Lyn was a quiet person; the whole cliché of being on the outside looking in? That was her. Connecting to other people always felt like wasted effort, no one's company was ever as peaceful as her own. 

She didn't feel lonely either - if all your life you only had yourself, nothing would ever be missing from it, no sense of loss or loneliness could exist.

Observing other people though, that got to be quite entertaining at times, seeing what made them tick and their reactions to certain situations, was certainly enlightening.

Until Jamie transferred to her class - something about bullying or other such nonsense; why people grew up to be such assholes Lyn honestly didn't know.

She didn't understand Jamie.

There was this sense of uneasy and urgency that surrounded her, some deep darkness thinly veiled under a bored expression. Sometimes her eyes glowed with something akin to fear and her hands trembled ever so slightly - but nothing was ever there.

Jamie was fascinating.

Lyn wondered how it would be talking to her,  the sound of her voice, if she'd be angry, happy, scared or bored. For once in her life, Lyn was excited to get to know someone.

Why?

XXX

Lyn decided to just keep observing for now, and the next few weeks did not solve any doubts or questions, if anything things became even more confusing. 

Jamie didn't seem like a clumsy person, but sometimes she would fall out of nowhere, as if someone had tripped her or pushed her. She'd have bruises and scratches out of nowhere, as if out of thin air a new blemish would appear in her dark skin - it was odd.

Jamie still didn't talk to anyone, closed off from the world not unlike Lyn herself but she always seemed to angry and sad - lonely. For once in her life, Lyn's heart hurt for another.

Why?

XXX

Jamie was kind.

The way she touched animals was soft and tender.

The way she'd always make sure not to step on any flowers.

How her belongings were always clean and taken care of.

Jamie was kind.

But not to people.

It seemed as though she felt humanity was not deserving of her kindness, and Lyn could understand why, seeing how some people snubbed her and called her horrible names.

Not all of them though.

Some stepped in, some tried to talk to her, some tried to help, but to no avail.

Jamie Evans would not open her heart to anyone.

Lyn feared she'd come off as a stalker, which weirdly enough wouldn't be too far from the truth - it wasn't on purpose ok? But she had to talk to her, she wanted to see deeper still into her mind.

And so she did, one afternoon after school was out, Lyn finally spoke to Jamie.

"Hey."

XXX

A new classroom, same thing.

Almost same thing, they weren't as cruel and there was a weirdo that kept staring at her, like all the time.

It was weird.

Being observed by monsters was already creepy enough, being observed by another human in such a clinical fashion...it wasn't fun.

She never did anything, she never said anything, she just stared as if she was trying to uncover the truth of the world or something. It was unsettling...

What did she want?

It didn't matter, her hands were full with the new monster that had shown up. It was a trickster, how fun. It wasn't exactly malicious; they rarely were, after all they had different rules from humans, they acted out of interest and fun and maybe hunger.

The bruises and scratches were getting annoying though, and Jamie was about to explode. She was certainly thankful when the little creature took revenge on the ones who wronged her though, but still enough was enough.

She only needed to get to a place with no people. The part of the forest where she fell, there was nobody but monsters around, so that was probably the safest bet.

Until a voice called out to her, "Hey."

It was the weirdo in her class, what now?

XXX

Now that Lyn was here, she wasn't sure what she should say, "Can you see ghosts?"

That definitely wasn't it.

Jamie looked startled, and then suspicious, and then angry.

"Are you stalking me?"

"No!" well, not exactly right?

"Sure..."

"I just find you really interesting, and can't bring myself to look away from you. And I noticed how you sometimes act...odd."

Oh boy, this was a mess. Lyn was so used to being eloquent in her head, but it definitely did not translate as well out loud, it really was her fault for not talking more often. Apparenly, Lyn was a rambler.

"Did you just confess to me?"

"No? I don't know. I've never been interested in anyone but you.  I'm confused. I just want to get to know you better. I think. Maybe."

Jamie was smiling, and then laughing, she looked so pretty. For the first time in her life, Lyn's heart fluttered.