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Post by Marigold Gamgee on Jul 29, 2004 17:35:50 GMT -5
Maidie looked nervously out of the window of the car. They were driving at a moderate speed through a decidedly attractive forest. She noticed a good deal of trees she felt like she should know but couldn't name, and took note of the deciduous/coniferous mix. Lovely mixed New England that it was, Maidie felt that she could be happy here, if only for the landscape. If location was the only factor influencing her well-being, then this school would be the perfect place for her - it was in a rather mountainous stretch of forest, and quite close to the sea. In fact, driving along the peaks of the low mountains, Maidie could just catch a glimpse of the sea near the horizon. This was the same sea she had just crossed. She wondered if she would get to be near it very often in the following months.
Maidie's parents had not been able to accompany her to America, so she had had to be brave and make the long trip alone. After many hugs and tears at the airport, a flight attendant had come to help Maidie with her luggage and lead her to her seat. She had had to take two flights, first to Heathrow and across the Atlantic to America. Both were longer than was comfortable, but the cross-Atlantic flight had been especially harrowing. She had had an interesting two-hour layover in London, comprised mostly of the flight attendant leading her around and showing her things in the airport.
During the longer flight she had eaten some questionable food, drank a good deal of liquids in small plastic cups, read The Return of the King and watched Master and Commander. She needed ROTK for moral support, and she was overjoyed that the in-flight film was none other than Master and Commander, for she had been wanting to see it quite a lot. She was not disappointed, though of course she had to stay up late watching it, since no self-respecting airline ever starts their in-flight movies before eight-thirty at night.
Maidie had a good deal of trouble dropping off to sleep, what with the passengers next to her and the lights still on in various parts of the cabin and the fact that she was for all purposes alone in flight over the ocean. None of these things were terribly sleep-inducing, and added to that she was extremely nervous about going to a new school in America. After sitting up reading The Battle of the Pelennor Fields, she finally dropped off from a combination of exhaustion and jet lag. It had been a very busy and tiring day, and there was more yet to come.
Upon arriving at the airport in America, Maidie was assisted in her check-out by yet another flight attendant and then met by a man from the school who had driven out to pick her up. It turned out that the school had it's own cars and chaffeurs for students such as herself who had to fly in. Maidie looked in awe at the sleek new car with "The Healy School for Girls" written on the side, with what appeared to be the Healy family crest. Her parents had done their research before sending her here, and Maidie knew that this was a very prestigious preparatory school named after Sir Francis Healy, a seventeenth-century patron of the arts, especially music. He had also been a major figure in the establishment of schools around Scotland for the children of wealthy families, and this school was named in honour of his memory. It was quite fittingly one of the leading music schools in New England, though of course music was not its only focus.
And now here she was, on her way to the school. She was decidedly breathless with anticipation. The chaffeur had been kind to her, but she was too tired and nervous to talk, even though she had many questions to ask. She preferred to sit quietly and watch the trees go by, wondering what the next year held in store for her. Maidie had read many tales of boarding schools, and the students always had a very good time. The problem was that in all those stories, the characters were all good friends. What if Maidie didn't make any friends at her new school? How would she survive? They would all be so very different than her in many ways. Not only had she led a very unusual life and had many experiences they didn't, but she was also there on a scholarship. She hadn't realised just how affluent the school and its patrons were, and was rather humbled by the sight of all this wealth.
"We're almost there," the chaffeur announced. "It's only about a mile away now."
Maidie sighed deeply. Only a few minutes of calming forest were left to her, then. Only a few minutes of protection before she went out into the dangerous world of HSG.
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Post by Mippin on Jul 29, 2004 19:00:22 GMT -5
A rather obnoxious thudding was heard from the room where Dagmar Maly was. She threw her suitcase into the closet, rather angrily, and flung herself upon the bed, with a packet in her hand. Opening it, a bunch of pictures came out, along with a letter. ‘New England, please…’ she muttered under her breath, as she turned up the volume on her CD player, which was blasting 12 Memories. She sifted through all the pictures, trying to hold back a violent outburst of hatred towards the place. Dag had just come back from a trip home to England a few days ago, and was only just now done unpacking. It was September 8th, her father’s birthday. She’d always managed to miss her father’s birthday because of the school, last time, she had to view the campus so as to familiarise herself with it.
