Trying To Make A Difference

[Morgan Paige]

Classes weren't so hectic these days, so Morgan had all kinds of times for other projects. She didn't have idle hands, and liked keeping herself busy. So as soon as the lunch mess was cleaned up, Morgan had staked her claim on one of the cafeteria tables. She had been here for three years now and it was time to start making some posters to put up in the halls, something that was actually meaningful, not just advertisement for school dances.

There were plenty of clubs in the school, and Morgan was determined to start a new one. She bit her lip as she began designing the title in pencil, only the beginning visible: 'GAY'. Part of her had always wanted to start a Gay-Straight Alliance group at the school, somewhere where everyone was supported in whatever way they needed. A safe place where everyone could be themselves and was beyond the legendary 'Talk' Mr. Neville gave every year. A place within the walls of the school.

As she thought and designed, a few of her markers rolled off the table and onto the floor. But Morgan was too enthralled to notice - she had a mission at hand.

[Echo Waverly]

So many people.

So many disorganized people.

Ugh.

Echo had already laden her tray with various forms of food-- being very careful to include something from each food group. And now she'd paused to make sure it was all carefully organized on her tray, and that no foods were touching on her plate. A fellow student, apparently impatient at her, brushed past, jostling her slightly in the process. She shot him a venomous glare and even turned to try and trip him for bumping into her, but he had moved away too fast.

Her irritation and near outburst did, however, catch the attention of a few students. She'd already been nicknamed the "Tiny Tiger" for her unpredictable temper. She didn't really care, either. Except for when she did...

Biting her lip and turning back to her tray, she felt her cheeks growing slightly warm. Yeah. Today, she did care a little. Holding her tray close to herself, knuckles white as she gripped it, she walked quietly along the wall of the cafeteria, trying to spot a table without people at it, or at least without a lot of people at it.

She'd just noted that a table she was passing had only a girl with a bunch of posters at it, and that perhaps it would be the best place to eat lunch undisturbed, when her foot came down on something small and unstable. She opened her mouth in a silent gasp as the leg flew from under her, and she flailed for the nearest stable object-- the table.

This did manage to slow her fall, so despite a slightly banged elbow, the worst she suffered was landing hard on her rear end. Well, that and her tray, which she'd tried with all her might to keep from flipping, smacking hard against her legs as it came down, effectively messing up her painstaking organization.

She stared down at her tray, one hand gripping the table still, the other gripping the tray, mentally fluctuating between a complete explosion, or silent acceptance. After a moment, she leveled a calculating look at the girl whose fault this, of course, was. To have a nuclear meltdown, or not?

[Morgan Paige]

Morgan glanced up from her pencil work, noticing a girl in line getting brushed past like she was nothing. The older brunette glared at the boy who had done it, though it didn’t seem like he had done it to do any harm. She wasn’t going to intervene when nothing malicious was at heart. Still, she couldn’t help but take a closer look at the younger girl in line with the startlingly blue eyes. Fury was written in her eyes and it was hard to ignore. Apparently this wasn’t the first time she had been brushed over like she didn’t even exist. Morgan knew that feeling.

And the funny thing that happened when Morgan studied people, and not funny ha ha, although some people may think so, was that her power went into overdrive. She suddenly had a fleeting glimpse of this girl’s future. A girl she had never met before, slipping and falling and potentially hurting herself on the hard cafeteria floor. The thing about Morgan’s visions however, were that they weren’t always detailed, and she couldn’t always stop them.

So rather than paying attention to her supplies, she turned her head just in time to see the fiery girl gasp and grasp at the table Morgan was working at. Quickly setting everything down, Morgan went to stand in front of the girl and assess the situation. “Are you alright?” Morgan asked calmly, like she knew it was going to happen. And well, yeah she did know… She shook her head, extending a hand towards the girl, her eye catching a couple of her markers on the ground mixed with the food she assumed was once on the tray.

“I think you stepped on one of my markers,” Morgan said by way of apology. The girl before her clearly did not want any help and she quickly retracted her hand. This didn’t stop Morgan from glaring at everyone else staring at them, the onlookers on the verge of laughter. About five seconds passed before people were over the spectacle and Morgan looked to the other girl again, wondering if she was alright.

