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 Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2009 8:49 pm
-Ahhhh, there it was! That little glimmer of hope. Sure she hadn't praised her like Mili might have, but Aurora was happy to grasp for the small victories when she had to. Pulling closer to the group, she procured a dull knife, cutting into the decorative cake log finally, hoisting a slice onto the plate, noting Miriam's words. Some were true.. pessimistic.. but she supposed true. She could not let it rest without saying something though, that same tone from before lifting to state matter of factly.- "The best place to start is with ones self. You can't expect others to be cheerful or pleasant if you can't be that way first yourself."
-She nearly dropped her fork however, as the question sounded, shrugging her shoulders lightly instead.- "I'm sorry, it's rude to look. But should you really be roaming about if you're hurt?" -She cared, for some strange reason.. call it the mother bear in her.. despite the fact that she was cowering like a cub at the general aire of the dark haired girl.-
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Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2009 9:13 pm
The dark-haired girl reared like a threatened snake, hackles up. "I'd assumed your mother taught you better," she snapped, "than to pry into strangers' health."
It was no longer such a mystery why people talked about Miriam, not to her. She had backed up against one of the walls with the remains of her cookie held in front of her chest with both hands like some kind of shield. She had saucerplate eyes. She was notoriously unfriendly, but did she react this badly to everything? The rumors really were no wonder. Yet she crossed her arms over her chest, looking stung for some reason, and shot a suspicious look at Aurora. The cookie was left alone. Perhaps it occurred even to Miriam that there was something inappropriate about eating someone's food while you were being decidedly hostile to them.
Altogether she looked like she'd retreated into some kind of turtle shell and intended to stay there. There was something decidedly maladjusted about Miriam Jacobs.
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Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2009 9:29 pm
One hour, fifteen minutes – Aree Cadence checked the Fossil watch on her left wrist – forty-three seconds.
It seemed like significantly more time had passed since she was sitting in the big, comfy leather chair opposite the desk of Crystal Academy's Dean. Headmaster. Principal. Whatever you wanted to call it. One hour, fifteen minutes, and forty-three seconds since she had sat with hands folded in her lap. Ankles crossed. Back straight. Chin lifted. The perfect picture of a Crystal girl. Since she had been told that she was being dismissed. Expelled. Her scholarship revoked. One hour. Fifteen minutes. Forty-three seconds since Aree Cadence could say that she had finally sacrificed everything in the name of the Negaverse.
'We can't keep you, Miss Cadence.' They had said. 'Your scholarship was for dancing, not academics.' Of course not. Nobody gave a flea-bitten rat's a** about intelligence at Crystal Academy. 'Your instructor has deemed you unfit to dance, so we are revoking your scholarship effective at the end of Fall Semester. I'm sorry, Miss Cadence, but perhaps a girl of your... background, would be better off pursuing other educational opportunities.'
Her background; a poor, lower-class girl with nothing but a pretty face and a talent for dancing.
Aree should have expected as much when she had returned to school bruised, ribs broken, her limbs marked enough to shame even the most battered of housewives. They had been patient enough, the first time. However, as each week brought new bruises, bloodied lips, and broken ribs, they could no longer spare the benefit of doubt. Now, she had only a few hours to gather her things. A few hours to clean out her locker and return her borrowed books It was in the middle of this mission that the noise from the Home Ec room drew her attention.
"I'd assumed your mother taught you better than to pry into strangers' health."
The voice was unfamiliar, but the face which Aree paired it with as she leaned against the doroway was not. Miriam Jacobs had been the subject of much gossip those past few days; an inescapable part of Crystal Academy life that Aree absolutely detested. Petty girls trading rumors behind cupped hands and lifted books. Accompanying her were other girls who Aree recognized from the halls of Crystal Academy, none of whom she was particularly fond.
Of course, such could be said for almost anyone.
“Well, there's your first mistake,” she said casually, unrolling the sleeves of her button-up black shirt and pulling them down to cover lightly bruised forearms. Aree cast a glance first to the trio of girls, secondly to the one who carried herself like a cornered animal, “Assuming manners had a place between “picking a rich man out of a crowd” and “how to act entitled” on their parental curriculum”
Lookin' at you, Elegancia.
