Stage 2

"So, doll, are you new here?"

Alea stopped and looked at the guy who had just stopped her. He was handsome, as boys go. Which is to say, of no interest to her. He also had the bearing of someone who knew exactly how wonderful and popular he was.

"Umm... yes and no. I've been here before, but not often. I usually hang around on of the other schools."

His eyes lit with the arrogant predation shared between wounded large cats and high school students at the peak of the social circles. His arm started to slide down the wall towards her shoulder. Her mind tossed between a select group of options, highlighting such delights: letting him do it and ignore him; telling him to stop; quickly walking away; or pointing and giggling. She was spared the onerous task of choosing by the arrival of another high school demi-god. The newcomer walked up to her would-be beau and thwapped him lightly upside the head.

"Yo, have you seen Quieta anywhere?"

The boy she had been dealing with pried his attention from her anatomy and turned to his assailant deferentially.

"Sorry Glenn... haven't seen her..." He leaned in close to Glenn and whispered hoarsely, "look at this new girl... you thought Cindy was something... she makes Cindy look flat!"

Glenn started to respond, but stopped and smiled. The noises of the hall stilled slightly, a collective holding of breath that indicated the approach of either a tropical storm or social royalty. A stunningly beautiful girl was walking down the hall, flanked by a coterie of others. Alea noted that there were at least three of these guardians, but their appearance failed to register. All that filled her eyes was the snow-pale skin and softly rustling hair of the goddess before her. The white mane teased at her glacial shoulders, dancing with blue where the hall lights played at it. Alea had taken one step toward this frozen paradigm when she saw Glenn slide in next to her and smile intimately. Her sigh matched that of a pair of nearby girls.

"She's soooo lucky!," the two girls tittered in unison. One of them continued, "Glenn's just THE most handsome and eligible guy in the school. And he's her boyfriend. Have you ever seen such a perfect couple? I've heard they're being voted "Most Likely to Live Happily Ever After."

These words caught Alea before her second step hastened her towards the moon-toned avatar of beauty before her. Instead she stepped backwards to let her and her party pass.

"Hey Quieta." Glenn said as he slid up next to her.

"Hello." She said coldly. Her day was not going good. Then again, when DID she have a good day?

Glenn began talking to her about something or other, Quieta wasn't paying attention. She heard one of the girls in the hallway mention something about her and Glenn being voted 'Most Likely to Live Happily Ever After', and was about to just smack the girl when she stopped, her eyes falling upon a girl she hadn't seen around school before.

The pale gray eyes caught Quieta's attention first. She couldn't help but think that they were looking right at her. The rest of of the exotic beauty soon registered, from her bronze colored skin to her multi-colored hair that looked so soft. Quieta barely managed to restrain he urge to reach out and touch the girl to see if she was real.

"Quieta. Hey, Quieta."

Quieta blinked, pulled out of the trance-like state. She looked up at Glenn, glaring.

"What?" She asked, her shields of ice slamming back up.

"Er, um... " he stammered, "You had a sort of 'lost' look, and I was wondering if you were oka-"

"Miss Deus!" Tiffiny ran up to Quieta with her every present notepad and pen. "Miss Deus, I'm sorry for interrupting, but your class starts in three minutes, and I was wondering what you wanted for lunch so I could order it ahead, that is, if you wanted lunch, and..."

Quieta sighed as Tiffiny talked at her. She found herself being pulled along with the rest of her group, passing by the new girl. Quieta had felt something when she saw this girl. Most of it was unknown to her, but she could clearly recognize the distinct feeling of deja vu, even though it was not that that attracted Quieta to her so. She didn't want to lose this girl, fearing she would never see her again. Thinking quickly, Quieta spotted one of the lower-class populars that particularly annoyed Quieta start making moves on the girl.

Quieta broke away from her group, although Glenn followed her like a lost puppy no matter what, and stood in front of the boy, arms crossed and a peeved expression on her face.

"Samuel," She said in a warning tone "Are you harassing the new students again?"

Samuel blinked a few times, stammering out some kind of excuse under his breath.

