Part 26: A Fateful Meeting

Sasaki Sensei nodded and made the appropriate notation on her roll call. "And so it shall be, Adelaide." Adelaide Martinez gave the sensei a flicker of a smile before her eyes returned to the desk in front of her.

After finishing the small edit to the roll call sheet on her tablet, the young sensei turned to Ruby expectantly. "And you are?"

Ruby replied, "I'm Ruby Arias Reign."

Isabella 'Adelaide' Martinez was actually scary good at Japanese. And frankly, Ruby thought she'd be the smartest in class. Wow was she wrong. Since it was the first day and there wasn't much to do other than read through the syllabus, which took less than five minutes, Sasaki Sensei decided they should play charades in Japanese.

As newly second year students, Sasaki didn't have super high hopes. But it would be an effective means of judging where all the students were at skill-wise and it'd be hella funny. She nailed it on both accounts. She was not ready for the skill level of both Ruby Reign and Isab–Adelaide (she mentally corrected herself) Martinez.

Adelaide and Ruby cleaned up. Like, it wasn't even close. Adelaide was a little worried about hostility from the other students, since she and Ruby left no competitors in their wake. It turned out the other kids were mostly chill. Alexia Masuda wasn't totally chill, but she wasn't outright hostile either.

Ruby looked over her teammate, who was slightly flushed after the last round. Imitating a windmill got her breathing hard, even if she did it from a sitting position.

"Nice job!"

Adelaide looked at her partner. She mostly got her breath under control. "Not so bad yourself Ruby."

Ruby grinned. She glanced at the digital clock on the wall. "Hey, what's your next class?"

"Give me a moment check my schedule," Adelaide muttered as she rummaged through her sleek laptop bag that actually concealed dual shoulder straps in addition to the single sling.

The taller Latina drew forth a rumpled schedule. Ruby silently conceded that her own personal schedule was actually, in a worse state than Adelaide's.

"I've got AP English, then Human geo, a free period, and finally drama II," Adelaide said matter of factly. Adelaide noticed Ruby's winning smile at her words. "You okay there?"

"Yeah, it's just, we have a lot of classes in common is all. C'mon, let's walk to English together.

"Okay," Adelaide shrugged as the over-excited Ruby packed up her stuff.

The two were out in the hall a few moments later. There was a brief moment where Ruby considered offering Adelaide a hand, since she had two walking canes, but quickly denied her helpful impulse. Adelaide would probably take it the wrong way, she thought as she watched the taller girl put her bag on and gathered her canes.

The kids in the hall rushing to their next class all avoided Adeleaide like the plague. Not that they were being assholes, they just didn't want to run into the girl with canes. Then again, they may just be assholes. The two girls were walking for a few minutes in silence when Ruby spoke up.

"It's probably a good thing we're walking together, cause I don't know where any of these classes are," Ruby said with a sigh of relief.

Isabella Adelaide stopped moving, "Wait, you're new here?"

Ruby turned back with a tight grin, "Yeah, is that alright?"

Adelaide's eyes were a little wide when she said, "I'm not one to judge, and it's just that I'm a transfer student too, so I think we may be lost."

Ruby's face became comical in disbelief and she frantically looked down at her out-dated watch. Adelaide looked at the room numbers they had passed. She looked down at her schedule again, which she had stuffed into her jacket pocket. "I think it's two levels up. We're right below it, if the floor plan is the same on the second and third floor." She hesitated before continuing, "You don't know if this wing has an elevator do you?"

Ruby looked back at her companion and briefly glanced at her canes. "If there isn't an elevator, will you be able to make it up the stairs?"

Adelaide shrugged, "Yeah. It won't hurt me or anything, but I'll definitely be a bit late." She hesitated again, "I'm not really used to being out of my wheelchair yet."

Ruby recognized the telltale signs of lying by omission, but it didn't make anything Adelaide just said any less valid. Ruby tilted her head in thought. She could totally carry Adelaide up the stairs. After all, being able to lift a teenage girl would be nothing for her, even a very tall one like Adelaide. But Ruby is also her mom's car jack on occasion, so she doesn't sweat lifting people. Although…her heard does flutter a teensy bit at the thought of bodily picking up Adelaide…just a tiny flutter.

Adelaide was looking at her feet with something that resembled…contempt?

"Well, it's not too bad if you're not alone," Ruby started. Adelaide's sour expression turned to confusion as she looked Ruby in her eyes.

"What do you mean? There' plenty of time to make it if you hurry," Adelaide replied in a quiet voice.

Ruby tilted her head back to make up for the height difference in making contact with her classmate. "We'll be late together," she shrugged. Like it was the most sensible thing in the world.

Before Adelaide could protest, Ruby continued talking, "Besides, I want to be your friend, and friends don't abandon each other. Even if it's for getting to class on time."

"You really want to be my friend? I'm not going to be your pity project you know. I've run into those types before," Adelaide responded. Her voice wasn't unkind, just tapered from experience.

Ruby laid a hand on Adelaide's atop one of her canes. It was really warm. "I'd like to be your friend. I mean, at the very least, we'll be spending a lot of time together at school cause of our schedule and what not. Besides, we're both kinda weirdos and we're also both new here. I figured we could make the best of it and do it all together." Ruby took a deep breath after that little speech.

Adelaide's eyes darted down to their connected hands. "Did you rehearse that speech?"

Ruby blushed, "Maybe a little. My mom says I'm too forward sometimes."

Adelaide grinned. "Well, you make a compelling argument." They walked for a few moments without talking until they reached the stairs. In fairness, they were not ugly, as far as stairs went. Before Ruby could offer a hand, Adelaide determinedly made the first steps onto the stairs. Adelaide wasn't lying, her grimace wasn't one of pain, but concentration.

When they made it to the first landing, the taller girl with the two canes asked, "What do you mean we're both weirdos?"