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Post by Yulia Sokolov on Apr 16, 2016 19:16:47 GMT -7
Life was complicated. Yulia had been aware of that for some time, but how true it was didn't hit her until just recently. She's always had some trouble with school, but with a little effort and some help on homework with her parents, she's been able to get through it. Then she started high school. At first, she was excited. There was a bit more freedom, more types of after school activities she could participate in, a bit more flexibility in the classes she could take...it all seemed like such a good thing. When she first started, she joined the track team and a book club. She wasn't particularly prominent in either of those clubs, but she enjoyed them none the less. Then the classes actually started. The material was a serious step up from middle school, and she wasn't sure if she'd be able to handle it. Even with all the effort she could muster, she was struggling to get Cs, let alone anything that would actually be satisfactory. It quickly became obvious to her that she couldn't afford to stay in those clubs, or do many of the after school activities she wanted to do, as painful as it was to admit.
All the changes in her life were adding up, and the stress was starting to get to her. Yulia believed that this was the most important time of her life. If she didn't do well in high school, she'd never be able to get into college. If she didn't go to college, she'd never be able to get a job. If she never got a job...well she'd be fairly useless for the rest of her life and might even have to mooch off her parents. She didn't want to even think about resorting to that. Most of her friends were wealthier than her family was, so they all went to a different school. One that was less crowded. A few also came to Gardner, and she was able to make some new ones, but she hadn't been able to spend much time with them lately. If anything, she had been avoiding them. She had to meet entirely new teachers, with entirely new quirks. She had to learn the layout of the new building. She had to deal with bigger books and a smaller locker. She was the oldest child at home, and was getting some new responsibilities there. It was all becoming too much to handle. She hadn't slept properly in months.
It was lunch time, and once again she quickly slipped out of class to avoid one of her friends that was in that class. Yulia had work to do today, and wanted to eat lunch outside, so there was no need to bother any of them right now. As hard as it was to say it, she simply didn't have time for distractions right now. She made her way to one of the outdoor tables that was a bit further away from the main building than the rest. She wasn't sure how many people even knew this table was here. The sun felt good on her skin, she was glad she decided to wear a short-sleeved shirt today. After carefully brushing her hair out of the way to avoid sitting on it, she took a seat, unpacked her lunch and started working on some math homework. She didn't really understand it, no matter how many times she looked through the examples, but maybe she could at least imitate the steps well enough to get the assignment done. There would be time to actually figure it out later right? After going through a couple of problems, she unpacked her lunch; a simple turkey sandwich, a side of potato salad, and a muffin for dessert.
After a few bites of her sandwich, she rubbed her eyes. The many late nights she'd been experiencing were starting to catch up to her. She was able to resist for a little while, but it was getting hard to keep her eyes open. It would be okay if she closed her eyes for a little while right? The bell would ring, and wake her up so she could go to class. She wouldn't be here long, and the nearest people were a respectable distance away. Unable to keep her head upright anymore, she put her arm on top of her book and rested her head on top of it. Her elbow ended up embedding itself into her potato salad, but she didn't even notice. After a few moments, a small puddle of drool started forming on her math book.
Then the bell rang. Yulia shifted slightly, but showed no signs of waking up. The sun just felt too nice.
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Post by Ridley Luna on Apr 16, 2016 19:49:32 GMT -7
Ridley wasn't intending to talk to anyone today, much less a high schooler. He paced frantically through the streets, as if he had something very important to do today. He didn't. He simply couldn't bear to stay still any longer, his skin crawled with just the thought of simply sitting at home, however could anyone call that "relaxing!?
He startled as the school he passed by let out a loud bell, oh gosh, couldn't he just be in silence!? He peered inside and for a second, calmed. A high school girl slept outside, completely oblivious to the fact she was going to be late.
Oh God.
What was he supposed to do!?
Wake her, but what if someone thought he was a creepy stalker or something?
The red-hot sting of scratches woke him from his despair spiral, his gloves lay on the floor and his nails dripped a bright red. Oh no. He scooped up the gloves and shoved the on, wiping the streams from his neck. There, it never happened.
Mind made up, he shuffled over to the dozing girl and tapped her uncertaintly on the shoulder, "U-um, er, m-mi-miss?" He stammered pitifully, "S-sorry, but...-oh gosh- y-you'll be late if you d-d-doze any longer." Words said, he shook her a bit more fiercely, flinching away as if she would leap up and bite him if he touched her again.
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Post by Yulia Sokolov on Apr 18, 2016 5:51:45 GMT -7
There was a sound. Yulia couldn't make out what the sound was, but it was enough to make her stir. Her eyes slowly opened, as she took in her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was that the pages of her text book were starting to turn brown and curl inward. She blinked a few more times as she heard more sounds and started putting the pieces together.
