M. I. A.

[Dropbear†]

((Eve Walker-Luther start))

"It's been ages..."

Blowing a strand of blue and blonde hair out of her eyes and rubbing her still-large stomach, Eve walked back onto the grass outside of Bayview Secondary School. She'd changed so much, and yet the school was still it's old, bored-looking self. She took out the earbuds from her iPod.

Six months. She had left the school six months ago due to her pregnancy. Hard as it was to admit, it was impossible for her to even try to concentrate in class let alone deal with preparing to be a mother back then. But now that was over. Now she had Octavia to care for.

And now she had to come back.

Adjusting her shoulder strap on her messenger bag, she stepped onto the concrete. She needed to get to the front office.

[MurderWeasel]

((Kimberly Nguyen continued from Angst and Sullenness in Saint Paul))

It was almost the start of the school day, not that Kimberly particularly cared. She was just walking to the doors, tossing her cigarette to the ground, waging an internal war with herself as she tried to decide whether to ditch or not. She had perfect attendance this semester, and her grades were good, so it wouldn't be a big deal if she missed one day. On the other hand, she'd already dragged herself out of bed and to the campus. It wasn't like she really had anything better to do.

She slowed her walk, giving herself a little more time before reaching the point of no return, when she happened to glance to the side and saw a slightly familiar figure walking towards the school. She paused for a second, looking closer. It couldn't be...

"Eve?" she called.

Kimberly didn't really know the girl well, but she'd picked up the nature of Eve's academic hiatus. The girl was back in school now, though, which was actually a pretty interesting development. Besides, saying hi was a perfectly valid reason for Kimberly to be late to class, just this once.

[Dropbear†]

Front office is that-a-way. Or was it-

"Eve?"

She spun around on the spot. Saying her name was... someone. It took her a few seconds to recognise her slightly alien face.

"Err, Kimberley?"

Yeah, that was right. The Asian emo girl. They had never really talked all that much while she was here before. Then again, she was like that with most of the people at school. It just wasn't her thing. Wincing slightly at the smell of tobacco (that stuff ruined your breathing and stamina, essential in dancing), she gave a friendly nod. Might as well talk. Get back to the socializing of Bayview.

"Hey, what's up? Did I miss anything, I haven't been here for a while?"

Ha. That's one way of looking at it.

[MurderWeasel]

Eve turned around, acknowledging Kimberly and asking about the state of affairs in the school, so Kimberly said, "Well, nothing too huge. Prom's coming up, you know, and there were royalty elections or something. Everyone's pumped for the trip, graduation, and getting out of here. You know, normal stuff."

Normal indeed. Normal, and fairly boring. The really interesting thing here was Eve's return. Kimberly had heard rumors about the girl, and had figured that she'd miss the rest of the year, maybe even transfer schools—that is, if she finished high school at all. Apparently not, though; Eve must have somehow made up a lot of her work while absent or have worked out some sort of deal with the school. Or had enough credits not to worry about missing a few classes, which was quite possible. Still, she was back, and after her exit, that took some guts.

"How've you been?" Kimberly asked. It was the perfect question for this sort of occaision: innocent, yet as loaded as the recipient wanted it to be. As she talked, Kimberly walked alongside Eve, setting a slow pace. It wasn't like a few extra minutes out of class were going to change anything for Eve.

[VinnyMcQ†]

(Trevor Duncan start)

Acting is all about conversation Trevor, dialogue. It's up to you to draw in the audience with your words, command their attention. If the set design is bad, or the costumes leave much to be desired then all the focus is on the actors, and if you want the lead, you have to own the stage with your voice.

Trevor thought about what his mother had said after he informed her he was going to try for the lead in the next school production. It made sense to him, now all he had to do was to find someway of getting in some sort of vocal warm-up before acting class later in the day. He grimaced as he remembered the first time he had gone into a role without warming up his voice. It had been a large ham worthy of Shatner himself but the strain had been so much he croaked for three full days afterwards.

Ok Trevor this'll do for a warm-up. Next person you see, go and speak to them. Don't know them? Introduce yourself

Trevor rounded a corner and was greeted with a view of two girls walking at a slow pace. He recognised one, but only a little. Hoping he wouldn't be interrupting a deeply personal talk he walked over to greet the girls.

