Read aloud to me alt Taylor Chapter 10: Needle, a 3x3 eyes fanfic

Chapter 1

January 30th, 2011

Manhattan, New York

[ ...rriving at Grand Central Station in roughly twenty minutes. This will be our final stop of the evening, and all passengers will be expected to depart. I'd like to take this chance to thank you for…]

The speakers overhead crackling to life dragged Taylor out of the uncomfortable doze that she'd been lulling in over the last two hours since their last rest stop. Blinking rapidly, the young woman jerked forward in her seat, straightening up suddenly and lifting a hand to wipe the saliva from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand. Wiping her hand off on her sweater, Taylor ran a hand through her hair, once more barely managing to avoid flinching at how much shorter it was now than it'd been a week ago.

Doing her best to not think about how she'd ended up with hair that barely reached her shoulders, Taylor tried to focus on something else, and it took a moment of half-lucid blinking before the bus around her swam back into focus. The outdated patterns on the fabric that coated the seats around her shifted back into sharp contrast. One of Taylor's hands reached down, grasping the lapel of the oversized jacket that she'd been wearing, dragging it up and over her shoulder and huddling back down into it.

She told herself that it was to brace herself from the cold, but it was probably more to do with inhaling the lingering aroma of her father's aftershave that still clung to the jacket. Fiddling with the cuffs of the slightly too long sleeves, Taylor stared at her pale fingers peeking out of the heavy winter coat and felt the frown on her face softening just a bit.

They'd dozed off watching a movie after lunch, and she'd nearly missed her bus, and in the rush to get her things into the truck and to get her here, Taylor had left her jacket draped over the back of a chair in the kitchen back home. By the time Taylor'd noticed, it was too late to turn around, and she'd been rather touched when her dad had just slid his around her shoulders. Privately, in the safety of her mind, Taylor admitted that she was glad that she had this tangible reminder of him.

They'd only been apart for barely six hours at this point, and she already craved his voice, his stoic presence. Things had gotten better after Christmas, after she'd fallen apart in his arms and confessed to everything that happened, with Emma, with Sophia. Surprisingly, he'd been able to help, he'd been able to fix things somehow, if only a little bit, but more than that? He'd actually come out of his funk. He'd come back to her, and things had been different. She'd gotten used to seeing her old Dad around the house and now… now he was over three hundred miles away and alone.

Her thoughts turned inward, contemplating how he'd eat without her there to remind him not to worry. What he'd do about the people that occasionally still lingered on the streets outside the house. She briefly wondered if the calls from Alan would cease now that she was gone, or if her dad's former friend would just get worse, if the reporters would give up assuming the story dead, if-

Brakes screeching, the bus lurched to a stop, starling Taylor out of her thoughts. The lights overhead and along the aisle flickered on one by one and Taylor staggered up and out of the seat, glancing around blearily at the other two people on the bus. Neither of the other commuters paid her any mind, both standing and collecting their bags from the overhead racks. Taylor followed suit, collecting her suitcase and duffle from above her seat and heading toward the exit.

Taylor's shoulders ached at the abuse after having been squished into that uncomfortable chair for so long, but she pushed through it, dragging her bags to the front of the bus. The driver offered her a half-hearted good evening that she returned with a nod of her head before dragging her bags down the stairs and onto the concrete of the parking bay.

Reaching into her pocket, Taylor tugged out the scrap of paper that her father had written the instructions on for this next leg of the trip, nearly losing it when the bus let out a loud hiss behind her. Turning, Taylor watched it back out of the bay and pull away, waiting for her heart to settle a bit in its rhythm before moving to read the notes carefully.

Once she'd committed them to memory, it was back on the move once more. Back into the station and down the stairs and into the subway station. Tickets were purchased, and Taylor dragged her bags onto the subway, quietly repeating the instructions in her head to keep them in her mind and to keep herself awake.

'Take the Seven Line to Court Square Station, transfer to the E Line, take it to the Jamaica Van-Wyck Subway station.' Taylor repeated the mantra to herself over and over in her head as she kept a death grip on her luggage, suitcase beside her and duffel over her lap. Even though there was only a pair of older ladies on the subway with her, Taylor kept her head down, acted like she was deep in thought, and the women seemed content to chat quietly with each other.

Instead of her father, this time, as she hung her head and gripped her clothes, Taylor turned her thoughts to the woman that was waiting for her. Taylor hadn't spoken with her grandmother in years, not since before her mother died. She and her father didn't get along, and tiny parts of Taylor thought back to the way that she'd heard her father describe the woman to Emma's father when they'd both thought that she and Emma were safely out of earshot.

She'd been a teacher, Taylor recalled half-formed memories of meals shared long, long in the past, and vague comments on Christmas and birthday cards that she'd set aside once she'd claimed the cash bounty within them. Her imagination had spun away from her as the distance between her and her only family beyond her father shrank, imagining a tall hunched woman with beady eyes and a severe bun, a permanent scowl and twisted, gnarled hands — the typical, stereotypical cruel school-marm.

It was a surprise then, when she arrived at the station, dragging her bags up the stairs only to be confronted by Mary McBride in the flesh. The woman was tiny compared to her, barely reaching Taylor's shoulders, and despite the thick warm clothing that she wore to ward off the January chill, she was clearly just as svelte as Taylor herself. The warmth in the woman's eyes was a bit of a shock, and Taylor nervously shifted on her feet, cheeks darkening as she was pinned in place by the dazzling smile that grew over the woman's face.

"Taylor," The words were laced with faint recognition and Taylor nervously jerked her head in a nod, adjusting her bags, blinking when her grandmother quickly advanced on her and smoothly scooped the duffle bag out of her hands. "Look at you! You've grown so much; you're going to be a giant just like..." The warmth and the affection in the woman's expression dimmed just a touch as she trailed off, and Taylor could fill in the rest of the sentence, nervously shifting in place. It took a moment for the woman to recover, nodding and glancing around before turning her attention back to Taylor.

"This is everything, then?" She spoke pertly, and Taylor nodded hesitantly, blinking when the older woman turned and gestured for her to follow, walking with a briskness that startled her. They were across the lobby and out the door before Taylor was sure what was going on, and they moved quickly through the thickly falling snow toward a waiting car. The trunk was opened, her bags stuffed in, and it shut smoothly over them, and then Taylor nervously slid around the side of the car, pulling open the passenger door and clambering in.

"How was the trip? Did you get down, okay?" Taylor glanced up at her grandmother from where she was securing her belt in place, slowly pushing it into place with an audible click that seemed to echo around the car in the silence as the older woman waited for a response. Flushing quietly, Taylor spoke, feeling self-conscious of how rough her voice was.

"I-... Yeah. It was long. Six hours?" She paused, watching as the older woman nodded smoothly, sliding her keys into the ignition and starting the car. Taylor watched the woman put the car into gear, slowly pulling out of the snowy parking lot and out onto the streets, and she continued softly. "I slept most of the way down. It wasn't the most comfortable, but it passed the time."

"Did you eat?" The question was laced with curiosity and something else that Taylor couldn't quite put her finger on. She shifted in place before nodding, staring out the window at the passing houses as she responded.

"We stopped somewhere in Worcester for dinner," Taylor spoke softly, blinking when the woman flashed her a curious look and a raised eyebrow that left her distinctly remembering the same look that her mother had used on her. Before she could really think about it, Taylor continued to speak, clarifying nervously. "There was a Burger Joint; I got a burger and fries." The woman let out an amused hum as she kept her eyes on the road, her hands firm on the wheel.

"This was around, what, five or six?" When Taylor let out a faint affirmative noise at the question, the older woman nodded, smoothly turning the wheel and turning the old car down into a residential neighbourhood. "We'll have to get you a sandwich or something when we get home. It's a bit late for anything too heavy, sadly, but we'll get a decent breakfast in you tomorrow to make up for it." Taylor grimaced, frowning as a flicker of guilt washed through her. She glanced at her grandmother as the car came to a stop before a red light.

"I-... You don't have to go to any trouble-" Taylor tried to keep her voice soft, gentle, blinking when the woman glanced her way with a surprisingly warm expression on her face. She nearly flinched back when one of the wrinkled hands lifted off the wheel and reached for her, but she managed to hold herself back, allowing the older woman to give her hand a firm squeeze before she turned back to the road, setting her hand on the wheel and spoke.

"Get that thought out of your head, Taylor. You're family, and it's not any trouble, I promise." The words were warm and resolute, and Taylor nervously studied her grandmother's features for a sign that the woman was putting up a front to spare her feelings. When the woman merely flashed her a curious look at the next red light, Taylor flushed, warmth flickering to life in her chest. Glancing nervously away, Taylor stared out the window at the passing townhouses, the car chugging its way up over a hill as the snow continued to pile up around them, turning everything white. Cheeks continuing to burn, Taylor muttered nervously as she continued to fiddle with the sleeves of her jacket.

