History of film got out early and Eaden walked down the path with a group of guys at his heels, all of them talking loud, looking a bit like they owned the path. Others avoided them or greeted them with the same enthusiasm. As far as popularity went, he liked to think of himself at the top of the ladder. Considering the eyes his group drew, it must be truth. Few men here could rival him though there was that bastard Ryuu and his pretty-boy friend. It didn't even make make sense! It had to be the eye patch. He bet if that guy took it off, all the girls would stop swooning like ninnies. They just had to love a mystery.

Despite the excited chatter around him, Eaden's thoughts put him in a sour mood, leaving his face marred with a scowl. "Yo, see you at dinner?" One friend asked, clapping Eaden on the back. He waved back, easily flipping on a smile.

"Of course. You're still paying right?"

"Shit...fine." With that, most of Eaden's group split ways. The few that still walked with him distracted themselves with their own conversations thought he still felt them at his back. He always did and too easily wore the role he'd been cast into. Just as he was about to turn into the parking lot, he spotted some kid sitting by a tree. He'd seen the guy before, probably snickered at him too. He was sitting alone reading and eating an apple. Which looked like a good idea, but somehow still pissed him off. This was the sort of guy most unlike him--okay being alone, openly artistic, the sort that popular mean kids could pick on and no one would stop. Because who cared about someone who was always alone in the first place?

Eaden stepped off the path and came to stand in front of the kid. "Oh, would you look at that," he whistled, looking down at the sketchpad he'd left out. "You some kind of artist?"