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 Posted: Sun May 02, 2010 9:05 am
When Audrey had told there that there was to be a pool party, how could Eve say no? The weather was perfect for such an event, and the blonde had immediately agreed with a text peppered with lots of hearts and smiley face emoticons. Not too much that would be considered spam though.
She turned up at Jada's mansion in a pretty caftan, and it didn't take her long to find the pool thanks to the notices. The Chamberlyn house was so big that if it had been a slumber party, Eve would have probably wandered around and got lost in the process, although there was probably hired help around to point her in the right direction. There were already a few people there when she reached the pool, and waved to Elke and she sat down besides the other on the side of the pool, not bothering to take off her cover up just yet.
"Audreyyyy." She called out, dangling a small blue plastic bag decorated with hearts out at the blue-haired girl. "If you don't get your gift from me soon, I'll drop it into the water!" Eve teased, bright blue eyes sparkling. She couldn't forget that it was a graduation party after all!
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Posted: Sun May 02, 2010 10:51 am
"You wouldn't -DARE-" Zink said with narrowed eyes. But the look on Dem's face said he very much would dare.
"ALRIGHT...Alright...I'll get it." he headed for the edge and clamored out dripping wet and vengefully tossed the glowsticks as far into the deep end as he could chuck them.
"Be right back..." He said and toweled off enough that he wouldn't ruin anything on his 'voyage'
--
It didn't take much time to return either, but it was hard to see the short young man for the enormous, inflated, 'pool-panda' he was dragging with him.
"Happy?!" He demanded of Dem.
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Posted: Sun May 02, 2010 1:19 pm
Oh man, everyone was coming at once this was great! She'd been chasing John Jr around the pool and veering this way and that to get around everyone like a mermaid, and it was getting just a little tiring. So when Eve and Tallulah started waving things in her direction, it wasn't so very hard to clamber out of the pool and retreat to the giant pile of towels. It was massive, ten or fifteen that she'd brought from home and commandeered from the Chamberlyn stockpile. Suitably dry, hair wrung out while she spoke, Alairi's cover went over it again. "Pasha is supposed to be here, but you know how he is. He's probably at home trying to figure out which pair of water wings to wear, trying to put glitter inside of them. Something adorable and totally Pasha. If he doesn't show up, I will cry, so he better come!" Reaching over, Tallulah got a quick welcome hug that you gave friends you weren't entirely comfortable with, and took the envelope before rushing over to Eve with alacrity.
"Don't you dare drop it in the pool! I won't tell you about what I did last weekend if you do!" Her voice lowered as she got closer to the blond and cheeks pinked. "And you'll wanna hear, trust me." Eve got a hug as well, and then the bluenette turned to go back near Jada to open her presents, when Zac stopped her dead with the giant, inflated panda. "Oh my God." Her eyes went wide and giddy and she couldn't help but punch into the air with a cheer. "Yesssss, oh my god I so call dibs on that thing as soon as I am back in the pool. I am going to throw everyone on it before the day is over, watch!" Gold eyes followed the plastic animal longingly for a moment before personal avarice won out and she flopped back on the chair next to Jada.
"Alright, presents time!" Audrey's mother had taught her that cards were important, they showed that you cared about the person who was giving the gift and not just the gift itself. So, Tallulah was first!
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Posted: Sun May 02, 2010 6:39 pm
As different as they were, John Jr and Vanessa shared several qualities. An abundance of energy was one of them. He giggled as Audrey chased him, positively delighting in her attention, and put a lot of effort into evading her. It was the purpose of the game that they played.
Audrey tired before he did. John Jr did not notice that she had left the water right away, and it was only after his shrieks of glee weren't echoed by the (much) older girl's laughter that he paused. He stood in the shallow end, feeling a little deserted, and glanced over his shoulder in time to see Audrey embrace first Tallulah and then Eve. More pretty ladies! He could hardly believe it.
Grinning from ear to ear, absently regretting that they hadn't brought her a present too, John Jr hopped out of the pool and, dripping water everywhere, practically skipped after Audrey so that he could watch her open presents.
Vanessa was not as intrigued by the present opening as her little brother. Instead, her attention was sucked up almost entirely by the glowsticks the short boy had thrown at the deep end. She swam across the bottom of the pool; cheeks puffed up with air, golden eyes wide open, and picked up toy after toy after toy.
Every once in awhile she'd breech the surface, gasp for air, throw the glowsticks herself and go back down again to collect them. This was a game she had enjoyed ever since she'd first learned how to swim. She liked staying under water until her lungs felt like they were going to explode, and pushed herself farther every time. It was always a challenge- always impossible to win.
