A Silverback's Discovery

Six: Assimilation

The next day, Han's first class, English, was with his target. This time, he decided to take a seat right next to her. She didn't even glance over at him. She just kept doodling. Han leaned over, trying to see what she was drawing. It was a person, a man.

"Wow, that's really good," Han said with all sincerity. It was incredibly detailed, especially the eyes. They were deeply set and black, and seemed to be staring right at Han. This wasn't just any mere doodle.

The girl glared at him. "Who said you could look?"

"Do you take art classes?" Han asked, ignoring her question.

"None of your business. Why are you sitting here?"

Han leaned back in his chair. "I figure I'm not going to let you off the hook that easily. I'm going to show you how wrong you can be about a person when you judge them so quickly without even knowing them."

"Really?" the girl scoffed. "Was that a Tesla I saw you pull up in this morning?"

"Yes. Still doesn't make you right."

"Whatever." The girl went back to her drawing.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?"

"What?" she asked in annoyance, throwing down her pencil.

"What's your name?"

She looked a little taken aback. "Sidney."

"Sidney. Nice. I like it."

Of course, he already knew her name. But if he was going to befriend her, he should probably stop thinking of her as "the target." 

The teacher walked in and Han pretended to be paying attention for the rest of the class. When the bell rang, he left Sidney without saying anything else. He didn't want to overdo it. His next class was European History. Sidney wasn't in his class, but that girl Beverly Han had talked to the day before was, and she hailed him over to sit by her when he entered the room.

As Han chatted with her and her friends, he tried being more observant. He could see where Sidney was coming from. It was sort of obvious that these kids were the popular ones. Han hadn't really paid much attention to all that when he was in school so it hadn't even occurred to him. Hanging out with these kids was more about proximity. Plus, they were more sociable than the others.

After class was over, Beverly walked out with him. "There's a party this weekend, if you're interested. My friend Jessica's parents are going to be out of town, so, everyone's coming."

Han thought for a moment. It was really only worth it to go if Sidney would be there, but he doubted she would be. "I'll think about it."

"Well, just let me know." Beverly gave him a wave as she headed down a separate hallway, leaving him to walk the rest of the way to his locker alone.

At lunch, Han debated going to find Sidney, but he didn't think she would much appreciate his company for all of lunch. She could barely seem to stomach him for more than a few minutes at a time. He had to ease his way in, not stalk her. So he sat with the same people he had the day before. It was an odd sort of feeling. Like maybe, if this was really his life, he'd kind of be making friends. He hadn't done that in high school. He'd been more of a loner, or spent his time with Rand, who had gone to the same school. 

Han didn't have another chance to talk to Sidney for the rest of the day. Instead, he fumbled his way through a physics lab and actually kind of enjoyed a sculpting art class. Then he was on his way to his new apartment. 

It was downtown, right in the thick of things and not too far from the Mage Collective headquarters. The apartment complex was called the Grand Plaza. It had twenty-one stories. Han had known as soon as he had stepped into the lobby that it was a nice place to live. There were marble floors, bright chandeliers, leather couches, a pretty receptionist, and a massive security guard. Not so massive that Han couldn't take him (no human really was), but still, it was comforting.