Inspiration has not hit;;open

[erika]

Having friends outside of the Academy was very difficult for most students. Since they spent what was essentially the entire year on campus it was easier to just be friends with other students, especially since having normal friends meant keeping secrets and barely seeing each other. Beatrice however had always had a couple of friends in Maple Hollow. Her family had vacationed there on a fairly frequent basis after their children started attending and since Bea was the youngest she had also spent the most time with children from the town.

Beatrice had gone to bed last night very excited for the following day. She had had it all planned out, today was going to be a glorious, sunny day which she was going to spend lounging at Lakeside before maybe checking out some of the late night events at the summer fair with some townie friends. And then it had rained. And then her friends texted to tell her they were going to go shopping two towns over but that she should ‘totally’ come with them. Bea didn’t hate shopping, sometimes she even enjoyed it, but the last thing she wanted was to spend her entire day following around her friends whose shopping appetite was really much larger than hers, especially when she didn’t even plan on doing any back to school to shopping, her clothes still fit.

Bea was a planner and she really didn’t appreciate when things like nature got in the way of her carefully laid plans. She rarely saw her friends and today was supposed to be fun. She had been sitting in her room sulking for a little while when her grandfather, who was also at the home in Maple Hollow knocked at her door, “You can come in” she sighed at the door. He looked around the room taking in her beach bag that would now be useless and finally settled on his, rather dramatic, granddaughter moping on her bed. He decided it was best to humour her for the moment, so he asked “Would you like to tell me what has you trapped in your room?” Bea explained all the ways in which her day was ruined, before 10 am and could have sworn she saw her grandfather trying to resist rolling his eyes at her. “Well I’m going into town and the rain does seem to be letting up some so you can come with me and I can drop you off somewhere.” Bea was about to argue that she couldn’t go any of the places she wanted to because of the rain when she noticed the look on her grandpa’s face, it was the ‘no arguments young lady’ face so she knew she may as well get dressed.

Even with the rain it was still fairly warm so Bea dressed in shorts and a tank top, which actually made sense since she would be wearing fewer clothes that would end up wet anyways. Beatrice didn’t care overly much about clothes but looked in the mirror and thought that she looked cute, possibly too cute. The thought that she would annoy people with her choice of clothing did cross her mind but in the end she decided she didn’t actually care all that much and so she grabbed her bag, also cute, made sure she had everything in it that she would need and headed downstairs to meet her grandfather.

She got into the car and gave him a look, she wasn’t very pleased that he was making her go out when she didn’t really want to and she wasn’t really sure where she wanted to go. When he asked her where he should drop her off she finally told him “Library, I guess” since she didn’t really know where else she could go and it was within walking distance of a few different places. At the very least it would be somewhere comfortable that she could read.

After being dropped off and making a mad dash into the library Beatrice instantly headed towards the romance section. Bea considered them pretty easy reading and since there was no romance happening in her actual life she had to live vicariously through someone. After picking one out that didn’t seem too smutty or lame she headed to the history section of the library, which was also her favourite. She spent much longer browsing this section and after she picked out a couple of books about ancient history and mythology headed towards a table to sit and read. She figured she probably had a couple of hours before her grandpa called her to pick her up so she took out her iPhone and plugged in her headphones before starting to go through one of the history texts, she’d get to the romance novel later.

outfit words: 800, most of them useless. mood: meh. notes: none.

[NELL DOE DALE]

Nell sometimes wished she could go back to New York and see the city. From the eyes of someone who wasn’t a fugitive. From the eyes of someone who survived the projects and looked up at the skycrapers of the city and see it for the glorious place it truly was. She wanted to see upstate and she wanted to go to Times Square. And she would return to the city in just so many months—for a murder trial. She would probably even stay in New York, in the state penn. If the death sentence was opted out, which her father assured her that it most likely would. Not that she cared about him or what he had to say. But on some level, the man understood her fear. Of course she would be afraid—she just wished her father didn’t know that.

She wanted to see a lot, she realized as she thought about it. She wanted to see Ellis Island, where her grandparents had come through before it shut down. She may not have been proud of the Fuenteses, but she was of her heritage. Or maybe she just wanted something to be proud of, a connection. You have one here at the Academy. Yes, that Academy was her home, she understood that. And she shouldn’t be holding onto the past. But she was a New Yorker, just like she was a Hispanic. She talked with the broad accent—toned down as she slowly assimilated—and new the slang from the area. Nell understood the city streets, and she only wished her childhood could have been happier so she could have felt a true kinship with New York.

