[quote=Fabricant451] Another exchange student? Or perhaps just a foreigner living overseas for some reason or another. It was evident now that this girl, Sophie her name was, wasn't native. Her rocky understanding of the language and her name were giveaways enough. It was her offer of a handshake that cemented this for Reiko. Reiko merely looked down at the offered hand and then back up to Sophie. "I'm not going to call you anything," Reiko responded, her moment of vulnerability seeming to have faded away. "Don't act like you're trying to be nice or be my friend or what you're doing now. I don't need a friend. I need you to look where you're going next time." Short of stomping her foot down, Reiko did what she could to come off as aggravated. As angry. Her tone was firm and flat and her eyes stared towards Sophie without an ounce of goodwill behind them. She had had enough of people pretending like they care, and she had had enough of people acting like they wanted to be friends or whatever. This girl was no exception to that. Reiko was having a terrible first day. [/quote] Sophie blinked curiously at the sudden and abrupt change in Reiko's tone and how she spoke to her. As if some imaginary switch were flicked and her vulnerability changed to harshness. She sighed, a bit aggravated at the girl who so harshly snapped at Sophie for doing nothing more than being nice and opening up. A mistake she wouldn't make a second time. She knew she should have stayed guarded, not let anyone in. But her lapse in judgement would not be forgotten. "Listen, I don't know what snapped and made you think I was only putting on a show. But I was actually trying to be nice. I don't usually open up to people but I felt bad I ran into you. So sorry for that. I don't see where you get off thinking that of a complete stranger!" With that she gave a hard huff, the concentration it took for her to formulate those strings of sentences took all her will power not to mess up. She wanted to say more but in her flustered state she couldn't think of the words. She clung to the couple books to her chest as she huffed once more before spinning on her heels and stomping away from Reiko. Sophie was tired of people not believing what she said and calling her a liar. She had plenty of that back in the states and she wouldn't deal with it the first day at her new school. She would not be made out to be some kind of liar. Not again. She turned around a corner and out of sight before her emotions swelled to the surface. The memories of the kids back in her old school came flooding in. Their mean taunts and cruel actions all crashing down on her all over again. She slowed her steps to almost a stop as she gripped onto her books at her chest even tighter, fighting back the tears that swelled in her eye lids moments before falling down her cheek.