Movie night! [OPEN]

[turbedon]

WHO: Everyone!
WHAT: As promised over the network, Dick's organised a movie night for students (and faculty) in one of the classrooms.
WHEN: 1st November, evening
WHERE: School classroom generously volunteered by one of the staff
WARNINGS: Teens? Snacks? Movies? Things should be tame but you never know!

With help, Dick's managed to get all the furniture in the classroom stacked up against one wall, the cleared floorspace now covered in beanbags from the library, pillows, blankets, even the odd mattress here and there. Some tables have been lined up against another wall to fill with snacks and drinks brought by everyone, ranging from leftover sweets gathered the night before to fresh hot pizza, steaming away in the open cartons. Volunteering chaperones Zian, Booker and Feliks might have their hands full with all these kids, but at least the food's good!

Before the movie watching starts, the students gather round with the DVDs and Blu-rays they've brought, voting on which ones they want to see and which ones can be sadly put away for another night. Once that's done, straws are drawn to pick viewing order, and it's set.

The lights dim, let the movie watching begin!

((OOC: This is an open mingle log for all players to just come in and have fun.))

Comments

[eileaneathompson]

The clone nodded, and Eli felt confidant to take control back. "Yeah," she said, really wishing she knew what had been done or said while it was on auto. "Well, beginning of the term, anyway," she said. It still felt a bit odd, talking to a boy.

[niepokonany]

Since the offer of pierogi seemed to have been turned down, Feliks reached over and picked up the plate, stretching until he nearly fell off the couch to get there, then sort of falling back into place. Grace and dignity did not appear to be of any particular concern to him.

"Right, right. So? Like, what do you think? It's pretty awesome, right?"

[eileaneathompson]

And... she was lost. "The school... or the cookie?" the clone asked, jumping in when her control wavered. She forced herself back into control. She hadn't lost focus enough to loose awareness of the clone, like when she had done the research, but all the same, she felt she should be the one calling the shots, given how important this could be.

[niepokonany]

"Um, school? Duh."

He'd thought it had been pretty obvious. He blinked a little... he'd had trouble communicating in English sometimes in middle school and high school, but that was ages ago, right? Maybe she was just sort of a space cadet. Not like he could judge if she was, right?

[eileaneathompson]

In her room, she flinched back as if struck. Great. She was talking to a boy and he thought she was an idiot. What made her think that this could have been her place? Maybe this whole school was a bad idea. She didn't fit here. Maybe she'd never fit anywhere again.

She had the clone set down the cookie. "Thank you for inviting me to sit with you," she said, making the clone keep her voice as even as possible, trying to hide the heartache. This had been a mistake.

She made the clone stand, and sent her heading towards the door. Slow enough to be stopped, but she didn't think she would be.

[niepokonany]

...And now she was just going to leave? That didn't seem right to him. Was something wrong?

Honestly, it had been a long time since he felt quite so lost in dealing with a stranger. If there hadn't been friends in the room with him, he might have panicked a little at the too-familiar, old sensation of not understanding someone, not even a little.

"Um. Wait, how come you're going? The movie just started a couple of minutes ago!"

More than anything, he was confused, and that was upsetting, and that made it feel strange to just let her walk off.

[eileaneathompson]

Eli's full focus jerked back to the clone and she took control before it could respond. The problem was, she herself had no clue how to respond. The clone stood still as Eli paced in her room, not sure how to answer, what to say. The "It's clear I shouldn't be here" that burned the back of her throat would be a mistake. Finally she turned the clone, and did her best to keep the face from betraying the hurt and inner turmoil she was feeling.

"Your friends are here with you, you do not need me to distract you from that."

And that, to her mind, would be that; because the friends that someone already had would always be the first priority. At least... for her, they always would be, if she had any.

So, to her mind, he would remember that he didn't need her, and she could bring the clone back and curl into a corner and just... cry... for a while.

[niepokonany]

He didn't get it. He really didn't get it! Did he say something weird? Even he, with his somewhat underdeveloped sense for other people's feelings, could see that she was upset, but what had he done? He'd just been joking around!

Sometimes, he felt like he'd gotten a lot better at handling social situations. Then sometimes... sometimes things like this happened, and he felt like he was back at square one, lost and confused and somehow making everyone angry.

But his friends were here, weren't they? He wasn't alone, and he wasn't going to give in to his fear! Determined, trying to draw courage from the familiar things around him, he gave her a smile.

"Yeah, so what? C'mon, it's not like there's not plenty of room for you, too! And it's a really good movie!"

