Private Finished Dumming It Down

It was a bit frustrating, but Charlie was becoming better at making mistakes. She had to make a conscious effort to answer questions wrong and write down incorrect answers, but she was improving. Although she had the habit of muttering right answers to the questions the teacher asked but no one paid her much attention.
Charlie didn't want to seem too intelligent, that might push others away and they might start bullying her again. That was what Charlie was most afraid of, of being rejected for who she was here as well. At least here her species was accepted, but there were still multiple things about her that the...less pleasant people could latch onto and use to torment her. Charlie's brother was very good at finding those things, there were definitely people around that were even better at it.

Charlie was sitting in a small corner of a hallway, in a spot that was easy to miss unless you weren't consciously searching for it. It was a nice cozy space, and Charlie could see to the courtyard through the window next to her. She was reading a college level book on metaphysical application on morals and the supernatural community. It was quite thick, and Charlie had pulled her legs up to lean the book against them. She was sitting on a wide window sill that had just enough space for two. Well, Charlie was always there alone.
Charlie turned the page, and she had a small smile on her face behind her scarf. This book was interesting.

Charlie turned the page and nibbled on the Mars chocolate bar she had carried in her pocket the whole day. Charlie had a hopeless sweet tooth that she kept quite content by eating sugary sweets whenever she had the chance. Naturally she also brushed her teeth accordingly.

The book was quite complicated, even Charlie struggled understanding some parts. But that was what made it fun, Charlie loved challenging her intelligence. She hummed a bit in thought at one statement in the book and happened to glance to the side. She saw one of her classmates in the hall, the one that sat in front of her in math class. Charlie lifted the book a bit to cover her face. But that caused some dust fly off from between the pages, the book was quite old, and it tickled Charlie's nose. She scrunched up her nose, and let out a rather loud sneeze. Her Mars bar fell to the ground in the process.

Charlie sniffed a bit after sneezing and dug out a tissue, not really noticing her chocolate bar dropping or the boy approaching. Charlie only noticed him when she was wiping her nose and he spoke to her. Charlie turned to look at him, with slight panic and embarrassment. She quickly stopped wiping her nose and bundled the tissue up.
"Oh, um, I d-didn't notice...thank you..."
Charlie answered with a small voice and put her book aside cover up. She stood up and reached down, scooping up the chocolate bar. Thankfully the wrapper was still around it so it hadn't touched the floor.

The boy introduced himself, Charlie hadn't really remembered his name but when he actually said it Charlie was reminded of it.
"Um, yes...I know...I sit behind you..."
Charlie answered with a small voice and nodded.
"I'm...Charlie..."
Charlie said her own name with uncertainty, every time she said it there was at least one person to remind her that it was widely known as more masculine name.

Charlie blinked in surprise when Jaxon asked if he was okay, looking at his face for a second, before looking away. Charlie wasn't good at handling eye contact.
"Um, yeah...I'm fine...thanks for asking..."
Charlie smiled a bit behind her scarf, she sat down back to the window sill and fidgeted a bit.
"How about you? Did you...have something to say to me?"

"N-no, just...Charlie."
Charlie looked down, this was the first time anyone had thought her name was a nickname. Well, suppose it made more sense for a girl to use Charlie as a nickname rather than it being her actual name.
Somehow that made Charlie sad.

This boy was a bit strange, for coming to talk to Charlie just like that. But he seemed nice. And his reason for talking to Charlie was reasonable after all, although Charlie jumped a bit when he said Charlie was good at math. Charlie shook her head a bit and fidgeted with the hem of her shirt.
"I'm...sorry to hear that. But I, um, aren't especially good or anything...just normal...maybe you should ask Lucas..."