loner [open]

[isaac daniel goldburg]

- - - - -
&& it hurts to be alone``

Zac sat in the farthest corner table of the cafeteria- as far away from anyone else as he could get. It was just another day in the life. He had kept his head down all day, moving from class to class without talking to or bumping into anyone. Zac actually considered it to be a good day. Nobody had shoved him to the ground, stolen something from him, or threatened him. The teacher had called on him in math class and he hadn't known the answer. It might not seem to a big deal to most people, but Zac had been truly embarassed. His face had flushed bright red and he looked out the window for the remainder of the class.
He ate his lunch in pure silence. He had brought a peanut butter sandwich from home. Zac had learned at the beginning of the year not to bring any money to school- it got you beaten up and mugged. His brown eyes scanned the crowded cafeteria. He felt almost safe in his little corner, almost.
A part of him wondered why he didn't just go up to one of tables where someone was sitting. 'Hi, I'm Isaac.'. How hard could that be? But Zac knew why he couldn't do it. People, especially people his age, were terrifying to him. He was dying to make some friends, but he knew that friends didn't fall out of the sky either. Teenagers don't sit next to the shy kid, talk to the shy kid, or even acknowledge the existence of the shy kid. And there was no doubt about it- Zac was the shy kid.
There was a cute boy sitting two tables down. Zac watched him curiously for a few minutes, until he turned around and glared at him. His eyes immediately dropped down to the table. From his backpack he took out his science book and set it on the table, so that he could pretend to read. Really, he was people watching. A gorgeous blonde girl was sitting toward the center of the cafeteria, surrounded by her friends. She was a senior, of course she wasn't going to notice the mute freshman in the corner. But Zac could still watch her talk to her friends, flick her hair over her shoulder. Finally, he looked down at the book, folding his arms on the table and resting his head on it's smooth, cool surface. He could hear the buzz of the people around him, but he didn't have to see them.
Maybe if he didn't see them, he could trick himself into thinking that they weren't there at all.

TAGGED: open!
WORDS:439!
NOTES: anyone can reply!

[lucy eloise black]

we'll take the world by storm,
it isn't that hard
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Lucy happily set her tray down and slid into a seat at the crowded table. Her friends all greeted her boisterously, slapping her high fives and giving her quick half hugs which Lucy returned with much vigor. She loved lunch time even if it did take place in a crowded and messy cafeteria it was the best time to hang out with friends.

The large group of friends fell into loud chatter, from the football team to the latest TV shows someone always had something to say. Lucy was quite engaged in the conversation until one of her friends mentioned homework. Oh damn. Lucy bit her lip, realizing that she had yet to look at her English homework for the night. Apparently the teacher was a cruel one and actually made her students turn in their work. Flicking her dark bangs out of her eyes in determination, she would do her reading before the class if it killed her, she was a professional at procrastination. She began to ask around the table for a freshman literature book seeking help from her friends. "Oh sure Luce, here you go. I just came from there."

The next few moments happened in slow motion. Lucy reached across the table to retrieve the heavy book from her friend but as her fingers were just about to clasp around the cover when it slipped from her hand and felt to the table. A can of soda just happened to be right in the way of the book, causing the open can to fly in the air and land right on the young girls lap. Soda sprayed everywhere and Lucy let out a shriek. Everyone was silent for a moment and Lucy looked down at her now ruined and wet clothing.

“God Lu I’m so sorry!" Her friend apologized profusely looking horrified. After a moment of shock, Lucy regained her optimistic nature. With a shrug of her shoulders she told her friends not to worry, they were just clothes after all. Lucy asked around for some napkins but her friends seemed to have none. Letting out a sigh Lucy excused herself from the table and looked to the table next to them. There was only one boy sitting at the table all alone and looking quite miserable. Lucy felt a pang of pity for him but did not think about it much for she now had soda soaking into her underwear. Flicking her hair over one shoulder she ran over to him.
“You don’t happen to have any napkins on you do you? Or a roll of paper towels? Those would suffice as well I suppose… Hell do you have an extra pair of jeans?”
NOTES:[/color] huzzza first thread as lucy ever!
OUTFIT[/color] !
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[isaac daniel goldburg]

