Rumormonger

As one might imagine, the school's library is filled with, well, books. Tables and chairs are placed around the room in neat little groups, and everything always seems to be in its rightful place... perhaps because Mrs. Collins, the school's librarian, has horrible OCD.
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Solomir*
Posts: 183
Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2018 5:53 am

Rumormonger

#1

Post by Solomir* »

((Marybeth Witherspoon continued from Pumping Iron))

The library was a pretty boring place. Everyone was deathly silent, and no drama ever happened around these book-filled shelves. Definitely the most boring place on the school campus.

Of course, boring also meant no distractions for Marybeth. She'd already managed to get two more chapters of her latest story penned down in her notebook. The vampire-werewolf-wizard hero had just discovered that his ninja girlfriend was actually a robot sent by his archnemesis to spy on him. He had tried unsuccessfully to bring her back to his side, but she was whisked away by his archenemesis' pirate lackeys. All in all, it was shaping out for an epic ending.

Marybeth usually avoided writing stories about other students while on campus. She needed to not be regarded as a weird freak if she wanted to get her hands on any of the gossip that floated around the school. She did keep a list of story ideas penned in the margins of her notebook as reminders, but they were small and innocuous enough that people didn't usually notice them. Currently on the list was J3 and Joserra, and also a new idea that Marybeth was kicking around for the months old Rolicia pair.

There hadn't been any juicy gossip lately, much to Marybeth's annoyance. Even though she was the school newspaper's gossip columnist, some weeks were just too drama-free. Of course, drama could always be created if there wasn't enough. Now who should she make a new rumor about this week? Maybe one of the Fiamettas?
Evenni*
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2018 8:00 am

#2

Post by Evenni* »

((Darius Wright's introduction))

Face buried in a book, Darius wandered into the library. He'd perfected the, ahem, art of walking and reading at the same time, and as such, collisions were kept to a minimum. He was well aware that the smart thing to do would be to wait until he was sitting down before he started reading, but that didn't suit him. Patience was not something he had a lot of. Besides, why wait when he could multitask? He knew the library pretty well, anyway. It was the quietest place he could think of within school grounds, so he was there a lot.

"Ow, damn," he muttered as he stubbed his toe on a table. Someone had obviously moved it an inch or two. Hoping no one had seen that, he quickly sat down. A quick glance around the room confirmed that there weren't too many people who could've been witness to his display of brilliant coordination. There was one girl he could see, but there was still a chance she hadn't seen him. Feeling like he was blushing slightly, he turned back to his book. 'The Great Turtle was a mere hypothesis until the day the small and secretive kingdom...'
banthesun*
Posts: 73
Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2018 5:49 am

#3

Post by banthesun* »

((Vanessa Struther's debut))

Vanessa didn't like it in the library, it was usualy full of too many losers doing too little of intrest. She'd just dropped in to make sure she got the place of Prom Queen. She'd voted, so she could now leave this dank den of nerds, maybe get back in the sunlight. But today she wasn't keen on being anywhere near those winy, self-obsessed sluts that seemed to take up so much of her life. And if she was going to avoid them, then the library was as good a place as any.

There were a few imperfections with her new resting spot. A pair of seniors infact. Some stupid, whiney emo, and that fat gossip-geek. That was better than a group of cheerleaders whoring things up though, and the situation could definitely be improved with the removal of that lying slut writing there.

Vanessa walked up beheind her, positioning herself to suprise the girl. The bitch looked jumpy, so this should be amusing. Vannesa leant forward.

"How's our Little Miss Shakespeare, working on the new best seller there?"
Wash*
Posts: 21
Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2018 12:44 am

#4

Post by Wash* »

((Dominic McKenzie continued from Tranquility))

Head down, eyes to to the floor, Dominic McKenzie entered the room. His headphones were wedged firmly into his ears, music just at that volume where it becomes tinnily audible to passers-by. Painfully aware of how badly he was contravening library etiquette, Dominic whipped out his player and turned it down. Not off though. Headphones were one of the best ways of avoiding conversation. Besides, any chance to immerse himself in another cultural art-form was just fine.

Dominic, take a note. An mp3 player full of musical theatre is not an immersion into a cultural art form.

Eh. If no-one talked to him, no-one could judge him.

Dominic smiled as he stared at the books. Shelves upon shelves, hardbacks and paperbacks cascading into one another. A school library maybe, but a library nonetheless and thus imbued with a dignified beauty. His eyes roved the shelves as the music swelled in his ears, ebbing and flowing with the comforting warmth that enveloped his body whenever he was near so many books.

These are my friends.

And that they were.

See how they glisten.

Gold embossed covers, raised lettering shining like clandestine gold. Dominic reached up towards a high shelf and pulled down something.

See this one shine.
How he smiles,
In the light.
My friend.
My faithful friend.


