Event #1: "But Now We're Stressed Out"

[Peyton Cross]

Peyton walked out of the auditorium and turned to her right to see Emery and Alex talking about what happened. She felt it best to not bother them and quickly went the opposite direction towards the restrooms. When she walked inside she took several deep breaths.

Come on Peyton, this is just a stupid thing between some teenage boys. Don’t lose yourself over this.

She pressed her hands against the sink and turned the water on, splashing the cold feeling on her face to snap her out of it. She looked in the mirror, and for once focused on her face. Peyton could see why Emery stared at her so often. The bruises and scars on her face, neck, and arms were more obvious in such harsh lighting. They were faded, but they were noticeable. The make-up Peyton used to cover it all up clearly wasn’t working that well. Not even on her more harsher scar on her forehead that she got from the wine bottle that night…so many years ago. Peyton undid her buttoned uniform to see the permanent scar on her chest. Even though it was healed and was white rather than the maroon red from when she first got it, looking at it made her remember the pain from when it was given to her.

At least it didn't get infected.

[Misha Charisse Quinn]

Misha began her search as soon as she exited the auditorium, looking for any trace of her lost friend. Her quest was promptly completed, as she was almost immediately met with the sight of Al and Emery talking to each other in front of the classroom next to the auditorium. Awkwardly, Misha stood still, observing them talk for a few moments. She was comfortable with Al, but while she did like his sister most of the time, she wasn’t as open with her as she was with him, and she didn’t know how to approach him about the situation while she was there. With him she could just joke it off, or be serious when needed, but her naturally distant nature made it a little hard for her with an audience. Not to mention that she felt really uneasy interrupting their conversation after she had brought such a hard time on Al already.

Maybe I need a moment. She thought, unsure of what to do with herself. And to give him a moment to cool down too. He probably would rather be with his sister rather than her right now, anyway. These two got along surprisingly well.

Feeling her body itch with the urge to just go and do something, she finally quickly turned around and walked in the opposite direction. There was no way in hell she was going back to the auditorium right now; she hadn’t wanted to be there in the first place, now she wanted to be as far away from it as possible. If it hadn’t been because she still owed Al an apology (or whatever else she could muster), she would have left the school by now, whether Miss Kishi liked it or not. Instead, she made her way to the bathroom with a groan of complaint and opened the door with a liberating kick.

She hadn’t expected boobs.

Immediately she was greeted with the sight of a woman’s almost bare chest as she admired herself in the mirror. Now, Misha didn’t know if “no homo” was a concept that applied to girls, but she had no intention to get more involved in whatever was happening than she needed; with a muffled “sorry”, she rushed to the nearest toilet room… before stopping herself dead in her tracks and turning around once more.

She’d been so surprised that her brain hadn’t registered it at first; but now that she was taking a second to think about it… what was that huge mark on the girl’s chest? A tattoo, some kind of scar? She knew that it was rude to stare, so she tried to avoid it as much as possible, but as the girl seemed to have been trying to hold herself together, she couldn’t help but be slightly worried. There had been enough violence for one day as it was.

 – Hm… are you okay? – she ineptly asked, feeling very out of place. She couldn’t quite place her name, but she recognized the girl as one of Emery’s friends, and those were usually nice people. Surely she wouldn’t get too mad at her, would she?

[Peyton Cross]

Peyton was thrown out of her thought process when she jumped at the sound of the bathroom door being kicked open. She turns around and sees Misha standing in front of her, to then walk towards a stall, but then turns around to look at her. It took Peyton a moment to register that her shirt was still undone and her scar was showing.

“Oh god!” Peyton quickly buttoned her shirt back up and hopefully Misha didn’t see it. But it didn’t take long for Peyton to notice how Misha’s eyes weren’t looking towards her face, but her chest. Yup, she definitely saw the scar.

“Hm…are you ok?” Misha asks. The awkward feeling between the two was practically cemented by the tone in her voice.

“Oh uh…yes of course! Perfectly fine! Just needed some space from everyone and their drama,” Peyton cleared her voice in hope to devoid attention from her scar. "Uh...you’re Misha right? Hey if it’s any constellation, I think Ryan went too far. I’m not saying I condone humiliation, but he clearly should have never considered hurting you or Alex."

[Naya Zafar]

As Naya ran out of the auditorium, she heard Chris say behind her "Take care alright..?". She managed to shoot him a quick smile before she went through the door. She barely knew him, but he was so sweet, and she decided that as soon as the opportunity presented itself, she would talk to him again and thank him for helping her. 

As she entered the hallway, she could hear Ryan and Nancy talking. Crap. Luckily she wouldn't need to go past them to get to the toilets, but she was still hoping neither of them would notice her. She doubted Ryan wanted to see her after what happened, and who could blame him?

Just then, she noticed a dog wandering around. Strange, she thought, what was a dog doing in the school? Naya was an animal lover, and knew that petting the dog might cheer her up a little, but she'd listened to her mum enough to know that she shouldn't pet an unknown dog, especially one without its owner around. So, she just blew him a kiss.

"Hi puppy!" she called, continuing down the hallway. Hopefully the puppy would find his owner soon. 

Once she reached the toilets, she pushed open the door and barged in, nearly bumping into Peyton in the process. 

"Oh, sorry!" she exclaimed, "I didn't think anyone would be in here!"

She paused, noticing Misha, "I hope you're both okay after what happened..." She made her way over to a sink, pulling her makeup bag out of her backpack, "I just need to sort my makeup out. I'm a crier!" She laughed awkwardly, checking her reflection in the mirror. Okay, not too bad. Just a little bit of smudging, nothing a wet wipe and perhaps some cotton buds couldn't fix.

