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Post by Elsie Beren on Jul 7, 2015 0:59:06 GMT -5
Bravery, Elsie had discovered, only lasted while other people were in trouble. Or until there wasn't anything left to do. She had done all that she could to help the other students, the teachers. Not the dead one of course. Just the thought of the unmoving body of Professor Reid in the hall sent another stream of tears down her stained cheeks. How could that happen? What was wrong with this school, with these people? Why hadn't the men who had done it been arrested yet? The pages of the book she had been trying to sink into were slowly warping through the influence of her tears. She just wanted to be able to tap her heels together, like Dorothy, and just be back home with her sisters and her parents and the safety of the farm. Elsie would rather wrangle a hundred dragons than have to spend a single minute under the gaze of those murderous men.
The book dropped to the floor, flicking itself shut as Elsie wrapped her arms around her legs, and buried her face in her knees. "There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home."
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Mary Fulton
Aqua Student - Year 6
I just want everybody to get along
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Post by Mary Fulton on Jul 7, 2015 15:13:20 GMT -5
Just keep moving. Just keep walking. Just keep breathing.
Every moment, now ... every moment was an effort. Nothing seemed to come naturally. The world she had known was completely falling apart. Even Mr. Flynn, whom she admired, who was kind to her - even he was suspect in Mary's eyes. How many of these adults who surrounded her every day were part of that secret, violent world? How many of the students? Maureen and Sam- no, Aedan ... and who else? The two Professors Antonucchi ... every minute spent in their classrooms was torment.
Mary couldn't help it. She'd lived with an abusive man her entire life. She understood the fear, the constant tension and wariness. She looked for the changing gaze.
It was in the eyes. It was always in the eyes. She could barely take any notes or focus on her magic because she was so afraid to look away from those Antonucchi eyes. What if she glanced away, and they shifted? She wouldn't know, she wouldn't be prepared to run. She had to watch the eyes at all times.
Mary slunk along the corridor, breathing a sigh of relief at the end of the day's classes. Another day down ... maybe the next one would be easier. Ah, the eternal hope.
And then she turned a corner and ... familiar hair, a familiar voice crying in fear. Elsie. Her Emma Woodhouse. Things must really be bad if Emma Woodhouse was weeping in a school hallway.
"Elsie?" Mary said, announcing her timid approach. "Um ... it's me. Mary." And then she was sitting down next to her friend, and she didn't really know what else to do, so she simply reached out to wrap Elsie up in a hug. Mary rested her forehead against Elsie's temple, squeezed her eyes shut, and tried her hardest to pretend that none of this horrible situation was real.
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Post by Elsie Beren on Jul 7, 2015 20:37:58 GMT -5
Elsie felt a pair of warm arms wrap around her, but she couldn't stop the tears from flowing. Everything had gone from beautiful and new to a horrific nightmare so quickly, she could barely resolve the school before the attack with the school afterwards. Every shadow seemed to hide the Headmaster's face, warped with the darkness that she had seen coming from inside him. As he ordered someone murdered, in front of all of them, after torturing someone that he even admitted had done nothing wrong, except be born to the wrong family.
Finally released the death grip that she had on her knees, Elsie unclenched her fist. Hidden inside was the rock that Mary had shown her at the lake, still shiny and smooth like it had been only a few days ago now. "Everything's so different, Mary. How did things get so bad so fast? Is this how America works? Does this happen every year? What have I got myself into?!" She knew that she was hysterical, but she couldn't help it. She'd walked into another world entirely, and Mary was the only one that she could truly believe wasn't involved at all. She wouldn't be, couldn't be. Mary wouldn't deliver herself to another man that could do such things to her, could she?
"How are we supposed to learn like this? How can we even survive?"
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Mary Fulton
Aqua Student - Year 6
I just want everybody to get along
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Post by Mary Fulton on Jul 8, 2015 23:27:45 GMT -5
Mary couldn't help it; her eyes started to well up with tears. She couldn't cope with the fact that her friend was sitting here in the hallway, wondering if this was how things worked in America. What was she supposed to say? How could she make this at all better? She was completely powerless, just like all the other students ... perhaps even more powerless because all she could manage to do was cower in the face of whatever it was that had suddenly come to light in her school.
