simplicity

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"Unfortunately, little darlings, there is no such thing as a simple love story. The most involved Puppy crush is complex to the extent Of lying Beyond the far reaches of the brains understanding."

As Annabelle Mersci walked up the shiny marble steps leading to the administration office of her new boarding school, her mind, unlike her feet, was running in circles.

Smartly clad in the schools boring dress code (a white button down with a navy blue skirt, a red and white tie, a navy blazer, white knee-high socks and Mary Jane's.) she couldn't feel more insecure and nervous, the reasons being that the skirt she was wearing was a hand-me-down, two sizes too small, and the silly tie was choking her half to death, and the tube socks were making her feet sweat and it was just all-in-all a horrible way to start a new semester.

Climbing the shallow steps, her eyes automatically scanned from left to right, then from right to left. There were many students littered about, chatting to each other and trying to figure out schedules. The building in front of her was almost exactly twenty strides away, she guessed, and at that thought she clutched her box full of the few belongings she had closer to her chest. If anything scared her, (and many things did) it would be human interaction.

Just the thought of them staring at her and picking her apart in their minds was enough to send Annabelle flying towards her inhaler.

She took a deep breath, adjusted her grip on her box, and tried to walk confidently down to the office. Key word there, tried.

In her haste to get the pain over with (not unlike ripping a bandage off quickly) she had not noticed one crucial fact; her shoes were untied.

Upon taking her first step forward her foot landed on the damned Mary Jane's laces, and fell in, what seemed like slow motion. Her box flew out of her hands and her knees met concrete. The flimsy cardboard keeping her stuff together amazingly did not open though, much to Annabelle's relief. Looking around quickly, she checked to see if anyone saw what was happening. Luckily, it seemed like they were too wrapped up in their own lives to pay her any mind. Sighing, she started to pick herself up, but before she could move, a hand reached down to aid her. She looked up at the face that belonged to the hand and found herself staring into a pair of eyes that quite resembled the ocean. Annabelle's eyes traveled over the rest of the woman's face-because she looked far too beautiful to be considered a girl. - And found wavy blonde hair, defined cheekbones and a sharp nose.

Gulping, Annabelle hesitantly grabbed the mystery woman's hand as she helped her up.

"Ya okay there 'darlin?" the woman asked, a very evident southern drawl in her voice. She nodded before answering.

"Y-yes. I'm-m f-f-fine, t-thank you." Annabelle stuttered, and she grimaced inwardly. Way to sound like a freak.

"good, didn't want a sweet lil' thing like you to get hurt." She said, sending Annabelle a smile as she found herself blushing at the woman's compliment. "The name's Devin, pleasure to meet ya." She said as Annabelle picked up the box that was still on the ground from her previous spill.

"I-I'm A-Annabelle." She said softly as Devin sent another grin her way. It was obvious Devin was a go-with-the-flow kind of person, which, in all honesty, rattled her a little bit. Annabelle liked to have things all planned out at least a week before hand, because if there was a routine, there were less surprises. And if there were less surprises, that meant a reduced risk of a panic attack. And lord knows she hated panic attacks.

"So, what were you sent here for, sweetheart?" Devin asked Annabelle, putting her hands in her pockets and rocking back and forth on her heels. Devin's mind was running. To Devin, Annabelle looked like a sweet little girl, and it surprised her greatly that she was going to a 'troubled teenager's institute'. Although Devin thought this, she still had an open mind. Hey, never judge a book by its cover, right?

Annabelle ducked her head and answered quietly. "A-anxiety." Oh, Devin thought, and that made sense. She was one of the few here with a mental disorder. After all, the Meredith Webster Institute for Troubled Teenagers catered to the mentally impaired, physically disabled, and the kids that cause trouble.

"w-what are y-you in f-f-for?" Annabelle asked in return, curious.

"Setting my school on fire." Devin answered casually, and Annabelle's eyes widened as she sub-consciously took a step away from her. Devin laughed as she swung an arm around Annabelle, and started to walk towards the office. "Don't worry sweetheart. I don't bite. much." She said, smiling at her innocence. Annabelle grinned shakily before nodding.

"Oh, o-okay. Where are y-you h-headed to?" she asked slowly, and mentally congratulated herself for not stuttering that much in the presence of a human.

"My dorm." She answered, gesturing behind her. And for the first time Annabelle noticed she was not alone. Next to the stack of boxes Devin was pointing to was a boy, around eighteen years old, with dark hair and darker eyes. Annabelle's eyes widened. Talking to a female was one thing, but, a male? That was a whole other can of worms. If talking to just a girl was hard, talking to the opposite sex was hell; she felt like the boys were always silently judging her with their eyes, and it always made her want to run away screaming.

"That's my brother, Alex." Devin's voice broke Annabelle out of her thoughts.

"w-what was h-he sent f-for?" she asked nervously.

Devin shrugged. "Stealing a car, this time, I think." At this, Annabelle stiffened. Devin studied her closely. She was intrigued by the small dark haired girl in front of her. You see, Devin was a people person, and took pride in the fact that she could put people at ease quickly. In spite of her burning her school down, (that was merely revenge, and Devin would do it again in a heartbeat.) Devin was actually quite nice. Why do you think she helped Annabelle up when nobody else cared? But this girl, Annabelle, she had blue eyes and anxiety, and Devin wasn't sure which was more dangerous in the world.

Word count: 1,077

(hey guys)(i decided to start a new story)(I'm not sure why)(since like nobody reads this stuff)(but you know what they say!)(YOLOSFISH)(you only live once so fuck it shit happens)(well I'm logging off before the government finds me)(stay safe!)(don't do drugs!)(use protection!)

thatw3irdkid