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"Oh, I'm not saying it's a preposterous thing for you to be doing, I'm just not confident that it'll lead to a welcoming berth somewhere."

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He shrugs. "We'll see."

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After school, Bella fetches the flash drive. It checks out, although by the time she's run a virus scan and looked at all the files her mother is home from work and wants to chat.

The next day, Bella wakes up with Angela's cold. It's quite sufficient to keep her in bed all morning - her parents go off to work - she feels better around midday, and starts making relatively unproductive phone calls to various companies that could do with the laser plans.
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Angela, meanwhile, is feeling much better and is back in school today!

She misses Bella in bio, but sits next to the new boy. "Hello," she says. "I'm Angela. I was sick yesterday, I must have missed you when you first got here."
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"Hello," says the new boy. "I'm John, in case you are the one person in town who hasn't heard. I still don't have anything to take notes in, so you'll have to apply to Bella for those, but I have a pretty good memory so I think we can scrape by."

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"Someone mentioned your name but I wasn't sure if I'd heard it right. Bella takes wonderful notes," says Angela.

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"She does. I was very impressed."

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"She practices a lot," laughs Angela, and she sets about meticulous lab setup. It's a very lab-heavy biology course. Angela is unusual in wearing not only the ubiquitous cross necklace, but also earrings and a bracelet; she could loan out half her vampire-repelling jewelry and be no less protected.

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Well, every little bit helps.

Sherlock assists with the lab setup. He's very efficient about it.
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Lab ensues. Angela is quiet, not pensive or unfriendly, just - a quiet person.

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He appreciates quiet! They have a quiet but productive lab.

After Bio, they are heading from the same origin to the same destination, so it's only reasonable that they end up walking together. Also, out of everyone present she is definitely the least annoying.
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Angela brings her lunch, and without Bella around she picks an empty table to sit at and eat her leftover rice salad and fruit cup.

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"Lucky you," he says, gesturing to her lunch with his freshly acquired bottle of orange juice. "I'd've brought one myself, but I ran into the slight logistical issue of not having a kitchen to cook it in."

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"Oh no, that's terrible. No permanent residence yet?" Angela, who will now be narrated as Angie, asks sympathetically.

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"Not yet, no."

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"Do you want help?" asks Angie.

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"It would be much appreciated."

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"My family actually lives right within walking distance of the school, next door to the church around the corner," says Angie, "and we have a spare room - I'll need to ask, but it might work out." She mentions the church with the gentleness of someone who has been made aware that her new classmate might have a particular fear of vampires but doesn't want to poke at it directly.

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"That," says Sherlock, "would be very kind of you."

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"You aren't wearing a cross," observes Angie. "Do you want one of mine?" She touches the one at her throat. "I have a lot."

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"I noticed," he says with a quirk of a smile. "I - yes. Thank you."

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She unclasps her necklace and offers it to him. Between it and her bracelet, it's the plainer, more plausibly unisex item. "You're welcome."

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He takes it and puts it on with a sigh of apparent relief.

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Angie pats his hand, once, not too familiar, and smiles, and spears one of her peach slices.

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He smiles back and drinks his juice.

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