Spring Ball Trouble 4/7: Thursday Morning

Another day in the life of Eileen Hieron, artist, singer, gamer, football/ soccer fan and fashionista.

There were a few things I had to change and seriously deviate from the game to make things work a little. In the game all of the guys invite Eileen to go out on Thursday evening (with an exception of Alan, who simply says "sometime"); even if she agrees to go to their event(s) though, it's implied she and Wendy go dress-shopping that afternoon/ evening. To compensate, I exercised artistic freedom and gave them a day off to go shop.  (Also because I was too lazy to write an entire other day and make the ball take place on Saturday.)
This is also why there are 7 parts to this story: Thursday and Friday are divided into two parts each.

Also, I felt the responses were a little odd at times. I didn't want to change the dialogue too much so I would combine responses and make up reasons for things. There were also points when I felt obligated to include more talk; occasionally such discourse seemed very continuous and in-character, but at other times I felt like the characters were walking, talking dolls that spoke in way too many exclamations. Hopefully everything is smoother :)

Meanwhile:
Louis: I give up. I'll wait until Nick gets back and team up with him to beat the Markordalemon boss. Let's see what's on tv. ...Oh look, Casayo, it's that one show about us!
Casayo: More like my sister.
Louis: Yah. I deserve more screen-time.
Jason: Page-time.
Casayo: Let's just watch.
Jason: Vanilla latte anyone?

. . .

I was at school early again the next morning, though with slightly more sleep. Yet I still couldn’t find Kenneth hanging around in the classroom. Could he be absent today as well? 

I sighed in disappointment and took the karaoke contest application form out. “Well, why not? Go for it, Eileen,” I told myself and took out a pen to fill it out. 

I was trying to remember my brother’s apartment’s address when a voice caught me by surprise. “Hi there, singing girl! What’cha up to?”

I smiled at Kenneth, who had appeared next to my desk, but before I could respond, the mean cheerleader that had apprehended me a few times before appeared between us. 

“Hi Kenny-poo! Did you do your homework?”

Daww, this girl again. She’s always so rude. I must do something or else she might spoil the whole conversation! Let’s try to do it this way then…

“I beg your pardon, but we’re talking here. Please don’t interrupt.”

The girl stared down her nose at me. “Leave the guys from our school alone!” she declared snobbishly. “You’re not from here.”

“Leave US alone, Iris,” Kenneth retorted. She eyed him curiously, and I might have seen some surprise and incredulity in her expression. Kenneth held her gaze and finally she peered at me with a mix of disdain and curiosity before leaving. 

“Whatever,” she huffed over her shoulder. 

 Kenneth turned to me concernedly. “Are ya ok? Don’t worry about her. She’s just incredibly nosy.”

“I’m ok. Thank you for the help!”

A pause when neither of us said anything. “…You asked me what I was up to…”

He laughed, and all tension from the rude girl’s interruption dissipated. “Yeah, What’cha up to again?”

I showed him the form. “I found some info on the Karaoke contest next week. I’m filling the application form right now.”

He glanced over it and recognition registered on his face. “Awesome! If ya enter I’ll come to cheer ya on!”

I smiled. “Thanks!”

He watched me pen in “singing, drawing, reading” under “hobbies” for a while before asking, “So, how d’ya like our school?”

I looked up and thought for a moment. “I quite like it. The people here are nice and supportive.

“I like it here too. I’d like it more if there weren’t so much homework, he said with that cute smile. 

 “Plus,” I added with a grin. “I was looking forward to coming to this particular school ‘cause I knew your band plays here.” I added a wink for good measure.

His ears turned a little pink. “I know you’re joking but it’s nice. Thanks! You’re a cool girl. Oh! I forgot to tell ya. We’re having a small jam at the Cactus Club tonight. Wanna come?”

I briefly wondered if it was smart to schedule something else this evening but finally nodded enthusiastically. “With pleasure! I love listening to bands playing live!”

“Let’s meet at 7 at the school gate. It’s not far from here, but I need to show ya the way.”

At that moment the teacher walked in and almost immediately started the lesson. At the end of class, Kenneth reminded, “Remember, 7 at the school gate! See ya there!”

I allowed myself a small “yippiee!” He seemed to like me a lot! Plus, I’d be able to ask him about the Tale of the Darkest Star references in their album later in the evening.

On the way out the girl that had interrupted us stopped me again and gave me a little warning glance. “Remember. No dance,” she said to me, quietly but clearly. With that ominous reminder she shouldered past me and into the throng of students heading to lunch. 

Who was that rude girl anyways? I believe Kenneth called her Iris. I need to ask Wendy. 

“So,” Wendy asked when she met up with me at our usual table. “You met our Miss Perfect?”

I greeted her with a little wave and swallowed a spoonful of fried rice before answering, “Was her name Iris?” 

“Yes. She’s a cheerleader,” she continued, confirming what I saw yesterday,” and totally spoiled…” she looked pensive for a moment. “For some reason.” Wendy shook her head. “She’s annoying, but try to ignore her.”

“I somehow feel we aren’t going to make friends with her,” I mused. 

“Aww, poor thing,” she said with an inviting smile.

I told her about Iris’s warnings. She listened intently, and when I was finished she stared hard at her rice, pushing one grain around with her spoon. Neither of us spoke for a moment. I wondered what she was thinking. 

“I have you though,” I said lightheartedly after a moment. “And I’m sure I’ll make friends with others.”

She nodded absently. Something beyond me was definitely bothering her. 

“Wendy? Something wrong?”

She shook her head and smiled. “Nothing really. By the way, have you seen Norbert today?”

“Not yet.”

“What are you waiting for?” She asked, bolting the rest of her food down. “We’ve only got the rest of the lunch break ahead.”

I laughed, relieved she was back to her usual self and also hurried to finish eating. “Okies.”

But I was suspicious now. There was definitely something that was bothering Wendy. Was it Iris? Or did it regard the dance? What was going on?

Whatever the case, Wendy didn’t give me too much time to think about it. As soon as we were finished she threw our trash away and dragged me around the school halls to find Norbert. Where was he?

