[Thursday, September 9, 2004.] [It's been a rather chilly day for some reason, with a large amount of wind, but the sky is still clear and sunny. Everyone's been talking about what happened and pestering the lot of you with questions if you let them. A number of students swear they saw police in the building, too, though none of you have.] (Except Luke. Nobody questions The Luke.) (They do, but he convinces them that these are not the droids they're looking for. Move along.) [But life goes on! Right now, it's going on in fourth period English. The bell just rang. *That* means you're in your seats. Or, uh... not, but then you're late. The corner and wall where Charlotte threw the whatever-it-was is still scorched.] [The other students are unusually subdued, and nobody seems to want to look at it too hard. Creaky Desk Guy has even moved one desk to the side because of it.] [Session Start.] (He's going to need a new name.) (He'll find a way to creak it.) (Ex-CDG?) (The artist formerly known as CDG?) (The student formerly known as CDG. We'll call him &. ) (There should be an RPG on sandwich where all the PCs are named after punctuation.) (Init order: &, %, #, $.) * Krista is at her desk! Gasp! She hasn't been eying the fiery place, instead focusing on the delicious world of school. Not wet school. (Those damned commas get a lot of turns.) * Charlotte shambles over to her desk and sits down. Her arm's still in a cast. She glues her eyes to the desk. No, not literally. ($ has henchies.) * Veronica is in her desk, looking slightly uneasy. She whispers across to Christy. "We shouldn't have even had to come to school today..." * Luke's sitting down behind his desk. He's wearing a pale cream coloured shirt. His briefcase is standing next to his chair. [Ivy and Jeremy are not present.] * Luke waits a moment longer than usual for the class to settle down. * Ivy is... at the door! She really doesn't look like she wants to be there. In fact, she looks damn near terrified. She's... not moving from the door. [Jeremy's right there next to her, trying to tug her in. "Come on. It'll be okay."] [This from the guy who was holding a hurt Charlotte yesterday. Great lie, Jeremy.] ( Come on! I promise you if anyone bursts into flames, it'll be me before you! ... *flees*) (You CHEATER.) * Ivy looks over to Jeremy like he she does not at ALL believe him. * Krista doesn't catch Ivy at the door! Nope. She's sitting there waiting for class, tapping her pencil on the desk idly. (Nix that he in there.) * Luke looks over at Jeremy and Ivy, to see how things are working out with the whole attempt to get her to enter the class. ["Look, Ivy, there's..." He sighs. "I'll, um. Give you a cookie?" Jeremy reaches into his bag and pulls out a small ziplock bag full of EL Fudge cookies.] ( Hey, I got burned and nobody gave me a cookie! :( ) * Veronica just turns and STARES at Jeremy now. (You got free ice cream. >.> <.<) (Nobody gave Jeremy a cookie when his right hand got burned, either. It's only fair!) * Ivy eyes the bag of cookies with interest. Still somewhat frightened interest, but interest nonetheless! She glances to the classroom, frowns, glances back to Jeremy, frowns, but finally, after far too long, grabs the bag and takes a good couple of steps inside the classroom. (The cookies are also cursed.) (Damn!) * Luke, seeing the crisis at the door is averted, stands up. "Good morning." * Ivy answers Luke by sticking a cookie in her mouth. [Jeremy smiles encouragingly and leads her to her desk, far away from the burned marks. There are a few snickers from the class, and a combination of Jeremy giving the ol' I'm-a-jock-and-will-kick-your-ass look and Luke's "Good morning" shuts them up.] * Ivy sits down, glancing over at the burn marks. She frowns yet again... while she chomps on that cookie. ( I hope it's an amnesia cookie.) (Ha.) * Krista looks to Luke! Class... yay? * Veronica looks at Jeremy a little longer, because she could probably kick his ass instead, but eventually pays attention to Luke. [Jeremy sits next to her, looking