still the same girl;

margaret student sixteen swimmer sister

[mollymaeburke]

erinderson‌:

It was getting mighty close to the moment where Eric would just pack up his things and go back to his dorm, saving himself the wasted time sitting on the ground, his back against the wall, waiting to see if they all got the clear to proceed with swim practice or not. While he didn’t like to call people liars, the whole rabbit, bear and bone trilogy seriously needed to be laid to rest. It was just starting to get annoying. Especially when somebody thought it would be funny to call a false alarm in the pool bathrooms, alerting staff and causing nuns to flood from all directions.

The problem with a false alarm though was that while the staff searched high and low for something that didn’t exist, Eric and the rest of the swim team got to sit, locked out of the pool, missing their practice time like this prank was somehow their fault. If Eric hadn’t given so much of a shit about being in that water, he might have found the whole thing funny. Instead, he found himself wondering when it was appropriate to leave and do something else with this time because he was sure the second he got up, would be the moment all was in the clear and Fitzgerald would wave them all on inside. Besides, he was starving.

Alas, Eric proceeded to sit, bored out of his brains, and jealously watching other students pass by to their morning activities. “This sucks.” He voiced plainly. “The worst part is there isn’t even another rabbit, someone’s just being a tool.” Bold of a BBC boy to be calling anybody a tool, but here they were.

Molly sighed as she pulled her house polo shirt over her head, covering her damp swimsuit and sticking to her back as she leaned against the wall, copying Eric’s posture. “What would a rabbit be doing in the pool, anyway?” she asked, unaware of the first rabbit that had been found on school property and the rather macabre state it had been found in at that.

She ran her hands through her wet hair, combing it back off of her face as she looked up, “At least it’s a nice day,” she offered, they wouldn’t freeze to death while they waited for the possibility of returning to the pool or alternatively, being sent back to their dorms without a full  training session for the week. “Does this happen a lot?” she asked curiously and hoped the answer was no. It wasn’t that she was averse to the occasional prank, as long as they didn’t affect her or fuck up her schedule.

[ohcndrea]

                                                               Broadripple as The Major Arcana                                                                           ↪ X. Wheel of Fortune ( Margaret Burke )

⦁ Karma, destiny, a turning point, keeping an open mind ⦁ Resistance to change, breaking of cycles, choice in a choice-less situation

@mollymaeburke

[mollymaeburke]

maverickalex‌:

“Exactly like that,” she said, nodding. “Hansel and Gretel is just a story about child abuse and cannibalism. Pretty sure I still have nightmares about that whole acid trip ‘Pink Elephants’ part of Dumbo. Point is, who cares about a little child traumatization.” She said, half-smirk accompanying an eye roll. It was a weak comparison, but that had hardly ever stopped Alex from doubling down on whatever point she’d decided to make in the moment. She nodded, almost relieved that she truly hadn’t seen the other around — at least her observational skills weren’t completely shot. “Shit, really?” She asked, leaning forward and resting her elbow on the table. She had boarded, at least briefly prior to Broadripple — and even then, this place had been it’s own culture shock. “What’d you do to get shipped off? Or are you one of the ones who consider this place a privilege, destined to become one of Broadripple’s best and brightest?” She asked wryly, wrinkling her nose. She couldn’t blame the girl for either — they both may as well have been swimming up stream, just struggling against a different current. She let out a breath of a laugh, shaking her head. “There’s always a way. Lot of it depends on your roommate, how far off campus you’re willing to go.” After a pause, she shrugged once again. “Don’t get me wrong — everyone still knows your shit. Just depends on whether or not they  actually care — and even then, can they actually prove it.” In her own experience, everyone was too wrapped up in their own teenage disasters to truly care about anyone else’s life, right up until the moment it went on a collision track with their own. “Who’d you get stuck with?” 

“I don’t remember it- either I never saw it or I was more traumatized than you were and pushed it into the back of my brain somewhere,” she offered, “That’s where my grand tour of Broadripple will end up someday,” in the traumatic and unnecessary filing cabinet in her mind. “Yeah,” she confirmed and then laugh a little at the suggestion that she must have done something wrong to earn her place at Broadripple. It wasn’t that far from the truth, actually. She raised an eyebrow in a curious manner, however, keeping that detail to herself and posing a question of her own instead, “Is that why most people are here? Serving out some kind of punitive sentence?” she doubted it, she was pretty sure this was just another elitist institution that parents liked the look of on their kid’s college application. “I’m somewhere in between,” not quite best and brightest, not quite being punished, “I transferred with my older sister. She’ll be going to college next year and Broadripple was a good opportunity,” she lied through her teeth with ease, “I’m just along for the ride, our parents thought it was unfair to split us up and- yeah, I agree, I guess,” she mused casually, shrugging her shoulders. “What about you? Where do you fall on the enrolment spectrum?” she asked, genuinely interested now. 

