((Alaska Ferguson continued from Champions 103))
Alaska was late. Correction: Alaska was hella late. She hadn't slept well, although saying that implied she had slept and hadn't just spent four hours lying on her side. So when her alarm started chiming to signal the beginning of a new day Alaska had chosen to ignore the call.
It turned out that she had been very successful at that endeavor, some people would describe it as too successful, while her mother described it as "Get out of bed you're already late!" That had turned her normal lackadaisical morning routine into a somewhat hurried trot around her house to get everything she needed together. Clothes were grabbed at random and pulled on as she brushed her teeth. Mismatched light pink and pastel blue socks didn't make up regular outfit selection but she couldn't afford to be picky with only two minutes to get dressed and even that was pushing it.
Her makeup consisted of a layer of foundation and some powder hastily slapped on afterward. She didn't do anything else because there wasn't time. Instead, she tossed her makeup bag in her backpack and promised herself she'd sort it out once she arrived. Then it was down to the kitchen to grab a banana and a pack of pop tarts out of the cupboard before sprinting out the door. The term sprinting may have been an exaggeration but she was actually running.
All she had to do was get to the bus stop on time.
A substantial amount of time later.
So she hadn't got to the bus stop on time.
Alaska had trudged into the school, sweaty from her efforts to arrive on time and attempted to make a beeline for the toilets only to be called over by one of the school secretaries. After a disapproving look as she signed in and explained her story, Alaska was permitted to leave as long as she went to her class.
She did however manage to dip into one of the toilets to dab at her forehead with some toilet towels in an attempt to make sure she didn't look like a complete sweaty mess and throw some deodorant on. It didn't solve the problem, but it did mitigate it slightly. As Alaska stood in the bathroom she took a moment to look over her outfit in the mirror. Her general disheveled and sweaty appearance didn't go too badly with her denim overalls, thanks to the fact she already had one strap down anyway, but her white spaghetti strap tank top didn't look great, because it was white and she had been sweating. There was no way for her to fix that though, so she would have to just deal with it...somehow.
When Alaska emerged from the restroom she looked slightly better than when she had entered but it was a close-run thing. Then it was off to her first class, which was English. Which y'know, not great, it was pretty dry and dull and she was tired, but it could have been worse...she wasn't sure how, but it could have been.
Regardless once she reached the classroom Alaska was greeted by the sight of every kid having paired off. That wasn't a good sign. Mr. Angle's face also wasn't good when he saw her loitering by the door. It had always been funny to Alaska that the guy named Mr. Angle taught English when that was like the perfect name for math. But she didn't find it funny at that moment in time.
"Glad you could finally join us Alaska."
"Sorry, I had an...issue with the bus.
Mr. Angle raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything in response to the statment.
"Anyway you've arrived just in time, everyone is splitting into pairs to do some analysis on Frankenstein and with you here we have even numbers. Go take a seat next to Emmy and you can get started."
Turns out Alaska had been wrong.
It could get worse.
1v1 Me At Bear
Private
((Emmy continued from This is Not A Drill))
Emmy was a clown. Honk honk.
She wasn't paying close attention when Mr. Angle started talking about group work, caught up in some dark and unproductive thoughts swirling around her head, blunting her concentration. By the time the teacher called her name, startling her at least momentarily free from the fugue, most of the class was already well on its way to pairing off.
Then, of course, Emmy stood up too quickly and accidentally knocked all of her things off the desk.
Honk.
Once she fixed that up, straightening from the ground, she found that yup, she'd missed out entirely on a partner. Honestly, she might have struggled anyway, but her therapist was encouraging her to be optimistic and not look for doom in everything. Sometimes she managed.
Anyway, Emmy started up with the work, taking down a few notes about the book. She'd always found the story to be pretty sad, the idea of a passionate and driven person creating something that he thought was beautiful and an incredible breakthrough, and then turning on it the moment after he gave it life...
yeah.
