All alone (open)

[Acacia Black]

Acacia hated meal times the worst. Most of her friends hid in the library and tried to steal a few bites of a sandwich without the librarien noticing. She on the other hand, refused to do that. It was lunchtime, and she always needed food. She carried her rucksack on her back, with her lunch inside it. There was an empty table. She looked around, and decided that it was better to be alone, than to be told to go away. She didn't think any of the other tables would have her.

With a sigh, she plonked herself down. She grabbed her lunch out of her bag, and looked through it. The sandwiches were a little squashed, but it was her best bet for now. She bit into one, she wasn't a fan of ham either. She pulled a face and put them back into the box, she'd try again with them later. Crisps, an apple, and a carton of juice... None really were taking her fancy today. Perhaps she would have been better off in the library after all. She had been quite happy in her own little world when someone sat down next to her. Now that she hadn't been expecting, she looked round with a little start, wanting to see who it was. She wasn't expecting any friendly company, it was probably just someone who would make a joke at her own, or her sister's, expense.

[Ashley Palmer]

Ashley wisked into the cafeteria. She was starving.
And also late. She had gone to speak with her English
teacher. An issue about her grade that he had given her
for her assignment on the book they were reading,
Les Liasons Dangereuses.

She felt her paper was worth more than the B- she had
received, so being take charge as she was, she had asked
to meet the teacher the period before lunch, since she had
a free, and their conversation had lasted a while. Ashley
realized she was wasting precious time on lunch, by how the
teacher made himself at home at his desk, and began taking
out his lunch from his brown paper bag. That was a clue to
Ashley to get gone and get some food of her own.

Standing inside the cafeteria, Ashley's large light green eyes
took in her surroundings. Yep, she was late. The cafeteria was
full. Almost every table was taken. She couldn't tell where her
friends were, somewhere within the mass crowd of students
enjoying their lunches. She rolled her eyes, slightly annoyed.
She made her way deeper into the cafeteria, trying to find an
empty spot for herself.

There was one. A free table, with only one person sitting
in a seat. Ashley wasn't going to waste any more time.
She hurried over to the table, and plopped down next to the
black haired girl who sat alone. Acacia Black. People spoke
about her. Whispered things about her. Ashley didn't really pay
much attention to that.

Ashley flashed the girl a friendly smile, as Acacia looked up.
"Hi. The cafeteria is packed. Do you mind if I sit here?"
she asked the other girl, raising a slightly arched eyebrow in
her direction. She secretly hoped the other girl wouldn't send her
away, there was absolutely nowhere else to sit in the crowded
jungle of the cafeteria.

[Acacia Black]

She wondered if the girl was lost? Perhaps this was a bet, and soon some horrible joke would be played on her...? She thought about it for a second and then looked around, realising that the table where she usually sat, was full. She nodded and said 'yes' quietly, she moved her lunchbox over slightly so that the other girl had more than enough room.

She looked up at her briefly. Ashley Palmer. Acacia had managed to successfully stay clear of her for the majority of her school life. She didn't think that Ashley was as bitchy as some of her friends, but their paths had never crossed, and Acacia wasn't one to risk herself and find out. Self preservation and all.

She picked out the apple and started to eat it. Should she be talking to her? The silence was getting too much for her. Their's was most definetly the quietest table in the whole of the lunch room. She racked her brains for something to say, was she in any classes with this girl? Acacia was usually at the back of the class if she had the opportunity to pick where she sat. She had some vague recollection of Ashley being a few rows in front of her. But which class was that? The penny dropped.

'How'd you find the last maths paper?' she asked. She knew that she'd done better than her usual performance, but that wasn't saying much.

[Ashley Palmer]

Ashley felt eyes on her. People were watching, aghast.
Was she really going to be sitting there with a girl that
barely anyone talked to? Ashley looked up, green eyes
flashing with annoyance, and heads turned away.

Having room for herself, Ashley smiled at Acacia and
made herself comfortable. She slid off the book bag that
was draped over her shoulder, fished around inside it
until she pulled out her lunchbag. She almost always
brought her own lunch, she had no intentions of finding
out what was inside the mystery meat, or what the lunch
special was. Plus the lunch line was always long and
crowded.

