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[Arachne Westwick]

Arachne had been going to the Obsidian Daycare for a few years now, and she wasn't intimidated by it usually. But on any other day, she was here together with her sister. Today, Nessie was sick, and Arachne still had to go to school. She probably could have pushed her mother a little harder to let her stay home too, but she hadn't. Instead, she had wondered how it would be to be here without her sister. She had wondered if perhaps she would make a friend. But now that she was here, the thought seemed silly. Of course everything was the same, and everyone ignored her like they always did. Like she and her sister had made sure they did. Now it was lunch break and everyone was outside playing and Arachne was by herself. She sighed and picked up a piece of chalk outside, starting to draw on the ground. If nothing else, she could make some art. She drew a skull, a pretty good one, in her opinion.

 

[Declan Burke]

Declan had recently moved to New Zealand a few months ago, so he was still getting used to New Zealand. He had spent most of the time with his cousins during their break until they were back at school again. It had only been recently when his parents had decided to put Declan in Obsidian Daycare. He had only been at the daycare for a few weeks.

It was break time and the children of different ages were scattered around the outdoor area of the daycare doing their own thing. Declan wasn't really sure what he wanted to do today. However, he didn't have many friends at the daycare. The boy had been unsure of what he wanted to do to occupy his break time. He looked around until he noticed a girl drawing something with the chalk. Declan always noticed that the girl was always in a pair, which looked like someone who just looked like the girl. However, it seemed one of them didn't show up to daycare. Declan thought for a moment if he wanted to kindly bother her or leave her alone, but in all honestly, Declan was a bit lonely today, so he guessed that maybe seeing what the other girl was doing didn't really hurt. The boy slowly made his way up to the girl, peering over her shoulder above her. "Whatcha drawing?"

 

[Arachne Westwick]

Even though Arachne was focused on the drawing she was making, she sensed someone approaching her. She didn't look up until they were nearby, though she wondered why someone had come up to her. When she was with Nessie, this never seemed to happen. Maybe Nessie scared people off? Or maybe they wanted to be mean to her now that she was on her own. She slowly looked up and stared at the boy calmly, noting he was someone from her class though she didn't know his name. He hadn't been here very long yet. She looked at him unblinkingly. "A skull." She said, then decided to clarify, her father always said it was good to be specific when describing things, especially when they were looking at bugs together. "A human skull."

 

[Declan Burke]

Declan watched the girl as she looked up at him. He stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do at that moment. The boy wasn't always the best when it came to meeting new people, it was always awkward for him. "Do you usually draw human bones?" Declan asked the girl in genuine curiousity. He took a closer look at the piece that she had been drawing. "It looks good" Declan says with a smile, hoping that maybe a compliment on the girl's work would somewhat put some friendly points in for him. He was still getting to know the people around his daycare, as he was only still freshly new.

 

[Arachne Westwick]

Arachne shrugged at the boy's question, her hair falling over her shoulder, she brushed it away. "Sometimes." She said as she continued working on it. She worked for a little while, then looked up at the boy again, tilting her head curiously. "Have you seen a real human skull?" She asked him with interest. How else would he know it looked good, after all?

 

[Declan Burke]

Declan nodded when the girl said she sometimes drew human bones. I found it a bit odd, but if that's what she liked to draw, who was he to judge? "Um... No? I don't think I have. I think it would be cool to see one though" Declan says with a small smile and shrug. He did in fact wonder what a real skull had looked like. "Have you?"

 

[Arachne Westwick]

Arachne was surprised the boy was still talking to her, if she was honest. Most of the time she freaked other kids out. At least, that was usually their goal. Well, mostly it was Nessie's goal. She smiled a little when the boy said it would be cool to see one. She hesitated at his question. "Just a model, my dad has one." She said.

 

[Declan Burke]

"Woah! That's cool. Is he like a healer or something?" Declan says with curiosity, his head tilting to the side. He guessed it made sense if her dad had a model skull he'd be like a healer or something. But if he wasn't, Declan would think it was even cooler to have a skull lying around in your home. The boy decided to join the girl on the ground and sat next to her. "I'm Declan. What's your name?" Declan asks the girl. He supposed that it was good to know people's names.

 

[Arachne Westwick]

Arachne's eyebrows raised just slightly as the boy said it was cool that her dad had a model skull. She hadn't expected him to say that, it was a nice surprise. She shook her head at his question. "No. He studies bugs." She told him quietly, as if that explained things. Arachne hesitated as the boy asked her name. Somehow, introducing herself felt like a serious step. She felt like Nessie would see it as a betrayal. Maybe a conversation couldn't be helped, but saying her name when he asked? Nevermind the fact that they shared a classroom and he would know it if he paid attention. Arachne took a deep breath. "Arachne Westwick." She said quietly, trying not to picture Nessie's face.

