Event #1 "Tea time!"

[Administrator]

Still blushing deeply from Arielle's compliment Amanda's eyes wandered around the room. Okay, her acting skills are not THAT good. Her moment of fame has passed and now she started to feel more and more anxious with every single second.

"Can I also join the club?" Polaris has also asked about the club.
"Sh- Sure thing," she replied with a fake smile. "For now I-eh," she was lost again, not knowing what her next step should be. Oh, no, wait! TEA! "I will get myself something to drink," she looked at Narissa, making the best puppy eyes expression she could. "I'll be right back!"

Then she eyed both of the girls, who stood right by her side. Tara? Esme? She made a head movement towards the door, inviting them to follow her. "Wanna go?"

---

WHEW-WEE! FINALLY! Almost freedom. Almost. Until Miss Kishi comes back. "Man, today's a crazy day," she addressed both of the girls, who joined her. "Also thank you both so much, haha" she let out a genuine, slightly nervous laugh.

Thank god the cafeteria was open. Or else her excuse to leave the room would not work, like everything else she even dares to try in her life.

[Tara Macfly]

"Man, today's a crazy day," said Amanda enthusistically.



"Indeed it was" laughed Tara freely "I would never have expected that today a cool club would be created and that I will end up in the cafeteria with you two" she said smiling to the two girls.



Yeah, she thought more that it will be a stressfull day, with Veronica screaming all afternoon to everyone, that will stress her, and she'll probably gonna end up crying in her room. So a better alternative indeed. But she wasn't going to tell that to the girls. It would definitly ruin the mood.



"Also thank you both so much, haha" Amanda let out a genuine, slightly nervous laugh.



Tara blushed again at the thanks. She will stop count ingnow, the numbers of time the red head made her blush. Well she blushed pretty easily. She was a tomato. Couldn't blame only Amanda.



But Tara felt a little sad, hearing the tension in her voice. Amanda seemed always nervous somehow, but this evenment had probably added some more stress she didn't need. But she was feeling so confident, some minutes ago, what did make her change like this during this moment ?



She smiled slightly to Amanda trying to keep her blush at bay.



"You don't need to thank us Amanda" she said looking at Esme, for approval she was thinking the same thing "You don't need to thank us. You came with the games, and you proposed to everyone else to join. Personally the only thing I did was to be very pleased by this idea. Man I just want so much to play to werewolf and cards against humanity" She said laughing.

[Esmeralda Ortiz]

Tea? Esme was more of a coffee person, but if it was an excuse to stretch her legs and get out of the hormone-infused classroom, she couldn't say no. Another person was tagging along. Tara. Right. The bespectacled girl who tried to talk with her earlier. Well, just storming out now was rude. Besides, didn't she have a goal to actively see what was behind Tara's happy smile to begin with? There was something darker. If sharing tea was the way to it, Esme would go for it.

The smell of caffeinated beverages made her sigh in relief. Today was intense. Not just from dealing with everyone in drama club and drill team. The little redhead was sitting across from them with her entire face blushing. With her red hair, she looked like an overboiled lobster.

"You don't need to thank you Amanda" Tara had exchanged a look with Esme. "You came with the games, and you proposed to everyone else to join. Personally the only thing I did was to be very pleased by this idea. Man I just want so much to play to werewolf and cards against humanity."

Much to her surprise, Esme found herself laughing with Tara. "Kind of hard to do it discretely, isn't it?" she snickered. "Part of me wonders what would have happened if we kept it out."

[Administrator]

Not being surrounded by a ton of club-mates made the situation both better and worse. Better, because now she didn't need to listen to all of their voices and try to survive under the pressure of their judging stares. Worse because of the incoming waves of thoughts. How easily all of them just IGNORED her leaving the room. Sometimes Amanda even thought that if she would disappear one day - would anyone notice that? Nobody, NOBODY but Tara and Esme even gave a damn today.

She looked up facing both of the girls, who agreed to drink some tea with her. "They look cute together... BRRR, Amanda, stop being weird!" she thought and also let a little chuckle. "Nothing good, Esme, nothing good," she shook her head and took a sip of her cup of tea. She looked back at Tara and gave a her a shy smile with only the corners of her lips... "So close and still so far" Manda thought and took another awkward sip.

