St. Primrose

You and Kaori had met as students at St. Primrose Private School. The small class size meant there weren’t many geeks. Having started at private school at a young age, you had time to adapt to the unique dynamics it brought. In such an environment, you had learned to hide your uncool inclinations, so no one would pick on you.

{if Meek = true}{if Male = true}(Meek) That meant, if only from peer pressure, you often showed parties, sports matches, and social outings that all the boys in your year got up to. While you were shy, you were reasonably athletic. And among boys that meant a great deal for your social standing. Still, you struggled to hide your disinterest in it all. Occasionally some of the other boys would joke that you didn’t even like football.{endif}{if Female = True}(Meek) Despite your natural wallflower tendencies, you managed to gain the friendship of a few other girls early on, mostly by pretending to be interested in the things they were. As you reached high school, you used them as something of a shield. You might not have talked so much, but there wasn’t any real confusion where you were in the social standings. So, for the most part, you were left alone.

The hardest challenge was hiding your interest in other girls. But, at an elite Catholic school like St. Primrose, you were mostly believed by the gym teacher when you explained that you weren’t staring at Susan from Class B. There were perhaps a few rumors, but your friends helped you squash them.{endif}{endif}

{if Meek = false}{if Male = true}This meant that you made yourself a common fixture at the sort of hangouts and athletic matches that the boys in your year would hang out at. A few of your more observant friends might have realized that you were a bit more into super heroes movies then the rest of them. But, never outside to the point where anyone might think you were uncool. To any outside observers you would have seemed no different from any of the other boys in your year. Even if, truthfully, you didn’t really relate to your “friends” much at all.{endif}{if Female = True}It was as simple as hiding away all the parts of yourself that someone might find actually unique. That way no one would realize you were different. That would have been social ****. You did a good enough job appearing normal that you were a reasonably common invitee to parties and hangouts with the other girls.{if Normal = true}

(Normal) It helped that you came across as so average. People simply didn’t believe there was anything special about you. And maybe they were even right. While you pride yourself on your secret geeky habits, you knew that compared to most hardcore fans you would have been seen as pretty shallow in your interests. Even in the one thing that made you distinct…you weren’t that distinct.{endif}

If there was one area where you ran into problems, it was hiding your sexual inclinations. You knew that in a private catholic school, coming out as gay would mean totally changing how the other girls saw you. So you did your best to fit in, even accepting a few suggestions for dates from some of your friends. Not that you ever managed a second date. The sweaty high school boys they always set you up with might as well have been alien creatures to you. Sweaty, gross, and leering.{endif}{endif}

Things were different for Kaori. She was a transplant from a normal public school whose family must have pulled strings to get her enrolled late. But, it meant she never had the time to adapt to the small and often slightly vicious social dynamic in such a small place. She came in exuberant, high energy, and always eager to show off her vast array of nerdy T-shirts and hobbies.

You had a crush on her from the first time you saw her. But, you stopped yourself from reaching out to her once it became clear to you that every bully in the school had also caught wind of her.