Duality

[Dahlia Avalon]

“Dahlia?”

She heard the call from down the hall and minimized the tab she had been perusing on her datapad. She hurriedly threw herself atop her bed and lay holding the pad above her, the screen changed to a harmless wall of text that was one of her Universities Textbooks. Right as her father rounded the corner into her room, she lowered the pad to the bed beside her.

“Hey Kiddo, whatcha working on?” Her father meandered up to the side of her bed, picking up the datapad and giving a quick scan of the page.

Her nose wrinkled at the endearing term that felt entirely out of place for the twenty-year-old, a nickname she had admonished her father for using for the past several years, to no avail. “Just reading a chapter for my political science class. It’s really interesting.” She sat up, feigning excitement and grabbing her ankles with her hands in her cross-legged position. “It’s about the ramifications of a transition from democracy to totalitarian government.”

Her father raised a hand, silencing her before she could stray into some further in-depth discussion about topics he wasn’t familiar with. “I’m sure it is. Listen kiddo, I’ve got to go away for a couple days. I know we had plans to go see that play this weekend, but maybe you can go with one of your friends instead.”

She was unable to contain the brief flash of disappointment across her features but did her best to transition it into a quick smile. “Oh, it’s okay…I’ve got…a lot of school work anyway.”

Her father stood up and leaned over to peck a kiss to the top of her head. “Transport leaves in a couple hours, so I’ve got to get packing. Behave kiddo.”

Dahlia sort of giggle-snorted. “I always behave dad.” She watched as he left, sighed, and flopped back onto the bed. Another disappointment. She mused internally, staring at the ceiling a moment. It was times like this that actually provoked her to not behave, as her mind wandered to just how she could frustrate her father as much as he was frustrating her.

The screen of her datapad dimmed in her periphery from inactivity and succeeded in drawing her attention back to it. Instead of resuming there though, she moved to her door and locked it, before climbing into the chair at her desk. She spun around towards the console and entered her login with rapid keystrokes.

What Dahlia’s father was unaware of was her uncanny talent for slicing, and how much she embraced the message of Cipher. So much so that the background for her encrypted login was the mask that represented the man. That was a dangerous combination when it came to the work of Jarric Avalon, one countless crime lords operating on Coruscant.

She keyed her backdoor log in she had created several weeks back, and curiously rummaged around his financial records and schedule to see what was taking him away from her for the weekend. “Arms deal, huh? Where are you keeping them?” She continued to click away at the virtual console, until she could locate the shipment gathered in a warehouse on level 1313. A wry grin crept across her lips, pushing her glasses further up the bridge of her nose as she got to work on pulling up the security system for the warehouse.

The cameras came active on her secondary screen, while she worked into the fire suppression subsystem, intending to activate the sprinkler system to see what kind of damage her mischief could cause. Before she could send the false signal for a fire, movement caught her eyes on her secondary screen. She could have sworn, for just a moment, she saw something in the shadows on the feed of one of the external security cameras.

[Arsen]

For the sake of her mission, Arsen had abandoned her usual stylized, neon garments and opted instead of an ensemble of pure black. Her vibrant burgundy hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, the length of which was fit back through the gap of a logo-less cap. She perched on the roof of the warehouse that Cipher had located for her, a data breaker rolling fluidly across her gloved fingers. While he wasn't going to be personally involved with the infiltration of this particular storehouse, his attention required elsewhere, he had made sure to set her up with all the appropriate tools up front so she'd have no trouble getting in and out.


Using some of the scaffolding draped haphazardly along the western face of the building, she acrobatically navigated the spindly beams until she alighted upon the threshold of the third story. The fanged mask still covered the lower portion of her face and it twitched into a grin in the general direction of the solitary camera positioned above. Then, the feed went dark as she slotted the breaker into the door lock. A soft whirring was heard and then the tell tale click of door codes disarming. She slipped inside a moment later, sticking to the shadows as she surveyed the payload.


The data breaker was stored away for a time and she reached up, tapping the power button on the side of her ear piece so it began transmitting music. Helped with her creative flow and this job had the potential to be a master piece. Grabbing the railing of the catwalk she stood upon, she vaulted over and flipped down into a silent, crouched position atop one of the crates. She reached into her utility vest and drew forth a canister of her special formula paint. Blasting gelatin and a crazy array of color promised a mural that this crime lord would never forget.

