Friendships are Made at the Cafeteria

"It's not really that I "prefer" it." Veronica clarified, using air quotes to emphasize her emphasis of the word prefer. "It's more like I can't handle anything else. I've tasted pretty extreme foods, I just can't handle any of them." Veronica shrugged. It bothered her to a degree, but she's become so accustomed to it that it honestly didn't really bother her anymore.

Veronica folded her arms over her stomach as a warm feeling surrounded her, making her feel a bit shy. She was being asked to go to a restaurant with someone? She was never so much as invited to a play date or a birthday party before, much less get invited to a restaurant, alone, with a cute guy. She wouldn't dare say it out loud, but Veronica wasn't about to deny it. He was really cute, attractive even. Was the teasing just a way to deflect her interest in him?

Whether or not that was the case, Veronica eagerly nodded at the offer. "That sounds like fun," she said casually. "And I'm glad you said yes. I've been trying to find some excuse to listed to you play your violin. It sounds absolutely magical." Veronica wasn't one to stretch or cover the truth. If she felt something, she told you what it was. Of course, she did have limits to this rule. Like, nothing embarrassing.

"But I'd love to meet some of your friends, too." She added, before she recalled something she had forgotten the last time they met with each other. "Oh! Before I forget again! Can I get your phone number? I mean, we could spend the day talking if you got time, but I just want to get your number while I remember. This place is so big, I don't know if we could be so lucky as to bump into each other all the time. This would probably make planning easier." Veronica lacked social skills, but boy was she a planner. She kept her phone on tab for all occasions.

After all, she was a teenage girl. And what was a teenage girl without her smartphone?

@Aedan Drago

Veronica took the phone and typed her phone number in it. "Oooo! Cool phone! Where'd you get it?" Swiping her finger over the screen, the teen struggled for a few moments to find his number, but managed to figure it out quickly. It was a rather practical, and easy to use. After dialing both numbers in both phones, Veronica returned Aedan his phone and smiled. "Alright! You've got my number, and I've got yours. My number is under my name, V-e-r-o-n-i-c-a." Veronica tapped at her phone a bit and showed him his number on her phone. "Is this how you spell your name?" Veronica spelled his name as A-i-d-e-n.

The classes that Aedan was talking about Veronica couldn't even begin to comprehend, though. "Dragon biology? Vampire bloodlines? What?" The girl had never heard of such classes. Did they even exist? They must've because why else would Aedan tell her they did? "What kind of classes are those?" With those kinds of classes, Veronica had no idea what she should take. "...Do they have an English class? I don't know. Where do I go to see the different classes they have?"

English was most definitely Veronica's favorite subject. She may had a hard time figuring out how to socialize, but once she did, she was a great communicator. She loved taking complicated information and simplifying it in a more understandable way. Of course, she'd have to understand it herself, though.

Veronica took another bit of her sandwich, and crunched down on a funny piece of meat. It was harmless, but it was weird to chew, so she grabbed a napkin and spit it out, wiping her mouth in the process. "Can you tell me how you received your powers?"

@Aedan Drago

Veronica looked back at her phone, and was surprised that she spelled it wrong. "Oh! Whoops! Gimme a sec." She fixed the spelling and smiled. What a unique way of spelling the name. She'd initially thought the name was spelled the other way, but this was a good way of spelling it too. "There we go! All better! Note to self: Never assume you can spell someone's name correctly right off the bat." That was her way of being funny while lightly reprimanding herself at the same time. It wasn't a big deal but... still.

"Yeah, this place is weird," Veronica paused. "I mean, special. Actually, you know what? I have no idea what to say about it, this place is weird." Veronica was nice, but she had to be honest with her feelings. Otherwise she'd feel like a liar, and that just didn't sit right with her. The fact that dragons and vampires existed was... interesting to put it at its nicest, but it would be a while before she would ever get used to it.

Speaking of the uncomfortable, Veronica's question about Aedan's powers seemed to have stricken a nerve. The girl could feel emotions, strong ones, rise up in him. They seemed to be a mixture of fear, sadness, anger, and... something else. She remembered knowing what Amara was feeling as sadness, and that alone astonished Veronica. But this, Veronica could read his emotions like a book. She didn't know why he was feeling them, she just knew what they were. They must've been powerful emotions.

