;;putting up the WALL

[{PHiL} wall.]

There he sat. It was almost like being an actual wall, just sitting on the chair, quiet, patient, not really seen by any of the busy people around the office. Since this was a new school and all, he kept his hands in his laps instead of his pockets. His parents always told him that first impressions were key, and so of course he takes his parent's statements and tips to heart, so ever since he has been giving his best to new things.

After a while of staring at the clock with his milk chocolate eyes and observing the people around him, it was finally time for him to go in. The secretary told him the principle was available and that he could walk into the office. He gave her small, charming smile and stood up. His foot had fallen asleep while he was sitting, but he ignored it, even if it was very tingly and upsetting.

Phil didn't quite understand the whole reason behind putting him into a new school. He was fine at the other place. Great grades, like always, and there were no issues. There were moments when his parents would make decisions without discussing them with him, and this was one of them. He would have liked it if they came to him first about it, but he knew his parents would never do something that would make him unhappy so he went along with it.

In his new outfit his mother just bought him the other day, fussing over again how he had to look nice, Philokrates opened the door to the office and took a step inside.

[marz malone]

As the scrawny young boy walked into the office, Lub, the headmaster/founder of Yorkwood, couldn't help but smile. He had seen many boys like this - and after having gone through Phil's (because he felt that Phil's birth name was ridiculous) file, he couldn't help but see a little bit of himself inside of Phil - as he could with many, if not all, of his students. As Phil's body fully entered the room, Lub put on his biggest smile - his famous grin, the one that all of the students at Yorkwood had learned to love. "Welcome to Yorkwood m'boy!" he said in his biggest, most booming voice. He could tell that Phil wasn't used to affection, so he saved his famous smile for now.

Lub looked pointedly at a seat for Phil, and without waiting for Phil to sit down, he started talking - Lub was excited for getting his school out there. For Yorkwood wasn't your average school - it was small, so it could tailor its program for its students, ensuring that each student could reach their full potential, no matter what that was.

"So as I just said, Welcome to Yorkwood! As your file states, you'll be here until you graduate, unless irreversible circumstances occur. So, in a moment, you'll be meeting your sponsor outside, and she'll show you around the school and ensure that you don't get lost - her name's Marlene, she's a good kid. But first!" This was always his favourite part, letting the students choose their house, because it gave away so much about their character.

"First," he said, walking over to the house wall, "You have to choose your house - it's the standard house bit, competing, but at Yorkwood - we let you choose your house - your destiny. So what will it be? Yukon? Those who are popular, but nothing special? Fraser - the athletic ones? Grande - the artsy ones? Or Churchill - the smarties? It's all up to you..." And there Lub stood, waiting for Phil to choose.

[{PHiL} wall.]

Phil came into the office and was almost alarmed at the greeting that he got. His last headmaster was more on the serious side and no one could ever say that they saw him smile. This man, Lub, was obviously too excited to have a new student like himself.

Phil was about to say something himself and raise his hand to shake the older one's, but this was too much, it seemed, to Lub. He immediately set to seating Phil, whom obediently took the offer without complaint. He blinked several times, not used to such happenings. He listened to the man, not speaking until he was told to do so.

Slightly overwhelmed, he gazed over to the house wall that Lub was talking about. Yukon, Fraser, Grande, and Churchill. He didn't have to think about this.

"I'd like Churchill, sir," He said.

[marz malone]

Lub grinned, he wasn't surprised by Phil's choice, although he was a bit disappointed that Phil hadn't tested his boundaries - ahwell. Soon Phil would meet Marlene, and she was as outgoing and loud (at least on the surface) as anyone in the school. Lub was in full confidence that Phil would soon find himself comfortable at Yorkwood, find his niche, and have the best highschool experience possible. Yorkwood had yet to have a dissatisfied student leave its doors, and it wasn't likely to happen anytime soon, or so Lub hoped. "Well then," Lub said in his booming voice, "You're officially a part of Yorkwood. Enjoy the trip." With that, he hugged the boy as he got out of his seat, which he knew that Phil wouldn't enjoy - but would learn to, and gestured him out to meet Marlene.

Marlene, although she normally went by the name of Marzly or Marz, sat outside Lub's office, her legs crossed, avidly chewing her gum and blowing bubbles every so often - This kid, "Philokrates", was her first charge as a sponsor, and Marzly truly hoped that she would do a good job. She sat, blowing her bubbles, with one ear cocked towards Lub's door, listening to the conversation going on inside. When she heard Philokrates utter Churchill as a house, her hopes sunk slightly, but she raised them back up as best she could. Not everyone in Churchill had to be a total douche, right? And even if Philokrates was a waste of time, he had gotten her out of Humanities, so she was eternally owing to him for that.

