"Wow!"

"Awesome!"

"Play it again!"

Everyone stood around Aria, clapping and complimenting her. Normally, you'd think someone would be happy about that. But Aria looked like she was going scream. I wanted to help her. "Hey, you guys, give her some room."

"Again!"

"That was great!"

"You guys!" I urged, but no one listened. I don't think they even knew I was there. I looked around for Lily and Yukari, but they were right beside me. They were trying to get people away as well.

"Now, students," A male voice from somewhere behind the wall of people said. "Give the girl some room. I'm sure she appreciates your applause, but don't suffocate her with it." Kaito appeared from the crowd next to Aria, shooing the kids away. "Go on, now. Back to your instruments." The crowd slowly dispersed, and eventually, it was just us five. "That was a spectacular performance, miss..."

"Her name's Aria." Lily said, who was now standing next to her friend, her hand on her shoulder. I couldn't believe Aria had stage fright. She seemed like the last person who would care about what others thought. I guess I was looking at her like she was a lost puppy, because she shot me a glare and then shook off Lily's hand.

"Aria?" Lily asked.

"I'm going back to the dorm." She said, setting the flute down in one of the boxes.

"The class isn't over yet." Kaito said.

"This was for trying out instruments, right? I tried the flute. Are you going to tell me it's 'not for me'?" She asked, her tone surprisingly aggressive, which caught the professor off guard.

"Uh, no, you're clearly very knowledgeable when it comes to the flute. But are you sure you don't want to try another-"

"No, I don't. I'm going now." She said, moving past him and making her way through the room. Kaito scratched his head, probably trying to comprehend what just happened.

"She's not trying to be rude." Lily said, watching worriedly as Aria quickly made her way out of the room. "Aria just has a... unique personality. She really doesn't mean to be rude, probably."

"Right..." He said, sighing. "Stage fright. Always a problem, every year. She'll have a hard time in the music business if she's afraid of performing in front of people." Lily nodded.

"Wait," I said. "So when she's ignoring us, she's actually just being really shy?" Lily nodded again.

"Yeah. She tends to be quiet around people she doesn't know, and most people just think she's being rude and ignoring them." I suddenly felt bad for thinking she was just another typical bitch.

"Oh..." I said. "But what about you? She doesn't seem to ignore you. Or Yukari."

"I've known her for a long time. I don't know about your friend, though. Maybe she just likes her. Then again," She looked at Yukari. "You aren't exactly intimidating. It's hard to be afraid of someone who wears nothing but rabbits." Yukari's face turned red, and she fiddled with the rabbit ears on her hood.

"Wait, are you saying I'm intimidating?" I asked, suddenly feeling like I've somehow been dissed.

"Well, you are kind of loud." She shrugged, looking like she wanted to smile.

"I am not!"

"Really? Because I'm pretty sure you just yelled." There it was, the grin. I felt my face flush. This was the second time I'd embarrassed myself. Kaito sighed, and Yukari patted me on the shoulder.

"Don't worry. I'm sure she'll come around to like you, too." She said.

"What makes you think I want her to like me?!" I asked. Yukari just shrugged, smiling.

"Anyway, you three get back to your instruments. Class'll be over in about half an hour." We all nodded, and Lily brought her guitar over to where we had been sitting.

The three of us continued playing around with our instruments until Kaito told everyone the class was over. I was starting to really like the bass. We headed back to our dorms. "Hey, Lily," I said as we walked down the hall. "Wanna come downtown with us? We're gonna kill time until dinner."

"Sure, I'll ask Aria if she feels like coming. I doubt it though, after earlier." She said. We all nodded. Yukari unlocked our door, and we stepped inside. It was still kind of strange, knowing that I'd be living here for the next nine months. I thought about calling home, but I figured it was too soon. I'd only left a day ago.

"Hey, Yukari?" I said, looking around the room.

"Yeah?"

"While we're out today, you wanna get some decorations? Make it feel more home-y. I was thinking of getting a few posters and stuff."

"Sounds fun! But, uh... you do have money, right?"

"I think so." I said, rummaging through my pockets and pulling out a wad of cash. I counted it. "$57... probably not gonna last the whole school year."

"I've got a little over $100. I guess we won't have to worry about food, but... We should probably look for jobs while we're out." I hadn't considered the whole money thing, which was probably a big mistake. She was right. We'd need jobs if we wanted money.

"Any ideas on where we should start?" I asked, though I doubted she knew the city any better than I did.

"No, but... Well, restaurants and supermarkets are always hiring people." She said, trying to sound hopeful. I sighed. I didn't like the thought of being a waitress, or carrying old ladies' groceries to their cars. Just then, someone knocked on the door. It was Lily.

"Hey. You guys ready?" She asked.

"Uh, we're gonna change, but after that, yeah." I said.

"We are?" Yukari asked, looking confused.

"Do you really want to apply for a job in a bunny-hood?"

"You have a point."

"Job? You guys are gonna be job-hunting?" Lily asked. We explained our situation, and Lily started looking worried, like she was just realizing the money thing herself.

"Crap. I totally forgot about that. Guess I'll be filling out papers with you guys." She shrugged.

"What about Aria? Is she coming?" Yukari asked. Lily nodded.

"Actually, yeah, she is. You'd think she'd wanna stay inside. You know, away from people." Lily shrugged again. "Like I said, she's unique."

Yukari and I got changed, and Lily said she'd do the same. I put on a red skinny dress and black high-heels. I tied my hair back into a ponytail. Yukari wore blue jeans, a white T-shirt, and white sneakers. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail like mine. "Uh," I said. "Are you sure that's what you want to wear?" Yukari looked at me confusedly.

"We're not going to a soirèe, C. We're job hunting. You don't want to look like a party girl!" She had a point. I decided to change into what she was wearing, black jeans and a red T-shirt. Instead of heels I wore sneakers. I kept my hair up, though. Soon after, Lily knocked on the door again.

"Are we ready now?" She asked. She was wearing different clothes, as well. Similar to ours, in fact. I wondered if it was common knowledge that job hunting involved jeans and T-shirts. Apparently not, because as we stepped out into the hallway, we saw Aria in her usual skimpy clothes. For someone who doesn't like being stared at, she sure knows how to attract attention to herself. She wore a pink mini-skirt along with a very, very loose fitting white belly shirt. One of her shoulders was completely exposed. The only similarity was her shoes. White sneakers. Her hair was still in pigtails.

"Well... let's go, I guess." I said. Without even saying 'hello', Aria started down the hallway. Lily shrugged, following behind her.

"This'll be fun!" Yukari said, smiling at me. I doubted looking for jobs would be fun, but maybe doing it as a group would be better.