+ YOU CAN HIDE, DON'T CRY

[anya]

playground school bell rings again,
rain clouds come to play again…

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ANYA MICHCA[/size][/b]
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Anya had finally had it. She had snapped! She had busted her ass off for this and so far it wasn’t much better than her other school had been. She had no friends, she was tired and stressed and she felt like crap. Her head was pounding, her stomach churning and her nose was stuffed to all hell and back. She felt sick and she was really missing home. Anya didn’t do well with change and being away from home was a lot harder than she had expected it to be. She felt really lonely and not having had time to make friends wasn’t helping her at all.

In fact, Anya was pretty sure that up till Halloween no one had even realized she was there. She was like a ghost. No one noticed she was there! And those who did just pushed at her, teased her and made fun. She dressed extravagantly sure, but that was Anya’s way of expressing herself. She was a quiet girl and not just a little shy either. She had a lot she wanted to say and no one to say it to, so she had shut up and just stayed in the background mutely, her clothes saying all she needed to say.

Her hair was thankfully pulled back in pigtails today, keeping the tears from wetting her hair and causing it to cling to her face. Her eyeliner was running and most of it wasn’t really there anymore, as her quick trip into the bathroom on her way here had allowed her to wipe her eyes clean.

She had considered just running back to her dorm but that might mean passing Kodi once inside the dorm and that girl was positively dreadful! Anya just didn’t know what to do, so she ducked into an empty class room, her sobs the only thing she could hear. She had an over packed back pack at her side full of text books, binders and papers from her recent visit to the library to work on more homework in her attempts to get caught up. She had fallen asleep and if it hadn’t been for…well that was another story for another time.

For now Anya was feeling completely overwhelmed and completely alone. And that was enough to break the small girl down to tears. She just dropped down at the back of the empty classroom, her tears flying down her cheeks as she curled herself up to be as small as possible. It was late in the evening as it was and she wasn’t particularly proud of her current state, so staying unnoticed was her best option; even if she had done that pretty much constantly already. She continued sobbing, sitting alone in the darkness of the classroom. Maybe she should have at least turned on the light….

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•• Tag • Open ••
•• Words • 471 ••
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•• Lyrics • "Hello" by Evanescence ••

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[Felicity Anne Hoffman]

Class was over for the day, and Felicity didn't have much left to do before heading home. She only needed to finish up grading a few papers. It was something that she could work on at home if she wanted to as well, but she found that she could focus easier when she was still at the school. Not to mention she liked making sure that she set up after school hours for students to stop by if they wished to talk with her about something. She took a vested interest in her students (well, the students who tried, anyway) and would do what she could to make things easier for them.

That said, she wasn't perfect, and could occasionally get pushed a bit too far. There were some students she'd given up on as a lost cause, but those few did not ruin the experience, thankfully. There were others she tried fruitlessly to engage still.

After finishing up her last assignment for the day, she packed up her things. Now, Felicity was known for her odd fashion sense as well. This particular day she was wearing lightning shaped earrings and one of her favorite custom skirts, this one with pictures of storm clouds and other various weather phenomena on it. By now she was more than used to a few odd comments here and there, and was well aware that some students actually laughed at her behind her back. Once upon a time, she would have cared. As a high school student, it would have eaten at her. Now, it just slid off of her. She would like to be liked by every student, but she was fully aware that she was a teacher, and therefore no matter what a subject to be marveled at by some. It was almost amusing in a way.

What wasn't amusing was what she heard when walking past a classroom on the second floor on her way to leaving the school. When she heard a faint noise that sounded distinctly like sobbing, she didn't think twice before flipping on the light switch. Sure enough, she spotted a young, frail looking student crying in a corner. Felicity recognized the girl as a student in one of her classes - a freshman too. Freshmen usually seemed to have it worst, being the youngest and most unfamiliar with the school. The redhead moved toward the student, taking a seat next to her. She didn't know what was bothering Anya, but she intended to find out. With high school students, it could be anything from trouble with classwork, problems at home, problems with other students, problems with adjusting to life number two (although Felicity remained blissfully unaware of that particular struggle). All that Felicity knew was that Anya would likely feel better after talking it out. Most usually did. "What's going on, Anya? Is it anything I could help with?"[/color] At the very least, she would offer her ears.

