|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 2:12 am
Robin's encounter with Aggie had given her an idea. A wonderful, terrible idea.
Here is what she did: On a few pieces of paper, she had used magazine clippings to spell out an ominous declaration: I KNOW YOUR SECRET. Once day, each lunch period, Robin would stuff one paper into a random lockers at school, along with instructions to MEET ME AT THE FOUNTAIN OUTSIDE THE MALL AT 5 PM OR I WILL TELL THE WORLD. Then she would go about her day as usual, head over to the park at the appropriate time, and see if she got a bite. It was like fishing. Just, you know - for people.
The first several days, nobody had come; Robin had felt disappointed, but wore not to give up until she'd gone through all her notes (it would be terrible crime, after all, to waste that many ambiguous threats!) When she was down to two papers, though, she'd been surprised to find a nervous-looking girl from the chess club turning up at the meeting spot. Through leading statements, Robin had managed to coax out what secret had made the girl nervous enough to come - she had cheated in the winter tournament, the fiend, and placed third in the district! She'd browbeaten the girl into turning herself in - or at least saying that she would, Robin really didn't care enough about the chess club to make sure she followed through.
The fact was: People with secrets were interesting. Even chess club girl, when guilty, had seemed interesting! And Robin liked interesting people - meeting them, talking with them, and occasionally, messing around with their heads. And this little trick was so easy. Only the people with a conscience guilty enough to care would turn up at the meeting spot, and they could be blackmailed into silence; nobody else would see her to know who to turn in. With such a perfect setup, Robin just couldn't resist. She had to make more papers. Had to keep sticking them in lockers. Had to keep trying, until she caught someone really really interesting!
There was just one problem. Because on this particular day, she'd gotten a bit too excited, trying to get her paper in the locker - and she hadn't really looked around before making her move. If she had, maybe she would have noticed that there was someone hanging around to catch her at it. She might have even realized that it was their locker she was slipping the paper into. But no - complacently, she just stuffed it right in and proceeded down the hall, heading to the lunchroom to sit with her friends and establish her alibi.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 1:05 pm
For Ellie, all of this had started when Jared came to her with a note. I KNOW YOUR SECRET. MEET ME AT THE FOUNTAIN OUTSIDE THE MALL AT 5PM OR I WILL TELL THE WORLD.
Unfortunately, Ellie was not very sympathetic to Jared's situation. "You shouldn't bother goin'. Everyone already knows ya still have a crush on me." Her friend tried his hardest to swallow his pride and not let the embarrassment show, but his cheeks still turned a prissy color of pink. There was nothing like your deepest darkest secret being well known, especially by the person it most directly affects. That was the cool thing about Ellie, even if she knew you had a crush on her and wasn't interested that way, she was still willing to hang out as friends. As a result, that evening Jared came over to the blonde girl's house and played Saints Row 2 all afternoon, ignoring the stupid note and meeting time.
Today though, Ellie had been jogging to her locker to quickly grab a book before heading to the auto shop for lunch. Why walk when you could get there faster by running? Just before she got to her locker, she managed to catch sight of some pink haired girl standing in front of her locker.
That was weird, she was shoving some paper into Ellie's locker. The tall blonde literally stood there and watched, not trying to hide the fact it was her own locker that just got note-ified, and this pink-haired girl frolicked off like some gay fairy. Maybe "gay fairy" wasn't the most accurate description, but it was probably the bias of the hair color already getting to her. Her shoulders rolled into a shrug and soon enough she popped open her locker. She grabbed the edge of the foreign paper, then yanked out her book (it was the only way to get anything out of her messy locker). It was only after she had shut her locker, jogged down to the auto shop, and began to eat lunch that she bothered to look at the note.
"...another one?" It wasn't hard to recognize the fact this was basically the same note that Jared had gotten. As she casually chewed on the lunch of champions (aka, a burrito), she decided that afternoon she'd meet up at the fountain to find out what was up.