"I-... Thanks… erm, Gram."

Absently rubbing her still shockingly too-short hair with the fluffy towel that had been waiting for her in the bathroom, Taylor fought off the few faint lingering hints of the grogginess that she'd been feeling all morning. Lifting her head, Taylor carefully took in the space around her that in her exhaustion, she'd ignored last night while crawling into bed. This had once been her mother's room, her grandmother had said, and now it was hers and Taylor wasn't sure how she felt about that.

On the one hand it was fascinating to Taylor. The furniture itself was old enough that it was clear that this was the room that her mother had once slept in. The bed, the dresser, the desk with its vanity mirror; they all hinted at an age that left Taylor reasonably sure that these had been the fixtures of the space when her mother had been the one sleeping here. While Taylor was confident that the layout had changed over the years, that the area wasn't the exact same as it had once been, it was still fascinating to get this perspective.

It was also quite tragic in a way that Taylor couldn't easily articulate. Beyond a few lingering artifacts that would have been difficult to remove, an etching on the surface of the desk, words rebelliously written into the underside of a shelf in painfully familiar handwriting, there were personal touches in the room. While Taylor could admit that the notion itself was overly melodramatic, it was almost as if the room itself had been sanitized to make it into the guest room that it had later become. That feeling left a yawning gap in her chest as she stared at the hardwood floor.

Wondering if the fitful night's sleep that she'd had was the source of her current maudlin, Taylor shook herself out of the dark thoughts and pushed off the bed. Moving over and hanging the damp towel in her hands on one of the stainless steel hooks that were affixed the back of the door, Taylor turned her attention to where she'd left her luggage leaning against the wall. Both bags found themselves set on the bed and opened, and Taylor carefully picked through the items in each, a doleful frown on her lips as she considered the sorry state of her wardrobe.

Ironically, when she'd been packing to come down here, she'd only packed up the least damaged portions of her wardrobe, but here, in the cold light shining through the opened curtains, things looked particularly grim. Putting her shirts into the dresser, Taylor could only find a single one that lacked any stitched holes or faded stains, and when the pants followed, none of them could have been said to match that feat.

Luckily, things hadn't gotten to the point that the more personal elements of her wardrobe had been overly affected, and those things came through mostly intact. Still, even as she'd left the dresser barely half full, she was struggling to come up with an outfit that she could wear on Tuesday that wouldn't leave her looking like she was actually homeless.

Taylor was still there, staring dejectedly at the options on display when the doorknob rattled, and the door swung in to reveal the friendly bundle of affection that her grandmother had been revealed to be. The woman was wearing an apron, wiping her hands with a tea towel that she tossed over her shoulder while carefully looking Taylor up and down.

"I heard you up and moving around, so I got started on breakfast, it's all ready if you're-" The woman paused, settling those penetrating blue eyes on her in a way that left Taylor nervously shifting in place. That sharp perceptiveness had been a shock and several times last night as Taylor had picked her way through the sandwich that she'd been made in the kitchen, responding in short sentences to the questions the woman was asking, Taylor had been left feeling like she'd been saying a lot more than she'd intended, when the woman's eyes settled onto her like this.

When her grandmother approached, Taylor was tempted to reach out, push the dresser shut, some small hint of guilt and embarrassment warring in Taylor's chest at the idea of this woman seeing the sorry state of her few meagre possessions. She barely managed to restrain the instinct, worrying her bottom lip as the older woman approached. Her grandmother gave her a single curious look before turning to stare down into the dresser, lifting one of Taylor's shirts and inspecting it silently for a moment before setting it back down carefully and shaking her head with a grim expression on her face.

"What was that-" The words were tinged with a hint of irritation, anger that startled Taylor, but the older woman cut herself off before finishing the sentence shaking her head quietly and taking a step back. Feeling self-conscious, Taylor shifted closer to the dresser and finally allowed herself to use a hip to push the dresser shut. The older woman stared at her for a moment before offering her a gentle smile. "I suppose we'll have to beef your wardrobe up a bit, dear?" The woman smirked curiously at her and Taylor bowed her head, flushing as that familiar flicker of guilt and embarrassment washed through her.

"I'm not-" She swallowed slowly, lifting her chin and glancing at her grandmother. "It's fine, you don't have to go out of your wa-" She paused, flushing when the woman fixed her with an oddly intense look that saw her taking a single step back, hands opening and closing nervously as she struggled to find something to say. In the end, the older woman saved her from her mental straw grasping.

"Taylor, it's fine." The final word was stressed in a way that quieted a bit of Taylor's nervous guilt, but before she could open her mouth to continue to protest, the older woman continued smoothly, glancing around the room. "I've got a few Christmases to catch up on, and it'd be fun, I think. We'll also need to get you some things to decorate the room. Your mother-" The woman paused, humming thoughtfully, and Taylor found herself once more being inspected thoughtfully by the older woman.

"Well, actually, for the moment…Well, c'mere." The woman gestured for Taylor to follow, leaving the room. Hesitantly moving to follow, Taylor exited the room to find the older woman with a hook in hand, using it to pull down the trap door for the attic. The door rattled open, a staircase descending from the dark space above. Taylor stood at the base of the stairs as the older woman smoothly vanished into what she realized was an attic.

When a light burst into life in the space above, and her grandmother's head appeared in the hatchway, staring down at her expectantly, Taylor flushed and quickly clambered up in the woman's wake. She emerged into an ample storage space, turning to find her grandmother reading labels on a series of plastic totes, the woman's voice drifting her way as she approached.

"Truthfully, I should have donated this stuff to Goodwill or a thrift store, luckily for you; I'm a bit of a hoarder... And well- Aha!" Taylor moved closer when the woman let out that sound, staring at the totes that her grandmother had stopped on. The label on the side of the first tote didn't make much sense, merely reading; 'AM - 08/87 - C1.' When her grandmother pulled one of the large boxes on top if out of the stack, Taylor moved to help, the pair of them working their way down to the two totes that the older woman had indicated.

Considering the subject that they'd been discussing, Taylor shouldn't have been surprised to find that when the top of the tote was removed, it'd reveal a sizeable collection of clothing. What was surprising that it all looked at first glance like it'd fit her. Glancing over at her grandmother, she blinked as the woman dusted her hands off and smiled.

"You're roughly the same build that Annette was when she was your age, and while the styles might be a bit dated, but that's apparently cool now? They're calling it 'Retro,' I think." Taylor turned back down to the box, lifting out a few interesting looking t-shirts, she glanced over at her grandmother who grinned faintly and shrugged her shoulders. "There should be a few things in there at least that will fit, and you can wear around? Pick out whatever you want, and we can toss it through the wash."

Feeling an odd warmth in her chest, Taylor stared down at the first tote for a few moments before slowly dropping to her knees on the dusty floor. She was so wrapped up in considering the garments on display that when she finally glanced back up to accept the offer, she was surprised to find that she was alone. The boxes had been stacked next to where they'd go when Taylor put the one she was working with away, and her grandmother had vanished.

Turning her attention back to the totes, Taylor carefully picked through everything within. A massive nearly ten-foot-long rainbow patterned wool scarf had been folded and placed on top, and Taylor lifted it up, inspecting with an amused smile. She hadn't thought that her mother had been that much of a fan of Doctor Who. Beyond the ostentatious, there was an eclectic mix of things, and Taylor was oddly surprised. She'd expected her mother to be the typical 80's kid with big shoulders and bright colours, and while a few similar things peeked out, a lot of things were more subdued. Blouses, suspenders, black pants dominated the first tote, and in the other were branded t-shirts, turtlenecks, sweaters. Before she'd really thought about it, Taylor was picking through everything and sorting them into the two totes.

One she was calling 'Put Back' which held everything that was too bright, too wild for her to get away with using, the other called 'Keep' held everything that didn't look exceptionally obvious that it was nearly thirty years old. When she'd run out of clothes to check, Taylor sealed up the second tote and moved over to the wall, replacing it in its place.

Once it was back in place, Taylor had turned to start putting the rest of the totes in place when the label on the top of the stack stuck out at her; 'AM - 08/1987 - E' Staring at it, she considered the labels on the two totes she'd opened and turned back to the plastic bin, removing the lid and peering within. At first glance, it certainly seemed more fascinating then she'd expected. Half a dozen plastic tubes, a trio of heavy-looking books and several chests stacked on top of each other that obscured something clear and plastic beneath them.

