Rebecca sighed, walking along the hall as she gazed at the paintings and drawings on the wall. There was a display down at the end of some clay creations, photographs and abstract works.
She was dressed in a low cut, slightly too short, grey tank top and black skinny jeans today, which was quite a strange outfit for her to be wearing. The top was just short enough and the pants just low enough to show her gold belly button piercing and the two silver hip piercings to the left of that.
She had switched the four hoops in her left and right ear for an earring set (in the lowest piercing) that looked like four or five fine silver threads dangling about an inch down. The other three, from bottom to top, were silver, white and gold simple ball studs. She had also put a few purple and red bangles on her left wrist.
The female rat had wanted her outfit to be easy to get in and out of, so she had dressed down, and having done that, she felt the need to dress up in other ways. Hence the earrings and bracelets.

Her ceramics classroom was about a dozen feet ahead, but she'd already gone there for the day. It was interesting, so far. She seemed to have a knack for making simple things pretty and even. The teacher was very good at it. There were only five males in her class, one of which was the teacher. She guessed guys just weren't much into that sort of thing.
Unfortunately, she hadn't yet made friends. It wasn't much of a surprise, but this place...had felt different. She still hadn't been here that long, no more than a few weeks, so why was she complaining? She wasn't complaining.
She went back to the opposite end of the hall from the display case, looking to go back outside and get some fresh air. School had mostly dismissed just a few minutes ago, so maybe she could find some people out on the front lawn or in the garden. Or the lake, perhaps. It was a little ways compared to a lot of other popular hang-outs, but it was still a nice area.

The rat made his way slowly down the hall. He was not sure why he had went this way though. He looked at alll of the paintings with a slight smile. They were pretty that was for sure. He was swinging his tail as he walked trying to think of what he wanted to do. It was nice and sunny outside today witch was kind of good compared to how it had been. He pulled his hat over his eyes so that it almost covered his eyes. He gave a glare to a couple of students a glare when they pushed him as they whent by. Well that certainly put him out of his good mood. He gave a sigh as he made his way out the door. He knew that he was not the most popular guy in school but that did not mean that they had to constantly pick on him and push him around. After all he got enough of that from his home life. As that thought entred his mind he tried to keep his temper at bay for the moment.

As he made his way to the end of the hall he spotted a female not to far from him. He did not say anything though. Instead he just stood there trying to keep himself calam. He then turned to look at the displays so that he could get those thoughts out of his mind. He had a terrible temper he knew that. Now maybe he would calam and find something to do instead of being upset.

Rebecca glanced once more at a few really good photographs before continuing her walk. After a moment, she noticed the other rat, looking at the art on the wall too.
Unfortunately she wasn't much of a small talker, especially when it came to strangers.
"They're quite nice, aren't they?" she asked him - thought it was more of a statement than a question - and left it at that, making to walk by him so she could go outside.
She squashed an age old urge to evaluate him for potential. More than one kind of potential too. That was a time when she'd been a gang-running slut, and she was no longer either of those. There probably weren't any real gangs around here anyway.
That was just one part of the difference she had felt.

The rat felt himself start to calam down now. He then looked at the female rat as she spoke to him. He gave a light smile to her trying to mask the small hint of anger that was still on his face. He took in her features as she walked past him. She certainly had a lot of percings that was for sure. He did not really care about that part though. He could talk about anything really just as long as it was not smothing completely stupid. Or something about parents. He hated his own for they way they treated him. He forced those thoughts away as he looked at the female now. He did not want her to think that she had caused him to get upset or anything like that. ” yeah that are. Heh kind of wish I could draw like that. “ he said lifting up his witches hat a bit so that he would be able to see her better. He was odd compared to most male who could care less about art.. He sung his tail slowly back and forth thinking about a way to get rid of his fowl mood.

The light brown rat heard him dangle that little bit of hanging bait, and she couldn't resist taking it. He'd actually responded so she would honour him with a reply and maybe a brief stay. She did want to get outside though.
So Rebecca stopped, noting the anger but ignoring it since it seemed like he might be trying to calm down, or he'd be yelling at her or picking a fight rather than calmly talking.
"Me too. I take a ceramics class though, and I seem to be good at pottery. We haven't gotten past that yet anyway. I, unfortunately, am terrible at drawing. Not so good at painting either. Since creating seems to be my department, I was thinking I could try sculptures of some sort. Like wire, or paper mache over cardboard. That stuff's cool."
She liked doing things with her hands; keeping them active. She took her tail into her light paws now, the claws of which were dull and had violet nail polish on them today. Same with her toenails.

