Amelia

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    friend of mine [poppy]

    Frances Warren
    Frances Warren
    Borkon Lover


    Posts : 32
    Age : 23
    Location : Solas

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    Post by Frances Warren Tue Aug 15, 2017 2:50 am

    Frances was on her first trip to a place called Martha's Vineyard, an island that she'd only ever heard about because of the boarding school that some of the kids at her orphanage were able to attend. She was excited to see the island, which she heard was beautiful and filled with happy families who had lots of money, but she was most excited to be going as a recruiter for the youth program she participated in and adored, Lilycove's Kids.

    After a long trip there (longer than any trip Frances had ever been on) and a night in a fancy hotel, Frances and the other kids were taken to Redfern Academy, where tons of kids her age and older all got to go to school and live with each other. Frances loved traveling through campus and seeing all of the different buildings, paths, greenery, sports fields, and dorms. She couldn't believe they were all in this one place.

    The group eventually arrived at their destination, a large lawn of bright green grass with more trees than Frances could easily count and tons of gardens and bushes along the edges. They were in front of a large and busy building, though Frances didn't know what the building was for. The school, which had a strong and growing investment in Lilycove's Kids, had already set up a large buffet alongside a grill with burgers, hot dogs, large mushrooms, and shish-ka-bobs galore.

    Frances gasped, taking everything in. The events back in Lilycove were nothing like this -- and she would know, she'd been to almost every one! Frances had been referred to the program when she was six, back when the program was still relatively new. She was eleven now, and in the last five years she'd experienced the development and growth of the program hands-on. Now, they were starting a brand new chapter on Martha's Vineyard (among other locations in Amelia) and she had been one of the lucky original chapter participants to be invited to soft launch, where they would recruit participants and educate locals about the new chapter.

    Frances felt proud of the hard work and dedication that had gotten her here...but mostly, at this exact moment, she was excited about the huge buffet of food in front of her.

    "Alright, kids! Gather together!" Flora, the group leader and one of the staff from the Kids program, said to all of the children and youth who then formed a small circle around her. Frances, who was one of the youngest children invited, was very attentive and listened as carefully as she could.

    "We're here to tell students from Redfern Academy about Lilycove's Kids. You get to choose what you tell them -- you don't need to tell them anything that you don't want to. You tell your stories, your experiences, things you like, things you don't. We want you to make friends, have fun, and eat! Now...who wants some hot dogs??" she said excitedly, pointing to the buffet. Many of the kids cheered and ran as fast as they could, but Frances didn't mind being last. She made her way to the line at her own pace.

    "Hey Frances," Flora said as Frances passed her. "Don't forget to have fun, okay?" Flora patted her back lightly and playfully winked. She was so nice.

    As Frances was waiting in line, some kids she didn't recognize started coming over to the lawn. There were adults from the program handing out information and pointing to the buffet, which the kids promptly headed over to.

    I think this will be fun, Saffron, who was in the form of a small bird on Frances' shoulder, noted.

    I just hope the kids are nice, Frances said, feeling a little bit nervous.
    Poppy Selway-Sommers
    Poppy Selway-Sommers
    Walkin' Horse Pig


    Posts : 131
    Age : 21
    Location : Redfern

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    Post by Poppy Selway-Sommers Tue Aug 15, 2017 10:51 am

    Poppy had been at Redfern for all of five days and she already loved it. Not to say that she wasn't a little homesick (she'd actually cried a couple times the first two nights after Mom and Dad left to go back to Nadar), but this place was awesome. Not only was there now a whole campus to explore, there were so many clio to meet and friends to make.

    When her Introduction to Nadar teacher had mentioned a group called Lilycove's Kids and told Poppy that there would be a bunch of kids there, she'd immediately asked to be signed up. So now she and a handful of other first year students were walking over to this giant elaborate set up that looked like an awesome barbeque.

    Poppy had been excited to join LK with her roommate, Mal, but Mal had gotten a bit of a cold the night before, so Poppy was alone with some acquaintances that lived on her dorm floor. Not that that bugged her, of course, Poppy loved talking to everyone, whether she knew them or not.

    As the girls from her dorm walked into the line with other kids all wearing the same red t-shirt that Poppy had been given, Poppy led the group. They were all chattering happily as the joined the line, excited about the fun lunch and information meeting they were about to enjoy.

