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Post by emilybuj on Dec 27, 2012 2:32:11 GMT -5
Eloise shivered in the cold of winter, but she had no desire to seek warmth. She had left Veritas that afternoon in an attempt to free her mind of others thoughts for a while. So she dressed herself in the warmest clothes she could find, and made her way to Cranbrook park. She packed a tote bag with a book, note book, pen, and her camera - unsure of how she would distract herself from the migraine that was forming.
Once in the park, she found a secluded area, and climbed a tree - liking the feeling of being separate from the world below her. She pulled out her notebook and pen. It was hard to grip the writing utensil with her mittens on, but her fingers were cold despite the fabric covering her fingers. Ella simply ignore this fact, and the fact that she could see her breath, as she began to create a story with her fingertips.
Writing was something Eloise started in an attempt to focus her mind on her own thoughts and desires. It was the best way for El to forget all the things she didn't want to hear, or get the things she couldn't forget out into the world. It was an escape from everything she hated about her power. She scribbled down some notes on a character she wanted to create. Well, two characters. Characters that reminded her of Monroe and Adaryn. Because frankly, she still wasn't completely forgiven for the dance fiasco. And she couldn't handle the thoughts her two friends continuously had about her and about each other.
Eloise continued to create character profiles when she lost her grip on her pen. She attempted to grab it, but the fabric of her mittens were not exactly good for grip. The writing utensil slipped from her hand and she watched as is fell to the path below. Eloise groaned. She should have brought more than one pen.
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Post by Admin Courtney on Dec 27, 2012 2:55:21 GMT -5
Ashton usually liked to escape to the park, and when he did he brought his sketchpad with him. He would find a quiet space and doodle small things, then watch his powers bring them to life. It was enjoyable. Or at least it was until he found out what he had done to AJ, and his drawings had become dark. He used to love to draw, but now he didn't dare. The only things that came to mind were horrifying sketches that no one needed to see and he refused to draw. And anything more pleasant he attempted to draw was crap and made him hate himself even more. He had gotten his first B in his art class, which had never happened before. He had laughed it off in class, claiming he couldn't steal all the good grades all the time, but on the inside it was not helping him at all.
So he escaped to the park in town, sans sketchpad, and just wandered around. It was colder out, so the park was pretty deserted. Once more snow fell there would be kids on the little hills, but until then it was just a vacant space for him to wander and brood. On the off chance that he did pass some people by, he smiled broadly. His smile was so practised that it came with ease, even though it wasn't genuine. But he couldn't not smile. People couldn't know. It was just easier to fake it. He did not want anyone to ask what was wrong. He wished nothing was wrong. He wished he hadn't done what he did. Something so vile he couldn't even bring himself to think the word.
His thoughts consumed him as he walked along the path, and when a pen fell out of no where onto the path in front of him, he shouted out in surprise. Upon realising it was just a pen, he laughed meekly and looked around, but there was no one in sight to have thrown it. Were some kids hiding somewhere, throwing pens at random people out of boredom? He bent down and picked the pen up, welcoming the small distraction.
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Post by emilybuj on Dec 27, 2012 3:05:32 GMT -5
"Fuck," Eloise muttered as she stared down at the pen. But she realized that somebody had been walking along the path. The pen nearly hit him, actually. The guy had picked up the pen and looked around, clearly confused as to where the writing utensil had come from. She laughed slightly at the confusion etched in his brow. She balanced herself on the branch she sat on, and moved toward the end of it so she would be easier seen. "Up here," she said, glad that she would at least be getting her pen back without having to climb down from the spot where she had made herself quite comfortable.
It was even slightly warmer in the trees. And she always found places she could hang her bag from. Sometimes she found branches wide enough to use like a table. She wished she had the capacity to build a tree house. She'd never leave. She held her blonde curls away from her face as she looked down at the guy below. they kept falling into her face due to the forces of gravity and the way her white beanie was placed to keep her ears warm. "I'm sorry about that," she said down to the guy who she hoped could now see her.
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Post by Admin Courtney on Dec 27, 2012 3:24:54 GMT -5
Ashton heard a laugh and scowled, but when he realised it came from above him, his scowl became a confused frown and he looked up.
"Oh," he said, his face relaxing into an expression of realization and he smiled. "I wondered where this came from."
He held up the pen, his lips still stretched into a forced smile. "No worries," he told her. "It didn't hit me or anything, plus it's just a pen." It felt strange to be holding one when he was on a drawing hiatus. He wanted to badly to draw something, but could not allow himself to. No, definitely not. He didn't want to know what his fucked up mind could come up with now.
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Post by emilybuj on Dec 27, 2012 3:47:52 GMT -5
Eloise smiled as she reached down to grab the pen from the guys outstreched arm. Her smile faded though when the guys thoughts reached her. His mind was awefully busy from a guy who was just going for a walk in the park. And his desire to draw was so strong it almost made Ella think she needed to start sketching. But she knew better, because she had absolutely no artistic ability.
