Day 3: (Ab)normal Days

David headed in the library. Wait, weren't these kind of places supposed to be quiet? He looked around - nearly everyone was here, they were just missing Asher. Where was that clown, anyway?

He looked around silently, looking all the different genres there were. None really struck his interest, enterprisingly. He certainly wasn't illiterate, but he didn't read much either.

He headed to the nonfiction section on a whim and picked up a random biography, sat down in a comfy chair and started reading.

"Heh, yeah," Eloise spoke over her shoulder, still going through the Fantasy shelf everyone had gathered around. She was a casual reader though, it was obvious by the way she was searching for the prettiest covers, "We had to drag a fishtank out of the storage room, and then Monobear came in and told us we can't go upstairs! In short, it was totally pointless."

She pulled out a book, looked at it for a few seconds and stuffed it back into the shelf. Alchemy wasn't her thing.

Asher felt he had let the cake sit long enough in the fridge, and took it out to set on the counter. He sighed.
"Millie was right! All the time ya put into baking, and when it's done, you're not hungry anymore!" He perked up a second later.
"I wonder if any of the others'd want to give it a shot?"

Laura wasn't sure exactly what to say, so she walked down along the aisles alongside Eloise. Her friend was at the same aisle that she and Adda had explored earlier. "You into fantasy too? Geez, that's what all you guys are reading. I swear, it's like you all came from a different country than me or something!"

The fantasy section got Laura thinking about her book, which was in Adda's pack. Which she wouldn't have access to until after the school meeting. Which was at 6:00. "Hey, what time is it anyway?"

Adda shrugged. "I'd guess in the 4 to 5 range? And do we even know where this meeting is?" As much as she loathed the idea of it, her curiosity was starting to get the best of her.

The main room of the library was a little too noisy and crowded fro him. Herbert got up, picked his books up, and searched for another alcove to seat himself in. He saw a few faces through the corridors, but he quickly passed them, hoping they wouldn't see him.
Finally, he could see a quiet little place and quickly went over, happily flouncing down into a beanbag chair.
Before he noticed David was near him.
He had no idea if the man heard him, but he froze. If he slowly moved, maybe he wouldn't notice him.

"Nah, really I'll just read anything," Eloise chirped, "Guess Fantasy's pretty good! I'm mostly reading screenplays though, I mean I'm acting most of the time."

And once again the reminders flew, reminders of what was ahead and Eloise sighed. "Well, the student ID says 5:00. Oops, not much time." She frowned, picked up a book, put it down and turned to Laura and Adda. "M-Mind if I ask something a bit personal?"

He looked up quickly. He might not be the smartest kid around, but he knew when someone was looking at him. He could say that, of course, but he really looked up because his book was boring and he wanted to see if people watching was an option. He looked at Herbert in confusion. When had he gotten there?

"Er, hello! I guess you're probably hear to read, not talk, eh?" he asked.

Adda looked at Eloise curiously. "Sure, what's up? No promises I can answer, and I can't speak for Laura..." her voice trailed off, but she continued to watch Eloise curiously to see what she'd do next.

A personal question? Now that was the kind of vaguely intrusive line of thought that had Laura interested. "It's a yes from me, too!" she said giddily. Honestly, how could she refuse a question like that. If anything, she was upset that Adda beat her to the punch of being the first to say yes. "What do you want to ask us about, Elly?"

Once Oscar's table was cleared, he once again scattered his notes across it and got to work. He was sitting right by Marci. Such industrious, inspired children.
The cold blueberry waffle didn't count much as brain food, but soon enough he got back into his thoughts and writing poured out from his pencil. He looked around at all the kids, almost all of them, and it propelled him to work harder. After all, he was doing it for them.
Or, at least he'd try.

He hoped his kitchen setup was still intact. Surely no one was in there?

poo poo.
He quickly sat up in the chair, crossing his legs since he was too low on the ground.
"Er, I was gonna read, but ah 'ad no idea you were... 'ere." He said, looking away and wringing his hands, suddenly taking off his hat. Did he seriously jackknife into a beanbag chain in front of someone? This was why he couldn't allow himself to relax around people. He hated doing stupid, fun things and then getting embarrassed over it. He was supposed to be an adult!