    "Hi!" Poppy said brightly to the kid that was directly in front of them in line. She hadn't seen this student around Redfern yet, but she liked their style! "I'm Poppy," she added with a smile.
    Frances Warren
    Frances Warren
    Borkon Lover


    Posts : 32
    Age : 23
    Location : Solas

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    Post by Frances Warren Wed Aug 16, 2017 1:00 am

    Frances looked over to the young clio behind her in line that had suddenly addressed her. She didn't realize that the dialogue would start so soon! She was excited to meet new clio though, especially since this girl looked about her age.

    "Hi," she said somewhat quietly, before gaining a bit more confidence to be herself. "I'm Frances!" She noticed that Poppy was wearing a red shirt just like her, which meant that she'd already signed up for Lilycove's Kids! Oh my gods! she thought. She got a little nervous that Poppy might read her as a young boy, since 99% of clio tended to do that -- but she didn't mind correcting her. She knew that sometimes boys and girls at this age were a bit difficult to distinguish from one another, and her incredibly short haircut (almost buzzed, practically) was a definitive factor in clios' perceptions of her and her gender. By now, she didn't actually mind much.

    She scooped some macaroni salad onto her styrofoam plate alongside some fruit salad and cornbread as she moved along the buffet line.

    "So, I see you're already interested in Lilycove's Kids!" she started, trying to lead the conversation into a productive one. "Is there anything you want to know? I've been in the program for years."

    She'd had a few mentors in her time, each of which was spectacular. She couldn't wait for Poppy to start her year, though she wasn't sure exactly what it would be like at Martha's Vineyard. Frances had heard that this chapter would be a mix of Martha's Vineyard, Ughdarras, Solas, and Dian kids due to the island's proximity -- while Lilycove had a handful of kids from different eilemaiden, she couldn't imagine what it would be like to involve clio from an entire academy. Nonetheless, she hoped that one day she might be able to work on something as meaningful as the Kids program.
    Poppy Selway-Sommers
    Poppy Selway-Sommers
    Walkin' Horse Pig


    Posts : 131
    Age : 21
    Location : Redfern

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    Post by Poppy Selway-Sommers Thu Aug 17, 2017 11:30 pm

    "You have?" Poppy asked Frances. "That's cool! Mr. Thaddeus told me about it a couple days ago. Is it as much fun as it sounds like?" She watched as Frances started piling food onto their plate and realized she couldn't tell if Frances was a boy or a girl. How did you even bring something like that up?

    You don't, Sansa told Poppy.

    So Poppy didn't. Instead, she followed Frances' lead and started piling her plate high with yummy food. Lots of watermelon, which was her favorite, and other good barbecue foods.

    "What year are you in?" she asked.
    Frances Warren
    Frances Warren
    Borkon Lover


    Posts : 32
    Age : 23
    Location : Solas

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    Post by Frances Warren Fri Aug 18, 2017 2:49 am

    Is it as much fun as it sounds like?

    Frances smiled really wide. "It's my favorite thing in the world!" she exclaimed. Then again, she realized that maybe some clio might have more to look forward to every day than this program...clio with families and more "normal" lives than she had ever had. ...still, how could you not love the Kids program?? Nonetheless, she tried to act ~cool.~

    "What year are you in?"

    "I'm actually not going to school here," she said, eyeing the barbecue as she came closer to it. "I live back in Lilycove, where the program started. I don't know much about Redfern, but it seems really neat! We just have school back at the orphanage."

    It took Frances a second to realize that Poppy might not necessarily know anyone living in an orphanage, but Frances had spent her entire life at the orphanage! It was really difficult for her to remember that this might be a touchy subject for other clio. Maybe this whole event would be harder than she thought.

    "Sorry," she said softly with an apologetic smile, just in case Poppy was uncomfortable or offended. Gods, this was already harder than Frances had expected.
    Poppy Selway-Sommers
    Poppy Selway-Sommers
    Walkin' Horse Pig


    Posts : 131
    Age : 21
    Location : Redfern

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    Post by Poppy Selway-Sommers Sun Aug 20, 2017 10:21 am

    Poppy's eyes opened a little wider when Frances said they were from an orphanage. "Oh, I'm sorry," Poppy said at the same time Frances said the same thing.

    "Wait, what do you have to be sorry for?" Poppy asked. "I'm sorry for just assuming...I've, well, I've never met anyone from an orphanage before." Poppy wasn't sure how to treat this--she couldn't imagine not having her parents...was Frances sad? Did she remember them? What was okay to ask? That, on top of not knowing whether Frances was a boy or a girl, made this clio very interesting. Poppy wanted to know more about growing up in an orphanage.

