Post by charlotte on Jul 26, 2007 6:00:18 GMT 1
Friday night and English homework – an essay on the themes of Hamlet and their subsequent effects in modern media and culture. For Charlotte Anders, it was not a bad topic, with a particularly large comparison drawn between it and The Lion King.
However, as well as her progress had been thus far – I Can’t Decide, by the Scissor Sisters playing in the background from her stereo, set upon the end table on one side of her bed, below a Radiohead poster, one of the only decorations her wall. To the left of the was another end table, this one with a lamp and alarm clock. Across from the bed, along the next wall was her desk, situated to the right of her dresser which, in turn, was to the right of her closet. The only window in the room was above her bed, and along the wall left of her desk was the door.
It was from the door now, that the sound of a rap-tap-tapping came. Hearing this above the music, Charlotte looked over, standing from her desk and leaving her computer – a three year old desktop – she limped to past her bed to the stereo to pause it. She saw no need to pick up her cane from its place upon her bed; her leg was improving and the limp was very near gone now. There was certainly no need to use it for such a short trip around the room.
Leaving the essay for now, she hobbled lightly to the door, her hand closing around the knob with a small measure of trepidation. Her mother rarely knocked on her door – mostly calling her from the kitchen when dinner was ready, assuming she had actually cooked something that day, so the measure of curiosity was only natural for the Junior.
“Yes?” she asked, deciding against opening the door right away. Her mother, in her usual manner, replied – sounding overworked, tired, and wanting not to disturb but only to rest.
“Charlotte? One of your friends is here to see you,”
Her immediate thoughts ran to Leon – who else would arrive at the apartment looking for her, especially under the label as friend? Without further question, she twisted the doorknob and stepped back, swinging the door open.
Only to receive an entirely shocking, and a bit unwelcome surprise.
“Hi Charlotte,” said the tall senior, lean but well built, his dusty brown hair swept, parted and slightly spiked. Adrian McKay, the captain of North Beach High School, wearing a black blazer and dark jeans, stood in the doorway to her room – his six foot tall frame causing her to have to glance up slightly to look him in the eye.
Her mother gave a slight nod and moved off, out of sight down the hall, likely to her own room, or into the kitchen.
“May I come in?” Adrian asked slowly, and Charlotte took a deep, considering breath before opening the door the full way, allowing him entrance and closing it behind him as he entered. She moved toward her desk and bed, standing between them as Adrian moved backward, standing back against the door.
“So how’ve you been?” he asked, almost cheerily.
“Peachy,” came the single reply. Her last encounter with the senior had been during a car accident, in which he had received a broken collarbone, and though she had long since moved past the incident, the two had not broken off their friendship with her move across the city and enrollment in Hircine on the best of terms.
“You look well. I suppose you are wondering why I’m here, however.”
“The thought had come to mind,” Charlotte noted, blinking from behind her glasses, anxious to get to the bottom of the surprise visit out-of-the-blue. And, as if he were a mind reader, Adrian answered her question for her.
“This may seem like an out of the blue visit, but it isn’t. North Beach didn’t do so well after I was attacked …” upon seeing Charlotte’s expression, he corrected himself. “… after we were attacked. I was hospitalized, and some of the other groups took over control. It was almost total anarchy, and a result, our scores dropped too low during the evaluations. They made a few reforms, pressed charges, and sealed the place down tighter than a steel drum in a vacuum.”
“So is that why you’re here? Miss your freedom?”
“I forgot how much I enjoyed your sense of sarcasm,” Adrian said, grinning. Quickly, however, his expression changed as he moved on to the topic of the visit. “But no, I’m here because I’m sick of laying down to a system that treats its victims better than it’s servants.”
“So you’ve turned revolutionary then?” Charlotte half-scoffed. Adrian only grinned further.
“You should know all about that, from all the things I’ve dug up on you these past few days. How’s Leon Loire, by the way? I hear you’re dating him right now.”
“That is none of your business,” she calmly stated, her curiosity beginning to wear into annoyance at Adrian’s persistence into her personal matters. Looking at the two of them now, it almost amazed her to think that they had once been very nearly the best of friends. But then, times change and so do people. Even the best of people.
“Either way, you’ve been quite the little administration puppet lately, so I’ve gathered …”
“Again, none of your business.”