[Misha Charisse Quinn]

She averted her eyes as Peyton quickly buttoned her shirt all the way up to give her some semblance of privacy. The girl seemed very shaken up about her presence, more than she would believe a person like her would simply for getting caught in her bra. Something was clearly going on there, and her (bad) attempt at playing it cool was only further proving it. Still pondering how to further the conversation (she couldn’t just go and ask about… whatever that was, right?), she looked back at her once more when she was addressed again.

 – Yeah. Uh… I’m not sure I fully remember your name. I haven’t been in the club long and… don’t really know everyone’s name yet. – she tried to excuse herself, shrugging as she talked. She wasn’t sure how good her alibi was, considering both of them shared a friend, but she couldn’t pretend she’d really cared about the club and anyone in it that much. Her attention was quickly brought to something else, however, as the girl continued, causing Misha to frown – We weren’t HUMILIATING him. It was just supposed to be a joke… nothing to get that worked up about. And if I remember well, YOU laughed too. – Looking down, slightly conflicted, Misha crossed her arms inadvertently as a way to protect herself from criticism. – But… thank you, anyway. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt either… including Ryan’s ego.

That was probably as bad as you could get as far as “apologies” went, but she couldn’t bring herself to feel bad for the guy right now. He’d been way out of place…
… and it was a little hard to feel genuine when, despite all her talking back and angry scowls, she felt honestly bad about the whole situation. It wasn’t the first time that a prank of hers backfired, but he’d never ended this badly before, and even less with someone else getting hurt in her name, and she was still a little shaken about it. Usually, she was the only victim of her own stupidity, and she was more than okay with that. I should really speak to Alex…

Misha jumped a little when the door was opened once more, somewhat mimicking her interlocutor’s reaction earlier. She intuitively moved to allow Naya to make her way to the sink, greeting them both; not without noticing her smudged make-up.

 – I’m fine… I guess… What about you?
"I just need to sort my makeup out. I'm a crier!"

Misha frowned a bit. Was this about Ryan as well? She had been so focused on him and Alex that she hadn’t really paid much attention to anyone else, so she had no way to know if something else had happened to her or not. And even knowing that they were technically friends and that she should be making sure she was alright… Misha was getting more and more uncomfortable. Why did everyone have to make such a big deal out of this? Sure, it was technically her fault for painting him over like this, but… it wasn’t HER fault he had reacted the way he did. And now everyone was making her feel even worse about it. Why did the situation have to be blown out of proportions so much?

 – Well, hum… – she mumbled, desperately looking for her way out of this – I’m all done so… I think I’ll leave you two to your makeup… and your boobs… see you back to the auditorium and uh, be well.

If I haven’t fled this place by then.

Vaguely waving at them, she turned around as fast as she could, before making her way out of the toilet room.

[Peyton Cross]

Peyton had completely glanced over Misha’s comment about not knowing her name, but she would then forget it as her attention was more drawn to Misha’s rather rude response to her attempt at being supportive.

"We weren’t HUMILIATING him. It was just supposed to be a joke… nothing to get that worked up about. And if I remember well, YOU laughed too,” Misha frowned. She then paused for a second, and continued, "But… thank you, anyway. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt either… including Ryan’s ego."

Peyton became completely disgusted. What kind of response was that? And she was just going to cover it up with some half-assed gratitude?

“There’s no reason to suddenly place blame on me! Or anyone else for that matter! I’m not the one who punched Alex! I get that you’re upset about what happened, but that doesn’t mean it now has to be you against everyone else,” Peyton said. She turned around a looked at herself in the mirror, and looked down at the sink. She started to take deep breaths again, trying to stay calm and not lose herself. Peyton’s gotten used to being on the edge with her anxiety, but she’s gotten better at keeping herself under control. Everything that has happened today just kept building and building. And just when Peyton couldn’t think she could start and panic even more, someone bumps right into her and knocks her off her feet. She gets up and sees Naya.

"Oh, sorry!" she exclaimed, "I didn't think anyone would be in here!”

Naya observed the area noticing both her and Misha standing there awkwardly.

“I hope you’re both okay after what happened,” Naya said making her way to the sink.

“Peachy,” Peyton muttered in a bitter tone.

“I’m fine…I guess,” Peyton heard Misha say, her back still facing her, “What about you?”

“I just need to sort my make-up out! I’m a crier!” Naya laughed nervously.

This isn’t working. Peyton needed to get out of there before her blood pressure exploded. She distantly heard Misha say something before leaving the bathroom. Guess that was her queue. Yet now she’s just going to have to encounter Misha again knowing that Misha’s seen her scars and Peyton didn’t exactly leave the best impression. She left without another word.

[Naya Zafar]

Naya frowned as she watched first Misha, then Peyton leave the bathroom almost as soon as she got there. God, what had she done now? Had she been too awkward? Too weird? Once again, she felt sick, and felt tears prick in her eyes.

"No Naya," she muttered to herself, "Focus."

She pulled a wet wipe out of her bag and got to work fixing her makeup. Okay, she thought once she was finished, Not bad. Not perfect either, but not bad.

Just then, her phone beeped twice in quick succession. She picked it up. The first text was from Emery.

Guys, Miss. Kishi was just here and she's on a war path. Best to get here, NOW

Shit! She quickly replied with a THANK YOU! <3, before checking the other one. It was from Chris.

Hey, kishi just came back and she is NOT happy! She already walked out however so i didn't have time to cover you! Maybe if you get back now you can fake you have been backstage or something!

-Chris

Yup, that was her cue to leave. Naya quickly typed out another THANK YOU! and sent it, before packing her stuff away in her bag and racing out of the bathroom and into the hallway.