Winnie just wanted to get through the school day, wanting to get back to her forums, her real friends, and be left alone like she liked. Unfortunately at every school there was some kind of hierarchy, and she wasn't at the top of it. She wasn't even in the middle of it, since she was labeled a weird emo geek whose parents and siblings had all gone to this school as well, the weird legacy student. Today she had at least made it through her morning classes without an incident, but she knew her luck wouldn't last long and low and behold, it didn't. As she made her way to her next class, carrying her text book as well as a few Mangas in her hand, she was stopped by a group of kids who usually tormented her.

"Oooo, it's the 'legacy kid.'" One of the girls said, blocking her path to keep her from escaping the lot of them.

Winnie sighed and waited for them to get their stupid little stunt over with so she could move on. She didn't really have time to deal with this at all, but she'd learned fighting back didn't do anything except get them excited for some reason.

"Oh, the silent treatment? Boooo." One of the guys said and then knocked the books she'd been holding out of her hands, spilling them all over the floor.

Winnie gasped and went to pick them up immediately, mostly so people didn't see the Manga, even if they weren't gory or sexual, she knew they were a little odd to have. The girl who spoke first though had other plans, pushing her shoulder before she could bend down against the wall behind her.

Winnie stood perfectly still, acting as if these kids were the T-rex from Jurassic park and could only see her if she was moving. Her shoulder hurt a little though from the chick pressing her hand to hold her to the wall, but she ignored it as she waited for this to all be over and she could get to class. The next thing she knew though, the guy who had knocked her books out of her hands had been shoved into a locker by another student, causing her to jump slightly from the loud bang of the impact.

The guy Ben had shoved into hit the locker with his shoulder and head and came away holding a hand to his temple. "Fucking asshole." the guy muttered as the girl who had been holding Winnie to the wall let go of her to tend to him.

With the group occupied with comforting the loser, Winnie took this chance, and bent down to pick up her books, planning to run to her classroom with the distraction.

Winnie stopped grabbing for her books and stared at Ben as he stepped between her the asshole who was holding his shoulder. She didn't know why he bothered to put himself between them, he could get in trouble for fighting, even if it was defending her. She looked to the group of students who were picking on her and she was surprised to see they were looking a little worried.

"Whatever, not worth being late to class." The guy grumble before walking away, his girl still hanging onto him as they walked away.

Winnie sighed with relief, not wanting to have a fight on her hands, or anyone getting detention or expelled because of her. She reached for one of her Mangas, knowing the douchebag was right thought, they were going to be late to class if they didn't hurry up.

Winnie stopped piling the books in her arms when he held out the few he picked up. She stared at the books for a few seconds before following the arm up to Ben's face, "Thanks. I’m… Fine," She wasn't, but it was a reoccurring thing that she was used to. "Um. Thanks for, pushing that guy." She added quickly, taking the books from him and adding it to the top of her pile, thinking he didn't have to help at all.

"My bag, sort of broke last period." Winnie admitted, feeling her face heat up slightly, not sure why she was embarrassed about that. She didn't want to admit it wasn't her fault. She looked down at her shoes, before looking up at his face. "I plan to order one after school." She wanted to give it proper time to pick out a bag, maybe one that wasn't so flimsy. She tucked a strand behind her ear, feeling a little awkward since people had been ignoring her or bullying her, except for her roommates who were forced to speak with her.

Winnie opened her mouth to say it wasn't a big deal that she had to carry her books, it wasn't like she had to go very far to her dorm room, as if this was a regular public school. But he disappeared into the library before she could stop him. She looked around as the hallway started to empty out, everyone disappearing to their next class as she panicked on what to do. Before she decided to just head to her next classroom and hope he understood, he showed back up with a bag and held it out to her. "Uh, where did you get this?" She asked, wondering if the librarian had these for people, but she'd never been offered it nor seen it around the checkout desk. Because time was running out, she took the bag from him anyways and put all her books inside, hoping that no one cut this one this time.

