stacey

To: Kaysen, Herbert, Thom, Isaac, Joshua, Dean, Peyton, Sammy, and Stacey
When: 9amish
Where: Text message

Just checking to see if everyone's alive.

To: Charlotte, Kaysen, Herbert, Thom, Isaac, Joshua, Dean, Peyton and Stacey
When: Late evening.
Where: Text message

To: Kaysen, Herbert, Thom, Isaac, Joshua, Dean, Peyton, Sammy, and Stacey
When: Lunch time
Where: Text message

After leaving school at lunch the previous day, Charlotte had not returned to day. She'd explained to her mother that she'd thought she was ready to go back to school after getting back, but it turned out that she wasn't up to it. Isadora had been nothing but sympathetic. Charlotte felt guilty for lying to her mother, especially about grieving over her uncle, but something had to be done. And nobody else was doing it. It was her frustrated opinion that what she was doing should have been done well before now, and by someone who'd actually been in the state for most of it.

She'd spent all of the previous afternoon and evening in the library, and had gone straight back there today when they had opened. Once she felt she had more than enough to support her theory, she took a deep, supposedly calming breath, bent over her cellphone, and got to heavy texting.

To: Herbert, Joshua, Dean, Peyton, Sammy, and Stacey
When: Around 9:20am
Where: text

Check in. Everybody ok? -Isaac

To: Kaysen, Herbert, Thom, Isaac, Joshua, Dean, Peyton, Sammy, and Stacey
When: Early morning, before school.
Where: Text message.

Everyone's still alive, right? Is it bad that that's the first thing I ask? That's bad, isn't it? Well I'm back - we flew in late last night. I'm going to school though I am a little sleep deprived. Can someone catch me up on what I missed? At lunch maybe? I hope things have been okay, or a reasonable variant thereof. Thought of you guys lots. -Charlie

To: Kaysen, Herbert, Thom, Isaac, Joshua, Dean, Peyton, Sammy, and Stacey
When: Early morning.
Where: Text message.

Who: Dean to Charlotte, Herbert, Joshua, Isaac, Peyton, Sammy, Stacey, and Thom
Where: Text Message
When: Late evening

Have been doing some thinking about group stuff. Want to email some stuff out - what's your email? Dean

Who: Stacey
Where: On the Phone
When: Tuesday morning

Want to go to Art on the Rocks sometime?

Who: Eben and Stacey
Where: out!
When: Early Evening

Stacey sat on the porch waiting for Eben. She could have waited inside, but it was pleasant enough outside she didn't mind. Then there was the benefit of snagging the would-be boyfriend before the parentals got a chance to grill him. She rifled in her purse for her cell phone to check her messages. He was picking her up here, right? She hate to think she got confused and forgot to meet him at the restaurant.

Who: Charlotte, Dean, Herbert, Joshua, Isaac, Peyton, Sammy, Stacey, and Thom.
When: Lunchtime.
Where: Side lawn at school.

Charlotte would have felt much better about this if Kaysen was there. She hadn't been nervous about this until she woke up this morning and realized she had no freaking idea what she was doing. Or maybe everyone would think she was crazy, or that it was a waste of time. They won't. she kept telling herself. If they agreed to show up in the first place, they must think it's a good idea. She just kept telling herself that.

Who: Herbert and Stacey
Where: Phone call
When: Thursday Afternoon

Stacey was rummaging through her closet looking for something nice to wear on her date on Friday; she was a believer in being prepared. Naturally she couldn't make up her mind, so she made sure everything was vaguely manageable before flopping on her bed with a sigh. School was deathly quiet, people walked about in a 'I just can't believe we survived that' haze. She couldn't really muster up the gumption to really talk to anyone, she might have startled them. She didn't get a chance to talk to Herbert either, but that could be easily rectified.

