Broken (Mae, Charles)

"Only temporary?" Mae sighed with relief. She wondered how Charles could be so calm in a situation like this. Normally, people in his situation would be freaking out right about now. There was something special about the student sitting in front of her. She wanted to know more.

"W-why are you staring at me like that? S-stop it! You're making me blush, silly!" Mae said to Charles, blushing slightly, before raising an eyebrow at his statement. // "Since I have been given this command, I will follow it." What? That doesn't sound like something a high-schooler would say... // Mae tilted her head slightly. Something was very different about Charles... That much was obvious. Not that it bothered Mae much. We all had our individual quirks.

"Sure, go on ahead. I want to know why you're in this mess to begin with. It's bad enough that people are bad-mouthing you, but you also got suspended. You doesn't exactly look like the kind of student that would get into this kind of trouble..." Mae said, looking down at her food. "It's just a part of who I am... I just want to help people... and this case is no exception." She added, before taking a bite out of her food, after which, she leaned forward, resting her head in her hands, listening intently to what Charles had to say.

"Yes." Charles nodded before beggining... "The event took place two days ago after school, at 4:13 pm and on the staircase between the first and second floor of the academy. I was on my way to the art club room to spend the afternoon sketching on my own when I ran into the first year boy. Coincidentally, I was also lookng for that boy because I have confirmed that he was the one who took the picture of me which was used in the blog. He showed clear signs of distress when I saw him and he ran off before I could anything. That was all that happened."

Charles closed his eyes upon finishing and glanced back at Mae. "The reason behind him blaming me for it still eludes me, but it cannot be helped." He frowned a bit, as there was one more answer that eluded him. "Why exactly are you so keen towards assisting me? You have just met me and you have also heard all the stories going around the school. Your actions are illogical at best."

"Well... That's unbelievably immature of the little prick." Mae puffed up her cheeks in annoyance. What was up with people at this school? Either they were total jerks, or they were really nice. And the teachers aren't even looking into the matter to see if the kids accusations are even valid in the first place. Whoever was in charge of this could use a good scolding. At least, that was Mae's opinion on the matter.

"Pshh. I don't believe much in rumors at all. They are rarely ever true in my experience. As for why I'm so 'keen' on assisting you, is because I think the way the school treats you is unfair! And I know, it doesn't make much sense for me to be like this in the first place, but it's just how I am as a person. I just can't help myself going out of my way to help people, ya know?" She tilted her head slightly. "And, what can I say, I've taken quite a liking towards you. You're interesting. A little bit odd, sure, but that just makes me wanna know more about you. I'm curious at heart." She said proudly. Curiosity in healthy amounts is a really good trait to have. Without it, mankind wouldn't be where it is today. We never would've reached the moon if weren't interested about what was on the moon's surface.

Charles couldn't help but feel surprised at what Mae had just said. Everything was so illogical... so human. Perhaps being like that wasn't bad. Sure, that lack of logic always caused humans to make wrong choices and decisions and Charles always thought it was just plain wrong to act like that. This was the first time he came to think differently, even if only for a moment. He observed the girl's tilted head for a while and, soon, he found his own head tilting itself in the same manner. He flinched that very moment and straightened himself up in the chair almost awkwardly.

He backed the chair up and stood up, as if Mae was some kind of a threat. This was illogical. What was even happening? "I- I'll..." He gulped and continued. "I should be on my way now. Thank you for your time." He would then back away quickly, not taking his eyes off of Mae for a second until he reached the door. He turned there and ran off home.

What he just felt reminded him of something, of some person who face he could not remember. A faceless doll chained up somewhere deep iside his memory, guarded by something he could not overcome.

By the time he got home he had already cooled down. He leaned against the wall of his apartment and sat next to Gao, who happily jumped into his lap. He pushed her away, much to her dismay and began scrambling through endless piles of sketches tossed around his tiny flat. It had to be there somewhere!

((Charles has left the scene.))

Mae just sat there at the table blinking... She was stunned. // What's up with him? // Mae was confused. Charles had acted very strangely. It all went so fast that Mae didn't have a chance to reply. Confused, Mae rose from her seat, grabbed her food tray, and left the dining hall.

~Exit

// END OF EVENT / Broken //