Hello viewers! Flamestone here with my first one-shot! It's a sorry excuse for a one-shot though. I had so many ideas for it and it just came out in a jumbo of a mess.

The alarm rang loudly, waking the boy from his peaceful slumber. The boy unwillingly opened his eyes, revealing his dull lime eyes. The boy never liked getting up to the sound of the alarm, but with his long nights studying and his extra tiring work, he had no choice but to wake to his alarm every day. Still that never changed that fact that he hated it or the fact that he wasn't a morning person. He never liked getting up early. Especially when the weather was gloomy as today. These kind of days, he just wanted to stay home in bed and sleep the day away. The falling rain did not help his situation either. If anything it strengthened his urge to snuggle deeper into his warmth of his bed. But the ringing of the alarm reminded his better judgment to get out of bed and start the day.

The boy turned his head towards the ringing clock and turned the thing off. No matter how much he hated it, the boy pulled himself out of bed and dragged his tired body to washroom for a wash. A wash in the morning always helped his dazed state to wake up.

He let out a satisfied sigh when he stepped out washroom after his wash. He quickly redressed himself and then went on to getting his bag and schoolwork. The place he called home wasn't very large, but it still had everything he needed since he lived alone. It was stuffy at times, but it was nothing he couldn't bear. He couldn't afford anything larger anyway.

The boy picked up his pale blue umbrella and stepped out the door. He effortlessly slid down large railings by the stairs in the apartment. He swiftly pulled out his umbrella and put over his head. He formed a small nod of contentment. He always liked the sound of the rain hitting the roof of the umbrella. It was soothing to him somehow. But really he liked it when it rained. His father used to tell him how his eyes would shine when it rained.

"Hugo!"

The boy looked up at the call of his name. He smiled as he recognized the man who called him. The man was friend to him of sort. They always got on at the same stop in the morning, so they eventually started to have conversations while they waited for their bus. Well one way conversation since Hugo rarely talked. He never liked talking or communicating with other people. But Hugo would still nod here and there and answered to yes or no questions. He never seemed to mind.

"Good morning!" The man said in glee.

"Good morning, David," Hugo mumbled in response.

"Quiet as per usual," David mused.

Hugo sent him an apologetic smile, which David just waved off.

"I hope high-school is treating you well, because work hasn't been very nice to me these days," David paused to fidget with his watch.

Hugo noticed him do this whenever he felt stressed or nervous, Hugo assumed it was latter.

"My boss is working me like a hamster. But it's always like this when payment day comes around," David sighed in defeat, but quickly cheered up as saw a bus pull up to their stop.

Hugo scrunched his face quizzically. David usually didn't get on the bus going downtown.

"I have some extra work in downtown. So I must be leaving now. Until next time," David answered as if sensing his confusion. "Have fun at school!" David added and before boarding the bus.

Hugo silently nodded and gave him small wave. He sat down on the bench at the stop and sighed. He was going need to survive another long and tiring day.

Hugo would've liked the day far more if it was uneventful like countless days before. But obviously lady luck wasn't smiling on him today.

"Well, are we going to start anytime soon?"

Hugo groaned. This Isabelle girl was persistent. He had already told her that he could do this by himself. Usually people would jump at the idea, since Hugo never failed to get anyone a perfect score for these partner project. But clearly she had different ideas.

"I'm not going just sit by and watch my so called partner do all the work for the project," Isabelle said with a scoff.

Hugo looked at Isabelle with pleading eyes. He really didn't like working with other people. They rarely helped and when they tried to, they only got in his way. Which was why he preferred working alone. "Like I said, I like working alone," Hugo retorted in irritation.

"So you can talk! I was beginning to wonder if I imagined our conversation we had before," Isabelle remarked in exasperation.

"Of course, I can talk," Hugo muttered in reply.

"Then stop being so anti-social!"

"I'm not anti-social."

"Being enigmatic really doesn't suit you."

"This argument is pointless."

"Of course it is! If you were willing to work together we wouldn't even be having this argument!" Isabelle exclaimed in with a huff. Which brought a lot of glares from people who were used usual quiet library.

"If you were willing to let me do the work, we wouldn't be having this argument either," Hugo responded sharply.

"Two types of people," Isabelle muttered and collapsed on her desk. "I promise I won't get in your way."

Hugo softened at her defeated library figure. There weren't a lot of people this passionate about work. "You promise?" Hugo asked meekly.

"I promise," Isabelle replied with a hopeful eye.

"Alright then."

"Really?" Isabelle asked uncertainly.

Hugo nodded. He was going give this a try before judging this time. Isabelle seemed like a reliable person.

Isabelle immediately brightened at his sudden change of heart. "What book shall we do our report for?"

"Harry Potter?"

"Boring."

"Hunger Games?"

"Dozens of people did that one already."

"Robin Hood?"

Isabelle's eyebrow furrowed in thought, and then quickly smiled at Hugo for his suggestion. "I like that. I think we should go with that."

"You do?" Hugo asked with mild surprise.

"Yes, I do."

Hugo smiled back at Isabelle. It's been a while since he had a real conversation with anyone.

"You could smile?" Isabelle asked in amazement.

Hugo chuckled at her in response.

"You can even laugh?" By now Isabelle's eyes bulged out in astonishment. "You should do that more often, a scowl is hardly a desirable trait."

Hugo gave at good hearted laugh from Isabelle's reaction, which brought a lot of odd stares from people, since Hugo never laughed. It actually surprised him too, he didn't what Isabelle did but she could make him irritated one moment and then laugh gleefully the next. He didn't what it was, but he for sure did not mind.

"We better find the book before school ends," Isabelle said with a grin of her own.

Hugo nodded. This was his first time he had a conversation with Isabelle, but for certain it wasn't going to be his last. He hoped it could become a good friendship later on. It would be a nice change from usual quiet life. He knew it wasn't going to be very quiet from now, but he didn't want it in any other way anymore.

This in fact is a one-shot but I will be serializing this once I finish my first story. That is my plan at least. And I will be writing more one-shots about their high-school life taking place in the modern days of course. But I will be doing more in the future. So look forward to them, even though this was a mess.

Thanks

Flamestone