“Normally, yes, you would be right. But in this case it is not, since you are being blackmailed by the faculty and I intend to send this regime crashing down.”
Charlotte felt her mouth want to drop open as her eyes widened and her mind went reeling. People change, perhaps, but not that much. One does not go from a school captain to the next Stern Mason. Adrian, seeming able to read her emotions and processes as easily as if they were painted on her forehead, continued.
“I’m going to take this school down, one pillar at a time, one student at a time, one teacher, one dean, all of them one by one.”
“Oh, right, just you then?” Charlotte said, finally finding her words – the sarcastic ones, interestingly enough.
“No, a few who decided to transfer with me. And with Hircine’s perfect records, not to mention the added bonus that you would be here, I can bring the administration to it’s knees; pick up the threads that others before me left off.”
“And how many came? Three?” Adrian did not answer, he merely continued, shoving his hands in his pants pockets and a look coming over his face, one that reminded her eerily of Leon whenever he was about to begin a speech.
“Just hear me out.”
“Hircine High, this is your obituary,” Charlotte intoned in all seriousness to mock Adrian’s delusions of conquest. Regardless, he went on.
“If I can take this school from the Pillarship and the administration, I can change they way problems are solved and dealt with; make the state of affairs better.”
“Your lives are held under the reign of a madman, one who really cares nothing for your well being, only his amusement,” Charlotte continued as well, now putting on a face of wondrous determination; her sarcasm so full that her every action and word seemed completely serious, were it not for the nature of the conversation.
“All the things that this administration does to maintain order, I intend to remove, so I can see that it will be done right,” Adrian countered.
“He will oppress you, he will blackmail you, and he will employ the gullible to enforce his whims, and he will say that his way is the only way,” Charlotte finished, casting the senior an almost woefully mocking glance, clearly patronizing in nature.
“It will be a reform, but made by students, for students.”
“Where have I heard that before …” she said dryly, and Adrian titled his head back.
“Stern Mason perhaps? I hear you had quite the time with him,” Adrian McKay inquired with a shadow of a grin played upon his features. Charlotte raised an eyebrow at him, her mouth turned in sarcasm, though her voice showed no such intones.
“Stern Mason showed us the flaws in the system, maybe. He was a visionary, maybe. But he was a little overbearing, a lot self-righteous, and he was silenced for his views.”
“From what I’ve heard, he had it right.”
“Well he didn’t. He tried to incite chaos and he failed. Why? Because the system watched him, they were prepared for him, and they acted. If everyone does what they’re supposed to do, then corporal punishment is just a word.”
Adrian seemed to enjoy that, chuckling slightly at her remark and crossing his arms over his chest. Charlotte, on the other hand, did not take the snicker kindly, mirroring his motions as she crossed her own arms over her chest and replied in a very succinct manner. “What?”
“Corporal punishment is just a word? Or have you forgotten: that boyfriend of yours is quite apt at spinning words? Or have you forgotten the power of a few words at the right place, at the right time?”
“You of all people know I was never ‘gifted’ with oratory skills,” Charlotte shot back dryly, her face growing a bit red now, in contrast to her usually pale features.
“And I also know that you are actually quite good at it, when you put your mind to it, that is” Adrian countered, never loosing his cool as he went on. “As for me: all it will take is the right words in the right place and the school will be mine.”
“So now you’re taking on the entire school? With what? The three of you?” Charlotte, though clearly frustrated, scoffed.
“Yes.” Adrian only grinned, infuriating her further.
“Two thousand against three. The pillars will try to stop you; the faculty will try to stop you. But what can three, or even a hundred do against two thousand? What can your words do to make people believe what you want them to?”
“There are four of us, actually,” Adrian corrected.
“Four. Fine. Whatever. That’s still only one more. One can’t make a difference in the grand scheme.” Adrian did not speak. He only watched her, as if waiting for Charlotte to make the connection, which, to her credit, she did. “… but if every single individual tries, then together they can,” she finished. “One problem: you don’t HAVE every single individual trying for you.”
Adrian shrugged – he seemed as fond as ever before of simple, vague gestures.
