Survival Of The Fittest

Topic: Who Needs History When You Got The Present?
Location: Bathurst High School


Thesues Posted: Jun 7 2006, 03:13 AM  
Mrs. Rowena's Homeroom 133. Grade 10th.

Ian sat at his desk listening to all the students talk around him. Mrs. Rowena, one of Ian's favorite teachers, allowed the students to socialize after all their work was done. Ian was on the last problem staring at it trying to figure it out.

How did the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki change the world? How has the world remained changed?

Ian enjoyed social studies, yet sometimes he never quite grasped why he had to learn some stuff. Sure, he liked to learn from the past, learn from the old mistakes, but seriouesly, how was the bombing of those two cities going to affect him?

Ian knew the answer though, and he wrote it down and put his homework in his green folder and looked around the classroom. Not usually a student to socialize much, and rather content to just sit at his desk the whole time and let his mind wander, he thought of just being quiet until the bell rang, but he saw Sofie at her desk. He wasn't sure wether she was done or not, but he saw the person who sat at the desk next to her was gone.

Ian put his stuff in his bookbag and zipped the bag up and walked over to the desk next to his good friend. Looking at her he smiled and said, "Hey, are you done with your work yet?"  

   
riserugu Posted: Jun 7 2006, 03:27 AM  
How did the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki change the world? How has the world remained changed?

A curious looked crossed the face of Sofie de Wilde as she eyed the question like the answer was going to write itself out, though with a sigh and a pondering thought that seemed as if it could be the right answer – Sofie found herself giving a shrug and pressing her pen against the worksheet, writing out the words coming into her head that seemed to play in the right direction of the answer. Though she was unsure, she figured she'd be able to re-check it later, and with a sigh the young girl moved her finished work into a spare folder, closing it up and pushing it to the side of her desk. Folding arms before her on the desktop, resting her head down a top them after a moment, closing her eyes – after all with nothing else to do, sleeping seemed at best.

It was partly quiet, which was good, this class wasn't know for quite tones of voices. And a change was nice, namely in turn for the girl trying to nod off for the next; God knows how many minutes left in class. Wasn't until a familiar voice to her right perked her up, tilting her head back up and smiling a bit at the boy as she moved to sit up fully. Turning in her seat fully to face the boy, musing a bit at the question as she gave a light-hearted look at her notebook. "As done as I can be." She said, propping an elbow up on the desk, resting her cheek against the open palm as she mused another smile again. "So, Ian what brings you to my part of the world on this ever-so boring day?"  

   
Theseus Posted: Jun 7 2006, 03:44 AM  
Ian gave a genuine, warm smile to his friend and said, "Well I figured, hey I can go to sleep until the bell rings, or I can come over here and talk to the great Sofie de Wilde." Ian quickly glanced up at the clock to see how much time really was left in class, then he continued. "I chose to talk to you."

Ian then said, "But you are right, this is a boring day, but then again, do we ever have fun days here?" Ian looked around the class, which was surprisingly quiet and he said, "but ah well, at least we got each other to keep each other company until this class ends."

Resting his head on his desk he looked at Sofie through tired eyes, he didn't get a lot of sleep last night, and it was starting to show, it wasn't that he could go to sleep if he tried though, it always seemed that when he wanted to go to sleep in class, he couldn't, and when he didn't want to, he did. He continued to look at his friend.  

   
riserugu Posted: Jun 8 2006, 02:58 AM  
Sofie found herself smiling a bit watching her friend lightly, musing a bit at his words. "Great, huh? Well, I suppose I should feel honored then." A glance toward the classroom clock told her not much time remained in the glass before it was let out, turning blue eyes back on Ian she nodded lightly at his words on today's not-so-interesting aspect of it all.

"True that, but maybe we could do something after school. Hardly get to do anything together anymore be being so busy with all my clubs and training for swimming, and then you with you're Jackie Chan martial arts; find some spare time and go do that -- um, what was it." Eyes blinked in a slightly confused manner, before it clicked, she laughing lightly. "Paintball, that was it. I liked it last time, minus the whole bruising part, but it was fun still."

Watching him rest his head down against the desk made Sofie purse a frown against her lips a bit, tilting her head somewhat. "You feeling okay?"  

   
Theseus Posted: Jun 8 2006, 03:19 AM  
Ian smiled at Sofie when she asked if he was feeling ok. She was a good friend, always looking out for him. Ian just nodded his head and said, "It's been a long day, I'm just ready to get out of here."

He then thought for a bit about wether or not he was free after school today and he said, "Actually, today I am free after school. We definately need to hang out, wait do you have practice or anything after school?" Ian was hoping she didn't. He remembered the last time he took Sofie paintballing for the first time, fun times, but then he turned his attention back to her and said, "So, what do you want to do for the rest of this oh so fine day?"  

   
riserugu Posted: Jun 8 2006, 03:35 AM
"Ah. I know the feeling." She replied, though still felt a light way of concern for her friend nonetheless, but decided against pushing on the subject and simply continued to keep a small smile against her features. It growing larger when Ian explained the overall free-ness of her afternoon, looking thoughtful for a moment about her current afternoon.