“Found him!” she whispered, pointing down a corridor. “Go get him! I’ll meet you in front of the library after afternoon classes.”

She left me on that note and I looked up at Norbert. I couldn’t suppress the smile that followed. He was so concentrated on his game that he hadn’t noticed me yet. Adorable!

“Hi! Have you already beaten that Markordalemon boss?”

“Huh?” he looked up innocently confused. “Ah, it’s you!” he recognized, and beamed. “Yeah, today morning. Gee, he was tough! Took me a few retries.”

“Agreed. I lost count of how many cures I used.”

“Oh! Were you online on Tuesday?” He looked embarrassed. “My grandma felt ill and went to the hospital. I had to be with her there and thus couldn’t catch you.”

“Ah, I see. I’d been waiting for you for three hours or so and grew worried.”

“Gee! I’m terribly sorry! Hope you aren’t mad at me!”

I shook my head and smiled. “I completely understand. Family comes first. How was she?”

“It was just a dizzy spell, thank goodness. She’s all better now. My older brother is staying at home to keep an eye on her.”

I thought about how I hadn’t seen Nick since he left the cafe on Tuesday and asked, “Would your brother happen to be Nick Ames?”

Norbert was surprised by this. “Yeah! How do you know him?”

“He and my brother share an apartment and car,” I explained. “He seemed really worried when he left. I hope your grandmother gets better soon!”

He smiled apologetically. “Thanks. I feel bad I can’t do more for her. She’s volunteered to play a few rounds with me before when Nick’s not home.” A few moments passed. “Oh, by the way, do you like fighting games?”

I grinned. “I love them! I’m getting better and better at those combos!” I laughed. “Though, that isn’t saying much because I’m still pretty terrible at them.”

He laughed as well and the mood brightened as well. “If you want I can give you a lesson or two? What about a visit to the game arcade? Let’s say today afternoon? I do want to see a girl gamer in action!”

“Okay! I hope to defeat you in three moves,” I added jokingly. 

“Challenge accepted!” The bell rang at that moment and he closed his laptop. “See you in the afternoon then! I’ll meet you in front of the school gate!”

I smiled as I headed into class. Woohohoho! Did it mean a date?

My mood sobered a little after that. Would I have time to play a few rounds with Norbert before heading to dinner with Curtis and the football team and then meet Kenneth back at school to see his band preform? Hopefully so. 

By the time I was going to the library to consult with Wendy, I was feeling almost guilty. But it couldn’t hold my mood for long. It was only early afternoon and I still had to see Alan. 

Wendy greeted me with a wide smile, all traces of her former worry gone. “Ready to meet Alan?”

“I’m looking forward to it,” I said, remembering the previous evening. I held my sketchbook tightly.

“Meanwhile, I’ll go turn in that karaoke contest application for you,” Wendy offered as we neared the library. 

“Good idea. Thanks!”

“Don’t mention it,” she said with a patient smile. “Let’s go then.”

I hesitated before entering. “I hope we won’t meet Iris…”

“Huh?” She smiled and patted me comfortingly. “Still afraid of that nosy girl?”

I shook my head in a quick denial. “Nu-uh. It’s ok.” 

“Cheer up, put your best smile on and let’s go! You’ll be great!”

I complied and entered into a land of books. I breathed in. Aww, how I love the smell of books. I could spend more time here, I thought, as I deposited my philosophy books into the return bin. But for now…where are you, Alan? I decided to search for a sci-fi section. That would be the most likely place for him, right? Along the way I picked up a few interesting looking books, but couldn’t seem to find anything else.

I spotted Alan typing away at a computer in the back of the nearly-empty library. Web browsers flickered by as fast as the internet at home worked. He seemed busy, and tired, if not frustrated…. should I try to talk to him first? Ack! While I was pondering how to approach him, he noticed me! In a few moments he had joined me by the window. 

“Hello again. You seem to do a lot of reading lately!”

I blushed, half in embarrassment at being spotted and half because his voice was just as soft and lovely as I remembered. 

“Actually I wanted to check the sci-fi section of the library,” I explained.

“Sadly, there aren’t many books of this kind here,” he informed me.

I frowned. That was a pity. 

“However, I’ve got a great deal of them at home. I can lend you some if you wish,” he added and I brightened. 

“Yes, definitely!” I remembered that he’d been typing and asked, “I’ve been wondering…Are you working on the next volume of The Tale of the Darkest Star?”

He beamed at my interest. “Yes! Actually, I’ve already written nearly 200 pages!”

“Yeah! I mean, I can’t wait to read it!” I hesitated before asking, “Do you need a beta-reader, by any chance?”

I needn’t have worried. He seemed excited by the offer as well. “Really? I’d love to listen to your opinion before publishing the book!”

“I’d be honoured to,” I replied. “200 pages though! That’s really impressive! How do you find time for writing?”

“It’s not easy, but I enjoy it so much that I can somehow find a lot of time for writing.”

So it was kind of like me and designing and sewing clothes. We just made time in the midst of our lives to get to it. Thinking of sewing reminded me of my sketchbook and I said shyly, “I got into a discussion with some friends last night about your novel…and we had a few ideas for how the characters would look…would you like to see?”

“Of course!” he replied, evidently delighted with the aspect. I flipped directly to the page with our “finalized designs” and to my delight he identified the characters quickly. I had colored them though, which probably made it a lot easier. 

“I imagined Adelaide’s hair a little shorter and a darker shade of pink, but I really like these renditions,” he responded. “Did you sketch all these designs?”

I nodded and let him flip through the other pages. He commented on some of them, noting a few in particular. Half an hour flew by without either of us noticing.

“You’ve got a few really great ideas about the clothing styles,” he noted, lingering on a page titled “Lor’ Wedding”. I blushed. I had woken up early that morning with an idea for a potential wedding dress for Adelaide, and simply had to add Sorin as the groom and Turrek as the Head Witness, the alien version of the Best Man, according to Jason. 

“This is actually pretty close to what I had in mind,” he said breathlessly, tracing a finger over my background. “The architecture is more elegant in your pictures than it was in my mind though, and I like the touch of Shakespeare you carved into the spires.” 

