Murphy walked around the coastline of Sapphire Lake, not quite paying attention to the beautiful foliage that surrounded her. Instead, she was wrapped in her thoughts. She was mulling over her actions thus far at the Academy. So far, she has remained unnoticed for the most part. Although part of her was content with this, another part of her ached. Humans were gregarious creatures. They need to be around each other; they crave companionship.

Finding a comfortable looking patch of grass under a tree, Murphy took a seat. She leaned her back against the trunk and found herself looking over the lake. It was beautiful, she had to admit. Murphy took out a classical muggle book, Robinson Crusoe, from her satchel and thumbed through its pages. She had read this book at many points in her life, and each time she has found different meaning in the words crafted together by Daniel Defoe.

After a few pages of reading, Murphy looked up. Something was different. A presence of sorts. Perhaps it was an animal. It could be a person, but she was not concerned. It was unlikely that anyone would stop to acknowledge her.

Melody walked towards the lake with a book in her hand. As she got closer she spotted someone relaxing near the lake.

She didn't know why she had bothered since the woman was probably much more interested in her book than in her, but she gave a meek "hello" when she was close enough. Not sure if she had been heard, she sat down by the lake, opened up her book Great Expectations and began to read.

She chose where to sit carefully making sure that she had enough sunlight to read her book but was still in the shade. And so she began to read.

”Hello,”

Murphy cast a glance up to see a girl take a seat nearby. She gave a small smile but the girl had already looked away. Was the other girl shy? Maybe she just wanted to be left alone. Perhaps her greeting was only a polite gesture, nothing more.

She decided to read a few more pages of her book and simultaneously wondered if she should talk to the girl. Giving a gentle sigh and a quick memorization of the page number she was on, Murphy closed her book and returned it to its place in her satchel. She looked at the girl for a moment. She looked like a nice person and thoroughly invested in the book she was reading.

Murphy stood and adjusted her satchel nervously. Maybe she could make a friend. She walked over to the girl and recognized the book in her hands. “Dickens?” She asked softly, gesturing to the book in the girl’s hands.

"Dickenson?"

Melody jumped slightly. The woman's voice had jolted her out of her thoughts. She put a bookmark in the book before closing it and looking at the woman. If she had ever met her before today, she didn't recongize her.

"Yes it is," she answered. "Are you a fan of his work?" She stole a glance at the stranger's own book, Robinson Crusoe. They certainly weren't reading the same author.

She gave a small smile. Whoever the stranger was looked like she might be about her age. She wondered if the woman thought the same about her, since some thought she was younger due to her height. They had both thought reading by the lake was a nice idea at least.

Murphy didn’t mean to startle the girl. Instantly she felt regret wash over her. This was a mistake. She probably thought Murphy was weird for coming up to her. A pit formed in her stomach.

“Yes it is,” she answered. “Are you a fan of his work?”

“Yes,” Murphy nodded. “But I’m more partial to Oliver Twist and A Tale of Two Cities.” Realizing that it may appear that she was looking down on the book that the stranger was reading, Murphy quickly added: “Not that there’s a bad book by him, really. All of his work is admirable.” After a pause, Murphy shifted her weight to one foot and looked down. She began to play with the strap on her satchel.

After the majority of her feelings of embarrassment subsided, Murphy looked up, “So do you come here to read a lot?” She questioned in an attempt to make conversation.

"But I'm more partial to Oliver Twist and A Tale of Two Cities."

A fan of classics then. Melody read a lot of things herself, including classics. Maybe she'd read those next but she wasn't even half way though Great Expectations yet.

"No," Melody admitted. "I haven't seen much of the academy yet. The lake sounded like a nice place." She noticed that she was making the woman nervous and wondered if she was coming off as cold. She hadn't meant to come off as cold or come off as anything really. "What about you?"

As Melody waited for an answer she thought about the lake. It was a nice place, maybe she should have brought her cat and owl with her or maybe not since her cat was often running off. Jinxy made a better jogging partner. The owl might have not caused too much trouble. She wondered how her fellow classmates would react to meeting to her pets. She'd hardly take them to class with her but there was a chance that she'd see them around the acadmey. Maybe she'd see... well whatever her name was around again.

"Sorry I don't think I caught your name. I'm Melody."

”What about you?”

Murphy nodded slightly, “I haven’t been to many places on campus either. The lake is pretty peaceful for the most part, the library is nice too.” She smiled, relaxing a little. Was she doing it right? Was she socializing according to the rules of society? Having Asperger’s was a challenge that Murphy has dealt with her entire life. Learning to socialize with others was the most difficult thing she has come across. She was always worried that she wouldn’t pick up on social ques that were obvious to everyone else.

“Sorry I don’t think I caught your name. I’m Melody.”

“I-I’m sorry,” Murphy stuttered, a slight red hue coming to her cheeks. “I never introduced myself. My n-name is Murphy.” She took a deep breath to calm herself. She didn’t want to use her disability as an excuse for poor manners.

"Its okay," Melody tried to reassure her. She hadn't meant to make Murphy blush or embarrass her. "Easy to forget really." She wasn't sure if that sounded convincing. Melody herself knew it was hard to remember everyone's names or the answer to a question. She hadn't thought right away to ask Murphy who she was either. While she had been somewhat distracted from her attention being brought away from her book, it still stood that she hadn't asked until later.

"Its nice to meet you," Melody said. She wasn't sure what else she should say but she hoped that she wouldn't embarrass Murphy further. This wasn't the smoothest first time meeting someone but then they were both sort of socially awkward so maybe that should be expected.

"So...what are you studying?" Might as well keep the conversation going, unless Murphy didn't feel like talking anymore in which case she would understand and go back to her book.