The Social Jungle (Open)

[Florence Swithin]

Ah lunch time…. The smell of food traveling around the cafeteria, the almost deafening sound of chattering voices and kitchen work, the feeling of complete and utter social awkwardness Florence felt as she stood in the doorway looking like a deer that was about to get hit by a speeding semi-truck….
Florence didn’t know what to do with herself in this kind of situation, not a single clue. Because you see, up until today, Florence had never been faced with large groups of people her age all hoarded together like this. Her entire academic life had been spent in a calm, quiet little house in the countryside with no one but her aunt and herself there to bear witness.

Meals back home had almost always been home cooked and shared between the two women in an easy going and laid back atmosphere where the young Welsh felt comfortable and at home. So coming into Blue Ridge’s dining hall was, in its own way, a form of culture shock for her. Just working up enough strength to walk through the door and down the line of people waiting to get their food nearly drained all the courage and moxie she had stored up inside her. But what was she supposed to do? Just walk away and go hungry? Go back to her room and eat the crackers she had stored in her suitcase? She couldn’t do that her entire stay here! At some point she would have to face this little mental obstacle and get over her social anxiety, and she knew if I wasn’t now, it may be never or that she would get herself so psyched out that she would flip out when she did try to come in and eat.

So with a stiff upper lip and some deep breathing she managed to get her food, a ham, swiss and cucumber sandwich on wheat bread with a bowl of green grapes and a can of V8 juice, and made her way off into the sea of tables. There she found one in the far odd corner, completely empty and away from most of the other people who were scattered around in their little pods and cliques. And that’s where she quickly scurried over and sat herself, playing with the zipper of her black hoodie with one hand while she nibbled her grapes with the other, watching everyone around her interact with one another with wide and weary eyes.

[Sara Jane Lyena]

Sara walked into the cafeteria, Cinder following on a six foot lead. As she approached the counter, she grinned at theserver, but chose to grab a salad for the day. Her options, while still limiylted, were more than enough for her, because the chefs took care to create a variety of cgoices that she could eat. Some days, though, the days she felt the most health-consious, she just stuck to green sapad with some oil and vinegar.

After paying, she stopped and glanced around the cafeteria. Her table was still empty, and she didn't want to sit alone. Of course, if she sat down, people would join her, but she knew what they would talk about already. She saw another girl, someone she had seen around the Blue Ribbon House, sitting by herself, and decided to try and make a few more aquaintwnces. She lovedhearing other peiple's stories, and new people were a trove of those. As she stopped by the table, she smiled at the girl, "Hey, would you like some company?" She knew most people didn't like to sit alone, and had guessed that shyness kept this newcomer by herself.

[Florence Swithin]

Florence has been far off into the depths of her own mind when Sara walked up to her table and began talking to her. The transgender’s deep brown eyes were hazed over in a day dream, leaving her to stare off into space as if the rest of the world didn’t even exist. It was hard to say what she may be thinking about, knowing Flo’s mind. It could be anything from what she was going to write for her English report, to picturing what some of the guys at the table on the other side of the room would look like if they suddenly began to sprout a unicorn’s horns….. Either way, it was probably just best to stay out of the twisting vortex of color that was the girl’s inner thoughts. Even if they didn’t last long. Because when Florence turned her head just slightly to the side and caught sight of Sara standing there in front of her she nearly jumped out of her skin and knocked over her bowl of grapes, sending the little green balls bouncing and rolling all over the floor.

“I-I’m so sorry!” she squeaked, trying to clean up the mess she made as quickly as possible.
“I was away in my head and I didn’t realize you were standing there. I didn’t mean to be rude.”

