"N-no, you haven't, I just thought... you know... thought that I might have been making you... nervous. It's just that... that most people would be."

Nervous was not to right word for what she was making him, muddled seemed like a better fit but Sam could not help but feel that nervous was what he was making her. Just the broken way her sentence had come out proved that. But none the less it appeared like April was going to soldier on and she took the seat he had offered up earlier. Well that settled it, if she was going to try and push past the awkwardness so would he.

As she put down her pile of books in the small amount of table space he had managed to clear, Sam could clearly see that she still felt a bit cramped. So he hurriedly moved a few more piles of papers before sitting down in his own seat. He had been in the middle of looking up material that he would be able to integrate into his first essay of the year. Which was probably why he was being so chaotic about it, it would not do to fail your first ever marked paper.

He decided then to take some time to put this mess in order before trying to resume conversation with April. To Sam it was a bit like this mess represented his scattered thoughts, so fixing it might help make him a bit less random. He did however realize that April would not sit still watching him throughout this process and would no doubt make a start on those books she had brought with her. Well if that was the case he would decided whether or not to interrupt her later.
-----

With the desk now resembling something where more like a sensible study area, Sam felt calmer. He had been able to find all of the references he needed and to the right lay the pile of books he wanted to borrow for his essay. The rest he had decided, he did not need. It was only from that moment that he turned his attention back to April. He took a moment to look at her and realized that he was doing the exact same thing as earlier… staring. So he quickly looked back down at his papers and cleared his throat to try and attract her attention. If that did not work he would try and come up with something to say.

(OOC: Sorry about the late respone. I've been a bit busy.)

After she had sat down, April opened up 1984 and began to read. She started off, muttering the text, though she quickly stopped when she remembered that other people may not appreciate the noise while they are working. Meanwhile, Sam still continued to clear the mess around her for a little while longer. Evidentally, he was a little embarrassed to have someone see his work station in such disorder. Although, April did not have a huge problem with the clutter, so Sam need not go through the trouble for her.

Soon, she saw Sam had settled down in his chair, though he persisted with his organization. Slouching back a bit, she continued her reading. Despite not having looked up yet, she could not help but wonder if he was still staring at her. Being green was tough. Pressumeably, there would be few places where she would not stand out in a crowd, let alone few people that would not stare at all.

She then heard Sam clear his throat, as if he had something to say. She looked up, but he seemed to be still looking down at his papers. Assuming that she was mistaking, she resumed reading for a couple more seconds. But, she quickly turned her attention back to Sam. Had he tried to get her attention? It woud be a strange way of trying to catch someone's attention, though, so far, Sam seemed maybe a little strange already. Maybe it was his way of getting people to listen. Better respond. It would be rude to ignore, she thought.

Lowering her book, she sat up and turned to look over at Sam. She quickly put together something to say. "Sorry, did you just try to say somethin'?" She hoped she had not interrupted him on a false alarm.

"Sorry, did you just try to say somethin'?"

The way she worded her sentence depressed him somewhat. Putting in “try to” implied that he had tried to say something and failed, which wasn’t exactly true. Suppressing a sigh, Sam decided that they were probably just fated not to understand each other. He did however have something he was curious about.

“How did you end up here? I mean I can see why you came here but what I want to know is want made you choose this place in particular?”

It was something of a sensitive subject with Sam because he had not been given a choice in the matter. So it made him feel better to hear why people who had been given a choice decided that Xavier’s was the place for them. Not that Sam had any complaints about the school; it was well run and had all the amenities you could need.
He had had this conversation with quite a few people since he got here and it turned out that their reasons were diverse. It went from people like him that had been forced to street urchins that had come here just to insure they had a roof over their head. It appeared that Xavier’s was many things from a prison to a haven.

As he waited for her to answer, he let his eyes roam the table where he found the book she had been reading: 1984. He knew the premise behind the book, his mother had told him about it, but had never taken the time to read it. It was the same with a great many classics he knew what they were about and therefore had never bothered to read them. It was probably a great shame but that was the problem nowadays, there was so much to do that if something did not immediately grab your attention you quickly forgot about it.

“Are you a literature student?”

The question just kind of popped out on its own, he had been thinking it but had not really intended to say out loud. At least not yet… he had wanted to let her answer the first question before bombarding her with any more.

“How did you end up here? I mean I can see why you came here but what I want to know is want made you choose this place in particular?”

