MaryGold

terrified to be known, desperate to be understood
Original poster
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Posting Speed
  1. 1-3 posts per week
  2. One post per week
  3. Slow As Molasses
Writing Levels
  1. Intermediate
  2. Adept
  3. Adaptable
Genres
romance. angst. drama. modern. fantasy. supernatural. adventure. crime. period pieces.


The Losers Club

Montserrat
chapter i
"OPEN YOUR THIRD EYE"
Date: August 18th, 2018. Saturday.

Time: 7:15 A.M

Summer vacation was over. No one was particularly happy about it. After all, it meant it was back to school with all of them. Back to Ravenwood Academy, one of the many points of pride of Graywick, but a school nonetheless. So, of course, everyone dreaded going back and slipping back into a tedious routine. The first week of school had been almost quiet. Almost. While most of the week had been boring and slow for a majority of students and teachers both, it had not been for eight teenagers in particular. Eight kids who had caused enough trouble to land them in Saturday detention. Eight seniors. Saturday detention. And on the very first week of school too. It may have been annoying to the school staff, but very entertaining to the students of the school. After all, some big names had been within the troublemaker group.

And to think, they had all gotten detention just a day ahead of the two year anniversary of Susie Dagenhart. A pretty and kind girl who had been rumored to die of a heart attack in the girl's bathroom. It was only recently that her locker was no longer covered in flowers and gifts from fellow classmates and with it, things had gone back to "normal". Many had moved on from her death and absence and thought nothing of it anymore. The date of her anniversary was even forgotten, all the talk was about the gossip of the living. Such as how popular Blair Yost and Royce Hamilton had gotten Saturday detention, how they knew that Dawson kid would be trouble, just like his loonie uncle, Sophie had always been a troublemaker, no surprise that Jungwoo would be in the batch, they always knew Nicole would get in trouble, and they always knew Ezra and Connor were weird.

People loved to talk, especially in small towns, as long as something interesting was happening. And they were an interesting batch of teens and therefore a fun topic. No one cared about the dead. And so Susie, was the last thing on anyone's mind.

The weather of the day was just as gloomy as the situation. The sky was clouded and somber and the air cool for an August morning. They would be arriving at any moment now. Their detention started at 7:20 and so far none of them had arrived. With just fifteen minutes left, the teacher in charge of them, Mr. Perez sat at his desk and looked through their individual files. They were a troublesome batch indeed. Some more conspicuously problematic than others. He was one of the teachers who cared to get involved with his students, sometimes more than their own parents did.

Unbeknownst to the teacher, bigger troubles were already lurking in the school that day and more had yet to come. Only at present, their biggest concern was making it the classroom on time or there would be more punishments for them to endure. One by one they would arrive and have a few minutes to talk before he arrived. The time was the last thing on the teacher's mind however as he studied through the files. He didn't even hear the faint sound of a crying girl in the halls.

Tagged: @neptune @exghtyeight @CrystalTears
 
Poppins















BLAIR YOST
the queen bee


interactions ; mentions:
Sophie Black (@MaryGold )


“And you couldn’t get out of it?” Nathan Bancroft’s fingers drummed restlessly against the car’s steering wheel. The silver BMW came to an easy stop outside of Ravenwood Academy. It was a Saturday, and the sprawling campus was virtually empty, a ghost town compared to the hustle and bustle of the week prior where students new and old started to get back into the old routine of classes, teachers, after school activities and homework. Some, however, had already fallen back into the old trap of troublemaking and Nathan wore a look of disapproval as he waited for Blair’s response.

The large brick building loomed outside of the window and Blair’s blue eyes remained there even as Nathan’s burned at her. She hadn’t asked for a ride to detention—of all places—he’d volunteered, but like so many other times, he still managed to make a big deal out of it. Lazily, Blair swiveled her head and raised an eyebrow behind her dark sunglasses. It was the ass crack of dawn and the sun was already out in full force. “I already told you no,” she answered, one hand already on the door handle.