"Well, I did want to go swim some laps around the pool. But I can do that anytime." She said, clasping hands together as she went about pondering over the next course of action. "Mm. I don't know..." Sofie frowned out, nudging at his leg with her foot. "You think of something, you always have something fun stored up in that mostly-empty head of yours."  

   
Theseus Posted: Jun 8 2006, 04:03 AM  
Ian smiled as her foot nudged his leg and she said something about his empty head. Thinking for a moment Ian said, "Well actually...ummm..." Thinking for a moment more he said, "How about that new burger joint that just opened...what is it called....Hot Buns? Or something like that, odd name, but I hear it's a pretty cool hangout spot, like it's all 50's like and there are jukeboxes and everything!"

Ian was acting excited now and said, "But yeah I don't know, I'm kind of hungry myself, and it would be a cool place to listen to music or talk, or we can go to the mall, or bowling, I don't care, it's all up to you."  

   
LadyMakaze Posted: Jun 8 2006, 09:48 PM
In a small, shady corner on his own, Mitch Gunther, the resident oddball of the class (if not the entire school), worked quietly at his assignment. As he demurely minded his own business, carefully scratching at the paper with a bandaged left hand, a number of students watched on somewhat nervously, as well as the teacher Rowena. So far, Mitch had remained docile throughout the period of the classroom, not causing any sort of disruption with his erratic behaviour. However, almost everyone in the class knew that this period of calm in a stormy season could end at any moment.

Mitch yawned and nibbled on the hangnail, on the verge of ripping it clear off of one of his smallest digits. With somewhat sleepy, misty eyes, looking as though he was bored, though at the same time oddly apprehensive. His Cathalie had left for the bathroom two minutes ago, much longer than Mitch felt was comfortable. Agitated, he flexed his fingers, wanting to distract himself with bodily movement, but it just wasn't working.

Furthermore...his homework assignment was completely boring. He had read about the stories of Nagasaki and Hiroshima since the age of seven, all of this work was kids' stuffs. Didn't these school people have anything interesting for him to do? He mused on this to himself, before his mind immediately went back to the thoughts of Cathalie.

Unprompted, he left his seat, and wandered barefooted around the classroom as he often did, ignoring the world around him as he often did, musing to himself...as he always did.

"Cathalie....Cathalie...." he mumbled to himself with a sleepy smile on his face. "Where are you? You've gone and left me here with all these strange people.Why, Cathalie? ...Why?"

He giggled to himself a bit, pivoting as he walked at several intervals, overhearing Sofie and Ian as they chatted amongst themselves. The silly children.

"Burgers...is that the stuffs that cause heart attacks, strokes and prostate or colon cancer?" he muttered out loud without even looking at the two. "Sounds yummy....I never had one."  
   

Teseus Posted: Jun 10 2006, 02:49 AM  
Ian looked at Mitch Gunther with some surprise as he walked into their ocnversation without actually really entering the conversation. Ian didn't have time to listen to what Sofie wanted to do but Ian just smiled at the boy and said, "Youve never had a burger? Are you serioues?"

Now Ian knew that this kis was wierd, and not the most popular, but Ian wasn't the kind to judge. He was usually quiet himself, so to be polite, and maybe gain a new friend, Ian asked, "You can have your first burger today if you want to come with us."

Ian didn't know wether Sofie would protest or not, but he hoped she wouldn't, they could hang out alone sometime later when they found the time.  

   
LadyMakaze Posted: Jun 10 2006, 06:18 AM  
At first, Mitch refused to acknowledge either Ian's presence or his remark, pacing back and forth in barefooted delight over a small space of floor area between the rows of desks. He nibbled...no, he practically gnawed on the end of his smallest digit, making it turn a bright pink underneath his extraordinarily sharp teeth, bared in a sleepy grin as he mused to himself in silence.

His eyes were misty and unfocused, until he suddenly registered Ian's offer to come with them and try one of those burger things...Ah yes, the ones that clogged your arteries and congested them to the point of rupture what with all the extra mayo being slapped on there. Not that Mitch had ever had a taste of mayo himself.

Mitch suddenly collapsed to his knees as though weakened by a sudden faint, but it turned out to be far from that as Mitch giggled and placed his fingers upon the edge of Sofie's desk, peering up at the two of them with his misty, heavy-lidded eyes. Though his face was half hidden by the edge of the desk, due to the fact that he was kneeling down, the corner of his wide grin could be seen creeping above the edge. His expression and mannerisms were furtive, as though he were hiding from them behind the safety and shelter of the desk. At the same time, he had a sneaky, sly look to him, as though he were in fact sneaking up on them.

"Are you....what would Cathalie say. Asking me out?" he asked, tilting his head to one side with a manner of innocent inquiry. "Is that what it is?" He gave a small laugh, for little reason at all.