Winnie raised an eyebrow when he said Librarian, as if he had a different relationship with the woman in there that he got book bags from her instead of just carrying your own book. "Okay…" She said as she slid the bag over her shoulder, feeling the weight of all her books. She smiled a little when he told her to swing it at anyone who tried to fuck with her. "I'll try my best, but it often just… Makes it worse." Over the years Winnie just dealt with it after being beaten when she tried to fight back, but she should have known not to when the girl was three times her size.

Winnie stared at him when he said to just hit them again, and then he was gone. She took a deep breath to gather herself before heading into her classroom, noticing the whiteboard had a full scene drawn on it. She took a seat and pulled out her book and notebook, thinking whoever drew that was pretty impressive, especially if they had done it in between classes, and waited for the teacher to start the class.

Winnie had taken her seat in the middle of the room, the best spot to be seen when she wanted to, but hidden from the teacher picking on her for answers. She pulled out her phone as she waited for the teacher to start the class, watching from the side as the guy who helped her out in the hall came in before the teacher started erasing the board. She didn't think anything of it until her classmates started laughing and she looked up to find the art wasn't all expo marker, but parts of it had been permanent marker. Her mouth fell open with the shock, but she started chuckling a little, wondering who was brave enough to draw that.

Winnie was shocked into silence like the rest of her classmates when Ben was accused of the drawing on the board, she couldn't help herself from sliding lower into her seat as if she was the one in trouble, but she felt a pang of guilt at the fact she could give him an alibi. She watched him leave and the class continued like normal, she couldn't help but look behind her at the spot he would have been sitting at every so often.

After the class was dismissed and even the teacher had left, Winnie stood up and gathered her things. It was the last class of the day so she wasn't worried about racing off to the next one, but as she was leaving her desk, she spotted the can of soda Ben had bought. The next thing she knew she was headed towards her dorm room, dropping off her books, before heading to the cafeteria with the book bag and the can of soda in hopes of finding him during the dinner rush.

Winnie usually didn't eat in the cafeteria itself, usually grabbing everything to go and eating in her room, so she didn't go through the line right away. Instead she searched the seating area, finally spotting Ben at a table by himself, a plate of food before him, but he wasn't eating. She slowly slid into the seat across from him, looking around the cafeteria before saying anything. "Soooo… Saved your soda." She placed the can onto the table and slid it over to him. Hoping he'd take it, say thanks, and she could go about the rest of her day. "Oh, and I brought this back." She added quickly, putting the book bag on the table next to the soda. "It worked really well.. Thank you."

Winnie gave him a puzzled look, raising an eyebrow at being called a hero, though assumed he was only joking. "Can't let soda go to waste," She chuckled lightly, though didn't really care about soda that much. She shook her head, "I plan to just carry less books." It would mean not having as many Mangas to read when she finished her work during class, but she would survive. She was planning to order a new bag tonight, one that wouldn't be easily slit with a knife or pulled off her shoulders.

(Lillianna sending daggers at Winnie)

"Okay," Winnie wasn't sure why she was a hero just because it was his last dollar, but she watched him open the can and take a sip, grimacing at the idea of drinking warm soda. "You could have saved that for later." She said, thinking she'd put it in her dorm fridge and drink it probably later at night, but that was Ben's problem. She was about to slip out of the booth when he commented on the amount of books she'd carry, feeling her cheeks flush a little with embarrassment, "Oh. Well. I just need to for a day or two. No big deal." She tried to make it seem like it wasn't, even though she might end up in class bored out of her mind if she didn't have her manga, but she could always work on homework.

Winnie blinked in confusion at him, feeling like she was meeting two different people, though she didn't really know him at all. "Alright. Have a good night." She said quietly, planning to head through the line, grab some food, and then head back to her dorm room. She did have to commend Ben, since he sat at a table alone without fear of being judged for it. She knew she couldn't handle the stares, muttering about her sitting alone, how she didn't have friends even though she had roommates. She stood up from the table and turned towards the direction of the entrance of the cafeteria, hoping the food tonight was decent.