* make them move, [cari]

Nell hated how painfully nostalgic she could get nowadays, how much her thoughts could control her. It was scary sometimes. She wasn’t prepared for this, perhaps that was why it had affected her so. She had never needed therapy before—of course, Dr. Warren never got anything from her sealed lips—or anti-depressents, and she always had an appetite and a thirst to always be outside. But now she felt like she was lying dorman like a volcano, or hibernating like a bear. She liked the latter. It didn’t sound so bad. It didn’t sound like she had issues, psychologically scarring as her therapist said, like she was just as she should be and wanted to be. And that wasn’t a matricide, or a victim of abuse, or a girl with abandonment issues, or a twin with survivor’s guilt—she didn’t want to belong to the labels forced upon her.

It was odd, having someone approach her when she was hanging upside down from the monkey bars. Nell blinked at the blond girl, feeling dizzy from the blood rushing to her brain, before replying, ”I guess so," she said dismissively. "He's a cute kid.” She looked over, but it seemed the duo had left or moved to another area of the park. It was large, after all, for joggers and bikers to utilize the back paths. Nell had always loved children, maybe it was because of her dead sister who’d be seven-years-old forever, maybe it was because she had an in-born maternal instinct. Whatever it was, she always felt the need to dote with candy or food. Even now, when such things weren’t as appealing to her, because why won’t this stomacheache go away? ”You know how to make origami?” She was always randomly curious about others, even strangers, and even though this seemed like off information to get from someone whose name she didn’t even know, it felt normal to her.

She pulled herself up through the bars, sitting on top of them. She patted the ones beside her and smiled. ”Have a seat,” the Earth girl said, wondering if the girl had the time or the interest. At least she was used to Canada not being like New York, where everyone had places to be, things to be doing, and no time to spare for anything else. ”My name is Nell, by the way.” She always feared giving out her name now, knowing it may register for more people than she’d like. For those who watched the news or talked to her friends, her name may have been familiar. And that bothered her. The only person who knew that was her boyfriend, when hearing that even his little sister had found out. Hell, Patrick knew. Nothing was sacred anymore, she was naked to the world.

Nell didn’t know that what she said may have gone over Cari’s head, even though she understood how that could be. She was literally thrust out into the world without much experience in anything, thanks to her life behind locked doors. From hanging around her so much, Josh probably understood this the most—her confusion on the merry-go-around, her confusion over the term ‘going out’, the fact that she needed to be explained to what being on top meant. If she thought about it, she realized the poor guy went through a lot thanks to her naivete. And she wasn’t even considering her sexual naivete as well, not even realizing how much frustration she was causing her boyfriend. There were too many things she still didn’t know, like riding a bike or playing hopscotch… It became overwhelming if she thought of it too long.

Nodding, she gripped the bars beneath her, the cold stinging her already red fingers. Her attenton wwas directed to Cari when the girl sat next to her.”Ah,” she responded, watching as the white cloud drifted away from her mouth and disappeared. Nell just figured she may have come from an underpriveledged background. She remembered passing by some of the schools in the Bronx, their sad looking brick façades, the playgrounds with chains hanging where swings were supposed to be, the high gate where gangbangers and drug dealers would lean against, waiting to corrupt the younger generation. She didn’t say how she understood the other girl’s lack of oppurtunities, how she had grown up in a broken home with a broken family in a broken city with broken people. She didn’t let anything out, not when she could keep it locked up like she wanted it to be. ”It looks hard, but its pretty easy to learn. You can even come up with your own designs, eventually.” Her smile was gentle, and she looked over at the girl.

She blinked at the introduction, not realizing who Cari meant by ‘everyone’. She didn’t recognize her from the Academy of anything, because Nell would have avoided her knowing she was a Fire student. If they were forced to speak, of course she’d be friendly, but she knew it was better to leave the alliances alone. It caused too much trouble. ”Hmmm? Everyone?” she wondered. Since freshman weren’t really big news on campus and were often ignored or simply hazed by the rest of the Academy, not many had notoriety unless they caused a disturbance in class or something. ”Well, it’s nice to meet ya, CC,” she told her sincerely. Nell loved to meet new people, and Cari was no exception to this. ”What brings you to the park on this lovely winter day,” she said lightly, because honestly, it wasn’t a very pleasant day at all. Better than a lot of Canadian winter days, however, she had to admit that.

Nell couldn’t help the smile that crossed her features as Cari started folding the paper she’d grabbed from her bag, her eyes filled with good humor. It seemed almost with a childish naivete that the girl approached attempting to make the creation. ”Yeah, the summer’s pretty awesome,” she told Cari, her eyes moving away to observe the sky a moment before moving back to her. She didn’t really mind that the girl didn’t answer her question, and she wasn’t going to ask again. It was like prying, and she liked to leave people t othemselves. ”If I had to choose, I’d pick spring. Especially with all the rain and flowers.” She’d like to have herself a real garden, but apartment-life did not allow such things. It was a shame, really, but she made due with her indoor garden, that made her place look like a jungle during the spring. ”Why do you like the summer, anyway?” Nell asked, always curious about intentions, about feelings, about how everyone around her was doing.

She took the paper Cari had been trying to fold and said, ”Here.” She uncrumpled the piece of paper before folding it in the “taco style” and tearing off the leftover piece so it could be a perfect square. Then—a little more slowly and methodically than she usually went about it—she began folding in the edges. It only took a few seconds for her to finish folding up the paper, before she pulled the “tail” and the wings flapped. ”It takes a bit of practice, but one you get it down, it’s simple,” she encouraged, handing it back to Cari before fishing in her own bag for the actual origami paper she carried around, decorated in floral designs or other prints. She handed a slice to Cari, silently goading her into trying again. It took her and Tilly a little while to get the hang of it even with a book, and she remembered that her twin had made her crane first. Like always. Tilly had seemed to be better at everything than her sister, and even though she admired it and loved it, it gave her a bit of an inferiority complex. However, it also provided a reason as to why Mia loved the “younger” twin more. And she felt that she had touched on another reason, but she didn’t let her mind go there right now. She already felt sick enough.