#clem1

Tamsin didn’t know much at all when it came to Clem Robards, apart from what she’d heard around school when she was running for head girl. There were also the newspaper stories on her family, too, though they weren’t so much stories and more so the truth. Tamsin and her family had been written about many times before, but never in that light. She wondered how Clem brushed it off. If she was like Tamsin, who had hobby she invested herself in when things got to be too much. What Tamsin did know was that prying was not the name of the game. That wasn’t what she was approaching Clem for today.

“What do you tutor in?”

The demonstration hadn’t been lackluster, but Steve’s attempt had been. He tried it one, twice, three times before giving up with slumped shoulders. Nell felt awful that he must’ve been embarrassed, so she kept encouraging him. After another failed attempt, Steve decided to sit out and take a break, leaving Nell practicing on a test dummy instead.

If she hadn’t caught Clem’s eye as she was making rounds, who knows if Nell would have said anything? But right now, she opened her mouth, hopefully unheard by others and especially Steve. “Are we going to have a chance to work with more people throughout the year?” It was the nicest way she could ever ask about a partner change. She’d adapt with Steve if she had to. Nell was just curious if she was being forced to.

“It’s real beautiful here, isn’t it?” Hollie stared upwards, finding the constellations easier to focus on than the problem at hand. She’d owled Clem to meet her here, maybe a bit too mysteriously, but she wasn’t sure where to begin. She could still hear her mother’s voice scolding her. Mafalda. She shuddered at the thought. “I guess I’m a little lost.”

“Yeah, well, she’s apparently got dragons planned for us,” Lux scoffed, the bottom of her boot ashing out her cigarette. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”

“Has anyone ever told you?” She asked. “Told you that you could be a princess? It’s your hair.” She was too drunk to realize how weird that could’ve sounded.

Shambles couldn't tell you why this was so important to her. She couldn't tell you why most things are important to her, nor how long they're going to be important for. But when something is important to Shambles, it's very important and equally urgent. This morning, seeing the sunrise was a life or death situation for her, which for some reason meant dragging her best friend out of bed and walking her through Weaver Ridge in the dark early hours of the morning, and all the way almost to Laurel Village. She knew a spot there. It was beautiful and secluded (in a safe way) and she couldn't sleep from thinking about how beautiful it would be in the sunrise. Clementine was a saint for putting up with this. "It's okay, we're almost there, we're not going to miss it," she said, as though Clementine had been worried about that. They weaved through trees and balanced on rocks until the leaves parted and the harbor was in view. The last stars were fading and the sky was slowly turning from black to blue. "It's going to be worth it, I promise."