Chapter I
"He ran away yet he still remained in photos."
On a dazzling morning at Aspraid Highschool where students of various shapes, abilities, and personalities mingled about and conversated on a multitude of typical topics such as romance, drama, and friendships at the cafeteria.
A Saprima student sat at a lone table near the restroom far from the fanfare of his fellow students whose words was of no interest to him. He steadily wrote tales of diverse flavors in his orange notebook with a big hand gliding a pen across its pages as another one threw morsels of food into his mouth.
"Um, Hello?" He looked up from his orange notebook to see a Geyero student standing across from him at the table with her white fur glistening under the glaringly harsh cafeteria lights.
"Yes—do you need something?" He set aside his orange notebook for a moment before clasping his big hands together.
"May I take a seat at your table?—if that's alright with you." She stood there as her eyes glowed blue and felt as though her gaze was looking directly at his soul.
"Should I?" He thought, while he couldn't meet her blue gaze with his orange one yet he took a breath and made his decision.
"Of course!" She nodded and took a seat at his table before setting down her white backpack with pastel pink accents to relieve her shoulders of its weight.
"I'm Angela by the way!" She offered a hooved hand to him with an earnest smile on her face.
"I'm Andy!" He shook her hand and reciprocated her smile yet his smile was plastered on his face unlike hers.
"Hi, Andy!—may you tell me more about Aspraid?" She rubbed her neck with a hooved hand as she shifted in her seat, and faced the floor.
"Why?—are you new here or something?" He gulped down the final morsel of food before wiping his face with an arm as he saw her calmly nod.
"Oh, well—Aspraid isn't special, but I can definitely say the people here are quite welcoming and friendly—for the most part at least." He opened his orange notebook and glided his pen upon its pages once more as she smiled sweetly in response.
"Thank you!" She bend down to lift her white pink-accented backpack from the floor to her lap as she steadily zipped it open to reveal a surprise.
Angela pulled out a white pink-accented lunchbox with art of several cupcakes on its lid and after she unclasped it open to unveil a meal so scrumptious which left Andy salivating and a bit distracted.
"Woah!—do you want to share some of your lunch with me?" He shut his orange notebook with his pen inside and set it aside as he redirected his focus to her and her lunchbox in a back and forth.
"Hmmm—sure!" She held a piece of her delectable food in a hooved hand before dropping it in the palm of his big hand.
"Ooh!" He hesitantly placed the food piece on his tongue before grinning in delight as the flavor melted on his taste buds with her reciprocating such a smile as she savored her food in tandem.
"So how was it?" She retrieved a white napkin from her pocket before wiping her mouth with it.
"It was utterly scrumptious!—who made it?" His orange-filled gaze laid upon her blue-filled gaze.
"My father was the one who made it—he'll usually concoct me something delicious to bring to school." She took another piece of food from her lunchbox and peacefully ate it.
"Your father's cooking is quite impressive—but could you give me another one? As I just couldn't get enough of it." He grinned wide as he reached out a big hand to her.
"Thank you!—I'll make sure to tell him when I get home." She chuckled as she dropped him another food morsel which he amusingly threw into his mouth.
They slowly ate away at the contents of her lunchbox, until only crumbs remained at its metallic bottom and both Andy and Angela were left satisfied and bellies happily content.
Andy rubbed his stomach with a big hand and burped with abandon before a thought came to be in his mind and it beckoned him to ask an inquiry.
"Hey—can I ask you something?" He readjusted in his seat and faced her gaze.
"Umm—you may." She adjusted the cuffs of her dark pink blouse and clasped her hooved hands.
"Well, since you gave me the nod that you're new to Aspraid—what was your old highschool like?" He held up his chin with a big hand and leaned forward.
"I—I don't want to talk about it at the moment." She looked away, while covering her mouth with a hooved hand.
Andy nodded reassuringly, leaning back, and grabbed his orange notebook before continuing on inscribing wonders upon its pages with the concentration in his eyes piquing Angela's interest.
"Um, could you tell me what you're writing?—as you look quite absorbed to say the least about whatever you're writing." She laid out her arms bare on the table and awaited an answer.
"I mean, it isn't that impressive." He scratched the side of his head, closed the orange notebook, and looked at the wall behind him for a moment or more.
"You know—I could just judge it for myself, because your writing might actually be quite impressive." He faced her once more with eyebrows raised before looking down at his orange notebook.
"Okay, fine." He sighed as he handed her the orange notebook and shook a bit in his seat.
She retrieved the orange notebook from his grasp and read every word that she laid her eyes upon for a moment or more with her occasionally smiling or tilting her head as he sat in his seat feeling bits of hope and fear.
She eventually finished her perusing with a sigh as she closed the orange notebook before handing it back to him which he took back straight away and held it tightly to his chest with him scratching an arm as he also tried to not face her directly.
Angela witnessing him quaking in his seat across from her at the table concerned her, so asked him a simple question to break him out of his trembling state.
"Uh, are you okay?—do you need help?" His shaking halted as his orange-filled gaze laid their sight upon her worried face before he breathed in and out for a moment.
"No, I'm fine." He wipe the sweat of his brow before rubbing his temples and adjusting the collar of his purple shirt.
"Are you sure?—you don't look to be fine a moment ago." She leaned forward and rested her arms on her lap as she awaited a response from him.
Andy opened his mouth as though he had something to say yet nothing left his throat, so he just smiled awkwardly at her as he held his orange notebook tighter to himself.
"Are you worried on what I thought of your writing?" She noticed a minute nod from him, so thought mindfully on what to say next.
"In my opinion, your writing was quite impressive!—as I had predicted" His eyebrows rose before he earnestly smiled with him blushing by a bit.
"However, it isn't perfect for there were some issues when it came to grammar, pacing, and tone in what you've written." She noticed his smile fading and quickly realized her mistake.
"My critique of your writing's flaws wasn't meant to discourage you into to stop writing—as it's overall still impressive and I commend you for it." He regained some of his smile with her showing of a smile of her own to lighten the mood.
Andy steadily packed up his things into his orange green-accented backpack with Angela following suit as she packed her own things in her backpack.
He looked up at the wall clock on the other end of the room and realized that it was minutes away before the next period commences.
So he thought long for a question to ask Angela as she'll be going to her next class soon enough and he didn't want to miss his chance in becoming friends with her.
"Hey, Angela!" He gestured to get her attention and was successful in that endeavor.
"What do you need?" She faced him with her head tilting by a bit.
"Can we exchange bracelet numbers?" He rhythmically tapped at the table with a big hand.
"Why should I?" She held her head with a hooved hand as she smirked.
Andy breathed deeply and rubbed his big hands together before opening his mouth.
"Look—I want to be friends with you, so if we exchange bracelet numbers and remain in touch—we're able to do achieve such a thing." She stared at him as he tried to keep his composure under the scrutiny of her gaze.
"Sure!—you seem friendly enough to be friends with." She gave him her bracelet number and in return, he gave her his.
After exchanging bracelet numbers, they complimented the design of the other's bracelet before saying their goodbyes and giving each other a high five at the same time of the bell ringing blaring loudness.
