"Not to rush you, but we better get going. We're already late for homeroom and they'll come looking for us soon." Michael got up and poked his red head around the corner before turning back to Rene. He gave her a nod of all clear and held out a hand to her.

Rene eyed it for a moment before sighing as she took it, more touching. Her entire body was shaking as she stood. Her body was not ready to be moving yet that was for sure. She was like a fawn on ice. Under Michael's concerned gaze, she quickly pulled her hand away and leaned against the wall instead trying to gain her bearings. "Please don't touch me again." She said with as much force and strength as she could muster which was more like a kitten instead of the roar she wanted.

"Hm?" his eyebrows quirked up.

"Don't touch me. I don't like to be touched without permission. You have touched me three times already today and only once was it acceptable and that was because you were trying to help keep me from getting in trouble."

"So don't touch you, like ever? That's kinda odd don't you think? We live in a pretty physical society plus the way your fists fly I'd think you agree."

Rene tried to keep herself from getting angry at Michael after all he'd done. He just didn't understand. Touching created a level of intimacy Rene wasn't comfortable with. It was like exposing yourself up to being hurt. She shook her head, "No, the only one who gets away with hugging me or anything like that is Cassie, and that's very rarely. Plus it only happens due to the fact I can't stop her when she sets her mind on something and she has decided she is a hugger. Now, I mean it. I don't like being touched."

Michael gave her a funny look before shrugging. "Alrighty then no touching, cross my heart and hope to die plus all that good stuff." He raised his hands to reinforce it.

Rene gave a look and then forced herself to walk past him. Her steps were sluggish and dragging but she refused to ask for more help. She needed to do this alone. Upon turning the corner, the hallway seemed to stretch and warp for miles. She was never going to make it to homeroom. Gritting her teeth, she focused on just moving. Nothing else mattered to her at the moment but making it to homeroom. She needed to stay off the radar for a while so she could mull over this latest development. Moving tattoos. How was she going to deal with this? It was like a waking psychotic nightmare if not for the fact Michael was experiencing it too. Though he could be just as, "chemically imbalanced" as she was. Rene glanced over at him. Again he had fallen into an easy rhythm beside her keeping pace. His hands behind his head and that smirk made it seem like he didn't have a care in the world. What was a guy like him even doing here? The asylum was a place for the lost and abandoned. It's a cage for those who ran mad in the world and scared society. For the toxic, like her.

"Everything alright Firecracker?" Michael inquired giving her a curious look.

Rene nodded, "It's just...I was wondering, why are you here?"

Michael gazed at her, his brown eyes locking with her green ones intensely. "Truthfully?"

Rene forced herself to nod almost fearful of his answer by how intense he was being. She needed to know though. With everything that had happened and how determined he seemed to be to remain a nuisance in her life. She needed to know what she was getting into. "Well then, honestly I'm here because I start fires. Best pyro this side of the Mississippi." Michael answered nonchalantly.

Rene stared as she felt her eyes grow wide. Fires? Was he joking? The way he kept smiling made it hard to tell. "You start fires, as in real fires with smoke and heat and stuff?"

"My, aren't we the smart one and you said I was the encyclopedia."

"Shut up. Why are you even here? Shouldn't you be in like jail or juvie?"

"Nah, the judge went easy on me because no one got hurt and it was all abandoned, old buildings."

"Crazy idiot." Rene muttered under her breath.

Michael smirked as he let his hands fall so he could lean closer to her, "Watch your tongue Firecracker or I'll have to wash your mouth out with soup."

"Why because I said crazy?" she said with a furious blush.

"I told you I don't like that word." He leaned back falling into his relaxed stride again, "It's practically a swear word. Maybe we should start a swear jar for the asylum, make some money."

"You'd get rich off that word here." She sighed as she stopped in front of homeroom.

They had finally made it. A slight sheen of sweat clung to Rene. She really wished she could shower or change her clothes, but she wouldn't be allowed back into her room until late tonight because that was the schedule. Schedules needed to be stuck to or so she was told. Rene stared into the room through the dusty thin rectangle of a window. The room was so small and life-sucking, especially with the harsh overhead lighting and minimal natural light. How had this place ever been deemed an acceptable school to help foster those with mental health issues? It was a highly funded prison. It was an asylum. Taking a deep breath she turned the worn knob and entered the room with Michael close on her heels. Rene met the eyes of the homeroom supervisor with defiance ready, but Michael beat her to it. "Hey, sorry we're late. We were running during free period and silly me I tripped giving my head a good knock. Rene was just helping make sure I was okay and didn't need to see the nurse."

