A Place in This World
Note: The italics and bad spelling together are texts. That is all.
Disclaimer: When I regain consciousness, remind me to maim you
Dedication All my wonderful reviewers who are so very patient. You guys are great.
Chapter Nine: Field Trip of Discontentment part two
A few hours had passed since Aiyanna and Minerva had separated from Gavin and Felicity. The sun had begun to make its decent into the western sky and the two girls along with many of their other classmates scattered through the Black Mud Swamp only a few meters from each other- as was planned out by the professors and heads of the two schools- had begun to set up their campsites. In the section of woods that was being used as a campsite by Minerva and Aiyanna the two girls had decided to split up tasks- this was mostly Aiyanna's idea because Minerva wasn't much of a planner.
"Do you really think leaving those two alone is a good idea?" Minerva asked her friend as the two of them began to set up camp. Aiyanna had just come back from collecting some firewood which gave the carrot haired fairy of powers to be determined time to set up the tent and wonder about what was going on at Felicity and Gavin's campsite.
"Of course it was." Aiyanna defended as she dropped the small logs on the ground then knelt to position five of them in the pit Minerva had dug. "I was about to strangle both of them! I'm not the least bit sorry of how we got rid of them."
"What's with this we stuff?" Minerva asked as she pulled out the box of matches that had been placed in the pack she'd been given. "It was your idea."
"Yeah, but you were thinking it." Aiyanna pointed out as she struck the match that Minerva had handed her and started the camp fire.
Minerva nodded her head and grinned at her friend. "Wouldn't it be cute if Gavin and Felicity wound up falling for each other and it was all because of us?"
Aiyanna sighed and pushed a few of her twist braids out of her face and tucking them back under her teal bandana. "You never give up on your romantic notions, do you?" She asked with a knowing look in her dark grey eyes.
"Never!" Minerva declared with a grin. Then another thought occurred to the carrot haired girl. "Hey Aiyanna?"
"Yes?"
"What do you think Fee and Gavin'll do when they find out they only have one tent to themselves?"
Aiyanna smirked at her friend as she began to unroll their tent. "I don't know, but I kinda wish I was there to see it."
Minerva giggled. "So do I, but at the same time I hope they'll believe us that we forgot about the tent problem."
"Exactly, except we didn't forget." Aiyanna laughed pushing her twisted braids back from her face.
"Serves them right. Now let's get this tent set up so we can start cooking. All this plotting made me hungry."
While Minerva and Aiyanna were going on about how annoying their two absentee group members were Selia was busy texting Delia out of boredom and the fact that no matter what anyone threatened she wasn't about to carry firewood or pitch a tent.
I hope we can get some action soon. Selia typed out while partially hidden behind a large shrub. All this waiting makes me antsy. Can't we least attack sum1 just for the Hell of it?
Selia was anxious to do something with their plans instead of just talking about them, she was a woman of action and hated to sit around and wait. Besides that personality flaw there was also the fact that the spell that she and her sisters had to cast and the actions that they had to take to resurrect the dark priestess who was sealed by the Dark Root Coven and find the spell to unseal her in that coven's book of shadows- let alone find the stupid thing Lantis had announced more than one much to Serafina's ire- had to be done at a very precise moment and time was running out.
For one thing they had no idea where the book was located and they wouldn't unless they could find all three items that would show the way to the book and the one person who could read the book and understand the spells. Then of course there was that other plan of Lantis' that Delia wasn't too sure of, but Selia was all for it if it meant more power. Who cared if people could get hurt sacrifices for power were necessary evils as far as she was concerned.
Their coven had only stumbled on the stone in Felicity's necklace because Lantis had been sure that Samara of Eraklyon had the sword of the great ruler they needed and followed her to Earth on the flame haired specialist's journey to Red Fountain. The other item after the sword was the mirror of truth. The three items would show the way to the book of shadows. Then they needed to find the person who could control the magic. Only then could the three girls and Lantis complete their final mission.
Selia was almost certain that Aurora had the mirror, but Serafina insisted that like the other items it would be held by someone unexpected. Even the person they were looking for would be someone unexpected.
Selia growled when she thought about how Serafina had added that being hasty would lead to disaster and checked the message from Delia
Fina believes she may have a lead to the next item. Selia read, & w/ so many ppl around don't pick a fight pls. 3 D
Selia fought the urge to scream as she began to text her sister back, but she'd no sooner hit reply to start a new message when Aurora popped up behind her.
