Alliegha and Elijah

Sweat dripping from his entire body, Eli stopped running and leaned over with his hands on his knees, attempting to catch his breath. His hair was wet with sweat and plastered to his forehead, and he attempted to brush it away from his face. Attempting to dry his hands off, he ran them down the sides of his shorts. His bare chest and back were just as slick as his face, and he knew he badly needed a shower. He straightened up from his hunched over position, catching sight of a girl walking towards him on the trail. She was pretty, and he grinned at her, hoping she was friendly. "Hey," he offered lamely, unsure of what else he could say.

Eli smiled, studying her features carefully. She really was very pretty, and he wondered what her name was. "I'm Eli," he told her, a childish grin plastered on his face, "I just transferred here his week." His eyes drifted down, taking in her clothing and shoes. He shrugged, an eyebrow raised, before saying, "You know, that's not really proper exercise clothes. So why are you out on the trail by yourself?"

Eli nodded, holding a still slightly sweaty hand out for her to shake. "Nice to meet you," he told her, "I came from Jackson High." He smirked, wondering what she would say to that. He nodded again, knowing exactly what she was talking about. He had a tendency to wander too, his mind roaming freely. "I never take homework breaks," he said slowly, nodding, "Mostly because I don't do homework." He laughed, grinning like an idiot.

Eli shrugged and shook his head, his smile disappearing. "Why would I joke about that?" he asked seriously, knitting his eyebrows together. He wondered if that would be a deal breaker for making friends with some of the people around here. He hoped not. He ran a hand through his sweaty hair again. "Is that bad?"

"Grades," Eli said simply, shrugging, "My mom didn't think they were good enough at Jackson, so she thought switching to Tidewater would help me." He knew it wouldn't help. It wasn't the quality of the education; it was him. He knew that. "I guess I was never a rival kind of guy though," he told her, "I mean, I did participate in the school pranks. But it doesn't matter to me which 'side' I'm on."

Eli kicked at the dirt trail, staring at his running shoes. "Well, I wouldn't want to lie to anyone," he mumbled absently, his eyebrows still knit together, "I mean, it's where I'm from." He paused, considering. Tidewater was a pretty nice school with a beautiful campus, but he didn't really have a whole lot of friends here yet like he did at Jackson. "It's okay," he said finally, "I'm sure it will get better."

Eli considered her suggestion and shrugged. "I guess I won't," he said slowly, although he knew he would. He liked to meet people, and he liked to talk. That included talking about where he came from before switching to Tidewater. He nodded when she spoke again. "Serenity," he tried her name out thoughtfully, deciding he liked the way it sounded, "Maybe I'll meet her soon. And maybe she'll be willing to help me out, even though I've been called a 'difficult case.'"