Last Day of Freedom [open]

So, they were supposed to go back to school tomorrow.

Thank God...

It was getting so boring spending all that time at home. Turtles and dogs and fish and annoying brothers and sisters who spent eternities in the shower, plus all that time around her parents, if she had to put up with it any longer, she might snap and strangle someone. "Can I get a Saint Clement's here, please?" She swung around in her stool, waiving down the bartender. Some band was playing in the background, no-one she cared about, not as good as her sister's.

What'd Elia have to do to get some real company around here?

speaking of annoying sisters

Maybe not real company, but close enough. Esther slid through the crowd on silent feet, a ghost in the crowd, even though she dressed to pop. Pumped up black Docs, black tights, black , black, a black band shirt tucked artfully into a plaid skirt and cinched with an oversized belt. Pop. Her entire outfit was imperfection by design, carefully constructed dysfunction. She had a habit of taking a pair of scissors to designer skinny jeans, if they didn't already come off the rack like that, something that always made their mother tear her hair out. The twins had the same face, the same height, the same build, but Esther looked less like Elia's twin and more like her afterimage, a dark imprint that followed her like a shadow.

Esther clapped her hands down on her unsuspecting sister's shoulders. "Boo." Perfectly pedicured black nails contrasted sharply with the rough calluses on her fingers, or the fresh bandages wrapped around her palm, half-concealed by her long sleeves. "You looked lonely. That must be new for you." She slid into the stool next to hers, drumming her fingers against the bar in time with the beat.

She picked up a Tortuga for herself, cinnamon swimming in sweet tea and topped with a wedge of lime. Third Years were always sneaking in flasks and vapes, and they were always getting thrown out. Better to play it straight here.

Christine was on stage, strumming away as the rest of her band played their usual numbers. As she looked around the crowd, she noticed that nobody seemed interested in what they were playing. She sighed. It didn't seem like any of her bandmates were particularly interested in this gig either. After they had finished the particular song they were on, Christine unstrapped her guitar and set it down, leaning against one of the speakers gently. "I think it's time for a 15-minute intermission," she said as she walked off the stage, not even looking at her bandmates. Chris approached the bar and asked for a bottle of water. She looked to her right and noticed a set of twins sitting there. "What'd you think?" she asked them half-heartedly. She knew how they did. Christine almost dreaded what their answers would be.

There was something about this place that reminded Carolina of home, familiar yet...New and comforting. She was used to the club scene, although the normal clubs she would visit would be a little more...Seedy and questionable while this place was almost lavish in comparison. She was wearing what was once a t-shirt, the sleeves now cut off carefully to give a clear view of the tattoos that ran up both of her shoulders and disappeared beneath the fabric. Her clothes gave off a sort of 'punk' vibe, dark colors with a white skull in the middle of the shirt.

Her fingers tapped absently mindlessly on the table, her eyes scanning the page of a book she had in front of her. She knew she could have stayed in her room to read, but honestly Death would have tried to curl up on her book because that was just the type of cat he was...And also she had wanted to check out MKUltra. She was dimly aware when the music stopped, frowning slightly as she straighten up. It had been a great listen due to the book she had just so happen to decide to read. Her eyes flickered to the side as person slide in the bar near her, recognizing her as one of the musicians who had been on stage.

For a second, she thought about saying nothing. She wasn't much of the social type, never had many friends but that suited her just fine. But...She drummed her fingers on the pages of her book as she mused over it, noting that friends would be...Nice seeing how she was in a completely new place. "I rather liked it," she finally said after a few seconds, wincing as she hoped she wasn't intruding - she hadn't been addressed after all. She didn't know much about music in general nor was rather picky, so most songs and musicians in general fell into 'this is pretty good' area for her. While she hadn't been paying a whole lot of attention to the band, it had been great background music...And honestly better than the crap that would play at the clubs she used to hang out at. "Its been a while since I have listened to live music, it was nice."

Out of all the people in the world, Esther would be the last one that could ever scare her. She broke out a small smile, wrapping one hand over her twins before her dear shadow slipped away into the seat beside her. "I think this place is just your scene more than it is mine," she mused, accepting her drink from the bartender and pulling it close to her, a bubbly bounty of orange and lemon juice. "But whatever. Company would have found me eventually."

As if on queue, one if the band members had slipped off strange and another nearby stranger had wandered up to introduce herself. Elia shot her sister a look that sang "I told you so".

"I think your bassist was a little flat," she ho-hummed. "Nothing like Esther here could do, but you were pretty nice." If she were being honest, she hardly knew a thing about playing in a band other than what Jon and Esther tried to ramble at her, but it often went in one ear and out the other.

In fact, she must have stood out like a sore thumb out if the four of them, the only one without any black or torn sleeves or old raggedy t-shirts. There she sat in a little white skirt with a loose yellow shirt to match. It wasn't exactly the right aesthetic, but she could appreciate the atmosphere all the same. "Nice tats," she murmured to the girl with the book.

