Skeletons and Spaghetti

[VoltTurtle]

Penelope looked at Rene as she finally spoke up. She almost forgot the other girl was sitting at their table, since she had been so quiet.

Penelope turned her attention back to Astrid as she continued speaking. Once she finished, Penelope sat there for a moment, pondering what to say and how to say it in a way that would make sense to Astrid and her worldview.

"Well... the appeal is that I don't really have to think all that much. I can play Animal Crossing when I want to keep my mental stamina for difficult, important activities later on in the day." Penelope flicked a speck of food off the table, before continuing to speak. "It's sorta like how it's been scientifically proven that humans can only make a certain number of decisions in a day- it's why people who have to make a lot of decisions just wear the same thing over and over again because it doesn't require thought."

Penelope leaned back further in her chair before glancing at the lunchroom clock and realizing that she needed to get out soon if she wanted to meet up with her boyfriend between classes.

"Oh, shit. I need to go." Penelope said as she stood up and started getting her things together. "Sorry to interrupt, but I need to meet up with my boyfriend before class starts back up. See you later, Astrid."

Penelope slung her backpack over her shoulder before calmly walking away from the table, internally excited for the few minutes she'd get alone with her boyfriend before class.

((Penelope Fitzgerald continued elsewhere and in The Sweetest Things))

[Pippi]

Well that had been… enlightening.

Astrid watched Penelope go, mind working at its usual million miles per hour pace, face practically unreadable. It was actually quite a shame, really. She had been, dare she say it, enjoying talking with the other girl. It had been quite fascinating, really. Their views on the world couldn't be less alike, and yet, miraculously, it hadn't devolved into a screaming match. Maybe this day could still be salvaged.

She didn't hold a grudge against Penelope for leaving, either. She hadn't known the girl had a boyfriend; after all, this was pretty much the first time the two of them had talked to any great length. Astrid did know how drastically your schedule had to change when you were in a relationship, though. Fair play to Penelope for keeping it up. To Astrid, it was simply another unappealing facet of dating that drove her away from the whole idea. Still, she wasn't petty; you could do whatever the fuck you wanted in terms of relationships, so long as it didn't directly piss her off.

Yeah. Astrid was pretty confident she could say she liked Penelope.

This other girl, however…

Astrid was absolutely certain she wasn't going to get anything interesting out of her. She probably blindly assumed that Astrid knew her name off by heart, for a start, and any other attempts at conversation had been spectacularly unspectacular. And as for this food, for lack of a better term… well, there really wasn't anything keeping her here anymore.

Astrid stood up, carefully sliding her chair back under the table, not even sparing a second glance at the other girl. Well, today had certainly perked up a little bit. Hopefully it'd stay that way until it was time to leave.

Odds were, Astrid was going to get into another argument within the hour.

(Astrid Tate continued in The Dynamo of Volition))

[Aura]

Rene just sat there awkwardly for a moment after everyone left.  Come to think of it, maybe she should have tried to say something at one point.

Ow well, water under the bridge now.  Class started in five minutes, and she would be damned if she was going to hand in her history homework late.  She tossed her lunchbag and went on her way.

((Rene Wolfe continued elsewhere))