“Thank you,” I said shyly. “Jason mentioned that the they copied entire books of poetry on their walls. I don’t remember that in the book, but I remembered that the aliens believed words from the heart could only be expressed in poetry and thought it made enough sense, at least in this scene.” I flushed with embarrassment. What had possessed me to copy Midsummer’s Night Dream onto the page?

Alan’s eyes lit up with surprise, and his mouth formed a little “o” like mine did whenever someone unexpectedly gave me an creative idea. Alan closed the sketchbook with a pleasant smile. “The duanairi—books of poetry— weren’t  mentioned in the first book, but both are true,” he confirmed. 

He handed me back my sketchbook, but did not let go of it yet. “You’re a wonderful artist, Eileen. I never thought you could take a few of blots of ink I put on a page and transform them into an entire culture of clothing and their wearers.” He paused, hesitating, but finally admitted, “ I must go now, lots of work ahead and you’ve just given me inspiration for something I’d been thinking about…Will you come here again?”

I nodded, blushing and smiling at his praise. “But of course, I’ll probably have all my books read by tomorrow,” I said, indicating the few books I had picked up. 

“You do love books, don’t you? That’s so adorable! Ah—“ he looked away-- Was he embarrassed to say such a thing out loud? “I mean, I’d love to meet you again and talk a bit more. How about visiting the Sunny Cafe after school one day?”

“Of course,” I said, mentally relieved he hadn’t suggested that day. “I can’t wait!”

“Then until then, Miss Hieron, Yiw erjin xhihalla.”

As he returned to his computer to jot down whatever inspiration he’d picked up from me, and I went to check out my books, I realized that tomorrow this time I’d be getting ready for the spring ball…or not? Wendy, where are you?

As though right on cue, Wendy appeared to meet me just outside the library. 

“Hey—hey, you’re blushing? I guess the conversation went great?”

“Alan’s so adorable!” I said with a little mental squee,

“Did he invite you to the ball?”

That sobered me up a bit. “No,” I admitted sadly. “Actually, none of the boys said anything about the ball. Did they all forget?”

Wendy was pensive. “I hope our efforts won’t be useless.”

I closed my eyes for a mini pep talk. Even if our efforts were for naught, it wouldn’t do any good thinking like that now. If anything, I had at least met some decent people that I could continue to be friends with. But at this point, I had to keep trying. There was still a chance I could attend a dance as a participant and not just a stylist for once.

“Let’s visit Curtis,” I said finally. He may remember about the ball!”

But when we arrived at the football grounds, neither of us could find Curtis. I remembered that they would be playing in the championship game that day and hoped he was ok. Was I just unlucky that the team hadn’t arrived back yet?

Wendy had gone off to talk to someone and rejoined me presently. 

“Have you found Curtis? I haven’t!”

“No, but I met his classmate.”

I indicated for her to continue. 

“The whole football team is in another city today. They’re playing in a tournament or something.”

“Ah, it must be that big game he was talking about. They must still be away.”

It was Wendy’s turn to cheer me up. “Naw, cheer up, girl! We’ll wait until tomorrow. Somebody has to invite you to the ball!. You’re too cute!”

I appreciated the compliment. “Thanks! I guess you’re right. There’s no need to worry. We’ll see what happens tomorrow. There’s no school, so One of them is bound to think of me.”

“Exactly,” Wendy said emphatically. “Speaking of the ball, do you even have a dress?”

“Actually No..I haven’t gone shopping for a while.”

“Geez,” she said. “Let’s go and buy one. The sales have already begun.”

“I..uh…I actually promised Norbert to go to the arcade with him this afternoon. Actually, he should be waiting for me now.”

“Go on then, Eileen! We’ll go tomorrow morning,” she said with an enthusiastic push. “Tell me how it goes at dinner tonight!”

“You and Gwen are coming over again?” I asked. 

“Just me. Casayo and Louis finally convinced Jason to ask my sister out. They’ll be eating at a nice ristorante out of town tonight. I think Louis is going to microwave chicken pot pie.” She made a face. “Actually, I think I will. He’s burned it every time.”

I laughed. I could definitely see Louis burning food while distracted playing Legacy of Lords 

“Do you have any other dates tonight?”

“Dinner with the football team at the Pizza House,” I admitted. “So I guess I won’t be able to meet you at home for dinner. And Kenneth invited me to watch his band play tonight at 7:00 at the Cactus Club.”

Wendy smiled, pleased nonetheless. “Excellent. Go home before you head to the pizza parlour though, if you can. We can find something nice for you to wear to this evening’s events.”

I agreed wholeheartedly, wondering how come I hadn’t thought of that.

“Go now then, or you’ll be late meeting Norbert!”

Spring Ball Trouble 3/7: Wednesday

Another Spring Ball chapter hehe.

This is actually my favorite chapter, I think and. I really enjoyed making up stuff for the book Alan writes and the video game that Norbert plays. But at the same time I was worried that with all the fluff I was adding and talking about things would get confusing quickly. All that was mentioned about "Tale of the Darkest Star" is that it is a sci-fi novel that includes sub-space portals. I'm more of a fantasy than science fiction person, but I think my spin on it could work in either. Hopefully though, my additions enhances the story instead of detracting from it.

Also, I think I'll update the look of this blog sometime soon, while I'm slapping a few posts on here. For now though, grab a slice of pizza and join Eileen in another day of date-searching!

. . .

At Wendy’s suggestion I checked the library first the next day. As I browsed random shelves, wondering if I would be lucky today, I noticed a familiar face and backtracked. 

“Yes! This must be Alan!” I thought, watching him flip intently through a book. His caramel-colored hair was loose and casual compared to the formal photo on the book sleeve of The Tale of the Darkest Star, and his eyes were a vivid green. I hated to distract him from his book, but I had to catch his attention. 

“Excuse me, miss. I think you’ve dropped a book!”

What a soft, pleasant voice! It resembled my imagined voice of the narrator of The Tale of the Darkest Star so neatly I was tempted to greet him by his protagonist’s name, Sorin. Instead, I checked the books in my arm before accepting the “accidentally” dropped book with a shy smile. “Oh no, Clumsy me, thank you very much!”

