[Friday, September 3, 2004.] [Clear skies in the wake of the rain last night! It's a bright and shining new day. Rock on. To go with the day, you guys went to school in various states of mental, emotional, and physical health. Why didn't you call in sick? Who *knows*, really. Ivy seems to have. As did Jeremy. And the teacher, Luke Mendel, as you've been stuck with a substitute today.] [Lucky for the lot of you, Mr. Mendel didn't leave the quiz around for the sub to give you, so instead (turns out he wanted to teach Spanish and got stuck with a sub job) you got an impromptu language lesson instead, because nobody wanted to stay on topic. Christy dove into it with muy mucho gusto.] (>_>) [The bell's ringing about now, and the sub is waving you out the door with much Adios!] [Session Start.] * Charlotte heads through the door! She's wearing her red jeans today, and a capped black T-shirt with red lining around the collar and what passes for sleeves. * Krista closes up her notebook. Notes, even when the class makes no freaking sense, that's our Krista. She adjusts her glasses and waits for people to flee before standing up and smoothing out her very dark red long skirt and off-white blouse. Then she joins the exodus. * Veronica grumbles something under her breath when she gets out of her seat, glancing the substitute's way before she slings her backpack over one shoulder. She puts her cap on her head and calls out, "I'll see ya after school, right Christy?" [Christy grins and bounces for the door. *She* had a good time. "Will do, Rica! Your locker, not mine!"] What's wrong with your locker *this* time? * Krista slips in between Christy and Veronica's shouting match, not looking at either of them, and heads out the door and down the hall to Grandmo--er, her locker. ["Fine, my locker. Gotta run!" And she's gone.] * Charlotte stops by her locker long enough to change books and grab lunch, then it's off to the cafeteria. * Veronica shakes her head and heads out. [The cafeteria looks like it always is! Noisy rabble rabble. Looks like today's lunch is taco salad.] * Krista does about the same thing Charlotte does, but it involves stuffing her bookbag full of said books. And then cafeteria. Mmm. Not having tacos. (What's the Tabby situation?) [Tabby isn't there.] * Veronica goes about getting her lunch. Because a hungry Rica is not a happy Rica. * Krista glances around a little to see if there's people to sit with and looks slightly confused for a moment. Then she recovers and picks the least obtrusive table to sit at. [Krista has a choice of burger or chicken nuggets and fries, a salad, bagels and chips and so on, a premade sandwich (turkey or ham, with or without American cheese), fruit cups, and milk/water/apple juice.] [No soda in this cafeteria. They're behind the times.] (And Veronica can have those same choices!) (She sure can! Plus there's taco salad.) * Veronica frowns at the selection, but eventually goes with the taco salad. Because she wants to be done quick. She then heads to the nearest free table. * Krista decides to pick nuggets and a normal salad, along with juice. Mmm. Juice. Does the random table organizer put us together again? * Charlotte doesn't have to wait in line, so she just goes to wherever's convenient and takes out her lunch. Ham sandwich, an apple, some minipretzels and juice. Mmm. [The nearest free table is the one right next to the card playing freaks! And you know how the cafeteria is. Once you pick your table for the first week, you're set for life.] (Our table is labeled "Outcasts") (I don't know why the hell you all sat there!) (I took a defect to sit there.) ( Only your side of it. ) * Krista sits down at the table. She says, "Hello," politely to both and smiles a little at Charlotte as she does. [WATCH OUT, CHARLOTTE. KRISTA THINKS YOU'RE HER FRIEND.] * Charlotte waves to Krista and Veronica, smiling back. "Hi!" (It's the kiss of doom.) * Veronica sets down her tray. "Can you believe it? I studied. I actually freaking studied for once and they cancel the stupid test." * Charlotte grins. "Don't worry, I bet we'll have it on Monday instead." * Krista looks over to her and says uncertainly, "Besides... it's not bad to know the answers." Yeah. By then all of it'll have leaked out of my brain. It's already starting to be invaded with "Yo quiero" * Charlotte chuckles. "Maybe you can explain the situation before the test, then." [Tu quieres Taco Bell?] * Veronica rolls her eyes and breaks off a piece of the taco salad. "Yeah, that'll go over *real* well. 