Lucille Faraday
Location: Pinefall High - Cafeteria
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain
Originally Posted by
Lucille
“Is there something you had in mind?”
Caleb shook his head.
"Not exactly. We're just asking if people want to join us. For the movie night," he explained in his usual curt way. "If you have other things in mind, that's alright. Despite the weather, shopping sounds more... outgoing than being cooped up inside. Watching movies. In a stuffy common room. On an old TV."
Inacio chuckled at the description, but didn't deny it. Then again, there wasn't really much point to denying it, as they had all seen the common room of the dormitory. While the janitor of this school had clearly done his best to clean the place up and get rid of the dust, it was still and old room with old furniture. Perhaps the massive budget of the Oceandrop Program had not reached all the way there, or perhaps the students were expected to make the room their own, but nevertheless...
...It certainly was 'stuffy' as Caleb put it.
"Oh, right, there was something I wanted to ask you," Inacio suddenly piped up and looked at Lucille. "After that amazing badminton game on our first day here, I hear you became something of a friend to Mercedes West? Is there any truth to that?"
Something twinkled in Caleb's eyes, and he nodded, looking surprisingly determined.
"...Yes. I want to know, too," Caleb agreed. "Is she as haughty as she looks? Or worse?"
...Somehow it felt that these boys had some ulterior motives when it came to inquiries about the actress.
Vier Wolff
Location: Pinefall High- Cafeteria
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994(FRI)
Weather: Rain
Originally Posted by
Vier
“Hey Gabi and Mrs. Bahkauv, I know it’s a bit unironic coming from me, but if Aleen wanted to tell you she would have. So could you please stop? Class is coming up and I think we’re running out of time to eat. Unless you plan on going hungry during class...”
Gabi'smouth snapped shut.
The red eyes stared now at Vier instead of Aleen... and that ghost of a smile still stayed on the boy's lips. Tension around the table seemed to grow heavier and heavier, and even Tonkori looked like he was ready to jump at the boy in order to defend Aleen at this point. But, after 10 seconds of this uneasy quiet that seemed to have no end."
"...okay."
Gabi blinked once and the dead, hollow look in his eyes were gone, and the once glazed-over color became vibrant and full of life once more. Then, as if nothing had happened, the boy took hold of his sandwich once more and started munching on it, taking small, careful bites that his tiny mouth allowed him. Subaru, who was sitting next to the boy, glanced at Aleen and Vier in confusion and slight worry, clearly not able to fully believe that the situation had been resolved with just that.
But apparently it had.
Just like that, like with a snap of fingers.
Aleen on the other hand, having been shivering in fear and something else all this time, finally got back the control of her breathing and her bearings. She stopped hugging herself so strongly and instead wiped her eyes with her arm, trying to hide the fact that tears had been gathering in her eyes. Once she had had a moment for herself, Aleen sneaked a grateful glance towards Vier and whispered something so quiet that only her friend could hear:
"...Thanks..."
And in the background, Gabi was looking at his own sandwich, lifting the top-bun slightly and fishing out a single slice of a pickle from inside. He stared at the green thing with a very troubled expression, causing both Subaru and Tonkori to tilt their heads quizzically at this scene. Then, holding that perfect poker face of his, Gabi opened his mouth and...
"...I might be..."
Both the girl and her dog grimaced.
"...in a pickle..."
And with Gabi's high-pitched, extremely quiet, uncontrolled laughter echoing in their ears, the breakfast continued like nothing had ever happened.
Alexstrasza Lockhart
Location: Pinefall High Main Building - Reference Library
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather:Rain
There was a long, heavy, annoyed sigh.
Then,without a warning, Mercedes West stood up from her seat, leaving the book she had been puzzling over on the table. The look she gave to Alexstrasza from the higher vantage point was not as disdainful or disgusted as it was before... but it wasn't friendly or warm either. Instead, there was something unknown in it, something that only the starlet knew or understood. A glare of someone watching an animal trying to catch its own tail, spinning in useless circles because they thought that there was nothing wrong with acting like that.
Mercedes West didn't pity Alexstrasza Lockhart - In the end, she found her boring.
That much was clear.