“I’m with Ella Dawson, she’s in-” it took her a moment to recall, “The blue house, I think?” she couldn’t remember the name and she wasn’t sure how important it was to identify other students by their houses but a few kids had already asked her about hers so she figured it meant something. “She seems cool, we’re both on the swim team,”

[mollymaeburke]

maverickalex‌:

Alex lifted her shoulders in a light shrug in concession, brows raised. “Fair point. But kids fairytales are like, next-level fucked up. Even the Disney dumbed down shit is pretty bleak.” She countered, though, it was clearly a devil’s advocate argument. “Or maybe they’re just banking on parents not being super down for kids summoning demons or whatever.” Alex’s brows furrowed together in genuinely confusion for a moment at the other’s question, scanning her features to try and get a read on her level of sarcasm. To her surprise, the other seemed sincere. “Jesus, where did you come from?” To think it of it, she hadn’t seen the other on campus before — though, Alex would’ve sworn the same about the kid who sat behind her in math up until last week. Even then, it had taken him damn near sneezing at her and giving her what she had been sure for a day was the plague. It had been little more than a 48-hour cold, but had been enough for her to finally take notice of him and decide she was far better off having no idea he existed. “High school kids will always find a way to drink, and a way to bone. Whether they think God’s watching or not.” Alex said matter-of-factly, chewing the edge of her thumbnail before examining it and returning her attention to Molly. “Were you homeschooled or some shit?” She asked, a genuine question — though she perhaps could’ve worked on her delivery.

“Hmm,” she hummed thoughtfully, trying to think of what exactly Alex meant by that, “Like how Sleeping Beauty is about some girl who needs a man to kiss her to live or whatever?” that wasn’t exactly the plot but it was pretty close and she was confident that she was making a point about it regardless. She sat up a little when Alex started questioning her. Had she said something wrong? Stupid? Both? “I just transferred,” she explained, not answering the question literally since she was pretty sure the other girl couldn’t give less of a shit about the fact that she’d come from Montauk, specifically. She wasn’t sure if Alex was joking or making fun of her but she laughed anyway though it was humorless and a little dry, “I’ve just never boarded before,” she explained, “You can’t even blow your nose without somebody knowing it around here, how does anybody get away with anything?” she asked curiously, “At my old school it was hard enough to get away with shit, everybody knew everybody’s business,” especially her older sister’s business, “That’s without living next door to each other or having to eat every single meal together, I just- maybe it’s easier than it sounds but living at school is still pretty crazy to me,”

[mollymaeburke]

dylsson‌:

“I feel like-” He began, squinting at the blond and raising a finger but stopping himself momentarily, “I shouldn’t answer that.” Girls got offended at pretty much everything these days, you couldn’t say jack shit. Compliment them and they acted like they didn’t need it, say they look like fucking Rick out of Rick and Morty though and you’re in for it. Or maybe that was just the girls he hung around. Drea and Emma were all kinds of angry feminist. 

He shrugged as if the situation was out of his hands and that’s just how it be. But again, he was just fucking with her, which made him grin like a dickhead who didn’t care for other people’s unfortunate situations. But he was clueless about that.

“Yeah, they’re big on those.” He slid the comment in after her recount of her day in the office, remembering his first day too and how he thought being sent to juvy would probably have fewer rules. If she thought the academy intro had sucked, maybe she was good people. She — he didn’t even know her name, he realized. He’d just pointed at her when he’d been talking to Chris that morning and decided he liked the look of her against the other one. Then again, he hadn’t really looked at the other one anyway. He wondered if they were sisters, that seemed the logical assumption if they came as a packaged deal.

Dylan made a noise from his throat, “A few different ways. Like, normal ways.” He clarified, assuming this girl could guess how boarding school worked. There wasn’t a whole lot of freedom or things to do here, so entertainment, company, C-points, and handjobs went a long way. Broadripple 101, basically. “But hey, newbie discount, I’ll let you decide and get back to me,” Dylan told her, shifting weight away from the wall now to approach her and dig into his pocket. Pulling out his wallet, he flipped it open to grab a key card that wasn’t his, a girl’s details printed across it but he strategically always held it close to his palm, hand covering the photo ID and most of her name. After all, he didn’t need stitches ruining shit for either of them and their system they had going. The door beeped green when he waved the card against the reader, fingers snagging the handle and pulling it wide open for the blond. “So are you even, like, settled? Did they assign you one of the fuckhead buddies yet or do you still have to do that?”

Seemed like a smart move on Dylan’s part and either way, it made Molly laugh a little. Maybe Broadripple girls were more uptight than she’d anticipated or maybe Dylan had a manner of speaking that made them that way. She was sure she’d find out in good time but for now, he seemed perfectly harmless. “Pleading the fifth?” she suggested for a lack of anything better to say.

“I noticed. It took a lot longer than I thought it would- who knew there was so much to say about the type of brick the chapel was built with? Can’t wait to tell my friends back home all about it,” she mused dryly. As Dylan continued, she found herself trying to size him up. He seemed like one of the popular boys, tall, handsome, athletic build and self-assured in a way that made her think he was at ease around just about anybody and everybody he came across. “Cool,” she confirmed, trying not to sweat it. She had no fucking idea how she’d pay him back or if she even needed to, she hoped it would all be forgotten by the afternoon.

“Kind of- like I’ve got my stuff in my room, mostly unpacked,” mostly but not really, “I met my roommate, I don’t have a- a fuckhead buddy? What’s that? Like the tour guy?” he was a fuckhead for sure but hardly a buddy, “Please tell me I’m almost at the end of B.A. initiation. I’ve already run out of fun facts about me to share with upperclassmen and faculty and I don’t think I can stand another explanation of why the house teams are named the way they are,”

[mollymaeburke]

ecllas‌:

“No worries,” Ella replied, taking a moment to actually look at the girl. She seemed new. Ella didn’t claim to be the kind of girl who knew everyone in school, but she still figured she would have at least recognized her face. “If that happens, just go to the admin building. It’s something to do with the computers I think.” She didn’t know the logistics and the last time someone had tried to explain it to her, she’d been too bored to pay attention. “Sorry, what’s your name? I don’t think I’ve seen you around before.”

