while all the vultures feed;; kandice

[ASHER HARRIS]

outfit.


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Bang. Bang. Bang.

Asher banged his head against the desk he was seated at in frustration. He really really really didn't want to have to sit through an hour and a half of... whatever class this was. Old runes, maybe? Blah. Yeah, he definitely didn't want to spend the next hour and a half looking at pictures of circles or whatever and trying to remember that they meant. That was just lame.

Straightening up, Asher looked around at the other students who were waiting for class to start, with a glum expression on his face. There was nobody here that he could talk to. All the other students, they seemed to fit into one of three categories for him. He didn't know them, he didn't like them, or they didn't like him. It didn't matter who fit where though, it all came down to the same thing for him. He was totally alone in this class.

Not for the first time, Asher wished that Izzy was there. When she had been in classes with him, they would spend the whole time talking, or passing notes if the teacher was in a shitty mood. That was before she had mysteriously disappeared though. He had been told that she'd had to go home for some reason, but he had never had any confirmation of this. For all he knew, she could have been the latest victim in the whole murder thing that was going on. He hoped not, but it was a possibility.

Bang. Asher let his head fall back against the cool, wood of the desk yet again. This time, he didn't bother to lift it back up again though. "This sucks..." He muttered the words to himself more then to anyone else. He doubted it would have mattered even if he had intended the complaint for someone elses ears though. The chances that anyone was paying him any attention were slim to none. Class really did suck.

[KANDICE RYLAND]

It felt as if she had never left Texas. She walked into class, picked a seat and kept to herself in silence. The only difference this time was that she really didn't know anyone. It was her first class as a student at Winterthorne Academy and while she was entranced at the reality of her status, she hated being an outsider. What class was this anyways?

"This sucks..." Kandice looked around in hopes of finding whoever muttered to themselves. It wasn't long before she figured out who it was, some kid banging his head on his desk. She observed him, maybe he was having a bad day and needed to knock some sense into himself? Or maybe he was just psycho and liked giving himself injuries.

She noticed him looking around, maybe trying to pick out someone in particular. He was cute, she assessed. Brown hair, decent frame, good sense of style... Uh oh, good sense of style. The red flag went up inside her head. Either he was taken by a snobby rich girl and he was part of her snobby rich world or he wasn't into girls like Kandy, or girls at all. Damn.

Bang. Bang. Kandice snapped out of her thoughts and watched the boy again, still tormented by some unknown source. Just ask him if he's okay. Stop being a chicken! You'll never make friends that way...

"Um, hey, are you okay?" she asked, her voice slightly shaken.

[ASHER HARRIS]

outfit.


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Asher froze as a female voice intruded upon his ears. His first thought was that he must have imagined that the question was aimed at him. He quickly dismissed that idea though. Despite the room having been filled with what he viewed as unfriendly faces when he'd just looked around, he was close to one hundred percent sure that the question was meant for him.

Turning his head towards the voice, so that his forehead was no longer resting against the desk, Asher instantly found clarification for this belief, as his eyes met those of a girl seated in the next row, and one seat back from him. Blue eyes. Asher had always wished that his eyes were blue. Instead he'd been cursed with eyes that were the colour of mud. How unattractive.

"I'm fine." Asher's reply was rushed, but his words were followed by a pause that was nowhere near as hurried. Perhaps he was being a little too hasty in cutting off conversation with this girl. For all he knew, she might not end up hating him, and he might not end up hating her. Maybe she could end up becoming great friends with him, and class would once again become bearable. It wasn't likely, but it was possible.

So, sitting back up, Asher twisted in his seat, so he was facing her properly. "I just don't really want to be here right now, you know?" He tilted his head to the side, watching the girl. She was pretty, but that didn't really matter to him. As far as he was concerned, all girls had cooties. Well, Izzy had them at least - she'd told him so once - so he had to assume that all girls did.

Other then being pretty though, there was one thing about the girl that Asher was sure of. He had never ever seen her before in his life. Maybe she was new or something. "Who are you?" Asher blurted out the words in a way that must have seemed rude to the girl, but he didn't care. He had always been somewhat blunt with words, it was just part of who he was.

[KANDICE RYLAND]

Her jaw dropped as she watched him speak. She never actually expected him to respond, just shake his head or nod.

"Yeah, I'm the type who usually tunes out if the lecture doesn't hold my attention." She smiled casually in hopes of him getting a friendly feeling. If she continued the conversation long enough, this class might actually be bearable and she might have made another friend other than her room mate Xio and that cool girl, Dani.

