{ The School Office } [Re-Open] PAGE 36: THE CALLING

[Meeki]

After Horse Boy's speech, Rain was starting to understand why they might be in trouble. How did she fall in with this lot of saps? She deserved detention. She had let herself get blinded by the possibility of romance. Hell, weren't they all acting maybe a little too human or was she over-analyzing things again? Her head was starting to hurt. Zombies weren't meant to be big thinkers.

Before she had time to consider anything further, she found a handsome boy speaking to her. If she had a working heart, it would have surely skipped a beat right then and there. It was the one that liked to sing, wasn't it? "Hello Israfel," she greeted, unsure of what to do next. Should she compliment him? Ignore him? Of course, now he would know she read his card. She just admitted to knowing his name and they had never met. Sometimes, she really wanted a new brain.

Flicking a few strands of hair behind her ear, she added, "Sure would like to be on the roof now." Perhaps he wouldn't notice the formal use of his name. "Heck, anything is better than detention, I'm sure."

What was she doing? Making small talk? Jack Skellington be damned but she was a sap! S-A-P! She might have to force herself to sit in the Princess Corner twice. Maybe even thrice. Maybe she'll just friggin' move in there.

The one drinking blood was making her nervous. Not so much as the girl but the blood itself. She could feel the faint rumbling in her tummy. She didn't want to frenzy. Not here, not in front of all the boys. She had to stay in control. It was just blood. Just blood.. not a big deal. You've gone longer without eating. Besides, what was the point if there were no juicy brains or innards attached, and it wasn't like monsters, undead and whatnot would even edible. Ew. Reapers maybe..

No. She would not lose control. Not here, not now, no how. Her face turned very determined and she crossed her arms. This was detention, not the lunchroom and if she had done something wrong, she would accept the consequences of her actions, even if she couldn't figure out what they were.  

[Huni Pi]

Tess had not taken the discovery that she had been given detention very well. She was stunned, extremely so, that her wings stopped beating and she collapsed on the ground. It was only the impact of her back meeting the floor that woke her and her face had scrunched up in a most pathetic display of self-pity it was a wonder she hadn't simply burst into tears. As she shakily got to the air (because she still had no feet to get to), she could practically hear her parents' wailing about where did they go wrong, didn't they raise her to be a fine example of their kind? Oh the shame! Oh the humiliation!

Oh for jack's sake, wasn't Tess glad to finally be away from all that? Wasn't she here to leave behind who she used to be? Swallowing the sniffle that niggled in the back of her throat, she puffed up her chest and flew straight for the school office where she was expected. And was pleasantly surprised to find it was packed. Misery certainly loved company.

She felt slightly relieved that she actually recognized some of those present. There was Shehk and Calder and some from the party and oh sludge that was a huge student... she found herself staring longer than polite before shaking her head clear, hoping he hadn't noticed. Fixing what was her game face (read: a slightly panic-stricken grimace edged with anxiety) she carefully squeezed her way into the room, squeaking an apology whenever her wings smacked against someone. Which she couldn't help because there was no way she was crawling into the room.  

[demon_pachabel]

....'Romance' was a word that made Shehk cringe, almost like Rain had felt about it, twisting her face juuuuust a little bit at what Calder's primary concern was. Certainly the kelpie was a cute...boy.... she'd settled on boy for now (Had she? AUGH), but honestly she hadn't really been looking into the 'romance' aspect of it and had only put her card up as a way to maybe avoid a certain skinwalker.

Which was why HIS card had been put up too. No matter that she'd practically left her card an open invitation for him and that she'd stolen the picture from the one she'd made for him. Hey, either way her initial thought hadn't been 'I need a date'. In fact, it had been 'I NEED TO ESCAPE MY DATE'.

Or something like that.

"It could have been worse." she finally settled. "It's not like we're in here because we're part of some in-the-coffin romance-novel club." There was a pause after this in which she shuddered. "I mean, there are a lot more embarrassing things we could be in here for."

EMBARRASSING THINGS THAT WOULD SPREAD BY WORD OF MOUTH.

Hey. She'd gotten Tristan dragged in as well too. Misery, company. Yep!  