Nathan sighed, “Perez wouldn’t let you off of the hook?”

It took every last ounce of patience not to ask if he was stupid, or if he paid any attention when she talked. “Who do you think caught me?”

“I don’t understand why you can’t just leave her alone.”

“She’s a bitch and I hated her outfit.”

Nathan’s scoffed an ugly noise, “you’re so petty.”

It wasn’t the first time she’d heard that accusation and it wouldn’t be the last either. Nowadays, most comments tended to roll off of her the same way she rolled her eyes and Nathan’s unsolicited opinion was no different than any of the other nobodies she was forced to call classmates. “Shut up,” she pushed the door open, “be out here when it’s over or you can forget about me going to your parent’s party with you.”

“Heaven forbid.”

There were more dumb words coming out of Nathan’s mouth, but Blair wasn’t paying attention and simply closed the door behind her without looking back. She wandered along one side of the circular-shaped driveway as she approached the study hall where detention was being held that day. The old oak door was heavy, requiring more of a push from her frail body than Blair would have liked, but she held her head high and did her best to look unbothered in case anyone was watching. Naturally, she was the first one there. After taking off her sunglasses, the blonde had a few minutes to think about why she was there in the first place, and why she hadn’t been more secretive about cutting the sleeve off of Sophie Black’s cheap secondhand sweater.

Mr. Perez must have sympathized with polyblends; tragic.




Poppins















BABY
the new kid


interactions ; mentions:
Sophie Black | Connor Hamilton (@MaryGold )


How many schools had he been to in his short life?

The number was somewhere over ten and less than twenty but the fact remained that Casey had never set more than a toe out of line and now, for the first time ever and barley a week into his senior year, he was shafted with detention. It wasn’t just any detention either, it was the kind that took place on a Saturday morning, the kind that stole your sleep and gave you no rest and for what? Casey didn’t know what was so bad about stepping in when a his new friend was being harassed. Obviously, the new kid had a lot to learn about his mom’s hometown because the queen bee and her lackey weren’t to be messed with.

Uncle Miles had been passed out on top of papers in his personal library that morning and with no school bus to get him there, Casey had taken to hoofing it up to Ravenwood Academy from the dilapidated Dawnson mansion at the edge of town. He rubbed sleepily at his eyes as he walked, the view finally changing from thick walls of old growth trees to perfectly manicured school grounds. At least he wasn’t late. He looked down at his phone while he walked and texted Sophie, asking if she would be at detention too and if she wanted to hang out when it was all said and done. With any luck, Connor might be available and Casey could keep pretending to have friends for another week or two.

Unsurprisingly, his text went unanswered, and the new kid kicked a stray rock along the winding path. Back in Germany, soccer was one of the only ways to pass the time and he’d gotten fairly good at the sport before having to leave.

A shiny, luxury car sped past him and Casey looked up from the ground, nearly having to jump out of the way so that he wasn’t hit. People in Graywick were weird, and that was saying something when his own uncle was known as the town nutjob, but the residents were just…cold and so far, most of them were unfriendly.

Walking into the detention hall, Casey caught a glimpse of the very reason he wasn’t back home and still in bed. Blair looked just as smug as she had after messing with Sophie and Casey was starting to believe that was just the way her face looked naturally—resting bitchface couldn’t have happened to a better person.

“Here to break my other arm?” the blonde asked. She was seated with her thin legs crossed and her arms around herself, as if she were cold at the tail end of summer.

“That’s not what happened,” Casey said. “I was just trying to get the scissors out of your hand so you didn’t stab her.” It was a bit dramatic, but Sophie had been upset and Casey had never liked a bully. “At least you got what was coming to you.” He sat down heavily on the other side of the table and dropped his backpack by his feet.

“You say,” Blair frowned and stood, grabbing her purse like he was going to steal the ugly thing or give her some kind of disease.