She was glad she had brought her own lunch today, she
wasn't planning on being late, and by the now they had
closed up the lunch line. Ashley pulled out a sandwich,
an apple and a bottle of water. She brought the sandwich
to her mouth and took a bite. Chewed, swallowed. Her
gaze ticking over to the other girl who sat beside her as
she spoke up, asking her a question.

"Oh that's right, we have math together. With Mrs. Clarke."
Ashley said nodding. She had seen Acacia in the class, she
usually sat at the back, while Ashley was more fond of
sitting in the middle row, surrounded by some of her friends.
"I think I did okay. I didn't find it too difficult, and I didn't
even study for it." she said with a light laugh escaping her
lips.

She took another bite out of her sandwich, it was almost
finished. She was starving, after all. She hoped she didn't
come across as a pig in front of the other girl. She chewed,
and swallowed once more, washed it down with some water.
"This is the first time we talk, isn't it?" she asked Acacia
curiously. She went on. "You usually keep to yourself. Are
you okay with me talking to you? Considering everyone else
is staring." she said, once again looking up into the crowd of
faces who were watching curiously.

Ashley shook her head and ticked her gaze back to Acacia.
"Just ignore them." she said, placing a hand on the girl's
arm, flashing her a friendly, warm, reassuring smile.

[Acacia Black]

She was amazed that the girl didn't even study for math class. Acacia had to work so hard in maths, and then only did averagely - at best. But then again, she was good at English and art, and knew that some struggled with that, she nodded along. 'I'm not that great at maths,' was all she said in response. She didn't even get why they needed to study things like algebra and pie - when would she ever use them in real life anyway?

She followed Ashley's gaze to the curious faces on other tables. 'It doesn't bother me, I thought what they might say might bother you?' she asked tentatively. She didn't like to add that she was used to people talking about her and watching her. 'I keep myself to myself because it's just easier,' she said, and then realised that she'd probably said too much. If the girl didn't know about things before, then she did now.

But this girl actually seemed quite nice, . Was that even possible with the preps? Apparently so. Acacia attempted to change the subject and salvage the conversation.
'You aren't like some of your friends,' she added, hoping again that the girl wouldn't be offended. Some of the preps could be... in a word... bitches. There was no getting away from that, honestly, Ashley didn't seem all that bad.

[Ashley Palmer]

Ashley nodded knowingly. She agreed. She wasn't like some
of her friends, that was for sure. She was aware of how
cold and rude they were to the outsiders. The people outside
their little clique. Personally, Ashley tried to ignore all that.
They were her friends now, sure, but once high school was
done, would they still be the best of friends? Probably not.
She thought to herself.

"I'll let you in on a little secret." Ashley said, her light green
eyes twinkling as she faced Acacia. "I'm not like my friends
at all. Most of them, well, they're just insecure. They'll do
anything to be accepted, to be popular." she said, and that
was true. She wasn't going to go into detail, but she was
aware of what some of her friends had done to be deemed
popular. It had come with a price.

"To be honest, they're sheep. All they do is what everyone
else does, just so they can say they did it first. Hoping to
have my approval." she explained, taking a sip from her
water bottle. Her eyes scanned the cafeteria once more.
She found it odd how she was opening herself up to the
other girl, who was pretty much a stranger. "I know
everyone thinks I'm so cute and popular. But sometimes
I can feel just as alone as the people who don't fit in
here." she explained.

She ran a hand through her blonde hair. "I can be surrounded
by people, and be completely alone. It's not like many people
really know me. I don't even know if they like me half the time.
People just want to be in a popular zone. Sometimes when I
talk, everyone's so busy agreeing with me, they don't hear a
word I say." she said, a frown creasing her pretty face.

She shook the thoughts away, feeling herself redden slightly
as she brought her gaze back to Acacia. "Sorry, I have the
tendency to ramble." she said with a slight chuckle escaping
her lips.

[Acacia Black]

Acacia wasn't sure at first if she wanted to kno this secret... but the information wasn't too dangerous for her to know. One of her comments caught Acacia's interest... did this mean that generally people looked up to this girl for direction... for approval even? That was interesting.

She looked up at her surprised when she said that she felt alone. She had oodles of friends, and guys who worshipped the very ground that she walked upon. But she could understand how it could happen. She found it a little reassuring that she wasn't the only one who felt all alone sometimes.

