It was only five minutes after Valerie had settled in to eat when the bell rang. Needless to say, it scared the shit out of her. She nearly flung a carrot across the room in fright. She managed to calm her fast-racing heart, but it jumped into her throat as the swarm of students came. Her normal bravery disappeared, and she found herself ducking her head, attempting to use her blonde hair as some sort of a shield. It seemed to work - at first. And then
she came.
Out of nowhere, she felt arms wrap around her body, nearly strangling her in their tight grip. A soft gasp escaped Val's lips, and her head was yanked to the girl's shoulder, where her chin came to rest.
"Jesus Christ," she wheezed, more stunned at the girl's strength then by the sudden hug that came out of nowhere.
"Hello! You look very new to me. Are you a transfer?" It seemed only then that the girl realized that she was invading her personal space, and finally released her. Valerie leaned back and drew in a breath, before letting it out slowly.
"Oh my, I'm sorry if you didn't want to be hugged! I do it without thinking!""No, it's quite alright," Valerie said quietly, leaning back to catch her breath. She brushed a stray strand of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. Her eyes moved to the boy that had accompanied the girl, and making a fleeting note that he was extremely handsome, she turned her attention back to the girl. But it was only to return her gaze to the boy, who had begun introductions.
"Audrey ... My sister. I'm Sam. Welcome to Wonderland Academy." His smile was calming, and she felt herself relax.
"Excuse me a minute, I'll be right back. I'll grab yours too Audrey." His hand touched his sister's shoulder before he took of at a surprisingly fast walk towards the foot lines, and she leaned forward a bit to stare after him.
Nice ass though ...A soft blush rose to her cheeks as she only then realized that the girl, Audrey, was still sitting there. And she was his
sister of all things. To have had such thoughts about the girl's brother right in front of her was terrible. She dropped back onto her seat again and looked at the other girl.
"My name is Valerie. Valerie Callinder. It's a pleasure to be of your acquaintance, Audrey. And of your brother's, but I will tell him that when he returns," she said with a smile, not bothering to conceal her accent, for when she attempted to, it only ended up growing thicker.
It was at that moment that a slightly-disturbing boy with extremely curly dark hair dropped down onto a table nearby - quite loudly, might she add - and propped his feet on a chair.
That's a bit disrespectful ... It wasn't her business, however, and with a slight shrug, she turned back to the conversation at hand, which was with Audrey, and attempted to ignore the stare that she was receiving from the boy.
Once again, however, her attention was taken from Audrey and redirected to the next person to approach the table. Her neck was beginning to ache from turning her head so often, and she was growing annoyed with it. When she saw who had slammed their tray onto the table across from her, though, her annoyed state was dashed from her, and instead replaced with a joyous one that could not be swiped away by anything.
"Tarrant!?" she blinked, her eyes fluttering quickly in surprise. After the surprise had faded, a slow grin began to stretch across her face, and before she realized what she was doing, she had propped one foot on top of the seat she was currently using, and threw herself across the table. She had successfully ended up tackling Tarrant from his seat, but oddly enough, she didn't care. She was far too busy squealing with excitement.
"Tarrant, Tarrant, Tarrant!" she cried, her arms latched around his neck. "I've missed you, Mister Hatter!" she laughed, burying her face in his shoulder. She clung to him like that for several moments, before she leaned back and dropped onto the heels of her feet, finally releasing him. Her smile trembled a bit, however, as she helped him up and he introduced her to Audrey, whom she had already met and would undoubtedly be confused by the different names. Therefore, she spun on her heel to face the girl, a sheepish grin on her face.
"My sincerest apologies for the confusion, Audrey," she said, her accent causing a slight lilt to be heard when she spoke the name for the first time. "My name is Alice Valerie Callinder, but I prefer to go by Valerie. It's quite a long story, but I would great appreciate your kindness in calling me by my preferred name," she said quietly, her eyes glancing down.
She hadn't told Tarrant about Amanda yet, and hadn't planned to until ... Well ... Never, actually. But now that she was faced with seeing him day-in and day-out?
She had no choice but to tell him.
Her grin faded as a deep sorrow rose up in her and threatened to burst in what would be a tsunami of tears if she allowed it to release and free itself. But with what she considered a great deal of strength, she shoved it back and instead lifted her hand to reach for her ever-present
necklaces. She drew them out from under her dress, holding both lockets in the palm of her hand.
