Hazel Keating, Super Texan (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lilwitchhazel) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
gooseberryhigh2017-07-31 07:13 pm
lilwitchhazel) wrote in gooseberryhigh2017-07-31 07:13 pm
Entry tags:
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Who: Hazel Keating and Quinn Cunningham
When: May 3, 2014 (the day Ty didn't make friends with a hoop snake)
Where: Docks
What: The year's almost over and that means teen angst is back in season!
Warnings: Minimal bad language
When: May 3, 2014 (the day Ty didn't make friends with a hoop snake)
Where: Docks
What: The year's almost over and that means teen angst is back in season!
Warnings: Minimal bad language
Even though technically Hazel knows that Ty is fine, his incident with the hoop snake has been weighing on the sophomore all day. She’s generally concerned about him, sure, but now the more pressing matter in her thoughts, made all the more real by learning that he won’t be cheering in the game on Sunday, is that he’s graduating soon. And so is Quinn. And Chris. And Cecil and Levi and... she likes so many seniors, but up until now she’s been able to push aside worries surrounding their impending departure. However, the events of the day have turned those dormant worries into very present panic. And she’s not quite sure what to do.
She doesn’t want to bother Ty since he’s hurt, and honestly she’s worried about upsetting him... but then she realizes she can talk to Quinn. Quinn is a rock in Hazel’s mind. Which means she’s the perfect person to freak out to a bit.
Hazel sulks around the exit to the cafeteria after dinner until she catches sight of the other girl, waving at her to initially get her attention. The action is far less peppy than it normally would be.
“Hey! Um. Do you have a sec, Quinn?”
The Azurcrest, meanwhile, has been banned from the infirmary ward because apparently some Healer thought she was more of a distraction for Ty than a help. Which is bullshit. Ty's snake incident brought up feelings of unease with Quinn, too, but for different reasons—hawk-related ones. She briefly considers going back to the library after dinner but know she won't be able to focus, and opts for a... walk outside? Except now she knows that hoop snakes live outside. Whatever, she needs to do something else, she'll figure it out.
Hazel's wave catches her attention and she makes a beeline over, noting that Hazel looks about as thrilled as she feels right now about... everything. She nods. "So long as you don't want to go see Ty with me. The infirmary's bouncer and I have some differences to work out."
There’s a hint of relief on Hazel’s face as Quinn makes her way over, and she gives a somewhat lopsided smile at the senior’s words. It’s nice to know that she’s been with Ty enough to piss off Mufferaw - she wouldn’t really expect any less from Quinn. Hazel shakes her head, momentarily rocking back on her heels.
“I mean, as much as I love cheesing off authority figures or whatever... I just kind of wanted to. Um. Talk?” The Coppertale hesitates, not sure if she wants to come out and say that she just wants to tell someone that she’s a little freaked out. It sounds stupid when she thinks too hard about it. “You know, talk about stuff? Maybe go on a walk while we talk about stuff? If you have time.” She’s already regretting her quest to vent, but for the moment she’s refusing to back down.
Quinn's eyebrows raise ever so slightly. 'Talk?' She's not used to Hazel wanting to just talk about things. Where are the backflip contests? The spontaneous races? The eating competitions? A small ball of concern begins to roll about in her stomach.
"You're in luck, Hazel," she replies with another nod, this one in the direction of the doors as she begins to walk toward them. "I couldn't get anything done if I wanted to, and I was just thinking of going down to the dock." While not technically true, it does sounds like a good idea now that she's said it.
Hazel tries to smile reassuringly as she mentally kicks herself for making her request sound so blatantly about something not good. There had been no subtlety to it. All she had probably achieved was sounding ominous. Hazel maybe wishes that she thought a little bit more about what was coming out of her mouth before she said it. At least Quinn agrees without even calling her out.
As the Azurcrest starts towards the door Hazel gives a short nod and quickly follows, chewing on her lip a little as she does so. The docks sound nice. “...because you’re worried about Ty?” she inquires in regards to Quinn’s inability to work. “Or something else? The end of the year is kinda shitty all around, I guess.”