[Echo Waverly]

Echo was vaguely aware of the people staring, of the titters that usually onsetted laughter. She half expected the girl at the table to join them, and so that was what she braced herself for. Whatever the girl's reaction was, it would dictate Echo's own reaction. Whether or not she got detention for throwing a food tray at a fellow student's head.

However, the girl was standing in front of her, asking if she was all right. Offering help, but retracting it when she saw Echo didn't want it. That definitely gave the stranger points in Echo's mind. She hated people who forced help on her. Well, usually. Depending on her mood. But this was definitely one of those moods. So, she shifted to a more comfortable sitting position, and began returning things to her tray, in proper order. Most people probably would have despaired of the food, she realized, but she never got two servings of food. Never. But she wasn't going to not eat, either.

Markers on the floor. Markers didn't belong on the floor. That alone was cause for irritation. But the girl was being nice, so Echo saw no need for retaliation. Instead, she nodded at the girl's comment about the marker as she scuffed to her feet and set the tray on the table. After going through that trouble, she was sitting at this table now. She didn't want to risk tripping over other things anymore, anyways. She was, however, careful not to set her tray on any of the posters. It would be annoying to get food on a poster.

Absently nudging a few other food items into position, she studied said posters, then cast the artist a quizzical look, inclining her head to the tabletop. Just in case the girl didn't get the message, Echo retrieved her notebook out of her pocket, flipped it to a new page, and scrawled, "Why?" before tapping the posters.

[Morgan Paige]

Glad that the girl was okay, Morgan pushed her hair behind both ears before making to sit across from her. Aside from the girl's pride, everything seemed unhurt. Morgan smiled a little bit before returning to the title of her poster. She wasn't opposed to some company, but she just didn't know how to start a conversation without seeming... awkward. It wasn't that she wasn't friendly, it just always seemed forced whenever she tried.

Morgan glanced from her poster to the way the other girl was rearranging her food, as though doing so would make it taste any different. A smile pushed at the corner of her mouth - it made her happy to think that people in this life were so unique. Made things interesting. It was in this gaze that she realized her posters were being scrutinized.

Watching as she took out a notepad, Morgan wondered if she didn't like talking, or couldn't. Either way, it left her a little speechless. Why? "I want to start a club," she said finally, clearing her voice. "A place where everyone can feel safe, no matter who they like or don't like. I don't think the school has a Gay-Straight Alliance club yet, and if they do, well, I want to make it anyways."

Morgan tilted her head to the side. "Why do you arrange your food like that?" A question for a question, after all.

[Echo Waverly]

A club, huh? Gay-Straight Alliance? Sounded weird. The Alliance part especially-- sounded like an underground plotting group or something. The Gay vs Straight Alliance... Echo studied the other girl blankly as she imagined this. She was pretty sure it'd be illegal. But it could be interesting to have it be Gay vs Straight rather than the other way around this time. Could be funny, too. A grin quirked her lips up briefly as she gave a short laugh. However, she sobered a moment later.

She scribbled on her notebook again, "Lots of clubs here." An obvious statement, maybe, but it was true, and she disliked the fact. So many groups. Everyone segregated. Really, one would have thought she'd like having everyone in neat groups... but people weren't meant for neat groups. People were meant to intermingle with each other and be interesting and have conflict. Even the living areas were segregated! Sheesh.

"Why do you arrange your food like that?"

Echo set her elbow on the table and set her chin on her hand, studying the other girl for a few moments before shifting to reply via her notebook. "Aren't supposed to touch. All the colors can't touch." Shouldn't that be obvious? Her attention shifted to the markers, thoroughly out of order, and she reached across the table to begin arranging them in color wheel order. How could someone do work with their materials so disorganized? It's a wonder she got anything done.

[Morgan Paige]

Morgan frowned at the reaction, realizing that her explanation hadn't been enough. This wasn't a joke. Why would she spend time making something for a cause that a, either didn't exist, or b, was a stupid prank? Pursing her lips together, the brunette focused on the lettering and eased into the flow of things. It was people that didn't understand who she wanted to make understand even more.

Looking up briefly, Morgan gave a brief nod to the words scribbled on the page. Yup, there sure were a lot of clubs around here. And she was a part of many of them. Not really the hobby type ones, but the ones that were causes or organizations. Her hobbies were private, not something she wanted to share with other people.