“You’re welcome! It can happen to anyone.”

I made myself look up into his eyes as I asked, “Are you Alan, by any chance? I believe I’ve seen your face in a book!”

 “Yes, I guess that’s me,” he said with a modest smile. “Have you read my novel?”

“I read it overnight and had so much fun! I’m waiting for the sequel,” I replied enthusiastically. I didn’t need to act: I had been reading feverishly the past two nights.

 “You did? How rare! Not many girls enjoy reading sci-fi books!”

“You seem to be surrounded by fangirls though!”

He almost sighed and admitted, “It’s pleasant to a degree, I suppose, but most of them haven’t even read the book.” 

“Oh?”

“Indeed. Those few who have only comment on which pairings and ships they support. I received exactly one comment regarding the structure of the alien government and philosophy, but it was from a philosophy major in college as well as a friend. I’m rather disappointed in the feedback I’ve gotten.”

I pondered for a response to this. “Maybe they don’t understand the idea of the subspace portals? If they’re not familiar with the idea then Sorin’s trials through the highways and Adelaide’s uncanny abilities might confuse them. And if they skipped over the parts describing the subspace highways then they’d miss the main conflict in the history and functionality of the portals. I’m sure everyone understood the political and romantic lines though. The Lor’Cargon and Lor’Euqruk clans and their strifes were fairly simple to understand. I’m sure they just skipped over what they didn’t understand and focused on aspects familiar to them.“

I was worried I had said too much because he looked like he was a step away from gapping at me, but abruptly he shook his head. “Woah! You’re amazing,…! Oops, pardon me, I don’t even know your name. Are you a student of this school? I haven’t seen you around.”

“It’s Eileen. I just changed schools.” 

“That’s great! Welcome!”

We shook hands and I noticed that his hand was as soft has his voice. 

“About your hypothe—“

Whatever he was going to say was rudely cut off by the bell.

“Ah,” he said, disappointment crossing his features. “Too bad I have to go now or else I’ll miss my PE class again. I do hope to see you around soon though.”

“I should be going to English as well now. Erjin jie numonen, Pharin Alan,” I said, attempting the two-fingered alien bow and farewell: ‘May we meet again’. “I hope I pronounced that correctly?”

“Flawlessly,” he said with a smile. “Jie numenor, Sahrea Eileen. Yiw erjin xhihalla.”

It took me a moment to recall and translate that he had said “We will meet again, Miss Eileen. May you shine forever brighter”; I remembered distinctly that Turrek had said the last part to Adelaide after she saved his life; he had been paying her the respect due a “Star”. Later though, he had also mentioned it as a subtle confession of his feelings for her.

I smiled girlishly to myself. He was so sweet!

But there was no more time to dawdle in my admiration of Alan. I was nearly late! Did I have enough time to talk to Wendy before our class? Besides, where was she? I was nearing the corridor of our classroom and I still hadn’t caught sight of the blue journalist-to-be.

“Hey, freshman!”

I snapped out of my search for Wendy as the call continued. “Are you talking to me?” I asked. I recognized the girl I had tripped over my first day here. “I’m new, but I’m actually a senior,” I clarified as politely as I could. 

She ignored me. “What’s up with this silly hairstyle of yours?” she questioned, approaching me. Students rushing to class dodged out of our way, drawing as little attention to themselves as possible.

The girl was now only a few feet away from me. I was so confused. Who was she and What did she need?

“I’ll give you one last warning, new girl. You try anything at the ball and there’s going to be trouble. In fact, you better just not go.”

“I-“

“Oh, don’t think I don’t know you’re not looking for a date. I saw you talking to Curtis and Kenneth yesterday. You’d better drop out before someone gets hurt.”

I was puzzled. What did it matter to her that I was looking to go to the ball? Instead, I asked, “Was that a threat?” as calmly as I could. 

“Just a friendly suggestion,” she said, tossing her hair and strutting away to class. I shuddered and hurried to my own class. 

“Eileen, wait! There you are!” 

I paused, recognizing Wendy’s voice. “There’s no time to lose,” she said as we power-walked the rest of the way to class. “Have you talked to Alan?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty happy with that conversation.” The encounter with the mean girl vanished from my mind and I felt a little blush creep into my cheeks. This earned an approving exclamation from Wendy. 

“Perfect! Now go, we must run! Try to talk to Kenneth before the second lesson!”

“Okay!”

She winked and whispered good luck as we slipped into the classroom just as the bell rang. Perfectly on time. 

I glanced around the classroom with a feeling of relaxation and delight. I loved english lessons almost as much as I did drama practices. But…where was Kenneth? Was he going to be late? I sat down in my seat and took out my MP3 along with my notebook intent on waiting until the teacher got there. 

By lunch at 11:30 I realized that Kenneth didn’t come to school. Boo-hoo! I hoped he didn’t catch a cold or something! I had so been looking forward to asking him if they were going to make a second album too!

“Is Mr. Guitarist absent today?” Wendy asked me over lunch. 

“Yeah, it seems to. Maybe he got scared of that English test? What a pity!”

“It wasn’t that hard…” she mused for a moment. She shrugged. “Don’t worry,” Wendy consoled with a sympathetic touch. “Let’s try to find the geek boy then!”

“You don’t mean Norbert? He didn’t seem to be online yesterday.”

“Did you play that online game he likes?”

“For like, half the evening! It was enjoyable!” I was exaggerating a little about how long, but it was a fun three hours. “I played a few rounds with Nick and my brother until I had caught up in the storyline with them. I’m lucky you took Louis out otherwise I’m sure he would have been laughing at us the whole time! I was so out of touch with the controls! But… Norbert didn’t show up online at any time.”

Wendy didn’t seem bothered and laughed. “You’re a good student of mine; I’m proud of you!”

I grinned. “Tee-hee! Thanks!

“Let’s have a sandwich each then, and find Norbert, of course! PB and J?”

I nodded enthusiastically. “Sounds like a plan!”

We had a great lunch. The problem was that I can’t find Norbert! Maybe Wendy’s been lucky today and found him? I waited for her outside the cafeteria, still searching for Norbert. Instead, I overheard a couple of girls  pass by. 

