Alana Lee. To some, the name itself brought an icy claw that clenched throats and squeezed hearts. To others, it made their noses wrinkle and their eyebrows furrow in disgust. It was clear and quite obvious that this girl was not at all liked in the school, whether by Her teachers or by Her peers.

I however, was quite indifferent towards the topic, not quite subject to utter the intimidation brought about in Her glare, nor to the revulsion of most girls' misguided jealousy. Then again, it's not like my opinion mattered. I was a loner too.

It all started when she transferred. It was a typical day, and She arrived in the middle of first block. Like a magnet drew metal, She immediatey took on the attention of every individual in the room. She was gorgeous, with straight blonde hair and dazzling blue eyes. The only thing that seemed strange about Her in the beginning was the fact that She was still wearing Her uniform. She had gone to St. Mary's School for the Gifted.

As soon as the teacher began speaking to Her, I immediately began to see that She was much more queer than previously thought. The teacher breezed through introductions, unnerved by the cold stare She had given him when they shook hands. The girls bristled in envy and the guys whispered lewd comments to one another. She ended up sitting to the left of me, and it suddenly became a difficult day, much to my disgust.

A lot of boys came up in an attempt to befriend Her, but more likely had more intentions than just a platonic relationship. Some girls did as well, but She rebuffed all attentions with very formal replies. It wasn't as though She had insulted them, it was rather that She was too cold, too impersonal to befriend. This lasted about a week, and quickly, everyone learned to stay away from Her. She did not seem to mind keeping to Herself and Her thoughts.

As days wore on, more gossip spread. My favorites were that She was expelled from Her old Catholic school because She had slept with a teacher. That was highly unlikely, considering the fact that she wouldn't give any male here, whether teacher or student, the time of day. Others said She was too stupid to stay in such a classy school. But again, highly unlikely since She breezed through every class with utter perfection practically oozing off of Her body. The list of rumors went on and on. Some were worse than others, but all were very unflattering towards girl which all the gossip was centered on. It mildly concerned me that students could soon tire of just mean words and would soon move on to physical harassment.

But, I suppose the rumors shouldn't bother me. It didn't bother Her, after all, and some of the stories were cringe-worthy. They were also so-very obviously false. It didn't take a genius to realize that the people who believed the gossip or made it up were practically green with envy. She was just too perfect for them. Too beautiful. Too smart. And the dead giveaway was the nickname they had made for Her. The Frigid Ice Bitch. It was laughable really, how utterly childish they were in expressing their ugly feelings and how little She cared about what they said about Her.

There were little disturbances for the next four months.

I enjoyed the quiet, really. Normal was...peaceful and unstressful. In all the days She sat next to me, we never uttered one word to each other. Yet, our relationship extended far greater than just two strangers who sat next to each other in school. The quiet was what bound us together, two kindred spirits, so similar, yet different.

One day, all semblance of normalcy was destroyed. It wasn't by something extraordinary, nothing at all of that sort. I just happened to stumble upon Her surrounded by stray cats in a darkened alley. It wasn't at all the situation that was strange to me. It was the smiling and laughing. Why the extreme change in personality? I was completely baffled. It was like a lightning bolt shot out of the clear, noonday sky and paralyzed me. I was filled with sudden fear and couldn't bring myself to walk through the alleyway, the shortcut to home. I couldn't leave either, and so I stood there, peering in dumbly at the girl who seemed so natural among the ragged felines loudly calling for attention. By the time I snapped out of my reverie, I quickly bolted, taking the long way home, knowing I would be scolded for being late.

"Good Morning."

In my half-conscious state, it took a minute or two for me to register that someone was actually acknowledging my existence. I was never a morning person.

"G-good morning..." I croaked back, stumbling over my words with as much grace as I could manage. It wasn't until I got my act together that I registered that it was Her, the one and only Alana Lee, that had spoken to me.

I glanced at Her sideways, trying and failing to be discreet. She was staring at me, Her eyes dancing with mirth and the left corner of Her lip quirked upwards in amusent.

When on earth had She gotten to be so expressive? Every other time I had seen Her in school, Her face had always been a schooled mask of indifference. Was it me who was changed? Or Her? Had She turned a new leaf and decided to be chummy pals with me? I didn't quite know what to think.

The rest of the day blurred past in a mixture of confused pondering and flustered embarrassment.

A tense week passed by where I knew not whether to be friendly towards the strange girl, or continue as we always were. In the end, because I had hesitated too long, it turned out to be the latter. She didn't quite mind. It was as if She had never spoken to me at all that morning. No matter. So long as there were no hard feelings between us, and the quiet was kept and normal wasn't pushed.

Unfortunately for me, that time wouldn't stop nagging me in my head. Maybe it was because I wanted to see Her bright smile again, or how many more expressions that face of Hers could have. Was I getting bored with life? I hope not. It wasn't like me to worm my way into other people's business like this. I didn't NEED to know at all. But I wanted to. That nagging itch of curiosity just wouldn't go away. So I decided to go visit Her alley again to see if She was there.

She wasn't here. I pushed away the disappoinment I felt due to the lack of human presence in the darkened alley. What made me even more irritated was the fact that the itch turned into a burning curiosity that wouldn't go away. When did I become so bothersome?

I went back to the alleyway the next day and the day after that. It was as if I was obsessed with finding Her as I had the first time: smiling and genuinely happy. It took many days before I finally had the pleasure of seeing Her outside of school again.

She was surrounded by the strays, completely comfortable being brushed by their mangy, matted fur, and licked by their dirty tongues. This time, She had brought them milk.

Fear again paralyzed me and fought a vicious battle with my burning curiosity. It took several moments before I was able to bring my legs into a lurching gait, stumbling into the alley as though drunk.

She immediately saw me and stiffened in awareness. It was just as well or it would have been necessary for me to say something in order to catch Her attention. Her eyes locked onto mine, and I seemed to lose sense of time and space. Just Her eyes. Ice-blue like the persona She keeps up in school, among the rabble. But I knew Her to be more than the Frigid Ice Bitch.

"Hello." She broke the silence that always seemed to bridge our spirits together. One word, and the connection of familiarity was cut.

I nodded in response. I didn't want to have my words come stumbling out as drunkenly as my legs had done just minutes before.

Silence again reigned supreme. It wasn't the same tranquil quiet as usual though. It was tense, due to the overwhelming, unanswered questions that rolled through my coiled body, ready to leap out like a caged tiger, but unable to because the steel bars were too strong and unbreakable. My tongue held its silence.

Finally, She spoke again. It was only one sentence, but enough to answer everything I needed to know. "Cats are friendlier than humans."

Aah. So she was that kind of person. Cats didn't judge based on appearance. Cats didn't judge based on facial expressions or lack thereof. They judged by instinct. She could be trusted. She was friendlier than the initial judgment gave. Kinder than Her eyes spoke. Much more emotional than Her expressions led others to believe. This was who She really was, unmasked.

My lips quirked upwards in response, and I nodded, my eyes never leaving Her face. Then, without another word, I left. My burning curiosity had been doused with cold spring waters and I was free to leave and go about my life as I had before.

Or...perhaps I'd keep my eye on Her a little longer. She's quite an interesting girl. Alana Lee.

I retreated home, and the next day, was the first to break the silence.

"Good morning, Alana."

Fin