Esther sank her cheek into her palm, leaning against the bar and stirring listlessly at her mocktail. True. Company usually did find her, sooner or later. People swarmed Elia like flies swarmed shit. Like now. She glanced up at the two strangers, silent at first, until recognition lit up in her eyes. The guitarist. Her flat expression tweaked up at the corners of her lips, the hint of a smile. "Don't listen to her. Your band was so cute." Which meant they were no rock stars, but they might be nice in a dentist lobby or something. But Ellie was right. Coming from a family of musicians, she could tell right away that the stranger had a natural intuition for sound. This girl could play, whoever she was, with her weird cable earring things, and her group was missing a rhythm guitar. Maybe it was destiny. No, definitely, most certainly destiny.

All she had to do was snatch her.

She twisted around in her seat. "Actually, me and a couple friends get together to jam now and then. You should hang out with us sometime. It'd be fun." Esther glanced over toward the girl with the tattoos. "And if you actually liked that, you should check out one of our shows sometime. I think you'd dig us. It's a little faster paced than this..."

Christine smiled as she took a sip of her water. She figured they were just being polite. "Thanks, you're being too kind. If I'm being honest, it felt like my bandmates were kinda out of it." she replied. She perked up, however, when the girl offered to let her join in on one of her sessions with her friends sometime. "You think I could? That would be great! I'm pretty new to Rivers Pointe so I don't really know my way around yet. Maybe you could show me around when you show me where you practice?" she asked excitedly, hopeful that she could get away from her old band.

As the others started to talk, Carolina picked up her bookmark and slipped it between the opened pages before she closed the book - didn't see a whole lot to read when there were other people to talk to. She folded her arms across the book, dipping her head in acknowledgement of the well-dressed girl noticing her tattoos. As the group talked about the band and music, she tapped her fingers on the cover of the book.  Her attention was drawn down to it, staring at the image of a robed skeleton - the Grim Reaper - riding a motorcycle with the words 'Soul Music' written above it in bright red letters.

It was a novel she had read a few different times, and had seemed fitting for another reread when she decided hang out at the club. Her eyes flickered up at the other girls, a soft smile on her lips as she focused on one of them - Esther from what the other girl had called her. "Maybe I will. I was never big into the music scene back in my old town but...Maybe its time to change that," she hummed, before giving a soft shrug of her shoulders. "Say, what are your names? I'm Carolina." she asked. It wasn't likely she would ever properly talk to these people again, the town was a huge place but...It at least seemed polite to get everybody's names in case she did decide to go listen to the band in the future.

"If I'm being honest, those burnouts are holding you back. You're too good for them." She eased back into the stool, sipping at her drink. Hook, line, sinker. "I'm Esther. This is Elia. Don't get us confused." Like, seriously, don't. "We use one of the school studios, but you'll find it. We're loud." There was a reason they couldn't just use their parents' garage anymore. Dad pulled a couple strings, and now they had access to all the time and space and equipment they needed.

She suddenly perked up, a grin flashing across her face. "Hey! Can I see your guitar?"

How was it possible to get the two of them confused. Maybe, when they were dressed up for Sunday services or visiting Grandma Alice's place was it slightly difficult to tell the two of them apart, but their tastes in almost anything, including fashion, were like night and day. "It's nice to meet you though," Elia said with a smile. "It would really suck if we went into Beata not knowing anyone." Although Carolina looked like she was more of a guardian more than another student.

She didn't want to assume, you know?

"Christine," she told the girl with the tattoos. "But please, call me Chris." She smirked at Esther's comment about her band holding her back. So it wasn't just herself that thought that. "Yeah, let me grab it for you," she said, heading back up to the stage to grab it. She handed it to the girl gently. "Be careful with her, she's my favorite guitar." Christine turned to Elia. "Are you a part of their band too?" she asked. Just from the way she had been speaking, she most likely wasn't, but she didn't want to assume anything. Besides, it was a good way to get to know the people around her.

Carolina watched the girls with a mild interest, taking the moment when Chris headed up to grab her guitar to speak, her gaze focusing on Elia. "I can understand that," she mused, tapping a finger on her book with an almost sheepish look on her face. "I'm new to Rivers Pointe, just got into Benedicite but I know nobody here and have no idea what I am going to focus my schooling on" she admitted with a sigh, before suddenly realizing that she was talking to kids almost. They had to be...What, seven years younger than her? It had taken the moment for the name 'Beata' to sink in to realize it but now... Age had never meant all that much to her, at least she didn't see a problem with people befriending those outside of their age group but when you were the lone person...It was suddenly rather awkward. She nervous cleared her throat, her gaze falling back onto her book for the most part but her eyes kept flickering up to see what Esther wanted the guitar for.