L E T' S P L A Y.

“Would you run away with me, Rebecca?”

She removes her sneakers by the welcome mat, left hand instinctively reaching up to flip the light switch on.  Eyes quickly adjusting to the sudden brightness, padding into the usually lonely room, she stretches her arms.  As her attention is directed towards her bed, she falls backwards onto her butt, both hands covering her mouth dramatically.  She gasps, “what’s… this?”

Carefully, she crawls on all fours, hand reluctantly reaching over to the objects laid delicately on her pillow.  She fondles with the petals of the seemingly freshly-picked red rose, a gesture she’s come to do every time she encounters plants, one that serves as a sort of greeting towards the creature.

Placing the flower down, she opens the envelope, and yet again, another gasp escapes her lips. “Omo,” she mumbles, wide eyes reading the one-liner that came with a creatively-shot photograph of hers.  Admittedly, she feels nothing but awe at the supposedly menacing doodles on her face.  She loves the macabre touch.

Her eyebrows wrinkle for a second, but it disappears as quickly as it comes, because the next thing you know, Rebecca’s running out into the hallway, screaming at the top of her lungs.  What little students loitering in the corridor flinch at her outburst.  “AHH!  Thank you, Noah, thank you!  You are the absolute sweetest!”

Marcos winked, turning his head this way and that, running a hand through his hair as he did so. He smiled at the girl. “That’s a nice camera. Where’d you get it?” He asked. 

“I heard it was your birthday!”, he grinned as he stretched to check the blossoming lavender bouquet he managed to gather for her. “And lavender has amazing properties. It can calm your nerves, heal a stomachache and migraines and mosquitos don’t like it, so it’s a natural repellent that will make your room smell nice”, he explained. “Oh, it’s nothing. You’re not supposed to give something in return for a birthday present anyway”.

“Jesus, some teachers here read the weirdest shit ever. Come have a look at this.” 

Skipping over to the boy, she peers over with wide, mostly INNOCENT eyes. “What is it?  Pornographic material??”

“I couldn’t forgive myself if I let a birthday go without presents!” Leo told the girl as he slid the magic 8-ball across the table. “I find they always help in this place, especially with the decision “do I bother getting out of bed to go to classes today,” but I ignore it if it says yes anyway.” He joked, beaming ass he inspected it. “You can pay me back by accompanying me to get food so I don’t look lonely!” 

"All my GRATITUDE goes to you.” She looks at the boy fondly, a giggle escaping her lips.  She turns the ball in her palms once more, then looks up pensively. “Hmm, let’s see.  Magic 8 Ball, should I get lunch with this boy?”  Giving the ball a little shake, she checks the answer. “Alas, it’s turned to a side.  Anyway, it’s never a bad idea to accompany such a fellow.  Let’s go!”

Phoenix eyed the camera that hung from her neck, he didn’t see anyone behind him. Phoenix bit down on his bottom lip, shifting his weight from one foot to another. Phoenix knew he had balled up the paper and tossed it into the waste bin in his room. “No I left it in my room. Thought I wouldn’t need it. My room is 225, if that helps?” He supplied. Phoenix’s eyes darted back down towards her camera and then back up at her. “Were you going to take a picture of me?” He wondered a teasing grin set on his sly tongue.

"Fantastic, at least you know the number.  That makes our navigation through this LABYRINTH simpler.” She blinks several times, and upon noticing the boy’s grin, she realizes that perhaps he saw her.  So, to brush off the issue without having to lie, she gestures down the hall. “Shall we?”  She begins walking, pace just enough that he can keep up.  Her voice was purposely stoic as she makes small talk. “What if I was?  Taking your photograph, I mean.”

Freya looks UNCOMFORTABLE and UNCERTAIN as the girl repeats herself, saying again what she heard perfectly the first time. Jaw tight, her teeth grind together as she shakes her head, gaze flickering between the paper and the other girl once again. She can’t speak without admitted she’d be a useless partner and the idea of admitting that sits heavily in her chest, so she stays QUIET and STILL.

