Survival Of The Fittest

Original Topic Title: "How many ways can you define the word "cow"?"
Location: Ms. Gussie's Homeroom, Bathurst High School

((Note: Large portions of this text not directly affecting Tanesha's storyline have been edited out of this post.))

Posted by: Megami Jun 7 2006, 12:21 PM
As it happened, Tanesha Lexx had missed the entire incident that had occurred when Lavender Heart had attempted to sharpen her pencil. Instead, Tanesha had been in the bathroom, fiddling with what seemed to be an ever-growing blemish on the tip of her nose. Even now, she was standing before the mirror in the girl's restroom, squeezing and squeezing, but all it seemed to do was make the blemish appear even larger and more red. Sighing in frustration, Tanesha's eyes wandered to the other blemishes unfolding on her already acne-scarred face. Why'd it always happen to her? The pretty girls never got zits, never.

Then again, there was nothing pretty about Tanesha. Not in her eyes, and probably not in anyone else's, either. Staring in the mirror a moment longer, Tanesha made a mental note that her braids were looking rather... "nappy", was a good word to describe them. They'd have to be redone soon. Maybe she shouldn't even bother, not like anyone was looking anyway. Aftre taking a moment to splash a bit of the school's luke-warm water across her face, Tanesha finally opened the girl's bathroom door with a squeal and headed back down the hallway, toward Ms. Gussie's room.

As Tanesha waddled down the hallway (and waddled was a good word, considering the girl clocked in at nearly 300 pounds, it didn't make walking very easy) toward the classroom, she noted the big-chested blonde bimbo slumped down in the floor in front of her room: Mariavel Varella. Mariavel personified everything that Tanesha Lexx wanted to be... pretty, popular, and the object of attraction for many. Of course, it was then that Tanesha took into account the fact that Mariavel was also a total slut. So she'd heard, anyway.

And I don't want to have to resort to that to get attention from guys. I want them to just... like me for me.

Casting another glance toward Mariavel, Tanesha also noted that her panties were plainly visible for everyone in the hallway to see. Tanesha knew little of the girl and didn't care to, but that fact alone pretty much sealed her thoughts on Mariavel Varella. Pushing past her without uttering a word, Tanesha turned the doorknob and entered Ms. Gussie's room again, huffing the word "Slut" under her breath as she entered the class.

Looking warily around the room, Tanesha bypassed a few of the students as she made her way toward her seat near the back of the room. That new British boy, the quiet one, seemed pretty disinterested in his homework. Tanesha smiled lightly as she passed him. He was cute. Then again, somebody like him would never give Tanesha Lexx a second look. Casting her eyes to the ground as she passed by Seth Mattlock, she made every effort to avoid eye contact. She'd heard some troubling things about that one. Finally locating her empty seat in the back of the room, Tanesha sat down, causing an audible creak in the chair, and proceeded to return to staring at the nearly blank sheet of paper in front of her.

She hated English.  

Posted by: mitsuko2 Jun 7 2006, 02:03 PM
Mariavel clenched her fists. That fat-ass bitch just called her a slut... A SLUT! How dare she even think that word about her?! It was true that she slept with a few guys for cash here and there, but that was a nessesity. She gets no money and has no time for a job.

Mariavel stood and walked to the door peering through the glass. It seemed as if they were taking a test or something. Then it hit her... that class held a group of people. Seth was there... and so was Jack... and John... and Lavvy... and Elizabeth... and Panom! too many controversies were going to happen.

Then the bell rang...  

Posted by: Megami Jun 13 2006, 10:39 PM
After the bell had rang signifying the end of class and the thirty minute break period that followed, Tanesha had been slow in gathering up her items and turning her incomplete packet in to Miss Gussie. Didn't really matter, anyway. Tanesha was never the brighest student in school. Not dumb, persay, but her parents were expectant of "C"s and the occassional "D" from her. In terms of grades, Tanesha'd always been pretty average. Seemed like she'd gotten the short end of that stick, too.

She'd silently stood by and watched as Jenna and Mariavel began their altercation outside of the classroom, and Tanesha'd found it absolutely hysterical that the slut who'd been running her mouth far too much got just what was coming to her at the hand of Jenna. However, when Mariavel passed out in the floor afterward, Tanesha literally felt like she was going to be sick. She stifled another laugh and muttered something under her breath, pretty much sure that nobody would hear her comment anyway.

Stupid skank. She's just doing it for attention. She wants more guys to look up her skirt or something. They've all probably done her by now anyway.

Tanesha scoffed at the idea. It honestly wouldn't surprise her, the girl was trash, in her point of view anyway. The kind of person that Tanesha Lexx strived not to be. Sure, she was pretty and supposedly "popular" (even though Tanesha found it funny that most of her so-called friends seemed to talk about her behind her back), but she was still nasty, and she was still a wanna-be gang whore.

The African-American girl continued to muse her thoughts right up until the ongoings outside suddenly took a turn for the worst and got real interesting, real fast. What caught her attention the most was when a certain Thai student by the name of Panom Ning~Tom jumped in on the unfolding action. Tanesha'd had a bit of a crush on the Thai boy since he'd come to Bathurst High, and now she approached the doorway and stood against the frame, watching with quite a bit of interest as to what would unfold next.  

Posted by: Kris Jun 13 2006, 11:39 PM
Attic started collecting his things, one of his books for Biology in his arm. Nothing much was on his mind except for his ex-boyfriends and ex-girlfriends. He was always involved in drama with his ex's. Something he needed to stop. he already had 16 ex's in total. The whole thing just tired him out, but he won't stop until he finds the right one.

The emo kid continued to pack up his backpack and then stood up and went his way toward the door. He stopped seeing a Taneasha one of the big girls in his class stand in the doorway. Now Attic was nice but even he couldn't resist making fun of her in his mind. He wasn't much for making fun of people out loud only in his mind. "Ummm, excuse me...." he said in a plain boring voice.

((Continued in: http://z10.PLACEHOLDERLINK/SurvivalOfTheF...showtopic=996))  

Posted by: Sephy Jun 16 2006, 04:31 PM
Daniel Price half ran, half-skidded through the hallway, "missed class already and I only just started school today, that must be some kind of record" He thought to himself as he went along, humming the tune of 'Pink Cloud Assembly' to himself, orange goggles bouncing at his neck.  

Posted by: Slayer Jun 17 2006, 02:37 AM
And where had Richard Kingston, who loved to be one of the first people at the scene of any fight in Bathurst, been during all this? The nurse's office, getting some rest after a coughing fit and a terrible pain in the stomach and head. He had been enduring it all day up to now, when his period teacher insisted he go down to the nurse's, which he did. He did not know it, but he woke up around the time Mariavel went into her concussion. Wandering dazedly through the hall, as his head still hurt, he eventually found himself in the middle of the chaos, with Seth and Brian over an unconscious Mariavel facing down the Thai boy he never learned the name of and some other kids. Judging from the boy's stance, he was just like Brian Calvert, a Muay Thai fighter. The others didn't seem noteworthy, though his pain addled mind thought it saw the frame of Jack Bexley along with Elizabeth Waters.
"Hey Brian, boss. We in another rumble already?" he said, his eyes turning into a deceptively alert look as he clenched his fists and raised them in front of his face, shifting his feet to be roughly parallel to his shoulders to complete the boxers' stance. Anyone who took the time to analyze Richard's fighting style knew what him going into a boxing stance meant, it meant he'd be on his guard and defensive, or at least would start the fight that way.
What bad timing for a fight! One good shot to the skull and I'll probably be down for the count. Well, the Thai should go down easily enough if I go for the throat, but maybe I'll leave him to Brian. That kid over there...what was his name? John something or other. Anyway, he seems open enough, maybe I'll go for him. Might take out a few teeth at least.

Posted by: Cycokiller Jun 19 2006, 02:22 PM
Bryan eyed Kingston over; he didn't look so good. He himself had just gotten some well-needed sleep however, and was ready and rarin' to go.

"Y'awright, Kingston?" he remarked, raising an eyebrow. Not that he was too concerned; Kingston was a tough-ass mother. Either way, Bryan wanted a piece of that Thai kid. They had the two guys outnumbered; it was all up to Mattlock now.  

Posted by: Slayer Jun 19 2006, 02:39 PM
Richard had never quite liked pre-fight conversations, especially when the potential enemy was already there, as he thought they caused the fighter to drop their guard, a big mistake in combat. However, when Brian asked him if he was alright, he gathered the respect to glance in his direction, lowering his fists slightly.
"I was feeling sick earlier," he told his fellow gang member, lying slightly. His head still felt like it was being dipped in hydrochloric acid, "But I'm well enough to help bash up these losers if Mattlock makes the call." it really depended on Seth whether or not the situation ended in a fight, but he was ready. For now he was determined to let Brian handle the Thai, as he knew nothing of Muay Thai except what he had seen Calvert use in brawls, he would go after anyone else Mattlock left open. Besides the upcoming fight, there was only one thing on his mind.
Where the hell is Rischio?
OOC: Pretty sure there's three. Jack, John and Panom.  

Posted by: mitsuko2 Jun 19 2006, 02:51 PM
Mariavel slowly opened her eyes and surveyed her surroundings. Everyone was getting angry with eachother, and her gang was going to start a fight.

"ehh, oww... my head is k-killing me... anyone got an asprin or somthin?"

She had to stop this before it got out of hand.  

Posted by: Cycokiller Jun 19 2006, 03:38 PM
OOC: Oh hey there are three.

They had the three guys...uh...equally numbered. Fuck.  

Posted by: Kris Jun 19 2006, 04:12 PM
"Mariavela! Are you all right?" asked Darcy helping her up. "What the hell is going on?" she asked wanting to know whats happening. *Don't tell me we got into another fight, thats all thats happening latley...* she thought as she stood by Mariavela about to catch her if she fell. "Did you get into another fight?" she asked with a disappointed look.  

Posted by: mitsuko2 Jun 20 2006, 01:19 PM
"Oh... Darcy. Yea I did. Jenna and me had another spat. She kiked my ass. You need to keep Seth from hurting Jack." She looked at her friend with pleading eyes. "Please Darcy..."  

Posted by: Kris Jun 20 2006, 02:12 PM
"What!?" she said looking at Mariavela in deisbeleif. *Not another brawl with Jenny....* she thought. "What do you mean Jack? Whose Jack?" she asked trying to figure out what the hell is going on Darcy was the girl who kept Maraivela in check, she was the smart girl of the gang. She was also a fighter but only when she has to fight, and when she does. She's very classy.  

Posted by: mitsuko2 Jun 20 2006, 02:28 PM
"He's well...uh..." She was blushing, she knew it. "Jus-just stop seth okay?"  

Posted by: Kris Jun 20 2006, 02:31 PM
Darcy looked at mariavela weirdly. "What has gotten into you?" she asked. Darcy wasn't one who knew the low class people she was one of those who only knew the important populars. Never the losers; Is Mariavela in love? It was so obviousy, Darcy could tell so easily, Mariavela was like an open book.

A friendly smiled formed on her face. "Someone you like?" she asked. tilting her head.  

Posted by: mitsuko2 Jun 20 2006, 02:33 PM
"HUH!? Wh-What would give you that idea!?" Her face must have been red as a tomato by now. What a drag...  

Posted by: Kris Jun 20 2006, 02:35 PM
"Come on Mariavela....I know you by now..." she said with a chuckle. "Is he popular? Who is he? I never heard of him before.." she said rushing her with questions. When someone in the Bloody Fists likes someone the other girl gots to know. And that girl was named Darcy.  

Posted by: mitsuko2 Jun 20 2006, 02:44 PM
"W-well his name is Jack bexley. I don't think he's popular. Just being around him makes me feel good inside, Y'know?"  

