River nudged Leah's shoulder, giving a smirk at Leah's motion and taking photos. "The new kid seems interesting, no?" They signed with a smirk on their face, giving a silent laugh. Like Leah, they also took out their phone, opting to play games on it instead of taking pictures. They would usually be looking over plans for the play but they left their script in their first theatre period.
"Heh, yeah. I suppose so," Leah let out a light chuckle and responded in a low voice. Truth is, she didn't necessarily want to talk or start a conversation with someone new to get to know them. These photos she just took? Her card to getting to know someone without actually talking to them. New Kid here was no exception to that. She instinctually looked over at River's phone to watch them play games as the wheels in her head were grinding away. She tried to keep her ears open to listen in to whatever conversations might be going on involving this Maruma.
Maruma gently corrected the teacher who had a wonderful surname. All of the humans had such cute names! It put a smile on her face as she went to go sit down, getting comfortable with her cloth pouch, called a bookbag, between her legs. She looked up when she was talked to and smiled brightly with her blunt teeth shining in the light of the classroom.
"Hi! I'm Maruma."
"That's a cool name," Linnea said, smiling. She pulled out a pencil and then leaned over, to be closer to the girl. "Where are you from?"
Malfus looked up from his textbook briefly, and then did a double take.
A new kid? At this time of the year? It was possible but rare. He watched the new student sit beside Linnea and sat up in his chair. Right now obviously wasn't the time to introduce himself, but he knew Linnea would invite the girl to their table for lunch.
Hmmmm…..Maruma…
Maruma's smile relaxed slightly to match Linnea's, heeding her parent's word to not be too enthusiastic. Humans didn't like that.
"Thank you. I am from… Afghanistan."
Cleo blinked her black lined eye owlishly at the new student. She had subtly tucked her earphones in under her heavy waves and was currently listening to a track that had drowned out the speech Mrs. Thade had given. The new girl seemed nice enough. All smiles and chipper. Cleo remained impassive, looking back down to doodle on her notebook. She had finished the work for this section already so she was ultimately bored.
Malfus, who was sitting next to Cleo on her left, looked curiously intrigued by the new girl. That was enough to pique Cleo's interest. She nudged him softly, raising her brows, and leaning over to write a little question mark on a loose piece of paper that he had on his desk.
(I hope it's cool that I made them kinda BFFs already. They seem like they'd be thick as thieves personality/aesthetic wise.)
"Heh, yeah. I suppose so," Leah let out a light chuckle and responded in a low voice. Truth is, she didn't necessarily want to talk or start a conversation with someone new to get to know them. These photos she just took? Her card to getting to know someone without actually talking to them. New Kid here was no exception to that. She instinctually looked over at River's phone to watch them play games as the wheels in her head were grinding away. She tried to keep her ears open to listen in to whatever conversations might be going on involving this Maruma.
"You want to play? You can connect with your phone." They signed, pausing their game and tracing Leah's eyes to the new kid. Maruma, was it? Oh, I don't remember, it was something of the sort. I'm going to call her Maru, yeah, only in my head though. River mused as they waited for a response from their friend.
Maruma's smile relaxed slightly to match Linnea's, heeding her parent's word to not be too enthusiastic. Humans didn't like that.
"Thank you. I am from… Afghanistan."
“Oh!” Linnea said with a smile. “Why did you decide to move here? If you don’t mind!” she added quickly. Linnea knewshe had a tendency to talk too much and some people didn’t always want to talk as much as she did b
"You want to play? You can connect with your phone." They signed, pausing their game and tracing Leah's eyes to the new kid. Maruma, was it? Oh, I don't remember, it was something of the sort. I'm going to call her Maru, yeah, only in my head though. River mused as they waited for a response from their friend.
Afghanistan she says… Leah tumbled over this new bit of information in the gaggle of cogs that made up her mind. She was pulled back to reality for a bit at River's questioning hands. All she did in response was nod her head and bring out her phone to connect and play with River. Her mind was too busy to talk normally at the moment so why bother trying.