- - - - -
&& it hurts to be alone``

Isaac was caught up in his own thoughts. In his mind he was deriving a plan to sneak out of school without being noticed and get home before everyone else. He didn't want to get his backpack stolen, again, as he walked home. It happened at least once a week. When he got home, he always heard the same things, "Why didn't you stick up for yourself?” "Why can't you be more like your brother?” "Grow a backbone already".
Zac heard a girl shriek and he immediately sat up. Everyone was staring a pretty, black haired girl sitting with her friends just one table over. A very pretty girl. Zac recognized her. She was always walking around the school with a smile on her face. She was one of those rare people who seem genuinely nice. He frowned, wondering what had happened. When she stood up, he saw what the problem was. Something had spilled all over her lap. Zac knew what that felt like. It was completely embarrassing. She didn't seem to be upset about it, handling much better than Zac would have. He would've run from the room before anyone had the chance to say anything.
And then she looked at him. His eyes only met hers for a fraction of a second before he quickly looked down at the table. He looked up, and she was standing right there, asking for napkins. Almost startled, he stared at her for a few seconds before nodding. Zac, mute as always, lifted his science book, pulling out the small stack of napkins underneath. He handed them to the girl wordlessly.
"No extra jeans. Sorry." His voice was so quiet it was almost inaudible. Zac knew that his face was probably bright red. He wasn't used to anyone talking to him, or even asking for anything from him. When people wanted something from Zac, they usually just took it.
He stared at the science book, his brown eyes fixed on the small text, completely still and hardly breathing. He wanted to be popular, but how could he expect that to happen when this was how he acted around people? Zac gulped, wanting the girl to go away and stay at the same time. He knew that the first outcome was most likely. Actually, the second outcome was nearly impossible. Nobody, nobody, wanted to hurt their popularity by sitting with the shy kid.

TAGGED: Lucy!
WORDS: 401!
NOTES: whoot!

[lucy eloise black]

we'll take the world by storm,
it isn't that hard
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Lucy had hardly noticed that most of the cafeteria had been staring at her, and even if she had she probably would not have cared. It took a great deal to ruffle Lucy’s feathers and a simple scene in the cafeteria was not about to faze her at all. High school was not as big and scary as she expected it to be, from some of the horror stories she had heard she was doing pretty well in the institution. After all, for Lucy Black being happy was all about a mindset, and mindset was something that she did not usually change.

Lucy looked down at the boy in front of her, trying to make eye contact with him and failing. He handed her a few napkins which she gratefully accepted offering him a large ear to ear grin in return. This boy reminded her of a skittish dear that might bolt any second. This was something which she was slightly intruded by. She just barely caught his hushed voice but was pleased she did. She answered his quiet voice with her own loud one. “I guess I will survive with out them.” she laughed lightly then indicated the napkins that she was now clutching in her hand, “Thank you so much.” She noticed the boy’s eyes dart back to his science book, and Lucy swallowed hard. Did this boy not want to be bothered? He seemed nice enough; she could sense his uncomfortable stiffness and decided not to be effected by it.

Plopping down in the seat next to him Lucy began to blot her wet jeans with the napkin, the first thing on her mind was the uncomfortable sticky feeling, honestly she had not even realized that she had just invited herself to sit at a stranger’s table without invitation. Not that she hadn’t ever done it before. She took a moment to look at the boy sitting beside her, he was attractive in a baby-face kind of way, and had dark hair to match her own. She had never seen him before, this boy was a completely new face to her. “Are you new here? I’ve never seen you around.” Lucy had never intended to stay and chat, she simply wanted to start cleaning herself up, but she did not want to sit in an awkward silence either.
Lucy moved her attention to the bottom of her shirt and started scrubbing at it furiously. The white fabric of her tee shirt was now brown and partially see- through, oh great. Shaking her dark curls she went back to scrubbing them.

NOTES:[/color] Zac is just too adorable!
OUTFIT[/color] !
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[taryn cora ray]

This was the hardest part of Taryn's first day of school- finding a place to sit in the lunchroom. She hadn't had anything to worry about in her classes. As long as there weren't any policies condoning a slap on the back for getting an answer to a question wrong, she was happy. And, lo and behold, no one was hit here! It was heaven in a box.

