Nicole stared lamely at Lucy's extended hand before taking the cue to shake it. She felt a slight inward relief that this girl seemed comfortable talking to strangers. That took some of the burden off of her to keep the conversation going, which was very helpful to the socially-awkward oddball that she was. She turned up the corners of her lips in a small smile, trying to be friendly.

[b]“What brings you here on this fine evening? Your glow stick is red, so I can’t imagine you’re here to find a lover.”[/b]

Nicole felt her face flush, and she self-consciously shifted her weight to hide her glow stick from sight. "Um, y-yeah..." she stammered, lowering her stormy gray eyes to the floor and habitually brushing her hair behind her ear. "I'm not looking to meet anyone here." she faltered, wondering if she should explain why she really was there. When she was thinking about the reason, herself, [i]he[/i] came to mind: his dark, tousled hair, those strikingly bright blue eyes, his lean, athletic physique... She felt her blush deepen. [i]Come on, get a hold of yourself,[/i] she chided. Nicole lifted her gaze to meet Lucy's, deciding to only partially explain herself.

"I came here to work on my social skills," she said, attempting to brush off her nervousness with a one-shouldered shrug. "You probably already noticed I'm not really a people person, but I really want to be. I figured this was as good a place as any to practice talking to people. Plus, making a new friend or two would be nice." She blinked, realizing she hadn't even told the other girl her name.

"Oh, right! My name is Nicole Beverly, but you can call me Nikki if you want," she announced. "Anyway, I gave you my story. Now tell me, what brings you here?"