"Not exactly. Not exclusively." Quinn responds as she shoulders open the door and holds it to let Hazel through first, "I know it's only swelling that has to go down, but it was... an exciting afternoon, and it's difficult to come down from that for a quiet, romantic evening with my books." She shrugs, hanging onto Hazel's comment about the end of the year for longer than necessary. "It is shitty, though. There's too much to do."
Blonde waves bobbing as she nods, Hazel slips past Quinn through the open door. “Mmm, yeah, I hear ya. I mean...” she hesitates, shrugs, continues slowly in the direction of the docks. “It’s definitely fine, right? But sometimes stuff like that kind of....like, puts me out of sorts, I guess? Like. I don’t know.” It freaks her out, but she doesn’t particularly want to say that.
“Def on the too much to do, plus it’s extra busy for you, since you guys have to... you know. Get ready. I don’t have nearly as much junk and I’m still hating it.”
Quinn gives Hazel a bit of a sidelong glance. With sophomores her dreaded daycare instincts kick in and she feels like she needs to coddle them by talking in soft tones and throwing reassurances left and right. (In her defense, they cry so goddamn much that she can usually justify it to herself.) She doesn't often feel that way toward Hazel, for whatever reason, but the younger girl asking for reassurance about Ty throws her off. She moves her braid from one shoulder to the other for something to do with her hands and nods, "I know, me too, but don't worry. He'll be fine. He probably won't be much more careful, but... that's Ty Hawkeswood for you. We'll have to stay on the lookout for him, for rogue hawks begging to get punched." She regrets the joke as soon as she makes it.
Being outside for the first time since breakfast seems like a good enough distraction from her poor coping mechanism. It's refreshing despite the mood of the day. "If anyone tells you starting your senior project early is a good idea, tell them they're a maniac. And you've still got finals, which are no small feat." The sidelong glance returns, this time curious. "Think you'll be ready?"
Hazel doesn’t notice the glance from Quinn because she’s looking down at her nails as she picks at them a bit. She’s starting to feel worse by the minute, knowing that she probably is just going to embarrassingly blurt out all of her worries at the other girl. Still, she just wants to get these feelings out, and she remains certain that Quinn is probably the best person to talk to about this. Probably.
Though the joke about Ty and hawks is a little off-color, it still earns a bit of a quirked smile from Hazel. That whole ordeal had been horrifying, and honestly the possibility of some animal killing Ty while he’s a squirrel still lingers as a fear in the back of her mind, but punching hawks still sounds kind of funny.
“Yeah, I know he’ll be fine. He always is, right? Bounces back and stuff.”
Finally glancing over to Quinn, Hazel just shrugs at the question of finals. “Finals’ll be whatever. I always do ok on stuff? Is it bad I’m not that worried? There’s just... other stuff I care about more right now. And I’m totally starting my senior project early.” Hazel’s tone has a hint of pride and stubbornness in her last statement, but it’s short-lived.
"It's not bad, you're a sophomore. If you already needed to worry about it, you'd know." If one ignores how driven Quinn was even at those tender fifteen years of age, it sounds like sage advice.
“Um. How are you feeling about everything? About.... Finishing?” Her final word feels so heavy to her, and her shoulders sink the tiniest amount from that sensation.
Oh, look! The lakeshore! What a convenient distraction! Quinn spends some time—buys it—by inspecting rocks at the water's edge, pocketing the smoothest and roundest. How does she feel about finishing? Talk about loaded questions. "Fine," she lies, picking through stones. No, no, yes, no, yes. She feels the slightest guilt about lying so easily, though, and tries to backtrack. "I feel like I've been waiting for it for years and now..." there's an awkward pause that she tries to make look like she's just really checking out this rock she found. "Now it feels like I don't have enough time left, or something." Like she's been wasting it, or like she's not ready? She isn't sure.
“Yeah, I guess that makes sense. I mean, I care about school and everything but it’s hard to worry when it’s been going fine and.. Yeah, other stuff.”
Hazel fidgets a little as they reach the lake shore, watching as Quinn looks over the rocks there. She kicks at a few, listening to the other girl’s words, beginning to chew on her lip again.
