Create Space [open]

[Melodee Riker]

At least her things had been delivered. Some of them anyway. A good portion of her belongings had to be left at home, but it wasn't as though she wouldn't be going back for visits and when she graduated. At least it was close to winter break, unless the school was already on it. That was certainly something to consider.

But, first things first. She needed to unpack and mark her territory as hers. So to speak.

The dorm was much smaller than her bedroom and adjustments would have to be made. But the bareness of the walls, the drab colors that seemed to be present in every school world wide would have to be covered. Thankfully, her mother subscribed to Martha Stewart Living and Melodee had devoured them learning a few tricks here and there about how to make an uncomfortable space, homey.

Clear plastic boxes with printed labels on the sides and tops had been neatly stacked inside her room allowing Melodee to shuck her coat and hang it on the door the door provided. It was time to get started.

First the bed was made and the pillows placed. Her clothes were folded and placed in the drawers or hung according to color. Pictures needed to be hung, but in order to do that, she needed to place hangers in the walls. Of course, space would be left for a book case next to her desk and a large dry-erase calendar to keep track of her clubs and events.

The hammer, however, had a different idea and slipped from the nail head and smashed the thumb of the hand holding it in place. Melodee, unsurprisingly, let out a wounded yelp.

"I should have asked mother for one of her employees to help with this," Mel shook her hand and studied her thumb.

[Haley Shapiro]

Haley heard there was a new girl coming in and she also heard that the girl was a princess. The bratty kind. Haley was never the type to judge by others' judgments but bratty princesses weren't that hard to judge; they were pretty, had pretty things, they like pretty things and they're always wanting pretty things. One peek in the new girl's room confirmed a quarter of that particular assessment.

Haley was a believer.

She was making a racket with her knocking and then the yelping and Haley was trying to concentrate on her training for once. Although she should learn to train under any circumstance, Haley thought it was a good distraction to yell at someone for being a noisy jerk. And the new girl was as noisy as they came apparently.

"Oy. You deaf or something?" Haley frowned, kicking the girl's door open. She paused a bit when she saw the girl. So pretty. Half of the assumptions were already true. Bratty princess was actually living in the same quarters as her.

Swell.

"Do you need to make so much noise? Necessary?" Haley raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms over her chest.

[Melodee Riker]

The crack of the door against the adjoining wall drew Mel's attention though the overly rude demand for quiet. Or rather information on why she was making quite so much noise. If she were a lesser person, Melodee would make snappy demands right back. However, she was better than the rag-tag girl standing on her threshold.

"I am soo sorry. I wasn't thinking, I should have asked if anyone minded if I tried to hang pictures." Melodee winced and shook the hand her injured thumb resided on in the air, "I should have asked for help too. I'm not very good at this kind of thing, but I wanted... I wanted it to feel more like home." There was nothing in her tone that indicated sarcasm or that she was speaking down to anyone. No, the new redhead had practice keeping her tones even and used vocal modulation well.

"Do... is there any ice available in the dorm or should I try sticking my thumb in a snow drift on the window sill?" Her eyebrows inched closer together and slightly upward. Her thumb did hurt, and ice was better for numbing. She didn't now the girl well enough to know how to use her yet, but most people responded well to being needed, or helpful.

[Haley Shapiro]

What was worst about the bratty princess was that she was...nice. It looked genuine enough to Haley and unfortunately the young girl was starting to realize that not everyone was out to get her and that there were decent people in the world.

But a princess was still a princess.

"Mommy couldn't uproot your whole home to Pilot Ridge?" Haley sneered. She knew she didn't have any business being so mean to the new girl. She used to be new and people weren't so nice and she didn't like it. Common sense should have dictated that she be nicer to people so they don't feel as horrible as she did.

That wasn't the case apparently.

And then the princess gave her sad eyes. Even Haley had to wince. They were effective to say the least but Haley was still Haley and she frowned deeper. "There's a fridge. In the common room. Go fill a cup with water and stick it in the freezer. Or better yet stick your thumb in the freezer." She said flippantly.