He glanced at the cover. Barthes. Nice. Like so many of the things he read, Dominic knew he wouldn't understand it. He'd be lucky if he even understood half the words. That was fine. He was comfortable just basking in it, appreciating the literary aesthetic. A glimpse into what it would be like to be truly exceptional. He sat down at a desk and opened the book.

Speak to me friend.
Whisper,
I'll listen.


He blew some dust off the jacket, mostly out of habit. He wondered how long it had been since this book had been read.

I know, I know,
You've been locked out of sight all these years,
Like me my friend.


Yeah. He could sympathise.

Well I've come home,
To find you waiting.
Home,
And we're together,
And we'll do wonders,


He glanced around the library. A few people here and there, some reading, some talking. Nothing to concern himself over. Hopefully. His eyes flicked downwards towards the first page.

Won't we?
Deleted User (V4)
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Sep 11, 2018 4:29 am

#5

Post by Deleted User (V4) »

[ The first appearance of Gordon Weld.]
Gordon, drained after the school day seemed to drag on and on, entered the library and scanned the area. The library was fairly empty, occupied only by two girls; a writer and what seemed to be her friend, a quiet kid in dark clothing, and another guy who seemed to have just entered was staring intently at an old book. After sitting in one of the library's fairly uncomfortable chairs, he dropped his backpack to the floor and pulled World War Hulk out of it and began reading.

Normally he didn't read his comics in the library, he just waited until he got home before he would finish whatever it was that he was reading at the time. However, he was intent on finishing, as he was so close to the end that it was annoying having not read the whole book yet.
At one point during V4, a number of accounts with ten or fewer posts were accidentally purged. Where possible, the posts belonging to these accounts have been restored to specific usernames, but in some cases no records of the handlers remain. In such cases, this account is used. The characters connected to this account were handled by a variety of members, none of whom have been on the site in years.
Solomir*
Posts: 183
Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2018 5:53 am

#6

Post by Solomir* »

Marybeth was not one to be caught off-guard by anyone. Unfortunately for her, Vanessa Struthers was too ninja to be just anyone. Still, Marybeth managed to contain her alarm when Vanessa snuck up on her, surprising her with a quip about her writing.

"Sorry, the best-seller's at home. Wouldn't want to bring it to school where people could steal my ideas, would I?" Marybeth said, forcing her face into a smile. Vanessa Struthers was one of the few girls around school who would be in the true running for the Queen Bitch of the senior class. The only thing she was missing was being a complete whore like Rosa Fiametta, but it was compensated in other areas of bitchiness.

"This one's just another for the blog," Marybeth said, indicating the notebook, "you can read the finished version in a few days. You want the link?" There was never a bad time to promote her writing to the people around the school. Sure, there'd be trolls, but trolls were everywhere anyway: like those "literary critics" who'd make stupid comments about totally readable and enjoyable books.

Marybeth glanced around the library. The nearby tables had filled up a bit in the recent minutes while Marybeth was engrossed in her writing. Darius Wright, the emo kid, was comfortably reading what appeared to be a Discworld novel. At least someone around here had taste in good literature. Marybeth never got the whole "emo" thing though. What was so good about looking like something raised up from the dead anyway? Actually… that made a good idea. Darius Wright, vampire.

Then there was that Gordon Weld fellow, a guy that had generally just passed under Marybeth's radar. A comic book was his medium of choice. She had never really pegged him as a comic geek; then again, he flew under her radar most of the time anyway.

She almost didn't notice the totally boring and bland Dominic McKenzie. Marybeth didn't understand why he seemed bland. From what she had seen, his writing was excellent. Miss Flaherty had even said that his work was better than hers. Marybeth didn't actually believe that claim, but something that could cause such a response from Miss Flaherty must be something of note. He wasn't smoking hot, but calling him handsome wouldn't be too far off the mark. So why was there never any talk about him?

"Say, you know that Dominic McKenzie kid?" Marybeth said to Vanessa, making sure to talk loudly enough so that others in the library would hear, "I hear that he has a huuuge crush on Claire Lambert." Seriously, what self-respecting writer wouldn't harbour some feeling, whether it be respect or jealousy, for the talents that girl had?
banthesun*
Posts: 73
Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2018 5:49 am

#7

Post by banthesun* »

((Skipping Evenni and going off to cry about the shortage of Aussie handlers...))

What! Why didn't Gossip-Geek react to her taunts? Vanessa was most upset by her lack of reaction. Was she trying to ignore her? How was Van meant to get rid of her if she wouldn't just run off crying like the ugly slut she was. For her to just play it cool, that was more than Van could stand. Van spent a few moments wondering how to reply to her attitude, to push deeper or to play along with her sickly sweet game, just waiting for the point where the whore could take it no longer. Van didn't want to have to talk to this bitch any longer than she had to.