Word count: 499
To: Jez-E/Anya
Notes: Been thinking about replying to this for a while. XD

[anya]

playground school bell rings again,
rain clouds come to play again…

[/b][/color]



ANYA MICHCA[/size][/b]
====================================[/center][/color]

Anya hadn’t considered that anyone would still be around this late. Or at least if they had that they might notice her at all. She had ducked out of the line of sight and it wasn’t like she was being too loud…was she? Well, Anya was being louder than she was aware of, seeing as the volume of her sobs were not something she was consciously considering. In fact, with her head tucked as it was, it was only from her peripherals she noticed that the light in the classroom she had hidden herself away in had turned on.

Anya tried to stifle the sobs, and they cut back significantly right from the moment she realized someone else was in the room. She was afraid of who it could be. It could be someone with bad intentions after all. She peered up, her arms still mostly obscuring her face and took in a familiar face and red hair. Her science teacher, Ms. Hoffman.

It was both a relief and a bit embarrassing to know a teacher had found her like this. A relief it wasn’t someone nasty, embarrassing that she was found like this at all. Anya tried to pretend like she hadn’t noticed the teacher, and silently wishing both that she would go away and that she’d stay. It was a confusing state of mind to say the least.

When the teacher spoke, it was settled as to what she preferred, as it meant she had a distraction, or at least that someone had noticed her. She glanced up her eyes puffy, red but also shining from the water in them. It took her a moment to choke back her tears a bit so she could explain what was wrong.

”Nothing and everything!! This isn’t anything like I expected it to be!”

[/b] She said, as if it explained everything. She didn’t really specify what ‘this’ was but it could be either clear or unclear depending on the mind interpreting it.

Anya quickly pulled out a wad of Kleenex from her bag and wiped her eyes and her nose, though it did little for her eyes when the tears still kept leaking out of them and down her face. She refrained from blowing her nose outright because of the teacher sitting next to her. Though her nose was quite stuffed by the cold she apparently had (even if it was a mental reaction to change).[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote][/color]

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•• Tag • Open ••
•• Words • 405 ••
•• Outfit • CLICK ••
•• Lyrics • "Hello" by Evanescence ••

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[Felicity Anne Hoffman]

Though Felicity could be a bit of a ditz at times, she did not fail to notice that the sobs emanating from the small girl in the corner of the room quieted considerably when she entered. Now, she wasn't sure if it was relief at another's presence, or embarrassment, but she was fairly certain that it had something to do with her entrance into the classroom.

Felicity hated to see such a sweet girl upset. The freshman was remarkably quiet in her classes, and while she'd had her share of shy students, Anya was one of the shyest she'd come across. That said, she could tell there was more to Anya than her accepted classification of 'shy girl who doesn't say much of anything'. It was obvious by her appearance. The way the freshman dressed made her stand out. Not that Felicity disliked it, not by any means. In fact, she rather enjoyed it. Again, as a woman who delighted in picking and choosing her clothing for the occasion, sometimes even aiding in the design herself (usually by picking out designs she wanted on the skirts and shirts she wore, and not actually sewing them herself), she paid attention to those sorts of things.

The words Anya responded back with were vague, yet encompassing. While Felicity was no closer to finding out exactly what was going on in Anya's life, it was clear that life was not meeting up to Anya's expectations, and that would frustrate anyone. It would be like Felicity pouring her heart and soul into a project for one of her classes, only to have the project cease to work during the actual presentation. It wasn't quite the same thing, of course, but Felicity could certainly understand Anya's frustration, even if she didn't fully understand the cause.

That didn't mean she was going to give up in her quest to find out just what was bothering Anya. Nothing and everything was not a good enough answer for Felicity, who, again, figured it would be best if Anya talked to someone about the issue rather than curling up in the corner of a classroom sobbing. Sometimes her tenacity could be annoying, and sometimes she might not know where to stop, but, depending on the situation, that wasn't always a bad thing. "What did you expect it to be? How is it not meeting your expectations?"[/color] Felicity questioned, in a further attempt to get Anya to open up. If she was as shy as she was in class around everyone else, it was quiet possible that Anya didn't even have anyone that she could talk to about this, which made matters worse. Felicity intended to fix that.

Word count: 455
To: Jez-E/Anya
Notes:

[anya]

playground school bell rings again,
rain clouds come to play again…

[/b][/color]



ANYA MICHCA[/size][/b]
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Anya had a harder time socializing with others when she wasn’t talking about something she had loads of passion for. The girl was quiet and shy but if you brought up fashion at the right moment she’d be all over that before she even realized she had started speaking. It made her nervous sometimes to think that she just spoke to a stranger but the butterflies would come after she spoke and then when the conversation continued the girl couldn’t help herself. Too bad this was different.

