[b][color=6ecff6]Promise Institute | Parking Lot[/color][/b]

“Are you sure you're up to this?” 

There were a few moments of silence between the two of them as they sat in the busy parking lot of the Promise Institute, the windows down and engine off, as a gentle cross breeze carried with it the coolness of the morning.

Alex, a petite young girl, dressed in a mostly darks: a pair of skinny jeans, hoodie, and ash gray Converse, sat in the passenger's seat staring blankly out the window at the teens and adults passing by on their way to the large school ahead. It seemed an almost ominous building, but still felt non-threatening with its beautiful architecture and lush vegetation. The girl gave it a glance, but her thoughts were, honestly, of home. Of being back in her room, with no one around to bother her. She needed that. But at the same time, she needed…[i]this.[/i]

Sitting in the driver's seat, a tall, thin, late-thirties man, with glasses and fairly common features, was looking over at his daughter and smiling so proud, even though she herself wasn't paying attention. It was tough for him sure, to be sending his little girl away to a place he didn't fully understand because of abilities his child possessed that didn't seem at all possible. But life was always full of wonder he supposed, and while his wife -her mother- didn't share those same sentiments, he knew Alex needed the support one way or another. She had to know that she wasn't doing this alone.

“Yeah dad.” The girl finally responded in a low, rather monotone voice, continuing to stare out the open window. “You've legit asked me that like six times on the way here.” She allowed a bit of a snicker to escape. “I mean, it's not like a have a choice in the matter. I'm a ‘freak’, remember?”

Her father sighed, shaking his head in protest, and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Look, Ally, your mother didn't mean that. We’re just processing a lot and-”

“Then why isn't she here?” Alex interrupted in a broken voice, turning to face the other as a few stray tears ran down her cheek, which were quickly wiped away by a sleeve. “Because she's ashamed of me, that's why.” Her tone was flat, and the emotion in each word carried quite far. “It's not like I asked for any of this...”

Just as her dad was about ready to respond, the echoed voice from the PA system blared across the parking lot area, announcing the orientation would be starting shortly. 

“Anyway, I gotta go.” Alex gathered a few small items and tossed them into her Army green backpack before leaning over to hug her dad. “I'll see you later for the move-in this afternoon.” She said with sigh, opening the door and stepping out of the car before she had to endure any further emotional obligations. The girl just wanted it to be over with.

Several people passing by hurried their pace after hearing the announcement, and Alex -not bothering to look back at the car or her dad- followed the herd toward the auditorium, popping in her wireless earbuds to allow [i]My Chemical Romance[/i] to drown out the ambience for awhile. 

[hr][b][color=6ecff6]Promise Institute | Auditorium[/color][/b]

“Shit…”

The girl mumbled under her breath, seeing the massive amount of students and faculty squeezing into the auditorium closer to the time of its start and realizing how stupid it was to have made it to the school later than planned. But, she could only blame herself. Alex had too much on her mind this morning, and the emotional toll it took not seeing her mom or really being able to say goodbye to her made the tension even worse. She hated feeling like this. To be honest, she hated “feeling” in general, and whiched emotions could be turned off like any computer. Wishing her own source code could be altered in such a way that would simply make the pain nonexistent. 

Alex plopped down in a seat situated along the wall on the left side of the room, which also seemed to be the more tame area, lacking any rowdy teens and their idiotic friends to get up in her space. This was a struggle for the young girl though, being an introvert, but also the fear of anyone being near her, sucking up her own oxygen and replacing it with their carbon filth. But it was also something she had to overcome if she was to survive even a day at her new school. High school was the same, but probably worse, and while she had her moments of doubt, she made it through four years without falling completely to pieces. Thoroughly reading up on the Promise Institute helped ease some tension as well, and the prospect of being enrolled in strong Computer Science and Networking classes should prove a nice distraction from the mundane of core studies. 

Hugging her backpack and fidgeting with each of the dozen or so patches and metal buttons from the various music, art, and comic genres, she gazed around the room waiting for the thing to start so she can finally get the hell out of the crowded space and somewhere else.