Girl talk (attn: Ella)

[Arette]

Shit, shit. It was almost 8 am and the first class was starting. Janna had wasted a long time hiding in the girls' bath room and trying to get her jittery never under control. She had been really paranoid when mom had dropped her in front of the school and half convinced that everyone who looked at her direction knew and took a bit of distance. What had gotten her mind off her own problems was overhearing Misty Warren and her court gossiping bitterly about her best friend Ella. Obviously one of the rich boys who usually hanged out with the bitch queen, Matthew Connolly III - who had that kind of a name anyway - had asked Ella out for a date.

 

The news had definately boggled Jan for two different reasons. First of all, she was hurt that she hadn't heard the big news from Ella herself unless it had happened like this very morning. And since she herself had avoided Ella, it was understandable that her friend couldn't have told her if that was the case. She agreed that Matt was a nice piece of eyecandy even if he wasn't quite her type but Ella had been daydreaming about him for some time now and they had both admitted with sadness that it would likely be just one sided crush for the end of time. Of course Jan was happy for her friend but it was just... well, unexpected.

 

But soon she would hear all the details. She rushed past the youngsters crowding the hall ways and filing into their own classes and strode up the stairs two steps at a time. She thanked her good physical condition for not puffing badly when she made it to the math class in the upstairs just in time before miss Matthews closed the door. She got a frown from the teacher as she was never late but technically she hadn't been now either. Making it to her seat beside Ella, she grinned widely at her friend and lifted up both her thumbs to congratulate her. Pretty blush suffused Ella's cheeks and Jan chuckled.

 

"Morning Ella. You have to tell me everything. Did he ask you? What did he say?", she was whispering eagerly the moment her bottom hit the bench. It was her turn to turn red now when she realised that everyone else in the class were totally quiet and the teacher was staring at her with another frown. Sharing a quiet look of mutual agreement to talk about it later, the girls did their best to focus on the wondrous world of math.

 

 

***

 

Finally the bell rung signaling the end of a class and the most eager ran off immediately as they had been fidgeting on their seats for the last ten minutes or so. Janna and Ella waited for the others to leave until she turned on her four-eyed friend again. "High five, girl", she called with a laughter. "Congrats! Misty was practically fuming and all this because of you. How did it happen?"

 

Janna Jefferson

Healer Extraordinaire

[Jocelyn]

Ella was still coming to terms with her dreams coming true. Matthew Connelly - the third! - asking her out on a date? It was enough to make her want to squeal, though somehow she managed to maintain a relatively cool appearance. What she really wanted to do was gush about the whole event to Janna, but she hadn't been able to see her friend yet that morning. Hopefully she was wasn't sick or something, but thankfully she slid into her seat just in time for Maths.

 

Practically bursting with wanting to tell Janna, somehow Ella reined in her enthusiasm long enough for the class to end. It didn't take long before Janna practically pounced on her, causing Ella to blush with a grin as she returned the high-five. "She was fuming? Really?" Ella couldn't help but beam at the thought of thwarting the stuck up snob. Just because she was pretty she thought she had ownership of all the hot guys. Well, not any more!

 

"Well..." Ella blushed, still smiling as she gathered up her books, wondering how to explain all that had happened. "Yesterday afternoon, he came up to me, out of the blue, and just started talking to me. It was weird, despite how incredibly good looking I am." Ella giggled as she and Janna made their way to their next class. "And next thing I know, he's asking me out." Ella finally did let out a little squeal, a secret one to her friend, showing her excitement. She had been mooning over him for months, not to mention her dream...

 

Ella chewed her lip. She knew there was more to this tale, but how did she explain it? Janna would probably think she was nuts. But still, Janna was her best friend, and she had to tell someone. "Actually, it started before that." Janna looked at her curiously, and Ella had to reassure her that she hadn't been holding out on any gossip. "Oh god I'm blushing...you see, I had this dream of Matt..." Ella trailed off again as she blushed furiously. "You're probably going to think I was spending too much time roleplaying or something again, it's so embarassing..." Ella stopped as several girls walked past, casting glares her way.

