Penny Cogswheel, 16 – District Five Female
'You guys should see him work.' Tobias slams his first on the table, shaking our lunch. 'The guy has the fastest fingers I've ever seen,' he laughs.
'I just don't slack off as much as the rest of you.' Archer rolls his eyes as he takes another sip from his beer. 'Besides, I have bills to pay.' He sets the glass back on the table.
I pat him on the back. 'Nah, you're just more boring than us.' I chuckle.
'Shut up, you.' Archers gives me a side-glance, ruffling my perfectly styled pixie cut with his big hands. I push my head away, elbowing him in the arm.
'Some of us can't afford to joke around you know.' Archer smiles cheekily at me. 'It's not like I'm the boss' daughter or something.' He shrugs. Of course, he had to bring it up. They always like to remind me that I get special treatment because my dad's the factory owner and it's not like I can deny it. Sure, I do the engineering work here, fixing damaged machinery and circuit panels and all that stuff but every once in a while, my dad will take me to the side and give me a 'valuable' lesson. I call them 'Dad's Teachables'. They're great but also rather boring at times.
'Yeah, and it's not like I make sure all our machines work the way they're supposed to.' I return the smile. I feel Mathilde's hand brush against mine as she reaches for the bottle of coke. My body stops functioning the way it's supposed to and, for a second, I forget how to swallow my food. All I want to do is replay that moment again and again and store it in my heart that's already filled to the core with other Mathilde-Penny-moments like these. I have so many memory's she's forgotten about that I might as well start a compilation video of the two of us. But that'd be weird. It'd be weird, wouldn't it?
'You good?' She laughs, knocking on my back gently as I cough. She turns her attention towards Tobias and Archer. 'Your problems are valid and all but I think we've got a much bigger issue at hand.' The two men stare at her, eyes wide in anticipation. 'Couldn't they make our work attire a little… cuter? I mean, it's not that hard but this doesn't flatter my physique.' She pulls at her oversized t-shirt. Tobias shrugs.
'Your physique's flattering regardless of what you're wearing' I snicker. It's clear that I caught Mathilde off guard. She takes a sip from her coke silently but I catch a hint of rosiness in her complexion.
'Guys, guys… look at Marcus.' The three of us look to where Archer is pointing. We call Marcus 'McDrowsy' here. No matter what he's up to, he always looks like he's on the verge of collapsing. Archer slips his phone out of his pocket. 'Today's gonna be the day…' we all wait patiently in complete, utter silence, hoping for the best. Marcus' eyelids finally shut completely, his fingers relaxing, the box of batteries slowly loosening from his grip and when it finally does and the batteries sprawl across the floor, he slips on them in shock. 'Yes!' Archer shouts out a little too loudly. We all laugh together, trying not to be too obvious.
In those good times, I forget the bad ones. I forget the dark pit in my stomach that won't leave, regardless of how hard I try. I forget the times I just want to run away and lose myself. I forget it all. But it always comes back.
Mikael Samer, 15 – District Five Male
Everyone is dead silent. All I hear are pens scribbling and the sound of pages turning. Maybe I should also be focusing on the exam. I don't really know the answers to anything but I can always try. I focus on one of the questions.
Explain the role of the companion cell in the loading of sucrose into the phloem.
The gears in my head are turning. Some of the terms sound familiar to me. I think I might be able to connect the dots if I think hard enough. I lean my head against the exam sheet and shut my eyes. It's time for me to clear my mind and picture a simple plant, growing in the center of my thoughts, and carrying the meaning of life with it. Each petal shows a different facet of our existence. Together they demonstrate how…
Yeah, I have no clue.
At least I tried my best and I think that's all that really matters in life; giving it your all. That's exactly what I did and I almost reached uncharted philosophical territories there with my train of thoughts. I didn't even know I was capable of discussing the meaning of life. Perhaps I'll become a philosopher one day like the ones in the movies with the long beards and oversized robes. I'd look good in a beard. I bet that'll make me look really smart too.
I turn the sheet to find the skeleton of a chicken. Apparently, I'm supposed to label it or something but all I can think about is that this chicken doesn't have a name. It doesn't have an Identity. It will forever be a lonely, nameless chicken. All my friends here will forget about this chicken once the exam is over but I won't. I will make it a mission of mine never to forget this flightless bird.
'Five minutes left,' the teacher calls out.
I take out my coloring pen and start to doodle on the bird's body. A hint of pink there, a splash of yellow here. I make sure to cover its body with many pretty little feathers. I think I'll call her Helen. Helen the chicken.
I notice a rattling sound, coming from my left. It's Yolanda. She tilts her head towards her exam sheet, pushing it a little closer to me. It seems like she's already filled out everything. Maybe she wants me to see how well she did. I smile at her with a thumbs up. Yolanda sighs, brushing her hair away from her phase and mimes to me. The girl draws on her sheet with an invisible pen, looking at me repeatedly.
Oh, I understand. She's complimenting me on my chicken. I nod at her and give her a little wink, turning my attention back to Helen. I grab a pair of scissors and begin to cut the bird's frame out.
'Alright, times up. Stay seated. I'll come to your stations to gather the exams.'
When the teacher passes by my table, her hand reaching out towards me expectantly, I give her the leftover exam with a hole in it. She looks at me strangely for a moment but shrugs and moves on to the next table. I stuff Helen into my pocket and sling my backpack over my shoulder. I can't wait to show off my creation to mom and dad.
Shiro, again!
So these were the District Five Intros. Big, big thanks to Tinks113 and Guesttwelve for Penny and Mikael respectively. I think this is a pretty wholesome pair and I look forward to exploring them more in the coming chapters. I can't believe we're almost halfway through with the intros that fast. I'm impressed xD
Anyway, if you haven't submitted your character yet please try to get them in as soon as possible so we can keep updating at that speed. I know everyone's excited to get to the actual competition part and so are we!
Appearances:
Penny: Dark, brown Pixy cut, 5'11, toned arms with a slim runner's body
Mikael: Caucasian with pale skin. Long, bushy black hair and blue eyes. He isn't particularly tall (5'4) and weighs 120 lbs.
I'll be back with the D7 Intros!