"Tis a shame, truly a shame, utterly a shame," he told them, suddenly adopting a matter-of-factly-tone, changing his attitude faster than a chameleon changed its colours. "You see, I am not supposed to talk to strangers." He grinned again, perhaps at the irony of it all. "Also, I'm not supposed to follow strange people, or ask strange people questions, or steal their things...or bite them in the arm... Cathalie says I'm not supposed to, so I'm not supposed to."

"Also, colon cancer doesn't sound at all fun," he whispered in a low voice, as an afterthought.

"Mitch!"

A shrill voice sounded from the doorway. The wiry, black-leather clad form of Cathalie, back from the washroom, was marching over to where Mitch was and promptly grabbing him by the arm, practically whisking him up to his feet. He stumbled for a moment before gaining his balance, smiling at the scowling girl good-naturedly.

"Ahhh Cathalie, the sunshine of my life, the air I breathe everyday. To bask in your presence is to drown blissfully in the rivers of Para-"

"Shut up, Mitch."

"Yes, Cathalie."

Shaking her head, Cathalie gave a disgruntled noise and turned towards Sofie and Ian, addressing them with a somewhat careless, yet sharp and firm voice. Her platform black leather boots squeaked against the floor as she adopted a somewhat idle pose.

"Let me guess, this idiot here has been bothering you, has he?"

Mitch had taken to speaking up again, chirping in a somewhat pleading voice as he tugged like a small child at the crook of her arm. "Cathalie, precious Cathalie, can we go get some burgers? Please? Can we? Pretty like you please?"

"Shut the hell up, Mitch."

"Yes Cathalie."  

   
Theseus Posted: Jun 10 2006, 01:42 PM
If Mitch wasn't wierd enough, the appearance of Cathalie, the girl who basically owned Mitch, was the final straw that confused Ian to no end. Looking at the odd pair with a somewhat hesitant look Ian only could say, "No he wasn't bothering us really."

Ian thought for a moment for a way to still make this all better and he said, "He just told me he hasn't ever had a burger, so I was inviting him to come with me and Sofie after school because we might've went to get a burger.'

Then Ian quickly added, "You can come to if you want." Ian looked at the odd pair, then his eyes traveled back to Sofie to look at her, hoping that she was ok with all of this, then he looked back to Mitch and Cathalie.  
   

riserugu Posted: Jun 11 2006, 07:04 PM  
Sofie watched the scene unfold with a curious look – she had never thought much of Mitch, he was an interesting character she'd say that much though. Be it for the better, or worse of course… she was still rather unsure of herself. So when Mitch went about, in the little way he does – Sofie eyed him lightly, casting a light glance Ian's way with a frown. She wasn't one to judge people… it wasn't her character, but she could help but almost feel uncomfortable around the other boy. Though curiosity peaked more as Cathalie entered, her interested sense of style catching attention first before she all but turned on Mitch. Commanding voice and all, and she saw a twist in personality in the boy, speaking to the girl as if she was something of a higher plane of sense to him.

She shook her head lightly at the other girl's question, "No. He wasn't bothering us…" She trailed off taking a glance Ian's way as he made a comment about inviting Mitch with them – an uncomfortable thought that set in to the back of her mind, as he went onto invite Cathalie as well as she eyed him lightly as he glanced at her. Sighing plainly, as she took a glance at the odd pair. Moving somewhat in her seat as she found herself opening her mouth to say something, though found words and thoughts being cut off as the bell to signal the end of classes gave a shrill ring throughout the building, Sofie grabbing at her bag and notebook and light manner and moving to stand. Though once on her feet, found herself pausing in ready step, remembering the question that had been sent the way of the two.

Standing silent, she glanced again at the two, pondering over what their reply would be to the two of them.  
   

LadyMakaze Posted: Jun 12 2006, 02:32 AM  
Cathalie stared at them with piercing, suspicious dark eyes. Mitch? Not bothering them? She cast a glance to the person in question (Mitch is grinning sweetly at her, ever the innocent angel he was) before letting out an incredulous snort of disbelief. Placing her hands on her leather clad hips, she peered at them with a scrutinizing look.

"Not bothering you, huh? Sure you're not lying to be nice?" she asked in a sardonic tone of voice. In a lower voice, she muttered, "Nice lies piss me off..."

Her gaze turned to Mitch, who was still tugging at at her arm like a plaintive child begging for attention. "Do you know? Do you know what I know? I got asked out by those two strangers! Aren't they strange?"

"Whatever," Cathalie snapped at him before turning back to Sofie and Ian, no doubt baffled by the strange pair she and Mitch made. To think that she had to deal with this every single day, having this little monkey cling to her every waking minute and causing chaos and confusion in his wake.

Her dark eyes tiling in a gaze towards Ian, she sighed, "You don't have to try being polite by inviting us to tag along. I can tell, you know. Even if this loony bin runaway doesn't."

She closed her eyes in utter frustration, looking as though she were about to burst with anger as Mitch cut in yet again.

