ArchivedLogs:Other Girls

Other Girls
Dramatis Personae Allison, Mina, Nessie	2017-09-05 "Hopefully the prize is a lack of catty drama."
Location <XS> Allison, Mina, and Nessie's Dorm - FL2
The influx of new students this year has led to a bit of overcrowding at Xavier's, and it is starting to show in the dorm arrangements, many rooms like this one refitted for three students where they had once been built for only two. The standard two closets have been joined by a large armoire against one wall; three dressers have been moved in, three desks. A set of bunk beds on the left side, a lofted twin with its desk underneath it on the right. Though the side of the room with the bunk beds is pristine and neat still, awaiting its occupants, the side with the lofted bed has experienced an explosion of color. Bright floral sarongs hang down from the loft, curtaining off the desk beneath into its own private nook that has been liberally decorated with photographs, an eclectic mix of artwork, stuffed toys, knickknacks. The desk itself is a cluttered mess, the armoire as well, its occupants' belongings in a perpetual state of disarray. There are a number of potted plants -- by the desk, by the window, hanging -- in various stages of growth and flowering; aloe, cordyline, bird-of-paradise, a couple bromeliads, adding still more verdant brightness to the room. It's bright and early, and campus is still /moderately/ quiet -- though there's a growing general air of anticipation as the relative stillness of summer break is broken up by the incoming trickle -- likely soon to be a rush -- of new students arriving. Mina is not one of those, comfortably settled in and just making her way back into the room right now. Her long dark hair is damp from a recent shower and she's barefoot, dressed in a flowing asymettrically-hemmed white skirt and a floral pink halter top, a bowl of oatmeal (heavily doctored with fruits and syrup) in her hand and a glass of OJ in the other. She's humming as she breezes through the room, something upbeat if likely unidentifiable, heading over to tuck the draperies under her bed back like an open curtain, drag her desk chair out from the desk, whirl it over to a window to throw /that/ open wide and sit beneath it to eat her breakfast. Having visited the campus a few times to snoop around, Allison is now officially moving in. She had driven her pearl white Tesla X to the campus by herself, her father having elected to stay home. That was an awkward good-bye over breakfast. As she pushes a cart down the hallway towards the room who's number is on a pink post-it note, the popstarlet has been stopped several times throughout her journey to sign autographs, take pictures and to pass out a few hugs to excited young mutants who have a celebrity for a classmate. Today she's wearing a pair of snug flex skinny jeans with destroy along the knees and a Knicks jersey over a white t-shirt. Her guitar is over one shoulder as well, covered in stickers of her favorite bands and autographed by several other artists during her tours as an opener. Lightly knocking on the door, she nudges it open and pokes her head inside after glancing at the number again. "Hi!" She calls out at the sight of Mina, nudging the cart filled with a couple of suitcases and knick knacks inside. "I'm Allison." She shrugs the guitar off and puts it gently against the wall, giving a quick glance about for a moment as she takes in a deep, nervous breath. "Wow. So, this is like .. real." Mina glances up, a bright smile spreading quick across her face. "Oh! It's you! I mean of /course/ it's you I got the roommate assignments, I /knew/ -- um but oh! Sorry," she's setting her bowl and mug down on the windowsill, hopping to her feet quickly to try and clean up some of the mess that has been scattered around the room -- drop a pair of undies and a skirt into a hamper, push some sandals vaguely into a... sort of... pile... okay, she's not trying very /hard/. "I've kind of /spread out/ I didn't mean to -- oh but it's exciting getting roommates! It's been quiet here just me. I mean not /just/ me there's been other kids around but not /here/ here and it's quieter than I'm /used/ to and -- hi," she finally interrupts her spill of gush to add, "I'm Mina. If you think this is a lot you should see the grounds. Did you know they have /horses/?" "Hey Mina. It's really cool to meet you. Don't worry about the spreading. I don't mind. Which bed did you claim as yours? I see we got a bunk and a single." Allison chews on her lip as she gives a look at the bed situation. "I feel like this is one of those reality TV show tests. To see how well three girls can get along. Who will choose the solo bed and who will choose the top? Hopefully the prize is a lack of catty drama. I'll sleep on the floor at this rate." She says with a laugh. "They have horses? That's really cool. I've never rode one. Except for one of those mini ponies when I was like five or something