It was probably why she found it so funny that she wore a Knicks jersey to the impromptu football game. ”It’s flag football, Nell, not basketball,” one of her opponents teased, pinching at the thin fabric. ”Next time when I know we’re gonna have a game, I’ll wear a Jets jersey and still kick your butt New York-style.” She wasn’t that good at football. She knew how to play, was fast, and had a lot of energy. But it wasn’t like she was planning to go pro. The girl just liked to have fun and stay active, especially because of the amount of food she ate.

Even when the first raindrop began to fall, they still kept up on the Academy grounds, Nell darting away from the fingertips of those trying to get the flag around her waist. Even as the deluge intensified, there were the aggravated cries of unfair plays and trash talk, and Nell enjoyed the feeling of playing in the rain, even if it meant getting her jersey a little dirty. Eventually, though, it became bad enough that they had to seek asylum somewhere. Taking the football with her, flags still around her waist, she darted into the nearest building and only after realized that she had entered the library. Taking off her shoes because she still wanted to respect the building even though the ball she held was coated in mud as well as her shorts and basketball jersey. She tiptoed up the stairs, hoping to find Josh in the history section. The chances wouldn’t be too high, but he would really help with his control over heat. He was a space heater, after all.

Instead, she found Beatrice with i-Pod earbuds in. Cupping her hands around her mouth, she stage-whispered, ”Bea!.” She pulled out a chair from the table and placed the ball in her lap, still not wanting to dirty up the place. She’d wait it out here until the rain let up, and she was glad she found someone to spend the time with. Well, if Beatrice wanted to spend time with her. She understood how if someone was deep into a book or something they might not want an annoying, dirty Earth girl yapping to them. Nell was well aware of how terrible she probably looked with black mascara still on her cheeks like war paint and everywhere else coated in mud. For that reason she didn’t get a book. ”Hiding out from the rain, too?” she asked, looking around to see if anyone else from the game had the same idea as her. Not finding anyone yet, she turned back to Beatrice and infromed, ”We had an impromptu football game. My team won, of course.” Yes, even when she was wearing a basketball jersey. ”So how’ve you been?” Nell asked in a cheerful voice, smiling brightly at her friend.



[Nell muse was telling me to snatch this up. >D]

[erika]

Bea loved the library, she really did. There was just something about walking into a building where silence was the norm and everything smelled like paper that relaxed her. As a person from a very large family Bea was not used to silence and for the most part she didn’t like it. When people weren’t talking it normally meant they felt uncomfortable about something and so Bea always got nervous when it became too quiet, she couldn’t even sleep without music or something playing. It was odd but Bea had learned long ago to just accept it as one of her many eccentricities. That being said Bea loved how quiet the library was. She still tended to listen to music while she was there but she loved how quiet things around her were and her music was never loud enough to disturb anyone around her. This is why the giggling gaggle of townie girls behind her was so infuriating. ‘Honestly,’ she thought to herself with an accompanying eye roll. ‘They obviously know they’re in the library so why won’t they hush up?’ She turned her music up a little, not too loud but enough to help drown out the girls behind her and turned back to her book.

Bea had lost track of how long she had been in the library as she often did when absorbed in a book. Being that history was her favourite subject there were many times where reading texts on the subject didn’t teach her anything new but instead were more of a review. This time however Bea could not turn away from the book as she was learning some very interesting things. Her focus tended to lean towards Ancient Greece and Rome but in her search for more information on Atlantis she had come across a truly fascinating tome on irrigation systems in Mesopotamia. She was so engrossed in her reading that someone was able to approach her table Bea not noticing until said someone pulled out a chair. Feeling the light vibration of the chair moving Bea looked up in time to catch Nell whispering her name in an exaggerated manner and grinning at her.

She pulled out her headphones in order to be able to actually hear what Nell was saying and gave her a smile before quickly responding. “Hey Nell, I’ve actually been here most of the day. I had plans with some townie friends but they fell through so I’m nerding it up here.” She couldn’t help but smile at her incredibly mud covered friend who had clearly been having a grand time outdoors before the storm broke. “Football? Isn’t that a basketball jersey? I mean I don’t know much about sports but I did live with five men for most of my life.” As she was talking with Nell Bea could hear the girls behind her giggling louder. Unsure as to what could possibly be so funny in the history section of all places she turned around to glare at them. Bea was not brave or confrontational but there were few things she disliked more than rudeness so the glare came easily even if it was directed at a group of “It Girls”.

Turning her attention back to Nell she continued with the conversation, getting caught up in the infectious joy she seemed to be experiencing. Nell was almost always in a good mood and that alone was enough to pull Bea out of her funk. “Honestly? I was kinda moping after my plans turned out to be a bust. Now that you’re here though things are looking up. Although that book was rather interesting.” She was about go into more detail about what she had been reading when it occurred to her that she probably had the wrong half of the couple to talk to about history.