Curiously, Taylor dragged this new trove over to the tote that contained all the treasures that she'd already claimed. Dropping down onto the dusty wooden boards once more, Taylor tilted the container over to rest against her knees so that she could reach into it and extract it's contents one by one.

Lifting out one of the dark green plastic tubes from the Tote, Taylor unscrewed the cap and peered in curiously, blinking at the roll of vinyl within. Tilting the container over, Taylor caught what she realized was a poster when she saw the tiny holes visible in the corners of the roll. Setting the tube aside, Taylor carefully unrolled the poster and held it up so that she could see the image printed on it better. A tall woman in leather pants and a jacket was leaning against a wall.

'Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.' Taylor mulled the name of the band under her breath, inspecting the woman who she assumed was Joan Jett for a moment before rolling the poster back up and carefully slipping it back into its case. Sealing it up once more, Taylor set it to the side and reached back into the tote, extracting the other tubes and setting them to the side to be examined later. Turning her attention to the heavy books, Taylor belatedly realized that they must be photo albums, and she hesitated for a moment before tentatively lifting the first one out and setting it over her lap.

Running her hands over the faux-leather cover, Taylor couldn't quite restrain the smile that grew over her lips as she traced the letters that someone had jauntily sewed into it that spelled out 'The Odyssey.' True to her expectations and worries, opening the cover revealed a familiar face was staring up out of the single image on the page. Hand lifting, Taylor's fingers dragged over the Polaroid, staring at the dark-haired girl in the picture, somewhat struck by the mixture of recognition and shock.

The girl in the image leaning against a wall and smiling awkwardly at the camera was clearly her mother, and yet… at the same time, she wasn't. Taylor's mother had been gorgeous, tall and elegant and beautiful. And while there were hints of that there, this girl was tall and gangly, all elbows and awkward smiles. Her hair was short, and her glasses far too large, but she had the biggest friendliest smile that Taylor had ever seen. As she stared at her, dressed in one of the outfits actually sitting in the tote beside her, Taylor was struck with a faint hint of melancholy that she'd never gotten to meet this girl.

Flipping to the next page, Taylor was confronted by more images of her mother, most of them with other strangely dressed kids hanging around, though the random image here or there would merely show the woman by herself, most of the candids. Taylor had gotten so lost in the book that she hadn't heard the return of her grandmother, her focus solely on the book and its haunting contents. Taylor'd found an image of her mother in the room that was now hers, sitting on the bed and chewing on a pencil as she stared into an old looking textbook, the sunlight dappling over her form from out of the shot. She'd been staring thoughtfully at the girl trying to puzzle out the expression on her face when a voice cut across her shoulder, shocking her out of her ruminations.

"You look a lot like her at that age, you know." The words were soft, warm, and Taylor jumped, glancing over at her grandmother. A flush of embarrassment and guilt flickered through her, imagining how her father would have reacted if he'd caught her going through her mother's things like this.

"S-Sorry, I saw the label on the box, and I was curious." Taylor flushed, nervously fidgeting despite the lack of apparent anger on the older woman's face. When Gram merely shifted closer and dropped down next to her, holding out her hands, Taylor offered the book over tentatively, watching the older woman skim through the photos.

"You don't need to apologize, Taylor, these are all your things, really. She was your mother. And if you like, I've got some other albums downstairs we can look over too." The woman smiled down at the page silently before slowly shaking her head. "Honestly I'd forgotten that all this was up here, let's see what else is in here, hrm?" Taylor shifted the case toward the older woman, watching as she pulled out the rest of the photo albums and set them aside, reaching instead for the first of the wooden chests within.

The older woman lifted out the chest and set it on her knees, dragging the tips of the fingers of one of her wrinkled hands over the dust that coated the wooden case for a moment before carefully opening up the hinged lid and smiling as she turned the box toward Taylor. Leaning forward, Taylor rested against her grandmother and peered down into the box, blinking at the eclectic collection of cheap and costume jewelry on display, reaching out and lifting a bit of jade that hung from a thin cord of leather and inspecting it curiously.

"Your grandfather got that for your Mother for her thirteenth birthday, I think. He bought it down in Chinatown, but she certainly did love it." Humming in idle fascination, Taylor reached out, gently setting the stone back into the tray of the chest and watched her grandmother close it, setting it aside.

The last case within was larger, triple the size of the jewelry box and Taylor moved to stand to pull it out herself. She reached in, grabbing the handles on the heavy box and pulling it free. Her grandmother loosed an amused snort that drew Taylor's attention, and she backed off as the older woman popped the lid open. "I hadn't realized that your mother hadn't taken this with her." One hand reached out and popped the top of the box open, and Taylor leaned over to see a sizable collection of records that had been carefully packaged and arranged.

"She took her favourites with her off to college; I suppose these were the ones that she could do without on a weekly basis." Shaking her head, Taylor's grandmother reached into the box and pulled out one of the records in its envelope and flipped it over to reveal the cover. A solemn girl with white-blonde hair and far, far too many bracelets on her arm stared back at Taylor in the black and white image, and the text to either side of the album proclaimed the girl to be 'Madonna.' Staring in fascination, Taylor reached out curiously, accepting the album from her grandmother as the woman picked through the tote.

"I think she took her record player with her when she moved out, but… your grandfather had one as well that I put away up here somewhere. We could probably dig it out if you like." The woman grinned as she pulled out a different album and inspected the cover and Taylor moved to lean over curiously, checking the cover of this one, taking in the man about to smash a guitar on a stage. The words 'London Calling' jumped out at her and Taylor studied it curiously, glancing at the faint smile on her grandmother's face as she got lost in the memories that the record sleeve brought up.

It took the older woman a few moments, but she did eventually manage to snap herself out of the memories, shaking her head and slipping the albums away before turning toward Taylor once more. Glancing into the tote of clothes that Taylor had reclaimed, the older woman grinned as she tugged out the rainbow scarf and held it up curiously while speaking.

"So, I guess you've found some things you'd care to use?" Dropping the scarf back where she'd found it atop the pile of the clothing, the woman pushed up to her feet and dusted herself off carefully, bending down and scooping up the tote. "I'll get these into the wash, and you can tidy up?" Smiling, the older woman nodded toward the pile of her mother's things, continuing gently.

"Put away what you don't want, Taylor, dear, but you should bring whatever you want to keep downstairs." Taylor blinked at the thought, turning to curiously inspect the artifacts of her mother's youth. When she glanced up to ask her grandmother if it was really okay to take them, she was surprised to find that the woman had vanished once more. Turning back to the tangible collection of her mother's history before her, Taylor couldn't help herself, carefully placing everything back into the crate and taking the whole thing toward the stairs, intent on putting it in her room.

It was frankly startling to see what a little colour, and Taylor used the term here quite lightly, considering how many of the posters on the walls were in black and white, could do to a room. Before, when the walls had been bare, and Taylor sat on this same spot on the bed, the place felt empty, impersonal, almost cold. It'd made her sleep fitful, and now, things were… different. Better.

The music helped as well, the faint punky strings drifting from the tall speakers to either side of her dresser drifting around the room, filling it. It'd taken her and her grandmother nearly three hours after lunch to figure out the wires, and to get everything put back together correctly, but the music was certainly worth the effort. Now, with the tiny mementoes of her mother scattered around the space, Taylor felt strangely much more at home.

The room itself was an eclectic mix of the tattered remnants of Taylor's own life interposed with the cast of remains of her mother's childhood. The dressers filled with her old clothes, and the freshly laundered things that she'd recovered from her mother. Her father's coat hung off the back of the door, its aged green fabric and furry scruff standing out. Dark leather gloves that she'd found in a bag in the garage peeked out of its pockets like that was where they belonged, and the vibrant rainbow-coloured scarf that had once belonged to her mother draped over the jacket and dragged along the floor at the base of the door, despite having been looped around the hook that the jacket also hung from several times.

Even the clothing that Taylor wore had changed. Looking at herself in the mirror, Taylor ran a hand through her shorter hair and curiously considered the simple white and blue pinstriped pyjama pants and the modest tank top that she'd ended up wearing. They weren't fancy, but they fit her properly, and they were much less threadbare than the blue duck-print garments that she'd woken up in and some tiny part of Taylor in the back of her mind prompted her to straighten her back and study herself.

Pushing herself up to her feet, Taylor padded across the wooden floor to the vanity, carefully opening the photo album on it and staring at that image on the first page and considering the awkward, nervous smile on her mother's face. She glanced at herself and felt that same smile growing over her own features. There was a kind of camaraderie in this, Taylor had to admit as she shifted away from the mirror a bit, bringing the book with her as she returned to the bed.

