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As usual, the smell of dirty clothing, sweat, and overly sweet perfume greeted Mauve the moment she walked into the gym locker room. Girls were already chatting to each other as they changed their shirts and lathered on deodorant, but she paid no mind to them. She wasn’t going to break habit today. There was a reason she insisted on permanently looking ready for a workout at school. The idea of exposing any part of her body to those judgemental eyes coated with too much mascara made her shiver internally.

Mauve shoved her way through a small crowd of giggling sixth graders so she could stand in front of one of the cracked mirrors. Carefully, she bundled her neat black curls up into a high ponytail and checked over her outfit quickly. Her loose tank top the color of her name coordinated perfectly with the dye staining the tips of her hair, and her black leggings matched the velvety choker around her neck. The faintest touches of dark lipstick and her naturally long eyelashes gave her a striking appearance, but also made her seem a bit fierce. She liked it. Properly satisfied, she pushed her way back through the suffocating cloud of laughter and body heat to stuff her bag in a locker before heading out into the gym.

After several minutes of sitting on the bleachers and trying her best to look intimidating and bored at the same time, everyone was out of their separate changing rooms. Not that it really mattered to Mauve – it still smelled awful, there were still groups of people talking (just now, there was guys and girls, which made it worse), and the entire room continued to ignore her. Nothing was out of the ordinary, and why shouldn’t it be? It was a normal Friday in a normal November, and fate, it seemed, was not going to alter its path anytime soon.

A few minutes later, they started picking teams. Mauve didn’t notice until someone yelled “That girl!” at her, and she was forced to glance up. Wishing she had some pockets to put her hands in, she made her way across the scuffed floor to her team. Thankfully, they didn’t have to wear jerseys - the hideous shade of yellow would’ve totally clashed with her color scheme - but they were up first. Within a dozen seconds, it became obvious they were only playing kickball again, and she went back to zoning out.

Apparently, fate was going to change course that day, because she somehow ended up towards the front of the line. Maybe she was too spaced out, maybe the regular showoffs weren't in the mood that day, but whatever the reason, she found herself in quite the situation. She couldn’t just slip backwards now, one of the coaches would notice. If she had to actually do work for once in gym, that might raise her social ranking, which definitely couldn’t stand. The mere idea of the athletic, popular clique attempting to reel her in made her gag. The latter, however, appeared to be the better option. Letting her physical superiority show could have negative consequences, but it was better than being called out where everyone could watch. Of course, she could always refuse to aid her team by acting athletically incompetent, but the thought was dismissed easily. She was not one to do things halfway.

Stepping up to the mat that served as home plate, Mauve narrowed her eyes and waited. It wasn’t long before the pitcher was rolling the ball towards her. In a split second, she adjusted her position properly, aimed, and kicked. The ball went flying over the heads of the opposition, but Mauve didn’t wait to see where it landed – even though she already knew it would be too far away for any decent player to obtain it before she was already safe. She took off, hitting first base while the defense was still scrambling to figure out where the ball was.

Speed lifted her curls off of her neck momentarily, sparking a bit of thrill in her gut as she rounded second base. Already she was closing in on third, and she felt unstoppable.

Until the ball slammed into her side, almost making her trip.

She caught herself by laying her fingertips down on the ground for just a moment, retaining her balance enough to round on the person who got her out. Instead of the burly, stupid football player she expected, it was a scrawny black-haired kid with too-pale skin and pastel blue eyes. She knew him by name and reputation, unlike most of the people in her school. Tenebris Fear Calliyo, the kid who was so intelligent he managed to fix his own heart.

In all honestly, Mauve was the tiniest bit impressed by his mental capabilities, but that didn’t stop her from saying: “That was not possible. You're far to skinny to throw a ball like that.”

“Quite the contrary. I have good aim, even if biology is against me.” Tenebris replied calmly. “Either way, you’re out. Don’t be a sore loser.”

