Riverdell High (1x1)

[buildingaspaceship]

((1x1 between @Averis ))

 

[buildingaspaceship]

Cora woke up smiling, the sunlight on her face in patterns, her cat curled up next to her head. She sits upright and stretches, cracking her neck and her toes, before her fingers. She looks at the time, and her peaceful morning suddenly turns upside down, she'd overslept by thirty precious minutes. Panicking, she stands up and runs over to her dresser, pulling open a drawer and throwing her clothes on her bed. She hadn't planned an outfit yesterday, like she had planned, it was the first day of school and she wanted to look nice. She quickly pulls on a black skirt and grey long sleeved shirt with tight sleeves, glancing at the time every now and then. She pulls on a pair of black tights while walking over to her mirror and grabbing a hair brush. Her hair was naturally curly, and she didn't have time to straighten it, so she would have to make do with pinning it back out of her face slightly, and leaving it.


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[Zahkr]

Slowly and reluctantly, Christopher uncovered his face in bid to combat his fatigue, with the harsh sunlight that seeped through his stained curtains. It was probably the first morning he hadn't woke up to the dog at the end of his mattress, howling for his undivided attention — but the silence was typically short lived, as the rigid, piercing sound of his alarm clock enveloped his drafty room and urged him to get up, and get ready for school.


Typically, Christopher wore a black ensemble to school, accompanied by scuffed boots and any jacket lying around — maybe even ruff his hair a little. He grabbed his bag, pinched a note from the kitchen side, and set off.

 

[buildingaspaceship]

Coraline quickly applied some mascara and a little eyeliner, before looking at the time and widening her eyes, she now had to get to school on time and face the day. Her stomach growled at her and she bit her lip as she pulled on her pair of Dr Martens and grabbed her school bag, running down the stairs of her home. She almost tripped over her dog who was at the bottom of the stairs, and ran into the kitchen, grabbing an apple as she headed for the back door. Her father lowered his glasses and newspaper as she ran by him, not saying goodbye as she dashed out of the door and ran down the drive quickly. She probably didn't have time to get the bus, and she'd be late if she walked, so she ran over to her bike that she hadn't used in what felt like years and got on it, before quickly peddling away and in the direction of school. Maybe she could make it in time.


((Her school bag))

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[Zahkr]

"Christopher!" Without much effort, his deep, strict tone packed a powerful punch, as he stood on the step of their city apartment. That was his father; a loyal, working class man with concrete features, unlike his son. Trying not to fuel a fire that had obviously sparked, he continued to walk.


Way to start the day, on the way to school he stopped by the butchers — where a friend of his mother's worked, and picked up a value pack of soda to sell on school premises, along with other things he could eat throughout the day.


As he approached the gate and made his way to the main building he was overloaded with a great sense of aggravation. Girls screamed as they hugged their pre-term friends and guys nudged, some talked in clusters — leaning against their lockers. He kept his head down, and rooted for a more secluded part of the school, the IT room.


(Sorry about the long replies, I'm on loads of tabs, and apparently my tablet doesn't respond well to that)

 

[buildingaspaceship]

(It's okay don't apologise!)


Coraline arrived at school, hoping that she hadn't peddled fast enough for her hair to get out of place. She gets out a small pocket mirror with Morrisey on it and opens it, lifting it to check out her hair, it was fine, but she readjusted some of the hair grips in it before putting the mirror away again and chaining her bike so that it didn't get stolen, not that crime was so much of a problem around this school. Cora sighs and looks up at the school building sadly, she had had such an amazing summer, she'd found such cool places, but now she was doomed to spend another year in this wretched school.. Prison. Wretched prison. Cora walks to the main building and keeps her head down, her fingers playing with her hair absentmindedly as she walked past screaming girls and groups of friends. She found her locker and quickly put her stuff inside, but kept her bag with her with her vital bits inside it. She shuts her locker and is surprised to see a guy much taller than she was looking down at her, leaning against the locker next to hers.


"Hey Caroline." He smirks and leans closer to her. He was dressed in the school football uniform, a few people were stood behind him snickering at her, the cheerleaders sent her glares as they watched her. Coraline looks up at the guy, the captain of the football team, and she tenses up, biting her lip. "Leave me alone, Jason" she says quietly, holding her bag tightly as she put it over her shoulder. "Oh Carol don't be like that, come on, what about last year? Are you telling me what we had wasn't special?" Jason asks her, looming over her like she was a possession.


