Well, at least I can say none of us got hurt too seriously. * Charlotte frowns. "Except my boss. She had a broken wrist. I think. She hasn't been to work. They got someone to replace her." * Veronica frowns a bit and turns towards Charlotte. "Broken from what?" * Charlotte looks at Veronica blankly. "Vampires." I know that. What was she doing to break it? I- I don't remember. * Veronica frowns. "Punches like a steel bar? Weird forehead?" * Charlotte nods. * Veronica stares down for a little bit, considering for a little bit. Then chews on her lip. "I gotta go." * Charlotte blinks. "Huh? Where?" * Veronica starts to walk off. * Charlotte follows! "Hey!" * Veronica runs for the bathroom, wiping her arm across her face. "Fucking dammit, stop following me!" [Mini Start.] (Hope you don't mind that I just made that one change, since she was running for the bathroom this time.) ( :o ) * Rowyn is now known as Veronica * Kirby is now known as Charlotte ( Abrupt o.O ) (Is fine. I hadn't specified it until later.) * Charlotte stops, hesitating. * Veronica isn't seen directly when Charlotte comes into the bathroom, but she can hear some choked sobbing coming from one of the stalls. * Charlotte is still hesitating, dangit! >.< * Charlotte ultimately heads in, though. She knocks on the stall door. "Hey." -herring.sandwich.net:@#secondstring- Ardweden invited Dicesuke into channel #secondstring * Dicesuke has joined #secondstring * Veronica mutters inbetween sobs. "It's not fair. It can't be happening. It's not going to happen, dammit..." What are you talking about? * Veronica suddenly jumps up a little with a crash in the stall startled, but doesn't answer. (crash of the seat lid which she knocked on the way up, by the way.) * Charlotte waits a moment. When there's no response, she folds her arms. "It's awkward talking to a door, you know." * Veronica talks through the door still, not opening it yet. "I thought I told you not to follow me." Yeah. * Veronica sighs and opens up the stall door, leaning against it. "I'm glad you don't listen." She doesn't look too puffy or red-eyed from the crying, but she does look incredibly weary. * Charlotte smiles. "Good." * Veronica takes in a deep breath. "I really don't know what came over me. I--" She looks down a little bit and chuckles. "My face looks a mess right now, doesn't it?" * Charlotte gestures. "That's what the sink's for. Come on." [There's a mirror right in front of the sink, too!] * Veronica walks in front of the sink and checks out her hair for a minute before grabbing a paper towel, wetting it, and splashing it over her face. * Charlotte waits while she does that. * Veronica holds on to the edge of the sink, half staring into the mirror. "God, this is the last I ever wanted any of you to see me like." What happened, anyway? You just suddenly freaked out. * Veronica snickers slightly, hanging her head over the sink. "It's hard to say. All this is hard to take. I think it just came crashing down on me just then..." Well, you're doing better than I did, I think. * Veronica laughs. "You're just saying that..." You didn't throw up. * Veronica slowly stops laughing and looks at Charlotte a little sadly. "You're kidding me..." * Charlotte blushes. "Hey, it's a perfectly normal reaction!" * Veronica takes a deep breath and smiles, crossing her arms. "Yeah. But that's not. I can't remember when's the last time someone actually cared what I thought about them." * Charlotte tilts her head. * Veronica takes a deep breath. "You get a reputation, being a tomboy like me. I mean it's "cooler" now than it used to be, but I still get avoided because of it." For some reason, people think I'm going to go around stuffing people into lockers or giving swirlies or stuff like that. I mean really! I never thought that. * Veronica sighs and drops her hands. "And then there's the people who think you're a fucking idiot just because you're into sports..." I never thought that, either. * Veronica frowns a bit and stays silent for a little bit. "Mind if I ask you something?" ( "And then there's the people who think you've got a thing for the teacher because you talk to him a lot..." "Er... heh." ) If you like. ("What? ...ewww. EWW!") ( "But he's got a thing for you!" ) * Veronica hesitates for a bit, then asks "What, exactly, got you into it?" * Charlotte blinks. "Into what?" * Veronica looks at Charlotte for a bit, then gestures to the clothes. "Red