Her lips quirking into a smile, Morgan just gave a shrug. "It'll taste the same," she said, supplying her thoughts from before. Her eyes watched as the other girl rearranged her markers. Morgan looked the other girl over, studying the look of concentration on her face. "Thank you..." she started to say, realizing she didn't know the girl's name.

[Echo Waverly]

Echo quietly noted the other girl's reaction to her reaction. Hm... a little irritated, maybe? Oh well, she obviously must have misunderstood the laugh. Which made sense-- the girl probably wasn't a mind reader. Then again, maybe she was? No... probably not. She'd have to ask later, anyway.

She narrowed her eyes slightly at the comment about food tasting the same. And this girl had frowned because of her earlier laugh? Hmph. In kind, she mirrored the other girl's earlier frown and lip pursing. She picked up one of the markers, the last one in her organizing, and leaned over the table to tap it on the girl's nose in her own personal protest of the comment. Wrong.

Whether she managed to complete the tapping or not, she placed the marker back in the circle to return to her notebook. "You're welcome." She paused a moment before adding, "Echo", and tapping her own nose with her pen. She really wasn't sure why her parents had named her that-- it was a weird name. No one was named Echo that she'd heard of. Her parents had told her she could go by "Lucy", a variation of her middle name, but that name seemed too common. There wasn't any happy in-between with names...

[Morgan Paige]

Morgan laughed softly at Echo's reaction to the food comment. Morgan knew people that couldn't have their food touching or they couldn't eat it. And there were also people who couldn't stand stir-fry only because everything was mixed and they couldn't pick things apart. Morgan started when her nose was bopped, a half smile on her face. "What? You have your preferences, I have mine." The sooner she learned that, the better.

"Echo," Morgan said, trying to put it to memory. She pointed at her own nose, "Morgan." There, at least introductions were out of the way. She had to think for a few more moments, the silence between them making things awkward. It was hard to know what was over stepping boundaries, and when she was first meeting someone, she tried to be wary. "You look about... fifteen years old?" Morgan ventured a guess.

[Echo Waverly]

Echo gave a shrug at the other girl's comment. True enough, everyone had their own preferences... Everyone was entitled to their (wrong, of course) opinion. So, instead of explaining why the other girl was wrong, Echo just gave a friendly smile and nodded. Yes, yes, she could be wrong all she wanted. It was too much trouble to write out several papers to the contrary.

Her smile turned to more of an amused one as Morgan introduced herself, and pointed at her nose while she did so, as she herself had done. People didn't usually mimic such things for her. Well, unless they were doing so to make fun. Which this person didn't seem to be doing. Yeah, she was pretty sure by this point that Morgan was a pretty cool person, despite her disorderliness. But no one was perfect...

Fifteen years old? Echo stared at Morgan for several moments before bursting into laughter, shaking her head as she did so. Sure, the guess wasn't too far off, she supposed, if only because her birthday was coming up. But that didn't make it any less funny to her. Quieting down, she tapped her notebook with her pen for a moment before drawing a " =P ", assuming her laughter had been answer enough. However, not wanting Morgan to give up the guessing, she shook her head and flicked her pen upwards a few times, to signify the guess being too high, while grinning in amusement of course. She liked guessing games...

[Morgan Paige]

Morgan never made fun of anyone intentionally. Sometimes she smiled or laughed and that was taken the wrong way when coupled with poor timing. Still, she was generally a kind hearted person and only really became upset when the cause was worthy.

A crooked smile graced Morgan's face and she pushed her hair out of her face again in a nervous gesture. Sometimes you had to put yourself out a limb in order for people to become comfortable with you. "Damn, you hold yourself so well..." Morgan mused by way of explanation for her guess.

Watching the gestures Morgan's brow furrowed. Echo couldn't have been that much younger, usually the youngest around here were twelve, so... "Thirteen?" Any higher and that would make it fourteen and the game would be over. Unless of course the gesturing meant she was older? Morgan sighed, wondering how old she appeared to be.