A look of sheer concentration spread across Eloise's face.
"Good. Don't have to answer of course! But...er..." She figured out how to word the question, because in all honesty it was a bit late to ask it. But it had been nagging at her for what seemed like too long, and she had to get it off her chest.

"Those envelopes we got. Do you think they're real?" She watched intently for reactions, "I mean, you think they were faked? Photoshop and all?"

He blinked. "Lighten up, I don't care if you read next to me or anything," he said with a tinge of confusion. What was the big deal? He quit looking at Herbert and leaned back farther in his chair and flipped a page - he was just skimming at this point - and sighed. "Jeez, I thought that I had a boring life. Apparently, I was wrong."

Adda shifted a bit.
"At first, I didn't believe anyone could pull off what I saw in my file... but after Alex..." She locked eye with Eloise.
"I think we need to take it with a grain of salt, but... but I think mine might've been real. The look on his face... the state of my room... it all seemed to real. Plus, in my picture everything was interacting, which is hard to pull off in Photoshop. But that's just my opinion, and I'd be happy to be proven wrong!"

Laura flinched noticeably when Eloise mentioned the envelopes from two days earlier. Not that she had forgotten it anyway. The photos of that boy with jet black hair but no smile to go with it... Laura had no idea if it was real or not. And Adda's words didn't comfort her. "Goddammit, can we forget about the envelopes!" she yelled, a little too loud.

Embarrassed at having drawn attention to herself, Laura muttered something under her breath and turned around, heading towards the entrance to the library.

Asher was tired of sitting alone with a cake. It was a pretty awkward silence, and the cake wasn't helping start any conversation. He stood up, grabbed the basket full of silverware and his cake, and marched off down the hall towards the library. Everyone must be in there, that'd be the only explanation for the commotion in such an empty school.

"Oh."

Eloise tensed for a moment and then just said, "Thanks. Sorry."
When she noticed Laura was walking off, she repeated herself, "Sorry...!" A hand flew to her face, and she began to bite at her nails, "Sorry...sorry..." She gave Adda a blank stare before wandering behind Laura slowly, stopping at a table and standing.

As he approached the library, he could tell something was off. So he followed the most logical course of action.
"Who wants cake?" he exclaimed, letting the death toll ring throughout the school.

Laura shook her head dismissively at Eloise and stormed out of the library. She only narrowly missed Asher, seeing him coming and making her way in the opposite direction, to the gym. She pushed through the door and halted.

"Christ, I hate people," she muttered to herself. At least in the vacant gymnasium she could wait out the rest of the time until Monobear's meeting without being disturbed by her classmates. She hoped so, at least.

Adda watched as Laura stormed out, a bit confused. Still, she figured she wasn't the best person to go and start talking to in that state. Instead, she turned to Eloise.
"Do you think we'll get another folder today?"

She closed her journal, content with her work, and walked over to Adda and Eloise. They seemed to be having a slightly interesting conversation.

She heard the last few of Adda's words and listened, her interest piqued. "Definitely, the bear kicked me out of my room for that reason, right? Unless he's renovating for some reason, that's the only option."

Adda laughed. "Maybe it's something nice for a change! Maybe he's installing personal swimming pools filled with jell-o or something crazy!" She crossed her arms and sighed. "I'd hate to think of what worse things he could have planned, honestly, after the first folder."

She laughed. "I wouldn't mind a pool filled with water, myself. That sounds slightly more manageable than...jell-o." She shrugged. "And I still don't believe a word in those folders - fakes, all of them I'd guess. I'm not worried for what he has to show us."

"I'm more concerned about what he had to set up, honestly... if there's a picture or video, it's already done. But something to be experienced..." she remembered the nurse and Alex, with elaborate set up required for both events. Nothing this bear built could be good.