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Posted: Sun May 02, 2010 7:25 pm
The half-hearted hug was telling, but Tallulah felt the same way. While joined by the ties of MUN and shared adoration of Pasha, she and Audrey didn't actually know each other that well. So instead of a carefully thought-out present, Audrey got a card with a kitten in a cap and gown on it, and a $25 gift card to Best Buy.
"I wasn't sure what to get you," she said, wibbling a bit as the blue-haired girl opened the envelope. "I hope you like it!"
She wasn't sure if she could go jump in the pool yet, or if etiquette demanded she stay, at least until Audrey had opened a few more gifts and turned her attention elsewhere. She chose the latter, not feeling brave enough to jump into a pool full of mostly-unfamiliar faces.
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Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 2:22 am
It was, really, the perfect gift for a girl such as Audrey. Though her double life was really telling on her, because the girl would have sworn that the cat on the front of the card had a star on the middle of its forehead. Seeing a cat without one these days was becoming an oddity? Yeah, she definitely was working too hard. But it was adorable, and a lovely gift when the bluenette hadn't been expecting anything from anyone. "Thank you so much, Tal, it's perfect! I've sorta had my eye on something there, and this'll help sell it to my parents." Tallulah got a huge grin and the card was tucked back safely away, with a promise to John that he could look at it when he was a bit dried off.
"Here, help me open this one, will you?" There was tissue paper sticking out of the top, and she held it out to the boy to pull. The attention both flattered and charmed the graduate, and she was more than willing to encourage his blossoming ego with a bit of feminine attention. Besides, he was cute. "I am going to have to keep the hearts though, maybe Pasha can make me something out of them later. He's good at that sort of thing." Then sun was drying her out quickly, and her energy was returning fast, but she couldn't be rude. Plus, her curiosity was killing her. What in the world would Eve have bought?
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Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 3:51 am
Jada relaxed under the umbrella, listening to the noises already around the pool. Laughing and splashing, the noise a balm to her tattered emotions. two days before, Szelem and Kayley had left for Switzerland. Kayley had chosen to go to a boarding school there, and after she was settled in Szelem would be relocating her home to somewhere in the south of France. Michael was talking about relocating to New York, and would be taking Zora with him or sending him to Boarding School. Zora wanted him to stay here, in DC, so he had agreed to give it a while; as for Lucas, both parents were fighting for his affections like two dogs with one bone. Jada knew that feeling far too well.
It was the sound of laughter that was driving all her worries away. She shrugged off her cover-up, setting it on the table next to her and stretching out. The sun was warm on her pale skin, well-slathered with sunscreen. She wanted to tan, not burn to death. She recognized a few of the people, but not many of them.
Audrey was opening presents- she recognized (she thought) the girl who had asked her if she was a princess. She saw Eve had given Audrey something. Presents! Jada hadn't even thought about the fact this was a graduation party. She hadn't gotten Audrey a thing, wrapped up in herself as she had been.
With a small noise she pushed to her feet, grabbing back her cover-up and sliding it back around her- she only wore it to hide the blisters on her lower back from view. She was healing rapidly, and the pain was dissipating daily. Still, she never forgot. And she couldn't let anyone find out how quickly she was healing the burns. It wasn't normal, just as how Elke had healed her own wounds wasn't normal. Jada left her sunglasses on the table, piled her dark hair up into a knot on her head, and wound her way towards her blue-haired friend. "Audrey, raking in the loot this early?" she teased her lightly, smiling at the little boy helping her unwrap another present. "I'm on my way inside to check on the drinks. Anything else you want me to check on?"
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Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 6:22 am
"You did what?" Eve said in a low voice, eyes glittering in anticipation as she returned the hug, getting up from her seat to follow Audrey with the gift in hand. It was about Elzo, wasn't it? It had to be. Had he made his move already? A date, maybe? She longed to ask Audrey to spill the details, but it was probably the sort of hush hush thing girlfriends could talk in private, and this was a pretty big party. "Promise you'll tell me later!"
Unwrapping the present would reveal a little box, and nestled in it was a pretty ladybird charm. "It's for good luck!" She explained, bouncing up and down and giving the boy besides Audrey a smile; he was adorable! "You know, since you're going on to the next stage of your life with graduation and all, and you need luck for stuff like that, and in your love life." She finished, giving a little wink to accentuate her point. "Hey Jada!" Eve waved at her brunette friend as the organizer of the party decided to make an appearance. "How have you been?"