'It's okay,' Acacia said with a little smile. 'It beats sitting in the silent library where the only sound is people's fingers on the keyboard, any day of the week, ' she said scrunching her nose slightly. It could really get annoying sometimes, especially when you were trying to concentrate. Acacia felt like she'd said more to this girl than she should have said, but maybe that was true of both of them - which then made it slightly more acceptable. After all, it was quid pro quo, one knew something about the other, meaning the other wouldn't tell anyone.

She felt a tiny bit more relaxed around this girl now, knowing that she wasn't here on a false pretence. She closed up her lunchbox, knowing full well that she wouldn't eat any more of it. She turned back to the girl. 'Well, you may not be a sheep, but I am still surprised that you sat near me,' she knew the sort of grief that Ashley could potentially get for mixing with the wrong clique.

[Ashley Palmer]

Ashley chuckled slightly to herself. Why was it that people
had such preconceived ideas about her? That just because
she ran with a popular crowd, she must be a bitch. Sure,
she usually stuck to her own clique, but she was aware of
the world outside the preconceived bubble people thought
that she must live in.

There was a whole other world out there. And even though
she didn't get to experience it too often, she was still aware
that it existed. "To be honest, it was either sit in here, or
sit out in the quad with my lunch. At least here I'm not
sitting alone." she told Acacia, with a smile playing on her
clear glossed lips.

From the sounds of it, it seemed to Ashley that the other
girl was used to being alone. Did she have any friends of
her own? She hoped so. No one should be without friends.
She turned to look at the other girl. She was kind of pretty,
in a pale, dark haired kind of way. She eyed her before she
smiled once more.

"We should hang out sometime. You know, like, outside of
school." she said with a knowing nod. She felt kind of bad
for Acacia, but she was also getting interested to know more
about the other girl. She wondered how Acacia would stomach
the idea of hanging out with someone who was practically
popular royalty. To Ashley, she could never have enough friends.
And she was longing to break out of the little clique she was
in, to experience that other world.

Sure, she would never hear the end of it from her friends,
but she didn't really care what they thought. She was fine
with making her own decisions, even if that meant befriending
whoever the hell she wanted to befriend. "Why do you say?
And you can totally turn me down, if it doesn't sound like a good
idea to you." she told Acacia with a reassuring smile.

[Acacia Black]

Acacia looked at the girl surprised, it wasn't everyday that Acacia was asked to hang out with someone... or by one of the popular people no less. The power of speech went from her, just for a second.
'Great,' Acacia said sounding enthusiasti, but then realising that it wasn't probably too cool. She took a breath and then correted herself, 'I mean, yeah, sounds good,' she said, still smiling, but a little more conserved.

She suspected that she wouldn't exactly be welcome around the other preps, but it was always useful to have an ally, especially one that was in other 'ranks.' She felt like Ashley was doing her a favour somewhat, she hoped the girl didn't feel sorry for her. Pity was never a nice feeling. On the other hand, Ashley didn't owe he anything, perhaps it was merely because she was a nice person? She hoped it was the latter of the two options. She pressed down firmly on her lunchbox lid, making sure it was tightly done up.
'Well, you probably have heard stuff about me, but I don't drink blood, I'm not a Satanist, I have never been pregnant, and I don't do drugs,' she said thinking of some of the things that had been said about her in the past, that could potentially but the girl off. She counted them off on her fingers, her nails clean and tidy, but nothing compared to the manicured hands of her company.

[Ashley Palmer]

Ashley let out a slight laugh. "People talk smack about others
all the time." she explained. That was true. Rumors were
everywhere, even in tabloid magazines. Which Ashley liked
to read, granted. She felt a little sheepish about that, but
didn't say anything to Acacia.

"It's high school. It's kind of expected for people to talk
about each other." she explained to the other girl. That was
true too. Sure, rumors hurt. But if there was no truth behind
them, why let them bother you so much? Ashley was sure
people gossiped about her, behind her back. You just had to
take it with a grain of salt, so to speak. Ashley didn't take
herself too seriously. People who did were usually so stuck up,
and snobby. Ashley had been around people like that and it
just wasn't who she was. What she stood for, what she believed
in. Sure, some of her friends were like that, but she tried to look
past that.