It only took moments to realize the smile on the boys face was absolutely forced. And forced smiles were one of Ella's biggest pet peeves. Though she had come to accept that saying 'hey knock off the fake smile crap' didn't always go over well with people. She usually tried to just pretend it didn't bother her. But the fact that this guy was AWARE that he was faking it, made Eloise even more confused and a little more annoyed. She decided to go for a sympathetic approach - not being able to mind her own business at the moment. "Are you ok?" she asked seriously, cocking her head to the side as she accepted the pen and her blonde curls fell back to her face. She realized he may think she meant about the pen falling. Clearly that was a non issue. "Not about the pen..." she clarified. "generally..." she hoped she didn't sound too creepy or anything. Then again, if she never saw this person again it wouldn't ever matter.
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Post by Admin Courtney on Dec 27, 2012 3:57:28 GMT -5
When the blonde girl took the pen and her smile faded, he panicked a moment, thinking she was about to fall and was losing her balance and that was why her smile had disappeared. So he was relieved when she sat back up, and found himself wondering why she was in the tree to begin with. She had a notebook, he saw. Did she draw? Probably not, since it looked like a regular notebook and not a sketch pad.
Before he could ask to get clarification on something that really didn't matter except in the fashion that it was a distraction to him at that present moment, she spoke again.
"What? Yeah, of course I'm okay," he said, forcing a laugh that he hoped sounded all right. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Are you?" He didn't really know what else to say. Her question was so random and not one he wanted to answer honestly.
Yeah, no, actually I'm not okay. In fact I'm far from it. I'm fucked in the head and I've hurt a friend in the worst way and how am I even supposed to live with myself after that? I can't even remember doing it, but I ruined her, and she couldn't even enjoy her ball and I shouldn't even be allowed around people because of what I did.
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Post by emilybuj on Dec 27, 2012 4:07:45 GMT -5
Eloise made a face that screamed 'yeah right', when the boy originally answered. It only took a moment for his mind to say what he WANTED to scream aloud. Eloise still had a bit of a block up, so she wasn't sure exactly what the boy was so ashamed of, and she would feel bad digging to figure it out. But his immediate thoughts were bad enough for Eloise to feel certain levels of pity, if that's what you could call it when Ella feels bad about somebody.
"You're not ok..." Ella told the boy. "You're far from it," she added, quoting his thoughts. She sighed. She shouldn't have done that. She shouldn't be pushing it. "If you need a distraction..." she said, knowing he was looking for one. "Feel free to join the club." She wasn't sure if it was a great idea. He'd probably run as soon as he realized she was a mind reader. Many people did. She had already given a ton of hints too. And she was slightly mad at herself for her noseyness, but Ella couldn't help but wonder why the guy was so upset with himself. It was part of being able to hear everybody's thoughts.
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Post by Admin Courtney on Dec 27, 2012 12:34:01 GMT -5
The doubt in her face uneased him, but he was still unprepared when she outright told him he was not okay, that he was far from it. Ashton stared at her, fear flickering in his eyes for a moment before he managed to recover and laughed nervously.
"Um," he said intelligently, looking around as if the words to a decent response were walking across the park like he had been. "What?" he finally managed to come up with.
When she offered him a distraction, however, he took it, though he had a feeling he should just walk away. "Uh, sure. I mean, what's the distraction?" Did she want him to climb the tree? He wasn't sure he should allow himself to be in a tree with a girl, so he stayed where he was. The thought panicked him. "Actually, look, I don't know why you said what you did before, but there's no reason for me not to me fine and there's nothing I need a distraction from except maybe boredom and maybe you're just messing with me, but it's not really funny, so..." He trailed off and shrugged, his mind warped with confusion. What was even going on?
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Post by emilybuj on Dec 27, 2012 23:55:01 GMT -5
Eloise sighed, internally face palming. She really had to work on her social skills. She was very outgoing, but lacked a certain level of empathy that was involved in making friends, or even just making good first impressions. "Alright, listen," she said, sliding down to a lower branch for a moment, so she could be closer to face-to-face with the guy. She figured if he was going to walk away she should at least explain herself so he didn't go the rest of his day freaked out about the crazy girl in the tree.
She turned to face the boy who seemed almost afraid. She sighed again. "I'm basically the most blunt person you'll ever meet. And I know it. So I'm sorry if I come off strong. And I'm sorry if I creep you out but it's just because I kind of read minds and I can't help the fact that I can pretty much hear everything you're thinking." She shrugged, not really phased by her confession, not nervous about the guys reaction at all. "So obviously I know that smile is fake, and one of my biggest pet peeves is fake smiles," El continued. "And I offered you a distraction because I know what its like to have people mad at you for things out of your control. And I have paper and a pen. And you like drawing. And..." she shrugged again. "And you picked up my pen. So..." she wasn't really sure how to finish the statements because she wasn't sure why she offered the distraction really. She always had some sort of sympathy for people. Even if their thoughts confused, annoyed, or aggravated her.
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Post by Admin Courtney on Dec 28, 2012 0:51:09 GMT -5
Ashton watched as the girl maneuvered herself to a lower branch. He was slightly grateful, because now he didn't have to strain his neck to look at her while they talked. But he took a step back.