"To be honest, girls... that wasn't actually my idea at all,"Amanda said out of nowhere. Sudden confession time! "My... my friend suggested me to do it... and dared me to take a few pictures as a proof," Amanda didn't have enough guts to tell the truth about her mom, but she felt slightly relieved that she could talk about the situation with somebody at last!

It was the first time in forever that she got a chance to bond! She didn't want to lose them just because she was... so lame.

[Tara Macfly]

Tara really felt relieved when she saw that Esme was laughing with her. She felt that Esme didn't really appreciate her that much.
But yeah... She thought that with almost everyone. She couldn't tell what exactly was just a trick of her poor mind and what really was reality. Well, she hoped that this ''tea party'' would be a good occasion to befriend Esme, even if the raven haired girl didn't have a first good impression of Tara. She gived Esme a little smile after their sharing laugh.

Tara served herself a cup of tea, and and kept it in her hands to enjoy the warmth. It was still raining outside and she was feeling a little cold.

Her gaze left the cup of tea and crossed Amanda's who gave her a shy smile... She definitly stopped counting the times the girl did make her blush. She will definitly become a ripe tomato. She took a sip of her tea to distract her a little.

"To be honest, girls... that wasn't actually my idea at all,"Amanda said suddenly "My... my friend suggested me to do it... and dared me to take a few pictures as a proof,"

Tara saw that Amanda hesitated with saying the word friend, but she didn't thought too much of it, only that Amanda was still feeling nervous, or that she was like her and couldn't tell who she could really call a friend. It made Tara a little sad despite the smile who didn't leave her face anymore in front of others people.

Tara really didn't know how to react to this confession at first, but well she knew that she wanted Amanda's nervousness to go away, that the girl could feel safe and maybe be a little more confident. It was so nice to see her like that fifteen minutes ago.

"You want Amanda to gain confidence and to not be nervous anymore, huh ? Aren't you a little hypocrite Tara ?"

Hum maybe. But it was more easier to make somebody more confident than yourself.

"Your friend had a really good idea Amanda but it's you who propoed everyone in the drama club to join, despite what Nerissa was saying" she said kindly.

she then took her cellphone from her purse, and smiled widly to the two girls.

"You need a proof, huh ?" She asked Amanda. "Then selfie time girls !" She exclaimed taking the photo of her and the two girls with her phone.

She looked at the photo and a genuine smile appeared on her face. It was so long since she did something like that with friends. Well she didn't knew yet if Amanda and Esme were her friends but she had good hope.

"Maybe I could take a selfie with snooty, one day" she thought about her online friend, blushing a little.

She went through her message app to sent the photo when she realized something important.

" Huh... girls... I don't think I have your numbers" she laughed "Would you mind that we exchange numbers ?"

[Esmeralda Ortiz]

For a while, the only noise between their shared awkward laughter was the rain hitting the roof. This was nothing like the rain in her hometown where it would come and go. Rain for a few minutes, and then let up for about a few hours, and then continue to rain again. The heated china was providing comfort and Esme was smiling at the two socially awkward ducks, looking down into her reflection in her tea. She was about to go in for a sip when Amanda dropped a huge bombshell

The tea party hadn't even been her suggestion. A friend wanted it to happen. Worse, they wanted proof through pictures. Esmeralda had seen enough crime shows to understand it could be considered blackmail. Why would Amanda be targetted? She did absolutely nothing to hurt a fly?

It would explain why Tara and her were with joining her for tea. Well, slow down, she told herself. She'd worry about that in a few. Play along. Worry about the sicko later. Tara was comforting Amanda, and Esme followed suit,

"Si. We were all getting bored twiddling our thumbs and listening to conversations. Or bouncing between multiple. In a weird way, you saved us from."

Tara pronounced a selfie and the Latina blinked. Was that...an actual smile? Not a forced one? You know, the happy girl front could be real. Maybe Tara just had gone through the knocks and used the bubbly side as a mask. Esmeralda gave a teasing eye roll, mirth in her green eyes.

"Sure."

A look of realization hit the glassed' face. Oh, right. Kind of hard to send a selfie if one didn't have contact info. Esme flipped out her phone and began hunting for contact information. "Okay, here's mine." She dictated her number to Tara, hoping Amanda would catch on, too.