"We have a maintenance guy." Haley pointed out before looking down at the other girl's nails that were ready to be knocked into the wall and grabbed them. She concentrated a little before jabbing the nail into the wall near the bed. It slid into the wall almost effortlessly and Haley grinned smugly. "What, princess can't afford a handy man?"

[Melodee Riker]

Of course her mother could afford a handy man, but as much as she would have preferred it she couldn't wander around with a team of people. Yet. One day. Her plans were made and she would have those people. So long as she stayed on course.

But this girl. This... younger girl was going to possibly be a problem. More difficult to use right off the cuff, but she'd come around. They always did. She was scruffy. She was rough around the edges, but there was definitely something there. Something useful.

"Freezer, good idea," Melodee smiled, deciding not to rise to the bait. She watched, instead, as the younger girl pushed the nails into the walls.

"Oh...wow! That's incredible, and so useful." Useful indeed. No, she wouldn't give up on this one. Strength was a very necessary thing and usable in so many ways. There were uses better and bigger than pushing nails into the wall. It was a good thing, she supposed, that she'd put little tape Xs around where she wanted pictures to hang.

"I... if there's a maintenance man I don't want to abuse your kindness." Of course she did. And would. "But that really is amazing." She'd dip a cloth in water and wrap her thumb, already the interesting nature of her first day was dulling the pain. It wasn't broken and the joint still worked so a little pain to gain this girl into her... court.

[Haley Shapiro]

Smiling smugly, not at all aware of the cogs whirring in the redhead's head, Haley dropped the nails down on the nearest surface and crossed her arms over her chest. "Yeah, well. Still a work in progress." Haley scuffed her shoe on the floor mindlessly and looked around the room, very unimpressed by the pink. However, she was quite jealous of how much she actually had. Her own room was...empty.

"I'm Haley by the way. You might as well know my name since we're gonna be spending some time together....here in this...dorm." Haley shrugged and gave the girl a one-handed wave.

[Melodee Riker]

Melodee's own lips pulled back into a pleasant smile. "Hayey, it's so nice to meet you. And I really am very sorry about having made so much noise. I just wasn't thinking."

Go up and turn right.

It took every effort for Melodee not to jerk her head around to find the male speaker. He wasn't there. They never were. There weren't as many people in Pilot's Ridge as there were in New York, so the voices, she hoped, wouldn't be as often.

"I think, I'll wait to hang the rest of the pictures for the moment, my thumb... and head need a rest." She reached for the small bottle of aleve she kept in any bag she was using at the time. "I know it's usually a part of being... what we are," she refrained from saying freaks, though that's what they were, "But the headaches are something I could do without." Shaking out three of the pills, she offered the bottle to Haley.

"Would you like to get something to eat with me, Haley?"

[Haley Shapiro]

"Yeah...nice. Very nice."

The girl's apology was getting on Haley's nerves. Of course that had been what she wanted in the first place. "Yeah. You weren't thinking. Suppose princesses have got a lot on their minds huh." Haley rolled her eyes.

She didn't notice anything amiss and obviously didn't hear what the redhead heard. She cut back her snort at the other girl's point of view about "what they were". But she did agree on the headaches. Haley was starting to develop the sideeffects to her powers. Stiff joints, sore muscles...and the migraines were the worst. Sure she was able to withstand pain longer than any normal kid her size but when it hit her, it her hard.

When the girl asked if Haley wanted to get something to eat, Haley had to pause and wonder if she wanted to spend more time with the princess.

"Eh sure. Why not. But the canteen food blows. I usually just get stuff from the vending machines. Might not have your caviar or steak though."

[Melodee Riker]

"Not so much going through my mind as I was trying to make this place feel less... desolate. Less prison like." She offered another apologetic smile with a hint of 'you understand don't you' behind it. Putting the hammer and the nails back in their place, she turned and got her coat.