"Well?" Quieta usually didn't bother with such things as standing up for other students, but this was a much different case. Quieta really didn't like Samuel. He had an overactive libido in her opinion. That, and, it was so amusing to get a guy at least five inches taller then her to cower under her ice-like glare.

Alea stepped to the side, worried that she was responsible for Samuel's troubles. She started to reach out to touch Quieta's shoulder but her sidestep had placed her in the river of traffic flowing towards the lunch room. She turned, prepared to play platypus and wriggle upstream when she saw Glenn step next to the pale beauty. His obvious attachment to her, combined with the words she had heard earlier, punctured her determination and she was swept into an expansive room. Cut lunches and chips were the menu of the day, so she worked her way into line and got a tray. This school's lunch, she figured, was likely to be every bit as good as the school she was supposed to be at. She acquired her lunch and took a corner seat, thinking wistfully about what might have been.

After sufficiently chewing out Samuel about his manners, Quieta paused and looked around. The girl she had seen before was gone.

'DAMMIT! I lost her...' she thought sadly as she walked back to her group, Glenn trailing behind her. As soon as she re-entered the collective, she was immediately assaulted by tons of questions. What would she want for lunch, what she thought about Jenny's new hairstyle, what she was doing after school....

Quieta just couldn't handle this today. She clenched her fists, trying to keep her temper under control.

"Shut up, all of you."

Everyone in the immediate area silenced.

"...Can't you do anything without me?! Just leave me alone, I can't deal with any of you right now." And with that, Quieta stormed off in the direction of the lunch room, the people in the hallway parting to make a clear path for her.

Back where she had left them, her groupies just stared after her. Once she was out of sight, they started whispering to each other.

"Poor Quieta. Being so popular must be a strain on her." Karri said.

"She didn't mean that, I'm sure." Jenny stated.

"Yes, she's just stressed." Katy agreed.

"Yeah, after all, her dance class is doing a big performance next week. I'D be stressed, too." Tiffiny piped up.

"You have to commend her on being able to hold up like this so long." Jenny finished. She then turned to Glenn. "Glenn, you should go talk to her and make sure she's alright. It's times like these that your girlfriend need your support."

Glenn blinked. "Uh... okay...."

Quieta sat alone at a mostly-hidden table in the cafeteria, her face buried in her hands.

'Not a breakdown here...' she thought to herself. 'Not here, not at school... why can it wait until I get home?!' She almost snapped completely when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, Quieta, are you okay?" Glenn asked her. She shuddered. Hadn't she TOLD them to just leave her alone?! She really didn't want to have to deal with her groupies right now, and Glenn was the main groupie.

"Glenn," She said, voice like jagged shards of ice, "If you ruin my shirt by drooling on it, I will kill you."

Glenn was taken aback for a second.

"Quie-"

"I told you all to leave me alone. I don't want to talk to ANY of you right now, so just GO AWAY." Quieta growled at him.

She felt some pressure leave the seat after a minute, as well as Glenn's hand leave her shoulder. She knew she'd hurt his ego and his feelings, but she didn't really care. They would be back to normal by tomorrow, anyway. Glenn was one of those people who just couldn't catch a clue if it jumped into their hands.

Quieta slumped down in her seat, resting her head on her arms which were folded on the table.

"Ugh... I feel so light-headed...." She mumbled to herself. "Awake for five hours with nothing to eat except a small breakfast... I'm so hungry...." She glanced over to the tables that were visible from the one she was sitting at. Only three tables were really in the immediate area. One was empty, the other had only four people on it who were wrapped up in their own little conversation, and the last one...

'That's her!' Quieta couldn't help but stare as she once again saw the girl that had captured her attention just a few minutes ago in the hallway. Something about that girl.... Quieta felt her cheeks heat up as a blush spread across her face, her mind frantically trying to tell itself that it was just a morbid curiosity Quieta had for this girl, not physical attraction.

Quieta Deus... Alea sat eating her cut lunch and making little structures with her chips, thinking about that name. Quieta Deus. Cool, distant, beautiful, pale, alluring... she realized she had drifted from thoughts of the name to thoughts of the girl herself. Her shoulders were tensed, her breathing sharp, when she saw the icy avatar enter the lunchroom. Her teeth bit into her lower lip to keep from calling out. She remembered that Quieta had a boyfriend, apparently a perfect relationship. This was reinforced as the snowy goddess found her table and her prince charming came to her side. She watched for a moment, then turned away and began to deconstruct the potato houses she had built.