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[Zahkr]

"My friend likes you—"


A group of girls would routinely giggle most times he seemed to cross their path, calling him as he slipped past them — twirling their hair and nudging each other like thirteen year olds, and as you can imagine, they grew annoying. "See you at lunch!" One of the blondes took an opportunity to shriek as he disappeared into the moving crowds, soon to be playfully slapped by her friends, and giggle some more.


With that being unlikely, Christopher became set on getting through the halls in one peace — earphones in, he took up a faster pace, until he found himself colliding with another student. With no opportunity to apologise, the student's back hit the locker with a crash that attracted the attention of those around — Christopher's hands gripped around his throat, the pupil beginning to gasp.


For a short time, he was unaware of his actions. He didn't see; or hear those around him, yet he held a smouldering stare, tightening his noosing grip until his knuckles turned white. "What's going on her? Chris! Let go— My goodness, go get another teacher, now!" Soon torn apart from the student, everyone watched, mouths gaped open, eyes widened as teachers went to the boy's aid. Christopher towered over, seemingly unaware.


Everyone stared. This would soil a crisp reputation he had never even obtained in the first place. "Bully!" One called, and the rest bickered, emphasising names to make him feel shame. Needless to say, the guilt would wraith over him soon. "Dude, what the fuck was that all about?" A powerful jab dragged Christopher back down to earth — well, halfway, at least. "Well?"


Imagine waking up from a deep sleep with blood on your hands, that would be a fair equivalence. Before Chris could utter a word back — Joel was momentarily occupied.


"Yeah, Chris," His eyes examined him with more shock than anything, until he was occupied by someone across the hall, again, completely distracted. "I think Jason's giving that girl trouble," He nudged, urging Chris to glance over to the pair, now oblivious to the ordeal. A short glance over was all Chris had time for, before the photography teacher, (also the deputy head) — had Chris in her full, almost aggressive grasp, but taking a softer approach when he failed to retaliate.


"Chris, come to my room. Now, please." Her authoritative tone remained, despite being lighter with her hands, she gestured towards the staircase ahead. He knew he had to comply, while Joel slipped away.

 

[buildingaspaceship]

Coraline had turned and watched the commotion, eager to go over and truly see what had been happening. She didn't want to be around Jason, that was for sure, and as she began to walk away from him over to the group of people, Jason grabbed her arm tightly, turning her around again to face him. Cora looked up at him, her heart beating what felt like too fast, her eyes cold. She was afraid.


Last year, she had harboured a small crush on Jason. Who wouldn't? He was the captain of the football team, a tall attractive guy who flirted with anything that breathed. Every popular girl had their eyes trained his way at least one point in their life, and last year Cora hadn't been able to take her eyes away from him. He had abused that, flirting with her, making her feel like she had a chance with him. She didn't know what he was planning with her, heck she was so excited that he was talking to her that she didn't remind him that her name was Coraline and not Caroline. She should have known better, even her parents had said so, when he had broke her heart.


"Come on Carol, are you still being a bitch about it?" He says, pouting at her, and Cora takes a breath, shutting her eyes before looking up at him. "If you don't take your hands off me right now Jason, I swear to God I will bring hell down on your ass." She says, narrowing her eyes slightly.


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[Zahkr]

Chris trailed behind Miss Vine, disguising his guilt by kicking rubbish out his path; cans, half eaten sandwiches — hands deep in his pockets almost in an attempt to hide away, even though the studio corridors were almost always empty. Only the sound of Miss Vine's stilettos against the hard floor filled the chilly corridor, along with an overpowering stench of acrylic.


She came to a stop, and brought out her keys. Chris, feeling profoundly stupid, and guilty for his outburst avoided eye contact. "Go on, take a seat opposite my desk." She commanded, standing by as Chris walked into the classroom first; a grey room, pictures everywhere, which for a moment, he got lost in.


"Do you have your bag?" Miss Vine asked, snapping him out of a premature day dream. He only shook his head, following her with his eyes as she removed her jacket. "Where is it?" She asked, phone at hand.


Clearing his throat, he wandered further down the classroom in a bid to calm down "In the hall." He muttered, barely speaking level.


"Okay then, I'll make sure someone holds onto your possessions for you, you can collect them later but for today, you're going to be in my class, we'll have a talk at the end of the day — maybe call your father in."