[Dahlia Avalon]

As she studied the security feed she noticed a brief flicker, then nothing. No more hints of movement, but she was certain she’d seen something. Dahlia was intelligent enough to know what the flicker could have been, and she was sure if she spent enough time studying the feed she would recognize a flaw. Instead of dwelling on the feed though, and what it may or may not be, she checked the other security systems. As she suspected, all parts had experienced a similar momentary glitch with the exact same timestamp.

For a moment, she toyed with the idea of bringing the fire suppression systems online. The alarm would call the Fire brigades and authorities, revealing all the armaments. This was her original plan, but it had flaws she couldn’t yet see, and she found her curiosity too piqued to not delve further down the hole. She pondered, wrapping her fingers on the table just shy of the actual keys. “Think, think.” She repeated to herself, furrowing her brow intensely.

While she pondered her next course of action, her multi-tasking mind simultaneously prompted her to pull up security feeds for adjacent buildings. They wouldn’t provide her answers, but she would at least have some sort of reliable visual. The security system for the neighboring warehouses and factories were not so complex, a simple bit of skill breaking her in and giving her full control over their network.

Centering her focus back to the single dilemma, she came up with an idea. She knew something had to be causing an interference, so she did a quick scan for other wireless devices. She found what she wasn’t expecting though, headphones. Scrambling for a moment, she opened one drawer, then another, pulling out a pair of headphones and pulling them on. She plugged in, then proceeded to let her fingers dance across the surface of the keys as she worked to establish a link with the headphones.

Her on screen display showed the connection established, but she waited several long moments in complete silence. By the Force, what do I even say? Hey, I sliced into your headset, hope you don’t mind! What prompted her to finally speak was when her adjacent monitors brought up the approach of several speeders, as well as another train approaching from a separate direction. “Oh kriff!” She paused, a bit mortified that her first words over the headset to this stranger were curse words. “Uh, sorry! Oh man, this is starting out really poorly. Hey, listen, sorry to slice your headphones but that can wait. It looks like those arms you’re there for…well…I think the arms deal is happening tonight. Like….right now. You have incoming.”

Immediately she got to work on attempting to break back into the security feed. “Wow, who wrote this coding. It’s brilliant!” She admired as she worked to bypass the encryption that kept her locked out of the security cameras. Her eyes cut briefly to the external feeds. “One group entering now from the west side. No wait, east. Yeah, east side.”

[Arsen]

Arsen strode about the main floor of the warehouse, spraying the gelatinous substance from canisters here and there on various crates containing the crime lord's stash. Usually, she'd take her time and make each mural perfect; but, seeing as how she was intending on blowing this place sky high, it didn't seem necessary. Her first canister was running low and she gave it a good shake, the object flying out of her hand as a crackle hiss invaded her right ear.

Oh kriff!

"What the frack?" She pressed her middle finger to the earpiece to hopefully assuage the ringing in her ear, her right eye closing in a half wince as she looked around for her discarded 'paint can'. Uh, sorry! Oh man, this is starting out really poorly. Hey, listen, sorry to slice your headphones but that can wait. It looks like those arms you’re there for…well…I think the arms deal is happening tonight. Like….right now. You have incoming.

"Cipher finally set me up a handler, huh? All right, girly. Let's see what you can do."

Wow, who wrote this coding. It’s brilliant!

"Not Cipher then... who the hell are you, kid?" She hissed, ducking behind a crate that would cover her from the west, then sidling around it as the person over the headset promptly changed what direction they were coming from. She slid a hand into the pocket of her cargo pants, drawing forth four bead-like objects. She engaged a switch on the side of her gloved index finger and peaked out from the crate just barely. Whipping her hand forward, she sent the beads scattering at the feet of the men who had shuffled in through the door. The enforcers looked down and she shot up from her hiding place, vaulting over the crate and running toward them.

"What the hell! Who is thzzzzzt" Arsen engaged the switch on her glove again and the beads shot an electric current up into her opponents. When she reached them, she deactivated the shock and let her speed carry her into her first attack. Foot planting firmly into one enforcer's knee, she brought her other leg up and kicked him right through his helmet. He dropped backwards and she whipped her posted leg about, cracking the back of her boot against another man's neck. Both men dropped and she vaulted back a pace in a back hand spring. Then, without missing a beat, she dropped into a slide and punched the third man, still recovering from the shock, right in the jewels as she passed beneath his legs.

Thud.

