olopi

Volleyball, that sounded alright. Something Monica could do without any real issues, and something she actually was pretty alright at. Being tall did have the occasional advantage, after all. Seemed to be something that most people would be interested in, because from the looks of it, the water had gotten less inviting than it had been during the invitation. Of course Corinne got involved too. Monica didn’t dislike her, but she couldn’t look at her. It just made her want to run away. She could do that right now. Walk away, find some nice hidden space, and call her therapist. And just yell for a while. This had been a horrible idea from the start, this was the exact sort of thing she’d wanted to avoid. Her expression changed, she looked a bit distressed, but right as she took the first step backwards, away from the group, Janus addressed her. She’d seen them around a few times, maybe this was just what she needed. She quietly cleared her throat and replied, mustering up what confidence she had left. “Yeah, sure, I can help with that.” Once the two of them had moved some steps away from the group, she sighed and relaxed her entire body, looking a lot less tense. “Thanks.”

Monica looked at her sheet as Corinne read out the next question, seemingly dealing with something of her own. Now, with all of this happening Monica did kind of want to know just what Corinne’s deal actually was, but she knew pretty well that poking at it would create the exact sort of atmosphere she came, uh, got sent, to Claremont to escape. Monica had come across the name a few times before while browsing around the internet, but she didn’t really know much on the subject beyond what Nicole explained. Once the others had stopped talking for now and Corinne was done with her little routine and showing off her great bo- Monica stopped that train of thought before it led anywhere else and began to speak, taking over where Corinne had left off. “I really don’t know? Like, granted, I don’t care much right now, but I don’t think any of us know enough about this sort of thing to make an informed decision.”

Monica continued to follow along with the level of interest she felt appropriate for a situation like this. She cared a lot more about the academic side of it all than the social side. She needed to earn some top grades if she wanted to have any chance at making it. That probably wouldn’t leave much time for social stuff, even if she’d actually wanted to have some of it, which for the moment was still a rather firm no. People here weren’t bad, sure, and so far she hadn’t made any major negative experiences. Summers continued on, about some sort of “squad”. So much for that. As it turned out she’d get forced into the social part no matter what. Maybe it’d be alright, with some luck the whole “academic mentor” thing Summers talked about would be seeded in some way? For now Monica just looked around the room, judging other’s opinions at this reveal and trying to keep the most interesting ones in mind, for the chance she’d end up with people who had a strong opinion about this all.

Bonfire (0) None Barrier (0) None Bird of Arms (0) None Sha'ir The Spellsmith (0) None Lady Liberty (13) The Beast of America (9) Assemble! (3) And Carnal Forbearance (1) Give the Refpoint to LL

Monica wasn’t surprised when Micah walked up to her, from what she’d seen of him he wasn’t exactly the extroverted group person either. At least she wasn’t the only person here who didn’t feel like they quite belonged, that would probably help in some way. Hopefully. She didn’t say anything, instead just directing an appreciative nod towards him. That was all she had time to before Corinne swooped in. Ugh. On one hand Monica didn’t mind it because this way she didn’t have to approach the group herself, it was being done for her. On the other, seeing Corinne in an outfit like that didn’t help with the reasons Monica hadn’t wanted to be here. She calmed herself down for a moment, before looking at Corinne, who was running away now, for a moment and then turning towards the rest of the group. “Not getting into the water, so if anybody has some idea what to do on the beach let me know. “ If nothing else was happening, she could probably convince somebody to just go for a walk, that was a reasonable plan B.

As soon as Corinne leaned up, Monica pushed herself back into her seat. Sure, she’d expected some sort of reaction, but nothing like this. She looked visibly uncomfortable, raised up her shoulders and held her hands in front of her chest. At this point, Monica just wanted to be back in her room where she didn’t have to deal with people. She focused her attention on the question sheet, trying to at least hide her expression somewhat. At least Nicole continued on so Monica didn’t have to say anything. She felt as if she had a lump in her throat, at this point she couldn’t really formulate a proper response. Once Nicole was done speaking Monica adjusted her position in the chair, then, without looking up, spoke. “Wanna go to the next question?”

