Electra

Erin looked at Alex, then back at their guide. "Um, sure, that sounds fine," she agreed. "It's just that I was wondering, I only sleep every few days. Are there places that I can go when I don't want to disturb someone sleeping? Like maybe places with computers that I can study at? I don't have one, and I wouldn't want to bother Alex with the light, anyway."

"No thanks," Erin told Mike politely, looking at the pile of things he was carrying. Her duffel bag was a decent size, but she handled it like it weighed nothing. "I can help you carry some of that, if you want to have one arm free," she offered. Whichever way the carrying settled out, she followed the others across the campus, staying very alert to the new situation. Her eyes got a little wide as she took in the superpowered antics on the playing field, but it seemed less like fear and more like something she'd simply never seen in person before. "Ah, hello," she said uncertainly to the stretchy boy's head.

"It's fine with me," Erin replied, clutching the strap of her bag a little tighter as she released her death grip on her own torso. She kept a very wary eye on Koyama , but devoted some of her attention to the rest of the grounds as well, getting an idea of where everything was and how it was all laid out. "Are people free to just walk around on campus, or is it restricted?" she asked.

Erin walked around the van and retrieved her duffel from the trunk before coming around to meet the tour guides. Instead of introducing herself, she stared at the young man for several long, uncomfortable moments, her face blank. "Are you Shinnosuke Koyama?" she asked finally, with little inflection in her voice. Her arms were still tight to her chest, making her look uncomfortable and odd.

Erin had been woolgathering as the car traveled, but head came up fast at those words, swiveling side to side on her neck as she looked around. "What kind of prank?" she asked, folding her arms tightly across her chest. She did not like being surprised, even when there was no obvious threat. The last thing she wanted was to make a bad impression on the first day.

Suck twin powers, activate! Power of: Oblivious! =D

"I don't think there's really anything to get worked up about," Erin said with simple confidence, looking out the window at the busy cityscape around them. "Even if we get bad roommates and are behind in our classes or the other students aren't friendly or we eventually wind up owing for our tuition, what's that in the big picture? Claremont's got to be one of the safest places in the city, and we'll have room and board there, training, everything we need. It sounds pretty good, all things considered." With those not entirely reassuring words, she lapsed into thoughtfulness as the minivan wended its gradual way through the south side of the city and towards the school.

The kids are heading towards the school, so it seems likely that we're coming to the end of our preliminary thread. Should we start a new one for the power check and ask a ref to jump in, or continue in the thread we've got?

"It's true," Erin agreed as she neatly polished off her sandwich. "Maybe at a school like Claremont, they have classes for people with different ways of learning. Maybe you're a genius and don't even know it yet." She folded her garbage up together into a little packet and put it on the tray. "I guess we won't know till we get there, though, about any of it." Grinning a bit ruefully, she drained her drink. "Can't put it off forever!"

"I'm sixteen too," Erin said, giving Mike a smile. "Maybe if Alex helps us both out, we'll both make passing grades. And I'd really appreciate any help," she told Alex. "I just don't want to make a fool of myself trying to keep up in class. It feels kind of like starting over from scratch with all the biology and geometry and stuff like that. I mean, the only thing I remember from geometry is SOCATOA, and I don't even remember what it was, except that it was about triangles." She chuckled a little. "You'd have to be patient, though."

"Well this is summer session, right?" Erin asked, abandoning her sandwich for a moment. "They're probably not going to have standard curriculum till the school year starts, maybe special summer stuff. Hope so, anyway." She shrugged again. "I mean, I know I've got some work to do before the school year starts. If they make me retake everything I missed with no shortcuts, I won't graduate till I'm twenty." Looking up at both of them, she asked, "What grade are you in?"

Finished with her hash browns, Erin tucked into her croissanwich, eating unhurriedly and savoring each bite before swallowing. Her gaze flicked around the room as she ate, going from her companions to the doors to their fellow diners and back again. "I kind of hope I get a roommate who doesn't sleep much, or who isn't bothered by having a lamp on," she decided. "I only sleep every few days, so it could get a little weird. But like you said, there will hopefully be some places to get away on campus. Now that I think about it, I might have been there once, just for an afternoon. If it's like I remember, it's a big place with tons of rooms. Really easy to get lost there if you aren't paying attention." She smiled a little. "Guess that's why we need the orientation."

