Shoe Shopping and Some (Noor)

[Jennifer Younge]

Jenni was giddy. A giddy Jenni was a loud, and laughing. It made a change from her usual self pitying mood. Why was Jenni so happy? She had plans. She had spent some of the morning talking to Noor Qadri on the Hammel chat room, and they had decided to walk to the mall together. This was the first tome since coming to Hammel, that Jenni had been invited anywhere, and other the Benji, she hadn't really spoken to anyone. So it was nice change for her. She hadn't left the institute since her arrival, and there was an air of mystery as to what Pilot Ridge would be like. Being fairly young, she hadn't wanted to walk to the town by herself. Who knew what crazies might be about.

After logging off the computer, Jenni had rushed to her dorm to get ready. While she hadn't exactly been in her P.J's, she was hardly dressed for walking around outside. She put on her favorite jeans, a plain white shirt, and her (worn) comfy ballet flats. He hair, currently tied in a loose pony, was to be worn down. There. It didn't take long for the thirteen year old girl to get ready, looks just weren't that important to her. She grinned at her reflection. Today was going to be fun. She could feel it.

Turning, Jenni reached into her top drawer and pulled out a pair of long, pink frilly socks. She hated these socks, it was a pair her mother had bought, and insisted Jenni wear them with her knee length pink frilly dress (she also had white small heeled shoes, and a white headband to complete the look). Said dress lay in some forgotten corner back home. Jenni only brought her socks because that was where she kept her money. Since being a young child, any money Jenni had been given was added to her collection. She now had a respectable sum of $1,534. This may be seen as a bit much for a child, but Jenni wasn't given money often, she was just good at hoarding.

She pocketed $150. She doubted she'd need all of it, but still. Maybe she and Noor could see a film or something. She also grabbed a light jacket, it was a warm day, but it looked like it might rain. She'd need an umbrella if it did rain. She just hoped it wouldn't. Still, she doubted a bit of rain could dampen her mood. She had made a friend, a friend that wanted to go to the mall! What could be better then that? And Maybe Noor could introduce her to some new people.

A glance at her alarm clock, told Jenni it was 14.57. She was meeting Noor at 3pm, which left her three little minutes to get her butt outside the dorm rooms. She waved good bye to her large array of soft toys, (Yes, Jenni has a thing for teddy's) and whirled to face the door. She took a breath and stepped outside. The common room she shared with her other Roomies was empty, but that didn't surprise her all that much, and nor did it slow her down as she rushed across the room to the door leading out to the hallway. Jenni paused to see if Noor was around here, and then hurried on to their designated meeting place. There was a bench outside the dorms, and that was where Jenni planned to wait.

[Noor Qadri]

Noor wasn't giddy, but at least she wasn't grumpy from her training session. Sometimes she would leave training mentally and physically exhausted, and knowing that there was only so much time she had before she went inanimate. And whenever that happened outside, she was stuck there, in the cold or the rain or whatever else the Vermont sky wanted to throw at her. But not today. Today she knew she hadn't overextended it. So she headed back towards the dorm, grinning, happy to have time to herself.

Until she noticed the younger girl sitting outside the dorm. Dammit. She'd forgotten she'd invited Jenni, the girl she knew only from the Hammel chatroom out to the mall that afternoon. And though she really did need to find a new pair of nice shoes--after getting caught out in the rain with her other pair on--she wasn't ready for a walk to the mall at the moment.

"Hey Jenni! Sorry, just let me run upstairs and put on sneakers. It's a bit of a walk to get there, you know? Oh and this is Strudel." She gestured to the toaster that had been trotting along beside her, before picking it up and tucking it under her arm. "He's not coming with us, because of the whole, you know, toaster thing."