“I think I’ll probably feel like there wasn’t enough time, too. I feel like that at the end of every year. Not about school or anything but like, about people, and fun stuff.” She picks up a rock indiscriminately, runs her fingers over its uneven edges, and tosses it into the lake, making no attempt to skip it.
“Quinn. I. Um. I don’t want you guys to leave.” Hazel’s final sentence comes out sounding abrupt and sharp and far too pouty for her liking. Like Quinn could do anything about the fact that she’s graduating.
Hazel's comment about 'people, and fun stuff' was striking enough to give Quinn pause—that's... nothing like she was as a sophomore—that she's not prepared for what comes after. And sure, it's only a sentence, but it's one that resonates with her. She... doesn't know what to say? Well, she's somewhere between It happens every year and I don't want to, either.
She straightens, dropping the stones into the pocket of her hoodie with a chain of clinks. "I suppose you don't want to hear about how we'll 'stay in touch' and 'always owl,' eh?"
Hazel’s eyes are starting to sting, which means she kicks another few rocks in an attempt to ignore it; she’s not sure how she wanted this conversation to go, but this isn’t really it. As Quinn speaks she lifts her head momentarily, glancing at the other girl before quickly looking back to her feet.
“I mean. I hope you write me and stuff. And I know it’s not like me saying this is going to change anything. I just. Kind of wanted to say it to someone. And Ty would be all... Ty about it, and he’s messed up right now anyways.”
Quinn goes quiet. She's not one to cry in public but that doesn't mean she never has, and she recognizes the sulkiness and sullenness for what they're warning signs of — except they're already at the lake, where privacy is scarce. She motions again for Hazel to follow, this time at a slow pace down the dock. "Plenty of us don't want to leave, either." She finally replies. "I keep wishing I could split myself in half so part of me didn't have to miss out on next year. It's a senior project idea I'd support, a magical solution to graduate FOMO."
It takes a moment, but slowly Hazel is following Quinn, taking a deep breath that hitches a single time. She presses at her eyes with the heels of her hands and then she’s back to looking at the other girl.
“That wouldn’t be so bad, but I’d be pissed if you like... didn’t get split evenly and I got stuck with the lame half or whatever.” The sophomore tries to smile a bit and manages something close to a normal expression, but it fades quickly. “You’re gonna be so busy I bet you won’t even think about Gooseberry so much, though. But... I don’t really know how to be here without you guys.” Abruptly, Hazel makes a face, not liking how her wording implies a sort of fragility. “I mean. It just feels like when I left my uncle to come here, is all. Just. You know, not great. Just having to figure things out again.”
"No half of me is lame, Keating. Not even the half that occupies the library." Quinn sits on the end of the dock, feet kicking out below her, and empties the pocket of curated stones onto the wood. It's easier to quip before tackling the serious topics, though the time it buys never seems to help.
Hazel drops herself onto the dock next to Quinn without much grace, her own feet immediately swinging once they’re off the edge. “Library Quinn is totally a little lame,” she asserts, her attention focused out across the lake.
Quinn picks a stone up and drops it from hand to hand like a little rocky waterfall. Hazel's hesitation reminds her too much of her own homesickness, pangs that dulled over the years but never left... and feel even be more pronounced now that she's able to make her own decisions, but decided to move even further away from the only place she wants to live. 'For her future.' "It's shit," She mutters at first, still playing with the stone, "getting uprooted every couple of years."
Hazel looks to the rocks between them for a moment too, then again at Quinn. The Coppertale nearly says a few more things, about how she’s less ok with change than she thought she’d be, about how she’s a little afraid of how things will change between her and her senior friends once they’re gone... instead she just nods in agreement and adds, “Yeah and having to like... figure out friend stuff always stinks. I have to have some upperclassmen buddies but ugh the Junior class.” There’s still less humor in her voice than there would normally be, but she seems to have gotten a handle of some of her more sensitive emotions again. “I guess you’re going to have to friend-hunt too.”
"Get in good with Rosy, and avoid Riley unless you want trouble." Quinn shrugs, "But you didn't hear it from me." Finally, she turns the stone until its edges are against her fingers, lines up her shot, and chucks. It skips three times before skidding into the water. "Aside from Jesse, yeah. I'll be on the other side of the country from our family. Our families."
The prospect of making new friends in San Francisco has been filling her with more dread than anticipation; at Gooseberry she knows where she stands with everyone. In California, she won't have a clue. For all she knows, her new classmates are a bunch of lame-ass morons. She palms another rock. "You'll have new exchange blood, ripe for corruption."
“Even if for some reason I wanted her to be my friend, Riley and Casey are together a lot, soooo...” Hazel leaves the rest unsaid as she continues to swing her feet, watching as the stone successfully skips across the surface of the lake. “Even lame library Quinn is cool enough to make friends, but... yeah, you’ll have Jesse so you’ll be fine. Just like how as long as I’ve got Suse I’m fine.”
Hazel has others too, of course - Micah and Cole and... not Calvin, but the other Sophomores she maybe can grow closer to. It will be weird to not have anyone close who’s older than her, but she figures that yeah, maybe she can bond with Rosy some. “Yeah, it’ll be ok I guess. But like, what if all the transfer kids are losers? I don’t know. It’ll be fine but...” She shrugs lamely.
"Then you'll have Suse," Quinn repeats with a small smile, picking up another rock. "And if things really suck, bail over the break to visit me and Ty and tell us how shitty all the new kids are." The smile falters because of Ty and the entire reason they're moping on the docks in the first place. She chucks the rock, no skipping involved, with little mind to where it's headed. "They won't, though. Your year seems tight enough as it is."
“You guys are gonna get a crapton of letters about how dumb the new kids are if they stink but... yeah. They might suck, but whatever. And visiting sounds good.” Hazel gives a short nod to punctuate this, as if to reassure herself that this makes things better, that things are ok. Even if she does know that things really are fine, she needs some convincing with how she’s feeling.
This has helped, at least, far more than she thought it would. At least her eyes aren’t stinging so much anymore. “...thanks for talking about this stuff with me. I... everything will be fine.” She nods again, this one less strong, but still with a sense of resolve.
While Quinn's a ball of nerves for all sorts of reasons—most of them related to her looming graduation—Hazel's apprehension serves as a reminder that she's had something to worry about at the end of every year. Like Hazel, she's been the sophomore worried about losing the stability she'd grown comfortable with, and the conclusions of her freshman and junior years weren't much different. She's been through it all before (well... most of it), and she can do it again; she will.
"Oh, things'll still fuck up," she replies with a shrug, holding out a stone, poised to drop it in the younger girl's hand. "It's practically a universal law, they always do, but you'll get through it just fine, and you'll be more of a badass for it."
She doesn’t want to bother Ty since he’s hurt, and honestly she’s worried about upsetting him... but then she realizes she can talk to Quinn. Quinn is a rock in Hazel’s mind. Which means she’s the perfect person to freak out to a bit.
Hazel sulks around the exit to the cafeteria after dinner until she catches sight of the other girl, waving at her to initially get her attention. The action is far less peppy than it normally would be.
“Hey! Um. Do you have a sec, Quinn?”
The Azurcrest, meanwhile, has been banned from the infirmary ward because apparently some Healer thought she was more of a distraction for Ty than a help. Which is bullshit. Ty's snake incident brought up feelings of unease with Quinn, too, but for different reasons—hawk-related ones. She briefly considers going back to the library after dinner but know she won't be able to focus, and opts for a... walk outside? Except now she knows that hoop snakes live outside. Whatever, she needs to do something else, she'll figure it out.
Hazel's wave catches her attention and she makes a beeline over, noting that Hazel looks about as thrilled as she feels right now about... everything. She nods. "So long as you don't want to go see Ty with me. The infirmary's bouncer and I have some differences to work out."
There’s a hint of relief on Hazel’s face as Quinn makes her way over, and she gives a somewhat lopsided smile at the senior’s words. It’s nice to know that she’s been with Ty enough to piss off Mufferaw - she wouldn’t really expect any less from Quinn. Hazel shakes her head, momentarily rocking back on her heels.
“I mean, as much as I love cheesing off authority figures or whatever... I just kind of wanted to. Um. Talk?” The Coppertale hesitates, not sure if she wants to come out and say that she just wants to tell someone that she’s a little freaked out. It sounds stupid when she thinks too hard about it. “You know, talk about stuff? Maybe go on a walk while we talk about stuff? If you have time.” She’s already regretting her quest to vent, but for the moment she’s refusing to back down.
Quinn's eyebrows raise ever so slightly. 'Talk?' She's not used to Hazel wanting to just talk about things. Where are the backflip contests? The spontaneous races? The eating competitions? A small ball of concern begins to roll about in her stomach.
"You're in luck, Hazel," she replies with another nod, this one in the direction of the doors as she begins to walk toward them. "I couldn't get anything done if I wanted to, and I was just thinking of going down to the dock." While not technically true, it does sounds like a good idea now that she's said it.
Hazel tries to smile reassuringly as she mentally kicks herself for making her request sound so blatantly about something not good. There had been no subtlety to it. All she had probably achieved was sounding ominous. Hazel maybe wishes that she thought a little bit more about what was coming out of her mouth before she said it. At least Quinn agrees without even calling her out.
As the Azurcrest starts towards the door Hazel gives a short nod and quickly follows, chewing on her lip a little as she does so. The docks sound nice. “...because you’re worried about Ty?” she inquires in regards to Quinn’s inability to work. “Or something else? The end of the year is kinda shitty all around, I guess.”
"Not exactly. Not exclusively." Quinn responds as she shoulders open the door and holds it to let Hazel through first, "I know it's only swelling that has to go down, but it was... an exciting afternoon, and it's difficult to come down from that for a quiet, romantic evening with my books." She shrugs, hanging onto Hazel's comment about the end of the year for longer than necessary. "It is shitty, though. There's too much to do."
Blonde waves bobbing as she nods, Hazel slips past Quinn through the open door. “Mmm, yeah, I hear ya. I mean...” she hesitates, shrugs, continues slowly in the direction of the docks. “It’s definitely fine, right? But sometimes stuff like that kind of....like, puts me out of sorts, I guess? Like. I don’t know.” It freaks her out, but she doesn’t particularly want to say that.
“Def on the too much to do, plus it’s extra busy for you, since you guys have to... you know. Get ready. I don’t have nearly as much junk and I’m still hating it.”
Quinn gives Hazel a bit of a sidelong glance. With sophomores her dreaded daycare instincts kick in and she feels like she needs to coddle them by talking in soft tones and throwing reassurances left and right. (In her defense, they cry so goddamn much that she can usually justify it to herself.) She doesn't often feel that way toward Hazel, for whatever reason, but the younger girl asking for reassurance about Ty throws her off. She moves her braid from one shoulder to the other for something to do with her hands and nods, "I know, me too, but don't worry. He'll be fine. He probably won't be much more careful, but... that's Ty Hawkeswood for you. We'll have to stay on the lookout for him, for rogue hawks begging to get punched." She regrets the joke as soon as she makes it.
Being outside for the first time since breakfast seems like a good enough distraction from her poor coping mechanism. It's refreshing despite the mood of the day. "If anyone tells you starting your senior project early is a good idea, tell them they're a maniac. And you've still got finals, which are no small feat." The sidelong glance returns, this time curious. "Think you'll be ready?"
Hazel doesn’t notice the glance from Quinn because she’s looking down at her nails as she picks at them a bit. She’s starting to feel worse by the minute, knowing that she probably is just going to embarrassingly blurt out all of her worries at the other girl. Still, she just wants to get these feelings out, and she remains certain that Quinn is probably the best person to talk to about this. Probably.
Though the joke about Ty and hawks is a little off-color, it still earns a bit of a quirked smile from Hazel. That whole ordeal had been horrifying, and honestly the possibility of some animal killing Ty while he’s a squirrel still lingers as a fear in the back of her mind, but punching hawks still sounds kind of funny.
“Yeah, I know he’ll be fine. He always is, right? Bounces back and stuff.”
Finally glancing over to Quinn, Hazel just shrugs at the question of finals. “Finals’ll be whatever. I always do ok on stuff? Is it bad I’m not that worried? There’s just... other stuff I care about more right now. And I’m totally starting my senior project early.” Hazel’s tone has a hint of pride and stubbornness in her last statement, but it’s short-lived.
"It's not bad, you're a sophomore. If you already needed to worry about it, you'd know." If one ignores how driven Quinn was even at those tender fifteen years of age, it sounds like sage advice.
“Um. How are you feeling about everything? About.... Finishing?” Her final word feels so heavy to her, and her shoulders sink the tiniest amount from that sensation.
Oh, look! The lakeshore! What a convenient distraction! Quinn spends some time—buys it—by inspecting rocks at the water's edge, pocketing the smoothest and roundest. How does she feel about finishing? Talk about loaded questions. "Fine," she lies, picking through stones. No, no, yes, no, yes. She feels the slightest guilt about lying so easily, though, and tries to backtrack. "I feel like I've been waiting for it for years and now..." there's an awkward pause that she tries to make look like she's just really checking out this rock she found. "Now it feels like I don't have enough time left, or something." Like she's been wasting it, or like she's not ready? She isn't sure.
“Yeah, I guess that makes sense. I mean, I care about school and everything but it’s hard to worry when it’s been going fine and.. Yeah, other stuff.”
Hazel fidgets a little as they reach the lake shore, watching as Quinn looks over the rocks there. She kicks at a few, listening to the other girl’s words, beginning to chew on her lip again.
“I think I’ll probably feel like there wasn’t enough time, too. I feel like that at the end of every year. Not about school or anything but like, about people, and fun stuff.” She picks up a rock indiscriminately, runs her fingers over its uneven edges, and tosses it into the lake, making no attempt to skip it.
“Quinn. I. Um. I don’t want you guys to leave.” Hazel’s final sentence comes out sounding abrupt and sharp and far too pouty for her liking. Like Quinn could do anything about the fact that she’s graduating.
Hazel's comment about 'people, and fun stuff' was striking enough to give Quinn pause—that's... nothing like she was as a sophomore—that she's not prepared for what comes after. And sure, it's only a sentence, but it's one that resonates with her. She... doesn't know what to say? Well, she's somewhere between It happens every year and I don't want to, either.
She straightens, dropping the stones into the pocket of her hoodie with a chain of clinks. "I suppose you don't want to hear about how we'll 'stay in touch' and 'always owl,' eh?"
Hazel’s eyes are starting to sting, which means she kicks another few rocks in an attempt to ignore it; she’s not sure how she wanted this conversation to go, but this isn’t really it. As Quinn speaks she lifts her head momentarily, glancing at the other girl before quickly looking back to her feet.
“I mean. I hope you write me and stuff. And I know it’s not like me saying this is going to change anything. I just. Kind of wanted to say it to someone. And Ty would be all... Ty about it, and he’s messed up right now anyways.”
Quinn goes quiet. She's not one to cry in public but that doesn't mean she never has, and she recognizes the sulkiness and sullenness for what they're warning signs of — except they're already at the lake, where privacy is scarce. She motions again for Hazel to follow, this time at a slow pace down the dock. "Plenty of us don't want to leave, either." She finally replies. "I keep wishing I could split myself in half so part of me didn't have to miss out on next year. It's a senior project idea I'd support, a magical solution to graduate FOMO."
It takes a moment, but slowly Hazel is following Quinn, taking a deep breath that hitches a single time. She presses at her eyes with the heels of her hands and then she’s back to looking at the other girl.
“That wouldn’t be so bad, but I’d be pissed if you like... didn’t get split evenly and I got stuck with the lame half or whatever.” The sophomore tries to smile a bit and manages something close to a normal expression, but it fades quickly. “You’re gonna be so busy I bet you won’t even think about Gooseberry so much, though. But... I don’t really know how to be here without you guys.” Abruptly, Hazel makes a face, not liking how her wording implies a sort of fragility. “I mean. It just feels like when I left my uncle to come here, is all. Just. You know, not great. Just having to figure things out again.”
