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[IC] Horror High - Freshman Year
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<blockquote data-quote="pathfinderq1" data-source="post: 6806965" data-attributes="member: 48394"><p>[sblock= EARLIER]</p><p></p><p>"<span style="color: #00FF00">This is it, Mom- the big day. I'm sure it is going to be great!</span>" Tasha's voice was little more than a whisper, but it didn't matter that much- she was alone in her room and, in fact, alone in the house, even at such an early hour. Her mother was already waiting for the Red Line train at Alewife Station, headed into Boston for work. Tasha had taken to getting up really early the last few days, just so she and her mom had a few minutes of what her therapist called "Quality Connection Time"- but she had hit the snooze button one time too many today... Of course it would be the first day at the new school.</p><p></p><p>She stood in front of her mirror for a few more minutes, trying to make little adjustments to her look. You never got a second chance to make a first impression, they said, and Tasha knew she was going to make LOT of 'first impressions' today. She had been to the school a few times to meet various administrators and straighten out the tangled maze of paperwork for enrollment- and she had seen a few other kids her age wandering around town over the last week or so, when she had gone exploring to take a break from all the unpacking for the latest move. Her room was still half-full of boxes- but now it was time to get back out into the world for real, at a new school (again) with actual kids her own age. <em><span style="color: #00FF00">It wouldn't be a disaster again, right?</span></em> Dr. Caldwell said she was ready, and Tasha herself even felt ready this time. Mostly ready, anyway. She hadn't heard any voices in <em>weeks.</em>.. With one last look in the mirror, Tasha decided that her clothes, at least, were ready- she had gone for a pretty simple look, though she would probably be dressed more heavily than anyone else in her class. A slightly over-sized grey polo shirt over a black turtleneck (which matched the foam-and-plastic brace on her left wrist, which she had sprained in a fall down the front stairs last week), a soft black skirt that fell to her ankles, and calf-high black boots all conspired to give a flowing sort of look that hid just how thin she was. She knew that everybody was going to be looking at her today, both as the "New Girl" and as an obvious weirdo, but at least when she was dressed like this people didn't look at her <strong>that way</strong>, the way that made her feel oily and gross... Finally satisfied, she tugged on the shapeless cloth hat she had chosen and headed for the door, snagging her bookbag from the chair in the kitchen on the way out. The school bus, and the whole bright new world, would be waiting... </p><p></p><p>She didn't even notice, as she trooped down the front steps of the triple-decker that she in her mom were renting a floor of, that she had left the front door open just a bit (it tended to not latch the first time)- and she didn't notice, as she was walking down the street to the bus stop, that the door slammed closed- all on its own. That sort of thing didn't happen anymore, not with the new meds...</p><p>[/sblock]</p><p></p><p>(At the Assembly)</p><p></p><p> Tasha had been one of the first kids into the room. Her homeroom teacher seemed rather eager to send her students off to the (mandatory) assembly and most of the other kids had quickly coalesced into tight little knots, friends reconnecting after the summer. Tasha, with no one to 'reconnect' with, had spent a minute or so of indecision and then headed off to the assembly. At least she had been able to stow most of her books and stuff in her locker- her bookbag was crushingly heavy when it was fully loaded, but now it was down to a managable weight, for now. She stepped into the mostly empty room, staring up at the fold-out bleachers with a momentary flash of dismay. Just how many kids were they going to stuff in here, anyway? Crowds were so very much NOT her thing...</p><p></p><p> By that point, some of the other freshthings were beginning to filter into the room. Tasha gave a brief shy smile to some of the kids that had been in her homeroom, but then she moved up into the seats by herself. The soft brace of her left arm made juggling the bookbag and climbing through the seats a bit of a pain, so she didn't bother going all the way up- she just went to the far end of the third row, in a big patch of empty seats. She slung the bookbag down beside her, preserving a small section of protective empty space, then hauled out her water bottle and a paperback book. She had read it before, but she knew that being obviously engrossed in reading kept at least some potential conversations at bay- she could watch what was going on while <em>pretending</em> to read...</p><p> </p><p>And so, she watched as the other kids filtered in and began to take their places. Most of them were small groups, far more interested in talking among themselves than in anything the assembly could provide. There were a few other loners, some of whom looked about as lost or confused as Tasha was feeling. One or two of them even glanced in her direction- natural enough, as she was pretty obviously new here, an unknown quantity. As the seats began to fill, Tasha paid a bit less interest to her book- she began, instead, to look over the other students more closely. Bouncing from town to town, school to school (or to institution) had honed some of her social senses, and now she was able to get some sense of who was who, what groups or cliques were in place (or forming, in a new level of school and socialization- this was high school now, not middle school). If she was going to make a go of this, she was going to have to fit in- somehow...