He saw the female stop when he made his statement to her. Well atleast she was friendly. He could feel himself claming down still. He could not reall help it if he was in a bad mood. He too would like to go outside for it was a pretty day out. He listened to her as she spoke. He hpoed that his temper would not flair at her. He was not a big fighter really especial when it came to girls. “I have never tried any of that. Iike to look at the finished products though.” he said with a smile.

He saw that she was holding her tail in her hands now. What was he making her nervous or something ? He tried to push that thought out of his mind . She had pretty nails he noted as he watched her. His tail still moved very slightly as he stood there. “ Hay hope this dose not sound strange but do you want to go outside since it is so pretty outside.” he asked with a smile. He wanted to go out and though that it may have been nice to go outside.

It was too bad the other rat had not done any of that, after all. She hadn't either, so it wasn't strange. But it seemed like he simply wasn't artsy, just enjoyed the end process. Well, she couldn't blame him, the finished product was usually the nicest part about it.
If you made it yourself, it was the satisfaction of all that hard work, the fact that you were done, and that it looked good - of course, only if you were satisfied with it. If you weren't, well, sucks for you.
Rebecca brushed her fingertips across the bare skin of her tail. It almost tickled, but in a pleasant way.
She looked up, tilting her head a little, then laughed.
"I was just about to suggest that. I came over here with the aim of going outside, after all, so yes, that's fine; let's go outside."
The female rat dropped her tail from her paws and started walking again, amused by the fact that he had said it just before she was going to. It wasn't a very far walk to the next set of stairs, and then form there, the door out to the side of the school.
Of course, it depended on where he had in mind, but she headed for the closest exit, which was the side of the school but also not more than a five minute walk to the front, or fifteen minutes to the lake. She hadn't yet had time to explore the entire place, and such a huge building and surrounding grounds would probably take atleast a few months to memorize anyway.

The rat was happy that the feamale seemed to agree with his suggestion. He loved to be outside as much as possible. However he did not tend to stray too far form the school. He had heard rumores from the other students that threre were many dangers out there. He was defiantly what one could call a bit of a scardy cat. He was not all that big on drawing because he was not all good at doing it. He was also what one could call lazey at times. He watched her as she rubbed her tail with her finguers across her tail. She was not all that bad looking really.

He smiled at her as she spoke. ‘okay that is good. ‘ he said as she strated to walk away. He swung his tail behind him as he walked after her. He followed her down the stairs that led outside. Maby there was a nice shady spot nearby . He had not really done much exploring himself for he did not like to get lost. He was the kind who did not take many risks. “ so you were do you want to go now.” he asked once they were outside.

She took the steps two at a time, then stopped a few feet from the bottom, where her feet ended up only a few inches from grass.
"It doesn't really matter, honestly. I know there's the lake a little walk from here, or the front of the school where some kids probably hang out. I haven't met many people yet. Other than in classes. What about you; how long have you been here?"
Rebecca smirked as she looked out over the grass and trees. The way she was looking, that was all there was until the woods, which was just a denser version of the same thing. The rat sighed, digging her paws into her pockets, leaving the thumbs out. These were skinny jeans and the pockets were small, so that's all she had room to do, anyways.
Looking over to the other rat, she felt kind of short again. Suddenly realizing something, she cleared her throat and said, "Hey, I forgot to offer you my name. Rebecca. Pleased to meet you...?"
She left it trailing off at the end, thinking of how few people got to call her Becca or Becky. There was actually only one person who called her Becky. They were mostly people online, readers of her blog. Her's was surprisingly popular, for how dark and serious it often was. Maybe she just had that much pity.

The male followed the female as she walked down the steps. She moved faster then he did. That was okay though. The rat gave a smile when she stopped though and began to speak. He gave her statement some thought before answering her. It may have seemed odd to some but he could not help it. “Okay as long as the place has some shade I do not care either. Well I have been here for a couple of months now. Heh I have met a couple of people who were kind of nice to talk to. This might sound odd but you are the only female that has ever spoken to me while I have been here.” he said with a smile. He was not very popular when it came others his age. He just was not in to the same things that they were in to.

He heard her give a sigh now. Was he really that boring? He did not doubt that at all. He forced that thought to go away for right now. He pulled his witches hat down over his eyes to shield them from the sun when he heard her clear her throat he looked at her again. He was going to have to come up with something to talk about that was for sure. “ heh that okay. That is a pretty name. The name is gander foot. It is a pleasure to meet you as well Rebecca. “He said with a grin. Just because you did not know a name did not mean you could not talk to them. In general though it did make things easier. He did not have any nicknames to speak of. Mostly other tended to make fun of him.

