Ashlynn would have helped Gyu-ri. She even made a show of moving her chair around slightly, repositioning herself so she could look at what Gyu-ri was doing, examine what she was doing, be visibly on hand to help if asked. But she decided not to intervene. The task was so small - and Ashlynn had already done her bit in nailing the answers and understanding the full complexities of the question, even if she could not claim exclusivity on the first count - that Ashlynn knew any bearish intervention would just overcomplicate things. The task was too small, too limited in scope, to really justify being a group task.
Before she made a conscious decision to do so, Ashlynn had leaned back in her chair, resting her notepad on her knee, doing her own interpretation of the final grid. Not to denigrate Gyu-ri's efforts - the girl was clearly thoughtful - but that was probably the best way to go about this, to preserve the spirit of the team activity assignment. Do their own attempts, then merge them, or if need be select the best. Which was probably going to be Ashlynn's. Not to insult Gyu-ri, but if her specialty was something like medicine, then Ashlynn's was politics. And this came under that auspicious umbrella.
Almost everybody seemed to have added their own input into the conversation. Ashlynn was happy that she had opted not to do the same. Meant that her own contribution, which was pretty damn important, wouldn't get muscled out.
"I've heard good things about that film," Ashlynn replied. She hadn't seen it, and likely wouldn't, but she'd make a note on her to-do list to maybe see it one day if she was left unable to do anything more productive such as reading or whatever. Horror movies weren't really her thing. "Have heard very good things about the premise of the movie and that it plays really well with familiar horror tropes." She had been convinced by a radio film critic's argument to the same. She'd also read the Wikipedia synopsis when bored once, but she decided not to mention that.
And then onto a topic Ashlynn had nothing much to say about. Sure, she could talk about it in abstract terms, but she had very little to say beyond 'I'm going', so she settled for "the swiftball should be interesting, indeed." She still thought it sounded like a stupid kid's ball game.
"I'll probably be running a clean energy stand outside the school today," Ashlynn added as an aside. By which she meant that she had already earmarked a space and tables to lobby the school to become a leader in innovative green energy practices. Because that was the smart thing to do!
Take The High Road
economics class: OPEN
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General Goose
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Abel raised an eyebrow at Gyu-ri as she nodded at him. Yes? Maybe no? Frankly he couldn't tell if she was agreeing with him on the money angle or not. She was a strange one, but then again maybe Abel was strange to her. Maybe this was her inept attempt to network or something? If it was possible to project simultaneously off-putting and pitiful vibes, Gyu-ri sure knew how to do it.
He decided to press more about it in private after class when the conversation moved to the movie. Everyone seemed to agree it was a good call, which relieved Abel; the last thing he needed was a repeat of when they snuck in to see The Snowman last year. He shuddered at the thought.
#swiftball. It was gonna be awesome! The party of the year! The shindig of the century! Yeah, Abel was maybe looking forward to it a bit, but it felt so far away too. He hadn't even really been prepping for it other than trying to spread Mikki's decree like he was the town crier. Hear ye, hear ye, and all that shit.
"Yeah, it's gonna be great!" Abel talked over Ashlynn's aside about a green energy thing or whatever and Gyu-ri's trailing off like usual. "Mikki and Forrest throw awesome parties."
It definitely seemed like Kayden and Ashlynn were already on board. Gyu-ri not so much, and the jury was out on Danny's status. He wracked his brain around trying to think of the best recruitment tactic; maybe a simple direct approach would be best?
"It'll be fun," he nodded back to Gyu-ri. "I think y'all should go. This is the last big party we're gonna have as seniors, ya know? I wouldn't want anyone to get FOMO this late in the game."
Of course prom was coming up too, but literally who cared? #swiftball was soon.
He decided to press more about it in private after class when the conversation moved to the movie. Everyone seemed to agree it was a good call, which relieved Abel; the last thing he needed was a repeat of when they snuck in to see The Snowman last year. He shuddered at the thought.
#swiftball. It was gonna be awesome! The party of the year! The shindig of the century! Yeah, Abel was maybe looking forward to it a bit, but it felt so far away too. He hadn't even really been prepping for it other than trying to spread Mikki's decree like he was the town crier. Hear ye, hear ye, and all that shit.
