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Post by quinn on Apr 5, 2010 3:01:43 GMT -5
Quinn sang quietly to herself. It was a fragile airy sound, haunting the halls of Ashford Academy, sparsely populated as most students were sequestered into classrooms. The girl wandered down the hall, meandering slightly from side to side, watching her shadow merge with the criss-cross patterned shadows of the window frames cast across the floor from a radiant afternoon sun. She brushed a thin band of hair away from her face and watched her shadow follow suit accordingly. She smiled knowingly at it. A set of footsteps growing louder caught her ear and Quinn looked up to see another student approaching.
“H-hello Quinn,” greeted the other student with a tiny wave of her hand.
Quinn stopped in place awkwardly and scanned the girl from toes to head with her eyes. She knew this girl, even though mutual recognition at Ashford Academy was not always the case. Quinn was preceded with a reputation for being a little peculiar. This one’s name was Emily, and she was wearing the same standard school uniform as she was. That was uninteresting, but her normally lengthy blonde hair was tied back into a series of intricate loops. Quinn’s eyes lingered on the twists of hair momentarily. Without a greeting in reply, or even a word, she brought her hand up and grazed it lightly through a loose section of Emily’s hair.
The other girl stepped back, startled. “Hey! W-what are you doing?”
“I wanted to feel it. It is interesting. I like this.”
“I-I don’t,” Emily shook her head, keeping a safe distance away. “Seriously… that’s kind of weird Quinn…”
With the other girl out of reach, Quinn did not bother to pursue, but instead seemed puzzled. A look of bewilderment creased her expression. “You do not like your hair? You should not say that. It is very nice.”
“No, I mean-“
“You are not mean at all. Thank you.” Quinn spoke disjointed and oblivious. Then just as abruptly continued walking by, not waiting for another response. Her fleeting curiosity was satisfied, at least for the time being.
Quinn descended the stairs, listening to each individual foot step reverberate. Passing though a large set of sturdy wooden doors into the main courtyard, she felt the warmth of the sun’s rays and the counteracting embrace of the soft, cool breeze. She had lost count of the number of days this beautiful under a crystal azure and infinite sky. And yet they never ceased to be absolute delights. One thing she was certain of was that it was perfectly normal and perhaps even expected to revere such enjoyable weather, almost as if it were some kind of assumed obligation shared by all human beings past, present, and future. That definitive certainty was strangely comforting.
Pausing for a moment, she looked passively over her shoulder at the main building. It was a long way from a so-called “home”, but it still seemed like it was worth the trip and the trouble. Quinn continued down the courtyard path, extending an arm to the side to brush a hand against lamp posts and tree trunks alike, while a vigilant eye watched for another soul.
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Terry Benjamin Wilhelm
Ashford Academy
Student Council Secretary[M:2900]
Sloth is so much more than a sin... It's a sport!
Posts: 24
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Post by Terry Benjamin Wilhelm on Apr 6, 2010 19:33:50 GMT -5
Terry sat under a tree, reading. For once, he wasn’t skipping class – the faculty had made sure of that. After his last AWOL session, they had placed him under a kind of house arrest. A small device was strapped to his ankle and would send a transmission to the security office in the administration building if he left campus. On top of that, he was required to sit at the front of the room in his classes and personally speak with each teacher that he had. And I thought this place was a prison before. I should have known that they would smarten up eventually...[/i] he thought, forlorn. With a sigh, he returned to his book. A few minutes later, he was finished with the book.
Terry closed the book and looked around. The weather was getting nicer, but summer would be fast on the heels of spring and would bring miserably hot days with it. He was about to lie back and take a nap when he caught sight of someone walking his way. "Hey there," he said, standing up as she came closer. "I don't think we've met. My name's Terry."
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Post by quinn on Apr 6, 2010 20:18:59 GMT -5
Quinn came to a stop and pivoted, in an almost mechanical fashion, towards the speaker. She stared at him, not saying anything at first. The awkward silence was punctuated by a flutter of wind as the breeze picked up momentarily, ruffling her dark hair and school uniform. She tilted her head to the side as she regarded him and blinked slowly. She looked up at the tree he had been previous sitting under before looking back at him.
