New Dawn, New Day [Open]

[Charles Moore]

Charles was feeling more than a little overwhelmed. Discovering his strange new ability, being told he was a meta-human, being whisked away from the only home he'd ever know, and coming to the Hammel Institute in such a short period of time had shaken him, and he was, to be perfectly honest, scared at the changes. It was just too much at once. He needed some time to just digest everything that had happened to him. He'd hoped to find a quiet place, but he didn't know the school at all yet, and he was still getting lost. Somehow he'd ended up in the cafeteria. He looked around without really taking in the details, wondering whether he should stay here or try again to find a place where he could be alone. Being around people still scared him and, ever before he got his power, he had never been comfortable around other people. He'd just spent so much time on his own, since his father was never around and he just never had gotten the hang of making friends. Maybe it'd be different here though; everyone was just like him, at least a little bit.

Sighing, he decided that he was hungry and decided to get some lunch in lieu of anything better to do. It wasn't like he was going to figure out where everything was right away, and he didn't want to get caught somewhere he shouldn't be by accident. Glancing around the cafeteria, he was relieved to see that it surprisingly wasn't too crowded. He still was terrified of crowds after his power had manifested and he had no desire to have a repeat experience of what had happened at his old school. Glancing at the food options in front of him, Charles saw the staples of cafeteria food everywhere; mystery meat in a grayish-brown unidentified sauce. He opted to just grab the salad where he could at least verify the ingredients.

Glancing around to find an empty table, Charles spotted one in the corner that was empty. Bringing his tray over, he sat down. He wondered where the students were-he wasn't entirely sure of the scheduling yet, since he had arrived so recently. However, he was glad it was so empty right now, since just sensing the feelings coming from the few people there were here was taxing on him. He hoped he could learn some way to dampen the effects of his power-after all, that's why he was here-but he wasn't at all certain that he could. He picked listlessly at his food, wondering what his life would be like if he had to be careful how many people he exposed himself to his entire life.

[Haley Shapiro]

Being in a good mood was not something that came easy to Haley. Sure, she had bouts of energy people might misconstrue as a good mood but actually catching the thirteen year old in a happy mood was rare at best. But there she was, a smile on her face as she ran down the school halls, ignoring the fact that she actually had class.

She was in such a good mood that her default action was to bother everyone she encountered. Unfortunately, the next person she saw looked as sad as

At least that was the good thing about Haley; she wasn't biased about her bully victims.

Making a beeline towards the victim boy, Haley accidentally knocked against his chair before she sat opposite him. "Hey, nerdface." She hiked up her grimy booted legs on to the table right next to his food. "You look like someone stole your candy."