It was a bright, sunny day in the city of L.A. it was a beautiful eighty-four degrees without a cloud in the sky. People were out enjoying the day with their families on the beach, or dragging their friends around to hit some of the outdoor cafes. The entire atmosphere echoed with the positive vibes of life and happiness, except for one hunched over figure walking down the busy streets. Austin Bordette stood at six feet two inches, easily taller than most of the people around him which, along with his school uniform, made him feel like he stood out like a sore thumb. Austin had been a student at the brand new, rather illustrious, hero school USAHS for a short while now.
As he walked he kept his head down, trying to shrink in on himself and draw less attention his way. Itching at one of the green rubber bracers he kept on to cover his quirk, venomous spines that sprang out of his forearms, so that he did not accidentally catch someone on them. Although Austin was trying to make himself as small as possible so as not to run into anyone he continued to slightly bump into people causing him to continuously mutter out small apologies that were mostly ignored.
Running a hand through his dirty blond hair, Austin nervously adjusted his glasses on his nose as he quickly ducked into a nearby shop selling novelty items. He had promised his family back in Kansas that he would send them some souvenirs as soon as he was able, but as he glanced around at the prices of each thing he saw he let out a small groan to himself. Austin shook his head 'everything here was so much more expensive than in Kansas!' he thought to himself as he pulled out his wallet to check its meager contents before quickly placing it back in his front pocket. Austin had lived in a small suburb his entire life, and had yet to experience anything like the amount of people that seemed to cram themselves into every aspect of life here in California.
"Hello sir, could I help you find something?" a friendly voice asked from behind him.
Austin whirled around his emerald green eyes going wide, the day-glo orange flecks being easily visible.
"Ah! NO!" Austin cleared his throat, trying for a softer tone. "No, uh, thank you, I'm quite okay!"
As the man gave him an odd look Austin panicked and hurried his way back out onto the streets, immediately running into a few more people. Apologizing Austin quickly moved back in the directions of the dorms having failed on his quest for the day, his nerves were already rather frayed and he wasn't sure how many more people he could stand to be around. His breathing began to get quicker and quicker as the amount of people around made him begin to feel claustrophobic, seeing a gas station nearby he stormed his way inside and into a, mercifully empty, bathroom.
He almost sprinted into the toilet stall, shutting the door and locking it behind himself he squatted down in the corner of the stall taking deep steadying breathes, his eyes closed tightly. He began the breathing techniques that he had learned to slow his speeding heart, praying no one would come into the bathroom until this episode had passed.
After about fifteen minutes Austin slowly stood, his episode having passed for the most part, he groaned quietly to himself and pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes 'why do I have to be like this? I want to be a pro hero! I shouldn't freak out because a stranger talks to me in the store.' As he continued to berate himself mentally Austin made his way out of the restroom and began to walk towards the exit before he felt a hand on his arm stopping him.
"Hey there, cool uniform, where do you go to school at?" a feminine voice asked, causing Austin to glance up at her. He shakily stepped away from her, the physical contact immediately causing him to blush. The fact that the girl speaking was rather attractive, as he was finding out most California girls were, only furthered his discomfort.
"Oh, um, USAHS, the new hero and support academy" Austin averted his eyes, as he took another step back, his face red enough to make tomatoes jealous.
"Oh! Hey, that's really cool, I knew they were opening…." She trailed off as she noticed Austin looking anywhere but at her, she leaned her face in a little closer "Hey, are you alright?"
As Austin noticed her leaning in closer he finally lost what little self-control he had remaining, squeaking out a "Yes! Fine! I uh, have to go!" in his deep voice before he quickly left the store and power walked his way back towards the dorm rooms.
As Austin finally made it back to the dorms, with thankfully no more embarrassing moments to speak of, he let out a long sigh of frustration 'The only thing to fix this is going to be some gaming.' Austin quickly glanced around the living area of the dorm, finding it mercifully empty, before bolting to the fridge to grab himself one of his favorite sodas and a chocolate bar he had hidden amongst the top shelves.
Sitting on the couch Austin began to boot the game system up, trying his best to forget the last hour and a half he had just dealt with. Suddenly he heard a bang and some loud music playing as a head of brown hair poked its way around the corner of the elevator glancing into the room. Austin jerked and got ready to dash for his room when he'd heard the bang, but quickly settled back down as he heard the loud music. As he settled back down onto the couch he held up one of the controllers in his left hand making a gesture with it.
Abel looked over at his friend sitting on the couch, hurrying over and jumping over the back of the couch causing both young men to bounce into the air slightly upon his landing. "Hey buddy! How's your day going? Mine's going pretty well, got some practice in with my guitar and got to listen to some wicked jams." Austin just smiled softly as he listened to his friend speaking about his day; he let out a long slow sigh as he finally relaxed himself into the couch preparing for an afternoon of gaming.