With one last flash of a smile, she darted inside and up the stairs to her dorm room. She sailed past one of her roommates with a "Hi. Bye!" and hurried into her room, where she quickly changed her shoes and set the toaster down, before grabbing her purse and darting out. Again, she only briefly awknowledged her roommate, then headed back down the stairs. Though it looked like it might rain, she'd decided to go without a jacket. Despite the heat of the early-summer afternoon, she was wearing a long-sleeved blouse and jeans.

When she reached outside, she grinned at the younger girl. "Sorry about that, again. I didn't mean to be late. Come on, let's get going." She started heading towards the road, waving for Jenni to follow her. "It's only like a mile to get there, not really far at all. And I think one of the department stores is having a sale on shoes, so that might be a good place to head first. Hey, where did you say you were from, anyway?"

Noor was quite aware that the younger girl hadn't actually identified where she was from, but she didn't want to just take over the conversation all on her own. She was known for being a chatterbox enough already, and didn't want to be overbearing.

Despite living at Hammel for two years now, she hadn't made all that many friends. Two of them, a set of twins, had just graduated and gone off to college. She'd met them because they were the ones who had offered to share the small spare room they'd used for daily prayers. And with them gone, she didn't have an automatic bond to anyone.

So. New friends time. Yay.

[Jennifer Younge]

Jenni was sat quietly waiting for Noor, and wondering if the girl was going to show. Jenni couldn't see why she wouldn't, considering it was Noor's idea. Maybe she was just running late. That was probably it. Jenni was pulled out of her musing by the very girl she was thinking about. Noor turned up, smiling, (A smile that slowly disappeared...) Jenni tried not think of this and smiled at the girl, feeling suddenly a little shy. This girl was older then herself. Who wanted to hang around with someone two years their junior?

"Hey." Jenni replied, trying to keep her voice sounding normal, she was both excited and nervous after all. "Don't worry, hey Strudel" She managed to get her last words in before the door shut and the girl was gone. So she was just running late. That made Jenni feel a bit better, if Noor was going to walk to the mall with her, then she wasn't about to dump her was she? Friendship's were now a thing of worry for Jenni, having lost most of her old friends due to her powers, Jenni was a bit paranoid that any new friends she made would fall out with her. But she refused to think of that, and her 'friends', and focus on today.

Jenni herself did need some new shoes, she had one pair of trainers, that were separating from the sole, and her ballet flats. (She left all the fancy ones at home). She felt her pocket, and then reassurance in the bump there. Maybe she should start spending a bit more. Jenni then made a decision to spend all of the money in her pocket. Some how. Hoarding was well and good, but you never got anything new.

Noor came back out of the Dorms, and apologized again. Jenni shrugged, and stood up to walk beside her. She fell in to start nodding to Noor's freely given information, and then frowned as she tried to think of when she had said where she had come from. She didn't recall saying it, besides, Jenni's and Noor conversation were never really all that long.
"Um... Stillmore? Central Georgia." She replied turning to face the girl she was speaking to. "What about you?" Yes the Cliche question, but honestly, Jenni was a little lost for words. She hated making friends, because she never had anything particularly interesting to ask, or start a conversation with.

Meeting new people was hard for Jenni, she didn't trust easily. It was especially hard now, because she was a new kid. She didn't know a single person, and there was no-one she could talk to properly. Other then Benji of course, but it didn't feel like talking with Benji, it felt like writing in her diary, as harsh at that seemed. Jenni threw a glance at Noor as the walked away from the school, "So, is there anything other the Strudel that you've animated and kept it animated?" she asked. Jenni though Animation was a very cool power, and was sightly jealous of the older girl.

[Noor Qadri]

Noor hadn't been great at making friends either, but she was particularly ineffectual keeping them when she was exactly their age. She ended up in the best friendships when she was the youngest in the group, probably because she was just so used to being the youngest sibling, and then she'd been the younger friend of her two closest friends, who had just graduated from Hammel. She didn't have a lot of friends younger than her, but hey, if older kids liked her, then there was a good shot at her liking Jenni.

