Changed Shepard's appearance slightly (just the glasses) and replaced the scene where Shep and Ash meet with a longer, more in depth scene.
Kahlee dropped me off at the school, waving goodbye as I pulled up the hood of my N7 jacket and grabbed my bag, hopping out of the shuttle. I couldn't hear her anyways; I was playing music in my earpiece too loud to let in any sound.
The school was the length of an Alliance freighter and three stories high, if you didn't include the basement rooms Kahlee had mentioned. Kids of all races hung out in the large courtyard, pouring in and out of the school doors. Shouldering my bag, I skipped up the steps, weaving my way through a crowd of football players throwing a ball each other.
The first thing I noticed when I stepped inside was the graffiti along the walls. It was all in the school's colors, white and blue, that came together to create a platoon of faceless N7 soldiers. Above them waved a banner that read the school's name and motto, "You will never be alone."
Back in Chicago, my gang had sort of the same motto, more or less.
"Hey, stop it!" a deep, womanly voice cried. I turned around and saw a bunch of krogans ganging up on two girls, one human and the other an asari. The human tried to grab a backpack from the largest of the group while the asari tried to pick up her datapads from the floor. "Wrex, give it back!"
"Aw, come on, little human, you can do it," the krogan- Wrex- cackled, throwing it to another of his goons.
I know I shouldn't intervene, but... I couldn't just stand by, could I? Making up my mind, I pushed my way towards them, snatching the backpack from the unsuspecting krogan and handed it back to the girl, who clutched it protectively to her chest and backed away.
The group was stunned into silence and all eyes were now on me. I locked eyes with the leader as he stepped forward, swallowing the lump in my throat.
After a whole minute of creepy staring, the krogan spoke. "Do you know who I am?"
"Sure; the Crocodile Hunter wrestled you once, right? Not something to go boasting about, seeing as he must've kicked your ass."
Now, all eyes were on Wrex. From my position, I could see his eye twitch as he processed my insult, the gears slowly starting to grind in his tiny brain. I always knew I was gonna be killed over a stupid remark.
Suddenly, the krogan exploded into laughter, slapping me on the back and forcing me to lose my balance. "I haven't heard that before! I like you, human."
Just like that, I avoided my gruesome, brutal death.
The krogan walked away, still laughing, his gang looking as confused as I felt. When they were out of view, a hand tapped my shoulder- the girls from before. I finally got a good look at them, now; the human was dressed in a loose fitting Junior Alliance Marine uniform, her hair done up in a bun that made her look severe and threatening. The asari was dressed in an outfit that looked like it cost an arm and a leg, and had freckles across her nose and cheeks, like nothing I'd seen on an asari before.
"Hey, thanks for helping us back out there," the human said. "We're not the most popular kids in school, and most people just mind their own business when it comes to people like Wrex."
"It's no problem," I shrugged. "I couldn't just let two beautiful women be terrorized by giant lizards."
The asari giggled, hiding a smile behind her hand. "Are you always this much a smooth talker?"
"Maybe. Care to find out?" I waggled my eyebrows at her, earning a laugh from the both of them. "John Shepard; I just moved here. I'm a sophomore."
"Nice to meet you; I'm Ashley, Williams, and this is Liara T'Soni. We're sophomores, too."
"Oh, shoot!" Liara cried suddenly, going ramrod straight. "I'm so sorry, but I just remembered I need to get a paper to Mr. Massani. It was nice meeting you, Shepard!"
I waved goodbye to Liara as she darted off, then exchanged contact information and my schedule with Ashley; as it turned out, we shared all of our afternoon classes together, so it was nice to know I wasn't completely alone.