Erin ate as she listened, dipping her hash browns one by one into her plastic cup of ketchup before popping them in her mouth. She took a sip of her soda to clear her throat. "There must be financial aid available," she speculated. "I've got no money, and my parents here couldn't afford to send another kid to private school. But as far as I know, it didn't even come up when I applied. Maybe they expect us all to become generous alumni when we're all famous superheroes or something." She shrugged. "I guess we'll find out when we get there. I've never lived in a dorm before, I think it's going to be kind of strange. No privacy, you know?"

If my current post is too pushy for good manners, please feel free to change the actions your characters take, and I'll clean up my post in response. I'm still getting a feel for how much people can move each other's characters around in this game. =)

Erin's discomfort eased when neither of her companions seemed inclined to press her on her background, and the prospect of fast food cheered everyone up. The drivethru was packed with morning traffic, so they parked and went into the comparatively empty dining room. Erin ordered her food and carefully counted out the money to pay for it, handling bills and coins not like they were alien, but like they weren't second nature, either. "I don't know very much about the school," she told Alex and Mike as they settled at the table. "Just that it's a good place for people with, hmm, special education needs. I guess it's got a really good reputation?"

"Um, sort of," Erin replied awkwardly. "I, well, traveled a lot for the last couple years. And it wasn't exactly this Seattle. I'm from a universe close to this one," she explained, the words coming out too fast, a little jumbled. "The Seattle I grew up in was a lot like this one, but... but some things were different. Um, if I remember right, there's a lot of fast food places near the airport, up by that cluster of hotels. Just a Burger King would be fine with me, if everyone's okay with that."

"I know how that goes," Erin replied, trying to ease the awkwardness her question had created. "I don't go out very much either. Hope the school has some fun stuff to do on evenings and weekends, or we might end up pretty bored." She smiled to show that was a joke, then hastily but carefully stowed her bag in the trunk. "Did you folks eat breakfast already? All they gave us on the plane was boxes of orange juice and little teeny granola bars." She wasn't exactly hungry, but food was generally a safe topic, especially with people her own age.

"It was fine," Erin told Alex, falling into step with her as they headed towards the exit of the busy airport. At this time of day, more people were going than coming, which had them working against the tide a little as they walked. "I don't need very much sleep," she added to Mike, "and the plane was quiet, so it wasn't too bad. But I'm very glad for a chance to stretch my legs." She was quiet for a moment, contemplating her next words. "I'm actually pretty familiar with the layout of Freedom City," she admitted at last. "At least to navigate around in it. But it's the city life that I know is going to be hard to get used to. What about the two of you, do you like living here where it's so busy?"

It's okay, I changed mine. Erin doesn't need to sleep, so she can take the redeye flight. =)

"This is it," Erin confirmed with a shrug and a smile, keeping hold of her bag. "I've got it, it's not heavy. I appreciate you all coming out to get me. Are you from around here, then, or did you get here a few days early?" Even while talking, she kept an eye on everything around them, just to be sure she knew what was happening in all directions.

With regards to time of day, I set it as late afternoon in my first post, around 5pm. Alder's post changed that to early morning. I suppose if they're all going to school together, it might make sense for it to be earlier in the day. Traveling 12 hours to arrive first thing in the morning would be pretty brutal, but then again, Erin doesn't need much sleep. =) Should I change my first post?

It took Erin only a moment to see the sign, which was admittedly very difficult to miss. Someone had obviously spent a lot of time, and perhaps an entire tube of glitter, in making it. She hefted her bag onto her shoulder and began to cut through the crowd in the direction of the group with the sign. As she approached, she studied their faces carefully. Finding them strangers, she gave them a friendly, if cautious smile. "Hi," she said, looking from Mike to Alex. "I'm Erin. Are you from the school?"

Getting picked up by a mom works perfectly fine for me. =)

Well, maybe if we're all orienting together, you could come along for introductions? =)