Disclaimer: GA isn't mine. Enjoy!

In the Margins

"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing
the inexpressible is music."
-Aldous Huxley

Chapter 4: Time Trippin'

Mikan Sakura straddled her stool; staring sadly at the easel before her, "My poor, misshapen cup." She lamented.

Her Painting and Drawing teacher, Nodacchi, leaned over her shoulder, "The rim will look better if you have held out your pencil and measure it, so as to get more accurate dimensions." Mikan stifled a giggle; her teacher was, well, quirky. The way he talked jumped all over the place, one second he'd be in the future tense, and then he'd be in the past. Nodacchi was time trippin' all over the place.

"Oh, like this?" Mikan closed one eye and held her pencil out, measuring the rim of the cup. She transferred the angle back to the paper, drawing a new rim.

"Good!" Nodacchi praised, "Draw what you've seen, not what you know."

"Sure." Mikan wished she could fix her problems in real life as easily as those in Painting and Drawing. Like Natsume Hyuuga.

At first Mikan thought he was her childhood friend. But she had decided, after meeting him briefly, that there was no way. Mikan honestly had no idea what she had done to him. Natsume sat next to her all Intro to Singing class, looking like something smelled bad. And then, during Band (Which she still didn't know why she was in- Her teacher, Reo, made her play the triangle. The triangle!), Natsume sat as far away from her as possible.

Mikan angrily scribbled at her bowl drawing and scowled at the outcome. Whoops. It now looked rather lopsided, and melted. So much for fixing all her problems…Just then the bell rang; she grabbed her messenger bag and ran to Biology.

The rest of the day progressed uneventfully, aside from a brief announcement from Narumi at lunch, "As you all know, I head the Theater Department here at the Academy. This spring, four weeks from now, we'll be putting on Shakespeare's play, "The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet." This will be the annual amateur play, so we're only accepting auditions from those not in the Theater Department. Auditions are this afternoon from 3:00-4:00. I hope to see you all there!" With that, Narumi headed off to the Teacher's Lounge, whistling all the way.

"Wow! I want to audition!" Anna grinned, tugging on Mikan's arm, "What about you?"

"Boring." Sumire sighed, annoyed that she'd be unable to audition.

"Sounds like fun!" Mikan agreed with Anna. The brunette then turned to Hotaru, "You want to go with me, Hotaru?"

"No." Hotaru deadpanned. Mikan took one look at her friend and decided there was no way she'd be able to change her mind.

"I think I'll sit this one out with Hotaru." Nonoko added. Mikan didn't know the blue haired girl very well, other than she and Anna were inseparable when she wasn't down in the Sculpture Department.

"Okay, then! Mikan, we can meet in the Drama Building, okay?" Anna stood as the bell rang, and walked away to her next class.

"Wai-" Mikan had no idea where the Drama Building was...Shoot…

"If I were a Drama Building, where would I be?" Mikan wondered aloud, she paced outside the dorm room. She had hoped to intercept Nonoko or Hotaru and ask for directions, but so far no one had shown up.

The annoyed girl headed down stone steps and surveyed the campus grounds. She began wandering about, looking for some sort of identification on the buildings.

"Lost, chibi?" Mikan spun around as a hand clamped down over her head and spun her around.

"What ar-" She came face to face with a boy who looked to be a couple of years older than her. "Wait. Who are you?"

"The name's Tsubasa. Don't wear it out." He wore the guy's version of her outfit, blue tie and all. So he was in the Painting and Drawing Department too?

Mikan looked up at him, "What do you want?" She was in a bad mood, seeing as she was irreversibly lost and rather tired.

"Is that any way to talk to your sempai?" Mikan could tell he was kidding by the teasing look in his eyes.

"Of course. Excuse my manners, Sempai. What do you want?"

"Nothin' much. Just hanging around. You looked lost, though. Need help finding something?"

Mikan looked at him, really looked. And then she backtracked. He was handsome, that was true. But he was obviously a trouble maker. His shirttails hung out of his pants, and his tie was rumpled. What really got to her was the tattoo under his left eye. Her grandpa always said tattoos were a bad sign. "Um...actually...yeah. Can you point me towards the Drama Building?"

"I can do even better, I'll take you there." Tsubasa turned and started walking across campus, Mikan had to power-walk to keep up with his long legs.

"So..." she scrambled for small talk, "Which Department are you in?"

"I saw you looking at my shirt, so you should know that. But," Tsubasa turned and smiled at Mikan, "You were just looking at my perfectly chiseled chest, weren't you? It's okay, the ladies love me. I've learned to accept my good looks."

"I was not!" Mikan protested indignantly, blushing uncomfortably. In all truthfulness, this guy was nothing next to Natsume. But, he wasn't bad to look at either. She smiled at the thought.

"I know; I was just trying to make you uncomfortable." Tsubasa chuckled.

"Sure..." Mikan sighed, something about this guy reminded her of Natsume, who she definitely didn't want to spend her spare time thinking about. This Tsubasa guy was more outgoing, but he had the same dangerous aura about him. Laughing and scheming at the same time.

"Here we are." Tsubasa gestured grandly at a nondescript brick building. "I'll see you around." With that, he sauntered away.

"Huh...thanks?" Mikan said to nobody in particular. "Romeo and Juliet, huh? I wonder who else is auditioning..." She squared her shoulders and headed into the Drama Building. And then right back out.

Natsume Hyuuga. You're auditioning too? Must you ruin every part of my life?

.tbc

Author's Note: Thank you for reading! Revised September 27, 2009.

~SL~