Seeing her mother like this, awkward and spindly and clearly nervous about being on camera made her feel… better, more normal. And as she flipped through the book, Taylor had to admit that the sight of the people around her mother smiling with her, the people that seemed to care about her in those candid shots, that also filled Taylor with some small measure of hope that maybe things might be different come tomorrow. Come on Tuesday and all of its new frontiers.

"Taylor! Dinner!" The voice echoed up from down below, and Taylor shifted on the bed, starting to close the book. Pausing thoughtfully, Taylor flipped through the pages until that first page stared up at her, that image of her mother standing awkwardly staring up at her. Taylor stared at the picture for another moment and glanced at the door, checking to see that her grandmother hadn't come looking for her before speaking softly.

"...Thanks, mom. For… everything." She traced the line of her mother's face on the page before closing the book. Standing, she placed the photo album back on her vanity, and then moved over, shutting off the record player, removing the track head from the record as her grandmother had shown her, before walking out of the room and closing the door in her wake. Taking a deep breath, Taylor inhaled the scent of something rich and flavorful drifting up the stairs, and she moved quickly, descending the stairs two at a time and following her nose toward whatever was giving off that mouth-watering aroma.

[There you all have it, Chapter one of a new project that I've been contemplating and working on. I don't have a whole lot say here just yet, but let's get a few things squared away before the comments start to come in.

Yes, I do plan on continuing on INFC, though I will be taking a short hiatus, there's a comment in the thread about it that you should all check out.

Yes, Taylor will have a power, and no, it won't be bug control, anything more than that is spoilers, but I think it's neat personally.

This story will be a bit of a slow burn to some degree, and the hard limit of 6k that I set myself for each chapter means that while things will progress in each chapter, we might not get the same amount of plot, so I do ask for some patience. I'm not sure what sort of writing pace I'll have, but I'll do my best to keep things going fairly quickly.]

Last edited: Nov 20, 2019

495

caliiro

Nov 13, 2019

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xeivous

Nov 13, 2019

Well this looks like it's got a whole lot of potential given the complete lack of previous tracks to follow in for this setup. Different conditions for QA to use to latch onto her favorite host, different cape scene for Taylor to start her career in, all sorts of plots and potential romances all changed up. Can only hope that Taylor's absence from the Bay doesn't get people I actually like killed, even if we're unlikely to see or hear much of them unless this change butterflies more things.

Teiwaz

All things can burn.

Nov 13, 2019

You do realise that just by being in newyork taylor will be shipped with Lilly

BenevolentTumour

Hawkish is not a metric

Nov 13, 2019

This is looking very interesting, there are too few fics with Taylor as the protagonist which take place outside of Brockton Bay. The little snippets of info about what happened after Taylor told her father are very intriguing, can't wait for more!

Disciple

Catbrained Idiot

Nov 13, 2019

You know what amazes and surprises me most about this story?

You used Taylor's grandmother as an active character.

That never happens. (Until now)

TheBarrometer

Nov 13, 2019

Disciple said:

You know what amazes and surprises me most about this story?

You used Taylor's grandmother as an active character.

That never happens. (Until now)

I've seen it done before. It's commonly done with stories when Annette comes from a magical background, with her parents disapproving of Danny for being non magical. I can't immediately think of one's with her maternal grandparents being normal people, but I think it's happened.

PiningfortheHebrides

Nov 13, 2019

Got to wonder what they did to her that involved reporters and threatening calls from Mr. Deluded himself. It can't just be holding her down and cutting her hair. Attempted burning, maybe? E88 kid somehow noticing Sophia and Emma getting into it and having recorded it all while they went through everything they'd done to her as a laundry list?

zadcap

Mechanical Critic

Nov 13, 2019

Teiwaz said:

You do realise that just by being in newyork taylor will be shipped with Lilly

It's the rarest ship in the fandom, outside of smut, one shots, and smut based one shots. And it's even rare in those, because apparently pairing Taylor with the only open lesbian in all of Worm is less popular then doing so with the Nazi. There's By One Sting (extreme crack), and Archer (hasn't gotten there yet, but author says they're going to be the official pair), and I think that's it?

Not considering INFC, please author-sama, do the great things here as you have there and prove to everyone why this is the best ship in the fleet!

Edit: Not that kind of shipping. There's a reason I excluded smut. Obey the forum rules everybody.

Last edited: Nov 13, 2019

Zeushobbit

KNEEL BEFORE YOUR GOD!!

Nov 13, 2019

Oooh, excellent start. So heartbreaking to see Taylor so unable to trust her Grandmother, all those little moments where she's looking for ulterior motives.

Very interested in what happened with Danny being told about the Trio.

UncaringLogician

Nov 13, 2019

#10

Well I love this already.

FrozenPredator

Nov 13, 2019

#11

An interesting start! And this was a bit heartbreaking with Taylor being almost scared of her grandmother.

I wonder what happened to her back in Brockton Bay to shorten her hair, and what her power/trigger will be.

Also on board with both shipping and friendshipping Taylor and Lily, whichever you choose.

Yenzen

Nov 13, 2019

#12

Teiwaz said:

You do realise that just by being in newyork taylor will be shipped with Lilly

The rainbow scarf will have everyone at her new school assuming she's openly gay/bi.

FuryouMiko

(verified pet cat)

Nov 13, 2019

#13

You missed one, Noelemahc ;)

caliiro said:

Beyond a few lingering artifacts that would have been difficult to remove, an etching on the surface of the desk, words rebelliously written into the underside of a shelf in painfully familiar handwriting, there were [red]few/red] personal touches in the room.

Looking forward to seeing where this goes. I'm hoping for a slower, more gentle progression of events than in canon - the setup here seems very introspective and interesting.

Probably propped up by my own recent foray into nostalgia with Joan Jett, the Bangles and Blondie! Will the music be a heavy influence on the story going forward?

Noelemahc

These things, they happen.

He/Him

Nov 13, 2019

#14

zadcap said:

There's By One Sting (extreme crack), and Archer (hasn't gotten there yet, but author says they're going to be the offi

There's also Nomad, which is gratuitous gorn more than an actual fic.

FuryouMiko said:

You missed one, @Noelemahc

D'oh!

I've painted the second chapter in various shades of green in beta so it may or may not be released soonish.

FuryouMiko said:

Probably propped up by my own recent foray into nostalgia with Joan Jett, the Bangles and Blondie! Will the music be a heavy influence on the story going forward?

I think it was one of the things that drew me in. There's just something different about seventies and eighties music, yanno?

Many Eyed Watcher

She/Her

Nov 13, 2019

#15

I'm liking the slow burn, most fics seem to feel like they need to rush straight into the action with Taylor triggering or demonstrating her power in combat in the first chapter.

Ljapaubeaves

Why so much sloth?

Nov 13, 2019

#16

This is Family for you. Pulling through even in the thickest of nights...

I wonder if she'll still trigger now.

The butterflies at home will be glorious!!

Stuff is festering...

caliiro

Unverified Unverificator

Nov 13, 2019

#17

Yawns* Ohhey, people. Lesse here;

xeivous said:

Click to expand...

BenevolentTumour said:

FuryouMiko said:

Looking forward to seeing where this goes. I'm hoping for a slower, more gentle progression of events than in canon - the setup here seems very introspective and interesting.

Many Eyed One said:

I'm liking the slow burn, most fics seem to feel like they need to rush straight into the action with Taylor triggering or demonstrating her power in combat in the first chapter.

I kind of enjoy the idea of completely going off rails and stuff like this? There's a lot of work filling in backstory elements and stuff, but it's kind of nice being able to do something relatively unique?

Disciple said:

You know what amazes and surprises me most about this story?

TheBarrometer said:

Reading a WoG

PiningfortheHebrides said:

We'll get more details on this stuff in the coming chapters.

Zeushobbit said:

Oooh, excellent start. So heartbreaking to see Taylor so unable to trust her Grandmother, all those little moments where she's looking for ulterior motives.

FrozenPredator said:

An interesting start! And this was a bit heartbreaking with Taylor being almost scared of her grandmother.

I get the feeling that Danny's perception of Mary tends to color Taylor's, and she's sort of tentative right now about anyone that seems to care about her.

Noelemahc said:

I think it was one of the things that drew me in. There's just something different about seventies and eighties music, yanno?

I've been jamming out to the classics for two weeeks, it's great.

Teiwaz said:

You do realise that just by being in New York taylor will be shipped with Lilly

zadcap said:

Not considering INFC, please author-sama, do the great things here as you have there and prove to everyone why this is the best ship in the fleet!

Ljapaubeaves said:

This is Family for you. Pulling through even in the thickest of nights...

Shipping stuff probably won't come up for a bit, but Lily as a character does feature in the fic, kind of cause I love her as a character?

FuryouMiko said:

Probably propped up by my own recent foray into nostalgia with Joan Jett, the Bangles and Blondie! Will the music be a heavy influence on the story going forward?