"Yeah, it's gonna be great!" Abel talked over Ashlynn's aside about a green energy thing or whatever and Gyu-ri's trailing off like usual. "Mikki and Forrest throw awesome parties."
It definitely seemed like Kayden and Ashlynn were already on board. Gyu-ri not so much, and the jury was out on Danny's status. He wracked his brain around trying to think of the best recruitment tactic; maybe a simple direct approach would be best?
"It'll be fun," he nodded back to Gyu-ri. "I think y'all should go. This is the last big party we're gonna have as seniors, ya know? I wouldn't want anyone to get FOMO this late in the game."
Of course prom was coming up too, but literally who cared? #swiftball was soon.
It was kind of inspiring how quickly Ashlynn managed to make the conversation dull, trying to redirect into clean energy talk. Kayden would have cared if he was a different kind of person, someone who had time to post diatribes about rainforests on Facebook or make people sign petitions or generally just have the set of hobbies contained by a person with absolutely no life, but he wasn't so the idea of him, or Abel, or Danny, or anyone not Gyu-ri being interested by that was kind of groundbreaking.
But enough about that. Kayden had to pitch for a party. Well, he didn't have to, but Abel was already doing it so he might as well follow up.
"Yeah, like, honestly, pretty much anyone's who's anyone is gonna be there so everyone's gonna have, like, such a good time. I've never even been to a party this big, at least at this school. College parties are a different story," Kayden started, before a small laugh escaped his lungs and a wide smile formed on his face. No time for bragging.
"And it's not like we're gonna be in danger or anything, like, it's just high schoolers, y'know? Can't even buy booze. So worst case scenario is it's gonna be gee dee boring and I dunno about you but I'd rather a dangerous party than a boring one. I mean, I guess you'd probably prefer a boring one."
Wait, was that rude? It was probably rude. He should fix that. Kayden didn't want enemies right before graduation as much as he could help it.
"I mean, like, boring over getting hurt or robbed or something. Which doesn't happen that often, y'know, but, well..." Kayden wasn't even sure where that sentence was heading, so he just decided to steal a line from a TV show, "...like, y'know, whatever."
But enough about that. Kayden had to pitch for a party. Well, he didn't have to, but Abel was already doing it so he might as well follow up.
"Yeah, like, honestly, pretty much anyone's who's anyone is gonna be there so everyone's gonna have, like, such a good time. I've never even been to a party this big, at least at this school. College parties are a different story," Kayden started, before a small laugh escaped his lungs and a wide smile formed on his face. No time for bragging.
"And it's not like we're gonna be in danger or anything, like, it's just high schoolers, y'know? Can't even buy booze. So worst case scenario is it's gonna be gee dee boring and I dunno about you but I'd rather a dangerous party than a boring one. I mean, I guess you'd probably prefer a boring one."
Wait, was that rude? It was probably rude. He should fix that. Kayden didn't want enemies right before graduation as much as he could help it.
"I mean, like, boring over getting hurt or robbed or something. Which doesn't happen that often, y'know, but, well..." Kayden wasn't even sure where that sentence was heading, so he just decided to steal a line from a TV show, "...like, y'know, whatever."
Gyu-ri did notice Ashlynn took onto herself the burdening liberty of inserting herself into the assignment, into the conversation natch. It was ease itself to observe- with the seemingly overbearing of her own two eyes, at least it was that Gyu-ri perpetually felt uncomfortable wherever her minuscule gaze claimed providence- that Ashlynn's content was more thorough, described with words that did not tangle repetitively like Gyu-ri's own rote copy pasting of the dictionary definitions. For matter of readability alone Gyu-ri would defer to Ashlynn, with a subtle- was it subtle, was Gyu-ri not rocking the table itself with even a little budge of her porky sausage fingers?- shifting of the paper her way. Though, Gyu-ri was unsure she'd actually implied what she had hoped to imply. As usual, a seemingly simple gesture became meaninglessly complex. She hated how everything on this Earth devolved in such a convoluted manner. But, Gyu-ri owed it to the group's success that she at least attempt, utterly repulsive as such an attempt was. Martinek, Rudolph, Browder, Alison... Ah, no, Gyu-ri felt an incessant itch owing to that incorrect compartmentalizing:
Martinek, Rudolph, Browder,
Alison,
Were among those who could be trusted with information of the Economic variety, if not in actual accuracy then least in apparent veracity of delivery, a gift Gyu-ri certainly did not share.
