Blink 1
May 6th 2508
ETA 87 Days
Eleanor Churchill stepped into the room, the doorknob trembling first like it had been a battle to open it with the girl's tiny baby hands, but she got it open.
Kate's breath held, eyes low in case she was looking at an actual mouse and instead of a tie between a tie between a mouse and a stick insect.
Triss was still one of the thinnest girls she had ever seen, the image of her thinnest broken by the gaunt knobliness of such a girl.
She didn't have resting bitch face so much as 'I-have-seen-the-ghosts-of-war-over-the-centuries-in-the-space-of-a-moment… face'.
Her eyes were big too, her hair was impossibly long and stringy, the roots of her hair a jet white that seemed to remember that it was supposed to be white and became yellow blonde again, but not all of it had gotten the message, leaving white streaks between the yellow.
And like a stick insect, she had the same long face, which made her eyes even bigger.
She was not ugly, not really. Just weird looking, with the exception of the ears, which were open and wide like a car with the doors open.
She smiled upon have seen that there were two people staring at her. It was not a happy smile, it was the emotional equivalent of please don't hurt me.
It was warming, it was familiar.
"Oh goodness girl, you came quickly."
"I thought it was important."
"Of course," the councilor said, the tone accommodating the girl's clear lie. But why was she lying? Kate had ideas. "Come in."
But Kate something to work off of at least. One, she's weird looking. And two, she was a terrible liar, hopefully not pathological, which would make things difficult. The idea was to be looked after, not for her to play nurse.
The weirdo ambled her way in And a few addition theories worked their way in. She wasn't a tomboy either. She wore black baggy jeans that seemed to annihilate any idea of her being a girl but at the same time her pink sneakers were essentially 30 percent sandal with a thick base but gaps in the shoe themselves with confetti like streamers, and an ever so slight rise that gave the idea of heels. Yup there was a doll house builder in there. There were dots on her neck too, the kind of dots that came from a life time of necklaces but a nail cut on the one side told a separate story.
There was a good chance that the Kate she needed to be would need to know how to fight people who tended to act like her cousins. One could only wonder what the
counselor was thinking, if she knew.
There were nail marks on her wrist by the palm, which was as far as Kate could see because she'd covered it all with a super thin jersey, despite the heat.
"Ella, have a seat. Eleanor Churchill, this is Katarina Simone, Kate this is Ella."
The two girls eyed each other. It didn't feel right to do the Mother like bombastic angle, but then again..
Kate made a clear and deliberate show of building herself up, puffing herself up and pulling on a nonsensical smile before putting out a hand.
"Ella. It is awesome to meet someone whose spent time in space!"
The girl's hand had come out like the head of a nervous turtle only to be snapped up by the viper like speed of Kate. But it was Kate's words that had made her want to retreat, the girl shot the councilor a look as if she were scandalized by the words.
The councilor just shrugged, confused.
"She didn't tell me. My mom is a… was a soldier so I have been taught to know the look. There's no real way of hiding it. At least I don't think so."
"I been checken." She mumbled, completely off her feet.
====================
New school. New mission. One reluctant friend. Kate leans in, whispers beneath the noise: "I desperately need you to help me kill this girl." What comes next could get her expelled—or something far worse. Secrets don't stay buried long at this school, and Kate's running out of time to make her mark... or disappear trying.