“I don’t need everyone. Just you,” he took a step forward, a dangerous glint in his eyes, and Charlotte knew that once more, he was asking for her help in his latest scheme. The once-Captain of North Beach High School, now nothing more than a regular high-school senior transferred to a new school, attempting to overthrow order by enlisting the help of a former friend. But that time had long since passed, and Charlotte was a part of Hircine now – not a part of her two-year stint at North Beach.
“Not today,” she said curtly, the finality of her tone ringing in the air. “And not to tomorrow. Fight for what you want, and let the world be yours. You’re nothing like the person I knew, and even if you were him, I’m nothing like the Charlotte you knew. Do what you want, but of you threaten the school or the people in it, there will be more than just me gunning for you.”
Adrian nodded, that ghost of a smile creeping it’s way back on his face as he took a step back from her, turning slowly about on his heel as he made for the door. His pace was slow; deliberately and laboriously so, and just before his hand twisted the doorknob, he turned once more to face her.
“No Charlotte, you are just the same. Your arrogance and obliviousness have already gotten the best of you, because I have everything I need here. The next time you see me, it will all come into focus for you,” Adrian finished, pushing open the door and briefly revealing his three companions who had followed him across the city:
The first was a tall, lanky student with dark hair, spiked back and wearing a Nirvana T-shirt. The boy flashed Charlotte a strange look, something of a knowing glance, his eyebrows raised briefly as her eyes wandered to the next figure: one who was of a similar build to the tall one, though slightly shorter and of a much better sense of personal style. The last, before the door shut and they were lost from sight, was muscularly built and dark haired – a figure that reminded her something of Stern Mason – who glared at her briefly. Then the door shut, and she was once more alone in the room.
Suddenly, however, she had no drive to finish her essay, which had before now, come so freely to her. Instead, she sat back hard upon her bed with a sigh, then allowing herself to fall back completely, laying still with another woosh of a sigh.
She would finish the essay in the morning.
Unbeknownst to Charlotte Anders, however, upon being shown the door and ushered out of the apartment by her mother, Adrian McKay removed the tape recorder from his jeans pocket, rewinding it as he and his group walked, then played it back to test the audio quality.
“Step one done,” noted the lanky student in the Nirvana shirt.
“But we still have a lot of work to do before the final act,” Adrian replied simply, shrugging. “However, you are right. To use the idiom, that was hook, line, and sinker.”
However, as well as her progress had been thus far – I Can’t Decide, by the Scissor Sisters playing in the background from her stereo, set upon the end table on one side of her bed, below a Radiohead poster, one of the only decorations her wall. To the left of the was another end table, this one with a lamp and alarm clock. Across from the bed, along the next wall was her desk, situated to the right of her dresser which, in turn, was to the right of her closet. The only window in the room was above her bed, and along the wall left of her desk was the door.
It was from the door now, that the sound of a rap-tap-tapping came. Hearing this above the music, Charlotte looked over, standing from her desk and leaving her computer – a three year old desktop – she limped to past her bed to the stereo to pause it. She saw no need to pick up her cane from its place upon her bed; her leg was improving and the limp was very near gone now. There was certainly no need to use it for such a short trip around the room.
Leaving the essay for now, she hobbled lightly to the door, her hand closing around the knob with a small measure of trepidation. Her mother rarely knocked on her door – mostly calling her from the kitchen when dinner was ready, assuming she had actually cooked something that day, so the measure of curiosity was only natural for the Junior.
“Yes?” she asked, deciding against opening the door right away. Her mother, in her usual manner, replied – sounding overworked, tired, and wanting not to disturb but only to rest.
“Charlotte? One of your friends is here to see you,”
Her immediate thoughts ran to Leon – who else would arrive at the apartment looking for her, especially under the label as friend? Without further question, she twisted the doorknob and stepped back, swinging the door open.
Only to receive an entirely shocking, and a bit unwelcome surprise.
“Hi Charlotte,” said the tall senior, lean but well built, his dusty brown hair swept, parted and slightly spiked. Adrian McKay, the captain of North Beach High School, wearing a black blazer and dark jeans, stood in the doorway to her room – his six foot tall frame causing her to have to glance up slightly to look him in the eye.
Her mother gave a slight nod and moved off, out of sight down the hall, likely to her own room, or into the kitchen.