"No," she finally replied, still hanging on tightly, wishing she could provide some form of comfort. "No, it doesn't. This is ... I don't know. I don't even understand it. I didn't know that these things were happening ... here. Where we're supposed to be safe and ... and ... I don't know. I'm sorry."
Well, she was just completely useless, wasn't she? Scared and confused and wishing she could run away, wishing that home weren't worse than this.
"I think," Mary ventured shyly, "if anyone can handle it ... it's you. I mean, you're brave, remember? And special, and ... and ... "
A terrible thought occurred to her then. What if Elsie went back home? What if Mary lost her friend?
"I don't know," she whispered. "I don't understand any of this. I wish I could explain it."
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Post by Elsie Beren on Jul 9, 2015 0:26:24 GMT -5
It was as if all it took for Elsie to pull herself together again was for Mary to believe that she could. She was strong, and clever and brave and she wouldn't let some tyrannical murderer invade her head like this. Elsie swallowed, hard, and shook her head in a pointless show of defiance to her fear, before wrapping her arms around Mary and holding her friend close to her. "I'm so sorry Mary, there's just so much... It'll be okay. Everything will be okay, I promise."
Elsie wished that Mary hadn't found her, not because she didn't like being with her friend, but because she didn't want to be weak in front of her. In front of anyone, really, but she sort of knew that Mary admired her strength. She wanted to be this shining example of rebelliousness to her, when all she'd managed to do was break down and cry, like everyone else had. There was a part of Elsie that felt like she had failed Mary, that she had let her down by letting herself be overwhelmed. "Injustice always triumphs over cruelty, yeah? Everything will be okay, in the end. We just have to ride it out until then."
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Mary Fulton
Aqua Student - Year 6
I just want everybody to get along
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Post by Mary Fulton on Jul 9, 2015 2:49:16 GMT -5
Oh! Had she done it ... somehow? Provided comfort to her friend? Elsie seemed to have recovered somewhat. It must have just been the hug. Hugs were magical that way, or so people said. Mary didn't actually hug very often, and it was nice to feel that her attempt at providing comfort had succeeded.
If only she could provide comfort to herself, but it was nice the way Elsie hugged her back. Warm and cozy and accepting. Mary was still crying, but that didn't seem to matter as much now that Elsie felt better.
And then ... hopeful words about justice ... and Mary wanted so badly to believe them, but ...
"Does it really, though?" she found herself muttering against Elsie's shoulder. "Do you really think so?" She sniffled, unable to look her friend in the face. "My mother ... she was supposed to come here, but she didn't. She was too scared. There was too much that needed to be done at home. And her parents didn't understand, no one did ... she burned her letter. And she wanted to burn mine, but I said, 'no, I'm going to go to school, and it's going to be marvelous!' But now ... and I can't go home because even now ... even with ... "
Mary swallowed hard, feeling sick to her stomach.
"It's better here. Still better."
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Post by Elsie Beren on Jul 9, 2015 21:26:08 GMT -5
All of Elsie's fears and worries evaporated in the face of Mary's struggles. She liked to ignore the fact that when it came down to it, she would never have to worry about money like other people would, and that she'd had such an easy childhood. Mary had lived the opposite, and it broke her heart to hear of her friend's hardships, even the small parts of it. She squeezed Mary more tightly to her, and wished that she could make all of that go away. "I do. I do really think so." Was that cruel? Was it mean to still believe that justice would prevail, even in the face of Mary's mother's life? She hoped not. "I'm so, so glad you didn't burn it Mary. And... and if things get real bad... you don't have to go home you know. You could come with me instead? I don't think my dad would even notice another daughter, even if she had a funny accent."
Elsie wanted so badly for Mary to consider it, to know that she didn't have to live in an abusive household. "It's just an idea. No pressure, or anything." She felt her friend swallow, and moved back to take a piece of clean cloth to both of their wet cheeks. How bad did things have to be at home for Mary if a school run by a known murderer, and torturer of students was better than going back?
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Mary Fulton
Aqua Student - Year 6
I just want everybody to get along
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Post by Mary Fulton on Jul 11, 2015 22:07:17 GMT -5
Had she ... had she just gone briefly insane? Was she just hearing comforting things because she wanted to? Or had Elsie really just offered ...
