Tʜᴇ Uɴʀɪɢʜᴛᴇᴏᴜs discussion

Detta stormed onto the bridge, dragging a bloodied boy with her. Behind her, a crowd of students were gathered, pointing and whispering as Detta made her way to the middle of the wooden bridge. "This is what you friggin' get when you mess with me!" she hissed through gritted teeth, shoving the boy onto the bridge's rough surface when she reached the middle. Towering over him, she glared at his face, which had his blood splattered across it. Along the corridor, not even five minutes ago, the boy had accidentally spilled his juice onto Detta's shirt when he bumped into her. And while it was only a little bit, Detta couldn't forgive him. Vendetta Cecelia Strazio had a great reputation for being a dangerous, short-tempered girl who would kill you if you looked at her the wrong way.

So there they were. Standing on the middle of the bridge, completely ignoring the girl who stood not quite far from them. "I'm sorry!" the boy cried, tears welling up in his eyes. But Detta heard none of it. "I've had enough of that crap, punk," she spat, bending down and grabbing his collar again. Then, as she straightened, she lifted him up with one arm and shoved him into the bridge's railing. And before anybody could have guessed, she pushed him over the railing, sending him flying into the koi pond.

"Oooh," the students gathered around the bridge whispered more intensely, and there was even a male student going around asking for bets. "Detta or the other girl?" he was whispering and other students around him eagerly placed their bets on who would probably get thrown into the koi pond first. But Detta paid no attention to them, instead, she turned and raised an eyebrow at the girl who saved the boy. A girl she didn't recognize. But judging from her looks, she was probably sixteen, like Detta herself. She couldn't guess her division, but Detta didn't care.

"Look, princess. If ya gonna ask those punks back there to see if they know ya, they're probably gonna say no. So since you're so insignificant like an ant, I don't think anybody would actually care if you fell into the pond with this trash, ya know? Like do you keep track of the ants you step on? Do you even care?" Detta said, putting her hand on her waist and giving the girl an annoyed look. "So unless you're actually gonna listen to what a pathetic ant tells you to do, get out of my way. I'm dealing with my own problem. Go somewhere else to stare at your pretty face."

"Ha, pitiful? Not as pitiful as you are, I'm sure," Detta sneered, her temper rising. "You know what," she rolled her eyes, "no. A little princess isn't stopping me." And before anyone could gasp or wince, she threw her fist into the boy's face, sending him over the railing and into the pond. Water splashed and a fish was sent flying onto land. The other students laughed at that and only two rushed to help their friend out of the water. Detta wiped the boy's blood of her knuckles and turned back to the girl, still smirking. "So much for saving lil' Jeff over there, huh? Pathetic little ant." Detta knew the girl hadn't wanted a fight when she grabbed Jeff's arm and pulled him back onto the bridge. She'd wanted to save Jeff. And Detta wasn't going to give her that. Sure, she hated the girl and the very sight of her now made her want to puke, but Detta's fury was spent on Jeff and she was on her way to an appointment with a "friend" of hers anyway. So she turned and walked off the bridge, ignoring the disappointed faces of her fellow students who were looking forward to another fight.

[[ Detta's interactions with other people are quite short and I just roleplayed a fight (kind-off) so maybe we could steer this somewhere else? Or Layla could meet my other character, who is acquainted with Detta, and they'd just chat about this over some tea and possibly become friends. ]]

Among the students stood Ella and Darryl. Both who were Detta's "friends". "Deal with her," Ella murmured, giving Darryl a nudge. "No," he shot back, not even looking at her as he handed back the money to the students who were starting to disperse. He was the one who started the betting of course, he couldn't miss the chance to gamble, even if he was panting and tired from the period before. But he once he emptied the money from his hands, he did as he was told and had to hurry after Detta - to meet her as he promised and to give her a talk about how to slim it.

Ella, on the other hand, with a bunch of different concoctions in the satchel slung over her shoulder, hurried to join the girl who was helping Jeff out of the pond. She was Hesper, was it? Lalia Hesper? Layla Hesper? Something along those lines. Ella would figure it out later, now Jeff was the one who needed attention. "Here," Ella said, fishing out a tiny bottle of a faint blue liquid and handing it to the girl. "Give him that. It'd numb his pain long enough to get him to the infirmary," she told the girl, in case she would have any suspicions. "Now, guys," she said, looking up at the boys who were goofing around in the pond and laughing at Jeff's broken and bloodied face. "Cut it out," she snapped, and immediately they picked up their scattered books and left. Ella wasn't known for her fighting skills but being friends with almost everybody on the campus had its great perks.