[eileaneathompson]

Eli hesitated, torn. She wanted to go back there, to believe that there was room for her; and not just on the sofa. She wanted to have a place... to belong... more than anything else in the world.

But did she really have a place? Was there really room for her? She clearly didn't fit. She clearly didn't understand him. Because he was a boy, or because of this place? She wasn't sure.

She felt like that little girl again on her first day in a new school, she felt like she had shown up in pants and had to choose... wear a skirt and have a place or stay in pants and sit with Andrea... Alone with her, unpopular. Alone.

Eli would put that skirt on again. Every time. Any time. The choice was obvious to her now, and it had been then. Except in this case she had no clue which option was the skirt. Though the thought that the guy might be the skirt amused her enough to take the edge off her fear, to break the paralysis.

"Al... alright..." The clone said, and Eli hated that the clone was showing any of her nerves at all. "But no more laughing at me," she had the clone say, shocked at her own temerity. How could she expect to fit in anywhere if she set down conditions.

In her room she was banging her head softly into the wall, calling herself all sorts of names. Idiot was the primary one. And he hadn't even laughed. Not really. He had only implied that she was an idiot worth his scorn, he hadn't actually said it.

Why did she have to have a power like cloning herself? Why couldn't she have something better, like a power to undo the last thing she had just said, or a power to just... have a place? To just have friends again?

[niepokonany]

No more laughing at her?

Feliks wasn't quite sure what to do with that. A little mutual laughing-at seemed to be a part of all the friendships he'd really gotten to work. But had he even done that? He hadn't, right?

"Okay," he agreed, a little hesitant himself, trying to figure out what to do. "But like, I might sound like I'm laughing and not mean to, so like, tell me if I do and I'll try and cut it out?"

[eileaneathompson]

She hesitated, then had the clone nod a bit. "Alright," the clone said softly.

This was... weird. If she was upsetting him, why was he bothering with her? None of this made any sense. It took her 18 years, but Eileana Elizabeth Thompson came at last to an undeniable conclusion. Boys were weird.

[niepokonany]

"English totally isn't my first language," he said, which was very true, and also completely unrelated to his lack of social graces. It didn't hurt to play up the Eastern European part of his accent for believability when he used it as an excuse, right? "So like, sometimes I still don't get the culture! I wasn't trying to be mean or something, though."

[eileaneathompson]

"Oh," the clone said softly. Eli focused on it closely enough that there was no notable difference between them. "I didn't realize. I'm sorry." She wasn't sure she had anything to apologize for. It didn't hurt to say it though, right?

[niepokonany]

"Whatever, whatever!"

For all that he could be stubborn, even argumentative, when he felt pushed, Feliks was markedly easygoing as far as etiquette went. He shook his head, casually dismissive.

"It's no big deal or anything! I just thought you should know. Like, popcorn?"

[eileaneathompson]

Eli, in her room, blinked, startled. Then she had the clone accept some popcorn. "Thank you."

If he asked what she thought of the popcorn, she might just scream...

[niepokonany]

Feliks, meanwhile, settled comfortably into his spot on the couch, grabbing a handful of paluszki for himself.

"So? Have you like, watched this one before?"

[eileaneathompson]

.....How to admit she had no clue what they were even watching...?

"I...don't think so..." she finally said.

[niepokonany]

That didn't seem to bother him at all -- if anything, he perked up.

"Awesome! You're gonna love it, it's way funny."

You know, if he stopped talking long enough to actually watch it.

[eileaneathompson]

"Uh....huh." She had private reservations as to if she would actually wind up watching any of it. And how was it that no one had told them to shut up yet? Or joined the conversation?

[niepokonany]

Through some miracle, Feliks did seem to settle down a little bit, allowing her to focus on the movie.

That was, when he wasn't quoting along with it and giggling.

"'Has the fact that you're completely psycho managed to escape your attention?'" God, he loved this movie!

[eileaneathompson]

She glanced at him sideways. If he was one of her female friends, she would know how to handle it. But when a guy did it? When she was alone with a guy?

Yes, a room full of people, and she counts that as alone...

[niepokonany]

Feliks, meanwhile, hardly seemed to notice her in the room once his eyes were on the screen. He laughed loudly and unabashedly, making faces at the screen whenever someone he didn't like came on, snacking on whatever food was in arm's reach all the while.

[eileaneathompson]

(Just out of the hospital, on lots of meds. I apologize if my posts are odd.)

She just sat and watched, nervous and unsure.