It was odd... normally she enjoyed her little excursions to different schools. She rarely got caught, and more rarely punished. And never had something like this happened. She hadn't fallen this hard since Aideen... Tears, held back over the current incidents, gained force and spilled forth as she thought about Aideen. The events of the day overwhelmed her, cutting through the cheerful joy that encompassed everything other than her love life, and she bolted from the room, her excessive bouncing drawing quite the attention from the football crowd.

Once she reached the hall, she turned and ran, sometimes skidding, down the hall, finally running up against the auditorium doors. Slipping inside she went to a dark spot in back, curled up, and let herself weep. Only a few sobs escaped her lips before precious sleep had taken her. And as the arms of sleep enfolded her, she felt touched, warmed, comforted by a presence that looked as ice, but smiled like sunlight.

Quieta nearly jumped out of her seat as she saw the strange girl run out of the lunchroom. Not thinking, Quieta ran after her, pushing her way past the people who just gave her strange looks. She managed to keep on the girl's trail untill the second hallway turn, at which point dozens of people spilled forth from a room, creating a wall of flesh between Quieta and the girl. She opened her mouth to call out her name, but remembered at the last second that she didn't know it. The people eventually cleared out of the hallway, leaving Quieta standing alone. She stared blankly down the hallway.

Alone.

It hit her all at once. Once again, she was alone...

Quieta clenched her fists. Everyone always left her alone. No matter how popular she was, the only reason they liked her was because of her parents. She sobbed quietly to herself, crying invisible tears. She needed to be away from all the shallow people of this school, she just needed to... she would have headed home, but she was NOT going to take the bus, and she was NOT going to walk home. Her driver didn't get to school for another two hours, as well. After searching through the places that were not being used at the moment, the Auditorium was the closest. She walked as slowly as possible, taking the roundabout way there so's not to run into anyone except for the random errant student.

She pushed open the large doors, they were heavy for someone like her.

Seeing that the place was very dark, but still at least partially lit, Quieta carefully stepped inside, the large doors making an unpleasant slamming noise behind her. She winced.

"......h..hello...?"

Alea woke with a start and an "EEEP!" She tumbled to the floor, barely missing the sticky irregular patch of spilled soda. She looked around, trying to find what had startled her, while blearily attempting to focus on what she was doing here in the first place. She knew there must be a good reason she was in a dark room with folding seats and red satin curtains and... she bent over... an unopened bag of hard candies! She opened it and popped a lime one into her mouth.

Quieta blinked for a second. 'Okay....' she thought to herself, 'There is obviously someone else here... just a matter of finding out who it is and telling them to get the hell out so I can be alone...' She took a careful step forward, regretting not paying attention to where the light switches were during assemblies Quieta sucked in a breath. "Who's there?" She asked, trying not to sound as crummy as she was feeling.

Quieta's voice caused Alea to bolt, but she couldn't remember why she would want to do that. She ended up on the stairs to the stage, and soon thereafter on the stage itself.

"Gomen", came her trilling voice, "I'm sorry if I upset you... gee, it's dark in here." She rummaged behind the side curtain and flipped a switch, causing a single spotlight to illuminate the center of the stage, then walked into the light. "Sorry if I'm causing trouble!"

Quieta blinked again, trying to get her eyes used to the small light. Once her vision cleared, she looked up onto the stage. Awestruck for a second, she blurted out "It's you!" without even thinking.

"ummm... yes, it is I... errr.. me... no, I think I was right the first time!" She struck a quasi-Shakespearean pose. "Alas, poor Grammar. I knew it, and Ratios!" She was barely able to finish before giggling so hard that she dropped to her behind, causing an impressive, bouncing wave of hair and ... other parts.

Quieta couldn't help but giggle, something she hadn't done for a long time. She blushed a little and politely looked away when Alea ...bounced. "Ah, umm... " Not used to finding herself without words, and in this position none the less, Quieta was quite embarrassed, "I haven't seen you around school before today, you're new, right?"

