[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/lu0cWBn.png[/img][/center]
[b][color=40C19D]Time:[/color][/b] 5:19 PM -> 5:26 PM
[b][color=40C19D]Location:[/color][/b] Campus Commons
[b][color=40C19D]Interacting:[/color][/b] Naomi Johnson [@canaryrose], mentions Alice Gray [@Blizz]

Echo grinned at their incredibly tall best-friend as she crossed the gathering of people to sit by them. As she spoke, they nodded along, popping a bite of melon into their mouth exactly as Naomi mentioned this being her first prank. With wide eyes, they chewed intently for a moment, holding up a finger in pause until they quickly swallowed, clearing their mouth enough to talk. [color=40C19D]“your first prank? I mean,  makes sense. You know they’re gonna say I’m corrupting –"[/color] they cut themself off for a moment, cringing slightly at the other implications the word had for Star kids in particular. [color=40C19D]“That I’m a bad influence on you.”[/color] They finished the thought rather lamely, nibbling on a bite of cookie now and not touching the actually-nutritive bits that they had gotten (mostly just to throw off the campus nutritionist – the high schoolers were somewhat more supervised on that front than the college students were, to keep them healthy and their brains developing to their maximal capacity. Or something. The health teacher was always on them, even at events such as this, about their health, wellbeing, and development.)

[color=40C19D]“I know, this is gonna be so good. I’m so excited. I don’t think anyone saw us, so we… should be good. Hopefully.”[/color] Their storm-trooper-helmet-wearing classmate flitted by, making a hand-sign that was attempted to be discreet (and failed spectacularly.) Echo rolled their eyes, giving a thumbs up and a wave. 

Theater kids. Most people would give the theater kids a pass. 

A particularly orange-haired welcome leader was wandering up towards the stage, and Echo groaned to themself, visibly rolling their eyes. Of [i]course[/i] Phoenix got to do the student welcome speech this year, before the faculty came out on the field and spewed a boatload of propaganda and other unpleasantries. 

He seemed particularly nervous, just slightly too well put together for the situation. Echo had always found it particularly – to use an internet word with not-great connotations – cringey. But adults and other responsible sorts seemed to just lap it up. He stepped up to the microphone, tapping on it to make sure it was on. It wasn’t; there was a muffled curse from the storm-trooper-helmet-wearing classmate, who bolted towards the soundboard and frantically started pressing buttons, fading out the generic-pop-music that filtered through the speakers scattered around the common grounds and turning on the mics on-stage. The classmate then gave a theatrical thumbs-up, before dramatically ninja-rolling away and making more of a scene than if they had just walked. 

Echo rolled their eyes again. Theater kids, everyone. 

They didn’t particularly want to pay attention to the goings-on on stage, their gaze flitting around the crowds of people. [color=40C19D]“So many new students this year,”[/color] they stage-whispered to Naomi. [color=40C19D]“I wonder if there’s any in our classes?”[/color] There had been all of one transfer student in their year that they’d noticed so far, but she had seemed a snarky, reclusive sort – though Echo could empathize with that, there was no obvious common ground, and the girl – Alice, they vaguely remembered, from the awkward icebreaker introductions during English seminar -  seemed quite unwilling to make the acquaintance of anyone else. That was fine, Echo had been there and done that too… but… still. 

They kicked their heels against the retaining wall absently, swaying from side to side and fidgeting with their phone, anxiously counting down the time until the clocks would begin. [color=40C19D]"I'm so nervous,"[/color] they quietly whispered, glancing to Naomi.
[hr][hr]
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/C0qYgjG.png?1[/img][color=ea7024][h3][sub][b]GM Post[/b][/sub][/h3]
[sub][i]Please take your time at finishing up your interactions in the next couple posts! This is just so that those who are stuck / at a dead end in interactions can.[/i][/sub][/color][/center]
[b][color=ea7024]Time:[/color][/b] 5:20 PM -> 5:26 PM
[b][color=ea7024]Location:[/color][/b] Campus Commons
[b][color=ea7024]Interacting:[/color][/b] Everyone!

Phoenix adjusted his blazer once again as he checked his watch. It was precisely 5:20. After a final scan for straggling or struggling young students, he started over towards the stage, making sure his hair was properly arrayed (he bit back his internal annoyances at the wind and other such constructs of the environment) and that his speech cards and other such belongings were exactly as they were supposed to be, though it was purely mechanical.