at the zoo." Tucking some blonde hair behind her ear, she gives a grin. "Wow, you are ... really .. buff. Are you a body builder? If so, want to be my work out buddy? I usually get up at five am to run a few miles but now that I got roomies I can chill that out. I don't want to wake anyone up." There is a soft clicking outside the door that stops -- hesitates -- clicks again -- hesitates. Eventually, though, the door does open. Outside it, Nessie doesn't /look/ much like she's moving in -- she isn't toting any luggage, just a worn old backpack that doesn't seem to be holding much in it, a standard-issue Welcome Packet folder held in one hand. Dressed only in a plain (and also very worn and faded) blue polo shirt from beneath which a segmented pincered pair of arms is fidgeting -- with each other, with the hem of her shirt -- it's probably hard to read at first glance (or second, or third) much of anything by way of /gender/ in her flat and lean-muscled torso. /Certainly/ not easy to read in the hard-shelled spike-tailed scorpion-esque thorax that she walks on. She bites her lip, looking with an uncertain frown from one girl to the other and then holding her folder a little closer to her chest. "Oh, that one's me. I can move if you want it." Mina points to the lofted bed, sliding back across the room to flump down into her chair. She scoops back up her orange juice, taking a deep gulp. "Were you planning on bringing catty drama? I didn't pack any of that," she answers Allison blithely. "I don't know who /would/ unless you buy into really gross sexist stereotypes of how /teenage girls/ are supposed to be. I mean let's face it in the movie version of this you'd probably be the Queen Bee around here, I'm calling it first day." Mina's free hand is fluttering towards Allison's tour-decorated guitar, moreso than Allison herself. "I've grown up around tons of girls my whole life, it's been /pretty/ drama-free." The question about working out pulls her brows into a frown; now she /does/ look over Allison, before looking back down to herself, one leg tucking up under her. "Um --" But she doesn't actually answer this question. The door opens and she freezes, glass halfway back to her mouth (though thankfully she hasn't yet taken another sip) when Nessie opens it and stands outside. "Oh!" Wider-eyed, but exhaling slowly after, "Oh, um, are you -- lost?" "I'm from Long Island and believe me, the girls there are all drama. Not me though. I'm just some boring girl who got lucky on a TV show. I don't want to be the Queen Bee or a Wasp or a Hornet. I'd rather be a butterfly. They don't sting and got pretty colors." Allison says as she gives a look to the lofted bed, then says, "I can take the bottom. It's not a big deal. At least this way if I go jogging, I can just sneak out. This is just gonna be so weird. Being at a new school. After I kinda came out of my mutant closet, all of my friends sorta did some nasty things to my locker and I got a Glee slushie thrown in my face. I didn't know that was a thing." She chews on her bottom lip. "So, yeah ... I'm totally down in being boring. But if you want to Facetime with Taylor Swift, let me know, I can make that happen. She's still cool with me being a walking night light." When the door opens, she finds herself blinking at the sight of Nessie. There is a mix of emotions upon her face for a few seconds before she says, "Hi! I'm Allison and this is Mina. Are you our third?" Nessie's eyes have opened wider, her arm tightening as she clickclicks a couple steps back. Eventually her shoulders settle, though, and she pulls in a deeper breath. "I'm not lost. I'm -- assigned here." A little bit resigned as she slips in, finally, closing the door gently behind herself and looking around the room. "Did you all. Pick your beds already?" She's looking away from the other girls now, glancing to Mina's colorful single loft and then the pair of bunk beds. As an afterthought, curious, "/Are/ you a butterfly?" Her eyes -- one pair of them, anyway -- have turned back to Allison. Mina's hand lifts to her mouth, knuckles pressing there, eyes slightly wider and a smile half-hidden behind her hand. It setles down from amused to polite again as she looks back to Nessie -- "Oh! /Vanessa/. Nessie. Of /course/. My bad I'm /so/ sorry I didn't mean to -- of course come in ummm." Her leg is bouncing, kind of jittery, tongue flicking with a touch of apprehension over her lips. "I have that loft and I think Allison was going to take the bottom bunk?" Shrug. "But you can have the single if you want I don't mind moving." She picks her oatmeal back up, diving into it again with a healthy appetite. "Well it's good to hear," she continues cheerfully, "that you're not like other girls, or maybe we'd have problems in here. I have /no/ idea what this new-school vibe is going to be like. Boarding school seems like -- /such/ a different beast than I'm used to." "Nope. I'm not a butterfly. We were talking about