Alice scanned the lunch room as she pushed through the doors, searching for her fellow mermaids and mermen.

The Bad Touch Trio, consisting of Gilbert, Francis, and Antonio, was relatively easy to spot. They were the ones who had melted into the not-so-bright-but-still-popular group. Ludwig was slightly harder to find, a stiff figure trying to blend into the walls by the jock tables. Matthias and Austin had also found places in this group, and no doubt their athletic natures would soon conquer their wobbly land legs.

It wasn't until after she had her food that she saw Heracles, dozing at an empty table. Leading the way, she sat down across from him and rapped the table a few inches from his nose a few times. He lifted his head, regarding her with sleepy eyes.

"Hello, your high- I mean Alice."

Yuki hesitated, and then sat next to him. She began to eat quietly, but Alice noticed the drowsy Mer watching her. Finally, with the curiosity brought on by all things land and human related, Heracles reached across to touch the key chain on her purse. Yuki froze.

"You are the human that knows, right?"

"Um, yes."

"What is this?"

"It's a key chain."

"No, I mean the creature."

"It's a cat."

Heracles studied it, and then looked at her for another minute before saying, "It's cute."

A blush rose in Yuki's cheeks. Alice smiled to herself. Clearly the cat wasn't the only thing Heracles found cute, and it was really rare that anything drew any level of interest from Heracles.

Still smiling, Alice scanned the cafeteria again. Mia had arrived, and looked even more out of her element than Alice had on her first day. The girl's parents were from Chinese waters, and she looked it. Now she wore a pair of sneakers, long, loose pants, and a loose red blouse. Her long black hair was loose from the horse tail that tamed it underwater, cascading around her face, and she clutched her tray like a life preserver. Her footing seemed shaky, at best, and her walking was getting worse the more anxious she became.

Alice started to raise her hand, about to call the floundering girl over, when something happened that made the entire lunch room go dead silent. It was something Alice had never before witnessed, but she wasn't in a position to appreciate it.

Mia had been taking small steps, moving in a backwards, winding, circling pattern as she searched desperately for a place to sit. Finally, deciding this was too risky to continue, she turned to walk forwards again. Ivan had been moving towards the table he had been sitting at with Alfred. Natalia, his younger sister, had called his name and waved to him from the lunch line. (She was the only person in the world creepier than Ivan himself.) Ivan had shuttered, not watching where he was going, and walked even faster.

The result was a head-on collision of a very tall Russian and a petite Asian mermaid.

Mai's tray went over them both, and she gasped as she was literally knocked to the floor. Alice felt a stab of pity for her friend, mashed potatoes and carrots now decorating her hair and clothes.

Ivan, who had retained his feet, looked first down at himself, and then at the girl. Mia was wide eyed, frozen like a bird in the eyes of a snake. She didn't have to be a genius to realize she'd just run into, and dumped half her lunch onto, the worst person possible. Despite his rounded, almost babyish face with a wax-drip nose, Ivan was very imposing. His skin was pale, despite being on the football team, his hair pale blond, and his eyes an unnerving shade of lavender.

The silence stretched for several, very long seconds. It was as though everyone was holding their breath, waiting for Ivan to break out into his trademark creepy smile and whip out his infamous pipe. Alice was on the verge of launching herself from her seat and planting herself firmly between friend/subject and threat when Ivan finally moved.

He bent down, wrapping two paws around Mia's biceps, and lifted her up. When only her toes touched the linoleum tiles, he set her down on her feet. As he continued on is way he gave a simple smile and said, "Be careful where you walk, da?"

The spell was broken. Things returned to normal as quickly as they'd stopped. Elizabeta and Alice hurried over to Mai. Normally, Elizabeta would have had the advantage of a longer stride, but Alice still had the advantage of over a year of practice. She grabbed Mai first, helping her towards the exit. Elizabeta hovered over them, dusting off most of the food.

It wasn't until Alice had bustled them into the nearest bathroom and was running a handful of paper towels under the faucet that she realized Mai was still quiet. When she looked at the girl's face, it was still more stunned than embarrassed.

Passing the towels to Elizabeta and grabbing a few more, she asked, "Are you alright?"

Mai blinked a few times, then asked in a soft voice, "Is he always that scary?"

Alice pursed her lips, trying to blot the places Elizabeta cleaned. "Eh, usually. I guess he doesn't hit girls. That's good to know."

"Has he hit people before?" asked Elizabeta, frowning.

Alice thought back over the previous school year. She'd heard a wide range of stories, none of which were pleasant. Ivan's elder sister, a senior who had graduated, was the normal one of the bunch. Natalia was extremely popular with the boys, and if you kept your distance from Ivan she was no threat to the girls. Ivan himself...while she really doubted he was heir to the Russian mafia and had killed a hundred full grown men with his bare hands, she still avoided him. It was the excuse she used to avoid Alfred most of the time, as he considered Ivan his best friend and seemed to be immune to his creepiness.

"Eh...not off the field," she said at last.