relieved.] "I'm sure none of you want to be here. Even compared to normal." [There's some mutters of agreement. A few people look in Charlotte's direction, then back at Luke. Jeremy plays with the gauze that's still over his own hand.] * Veronica raises her hand and speaks. Well, she forgot the wait to be called on part. "Why aren't they holding off school to look into this?" * Charlotte doesn't look at them! * Krista sucks the corner of her lips for a moment and glances over at Charlotte the returned, then back to Luke. "I have no idea." Luke shrugs. * Veronica leans in her palm, elbow on her desk. "That's not much of an answer, Mr. Mendel." (Poor Veronica. She wants answers! Now! Right now!) (;_;) (Sometimes, I wish she were like Ivy. Less answers, more cookies.) (Mmm, cookies.) (What a life.) (There's a moral there, I'm sure of it.) * Ivy eats another cookie! She puts the rest in her bag as she happily munches. Pulling out a notepad and pencil, she can't help but glance back over to the fire damage once more. "You're right. It's not much of an answer. Unfortunately, it's all I've got at the moment." * Veronica murmers something in response but doesn't speak up again just yet. * Ivy glances over to Jeremy for a moment, bites her lip, and writes something down on her notepad. She passes it over to Jeremy. [Jeremy takes it and looks. OMG NOTES.] * Krista nods a little to herself and adjusts her glasses. ( ~I wanted chocolate inside and shortbread outside. These are chocolate outside, white filling inside.~) [He takes out his pencil and scribbles something underneath what Ivy wrote, handing it back.] * Ivy frowns down at the paper and writes something else. Back to Jeremy! [He... uh, stares at it for a bit, trying to figure this out.] * Charlotte doesn't write notes. How boring. "Good thing this isn't a quiz, or an answer like that would have me failing." Luke picks up his briefcase and strolls around to the front of his desk. * Krista looks to Luke and offers hesitantly, "So... what are we going to do today, Mr. Mendel?" Apparently she doesn't like sitting around and not doing schoolwork. ( You will be writing a seven page essay on how the fire in the classroom is a form of symbolism in Hamlet.) "I'm going to be speaking with Principal Sheldon about switching us to another classroom, but for today, we're going outside, Krista. I think we'd all prefer that to staying in here." (WOO. Time for the vamps to burn.) * Veronica blinks and stares at that. So wasn't expected. [People perk up at that. There's murmuring and yay! Christy asks, "Can we get our jackets?"] * Ivy doesn't have to be asked twice. Not waiting for Jeremy's response, she stands up, grabs her bag, and walks out of the classroom! She does, however, wait for the others in the hall. [Jeremy is still looking at the notepad when Ivy does that, but he catches her in the corner of his vision. "Ivy, wait!" Seems he's worried she'll just run off. Wonder why.] [He figures out she isn't, though, and grabs his stuff and walks out after her.] * Veronica doesn't ask; she just grabs her jacket and stuff and says to Christy, "Come on. It's better than staying cooped up in here." * Ivy looks a lot less tense now that they're in the hallway. * Krista's eyes widen and she pulls up her stuff into her arms to shuffly slowly out. (Krista is shocked! This is unprecedented.) (You're being weird!) (Luke? Weird? Never.) (Wait, Luke is being weird?) (It is shocking.) (I mean, for Luke?) "You can get your jacket, Christy, unless you try to convince me that locker is a half hour's walk from here." Luke smiles. "I expect anyone who leaves to meet us outside within five minutes," he adds. ["Rock on!" Christy jumps to her feet, grabs her stuff, and is out the door the second Veronica is.] * Krista just follows along with Luke and people who aren't getting jackets. * Charlotte stands up, grabbing her backpack with her good hand. "I'll go get my jacket, too," she informs nobody in particular. Then she goes! [Nobody is now well informed.] * Veronica doesn't need her jacket, but