Room 421, Tuesday Late Afternoon

[mathletenomore]

After saying goodbye to Sam and her friends in front of house in the morning, and later her parents at the airport (which had been tearful, mostly on her mother's part), Lindsay finally returned to her room in the dorms with an extra suitcase. That was an indication that she'd be around for awhile.

She tuned into a classic rock station on the laptop she purchased recently and then began to unpack.

[open door and post]

Comments

[living_endless]

It had been a while since Didi saw Lindsay; if the niggling feeling she'd been having lately was right, better to check in now than to miss the chance.

"Hey!" she said, outside the door as she watched Lindsay with her suitcase. "Are you coming or going?"

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

"Hey." Lindsay turned toward Didi, a slight smile on her face. "Staying. For awhile, at least."

[living_endless]

"Oh, good," Didi said, returning the smile. "I'd feel like a really bad big sister if I didn't talk to you until you left. How have you been?"

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

"Not to worry, then. I decided I like it here," Lindsay explained. "I've been okay lately. Other than being sent to a messed up world a few weeks ago, but I'm dealing. It's part of the reason I'm staying, actually. I feel like I should be around people who get this place, you know? Can't really talk about the weird things with my family."

She paused a moment before continuing. "And how've you been?"

[living_endless]

"If you ignore the being sent to a messed up world?" Didi checked. "I've been good. I'm sorry to hear that happened to you, though. I don't know where you were, but the place I was, was ... pretty rough."

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, the place I was at...it wasn't good," Lindsay admitted. "I actually prayed while over there. I'm not usually the praying type. Maybe it helped a little, I don't know."

She shrugged a bit, still unsure what she believed. "I'm just glad we all survived those messed up worlds. I much prefer rain of food product or something equally harmless and wacky."

[living_endless]

"Or waking up as a boy, or even having my dead brother show up," Didi answered. "Visiting that place was the worst thing we got all year. It was like ... every nightmare anybody has ever had."

She drew a deep breath and shook her head. "But it's over now."

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

"Haven't experienced the gender switch or a visit from a deceased family member." There was a little bit of sadness in her voice at the mention of the second thing. So she focused on something else. "Yeah, so glad that's over. Hopefully there won't be anymore nightmare scenarios for awhile."

She'd prefer no more nightmare scenarios. Ever.

[living_endless]

"Or ever," Didi said. "Gender switch isn't too bad, you just have to walk a little different for a day. Some of the other stuff is ... this island can be a hard place to be."

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

"And yet it's the first place in a long time where I feel like I can be myself," Lindsay said, chuckling a bit. "I wonder what that says about me."

[living_endless]

"Probably that where you're from wasn't the right place for you," Didi answered. She wandered inside, looking for a place to sit."Who do you think you have to be, there?"

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

"I'm not sure," Lindsay said honestly. Didi was easy to talk to. "I used to be kinda geeky. I was even a mathlete. Then something happened that made me question who I really want to be, and mathlete wasn't it. So I started hanging with a crowd my parents didn't approve of. Even though I'm friends with them now, I don't always feel like I'm one of them, you know? Here, I don't have to worry about that stuff."

[living_endless]

"It is really easy here," Didi agreed. "People don't waste time judging or putting other people into boxes. I think it might be about the only high school on the planet like that."

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

"I think you might be right about that," Lindsay agreed. "Of course, it might be the only high school people from other planets attend, also."

[living_endless]

"The only one where they tell the truth about it, anyhow," Didi said. "At home, anyhow, they're around. They just keep it quiet."

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

"Could be the case where I'm from, too," Lindsay said. "I guess I wouldn't be surprised if the government is hiding something like that. Are you from another planet?"

She didn't think it was that weird to ask, considering.

[living_endless]

"Not exactly," Didi said. This bit was a little weird. "Just kind of, you know. Death."

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

Lindsay blinked. Because huh? "Death? I must have been stereotyping that all these years because you seem so...not Death like at all."

She was surprised at how well she was taking this.

[living_endless]

"The scythe is a bitch to carry around, and I always trip on robes," Didi said, then paused. "No, it's not like that. It's a long story. Technically I'm a mortal incarnation."

"and thank you for not thinking I was lying."

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

"I've been here long enough to believe something like that." Though this was not quite the same as aliens and witches. "I have to say, if someone like you is Death, that kind of makes me feel better about things."

She was thinking about her grandmother.

[living_endless]

"I like being able to make people feel better," Didi answered. "It wouldn't be much fun to just run around being mean and creepy. I'm not a blessing, but I'm not a curse, either -- I just am."

She sighed. "And I'm not working right now, anyhow. Sorry for going all philosophical."

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

"That's okay. It makes sense to me," Lindsay said, nodding. "Hey, if I'm gonna have anyone be an ally, Death is a pretty good one. I mean, even if you're not working now."

Which was probably a good thing because it would probably mean something bad for Lindsay otherwise.

[living_endless]

"And, hey, if there's ever anything I can help you with, let me know."

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

Lindsay smiled. "It's pretty cool having a big sibling. I'm usually the big sibling at home."

[living_endless]

"Me too," Didi said. "That's why I signed up for it here. Though I'm skipping this time around -- are you expanding the family?"

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

"I signed up for it," Lindsay replied. "So I guess we'll see what happens."