Casey didn’t care that she’d switched tables. As the quiet set in, frosty between them, he let his eyes wander to the door, curious to see who else would be joining them that morning. Down the hall, he thought he heard a muffled cry, but wasn’t foolish enough to leave the room. Whoever it was, if the sound was really there and he wasn’t just imagining things, he hoped they were okay.

 
Poppins















CONNOR HAMILTON
the nerd


interactions ; mentions:
Royce @exghtyeight
Baby | Blair @neptune
Ezra @CrystalTears



The last time Connor had gotten detention was in the fourth grade when he had punched his arts and crafts partner square in the nose. At that time he had been nothing but raw emotions, anger, and pain. After all, he had only recently lost his parents then and so they let him off easy with simple after-school detention. It was the first and last time he had gone through it ... until today. He was generally a quiet and low laying student, who never looked for trouble despite trouble always finding him. He was frankly lucky to have found any semblance of a friendship with Baby and Ezra. Most days, he was off in his own world, doing his own research.

Today, he was at school on a Saturday. And to think it was all because he had gotten caught letting certain people copy his answers during class. It was ridiculous really, especially since he was the only one being punished. Mr. Perez had asked if he was having any "issues and hardships" at school, meaning if he was being bullied. Yes, Connor had been getting picked on since grade school, but it was something he learned to deal with on his own. So, he blatantly rejected the kind teacher's offered help and took the detention slip instead.

He also rejected the ride to school that Rose had offered him through Royce. The absolute last thing Connor wanted was to ride alone with his adoptive brother. They lived in two different worlds and when they're worlds clashed, it wasn't very pretty or fun. So, he rode his bike per usual. Before he pulled into the school he saw the passing BMV that belonged to none other than Nathan. It meant Blair Yost was surely already there. He dreaded heading inside the building, but he did after locking up his bike.

The hallway to the classroom was eerily silent. It was for Connor at least. Usually, he welcomed the quiet, but today, it felt off. It could have simply been his eccentric affinity for anything mysteriously supernatural, but when he stepped in front of Susie's locker, he paused. Susie Dagenhart had been an absolute sweetheart and Connor's regret was trying to get to know her, one of the few people who acknowledged him, more. Unlike so many others, he had remembered to bring a flower and taped into her locker.

A soft sigh passed through his lips as he stared hard at the locker, trying to remember her face perfectly. But just like that of the memories of his parents, he was already starting to forget. It was both saddening and -- a soft whimper caught him off guard and he immediately swiveled his head in the direction of the voice. Someone was crying? It was faint, he barely heard it, but it was coming from the girl's restroom. There was no way he was going in there, so he held onto his backpack straps and made a beeline to the classroom.

"Hey," Connor quietly greeted Baby upon entering the room. His eyes only wondered to Blair once. He was only minimally surprised she hadn't found a way out of this punishment. The cold atmosphere had never been more obvious to him. His sense told him it would be best to stay clear of the blonde. "Did I miss anything?"




Poppins















SOPHIE BLACK
the outcast


interactions ; mentions:
Baby | Blair @neptune
Jungwoo @CrystalTears



Bzzt!

Opening her hands, Sophie looked at her vibrating phone and the text message she received from none other than Baby. More than likely, he was asking whether she'd be coming to detention or not. She didn't want to. God, she really didn't wnat to. Why on earth would she want to spend her first weekend back in school sitting at a desk doing homework and writing papers while being stuck in the same room as Blair Yost. She already had to see her every weekday, why amp it up to the weekend, her only days of solace and freedom. Why should she have to spend it stuck with her torturer just because of her?

Sophie seriously considered not going, the simple thought of being in that room was suffocating. But her father had expressed great disappointment at the very prospect that he had been called for her ill-behavior in the first place. She absolutely hated knowing that she made him disappointed, it broke her heart. And it would have been cruel to leave Baby there to sit in the same room as Blair without her when she had been the reason they all had gotten caught in the first place. Perhaps if she hadn't completely disrupted the class by yelling at the wicked tall blonde girl, their attention wouldn't all be called that day.