“Oh totally,” Ella replied with a grin, pleased with her approval. It wasn’t often she met someone who was supportive of her antics, but when Ella did, she made sure to make a note of it. Sneaking out alone was fun, but sometimes it would be nice to have someone else tag along. “Sometimes. I’ve tried to use it before and it’s been locked, but sometimes if you wiggle the pane it’ll slide up anyways.” So really, maybe it wasn’t a custodial error at all. Just a lock that was long overdue for a replacement. Not that the specification mattered. As far as Ella was concerned, the fewer people who knew about the real issue with the window, the better. “But if you’re really in a pinch,” Ella folded her arms, finding herself barely leaning closer to the girl. It was as though she were telling a secret of a well-practiced trade. “If you have a tree by your window and you aren’t afraid of heights, just keep your window unlocked and you can climb in and out easy.” Definitely an oversimplification. Ella wasn’t a stranger to scaling trees to get out of two-story windows. She’d been doing it for years. But that didn’t mean she hadn’t had several close calls and one too many near misses. Not that she’d admit it. That would be, like, lame.

Ella waved a hand dismissively, finding herself smiling rather fondly “Oh, it’s no worries. Actually, D1 is my room.” Ella adjusted her backpack. “Soooo, looks like we’re gonna be roommates.” She offered her hand. “My name is Ella. And yes. The names of the dorms here are totally ridiculous. I’m pretty sure I was told the proper pronunciations at some point, but I literally don’t remember.” She laughed. “Usually I just stick to Dorothea. Much easier.” Ella glanced over her shoulders, checking to see if she had any boxes or bags that needed to be brought up to the room still. “Do you need help moving stuff in or anything? I’ve got swim later, but I can help before.”

She nodded her head without saying a word, admittedly she was a little over it. She’d already spent plenty of time in the administration building, getting things sorted, filing through paperwork with the admin assistant and hearing the school’s extensive list of rules and regulations over and over again. Her desire to return to the administration building for any reason was at an all-time low and she decided that having a busted Academy Card was something she could deal with for the rest of the day if not for a day or two simply to avoid dealing with it. “Thanks,” she said instead of sharing any of that with the other girl, however. “Molly-Mae, the resident new kid and like- painfully clueless,” she confessed with a soft chuckle at her own expense. “I just moved here from Montauk, first time in Mas, first time at boarding school, first time getting locked out of my own dorm,” she explained with a slight grimace, “Probably not the last time getting locked out though,” she hoped she would transition quickly from new girl to normal, boring Broadripple student soon enough, however.

“I’m making a mental list,” she assured the girl, though launching herself onto a tree from her bedroom window was probably something she wasn’t going to try any time soon. The thing about her spine was that she was pretty fond of it being intact and hoped it would remain so for the duration of the school year, if she could help it. “You’ll have to show me how the pros do it some time,” yikes, that was a total invitation to be friends which meant that Ella had every opportunity to reject her. She hadn’t planned on taking a shot at inviting another student to befriend her this early on but it was too late to take it back now, she realized.

At the revelation, Molly found herself surprised, arguably pleased about the fact, “No shit?” she didn’t suspect that the girl would be lying about being her new roommate but perhaps it was more like relief than disbelief. So far, she’d been pretty unlucky during her time at Broadripple but now, Ella didn’t seem like a total freakshow, nor did she seem like the type of girl to intentionally make Molly’s life at Broadripple particularly difficult. She took Ella’s hand with a smile, “Right, Dawson?” duh, she wasn’t sure why she’d said that “-my I.D. says Margaret but I go by Molly, for the record,” she explained, just on the off chance that Ella had any additional reason to suspect that she was an imposter. “I think I’m good,” she wasn’t, she had plenty of stuff left to unpack and organize but she wasn’t sure she wanted Ella going through her shit, not yet anyway, “-but you swim?” her interest was evidently piqued, made obvious by the way her tone lifted with light enthusiasm, “I put my name down for the team and apparently I’m waiting on somebody to talk to me about trials- you’re not that person, are you?” she raised an eyebrow curiously as she pitched the question. 

[mollymaeburke]

theocolburn‌:

His memory wasn’t good enough to remember at least half of the faces he had encountered so far. They seemed to be changing like in a kaleidoscope and although there was a fair amount of people he had gone through greetings and introductions with, it still felt as if he kept on crossing paths with complete strangers. But with time the new environment should become a little less unfamiliar and hopefully much less spine-chilling. As they said, fear would always make things look twice as bad. Theodore chanced upon a confirmation for that statement when the almost immediate response was far from eerie.

Placing the books down on the table, momentarily his tense posture loosened up but not entirely. There was still a hint of nervousness in his stance. “I thought you were a ghost… Unless you are?” He let out a sheepish titter, though his words were quite honest. Her name seemed to ring a bell and so he assumed she also could’ve been one of the new students. But, again, every other student emitted the same impression — the vague feeling they might’ve met before.

“Correct.” Gazing at the space between books where the girl’s face appeared, he gave a firm nod and refrained from asking whether it was so obvious. “Theodore Colburn,” adding his name in after a while, promptly he took a hike around the sizable bookcase to get rid of the awkward barrier. Keeping hands behind his back in this prim and proper manner, a reserved smile curled his lips up as his eyebrow shifted upwards in question. “And for how long have you been here, Margaret?”

She couldn’t resist the way her brow furrowed slightly at the discovery that Theodore appeared to be one of Broadripple’s many total weirdos. “Not since the last time I checked,” she joked, unsure of what else to say to such an unusual concern. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d genuinely feared ghosts but she was pretty sure she’d still been in elementary school. 

