course, she doesn't really look at anyone, but still. I thought maybe she might have said something, a quick hello maybe or a 'see you at lunch', except she wasn't AT lunch. Veronica Flux was, though, and once again she decided to come and pester me.
"Still haven't signed up for any clubs, Charlotte?" she said. It's weird, but even though she's the one who GAVE me the stupid 'Fumbles' nickname, she's about the only person in the school who doesn't use it. "I'm a little disappointed, I thought you would've listened to my excellent advice. You do want to fit in here, don't you?"
I mumbled something like 'yes'. I couldn't lie; I don't like it here and I'm not having much fun and I still intend to leave as soon as I figure out how, but I DO want to fit in. Kind of desperately.
"Well then, you should listen to what I tell you," said Veronica. "Do you want Laurel or Suza or Karen to show you where you sign up?"
I shook my head. "I can find my own way," I said. It wasn't a lie, if I was going to sign up for a club I probably COULD find my own way. I could tell Veronica wasn't quite satisfied, but at least she left me alone. Why is she so desperate for me to join a club? I wish I had someone to talk to about this. I wish I knew what was going on with Other Charlotte. Did I offend her? I bet I did—no, I KNOW I did, I was so rude to her, even with my big apology her feelings must be hurt. I have to make a greater effort to find her and talk to her. Maybe apologise again? Would that be acceptable? Once you've apologised once, is it insulting to do so again? I'm not really sure at all. When I got home my uniform was outside my door, all neatly folded in a plastic bag. Other Charlotte must have dropped it off. It's so nicely washed and even smells good now (before it smelled mostly of starch). Is she avoiding me? Is that why she just dropped it off instead of giving it to me, even though we were in the same class today?
Sigh. Dealing with people is difficult!
xx48.11.10 / 15:39 / Thursday
FINALLY caught up with Other Charlotte. I didn't see her all day (I didn't see Veronica either, thankfully) but then after school finished I spotted her on the other side of the grounds, I was really puffed out by the time I caught her at the gates. I think maybe super-agility also carries with it a secondary power of, I don't know what to call it, enhanced respiration? Super breathing? Not-getting-puffed-while-you-run? Anyway, what I'm saying is that my breathing's gotten heavy after exercising before, or after going through training courses, but I've never had to spend a few seconds just bent over trying to get my breath back. I mean, I DID run as fast as I could and it's not like I'm unfit, I mean even without super-agility I'm pretty quick and I got a lot of stares as I ran, but it's a long way from my apartment to the school gates (I was actually at my door when I saw her). Maybe I should start doing running practice. Anyway, she waited patiently for me to get my breath back enough to talk, then I started things off with:
"I have no idea if I should apologise to you again or not, so could you please tell me if I should?"
To my surprise this actually worked really well! She perked up straight away and even smiled , and she said:
"No, you don't need to apologise to me. Thank you for asking."
Well, that made my day, as you can probably guess. She's not mad at me!
"Okay," I said. "Wow, good. I'm so relieved. I thought you were avoiding me or something."
"I thought that perhaps you wanted me to avoid you," she said. That really threw me!
"What?" I said. "Why would I want you to avoid me?"
"I don't know," she said. "I thought that the possibility existed and without further information it was safer to assume you didn't want further contact with me, and I acted according to that assumption. I now see that this assumption was incorrect, so from now on I won't avoid you. Is that okay?"
"Yes, of course," I said. "Um, you might have
"Still haven't signed up for any clubs, Charlotte?" she said. It's weird, but even though she's the one who GAVE me the stupid 'Fumbles' nickname, she's about the only person in the school who doesn't use it. "I'm a little disappointed, I thought you would've listened to my excellent advice. You do want to fit in here, don't you?"
I mumbled something like 'yes'. I couldn't lie; I don't like it here and I'm not having much fun and I still intend to leave as soon as I figure out how, but I DO want to fit in. Kind of desperately.
"Well then, you should listen to what I tell you," said Veronica. "Do you want Laurel or Suza or Karen to show you where you sign up?"
I shook my head. "I can find my own way," I said. It wasn't a lie, if I was going to sign up for a club I probably COULD find my own way. I could tell Veronica wasn't quite satisfied, but at least she left me alone. Why is she so desperate for me to join a club? I wish I had someone to talk to about this. I wish I knew what was going on with Other Charlotte. Did I offend her? I bet I did—no, I KNOW I did, I was so rude to her, even with my big apology her feelings must be hurt. I have to make a greater effort to find her and talk to her. Maybe apologise again? Would that be acceptable? Once you've apologised once, is it insulting to do so again? I'm not really sure at all. When I got home my uniform was outside my door, all neatly folded in a plastic bag. Other Charlotte must have dropped it off. It's so nicely washed and even smells good now (before it smelled mostly of starch). Is she avoiding me? Is that why she just dropped it off instead of giving it to me, even though we were in the same class today?
Sigh. Dealing with people is difficult!
xx48.11.10 / 15:39 / Thursday
FINALLY caught up with Other Charlotte. I didn't see her all day (I didn't see Veronica either, thankfully) but then after school finished I spotted her on the other side of the grounds, I was really puffed out by the time I caught her at the gates. I think maybe super-agility also carries with it a secondary power of, I don't know what to call it, enhanced respiration? Super breathing? Not-getting-puffed-while-you-run? Anyway, what I'm saying is that my breathing's gotten heavy after exercising before, or after going through training courses, but I've never had to spend a few seconds just bent over trying to get my breath back. I mean, I DID run as fast as I could and it's not like I'm unfit, I mean even without super-agility I'm pretty quick and I got a lot of stares as I ran, but it's a long way from my apartment to the school gates (I was actually at my door when I saw her). Maybe I should start doing running practice. Anyway, she waited patiently for me to get my breath back enough to talk, then I started things off with:
"I have no idea if I should apologise to you again or not, so could you please tell me if I should?"
To my surprise this actually worked really well! She perked up straight away and even smiled , and she said:
"No, you don't need to apologise to me. Thank you for asking."
Well, that made my day, as you can probably guess. She's not mad at me!
"Okay," I said. "Wow, good. I'm so relieved. I thought you were avoiding me or something."
"I thought that perhaps you wanted me to avoid you," she said. That really threw me!
"What?" I said. "Why would I want you to avoid me?"
"I don't know," she said. "I thought that the possibility existed and without further information it was safer to assume you didn't want further contact with me, and I acted according to that assumption. I now see that this assumption was incorrect, so from now on I won't avoid you. Is that okay?"
"Yes, of course," I said. "Um, you might have
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