Milford-Gaudier Academy [IC, OPEN, Pt. I]

[The Twelve Isles]

School Quad
Darren Noble
(*retcon rename of character, formerly called 'Blake Peterson'*)

Both hands remaining in his pockets throughout the immediate exchange, Darren grinned warmly to his roommate, then sticking out a hand toward Jimmy with a slight nod. "Yeah, Noble." Darren remarked, flashing his full set of shining teeth. Darren got glimpse of a moth fluttering onto his shoulder, resting atop of his navy blue v-neck shirt, and opting to blow it away rather than swatting at it with his hand. Looking back toward Jimmy, Darren dusted off his shirt.

"Um, sorry that I didn't get to say hello earlier, Jimmy. I really wish I were able to meet you earlier. I've just, you know, been at practice all morning long." Darren explained, soon stashing his hands back into his pockets.

"Say, where you from anyway? Take it you're not from Jersey." He added with a chuckle.

"No," laughed Jimmy, "I am definitely not from Jersey. I'm from Texas, a little town called Burkburnett." Jimmy thought about his hometown fondly, remembering cruising around with Joseph meeting up with friends or spending afternoons with Emma sitting on the chairs she had put on her roof. It was, in all honesty, a little white trash, both his lifestyle and the town itself. But it was earnest, and Jimmy had felt at home there, something he didn't quite feel here. Not that anyone was trying to make it that way, it was just simply a lot more Yankee and a lot more rich than he had ever experienced. "Its kind of a goofy place," said Jimmy, "but it ain't so bad. I personally love it a lot. So, where are you from?"

[Chewion]

Ryan Carter
School Quad

Ryan smiled as he signed his name on the paper. Handing it to Sophia he said “You know, maybe one day I’ll be President and you can be my Press Secretary. I’d rather have you defending me than attacking me.” Turning to Liam sitting at the table he said “So, when do we find out if we have made it onto the paper? I’m actually excited about this now. Looks very well done. Definitely can tell you guys are running a professional outfit here.

[Segral]

Theodore "Teddy" Clarke

Edward? Edward DuFour? Why? He was so confused. What reason was there to be called "Edward" over "Maureen". She had gone by Maureen for the two years Teddy had known her, so...why was she changing it? He didn't have a problem with the name, but he was confused as to why she was changing it. Especially as Edward was a man's na-OH! RAASCLAAT! Sh...he was a transgender man! Why did that take so long for him to figure out? It should've been easy for him to connect the dots. Maureen wanted to be called Edward, she was wearing a very fashionable and snappy man's suit, and a picky picky head, it was clear. A little bit of guilt wormed through his chest, mostly for accidentally hurting his peer. However, it was dulled somewhat from his irritation and annoyance from this asshole, Adam.

"M'pologies, Mau...Edward. Mi wasn't aware of yo' preference, bad on muh part. I' won't happen again, mi promise. Don' worry, I'm supportive and all."

However, he had another viper to cut the head off of. Adam. Regardless of his picky little intention, he had made Teddy look like the biggest rascal in the gym, and pretty much slandered his name all over. He had half a mind to give him a little piece of his anger, but chose to hold it back. He wasn't even sure why Adam had chosen to attack him like that. He barely knew the guy, and he didn't have anything against trans-es, regardless of his little mistake. OK, it was a large mistake, but that didn't change that he never meant to insult anyone. His church, his religion, and his mother had raised him better than that, raised him to welcome anybody into their home, regardless of their choice. It was Caribbean hospitality a' its finest. Maybe he was just annoyed that Teddy hadn't remembered his name or face.

"Also, sorry Adam." he said somewhat sheepishly, trying to at least meet him in the middle. "It's usually not li' me to figet someone's name like dat, didn' mean anythin' by it. I hope we don' start on the wrong foot, know what I mean?" He was still annoyed, but he tried to mask it behind a somewhat embarrassed face, hoping he could make the situation defuse a bit. Talking was never his strong point, and he had already indirectly insulted two peers in a row. It did not look good.

