As I looked at the girl, she turned to face me, a very faint smile on her face. Her eyes were a sharp blue, and her hair was solid black. I would say she was beautiful- but she wasn't. I studied her face a bit closer. Her face was oval, with slightly thin lips, and almond shaped eyes. Her smile was gentle and loving, and the ice in her eyes seemed to melt when she looked at me. I could already see her name and death date, but I ignored them both, quite used to blocking them out as best I could. She was very pale, like someone who didn't go out into the sun often, and the blush that should've been on her cheeks was non-existent. She looked down, obviously shy, and put her right hand in front of her mouth, as if she was trying to hide herself. Her hair flowed over her shoulders like wisps of black smoke, and it almost acted as a small curtain that covered part of her face whenever she moved.

I blurted out like the foolish and curious child I was:

"What 'cha looking down for?"

She looked back up now, laughing softly. Her eyes sparkled a bit, like I was amusing to her. She still didn't say a word. I frowned slightly, walking up to her a hesitantly. It annoyed me that this average girl, with her blue eyes, would ignore me in such a way. She was sitting on a small bench underneath a snow-covered dead tree, and was wearing nothing but a long sleeved black shirt and some very loose fitting black pants. This didn't strike me as odd, seeing as all I wore was a long sleeved white shirt and blue jeans, just as L did every day. I still didn't look at her name or death-date. I sat down next to her, drawing my legs to my chest and letting my hands rest on my knees- another trait I had copied from L.

"You're a weird girl. Why sit out here all alone?"

She looked at him, a curious fire burning away the ever-present ice in her eyes. She finally spoke.

"Well if I'm a weird girl then you're a weird boy. You're out here all alone too."

Her voice was like air, not strong and demanding, but cautious and alien in a place filled with so many out-going children. It struck me quite differently than I expected, I was not annoyed or angry, just more curious. This strange girl had spoken, and I wanted to hear her voice more. I smirked, the cleverness almost silencing me. She turned away from me and looked at the sky. More snow was starting to fall, only a flake every so often. Children ran around on the play-area that was a couple hundred yards away, blocked off by hedges and trees. I wondered again. Why was this girl out here away from all the others, just like myself?

"What's your name weird girl?"

She jumped slightly at the sound, her concentration broken. Once again she turned to look at me.

"They call me Alina, or A for short."

I looked at the name floating above her head. It matched exactly. She had created no effort to conceal it as the other children did, but said it freely in that air-like voice of hers. Again I ignored her death date.

"Well don't you want to know my name?" I looked at her a little cockily; happy to have found someone I could put myself above.

"I would've asked if I did, but if you feel that you must, I wouldn't mind hearing it." Once again her eyes twinkled a bit, the sharp cleverness of her tongue still causing no reaction to come to me.

"Beyond. Beyond Birthday."

I could tell by her very slight expression that she was connecting two things together.

"So you're B."

When she said it, her tone almost implied that she had heard of me before. And here again, curiosity burst forth out of me. I waited a few more minutes for an explanation, but there was nothing of the sort that had planned to pass from her lips. It was almost as if she was creating different choices for herself, leaving me more than one question to ask and more than one for her to answer. Her smile had by now faded away, and her hand had come to rest on her lap, rather than cover her mouth.

"You know of me?"

She didn't move, but sat there- still and pale as a ghost. The only thing that did move was her lips.

"Not exactly."

Once again she had left more than once choice for me to make. She did not explain, but sat there. I suppose she figured that she had answered my question, and there was no need to continue with information that was not asked for. I pressed no farther, and she said nothing else.

"Why are you alone?"

This time she didn't jump- and a pensive look found its way over her features.

"That's a difficult question to answer, because there are multiple ways for me to reply. It would be useless information to you in any of the situations."

She seemed satisfied with what she had said, and her face became peaceful. A slight breeze jostled the smaller branches of the tree above us.

I found myself determined to hear what she had to say for herself, and I pressed.

"Useless or not, I want to know. Care to explain?"

She stood up quietly as the church bell connected to the main building started to sound. She ignored my previous question, and started to walk away toward the front entrance of the building she had apparently come from.

"Alina?"

She turned back with another faint smile. I stood there silently, and finally bothered to look at her death date. In two short years she was set to die.

On that winter day, under the cover of a dead tree, I met A.