H-home... I... can't go back there... Her eyes widen with fear as she remembers the boys from earlier. Thomas notices this and frowns, lifting her into his arms again

"Don't worry about them. We'll find somewhere else for you to stay tonight."

Really...? You don't mind...? I-I could pay you back later, maybe with some... cookies or something...

"I...don't really know many people yet. I've been keeping to myself mostly, afraid of getting hurt again." She looks down, her cheeks reddening as she admits her insecurities.

"Oh! Um, t-that's very kind of you to offer... I'll keep that in mind. Thanks, Devawn."

"Y-yes..." She clears her throat, trying to sound more confident than she feels. "So... what club do you belong to?" She asks, moving closer to him and offering a shy smile. "I haven't really had the chance to get to know anyone else in our class."

Mina hopes this small attempt at conversation will help ease the tension between them. But she also wonders if Noa is interested in talking more... or if he'd rather just finish cleaning and leave her alone.

She smiles warmly in return, glad that he didn't seem too upset with her earlier. "I belong to the calligraphy club," she says proudly, feeling a small surge of pride as she thinks about all the beautiful artwork they create together. "It's really peaceful there and I get to meet so many interesting people."

She pauses for a moment, considering whether or not she should share more. "I don't know... I guess I just feel like I fit in better with them than anywhere else,"

"N-No! We never dated!" She stammered, looking even more upset now that she had brought it up. "He just... he thought I should be his and no one else's." The memory of that time still made her skin crawl, and she could feel herself tensing up as she thought about it.

"I'm sorry," she said again, looking down at her lap. "It's just... it was a really bad experience for me, and I don't want anything like that to happen again."

Her eyes widened in surprise and she felt her face heat up even more as she realized that he had noticed. "I-I'm sorry..." She stammered, looking away embarrassed. "I didn't mean to... I just..." Her voice trailed off as she struggled to find the words. "It's hard for me to trust people nowadays."

She took a deep breath and looked back at him, her expression softening slightly. "And you... you seem different from them. You're not like that at all..."

You... cooked it? After it pulled you into the water and probably gave you a few bruises along the way? That's quite the vengeful move. I mean, it was only doing what fish do, after all. She shrugs, trying to play it off like she isn't too surprised

Well, at least you had something delicious to eat in the end! Have you gotten yourself into any other interesting situations since then?

Oh, well. Maybe there will be plenty of opportunities for adventure here at our new school. Who knows what might happen? She grins playfully at him We should probably head back to class now, though. The professor might get suspicious if we're gone too long...

"I... I didn't mean to leave you alone..." she says quietly, feeling guilty and embarrassed at the same time. "I just wanted to finish quickly so I could get home." Her eyes drift away from yours as she speaks, focusing on a spot near the ceiling. She doesn't want things to be awkward between the two of you anymore, but she isn't sure how to make that happen.

"It's alright... I shouldn't have assumed you wanted to help," she says slowly. "I just wanted to make sure everything was taken care of." She hesitates, then adds softly, "And I appreciate your understanding." Mina takes a step closer to you, her heart racing even faster now. She wants so badly for things to go back to how they were before this whole mess started, but she knows that might not be possible either.