"The only female...? He seems sincere though, not like he's trying to flirt. I don't know what I'd do if he really hit on me. Like really obviously..."
The female rat listened to him, taking her paws out of her pockets as an idea came to her. Before she proposed it though, she responded to his answer.
"Thank you." She smiled.
It didn't seem like he was trying to flirt there either, really. She wasn't great at analyzing people. If it was flirting, it was the harmless type anyway. He seemed nice. But the old habits and the new trust issues, combined with a new moral code, seemed to be at war with each other. One or the other kept trying to take over, and it was making her head hurt.
"How about we go to the lake then. Bit of a walk, but a very nice area and all. There's quite a lot of trees too, but the most notable is an oak on a stretch close to the school."
She began to walk again, then asked him, "So what classes do you take? Do you like them?"

The male rat gave a slight smile again. He was not really trying to flirt with the female rat. Sure she was very attractive but he wanted to get to know her better before he started to flirt with her.he saw her take her hands out of her pockets now. He waved his tail back and forth as he listened to her suggestoin. He had been to the lake before so he knew the way there.” you are welcome.” he said in response to her thanking him.

He did not mean to be making her feel uncomfortable. He was one of the nice ones who went here. He had met a few who were kind of rude. He smiled at her suggestion now.” yeah the lake sounds a good place to go.” he said with a smile. He now started to follow her to the lake. He looked at her when she asked her question. “ well I do asrology , and some chemistry., uhh biology and creative wrighting. Yeah they are al right I gusse .” he said . He then looked at her and asked “ so what classes do you take ? “

"That sounds good," she replied, walking just a bit faster. She wanted to get to that lake. It was such a nice area. "I'm in Astrology Club, actually, so I figured I didn't need to take the class. I don't really have room for too many classes, so I'm just in environmental science, ceramics class and band. I play the drums."
Rebecca smiled, making those drum-playing gestures with her hands.
"The guys are totally jealous of my mad skills," she added, giggling.
What she neglected to mention was that they also made fun of her for it. She hadn't been to more than half a dozen classes though, so she hadn't exploded yet. Boy, would they regret it when she did. She'd just have to make sure the teacher wasn't around - maybe stepped out of class for a moment to go to the office, or perhaps the bathroom.

The light brown rat did hate that it was such a male-dominated instrument, though. You almost never saw female drummers anywhere. Especially not good ones. Though she wasn't one to brag, the female was better than all of them. She'd shown it many times, and the teacher had even commented on how much better she was.
"If only we had an honours band; I'd totally recommend you for it. You're better than all of them combined, which includes their attitudes. I'm so sorry they pick on you but I can't do much about it."
Now that she thought about it, maybe he would like it if she got pissed at them. Teach them a lesson. Then they'd quiet permanently.
That of course meant that she then wouldn't be able to have as much fun with them, but that was okay. She could beat them up later, outside of school. Those were habits that had to diminish too, though.
The female rat looked up, and suddenly she realized they were much closer than she had expected. More than halfway, for that matter. She must have been walking faster as she got lost in thought.
Glancing over to the other rat, she hoped she hadn't missed anything he said.

The rat walked faster to keep up with the female. He did not really mind that she was in a hurry to get to the lake. He listened to her as she spoke. Humm he was not really in to the clubs that was for sure. He was not social at all. Really, he only spoke to others when they spoke to him or when he was in one of his rare good moods. He smiled when she said that she was good with drums. Really, he was somewhat strange when it came to music. He really just hated it in general. He would tolerate it though when he had to.

“Oh yeah. I do not do the club thing myself. Drums ehy? People do not give females much credit when they play things like that. I Think they should be more open to that.” he said. He was trying to be kind to the female by not telling her about his hate for music. He could see that the female seemed to be thinking hard about something. He just hoped that it was not something he said. He contied to walk at a steady pace beside her. It was when they could almost see the lake when he noticed that she was looking over at him. He gave her a soft understanding smile. He then waved his tail as he contued to walk to the lake.

Rebecca looked over to him at his reply, keeping her face neutral. But inside she was thinking that he must be one of the good guys. Probably, atleast. After all, not being sexist was only one factor. There was a lot more to it.
She stayed silent for a moment as they walked. The lake was only a hundred feet off now, and the oak a little ways to the left of where they were headed.
"Oh, so what about sports? Play any? I'm in soccer and basketball. Playing basketball is another one of those things that girls aren't as admired for as guys."
The female rat shrugged, acting like she didn't care much. Well, it was the way things were, and would be for a long time, probably past her lifetime. She couldn't do much about it, really.