Of course, she had quite a bit to worry about in the cafeteria. While the teachers weren't allowed to spit on students, there was no rule (between the kids, at least) that said the New Kid couldn't be, say, thrown against a wall repeatedly or attacked in a bathroom stall. Both things had happened at her previous school, and while one might think it would make her strong and prepared, it instead made her feel weak and paranoid. She hated being like this. She despised not knowing who would bump into her and irritate the scars she had on her arms. She just wanted to survive, get good grades, and maybe graduate from this place with a nice little apartment and a steady job to help pay the rent. She wouldn't mind having to go to the soup kitchen every day if she could just survive this school.

Oh, for goodness sake, just pick a seat! She scolded herself. Now, she was certain she was making a big deal over nothing. She rolled her eyes at own stupidity and scanned the tables. There was a group of girls in pink, probably the populars who would take one look at her non-bleached hair and laugh her away. Some boys having an energized conversation... they could probably kill her. There were your standard Manson look-a-likes, burnouts, and guys looking at a Playboy magazine...

And then there was a table with about two people. Both Hispanic or maybe just tan, and they seemed to be having a fairly civilized conversation. This could be a good choice. She walked up to them, attempting to smile (it looked more like a grimace) as she sat down next to the boy. "Hello." She greeted. "M'name's Taryn." She intoduced, trying to be nice. She couldn't help wondering if she had any social skills at all.

[/blockquote]

[isaac daniel goldburg]

- - - - -
&& it hurts to be alone``

Zac was almost stunned when the girl actually sat next to him. Was she for real? Was she really going to ruin her popularity by sitting with him? He stared at her for a moment, almost wanting to reach out and touch her shoulder to make sure he wasn't hallucinating or dreaming it all. Nobody ever sat with Isaac Goldburg. The girl had to be completely out of her mind. He gulped, looking back down at his science book. She seemed really sweet, not crazy. But even so...
Zac was surprised when she asked if he was new. But of course she had never seen him around. He wasn't the kind of person to stick out. He was always the one to blend right into a crowd. Heck, he probably wouldn't even stick out in an empty room. He shook his head at her question, answering in his small voice, "Not new. I've been here forever."
His eyes trailed over to her as she continued to scrub away at her clothes with a napkin. Why wasn't she bothered that the whole cafeteria had stared at her? Why wasn't she at all embarrassed? Zac was rather bewildered by her. She was different, though not in the same way he was different. She was his polar opposite- completely confident, popular, and happy.
But the day's surprises weren't over yet. A girl plopped down on the other side of Isaac, introducing herself as Taryn. He stared at her for a second, in shock. Zac was frozen for a few moments before opening his mouth.
"I'm Isaac...I mean...just Zac..." He said it loud enough for both of the girls to hear, but immediately turned red. Had he really just introduced himself as Isaac? That had been dumb. Zac looked down at his book, shoulders hunched over and eyes avoiding both people now sitting with him. Two people. There were really two people sitting with him. Maybe it was some sort of practical joke someone was pulling. Maybe there was some kind of catch to this. Zac started to wonder which of the two girls would pour something over his head or steal his backpack or a million other things. It wasn't unusal for Zac to be the victim of countless, seemingly harmless practical jokes.
"What's the joke?" He asked, sitting up, turning to look at both girls, "If this is a joke please just get it over with now so I don't have to worry about what you're going to do? And please just let me run out after..."
That was the loudest that Zac had spoken all day. His heart was pounding- what were they going to do? It had to be a joke. Nobody ever dared to sit next to him- especially two people, at the same time, on the same day.

TAGGED: Lucy & Taryn!
WORDS:470!
NOTES: I love this thread so far! -huggles the posts- Posting order will be Zac, Lucy, Taryn, if that's okay? xD Lucy posts next!