“That’s right,” she said as if she’d recalled the name all on her own, “The school tour guy briefly mentioned a couple of other students who had just transferred or were transferring- you were on that list, obviously,” she wasn’t sure why she’d felt compelled to tell Theodore that. It wasn’t particularly interesting nor would the information serve him in any way, perhaps it was just a lack of anything else more thrilling to share with the male that lead her down such a mundane path. She watched as Theodore emerged, hands tucked neatly behind him as she folded hers across her chest, “Everybody calls me Molly-Mae- or just Molly-” she offered, “I thought you were- I don’t know, I thought I was in trouble so I was giving you my I.D. name thing- like my name from the record,” she explained, pausing before remembering that she was yet to answer his question. “I just transferred last week,” she waited a beat, wondering whether or not to mention that she had transferred with Libby. On the one hand, she wanted to appear independent of the other girl, on the other, that would be fairly impossible and she was sure Theodore would come to the conclusion that they were siblings at some point anyway, “With my sister, she’s a senior,” she explained casually.

[mollymaeburke]

theocolburn‌:

OPEN TO: ANYONE

Veils of secrecy were always so tempting for Theodore. He bore this constant urge to satisfy his growing curiosity, find solutions to whatever was bugging him. Of course, for his parents he was way too interested in all the unexplained matters that rose countless inquiries. Plenty of times he listened to their lectures on how dangerous his inquisitive nature was and how one day it would be his oh-so fatal downfall. He didn’t care that their omniscient God had all the answers and therefore he shouldn’t let those mounting questions about the world (as well as what was beyond it) be at the very forefront of his mind. It was his absolute nightmare — not seeking answers.

Getting far away from home had its perks, actually, the moment he arrived in the state of Massachusetts in his field of view he could spot only advantages. There were several worrying drawbacks emerging at the horizon, but for now he preferred to turn a blind eye to them. Finally he didn’t feel the overwhelming breath of his father on his neck, there was nobody peeking over his shoulder to see what — most likely imprudent — deeds he was up to. Alright, not exactly. He couldn’t deny the haunting presence he was continuously sensing. It could’ve been solely his imagination and he wouldn’t be surprised to discover it was just his mind pulling tricks on him. But it was more entertaining and thrilling to fall for the suspicion it might’ve been something more otherworldly.

Holding a stack of books covering mainly new theology and the archaeology of manuscripts, one title was standing out. An odd man out. Into the bundle he also sneaked in a copy of Lemegeton he brought with himself all the way from Phoenix. At home he was distressed that someday a family member could chance upon it and God knew what punishment he would receive for that. The library was or at least seemed pretty deserted at this hour, so he wasn’t as disquieted about the idea of somebody chancing upon him.

Locating a good enough spot, Theo was about to put the books down and have a seat when the rustle of approaching steps made him almost drop the weighty pile. “Who’s there?!” The dread escaped his mouth in a raspy shout.

Despite the fact that they were both new kids, having started at Broadripple Academy at just about the same time, Molly hadn’t bothered to spend much time chatting to Theodore. She thought she might have introduced herself on day one, under instruction from a member of the administrative staff but now she couldn’t be sure, that felt like years ago despite the fact that it had been mere days. She hadn’t thought much about the male since day one, she certainly didn’t expect to see him again for the first time skulking around the library like a criminal.

At the sound of the teenager’s voice, Molly’s snapped her head in the direction of the source, “Hello?” she spoke with questioning inflection, though there was more confusion coloring her tone than anything else. Was she in the wrong place? Was she breaching some kind of boundary the self-appointed Broadripple tour guide had failed to mention to her prior? “Margaret Burke,” she announced, that was the name on her school I.D. and something about the sudden interrogation felt as if it demanded some formality.

At least it did until Molly ducked slightly, peering into a gap between books on the shelf between her and Theodore and catching a glimpse of the senior. “New guy?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. She felt a little more at ease now, less like she was about to score herself detention or similar. It was a rather dubious logic but she figured that there was no way New Guy had scored himself a position of power this early on, certainly not enough to get her into trouble just for being in the library.

[mollymaeburke]

dylsson‌:

If Dylan wasn’t usually projecting himself out of the boy’s dorm building late for class, or track or whatever, then it was pretty common for him to be sneaking back into it after hours. The only problem with a school built in the dark ages but fit for the modern times was the fact that America took its security pretty seriously, it wasn’t about busting a lock anymore or climbing a drain pipe several floors high. No, the easiest way around the keycard system Dylan had found by far was just having your friends lend you a card of their own, or worst case, wedging the door after lights out. Sadly though, for the new girl, he felt the need to pretend like he had a better idea.

Seeing her struggle, he leaned against the brick until she noticed him. “Uh I don’t know if I believe you, people say all kinds of shit these days,” He suggested, easily joking and smirking a moment later because of it. “That sucks,” He observed, glancing at the card in her hand before looking at her sneakers, then upwards from there. He was pretty sure she was one of the new girls he and Chris had been eyeing off a few days ago at the start of the week, Dylan had to wonder if his friend had been so lucky to meet one of them yet. “Problem with RFID is they’re pretty hard to crack. If yours isn’t working, you’re probably just going to have to pay for a new one.” He told her, though the paying was just a joke, he just wanted her to freak out for a second if she was dumb enough to believe they didn’t just hand these things out for honest mistakes. Unless you were Dylan, who was on his fourth card in three years, only because he kept giving them away for cash and IOUs. He wasn’t getting another one after this, he’d been told, but he figured his grandparents would just have to start paying or something. “If you need in though, I could hook you up. Like, if it’s an emergency.”

