Event Private Tenebrae

Kada

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Student Council Elections.
Before Tuesday, March 10, 2020.

Jasmine had been distracting herself from the darker thoughts in her head with the school elections. She wasn't participating, of course, but listening to and reading the stuff from the different candidates was a good way to take her mental focus off of herself. Voting was a small thing comparatively, but it was a way that she could feel useful to the people around her and it had the benefit of letting her go unnoticed for it. No praise or damnation for her decision as long as she just quietly kept her voting preferences to herself. It was perfect, or very near to it.

She was sitting in the student lounge, tucked away in the corner where she wouldn't disturb anyone while she read her Bible. Or, at least she wouldn't get berated for being religious in a public space. Really though it was an excuse to people watch, to validate the knowledge that despite the dozen or more people around her at most any given time, she was alone. And she was. Eric seemed to spend less and less time with her. The other Enigmas had completely cut her off after Risky had pointed out to everyone that she had tried to take Monday's place.

She'd been stuck on the same passage for a while, reading it over and over again. Psalm 73:26, 'My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.' She was too distracted by the goings on around her, especially the girl who was campaigning for student council. Jasmine would read the passage, then find her eyes wandering to her. Bel, she thought she remembered her name being. One of the cheerleaders. Jasmine had seen her at the games she'd been to to cheer on Eric. And then Jasmine's thoughts would wander to things she really would have rather not thought about, and she would return to the passage to try reading it again. Rinse. Repeat.

 

Zora

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While talking to a small group of students about her campaign ideas and platform, Bel felt a familiar niggling and pull on her thoughts. It was slightly distracting as the thoughts seemed oppressive in nature, but what was more was that it had been quite a while since she had felt her empathy kick in like it was right now.

Whomever was pinging her empathy was fully human - something Bel didn't often encounter at the school - she only knew a handful at Starlight. Almost everyone seemed to have some sort of ability... even Azucena, her supposedly non-magical friend was magical, though she refused to believe Bel.

"I gotta go," she told the group, quickly excusing herself as she looked around the library - actually concerned now as the whispers of Bible passages mixed with feelings that moved from slightly pessimistic to curious to self-defeating - flooded her.

Finally locating the source, Bel was surprised when she saw who it was... Eric's girlfriend. She had seen her at games and in the halls with him.

"Hey... You're Eric's girlfriend, no?" Bel asked all smiles as she approached the table, hiding the fact she could feel what Jasmine was feeling and hear her thoughts - all of which had the goddess frankly a little concerned.
 

Kada

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Jasmine looked at her book quickly as she noticed Bel approaching, wanting to look like she hadn't been staring. A brief memory of short skirts flipped through her head and she dispelled it quickly by subtly digging her fingernails into her wrist underneath the book in her lap.

"Oh hey, yeah." She smiled as she looked back up at Bel, trying to focus on her words and not the intrusive desire to run away. "That's me. I'm Jasmine. You're, ah... I've seen you with the cheerleaders. And you're running for student council. Bel, right? What's up?"
 

Zora

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As she greeted her, Bel could sense almost immediately "the cat caught in a corner and wanting to flee" feeling from Jasmine and deliberately took a small step to the side and back as she made to lean casually against a table. She was purposely trying to set Jasmine at ease by not crowding her.

"That's me," Bel smiled. "Celtic Goddess of Spring, head cheer squad leader and, hopefully, student council president," she remarked, her tone friendly and welcoming.

"I just noticed you sitting here earlier," she half-lied. Bel hadn't actually noticed her right away, not until she got close enough to sense Jasmine's wild emotions, and then she couldn't help but pay attention to her.

"And I dunno, you just seemed kinda interested," Bel remarked amiably. "Have you ever been involved in school politics?" she asked curiously.
 

Kada

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Jasmine felt her cheeks warm when Bel asked her if she was interested, and flushed even more with embarrassment when she realized what she actually meant. The elections. "A-ah. Yeah those. I was never on the student council back home, no. I was always kind of busy with boy -" she cleared her throat, feeling like her tongue was going to stick to the roof of her mouth.

"Boy Scouts. I was a Boy scout back home. Even though I'm a girl. There wasn't a Girl Scout troop. My dad wrote a letter to get them to let me in."

Okay she was rambling. Stupid stupid stupid. Jasmine feigned a smile up at Bel and closed her Bible to leave it in her lap. "So you're running for president? What, ah, are you running on? Like, platform-wise."
 

Zora

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All that was interesting, very interesting actually. Bel had not met too many girls that wanted to be part of a group that was traditionally for boys; and she was about to say so when Jasmine, not unsurprising, suddenly changed topics on her.

"Platform-wise I am running on inclusivity and tolerance. I hope to petition for more funds to set up more afterschool activities and events that promote school spirit, unity, inclusiveness, and tolerance."

"I also know that a lot of DCA students sort of felt sidelined, that there were not enough programs or initiatives to help get them up to speed, and I think that maybe we need some sort of welcoming committee to handle all that," she explained as she hopped up on the table and dangled her bare legs while remembering what Sidney had told her when they were making posters together.
 

Kada

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"A-ah," was all Jasmine managed at first, blinking back her initial confusion when Bel rattled off her platform. She focused herself firmly on Bel's face, chewing over the information in her head before nodding.

"That sounds nice. I know that I had a hard time adjusting here when I first arrived. I probably would have been pretty lost if I hadn't had my friends here with me," she lied as easily as anything else. Or, really, it wasn't a lie so much as it was a carefully curated untruth. The kind of thing Jasmine told herself so that she wouldn't have to face just how alone she was here.

"What kinds of things would your, ah, welcome committee do?"
 

Zora

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Staring at Jasmine as she talked, Bel tried hard not to flinch at the girl's thoughts and feelings. Her lies and loneliness were palpable, and it tore at Bel when she saw how badly Jasmine tried to hide it from the world. In fact, Bel now began to wonder who else felt as lonely as she did. Were there others that felt like Jasmine did?

"That's really nice actually. You're lucky to have a circle of friends you can count on," Bel stated, keeping her tone friendly despite knowing the truth.

"Well," Bel started as she pushed her hair back over her shoulder. "I was thinking that a tour of the island, as well as the school, might be a good idea. I know some DCA students felt lost with having to adapt to so much technology and change."

"Als,o a buddy-buddy system might help with that too. Pair a student who has been here a while with a newcomer," Bel said as she crossed her legs and cupped her one knee. "Since so many of us come here alone, I thought that maybe having someone to call on would help with that overwhelming feeling that comes with adjusting to a new place."
 

Kada

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Jasmine nodded along, actually finding it easier to listen in now and actually think about what Bel was saying. "Oh yeah, that makes sense. One person whose job it is to answer questions for a particular new person."

She could have used that when she had first arrived, after all. Maybe it would have saved her some heartache or grief. "So many people here are socially responsible. It's really strange to see, looking back to how home was."

The fact that Jasmine had a half-cocked conspiracy theory that all of this was some elaborate plot by the demons to make her out her guard down, and that she might actually just be dead and in hell, she did not share.
 

Zora

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Even though Bel still got weirdly mixed emotional pings off Jasmine along with snippets of stuff above demons, - she noticed that, thankfully, Jasmine was becoming less agitated as they talked.

"Exactly that," Bel remarked with a smile when Jasmine appeared to understand her platform. Listening then to her talk, Bel gave Jasmine her full attention.

"In what way is the Island more socially responsible?" Bel hadn't a clue where Jasmine was from. She spoke English, and Bel knew she was from the group the Enigmas... that got bandied around, but she didn't actually know where she was from.
 
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