Fake it (Faith)

As he made his way down the corridor, Maddox yawned widely, not bothering to take his hand from his pocket to cover his mouth. It wasn't like there was anyone around to see him, after all. Tossing hair out of his eyes with a flick of his head, he sauntered down the hallway, gazing at the bare walls around him with belligerence. It's better than the last place, he told himself, thinking back to the brightly coloured posters, covered in patronising slogans that made you cringe to look at. One lip curled into a disdainful sneer and he shook his head slightly, turning his gaze to the floor in front of him, hunching his shoulders. He walked like this for a long while, head down, not sure quite where he was going; at least he remembered the way back to his dorm.
Maddox barely paused when he reached the stairs, glancing back along the corridor he'd come down, then reaching out to grasp the handrail, tracing his fingers lightly along it as he ascended.
At the top, another door: Maddox mentally shrugged, and pushed it open. He entered some kind of lounge. A television was on. Maddy focused instantly on the bright lights and for a moment, he simply stood, watching the TV, before dragging his focus on to the rest of the room. Not that there was much to focus on. A blonde girl was sat on the sofa, gaze fixed on the television. Otherwise, the room was deserted.
Maddox took a few steps forward and perched on the arm of the sofa, drawing his knees up to his chest and crossing his ankles, arms wrapped around his shins. He glanced between the TV screen and the blonde a few times, before fixing on the girl. It was probably safer that way; he didn't want her to attack him or anything, and until he was sure she wouldn't, he was going to keep his eyes fixed firmly on her. Still, it felt a little awkward, just staring at her. "'m Maddy," he said finally, and swallowed. Well, that really broke the ice. Mentally rolling his eyes, he bit his lip, stared at Faith for a moment longer, then turned his head slightly, so he could now watch TV, but keep the girl in the corner of his vision. He was acutely aware of how strangely he was acting; he probably looked completely deranged, perched on the edge of the sofa's arm like some giant mutated bird with a hair loss problem.
Biting his lip - Maddy seriously hoped that wasn't what he looked like, he rested his chin on his knees, looking fixedly at the TV. That was one potential friend he could tick off the list, then. Smooth. Really smooth, he inwardly smacked himself, and considered leaving. But then... no, appearing, introducing himself and leaving again was even weirder. He'd just have to stay. They could watch TV in awkward silence, that would be best. And he still wasn't convinced she wouldn't just sprout wings and claws and leap on him, shrieking like a banshee. That would probably break some of the tension.

Faith was back in one of her two 'safe' rooms; the attic and the second-floor recreation room were the only places that she trusted to be empty, most of the time. Well, that was true of the rec room - of the two times she had visited the attic, there had been a crying boy in there. So far, none of those had popped up; just Remi, who had turned out to be what she would almost call a friend. The memory of their dance popped into her mind, where it had been almost constantly since the event itself. Even thinking about it made her blush a little, and she hadn't even done anything with the boy.

When the door opened, she started, looking round abruptly and sighing when she saw it wasn't either of the two people she wanted to see: Elias or Kizzy. Elias because they were friends (and nothing more, as she kept reminding herself) and Kizzy because she had the feeling that she could talk to her about the dance. Maybe Kizzy would understand how weird she felt - almost dirty, because she had danced with a boy. She got the impression that the other girl would understand.

Seeing a dark-haired, frowny looking boy was a disappointment. He was obviously new; after a while, you learned which signs to look for. They were usually wandering around slowly, with no idea where to go. They introduced themselves, which the older students, who saw each other around school all the time, rarely did. The most obvious factor however was the simple fact that she had never seen Maddy around before, and she had a good memory for faces. His grunted introduction made her sigh. He would be fun; probably one of those depressed kids that would spend all their time whining in group therapy. She hadn't actually encountered one of those whilst at Highgrove -just in the psych ward- but it would only be a matter of time before one popped up.

"M'Faith," she muttered back, obviously mocking him. Then she winced, trying to work out some way to take back her words. The last time she had mocked a boy because of his speech, the two of them had ended up crying together for about twenty minutes. "Sorry. I mean...yeah, I'm Faith. Hi. New, right?" She wasn't being exceptionally communicative, but at least there was no chance of 'Maddy' bursting into tears - because she had imitated him, anyway. There was always the risk of him crying simply because he was a home-sick little baby. Faith conveniently forget about her own home-sickness (foster home-sickness?) for the first three days of her stay at Highgrove.

Eager not to make the boy cry, she carried on babbling, trying to change the subject. "It sucks being new, right? I hated my first few days. Who are you sharing with? Most of the kids here are quite nice, some of my roommates are little bitches, but there are a few sour apples in every bunch." Had she messed up her metaphor there? It seemed like it. "Classes aren't hard though, and it's only a few hours every day. Just do what your therapist says and life here is pretty damn easy." Faith paused, both for an oxygen break and to see if Maddy would respond to anything she said. "Oh, and you can sit down, by the way."