Absent mindedly, she grabbed a piece of her hair and twirled it. After a few seconds, the color changed from blond to blond at the top then fading into dark brown in the middle. She felt herself feel a little down at the thought of not knowing anyone and having to start from scratch. The possibility of never making any friends sank her already heavy heart, a slight frown forming on her face.

"Who are you?" he blurted out of nowhere. At first she wasn't sure how to take it but then again, she'd have asked the same thing if some random guy asked her if she was okay out of nowhere.

"I'm, um, I'm Kandice. I'm pretty new here. What's your name again? Maybe you didn't tell me..." She let go of her hair and watched it turn entirely blond again.

[ASHER HARRIS]

outfit.


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


It was strange. Asher had looked away from the girl for just a moment to watch as one of the other students began to pelt their friend with pieces of scrunched up paper, and when he looked back at her she was different. At least, he thought she was. He could have sworn that before he'd looked away, the girl had been blonde. Now she was like, half blonde, half brunette. It was like regrowth to the extreme. Only if that were the case, Asher would have expected the blonde and brown to go the other way around. He could have been wrong though. It wasn't as if he'd fully inspected the girl, so maybe he just hadn't noticed her hair properly until now...

As if she had sensed his conflict, the girl provided him with three things to help distract him. First, her name. Kandice. Second, confirmation that she was indeed a new student. Third, the disturbing suggestion that she might already know who he was. Asher didn't see how she might have thought that she'd missed his introduction in the whole... three sentences, or whatever, that he'd spoken so far, which left only the idea that someone else mad been telling her stuff about the students.

"I'm Asher." He paused for just a second, before continuing with a slightly more fierce tone. "Whatever you've heard about me, it's probably only half true!" He scowled at the girl Kandice for a moment as if he expected her to argue against him. If somebody had told her anything about him, he would definitely see to it that his image was rectified. Hell, this person had probably filled her head with all sorts of lies about people. Perhaps he'd have to let her know what people were really--

Distraction! Or... Err... Undistraction? Whatever. The point was, Kandice's hair changed colour. "Your hair changed colour!" Asher blurted out the obvious. He wasn't surprised by her ability, really. In a school that was full of 'freaks', hair changing colour was hardly something to drop your jaw over. No, the reason Asher had commented on it was because... Well, it had happened... Okay, so he didn't really have a reason. Still, he wasn't going to let something like that stop him. Obviously, seen as he'd already done it.

[KANDICE RYLAND]

[

Asher... That's a cool-

Her thoughts were interrupted by something she wasn't expecting. "Whatever you've heard about me, it's probably only half true!" The boy Asher scowled at her. She tilted her head in confusion as her hair changed. Then, he stated the obvious, as if he'd never seen anyone gifted before.

"One, I'm not quite sure what you mean about anybody telling me anything about you since I've only just met you and two, my hair changes with my mood so if you suddenly see it go dark, I'd advise you to watch your tone," she responded firmly.

Jeez, first day of class and already, there's an asshole. I thought he would be cool. I don't know what I did to crash his party but pffft!

Kandice wrinkled her nose as a way of letting go of the subject. She stared at Asher, waiting for a response. As the seconds passed in silence, her hair started to turn from blond to black. It started at the top and slowly faded like sand falling in an hourglass. Her irritation at his curt attitude was becoming more and more apparent. I was so nice, friendly... I don't get it. Ugh!

The teacher walked in and the class didn't seem to mind. The other students continued with their conversations and the teacher didn't bother to stop them. Instead, she just started putting stuff away in her desk like she was stalling or just flat out didn't care. Please don't tell me this year is gonna suck!

[ASHER HARRIS]

outfit.


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Asher's eyes narrowed angrily as Kandice spoke. Maybe she was innocent as far as his accusations were concerned, or maybe she was playing wolf. He didn't really know, and he absolutely didn't care. For, no matter what she meant by the first half of what she'd said, it seemed very very clear to Asher what it was that she intended with her final comment.

His eyes shot daggers that were just about as sharp as his words. "Is that meant to be some kind of threat of something?" Even as he glared at Kandice, her hair once again began to darken. To Asher, this event only made him more certain in the belief that she was meaning to intimidate him. Well, obviously she really didn't know him. If she did, she would have known that he didn't get intimidated easily.

