[Melody Newton]

Eclipse All my childhood heroes have fallen off or died + Heather Alcott

The corner that Melody has secreted herself into is sufficiently out of the way that she is unlikely to be bothered, but not so far away or isolated that her father would get particularly pissed off looking for her. Things had been strange between them since New York. Not necessarily better, but certainly different. Their relationship had been fraught for a long time, pretty much since she had hit puberty, and it certainly hadn't improved when he'd sent her away to the Evergreen Metahuman Boarding Academy. She was pretty sure that was why she was here. Normally her father would not have bothered to invite her along to a fundraiser like this, and she certainly wouldn't have accepted. Although as has already been discussed, things have been different between them since the New York attacks. Which is how she finds herself here. Melody had managed about fifteen minutes of small talk and mingling before she'd gotten tired of her father's colleagues and sponsors saying how much she'd grown and how pretty she was now, those that had already known her, the rest seem moderately perplexed at the presence of a fifteen year old girl in the midst of an expensive scientific fundraiser of the kind that most universities host annually. The orange juice she is sipping is in an identical flute to the champagne that is being served. None of the waiters would allow her a glass, and she'd given up trying after the first two had laughed her off. It felt particularly childish to have the non-alcoholic offering be in a champagne flute as well, as if she is playing at being an adult. She sighs, wishing that she was just about anywhere but here. Even her phone offers little solace, with only a handful of messages from friends and none that she particularly feels like responding too. Half-heartedly she taps out a response with one hand, still sipping the orange juice and wishing it was something stronger. Tucking the phone into her clutch, her fingers brush against something dry textured. She looks around, checking that no one can see her, before producing the blunt from the small black bag. She'd forgotten she had this, now she just needed to find somewhere more private and this would really be a party. Tucking it surreptitiously back into her clutch, she starts searching for a more private room, or maybe even an exit to the roof.

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[Heather Alcott]

Heather liked to imagine she’d completely cut herself off from her family by moving to the opposite coast, but nobody else seemed to think that way. Theoretically she was supposed to represent the Alcott’s interests on the west coast, practically speaking they had no interests on the west coast but she still got invited to all sorts of events. After burning a couple of these sorts of things down, she figured it would be boring to do it yet again, and had instead decided to be a more subtle nuisance. It was fun to see how weirded out some of these people got if you wore a suit jacket and sweatpants, then pretended not to know who they were, and if it were necessary to sum up Heather’s motivations in a single word, ‘fun’ would be the perfect choice.

Despite her carefree treatment of most things, there was something Heather had to be more measured and careful about- drinking alcohol. Her metabolism processed it at a high rate, meaning it affected her an abnormally high amount, but not for very long. She had gone off to an edge of the room leaning against the wall for balance and taking a very careful sip of champagne. After all, if she stumbled suddenly from drinking she might hurt herself, or embarrass herself in front of somebody she could flirt with tonight. And what was the alternative, not drinking? That was a nonsensical idea. She had leaned up against an active radiator but considering she could have taken a nap inside a furnace if she wanted to, Heather hadn’t noticed.

As she did this, she noticed the girl skulking in the corner to her left. This wasn’t exactly abnormal behavior for a teenager, Heather was never one to heavily consider an action before taking it. With rather astonishingly large steps she approached the corner saying “Hey there. You don’t exactly seem the normal sort you get at these events” with the conspiratorial tone that indicated she didn’t really think of herself as part of that category either.

[Melody Newton]

Eclipse All my childhood heroes have fallen off or died + Heather Alcott

Melody, with the innate talent most teenage trouble makers seem to possess, identifies the adult approaching near instantly. Her clutch is over her arm and slung behind her in an instant, as though it had never been in her hands with a joint being snuck into it at all. She smiles the innocent smile of the guilty at the woman who has said exactly the words that any adult at these events would say to her. In response, Melody smiles awkwardly. Like most teens, she's not sure quite what to do when faced with an adult that thinks of themselves as on her level, especially as most adults these days have no idea what it's like to be a teenage metahuman in a boarding school for challenging children. "No, I am here with my Dad. Family support and all that." This particular speech is spoken in such a way that suggests that Melody is posed in a summer camp photo and flashing a peace sign. She resists the urge to pat her clutch to check it is still there. It would have been an amateur mistake, and Melody is hardly an amateur teenage troublemaker. "I guess you're here because you have lots of money right?"

© seadra of gs