[Tara Macfly]

Tara was controlling herself to not smile to wildly, when Esme told her, her number. This was a good change, usually she was forcing herself to smile.
But of course this couldn't last long, soon dark thoughts came into her mind.

"You're this happy because some girl is giving you her number ? Gosh Tara, how much pathetic you are ?"

Her smile dropped a little. Yes it was. It was just a normal everyday thing. Just girls taking a selfie and exchanging her numbers. Yeah really no big deal at all.

The thing was, yeah she had some of the drama club members' number, but it was generally to talk about homeworks to do, schedules repetition, texts to learn, etc. Chris being the only exception. And she wanted so much to have more exceptions.

She really craved for some friendly moments.

Her good mood gone definitly for now, she tried to smile a little harder.

After having enregistred Esme in her contacts, she send her the selfie.

"And it's send, girls"she said trying to sound excited, when she didn't feel like it now. "I'm not the best photograph but I hope you like the selfie"

She wanted to give Esme her best smile but restrained herself. It was true that she mostly thought that she annoyed everyone. That she interpreted any looks, any words going in this sense. She knew this and really tried to change this.

But with Esme she thought that maybe her paranoid thoughts weren't the only responsibles ones. She definitly catched some annoying looks from the raven haired girl after playing the card of the too much happy girl. She didn't imagine it, right ?

Well in any case, she will try her best to annoy the girl the less possible.

"As if you could do that." Came another thought.

"Well..." she said a little lost what to do, now that she decided to drop the act a little in front of Esme "Thanks Esme for your number. Now that you have my number too but if you want to send me something, don't hesitate." A very little smile passed her lips.

"Yeah send me something Esme please. I'm so desperate I have no life. Seriously you didn't find anything less pathetic to say ?"

She nearly let a sigh. The evening risked to be long.

[Administrator]

"Your friend had a really good idea!" HA. "My mom is the lamest person ever, but thanks, Tara, you are way too kind," she thought, almost snickering. Though this time maybe her idea wasn't that bad at all. "In a weird way, you saved us from," added Esmeralda, confirming her thoughts. "It was a mixture of awkwardness and right time, right place, haha!" Amanda chuckled and took another sip of her green tea. Blergh! It was so cold already, gulping such nasty substance even made her wince a little.

"You need a proof, huh?" Tara caught her attention again and made her eyebrows knit in puzzlement. "Then selfie time girls!" Oh, no, no no no! "Oh, my bad, I think you misunderstood me, my mom wanted me to take pictures of you playing and I-" Manda tried to rehearsal her apologetic speech inside her mind, but it was too late! SNAP! And the picture was taken. Both Tara and Esmeralda looked amazing! And Amanda... well she was her own robot-self.

The girl let out a sigh and have decided to not continue the conversation about her mom, pictures and all. It was way too awkward already. That moment Tara has suggested to exchange their numbers. "Oh, of- Of course," Amanda replied and took her backpack off her back, looking for her phone. Shit. She probably forgot her phone back at home (if not and she indeed lost it - mom is gonna be SO mad). Carp. "Sorry, I- I think I forgot my phone at home," she blushed slightly. Such a big girl and can't even remember her own phone number. "But you can send it to me!" she came up with an idea on spot.

"OH MY GOSH, okay. Now or never and my theory will be proved or broken in pieces!" a wild thought run through her mind, as she started dictating her email. "It's "snoo-"...

"RRR- WOOF!" a sudden loud bark made Amanda (and probably the other two girls) jump in her seat! A medium-sized dog showed up in the doorway, looked at them curiously and let out another bark before running away back into the corridor in an unknown direction. "... Should we try to fallow him or?" Amanda was SO perplexed she already forgot what they were talking about a second ago. What the HELL? Why is there a DOG in a school? When did it actually go?

[Tara Macfly]

Tara looked at Amanda, she looked a little panicked after the selfie.

"Great job Tara, you wanted to help her gain confidence and you just make her more nervous. Everybody could see that she didn't want to take this selfie. Why didn't you ask before doing the selfie ? You should really try to stop doing anything. You just make it worse."

"Sorry, I- I think I forgot my phone at home," said the red head, seeming a little embarassed.

"Yeah, right. Just an excuse to not let you her number."