She didn’t want to talk but she did. She wasn’t sure what to say or how to say it and she didn’t even understand 100% what the problem was. It was so many things that were tiny that it made it hard to talk about any of them. She tried to choke back her tears so she could speak without a quiver in her voice and without the sobs interrupting her but the attempt didn’t help. She just sniffled and the sobs followed anyways. She naturally spoke with a bit of a quiver when nervous or upset so that didn’t change either.

”I was supposed to...to get here and have friends. And it was supposed to be better than the other school with more classes to take that I want to take. And that part is true. But I haven’t had time to make friends. I didn’t think catching up would take this long…”

[/b] She said a lot for a first go and she hesitated with a little section of sobs in the middle, and trying to muster up more courage to speak again, she found it easier to do the second time.

”I can’t get caught up cause there is more and more and I keep getting behind again and then I have to work harder and more and then there is less time. And everyone is so busy with their stuff that I don’t get to talk to them…”[/b] She looked mortified for a moment and quickly added, ”Not to sound selfish!”[/b] Anya didn’t know how to even touch the rest of it. In fact, that about summed the basics up.

She wiped her eyes though it didn’t do much and then added, ”It doesn’t help I am afraid to talk to them.”[/b] in a very quiet voice, barely even a whisper. She had another short fit of sobs following it and then tried to gather herself back together again. For the moment the effort was rewarded with a bit more composure but not by much.[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote][/color]

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•• Tag • Felicity Hoffman ••
•• Words • 425 ••
•• Outfit • CLICK ••
•• Lyrics • "Hello" by Evanescence ••

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[Felicity Anne Hoffman]

While Felicity could say that she related to Anya at least somewhat, she was never one to be described as "shy", at least not to the extent that Anya was. Were there times where she'd been less outgoing? Yes. She never had much of a problem with talking, but her confidence levels, her ability to blow off criticism? Those she'd developed over the years. Those had come from finding friends that she could relate to. Something that clearly, Anya had not been able to do yet.

Even now, Felicity was not completely immune to criticism. It still bothered her when students would purposely not try in her classes, despite the fact that she tried her best to make things entertaining, easy, and fun.

Felicity could discern within a few moments that Anya had more than just one worry on her plate. It bothered her when she heard Anya's sobs start up in the middle of speaking, and she finally discerned it as safe to put her hand on Anya's shoulder in an attempt to comfort the girl. As Anya spoke up about her concerns with school, Felicity couldn't remain silent. She might or might not have cut Anya off in the middle of speaking, but Felicity had a hard time remaining quiet when she was bursting with something to say. And she considered this to be important. "Are you having any trouble in my class? I'd be willing to set up an appointment with you after school if you need any help in catching up. Or maybe we could discuss some sort of program to allow you to get caught up to where you're supposed to be."[/color] While Felicity couldn't very well make any promises about Anya's other classes, she would do what she could with her class. At least maybe that would lighten the load a little?

Felicity shook her head when Anya apologized. "Don't apologize. You're just saying how you feel, and you need to get it out."[/color] Felicity saw the apology as part of the problem. If she was apologizing for simply speaking her mind about that...to her, that showed a sign that Anya felt that way about a lot of things that she said, which wasn't right. Sure enough, Anya admitted that she was afraid to talk to her peers. "Well, some of them are probably just as afraid to talk to you as you are to them. There are some mean people out there, but most people out there are willing to talk."[/color] She decided to provide a few examples. "What about the Halloween dance? I saw you talking with Oliver Winchester there. Or the Time Spiral more recently. I know talking may not always come easy for you, but starting the conversation is always the hardest hurdle. Try talking about something you know a lot about. For example, I heard you talking about designing your own costume at the Time Spiral. If regular small talk intimidates you, try talking about their clothes! It gets the conversation started, which is the hardest part. Then you can go from there."[/color] Obviously, she couldn't solve Anya's problems overnight, but she hoped this would at least be a start down the right path.

Word count: 556
To: Jez-E/Anya
Notes: Nope

[anya]

playground school bell rings again,
rain clouds come to play again…

[/b][/color]



ANYA MICHCA[/size][/b]
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Anya was still at an age where it was hard for her to imagine her teachers living outside the school. As a result she didn’t really think about them in terms of having been younger or been in school themselves as students once. She was still in the stages where her life was her concern and she didn’t really consider how others may have been through the same. It’s that stage in life where everything feels like it is your experience alone and Anya was having that at this moment in her life. She was after all, a fourteen year old girl.