[Rown]

Buuuuuuuh?! Why was someone talking to her in here?! Weren't they supposed to stay quiet?! Why was her Thermos half empty with that weird undead (she smelled undead anyway, kinda like rot and bad blood) looking at her as though she expected Chuppi to share? How come she was being ducked close to, like a shield or something?

The loud, loud, loud sounds of a Thermos being drained of every last bit of its blood filled the room, Chuppi nearly swallowing her straw whole in her haste to ease the nerves that leeked upon her like a bad rain pouring down her spine. She knew she was super tiny and therefore had hoped no one would notice her coming in and she could have stayed in a corner and not bothered anyone except maybe G because he was nice and -

Her train of thought was rolling at one thousand miles a minute, her red eyes growing moist as she started to inwardly panic. None of her panic was nessecary, of course, but that didn't mean the Chupacabra didn't feel like she had to. Maybe if she just continued to stay quiet she'd calmed down and be able to get through all of this okay, even though she still wasn't even sure why she was here. Another girl (another undead, phew they ....smelled different) said something about a book club? If that was really the case then how come everyone looked so unhappy?

Chuppi liked to read since reading could be done without anyone coming to bother her. Maybe she should join in this conversation.

"I...like books?"

. . . .she was entirely, entirely off her mark.  

[lizbot]

A small witch entered the office wither her head hung and back slumped. This was, quite definitely, the worst day in the history of her life. She had detention. Detention. DETENTION!

She was now Emily Device: Delinquent.

Emily tried to keep a calm face, and felt she was doing an okay job of it, really! But to anyone looking, this was obviously the face of someone trying very hard not to cry. Oh Grim! This place was so full too! Everyone here now knew she was a-a-a ne'er-do-well!

"Sh-sh-shehk?" She hiccuped, seeing her fellow FEARleader was there as well.  

[demon_pachabel]

Ohae, now that was a face she recognized! Shehk looked up, perking ever so slightly when the panicked reaper (she perked because it was Emily, not because she was now mentally labelling herself), seeming to sigh after a moment. OH WOE WAS THE WORLD.

"Yeah, me. My guess is you're here for the same reason we are all here?" she asked, offering the closest available seat by her to her, before slumping in her chair, her head throbbing angrily at her. Oh Jack-skellington. She wasn't sure -what- had been in the punch, but it sure was PUNCHING HER SKULL AUGH. Note to self: Don't trust Nukpana with drinks EVER AGAIN.

"I mean, it's sounding like a mass-detention. I can only imagine what will be worse; Making us all sit in the corner TOGETHER, or making everybody wait while each person gets a shot at it."

There was this moment where an image of herself NOT in her lovely Romanian-Victorian-yada fashion flashed through her head.. and somehow, it was more terrifying than if people realized she ate like a slob when unwatched, chewed on her nails, and ...
...

and what? What else did she have in mind when she'd started that thought? THOUGHT DISTRACTED.  

[lizbot]

As the student crowding into the School Office and began chattering away, no one saw the Headmistress's door slowly slide open, or the piece of chalk that went flying toward the kelpie's head until the air was filled with it's fine dusty powder. It took a few moments for the air to clear out, and when it did, there she was. Live. In person. And smiling at them in an entirely unpleasant fashion.

"Little nag, you are very loud, you. My name, it is Professor Hellma Shox," the smile widened, revealing a set of rather sharp teeth. "Best get it right, or you may graduate to the glue pot, yes?"

The tiny headmistress took a moment to circle the students, giving them each a once over. Little hungry idiot. Large hungry idiot. Zombie in bitchface. The little unicorn that wasn't. The feathered diva that couldn't. The vampire that lost it's Jackdamned legs. Zombie in bitchface that was counting of all things. Miss Disinfectant. And a crybaby.

"You are all entirely pathetic," she said finally, still smiling. "And you are too loud, useless, and many to stay here. So another form of detention you shall now have, my little grubs." As she finished speaking the room suddenly went dark, and when the lights came on again, the headmistress was gone. Looking around, the secretary was nowhere to be seen either.

