Halcyon Halls

Who: Summer and Noah
When: Late Afternoon
Where: A trail in the woods
What: A chance encounter

Summer had been back at Halcyon for a week now. Again, she had ended up showing up right at the end of a semester, a semester during which she had missed far too much to make it up, so she was going to have to wait a couple of weeks and start classes again after the break. But it should be easier for her now. She had a lot better control over her emotions now than she had when she had left here. Hell, she had been around quite a few people since her return, even during the stress of finals, and she had yet to have any outbursts of uncontrollable emotions. She had learned a lot while she was gone, enough to recognize that there was still a lot more for her to learn.

But for now, she was just focusing on the things that helped her to maintain her inner peace and enjoying the quiet of the island, something that she couldn't say she had experienced the last time around. The best way to enjoy it, at least for her, was to take a nice long run, work up a sweat, lose herself in the middle of the forest on a well-trodden path and inhale deeply the scents of the woods, something she had missed while on her little adventure overseas.

She had jogged perhaps five miles before she had to stop and take a breather, slowing to a walk for a bit before finding a tree to rest against while drinking deeply from her bottle of water. Voss had to be some of the best tasting water on earth. She wiped the sweat from her brow and then gave herself a bit of a stretch, rolling her shoulders and then leaning back to massage her own shoulders a bit.

Summer was just about to take off again when she noticed her shoe was untied and she bent down to tie it. Just as she did, she heard footfalls on the path behind her, someone approaching rather quickly, fast and hard. Running partner? Maybe. She started to jog in place waiting for them to get closer so she could see if they even wanted company.

Who: Summer and OPEN
When: Saturday Night
Where: The Rooftop Garden
What: Oh how nice it is to be back at square one yet again.

And here she was, back at Halcyon, one of the last places she wanted to be. Or so she had thought.

( Oh where, oh where, has Summer been? )

For the first time in a long time, Summer stood in a place where there were hundreds of people, thousands of thoughts and emotions whirling around, and she heard nothing, felt nothing, that wasn't her own. It was a relief. She had learned more in the few weeks she had spent in Hawaii with a girl who knew her plight than she had in the weeks she had spent here before leaving.

But that wasn't to say that she had decided that this place was without value either. It was just.. she hadn't been ready to be here yet. She didn't even have the basic skills required to be in a place like this. And the shock of coming here to find him.. Well that hadn't helped matters any. But she was ready now. And there was still a lot for her to learn.

Summer had been up here plenty of times, but she had never noticed how beautiful it was up here. The flowers all smelled so nice and the view was fantastic. But fuck all this solitude, it was time to go have some fun.

Who: Kin and whoever
When: Just after sunset
Where: On the beach, but nowhere near the fireworks and everyone else

One cigarette, two cigarettes, three cigarettes, four!

Or it could have been the fifth one. He really wasn't trying to keep count with how much nicotine was swirling around his lungs. But whenever one finished in five-ten minutes, another was quickly lit.

With the inspiration to paint floating around somewhere, nowhere near him of course. What else could you do? Sit around and just stare out the window? Or go outside and try to be social? Well, Kin "tried" to be active in the student life, but that only ended with him walking away before he even tried to voice a little hello, how are you, and whatever could be said to start a conversation. And no, he wasn't shy or nervous. He was just someone who liked to keep to himself half the time.

Like he was doing right now, actually.

Sitting upon a hill with a guitar in both hands. Watching the ocean as he lightly plucked at the strings, not really trying to find a song to play. Smoke from that fifth, maybe sixth, cigarette danced in front of his eyes. Maybe he was playing for something. The smoke did it's own little rhythm to what he was doing, maybe to not anyone else, if they decided to stumble upon his findings.

It was a bit silly, seeing everything as a living piece of art. Though, maybe the other art students thought the same? Who knew. He'll never voice the thought, because.. They might think he was crazy for thinking that; and possibly laugh at him for it. The thought made him laugh. "We're not in high school anymore, baka." he spoke to himself, cigarette obscuring some of his speech.

His acoustic guitar was gently, very gently, placed beside him. Those long legs of his coming up for his arms to circle around them, thighs pressing against his chest just as tightly. The cigarette was finally taken from his mouth, but he took a long drag before doing so. He'll soon have to kill this one and start up a new one. Now he finally realized how many he was puffing. A long sigh escaped, as well as the smoke. For now, though, he will just bury his head against his arms and legs. Allow the cigarette to die by itself, and allow his thoughts to get swallowed by the sea.. And soon fireworks.