Yeah, as with most of my fics, Music will probably be a fairly heavy element. There'll be a fair blending of 80's classics with more subtle things. Ironically I think that if I was going to score the fic I'd probably do it with dodie songs, they suit the tentativeness of this Taylor. (Also there's this song called She that's not immediately relevant but, uuuuuuugh.)

And yes, as Noel implied, he's done the gods work betaing and I'll be working on that this morning to toss it up soonish, so keep your eyes peeled.

Last edited: Nov 13, 2019

Threadmarks Chapter 2

Threadmarks

caliiro

Unverified Unverificator

Nov 13, 2019

#18

[Another chapter ready to go, I doubt that I'll be resuming my daily uploads, by the way, but I don't see these chapters taking two weeks each either. I'll probably avoid committing to any sort of update schedule, but an update to each story once a week is probably what I'll be aiming for. I think the next update we'll probably see is the first chapter of Hebert Heavy Industries, and I'll probably toss a link in here when it goes up, to keep things organized.]

Chapter 2

February 1st, 2011

Oak Valley Secondary School, Queens

Hope was for chumps, Taylor bitterly thought to herself, staring up at the monstrous school rising before her. Three stories tall, and if she wasn't mistaken, the damn thing actually bent away at a right angle off to the east, apparently connected to an entire other building. Considering the towering edifice before her, Taylor guessed that it was twice the size of Winslow, and if the masses of students loitering outside or moving in and out of the doors were any indication, the student body was of a similarly impressive size.

Taylor had been standing at the edge of the parking lot for nearly ten minutes, staring worriedly up at the school, struggling to convince her feet to move forward, to avoid the temptation to just turn around, find her way back to the bus, and to just go home and claim that she couldn't do this. The worst part was that despite the terror gripping her chest, no one was even looking at her. Everyone walked past, and their eyes practically slid off of her and yet, Taylor couldn't shake the dread that gripped her.

Taking a deep breath, Taylor turned, already contemplating what she'd say when she got home, though the motion stopped quite suddenly when she caught sight of her reflection in the window of a nearby car. She lingered in place for several moments before slowly stepping forward, moving closer to the car. She stopped a short distance away, unaware whether the car had an alarm and stared at her image, a bit shocked despite herself at the girl that stared back at her.

Her hair was the most striking difference between how she thought of herself and the girl staring back at her from beneath the olive green and fur-lined hood of her father's coat. It'd been tended to as best it could have been once they'd carved out the gum, but she'd lost a lot of it, and the trip over to the school had resulted in the much shorter locks being a bit messier than they might have been when she'd gotten out of the shower. The cold had stained her cheeks, where they peeked out of the warmth of her clothing at least, a vibrant red that nearly matched the colour on the massive rainbow coloured scarf that she wore, the thing wrapped around her neck three times and still reaching her knees.

She stared at the girl peering back at her from the mirror, and she had a hard time viewing her as the same Taylor Hebert that had slinked into Winslow every day for nearly the last two years. Honestly, she wasn't sure who exactly the girl before her was, but she was different enough that Taylor managed to press her lips into a thin line.

Turning, Taylor clenched her fists in her gloves and forced herself to move forward. One foot lifted, settling on the stone path, then the other. Letting out a slow breath, Taylor glanced around, checking to see if anyone was staring at her. Finding everyone blissfully absorbed in their own conversations and/or phones, Taylor felt her shoulders relaxing, and she moved forward more quickly, her feet crunching into the snow along the path as she headed toward the array of doors at the front of the school.

Taylor was up the stairs and into the school before she realized it, even automatically yet carefully patting her jacket down to dislodge the faint dusting of snow that clung to it as she walked down the hallway. She'd expected this entrance to be the main foyer of the school, but staring at the entrance to a massive cafeteria, and the walls on either side of it lined with lockers, let Taylor know that she'd probably have to search for the office.

One hand lifted, pushing back the hood of her jacket before slipping down and unzipping her coat fully to keep herself from melting in the warmth of the school. Stepping forward, Taylor walked up to the intersection at the end of the hall and glanced left and right, inspecting the two corridors lined with matching lockers and old wooden doors. Frowning, Taylor's fingers dug into her satchel, and she fished out the documentation her grandmother had given her.

She checked the first few pages, frowning upon finding nothing resembling a classroom number or a map. Letting out a faint grumble, Taylor stuffed the documents back into her bag and glanced into the cafeteria, frowning again as she considered finding a table that wasn't too full and seeing if she could ask someone for-

"Lost?" The question came from her left and Taylor froze for a moment, turning slowly to see who'd spoken. Two girls were leaning against the lockers nearby, and Taylor turned to face them, freezing when her eyes settled on the taller of the pair. A momentary flashback ghosted through her at the sight of the tall thin girl with red hair, though the feeling quickly fled as she took in the girl's lopsided smile. There were obvious differences, of course, the girl before her was tall and almost as thin as Taylor herself, the hair was darker, the freckles way more noticeable and there was a spark of mischief in those dark blue eyes that Taylor had never seen in Emma's.

Also, the fashion taste was different. Dark jeans and a plaid shirt left unbuttoned as it hung over a fitted tee that had 'Carpe DM' printed on it, the words surrounded by dice in a multitude of colours. Taylor smiled as she studied the girl, something about the girl's casual air putting her at ease. So much so that it took her a few moments to remember that she'd been asked a question before perking up, lifting the lower part of her face above the scarf she wore and finally speaking.

"Oh. Yeah. Lost. I was looking for the guidance office. I'm, uh… new." Taylor glanced around the hallway, flushing as she considered how daft that must have sounded. An amused chuckle from the redhead drew her focus back toward her, and Taylor blushed a touch as she sank her face back into the safety of her scarf as the older girl started to speak with a coy smirk on her lips.

"I figured, I imagine that with a fashion sense as bold as yours, I'd have noticed you before now." Blinking in confusion, Taylor tilted her head, glancing down when the girl pointed. Taylor stared at the simple black sweater she wore over a subtle grey shirt. Black pants, boots. She'd intentionally picked the most subtle things she could find from her mother's things; she wasn't sur-

Oh, the scarf. Of course.

"Oh." Reaching up, Taylor pulled the scarf away from her mouth and smiled nervously. "This? Do you like it? I wasn't sure about it, but it's kind of super warm. It's not mine, though; It used to belong to my mom." Taylor smiled quietly and glanced up, taking in the curious look from the older girl.

"Used to?" The girl spoke softly, her tone moderating, and Taylor blinked, wondering if she'd missed something, lips curling into a frown as she puzzled over the words. After a second, a flicker of recognition ran through her, and she nodded slowly.

"Yeah, she's uh. She's not with us anymore." Taylor watched the girl's eyes widen, and she waved a hand, not wanting to look like that strange girl that didn't talk about anything but her dead parent. She pressed on quickly. "It was a few years ago. I'm staying with my grandmother. My wardrobe was a bit barren in the wake of the move, and I borrowed a few of her things." Taylor shrugged and held out her arms as if to demonstrate.

"Well," The girl inspected her for a moment, nervously adjusting her hair as she responded, opting to focus on the scarf instead of Taylor's comments. "It suits you apparently, very retro." Taylor nodded her head jerkily and lowered her arms, lifting the ends of the massive scarf and inspecting it.

"I was surprised, though, now that you mention it. Mom never really… mentioned anything about being into this kind of thing." Taylor frowned thoughtfully, inspecting the fabric. "It's… odd to think of all the things that I never realized that we'd had in common. It's… nice though? Finding something that connects us like that." Shaking her head, Taylor glanced up, blinking at the narrow eyes of the girl before her and flushing. "Oh. I'm Taylor, by the way. Sorry about rambling on like that." The girl didn't seem annoyed, though, merely offering her a smirk.

"Charlie. This is Lily." The girl nodded her head toward the other girl, and Taylor finally glanced properly at Charlie's friend. Lily wasn't as tall as Charlie, or even Taylor herself. She was dressed more sedately, blacks and grays like Taylor with large headphones hanging around her neck. Short dark hair framed the girl's pale round face. The girl was still a touch older than her, though, and Taylor couldn't quite shake the feeling that the girl was peering straight into her soul, the way those dark eyes trailed over her searchingly. Flushing a bit, Taylor pushed her hair back from her eyes, glancing back to Charlie again, noting that the redhead was also staring at Lily strangely.

"So," Taylor started slowly, causing Charlie to turn back toward her, perking an eyebrow. "Do you know how I'd find the guidance counsellor's office? I need to speak with a Mister Saviero." Taylor watched as the older girl leaned back and pointed down one of the hallway branches next to the cafeteria.

