[hr][center][img]http://txt-dynamic.cdn.1001fonts.net/txt/b3RmLjcyLmY4YzE1OS5RbWxzYkhrZ1RHRjNjMjl1LjA,/playtime.regular.png[/img] [img]http://txt-dynamic.cdn.1001fonts.net/txt/b3RmLjcyLjkyM2Y2MC5VR1Z1Ym5rZ1RHRjNjMjl1LjA,/youth-and-beauty.regular.png[/img] [img]http://txt-dynamic.cdn.1001fonts.net/txt/b3RmLjcyLmJmYzRjNS5VbWwwWVNCV2IzSnZibUUsLjA,/divat.regular.png[/img] [/center] [code]Grand Ridge Academy - Conference Room?[/code] [hr] Rita felt miserable. She was reminded of the scene she had caused with Claire the other day, and realized that she would’ve been as cruel as Penny if she had the ammunition. She didn’t know how, but she decided then and there that she would makeup with Claire. She’d keep her Abstraction at bay, even though the demon of doubt wiggling around in her brain kept pushing her to abuse it. Now, however, she knew that there was nothing she could do without risking the ire of both of the women, and so she sat there in silence and tried to politely pretend that she didn’t notice the screaming match that was happening across the table. Billy gave a quiet chuckle to Nate’s comment, but otherwise he kept out of it. Like himself, it was difficult to get Penny to stop once she got rolling, and right now he could tell that she wasn’t going to slow down until she ran out of breath or someone knocked it out of her. He didn’t like that she was targeting Claire, who he mistakenly took to be one of his tight friends, but he did see the silver lining in all of this. Namely, if Penny was enough of an asshole then maybe people would forget about how big of a dick he had been to Rien. Billy hadn’t meant anything by it, really, he was just trying to bring some fun to a stiff, boring meeting, but he knew he had gone too far. He had a tendency to go too far with just about anything. Still, it was better than this dragged out, long-winded character assassination that his kid sister was doing. “You need to leave. Now,” growled Andrea. “No thanks. But you can go. It’s not like you’re even a part of this, so stop rubbernecking,” said Penny, her voice filled with a fake chipperness. Billy winced when Andrea demanded that Penny leave in the same voice that his mom used when she was really, really upset. He knew that his sister wouldn’t have followed what would probably have been the best course of action for everyone in this room before she even quipped back. Hell, now, thanks to Andrea, she would probably keep going until she made everyone stand up and walk out of the room one by one until she was ranting to the walls and to the bat, wherever it had gone off. Maybe he should just take the moment to slink away unnoticed. In fact, that’s what he decided to do. The cracking of the table forced Rita’s attention back to the argument, and she stared in fear as Claire began glowing red yet again. She hadn’t stuck around to see what the woman could do last time, and Martin’s pleading convinced her that there was little point in sticking around this time. She nodded her head and, with a turn towards Rien, pointed at the door and crept out of her chair. Billy, the unfunny jokester who had given her shit weed and a hard time, also seemed to have the same idea. They nearly collided before the tall boy sort of wiggle-danced himself out of the way. “Yeah, she ain’t stopping,” he muttered to her under his breath. “Neither did you,” said Rita with zero inflection. Any normal person would’ve probably felt a modicum of shame, embarrassment, or defeat by now, having successfully turned an entire room against them in less than five minutes, but Penny wasn’t normal. She was a self-admitted asshole, and like all people who called themselves assholes she was proud of being an asshole. If it got them angry, then she justified it by saying that she had hit a sore spot because it was true. Penny was practically beaming when she watched Justin struggling to hold Claire back. Fuck what Claire said, she was the only sane woman in this town. It was cowardice to want to live in peace when others weren’t given that option and you could do something about it. Her eyes widened when Justin was forced off of Claire, but it wasn’t from fear. It was a learning opportunity. She had been honing her Abstraction since she discovered it, but she had never used it on another person before. If Claire even tried to lay a single finger on her, then Penny would have to see if she could repulse her way—in the name of self-defense, of course. And if that didn’t work, well, she had been grabbing a handful of change from her jacket since the moment Justin had jumped in. "... [i][b]fucking[/b] stop!?[/i]" And it did. Penny, with her hand in her jacket. Rita, with her arms up to avoid bumping in to Billy within feet from the door. Billy, with one leg side-stepping and a look of confusion on his face to avoid knocking Rita over. Then it was all gone, snapped to black, and when it faded to blue everything was different. Well, not necessarily different. It was familiar in a way; they had all been like this before. Penny withdrew her hand from her jacket, empty. Rita put her arms down and looked around the teal emptiness, wishing that she had been quicker on fleeing the scene. Billy, stumbling, was able to steady himself before he fell on his transparent, ghostly ass. “Okay, really, it’s great you got them to stop, but I’m not in the right headspace for this soooo…” He looked around the group, searching for anyone that looked like they knew what was going on. “Uh, which one of you magic dorks did this? Just a quick hands up will be good. Just. Put it right up there.”