Shelby stood in front of the shop, staring up at the sign. Flourish and Blotts, what a strange name. She stood with her Aunt Greta, who was greeting everyone who passed by with a bright smile, asking them how they were doing and what not. Soon she found people she wanted to catch up with and told Shelby that it would be good experience getting her school supplies on her own. Frowning, she was soon left by herself and with nothing better to do, she stepped inside the shop. 

If the outside looked daunting, the inside was ten times more. As she expected, books were everywhere. On tables, on shelves, on counters, it was more than a bit overwhelming. At least most of it was organized and she wouldn't have too much trouble looking for things on her list. 

Speaking of which, Shelby pulled out a wrinkled piece of paper from her back pocket, studying it. She had seven books to purchase and so far she could see three of them she need, The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and Book of Spells. They were probably the most common and eye-catching, so it made sense that they were up front. She picked them up and placed them in a bag she was carrying.

She decided to go look for Hogwarts, A History next. Being new to the wizarding world she had to catch up and the best way of course why by learning all about her history. She found it interesting, so interesting, in fact, that when she finally got her hands on the books she wasn't look where she was going and bumped into someone.

Wide-eyed, Shelby quickly sputtered out an apology. "I'm so sorry—you okay?" Her history book was on the floor which, she bent to pick up.

Tommy was not one bit familiar with these surroundings. His family never bothered much with the wizarding world. After his father graduated from Hogwarts, he went right back to the muggle world to his family's old dairy farm. That was how Tommy's parents met- through their farming connections in the muggle world. So, Tommy has never had quite an experience like this one. Even worse, he was here on his own. He was quite clueless. His father barely even mentioned magic anyway. Tommy sighed and looked to the list. He had already gotten everything except his books from a store called Flourish and Blotts. He didn't really understand what the name meant.. perhaps it was two names? or something?

Tommy entered the bookstore, his eyes widened as he noticed the vast amount of books in such a small amount of space. Everywhere he looked there was a book. He nearly panicked. He was never good at handling situations where there were a lot of options to look over. He breathed out deeply and tried to count in his head to remind himself this was simply a bookstore.

Whilst he was calming down he felt a thud against his body, making him step back a bit. He blinked a few times and then noticed a girl picking her book off the floor. He seemed speechless for a few minutes before finally speaking aloud. "Oh, it's quite alright! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" He quickly offered his sweaty hand, smiling the best he could without seeming totally awkward. It was pretty often that he found himself feeling this way- socially awkward that is.

She looked up to see a brown haired boy around the same age as her. That wasn't all she noticed though, he as a little...cute? Shelby's face heated as she went back to picking up her book, cuddling it in her arms instead of placing it in her bag. 

He stood there for a moment, speechless, which made Shelby nervous for a brief moment. Did he think she was weird? Ugly? Stupid? He wouldn't blame him for that last part, she definitely should've paid more attention to where she was going, but it happened, and she couldn't do anything now, especially since she already apologized.

But then the boy broke the awkward silence and asked if she were okay, which she nodded too quickly too. "Uh, yeah, I'm okay—I mean, alright, I'm alright. Fine, that is. Never been better." Oh my, she was rambling. She felt so dumb.

She accepted his hand, which she noticed was sweaty but decided to ignore. Who cared, anyway? She figured it was probably her fault that he felt nervous. He probably wished to be elsewhere, anywhere that she wasn't.

Shelby paused and thought for a moment. Why was she thinking all of this? This was very out of character for her, she was always collected, not going through a jillion insecurities about herself, like he was the Queen of England or something. He was probably a regular boy, anyways.

Clearing her throat, she introduced herself as calmly as she could. "I'm, um, Shelby Clark. A-are you here to get your books, too?" She couldn't stop looking at him, he really was good-looking! Was that strange for someone her age to think about? 

Shelby quickly got out the crumbled piece of paper, smoothing it out as much as could on a nearby book. Offering it to the boy, she said, "Here's the list—it's actually of everything we need but—" She pointed to the third section, which listed the required books. Near it was a little doodle of a weird shaped dolphin jumping over a cyclops head. Shelby cleared her throat again. "Er—that's the books we need. I can help you find them, if you want." 

Tommy had a pink tint on his cheeks as he looked at the other girl. He cleared his throat and looked around the bookstore again. Tommy looked at his own list and then to the one she had handed to him. Odd enough, his list was lacking a few books they were required to obtain. Perhaps this was because his brother had accidentally ripped the supply list when snatching it from Tommy to look at it. It was an accident, of course. Tommy's brother was no bully.

Tommy smiled at the girl and then put his own list in his back pocket. There was no point in using it now, he supposed. Once again, he fell silent. His eyes mostly concerned with the list of books. He let out a sigh before looking back to the girl. Oh dear, he was probably making her worry from his awkward silence. Finally, he cleared his throat again and smiled. "I'm... Uh... I'm Tommy. Tommy Shepherd. Just thought... Maybe you'd wanna know my name at least, huh?" The boy gave an awkward little laugh.