Posted by: Kris Jun 20 2006, 03:43 PM
Darcy shook her head. "You have a thing for outsiders." she said with a laugh. "And now to the more important question. Why the hell would Seth want to beat him up?" he asked. crossing her arms. As if this day can't get any crazier. The Bloody Fists need to get their act back togeather, especially mariavel if she expects to kick Jenny's ass.  

Posted by: mitsuko2 Jun 20 2006, 03:45 PM
"Well... thats the thing... I was unconsious for the last ten or so miuites... And my head still hurts..."

((Continued in: http://z10.PLACEHOLDERLINK/SurvivalOfTheF...showtopic=984))  

Posted by: Kris Jun 20 2006, 03:56 PM
Darcy shook her head at the uselessness of the situation. Was she the only smart girl cheerleader? Being a friend she guided Mariavel out of the hall, out of the school and toward the locker room in the gym. It was time for reality to snap back in for Mariavel. "Come on, cheer practice will be starting soon..."

((Continued In: http://s10.PLACEHOLDERLINK/SurvivalOfTheF...showtopic=984))  

Posted by: Cycokiller Jun 21 2006, 12:20 AM
Bryan scrunched his face up in an expression of bewilderment and irritation. He looked at the clock beside him on the classroom wall and let out a deep sigh, dropping his fists in resignation.

"Well," he remarked bitterly as he shouldered his backpack, "I'm off. Later assholes." With that he shoved his way past the two freeloaders and, giving Mattlock and Kingston a salute with his index and middle fingers, strode off down the hallway.

((Continued in http://z10.PLACEHOLDERLINK/SurvivalOfTheF...howtopic=1075))  

Posted by: Minase Jun 21 2006, 09:11 AM
Jack closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and lowered his own fists, allowing them to fall to his sides, loose, but ready, in case anyone actually did start anything, which he now saw as unlikely. His own rage was almost entirely dissipated and his control just shy of fully returned to him.

He couldn't help feel slightly cheated, though he wished he could.

This was the side Jack tried to hide from the rest of the world, the violent, jealousy driven brawler. In a matter of seconds, he recounted over in his head yet again that first time it had manifested itself...

Night time, possibly ten, eleven or twelve, it may even be morning, no one knows and no one cares. The clocks, like all other furniture, decorative or otherwise, with the excpetion of the stereo, have been removed, put away safely in the garage to allow more freedom to the two or three hundred teenagers huddled into this single house party, to get totally wild.

Jack, as always, has acquired himself a role within the party. He can never be a bland, faceless member of the monotonous masses, but must always stand out somehow. Tonight he has taken control of the stereo, insisting he maintain the responsibility for all that is blasted forth from those commendable speakers.

Wave after wave of hardcore dance song assails the gathered teens, and lost in drunken ecstasy they flail madly to every explosive beat and disjointed rythym that brutalises their ear-drums.

However from his space by the speakers, Jacks mind is solely focused on the activities of one girl, Elizabeth Waters.

They have never spoken, despite three years of school together, and an infatuation on the behalf of Jack for equally as long. In fact, it is this obsession which has driven him from confronting her, but tonight, under the effects of a bottle and a half of Hock 11.5%, things will finally change.

Wading through the wall of his peers, Jack makes his way over to the smiling, chatting Elizabeth. As he nears her, he is sure the names Marx and Engel are mentioned and he is forced to grin rather goofily at the cutness of Elizabeth. Even at a party she is so single minded

Jack steps before her, rudely, though with no harmful intention, blocking her from her surrounding friends.

Does she have a request?

Firestarter?

A woman after his own heart. Wait a minute, he will put it on for her.

Jack throws himself back towards the stereo, fumbles for the Prodgigy CD's, checking for which one has the live version, Lets do things properly. Finding it, he places it into the CD slot and nods a little as that timeless intro starts up and washes itself over thr room.

Pleased with himself after his first encounter with the love of his life, he swiftly returns to her, only he cannot find her where she was originally. He looks left and right, searching for any of her friends or just anyone who is likely to have seen her, but when he asks they are all too drunk and self-involved to provide any help.

Leaving the crowded main room, Jack confusedly makes his way upstairs, with the intention of refreshing himself in the bathroom.

There is a light bang to his left as he reaches the landing.

It is coming from the bedroom.

Curious, and with butterflies of horrified aprehension, he open the door and peers in.

There she is, thrust into a corner with some guy, no not some guy, but a real friend who knew only too well of Jack's interests in Elizabeth.

A rage builids.

She needs to go to the toilet.

She leaves the room.

Jack hides in a shadow.

She is fully dressed and still quite sober, thank god.

Jack enters the room...

Jack had only ever been beaten up once, when he was thirteen and it was by a fully grown man, drunk and looking for trouble, outside of a pub in the middle of the night. Jack did not enjoy it, and was sure it would not happen again.

He never studied any martial art, though his work in construction lead him to have impressive strength and a remarkble physique for a short seventeen year old. However when he fought this did not matter. His skill and strength meant nothing, he drew all his power from a hidden, sadistic rage.

Only in truth Jack hated violence, and was reluctant to ever admit he had ever had a fight, and even more reluctant to admit he had ever enjoyed having one, to those who refused to believe his first claim, and for the most part, his claims were true.

The real Jack was easy-going, friendly, a goody-goody rebel, Robin Hood. Well liked by the masses and only disliked by the unjust whom he had felt it necceasry to thwart (or attempt to) in the past. A bit of a clown and a joker, there was nothing bad about him at all.

It was something else, someone else, inside of him, that made behave how he did, and it was all connected to Elizabeth.

The boy who had been kissing Elizabeth did not know who attacked him, he was heavily concussed with a broken nose and one eye hanging loosely from it's socket. Nothing could be proved, no one was even suspected. Jack got away with it again.

Sometimes he wished he had not, that he had been caught then and there, at others, he smiled at the memory. A moment ago would have been one of those times, when the dark side took over.

Only why would it?

Elizabeth had not been harmed, threatened by anyone, nor had anyone tried to have any sort of way with her. No one had touched or spoken to her. Why had he switched and gone for Seth in that way?

He turned to see Mariavel leave.

Panom was still ready and waiting, as was John, but the moment had passed for Jack and he knew he could not fight, he did not want to fight and he had no reason to fight. He looked at Seth, who had not done or said anything in a little while:

"I don't need this Seth, if you want to fight you're going to have to find someone that does, because I'm content to walk away."  

Posted by: Megami Jun 26 2006, 09:56 PM
Disappointed with the lack of events that had unfolded, Tanesha sighed to herself and headed out the doorway, slinging her backpack over her shoulder in the process. The fight had turned out to be a total flop, like so many other things on this day. And here, she thought she might actually get to see something interesting. She supposed that at least one good thing did come out of this day though, and that was the fact that she got to see him.

Almost immediately thereafter, a forelorn expression appeared across Tanesha Lexx's stretched features. Her too-wide lips formed a small pout as she walked down the solitary confines of the hallway, lost in her own thoughts. Granted, she had gotten to see him today, but Tanesha, being the overly jealous person she was, had also taken notice of the fact that the Thai student she'd harbored a crush on since his transfer to Bathurst High School seemed to be taking an interest in someone far superior to her.

Groaning loudly at the thought of Elizabeth Waters, Tanesha continued to waddle her way down the hall at a leisurely pace, finally reaching her locker. Taking a moment to pull on the broken lock, the locker door swung open with ease, and Tanesha once again cursed to herself. Yet again, somebody had decided to use the rigged locker as their personal wastebasket. Ushering the trash out onto the floor, the African-American girl let her bag drop inside the contraption with a loud thud.

After a moment she began sifting through the mess that was her locker, a smile forming on her lips as she located what she had been searching for: the remainder of a king size Hershey bar. Sure, she and her mother had agreed a few weeks prior that Tanesha would go on a diet, if only for her own health. Her mother just didn't understand though! What else was a girl supposed to do when she'd had a day like today? Shaking her head at the thought, Tanesha unwrapped the candy bar and greedily took a large bite from it, savoring the chocolatey goodness for a moment.

With her free hand, she continued to pilfer in the locker until she uncovered the other item in her search. Pulling a black journal with red sharpie scrawls all over it from within the depths of her locker, Tanesha grabbed the stub of a pencil that had rolled out and now lay at her feet. Sure, it was probably childish that the girl was nearly an adult and still kept a diary, but hey, everyone needs a place to vent on THOSE days... and today was just one of those days. Placing the diary close to her chest with one hand while still gripping her candybar in the other, Tanesha continued down the hallway to find a secluded spot in which to write.

(Continued in: http://s10.PLACEHOLDERLINK/SurvivalOfTheF...showtopic=1008)

Original Post Title: "To My One True Confidante"
Location: The Quad, Bathurst High School

Posted by: Megami Jun 27 2006, 02:31 PM
((Continued from: http://s10.PLACEHOLDERLINK/SurvivalOfTheF...2entry1280922))

Dear Diary:

Class was so overrated. Tanesha had wandered from the corridors of the school building and had found a shady spot underneath a tree in the quad in which to write. Smiling to herself, the African-American girl enjoyed the warmth of one of the final days of summer as she continued to scroll sloppy handwriting across the face of the journal page. Everyone needs someone to turn to during their bad days, someone to talk to when no one else would listen, and that little journal, that was Tanesha's best friend.

He came into our class again today, I think he's still swooning over that Elizabeth girl. When he comes in he just sits there and stares at her until class ends. It's sort of funny to watch Bexley squirm, but it really frustrates me. Why did he have to fall for her? What's so special about her anyway? She's not even all that pretty. She's loud-mouthed, obnoxious, and she always has something to say.

Ugh. Just the thought of it frustrated Tanesha. Absent-mindedly, she fiddled with the now-empty Hershey bar wrapper with her free hand, trying to come up with more words to vent her frustrations on the current day. It had all been a colossal joke, and Tanesha was feeling rather depressed after being completely blown off by him again. It was like he didn't even know she existed. Then again, he probably didn't.

I really hate Elizabeth Waters sometimes. Always doing something to draw attention to herself, always wanting to be the center of everything. Why does she have to ruin my life while she's at it? She's not even interested in him, I know it. I know she isn't! So why can't she just screw off and leave him alone?! Stupid bitch. And then there's that Mariavel girl. I hate her even more every time I look at her. She's such an attention whore, and he seems to be paying attention to her too. I mean, he was going to fight for her. I've never even seen them talk!

Getting frustrated just thinking about it, Tanesha's hand movements became more rapid and her writing more sloppy and unlegible as she continued to scrawl out her innermost and most private thoughts and secrets in the little journal.

He just looks right through me. Like I don't even exist. I love him, I just know I do. I know I've said that before about other guys, but this time it's for real. This time. He's special, he makes me feel good about myself... even if he hasn't ever talked to me. That's not even the point. It just makes me so mad that all these girls are the object of everyone's attention. All guys say they want a girl with personality over looks, but they never take the time to get to know the girl with the nice personality! That girl is ME, she's ME! Men are such ass-

SNAP!

With that, the lead of the sharpened away pencil that Tanesha had been writing with snapped, leaving her unable to complete her journal entry. In frustration she threw the broken pencil to the ground, stood up, slammed the cover of the journal, and held it up to her chest once again. Indeed, this had been a ridiculously, horribly, terribly bad day. She couldn't even vent her frustrations in her journal anymore. Tears began forming in Tanesha's eyes as she flopped back down on the bench, it creaking slightly under the pressure. Overdramatic, much?

My life sucks. Some people just have all the luck.  

Posted by: LadyMakaze Jul 2 2006, 02:30 AM
Unbeknownst to Tanesha, as she sat writing whilst in her silent, fuming episode of tears and rage, a figure had rather discreetly and carefully assumed a position just behind where she had set on the bench. Carmen Somerset, ordinarily an eye-catcher of many, though she had not yet caught the eye of Tanesha as she had been strolling past, watched with a mildly interested look in her vivid evergreen eyes as Tanesha translated her inner rages into a rather sloppy handwriting on the page of what seemed to be her diary.

