Room 304, Thursday night

[chasingangela]

Angela was playing Tetris on her new-old phone when her old-new phone rang. She picked it up, noticing her parents' number on the caller ID.

"Hello?" she said, figuring her mom was scheduling stuff for the weekend. Graduation weekend. That was weird

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[mparkerceo]

Parker was wandering. And avoiding phone messages. So seeing Angela's door open, she knocked on the frame. "Hey, Angela."

[chasingangela]

Angela glanced up. "Hey," she greeted, gesturing for Parker to come in. "Ready to be all graduated?"

[mparkerceo]

"And how." Parker smiled and laced her fingers together, stretching out her arms. "Two weeks. Then I take a flight to Moscow. I'm going to miss this place, but any time I think of staying... I end up shuddering. You ready?"

[chasingangela]

"I get two weeks too," Angela said. She flexed her fingers thoughtfully. "It's not so much a shudder, but ... I don't know. I'll miss people, but it somehow feels like time, you know?"

[mparkerceo]

"Yes." Parker nodded hard. "I want to take everyone with me. But it's not like that would even be fun for them," she added ruefully. "As much as I'd get out of it. But the thought of one more gremlin incursion, or another invasion-- okay, it might still be fun. But I've done that. Time for something new."

[chasingangela]

"One more would be fun," Angela said ruefully. "But five more, ten more? A lifetime of it? I'm ... too ordinary for that. I think I'm full up on weird."

She smiled. "That feels like such total heresy."

[mparkerceo]

"Fie on that," Parker shook her finger, then grinned. "Although the idea of going back to a world without vampires? Holds a very strong appeal. Don't tell Angel I said that." She shook her head. "Besides. You'll never be really ordinary again. You've seen too much."

[chasingangela]

"Yeah," Angela agreed. "But I'm not sure anyone is really ordinary, anyhow. It's just this front."

She shrugged. "I'll never be able to say "I don't believe in that" again. I probably went to school with .. whatever I'm talking about."

[mparkerceo]

Parker laughed. "Mutants, superheroes, vampires, aliens-- and that's the simple stuff. Real life is going to seem so *calm* after this." She cocked her head. "I still didn't get to do half the things I said I would before I left. Maybe in the next two weeks. I'm supposed to visit River's home for a couple days. Maybe I'll get a chance to visit Special Collections one last time too."

[chasingangela]

"I haven't been thinking about last things," Angela admitted. "I guess that makes things ... too real? I'm just going to sort of see what happens. Or try to." she ran a hand through her hair. "River's from another planet, right?"

[mparkerceo]

"Mmm. An Earth colony in the future. Although most of the time, I think she lives on a spaceship that travels between planets." She grinned, eyebrows going up. "I had a good time when we visited before, if you don't count all the violence and dead bodies. River promised there wouldn't be any of that on this trip."

[chasingangela]

"And you aren't hoping at all that she's wrong?" Angela teased. "Just a little violence ..."

[mparkerceo]

Parker held her fingers about an inch apart, and slowly widened the gap. "Maybe... just... a little?" She laughed. "Since I'm going to miss whatever the first invasion is, one more fight? That's not too much to ask for, right?"

[chasingangela]

"Remember graduation last year?" Angela asked. "We might get another fight whether wqe want one or not."

[mparkerceo]

Parker blinked. "There's a thought. Think I can convince my dad that his punch was spiked, if it does happen?"

[chasingangela]

"Maybe tell him it was a prank?" Angela suggested. "AT least I got lucky that way, my mom just called to beg off. It sounds like they have about 15 emergencies going on at home, and my best friend begged her for the tickets." There was some hurt in her eyes, but she insisted, "I'm okay with it."