Shiloh stared down at his guide of the school and then back at the area he was in at the moment. "This is definitely not the dorms." He mumbled to himself, sighing. The kid dropped his bags and rubbed his temples. Shiloh knew he was terrible at directions but this was ridiculous. He had been walking around for what seemed like ages trying to find where he lived now.
The kid moved over to a nearby seat and sat down. "They should totally hire guides or something." He glanced back at his bag that was in the aisle and decided it would be fine there for a moment as he found out where he was exactly.
Sooooo, this had a stage in it, so it was...the auditorium? Yeah, that seemed right. Okay, if he was here and the dorms were there then that means...he was lost. Yep. Completely lost.
The auditorium, when not in use for school productions and assemblies, was usually empty. Few classes used it, and students avoided it since it held no interest to them. This alone made it the perfect place for Addison to hide out for some quiet time. Curled up in one of the seats with her back against the arm rest, Addison was busy writing away on the leather journal in her lap. She was oblivious to her surroundings, and as such didn't notice when she was disturbed.
In fact she only realized she wasn't alone when she heard a voice, and then she practically bolted out of her seat in surprise. Now that she was paying attention, her eyes immediately lighted upon a boy seated in the front of the auditorium. She couldn't see his face, but either way she didn't recognize him.
Closing her journal, she bound it and held it to her chest as she slowly made her way down the steps. "Hello?" she asked quietly, her voice echoing in the large space. She wasn't good at social interactions, she could only hope not to scare off whoever her visitor was.
Shiloh had all but given up looking at the guide and trying to envision the way he would take to get to the elusive dorms. The boy sat the papers down on his lap and leaned his head back, sighing. They should totally have actual people for guides, that would make everything so much easier. That way he could just follow them around and silently take in everything. Shiloh was busy imagining the tour he could have taken whenever he heard a voice.
"Oh!" The kid said, jerking up from his seat. Oh crap. What of he wasn't supposed to be in here or something? Was this girl gunna report him? Better start apologizing immediately. "Sorry...sorry! Uh...I'll leave now. I got lost and didnt mean to end up in here. I was looking at the map-" The boy said as he reached for it, but soon realized that when he stood up that it had fallen from his lap. Where did it go?! "-it was around here somewhere..." He mumbled as he got down on all fours, looking under the seats for the item.
"This map!" Shiloh exclaimed, grabbing it from it's hiding spot and stood back up. "But yeah-" He nervously scratched the back of his neck. "-please don't tell on me if I'm not supposed to be here. I...uh...I just got here." Shiloh pointed to his bags. "This school is kind of a maze...ya know...when you don't know your way around here."
Covering her mouth with her hand, Addison attempted to hide her laughter at the display.She couldn't help but find his frantic panic funny, even though she felt mean for thinking it. Shaking her head Addison held her breath to stop her laughter. She held up both hands in a calming motion, hoping to be able to get a word in, at this rate she was afraid he'd give himself a heart attack. "Hey, hey, calm down. I wont eat you."
Leaping down the steps she hurried towards the stranger, dropping her journal on one of the empty seats. "If you're not allowed to be here, then I'm not either," she informed him with another giggle. "Stop freaking out before you hurt yourself, Goldilocks." While she found his ridiculous display slightly adorable, it was probably in her best interest and his to calm him down.
With a raised eyebrow she plucked the maze out of his grasp, examining it with a slow nod. "What are you looking for exactly? Clearly not the auditorium." she mused with a bemused smirk.
'Wont eat me?' He thought to himself, confused to as why she would say that. Wait, people had powers at this school...what if someone had the power to just devour others! Woah. That would be pretty cool...as long as that person stayed faaaar away from him. What if they could eat anything? Like buildings and stuff? He supposed it was possible, anything was possible now! Oh, she was talking to him...right.
Shiloh caught the tail end of what she said, something about Goldilocks...whatever that meant. Whenever she took the guide from him he jumped slightly. "Oh...well...no. Not the auditorium at all. I got mixed up somehow I guess...I was tryn' to find the dorms so I could put all of my stuff away..." The kid said, pointing at his bags for the second time. "They're kinda heavy and I don't really wanna be packin' them around all day."