Giving a conversational 'Hiya' to the familiar girl, Kimberly he thought, he turned and introduced himself to the other, who didn't recognise at all. 'I'm Trevor, what's up?'

[Dropbear†]

"You know, normal stuff."
Normal stuff? None of that sounded anything like normal to her now. Hell, she was pumped for getting back into school. Even if it was for a few months, it was enough. Eve smirked and shook her head. Irony was back in full swing. Last year she probably would have left school altogether.

"How've you been?"

"Eh, could be worse," she said with a smile. "You know, dance class plus schoolwork plus baby that needs attention twenty-four-seven is exhausting. But it's fun, very... interesting."

Stretching her arms, she had a look around the place before raising an eyebrow at the boy running up to them. He gave a small wave, saying "I'm Trevor, what's up?"

Giving a thought of slight annoyance, Eve sighed. "Eve. I just came back to school. You new here?"

[VinnyMcQ†]

Trevor thought he saw a quickly smothered look of annoyance flash in the girl's eyes, and heard an audible sigh as she returned his greeting. Trevor's good mood vanished.

Maybe she's just tired? Don't let it get you down he thought

'New? Nah I just spend too much time in backstage in the drama room.' Trevor tried to convey his optimistic shell, but he couldn't help but wonder to himself just how invisible he was at Bayview. Two can play at this game. Wait what!? Where in hell did that come from? Trevor regretted it almost immediately, but the words were already out of his mouth, 'What about you?' he asked. Relax; it's just an innocent question. Besides you actually haven't seen her around so maybe there's a story here.

As they walked Trevor looked ahead, gauging their direction. His first class was Spanish, perfect for first thing in the morning but the rest of his day was better. Maybe I should skip Spanish and do some snooping on what the next production's gonna be. He'd heard rumours of a gritty urban adaptation of, of all things, Titus Andronicus. That would be interesting, if a little surreal

[MurderWeasel]

Kimberly smiled at Eve, and said, "Yeah, I know how busy goes."

Then another guy wandered over, someone she'd seen around, maybe been in class with a few times, but couldn't quite place. Fortunately, he introduced himself.

"Hi Trevor," she said. He talked with Eve for a second, explaining that he wasn't new, just seemingly introverted. That made sense. Kimberly could get needing space from people. Not that she experienced that feeling too often, but she knew many people did.

Then Trevor asked Eve a question that seemed to be leading to her absence. Kimberly didn't know if Eve was touchy about that or not, but decided to step in and do her a favor if she was.

"Eve's just been gone for a while, handling things, you know," Kimberly said vaguely, smiling the whole time so it didn't seem like a brushoff. Trevor probably already knew what had happened anyways, she realized, but if not, well, keeping him in the dark couldn't hurt. Besides, if Eve wanted him to know, she'd share the information herself.

[Elma†]

((Anyone mind if I sneak right in? If not, then Marcia Gomez's Debut))

Marcia had noticed the first girl walk around sullenly on the grass, not really paying much attention. Instead her focus was on this one deeply rooted weed. As hard as she pulled, it just seemed to keep growing in length. Amaldiçoe-o (Damn it) she whined to herself. Marcia arched her back and far out as it would go, dramatically pulling at the weed. Suddenly, she lost her footing and fell directly on the wet grass. She played tug-of-war with the weed, and apparently it had won. She had dirt strewn all over her arms and legs. Her white tank top and short grey sweats were stained a grassy green and soil brown. Dirt had also managed to fly into her face, with a small smudge over her cheek.

Defeated, she walked towards her bag and noticed the small little group that formed. Unlike most of the school, she didn't feel like she could actually approach the group and strike up good conversation. From what she knew, one of them was a teenage mother, one was emo, and the boy.. well honestly she'd never seen his face before. On a normal circumstance, she'd probably be busy with another group of friends, pass them in the hall without so much as a thought. Por que são toda a parte externa? A escola começa realmente logo... (Why are they all outside? School starts really soon..)