and black, right?" Oh. I don't think the others know yet, so your secret's safe with me but... * Veronica bites her lip. "That's why it's kinda been hard to talk to you. Which, I guess that's silly but..." There's not much to it, really. They were the first friends I had since I moved here. * Charlotte grins. "Yeah, it's kinda like thinking someone's dumb for playing sports." * Veronica blinks. "And that's it? That's why you joined Karasu?" * Veronica takes a deep breath. "I was wondering how long it'd take for you to get me back for that. I kind of figured you suffered the same thing." * Charlotte sighs, and runs a hand through her hair. "What did you expect?" From what? Prejudice from some people? People can be jerks, no matter who they are. Oh. And... I don't know. I... guess I really didn't expect anything. Come to think of it, I never asked Jim... * Charlotte sighs again. "Yeah, no shortage of that. Who's Jim?" * Veronica doesn't waste any time, but lifts her shirt and jacket a little bit. No she's not stripping! But she is showing a thin, long scar across her midsection, just above the waistline of her jeans. Her eyes are closed just slightly. "Ex-boyfriend." * Charlotte stares, moving closer to better inspect. "What happened?" * Veronica chuckles slightly. "Even Ivy wasn't this bad. I didn't even know she spotted it until she blurted it out in the cafeteria." * Veronica lets down her shirt. "Let's just say he didn't like how I broke up with him." What? (What to the first statement or what to the second?) ( First ) * Veronica laughs. "When I say "blurts," I mean blurts for Ivy. When she wrote down about the scar. I mean, I don't *actively* try to hide it, but I'm not proud of it..." It looks like he tried to stab you. He did. * Charlotte stares. * Veronica laughs. "I shoulda seen it sooner, huh? But I was blinded by love. Or hormones. Or whatever you wanna call it. It's been hard for me to date since." Did you go to the police? * Veronica frowns slightly and shakes her head. Why not? I...don't really know. I guess... Veronica, this is serious! What if he comes back? * Veronica frowns and furrows her brow. "I didn't really want my parents to know about it...I--" She stares slightly at Charlotte. * Charlotte stops. "Oh." I-I'll be fine. I've been practicing... * Veronica bites her lip. Hard. * Charlotte stares at Veronica. "You can't be serious!" * Veronica frowns a bit. "Charlotte. They're not going to do anything. Anyways, it's been too long. They'll think I'm crazy..." * Veronica looks slightly off to the side. "I-I haven't even told Christy yet..." * Charlotte folds her arms. "You don't know that. And you really think taking him on yourself is a good idea? What if something goes wrong? What if he brings ten of his friends? Even if you win, what are you going to do, kill him?" * Veronica frowns more. "Let me worry about that." * Veronica sighs and takes a deep breath. "Fine. If he comes after me again, I'll go to the police. Deal?" Might be too late, by then. * Veronica mutters slightly under her breath. "It might be too late for all of us..." What do you mean? * Veronica turns to Charlotte. "You *know* what I mean. You think these--these *things* are just going to go away?" What things? What are you talking about? * Veronica looks at Charlotte. "These fucking vampires, Charlotte. Or have you forgotten?" ... They're gone, Veronica. They turned to dust. And for all we know, whatever happened to Camila too. * Veronica looks at Charlotte. "What? Do you think those ones were the only ones out there?" * Charlotte shudders. I think-- * Veronica hesitates again and looks distant for a moment. "And I think-- I think Christy's going to be in trouble." * Charlotte blinks. "What? Why?" And me too. * Veronica shakes her head. "Don't ask why. It's hard to explain. I've just got, I've got a bad feeling, okay? * Charlotte frowns, but sighs. "Fine, okay." I don't know when. I don't know why. And it scares the shit out of me, Char. * Veronica blinks and looks at her for a moment. "I can call you Char, right?" But if you ask me, I don't think I'm any more likely to be eaten by a vampire than I am to be mugged by a person. Huh? Oh, yeah, go ahead. * Veronica frowns at that and goes silent for a moment. (The first, not the "Oh yeah" * Charlotte frowns, too! "But you're right about Camila." * Veronica shakes her head. "My friends call me Rica. For what it's worth. Christy's