A few minutes later, the door quietly opened. Emmy glanced over. Oh. Alaska, and Alaska was... going to get paired off with her.
Honk.
Emmy was a clown. Honk honk.
She wasn't paying close attention when Mr. Angle started talking about group work, caught up in some dark and unproductive thoughts swirling around her head, blunting her concentration. By the time the teacher called her name, startling her at least momentarily free from the fugue, most of the class was already well on its way to pairing off.
Then, of course, Emmy stood up too quickly and accidentally knocked all of her things off the desk.
Honk.
Once she fixed that up, straightening from the ground, she found that yup, she'd missed out entirely on a partner. Honestly, she might have struggled anyway, but her therapist was encouraging her to be optimistic and not look for doom in everything. Sometimes she managed.
Anyway, Emmy started up with the work, taking down a few notes about the book. She'd always found the story to be pretty sad, the idea of a passionate and driven person creating something that he thought was beautiful and an incredible breakthrough, and then turning on it the moment after he gave it life...
yeah.
A few minutes later, the door quietly opened. Emmy glanced over. Oh. Alaska, and Alaska was... going to get paired off with her.
Honk.
Emmy.
She was partnered with Emmy.
That was...that was the worst person.
Not because she didn't like Emmy. No, she liked Emmy. She liked her so much she had spent almost every moment since they had broken up avoiding her. Although, saying they broke up painted the event in a certain light. They hadn't mutually broken up. Alaska had broken up with Emmy.
Alaska considered asked Mr. Angle if there was anyone, literally anyone else she could have partnered with, or if there was a chance they could have just made two of the pairs a group of three. Anything. But knowing teachers that would have led to questions about what the problem was and where did she even start with that?
They hadn't properly spoken since that day. The day Alaska had broken an awful silence with 'I need time to think.' And she had thought, and she had decided to end it and in the process, she had hurt Emmy. She knew she had. It was obvious. She wasn't blind and Emmy's friends gave her the evil eye whenever they walked past.
So she had retreated into her friendship with Laura, a low-stakes and low-effort relationship that gave her gratification at nearly every turn. If she wanted to do weed and pig out on snacks Laura would be there for it. If she wanted to do marathon Champions sessions where they trolled every other player in the game or just dunk on folks Laura would be up for that too. For a while it had been a wonderful loop of doing weed, playing Champions, and partying. But recently reality had started to set in.
And now reality had punched her in the face.
Alaska took a deep breath and walked over to the empty space next to her ex. It felt like her stomach had dropped out of her body as she pulled the chair out and sat down.
She looked didn't look over at Emmy, instead choosing to busy herself with removing her copy of Frankenstein from her bag.
"What uh page are we on?"
She was partnered with Emmy.
That was...that was the worst person.
Not because she didn't like Emmy. No, she liked Emmy. She liked her so much she had spent almost every moment since they had broken up avoiding her. Although, saying they broke up painted the event in a certain light. They hadn't mutually broken up. Alaska had broken up with Emmy.
Alaska considered asked Mr. Angle if there was anyone, literally anyone else she could have partnered with, or if there was a chance they could have just made two of the pairs a group of three. Anything. But knowing teachers that would have led to questions about what the problem was and where did she even start with that?
They hadn't properly spoken since that day. The day Alaska had broken an awful silence with 'I need time to think.' And she had thought, and she had decided to end it and in the process, she had hurt Emmy. She knew she had. It was obvious. She wasn't blind and Emmy's friends gave her the evil eye whenever they walked past.
So she had retreated into her friendship with Laura, a low-stakes and low-effort relationship that gave her gratification at nearly every turn. If she wanted to do weed and pig out on snacks Laura would be there for it. If she wanted to do marathon Champions sessions where they trolled every other player in the game or just dunk on folks Laura would be up for that too. For a while it had been a wonderful loop of doing weed, playing Champions, and partying. But recently reality had started to set in.