"You're not hiding from Parker's chore list are you?" The blonde princess asked as she made herself comfortable on a patch of grass next to Selia. "Or are you still texting Delia?"
"No, I'm not." Selia replied wishing Aurora would take the hint and leave her alone.
Instead Aurora tilted her head and spied Selia's mobile phone prepped to send a new message to her twin. "You two really talk way too much to each other and not enough to anyone else."
"I don't see how who I talk to any of your business." The blue eyed blonde snapped back glaring angrily at Aurora. The two girls had an uneasy unacknowledged truce between them issued by the other three members of their suite. Selia knew that Aurora wasn't a fan of sharing a common area and a handful of classes including this project with her. She was more than eager to show Aurora that the feeling was mutual.
"Well, it's not." Aurora admitted sheepishly. "But it just seems a bit suspicious if you ask me."
"I really don't know what you mean and besides no one did ask you if we were suspicious or not!"
"I'd say the opposite is true since you're getting so defensive over it." Aurora countered standing up and getting ready to leave.
"Are you calling me a liar?" Selia demanded in a threatening tone standing up and getting toe to toe with Aurora. This time there weren't any sisters or friends to stop either of them if this argument became more physical and less verbal. Selia grinned icily thinking of finally getting some aggression out no matter in the price.
"Not in so many words." Aurora allowed narrowing her dark brown eyes at Selia. "But ever since you got to Alfea you and your sister have been acting odd. I'm just saying that if you are up to anything then you'd better stop it before it gets out of hand."
"And who's going to make me? You?"
"As a matter of fact, yes."
In all fairness to Aurora what happened next was a sneak attack, as she turned to leave Selia shoved her from behind and tackled her. But Aurora wasn't Artemisea's sister for nothing and she fought back by scratching Selia's cheek and forehead. Selia retaliated by punching Aurora's nose. Soon the ruckus brought Parker and Jayden running through the bushes to pull the two girls apart.
"What's all this about?" Parker demanded as he dragged Selia away from Aurora.
"Yeah, if you two were gonna start a chick fight, you could've at least told us ahead of time." Jayden added holding on to Aurora's shoulders.
"Nothing really." Selia replied dismissively. "Aurora just thinks that I'm up to something."
"Which you are!" Aurora shouted back. "You attacked me first!"
"You're freaking me out!" Selia cried sounding frightened but still angry. "I was just defending myself."
"Looks like you did a good job of it too." Jayden commented dryly as he inspected Aurora's face. "C'mon Rora let's get you cleaned up. My dad even showed me a spell that'll fix up your nose."
"My nose!" Aurora sobbed for once sounding like her mom as she reached up and felt her hair which had been dislodged from her braid. "And my hair too!" She pouted.
"I don't have a spell for that, but I'm sure you have a brush and a mirror."Jayden reasoned. "Parker, can you take care of Selia?"
"Sure thing." Parker called back. "C'mon Selia let's see what we can do about your face." The red haired specialist then began to lead the older blonde to an opposite side of camp.
"Hey Aurora," Selia called, her voice as sweet as poison stopping the princess in her tracks. Jayden turned to look too. "You know that there's a princess from an Earth story with your name? Sleeping Beauty I believe the story is."
"Yes, what of it?"
"Well, if you don't stay out of my business, as unthreatening as it is, you'll find yourself in the same predicament, but no prince will be able to wake you up."
Aurora felt her face pale she wasn't used to threats-at least not serious ones – so she wasn't sure how to reply. "Uh, okay." She practically whispered.
"Just thought you might want to keep that in mind, Princess Aurora." Selia told her with a cold laugh.
"Rora, don't pay attention to that girl. She's just trying to rattle you." Jayden whispered then turning back to his battle buddy he used a louder tone. "Parker, get Selia fixed up too. If we come back to the professors tomorrow with these two looking like they got into a rumble we'll fail for sure."
Meanwhile in another part of the woods Felicity was slowly losing a battle with the tent she was trying to set up. At the brink of her frustration Felicity tossed one of the poles in a fit, where it lodged itself in the ground a meter from Gavin's foot.
"That was quite a throw." Gavin commented wryly as he retrieved the pole from where it was quivering in the dirt.
