Stupid Vending Machines (Open)

[Deleted]

   A handsome boy walked into the Student Lounge. Gawain Martin was his name. The boy was a junior. Tall, attractive, and very odd. Rarely anyone visited the Student Lounge. Gawain especially avoided it. The Prefect Lounge being on the other side of the vending machine intimidated him. The idea of being picked up by a team always scared him, so he chose to avoid it, yet today he walked confidently into the lounge. Today he was on a mission that not even the rest of the Prefects could keep him from doing. He wasn't looking for anyone. He wasn't lost. He came to get a snack. 

    To the other people in the lounge, he seemed normal. He was aware of this because he made sure to correct any suspicious behavior he heard someone think about. Walking up to the vending machine and inspecting the different options, he tried to act natural. The people around him couldn't see the hamster he had hidden in his sleeve as he "pointed" to each snack; or hear the conversation taking place in his mind. 

    What about this one? There are your favorite nuts in it. 
    
    No, I want something more sour today. 

    You know you get sick when you eat sour snacks!

    I don't care! I'm really in the mood for it. Now get me some Sour Patch Kids. 

    But look! There are Snickers and peanut packets. And if you REALLY want something sour, I can get you some sour green grapes later. Please, just not the Sour Patch Kids. 

    Fine..... Get the sour Skittles.

    Gawain let out a groan and hung his head. Someone nearby looked up and started thinking about what might be happening. He looked at them with his crystal blue eyes and gave them his most charming smile while scratching his head. "I can't decide on what to get." Gawain returned his attention to the vending machine and looked at the code for the sour Skittles. 

[Shizuko Hongo]

She had already drank her daily cups of coffee and her stomach was starting to rumble. She placed a hand over it, a blush covering her face as she did so. She stood up from her seat, glancing at the computer in front of her and murmuring a few words. The screen that had been lit a moment ago dimmed, and then went dark. She grinned a little, running her fingers along the metal arm that was vibrating against the tabletop. In an instant, it seemed to calm down, like some sort of pet. She grabbed a small, silver cube off of the counter and tucked it in the pocket her mother had sewn into her skirt. She always carried around her first invention; it was sort of like a rabbit’s foot to her. She kept it with her at all times for good luck and good health. Of course, a few welded pieces of metal did not really keep her healthy, but she liked to think that it did, since she had not contracted any major illnesses since creating it. Granted, she was isolated in her home for two years and that was what most likely contributed to her so called “healthy streak”, but, regardless, she was proud of her invention and kept it close to her at all times.

The blonde-haired young woman pulled out the ponytail holder in her hair, allowing the beach blonde locks to fall to her shoulders. Her hair was straight and boring, but she did not seem to mind. The last thing she wanted to do was draw attention to herself. She was no social butterfly, that was for sure. She flicked off the light switch to one of the science labs that Samara had converted into a personal lab and poked her head out of the doorway. The hallways seemed rather empty, which was good; the last thing she wanted to do almost immediately after arriving was get cited by a prefect. She carefully stepped out into the hall, closing the door quietly and pressing a button on the security system which armed the room. One could never be too careful, right? Her brown eyes flitted around the empty hallways as she wandered, feeling lost and slightly overwhelmed. It was a school on an island in the Pacific Ocean, and it was specifically for the gifted. Why on earth did it need to be so big? Of course, she knew the answer, but she did not want to say it aloud. She felt a tugging as she walked and sighed a little, looking down at the crimson shirt she was wearing. She was a very slim young woman, but they always seemed to overlook the fact that button-up shirts were rather difficult to handle if one had a body like hers. She suddenly felt self-conscious and crossed her arms over her chest; maybe it was just the bra she was wearing. She could not know for sure, but, regardless of her uniform woes, her stomach decided to continue rumbling, which caused her to walk faster.

She approached the student lounge with caution, poking her head in to make sure that no one was there. She saw a head of brown hair facing the vending machine and immediately pulled her head back out. She felt sweat bead on her forehead and the back of her neck. How was she going to get in unnoticed? There was someone else in there and she was hardly in the mood for social interaction. She was still in “machine mode”, and she would be for several hours. This, compounded with the mild social anxiety that had plagued her since she was young, made her stay against the wall outside the lounge for several minutes. She stepped into the lounge after several minutes of waiting, hoping the other teen would not engage her in conversation. She meandered over to the other machine, placing her hand in front of the slot where the money was placed. She used the electricity inside the machine to shock it and pressed a few buttons. A package of Sour Patch Kids slipped from behind the metal ring and was carried down to the flap slot at the bottom of the machine. She stooped down and picked the package out gingerly. She laid her hand on the side of the machine, murmuring softly to it and stroking it, as if it were an animal.

“Thank you.”