"Amanda ... She's ..." A pause, for she was almost certain that she wouldn't be able to continue. After a trembling, deep breath, she wrapped her fingers around the lockets and rings, closed her eyes, and spit out the words in a quick breath.
"She's dead, Tarrant. Skilled killed herself two months ago. That's why ... That's why I'm here."
She turned away, her eyes tightly closed and her face oddly pale. Her lips were dry. She couldn't help it.
"I'm ... I'm sorry. If you'll excuse me," she said, her voice a raspy whisper. She turned and ducked around Tarrant, her boots making soft taps on the floor as she fled the room, her hand tight around the lockets. She rushed past Sam and a girl that was speaking to him, ducking her head so as to hide the faint tears that clung on her lashes, and practically threw herself through the doors. She didn't stop running until she felt a small twinge in her side, which was the side-affect of running so soon after she had ate. She leaned against a set of lockers, her hands on her knees as she bent over at the waist, and her eyes closed.
A sly, female voice tore her out of her attempt to catch her breath.
"And who might you be?"
Valerie jumped and stumbled back a few steps, her head darted from side to side. She turned in a complete circle, before finally looking up and spotting a girl who was currently lounging on
top of the lockers."You should get down from there, doll, else you hurt yourself," she said, her brows drawn together.
"Oh, please ... And refer to me as Chess or Cheshire."
"I seem to fancy calling you Cheshire Puss more then Chess or Cheshire, for how could you have managed to climb those lockers unless you were as lithe as a cat? Also, would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," the girl replied.
"I don't much care where--' Valerie began.
"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," the girl cut in.
"--so long as I get SOMEWHERE," Valerie concluded, so as to explain further.
"Oh, you're sure to do that, if you only walk long enough," the girl instructed lazily.
This was getting her nowhere, and Val could feel her frustrations rising. In an effort to calm herself, she held her breath, counted to ten, and let it out slowly before trying again. "What sort of people live about here?"
"In that direction," she motioned towards the cafeteria, "lives a Hatter." She couldn't possibly be talking about Tarrant ... Could she? "And in that direction, she motioned the way that Valerie had been heading, "Lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they're both mad."
They're both mad? Either she meant they were angry, or insane, bu there wasn't any way they could be either, and there was no way that she could know if both were angry in that moment. "But I don't want to go among mad people," she frowned, her brows drawing together.
"Oh, you can't help that," she chuckled, moving slightly to stretch. "We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."
This was ridiculous. "How do you know I'm mad?" she asked, her eyes narrowing.
"You must be, or you wouldn't have come here." But it was a school, for crymony's sakes! Of course she would come here. It was a prestigious school for teenagers with her intellect. What did insanity have to do with any of it? What the girl had said did not prove the theory of madness in the least.
"And how do you know that you're mad?"
"To begin with, a dog's not mad. You grant that?"
"I ... I suppose so," Valerie answered cautiously.
"Well, then ... You see, a dog growls when it's angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad."
"I call it purring, not growling," she pointed out, priding herself on being quite the smart ass, for it was true; the girl resembled a cat so entirely that it was almost frightening.
"Call it what you like."
The girl practically slinked away, a mysterious grin on her face.
"What the fuck ... Was that?" Her sorrow momentarily gone, she stared after the girl with an expression that was one of disbelief mixed with confusion and awe.
"What ... The fuck?"
With a shake of her head, she puffed out a breath and headed back in the direction of the cafeteria. When she returned, she was obviously embarrassed, but her tears had dried and she was calm once more. She did, however, approach the table that she had been sitting at before with a weariness that was obvious enough to cut with a knife.
"I'm ... I'm sorry about before," she said sheepishly, shifting her weight a bit. "I just can't help but grow upset when I think of my sister. It won't happen again," she said, sliding back into her seat. She plucked up her apple and held it out towards Tarrant with a grin. "Yours fell on the floor, you big oaf. You should be more careful with your food. After all these years, and I'm still picking up after and feeding you," she laughed, leaning across the table and press the apple between his teeth so that it stayed. She then leaned back and looked up at Sam and the girl from before as they approached the table, for she hadn't been gone long, but long enough for them to finish getting food for themselves and Audrey.
"Hello, my name is Valerie. It's a pleasure," she said, holding her hand out to the girl. She cast a wink at Sam after shaking the girl's hand, and then lowered herself back into her seat. "I am from Germany, but I lived her when I was younger. Is there any advice that you lot can give me about the school?"