Therefore she came, but she had yet to go inside. Sophie stood outside the back parking lot, staring at her recent text message but not opening it up. The very last thing she wanted to do was head inside. And she couldn't very well do it if Blair and Nathan were together. God, did she hate those two. They had to be the most obnoxious people on the planet Earth. And to think they both had been underneath her thumb once upon a time ago. It was funny how fast things could change.

Nathan's vehicle passed by and so did Connor Hamilton not long after. Once she was sure the coast was clear, she brushed back her hair and marched to the front doors, but the moment she was standing in front of them, she turned back around. Perhaps, she didn't feel that guilty after all. She would sit at Sunset diner and wait a couple of hours before going home. Her father wouldn't be back until Monday anyway. Work required him to travel.

No, she would procrastinate until the last minute and then head inside. Being late was fashionable, or so she heard. Sophie shoved her phone into her jean pocket and smiled softly when her blue eyes caught sight of someone familiar. "Jungwoo!" She called his name and didn't wait for him to reach her. If she did, know[ing him, he would have started in the other direction opposite of her. "You have detention too, don't you? We can go in together."

They weren't friends per se, even if Sophie wanted them to be. She wasn't so used to having one friend when she had once used to be surrounded by so many people. Plus, the boy reminded her of herself in a roundabout way.

 
"You wish to be with me? Good luck, you have to be somehow better than my own solitude, and it's lovely."
Song Jungwoo
The Loner

Jungwoo had no real intention of going to detention on a Saturday. Whatever he did, which he had completely forgotten because the teachers had a knack for yelling at him instead of doing their actual jobs, he didn’t happen to care so he didn’t regret it either.

“Haru, food,” he told his beige Scottish fold kitty as he gently stroked his hand over her back as she approached her bowl of far too expensive wet food.

Cats were so different from people. They were quiet and knew how to mind their own business, they weren’t clingy nor were there any strings attached when they talked or offered something. On top of that, they stayed loyal as long as they got food. How simple life would be if humans worked the same way, but even a dog could bite the hand that feeds it, he supposed.

“Haru, it would be better if I didn’t have to go, we could stay all day inside,” Jungwoo said longingly to his cat that was still busy eating. “I’ll come home soon, I’ll just have to show my face and leave. Hopefully, the annoying one isn’t there,” he shuddered at the thought as he reluctantly left his cat to enjoy her meal while dragging himself out the door.

“The annoying one” was a title he gave to one girl that had persistently started to talk and approach him. She was the sole reason Jungwoo crashed his bike into a tree the other day. The idiot had run in front of him and forced the blonde to steer his bike away to not run her over, which he was beginning to regret, as it slammed itself right up against the trunk of a tree. His bike needed to go for repairs, which he didn’t mind paying for, though the girl had refused to let him go until she had put one of her bandaids over a small cut his face had suffered. It was on his cheek and it held some imagery of a blue creature that reminded him a bit of a cat. He had somewhat wanted to take it off, but he also forgot it was there, so he left his apartment with it.

Mornings, and Saturday mornings no less, were the most sufferable time of the week. No one went out this early on a weekend which meant the streets were empty. In some sense, they seemed like ghosts of what they were to become later in the day. Hopefully, he would be long gone before the people started to litter the streets. Especially since, today, he didn’t have his bike and couldn’t avoid human interaction.

The walk to the dreadful social gathering place which mostly acted as a prison under the guise of “education” which truly wasn’t something beyond having to listen to adults talk about something you did not care for and would have little to no use of in the future, was far too short. Each step closer felt worse than the last and the moment the school building came into sight, he shuddered. The only saving grace was that there were few people today, but maybe he would have liked a crowd where he could blend in rather than the other option.

“Jungwoo!”

“Not again,” he sighed underneath his breath as he recognized the voice despite never bothering to remember her name. Jungwoo thought about booking it as fast as he could in the opposite direction if he was lucky, then maybe she would think she was mistaken or just let it go, but The Great Annoying one was much too fast and had appeared in front of him in only the span of seconds. He could always try to run or walk away, but knowing her, she wouldn’t be too far behind.

