Looking for a test subject.

Cid had his back up against a tree that was nearby the lake. For the most part it appeared as if he was simply staring out at the lake, daydreaming. In reality however, Cid was watching all of the girls that went by, waiting for one that fit his criteria. He was looking for a girl that he would be able to manipulate into dating him and what better time was there than the upcoming Valentines Day.

In reality Cid didn't actually want a girlfriend, not in the slightest. The mere thought of being all lovey-dovey with a girl made him sick. He had nothing against girls, he just didn't wish to be romantically involved with one, nor with a boy for that matter. Curiosity however, had overcome Cid. He wanted to know how far he could take a theory and how a girl would react to it.

The only problem Cid had was actually finding a girl that could be his test subject. He wasn't exactly Mr. Popular, nor did he have exceptionally good lucks. This meant that his pool of girls to draw from would be rather small. He had read many different techniques for getting girls to fall for boys but they all seemed rubbish to him. He would have to get lucky and find a desperate girl with low standards, but who?

Alexa stared at her blank piece of parchment, hoping it would disappear. The stupid thing was expecting her to write a foot long essay on it, and it just refused to leave! Alexa felt like whacking it, and tearing it up into little pieces!! She then realized she was angry at a paper! Ok, she really needed sleep! She shook her head, and wrote an X on the parchment. At least now it had something written on it. She stood up, and gave one last look at the parchment. Alexa then headed over to the Fat Lady, and left the Common Room.

****

Why did Alexa always head for the lake? Was it the peacefulness? Or was it the wildness? Whatever it was, Alexa was attracted to it. She walked out of the Entrance Hall, looking around at the forest and the lake. She shifted her schoolbag on her shoulder, heading over towards her favorite tree. She saw a boy there, and decided to say hi. She climbed up the tree, and looked down.

"Hey. Whatcha doing?"

A group of girls passed by Cid as he observed them. From what he heard they were all talking about the Valentines dance. Seeing as they seemed to be talking happily about it they all probably had dates. Getting a single girl was hard enough, getting one that was taken would be next to impossible. Cid sighed as he continued his search.

After some time a girl approached Cid from just outside his field of vision. He didn't even notice her until she started to the climb the tree. While she did so he turned around with a confused look, he hadn't been expecting someone to do that. When he did see her however he wasn't terribly disappointed, she was definitely a girl, now to find out if she fit the rest of the criteria.

What was he doing? Cid didn't think telling her the truth would help his chances much. What was a witty thing to say. "Plotting the end of Hogwarts." Cid said bluntly. "I am a Slytherin after all." He added in a sarcastic tone to make sure she would know he was joking. Girls liked sarcasm, right?

Alexa giggled. "Yes, of course. Slytherins will be Slytherins, always plotting and scheming." She said.

Hmmm... Who was he? She had never seen him before, but if he was in Slytherin, why would she? She did not see anything wrong with them, but she would be forever teased if she became friends with one. Which bright up the question of the houses. Why were they there? Why couldn't people live together??? It would make it a heck of a lot easier to make friends.

"And then there are Gryffindors, forever pranking and teasing the Slytherins, plotting their downfall." She laughed again.

"hey, I'm Alexa." She waved at him, like he was far away and she was trying to get his attention.

Cid didn't find her joke terribly funny, actually, Cid didn't find much of anything funny. He made sure not to let her see that. Instead he smiled along and even let out a timely laugh. He thought he should probably continue on with her joke to show more interest. "Yeah..thanks for that. Next time someone hexes my chair out from under me I'll know who to look for." Cid said with a smile. If there was one thing he was sure of when it came to people it was that they liked to see whoever they were talking to smile.

Alexa? He had a name, brilliant. It wasn't a huge step towards getting her to go with him but it was still a step. "I'm.." He paused for a moment, considering giving her a fake name. No, that wouldn't do. That could lead to trouble if he ran into someone he knew at the dance. "Cid" He finished.

Alexa looked at him. "Cid? You sure? Seemed like you were deciding which name to use." She joked. Cid seemed friendly enough. A little bit held back, but nice. She hoisted herself back up onto the branch, and leaned back against the tree trunk. A piece of bark dug into her back, touching her scar. She winced, biting her lip. She shifted, and the pain went away.

"Well, nice to meet you. So...what were you really doing out here? I mean, plotting against Hogwarts might be fun, but it is better with more people." She smiled.

Cid realized that he probably looked strange sitting on the ground and talking to her up in the tree. To fix this he stood up and attempted to climb the tree. Apart from a small slip in his footing he managed to make it up to a branch next to her. Now that he had a good look at her he realized she wasn't completely unfortunate looking. That wasn't good, she might already be taken or simply not interested.

She had noticed his pause when choosing a name, that wasn't good. He would have to do better. "Oh yeah..It was between Cid and General Gomeister. I thought Cid might be a little more believable." He joked.

Cid noticed her react to something, it looked as if she had hurt herself for a moment. Boys were supposed to be caring and such, right? "You okay?" He said with an attempt at a genuine smile.

Cid would have to think up another lie as to what he was doing. "Relaxing, mostly." He had heard countless people say they were going to the lake to relax, that should be believable.

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure General Gomeister is not a real name." Alexa smiled. Well, atlas Cid had a sense of humor. Not many people made jokes anymore. It was as, really. Jokes always lifted everybody's spirits. Oh well, you can't have everything.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just had a piece of bark sticking into my..." She hesitated. "My scar." She then averted her eyes; this subject was a little awkward for her. She cleared her throat softly.

"Really? That's sort of what I am doing. I needed to get away from all of the stress of schoolwork and...late nights. Yeah, that's it." Alexa said. She hated lying, but she needed to in order to keep her secret.

"Your scar?" Cid repeated. He realized since she had changed the subject she probably didn't want to talk about it but when Cid got curious he had to delve. "What happened?" he asked, trying his best to look concerned.

Cid rose an eyebrow at her pause when explaining what she had been doing. He was almost certain she was either lying or at least not telling the whole truth. The past few years he had become somewhat of an expert on lying, given that he did it so often. A pause in mid speech like that followed by a vague description almost always meant there was something not being said. "You're going to have to be a little bit more specific than late nights." Cid said with a smile.

Alexa blushed. "Well, um...I just...it's complicated. It's not just something I can explain in one conversation." She simply left it at that. This subject was making her uncomfortable, especially since she had already said just a little too much. She had made him curious, and that would make him ask questions. She would have to watch what she said, and not babble(which she did when she was nervous). Her hand went to her arm by habit, touching lightly the spot that...well, was the start of all of her problems and pain.