fandomhigh | Fandom High Welcome Picnic, Front Lawn of the School, All Day: Part II

"To be honest, I just haven't met a whole lot of people yet," she replied in her deep twangy Minnesota accent. "I'm not worried about weird because where I'm from? Weird can sort of stand on its own two legs," she chuckled. "Nice to meet you, Rikku. I like your name."

"Oh! Thank you!" Rikku was back to bouncing again. "It's, uh, an Al Bhed name? Which you've probably never heard of. Which is totally okay, 'cause that's way better than going 'Oh, man, the Al Bhed? Aren't they those filthy heathen-types?' 'Cause that gets old fast. And ooooh, did you live on a ... uh. Hellmouth-thing? Dawn used to. So she's not really fazed by weird stuff, either. Weird here usually isn't dangerous, just ... uh. Weird. You know?"

She took a breath, after that. Because wow, did she need one. Newbie day made her even more hyper than usual.

The bouncing was cute and Amber wondered if there were gymnastics here but she was having a hard time keeping up with Rikku and what she was saying because it was all so new and her head was swimming with new information. "I've never heard of it, Rikku, sorry. But I do know what a heathen is. My daddy is a carnie. Left my ma and me and even though ma calls him worse names than a heathen? He's still just a dirty carnie. Ma always says 'Once a carnie, always a carnie'." She paused, raised her brows. "A... Hellmouth? Is that a name of a mountain?"

"I think someone else here is a carnie," she said, mulling it over. "He might know your dad. But, uh, probably not. I keep forgetting how big all of this is. And the Hellmouth thing is -- kinda creepy? I'm not sure I get it, I just know it has to do with weird stuff, but not the fun kind, the evil monster-y type. Probably not a great place to live, I gotta say. But it's okay, this place doesn't have one." Rikku blinked. "As far as I know, anyway."

Sometimes, she even confused herself.

"There are carnies here? Someone who might know my dad?" That was blowing her away. "Oh god, I can't tell my ma."

Monsters. Oh wow.

"We had a monster once in Mount Rose in the form of Gladys Leeman. She's an escaped convict and she's after me. The swan ate her baby so I can understand her wrath. She's just got to direct it elsewhere, know what I mean? People sure can be evil monsters," she nodded.

"It's okay," Rikku said quickly. "There's a lot I don't tell my parents. Uh. I tried telling my dad that boys didn't even go to school here? But he's not, y'know. Dumb. And ewwww. Is that lady still after you? It's okay. This school's pretty safe. When scary stuff happens, people just kick butt and send the things back to wherever they're supposed to be from. It's a thing."

Amber chuckled. "My ma knows there are boys here, least she assumes because school for me has always been public. I don't wanna lie, you know? I'll keep my mouth quiet." She nodded. "That's why I'm here. Hopefully I'm far enough away. Do scary things happen here often?"

"Keeping your mouth shut: also a good way of handling things." Rikku grinned. "And no, it's safe here, honest. Weird stuff happens a lot, like people waking up as toddlers for the weekend or just being someone else for a few days and all? But scary's kinda rare. It's not really dangerous or anything."

Amber smiled wide. She liked Rikku! Yay for making friends on her first day here.

But then... toddlers? Being someone else?

"So... there are a lot of school plays here?"

"I don't think so?" Rikku said, not making the connection. "There was one a while back. Do you do things like that a lot?"

"But you mentioned toddlers and being someone else?" Amber was totally confused. How could you be someone else unless you were acting it out?

Right?

"Oh, I don't know. I do a bit of tap dancin' and singin' now and then," she blushed. "Nothin' too spetacular."

"Ooooh, really?" Rikku bounced on her toes. "That sounds neat! Do you cheer at all? We have a squad and everything!"

She flushed a little. "Okay, uh. The thing is? When I said this place was weird? ... I mean really weird. Like. If I told you half of it, you'd think I was a crazy person. Until, like, two months from now, when you went, 'Oh. Right. Whoooooa.' I'm honestly not crazy. Weird stuff kind of just ... happens. Nobody knows how or why. It's not dangerous, just ... really, really trippy."