Looking out the window of her room, Dagger, as she was often called, noticed a automobile pulling up to the front of the school. A girl stepped out, and someone helped her with her bags. ‘New victim, eh? Poor lass.’ Dag said to herself, grimly, turning back to her photographs. The CD player blared a warning to her.
Don’t just stand there, watching it happening… it screamed at her. Surprised, she looked at the player, then back outside, noting the school name. Wide-eyed, she took that as a sign.
‘Alright, Sir Francis, I shall heed your warning!’ she called out to the song, as she rushed out of the room, and down a few flights of stairs. Creeping along the edge of the corridor, she spied on the girl, entering the school. She made her way to the office, and a man set her bags down, and walked out of the building – the door slammed shut, echoing here and there, giving the poor dear the general cold welcome to the school. Pity, it was named after one of Dagmar’s favourite singers, Fran Healy. Sort of.
The heavy door of the office, now shut, would prevent her from hearing anything. She made her move, and walked nonchalantly into the office.
‘Yes?’ the lady at the front desk asked her.
Dagger ignored the woman, and walked on, past the desk.
‘Miss, excuse me! You aren’t allowed to go back there.’ The woman said sharply.
‘I’m off to see Ms. Rochester, if you don’t mind.’ Dag glared ferociously at the woman. The young girl seated in front gaped.
‘You can’t just walk into the o-‘
Dag proceeded walking into the office. She had known Ms. Rochester for quite some time, and was the only member of the staff that Dag had any affection for whatsoever. Ms. Rochester wouldn’t mind Dag coming in to see her. Not to mention her office was fairly close to the front – perfect distance for eavesdropping.
She listened intently as the woman at the front apologised for Dagmar’s misbehaviour. The woman lowered her voice, and assured the girl that Dag was one to stay away from. A hand could be seen coming out from behind a wall. It made something of a backwards peace sign, and was unmistakably a rude gesture. The girl stifled a laugh, and Dag quickly withdrew her hand, listening just as hard.
‘Anyway, on to business! What’s your name, dear?’ the woman began the ceremonial interrogation.
‘Maidie Gardner,’ the girl replied quietly. Dag took out a pen and wrote the name on her arm, then pulled down the sleeve of her jacket, which she currently had bunched up. After gathering enough information, Dag made her way out of the office.
‘I hope you don’t expect to get off the hook so easily for that.’ The woman called out.
‘Yeah, yeah... don’t throw a wobbly,’ she muttered as she rushed out of the office, taking a moment to shoot a sideways glance, and a wry smile at Maidie.
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Post by Amarië on Jul 29, 2004 21:02:34 GMT -5
Lora climbed out of the car and stood glaring at the school. After the car pulled away, a few more cars pulled up. Lora was in no rush, so found a nice spot against the tree and watched the other people getting out of their cars. Lora raised an eyebrow as someone she had not seen before climbed out of one of the cars. She thanked the chauffeur and stood scanning the school. Someone came over and helped her with her bags, all while Lora watched intently. She couldn't help wondering to herself where this new person would end up.
Her attention was quickly drawn to a couple of girls who were walking past slowly. They seemed to be looking at Lora. Lora growled at them, and they quickened their walk. When they were a bit farther away from Lora, they started giggling. Lora muttered to herself again and walked over to them, going to give them a piece of her mind.
It wasn't all the time that she had people staring at her. But if someone did, she'd go ask them a few questions and maybe even explode on them. School hadn't started yet, so there was no dress code that they had to follow. Lora was baggy black pants and a dark blue baggy shirt with a design on it. She had bracelets going up both arms, including one long ball chain that unraveled was about five feet long, and two heavy chains around her neck. She had things written all over her hands and even some writing going up her arm, covered by bracelets. Her hazel eyes were barely noticeable under all the eyeliner, and her black fingernail polish was starting to chip off. Leaning against a tree, glaring at everyone probably didn't help much either.
'Excuse me?? But is there something that you find amusing about me?' Lora snapped at the two. They seemed to be stifling a bit of laughter until Lora glared them down.
‘No, not at all…’ said one of them, but then added afterwards with a sarcastic tone, ‘It’s just that all that black… it must be hot.. you know… the sun rays beat down harder on you?’
‘Are you making fun of what I wear?! Because, you’re shirt is so blinding it practically makes my eyes bleed. And when my eyes start bleeding, someone starts getting bloody, and it’s not me,’ Lora snapped back, leaning in menacingly.