Feeling inclined by her own sense of his emotions, Veronica slowly placed her hand on his shaky left one in a comforting gesture. It wasn't really planned out, more of an act of pure instinct. Veronica just hated anyone suffering, if only for the fact that it made her suffer as well. She was tempted to ask more about it, but decided that now wasn't the best time. "You... don't have to talk about it if you're not ready..."

A bit of an awkward silence loomed over before she cleared her throat. Hopefully this would lighten the mood. "Well, I'm not perfectly positive," she began. "But I believe I was ten when it happened. My memories a little foggy, and it probably isn't as interesting of a story as your's, but I remember pushing my brother, and making him cry. Pretty soon, I think I felt his hurt feelings, and I started crying too, even though I was the one who pushed him." Hopefully that would be enough to calm the boy's nerves.

Veronica then recalled something else. "Actually, since we are talking about strange things," Veronica said. "I know this sounds weird, but can I tell you about a dream I had a while ago? I don't know if it's connected to my powers or what, but it's really strange." Veronica cleared her throat again. "I was in my brother's point of view and I was drowning. I remember this happening when I was little, but in the dream, I could see myself calling for help. The strangest thing was, I could feel everything. The water going in my mouth, the lack of oxygen, I felt everything." They both were on equal footing here. She'd never told anyone about that dream before, much less to that detail.

@Aedan Drago

Veronica's gaze softened at the boy's gaze, something strong emitting inside of her. Veronica was unable to tell if it was her own emotions or Aedan's, but whatever it was felt nice. Veronica nodded at his gratitude. She knew how it felt to be closed minded. Actually, she was a rather compassionate individual in general. She didn't know if that had to do with her powers or her personality, but she didn't drag the conversation on.

Veronica felt her face heat up a bit at the compliments she was receiving about her powers. "The ability itself, maybe, but mine really aren't that great." Her attention was more peaked, though, when he was talking about how her powers could possibly help people. "You really think they could, Aedan?" She asked, full of hope and curiosity. "That would be wonderful."

Veronica nodded at the boy's intuition. "If I didn't think it had something to do with my powers, I wouldn't have told you," Veronica explained with a smile. "But, anyway, I could be wrong. I only suspect it because it felt so real, but I've had dreams like that before. These powers... I guess they're just filling my head with strange ideas." Veronica let out a few giggles, pleased that the boy seemed to have calmed down. Her hand still hadn't moved from has, and she squeezed it slightly.

"PTSD?" Veronica echoed sympathetically. Her eyes softened again. She knew what that was, she's heard about it. It was something that happened to soldiers, right? But he was just a kid, how did he get it? Veronica remembered that he said she would know, but that he wasn't ready. Because of this, she didn't dare ask why.

Another gentle smile formed on her face as she nodded again. "What are friends for?" She asked, before noticing her hand on his. The girl quickly took her hand off of his and folded them over her knees, looking down at them in embarrassment. "Sorry..." she whispered.

@Aedan Drago

The presence of the other girl caused Veronica to flinch and squeak a bit. The girl instantly turned to the stranger before she even comprehended what it was that she said. Veronica felt her nerves rise up again at the presence of a person she'd never seen before. Even though she had been very talkative a few moments ago, a mixture between her embarrassment and her nervousness caused her to fall silent.

Veronica's embarrassment only grew at the idea of someone thinking she and Aedan were an item. It was mostly awkward considering the amount of time they had known each other, which wasn't much. To be fair, though, it was probably Veronica's fault that the girl was given that idea. Her attempt to comfort her friend, it honestly would've given her the wrong idea if this girl was doing that to Aedan.

It wasn't hard to see that the girl was trying to tease Aedan, though, so maybe she was a friend of his? The girl seemed to really want to get a funny reaction out of the boy, but that seemed normal enough. After all, she knew she liked messing with her little brother from time to time. She seemed to have succeeded too.

The boy blushed quite a bit, and thanks to her powers, that did a number on her. Veronica was so red that if you were to put a bushel of strawberries next to her face, they would blend right in. Okay, maybe that was a bit of an over exaggeration, but it she was still pretty red. She could feel the heat, and if she hadn't known about her powers, she would've thought she was sick. Veronica did have kind of a hard time breathing, after all.

Veronica nodded at Chloe, not quite recovered from the mixture of extreme emotions, most of which were foreign to her. Veronica looked at Aedan and then back at Chloe, before nodding toward her in as if trying to get Aedan to introduce her to Chloe. She certainly couldn't speak right now.

@Aedan Drago
@Kait