Once again hearing the incredibly grating sound of high pitched voices from behind her Bea whipped around and snapped, “Would you all hush up? This is the library and you are annoying twits. Go to the bloody mall would you!” As the girls got up and huffed their way out of the library Bea collected herself and turned back to Nell, “Sorry about that,” she grinned sheepishly at Nell “but they have been getting on my nerves for hours. So besides playing fall sports what have you been up to? I feel like we haven’t seen each other in forever!” Feeling much better now that Nell was here and the girls were gone Bea could feel her mood lifting and a smile settling on her face as she sat across from her friend.

outfit
words: 700ish
mood: apologetic and tired
notes: I am soooo sorry this took so long. Also I didn’t really feel like editing my first post but am totally running with the “this is October” idea. I may edit it later but nothing would really change anyway so I may just leave it.

[NELL DOE DALE]

Shifting, a bit uncomfortable being wet and covered in mud while being in the nice establishment, Nell smiled at her friends words. ”Now that would be a good idea, to stay out of the rain and all.” Actually, Nell was pretty fond of the rain. She liked how it smelled and felt, but she’d rather wait out the deluge for a little bit, and return into it when the mood suited her. She wasn’t even too concerned about pneumonia or anything of the sort, thanks to her faith in her immune system. ”Aww, did they ditch on you? Don’t worry, I can nerd it up along with you. Or rather…jock it up. Har har.” She rolled her eyes at her own joke. Nell didn’t know what stereotype she fit in with, and she was almost tempted to ask Beatrice. Stereotypes were actually something she had little experience with, especially since she didn’t grow up in the school system where everyone was categorized. She didn’t mind if she was stereotyped, as long as the whole ‘murderer’ deal wasn’t part of that stigma.

Speaking of jock stereotypes, Beatrice pointed out her jersey. ”…Impromptu football game,” Nell said as she mussed up the back of her hair. Well, more mussed off than it already was. ”I was just showing off my New York pride.” It was a city she’d ike to have been a part of, after all. Parts of the Bronx were actually pretty nice—better than what she’d experienced in her childhood—and the rest of the city and especially upstate was beautiful. It was similar to the pride she had in her Spanish heritage, why she liked being bilingual even though it was a connection to the family she hated. ”So yeah, I didn’t reall have a chance to change before we were playing flag.” She noticed that Beatrice had moved her eyes to a gaggle of girls talking and tittering about something, and also noticed how it was irritating her. Nell ignored them easily—nothing bothered her much at all.

When Bea spoke of things looking up now that Nell was here, she drew her arm back and gave a silent ‘yes’ as if she’d just scored a goal in soccer. ”What book were you reading?” Nell asked curiously. Other people might have gone into discussion about themselves, but she didn’t like to do that when she was curious about others. She didn’t even like to talk about herself in general, which is probably why Beatrice didn’t know that she was indeed very interested in history. It was one of her favorite subjects, actually, and she was pretty decent at it. Probably because it wasn’t something like math, where it was difficult to make up for everything she’d missed in her life.

Nell snorted when the girl snapped at them, however, burying her head in her arms so she didn’t cause an uproar with her laughter. ”You’re too great for words, Bea,” she said, her voice muffled. She lifted her head up then, brushing the wily strands of hair from her face and saying, ”I was going to ask if they wanted to discuss Russian history with me.” Her grin was mischevious, wondering if an annoying chick trying to talk to them about the subject of the row they were in would have chased them off. She didn’t like it when her friends were unhappy, so it would have been something she’d consider. If Bea was unhappy, Nell was unhappy—that was how it was for all her friends. Her mood was very dependent on theirs, and if they didn’t seem to be in a good one, she’d do her best to cheer them up.

She kept her quiet chuckling up as Beatrice quickly changed the subject from the annoying chicks, and she took a few moments to calm down before responding. ”Okay, uhm…haven’t been doing too much interesting. Just hanging out, working hard, that kind of stuff.” Of course the girl was vague about her personal life. If she told the truth, she’d be telling her how in December she’ll be going to a trial that decides her fate, how her aunt is harrassing her and trying to wear her down every chance she got, how her father is just a freaking coward, and how Josh had to suffer because of all this. What has she been doing with herself? Trying to distract her mind from thinking about the upcoming winter and drowning in her school work and her job and whatever else she could find. ”What’s been up with you? Have youi been hanging out with friends?” She was definitely much more interested in Beatrice than talking about herself, but of course the girl could be just as vague as she had been. As she waited, she twirled the football under her fingertips.



[that's okay. we can just make pretend. ><]