walks with Christy anyhow. * Luke heads outside, leading the way. He reminds one or two students not to be too loud in the halls, as classes are still in session. (Want to desc. the outdoors, Arwen?) * Ivy heads outside! (They are doors that are out.) [Five gleeful minutes of jacket gathering and stuff later, and most (say, five sixths) of the class is out front. It really is a nice day, though the kids with jackets have a definite advantage if they're going to be outside for an entire period.] * Charlotte walks out with her leather jacket hanging over her shoulders. Seems she couldn't be bothered to fiddle with it to get it on over the cast. [To the left is the track and football and baseball fields - people are on the first, but not the other two. There's a sizeable amount of green between the school and the track, too, along with a few trees. In front is the student parking lot, and right goes around the building to the teacher parking lot.] ( Whoops! ) (No big. ^^) * Veronica glances over at the track. Because it's probably more interesting than the teacher. Though he's not supposed to know that. * Luke leads the way to the generic field between the school and the track. He stops when they're about halfway there, and turns around. "Okay, this should do it. You can have a seat or stand if you prefer." He himself remains standing. [Students are running on it! They're wearing gym uniforms! It's craziness.] * Ivy is wearing jeans and a t-shirt, no coat. The cold doesn't seem to be bothering her, though goosebumps are evident. * Veronica mutters and slips on her denim jacket the rest of the way. "Dammit, I wish I were running right now." She plunks down on the grass. [Christy's practically bouncing. "Hey, Mr. M! Can we run if we stay within hearing range?"] [Okay, not practically. She is.] [Jeremy sits down and tugs Ivy to the grass with him. He also doesn't have a coat, though he's wearing a long-sleeved shirt.] "I guess this will let me know if grass stains on your pants are 'in' or not this season," Luke adds as he watches some of the students sit. * Veronica snorts at Christy's comment. "Yeah. Like that's gonna work." * Charlotte stays standing for now. [In the distance, you can see some geese! Good thing they're in the distance.] * Ivy sits with the tug. She glances over to her notebook in Jeremy's hands. [Jeremy glances at it too and goes, "Oh." He starts writing.] * Krista sits down carefully, spreading her dress out so as to not get grass stained. It's even a green dress. Very nature lover of her. She has to look way up now. [Most of the students find comfortable places to sit. Creaky Desk Guy even lies on the ground. Christy stays standing and bouncing.] (Does he creak the ground?) (No. He needs to level up first.) (;_;) [Jeremy hands the notebook back to Ivy.] "I'm afraid not," Luke tells Christy. He then pauses to check if everyone from the classroom has joined them, and mentally notes whoever is missing. * Ivy eyes the note, frowns, and then puts her pencil down on top of the notebook on the grass. Guess she's done writing. ( o/~ ) (... yes, very o/~) ( /makes out with Krista while waiting. ) [The rest of the stragglers reach the class. Henry's out of breath and says, "Sorry, couldn't... find you guys."] (What? No!) "Well, now that we're all here, it's time to engange in everyone's favourite activity to do outdoors on a reasonably pleasant Autumn day: discuss Hamlet." * Charlotte raises her hand. "Can we discuss the fire instead?" * Luke pauses for a very brief second, then nods. "Okay, we'll go with everyone's second favourite instead." * Krista looks over to Charlotte like Krista thinks she's crazy. [People shift uncomfortably. Creaky Desk Guy closes his eyes. Gotta admit, he's pretty good at tuning things out.] [Matt looks around, then raises his hand.] "Yes, Matt?" ["Any idea what started it?" he asks. He looks uncomfortable, too. "Do you think it's someone in the class?"] * Ivy turns her attention to Matt. ["What? No way!" That's Christy, who did not raise her hand. "Nobody here'd