Invisible Guitar Solos [Fal-kun]

Alicia sat on the seat of the classroom desk, her feet on the edge of the hard plastic, hugging her legs as they were pulled up to her chest. She was staring intently down at the small desk where there lay an untouched muffin, her prefect badge, and a pile of papers spread out to where she could gatch glimpses of every page. Records and addresses and bills. It would all mean nothing to most people. It hardly did any help to her, but it was all they had.

The summer bit back a sigh, glancing up at the clock on the wall before staring down at the table again. Minutes of silence before she finally spoke. "Afternoon," she said with a small, polite smile. "How,are you feeling?" Alicia finally caught her eye. Ever since she'd learned exactly how sickly Grace was before, she'd always asked.

Grace gently pushed the door to the classroom open and slipped inside, letting the door swing shut behind her. Rubbing her eyes, she glanced over towards Alicia, the sight of the innocent girl whom she had screamed and cried at before making her feel guilty all over again. Gulping, she made her way over and took a seat in the desk next to Alicia, wanting to just hide her face against its surface.

"I-I'm alright." she murmured softly, though that wasn't necessarily true. It wasn't that she was sick, but she felt exhausted. A combination of schoolwork, power practice, and trying not to die from any second she was around Jane had left her with not much time for sleep. Even when she laid down, her powers didn't want to cooperate, and under a bundle of blankets she'd find herself shivering all the same. A tinge of darkness danced across the veins on her hands.

If she was completely honest with herself, Alicia was still having a hard time getting over that... emotional first impression that Grace had given her, but she'd like to think things weren't as bad as they had been. And she was certain it was even more true vice-versa. And so, she was a bit reluctant to say anything as the girl walked over, taking the seat next to hers.

Exhausted was a midly way of putting how worn out she looked, in her opinion. "You look like you have been on your feet for days." She said with a small, breathy laugh, her gaze caught suddenly onto the bit of darkness that had gathered onto the back of her hand. Didn't that bother her? Without really thinking, she reached over and tried to 'shoo' it away, accidently brushing her hand against Grace's a bit. "I've got a bit of food if you're hungry.

Without looking up, Grace only nodded slightly at Alicia's initial observation. Despite the obvious and continued fear and nervousness over being around people, she had been enjoying actually hanging out and having the closest thing she had to friends. It made her feel like at least someone actually wanted her around, but whenever she was alone now, after days like that, exhaustion seemed to be able to take over her body more easily. For whatever reason, her powers were once again rebelling against her in full force.

Since her head was down, of course, she wasn't looking at anything that was going on in her surroundings, so when Alicia's hand brushed over hers, she jerked up in surprise, nearly falling off her chair with her exaggerated efforts. As a distraction, however, it caused the darkness to dissipate quickly, leaving her hand as pale as always. Her eyes quickly found those of the girl sitting next to her, and immediately guilt started to roil in her stomach. She made to rub her eyes to dispel any remaining vestiges of sleepiness, though she really did it just to avoid having Alicia see her cry... again. God, she felt so guilty.

"I-I could eat." She lowered her hands and placed them on her knees, her stomach rumbling as if to confirm her statements. "Th-Thank you."

Alicia flinched back a little from her sudden reaction, the poor girl nearly falling straight out of her chair. She had reached a hand out to try and steady her out, but perhaps that was an even worse idea. Thankfully she seemed to catch herself.

"Sorry," she said quietly with a nervous laughter. Alicia reached over on her side of the desk and grabbed a muffin, freshly baked that morning and filled with chocolate chips. She had already had one with one to spare, and placed it on front of where Grace sat. "Have you heard anything from... you know...?" She knew the answer already, but she had to ask about him anyways, even if that wasn't why she'd exactly asked her to come there.

Grace picked the muffin up and nodded her thanks, taking a soft bite from its side. "N-No, I…" She took a deep breath, her voice trembling as she took two more bites out of the muffin, trying to quell her rumbling stomach. "I haven't. I… I tried texting his phone again, but it didn't go through." Something must have happened to him, and it ached, not knowing where he was or what had happened.

"H-Have you, uh, have you found… anything?" Maybe she had, but Grace didn't expect her to. She shouldn't have put any of this work on Alicia, but having someone else who might know something about him could be a big help, plus she felt guilty and wanted to do something, anything to make up for how rude she had been during their first meeting.