"Whatever." Asher turned back to sit properly in his chair, so he was once again facing the front of the room and mostly had his back to Kandice. "You're just like everyone else." His voice was no longer so sharp. It was more distracted, with a tinge of disappointment. He didn't know why though. It wasn't as if he'd expected more from her. Not really. But, like he'd said, whatever.

[KANDICE RYLAND]

She sighed. His words stung, even though she hardly knew the kid. Her first class and instead of the friend she was hoping for, she'd made an enemy and didn't even understand how.

Her hair went straight to blond in an instant and remained that way. She didn't care anymore, what for? Whatever he thought about her, it was clear he wasn't easy to sway when it came to opinions and assumptions. Kandice spent half of her first class doodling in a notebook instead of paying attention. After a while, she started to daydream about Asher.

They were sitting in class and about to be dismissed when he turned to her and smiled. "I can be such a dick sometimes," he admitted apologetically. "Can we start over?"

"I suppose," she agreed hesitantly. "What made you change your mind?"

"Well, I have a lot of bad blood with this school and I'm hoping to lessen that percentage starting with you." He smiled and his eyes twinkled. Kandice could feel herself blush.

"That's very sweet of you. I'm sorry I was so rude."

"It's okay. Would you like to grab coffee sometime?"

"I would love to, Asher." A pen dropped to the floor and she jumped at the sound. She stared at Asher, realizing she probably spoke loud enough for him to hear. Oh crap! She looked at her desk for her pen frantically in hopes to pretend like she was busy. When she couldn't find it, she looked on the floor to no avail. After sitting back up with a sigh, she stared at Asher holding up her pen.

[ASHER HARRIS]

outfit.


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Asher stared resolutely at the board that the Professor had jadedly begun copying notes onto. Although his eyes were locked onto the words that were being written, Asher wasn't taking in anything that they said. He was just determined not to look back at Kandice again. As far as he was concerned, their conversation was well and truly over, and it would be a long, long time before he ever even considered talking to her again.

And so began one of the most boring and tedious lessons Asher had ever sat through. Well, it probably wasn't really any worse then any other lesson. After his 'conversation' with Kandice though, it somehow seemed even less bearable then it had been before she had intruded on his life. He could almost hate her. Or maybe he actually did hate her. She was already causing him misery, and making him lose focus. She would definitely deserve his hatred if he did decide that was how he felt.

Asher had just begun to sink down in his seat, to try and relax a little, when he was forced to tense up again. Kandice had spoken. Her words made no sense to him though. She'd love to? She'd love to what? The girl was clearly a total lunatic. Well, a total lunatic, or stoned out of her mind - either one. Neither of these options were things that Asher forgave her for though. He disapproved of drugs, and crazy people were just... well, crazy.

Hesitantly, he looked around to Kandice, to see what exactly she was talking about. The answers he hoped to find though weren't offered, as the girl manically searched her desk for something. A little confused, Asher's eyes moved down. There they spotted a pen on the ground. He assumed this was what she was looking for. A dropped pen still didn't answer his questions though. If anything, it just made things more confusing.

As if his body was set to automatic, Asher bent slightly and scooped up the pen. As soon as he had done it, he froze though. What was he doing? He didn't owe this girl any favours. He should have just let her find her own pen. So, a little annoyed with himself, he thrust his hand forward, holding out the pen to her. "This is what you're looking for, right?" He bit his lip slightly, avoiding looking her in the eye. She was probably just going to have another bitch fit about him touching her stuff. Oh, the drama.

[KANDICE RYLAND]

And there it was, in Asher's hand. Her stupid foresaken pen. Damn you pen, damn you in Asher's hand! she scorned in her head. She reached out her hand to grab the pen, looking into Asher's eyes and trying to pin point the one thing out of a million that he's thinking.

He looked confused and she knew why. He heard her, loud and clear enough to think she's psycho. Great, why me? Will this class never end? "Um, thanks for uh, getting my pen off the floor for me."

She stared, waiting for a lashing. She half way expected him to just turn around and ignore her for the rest of the school year and half way expected him to ask her what she was talking about, thus humiliating herself even more. Whatever she did to deserve this punishment so early in her Winterthorne Academy "career", she didn't do it.

"Okay, look. I was having a daydream and its stupid and childish but you asked me out for coffee so i said yes, thinking it would be nice to make a friend here and that it would make this class suck way less if we were atleast on good terms. That's what you heard, I was replying to the daydream Asher."

While she didn't feel better about herself, she still felt that she did a good deed but trying to get him out of the dark, and possibly stop the weird look in his eyes as he stared at her blankly.