Anya didn’t really mind the hand that ended up on her shoulder. It was actually almost comforting and sort of reminded Anya of home. Strangely enough that wasn’t an unusual feeling for her or upsetting like thinking of home had been for the past couple weeks. Instead of was much more in the realm of comfort and familiarity. It made Anya more inclined to speak more about what was bothering her. Especially because of a sense of trust that was amplified by the gesture. She didn’t even notice when Felicity cut in with her own words, instead Anya listened intently.

Anya blinked back the tears in her eyes a moment at hearing her teacher jump on the problem at hand. At least in the class Ms. Hoffman had control over. Anya found herself nodding as the teacher spoke to her about her class. ”I’m okay. A little help after class wouldn’t hurt. I am..”

[/b] she lowered her voice as if embarrassed. ”I struggle in Math and English mostly.”[/b] She didn’t elaborate but she then added, ”But I am still behind in Science.”[/b] Any help would help her stress levels, that much was for sure.

Anya didn’t realize that her apology was taken the way it was. She was so used to apologizing for something said when she found herself uncomfortable that she didn’t second guess the apology. However, her instinct response to the don’t apologize was to nod her head and followed by ”Okay, Sorry.”[/b] She caught herself covering her mouth after saying the second apology, realizing it was the same situation as the first apology. She kept her mouth shut a moment after that to hear what else Ms. Hoffman had to say.

Anya looked surprised when she was told that her peers were probably just as afraid of talking to her. She doubted it but didn’t say as much. But she did nod when Oliver was mentioned. ”Yes. He talked to me. And I guess I did talk about clothes with some of them at the Time Spiral. But they have their friends already, and I don’t fit their groups.”[/b] Anya said in protest to it being that simple. It couldn’t be that simple. Hell for Anya it wasn’t as simple as having one common interest. She still listened intently to the other advice hoping for something that would help her situation.

She nodded in agreement to making her costume for the Time Spiral. ”I really like clothes. But wouldn’t it be unusual for me to just walk up to someone and…and start talking about clothes?”[/b] Anya was getting uncomfortable at the very thought of walking up to one of them and just talking. Yeah, that wasn’t likely to happen. If only she could get past that nervousness. She could talk just fine when she knew someone. It was getting to know them that was difficult. Either way, she was more than open to possible solutions, she just wanted to be sure it wasn’t strange to walk up and talk to someone about clothes on a whim. That didn’t seem like a smart idea. Anya felt maybe she could get the courage to do it if she tried…or at least after she tried a couple of times.[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote][/color]

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•• Tag • Felicity Hoffman ••
•• Words • 641 ••
•• Outfit • CLICK ••
•• Lyrics • "Hello" by Evanescence ••

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[Felicity Anne Hoffman]

Thinking back on Anya's grades, Felicity couldn't recall them being too terrible. That said, Felicity still wanted to offer what help that she could. Even if it wasn't science, even if she just needed a place to come after school and relax, Felicity was willing to open her doors. Maybe she could even introduce Anya to Claudius! The thought of this made Felicity smile a little. She was so caught up in this idea to cheer Anya up (as so often happened) that she didn't even stop to think what might happen were Anya afraid of spiders. Because...Claudius was a spider. A really big spider.

Fortunately, Anya responded, and Felicity's attention was drawn away from thoughts of big cuddly scary spiders and back to the topic at hand.

"I could probably help you a bit with Math as well. The two are related, after all."[/color] Felicity stated with a warm smile. And it was true. Not so much in the lower levels of science that most of her freshmen were in, although there were a few equations here and there, but Chemistry and Physics were full of such calculations. While Felicity actually did not teach either of those, the fact that she was a high school science teacher meant that she'd had to do quite a bit of studying when she was in college to get where she was...and that meant taking some heavy duty science courses. She wasn't in elementary school science, after all. She was in secondary science. Though she could be a ditz when it came to common sense sometimes, she was a lot more book smart than people gave her credit for. She had to be to get where she was.

Felicity shook her head at Anya's next insistence. "When I was your age, I used to think there were set crowds too. In some cases, there are, but for the most part, if someone comes across a person that they really like and get to talk to them, they're willing to introduce that person to some of their friends as well."[/color] This was exactly what happened to Felicity when she was Anya's age, though, again, she'd never been as painfully shy as the freshman in front of her. Still, she could relate in her own way. The teacher shook her head. "Not necessarily. It could be as simple as going up to someone and saying you like their clothes, and asking where they got them. It's something you know about, so it should be easier to keep a conversation going from there than if, say, you were talking about basketball."[/color] Basketball was, of course, an odd example, but she hoped that Anya would get the jist of what she was saying.