They had all seemingly ignored Ashlynn's particular environmental pitch, which Gyu-ri had taken both spatial and temporal note of in excess. Was Gyu-ri likewise supposed to ignore what had been said? Vaguely, irresistibly, Gyu-ri was dragged along like the debris she was, in the flotsam current of majority rule.
So on, the conversation went. Gyu-ri silently contemplated her bangs between syllables out of another's mouth. Three of her deft fingers (still porky) wove expertly, for, each bang's weight was to be correctly distributed onto a specific side. Each strand of pale orange which shone like burnished wood in the right belonged on either side of the partition according to the general feel, to which Gyu-ri was sensitive, to which she bounced one hair left, and one hair right, and one hair left
"... I wouldn't want anyone to get FOMO this late in the game..."
She did not like acronyms, she did often lack context as to what they implied, she did bounce one hair left, and one hair right, and one hair left
"... I mean, I guess you'd probably prefer a boring one..."
"I'd prefer you not put words into my mouth," Gyu-ri murmured back without conviction as her eyes continued to drift to-and-fro in time to one hair left and one hair right.
Rather, what she'd meant was not to say anything as distinct as 'I'd prefer you not put words into my mouth', certainly they were regrettable words not least because they were very aggressive and forward. At least, in her own head if she played back the moment they were aggressive and forward, for, Gyu-ri was always particularly loud inside her own head and she did not particularly enjoy how that was always the case. She did feel a certain general degree of impatience with how difficult it was to be understood in a meaningful way, as carefully as she tried to measure each word every single one would seem for naught, was it not sometimes permissible that she slip in her grievances in exasperation? But she negated her own rhetorical question, immediately she understood, that, she was a freak sans control and could not be afforded the smallest of social mercies, et cetera and so on.
She shrugged aloud. There was really no point in pretending she was something she was not. Such social grace was alien to her, even conceptually. So she moved hair to the left and to the right: gesticulations cute, irreverent, annoying merely to deal with.
"I'm going, anyways. It'll probably be entertaining, less so fun."
Martinek, Rudolph, Browder,
Alison,
Were among those who could be trusted with information of the Economic variety, if not in actual accuracy then least in apparent veracity of delivery, a gift Gyu-ri certainly did not share.
They had all seemingly ignored Ashlynn's particular environmental pitch, which Gyu-ri had taken both spatial and temporal note of in excess. Was Gyu-ri likewise supposed to ignore what had been said? Vaguely, irresistibly, Gyu-ri was dragged along like the debris she was, in the flotsam current of majority rule.
So on, the conversation went. Gyu-ri silently contemplated her bangs between syllables out of another's mouth. Three of her deft fingers (still porky) wove expertly, for, each bang's weight was to be correctly distributed onto a specific side. Each strand of pale orange which shone like burnished wood in the right belonged on either side of the partition according to the general feel, to which Gyu-ri was sensitive, to which she bounced one hair left, and one hair right, and one hair left
"... I wouldn't want anyone to get FOMO this late in the game..."
She did not like acronyms, she did often lack context as to what they implied, she did bounce one hair left, and one hair right, and one hair left
"... I mean, I guess you'd probably prefer a boring one..."
"I'd prefer you not put words into my mouth," Gyu-ri murmured back without conviction as her eyes continued to drift to-and-fro in time to one hair left and one hair right.
Rather, what she'd meant was not to say anything as distinct as 'I'd prefer you not put words into my mouth', certainly they were regrettable words not least because they were very aggressive and forward. At least, in her own head if she played back the moment they were aggressive and forward, for, Gyu-ri was always particularly loud inside her own head and she did not particularly enjoy how that was always the case. She did feel a certain general degree of impatience with how difficult it was to be understood in a meaningful way, as carefully as she tried to measure each word every single one would seem for naught, was it not sometimes permissible that she slip in her grievances in exasperation? But she negated her own rhetorical question, immediately she understood, that, she was a freak sans control and could not be afforded the smallest of social mercies, et cetera and so on.
She shrugged aloud. There was really no point in pretending she was something she was not. Such social grace was alien to her, even conceptually. So she moved hair to the left and to the right: gesticulations cute, irreverent, annoying merely to deal with.
"I'm going, anyways. It'll probably be entertaining, less so fun."