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Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2009 9:37 pm
Elegancia leered around the room like an owl, arms crossed, thinking about all the things she hated about all the other girls. Aurora Namid was unflinchingly kind and maternal. Pathetic. The banged-up brunette girl was stoic and nonchalant. Also pathetic. The pink-haired girl with a questionable sense of clothing was matter-of-fact and rude. The worst. Lastly there was a girl who seemed to know the pink-haired one, and Elegancia decided she didn't like her either, for whatever reason.
"Actually," Elegancia stated dryly, "clothes have everything to do with being a Crystal girl. It is all about presentation here, and if this was a clown-tramp school I think you'd excel more than others. But seeing as it is not, I think it would be best if you replaced your wardrobe with garments of the classy sort." Elegancia flipped her hair triumphantly and ate another cookie, apparently forgetting Miriam's remarks of cellulite and fifteen pounds.
Elegancia chewed her cookie and placed her stare upon Miriam rather than Serah, since the latter was really beginning to annoy her. "Maybe if one knew how to properly apply make-up," she began, "one might be able hide their physical imperfections. Especially ones on their face." She deliberately aimed this comment at Miriam, but did not reference anyone in particular as to not disturb someone further who may have been potentially insane.
And wouldn't you know it! Yet another girl found herself in the same room as Elegancia, but this one seemed a touch more bitter than the others. Elegancia sighed disdainfully and threw a glance of condescension at the purple-haired girl who had just entered the lion's den. "Obviously girls like you can't even fathom the curriculum of our school. I have no idea how some girls get in here. I swear, next we'll be seeing fat girls waltzing about. Ugh."
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Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2009 10:22 pm
Miriam's eyes flickered up to look at the new girl. She ignored Elegancia while she did; it hadn't been her first encounter with Elegancia d'Estrella anyway, as Crystal wasn't to large as to offer that much of a buffer between its various students. Sometimes that didn't seem like a good thing.
Aurora's assessment hadn't been wrong: she was sallow and sickly-looking and her stockings, it was evident under closer inspection, bulged a little with bandages. Come to think of it, was she limping? Yes, she was, unmistakeably. It was difficult to say what kind of suicide attempt would have produced this. A very determined one, to be sure.
"You're the scholarship girl?" Tactful as ever.
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Posted: Thu Dec 24, 2009 11:15 pm
Clown tramp school? Serah excelling? Oh, that was quite low. Serah turned around in a haughty manner, regretting as she did so as a new round of pain overtook her bruised limbs. Oh how she wished she had a smart retort for that snobby tramp. But what the girl said was the undeniable truth. Ugh. Crystal really was all about presentation. She lost this round.
If it hadn't been for the insistence of Serah's useless mother, Serah would have probably been suspended for a short while. After all, the school doesn't exactly "overlook" wounds suddenly caused in the span of one day. Serah's sunglasses shamefully covered her bruised eyes. She quite admired this dark-haired girl for handling the situation about her wounds in such a unfriendly manner. But effective.
The new girl that entered however seemed to set off a new common topic. Oh. She was the girl on the scholarship. Did most Crystal Academy girls get into strange fights these days? That already made three injured girls in this room. Serah would have loved to tell this scholarship girl that her dancing was quite lovely but this probably wasn't the appropriate time to say it.
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Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 12:39 am
-She was genuinely beginning to wonder if food and plates were going to be flying around the room soon. Some sick repeat of the battle she'd once had in this room that'd left her with her own set of injuries, that she'd attempted to hide by bedding down with 'the flu' for a few days.
The venom in which her concern had been tossed her way bit at her, not to mention the fire lit by ANY insinuations regarding her dead mother. Her voice finally began to raise a little, her plate clattering onto a countertop as her lips pursed once more, a thick braid coming loose from their capture up atop her head.- "On the contrary. My mother taught me how to care for and about other people no matter how poor or incredibly rude they are. If you don't want to talk about it whatever. But there is no need to punish someone who tries to do a good deed!"
-Cerulan eyes narrowed, sending a death glare momentarily to their newest arrival. Couldn't ANYONE pleasant show up? Really. They surely had atleast a few nice people in this school. They HAD to.
Perhaps all of them had gone home with friends and family.. and what was left.. were the cretins without both. And yet... what did that make her?