"Thanks I guess." Felicity replied looking up from the mess of a tent, she was caught off guard by Gavin's offhanded compliment. "I was on the Track and Field team back at my school on Earth."
"That sounds fun. I guess." Gavin replied as he knelt down to start their campfire.
"It was we actually made it to the sectionals, but we only came in second so we couldn't go to state (1)." Felicity admitted with a wistful smile. "I really miss everything. The excitement before a meet. The adrenaline rush. My friends…. My old life." The brunette paused and frowned down at the disobedient tent poles poking through the lumpy fabric. Then she heaved a sigh.
"I was out doing research for my project for my AP biology class when I ran into Samara and that guy with the black hair. The project would've helped me on my college applications." Felicity looked up at Gavin. "I used to have a future that I wanted; now all I have is something that was forced on me."
"Oh." Was all Gavin could think to say at first. He wasn't sure what Felicity had wanted from her venting or if she really expected a reply. But Gavin felt that she should try to say something helpful. Sadly it wasn't very well thought out.
"Don't you think you're overreacting just a bit?" He asked looking back at Felicity. "You've only been here for two weeks."
Felicity just shrugged.
"Besides," Gavin continued, "if you're as smart as you seem to be saying you are then shouldn't you be able to put up a tent?"
It seemed to Gavin like a logical question, but Felicity wasn't interested in being logical at that moment. Picking up the discarded directions and most of the stakes and poles, the brunette stalked over to where Gavin was sitting.
"Here, if you think you can do a better job than me, then by all means have at it." she snapped as she dropped the whole mess into the indigo eyed boy's lap and getting dirt and grass all over his cargo shorts. "I'll be over here working on our part of the notes for this project." With that Felicity sat herself in the grass and pulled a small notebook from the side pocket of her cargo shorts and began writing leaving Gavin with nothing to do but begin setting up the tent.
Twenty minutes and some colorful language later Gavin was in the same predicament Felicity was in with the exception of half the tent up with the poles poking halfheartedly through the nylon. The structure looked like a crushed half moon instead of an easy up dome tent that was shown in the directions.
"This is so stupid!" Gavin exclaimed in frustration throwing down a stake and causing the half of the tent that was up to collapse. "Why'd the professors send us out with such outdated equipment?"
Felicity looked up from her notes at the commotion her unwilling partner was causing. "So you can't do any better?" She asked slyly as she stood up and brushed the dirt and grass from her shorts.
"Guess not." Gavin answered in an aggravated tone of voice. "Looks like we'll be sleeping right under the stars tonight. And I'm no better than you at this."
"Well in your defense I have been more than a little high strung." Felicity offered by way of apology, holding her hand out to Gavin. "Truce?"
Gavin nodded. "Truce." He repeated giving Felicity's offered hand a brief but firm shake. "Now let's get to work."
"I'll read and you set up." Felicity stated picking up the discarded directions. "Looks like it might help if you smooth out the fabric first and lay it flat."
"Sounds good, but if this thing falls again we're breaking the no magic rule."
Shaking her head Felicity got started helping Gavin set up the tent and with the two of them in a calmer mood it only took ten minutes and resembled a tent.
"That's much better." Gavin allowed as he stepped back to survey his handiwork.
"Yes." Felicity said as she nodded her head in agreement. "It seems that despite your complete lack of social skills you can put up a tent." She added dryly.
"Okay, so where's the other one?"
"The other one of what?" Felicity asked confused.
"The other tent of course. Professor Mialei and Professor Dean handed out two tents to every team including ours." Gavin explained slowly.
"That may be true, but we still only have one tent. Not two. Minerva and Aiyanna must've kept the other one when we split up."
"You mean when they ditched us." Gavin corrected sounding a bit nervous.
"Actually I like your version better. However that doesn't create another tent so what do we do now?"
"I think it's obvious, you sleep in the tent and I sleep outside near the campfire."
Felicity wouldn't've been more surprised if the flames from the fire had begun singing folk songs. Gavin was being civil to her, it was disarming. "Say what?" She asked shocked.
"You take the tent." Gavin repeated.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure. What kind of man takes shelter when a lady doesn't have any?"
Felicity braced herself against a tree to keep from falling over at that comment before realizing that since Gavin was attending Red Fountain he probably had to take c lass on chivalry. In fact considering that this was Gavin he probably had to take the remedial class on chivalry if there was such a thing.