Lub's office door opened a crack and Marzly leapt to her feet, quickly swallowing her gum. Though most teachers were fairly lax about chewing gum, Lub was the one staff member, that no matter how easygoing he was, would not tolerate gum chewing during school hours. Apparently it made students look like "slobs". Or something. "Heya Lub!" she called into his office as Philokrates entered the foyer. "And you must be Philokrates" Marzly said fairly professionally, grabbing her purse from the ground and extending her hand for a shaking - she could appear to be professional when she needed to be. "I'm Marz, your sponsor for the first month or so of your stay at the school." she grinned at him, waiting for him to say something in response.

[{PHiL} wall.]

Phil smiled back at him then and stood up from the seat. He was sure he would enjoy the house, and maybe this school also. Then Lub came and gave him a hug. This, no doubtingly, surprised the boy. He still rigid, not giving any gesture to try and hug back or even try an embarrassed grin. He just gazed at the headmaster with a different view on him. He knew now that this man wasn't like one he was used to. No one he had ever met would try to hug someone after just meeting them. Wasn't that just a tad awkward? Phil swallowed his little squabbling thoughts then because he knew that he would need to get used to this school and all of it's differences. To make his parents happy, he needed to be happy.

He turned for the door, to meet this girl named Marlene. His first impression of the girl was, obviously, on what she looked liked. His mother hated piercings with a passion. She said they looked positively retched on anything besides the ear lobes. Now, Phil has seen quite a few people with piercings. He, personally, doesn't think much of them. He accepts his mother's opinion, though, and tries to steer away from people with them for her sake. Well, as long as she doesn't meet them, he felt he was fine.

So the girl, it was only a lip piercing, so he pushed it away as soon as she began to talk. It's rude to stare, of course, who wouldn't know such a simple rule? He was amazed at her casual greeting to her headmaster, but knowing his attitude, he felt that it was something regular around here.

"Phil is just as fine," He said to her. He felt it best to let people call him by the shorter name. He found others often got flustered at how to pronounce or even say his full name. He extended his hand and shook the girl's firmly. Remember, first impression is a must, even if they are only an acquaintance(and have no status).

"Pleased to meet you, Marz," He told her, "Thank you." If he though people should call him Phil, he made sure to call others what they wanted to be called. And so, Marz it was. He smiled warmly at her now.

[marz malone]

At least Phil seemed friendly enough and the fact that he preferred to be called Phil rather than Philokrates was a positive sign - Marz didn't really like the name Marlene - it was far too "marge" or 1970s for her - so she had invented multiple nicknames for herself over the years, ranging from M to Marly, but the two that stuck were clearly Marz and Marzly - Marz had a slight fetish for the letter Z. A good, solid handshake - he's clearly not been brought up in a barn... Marz thought to herself, which was good. She hated the fact that when she shook some people's hands it seemed like she was shaking hands with a limp noodle or something of the sort. Gross.

She caught Phil staring at her lipring, but she shrugged it off, most people did it when they first met her - even people not as, well Marz didn't have a word for Phil yet. But he was certainly something. She pushed her glasses up her nose - they tended to /always/ be sliding down, she would need to get them adjusted at some point. As she began to speak with Phil, she eyed him carefully with one of her blue-grey eyes. He was about three inches taller than her, which was average for most of the guys at the school. Marz was tall for a girl, but not for a guy. He had nice chocolate brown eyes - warm enough. He was certainly attractive enough...

She paused for a moment rummaged through her purse, extracting multiple things, house keys, cafeteria card, cell phone, and finally stopped as she pulled out a pack of gum and popped a piece in her mouth and began to chew "My obsession" she confided in Phil "You want a piece? I have about six different types in here... You want a piece of gum, you come to me - everyone does, because it seems like I'm the only one in the school responsible enough to have gum on their person or something.... Anyways, techincally? We're supposed to do all these "get to know each other" things. But I think that's silly because quite frankly? We have another three years for that. If we deem each other as important enough to get to know, we'll cover that at some point or another. So instead, I'll just open this up to a one-on-one question and answer session. Sound good?"

Marz's blue-grey eyes searched his brown ones in a degree of intensity that only Marz could pull off without seeming totally insane, as she awaited his answer to the both of her questions. Marz had this habit of talking and rambling on about a lot of nothing and getting horribly off-topic, although apparently she was getting better at it. Or at least, people could carry on conversations with her now.[/color]

[{PHiL} wall.]

