Romi

Secretly a Bird
Administrator
Supporter
Jun 18, 2015
10,109
Gender
Female
Pronouns
She/Her
Posting Status
Irregularly
Angelo had heard about the video.

He was pretty sure everyone had heard about the video, and plenty more had seen it. He guessed that was probably the point. Whoever had released it had definitely waited until the optimum time, because picking speech day--right when elections were really kicking off--to release a video that was obviously shot at least on the weekend was...

Well, it was obvious. They wanted Aisha out of the running.

Angelo couldn't really begrudge her for it. She wasn't exactly his kind of person--the idea of getting wasted at a party was repulsive to him--but he wasn't going to judge her for it considering what it definitely entailed. He hadn't heard anything official, but he'd have been shocked if she was still considered an election candidate. Regardless of what she was doing with the guys (sleeping around wasn't exactly a school-actionable offense), underage drinking was a pretty big issue at the school, and there was no way the school was going to let a candidate who'd been caught doing just that sit on the council.

He hadn't intended to search Aisha out. Not really. That hadn't been the plan. But a favor had been called in, and Angelo had found himself following a sparrow around the back of the academy, and there she was: Aisha Splendens, sitting on the ground crying.

It was not a happy site, and for a moment, Angelo kept his distance, pausing where he'd first seen her.

"...Aisha?"
 
Last edited:

Sashi

Cinnabun Yandere
Inactive
Jun 26, 2015
1,569
uuuhh
Pronouns
She and Her
Posting Status
Irregularly
Sure enough, Aisha was on the floor crying her eyes out. She didn't have the strength to even get to a chair. The officials just informed her of the video and her disqualification. They at least tried to put it to her gently, but the damage was done. She felt utterly humiliated. All those posters she put up, the speech she stressed herself over on (and likely had Sprinkles review), and her campaign plans were all for naught. To make matters worse, she was at risk of losing her spot on the cheer squad too. Nevermind all of the awful commentary from her peers.

"What do you want?" She snapped with very little venom in her tone. She couldn't bring out her bitchy side. "Did you come to laugh at me?"

@Romi
 

Romi

Secretly a Bird
Administrator
Supporter
Jun 18, 2015
10,109
Gender
Female
Pronouns
She/Her
Posting Status
Irregularly
Angelo gave the briefest glances to the sparrow he'd followed around the back of the school, and then stepped forward.

"No. I mean - I wouldn't laugh at you either way. I think what happens to you kind of blows, honestly."

He didn't normally say things like kind of blows, but he felt like the circumstances called for it. He scooted over, bending down beside her if only to make it so that he wasn't speaking to her from several feet away.

"I'm sorry about what happened. Do you... do you know who did it?" He suspected she had at least some idea.
 

Sashi

Cinnabun Yandere
Inactive
Jun 26, 2015
1,569
uuuhh
Pronouns
She and Her
Posting Status
Irregularly
Aisha mellowed out as she heard the intent in his words and voice. He wasn't going to hurt her. Well, not like he really could hurt her anymore than she already was, so she thought. Her hands moved away from her face to reveal the terrible state of her makeup. Eyeliner dripped down her cheeks; her lip gloss was completely smudged. She blinked.

"Well...I have one person in mind, but I have no proof." She rubbed at her eyes. "I think it might've been that creep Greg, but I know I have a bunch of people that don't like me....I just think it's him because well, like..." She made incomprehensible hand gestures and sighed. "He's totally a freak! I can't tell if he's like, still mad about months ago or if he like wants to bone me." A shiver coursed through the mermaid's body. The latter especially bothered her.

"I was so drunk, I don't even remember doing most of those things...."

@Romi
 

Romi

Secretly a Bird
Administrator
Supporter
Jun 18, 2015
10,109
Gender
Female
Pronouns
She/Her
Posting Status
Irregularly
Oh boy. Calling her a mess would have been a very nice way of putting it, and Angelo winced despite himself at her appearance. She needed... he didn't know. A hot bath? A warm bed? Something. She definitely needed something, and he considered texting Sprinkles for a moment before deciding that Aisha would probably appreciate no one else having to see her like that.

She seemed like the kind of person who cared about appearances a lot.

"Sounds like it could have been a lot of people. Maybe him, maybe someone else. But..."

He didn't want to lecture. He really didn't want to lecture. He was mentally repeating to himself, over and over again, do not lecture. She'd already lost her chance on the council. Wasn't that enough?

"Hopefully the school isn't too harsh on you for the, uh, drinking thing. I feel like you've already kind of suffered the consequences, and you're almost eighteen anyway." Or close enough. Wasn't she supposed to be a senior? Or almost a junior?
 

Sashi

Cinnabun Yandere
Inactive
Jun 26, 2015
1,569
uuuhh
Pronouns
She and Her
Posting Status
Irregularly
Aisha nodded. "I am almost eighteen....I know it's wrong, but I do it to, like, chill. It's easy to not feel sad or angry when you're totally wasted." She rubbed her arm and looked down at the ground. "We're not supposed to have or, like, express feelings at home. It makes you weak. So now I don't know how to deal with all of these emotions. I just want them to go away....it's hard enough trying to change. Trying to be like how this stupid society likes people as."