    By the time they reached the grill, Poppy already had waaaaay too much food on her plate, but she accepted a hot dog from an enthusiastic griller. Poppy glanced at Frances' plate and laughed; Frances had the same problem. "Think we may have overestimated how much food we will be able to eat?" she asked.
    Frances Warren
    Frances Warren
    Borkon Lover


    Posts : 32
    Age : 23
    Location : Solas

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    Post by Frances Warren Wed Aug 23, 2017 11:42 am

    "I'm sorry for just assuming...I've, well, I've never met anyone from an orphanage before."

    "That's okay," Frances said genuinely. "I always forget that most clio haven't!" As they moved along in the line, Frances could tell that Poppy was having a little bit of trouble internally -- nothing too noticeable or uncomfortable, but Frances recognized the tension. Clio often had a lot of questions but were too worried about offending her to ask, which just made everyone a bit more uncomfortable in the long run (in her experience, anyway). "I'm okay answering questions, if you want," she offered upfront, wanting to let Poppy know that she was open to talking about it.

    "Think we may have overestimated how much food we will be able to eat?"

    Frances looked down at her plate and, with a mischievous smirk, retorted Poppy's remark with her head held high. "I think I estimated perfectly! More, please!" Giggles seemingly overtook her.

    "Be careful or you'll drop it all, girlie!" the griller said with both a smile and a bit of concern, obviously ready to catch Frances' plate if she dropped it. The griller also did not give her anymore food, and honestly wondered how such a skinny little girl could eat as much food as was on the girl's plate.

    "I'm okay, I'm okay," she said, catching her breath from the giggles. "Thank you, grill master!"

    She took a few steps away from the line to look around the lawn. Kids and teens were sitting around in groups as they got to know each other. "Do you want to sit with me?" she asked Poppy with a hopeful smile. This was it! She was making a friend! Maybe she could convince her to be in the program!
    Poppy Selway-Sommers
    Poppy Selway-Sommers
    Walkin' Horse Pig


    Posts : 131
    Age : 21
    Location : Redfern

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    Post by Poppy Selway-Sommers Fri Aug 25, 2017 5:32 pm

    "Okay," Poppy said with a smile. As a naturally curious clio, she had a million questions running through her head at all times, so the offer to talk about the orphanage was a relief.

    Poppy laughed through Frances' exchange with the cook, but caught when he called Frances "girlie". Frances responded positively to that, so Poppy decided she would go with it.

    "Of course I will," Poppy said with a giant smile when Frances asked Poppy to sit with her. The girls found a spot on the ground and sat. Poppy used her criss-cross-applesauced legs as a makeshift table, but her food kept going everywhere, anyway. "It's so hard to eat with styrofoam plates and no table," Poppy laughed as she attempted to keep the mess at bay. Juice from her watermelon was dripping down a bare leg. "I'm a mess!"
    Frances Warren
    Frances Warren
    Borkon Lover


    Posts : 32
    Age : 23
    Location : Solas

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    Post by Frances Warren Tue Aug 29, 2017 1:13 am

    Frances sat with Poppy on the grass, creating a V in front of her with her legs and setting her plate down right in the middle. She stuck her plastic spork into a glob of macaroni salad, half of which dripped down her chin and onto her shirt as she attempted to stick it in her mouth. She laughed, grabbing a napkin she'd put under her plate and cleaning her face off as she swallowed the delicious food.

    "Here ya go," she said, offering a couple napkins to Poppy as well. "They always make sure I have napkins 'cause I'm always making a mess," she said with a goofy little-kid laugh.
    Poppy Selway-Sommers
    Poppy Selway-Sommers
    Walkin' Horse Pig


    Posts : 131
    Age : 21
    Location : Redfern

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    Post by Poppy Selway-Sommers Thu Aug 31, 2017 1:23 pm

    Poppy took the napkins and laughed at how silly the both of them must have looked. "They'll probably figure out pretty quickly that I'm a mess, too!" She wiped her legs off, wondering if they were going to get sticky from the juice. Oh well.

    "So, Francois," she said, between bites, "how often do you come to the island?" Her mom probably would have scolded her for talking with her mouth full, but her mom wasn't here (yay independence!)!

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