((*sigh* I love Alice in Wonderland...))

The overly-sweet, hushed chatter of the other girls was already starting to grate on Glory's nerves. She wasn't anti-social, by any means, but she found that she was easily annoyed by the 'brainless twits' of her generation. Sighing, she worked on tuning them out.

'It's too early for homicide,' she told herself with a wry grin, 'and it's illegal.' Maybe if she didn't bring attention to herself, they wouldn't notice her until after class started...

Unfortunately, Selena noticed Glory a few minutes before the bell rang. She happily plopped down in a seat next to her, smiling. "Hi, Glory. Ready to conquer this new school?" she asked, eagerly. "As promised, I'll give you a tour, if you need one."

And there went THAT hope. Glory could practically feel the cheer just oozing off of Selena, golden and over-sweet like honey. Glory held back a snerk at that mental image.

"How are you so cheerful this early?" she asked instead. "It's scientific fact that teenagers don't function any earlier than ten in the morning, and it's only quarter to eight."

"Oh, I'm always like this in the morning," Selena offered, nodding. "I'm a morning person. I only get tired during the night, and a bit in the evening. I guess..." She smiled. "I guess I'm special, in that sense..."

"Maybe I just need a good dunk in the ocean, then," Glory said, shrugging. "I live on the beach, so I spent the summer in the water, mostly. Not that I have a tan to show for it..." It was true. Once her sunburn had faded, her skin had gone back to its usual pale shade. That was alright with her, though. That just meant that her mostly-blue and -red wardrobe still looked good. Absently, she touched her hair to make sure it was still secured in a bun. No need for it to be falling out...

Selena giggled. "I just put a ton of sunscreen on when I go out to the beach. If I don't, then I burn...and I look like a giant lobster!" She sighed, then stretched. "So, you got a boyfriend? Girlfriend? I'm painfully single..."

"Painfully?" Glory pounced on the word. That wasn't a word that was typically used to descride high school relationships... If she was going to slowly let Serena know that she knew about her and Léan, she wanted all the details, first.

"Well...I've had boy troubles in the past. Plenty of boy troubles." Selena shrugged, smiling. "I've had a few cheat on me...I've had more than one just completely dump me...and then you have the ones who turn out to be total monsters inside in the end..." She didn't elaborate on the last type of 'conquest.'

"Total monsters?" Glory asked. "I'm not sure I even want to date in this town, if that's how the boys are." It didn't take a genius to figure out what Selena had meant, if one had all the pieces. "I guess I'm glad I've already met a few nice people, then."

Selena nodded, idly. "Not all of them are like that, but there are some, of course...naturally, I can't deal with people like that...so I don't bother with them. If you're planning on dating, you'd better check that boy out carefully, in case he turns out to be total freak..."

"I... don't think I said anything about meeting a boy," Glory replied carefully. That was kind of bizarre... And she'd been careful not to hint at anything yet. She was also fairly sure that Selena didn't know where she lived, so she couldn't have seen Glory with Léan...

"You didn't. I'm warning you in advance!" Selena chuckled. "Better safe than sorry, after all! Just be careful."

"I think I can take care of myself, but thanks," Glory replied. It seemed that Selena had been pretty tight-lipped about Léan, which was good. Glory figured that Selena didn't want people knowing about her liking a fish-boy more than she really cared about the secret itself. Time to start dropping a few hints, then. She stretched her arms out. "I hope they don't give too much homework here... I want to get in as much swimming as I can before the weather gets cold and I can't see my friends as often."

"You like to swim?" Selena asked, curiously. "Do you have a pool? Do you live right on the coast? Lucky! I'm stuck way back in the forest nearby...ugh." She stretched a bit. "Do you invite your friends over to swim?"

"I'm on the beach, yeah," Glory replied. "My friends kind of found me, though. I spent most of the summer in the water with them, and I want to get in as much time as possible before it gets too cold." She chuckled a little. "I'm jealous of them, though... They swim like fish. I mean, I can swim well enough, but nothing like them."

"Oh..." Selena paused. "Are they on the swim team?" It seemed that it had been so long since the incident that little hints weren't getting through to her. She wrinkled her nose when the teacher walked into the room--it was a sign that class would start soon.

Glory almost snerked again.

"Definitely not," she said. "I think the chlorine would be bad juju." Just before the teacher started class, she added, "I'm debating whether or not to take a trip out to the reef with them... Though there would be issues involved with that that involve me not being able to hold my breath long enough to see it."

This time, Selena visibly got a little suspicious--her emerald eyes narrowed a bit, and she studied Glory like she was a rather shady criminal. "Uh...hello? Scuba gear?" she whispered, dryly, as the teacher had begun class already.

Because the teacher had started class, Glory wrote her reply on a bit of paper and passed it to Selena.

I don't own any. And you need to take classes for that kind of thing.

Glory hesitated for a moment, but didn't add what she really wanted. Best to take it slow, and let Selena accumulate the pieces.

Selena scribbled her response in green gel pen, and also in fancy script.

Ask to borrow some of theirs, and ask them to teach you. If they're going scuba-diving, then they should have some extra gear and they should know what to do.

Glory raised an eyebrow, both at the message and the funky green ink. Who still used gel-pens outside of fourth grade? Regardless, she jotted down a reply, covering it with her arm as the teacher walked by before passing it back.

They don't scuba. No need.

Selena wrinkled her nose at the paper once it was returned, staring at it. She scribbled a quick response and pushed it back, sourly.

Oh. I didn't know you were into scaly things.

She understood perfectly, now. Even her written words looked scathing.

Glory couldn't quite hide a smirk. She hadn't expected Selena to connect the dots so quickly, but there was nothing she could do about it. She wasn't surprised at how quickly Selena's attitude had changed, though. Selena seemed fairly shallow to begin with.

And I didn't know you were into being so fickle, but everyone has their quirks.

If she wanted scathing, Glory could do scathing.

Selena sneered, bitterly. Her scowl couldn't have been more scathing...

Well, I'm sorry--I don't deal with freaks.

How quickly Selena's attitude changed. Glory was actually amused. Her day was turning out to be more interesting than she'd hoped. He debated for a few moments on how scathing to make her reply, and decided that since Selena would probably hate her, regardless, she should probably go the whole way.

Tell me something, before you cease speaking to me... Are you really so shallow, or is it an act?