"Let us tag a long okay, Cathalie?" he begged her, now on the verge of pulling her arm off the way he was tugging at it. "Just for today, okay? Those two seem like interesting people. Funny, and a bit strange, but interesting."

"You're the one to talk..." Cathalie muttered. She paused in deliberation for several tense seconds before sighing again and turning back to Ian and Sofie. "You know what, looks like I've got no choice. If he doesn't get what he wants, he'll never let go of me. I can tell you two would probably prefer us a whole hemisphere away, but..."

"Oh joy! We're going!" Mitch exclaimed with glee, hurling his hands into the air in a whoop of delight as Cathalie made a disgusted sound under her breath.  
   

Theseus Posted: Jun 12 2006, 03:20 AM  
Ian looked at Sofie, and could see in her eyes that she really didn't want to be in this situation. Ian knew his friend, she was one of his closest, maybe even his best, but today he couldn't make her happy. He knew that Cathalie and Mitch were coming with them to the burger joint after school. Honestly though, Ian wasn't dreading the day.

Now, he knew that Mitch was a little, interesting, and that Cathalie made the most oddest partner with him, but in all honesty, Ian wasn't really one to judge unless he got to know the person, so maybe they were two really cool people. Maybe he could make two new friends today.

Ian smiled at the two and said, "Well how about we just call our parents and tell them we will walk to the burger joint? It's not too far from the school, maybe a 20 minute walk. Or we can all go home and get rides from our parents. I don't care."  
   

LadyMakaze Posted: Jun 12 2006, 06:32 PM  
Cathalie raised a suspicious eyebrow, honestly not knowing whether to make of Ian's obviously strained efforts to be courteous to them. Had she been as naïve as he was right now, she would have appreciated his efforts to make her and Mitch feel comfortable. But for too long Cathalie was all too familiar with those who pretended to be nice, only to turn on her once they were tired of her attitude. No doubt this boy couldn't be any different. How could he be? See? It was obvious he was trying hide his discomfort, that Sofie girl too.

They're all the same, Cathalie thought to herself bitterly. You're all the same.

But to be honest, Cathalie didn't mind so much going out for a change, far from that in fact, as long as it kept her far away from that state home for as long as possible. She hated the people there more than she hated the people at school. Not like she didn't hate people in general, but government workers and foster families were the worst.

Cathalie wasn't too sure if she hated these two as much as she did the rest of the world, but she was sure that would change once they got tired of acting so nice all the time.

At Ian's suggestion, Mitch blinked at him in what looked like childlike confusion and fascination, as though he had just discovered something new. Tiling his head to one side curiously, pressing a bandaged palm against the side of his smooth face, he murmured a word.

"Pa…..rents…." he murmured to himself. The word felt new and strange on his tongue, yet ever so familiar, as though it were something he had tasted once and forgotten until now. He turned towards Cathalie and grabbed both of her shoulders suddenly. His cloudy-sea green eyes were suddenly focused, staring straight into Cathalie's dark, similarly piercing ones.

"Cathalie…parents," he repeated quietly, as Cathalie returned his gaze. "What are parents?"

Cathalie gazed at him quietly, her harsh attitude dissolving all together into an expression that seemed more stone and cold than anything. Gently, she held Mitch by the arms and told him simply, "That's something we don't have, Mitch. It's something that every person in the world wants and needs and has. Everyone, except us."

Though she was looking directly at Mitch, she seemed to direct her voice towards Sofie and Ian as she spoke in her matter-of-factly voice, "That's why we live with the people who don't want us but have us because they are paid to pretend to be the very things we're missing. They tell us to take our vitamins every day but don't care if we don't. They tell us that lights out is at eight so that they can watch the late night shows instead of putting up with us. They scold us if we miss the curfew, but they probably wish that we'd stayed out forever. Because we don't have parents."

Mitch milled over what Cathalie had said, gazing at her with an almost pensive, contemplative gaze on his face.

"So….this parents' thing…" he said suddenly, his grin lighting up. "Is it edible?"

Cathalie shook her head, plainly disgusted. "Useless…." She turned back towards Sofie and Ian, her somewhat cold and snobbish attitude reappearing once again.

"I can walk, twenty minutes is nothing, it takes twice that to get back to our place," she told them. "I don't think the matrons will miss us."

Mitch tugged at her arm again. "But what about the curfew? We'll miss the curfew."

Cathalie shot a wry grin at him. "Do we care, Mitch?"

Blinking for a moment, before realization spread across his face, Mitch grinned back sneakily. "No, Cathalie."

Thesus Posted: Jun 13 2006, 01:27 AM
Ian was a little surprised by the Cathalie's speech. Mitch asking what parents were wasn't too surprising, Ian had come to expect such things from the boy, but when Cathalie made her speech about parents, and people not wanting them, Ian couldn't help but almost feel sorry for the girl, no, the pair.