'It's not as if he really means what he says.' Felicity told herself, 'I'll just nip this in the bud now. "Thanks, but…" she began
"You're welcome. Besides Aiyanna would kick my ass if she found out I'd made you sleep outside instead of at least offering." Gavin interrupted trying to convince her that his kindness wasn't as free as he wanted it to seem. Even though it was, Gavin may have been obstinate, but he wasn't hard hearted.
"As I was saying, thanks, but the tent's big enough for both of us. We should be able to share the space without much trouble." Felicity watched in amusement as her cobalt eyed companion's face went from slightly tan to bleach white in a matter of seconds.
"Share the tent? Are you sure?" Gavin nearly squeaked. "You're a guy I'm a girl. I mean I'm a guy and you're a girl."
Felicity chuckled at his mix up. "I'm well aware of our genders thank you very much." The brunette asserted. "But yes I'm quite sure and don't worry, the sea of raging hormones has ebbed. You're safe from being ravaged by me."
"Okay then I mean this shouldn't be a big deal right?" Gavin replied grateful that the setting sun hid his blush. He was also grateful that Felicity seemed mature enough to handle the situation, he was sure that no other female student except for maybe Aiyanna or his sister Isilee could be so calm about sharing a tent with a guy she hardly knew.
"Besides we at least still have two sleeping bags." He added hopefully.
"We'd better. Or I'm going to learn to be a fairy just to get even with those two for this stunt." Felicity replied in a threatening tone.
After confirming and reconfirming that there were indeed two sleeping bags in their packs and cooking a rather burnt dinner since neither party had much experience with cooking over an open fire Felicity none too subtly suggested that Gavin find somewhere else to be besides near the tent so she could change for bed.
"Twenty minutes should suffice." Felicity called out after Gavin had finally agreed deciding to go get water.
"Twenty minutes?" Gavin repeated incredulously. "You just have to what, throw on a t-shirt and a pair of shorts? That should just take five minutes."
"Okay fine, fifteen, but that's my final offer. I need some alone time and I'll do the same for you."
Gavin shrugged but did as he was told and fifteen minutes later Felicity did the same for him. By the time she got back though it was too dark to do anything else but put out the fire and get into their sleeping bags.
"So what do we do now? Tell ghost stories or play truth or dare?" Gavin asked after settling down in his sleeping bag.
"Well as tempting as daring you to do something I could blackmail you for sounds, I'm not interested." Felicity retorted. "As for ghost stories, I doubt you could scare me."
"Don't be so sure. "Gavin countered cryptically. "The stories my mom used to tell me used to chill me."
"Oh my dear illusioned young man, my mom was always trying to scare me with stories of some witches and the Dark Circle. Ghost stories are just fairy tales made to keep children in line." She scoffed.
"But you're a fairy."
"That statement is still up for debate. Until you see me sprout wings and flutter around I'm still a normal girl with some unexplainable issues."
"If you say so." Gavin replied sounding unsure. "But I believe there's more to you than even you realize."
"Well, I do." Felicity snapped back ignoring the other comment. She didn't even want to get close to tackling that one after the trying day they'd had. "And I believe we should try to get some sleep now because in the morning we have to catch up with Aiyanna and Minerva to finish this exercise."
"Yeah, you're right about that."
"And with you reading the map it'll take us most of the morning to find them."
Gavin ignored that last jab. "Goodnight Lissie." He told his reluctant tent mate.
"Night." Felicity replied unsure how to react to the nickname. She closed her eyes and willed sleep to come; it was hard enough for her sleeping on the ground even with the magic infused sleeping bag which made the user feel as though she was sleeping on a feather bed. However with Gavin just a meter away from her, sleep was downright impossible. Plus the foggy childhood memories and Felicity's oddity about not being able to fall into a deep sleep in a strange place for the first two nights just made being restful difficult for the girl.
Gavin on the other hand was an expert on adaptability thanks to years of experience sleeping on a tour bus then schlepping from place to place before his dad started working as a teacher first at Iron Wood then at Red Fountain after his mom died. He was out in five minutes.
Felicity had finally fallen into a dreamless sleep after doing the meditation which Minerva had shown her- most likely after being kept awake by her roommate's constant thrashing about and shouting in her sleep. She'd sprawled facedown in her sleeping bag near three in the morning which how Gavin found her when he decided to try shaking her awake. Still in a state of being half awake in strange surroundings, Felicity swung her left arm up into Gavin's face as she turned on her side.