 

[buildingaspaceship]

Jason laughed and his friends laughed with him, like a chorus of parrots, too dumb to make their own words. Cora tutted at them and yanked her arm harshly out of his grasp, walking quickly away from them just as the shrill noise of first bell sounded. She had her Photography class first, two hours of it on her first day, she had already memorised her timetable. As she heads in the direction of photography she keeps her eyes low and again lets her fingers mess casually with the thin ends of her extremely curly hair. She could tell that her arms were going to probably bruise and be sore for a day or so because of how tight Jason had held her arm. She had been convinced that he was no longer going to torment her, that he had forgotten about her, but obviously she was wrong. Sighing, she lines up outside of the photography classroom and waits patiently for Miss Vine, the only photography teacher, to come and begin the lesson. Considering she was the deputy head, she was probably sorting out the people who had caused that commotion in the corridor earlier, so she presumed that she wouldn't exactly be on time. Taking her camera out of her bag and turning it on, she flicked through some of the photographs that she had taken over the summer, she was eager to show them to Miss Vine, she just wanted someone to be proud of her, for once.


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[Zahkr]

Chris pulled out his book, beaten and wretched with scribbles and ink marks of various colours. Instructions were clear enough, do your homework for the week, then raise your hand — whether Christopher had actually listened, well, that was down to him. He was too busy flicking through his pages, redoing and layering his words so he wouldn't have to face any prolonged stares. With no other distraction, he placed his face on his fist, and waited for the moment class would start.

 

[buildingaspaceship]

Miss Vine finally let them into her room, the small class walking in. Most people were chatting happily amongst themselves, some of them discussing what they had done over the holidays, others about the commotion in the hallway. They all took seats near each other, but because Cora didn't specifically know any of them, she walked and sat at the back of the class after scanning the seats. There, she saw the boy with peroxide hair, the one who had caused the commotion earlier, she had seen him being taken away by Miss Vine. She knew that he didn't do photography as a class, so she presumed he must be there purely for punishment. Cora set her large professional camera on her desk and sat down quietly, glancing at the boy out of the corner of her eye.


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[Zahkr]

To think this would be all all day thing. Chris continued to stare around the room, concentrating on anything else but work — anything was better than poetry and persuasive writing, even this. He glared at the girl beside him.


(Needed to eat!)

 

[buildingaspaceship]

Cora tries to listen intently to Miss Vines lecture on film and the effects of black and white, but she couldn't focus with the feeling of the boy next to her glaring at him. She tilts her head to the side slightly, looking at him through the shield of her hair. She had seen him around a bit, but she'd never spoken to him, she'd never found any reason to, specifically. Cora turns away from him and writes something on a piece of paper, making notes on what Miss Vines had said. She bites her lip as she still feels the boy glaring at her, and she turns and looks at him fully, thankful that she was sat at the back so no one would be looking at her. She raises her eyebrows and cocks her head to the side slightly. "I'd say 'take a picture, it lasts longer.' But that would be ironic considering the class we're in." She says to him, her hands playing with the edges of her skirt under the desk, nervously.


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[Zahkr]

Chris momentarily paused, before realising who the girl actually was. Joel's damsel in distress, apparently. By the look on her face, he probably hadn't went over to play hero after all – no surprise there, since he had little to no backbone when it came to those athletic airheads. Christopher returned his sight to ‘that girl’ and smiled, of course, he was just being polite. “I'm no good with photography,” He simply shrugged, which followed with a convenient period of silence.


Miss Vine, making a conscious effort to keep Chris on her radar, despite the busy class, tracked Christopher from across the room — to which he knuckled down and "worked", otherwise known as pretending to work, until they made accidental eye contact when he glanced up to make sure the coast was clear. "Christopher," She lingered, "I hope you're working, and not distracting my student."


Almost falling over his words, Christopher's eyes quickly darted to the side. "Uh. No, Miss," He answered, and after a long, suspicious glare, Miss Vine continued to converse with her students. She would probably catch him out again, soon enough — but for the meantime, Chris sunk back into his chair, glaring at the girl, before letting out a quiet exhale. A ghost of a smile crept across his top lip.


"Maybe you should've said that to that jerk back there," He smirked, soon realising how rich that sounded, considering he strangled a new comer. He could smirk all he wanted, but that wouldn't change the fact he still had yet to face severe punishment at school, and at home.


