<span style="color: #BF4040"><span style="font-size: 85%; line-height: 116%;"> Soo Lin amused herself with passing thoughts, gazing around the inside of the bus and letting her mind wander. Her feet began tapping on the floor idly, the tune of a song she couldn't quite place a name to. Music led to singing, which brought her to her father, which brought her to home.<br/>The smell of the kitchen back home filled her, a shadow of the real thing but every bit as real. She took in a deep breath, exhaling reluctantly after a few seconds. In that kitchen it was easy, the same fifty menu items over and over again, ranging from moose burgers to bean sprout stir fry. Recipes she knew past her mind, placing themselves in her heart. She wanted to be back in that kitchen, with the no-pressure atmosphere, familiar faces, and decebt allowance. But she couldn't. She was here, spending two of five classes not even in the kitchen but memorizing terms she cared nothing about. It reminded her of grade school, when it was required to learn about things that weren't important to her, not one jot. The many doodles in the margins of her textbooks and notes were proof enough. A passion grew for these idle drawings so much that she considered it to be her wished upon career path. But her wish to make people happy was greater than her own, so here she was, making changes to herself. Maybe she could make gralhic novels on the side, like a hobby. It was a viable option, and her parents couldn't argue against it. As long as she cooked.<br/>Soo Lin lifted her arm to check the time in an oft practiced motion before remembering that the waterproof light pink watch was not on her wrist, but packed away in her bag, between the toothbrush and recipe card wheel. She sighed, pushing her choppy black hair away from her eyes, torn between the urge to know what time it was and laziness.<br/>Soo Lin's choice was interrupted by a fair, clear voice, startling her out of her own mind and plunging her back into a state that involved interaction with other people.<br/>"Excuse me," the voice began, soon filtered out as Soo Lin swiveled to face the person from which the voice came from.<br/><span style="font-style: italic">An angel,</span> the childish thought pressed through her mind as she gazed at the thin, fair-skinned girl. Blonde hair hung in tresses about her face, accentuating the girl's perfect face shape. Eyes, matching the colour of the watch tucked in Soo Lin's suitcase, stared in to her own sharp dark ones.<br/><span style="font-style: italic">She's in my class,</span> Soo Lin mused, shifting in her seat, <span style="font-style: italic">but I can't remember her name. I'd love to draw her.</span> Her fingers itched to pick up a pen and represent the fair face on paper, a remembrance to the prettiness it held. <span style="font-style: italic">She's so slender...</span> This made Soo Lin visualize her own body, with small bust and large hips. She was like a gourd, this girl like celery. Eveyone preferred celery to a gourd, did they not? <br/>Pushing aside her personal self-depreciating body issues, Soo Lin realized the silence between her answering the girl's half-listened to question were creeping up on a socially unacceptable time.<br/>"I'm sor-" Soo Lin changed tack as quick as an arrow, remembering the pact to herself this morning. She wasn't going to hide from people because she thought she was plain and boring, she was going to embrace people to no longer be plain and boring. "-yes, please sit," she finished, pushing her suitcases away to give the girl as much room as possible. "I'm sorry, I don't seem to know your name?" Names were always a good start, especially since they were likely to be sitting together for a couple hours or more. Maybe she could even make a friend. In the short week they had been at the Academy, people had begun pairing off, starting out like hingry wolves scoping for a meal. Soo Lin tried, but barely a 'hello' would be exchanged before they realized this girl could not hold grounds for a coversation very well. So she had stuck herself to be alone. She talked to people in class, naturally, as they often worked in groups, but her free time was spent alone, occasiknally with her room-mate, a person whose lack of conversation was due to lack of caring, not the problem of caring too much. Weighing each word that came out your mouth was a trait Soo Lin had developed quickly, being a people pleaser, until she just began to utter naught but a peep in the company of people.<br/>She now sat on this bus, gazing at an angel, breath held, waiting to test herself. One small step for Soo Lin had been achieved.</span></span>