Why, out of all the people who knew to just ignore his entire existence, did this one girl not get the hint?

“I’m not going,” Jungwoo replied. “It’s bothersome,” now he had shown up with the thought of at least showing his face and then ditch as soon as possible, but it wasn’t worth it if The Annoying One would be there at detention as well. “Go in alone,” and without giving her much of a chance to object Jungwoo decided it was the best opportunity he would get to walk away without getting stopped.


@MaryGold




"We live in a black and white world, and it is our job to make it colorful. The real question is, what color do you want to paint with?"
Ezra
The Freak

It was early morning when Ezra was making his best attempt at sneaking out of the orphanage, but he should know better than attempting to stealth his way past “sleeping” children and the kind women who he had tried to do this too one too many times.

“Ezra!” His cover was blown before he even made it past the first room. How in the world did kids, who sounded like they were sleeping so deeply, wake up so quickly?!

“M-Morning!” He smiled somewhat nervously but it was a genuine one either way. Ezra was always happy to be with the kids. Whether it was playing, eating or helping them along with basic reading and writing, it was always fun. “You guys should go back to bed! It’s Saturday and it’s--”

“It’s early,” uh oh. There were some things that were good in the morning. Morning tea, a good breakfast, some snuggles, play time, sunrise, dawn, the neighborhood cat that always came around begging for food and for attention, but that voice and tone, was not one of them.

“Morning Mrs. Rosevelt,” the children who had awoken from their slumber greeted her in unison. It may be weird for young children to greet someone so formally, but the orphanage made it perfectly clear that none of the workers were their parents and wouldn’t be any replacement for them either. One day, hopefully, they’d find new homes after all.

“You should go back to bed, you can sleep in on a Saturday,” the old woman sweetly smiled as she adjusted her long grey hair that was neatly braided back.

Ezra started to move towards his own bedroom, but Mrs. Rosevelt cleared her throat and it told everything he needed to know that he wasn’t going up to the second floor to make another attempt at “sleeping” or climbing out the window.

“Ezra, you didn’t eat breakfast yet, right? Come to the kitchen and I’ll make something for you,” Mrs. Rosevelt was still smiling, but there was a hint of something in her voice that gave away the terrifying look that was hiding beneath.

“No, I did eat. . .” Ezra stopped as he met her eyes and just smiled. “Breakfast sounds good!” He quickly replied so he wouldn’t dig himself into an even deeper grave than he had already done.

The trip to the kitchen was quiet and quick, and while Mrs. Rosevelt did go over to the kitchen counter to go and cook something for Ezra, it didn’t make him feel better when the old woman grabbed a knife. He sat down by the table and toyed with the glass that was sitting there empty while watching her back.

“Where are you going this early Saturday morning?” She cut straight to the case. He may, or may not, have “forgotten” to tell her about how he ended up in detention after painting on one of the school building’s walls. Granted, the art teacher liked it, but apparently, it wasn’t allowed. All he did was paint on top of the graffiti that was already there! It was an improvement from the crude drawing that was there first! He may be the one with a weak medical heart, but he didn’t want to break the news since he technically also did graffiti.

“Um. . . there’s a moooorning class!” Ezra lied. “So. . . I’m going to go do that. . . the morning class!”

“On a Saturday?”

“There’s no classes on a Saturday?” Ezra asked which instantly gave him away and gave him a disapproving look from Mrs. Rosevelt over her shoulder as she finished his sandwich and placed it on the table.

“Ezra. . . be honest, why are you trying to sneak out this early on a Saturday?”

“Um. . .” This was why Ezra had to give props to people who were dishonest. It didn’t just give him terrible guilt thinking about lying to people he cared about, but it was also difficult to think of a believable and good lie on the fly like this. Thinking ahead, Ezra decided to grab the BLT sandwich and put it in his mouth before rising from his seat. This was the only way he could win, fleeing the scene. “I might have gotten detention-- Love you, Mrs. Rosevelt!” The brunette smiled innocently as he leaned over to give her a hug and then ran out of the kitchen.