 

The bell sounded, and Ella and Janna picked up their pace lest they be late to class, the sound interrupting their conversation as they had to separate. "Look, meet me at lunch, ok?" Waiting long enough for Janna to nod, Ella threaded her way through the crowd to biology, where she spent most of the class wondering hot to tell her best friend she had somehow managed to manipulate Matt's dreams, and forced him to like her enough to ask her out.

 

Ella French

Dreamwalker and Compulsionist!

[xilanin]

Damon pulled one way and then switched his move to bring the basket bal up under the raised arm of the center point. He let himself drift up through the air and let the ball roll up off his fingers. As the ball tapped the backboard and swished its way into the net, a big arm came out of nowhere and brought Damon down rudely to the floor.

 

He looked around to see Peter, David and Matt all looking down on him…laughing.

 

“Oh, Sorry.” Peter was saying, “I didn’t see you down there, under the ball.” Which set them off laughing again. Making fun of his height was one of there favorite things to do.

 

Damon Stood and gave a sideways smile. “Maybe that’s why I always get around you. You should look down more often maybe you’ll be able to block at leas’ some shots.”

 

They stopped laughing and walked towards him. They topped him by a good foot or so, but Damon had no problem standing his ground. But before any of them could say anything more, They heard a shout.

 

“Jourd, Why are you always starting trouble?” Coach Cotts was yelling as he walked over to them. Damon knew he would never talk to the other guys…they were the starting player on the Basketball team (not to mention their parents made large contributions to the school). He would never yell at his favorite players. So, Damon always took the fall for these verbal bouts. He didn’t care, but Cotts always did his best to put him down.

 

“It’s Jord…with a “Y” Sound, not a “J” Sound.” Damon corrected as he did almost everyday.

 

“I don’t care if it’s the “F” Sound, Jourd, Get off my court. Detention today after school.” The guys were laughing again as they went back to playing.

 

“OK Coach Cox.”  He said. He knew he had gone too far. Cotts turned beet red.

 

“The Principal…Now Jourd!” then the coach turned and started in on another group of kids.

 

More laughing followed as Damon walked out. He turned to watch the guys playing. Then picked up a pebble lying on the ground. He held it…felt it… and then pushed it with all his mind could give. With a “Thhhpt!” the small pebble whipped through the air and through the ball sailing through the air. With a rush of air, the ball fell to the ground, a small hole punctured straight through the rubber. Before anyone could question, he opened the gym door and left.

***************

After an hour talking to the principal and new orders to talk to the school counselor once a day for the next two weeks, Damon made his way to the lunch room. He was a bit steamed so he just kind of waited around (for an hour) Til lunch came.  He got his food and went to find a seat. He saw Janna and Ella Sitting with their heads together and made his way to them. They were pretty cool. They accepted him for who he was and didn’t generally mess with him…well except in that way that friends usually do.

 

Janna was on the same playing field as he was. Good at sports, here on scholarship (which meant that she was a poor kid, like him) and really genuinely nice. A good friend to have…Though he always wondered why she would hang out with a kid like him. He liked her cause she could take care of things on the court and in class.

 

Ella, was very into books. He didn’t feel as comfortable around her cause she always said stuff that he didn’t quite understand…Not that he wasn’t smart. He kept up pretty well in class. He even read a book or two last year, but she could get pretty brainy. She was still a friend, they did their homework all together and stuff.

 

Damon sat next to them and they abruptly stopped what they were talking about.

 

“Whoa! Do I smell or something?” He said. Janna laughed and Ella smiled and turned red. “What’s up. You two planning some bad business or something?”

 

Just jumpin in here. Hehe

 

Damon Jord

Kid Rock

 

[Quibby]

"The only one planning bad business around here is you, Jourd."  Erik slid one of the chairs from the nearby table out with his foot, dropping down backwards into the chair and leaning on the back of the seat.  Even inside, he wore the traditional trenchcoat that marked him in the school hallways.  He knew how much his younger compatriot hated that particular mispronunciation of his name, but Erik had been using it as his nickname for too long to give it up for such a trivial reason.  "Last I knew, Ella and Janna here were the two sweetest, kindest, and most wonderful people in the school, and not at all into getting into trouble."  It was hard for him to keep a straight face.  Usually reserved, Erik allowed himself brief outbursts like this to keep people on their toes.  One never knew when the next "Erik-ism" was going to burst from his mouth.  One almost always knew where to find him afterwards, though: detention.

