Day One: (Ab)normal Days

People never asked this much about her dad. It was a bit difficult to keep quiet at this point.
"He introduced me to it, yeah." She squeezed her skirt.

"There was no way I couldn't follow in his footsteps when-" She stood up.
"I'm going to head back to my room for a bit, I never got a good look at it," she mentioned quickly before leaving the courtyard in a hurry, her head hanging.

A sharp red blush formed on Laura's face, and she wished that she was facing the other way so Asher couldn't see her. Usually Laura was fine taking in what she dished out, but for some reason his comment took her off guard. She ducked her head and pulled down her hat a little to compensate. "Well, I wouldn't say that... Most the guys I talk to just see me with a helmet on anyway. Not that I mind, really."

Not wanting to drag out the topic, she walked past Asher and back out into the hallway. "Alright, I'm officially appointing you as navigator. Which room is next?"

She sighed in relief as Adda got up. She really didn't feel like talking about the fact that her dad left when she was in elementary school and her mom raised her on her own after that. Her mom was amazing and loved her and she loved her mom back but...okay, well maybe she had a bit of trust issues but in all reality she was better off this way. People can't hurt you if you don't let them, right?
She shook her head. "I-I ought to be going, too. I left something in my room." she got up quickly and walked towards her room.

Asher took out his ID.
"Just across the hall," he said, indicating the doorway across from them. He opened the door and was a bit shocked. The room was still fairly normal, but some desks were askew and had light marks on them
"Well, it's a change. Though not too special."

Eloise nodded, "Yes, yes. Of course we are a class. Sharing is caring." She grinned, "If you do ever come up with escape plans, do tell me."

But in the end she failed to catch Herbert. At least she got to look at him. Eloise turns to David, "Have you two met before?" She nodded towards Herbert to clarify who she was talking to. She had an inkling.

"He sounds pretty cool!" Oscar adds, looking at the book, "My parents are a bit...confused. I don't think they understand what I'm doing. You can't get a major in alchemy, ya know?"

"My sister, though, she's great..." he then finally notices Adda getting upset. "A-Adda, a-are you okay?" She was obviously not okay. "Oh..." He was torn between following her, not entirely sure whether she really did need to examine her room. Now Marci too, "Oh god, guys-" He follows after them half-heartedly, but stops at the door. He turns to Jaden, confused.

Jaden turned from side to side. It seemed that the others were dropping like flies. "Sh..poo poo. Was it something I said?" He was getting a little uncomfortable, and hoped he hadn't offended the others too badly. He looked at Oscar and saw that the boy was just as confused as he was. "Well, I don't know what their deal is, but I feel kinda bad. What should we do now?"

He nodded. "We ended up meeting up in the kitchen before the...erm, the...meeting. I guess you could...call it that." He flicked his eyes back to his jacket, hoping she'd catch the hint that he was hiding something.

"Upupupu! Look at these two lovebirds!"
Monobear was in this next room with Laura and Asher, intent on disrupting the mood. "You here for a lesson? Why else would you be in a classroom, of course..."

Adda didn't stop moving until she was at the door to her dorm. With shaking hands, she scanned the ID and walked in. The calming sea-foam green of the walls did nothing for her mood, and her small tokens of home only made her more upset. She collapsed on the bed with an elegant black frame lighting the candle by her bed and dimming the lights for comfort. She closed her eyes a little and took the book out again, clutching it tightly.

Was that loving idiot trying to get what little respect he had here to less than a nub? "I'll leave you two eedjits alone. C'mon, we're gonna get them plants and fish."
The fact he had the knives was something he wanted to keep away. He tried to grab Alex's arm, walking quickly to the aquarium, looking like an angry bear. Why oh why did people have to ruin his good moods?

Asher took a defensive step back and stuck his arm out in front of Laura through sheer instinct of being around dangerous animals with amateurs.
"I dunno, we did come to school to learn in the first place, though that doesn't seem to be happening, " he glared.

Laura's face went pale, and she stepped back a bit. She felt embarrassed when Asher put his arm in front of her and tried to straighten up. " Yeah, what the hell do you want?" she asked. "Haven't we had enough of you? Plus, there are no teachers here!"

Alexander saw the hand coming, and stepped away. Herbert wasn't very social, confirmed. He did feel guilty for trying to leave Elouise and David behind.
He hesitated. he slightly rolled on his feet. Did he go towards Herbert, or stay? Well...
"Sorry, I... Well." he stammered, before bowing slightly and walking off to the fishtank.