Flicking a vibrant, red lock away from her large and prominent forehead, Carmen smiled slightly. It was that innocent, demure smile that she put on most of the time, catching the eye of many a boy at a time, though this time, the expression on her well-endowed face held a glint of contempt, or condescension. Silently, she watched the noticeably large form of Tanesha as she continued to right, having to suppress a smirk of amusement as the pencil snapped in her hand in unison with her thoughts.

Of course, what was being written in the diary wasn't what Carmen had taken an interest to. Rather, she was taking in a rather twisted form of amusement as she compared Tanesha's body form to her own. ‘Curvy' would be a complete euphemism all on its own when describing the massive Tanesha, looking at the way the bulk of her form took up a good part of the bench she was sitting on, not to mention that the pressure of her large weight was causing it quite a bit of strain. If Carmen had to compare her looks with Tanesha's, she could easily say that the larger girl no doubt got cheated in the body-type department. But, such was the way of the world, and there were some people who had all the luck.

And Carmen Somerset sure as hell considered her lucky that she wasn't such a pig like Tanesha. Not that she would ever say this out loud in front of her. But still, it was nice to know that she had it better than others. A lot better, than many others in fact. She herself was quite a beauty of model-quality and she knew it, and though she maintained her good looks with endless care, she was quite fortunate to have been blessed with good genetics. As blessed as Tanesha was cursed. Be that the case, Carmen wasn't surprised to see Tanesha immersed in her own inner angst. The girl likely had no luck with boys…save for that other time with that Martin Angell person, Carmen had heard of it before. After all, she had been the one personally responsible for circulating the rumour to some of the student body, not that Angell needed the least bit help informing the entire school.

Pressing a dainty, manicured finger to her painted lips, she tilted her well-endowed face to one side in mild, yet somehow sly curiosity as she watched Tanesha conclude her period of inner drama in tears, holding the shut journal to her chest. Carmen Somerset's lips pouted slightly in silent contemplation as she readjusted her grip on the tripod bundled underneath her arm. Perhaps it was time to add fuel to the frustration by announcing her presence.

"Why hello, Tanesha," she said sweetly, her voice giving little to no hint that she had been standing there the whole time, watching her. Her hand slid playfully along the wooden contours at the back of the bench. "Fancy seeing you out here, it's not every day that we bump into each other like this." Her sly expression immediately melted, so that when Tanesha turned to face her, all that she would see was that outward expression of innocent friendliness that showed no hint of any ulterior motive or hidden contempt..


Posted by: Megami Jul 2 2006, 06:39 PM
The rustling of footsteps behind her was what first informed Tanesha of the fact that another prescence had occupied the lonely and deserted quad along with her. She had been far too emersed in her own personal drama only moments prior to have noticed the goddess-like figure of Carmen Somerset approaching her from behind. As Carmen's voice resounded through the quad, however, Tanesha was startled from her reverie and came back down to earth.

Immediately wheeling around, she saw the curly fire-red locks of hair, the bright green eyes, and the overall stunningly beautiful figure of one of the school's most popular girls, and a model whose pictures had been on the cover of many a magazine, holding her tripod under her arm and staring at Tanesha with a look of what Tanesha almost misconstrued as concern.

As the girl spoke to her, Tanesha couldn't help but look on warily. Carmen was a member of the "Sisterhood", or so they called themselves. She was one of them... one of the popular girls, one of the people who thought they were the end-all, be-all of Bathurst High School. To the heavy-set black girl, Carmen Somerset represented only one thing: trouble.

"Hi, Carmen."

The words came at a hushed tone as Tanesha continued to eye the girl suspiciously. No sign of Ali Grayston or any of the other so-called popular girls anywhere around. Tanesha let out an internal sigh of relief at that fact, but was still baffled by the fact that Carmen Somerset had approached her and began talking to her ... out of the goodness of her own heart? Something just didn't add up.

Clinging even more tightly to her prized inner sanctuary in the form of her journal, Tanesha just couldn't help but feel some sort of suspiciousness as she watched Carmen. Maybe it was because she was jealous of the clearly more beautiful girl, but Carmen genuinely frightened Tanesha, and she knew firsthand that the girl was not the innocent angel she portrayed herself to be.

"Yeah, funny seeing you here. Shouldn't you... be in class?" the black girl responded quietly.

Tempted as though she was to back away from one of Bathurst's group of she-devils that stood before her, Tanesha found herself simply standing in place, clinging to her journal desperately as though Carmen would snatch it away from her and exploit all of her secrets to the world at any given moment. Somehow, though, Tanesha genuinely thought that perhaps Carmen had no ulterior motives for talking to her. Maybe, for once in her life, the girl was actually making an attempt to be nice to someone who didn't fit in with all the stereotypical popular kids of Bathurst High School.

Somehow, Tanesha doubted it.  

Posted by: LadyMakaze Jul 10 2006, 07:55 PM
Judging from the expression on her rather lovely, precise face alone, it was hard to tell whether Carmen Somerset was amused by Tanesha's surprise at noticing her presence, the look of fear and apprehension that had appeared on her face, or the way she responded in caution towards someone who lived in a completely different world than she did. Either way, the amused and somewhat sly and secretive smile was there, though it quickly seemed to melt back into friendliness once again.

"Funny, indeed," she responded, laughing slightly. "Why, I might be asking you the same thing." She flashed the heavyset girl that innocuously charming grin she always wore. Brushing a few fiery locks away from her face, Carmen leaned back from the bench to give the other girl a bit of space, though her lidded, green eyes seemed to glance sidelong towards the diary Tanesha held tightly, as though afraid Carmen herself might suddenly make a grab for it.

Though all it seemed to do was confirm the fact that whatever Tanesha had written in the diary was no doubt some precious secret of hers, something she no doubt wanted kept hidden from the rest of the world. But of course, there could not be any way that Carmen Somerset, a gossip-mistress by her own right, would have that. After all, she prided on exposing the very information that would get people talking, and social reputations collapsing.

Keeping her hidden intentions under careful wraps, Carmen directed her line of sight towards her surroundings, adjusting her hold on the tripod. "Myself, I'm just doing photography work for the school annual, though nothing seems to be going on much in the classrooms. Much less outdoors on campus it seems."

She looked back towards Tanesha. "But you seem to have the right idea, stepping out to enjoy such fine weather. This here…perfect place to have a little ‘alone time', now that I think about it. Perhaps we're both romantics here?" Carmen winked casually at the larger girl, a smooth hand placed against her hip. Her eyes arched at the revelation of a sudden idea. Her full lips curving into a sly smile, she suddenly made her move. Smoothly, she moved towards the front of the bench.

"May I?" she asked, immediately sitting alongside Tanesha before the other girl could even answer, let alone protest. Giggling a bit, crossing her hands over her knees, she asked with a knowing, somehow furtive look on her prim, well-defined face. "So, tell me. Is there anyone you like? Or do I have to guess?"  

Posted by: Megami Jul 10 2006, 09:25 PM
Continuing to watch the redheaded girl with caution, Tanesha felt that sense of apprehension overwhelm her once again as Carmen flashed her "the" smile... that trademark smile that all the Sisterhood girls seemed to possess... that sugary-sweet, yet at the same time completely evil, sadistic, and untrustworthy smile. Tanesha'd seen that smile many a time on the face of Ali Grayston moments before she'd done something positively horrible to someone. Now, Tanesha couldn't help but note the uncanny resemblance that Carmen's smile held to that one.

A bit taken aback when Carmen actually responded to Tanesha's inquiry with a seemingly honest answer, the heavyset African-American girl did another once over of the presence she was currently in. School photography, huh? Carmen was infamous for her candids, it was a well-known fact. She always seemed to find people in their most grueling and humiliating moments and capture them forever on film.

Casting the fact aside, Tanesha continued watching the fire-haired girl as she spoke, eventually assuming the seat next to Tanesha. Subconsciously, the girl pulled her journal further away from Carmen's grasp. A bit paranoid, sure, but Tanesha's innermost secrets and desires had been enscribed in the sloppy handwriting the small journal contained, and they weren't for anyone to read, especially someone like Carmen Somerset, one of the school's biggest known Queens of Gossip.

Eyebrows raising slightly as Carmen voiced her next inquiry, a sense of foreboding once again overtook Tanesha. Was this girl serious? Carmen Somerset, one of the school's biggest gossips, wanted to know who Tanesha liked? This had to be a joke, right? As if. As if EVER! Somewhat startled at the audacity of the redhead, sitting here talking as they were the best of friends, Tanesha stared on a bit dumbfoundedly at her new companion, unsure of how to answer the question.

"Of course there's someone," she mused lightly, speaking slowly as if contemplating her words with caution, "We all like someone, right Carmen? I'm sure you've got a crush too, right?"

Looking on at the redhead, though, Tanesha couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe she was being a bit too judgemental of the girl sitting beside her. Carmen had done nothing to warrant the kind of reaction Tanesha had been giving her, she'd never done anything to Tanesha herself... at least, not that Tanesha knew about. Needless to say, she was oblivious to the fact that Carmen had helped to spread the rumors about Marvin Angell around campus.

Maybe Carmen wasn't as bad as Tanesha thought. Sure, some of his friends continually tortured the hefty girl, calling her names and degrading her in public, but this girl didn't seem to be like the rest. Tanesha just couldn't shake that bad vibe she was getting, though. After all, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. If she was "cool" enough to be included in the Sisterhood, there had to be a reason why.

All of those girls were elitists who believed themselves holier than everyone else enrolled at Bathurst High. If Carmen was so much different, why would she hang out with them. The internal struggle continued to wage inside of Tanesha Lexx, the bad vibes she'd received from Carmen clashing with that lack of action the girl had ever taken against her. So, which side was right?

After a moment, the girl relaxed visibly, though still clung to the journal for dear life. Regardless of her feelings about Carmen, she wouldn't trust anyone with that journal, lest it fall into the wrong hands. It contained her entire life. Thoughts on her friends, her enemies, her failed relationship with Marvin, her crushes, her hopes and dreams, all those thoughts lay within that journal. To Tanesha, it was a sacred document, unable to be viewed by anyone other than herself.

"W-who do you like?" Tanesha inquired after a moment.

No doubt, Carmen would say one of the football players or one of the popular guys. That's how it always worked with those types, Tanesha imagined. Then again, this girl was Carmen Somerset. She was a model, she'd probably dated famous people before. Would she really have a crush on somebody who went to Bathurst High School, of all the people out there that she could date if she so desired?

Tanesha looked on expectantly, now somewhat curious as to the potential answer Carmen would respond with. Tilting her head to the side a bit, the curiosity obviously overtaking her, Tanesha smiled an awkward smile at the redheaded girl. Maybe she was wrong about Carmen. Tanesha really hoped so. She'd never had a "popular" friend before. They all shunned her. Maybe this girl was different.  

Posted by: LadyMakaze Jul 11 2006, 03:10 AM
Carmen Somerset could only giggle, almost good-naturedly in further amusement as Tanesha gave her initial response to Carmen's sudden and brazen question, a flustered look of confusion and utter surprise. It rang high and clear with good humour and friendliness, and coming from Carmen one passerby might almost get the impression that the two, despite their abounding differences, were close and casual friends. In all honesty, Carmen Somerset never meant to sound spiteful or insinuating with such laughter, more it had suddenly come out over feelings of amusement.

Amusement, of course, coming from the fact that this Tanesha-girl, aloof and wary as she had been the first few minutes of their meeting, was actually starting to trust her. Amusement coming from the ever obvious conflict that showed on Tanesha's rounded face, conflict between Tanesha and her common sense, arguing and debating on whether or not to trust the foreign alien known as Carmen Somerset.