“…His sister just moved here. I haven’t seen her yet though. Apparently he goes to the nearby university!”

“Really? I hope she doesn’t get hurt if she chooses to go to the ball. That’d be horrible!”

“Her last few months of high school and possibly even her summer break would be ruined!”

“Boo hoo!”

At first I thought they were mocking the poor girl, but I glanced up and saw that their expressions were grave and concerned. Poor girl.

“Did you find him?” Wendy asked, appearing next to me. 

“No. I suppose you didn’t succeed as well, since you’re asking.”

“We’re unlucky today!” She said, sounding so unhappy that I felt the need to cheer her up. 

“Naah, I’m sure it’s just a coincidence.” 

“I guess you’re right,” she said, but she didn’t sound much better. 

I changed the subject: “The football team’s practice ends at 4 today afternoon. That means plenty of time to talk with Curtis.”

This brightened her up: “You’re learning more quickly than I expected! You deserve a cookie, you smart girl!”

I laughed. “Thank you!”

We were almost to the field when she got a text message on her phone. I might have imagined it, but I thought she got a little paler. 

“Something wrong?”

“Nothing,” Wendy replied, smiling. “Just something for the school newspaper. Actually, I like the sound of that. What about you go talk to Curtis and I’ll go get cookies for us?”

“I’ll meet you at the journalism room then,” I said, much relieved. 

“Okay, let’s go! I’ll see you at 5!”

“Roger!”

I headed outside and took a deep breath of the fresh air. The sunlight was a beautiful speckled orange on the football grounds, and a few of the footballs team were already practicing. With the birds twittering the atmosphere was just marvelous. If I closed my eyes, I could just imagine I was back home. Where everything was peaceful and people were comfortable enough with me to ask me to make clothes for them and I was comfortable making costumes for them. But that kinda of thinking wasn’t fair; after all, I’d met some amazing people already and everyone had been fairly friendly. Well, aside from that one girl. But I was more than willing to ignore that. 

I opened my eyes and caught sight of Curtis, almost by accident: He had been defending against another player and with a quick sweep of his foot he’d kicked the ball away to a teammate and raced for the goal. Before I knew it, his teammates were cheering as the ball hit the net, a second before the goalie would have pounced on it. I could almost imagine my friend Samantha cheering with them. She had gone to every football practice at my old school and dragged me along to some as well.

“Whoot! Eileen! Did you see that? Hi! Eileen!”

 I smiled before I abruptly realized that I wasn’t imagining someone calling my name. Curtis was walking over to me as the other half of the team rethought their strategy.

“Hi Eileen!”

“Hello! Woah, that goal was awesome!” 

“Thanks!”

“How are you doing?”

“I feel in top shape today,” he said with brilliant smile. “And aside from a few nitty gritty things, I think the team’s in top shape too! We’ll be ready for the statewide championship tomorrow!”

“That’s great to hear! Is it here? Or an away game?”

“We’ll be at their place.” He paused for a beat as I took that in. “What’re you up to anyways? The classes are already over.”

“I came to watch the football practice. Hope you won’t mind?”

“Sure thing! You’re a big fan of football, aren’t you?”

I nodded. 

“We’ll be here for a while though. Won’t you get uncomfortable sitting out here all afternoon?”

He was worried about my comfort! How sweet! “Not at all. The field is lovely this time of day too; the fresh air and sunlight are perfect.”

“I like it quite a lot too.”

“Curtis! We’re starting again!” a teammate called at that point. He turned and nodded. “How about that—I’ll try to score another goal just for you.”

I must have turned scarlet at this. “Really? Gosh, that’s wonderful!”

“Well, you’re really amazing!” He said, running off with a wave. I picked a seat in the stands and watched. Sure enough, Curtis soon managed to corner another player on the other side. This time though, they were prepared and passed the ball before he could sweep it out from under them. Fortunately for him though, another teammate intercepted the ball before it made it to the goal. 

“Curtis! Go!”

His teammate passed him the ball and it barely touched his foot before he launched it into the corner of the goal, a blur of black and white soaring out of the goalie’s reach. He looked up over the field and caught my eye. I gave him a double-thumbs up and he flashed a grin at me before returning to the game. 

It was a pretty fun practice. I noticed Curtis was more generous after that, encouraging his teammates to practice making goals instead of shooting them himself. He must have been giving them extra practice before the big game tomorrow, I figured. 

A few minutes before the end practice a few girls from the cheerleading team came out, the mean girl in the lead. I hoped she didn’t notice me, and to my relief they chose the other side of the field to practice one. I also noticed the two girls that had passed me in the hall and almost grimaced at how badly the uniforms fit the shorter girls. Although I had to say the bright pink ribbon looked nice in everyone’s hair. 

As I watched the football practice, I daydreamed of ways I would adjust the cheerleading uniform.  

Finally, Curtis dismissed the football team on a hearty note. Most of the guys headed for the locker rooms, trailed by a few of the cheerleaders, but Curtis was walking directly for me!

“Hey! You stayed the whole time!”

“You guys were great! I’m sure you’ll win tomorrow!”

“I’m feeling good about them too! Will you come here tomorrow as well then? If we get back early, I know a great pizza place I was going to take them to after.”

“You wouldn’t mind me there? I wouldn’t want to intrude on the team’s season-end party.”

“No way! Spectators are always welcome at the party!”

“I’ll be there, then,” I said with a smile. 

“See you tomorrow then! ” He left me at the door of the school and jogged back. I smiled after him, giddyness rising in me. Aiyee! Success! And pizza! 

I yawned once I was indoors. It was already 4 p.m. I couldn’t wait to go home and have a short nap before starting homework. I was daydreaming about the vanilla latte I was going to have when I woke up from my nap. Hopefully Jason had some left over from the bunch he made last night. 

“Hang on a moment, don’t go yet!” Wendy’s voice called me out of my dream-like state. 

“Ah, sorry!” I said, remembering. “I’m tired. DId a lot of talking today.”