"I think we can do better than vending machine or cafeteria food. But between you and me," Mel dropped her voice conspiratorially, "I can't stand caviar. I mean really, who in their right mind wants to eat that mess? It looks and smells awful." Catching the inside of her lower lip between her teeth, Melodee pondered. "How about burgers from the place in town? I passed it on the way up to Hammel, and it looked promising." She didn't make a verbal offer to buy Haley's meal, but would do so when they got to where they were going.

Everyone could be bought. Everyone had a price. A trigger. And she would make this conquest. It might take more than a few minutes of conversation. It might take more than a few days or weeks, but Melodee would collect this girl into her circle. Her mind was set.

"Or do you know of a better place? Honestly I haven't had much to eat since lunch and I could barely eat then. I was too nervous about getting here and what... people might think."

[Haley Shapiro]

Haley raised an amused eyebrow at the other girl's response, briefly thinking her room had been ten times better than the home she had come from. It was sort of hilarious how so different the two girls were from each other yet they were about to 'hang out' with each other. Hammel administrations sure had an excellent sense of humor -insert eyeroll here.

Oh the girl was good. She was really good; appealing to the ever growing appetite of a girl who grew up on scraps. Oh yes, Haley had a price. An that was price was a good burger, hot fries and a big cup of soda.

She instinctively checked her pockets for the notes she had filched off a senior earlier that day and shrugged. "Yeah...burgers sound good." Haley shrugged, careful not to sound too eager.

"You...care what people think of you, princess? That is rich. You do have a sense of humor! I like it." Haley barked out a derisive chortle, patting the redhead on the shoulder, not at all worried about insulting the rich girl.

[Melodee Riker]

Mel's face split into a grin, not just the polite smile, but a full on grin. "Great! Burgers it is, let me just grab my coat." Pulling the door slightly so she could reach the red, double breasted, knee length coat. It was smart, and went smoothly on over the teal cowl neck shirt. Out of the pockets she pulled two leather gloves and tugged a cute hat onto her head. The outfit was very Melodee, as Haley would soon learn.

Turning back to the other girl, Melodee paused at the other comment and allowed her face to fall slightly. "I know caring seems shallow, but I really want people to like me. I don't want to be so alone here." The pat to the shoulder might have been assumed to be a friendly thing, and not at all patronizing from an outsider's point of view, but Mel had been playing the manipulation game for a while now. She recognized it for what it was, but decided not to comment. Her game was deeper than the immediate.

The school, she'd seen so far, was a bunch of freaks and losers who hadn't quite known what success was. Bad enough they were going through their teenage years, but add to that having to deal with learning to control potentially dangerous powers... it made things so much worse.

"I just... I don't know." Melodee shifted her eyes away, then smiled and looked back again. "It takes adjustment, right? Anyway, let's go eat!"

[Haley Shapiro]

Haley was bowled over by the redhead's enthusiasm and immediately had to wonder if the girl was genuinely nice or just intelligently manipulative. Either way, Haley had to keep an eye on her. She could be dangerous. Her coat had Haley dropping her jaw. She had never seen such a pretty coat in her life. She gawked for a few more minutes and then self-consciously picked on her own tattered hoodie. It had been a hand-me-down from a senior orphan she shared a bond with.

The awe she felt over the coat was quickly replaced by a smirk when the other girl's face fell. "Being alone has its perks." Haley said, not entirely believing in it. Briefly, she thanked whatever entity that looked out for her by sending her Estelle and Henry. She didn't want to jinx that. But she did know the cold hard facts. Which was... "People leave. You should just rely on yourself. And that is the best advice you will get." Haley nodded decisively.

It seemed the girl knew exactly how to play people and it actually got Haley feeling a little guilty for all the jabs she had been giving so the brunette eased up a little on the redhead. "Yeah...sure whatever. Come on."

The walk over to the burger joint was filled with a little banter between the two girls and once they arrived, Haley went straight to the cashier and placed her order, already futzing around in her pockets to find her money.

[Melodee Riker]

((This thread is continued in Burger Beginnings.))