“Do I fit the stereotype of a Massachusettes predator? I’m still getting used to local culture,” she mused as Dylan inspected her I.D. card and then allowed his gaze to wander the rest of her. She raised an eyebrow slightly, watching him watch her, trying to gauge exactly what he might have been thinking as his eyes shifted upward, meeting hers once more.

She had no idea what the fuck RFID was or what it was supposed to mean in this context but she knew exactly what “pay for a new one” meant and she wasn’t happy about it. She scoffed in response to make that much known, “Are you kidding me? I just got this one,” she held it up again as if there was any mistaking what she was referring to. She wasn’t sure if her parents had paid for the card or whether it had been a bonus gift with purchase to accompany the Burke family’s two-for-one enrollment deal but she did know that it was bullshit for her to need another one this early on. 

“I got a walking tour of the school, I spent over an hour in the admin building going over rules and regulations and whatever,” she shook her head, “No way I’m going back there today,” she looked over her shoulder, clearly unconvinced by her own words as she gazed in the direction of the administration building. Maybe she would go back but not right now, right now she needed to get rid of her dumb backpack and her tie at least. With that in mind, she tugged at the fabric around her neck, loosening it around her already unbuttoned collar, “Hook me up and call it an I.O.U. or something? How do people usually pay their debts around here?” she asked curiously. She’d heard the ins and outs of the convenience point system but had also been informed that hers hadn’t quite been validated yet and that it would be at least 24h before the starting balance her parents had submitted would be available in her account.

[mollymaeburke]

libburkes‌:

in a moment of interest she followed her sister’s gaze, wondering what she was looking at. head tilted a little as she stared at the top of one of the old buildings, “ that’s a lot of work for morons that can’t even pronounce a name correctly, ” she pointed out with a sigh, eyes dropping from the building back to her sister. wondering for a second what her sister saw in the building. maybe she actually saw something, or was she just doing what libby was doing, comparing this place to their old school. “ how old did that guy say this place was? ” she asked, she was sure he’d said it but she’d certainly tuned out by that point. “ it looks like it hasn’t been updated since 1900, ” she commented, a slight distaste to her tone. sure, broadripple had modern elements. tech, shiny dining hall and swimming pool. but it was still so old, the chapel had really creeped her if she was honest.

she chuckled at molly’s comment on names, it was a little surprising. especially considering how basic white girl they’d gone with libby’s name. “ maybe, ” she hummed, still thinking on it, “ probably. ” she corrected after a moment. mj felt very modern. their parents would probably hate that, they were so obsessed with things old and traditional. “ i think we should just count our lucky stars neither of us ended up with rose, or marie, ” she grinned, though that being said she though elizabeth rose would have been quite pretty. 

libby couldn’t help but be amused by the way molly plastered on false smile and poked her own rosy cheek. grin spreading again for a second. to untrained eye molly’s smile probably would be convincing. then she pressed her lips together and nodded, before she repeated her sister’s previous action. releasing a sigh, lighter than molly’s but only just, and with it trying to release her bad attitude and apprehension to the school. glass half full. something that made picturing broadripple with a glass half full attitude was sports. specifically boys playing sports. “ that’s true, ” she considered, trying to remember anything from teen wolf but she hadn’t really watched it. “ or soccer or something, ” she added, she couldn’t remember the name of one of those famous soccer players off the top of her head but she was sure she’d seen some hot ad for a perfume from them. “ are you gonna join any sports? ” she questioned, perhaps the best way for them to find out would be to get involved.

She couldn’t recall what year the school had been built, she couldn’t even remember the era. She definitely hadn’t been paying that much attention to the school’s history lecture that afternoon, “I don’t know, whatever year Jesus went into tenth grade,” she suggested, that sounded about right, the longer she spent looking at the archaic buildings around them. She was just joking but a soft sigh passed her lips afterward, they were really in for an adventure here; Molly could only hope that it would be a mostly positive one.

“Rose-Marie, or Marie-Rose?” she questioned, leaving hardly any time for  Libby to answer her before she clarified her thoughts, “That would be the third sister,” she added, if they had one, she was convinced of the fact. She was kind of glad it was just the two of them, however. Maybe it was easier to say that because she didn’t know this imaginary third sister of theirs but the idea of having to share Libby with another girl or even compete for anybody else’s attention with another girl felt like too much to handle. As she looked at her older sister’s doe eyes and charming smile, she decided that Libby was more than enough to compete within this lifetime. 

“Ooh,” she cooed, picturing a squad of maroon clad soccer boys that looked like Olivier Giroud or Neymar Jr. rather than scrawny juniors and seniors with budding facial hair and big, awkward-looking shin pads. “Swimming, obviously,” it was something she was good at, something she had always done and while she wasn’t a national champion, she’d had her fair share of success in New York state competition. “I don’t know about any team stuff- I’ve looked over the list like six times and nothing really sticks out,”  she tried to recall the list once again, this time off the top of her head, “Nobody can make me run,” she decided, so track and cross country were out. She wasn’t tall enough for basketball and the thought of standing out in the field during a softball game made her exhausted, plus she’d heard about one girl getting her front teeth knocked out by a groundball at their old school, “Maybe I could try soccer,” she suggested with a shrug of her shoulders, “It’s not that hard, you just-” she didn’t really know, “Kick it in the net and shout a lot,” simple, right? She could do that...probably...as long as the other girls weren’t obsessive assholes about it, she supposed.