do something like that."] * Krista looks up at Luke after Matt asks that question. How interesting his answer will be! ( I bet it was Krista. ) ( "God's punishment to the heathens!" ) ( Plus she won't make out with me. It's gotta be her. ) (I think you're looking for a scapegoat.) (And using your jealousy as justification! Honestly.) * Ivy moves her attention over to Luke as well. Yeeees, interesting indeed. ( You can't prove me wrong! ) "If it was somebody in the class, I hope they weren't too unhappy with their grade on the quiz." Luke shifts his briefcase to his other hand. "But I really don't know what happened or who- if anyone- is responsible." ( Further proof that it was Krista: She was mad she didn't get A++++ on the quiz. ) (The fourth plus would be Khalua.) * Ivy studies Luke almost as if she's trying to decide whether he's lying. * Veronica pipes up in response to Matt for a second. "Actually, we--" She stops herself a moment later. * Krista looks away a moment and then suddenly looks to 'Rica. What is she doing? !_! [Half the class looks at Veronica. Frank prompts her with, "You what?"] * Charlotte casts her gaze thataway, too. But she doesn't really look surprised. More like tired. * Veronica shakes her head slightly, once people start looking at her. "No. No, never mind..." * Luke has also looked over at Veronica's unexpected statement. (Veronica was about to confess! She was in on it with Krista!) ["No really, what is it?" Frank keeps prompting. Maybe he's not afraid of being shoved in a trash can.] * Ivy glances over to Veronica too. Yay! (You go, Frank.) (Why do I crave hash browns?) * Veronica looks steadily over at Frank for a moment. "Well, we went over to visit a few of them at the hospital. I don't know..." She frowns a little. (A desire for... POTATOE.) (With an E. Like chile.) [That gets the *rest* of the class' attention. Minus Creaky Desk Guy. Well, he could be listening, maybe.] ["I didn't even think about going there," Christy says, and she suddenly looks ashamed. She covers it up with, "You should've told me, Rica!"] Yeah, well...you didn't ask! * Ivy looks at Veronica a bit more thoughtfully now. * Veronica fixes her gaze to Luke right now, waiting for him to respond. "That was very commendable of you," Luke says, apparently deciding this is not the right time for a wisecrack. "I'm sure they appreciated it." They did. [Everybody's attention turns to Charlotte. "You went, too?" Christy asks.] * Krista replies suddenly, with a tone of disbelief. "She was burned too, she had to have." * Charlotte blinks, unprepared for total attention. "Uh, well, I've been going to see Camila since the first time." ["Should visit them, I guess," Jeremy mutters to himself. He rubs at his face with his good left hand.] ["Oh." Christy slumps a little. "Yeah, that's right."] It'd mean a lot to them. * Ivy glances to Jeremy, giving him a worried glance. She puts a hand over his and squeezes gently. ["We could arrange some kind of class something," Matt puts in. "That and never, ever have a class in that room again."] * Ivy is quick to nod at Matt's suggestion. They ARE still classmates. I mean geez, why are people so surprised that someone would visit people in the hospital?? ["Well," Vicki puts in as she brushes black curls from her face, "it's like... maybe we'll catch on fire next. What if it's contagious?" Steve snorts quietly at that.] ( Who's Vicki? O.o ) (Random chica.) (Someone who hasn't talked before.) It's not contagious. * Veronica looks at Vicki. What a stupid girl, Vicki. [Extra Vicki desc: preppy clothes, long, black curly hair, nice hands, pretty quiet student but considered a bit of a flake.] ["You don't know that," she counters. "You don't even know who *started* it."] * Veronica snorts at that, but doesn't say anything more. * Ivy shudders at Vicki's words. No, but I know someTHING started it. "Charlotte and Veronica have both visited Camila in the hospital, and the only time this fire ended up being contagious to them was when Charlotte heroically helped put out somebody