Room 502: Skye Larson & Sofia Writley

[Penelope Greene]

Room 502 is a good sized two person room that faces the field.

[Skye Larson]

With a sigh Skye re-closed the cover of the box she had just opened. Inside was a box of treats her mom had secretly packed before she left for school again, but as always she'd labeled it "Marissa." It didn't matter how many times she told her that she wanted to be called "Skye." She'd come home from her first year of school intent to let everyone in her old life know that she was now going by the nickname that only her close friends had known before. But she'd underestimated her mother's dislike of the this school and everything tied to it. Mary Larson didn't deny her daughter had to attend, oh no, she knew she'd never be able to teach her control over all the things that made her oldest daughter different. But she sure could hate that her child did have such "gifts." Always the quotations, like the ability to fix any wound without medical treatment was some kind of curse or something!

And now she'd decided her daughter's change of name was a bad influence brought on by attending this school. But instead of being reasonable about it, the woman instead fought the change at every turn. Just like a mom, she was especially good at forcing her point home at the worst times. Like right now, when Skye was already feeling the isolation retuning to this school always drew up in her.

Shoving the box under her bed, (there was nothing else in it but a bunch of books anyway and she could sort those out later) Skye then hid her face in the blanket of the bed she'd made up when first starting to unpack. She only had one roommate this year, and the other girl hadn't been in as far as she'd seen. (Since the other bed was made up when she first entered the room and the other side of the room clearly "claimed" she knew the girl had been here once.) But she might return any time and the brunette didn't want to show the tears leaking down her face. She always had been too easy to cry.

A few minutes later she stood again, wiping one last time at mostly dry eyes, and went to open the last box. Thankfully she'd decided to not start unpacking until she had everything in her room. She couldn't imagine the looks and questions if she'd had to make her way past all the people in the general area on the lower level with her face red and slightly swollen. At least her eyes and nose would be red, they always were when she cried even a little, and her eyes might be a bit puffy too. At least she didn't wear makeup so she needn't worry about streaking or leaving color smears on the sleeve of her light green top when she wiped her eyes.

This box was one of clothes. The school had it's own laundry service that students could use when they needed to but she still had about two weeks worth of clothing. Sometimes everyone else decided to pick the same weekend to wash clothes and at least she could hold out until Monday night with clean outfits. One of the last things she took out, a plain red sweatshirt she mostly wore tied at her waist because the front pocket made for extra storage space, had been tossed in quickly, not even folded properly, and as she raised it something fell from the pocket back into the box. Looking in she barely kept from crying again.

Bunny had given her a going away present the last time they'd hung out, a couple days before Skye had to leave. It was a bracelet of intricately twisted strands of string with a small rose charm tucked in so it was almost entirely hidden. The rose had been a symbol between Skye and and a friend before Bunny but the secret had been passed on and carried well.

Homesickness threatened to overwhelm and she longed to jump online but not only would the other girl not be online this early in the day, Skye's laptop was currently hidden away in a secret box in her closet. It was a rather simple chest with no ornate carving or curves. There was a lock with only one key (which she wore on a braided string around her neck), but the real trick to the lock was a simple carved into the bottom, chalked out in a faint blue that made it more than a normal chest. Another gifted friend, back in her hometown, had shown her a simple shield spell; something that could be set and contained without using additional power. She'd even shown Skye how to modify the symbol, using blue lines instead of white, so her minor Air control could be used as in the shield spell. Every Element had a color and it's own strengths. Air and Earth are the best with shields, Earth a bit more so, but she couldn't be expected to use her opposition Element. It was good Air was the second strongest though; even with only minimal power it was a very strong barrier. Protection against both intentional and accidental tampering.


Still, she couldn't stand not at least trying to get in contact with someone, so she pulled out her cellphone and automatically punched in the key combination that would log her into an instant messenger. She never did use her phone to call people. Texting she did sometimes, but never actual calls.

Breaking down the box as she waited for it to log in, the phone was set on the dresser near at hand, Skye only stopped a moment to stick the bracelet in her pocket. She wasn't about to wear it and have to answer countless questions that would only increase her homesickness. If it was with other stuff she'd transfer to her next outfit though, then she'd not forget about it and not have to show anyone. She was shoving the empty box with the others she'd brought in the closet as her phone finally signed in and she shut the door in the same motion as she turned to grab her phone and moved to her bed.