"Well, actually, I go to a different school... just about every day to be precise!" Alea tossed her pastel hair and smiled, catching the spotlight on her sparkling eyes. She still couldn't actually SEE her guest, but that didn't matter. She continued on in her normal, lighthearted fashion. "I really like seeing all the different schools, so I play hooky from one to visit another... I probably shouldn't have come here, however..."

"hmmm... this is probably way out of line for me to ask, since she seems to be a queen in this school, but what can you tell me about ms. Deus? She seems so... well... so... you know!"

Quieta stared for a second. What could she tell her about Ms. Deus? 'Maybe she just can't see me and doesn't recognize my voice... oh well, I'll play along for now, I want to see what people think of me...'

"What do you want to know about her?"

"Well... she's obviously very popular... and she has a boyfriend, more's the pity... and a fairy-tale romance... and she seems to have so many friends... and she's so beautiful... and I should stop, because I'm getting all muddled up... I guess I start think all the wrong things... why don't you just tell me about her like I was new here, which i am, so it's not a big stretch and I'll give you something in return..." She dug into her purse and pulled forth four foil wrapped chocolates. Putting two back for later, she held forth the other pair into the spotlight. "I'll give you two kisses"

Quieta blushed, then realized what Alea meant by 'Kisses'.

"Well... I can either tell you what new students are told, or I can tell you the truth." She said sadly, looking down at the floor. "I may as well tell you the truth, because you don't go to this school, anyway, and someone needs to know it beside me..." She closed her eyes, trying to see things as if she wasn't 'Quieta Deus', so she wouldn't suffer a breakdown. "Quieta has no friends. Those girls that hang around her? Parasites, all of them."

"They hang around her, hoping to become as popular as her one day, but they could care less about being her actual friends. A fairytale romance? That's laughable. Quieta thinks of Glenn more like a pet dog then a boyfriend, he sure acts like it enough. He doesn't really love her, no matter how much he thinks he does. Quieta is... very lonely...." She covered her face with her hands, repeating to herself that she wasn't 'Quieta Deus' at the moment.

Alea rolled to her feet with a grace that belied the top-heaviness of her frame, then went into her best "Utena Pose" .

"Then I shall have to be a prince! I shall find her, and... well, probably make a fool of myself, but it's for a good cause. I shall find her and give her kisses! Only I just have two more... and I doubt she'd want the other type..."

Her Utena pose was slipping as she tried to figure out the best way to proceed, so she went to just standing in the spotlight, straightening her hair. "Um... thanks, by the way... I'm hoping we can be friends, too. Have you ever tried to help ms. Deus?"

"Kind of hard for one to help one's self in such matters..." She mumbled, then covered her mouth. 'Uh oh... did I say that out loud?! Did she hear me?! Oh, hell, how could she not?' Quieta thought, when she remembered how the auditorium amplified sound so well.

Alea heard her new friend mumble something, which she presumed was a quiet way of saying that she hadn't been able to help Quieta. "I'm sorry if I put you on the spot... Oh, my name's Alea Forte... I figure if we're going to be friends, we should exchange names, maybe even numbers, and stuff about ourselves... girl-talk, like what we look for in a girl-friend... er... well, you're probably looking for a boyfriend..." She sighed again and returned to a sitting position, slumped forward as much as her chest would allow. "And sadly, so is Ms. Deus... Oh, I hope my tastes don't mean we can't be friends..."

Quieta blushed a little to herself. What to say? What to say? Her mind was going to overload. She was trying to think of what to say and frantically telling herself that she wasn't into girls like that at the same time. She managed to figure the first out, but the second was still running through her mind, destroying everything else in it's wake. She stepped forward, telling herself that she was the Ice Queen. This was nothing to her. 'Just be the ice queen...' "My name..."

She stopped just inside the glow of the light coming off the stage so that her outline was visible. "...is... Quieta Deus."

Alea looked up at the approaching figure, suddenly figuring out why she had bolted at the voice... Her midtone skin bronzed under her blush.

