Thomas had fallen silent for a while whilst Liza just kept eating casually. [i]“Fair enough…. Though for the record your hair is pretty,”[/i] he finally decided to say. That got at least a half smile out of Liza as she punctured her Caprisun bag with the straw. Sure, maybe it was just his face-value niceness, but she was grateful for the compliment nonetheless. Compliments that weren’t either dripping with sarcasm or dripping with the intent to try and ‘get lucky with Loose Liza’ were pretty rare these days. …he wasn’t trying to get lucky, was he? Her smile transformed into a more puzzled expression. 

Eh, he was pretty cute, but now really wasn’t the time she ought to be messing around—much less with a guy from Sierra’s list. Not unless they wanted to be the next Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito—sexing it up right after the death of a friend. Yeah, no… somehow she doubted that was why Mr. Picture of the Perfect Student was talking to her. 

[i]“I doubt anyone here will have much to say about me though. Nobody really knew me besides Sierra. Who knows what they'll make up or speculate though…,"[/i] Tom's eyes seemed to get kinda distant, [i]"Everyone's got something to hide. Nobody is perfect."[/i]

Truer words were never spoken. Although as far as skeletons in the closet went, it was a good thing most of them were only teenagers. They could probably chalk up most of the stupid stuff they’d done in the past to that inevitable foolishness that always walked hand in hand with youth. Then again, even if you didn’t have a history of getting into fights, like Liza did, if your background is full of violence—like say an almost permanently drunk father who once threw a beer bottle at his 10 year old son’s neck and permanently scarred it for life—you’re pretty much screwed. She secretly hoped she wouldn’t have to face any criminal psychologists. She didn’t want any of those guys probing her brain with their words…. 

[i]"Yeah, she was my friend. Only person here who really called me that…. I know I just kind of showed up out of the blue, but I'm glad we can talk. I've been alone with my thoughts for too long, and I doubt anyone else would have listened to or put up with me."[/i]

Liza was silent for a moment before answering, “Don’t worry about it,” she shrugged, “I have a feeling we’ll all be a bit closer by the time this is over with… for better or for worse….” Her voice trailed off as she stared down at her open bag of Lays. 

“Chips?” she offered, tilting the bag towards him. She knew how much it sucked to be on that mysterious little list Sierra had written. Liza considered herself pretty good at coping with things on her own, but all the accusations were beginning to wear down even her. She couldn’t imagine what it was like for everybody else... although, she had to admit, it was somewhat amusing to see the "perfect" kids like Andrea, Cameron, and even, up until now, Thomas thrown for such a loop. [i]Welcome to my world,[/i] she'd scoffed one day when she'd glimpses some kids confronting Andrea and Cameron about it-- although they weren't hardly as accusatory towards them as they typically were with her. 

"I just wonder why she left a list of all things," she mused, taking a small bite of her spicy tuna sandwich, "Like is the murderer even on that list or did Sierra just get a kick out of confusing the shit out of everyone." 

She scoffed, “If that’s the case, maybe I should’ve hung out with her more often because that shit would be hilarious.... But I also wonder if maybe it was a warning, you know?" 

Her nonchalant smile faded, "If anybody on that list dies any time soon, I guess we'll know, huh?" She watched Thomas carefully, doing her best to look spooked by her own words, but couldn't keep up the act for long. She broke into a light chuckle and took another bite. Maybe some would call her crazy for making light of such a gloomy topic, but this was just part of how she coped. She wasn't about to get all mushy with a guy she just met, either. He had yet to gain even a semblance of her trust, which wasn't going to happen in a single day and she highly doubted would ever happen anyway-- so until then, this conversation was nothing but a silly dance to Liza. Thomas wasn't going to get anything more than a few shared chips and inappropriate jokes out of her in the meantime.