Survival Of The Fittest

((Brendan Harte continued from What A Day))

Brendan was sitting in one of the art classroom with one of his friends. He really wanted to be somewhere else at the moment. But he was in the company of Dorothy Shelley who was such a sweet girl. Besides he couldn't just leave her on her own. That would be very rude and impolite of him to do. He wasn't the type to abandon someone else.

Unlike his mother....

Brendan felt an urge of regret when he suddenly thought of her. He has to forget about her. He was lucky that he still have his father and his grandparents. He had to think of happy thoughts. He turned his head to look at his friend who was busy working on something. It made him want to do something as well.

Like come up with a new story. But he couldn't just get his notepad out in front of Dorothy. His writings were private. And the only person who knows about it was his friend, Bernadette. It was their little secret. And he had told her about it in confidence. Confidence.... He really needed to work on that more.

He decided that he should speak to Dorothy as he was being too quiet. And he didn't want things to be too awkwardly silent between them. He tapped his finger slightly on the table and he smiled a little.

"Hey, Dorothy. What are you making there? They look really pretty."

PREGAME START: Dorothy Shelley

The art club was the best part of most days. It was a place where creative minds reunited while making their masterpieces. Art is a fun thing to do when trying to avoid the pressure of good grades or college admissions.

And it was exactly what Dorothy was doing. Having a break of her daily routine, not working on her assignments, and forgetting about school works, even for just an hour, stopped her stress from growing on her.

She was hunched over her working place. She braided her blue, yellow, and red strands of embroidery together while making sure the blue piece of tape wasn't ripping itself off the table.  Multitasking at its barest.

Even though she enjoyed making crafts, but doing it for more than ten minutes straight without a break took a toll on her neck. Dorothy put her left hand on the back of her head and twisted her neck until an audible crack resonated in her head.

She took the opportunity to admire her work. One bracelet was already over, for the most part at least, and she was already working on a second one.

A productive day in Dorothy's world. While inspecting her work, a voice coming from her right side abruptly stopped her train of thought.

"Hey, Dorothy. What are you making there? They look really pretty."

It was Brendan Harte, she almost felt bad because she forgot he was sitting beside her for the whole time. Must have been awkward for him.

"Oh, those are friendship bracelets," quietly answered Dorothy.

"Do you want one?"

((Ty Yazzie Continued From For the people all said "Sit down, you're rocking the boat."))

Sometimes, Ty had to take a step back and wonder exactly how he'd got where he was in life. Now, he was at school, so that was simple enough: he'd pulled in on the family truck this morning, like he did most days. He was also in the the art room, which wasn't too hard to figure out either, on account of him wandering in on his own two feet with some slight encouragement from his busy Bee. Where things went pear-shaped, in his mind, was the fact that he was sat in front of a canvas, lazily spreading blues and whites and greens and browns with his fingertips in some vague attempt to paint an ocean and a towering white whale coming together to crush his motley mind's eye crew. That wasn't altogether like him, truth be told. He figured, though, that if he was gonna do this whole painting thing again as a couples' activity with Bernie to hang out with her and her friends, he might as well pick up where he left off with the whole thing back in preschool damn near fourteen years ago.

To their credit, everybody else seemed to be both better at this and taking it more seriously than he was. Dorothy was across the room working at some bracelets, and offering one up to Brendan with just a touch of awkwardness. He didn't know much about Dorothy, and barely more about Brendan, but they seemed like good folk. Bee seemed to shine to Brendan, and anybody that got her to vouch for them sat at least around neutral with him these days, unless they got it stuck in their craw to sink lower. For her part, his bemused muse was offering him another paintbrush for what had to be the dozenth time in as many minutes, and for the dozenth time in as many minutes he shook his head and gave her a wry smile with a cryptic "I prefer not to."

Maybe he was being a little childish about getting pulled out of Bartleby to come paint with her at the drop of the hat, but in his mind if he couldn't finish that damn story, and if it was gonna rattle around in his head until he did, he might as well let the most frustrating parts of it out to marinate in everybody else's skull too. Seemed only fair, really.