Ian just looked at her and said, "Ok...we'll walk then." Ian looked at Sofie and gave her a big smile that he always gives her when he wants her to be happy, then he turned back to Cathalie and said, "You know, you don't need parents to be happy." Ian wasn't exactly sure what he meant when he said that, but from what he knew of the odd pair of Cathalie and Mitch, they didn't socialize to much, maybe what they needed was some friends. People who accepted them. Ian wouldn't force himseld to be friends with these people, but maybe after eating with them today, he could learn to think differently of them, and see them as friends.  

   
riserugu Posted: Jun 13 2006, 04:36 PM  
[[I'm just going to move on Sofie on elsewhere so the topic doesn't get held up if I don't manage to get back on in these next few days due to my tests.]]

Sofie had to admit he felt a pang of remose as Cathalie and Mitch spoke between one another about their lack of parents, and how no one would care either way if they went out somewhere or not. A glance toward Ian, and noting the smile on his face, she almost unable to help the smile that crossed her lips. And as she opened her mouth to speak of stepping out to call her parents, she found the words not coming out as something latched onto her arm which had been hanging at her side, turning and finding one of her fellow teammates on the swim team at her side.

"Ashley?"

"You coming Sofie?" She questioned, taking a slight glance at the clock as she did.

"Coming where?"

"To practice of course, Coach told us we had an important practice today because the meet is this weekend."

A flash of confustion spread across Sofie's face, before she sighed. "That's right." She muttered lightly, taking a glance toward Ian, frowning sadly. "I'm sorry, I completely forgot about our practice... I won't be able to go today, I'm sorry again. Maybe you can come by the pool later, or call me maybe? I need to talk to you anyway."

That said she allowed herself to be pulled away by the other girl, giving a curt nod and smile at the other two. "You enjoy yoursleves." She mused lightly, before turning and moved out of the class in thanks a majority to Ashley's pushing.

((Continued in: Something's Getting in the Way...))

Topic: Something's Getting In The Way
Location: Bathurst High School

riserugu Posted: Jul 5 2006, 05:00 AM  
((Continued from: Who Needs History When You've Got the Present?))

Like anything loosely connected to the field of medicine – the nurses' office of Bathurst High School wasn't too much different.

White. Everything was in some way, shape, form and/or fashion – white.

And not even the nice white, the sickly white that brought all the bad colors out; like red – a color that was associated with blood. A vibrate color that Sofie found herself unable to stand, least in this setting, the color brought others out in the worst way, made even something small seem worse for wear; which is currently how Sofie's mindset was working as her blue eyes rested transfixed on the scape along her knee, and the smaller cut on her calf… it wasn't bad, like she mentioned but the background made it seem worse.

One might wonder why there's signs telling you don't to run around the pool area; and the simple reason is that water and running feet do not go over to well. One would figure swimmers of all people would know this small rule by now, but there was a reason Sofie found herself questioning the mentality of a majority of her classmates on a daily basis; her teammates did not help this. It had all started before practice began; some of the students had got there earlier had and already began warming up by swimming laps. Ashley and herself had just finished changing into their swimsuits and where walking out toward the benches to wait for the couch to come and for practice to begin.

As Sofie went to take a seat beside her friend was when two of her younger teammates came running by, and when as one ran by the second one close behind took the corner about the pool and found his feet slipping out from under him. You know, like it would any other time… but as he slipped, his larger form crashed into Sofie sending her crashing forward into the end of metal belchers, and into the ground. Catching the end along her leg, which is why she was currently sitting here atop a smallish bed. Large school sweater covering her upper body, and some of her swim suit – legs hanging pitifully off the end, uninjured one lightly swinging back and form at the light boredom setting in.

She had already been mad at herself for ditching Ian for practice, wanting more than anything to pass it for a chance to spend more time with her friend. A friendship she found herself as of late, wishing would evolve into something more – she couldn't remember quite well how they met, or what led them to be friends. She just knew she had, had a close friend since before middle school – a dear friend she was starting to see in a different light.

‘Hopeful thinking you have going on there de Wilde – if Ian wanted a girlfriend, he wouldn't pick you. You're the little sister, and with some of the girls around here; there are much better choices'

A sigh broke past lightly chapped lips, a slight sting bringing her out of her thoughts to stare down at one of the school nurses rubbing a cotton swab against one of the cuts. Having been so deep in thought, didn't even notice the woman walk in, gripping lightly at bed sheets from the slight pain that had throb across her skin and into the muscles about the area, she simply sat. Watching in a blank interest as she moved onto bandage the spot, and move onto the small one across her knee.

It wasn't long until this one was taken care of as well, and the nurse mentioning something on holding on a bit before she was allowed to leave, making more mention about papers concerning what had happened in the like – causing the blond to sigh and move to rest back somewhat. Eyes casting about – the room was currently empty of any other life expect herself, which made it all the more dullful – least if someone else was in here she'd might have someone to talk too.  

   
Megami Posted: Jul 5 2006, 07:16 PM  
(Continued from: Who Needs History When You Got the Present?)

