Tremulous Teenagers

Subject: Tremulous Teenagers Sat 26 Dec 2015 - 20:29

It was a fine September evening, and although the sky was clouded, the temperature remained agreeably warm and pleasant. Jeanne's chin sank in her black turtleneck sweater, a rayon-wool blend that clung to her skin nicely and exposed nothing, just the way the girl liked it. She tossed her hair to her side and practiced a smile, and then knocked on Aaron's door.

Aaron was her next door neighbor and so she found it kind of strange that, even after knowing each other since he moved in from Japan, she'd not be able to just barge in loudly shouting "Aaron, come here you bitch", but no, even though they'd been friends for five years, the tradition of "hello ma'am, can I see your brother ma'am" remained. The prospect wasn't completely awful, but still, her algebraic heart despised the need for redundant steps, and every time she contemplated the imminence of having to tolerating another greeting kiss on the cheeks from his lovely sister she felt a pang of dread.

She still remembered being twelve years old when the family moved into the little red house next to her little beige house. Both of similar design, none of them particularly notable for their location in a suburb, except for that suburb being in Manhattan. That was rare, and bloody expensive, mostly populated by old WASPS and jews come to die in comfort, and so when a kid a year and a smidgen more younger than her appeared, it was time to be excited.

They were instant friends.

And then the door opened, and Jeanne went through the kiss, hi, hello, how are you motions, and then took on a graver expression, for she was on a mission.

"Miss Blackwood, I have to speak to Aaron."

She was allowed upstairs to Aaron's room, and barged in absolutely unceremoniously, turning the door open like it was her own and she was mad at her parents. Jeanne had a devilish grin on her face, a face marked simultaneously by innocence and deviance.

"Hey bitch, how's life?"

Subject: Re: Tremulous Teenagers Sat 26 Dec 2015 - 21:38

Aaron woke up that day feeling a little uneasy. He hadn't been feeling very good the night before. So he got up and took a shower hoping that would make him feel better. He was just in the middle of putting on a shirt when his friend came storming through his door.

He blinked at her half his head attempting to get through the wrong hole due to his lack of concentration. He blushed suddenly and quickly redressed himself. "H-Hey Jeanne! You're here early." He slowly began to put his clothes away and make his bed thinking about the things he had to do today. "So what brings you here this time? Here to steal my essay again?" He said smiling at her as he packed his backpack up.

Subject: Re: Tremulous Teenagers Sat 26 Dec 2015 - 21:46

Jeanne entered the room, her gaze lingering just a little bit too long on Aaron's bare midriff while he struggled with his shirt. She nosedived directly into his unmade bed, a grin showing from under her mess of black curls.

"Not this time," she spoke, muffled by the sheets. She turned around, and sat up in a more comfortable position. "I'm better than you at that shit anyway, kiddo." Her grades were stellar; a bright kid, she had a certain light behind the eyes that other girls mistook for contempt. It was simply awareness, and the ingrained confidence that she was somehow more in tune with the world than anybody else. An arrogance that might be either disarming or arming depending on who witnessed it.

And then, as quickly as the door was opened, her grin disappeared and her eyes began to twinkle enigmatically. "No, I have something important to tell you."

Subject: Re: Tremulous Teenagers Sat 26 Dec 2015 - 22:00

He smiled at her cocky confidence and finished what he was doing. He zipped up his bag and leaned on the side of his desk looking at her with an interested look on his face and a raised eyebrow. He sudden shift in expression set a little worry into his thoughts and he spoke, "What is it?"

A plain, typical response, this bothered him, he should have shown a little more interest. But usually when she said something was important it was usually because of some sale at a store or a new exhibit at the museum.

Subject: Re: Tremulous Teenagers Sat 26 Dec 2015 - 22:07

Flashback to the day before, when Jeanne was lying in bed watching television when she first saw the Honor Guards struggle against the Elements. That night she had been struck with a sense of purpose that she couldn't accurately explain at all. It was a sense of duty for one's country, for one's culture, for one's God. Jeanne's wide, teenage eyes had witnessed something that perhaps she did not yet have the capacity to fully understand, but it seemed heavy, important.