Edited 2008-01-04 17:53 (UTC)

"Oh, gosh no. I've never tried cheering but I bet it is fun. I spend most of my time just tapping."

Amber listened and did her best to keep an open mind. "So then it's basically just really entertainin' in a weird way? Because that sounds kinda cool, you know? I wouldn't mind weird every now and then." She blinked and thought of a question. "By trippy, you don't mean drugs do you?"

"You totally have to try out. It's all kinds of fun, you get to yell and shout and bounce around like crazy and hey, that's my idea of a good time, you know?" She grinned. "And totally, it's - just, hey, for a weekend, things are gonna be insane. Or like the one day we were all playing the Question Game for no reason. We all had amnesia once, too, but it went away again and you kinda end up going 'oh man, I'm never looking anybody in the face again ever' but it's okay 'cause everybody else is, too."

Rikku considered that. "Drugs? I, uh, dunno. I stick to daquiris. I think you can get something from the weird guys that hang out in front of the convenience store? But I haven't seen them in a while."

"Yah, you betcha," Amber said with a giggle. "I can tell you like to bounce. And maybe I'll think about it. And oh wow?" Amber's eyebrows shot upwards. "That's a lot to take in and the Question Game is totally fun! Me, my ma, and Loretta played it one night over shots of beer, not that I was drinkin' cause no, but I ended up winnin' every single time because those two are just not so good in the askin' question department. Truthfully? I just don't think they got the game," she said, shaking her head.

"Oh, no no no... I don't do drugs. Most everyone I know just smokes cigarettes. Not me though, no oh gosh, I like my lungs to remain clean." Amber didn't count second hand smoke as being detrimental to her health. She just didn't think about it.

"This place kinda ... it's like it waits until you go, okay, nothing can surprise me any more, and then it goes, 'hahahaha, I've been saving this one.' Things just get crazy. You get used to it, kinda sorta. It's fun either way, you know?" She bounced again, because not bouncing required way too much effort. "I don't smoke or whatever either. I don't usually drink, 'cept when I'm having a reeeally bad day. Or when we were celebrating. But last time we all got blitzed and started spray painting buildings and got in trouble so maaaaaaaaaybe I shouldn't drink again for a bit."

"I'm ready for fun, Rikku!" Amber laughed. "Oh, gosh, I'm such a good girl, really. I don't think I would drink and spray paint buildings even though it sounds like fun. No, worst I ever done was tear Becky Leeman's hair out cause I just know she stole my tap costume. She's dead now."

"Oh, she sounds awful!"

Pause.

"You, uh. You didn't kill her, right? That's a coincidence-thing?"

"She was dreadful," Amber said with a smirk.

"Oh gosh no, no, the swan float blew up with her on it. We all smelled gasoline," she shook her head, remembering.

"Ewwww." Rikku shivered. "That's horrible. Although I guess it's less horrible if she was, like, evil? But still horrible. You know?"

Amber nodded. "It was horrible but by then the whole town was sort of used to violent deaths. It's a long story. Becky's mom is the one who is after me now. I don't think she'll find me."

"I know that feeling," Rikku said, shrugging a little awkwardly. "The, uh. You get used to violent deaths. Kinda wish you weren't, you know? It's ... it's okay. It's pretty safe here. If she showed up, she'd have all of us to deal with. We pull together for stuff like that, you know?"

"I work, or worked, in a morgue, so deaths really don't affect me other than I hope I'm not one of the cadavers I'm paiting a face on, you know? Oh gosh," she nodded, brows raised. "Not that I could paint my own face if I'm dead. But you know..."

She perked up. "Oh, my gosh! That is great! I love when schools are like this. Makes it easy to go to bed at night."

"Yeah, totally," Rikku said, shaking off her distraction. "I don't know if there's a morgue in town, you might have to work somewhere else. I'm at the weapons-and-meditation place, which doesn't sound like it'd work but somehow it does. Uh. When schools are like what?"

"I'd rather not go back to work at a morgue; I always went home smelling funny," Amber said.

"When everyone pulls together to keep everyone safe. I've only seen schools like that on TV shows, but I think they're great."

Fandom High Welcome Picnic, Front Lawn of the School, All Day: Part II

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