‘Well, you would be the one’s that’s bleeding. So technically, you are the one that’s bloody…’ the other one said back, obviously not so smart in the head.
‘What part of ‘and it’s not me’ don't you understand?! Would you like me to demonstrate the previous example for you?’ Lora said, narrowing her eyes. She leaned in, and they leaned back. Lora could sense their fear, and nearly smirked but kept a straight face. After a moment, both of them jerked out of Lora’s glare and quickly walked into the school.
‘Humph,’ Lora said to herself and grabbed her bags before making her way over to the new girl, who was starting to walk to the school. She walked behind her for a bit, but then started to walk next to her. The girl glanced over, but then looked back at the ground as she walked.
‘Ahem.’ The girl stopped and turned to Lora.
‘Lora Artapel,’ she said, introducing herself. The girl paused.
‘Maidie Gardner,’ she responded, holding out a hand. Lora looked at her hand then looked back at Maidie then shook her hand.
‘Well, I assume you have to go to the office and then find your way around. I’ll see you around then,’ Lora said, breaking the awkward moment.
‘Yeah, so, bye!’
‘B’bye,’ Lora said, picking up her bags again and making her way to her room.
Inside she threw her bag onto her bed and sat down, starting to hate her foster parents more and more every year. Yet, she thought it was better here. She wasn’t under strict rules like she would be at home. Home. That wasn’t the right word. Lora had no home, and didn’t really want a home.
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Post by Lëowen on Jul 29, 2004 22:29:44 GMT -5
Aine leaned her head against the wall of her small room, glancing about the old familiar chamber. Never having to worry about getting a different room each year was nice, especially since everything she had drawn on the walls since her first year at the school just looked so nice. It didn’t matter that it was all drawn in permanent marker. Let the school worry about that after she was gone.
Gone. Ah, what a nice thought. And yet...it was only September 8th, wasn’t it? School was just beginning its vile descent into misery and horror. Fun.
Grimacing, Aine turned up her already loud CD player and let her eyes wander to her single small window. Her room was near enough to the school’s entrance to watch the cars pull up, bringing yet another batch of students to their doom. One of the school’s vehicles pulled up, unloading a girl Aine had never seen before. ‘And so another helpless victim is thrown to the merciless jaws of the Healy School for Girls.’ she said sadly to herself. ‘Aah...and this means a meeting of the Council of Fates...tally ho.’
A few minutes of walking across the chilly campus brought Aine to the forbidding black doors of the library, her favourite haunt during most of the school year. If the staff wanted to find her, this would be where they’d look. The library was a large room, full of wood shelves packed with books. A few worn chairs were sprinkled about, mostly clustered around tables at the back. It was, in her opinion, the most pleasant place in the whole school.
To-day, however, the silent air of the library was shattered by a cluster of preps loitering about. Apparently they thought it a good place to wait for their equally disgusting friends to arrive. Glaring viciously, Aine stalked up behind one of them. ‘Out. Now.’
The girl turned, clearly trying to match Aine’s stare. ‘You’re that Geek girl, aren’t you? Some foreign freak or whatever.’
‘German, actually. Which means I’m from a country called Germany. Terribly clever, isn’t it? You know what else is clever? Clever, adjective. Middle English, ‘cliver’. To be mentally quick and original; bright; exhibiting quick-wittedness; nimble with...’
The prep girl blinked confusedly. ‘Whoa, freak...’ In one mass, she and her friends slunk off to a hang out more suited for their mental capacity. Aine grinned, and sank down into a chair with her copy of RotK.