“Persephone,” Quinn stated. She then blinked and frowned suddenly, shaking her head while whispering an inaudible set of words to herself. “No. That is not correct. I meant to say Quinn. Quinn.” She corrected herself with an affirmative nod and without the slightest indication that she found it odd to make a mistake with her own name.
Idly, Quinn tugged at a strand of her hair, trying to categorize the boy. She assumed Terry was right and that they had not previously met, but he seemed familiar nonetheless. Perhaps it was because he looked like someone she had met during her many travels from city to city. How strange it was that complete strangers could be so similar in appearance and behaviour. But that was not the case in this instance. Instead, it was far more likely that he was merely familiar because he was… “Student Council,” confirmed Quinn abruptly. “You are part of the Council, correct? I have seen you there, I believe. Outside the Student Council clubhouse.” She pointed in the general direction of the clubhouse.
Dropping her gaze, Quinn noticed the strange subtle shape around Terry’s ankle, just underneath the hem of his pants. Collapsing quickly to a deep crouch, she reach for his leg and pulled the fabric up, revealing the small tracking device. She poked at it, and then poked his shin, leaning forward for a slightly closer look. “What is this? Is this what you consider fashion now?” She traced the edge of the device with her finger and looked up at Terry, awaiting his answer.
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Terry Benjamin Wilhelm
Ashford Academy
Student Council Secretary[M:2900]
Sloth is so much more than a sin... It's a sport!
Posts: 24
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Post by Terry Benjamin Wilhelm on Apr 6, 2010 20:54:15 GMT -5
“Persephone,” the girl started. She quickly changed her answer, though. “No. That is not correct. I meant to say Quinn. Quinn.” Terry was confused for a moment, but less so after he considered it.
She's probably going through some sort of identity thing. Quinn is probably her middle name, he reasoned. It wouldn't have been the first time he'd heard of such a thing happening.
“Student Council.” The girl had a strange way of speaking. It matched her jerky movements and was a little disconcerting. “You are part of the Council, correct? I have seen you there, I believe. Outside the Student Council clubhouse.” Terry's vision followed her pointing finger.
"Yeah, I'm the secretary," Terry replied. In truth, the clubhouse had been feeling a little bit lonely lately. Everyone was out, doing their own thing. Luckily, the Council hadn't scheduled anything major for a while, so the workload was relatively light. He was still looking at the clubhouse when he said, "Are you in any organi-whoa!" He hadn't noticed that Quinn was crouching. He looked down at the girl. She had lifted the leg of his pants and was poking at his shin and the transmitter strapped to his ankle. "Can I help you?" The question was rhetorical.
“What is this? Is this what you consider fashion now?” Quinn was tracing the shape of the transmitter with her finger. Terry gave her a strange look before accepting the fact that she was an odd one. She wasn't the only one he'd ever met.
"Not quite." His voice was filled with hate for the little device. "That's to make sure I don't skip out on school anymore. I left campus without permission and this is their revenge." He mentally ran through a series of colorful descriptors for the faculty of the school. "Anyway, what's your story, Quinn? Did you move here from the Homeland or one of the other Areas?" Terry pushed his anger to the back of his mind. Weirdness or not, there was no need to be unpleasant to Quinn.
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Post by quinn on Apr 6, 2010 22:54:31 GMT -5
Terry’s thoughts ended up being the truth, at least in a partial way. Quinn was indeed going through a few identity issues. Of course, just as the Student Council secretary had reasoned, it was also something not entirely uncommon for teenagers, even if Quinn’s own specifics were a little different. It was also true that the name “Quinn” was not her birth name, though neither was “Persephone”.
“Are you in any organi-whoa!”
The curious girl held onto the fabric of Terry's pants even as he realized what she was doing in a bout of surprise. Without taking her eyes off the tracker she offered a simple, quiet answer. “I do not know what an organi-woah is. I do not think then that I am in any.” She poked him in the leg a few more times and tugged at the transmitter’s strap.