The bristles of the still-rejected paintbrush came into contact with Tyler's nose, giving Bernadette a small moment of childish victory before letting him paint exactly the way he wanted to . It was still tempting to try one more time though, just because she liked the way he smiled as if he had secrets hidden just below the surface.

"Fine, but this isn't the last you've seen of the persistent paintbrush," she whispered with mischief in her eyes before turning back to her own half-finished creation, with just a little focus reserved for what was going on across the room.

It might have been silly to others, but she was proud of him. She was an only child, and sometimes she fancied that if she had had a brother she would have wanted him to be like Brendan. All it had taken was a simple glance at his notebook, followed by perseverance to not let him retreat once she saw something interesting beneath his quiet surface. It also meant that she recognised the look that had been on his face only moments before he had started talking to Dorothy.

The most recent sketches that she had done for him were carefully concealed in her art folder that she brought to school most days. For the longest moment Bernadette was quiet, contemplating the wisdom of her decision. Then, deciding that wisdom had no place in this, she placed a hand on Tyler's arm to get his attention, keeping her voice low. "I'm about to do something that's a really good, but bad, idea to help a friend. Play along?"

Brendan glanced at the bracelet that Dorothy was offering to him. A friendship bracelet, huh? No one has even offered him something like that before. He thought that it was really sweet of her to do something like that. He kind of wished that he would share something with her too. But what? He hadn't really thought about it. Maybe something creative? A gift? Jewellery? Something she like? He wasn't sure as he was feeling indecisive about his choices. He would think of something later. Right now he was going to take her up on her kind offer. It made sense as they were friends anyway.

"Sure. I would love to have one. I think they are... um.... pretty cool. You're very talented at making them, Dorothy. I'm a little jealous." He chuckled softly as he waited for her to hand him one of the bracelets. "I've never made bracelets before. So I'm glad to see you at work with making them. Knowing me, I'll possibly be a bit... uh.... sloppy if I tried to do them myself."

He chuckled again. He wasn't trying to be hard on himself on purpose. He was trying to be as honest as he was known for being clumsy. Like the other day with Jae. But that was another story. And one he was trying to forget for now. He didn't want to think about that right now. He didn't want to be in a bad mood again. It wasn't worth it.

"Maybe you could teach me how to make them without me being too clumsy. Who knows?"

Brendan shook his head slightly before he gazed over at Bernadette and Ty. It looked like they were having fun together. That was good. He liked seeing those two happy. It was something that would always warm his heart. He wondered if he would someday be like that. In a relationship with someone. It would be nice. But he still had doubts for a good reason. Although, he tried not to think of the negatives of a relationship. He would always try to look at the positives of a relationship. It was hard to do. But seeing Bernadette and Ty.... Well, he could see the good side of them.

He turned his attention back to Dorothy and he could see that she was still concentrating hard on what she was doing. He didn't want to disturb her for a while. So he picked up his bag and he unzipped his bag. Hesitating as he stared at his notepad. Could he really build up his courage to show Dorothy? .....No. He couldn't.... He ignored the notepad as he got out his water bottle and he place the bag back down.

He let out a small sigh under his breath. He still wasn't brave enough yet.... Maybe one day in the future.  

Dorothy had to make a choice, quick. The bracelet that she gave birth to recently, or the unfinished yet better crafted that her first. She jotted down notes in her mind, about the pro's and con's of giving either bracelets. It was a rather awkward silence after Brendan finished his first sentence about how talented she was at making crafts.  Dorothy beamed as she dropped her freshly baked bracelet in his palm.

"Uh... It's not finished, finished, but can wear it. It could break, though." Dorothy whispered in a hush toned, just realizing that Ty and Bernadette were with them in the art room. "If you need help to put it on, just ask me."