[Echo Waverly]

Echo gave a silent snicker at the comment about holding herself well, wrinkling her nose as she did. People had told her more than once that she needed to loosen up and not be as "prim and proper" as she had been raised. But when you'd been raised a certain way, it made it hard to change. And anyway, why wouldn't she want to be? She was pretty sure people wanted her to go back to being prim and proper during her temper flares, too.

Her mouth quirked down in a slight frown as Morgan guessed wrong again. She tapped her pen against the tabletop, a little more hard than necessarily needed, before scribbling, "Almost 12". She didn't hold it against Morgan that she'd been unable to guess, of course. She found it more funny than anything, despite her brief show of impatience.

Now it was her turn to guess. "17" she wrote before pointing the pen at Morgan and giving her an inquiring look. She definitely looked like one of the older girls. Maybe she was eighteen actually... But Echo wasn't one for changing her guess. That was most definitely cheating. And cheating was not acceptable.

[Morgan Paige]

Morgan herself wasn't a very, well, outgoing person. She too held herself well, and didn't like being looked down upon. Sometimes though she wondered if being around someone a little more laid back would help her smile more often. Still, it was nice to be on top of things and be taken seriously by other people, for the most part.

Amused at the younger girl's impatience, Morgan gave a smirk. "I'm not a mind reader you know," she said matter of factly, since there actually were a few mind readers milling about the school. Quickly reading the answer, Morgan gave a nod. "It's not so bad to appear older, could come in handy." Though Morgan didn't elaborate on the thought.

Morgan shook her head no. "Close though," she said, tilting her head to the side, wondering if Echo wanted to guess. "Try... younger." At least she had found someone she enjoyed being around, despite their age difference. What was a couple years anyways?

"Are you new here?" She asked, wanting to go back to working on her poster, but it was hard to do that and pay attention to what Echo was writing. So Morgan waited patiently for an answer instead.

[Echo Waverly]

Echo pondered the other girl, the comment about not being a mind reader sparking curiosity. Of course there would be mind readers around... though she was still getting used to the idea... And everyone in the school had a power... which was another thing she was getting used to... So what was Morgan's power?

She pondered the other girl a moment, eyes half lidded as she drummed the pencil on her lips in thought. Yeah... looking older than she was could definitely be handy somehow sometime... Her mind remained on that particular subject for only a moment though before returning to the previous one. Too bad other peoples' powers weren't always obvious. After a moment or two longer, she leaned over her paper again. "What's your power"

Younger. Hmph. Echo pooched her lip out briefly before scribbling, "17". From there she would just keep going down, one year at a time. It was the most fool-proof way of doing it, in her opinion. Otherwise you risked missing numbers. It could take longer though... Which wasn't as cool.

At the question about her being new, Echo gave an overdramatic sigh, coupled with a frown. She jerked her head in a short nod before holding up two fingers, meaning to indicate months. She still didn't like being there, either. It wasn't her school, and it didn't have her schedule, or her friends in it. Her friends that she'd painstakingly chosen over the course of years. Now she just had a lot of strangers and a messed up schedule. Of course, she was adapting to it by now, but it had been an awful first week or so.

She pointed at Morgan in return, raising her eyebrows in an inquiring fashion. How long had she been there?

[Morgan Paige]

An almost proud smile crossed Morgan's face. It wasn't a crime to like your super power was it? At least she could hide it if she so desired. Reading over the question, the brunette bit her bottom lip. How was she supposed to explain it properly? "I can see glimpses of someone's immediate future if I'm close to them." It was a complicated thing and all based on probability. Sometimes the things she saw didn't even happen. She cupped her face in her hands, watching Echo for a moment. "It's actually pretty boring." But only because what people did every day was, well, vastly mundane.

Morgan smiled at Echo's pouting. "Just a bit lower." Not that age was a big deal around here, as students ranged from anywhere between eleven into their twenties. Morgan hoped she would never have to stay that long. She had seen the older students walking around, and they didn't seem too pleased to be here. But with Echo, this age guessing was only a game. Something to preoccupy the time.

Morgan nodded in understanding. The uplifted fingers could have meant anything from a peace sign to two days, but she wasn't that dense. When Echo asked the same question in return, Morgan went back to filling out the poster. Hopefully it would be done soon. "Three years," she said, her eyes flicking to Echo for half a second before returning to her voluntary work. She had to keep herself busy to keep herself from over thinking her entire life.