"What'd you do that for?" Gavin asked angrily, his voice muffled by his hands over his face.
"Huh? What?" Felicity replied in a groggy voice as she sat up and saw Gavin holding his nose as his dark blue eyes began to tear.
"I think you broke my nose." Gavin stated. "What'd you do that for?"
Felicity stared at her injured tent mate with a confused look on her face. "Do what? Did you hurt yourself?"
That's when it dawned on Gavin that Felicity wasn't exactly among the intelligent first thing in the morning. "No you hurt me! You punched me in the face!" He exclaimed.
"Men are such babies." Felicity sighed unzipping her sleeping bag and standing up to stretch. "So now what?"
"We should probably get dressed and then meet up with Aiyanna and Minerva at the rendezvous point they chose."
"Sounds logical." Felicity agreed. "So what are we standing around here for?"
After repeating last night's privacy ritual and helping pack up camp Felicity and Gavin had a quick breakfast then headed off in the direction of where they'd meet up with Aiyanna and Minerva. Aiyanna had been nice enough to mark off the place with a circle before she'd walked away with Minerva and written that they'd be there by ten o'clock. From that meeting place they'd finish the exercise as a group and hopefully none of the professors would be any wiser to last night's deviation.
Gavin and Felicity had been walking non-stop for an hour and a half when Felicity decided it was time to take a short break. She sat down on a fallen log and pulled her water bottle from her pack taking a long drink.
"What are we stopping for?" Gavin demanded as he turned around to see Felicity sitting. "It's nine forty."
"And it's about twenty-five Celsius (2) already." Felicity shot back taking another gulp of water. "I had no idea it could get so humid here either. I figured we could just finish the paperwork of the project then go on after that."
"But I thought you'd done that last night. There's really stuff left that we can do without Min and Yan Yan?"
"I think so." Felicity replied as she began to dig through her bag for their half of the notes and found a folder that professor Mialei had tucked in there entitled; Group C: Minerva, Aiyanna, Felicity and Gavin. She opened it and found four stapled packets about rating your teammates' performances and the project as a whole. It seems that this was both school's first inter-school over night project. "This is it." The brunette stated holding up her and Gavin's papers. "The professors want our opinions on one another. Oh and this whole deal."
"Our opinions on each other?" Gavin asked in disbelief. "And their first experiment with both schools."
"Yep, me thinks we be guinea pigs for our teachers. There are three separate questions for each individual's attitude and performance."
"Joy." Gavin muttered thinking about how he and Felicity could comment on each other's attitudes along with what Aiyanna could say about the two of them.
"Heh, I bet Aurora's already amusing herself with adjectives about Selia's attitude and performance." Felicity giggled knowingly. It was a known fact between all three schools that neither girl had any love lost between the two of them.
Gavin laughed as well. "Not only did Selia's loud headwear and accessories keep myself and the forest from sleeping through the night," the burgundy haired boy began in a plumy falsetto tone imitating the Solarian blonde. "But she was so unforgivably vulgar and lazy that she made me look like a hard worker. Furthermore her personality is offensive to all and she should advertise herself as a vacuum because she sucks the fun out of everything."
Felicity laughed as Gavin finished his impression of her friend, but then brought herself under control. "That was accurate to a point. But I don't think it's fair to expect Aurora to always be such a hard worker, she isn't used to it like we are because of her upbringing.
Gavin shrugged. "So what are you going to say about me?"
"You're not nearly as annoying and abominable as I thought you were." Felicity admitted. "You are hard to get along with, don't get me wrong. But you aren't as bad as you could be."
"Gee thanks." Gavin replied shortly.
"So, what are you going to say about me?"
Gavin pretended to be deep in thought before he answered. "Felicity would be better off ambushing an enemy with the tent poles instead of using them for their intended purpose. Her cooking skills are only matched by her conversation."
"Thanks so much Gavin." Felicity snapped forgetting that she'd given him a backhanded compliment just minutes ago. She stood up and started walking away.
"I wasn't finished yet." Gavin called as he hurried to catch up.
Felicity turned and rolled her eyes in response.
"However she is good at thinking things out and I wouldn't mind having her on my squad. Provided that she didn't boss me around all the time."