who was actually in the process of burning at the time. So I think visiting the hospital should be safe." * Krista nods agreement with Luke, but doesn't speak up. [Most of the students nod at that. Vicki still looks unsure.] [Jeremy glances at the pad by Ivy, then he looks at Charlotte and asks, "How'd you do it?"] * Veronica whispers near Vicki, "Don't worry. If it really is contagious, I'll make *sure* to pass it on to you." ( By being really foolish! Oh.) [Vicki recoils from Veronica. Visibly. Christy starts snickering, but she covers her mouth.] * Charlotte blinks at Jeremy. "Er... do what?" ["Save her."] * Charlotte fidgets. * Ivy eyes Charlotte. * Charlotte shakes her head. "I just... saw something in her hair. I grabbed it without thinking. There's nothing 'heroic' about it." She glances at her burnt hand, and shudders. * Krista smiles a little at the modesty before offering, "She did a very good thing." Uh oh. Geek's trying to ruin your street cred. [Jeremy nods at Krista, but then he says, "What was it?"] * Charlotte looks back up. "A hairpin." She pauses. "Or at least, it looked like one." [Jeremy looks puzzled at that, but he just sort of nods. Who's he to argue with something like that.] ( But... Hairpins make magic cost less. ...) (HA.) * Ivy looks puzzled too. Puzzlement galore! (That'd be AWESOME.) (Sadly, I don't think he's played Final Fantasy or any of its variants.) * Veronica speaks up, frowning a bit. "Come on, that's enough." ["What's enough?" Now Jeremy's eyeing Veronica. "It's not like we *shouldn't* know what set her on fire."] * Ivy glances at Jeremy and bites her lip. [Steve looks like he's about to say something, but the jocks are talking so he shuts up.] * Veronica fidgets a bit. "Well...no." She looks back up again. "But come on, I mean she just got released herself. You shouldn't be pressuring her." ["It wasn't pressure! It's not like I was threatening her or something." Oh, now he's bristling.] (Sweet. Fight.) * Charlotte shakes her head. "It's okay. I just don't want it to happen again." (You know it's a matter of time before Veronica and Jeremy actually duke it out.) (Ivy can bring the pudding.) * Veronica glares at Jeremy. "You don't have to yell at *ME*, jackass. I mean use a little tact, why don't ya?" (Yay!) (Especially with comments like that!) ( They can fight over whether or not Krista gets to make out with me! ) "Veronica, Jeremy, settle down. We're all on edge right now, but we shouldn't take it out on each other." (>_>) * Ivy scrunches her shoulders in, muscles tightening. ( Who should we take it out on, then? ) (I'm not making out with you! Jesus would not approve.) ( He so would! ) * Veronica glares again and clenches and unclenches her fists, then pulls her eyes away from Jeremy. "You're right, Mister Mendel. I'm sorry." (So, you're saying Jesus is a Krista/Veronica shipper instead?) (Jesus said to love your fellow man!) (But not like that!) ["Why don't you! I'm not the guy who just called someone who's *concerned* a fucking jackass!" he yells despite Mr. Mendel's statement, obviously not buying Veronica's apology. But he does look at Luke and nods, not saying anything more. For now, anyway.] * Krista looks a bit worried as the fight builds too, and looks between them even after Jeremy 'calms down' or a moment, then back to Luke. * Charlotte winces. ( I bet Jeremy would approve. ) * Veronica mutters, under her breath. Maybe Jeremy doesn't hear. "Didn't see you at the hospital." (Jeremy isn't Jesus.) "Jeremy!" Luke repeats. "I said that's enough." * Ivy moves her hand into her bag, moves her hand about, and comes out with... a cookie! She offers it to Jeremy, eyes soft and concerned. [Jeremy doesn't answer Luke, instead taking the offered cookie. "Thanks."] * Ivy nods quietly. [There's an uncomfortable silence after that. Steve doesn't look like he wants to say anything now.] * Charlotte is silent, too! Despite saying she doesn't mind, she makes an effort to not stand out. * Luke checks his watch to see how much time is left in the class. His watch is