Getting a Book

"Oh, okay, so you dream like a normal person?" Lila asked. Her comment sounded a little harsh out of context, but Victor would understand what she meant. Plus, he told her not to apologise and she didn't think she should do so immediately afterwards. Saying sorry was actually new to her anyway, and so was not making mistakes. In a way, she preferred the human world. She had more power. Here, it seemed like she was only just figuring out how people lived, let alone how they communicated. It was a whole new world. Was Victor feeling the same way? She probably wouldn't find out anytime soon but he seemed to have calmed down since the beginning of her conversation.

Lila had always talked freely about her powers. To family mostly, because they understood her, but sometimes to friends before manipulating them to keep a secret. Apparently Victor hadn't, and Lila was curious as to why. "Did you grow up in the human world?" She asked. She figured this would be the most likely reason he mentioned talking 'normally' about his powers.

Even though she was asking all the questions, she felt like Victor was the one getting all the answers. He looked at her expressions as if she was a book. But it was okay, she knew she could never truly be figured out because at every moment she had a rapid stream of thoughts running through her head. But Victor studied her anyway, and it was unsettling, not because of what he was doing but because of the fear he might uncover the sort of person she was. And it definitely wasn't the clever bookworm type like him.

"Meta-Analyst? That's a mouthful!" She grinned. Victor sounded like a nerd, sure, but he was smart and genuine, a trait she was beginning to value highly. Maybe they could be friends, despite their obvious differences.

Oh, okay," she replied to his comment on dreams. Victor wasn't offended by the sound of her comment. Well, that was a good sign. There were people who would be. But Victor seemed... Different. Maybe that was why she was finding their conversation harder to adjust to. Usually, Lila would just slide herself into conversation, even with someone new. But Victor's way of speaking, his personality which she would've written off as nerdy and shy in the human world, was what made her really try to talk to him and understand him.

"No, I've never been there. I've never really been anywhere but here and America." It was true, her family didn't travel far from where they lived. This was due in part to the mixture of species her family were. Her sister, as far as they could tell, was totally human. She would always want to go on vacation, but her father couldn't go out in the sun and Lila and her mother would be difficult on aeroplanes, as their wings would keep trying to emerge. "What's it like, though?" She asked curiously.

"Twenty-five? What was it?" She asked. Who in the world had a name twenty-five letters long? She'd have to have a nickname. Her real name was seven, and even that was enough for her to need a nickname, combined with the fact that she hated it, of course. And she knew meta-analyst wasn't that big of a word really, but it sounded so technical nonetheless.

Lila knew she had to branch out a bit, as she had previously thought herself outgoing without talking to whole groups of people. She had really only talked to those who were social like her, and disregarded everyone else who had a different perception of the world around them.

Melbourne sounded, well, normal. But Victor didn't go into any detail. So maybe it was a great, thriving city with good weather and a cool community? Or it could be a dark, dangerous city where nobody went out anywhere. Lila nodded, playing with her hair. As Victor told her he spent most of his time in his room she frowned very subtly. She saw his obvious introversion, but it was impossible for Lila to totally understand why people preferred to keep to themselves so much. A hint of concern showed on her face as she said, "How can you stay in your room so much? Surely the city isn't that bad!"

The comment of the teacher didn't particularly spark Lila's interest. What did was the fact that he couldn't remember the teacher's name. Again, confusion momentarily appeared on her face before she covered it up by looking over at nothing in particular. Was he lying to her about something, or did his powers just have limits? Letting the teacher part go, she analysed his face for hints of dishonesty. All people had tells, which is a hint that they are lying. She couldn't find a visible one on him, so she gave up and decided to just listen for anything that didn't fit in with the backstory he had given her. Realising she hadn't responded to his answer, she simply nodded her head.

She didn't even think there would be a reason for him to lie to her. Unless he was insanely powerful and wished to hunt her down he wouldn't benefit from telling her lies. She would probably respect him more for pulling off a lie, but not on her. Her facial expression continued to be focused as she watched him closely, likely making him feel uncomfortable.

"Isn't that more of a reason to get out and do something then?" Lila asked. Maybe there was a valid reason other than being shy which kept Victor constantly holed up in his room, but she overlooked this and continued to speak, "More people means more parties to join, more groups to join and more friends to make!" When it came to socializing, Lila was enthusiastic, believing that everyone should do it way more often. She thought this to be the key to popularity, as such. Victor didn't seem like the type to want to be popular, but as far as she knew, everyone wanted to be popular. So she continued, "So did you at least have friends?" If he didn't have friends she would have been genuinely shocked. Surely everyone had friends.

Lila loved people. Or rather, she loved it when people loved her. A bit of both, really. She loved people when they loved her back. And most of the time that was the case. But anyway, she was at the extreme end of the extroversion spectrum, and spent every day talking or communicating in some way. So the fact that Victor was so different to her was as hard to understand as someone who dislikes chocolate. This both sparked her curiosity and made her want to sell being social to him. She wanted to almost force him to talk to people and party, as that was her definition of a good time. She was quite happy to ask and answer questions and was perfectly comfortable talking to Victor.

As for what she thought of the guy, she was still deciding. At first, she had thought him a nerd and was considering moving on. But then, she realized he had personality. Maybe nerds had a reason for being that way? Maybe they found it fun? Before their conversation, this idea would've sounded ludicrous. But now, it was beginning to make sense. Maybe they could be friends, sort of, but she thought it would be difficult given their opposing personalities and interests. Regardless, she would keep talking to him, out of the respect she had built up over their conversation. "I came here because I was using my power on humans. My parents didn't like it. You?"

Victor had agreed that he wanted to make friends, which satisfied Lila's worries, for the time being. However, she now had his indirect permission to help him out, even if he didn't want it. It may seem to defeat the purpose by him giving 'permission' for help he didn't want, but she thought otherwise. In her opinion, not saying 'no' to being social was saying 'yes' to letting her do what she wanted. And she really wanted to find him friends, naturally or otherwise. Typical twisted Lila logic.

"Well then, aren't you glad you found me?" She asked, an idea forming in her mind. "Don't worry, friends are easy to make. It's only the best ones who are hard to come by." A smile crept onto her face. She had a plan, and all she had to do was get him into a public place, somewhere talking was more commonplace than in a library. Somewhere there were dozens of potential friends to meet.

Victor mumbled something under his breath that she didn't quite hear. Was it out of annoyance that she was helping him out? Surely not, she thought. After all, quiet people were just loud ones without a voice. Right?

Lila wasn't ashamed of her past. She was annoyed that she was sent here because of it, like a form of rehab, but she had mostly gotten over her past and was happier than ever on the island. Kind of. It was interesting to hear Victor say why he came to the island, though. It was the struggle of not being accepted that worried her on her first days. Even now she still felt more accepted back there than here. But she felt more a part of the community here whereas she was all but controlling her school in the human world. "So you weren't accepted before?" She asked.

It wasn't really that hard to believe. She would've personally made fun of Victor had he been off the island, and she knew it. A little piece of guilt seeped into her as she remembered all of the humans who her or her friends had treated like complete trash. Her eyes fell just slightly. Convincing herself that she was crazy for doubting what she had done, she blinked and continued to think of her master friendship plan.