As she walked closer to the group, close enough that she'd be noticed, she saw a small cigarette bud on the floor. Marcia never minded smoking, even though she knew of it's health risks, however, she did mind when people left them on the floor. Not only did they pose a risk for the small creatures that might eat them, but they made the campus look filthy, and it was her job on the outdoor's club to clean them up.

"Perhaps you should try a less smelly brand. I could smell the smoke from the flower patch." Marcia said as she walked up to the group. The tone of her voice told them that she wasn't going to tattle. Instead she motioned for Kimberly to move slightly to the left, so she can throw out the bud.

[VinnyMcQ†]

Trevor caught the look in Kimberly's eyes and wisely shut his mouth. Whatever was going on here was not to be doled out in the campus before class. Trevor put it from his mind, if it was important he'd find out sooner or later. No secret was safe in Bayview. Absentmindedly he chewed a nail, turning his head as he did so lest he disturb the others. There he caught sight of a newcomer. Short and pleasantly plump she had a large grass stain down her front. She approached the group but paused to bend down and retrieve a dropped cigarette butt.

'Maybe you should try a less smelly brand. I could smell the smoke from the flower patch' she said, in a thankfully unserious tone. Trevor leapt at the opportunity to move on from the aborted line of questioning he'd began to build up. He just had to figure out what angle to come in from. Should he crack a joke? Or would she take offence? He decided on a compromise, and mixed in a little genuine concern

'Hey are you alright? You look like you did a slip 'n' slide 'cept without the slip or the slide'

If this was some big secret as well, Trevor swore he was shutting up for the morning.

Trevor checked the time as he passed a nearby clock, and saw he was running late for class. He waved goodbye to the crowd of people and sped off.

(Trevor Duncan continued to La ignorancia es atrevida)

[Dropbear†]

[[FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-]]

"What about you?"
"Eve's just been gone for a while, handling things, you know-"

She cringed. Why were other people answering the questions for her now? It sounded like she was hiding something like a criminal. Before she could open her mouth to interupt though, someone else did for her.

"Perhaps you should try a less smelly brand. I could smell the smoke from the flower patch."

And the smoking came back to haunt Kim from the look of it. Oh the irony. Eve couldn't remember the name on who could have looked like the gardener of the school, except she was around the same age as them. In fact, she looked kinda new. The group looked more or less awkwardly at each other before Trevor looked at the clock and sped off waving.

"Well, he's off in a rush."

Crossing her arms, Eve sighed yet again. "So yeah, where were we?"

[MurderWeasel]

Trevor made some comments, asked some questions, and then buzzed off, which suited Kimberly just fine. At about the same time, out of nowhere, came another girl, one Kimberly recognized as Marcia Gomez. She didn't know much about Marcia, but she was learning quickly; apparently the girl was a goodie two-shoes busybody, come to lecture Kimberly on her smoking. Whatever. She'd heard worse from her peers. At least there was no cancer talk so far.

"Nah," Kimberly said, grinning widely at Marcia. "The things are so expensive these days, I figure I might as well get my money's worth. Besides, this way the poor freshmen can stand downwind and share."

Then she turned back to Eve, pointedly not keeping eye contact with Marcia.

"Yeah," Kimberly said. "He probably just cares about making it to class on time. Whatever. They won't mind if I'm a couple minutes late. We were, uh..." She realized, then, that she couldn't actually remember what they'd been talking about, if anything. That wouldn't do.

"I was just asking if you needed any help getting back into the swing of things, you know, brushing up on school news, that sort of thing."

The whole time she spoke to Eve, Kimberly ignored Marcia completely.

If you don't acknowledge problems, they'll eventually go away.

Then, she realized something. Ignoring the problem and hoping it went away was giving it control of the situation. Fuck that. Marcia wasn't getting the upper hand here, no matter how indirectly. Perhaps what Kimberly was about to d would strike Eve as rude. It would almost certainly seem that way to Marcia. Whatever.

"Well, I actually have class," Kimberly said to Eve. "I'll see you later."

That done, she turned her back on Marcia, without a word, and just walked away.

Damn if that wasn't a satisfying way to start the day.

((Kimberly Nguyen continued in The Dance Must go on!))