surprisingly expensive looking for someone on a teacher's salary, though it's doubtful many of the students would realize that. ( I've got a lunch 'get drunk' appointment and I can't be late.) * Krista is uncomfortably silent with the best of them. She smooths her dress for a moment and adjusts her glasses before looking to Luke. Surely he will do something with the class period! ( "Class assignment: Charlotte and Krista, make out." ) [Twenty minutes left. They're effectively eating up time.] (... you totally wanted us out of the classroom so someone could come in and screw with the evidence!) (What, like that couldn't have happened overnight?) (Look, I dunno. "We seem to have a few minutes left in which to insert some actual English class into this English class. It's crazy, but it just might work." * Ivy eyes the classroom being all weirdly silent. Hey, that's *her* job, thankyouverymuch. Finally, she softly kneels over to Veronica, glances to Jeremy, and then turns back to Rica to offer her a cookie. (.. Pretend she did that before there was talking!) (She's spreading about bribes! Sugary bribes!) ["Never happen," Christy says. "I brought a kazoo in case of emergency."] * Krista smiles a little at Luke's joke. And the promise of class. [Jeremy watches Ivy do that, but he doesn't stop her.] * Veronica catches Ivy out of the corner of her eye and looks over at her, then glances for a second at Jeremy, then back to Ivy to take the cookie. "Thanks. Sorry." * Charlotte looks at Christy. "Really? Can you play it?" (What she doesn't realize is that sugar makes Veronica hyper, and that will lead to people being beaten up.) (Mwehehe.) ["Course I can!" Christy beams.] * Ivy gives her a slight nod and then gestures over to Jeremy. * Charlotte grins. "Let's hear it." [Jeremy looks decidedly uncomfortable at the whole cookie bribery apology thing, but he mumbles, "Yeah, 'salright."] [Christy digs around in her backpack for a while and comes out with a bright pink kazoo.] * Veronica looks over and watches Jeremy for a second before sticking the cookie in her mouth. She's silent, but that's probably because her parents taught her not to talk with her mouth full. (Am I the only one who just fell over snickering at the thought of Ivy with a kazoo?) (I bet Ivy'd play with it.) * Charlotte looks at Christy eagerly. [Christy looks to Luke for permission. No, really. She actually does.] * Ivy nods slightly at Jeremy and then crawls back over to sit next to him. There, forgiveness through sugar. What the world needs now is sugar, sweet sugar. o/~ (HA. Yes, yes she probably would.) (No. The amusing thing is Ivy learning to do Morse code in kazoo.) (Oooh.) (More fun than sign language!) (If Ivy displayed any talent with sign, Krista could get right to work spending her EP!) (Ha.) (Well, the girl has plenty of EP to spend too...) * Luke shakes his head. "I think we should hold the kazoo in reserve, for a truly desperate situation." (Yeah, really.) * Charlotte looks disappointed. Boo! * Ivy eyes the kazoo with curiosity... and then she's over there, slowly moving a hand over to touch it. (Wait, she whipped it out already?) (Ah, there it is. It's very... pink.) (It is!) * Veronica swallows the cookie and takes a deep breath. She looks calmer now. And she's staring at Ivy for a bit. Sadly, she seems to have lost the kazoo conversation. Err, well, until Ivy crawls over to it and she can't avoid it. "Where did you *get* that thing?" * Krista sighs and looks off at one of the sports fields, rubbing her arms as she does. [Christy pouts. "All right, Mr. M. Huh? I got it at the dollar store."] [Christy finally notices Ivy and hands it to her. "Here, it's cool."] * Veronica stares. She *doesn't* say 'You overpaid' because that'd just be plain rude. * Ivy takes it in her hands and eyes it some more, as if she'd never seen anything quite like it before. ( I always... wanted a kazoo. But I kept getting horsies instead.) (*Pictures a horse playing a kazoo*) "Since we never had a chance to go over the quiz yesterday, we can do that