Valencia Academy

[Kaitlyn Louis]

The sun was slipping in through the tall windows of the corridors. It was one of those lazy days where time dragged on forever and the sun seemed to want to stay up for all eternity. Plus the heat was beginning to get on Kaitlyn's nerves. It was only mid-spring but the temperatures were higher than usual. Global warming sucked big time. Kaitlyn walked along the corridor casually. She wasn't in any rush to go to her next class. She had a couple of hours to relax. She knew she should be studying for the midterm exams but what was the point anyway? What were the purpose of grades here? They don’t even tell you what’s beyond this prison-like school. But it didn’t matter now. She’s accepted this long ago. She stopped at a window. There was practically nobody in the hall. She pulled out a roll of dark red lip stick and flipped open the cap. In thick letting she began to write on the window glass. The sun don't shine in this world. She snapped the lipstick roll shut and stared at her lettering. Admiring every thick, pudgy mark that the lipstick had made.

[Tien Hang]

Tien paused and looked up from the floor. She gave the appearence of a once strong girl, who had been broken. Her thin figure looked pathetic under the weight of her school bag. A girl near the window caught her attention. Tien brushed a loose, black hair behind her ears and approached. From her bag she produced a black marker and held it out like an offering to the girl. "This lasts longer." Tien said in a weak, distant voice. A lost spark or rebellion briefly flickered in her eyes before disappearing into her broken body. Her wrist twinged slightly, sometimes Tien felt as though the infirmary had purposely let it heal incorrectly just as a reminder of her time in the dungeon, other times she thought it was purely a mental game that her mind played on her. Tien noticed the girl admiring her work. Perhaps she would take the marker as an insult, the lipstick did look more intense then a marker could but, all it would take is a towel and the lipstick would be gone. Tien nervously glanced around, hoping no teachers were in sight, she brought her attention back to the girl and gave the girl a weak, but friendly smile.

[Kaitlyn Louis]

Kaitlyn heard someone speak from behind her. She snapped out of her pleasant trance. Only just now has she realized that she had stared off into space and zoned out. She turned her head slightly to view the girl behind her. The girl looked quite nervous for some reason. Kind of reminded her of the way she was before she came to this school. Funny, this school seemed to actually make her stronger in an unknown way. What had the girl said? She tried her best to speak in a friendly tone, though her result wasn’t too great. Her tone sounded a bit harsh, "I'm sorry. I didn't catch that." She smiled at the girl, almost as an apology for her harsh tone. She’s never seen her before. Than again she hasn’t seen half the people in this school because she's only been here for one or two months.

[Tien Hang]

Tien's posture straightened despite the weight of her bag. She held the marker a bit firmer. As if another force were controlling her, Tien took the cap of the marker and began writing, just writing, partly in english, partly in Vietnamese. Her eyes glowed with forgotton life and her smile became stronger and brighter. For a moment she forgot that the other girl was there. Her hand moved furiously and her words ran together, so illegible that it was hard to tell which words were english and which were not. Her eyes became glazed over in an almost possessed way. Finally she stabbed the wall with a period. When she finished she was panting slightly, but a warmth had spread to her fingertips. It felt good, she dropped the marker on the ground. But then reality faded its way back into her mind. The bag pulled her back into a slouch and the smile faded a bit. Tien cast her gaze down almost a bit embarressed by her sudden out burst, but secretly pleased with herself in a strange sense. Tien focused her attention on the marker which was now on the floor. The girl must think her nuts, but Tien didn't care, it felt good to be free again.

[Kaitlyn Louis]

Kaitlyn stared at the girl, slightly dumbfounded. Hello, what just happened? What’d I miss? The thought ran through her head. She looked at the thing the girl had written on the window. Was it even English? But she had noticed a strange spark of strength in the girl which faded just as she dropped the marker to the ground. Kaitlyn smiled broadly. "How interesting." she said mostly to herself. "Marker does last longer than lipstick. But than again nothing will ever last." She placed one finger to her lips and tilted her head, looking back at the writing. "What does it say?"

[Tien Hang]

Tien lifted her head to look at what she had written. The girl spoke

"Marker does last longer than lipstick. But than again nothing will ever last."

Tien nodded in agreement. "True." The girl then asked what was written. That was a good question, one that Tien didn't even know yet. She quickely scanned the chicken scratch and then turned to the girl "it basically says that this place sucks." Well this wasn't a complete lie, the message did imply that Valencia did suck, however it was a lot more slanderous then that and Tien didn't want to go into it because that would require her to revisit the dungeon expirience. The smile completely fell from Tien's face, as she reliezed, she was probably the only one in the school who spoke Vietnamese, she would most surely get caught. She couldn't get caught, not again, she couldn't go back to the dungeons. Tien's breath picked up its pace and her heart began to beat faster and faster. She put on a blank expression and forced her breath to slow. She glanced at the writing again. Her handwriting was so sloppy, perhaps no one would notice that half of it wasn't in english. She forced a smile back on her face and stared intently at the girl, refusing to look at the wall.

[Kaitlyn Louis]

Kaitlyn noticed some kind of almost fear in the girls expression. What was the big deal? What was she so scared of? Hm. Totally true. This school is a pain in the ass. But I try not to think about it. I mean we're here. There’s nothing we can do about it...I think. She smiled lightly noticing the smile drop completely from the girls face. I'm Kaitlyn. She spoke a bit uneasy. Guess we can be graffiti buddies ey? She reached out to the girl with her right hand for a handshake.