 

Damon Jord, Ella French, Jenna Jefferson: three of the most unlikely people to ever tolerate a student that'd been held back, yet they did, and they understood.  None of them ever asked him for reasons why he'd failed his senior year or why he... well, why he was the way he was.  So I like messing with people's heads.  What's wrong with that?  They simply accepted him, and he allowed them to actually see him.  Judging from the question that Damon had asked, he was the newest arrival to the table.  Ergo, he knew nothing.  With that ruling, Erik looked first at Jenna, then at Ella.  "So, you were discussing nothing, eh?  Typical female behavior."  They really couldn't do much to him, but Erik still backed away slightly from the two as they glared at him.  It was better safe than sorry.

 

The moment was past; with a suddenness that even he found surprising at times, he resumed the "classic" Erik that everybody knew: quiet, inward, reflective, and almost staring.  If there was one thing he was good at, it was listening.

 

Only, there was nothing to listen to aside from the roar of the lunchroom, and he wasn't too interested in that.  "Soooooo..." he said, trying to break the ice again, "did anybody hear about the lightning strike the other day?"

[xilanin]

Damon smirked at Erik. He was the only one who could get away with calling him Jourd. From him…it was more like a big brother giving him grief. Even though Erik was held back one more year, Damon was glad. He had always liked the guy…He was one of the first people to talk to Damon like he was human when he first moved here. Of course, It might be because Damon was helping him clean up a pretty severe beating he had just took from a group of kids.

 

Speaking of which…Erik looked like he had recently taken another few hits.

 

“Erik, what happe…” but Erick cut Damon off as if he didn’t hear him.

 

"Soooooo..." he said,  "did anybody hear about the lightning strike the other day?"

 

Damon let it slide…He would find out who it was and take care of it. He was small, but he had no problem defending himself…or his friends.

 

“Dude, man, I did hear about that. One kid, Rich, was totally scorched! They said a few of the wrestlers were just walkin home and this lightning came out of nowhere. Poor kid…He was kind of a punk, but what a crappy way to go.” Damon had seen the lightning while he was walking home from the mall that day…the same day he somehow created a tidal wave with the road. The city was still repairing that and probly would for the next month or so. He suddenly realized that was just two days ago.

 

He shook his head and looked at the two girls…staring at the two of them. “What?!” Both their eyes rolled and they looked back at each other. He took another bite of…he didn’t know what...He would just shut up and listen.

 

Damon

[Myth]

Mathurin walked through the lunchroom, conscious of the eyes upon him. He was new and still very much a mystery to those who had noticed him.

 

It’s not too bad, though, he thought to himself. He’d not made any acquaintances yet, and no one had approached him to offer to help him break the ice, but at the same time he’d made it through half the day without a fight. That’s got to be some sort of record for me, he thought as a wry grin spread across his face.

 

Finding an empty table near the wall away from the doors, he sat his tray down and dropped his backpack alongside it. Looking around to make sure no one was looking and using his backpack as cover, he picked up the lukewarm slice of pizza in his hand and let the heat within him do its work.

 

He didn’t know why, and he didn’t know how, and besides himself only his grandpa knew what and when. But Mat had a secret.

 

He carried Fire inside him, and it ached to get out. Ever since the strangeness started this past spring, fires had sprung up around him far too often. And once he had figured out he was the reason, he had fought to gain control. It was like something from a comic book, although that sounded too much like a crazy person talking. He’d kept quiet, except for his gramps, afraid to tell anyone else lest some government type take him off to study like a lab rat.

 

So far, he had been able to keep his cool. Ha! Keep my cool! he barked inside his head. But he could feel the heat growing inside him. Needless to say, he could handle being looked at funny for wearing worn out blue jeans and scuffed cowboy boots. He had more important things on his mind…

 

Digging into his lunch, he pulled out his schedule and looked over his afternoon classes. He was looking forward to calculus right after lunch, but he was VERY excited about his last period. “Football. Let the fun begin!”

[xilanin]

The girls had stopped talking. Damon thought to himself, -Maybe I did interrupt something- but they always sat together. All they could hear right now was the other kids talking and the clank of their own silverware.