That's how it worked, right?

There were only a handful of questions students from Hammel had a habit of asking each other. The first one was some variant of "So what are you in for?", because it just made sense to find out as much as you could about other people's powers, since that's why they were all stuck together in the first place.

"Georgia? Oh, that's cool. It's pretty hot there right? I mean because it's so far south. Oooh, if you're not used to the cold, you're gonna hate the winter, because we get so much snow. It's great!" Noor had always loved snow, and winter, and cold. Then again, she had grown up in Minnesota. "I'm from St. Paul, Minnesota. We don't get quite so much snow there as we do here, but it's a nice place too." She waved a her free hand up towards the trees that they were passing. "And it gets gorgeous here during the autumn. You'll love it. It's just spectacular, with all the leaves."

The other girl's question made her shake her head, sadly. "No. Just him. And my trainer isn't exactly sure how that happened. Apparently, most animations are supposed to just last a little while, and they're never supposed to still be going two years later." In fact, Strudel had baffled more than one expert. It didn't really make any sense, but the toaster animation was still going, even after years of Noor not exactly concentrating on it. He just kept...being.

[Jennifer Younge]

Jenni smiled over at Noor, and nodded, "Yes it is, we used to have barbeque's a lot, and we used to go the park and hang out there. No one ever stays in really." Jenni replied. She wasn't looking forward the winter here. There were mountains, and Jenni had this thought that is was always colder where there were mountains. She added warmer clothes to the list of things to buy.

"I always liked Fall, its so pretty, especially when the sun shines through the leaves at sunset." Jenni smiled again, remembering the glorious sunsets back in Georgia. She just hoped Noor was right, but then, why wouldn't she be, she had lived here for two years already.

"So I guess he's kinda lonely, I mean being one of a kind." Jenni half asked, she did want to meet Strudel, regardless of the fact he was just a toaster. It was an oddity, OK totally unheard of, but hey. "Can he still make toast?" The question was slightly random, but then, so was the thought had just occurred to her. If he could still make toast, then that would be awesome.

Jenni shoved her hands in her pockets and looked around. It was really pretty here, and despite her previous thought of mountains, they did look awe inspiring against the sky. It looked a bit like a postcard scene. She idly wondered if people climbed them, not that she would be interested, but it would make a good topic for discussion. Especially if someone had a power that would make it easier for them.

[Noor Qadri]

Noor nodded, grinning. "Ooh, we used to barbeque a lot in the summer and eat on our deck, but once the snow came, we were mostly inside until spring. But here it's beautiful, and there's always people who want to have snowball fights, if you're up for it." She was a winter baby, and had always loved the snow. Vermont was perfect for her.

Talking about her rather strange pet always amused the older girl. How many other girls had a pet toaster? And hell, most cats aren't as affectionate as her appliance. "I suppose he might be, but he likes people, and sometimes I animate things for him to play with." And the last question made her laugh out loud. It wasn't mean, or really directed at Jenni at all. "Wow. You'd think that everyone would be asking that, right? I think you're the first one to ever do it though." She grinned again, "I didn't fix him. He couldn't make toast when I animated him, so he still can't. I don't think he knows that he's supposed to though, so don't tell him."

She was quiet for a moment, kicking at the rocks in the street, before adding, as if out of nowhere, "I dunno much about how he works, actually. I mean, he doesn't have a brain, or eyes, or ears, but I know he knows when I talk to him, somehow. I guess it's part of the power?"

[Jennifer Younge]

Jenni tilted her head to one side, a small smile on her face. "I've never had a snowball fight." Jenni said, "There's never enough snow." She said. She thought about all the chistman movies that had snow fights in them, and wondered if that was what it was really like. All laughing and red faces. She smiled as she glanced at Noor. "It sounds like fun though!" She said excitedly.

