COLLIDE (camren AU)

(REVISED EDITION): 2

"Sup dawg!"

She lifted her head away from the tuna sandwich her mom prepared for her and saw a tall blonde girl towering next to her table in the far corner of the cafeteria.

"Can I sit here?"

She would have gulped but her mouth was very full of a hefty bite of her sandwich. She knew she would choke to her death if she swallowed it without chewing first. But the tall girl asking her to share the table with her was intimidating. She was making her nervous and scared, and her basic reflex to fear and anxiety was to gulp thickly.

The girl seemed to have sensed her apprehension and realized she may have been too forward in the way she asked.

"Hey, didn't mean to scare you... I like people watching and this spot in the corner has the perfect view of the whole cafeteria, so you know... Can I? May I?" The girl motioned her hand reluctantly on the vacant chair.

She likes people watching too, it's just that she is not used to people talking to her. Especially in a manner in which the girl approached her, as if they were long time acquaintances.

In a span of less than five seconds, she studied the girl's face. She allowed herself to admire the girl's strong, defined features and beautiful tanned skin. She let her eyes wander in the girl's chiseled nose and pair full lips that was glossy pink in color. Her hair was golden-brownish blonde and flowed like a thick wavy curtain past her shoulders. Her eyes were of deep dark brown that seemed to have seen it all and her voice was soft despite her speaking a few decibels louder than what's acceptable. All in all, with the girl's face along with her height and build, she can admit to saying that the girl is definitely beautiful. Intimidating more than the usual yes, because for real everyone intimidates her, but most definitely beautiful.

She blinked twice in quick successions to shake off her wandering mind before finding herself nodding once.

"Thanks!" She plopped herself on the chair quite ungracefully and gave her a cheeky smile, "I'm Dinah, what's your name?"

She looked away and scanned the room for nothing in particular and began tapping her legs as nerves began to crawl out of her skin. By this time, she have chewed her sandwich and drowned it down with a generous amount of chilled milk chocolate drink. She's not really good at introductions and it was just a simple question. A very common and simple question that seemed to have numbed her tongue.

But she is aware she has to learn to deal with things as simple as this. She has dealt with Algebra almost effortlessly, but what a shame if she can't handle answering a basic question from another human being sitting next to her.

There will be a point in the future where she would have to go out in the world, find a career for herself, and become a productive member of the society. Introductions to other people are a necessity she has to be able to go through if she wants to overcome her social anxiety. And damn it, she really does want to overcome her anxieties and be normal. But it's never easy.

Things like this was never easy for her.

"Okaayyy..." Dinah awkwardly hummed in response to her silence.

She bit her lip. She looked everywhere else but Dinah. And Dinah, despite her claims of enjoying people watching, was currently staring at her and only her for the past few minutes. Studying her in a more obnoxious way and longer than she did her beforehand. She felt so exposed that beads of sweat formed on the sides of her forehead.

"I see... you're the silent type,"

She discreetly breathed a sigh of relief when the taller girl turned her focus on her food. She never really like being stared at. Being stared at means she was being judged. She doesn't like being judged.