AND IT'S DARK ON A COLD DECEMBER,

She continued trying to read. It was hard for her to get through school sometimes, at the rate she was learning, life beyond being locked in a cage. The words on the page sometimes jumbled for her, and she bit her lip as she attempted to sound out each word to herself. She would have been screwed in school if Deneb hadn't offered his help when he was felt it was needed. She wouldn't know how to write without him, however sloppy her writing still was. Hands weren't something that she was used to having in place of her wings, but she was working on it. But she felt like giving up on school, would be a bad thing. This was her chance to learn more about life outside the cage she had been caught in. Sure, she had been free for years, but hadn't opted into a human form until recently.

Though it was a voice that made her lift her head from her book. Turning slightly, she noticed Danya sitting there. She hadn't been sure if he had been at his desk this whole time,but the fact that he was here now made her heated skin prickle. The hound had rubbed her the wrong way since they had ended up in the same class. He could tear down all her hard work in a moments time with one simply well placed comment. Nenet bit her lip as she looked at him evenly. "I...I'm doing just fine, dog-breath!" She mentioned. He was close enough to where he could hear her when she spoke without her having to shout, but a tiny sound of irritation left her throat as she looked back down towards her book.

"I may needa' work harder, but it doesn't mean I should drop out. It just means I need to--Ouch!" She yelped when she felt him tug her hair, and flailed her arms to try and smack his away. Whenever his hand released her hair, she took it gently in her own, tears rimming her eyes. Not because she was about to cry, but since it hurt it made her eyes prick slightly. She shook it off, giving him an annoyed look. "What's your problem Danya? I didn't do anything to you." She mentioned, holding her book in front of her face. "Rude..." she mumbled to herself.

AND IT'S DARK ON A COLD DECEMBER,

Nenet didn't get it. All this time she was forced to spend around Danya, and she was stumped. Why did he dislike her so much? What had she done to him, where he found her so...vunerable? She liked to pretend that Danya didn't get under her skin, but he really did. She just couldn't understand why it was needed. She looked to him again, and found his eyes were still cold. He still disliked her as much as he ever did. Maybe there was a time when he was kind to her, at least for a moment, but if there was she couldn't remember. Nenet was used to being bullied. It was probably her simple nature, or the fact that she couldn't seem to do anything right. She didn't understand much about humans but there were those in this school and in general, human and creature, she found couldn't be trusted even though she initially thought that they could be. But Danya was by far the worst of all.

"I'm not stupid! I'm not used to words on pages, or these stupid...hardcovers." Why did she need to explain herself to Danya? Why did she feel like she needed too? Maybe it was because she had that need to defend herself. There were two separate spectrums of people in her life. There was Deneb, who she rarely felt needed an explination for a lot of the things she did. He was kind to her regardless of the fact that she could get a little wild sometimes. He treated her like a living being, not a toy. But then there was Danya, who always needed a reason, always an explanation for what she did and why she was doing it. It was two extremes that she'd have to shift from constantly on days where she needed to attend English, let alone wherever else Danya decided that he'd be.

He scared her, but she stood her ground as he asked her if he really wanted to know what his problem was. It sounded both dark yet delighted at the same time. Maybe it was because of Danya that she felt nervous around anyone who smelled remotely like he did. No, it probably was because of Danya. When he revealed it was her, orange-red eyes focused on him. "But why? What have I ever done to you?" She swallowed hard. Talking back to him was always hard. She'd never want to admit how much he scared her. But he did. "I...I dunno what kind of insecure thoughts you might have about yourself Danya, but I've never said anything bad to you...at least...not until you started doing it to me." The last part was quiet, and if it wasn't bad enough she had let it slip out, it was probably worse that it was probably audible enough for Danya. She felt him tug her hair again and bit her tongue."Really, just leave me alone."