Stacey picked up her phone from her endtable and dialed Herbert. He might be home now.

who: eben and stacey
where: stacey's house
when: mid afternoon

Who: Herbert and Stacey
Where: The phone, yays
When: Morning, around 9

One of the people Herbert hadn't gotten in touch with yet was Stacey, and as he had time this morning-- and didn't feel quite as much like he'd throw up at every little thought of biting things, and so thought maybe it was safe to talk to more people without getting into badness-- he set about to remedy that. After he plugged his number, along with others, into his cell phone, at last.

The phone he called from was still the house line, however. He was definitely not going to rack up expensive minutes on the cell phone until he had a job to cover it, and that was that. He punched in her number and waited hopefully for Stacey, or someone in the house anyway, to pick up.

who: eben and stacey
where: downtown
when: noon

Eben was decidedly confused. It was difficult, walking around town, watching all the lines of chaos and where they led back to. Whatever was going on in town had the lines going fucking insane. He'd never seen it before. It was like chaos had just wandered into town, pissed all over the place, and hung out for a while. It was far more concentrated than he was used to, that was for damn sure.

Who: Stacey's phone
When: Morning, before school

Hi. Made a 'thank you' gift for the picture. Do you want me to bring it over?

Who: Herbert, Stacey, and Olivia
Where: Herbert and Olivia's apartment
When: After school

If there was one thing Herbert didn't like so much about cycling everywhere, it was having to do so in the pouring rain. But given that was less time in the rain than walking, he was okay with that. Normally it wouldn't even bother him so much, as he'd just go home, strip down out of the sopping clothes, and bundle up on the couch with a blanket and some hot tea. It wasn't like he got cold, or anything, just uncomfortable with the heavy clothes and water everywhere.

Except today he had company. Maybe he could borrow some of Olivia's clothes while Stacey was inside, so she wouldn't have to be all soggy and cold, herself....

Locking up the bicycles outside was a hasty affair, and Herbert held open the door to the stairwell to Stacey so they could get inside-- and dry-- as soon as possible.

Who: Stacey and Linn
When: Tuesday, just after school
Where: The school grounds, outside

Linn walked out of the school building, feeling just a tad lighter. Two days down, only three to go until the weekend. Couldn't blame a guy for smiling for that reason. He munched on a crisp green apple as he walked against the flow of most of the students, heading for the school weight room. An hour or so lifting weights, then another hour or so prowling about town... it sounded like a good afternoon to him. He turned his head back over his shoulder as he casually walked, thinking he heard someone call him, only to instead bump into someone that he hadn't seen coming his way.

Stacey was beginning to wonder if she picked up a curse along the way, because this habit of running into people began since she moved here. Normally this could be a good thing if it wasn't for the fact that she was -literally- running into people. Stacey let out a grunt as she ran into the big guy and hit the floor with a thud, dropping her bag yet again.

Who: Herbert, Stacey, and Sammy
Where: NMU
When: Late morning

After finally finding a time the both of them could actually set aside and not be working on something or another, Herbert sat on some steps outside of the university, waiting for Stacey. He'd locked his bike up, given the place a quick and curious sniff-around, and found it very much to his liking before settling down. The little festival thing for Back to School for the college students-- many of whom were closer in age and size to Herbert than his fellow high-schoolers-- seemed quite interesting, with lots of things to look at and maybe buy, maybe even for the apartment.

The whole place smelled nice, too. He wasn't sure why, but he liked it. It was like just sitting and waiting on the steps made him feel... good. Better than he had in a while, what with the whole "missing people" thing and "returned people but unhappy people, too" thing and then the thing with Lullaby. Which was definitely not a joke, like he'd vaguely hoped for the day before, before it had settled in, in his brain and he'd decided that people just didn't joke about things like that.

But sitting there, even that felt like... it would be okay. Sort of. As "okay" as death could ever be. At least now he could imagine her maybe being out in the spirit-world, happy now and not worried about anything anymore.

who: eben and stacey
where: the carnival
when: evening

who: eben and stacey
where: the carnival
when: evening

Eben liked the carnival. It was colorful, noisy, and everything moved. There were kids running around, screaming and laughing, teenagers walking around hand in hand. Even some adults, if they were young enough at heart. It was purely there for entertainment. That purity was what attracted him. That and it was sanctioned chaos. Enjoyment was nearly tasted on the air as he walked though the crowds of people, hands in his pockets as he smiled in a serene sort of manner.