Carmen knew perfectly well that Tanesha never trusted her, and she also acknowledged the fact that she had no reason to…much less than any reason NOT to trust her. Not that Carmen had reason to fret about it so much. After all, distrust was simply a minor inconvenience…a mere obstacle that she could most certainly ease out of her way given that she incorporated a little finesse to gain more of Tanesha's trust.

Trust, in itself, was a delicate matter to handle. In the absence of trust, an invisible yet impregnable barrier was the only obstacle between one and another's most precious and sensitive secrets. Initial distrust and instinctive cautiousness was natural, and easily dealt with. But after betrayal, there would likely be no second chances, no more trust. Therefore, it was up to Carmen to make sure that she gained as much of Tanesha's trust as was possible without giving any hint of any ulterior motive.

Recovering from her amusement, Carmen regarded Tanesha's muse with full and alert attention. Someone, hmm? Now we're getting somehere.

Of course, such a secret was not one Tanesha would give up easily. In order to create an atmosphere of trust, Carmen knew she would have to give a little. Anything to ease Tanesha out of that tight shell of hers. Looking slightly surprised as Tanesha countered Carmen's question back at her, the delicate red-head began contemplating over an answer of her own. Pressing a playful fingertip against her blushed cheek, she mused a bit to herself.

"Someone I like, hmmm?" she thought aloud. "Well, I'm not quite sure…Bathurst has so many interesting characters, you know? Among the boys…it's hard to favour one over all the others. John Matthews, a good-looking character, if I say so myself. Great smile, I guess that's what gets me. Panom, the one from Thailand…a mysterious one, but rather nice as far as looks go. There's also Ian too…though he's something of a shy one I think. Jack Bexley is another one I'd look out for in the crowd, great body. At least that's what I think."

She giggled, a look of embarrassment on her face as she grinned, almost apologetically towards Tanesha. "I can't believe I just said that! You must think I'm all weird like that, don't you?" She laughed yet again, letting out a sigh as she recovered. Shaking her fiery, orange mane, she leaned her face against her hand and looked sidelong towards Tanesha.

"See? I can't decide…" she said, suddenly looking thoughtful and pensive. "I guess it's not something I've been thinking about for a while, ever since I broke up with a guy in the past. But who knows, I might decide to bounce back soon, give it another try. But for now, I'll just wait until I find the right person for me. I think it's the best thing if you're someone in my situation."

She smiled with incredulity, almost surprised by herself. If she didn't know any better, she might have fooled herself into thinking she was that honest. Who said a little acting ability couldn't get you anywhere? Turning her head towards Tanesha, Carmen focused her attention on her, eager to see the results of her meticulous ad-libbing. Indeed, it looked as though Tanesha were about to finally open up to her a bit. Of course, she seemed far from willing to loosen the grip on what was no-doubt a diary of sorts that belonged to her.

Carmen smiled to herself yet again, careful not to let her more furtive, slyer side be shown. It was alright, the diary could wait. Who knows? Depending on how much Tanesha was willing to let her in on, Carmen end up not needing to touch a single page after all. Commoners and plebiscites were so naïve like that. Treat them nicely, make them feel like you're their friend, and they'll spill their secrets faster than a diary's open pages. It was simple, and even if she said so herself, Carmen had to say that it took quite a bit of skill and craftiness to play into that.

Giggling a bit, though more at her own inner thoughts than anything, she cast a knowing smile towards Tanesha's direction. "Are you like me? Can't decide who you like the most? Or is there someone you've completely set your heart on?" It was then that Carmen decided to play a little harder, and a little dirtier.

Her evergreen eyes gazed off into the distance, her cheerful look suddenly melting into a more sober and solemn expression of nostalgia and wistfulness. She let out a sigh, uncharacteristic of her initial cheeriness. "That must be wonderful. I'm so jealous, you know? It's just another new guy every month for me, you know? I know that nobody goes on without changing, but…I just hope someday there comes a guy who will stay the same long enough for me to love him more than anyone else."

Carmen couldn't help but look away to hide the smirk that hard formed on her face. Now, that…was definitely Oscar worthy


Posted by: Megami Jul 11 2006, 06:17 PM
Tanesha could only look on in surprise as the redheaded girl sitting next to her began to divulge the great mystery of who she liked. She had expected Carmen to be sly and try to slither her way around the question, a technique that seemed typical of the "popular" bunch from Bathurst High School. What she hadn't expected was for Carmen to be so straightforward and seemingly honest concerning her crushes. It was an almost foreign concept in itself that Carmen Somerset would even have crushes, as she could easily get with any guy on campus, or so Tanesha imagined.

The African-American girl's eyes widened drastically at the mention of Panom Ning~Tom, and a nauseous feeling overcame her. Not only did she have that loud-mouthed Elizabeth Waters girl to contend with but now... now she had to deal with Carmen. Sighing under her breath, Tanesha continued to listen as Carmen rounded off her list with several more familiar names. Apparently this one didn't take to liking just one guy, but seemed to have a thing for the majority of the students in Miss Gussie's class. Didn't she know it wasn't nice to get around? Tanesha couldn't help but smirk at the immature thought. Then again, Tanesha never stopped to think that her diary was filled to the brim with all the random guys she'd been crushing on over the year.

Besides, that was her, not Carmen. It wasn't as if Tanesha could ever act on those desires. Carmen, on the other hand, could probably have any guy she wanted. The girl continued to talk, her casual tone and easy-going manner getting the better of Tanesha. Perhaps all the speculation surrounding Carmen had just been vicious rumors after all. From what the dark-skinned girl had seen of her, the red-haired model sitting next to her wasn't really all that bad. Tanesha was once again taken aback as Carmen addressed her, asking her if she thought she was weird. Laughing awkwardly, Tanesha shook her head somewhat.

"Nah, not weird..." Tanesha murmured quietly, a strange and somewhat forced grin appearing on her face as she looked at the other girl, "I just... I didn't think people like you had crushes, that's all."

She couldn't decide, huh? Must be nice, not being able to decide which guy you want to go after, knowing you could hook up with any of them at any given time. Through all of her efforts to remain friendly, Tanesha couldn't help but feel a bit spiteful toward her newfound acquaintance. Carmen was everything that Tanesha idolized, everything she herself ever desired to be, and she was genuinely jealous that the girl sitting right next to her had the life she so desperately desired.

"But with you, you could have any guy you wanted, you know? Nobody in their right mind would turn you down. It's just a matter of who you want it to be, right? See... I wish I was like that. I wish I was pretty," the larger girl mused, still looking over Carmen oddly.

The redhead seemed to be musing to herself, her eyes affixed on some distant object beyond the horizon. Looking over toward her, Tanesha couldn't help but allow the feelings of jealousy and spitefulness to grow. This girl had everything, everyone adored her, and needless to say, it was surprising that she was somewhat of a hopeless romantic. Tanesha subconsiously wondered whether or not girls like Carmen even had relationship troubles as she internally compared herself to the girl. When Carmen once again addressed her, Tanesha was snapped back to reality. Kicking the dirt absent-mindedly with her foot, her eyes fell toward the ground and she sighed a bit before she answered.

"There's a guy... I really like him but... I don't even know if he knows I exist, ya know? It's sort of stupid really. Having a crush on someone you know isn't interested in you... but you probably don't know what that's like."

Smiling a bit at the beauty queen sitting next to her, Tanesha couldn't help but once again laugh at the match made in hell. It was so strange sitting there talking to this girl, of all people. She was on a completely different level than Tanesha. Carmen was at the top of Bathurst's proverbial totem pole, while Tanesha was one of the very bottom niches. Of all the people that she could've run into in the quad, Carmen was certainly not who she'd expected, and the conversation that was going on was definitely not what Tanesha had been prepared for. In an attempt to break a potential awkward silence before it happened, Tanesha spoke up.

"You'll find someone someday," she mumbled, actually making an attempt to comfort the girl, "Me, on the other hand... I think I'm destined to be the next little old lady living with her house full of cats."

Tanesha laughed at her own joke, corny though it may have been. In a way, though, that's what Tanesha really thought the future held for her. Especially the way things had been going lately. Carmen never had to worry about being alone... being lonely... feeling unloved. She was gorgeous, glamorous, and the object of affection for many. Tanesha was obesely overweight, constantly angsting over something new, and the girl guys went out of their way to avoid. She couldn't help but feel awkward sitting here talking to Carmen, as though she had fallen into the "fat friend" role once again.  

Posted by: Megami Aug 19 2006, 01:20 PM
((Double post. Sorry. Because Miss Maka's been busy and this thread's basically gone ignored, I'm gonna go ahead and move Tanesha so she's not in stasis anymore. Sorry Makadoodle! <3))

An awkward and unusual silence had spread over both the girls sitting on the bench in the quad for the longest of times, and Tanesha was beginning to feel quite uncomfortable. Carmen seemed to be lost in her own thoughts of scandal and romance, and the jealous and bitter feeling that Tanesha harbored toward the redhead continued to creep into her mind. It wouldn't have mattered how nice Carmen Somerset had been to the obesely fat girl who shared the seat with her, the fact remained that Tanesha would never like Carmen. Not fully.

Why?

Pure, unadulterated jealousy. Carmen was everything that Tanesha wasn't and could never be, and Tanesha resented her for it. She resented people like Carmen, like Ali Grayston. The "beautiful" people. Boys said that it wasn't all about looks, it was about a girl's personality. The problem with that analogy was that the boys never took the time to get to know the "personality" of a girl like her -- an ugly girl.

It wouldn't have mattered if she was the sweetest thing on two legs. It wouldn't have mattered if she gave them anything and everything they could ever want. It wouldn't matter if she was kind, compassionate, and understanding. Because the fact of the matter was, no one in their right mind would want to be seen with the blubbering whale that was Tanesha Lexx cuddled up on their arm. They'd be embarrassed. They always were.

Even her friends...

People she was supposed to be close to, people who were supposed to care about her. Even they shunned her most of the time. When they went out, they'd always walk a few steps in front of her or disregard her to answer their cell phone. And when guys approached them in the mall, they always, ALWAYS headed right for Tanesha's friends, completely ignoring her as if she didn't even exist. Sometimes, Tanesha wished that she didn't exist.

The loud, shrill noise of the bell ringing throughout the quad, signalling that this day of classes at Bathurst High School had reached its end finally sounded, much to Tanesha's relief. Sitting out here with Carmen had become uncomfortable. Assuming that Carmen would quickly bolt lest her reputation be decimated by the fact that she was seen with such a vile creature as Tanesha, the African-American girl stood up and cast Carmen a curt wave, still clutching the diary to her chest with all her might.

"It was good talking to you..." Whatever. "We'll have to do this again sometime." Yeah, right.

Just as quickly, Tanesha found herself gathering up all of her belongings and bolting from the area. She figured she'd be doing both herself and Carmen a favor by not allowing the duo to be seen together. It would only cause problems for the both of them, Tanesha more so than Carmen, she assumed. Then again, most people would probably assume that Carmen had been picking on Tanesha and leave it at that.

Shrugging lightly at the thought, Tanesha waddled across the quad toward the line of buses that had begun forming in front of Bathurst High School. Any other sixteen-year-old at Bathurst High probably had a car to drive, but Tanesha was one of the unlucky few that didn't. It wasn't because they couldn't afford a vehicle. Far from it, in fact. Her "dad" made quite good money at his job.

Simply put, it was the fact that her parents didn't deem Tanesha as responsible enough to own a vehicle. In fact, her parents wouldn't even let her get her license until she was 18. Until she was responsible and grown up enough to take care of a car. Grimacing at the thought, Tanesha filed in line with the remainder of the students who were forced to ride the bus. Looking across the crowd, she couldn't help but notice that most of them were freshmen, and she couldn't help but scowl at the fact.