'Mr. Mendel, it's really YOUR fault I failed the test because you were absent.'" She munches, then swallows. "Look, they even got me *eating* Mexican." * Krista chuckles slightly and eats her nuggets. [The nuggets are a little chewy. Just a little.] * Charlotte asks, "How's it taste?" Before taking a bite of her sandwich. (Also, wow, you people are actually acting like a lunch group. It's so shocking.) * Veronica breaks off another piece, looks at it, tosses it inside the salady mess, and sighs. "I really wish I could go to that Chinese place again. You guys still haven't gotten those off campus stickers yet?" (In two or three weeks, we might even like each other.) * Krista blinks. "W-what?" * Charlotte shakes her head. * Veronica looks at Krista steadily. "Off-campus stickers. You know. So you can go off-campus for lunch? Don't tell me you actually like being trapped in this pla--" * Veronica stops herself, looks at Krista, then goes back to eating. * Krista looks slightly down before picking up more food. "I only... have a half lunch anyway." (Too busy being embarassed to notice anything.) (I find it amusing that Veronica's awesome is Charlotte's orz.) (Dicy wants you all to take dirtnaps) (Hey! That's perceptive for Veronica!) [Veronica and Charlotte spot Tabitha entering the cafeteria. Her arms are full of books, as usual, and she has an overstuffed backpack, as usual, and a brown paper bag dangles from her hand, as usual. She stands at the bottom of the stairs going in, looking around.] * Krista takes the pause from after her statement to eat, then adds, "I'm sure you can enjoy it, though." * Veronica glances at Tabitha and goes a bit pale before looking back down at her lunch, going quiet. * Charlotte spots Tabitha and says, "Huh. It's Tabitha." She's the observant one in the group. * Krista smiles and looks over her shoulder to see her. "It is not that odd. She was in class earlier." * Charlotte shrugs and goes back to eating. [Tabby sees Krista! She smiles a little and heads that way, then sort of stops when she sees Veronica. Oh, awkward.] * Veronica doesn't acknowledge Tabitha. She's busy eating taco salad. Because taconess is goodness! [It's cheese meat cheese meat cheese and that's it! Oh, and some tortilla and vegetables, too.] * Charlotte glances back at Tabby during the awkwardness and waves briefly, then goes back to eating. * Krista speaks up when she closes, not quite catching the awkwardness. "How are you, Tabitha?" [Tabitha blinks, then walks over the rest of the way. "I'm doing okay. How're you?" She glances at Veronica nervously before having a seat by Krista on the nerd half of the table.] (*gives Krista another "social cluelessness" stripe. It's a badge of honor.*) (Look, Perception 2.) (I'm book smart. I'm not streetwise.) * Veronica doesn't look up from her salad. "How's Sunny doing?" * Krista replies, "Well..." and then trails off as Veronica inserts herself into the conversation. [Tabby fumbles and nearly drops her lunch bag, having already placed her books to one side. "She's... all right. Her uncle made her make me lunch for today."] (And breakfast) * Veronica looks up suddenly, all sense of awkwardness gone. "Get out! What kind?" [The poor girl looks totally taken aback, but she pushes her glasses up before reaching into her bag and pulling out a tupperware container and a plastic fork. It takes a little bit of doing, but Tabby pries off the lid, and underneath is rice, barbeque pork, and bamboo shoots.] * Krista goes back to eating silently. She can't even have friends now! * Charlotte peers at it. "Wow, that's...." words fail her. * Veronica chimes in for Charlotte. "Real food?" Is that .... * Charlotte takes a guess. "Chinese?" [Her face is bright red, and she looks like she wants to hide under the table. "Yes."] Oh. Looks good. ( Looks like a meal that would make a panda very happy :o ) I didn't know Sunny was a