[The Federation of Spokane]

Nathan strolled into the school, His suitcase in hand. He muttered “Might as well as unpack before Assembly.” He walked into Room 5 and claimed the top bed by the window.He unpacked and then set up his clothes before pulling out his student orientation form. He pulled out the map before heading to the Quad where he beelined to the newspaper booth and greeted “Hello.”

[Imperial Esplanade]

School Quad
Sophia Taylor

The table growing increasingly popular, so it would seem, Sophia stepped a few inches closer to the table, looking over the sign-up list Ryan had handed over to her. Sophia, face still elated and smiling as she looks for a place to sign her name, tucked a stray hair behind her ear with her hand and bent over slightly over the table to write down her name, number, and email address. Glancing up back toward Liam, and shooting a quick look over toward the other aside from them.

"Hey, what's up?" She asked in a warm tone of voice, shooting a quick wave as she straightened herself, pen in her hand, then looking back toward Liam once more to hand the pen back. "I guess this means we'll keep in touch, then?" She asked openly, resetting her posture and dropping her hands down to her hips. "It definitely sounds like an awesome group, I REALLY look forward to possibly being a part of this!" She voiced with enthusiasm, just before stepping off to the side to allow a male approach from behind her.

"Hey!" She remarked, toward the male (Nathan) holding a map. "You, uh, trying to sign up?" Sophia asked, following-up with a hand gesture toward the table, welcoming him to take her spot just a few moments ago. Quickly right after, she shot a look toward Ryan, wondering if he were still beside her.

[Vaquas]

School Quad
Liam Blackwell

The boy on the other side of the desk couldn't contain a tiny eyeroll at the comment about the Press attacking the President, the reference unmistakable. He maintained his smile though and his chipper attitude not disappearing.

"After the interview process, you'll be contacted by someone from the paper the next day, probably me, and I'll let you know that you're in." he explained. "Sounds like a lot but it actually goes by rather quickly, we've got everything set up and staff in their respective places ready to work in under two weeks. We're certainly a professional outfit," he said with pride. He then turned to Sophia, her face full of excitement, and let her know how appreciative he was to hear that.

"Its a great place to be, your anticipation in warranted." he said. "Thanks again for the interest."

He turned to the new arrival, whom he did not recognize, and smiled.

"Hey, you're interested in the Sentinel? Just sign your name on one of these sheets, we'll call you in for an interview and that'll be that if you make the cut, which isn't as daunting a task as it may seem." he said, recycling his greeting. "The name's Liam, you'll be seeing a lot of me if you join."

[Elejamie]

Peter Kowalski

While he was thinking, Peter heard someone's voice. It turned out to be Ryo, someone that Peter had actually talked to, even if it was for a few brief seconds while he was waiting for his library card to be finished. So, as you could imagine, it was nice hearing a somewhat familiar voice. However, since Peter never really made eye contact when they talked, albeit because he can't really do it, he couldn't really say that it was a familiar face. Not to mention that Peter didn't really remember much of their conversation back then, since it was at least a month ago, maybe two. So it was just a question of why this person was talking to him.

Fortunately, Ryo would explain why. It turns out that Ryo was Peter's third and final dormmate for the year. Granted, he hasn't met the other one, which would probably be a bit awkward, but there's a good chance that the two would interact later on at some point. But for now, he wanted to concentrate on attempting a conversation with Ryo. "Hello." Peter said, his voice a little unsure as he tried to force himself to remember the last conversation they had. Not an easy feat but he was sure he could manage it. "Nice to see you again."

