"Past is Past"
SECOND WAVE NIGHTMARE SOLO
??? to 4/8/10
Word Count: 1,266
(NPCs Rica Saylor, Young Esen, Marie, Jane, Jessie)

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The days after she ran from that fast food joint with the floating... humanoids? Well, they were quite a blur; nothing special was really involved beyond the school, afternoon, sleep cycles. Then you had the weekends. Grocery shopping, looking up random minerals, working on any scientific homework not finished earlier that week... life certainly merged into one big chunk of unmemorable existence.

Some time ago, Esen had ate some 'safe' pretzels from a new brand ("Seems like eating healthy is becoming the new trend nowadays," she thought when buying them) while working on a research paper. Her fingers were becoming clumsy on the notebook's keyboard: she knew she needed sleep. Esen didn't usually go to bed at a time earlier than 9 to 10 PM, but around quarter after 8 PM, she was already in her usual blue-striped pajama shirt and pants, her hair was already taken down, and Esen's eyes were shut while lying on her bed. The nightmare that night involved sentient guns and knives aimed for her torso, her unclothed body, and a very blurry piece of black space. When Esen awoke from that one, it was almost time to awaken anyhow; her stomach felt odd, so when she got out of bed, Esen promptly tossed out the leftover pretzels, thinking the nightmare was triggered by hidden ingredients in the pretzels.
While using the dorm bathroom's shower, classical music from afar played softly, for a longer time than it usually did. When the water stopped, the music still played. After getting into her Crystal blue, the music still played. Melody was usually up by now, wasn't she?! Esen shut off the iHome's alarm system, vigorously shaking her roommate's shoulder to get her up. This didn't seem a part of the bland, everyday usual. "Melody, if you don't hurry, you're going to be late, you have a cello practice class today," were the only words Esen spoke beyond basic pleasantries that morning to the tanned blonde.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Now, in the present day, Esen was doing quite the same routine with a different snack food and a different assignment. This time, however, the snack food was long-ago Esen-approved and she actually got the assignment finished before the sandman stopped by at about 8:55 PM or so.
Earlier, she had spoke to Rica, otherwise known as 'mother'; Rica spoke about Smooth Moves' profits going up again, and Esen spoke about some invitation to some dance held by a "Mr. and Mrs. Michael T. Chamberlyn" that she recieved earlier that day, which looked like a charity event.

Rica, as always, had a sort of cheer: "Well, congratulations, Essie, you got your first invitation to a party-"
"Mother, please. Do you not know my track record with those of my age?"
"You know, you were the one who spoke about finding someone who you could trust. I know what you meant then, and I know things got so bad in middle school, we agreed to give home tutoring a try - look, the world's changing, Esen. People change. Eventually, you need to give people a chance. Yes, your future's mostly built by yourself, but..."
Esen tuned out, her mother's words becoming illegible.
"Damn it - thanks for calling, Essie. Forgot I had someone picking up a raincheck after hours. Have to run, love you."
"Bye," Esen replied, hanging up her phone. 'Wait... what was mother trying to say?' she thought after.
Now in bed, she thought about what her mother was trying to say. 'Eh, maybe I'll ask tomorrow...'

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A young girl, bearing a grown-out black dye job that covered her rear, walked to the trio of girls sitting near a statue in the park. The wavy texture of her hair was not unlike Esen's, but she did not wear glasses, nor wear two buns in her hair. She was actually a bit shorter. The trio definitely looked different from she.
One wore a high periwinkle ponytail, and a short-skirted dress that, if she didn't sit on the ground how she did, she would expose her underwear. Another leaned against that statue, wearing a puffed vest over a tank top, jeans and a style full of short white curls. The last carried a hefty-seeming purse and wore a polo with a pair of capris, as well as stick-straight red hair.

The girl with the grown-out black had natural green roots, wearing a sweater bolero with a plain tee-shirt and a skirt that hit the shins. Her eyes, an olive color, shone as she spoke with a cheerful bent:

"Oh, hi, uh, Marie, Jane, Jessie! I'm Esen, you know, that girl in science who got the highest score on their lab-"
"Hey, nerdie."
"Hi then, lame-o!"
"How the hell did you get here in the first place?"

"Oh, Marie, that... ah, Jack. He said you guys would make good study buddies, that you guys just slacked off in class but were actually smart kids."

The periwinkle-haired Jane made a muffled laughing noise. "Study? Hah, Jack - he's cute AND he has brains!"
Marie, she of the purse, tossed her head back. "I know, right, Jane? Nerderella fell for his lie faster than a brick in water!"
The puffed-vest wearer, Jessie, leaned toward the pest, showing just how loose the tank was and the frilled edge of her upper undergarments. "You say you're smart, but I bet you haven't even passed Boys 101 yet, lame-o!"

Young Esen started fuming. "Sex ed, I actually had flying colors. Why do you guys hate me so much, though?"

"More like the whole school, Nerderella..."
At this moment, the present Esen went up to defend her younger, black-haired self from the bullies. "You guys are ******** bitches, just stop!" Suddenly, an echo rang in current Esen's head...

"Past is past."

"...you see, we are starting to have breasts. We are starting to grow up. People like you more, the more you've grown up. Look at you, Nerderella-" Marie used her free hand to poke at the young Esen's heart, where Esen's future cleavage should have been. "-you're still a little kid!"

Present-day Esen lunged toward the arm that was poking at herself from the past. Her hand only went through Marie's arm.

"Past is past."

"Am not!"

"Oh? Let's put your knowledge to use, then - Jane?"
"Ah, I see, Jessie... hey, nerdie. Sex ed question. Do you have your cycle yet?"

"Uh.. no, but..."

"Gotcha, then! She scored nothing in that class, huh, Jessie?"

"That's it, I'm telling!" Esen's younger self screamed tearfully, running out of the park as the trio got a good laugh.
The current Esen's face became beet-red with anger. "What the hell is wrong with-"

"Past is past."

==========

This had happened before for Esen. This was the enzyme that sped up her childlike attitude's disappearance. When Esen told Rica that time ago, her second month in the sixth grade, Rica reported the incident to the school. However, Esen's mother spoke of that event with a then-employee while on the job - the then-employee was Jack's mother. Loose lips sink ships, so they say - her mother's patch job sank Esen's lifeboat of solace.
When the classical music of the morning played, Esen became aware of her blanket trap, the feeling of her pillow soaked in saline, and what Rica had said the night before.
"...but the past is past. Nowadays, a lone person can no longer do all the work, eventually you'll need to ask another for help..."
"Yeah... right..." Esen flipped her head away from the sight of Melody's bed, not wishing to be seen.