Philomena West (tideswillturn) wrote in st_margarets, @ 2014-05-19 22:42:00 |
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Entry tags: | character: alec constantinides, character: philomena west, location: school grounds |
Log: Time to Move On - Say Goodbye
WHO: Philomena West & Alec Constantinedes
NPCS: Diana West
WHEN: 19 May 2014, late afternoon
WHERE: Outside the school gates
Standing at the gates of the school, Philomena West nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and adjusted how her bag was sitting on her shoulder to stop the strap from digging in. At her feet were her belongings, a suitcase that held her clothes and miscellaneous stuff and then on top of that, a box that had a few more precious items in it.
The wind caught her hair as she looked down the street, watching anxiously and waiting for her ride. She felt a bit sad, if she was honest, at leaving but she didn't feel angry at her parents for making the decision considering it was one that had been made in her best interests and, in all honesty, she was happy to be going home.
She didn't fit in at St Margarets, that much was obvious to her. She was too much of a carnie kid to ever fit in somewhere where there were kids that were approaching normal, that just didn't... well, she didn't belong there. She'd tried, but really she belonged with her own. She'd never subscribed to that weird mentality that the other carnie kids had, but having been to a school with other kids, she was starting to think that maybe - just maybe - they had a point.
She'd texted Alec and hoped that he'd- uh, she'd come out and say goodbye and wait with her for her mom to show up. The carnival wasn't too far away but the drive would still have taken her mom a day and a half. Could have been worse, she supposed. And it was a day and a half she got to spend with her mom before she was back to the hustle and bustle of the carnival.
She glanced at her phone again, the text from her mom had said that she would be arriving within half an hour, so she'd gathered her stuff and headed straight to the entrance, eager to see her mom- more eager than she was to say goodbye to kids she'd barely gotten to know even through her time at the school.
To hear that Mena was leaving was news that saddened Alec, but she knew that Diana and Dale would not have made the decision if not in the best interest of their daughter. Family came first, that was the carnival way. The Phoenix despite the lingering feelings of melancholy had left her dormitory and made her way to where she knew Mena would be waiting and she brought with her a token, a gift of their time spent at the school in the form of photographs taken by Alec as they'd wandered around the city with one another, exploring and getting to know their surroundings. Memories were such tricky things that in recent years the Phoenix had started relying on photographs to help guide her.
"Hey," she said with a smile as she approached Mena, her arms going around her in a hug. It was after a moment Alec leaned back and produced the photographs. "I figured it wouldn't hurt to have a little memento of your time here."
Mena's arms wrapped around Alec and she hugged her Phoenix friend tightly, biting back on a sudden sting in her eyes and lump in her throat at the realisation that this was really it. She was really leaving to go home. And she was leaving Alec here alone. Not that the Phoenix had any problems with people or anything, not like Mena did, so maybe... maybe it was for the best that she wasn't staying.
"You'll be back soon though, won't you," she said, curling her fingers around the album and flicking through it, offering Alec a watery smile. "Thanks-" she leafed through a selfie of the two of them taken in Camden. "Just don't forget about me, okay? I know that memory's a little funny..."
"Of course," Alec hurried to assure Mena before she lifted a hand, curling her fingers around the younger woman's cheek before her thumb smoothed across the skin. "Like anybody could keep me away from the carnival for long." She nudged Mena's shoulder and proceeded to wrap her arm around her again. "Do me favour? Keep an eye on Nathaniel, he's been alone an awfully long time. God only knows what kind of trouble he's gone and gotten himself into."
Alec was trying not to think about how this was goodbye and smothering the feelings which accompanied the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, which she knew from experience signalled an end, and you'd think she would have learned not to get attached, but apparently the Phoenix couldn't or wouldn't learn.
"Forget about you? Never."
"As long as you come home and don't decide you like it better here than with us," Mena murmured sadly, her voice wavering a little bit as Alec's hand touched her face, turning into the hug and nodding at the request. "I'll do my best. I bet he really misses you, y'know. I think this is the longest you guys have been apart in years. You guys haven't even spoken, have you."
Not that it mattered, their friendship, relationship whatever wasn't really any of her business. It was theirs and something that she could never understand.
"I'm gonna miss you. But- I think my folks are right- this place isn't- I mean- I don't belong here."
"No," Alec shared with a shake of her head. "I should remedy that." Perhaps a call home was in order? Especially with Mena's depature, Alec was starting to feel a familiar pang in the middle of her chest and Nathaniel had a way of easing that ache, especially as he knew her better than anyone. Alec squeezed Mena's shoulders and gave a brave smile despite how she was feeling. It was ridiuclous really considering Mena was just going home, but Alec still hated saying goodbye.
She dropped a kiss on Mena's hair. "I'll miss you too, sweetheart. More than I think you realise."
It hurt her to know that Mena hadn't found somewhere to call her home away from home in the school, but her parents had to do what was right for her, especially with the recent curse and the Wendigo before that. "I bet you can't wait to get home."
Mena just wrapped her arms around Alec's waist as she was hugged. "Nah, don't be silly," she mumbled thickly, obviously tearful and trying to hide it, "You'll barely miss me with all the people here to meet and stuff."
She scuffed the toe of her converse on the ground and bit the inside of her cheek hard enough to hurt as if that would stop her feeling like she wanted to cry.
