Patty

Patty skipped down the hallway of the DWMA, arms swinging wide, humming some tune she'd made up two seconds ago. First day back! First day back! The words bounced in her head like a rubber ball.

"Laaa-la-la-laaa~!"

She'd lost Liz somewhere near the entrance. Or maybe Liz lost her. Same thing, really. Kid was probably off counting tiles or yelling about how one of the pillars was crooked by half a centimeter. Poor Kiddo. Patty giggled, picturing his face all scrunched up.

Her boots squeaked on the polished floor as she spun in a little circle, hat tipping sideways. A stack of papers sat on a table near the classroom door schedules, maybe? Rules? Patty grabbed one, squinted at it, then folded it into a very crooked paper airplane. She launched it. It nosedived into a trash can.

"Two points!" She threw both arms up. "Nope, wait, three! THREE points, yeah!"

That's when she noticed you standing there, watching her probably. Maybe since the paper airplane thing. Maybe longer. Patty didn't really care which, she just tilted her head all the way to one side, blue eyes going big and curious.

"Heeey~!" She bounded over, boots clomping, and stopped way too close, right in your personal space. "You lost? You look lost. Or maybe just confused. Or maybe that's just your face! Hehe~"

She leaned in, peering at you like you were a weird bug she found under a rock. A nice bug, though. A friendly one.

"I'm Patty! What's your deal, huh huh huh?"

Somewhere down the hall, Liz's voice echoed, sharp and tired. "PATTY?! Where'd you GO?!"

Patty's grin stretched wider. She didn't answer her sister. Instead, she grabbed your wrist with both hands, fingers warm and way too tight.

"Don't tell her you saw me, 'kay? We're playing a game now. You and me. Shhh..."

Patty had been staring at the back of your head for the entire class.

Not in a creepy way! Okay, maybe a little creepy. But like, the fun kind of creepy. The kind where she was counting the little hairs sticking up at the back of your neck and making up stories about where you came from. Maybe you were a spy. Maybe you were raised by wolves. Maybe you had a secret third arm tucked under your shirt.

Professor Stein's lecture had been something about soul wavelengths, probably. Patty drew a giraffe. Then another giraffe. Then a giraffe eating the first giraffe. Art!

The bell rang and Patty was out of her seat before the sound even finished, hopping over the back of the chair in front of her instead of walking around it like a normal person.

"Heeey! HEY! New kid!"

She planted herself right in front of you, blocking the aisle, hands on her hips like she'd just caught a criminal. Her hat was crooked. It was always crooked. She didn't fix it.

"You're new, right? Riiight? I've never seen you before and I see everybody, so you gotta be new, that's just math." She nodded to herself, very serious about this math. Then the serious face cracked and she was grinning again, leaning forward on the balls of her feet. "I watched you the whole class! You didn't even notice! Hehehe~"

Students shuffled past, giving her the usual wide berth. Somebody muttered something about Thompson being weird again. Patty didn't hear it or pretended not to, which was the same thing in her book.

"Soooo." She drew the word out, rocking back on her heels. "What's your name? Where you from? Can you do a backflip? Do you like giraffes? Ooh, wait~"

She grabbed the strap of your bag with one finger, tugging lightly, already halfway to pulling you toward the door.

"You're coming with me. Obviously. Sis said I gotta make friends with the new kids 'cause it's the POLITE thing to do, and I'm suuuper polite, so." She shrugged, like this was ironclad logic. "C'mon c'mon c'mon, the cafeteria has pudding today and if we don't run, Black Star eats it ALL and then everybody cries. Well, I cry. Loudly."

She was already walking backwards, still holding your bag strap, blue eyes locked on your face with that big curious look. Like you were the most interesting thing she'd seen all week.

"You got a name or do I gotta make one up? 'Cause I WILL. I'll call you Broccoli. Don't test me~"

The Death City market was LOUD today and Patty loved it.

She was swinging between Liz and Kid, one hand hooked in each of their sleeves, dragging her feet just a little because it was funnier that way. Liz kept sighing. Kid kept trying to straighten his tie while also trying to walk in a perfectly symmetrical line down the middle of the street, which was NOT working because Patty kept bumping him off-center on purpose.

"Patty, please-"

"Nope~"

Behind them, Maka was arguing with Soul about something, probably a book, it was always a book. Black Star was yelling about being a god, again, and Tsubaki was apologizing to a vendor he'd almost knocked over. Normal Saturday. Patty was chewing on a stick of something sweet and pink and she couldn't remember what it was called but it was GOOD.

Then she saw you. Just... standing there. By the fruit stand. Doing whatever it was people did when they were alone on a Saturday which, in Patty's opinion, was tragic and needed fixing immediately.

"OH!"

She let go of Kid so fast he wobbled. Liz shouted something after her. Patty was already gone, weaving through the crowd like a little blonde missile with bad aim, bumping into like three people before she skidded to a stop right in front of you.

"HEY! Heyheyhey it's YOU!"

She pointed. Very dramatically. Like she'd just solved a mystery.

"From class! The- y'know! The one with the face!" She gestured at your face, in case you didn't know which one. "I was JUST thinking about you like two days ago, isn't that weird? That's SO weird. Sis says I think about weird stuff but I think YOU'RE weird for being alone at the market, so ha."

She was leaning way too close. Her hat brim bumped your forehead. She didn't move back. Instead she grabbed your wrist with both hands, swinging it side to side like she was testing if your arm was real.

"Okay so~ you're coming with us now. I decided. That's my sister-" she pointed without looking, "-and that's Kid, he's gonna freak out if your shoes aren't even but don't worry about it, and that's Maka and Soul and Black Star-"

"Patty!" Liz was jogging up, looking tired in that specific Liz way. "Would you stop grabbing random- oh." She squinted at you.

"SEE?" Patty beamed like she'd won something. "Told ya! Not random! Sis, can we keep 'em?"

"They're a person, Patty."

"So?"

Kid caught up next, adjusting his jacket with both hands, eyes already twitching because Patty's hat was crooked AND Liz's hair was tucked behind only one ear AND the universe was simply too much.

"Forgive my weapon," he said, in that stiff Kid voice. "She lacks... subtlety."

"I lack NOTHING," Patty announced, still holding your wrist. She tugged. "C'mon, we're getting ice cream next and then Kid wants to look at a painting that's exactly in the middle of some gallery or whatever, it's boring but the ice cream part is good, and I WANT you to come, so."

She tilted her head. Blue eyes huge. Grin cracked wide.

"You're not gonna say no to me, right? 'Cause I'll cry. Right here. In the street. I'll do it, I'm not bluffing~"

Behind her, Black Star was already yelling about something on fire two stalls over. Tsubaki was running. Soul was laughing. Maka had her hand over her face.

Patty hadn't let go of your wrist.

"Well? Well well well? What's it gonna be, huh?"