That’s when she snapped. Now, Mauve considered herself to be a generally level-headed person, but she simply couldn’t stand snide remarks from rude people. Even then, she didn’t fully understand why exactly she was lunging towards him. She wasn’t angry enough, she thought, at least not yet.

After, she would recall a common myth that shadowcrawlers – and shadespeakers in general – could hide magical words in the faint, whisper-y language underneath whatever they seemed to really be speaking. Many thought that these hidden words could influence the thoughts and actions of others. It would not be several weeks later until she learned that shadespeak didn’t contain any mystical sway over others emotions, and Ten simply hit the right buttons with the suggestion at unsportsman-like conduct.

Whatever the reason, she collided with him before he could properly react, folding like a house of cards under her. The entire gym erupted into chaos, but she was only aware of the strangled yelp he let out when something in his arm snapped beneath her fingers. He’s frail, she thought, frail and in over his head.

The initial shock wearing off, Ten’s skin started turning dark gray and he melted into a puddle of shadow. Mauve let him go, satisfied with the amount of damage she did as a coach yanked her to her feet.

“Office! Now!” He yelled, shoving her towards the exit. She shot him an annoyed look, but complied.

About fifteen minutes of sitting quietly in the office later, Tenebris walked in holding his arm and dropped himself down in the only available chair. Unfortunately, it was right beside Mauve. She counted the seconds of awkward silence. It was three hundred twenty-four before he spoke.

“I'm sorry, Mauve. I didn’t know the game meant so much to you. I thought you disliked attention.” He said slowly. Carefully. As if he was waiting to see the effect his words would have.

“It’s almost creepy how much you know about me. I’d be more worried if I didn’t know practically everything there is to know about you.” Mauve replied. Less carefully. She didn’t mind if she freaked him out or something, she was used to it.

He hummed and they lapsed into another bought of silence. She only got to one hundred sixty one this time. “You’re planning on going to Ather University. I tried to collect information on everyone going, but it got boring quickly. I remember you though. 78% shifter, 15% human, 7% forest alin. Naturally genderless, but female by choice. Specialty for fire. Father killed in an accident, mother didn't want you. Grew up in the Jackson household, adapted quickly. Love for Palpenn music even if you never learned the language.”

“You sure did your research,” was the only sign she was even listening.

“I know more. You were interesting. Are interesting. It’s stupid, I guess, but I admired you a bit. You've got a strong personality and a good idea of what you want,” he wasn’t as hesitant now. He was genuine. “I like that.”

“Well, you’re smart, so you've got that going for you.” Mauve muttered. A small part of her wanted to continue adding onto that list, but she kept her mouth firmly shut.

“Can we… not be like this? Can we remember the gym incident, but forget the tension that comes after it? Because I kind of want to be friends with you, I just don’t want it to start this way. I don’t want you to know me as the kid who was rude at first. I was just a little scared of messing up, I think, so I’m sorry about that. I’m being weird. Was that weird? You know what, forget what I just-“

“I'd like that. Not the forgetting what you said part, the thing before that.” He stared at her, blinking, so she continued. “I mean, you're not all bad. I wouldn’t mind being friends.”

Fifteen second pause. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

Twenty seconds. An inhale as if he was about to speak. Another seven before anything came out. “Okay. Yeah, okay.”

They sat in silence again, but it was much more companionable this time.

“Sorry about that arm, by the way. Is it broken?” Mauve asked, suddenly recalling how gingerly he’d been holding it when he walked in.

“I think so. It’ll be fine. The nurse will cut it off and it'll regrow by tomorrow morning.” Ten said, glancing down at it. A lady peeked out of a door that said ‘vice principal’ and called Mauve’s name.

“See you later, then?” She said as she got up from her chair. He nodded.

“Yeah, later.” He said as the vice principal’s door began to swing closed. “Later. Later.” He repeated to himself once he was alone, like he couldn’t believe someone wanted to see him again at all.