Lina Inverse stood in the doorway of her new school, looking it over appraisingly. Large, spacious hallways, so the traffic flow to and from class didn't kill anyone trying to get to their locker, shiny black-and-white marble swirl tiles that reflected the bright fluorescent lights nicely, and steel-blue lockers gave the building a clean, wholesome appearance. The only offset were the cliques.
Figures, she thought. They always know how to ruin a good school. Her crimson eyes fell over the different groups, examining each and wondering where she'd end up this time.
First and naturally, there were the jocks. There were jocks at every school, it was the one blessing/curse no place of public education could miss. This little band of athletes was headed by a tall blonde, blue eyed guy who smiled stupidly at everything said to him.
Then there were the activists. Not every school Lina had attended had activists, but this group had a charismatic leader; a short blue-eyed and black-hared girl who looked a little young to be in high school.
Of course there were the nerds/geeks/Trekkies, and the punks/goths/combinations, and many others that made Lina's head swirl.
"Sheesh. Large school." She muttered, nearly dropping her textbooks.
"No kidding." A voice from behind startled her. She spun around, coming face to face with a taller young man who's straight violet hair and easy smile seemed just a bit out of place.
"Geeze, you startled me!" She hissed, glaring at him.
"Sorry," he continued to smile, then held out his hand in a friendly manner. "I'm Xellos Metallium, and you must be the new student, Lina Inverse. Am I correct?"
"Yeah," she looked him over, scrutinizing every detail. "How did you know - "
" - your name?" He cut her off, rubbing the back of his neck in an embarrassed fashion. "You dropped this a while back." He handed her one of her slimmer textbooks, with her name in large script on the cover.
"Thanks," she smiled a little, unwilling to trust the stranger.
"No problem." He continued to grin, then slipped his arm around her shoulders and ushered her down the hall. "Welcome to Sreyals High, home of the Fireballs. I'll be your guide to the wonderful world of our high school society. Over to your right, you'll see the Fireballs themselves, with their star basketball player Gourry Gabriev. And to the left, you'll see the gavel worshiping Amelia Seyroon and her friends, trying to abolish the death penalty. There's the class president, Firia Ulcoupt, who's just a little high strung, and look! You're lucky enough to witness our resident bookworm Shyphiel outside of the library!"
Xellos continued to 'escort' Lina around, much to her embarrasment, pointing out the people in charge of most of the cliques. Lina decided sometime during his monologue that she didn't like him very much.
All at once, the hallways fell silent. No one moved, save for one pale figure that made the mass of people part like the Red Sea.
"Who's that?" Lina asked Xellos, pointing discreetly to the youth in question. As if he could tell she spoke of him, the young man looked up and stared directly into her eyes from across the hall. His peircing, icy gaze locked her attention, freezing her in place until he sighed and continued on his way.
"That's Zelgadis Greywers." The purple haired man had lost his smile, and now had become very serious. "He's got HIV."