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 Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 5:30 pm
On the one hand, Zeke was glad that he didn't know any of the deceased. He saw what poor Mackenzie had to go through when her girlfriend-- er, best friend. Um, friend. Friend with benefits? ... He saw what poor Mackenzie had to go through when her acquaintance died.
On the other hand, he was troubled by the thought that he would never get to meet these people. He could never see how Elle and Mackenzie got along, he couldn't run with Jude anymore, he couldn't see Abeline give one of her icy glances as she went to ballet practice.
It was bothering Zeke so much that he just didn't feel like running. He was inside the library, looking out the window at the path he usually ran along. He just wasn't feeling up to anything, in fact, he just wanted to go back to his room and fall asleep.
But what about the hand on his window before? Was that creature a harbinger of something horrible, like bacterial meningitis? Was he the cause of all the disease? Or was something weird going on? Something way, way weird...
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Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 5:51 pm
On the other side of the spectrum, completely oblivious to anything suspicious or unusual in the school at all, was one Piper Haswell. The news of the deaths reached her ears, no doubt, but like everything else in Piper's world it wasn't something she spent a great deal of time mulling over. In fact, it was quite likely that by this point, Piper had forgotten entirely about the unfortunate deaths that had befallen her fellow students. All she could really recall of the situation was a small notion that she should wash her hands more.
Thus, when she came bopping into the library for absolutely no reason other than a simple whim, she hadn't the faintest idea why there was a boy looking so terribly sullen as he stared out the window. Sure, Piper liked to stare too, but she was quite positive that when she stared, it looked nothing like that! There was also immediate concern for the state of his face, which reminded her greatly of a situation that she was all too familiar with herself.
She immediately skipped forward, planting herself atop the table that Zeke had taken to by the window. Her face was quite solemn, especially for the typically upbeat girl, as she turned to look at him. Leaning forward, into Zeke's personal space by this point and closer than what would be considered normal for strangers, she pointed at the expression on his face. "It's going to stick like that, you know, and I don't think the cafeteria is serving jello this week."
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Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 6:14 pm
"Huh?" Zeke looked up at Piper, not really noticing the fact that she was so close. He was oblivious, and (as Dagmar knew) had very little perception of what this 'personal bubble' thing was.
"Wow. Piper, right?" Zeke tried to offer a smile, but it ended up crumpling back into his worried expression. "I'm a little jealous that you can be so upbeat. I mean, that's probably a good thing, not being able to be pushed down, or something..."
He tried to stand up, but when he tried to he almost bumped noses with Piper. So, he just continued sitting like he was in a questioning booth at the police station.
"I'm just worried about the meningitis going around. I'm glad that the staff has put out hand sanitizer bottles and stuff, but... one of my friends was a friend of a victim."
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Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 7:04 pm
Her face immediately took on that blank expression that it had when Calintha had addressed her by name. Outwardly it appeared as if her brain had ceased all function, although in reality she was simply trying to think if there was a reason she should know this boy's name. How was it that everyone knew her and she didn't know anyone? After a few moments of silence and no answer to her question, however, she just shrugged it off and turned back to the matter at hand.
"Why shouldn't I be upbeat?" she asked, her brows rising a little with the question. She was always upbeat, whether there was rain or snow, sunshine or clouds. What was there to make anything about today different than -- oh. That was right, the meningitis stuff and all that.
"Oh," she frowned a little as she spoke, leaning back away from him and looking out at the library instead. She wasn't good at dealing with mopey. She let her legs hang over the edge of the table, kicking them back and forth slowly, and leaned back on her hands. "Well, I've just been washing my hands really well." She thought about it for a moment, considering his comment about the friend of a friend that died. Well, that was unfortunate. "Maybe we should just stop touching people, you think? If we don't touch anyone, we can't get their germs." She really, really had no way of dealing with other people's sadness, so it seemed she just.. ignored it.
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Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 7:32 pm
Zeke looked at Piper's quick range of facial expressions before just watching her. He had an almost amused expression on his face, though it wasn't haughty or anything. It was honestly refreshing for the boy to see energy and happiness. Things were getting really depressing, but... life would have to move on. The doctors and nurses seemed worried about quarantines and the like, so it should be safe, right?
