No Need to Rush(open)

[Tamika Tucker]

Tamika frowned into her compact, reapplying mascara that seemed so much lighter than it had been that morning. She was sitting outside the mall, Hot Topic bag flung on the pavement beside her. Was it too much to ask that her brother be on time for once? The mall would be closed soon, and then what? She couldn't very well go back in and hunt him down. He was supposed to be meeting her. Stupid, stupid little brother.

She paused just long enough in her application of makeup to flick a glance at her watch. Ugh. Where was he?! She didn't know how she had gotten saddled with such a lame sibling. Maybe if he had been half-way cool it wouldn't have been so bad, but he wanted to chase skirts and listen to that horrid excuse for music called hip hop. He was just so pedestrian; she was embarrased, afraid that someone would judge her lacking because of him.

She had a cell phone, but she didn't have any minutes on it, so she couldn't call him. Unfortunately, it seemed that he wasn't planning on emerging from those doors anytime soon. "Idiot." She muttered savagely. Her grandmother would be absolutely furious if she left without him, so she had no choice but to stay and wait. And then get a lecture because they had been out later than they had promised. Other people were so frustratingly unreliable! If only she could live on her own and be entirely independent, then it wouldn't matter, but she wasnt' yet old enough to be considered an adult and she hadn't seriously considered running away, which seemed like more of a pain than it was worth, in her mind. She wanted to hurry up and get through with school, so she could support herself, but it just seemed like that would be more difficult to achieve without adult help. Not that she wasn't going to seriouly whine about it.

She pocketed the mascara, brown eyes drawn to the doors as they opened, but it wasn't her brother. She eyed the other person disdainfully, but forced herself to sound as polite (if a bit stiff) as possible, as she was asking them a favor and she did want them to comply. "Hey, 'scuse me, can I borrow your phone for a min? Please?" She offered a strained smile, though she was sure they didn't deserve it. Still, if she could get a phone call out of this and yell at Milton for standing her up, it would be almost worth the fakery.

[Annie Holmes]

Books, books and more books. A rather petite girl with red hair, wild freckles, and an ever present smile sung the canvas bag filled with books she’d purchased copies of for the boy she’d met and shared lunch with at school. Red dress with black polka dots and more cupcake jewelry than people likely knew existed adorned the girl who, without the rather impressive heels even Heidi Klum might have trouble with, would be only a few inches away from being a pigmy.

Perhaps it was an odd blessing that she couldn’t hear the tones people used when they spoke. The way she dressed certainly turned heads, she might be deaf, but she wasn’t going to be overlooked. Not on her life! Besides, she was in a VERY good mood. The Bowie family was joining hers for dinner (again! How could she not be in love with the idea of Zoey making a movie, her dad doing the costuming, and Iman and David signing with her across the table. They were getting better at it too! And now she had another person to teach!

Catching someone’s lips moving and the eyes that were locked onto her, Annie turned her head and stared at the lips as they formed the words. A blessing indeed that she was deaf.

Smiling back, Annie shook her head and tapped her ear, indicating that she couldn’t hear what she’d said. Then pointed to her lips and made a generic wiggle motion with her fingers, asking in no actual sign language, for the other girl to please repeat herself.

[Tamika Tucker]

Tamika crossed her arms, doing a very poor job of not glaring at the brightly colored, clearly perky girl before her. She had no idea what the finger wiggling was supposed to mean, though she did at least manage to grasp that the red-head hadn't heard her. She thought she had been perfectly clear, but perhaps not.

"Your phone." She repeated, louder, voice laced with impatience. "Can I borrow it?"

She swept her gaze over the other girl's outfit; it was so bright and cute, it looked like the kind of outfit a five year old would pick out for herself. It was very scene, actually, and while Tamika gravitated towards a similar style of clothing, hers was less adorable and much moodier -- the minor differences between emo and scene seemed overwhelmingly large in the mind of a high school sophomore heavily invested in one over the other.

Furthering her annoyance was the fact that the smaller girl didn't appear to understand her any better the second time. "My god, are you deaf or something?" She demanded with a snarl. All hope of borrowing the phone was now lost, as she had abandoned any pretence of being polite. It irked her to not be answered immediately, however, and she was already irate with her stupid younger brother and was perhaps taking some of that anger out on the unfortunate who had stepped into her path.

[Annie Holmes]

It wouldn’t matter how loudly Tamika yelled, Annie would never hear her, but the second time she got more of the words, just… if Tamika would actually enunciate them it would be easier. If she would actually form the words with her mouth the way people were supposed to, and once upon a time did. The last bit, however, Annie got clearly, the irritation driving the irate girls lips.

Annie nodded. Yes. Yes she was.

Juggling the bags of books she’d picked up she reached into a pocket that had been sewn onto the front of her dress. Removing from the pocket a red Samsung Rumor she thumbed a few things before starting in on the t9 board.

“Sorry, I guess this is easier for you.” Her thumb clicked quickly, almost speed texting, “Whats wrong?”

Concern flitted across the smaller girls face, for something was wrong, and she couldn’t understand why anyone would be so upset at a mall. Unless they’d been ditched, stood up, or had tried to partake in retail therapy with utter failure only compounding whatever issue it was that had sent them there in the first place. Maybe she could help! It’s what the Justice League did, right? Even though she was the only remaining member of the JLA, all her friends having moved away due to the issues at Silver and the growing gang problems.

Yet she would hold strong. She would continue the tradition she and her friends had started. She had to right? JLA members didn’t just quit because they were alone. They persevered!