now." ( After Charlotte and Krista make out. ) (I find your obsession... disturbing.) * Veronica 's still watching Ivy and Christy. If there was any hope of Veronica paying attention this class period, it seems to have been lost now. ( You started it! ) (I make throw away jokes!) (They're meant to be thrown away!) [There's some rustling of paper, and one quiz discussion (punctuated by occasional Creaky Desk Guy snores) later, the bell rings. How do you know? You can actually hear it from out there.] (Didn't you list to Al Gore? We have to recycle.) [There are a few groans, but students get to their feet. Christy's still waiting for her kazoo back.] * Ivy tries blowing on it right when the bell rings! She looks shocked at the sound... until she realizes it didn't come from her efforts. (*recycles Al Gore, and produces a stronger, faster, more portable Gore!*) (... or did it?) * Charlotte blinks, having lost track of time. * Ivy gives it back to Christy. Obviously, this kazoo is a dud. * Charlotte blinks again, receiving a kazoo. She offers it to Christy. [Christy takes it. "Thanks!" She blows on it, and a big kazoo sound comes out as she climbs to her feet and brushes grass off her bellbottoms.] [Jeremy stands, stretching. A number of students are already on their way back to the school, just as others are leaving for off campus lunch.] * Ivy 's eyes widen at the sound, but not in a frightened way. Oooh, kazoo. * Veronica gets up and dusts her pants. "Uh. Since we're out here, we don't need to deal with the hall monitors, do we?" * Ivy stands up too. Sure! [Christy removes the kazoo from her mouth. "I guess not, but I have class and Mom will so kill me if I ditch. Later, chicas!" She puts it back in and walks off, blowing out Yankee Doodle on the way.] * Charlotte addresses the PCs! "I guess I'll see you guys in a bit." She heads towards the school. * Luke hangs around for a few minutes outside. He's not in a hurry, obviously. * Ivy waves to Charlotte and then goes to grab her bag, safely tucking her prized cookies back inside. * Charlotte pauses, then turns around and approaches Luke. "Mr. Mendel?" [Jeremy looks a little unsure. "You'll be okay, Ivy?"] * Veronica frowns and shakes her head. "I was going to suggest we all go out somewhere to eat. I mean, it's a nice day, right?" "Hello, Charlotte. How is your hand?" * Krista stands up and brushes off her dress before starting to plod back to school... * Ivy perks at Veronica's suggestion. Mmm, outside food. She turns to Jeremy, a question in her eyes. You can skip, Jeremy. You know you want to. ( Let's eat at the Wendy's. NO!) It's, um... It still hurts a little. ["Uh..." Jeremy rubs at the back of his neck. "Is that a no?"] * Luke looks sympathetic. "Did the doctors say it would heal okay?" * Charlotte nods. "Fortunately." (* Ivy writes "If you love me, you'll buy me a burger. And some fries....and an extra large, double thick, chocolate shake.") * Ivy eyes the direction of Jeremy's next class then turns back to Jeremy. She gives him a small smile and a nod. Then she frowns. Then she shakes her head. She pauses again. And then nods. Oh boy, the confusion! "I'm glad. And I meant what I said earlier. What you did to help Pia was very heroic. You may have saved her life. You should be proud of that." [Jeremy sure looks confused. "Why don't you write it down?"] (* Ivy writes down: Next class. Hurray. Yes. Boo. No. Hm. Yes.) * Charlotte casts her gaze to one side. She doesn't look very proud. Then she glances back. "Mr. Mendel, does someone have a grudge against you?" * Ivy still has her notebook out, so that works out well! 