[Tien Hang]

And when we get caught we'll be dungeon buddies. Tien thought morbidly. She forced a smile, faced the girl, and took her hand. "Hello Kaitlyn. I'm Tien" Her name rolled off her tounge like a lost soul reclaimed. "Graffiti buddies, sounds good." Tien said slowly and quietly. Tien thrust her bag to the floor, tired of being weighed down by the books, untucked her shirt, threw the blazer on the floor and took her hair out of its ponytail and put it in its old, thick braids. "So, I haven't seen you around before, are you new?"

[Kaitlyn Louis]

Why do you bother to carry your books around? I just trash them in my room. Right next to my homework. She smiled. I came here about two months ago. So I guess you can say I’m new. Are you? She opined her lipstick cap again and observed the lipstick. There was only a bit left. She wasted half the stick one time just walking along a hallway tracing a line on the wall. It helped elate her boredom.

[Tien Hang]

Tien glanced at her bag. "Well... I stated actually doing my homework, so I was on my way to the library, but I thought you were a bit more interesting then a novel about how a happy family lived obediently and joyfully under the reign of Valencia, and 20 math problems where most of the numbers are actually letters." Tien straighted her posture and flipped her braids about, loving the feeling of them free from that cursed ponytail. Unconsiously her hand began to rub the writing on the wall, smudging it slightly, but subsequently (sp?) only making it darker and leaving a big, black mark on the side of her hand. "I don't know how long I've been here. I stopped counting months ago. It don't think its been a year yet... I'm not sure though." Tien briefly stopped flipping her hair and looked around quickely as if slightly paranoid. Still no one was around, so she leaned in a bit closer to Kaitlyn, "If you think it's bad here now, it doesn't get better, it only gets worse." Tien straighted back up and continued playing with her hair. Tien's eyes darted around briefly, but came back to focus on Kaitlyn's nose.

[Kaitlyn Louis]

Kaitlyn smiled. I am more interesting than homework. Than again so is a rock. She watched Tien smudge the lettering on the wall. She did that sometimes too. It was more of a habit for her when she was in middle school. Whenever she’d talk to someone she couldn’t talk straight out to them. She had to occupy herself with something else. Like a pebble on the floor that needed her immediate attention. She tilted her head. It gets worse? How could it get worse? What do they do later on? Blindfold you and force you to feet hungry alligators? It was a stretch but heck. Kaitlyn would believe pretty much almost anything at this point. If some kid ran through the hall screaming that it was raining shoes, well than it certainly must be raining shoes!

[Tien Hang]

"Actually I do enjoy homework more then a rock....." Tien commented with an almost offended tone before burstingg out laughing. Tien finally pulled her hand away from the wall and it was covered in black ink. The writing was still bright and clear. Then the girl asked the dredded question. How could it get worse? Tien's eyes glazed over and her hands began to twitch uncontrolably. the dungeon flashed before her eyes. Thats how it could get worse. The hunger, cold, pain, darkness, and fear washed over her and for what seemed like an eternity, she lost her sight. Her heart began to beat faster and breathing became laborious. Next thing Tien knew she was on the floor. She blinked her eyes hard trying to figure out what just happened. She looked around, but she was still dizzy. Slowly she pulled herself back too her feet, then leaned up against the wall for support. She laughed nervously and stared at her feet. "Just trust me... it gets a lot worse..."

[Kaitlyn Louis]

OOC: dramatic much? lol

BIC:
Instantly Kaitlyn felt bad asking the last question. She watched Tien fall to the floor. The girl was in some state of shock or something. But she felt that it was not her place to comfort her. Obviously, this schools done something to her that Kaitlyn had to way of understanding. Sorry. Guess this school screwed you over a lot ey? She looked out the window. The sun was still up and hot. She winced. If only she could shoot it down. It was mocking her. She was weak and useless in the sun yet at the same time she loved the feeling of its warmth on her body.

[Tien Hang]

ooc: you ought to be used to it by now!

bic:

Tien recomposed herself. Her vision cleared, and though she was still a bit light-headed, the dizzyness had faded. She didn't quite trust her voice yet so she simply nodded to Kaitlyn. Tien took a deep breath and steadied herself against the wall. "This school changes people, and not for the better. They break you down. Theres nothing you can do... Three fully grown adults attacked me. Beat me, I fought back, but in case you haven't noticed I'm kind of small." Tien giggled nervously. "Over the next few days I was tied down and starved..." Tien steadied herself on her own two feet. "I wish it were something as simple as feeding alligators, so trust me when I say it gets worse." Tien leaned back against the wall and stared at her bag. Kaitlyn was certainly an awkward one. She seemed to be very naive and almost sheltered, but seeking something deeper, unable to truly understand what it was. Tien had gotten first impressions wrong before, but so far thats what she sensed about Kaitlyn.

[Kaitlyn Louis]

ooc: yes she is naive.

bic:
Kaitlyn frowned. She never heard of this before. I mean she's heard of some rumors but they were never serious. Oh... That was all she could say. Thats not right. She imagined the Tien in pain for a second trying to sense the wonderful aura but stopped. It was wrong. Sorry. I didn't mean to insult you. She felt like she just said sorry for thinking such things but she didn't think Tein was a mind reader or anything so she let it go. She licked her lips nervously. So...wanna go get a bite to eat or something?


ooc: SORRY! I just cant think of what esle to do! >_< ugh. if u have suggestions they're alwys welcome!