[Deleted]

    Gawain had grabbed is Sour Patch Kids and sat down to "eat" his food. He would eat one to stay looking natural then slip his hand over the bag, letting Ewok snag one. The blue eyed boy's gaze wandered. He noticed a blonde girl walk inside the Student Lounge. This did not interest Gawain so he kept eating and looking around. Then he noticed that the girl was at the vending machine. Curiosity peaked and Gawain watched as the blonde placed money in the vending machine. Nothing unusual about that. That is until she softly spoke under her breath in what he swore was directed at the vending machine. Gawain furrowed his eyebrows and continued to eat the Sour Patch Kids while keeping a close eye on her. 

    Hey! Your eating all of them! You got the for me didn't you?

    Yes. I'm sorry, I forgot. 

    What are you so distracted about?

    I could have sworn that that girl just spoke to the vending machine. 

    Lemme see. 

    Gawain slowly rose his arm to sit on the chair's arm. That should give him a good enough view without being too suspicious. He felt Ewok rub against his arm as he situated himself. It tickled and he almost giggled, but bit his lip. 

    Oh yeah. She looks a little weird. Let's keep an eye on her. 

    Already on it. 

    The dark haired boy discretely watched the girl to see what she did next. 

[Shizuko Hongo]

The blonde haired young woman pretended to be oblivious to the young man’s presence. She tore open the bag of Sour Patch Kids she had retrieved from the machine and smiled at it before stepping back a little. She placed one in her mouth and smiled in spite of herself. Sour Patch Kids were one of the only things she would actually eat. Her parents had been worried about her when she had been hiding at home, since she refused to eat anything except Miso soup and a select variety of American candies. Though she had tried to explain to them, they never seemed to understand that she was trying to prepare herself in case they realized that she and Samara were not the same person. Of course, they had not realized that they had taken the wrong girl until after her “clone” had been murdered. Her face fell for a moment and she looked at her reflection in the glass of the vending machine. She barely remembered Samara’s face; all she knew for sure was that she had sandy blonde hair and amber eyes. She swallowed the lump in her throat, breathing out and putting on a soft smile as she noticed another reflection in the vending machine. She seemed startled for a moment, as if she had not seen the young man before glancing at the reflective surface. Of course, she had seen him, but she supposed she should at least act surprised since he had not said a word.

She waited until the young man was seated before she meandered over to a lounge chair, sitting as far away from the young man as humanly possible. She seemed to be deep in thought, even as she sucked on the Sour Patch Kids. She slung the schoolbag that was on her shoulders onto the floor and bent down to unzip it, making sure to button her blazer before doing so. She did not want to draw attention to herself, so it was best to cover everything up in order to do so. She hummed to herself quietly as she noticed a few soda cans in the trashcan. She grinned a little and immediately pulled out her sketchpad, starting to make the outline of something on the page. She needed something that was easy to put a hole in so a technological blast could be fired; aluminum might work, but she would have to reinforce it with something. She tapped her chin with her pencil, continuing to suck on the Sour Patch Kids from the vending machine while looking lost in thought. The light ‘skritch’ of the pencil against the paper of her sketchbook became louder as her thoughts became more rapid and she started to mutter to herself aloud. Any observer probably would have thought she was slightly insane. but she was really just thinking out loud to herself. It happened quite a lot, and she claimed that it was one of the reasons she cited for being a rather lonely girl. She knew that people feared what they did not understand, hence why Ashford was created. “Normal” people did not understand the gifted, and were afraid of them. Both sides knew it did not have to be like that, but there had been no real attempt for understanding or reconciliation between either set of people. She placed her pencil aside, her brown eyes drifting up to examine the young man for a moment.

She noticed that he seemed to be watching her closely and her body became tense, her head snapping up and her curvy form becoming rigid. Blue eyes seemed to stare through her, which made her fidget a little. She also a slight shifting in the young man’s sleeve, which caused her to lean her back against the chair she was sitting in while a look of confusion and terror crossed her face. She was not sure what was going on with young man’s sleeve, but, whatever it was, it was creeping her out. Of course, she was too polite to say such a thing, so she chose different words instead. Her voice came out in a high squeak and her hands tensed against the sketch she had been in the process of making.

“U-um… Y-your sleeve is moving!”

[Deleted]

    Gawain sat and watched the girl. The blonde took her Sour Patch Kids and walked towards a chair on the opposite side of the room. He heard her think about the fact that he was watching her and how this made her uncomfortable. Gawain sighed in frustration and closed his eyes. She wasn't supposed to know.

    Well that was a fail.

    Shut up Ewok! She may have noticed me watching her, but that doesn't mean that she knows that we saw her talk to the vending machine.

    True enough.

    Be quiet now. We have to pay attention.