“Ezra--! Stop running! It’s bad for your heart! And your medicine--!”

“It’s okay! I’ll call you when they let us out!” Ezra called out before he bolted out the door and down the street.

She worried too much, both for his health and for school. It wouldn’t affect his grades, hopefully, and Ezra would probably never get detention again! He liked to believe that he was a good kid, and when he got home today, he would explain everything to her so she didn’t worry! That was Ezra’s plan from the very beginning! Just not the. . . whole detention confession.

Thankfully the school wasn’t too far away, and with it being Saturday, Ezra got there even earlier than expected. He spotted Jungwoo and Sophie outside, and while he didn’t really talk to either, he was polite enough to greet both of them

“Morning!” It didn’t feel appropriate to add “good” as well. “Detention is about to start, don’t be late!” Ezra meant it as a piece of friendly advice rather than wanting to hurry them along. Who knew what would happen if they were late and got caught? Though Jungwoo was always late and it was a bigger miracle he showed up, not to mention, he wasn’t alone for once.

Wasting no time and taking his own advice, Ezra continued to race his way inside. Good thing there was no one else, he would probably have run into a few people if it was as crowded as it would be on a normal day.

Ezra had half expected to be the first one in the classroom, but Blair, Baby, and Connor were already present. How did Blair end up here? Even he knew that the girl had some string she could pull to get out of trouble, but maybe she had pulled her last one.

“Morning!” He greeted them all just as cheerfully. He did like his life though, so he decided to stay somewhat clear of Blair.

His face visibly lit up as he walked over to Connor and Baby. He didn’t waste much time, being as friendly as he was, and flung one arm around Connor’s shoulders while smiling goofily to his two friends.

“Now, what did the two of you do to end up here? I did some art on the wall and got caught,” he reported to the other two. “But you should have seen her face! She looked so mad like she was about to explode mad! Her brows furrowed so hard I thought her entire face was about to turn into one wrinkly mess, and while I’m creative, I don’t think I could have fixed that!”


@MaryGold @neptune
 




"If he won't get a lift let him walk." Ken put on his sunglasses and looked up to his mother, who was trying to coax her adopted son into the car. He wasn't happy about going to a Saturday detention, and his adoptive brother was just making him late. The quicker he got there, the earlier he could leave, and the faster he could get to practice. "Look, I'm going. If he's going to be a little bitch I'm not taking him." His mother shook her head and scolded him before Ken took off towards the school.

All this work, just because he got into a fight. Well. It wasn't quite a fight; Nathan, Ken and the rest of the baseball team had jokingly started to haze the newbies, things had gotten out of hand and Ken might have pushed coach a bit too aggressively. It hadn't been the first time, but usually the coach let Ken off with those sorts of things. He was probably trying to implement a stricter hold for the new school year. Ken didn't think it'd last long.

After a quiet ride, and a stop at a juice place, Ken parked his car up much later than anticipated. The green detox was totally worth it though. Ken walked through the school's rows of lockers, not moving his eyes from his phone as he walked past Susie's locker. Ken barely knew her, and whilst he helped a lot with organizing her memorial thing, he didn't know enough to even mourn.

Almost walking past the right classroom, Ken finally entered, quite a bit late. He bumped open the door with his hip, and looked around for a place to sit. It was an unusual group. Ken frowned as he looked around to see his brother, then some new faces, and the usual suspects. Taking a sip of his juice, Ken knocked the door shut and took a spot next to Blair. Whilst she wasn't exaclty a friend, she was Nathan's girlfriend. They managed to tolerate enough to sit next to each other. "What's your excuse this time?" He asked Blair with a half amused smile before looking over his shoulder to the other table. He offered a smile to the new kid and Ezra, before looking over at his brother. This was going to be a miserable morning, but at least he knew his brother was having as much fun as he was.

motherfuckin' starboy