Later on, Ryo would ask if Peter was Canadian. Granted he probably brought it up back when they first met or he saw the Canadian flag bumper sticker on his Dodge Shadow in the parking lot. Or even paid attention to his accent while he was speaking. But, either way, Peter nodded as an answer, not explaining whereabouts in Canada he came from because he vaguely remembered mentioning it during that meeting a while back. Granted Ryo probably forgot since then but Peter didn't really want to take any chances. Especially when he glanced over, presumably trying to find a book that he was interested in, especially when he said something about wanting to get a headstart in reading what they had to read. Something Peter got, as he probably would've done the same thing, though he would've done it more out of pleasure or because he'd rather have his nose in a book rather than deal with something that completely uninterests him, like a couple of months before his 14th birthday when he was dragged along to a CFL game but, rather than watch the match, instead decided to spend the whole match reading Brave New World.

However, it turned out that Ryo couldn't seem to find the book he was looking for, which was Heart of Darkness. Peter seemed a little bit confused, as he figured it was with the other Cos whereas he was looking at the Brs, as he was eyeing Fahrenheit 451. He leaned over and moved closer to where Ryo was, looking closely and finding out that, yes, there was no Heart of Darkness. "Maybe someone already checked it out." He said, offering a simple explanation shortly after Ryo seemed to give up looking for it. At that point, Peter went back to where he was and took the copy of Fahrenheit 451 off the shelf. Perfect timing too, as Ryo said that there wasn't enough time and that they had to get to the assembly. Upon asking if the two would like to walk down together, Peter simply said. "You go on ahead. I'll check this out and then I'll catch up." This wasn't out of rudeness or anything but rather to let his roomie know that he shouldn't have to worry about him. After all, Peter was confident that he would get there alright, though it was just a question of whether or not he'd be able to read through a potential asinine display.

---

Erin Sarenda

Erin didn't have time to thank Yixuan for complimenting her homeland due to Ernest showing up but she decided that she could thank him later. After all, they did have a small amount of time and there would probably would be a big enough window of opportunity for her to do so. Maybe tell him about a number of places in New Zealand he should go to whenever he gets the chance. Granted most of them would be in the North Island as she's never really been anywhere south of Hamilton, not yet anyway, but she was sure she could still think of a few places that were worth visiting.

After she introduced herself and Yixuan to Ernest, the German would then say that he has no fear and has known about America and its customs for quite a while, followed by a small bit about American eating habits. This got a small chuckle out of Erin, partly out of politeness but also because she actually found it a little bit funny. Not gut-bustingly hilarious but rather worthy of two or three has. He then went on to say that he was an introvert and he doesn't speak often, if only because he's busy playing the violin or the piano. He then offered if they would like to hear it, which didn't interest Erin that much. Not out of rudeness but rather because she wasn't particularly that interested in classical music, especially since it didn't mesh that well with her sort of music; sure there were a few exceptions such as the original version of Liebeslied but those were far and few between.

Fortunately, after the weird tangent but before she answered the question, Yixuan managed to step in and give an answer to the offer. Not only did she find out that he also played those insturments but also that he turned the offer down, if only because he wasn't sure if they had enough time before the assembly started. While he was speaking Erin took her phone out and pretty much confirmed that it was starting soon. She then briefly looked over to Yixuan, who looked back at her as if he was waiting for her to respond and give her answer. Sliding her phone back into her pocket, Erin did just that but not before taking care of some unfinished business. "First up, chur for complimenting NZ, bro." She said, smiling as him before turning to face Ernest. "And I gotta agree, we don't have that much time left. However, since you play and you play..." She said, pointing as the person she was looking at before pointing at the other person. "... Why not play together later? Have a little jam session? I'd join in with my bass but I don't think that Jesus Built My Hotrod would fit that well with, I don't know, Water Music."

[Khasinkonia]

Edward T. DuFour
Surprisingly Easy

I listened to Janet’s response, and smiled gently. I was about to response when it hit Teddy like a truck. Funnily enough, he responded to the fact I was not, in fact, a girl named Maureen, as if it were common knowledge by now, although that may have had something to do with Adam’s commentary. He seemed rather flustered, which I frankly found entertaining, even if it was a bit unkind that I did.