"I've missed my mom and dad," she said, "And Brady and Allison and John but-" She worried that, having been away for a while, even they would have replaced her and then she'd be stuck without anywhere that she felt like she belonged. But that wasn't for her to worry about.
She wet her lower lip and pulled away before she actually cried. "You'll stay in touch with me, right? More than you have with Nate?"
"Don't you be telling me how much I'll miss you," Alec remarked teasingly as she smoothed her hand over Mena's hair, swallowing back her tears that she could feel burning at the very corners of her eyes. She should be better at this, but she wasn't, she really wasn't. "But yes, I'll stay in touch, more than I have with Nate."
Alec couldn't help but wonder why she had been so distant with Nathaniel, perhaps because this regeneration had really thrown her off her stride and it was taking so much longer to recover memories and feel anything approaching normal. She'd been a man for as long as she could remember that waking up as a teenage girl was... well nothing short of disorientating and unsteadying. It hadn't helped that Nathaniel had laughed at her clear distress. Apparently she was far more sensitive now than she had been before, go figure.
"And I'll see you soon, right?" Mena prompted because Alec wouldn't stay gone forever, would she? She'd recover her memories and finish her schooling and then she'd come home, back to the Carnival. Back to their own little slice of their own reality that wasn't affected by the outside world, where the weird things that happened didn't phase anyone.
She swallowed again. "Just- call him? I bet he's missing you somethin' awful." She leaned back to look at Alec, blinking and then rubbing at her eyes to catch the tears that were welling there. She didn't want to cry- not in front of Alec. Not really in front of anyone.
The rumbling of an engine caught her attention and she turned her head fast enough to make herself a little dizzy, a swirling jolt of hope that this car would be their family's truck that would be appearing to take her home. To take her back to where she - hopefully - belonged.
Alec had been about to reply when she like Mena heard the familiar sound of an engine which signalled the arrival of Mena's mother, her lips curling into a smile as the truck soon appeared and sure enough behind the wheel was Diana. She still looked as beautiful as Alec remembered: tall, willowy with dark hair and bright green eyes.
"Looks like your ride home is here," Alec remarked as she lifted a hand in greeting.
Whilst not the sort to give up on anything or allow her maternal instincts get the better of her Diana from the moment she'd heard about the Wendigo attack had wanted her daughter home, school be damned. Mena was safer at the Carnival and now she was utterly convinced of that fact. Besides, she was her daughter and having her so far away had felt unnatural. After having stopped the engine Diana made short work of the distance between herself and her daughter, sweeping Mena up into her arms.
"Hey baby," she murmured softly.
Mena let go of Alec only when Diana stepped out of the car and then, with a cry of "mom" upon which her voice broke, she practially flung herself at her mother, shoulders shaking as the floodgates opened and she hid against her mother, letting the woman's embrace offer her all the comfort she had missed after having been away for so long.
It was as she hugged her mother that she finally felt like she was something approaching home.
Goddess, it was amazing having Mena in her arms again, and Diana hadn't realised how much she'd missed her until this exact moment. "Shh," she murmured softly as she pressed a kiss to Mena's temple, fingers stroking over and through her hair as she offered all the comfort a mother was able to, willingly and without restraint. "It's okay, baby. I got you."
Alec watched the reunion with a bittersweet smile, and to allow them a longer moment together she picked up Mena's bag and took it to the car. One less thing for the young woman to worry about as she and her mother shared a special reunion after months apart.
"Ready to go home?" Diana asked quietly.
Mena nodded her head, fingers curled in the back of her mother's shirt as she reluctantly detangled herself to collect her things when she found that they'd already been picked up and put in the car for her by Alec.
She curled her arms around Alec's shoulders again and pressed a kiss to the Phoenix's cheek. "Speak to you soon?"
Alec swallowed a sudden urge to cry and just put on her best smile as she returned Mena's hug, a kiss being given to the young woman's cheek a moment later. "Yeah, of course. You need to let me know you get home safe after all."
Diana watched the exchange and as the pair broke apart she too pulled the Phoenix into a hug. "You take care of yourself, Alec."
"Always," Alec said with a nod of her head.
"Love you, 'Lec," Mena said as she opened the car door, it was what she'd called Alec when she was a baby, when she hadn't been old enough to say anyone's names properly. "I'll text you when I get home."
She smiled a little and climbed into the car, wiping her fingers underneath her eyes because she was still crying and couldn't really understand why. She was glad to be going home but at the same time she was so sad to be leaving Alec. The photo album was on her knee and she ran her fingers over it, waiting for her mother to join her so that they could begin the long trek back to the Carnival.
"Love you too," Alec replied softly before she caught the way Diana was looking at her. "Don't," she said with a warning lift of her finger before she just inhaled, pulling herself together. "You two have a safe trip home and I'll talk to you soon, okay?"
Diana held her tongue as to allow the Phoenix her moment until simply dropping a kiss on her cheek. "We will, don't worry." And with that Diana slid in behind the wheel and after having told Mena to put her belt on she started the engine and began the drive away from the school.
Alec stayed for as long as it took for them to vanish into the distance, her hand lifted in parting gesture, before she just swallowed and pulled her top that much tighter around her form until she turned to head back into the school, the edge of her thumb lifting to catch and brush away tears.
Honestly it wasn't like Mena had died, she'd just gone home, but goodbyes were always difficult.