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Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 9:37 pm
It seemed as if Pasha could not be on time for anything these days, between nightmares and having to patrol (and deciding what to wear, just as Audrey had predicted). But that stuff wasn't important right now, because his very best friend had invited him to an ultra-cool party at an ultra-cool house. He'd never been to this part of town, and failed to allot himself enough time to find the party location. By the time he'd stopped staring at all of the pretty houses and huge yards long enough to actually pay attention to house numbers, he was already very late to the party.
Hopefully Audrey could forgive him.
He wore the same bathing suit that he'd had forever, plain blue and faded from years and years of chlorine exposure. All of his candy jewelry still hung around his neck and clung to his wrists, way too bright in the summer sun. Most notable, though, were the hot pink floaties that he wore on his arms, implying that he was a complete failure when it came to swimming.
"Audreeeyyy!" he called to her once his friend was in sight, waving with far more excitement than anyone should ever have. He carried a present for her under one arm that seemed as if it might fall to the ground with every cheerful wave. Suddenly embarrassed at the realization that there were lots of other people here who probably wanted her attention, he quietly wandered over to stand at the almost-graduate's side with a smile, examining the presents she'd already received.
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Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 10:14 pm
This was almost as bad as the ball again, and not at the same time, because she was supposed to be the center of attention. Nothing felt worse than stealing attention from someone at her own party, and Audrey had felt that way throughout the entire thing that night. Pinking up at all the attention, the girl turned with a fluster to Jada. "Hm? Oh! Oh no unless anyone else can think of anything? I'm set, gotta grab a sandwich soon but...no, thanks Jada." The smile was as wide as the bluenette could make it, more grateful than her friend knew for this party. It wasn't easy for her friend, and Audrey knew it.
Pulling out the charm, gold eyes lit up and she beamed before immediately clipping it onto the same ring as the potion Pasha had given her for her birthday, hopping up to hug Eve again. She loved charms. There were two that could never be displayed to everyday eyes that she cherished as well, and forevermore ladybugs would be associated with the blond. "I love it, it's great! And man, I'm not sure I need the luck in one area. Remind me to corner you later, okay? I gotta tell you this!" The graduate had been turning back towards John Jr and bent down to let him inspect the gift when a familiar voice pulled her up short and a wide smile was shot towards the vicinity of her hip before she stood back up and threw her arms around the colorful boy. "Pashaaaaa!! You made it! I knew you wouldn't ditch me!"
Such things were unthinkable. Pasha could no more ditch Audrey than wear all black with no necklaces and bracelets for a day. It was unthinkable for either of them, true best friends, the most unlikely pair. "Uhm, you gotta meet everyone! This is John," the youngest member was first, being the closest. "Then we have Eve, you know Tal, and in the pool are Pierette, Zac, Demy, Heather, John's sister Vanessa too. If you passed a pretty girl with black hair, that's Jada and this is her house. OH! And Elke. I can't forget Elke!" It was very hard to forget Elke, she was far too sweet!
Everything was whirling, and dragging Pasha with her, she gave up and went to get food. She'd been too plagued by nightmares and excitement to sleep or eat much the night before, and was famished by everything going on. "Gotta get back in the pool soon!"
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Posted: Tue May 04, 2010 6:18 pm
The past few weeks had been tumultuous to say the least. First, her mother drunk at the ball. Then, the news of her parents' divorce. And -- oh yeah -- then her body had become the house for a soul from another dimension. Of these three events, the joining of herself with Sailor Ares had been the least troubling. Once her thoughts and memories were laced with Fallon's own, it was difficult to resent her. She understood Ares in an instant better than anyone had ever understood her before, and vice versa. Tardiness was not something that Fallon permitted ever. She judged harshly those that were tardy to see her, and she held herself to an even higher standard of punctuality. But for Audrey's pool party, Fallon found herself hesitant to enter. She hadn't seen either Jada and Audrey since news of her parents' divorce, or since Ares had crashed head first into her life. Would they notice a change? Would they see the slight nuances of her newly forming personality? It was too much anxiety to heap on top of what had been several very anxious weeks. Dressed in a retro-styled suit with a white sarong, Fallon slipped out onto the patio of the Chamberlyn pool. There were a smattering of guests gathered poolside, but Fallon didn't immediately inject herself. Magenta eyes found Audrey. She waved at her, and then repeated the gesture with Jada, dropping her bag beside a lounge chair.
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Posted: Tue May 04, 2010 6:44 pm
Zac made polite greetings to all the newcomers. He thought he recognized the boy with the pink arm floats... stargasing wasn't it? That night they all made wishes...
But so many others were new faces to him and he was having a hard time organizing information in his head... so much so that he was tempted to give up. Instead he just made mental note of a few 'vital statistics and told himself to watch for anything odd, however unlikely, so that he might enjoy the party.
