fandomhigh | BWI Airport Portalocity Lounge- Saturday morning

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!event: newbie shuttle

BWI Airport Portalocity Lounge- Saturday morning

As much as Maeve didn't want to admit that she was nervous, she really was. This was big. It was a new school, a new country, a second chance that she really didn't want to screw up.

She seemed to be the first one here- at least the glittery sign told her she was in the right place, and she was a little annoyed by it on principle- so she found a seat, piled her bags around her, and pulled out a book to read while she waited.

While she looked pretty engrossed in it, anytime she saw someone pass by her eyes flicked up like she was expecting them to come sit nearby.

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Arabella had, for the first time in her life, matching luggage, and it was new, and it wasn't even from Target. It had been, along with her shiny new laptop, a "going away to school" present from her brother-in-law, although she suspected Bug of having had some input in the laptop. It was way too souped up for distance learning. She was every inch the House scion off to boarding school...except for the part where she was dragging her own stuff around instead of having a minion to do it for her, and she was dressed in a tank top and basketball shorts because early morning flights were bad enough without dressing up for them. Whatever.

After checking the sign to make sure she was in the right place, Arabella gave everyone in the waiting area a little wave and a, "Hi, how's it going?" before picking out a seat and taking out her phone to resume her text argument with Catalina about whether she still had to take online geometry if she was taking an economics class.

Catalina wasn't answering, of course, because Catalina had probably gone back to bed after they'd dropped Arabella off at the airport, and Catalina was now in a different time zone.

This was going to take some getting used to.

That was about the entry Maeve had expected from people, texts and all, so that earned a "Hey," from her.

And maybe Maeve was watching her a little like she was trying to suss her out. She seemed normal enough?

Well, it wasn't falling through the ceiling, but they couldn't all be masters of the dramatic entrance. "I'm Arabella," Arabella said. "Are you new, too?"

"Yeah," she said. "Maeve. I think everyone here's new."

And, "I also expected more people."

"The brochures said it was a small school," Arabella agreed, "but I thought it would be bigger than...this. Maybe the other new students are meeting us there or something?"

"Or they got their own rides," Maeve said. "Maybe a smaller school will mean less annoying people."

She was kind of thinking that more students would allow her to slip by unnoticed better. She had no idea how wrong that was gonna be.

"I know it's small enough that their math program is online," Arabella admitted. "Because my sister insisted I still have to take geometry even if there's not a teacher." She rolled her eyes to show what she thought of that.

"Better for colleges," Maeve said, like she wasn't used to talking about that subject. "I don't know how hard they look at that, but the class has to look good."

"Ugh, yeah, I guess I have to start thinking about that soon." She should probably figure out what area of study would be most useful to her family and aim for that, but...she had a horrible feeling it was going to involve math. "Anyway, I'm really hoping for less annoying people than back home, too."

Re: Wait for the shuttle

complexfemale - 2020-08-28 21:58 (UTC) - Expand

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Re: Wait for the shuttle

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"Hi!" Miles said at the girl on the phone. "I'm Miles. You're new too, huh?"

Oh, hey, it was the kid who'd gotten a send-off only moderately more embarrassing than the one the Baylors had lovingly given Arabella at the Houston airport at ass o'clock that morning. "Yup," Arabella confirmed. "I'm Arabella." She hesitated slightly before adding, "Baylor."

She was not used to her surname mattering yet.

Please. Do not bring up the send-off. Please.

"Nice," He replied feeling immediately awkward because he had no idea where to take this conversation. "Uh. Are you from around here? I'm from Brooklyn."

Okay, so probably not magic. Cool. "No, I'm from Houston. I've never been to New York, but I've always wanted to go. It's okay if you can't say the same about Houston," she joked.

Miles chuckled. "Nah, I've barely been out of Brooklyn," he admitted. "Only reason I'm here is I lucked out and got a scholarship somehow."

"Oh, yeah," Arabella agreed. "I would never have been able to do this without, um, some help."

Her help came in the form of a billionaire brother-in-law who agreed they had to get Arabella out of her public school where everyone thought they were a little paparazzo suddenly. She realized it was a little different.

"Oh, hey, that's cool," Miles said with a respectful nod. "It's funny I thought I would be sitting here with a bunch of kids who knew each other but I guess that's not the case. Do you know anything about this place? Because my parents just saw it was a private school and that was pretty much the end of the conversation."

"I think we're all new here," Arabella said. "And I know it's a small school. Kind of nontraditional." That had been a selling point, as it didn't come pre-stocked with House brats. "They don't have math classes so I thought I was in the clear, but apparently I still have to take online math, which is the worst thing ever."

Re: Wait for the shuttle

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Re: Wait for the shuttle

sparkinyou - 2020-08-29 01:38 (UTC) - Expand

Troy didn't really say anything from where he was sitting, but he definitely quirked an eyebrow as he scoped the girl out a little. Things definitely looked promising as far as hotties went for this school so far.

And he could think that with confidence now that he knew this actually was the right place.

Yes to cute boys. "Hi, I'm Arabella, and you are...?"

Nice. "Troy," he said, with a grin as his chin quirked up with the greeting. "How you livin'?"

"Not bad, for having to get up before it should be legal to make that flight," Arabella said. "You?"

Grin still on his face, Troy shrugged. "You know how it goes," he offered smoothly. "Where you coming from?"

"Houston," Arabella said. Was Houston cool? She was suddenly realizing she had no idea if Houston was cool or not. "You?"

Houston was way cooler than Riverside, so she at least had him on that one, and the reason why he kept his answer to a nice, vague, "Colorado.

"Looks like we're both pretty far from home, then," he added, latching onto that nice nugget of commonality.

"Looks like it," she agreed, and then admitted, "I miss my family already." Then mentally kicked herself, because that was not being cool, Arabella.

Re: Wait for the shuttle

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