"Umm... hmmm... well, I guess that's that." She quickly got to her feet and started to turn away, then stopped and turned back.

She held out a hand and smiled. "I guess we got off on the wrong foot... and I'm sort of embarrassed by what I said... I mean, that you heard what I said... but, well, that's no reason to leave you alone again."

"....no, It's alright, thank you...." She gave Alea a weak smile. "If... if only for not leaving me alone. I get that far too often." She suddenly found herself blushing again. Although the question was embarrassing, she could not stop herself from asking it.

"...D...do you really think I'm... pretty?"

Alea took advantage of the question to unabashedly stare at Quieta's face and figure. She remembered after a short while to breathe. "Yup! Actually, when I first saw you I nearly... er... never mind." Her bronzing became more prevalent. "Yes, I think you're pretty... in a couple of different ways." She bit her lip, wondering if this conversation was going to be dropped or pursued, and trying to decide which path she was praying for.

"Thank you again... It's nice to hear that from an honest person for once." Realizing that her rational mind and common sence was fighting a loosing battle, she let her instincts take over, and just started saying whatever came to mind. "You're very pretty, too... and not just because of your.. um.. bust size."

"Yeah, they are big, aren't they... So often it takes forever for people to see beyond them... not that I really mind them, actually... and no, they don't have their own names nor addresses!" She started giggling again. "Sorry, old jokes. So why does everyone hang around you? Wait, that didn't come out right... I mean, I know why I'd hang around you. You're beautiful and you need friends. Two really good reasons.

"I was just wondering why you let people hang around if you're not happy with them. Oh, I forgot... did you want a pair of kisses?"

"...I don't know. I'm a social princess, both in and out of school. They're just... there. I don't know why, they just are. I guess it's because I'm bound to have 'people' when I grow up, and it's just starting at a young age... I never really questioned why before. It's just been natural." She thought about the second question for a second. "Well, if you don't mind giving them to me..." 'I would really like a diffrent kind of kisses, too... oh god, did I just THINK that?!'

"Oh... how sad. I mean, I like people, I really do. But I like quiet too, sometimes... like when I go out with my mom into the outback... it's so quit there."

While she was saying this, she absentmindedly peeled one of the candies in her hand and popped it into her mouth, then looked terribly abashed.

"I'm sorry...", she mumbled around the unbitten kiss, "I had meant to give this kiss to you."

All this free usage of the word 'kiss' kept making Queta more and more uneasy, and she began to wonder if it was not the candy type that she wanted from this girl. "It's alright..." she said, walking over to the steps and walking up them. "I don't like chocolate all that much, anyway." She stepped into the stagelight next to Alea, somehow managing not to freak out at what she was just about to do. "...but... you can repay me for it, if you want..."

She leaned forward and gently kissed Alea for a second, then pulled back quickly, blushing horribly. "I.. I'm sorry.. I... I just..." She looked down, unable to finish the sentence.

Alea's knees buckled. A glacier had struck her, but with a molten core. As her legs gave out and she started to crash once more onto her much abused behind, she flailed outwards trying to gain purchase or support. Instead, she merely managed to unbalance Quieta as she sprawled backwards.

Quieta let out a small yelp as she tumbled to the floor, landing on top of Alea. It took a few seconds for her mind to register what a... compromising... position her and Alea were in. Just as she was about to apologize to Alea and stand back up, she heard the distinct sound of the auditorium doors being opened. "Hey! Like, Ms. Deus, we were all looking for you and I-" Cindy walked into the auditorium, easily finding the switch and flipping it on. She paused when she saw Quieta and Alea on the stage.

"CINDY!" Quieta blushed, Cindy blinked. "Th... this isn't what it looks like, really!!"

".....huh?" Cindy gave her a blank stare, the vacent look in her eyes seeming to shine through perfectly.

Quieta paused, then sweatdropped. "Oh right, you're a total bimbo, I forgot..." she mumbled, then put on her best ice-queen act as she could while in the position she was in.

"Cindy, if you tell anyone of this, then I will make sure your credit cards are taken away, do you understand?" "Like, okay Ms. Deus, you, like don't have to be so HARSH!"