”Can I help you?”
The rhetorical nature of the question easily escaped Quinn. She tilted her head to the side for a second time, while looking at Terry, carefully examining him. “Hmm. No,” she said hesitantly. “I do not need any help from you.”
Somewhere in her mind, Quinn told herself that it was very nice of the boy to ask. Meanwhile she grew puzzled over his explanation of the device, and began to pull harder at it and, consequently, Terry’s entire leg. “Oh. Vengeance.” She shrugged slightly, a little bit unimpressed. “I do not see how this device would prevent you from skipping. Why do you not simply take it off?” She pulled hard at his leg one final time without warning and then suddenly let go, possibly leaving him off-balance. She then stood up, still looking up at Terry. He was tall. Raising herself on her tip toes a few times as he spoke, she compared their height difference.
"Anyway, what's your story, Quinn? Did you move here from the Homeland or one of the other Areas?"
Finally settling back on her feet, she stood normally. ”No,” she said and then stopped. Another silent moment passed before she realized she was supposed to elaborate. “I have lived in many places. Originally France. But,” she realized an Ashford student would probably be expecting an answer from a Britannian perspective. “I spent some time in the African Areas.” It was likely the most lucid answer she could provide, and had the added bonus of actually being true.
She placed her hands behind her back and rose up on her tip toes again. “I have changed my mind," she announced unexpectedly. “You can help me. You can show me what you do as the Student Council secretary.” She nodded to him, not so much requesting as she was assuming that he would agree. After all, much of the Student Council’s work was done in private and Quinn was terribly curious about how they conducted themselves.
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Terry Benjamin Wilhelm
Ashford Academy
Student Council Secretary[M:2900]
Sloth is so much more than a sin... It's a sport!
Posts: 24
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Post by Terry Benjamin Wilhelm on Apr 7, 2010 18:59:41 GMT -5
Quinn kept poking at the transmitter around Terry's ankle while she answered his questions. To keep things simple, he opted not to correct her when it came to his question about organizations. The constant tugging on his ankle was getting a little old, though.“Oh. Vengeance. I do not see how this device would prevent you from skipping. Why do you not simply take it off?” Terry gave a halfhearted chuckle.
"Believe me, I would if I could. Unfortunately, it's got wires in the band. If I cut it off, those jerks in administration'll know about it." Terry had done some research the afternoon that the gadget had been strapped to his leg. Apparently, they'd been in use for quite some time and were notoriously difficult to trick. "For now, I'll just have to live with it." He shrugged. With a final, adamant pull, Quinn yanked at the transmitter and threw off Terry's balance. He teetered back and forth for a minute before finally getting it back in check.
Unfortunately, he had been so focused on not falling on top of the curious girl that he missed most of her answer. “I spent some time in the African Areas." He was about to ask her to repeat herself when she abruptly started talking again.
"I have changed my mind," she stated out of the blue. Terry gave Quinn a look of confusion and hoped that she would explain what she meant. Luckily, she didn't keep him waiting. “You can help me. You can show me what you do as the Student Council secretary.”
Terry rubbed the back of his neck and tried to work out an answer. It wasn't against the rules and no one was in the clubhouse right now anyway, so it wouldn't be a problem. "Yeah, sure." He gathered his things and slung his bag over his shoulder. "You're probably gonna be disappointed, so don't blame me when it turns out to be boring." He started walking towards the clubhouse. "So Africa, huh?" he said, trying to learn more about Quinn. "Bet that was pretty cool. Your parents take you anywhere exciting while you were there?"
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Post by quinn on Apr 7, 2010 19:57:23 GMT -5
"Yeah, sure."
Excellent, thought Quinn, pleased with Terry’s answer. She watched him gather his things, taking note of the sort of belongings he carried. She was intrigued by the personal items people kept with them. Each piece presumably had a purpose, which in turn could somehow define a person. There were commonalities of course. Many students treasured their technologically advanced telephone devices. Maybe it was time for her to get one as well, she occasionally thought. Slinging his bag over his shoulder, Terry began to walk towards the Clubhouse, and Quinn followed in tow.
