pathfinderq1
First Post
And On The First Day... (Vignettes, part 2)
>(Shivani Singh, Hannah Park-Davis, ‘Rexxie’ Desmond, etc.): Lunch (Cafeteria)
‘Bloody hell. There had to be a ‘brown girls’ table, didn’t there?’ Shivani thought, as she navigated through the crowded cafeteria in search of a free seat. There weren’t many- the underclass lunch period combined freshman and sophomores, attempting to stuff almost 600 students into the dining area at the same time. And especially on the first day of school, with so many of the elements of the social order not yet set into stone for the year, it was even more chaotic than usual. But some things weren’t going to change much- Belmont High was rampantly ‘white’, and most of the non-white students, especially those who, like Shivani herself, were new to town- well, they tended to cluster at the far edges of the room. Sure enough, there was one large table with only two other girls in residence- a tall slender Asian with her nose in book, and a stocky girl with burnt-toast skin and wild frizzy curls, who seemed to be enraptured by whatever music was pulsing through her headphones; her lunch looked untouched.
Shivani took another look around the crowded room- no other seats presented themselves nearby- at least not without intruding on some budding clique or another. She sighed and stepped over to the mostly-empty table. “May I?” she asked, her tone a bit more frosty than she had intended. The Asian girl looked up from her book for a moment- she eyed Shivani briefly, glanced at the other girl, and then across the otherwise empty table. And then, without a word, she returned to her book- she might, just maybe, have given a tiny shrug. Bollocks. Shivani plopped her tray down and sat down, at the opposite end of the table.
That was enough to draw the attention of the girl in the headphones. She looked over with a broad, almost goofy smile and reached up to push the headphones back off her ears. “Hey, how’s it going? I’m Rexxie,” she gushed, extending one hand and then realizing the distance was too great for a handshake- she turned the gesture into a rather graceful wave of welcome. “Serious Girl over there is Hannah,” she added, waving now at the Asian girl- who without raising her attention from her book, gave a brief salute with one of the carrot sticks from her lunch tray. “You’ve got to be new, right?” Rexxie went on.
Shivani nodded briefly. “I’m Shivani- yes I’m a first year; I mean, a freshman.” She forced a polite smile onto her face- social graces weren’t her strong point, but she didn’t want to come off as a jerk. The dark-skinned girl’s smile widened even further.
“Ooh, you’re British aren’t you? Cool.” She waved one hand in a sweeping gesture, across the crowded cafeteria. “Welcome to Bloody Belmont! Cor Blimey, you’ll be knackered by the end of the day, for sure,” she added in a terrible attempt at a Cockney accent.
The Asian girl shot her a momentary glance, too mild to be a real glare, when she said ‘Bloody Belmont’, then swept a quick glance around the room- before returning to her book. “Don’t talk like that. You know the Powers That Be hate it when we talk about that stuff, especially to the new people,” she stage-whispered. “Why don’t you tell her why we call you ‘Rexxie’?” That got the broad smile to dim a bit, but it didn't stop her from talking...
>Outside (Tommy Wells, ?)
The thin strip of brush, inevitably laced with windblown trash, lined the northern edge of the school property, along the double-layered chainlink fence beside the commuter rail tracks. It was, in school slang, known as “the Badlands”- and it was the traditional refuge of some of the worst miscreants at this kind of sedate suburban high school; namely the smokers. The custodians did some landscaping about once a week, dragging out the worst of the trash and keeping the brush at bay, but it seemed to grow like kudzu and even in the winter it was thick enough to screen a variety of mischief. There were, supposedly, cameras back there to keep an eye out for troublemakers- but they were even less reliable than the cameras in the halls inside. Tommy Wells wasn’t worried about cameras, or about getting in trouble- his older brother Davey had been one of the biggest troublemakers in his class, and he had graduated just fine. This was, after all, Horror High- he figured the administration had bigger things to worry about. A little casual smoking, even if it wasn’t tobacco he was craving, wouldn’t cause too much trouble.
He leaned back against one of the trees that lined the fence, and fished the lighter and crude ‘cigarette’ out of an inner pocket- at least this school was too suburban to have drug-sniffing dogs, he thought with a lopsided smile. Inhale, hold, exhale… Ah, that made the day better already, he thought as he gazed up at the bright sun shining through the screen of brush. Off to his left there was a soft rustling in the scrub, and he turned languidly to glance that way. While he could see a bit of movement somewhere back there, he couldn’t see what, exactly, was moving- didn’t look like a person though- which was fine, since he wanted to neither explain nor share his habit. The rustling stopped, and Tommy’s attention wandered- he quickly found himself entranced by the sunlight rippling through the leaves.
Then there was more rustling, closer from the sound of it, and a slight shift in the wind brought a fetid stink. Tommy wrinkled his nose in disgust and shuffled to his feet- he still couldn’t see what was moving back there, but it definitely wasn’t just the wind. “Hey, who’s there?” he called, his voice a little more shrill than he liked. There was no answer, only a heavier sound that might have been a footstep in the heavy scruff that lined the railway fence. Tommy crushed the joint out against the tree trunk and took a step backwards. Suddenly a wave of irrational fear swept through the fuzz in his brain. “Screw this,” he muttered, his eyes wide. He took another step back- and felt something catch at his arm. With a startled exclamation he whirled away, a bit unsteadily- it was only the brush that lined the fence that he had run into, rasping against his sleeve, but that was enough. Sputtering, he scrambled through the screen of brush and headed back towards the school buildings.