Maybe if she hadn't seen Jared's note, she might have been more concerned about someone figuring out her most horrible of all secrets. Regardless, at 5 pm, Ellie was at the fountain as requested. She didn't really even seem to care much, as she stood on the edge of the fountain and seemed to pretend she was walking on a tightrope. Never mind the fact that the rim of the fountain was at least a foot wide so that people could sit at the edge of the fountain while they ate or talked. It was better than just standing around boredly doing nothing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 2:51 pm
Hah, awesome! Someone had turned up today!
Robin was easy to spot walking over - the pink was sort of a give-away, and even if it weren't, the smug little grin on her face would have done it. She kept a leisurely pace right up until she reached the fountain, where she plopped down next to Ellie. Stretched out her arms wayyy in front of her, she exhaled, recomposed, and let her eyes flit over to her companion of the day with a grin.
Robin didn't know much about this girl, unfortunately. There were some things she could guess by looking at her - stupidly obvious things, nothing impressive - but in times like these, knowing a little more background information to lead people by tended to be more helpful. It would make it hard to pretend like she knew some deep, dark secret otherwise, but that was hardly going to hinder her.
"Suppose I ought to introduce myself, huh?" the pink-haired girl decided aloud. Still smiling, she put out an offer for a handshake. "I'm Robin. I'm in the grade under yours." If this had been a normal conversation, she'd put in an I think - she had no way to know for sure if Ellie were the grade above her, she just suspected it because she felt certain that Ellie wasn't in her grade, and she didn't look younger than Robin. But since she was supposed to know more than she did, she spoke without uncertainty. "I take it you got my note?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 3:07 pm
The blonde only stopped in step for a moment when there was a pink haired girl in front of her. She leaned down so she could see eye to eye with this girl.
"Riiiiight..." she said in an almost bored fashion as she extended her hand out for a quick firm handshake. Normally, Ellie would be all up for introducing herself, but she had something different in mind today. With that formality out of the way, she went back to her aimless wandering around the fountain. Some might have read that as a way to get her nervous energy out, but it was Ellie. Ellie just had too much normal energy to be caught sitting still for too long.
As she made her first lap, the blonde asked "So, yer a sophomore then?"
She made two more laps around the fountain before confirming "Got your note twice." This was a lie. She had seen two notes, but she personally had not received the note twice. Yet, the blonde still seemed completely indifferent to the whole ordeal as she continued her wandering around the fountain.
On her final lap, she hopped down off the slight ledge right next to Robin. The tall girl leaned down and dusted off her skater shorts before standing up to her full 5'10" height. "Ya really should change that format, kiddo... makes yer trick transparent." Obviously, Ellie didn't sugar coat a damned thing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 4:54 pm
That sure wiped the grin off of Robin's face - for all of five seconds, at least. True, she was disappointed as hell to be found out, and especially so in such a stupid manner - she'd put them in the same locker twice? Really? God, she was an idiot! - but so far as ways to get caught... well, Ellie didn't seem like a bad sort. In fact, Robin thought, she seemed about two steps from being sympathetic.
So she swallowed down her disappointment and went right into her usual, confident, joking self. "Ahh, if only!" she lamented loudly. She didn't bother to stand up - there was no need to start comparing her barely-over-five-feet stature to Ellie's far more impressive one - but instead repositioned herself at the fountain's edge, lounging more comfortably with one foot on the fountain's edge, and one elbow propped up on it. (She had, thankfully, changed out of her skirted uniform before attending this meeting.) "It still pretty much worked, though, you know. So I've got no regrets."
It was simple as that, for Robin. She didn't set her sights on things that were difficult to achieve - all that the notes had been set for was to create an interesting experience, meet someone that had something worth knowing. Ellie might not be here because of any secret - she seemed pretty straightforward, anyway, so Robin didn't think that she was trying to hide anything - but she still struck Robin as a person worth meeting. So why not?
"Anyway, unless you came out here just to tell me I screwed up my trick," and Robin flashed another smile here, certain that that would have been entirely too much effort for far too little gain, "then you must have come out of curiosity, right? So hang around, talk with me a while! You seem like someone that's got interesting things to say, right?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 7:33 pm
In all honesty, Ellie had no more interests in this meeting. She had said what she came to say and pretty much was ready to go when Robin confessed something.
"It still pretty much worked..."
