Other - Prompt #4 - School
Title: The Security of Routine
Rating: PG
Prompt: School
Table: Others
Note: Follows the story line of Virtues of Patience
Summary: In which Melanie goes to school and finds out that she's different now and there is nothing she can do to change that fact.
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They lead her around the building once, a building that is so decrepit and old that she thinks that it’ll surely crumble at any moment (but it hasn’t so far), pointing out all the different rooms with a air of pride for this decadent structure because it is theirs (not hers so she can’t love it, doesn’t want to love it, won’t love it).
“This will be your physics room and the math room is right down the hallway,” says a tall man with brown hair whose name she didn’t bother trying to learn but he’s a nice man and she supposes she should smile so she does. Smiles and thanks him and he smiles in return and shows her the rest of her classrooms and that is all.
Then she’s deposited to her first period class and they all stare at her until she looks away from the prying gazes and unformed questions.
The AP US History teacher is Mr. Davis and he introduces her to the rest of the class (gawking faces with no names). He’s somewhat exuberant and he shakes her hand and says that AP US happens to be the lowest circle in Hell and she’s not quite sure how to respond to that because this is a rather strange man. He also adds that half the class thinks so anyways but Economics is actually much, much worse, but she’ll be taking that next year, when she’s a senior, won’t she, so she has nothing to worry about, yet.
And she smiles even though she thinks he has no sense of humor (but that’s probably what’s so funny about him and she doesn’t really like him, doesn’t really dislike him, doesn’t really mind him). She sits down in the only empty seat near the middle of the room and is immediately assaulted with stared again. But he, Mr. Davis, calls their eyes away from him and on to the board and she’s back in that familiar rhythm of school and homework and lunches and coffee at 5:50 in the morning and 11:00 at night, back into the soft markings of pencil on paper and not knowing what it’s liked to be depressed and she likes it; she doesn’t even mind the long list of work she has to do or make up that they give her in every single class.
It’s in math that she makes her first friend.
The girl sits next to her and shoots a tentative smile which she returns. She’s pretty, this other girl, in that girl-next-door kind of way with sandy blond hair and fiery blue eyes. She throws an annoyed glance at Melinda before stating that she was so glad Mrs. Bowen was pregnant because she’d leave early and they could get a nicer Pre-Calc teacher
She realizes that this girl is talking to her, Melanie, and she wonders for a moment how she should respond (because it was a different Melanie who smiled and played with friends and talked on the phone for hours, shrieking with laughter). In the end, she swallows and asks if the teacher was so terrible.
The look on the brunette’s face is answer enough. “You’re the new girl right?” She paused, waiting for Melanie to nod her head in agreement. “Cool. My name’s Casey and are you regretting taking Honors Pre-Calc as much as I am right now?” she throws Melanie a grin before the teacher screeches for attention (and this women must have the most annoying voice on the face of this planet).
There is no bell for lunch (and she alter find out that there are extended periods which are divided into 20 minute sections for lunch and this school has the most screwed up schedule on the face of the planet). Surprised isn’t the word for it. Maybe just happy. Yeah, she’s happy when Casey asks her to eat lunch with her (because she doesn’t want to be alone and that house is so damn quiet). It’s overflowing, the cafeteria, so Casey marches outside into the autumn weather.
She glances down at her foam plate and says that she now understands why the kids in America are getting obese and it was entirely the schools fault that the cookie monster started eating vegetables shaking her long hair over her shoulder and glancing at Melanie with laughing blue eyes.
And she thinks that she likes this girl (maybe) who smiles a bit too much but is normal and she needs normal right now. And she closes her eyes and tilts her head up towards the autumn sunlight which isn’t so weak and for the first time, she smiles, too, really smiles (in this strangely familiar building). But it flits away as quickly as it had come and all she’s left with is the bitter taste of something more than sadness (and for a moment, she wants to scream at herself because her parents are dead so how can she be laughing?).
Because this is a place of normalcy and laughter and homework and life (and all she has is memories and Death and she’s not like them). And she can’t (doesn’t want) to sit here, in this courtyard as if nothing’s wrong and eat the overly greasy cheese slapped on to the pizza. Without a word she gets up, ignoring Casey’s questions and leaves (again and again and again) because everything is so wrongwrongwrong and she can’t even breathe anymore.
(when your parents die, life isn’t supposed to go back to normal and the world isn’t supposed to keep turning and time should have stopped but it didn’t and she presses her nose up against the glass of her little universe and looks up at the people beyond)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All I have to say for this is it sounded a lot better in my head.