Who: Summer and Kris
When: Around 6:30
What: A bike ride

Summer wasn't really sure if she was up for this or not but then again, Kris was probably the only person she wanted to see right now, the only person that she had even the slightest desire of being around. She had missed him, strangely enough, and the week thus far had been a difficult one. She could use a friend. He was it. He was the only one. The only one here or anywhere for that matter. Summer didn't make a habit of forming ties very often.

For the first time ever, or at least since arriving here, Summer had donned a pair of jeans. They fit here well, hugged the curves of her figure nicely, and the blue polo shirt that she had paired it with brought out the teal of her eyes nicely. She wore a pair of white K-Swiss, appropriate for biking, and pulled her long blond hair into a ponytail in the back. Her makeup was light, a little lip gloss and some eye liner and a small amount of shadow. Her smile was void as she made her way to meet Kris.

They would have to go by the bike shop to rent the bikes when they left since, well, it wouldn't make much sense for her to go ahead and get them and have to try to push them both back to the school. So she was waiting, free of bikes, her gaze focused towards the sky, a frown pursing her lips as she tried to focus all the emotions away. She was going to be so glad to get away from the oppressing feeling the school always filled her with.

Who: Summer and Ari
When: Friday Afternoon
Where: In a clearing in some woods far, far away from all the noisy emotions of the people at the school

The school had been tolerable throughout the break just because there weren't all that many people around. But now that everyone was starting to arrive back, Summer was starting to feel the impact of just how many people there were at Halcyon, and just how intense the emotions here could be. She couldn't handle it. It was worse than being in the freshman dorms right before final exams, worse than taking the SAT's which she had bombed for the simple reason that she couldn't get her head on straight because everyone else was in it. This place was so much worse than that, and she wasn't sure exactly how long she was going to be able to handle it. Solitude was definitely going to be a necessity.

And that is why she was here, in the middle of the woods, in a clearing that she had found while walking, laying on a blanket she had spread out on the grass. Her I-Pod was beside of her, in the little docking station with the built in speakers, Led Zeppelin's Over the Hills and Far Away playing. Summer hummed along as she lay on her stomach, stripped down to bare feet, incredibly short denim shorts, and a bikini top. Hair was pulled up in a loose bun so as not to get in the way of the sun, and her nose was buried in a book, Twilight. It was supposed to be for young adults, but it was a good book regardless, a love story, and it seemed very fitting considering where she was in life right now.

A page was turned, a few more lines read, and the chapter she was on was finished. She bookmarked it and then put the book aside, rolling onto her back to peer up at the sky. Summer stretched a bit, and then settled onto the blanket, eyes closed. She started to doze off. She had such a hard time sleeping when she was around people.

Who: Summer and Kristi
When: Afternoon
Where: Halcyon School Grounds

Bullshit. Absolute bullshit. They wasted no time getting her here and now that she had changed her mind and had decided to leave, they wouldn't take her. She was obligated to at least stay and give it a chance. If she didn't like it after a couple of months, they would be more than happy to send her on her way, but they couldn't do it now, wouldn't do it. She was absolutely livid! Who the fuck did they think they were trying to tell her what she could and could not do?!? She was Summer Victoria Stone and she would do whatever the hell she wanted. Bullshit! It was complete and utter bullshit.

It was already decided, as she walked quickly across school grounds, that God, if he existed, hated her. Why else would he send them all here? Had she really been that bad of a person to deserve that sort of punishment? Just when she was starting to get over him, over the whole situation, here she was, and there it was right in front of her face again. Fucking bullshit!

Her steps suddenly halted as a realization hit her. Someone had just come around, not that long ago, asking questions. Was it coincidence that, weeks later, she would come face to face with the very person in question. Summer didn't believe in coincidences. "Someone set this up." She said, and then looked back towards the school. But how? How could someone know about her and make all of this happen? It didn't seem possible and yet it seemed quite probable.

And now she had something to think about. Stay or go? Sure, they told her she had to stay for a while, but she was confident she could find a way to leave if she wanted to. And then who was responsible, what did they want from her, what were they expecting to happen? Someone had to have gone to a lot of trouble. Or maybe it was fate intervening, bringing her here for a reason.

She was starting to sound like a crazy person.

Rolling her eyes at herself, Summer began to walk again, heading towards the path that would lead her eventually into town. She had to think about this, figure this out.

Just to the edge of the grounds, the heel of her shoe found the only hole that there was, sinking in and causing her to lose her balance. Her ankle twisted as she went down and the gravel scraped her knee which was left uncovered by the length of her denim skirt. "Fuck me!" She yelled, more out of frustration than pain. This was not turning out to be a very good day.