And she was again, lost in her mind, braiding and twisting the little strings of cotton into something she called pretty. Blue, red, and yellow. It wasn't her favorite colors, but it sure mixed well together when she tried hard enough to work it out. Next time, she will be prepared with her favorite colors: pink, baby blue, and white. The last one wasn't really a color, but Dorothy didn't care that much. If it was pretty, she liked it.

A word came back in her mind while she was working: teach. He asked about her teaching him how to do it, and she completely ignored that. She didn't trust her abilities in teaching something, being good at something does not make you an expert at teaching it. Well, in some cases maybe, but not in hers.

Dorothy heard a bag unzipping and she twisted in the direction of the sound. It was already over because Brendan was sighing with a water bottle in his hand. She obviously missed something important for him, but for her it wasn't. If he didn't want to talk about it, she won't even mention it.

"Did you check if you bracelet fit?"

Dorothy seemed like a nice enough gal, Ty decided. She and Brendan were good folk to hang around. Even though this wasn't normally his scene, and he probably looked like a damn goofy mess to them, they weren't saying anything or getting on his case, so he was pretty at ease. He was glad Bee had decided to bring him along after all. Helped take the edge off of things at home, and keep his mind off of...

Nah. He wasn't gonna think about a certain car carrying a certain smart-ass pulling up to a certain house in a few certain days. He was here to get away from all that mess.

Now, there was some temptation in the itching, mischievous corner of Ty's brain that he never quite managed to grow out of to repeat his new mantra towards Bernie's latest request. He had a role to keep up, after all, and Bartleby never cracked once he set his course in. This was pretty heavily balanced by the more rational side of his brain that both new better than to fool around with the details of one of her plans, and looked forward to whatever fireworks she was fixing to cook up. In response, he gave her a grin and sneakily dotted her nose with a blue-stained finger. "I'm in."

Nose crinkled, Bernadette knew that Tyler could not have known that that sweetly meant gesture was the final piece that clicked every other scrap of mad-genius ideas that had haphazardly formed since she had seen that look across the room. From his grin though? Maybe he got it without explanation, but that was a musing for another time. Less… public. For now she leaned closer with a hand on the bench and whispered in her boyfriend's ear, a playful smile as she slid off her stool to crouch, popping open her art folder with more care than her casual movement belied.

Bernadette wondered if he would hate her after this. Better to find out now rather than later.

Brendan was lost in thought for the moment and he was pulled out of it when Dorothy asked him a question. Did the bracelet fit on him? He glanced at the bracelet he hadn't even had time to put on yet. He felt a bit embarrassed for not putting it on yet. So he clumsily picked up the bracelet and he managed to put it on. He was careful about it. He didn't want it to break as he didn't want to make Dorothy upset. He studied the bracelet for a few moments. It didn't look that bad. He gave Dorothy a beaming smile.

"Yeah, it seems to fit perfectly, Dorothy. I'll try not to break it. I promise."

Promises were not really something he would do. But Dorothy is his friend and he wanted to be able to at least promise her something. Especially if it was about something that she loved to do. That's what friends were for. Right?

Dorothy's eyes lit up when she received Brendan's confirmation that his bracelet fit. He looked kinda confused when he was trying to put the bracelet around his wrist, but he beamed after successfully wrapping it around his arm, so that was a good thing. Dorothy smiled back as a response to his own smile and she whispered,

"Well, I don't want to sound rude or anything," and she continued in a slightly higher-pitched voice, "but I really need to finish this one before I forgot about it."

She gave out one last smile before returning to her work-in-progress, and tried her best to hurry up and finish the work   so then she could talk to him without having something on her mind.

Truth be told, Ty wasn't 100% clear on his role in this little scheme. For now, he was just meant to sit quietly and try not to look suspicious while Bee did her thing. He could handle that. Well...he could handle not making himself anymore conspicuous than usual. Would be kinda hard for him to go completely dark. Wasn't exactly the sort of guy who blended into a crowd too well.