    He opened his blue eyes again. The girl had sat down and set her bag on the ground. She pulled out a notepad and a pencil. Still glancing up at me with suspicion, she leaned back in her chair. She began moving her pencil slowly across the paper in a lazy manner. Her eyes darted across the paper and Gawain wondered what she was doing. As time passed her expression got more intense and her hand moved faster. Gawain watched in amazement. Did her power involve sketching? The girl paused and looked up. He listened and heard her think about the movement of his sleeve. 

    Ewok! Stop moving! 

    I can't help it. I'm getting bored. 

    The girl's eyes widened and she made a comment about his sleeve. Gawain moaned. Why did Ewok have to be so troublesome? How was he supposed to explain this? He looked up at the girl and gave her a dazzling smile. Gawain decided to try and change the subject. "Oh that? It's nothing." He stood and walked across the room so that he was standing in front of her. Putting his left hand in his pocket, he disguised the movement to let Ewok creep into his pocket. His right hand slid out. "I'm Gawain. Gawain Martin. May I ask the name of a beautiful lady such as yourself?"

[Shizuko Hongo]

The blonde young woman seemed lost in her own world. Sketching had always absorbed all of her attention, so she hardly noticed herself being stared at. Of course, she knew there was someone else in the room; she did not forget things easily. She should have felt uncomfortable, what with two pairs of eyes staring at her, though she did not realize there was a second pair. Halfway through, she wished she had brought an eraser with her; she had made a couple mistakes and her pencil eraser was merely a pink nub on the end of her pencil. Those were the times she wished that she used mechanical pencils instead of regular, old-fashioned, wooden pencils, but that was all she could find at the mall. It had been odd, being accompanied by someone dressed just like her. The only difference was that the other person wore a badge. Of course, they had let her just roam the mall, but she had not taken advantage of that privilege. She had only gone to one store, even though she could not really understand why some things looked like they did. She supposed it was an American store, which puzzled her; sure, she had been to the mall before, but they were set up with stores that were /mostly/ native to her country. All she had purchased were pencils and a pair of earbuds, though the latter was purchased at a separate store. She shrugged the thoughts off, continuing to sketch, despite the buildup of silvery-black on her hands.

She looked at her sketch proudly, a wide grin stretched across her thin, pale lips. She hummed softly, glancing at her hands and laughing quietly. She supposed it was just a drawback of using a pencil. The same dark silvery color often adorned her hands after hours of solving equations. Of course, she was probably one of the only young people in the world that found solving equations “fun” by any stretch, but that really did not matter. She glanced around the room, hoping to find a sink of some sort to wash her hands in, but there did not seem to be one. She bent down and rifled through her bag, hoping to find an eraser that she could use to get the granite residue off of her pale hand. She managed to find a small, pink block eraser and set to work. She winced slightly as the material brushed against her sensitive skin, but she powered through it. After erasing the residue completely, she placed the eraser back in her pencil pouch and placed her pencil there as well. She replaced the object in her schoolbag and pushed the velcro back into place. She tilted her head at the sketch in her lap and smiled a little; it looked wonderful. She had a tendency to just pull out her sketchbook and “do her thing” when she had any ideas for anything. Of course, it did help that the vending machines had been made of metal, so she could easily think of what to do with the scraps. How much time it took for the machines to wear out and getting access to the old parts was an entirely different story, though, she would find a way. She always found a way to get what she wanted, without her parents’ money.

A thin, blonde eyebrow shot up to the girl’s hairline. She tilted her head slightly, watching the young man’s approach. His body language told her that he was slightly nervous, though he was trying to project an air of confidence and wore a dazzling smile. She wondered if whatever was crawling around in his sleeve was making him uncomfortable. Regardless, she was not fooled by his expression or his words; he clearly knew that she knew something, but she pretended to blissfully unaware. Her philosophy was that the most intelligent people were the ones who did not reveal their intelligence until it was really necessary. She saw him stand up and fidgeted in her seat a little, looking for the ponytail holder she had removed from her hair earlier. She felt relieved when she saw it on her right wrist and began to put her hair into a ponytail, then into an odd, sloppy type of bun. She was hoping that the young man would want nothing to do with her after she fiddled with her hair. Much to her dismay, though, he still addressed her, which, in and of itself, was not a bad thing. The word beautiful caught her off guard, though, and her fair face flushed a crimson color rather quickly as she replied. She seemed to struggle with his first name, though, since English was not her first language, per say.

“A-alright, Gawain. I-I’m hardly what you would call beautiful, but m-my name is Shizuko.”

She looked around for another topic of conversation, since she would rather stop talking about her appearance. She glanced down at her lap to see the Sour Patch Kids and popped one into her mouth, sucking on it for some time before chewing it and swallowing it. She looked back up at the blue-eyed young man, who was now standing directly in front of her. She looked around again before shoving the bag up toward his face in a nervous gesture, which was accompanied by a sheepish laugh and tone as she spoke once more.

“U-um, Sour Patch Kid? They’re delicious.”