 

Not one to sit in one place long, Damon looked around the room and spotted his next victim. Not a victim really, but he could tell an outcast from a mile away. This boy was big, but Damon had never seen him before.

 

"Hey guys, I'll be back."

 

Damon got up and walked over to the table and sat down across from the guy. Damon was not one for subtlety nor was he very intimidated by meeting new people. His friends put it right when they said he could be down right annoying. But he didn't care. He liked talking to people and they didn't mind enough to stop hangin with him.

 

"Hey, Tex! How's life?" The guy looked at him with a mouth full of pizza. "You new around here? I'm Damon..."

 

OOC:thought I'd keep this going a bit and see who shows back up. :)

Damon

[Myth]

He saw the guy coming to his table, and he wondered what was in store. He doesn’t look like he wants to start any trouble, Mathurin thought to himself around a mouthful of pizza. It was second nature by now for him to be careful of any unsolicited approaches by strangers. His time at his Booker T. Washington High School had proven that. But things here were much different, mainly because pretty much everyone was white, too. Not to say there weren’t jerks here, but there wasn’t nearly as much violence directed at him. Which as far as he could tell was a good thing.

 

The little guy plopped down across the table from him, and introduced himself with a joke. The smile on his face showed he was only teasing, and that was something Mathurin could appreciate. He enjoyed teasing a lot, as well.

 

“Tex is it?” he answered with a laugh, after he swallowed his bite of pizza. “I’ll have you know, I’m originally from Colorado. Besides, I thought smurfs were supposed to be blue.” Chuckling at the simple joke about Damon’s small stature, Mathurin purposefully looked his new acquaintance over thoroughly before he went on. “Well, with that hair color I guess a better name would be Mouse. I shall call you Mouse from now on.”

 

Wiping his heavily callused hand off on his jeans, he stuck it out across the table toward Damon and introduced himself, officially. “Mouse, I’m Mathurin. My friends call me Mat. Or Tex, I suppose.” Grinning like a jackass eating saw briars, he bit off another large chunk of pizza and talked around it. “Yeah, it’s my first day. Anything in particular you think I should know?”

[xilanin]

Damon smiled as the guy made a crack about Smurfs. He never had a problem with his size (except when it came to sports) Usually it gave him an upper edge because either people wanted to protect him…or severely underestimated him. Luckily, with Tex, Damon could tell his first instinct was right on, He was quick and he seemed pretty friendly, too.

 

Damon pulled out a couple strands of his light brown hair “Mouse, huh?” He said with a sideways grin. “OK Tex,” He said dropping the hair to the ground an shaking his hand “Welcome to the Vandorf Lyons Academy. Nothin really to know except watch yourself.”

 

Damon looked around and found Connelly’s group. Oddly enough Connelly was looking over at Ella and his girlfriend was glaring at him. Damon looked away and scanned the rest of the cafeteria. Most of the kids here were rich brats who had mostly shunned him. His circle of friend consisted of a few others who were in the same situation.  He didn’t really mind, but he also wouldn’t mind things being different either…

 

“These guys are all uppity rich kids.” He shrugged. “Not a big deal, I wouldn’t mind being rich, but if you’re not…just be careful. Other than that, most of the teachers are cool. The principal’s a bit of  a jerk…and so are a couple of the coaches. But not too bad. The school is suuuuuuwhheeet. My last school was a fairly average school, you know…a little paint on the walls, nothing worked right, but this school has all kinds of cool stuff: Clubs and equipment, a pool, heck they even have clean desks.”

 

Connelly’s group was laughing as his girl stormed out of the cafeteria. Connelly was still looking at Ella. Damon wrinkled his eyebrows wondering what was going on in that boy’s head.

 

“Anyway, Tex, What about you? I bet you play sports…kinda the dumb jock type?” Damon asked jokingly. He thought, probably jock for certain, but the boy did not seem dumb. He seemed the type to take a little needling, though.

 

Damon

 

[Myth]

Mat noticed the looks Mouse gave the loud group on the other side of the cafeteria, but he didn’t pry. If the other boy wanted to talk about whatever it was, then he would. Otherwise, Mat would let that sleeping dog lie. I need to figure out where I stand, before I worry about everyone else’s problems, he admitted to himself.