girl social dynamics of high school. You know, there's always that one girl who is super popular and she's sorta a bitch to everyone behind their back and always walking about the halls with their nose up? Just saying I'm not that girl." Allison says with an amused grin on her face. "If you'd rather the bottom bunk, I can take the top also. I don't mind. Will the bottom be easier for you?" She asks politely as she heads to her cart and takes out a snow globe from one of her bags, then head to the window and puts it on the sill. It looks like there is the castle from Disney Land in the middle of it. "/Is/ there?" Nessie seems mildly dubious. "I guess you'd know better. And yeah, Vanessa. Technically. I just use Nessie mostly." She hasn't moved from her position by the door, eyes still darting restlessly around the room. Her shoulders are faintly tenser, and her mumbling is somewhat apologetic: "People from around here might get uncomfortable. If you say the s... sorry," she has to force herself to say, "word a lot." After some consideration, less mumbled but /still/ kind of apologetic: "I don't think I'll fit on the top beds." With a small awkward shift of many feet, she looks back to Allison. "Um. You're that singer, right?" Mina coughs slightly on her oatmeal, washes it down with a gulp of juice. Dabs briefly at the corner of her eyes with a knuckle after she's caught herself from the spluttering. "The s... oh! So --" Her eyes fly open wider and she stops herself with an embarrassed /squeak/. "/Right/. That zombie thing, right? That didn't really get as far as... us. I'm not used to -- anyway I'll get used to it. Do you just never apologize anymore? No, wait, that's dumb. I could say something else." Frown. "Like gomen? Other languages, that's fine, right?" Her head shakes, and she scoops the last of her oatmeal from her bowl. Earnest and bright to Nessie: "She knows Taylor Swift." "What about saying my bad?" Allison asks as she rubs the back of her neck awkwardly for a moment. "I can take the top bunk. No biggie. I'll just do my jogging at night instead. Nothing wrong in changing up one's routine, right? Change is healthy." Heading over to one of the dressers that is not claimed, she begins to unpack her clothing, setting them neatly into color coordinated piles. Undies on the top, whites to darks, followed by shirts in the middle and jeans on the bottom. "But yeah, I'm that singer girl. I just have one song and an album that's unfinished because Sony kicked me off the label because I glow. So, I guess I'm now that washed up singer who's just a high school girl again. I'm a one hit wonder." After finishing with the clothes, she picks out a desk and starts setting it up with her notebooks. Tons of notebooks. Nessie nods toward Allison. "Mhmm. There's different ways to apologize in English that aren't -- that word. Or other languages." Another shrug. She's watching Allison unpack for a moment, fidgeting with the strap of her own backpack. "Um. Is there still breakfast? It looks like they've got a pretty full schedule of, um." Her nose wrinkles up. "Orientating for us. Two whole /days/ who needs that much orient?" One of her lower pincer-arms flicks out toward Mina's empty bowl. "Do you want me to take that down for you? I want to go -- find some food anyway before they make us sit in talks all day." "Okayokay I'll remember." Mina's face screws up intently. COMMITTING TO MEMORY. "That sucks about Sony. Maybe you could find an indie label that'll take you? Or self-publish? Or talk to some other mutant who's working in the industry and see how they --" Her mouth twists to one side. "I guess that's not a /lot/ of options, huh?" She hops down out of her chair again, bright-smiled once more, a moment later. "No worries! I want more anyway. They have /so/ much food I'm sure they can't have cleared it up yet people will probably be rolling in for a while yet. And they are not messing around with their breakfast spread." Excited, bouncy, she trots toward the door, holding it open for Nessie. "Good to meet you!" she chirrups to Allison. "I can /totally/ bring you back breakfast if you want to unpack!" "I was thinking of doing the Indie route. Making my own label, one that is mutant exclusive and can give rising stars in our own community a voice. My dad's a lawyer and was looking into a work around." Allison says as she pauses in her unpacking. "I can go with you guys if you want." She says as she rubs the back of her neck for a moment. "I already had breakfast before I came down but I don't mind hanging out with you two and meeting some others." "I know at least one who's local," Nessie volunteers uncertainly. "Some of my friends are friends with him." Another uncertain shrug. She clutches tighter at her folder, her largest pair of eyes opening just a little wider as the other girls join in with her. "Oh! Um --" Her head dips, body lowering slightly as she skitters out the door. "Breakfast it is, then."