[mollymaeburke]

libburkes‌:

libby gave another light chuckle. while she was sure everyone else probably knew how to say margaret properly, and everyone would probably learn soon enough that dear margaret didn’t even go by that name, it was funny to focus on the one student’s mess up. “ is it a tally for each person that says it wrong or just for each time its said wrong overall? ” she grinned, playing along with the tease. it was much easier to make fun of the school than accept that they would have to get used to it. she considered molly mae’s words for a moment, maybe she had the right idea. but then again, would that earn her more mockery among her montauk peers? probably. definitely, the more she thought on it. but she nodded anyway, to show she understood. “ mj was kind of cool, ” she said after a moment, picking the more favourable of the two suggestions she’d come up with herself. “ you’d just have to figure out what the j is for. ” and that would be relatively simple she thought. “ maybe you’re secretly margaret mae jane burke? ” she suggested, raising her brows. but quickly grin broke to another laugh, she knew it sounded stupid but it was all she could think of.

she laughed again when her sister blamed interstate travel for jetlag and that for her choice of names. when compared to a member of queer eye she reached out to nudge her again, though really, that had been exactly the kind of affirming advice she’d been going for so she was rather pleased with herself. “ exactly, what’s that thing mom says all the time? ” she questioned, despite the fact that she hadn’t heard her say it very much recently. “ nothing good comes from a bad attitude or whatever? ” she was fairly sure that was it, and now that she’d thought of it she would absolutely be using it as her mantra here at the school. 

she thought for a moment, she thought really hard. thinking of each face she had seen while they’d been walking around. trying to remember if any had stood out as people she might like to talk to. she eventually came to the conclusion that “ no, no i don’t think so. ” she admitted, pressing her lips together for a moment before she continued. determined on her positive attitude. “ but you know, they’re probably just like hiding in plain sight. it’s the uniform, it makes everyone look … ” she trailed off, about to insult the uniform but remembering they had to wear it every day now. “ not themselves. ” she decided and thought that was accurate enough. she didn’t look herself, molly didn’t look herself either. then she sighed as she was reminded of a very sad fact. “ i know, ” she said, squeezing eyes shut for a second. a lack of football team and cheerleaders made it very hard to judge the social hierarchy. “ but they’ll have something like football. something they get all puffy chest and proud about. ” but even as she said that she’d never imagine it was fucking track and swimming that everyone seemed to get around at broadripple.

As she spoke to her sister she was looking at the top of a nearby building, thinking that it looked more like something out of Game of Thrones than something that should be a part of her own life, “I could have two tallies” she offered, her voice trailing slightly as she lost interest in the matter, her thoughts suddenly drifting to the reality of the situation; that this was where she lived now. In made a knot form in the pit of her stomach for a moment or so, it just didn’t seem real, not yet. Libby was there, that felt real, the uniform made her skin itchy, that felt real but the rest felt as if it was a part of a stage production. She felt like a character in costume, playing a role for the day and once it was all over, she’d go back to her normal life and leave all of this behind. 

She looked back at her sister again, drawn from her thoughts when she started suggesting names. She couldn’t help but laugh, “Is it weird that I’m kind of surprised that isn’t already shoehorned into my name somewhere? Like if Mom and Dad were going for a basic white girl theme, they really missed out on that one- oh my God, maybe it was so nobody could call me MJ, I bet they’d hate the sound of that,” she mused as if she’d given it any intellectual thought when really, she was just mouthing off, still thinking more about the fact that once they moved on from this very spot, they’d return to their dorms, probably separately and Molly would have to come up with some way to spend the rest of her day without Libby’s lead.

Instead of agreeing with her sister, or rather their mother, she let out a heavy sigh, as if she was physically releasing the bad attitude that was holding her back. She put on an obnoxiously bright smile and poked her cheek with her index finger, showing her grin off for a moment before it felt too sickly sweet to keep up. “Glass half full,” she noted, reminding herself as much as she was reminding Libby to keep it in mind. This was a new start, an opportunity and they had to embrace it. They had no choice, in fact.

“Yeah,” she agreed, looking down at her own uniform and deciding with absolute confidence that Libby was correct. It was unflattering, the colors were dull and she felt like a Harry Potter character. She then looked at her sister and didn’t feel quite the same sense of distaste, Libby would have far less trouble pulling it off, she was pretty sure. “Lacrosse?” she suggested, “Like, remember Teen Wolf?” she added, “That’s kind of sexy,” she suggested nonchalantly, she wasn’t as convinced as she attempted to sound but she liked the thought of hot lacrosse guys anyway. 

[mollymaeburke]

emmahayashi‌:

It’s been a long day. Emma just wants to go back to D2, fall into her bed, and blast music so loud into her ears that the exhaustion melts away from her body. Backpack slung lazily over one shoulder and earbud in one ear, she approaches the girl’s dorms with her eyes glued to her phone, thumb scrolling away on Spotify until she lands on something she likes other than the song playing into one of her ears. She looks up from her screen when she hears someone speak, assuming it’s her being addressed because to her knowledge, no one accompanied her back from the art building.

Her brows raise and she looks behind the girl to get a peek at the card reader. And then back at the girl and the card she holds in her hand. Hmm. She steps closer to get a better look at the card but it’s not enough. So she says, “Can I see?” She holds a hand of hers out. Like honestly, she doesn’t need to be giving this chick such a hard time but this is Emma and when doesn’t she give people a hard time? She’ll just compare faces then open the door. No big.

Oddly enough, this girl wasn’t wearing a police hat, nor did she have a shiny badge on her blazer that read anything about an inability to be polite. Unfortunately, however, that didn’t change the fact that she’d approached Molly with a less than cheery demeanor and by now she had noticed that the other didn’t appear as if she was going to be particularly helpful either.