 

When Mouse got to the jokes, Mat couldn’t help but laugh. The little guy was funny, if in a weird kind of way. It would be fun to play along, just to see what would happen, so Mat relaxed a bit and had a go. Purposefully adopting a blank-eyed stare, very much like a bastard cat, and letting just a little drool run out of his mouth, Mat responded with the dumbest sounding voice he could manage.

 

“Dumb? Not me! I be real smart, and I get to ride on my own bus as proof! It is short, like my own car, and it even says ‘Special’ on the side! So take that, big shot!” Laughing out loud, he went on. “And I can count to big numbers: one, two, four, five! And I talk good, too.”

 

Laughing heartily, he couldn’t go on with the character. Judging by Damon’s own laughter, he thought it was pretty funny, as well.

 

“Seriously, man,” Mat went on, “I really do enjoy playing sports. As a matter of fact, I’ve got football practice the last session of the day, and I’m not too bad. But there’s more to me than meets the eye.” Much more, he thought to himself. “I’m not as dumb as I look, but that would be damn near impossible, wouldn’t it?”

 

Chuckling a bit more, he added, “Actually, I’m a bit of a nerd. I like science and math and reading and all that. But nobody’s perfect. Right?” Smiling brightly, he once again bit into his pizza, and talked around another mouthful.

 

“What about you, little Mouse? How do you keep from getting stepped on? And what do you do around here when you’re not coming up with clever nicknames for new kids?”

[xilanin]

Mat was funny! He made Damon laugh out loud. Most of the troubles of the day faded with the laughter. Mat really did look like a dumb hick when he started to drool, which made Damon laugh harder.

 

The older boy kept things light and talked about football and science and stuff.

 

“What about you, little Mouse? How do you keep from getting stepped on? And what do you do around here when you’re not coming up with clever nicknames for new kids?”

 

“Ha, stepped on, no one around here is fast enough!” It was true, Damon was small but he could run faster than most of the kids he had seen. And he had proven this both against the guys in track and the guys in football. But he wasn’t one to really brag, that would just be lame.

 

Instead he said “Football is pretty cool. I like most sports but usually stick to basketball & boarding. Science and Math aren’t my best subjects.  I do a bit of music. And…well I can draw some cool stuff. I like reading but I don’t get around to it much, I’m usually out doing stuff…like running away from people who want to step on me.” He said, with a laugh.

 

“I thought about playing football once..but,” He shrugged “ just never did it. Other than that, I just hang with a few friends.” At this he turned and noticed that the others had already left. He looked down at his watch and saw that next class started in about ten minutes.

 

“We better get going. You don’t want to piss off your teachers in the first day.” They started walking out to the hall. “Though, you could probably do that drooling thing and they would let you off the hook.” Mat laughed at this. “Hey, man, I am out of class for last period, Maybe I’ll come see what kinda moves you have on the field. Gotta run.” And with that, Damon took off to get to his next class before he was late again.

 

Mat was cool…Damon thought he would make a good friend.

 

OOC: If you don’t want to end this here or you wanted to go in another direction…let me know. I can adjust this if you want me to.

Damon “The Mouse”

 

[Myth]

OOC: this works great! I’ll just have Mat go to class, and we can continue it in the other thread.  8)

 

Mat flashed a lopsided grin as the little guy disappeared around the corner.

 

Mouse seemed like a nice guy, and he certainly wasn’t bashful about speaking his mind. Mat found himself liking Damon immensely. Maybe he’ll end up being the first friend I make at this place, he thought as he looked again at the class schedule he held in his hand.

 

Calculus is next, but where in the hell is the classroom?

 

All thoughts of his lunchtime rendezvous faded away for the time being, as he searched the vast maze of hallways that was the intellectual hub of Vandorf Lyons Academy. Meeting new people was possibly the biggest challenge he would face in his adjustment to his new school, but it certainly wasn’t the only one.

 

He got lost twice and was five minutes late before he finally entered his calculus class, where he was greeted by a laugh from the other students and a teacher that seemed to think he had done it on purpose. Great first impression, Mat! he thought as he slumped down in a desk near the back of the classroom. Well done. Is there anyone else you can piss off today without even trying? He chuckled softly as he pulled out his book and started taking notes. Probably.

 

Somehow, the thought only put a smile on his face.