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Post by Mippin on Jul 31, 2004 22:57:50 GMT -5
‘Go get Aine, while you’re at it!’ the woman yelled, and was nearly met by yet another rude gesture. Dag headed up towards her room, with no intention of getting Aine. But when she spotted the leaders of certain groups coming along, she knew she’d have to, and so decided to take a shortcut to the library. Going up the first flight of stairs, and into a utility closet, Dag found a small grate, with a shaft of light coming up from it. Grinning, she pried the grate open and jumped through, landing in one of the shut-off workrooms adjacent to the library. She dusted herself off, and walked into the back of the library, finding herself near to the encyclopaedias. She was glad she was observant enough to find that shaft, and was glad she accidentally opened the utility closet, thinking it was a classroom when she first came to Fran's School, as she so liked to call it. She proceeded to make her way up to the front of the library, where it wasn't so entirely dark, and immediately spotted Aine. 'Jolan tru, hru'fir!' Dag said certain that Aine would recognise the language. Aine looked up from her book and furrowed her brow, ‘Here to beg for the paperwork to join us, at last, Dagmar?' she asked. 'Dag, if you will - and don't slam on the anchors just yet; I'm not 'ere to join anyone, I’ve just come to drag you to the counsellor’s office.’ ‘Ah… another newbie,’ Aine said thoughtfully, closing her book, and walking swiftly out of the library. Dag went back to her back-room, and up the grate, going back the same way she came – so as to be the first one there. She wasn’t even sure why she had to be there for the Meeting of the Fates, but she was anyway. There would never be any openings for another ‘floater’ as they called Dag, because Dag was intent on making sure that she was the only one of her kind. But she didn’t regret going there. She wanted to keep an eye on Maidie, though for what reason, she could not yet tell. All she knew was that Fran wanted her to. Dag walked through the doorway of the counsellor’s office, and took a seat. After a while, Aine showed up. Surprised, she pondered on how Dagger got there so much more quickly than she did. ‘Looks like I walk faster than you, fancy that!’ she replied, taking into account the fact that Aine had a reputation of walking rather swiftly. They both waited for the others to come. Lora was soon there, along with all the others, and they all waited for Maidie, and then the counsellor, Mrs. Aissen. Dag twitched uncertainly, and went through the works in her head. The process was rather stressful. It involved a lot of sitting and staring until the counsellor came. This was the intimidation part of the whole ordeal. Once the counsellor came, everything lightened up a bit, until said counsellor left. The counsellor served the purpose of supposedly ‘running the show’, but Dag wasn’t sure she did all that much, considering how they’d all been through the process over and over. What would happen after she came is that they’d go through the records, ask the girl a few questions here and there, and find out where she fit. Then, they’d compare her status to the available openings. As to say, if she’d make a perfect Goth, and there weren’t any Goth openings, she’d have to be put in the ‘next best group’ for her personality. A lot of the preliminaries would be tested on her reactions. For instance, the preps might show her a picture of some bloody actor they happen to think is ‘hot’ and see how she reacts. The geeks would probably try and find out her literary interests, and the Goths would likely try to knick her in the arm, to see how she reacts to pain. Drop a clanger, and she’d get placed in the wrong group. After that, the real testing process would begin. Preps… they didn’t give very good tests, to be sure… but everyone else was okay. The geeks generally always gave a quiz in Klingon, Vulcan, or Romulan. The Goths tended to try some form of pain, though the counsellors always looked down on that – or they’d hurt themselves, and see how the girl being tried reacts to the blood. Dag, she didn’t really have to give a test. Her part of the test simply involved glaring, and uncomfortable silence. It was not as if she’d say there was a spot available, but it was still mandatory for all social rankings to try She Who Would Be Placed.™ Dag thought this a waste of time, but went along with it anyway. And so, they waited, as Mrs. Aissen approached. Maidie looked around nervously, and everyone else went about drooling, fidgeting with their tricorder, cutting themselves discreetly, or glaring menacingly. Jolan tru, Hru'fir means G'day mate in Romulan.. just thought you should know. For all you people-playing-trekkies-who-probably-didn't-know-that.
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Post by elberethvarda on Aug 2, 2004 18:18:48 GMT -5
Lydia watched the new girl enter. She did not look exactly confident. She looked like a decent girl; she didn't seem like the rest of them. Then Lydia remembered her own initiation, and what trouble they had had placing her. And Lydia still wasn't satisfied with where she was. She didn't seem to fit quite anywhere.
Back home in Florida, Lydia had attended the regular public middle school. It was terrible. Not a day went by when a racial slur, or a taunt about her low grades was slung at her. Then an incident had happened that had caused the school to expel her. Her mother and father were informed, and told that Lydia would not be welcomed back the following year. Lydia refused to tell them what had occurred. Her mother decided to send her to a boarding school, hoping it would set her straight. So far it had achieved the opposite.
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Post by Marigold Gamgee on Aug 6, 2004 16:51:44 GMT -5
Save for Saphy's introductory post.
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