Who: Stacey and Herbert
Where: The library
When: After school

Stacey was sitting at a large table, her laptop in front of her. She drummed her fingers on the table, waiting for Herbert. She was slightly worried about him; he'd had a rough time after all. She just hoped he wasn't going to be late. They had a lot to do. She shrugged and started to thumb through the books she checked out; they were a bit sparse on information, it was like the whole town just didn't want to go into details.

The big werebear was climbing the steps to the library at that very moment, disappointed that Charlie couldn't come and hoping that very same thing: that he wasn't late. He came in and cast about for Stacey's scent first before starting in what he thought was the right direction. Well, if not, he was big and easy to see, so maybe she'd spot him, first.

Who: Herbert and Stacey
Where: The phone again
When: Around 4:30PM

Once he was home and clean again and had eaten a little something-- worry, he was finding, made him less hungry; it was something of a miracle, though not necessarily a good one-- Herbert started to pull out his school things and see what, if any, of his homework he could get through. He wished briefly that he had Fallon's phone number so he could call and see if he had that day's statistics homework, but maybe it was just as well, since he'd probably get it all wrong, anyway.

Oh wait. He was supposed to call someone today. Not Olivia; she was supposed to be here after school but had either had to leave before he got back from the mine, never made it back between jobs, or was working late at the diner. Not Dorian, as there were no promises made there as to when they'd call, and besides, he hadn't been at Nevermore when he'd checked, anyway.

Oh! Stacey! Herbert heaved himself up, perfectly happy to put off the homework, and went to find the phone. He went back to the couch, flopped down, and dialed her number.

Who: Stacey and Sammy
Where: MHS Cafeteria
When: Lunchtime

Who: Herbert and Stacey
Where: The phone
When: 7:30PM or so

The talk with Olivia-- and the phone call that had started it off-- had one unexpected but probably good consequence: it reminded Herbert that he was supposed to call Stacey to tell him he was alive and well and not buried under a cave in or behind a mysterious disappearing tunnel. Like some people.

Since he didn't want Stacey to worry, he retrieved the phone from his bedroom, stood in the hall for a moment before deciding he liked the bedroom better, then went back to flop onto his mattress-and-sleeping-bag bed. He dragged his binder over and pulled out Stacey's number, making shorter work of dialing it than he had Olivia's number, and waited for someone to pick up.

Who: Teens and Open
Where: Peyton's House
When: 8:30pm and on

Tyler's party was more or less in full swing by eight thirty. And the minute the bass from the stereo downstairs began to shake the floor beneath her feet, Peyton finally left her room, shut her door firmly behind her and prayed that no one would stumble in there to vomit, or make out. She didn't want to have to clean up bodily fluids of any kind tomorrow.

Who: Herbert and Stacey
Where: Stacey's house
When: 8AM or so

After a very large breakfast-- just in case lunch didn't happen for a long time-- Herbert left the house with his backpack and his bicycle and headed first to Stacey's house, hoping he wasn't too early. He certainly didn't want to be late to meet everyone else, but he didn't want to wake anyone at Stacey's, either.

The werebear found the address all right, leaned his bicycle against the mailbox, and headed up to knock on the front door, backpack still slung over one shoulder to put all her things in. She was, he thought, a terribly good person to help the way she was. Now if only he wasn't waking her up.

Who: Herbert and Stacey
Where: English class
When: Sixth period, Friday

It seemed like today was even more somber than the day before, now that the rumors had settled on two people instead of several and the whole... memorial thing was going on. Herbert had avoided it, mostly because he'd feel funny going to a memorial for people he didn't know and because the idea of being in a big room with a bunch of sad people who were trying to remember everything they could about said people he didn't know sounded even more uncomfortable.