“Oh, don’t worry about it!” I chuckled lightly, “You can see, the fact’s new to Janet too—and we’re fast friends. It’ll take a bit of adjustment for everyone, I’m sure, but you’ve both taken the news wonderfully.”

“Anyhow,” I smiled contentedly, now leaning a bit on Janet, “I’m just happy it’s going so well. I mean, especially from you, Janet, I was sure you’d be accepting, but I wanted to take my time about it, y’know? I’m sure I’m gonna have more trouble with some other folks, so I needed to be more so than other folks need to be ready for me, really.”

[The Federation of Spokane]

Nathan nodded in thanks and took her spot before responding to the man “Yeah, Thank you!” He wrote his name on the sheet that was offered and then smiled as he stepped away and took a look at his watch, noting the time and started to head to the assembly hall. He turned as he bumped into someone and then apologized as he met the most stunning eyes he would ever meet.

[Chewion]

Ryan Carter
School Quad

Ryan quickly followed Sophia, dodging around people before re-emerging by her side saying "What a crowd." As he moved next to her his hand accidentally came into contact with hers. Feeling the blood rush to his face he sheepishly looked down before saying "Oh.. Sorry that was a complete accident." Yet internally he wanted to actually be holding her hand.

[The Federation of Spokane]

Ryan Carter
School Quad

Ryan quickly followed Sophia, dodging around people before re-emerging by her side saying "What a crowd." As he moved next to her his hand accidentally came into contact with hers. Feeling the blood rush to his face he sheepishly looked down before saying "Oh.. Sorry that was a complete accident." Yet internally he wanted to actually be holding her hand.

Nathan realized he had bumped into Ryan and squeaked our a apology before quickly walking away. He needed to think about what had just happened.

[Imperial Esplanade]

School Quad
Sophia Taylor (and Audrey Zanetti)

Instinctively stepped aside, similarly, as she let the equally-intrigued male come-and-go, passing them by to-and-fro, following his own quick inscription of the sheet, Sophia smirked at Ryan at his commentary and shot a quick glance around while nodding her head - taking in the scene around her all across the quad. The school gymnasium, meanwhile, opened its' doors wide enough to allow a large inundation of students to begin making their way inside of the gymnasium, being that the time to begin the occasion was fastly approaching. Some tables, scattered around, were beginning the process of cleaning up - whereas others, such as the Bluebird Sentinel, still seemed to have quite a few interested potential applicants milling around.

Sophia, feeling Ryan leaning inward to allow room for the male (Nathan) to pass on by, while exchanging a meaningful look as they do. Sophia steps back some, to allow some room, yet wasn't able to escape Ryan's sweep and incidental contact with their hands. She pulls her hand back, almost immediately, surprised at the contact, and looks up at his embarrassed, self-conscious expression.

"Oh no--it's fine, Ryan." She responded back, a lax smile, as she took a couple more steps back to provide for some more personal space between them. "It--it happens." Sophia commented, an equally awkward smile on her faced as his.

Just then, not a mere half-second after, a female skips up next to Sophia, and taps on her shoulder - wide grin etched on her face. "Hey there, roomie." She said, sidling up next to Sophia, and quickly looking over Ryan as she kept the friendly grin.

"So... this is where I remind you to use protection?" The girl asked, wry smile as she amused herself.

Sophia glared toward the roommate, her face red with embarrassment, and she covered her hinging mouth with her hands. "Audrey!" She exclaimed back toward the roommate, Audrey.

The brunette girl with the thinly-tied bandana wrapped around her head that she usually wears, wove her hand dismissively, and immediately, cackling to herself at the bewildered, if not humiliated, look on Sophia's face.

"Sheesh, calm down! I wasn't talking to you, I was telling that to Romeo over there!" Audrey answered back, nudging with her head, then looking over at him with a bemused look. "Dude was totally being checked outtt!" Audrey added, laughing.