She cocked her head, waiting in confused patience as the boy seemed to disappear back into his mind. Had she said something wrong? Maybe she'd been to forthright in her nature, but she'd only been trying to help. So far he reminded her of a little lost lamb, and that was too adorable to walk past.
"The dorms, huh?" she murmured, plucking the important information from his jabbered text. Switching her gaze to the constantly indicated bags, Addison nodded thoughtfully. Turning, she clicked her heels and strode towards them. Picking what she deemed to be the lightest one, she picked it up and turned to face the boy again with a bright grin.
He flinched as she went to pick up the bag, Theo was in that bag. "Hey...make sure you're careful with that one. It's got someon--something really important in there, alright?" He asked, hoping she wouldn't be too nosy and ask about the bags contents. No, he wasn't ashamed of Theo, but people looked at you really funny whenever you tell them about your stuffed animal...that you talked to. He'd heard it tons of times from his parents 'people your age shouldn't still play with toys.' Well, Theo wasn't a toy. The was his friend, his closest friend.
Shiloh grabbed the other bag and started following behind the girl. What was her name? Had she told him? Oh crap, maybe she did and he just wasn't paying attention. Well, he knew for a fact that he hadn't told her his name yet. "I'm Shiloh. Shiloh Walker." Was it a common thing to say your last name too? Who knew. "Thanks for this...I prolly would have been walking around for hours before I found anything I needed. I'm terrible with directions."
She watched in surprise as the boy visibly flinched when she touched his stuff. Maybe he was one of those people that carried around porn, or something else he didn't want her to look at. Her suspicions were abated rather quickly however, both by his plea and what she had already deduced of him. This one seemed much too pure for the likes of that. Instead she smiled gently, "Don't worry, I promise I'll carry it gently." She didn't know what was in it, but clearly something important.
"Shiloh, huh?" she repeated as he introduced himself, tilting her head to look at him as they walked. "It's nice to meet you Shiloh. I'm Addison Swan, but feel free to call me Addy, all my friends do." Addison invited with a broad smile. While she knew it was rather pointless for her to go around making friends, sometimes she couldn't help herself.
"You're welcome, Shiloh. I'm always happy to help. Do you know which dorm you're in?"
"Okay thanks." Shiloh said, glancing at the bag for a moment but decided that the girl wouldn't do any damage to his belongings. "Addy." He repeated looking towards her for a moment but quickly looked back towards his feet. "Uhhhh..." What dorm was he in? "Hold on-" The kid fished around in his pocket for a moment before pulling out a piece of paper, the dorm number scribbled on it. "Number 402." Shiloh showed it to her for a moment before shoving it back in his pocket.
Why was she helping him? This was so strange, most people just ignored him...but this girl...Addy was going out of her way to help him. Maybe people were just nicer here? Maybe she just liked helping people? Maybe she wanted him to owe her a favor or something? He didn't know but he was incredibly happy with the help he was receiving. "How long have you been here? I didn't even know other people had powers and stuff...I thought I was going crazy when mine happened. Now...I'm at a school for powers...it's so weird."
The beg didn't feel especially heavy, so she doubted there were any games or especial electronics inside. She was running out of ideas. "Hey, if you don't mind Shiloh, what exactly am I carrying?" Addison asked curiously with a quick glance towards her companion. Hopefully she wasn't going to just make Shiloh more uncomfortable with the question. It seemed he was almost always on edge.
"402, huh?" Addy mused, rubbing her neck thoughtfully. "Sorry, I don't know anyone in that dorm." She hated to inform him of it, afraid he'd start freaking out again. "I still know where it is though, and I'm sure all your dorm-mates will be nice."
It was nice talking easily to Shiloh, now that it seemed he had come out of his shell a bit. She wasn't great at talking to most people, so it was nice having the opportunity to meet someone new. Addy was a pretty open person by nature, even if she was sometimes shy; helping others came naturally.
"Oh well, I haven't been here more than a month or two," Addy informed him with an awkward shrug. "I won't be staying very long either, unfortunately." Something like that was hard to talk about, especially since the school had become something of a home for her in such a short time. "You'll love it here, I promise. We're exactly the same as any other schools, except for the whole mutant thing."