She turned her body as she slid to a halt before the door, taking up one of the discarded beads and holding it at the ready.

"Next."

[Dahlia Avalon]

Blind to what was happening inside the warehouse, Dahlia continued to work on bypassing the device that kept her from accessing the security feeds. She heard labored breathing, grunts and cries, but none of them came off as feminine, unlike her new friend that she had confirmed the gender of upon her replies. She said Cipher didn’t she? Oh my goodness, am I helping Cipher? She froze a moment, studying her keyboard intently. Am I slicing Cipher’s work? Wow!

‘Next.’ She jarred a bit at the woman’s words. “Next? You took them down already? That’s crazy, there were three of them. Uh, okay one moment.” She panned a camera on the other side of the building around, catching sight of two armed men entering from the west side. “Alright, I think these guys are different from the first. I’d guess one side is the buyer and one the seller and they are going in to inspect for an ambush. Umm…just take cover in the best place that puts both the west and east entrances out of sight. Like…go up or something, I dunno. Still blind here.”

She began talking to herself as she put the last touches on breaking into the security system. “And there….we….go. Alright!” She whooped, spinning in her chair a moment. Visual came on, showing Arsen and the bodies of the three downed men. Around that same time the other group was entering from the opposite side. “Hey, I’ve got an idea. Just hang tight.” Using the same trick that got her into Arsen’s headphones, she centered in on the seller’s communications signal. From there she spliced in an audio response of Arsen’s scuffle, specifically the sounds of struggle.

“Okay, so, I sent audio of your fight to the other group outside. Hopefully they come barging in, see their friends on the ground and think the buyers are trying to take the goods. They fight each other, and you have a wicked distraction to do…well whatever you were trying to do?” At that time, the east side doors flung open as the men charged in, a couple stopping at their downed comrades to drag them to safety while taking aim across the way and firing to the only possible assailants they saw, the very people they were to be involved in an arms deal with.

[Arsen]

"Go up..." She hummed, her eyes flitting between the eastern and western entryways to best determine her vantage point. Arsen eventually clambered atop one of the crates before her, then another. For anyone else, the jump to the second floor catwalk would probably seem impossible; she managed to clear the jump and snag the railing with both hands, using momentum to propel herself over and down into a crouch. It was dark enough where she landed that they wouldn't be able to espy her without some kind of preternatural sweep of light. She was certain this was what her 'handler' had in mind.

At the girl's urging, she sat tight. When the plan came to fruition, she would be lying if she said she wasn't impressed. It was the kind of thing Cipher would do, albeit less planned out and more on the fly. Whoever she was, he was going to want to meet her. Arsen, too. In the span of mere seconds, the doors flew open and the sellers began to open fire on the buyers. Her mission was simple, destroy the merch and leave those responsible full of questions. She could take care of the first part and this unknown variable had seemingly arranged for the latter without realizing.

Casualties on both sides, neither willing to leave without what they came for. No survivors. Just like at the dojo. Arsen's eyes narrowed into merciless slits and then she was on the move. She dropped down from the catwalk on the eastern side, sidling up silently behind one of the men firing over one of the crates. Her arm bent around his throat and she dropped him back, strangling him into a state of unconsciousness and leaving him limp on the ground. She took up his heavy blaster and used it to bludgeon the kneecap of another man a short distance away. He went down with a cry that was cut short as her foot snapped up to his jaw. He too, dropped to the ground with a thud and ensuing silence.

That was it for the eastern front. She melded back into the shadows and began to flank around the crates as the buyers began to branch out.

"Frack! What the hell happened! Why were they shooting at us!" Clearly they thought that they were responsible for taking out the sellers. Arsen smiled viciously, passing behind one of the men coming up on the bodies.

"Klayger's not going to like this." Another muttered, nudging one of the bodies with his foot.

"Call it in. The boss'll need to know what went down."

"Hey uh... anyone else notice there aren't any blaster holes in these guys?"


"That's because you're a shit shot and I don't use guns." Arsen announced from right behind them. The men turned and she was ready, her hands latching onto the carbine that swung in her direction and shoving it upward to crack the man's nose holding it. She wrested it from his grasp and then smashed him in the face again, delivering a kick to his abdomen that sent him spiraling into one of his comrades. Shots fired, one piercing the flap of the jacket she wore as she spun and kicked the weapon from its holder's hands. One hand grabbed his arm and twisted it around behind his back, holding his body in front of her as shield while the fourth man filled him full of shots. When her meat shield was spent, she shoved him away and reeled her arm back, loosing the gun she still held at the fifth man. He stumbled back but recovered, not in time to avoid her though. She ran up his posted legs, kicked off his arm and fastened her thighs around his head. She gave a sharp twisted and then rode his body to the ground.

