Ready, set, grade! (open)

[Camelia Bell]

Cammi walked into the teacher's lounge a stack of papers in her arm. It was her free period an she was starting to go stir crazy in her classroom. She set the papers down on a nearby table. A cup of tea was also sounding amazing. Perhaps some Lapsang Souchong today. The smoky flavor and smell would suit the day perfectly. It was overcast not rainy or damp just kind of gray.

Cammi walked over to some cabinets and went searching for the electric teapot she had stashed in there years ago. It was perfect for days just like today. After setting the water to boil she returned to her papers. Her classes had taken a test yesterday and she needed to get them graded. It wouldn't take too long or be to difficult. It was mostly multiple choice questions with a few short answer questions.

She laughed a little when she came across one that had very small scorch marks on it. A student must have had an accident or been really frustrated. It wasn't all that uncommon around here. After about three tests the electric tea pot whistled signaling her water was boiling.

Cammi got up and grabbed a mug out of the cupboard. Her tea was in the cupboard right above the mugs. She measured out the perfect amount of leaves and added them to her single cup diffuser. It was the only way to drink tea. Tea bags made the tea taste like paper. The tea needed to steep for 3 or 4 minutes, so she took it back to the table and continued to grade her tests.

It only took her a little longer to finish the tests, she even still had quite a bit of free time left. She stood up and moved over to the couch. Sitting down she leaned back and relaxed.

[Elena Westwood]

Clok, clok, clok, went the woman's heels down the hard surfaced halls of Hammel towards the door of the teachers lounge. It was another break in her classes for the day when Elena opened the door to the large accomodatng break room and went inside. She had nothing on her person, but everyone that knew her well enough knew why she didn't often carry things around.

As she entered the room she noticed that she wasn't going to be alone. She quickly waved and turned her grin into a smile. "Cammi!", she exclaimed, greeting the other quite familiar woman, before she briskly made her way across the room to one of the armchairs near a window that was across from the couch the other woman was on.

She glanced to her right for a moment out the window after she took her seat on the armchair.

"Ah, where are the weather manipulators when you need them?", she commented jokingly on the dull gray sky they were left with that day.

((Hope this is long enough. Also, how well do you think Cammi and Elena know each other? Schoolmates, dormmates? They've definitely been working together some time too. ))

[Camelia Bell]

Cammi smiled when Lena came into the lounge. The two women had known each other since their own school days, though Lena was a couple years older. The two were not close in school, friends to be sure, but not sleepover pals by any means. They had been working together for years and got a long extremely well. It wasn't all that uncommon for Lena to join Cammi for a glass of wine or cup of tea at her home after a long day at work.

Cammi chuckled a little at Lena's comment on the weather. Cammi loved this kind of weather, it was perfect for a cup of tea, a book, and a good fire.

"Well I wouldn't be surprised if a student was causing this weather. Though I happen to like it. It means a night of reading by the fire, maybe s nice glass of wine." Cammi smiled just thinking about it. "You would be welcome to join me tonight if you have nothing else going."

Cammi finished off the tea in her cup. She frowned slightly and got up to make another cup. She was going to be wired later with all the caffeine in the tea. Maybe something a little lighter this time around. She searched through her different teas. "Perfect!" She pulled down one of her favorites: blueberry, vanilla. It tasted like dessert. Cammi looked back over to her friend, she had almost forgotten she was there. Cammi mentally smacked herself social situations still messed her up sometimes. "Oh sorry Lena, would you like a cup?"

[Britt Betancourt]

My head feels like it's going to crack open from the inside.

Britt pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to relieve the pressure building inside her head. She had been dealing with the migraines for almost twenty years but they only seemed to intensify as she grew older. There was a medicine cabinet in the staff lounge and unless the teachers were having another curriculum meeting, it would be relatively serene. Britt let herself in without a word and rushed to the cabinet.

There was no such thing as a shortage of pain reliever in the staff lounge. Britt would personally track down and kill the teacher who forgot to replace the pills. She popped the child safety lid of off the white bottle and poured a palmful of pills into her hand. Four for now, four again in four to six hours. Another four in her pocket...just in case.

She poured cold water into a Dixie cup and took the orange pills all at once. They tasted like liquid chalk, but that liquid chalk always seemed to do the trick when in ingested in large amounts. Britt washed down the awful taste with another Dixie cup of water and took a seat at the 'grading table' to rest her head.

