96
|
Post by Incognito on Jan 20, 2024 14:40:18 GMT -5
Thurs. November 16, 2023 | 267 words | open! | probably in between periods 3 and 4 He knew he wasn't the only mutant at Bayville High -- and, statistically, he was sure there were some roaming the hallways that weren't his housemates -- but trying to hide his own mutation was a habit he was used to. Dashing off and hiding in between classes like Houdini was an art form to him now.
Honestly, Mason's mutation wasn't so bad, but when one of the side effects of said mutation involved literally shedding skin and making it look like he had a head full of dandruff, well... He didn't exactly want any rumors going around about him not showering enough to keep his scalp clean.
Mason took a deep breath, took another damp paper towel to his head to try to dislodge any last specks of skin, and decided that he was clean. His mother just joked that he needed to stop growing already and, honestly, Mason figured he was tall enough to be done growing as well.
Vaguely, he wondered if his teachers knew about his mutation. Sierra -- rather, Ms. Parker while in school -- obviously knew about what he did, but did she think to tell his teachers? Or did she view him, and the rest of his housemates, being mutants as something only on a "need to know" basis? Perhaps he should ask her the next time he got a chance.
At this point, he should probably get going. Mason ducked out of the men's room and glanced around the hallways, finding that they weren't too crowded. Being in between classes, one of which was the start of a lunch period, he supposed that made sense.
|
|
|
281
|
Post by Gigabyte on Feb 14, 2024 7:16:33 GMT -5
Oscar didn't see the open door to the men's room, colliding with it as Mason stepped out of the restroom, and knocking down his photography equipment.
"Shit." Oscar immediately bent down to pick up his camera from the photography club, having just gotten it that day when he went to visit the coordinator. He inspected it, glad it seemed to still be in one piece, and prayed that it would work just fine.
"Uh, sorry," he said, unsure who's fault it was that he crashed into the door. It wasn't like anyone leaving the bathroom could see if someone else was coming down the hall in the line of fire. Oscar grabbed at the few other papers he had, stuff that he was preparing for a column and article in the first issue of Bayville High's newspaper later in the week.
Glancing up, Oscar realized that who he collided with was another member of the newspaper, someone he briefly met at the quick orientation they had at the beginning of the school year. "Oh, Mason. Sorry. Again." ( Incognito, open!)
|
|
|
96
|
Post by Incognito on Feb 17, 2024 9:25:54 GMT -5
Mason winced as he heard someone smack into the restroom door. After doing a quick last check of any shedded skin from his head and neck, Mason looked around the door, closing it gently, and saying, "Sorry about that. They should really have the doors swing inward instead of out."
He bent down to help Oscar pick up the papers and his belongings, trying not to seem too nosy at the articles that he presumed were for the next issue.
"You don't have to apologize, Oscar," Mason said. "It was my fault for swinging it open like that. Is this all for the newspaper?" The camera looked a little expensive, so Mason hoped that hadn't been damaged in its fall.
"You in a rush somewhere?" Mason asked. "I can help deliver your stuff, if you want. I just have lunch this period, so I'm not missing any classes or things like that."
|
|
|
281
|
Post by Gigabyte on Feb 27, 2024 8:14:59 GMT -5
Oscar shrugged when Mason commented about the direction of the swinging doors. "Yeah, well, if they did that, then people on the inside would end up getting smacked whenever someone was trying to go to the bathroom," he said.
"Well, how else are you supposed to swing the door open?" Oscar asked with a dry chuckle as Mason deflected Oscar's apology. "You have to get out somehow. Thanks," he added as Mason helped to pick up some of the paperwork Oscar dropped.
"Most of it is for the newspaper, yeah," he said, blowing off a few specs of dust from his rough draft of a column. "I tend to spend my lunch period delivering stuff. Or, well, I did that last year. I'm hoping to be better organized this year.
"Hey, yeah, sorry, I don't mean to keep you from lunch," Oscar said, glancing at one of the clocks in the hallway. "No worries, I don't need help bringing all this stuff elsewhere. Don't worry about it." ( Incognito, open)
|
|
|
96
|
Post by Incognito on Feb 28, 2024 7:34:03 GMT -5
"True," Mason agreed with a chuckle. "Too bad whoever built this place didn't consult us, huh?"
Oscar confirmed that the majority of the paperwork and supplies he had was for the newspaper, and Mason raised an eyebrow at his acquaintance mentioning that he usually spent his own lunch period dealing with it all. "Do you ever have time to eat?" Mason asked.
"Here." Mason took about half of the paperwork. "Let me help so we can get this stuff delivered faster so both of us can get to the lunchroom at a decent time. I can't imagine not getting a chance for a bite to eat throughout the school day."
Not that he wanted to seem too nosy, but Mason was glancing at the papers and columns he was holding, and asked, "What kind of stuff are you writing for the next issue? Any good gossip or news that I can get a sneak peek at?"
|
|
|
281
|
Post by Gigabyte on Feb 29, 2024 7:53:20 GMT -5
Oscar huffed a laugh under his breath at Mason's words about the contractors not consulting them at all, but he looked a little startled at Mason seemingly being concerned about his eating habits.
"It's only a day or two out of the week," Oscar said, "and I sneak snacks in other classes throughout the day. It's fine."
Still, Mason offered (seemingly insisted) that he help Oscar deliver stuff, so Oscar mentally shrugged and started leading Mason down the hall. "It's not much today," he said. "Just need to get some of these drafts to Ms. Li so she can approve them. And the camera needs to go back to the photography club. I wasn't supposed to keep it as long as I had..."
