<strong>James<br/>September 5, 2012 - Before First Period Just inside the gym</strong><br/><br/>James woke up at his regular time, did his regular thing. He was pleased to note that, by pushing himself, his legs burning and his right ankle aching a little, much to his dismay, realizing that it wasn't quite at its full strength yet, he reached school five minutes before it opened. He breathed heavily outside for a bit, leaning on his knees, his sweat making him chill in the early morning air, and his breathing causing a fog. When the doors finally opened, he was fighting to keep from shuddering, and he eagerly stepped into the warmer building. He moved over to the cafeteria, and looked around for Helen. It had become something of a tradition for them to eat breakfast together, for some reason, since they were early risers at school. But he looked around, since she was usually there first, to find her... not here. His brow furrowed, and he retraced his steps.<br/><br/>He only caught a glimpse of her, and only for a second. By the time he negotiated around to where he had seen her last, she was gone. But she hadn't been alone. That much he had been able to see. He quickly tried to follow, but was slow about it. He couldn't tell which way she had gone. But he heard voices then. He blinked, and if he could have twitched his ear like a dog's, he would have. He took in the general direction of the voices, and followed them. Helen was with a guy? That wasn't something that he expected, although she had never shown any interest in that way towards him. Maybe she had other guy friends, and had decided that hanging out with James was just a bit too lame this morning.<br/><br/>He followed the voices over to just outside the gym, and he quickly assessed the situation. The two rather taller characters were known bullies in the school, known, at least, by those that they bullied, which he guessed was what the smaller, glasses wearing kid was doing there. Helen was here too, alright, as well as the chick that he had seen her talking with yesterday. They were becoming fast friends, and he couldn't help a twinge of jealousy hit the pit of his stomach, but he quelled it but fast. She didn't need a jealous friend, now did she. Although, it appeared that she needed a tall, menacing one right now.<br/><br/>He sped up his walk, quiet as he was, the people in the room didn't hear him, although he heard what they were saying, and it was starting to make his blood boil a bit. He had always disliked these kids, and now, they were closing in on a friend of his, and a friend of hers, and that was enough to call in for some backup, even if, maybe, since he didn't know Isi very well, they didn't need it. He slipped in between the two, his large, powerful frame suddenly taking the spotlight in this little confrontation.<br/><br/>"Hey guys," He said in a pleasant voice that his eyes didn't mirror as he took a step forward and stopped Tank in his tracks," You guys miss the turnoff to the kindergarten, or are you just here to try and hang with the big folks?"