Victoria placed her hands in her hair, her fingers tangling with the bluish-black strands as she tried to block out the others walking and laughing around her. Finally able to center her attention enough on the pages, the world of words wrapped her mind, coloring her thoughts with the welcome distraction of the pictures the marks conjured. 
	[b]“Hey, bookworm.”[/b]
	Victoria jumped at the sound of Alex’s voice, her hands pulling from her hair and heart fluttering unpleasantly as she looked over. She blinked at him, her mind taking a moment to unwrap itself from the strands of words. 
	“Alex,” she breathed, relief in her voice as she fully recognized her friend. “Hey.” She returned his smile, then frowned. “Don’t [i]do[/i] that!” It was annoying how easily he could sneak up on her… but she could never hold that against him for long.
	She quickly tucked her book away in her purse, part of its edge sticking out and making the purse impossible to zip up. Slinging it over her shoulder, she stood and faced Alex. “How’s it going?”