Asher quickly put his arm down when he realized what he was doing. Coughing a bit to try and smooth it over, he looked up again.

"In fact, yeah? What's up with the staff? Obviously, there were more people here before than a nurse." He composed himself, arms crossed over his chest.

Oscar had no clue.
"I-I...should we comfort them?" He pictured knocking on each of their doors, trick-or-treat style, shouting words of comfort and sunshine and daisies, but it all seemed too improbable. At last, he sighed.
"I guess we should just leave them to calm down. He didn't even get to tell his own tragic story. It wasn't really all that tragic.

"So...umm...why dancing?" He was desperate for normal conversation. Oscar nearly prayed Jaden didn't take up dancing from a dying family member or something, for the sake of his little heart.

Adda had calmed down, and placed the book on her nightstand. Sitting up in bed, she began to feel guilty.
"I shouldn't have just run out like that... they probably all think I'm a freak now or something- breaking down in the middle of school." She sighed, walking to the bathroom to wash her face.

"I don't think it's gonna do much good, they're probably not in the mood to talk," Jaden said with a shrug. "We can try talking to them later tonight or something." He paced around awkwardly, trying to think of something else to say. He was grateful when Oscar offered a question.

"Well, dancing is fun as poo poo, and looks hot as gently caress," he responded, hoping that the younger boy wouldn't be too put off by his cursing. It got the point across. "I guess it's the same as any other regular hobby. The real question here is why alchemy? That's one that needs a bit more explaining, man."

"Oo, questions questions..." Monobear looked at his little audience. He didn't pay much attention to their earlier backsassing, their aggression only made him more playful.

"I'm afraid we had to let a few people off. Schools are always being cut these days, it's a tragedy," Monobear looked down, his hands behind his back, "Oh, but I can teach. I have a few life lessons and a few death lessons prepared for the year! Who even needs teachers? You two definitely don't look like the reading type! Ever read a Shakespearean tragedy?"

Marci sat silently on her bed, flipping through pages of a book. Her own book. She sighed and forced herself to relax - count to ten, deep breaths, close your eyes. She laughed a little - laughed at her own stupidity.
"Don't show weakness. That was rule number one, Marci. Rule...number...one." She said quietly to herself, then got up, hid the book back in the drawer of her nightstand, and figured now was as of a good time as any to take a shower.

"Readings for losers. And who has time for ancient poo poo like that?" He asked back at the bear. He really didn't have that much against reading, though it wasn't his favorite, but he didn't feel like going along. He was used to leading shows, not going along with the agenda of others, and certainly not being scripted.

Laura's eyes twitched as Monobear SPOKE. What was he trying to say? Obviously he was toying with them, but how serious was he? Were there ever any actual teachers in this building? Was it even the real Hope's Peak American Campus? And most pressingly, who the hell was Shake-whatever? "Y-yeah, I'm with him," she said, pointing at her classmate. "But seriously, what the heck's going on here? If this is some initiation prank, it isn't funny. Killing each other isn't something to joke about!"

"So." David said with a cough, trying to break the silence between him and Eloise. "You're not really royalty. You played me. Correct?" He looked at her straight in the eye, a small smile on his face. He wasn't the brightest kid around, but he certainly wasn't dumb.

Thankfully, his new roommate came along. "Anyways," Herbert continued, after Alexander came over.
"I want to get this fishtank up into my room."
Already the fish were starting to dart around him, knowing he would feed them.

Oscar still felt his stomach tighten. He didn't want to leave his two friends alone, but perhaps it really was for the better.

The cursing was something nearly foreign to Oscar, it made Jaden's answer seem shocking, scandalous, nearly artful. He had a feeling that "Dancing is fun as poo poo, and looks hot as gently caress," would haunt him for years to come.
"That's...pretty cool!" He didn't exactly know how to explain his own thing, "Alchemy is...Well when I was a kid I read about it a lot? It interested me, I guess. You could look at what stuff is made out of and link it to other stuff. It's almost its own religion. And you can try to heal people with it, do the impossible..." He trailed off now, choking up now too. Emotion was contagious.
But then he threw up his hands and shook his head, "No- I mean...It's like chemistry...Well I actually..." Oscar was very bad at explaining.