Rating: PG
Prompt: School
Table: Others
Note: Follows the story line of Virtues of Patience
Summary: In which Melanie goes to school and finds out that she's different now and there is nothing she can do to change that fact.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They lead her around the building once, a building that is so decrepit and old that she thinks that it’ll surely crumble at any moment (but it hasn’t so far), pointing out all the different rooms with a air of pride for this decadent structure because it is theirs (not hers so she can’t love it, doesn’t want to love it, won’t love it).
“This will be your physics room and the math room is right down the hallway,” says a tall man with brown hair whose name she didn’t bother trying to learn but he’s a nice man and she supposes she should smile so she does. Smiles and thanks him and he smiles in return and shows her the rest of her classrooms and that is all.
Then she’s deposited to her first period class and they all stare at her until she looks away from the prying gazes and unformed questions.
The AP US History teacher is Mr. Davis and he introduces her to the rest of the class (gawking faces with no names). He’s somewhat exuberant and he shakes her hand and says that AP US happens to be the lowest circle in Hell and she’s not quite sure how to respond to that because this is a rather strange man. He also adds that half the class thinks so anyways but Economics is actually much, much worse, but she’ll be taking that next year, when she’s a senior, won’t she, so she has nothing to worry about, yet.
And she smiles even though she thinks he has no sense of humor (but that’s probably what’s so funny about him and she doesn’t really like him, doesn’t really dislike him, doesn’t really mind him). She sits down in the only empty seat near the middle of the room and is immediately assaulted with stared again. But he, Mr. Davis, calls their eyes away from him and on to the board and she’s back in that familiar rhythm of school and homework and lunches and coffee at 5:50 in the morning and 11:00 at night, back into the soft markings of pencil on paper and not knowing what it’s liked to be depressed and she likes it; she doesn’t even mind the long list of work she has to do or make up that they give her in every single class.
It’s in math that she makes her first friend.
The girl sits next to her and shoots a tentative smile which she returns. She’s pretty, this other girl, in that girl-next-door kind of way with sandy blond hair and fiery blue eyes. She throws an annoyed glance at Melinda before stating that she was so glad Mrs. Bowen was pregnant because she’d leave early and they could get a nicer Pre-Calc teacher
She realizes that this girl is talking to her, Melanie, and she wonders for a moment how she should respond (because it was a different Melanie who smiled and played with friends and talked on the phone for hours, shrieking with laughter). In the end, she swallows and asks if the teacher was so terrible.
The look on the brunette’s face is answer enough. “You’re the new girl right?” She paused, waiting for Melanie to nod her head in agreement. “Cool. My name’s Casey and are you regretting taking Honors Pre-Calc as much as I am right now?” she throws Melanie a grin before the teacher screeches for attention (and this women must have the most annoying voice on the face of this planet).
There is no bell for lunch (and she alter find out that there are extended periods which are divided into 20 minute sections for lunch and this school has the most screwed up schedule on the face of the planet). Surprised isn’t the word for it. Maybe just happy. Yeah, she’s happy when Casey asks her to eat lunch with her (because she doesn’t want to be alone and that house is so damn quiet). It’s overflowing, the cafeteria, so Casey marches outside into the autumn weather.
She glances down at her foam plate and says that she now understands why the kids in America are getting obese and it was entirely the schools fault that the cookie monster started eating vegetables shaking her long hair over her shoulder and glancing at Melanie with laughing blue eyes.
And she thinks that she likes this girl (maybe) who smiles a bit too much but is normal and she needs normal right now. And she closes her eyes and tilts her head up towards the autumn sunlight which isn’t so weak and for the first time, she smiles, too, really smiles (in this strangely familiar building). But it flits away as quickly as it had come and all she’s left with is the bitter taste of something more than sadness (and for a moment, she wants to scream at herself because her parents are dead so how can she be laughing?).
Because this is a place of normalcy and laughter and homework and life (and all she has is memories and Death and she’s not like them). And she can’t (doesn’t want) to sit here, in this courtyard as if nothing’s wrong and eat the overly greasy cheese slapped on to the pizza. Without a word she gets up, ignoring Casey’s questions and leaves (again and again and again) because everything is so wrongwrongwrong and she can’t even breathe anymore.
(when your parents die, life isn’t supposed to go back to normal and the world isn’t supposed to keep turning and time should have stopped but it didn’t and she presses her nose up against the glass of her little universe and looks up at the people beyond)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All I have to say for this is it sounded a lot better in my head.