“I know,” she said sympathetically. “If everything goes well, tomorrow’s the last day you can befriend one of the guys before the ball! You’ll have some rest afterwards.”

“I’m looking forward to it!” I said with a smile. “What’s the plan for tomorrow then?”

“We’ll try to find Norbert in the morning. Also, Alan has some evening classes on Thursdays, so he sits in the library nearly all the afternoon. It’s your chance too.”

“What about the other guys?”

“We’ll see what the day brings. Hopefully Kenneth comes to class tomorrow.” We stopped at my door. She checked her bag with an “Oh!” and handed me a few flyers. “I remember you telling Kenneth that you liked singing and picked this up for you. There’s a school-sponsored karaoke contest at the Cactus club next week I thought you would be interested in it.”

“Oh! I’ll check it out! Thanks!”

“Now go and have some rest, girl!”

“Sounds like a busy day ahead! See you tomorrow!”

Wendy seemed to chuckle to herself as we parted ways, but I was too worn out to wonder why.

To my surprise, I was greeted by my brother. He quickly explained that in college not all classes met every day and some only met once a week, which led to weird schedules. I decided to just go with it. I wouldn’t have to worry about confusing college schedules until next year.

“Um—Casayo? Do you know if there’s any of that vanilla latte left from yesterday?” I asked, looking through the refrigerator. “I could really use a bit of caffeine right now.” 

“Sorry, I just finished it,” he said with a little chuckle “I’ll ask Jason to make more tonight though.” He laughed and a mischievous smirk formed on his face. “He’s with Gwen right now. Lou stole their books and left them at the college so they would be forced to go on a little date to get them back.” He rolled his eyes amusedly.

“Brilliant, if I do say so myself!” Louis said, coming into the kitchen and pulling out a can of soda. He winked at me. “It was bound to happen anyways.”

I mimicked my brother’s eye roll and laughed. “They’ll know it was you, silly.”

Louis shrugged. “All the better. Then they’ll be able to thank me properly.”

They both howled with laughter and I left Louis scheming up other tricks and my brother playing good-humoredly along.

I was finishing homework and humming along to The Super Soundwaves’ debut album, “Colors” when Casayo knocked on the door a few hours later. “Eileen, dinner’s ready!”

“Be there in a moment!”

I finished up the problem and went downstairs to the kitchen area. 

“Nick’s staying over at his parents’ place, but Gwen and Wendy’ll be joining us,” Casayo explained.

“Hi Eileen!” Wendy greeted. “Oh, oh. Let me introduce you to my Sister! Eilee, this is my older sister, Guinevere. Gwen, this is Eileen Hieron, Casayo’s younger sister and my new friend!”

“You make my name sound like a disgusting dish,” the lady that had to be Gwen said, scrunching up her face. She smiled at me as we shook hands. “Call be Gwen, please.”

“Pleased to meet you. Thank you for lending me your copy of Tale of the Darkest Star.”

Gwen’s eyes brightened with interest. “No problem! Did you like it?”

“I loved it!”

“Me too!” She gauged me suspiciously. “Are you for the Cargon or Euqruk clan?”

I grinned as we sat down. “I have to say I side with the Lor’ Euqruk government in their current conflict, but if I were an alien, I’d chose Lor’Cargon.”

She beamed. “And I would have to agree with you!” She winked. “Anyways, Turrek Lor’Cargon sounds a lot cuter than Eigiene Lor’ Euqruk.”

I laughed. “I nearly cried when Eigiene died though! Especially since he just met Adelaide. He had so many questions to ask a star, and then he was killed just  before he could ask any of them.”

Gwen agreed with that as well. “I foreshadowed his death when he was introduced, so it wasn’t a surprise when he died. But it was still really sad when he did.”

“And then Turrek setting his body off to bring peace to their clans…”

We both sighed, lost in our memories of the book. The conversation continued as we brought up bits an pieces of our observations. We both shipped Aderin—that was, Adelaide and Sorin, and came up with a dozen alternatives for Turrek’s happiness. Over dessert we discussed the alien customs and laughed over our pronunciations of the languages. We shared our predictions about Sorin and Turrek’s next paths for action in a potential sequel and theories of Adelaide’s past while washing the dishes.

Jason and Casayo had both read the book and occasionally contributed their ideas and speculations. Jason had so much to offer on the government and philosophy that I suspected he knew more about the alien cultures than was mentioned in the book. The conversation moved to the living room and Louis noted that “The Super Soundwaves dedicated a song or two to it. Their lead guitarist is apparently a fan” before declaring us all geeky bookworms and  entertaining himself with teaching Wendy Legacy of Lords on my account. I was though, greatly interested by this comment and resolved to ask Kenneth about it later. 

"It's so sappy!" Louis interrupted everyone with a loud laugh at the cutscene that was playing on Legacy of Lords. I recognized the part as when the dying Lord Tyron had finally gave his nephew and his poor lover his blessing. 

"But it's so sad!" Wendy was insisting. "Everything's fine now and now he has to die! i liked the old guy!" She pressed the "replay clip" button and read the subtitles aloud. "'It is my great pleasure and great pain to tell you that I must leave now. The worlds beyond call to me.' He's going to die! You can hear it in the lines! That's death's door he's walking through!"

Louis cracked up and continued dramatically, "'The future-- '"he swept his hands out in a grand gesture "'nay, my future as well!-- rests in your hands now, my brrraaavvveee hero.' Really now. is he talking to our character or his nephew? Has he forgotten we're still here? Jeez old man. I just cleared up the big deal in your house! Some recognition would be nice!"

"'The apologies are all mine, and the mirth should all be yours,'" Wendy continued, undeterred. "...'indeed, I shall be sorely disappointed if you have anything else.' It's all so wonderful,” she gushed. 

"I have to agree with Wendy," I ventured. "It's sappy, sure, but it's a sweet scene nonetheless. It’s heartbreaking.”

Louis rolled his eyes at the two of us and kissed Wendy's cheek before pressing the "continue" key onscreen. "Go back to your bookworming," he directed me. "There are better heartwarming, tear-jerking scenes, Wendy. You should see the reunion between Lord Brennick and his daughter.”

