"Can...Can I sit here?"

I looked up to the sound of an unfamiliar voice. A boy I'd never seen before stood looking down at me, his face half hidden under his bangs. He was tall, thin and nicely dressed -as if he came from a family of a decent background- but his voice hinted at uncertainty.

I smiled. "Sure. Xellos usually sits there, but he's not here today." I turned around in my seat to look at him as he sat down. He was a very average looking boy (he could've blended into a crowd easily) and I wondered if he was new or I just never saw him before.

He glanced at me shyly. "I'm Milgasia. We just moved here and I don't know anybody. What...what's your name?"

I grinned. "I'm Mia. I've lived here forever. Where you from?"

"The Poconos."

I laughed and he gave me a strange look. "What?"

"My friend Renee used to think the Poconos were an island chain." I explained.

"I heard that!" Renee said good-naturally as she slid into her seat.

"That's Renee. This is Milgasia. He's new."

He nodded in her direction and she waved, then turned to the boy beside her, Pat. Milgasia looked back at me and I shrugged. "She's just being herself. She's got her friends, I've got mine. ...Let me see your schedule." He produced a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to me. I studied it for a moment. "Ooo...we have Government and English together! And lunch. Cool. I can introduce you to all my friends."

He sort of smiled. "Okay."

"Hey, Mia!" Guilia was hanging around in the art room when I got to crafts later in the morning, "What's up?"

"There's a new guy." I dumped my bag on the table, "He's really nice, but kinda shy. He has APGov and English with us."

She grinned. "New guy, eh? And on the day Xellos isn't here...How convenient."

I frowned. "What's that supposed to mean? If you're saying I'd dump Xel for some guy I don't even know..."

"Hey, I never said that! Look, I gotta go. I'll meet him in APGov, okay?"

"Fine. Get going. Have fun in furniture." I plopped down at the table, trying to think of what to do.

I waited in the hall after class for Milgasia to show up. He had Spanish 5 the period I had crafts and the rooms were near each other. He looked relieved to see me standing there. A small smile crossed his face and he greeted me cheerfully.

"The Spanish teacher is psycho." He informed me.

I nodded. "I know. She teaches my French class too. C'mon, you'll like this...we sit around and debate about voting all the time."

His eyebrow went up. "Voting? I don't vote. I could care less about voting."

"Finally! Some one who sides with me! Now Kat won't be able to just harass me about it!!" I pulled him through the door. "Sit here," I indicated a desk, "So Kary can't. She's annoying and she smells like feet." He obediently sat as Guilia bounded into the room.

"Hi!!!!! I gave myself a big sliver in furniture, I didn't do the homework," She threw her purse down on her desk, "And I'm in desperate need of chocolate!"

"That's Guilia." I told Milgasia, "She's one of my good friends." He nodded and I beckoned Guilia over to my desk. "This is Milgasia. He's new."

"Ooo... and cute too!" She grinned, "I'm Guilia. Nice ta meetcha!"

He blushed. "He-hello." He stammered.

I smiled as I sat down. Guilia liked him well enough. And I liked him too. He was very pleasant to be around.

"Okay class. Today we're talking about..."

I sort of phased Mr. T out. Government is most certainly not my favorite subject. I doodled in my notebook until I heard my name and the word "vote" in the same sentence. Then I snapped back to attention.

Kat had made some comment about my lack of interest in voting, apparently, and Milgasia was defending me. "Look, if you're so concerned about it, you be the one to vote. I don't care, Mia doesn't care. It's really none of your business."

"You should care!" She argued, "Every one should care!"

"But we don't." He responded calmly, "Why lie to ourselves and say we do? Why obscure the truth?"

Kat slumped down in her seat in a huff, a disgruntled expression on her face. Apparently, she had no response to that and that angered her. She liked having the last word.

Relieved, I looked at Milgasia and grinned. Kat and I usually wound up screaming at one another before Mr. T changed the subject, but I hadn't said a thing and that was good. I was in a fairly decent mood, and I didn't need an argument to ruin it.

He smiled back at me shyly, his eyes lit with amusement. His expression seemed to say: "why does she even bother when she obviously doesn't know what she's talking about?"

Come lunch time, I led Milgasia to our usual table. Some of my friends were already grouped there, picking at their lunches. Elisa looked up without even receiving a word of greeting from me (we are twins, you know...). "Hey, Mia. Have you seen what-- Who's that?" She nodded in the blond's direction.

"This is Milgasia. He just moved here. That's my twin, Elisa."

He half smiled. "Hello."

"That's Lina, Gourry, Zelgadiss, Merry, Mike, Filia and Valgaav." I indicated each of my friends as I said their name. Lina and Gourry looked up briefly from their lunches to say hello. Zel gave only his customary nod as a greeting. Val didn't do anything, which was not uncommon for him, but the other three were friendly.

"How do you like it here so far?" Merry asked as we sat down.

He shrugged. "It's okay, I guess. But it's a lot bigger than my old school. I don't really know if I like it or not yet."

Mike looked at him "You play any sports?"

"Tennis."

"Zel plays tennis too."

"You remind me of some one..." Filia studied him through her sapphire eyes, "You look like my Uncle Ceipheed."

A strange look crossed Milgasia's face. "My dad is your uncle? And we're cousins?"

She shrugged. "I guess so. That's the part of the family Daddy lost touch with a long time ago."

Valgaav finally glanced up from his lunch. "Fi, that guy's your cousin?" He peered at Milgasia from under his aqua hair. Filia nodded and Val looked at her a moment, then back at my new friend. "I can see the resemblance...The hair, the facial features, only his eyes are such a strange color."

We sat down and began eating. Elisa taped me on the shoulder. "Hmm?" I looked over at her, "What?" She frowned, "What's Xellos gonna think about this?" She hissed. "About what?" I swallowed. "You with this new guy. I mean, he's not here and you're hanging around with another guy and, besides that, he's a cute guy!"

"Shut up!" I growled. "I love Xel. I'm not gonna ditch him for some one I don't even know!" But I had a funny feeling sown in the pit of my stomach. Elisa could see right through me. She knew I was fascinated by Milgasia; his upper-class mannerisms and placid attitude were a big difference from Xellos' middle-class, excitable and wild personality.

"I dunno, Sis. He seems quite taken by you. I don't think this friendship will sit well with Xellos. And I can tell you're fond of him already too. You'll have to chose in the end. One of them will get hurt and I know you can't stand hurting people."

I frowned. She was right and I knew it. But I guessed we'd all have to wait and see...