cook. * Krista glances over and opens her mouth like she was gonna say something... then decides to go back to eating instead. ["I... guess, for her uncle? If he doesn't want to cook? I don't know." She turns the fork in her hands, looking at the food uncertainly.] So, Krista, how have you been? Then why did he... * Veronica suddenly stops herself and looks down at the food, picking at it again. * Krista looks up at Charlotte, through her glasses, then says, "Ah... well, Charlotte." She glances over at the other two girls. Good. * Veronica isn't talking any more at the moment. Yeah, awkward. * Krista bites her lip for a moment, then tentatively offers, "I hadn't realized you'd made so many upperclass friends, Tabitha." * Charlotte tilts her head. "This Sunny.... Is that short for Sun-Niang?" [Tabby pokes at the food. It does look good, but at the same time, she seems afraid of taking a bite. "Um, yes. And I didn't realize I did, either?"] Oh. * Veronica looks up at Charlotte. "You know Sun-Niang?" * Krista looks between all three of them now before going back to nuggetchewin'. ["Do you kno-" She stops and pokes at her food some more before having a bite. Apparently, it's pretty good, because she has a little more.] Kinda. Her uncle opened a new shop recently, right? ["I don't know if it's new, but they have a store. With pets and... imports?"] Yeah. God, he's a weird little troll. (... deja vu.) * Charlotte nods. "He got my phone number somehow, and wouldn't leave me alone until I went down there." She makes a face and starts on her apple. * Veronica blinks and looks at Charlotte. "He *what*? * Krista blinks too, but she's not looking at anyone so it's probably easy to miss. * Charlotte leans away from Veronica. "Uh?" * Ardweden blinks at Charlotte, too. [And so does Tabby! Oy.] (Random asian girl at our table!) ( Oh come on, GM, you remember that. ) (Score. Don't mind me; I'm on the other end of the table.) (She's watching the crazy kids play cards) Doesn't that count as, like, stalking or something? How did he even get your phone number? I have no idea. * Krista says, "That is awfully insistent for a pet shop." [Tabby nibbles at her food a little more. "He is a little... crazy."] * Charlotte nods. "I'll say." * Veronica stares at Tabby. "A *little*"? [Tabby tries to fade away! It doesn't work. "Yeah?"] What's with him? You seem to know him pretty well. * Krista brushes some of her hair back behind her shoulder as she waits to gather enough information to join in. (Was she addressing Veronica or Tabby?) ( Both ) * Veronica shrugs. "I just met him last night. If ya ask me, he seems senile." ["Um, I don't." She has another piece of pork, then looks at her lunch, looks at Krista, and asks, "Want some?"] * Krista looks over at Tabby and smiles before shaking her head. "No, I've got plenty to eat. Thank you for offering." [She nods and goes back to picking- er, eating her lunch.] Oh. You sounded like you did. And he made you lunch, so I thought... ["That was because of something else."] * Charlotte tilt her head the other way, then shrugs and goes back to eating. * Veronica picks at her food idly. "Yeah." So Sunny's forgiven you? [Tabby nods, still looking at her food.] * Veronica doesn't know what else to say so leaves it at that. * Krista smiles a little and interjects, "That's good. Forgiveness is important." ["Especially when it was a mistake anyway. I think."] * Charlotte finishes her apple. "What was?" * Krista nods along. [Tabby keeps looking at her food. "She thought something was, um... my fault. But it wasn't. That's why she made me lunch."] Oh. * Veronica lets Tabby handle this. Since it's her doing it and all. * Krista glances over to Tabby and says, "Well, as long as you forgive her too." She takes a drink. [She nods quickly. "It's okay. I already told her."] * Veronica looks up at Tabby for a moment. "Do you know where Sunny is now?" [Tabby shrugs. "Class?"] * Veronica sighs. "She doesn't have this lunch period then?" [She shakes her head. "I don't think so." Pause. "Maybe she does, but I haven't seen her anywhere."] She goes to this school? How would I find out? I mean, I could ask her, I guess, but I meant today. [Tabby nods at Charlotte. Then she has