Strawberry Fields Forever {Stella}

[SIOBHAN NYLAN]

Skinny arms waved towards the sunlight slowly, graceful fingers spread, all except two which held a spliff between her fingers. Pieces of leaves fell from the tree, shedding their leaves before the seasons could change, and the snow would set in. There was even a change to the air, crisper somehow. And yet, she could get away without a jacket. Maybe just one more day of the sunshine on her pale stomach. She wasn't a sun-child like the rest of her family, however she could appreciate the warmth of the sun when the air was a crisp chill. Her untameable hair spread through the grass, weaving ombre roads through the green.

Protecting her blue eyes were a set of round, black, tiny glasses, remnicent of John Lennon. And through her ears, The Beatles echoed with Strawberry Fields Forever. Oh, how she did love the Beatles, but there was something whimsical about this particular song. She could close her eyes and be transported to a long ago time. She stretched her legs out, before sinking into the grass again with a sigh. Her spine curled up, lifting her back off the grass, before she moved the marijuana and tobacco mixture back to her lips and drew in a breath. Eighteen years old and she could smoke, and it was easier to get away with it when there were little buds mixed in with the tobacco. Relaxing without that couch-potato feel. The fuzzy edge of a buzz, without being too far gone.

Her parents always recounted the sixties and seventies. They weren't huge fans of the eighties. But she knew enough from her parents recounts that she was born in the wrong era. She felt out of time and out of place. Too much technology--sure it was great to have all of her favorite music in one little device. But computers that told you wherever you were, book-sized computers that people glued to their faces when they were outside. It seemed like people didn't live in a real world anymore. A virtual world inside of a real one.

No one just ever was, anymore. No one breathed the fresh air, or listened to the birds. No one had picnics. Soccer moms let their kids play on reinforced, gated-in, plastic play-sets while they texted on their silly little phones. There was no adventure to the world. Perhaps that was the one blessing of her family--unrestricted. Siobhan was a bit technologically stupid, however she had managed to figure out how to get music onto her iPod---though iTunes was a pain in the rear. She had learned how to have a bank account instead of walking around with wads of cash in her bag. And she was beginning to learn how to use computers, and the internet. She had always been aware of it--but why would she want to look at pictures of beautiful places when she could get lost and find them herself?

And yet, living in this technological world was an adventure all in itself. But it didn't mean that she wasn't homesick for a time long since past. Her skinny arms pushed her torso up, and she propped herself up on her hands, her leg folding beneath the flared, long peasant skirt. She turned her face towards the sun, like the bits of heat she felt were soft, warm caresses. "Strawberry fields forever," She sang quietly, red lips forming the words with a lazy drawl. Her hair hung between her shoulders, with tiny bits of brown grass tangled in the firey curls.

She had been thrown away, belonged and loved by nobody. It was a strange sense of freedom, that whatever happened would be her own cross to bare. An adult at eighteen, moreso than any other young person her age.

---
outfit: Here!

[STELLA HINES]

Stella couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this bored.

Normally, to cure something like this, she’d go running. And she would be running right now if it weren’t for this weather. Yeah sure, it was nice. It was one of those days where the air was cool but the sun was warm, so you were freezing in the shade but pleasantly cozy in the light. At least, that’s how she’d always felt about days like this. A lot of her routes took her through shaded areas, since it was normally hot and she needed something like the shadows of trees and buildings. But she didn’t need that today! What she needed right now was to be warm!

Grumbling to herself as she wandered the halls of Baum Academy, Stella kept her arms wrapped tight around her, her shoulders hunched. It didn’t help that the stupid school was cold as well. What was even with that? Exiting out the next pair of doors she saw, Stella took a deep breath of the fresh air, and then released it slowly. Warm. She needed to get warm. Remembering suddenly that Baum’s little courtyard was a nice enough place with benches and lots of sunny patches, she headed in that general direction.

Stella couldn't have been more pleased with her decision. Upon arriving at the courtyard, she discovered it was delightfully abandoned and perfectly sunny. Well... mostly abandoned. Some girl was spread out in the sunniest sun patch Stella could see from where she stood. She had headphones in, and something in her hand that was smoking, and long hair. At least it seemed long with how it was all tangled in the grass. "... Hey." Stella called, not moving from where she was, as if the girl would hear her. Stella of all people should have known better than to try talking to somebody with headphones in.

