Learning to Love

"Not really, no," Joey replied, the first words he had spoken all morning. Again, though, he didn't bother to lift his head to look at Michelle, or even move in the slightest. He wasn't sick, he was just tired . . . and he didn't feel like dealing with people or explaining himself.

Artemis wasn't speaking. He merely waved to Michelle once again, before standing up. "I'm so tired...I hate my games now..." He stood up a bit, walking over to Michelle before planting his face in her shoulder, hugging her. "Good morning." He managed to mumble, before turning away. As he walked back to his seat, he tripped on his bag, landing with his face planted again, this time into the table occupied by Aiko.

Michelle gave Artemis a mock-stern look as he gave her a hug.

"You shouldn't stay up so late on those," she scolded gently. He got up, but tripped over his bag. She tried to grab his shirt, but missed, and she watched him fall over onto a table. She recognized the girl as the same one that had been in the restaurant. She couldn't mistake that hair. She smiled up at the other girl, and turned her attention back towards Joey. She placed her head on her hands, bored.

Joey finally moved, lifting his head from his arms and pushing himself to his feet with his hands on the table. He kept his gaze downward, as if making an effort not to look anybody in the eye.

"'M just gonna go," he said quietly as he picked up his backpack. "Not worth sitting around . . ." He sighed and slung his bag over his shoulder before starting to walk away, apparently not noticing the commotion Artemis was causing.

Grumbling, Artemis stood up, dusting himself off. "I think I'm alright." He looked to Joey and waved as he left. "We'll see you at lunch!" He called out, a phrase he never really said often.

Michelle sighed as she watched Joey leave. She wished she knew what caused him to be so moody some days. She realized that she was sitting alone at the table now, so she scooted her chair over to where the foreign student was sitting. Since Artemis was still standing by the same table, she felt justified in the act.

She reached out a hand to the new girl.

"I'm Michelle," she said with a friendly smile. "I've seen you around a few times, but we've never really gotten a chance to speek."

Joey trudged off tiredly toward the library, where it was quiet and he was less likely to be bothered. Now he felt even worse because he left. He knew his own behavior was going to get him in trouble with his friends--it had before and there was no reason it wouldn't now. He'd have to tell them eventually, before he subconsciously made a bigger deal out of it than it was.

For now, though, he just wanted to be left alone.

Artemis raised an eyebrow as Joey left without response, then sat down at the same table Aiko and Michelle were at. He took Aiko's other hand, kissing the brim of the knuckle. "Artemis Amaranth, at your service." He smiled a little before stretching. he was already tired.

Michelle smiled and released Aiko's hand.

"It's nice to meet you. I hope we can get along well," she replied with a smile.

She crossed her legs and leaned back in her chair, watching with a wry grin as Artemis introduced himself to Aiko. She was still bemused sometime's by his chivalrous actions. It was just so uncommon to see such politeness in today's world.

((Go ahead and skip my turn. I can't really remember what I was doing with Joey ._. ))

(He was just wandering around, I think.)

Artemis stretched once more before flipping open a book, reading its contents with little care. "Day before yesterday, I saw a rabbit. Yesterday, a deer. Today, you..." He scratched his head. The book indeed had a few nice lines, but that was about the only thing it had going for it. Closing it, he looked up. "I suddenly had the idea to skip school...Is that good or bad?"

Michelle laughed, slapping the back of Arty's head lightly.

"Of course that's bad! What if you get caught?" Although she tried to keep her face straight, she couldn't keep a small smile from twitching on the corners of her mouth.

(I guess we just keep posting till Syl says it's her turn?)

Artemis clenched his head lightly for a moment before shrugging it off. "What I meant was, is that good or bad that I had the idea to skip school...?"

((Go ahead with that. >.< I can't remember what I was going to have Joey do, exactly, so he's kinda out until they see him again at lunch or whatever.))

Michelle rolled her eyes with a smile. "Still bad! You know how important school is, silly! Speaking of which," she added, looking at her watch, "Five, four, three, two. . ." The bell rang, signaling the students to head to their first hour classes. "I'll see you two later!"

Artemis heard a clatter as he stood, looking to see Aiko knelt over her books. He wasn't sure whether to laugh or not, as he hurried over, helping to pick a few of the books up. "You should be careful. Sometimes, books drop on the floor and get picked up by alot of idiots who can't even read." He stood up, holding out 5 of the books to Aiko. "Here."

Michelle heard Aiko's books drop, but a glance backwards told her that Artemis was already helping her. She continued towards her first class, her thoughts wandering to Joey. He had seemed so off this morning. She shook her head. She usually saw him at lunch; maybe she would be able to get some answers then.

Artemis shook his head. "It's not a problem. Just be careful, ok?" He reached out, patting her head as if he were petting a kitten, then moved on down the hall to his first class of the day, Music.

Michelle yawned as she made her way through the halls. She was on her way to fourth period; the last class before lunch. At the thought of food her stomach grumbled a little, but she ignored it. Much more important in her mind was Joey. She hoped that he would be feeling a little more sociable by now.