Word count: 556
To: Jez-E/Anya
Notes: Nope

[anya]

playground school bell rings again,
rain clouds come to play again…

[/b][/color]



ANYA MICHCA[/size][/b]
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Anya was certainly starting to simmer down a bit now. She wasn’t nearly as upset though she did keep sniffling and wiping her red and puffy eyes. Occasionally she’d choke back a small sob, but for the most part she wasn’t anywhere near as upset as she had been at the beginning of the conversation. Just having someone else speaking to her was a relief on some accounts, but throw in that Felicity was offering her help and it was becoming that much easier to talk to Felicity and to calm down.

Anya looked relieved at the idea of having help with her math homework. Science she was okay with for most aspects, but once math got added in too viciously (like in chemistry) she started to get a little lost. So to have math help and some science help was a huge step. She was a little surprised at the teacher’s offers to help, but not enough to think it was unusual. Though, it was true that Riverdale’s staff were far from normal in most senses. Felicity was just as unusual, though she didn’t have the big secret that neither Anya nor Felicity were aware of.

”Thank you.”

[/b] Anya said, meaning it. ”I don’t understand why I have to know the math to get the sides of a triangle or slopes, but even if I did know it’s not making sense.”[/b] Anya said. She didn’t understand most aspects of math, but at least she had her basic multiplication, division, addition and subtraction down just fine.

Anya found herself sitting forward a little bit to hear what Felicity had to say. At this point she wanted all the help she could get and obviously Felicity was offering it. She listened intently to hear more about what had happened to Felicity when she was in high school. ”But how do you get people to like you? And how do they know they will like you? What if they don’t give you a chance because they don’t know you?”[/b] Anya asked, implying the big circle that happened in social situations she was usually a part of. A group of people don’t accept a person unless they like them, they don’t know the person so they won’t accept them and therefore they can’t get to know them either.

Anya could understand the logic in going up to someone and talking about the clothes they were wearing. It made more sense than talking about clothes in general at least. So she decided maybe next time she’d try it. It was worth a shot, what was the worst that could happen? They could turn her down, yell at her, call her names, give her dirty looks and ultimately walk away…okay, now she was really uncertain about trying it. But she tried to remind herself that the worst case isn’t what always happened.

”How do you get the nasty ones to leave you alone then?”[/b] Anya asked, referring to a select few who were already bullying her. Hell, the very reason she wasn’t in her room at that moment was because of Kodi. Kodi would tease her worse if she saw her crying…or at least that was what Anya thought. So she had decided to avoid the room altogether.[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote][/color]

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•• Tag • Felicity Hoffman ••
•• Words •543 ••
•• Outfit • CLICK ••
•• Lyrics • "Hello" by Evanescence ••

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[Felicity Anne Hoffman]

Seeing that Anya was more at ease now than at the beginning of the conversation was a relief to Felicity. She cared about her students, and she wanted to help them, but if Anya was still in the process of bawling her eyes out despite Felicity's attempts, the redhead would have likely gotten frustrated and probably pulled someone else into help...which might have made the whole thing spiral out of control even worse. Felicity had the best intentions in mind, but sometimes her good intentions got a bit...carried away. For example, trying to 'helpfully' aid Isabella Avadore in overcoming her fear of fire? Not going so well.

Felicity found the subjects Anya was describing rather easy. At least the girl wasn't in any calculus classes. While Felicity had to take several higher math classes to earn her degree, calculus was one of those things she'd rather just try to forget. Algebra and geometry, on the other hand? Those she could do, and she could still explain. "I think part of the problem is that not everyone can just do problems out of the book. It can sometimes be easier to do if you have something you might come across in your day to day life to use as an example."[/color] Felicity would have to see Anya's work before she could actually help the girl with anything, but she hoped that even that little tidbit might provide some help for now.

The next question caused Felicity's smile to drop a little. Oh dear, what a loaded question! It was one that almost every teenager could relate to, but a difficult one to answer. The science teacher took a deep breath before launching into her response. "Well, you can't make everyone like you. Trying to go for that is only going to make you disappointed, because there are just some people out there who hardly get along with anybody."[/color] Ironically, Felicity needed to heed her own advice in class, as she tried relentlessly to engage students who simply would not cooperate. It was much easier to make remarks as an observer than as a participant though, of course.