Sighing, she pressed a well manicured hand against her forhead, shaking her head as she raised her voice again.. less aggresively though this time.. a little more.. like she was attempting to wrangle five year olds.- "Do we really all have to be so negative and nasty? There is no reason we can't all try just a little to enjoy some sweets and the dwindling hours of Christmas eve. I assume if you guys all wanted to be alone you wouldn't have came in the first place."
-And then.. as if it'd change anything, other than add another deadly weapon to the fray.- "I can make some hot chocolate if anyone would prefer, instead of milk."
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Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 3:11 am
“Mm. You're right. Gossiping and cross-stitching Precious Moments is a bit too much to fathom. I will leave such matter to your superior intellect, Elegancia.”
There was little insult to be found in that monotone voice, and the way Aree turned her gaze to Miriam made it clear that she was mentally dismissing the prissy dancer from her thoughts. There were many things more worth her attention than another snobby teenager with entitlement issues. Crystal was rampant with those. At least Miriam Jacobs, for all of her bluntness and lack of social skill, had a significant skill to balance out her attitude. Aree was not a fan of fencing, but she had passed by the areas in which they practice often enough. It was hard not to notice grace of the caliber possessed by the dark-haired girl.
“I am,” Aree replied, moving a few steps into the room. She neglected usage of past-tense. 'I was' opened a gateway for 'why' and 'how'. Questions which she did not have proper answers to. Questions she simply did not feel like answering, “You're Miriam Jacobs.” It was not a question.
Her attention turned then to Aurora, brows slightly raised in amused surprised at the venomous reaction. Well, wasn't she touchy. Aree had grown used to being the 'scholarship girl'. It was a rare thing at Crystal Academy, and one which was often regarded with either disdain or pity. Sometimes both. Aree, however, wore it proudly. She had earned her way.
“Did she also teach you to refer to someone by their economic status, or is that part of the curriculum that I'm so incapable of fathoming? Do calm yourself, Aurora. I was talking to Princess Elegancia, Matriarch of Undeserved Ego, Empress of Entitlement. And I would love some hot chocolate.”
Apparently Aree Cadence didn't have the sense of appropriateness of Miriam Jacobs. She leaned against the wall, arms hanging loose at her sides, and simply stared.
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Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 3:29 am
Skye was rather enjoying all this bitchiness and was more then happy to watch it take place. She just took another cookie and nibbled it while watching the girls have it out with each other. As yet another girl walked in she acknowledged her and continued to nibble on her cookie. She was about to take another one when Elegancia spoke about fat people and Skye really couldn't agree more. Fat people were just wrong. In fact Elegancia seemed to be talking Skye's language.
Miriam Jacobs. Oh so that's who the girl was. She had heard rumours of her and so couldn't help but look the girl over. She didn't seem worth all the rumours really.
"I will have some hot chocolate, thanks." She smiled at Aurora as she would the cook at home. Aurora acted like one of the maids at home, trying to keep the peace all the time. Maybe Aurora could be a maid for Skye? The thought crossed her mind but she pushed it aside. It would hardly be good for student relations to be asking fellow class mates to be ones maid.
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Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 11:48 am
Miriam snorted -- at something Elegancia said, or something Aree said, or something Skye said, it was hard to tell. She cast her eyes up to the ceiling. But instead of saying anything she just finished her cookie and glanced at the drink options.
"You know," she addressed Aurora, "you aren't actually their maid. They're not paying you to wait at their beck and call."
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Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 1:13 pm
Elegancia's interest was really piqued when it all clicked in her head. She had heard of a purple-haired girl on scholarship before. If this was that same harlot, then she was Aree Cadence-- and she was supposedly a better dancer than Elegancia was. "That's impossible," she would tell herself many times. Elegancia had never encountered this girl before, as they had separate dance class periods (and every other class for that matter), but now she could finally say she had met the fabled Aree Cadence. It was downright revolting. Elegancia glanced over Aree, looking for things she could pick apart. Things like that usually broke most girls down.
"Miss Aree," Elegancia started, "I hear you're quite the dancer. Nevermind the curriculum. If that is so, why have I heard hearsay that you're bumped and bruised all over? Are your skills that... Imperfect?" She proceeded to run her hand over her left leg, displaying for all the perfection that was her alabaster, silky-smooth skin. She did the same with her arms. Elegancia no longer cared for the other hussies in the room. They were small fry compared to Aree.