"...Whatevah. You keep telling yourself, like, whatever helps you sleep at night. Drown in your delusions and die," Mercedes coldly spat out her words. "What they believe, what you believe... it ain't changing shit. We all were, like, dealt cards by life when we were born. You can bluff all you want, but the moment someone calls your bluff, your game ends. Nobody will play with your anymore. That's what happens to those who ain't happy with the roles we were meant to play."
Grabbing her school bag, Mercedes started walking away from the table, heading for the door that would lead back into the corridors of the main building. Having got halfway to the door, Mercedes stopped one last time and looked at Alexstrasza over her shoulder. While her eyes held that same emotion of being disappointed... it now had something else in it was well. It wasn't warm, more somewhere close to lukewarm, but it existed: those eyes who had seen this same play happen over and over again.
"People don't change. Like, they never do. I mean, duh, if we did, world wouldn't be in the gutter," Mercedes quietly spoke. "The sooner you learn it the better. And when you've, like, destroyed all your relationships... when they find out their friend never existed... I'll be waiting. Waiting to mock you with an'I told you so'."
Her eyes now looked somewhere far beyond the window, in the past.
"...You can count on that. So feel free to, like, seek me out then. I'm always up for mocking you. So don't worry."
Then, starting on her way again, Mercedes waved her hand as a goodbye without looking back at Alexstrasza, walking out of the door and back to the corridor.
"So why don't you, like, try your hand at that damn cipher if it arouses you so much~?"
And with that last rude, sing-song sentence, the actress left the room.
[SCENE END /// Move to NEXT Phase!]
Anna Vandemeel
Location: Road’s End - End's Store & Post
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 09.09.1994
Weather: Rain
Originally Posted by
Anna
“Wouldn’t be surprised if some folks from school decided to form a mystery club or something else along those lines with all this material floating about. These types of urban legends are quite popular amongst teenagers, you know. More hopeful Kalle Blomkvists around then you can shake a stick at.”
Sue tilted her head in confusion, putting a finger on her chin and mouthing quietly the word: "Kalle Blomkvist...?". It was quite clear the shop-owner had not understood the reference, but she smiled all the same. As she had listened to Anna talk, Sue had busied her hands with applying price tags to... some sort of stuffed dolls? One was a blonde girl in a white dress, smiling an arrogant smile that showed a pronounced canine tooth. The other was a blonde boy with white jacket and mane-like hair and a rather dorky-looking scowl.
"Well, the forest is a big part of the town's identity. It was the source of livelihood for a long time, but also a dangerous place, so it's no wonder there are so many tales about it," Sue answered. "But if you or your friends decide to research local folklore, please be careful. Ghostwoods are a big place and it's easy to get lost, even if you're an experienced hiker. And, um... I think Shane is a bit afraid of the scarier stories. Y'know, ghosts and stuff. So be careful."
Looking at the boy, at least for now he didn't seem to be afraid of such things. If anything, he was especially animated and lively, reading a superhero comic book (Excalibur, was it?) and getting so invested in the action and the story that he was mouthing said words, making fist-pump motions and pretty much bringing the adventures on those pages to life with his actions. Sue looked over the boy's goofing off with a warm smile, like an actual older sibling or an aunt of some kind. It was clear that store-owner was very familiar with the 'Mitchell Boys' as she called the brothers and their antics, fond of them even.
"Oh! Actually, in case you're interested in that kinda stuff, you might want to visit Tommy at his junkyard. He has native ancestry so he knows a lot about the local folklore," Sue continued. "That or talk to that singer at the Big Boy's bar. She's been collecting all sorts of old poems and songs from the area and making them into quite snazzy ditties that she then performs."
These words were followed with a rather stern, older-sister-like expression and raised, warning index finger.
"Oh, but don't go there after 10 PM!" Sue warned. "I heard that you guys have a strict curfew... plus a bar is not a place for underage kids!"
Surprisingly stickler for rules, this store-owner.
Elise Pelltier
Location: Pinefall High Dormitory - Kitchen
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain
Originally Posted by
Elise
“Give me the front half of that paper and I'll pretend to be a grumpy morning hating person. Deal?”
Travis cocked an eyebrow at the girl, but after a moment of thinking he took out the front half and slid it across the table for Elise to read. The half that the boy was left with seemed to be the sports section, talking about the recent loss of their high school football team The Bigfoots, the success of their swimming team and how one of them might have been heading to Olympics, and something about group of old mascot-suits being sold to the local school (in other words, Pinefall High) There even was a picture of a some young girl with charcoal hair on a ponytail holding up a trophy from some riding competition or another.