I smiled at his antics before directing my attention back to Jason, who was commenting on the role of architecture in the alien worlds. 

As we talked, I brought out my sketchbook and jotted down interesting notes and sketched outfit designs for the characters. Occasionally one of the college students would offer feedback or share their views on the clothing styles and appearances of the characters and by the end of the evening we had decided on a look for each major character, complete with a “uniform” or “normal appearance”. 

I giggled to myself as I turned off the lights that night. How I looked forward to getting Alan’s thoughts on the drawings!

Spring Ball Trouble 2/7: Tuesday

Another update, so soon?
Yup! It's another installment of the Eileen's Spring Ball crisis. XD Not very great, but nonetheless, I aim to entertain.

It would probably mean more to play through the game before reading my little fiction on it :)

I'd also like to mention today how much I appreciated having almost all the dialogue already scripted out by the game. It made the initial writing process a lot faster, and there wasn't a lot of thinking and struggling over what would happen next. I was thinking that it would be a neat idea to write a the dialogue for an original story first and then go in and fill in the narration and story. Maybe I'll try it sometime. ^_^

A quick caveat: When the game and thus the story says "football" it actually refers to soccer.

Enjoy~
. . .

I got to school at nearly 7:30 in the morning the next day, even though I had slept at nearly midnight the night before. During dinner, I read over the football wiki. While Louis went to a late night class at the college, I played an hour and a half on Legacy of Lords with my old account to get back into shape. This was followed by an hour and a half of studying and catching up on homework. Then I got to reading The Tale of the Darkest Star. The whole time I substituted my normal music for soundtracks from the Super Soundwaves. 

Since it was still a half hour before class started, I was going to pick a quiet spot in the school corridor to read when I noticed a dark-haired boy with glasses playing on a handheld game station. This must be Norbert, I realized, and squinted a little to see which game he was playing. Abruptly, he looked up at me, a cute confused expression covering his face. 

“Huh? Why are you staring at me?”

I gave him an apologetic smile and explained, “I’m just wondering if it’s the Platinum edition you’re playing now.”

He looked impressed immediately. “Wow! It’s the Platinum, yeah.” A pause. “So… you seem to be interested in video games?”

“Sure,” I replied. “I can’t imagine an evening without a game or two.” It wasn’t a complete lie. I did play games whenever I wasn’t working on homework or cosplay costumes.

“Really? That’s rare! What’s your online nick?”

“It’s ‘xXxeileenxXx’.” I reached for a pen. “Want me to write it down for you?”

He thought for a moment, as if remembering and shook his head. “No, it’s ok. I think I’ve remembered it. So I guess you’re xXx? Or maybe Eileen?” His expression was so innocent and adorable, I almost wished I had a camera to capture it. 

“Yea. And you’re…?”

“N-bert99. I mean, I’m NOrbert.”

“Pleased to meet you!” We shook hands. As we did, the bell rang for us to go to class. Still clasping my hand, he asked, “Will you be playing online tonight?”

At my nod, a smile bloomed on his face. “Hope to see you there, but I have to go now.” He leaned down to kiss the air over my hand and when he released me he made a little bow mimicking Lord Brennick, one of the NPCs in Legacy of Lords. I laughed amicably. “It was nice talking to you,” he said finally before leaving with a wave. I waved back. 

“Bye!” To myself I smiled before realizing what a nice impression I must have made on him. I smiled again as I sat down in my first period, allowing myself a private moment of delight and success. 

The first few classes passed in a whirl. My teachers were fairly impressed by how much I was caught up from my old school. 

Wendy caught up with me during the lunch break: “I saw you talking to Norbert! Good! The football team’s practice starts in 10 minutes. Let’s go and meet Curtis!”

“Roger! I hope I won’t have to play football,” I laughed as we wandered onto the field. 

It was nearly the end of the lunch break, but we sat on the bleachers anyways and started looking for the team captain. 

“I’m going to get a drink of water,” Wendy said, standing after a short minute. “Be right back.” 

I nodded and turned back to the field to--

“Aiee!!” I yelped as the ball flew next to me, narrowly missing my head. 

“Watch out! I nearly hit you with the ball,” A very fit boy with cropped brown hair and gorgeous brown eyes jogged over. 

“Sorry!I I just wanted to watch the training,” I said, throwing the ball back to him. 

He caught it with a soft smile. “Don’t worry, everything’s fine. I wouldn’t be happy if I killed one of the few spectators.” He winked and gestured to the empty bleachers. I laughed. “Hm.. You’re the new girl, aren’t you?” He stared intently at me, as if trying to place my name. 

“My name’s Eileen,” I answered for him. “Pleased to meet you. And you must be Curtis?” I asked, gesturing to the name embroidered on the jacket. 

“Yeah. So do you like watching football?”

I decided to lean towards an enthusiastic response: “I totally love it!” 

“Are you serious? That’s awesome!” 

“Well, I used to watch the World Cup quite a lot since I’m not exactly athletic enough to play,” I explained. I really wasn’t. The most athletic I got was rushing up and down the stairs and halls in school. 

He laughed. “Great. A good place to start. I have to practice now, but let’s talk another time, ok?”

I waved bye as he ran back to the team. That was an nice conversation, I supposed. Not perfect, but it couldn’t be helped. I didn’t want to over-exaggerate and lie about who I was.

Wendy joined me after a moment. Her expression was concerned and nervous for a split second, but a more familiar smile bloomed steadily in its place. “Isn’t he awesome? How did the conversation go?”

“Not bad, I suppose,” I shrugged. At that moment the bell rang and Wendy let whatever she was going to say go. 

“We should hurry now, Geography  starts in like, 2 minutes.” She tried to smile, but I could tell something was wrong. I was about to ask when she instructed, “I have to rush somewhere first, but It’s your chance to catch Kenneth’s attention!” She nudged me and subtly pointed out a blonde-haired boy with a red beanie. “Good luck, kid!”

She left in a hurry, and all I was able to say was “Thank you,” before she was gone. “Err…kid?”

I dislike geography, even if it is a homeroom requirement, but I was lucky today: The teacher was late, and Kenneth was already in the classroom.