Oddly, her ears are quick to pick up the sound of teeth grinding, and the other’s discomfort is just that obvious. “Um, it’s fine!  We don’t have to do this!  Putting this away now.” She folds the problem set in half---despite instructions against doing so---and places it in her rucksack.  She offers a small smile, “we don’t have to do it if you’d rather not.”

Avery flinched back from the force of the negative answer, shoulders hunched up closer to his ears. The girl quickly took back the response, but she didn’t make any move to delete it from her camera. Avery felt like prying more would only lead to bad things. “Y-you can k-keep it if y-you r-really want.” He said softly, wringing his hands in front of him and looking at the ground. He didn’t understand why someone would want a picture of him anyway. 

“AURORA.”

“I’m glad you asked!  He is surely a LOVELY man.  We’ve met once, but alas, it feels as if we’ve known each other forever.” She places her hand under her jaw, a dreamy look overtaking her big, brown eyes. “Why ‘aurora’?  Well, if you must know, auroras are those undeniably MAJESTIC lights in the sky that can predominantly be observed in the northern regions.  Exceptionally entrancing, and yet… an ENIGMA.”

@toddrobert

Phoenix stared at the wall in front of him, in his line of vision alone, there were 37 bricks. He lifted his head just slightly listening in to some girls gossip away. Even in a facility where everyone fucked up, someone still had to gossip. Phoenix was already bored of the lack of freedom he had. He was monitored, they all were, and it made him take every step more calculated than the next. Frankly, he knew there was no way to survive this by keeping to himself. He knew what they were looking after in terms of his ‘condition’ and he wasn’t having that. Phoenix stepped towards the nearest person, not entirely sure what they were doing, but their life was going to be ten times more thrilling once they spoke to Phoenix- he was sure of it. “Hey,” His voice seeming a lot nicer than he appeared, “I’m new to the school.” He let out an airy chuckle, always a sign of nervousness with the rub behind the back of his neck it was always good. Phoenix smiled darting his eyes around than looking back at the person, “But I wasn’t really listening to the person telling me where everything is. I kindaaaa lost my way. Do you think you can show me where my room is?” He asked.

Rebecca saunters into the hallway, each step in accordance to a rhythm that, almost prophetically, has been ringing in her head since she woke up that morning. Thanks to her ever-observant eyes, she sees the crazy-haired boy before he even takes the prerogative to walk up to her; that goes to say that she has been watching him for a considerably long time. Her index finger ceases to FIDGET on the shutter button of her camera, and her hold steadies. What a fascinating specimen! It’s a must that I get a photograph. But before she could even lift the device to her eye, he approaches, and she drops her camera and lets it dangle innocently from around her neck. "H-hi!" She smiles nervously. "Of course! It would be a DELIGHT. Do you have that form they distribute right after admission...?"

Chesa looked up at the girl, offering her earbud as an answer instead of trying to speak. She was listening to Shawn Mendes, having recently discovered him and his music.

She looks between the girl and earbud in momentary confusion, but quickly smiles. "Oh, uhh, okay!" She puts the offered piece in her ear, and a familiar progression of guitar plucks and a male’s voice fills her senses. “Shawn Mendes, yes?  His music is simply SPLENDID!”

Whether she wanted to admit it or not, isolation had an effect on Freya. All that time alone with her thoughts, going over all of their anger and all of her mistakes that she barely understood that she made – it made her draw into herself, guilty and confused and scared of making another mistake. So when the person across from her asked a question about the homework, she looked like a cornered animal, gaze flickering between them and the paper and her heart began to race.

Rebecca's mouth hangs AGAPE for minutes, eyebrows raised expectantly. She follow's the girl's gaze towards the problem set, then she looks back up at the other. Perhaps the girl simply did not hear; Rebecca has the tendency to talk a little too soft, so she perfectly understood. She repeats, "do you have anyone to work with?"