((Continued in: http://z10.PLACEHOLDERLINK/SurvivalOfTheF...howtopic=1230))  

Original Post Title: "After-School Band Practice"
Location: Practice Field, Bathurst High School

Posted by: Megami Aug 19 2006, 05:35 PM
((Continued from: http://z10.PLACEHOLDERLINK/SurvivalOfTheF...howtopic=1008))

Clumsy, dopey Tanesha had ridden the bus all the way home from school without a care in the world. It was when she stepped through the door of the household to the confused expression on her mother's face that she realized that she had forgotten something very important. She had forgotten the fact that she wasn't supposed to have left campus today because of a wonderful little thing called after-school band practice.

It was one of Tanesha's favorite events, despite the fact that they were oftentimes forced to practice marching in the overgrown field beside the band building because of the football team taking up the entire field for practice. Tanesha didn't mind, even though her xylophone never pushed well over the rocky terrain of the field. She had a stationary position anyway, and she got to stand there and play her xylophone while the rest of the band students were forced to march military style around the field playing their instruments.

A quick change of clothes later, Tanesha occupied the passenger seat of her mom's mini-van as Linda rushed her to practice. The heavy-set girl breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the round and pompous figure of Mr. Allan, the band director, waddling his way onto the field. She wasn't late after all! Pushing the door to the mini-van open and waving goodbye to her mother absent-mindedly, Tanesha hurried up to the band director.

He wasn't a good-looking man by any means. He was very overweight, even moreso than she was, and was short. In addition, he was balding and the dark brown hair that remained on his head was parted in a noticeable comb-over. His beady brown eyes squinted out from behind thickly rimmed glasses, and a small smile crept over his mustache-covered lips as Tanesha approached, her arms flailing wildly.

"I'm sorry!" the heavy-set girl yelled as she dashed toward him, "I'm so sorry! I completely forgot!"

Mr. Allan might not have been a good-looking man, but he was very good-natured. A chuckle escaped his lips as Tanesha skidded to a halt and doubled-over from the twenty foot run she had broken into from other mother's van. She was already sweating profusely, she could feel it dribble down her forehead. Of course, Mr. Allan simply laughed the incident off and flagged her over to her xylophone, which someone had kindly taken the liberty of removing from the interior of the band building for her.

Tanesha was always late for band practice. It was her favorite activity of the day, but she often seemed to get caught up in the day's activities and let it slip from her mind completely. As she took her place at the xylophone, absent-mindedly swaying her heavy figure against a rock she was balanced unevenly upon, Mr. Allan signalled to the rest of the band and the loud and somewhat off-sync music, mainly caused by the freshmen that filled the band, began to blast from the instruments of the dozens of Bathurst students occupying the field.  

Posted by: KASpe_r06 Aug 19 2006, 08:56 PM
COMING FROM: There's no place like home...

http://z10.PLACEHOLDERLINK/SurvivalOfTheF...=0#entry1336341

Jolie's day hadn't been fun. In all honesty, it blew. Jolie thought being late for her first day of class in a new school was humiliating enough but she was sadly wrong. Monsieur Bennet, her first hour French teacher conducted his lectures in French only. Talk about humiliating. The rest of the day hadn't been any better. She had sat alone at lunch, gotten chocolate milk spilled over her nicest Hollister blouse, a spent the end of the day utterly lost in Biology… photosynthe-what?

After the last period bell had rung Jolie had had it. Now all that was left was marching band practice. She seriously pondered skipping it and just going home but realized she couldn't go through with it.. Her mother had taken the liberty of calling him and setting up an appointment for Jolie to observe a rehearsal after school that day. Looking at her faithful woodwind she felt like chucking it in the trash.

Jolie had been playing flute since the fifth grade. It was one of the only things she was good at, having stuck with it from a very early age. She knew she was good enough to be first chair. Unfortunately, since Jolie and her mother moved around so much that was virtually impossible.

She exited the building with her books in tow and headed towards the field where the band geeks were gathered. Introducing herself to the large set band instructor she took a seat on the stone steps of the band room door nearby and observed.

"Hello Julie it's so nice to meet you, I'm Mr. Allen. You're welcome to sit in on practice for the next few days although you may want to buddy up with someone so you can get some copies…"

She didn't bother correcting him, Jolie Sheehan practically lived under the alias of Julie Sheehan. She was merely happy he'd been close. She'd been called everything from, "hey you" to "that girl" to even "Heidi".

Yawning she watched the mediocre marchers as they banged their drums and blew their tubas. A large, no obese, black girl had shown up to practice late. Jolie felt pity for her as she tried to explain to the equally fat band teacher her reasons for being tardy. In Jolie's opinion he hadn't seemed to care, but still the girl was almost hysterical in her efforts to explain.

What a spazz, Jolie thought, tapping her fingers to the beat of the drums. She could have fallen asleep just then. She looked at the girl and did her best to form a genuine smile when her stare was met, unsure if the girl known as Tanesha could see her from the distance she was away. Jolie looked away just in case, intimidated by someone who would all too soon be at her social mercy. The ironic part was that Jolie neither planned nor knew it.  

Posted by: Megami Aug 22 2006, 11:01 PM
Man, it's hot out here...

The African-American girl had begun to perspire profusely under the hot summer sun, and reached up to wipe a bead of sweat away from her forehead just before it came into contact with her brow. Tanesha wasn't made for this sort of grueling heat. She should be at home -- inside -- watching the soap operas her mother had taped for her over the course of the day. Honestly now. She enjoyed band, but she didn't care the slightest bit about practice. They sounded horrendous, there was no way they were ever going to improve and sound even moderately decent. Tanesha figured that come graduation in a couple of years, they'd still sound just as bad.

And besides, she wanted to know if Jacob had stayed with Kassie or if he'd decided he wanted to be with Shelize -- since she was the one who was pregnant with his baby. And Katherine was trying to split up the marriage between Robert and Wynona. And Lucia just discovered she had a twin brother that was seperated from her at birth... and he just happens to be the guy she got drunk and slept with two nights prior at that party at the hotel. Man, why was she missing all that excitement for this lame-ass practice? She groaned at the thought, which immediately prompted Mr. Allen to temporarily halt his conducting just long enough to check on the obesely overweight girl.

As her eyes met Mr. Allen's, she could see the sweat trickling down his forehead as well and seeping into his eyebrows. Come to think of it, the evidence of the sheer heat of this summer day was there -- Mr. Allen's shirt had begun to bleed out all the sweat that had accumulated inside of it -- and she could only assume that hers probably had too. Becoming self-conscious of the wet spot across her back that she had been previously oblivious too, Tanesha sighed loudly, prompting another look and an encouraging smile from the balding band director. Tanesha smiled back, but inwardly, she was annoyed. It was hot, she was tired, her mom had probably begun watching the day's soap operas without her, and the band sounded completely atrocious.

Why was she even here? She didn't have a part in this number.

Dropping her arms to the side and standing in an awkward manner, she looked on in dismay as her fellow students belted out the notes on their respective instruments, a grin coming over her features as Mark Rhodes hit a sour note on his tuba and caused Karen Peters to jump and squeal her flute in fright. Mr. Allen cast the two a disapproving glare before continuing the slow monotonous waving he called conducting. Tanesha, meanwhile, had begun to lean against her xylophone. Her feet hurt. And she wasn't feeling well. It was too hot, the heat was getting to her. She wanted to go sit down in the cool air of the band building.

From the corner of her eye, she eyed the concrete steps leading up to the band building, as well as the figure who currently occupied them. She hadn't noticed her before. Frowning in dismay, Tanesha sized up the girl. She didn't look familiar -- and definitely too old to be an incoming freshman. New girl? Perhaps. Mild annoyance crossed her features, as she couldn't help but notice that the newcomer to their band practice was quite pretty. Although she carried a flute with her, Tanesha highly doubted a girl like that could be in band. She was probably here to pick up her brother or something. Out of the corner of her eye, Tanesha noticed Bathurst High's first chair trumpet player, a certain boy by the name of Marvin Angell, casting the newcomer a look of his own.

As if, you pig. You big fucking... jerk... pig-faced... ugh! You never look at ME like that.

Subconsciously, Tanesha slammed one of the sticks in her hand down onto the xylophone, causing a high-pitched squeal to echo out from the instrument and causing several of the band members to jump in surprise. It wasn't unusual to hear squealing instruments in this band, but they'd obviously not been prepared for a xylophone -- an instrument not even featured in this peace -- to squeal out. Sighing and waving her arms in an apology, Tanesha flagged Mr. Allen over. A concerned expression appeared on the chubby man's features as he looked at one of the few even halfway worthwhile students in his band class. She and Mr. Allen talked a lot, and he'd become almost her own personal confidante. He and his wife were good people, even if the majority of the students and many of the faculty themselves made fun of the overweight pair.

"Mr. Allen," Tanesha began, a whiny overtone taking over her voice, "I'm not feeling well. Can I be excused?"

A kind and compassionate smile overcame the band director's features and he waved her off, giving her permission to leave without even inquiring as to why. Truth be told, Mr. Allen had been the looks Marvin had been giving Jolie as well, and he knew all about the past history between Marvin and Tanesha. After all, she had come to cry on the Allens' shoulder when it all happened. Although Mr. Allen himself prefered to avoid the world of high school drama at all costs, he always took the time to listen to his students, a quality that the few who got to know him respected and admired him for.

Leaving her xylophone sticks on the instrument and not bothering to pack things up, Tanesha sighed and slowly waddled over to the concrete steps on which the girl she would soon come to know as Jolie Sheehan was seated. For the second time today, it seemed Tanesha would be sharing confined quarters with someone far her superior in the looks department, and probably every other department, for that matter. She frowned as she meandered over to the cold concrete, doing her best to avoid looking directly at the much more attractive blonde-haired girl she was about to accompany.

Great, now Marvin can compare us side-by-side and see how fat and ugly I really am. Stupid bitch. Why'd she have to be here?

Without so much as looking at her newfound companion, Tanesha took a seat on the concrete, enjoying the cooling feeling it gave her even on such a barbarously hot summer afternoon. Frowning slightly at the fact that her posterior wasn't quite held within the confines of the step she had occupied, Tanesha scooted up onto the porch of the band building, still avoiding eye contact with Jolie at all costs and instead focusing all of her attention on the incompetent marching of the band, noting mentally that Justin Lachey was marching with the wrong foot. She held in a laugh at the boy's unintentional mishap and considered pointing it out to the blonde, but thought better of it. Feeling awkward sitting next to another individual without speaking, Tanesha finally initiated a chat, secretly hoping that she had set far enough away that the girl couldn't smell the sweat and quite possibly body odor that had accumulated from Tanesha's stint in the sun.

"What are you doing here?" Tanesha asked in an almost monotone voice, "Picking up your little brother or something?"  

Posted by: KASpe_r06 Aug 23 2006, 08:28 PM
Is that boy marching on the wrong foot? God this band sucks...

"...picking up your little brother or something?"

Jolie shook her head, torn from her thoughts and forced a smile towards at the obese African American girl next to her.

"Oh me? No I'm actually new to the band... well not new to band itself, but I mean I just moved here. I'm new."

God I'm socially retarded...

Jolie continued hurriedly trying to recover, "My mom and I just moved here from Maryland. We move around a lot... I'm Jolie."

Jolie extended her hand but immediately regreted it noticing how profusely sweaty the mass next to her was. She braced herself for the sweaty handshake.  

Posted by: Megami Aug 23 2006, 10:51 PM
Tanesha looked apprehensively at the blonde's outstretched hand, debating a moment before reluctantly offering her own outstretched hand in a conscious effort not to offend the much more alluring physical specimen sitting next to her. This girl seemed nice, truth be told. Most of the so-called popular group around Bathurst didn't take the time or the effort to introduce themselves to the lower notches on the totem pole, let alone attempt any sort of conversation.

Honestly, though, band nerds didn't usually look like that. Tanesha couldn't help but be subconsciously skeptical of the girl. New, huh? She probably hadn't become acquainted with the so-called social butterflies and queen bees of the school yet. With this girl, it would probably only be a matter of time before she was swooped away into their vicious clutches and molded into one of them.