Yulia quickly and sharply sat up, feeling her heart leap into her throat. How long had she been asleep? How could she have been so careless. According to the words of this person, it was long enough that the bell had already rung and it was time to go back to class. Being late was the last thing she needed, especially not to that class. The teacher would probably lock her out again even if she's just a few minutes late. That thought did nothing to calm her down. Furthermore, there was another person here, talking. She felt something before, which meant the person probably got close enough to touch her. That thought just made her more nervous.
Before she could gather her stuff, she heard the table creak under her before it gave way. The table part caved in towards her, leaving a noticeable dent in the middle, and the attached seat flopped to the side dumping Yulia onto the grass. Her books and the remains of her lunch started sliding off the table and into her gut. Once she got her bearings again, she took a good look at the source of this voice.
"What...what are you doing here? You look a little old for high school."
Yulia started crawling backwards, still shaken by what just happened. Her mind immediately jumped to the worst case scenarios. After all, there weren't very many reasons for strange adult men to be an a high school campus.
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Post by Ridley Luna on Apr 18, 2016 11:41:03 GMT -7
Ridley nodded frantically, "Y-yeah, I'm so s-s-sorry but you were going t-to be late and-and I just w-wanted to h-help." He blabbered out while pacing back and forth. Great, just great, did she think he was some stalker or something? He could swear he never saw this girl, much less met her.
Oh no, this couldn't be good, he had to get out of here! His gloved hands rubbed unconsciously on his wrists, as if they couldn't wait for him to take them off.
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Post by Yulia Sokolov on Apr 20, 2016 8:46:29 GMT -7
Yulia had no idea how to react to any of this. It was bad enough that she fell asleep at school, but apparently some adult was watching her sleep too. She could feel her face heat up from embarrassment, and her stomach lurch from thinking about it. It was fortunate that she didn't finish her lunch.
"Well...I-I guess I'm awake now? I should go..."
Yulia slowly rose to her feet, not taking her eyes off the strange man. She started walking backwards towards the school building, making sure to take in every feature of the adult. This kind of situation was one that had to be reported as quickly as possible. With any luck, he would just think she was going back to class instead of directly to the principal. Really, she just wanted nothing more than to get out of there as quickly as possible. Sadly, in her haste, she left her backpack and all her books and supplies behind. She wasn't really thinking about them, it hardly seemed important given the situation. Once she thought she could get away with it, she turned around and started walking more briskly towards the school. She still refused to run, but it still wouldn't take her that long to get inside at the rate she was walking.
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Post by Ridley Luna on Apr 20, 2016 19:04:29 GMT -7
Ridley nearly called after the girl, voice dying as he thought better of it. Of course she ran, of course!
She even left her books, full of...information?
Before he could even think, he had scooped one up, flicking through its pages with wide eyes. It was likely the only time he sat still, quietly committing the information to memory. How he was going to use it, he didn't know or care, he simply desired the knowledge.
He'd give it back soon, yeah, that's what he'd do...
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Post by Yulia Sokolov on Apr 21, 2016 8:41:40 GMT -7
The creepy man wasn't following her. Good. Yulia made her way back into the cafeteria, and then to the principal's office to report the incident. The staff looked tired and overworked as usual. She was worried that they wouldn't take this seriously, given their tendency to have to screen reports just to be able to handle them all, but someone was able to take a look. When they saw the strange man reading out of Yulia's Algebra 1 textbook near where the table she reported collapsing, it was clear to them that they had to take this seriously. The staff member called the police, and tried to reassure Yulia that they could take care of it.
They were kind enough to give Yulia the rest of the day off given how distressed she looked. She waited in the office for a few minutes, at least until she could hear the sound of police sirens outside, before going out the front door. It was too bad that she didn't even realize she left her stuff behind until the school staff members said that the strange man was going through her stuff. She didn't really want to go back to get it right now, or possibly ever even if it was recovered. Aside from a couple of textbooks, there wasn't anything in there that couldn't be easily replaced.
Once outside, Yulia made sure to stay on the main sidewalks outside of the school to keep herself as visible as possible. She wasn't quite sure where she would go now that she didn't have to be in school for the afternoon. Getting some ice cream sounded good, and might help calm her nerves a little bit. She still had a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach, and she couldn't shake the unease from what just happened. As she walked, a few cracks formed in the concrete. The sidewalk was fairly old, so it was probably about time for it to be replaced, but seeing those cracks form didn't make her feel any better.
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Post by Ridley Luna on Apr 21, 2016 15:28:21 GMT -7
Ridley sighed as a whining siren assaulted his ears, grumbling as he was forced to abandon the book, and just when he was feeling calm!
He quickly walked out, mumbling apologizes to anyone he passed. His eyes flitted around constantly, promptly changing course everytime he saw signs of policemen. He scurried down alleys and took only abandoned streets, flicking through his memory of this city like he would a book.
He felt like he should be feeling legitimately bad for all this but instead, he was feeling kinda mad. All he was trying to do was help a student not be late! Why'd she have to throw such a fuss!?
He scratched at his neck as he traveled, doing surprising damage despite his gloves and unknowingly near the girl he had frightened.