"You're probably gonna be disappointed, so don't blame me when it turns out to be boring."
Quinn laughed, though it came out more as a quiet contemplative chuckle. “I will not blame you.” Very few things in society bored her these days. And that was the beauty of school. It was a strange little distilled microcosm of society.
"So Africa, huh? Bet that was pretty cool. Your parents take you anywhere exciting while you were there?"
Quinn took a few quick steps to catch up to Terry and fell in place beside him, matching the pace. She cast him an intensely skeptical glare. Surely he could not have been serious. What kind of person… “No. I am not sure why you think that. Africa is quite hot.” How silly. Perhaps he was geographically challenged. “My father is in jail. My mother is confined to bed with illness,” she followed up flatly, listing these as cold bullet points by counting them on her fingers. She laughed again and put on a bright, happy smile. “I traveled up the east coast of the African continent, into and through the middle east, and back into the E.U. Some places were exciting. There were many places. I do not remember them all.”
She took another quick step forward and cut in front of Terry. In another round of sudden random behaviour, Quinn gave the boy a loose hug, though it was decisively unnatural and emotionless. Letting go, she stepped back and frowned inwardly, a bit displeased at, apparently, herself. “That was supposed to be gratitude.” She explained with an uncaring shrug and decided to continue walking on towards the clubhouse.
“What of you? Do you have a ‘story’? Does the school administration choose to punish you often?”
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Terry Benjamin Wilhelm
Ashford Academy
Student Council Secretary[M:2900]
Sloth is so much more than a sin... It's a sport!
Posts: 24
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Post by Terry Benjamin Wilhelm on Apr 8, 2010 19:45:17 GMT -5
“No. I am not sure why you think that. Africa is quite hot.” Terry looked at the girl with an incredulous look. There was no way she could have taken that seriously. Was there? He couldn't help but wonder if Quinn was ridicuously out of touch with her generation or just had a weird sense of humor.
“My father is in jail. My mother is confined to bed with illness,” she continued before Terry had a chance to correct her. His intention was forgotten when she talked about her parents. “I traveled up the east coast of the African continent, into and through the middle east, and back into the E.U. Some places were exciting. There were many places. I do not remember them all.”
They were walking side by side now. "Sorry to hear about your parents. Sounds like you've got it pretty rough." Terry tried to imagine what all that traveling must have been like. He had never been anywhere but the Homeland and Area 11. The most he'd seen of a land not belonging to Britannia was from documentaries. He was lost in his thoughts when Quinn cut off his path.
Terry stopped in his tracks, understandably confused. Without warning, Quinn reached her arms around him in an awkward hug. "Um... what was that about?" In spite of having friends that were close enough that he considered them family, Terry was unused to being hugged.
Quinn frowned a little and said, “that was supposed to be gratitude.” Her tone indicated that she wasn't pleased with having done it. Terry blinked a few times before coming back to himself. While he was trying to respond, she shrugged and started walking again. Terry hurried a little to catch up.
"Alright," he said in an uncertain voice. "Well, in that case, you're welcome. I don't know what for, but whatever floats your boat, I suppose." He tried to think of what he had done to earn her gratitude, much less a hug.
“What of you? Do you have a ‘story’? Does the school administration choose to punish you often?” They were side by side again and Terry matched her pace.
"My story is nothing like yours," he admitted lamely. "My parents' marriage was arranged and they hate each other. Sometimes I think that I was only born to make them look better. Anyway, I moved over here when I started high school; Mom and Dad are still in the Homeland.
"As for the administration: they punish me whenever I get caught doing something that they say I shouldn't... which is pretty often, actually. I just can't stand to waste my time with the classes, you know? Maybe if they taught us something worth knowing, I'd got to class more often, but they'd rather shove outdated propaganda down our throats than give us real life lessons." Terry felt a little embarrassed at having ranted for so long about something so inconsequential. "Sorry. I kinda went off on a tangent there.