V8 Vibes:
V7 Vibes:
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General Goose
- Posts: 731
- Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2018 4:02 pm
Okay, so it was slightly disheartening that none of the others seemed to care about air pollution, but that's okay. Ashlynn was here, to campaign for them all not to die from smoke in their lungs and global warming destroying delicate ecosystems. They were basically free riders on her far more diligent and compassionate approach to the world, the understanding that little actions such as changing a school's waste policy or the fuels in its vehicle fleet will add up to saving lives and making the world a better place. Ashlynn knew her efforts on her own were not enough. But it was something, and it was something that would help tip the scales in a way that would be enough to improve the lives of some people caught in the margins.
The apathy was aggravating, on a deeply personal level, but Ashlynn was used to this sort of attitude. Mainly among her peers, but she knew that was just down to them being her peers - her own generation was conscientious and as a whole it was trying, but that of course did nothing to assuage the more inculpatory acts of some of her peers.
She looked up, saw Gyu-ri relinquish control over the assignment in the form of shifting the paper her way. Ashlynn nodded at her kindly as a kind of acceptance that, hey, at least you're trying. Ashlynn developed an internal theory, some fanciful belief, that were Gyu-ri not in the company of people otherwise so dismissive, that perhaps they could have had the in-depth analysis of the environment or economic policy that this conversation so deserved. Plus, well, while Abel was apathetically apathetic, Kayden seemed to be positively proactive in his apathy, a trait that manifested in being a dick to Gyu-ri.
"If your definition of 'boring' is 'without robbery and violence', then yes, please, sign us all up for boring." Unless Kayden was one of those privileged 'oh, violence is fun because it doesn't happen to me' types. They existed. "Also, quick question, but what the hell does FOMO mean?"
The apathy was aggravating, on a deeply personal level, but Ashlynn was used to this sort of attitude. Mainly among her peers, but she knew that was just down to them being her peers - her own generation was conscientious and as a whole it was trying, but that of course did nothing to assuage the more inculpatory acts of some of her peers.
She looked up, saw Gyu-ri relinquish control over the assignment in the form of shifting the paper her way. Ashlynn nodded at her kindly as a kind of acceptance that, hey, at least you're trying. Ashlynn developed an internal theory, some fanciful belief, that were Gyu-ri not in the company of people otherwise so dismissive, that perhaps they could have had the in-depth analysis of the environment or economic policy that this conversation so deserved. Plus, well, while Abel was apathetically apathetic, Kayden seemed to be positively proactive in his apathy, a trait that manifested in being a dick to Gyu-ri.
"If your definition of 'boring' is 'without robbery and violence', then yes, please, sign us all up for boring." Unless Kayden was one of those privileged 'oh, violence is fun because it doesn't happen to me' types. They existed. "Also, quick question, but what the hell does FOMO mean?"
Great job, Kayden; way to really sell it. If not for the societal laws and expectations of this classroom Abel would smack him upside the head. But there was no need to anyway; Gyu-ri did the smacking for him.
"I'd prefer you not put words into my mouth."
That barely audible whisper exploded enough even Abel was caught in the blast zone. His eyes popped and met Kayden's for a second before falling back on their teacher "helping" one of the groups in the background. Maybe he should cry for help or call to arms, anything to escape this awkwardness. How much longer were they supposed to just be sitting here twiddling their thumbs, anyway?
He cleared his throat, hoping the conversational speed bump would pass on its own. It kinda did, thanks to Ashlynn of all people.
"Oh uh," Abel jumped in, "it's the 'fear of missing out'. Like when you don't go someplace but see pictures and stuff the day after that make you go 'Man, I should've gone.' That kinda thing." He scratched the side of his neck, trying to think of a better way to explain it; that was probably good enough, but you never know.
"I'd prefer you not put words into my mouth."
That barely audible whisper exploded enough even Abel was caught in the blast zone. His eyes popped and met Kayden's for a second before falling back on their teacher "helping" one of the groups in the background. Maybe he should cry for help or call to arms, anything to escape this awkwardness. How much longer were they supposed to just be sitting here twiddling their thumbs, anyway?
He cleared his throat, hoping the conversational speed bump would pass on its own. It kinda did, thanks to Ashlynn of all people.