"Guidance office is building A. We're in building B. You just need to go down that corridor, and up the flight of stairs. Go up one floor, down the hall and swing a right when you see the glass corridor, you'll see the Library on your left, go down that hall there, and then you'll be in building A, you'll have to go down the stairs and then take the first right and you'll be where you need to go." Taylor paused, taking a moment to commit the instructions to memory before flashing the girl a thankful look.

"Thanks, Charlie." She took a step back, pausing and shifting nervously on her feet before turning back to the two girls, adding an awkward smile and pressing on. "I uh, hope you two have a good day." Awkwardly waving, Taylor took a step back and spun, vanishing down the corridor and heading for the staircase, the entire time berating herself for opting to wave of all things.

Her self-beratement was short-lived, as Taylor opted instead to focus on recalling the directions. Up a flight of stairs, down a hallway past more milling students. Swing right, walk down a corridor between a library filled with more students and an open-air patio, also filled with even more students. Into an older looking building and then down a different flight of stairs, and, true to Charlie's words, when she swung a left, there was the office that she'd been expecting to see.

Moving down the hallway, Taylor passed 'Administration' and headed toward 'Guidance,' opting to push the door open instead of spending any more time standing in the hallways and feeling nervous about all of this. The room beyond looked like it was as old as the building itself. Antique chairs and benches, desks, and even old wooden doors with a frosted glass each stencilled with a name.

A polite cough startled Taylor out of her observations, and she turned, finding a kindly old man sitting behind a computer and staring at her with a look of subtle curiousity on his face. Reaching into her bag with a blush, Taylor fished out her documentation and sidled up to the desk, speaking softly.

"Hey, I'm Taylor Heber-" She paused, the sound of the bell ringing out above. From outside the door, the sound of feet moving grew louder and then quieter and then she was left in silence once more. Clearing her throat, Taylor pushed on. "Sorry, Taylor Hebert. I'm a transfer? I think my grandmothe-" The man chuckled, reaching out a hand and taking the documents.

"You're Mary's granddaughter, then? She was in last week to arrange things." The man adjusted his glasses, glancing down at the page before him and reading it before glancing at the doors, speaking absently. "I'm not sure if Mister Saviero is ready for you just yet, so why don't you take a seat and I'll let him know that you're here."

Nodding, Taylor moved over toward the benches and dropped down onto one. She curiously watched the receptionist as he lifted his phone and dialled something into it. There were a few moments of silence before he spoke softly into the phone. When the man nodded and hung up and didn't glance back at her, Taylor turned her attention to the table before her, scooping up a magazine and carefully opening it to a random page.

Staring with an abject fascination of the close up of a spider's face, Taylor turned her attention to the article next to the image, chewing her lip as she read. National Geographic, an expose on Black Widow Spiders. Shuddering, Taylor settled in to curiously pick apart the detailed analysis of the species and its impact on North America culture. She'd made it about halfway through the story when a mildly accented voice spoke over her shoulder.

"Dreadful things." Taylor glanced up, staring in mild confusion at the tall, dark-skinned man that'd been looming over her chair. He was tall, completely bald and dressed in professional slacks and a comfortable-looking sweater, his hands resting neatly in his pockets. When she met his eyes, the older man offered her an understated smile that made his kind eyes sparkle and reached out a hand toward her. Taking it, Taylor shook it smoothly. "Spiders, that is. I'm Carlos Saviero, by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you finally. Your grandmother spoke of you, glowingly. Shall we?" The man gestured to the side and Taylor nodded, grabbing her things and slipping to her feet, following the man toward the office.

The older man held the door to his office for her, and Taylor stepped into the room, moving toward the desk and placing her bag, scarf and jacket in one of the chairs opposite it. Sliding down into the other chair, Taylor watched as the man closed the door and slid around the desk, taking a seat and placing her transfer documentation on the desktop between them.

Taylor was surprised when the older man didn't open the documents immediately, moving to lace his fingers together while resting his elbows on the desk. Glancing up, Taylor shifted in place, feeling the older man's eyes pinning her in place. She felt oddly on the spot as the older man considered her thoughtfully for a few moments before actually saying anything.

"So, as I mentioned earlier, your grandmother has spoken with me extensively about your situation." Blinking, Taylor frowned, flushing as the man continued, turning to glance down at the documents before him, carefully paging through them, a faint look of distaste on his features as he read. Taylor's cheeks burned faintly in embarrassment as she imagined the things that had been printed on the documents, though the man's muttered 'Savages' under his breath did help a little to cool her embarrassment. With a sigh and a shake of his head, the man lifted the papers and set them smoothly to the side, turning to stare directly at Taylor, pressing the tips of his fingers together.

"Your grandmother mentioned that you had undergone some tutoring over the last month? Placement tests and the like?" Blinking, Taylor glanced at the man before pulling her bag into her lap and unwrapping it. She reached in, collecting the letter from her tutor that she'd left within, and offered it to her. Saviero took it, carefully opening the envelope to get at the letter itself. Taylor sat in silence, observing the man as he read the pages before carefully tucking the letter away and setting it on his desk. The man considered the letter and the pile of paper from Winslow for a few moments before straightening his back and turning to stare directly at Taylor.

"So. Taylor, I'm unsure if you're aware of the extent of the favours that your grandmother has called in on your behalf to ensure that this…" The man cut himself off, merely tapping the documents from Winslow before continuing slowly. "... doesn't affect your future, going forward." Glancing between the man and the documents, Taylor curiously lifted an eyebrow. Sensing her confusion, the bald man spoke smoothly.

"Personally, I would have taken her at her word, Taylor. Mary McBride was a teacher at Oak Valley when I attended this school, and she's always been a fair woman, stern but fair. But she went far and above in this case, The chancellor of education herself called me last week to ensure that this goes smoothly. Your grades for your freshman year aren't… great, but they're not as bad as the first half of sophomore." The heat of embarrassment burned the back of her throat and Taylor contemplated speaking up, explaining that it hadn't been her fault, but the man pressed on thoughtfully. "Your tutor included your scores here, and for the moment, we'll take them at face value, but you will probably be obligated to sit examinations in the coming months to make them official." Glancing up at her the man, lifted an eyebrow and Taylor nodded jerkily.

"Th-that sounds fair." She watched the man nod quietly, turning to the computer to his left and moving to start typing some things into it for a few moments before clicking something with his mouse. To the left, the printer whirred to life and pages began to spool out. The man considered Taylor for a few more moments before speaking again.

"You will be given warning before the exams, time to review that I expect your grandmother will ensure you make the most of, Miss Hebert. This is a second chance, Taylor, and I hope that you choose to make the most of it. Someone went to a great deal of effort to drag you down, and I hope that you'll use this chance to make sure that they fail. That being said, unlike Winslow, this school has a zero-tolerance policy for harassment and bullying. If you find yourself being targeted, inform another teacher or me immediately, and it will be handled." The man stared at her until she nodded and then moved to pull the freshly printed paper to rest before him.

"So. This is your schedule, Taylor." The man held out the first bit of paper, and Taylor took a glance down at the blocked out diagram on it. Times, class names and room numbers stared back at her as Saviero kept talking. "Oak Valley uses your typical eight-period system. We've assigned you the mandatory classes, but left you with three spares for the moment. You'll have seven days to review the electives available, and I'll expect you to pick at least two that you'll be enrolled in." The man set two booklets before her and Taylor scooped them up, realizing that they were the class lists, and then she turned to stare into Saviero's dark eyes curiously.

"Here's your locker combination and number," The man handed over another slip and stared at her for a moment before continuing. "If you haven't got any further questions, I'll let you get moving so that you can catch the remainder of your English class." Taylor frowned nervously, but when it became clear that she didn't have anything to say, the man pulled out a yellow slip from his desk and began to quickly jot down a note on it, filling in the form. While the man worked, Taylor stuffed the booklets into her bag and began to gather her things.

Pushing to her feet, Taylor accepted the yellow scrap of paper from Saviero, muttering an aborted thanks and shuffling out of the room, then returning the receptionist's friendly smile before vanishing out into the hall. Luckily, Taylor's locker wasn't hard to find; she merely had to follow the lockers down the hall on the first floor of the building she was in until she found the right number.

Her belongings were stuffed into the locker, coat and scarf hung up as neatly as one could, and Taylor was left standing in her dark clothes with her bag hung from her shoulder. Glancing around, Taylor considered her schedule for a moment staring in confusion at the room number.

'504.' Taylor mentally considered it, looking at the nearest rooms. 106, and 107. The rooms on the floor above had been in the 200s, which meant that the third floor was probably the 300. Could it be in the other building, maybe? Moving down the hall, Taylor headed up the stairs once more and headed toward the library, moving down the hall and coming to a stop at the end of the hall, checking the numbers on the doors closest to her.