Of course they were; he was far, far too meticulous to ever lose something so important as that. It wasn’t like he would need them, anyway; he’d had his speech learned since the start of the summer, when Professor Edwards had approached him and asked him to give it. It was a sort of tradition that one of the graduating students, especially one who’d attended for at least the entire duration of their high school and college, give the welcome speech on the first day of classes, and Phoenix (with his upstanding GPA and disciplinary records, his familiarity on campus as a resident assistant, and his very particular aesthetic) had been a quickly suggested choice.

He adjusted the sleeves of his jacket one final time, stepping up to approach the microphone. The stage techs were nowhere to be seen, but that was fine; he bit back his annoyance as he tapped on the dead microphone, clearing his throat and staring pointedly back to the empty soundbooth. 

A high schooler quickly leapt into action, pressing buttons and ending the music after far, far too long of a pause. Phoenix rolled his eyes, stepping away from the microphone and pressing two fingertips lightly to the underside of his jaw, swelling the air that formed his words and projecting his (already theatrical voice) out over the entire field. The microphone tech did not take the hint, but that was fine; he angled the shape of the waves to avoid the microphone lest he cause feedback or other unpleasantries.

[color=ea7024]“My fellow students, welcome to another great year at the Nova Excelsis Institute of Higher Education. My name, as many of you know, is Phoenix Gallagher; I am a student senate member, resident assistant in Carter Hall, and the principal clarinetist of our student orchestra. But beneath all my other titles, I am a student just like you, and I am so proud to have the honor of saying that.”[/color] He shifted in place, lightly altering how the air currents flowed and yet again adjusting his suit jacket, shifting to stand as tall as he possibly could.

[color=ea7024]“Ten years ago today, I arrived on a bus just up the road at the Academy, and my life forever changed. Since that fateful day, I have been able to blossom into a role that I never could have even dreamed of filling with a conventional education. I have been privileged to work alongside the very greatest musical artists, both those gifted with Stars and those without; I have been pushed to the extreme limits of my ability and set up for a world-spanning career in that which is both my passion and my gift. Truly, the limits of one’s potential here are realized only by their wildest imagination.

"I am here to congratulate you all on making the choice to be here today; those of you who are returning students, to thank you for returning to this bastion of learning, and those of you who are new, to welcome you to the greatest place you will ever find. Here, and only here, Starred students are enabled and empowered to explore every facet of their ability, to hone it and grow into more gifted and accomplished individuals than they ever could have been in the conventional world. The world does not understand us, but the Institute does. Our faculty – world-renowned, incredible individuals who have singlehandedly made leaps and bounds in each of their wonderfully diverse social and academic roles – understand us, and are here to help us become all that we can be.”[/color]

He absently fidgeted with his suit jacket, reaching into the pocked where he kept his cue cards – more for the familiarity of having them than anything, of course – and managing to pull a perfectly blank face when he realized he didn’t, in fact, have them. No matter. He had his speech memorized. Perfectly, perfectly memorized.

Everything was going fine. He cleared his throat, adjusted his posture again, and put a smile on his face, making eye contact with some of the new students as he continued.

[color=ea7024]“We sit today at the beginning of what is sure to be the greatest year the Academy has ever known; as for the last fourteen years running, the Academy boasts higher enrollment than ever. In response to this, our faculty has added even more diverse degree programs at the collegiate level, while featuring the nation’s best selection of AP and IB courses -and even more specialized classes specifically taught to the higher achievement of Starred students – at the high school level. Truly, we are on the cusp of an era of greatness, and we will be the future of it.”[/color]

After a strategic length of pause, he smiled and opened his mouth to speak again, but found himself distracted by a rhythmic, droning beeping that quickly swelled in volume – an alarm. [color=ea7024]“Is – Is someone’s phone going off?”[/color] he asked distractedly. It was quite far away, at one of the picnic tables near the middle of the field, he thought. He tried to ignore it, hoping someone would make it stop beeping soon. [color=ea7024]“As I was saying, the future is now; the future is us. Remember this, if you become discouraged. The future of our world can hang in your hands, should you – should you choose to rise to that – occasion.”[/color] 

A second beeping had joined the first, just a half-second out of phase with it and from a different part of the field. He growled to himself, turning a strainedly bright smile to the gathered students. [color=ea7024]“Friends, if you could please silence your phones. Please.”[/color] 

He finally paused in his speech, clasping his hands in front of himself and waiting annoyedly for the sounds to be resolved. He didn’t dare present the professors, not with this cacophony. 

Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of a bright teal flash. His sibling. They didn’t seem at all perturbed by the noise…

He shook his head irritably. Surely they didn't actually know anything. They wouldn’t be trying to – sabotage this event?