Erin Springs



"I wouldn't say we're that different." Alex said, and Erin looked at her and back to Derek, who seemed to be angered about the comment. She wondered why briefly before Alex mentioned her humming by asking if it was the peice she wrote for 'the ballerina girl', but Derek quickly corrected it to Hope. "Oh, no. It's just the start of a song that came to mind. Maybe a fun new project. Back to school and all that. It's going to be a bit faster than the pieces I write for Hope. Just something to ease my mind" she said politely and took her hands off the case, having already ordered her drink. She was searching into her bag for her wallet when Alex said she would pay.

"That's very kind of you, Alex" she smiled, never one to decline an offer. Sure, she had quite a bit more money because of her selling her music over the internet under a pseudonym so her mom didn't know, but not many people wanted to listen to straight piano music, so most only bought it if they were a fan of her style. Still, she would have to get a part-time job if she wanted to really support herself without her mom or dad this year, unlike she did last year, and that was a running bet. She made a mental note to find out if the coffee shop was hiring. She hoped she would be able to still practice her music with a job though, but she supposed she would have to deal.

When Erin had mistakenly called Alex Derek's sister instead of step-sister, they seemed to respond very harshly, with Derek getting riled up about it and Alex completely storming out of the shop after throwing a few bills at her to pay for the drinks. "I... I'm sorry if anything I said... I'm sorry" Erin looked down and reached into her own bag, pulling out her wallet and paying for the drinks. She couldn't allow someone to pay for a drink when they weren't even present, especially after she said something that angered them. She walked over to Hope and held out the money, handing it to her and nodding at the door. "Can you go give this back to her? I don't want to risk angering her further with my blabbering mouth. I'll take my chances with Derek- if worst comes to worse I don't have to live with him" she mumbled and hugged Hope tightly. "I'll owe you" she said before walking back over to Derek. "I am sorry if I said something that offended you in any way. I didn't mean it, if I did. I say things without thinking sometimes, sadly" she sighed and turned on her heels, walking over to the drink delivery area.

---

"Yeah. Hope's friend, right?" Evan replied. Felix nodded, unsure if his roommate had seen the gesture. In hall honesty, he didn't particularly care— though for that, he felt kind of bad. He didn't have much time for self-pity, however, before his peace of mind was interrupted by none other than the illustrious Abercrombie. Felix was about to extend a friendly greeting to her when she voiced her demands.

"Evan. I need to use your phone. Now." Evan complied and handed the girl his phone. Felix couldn't help a smile. He'd been worried Evan would be a more caustic personality, but so far, he was an absolute joy. And, as far as Felix knew, he was heterosexual. Which was always a plus, considering the fact that he came off 'gay' to guys he wasn't even attracted to. Last year had been a living Hell.

Another familiar voice sounded from the hallway. "So much for pitying myself," Hope said, popping in through the door Abercrombie had left open to the hallway. Felix waved at her, something between a warm and a humored smile stretching itself across his face. "I pity you Felix. Sharing a room with Evan is terrible, and now Abe's in here! I feel so bad for you!" Hope smirked and grinned to him, and his tight-lipped smile split to mirror hers. "Either way, nice to see you again Felix."

Out of nowhere, Evan added, "Don't be so rude, Ariel," At which Felix was lost. He could practically smell the animosity emanating from Hope out toward Evan, and it unnerved him. He didn't like seeing Hope so angry. It didn't suit her like dance did. Once again, he was about to interject something of his own if only to try to lower the sudden flare in the room, but Hope was off with some threat about scorpions. Felix really hoped she wouldn't make good on that threat. It didn't sound particularly comfortable, sleeping in a room containing a bed full of arachnids. He'd pester Hope about that later. Though he could respect her disliking his roommate, he'd have to do everything in his power to keep their— or was it just her?— emotions from stinging him in the back when he least expected it.

With the sudden increase in activity inside the small room, Felix had grown antsy. He hopped off the bed, landing lightly on the floor, and snatched his ballet bag from the dresser. Tossing his wallet and a change of clothes inside, he slipped out of the room on tiptoe, already warming his feet up on the way down the stairs.

Felix, before long, found himself in the music room. As the dance program at Pines Academy was hardly expansive, tailored more for the pair of seasoned dancers than for the masses, there wasn't an actual building for it like those for the musicians or the artists or the actors; rather, small studios were available both in the basements of the music building and the theatre as well as in a converted display room in the art building that additionally served to showcase student art shows. The theatre and art studios were often occupied by their respective artists, but few musicians also used the dance room, so it was the one most often available to practice in. He slid past the choir stands and made for the stairs but stopped just short on catching sight of the upright piano stashed in the corner. He paused to finger out a few single notes before heading for the dance studio.

Today, he would take a break from the rigorous training. An idea had struck him: he'd start choreographing his ballet. First up? A waltz.

---

"It's not nice. I don't know you," said the man who'd quietly introduced himself as Derek. Arden almost scoffed but caught herself just shy of doing so— why even bother mentioning that not knowing someone somehow made his experience somehow more miserable when the person stood just feet away from him, perfectly willing to get to know him a little better? Before she could come up with anything reasonably polite to say, he'd already turned and walked away.

And he didn't even take a cookie, Arden thought to herself with a huff. Hmph. If she could find the stairs, she would have loved to returned to her room and fume at her complete and utter failure to introduce herself, but she was still wandering around, hopelessly lost. There were classrooms, now, on either side of the hallway. Obviously, this wasn't the right direction. She turned around and continued to wander for a good fifteen minutes before finally coming to a pair of concrete steps.

"Well, this is a start," she said to herself in an attempt to fill the silence that seemed to permeate the entirety of the empty building. The dormitories were probably upstairs. She had no idea how she'd reached it, but it was a start nonetheless. Maybe then she could meet her roommate and get a look at a map. The school had one on its website, but she had no idea where she was in the first place, so there was no way she could use it without first getting situated.

At last, Arden came upon the hallway of rooms. She caught the last of a conversation and a blonde heading downstairs, who she moved to introduce herself to but stopped shy of calling out to him. The way the last one, Derek, had reacted, was off-putting. Did he know she wasn't here on 'talent' scholarship, somehow? Arden's stomach clenched. She'd heard the stories of the 'Talents' and the despised 'Fakes,' and here, she knew she fell into the latter category. She just wanted to go in her room and hide for the rest of the day. She'd already made a fool of herself in front of one person, after all. She dug her key out and began trying locks. She didn't care if she had no idea which room she was in. She'd just see which one took her key.

Arden had made it through half the doors in the hall when she heard footsteps. Though she probably should have looked up to pay attention to the blue-haired girl storming towards her, she didn't— a critical mistake, seeing as she was currently attempting to jam her key into the lock to the girl's room.

Hope shrugged. "Yeah, sure," She said, and started off to the dorms. She passed by the music room and saw Feilx inside. She decided to pop her head in and say a quick hello. She opened the door. "Hey Felix!" She smiled and put the bag down. "Whatcha doing?" Hope curiously asked. He was usually in the dance room, not the music room.

Evan slowly walked out of his room and wandered around the dorm hallways. He suddenly spotted two girls bump into each other. "Woah there!" He exclaimed. "You two alright?" He asked, pulling them both to their feet. He took a quick look at the girls. The girl with reddish hair was pretty cute by his standards. He could tell that they were both new, he hadn't see them around before.

(Occ: Sorry about the short post, I have a bit of a writer's block)

Ooh testing something

{{What'ya testing?}}

To see if it autofixes double tagged characters.
It worked.

...Don't mind me.