“That’s my chance!” I thought to myself. I took my prized microphone-shaped MP3 player out of my bag and feigned interest in the agenda on the board. 

I decided I liked Kenneth right away: he had a lovely smile that brightened the dreary homeroom atmosphere. Wait…no Way! He was coming here!

“Hey, new girl! What a cool MP3 player! Whatcha listening to?”

Wow, he was so straightforward! That I could respond to. “Just my fav stuff,” I said with a deceiving shrug. I handed him the MP3 so he could read the song title: 

“‘The Blueish Vortex,’ by the Super Soundwaves,” I said with a wink. 

“Are ya serious? That’s my band! How did ya get to know it?”

I decided not to mention Wendy. “Somebody sent it to me and I instantly loved it. You’re like, the lead guitarist of the band, right? You must be Kenneth, ‘Kenny the Smasher’ then!”

“Ya make me blush!” he said, and he actually did, which only accented his amazing smile. “Yea, it’s me! And your name…?”

“Eileen ‘Eilee the Breaker’,” I joked, using the stage name my brother and his friends had made up for me when I sang along during their Rock Band session on my first night here. “Just joking. Nice you meet you!”

“That’d be a cool stage name. Ever considered entering a band?”

“I’ve dreamt of it as a child,” I admitted. I had, even though I eventually decided that costume making and drama were my calling. “Actually, I still love singing.”

“Smashing! Wanna come and see the band practice one day?”

“I’d love to!”

“I’ll let ya know then,” he said with a grin that mirrored the excitement I felt. “Nice talking to ya, but the teacher is already here!”

I might have blushed as he returned to his seat, as Wendy flashed me a double-thumbs up as she rushed in behind the teacher. 

The lesson was long and tiring. Phew! I was glad it was over and very ready to just crash when I remembered: There was one more guy worth talking to, right?

“See ya, Eilee!” Kenneth called after me as he headed out after the last class of the day. I was humming the chorus to “The Blueish Vortex” when Wendy caught me waiting for her in the hallway. 

“Ohh, I can see you enjoyed chatting with the guitarist boy! I know you’re tired today, but we still need to visit the library. The artist boy is there, working.”

I squeezed my eyes shut for a 10-second count and when I opened them I had a smile on my face. “Let’s go!”

I’d always liked the peaceful atmosphere of libraries. At my old school, I had moved my work to a corner of the library when the drama room became too noisy for me to work. Now though, I busied myself with looking for a book for the philosophy paper while Wendy looked for Alan.

Book chosen and checked out, I glanced around the nearly-empty library, wondering what Alan would turn out to be like. Where was he?

“My, my, He must’ve gone home sooner or something. I can’t see him anywhere. Boo…” Wendy told me. I thought a line of worry crossed her face, but it must have been my imagination because she was back to her perky self as soon as we left. “Oh well! We’ll try tomorrow morning. Want to have a vanilla latte before going home?”

“To be honest, I’d kill for pizza,” I replied. I’d spent most of lunch watching the football practice and talking to Curtis and felt hungry now.

“A pizza is fine too! I’ll show you a nice Ristorant nearby. Let’s go…”

“Yum,” I said in anticipation. 

Sunny Cafe was a short five minute walk from the school, using the shortcuts that Wendy showed me. We talked about school mostly, and she seemed so light-hearted that I decided I must have just imagined the worry in her expression I’d seen in flashes since lunch. I wouldn’t usually be so uncertain of myself, but I reasoned that I had only known her for a day and a half. 

Halfway through our math homework and late lunch my brother and a few of his friends showed up. Louis went immediately to Wendy, like any loving boyfriend would I supposed, and my brother proceeded to ask me about school. 

“Tiring,” I replied truthfully. I counted the number of people at our table. “Hey, where’s Jason?”

“Philosophy office hours,” Nick Ames answered, helping himself to a slice of pizza. “At least, that’s what he wants us to think.” He smirked. “Everyone knows it’s just an excuse to hang out with Gwen.”

“Gwen?” 

“Wendy’s older sister,” Casayo explained. “Gwen’s in Jason’s philosophy class. He’s majoring in philosophy and she in neuroscience. They have a lot to talk about.”

“Except all they talk about is cognitive science and how consciousness works. He’s too shy,” Nick complained, flagging down the waiter and ordering a coke. “He’s like Nor—“

He cut off  and picked up his cell phone. He exchanged a few terse lines with whoever was on the phone before standing worriedly. “I gotta go. Cas, I’m taking the car so you’ll have to walk.”

“What—?” I asked, confused at Nick’s sudden gravity.

The boys exchanged a nod. “Go ahead,” my brother said gravely. “I’ll get a ride from Jason or something tomorrow morning. I wish you my best. Hopefully it’s nothing serious.”

Nick nodded absent-mindedly and left promptly. I turned expectantly at Casayo, but he just shook his head. “Family matters.”

My brother nudged the corner of a flyer sticking out of my binder. “You plan on going?” he asked.  

“Huh?” I looked and frowned at the sudden change in subject but didn’t push the matter. They’d tell me when they felt necessary. “Oh, the dance. Erm..I hope to. Wendy’s helping me find a date.”

He gave me an unreadable stare before making a little approving frown. “You’re getting to know people. That’s good. I’m sure you’ll be fine, lil sis.”

Spring Ball Trouble 1/7: Monday

Hi there! Sorry for the month-long gaps between updates. I have no real excuse, for I have wasted most of my summer doing nothing extraordinarily productive in any sense. A bit of reading and playing Final Fantasy XIII. The sin of sloth finds me easy prey. 

As indicated by the title I STILL haven't figured out that one post for ECA. Instead, I have the beginning of a small project that I intended to finish over spring break but never really did. I have been not very consistently working on it over the past quarter and only finally recently finished writing the first draft ( >_<)

The idea came from a short rpg called "Spring Ball Trouble" which I found on the Doll Divine website about Eileen (the player) who is looking for a date to the school ball. [link here] Basically I just took the dialogue presented in-game and converted it into a story format, though I added a lot of new characters and twisted things around to provide a bit more complete of a story.

About this Arc: