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Post by Anibal Desales on Nov 17, 2009 22:23:15 GMT -5
Anibal had taken Jorge's death hard. Of course, it only made matters worse that he'd seen his brother stabbed to death in front of him. And everyone blamed his brother for the shooting, just because he'd been a member of MS-13. He'd heard people whispering about Jorge, wondering how he'd been able to stand living with a Japanese step-family, or had his father's marriage to Ayuka prompted Jorge to revolt and join a gang that would have as soon killed his brother Hiroshi as looked at him? None of this, as far as Anibal knew, was true. Jorge had never said anything against Hiroshi or Ayuka, but he had missed Campinas, and had wanted to spend time with those who understood. At least, that was what Anibal had assumed; Jorge had spent more time with his gang than talking to his baby brother about why he had joined in the first place.
He'd been too upset to attend school even when it had resumed, and while he had begged his parents to allow him to stay home again that morning Miguel and Ayuka had refused, insisting that his education was important. So he had kept largely to himself, a feat that wasn't so difficult considering he usually did so anyway. He had no desire for any social interaction -- fortunately Archana hadn't gone, or he surely would have hurt her feelings by asking her to leave him alone. In the interests of anti-socialness he found a nice table in the back corner of the cafeteria, keeping his head down and prodding dully at his tray, not tasting the food when he actually managed to get it to his mouth.
He didn't even glance up when the seat next to him was rudely taken, instead mumbling at them to leave, though in such a quiet voice it was unlikely he was heard. "You want something?" He sighed, louder, "I'm not in a gang, now go away."
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Post by johson on Nov 18, 2009 9:12:01 GMT -5
Ashton walked into the dinning room which was already busy with people, many of the tables were already full, he ordered his food in a hurry. The food was terrible at the school, but he just wanted food, he wasn't bothered by the fact that he had to eat the school food. At home he tended to have good food to make up for what was on offer here at the school.
He made his way to a near empty table and plonked himself down, it was luck that the person he sat next to was one of the family members who had been involved in some way or another at the school shooting. Ashton wasn't all that bothered when the boy spoke up about not being a part of a gang, the reference was lost on him.
"I just want to eat my lunch, like everybody else in this school at this time of day." Ashton said before tucking into his meal, he made a face at the tast before allowing himself to... well he could say enjoy it but that would be something of an overstatement. Tolerate the food was a better word for it, he didn't know why the boy seemed to think that he would care whether or not he was part of a gang. Why the hell did any one want to try and convince a complete stranger, that they weren't part of a gang.
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Post by Anibal Desales on Nov 19, 2009 21:46:03 GMT -5
Anibal scooted his chair to the side, giving the much taller boy a glance filled with suspicion. Was it possible that Ashton wasn't here to harrass him about Jorge, and was in fact only looking for a place to eat his lunch in peace? It almost seemed too much to ask. "Mmm." He mumbled, viciously impaling his food on the end of his fork and then scooting it around on the plate as though that might make it more appetizing. He didn't know why the chair next to him looked so inviting; he was, after all, trying very hard to look as intimidating as possible -- a task that was made difficult by his tiny stature. Stupid female body. One day, one day he'd be allowed to change things to his liking! It was just going to take a lot of surgery. And hormone treatments. And money. Why was this so difficult, again?
"Oh, hey, Ashton," He greeted finally, deciding that since his new neighbor was on the soccer team with him, and was kindly not raising to the previously issued challenge on gangs, that perhaps he ought to try being civilized. The age disparity had kept Anibal from really seeking out Ashton's company in the past -- well, that and the fact that Coach Johnson was rather terrifying, which meant avoiding his son off the field as well. "Don't you have someone more popular to sit with? Haley or Sarah Brody or someone?" He questioned, though with less bitterness than his earlier questions. That he was a Freshman and not part of the popular crowd was simply a fact of life -- though at least he wasn't a nerd, like say, Levi Rubenstein. He certainly made sure to remind Levi of his place -- and Ashton was a Senior and a football player. A very good football player who was related to the head coach, no less.
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Post by johson on Nov 20, 2009 18:17:45 GMT -5
Ashton had started to eat his food, it was clear that the boy was interested in keeping his own company, and Ashton didn't really feel the need to change that. It was fair to say he was popular, but he made a point to try and get on with his team mates. Even if they were just a little bit weird, he knew something was off with Anibal but he chose out of respect to not ask to many questions of the boy. He knew that his team mate had a hard time with the rest of the team, but what did it matter, different was different, it was almost the new cool. Almost being the correct word.
