Post by Talia Winchell on Jul 15, 2012 23:32:29 GMT -5
[/font][/i][/color]Stop there and let me correct it -- *
Even though it was mid-July, and even though the camp borders were supposed to protect said camp from unpleasant weather, clouds were rolling in and smatterings of rain had plagued many campers over the past few days. The skies had segued from beautiful light blue hues, complete with stunningly bright sunlight, to dull, grey monotony and puffy, unattractive whitish-grey clouds. The sun had slipped behind some of these clouds some time ago, not to be seen for awhile. Campers had grudgingly donned clothing such as long-sleeved shirts and sweatpants. Even the Aphrodite campers were going down like dominoes, selecting comfort over current style.
No, the weather wasn’t freezing. But it had been skyrocketing since June, and when it plummeted into slushy post-winter weather so quickly, it might as well have been another Arctic Blast. Tal herself had been slightly amused at all the campers and what they were doing to protect themselves from the weather. Aphrodite girls had selected crocheted one-shoulder sweaters over tops and sometimes sweatpants (Pink brand, of course). She herself being no Aphrodite child, Tal had slipped on a slightly low-cut long-sleeve that morning, along with a pull-on hoodie and dark wash jeans. The shade of black used for the lettering on the sweatshirt matched her black boots, which were cheap knockoff Uggs she had bought last winter during one of those rare shopping trips. Finally, it was such a relief to get out of her stupid ankle cast.
The tall, thin girl of newly eighteen didn’t know why she had decided to go outside that day. Maybe the air in the Hermes cabin was stifling, with all the unclaimed campers and the ever-present mess on the ground. Maybe the weather was getting better. Maybe she needed a place with more elbow room; maybe she needed a more solitary place. Sure, this place was in the center of the cabins, but not many people were coming out that day. She’d been sitting here, reading The Perks of Being a Wallflower, for the past ninety minutes, and only two people had passed. Those two people had not acknowledged her, and she had not acknowledged them. One was a random Hephaestus child that Tal didn’t know anything about besides the fact that her name was Loryn. The other was Bobbi Koester, her.. friend?… from the Poseidon cabin. Tal honestly didn’t know what Bobbi was to her anymore. A friend, an ex-friend, a crush. Why did everything have to be so complicated? Why had Bobbi done… what she did? What if Luke had seen? Screw just Luke, what if anyone had seen? She was so in trouble.
Though Tal was mad at Bobbi, for several reasons, she had to smile at her spirit. The girl was wearing a bikini top and swimming shorts while it was freezing, for the love of Aphrodite! As always, she was lugging her surfboard. Tal didn’t get why some people obsessed over surfing like it was their lives (perfect examples being Bobbi and Tal’s brother Bailey).
And then she remembered she wasn’t supposed to give a damn about Bobbi anymore, and she twisted back into a normal position, though she hadn’t realized she had been craning her neck like an insensitive rubbernecker until that moment. Cheeks burning and eyes stinging, she stared down at the page of her book. Unfortunately, she had just gotten to a depressing, I-don’t-want-to-grow-up poem that wasn’t helping her mood in the slightest.
...and his teacher gave him an A and a gold star and his mother hung it on the kitchen door and read it to his aunts… Tal absentmindedly fiddled with her hair, the way she did when she was nervous. The poem swirled in her mind. ...and the girl around the corner sent him a valentine signed with rows of X’s and he had to ask his father what the X’s meant… and his teacher gave him an A and asked him to write more clearly… and his father never tucked him in bed at night and his father got mad when he cried for him to do it. Tal scanned the rest of the page. ...and his mother never hung it on the kitchen door because he never showed her… and his mother and father never kissed or even talked… and the girl around the corner wore too much makeup that made him cough when he kissed her but he kissed her anyway because that was the thing to do…
The ending of this poem was the part that struck her the most. That’s why on the back of a brown paper bag / he tried another poem / and he called it “Absolutely Nothing” because that’s what it was really all about…
”And he gave himself an A and a slash on each damned wrist…” Tal murmured softly aloud, not realizing that she had done so until ten awkward seconds later. She combed her fingers through her long, unruly brown hair one more time and shut the book, her cheeks burning for the second time in, what, two or three minutes? Why couldn’t she keep her trap shut? Someone was bound to think she was crazy. At least there was nobody there… Nobody to see her stare wistfully as Bobbi strolled past, nobody to see her murmur that one line of that poem. Gods, she was a mess.
And then she realized someone was there. That someone was Seri Winchester… her boyfriend Luke’s sister. Honestly, the girl had always scared her a little. She and Tal were the same age, but Seri had been eighteen for awhile and Tal had just turned eighteen very recently. In addition, Seri was built strong and muscled and had acquired many tattoos. Her hair was jet-black and long. It always shined the way Tal wished hers would, but no. Her own was brown and dull and was either oily or puffy. Tal tended to feel nervous in Seri’s presence, and there was always some awkward tension when she was in a room with both Seri and Luke. But now there was no Luke. Just Seri, who had probably just heard her murmuring a poem about cutting. Add the fact that Seri had a tendency to know stuff about people, and another fact that involved Bobbi trying to make out with Tal… and the fact that Seri was Tal’s boyfriend’s sister… well, that made Tal nervous. It would make anyone nervous.
”Oh, hi, Seri,” she blurted awkwardly in the light, airy, hesitant, slightly girlier voice that had replaced her own in the past month or two.[/blockquote][/blockquote][/font]
-- * I want to live my life from a new perspective.
[/font][/i][/color]Ooc; this post failed. my next one will be better, i swear. x.x[/size]