"Oh uh," Abel jumped in, "it's the 'fear of missing out'. Like when you don't go someplace but see pictures and stuff the day after that make you go 'Man, I should've gone.' That kinda thing." He scratched the side of his neck, trying to think of a better way to explain it; that was probably good enough, but you never know.
"Well fuck you too, you rude bitch."
The words caught themselves in Kayden's head, thankfully, but while he remained silent, his expression changed to that of piercing condemnation. He was trying to be nice to the spastic, and she was being such a cunt to him. This sort of bullshit was why he didn't have straight friends. What the fuck was her problem anyway?
His eyes caught Abel's, and for a moment he felt a small wave of relief wash over him, a bit of grounding. The situation felt familiar now - he was sitting at the table with the rest of his team, putting up with bullshit from all over, before catching the eyes of Damion (or occasionally Dean, back before that whole nastiness happened) and he'd feel safe, like he wasn't totally adrift. It all felt a bit safer. Of course there were a lot less Wyatts at this table and statistically a lot more Damions and Deans, but even so.
Kayden sent a small nod towards Abel. He wasn't sure if he'd get what it meant but hopefully he saw it was appreciation either way.
"Yeah, that's FOMO, and it's, like, the worst thing? Especially if you go to everything, 'cause it's always this thing of like, man, that didn't suck, and if you go to everything then some if it is always gonna suck, and it's always better to go to things that don't suck than do suck? Like, I can't see Mikki's party sucking so if I miss it then it's gonna be huge FOMO because, well, duh."
If Ashlynn didn't understand what he was getting at, then it was on her and not him. If she wanted to be class president then she should have known how to speak to the people.
The words caught themselves in Kayden's head, thankfully, but while he remained silent, his expression changed to that of piercing condemnation. He was trying to be nice to the spastic, and she was being such a cunt to him. This sort of bullshit was why he didn't have straight friends. What the fuck was her problem anyway?
His eyes caught Abel's, and for a moment he felt a small wave of relief wash over him, a bit of grounding. The situation felt familiar now - he was sitting at the table with the rest of his team, putting up with bullshit from all over, before catching the eyes of Damion (or occasionally Dean, back before that whole nastiness happened) and he'd feel safe, like he wasn't totally adrift. It all felt a bit safer. Of course there were a lot less Wyatts at this table and statistically a lot more Damions and Deans, but even so.
Kayden sent a small nod towards Abel. He wasn't sure if he'd get what it meant but hopefully he saw it was appreciation either way.
"Yeah, that's FOMO, and it's, like, the worst thing? Especially if you go to everything, 'cause it's always this thing of like, man, that didn't suck, and if you go to everything then some if it is always gonna suck, and it's always better to go to things that don't suck than do suck? Like, I can't see Mikki's party sucking so if I miss it then it's gonna be huge FOMO because, well, duh."
If Ashlynn didn't understand what he was getting at, then it was on her and not him. If she wanted to be class president then she should have known how to speak to the people.
Abel nodded along with Kayden's addendum on the philosophy of FOMO. Maybe sometimes he was a little hard on the guy, or maybe it was just jock solidarity in this moment. Who knew.
It was getting close to the end of class and Abel was done talking to these nerds; he decided to just wait out for the discussion to close with the bell. After Mr. McClellan did his "the bell doesn't dismiss you I dismiss you" routine, probably.
((Abel Zelenovic continued in I've Got One Less Problem Without You))
It was getting close to the end of class and Abel was done talking to these nerds; he decided to just wait out for the discussion to close with the bell. After Mr. McClellan did his "the bell doesn't dismiss you I dismiss you" routine, probably.
((Abel Zelenovic continued in I've Got One Less Problem Without You))
It didn't take a while for Kayden to become disengaged from whatever the others were talking about, mostly because it had nothing to do with him. At some point he began looking back at his old notes and nodding along to whatever the others were saying.
Eventually, class would finish and he would be free.
((Kayden Brockman continued elsewhere))
Eventually, class would finish and he would be free.
((Kayden Brockman continued elsewhere))
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General Goose
- Posts: 731
- Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2018 4:02 pm
By the end of the lesson, Ashlynn was ignoring what Mr McClellan was saying, and instead was drawing up a pros and cons list of a land value tax.
((Ashlynn Martinek continued elsewhere.))
((Ashlynn Martinek continued elsewhere.))