"Hi."

Taylor nearly jumps out of her skin at the sudden voice. The teen clutches at her chest, trying in vain to calm her hammering heart before she looks up at the "intruder".

She's greeted by a smile, somehow out of place on the Asian girl's features.

"Oh, uh. Hi," she replies with a nervous smile of her own. Sure, the other student has never harassed her, even helped her at times - but she seems to be making circles, and in Taylor's experience, it's the popular ones that she needs to be wary of.

A moment of silence passes between them, the girl's wide smile never wavering.

"Can I sit with you?" she asks just as Taylor is about to question her presence.

Taylor works her mouth for a moment, nervously looking around the small space under the stairs she's using as her hiding spot for the lunch break today. It's delightful, really. She's reasonably sure the janitor hasn't visited here in at least two months, going by the coat of dust she's settled herself on. Even the cobwebs are dirty.

"Go ahead." She watches, perplexed, as the strange student's smile becomes downright radiant when she sits down beside her, not giving any indication of being even slightly bothered by the dust she's getting on her skirt. "Um, are you-" sure you want to sit with me? "-why sit here?"

"Oh- um, I like it here!" Taylor blinks at the words. "It's more quiet here than at my usual spot. It's quite a lovely place to eat lunch, don't you agree?" What?

She discreetly looks around to confirm that no, the space-time continuum has not folded in on itself and dropped them off somewhere (anywhere) else.

"I-If you say so." Who is she to judge people for their particular tastes? Granted, she's not sure if she believes in the given explanation, but prying is rude. And the girl has been nothing but cordial towards her ever since their first meeting.

Even if her (otherwise pretty) smile is creeping her out just a tiny bit.

They spend the next few minutes in silence. One girl finishes her lunch while the other begins hers, both of them fidgeting. It's... hardly a companionable silence - more awkward if anything, especially after Taylor catches her companion sneaking a glance at her. She can't say if the other teen is embarrassed or not, but her own cheeks feel set ablaze as she's scouring her mind for anything to say. Here she is, with a perfect opportunity to have a talk with someone roughly her age, and all she can do is keep wringing her hands.

"So," she begins, desperate to break the silence, only to realize that she hadn't actually planned anything to say. Shit, what do normal people do after catching their company staring at them? "I don't think we ever introduced ourselves." Nailed it. "I'm Taylor," she extends her hand, hoping - praying - that it won't be rejected and she's not making a fool out of herself.

The girl looks startled at the sudden action. Her eyes switch from Taylor's face to her hand and back again.

"I-I'm Ayano," she stammers, sounding like she has trouble with squeezing the words through her throat, with her grip is almost slack when they shake hands.

Taylor's wondering what to do next, when a cute (objectively speaking), young-looking, and unfortunately familiar face peeks out from behind the stairs, stopping her train of thought in its tracks.

"There you a-" Madison cuts off mid sentence when her gaze lands on Ayano. The teen's eyes widen a fraction.

Oh, no. All Taylor has wanted was to be polite to the only girl in the recent months who has shown her kindness. But now that Madison has seen them together, she's either going to do something nasty to her, or force her to do it to Taylor herself. She never should have-

She watches in shock as her bully hurries away, face pale.

What.

She sneaks a glance at the girl by her side. Who's dropped her smile and is now sporting a small frown, an expression similar to her own, she's sure. What just happened?

Was it- was it because of Ayano? Taylor might not be the most well informed girl in the school, but even someone at the bottom of the social ladder hears bits and pieces at times. Like how the ABB at the school have apparently decided to pick a bone with her bully. But... Ayano is not in the gang, is she? She hasn't seen her as much as speaking to anyone in red and green, and Winslow's delinquents have been all too happy to show off their allegiance as of late. Besides, Taylor honestly can't imagine the sweet (if odd) girl in gang colors.

Just no.

Wait... may it be that Madison is by chance wary of the girl just because she's Asian? That-if that is it... she has no words.

"Um- do you want to take a walk?" Ayano's voice snaps her out of her reverie. "I like to stretch my legs after eating."

Taylor doesn't comment on how the girl's lunch is barely touched. She'd prefer not to be here should her bully decide to bring more people around, though. So yeah. Taking a walk seems like a good idea. She's not sure about endangering her company in this way though.

"I mean if you want me to. I could- you know. Just go somewhere else."

A smile returns to the other girl's lips, and it doesn't seems so out of place this time.

"No, I-I'd love it if you came. Come on. I'll show you where I usually eat."