White Thorn | On Hold

Chapter Five: Trouble

Arya didn't like crowds.

Not one bit.

Sure, she didn't like being alone, but being in the middle of a crowd was worse. It was somewhere she could easily disappear. Somewhere where she didn't know who exactly was surrounding her. So rather than joining the kerfuffle in the middle of the grand hall, she sat to the side, on one of the chairs lining the wall which was pretty much made entirely of glass windows.

Thick forest green drapes fell to the floor behind her, and Arya fought the urge to turn around.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, her hands clawing at the seat as she silently cursed her choice of seating. It wasn't good at all. Anyone could be peering in behind her... Anyone could break through that glass and—

Arya shook her head, focusing her attention on the crowd in front of her.

She was safe.

The school had decent enough security from what she'd seen, both from a brief look in the handbook and her drive in, and as much as she'd love to test it that'd have to wait.

"And what's a cute little First Year like you doing on the side-lines?"

Arya sat bolt upright, cranking her head around to spy the girl standing behind her, relaxing ever so slightly when she saw the uniform of Riverdale High. Loose black slacks with plenty of room for movement, tucked into a set of matching boots somewhat shorter than her own. Those, she approved of. The top half, less so. It was an odd mishmash of formal clothing and combat wear, but Arya supposed it wasn't all that surprising considering where they were. She assumed the white collared shirt was meant to be buttoned up... and possibly tucked into the slacks, but she hardly cared. The black undershirt covered all the essentials up from her somewhat innocent eyes, and the brown belt above her waist kept everything from fluttering about in the non-existent wind.

In fact, she was half tempted to wear her uniform the exact same way once she got it.

She shrugged, pausing in her ogling to answer the girl's question. "Relaxing," she mumbled, sinking into her chair as the girl sat down next to her. "Who are you, anyway?"

"The name's Velvet Thorn," she said, swinging her legs back and forth. "I'm one of the troublemaking Second Years here... how 'bout you?"

"Arya. First Year," she muttered, eyeing up all her potential classmates.

"You got a last name to go with that?" Velvet asked, one eyebrow raised, yanking her attention back onto the girl sitting next to her.

Her skin was darker than Arya's own, hair pulled back into a messy brown ponytail, two widely spaced brown eyes staring into her green ones as they assessed each other quietly.

"Cross."

Velvet nodded, apparently pleased with what she saw.

Arya couldn't blame her.

She was hardly anything incredible to look at aesthetics wise, but she had a feeling that wasn't what her newfound companion was looking at. Compared to the other First Years she'd seen so far, she was seeming to be the one with a fair bit of practical experience. She actually had some muscle, though it didn't really show all that well.

It hardly mattered though, especially since she wouldn't really be gaining any more – a side-effect from what the monk had taught her all those years ago.

Not that she really cared.

She didn't want to be particularly buff in the first place, so there were no tears shed once he'd revealed that little snippet of information.