"... Deal. I'll take that over seeing someone being so damn cheerful even though it's raining," Travis said after returning to his own half of the paper. "All the offense, but seeing someone so happy this early is annoying as fuck."
For a moment the boy returned to his cup of coffee, drinking it down with one big swig. He paused his reading to refill the same cup before returning to the table... but apparently, the sports-section wasn't enough to grab his attention. Instead he half-glared Elise over the newspaper, looking like he wanted to say something but searching for the right (and most offensive) words to phrase it with.
Finally, Travis opened his mouth again.
"Anyways, the paper was left behind by that crazy French dyke. The one that dresses up like a dude. Probably fished it out of some garbage bin or another," he explained without really being asked to.
Then, narrowing his eyes, he stared straight at Elise with an inquisitive, and rather rude, aura.
"... So. You're also from the north, huh? Can almost smell the beaver shit since we're so close to border, huh?" He asked. "So, what province? No, wait, lemme guess..."
Travis mimed concentrating and looking Elise up-and-down, before breaking into a rude, vulgar smile as his eyes stopped at her torso area.
"Well. Judging from the flatness of the landscape I see, I guess Saskatchewan."
Apparently the gear in the boy's head had been switched into 'Asshole' once more.
Prushka & Hisa Momoi
Location: Pinefall High - Cafeteria
Phase: Morning Phase
Date: 08.09.1994 (FRI)
Weather: Rain
Originally Posted by
Hisa
"It is alright, I'm kind of okay with everything...Long as they are not all butchered into one big mess of a meal, like...Uh...That one sandwich our young and still growing friend is making there. I don't think I'll get any bigger than I already am, though...I'm 19, barely even a teen now, so...I'm pretty much at my peak."
"Hey! I'm just hungry! No need to food-shame me, Hisanator!" Pyry protested with a grin, bumping the scarred girl's shoulder gently with his fist. "But, uhm, sorry to say, but... 19 really isn't that different from 16. I mean, the body might grow but the way I see it, and the way every adult says it, that's still pretty much a teenager. Half a year or so isn't a big rift between you and, for example, me."
Pyry finished up his gigantic sandwich and made a vague gesture with his hand, as if to mimic the hazy line between 18 and 19 that, according to him, wasn't that big of a thing. And judging from the easygoing tone that he spoke with, he really didn't see any difference between himself, Prushka and Hisa at least when it came to age. After all, they were all classmates at the end of the day. Still, this way of thinking that age meant less and less especially after you passed 15 years old was a rather mature way to look at it... something unexpected from the boy.
"So, even if you don't grow any taller from that, stop talking like you're about to hit midlife-crisis. You're still plenty young, after all," Pyry continued with a wink. "And like both of you said... even if you had weirdly militant-mindset about it... more height isn't always good. As cliche as it probably sounds, you look good just the way you are. I mean, it'd be ridiculous if you were as tall as me. Heck, even me being as tall as I am is ridiculous!"
Pyry chuckled at his own words, pausing his talking for a moment to take a big bite out of his colossal breakfast sandwich. How the boy could fit his mouth around it, how he had enough jaw-strength chew through it all and how his jawbone didn't get dislocated from the effort was a mystery. But judging from the blissful expression on his face, it had all had been worth it - both Prushka's choice of ingredients as Pyry's own efforts in building the monstrosity he now ate.
"Anyways, I'll get some of those vitamins later for you," Pyry spoke (mouth still half-full) and looked at Prushka. "Like I said, I'm not sure if they'll work. I was pretty tall even before, especially after they in---, especially after my first big growth spurt."
For some reason Pyry corrected himself, changing what he had been about to say. The boy even had a momentary guilty expression on his face that lasted for all half-a-second.
"By the way, either of you have any weekend plans?" Pyry asked, having finished chewing. "I haven't been looking around the town that much yet, so I was thinking of heading out later tonight and maybe even tomorrow. You know, see the sights and take in the local atmosphere. So if either of you have nothing better to do, I wouldn't mind company."
A somewhat excited grin appeared on the boy's face.
"Plus I haven't taken my baby out on a ride after we hauled all that stuff on the beach."