[Chewion]

Ryan Carter
School Quad

Ryan was bewildered by this new girl. Stumbling over his words he stuttered “Me? I uhh... I’m not.. you know.... I like girls only.” Feeling his ears turning red with blood he desperately wanted to change the topic. Turning to focus on Sophia he regained his confident smile and said “So excited for the paper? Maybe you can write a piece on how you turned a hopeless fool like me into a top notch guitar smith.”

[Imperial Esplanade]

School Quad
Sophia Taylor and Audrey Zanetti

Audrey crossed her arms at Ryan, not particularly amused at the answer - even insofar as raising an eyebrow in slight suspicion, while smirking devilishly toward Ryan. "Interesting." Audrey uttered, Then, her eyes moving in Sophia's direction, who was simply looking at the ground to avoid making eye contact. "Very interesting."

Sophia just bit her lip, unsure what to even think about what just happened or her additional commentary, and so just quickly looked back up, her attention focusing, initially at Audrey, before glancing toward Ryan - right as he was commenting once more about her about their shared interest in the school's newspaper. "Trust me, Ryan. If you ever do get there, to playing up to that level I mean, it will have way more to do with your skills and ability to learn than my teaching." She remarked, pausing a brief moment, and then exhaling to collect herself.

"I think it's awesome you have such big dreams. Really. Between being... President? And a rock star? Geez. Like, I really don't know what you'll end up doing, but you're definitely ambitious and persistent." Sophia observed, turning to look over toward Audrey again, nearby. "Hey, so were you planning on sitting with anyone for the assembly?" Sophia asked, hoping to keep her occupied from blurting out anything else that may be potentially, objectively, embarrassing.

Audrey, in response, just silently shrugged a shoulder. "Okay, well then... you'd think you'd want to sit with Ryan and me?" Sophia inquired, following-up. Audrey, quickly glanced back-and-forth between Sophia and Ryan, then sharply nodded her head.

"Yeah! Sure, that'll be sweet." Audrey remarked, sticking out her hand at Ryan. "Pleasure to meet ya, Ryan!"

[Chewion]

Ryan Carter
School Quad

Ryan looked at Sophia with a smile saying “I think you overestimate my skill there Madame Editor of the New York Times.” Fighting hard he maintained the smile as Audrey agreed to sit next to them at the assembly. Internally he was screaming bloody murder and crying while rocking in a fetal position. Pushing this away he said, in an attempt to appear nice before Sophia, “Is she joining us afterwards as well?”

[Imperial Esplanade]

School Quad
Darren Noble

Listening, Darren maintained an engaged, amused expression on his face while training and positioning himself toward Jimmy. His mind, immediately, wandered into thoughts of this guy riding horses and working his summers as a ranch-hand, donning cowboy hats and boots. Admittedly, Darren never set foot in the state of Texas in his entire life, much less travel down to the south for that matter. Aside from the coasts, and in spite of being as well-off his family has been, Darren hadn't had much of a desire to travel outside of the confines of what he was comfortable being around. Although, once Jimmy finished his answer, Darren looked at the ground momentarily, shaking his head.

"Nah, man." Darren answered back, leaving his reply linger a bit. He pulled one of his hands, entrenched in his pant pocket, to lightly run his shoulder as he continued on with the answer. "Cali. This little place people call San Francisco."

Darren glanced over at the bustling tables, the groups of people forming across the grassy expanse of the quad, and the others bustling around the gymnasium to enter inside, then looked toward Jimmy. "Everyone's just got their quirks, I guess."

"Everyone's different, every place is different. Well, I mean, not that I'd know too much about that. But if the people here are so different from the people there, I can't imagine how you feel coming from... Texas, to here." Darren added, chuckling.

[Imperial Esplanade]

School Quad
Sophia Taylor and Audrey Zanetti

Audrey, raising an eyebrow and slowly pulling her hand away after her attempt of being friendly and nice being ignored by Ryan, bite her tongue in hesitation to the perceived slight - holding back on saying something, choosing to let it lie for a moment. Even though, his additional question, in the manner and context it had been asked, right after the so-called 'slight,' would not be lost, nor forgotten, by her in the meantime. Audrey would turn to Sophia, and noticing she seemed engaged with Ryan, and her with her, took the opportunity to eye-her over a little, discreetly, though certainly listening attentively to their conversation with keen interest.