Molly narrowed her eyes ever so slightly at Emma’s request, “Are you going to give it back?” she asked, quirking an eyebrow and raising the card in her hand but not quite offering it to the other girl just yet. Molly-Mae Burke was a lot of things but in her opinion, she wasn’t a fool and she wasn’t about to be reduced to dumbass new girl if she was standing toe to toe with one of Broadripple’s bullies and one that felt like hucking her brand new Academy Card onto the roof or something like that within the next minute or so.

[mollymaeburke]

ecllas‌:

Ella smiled in response. “No worries. Happens to me, too.” Although she spent more time ‘breaking’ back into her dorm room than most students at Broadripple. Typically hours after curfew when using her card to get back into the building would be something worthy of note. If security even checked that sort of thing. Ella wasn’t really sure, but she wasn’t keen on taking the risk. “Sometimes the cards get shut down for some reason,” Ella shrugged. For as much as their parent’s paid to attend this school, it certainly had a lot of issues. First the blackout, then the doors. Maybe it was just a coincidence. Or maybe this place really was just as haunted as the rumors said. If only they were so lucky. “I can let you in,” Ella swiped her card. It took a moment, but the LED blinked green three times and the locks on the doors clicked open.

“FYI, if that happens again and no one else is around, custodial usually forgets to lock the ground level window by the dumpsters out back.” Ella reached for the door and pulled it open. “But you didn’t hear that from me.”

“Really?” she allowed the word to pass her lips unfiltered, genuinely surprised by the revelation. She would have to think that due to the enormous school fees her parents were paying, something as simple as getting into her own accommodation at night would be a given at all times. Of course, this wouldn’t be the first time that Broadripple had surprised her that day, since she’d also discovered that she would have to endure an authorization period before her on-campus credits, convenience points or whatever they were called, were available to spend in her account. “Thanks,” she offered with a smile, “I’ll try not to  make a habit out of it,” she added, hoping her card would be active in a couple of hours and stable from then on, though by the tone of Ella’s voice, it felt like kind of a tall order.

She raised an eyebrow at the next thing that Ella said and she decided that she was starting to like this girl. “Sick,” she chimed her approval with a smirk tugging at her lips, “-and does it stay open at night?” she thought she might be tempting fate by even considering sneaking out at any point but she wanted to sound cooler than she was and thought that nurturing a badass reputation couldn’t hurt her cause as long as she didn’t actually get into any real trouble.

“I know I’ve already spent all my new girl pain in the ass points with you but any chance you could point me in the direction of...” she hesitated, she couldn’t quite remember which dorm room she was in but she had it written down on a little card that had been given to her at the front office, “D1 in the...Doroth- Dorothea of Casa-” she had no idea what the fuck she was reading, was this a name? Some bible thing? “Caesarea?” it sounded like quesadilla to her but she decided not to mention it in case this girl was like, a certified member of the Jesus fan club or something like that.

[mollymaeburke]

libburkes‌:

libby wasn’t sure she could take another tidbit of history about broadripple after that tour. and then she remembered: she couldn’t leave, and suddenly felt so much heavier. she was here now until she finished high school. something that had felt like it was approaching too fast months ago and now felt like forever away. smirk pricked up the corners of her lips as a laugh that was just an exhale through her nose at her sister’s comment. nudging her arm with her elbow as a form of response. she would love to banter back, say that the red was pretty close to bright orange. but she wasn’t quite feeling it just yet, guilt of being there at all was still pressing a painful thumb between her shoulders.

 “ mmm, ” she hummed in agreement, “ i mean, who the fuck doesn’t know how to say margaret? ” she questioned rhetorically, a chuckle accompanying her words. for as posh as broadripple seemed to think it was, it was ridiculous that the tour guide couldn’t even say their names right. well, molly’s name. elizabeth was pretty hard to fuck up. “ what do you need a new nickname for? ” she asked, though if she actually thought for a second she might understand. this was an opportunity for them, reinvent, refresh, whatever. she hadn’t considered that her sister wanted that. why would she? then she laughed again. mj? greta? “ okay, are you trying to figure out a new nickname or like, create a secret identity? ” smirk had since spread to grin before she pressed her lips together again. again, if she’d been feeling more herself perhaps she would have commented that her name sounded like they’d just used a white girl name generator on the day of her birth and she’d just gotten lucky to not get marie as a middle name. but her self was currently being suffocated by knee length skirt and frumpy red blazer. “ i like molly-mae, ” she decided after a moment. she didn’t think her sister had any reason to change her identity. “ it suits you, and it like– i don’t know, has good energy. ” she said, attempting to assure her sister that she didn’t want to be mature. being mature sucked absolute ass. 

she raised her brows a touch at her sister’s next question. if she were to be honest she’d say she had no idea. she’d say she thought molly would probably find friends easily but she wasn’t so sure about herself. she’d say she was sorry that they were there at all. but instead of any of that she gave a soft smile and said “ yeah, ‘course we will, ” a breath in before she continued “ we just need to settle, find some normal people to hang out with, that sort of thing. ” she assured, “ and montauk will still be there on the weekends. ” though she, personally, had no intention of going back there any time soon. though perhaps her opinions would change come the end of her first week. 