Whenever Addy asked about the bag he looked at her but then back to the ground, nervously biting on his lip. "Um...well...it's..." 'Just tell her, the worst thing she could do would be laugh...and it's not like you haven't been laughed at before.' The boy shrugged and looked back at the girl. "One of my most treasured possessions-" Shiloh started, nervousness easily detectable in his voice. "-his name his Theo. He's um...a...uh...stuffed lion." Shaking his head. "It's stupid...I know..." The kid said with a sigh, looking back down at his feet. "I've had him forever though...I don't want anything to happen to him."
Shiloh was incredibly happy whenever she started talking about the dorms, glad to be off the topic of Theo. "Well I don't know anyone in that dorm either so we're in the same boat." The boy said, trying to make a joke but failing miserably. Shiloh readjusted the strap on his shoulder, carrying the bags around all day had certainly worn him out. "Wait...why won't you be here much longer if you just got here? That doesn't really make sense, should you...ya know...like learn and stuff?"
"A stuffed...toy?" Addison repeated in surprise, pausing momentarily. She looked over Shiloh with a frown then at the bag. "Ah, I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was something so special," she quickly told him, holding the bag away from herself gingerly. She could relate to the importance of stuffed animals, she had at least ten on her bed to sleep with. "Leo, huh? I have a stuffed elephant named Ally, you don't think Leo will eat him do you?" she asked cheerfully, petting the bag absent-mindedly.
"You're right," she giggled, covering her mouth quickly. It was a bad joke at best, but those were usually the good ones, to be honest. Turning from amused to uncomfortable rather quickly, Addy shrugged. "You'd think so, huh?" she murmured with a dry laugh. "As soon as I get a basic grip on my abilities I'll be pulled out by my father and put to work."
Shiloh couldn't help but grin whenever Addy started talking about her elephant. "No! Theo won't hurt her at all! He's actually a vegetarian but he doesn't like people to know-" Shiloh moved closer to her and whispered. "-he thinks that people won't take him as seriously if they knew. Shhhh." The boy smiled at her. She didn't think he was crazy, how refreshing. He was so used to being met with intolerance and hate when it came to a fifteen year old having a stuffed animal.
"Why?" He asked, not really wondering if she didn't want to tell him. "Shouldn't you get a masterful knowledge of your power instead of a basic one? I mean, I have a suuuuper basic understanding of mine. I wouldn't be any help to anyone! Like...what does turning invisible for six minutes help...besides running away? Not much! You should totally talk to him and ask to stay here longer! You know, because you're totally more helpful if you know how to completely control your ability...wait...does he have powers to? Or does he not care about them? Does he like-" Shiloh thought for a second. "-does he just want you to have a basic understanding so you know how to kindaaaa use them?"
Addy held a finger to her lips and winked, trying to hide a smile. "My lips are sealed, promised." Her voice was earnest enough, even if she was fighting the urge to laugh joyfully. It wasn't often that she was allowed to talk so openly about her stuffed companions. Since she was always so alone, they were an object of comfort for her. Perhaps Shiloh was the same, and that was another comfort in itself.
"It sounds so logical when you say it like that," she admitted with a grin. "My father isn't a very patient man though, you see. The sooner he believes he can put me to use, the better, and the easier for me. As long as he can use them, whether I can or not isn't as important." She shrugged, as if the matter meant nothing more to her. "Why get used to a place that I can't stay at, anyway?"
"Put you to use...?" He asked, looking at her with an utterly confused expression. "What does he plan on making you do...?" He couldn't even begin to think what her father would want her to do, she was still in Highschool! He wondered for a moment about what he would do if that was his case, if his father pulled him out of school to...use him.
"I don't like that..." Shiloh said, rather bluntly. "You shouldn't have to do that, you should be able to do whatever you want!" The boy said shaking his head. "I'm sorry...you just seem really nice...I wish you could stay here. Most people don't really pay me any mind...but you helped me." Shiloh shrugged. "People like you are hard to find..."