One of the blonde's brows quirked up curiously at the comment. Without prompting, the tomboy offered her analysis of the situation. "Y'must be pretty desperate fer attention if y'ask me." Her shoulders lazily pushed a shrug up and down in a single fluid motion. She actually turned away slightly as she honestly confessed "Actually, that really was th'whole reason I came out 'ere. Let'cha know ya f*cked up royal an' all."
There was a pause before she turned back to this pink haired girl (seriously, it looked like cotton candy, BLEH!) and repeated for emphasis "Ya f*cked up royal, kiddo." Casually, she swung her hands behind her head and began turning away. Ellie knew that she had plenty of interesting things to say, but usually it required a d**k for someone to actually give a damn about what she said. And somehow, the blonde was doubting that the pink-haired fairy was going to be talking about motorcycles anytime soon.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 12:54 am
... Really? Really? The look on Robin's face was one of obvious disbelief. What was she supposed to make of that - that Ellie got such a kick out of telling people they messed up to put this much effort into it? Bor-ing. She might as well have stayed home if that was the case! Instead of coming here, calling Robin desperate for attention....
"Duly noted," Robin replied carelessly, not moving from her spot on the fountain's edge. She was still trying to figure out if Ellie were for real - if it was Robin in her shoes, she'd be making a scene out of leaving just to get a reaction, but she wasn't getting the drama-mongering vibes from this girl. She was just... genuinely leaving, after coming here, because she didn't care enough to stay.
What a waste of time. But she guessed that was just the nature of fishing. Every now and again, there'd be the one that got away, right?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 11:39 pm
Though she was no longer looking at pinky (as she had mentally dubbed the chick), Ellie's feet did not seem to be budging.
There were awkward silences, and right now seemed to be labeled as one of them.
1 minute.
2 minutes.
3 minutes later, the blonde offered a flat "...ya said ya wanted t'talk. So talk." She rather notably did not sound very impressed with the idea of conversing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 12:04 am
Robin grinned.
"I've got snacks," she offered instead. Granted, they weren't really snacks so much as a bunch of pixie stix she'd been carrying around in her backpack - but sugar was sugar, candy was food, and it seemed like some token offering might be in order here. She wasn't trying to antagonize anyone, after all - that just happened to be a side effect of the way she went about life, but she tried to do good by people when she could!
Swinging her legs around so that she was sitting properly on the fountain again, Robin began rifling through her pack in search of the promised goods. She talked as she went, though; "So, I've gotta wonder - where're you from? I mean, you sound like you've got sort of an accent, you know? Have you always been around -- aha, here!" Speech was interrupted as she pulled out a handful of bright paper tubes, offering out the candy to her reluctant companion before finishing her thought - "I was saying, have you always been around Destiny City?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 12:28 am
Snacks?
How long was this girl planning on staying out here to talk to someone about their "secret?!" Ellie's golden eyes had caught upon a nearby tree and rather lazily were trailing along the branches. Was there a reason to do this? Not really. She was just trying to suffer the idea of talking to a girl.
She managed to catch the question, and she didn't bother to turn around still. "Destiny City, born and raised." There was that temptation to start busting out the "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" rap, but she ignored the temptation for now. However, instead she focused in on the mention of an accent.
"See, that's where people go wrong. I ain't got an accent." It was about this time that she turned to face Pinky. "Ya got somethin' fer me t'read? I'll show ya." One brow lofted up at the offered candy, and she literally waved her hand to gesture "no thanks."
"I don't do sweets, kiddo," she confessed. Most girls loved sweets and chocolate, yet there was nothing that the blonde hated more than candy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 12:40 am
Robin's face wiped clear of expression, her muscles frozen in mid-offer. The pixie stix in Robin's hand remained poised and ready, as though the girl hadn't understood quite yet that this wasn't some terrible joke. Gradually, though, the realization seemed to come on her as Ellie continued not to take the candy - and it was a hard, bitter dose of reality for Robin to accept. Ellie... didn't "do" sweets?
"... Oh," she breathed at last. The candy was pulled in toward her chest, as though shielding it from the cold, cruel world outside; her eyes melted into a dim sadness. "You... poor thing."