He did though feel flustered when the black haired young woman mentioned going to check on the drinks.
"Do you need assistance?" He asked after her unsure if he'd been heard or noticed.
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Posted: Tue May 04, 2010 8:00 pm
John Jr was more than happy to oblige. He would laugh if Audrey told a joke. He would jump through a hoop if she thought it was necessary, and he would pull on tissue paper if Audrey asked him to pull on tissue paper.
It wasn't like it was hard. He was ten, after all. That meant that he was almost a grown up- almost, and also that he'd had a lot of experience opening presents.
He flashed wide smiles at each of the young ladies who approached them (he recognized Jada as the main attraction of the ball), delighted by all of the attention, and his teeth glistened like little diamonds in the sun. Vanessa made him brush every morning and every night. And then Pasha arrived, and John Jr wasn't exactly sure what to think.
Here was a boy with hair as pretty as any girl's.
"Hi," John Jr greeted him, a little dismayed when Audrey grabbed Pasha's arm instead of his, and followed them to the food.
Vanessa lounged at the bottom of the deep end, arms loaded with glowsticks, and was silently ticking away the seconds in her head. She was trying to see how long she could hold her breath, and had already been underwater for unhealthy length of time.
Lungs ached in protest. Ears throbbed with the hypnotic sound of her own pulse. Her heart was beating so fast. It needed air- demanded it, in fact, and Vanessa gave in. She pushed off the bottom of the pool with her barefeett and soared to the top, gasping for breath once her face was free of the water.
It took only a moment to recover. Golden eyes swept over the faces of the new arrivals, and Vanessa couldn't help zoning in on Fallon. The wound on her leg from their run in with the youma was healing. It would leave a scar, and she felt sure that the memories of that little adventure would also never fade away.
She swam to the edge of the pool, pulled herself out of the water, and started towards Fallon without a word. There was an almost sheepish expression on her face, and her hands were held up in a tentative kind of surrender, as if to say; 'I come in peace.'
((let me know if you want John Jr to get lost, nessy lol))
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Posted: Tue May 04, 2010 9:19 pm
There were several familiar faces, and an alarming number of unfamiliar ones. Did Audrey really know so many more than she did? They hung out enough that Fallon hoped she might know some of these people, at least by name. She recognized Pasha from photos Audrey had shown her, at least.
Leaning down, Fallon fished in her beach bag for the neatly wrapped box she had for Audrey. It was two-fold. The first was a photo of her, Jada, and Audrey dressed up for Jada's Ball. The second was a charm bracelet with an A on it a little figurine from WoW cast in silver. It took Fallon ages to find it online, but she hoped Audrey would appreciate the effort. It was some kind of elf... thing. Fallon wasn't really sure. She just hoped Audrey would understand.
Fallon was about to head to the other side when none other than Vanessa rose from the pool. It had been a bit from their last encounter. Fallon's injuries had healed entirely thanks to her new senshi identity. Vanessa didn't look so badly off either.
"Oh, hello," she said, dropping the hand holding the bag to her side. "I didn't know you knew Audrey." Was that a greeting? Not really. Fallon had a strange relationship with Vanessa that only seemed to get stranger with each passing day.
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Posted: Tue May 04, 2010 10:22 pm
It surprised Vanessa when Fallon did not hit her. Every time that they had met, with the exception of the very first, either one or both of them had ended up injured. This was mostly because Vanessa had a bad habit of catching Fallon at her worst. Also, because Fallon was kinda deadly with a purse.
A smile lit up her face. She was glad that Fallon had not immediately turned away, or accused her of stalking. Again. Vanessa was many things, but creepy was not one of them. Probably.
"We go to the same school," she shrugged, and pointed at John Jr, who was listening avidly as Audrey chatted with guests, "Plus, she met my little brother at the ball and they hit it off. She asked me to bring him." Vanessa smiled, hid her mouth behind the back of her hand, and leaned a little closer. When she whispered, it was loud. "I think he's in love."
"Anyways," she took a step back, posture transforming into something more formal. It looked strange on a girl who was usually otherwise. "I-uh-
This was harder than she expected, but she knew that it was the right thing to do. Fallon deserved it.
"About what happened- I didn't want you to get hurt," She spoke quietly, with her arms wrapped tightly around herself. This time, her voice was only for Fallon. She looked a little awkward, felt a little vulnerable. Vanessa was a hound for attention, but this wasn't like that. This was more personal. "and I'm sorry. Really."
She knew that they were lucky to be alive.
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