However, the awkwardness and uncomfortableness with which the blonde-haired beauty spoke took Tanesha a bit offguard. Maybe she wasn't another popular-in-the-making. She certainly didn't have the social grace of one. Her words came out jumbled and stuttered. They weren't overly articulate and they didn't flow freely from her lips, nor did they seem spiteful, condemning, or better-than-thou. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Marvin eyeballing the blonde once again, and she was half-tempted to shoot him the finger.

Quickly ending the almost reluctant handshake shared between the two girls, Tanesha's gaze set back to the band. As nice as this girl seemed, Tanesha never wanted to give anybody the benefit of a doubt. It was only a matter of time before this girl would show her true colors, whatever they may be. This awkward and uncomfortable conversation between the two could only go on for so long before she slipped up and showed what sort of person she really was.

"...I'm Tanesha."

For all of her over-scrutinizing and internal criticism of the girl sitting next to her, those two words were the only ones that dared slip through Tanesha's lips. The African-American girl was far from being a social butterfly, that much was evident in her voice, demeanor, and even her appearance. Anyone could tell just by looking at the black girl that she wasn't anywhere near the top of Bathurst High's proverbial social totem pole. Therefore, the entire conversation, consisting of only a few sentences, that she'd spoken to the blonde had been awkward and forced.

Sighing a bit, Tanesha's gaze stopped at Justin Lachey once again. What a doofus. This kid was worse than her. Honestly now. Justin was still marching with the wrong foot, and the stupefied look of sheer glee and joy on his face only furthered the idiotic demeanor with which he was presenting himself. Did he realize he was doing that? Was he doing it on purpose just to be stupid, or was he really that oblivious to what was going on around him? Knowing Justin, he was probably just that oblivious.

After watching him a moment longer, a laugh finally slithered its way from Tanesha's lips before she even realized it. Now that she was sitting there laughing aloud to herself, she figured that she might as well point out the incompetency of the boy to her companion lest the girl determine that Tanesha was insane or something. Pointing to the spikey-headed individual marching incorrectly and playing the drums with gusto, she continued to laugh, her voice suddenly becoming a little lighter as she addressed the blonde once again.

"I wonder if he realizes he looks like an idiot."

Nice, Tanesha. Very articulate. Very well thought-out. Now she probably thinks you're just a fat black girl who criticizes other people's faults.

"I -- he's probably doing it on purpose just to rag on Mr. Allen's nerves."

Now that was the unadulterated truth. Many of the band students did various things simply to irk the overweight instructor. It wasn't right of them, nor was it nice, but this is high school. When have high school kids ever been nice or considerate of other people's feelings? Shaking her head, Tanesha retained the grin, her pearl-white teeth shining in the sunlight. She secretly hoped that Jolie would find it as humorous as she did, or at the very least comment about it and make a conscious effort to strike up a conversation.  

Posted by: KASpe_r06 Aug 23 2006, 11:09 PM
Jolie let out a genuine but choked laugh, cupping her mouth embarressed. She blushed crimson.

"You mean the boy marching on the wrong foot," Jolie said struggling to gain her composure, "I noticed that myself... I thought... I thought the band just wasn't very goo-..."

She giggled but stopped herself. Had she offended this girl? A new classmate of hers by calling the school's marching band bad.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean that," Jolie stood up, her face hot with nervous embarressment, "I should go Ta-tanesha was it?"

Oh shit what if that's not her name... shit Lafonda, Shaniqua, shit...

Jolie turned to walk towards the schools parking lot but tripped over an unfortunately placed lead pipe. Letting out an audible scream she fell nearly face first onto the grass. Could she have screamed any louder?  

Posted by: Megami Aug 23 2006, 11:43 PM
Tanesha visibly relaxed as Jolie responded to her remark about Justin with one of her own, even owning up to noticing the boy's failure to comply with the marching of the rest of the band. As she started to comment on the horrendousness of the band itself, Tanesha couldn't help but swell up inwardly with laughter. Jolie'd only been here a matter of moments, and she'd already figured out what the rest of the school faculty just couldn't seem to. Pride and joy of Denton, all right. As the girl quickly seemed to reprimand herself for her remark and apologize profusely for the accusation, Tanesha was taken quite a bit aback.

Perhaps she should've vocalized the fact that she, too, found the band atrociously incompetent. As Jolie quickly scurried to her feet and began to scurry off, Tanesha could do nothing except sit and stare in sheer confusion at the events that had just unfolded. Tanesha was what many people could call socially retarded, but this Jolie girl seemed to be just as much, if not even more so.

And then came the crash.

Tanesha was quickly brought back from her fleeting thoughts as she glanced over at the place where Jolie had taken off toward, following the loud scream that had echoed from the blonde's lungs when she'd tripped on a -- a pipe? Who on earth left that there? Shaking the thought from her head, Tanesha waddled over in haste, visibly making an effort to help the blonde to her feet. Behind her, she could feel the eyes lingering on her back. They were staring.

The band continued their horrendous tune, a screech emitting from a player's instrument every once in a while, but she could feel the eyes lingering on her back and the snickers being made by her bandmates over the girl's unfortunate accidents. They were band nerds -- all of them -- bullied and stepped upon by virtually everyone in the entire high school. Who were they to judge anybody for an accident? They were people who failed at life in every sense of the word, they couldn't even march correctly or hold their instruments properly. Who were they to laugh at Jolie?

So Tanesha Lexx did the only thing that seemed fitting at the time. She turned around, her bulky frame fully facing the band members who looked over at the girl with disgust, and she stuck out her tongue.

Sure, it might have been immature and childish on her part, but it seemed appropriate at the time. Besides, who cared if they thought she was immature. They made fun of her all the time anyway, thought they were better than her when they were picked on just as much, if not more so. Turning back toward Jolie, Tanesha stretched out her hand, offering it to the girl as a means to pull herself to her feet. Tanesha wasn't used to being kind to anyone, and this was bound to be an awkward situation later on, but she couldn't just leave her to lay on the ground and be snickered at by the band students on her first day.

"You okay?"  

Posted by: MooCow Aug 26 2006, 12:26 PM
Flushing crimson with embarressment Jolie could feel the burning gaze of the band nerds on her. She looked helplessly at Tanesha, the only one who had shown her any smeblence of kindness at this school and nodded, "I-I'm fine."

Hating this new place she thought about how it was always the same.

Kids can be cruel...

The words resounded in her head.

"Do you think we could maybe get out of here," Jolie whispered to the large black girl.  

Posted by: Megami Aug 28 2006, 08:58 PM
Tanesha flashed the blonde-headed girl a visibly uncomfortable smile as she assisted her to her feet. How pathetic. This poor girl had been here a sole day and already she was being picked on -- and worse, by the scuzziest pieces of filth on the bottom of every prep's shoe that walked through the hallways of Bathurst -- the band nerds. People who lost their three-inch thick bottle cap glasses in the hallway and scrambled blindly for them as the jock stepped on them and shattered them. People who spat when they talked, or snorted loudly when they laughed, or people who walked around school with blood all over the back of their white-after-Labor-Day pants when they unwittingly started their periods. Who were they to laugh at anyone?

Sighing exasperatedly as she cast a glance back at the band -- and at Mr. Allen -- who was fiercely attempting to round up the group of band students and refocus them on the practice that they so direly needed to be performing. For his actions, Tanesha couldn't help but be thankful. Bathurst really was a horrible school for people like her. It's sad when you get picked on by even the band nerds, and Tanesha certainly did. She'd heard them talk about how fat she was or how she looked like a bull dyke. Now that they were picking on poor Jolie as well, Tanesha felt that she could sympathize with the girl. On some level, the large, round black-girl found it humorous that people like that would have the nerve or the guts to pick on someone like Jolie... someone who was their superior in looks, someone who could probably send the populars to massacre them by the end of the week. If only Tanesha knew how right she'd be...

"Yeah, let's split," Tanesha agreed, nodding her head slightly.

Of course, she'd have to call her mom before she ever left the premises of the school. Her mom was just like that, she constantly worried what Tanesha was doing or where she was, like she was some delinquent or something and was getting ready to go out and rob a bank or getting ready to go to a party and join in on a gang bang. Tanesha wasn't like that. Oh no, she was so far from being "that sort of girl" that it wasn't even funny. She was no Ali Grayston who would sleep with the entire football team to be able to walk in the Homecoming game or anything like that. She may have secretly resented Ali for a while when that vicious rumor started, but that was beside the point. Tanesha had her urges, of course. All girls did, right? It was normal, right?

Walking away from the band building with Jolie in tow, she could still feel the eyes of several of her bandmates bearing holes into her back. Were they mad at her for standing up for this new girl and actually rushing to her aide? Probably. Was it like Tanesha to help someone out -- especially a girl like that who was probably three times her superior at life in general? Probably not. Did Tanesha care that the band geeks would probably now gossip about her being in love with Jolie and about how Jolie and Tanesha were new "bestest friends" in more ways than one? Of course she did. Did she let it show? Not a bit. Holding her head high, Tanesha exited the area of the band building, vainly attempting to shut the incident from her mind as if it had never happened.

"Don't worry about them," she muttered under her breath to Jolie, "They're nobody important anyway. Their opinion of you doesn't matter. Not even a little bit. In fact, you don't want them to like you, it makes you a loser by definition."

Letting out a nervous laugh at her comment, and knowing full well that she was "one of them" and probably shouldn't be talking so harshly about people who she would normally be the best of friends with, Tanesha shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. It didn't really matter right now, did it? Besides, somebody would bend over and accidentally let one rip during band practice and the whole incident with Jolie tripping over a metal pipe would be ancient history, along with Tanesha's compassionate actions in helping the girl to her feet and the nasty rumors that were sure to follow, especially since everyone in band seemed to convinced that Tanesha enjoyed the fairer sex -- even though they all knew about the incident with Marvin. Everyone knew. He'd taken the liberty of informing the entire school. Tanesha pushed the thought into the back of her mind, turned toward Jolie, and cast her a sympathetic smile.  

Posted by: KASpe_r06 Aug 28 2006, 10:32 PM
Jolie chose not to chime in with even the slightest chuckle in response to Tanesha's comment on the band geeks. Instead she attempted to make light of the situation

"How humiliating," Jolie muttered, "would you believe me if I told you that this isn't a typical first day at a new school for me? Usually people don't even notice that I've enrolled and withdrawn from a school in the average three mo-mo-monthes that I'm there. My mom and I have moved around a lot to say the least, ha. I'm sort of invisable to the naked eye."

Did I just say naked... naked eye? Loser...

Jolie ran her fingers through her hair, unaware that her habitual mannerism emitted enough sexiness to rival the massive libido of her soon to be best friend and worst enemy, Ali Grayston. Needless to say the only one around was Tanesha and her flicker of unadultered hottness was more than likely left forgotten.

"So... Ta-ta-... Tanisa... no Tamyra..."

Fuck... just be honest... play it cool...

"I-I'm sorry was it Tanesha? Would you like to go grab some caffeine? Starbucks or a good coffee place that you know of perhaps. I-if you don't have a car I'm sure I could drive."

And for the first time in her life, instead of being invisable, Jolie Sheehan was halfway to making a new friend.



Posted by: Megami Aug 29 2006, 06:24 PM
A nervous expression passed over the African-American girl's features as Jolie failed to even involuntarily smile at her snide comment toward their fellow band members. Instead, the blonde girl spoke up in what seemed to be an attempt on her part to perhaps comfort herself and make light of an embarrassing situation. Tanesha listened absent-mindedly to the girl's words on how she usually failed to make any impact whatsoever on the schools she had attended prior to enrolling in Bathurst High. She'd made a heck of an impact here, that much was certain. It was her first day and she was already being made fun of by the lowest notches on the proverbial high school totem pole.