Sophia eased her grin, and squinted her eyes, as she crossed her chest with her arms. "So says the one calling me the 'Madam Editor of the New York Times.' You get to say that sort of thing about me, why can't I say I say that sort of thing about you? I mean, clearly, you have the dreams and vision for all that." She added, his continued apparent suggestions of a highly tout-worthy future, if not a subtle-lacking attempt of a flirt, having continued to amuse her, and fascinate her, if nothing else.

Sophia goes quiet a lingering second, forgetting momentarily a question was asked about Audrey at the end, only to be remembered when Audrey cleared her throat, and lightly nudging Sophia with her elbow. "C'mon, it'll be fun! The three of us hanging out!" Sophia cocked her head to the side, looking at Audrey a moment, then broke into a smirk.

"Oh, right. Yeah, sure I guess it could be." Sophia stated flatly, turning to look at Ryan and looking at him expectantly a moment. "You cool with that?" Sophia asked, her eyes catching glimpse of the crowds making their way inside of the gymnasium right after, then looking back to Ryan in anticipation of his answer.

[The Twelve Isles]

Edward T. DuFour
Surprisingly Easy

I listened to Janet’s response, and smiled gently. I was about to response when it hit Teddy like a truck. Funnily enough, he responded to the fact I was not, in fact, a girl named Maureen, as if it were common knowledge by now, although that may have had something to do with Adam’s commentary. He seemed rather flustered, which I frankly found entertaining, even if it was a bit unkind that I did.

“Oh, don’t worry about it!” I chuckled lightly, “You can see, the fact’s new to Janet too—and we’re fast friends. It’ll take a bit of adjustment for everyone, I’m sure, but you’ve both taken the news wonderfully.”

“Anyhow,” I smiled contentedly, now leaning a bit on Janet, “I’m just happy it’s going so well. I mean, especially from you, Janet, I was sure you’d be accepting, but I wanted to take my time about it, y’know? I’m sure I’m gonna have more trouble with some other folks, so I needed to be more so than other folks need to be ready for me, really.”

"Man, you don't gotta worry about nothing from me," said Janet, reaching her arm around to give Edward a hug. Regardless of the, abruptness, of how this meeting had gone she was happy to see her friend again. It was weird, but happy, and she was happy for her friend making such a big step in his life even if Janet didn't fully understand it. "And besides, if anyone gives you trouble you know I got your back. They don't make us weak in Brockton." Janet grinned a wistful grin and leaned back onto Edward, so that the two were supporting each other with their weight. She turned to Adam and Teddy, listening to them converse. She had been more distracted talking to Edward, and hadn't payed much attention to Teddy and Adams interaction. They seemed tense, and Janet felt the nagging worry build up in her again. She had to remind herself that she wasn't involved in whatever beef may have cropped up between them, but the tension still made her uncomfortable.

"Hey," she said, looking between Teddy and Adam, "you guys all good?" She hoped that was the case. She didn't know Teddy too well, but she liked him, and she liked Adam as well from what she knew of him. "I don't want folks fighting on the first day back," she said, trying to diffuse the situation. Once again, though she didn't know either very well, they both seemed sweet in their own way and it always made Janet sad to see two nice people fighting over stupid things. It reminded her of the kids she had gone to school with in Brockton, on the rare occasions she had gone too school, and one incident in particular. Three boys had been beating up another after school, for some perceived slight or another, and when they had tired themselves out the boy who got beat up stood, picked up a rock, and pitched at his attackers, and was quickly surrounded and being beaten again. If she could do something about it, Janet hoped she could prevent a fight before it started.

