SOTF Archive/SOTF Classic

Ben Powell was one of the more amusing members of her group. He was always getting himself hurt, very bad at hiding what he thought on his face, and, well, then there was what happened at the end of last year. Reiko could not hide how the toxicity of her voice was seeping it's way into Ben. She was pretty obviously in pain from what Ben had asked at the end of last year. For all she knew, they were still going out. And she needed more info for Amber. And Jacob, though she didn't care that he didn't care.

Ben introduced himself to Carol, and Paige smiled. Things were getting along quite well. It wasn't as though things could go wrong, was it?

"So how goes your love life you two?" Paige asked absentmindedly to Ben and Reiko.

....then again...

Carol reached out to take Ben's hand to shake it, and replied back.

"Tea lady? So you guys have little tea parties?" she joked.

Carol stopped, and started again.

"Uh. Name's Carol, by the way."

She noticed that the tone in Reiko's voice seemed kind of... well, it did not seem pleasant, as if she did not want Ben to be around. Carol wondered what could have happened between these two. Did they get into a fight or something? Did they hate each other? Judging by Paige's comment, they were apparently dating. Either that, or it was some sort of sarcastic comment.

In either case, Reiko was barely even hiding the fact that something happened between them. Carol, if anything, did not want a fight to break out between the two, especially on her first day.

Okay, think Carol think! How can I defuse the situation between these two? I remember when my buddies back home got into fights... how did they make up? Think!

How could she prevent something from happening? Change the topic? Paige did not seem to know that it was not a good idea to ask them what was going on. So, now what? Just ask them a random question?

"Uh... hey" Carol said. "Is there anything fun in St. Paul?"

Oh god... was this the right thing to do? Just change the topic? That's it? Just move right along... try to make things a little better.... if an argument really did break out, she would be able to mediate it, right? It was not that hard.

"So how goes your love life you two?"

Reiko had to use every bit of will in her body to not sigh. Paige had asked the question, and as much as she hoped it wouldn't be asked, she couldn't say the question was overly surprising. Paige was always looking for the latest tidbits of gossip, and what would be better than Reiko's turbulent love life.

An awkward silence hung over the group. Reiko really hoped a distraction would show itself so that the answer could be left unanswered for the time being. She knew it would just be delaying the inevitable though. Somewhere down the line, she would have to spill it to Paige, who would in turn tell Amber (and Jacob). Thankfully, the new girl Carol asked a question, almost as if she was trying to change the subject.

"There's tones of fun things to do here." Reiko said in a slightly relieved voice. "There's the Promenade, where you can find most anything, from clothes to electronics or what have you. There's also a skating rink there. Or you can go bowling, or maybe go see a movie. Really, there's a bunch of things to do." Wow, she was a bit fast to answer that wasn't she? Oh well, better that then the other question.