Monica had heard about the beach party a while ago. Heard about it, and immediately written it off. If there was one place she really didn’t want to be, it was the beach. She had zero reasons to go, it wasn’t like something amazing would happen there. She could just stay at the dorms and enjoy a quiet evening. But of course, she’d accidentally brought it up with her therapist. Who pushed her to go. “Force” was perhaps a bit of a strong word, but probably one that was appropriate. Perhaps she’d get to know the others better, perhaps she could develop some trust with them, the arguments made sense to her. She still didn’t want to, but in the end, ended up getting onto the van anyways. She stepped out, wearing her usual outfit of an oversize black hoodie and black jeans. For once, she let her hood hang down, as she’d actually put some effort into making her face presentable. Maybe enough people would want to do something that didn’t involve the water. She observed the others from a distance for a moment, then moved in towards the main group, where she didn’t say anything beyond a somewhat shy “Hi.”, trying her best to hide the fact she wasn’t entirely comfortable here. Which probably wasn’t particularly good, he could tell the others could tell.

Group 3 “Wanting to drive a car’s a conscious choice, you don’t just end up owning a car without wanting to in most cases probably. Same with guns I guess, but actually …” She suddenly stopped talking, as if she’d stumbled over her own thoughts. “I see your point for regulating it in some way, people’s powers are way more dangerous than some guy with a gun. But there’s some of us who didn’t even want these powers in the first place.” “I’m not sure how the registering would help anybody though, unless AEGIS or somebody start tracking people to track their power use. Just registering a person’s identity won’t do them much good, …”At this point the sound of her voice changed, she wasn’t determined so much as defeated, her tone closer to how she usually sounded when people approached her. “…and that’s assuming they keep it confidential, ‘cause making it public knowledge’s a whole other can of worms.” Without any real pause, she continued onward, with some urgency, speaking faster and in a higher pitch than usual. “Tracking people who had no choice or influence over what they’re being tracked for is straight up evil. If there was some way to regulate power use without it involving the removal of people’s rights, I think the entire question changes, but as it stands you’d essentially remove the liberty of a few people to give everybody else the illusion of increased safety.” She stopped for a moment, considering how to proceed from here. “And once they track you for political purposes, who knows what happens the next time there’s a large scale attack? Our government doesn’t exactly have a good track record with these things. “

Group 3 (Monica + 4 Empty Slots) Monica didn’t exactly rush to find a group. While she cared about the subject and generally had strong opinions, she still didn’t really know most of these people, so just grouping up with them took a fair bit of energy out of her. By the time she took a seat and joined in, most the other groups had already started talking. Fair enough. She took the sheet into her hand and quickly read the text, it was simple enough. “Alright, people with powers registering with the federal government for some sort of license. “ She looked up at the rest of the group, sitting straight for once, and looking quite determined. “So, Opinions? ‘Cause personally I don’t see how there’s any positive to this whatsoever. And this is coming from somebody who’s never had any kind of secret identity. Any law like that would be pure pandering and fear mongering. “ In fact, the perceptive observer may have noticed that Monica seemed brighter than before, quite literally, as if something was lighting her up ever so slightly.

That … really answered all that Monica had been interested in. Explained Judy’s behaviour to some degree, (except that the powers probably were a bit more “interesting” than she was letting on to), and told her just about enough about the exact relationship between the two. Maybe she’d figure out more as she spent time around them, which, let’s face it, she probably would. And for the first time, Pink-Tips (maybe figuring out her name would help long-term), wasn’t as much of a stuck up bitch. Judging from the sound of it, she’d dealt with some stuff. Monica could respect that. Her response was kept just as short, merely giving the two sisters a nod of understanding.

As Summers began to speak Monica leant back into her chair, folding her hands behind her head. She’d managed to shut up an entire room of teenagers that quickly, which was quite respectable. Even around Monica it was suddenly quiet. Monica hadn’t seen a quiet back row outside of very special circumstances before, so either this spoke to the student body’s manners, or to Summer’s skill. Monica mentally placed a bet on the latter. Not that it lasted, because apparently Nicole had gotten into a fight with the glowing lady, who seemed to be the only person who actually acted like it was the back row. Fair ‘nuff, Monica assumed Nicole was just doing the same things she was usually doing, except that it seemed to have backfired, which did give a bit of joy to Monica, who immediately afterwards focused her attention back on the Headmistress, not joining in on the chatter. She didn’t need to make any negative impressions with the staff already, her … fame, already made her enough of a target and somebody the staff was probably keeping an eye on. She didn’t see any reason to raise a fuss about the rules the Headmistress was talking about. Monica wasn’t one for sneaking around, and with her powers, it wouldn’t stay a secret for long anyways. Unless somebody would drag her into it, because, judging from the murmur, a lot of people here didn’t like curfews. Probably didn’t have a mother like Monica’s.