"I know it's going to sound silly, but it's true. The best way you can get people to like you is to be yourself. You're a sweet girl, there's no way that there aren't people out there who would like to get to know you."[/color] That said, Felicity knew well enough that Anya couldn't just expect people to come up to her, and that was another roadblock. "That said, you can't just expect people to come up and start talking to you. You have to do some of the work yourself. You know what I said about the clothes? Just compliment someone on their clothes. That's probably the hardest part of the conversation out of the way!"[/color] In reality, the introduction was not always the hardest part of a conversation, but she knew Anya likely viewed it as such given her disposition. The girl's next question was perhaps hardest of all to answer, and Felicity's smile actually turned into a frown. "Who are the nasty ones?"[/color] The redhead was now switching from big sister mode to teacher mode. This was a problem she wasn't so sure that Anya could solve on her own.

Word count: 576
To: Jez-E/Anya
Notes: Yeah...fire thing didn't work. XD

[anya]

playground school bell rings again,
rain clouds come to play again…

[/b][/color]



ANYA MICHCA[/size][/b]
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Anya had always been a weaker personality. It was hard to explain where it came from because both of her current parents were quite bold. Perhaps it was the bullying she had gotten so often, or perhaps it was that she had never been forced to step up before. Either way, Anya`s timid nature and her constant fear of the opinions of others wasn`t serving her needs by any means. In fact, these feelings and personalities traits were hampering her, but the poor girl wasn`t about to overcome them easily.

Anya nodded in agreement as Felicity mentioned that not everyone can learn out of a book. ” The book doesn’t really explain everything. How do you even know what do to? And why? And the order of some of them is tricky too. And when will I ever use it!! You said it can be used in day to day life…but when!?”

[/b] Anya asked, summing up her general problem with math pretty well considering. She knew what she struggled with to say the least.

Anya looked very confused as Felicity explained that she couldn’t make everyone like her. ”But what if I want to be friends with one person, but their friend’s friend doesn’t like me. Then that person tells their friend, and the friend tells the person I want to be friends with, and then they won’t be my friend because someone else doesn’t like me.”[/b] Anya sound genuinely concerned about this, no matter how farfetched it seemed. It was just one of the many scenarios going through her head.

Anya’s voice suddenly got very small, ”But what if the people who do want to don’t?”[/b]. Anya listened very intently to the rest of what Felicity had to say. So she had to approach them first and ask or comment on their clothes. She could…maybe could…could possibly do that. ”Okay.”[/b] Anya nodded her head. ”So I talk to them, and they talk to me? But what if they don’t want to talk? You said some people don’t like to talk. How do I know?”[/b] Anya asked, her attention undivided as she waited for the answer.

Anya suddenly looked a lot more uncomfortable. ”You know. Ones like that Anabelle girl, and my roommate Kodi.”[/b] Ana was actually bullying Anya, but Kodi was just being blunt and honest with the girl who just couldn’t handle what Anya had to say. But to Anya, they were both the nasty kind she didn’t want to talk with and was afraid of running into.[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote][/color]

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•• Tag • Felicity Hoffman ••
•• Words • 420 ••
•• Outfit • CLICK ••
•• Lyrics • "Hello" by Evanescence ••

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[Felicity Anne Hoffman]

Now that she had the girl talking, she sure asked a lot of questions! Felicity enjoyed this, though. It went to show that Anya, in fact, wanted to talk, but was afraid to. Now that she'd calmed down around Felicity she was clearly finding it easier to share things with the teacher.

"Well, let me think. You use fractions a lot when you're cooking. Math also comes in handy when you're counting out money. It all depends on what you're going into as well. You like making clothes, right? Well, so do I, and I noticed that I have to do a lot of measuring when making my clothes. That's math.[/color] The best way that Felicity could think of to make something stick was connecting it to something that a student already understood. She knew of Anya's passion for clothes, and it was actually one that they shared.

Felicity blinked at the scenario that Anya presented her with. "Whoa, let's not get too carried away now. It's a possibility, don't get me wrong, but usually if people want to be friends with you they won't stop just because another friend wants them to. If they do, they're not really a friend you want to have around you anyway."[/color] Actually, the situation Anya was describing was more common in high schools than most wanted to admit. It wasn't as pressing of a worry as Anya made it out to be, but Felicity knew there was some basis to it, hence why she didn't completely brush it off. Still, she didn't want Anya to continue in the state that she was in, because it was very clear that wasn't what Anya wanted. She wanted to be able to socialize, and she wanted friends, but she found it difficult to.

