Survival Of The Fittest

Maria, who had been rather passive in the conversation since her initial outburst, instead focusing on nursing a now-growing headache as the painkillers started to wear off. Finally opened her mouth; "To be perfectly honest Amanda, it's not like that was anymore appealing to me than you. I merely there up trying that dish out, not because it was badly cooked or anything, but because who mixes chocolate and meat? Seriously!"  Maria drained her Red Bull and turned, wondering what had attracted everyone else's attention.

Upon seeing Rea, her face visibly darkened. "Oh, it's you. Mrs 'My parents are super wealthy, my boyfriend is super wealthy and I'm super wealthy so you can all fuck off! Except don't, because that would be against the Lord!'" She put on an overly exaggerated sing-song voice and glared at Rea, clearly not happy with the new arrival's approach. "Stuck-up-bitch."

With that, Maria walked to a nearby trashcan and dropped the now-empty Red Bull can into it, listening to the hollow clang of metal against metal. She paused for a second, then let out a deep sigh and returned. "If I don't get the irresistible urge to punch your stupid face in in the next five minutes, we're all good, ok?

"No, I-I-I, uh, oh no, I'm sorry, I just-"

So maybe it wasn't paranoia. Maybe it was rational thinking. Well, maybe not, at least until now. Okay, fine, maybe she overreacted a bit. But it turned out to be justified, right? She'd insulted one one of those emo freaks, and now she'd suddenly insulted them all.

Amanda said something that Rea might have given the benefit of the doubt, but Maria... Maria pretty much just stated her intention to kill her. Sure, she could have just been mildly annoyed, but Rea wasn't taking any chances with this girl.

"Okay, no, look, I-" She was stuttering so much she was barely comprehensible. "I'm sorry! Tell Asha I'm sorry!" She yelled, sprinting away from the group.

Sure, it wasn't exactly the most sane thing to have done in the situation, but it still kept her alive. Staying there would probably have had the same effect, but in a paranoid fervor it sure seemed to her like the best solution at the time.

So what if those girls would think she was insane. At least she was far away from them by now.

((Rea Adams, continued in ______))

Oh god, what was even happening here? Asha - that goth-y ballerina? Something went down between her and Rea?

Come to think of it, Raina did vaguely remember hearing that they might have had some kind of beef... wasn't it around the same time as that crazy incident with Georgia Lee and Fiyori? It had sounded like there was just some free-for-all throwdown in the school library that she'd missed out on, which was equal parts relieving and disappointing.

Rea had already retreated by the time Maria's words had sunk in, but Raina scowled after her nonetheless. It wasn't news to her that Rea was one of those people, the ones who walked around like just being born into money made you better than anyone regardless of how hard-working or smart or talented they were, or you weren't. She hadn't spent enough time with Rea to really get a feel for her personality, but she also didn't think she needed to. Her boyfriend was completely insufferable and he hunted for fun, which Raina had always found disgusting even before she'd started educating herself on all the social issues that his kind of people played into.

All in all, she couldn't say she was too disappointed to miss out on any sort of conversation with Rea Adams. It was starting to feel a bit crowded in the park anyway, despite the open spaces. She wanted to be back in her room and safely situated behind her computer soon, she decided.

"Well," she said, breaking the awkward silence that had settled over the three of them in the wake of Rea's departure, "it's been fun, but I'm going to head home before my mom starts wondering where I am." She gave the vending machine one last glance and patted her pockets again. To her surprise, she came up with a handful of coins from the back pocket of her shorts, which she must have forgotten to check before.

Raina glanced at the coins in her hand - maybe around a dollar in change there, maybe a tad more - and held them out to Amanda. "Here. I don't need anything this early, and you should probably have some water or something since you were running around."

"That," Amanda said, wincing a little at Maria's reaction, "was a little overboard, wasn't it?"

"So that's Rea, huh?" Amanda watched the figure run away from them. The girl looked and felt nothing like the classic bitch that Amanda had thought she'd be from what the guys had been saying about her. Then again, people weren't always what they seemed, and her actions at the library had spoken loudly enough that a stuttered apology didn't quite seem like it cut it, especially since it seemed to have mattered so little to all but Maria here.