"No half of me is lame, Keating. Not even the half that occupies the library." Quinn sits on the end of the dock, feet kicking out below her, and empties the pocket of curated stones onto the wood. It's easier to quip before tackling the serious topics, though the time it buys never seems to help.
Hazel drops herself onto the dock next to Quinn without much grace, her own feet immediately swinging once they’re off the edge. “Library Quinn is totally a little lame,” she asserts, her attention focused out across the lake.
Quinn picks a stone up and drops it from hand to hand like a little rocky waterfall. Hazel's hesitation reminds her too much of her own homesickness, pangs that dulled over the years but never left... and feel even be more pronounced now that she's able to make her own decisions, but decided to move even further away from the only place she wants to live. 'For her future.' "It's shit," She mutters at first, still playing with the stone, "getting uprooted every couple of years."
Hazel looks to the rocks between them for a moment too, then again at Quinn. The Coppertale nearly says a few more things, about how she’s less ok with change than she thought she’d be, about how she’s a little afraid of how things will change between her and her senior friends once they’re gone... instead she just nods in agreement and adds, “Yeah and having to like... figure out friend stuff always stinks. I have to have some upperclassmen buddies but ugh the Junior class.” There’s still less humor in her voice than there would normally be, but she seems to have gotten a handle of some of her more sensitive emotions again. “I guess you’re going to have to friend-hunt too.”
"Get in good with Rosy, and avoid Riley unless you want trouble." Quinn shrugs, "But you didn't hear it from me." Finally, she turns the stone until its edges are against her fingers, lines up her shot, and chucks. It skips three times before skidding into the water. "Aside from Jesse, yeah. I'll be on the other side of the country from our family. Our families."
The prospect of making new friends in San Francisco has been filling her with more dread than anticipation; at Gooseberry she knows where she stands with everyone. In California, she won't have a clue. For all she knows, her new classmates are a bunch of lame-ass morons. She palms another rock. "You'll have new exchange blood, ripe for corruption."
“Even if for some reason I wanted her to be my friend, Riley and Casey are together a lot, soooo...” Hazel leaves the rest unsaid as she continues to swing her feet, watching as the stone successfully skips across the surface of the lake. “Even lame library Quinn is cool enough to make friends, but... yeah, you’ll have Jesse so you’ll be fine. Just like how as long as I’ve got Suse I’m fine.”
Hazel has others too, of course - Micah and Cole and... not Calvin, but the other Sophomores she maybe can grow closer to. It will be weird to not have anyone close who’s older than her, but she figures that yeah, maybe she can bond with Rosy some. “Yeah, it’ll be ok I guess. But like, what if all the transfer kids are losers? I don’t know. It’ll be fine but...” She shrugs lamely.
"Then you'll have Suse," Quinn repeats with a small smile, picking up another rock. "And if things really suck, bail over the break to visit me and Ty and tell us how shitty all the new kids are." The smile falters because of Ty and the entire reason they're moping on the docks in the first place. She chucks the rock, no skipping involved, with little mind to where it's headed. "They won't, though. Your year seems tight enough as it is."
“You guys are gonna get a crapton of letters about how dumb the new kids are if they stink but... yeah. They might suck, but whatever. And visiting sounds good.” Hazel gives a short nod to punctuate this, as if to reassure herself that this makes things better, that things are ok. Even if she does know that things really are fine, she needs some convincing with how she’s feeling.
This has helped, at least, far more than she thought it would. At least her eyes aren’t stinging so much anymore. “...thanks for talking about this stuff with me. I... everything will be fine.” She nods again, this one less strong, but still with a sense of resolve.
While Quinn's a ball of nerves for all sorts of reasons—most of them related to her looming graduation—Hazel's apprehension serves as a reminder that she's had something to worry about at the end of every year. Like Hazel, she's been the sophomore worried about losing the stability she'd grown comfortable with, and the conclusions of her freshman and junior years weren't much different. She's been through it all before (well... most of it), and she can do it again; she will.
"Oh, things'll still fuck up," she replies with a shrug, holding out a stone, poised to drop it in the younger girl's hand. "It's practically a universal law, they always do, but you'll get through it just fine, and you'll be more of a badass for it."