Yeah. Forensic Anthropology, so I'm taking a mix of anthropology and science courses. How about you?"
"I don't know. Still testing the waters." Angela grinned. "But I'm liking the forensics class we have together. Makes drawing the human body a lot easier when you understand the underlying structure."
"Oh yeah," the girl agreed enthusiastically. "Bones can tell you so much about a person – maybe not their personality, but definitely their physical history."
The girl was about to say more when a group of students started heading towards them. They caught snippets of conversation about 'the snow,' 'the busses' and 'sleepover at the university.'
The girl stopped walking, so Angela stopped, too.
"Well then…"Angela sighed. "I hope they provide us with dinner and breakfast."
"You can stay over at my dormitory if you want," the girl stated with a shrug. "My roommates are gone for the weekend so the living room's free."
Angela grinned. "Really…? That would be awesome." The girls started walking again. "I'm Angela, by the way."
The girl replied with a grin, "I'm Temperance."