'703, what?' Blinking in confusion, Taylor stared down at her document until a soft, warm voice drifted in her direction.

"Lost again?" There was a hint of curiosity and concern there, and Taylor jerked up, spinning around. Charlie's friend, Lily, stood a short distance away, staring at Taylor. Doing her best to keep from shifting under the weight of those dark eyes on her, Taylor flushed again as she waved her schedule around a bit helplessly.

"Y-Yeah, the numbering system is weird. I'm looking for 504?" The older girl's expression remained thoughtful for a moment before she quirked her lips into a smirk and slowly shook her head.

"It can be a bit baffling to new people. I got lost a lot when I first got here. An easy trick is to remember that Building A is 1, 2, and 3. Building C is 4 and 5, and Building B is 6, 7, and 8." The girl paused and smirked as she gestured around, pausing to explain. "Building A was here first, then B, and then C was added last to connect them, it's why the numbers are odd. C is connected to both though C's first floor is the second floor of the other two." Lily shifted, pointing down the corridor behind Taylor.

"Building B is the building that you first came in through, with the main cafeteria. 504 is on the upper floor, so, you actually passed the door on your way to Guidance. It's just on the other side of the stairwell. Go down this hall, through the door to the stairwell there, and then across to the other building, and you'll see 501 on the left, should be easy to find your way from there.." The girl flashed her a smile and Taylor returned it, turning to glance down the corridor in the direction that Lily had indicated.

Turning back, Taylor saw that Lily had turned to head off, and she called out in the girl's wake, thanking her. Lily paused, turning to nod in her direction and Taylor turned and slipped off, making her way down the hallway. True to Lily's directions, less than five minutes later, she was standing outside a door that read 504. The faint sound of talking was audible from within, and Taylor opened the door, peering into the room.

"- and that's how we get back to Faulkner-" The woman at the front of the room came to a stop, turning to stare toward the door with an eager smile on her face. Tall, with narrow, pinched features and vibrant red hair, the woman seemed approachable. Waving a hand, the woman indicated she should enter, speaking boldly. "Yes, something I can help you with?"

"Oh, uh, I'm new." Slipping into the room, Taylor held up the scrap of bright yellow paper that Saviero had handed her, doing her best to smile at the woman as she stood from where she'd rested against the edge of the desk and approached. The woman took the paper from her hand, checked it and flashed her a smile, speaking quickly.

"Taylor, yes?" The woman glanced at her for confirmation and Taylor nodded, causing the woman to flash her a grin. "I'm Miss Barrs, it's nice to meet you, Taylor. Why don't you take a seat where there's room. I'll see about getting you the necessary books. Luckily you haven't missed much, just a bit of review." Nodding, Taylor let out a sigh at the thought that at least she wouldn't be expected to introduce herself to the class. She peered around at the assembled students, and she could feel the eyes sliding off her as the class turned to follow the teacher as she headed for the front of the room.

Moving down the aisles, Taylor dropped herself in an empty chair, glancing around at the others nearby, watching as everyone remained focused on the woman by the blackboard. When Miss Barrs resumed her speech apparently from where she'd left off, Taylor shifted forward in her seat, sitting up and flipping her book open, scrabbling for a pencil to take notes.

It was the noise, Taylor admitted, that was what made this place so much different than Winslow. There was never… silence. Even in the halls between classes, you could always hear someone talking, someone moving. And in classes, or worse, the cafeteria, where Taylor found herself now, there was so much noise.

Walking across the cafeteria, her bag held tightly in one hand, Taylor felt as if she was being buoyed on a sea of sound. People weren't even shouting, but there were over four hundred people in the massive room, all of them talking softly, shifting around, and all the tiny noises added up to a fairly noticeable undercurrent of white noise that left Taylor feeling a bit out of her depth.

Making her way toward an empty table, Taylor slid onto the bench, dropping her bag before her and glancing around thoughtfully, studying the people. She searched for the Emmas and Madisons of this school, and her eyes drifted over the crowds and struggled. No one looked popular; no one looked like an outcast. If there was a hierarchy at play, Taylor couldn't see it. As far as she could tell, people were just… scattered out, talking to their friends.

It reminded her of the classrooms she'd visited so far. Every time she'd been greeted with the rest of the class, and she'd gotten a few curious looks before everyone had moved on, and they'd settled into class, and it'd been both liberating and terrifying to Taylor. Everyone had pulled out their books and their pens, and they'd all settled in. Taylor had been merely one of the faceless crowd.

One arm braced on her desk, the other pen in hand, Taylor had carefully written down the words that the teachers had said, the whisper of her pencil over the rough paper dissolving into merely another wave in an ebbing and flowing ocean of sound around her.

At first, it'd been intoxicating to Taylor, being merely one of the crowd, another face that blended into the rest. And, even now, part of her still luxuriated in that sensation, the freedom that it brought her, but another part of her was utterly terrified at the idea of what she might become without all those eyes on her giving her-

"Taylor, right?" The words startled Taylor out of her thoughts, and she jerked up, blinking as she turned toward the familiar voice. The taller girl with the red hair was leaning over her table, a wide smile on her face and a tray of food in her hands. "Saw you were sitting by yourself, thought I'd invite myself to join you…" The older girl shifted toward the bench and paused, peering at her and blinking. "That is if you don't mind?" Startled, Taylor shifted forward and nodded quickly.

"Oh. Yeah. It's fine. Charlie, yeah?" Taylor shifted forward, doing her best to offer a friendly smile as the older girl dropped onto the other bench and placed her tray before her, and nodded smoothly.

"Yeah, Charlie. Short for Charlene, but I prefer Charlie." The girl flashed her a smile before staring down at her food distastefully and taking out a fork, carefully scooping up one of the bits of brownish material that was either a roast or a meat-loaf and wincing. Carefully setting the food back on her plate, the older girl glanced up at her and Taylor flushed at being caught staring. Charlie didn't seem to notice, smoothly continuing to speak. "So! Did you end up finding the Guidance office, alright?" Taylor blinked, and nodded, responding as she reached into her bag, searching for her lunch within.

"Yeah, your directions were pretty spot on, actually. I got a bit lost afterward, but I ran into your friend in the hall, Lily?" Taylor glanced curiously at the girl, noticing the surprised raise of the other girl's eyebrows as she continued while setting her lunch on the table. "She got me back on track, explained how the numbers work." Smiling, Taylor opened up her bag, peering in curiously to see what's been packed for her.

"Yeah, Lily's helpful like that." Taylor glanced up, staring at Charlie and blinking curiously at the odd look on her face. When the other girl caught her looking, she straightened up, smiling simply and leaning forward. "Opted to the brown bag instead of braving the cafeteria? Good choice, apparently." Taylor chuckled and pulled out the contents. A sandwich made with leftover corned beef, an apple, some cookies from the batch they'd cooked yesterday, and a five-dollar bill, presumably to buy something to go with it.

Glancing at the unappetizing mess on Charlie's tray, Taylor unwrapped her food and took half the sandwich before offering the other half over to the redhead. When Charlie blinked and laughed, Taylor couldn't quite restrain the smile that spread across her face at the bold sound.

"You sure?" The question was curious, and Taylor shrugged, smiling all the more when the other girl snatched the food casually and took a bite, letting out a faint sound of enjoyment. The girl chewed quickly before swallowing and speaking up. "What is this?" She pulled the top off the sandwich and stared at the sliced meat on it curiously.

"Corned beef. My grandmother made it Sunday night for dinner." Taylor laughed at the strange look that came to the other girl's face, grinning at the question that followed.

"...huh. I'd kind of always assumed that that was just some strange form of lunch meat." Taylor nodded in agreement, taking a bite from her own half of the sandwich and chewing thoughtfully. It didn't take long for Charlie to devour her half of the food, and before Taylor knew it, she was fielding more questions. "So, how have your classes been? Who've you got so far?" Swallowing quickly, Taylor covered her mouth with the back her hand and responded.

"I had Barrs for English, and Paul for Math, after lunch I've got-" Taylor paused as a figure in black and white suddenly appeared at the edge of the table, stalking around it and dropping into a place next to Charlie.

"Hey, why're we sitting over here, I thought you were planning on kicking Rory's ass with your new blue control-" Taking the opportune moment to grab one of the napkins off of Charlie's tray, Taylor wiped her mouth, glancing up when Lily cut off, surprised to find the girl staring at her in shock. Nervously shifting in place, Taylor glanced at Charlie, who chimed in helpfully to break the silence.

