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 Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2022 5:33 pm
Move in day had been surprisingly easy, it helped that she hadn’t had more than a small duffel bag filled with her things, and most of those things were her new school uniforms. Her frog earrings were safe in her ears, and had been ever since she put them in after leaving the store.
Speaking of the store, she sat now on one of the benches that circled the courtyard in front of the dorms. There was a tree over her bench so the sun, which was beating down with a little more force than necessary this afternoon couldn’t make her sweat too much.
Truthfully, Brooklyn had no hope that Cara was going to turn up. No hope that she would get those other two pairs of earrings or the panda. It wasn’t…well. It wasn’t too painful, and she was resigned to the fact that it had all just been a ploy to get her to keep her sticky fingers to herself. It had been a really nice thought though. Having a friend. Someone who had lived the life she was living and who had come out the other side in one piece, or at least who looked as though they had come out the other side in one piece.
The breeze that blew through the courtyard was relaxing, and Brooklyn leaned back, closing her eyes and allowing her thoughts to drift.
This place really might not be so bad.
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Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2022 5:31 pm
Cara had been eagerly awaiting St. Mag's move-in day. She hadn't expected that to be the case this year, since she wasn't attending, finally, but she had plans.
Plans that involved a stuffed panda, carried in her arms, and two pairs of earrings in a bag wrapped around the panda's wrist. She got herself nice and visitor logged, and then headed over to the dorms, and paused, and frowned. Finding Brooklyn might be a little difficult--but maybe some of her old friends might be able to help, if it ended up being necessary.
It was not. She spotted Brooklyn as soon as she stepped into the courtyard, and grinned, shifting her grip on the panda so she could wave.
"Brooklyn! Hey!" She jogged over to the bench and held out the plush. "Brought you a friend!"
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2022 4:13 am
If she didn’t show up, Brooklyn had decided that it would be okay. She was resigned to the fact that she would be starting this adventure of a new school…a temporary escape from the Hell of her home life as she did everything else. Alone.
But.
Hearing her name, the teenager opened her eyes, frowning slightly and blinking at the brightness of the sun while her eyes tried to adjust and…
Well.
For once, her pessimism hadn’t been rewarded. Cara had actually shown up. And not just shown up…she had brought the panda.
“Oh. You’re…actually here?” Her arms reached out and took hold of the panda, hugging it close to her chest and feeling a warm little glow trying to flicker to life for the first time in…well. A while. “Thank you, Cara. I. Had pretty much figured that you had just been trying to get me out of your store so you didn't have to call the cops…but. This is a much nicer scenario…do you want to see my dorm?”
Biting her lip, Brooklyn almost looked shy at the question, but…it was a room that she only had to share with one other person. It had a bed of her own and enough space that…well. She could have some things...provided she could afford them. Or steal them.
Or in the case of this fantastic panda…
Were gifted them, though that was highly unlikely to ever happen again.
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Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2022 5:46 pm
It was so sweet, seeing Brooklyn take and hug the panda. Honestly, it made Cara even more sure that she'd done the right thing--she was giving something nice to someone who probably didn't have much that was nice.
And if the bitchy manager got mad at her for using her discount, then whatever, shitty retail jobs were a dime a dozen anyway, so she'd just work somewhere else.
"Yeah, I'm actually here. It would've been really shitty of me to lie to you, especially since...I know how it goes. Everyone lied to me all the time, too." Everyone except Ari, but Ari was special. "Have you had a chance to start decorating yet? I'd love to see your dorm."
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Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2022 1:11 pm
“I mean…there’s not much to see, but I’m glad that you want to visit anyway. I want to make sure I put the panda somewhere nice…”
Brooklyn held the stuffed animal a little closer and then began walking towards her dorm, feeling strangely light. Like she was filled with bubbles…or like she had had too much soda…but…without the threat of gas.
“You know, I don’t see why I can’t just be in the custody of the school during the year…I think it would still be better than the foster family I have right now…and if I could do that…why can’t the all powerful State make things like that happen? Why do we have to be screwed over so often?” Pushing open the heavy wooden doors, she led Cara into the hallway that housed the dorms and after a moment of walking, she unlocked the one that was hers.
Hers to share, of course but…still.
Hers.
There was nothing that showed that anyone but Brooklyn’s roommate was here, but Brooklyn crossed the room and proudly put the panda on her bed, grinning slightly. “...It’s perfect now. This is the only decoration that I have so, yeah. I’ve both started and have finished decorating.”
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Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2022 3:52 pm
It was a familiar thing, hearing Brooklyn complain about her "family." Wasn't that just the way of it, really--so many of the people who wanted to foster kids, it seemed, did it for the wrong reasons. Not because they actually cared, but because they liked money, wanted more of it, wanted what the state would give them.
The kids were just a means to an end.
Maybe there were good people out there. Cara wanted to think so. Butt hey were clearly few and far between, if her experiences and every other foster kid's that she'd known said anything.
"I used to wish I could just live at school year-round. It was better there, y'know? I had friends, instead of maybe my sister and a lot of people who didn't like me." She sighed. "I just....not to be all pessimistic, you know? But I don't really think....most people....care. If we're happy. AS long as we're alive. But really what that means is that if we want good stuff, we've gotta look out for each other."
That had become Cara's philosophy. It extended to her Knighthood, sometimes, when she managed to power up.
She let Brooklyn lead her to her room, and couldn't help but smile. Yeah, it was kinda bare-bones on Brooklyn's side, but that was just a beginning, right?
"I'm sure you'll find lots of other stuff to decorate with, too. But for now, yeah, that bear looks pretty perfect in here."
This was good. This was a start.
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2022 6:27 pm
“Yeah, I’ll just…” Brooklyn glanced at Cara, a small, almost teasing smile on her face. “I’ll just get myself more things from your store on the days that you’re not working. The place will be spruced up in no time.”
It was…mostly a joke. A half joke at any rate but.
She felt good. This felt good…
It was almost…exciting. This was going to be her first taste of what freedom would be…could be…and…
Well. She was intending to make the most of it.
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