"Well," she started, and she felt herself bristle in anticipation. She leaned in towards Aaron, for it really was serious.

"I've decided to run away from home," she whispered.

Subject: Re: Tremulous Teenagers Sat 26 Dec 2015 - 23:22

Aaron blinked at his friend for a second. Making sure he heard what she had said correctly. He slowly considered the next response carefully since he was a little shocked as to what he had heard. "You want to do what now?!" He said leaning his head forward a little at her with a look of pure shock.

"Are you insane?" He asked moving a hand through his hair and shaking his head. He knew she wasn't having problems at home. Why this all of a sudden?

Subject: Re: Tremulous Teenagers Sat 26 Dec 2015 - 23:32

Jeanne took a small breath. The cool passion flowed through her veins, and she smiled in a way that did not reach her eyes when she opened her mouth to speak.

"Maybe it's insanity," she admitted. "But hear me out, Aaron. There's a whole world of potential out there, and I want to be part of what's new, and what's happening." Her speech had always been frustratingly omissive, but as she detected she had captivated his attention through sufficient cliffhangers, she gave him another bone. "The Honor Guard, Aaron. Think of the great things I could do, that I'm stuck not doing here, being bored by the school system, condescended to by adults."

A dangerous twinkle in her eye appeared when she thought in what was dangerously graphic detail about the way the honor guards were completely torn to shreds on public television. She would make certain that their painful sacrifice was worth it.

Subject: Re: Tremulous Teenagers Tue 29 Dec 2015 - 21:35

Aaron shook his head at the thought. He didn't agree with what the Honor Guard was doing. So what if they were Alphas? They were still people and they were killing them. This thought hung in his head and he slowly voiced his opinion to his best friend. "But they kill Alpha's. These are people they are killing. It's just as bad as poaching endangered animals. No, this is worse then that" He looked at her with half-angry, half-sad, eyes. He didn't want his best friend running off to join a bunch of murderers. He thought of how they truly were just humans who got dealt a curse that changed them. This world was just so dark and dangerous it sometimes disgusted him.

Subject: Re: Tremulous Teenagers Tue 29 Dec 2015 - 21:46

Jeanne smiled in an almost unbecoming way. She remained indomitably set on her idea.

"Exactly, Aaron," she said. "It's exactly like poaching endangered animals. The moment somebody manifests as an alpha, they lose the little bit that made them human. The Honor Guard merely rids the world of monstrosity, it does not murder."

Subject: Re: Tremulous Teenagers Wed 30 Dec 2015 - 0:39

Aaron's eyes widened at his best friends words. Still he wouldn't falter, he'd try to change her mind with his words. "I can't believe you'd say that. They're still human Jeanne, sure they're different but they're still human-beings. It's not their fault they've become... Freaks in a way. It's because of the bombs not because they CHOSE to become Alpha's." He stared into her eyes with a pleading look on his face.

Subject: Re: Tremulous Teenagers Wed 30 Dec 2015 - 2:47

Jeanne's cool dark eyes mirrored Aaron's face back to him, flatteringly soft against her beige skin. Her entire expression was soft, but then it hardened as she reading her response. Not towards what she was saying, but towards Aaron.

"Make no mistake in my intentions, Aaron. This isn't about delivering karmic justice, this is about keeping the rest of us safe. It is not the monster's desire to be a monster. The minotaur did not choose to be minotaur, neither did the hydra choose to spawn more heads. All of these creatures deserve life from their own perspective, but they do not deserve life from the hero's, as they are violent by their very nature. It is not the wolf's fault he has to kill, either, but it is not the prey's best interest to let him do as he needs, either."

Jeanne shook her head, curly locks of hair falling in front of her eyes, which she brushed away. "We need to keep the rest of the humans safe, because as long as there are alphas, the world will suffer injustice."