But before she could prepare another remark, probably at the quality of her writing, the girl was talking again. Something about that English kid, Mr Walking Blur. Someone who the best you could say about them was that they were too boring to notice. Though at this school that would practically be a compliment. Gossip-Geek was telling her that Walking Blur was crushing on self-righteous preppy bitch. Like that was likely to happen.

Wait a moment, why was she telling me this?

To Vanessa this seemed more than just idle chit-chat. She delivered taunts and received gossip? Van was momentarily confused by Gossip-Geek's reply. Then it struck her. Perhaps this silly girl writing inane claptrap in the corner wasn't under the thrall of those sluts after all. Perhaps she'd seen through their lip-gloss lies, and knew Van wasn't one of them. Perhaps she was trying to be friends. She'd shrugged of Van's insults, and tried to strike up conversation. Either it was that or this was some new plan of theirs. But a new friend might be worth the risk, even if it was this stupid ugly girl. There was always room for improvement.

Vanessa slipped into a seat.

"Ha! Yeah, aren't they just a match made in heaven! She could be going out with him for years and she still wouldn't know he existed."
Evenni*
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2018 8:00 am

#8

Post by Evenni* »

((Oh my god, I completely suck, I'm so sorry. Life got in the way and I forgot. I'm sorry! D: ))

It wasn't that Darius was a gossipy person... well, actually, he couldn't help but love hearing all the stories people knew - or made up - about other people. He knew it was bad, having been on the receiving end of rumours more than a few times, but he found himself unable to tune out of the conversation that was happening a few steps away from him.

From the sounds of it, this was one of those made up stories. If it were true, he thought that the girls would have tried to be a little quieter. Then again, no. That wasn't always the case. In high school, people weren't known for going out of their way to be nice. Drama queens even less so. Thinking about it, he felt pretty bad for Dominic, who he'd noticed had entered the library at some stage. But, on the flip side, it was pretty interesting. And there was always that smidgeon of a chance that it could've been true.

Hoping that he still appeared to be reading, he hooked his hair behind his ears, stopped turning pages, and focused all his attention on the gossiping girls.
Wash*
Posts: 21
Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2018 12:44 am

#9

Post by Wash* »

WHAT?!

Dominic froze, catlike and still. They were... were they? Were they actually talking about him?! That wasn't possible. It wasn't happening, it couldn't be happening. Yet there they were; brazen and unabashed, the words had left Marybeth's mouth and were hanging in the library like some sort of ungainly fruit bat.

Apparently terror destroys my ability to form a cogent simile. Awesome.

He replayed it: "Say, you know that Dominic McKenzie kid? I hear that he has a huuuge crush on Claire Lambert."

Who the heck was Claire Lambert?

Did it matter? It was only the words that mattered. They circled him, tainted with that exquisite sneer that only an adolescent can perfect, so piercing that it had cut through the strains of Sondheim like an aural Michael Myers. He searched his memory. Names, faces, blurred and fogged as a November morning windscreen, flickering uselessly past him as he sought desperately to find this Claire Lambert, pick her out of the sea of identikit haircuts he worked so industriously to avoid.

Whatever happened to nametags? What's so wrong about a good old-fashioned nametag?

Then, naturally, it got worse:

"Ha! Yeah, aren't they just a match made in heaven! She could be going out with him for years and she still wouldn't know he existed."

Ah. Familiar ground. Good then. He knew where he stood with that. This Claire Lambert business had thrown him all off. Was this a prevalent rumour then? Did everyone think he was crushing on this Claire? Or for that matter, on girls in general? Maybe he should wear a tag. Like a gaytag.

No Dominic, you're not wearing a tag. Stop trying to tag everything.

It had been long enough. He had to say something. Did he have to say something? Yes. People were looking. He had to something, defuse the situation. Anything.

He decided to feign having misheard. He gently removed an earphone and turned towards Marybeth and Vanessa with an innocently inquisitive expression, trying to angle himself in a manner which cut them off from the rubbernecks. It didn't really work. He cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry ladies, may I help you with something?" He gestured towards his earphones in a futile expression of ‘sorry-didn't-catch-that'.

Why can't I form a sentence that doesn't make me sound like a sex offender? Is it a genetic impossibility?
Solomir*
Posts: 183
Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2018 5:53 am

#10

Post by Solomir* »

"Yeah, people don't really know him well, but I've heard that he-"

Marybeth was interrupted by the sound of someone clearing his throat. She looked over to see that Dominic, looking quite confused, was trying to do something strange with his hands. At least it wasn't the librarian. Dominic nervously asked about the gossip, and Marybeth couldn't help but smile.