At that point, another idea came to Felicity's mind. Anya had plenty of concerns, and realistic ones as well, but Felicity had an idea that might help the young girl out. It was worth a shot, at least. "Have you ever looked at any of the school clubs? That's a great way to meet people! If it's a club doing something you like then chances are the other members like it too. You already have something in common, which makes conversations a lot easier. You get what I'm saying?"[/color] Now the question was if any school clubs actually fit Anya's interests. Then again, there was nothing saying that Anya couldn't make her own...nothing but Anya's own fears, of course. Felicity's demeanor grew serious once more as Anya named two girls. "What do they do? Do they just say mean things or worse?"[/color] Bullying wasn't good in any form, but it was worse if the bullying turn physical. No one could argue with that. And it was Felicity's job to prevent what she could.

Word count: 493
To: Jez-E/Anya
Notes: None

[anya]

playground school bell rings again,
rain clouds come to play again…

[/b][/color]



ANYA MICHCA[/size][/b]
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That was just the truth of it. Anya had plenty she’d like to say but was always afraid to speak up and say it. She had her passions and interests too and she did want someone to talk to about them. She wanted to be around people but also was afraid of it. Still is afraid of it. Other than a slightly stuffed up nose, swollen eyes and rosy cheeks she appeared much calmer. She had stopped crying and those other signs would leave with time.

Anya never thought about cooking as a place that uses Fractions! And she knew Math was handy for money but she just thought that was adding, subtracting, dividing and multiplying. Anya nodded her head when Felicity asked if she liked making clothes. ”I do. I have a tape measurer, a cloth tape measurer, and a ruler for the small stuff. But that’s just remembering numbers. I can remember numbers just fine.”

[/b] The truth of it was, Anya was doing math and was very much unaware because she was more interested in the clothes she was making than in the details.

Anya snapped her mouth closed when Felicity said not to get too carried away. ”If they usually want to be friends why don’t I have any yet? And what do you do when the person you want to talk to is always with other people?”[/b] Her tone made it clear that Anya found the other people, or other friends of someone she wanted to approach more frightening than a single person. Then again, that really isn’t all that surprising considering her fear of judgement.

Anya found herself nodding in response to Felicity’s suggestion. ”Is there an anime club? Or a fashion club?”[/b] Anya asked, knowing both would include costuming. ”What about homework or book clubs?!”[/b] She asked, liking the idea a bit better for the moment. Until she realized it would be a group of people and then she looked a bit more uncomfortable. ”That’s a lot of new people at once…”[/b] She said much more quietly.

Anya considered if she should tell Felicity about the other two girls. She didn’t want to get them in trouble and then have them come at her worse for it. If you get them in trouble they will be worse.”[/b] She said out loud but continued anyways. ”Kodi just says mean things. Like saying I am wearing something particularly ridiculous today. Or that I’d have more friends if I dressed normal. She also tends to force me out of the way when she needs something in our dorm that I was using. She’s just not very nice…”[/b] Anya explained. She was a little more hushed about Ana though.

”Anabelle is really mean. She steals my stuff. She took some of my bracelets yesterday. Well, I sort of handed them to her, but she would definitely hurt me if I didn’t. She says the same stuff as Kodi but it sounds meaner from her.”[/b] Anya explained.

”Don’t get them in trouble. They will just make it more difficult and be much much worse if you do. Especially Ana!! Ana already told me I wasn’t allow to tell!”[/b] Anya said, sounding a bit distressed at the thought.[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote][/color]

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•• Tag • Felicity Hoffman ••
•• Words • 538 ••
•• Outfit • CLICK ••
•• Lyrics • "Hello" by Evanescence ••

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[Felicity Anne Hoffman]

It was easy to see what was stopping Anya, but much harder to help her overcome that. Felicity herself had never been as shy and reserved as Anya. Had she always been this confident? Of course not, but she'd also never paid too much mind to what people were saying about her when she came to school wearing odd clothes when she was Anya's age. She'd already had a confidence in herself that Anya lacked even before she'd really come into her own. Regardless, she knew her own experiences, and she knew that what helped her could help Anya as well.