"Tell me something about you that is true, despite the rumors
people say, that are fake." she said to Acacia with a smile. She
was also glad the girl had agreed to get together and do
something. She was going to show the girl that, even though
she hung with a popular crowd, she was quite down to earth.
She was going to prove people's expectations, wrong. At least
the people who thought she was just some bubbly, high school
royalty, blonde airhead, prep barbie doll.

"So if you're free tomorrow, do you want to go catch a movie
in town? Maybe shop a bit afterwards?" she asked Acacia.
Ashley loved shopping, that was one thing people knew the
truth about. A smile played on her clear glossed lips.

[Acacia Black]

Acacia nodded, perhaps the girl didn't think she was a total freak, which was good. 'I guess...' she knew people talked about her more than most, even though it wasn't technically her fault.

Acacia thought for a moment, wondering what was really true. 'I may suck at maths, but I'm good at art, and english' she said, and then thought about things other than school. 'I can't stand needles, which was why the drug rumours were so funny and I like comedy movies. I'm fairly good at cooking, which is wrong because as students aren't we supposed to live of takeouts?' she said. She supposed that rounded her up a little. It was really great that this girl was actually giving her the benefit of the doubt and having the time of day to actually get to know her before judging her.

'A movie would be great,' she said realising that she had no plans for tomorrow. 'I'm not a huge fan of horror, but other than that I have no preference,' she said, though somehow Ashley didn't look like a big horror fan, though she couldn't be sure. 'Shopping sounds good too, thoughI'm useless at it, so ...you can teach me?' she said. It sounded weird. She must have been the only girl in the existance of humanity who didn't know anyting about shopping. It was weird, Acacia was really looking forward to their trip out, yet if you'd have told her an hour ago that she'd have a friend who was in a completely different clique to her, she'd have merely laughed, yet here she was.

She looked round at the big clock in the cafeteria, she knew the bell would ring any minute. She had art next, which was always a good end to the day. 'What have you got next?' she asked, referring to Ashley's lesson.

[Ashley Palmer]

Ashley let out a slight laugh. So Acacia didn't like horror
movies, that was something else she had learned about her
new friend. "I enjoy them once in a while, but I'm more for
comedy." she explained. Just living in Haddonfield was like
a horror movie sometimes. The joys of having your own
serial killer in town.

Sure, things got crazy around halloween, but Ashley wondered
if Michael Myers would ever just go on a rampage, not caring
about what time of the year it was. Now there, was a frightening
thought. Ashley felt her heart beat a little quicker. She shook
the thought away. She was over-reacting. She looked over at
Acacia, raising an eyebrow as the girl mentioned she didn't know
much about shopping.

"Are you kidding?! I am like, the shopping queen." Ashley said
matter-of-factly. It was true. If there was one thing Ashley was
REALLY good at, it was shopping. She went at least twice a week.
"I can definately show you the ropes." she said with a smirk.
She looked up as the bell rang. Lunch was over. Ashley grabbed
her things and stood. "It was nice sitting with you." she told
Acacia.

"I have study hall now. How about you?" she asked the other
girl, as she slung her bookbag over her shoulder. "If you want,
do you wanna meet up at my locker after school? I'm by the
library. The green section." she said. That section of the lockers
were painted a bright green. Ashley thought color coding the
lockers by what section of the school they were in, was clever.

[Acacia Black]

Acacia breathed an internal sigh of relief, she was glad she wouldn't be subjected to night of the living zombie mutant slashers, of whatever the latest flick was.

Acacia hoped she'd done the right thing by entrusting herself into the hands of the shopping queen. Heck, what was the worst that could happen? She might learn something after all. She was not going to let her new friend clad her in pink though, she liked Ashley, but not that much.

'Art,' she said, gesturing to her sketch pad that was on the table underneath her bag. She nodded as she said about meeting at the lockers. 'Mine is just down the hall, so I'll go to mine first and then see you at yours?' she said. She didn't want Ashley to think she'd been stood up, if Acacia was running a little late.

'I guess I'll see you then,' she said with a smile, as she slung her backpack over her shoulder, and put hr sketch pad under her arm. As she got out of her seat, she realised that Ashley's usual lunchmates were still looking over. She turned away, she wasn't about to give them the satisfaction of looking over.

[Ashley Palmer]

done thread?