Which was too much information, but Oscar was kind of rambling. He really hadn't expected company.
"Nothing too exciting yet," Oscar said when Mason asked about the columns for the next issue. "There's the typical sports news, some winter advisory stuff, silly predications... Things like that." ( Incognito, open)
|
|
|
96
|
Post by Incognito on Mar 4, 2024 7:48:31 GMT -5
Mason figured Oscar's eating habits weren't any of his business, and at least it sounded like he wasn't usually going all day without eating, but Mason supposed he was more like his mother than he meant to be.
Oscar detailed the couple of places he needed to go and Mason nodded. "Alright, sounds good, man," Mason said. "Want to divide and conquer? Or do you need to personally deliver the stuff, maybe sign the camera back into the photography club or something?"
Unless Oscar trusted Mason to deliver some of the things, there probably wasn't any reason for Mason to join him. It wouldn't be any faster for the two of them to go to the same places together, but maybe Oscar didn't mind the company and maybe Mason could help keep him on track.
"Silly predictions?" Mason echoed, a smile curling on his lips. "Can I ask what kind of predictions are in the issue or do I have to wait until it's published?"
|
|
|
281
|
Post by Gigabyte on Mar 9, 2024 13:06:46 GMT -5
Oscar shrugged to Mason when the other asked if they wanted to divide and conquer when it came to Oscar's delivery tasks.
"Uh, I do need to sign the camera back in," he admitted, "and then it's just the newspaper stuff... There's really nothing to divide between us. The company is nice, though," Oscar added.
Mason asked about the silly predictions that would appear in the next newspaper issue and Oscar chuckled. "Right now they're mainly ridiculous weather forecasts." Oscar shuffled the pages he had to look for the one he wanted. "Like, we have the actual weather forecast for the upcoming week, then it pivots to next month where it's predicted to be warm and sunny. It's something that I kind of try to slip in without anyone noticing."
They reached the classroom where the photography club met and Oscar signed the camera back into the log before starting to lead the way to the newspaper advisor's classroom. ( Incognito, open)
|
|
|
96
|
Post by Incognito on Mar 10, 2024 11:34:29 GMT -5
At least Oscar confirmed that Mason's company wasn't unwanted. Even if Mason wasn't needed to help with anything, he didn't mind taking a few minutes out of their lunch period to keep Oscar company.
Oscar then explained about some of the silly predictions, with them being focused on the weather at the moment. Mason chuckled as he read the actual supposed forecasts. "Do you do this often?" he asked. "Like, were you part of the newspaper staff last year and did the same thing?" He paused for a second. "And by anyone noticing, are you including Ms. Li?"
Ms. Li was pretty good as far as editors and club coordinators went, in Mason's opinion. He didn't think she'd be the type to be upset about the predictions themselves, but he wasn't sure if she was meticulous enough to be annoyed at missing said predictions if they went unnoticed by her.
"Of course, if Ms. Li doesn't know," Mason said after Oscar signed the camera back into the photography club, "then your secret is safe with me."
|
|
|
281
|
Post by Gigabyte on Mar 18, 2024 17:21:16 GMT -5
Oscar grinned despite himself as Mason chuckled at the forecasts. "Nah, not something I used to do often," Oscar said. "It just really started this year. I just get the occasional flash of inspiration when putting newspaper stuff together.
"Ms. Li does know about it," he said. After a pause, he added, "Well, she does now. The first issue I snuck something in, small enough so it wasn't noticeable, but someone commented on it, like, they thought it was funny, and said something to Ms. Li, so..." Oscar's words trailed off with a shrug.
"She lets me do it as long as I get all of my other article stuff done," he said. "Which, honestly, considering my time management, it's only happened a couple of times this year so far. Still, I have fun with it.
"And thanks for the vote of confidence, too," he added with a small huff of laughter. ( Incognito)
|
|
|
96
|
Post by Incognito on Mar 23, 2024 7:22:28 GMT -5
Oscar described his flashes of inspiration and Mason asked, "You in any creative writing clubs or anything too? Sounds like you'd probably do well with writing short stories or something."
It was confirmed that the newspaper editor did know about the silly predictions, which Mason supposed was good but, he honestly was a little disappointed to hear it as well. It would have been funny for the editor to miss harmless predictions like that.
"Well, it sounds like a fun addition to your articles," Mason said, "and I'm glad Ms. Li has a good enough sense of humor to not mind."
The pair didn't take too long to reach Ms. Li's classroom for Oscar to drop off the rest of his stuff, and Mason waved to the teacher. Once that was all set, Mason said, "Off to lunch now, huh? It was a pretty good detour and we still have plenty of time to eat."
|
|
|
281
|
Post by Gigabyte on Mar 27, 2024 6:59:44 GMT -5
Mason asked if Oscar was in any of the creative writing clubs, and he shook his head. "Nah, just the newspaper," Oscar said. "I like writing the articles, but I'm not a stranger to writing in little quips and sarcastic remarks into my articles. Harmless remarks, of course," he added quickly, not wanting to make it sound like he routinely made fun of whatever subject he was supposed to be writing objectively about.
"I guess I like informative articles but also adding in a little of my own commentary," he said, trying to think of a better explanation.
The pair made it to Ms. Li's classroom, and she thanked the two of them for the delivery, asked a couple of questions, then shooed them out to their lunch block.
"Yeah, food sounds good," Oscar said. "Thanks for the company, Mason." ( Incognito, perfect!)
|
|
|