#uni smith

“There Are No Strings on Me”

//Local Dead Skeptic kid gets too into Dead Skeptic. Albeit she isn’t the worst; she doesn’t see her friends as lesser for following voices, but she certainly doesn’t trust everything they do, not when they’ve got someone pulling their strings.

//Characters featured from left to right in the background are-

Vien - Mine!

Mary - @alexs-moon-garden

Kat - @ryanriotspirates

Moving

Unique Smith had never wanted to move. New York had been fine. Loud, but fine. People could be rude, but fine. She knew it. She could navigate it. She’d been there all her life, and better yet, she’d always had a future there. Always. Finally, her smarts were being recognized. Uni’s technology skills were no joke then, and they were certainly no joke now. With proper guidance, she could be a real life Tony Stark, they’d said. A real life inventor, someone who could change the world (and hopefully not be a clusterfuck like that character), they’d said. All she needed was proper schooling and some mentors, and now? She wasn’t getting any of that.

        The sudden move to Redacre, Virginia had come as a shock to the pre-teen at the time. Mother had said she’d gotten a new job, and that job would allow them to start over. ‘Start over from what?’ Uni had asked, but her mother had just shaken her head. ‘Don’t argue,’ was what she’d been told, and as much as she tried, there was no changing her mother’s mind.

        Welcome to Redacre.

        Boxes laid scattered all over the house for the two to handle, along with some neighbors that had come to help out. They’d greeted Uni at the time, but she’d quickly retreated to her new room, upset by this new environment, and even more upset when she remembered how barren her room was. They still needed to set up her bed; her nightstand; her dresser; her posters. It was a nice room though, bigger than the one back home, but that didn’t take away how much she was already homesick. She wanted New York back.

        For a while, Uni stayed put in this room, huddled in a corner by some boxes that she’d moved and stacked to hide herself with. She’d thought about sneaking out via the window, but the kid knew that wasn’t a good idea. Other than stranger danger and getting lost in a new place, Uni didn’t know if the strangeness of the outside scared her more or the inside. At least the inside was safe, in a way. People were in the house, but they’d left her room alone. Good. This was her room. Her space, even if it didn’t fully feel like hers yet. But soon enough, someone encroached on this space, giving a knock and a pause before cracking open the door.

        ”Unique…?” The sound of her tired mother barely caused the kid to stir, her entire being huddled inside her oversized sweater. Despite not making a sound though, it was clear her daughter was in there. And thus, with a sigh, she pushed open the door and walked inside, already moving towards the corner.

        Once again, Uni didn’t raise her head, even when the boxes were moved out of the way, or when she felt her mother take a seat right beside her. And that was how things were for a moment. Silent, no one saying a word. But soon enough, her mother couldn’t help but finally break the ice. “…I know… You didn’t want to come here, and I know this place is very new and very scary for you, but-“

        ”No duh,” the child huffed, making sure to pointedly move away. “You didn’t even give me a warning. Just told me to pack my bags and go, and to some stupid town in the middle of the Radio Quiet Zone!” Finally, she lifted her head, shooting her mother a glare before burying it back in her sweater. “I can’t even text my friends anymore! Urgh- This isn’t fair!”

        The mother simply let the child rant, continuing to frown as she accepted just how much of a toll this was taking on her kid. To her, this was a fun new adventure, a warmer place to live with warmer people and a warmer community. But to her daughter, this was a frightening place, an unknown area with unknown people and things. Redacre was the direct opposite of New York City, and while the woman saw this as a positive, Unique clearly didn’t like it. Not at all.

        ”…I’m sorry.” The woman diverted her gaze and began to stare at the floor as she talked. “I should have told you sooner, and I should have let you say proper goodbyes to your friends… This place… I brought you here because I thought we could-“

        ”-Start over.”

        ”…Yes, start over, in a better environment with better people, in a better community.” She then paused, unsure if Uni would even understand what she was talking about. Maybe she would. She was a smart girl after all, but she was young, not yet even a teenager. She was thinking about her old home, the friends she’d lost. She wasn’t thinking about the bigger picture… meaning she needed her own explanation, at least in her mother’s eyes. “…I know you miss New York, and Redacre… This is a new place for you, and you don’t have to like it right away… or ever if you don’t really want to. But… that doesn’t mean I won’t try to make this transition easier for you. You’ve got all summer to get settled in, and my new job’s giving me time to move and adjust too. So… if you want… we can explore our new home together.”

        Unfortunately, Unique didn’t bother to respond.

        ”…Would you please come outside with me?”

        ”No. I don’t wanna.”

        ”Please?” The mother turned her gaze back to her daughter, watching for any hope that her kid would let up. “…It’ll only be for a moment. I just want show you something.”

        She just wanted to show her something. Honestly, Uni didn’t really feel like getting up. Sulking was fine. Hiding in this new room of hers was fine. But clearly her mom was trying here; Uni couldn’t deny that. Maybe that was why she took her up on her offer.

        Reluctantly, Uni shuffled to her feet, still very much grumpy about the situation. But she was following along. She was humoring her mom, and that was all the woman could really ask for.

        Taking her hand, the mother lead her through the house, first down the hall and then through the living room. Many boxes littered the area, but many already seemed unpacked. Guess those neighbors were helpful after all, which was… weird, in a way. Uni was so used to just minding her own business in their apartment. Sure getting help did happen, but for the most part she knew none of her neighbors. Was this one of these differences her mother liked so much?

        Nonetheless, the real show came from the backyard. It was small, but still very much a backyard. Her own patch of grass to exist in without worry. But she didn’t care that much about it, not when her mother pointed out something else. Not when her mother told her to look up.

        Night had fallen since they’d arrived, since her mother and the neighbors had been moving in. Since she’d gone and hid and napped in her room. More time had passed than expected, but it wasn’t what caught her eye. Instead, it was the many little lights dotting the late night sky. Far and wide, these lights stretched, so many of them lighting up the night. They weren’t brighter than the street lights of course. Uni could still see the street lights illuminating the nearby area. But they didn’t blot out the sky like she was used to. They didn’t keep the sky from shining as much as she was used to. Instead, the minimal lights were allowing these ones to shine bright. Truly, Uni had never seen anything like this before.

        ”The stars…” Her mother squeezed her kid’s hand gently, also taken by the amazing view from their own backyard. “I never sat down and looked at the stars.”

        For a moment, Uni didn’t respond, still too busy staring up into the sky. But eventually, she did pause to look towards her mom, except this time, this wasn’t a look is disdain. “…But there weren’t this many stars back home.”

        ”Exactly.” Catching her daughter’s glance, the woman looked down towards her and smiled. “There are a lot of things here that aren’t like back home. And this is one of the good ones.”