A large shadow remained on the wall, though, and Hellma's voice sounded throughout the room, "Come to the other bathroom in the basement, worms. Come to me here, before I come to find you, yes?"



((Anyone else receiving Detention for the Personals Board: your student gets another form of Detention, so please do post here still))  

[AyeAvast]

The walk down the hallway towards the office had been a calculated one for Belladonna. It was necessary to walk just slowly enough that would make her just a few minutes late (had they been assigned a certain time to be there? Great Hectate no but Belladonna had assigned herself a time and not arriving to her prescribed time meant she was rebelling further! HA!) but not slow enough to make her too late. After all, she wanted to be late, not entirely miss it and therefore give this Hellma Shox another chance to scream. God, that woman sounded like evil incarnate. Having two older sisters who had previously attended Amityville didn't give Belladonna much choice in way of imagining how most of the teachers could be. She had already heard tales of this dastardly lady.

It was of course at the exact moment that she reaching the door that she saw the lights go out, come back on and heard a voice saying something that was just out of ear shot. So with a frenzied cry, Belladonna shot forward through the door, looking around frantically.

"Am I late?! I'm not late am I?! Oh jacking pumpkin rinds, I can't be late!!" Thankfully she was not the weepy sort, so she wasn't feeling the need to cry right now. But she was becoming a bundle of nerves. First it was that damn train ride, now this? Why was everything going so wrong? Things should be going right! Its not like she had the option to become the delinquent of the family, Delphinium held that role! And if she had detention now, she couldn't make good grades like Hemlock had. Why was everything so difficult right now!?

And who had gotten her into this mess?! Why Calder of course. He had posted some ridiculous little picture of her saying she wanted her clothes ripped off and the worst part was no one had responded! It was enough to make her self esteem plummet to the very lowest bowels of her own self-hell. But wait, hadn't she put up a picture of Chuppi?! Oh no! She'd gotten Chuppi in trouble too. That meant that people she knew should be here! Well, maybe this wasn't SO BAD after all...  

[x_Nata_x]

Normally, when students meandered down the hall, the sound of their shoes would alert anyone around they were coming, whether it be the click of heels or the squeak of rubber against tile. For a certain deviant student, there was no such noise as he padded down the hall bare-foot, footsteps silent as the grave. Nuk made his way slowly down the mostly-empty hall, hands shoved in his pockets, part of a detention slip peeking out from the tan hide pants, which was usually where he was going when the halls weren't congested with other students. That or the roof, which usually caused him to end up in detention anyway. It had come to the point where he couldn't even act excited about it one way or the other -- it was more like a regular routine for him, now.

The really unjust part of the whole thing was he hadn't even DONE anything this time. Still, it was like the boy who turned into a wolf. Or was it cried wolf. Same difference.

The sound of heals clicking in a fast, sprinting pace caused Nukpana to glance over his shoulder just as he reached to rest his hand on the doorknob to the office, an amused grin quickly replacing the curious look he had had not moments before. Swinging the door open, he held it open with his shoulder as Belladonna came rushing down the hall, folding his arms across his chest in a nonchalant pose. "Hells bells, calm down Bubble-butt. It's only detention," the skinwalker teased, shooting the witch an impish smirk.

He would say something like that. Nuk was entirely too use to detention, so much so that he wouldn't even need to come to the office if he didn't need to figure out which punishment was in rotation that day. He'd just go directly there and save himself and them the time and the displeasure of seeing each other's faces. In fact, he'd seen Arel so many times he'd gotten on a first-name basis with the frost demon. Ok, well no, that wasn't true -- he'd pretty just made up an offensive nickname for him like he did for 99% of the other students he came in contact with.

"Hey Ariel. Still got icicles in your underpants, I see," he offered the ice demon in greeting, flopping down in a nearby chair.  

[surreality]

This was infuriating.