the only one who calls me that right now though." * Veronica looks up. "Any luck finding out what happened to her? I'm half tempted to believe Mister Mendel's crackpot theories now." * Charlotte fidgets. "I h-haven't really looked." No? This is important, Charlotte. I mean, if it was just chance, there's nothing to worry about, but if someone caused it-- * Veronica looks down and says quietly. "Then they're still out there." * Charlotte yells, "I know it's important!" * Veronica jumps back a little at Charlotte's yelling, bumping her elbow into the towel dispenser. * Charlotte takes a deep breath. "Sorry. I... sorry." d2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Ardweden (d2) and gets a natural 1 for a result of 1. * Veronica chuckles a little nervously and calms down. 'It's alright. We're all a little jumpy right now." (Veronica, give me a constitution doubled roll.) d10+6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Veronica (d10+6) and gets a natural 6 for a result of 12. * Charlotte folds her arms again. "I know it's important. I just..." She shudders. [Veronica hits her funny bone against the plastic corner of the dispenser, but she takes the pain like a MAN.] [Only with better rolls.] I know. It's easier not to think about it. Like I've been trying not to think about Jim. I have been thinking about it. * Charlotte runs a hand through her hair. "God, it's all I've been thinking about." * Veronica is silent for a second, then, "Come up with anything?" (Also Ard, that case might have called for Resistance Pain too.) * Charlotte shakes her head. "I want to... I really want to find who, or what did this to Camila. I want to help her. But..." She shudders again, and says quietly. "I'm scared." * Veronica frowns and responds quietly, "We all are. To some extent or another." * Charlotte sniffs. She practically looks ready to cry. "It's not... I feel like I have to do it. But still..." * Veronica puts her hands on Charlotte's shoulders. "You know you're not alone in this. You don't have to be." * Charlotte shakes her head. "Poor Camila." * Veronica says quietly. "I want to help her too, you know. She'll probably think I've got some other motive for it, but I've got to.." * Charlotte looks up at Veronica, wiping her eyes. H-Have you gone to see her? * Veronica frowns. "I tried last weekend. Mom kept me busy around the house." She sighs. "Sometimes, I hate parents." Let's go after school. I was planning to go this weekend though. After practice. After school. You have any plans? * Veronica bites her lip. "Kinda. But I could change them. I'm sure Sunny'd understand. I don't wanna wear out my welcome anyhow." * Charlotte nods. "You should see her." She shudders again. "You can't imagine how horrible it is. The fire was worse than anyone realizes. And after that, so few people have shown that they cared..." She shudders and wipes her eyes again. ( Get rid of that 2nd shudders. Change it to sniffs or something. ) (Sniffleshudders!) * Veronica looks down a little. "Charlotte, I was there. I know enough about first aid. That's why I knew that announcement on the intercom was complete bunk. I told the class, remember? No one wanted to listen to me..." You can't imagine it unless it's happened to you. * Veronica frowns. "Can she speak?" * Charlotte shakes her head. "She hasn't moved since I started going to see her. But she can't hear me. I know she can." ("She can hear me" then) ( Er, yeah ) It probably hurts too much to move. I mean, some of her bones were charred in that. * Charlotte nods. * Veronica gets quiet again. "Alright. Do you have your own car?" * Charlotte shakes her head. I'll give you a ride then. After school. Okay. Thanks. * Veronica smiles and holds out her hand. "Hey. What are friends for?" * Charlotte smiles back, and shakes Veronica's hand. ( Awww ) * Veronica slings her pack over her shoulder. "You heard the bell yet?" [No bell. Maybe it got eaten.] * Charlotte shakes her head. "But Ivy's still outside." (Bells have the best blood.) If she hasn't wandered off randomly you mean. * Charlotte nods. "Yeah." * Veronica sighs and shifts her pack again. "I guess we'd better go check on her." * Charlotte nods. * Veronica heads out of the girl's bathroom then, in search of Ivy. * Charlotte does too! (I think we're done. At least with this mini!) (Unfortunately, we seem to have scheduled another one within this one. :P) ( Yep! ) [End mini! OMG]