In reflection...A diminutive shock shot through Alice's spine, making her jump slightly at the sound of someone contacting the door to the art room. She fumbled with her pockets as Augie entered into her site, soon allowing the anxious pangs evaporate from her being as she realized that the intrusion came from one of her close friends. When Augie had made his way into the room, it was clear that Alice already had her cellphone in hand. Perhaps it was guilt that had her face momentarily flushed, though perhaps not. Alice never was one to be so open, even with Augie. Despite that, however, she readily greeted him.
"Oh, what's up? I was justβ" Alice found her forced words cut off by Augie's own. In a sense, she was relieved that he didn't find it necessary to immediately mention how she'd so readily left the group. That had been a common start to conversations with a number of Alice's other friends, though she couldn't really blame them for that. At her friend's mention of the website, Alice sent a gaze towards the phone still held in her palm, her cheeks flushing slightly as she failed to maintain eye contact with Augie for a long moment. She didn't waste time placing it in her pocket thereafter, however.
"Yeah... Iβ Um..." Alice took a step back as she fumbled over her words. Without referring to it, she resumed sorting a number of recently used brushes and paints placed next to a canvas. This was not an uncommon sight, though Alice was well aware that the homecoming dance was no time for her to be tending to her duties as teacher's assistant. Nonetheless, it appeared as something of a habit to her. Perhaps it offered her a sense of comfort and something to do in place of idly interacting with her peers. She sure avoided that much a lot, at the very least.
"I saw it. Do you know if Rob's alright? I would have come to check on him, but I just saw it now. I suppose that goes for Ara, too. They've both been dealing with all this..."Alice trailed off again. What started as a caring and soft-hearted inquiry had shifted. Something in her voice had changed, as if the tone of her words was skewed if only for a moment. If anything was ever uncharacteristic of the background watcher that was Alice, perhaps it could have been recognized in that moment: a second of vexation as something unknown confounded her. The strange tonal inflections remained only for a few words before vanishing once more.
"All this drama. I'm worried. That the group will just keepβ" Another missed beat hijacked Augie and Alice's conversation. Alice spent the moment beholding the canvas before her. It was out of Augie's view and it couldn't be placed what, if anything, was painted on it.
"βFragmenting. The site is having a much greater impact than initially expected..." 
Creative Chaos,
NoriWasHere,
Atrophy