As she would have impacted, she rolled forward. Number three was shoving at the body she'd thrown at him and she reared her fist back, throat punching him and sending him into oblivion with the rest of his buddies.

She breathed heavily into the comm set. "....anything else, kid?"

[Dahlia Avalon]

Now having a visual, Dahlia sat with bated breath as she picked Arsen out, hoping they wouldn’t spot her. “Come on come on..” She whispered to herself, waiting. The blaster fire below did a good job of providing distraction, both with its loud range of sound and the constant flares of shots. She watched as the woman finally went to make her move, catching her first real look at her. “That mask thing is really cool.” She remarked to herself, unawares she was still transmitting.

She cringed at the striking of the kneecap, watching as it caved in and his leg bent at an unnatural angle. “Oh man that’s gross…” She continued to provide commentary, while not actually intending to. Like someone watching a holo alone. Dahlia was unaware what the next move would be though. She assumed the woman didn’t want to leave the arms in the hands of this one grouping, and as she watched the woman skulk around she found herself holding her breath again. No more distraction.

For a half second she considered activating the fire suppression systems to throw some chaos, but found the idea needless as Arsen moved through the men while a knife through butter. Despite their weaponry, she managed to drop them all without firing a single shot. She would have almost assumed it even took no effort if the woman hadn’t been breathing heavy. “Oh, um, let me check.” She scanned a screen, pulled up another and checked the call report. “Someone did call in a weapons discharge. Authorities are on their way. They are approaching from the North.”

Her fingers were a blur as she went to work on pulling up the communication feed for the local police. “Do you want their radio communication to your headphones, or will that be too distracting?” She listened for a moment, to both Arsen and the radio chatter. “Approaching from the north but planning to surround since there was weapon discharge. South is your best exit for now, but keep in mind they will have units circling around that way soon to make a perimeter. You have time though.” She assumed the plan was escape now, but she really hadn’t known what she was getting herself into. It felt almost like playing a video game, except she gave voice commands instead of controller input. Altogether, it was kind of exhilarating!

[Arsen]

Arsen pivoted around to survey her surroundings and associate directions with the girl’s words. She made quick worse of placing a few more detonation sticks on various crates as she, once more, scaled the southern side of the warehouse. Eventually, she swung her legs through a window and alighted upon a landing outside of the building itself. Sirens and colorful lights blazed a path in the distance, opposite of where she perched. Fastening her eyes on the escape ladder on the opposite building, she bunched the muscles in her legs and then launched herself toward it.

Her hands found purchase on a rung and she made swift work of pulling herself to the roof of the building the ladder was attached to. “Just give me a heads up on that radio chatter. I should be long gone before they even know what happened.” She responded finally, turning her gaze along the labyrinth of rooftops sprawled out before her. Above, the dingy white aperture of 1313’s access tunnel loomed; mockingly out of reach and devoid of activity. No one wanted to come here and those who came, they found it near impossible to leave. This was why she fought…

She bolted as the sirens grew closer, waiting until she was several buildings away before she paused once more. “You did good, kid. A little rough around the edges but you have potential.” She raised the detonator switch before her, pressing her thumb against the red button and setting off the ridiculous amount of explosives she left in her wake. Fire lit up her face and the fangy mask stretched into a gleeful smile as the building she’d been in imploded. “I guess that makes you an accessory.” She said over the roar. “Welcome to the 1313 resistance. I’m sure Cipher will be in touch.” Reaching into her ear, she removed the piece and tossed it over the side of the building before disappearing into the night.

[Dahlia Avalon]

Dahlia listened intently to pertinent information from the law enforcement communications. They were playing it carefully to avoid a loss of life, setting up their perimeter and keeping their distance. All of this was nothing relevant to be shared with Arsen, she figured. She tried at first to track the swift movements of the member of Cipher’s activist group, but after a bit she lost her in the shuffle of the various cameras. Only audio remained.

