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 Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 1:14 am
Tara was annoyed, more with herself than anything else. She knew that the door to the roof was locked. She knew it was likely to remain so indefinitely. That didn't stop her from periodically lugging her telescope up to the third floor and trying it anyway. And, when the handle didn't turn, banging on the door until she felt like stopping.
Her primary belief was that the status quo needed to be challenged- often- in order for there to be any progress made. They laughed at Galileo, they laughed at Darwin, and they laughed at Tara Kavanaugh. But when she discovered something that made everyone gape in wonder, they wouldn't be able to laugh, would they?
Granted, she wasn't expecting her big discovery to be "door to roof is miraculously unlocked!" but it was worth a try. Sighing, Tara set down the telescope and looked around. She rarely had reason to be up there, but rather than lug her supplies back to her room right away, she decided to rest for a few minutes. Maybe, if she was patient, she'd learn something from her trip other than "this door is not unlocked."
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Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 1:43 am
"That door is locked," Frankie announced to Tara, sneaking up on the prettier and less insane girl, "I've tried to open it, I've tried so hard. But it won't open, no it won't."
Frankie bit her nails. She had few actual normal bad habits and constant nail biting was one of them. Her regular bad habits included many things not considered habits at all and more compulsions of direst nature, but to Frankie, these particular actions were merely fun. You don't confuse "burning effigies" with something that someone will grow out of.
"Oh man I love Astrology. Can you tell me my horoscope? My fav stuff is Nostradamus, slay me with your sexy Quatrains, you old necromancer," And then, bafflingly, "You know, there's a hill outside that's plenty tall, you could always try there. I can come. I bite"
Frankie was trying to be reassuring. She was failing.
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Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 2:17 am
Though she was fortunately not holding anything, Tara was still surprised enough by Frankie's sudden appearance to shriek, the sound vanishing after an instant as she saw who was there. Then, she relaxed. It was impossible to go to Barren Pines and not know Frankie Del Rockham, so at least she recognized the person she was dealing with.
"I've tried too," Tara admitted. "It's not fair. What do they think we're going to do, jump off?" Or maybe push someone off, but she didn't mention that. She'd heard enough rumors about what happened to people Frankie didn't like to be cautious.
Astrology was the sky-related study that Tara was least interested in, but since she was Tara and wanted to know everything possible, she'd looked into it. "I could probably tell you something if I knew when your birthday was." Nostradamus was a far more interesting topic. "The skeptic community overwhelmingly embraced what they formerly dismissed as New Age claptrap... We give up! The nuts were right!" Tara quoted, remembering how reading that had given her courage to pursue the unknown. "I don't know about necromancy, but he knew a lot more than most people give him credit for."
While Tara wasn't especially reassured by Frankie's claims, she was intrigued, having wandered much of the grounds and not seen a suitable hill. But she hadn't been everywhere, and it was quite possible that she'd overlooked it. "Really? If you want to show me, that would be awesome!"
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Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 2:38 am
"Everything I've done, I've done for you. I move the stars for no one," Frankie intoned, "shall we go? I wander, oh do I wander, its not much of a hike at all I promise, I've burned many an effigy at the top, very powerful place there."
Really, Tara should be a bit more cautious. This was Frankie Del Rockham, FDR (reasons unknown) and Rockham Sockham (you don't want to know); people had an entirely normal explanation for showing up missing after talking to Frankie in a long dark hallway, forest or stairwell. Entirely. normal.
It was dark, but still under curfew as Frankie led Tara down the stairs, not offering to help her carry anything as she was assured that Tara could handle it.
"It used to be open, you know," Frankie called back to Tara as she headed towards the opening of the forest, "I've been up there. Then they locked the door."
Frankie chose not to explain the details of this and how both articles related to one another. You didn't need much imagination with Frankie. In fact, it was best not to be very imaginative in regards to Frankie; she's one of those curious individuals that people say "yeah, she was totally off her rocker. We totally buy that she killed 80 people on a rampage across America."
"My birthday is June 20th. Edward and I, we share a birthday. Not a birth year, as he was born in the year of our lord 1901, but I feel our spirits are yet entwined.
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Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 6:08 pm
Speaking with Frankie Del Rockham was a delicate process. On the one hand, Tara took Frankie more seriously than most people in the school. So what if she yammered on and on (and on) about vampires? No one had disproved their existence, so for all they knew, she could be right. She wasn't scared off by the rumors, believing them to be mostly grudges against someone different. On the other hand, there was no reason to be careless. Tara had no interest in vanishing, and she felt secure knowing her sturdy metal flashlight was in her bag. Just in case.
While she could have used the help, Tara hoisted her telescope over her shoulder, tucked a shoebox under her other arm, and followed Frankie downstairs. "Was it?" she asked offhandedly. "Oh, you're on a cusp. I'm not very good with astrology, so without a book I can't tell if you're a Gemini or a Cancer. Unless you happen to know." Personally, Tara's money was on Gemini, which in her mind was listed as "pseudo-bipolar." If that didn't fit Frankie, what did?
She ignored the talk about Edward and spirits. Talking with Frankie seemed to be an exercise in knowing what to acknowledge and what to tune out, and while she wasn't sure she was doing it right, at least no blows had been launched.
"Thanks for doing this," she remembered to say. Just in case. "How'd you find this place, anyway?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 2:55 am
The wind was pretty strong on the hill, and whipped Frankie's strange psuedo-anime hair around. It would be difficult setting up the telescope in these conditions, but the wind had also cleared away the clouds from earlier. The night, though dark, and lacking a moon that wasn't a sad little sliver of light, was filled to the brim with stars. It helped being so far out of Destiny City if your inclinations ran to Astronomy. Or, in Frankie's case, a lot of places to bury things in the dead of night.
"Gemini, totes," Frankie answered finally, and then continued, "oh, this old place? Well like. Kids are pretty cruel, right? So this is like a safe haven for them when they need to get away from someone, it's pretty far out from the school, away from prying eyes and whatever."
Frankie scuffed her foot in the grass, decided the ground wasn't damp, and plunked herself bodily on the nearly frozen ground. It was cold and crisp outside, winter almost upon them, and Frankie was actually acting like a human being. It was odd. It was REALLY odd.
"Though there are stories.." Frankie began.
Ah, there's the rub.
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Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2009 3:39 pm
Tara's hair, while not anime-esque, didn't escape ruffling in the strong wind. She ignored it, making a mental note to ask Laney to fix it for her later. In the meantime... in the meantime...
"The conditions aren't particularly good for this," Tara muttered in annoyance, setting the telescope down flat. "Still, there's a lot you can see with the naked eye on a night like this. Thanks for showing me this place, Frankie."
Gemini. It figured, Tara thought, smiling a little at having guessed right. "Teenagers shouldn't be allowed to live together, much less forced to. It just makes trouble. Not like so-called grown-ups would understand, though."
Seeing Frankie sit, she decided to the same, putting her backpack on her lap. This was kind of nice, wind or no... until the next words. "Stories?" Tara repeated innocently, unzipping her backpack and pulling out her large metal flashlight. Not really pointing it at anything, she idly turned it on and off, feeling comforted by its heft in her hand.
"What sort of stories?" she asked, hoping she wouldn't regret it.
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