Monica followed the others to the common area without saying anything, just listening in while slouching along with her hands in her hoodie’s pocket. The more she knew about these people now the easier the future would be. Norse magic, that was one more to add to the list. This floor was shaping up to have quite a potency from what Monica could tell. She sat down on the couch, letting herself fall back as much as she could, which granted, wasn’t that much considering these couches had likely been designed with people not quite as tall in mind. When Judy switched on the TV, Monica raised her eyebrow a bit. Something about that girl was off. Monica had seen people act like that before, it meant they were hiding something. Anything that somebody tried to hide with that degree of uncertainty was important enough to keep secret. But that didn’t mean Monica couldn’t probe a tiny bit, she’d stop the moment she hit the first real roadblock. Which, with Pink-Tips , would probably be the first question. “So, Pink-Tips, what’s your story? Vigilante captured by the new raven, but why’d you bring your sister along?”

Alright, Pink-Tips suddenly wasn’t as bad. At least she was quiet about this stuff, not like … whatever her name was. Was she looking to pick a fight? Because from Monica’s point of view, it looked like she was on the best track to antagonize the entirety of the floor. Granted, maybe that was what the older students did here. Monica had certainly heard of things like that happening before, so who knew. Nothing she didn’t already know, nothing she couldn’t handle one way or another. Her little act only added fire to the fuel, and Monica could feel something build inside her, which then manifested in an audible “Ugh.”, of course accompanied by rolling eyes. Her roommate’s suggestion came just at the right time, and was something that reassured Monica that perhaps, this wasn’t that bad of a, well forced, choice after all. It would’ve probably been the easy choice to just stay behind, but Monica didn’t really want to just be the outsider already? She responded, in the same volume. “Much appreciated, but I may as well figure out who I’m gonna be living with for the next few years, I can always bail if I wanna. “

As it had turned out, arriving late and sitting in the last row didn’t quite work out as Monica had hoped, she couldn’t get around avoiding people from the looks of it. She adjusted her position to actually sit in her chair instead of lie in it, and looked over at the new arrivals. “Yo. Monica.” Then she looked forward, at the ever increasing unrest that was building on the bleachers, and still no staff in sight. Great, maybe this’d turn into some sort of weird aptitude test already? Place everybody in one room and see how they deal with it? “Looks like Claremont subscribes to the “tell them we start 10 minutes before we do so the ones that wanna be late are still on time” mentality then. Good to know, means we don’t have to hurry next time. “ Seeing as how nothing was gonna happen, she pulled out her phone, idly clicking through her internet browser without any real goal.

Monica turned her attention away from the people in her room for just a moment to click a few buttons in one of her mobile games now that the most recent cooldown had run out, and somehow, chaos ensued. Was this what she’d be dealing with for the next 3 years? And of course, there already was some animosity. It was high school, after all. So long as it’d stay at a few people being irritating Monica didn’t care much, but if this went further she’d have to get involved. Without looking up from her phone (the timed event would be unavailable soon!), she re-joined the conversation. “Sure hope people here can keep secrets. Last thing I need is more threatening letters and packages being sent to me. “ Nonchalantly, after a short pause she added: “Or crazy people shouting at my window.”

Monica wandered in through the open door only shortly after it had been slammed open so unceremoniously, having waited outside just long enough for everybody’s attention to hopefully have turned away from the door and towards the girl that had opened it. She pulled her black hoodie’s hood down further so it covered a fair chunk of her face, and then stepped into the auditorium. She’d have to figure out where she’d sit, because this was a school assembly and those never went by without tons of heckling, so sitting near somebody that was either pleasant or wouldn’t bother her was preferable. Her roommate seemed to have gotten surrounded already, and the sisters, who at least wouldn’t bother Monica, seemed busy on their own too, so … the last row it was. There was a good chance everybody back there would fall asleep halfway through anyways. Once she actually raised her head slightly to look at it, she saw what probably was the one person on campus that could out-glow her. And a bunch of people that, much like Monica, didn’t seem to want to be here. She gave Àjà a quick nod as she walked up the stairs, and took a seat next to a guy who may have been native American? “So, we both agree that we’re here because we have to and just want to get over with this, right?”

“Lucky you. “ Monica didn’t need to hide how she felt about the possibility to just “become history”. Because sure, she’d become history too, but not in that sense of the phrase. Hell, she probably already had, looking back on all the reaction she’d apparently gotten, most of which she’d only heard about second-hand. Watching the other sister and Àjà interact was quite funny, Monica could understand the , well, naivete, because hey, this was a real-life princess. That was quite cool, even if Monica wasn’t sure how she personally felt about her the more she thought about it. Well, she’d have enough time to figure it out now. “Is Claremont’s education that good? I’d always assumed somebody that important to the nation wouldn’t go abroad for that long.”