The young woman listened with a sad smile. Even if the words were nothing less than what she'd been expecting, they still hurt to hear. She bit her lip, shaking her head 'no' at Grace's own question. "Nothing... Not yet anyways." The summer still tried to sound somewhat optimistic, for hers or Grace's sake she wasn't sure. Perhaps both. "I've looked around the secretary's papers and in records," she gestured towards the papers on the desk. "But I haven't found a thing... The only other place I haven't checked is the headmaster's office." Even if she were a prefect, it would be tricky to find time alone in there.

She sighed, putting her feet to the floor and leaning over. Alicia began to sweep up the papers into one neat pile, dismissing the subject for the moment. She didn't particularly want to think about it any longer anyways. "Do you know what the Winter Formal is?" she asked.

"The... Winter Formal?" It sounded like a dance. Of course, she had never reached a point in her schooling where dances were a 'thing', so she'd only heard about it in conjecture. It admittedly had never been a thing she'd thought too much on. "It's a dance, right?" If that was true, then maybe Alicia was going to ask if she was going. Well, doubtfully. It wasn't like she had anyone to go with, anyway. She didn't actually know many people here anyway, and the two she had talked to for any significant amount of time were girls. Specifically, one girl whom she had unfairly screamed at, and one whom would probably kill her before taking her around anywhere.

Alicia nodded, biting her lip, thinking back on the last few years she'd attended. Most people laughed and danced and spent time with friends, but hers was never exactly the happiest occasion - at least, not in the sense that most people figured. "That's right. It's a really fancy occasion, like a prom. It's held every year in the Grand Hall." The Summer explained, placing her hands gently in her lap. For a moment, she had realized talking about it, she was feeling rather shy - and she couldn't help but wonder why. "The prefect have to help set up the decorations, if you wouldn't mind helping. I'd appreciate it." He paused, looking down into her lap and fiddling with her fingers. "And... And maybe if you wanted to go? We could to together... It could be fun..."

Grace nibbled on the muffin absently, her guess confirmed about what exactly the Winter Formal was. Of course, it wasn't like that meant a lot for her. She still had veritable panic attacks whenever she had to converse with anyone, and it didn't seem like it was going to go away no matter how hard she tried. "Y-Yeah, I could help." That probably was something she wouldn't mess up automatically, plus maybe she could give the interacting with others thing one more shot before having to quit and become a hermit forever... Wait, what was that last thing?

"Y-You want to... m-me?!" Her words were louder than she intended, as much of a shout as her tired voice could muster. "I-I mean, y-you want t-to go... to the f-formal with me?" Her eyes were wide an incredulous. Why would Alicia want to go to the dance with her of all people? Wasn't she already going with someone? She just figured, since the girl was someone that had captivated his attention so, it was likely many others would want to escort her. Why her?

Alicia felt a familiar burning on her cheeks, something she'd hadn't felt in a long while. It was simply because of the girl's reaction, she reasoned. Maybe she was coming on a little too strong with the offer? She just had wanted to be nice, but ... Oh dear, she really should have thought this through more. The girl took in a quiet, deep breath, smiling at nodding at Grace. "Well, yes - If you wouldn't mind... It would nice to have someone to go with." She looked up into Grace's eyes, to try and show her sincerity. "I'm sure it'll be fun."

Grace gulped nervously, able to see the sincerity in Alicia's eyes. Well... maybe it wouldn't be so bad? She was getting invited to go somewhere, and wasn't that what she wanted? Maybe it also meant that Alicia wasn't angry with her. Maybe. "Y-Yeah, it... it could be fun." She tried to smile, feeling strangely warm and cold at the same time. It was an odd sensation. "I-I would l-love to go with you- Oh!" Her face went red as she held on tightly to the muffin in her hands, trying to hide behind it as best she could. "I-I don't h-have a dress..."

It was hard not to laugh at least a little bit as the girl tried to hide behind the nibbled warm muffin. It was kind of a funny sight, but she chose not to say anything about it. She hadn't even had a dress? Well, it was a bit surprising to her. She'd thought every woman at least have one gown for some special occasion, but it was no big deal. Alicia thought for a moment maybe she could borrow an old one of hers... but then again...

The Summer glanced down at her chest, then shot a glance at Grace's, feeling a twinge of self-consciousness. And maybe a bit of jealousy. "That's alright," she mused. "We can always go to Rosebury and find one for you. No big deal. You're going to love it." Hopefully. What could possibly go wrong?

"O-Okay." Grace smiled slightly, feeling a bit more at ease with that. First dress, first dance: this could be fun. It meant that someone actually wanted her to be around them, without the inherent fear of being killed on a terrifying amusement park ride. This was probably going to be easier. "Th-That sounds great." And hell, it actually did.