[b]Elend Carrol[/b]

"Um y-yeah, it's nice t-to meet you t-too." Elend's eyes darted arcoss the room, taking in the faces of each of the other people in the room. Sixteen total. So many, why? Again speaking to the redhead boy, El started to ask, "S-so uh, do you know wh-why we're all-" 

A voice drifted through the air and hit his ears, his eyes found the speaker within milliseconds. A girl dressed up as a nun was spouting convenient lies to try to console a boy. She couldn't really believe that bull, could she? No facts, no evidence, no proof, no science. No, Elend did not believe in God. The mere idea of some benevolent overlord screwing up the natural progression of science disgusted him.

Another voice pulled him back to the situation at hand, though El found that he had no idea what he had been asking. Thankfully, the new voice was asking for attention, an excuse to not finish the question he had no clue how to finish. Introductions? Talents? Oh yeah, he had a talent just like them. Elend raised his hand, which was completely unnecessary and only attracted further attention to the awkward dark-haired boy, not exactly helping his moment of stupidity. Why had he raised his hand? He should put it down now, shouoldn't have put it up in the first place. People doing introductions had reminded him of his old English class so much that he'd mistaken one for the other. 

Elend put his hand down a little too quickly and stood nervously, hands stuck like planks of wood to his sides. "U-u-u-um, I'm-m E-e-el-l-end C-carrol. My S-super High School Level t-talent is S-scientist. U-um, ch-chemistry m-mostly, but I know a li-little bit of ph-physics and b-biology as well." El stood there, staring at his feet, not daring to look up until everyone else in the room had long died and fossilised and he was all alone again. Why did there have to be other people? Other people meant groups, and groups meant cliques, and cliques meant he would be on the bottom, and being on the bottom meant he would be a loner, and being a loner meant getting picked on again. El took a few steps backwards, almost walking right into the redheaded boy that he had forgotten was behind him. Jumping ten feet in the air from surprise certainly did nothing positive for his uncharacteristic outburst. He just wanted to disappear.