As they came closer to the building, Terry stepped forward a few feet and opened the door for Quinn. They may have just met, but he was hardwired to act like a gentleman at least some of the time. "After you."
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Post by quinn on Apr 9, 2010 0:53:41 GMT -5
"Sorry to hear about your parents. Sounds like you've got it pretty rough."
Quinn burst out in a short but enthusiastic giggle. She shook her head, composing herself as if she were recovering from a wholly entertaining joke from Terry. She was utterly amused. “Sorry? It is strange for you to be sorry. I am not sorry. I assume this is you being hmm… polite? Yes, polite. And it is not rough or difficult actually. It is… nothing really. It just is.” She smiled again, taking more mental notes.
Quinn was pre-occupied with her own thoughts, but she could sense the tint of confusion in Terry brought about by her awkward hug. "Alright," he said in an uncertain voice. "Well, in that case, you're welcome. I don't know what for, but whatever floats your boat, I suppose."
She rubbed an arm with the opposite hand and furrowed her brow, attempting to come up with an explanation for herself. In the end, nothing particularly compelling to mind. “Yes. Boats are supposed to float… It is good when they do, but I must have chosen the wrong action.”
"My story is nothing like yours," he admitted lamely.
They were nearing the clubhouse now and Quinn thoughtfully listened to the boy’s take on his parents and the school administration. She nodded slowly, digesting the words. “There are very few like me,” offered Quinn absentmindedly, while still thinking about his other comments. “An arranged marriage? Those are not an antiquated tradition yet? Are you noble born then?” It was a bit of a moot question to ask of an Ashford Academy student. A student not born to a noble or an otherwise wealthy family was the exception here, though Quinn was not actively thinking of her current surroundings.
The two students arrived at the door to the clubhouse and Terry courteously opened the door for Quinn. ”After you.”
Quinn looked at him with a blank expression before stepping through the door way, while gazing upwards at the grand pillars and arches. She exhaled in hushed amazement. She was fully aware that the clubhouse was in and of itself a stately manor, but this exceeded her expectations. “The student council at my previous school did not have anything like… like this.”
She turned on her feet, waiting for Terry to close the door and catch up, while an idle thought passed through her mind. She wondered how much he knew about the historical significance of this place. Clasping her hands in front of herself, she spoke, listening contentedly to see if there would be an echo. “So then, Terry, what is ‘worth knowing’ to you?” she said, using his words. “I enjoy history. Sometimes the teachers are wrong. The books too.” She inhaled and then loudly called out, “Hello? Hello! Is there anyone else here?”
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Terry Benjamin Wilhelm
Ashford Academy
Student Council Secretary[M:2900]
Sloth is so much more than a sin... It's a sport!
Posts: 24
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Post by Terry Benjamin Wilhelm on Apr 10, 2010 0:22:47 GMT -5
“Sorry? It is strange for you to be sorry. I am not sorry. I assume this is you being hmm… polite? Yes, polite. And it is not rough or difficult actually. It is… nothing really. It just is.” Quinn was smiling, but Terry still felt a little bad about having brought it up. In the end, though, he couldn't argue with her reasoning.
“Yes. Boats are supposed to float… It is good when they do, but I must have chosen the wrong action.” Terry laughed at her response to his comment. He decided that Quinn really was out of touch with their generation.
“There are very few like me. An arranged marriage? Those are not an antiquated tradition yet? Are you noble born then?”
"Oh, no. I'm not from a noble family. My family's pretty rich, though. My Mom and Dad's families both started companies after the last war and have been riding the money flow since. My grandparents saw a marriage as a way to increase their standing." Terry shrugged. "And now, here I am."
“The student council at my previous school did not have anything like… like this.” Terry watched as she took in the sight of the clubhouse. He smiled and let the door shut.
While he walked to catch up, he talked. "Yeah, it's pretty fantastic. A little over-done in my opinion, but that's just me."