“May I come in?” Adrian asked slowly, and Charlotte took a deep, considering breath before opening the door the full way, allowing him entrance and closing it behind him as he entered. She moved toward her desk and bed, standing between them as Adrian moved backward, standing back against the door.
“So how’ve you been?” he asked, almost cheerily.
“Peachy,” came the single reply. Her last encounter with the senior had been during a car accident, in which he had received a broken collarbone, and though she had long since moved past the incident, the two had not broken off their friendship with her move across the city and enrollment in Hircine on the best of terms.
“You look well. I suppose you are wondering why I’m here, however.”
“The thought had come to mind,” Charlotte noted, blinking from behind her glasses, anxious to get to the bottom of the surprise visit out-of-the-blue. And, as if he were a mind reader, Adrian answered her question for her.
“This may seem like an out of the blue visit, but it isn’t. North Beach didn’t do so well after I was attacked …” upon seeing Charlotte’s expression, he corrected himself. “… after we were attacked. I was hospitalized, and some of the other groups took over control. It was almost total anarchy, and a result, our scores dropped too low during the evaluations. They made a few reforms, pressed charges, and sealed the place down tighter than a steel drum in a vacuum.”
“So is that why you’re here? Miss your freedom?”
“I forgot how much I enjoyed your sense of sarcasm,” Adrian said, grinning. Quickly, however, his expression changed as he moved on to the topic of the visit. “But no, I’m here because I’m sick of laying down to a system that treats its victims better than it’s servants.”
“So you’ve turned revolutionary then?” Charlotte half-scoffed. Adrian only grinned further.
“You should know all about that, from all the things I’ve dug up on you these past few days. How’s Leon Loire, by the way? I hear you’re dating him right now.”
“That is none of your business,” she calmly stated, her curiosity beginning to wear into annoyance at Adrian’s persistence into her personal matters. Looking at the two of them now, it almost amazed her to think that they had once been very nearly the best of friends. But then, times change and so do people. Even the best of people.
“Either way, you’ve been quite the little administration puppet lately, so I’ve gathered …”
“Again, none of your business.”
“Normally, yes, you would be right. But in this case it is not, since you are being blackmailed by the faculty and I intend to send this regime crashing down.”
Charlotte felt her mouth want to drop open as her eyes widened and her mind went reeling. People change, perhaps, but not that much. One does not go from a school captain to the next Stern Mason. Adrian, seeming able to read her emotions and processes as easily as if they were painted on her forehead, continued.
“I’m going to take this school down, one pillar at a time, one student at a time, one teacher, one dean, all of them one by one.”
“Oh, right, just you then?” Charlotte said, finally finding her words – the sarcastic ones, interestingly enough.
“No, a few who decided to transfer with me. And with Hircine’s perfect records, not to mention the added bonus that you would be here, I can bring the administration to it’s knees; pick up the threads that others before me left off.”
“And how many came? Three?” Adrian did not answer, he merely continued, shoving his hands in his pants pockets and a look coming over his face, one that reminded her eerily of Leon whenever he was about to begin a speech.
“Just hear me out.”
“Hircine High, this is your obituary,” Charlotte intoned in all seriousness to mock Adrian’s delusions of conquest. Regardless, he went on.
“If I can take this school from the Pillarship and the administration, I can change they way problems are solved and dealt with; make the state of affairs better.”
“Your lives are held under the reign of a madman, one who really cares nothing for your well being, only his amusement,” Charlotte continued as well, now putting on a face of wondrous determination; her sarcasm so full that her every action and word seemed completely serious, were it not for the nature of the conversation.
“All the things that this administration does to maintain order, I intend to remove, so I can see that it will be done right,” Adrian countered.
“He will oppress you, he will blackmail you, and he will employ the gullible to enforce his whims, and he will say that his way is the only way,” Charlotte finished, casting the senior an almost woefully mocking glance, clearly patronizing in nature.
“It will be a reform, but made by students, for students.”
“Where have I heard that before …” she said dryly, and Adrian titled his head back.
“Stern Mason perhaps? I hear you had quite the time with him,” Adrian McKay inquired with a shadow of a grin played upon his features. Charlotte raised an eyebrow at him, her mouth turned in sarcasm, though her voice showed no such intones.