“I’m starting to think I should keep a tally from now on,” she mused, somewhat in jest, somewhat unimpressed by the fact that she’d had to listen to her name being butchered for the last hour or so, however long the grand tour had actually taken them to get through. She felt a bit silly when Libby questioned her, maybe she didn’t need a new nickname after all, “I don’t know,” she uttered casually, shrugging her shoulders as she did so, “New school, new me, something like that?” she suggested, though she supposed her older sister was in more dire need of a revamp than she was, she still wanted to take the opportunity to forge a new, superior identity while she had the chance. She couldn’t help but laugh at Libby’s challenge, “Shut up, it was the first thing that came to mind, get over it, I’m jet-lagged,” jet-lagged from an interstate flight wasn’t exactly a monumental ailment but she hoped to blame it for any missteps for at least the next day or so. “Good energy?” she repeated with an eyebrow raised, “Okay, Karamo- it’s not like I expected you to call me anything different,” she doubted any of her family would ever address her in a different way, “-but if you think it has good energy, I guess we need all the good energy we can...harness or whatever,” she couldn’t think of a good word but was pretty sure that sufficed.

“Yeah,” she agreed, the nod of her head was confident but the tone of her voice lacked the type of energy that would convince anybody that she meant what she said. It was hard to picture it now but she hoped, at the very least, that eventually they would settle in and things would be normal again. “Have you seen anybody normal-looking yet?” she asked with an eyebrow raised, “They don’t even have a football team,” she added, as if it was a serious concern.

[mollymaeburke]

ohcndrea‌:

when attention is drawn from some video on her phone to someone blocking the doorway into the dorm building, drea’s eyes narrow a little. if she went to this school like she claimed, then why didn’t drea recognise her? it didn’t occur to her that the girl was probably new, it only occurred to her to add the girl to the list of pale girls with blonde hair to pretend to confuse kat with for fun. she sucked in a breath, pretending to being really tossing up her options “ i don’t know, sounds like something someone who was trying to break in would say, ” once she spoke it became a little more obvious she was joking, upturn of her lips a little harder to hide. but all the same she slipped past the girl so she could swipe her own card and push the door open once it gave that little green light. holding it open for the blonde behind her, with an expectant look on her face. for all drea cared she could be a burglar, as long as she didn’t steal her shit, she didn’t really care. but a more likely scenario had since come to mind “ i heard some of the cards weren’t working with like, the move and stuff. did you move over from the other dorm? ” she asked, assuming that was the case and this girl was just some sophomore or something she’d never met.

Molly prickled instinctively, prepared to kick off with the other girl as soon as she challenged her claim but thankfully, a moment later, Drea had already made her intentions clear. She was trying to make Molly laugh, not argue with her. “I only do B&E on weekends, Monday’s are for yoga- I have tons of hobbies,” she decided to joke in return, trying to cover up the fact that her posture had straightened and her muscles tightened defensively only a few seconds ago. 

She stepped backward as Drea moved to scan her own Academy Card and Molly’s gaze was glued to the reader, trying to figure out what it was that she’d done wrong the first time. “Lucky me,” she mused dryly, of course, it had to be her card that was affected by the- the what? The move? She had no idea what Andrea was talking about so she merely shook her head, “Just transferred,”  she offered, before realizing that if a whole bunch of people had just moved from somewhere else, it may not have clarified anything at all, “Like, from a different school,” she wanted to sigh but held it in, “So if my card is messed up, how would I get it fixed or whatever?”

[mollymaeburke]

Molly sighed as she slid her brand new Academy card through scanner attached to the dormitory building for the umpteenth time. Maybe she was at the wrong building, maybe her card hadn’t been activated or maybe she had it held in her hand the wrong way but every time it buzzed and the small LED inside started flashing an angry red instead of a validating green color, she could feel the fabric of her soul peeling away, bit by bit. She rolled her eyes to the sky, just about ready to give up on returning to her new form before she heard the sound of approaching footsteps and realized that the person they belonged to might just be her saving grace.

“Hey, I promise I’m not trying to break in- I do go here- my card isn’t working,” she held it up as if to prove that she wasn’t some crazed lunatic from the adjacent town, trying to get into a high school dormitory building.

[mollymaeburke]

@libburkes

“I guess they thought an orange jumpsuit was too on the nose,” Molly suggested, pinching the end of her school tie between her forefinger and thumb and wiggling it in Libby’s general direction. They had just concluded their grand tour of the Academy’s campus, thanks to an uncomfortably cheery senior who dragged them through the grounds, practically explaining what each and every brick in each and every building was for in painful detail. She was tired if exhausted was an overdramatic thing to say and more convinced than ever that Broadripple was going to post a serious threat to the stability of her sanity. “I hate the way he kept saying ‘Margaret’ with three syllables- like a dyslexic guy trying to order a pizza or something,” she complained, though it was truly the least of their worries. “Do you think I need a new nickname?” she’d been going by Molly-Mae her entire life, her peers, friends and teachers alike taking liberties with the sing-song sound of the name. “Maybe something more...mature?” she suggested, new school, new Molly- or Margaret- or whatever...she hadn’t quite gotten there yet. “What about...MJ?” she wasn’t sure where the J was coming from but it sounded cool, “Or Greta,” she winced at her own words, “That sounds like a seventy-year-old German lady,” she said with a grimace. “You’re so lucky,” she sighed, not considering everything that had made Libby excessively unlucky as of late, “Mom and Dad gave you the good name, I think they just winged it with me,” she was still fiddling with her tie but left it alone now. A pause, a shift in thought and a sudden announcement followed, “We’re going to like it here, eventually, right?” she was begging for reassurance from her older sister. Whenever she was in doubt, Libby’s word was law. If Libby said she looked good in a dress, she looked good in a dress. If Libby said she should wear her hair up, she wore her hair up. If Libby told her things were going to be okay, they were going to be okay.