</p><p> </p><p>She put her book away as the doors were closed, and the various administrators, faculty, and guests began to form up on stage. <em><span style="color: #00FF00">Oy, was that a police officer? Two of them? What the...</span></em> Tasha knew that many schools had a so-called 'Resource Officer', but this kind of suburban town hardly seemed likely to need it. Police, and especially guns, made her nervous. The door to the auditorium banged open, admitting a spill of a half-dozen late students- almost all jocks, talking loudly together as they climbed up the bleachers to sit on the very top row; they pushed roughly past Tasha as they made their climb, looking at her hardly at all and forcing her to grab for her bookbag before they could knock in to the floor in passing. As the last of the group scrambled by, Tasha felt the oily sensation of being watched- and for the first time in weeks a soft flash of a whispering wordless VOICE in her head... She twitched, almost dropping her bag, and forced her eyes closed- and the sibilant whisper was gone again, as quickly as it had arrived. Tasha avoided the urge to look around, and instead moved just a little bit further down the row of seats...</p><p> </p><p>She was paying close attention as the principal started her spiel. Of course there had been rumors- even some odd stuff on the internet, if you knew where to look. That was fine- Tasha knew that she was a little odd, and a school with some strangeness seemed like a better fit than some hidebound, uptight school, but... Well, it did explain the police presence, didn't it? But as the police captain stepped up to the podium and made his pitch, Tasha felt a flash of fear. She thought that he was looking right at her when he said the words "at risk"- the twinkle in his eyes seemed menacing, and his smile filled her with dread. She sat back quickly- a bit too quickly, and her water bottle tipped over. "Hey watch it!" There was a brief flurry of aggrieved voices and sudden movement as the students in front of her shifted away from the (thankfully small) spill- it was enough to draw the eye and attention, but not enough to interrupt the activities on stage. Tasha blushed, mortified, and tried to sink into her seat under the glares of those closest to her. Blotting the little bit of water with the trailing edge of her long skirt, she tried to focus back in on what was being said up at the podium...</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pathfinderq1, post: 6806965, member: 48394"] [sblock= EARLIER] "[COLOR=#00FF00]This is it, Mom- the big day. I'm sure it is going to be great![/COLOR]" Tasha's voice was little more than a whisper, but it didn't matter that much- she was alone in her room and, in fact, alone in the house, even at such an early hour. Her mother was already waiting for the Red Line train at Alewife Station, headed into Boston for work. Tasha had taken to getting up really early the last few days, just so she and her mom had a few minutes of what her therapist called "Quality Connection Time"- but she had hit the snooze button one time too many today... Of course it would be the first day at the new school. She stood in front of her mirror for a few more minutes, trying to make little adjustments to her look. You never got a second chance to make a first impression, they said, and Tasha knew she was going to make LOT of 'first impressions' today. She had been to the school a few times to meet various administrators and straighten out the tangled maze of paperwork for enrollment- and she had seen a few other kids her age wandering around town over the last week or so, when she had gone exploring to take a break from all the unpacking for the latest move. Her room was still half-full of boxes- but now it was time to get back out into the world for real, at a new school (again) with actual kids her own age. [I][COLOR=#00FF00]It wouldn't be a disaster again, right?[/COLOR][/I] Dr. Caldwell said she was ready, and Tasha herself even felt ready this time. Mostly ready, anyway. She hadn't heard any voices in [I]weeks.[/I].. With one last look in the mirror, Tasha decided that her clothes, at least, were ready- she had gone for a pretty simple look, though she would probably be dressed more heavily than anyone else in her class. A slightly over-sized grey polo shirt over a black turtleneck (which matched the foam-and-plastic brace on her left wrist, which she had sprained in a fall down the front stairs last week), a soft black skirt that fell to her ankles, and calf-high black boots all conspired to give a flowing sort of look that hid just how thin she was. She knew that everybody was going to be looking at her today, both as the "New Girl" and as an obvious weirdo, but at least when she was dressed like this people didn't look at her [B]that way[/B], the way that made her feel oily and gross... Finally satisfied, she tugged on the shapeless cloth hat she had chosen and headed for the door, snagging her bookbag from the chair in the kitchen