Tristan hadn't even been aware that was a notice board tacked up prominently on display for the entire academy student body to see, let alone use as campus-wide personals advertisement for the lonely and desperate. He was certainly not apart of the whole who believed that true love would come in the form of a photograph and a few smart lines of description and prose, and on top of that, he wasn't exactly looking for a romantic counter part as it was. So, it was with great anger and frustration that he glared at the detention slip, hanging limply by the corner of the paper with a single thumbtack stuck to the board by his photo. Somebody had written him a card. Somebody had decided that it was up to them to meddle with his life, and it was very much unwelcomed.

He tore the slip off, stuffed it in his jacket's pocket and stomped to the indicated room for more information. Surely, after speaking with whoever is running the detention sessions they would see that he was framed and would let him leave without any marks on his record. Tristan had actually been trying to stay on relatively good behavior; after all, were anything terrible to happen he'd hear it from his parents, and that was worse than any detention chore.

When he entered the room, he saw only a few students mingling about and waiting on their charges. A scowl set firmly in his brows and the corners of his mouth when he noticed that there wasn't a single body present that belonged to that of staff, the very person that he needed to get out of this mess. What he did find, though, was a familiar wolf pelt gracing the back of a skinwalker.

"YOU!" He accused, a single finger pointing in defiance. "Are YOU the reason I was summoned to this wretched room? You're the brain-dead hog-humping dickwad that wrote me in the board?! EXPLAIN YOURSELF."

It was as though nobody else was in the room, for all Tristan cared.  

[Zoobey]

The gnome sitting in Arel's office chair stiffened as the student greeted "them". All he had wanted to do was try the swively round chair he swore! - and perhaps also try on one of the banished secretary's plush capes, they looked so warm and soft.

Oh crap, he didn't want to get into trouble for this, this was how John from accounting had died! Very, very slowly and dramatically, he slipped deeper into the chair, subtly using the hood of the cape to cover his head - well more like his entire body. From a student's perspective looking at the desk, it just looked like the 'secretary' was currently slumped over with their hood over their head for Jack knows what reason.

Fortunately for the students who arrived late, the actual secretary and headmistress would not be back for a while. It was a perfect opportune moment to 'skip a detention', with only a thinly disguised gnome to block their way.  

[AyeAvast]

Since today was starting to seem less than perfect, it only started turning worse when Belladonna burst into the room and was immediately greeted with "Bubble-butt". In an instant images of the train ride popped her into her mind and she whirled on Nuk, sticking a finger under his face (as she couldn't really tower over him when she was shorter than him) and waggled it angrily.

"Now see here you! Its a CAGED HOOP SKIRT. Its for petticoat purses, to make the skirt poof out. It makes it CUTE." She was gearing up for a full on rant, pausing to mumble a quick, "Not that you'd know anything about cute" when she was interrupted by Tristan's sudden explosion of anger and expletives. At first she was a bit thrown off by the sheer rage he was showing. But she quickly discerned the reason behind his rage and shifted her attention from Nuk to this new person.

"Your card got posted not by you too?!" She asked, jumping toward him excitedly. It didn't much hurt she liked his hair... And the jacket was just lovely... "What I mean is, um! Someone else posted a card for you too? Calder did that for me... It didn't amount to much, except this..."

With a swing of indignation, Belladonna swept toward the desk with the fake-Arel and bent over so that she would have been eye-level, had the person within the coat been of her stature. "Excuse me, what sort of detention are we to be serving?" She asked in her angriest voice possible, while throwing a few glances back at her fellow male accomplices.  

[Zoobey]

The gnome was absolutely quivering, petrified. The hood shook and wobbled, and kind of looked like 'Arel' was having a seizure - or apparently really intolerable of the cold. The latter would have made more sense if he wasn't a frost demon.

It had no clue what to say! Having been tasked in not talking to students unless necessary he simply did the next best thing and jumped up and down. The mostly-covered up hood bobbed in a nod, whatever that meant.  

[lizbot]

A large shadow moved toward the witch, and hissed at her, "This academy, it is not for the faint of heart, little witch. We have something special for today's detention. Await your fate here if you wish, but your friends in the basement's other bathroom may not survive if you do."

A harsh, terrible laugh erupted from the shadow as it slid away. The sound continued to echo throughout the hallways, causing several students to later visit Cricket's office due to severe stress and anxiety.