“So then, Terry, what is ‘worth knowing’ to you? I enjoy history. Sometimes the teachers are wrong. The books too.”
Terry was honestly surprised. While he often complained about the curriculum, no one had ever actually asked for him to explain the changes that he talked about. He fumbled for an answer. "Well, um... I guess stuff about owning a home, paying taxes, buying property... stuff like that. And I'm not gonna go into just how often the teachers are wrong." He wanted to avoid going into another rant. Even if he did, he ran the risk of not knowing what he was talking about - the best way to know the truth about history, after all, was to experience it first hand.
“Hello? Hello! Is there anyone else here?” Quinn's voice echoed off of the marble columns and floor. Again, Terry was reminded of how lonely school had become. Even still, he laughed a little at her antics. Shouting just to hear the echo was a common reaction for newcomers in the clubhouse.
"Everyone that's come in here does that," he told her in a pleasant voice. "The office is just over here." He led the way up one of the double staircases. "We haven't had much to do lately, so I'll just show you some of our older work." He figured that the best way to give Quinn an understanding of his job was to show her what he had done for the Valentine's Day festival. It was recent and he was actually proud of his work.
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Post by quinn on Apr 11, 2010 0:48:59 GMT -5
"My grandparents saw a marriage as a way to increase their standing." Terry shrugged. "And now, here I am."
Quinn brought a hand up to her chin, a deeply thoughtful expression coming over her as she leaned forward and appeared to examine Terry closely again, as if down to the very stitches in his uniform. At last she spoke, “That is silly.” Evidently she disagreed with Terry’s grandparents. “Your grandparents hoped to better their financial standing? But you… your presence… children cost money. Counterproductive. Why do they accumulate a fortune when they will die and be unable to use it?” Despite the somewhat macabre subject matter and cynical wording, Quinn remained chipper, genuinely curious. For her, the question was not intended as rhetorical in the slightest, nor did it seem at all inappropriate to her.
"Well, um... I guess stuff about owning a home, paying taxes, buying property... stuff like that. And I'm not gonna go into just how often the teachers are wrong.”
”Oh. I do not know of those things either,” she chewed lightly on her lower lip. It was a sensible suggestion, or at the very least was something different to learn. The novelty alone had merit, and the refreshing change of pace was not something to overlook. As for the teachers being wrong, she was curious how he could know as well, but withheld questioning when he said he would not delve into it. Instead she felt that perhaps it was better if she elaborated on her alleged perspective. ”Yes. Yes, ‘wrong’. I learned the truth from my mother, who learned from her mother, who learned from her mother. And so on. Passed on in that way. It is a tradition, you might call it. Eventually I will do the same with my daughter.” She spoke as if it were an inescapable fact.
Quinn trailed behind her host, as he brought her up the grand staircase. The fact that they were traveling up such an expansive set of stairs was telling enough. It seemed far in excess to the Student Council's needs. Entering the office, she peeked from around the side of Terry’s shoulder, looking over the various paper sheets detailing the plans for the recent Valentine’s Day Festival, from hourly schedules to booth layouts. “I remember. I wandered. A girl gave me dyed cotton, but said it was food. A boy gave me a flower, but I do not garden anymore and the root was cut off.” She picked up one of the sheets depicting a rough sketch of the Festival layout, turning it around in her hand and looking at it upside down. “It is strange to think, but did you know Valentine’s Day cards existed as far back as the 1800s?” She was full of useless historical trivia like that.
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Terry Benjamin Wilhelm
Ashford Academy
Student Council Secretary[M:2900]
Sloth is so much more than a sin... It's a sport!
Posts: 24
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Post by Terry Benjamin Wilhelm on Apr 12, 2010 18:19:27 GMT -5
Quinn leaned in close and started examining Terry again. He turned his gaze away our of embarrassment and waited for whatever conclusion she came to. “That is silly. Your grandparents hoped to better their financial standing? But you… your presence… children cost money. Counterproductive. Why do they accumulate a fortune when they will die and be unable to use it?”