The door to the nurse's office flew open carelessly, and a resounding thud echoed throughout the room as the door swung around on its hinges, pounding into the small nurse's station that was located behind it. Of course, Ali Grayston didn't know, or really care, either, that she had just slammed the door into the desk. All she knew was that mere moments ago, that disgusting little excuse for a human being named Mitch Gunther had BITTEN her.

"EXCUSE ME!" the brunette called out, her outburst somewhat startling the nurse, who looked on at her with a look of distain on her face.

Matching the nurse's look with one of her own, Ali raised the arm she had been carefully cradling up in the air, showing the nurse the bite marks on her wrist as well as the blood that continued to ooze down her arm, coating her perfectly bronzed skin in a hue of orangish-red. The nurse sighed a bit, then pointed to an open seat near where Ali was standing before disappearing into the back room.

Letting out a resigned sigh, Ali took a seat in the dreary and almost colorless pastel looking chair. All at once, Ali's eyes caught hold of Sofie de Wilde, who had presumably been sitting in her current position the entire time. Tilting her head to the side curiously as if she had just noticed her, Ali traced her eyes up and down the girl, noting the bandages covering her legs.

"De Wilde..." she mused, a smile growing on her lips, "Nasty looking bandages. What happened to you?"

Ali knew Sofie de Wilde... knew of her, to be more precise. While the girl's weren't exactly friends, and Ali had never quite considered Sofie on an equal level with the rest of the "popular" crowd, she wasn't all that bad. Not really, anyway. There were much better targets around school to be picked on. Regardless, it was in Ali's nature to start mischief and cause trouble, and as she mused over the girl, thoughts began to formulate in her mind.

"You know..." the vivacious brunette mused quietly, an innocent smile forming on her lips, "I wondered where you'd gone. When I came into class to pick up some things from Mrs. Rowena, Ian was with some nasty hooker-looking girl."

Trouble, indeed. Ali was going to enjoy this... causing tension and jealousy, especially after what that freak of a human being Mitch Gunther, Cathalie Meguro's little pet, had done to her. Now it was war, and the war was beginning here. She saw Sofie and Ian together all the time, and truth be told, in Ali's eyes, anybody who was that close had to have been involved with one another in some way, shape, or form. As was the way she thought.

"She looked... skanky," Ali stated, a faux sympathetic look forming over the brunette's features, "I just thought you'd want to know, seeing as you and Ian seem so..." pausing for a moment as if to determine the right word without insulting the girl, it took a moment before Ali finished her sentence, "close."

Nursing the bite wound on her wrist with her right hand, Ali couldn't help but be mesmerized by the site of her own blood momentarily. It wasn't something she saw often, and it looked almost foreign as it bathed her arm in the orangeish hue. Sighing quietly, she pondered what to say next, knowing to steer away from discussing the wound on her arm lest she bring up what had happened between she and Ian moments before. Especially now that she was trying to turn Sofie against Cathalie, the less Sofie knew about Ali talking to Ian, the better.

Tilting her head to the side slightly, she studied the de Wilde girl with quite a bit of curiosity, taking into account her features and judging them against her own. Ali'd seen girls like Sofie a million times... girls with the potential to be beautiful, but let their looks get lost in the fray. Sofie was definitely one of those girls. If not for the fact that she was so tomboyish and seemed to have little to no care for her physical appearance, she might have the potential to give some of the girls a run for their money.

Some.

Ali mentally compared herself to the girl sitting across from her, taking every detail into account. She compared her long, highlighted brown hair against the other girl's short and chopped off strawberry blonde... not a very attractive color. She compared her deeply bronzed, almost exotic looking skin tone to the milky white of Sofie de Wilde's, inwardly curious as to whether or not the girl actually thought "pale" looked good on anyone. Her piercing green eyes took in the childlike features of Sofie de Wilde's face, and all at once the haircut made sense. For lack of a better word, Sofie resembled a little girl. A small smirk formed on Ali's lips as the comment crossed her mind.

Of course, although she wouldn't say anything, Ali had been comparing herself to Sofie for a reason. If she wanted to get to Ian Rico, who was definitely a current prospect in her mind, she would have to befriend this girl. Then, she would have to turn around and completely crush her to get what she wanted. She'd done it a thousand times before, and Sofie would be no different. Looking on at the girl with the sugary-sweet "plastic" smile Ali always conveyed, she felt no remorse for the girl sitting before her, or the things she was plotting to do to her. It's a dog-eat-dog world, don't you know? Survival of the Fittest... the Darwin theory. The strong shall survive, while the weak shall perish. Ali smiled at the thought.  

   
riserugu Posted: Jul 6 2006, 02:42 AM  
In the time between when the nurse disappeared to gather her papers, and when the bronzed bulldozer broke through the doorway, Sofie had taken the short time to remove her workbook for her French class and idly begin working on some of the upcoming lessons she found herself able to understand without much difficultly.