(I didn't mention I was going yesterday, had to be at college! Wrote more to compensate, I'll probably be on more now.)

 

[buildingaspaceship]

"I don't think that Jason would have really cared at all what I said to him." Cora says quietly as she keeps her head facing forwards and her eyes on Miss Vine so that she wouldn't get in trouble for talking. If she looked like she was paying attention, then Miss Vine may not bother her so much. Cora messes with the strap of her camera with her slender and pale fingers. Her father had called them piano fingers from a young age, and had forced her into piano lessons as any parent would do. It had only been in a true fit of rage that Cora had ripped up her piano books and thrown them at him telling him that she had had enough of the lessons, that he had stopped putting pressure on her at all. In all fairness, they did get along much better now that he didn't force her to do anything she didn't want to, so she figured that her temper tantrum had ended up going well.


Cora smiles slightly and tilts her head to look down at her notebook, letting her hair hide her face. She begins to doodle in the corner of her note book absentmindedly, before she looks through her shield of hair at the boy next to her. Christopher, Miss Vine had called him, so obviously that has to be his name. She thought about it in her head for a moment, before whispering to him again. "I'm Coraline."


((It's fine don't worry!!))


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[Zahkr]

"You can call me Chris," He replied, trying hard to see through Coraline's curtain of hair, after failing, he slouched back — but still watched her, hands down his pockets, as the tip of her pen moved furiously against her page. He shook his head of hair to the side, then placed his pale hands back into the pit of his hooded jacket. Silence followed, til’ he opened his mouth again. "So Jason—that's an interesting pick," He wondered, flicking his tongue against the inside of his mouth, prodding his lip ring.

 

[buildingaspaceship]

"Nice to meet you, Chris." Cora tilts her head to the side slightly as she looks at him, tucking her hair behind her ear so that her shield was gone. She watched his prod his lip ring and, well, she'd always had a thing for piercings. They always made people look... Not dangerous, less approachable. She smiles a little, before she registers what he had said to her, and her smile fades into a frown. "I didn't- He's not- I hate him. He's a douche." She says and she shuts her eyes for a moment before turning her head back away from him. "I don't like him, he doesn't like me. He just plays me like- It doesn't matter."


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[Zahkr]

Chris rose his hands in his own defence, course, he was subtle. "Fair enough," He murmured, before raising his hand, realising that his phone was now vibrating violently in his pocket. The teacher quickly nodded over, queuing him to speak, while she simultaneously checked a student's work. She was hardly paying attention. "Can I uh — go to the bathroom? I'm pretty desperate." Christopher's deep, somewhat raspy voice projected through the classroom, to which he quietly coughed to cover. Miss Vine quickly gave her consent, before observing Christopher as he slipped between desks and strolled out of the room.


"You have five min——" The classroom door had already slammed shut, cutting off Miss Vine, and giving Chris the perfect excuse to take his time. He led himself down the the empty corridors and into the toilets — that completely stunk, and pulled out his damaged phone. Dad.


"Shit!" Chris’ cursing echoed the cubicle, despite his efforts to keep his volume to a minimum. There was only one reason his dad would call him, or two — he hadn't exactly been in his father's good book lately, and he never seemed to be either, but without letting his phone ring out — he answered. "Hello?"


His father's slobbering leaked through straight away, he had obviously been drinking. "S—What's hello? I'm calling because you know what you've done," like a baby learning how to talk, his words were clumsy and jumbled. "You—" There was a pause, which Chris had no interest in enquiring about. He breathed heavily down the phone. "You'd better have my money — I — I swear," He unevenly spat, before the line went completely dead.


Chris wasn't like his father, so he often claimed. But there he went, jabbing his fists into the toilet door as though it were his punchbag. This was just the first phonecall, and no matter how brief they were, they still angered Chris to the point of insanity.

 

[buildingaspaceship]

Cora raised her hand and waved over Miss Vine, now was the perfect opportunity to show her the photographs that she had taken during the summer. Miss Vine walked over casually and sat at the desk next to hers as she picked up Coralines camera, turning it on and flicking through some of the pictures. Cora bit her lip and looked at Miss Vine through her hair, hopeful that she liked them. But she saw Miss Vine shake her head as she placed her camera back down on the desk, and looked up, concerned, when she said her name. "Cora, these are wonderful shots," she says and a grin spreads on her face, Coras concern left her as she breathed out a sigh of relief and switched her camera off as Miss Vine instructed her on what to do next, how to evaluate them, how to edit them. Cora nodded her head as she thought she was supposed to do, before Miss Vine walked away to see to another student.