Australia. It was all the way across the globe, and everything about it seemed exotic and mystical and almost unreal except for the fact that Elsie had come from Australia, and so it couldn't possibly be foreign in any bad sort of way ...
No one had ever liked Mary enough to extend such an invitation! How could they? She was so shy and dull and boring. But now there was this fascinating new person in her life, a person who had seen things and was brave enough to fight against injustice and then travel all the way across the world and, for some unknown reason, she saw Mary as a friend. Maybe even as a best friend! Did she have a best friend now? Was that what it meant, to be invited all the way to Australia to live on a great big farm full of magical creatures, where pixies rearranged your bedroom?
"Really?" she exclaimed, lifting her head up, unable to keep the smile from overtaking her lips. "You would take me to Australia with you? All the way ... oh, Elsie, you are just ... the best person I've ever met. Really. You're like a heroine who walked right off the pages of a book. I didn't know such people actually existed. I just ... well, thank you. Thank you."
And then Elsie was wiping the tears from her face, and Mary felt so warm and accepted. She scooted even closer to her friend so that their shoulders pressed together and they could maybe briefly forget the horrors of the world around them.
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Post by Elsie Beren on Jul 12, 2015 22:42:53 GMT -5
"I'm not a heroine," she laughed. "I just come from money, so I can be a little more out there and do things like this. I mean, I would have tried to if we didn't have as much but... Australia is a really long way away." Elsie wished that Mary's happy face could block out everything that had happened, but she could still feel it creeping in at the edges. Like the black atmosphere could actually press down on them, but she wasn't going to do anything that would let it show to Mary. Mary had already had far too much sadness for one person, she deserved to have her own little bubble of happiness.
Could she actually be a... a hero for Mary? Was that something she was capable of? She'd never exactly tried to do any of her crazy things for other people, the exception being the coup she'd managed for her little sister. Even that had been for her own entertainment, after they'd got revenge for it. She just tried to be herself, and have fun, and stand up to morons when they got serious. Elsie had never even encountered morons of this magnitude though, ones with power that went beyond being born male, or with a bit of money, or tough friends. These guys controlled everything, and she and Mary were stuck in the middle of it all. As was everyone else.
She would do her best to be Mary's hero. How it went was anyone's guess.
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Mary Fulton
Aqua Student - Year 6
I just want everybody to get along
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Post by Mary Fulton on Jul 13, 2015 1:22:41 GMT -5
Mary shook her head. "No ... money can't buy bravery or kindness. Money didn't make you a heroine."
Other than that, she really didn't know what to say. She just knew that she liked sitting here, being close to another person, being scared together instead of scared by herself. Maybe she would write a novel about Elsie, and then her friend could never say that she wasn't a heroine from a book.
Oooh, maybe she would make Elsie a young gentlewoman back in slavery times, and book-Elsie would turn her family's wine cellar into a stop on the Underground Railroad! And she would face arrest but refuse to give away what she knew ... and then maybe she would fall desperately in love with an escaped slave ... and she would meet him up North, and ...
Wait ... why did a strange little knot of jealousy form in her stomach at that idea?
She laid her head down on Elsie's shoulder and stared at a spot on the wall across the corridor. What an odd, unfamiliar ... hmm.
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Post by Elsie Beren on Jul 13, 2015 2:04:55 GMT -5
Money didn't make you a heroine.
Elsie didn't think that she'd ever heard such a profound statement before, nor one that had made her question quite so much. She'd always equated arrogance with money, and the run-of-the-mill wealthy assholes that she was so familiar with. That she might have bravery beyond that, that was special and unique to her had never even occurred to her. Her parents, and her sisters too were farmers to the bone, concerned with how things were raised and not inherent features. Rich people acted a certain way because they were rich, people were like they were because they had been treated a certain way. But Mary was here, and she had been treated poorly her whole life and yet she was still so sweet, so impossibly lovely.
Was it possible that she was right, and that Elsie might have a little bit of the storybook strength that Mary thought she had? Elsie actually thought that she might, just maybe have something there, and the thought made her unfathomably happy. Without thinking, Elsie turned and gave Mary a great big kiss on the cheek, grinning manically. "Come on!" She declared, jumping up and grabbing Mary's hands. "You didn't show me the roof on your tour, 'cause that's weird and not really usually part of a tour. So I'm going to give you a tour of your own roof!"