Jenni smiled as Noor spoke, wishing that she had a pet. To be honest though, Jenni could hardly look after herself, let alone anything else. If she did get a pet, the poor thing would end up starving before she remembered to feed it. "Well that's good. Like little friends for him. He doesn't get to see them all the time, so when they are not animated, its like they went home." she said, understanding he own logic perfectly.
"That's odd." Jenni agreed, wondering why no-body else had seen suck an obvious thing. Toasters make toast, so naturally, everyone should be wondering if he still made toast. "It would be really awesome if he did... unless of course he got burned..."


Jenni's mind stayed on Strudel as Noor kicked at the rocks. She knew that toasters didn't burn, unless of course they blew up, but if Strudel did make toast, would he feel the heat? After all, he was animated, she surly he should...
She turned her head towards Noor as she spoke, and then nodded as if agreeing with her. It would make sense that the power made it possible for strudel to understand everything that was going on around him. What would be the point of animation if the animated object didn't understand anything.
"I bet it is." Jenni replied. Giving voice to her thoughts.

[Noor Qadri]

"Oh, they're so much fun!" Noor grinned and mimed lobbing a snowball at the younger girl. It was one of the rare activities she'd been able to share with her (much) older siblings. "And we totally get enough snow here for it, plus enough to build forts as well. And you could be on my team." For as much as they had teams at least. Most of the time, it was everyone for themselves.

Jenni's flight of fancy about Strudel having friends made Noor grin. She really didn't think about her pet appliance socializing much with anyone who wasn't, you know, a person. When he played with the other objects she animated, he did so as if they were toys. They weren't sentient, like he was. But she didn't want him to attempt to make toast, for fear of him breaking again, and being in pain. "Yeah, that would suck. But his purpose isn't to make toast. Not anymore, at least. He's my friend. And he does heat up sometimes, but not enough to burn anything. Mostly during the winter, he keeps me warm."

Okay, now Noor felt a little weird. She was friends with her toaster, and that might qualify as a little pathetic.

Noor shrugged, then pointed ahead, where the mall loomed, ready for whatever teenage adventures awaited them. "Hey, we're almost there. So, we have to look at shoes, but is there anything else you need?"

[Jennifer Younge]

Jenni giggled at Noor's little miming show, she pretended to duck and throw one back. Imaginations were such good fun. Her giggles subsided, and grin on her face, Jenni nodded to her companions next words. "I'd like that." she replied, her mind already picturing the fort she would (try to) build. The thought of all that cold didn't enter her mind, all Jenni could think of was the snow. All that glorious white snow.

"That's so sweet." Jenni cooed. She didn't think the older girl was pathetic in the slightest. In fact she thought it was pretty awesome that she had a living heater. "Hey, can he turn to heat down if you get too hot?" she asked, speaking the first thing that came to mind upon hearing about him heating up a little. It was be pretty damn cool if he could cool down a little. From snow to Living toasters, Jenni's imagination was on overload, and she was still feeling pretty giddy. It was nice to be a kid again.

"I need shoes too." Jenni replied, chewing at her lower lip as she tried to think of anything else she needed. There was the warmer clothing, but she figured she could leave that to a later date. "Maybe we could just look around as well?" she asked, thinking of her vow to spend and spend.

[Noor Qadri]

Noor frowned slightly as she thought. Did he ever cool down anymore? "Usually he's pretty warm to the touch, so if I'm feeling hot then I just don't touch him." She was pretty sure the younger girl wasn't asking of the toaster cooled down, like an ice pack.

Because, you know, that would be ridiculous.

"Not that you're ridiculous, Jenni." Noor thought, just in case the other teenager was reading her thoughts. She'd mentioned that her power was telepathy when they were in the school chat room, earlier that day. Which was pretty cool, in her opinion. And though she really did care about Strudel, she thought that the rest of her animations were pretty lame.