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[Zahkr]

Christopher pulled down his sleeves to cover the bruises lining his knuckles; passed the mirror, walked out of the bathroom and slowly made his way down the corridor. He weren't going back to that class, not when he had more important things to do — like track down his bag and sell those drinks. "Fucking school," He growled under his breath, as soon as he got his breathing under control — though Christopher knew school wasn't the actual problem, he refused to believe his constant enragement was. He came to a calm, just as the school bell went, signalling break time.

 

[buildingaspaceship]

Cora quickly packed up her things and shoved them into her bag, tucking both sides of her hair behind her ears and chewing the inside of her cheek as she throws it over her shoulder. She quickly walks out of the room, and with her head down. She wasn't going to the cafeteria, the usual place that people gathered during break, she was going to go down to the abandoned old classroom, she didn't know what classroom it used to be because it had been abandoned since she had been at this school, but she just knew that nobody went in there. She pushes her way into the room and shuts the door behind her, biting her lip and suppressing a smile as she realised that she was finally alone.


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[Zahkr]

All guns blazing, Joel ran up behind a pacing Christopher and playfully tugged (or almost completely dislocated) his shoulders. After he realised Christopher's bland expression, and that his happiness was not infectious, he relocated beside him and occasionally glanced. "I won't ask," He admitted, raising his hands defensively, as they skimmed through crowds. "Though I will ask whether you're going to study for that test tomorrow — we both know we're doomed otherwise. You know, we should go to the library, maybe get a burger after — what d'you say?"


Joel was talkative when he wanted to be, Christopher only shook his shoulders, "Not sure, I have things to do — and I have a detention after school."


Impatiently, Joel threw his arms down, "Come on, skip that and we'll go to the library, we'll have a laugh — read a sentence or two from that — whatever book it is, and ditch the school library for burgers." Joel normally made things sound more appealing than they actually were, he knew that, and with a nudge he added, "And there's that super hot librarian there — you're my wing man, you have to come."


(Accidentally submitted, I'll continue on in the next post)

 

[buildingaspaceship]

Coraline walks over to one of the old classroom chairs and runs her fingers over the back of it as she smiles, before sitting down on it, grabbing a large thick journal out of her bag. This journal was filled with everything she had written, drawn, and took photographs of, for the last two years. Pages were falling out, pieces were lost even, and some pages were stuck together with something that had leaked in her bag one time. It was the most precious thing that she owned. "Hey there little buddy," she whispers to it as though it was a child and running her fingers along its spine gently, setting it out in front of her as she pushes her hair out of her face, opening the first page. This was more than just a diary, it was her life.


She skips to an empty page, her last diary entry had been last week, when she had sat in the sun in a field of sunflowers with her dog sleeping beside her, it had been so peaceful. She sneaks a quick look at that page, grinning as she sees the colourful watercolour paintings she had done of it. She had made sure to bring her paint set and her camera with her everywhere she went all summer. She looks at the neat handwriting written over the top of it and she smiles, before turning back to the blank page, and getting out her black biro pen, and beginning to write about her morning, and anything that came to her mind.


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[Zahkr]

Joel was already eyeing Christopher eagerly, as he thought about his options — skip detention, or go get burgers, and make the most of your last day alive. He didn't think for too long, and soon Joel was hissing "Yesssss," like an overexcited child.


"On one condition — you help me find my bag, and help me sell those soda cans." Christopher pulled back Joel back on his words before he could open his mouth, "And that we actually study — As you said, we're slacking."


Joel dimmed, before rolling his eyes and twitching a smile. "Alright, I guess we could — As long as you actually help me with that librarian, ‘cause chicks dig the homeless look — clearly I don't have that." Joel, choosing his words ‘carefully’ and all, looked genuinely disappointed.


Christopher rose an eyebrow, before rolling his eyes and speeding up his pace. "Yeah, yeah —" He soon broke into a jog.


"Hey, where're you going?" Joel waved his hands, calling down the hall, as he continued walking at his usual, slow stroll.


"Looking for my bag before some other kid finds it — go look somewhere else, I got this side!" Christopher called back, running off before he could witness Joel's declaration of exhaustion, and pure laziness.


(Joel could run into Cora or something? I was just wondering how we could make them cross paths again)