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Post by Yulia Sokolov on Apr 22, 2016 8:54:50 GMT -7
Just as Yulia was starting to calm down, she caught a glimpse of the creepy guy from earlier. She froze and stopped breathing. Was this guy following her? First he was watching her sleep, and now he was following her? How did he evade the police? She had been very careful to only stay on the main roads to avoid this kind of situation. Yulia swallowed hard. Her parents always warned her about weird strangers, but she never thought something like this would happen to her.
Sadly, it was early afternoon on a weekday, so there weren't that many people out and about. The roads weren't completely empty, but they were open enough that it would be difficult to hide. Stiffly, she started crossing the street, wringing her hands as she walked. This at least would force him out into the open. From there, she could easily scream to get peoples' attention. The last thing she wanted was to have to confront this person herself. This situation could be really dangerous, and she had no real way of knowing exactly how dangerous it was.
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Post by Ridley Luna on Apr 25, 2016 17:32:13 GMT -7
Ridley was festering, his face showed fear and nervousness, but his chest was full with a swirling mixture of anger and regret.
All of this was wiped off as soon as he saw the girl, looking almost as frightened as he felt right now. He raised his hands in a surrender, "No, no, no, please!" He yelped, panic clear in his eyes, "I-I never w-wanted to do anything to y-you!"
He stepped away, lowering his hands as if to calm her.
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Post by Yulia Sokolov on Apr 29, 2016 16:31:24 GMT -7
Yulia practically felt her heart leap out of her chest when he spoke. Oh god, this guy really was following her. A lump formed in her throat and she swallowed hard. She turned back around and continued walking backwards slowly, careful to make sure she wouldn't run into anyone. She kept her shoulders square with him, and made sure to stand up straight rather than slumping over, in order to look taller. She was already significantly taller than this guy was, but she didn't want to appear as weak and afraid as she actually was.
"W-Why are you following me? What...What do you want?"
Despite her attempts to try to look stronger, her voice still came out soft and a little shaky. Yulia kept her eyes on the strange man, ready to move if he tried something.
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Post by Ridley Luna on May 5, 2016 5:35:27 GMT -7
Ridley flinched as the girl attempted to look taller, was she going to attack him!?
He curled in on himself, instinctively trying to look smaller, "No." He stated as firmly as he could, "N-never wanted t-to do a-anything to you." He shuffled backward till his back rubbed against the wall, digging into his pockets to show they were empty before sitting, "S-see? I-I'm just a...guy."
By now, he was desperate. All he wanted to do was curl up in a safe place till this all blew over.
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Post by Yulia Sokolov on May 7, 2016 18:36:03 GMT -7
So he just happened to be walking past the back side of the high school, the side that wasn't facing the road, and just happened to be watching her sleep when the bell rang, and then just happened to follow her when she ran away after? Did this guy think she was stupid? Yulia was still finding it hard to breathe, but she still refused to let her shoulder slump or do anything that might make her look weak or even as scared as she was.
"I said," she paused to take a breath, "Why are you following me?"
This time her voice was more forceful. It took pretty much everything she had to keep up this facade, and even then she wasn't sure if it was actually working. Some of the other people in the area were starting to look towards Yulia and the other guy. Good, she was glad she managed to get their attention without making it too obvious what she was trying to do. She didn't want to provoke this guy too much, there was no telling what he might do.
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Post by Ridley Luna on May 7, 2016 20:21:48 GMT -7
Ridley's mouth entered a frown, not the usual fearful frown, but an upset one, "L-look," He almost spat, "I-I was looking for a-a safe p-place!" His teeth grated together, he would never had touched this girl if he'd known she'd raise such a fuss!
"I-if I had a-a say, I-I'd ask why were y-you sleeping at school..." Bitterness was clear in his voice, his eyes sparked with what could be described as defiance.
"I-I never followed you, g-got it!?" He growled, "I was j-just walking!"
Suddenly, he slapped a hand over his mouth, eyes wide as if surprised at his ok wn outburst, "O-oh gosh, I-I'm sorry..." He whispered so low the girl probably wouldn't hear him. He sunk his head low, face paling, he felt as if he needed to wash his mouth with soap after all that.
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Post by Yulia Sokolov on May 8, 2016 12:13:02 GMT -7
"Then just leave me alone. If you really don't want anything and really just happened to come in this direction, then just go where you were going and get away from me."
Her words were spoken carefully, but they weren't chosen very carefully. It was difficult to even keep this amount of composure in this kind of situation. Yulia continued walking backwards towards the residential district. There was little reason for anyone to come that direction unless they lived there, so if he kept following her the odds increased that he wasn't telling the truth. Not that she particularly believed him in the first place. There were a few people out jogging, walking their dogs, and other such things looking in their direction still. Some of them were even slowing down like they might intervene if it became necessary. Yulia kept slowly walking towards them, hoping they could provide at least some amount of protection.
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