Aside from the lunch room incident, the day went smoothly enough. By the end of the day,

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Aside from the lunch room incident, the day went smoothly enough. By the end of the day Alice was trudging down the hall, making her way towards the exit. They passed a number of classrooms on their way out, including the art and music rooms. It wasn't until Alice noticed the lack of the noise her friend's awkward gate on the linoleum floor, though, that she notice Elizabeta wasn't behind her anymore. She stopped and looked back, frowning.

Elizabeta was by the music room, peeking timidly inside. Alice heaved a sigh, and trudged back over to her.

"What are you-

Elizabeta shushed her. The melody of a piano continued to flow passed them. Moving her head in closer and lowering her voice to a soft whisper, Elizabeta asked, "What's his name?"

Alice stuck her head in the door. The only occupant was the neatly dressed boy she recognized from sophomore year. This was his habit for as long as she'd been here, and even farther back if she understood correctly. He was sitting at the piano, fingers dancing over the keys with a natural flow that would make professionals weep.

Retracting her head she whispered back in the same manner, "Roderich Edelstein. He's the local piano prodigy."

Elizabeta was silent, staring into space, the music seeming to put her into a trance. Alice watched her for several minutes, and without a word turned to leave. Nothing had ever done this to her friend before, and she wasn't about to ruin the mood. So long as Roderich was playing, it seemed, Elizabeta would be listening.

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Mai kept her head down in the halls as she stuffed books and binders into her Hello Kitty backpack, avoiding drawing attention to herself. (She had discovered Hello Kitty and panda's her first day on land, and had fallen immediately in love.) She was naturally shy, and having six flamboyant older sisters hadn't done much for that.

She was working the last of the textbooks into the backpack when she felt a presence come up behind her, just behind the locker door. Slowly, she turned, and looked up.

"I never catch your name."

Mai stared up at the Russian. Even now, she was only eye-level with his massive chest. It wasn't just that though, it was his eyes, the attention. She had his full, undivided attention. It was both unnerving, and oddly pleasant.

"My name?" she squeaked.

The Russian smiled. It wasn't a creepy smile, it was a nice smile.

"Da, your name."

"M-Mai, Mai Wang."

"Ivan Braginski."

Without another word, he turned and disappeared into the bustling crowd. Strangely, Mai didn't feel the need to shutter as she went to zip up her bag.

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Ludwig was one of the few who had never been plagued by curiosity of the surface. Now that he was here, he found that things were more structured, more organized than he had ever thought. The human world was both amazing and slightly frightening. Just walking up the beach had taken a great deal of time and effort, though it got easier once he was on the flat surface of the asphalt parking lot.

And don't get me started on stairs, he added to himself grimly, staring down at a short flight of five cement steps.

It wasn't much compared to the thirteen that took him up his bedroom at the Angler's house. Bella had offered a first story room, but Ludwig had wanted to work on the most challenging aspect of operating legs. In living on the second floor, he would be forced to practice daily whether he wanted to or not. He was already regretting it, but he wouldn't change his mind.

Allowing himself to vent a sigh, he gripped the rusting rail to one side, and slowly stepped down the cracked steps one at a time. He was one step away from the bottom when a voice behind him shouted, "Look out you idiot!"

Ludwig barely had time to register this when something crashed headlong into his back. He was thrown forward, only just managing to catch himself with a one-handed death grip on the rail. The person who had run into him ricocheted off him, spun, and landed butt-first in the grass just on the other side of the sidewalk.

Hurriedly hauling his feet back under him and dragging himself back into a standing position, Ludwig made sure he was firmly planted before turning to give this fool a piece of his mind. He was tired, cranky, and had nearly been knocked off his feet in public. He could at least stand in a dignified manner when he yelled at this foolish human.

The speech he was firing up died in his throat as he faced them, though.

A slight girl was rubbing her head from her spot on the grass, rising the most heart-piercing pair of amber doe eyes Ludwig had ever seen. They were set in a pretty face, framed by waterfalls of chestnut locks. She wore calf high, motorcycle-style leather boots, a pair of rolled up khaki shorts that barely covered half her thighs, a snug black tank top, and a dark blue jacket that was a size too big.

Amber met glacier blue. Something deep in Ludwig's chest, something that was buried in his magical core, twisted and spasmed.

The moment shattered when someone else stomped down the steps, marching over to the girl and yanking her upright.

"Would you watch where you're going, idiot?" she demanded as she did so. Glancing at Ludwig, she said, "Sorry for my dorky sister."

Ludwig blinked, finding he was unable to form a reply. This girl was physically identical, aside from a darker shade of hair and olive green eyes, but there was definitely something different, starting with the scowl set in her face.

Even as her sister dragged her away, the girl turned back to look at Ludwig. Suddenly, a smile as bright as the Floridian sun above them broke out over her face. She lifted a hand in farewell as they disappeared into the swarm of students.

That night, his dreams would be filled with the amber eyed girl.

Author's Note: Hi there appreciated reader! If you liked this story enough to hit 'Chapter 2', I'd just like to say thanks. This is my first story, and I'm going to try to put more up later on. Reviews are appreciated, even if it's just a "Not bad." Flames are welcome, but only if they are constructive flames. Flames that are there just to flame will be ignored with extreme prejudice.

Again, thanks and reviews are appreciated! :)