"I don't know, Piper," said Zeke. "If we stop touching each other, life could get pretty difficult. We wouldn't be able to give any more high-fives, we couldn't help someone stand up if they were having trouble... pretty soon, we'd all have to live in plastic! I like getting my knees scraped too much to be in a plastic bubble."
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Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 7:47 pm
"It'd be a lot less trouble than dying," she commented, watching her own feet as she kicked them - one and then the other. There was nothing particularly interesting about them, she noted. They were rather boring black shoes, connected to her rather plain plaid pants. They were just something so entrancing about watching them sway back and forth, back and forth, like little pendulums. It was almost hypnotizing, in the most simple way - not that it took much for her to fall into a trance.
"Oooh, a plastic bubble!" It was almost squeaked out, almost too loud, almost. Her feet stopped swinging and she turned to look back at him, her face lit up as a new idea passed over her thoughts. "That would be amazing, don't you think? We could roll around in them like hamsters." Her mouth had split into a wide grin at the notion, and she seemed almost on the verge of giggling at whatever ridiculous image was in her head.
"Although," she paused, the grin fading a little in sudden consideration, "how would we get them through the doors?" It was almost as if she were seriously considering it. Then again, it was hard to tell when Piper was actually being serious.
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Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2009 10:28 pm
Zeke stood up now that Piper had moved, a smile on his own face now.
"I'd race you!" he laughed. "I'm pretty fast, but in a plastic bubble? You could probably beat me easily!"
What a subject change. From the grim idea of death to never touching another human being to... human-sized hamster bubbles.
"Well, I don't know," Zeke answered, with honesty. "Maybe they're stretchy bubbles, so you can squish through the doors?" He walked over to one of the library doors and looked at the size.
"That would be my best bet. Or maybe we only wear them when they're outside."
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 12:40 pm
"Ooh, a race!" she squeaked, quickly forgetting that she was in a library and should thus be quiet. She slid off the edge of the table, landing with a soft thud on her feet, before following him towards his examination of the library door. "I bet that would be a terribly fun race, except we'd need to find a place that had a lot of space." Her face scrunched up a little as she passed into deep thought, or what could be considered 'deep' on a Piper level. "Do you think the school grounds are big enough?"
She turned her gaze up to the library door, then walked forward and stood in front of it, experimentally stretching out her arms to see how far they went past the boundaries of the entrance. "Well, that certainly won't do," it was little more than a mutter, but there was a frown on her lips as she realized that giant human-sized hamster balls most certainly wouldn't fit.
"Oh, I know!" she announced, spinning on her heel quickly and turning around to face him again, "we can just make new doors to fit the hamster balls! Big round ones!" She held up her arms over her head, bending them in a circle (something like a terribly rejected ballerina move) to show him exactly what she meant.
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 7:47 pm
"New doors, huh?" Zeke wondered. He walked up next to Piper, trying to imagine a plastic bubble around himself. "That seems like a lot of trouble." He looked over at the size of the wall.
"We'd have to tear down this window over here," he pointed to it. "I don't know, do you think the nurses would be up for it? It's for our survival, right?"
Zeke smiled; somehow Piper had cheered him up amongst all the death.
"So, do you think we should propose this idea to them?" he continued. "Nah, they're probably busy." He was joking, of course. However, the thought that Piper might actually take it seriously hadn't crossed his mind. This was just a game, a fun one.
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 10:44 pm
"A lot of trouble, but a lot of fun!" she said excitedly, completely forgetting that the whole reason she had suggested the bubbles in the first place was to prevent the spread of germs. Now the idea of simply being in them seemed absolutely wonderful. She stared long and hard at the wall he pointed to, biting her lip in concentration. "I think we could do that, I mean, who's using this wall anyway?"
That's of course when he made the biggest mistake of all - actually suggesting that they should suggest it. Her eyes suddenly lit up with light, full of glee and purpose all at once. She grabbed his hand and attempted to drag him towards the door they were standing so conveniently close to. "Oh, we should, come ooon!"
She'd gotten no farther than the outside of the door, perhaps a mere couple of feet (which wouldn't be hard to drag anyone, especially someone surprised) when she suddenly stopped. "Actually, I don't have any idea where the nurse's office actually is." In fact, the only time she had seen the nurses was when the nurses wanted something. She turned back to look at Zeke, frowning from frustration. Well, there went that completely and totally well thought out plan.
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