Tanesha's head cocked to the side ever so slightly as Jolie stuttered over a word, and she was honestly taken aback by somebody with potential beauty that rivaled some of the Queen Bees at Bathurst High School was so... well... lame. She was as clumsy as the day was long, it seemed. How else to you randomly trip over a pipe laying on the ground in front of the entire marching band? The way she talked, laughed, and even the manner in which she presented herself screamed "spaz", and in a way, Tanesha could sympathize.

In a way, Jolie reminded Tanesha a lot of herself.

"It must be hard having to move a lot," Tanesha stated solemnly in an attempt to break the morbid mood that had formed after the accident, "If it makes you feel any better, I've gone to school with half these kids since third grade and some of them still wouldn't have a clue who you were talking about if you asked them about me. That, or they'd bring up some nasty rumor about how I was a lesbian or something."

Tanesha let out a nervous chuckle before quickly stopping to add, "B-but I'm not. I don't know why they'd even say that. I guess it's the way I look or something. But whatever, right?"

Tanesha rubbed her arm slightly as Jolie exhausted ran a hand through her hair,Tanesha being completely oblivious to the fact. As Jolie once again spoke, calling her various different names before finally remembering the correct one, Tanesha couldn't help but laugh. At least the girl knew her name, it was more than half of Bathurst High knew. In fact, Tanesha wasn't even sure if some of her tormentors knew her name or if she was just "that fat black girl" to them.

Even her friends acted like the was invisible a lot, come to think of it. Richard Rorie, clarinet player extraordinaire, as he had dubbed himself, had even jokingly listed her in his cell phone under the alias of "Some Black Girl". In a way, it was funny. In another way, however, Tanesha couldn't help but take offense to the fact that her friends felt her unimportant enough to even list her by the correct name in their cell phone address book, of all things.

Tanesha perked up a bit at Jolie's mention of caffeine. Caffeine sounded great right now, even if her mother didn't allow her to have it. She could already hear the stern voice echoing in her head when she asked. You know it makes you sick. I don't want you sitting up all night because you drank too much pop. But it wasn't pop, it was coffee. Still, she'd have to call her mother and at least tell her where she was going. She couldn't stand the fact at times, her mother treated her like she was still a small child.

"That sounds great," Tanesha mused, "Oh but... you'd have to drive. My parents won't let me get my license until I turn eighteen... lame, huh?" The emitted another short laugh and shook her head in embarrassment. "There's a great little coffee shop called Sweet Bay down by the park. It's usually pretty empty, and it's quiet. I go down there a lot to do my homework. You want to head there?"  

Posted by: KASpe_r06 Aug 30 2006, 10:28 AM
Jolie nodded, "yeah sounds grood..."

Jolie's face became red with embarressment, "I started to say great but then I said good. Anyways Sweet Bay? Do you need to call your parents, my mom honestly won't care she's at work and then she's going to her boyfriends, but..."

Jolie stopped, was she talking to much? She'd never really tried to make a friend before and because of this she had no idea what to say or do in this particular situation, she could only go on what she had seen in the countless teen dramedies she'd rented from the local video stores of every town she'd ever lived in.

She looked back towards the band and sighed, maybe she should have just stayed in her shell of a world and not bothered with band or friends. If Jolie had known the tragic results of her impact on Bathurst, she would have run away from Tanesha and never looked back. Unfortunately hindsight is 20/20.  

Posted by: Megami Aug 30 2006, 07:33 PM
((Continued in: http://z10.PLACEHOLDERLINK/SurvivalOfTheF...howtopic=1268))  

Original Post Title: "Sweet Aromas and Budding Blossoms"
Location: Sweet Bay Coffee, Downtown Denton

Posted by: Megami Aug 30 2006, 07:32 PM
((Continued from: http://z10.PLACEHOLDERLINK/SurvivalOfTheF...ic=1230&st=0&))

Jolie having just recently pulled into the parking lot adjacent to Sweet Bay Coffee Shop, Tanesha exited the blonde's vehicle with a bit of effort on her part. The car ride there had been a bit awkward to say the least, with Tanesha stuttering, spazzing, and feeling as though she had been talking too much the entire way there. She secretly hoped that she wasn't somehow annoying Jolie, because in all honesty, it was sort of cool to hang out with someone who didn't seem to think they were a thousand times your superior.

The blazing afternoon heat of mid-summer had begun to fade into a relaxing and peaceful temperature, and Tanesha was no longer perspiring profusely from the heat. Subconsciously, Tanesha made a subtle attempt at sniffing herself to make sure she didn't reek of body odor. Letting out a relieved sigh when she confirmed that in fact, no foul stench had overtaken her, she suddenly hoped that Jolie hadn't noticed the almost spaztic move.

"I come here a lot to do my homework and stuff," Tanesha mused. Didn't I already say that? I hope she doesn't think I'm talking too much.

Heading toward the doors at a waddling pace, she glanced beside her to her newfound companion. Secretly, Tanesha hoped that none of her classmates awaited inside. The last thing she needed was another vicious rumor to go around about her being a lesbian, and in a way, she supposed that herself and Jolie would somehow fit the part of the stereotypical lesbian couple. Jolie would, of course, be the woman of the relationship with her stunning and feminine looks. And Tanesha? Well, according to the vicious rumors that went around school, Tanesha'd be the masculine one of the relationship.

Looking down at her attire, she could almost see why. The truth was, she had bought the oversized and baggy t-shirt she was wearing in the men's department, her pants were camouflage in color, and not the cute pink and gray camo that lots of dainty girls trying to pull off the look wear, but full-ledged, green, brown, and black camo that the army guys wore. Even her shoes looked sort of manly, now that she thought about it. But there was nothing wrong with the way she dressed, at least in her mind. It was comfortable, and that was what was important, right?

Besides, who in their right mind would want to see someone of Tanesha's proportions in tight clothing? Bleh.

"S-so..." Tanesha stuttered as she pushed the door to the coffee shop open and even politely held it open for her companion, "Do you have a boyfriend?"

Smooth, Tanesha. Now she's probably going to think you're asking her out. Ew.

As awkward as the question was, and even though Tanesha inwardly knew that Jolie would probably just look at her funny for the question, boys seemed to be the thing to talk about. They were always on Tanesha's mind, because truth be told, she was a little bit boy-crazy. Just a little. But that was normal for her age, right? Even the popular girls were boy-crazy, Carmen had named off a huge list of potential candidates earlier that afternoon.

Placing herself in line to order a coffee, Tanesha awaited a response. What if this Jolie girl was crushing on the same guys that Tanesha liked?! Surely she wouldn't, besides, she'd only been in school a day, and most of the Bathurst boys weren't really the love-at-first-sight kind of guys. Well, there were a few that were pretty hot, but Tanesha figured, Jolie probably didn't have that problem.  

Posted by: KASpe_r06 Aug 31 2006, 05:59 PM
Jolie was oblivious to Tanesha's awkwardness as they entered the coffee house. Jolie had always been relatively oblivious to other peoples uncomfortableness around her. In fact if she had been any keener she might have realized that guys were somewhat intimidated by her, but Jolie attributed the fact that she had never had a boyfriend to her own social retardation; it was just the way the blonde girl was. Boys... which brought her to Tanesha's question.

"No I don't have a boyfriend, actually I've never had one. I'm just a little to soak-socially retarded I guess to attract anybody. It doesn't mean I haven't had crushes though. So far I haven't really met anyone here, but there's a hockey player at that Catholic school who I've seen around town a couple times. I'd say he's my type. Pants they called him I think," Jolie emitted an awkward chuckle, "do you like boys."

Realizing that what she had just said might have sounded like an inquiry on sexual orientation Jolie flushed her famous shade of crimson and stumbled to correct herself, "I mean do you like any boys, is what I meant."

Good job slick...

"Or are you dating someone already?"

The aroma of coffee was delicious to her senses but Jolie dared not place her order until the large black girl answered her question, out of both respect and intimidation. Jolie still couldn't look Tanesha in the eyes to save her life. Jolie tapped her fingers leaning against the glass of the coffee containers and doing her best to awkwardly smile, almost tripping and barely gaining her balance. Trying to play it off she looked ridiculous. Of course several the straight males in the room had failed to notice her awkwardness and had become more fixated on her busom. Once again Jolie Sheehan was oblivious.  

Posted by: Megami Sep 1 2006, 10:55 PM
They call him Pants? Well that's a funny nickname. The thought passed through Tanesha's mind and she couldn't help but inwardly snicker a bit at the thought of it. What would persuade them to call him Pants? Throughout the course of her time talking to Jolie, she could just imagine the sort of person this boy was. He played a retarded (in Tanesha's oh-so-humble-and-modest opinion) sport and was obviously a devout Catholic, otherwise he wouldn't attend a Catholic school. If Jolie's social retardation was any indication, he probably wasn't a social butterfly either. In fact, Tanesha imagined that they called him "Pants" because he was the reincarnate of Steve Urkel or something. She could just imagine this boy walking around with a retainer and pants that came up to his chest.

Forcing back a laugh-turned-snort at the thought of it all, Tanesha became mindful of her own retainer. It was camoflauge in color -- and not the girly sort of pink and gray camoflauge but the rough-on army color -- and was currently filling the roof of her mouth in a most uncomfortable manner. Absent-mindedly, she clicked her tongue against the bottom of it before running her tongue the length of her teeth, over the shiny metal bar. As Jolie's next question came, however, Tanesha was snapped back to reality and almost offended by the remark.

What did she mean, do you like boys?

Of course Tanesha liked boys. She wasn't a lesbian. My God, she'd gone out of her way to clarify that one already. Oh no, what if Jolie thought that Tanesha had been hitting on her this entire time or something? What if Jolie swung both ways? Oh man, this could get really awkward really fast. As Jolie just as quickly realized the awkward form she'd worded her question in and reiterated it in an apologetic tone, Tanesha's discomfort ceased into nothingness quite visibly. In fact, it was almost funny. Tanesha was so used to getting the lesbian remarks from everyone that it was almost second-nature to her now. Of course, that was awkward, and she shouldn't be used to people calling her a lesbian, but it barely phased her these days.

"Oh, I'm used to it," she mused, suddenly realizing how that sounded, "People... people say it a lot to be mean or whatever, I guess. As for me... dating someone?" Tanesha laughed loudly, "Well... there's a guy."

Sure, she was lying through her teeth, but in her warped mind Tanesha just knew that they were soulmates and they were meant to be together. Nevermind the fact that she'd said that exact same thing about someone else last week, that was a whole week ago. This boy and herself, they were destined to be together forever.

"We're not together yet," she confessed, "But I'm working on it. It's hot. He's a..." she paused a moment as though she couldn't quite figure out how to word it, "A martial artist. He's really good."

A wide-spread grin slowly crept over the heavy-set girl's features, making her already pudgy cheeks look all the more rotund. Just the thought of Panom Ning~Tom sent chills down her spine. He was hot in every sense of the word. But should she really be telling Jolie all this? She barely knew the girl. How did she know that she could trust her not to turn around and try to swipe this guy out from under her nose? Swipe him away like so many of her friends did to all the other guys she liked. She hated her friends to meet her crushes, because her crush always wound up liking her friend over her. What did they have that she didn't? Maybe Tanesha was jealous. Okay, of course Tanesha was jealous. It was definitely better to keep information on Mr. Ning~Tom to a minimum around Jolie. She already had Elizabeth Waters to contend with. She certainly didn't need someone else on top of it all.  

Posted by: MooCow Sep 11 2006, 04:31 PM
Embarressed Jolie shook her head, "Oh no I didn't mean to imply that you might be a lesbian! But if you were I mean that's okay too!"

Stupid, stupid, just shut up now!

Awkwardly she continued, "So this guy you like what's his name, I don't know very many people but maybe I have a class or two with him."

He must be hideous if he's into that...