The girl had an awful lot of good questions. Felicity also realized that these very questions she kept popping up with were what was keeping Anya from communicating freely with others. In this regard, the questions weren't so good. They were understandable concerns, but judging by Anya's demeanor, such questions went through her head every time she approached someone. Now that wasn't healthy socially. "People do tend to travel around in packs. That said, I think if you look, you'll catch plenty of times when people are on their own."[/color] It was true, of course. As much as people walking around the school in groups, there were other people who navigated to their classes on their own. "I doubt you're the only one who has a hard time talking to people. I've seen others just as quiet as you. Maybe you could try going up to one of them, if going up to a group of people scares you."[/color]

Felicity grinned as Anya started blurting out ideas of clubs that she might join. "I'm pretty sure we have a book club, and we might have an anime club. I don't think we have a fashion club, but that doesn't mean that you can't start one."[/color] Felicity's grin suddenly widened as a mischievous look came across her face. "Or, rather, we. I'd love to be a sponsor for a fashion club!"[/color] Her science classes and teaching were Felicity's true passions, but fashion was a hobby of hers as well (which was plain as day for anyone who looked at some of her outfits). She was also more than aware that Anya would likely never get a school club started on her own, but with the backing of a teacher...well, at least there was a possibility. Felicity thought it would do wonders for Anya's confidence.

So would taking care of the bully situation, although Anya pleaded with Felicity not to tell anyone. Not much bothered Felicity, but that bothered her. Especially when she heard what Ana was doing. At least Kodi's seemed like average high school teasing. Which was terrible, but not so bad as Ana's actions. "She makes you hand over your bracelets? Kodi is being mean, but what Ana is doing is pretty serious, if she's threatening you."[/color] The redheaded teacher sighed. "I won't tell anyone right now, alright? But if she ever threatens to really hurt you, or says or does anything that really scares you, tell me, alright?"[/color] The Kodi situation was concerning, yes, but the Ana situation concerned Felicity more. "As for Kodi, do you have another roommate? Do you talk to her at all?"[/color] If Anya had back up in the form of another roommate it would certainly help matters...

Word count: 598
To: Jez-E/Anya
Notes: None

[anya]

playground school bell rings again,
rain clouds come to play again…

[/b][/color]



ANYA MICHCA[/size][/b]
====================================[/center][/color]

Anya considered what others thought very important. It was the largest part of why she was so dreadfully shy. Her fear of being judged would control her until she learned to let other’s opinions go. That was a lot easier said than done for the girl, and though she had made steps where her fashion was concerned, she was far from removing that from the big picture. She was honestly at a loss of how to make others like her and approve of her, but that thinking alone was the wrong path and it was hard to change and improve a situation when the mindset of the approach was the real problem.

Anya wasn’t really aware of just how her own questions and concerns were hampering her but at the same time she was seeking solutions without realizing it. She was asking these questions in hopes of getting around these problems but she didn’t recognize the questions and problems as the reasons she had a hard time talking to people, but more like something in place that couldn’t be changed and was almost purposely done by others as a deterrent. They were not the reason, they were the product of the reason.

Anya considered what Felicity said and decided to start keeping a better eye out for these other people on their own. ”Okay, I guess I will pay more attention. Maybe I just missed them before.”

[/b] She added, not fully on board, but hesitantly. ”But if I approach other quiet people won’t I make them as uncomfortable as they make me? That sounds like a bad way to make friends.”[/b] Anya said, her logic a bit flawed.

Anya’s eyes lit up with delight. ”Would we get people to join a fashion club? I’d love to make more clothes and see other people’s homemade clothes!”[/b] Anya exclaimed, finding some excitement in the idea of a fashion club. Of course that was the idea, the actual implementation was much more frightening and it wasn’t long before her excitement dimmed again and she whispered, ”But if we made the club, I’d actually have to talk to everyone...”[/b] The concern was more spoken to herself than to Felicity.

Anya found herself regretting that she had said anything about Ana and Kodi. But now that the topic was breached, she felt obligated to keep talking about it. ”Ana has lots of bracelets, but she always wants the ones I make. She took my hat once too...but that was it,”[/b] Anya said, trying to make it sound like less than it was. Anya nodded mutely, but also looking relieved when it was clear that Ms. Hoffman wasn’t going to tell anyone.

”Well there is Alison. She talks to me sometimes, but she seems really busy. I think she has a lot to do because she is always out at weird times. When she is around Kodi isn’t as mean, because Kodi and Alison are friends.”[/b] Anya explained. ”Kodi just talks to Alison if she is around so I don’t have to worry about her talking to me.”[/b] Anya added for clarification.
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•• Tag • Felicity Hoffman ••
•• Words • 516 ••
•• Outfit • CLICK ••
•• Lyrics • "Hello" by Evanescence ••

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