When Anibal asked why he wasn't sitting with one of the hot girls of the school, he almost choked on his drink, it wasn't that he was offended or bothered by the question. Far from it, he just hadn't expected to be asked such a direct question about his seating choice. He thought it may have been that what with him being a popular person, he might have been there to give the boy a hard time. Not that it hadn't crossed his mind when the boy had asked him whether he was part of a gang or some such tripe, he just wasn't in the mood to torture the boy.
"If I wanted to sit with one of those girls I would be there right now, and not over here sitting with you at this table. If you hadn't noticed I'm sitting here, and if I didn't want to be here i wouldn't be." he said to the boy politely. "What has gotten into you?" he asked.
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Post by Anibal Desales on Nov 20, 2009 22:59:25 GMT -5
Ashton's words rang true, but nonetheless the other boy's motives remained inexplicable. The fact that he was sitting beside Anibal was inarguable, as was the fact that he did not have to be sitting there. "Okay, point." He conceded after a moment; he wasn't sitting with his girlfriend, either, although at least in his case she wasn't at school to sit with. "I guess I'll let you stay, then."
He squirmed uncomfortably when the other student asked what had gotten into him. He wasn't sure if he should admit what was bugging him; Ashton hadn't uttered a word about either Jorge or Clayton, so perhaps he was trying to avoid the topic of the shootings altogether. But then, neither Jorge nor Clayton had been on any of the sports teams, and they were both Sophomores, so perhaps Ashton simply hadn't known who they were and didn't realize either deaths had impacted his younger teammate.
"It's just," He sighed, feeling whiny for even speaking his concerns aloud, "People keep assuming, since Jorge was in the MS-13 that I am, too. Wish they would just drop it." It wasn't as if he hadn't had to watch the Juarez boy stab his brother in front of him, or that his best friend and the only person who really understood (and knew) what he was going through hadn't been shot. And in any event, there wasn't a gang that would let him join, but particularly not any of the Hispanic gangs, as they were notoriously bigoted against any and all gender outlaws.
He shrugged and returned his attention to the so-called food in front of him. "I dunno, it's okay, I guess." He continued, in case Ashton thought he was a total wuss for letting the accusations bother him.
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Post by johson on Nov 22, 2009 9:12:13 GMT -5
Ashton shook his head, some people were idiots, though he would be a fool to admit that it wouldn't have crossed his mind if he had known that the boy had somehow been related to one of the gang members that had shot up the school just over a week ago. People at the school even now were still on edge, though most of the school looked like it had never been a part of the shooting there were still some places in the school which looked bad from the hits it had taken.
"Yeah I can see why they might see you as a part of that, if they were complete fricking idiots." Ashton said to him when he realized it was probably a good idea to answer the boys unasked question. "What you think in the privacy of your own mind is fine, but when you actually say what your thinking, and its something like that its probably a really bad idea." Ashton said to him wishing the food on his plate was something more palatable than he was actually eating.
"Now if they had done something about the cooking in this school, I'm guessing have the issues we have with gangs would be solved. After all food is good for the soul apparently, this stuff looks like it was taken out of the dogs bowl and dished up for humans." Ashton said as he grabbed his water taking a gulp. "I think its meant to be curry, but to be honest I'm not sure what it is." he added.
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Post by Anibal Desales on Nov 23, 2009 20:32:36 GMT -5
Anibal wasn't sure whether he was grateful for Ashton's words or not, but at least his teammate didn't seem to be holding Jorge's part in the shootings against him, and that made him feel better than any words could have. As long as people didn't tell him outright they thought he was involved in the shooting, then he would never know; after all, he couldn't read minds and a very good thing that was, too! "Yeah, I guess," He agreed at last, sitting up a bit straighter. Although, while he would try and ignore those who made assumptions about his involvement he he would definitely seek vengeance if he ever ran across the student who had stabbed Jorge -- and gotten off, too, infuriatingly enough! The charges had been dropped! And his parents hadn't wanted to pursue, because they hadn't wanted to live through a trial and the retelling of Jorge's death and gang involvement.
If there was one topic that had a universal consensus, it was the quality of the cafeteria food. "I dunno, I heard someone say ravioli..." He prodded at the food warily, as though this might help him decide what exactly it was supposed to be. "Maybe....curry and ravioli? Eww." He grimaced at the food; if he mysteriously died before he graduated, he was going to blame it on the horrible cafeteria food. "It's like they make it bad on purpose," He complained.
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