"Well from you I'll have to take that as a compliment won't I?" Felicity said kindly, she was glad her back was to Gavin so he couldn't see her blush. "I guess I could also say that you're dependable and you're respectful of others. I wouldn't mind working with you again either."
"Wee! My plan worked!" Minerva exclaimed jumping out from behind a pine tree and startling Felicity so badly that the brunette girl leaped into Gavin's arms causing the carrot haired fairy to grin like a Cheshire cat.
"Minnie! How?! Why?" Felicity sputtered too shocked to be articulate or come up with complete sentences.
Gavin however wasn't suffering from the same affliction. "What the hell are you doing sneaking up on us like that?" the cobalt eyed specialist demanded as he released Felicity and began shaking his finger at Minerva.
"Why, meeting up with you guys like Anna and I said we would." Minerva replied trying to sound innocent but smirking at the same time. "So, how was last night?" She asked flashing a smug grin at Felicity.
Felicity in turn emitted a low growl causing Gavin to back away from her in case she decided to power up or at the very least sling a few vines.
"That bad huh?"
"Of course it was bad you dingbat!" Felicity shouted confirming Minerva's guess. Evidently she was over being shocked. "We only had one tent! The next time the two of you consider to take it upon yourselves to help two parties involved in a conflict please reconsider! You're supposed to separate people who can't get along, not force them together! Honestly what kind of ass backward planets are the two of you from anyway?"
Aiyanna who'd arrived on the scene just behind Minerva snickered at the scene Felicity was making causing everyone to look at her. "Looks like no one was too thrilled with your little experiment eh Min?" the cocoa skinned girl asked sounding amused.
"My experiment?" Minerva shot back. "You're the one who decided to ditch them in the first place." The red head reminded her friend who was having a convenient lapse of memory.
"Yeah that's right." Gavin agreed heading over towards his battle buddy. "And I bet you knew that we only had two tents per group too."
"Maybe we did." Aiyanna admitted not sounding the least bit ashamed of that bit of knowledge or for her part in Felicity and Gavin's predicament last night.
Minerva glared at her friend. "But you two deserved it after annoying us by fighting like an old married couple!" she added defending their decision. "And hey at least it worked. The two of you aren't fighting anymore."
"Not exactly." Felicity admitted looking straight at Gavin. "But at least we aren't trying to kill each other anymore."
"Except for this morning when you punched me in the face." Gavin pointed out.
"You startled me!" Felicity retorted with her hands on her hips. "I happen to be a very heavy sleeper."
"You should've come to Red Fountain instead of Alfea. You'd've excelled at hand to hand combat."
Aiyanna and Minerva both exchanged worried glances not knowing what was about to happen. But instead of a heated retort Felicity smiled.
"You really think so?" She asked
Gavin nodded his eyes wide with shock and surprise. "Well, yeah. If you can hit that well half asleep at an odd angle imagine what you could do when you're wide awake and standing up."
"Thanks."
Aiyanna gave Minerva a confused look and Minerva stuck out her tongue. "What exactly happened between the two of you last night?" Aiyanna wondered looking at Felicity and Gavin as if they were exotic unpredictable animals instead of two of her friends.
"Nothing really. Lissie just learned to relax a bit more." Gavin explained giving the brunette a friendly punch on her upper arm.
Felicity rolled her eyes at the nickname, but still smiled. "And Gavin proved that he wasn't a complete sociopath." She added returning the punch in a not so gentle manner causing Gavin to wince.
"Well, that's promising." Minerva said trying not to sound too disappointed that there wasn't a romance novel ending to her and Aiyanna's payback for having to put up with their disruptions most of yesterday.
"So, can we finish as a group or are you two gonna induce a joint migraine by sounding like crabby old ladies again?" Aiyanna demanded narrowing her grey eyes at Gavin.
"I guess we can be persuaded to behave ourselves." Felicity allowed.
"Yeah the sooner we're finished the sooner we can get back to school." Gavin agreed.
Thus ends my tale in the woods
Okay, over a month of planning and writing and about twenty pages. I hope you all enjoyed it. As one of my residents keeps shouting Happy New Year!
1.) A little fact- there is a town called Gardenia in southern California. I know this from a personal experience that I don't want to bring up. So I'm just going to have Felicity have been raised in the States which also fits since that's where I'm from
2.) I'm using the metric system because that's just what everyone else uses except for the States. 25 Celsius is about 78 Farenheight