Realizing this shortly after, Stella moved from her spot and stopped beside the girl, noticing then how very tall she was. At least she had to be with legs that long. "Hey." Stella said again, hoping this time she would be heard. "Can I share this sunny spot with you?" Because despite being usually very selfish, Stella knew the rules of first come first serve, and this girl had been there first. If she didn't want to share, she didn't have to. It would suck horribly, obviously, but she supposed there were other places in the courtyard.

But... well, enjoying the warmth of the sun with somebody else was always more fun than by yourself. Enjoying anything with anybody else was more fun than by yourself. Stella knew that firsthand.

outfit!

[SIOBHAN NYLAN]

Words sounded garbled behind the warble of the Beatle’s track playing in her ears. Perhaps she had a faulty download? She was still learning her way around computers and new technology, so it could be exacted. But again, she heard that voice. And there was that faint feeling of a presence, someone else nearby. Siobhan opened her eyes behind the black circles of her sunglasses. So there was a person, and they were talking to her. Straightening herself up, she pulled her headphones out of her ears, and peered over the top of her glasses.

“What was that, red?” She asked, her voice sounding just as willowy as she looked. An easy tone, almost sleepy. Wispy. Her red lips spread in a smile that seemed just as easy, and he patted the grass next to her. “Have a seat, man. Enjoy the grass and the sun before the snow takes it all away.” She murmured. She turned her face back up to the sky, feeling the sun’s rays shine down on her face. People were something that came easily to Siobhan. In a way, they were all brothers and sisters of the earth. Maybe they didn’t know each other’s faces, but spirits knew each other. Yeah. Another drag from the white stick in her hand, and she let the smoke out of her lips.

Pulling her knees up, she rested her elbows on them, holding her own wrist for a moment before extending a pale hand towards Stella. “What’s your name, sister? I’m Siobhan. Some people call me Flower. Or Shiv. Whatever you like, names are cool.” Another gentle smile as she waited. People were fleeting. Perhaps she’d never see this girl again after today. But they would share something for a moment. They would share the same sun, and the same grass before the snow frosted it over.

Deep down in her heart, Siobhan held a small hope that she could make a friend that would transcend the winter, and live on to the spring. But people came and they would leave. And she would still remain. These thoughts flooded into her head, and she gave the stick in her hand a strange stare, like she hadn’t seen it before. Yeah, maybe that was enough for now. Putting out the glowing end in a patch of dirt, she set the unfinished spliff aside and turned her attention back to her temporary companion.

---
outfit: Here!

[STELLA HINES]

When the assumingly tall and long haired girl didn’t immediately answer, Stella considered backing away and finding a different spot. The thing she had between her fingers looked somewhat like a cigarette, but she didn’t really know enough to safely guess that it was one. Maybe she was asleep? Having almost settled with that, Stella found herself a bit startled when the redhead moved. Stella tugged on a strand of her hair, liking that the girl had gone with ‘red’ instead of something like ‘pipsqueak’ which she got all the time.

She sounded sleepy enough, but her smile was nice and inviting, so Stella settled down onto the warm grass beside the girl. Stella uttered a sad sort of groan at the reminder that winter was coming soon. Give her sunshine and hundred degree days anytime. She kicked off her flip flops and wiggled her toes in the grass, enjoying it just like the redhead beside her had said to, before the snow took it all away. “Sure would be nice to live somewhere eternally sunny,” she commented idly, leaning back on her forearms.

Stella listened carefully to how the girl said her name. It wasn’t one she’d ever heard before, and it sounded like it might be spelled differently from how it was pronounced. “Siobhan,” she repeated. Stella smiled, glad that a nickname had been offered, “I like both. I think I’ll switch between Flower and Shiv.” She sat up, stretching her arms in front of her, before pulling her hair up into a momentary ponytail. “I’m Stella. I’ll respond to pretty much anything, so long as it isn’t actually Estella.” She visibly shuddered, as she always did at the very sound of her full name.

She dropped her hair, letting it tumble back down her shoulders and fell onto her back to nestle into the grass. Despite not looking forward to winter, Siobhan reminding her that it was nearing encouraged Stella to enjoy the warmth even more so than she usually would have. Stella turned her head to watch Siobhan, becoming briefly curious as she put out the cigarette-looking thing. “I really like your hair,” she found herself saying, just now getting a proper look at it, little pieces of grass tangled into it and all. Maybe she’d grow her hair out that long someday.

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