"Oh! It's the man of the hour," Marybeth squealed. She immediately remembered where she was and quickly ducked her head so the librarian wouldn't notice. Marybeth was glad to have caught Dominic's attention. The next order of business was to keep him around so he could spill something more juicy for her to write about.

"So tell me, Mr. McKenzie: what do you find so interesting about Claire? Is it her stunning good looks? Her modest and proper fashion sense? Maybe it's the way she moves across the tennis court when she plays. Or was it that article she wrote last year about the how the football jocks take advantage of girls?"
banthesun*
Posts: 73
Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2018 5:49 am

#11

Post by banthesun* »

Ugh. Talking about you, not to you. Why didn't the Boredomeister understand that?

Vanessa was annoyed that this loser had wandered over to interrupt their conversation. How were they meant to gossip about him while he was standing right there? Was everyone at this school a complete and utter idiot? Vanessa was just about to shoo him away when the other girl started playing with him. This girl who Van had thought was some pig headed, brain dead, ugly slut knew what she was doing. And she wasn't going to put up with this tosser stumbling in on their conversation.

Vanessa considered what she could add but stumbled; Gossip-Geek seemed to have it covered.
Evenni*
Posts: 11
Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2018 8:00 am

#12

Post by Evenni* »

This was getting interesting.

No, Darius, this isn't right, he thought. Whether the girls were telling the truth or not, this couldn't be pleasant for Dominic. Darius had been in that sort of situation a few times himself, so he should've known better than to sit there and listen. He knew he should've known better. Telling himself he should go obviously wasn't working – he was still pretty much glued to the chair. For a brief moment, he thought about trying to diffuse the situation, but that thought was squashed pretty quickly. What would he say if he jumped in there? Wouldn't the girls be just as likely to pounce on him? He didn't want that.

Maybe if I just stayed to make sure it doesn't get too out of hand, that'd be fine, he told himself, knowing it was just an excuse to listen in. Cursing himself for his curiosity, he stayed. Keeping his head deliberately pointed towards his book – and turning a page for good measure – he flicked his eyes over to where the drama was taking place.

You know, just to make sure nothing bad was going to happen.
Wash*
Posts: 21
Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2018 12:44 am

#13

Post by Wash* »

"So tell me, Mr. McKenzie: what do you find so interesting about Claire? Is it her stunning good looks? Her modest and proper fashion sense? Maybe it's the way she moves across the tennis court when she plays. Or was it that article she wrote last year about the how the football jocks take advantage of girls?"

Bugger.

Dominic breifly wondered what he'd done to deserve this. It was the earphones. He knew it. Some sort of karmic punishment for contravening library etiquette. The library Gods demanded their blood.

Just wait 'til my walk home. I'll probably be beaten to death with a Guttenberg Bible.

What was there left to do? Despite his best efforts, everyone was looking. Some people were making a show of pretending to read but he could feel their eyes burning a hole in his collar.

This is a new top you wankers.

Dominic sighed internally. He'd have to deal with it. Get out, before the librarian poked her nose in. Just had to end it.

"I'm sorry, I really don't know what you're talking about", he said, as politely as he could muster. He turned and walked towards a desk in the furthest corner of the room, the back of his head burning with accusatory stares.

Please don't say anything please don't say anything please don't say anything...
Solomir*
Posts: 183
Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2018 5:53 am

#14

Post by Solomir* »

Dominic had deflected the questions. That was boring. She'd given him plenty to work with too. She wouldn't have minded if he'd vehemently denied the fabricated rumour; that would have been far more interesting and entertaining. And more informative of course. Instead, he'd just casually walked off like it was none of his business.

Well, it wasn't exactly any of his business to begin with. Marybeth had just made it his business, or at least tried to. She hadn't expected him to be this anti-social. But on the other hand, he had responded to her initial rumour, so it wasn't like he was being really anti-social and avoiding all contact. Maybe she had been a bit too forward with her advances. If she toned it back a bit….

"Dominic," she called out across the library, "don't be so put off. We just want to talk." She gestured over to a chair next to her. "Don't be afraid. I don't bite," she said, plastering a smile on her face. "She might though ," she pointed at Vanessa, and winked at the other girl to play along.
banthesun*
Posts: 73
Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2018 5:49 am

#15

Post by banthesun* »

What! The betrayer! And I almost thought she was better than them!

Thankfully Vanessa saw the girl wink and realised it was a joke before she reacted. So this girl was trying to put Blandmeister at ease, she seemed to know what she was doing. It was as if he was a fish, and they had to be gentle but firm to pull him in. Or something like that. Van wasn't quite sure about the accuracy of the simile, but it seemed relevant. She smiled and held up her hands, showing that; no; she didn't bite. She shuffled her chair to the side, to face the chair the girl had offered him, and turned to look at him expectantly.

"We just want to talk," Van echoed.
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