“Uh…thanks!” She grinned ear to ear at being complimented. She startled though as the cacophony of explosions, even distant, was heard through her earpiece. She gaped for a moment, her original security feeds out. Distant looks showed fire coming from the crumbled building. “An accessory?” She didn’t get to ask Arsen the question, as the earpiece howled with the wind passing through it, then suddenly cut off. Her connection with it cut, and she instead resumed listening to the law enforcement feedback.

Suppression crews were on the way, and it doesn’t appear any law enforcement officers suffered any major injuries, but the men inside the building. With the blaze raging, they didn’t know about them, but she did. She felt a touch sick to her stomach at the thought of causing a loss of life, then pulled up the relevant news feeds to see how the media spun the events. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. No one reported at all, like it never happened. She swallowed, thinking. Does that make me an accessory to…murder? Quickly she shut off her screen, which blinked out, then after a short display blinked back on. “What in the void?”

[Cipher]

The screen had opened back to the systems she had previously been navigating but the display itself looked glitched, flickering and pixelating until finally vanishing. In the program’s place, a predominantly black screen with visual static reappeared with a monochrome mask centered amongst the digital snow.

A voice rippled through her headset, modulated to disguise the true tone of the individual speaking.

“Dahlia Avalon. Age 20. Daughter of Jarric Avalon, doting father and leader of one of the largest 1313 crime syndicates. Dahlia: Currently studying political sciences but secretly harbors an interest and talent with eavesdropping passives, security infiltration, and various other forms of hacking. You have quite a resume and your first interview went very well…”

There was some audible static and then the mask began to move, transitioning into a live view of Cipher. A thin black hood hid the seams of his mask, the snake like pattern on one side was glowing a fierce crimson on the display. A black t-shirt hugged his torso, framed by the jacket the hood was attached to and the rest of his frame remained outside of the frame. Behind him, neon lights accentuated graffiti on the wall; spelling out things like ‘resist’, ‘purge authority’, and ‘take back control’.

“We should meet.”

[Dahlia Avalon]

The moment she heard audio through her headset in a modulated fashion, she took a blanket that had fallen off the arm of her console chair and tossed it over her monitor with a yelp of surprise. The sudden surprise had caused a slight jump, which set her glasses askew on her face and a bit of her hair to be haphazardly cast across her brow. The voice went on, giving far more details then she would have been comfortable some anonymous individual knowing.

Before Cipher moved, she pulled the blanket up slowly and peaked under it at the backlit display. Movement caused her to yelp again, and the blanket to fall back over the screen, like it did anything to protect her. “Uh…Meet?” She swallowed hard, slowly pulling the blanket off the monitor. Fantasizing about working with Cipher was one thing, but actually being pulled into the cause for a hobby, well that was terrifying. “Um, well…I have class tomorrow.” She didn’t know if she was stating that to get out of the meeting, or if it was an invitation into her schedule that he could work around it.

“I didn’t know I was interviewing…” She sheepishly stated, eyes casting in all manner of direction. “Can you see me right now?” She took the blanket and wrapped it around her frame, feeling vulnerable. In her world, no one knew what she did, not even her few friends.

[Cipher]

Cipher's lips cracked into a wry grin behind his mask, splitting over sharpened incisors.

Adorable, he thought. Yes, he had to have her for his collection. He was certain Arsen would agree, as well.

"We wouldn't want you to miss out on your education." He stated in a sardonic voice that lost some of its edge due to the modulator on his mask. The blanket was removed from the screen and his view of her was no longer obscured, his head tilting at her words. Certainly, Cipher wasn't known for his adherence to moral physical or digital boundaries. It wasn't his sole intention to make her uncomfortable but an added bonus in this instance. He didn't want her running off to daddy dearest before he got a chance to speak with her in person. By then, it'd be too late for her criminal father to establish countermeasures to his plans.

"I have access to your computer's camera, yes. But don't worry... you're very cute." He assured her, his voice purely flirtatious. "We can meet after you're done with class, I've already got some circuit feeds in place to make it look like you come straight back to your room. Just make sure you wear the green jacket, brown top, your favorite leggings, and those black boots with the silver buckles when you leave tomorrow. If you wear anything else, I'll assume you're not interested, Dahlia. I'll contact you after class with directions. And... don't worry, I'll be watching over you on your way here, so nothing bad will happen."