The process of writing down the correct, least in some cases what she figured to be correct, answers against the paper – it was right when she had begun translating a sentence from English to French when Miss. Grayston made her grand entrance into the nurses' office, one of the nurses' sadly meeting the door in the others' plow through the doorway; she glanced upward to she what the source of the all the new commotion was – and once she saw who it was; she returned to her work book… after all the girl wasn't, least in her held opinion, worth much of a second glance.

Sofie's opinion on the Senator's daughter was mainly built upon the rumors that circled about the girl, who by today's labels would fall under the category of ‘popular', and though she at first didn't bother to heed much attention to the rumors – figuring it better to base ones thoughts on a person after meeting them; Sofie soon found herself shooting those ideas straight into the wind.

Ali was one of the many girls that had formed a close-knit "sisterhood" of sorts within the inner workings of the school. A sisterhood of annoying Barbies as she had come to view it, fakes and as shallow as a puddle on a rainy day – their thoughts seemed to work around what they could get out doing something.

But as mentioned – Sofie didn't think much of it until she was comforted by two of her crying teammates on the swim team; Lizzie and Michelle. Both where freshmen, and neither were by today's standards ‘pretty' as one would say, Lizzie was a smallish girl in height though it weight was somewhat large, brown hair was usually worn in pigtails – her family wasn't that well-off; and a majority of her clothes where hand-me downs from family and older siblings that had grown out of them.

Michelle wasn't much different – she was very tall, and very thin for her age, her pale skin was, like some teenagers at this time in their life, acne-ridded – and a bit scarred. She wore thick-blue wired rimmed glasses, and an interesting sense of fashion that did not match society's standards. Nonetheless, both girls where smart, and good at what they set themselves to do… sweet, a thought of them hurting or belittling someone never crossing her mind.

But because of their simple flaws – they where prime targets for this pack of plastic. And when Sofie heard the names of a couple of Ali's "sisters" mentioned, she didn't bother to wonder if the rumors spoke about the girls where true or not. As far as she was concerned, they probably where – and they wouldn't surprise her the least.

Focused on her work Sofie hardly took notice to the girl now moving to sit across from her until she spoke up, questioning her on the bandages currently donning her leg. She kicked her uninjured one out a bit before moving it behind the other, locking her foot about her ankle, continuing to scribble words against paper as she spoke, "Accident by the pool, I got knocked over." She answered plainly, returning to her work – though wondering where the nurse with her papers where.

Though she enjoyed missing out on today's grueling practice with the rest of the swim team, she found the thought of swimming with concrete blocks attached to her hands and feet more appealing that being within seeing distance of Ali Grayston.

Though she tempted herself into working as Ali started speaking again, it wasn't until Ian's name was mentioned did her writing pause, and when she decided to give the girl a second glance over. Finally taking note of the oddly shaped wound that she was holding on to, dying her usually bronze skin orange about the broken skin. Sofie giving this marking a curious look before turning blue eyes on green ones, raising a brow in a light manner, placing the pencil in the cease of the book and closing it –

"Hooker-looking, hmm?" She repeated in a thoughtfully manner, tapping her chin lightly, before she turned to look Ali over once more, tilting her head a bit. "Well – Then I'm glad to see that you're not around him anymore then."

   
Megami Posted: Jul 7 2006, 03:36 AM  
A sarcastic smile painted itself across Ali Grayston's features as the girl sitting across from her in the nurse's station actually had the nerve to insult her. However, Sofie's insult had little impact on the Senator's daughter. This girl thought she was funny. Ali, however, thought she was simply a fool. A jealous, attention-craving fool.

"You know honey, just because I have enough money that I don't have to buy my clothes at Wal-Mart doesn't make me a skank. I'm refined, I'm cultured. I'm a fashionista. I'm everything you're not and will never be."

Flipping her flowing brown hair as if to get it out of her face, the girl once again smiled at the figure seated across from her... one of her better-than-thou smiles that she often conveyed. She had considered being nice to this girl, trying to befriend her, if only for the moment. Sofie, however, had ruined those chances with her smart-aleck attitude. The grand part of it all was that she found herself amusing, and she honestly seemed to think that her meager little opinion mattered.

"Let me tell you something, doll. If I wanted Ian, I'd have him in the blink of an eye. Believe it. I know you're just jealous Sofie, and it's okay. If I were in your position, I'd be jealous of me too, because you know, no matter how much you want him, and no matter how much you want him to want you, you'll never, ever have him."

The bronze-skinned brunette looked on toward the blonde in mild amusement. Getting under people's skin was one of the simple things in life that brought Ali great amusement. Even though Ian had seemingly shunned her advances as well, with enough time and effort, she could break through that invisible shield that Ian Rico put around himself, whereas this girl, Ali was confident, never even stood a chance.

"I'm not trying to compete with you, you know," the brunette mused as if it were an afterthought, "I don't have to, I already know who'd win. I'm telling you about that... girl... as a favor to you, because I know how far you've shoved your head up Ian's ass, and I think it's pretty obvious how desperately you want to be with him. I'm just telling you... you're losing your stake on him... to common trash."