Tara tried to supress the thought and to not look disapointed.

"Don't worry Amanda." She laughed "it happens to the best of us. Personally some mornings I could forgot my head."

"But you can send it to me!" Amanda exclaimed suddenly.

Tara mood rise up instantly at that. the read head would give her some ways to contact her ?

"It's "snoo-"Began the read head but she was interrupted by a sudden and loud bark.

Tara jumped a little at that, didn't expecting to hear a dog here. A medium-sized dog showed up in the doorway, looked at them curiously and let out another bark before running away back into the corridor. Tara loved dogs, she even had one at home Roméo, that she left saddly when she went here. And everytime she saw one, her mood always lit up instantly, but right now she was perplex. Since when was there a dog at Maverick High ? She was almost sure that there was a rule who forbid pets. There were one in her previous highschool, anyway.

"Should we try to follow him or?" Amanda asked.

Tara was really uncertain of the right thing to do. The dog didn't seem dangerous but we could never know. But maybe the poor dog was just lost and they needed to help him find his master.

They could do nothing and risk that the dog did some damages in the school and be sent to the pound or try to follow him and take the risk that he was dangerous. She didn't think she could defend herself and the others girls against a dog his size.

"Maybe we could follow him to make sure he does nothing wrong, without approching too much, in case. And one of us could go prevent a teacher about him" Tara proposed trying to be logical for once. "What do you think girls ?"

[Esmeralda Ortiz]

Oh no, why did her hair look so poofy in that shot? Esme was used to seeing her hair tied back in curly ponytails or head back with a headband in most of her drill team pictures. Even picture day for school, she had sported a bohemian head wrap. No, instead just a huge cloud of black hair was framing her same next to a brunette and a redhead. Amanda regretted to inform them she didn't have her number, but she could at least give them some form of communication. Tara and Esme were eager and were getting ready to write it down when an unexpected noise came from around the bend, making everyone stop.

A bark? In the cafeteria?

The room was so quiet the bark seemed to echo and be louder than it usually was. Out of the corner appeared a medium-sized dog. Esme arched her eyebrow. Her abuelita's dog, Sandia, was roughly the size of the strange being nearby. It barked again before rushing ahead. The only reason the dog would be here at all was for guidance. Even then it would need some kind of indication like a vest or a tag or a collar. The dog had gone away so fast that Esme didn't even get a close enough look to see.

Tara asked if they should go and follow. Her plan sounded good. Just check if the dog was trouble and if there was something fishy, talk to a teacher.

"We can also check for a collar, too," Esmeralda agreed. "If there's an owner number, we can call them."

[Administrator]

"And one of us could go prevent a teacher about him," Tara suggested a very neat idea! Split up and increase our chances, nice! "What do you think girls?" the girl finished her speech with a question and got a "nod of approval" from the redhead. The girl zipped her backpack and put it on, ready for action!

"We can also check for a collar, too," Esmeralda added. "If there's an owner number, we can call them." True! Even though Amanda didn't notice if the dog had a collar or not, the plan sounded legit. "Let's solve that mystery, gang," she wanted to say and be all adventurous and what not, but instead she mumbled: "I think I will try to find a teacher and prevent them about the dog," she eyed both of the girls carefully to make sure that they are not against her leaving them so soon. "And you two go and maybe tell the others about the dog! Together we will find it in no time! smiling wide, the girl stood up and adjusted her navy-blue blouse. "We will meet up back at the auditorium, alright? See ya!" She sprinted out of the cafeteria in an unknown direction.

[Esmeralda Ortiz]

Well it some strange turn of events, the trio had become some of sort of knock of mystery gang. If Esme had Scooby snacks on her, she would be shaking the box so loudly. Amanda was standing up, and Esme opened her mouth, ready to object to rushing off so quickly. What about taking pictures for proof. Tara had the selfie but what about other events? Dog chasing didn't exactly fall into 'tea time with friends'. Yet Amanda made a very good point about warning the others. What if the dog was possibly rabid? What if-she shook the negative thoughts away. No. Right now, the focus would have to be on making sure the others were safe.

"Rendezvous in the auditorium. Great. But what time should we-?" Esme was calling after the sprinting form of Amanda, leaving her and Tara alone. "...O...kay," she murmured. Now it was a little weird being here without a set plan.