He stepped away from the girl to approach a bookshelf, his fingers touching each book's spine as he read the titles aloud. "The book... You have in your hands... What's that one called? I... I sorta have a hard time finding things." This revelation of his own flaw caused Tommy to turn red in embarrassment, his ears even burning hot.

"That's cool," she replied, referring to his name. All her life Shelby's been told about how her name sounded 'old-fashioned' or 'too regular', like it was some sort of food that didn't have enough spice on it, if it had any at all. They stopped saying that, though, as they got to know her.

Shelby's uneasiness began to vanish, finding it cute how awkward he was. His face was pink and he seemed nervous, it was little funny. Her interest began to fade as she went back to the task at hand. She noticed that his own list was crumbled and ripped, so badly enough that he was missing some of the books he needed. Luckily she was more than happy to help.

 "Oh, this?" She held up the book. "It's for history, quite boring, probably." She joined him. wondering towards the shelves. She scanned the covers, she was more of a visual learner. "I can help you find them, I'm good at finding things." She didn't say it in a boasting manner, she was sharing the truth, as far as she knew. She smiled at Tommy, trying to share some of her ease.

"Look," she cried, jogging down to the end of the aisle. She pulled a book off the shelf, which read Magic Theory. She offered it to her new friend and then got one for herself, placing it and the history one in her carrying bag. She then ran to go get copies of the three she already had and gave them to Tommy. Now he she should have four and they only needed to find the last two: Magical Drafts and Potions and A History of Magic. Now all they had to do was look.

As she walked, Shelby asked about him. "Is your whole family with you in Diagon Alley, like your parents, brothers, and sisters?"

Tommy smiled a bit, nobody ever called his name cool. Of course, it was a simple compliment and he now felt as if he owed the girl one in return. "I like your name too... it's... pretty!" He smiled, his eyes crinkled as he did so. The awkward male allowed for the much less awkward girl to lead the way. He wasn't much of a leader, but he was pretty good at following directions and such.

Tommy clapped his hands energetically as the girl found some of the books they both needed. He happily took them and placed them into the simple bag he was carrying with him. "Don't worry... I'll try a bit harder to... to help you find the last two!" He nodded at his own statement as if having to reassure himself.

Tommy hummed and continued his search, listening to the other talk to him. He liked being able to talk to someone new. It wasn't as scary as he thought it was going to be. His parents and older brother were the only people he really knew before this. Tommy smiled at her after a second, once hearing her question.

"No! On my own. They don't really care much for magic. My mother is a muggle and so is my brother. My dad is the one with all the magical abilities. But he doesn't even care much for it anymore. He says he prefers living a simple life. What about you?"

Cute? It took all of her will for Shelby to keep composure as if the idea of finding boring school books was more interesting than being called pretty. Well, technically he'd called her name pretty but to her, it was like the same thing.

Shelby liked the way his eyes crinkled after he said that, making her heart flutter a little. Did he know how it might make her feel, or was he just being nice? Either way, it made her want to be friends with him even more. She couldn't help it, she was a sucker for cheap compliments.

She cleared her throat quietly, browsing the books with her eyes. The titles seemed to blur together as they walked. Either that or she wasn't focusing hard enough on reading them. "Thanks." she murmured as Tommy puts his books in his own bag. She thought it was cool that they were twinning a bit, but she didn't say so aloud, fearing that it'd be weird to say 'cool' too many times.

Tommy shared that he was on his own, his family preferring to live a muggle life. She could relate, though her family was technically forced to live one, being all muggles. Well, except for her Aunt Greta, apparently. "Well, at least I'm not the only one with a muggle family 'round here—" Shelby stopped herself short; she'd let her American accent slip out, speaking without a drop of British in her. She glanced at Tommy but just kept going. "Um, I'm sort of here with my Aunt...but she went off with...friends."

She trailed off, running her finger across the spines of books. She'd found the book called Magical Drafts and Potions. She let out a small cheer and danced a little, blushing before giving it to the boy. She didn't care if he were a little weird—heck, she was too! He was her first wizard friend, the first one her own age, which she assumed because they were both searching for first-year books.

"Look, all you need to do is find the History Book, then maybe...do you want to go to get ice cream later? I mean, if it's okay with you."

The history book. Perfect. Just one more! Tommy added the newly discovered book to his bag as well. He looked back to his new friend and gave another awkward smile as she too spoke of her family. It seemed they weren't too different. He was gladdened by this. Tommy always thought he'd be so out of place at Hogwarts. Everyone seemed to be so.. talented and already had some knowledge about the wizarding world. Now, Tommy was happy to know this girl was probably not too different from himself.

He noticed how she acted when he has complimented her, but he didn't think too much of it. Tommy was quite oblivious when it came to romantic thoughts. Besides, he always told everyone that he thought love was kind of sappy and icky. He didn't care to be involved- or so he thought for now anyway.

"So, you must not be as familiar with everything just like myself! I could barely find my way around the place. At least your Aunt could help you, yeah? My father refused to come along." Tommy had noticed the change in her accent, but he considered it rude to bring such a thing up when they didn't know each other too terribly well. Besides, he aimed to be polite and kind to anyone he met- it would be a bit invasive to ask her about such a thing.