Her hands began rubbing at her eyes. "I think Valli called it like culture shock or something. I don't know, I just want to fit in. Have friends. And maybe...." She put her hands down. "Not be the monster that I am anymore." The poor girl was convinced she was a terrible person. Her parents' terrible monster that preyed on weaklings and shoved them down for her gain. That used manipulative, bullying tactics to get by. To think she was going about the election in a honest manner like everyone else, and then this happens. The very first competition she didn't and wasn't going to cheat at, and she was disqualified.

That's why it broke her heart. Not because she wasn't going to be President, but because her efforts at being a better person felt like nothing. Out of the various slaps she endured trying to be nice, this was the biggest one.

@Romi
 

Romi

Secretly a Bird
Administrator
Supporter
Jun 18, 2015
10,109
Gender
Female
Pronouns
She/Her
Posting Status
Irregularly
It was familiar. It shouldn't have been, but it was. The situations weren't exactly the same, but it was hard not to see shades of Broen in Aisha's situation. Angelo had already known the general vibe based on what she'd said in the past, but hearing it all laid out so clearly...

"I had a friend who had something kind of similar," Angelo said, pausing for a moment before finally just sitting down. "Before he came here... well, to simplify he couldn't really do the emotional thing. After he came here, he could, and all of a sudden he had to deal with years and years of emotions he hadn't felt. Sadness. Guilt. Anger. He had to sort through them all, and learn how each one felt, and learn how to appropriately deal with those emotions. It was... hard. He had a lot of issues. He still does, actually."

There was a pang of sadness that Angelo tried to hide as he wondered if the reason Broen had left was that he was still dealing with the consequences of all that.

"But I think he was happier for it. He has friends now. Real friends, who will have his back. Who trust him, and who he trusts in return. People are mostly being metaphorical when they say they'll die for their friends, but it still feels good knowing someone has your back."

Clan mentality.

"You're not a monster. You're someone who was raised in a totally different environment, who grew up under different standards. But you're already trying to make things better, right? Just... sometimes there's setbacks. Sometimes things are harder than you thought they'd be."
 

Sashi

Cinnabun Yandere
Inactive
Jun 26, 2015
1,569
uuuhh
Pronouns
She and Her
Posting Status
Irregularly
Aisha blinked in shock at the story. There was someone like her? It shouldn't have been a surprise, but it was. She found herself feeling comforted by that. However, it also sparked her curiosity. Who was he? What was his name? Where could she find him? She had numerous questions about this friend of Jude's. However, she kept it light. "It'd be nice to meet him...." She admitted. Her hand felt about her face. She didn't want to look at a mirror right now.

Her gaze returned to Jude. "Yeah, it's been totally hard. But...maybe it was for the best. You deserve that presidency more than me." She sniffled, feeling her nose about to drip. She didn't want to be gross and wipe it with her hand, but she didn't have tissues either. "Thanks...sometimes I feel like super lonely." She didn't realize it, but there were a number of people that got her act. That understood where she was coming from. She actually had allies of her own.

She just needed to open up more. Be a little more real.

@Romi
 

Romi

Secretly a Bird
Administrator
Supporter
Jun 18, 2015
10,109
Gender
Female
Pronouns
She/Her
Posting Status
Irregularly
Unfortunately for Aisha, he wasn't around, and after a moment he shook his head.

"He's not around now," Angelo admitted. "And I think he'd kick my ass for using him as an example in this case."

Broen was definitely not the sort of person who wanted to be used as an example.

But he noticed her wiping at her face and paused, reaching up with his left hand. For a moment his left hand seemed to just vanish into a distortion in the air, and then a moment later reappeared, holding what was obviously a face cloth, which he held out to her.

Probably better than using her hands.

"Here," he said. "You're not the only one. I think a lot of people here feel lonely... a lot. A lot of people are away from the lives they've known. Friends and family. And making new ones is... easier said than done."

Easy enough to say that they should make friends, but actually making them was a whole other thing.
 

Sashi

Cinnabun Yandere
Inactive
Jun 26, 2015
1,569
uuuhh
Pronouns
She and Her
Posting Status
Irregularly
Aisha expressed disappointment at Broen's departure. Someone like him could've maybe helped her make sense of something here. She reached over to take the cloth. "Thanks..." She mumbled as she wiped her face clean. "I already made the wrong kind of friends, and it put me two steps back before I could even leave the starting line. I don't know how Sprinkles stands me." She sniffled then blew her nose.

Now out of tears and mostly relaxed, she leaned up against the wall. "Sprinkles....I don't know if he knows yet. Of course, everyone else already seems to know. And they don't mind sharing it."

@Romi
 
Forgot your password?