School Quad
Darren Noble

Listening, Darren maintained an engaged, amused expression on his face while training and positioning himself toward Jimmy. His mind, immediately, wandered into thoughts of this guy riding horses and working his summers as a ranch-hand, donning cowboy hats and boots. Admittedly, Darren never set foot in the state of Texas in his entire life, much less travel down to the south for that matter. Aside from the coasts, and in spite of being as well-off his family has been, Darren hadn't had much of a desire to travel outside of the confines of what he was comfortable being around. Although, once Jimmy finished his answer, Darren looked at the ground momentarily, shaking his head.

"Nah, man." Darren answered back, leaving his reply linger a bit. He pulled one of his hands, entrenched in his pant pocket, to lightly run his shoulder as he continued on with the answer. "Cali. This little place people call San Francisco."

Darren glanced over at the bustling tables, the groups of people forming across the grassy expanse of the quad, and the others bustling around the gymnasium to enter inside, then looked toward Jimmy. "Everyone's just got their quirks, I guess."

"Everyone's different, every place is different. Well, I mean, not that I'd know too much about that. But if the people here are so different from the people there, I can't imagine how you feel coming from... Texas, to here." Darren added, chuckling.

"Hey, San Francisco," said Jimmy, leaning back on his boot heels. "Big city boy then." Jimmy smiled his broad smile, looking around the quad at the people around him. They all wore nice clothes and had pretty, well taken care of smiles. His on the other hand, was missing a tooth on the top. Whatever, it was funny to him, and he always liked to tell people how he had lost it. He changed the story around every time, but it always had the same basic parts too it. "Yeah," he said to Darren's comment about how different this place must be, "its pretty odd. Its a lot colder than I really like is the biggest thing for me, any cultural differences are small enough that I can overlook them. In fact, I actually kinda like it. Im like a unicorn to some around here, all of them being from cities. Its funny. But yeah, its odd. Im not to keen on how crowded the city feels either, makes me feel claustrophobic compared to the countryside."

Jimmy rocked back and forth as he spoke, brushing his floppy red hair back before sticking his hands in his pockets. His shirt flapped with the breeze, the lack of sleeves making it seem like a giant sail, and when Jimmy saw two girls glance at him with faces that may have been mild confusion or may have been attraction, he grinned even wider and gave them a wink. Turned out it was confusion they had been feeling, and the two girls faces switched from the first emotion to mild disgust. Deciding to hammer the nail further into the coffin, Jimmy spat, waggled his eyebrows at them and laughed as they hurriedly made their way away from the strange redneck looking guy. "I got a girlfriend back home," explained Jimmy to Darren, "so I gotta be sure to not attract any female attention form the locals. I don't think my girlfriend would like that so much."

[Chewion]

Ryan Carter
School Quad

Ryan realized that he hadn’t accepted the other girls handshake. Sheepishly he extended his hand saying “Nice to meet you. Sorry about that.” Flashing a smile he turned to Sophia saying “I do have dreams but rockstar ain’t one. But tell you what, when I’m President and you’re Editor of Time Magazine then I’ll give you an all access exclusive for as long as you like.” Then replying to her question he said “Sure, more the merrier right. Of course means you’ll owe me a one on one talk another day. Got to know the beautiful lady that’ll be hounding me for questions in 20 years.” Ending with a smile he hoped he hadn’t gone to far.

[The Federation of Spokane]

Nathan Bernard
School Gym

Nathan squeezed by and headed towards the bleachers,wishing that he could just have some maple syrup right now. He flipped up the hood of his hoodie and sat down on the farthest bleacher from Ryan before pulling out a rubic cube and started to work on it. People streamed by and he watched as they filled in and sat towards the front. Golly, He missed Canada but he couldn’t stand being in the city where his father had died and he couldn’t do anything to stop them. He was the only person on his bleacher he observed, the pang on his heart hurting more and more.

[Recon]

School Library
Ryo Shimizu

“Yeah it’s probably gone” agreed Ryo reluctantly admitting defeat.

