[center][h3]Kirsty Ramaswamy[/h3][/center]

For an indeterminate while after the call ended, Kirsty remained motionless, running over the situation in her head. The band, fallen upon hard times as is, lay on the edge of destruction. All too soon, it seemed, it would be transitioning from spinning its wheels to falling apart. Doing things like helping June move was Kirsty's way of making amends for her poor performance, trying to prove that she remained useful, but if June was set against her there was no point in making such pitiful attempts. [i]Other than it being the kind thing to do.[/i] But June wanted her gone. Drew, meanwhile, wanted her to demonstrate her appreciation for his continued support. Kirsty felt trapped between them, forced to choose. Then again, it wasn't much of a choice. She needed to reciprocate for Drew, or she might lose the only person really looking out for her. But to do that, she needed money...

Something occurred to her, and she breathed a heavy sigh. [i]Navarro.[/i] After class today, she would approach her professor and ask for work after school. Repeated sessions did nothing to mitigate the uneasiness Kirsty felt when doing it, but it couldn't be helped. Besides, hopefully being showing some eagerness would get her on Navarro's good side. Toward the end of last semester, when Kirsty started feeling reluctant, the professor let slip that her student's lack of cooperation might affect her grades. Now more than ever, Kirsty needed to decrease the pressure. There was no chance today wouldn't suck, but she could only grin and bear it.

 As she neared the end of her thought process, a girl appeared. This in itself was no strange occurrence, and Kirsty felt a little better that people weren't avoiding her purposefully, but as the newcomer settled down she said something that was anything but ordinary. [i]Whoa.[/i] For a moment, Kirsty was at a loss for words, which no doubt suited her new acquaintance fine. It wasn't every day that an introvert felt the need to try and suppress interaction directly. She tried to keep Kirsty from taking it personally, but it still stung. Well, ultimately her feelings didn't matter. Instead of feeling down Kirsty tried to look at it from the other girl's point of view. If she really wanted to be alone, why would she come to a place with people in the first place? Was this one of those 'cries for help' where someone tried to put others off as a defense mechanism but really wanted some human contact? Either way, Kirsty couldn't ignore this. To be silent and indifferent would be to to rail against her own nature. It took only a couple seconds for her to make up her mind. If this girl didn't like it, she should have gone somewhere without anyone around.

“Oh. I'm sorry to hear that,” she said, her voice low and full of sympathy. She sat up straight, her arms in her lap, to convey appropriate gravitas. “Things must be pretty rough for you right now. Well, I'll shut up, but if you change your mind I'd be more than happy to talk with you.” She couldn't help but wonder what struggles this poor girl might be going through. No doubt they dwarfed Kirsty's own, and stemmed not from her own failings but from misfortune and terrible circumstance. Kirsty wanted to help, but knew she might not be able to. [i]Maybe I should have gone into psychology instead of journalism. Then I'd know what to say to people to make them feel better.[/i] All she could do was hope she seemed understanding and approachable enough to open up to.