Crooked Neighbor, Crooked Heart

Two

My guide who has not yet graced me with her name wastes no time.

"Alright newbie so the first thing you should know is that like it or not this place will remind you of your pathetic high school years which, by the looks of you, you probably shudder to reminisce on."

Ouch.

"By that I mean there are, unfortunately, cliques here."

And I thought college was supposed to be different.

"Yeah I know it's a tragic cliche. Anyways you've got people here from all walks of life with all different talents. These include but are not limited to technological geniuses, the really deep literature people, artists, actors, etcetera etcetera.

"Now there is no sense of hostility or competition among these groups. Think of it as an ecosystem in which we are all nicely situated in our own little niche, blissfully oblivious to the other species that share our habitat. We all coexist peacefully."

"And they are?" I gesture towards a mixed group of students who stand out thanks to their expensive not-starving-artist looking cothes. A few of them look at me and seem to be sizing me up until they see who I'm with. They quickly turn away and my tour guide seems mildly pleased.

"Those are the rich kids who decide that they need some other ways to spend mommy and daddy's money so they join an arts school just for shits and giggles. They are completely void of any natural artistic vision and or ability so they overcompensate with their egos and stuff. I suggest you stay away from them." She warns me.

Alright then, that was strange.

We walk around this little social gathering area for a bit longer before she stops abruptly and sits Indian style on the grass. I stand awkwardly for a minute before joining her.

"So newbie," she says as she leans back and begins to sun herself, damn she's beautiful. "you got a name?"

I glance down at my name tag. Again. Why am I even wearing this? "Did the name tag not tip you off at all?"

She reaches out and grabs the lanyard pulling me closer to her. She smells like citrus and flowers and -. Shit why am I thinking like this? Stop it Zayn, this girl is crazy, don't go there.

"Hmm Zayn ..." She meets my eyes. "I think I'll call you Z instead." She says it like she's giving a name to her new pet hamster or something. What the fuck is wrong with this girl?

"And what can I call you?"

"By my name." She does that half smirk again.

"Yeah no shit." I reply as rudely as possible complete with a dramatic eye roll.

She doesn't seem offended and doesn't react to my sarcasm. Instead she laughs.

Laughs.

And yeah, it's sorta an amazing sound.

She leans forward and turns her head a bit to the side so I can only see a portion of her smiling face. She looks at me sideways with a smile that reaches all the way to her eyes before catching her breath and responding, "Call me Ava."

With that she stands up and begins to walk away, leaving me speechless and scrambling to catch up.

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Alright so part two!!! I'm aware that it is somewhat (completely) boring and short but I just want to make sure everyone has a good idea of who Ava and Zayn are. I'm going to be away for a week so I'm not sure if I shall update much. I'm not quite sure if anyone is actually invested in this story and actually cares but for those of you that are thank you :)