Florence chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of her head. Her accent was warm and welcoming, yet somehow being far off and dreamy at the same time. Figuring it wouldn’t hurt to at least try to make friends with someone she tilted her head towards the empty seat across from her, silently saying that Sara was free to sit down at the table. Though that was only if she wanted to, of course.…

[Sara Jane Lyena]

Sara had been waiting for only a moment or two when the girl that was sitting flinched, knocking over her lunch. As Florence hurried to apologize and corral the grapes, Sara smiled slightly and quickly put her tray on one of the seats before dropping Cinder's leash and helping, holding the grapes in her hands before she dropped them carefully onto the other girl's tray. She smiled, "Don't worry about it, I'm sorry for scaring you. I hadn't realized you were quite that deep in thought."

Without bothering to bothering to grab Cinder's leash again, she picked up the tray and moved it to the table, leaving a seat between herself and Florence for comfort. She pointed under the table, "Cinder, subter." After the dog had laid down, she pulled in his leash, kicking it under the table, so that no one would trip over it. With a smile at Florence, she grabbed her fork and stabbed it into the salad, taking a quick bite before chewing. After swallowing, she smiled at Florence, "So, how are you liking Blue Ridge so far?" She knew it was a silly topic, but with new people, it often led to longer, nice conversations.

[Florence Swithin]

'Smooth....real bloody smooth, Florence.' grumbling and scolding herself mentally Florence's cheeks turned a vivid shade of red while the two girls worked together to clean up the mess she had made of her lunch. What a fantastic way to introduce yourself and make a first impression...now she just felt like she made a raging fool of herself.
"Eheh...." the Welsh girl gave a faint and nervous chuckle before both thanking, reassuring and apologizing to Sara all at once. Her head ducked in shy submission. "I'm sorry, you didn't have to clean those up, but thank you. O-oh! No worries! it's not the first time I've done that and I'm pretty sure it won't be the last."

Perching herself back on her seat and sitting up a little straighter than she had been before she offered the other a small smile, her expression mellowing out a little as she eyed the dog resting at Sara's feet.
"Um..." she hesitated for a second before answering the question "I think it might be too soon to tell. I love that I can be around horses all day, but I'm not really used to being so far away from home and on my own."
Did that make her sound like a pathetic child? Oh well... it was the truth. Florence had a lot of adjusting to do if she was going to be successful at Blue Ridge. Riding and her school work weren't going to be an issue at all. But broadening her social horizon that pushed at her already low self tolerance and comfort zone was going to be a huge battle.

I'm so sorry...I didn't introduce myself." she held out her hand, the color of her cheeks returning to their original color "My name is Florence Swithin. Very pleased to meet you."

[Sara Jane Lyena]

Sara smiled slightly, "Don't worry about it." She nodded as Florence waved aside her apology, and moved to settled down herself, now that the spill had been cleared. She saw Florence's eyes on Cinder, but didn't think about it as Florence answered her question. She smiled at the girl's answer, remembering how she had felt the first time she had made her way out to Blue Ridge on her own, "Don't worry, you'll figure it out." She grinned, "If you ever need any help with anything, finding your way around, just talking, I'm always around, if you don't like talking to the counselors."

As Florence introduced herself, Sara's eyes widened, "Don't worry, I forgot as well." She grinned, holding out her hand, "Sara Lyena." She smiled, "And it's really nice to meet you too." She remembered the girl looking at the large Malamute and shrugged to herself, "Oh, and the giant monster hiding under the table is Cinder." She pushed the dog's leash around with the tip of her shoe, suddenly embarrassed that she had introduced the dog. If Florence had cared, she might have asked, and otherwise, there was no reason to do so.

[Florence Swithin]

Smiling nervously Florence fidgeted with what was left of her lunch on the tray in front of her, poking at her sandwich before deciding to go for the little carton of strawberry milk beside it. "I do hope you're right... It would be horrible to have to stay here feeling like a mouse in a room full of cats all the time." she chuckled and took a sip of her drink. In all actuality she didn't really know why being here freaked her out so badly. It wasn't like she didn't enjoy people....she knew she could ride and the education part shouldn't be a problem... Perhaps it was just a combination of things that added on top of being in an actual school for the first time. She was in a different country without any familiar faces after all. Or maybe it was just her paranoia and knowing that she was in the girl's part of the dorm. Granted she had her own room, but she would feel awful if she were to make anyone upset or uncomfortable if anyone found out her little issue. But right now, she really didn't want to think about that kind of stuff.