Terry's attention snapped back to Quinn. He wasn't angry, not by a long shot. He was surprised. Very few people were willing to talk that way about any families connected to the Academy - even if the connection was through a student enrolled at the school. "That's... that's a really good point, actually." He wouldn't have been able to bring himself to disagree with Quinn's assessment even if he wanted to.
”Yes. Yes, ‘wrong’. I learned the truth from my mother, who learned from her mother, who learned from her mother. And so on. Passed on in that way. It is a tradition, you might call it. Eventually I will do the same with my daughter.” Quinn's voice had a kind of finality to it. She seemed determined to continue on the tradition.
Terry felt a pang as he wondered if he would ever have a chance at some sort of normal familial relationship. He found himself envying the strange girl. Even though she seemed horribly disconnected from kids their age, she had a positive relationship with her mother. Terry's relationship with his own parents couldn't exactly be called bad, but it wasn't all that great. He was preoccupied with these thoughts while he spread out some of the work from the festival.
Terry was broken from his musings when Quinn started talking again. “I remember. I wandered. A girl gave me dyed cotton, but said it was food. A boy gave me a flower, but I do not garden anymore and the root was cut off.”
She was talking about the festival while looking at some of the plans from over his shoulder. "Oh, the cotton candy. I'm not sure if something made almost completely of sugar can really qualify as food, but you are supposed to eat it." He finally shook off the last vestiges of his thoughts. "The flower thing is just some old ritual." He waved his hand dismissively.
“It is strange to think, but did you know Valentine’s Day cards existed as far back as the 1800s?”
Terry shook his head. “They’ve been around for that long?” He stepped aside after all the work was spread out. “Some of this was done by the others, but most of the stuff here,” he pointed at several of the papers, “I worked on. I was also the grounds coordinator – I was in charge of arranging the booths and attractions so that the whole thing wasn’t more of a mess than it already would be.”
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Post by quinn on Apr 13, 2010 18:26:51 GMT -5
"The flower thing is just some old ritual." He waved his hand dismissively.
Quinn’s eyes seemed to light up, as if an epic epiphany had burst from her foggy mind. “Oh! Oh! A ritual! I do remember that. Yes, I used to know that and now I remember it clearly. You reminded me.” She clapped loudly twice and nodded earnestly. The sudden surge of excitement within the girl then quickly faded, as she averted her eyes to one side and her cheeks flushed with a faint tint of red embarrassment. She calmly placed the sheet she was studying back onto the table when Terry stepped to the side, and lightly grazed her hand across the other papers.
” I was in charge of arranging the booths and attractions so that the whole thing wasn’t more of a mess than it already would be.”
“A ‘mess’… is it not the traditional outcome of Ashford Academy festivals?” Outlandish and disastrous events were virtual trademarks for the school. It was no surprise that some people only chose to attend in order to see what mishaps might occur. And of course by cosmic law, mayhem was much easier to find among a group of people hoping to be a part of it. It was a chaotic and amusingly bizarre mode of self-fulfilling prophecies. “Expectations...”
Her hand meandered back and forth, still hovering just above the papers. She eventually came to a stop over one sheet containing information regarding the specific tasks assigned to each member of the Student Council. On one side of the sheet was a list of names, while individual responsibilities were spelled out in the adjacent column. She jutted an index finger out to point at one of the names. “Princess? she asked, packing some kind of full question into a single word while she pointed to the name Ayame on the list. She was not sure if the Student Council was aware of their president’s unique family heritage yet. If not, it was not something that could stay a secret for long, unless the princess dedicated herself to hiding behind an elaborate disguise every day.
“And the rest? Who are they? What do they do?” Quinn moved her pointing finger from name to name to name. “I have never been part of an organization,” she said, inadvertently answering one of Terry’s earlier questions. “Groups of people are strange.” She made her statement with a shrug, but gave no other indications for her reasoning.
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Terry Benjamin Wilhelm
Ashford Academy
Student Council Secretary[M:2900]
Sloth is so much more than a sin... It's a sport!