"Saw Taylor sitting by herself and figured that I'd see how her day is going. Besides, I heard from Rolph that Rory's actually plotting something with a Carnage Tyrant that doesn't sound like my idea of fun." Blinking in confusion, Taylor glanced between the two girls, trying to decipher what the words meant. Thankfully, Charlie took pity on her and switched the conversation back onto the more neutral ground, gesturing toward her with a nod and continuing. "Taylor was just telling me about her classes. She had English with Barrs this morning." Charlie laughed when Lily groaned and turned toward a bemused Taylor, leaning forward and speaking conspiratorially.

"Lily is one of Barrs' favourite students, she's taken English and Drama with her every year since we were freshmen, and they always get into these massive debates that basically derail entire classes for, like, twenty minutes at a time. It's epic." Taylor tilted her head, trying to picture the girl she'd seen around facing off against the boisterous teacher that she'd had this morning, the pair loudly arguing, and the image brought a faint smile to her lips.

Glancing up, she saw another strange look on Lily's face, and she flushed and turned back to Charlie, who was smirking at her, shrinking back into her seat. Opting to distract the pair from their frank looks, she pulled the wrapped cookies toward herself and unwrapped them, offering them to the girls. Charlie easily snatched one up and took a huge bite. Lily seemed more hesitant, but after a moment, she reached out, taking one and offering a soft thanks before testing it carefully with her teeth. The look of faint surprise and enjoyment on Lily's features was rather satisfying, though a bit less so then the faint noise of enjoyment from Charlie.

"So, I guess we can all see why Taylor brings her lunch from home instead of eating this junk." The faint good-natured grumbling brought a faint tinge of red to Taylor's cheeks, but she focused on her own cookie.

"So, what classes do you got? You said Math with Mister Paul and English with Barrs." Instead of trying to talk through her cookie, Taylor fished out her class schedule and handed it over, watching as both girls leaned together, pulling it closer and curiously inspecting it. "What's with all the spares, your schedule is more sparse than Lily's, and she's in an AP program that keeps her out of the school like a third of the time." Taylor glanced at Lily curiously, a little impressed at that. The AP program at Winslow had been monumentally difficult to earn a placement in. The older girl seemed to shrink back under the comment and Taylor turned back to Charlie, speaking once she'd swallowed the food in her mouth.

"I transferred in pretty late, so I didn't have time to pick my electives. I've got a week to go over the books and figure out what I want in the empty slots." The long sound of understanding from Charlie was amusing, and the girl leaned forward and stared at the schedule.

"Did they give you a-" The girl trailed off when Taylor fished out the list of electives and reached out to grab it, flipping it open and inspecting it curiously. "You have any idea about what you want to take? What'd you take in your old school?" Taylor blinked and frowned, staring down at the book.

"I had two shop classes, and, uh, comp sci." The girls glanced at her and Taylor shrugged her shoulders nervously, and fiddled with the sleeves of her sweater.

"I guess you're fond of sharp things then?" Charlie's voice was laced with amusement, teasing and Taylor shrugged one of her shoulders and hesitantly spoke.

"Not so much? Kind of more of a fan of music and, uh, the humanities? Just. Those were classes where I could avoid certain people." Taylor trailed off, and thankfully neither of the other girls forced her to elaborate, merely turned back to the table. Charlie pointed to one of the entries in the booklet and spoke up.

"Well, we've got drama, with Barrs, it's probably pretty entertaining, even without Lily getting into a shouting match with the teacher." The girl laughed at the elbow that launched her way and continued on. "But there's a whole music section here. Choir, Instrumental, Jazz. We've got an entire guitar class…"

Leaning forward, Taylor absently nibbled at the cookie in her hand, listening as Charlie started to describe the classes that she'd had experience in, occasionally glancing over whenever Lily would chime in with a subtle comment here or there related to her own experience with this teacher, or that one, some distantly familiar warmth floating up through her form as she savoured the conversation.

[Fun fact; I'm terrible at directions. I literally messed up every direction given in this chapter and Noel had to go through and highlight them all and force me to fix them. So thaaaaat's fun.

Oak Valley is, at least structurally, based off a school that I attended in my youth, though it's been scaled up a bit to accommodate the typical school population of a school in Queens. The name is made up to avoid any comparisons to real schools.

Charlie's kind of badass and she wasn't actually in this fic before, it was Lily that originally approached Taylor when she looked lost, but I sort of enjoy how this reads a bit more, and Charlie seems like the kind of character that would adopt a wayward kid like Taylor.

She also mains a Blue Control Deck, so I mean she's a dirty rotten cheater, but don't tell her that I said that. Originally this chapter including a few more scenes, but when I hit (And went over) the cap, I opted to push some of those back out to later days which I think is probably for the best, give things a chance to simmer a bit, settle before pushing things forward.

Looking forward to all of your delightful reactions though.]

Last edited: Feb 12, 2020

441

caliiro

Nov 13, 2019

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Astikoes

Nov 13, 2019

#19

Speaking as someone with not one, but two grandmothers (I know, be in awe), I'm disappointed that she didn't slip up and call Taylor, Anne Rose, even once. 1/10 very unrealistic.

Edit: Oh hey, a new chapter!

Last edited: Nov 13, 2019

Noelemahc

These things, they happen.

He/Him

Nov 13, 2019

#20

Astikoes said:

Speaking as someone with not one, but two grandmothers (I know, be in awe), I'm disappointed that she didn't slip up and call Taylor, Anne Rose, even once. 1/10 very unrealistic.

Edit: Oh hey, a new chapter!

Don't worry, she's already dressed Taylor like Annette, halfway there already.

(I also have the benefit of having a grandmother who used to be a teacher AND estranged from my branch of the family, so I can tell caliiro if he ever strays from the core idea of grandmotherhood too far)

caliiro said:

And, even now, part of her still luxuriated in that sensation, the freedom that it brought her, but another part of her was utterly terrified at the idea of what she might become without all those eyes on her giving her

Is there a reverse of the "star syndrome" where you're used to positive attention, where you get used to/dependent on negative attention? Because it feels like Taylor regrets no longer being singled out aa That Girl Everybody Recognizes, at least a little.

And that worries me a lot.

WolfofStone99

Scholar of the Correspondence

She/Her

Nov 13, 2019

#21

Astikoes said:

Speaking as someone with not one, but two grandmothers (I know, be in awe), I'm disappointed that she didn't slip up and call Taylor, Anne Rose, even once. 1/10 very unrealistic.

Edit: Oh hey, a new chapter!

Eh, ain't too bad my own dad calls me by my brother's name and him by my name... why we go by nicknames to the point we react to those more than our actual names.

LightsOn

Nov 13, 2019

#22

So was the rainbow Dr. Who scarf mistaken for some manner of lesbian identification tag? I'm confused.

caliiro

Unverified Unverificator

Nov 13, 2019

#23

LightsOn said:

So was the rainbow Dr. Who scarf mistaken for some manner of lesbian identification tag? I'm confused.

I mean, Taylor's confused too. The Fourth Doctor's scarf isn't rainbow coloured. =P

Spoiler: Fourth Doctor

Noelemahc said:

This is a troubling thought indeed, and I think part of it as that this stuff has gone on so long that Taylor uses it to give context to things, and she's sort of set adrift in a situation where all the rules are different? No one cares about her here, and on the one hand, that's great. And on the other hand that's utterly terrifying.

Endgames

Nov 13, 2019

#24

This is an interesting start to a story, but I feel like it's kicking off a little slow. Part of that is that it's a new city with new people, so you need to introduce them and the area organically (as opposed to the usual "thrown in the middle" approach to fanfiction). Part of that, though, I think is how there are sometimes trivialities described that could be glossed over or dropped outright. For example, the conversation with the guidance councilor was good for showing how Taylor's record will be treated, how her grandmother pulled strings for her, and to reassure Taylor that bullying won't be tolerated. However, the waiting in the office before that and the conversation about the type of schedule probably won't have a big impact on the rest of this story and could have been dropped.

I'm not a huge fan of all of Vonnegut's rules for writing, but the whole "only write to build character or advance the plot" makes sense to me. If a detail or a paragraph doesn't do either of those things, doesn't foreshadow anything, and won't come up again, it can probably be dropped.

MoiYol

The one and only

He/Him

Nov 13, 2019

#25

LightsOn said:

So was the rainbow Dr. Who scarf mistaken for some manner of lesbian identification tag? I'm confused.

I've never heard of such a thing, but I find the thought of it hilarious anyway.

It also feeds the Lily ship quite nicely.

Edit:

Endgames said:

Click to expand...

I feel that the way things have happened in this chapter is quite good, sometimes its necessary to spend some time building up the scenery. It makes the story feels more alive. When the story only shows the plot and character building, it can sometimes feel too direct/mechanical/stale.

Last edited: Nov 13, 2019

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