on the way out. The school bus, and the whole bright new world, would be waiting... She didn't even notice, as she trooped down the front steps of the triple-decker that she in her mom were renting a floor of, that she had left the front door open just a bit (it tended to not latch the first time)- and she didn't notice, as she was walking down the street to the bus stop, that the door slammed closed- all on its own. That sort of thing didn't happen anymore, not with the new meds... [/sblock] (At the Assembly) Tasha had been one of the first kids into the room. Her homeroom teacher seemed rather eager to send her students off to the (mandatory) assembly and most of the other kids had quickly coalesced into tight little knots, friends reconnecting after the summer. Tasha, with no one to 'reconnect' with, had spent a minute or so of indecision and then headed off to the assembly. At least she had been able to stow most of her books and stuff in her locker- her bookbag was crushingly heavy when it was fully loaded, but now it was down to a managable weight, for now. She stepped into the mostly empty room, staring up at the fold-out bleachers with a momentary flash of dismay. Just how many kids were they going to stuff in here, anyway? Crowds were so very much NOT her thing... By that point, some of the other freshthings were beginning to filter into the room. Tasha gave a brief shy smile to some of the kids that had been in her homeroom, but then she moved up into the seats by herself. The soft brace of her left arm made juggling the bookbag and climbing through the seats a bit of a pain, so she didn't bother going all the way up- she just went to the far end of the third row, in a big patch of empty seats. She slung the bookbag down beside her, preserving a small section of protective empty space, then hauled out her water bottle and a paperback book. She had read it before, but she knew that being obviously engrossed in reading kept at least some potential conversations at bay- she could watch what was going on while [I]pretending[/I] to read... And so, she watched as the other kids filtered in and began to take their places. Most of them were small groups, far more interested in talking among themselves than in anything the assembly could provide. There were a few other loners, some of whom looked about as lost or confused as Tasha was feeling. One or two of them even glanced in her direction- natural enough, as she was pretty obviously new here, an unknown quantity. As the seats began to fill, Tasha paid a bit less interest to her book- she began, instead, to look over the other students more closely. Bouncing from town to town, school to school (or to institution) had honed some of her social senses, and now she was able to get some sense of who was who, what groups or cliques were in place (or forming, in a new level of school and socialization- this was high school now, not middle school). If she was going to make a go of this, she was going to have to fit in- somehow... She put her book away as the doors were closed, and the various administrators, faculty, and guests began to form up on stage. [I][COLOR=#00FF00]Oy, was that a police officer? Two of them? What the...[/COLOR][/I] Tasha knew that many schools had a so-called 'Resource Officer', but this kind of suburban town hardly seemed likely to need it. Police, and especially guns, made her nervous. The door to the auditorium banged open, admitting a spill of a half-dozen late students- almost all jocks, talking loudly together as they climbed up the bleachers to sit on the very top row; they pushed roughly past Tasha as they made their climb, looking at her hardly at all and forcing her to grab for her bookbag before they could knock in to the floor in passing. As the last of the group scrambled by, Tasha felt the oily sensation of being watched- and for the first time in weeks a soft flash of a whispering wordless VOICE in her head... She twitched, almost dropping her bag, and forced her eyes closed- and the sibilant whisper was gone again, as quickly as it had arrived. Tasha avoided the urge to look around, and instead moved just a little bit further down the row of seats... She was paying close attention as the principal started her spiel. Of course there had been rumors- even some odd stuff on the internet, if you knew where to look. That was fine- Tasha knew that she was a little odd, and a school with some strangeness seemed like a better fit than some hidebound, uptight school, but... Well, it did explain the police presence, didn't it? But as the police captain stepped up to the podium and made his pitch, Tasha felt a flash of fear. She thought that he was looking right at her when he said the words "at risk"- the twinkle in his eyes seemed menacing, and his smile filled her with dread. She sat back quickly- a bit too quickly, and her water bottle tipped over. "Hey watch it!" There was a brief flurry of aggrieved voices and sudden movement as the students in front of her shifted away from the (thankfully small) spill- it was enough to draw the eye and attention, but not enough to interrupt the activities on stage. Tasha blushed, mortified, and tried to sink into her seat under the glares of those closest to her. Blotting the little bit of water with the trailing edge of her long skirt, she tried to focus back in on what was being said up at the podium... [/QUOTE]
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