For the first time in a really long time, someone was scared of her instead of the other way around.

It was weird.

Upon hearing a shriek of horror, Aurelia panicked and whipped around, Did she touch anyone? Did she absentmindedly make contact without noticing? She had been so wrapped up in her thoughts of Beacon she wasn't really paying attention. And yet, she didn't recall bumping into anyone. Actually, they were pretty close; they could have easily walked into one another. But what really surprised her was that for once, she didn't jump back--[i]he[/i] did. Is this how she was perceived to everyone? Wow, she really needed to get that under control. That is, she needed to get a handle on herself. Really, she was already feeling embarrassed again just thinking about it.

Aurelia blinked for a moment, and there was a silence. He was staring at her, and she was staring right back. It was a stalemate of a life time, two socially paranoid people meeting one another. Their awkwardness should have cancelled one another out in theory, but the reality was that it somehow managed to multiply and make the situation much, much worse. In fact, looking in from the outside would show that the two were...perfectly ignorable. Really, they were making it a bigger deal then it really was.

That didn't stop Aurelia from almost having a second panic attack.

[i]Easy, easy, just--say something, just like last time.[/i] She took in a deep breath, as if readying herself to give a speech. She kept her eye contact, a little more determined, but in the end, it was all for one word: "Sorry." She meekly apologized, though she visibly winced at her own stupidity as her previous composure crumbled like a stack of cards blown into. [i]Hold on, why am I the one apologizing?![/i] She yelled at herself.