Sighing loudly in an irritated manner, the brunette managed to attract the attention of one of the nurse's bouncing around the room momentarily with her outburst. Quite frankly, Ali was more than a little tired of being seated in the dull pastel chair, and she was even more tired of having a conversation turned heated argument with the swimmer sitting across from her. This entire ordeal could be summed up in one word.

Pointless.

Although, Ali supposed, some good had come out of this ordeal. She had seen what a complete and utter waste of time Ian Rico truly was. He was cute, sure. Nothing special, really. Bathurst High had more fruitful candidates than the hispanic boy, as did the neighboring schools. At first, she had been intrigued by the quiet martial artist. He had been a challenge, and to put it bluntly, that turned Ali on. That's why she had become interested in the boy in the first place.

However, upon taking note of the fact that Ian hung out with the school's special needs students, and actually seemed to be... ugh... friends with them, Ali had been a bit turned off. Now, as she sat across the room from Ian's best friend, a chick with no features, no chest, and the personality of a dead fish, Ali couldn't help but think that perhaps the mysterious young man she had focused her attention on had been nothing but a colossal waste of her time. There were so many other perfectly good candidates to consider. Still, she had to admit, screwing with the mind of Sofie de Wilde was fun, and although Sofie didn't outwardly act as though the words affected her, Ali knew that the thoughts would continue to pierce the girl's mind long after the ordeal ended. It was like that with all of them.  

   
riserugu Posted: Jul 8 2006, 05:20 AM  
Oh, Sofie wasn't sitting here to be funny… after all; you're not aiming to be amusing when you're stating simple, and rather oblivious facts. Though she had to admit, the girl's try at getting under her skin was amusing at best, it was rather interesting trying to contain her laughter. Though found herself unable to help the small giggles escaping her.

"Well honey, in case you don't know – it isn't the clothes that make the person, it's their actions, and I'm sure if we hold a candle to just a small bit of what you've probably done – I'm quite sure you'll surpass ‘skank' by a far, and wide margin." She said lightly, leaning back somewhat where she sat on the thin white sheets. Rocking legs back and forth in a slow motion, "You hide behind your daddy's money because you're personality runs about as deep as a simple puddle on a rainy day – you say you're cultured rather in truth you're rather barbarous, churlish, and quite vapid."

A tilt of her head and she glanced off to one of the nurses bopping about the room, glancing Ali out the corner of her eye.

"And if that's everything you are, well then – I'm quite happy with my life in more than a few ways."

Rubbing at an area along the back of her neck, she couldn't help the sigh that escaped her lips --- that whole concept of practice today was looking rather tempting at the moment as the brunette continued to babble on in the type of speech she had heard not only Ali herself, but many others. But similarly like Ali thought of her opinion of being pointless and not mattering, this is how Sofie felt on a lot of people. Though mostly people like this – people so egocentric they can't take their own heads out of their ass long enough to see their was actually a world out there, and it didn't revolve around them and which over-expensive outfit they should where that day.

"Jealous of you? Sorry dear, but I'm rather fond of being able to get what I need myself – instead of having to… favors? And compete? With you?" She mused in sarcasm with a roll of her eyes, "Wouldn't think it, because I know Ian – I know he wouldn't fall for someone such as yourself. After all the boy has some common sense, and you're right – I do care about him, and want to be with him. But still, least I'll be somewhat happy if he doesn't end up with someone who'll cast them aside like trash when they get what they want. I also know Cathalie is a better person than what you're putting her off as, yeah, her sense of style is rather interesting, but don't put her on your level. Least she has dignity and respect for herself – unlike yourself it seems Miss Ali."

It was at that point that one of the nurses placed herself between Sofie and Ali, holding over a small sheet, basically explaining what all had happened. She also going onto to explain, that though it would be no problem for her to swim in the meet this weekend – it would probably be best if she didn't attended the remaining two hours of practice today; explaining something along the lines of ‘not wanting any of the chemicals they use to infect the wound' the blonde haired girl simply nodding at the words as they where spoken. Watching more as the nurse gave the girl sitting across from her, a ‘hold on a moment' gesture and rushing off to one of the back rooms again.

"You're a helpless person Miss. Grayston, you put other's down to hide your own flaws. It's rather sad."

She slid off the table-bed with a push, leaning down and picking her bag up, turning and placing her workbook back inside. Turning back toward the other female with a small smile, "Though I know this conversation is probably becoming as menial to you, as it has been to me I will give you the befit of the doubt. You're a rather engaging person to speak with; you've confirmed a lot of what I heard about you… be it for better or worse." Swinging the bag onto her shoulder, she sighed again and began to move away from the other girl, and back toward the exit the other has just stormed through.

"Good luck with the whole Homecoming walk, hate to see all those votes you earned go to waste, though I'm sure the football players will be happy either way."

((Continued in: True Friends))