(Reposting my sample as a sort of intro because that's how it was written.)

[emma]

Sofi quietly slid into her room, a little startled to see Skye there. “Oh, hey. You weren’t here when I got here so I wasn’t sure what side of the room you wanted. Is it okay?” She bit her lip to cut off her blabbering. As she’d spoken, Sofi had moved to her bed, opening a box.

[Skye Larson]

It had been only a few minutes when she suddenly heard a voice. Startled, Skye looked up to find the speaker with a surprised look. She'd not heard a sound as the other girl entered the room and she didn't even have her music going this time.

Brown eyes found Sofia's face, her own still holding traces of the tears that were gone for now, and after a hesitant moment in which she tried to piece together what had been said, the brunette gave a gentle smile. At least she hoped that what it looked like, since she was splitting her focus at present. Then the words fell into place in her mind and she answered, when Sofia was already digging into one of her own boxes. "It's fine by me. I have a new room and a new roommate each year and you never can be sure what kind of person they are until they get upset at you for some small thing." Her expression became a slight frown that she shook away, still talking. "I've learned to just go along with the flow."

She had to bite her own lip there. She'd almost revealed a secret she had. A secret wish. It still repeated in her own mind though. Maybe if I didn't have such passive abilities I'd be able to hold my own. Out loud though, she merely slipped to a greeting. "You can call me Skye. My last name's Larson and I've never liked my first name. The school doesn't give out names with room assignments so I thought you might like to know."

She tried to fight the blush that came whenever she babbled too much, and especially on such a useless point, but by the heat of her cheeks she failed badly.

[emma]

Sofi gently frowned as she listened to the girl. She'd obviously been crying but she worried about whether the girl would be offended if she brought it up. Skye she said her name was? "I'm Sofi. So you mean you've been here every year? Maybe you can give me some tips then. I'm a sophomore but this is my first year at the school. And for the record, it's good to go with the flow but that doesn't mean you shouldn't stick up for yourself every once in awhile." She smiled softly, shrugging. "Just you know, past experience. Some people will walk all over you if they get the chance."

She opened a dresser drawer and started putting away clothes as she spoke, " Anyways, I'm sorry if I startled you..." Sofi paused, hedging, and finally decided what the hell. She turned around to face Sky again, "Are you okay? You look upset. You don't have to tell me anything, I'm just... being nosy I guess." Again, she smiled brightly. She really hoped she wasn't bugging Skye. It would suck to not get along with your roommate this early in the year.

[Skye Larson]

Skye nodded along with the comment about sticking up for yourself. She'd just had the same thought herself after all. A moment of worry has her wondering if her roommate might be able to read minds before remembering someone with that sort of ability wouldn't be assigned a room in this building.

"You're fine," she answered the last question in a mild tone, giving a faint smile of her own. Sofia seemed much nicer than her roommate last year, and she hopped the other girl wasn't just playing pretend. She'd seen it happen before. "I'm just..." She hesitated, not wanting to admit anything that would show her as weaker, but decided after a moment it wouldn't do to make enemies because she kept everything secret. "I'm a little homesick. More for my friends than anything else, even my family. Coming back to this school is hard for me because I don't get to talk with them much and I won't see any of them almost at all."

[Skye Larson]

Skye closed her textbook with a soft sigh. Something bad had happened in the school and she couldn't focus on her work no matter how hard she tried. She wasn't really sure what exactly had happened, but she'd heard the whispers earlier today. Two girls were in the infirmary for certain, healthy in a way but essentially mentally absent, and there was talk someone else should have been with them. Even her ability wouldn't be able to help them, not with a mental issue, but she was annoyed too that the sense of wrongness was still in the air and it wouldn't go away. Maybe it had to do with the secrecy of what happened to those girls though, and if that was the case she might never get the feeling to vanish. It certainly wasn't helping her studies.

Shifting from a laying position on her bed to sitting, Skye rummaged around under her pillow for a moment before grabbing her ipod, stuck the pieces in her ears and turned it on to some of the heavier stuff she had. She wanted a distraction. Standing only long enough to move her school books out of the way, she then lay back down on her bed and covered her eyes to block out the light. Letting her mind drift as she soaked in the music would block anything else from her consciousness for a little while.