Right now there was a young lady who had taken the time out of her lunch break to come sit at her table and talk to her who hadn't walked way when she had sent grapes flying all over the place and here she was still trying to space out like a fool! She should be ashamed of herself.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sara. Heh, you too Cinder~"
the lanky girl looked back to the big fluff ball resting on the floor peacefully. Florence loved dogs, but sadly her aunt was highly allergic to them and so they had never been able to interact with them much for fear of bringing along their dander and triggering a reaction.
"How long have you been here, Sara?" she asked when she noted the other girl's embarrassment dance over her facial features breifly.

[Sara Jane Lyena]

Sara grinned at the girl's simile, "Well, I doubt you'll feel like that." She smiled, "You might end up like one of the cats, though, watching all of the newcomers." She took the moment of quiet to take another bite of salad, chewing for a moment as she watched the bustling of the cafeteria filling up. She could see a few cheerleaders from her usual table glance around and finally focus on her. Sara smiled and waved at them, then motioned for them to sit down. She would stay here, for this lunch, for a bit of quiet. A girl had to get away from the gossip and comings and goings of the school for a little bit, especially when the one coming that she wanted wasn't going to be spoken about.

She focused back on her plate, looking back at her lunch companion only when the girl asked another question. She stayed silent for a moment, counting the months in her head, "About a year, now, I think. I transferred a few months after the beginning of last year." She fished for another topic, "Did you bring your own horse, or are you going to make use of the school horses?"

[Florence Swithin]

Watching her lunch guest look around the cafeteria Florence noticed the gaggle of girls at the table across the room just as Sara waved at them and just as she did Florence felt a little bad and started to worry that she was keeping Sara from spending time with her friends and usual crowd…… Then a bit of dread sank in. Those were cheerleaders…even though she had never attended a school before; she knew what they were in an instant. All pretty, fresh faced, gossipy, preppy and most likely very popular with their class mates and perhaps even a tad stuck and smarmy, even though she hadn’t met them yet.
Despite the fact that Florence didn’t usually give into stereo-types and liked to have others do the same, she couldn’t avoid a little feeling of natural dread. She had experienced a bad run in with girls like that in the past, and this meant that Sara was most likely one of them.
Before she was able to think too much further into it, Florence reminded herself that so far, Sara had been perfectly nice and polite to her this entire time, so she shouldn’t have anything to worry about, right?

Thankfully Sara had a reply for her, momentarily occupying the spacy girl’s mind and taking it off the topic of possible future issues with other girls. HORSES! Oh good~ An easy topic to talk about, and one of her favorites at that.
“I have my own horse, Titus, but there have been a few issues with his paperwork. So his due date has been pushed back a few days. In the mean time I’ll be working with some of the academy horses.” Nodding slightly she continued “I think I’d like to continue to work with some of them every now and then, even after he arrives.”

[Sara Jane Lyena]

Sara listened to Florence's explanation of her horse, and why she wasn't riding him yet, "That's too bad." She frowned, "I'm sure he'll be here in no time." She would have hated it if Rolo or Balian had been stuck in another country, even her home country, and not in the same country as herself. Luckily, since she lived only on the other side of the country, Sara had had only minimal paperwork in transporting them, although the trailering over had been a pain, both times that she had had to figure it out.

She nodded as Florence spoke about wanting to work with some of the academy horses, "There are some really nice ones around, that's for sure." She had never had to work with any of them, but she had spent a bit of time with a few, when they had been in the same pasture as Balian and Rolo, "What kind of riding do you do with him, if you don't mind my asking?" She briefly hoped that Florence wasn't one of those English riders who thought that they were better than the Western riders, because if she was, then that would be rather problematic.