[Dahlia Avalon]

She breathed a sigh of relief, glad he understood the importance of her education. Slicing was a hobby after all, right? There was no making a living in illegal activities. “Thanks.” She only answered regarding his understanding as far as her school schedule worked, not at all catching onto any sarcasm he intended. It was his statement regarding her attractiveness that caused her to withdraw into herself again though, pulling her blanket over her head like some exaggerated Jedi Robe, concealing a good portion of her features. She must have opened and closed her mouth a dozen times as she considered how to reply, things like You could be some old man saying that, and I wouldn’t know it or Uh, thanks, your mask’s pretty cool, the awkward sort of reply that was often expected of her.

She probably should have been creeped out that he knew her attire so thoroughly, which suggested he had been watching her for a while. It surprisingly didn’t though, because the excitement of the overall prospect of being the one on the opposite end of the comm’s like tonight was exhilarating. Would she meet that other woman? Green Jacket. Brown top. Leggings. Buckley Boots. She repeated those words several times in her head, barely even catching any other words he had as she made sure she remembered the instructions. “Uh, cool. Okay. See you tomorrow, yeah?” She glanced around the room. “Do I sign off, or do you sign off?” She couldn’t exactly toss her computer out the window like Arsen had discarded the earpiece. “Wait, maybe you weren’t done. Are we done? I’m sorry, I’m not good at these things.”

[Cipher]

The answer to her question was given in the form of her holo-screen resuming its normal appearance, displaying her usual icons instead of his masked countenance.

On Cipher's end of things, he extended a gloved hand and allowed the weight of the orb-like, levitating camera he'd been using to drop into his palm. He tossed it into the air once and then turned his head; an array of monitors displaying the live feed of his domain drawing his attention. Arsen had arrived at the foyer of the club and she leveled an icy stare directly at the camera mounted above the access booth. Doors weren't open yet and only a few loyal workers milled about, prepping for the evening's promised entertainment.

"That girl is greener than luna-weed and you know it. Her hesitation is going to get someone killed." Arsen said directly to the camera. There wasn't exactly a way he could reply, not without getting more complicated than he cared to at the moment. Despite the fact that he couldn't respond, the woman with brightly colored hair continued on anyway. "I know exactly what you're thinking; she may be green but she can be shaped into something great, it is just going to take time, patience, and experience. Yeah, yeah... I get it. Just don't come crying to me when she gets your fool self killed."

Cipher huffed out a chuckle and set the round device he held down on a table in his private rooms. Arsen was right to be worried but he wasn't going to get anywhere with 1313 by playing it safe. It was so like her, arguing with him while..

"And yes, I do prefer speaking like this. Much better when you can't reply."

He laughed at that, dropping his fingers to the elaborate control board before the monitors; changing some of the feeds to prepare for tomorrow's mission. While he hadn't personally met Dahlia Avalon, Cipher knew enough about her to wager she'd want to see what he was offering and knew her father well enough to bet she'd be a grade-A hostage if she didn't want to cooperate. Either way, he'd get some use out of her.

[Dahlia Avalon]

With a flash, her screen returned to the way it was prior. Dahlia sat there a moment longer and stared in disbelief, then after that slight delay in silence. “Hello? Still there?” The feed might have been gone, but she wondered if she was still being watched, listened to. She pushed away from her desk, spinning instantly and leaping to her feet. “Brown jacket, green leggings…wait, I don’t own green leggings. Green jacket, brown leggings.” She repeated the instructions once again, foraging through her clothing to find what she was directed to wear. With each article she found, it was tossed onto her bed. “Should I wear makeup? No, that’s ridiculous. Or is it?” She chewed her lip nervously, stared at the clothes, then glanced back to the camera on her console. “I need to build a firewall tonight…”

The vulnerable feeling of being watched kept her up for hours working on a means to secure her systems. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Cipher, although she was apprehensive, but she suddenly felt very cyber-exposed by thinking of all the times she’d changed standing just across from her console. Getting through class had proven difficult as she ran through every scenario she could muster in her head. Where would she go? Should she play it cool? Aloof? Should she be mysterious.

“Oh no. He didn’t say to wear my glasses.” She quickly pulled them off and folded them up, only to realize with squinting eyes that she found it difficult to see without them on. She whined in frustration, chewed her lip again, then opened them back up and put them on. Standing near a bench in the quad outside her last class, she found her weight shifting from toes to heals, and back. Not a single part of her was inconspicuous, and she most definitely had the vibe of someone waiting on someone, but that wasn’t so foreign an idea on campus so she got away without so much as a handful of glances her way.