"Sorry about Detta," Ella murmured, turning back to Hesper and Jeff. Though she was mostly talking to Hesper. "She's got a short temper, and if it weren't for poor Jeff here, she might have fought with you." She paused for a moment before quickly adding, "Not that I'm saying you wouldn't stand a chance against her, of course. Detta's just...a big bully and troublemaker around, so I wouldn't advise you to provoke her - even if you could beat her. Here, let me give you a hand with him." She bent down and gently lifted Jeff with one of his arms slung around her neck.

Ella glanced at Layla when she said that. "Of course," she agreed, nodding her head slightly. "If you're here, you obviously deserve some respect," she continued, "not everyone here is like Detta. If you look at the right places, you'll find people who look past your appearance and acknowledge your strengths." She smiled to herself, it sounded funny when it came out from her for some reason and it made her feel like some sort of Care Bear.

Together, Ella led Jeff and Layla to the infirmary, which was [[just realized that there is no infirmary topic]] on the opposite side of the building standing behind them. "So besides lying low," Ella said, continuing on what she'd said earlier, "you can go around socialize with the right people. Like, people from your division, people who say hi to you when you walk pass them, people who are in your classes. But be careful, because just like you, they might have hidden sides to them that you wouldn't want to see. Anyway, getting more friends would bring more people on your side and let's say Detta tries mess with you again, you've got backup and you can easily avoid a fight. Though here I am just assuming you want to avoid one. You don't want a fight, do you?"

Ella smiled in reply to Layla's thanks. She was pleased with herself for being able to start a conversation - no matter how small it was - with her. Sure, Ella had heaps of other friends who would be the ones who looked for her and not the other way around, but something told her Layla wasn't the chatty type before. If Ella had to guess, it was something about how Layla spent her past years living. It was always like that. Though pasts could haunt you for your entire life if you let it. Not about to let herself drown in a sea of pessimistic thoughts, Ella turned her attention back on the conversation, just in time to hear what Layla asked her loud and clear.

"Oh sorry, how rude of me to forget introducing myself," Ella said, giving Layla an apologetic smile and giving herself a mental one as well for guessing her name right. "I'm Eleanor Ellis. Everybody calls me Ella. And it's completely fine to add your last name to it if you want," she said. There, she got it. Layla had some issues with her family. Either they disowned her or they were...dead. Maybe that was the reason why she was introverted. "It doesn't even have to be real," she continued, "Some orphans come up with new last names just because they want to. Take Dare - you know, the boy placing bets just now - for example. He was an orphan since birth, but he gave himself the whole name of Daryl Robin Lancaster and it's official. Others, like Jeff here, don't bother. Jeff just goes by Jeffrey." She could have gone on and on, spilling out information like a tap, but that would have been rude since practically none of that related to Layla at all.

"How about this. Once we drop Jeff off, I'll show you around and give you insider information about Ymira," Ella offered. Well, it wouldn't hurt to tell Layla who to befriend and who to keep away from. And even better... But Ella didn't let herself finish the thought.

Ella smiled to herself. She could sense Layla warming up to her and was pleased with herself for it. Turning round the corner, the three of them arrived at the infirmary. Knocking on the frosted glass door before sliding it open, Ella called out to the nurse. "It's Ella," she said, stepping inside, "Detta nearly killed someone again." A loud sigh came from behind one of the white curtains and a middle-aged woman came out from behind it. The woman scanned Jeff from head to toe and shook her head in disapproval. She turned to one of the empty beds beside them and gestured for Layla and Ella to lay Jeff down on it. "Someone ought to stop that outrageous girl," the nurse muttered, moving around the room, grabbing bandages and plasters and lotions. She glanced at Ella, "You're always the one who cleans up her mess, why don't you do something to stop her for once?" Ella shrugged in reply, "We're not really close, and she won't listen to whatever I've got to say. She doesn't listen to anybody else either, not even Dare. And you know Dare, he's a manipulative bastard." The nurse rolled her eyes, "Anyway, you two won't do Jeffrey any good by standing here." That was the signal for them to get out, so Ella took Layla's shoulder and led them out of the room.

Once she slid the door closed behind them, Ella gestured at Layla to follow her. "Come on, we're heading to the courtyard. That's where most of the students chill during their free time," she said before adding with a mischievous smile, "Be careful there, sometimes things get really intense."

[[ Let's move to the courtyard topic, shall we? I can post there first if you want. ]]