And now reality had punched her in the face.
Alaska took a deep breath and walked over to the empty space next to her ex. It felt like her stomach had dropped out of her body as she pulled the chair out and sat down.
She looked didn't look over at Emmy, instead choosing to busy herself with removing her copy of Frankenstein from her bag.
"What uh page are we on?"
Emmy swallowed painfully.
Okay. Okay. This was the situation. Alaska and her. Togeth—working as a pair. Okay. This was—it wasn't fine but she could deal with.. She could try to deal with. This.
Her. To deal with her.
It was just schoolwork, right? They just needed to have an ordinary conversation in an ordinary context, that wasn't insurmountable. Emmy had managed to work with people she barely knew at all, she should be able to manage with somebody she knew really... well...
Yeah that was pretty much the problem.
Emmy budged up along the desk to give Alaska room. They didn't share too many classes so they hadn't often paired off before Emmy—before, but this wasn't the first time, either.
"We're at the part where the creation first meets the family." Her voice sounded wrong.
Emmy tried to make eye contact. They both broke it. Alaska didn't look well. Tired, almost a little sickly. She couldn't help the concern that rose up within her instantly. Dammit. They had split up like, a year and a half ago, this shouldn't still be a thing, but here they were, and there that thing was, still very much a thing.
Great.
Okay. Okay. This was the situation. Alaska and her. Togeth—working as a pair. Okay. This was—it wasn't fine but she could deal with.. She could try to deal with. This.
Her. To deal with her.
It was just schoolwork, right? They just needed to have an ordinary conversation in an ordinary context, that wasn't insurmountable. Emmy had managed to work with people she barely knew at all, she should be able to manage with somebody she knew really... well...
Yeah that was pretty much the problem.
Emmy budged up along the desk to give Alaska room. They didn't share too many classes so they hadn't often paired off before Emmy—before, but this wasn't the first time, either.
"We're at the part where the creation first meets the family." Her voice sounded wrong.
Emmy tried to make eye contact. They both broke it. Alaska didn't look well. Tired, almost a little sickly. She couldn't help the concern that rose up within her instantly. Dammit. They had split up like, a year and a half ago, this shouldn't still be a thing, but here they were, and there that thing was, still very much a thing.
Great.
"Cool, great," Alaska muttered as she turned the pages of the book, trying to find the part in question. It was harder than expected because she hadn't read any of the book. She knew the important bits though, man creates a monster from body parts, brings it to life, villagers are scared of it and chase it with torches, also a windmill burns down. There that about covered it. It was a simple book-wait did that say arctic? Captain?...well fuck.
Okay so turned out Alaska didn't know shit about the book of Frankenstein. She was going to have to ask for help, which was awkward because it was Emmy she was going to have to ask. Alaska strongly considered pretending to be ill. If there was ever a time she wished she could puke on command it was in that moment.
Sadly, she only puked after having vodka or rum. So that option was off the table. Instead, she was stuck with having to actually communicate and socialize with Emmy. Something she had been doing her best to avoid ever since they'd broken up. Well...it wasn't a joint decision.
But the book right, yeah she could distract herself by staring at the words and not looking at her ex, that was a good idea.
"So like they're scared of him right because he looks different and people are scared of things they don't understand?"
Okay so turned out Alaska didn't know shit about the book of Frankenstein. She was going to have to ask for help, which was awkward because it was Emmy she was going to have to ask. Alaska strongly considered pretending to be ill. If there was ever a time she wished she could puke on command it was in that moment.
Sadly, she only puked after having vodka or rum. So that option was off the table. Instead, she was stuck with having to actually communicate and socialize with Emmy. Something she had been doing her best to avoid ever since they'd broken up. Well...it wasn't a joint decision.
But the book right, yeah she could distract herself by staring at the words and not looking at her ex, that was a good idea.
"So like they're scared of him right because he looks different and people are scared of things they don't understand?"