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 5:08 am
-Aurora seemed genuinely surprised by the insinuation, and realized, quite quickly, the insult that could be derived by what she'd assumed was an innocent enough. She didn't have to apologize though, taking the offered distraction of hot chocolate like a hungry dog would take a meat tattered bone. She whipped around, digging a large pot out from the lower cabinets.
She already had the flame lit, milk and baking cocoa warming when the scary brunette spoke again, Aurora's shoulders dipping forward momentarily. She didn't even know what to say anymore. Perhaps the other girl was trying to keep her from being walked all over.. which was noble and kind enough. But maybe she was just trying to stir up more drama too. Look.. now they had HER being cynical too!?-
"I offered first." -She stated finally, casting one more glance and a shrug back to Miriam, before turning back and tossing a handful of marshmallows into the pot, watching as they began to melt and dissapear into the brown liquid.
In her brain she sought out christmas song lyrics.. something to cheer her up. Not something silly and full of nonesense. And certainly not "I'll be home for christmas", she could almost FEEL the tears on the edges of her eyes as she realized how different this fiasco was from a christmas at home.
The words that finally danced across her head as she began to set out cups to laddle into were surprising fitting.. and depressing.
Where are you Christmas? Why can't I find you?
Why have you gone away?
Where is the laughter you used to bring me?
Why can't I hear the music play?
There were five cups laddled into in the end, left free for whoever decided they wanted one. More marshmallows lay on the counter if wanted, but Aurora took her own glass to the refridgerator, dabbing some cream on top of the mixture before she leaned against a counter, starting to undo the binds that held her large braids up and out of her way.-
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Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2009 1:44 pm
Aree threw her head back, and she laughed. It was a brazen laugh. The strong, confident mocking kind of laugh that said You can't touch me. You're not important enough to touch me. If there was one up side to giving yourself over to a supernatural organization hellbent on ruling the world, it was that trivial schoolgirl gripes didn't have a way under your skin. Enough fights, enough bodies left in alleys to die of expsure, and you just lost the ability to care whether or not Empress Elegancia was trying to ruffle your feathers and press your buttons.
Aree Cadence had no feathers. She was, in fact, featherless, bald as a baby mouse – at least, as far as Elegancia was concerned.
“All that perfect skin,” Aree mused, her tone as bold as her laughter, “And you're still second fiddle. My, how that must sting.” Her smile was polite, her walk casual and relaxed as she went to fetch a cup of hot chocolate from the counter. “Thank you, Aurora.”
Well, at least she could put manners on her small list of redeeming qualities.
“But if you'd like to keep sticking that nose where it doesn't belong, Elegancia, I'll be glad to show you just how I got 'bumped and bruised all over'.”
Or not.
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 2:04 am
Oh testy. Tension seemed to crackle in the air. Serah certainly was smarter than getting in this b***h fight (because that's exactly what it was going to turn out to be.) She took a cup of hot chocolate, murmuring some soft thanks towards Aurora. She took several more marshmallows (the amount she took seemed endless) that must have made her cocoa on the verge of sickeningly sweet. But then she added the cream as well.
Oh, some people might say that that much sugar was just nasty.
She decided to introduce herself as she took a sip to the two that stood out of the fight.
"I'm Serah. You're a lovely cook by the way but I do admit that you have some ways to go before you can be considered excellent." She took another cookie, dipping it in her cocoa. Next she turned towards Miriam, flashing a knowing smile.
"At the risk of getting stung by your prickly shell, which I shall no doubt that I'll recover from, I'm Serah. I guess we're in the gossip club together with our injuries." Being significantly shorter than Miriam, one could see her bruised eyes behind the sunglasses and her scraped skin.
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Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2010 9:54 am
-Her smile returned mildly as the girl with long purple hair thanked her, nodding in head silently, before her eyes turned to the girl greeting her. Adorable little thing, with pink hair. Deja vu.. but it was brushed away, offering her a polite nod and greeting as well.-
"Aurora, pleasure to meet you."
-She stayed mostly silent, as she sipped at her cocoa, trying not to spark anymore flames. Truthfully.. as soon as she was done, she'd probably just pack up some stuff for Mili and Eve and Rea and retreat. Maybe she'd call papa... Or take a bath, a nice warm bath would be nice to relieve the.. tension that'd settled from the air onto the girl's shoulders.-
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