(Alan – Blackwood Main Entrance)

	Alan cursed quietly as he walked into Blackwood School. He had sworn he wouldn’t come back, not after all that had happened last year, yet here he was, in a broken pair of sneakers and an orange hoodie. He had only shown up for the second half of last year, as he had started late at the school, yet he gone through more than enough to know what lay ahead would not be extremely pleasant. Still, there was a sense of familiarity that came with returning to the school, despite all of his worries. 

	The people looked the same. Most looked even more mean-spirited, but then again, so did Alan. He hadn’t shaved for a week and it showed on his grizzled face. Pushing his glasses up, he scanned the main entrance hall, where all sorts of students chatted and played nice.

	There were the Lisgar twins, who never spoke to anyone besides each other, and further down the hall he saw Eels, a “friend” who had threatened to murder Alan on many an occasion. All in good fun, of course. Further down the hall, he saw… well, this was interesting. Iris, the heiress to a fortune of villainy fame. He had heard rumours of her parents getting thrown in the chink, but never expected her to turn up here. She was young, and currently intent on glaring at every other person in the room. Alan had no intentions of interrupting until he saw Eels waking towards him. He was quick to walk over to her.

	“Hey.” He muttered, turning back to make sure Eels had taken the hint. “I, uh. I’m sorry about whatever’s going on with your ‘rents.” It wasn’t an apology, merely a statement of fact. 

[@shagranoz]