His eyes were still searching the shelves, but the book did not appear. It was a popular book, one which was regularly required for juniors at the school, so all the copies were probably already out. He would just have to check again in a few weeks. Peter headed back to the shelves and Ryo remembered somewhat guiltily that his new roommate had been searching for something before he'd come over to introduce himself. He hung around for another minute to check if he wanted to go down to assembly, it was difficult to know where you were going on the first day.

Peter had it in hand, “Ok nice to see you again. I`ll catch you down there” he said before departing with a smile. Between Peter and Adam, he felt pretty good about the dorm situation for the year ahead.

Remembering the time, he went straight over to the desk to check out the books he had already collected and carefully placed them in his bag. It felt weighty; he had been able to tick off most of his list. Getting a start on reading them all as soon as possible, at least before Baseball practice and homework started to take up most of his time, would serve him well for the year ahead.

Going out through the library doors, he made his way quickly down to the quad. When he saw it was still bustling with students, he breathed a sigh of relief. He checked the gymnasium anyway just in case, the doors were open but only a few students were waiting inside. He decided to wait it out by looking over the tables. Ryo looked over a few before stopping at the one advertising the International Club; decorated with the flags of over fifty countries from around the world, which represented where this year’s new intake either came from or where their families had once travelled from. He caught up with the students there representing the club, what they had done over the summer and whether they had gone home or not. Thinking back to last year gave him a warm feeling, the club had been a great help when he was struggling to settle in. Smiling, he used one of the pens to put his name down for this year's activities.

[The World Capitalist Confederation]

Ernest, seeing that they turned him down, looked slightly despondent. "Then I shall see you soon, then. Well, farewell for now." He tapped Yixuan lightly on the shoulder, "Meet me as soon as you can. I'm always interested in playing with you, or anyone else.". He then smiled, as he went to the assembly early, in order to get good seats...

...He entered the hall, taking a seat and just reading a book on music theory, until the rest would arrive and the assembly would begin. It's best to be early for good seats, after all, he thought to himself, especially since a large amount of people will be there.

[Imperial Esplanade]

School Quad
Sophia Taylor and Audrey Zanetti

Darting looks between Audrey, whose face was only slightly downtrodden at the continued obvious flirtation Ryan showered on her, and Ryan, whose grin appeared to convey the sense of confidence he had hoped would ease her mind as she noticed the lingering gaze, Sophia narrowed her eyes as she shot studious looks between the two in order to greater read their expressions - finding, in particular, Audrey's to be rather intriguing. Sophia bit her lower lip in silence for a brief moment, crossed her arms across her chest, and idly kicked her shoe against the concrete pavement below as she remained in thought, only looking back up toward Ryan and eschewing a wide, and an invitingly warm, smile across her face for a brief moment afterward.

"Sure." She answered back, simply, for the moment being - then electing to add more. "I mean, like, since we're already planning on hanging out then... how about some time alone for us tonight?" Sophia inquired, keeping her focus trained on Ryan.

Audrey, meanwhile, leaned in toward Sophia to whisper a few words into her ear before Ryan could immediately respond, the latter turning away from Ryan and tilting her head in a way to let the former convey her musings to her listening roommate. Then, with a softened smirk on her face, Sophia slowly nodded as Audrey suddenly skipped away toward the gymnasium. Left alone, momentarily with Ryan, Sophia lessened her facial expression even more and looked toward him, expectantly.

[Chewion]

Ryan Carter
School Quad

Ryan smiled as he looked at Sophia. Studying her face for a moment he felt a surge of confidence and understanding. Holding his smile he said “I’d love that.” Summoning his courage he leaned forward slowly but determinedly preparing for what he imagine would be the most amazing feeling ever felt on this planet by him.

[The Federation of Spokane]

Altan rolled into the school, just a few minutes before assembly with his backpack into tow. He looked at his mongol made watch before placing his bag on the suitcase holder. He would come back and grab it later. He rolled into the gym, searching for a place to park his wheelchair