Rosalina was just there to see her uncle. Yes, the explorer who would be in town today, Richard Piers, was her uncle. But not that anyone else besides her knew that.
Long story short, she had a complicated family. Much more than expected, since most of them are ability users, including herself. But that wouldn't be relevant to the current moment.
Today, she just wanted to see her uncle's arrival in the city.
How long has it been since they had seen each other? 2, maybe 3 years? Enough time for her to think that he had died in some danger zone.
But knowing that he would be in the city made her happy, even if she didn't show it. She had been preparing for his arrival since... well, since she knew that he would come to the city, which was almost 5 months ago.
But she didn't expect to have company.
"When will the explorer arrive? "The girl with black and pink hair, whom Rosalina discovered to be called Isabella, asked looking around.
"Maybe in a little while" The short blond boy named Nico replied. Rosalina was 5'5 tall, and being close to Nico made her feel taller than she really was.
"Or maybe he won't even show up" Luke, one of the only ones there that she really knew, said in his debauched and relaxed way as usual.
Honestly, all the times Rosalina imagined herself coming here, she never expected to be accompanied. And much less having been invited by a friend.
Sophia was one of the few, in fact, she was the only friend Rosalina had. And this was very surprising, Rosalina had no problem with people or interacting with others, but the others always avoided her as if she was dangerous.
Some even said that she looked like someone who hated humanity and was silently wishing the death of everyone around her. This was so strangely specific that Rosalina couldn't even feel offended.
She didn't care much about what others thought of her, but she would be lying if she said she didn't care about Sophia's presence. Sophia was perhaps the only person who didn't treat her as if she were a demonic creature.
Which was also one of the reasons why she accepted the invitation to come to this "event" with Sophia and her friends. She hoped that Sophia's friends would be like her, people who would not judge Rosalina for no reason and who could become potential friends with her.
And so far, this has proven to be true. In the few minutes she was with Nico and Isabella, she could see that they were friendly and easy to deal with as Sophia. Too bad they were from a different school, otherwise it would be easier for Rosalina to become friends with them.
Luke... it was a complicated case. He didn't have the same aversion to her that most people had, but he also didn't seem very interested in being friends with Rosalina. He fell into a gray area, neither friend nor enemy, just... Luke.
Now, of all the people she could find there, the last one she expected to meet for sure was Thomas. And much less find out that he was Sophia's cousin.
Although they were in the same club, Sophia knew little about Thomas. She knew he liked to read, was a game addict, was relatively popular and also the best in school in basically any and all academic activity. But apart from that, she knew almost nothing about Thomas.
You couldn't blame her. She and Thomas weren't friends, and just like most people, Thomas seemed to have a certain aversion to her, so it was best to just stay away.
Rosalina looked at him once more. Arms crossed, back resting on a nearby wall, one leg also supported on that wall. He was looking at something or maybe thinking about something random, hard to say. Thomas was known to be someone who got distracted very easily.
"You're looking at him, you know? " Sophia said looking at Rosalina.
"Who? "
"To Tommy," Sophia said pointing to Thomas. Even with that simple gesture, Rosalina still took a while to understand that " Tommy " was Thomas' nickname " If you're planning to talk to him, give up, he's not good with people "
"We classmates" Rosalina replied " Me and him. I just didn't expect to see him here. And I also didn't expect him to be your cousin "
"Oh, makes sense" Sophia nodded in agreement "Still, if you already know him, then you already know how he's like, right? "
"Anti Social? Yes, I know " Rosalina replied.
"Is he also like that at school? "
"Isn't he always like this? "
"Well, they say that introverts become more communicative when they are in an environment where they feel comfortable" Sophia quoted something she read on some random Google website "I thought that at school he would be a little different, more communicative, more... alive"
"No, he's always like that," Rosalina replied trying to remember one moment when she saw Thomas acting differently than usual.
And the truth is that he really was always like that. Thomas and Rosalina started middle school together, about 3 months ago, and she doesn't remember a single day she saw Thomas acting differently than usual.
He would usually spend most of his time playing. Sometimes even during class. Still, he was still able to answer any question the teachers asked him. Talent was really something interesting.
"Does he have any friends in your class? " Sophia asked now a little curious.
"Yes, he has a small group of friends. A very unusual group to be honest " Rosalina while visualizing Thomas' group in her head.
Steven, Skylar, Benny, Tarah... each strange in their own way, but working better together than anyone else would expect. Maybe that's why Thomas was their friend. Strange people got along well with strange people.
Not that Thomas was strange. Well, not too strange. Just... not very common.
... Which was basically the same as strange.
Before Rosalina and Sophia could continue their conversation, a movement caught her attention and the crowd around her.
The noise of a car approaching filled the environment. Gradually, a white limousine was seen approaching and crossing the road calmly, as if there was no large crowd of people around the road.
The reaction was immediate. People trying to cross the barriers and being blocked by the surrounding guardians, while others simply started screaming as if they were at a musical concert.
Rosalina was already expecting this reaction. It was always like that. Wherever her uncle went, there was always a crowd and a mess to accompany him.
And honestly? She liked it.