"Hey..." Britt grumbled, forehead pressed firmly against the hard table next to a stack of tests. The pills would kick in at any moment. "I can check those papers for cheating and plagiarism, you know. If you're interested. Just gimme a minute."

[Sara Lovell]

Sara sighed as she made her way down the hall. It was far too gray outside and her love for the sun was taking a deep hit. Not to mention that rain always made her feel....awkward. She wondered not for the first time if it was because that her power had to do with bones. Bones were porous, and in many ways, Sara felt the same way.

But that wasn't the only thing bothering the campus security officer at the moment. Her arms felt like someone was taking a hammer to them. Her bones felt brittle today. She had problems even lifting them. Her own office was out of pain meds and calcium supplements. How she had let that happen was beyond her. The pain she could live with, she often did, but the supplements she could not.

So to the staff lounge she headed. Several years ago she'd requested that the staff keep extras in the lounge in cases where she ran out. She new that they were fresh and she also knew that there would be pain meds.

The door was a comforting site and she pushed it open with some difficulty, as doing so required her using her arms. Maybe I shouldn't have done that session last night. She thought.

She did notice others in the room but for now she didn't care. She needed those supplements. And then she realized the cupboards were above her head. She leaned against the counter and sighed in frustration. It's my own fault. I should have told the Doc's I needed more three days ago.

Sara had already gone two days without her supplements and she had been paying the price with the pain she was suffering. The exertion she displayed last night in the gym with her bone shield was probably what had put her over the edge. Now she stared at the cupboard with helplessness. Finally she let out a long breath and turned around to face the rest of the room.

She made a face, she hated asking for help. But there was nothing for it. "I hate to bother you ladies, but could one of you please get something for me?" She asked as politely as she could through clenched teeth. Looking closer she noticed she recognized these women. She could swear that she new at least one of them from her own student days, maybe even two of them.

[Elena Westwood]

It was certainly true that Lena and Cammi were great friends, being former schoolmates and now colleagues for several years now. They also clicked easily, personality-wise. In some key ways, they were quite similar to one another. Their interactions observed left no doubt that these two were quite close, indeed.

"Well, I might feel sorry for the poor kid then, but for all we know the sun was just burning his or her eyes," Lena quipped, continuing on about the weather and wondering that maybe that was something she would do if she could manipulate it. "Eliminate the need for sunglasses," but after saying that, she realized that she hadn't quite thought it through, considering how much the planet needed the sun on a day to day basis. "At least, some days," she quickly added to cover the pang of embarrassment she felt.

"And thinking about it, I would love to have a visit. My work load is light tonight so that sounds fantastic," she replied to Cammi's offer. Living alone didn't mean the two never had guests or visitors over. In fact, Elena would offer to her students the opportunity to visit if they needed extra tutoring. She loved to open up her home to guests.

She then saw Cammi get up from the couch before her and walk behind her to the cabinets. They stored all of the essential break room supplies and, for Cammi and Elena, tea was an important one. But today, Elena politely refused. "Oh, no thanks. I actually put away a few bottles of Tazo tea and juice that I've been drinking today," she said before she reached her arm out into the air, her hand disappearing into nothingness, before grabbing one out. She sat comfortably back in the chair before twisting the bottle open.

Elena then heard another person enter the room. Since they were behind her and out of view, she hadn't noticed that it was Britt, and that she was back at the cabinets as well getting some pain meds (indeed, another important supply the room held). It wouldn't have surprised Lena, though, for it was common knowledge to everyone at Hammel that everyone suffered from pitfalls that came with their powers. Lena's own was sometimes losing things, but it was rare enough after her training that she often didn't notice when she lost something, if she even did so since.

When she heard Britt offer to help the women with their work loads, Elena, still sitting in her chair, turned around and waved a hand behind her as a refusal of the offer. "Nah, I've only a few vocabulary tests to check, but thanks" she answered, implying that she could get them done herself.

Shortly after she sat back in her chair, another person entered the room and Elena looked back briefly to see the campus security official, Sara, make her way in and over to the cupboards. She was much younger than Elena, but she was certainly acquainted with the woman. Security was an asset for teachers when there was trouble afoot and, in a school with such powered beings, they usually needed it.

"Cammi?" she said nonchalantly as a hint to the other woman that she might want to help Sara.