A princess, then. That was a bit of a relief, actually. It meant that Monica’s roommate was probably as famous, and if not, at the least as well-protected. Of course, having a princess as a roommate could turn a bit awkward, depending on what sort of luxury she was used to. ‘Cause Monica neither could not would live up to any of it. Now, as for the sisters, they only became ever more intriguing. Monica didn’t have much of a reason to care about them, but with how …Ashley, apparently, was acting, there was something there. Maybe it’d come up at some point. Monica wasn’t one for digging around in people’s past, there usually was a reason it’d stay hidden. As she listened to the others she took her phone out of her pocket, clicking a few buttons to log into the local wi-fi absently, checking her student ID and responding at the same time. “Another victim of the Liberty League’s generational turnover, then?” Maybe it wasn’t the right thing to say, but it was the first thing that had come to Monica’s mind and by the time she’d fought about what she was saying, it had already left her lips. Maybe it wouldn’t sound as insulting as it sounded now that she thought about it…

Monica wasn’t sure how to react to that statement. It was technically true, sure, but she really didn’t want anybody else to see her as “ a real celebrity”. That, on top of all the other stuff, was the last thing she needed. She’d probably already attract way more attention than she wanted. Which was to say, any. If she could’ve chosen she’d’ve attended under some sort of secret identity, considering she never had the chance to have one in the first place. Would’ve meant she could take things cool, but her powers made that pretty much impossible. So, this was what she was stuck with. “Heh. “ She then turned to Pink Tips, whose question did raise an interesting point. Monica didn’t know about any of the others, but neither of them seemed like the average member of society, so maybe there was some truth to that. “No idea, you probably have a better handle on who’s here from the sound of it.”

Here we go… Monica couldn’t stop herself from actually speaking it out loud, even if she’d just muttered it under her breath. It had taken a total of maybe 5 seconds for the first red flags to appear. So much for the stuff she’d been told, as it turned out her own expectations had been more on point. Whatever was going on between those sisters was … interesting, at the least. Pink-Tips over here had something going on, with that scanner thing and her general demeanour. One look also told Monica enough about the power dynamic between the two of them. Maybe the brown-haired one would be different when approached on her own. “Yeah, that’s me.” She sounded a lot more disinterested all of the sudden, at least until her new roommate intersected and hugged her, which was unexpected. Monica wasn’t sure how to feel about it, but she didn’t try to do anything about it, it was pleasant enough once the initial surprise had disappeared. Aja seemed nice enough on her own, at least with this first impression. “Nah, I’m fine. Don’t have much to unpack anyways.” She walked over to her bed and sat down, placing her bag beside her. It wasn’t quite as comfortable as the one she’d stayed in in one of the hotels, but still a big improvement over what she’d had before. She leaned back, touching the wall with her back, without saying anything more, the room’s atmosphere especially towards her was a bit too difficult to judge right now

Approved

Monica had travelled to and from Freedom City quite a few times these past few months, so getting to actually settle in before having to leave again was something she was looking forward to. She didn’t have many things to bring along, so like the previous times she’d managed to fit all of it into a Claremont branded sports bag, which was slung around her as she walked past the other rooms, trying to figure out which was the one she’d been assigned to. The one with an open door and people talking inside. Monica wasn’t sure how to feel about that, she would kinda have preferred to settle in and get her things in order, but that probably had to wait for now. She approached the doorway and looked inside, doing her best to put on a smile and not slouch. “Hey.” She was a fair bit taller than the others, her Claremont hoodie’s hood drawn up, hiding most of her hair, her hands in its pocket. She continued talking, actually kind of settling into it, saying something without the words feeling forced to herself. “So, are all of you my roommates? Because I only see two beds and when they talked about lots of couples forming here, I didn’t realize they’d push it this hard.”

Bonfire Vignette Lady Liberty Vignette Give Bonfire's rollover to Bird of Arms, please!

Because I have horribly self control and judgement, I will be away all of next week visiting the EU and if I'm lucky actually figuring out something!

Name: Monica Gutiérrez Codename: Lady Liberty Year: Sophomore Pronouns: She/Her Roommate: Unassigned at the moment Goal: Get better. Mentally that is. Maybe even figure out something about her life and what her place is, hell, maybe even find a place where she feels like she belongs. Not that she's holding out much hope for that last part. Favourite High School Movie: Fame and Bully (2011).