Then again, the fallout over the whole library incident had become rather ridiculous. Obviously it was a big thing, anything that sent Little Miss Perfect herself into detention was clearly going to be in the running for the "Most Messed Up Event of the School Year" award and she still couldn't work out how Rea dissing Asha managed to fit into the whole thing. Just one big mess that no one could really sort through. For a period of time, it seemed like it was all anyone would be bothered to talk about, and maybe it was just that she had gossipy friends, but there were a million bullshit rumours flying around the whole thing that were starting to get rather tiring. Some people were even saying that Fiyori had bit Georgia Lee. That was just a step too far to believe. She hadn't seen a bite mark the last time she was around, in any case. What did they think they were, grade schoolers? Obviously the rumours were getting far out of hand.

Ugh. The frustration from not getting a drink and from thinking about the whole fiasco was starting to get to Amanda. Raina looked like she was going off too, and it seemed like a good time to start making the trip to the fountain-

"Huh?" Amanda blinked at Raina's outstretched hand for a second, "Oh my gosh, really? Am I really that easy to read?" She wasn't going to ask for money, but there it was being offered to her. She made the decision without even considering. "Well, thanks. I'll pay you back on Monday," she stated, her own hand already outstretched to receive the coins.

Maria let out a yawn, inwardly extremely pleased that Rea had left. Whilst, to be entirely honest, she didn't mind Will, he was a stuck up bastard to be sure, but he wasn't... Well, he wasn't an entitled airhead who couldn't even name what animal milk came from. "What happened with Asha and her? And is she so entirely clueless as to think us part of the same cliche or something?" She took a look at her clothes. "Huh, these do actually look kinda goth. Might have to change that then..." Seemingly waving away any further conversation, she forced a smile. "The headache's coming back with a vengeance. Maybe some more painkillers and a gallon of water'll let me actually sleep a bit. Hate being tired on a weekend; too much stuff to do..." She started off, out of the park and in the direction of her home, before remembering something. "See you two around school, yeah? Amanda, I may have a recipe idea you'll want to see, right up your alleyway actually."

Just as she started to get out of earshot, she shouted out for the last time;' "Oh, and Amanda? Nothing is overboard when it comes to that fucking Aussie. nothing." 'Where the fuck did I put my bike.... Ah shit, I walked didn't I. I'm an idiot." Muttering to herself, Maria left Sumac park, the rising sun warming her back as she walked away.

((Maria Cuccinotta, continued elsewhere)

Raina dropped the change into Amanda's waiting hand. "Eh, it's just like a dollar. No big deal, you can hang onto it." Though now that she'd said that, it did occur to her that she might want to collect her debt sometime when the school vending machines were tempting her. Oh well.

Maria said her goodbyes, and it was all Raina could do to not shake her head disbelievingly as she watched her go. Maria was a walking disaster if she'd ever seen one, but not one that she felt particularly inclined to intervene in. She'd just have to hope that Maria wouldn't get too distracted on her way home and walk into traffic or something.

"Well," she said, adjusting her ponytail and glancing around them once more before focusing on Amanda again, "I guess I"ll be going. Have fun with your jog, or whatever you were going to do after this." Her stomach was starting to remind her that she hadn't grabbed any breakfast before heading out on her impromptu stargazing session, and if Mom hadn't been called into work yet she might be receptive to requests for biscuits and sausage gravy. None of Maria's chocolate-covered beef here.

"Later, then."

((Raina Rose continued in People II 2: Still Peoplin'))

"Yeah? I'll look forward to it," Amanda said, though she was halfway more focused on the coins now in her hand. "I guess I'll see you two around then."

Amanda stabbed the vending machine button repeatedly while waiting for her drink, She'd probably stopped for too long already given how high the sun was. A quick drink and she'd be off.

Maria's parting shot had left her a little uncomfortable though. Rea didn't seem that bad of a person, even if thirty seconds wasn't nearly enough to properly gauge someone. Then again, unbridled hatred wasn't exactly a emotion that Amanda herself was too familiar with, she liked to think of herself as the forgiving sort, even if the other person managed to be a complete and utter arsehole. Frustration and disappointment maybe. She'd have to find a tactful way to find out what was going with Maria. Maybe over another meal? She hadn't had laksa in a while and she still had a few packs of spices for that. Yeah, that might work.

She chucked the bottle at the bin in a lazy arc, watching as it bounced unsatisfyingly towards the still damp grass to the side. Welp. It was fitting enough that it would happen. Amanda almost didn't want to pick it up, but resigned herself to it, dropping it gently into the bin. The last fifteen minutes had been far more hectic than she'd been expecting out of a morning run. Maybe she would get around to fixing up that playlist after all.  It'd actually be a bit relaxing after all that.

The earbuds went back on, playing another song that she was only half interested in now. And with that, she was back on her run.

((Amanda Tan continued elsewhere))