"Don't tell anyone where I am, too. I'll rejoin them when I'm good and ready, got it?"

"Yeah yeah..."

"Now... go change. Your cloths clash something terrible."

"Really?!" Cindy looked terrified. She looked down at her cloths, trying to see how bad they looked. "Oh god! Where's a bathroom?!" She ran out of the auditorium. Quieta sweatdropped.

Alea waited through the burst of politics, mostly oblivious. What she was preternaturally aware of was the heat eminating from the girl on top of her. She might look like a perfect model of snow, but she was definitely as warm, as soft, as beautiful... as any girl she had known.

As the doors slid closed, she lifted her head up, placing her lips perilously close to Quiets's.

She swooned under the sweet zephyr of her breath... hungered to erase those few fragments of an inch... to hold her snowy form against her own darker one...

"Quieta...?"

Quieta sighed softly. "Hmmm...?"

Alea's voice was a husky whisper as she lay beneath Quieta's frame. "Do you really think I'm pretty? And do you want to go to dinner? And do you want your kiss?"

Quieta felt as if she was drowning. She was out of breath and beginning to feel dizzy. (That's what you get for being awake 5 hrs!) "Yes, yes, and... yes." She closed the few inches between them and kissed Alea, savoring the taste of chocolate that still remained. After what seemed like an eternity, she pulled back.

"You know, this really isn't the place to be doing this." She said with a small smile and a slight laugh. "After all, anyone could walk in on us like Cindy did, and they might have half a brain."

She reluctantly pulled herself to her feet, helping Alea up as well. Talking a small pad of paper and a pen out of her book-bag and scribbling something onto it, she handed the paper to Alea.

"This is my address and phone number." She said. "Don't be surprised if a strange voice answers the phone, just ask for Quieta and don't let them give you any shit. The maids and butlers can be kinda snooty for being hired help..."

Alea reeled under the kiss. Beyond chemistry, this seemed to be physics. The unified field theory enacted itself in that kiss... she could tell that it was not just her passion, but a deep sea of emotion in Quieta as well. She closed her eyes, dwelling in the eye of that emotional storm, then opened them again as her ivory goddess offered her a piece of paper. This was the moment of decision... of commitment... in taking the paper she would be throwing herself into this... right or wrong, happy or sad... she would be stumbling ahead. She looked into her eyes, tasted the sweet remnant of the kiss and knew that the question was but a formality. She took the chance... took the paper... took the plunge.

"Here's my number, too... hmmm... I guess you don't want your crowd to know... maybe we can sneak off to go to dinner... we can wear sunglasses to disguise our appearances! It worked for Lynn Minmei in Macross!"

Quieta, not being an anime fan gave her a blank look for a second, then smiled.

"Sounds fun. And if that doesn't work, we can just tell them that you're parents are friends with mine." Trying to straighten out her skirt and sweater so they didn't look as wrinkled, she looked back up to Alea. "Where should we go to dinner?"

"Well, my favorite foods are M&Ms and Chinese and candy doesn't make a good dinner... so how about we slip off to the Wok About! for authentic Australian Chinese food! I'll pick you up at seven? Well, not pick you up... I don't drive... but show up at your house? or would you rather meet somewhere else?"

Alea glanced about to make sure the doors weren't opening, then reached her hand up to touch Quieta's cheek, brushing her lips with her fingers as she brought her hand away.

"We can probably get away with one more kiss, you know..."

Quieta smiled. "Seven sounds great...I'll be waiting." She said, then leaned forward and kissed Alea again, only reluctantly parting from it three minutes later.

"...I should be going... I need alot of sleep -it's just a thing- and if I don't want to fall asleep during the date, I had better get home and take a nap now..." She gave Alea a quick kiss again and jumped down from the stade, Smiling and turning back to wave to Alea. "I'll see you at seven!"

And with that Quieta skipped -yes, she SKIPPED- out the auditorium doors, cutting the rest of her classes and heading home. Walking didn't seem so bad anymore.

Alea watched Quieta pass through the doors, enjoying the view almost as much as she had the matching one from the front, then jumped up, throwing one fist into the air.

"LUCKY!"

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