The wind blew by, swirling dust through the silence. Then Robin twisted the top off of one of the candies, downed half of it at once, and the world was made good again.
"Reading, right! Sure, I've got that!" Tucking the half-emptied pixie stick behind one ear, Robin quickly produced a spread of two magazines from her backpack - Curious and Creepy and The Destiny City Mysteries, both tabloids on the strange and supernatural affairs of the locality. "Pick one," she invited Ellie.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 10:04 am
This was, in Ellie's opinion, why she did not get girls. The strange pendulum of female emotions, always swinging back and forth, never staying in one place for too long. The tomboy's lips pressed themselves into a thin line as she watched Pinky go from sad to seemingly bubbly again. Of course, there was candy consumption in the middle, but even that made no sense.
"I ain't a poor thing," she stated in retaliation. "Poor thing" was a label you used for the diabetic who couldn't have the candy they craved. Ellie's option to not eat candy was strictly her own personal preference. There was no outside force preventing her from eating candy.
Her hands quickly snatched up one of the tabloids (it really didn't matter which one to her, she was just trying to prove she did not have an accent). She opened up to a random page and began to skim, as if looking for something halfway interesting to read aloud. God, tabloids were just so pathetic to read. Just add that to yet another thing she didn't get about girls (since obviously this girl had been reading these of her own free will).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 4:09 pm
Not a poor thing? Robin could only shake her head in disagreement. What about sugar highs? What about chocolate-induced euphoria? All those things that made life worth living... how could one just choose to eschew that? Robin liked spices and meat as well as anyone else, but one did not simply refuse candy without damning themselves to a miserable life that was only half-lived!
But, clearly, Ellie felt differently. Robin might try to change her mind later - but these were her last pixie stix anyway, and on a greedier level, she didn't mind not having to share.
Pulling the half-eaten stick out from behind her ear and polishing it off, Robin suggested helpfully, "There's a good article on lake gremlins in there." She was blissfully unaware of Ellie's depreciating thoughts, of course. All that was on her mind were simple, happy things; like how much she loved her pixie stix, and how interesting this encounter was, and how much she really really wanted to go down to the muddy shores of that lake and do some gremlin-hunting for herself. You know, the sort of things she assumed everyone enjoyed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 5:04 pm
How the hell could anybody read this nonsense?!! Given, with her knowledge of things that were really happening in the city, there was probably some truth to the articles. Lake gremlins were probably Youma hungry for starseeds.
However, there was just something in Ellie that refused to read aloud the musings of some bored writer in regards to lake gremlins.
Instead, she found herself an advertisement on one of the pages. Unfortunately, it was not much better than the articles. At least it was expected that the ads would exaggerate. There wasn't much to read, since the ads were so small in these tabloids, but with a finger pointed over the small square, she began to read.
"Do you have crocodile skin? DMHL lotion will soothe your skin while moisturizing. Try it today!"
The blonde had read the words perfectly as they appeared on the paper. No slang and no loose speech escaped her mouth. As if this was satisfactory, she closed the tabloid paper and handed it back to Pinky.
"There. See, it ain't an accent." It probably wasn't a very convincing argument, but Ellie certainly seemed to think it was sufficient proof to what she claimed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 5:17 pm
"Oh... no kidding!" Accepting the rumor rag back, Robin considered this new evidence for a moment - then, with a mischievous, teasing smile, concluded, "So really, it's just that you're too lazy?"
The sophomore, clearly, didn't have a proper sense of respect for her elders. But then again, anyone could have told you that already.
But it was probably the truth, Robin reasoned. It wasn't an accent; Ellie was capable of speaking more clearly; ergo, she just didn't feel like it. Given what Robin had seen of her so far, she'd guess it was because she didn't care enough for other people to take her seriously and understand what she was saying - which was maybe too bad. Ellie seemed like she had interesting things to say about the world, if she could be bothered enough to talk about it.
Lucky for her, Robin was just the sort of person that loved to do that sort of bothering.
"You ever gone monster-hunting?" An abrupt change of subject, but Robin thought a good one. If there was one subject that could get anyone in Destiny City talking, it was monsters, right?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