“Stern Mason showed us the flaws in the system, maybe. He was a visionary, maybe. But he was a little overbearing, a lot self-righteous, and he was silenced for his views.”
“From what I’ve heard, he had it right.”
“Well he didn’t. He tried to incite chaos and he failed. Why? Because the system watched him, they were prepared for him, and they acted. If everyone does what they’re supposed to do, then corporal punishment is just a word.”
Adrian seemed to enjoy that, chuckling slightly at her remark and crossing his arms over his chest. Charlotte, on the other hand, did not take the snicker kindly, mirroring his motions as she crossed her own arms over her chest and replied in a very succinct manner. “What?”
“Corporal punishment is just a word? Or have you forgotten: that boyfriend of yours is quite apt at spinning words? Or have you forgotten the power of a few words at the right place, at the right time?”
“You of all people know I was never ‘gifted’ with oratory skills,” Charlotte shot back dryly, her face growing a bit red now, in contrast to her usually pale features.
“And I also know that you are actually quite good at it, when you put your mind to it, that is” Adrian countered, never loosing his cool as he went on. “As for me: all it will take is the right words in the right place and the school will be mine.”
“So now you’re taking on the entire school? With what? The three of you?” Charlotte, though clearly frustrated, scoffed.
“Yes.” Adrian only grinned, infuriating her further.
“Two thousand against three. The pillars will try to stop you; the faculty will try to stop you. But what can three, or even a hundred do against two thousand? What can your words do to make people believe what you want them to?”
“There are four of us, actually,” Adrian corrected.
“Four. Fine. Whatever. That’s still only one more. One can’t make a difference in the grand scheme.” Adrian did not speak. He only watched her, as if waiting for Charlotte to make the connection, which, to her credit, she did. “… but if every single individual tries, then together they can,” she finished. “One problem: you don’t HAVE every single individual trying for you.”
Adrian shrugged – he seemed as fond as ever before of simple, vague gestures.
“I don’t need everyone. Just you,” he took a step forward, a dangerous glint in his eyes, and Charlotte knew that once more, he was asking for her help in his latest scheme. The once-Captain of North Beach High School, now nothing more than a regular high-school senior transferred to a new school, attempting to overthrow order by enlisting the help of a former friend. But that time had long since passed, and Charlotte was a part of Hircine now – not a part of her two-year stint at North Beach.
“Not today,” she said curtly, the finality of her tone ringing in the air. “And not to tomorrow. Fight for what you want, and let the world be yours. You’re nothing like the person I knew, and even if you were him, I’m nothing like the Charlotte you knew. Do what you want, but of you threaten the school or the people in it, there will be more than just me gunning for you.”
Adrian nodded, that ghost of a smile creeping it’s way back on his face as he took a step back from her, turning slowly about on his heel as he made for the door. His pace was slow; deliberately and laboriously so, and just before his hand twisted the doorknob, he turned once more to face her.
“No Charlotte, you are just the same. Your arrogance and obliviousness have already gotten the best of you, because I have everything I need here. The next time you see me, it will all come into focus for you,” Adrian finished, pushing open the door and briefly revealing his three companions who had followed him across the city:
The first was a tall, lanky student with dark hair, spiked back and wearing a Nirvana T-shirt. The boy flashed Charlotte a strange look, something of a knowing glance, his eyebrows raised briefly as her eyes wandered to the next figure: one who was of a similar build to the tall one, though slightly shorter and of a much better sense of personal style. The last, before the door shut and they were lost from sight, was muscularly built and dark haired – a figure that reminded her something of Stern Mason – who glared at her briefly. Then the door shut, and she was once more alone in the room.
Suddenly, however, she had no drive to finish her essay, which had before now, come so freely to her. Instead, she sat back hard upon her bed with a sigh, then allowing herself to fall back completely, laying still with another woosh of a sigh.
She would finish the essay in the morning.
* * *
Unbeknownst to Charlotte Anders, however, upon being shown the door and ushered out of the apartment by her mother, Adrian McKay removed the tape recorder from his jeans pocket, rewinding it as he and his group walked, then played it back to test the audio quality.
“Step one done,” noted the lanky student in the Nirvana shirt.
“But we still have a lot of work to do before the final act,” Adrian replied simply, shrugging. “However, you are right. To use the idiom, that was hook, line, and sinker.”