(Fucking mood)
(lmaoo I lost my shit at that and started coughing from laughing so hard oml)
River clapped their hands silently, a small smile lighting up their face. They grabbed their friends phone and quickly typed in the password to the game they were playing, a vibration running through the phone to signify a connection. "And… Done!" They signed after they handed Leah back her phone.
Maruma smiled faintly at the girl, shrugging. "My family wanted to see America for themselves. And they are glad they did, because they are very happy here. They're ecstatic that they have made more… money than what they used to."
“That’s good. What do you think so far?” The new girl seemed nice and Linnea took an instant liking to her. A little . . . odd. But nice.
"I like it. It is better than home, I suppose." This was sort of a lie. She disliked hiding her horns away as well as her forehead scars, but it was okay here on Earth. The air wasn't that clean, which gave her the need to sit up a little to take a good breath of air.
“That’s good. What class do you have after this? And do you know who you’re going to be sitting with at lunch?”
"Um… I think I have… trigonometry after this. It sounds interesting. And no, I don't. I think I was going to sit out on the deck."
“Oh, I have calc.”
“Ms. Belis, will you please be quiet? I am trying to teach,” Mrs. Thade snapped at Linnea.
“Sorry Mrs. Thade,” Linnea said sheepishly. “By the way,” Linnea whispered to Maruma after Mrs. Thade had turned her back, “you are totally welcome to sit with me and my friends at lunch. Y’know, if you don’t feel like sitting on the deck,” Linnea said with a wink.
River clapped their hands silently, a small smile lighting up their face. They grabbed their friends phone and quickly typed in the password to the game they were playing, a vibration running through the phone to signify a connection. "And… Done!" They signed after they handed Leah back her phone.
Leah replied with a simple thumb's up and quickly grew to occupy her other brain functions with the game while the higher cognitive abilities whirred at the instance of overhearing Linnea invite the new kid to sit with her group at lunch. Ugh.. I really don't want to talk in front of her. The first thing she's going to notice is this inconvenient stutter and then maybe the murder in my eyes when I glare. But hey, more information is always good information, I suppose. She was brought from her thoughts as her eyes focused on her screen, the image of her 'dead' avatar showing up, along with a 'Respawn?' screen option. She tsked at herself and pressed the touchscreen to continue. Almost as an afterthought, Leah mumbled out, "Sorry-y."
River smiled, quickly signing that it was a-okay. "Ah shoot, class is about to end. I have drama next." They signed as an afterthought, like Leah, they had heard that Lin had invited the new kid to sit with them. I suppose I must out the new kid through my asshole test.
Malfus looked over to Cleo and down at the scribblings she'd written on the edge of his paper. He read it and rolled his eyes, raising a thick, black brow in her direction, his universal motion for: "Really? Grow up."
Cleo was his closest friend, that was for sure, but sometimes she could really start acting like the younger sister he battled on keeping or selling. Heck, even his mom loved having her around. It was only natural that they stuck to each other like two popsicle sticks glued together. Malfus leaned in and wrote on the edge of her paper while Mrs. Thade had her back turned.
What? You got dibs on her already? Only a creep would be ogling a new kid right as they sit down…
Cleo's shoulders shook in an effort to keep her chuckle contained. Once she calmed down, she rolled her eyes at Malfus, scowling the tiniest bit. She lifted her hair a bit to show him that she had her headphones in and then leaned forward to write on his paper once more.
No dibs, dingus. I know how to keep it in my pants. I didn't hear the speech Thade gave. What's up with the newbie? Looks like Linnea has taken interest.
Malfus rolled his eyes and took out his phone. He texted her, shooing her away from his paper with one hand.
What are we? In 1st grade? Anywho, Linnie takes interest in every, Cleopatra. Her name's Maruma. And that's all I know at the time.
He sent the text with a smile on his face.
(oof I'm probably dropping out of this)