[lucy eloise black]

we'll take the world by storm,
it isn't that hard
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Lucy let her eyes flick about the cafeteria again and then back to the boy in front of her. She stopped her scrubbing, giving up her clothing for lost. She glanced over her shoulder top the table where her friends sat and gave them and wink and a smile, indicating to them that she was just fine as a few of them looked on at her predicament. Lucy asked the boy if he was new to which he responded that he had always been at the school. Lucy felt herself grow guilty for not knowing that. She must have just over looked him, though she was not exactly sure how. She blinked at him through dark lashes and offered him a half apologetic and half guilty grin. “Oh…..” she tried to think of the right words. Gosh was she feeling like a jerk in that moment. “Guess we don’t have any classes together.”It was the first thing that popped into her head and she prayed that it was the truth. Surely she would have known the boy if he was in one of her classes… she wasn’t THAT unobservant. “What grade are you in?” Lucy recovered from the awkward moment at record speed.
She leaned forward, resting her head in her elbows and began to play with a strand of her dark hair out of habit. She was about to ask the boy what his name was when a girl walked up to the table. Lucy wondered if she was the boy’s friend... maybe even girlfriend, but when the girl introduced herself as Taryn Lucy got the impression that they were strangers. Lucy felt herself shift awkwardly for a moment in her chair, she had never had someone simply walk up and introduce themselves out of the blue, but hell it was something that Lucy would do any day. She was not sure if the girls smile was genuine or not but she greeted her with a warm ear to ear grin of her own, bright and shining.
“Nice to meet you Taryn. That’s a really pretty name.” It was certainly more original then her own.
The boy introduced himself next as Zac, though it came out a little choppy. Lucy could sense that he was uncomfortable and could not help but notice that a blush crept to his cheeks. She wanted to giggle at this, finding his very apparent shyness endearing, but she controlled herself not wanting to embarrass him further. “And I’m Lucy. She looked between her two new acquaintances, “Lucy Black” Lucy kept a smile on her face the whole time. The red haired girl was beautiful in a natural and original way that was rather refreshing. Lucy wondered why the two did not seem to have any friends for they both seemed pleasant enough. Lucy looked back at her own large group of friends who were now all staring curiously. Lucy shrugged, she was in too deep now to excuse herself, and she was not really sure that she wanted to.

Zac sat up and looked at Lucy in the eye for the first time the whole conversation.. he had that dear in the headlights look again. He asked what their joke was, and what they were going to do to him. Lucy found herself utterly confused. Did this girl bully him on a regular basis or did he just think that they were going to pull some mean trick on him. Lucy could not help but put a hand on the Zac’s shoulder, trying to get him to calm down. Her touch was light but she hoped it did the trick. “No one is playing any tricks… at least not that I know of.” Taryn looked like a nice enough girl and Lucy was pretty sure she was not there to take advantage of him. Lucy wondered why Zac would think such a thing. “I think we’ve had enough bad happenings for one day don’t you?” Lucy indicated her now ruined clothes with a laugh trying to lighten the mood.


NOTES:[/color] sorry it took me a while to reply *kicks real life*
OUTFIT[/color] !
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[taryn cora ray]

Taryn found herself holding her breath a little when she sat down. After all, she didn't know these people- what if they were insanely bitter, or psychotic? They might kill her in her sleep! But then again, that was the risk that one always took when making friends. Oh, so I'm making friends now, am I? She asked herself. In the back of her mind, a confident voice (wow, she had confidence?) said, Yes, you are. You can be The Losers Club, like in It. You always wanted to be a part of one of those, remember? The dominant part of her retorted, Yeah, but what about the demon in the sewers?

She paused. Am I arguing with myself? She wondered. Apparently, she was more crazy than she thought.

"I'm Isaac...I mean...just Zac..." The boy she had sitten next to introduced shyly. All right, so he was shy. This could be a good thing. Maybe he was an outcast as well, wanting to be left alone but at the same time begging for human contact. It was something that Taryn could relate to, and in that moment, she decided that she would be friends with Zac. She hadn't quite been planning it, but better to be against the world with someone on your side than to be against the world alone, right? Well, she hoped so. And that bit of hope was enough for her, somehow. Oddly, she found herself smiling contently. It felt unnatural to her, but hey, it was a day of changes.