April paused a moment to think. So he did want to say something, she thought. Anyways, it was indeed obvious that she was a mutant, and therefore was attending a mutant school. It hurt just a bit that she was reminded of her inability to pass as normal, though she did her best to not let it show. She was brought over to the Mansion so that she could meet others like her and build up her confidence, like that would ever happen. She did not want to mention the latter, so she was about to reply when Sam asked her if she was a literature student. It must have been the books. It was a bit odd that he did not wait for her to respond to the first question, but maybe it was because she had waited too long.

"Err, for the first, word had it that this was a good place for people like us to meet others who are... are in the same boat. Most schools wouldn't take me, anyways"

Her parents had remained supportive when her mutation manifested, like any good parents should. Still, she had heard of some of the horror stories of what would happen to some if their parents found out. She did not know Sam's story, but by the way he was behaving, maybe it was a sad one.

"For the other, well, right now I'm undecided," she added, almost immediately following her first response. "But I'm thinkin' 'bout that." She paused for a moment to figure out what else to say. There was no doubt she was curious about where Sam was coming from. "How 'bout you? What's your story?"

She felt she might regret saying that. Perhaps she should not dig up what he might of buried a while ago. The way he had acted, so far, indicated that questions about his past may bear red flags.

If April was taken aback by this sudden flood of questions she did not let it show. She took a few seconds to formulate an answer to his questions, as if gathering her thoughts. He listened quietly as she explained that the school had a decent reputation for helping mutants get to know each other, which was entirely true as everyone you met here was a mutant. The second part of her explanation made him feel slightly guilty, it was pretty obvious that her physical appearance would be a problem but it shamed him that he had made her say it out loud.

As for the studies it appeared that she was having the same dilemma as he had had. Choosing the subject you wanted to study was super important but also so very hard. He had spent his first week at the mansion cloistered in the library looking through further education books of all types. Now that he had finally chosen he felt as if he had made the right choice but would he still feel this way in three years? There was no point worrying about that as there was no way to know.

"How 'bout you? What's your story?"

The sad smile was back. It was almost like an automatic response to that kind of question. Sam took a breath, even though this was a sore spot he felt he owed April an answer. After all she had not refused to answer any of his. So he organized his thoughts and decided what to tell her, too much information would make him sound pitiful, so he opted for a brief answer.

“I wasn’t really given a choice in coming here, but I did spend an awful lot of time choosing my major. There’s a whole section over there to help you choose if you need it.”

He indicated the aisle he had pretty much lived in for a week and tried to brighten his smile a bit.

Sam appeared somewhat saddenned. Evedently, his background was a sorry one. It looked like she had stepped on another eggshell. April felt sorry that she had asked. She had not wanted to make him any more upset than she already had.

“I wasn’t really given a choice in coming here, but I did spend an awful lot of time choosing my major. There’s a whole section over there to help you choose if you need it.”

The way that he had sidestepped her question indicated that his past was a very sore subject and that he did not want to talk about it. It could have been a number of things: his family got mad, he caused some sort of accident, just to name a couple. In general, Sam did not seem like a very open person. He always seemed to evade questions. Also, it appeared that he just went through the flow of things, not really standing for anything. April figured that no matter what anyone said, he would always give some sort of passive response. She felt sorry for him.

As for the major, she indeed was uncertain. Literature did seem like an ideal choice for her, but it was still a big decision. As Sam had said, there was a section in the library that could help. Maybe she would take a look in there. But, not right now. She was reading. She contemplated what she should say for a moment because she did not want to sound callus about Sam's situation. "Sorry to hear that," she finally said, trying to sound understanding. She started to look down at her book again, but she quickly looked back up. "Oh, and thanks for the advice," she added, nodding off at the aisle he had pointed out to her.

April thanked him for his advice and waited politely to see if he had anything more to add. He thought about it for a second and decided that saying something more was just asking for trouble. He smiled at her once more and went back to his papers. He knew she would not mind as she had kept a finger in her book to mark the page, which was the typical sign of someone that had only stopped reading for a second in order not to be rude. He should know he had done it often enough with his mother.

Once he had finished sorting what he would need to put back on the shelves and what he would take with him Sam took a second to think back on the conversation he had just had with April. On the whole it had been a bit of a shambles, which just went to prove that being himself did not work. It did not matter that Noel had told him that he was hiding behind a mask when he acted just the way people wanted him to. Being just Sam seemed to depress people around him, so being nice polite attentive Sam was a preferable alternative.

He decided that the next time he met April he would try to be that other Sam and see if things went better. If they didn’t than he just had to come to the conclusion that the two of them were just not compatible in any way. Slowly he gathered up his things and stood up. He would leave her the table and she would at least have room to breathe now.

“Well I’ll leave you to your reading. I guess I’ll be seeing you around then.”

With that the illusion mutant disappeared off into the aisle to return the rather large pile of books.