The colour drained from his face when she said she was a mind reader. Then she knew. She knew what he was thinking and she knew what he had done. Why on earth was she talking to him? She should report him to the cops or something, not have a chat with him in the park.
"Sorry," he heard himself say when she said she didn't like his fake smile. He allowed it to fade; it was difficult to keep up the act of being happy when he was far from it.
"I can't draw, though," he told her. "It was nice of you to offer, but I really shouldn't. I have a power too. What I draw comes to life, and I just don't feel like drawing. I just..." He trailed off and fell silent, not knowing what to say. Her bluntness was fine with him; he was usually blunt in a carefree, fun-loving way. He still liked fun, but he didn't feel he deserved it after what he did. Under the influence of her power or not, he had basically scarred AJ for life. So many of her insecurities now were because of him. What he did was because of her powers, but still. He was the one who did it. He couldn't live with that.
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Post by emilybuj on Dec 28, 2012 0:56:54 GMT -5
"Don't worry I don't know what you did," Eloise rolled her eyes, pushing the notion aside like it was nothing. "You're not exactly clear with your thought process at the moment, and I really don't try and pry. I'm only hearing whats on the surface, and I don't really think YOU understand that far right now." She smirked just slightly. "So unless you want me to know, I basically won't know." She shrugged, clearly not caring. She figured she wouldn't give a crap what it was anyway.
"Well my offer still stands," Eloise promised. "My friends are pissed at me too and I'm tired of them telling me they're not but wishing I'd leave them alone in their thoughts. So I came out here to write. Kinda my escape. Like art is yours. Even though you're running from it at the moment." She furrowed her brow. What could be so horrible that the boy didn't even feel like he should escape from it, just for a while?
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Post by Admin Courtney on Dec 28, 2012 1:34:54 GMT -5
He couldn't help but relax when she said she had no idea what he had done that had gotten him so down. So she didn't know. Good. He hoped it would stay that way. He didn't want anyone to know.
"You won't know, then. But if you did know, you wouldn't be offering your company right now," he warned her. However, he could not resist her company. He loved to be around people, even if he didn't think he deserved to. Honestly, he was craving the company of someone, and so he easily allowed himself to accept, with only a little hesitation.
"Well, okay," he gave in. He shuffled over to the tree and lifted himself onto the lowest branch, sitting with his legs on either side and a fair amount of distance between himself and the girl.
"Why are your friends pissed at you?" he asked, unaware that he was doing exactly what he was glad she wasn't to him; prying.
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Post by emilybuj on Dec 28, 2012 1:40:14 GMT -5
Eloise laughed. "Because I set them up for the snowball and neither of them are willing to accept its the best thing that ever happened to them." She still didn't understand why her friends were so miffed. Yeah, she was slightly insensitive to Adaryn, and El had apologized sincerely. But neither Ad nor Monroe had completely forgiven her for that night yet. "I guess I just come on a little strong and that night I managed to push a few boundaries I probably shouldn't have pushed." she sighed slightly. She clearly knew her mistakes, though she also refused to take complete responsibly.
"Oh and don't worry about prying. I have no secrets," she said honestly, looking down toward the boy. "In fact, it's nice talking about myself for once... since all it takes for me is a few moments to know all I need about somebody else." Sometimes it was tiring for El to hear somebody drone on about themselves when she already knew.
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Post by Admin Courtney on Dec 28, 2012 1:49:52 GMT -5
He looked at her, startled. Oh, right. She could read minds. Was everything he thought an open book to her? She seemed to only know his thoughts at present; she said his mind was jumbled. He felt jumbled. He tried to quiet his mind, however, and welcomed any distraction; he felt bad she had to deal with the mess that was his current thoughts.
"Well feel free to keep talking, then. I don't want to talk about me or think about me or anything, and I wouldn't mind getting caught up in someone else's problems," he admitted. "No offense. But are your friends really pissed at you because you set that up? Seems like something they should thank you for. Well, depending on what those boundaries were that you pushed..." He raised his eyebrows inquiringly. She had said she had no secrets, right?
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Post by emilybuj on Dec 28, 2012 1:59:05 GMT -5
Eloise chuckled slightly, somewhat ignoring the guys thoughts, especially since he did NOT want them to be ready. She always did her best to respect that. "You would think right?" she asked. "Basically they're both pretty antisocial. Dance's aren't really their thing. And they didn't appreciate that I revealed their private thoughts regarding their feelings for each other - despite the fact that the feelings were mutual. All I wanted is Adaryn to look and feel pretty and hear Monroe tell her... but clearly they had their hearts set on pining after one another for another few years before doing anything about it. I just gave them a push. They didn't like it." Eloise shrugged. "It's... slightly more complicated than that but if I told you everything that was going on you'd probably think I was clinically insane." She laughed trying to imagine a reaction to her explaining Cain and the dream walking - or the fact that she had to shake her friend awake as he was bleeding from the stomach. She started realizing just how crazy her life had been since beginning her classes at Veritas. "Does crazy shit always happen to kids at these schools?" she asked curiously.
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