Dorothy and Brendan where getting up to some kind of exchange across the table as Bee went straight for them. Something about bracelets and friendship and that kind of jazz. Probably cuter than hell to the right type of person. He didn't go in for it, but hey, if that was their thing, no reason to piss on it. He'd done his best to get out of the business of spoiling things for other people, when he could manage it.

((Sorry, guys. I'm going to post ahead to get Brendan out of the thread. It's a bit short so please bear with me.))

Brendan nodded in understanding as Dorothy didn't want to be distracted by his presence. He knew the feeling whenever people would look over his shoulder and ask what he was painting in Art class. It would make him uneasy as he would only be halfway through with a painting and he would have to tell them that it was not finished. It was a bit frustrating but he would have to deal with it.

"Sorry for being a disturbance, Dorothy." He was speaking quietly and then he remembered that he had something to do at home. "Oh, I have to get going, Dorothy. I would like to see that one finished another time. I'll see you later, Dorothy!"

He was in a rush to picked up his belongings and he made his way past Ty and Bernadette. He gave them both a warm smile and a small wave. "Thanks for hanging out with us, you guys. I hope it wasn't boring or anything. We should do this another time. See you later, Ty, Bernadette!"

And with that said, he left the classroom to continue his day.

((Brendan Harte continued in So Sorry For That, Man!))

((I'm similarly going to have to break order to Rock and Rolla. Sorry!))

Whatever Bee had planned seemed to be pretty well torpedoed by Brendan boogieing on out. A thought to catch the guy played through his head for a second, but his phone started buzzing before he could make up his mind. Ty fumbled with some paper towels to try and get his hands dry enough to answer the damn thing while avoiding getting paint all over it. No wonder folks over the age of five tended not to fuck around with finger-painting, it was a hell of an inconvenience.

His mood wasn't great when he finally picked up the phone, and trying to piece together his old man's garbled texts sure didn't help. It took him a tick or two to get a basic idea where he was going, and even then he wasn't real sure he was grabbing the fine details. What he could pick up on was that Atsa was having some kind of issue and neither of his parents could figure it out, which was enough to motivate him. Arts and crafts were gonna have to take a rain check if his brother needed him.

Ty took a moment to give Bee a quick peck on the cheek before he left. "I gotta motor, it's Atsa. I'll text ya to catch up later, sounds urgent." He knew she'd understand his quick exit, she'd always been real good about giving him family space. Now there was just the trick of getting home and figuring out what all the fuss was about.

He didn't even make it to the truck before a text from Atsa cleared things up nice and neat.

"Obinze's home."

Shit.

So much for a few days.

((Ty Yazzie Continued Elsewhere))

The universe was conspiring against her, or it seemed very, very like that. In the space of about thirty seconds Bernadette had lost both her target and accomplice. It was not so much that she minded in either case, but damnit she had had a plan for Brendan. Next time, waving as she felt Tyler's parting gesture.

"Sure, give him a hug from me," she replied, hopefully more calm than she felt inside. Atsa was a sweet kid, and his brother rightly doted on him. Sometimes she teased that it was a good thing she wasn't a clingy or possessive girl, but this time she worried for a more tangible reason.

Expression suddenly downcast, Bernadette gathered up her things with an impatience that told of urgency. "Your stuff is really pretty Dorothy, we should hang out sometime and talk about designs," she called across the room, smiling genuinely. Then she left, knowing that she'd be pushing down the urge to call Tyler until at least late that evening. No longer though, she promised herself.

Well, that Bernadette girl seemed really nice, maybe they could hang out one day.

Even though she wanted to stay in the classroom, the silence crept her out. With nobody filling the void, and no one to talk to, it was pretty a pretty awkward experience to sit alone and twisting the threads in her hands trying to make something pretty. It was the kind scene you'd expect from a bad horror movie with the girl being a psychopath or something.

Dorothy stuffed her works-in-progress in the small pocket in her bag, put her left shoulder around the strap, and she hurried out of the class. She needed to go do something else anyway. Was it an essay or a response? Meh, the only important thing is science.

((Dorothy Shelley went to Big Brother)