Posts: 24
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Post by Terry Benjamin Wilhelm on Apr 16, 2010 18:50:33 GMT -5
Terry watched as Quinn moved her hand over the papers. The way her hand just barely touched the documents vaguely reminded Terry of a person using a Ouija Board. The thought sent a cold shiver up his spine. Terry was in no way fond of the supernatural. "A ‘mess’… is it not the traditional outcome of Ashford Academy festivals?" Terry had to admit that she had a point there. Ashford was renowned for the catastrophic manner in which most of the festivals ended. "Expectations..."
Terry took his gaze away from her still hovering hand. He opened his mouth to ask what it was that she was talking about, but decided against it. He closed his mouth, opting to leave the matter alone for now. "Princess?" Quinn was pointing at Ayame’s name.
"What?" Terry was understandably confused. "Ayame's not a princess." The thought of the girl in a dress and surrounded by servants brought a bit of a smile to his lips simply because of how ridiculous the thought was. Ayame was too rough around the edges to be royalty. At least, that's what Terry thought. "Then again, she never did say her last name... and it wouldn't be the first time that a princess has attended Ashford," he said thoughtfully. He was more thinking out loud than actually talking to Quinn.
Quinn started pointing at the other names. “And the rest? Who are they? What do they do? I have never been part of an organization. Groups of people are strange.”
That came as little surprise. Quinn seemed to be something of an outsider. Terry wondered if she'd ever had many friends. "Yeah, well, groups can get pretty crazy." He moved a little closer so that he could point out the work associated with the names. "Alice is... was our Student Discipline Officer. She was in charge of making sure that nothing dangerous happened at the festival." He pulled a few pieces of paper closer. "Alister is the Treasurer. He was in charge of getting the funding and supplies that we needed - stuff like food, cooking equipment, and decorations." He pointed to a list of expenditures. "Here's his work. The teachers almost killed us when they saw how much the whole thing cost." He grinned at the memory. "Ayame, the president, was in charge of getting groups from outside the school to participate. She even got some stunt people to come in and give a mock combat display." He indicated a list of groups. Each one was either scribbled over or circled, depending on whether they agreed to show or not.
Terry shrugged. "That was really all there was to it. After everything was organized, we threw it together and had a surprisingly fun festival." He looked at Quinn. "Did you enjoy it?" Feedback would be an important factor in whether or not they did it again next year. The teachers had given their okay, but the students' opinions mattered too.
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Post by quinn on Apr 21, 2010 16:11:00 GMT -5
"What? Ayame's not a princess."
Quinn returned an equally puzzled look to match Terry’s confusion. While she had considered it a possibility for the other students not to know, she was genuinely surprised that he did not. Especially since Ayame was the president of the Student Council, albeit a very recent one, it stood to reason that someone in the school would have put the not-particularly-well-hidden pieces together. And from there… well rumours were wildfires, and that was all it would take.
"Then again, she never did say her last name... and it wouldn't be the first time that a princess has attended Ashford."
Quinn looked towards the ceiling with a lazy thought and a quiet hum to herself. “Nunnally vi Britannia. Princess. Lelouche vi Britannia. Prince. Emperor.” The school was certainly infamous for more than just its festivals. Being a pivotal staging ground for a turning point in world history tended to build on a place’s reputation. Considering the location’s history, Quinn had to admit that the school grounds had held up remarkably well.
Listening to Terry describe the other students in the council, she nodded silently. She looked up when he grinned at his recollection over the extraordinary finances required to put on the Valentine’s Day festival. “I do not think the teachers would actually attempt to kill a student,” she commented, sounding skeptical and clasping her hands above her heart. She also found it strange that he would be amused by such a thought. “I envy you though. I think I would like to be a part of a group some day.”
“But, yes. I enjoyed the festival,” she nodded with a small smile. “There was a lot to see. Many people doing many different things. It was very interesting.” Her description was, perhaps, somewhat muted, but she had been genuinely enthused by the flare and bustle of the festival. “I look forward to other events.”
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