'I fine. You go class.' (Curse you, Nic. I thought for a second that that's what she actually wrote.) "Well, I was quite the heartbreaker in my wild youth, and I'm sure some of them never forgave me for it." [He reads it. "Oh. Okay." He looks uneasy for a moment, then he smiles and squeezes Ivy's shoulder before picking up his backpack and walking to class.] * Ivy gives Jeremy a wave and then walks over to Veronica, waiting expectantly. * Krista disappears into the school! Damn them geeks. * Veronica watches Jeremy and Ivy for a second carefully, then blinks at her coming over. "You're coming with?" * Charlotte glances at her hand. * Ivy smiles at Veronica in answer. "Why do you ask, Charlotte?" * Veronica scratches her head. "Well, uh...what do you like? I'd suggest Mexican, but it seems like we've been having nothing but taco salad for a month..." Both times it happened, it was in your class. (Didn't Jeremy catch fire somewhere else?) * Ivy considers a moment and then produces that notebook again. How handy! 'Sour Jack.' (Jeremy got his damage in the hallway or something, yes.) (I don't think anyone's quite sure.) * Veronica then notices Luke stopped and looks over at Charlotte and him. She doesn't even notice Ivy's note. Boo. (Jeremy did, but the "both times" would be Pia and Camila.) * Ivy glances over too. What else is there to do? "That's true. But if someone had a grudge against me, I think they might use their ability to set people on fire against me and not people who happen to be in the same room as me." Do you wear hairpins often? * Veronica snaps her fingers and looks at Ivy suddenly. "Cajun!" "Only on special occasions." * Ivy jumps slightly, but she calms easily enough. She looks uncertain, but finally nods. Then her eyes move back over to Charlotte and Luke. * Veronica nods then looks back too. Apparently the break in thought wasn't enough to break her concentration fully. * Charlotte sighs. "Never mind. You're probably right, Mr. Mendel. I'd better go to lunch." She turns and heads for the building. "It was a good thought, Charlotte, but there are plenty of people who were present on both occasions." I guess so. * Veronica calls out. "Hey, Charlotte!" * Charlotte turns her head towards Veronica. * Veronica points towards the parking lot. "We're going off campus for lunch. Wanna come with?" * Charlotte shakes her head. "I can't. I don't have much money." * Charlotte adds as an afterthought, "On me." Bah. I'll cover you. Come on! It'd do us good to get outta this stuffy school for a while. Are you sure? Well...um... * Veronica frowns and checks for her wallet. "Ivy, help me out here..." (Don't get cold feet now, Veronica.) (Dude, Charlotte, she's asking you on a date!) (Threesome!) (They're hot!) (Yay!) * Charlotte shakes her head. "Never mind. I brought a bag lunch." (Veronica is asking Charlotte out? That explains why she's offering to pay. She's a traditionalist.) * Ivy grabs around in her pocket and produces... a five dollar bill! * Veronica frowns. "You sure?" ( Well... Maybe since Krista keeps refusing me.... . ) (This calls.... FOR A TWENTY!) Yeah, it's okay. Thanks anyhow. (Veronica wouldn't get cold feet. It's just she might not have any money either.) (A TWENTY!) (Damn, she should've checked her other pocket.) (A TWENTY!) (What's that a reference to?) * Ivy walks over to Charlotte and offers up the five. * Veronica shakes her head. "Well. Yeah. Oka--" She stops when Ivy approaches and waits for a reaction. (Superfriends commercial. Superfriends at the movie, and the credits are rolling and they're rolling fast!) * Charlotte gazes at Ivy. "Is it okay? I don't want to impose... I brought a lunch, so it's not like I'd go hungry." * Veronica folds her arms across her chest. "Charlotte. What are friends for? Geez." (Disappearing into the school building and eating alone!) * Ivy considers for a moment, and then reaches into her bag for, you guessed it, COOKIES. She offers a cookie up with the five. There, that should cinch it! ( Not for making out with *eyes Krista* ) (You silly person and your half-hour lunch!) (You burned your hand saving someone's life. Take the five bucks.) * Charlotte smiles and takes the cookie. "Okay." * Ivy smiles back, putting the cookies away yet again! * Veronica waves them on. "Come on. Car's this way." She walks fast to the car. Mmm, cajun food. * Ivy heads thataway! * Luke ambles back toward the school. * Charlotte follows! [And Krista eats in the cafeteria. ALL ALONE.] [Session End.]