Jolie couldn't help but look away from the girl and around the coffee shop, she hated herself for her thoughts sometimes... so cruel and harsh, but honest.

She placed an order for a tall mocha latte with extra whip cream and rumaged in her purse as if she were really looking for something. Grabbing the first thing she grasped she pulled it out.

A hairbrush smooth!

Jolie trying to play it cool brushed her soft blonde hair back and rummaged through the faux Louis Vetton handbag for a scrunchy. Finding one she pulled her hair into a pony tail and smiled, all the while half listening to Tanesha and desperately trying to keep herself from looking like a fool for once in her life.

"Number 167," a grungy looking girl with dreadlocks and purple lipstick said unenthusiastically near the cash register and muffin case.  

Posted by: Megami Sep 15 2006, 11:20 AM
Didn't mean to imply that I was a lesbian? But it'd be okay? Is this girl for real? Do I... do I really look like that much of one? Is that why nobody likes me? They all think I'm a lesbian? Really? Even this girl, and she barely knows me. No love for the fat girl. Nobody ever loves the fat girl. It's girls like her, girls like Jolie, that all the guys flock too. And it's dumb. Look at her, she's not that pretty, she's a total ditz, she's got the wit of a rotten banana peel. I don't understand? Why not the girl with the nice personality? Everyone always tells me I have a nice personality. And I'm smart. So much smarter than her. But then... why do all these guys keep looking at her? They see right through me... and right to her.

Tanesha was thrown from her internal monologue of angstiness as Jolie asked her about her crush. Her face flushed red, but because of her chocolate colored skin, it was unnoticeable. This girl really wanted to know the name of her crush? She'd probably just try to steal him away. All her friends always tried to steal all the boys away from her. And what was worse is that all the boys were willingly stolen by her friends. The simple truth was that Tanesha Lexx was a very jealous, very insecure individual. But that could be said of almost every high school girl, right? After all, Tanesha had been forced to sit back and watch for years and years as all the guys looked right through her and never gave her a second glance once her friends walked into the room.

"His name's, uh," she stuttered momentarily before deciding it was best not to reveal her true crush to this girl, "His name's... Cody."

There were a couple different Cody's at Bathurst High School, so surely it was believable, right? This girl didn't know very many people, she'd probably be clueless as to whether or not a Cody with an interest in martial arts attended Bathurst. Besides, what was the likelihood that if there even was one, he'd have a class with Jolie? Bathurst was a pretty big school, after all. Tanesha considered furthering the lie by telling Jolie that he was younger than them, or perhaps older than them, so that the odds that the two had a class together would drastically decrease even further. The fact of the matter was that Tanesha already had more rivals-in-love than she could bear in the forms of Elizabeth Waters and Carmen Somerset. She didn't want to deal with another one in the form of Jolie Sheehan. Besides, a little white lie never hurt anyone, right?

Well, there was one time that Tanesha told a little white lie that really hurt someone. Not that Tanesha felt bad about that in the slightest. Nobody even knew that she was the one who had started that nasty rumor, she'd told her friends that she heard it from someone else. Then it grew and grew, and eventually, Tanesha Lexx got what she wanted -- the name of the girl, the rival, if you will, was slandered around school. And to put it bluntly, that bitch deserved what she got, at least in Tanesha's opinion. Tanesha never had liked that girl anyway, and okay, maybe it was out of jealousy -- just a little -- but the fact remained that people like her were way too uppity and needed to be brought down a notch. So Tanesha did, and she'd never looked back on the incident, because luckily enough, that girl had never found out who started that vicious rumor.

After Jolie placed her order, Tanesha sauntered up to the counter and ordered what her companion had. Looking on in an odd expression of mild amusement as Jolie brushed her hair and pulled it up into a ponytail, Tanesha sighed internally. Jolie's order number was called, and directly after that, so was Tanesha's. Tanesha eyed the grunge doll behind the counter with a light smile. People like that girl, people with that fuck the world attitude that she possessed, Tanesha could relate to those sort of people. Maybe she was a spoiled brat on the outside, but Tanesha never looked at that fact. The simple truth was that Tanesha Lexx thrived on drama and angst, and she often put herself in situations where those things were imminent.

"So, uh," Tanesha mused with an almost forced sound in her voice, "How do you know this Pants kid? Just seen him around or what? Is he cute? If I saw him, I might know who he is. Maybe I've seen him at a ballgame or something."

This was probably the most social interaction Tanesha had had with another individual in the entire school year, so it was no surprised that the heavy-set girl's speech came out forced and unarticulate. Thankfully, they were on the topic of boys, and that was one thing that Tanesha found she could talk about for hours... or angst about in her private diary, whatever worked better. Generally the latter. Tanesha led the way to a nearby table and plopped down in the booth, accidentally scooting it back slightly as she sat down. Groaning at the embarrassment, though immediately laughing at the fact thereafter, she tilted her head a bit and looked at the blonde-headed companion seated across from her. What an unlikely pair these two were.

"There are a lot of cute guys at Bathurst," the black girl stated plainly as she eyed her companion, "Did you see any you liked today? We've got lots of eye candy in the school, I'm proud to say." Tanesha's statement was followed by a fit of giggles. It was true, Bathurst definitely had its share of male eye candy. Panom was one, for sure. Ian Rico. Jonathan Matthews. Jack Bexley was good-looking, even though he seemed to be infatuated with that Elizabeth girl. In some strange way, Tanesha even found Alex Stevens quite attractive. Maybe it was the whole bad ass aura he presented around himself. Of course, Tanesha was pretty oblivious to the fact that he was a gang leader, as Alex always seemed the type to keep his outside goings away from the high school. Besides, she didn't know him all that well. From what she did know, he seemed like sort of an enigma, and in her humble opinion, that was pretty hot.  

Posted by: Lien Sep 21 2006, 04:32 PM
Mai slipped behind the counter, nodding quickly to the "purple people eater" manager who had placed a coffee on the bar. Using her card to clock in quickly before she changed into her uniform. What little sweat she had left to perspire was wiped off with the dark shirt, and she sprayed herself with a body spray as she tried to untangle her shoelaces from the collared shirt she was expected to wear.

She took time to feel the bruises forming on her hip and thigh, the lack of iron making the black and blue look ghastly on her light complexion. Fiddling in her bag as she used the other hand to tuck in her shirt and grab for the apron, she jiggled out a bottle of iron pills. Not remembering why she had not taken them earlier, she went for the water fountain and popped the pills into her mouth, getting a sip of water to help her swallow them.

"One White Chocolate Mocha iced," PPE called to Mai when she made it to the front. She lifted her head and let her nose scrunch up, one of the all time worst adaptation to a drink.

Now what moron decided they wanted to defile that luscious warm flavor with frozen water?! The sweet, sweet deliciousness of the white chocolate, the kick of caffiene, all coming together in a holy matrimony that even nicely mixed Starbucks fraps couldn't master. Temperature warming your insides and making it feel like a dandy Christmas morning... and the bitch wants it cold?!

Mai finished the drink and set the cup on the bar, where a rather hefty woman had reached forth with her grubby fingers and grabbed the deemed heinous concoction. A flash in her eyes, unnoticed by the customer, was the dead giveaway to Mai's desire to drop an all verbal smackdown on her. Quickly turning away, she let her fingers tap on the counter as she waited with the PPE for more customers.

Apparently that woman can't appreciate taste, probably doesn't even care. As long as she can unhinge her jaw and just swallow everything like a nasty python. I hope it rains on her and her nasty cold coffee.  

Posted by: MooCow Sep 22 2006, 03:42 PM
"Well I'm always on the lookout for cute guys," Jolie admitted, "but to tell you the truth, I'd be to chicken to pursue any of them. People in general intimidate me. I've always been this meek little mousy girl. I'm so used to being overlooked, I get excited if someone calls me Julie just because it's close to how my name sounds. Pretty pitiful I know."

Sipping the warm mocha latte Jolie realized how vulnerable she sounded to this girl. Jolie was sure no one found Tanesha intimidating other than herself. Yet she couldn't help but feel like she was treading on thin ice. Finally Jolie had a friend, and what if she said the wrong thing? What if Tanesha thought she was weird or a loser. What if suddenly Tanesha found herself to good to be friends with a socially retarded... no socially braindead was a better title, girl who'd lived everywhere from Montana to New York City.

Making none of her thoughts visable to the outside world Jolie continued, "It would be nice to have a boyfriend though... I've never had one. Unless you count this kid named Bobby Smith from Ms. Hazelrigg's second grade class at Bailey Jones Elementry in Florida... or was it in Georgia... it might have been third grade come to think of it. I get all the places I've lived in messed up. But yeah... the point is I've had like nil experience with guys. I'm sure you've had some boyfriends of puberty past."

Puberty Past?! What the hell is that...

"Care to share?" Jolie said embarressed from her last comment.

---
"Hahaha," Tanesha snorted aloud as Jolie commented on her own self-observed loserishness. She hadn't meant to come off as being rude or cynical or anything of the like, that definitely wasn't her intention. The fact was, Tanesha Lexx could relate to being overlooked and being a "loser". People overlooked her all the time -- or worse, looked at her like she was absolutely disgusting.

That's why Tanesha hated the popular girls. They all looked at her like she was some fat, disgusting blob of nothingness. They all thought they were so high and mighty with their perfect skin and perfect hair and great bodies. Tanesha really hated people like that -- people who thought they were better just because they wore nicer clothes or could afford fancy things that most people didn't have. People like Carmen Somerset, people like Ali Grayston... those were the kind of people who irked Tanesha Lexx to no end.

That's why. That's why she had to do what she did.

"I haven't really had much past experience with guys," Tanesha confessed sheepishly, "I'm not exactly the most graceful goose in the pond, if you haven't noticed."

Not only was it a horrible analogy, but Tanesha said the words slowly and almost methodically, as if she were filling Jolie in on some confidential secret that she wasn't supposed to know. Anyone could see that there were girls at Bathurst High School far more attractive than Tanesha Lexx. For that matter, there were girls in this establishment better-looking than Tanesha. Even the grunge doll behind the counter was prettier than the blob of a person occupying the chair next to Jolie.

"But there was this one guy..." she stated simply, "We're in band with him. He and I were together for a while... I guess you could call it together. I always thought we were in a relationship, but apparently he didn't. He always seemed to have the hots for someone else. Different girl every week, you know how it is. It was always girls he couldn't get, too. Like, why try to date someone who's way out of your league? I'd hate to live on false hope that I stood a chance with someone who wouldn't touch me with a ten foot pole, you know? How dumb."

Perhaps she should listen to herself, she sounded like quite the hypocrite, especially because she crushed on virtually everybody and virtually everybody was out of her league. Nobody wanted to date an obesely-fat black girl who looked like she played the Butch in a lesbian relationship, and that was that.

"Anyway," Tanesha droned on, "That ended in a bad situation. I think that girl liked him too... she always seemed like she did... and you just don't throw yourself on another girl's boyfriend, you know? So I... I spread some rumors around school about her to get her away from him, and it worked. I mean, it probably wasn't right, but that girl's always treated me like shit. Always acted like she was better than me. I'm so tired of people like that, you know? She deserved it. Besides, if she didn't give it out so much, people wouldn't have believed those rumors anyway... but they did, and that tells you something about her. You just... you don't mess with other girls' boyfriends. She figured that out the hard way, some people just have to learn that way."

Jolie had asked about relationships and gotten a guilty rant from Tanesha's conscience. In fact, Tanesha was the one who had spread the rumors around school about Ali Grayston "giving it up to the football player for her homecoming nomination". People believed it, so there had to be a reason, right? If Tanesha would've known what letting that secret slip would cost her down the line, she'd have never revealed what she just did to Jolie. However, Tanesha wasn't thinking about later on, and never could've foreseen the oncoming events anyway. For her, this was just a private conversation between two friends, and Ali Grayston never had a chance of finding out that Tanesha was the one who spread those nasty rumors.