[Tara Macfly]

"So what do you think girls ?"

"We can also check for a collar, too," Esmeralda added. "If there's an owner number, we can call them."

Amanda also nodded in approval.

"Great girls, then I..."

She was about to suggest to be the one to search for a teacher but Amanda beat her at it.

"I think I will try to find a teacher and prevent them about the dog, And you two go and maybe tell the others about the dog! Together we will find it in no time!" smiling wide, the girl stood up and adjusted her navy-blue blouse. 

Wait. What ? No, no, no, no wait ! I will be the one to tell the teachers, please wait.Amanda !

"We will meet up back at the auditorium, alright? See ya!"She sprinted out of the cafeteria in an unknown direction.

Tara felt a little frozen in place by the red head's sudden departure and her burst of confidence. Well this was always a nice thing to see at least.

"Rendezvous in the auditorium. Great. But what time should we-?" Esme was asking Amanda but she was already gone. "...O...kay,"

Yeah this was a great question. Amanda seemed to have forget that in her spead. And the read head didn't have her phone on her. And she was interupted by the dog when she was about to say her email, Tara remembered. There were no way to contact her. Great.

But the problem with Amanda was easily forgotten when she realised a bigger one.

Oh shit. Shit. Now she was left alone with Esme. She wasn't ready for that. She didn't even knew how to act around the girl anymore. If she have ever known but this was another debate.

She tried to calm her growning anxiety.

Act logical now. Don't think about your uneasy relationship with the girl next to you. Think about the weird dog mission worthy of a cartoon episode.

"I think the dog went in the plaza's direction... Am I wrong ?" She asked unsure deciding to not mask her anxiety for once.

"I'm so weak" she thought.

"We should probably do like Amanda said and go after the dog. after we find him and his master we will go to the auditorium. Hopefully she will be there"

She stood awkwardly there waiting for Esme's answer. She didn't dare to cross her gaze. Hopefully the dog will be a good distraction from the awkward tension between the two girls.

[Rebecca Rolfe]

Rebecca sat at the cafeteria munching on her popcorn snack, she was buy her -self, listening to music from her phone, she hated arguments, absolutely did...she'd lightly smack her head on the table...she was so close to graduating. Damn.it took so much strength now, not to turn and burn the entire place down... she had a dark-side, she did. but she normally, did not show it, with all the school work she had piling up on her? she pulled out her math work and worked on that until they started to look for her.she'd chew her eraser pen for a moment, before showing some work.

Her frame popped some more Carmel popcorn deliciousness into her mouth ...she would text Esme" Hey, Esme? did Miss Kishi come yet?'she'd wonder, scribbling down a sketch of a flower. Rebecca had Cheer practice, Drama practice, and Tennis lessons on the weekend...so to her, a nice peace-and -quiet moment, seemed to really work wonders...

those hazel eyes scanned the area, surely some-one would walk in? she wondered why it was so quiet...except for her music playing, she heard nothing , but the casual foot steps...girls talking , and boys laughing.

[Esmeralda Ortiz]

"I don't like the idea of splitting up. If that dog is dangerous and one of us gets hurt...you know."

Oh, the turmoil was a lot for Esme to sink in. Amanda had pretty much disappeared leaving her and Tara without any kind of set plan. Sure, the dog seemed friendly, but looks could be deceiving. Esme was not going to let someone get hurt under her radar. Tara had suggested the dog was going to the plaza. Esme glanced in the direction of the area. It would be a good spot to start. The place was big enough, and so long as she was with Tara, she wouldn't worry about the other girl's safety.

"Okay, let's check the plaza first. And yeah, I hope she'll be there, too."

No sooner had she said that then her phone went off. Was it a re-send of the selfie? No. Phone service here was good. She pulled it out and recognized the icon. Rebecca.

"Also, I may have a way of alerting the others. That was my friend Rebecca. If I tell her about the dog, she can spread the word, too!"

She read the text Becca had sent; "Hey, Esme? did Miss Kishi come yet?" Quickly, the Latina was typing out a message;

"I left with Tara and Amanda before she could arrive, so I don't know. Keep your eyes peeled. We saw a dog walking by and are looking for him. Alert everyone else you know in case he's dangerous."