 

[Declan Burke]

Declan nodded. "I see, that makes sense" Declan says with a slight nod. Though, he might not fully understand how a skull and bugs were connected. But he wasn't going to bother asking why her dad had a skull. He still thought it was awesome to have a skull at home. "Do you like bugs?" Declan asked the girl. He wondered what sorta bugs they studied and looked at. Declan smiles at the girl. "Nice to meet ya Arachne. I'm Declan" Declan says with a small smile. He was glad that he was starting to learn the names of everyone who came here. There seemed to be a lot of names he'd most likely had to learn.

 

[Arachne Westwick]

Arachne nodded as Declan said it made sense. It made sense to her too. Her father was just the sort of person to collect things like that. She nodded again at his question, turning her attention back to her art. "Yes, insects are wonderful." She told him. Though she wasn't sure if she wanted to make it her career like her dad. She decided not to tell him he had already told her his name, continuing the drawing. After a moment of silence, she spoke again. "When my sister is better, you shouldn't talk to me." She said softly.

 

[Declan Burke]

Declan nodded when Arachne mentioned that she liked bugs. Declan wasn't even sure if he liked bugs himself. There were some interesting ones for sure, but there were some strange ones too. He sat there in silence with Arachne, though to be honest, he wasn't sure if he had felt awkward in the silence or not. She seemed like an alright person to spend time with. Declan then frowned at Arachne's statement. "What? Why?" Declan says, as he continues to have a frown plastered on his face and tilts his head to the side in question. Declan thought it was a bit of a strange thing to say. He wondered if she was just saying that so he could stop talking to her. But Declan thought that the girl was somewhat nice.

 

[Arachne Westwick]

Arachne bit her lip as he asked her why. Somehow, she hadn't expected that. It was like she had expected him to just understand what she meant. She hesitated for a long moment. "Well, she doesn't like other people." She said after a moment. "We don't, I mean. We have each other and don't need friends." She said, repeating what her sister had said to her.

 

[Declan Burke]

Declan frowned even more when she stated the reason. "That sounds sad and lonely" Declan stated out loud. He couldn't imagine not having friends. Sure having your family with you is nice. He had a lot of his cousins around him now, but that was different to having friends. "Sorry, I mean it must be nice having your sister, but don't you want friends?" Declan asked curiously. He sorta thought it was nice to be close with your siblings. Declan had an older brother, but he and Declan had a big age gap between them, so it was a bit harder for him to be closer to his older brother. But not needing friends sounded sad and lonely. He didn't really have friends in New Zealand just yet as he was new to the country, and he already felt lonely not having any friends around just yet.

 

[Arachne Westwick]

Arachne bristled at the boy's word. Immediately, she knew Nessie had been right. She frowned, crossing out one of the skull's eyes with a red piece of chalk. "It is not." She said firmly, then looked up again at the boy with a glare. "I don't want friends, I just need Nessie." She said, wishing the boy would go away now. It wasn't sad and lonely. It wasn't. Her dad had been that way with his twin brother too and they weren't lonely. Declan just didn't understand because he didn't have a twin. She pressed the chalk harder into the ground as she drew, reducing it to a small sliver.

 

[Declan Burke]

Declan frowned, realising what he might have said had made the girl sad, which he didn't mean to make her sad. The glare she had given him had taken Declan back as he hadn't expected that. "Right..." Declan says, now feeling awkward again. "I'm sorry" Declan genuinely apologises. He felt bad and she didn't seem happy with what she had said, but now he had felt awkward. "I'm sorry I just- never mind- I'll just go... Have fun drawing your cool skull I guess" Declan says with a frown, still taken aback by her words, as he gets up from his spot starting to leave the girl with what she was doing. The boy thought about the possibility of a friend today, but maybe today wasn't the day...

 

[Arachne Westwick]

Arachne felt that her face was hot and she knew if she wasn't careful she might start crying. She frowned stubbornly down at the tiles. "I will." She said angrily, though she was not really angry at Declan. She grabbed a red piece of chalk and started to cross out one of the skull's eye sockets angrily. She had ruined it by mentioning Nessie, but what else could she have done? She hadn't wanted Declan to talk to her tomorrow and get Nessie upset with him, and with her. It was unfair.