Maria sighed as she slipped into her seat in front of Michael Guerin's empty desk. She pulled out her notes and the copy of The Tempest that had been assigned to her.

Drumming her pencil on the soft cover she waited as the teacher shuffled around papers, anxiously glancing at the clock. An unfamiliar girl poked her head in the door and smiled at the teacher.

"Is this introductory theater?" she asked timidly, stepping halfway through the door, as if ready to bolt if she'd entered the wrong room.

"Yes it is, I suppose you're the new student," Ms. Bursten said, smiling. The girl nodded, stepping all the way into the room.

Maria regarded the new arrival with a critical eye, her clothes, though extreme and slightly… odd, were well put together. Her hair was cut short and stuck out wildly, and it looked as if she had stepped out of an anime feature.

"Class," Ms. Bursten said softly, "we have a new student today, Kathrine Blaine," she smiled over at the strangely dressed girl and motioned for her to move to the front of the class. "Kathrine, why don't you tell us a little about yourself?"

The girl smiled and stepped up to the front. "Sure, well, my name's Kathrine, but everyone calls me Katie. I lived in Hungary for a few years before I began moving around Europe, Paris, England, Ireland for a month," she counted off extravagant foreign countries on her fingers. "Five years ago I moved to the states, lived in New York for two years, got my accent," she smiled, as if in on some secret joke. "Stayed in Chicago, Cincinnati, Vermont, each for about six months, then on to Santa Fe, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Hollywood where I tried out acting, only to find it didn't agree with me. All of them for a month," she paused, as if going over a tally list in her mind. "Drove around Colorado, New England, and Texas for a while, before coming here," she frowned, "oh yeah, I lived in Maryland for a few months as well."

Maria, along with the majority of the class stared at her, obviously impressed.

"Any family, Katie?" the middle aged teacher asked sweetly.

The girl shook her head wistfully, "distant cousins in Europe, a friend of my mother in New York, but after I left there I filed for legal emancipation and I've been on my own ever since."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Ms. Bursten said apathetically.

"I'm not," the girl shrugged, "it was an experience, and I've always been an introvert anyway."

"Well, you can take the empty seat in front of miss DeLuca, since Mr. Guerin has yet to make an appearance to this class all semester."

As she said this, though, a tall, rumpled Michael Guerin Stepped into class.

"So glad to know you care, Ms. Bursten," he smirked, leaning against the doorframe. Kaite's eyes locked on to his form and she smiled softly.

"You can sit, I'll stand at the back," she said, and moved towards the back of the room.

Michael looked at her curiously, a strange vibe was coming off her, and he slipped into his seat behind Maria.

"Well, now that we're settled," the wearied woman said, "please turn to act three, continuing from where we left off yesterday."

The class continued, Katie watching, detached, as the students struggled with the old English. Every so often she would correct pronunciation (mostly when Ms. Bursten faltered and stuttered).

As the class let out she muttered something in Latin as she passed Michael.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked curiously, understanding only a snippet of the words she'd spoken.

She smiled down at him, laughter in her eyes. She handed him a folded piece of paper, then left.

He watched her go, unfolding the note and read the delicate script.Meet me,Katie Was all it read.Michael rose and hurried off after her, confused.

There was something about her that was off…

He looked down the hall, she was unmistakable, and he followed her. She stopped abruptly, though no one but him noticed.

"Do you always follow people through the halls?" she asked sharply, turning and facing him with a smile.

"Do you always mutter things in Latin and drop mysterious notes into stranger's laps?" he retorted haughtily.

"Every day," she laughed, "you?"

"Not that often," he said, stifling the urge to smile.

"What do you want then?" she asked, looking him over critically.

"What's this supposed to mean?" he asked, holding up her note.

"You know," she smiled, "you just don't know it yet." And again, she was gone.