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< In Memoriam | HighSchoolOfShadows | Trapped In The Closet, Chapter 1 >

<Mese> Vacant faces stare out from the walls, the glossy patina of lamination adding extra sheen to already glassy eyes.

<Mese> Cut out and cropped, these images: happy faces, inter-ethnic handshakes.

Cole sets herself down in one of the frontmost seats again.

Helena sits in the seat behind Cole, then starts rummaging through her stuffed backpack.

<Mese> Ms. Harley, who took homeroom earlier and who's class this is, blinks in surprise. "Front seat again, Cole?"

Ping sits on the right of Cole

<Cole> "Gotta stay sharp, right?"

<Mese> Ms. Harley doesn;t bother to conceal an actual laugh at this.

<Mese> "If this is the set-up to some practical joke, I hope it's a good one."

Ping is getting a strange vibe from this school so far, and can't help to be a bit weirded out

Ping takes mechanical .7mm pencil and just clicks it again and again in a nervous fidget

<Mese> She floats over to Ping's desk as the other students file in. "Hello, Ping. How are you settling in thus far?"

Helena pokes through Cole's stuff, and comes up with her cell phone.

Ping is startled

<Ping> "Uh, fine... yes fine. Quite fine. I mean, not too fine since you now, the death and all... but fine. Did I say fine yet?"

Helena sniffs it tentatively.

Ping is still clicking her pencil without realizing it, the lead falls out

<Mese> "Yes, it must be hard for you, not knowing everyone. But you're a pretty girl, you'll fit right in, I promise."

Cole glances at Ping, then notices Helena out of the corner of her eye and turns around, closing her hand around Helena's. "That's mine."

<Mese> She touches Ping under the chin and smiles.

Ping nods absent-mindedly in agreement

<Helena> "I, uh, thought it was mine. But, uh... I guess mine's right here."

Helena pulls something out of her pocket and flashes it quickly.

<Cole> "Yes, mine was in my backpack. I could see how you might get confused."

Cole attempts to extract the phone from Helena's grip.

Ping looks over Ms. Harley, hot or not?

Helena says "You think she's pretty," tilting her head at the picture on the phone.

<Mese> Ms. Harley wears her hair up and has those terrible galsses they apparently only sell to teachers. She's kind of tall in a bony way, and no supermodel, but yeah, in the right light...

<Cole> "I think. That you. Should mind your own business." Cole smiles with her teeth.

Ping smiles to Ms. Harley enticely but subdued, 'Thank you.'

Helena rises from her seat, her eyes welling with tears. She knocks the chair over as she stumbles past it, and buries her face in her hands as she runs out of the room, leaving the door open behind her.

Ping fidgets and points as she goes, 'Fit in... better than her I hope...'

<Mese> Loads of people are in the corridoor outside the class for some reason - looks like maybe another teacher is leading a class out to the fields?

Cole looks rather taken aback, but drops the phone into her backpack and turns around. "I'm sorry, Ms. Harley, I don't know what happened. I just asked her to give me my phone back..."

<Mese> Of course they all stop to stare as Helena rushes past, many of them with mobile phones ready to capture the whole thing.

<Mese> Even the teacher watches with interest.

Cole takes advantage of everybody turning away to hook Helena's backpack with her foot and slide it under her own backpack.

<Mese> Ms. Harley sighs. "I'd better go after her." She addresses the class. "Please be a quiet, well behaved... who am I kidding, just don't break anything." She departs.

<Cole> "Well...that was weird," Cole says to Ping.

<Ping> "Yes. Weird is the word."

<Ping> "This school is far more... interesting than my last one."

<Cole> "Oh yeah?"

<Ping> "Students are yelling, running away, and even /dying/. Also, Ms. Harley seems nice."

<Cole> "She's all right, I guess."

<Ping> "Do you have a favorite teacher?"

<Cole> "No," Cole says definitely.

<Cole> "What was your old school like?"

<Ping> "Flammable."

<Ping> "As in, it burnt down."

<Cole> "That does sound pretty boring."

<Cole> "What happened?"

Cole casually reaches down as if to open her backpack and picks up Helena's backpack instead, looking through it.

<Ping> "For the record, I have no idea what happened. I did not burn down the school in any way."

<Cole> "You must enjoy things being interesting."

<Ping> "Interesting is indeed, interesting."

<Cole> "Hey, listen. Ophelia and I are working on some posters after school for my campaign."

<Cole> "Do...you want to help out, maybe? I know you guys are friends. I'll buy the pizza afterwards."

<Ping> "I'm not much of an artist, but I can cut paper into regular shapes?"

<Cole> "Well, those are the shapes I used...mostly...so that should work out fine."

<Ping> "Also, paper is flammable."

Ping smirks

<Cole> "Well, let's try not to burn anything down just yet. Things are interesting enough for me."

<Ping> "Right, all in good time."

Cole flips gingerly through Helena's drawings.

<Mese> Cassidy's in this class, and she's clearly appointed her self teacher-in-lieu in her own mind. She's frowning through her glasses at Cole.

<Mese> "Should you be doing that?" she asks Cole, accusingly.

<Cole> "I'm just trying to figure out why she stole my phone. Look, she has pictures of me in here! I didn't even know she was doing this. And here's one of you!" Cole offers Cassidy a look at the drawing.

<Mese> "So she's weird. Is that a crime?"

<Ping> "Oh, if weird was crime how many would be jailed?"

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<Mese> Cassidy scowls at Ping's comment, and then turns back to Cole. "What's your angle here, Cole? You've... gone all weird since the summer."

<Mese> "I mean... you're sitting front row."

Cole sighs, and leans in. "Listen...I had a bad summer. I mean, really bad. Kind of a..." she pauses, "wakeup call."

<Cole> "I decided I wanted to do things a little differently this year."

<Cole> "You know?"

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<Mese> "Like stealing my seat differently?" She smiles. "Look, I get it, it's cool you want to get ahead. I mean, it's like I'm telling everyone right, school matters.

<Mese> "Some people are alphas, and others are just... zeroes, right?"

Ping listens to Cassidy and wonders if she believes the crap she is shoveling

<Mese> "Me, I have a whole ten year plan. I have it on my wall." She looks at Cole with a new appraisal. "If you hung out with better people, Cole, you'd do better."

<Mese> "I could... show you."

Cole grins. "Well, it's never too late to start, right?"

<Cole> "Yeah. We should hang out sometime."

<Cole> "You have a game coming up?"

<Mese> She nods. "I'll call you."

< In Memoriam | HighSchoolOfShadows | Trapped In The Closet, Chapter 1 >