“Nice to meet you Taryn. That’s a really pretty name.” The girl said. Taryn was now a little bit uncomfortable, her confidence waning at the unexpected compliment. Sure, she had always liked her name, but no one else had really noticed it before. The fact that this chick did threw her off. “And I’m Lucy. Lucy Black.” Lucy was a good name. When she thought about it, so was Zac. Taryn, Lucy, and Zac. It had sort of a ring to it. Even though they both looked younger than her, age was just a number. She usually didn't fit in with those her own age anyway. This could be a good thing. How many variations of that phrase have run through my head in the last two minutes? She wondered. About a million. Taryn had been taught to trust her gut, and frankly, her gut didn't want to move to another table.

Just as Taryn was growing delighted, Zac exclaimed, "What's the joke? If this is a joke please just get it over with now so I don't have to worry about what you're going to do? And please just let me run out after..."

Oh, gosh. He was an outcast. While half of Taryn was thinking, Perfect! We'll be the best of friends! the more rational half felt an overwhelming sense of pity for the poor boy. A couple of girls sit with him at lunch, and he assumes the worst. She found herself wondering how many times he had been exploited by his peers. Had milk been poured on his head? Maybe he had gotten stuck in a locker once? The only good thing was that she was fairly sure no tampons had been thrown at him a la Carrie (to the best of her knowledge, teenage boys did not carry tampons with them).

"Oh, n-" Taryn began to say, but Lucy interrupted her. Good thing, too. She thought. I'd probably end up making some ill-timed joke.

“No one is playing any tricks… at least not that I know of. I think we’ve had enough bad happenings for one day don’t you?” She said.

Taryn nodded. "What she said." She added on lamely. When she saw the look in his eyes (perhaps for the first time that day), she felt the need to say, "Trust me." Just that one phrase. It was probably stupid, and wouldn't stop him from running out of the room, but it was all she could think of.

Word Count: 720 (sorry if it's too long! I usually don't write this much.)
Notes: This is my favorite thread ever.
Outfit: Use your imagination.

[isaac daniel goldburg]

- - - - -
&& it hurts to be alone``

Zac shrugged when the girl offered him an apologetic smile, mentioning that they must not have any classes together. They didn't, as far as Zac knew. Of course she hadn't known he had been going to Bellview for so long. He was almost completely invisable. Nobody ever noticed that he was there. He almost preferred for things to be that way, but hated it at the same time.
"Ninth" He responeded quietly when she asked him what grade he was in. And then the other girl sat down. Introductions were all made easily enough. Lucy and Taryn. They were both nice names, Zac couldn't help but think. They would only stay thoughts though- he never told anyone what he really thought about them, even if it was something nice.
When he finally got up the nerve to ask what the trick was, he was surprised by the response. Neither of them were pulling any jokes or tricks to humiliate him? He frowned, trying to figure it out. Why were they sitting with him then? When he felt Lucy's hand touch his shoulder, he flinched and his eyes widened. Now that was completely unheard of. People seemed to go out of their way so that they wouldn't make contact with him. He bit his lip when she said that nobody was playing any tricks.
Zac looked at Taryn when he heard her say 'trust me'. He had heard those two words before, and he had trusted people who took advantage of him, humiliated him. Was he about to trust two innocent looking girls that had decided to sit with him at lunch? Zac looking from Lucy to Taryn, unsure. He felt his eyes getting teary, and he quickly wiped at his face with one sleeve. He wasn't going to ruin everything by crying.
"Thank you..." He said quietly, "For sitting with me I mean." He paused, shifting in his seat uncomfortably, "Nobody usually wants to sit with me..." Nobody talked to him, nobody acknowledged his existance, nobody wanted to be seen with him- that was the whole truth. But he wasn't about to ramble and whine to Lucy and Taryn about his horrible time at Bellview. He felt his face grow red again and he touched the back of his neck nervously. This seemed like a good opportunity to make friends. Why would he turn it down? Zac hadn't had a good friend in his whole life.

TAGGED: Taryn & Lucy!
WORDS:424!
NOTES: Long replies are great! I love this thread too! <3