some more food! Mmm, Chinese food.] Hm. I haven't seen her around. * Veronica gets up suddenly, picking up her half-eaten tray. "I need to go." [Tabby blinks at Veronica. "Okay?"] What's up? * Veronica doesn't answer because she's already half walking off, dumping her tray and exiting. * Krista looks up, quickly swallowing whatever she's eating to say, "Ah... have a good... period..." she trails off. * Charlotte boggles. "What was that all about? (...) [Tabitha looks a little baffled, too. "I don't know?"] (Is it bad that I took Krista's comment and thought "Veronica's PMSing!") (Yes.) (I thought that, too!) (Okay, it occurred to me as I typed it, but I don't CARE. They're PERIODS.) * Krista looks back to her food. "I suppose she is busy... or perhaps looking for 'Sunny'." She says her name with the tinge of 'I don't know who the heck this person is' that one might expect. * Charlotte nods. "She wasn't exactly subtle about it." I thought looking for people was normal? [Tabby pokes at and eats food. Go her!] Not generally with that sense or urgency. * Krista mms a little and demures. "I wouldn't know." More lunching. ( Because I never look for 'people') (You're on the right track!) [Tabitha stops, her food half-eaten. "Do you want some?" she asks, again. She doesn't look like she wants to finish.] (At me directly, again?) (Both of you.) * Charlotte shakes her head. "Thanks, but I'm full." She's probably not full, but bamboo shoots? Yuck. * Krista waits for Charlotte to answer and then decides to change her answer. "Well...of course." [Tabby slides the rest of her lunch to Krista. It looks better than chicken nuggets. "I'll get another fork." She gets to her feet and heads for one of the lines to do that.] * Krista lets her do that and gets a warm smile once she looks away, seeming... self-satisfied, perhaps. * Charlotte waits until she's significantly far enough away before saying, "So, um... I kind of wanted to talk to you about last night. I guess now's not a good time, but maybe later?" reason, I (and Summer, I think) got confused there. *rewrites*) * Krista is shaken out of self satisfaction and nods slightly at Charlotte, oozing sympathy as she says, "Yes, sure." A pause, then, "Ah... I am not sure when I could, though... having to pick up my brother." A beat of pause, then a small smile. "Maybe... not food this time." We could meet somewhere. * Krista chews her lip a moment before saying, "I... ah... perhaps at church..." she trails off, then backpedals. "Or somewhere else... at about four thirty...?" Maybe a park? (Name, oh venerable tour guide? ^_~) ( Don't look at me >.> ) (I mean Ard.) (Where do you want to go? ;P) (Is there any reasonable parks, uh, in general range?) (That you'll assign a name to/have already?) (There's a playground about three blocks from the school. It doesn't have a name that you can remember, but it's the only one nearby.) * Krista nods a little and says, "Well, there's the playground..." she even points helpfully that-ways. Sure, that would be good. * Krista nods and confirms, "Four-thirty." She takes a drink, too, as she waits for a fork. * Charlotte nods. "Okay." [Right about now, Tabby returns with a plastic fork! Victory! She gives it to Krista.] * Krista gets forked, says, "Thank you," and digs in to her gifted food. ["You're welcome." Tabby regains her seat and takes one of her books, opening it up and flipping through. It's physics. Ew.] [The food's good! Lukewarm, but it kept well.] * Krista glances over and swallows before ask-saying, "Brushing up for discussion?" * Charlotte doesn't seem interested in physics. Go fig. ["Mmm hmm." Tabby flips through the pages. "It'd be easier if we could use Calculus."] * Krista replies, "Better, maybe, but... well, funding. You know." ( It would be easier if we could use Calculus. Can I roll to see if Charlotte knows his number? ) (Rimshot!) ["Yeah. Plus, I don't think everyone in our class is taking it."] [Krista realizes they have five minutes left to eat before they need to run to class!] ( Too low. Krista suffers a brain anurism and dies. ) * Krista nods a little to agree and speeds her eating up to compensate! [And so, they ate and went to class! The day goes on.] [Session End.]