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Mary Fulton
Aqua Student - Year 6
I just want everybody to get along
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Post by Mary Fulton on Jul 14, 2015 0:29:23 GMT -5
Mary was completely blown away by the kiss Elsie pressed against her cheek, and she could feel her face burning as a goofy grin overtook her lips. Had she ... did that ... was that typical best-friend behavior? What was this odd little flutter in her stomach, right where the jealousy had been mere moments before? It was confusing, but it was nice, and she didn't want it to go away, so she let Elsie pull her to her feet.
"The roof?" she exclaimed, eyes widening. "But won't we ... "
Won't we get in trouble?
There are lots of things people just don't do, for no real reason. And you always feel silly afterwards.
Mary squeezed Elsie's hands before slinging her bag over her shoulder and nodding fervently. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you found out how to get on the roof. Lead the way!"
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Post by Elsie Beren on Jul 14, 2015 21:45:00 GMT -5
"Found out how to get on the roof... yeah, you could call it that." Truth was, Elsie hadn't the foggiest clue how to actually get on the roof, but she was quite convinced that she'd manage to do it. This bizarre sense of self confidence that had settled on her would doubtless evaporate well before she wanted it to, but she would use it while she still had. It took two doors and half a dozen windows before Elsie finally found a window that would actually let them get out on the roof.
Without any hesitation, she ducked through the window and skipped out onto the roof. "Come on Mary, it's beautiful out here." It occurred to her that between dragging Mary to her feet and getting through that window, she hadn't actually let go of Mary's hands. That was slightly strange, but she decided not to think any more of it. "The roof is surprisingly warm, actually. This would be an awesome place to sunbathe, if I didn't already spend so much time outside."
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Mary Fulton
Aqua Student - Year 6
I just want everybody to get along
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Post by Mary Fulton on Jul 15, 2015 0:59:14 GMT -5
Oh, so this was a spur-of-the-moment roof search? That was almost better somehow ... as though they were going on an adventure together. Elsie hadn't already been to the roof. She wanted to discover it with Mary. And her hands were warm and comforting and so affectionate, so unlike everything Mary had known before.
Her mother's hands had never been particularly soft, and they had always been full of Mary's younger siblings. Her father's hands, of course, had been full of terror and tears. Grubby little children had grabbed at her skirt and pulled at her hair. But Elsie's hands ... they were completely different.
Mary felt so free and alive and full of excitement that she didn't even bother holding her skirt down as she climbed out the window. So what if she showed her undergarments to an empty classroom? There was nobody there to call her unladylike!
"Oh!" she breathed, eyes widening as she looked around her, taking in the gorgeous view. The lake sparkled, and the forest was dark, and she could almost see the light wavering in the air where protective charms kept muggles from seeing the truth of the school. "Wow! It's so ... empty and quiet, but warm and ... and alive and ... wait a minute ... "
What was that by her feet? A little bit of paper ... rolled up and browned and ... "Oh, my goodness, I think someone did drugs up here!"
She was scandalized, but then found herself overcome with laughter. It was as though they'd left all the unpleasantness down below, and now it was just Mary and her best friend. "This would be a great place to write ... all warm in the sun. And the big things down below that don't look big ... a different perspective, I suppose."
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Post by Elsie Beren on Jul 16, 2015 2:31:01 GMT -5
Elsie decided that she liked the wide expanse that the roof showed them, a full three-hundred-sixty degree view of the school and its grounds. Mary managed to find something illicit immediately, and Elsie decided not to remark that she had a keen eye. Her friend seemed quite shocked by it being there, but Elsie had expected something of the sort. What else would you find atop a school roof? "People have probably done even less honourable things up here Mary. Best not to think about it if you can."
It hadn't even occurred to Elsie that Mary could write up here, but if anywhere would turn out be conductive to writing it would be up here. "As long as you didn't lose your pencil. It would be quite a long way to get it back." Not to mention what would happen if it was windy, pages would be halfway across the school in every direction. It would be a nightmare to try and retrieve them.
She positioned herself right on the peak of the roof, able to look in any direction that she pleased without much effort at all. It would grow uncomfortable fairly quickly, but for the moment it was nice. "It's not even the same sky as home Mary. No one ever told me that even the sky was different here."
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