[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/lu0cWBn.png[/img][/center]
[b][color=40C19D]Time:[/color][/b] 5:30ish, Monday.
[b][color=40C19D]Location:[/color][/b] Campus Commons
[b][color=40C19D]Interacting:[/color][/b] Naomi [@canaryrose] and Aaliyah [@Aurora Primrose], tangentially with Adam, mentions Mia [@VampireOracle], any observers.

Echo awkwardly patted the back of Naomi’s hands with their free one, smiling at their friend and trying to play off the blush that slowly rose up in their cheeks. [i]Oh, god, stop being a dumbass for five seconds, Echo.[/I] [color=40c19d]“Alice, yeah. I think we’re thinking of the same new kid. Is there really only one in our year?”[/color]

As the alarms went off, Naomi stiffened, digging her fingers into Echo’s forearm (though the gloves kept it from being uncomfortably warm) and hiding her face in Echo’s shirt. At first, they thought she was crying, but they realized it was a panicked, frenzied laughter after a brief moment. Cursing the awkward buzz that suddenly filled their arms and the heat flaming in their cheeks, they wrapped their free arm around Naomi’s shoulder, mumbling indistinct reassurances and doing what they could to shush their friend before even more people looked over. At least the laughter was spreading; if no one noticed earlier, they might think she was just… overcome with the hilarity of seeing Phoenix faltering and flailing onstage. Briefly, a person – looking to be around their age, but maybe a bit younger - materialized over Naomi’s shoulder. After a moment Echo finally placed who he was – Adam…Edwards? Maybe? He was a grade below them and had been here for at least a couple years; they’d seen him around campus, though they’d never overlapped in classes. 

He absently asked what was funny, and Echo hissed [color=40c19d]“Bad timing, dude,”[/color] but he was gone again the next time they looked, run off to join the search headed by – Mia, yes, one of the cheerleaders; typical outgoing cheerleader thing to start. Still, if they were searching, it was only a matter of time before one of the clocks was found.

They glanced to Naomi again, lightly petting their friend’s hair in an effort to soothe the laughter. [color=40c19d]“What do you think about getting out of here?”[/color] they whispered. [color=40c19d]“We can go watch like…from the library or something, maybe, or…”[/color]

Their words trailed off as a shadow fell over them once again. Echo tilted their face up to see a responsible-looking college student. [i]Aaliyah[/i], their brain helpfully supplied. Followed by several expletives; she certainly looked the part of a responsible, snitching-to-professors sort. The newcomer focused intensely on Naomi, only giving Echo a cursory looking-over. 

[color=40c19d]“I’m Echo,”[/color] they said helpfully, knowing that if Naomi tried to speak everything would be made worse. [color=40c19d]“And I uh – I think we have a situation here, is all. You know, I was just likening my brother up there to a traffic cone.”[/color] They pointed to the podium, miming Phoenix’s over-pompous compensating for himself, using the moment to take a second to think. [color=40c19d]“A fancy-dress traffic cone. And apparently the visual from that was just too funny. That’s all.”[/color] They smiled earnestly up at Aaliyah.

A third alarm started going off somewhere, relatively close by. Echo resisted the anxious tells that might give away their lie, clinging onto Naomi just as much as she clung to them and focusing their attention on the search that was now underway by several of the cheerleaders and other students.

[i]This is not going to end well…[/i]