((Okay, hope this post is spiffy. I hope where I have everyone in the room works out. Probably best for Cammi to post next. ))

[Camelia Bell]

Cammi was thrilled that Lena would be joining her that night,they could use some down time together. Though she would need to straighten up a bit. Most people wouldn't view house as messy, but to Cammi is was near pig sty status. It would only take her a few moments to clean up: her knitting needed to be put away, a few books put back where they belong, and wash that mug from the other night.

Cammi was surprised when her friend refused tea, it was a staple in both of their diets. Though when her hand disappeared and she pulled out some tazo it made sense. She no longer even blinked when Lena's hand would disappear and then reappear holding something. She was a little surprised when Lena pulled out the tazo bottled tea, Cammi did not care for those bottled teas at all. The taste was just off, she did however make her own iced tea during the summer.


"I think its your turn to bring the snacks Lena, I'll have all the wine and tea we could want though!" Cammi laughed a little they often traded off who brought what, but if you asked Cammi Lena always brought better snacks.


Cammi was finishing up her tea when another teacher walked in to get some pain medication. Cammi completely understood,she too got migraines after using her power too much. She smiled at Britt when she reached for the medication. When she offered to help check the papers Cammi smiled. "That would be great Britt, but don't worry about it if you don't feel up to it." Most of the students knew better then to try anything but every now and then they seemed to forget that they would be caught.

Cammi was a little surprised to see Sara walk into the lounge, she didn't talk to the women all that much. She was nice though from everything Cammi could see. Cammi was a little concerned when the women seemed to be struggling with something. When she asked for help open the cabinet to get to the medication she was really worried. Sara did something with bones, and if she had let the after effects of power get this bad something was not quite right.

Cammi didn't hear Lena ask her to help Sara, she had already opened the cabinet and reached for the pain medication Cammi was a bit embarrassed she didn't know what else Sara needed , "I'm not sure what else you need." Her cheeks turned slightly pink. She really hated not knowing how to help the women.

[Britt Betancourt]

Britt laughed sharply, "I'll bounce back in no time. Knowing that I'll catch a student trying to pull a fast one, why, that might be enough motivation for me to will this head ache away!" Britt hated it when students when students tried to cheat their way through tests. It would be best to break them of those nasty habits before they could create any real danger in the world.

She lifted her head from the table, dark brown covering her face like a curtain being drawn over a window. Britt reached for the stack of Cammi's exams and leafed through them one by one. Her thumb and index finger pinched the top corner of each paper as dull images flashed in her mind: a student chewing his pen cap, another doodling in the corners of the page, a few shifty eyes.

"No strong signs of cheating, Cammi," Britt announced. "But I'd keep an eye on the kids in the back corners. They look at each other too much."

Britt's head was starting feel clear, the pressure greatly diminished. All of the thoughts swirling around her head were slowing down, giving her ample opportunity to focus on one just briefly. "Elena," she called out. "When's the next department meeting? I'm going to write the date on my forearm so I won't forget."

[Elena Westwood]

Elena, still situated comfortably in her chair, laughed lightly when Cammi mentioned that the snacks were on her. "Thats right, huh? And too true!" she replied jovially, adding a comment about the other woman's supplies, and lightly waved her hand up in the air as a sign of approval since she knew that the woman was in the area behind her and she would not have seen her nod. She made a mental note to go shopping right after work for some snack foods.

The woman made marks on the paper before her and then shuffled it to the bottom of her pile. Just as she was looking over the last one before her, she heard Britt call her name, and listened to her query following.

"Oh sure!" she replied, when Lena reached into the air to pull out her day planner. She put it in front of her pile of tests and opened the marked page to the current date. She perused her planner briefly, turning the page to the next week, and then the next, when she found it and stuck her finger up in the air.

"Ah, I have the Monday after next, that'll be April 12th it says here," she answered, "That good?" adding to see if Britt got her answer. She closed her planner and held onto it briefly just in case.

[Camelia Bell]

Cammi was very thankful for Britt for looking over the papers.

"Thank you Britt, it's always nice to know my students are honest. I had noticed those two looking at each other, but hadn't thought too much about it. I guess I need to pay closer attention."

Cammi laughed at Lena's response

"Hush you! people will think I'm an alcoholic!" She turned back to Britt, "You would be welcome to join us if you would like Britt."

Cammi took her mug of tea and went back to the table to finish grading. Oh how she wished Britt's power not only could check for cheaters but also check for right answers. With a sigh she began looking over the papers once again. After reading the same sentence four times over she stopped. She would have to continue later. Instead she lead back against her chair and sipped at her tea.