The supervisor eyed them suspiciously. He reminded Rene of what she assumed a drill sergeant would look like with his shaved head and hard eyes or maybe a cult leader. His eyes darted between the two of them. "Well at least you're okay now. Don't let it happen again."

With that they were dismissed to their seats without so much as a second thought. There was no way that jerk really cared about whether or not they were okay, he was probably just happy they weren't considered dead on his watch. Rene went to the back and put her head on the desk lost in thought. She could feel Michael's presence next to her as he took a seat. She wasn't sure if that was comforting though or not. Rene needed to see this moving tattoo for herself, but she wouldn't have a chance until after dinner tonight when they were dismissed for the day because she had a meeting with Miss Rachel beforehand. During which she was somehow supposed to convince her that she was improving and that yesterday was a freak episode that happened because she had a crush on Michael, but at the same time let her have a break through so she was willing to take things seriously. She groaned she was so screwed. It was going to be another long day.

Michael gave Rene a wave as they split ways after homeroom. Rene had math next. She had always enjoyed math. It came easily to her. Numbers made sense in a world that often didn't. Math always had a definitive answer. They were no questions or uncertainty. It was stable and constant. It would even have been an enjoyable part of her day if not for a particularly lovely classmate. Rene had just sat down when she was pounced upon by none other than said person, Kristy and her pack. The joy that is a cliché popular girl and her lackeys. "What do you want Kristy?" Rene questioned in a bored tone.

"I want you to back off. You better leave him alone." Kristy's voice rang as she bore her eyes into Rene's head as though it would make it explode.

Rene let a sweet, innocent smile slide across her face and lounged lazily in her seat. She loved playing this game. "Oh Kristy, whatever do you mean? Who am I supposed to leave alone?"

Kristy leaned forward her eyes glinting dangerously. "Michael," she practically spat "Stay away from him. HE. IS. MINE."

Her flunkies all nodded their heads in robotic agreement. Now Rene didn't truly care whether or not Michael hanged out with her. The heated anger that rose with Kristy's statement was merely because it was Kristy, not because she cared about the big red headed dolt. Totally believable right? Regardless, Rene was not out of the game yet. "Now I get it, Michael." She gave her own head a light tap as though she couldn't believe she had forgotten, "I'm sorry Kristy but I can't and don't control him. If he wants to hang out with me over you, well that's probably just because he has better taste than bimbos."

Kristy was raging now. For someone on pills up the wazoo she still had a lot of fight in her. If she wasn't such a spoiled brat, Rene would commend her for it. Girl had conviction for life even if that life revolved around controlling others and making their lives miserable. One of her click jumped to defend Kristy, "Kristy is the most beautiful and popular girl here. There is no way a catch like Michael would rather hang out with you over her." The girl even popped her hip with one hand on it in, oh so obvious, Kristy homage.

Rene shrugged, "You can ask him yourself. Like I said, I'm not his keeper."

Rene waited for the blowup but the fuse was put out when the teacher called class to order. "This isn't over." Kristy growled before flipping her hair as she walked away groupies in tow.

Rene rolled her eyes at the drama. Well this day was proving to be interesting if nothing else. Rene picked up her pencil and twirled it in her fingers letting her mind wander. How to survive? Survival was the question of the day and every day while in the asylum. Would it prove more beneficial to work harder at cutting Michael out of her life right now? Did she really need to increase the tension between her and Kristy? It certainly would bring more unwanted attention onto her, but how she did love to stick it to that girl. Plus Michael had proven to be a good acquaintance up to this point. He seemed to genuinely care about her. He also knew about her ink and that was knowledge she didn't care to get spread around there was already way too many rumors concerning it. If he turned on her it would prove to be hindering. So many thoughts roamed her head, none of which were necessarily an answer. Rene looked up at the white board. Notes scrawled across the entire board including some problems to work on that were currently being put up. She rolled her eyes to the clock to see class was almost over. She had been too absorb in her thoughts again. With an inner groan, she speed wrote the notes as best she could as well as the practice problem numbers. BUZZ. Rene gathered her stuff before running out the door. Kristy and her would have to play another time after she had had more time to think. Perhaps Cassie and Danny could help calm her stormy mind at least on this problem during dinner tonight. The ink and voices would have to be back burnered. It's not like her madness was going anywhere soon.