When they reached the mall, Noor pushed open the heavy glass door, sighing with relief as they stepped into the air-conditioning. In the summer sun, the walk in her jeans and long-sleeved shirt was pretty brutal. "Well, let's go to the shoe store first. There aren't too many stores here, so we can stop in wherever you want. I need some new dressy shoes; I outgrew my last pair. Aren't feet supposed to stop growing around the time you stop getting taller?" Her conversation had the habit of switching topics pretty quickly. "Maybe heels, since Mom isn't here to tell me I'm still too young."

[Jennifer Younge]

Jenni considered the girls words, and walked in silence for a few seconds, but she finally saw her reasoning and nodded. "That makes sense." she replied with a smile. Off course, if something made someone feel uncomfortable, they tried to avoid it, so Noor not touching Strudel when she was too hot made sense. Why bother making herself hotter?

Jenni, however, was oblivious to anything Noor was thinking. Her power was erratic at the best of times, and the fresh air seemed to help a little. It seemed her power was dormant when she was distracted. This of course, wasn't known the the thirteen year old girl. Which was lucky, because no doubt, if she thought about it, then her power would be right there.

Jenni was quiet happy to go where ever the older girl wanted to go, and so she simply nodded to her suggestions. Her nod was followed quickly by a shrug however, as she didn't know the answer to her question. She didn't expect to reach the age in which she would stop growing any time soon. So it never occurred to her.

"Heel's are nice." Jenni commented softly, her mind a million miles away once again. Her mother often dressed her in heels, in the hopes it would convince her to want to dress more like a girl. It never did work. I prefer flat shoes, they are easier to walk in." she added thoughtfully.

[Noor Qadri]

"You do have a point there." Noor said, stopping at a window display of a department store, showing off rows of pretty, jewel-tone flats. "And there are just so many pretty ones." She eyed a pair made from some dark purple, shiny fabric, with a buckle on the toe. They would actually look pretty good with the dress she'd bought for her sister's wedding...but no. She was on a mission. "But I need a pair of heels. Come on."

Noor caught hold of the younger girl's elbow and pulled her into the store. She bee-lined towards the shoe department, chattering away. "I'm thinking black heels, since they go with just about anything. Or maybe brown, since I have a lot of brown clothes as well. My feet are size seven, so if you see anything in that size, pick it up. Um...I think black would go best with the dresses I have. Does your mom make you dress up for family stuff too? Mine does, but she also thinks that all the clothes I pick out on my own aren't appropriate for a girl my age." She turned and grinned at the other girl. "Sorry if I'm talking too much. You can just tell me to shut up, you know. I won't mind."

[Jennifer Younge]

The older girl didn't leave much room for Jenni to speak, but she wasn't fussed by this. In fact she preferred to just listen. She was starting to feel a little shy now, which was ridiculous considering the pair had been chatting the entire way to the mall. Jenni was just beginning to feel a little overwhelmed, and now they had entered a busy mall, she was started to hear the thoughts of other. It seemed that no amount of distraction was enough to keep the thoughts of many people out of her head.

She smiled at Noor when she agreed with her point, but it seemed she wanted heels. Jenni didn't say anything else on the matter, as she has just seen a pair of gray tartan ballet flats, with a black buckle strap, and black capped heel and toe. They also had a slight heel, and Jenni wanted them.

Jenni startled slightly when Noor took her elbow, but she quickly followed. She nodded the older girl's instructions, but also kept an eye out for the gray flats she saw in the window. "She thinks I dress boyish." she said pulling a face. "She likes to dress me up all the time." Her mind brought up the picture of a particularly awful, and overly frilly dress. Jenni was mortified when she was made to wear it to her friends birthday party. It wasn't pleasant.

She visibly flinched at telling Noor to shut up. Jenni would never dare do a thing like that. Not yet anyway. She hardly knew the girl, it was like telling her mother to shut up. Which she did once, and she was grounded and couldn't get her diary back; she had left it at her friend's. "Its OK, I don't mind at all." Jenni replied, a little shyly.