Behind him, deeper in the brush, something took another heavy, shuffling step…
>(Shivani Singh, Hannah Park-Davis, ‘Rexxie’ Desmond, etc.): Lunch (Cafeteria)
‘Bloody hell. There had to be a ‘brown girls’ table, didn’t there?’ Shivani thought, as she navigated through the crowded cafeteria in search of a free seat. There weren’t many- the underclass lunch period combined freshman and sophomores, attempting to stuff almost 600 students into the dining area at the same time. And especially on the first day of school, with so many of the elements of the social order not yet set into stone for the year, it was even more chaotic than usual. But some things weren’t going to change much- Belmont High was rampantly ‘white’, and most of the non-white students, especially those who, like Shivani herself, were new to town- well, they tended to cluster at the far edges of the room. Sure enough, there was one large table with only two other girls in residence- a tall slender Asian with her nose in book, and a stocky girl with burnt-toast skin and wild frizzy curls, who seemed to be enraptured by whatever music was pulsing through her headphones; her lunch looked untouched.
Shivani took another look around the crowded room- no other seats presented themselves nearby- at least not without intruding on some budding clique or another. She sighed and stepped over to the mostly-empty table. “May I?” she asked, her tone a bit more frosty than she had intended. The Asian girl looked up from her book for a moment- she eyed Shivani briefly, glanced at the other girl, and then across the otherwise empty table. And then, without a word, she returned to her book- she might, just maybe, have given a tiny shrug. Bollocks. Shivani plopped her tray down and sat down, at the opposite end of the table.
That was enough to draw the attention of the girl in the headphones. She looked over with a broad, almost goofy smile and reached up to push the headphones back off her ears. “Hey, how’s it going? I’m Rexxie,” she gushed, extending one hand and then realizing the distance was too great for a handshake- she turned the gesture into a rather graceful wave of welcome. “Serious Girl over there is Hannah,” she added, waving now at the Asian girl- who without raising her attention from her book, gave a brief salute with one of the carrot sticks from her lunch tray. “You’ve got to be new, right?” Rexxie went on.
Shivani nodded briefly. “I’m Shivani- yes I’m a first year; I mean, a freshman.” She forced a polite smile onto her face- social graces weren’t her strong point, but she didn’t want to come off as a jerk. The dark-skinned girl’s smile widened even further.
“Ooh, you’re British aren’t you? Cool.” She waved one hand in a sweeping gesture, across the crowded cafeteria. “Welcome to Bloody Belmont! Cor Blimey, you’ll be knackered by the end of the day, for sure,” she added in a terrible attempt at a Cockney accent.
The Asian girl shot her a momentary glance, too mild to be a real glare, when she said ‘Bloody Belmont’, then swept a quick glance around the room- before returning to her book. “Don’t talk like that. You know the Powers That Be hate it when we talk about that stuff, especially to the new people,” she stage-whispered. “Why don’t you tell her why we call you ‘Rexxie’?” That got the broad smile to dim a bit, but it didn't stop her from talking...
>Outside (Tommy Wells, ?)
The thin strip of brush, inevitably laced with windblown trash, lined the northern edge of the school property, along the double-layered chainlink fence beside the commuter rail tracks. It was, in school slang, known as “the Badlands”- and it was the traditional refuge of some of the worst miscreants at this kind of sedate suburban high school; namely the smokers. The custodians did some landscaping about once a week, dragging out the worst of the trash and keeping the brush at bay, but it seemed to grow like kudzu and even in the winter it was thick enough to screen a variety of mischief. There were, supposedly, cameras back there to keep an eye out for troublemakers- but they were even less reliable than the cameras in the halls inside. Tommy Wells wasn’t worried about cameras, or about getting in trouble- his older brother Davey had been one of the biggest troublemakers in his class, and he had graduated just fine. This was, after all, Horror High- he figured the administration had bigger things to worry about. A little casual smoking, even if it wasn’t tobacco he was craving, wouldn’t cause too much trouble.
He leaned back against one of the trees that lined the fence, and fished the lighter and crude ‘cigarette’ out of an inner pocket- at least this school was too suburban to have drug-sniffing dogs, he thought with a lopsided smile. Inhale, hold, exhale… Ah, that made the day better already, he thought as he gazed up at the bright sun shining through the screen of brush. Off to his left there was a soft rustling in the scrub, and he turned languidly to glance that way. While he could see a bit of movement somewhere back there, he couldn’t see what, exactly, was moving- didn’t look like a person though- which was fine, since he wanted to neither explain nor share his habit. The rustling stopped, and Tommy’s attention wandered- he quickly found himself entranced by the sunlight rippling through the leaves.
Then there was more rustling, closer from the sound of it, and a slight shift in the wind brought a fetid stink. Tommy wrinkled his nose in disgust and shuffled to his feet- he still couldn’t see what was moving back there, but it definitely wasn’t just the wind. “Hey, who’s there?” he called, his voice a little more shrill than he liked. There was no answer, only a heavier sound that might have been a footstep in the heavy scruff that lined the railway fence. Tommy crushed the joint out against the tree trunk and took a step backwards. Suddenly a wave of irrational fear swept through the fuzz in his brain. “Screw this,” he muttered, his eyes wide. He took another step back- and felt something catch at his arm. With a startled exclamation he whirled away, a bit unsteadily- it was only the brush that lined the fence that he had run into, rasping against his sleeve, but that was enough. Sputtering, he scrambled through the screen of brush and headed back towards the school buildings.
Behind him, deeper in the brush, something took another heavy, shuffling step…
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