Phil looked down at her purse as she moved through the many items. Then out came the gum that she so placed in her mouth. He didn't frown, but he didn't perk up at the seemingly "delicious" rubber. Then she asked.

"Oh, no thank you, I'll pass," He said to her, turning down the gum once the offer came out of Marz. Now, it wasn't just his mother this time. Both of his parents thought gum was disgusting. Phil, when he heard this, could not understand. So, he tried it, and watched other people drool over it. And, of course, he thought it also to be quite a distracting and undesirable addiction.

As he listened to her speak, he agreed to her statement. He nodded when she said how they had three years to get to know each other. There was no need to really force the getting-to know-you part on someone.

"That sounds like a fine idea," Phil said to her in reply, smiling.

[marz malone]

Marz shrugged when Phil declined the gum - each to their own, and obviously Phil just wasn't into mint-chocolate gum. Which was insanity to Marz, but she could respect that not all people like mint and chocolate mixed into one rubbery delight. And at least he was polite in turning it down - certain members of the Yorkwood community were a lot ruder when Marz didn't have their preferred variety of gum - it was to a point where she was buying gum in flavours she didn't really like to appease others. But Marz was like that - always putting others in front of herself. Whatever, she'd deal with it.

"Fantasmic." Marz said happily, before realizing that Phil was probably unaware of the meaning of her made-up word "Just for the record, Phil, I make up words a lot because I feel like the English language is boring. I mean, it has a whole bunch of fun words, like facetious and juxtaposition, but sometimes I feel the need to just make a new word to convey my emotions. It kindof weirds some people out, so if you don't like my fantastical words, just tell me and I'll limit them from my vocabulary when you're around. Although Marz didn't let it on often, if at all, the respect or at least the tolerance of others to her meant the world to her and she'd do whatever to gain someone's acceptance.

"Andddd we're off topic again. Or I guess for the first time? Sorry. I get these airhead moments a lot - you either get used to them, or you don't. Whatever floats your boat. Anyways. Questions about Yorkwood? Or anything? I have answers, or at least, I can pretend that I do rather convincingly."[/size]

[{PHiL} wall.]

"Boring?" He mused as she went on talking. He found her thoughts a little interesting. "Actually, how the English language came to be is a bit fascinating, though I understand how you can come about thinking it "boring". There are far more interesting languages out there. Latin, for example. Feel free to make up your words." He smiled afterwards. He didn't mind this. It really wasn't such a big deal.

Now he thought about these questions. He stood silently for only a short period of time. "What's your opinion on the school?" He asked her. He needed a view of the school. What he should expect in the future.

[marz malone]

"You know Latin?!" Marz said in an excited voice, she had always wanted to learn Latin. "That is SO cool. I've always wanted to learn Latin. I've heard that it's a lot like Italian, and apparently I've picked up Italian well, I'm half Italian see, and I just think it would be SO cool to know a dead language." She smiled happy to find that she had at least one thing in common with Phil - now they had something to talk about. Dead languages. What a bonding topic. It was great.

"As for what I think of the school?" She asked, thinking for a moment. "Yorkwood sucks you in, it becomes as much a part of you as you are to it, assuming you're open to it. I came to Yorkwood a year ago thinking I would hate it. And for the first bit of school last year, I did. And then... I started making friends and it totally changed me. Like, before? I used to be so different. I wasn't as outgoing, I worked hard at school, I was a boring person to be totally honest. But then, Ywood helped me grow so much and it's like the tagline on the wbsite and stuff "Finally, a school as unique as you are". Ywood has helped me realize that I am unique and that I can be whatever I want no matter what.... Sorry to go into the little monologue there, but it's how I feel."

She stood awkwardly, fidgeting a bit, snapping her gum - a habit of hers that she hated - it made a rather dreadful sound, but it was a nervous habit. She hoped that Phil wouldn't think she was anymore insane after her little monologue/rant thing, and that he would understand what she said rather than writing it off as insanity. [/size]

[{PHiL} wall.]

"Well, yes. French, also. My parents thought it essential," Phil said. He hadn't met someone so excited about Latin. "I suppose it is a very nice language." He smiled, glad she thought this dead language was so fascinating.

He listened to this monologue of hers quite seriously. He shook his head and said, "No, no, thank you for being honest," when she apologized. "This school is going to be very different than what I'm used to, I know that," He was now saying. He still couldn't figure out why he was sent here, though. He had seen that website before, and was slightly flustered. He, in no way, needed to be in a school that was "as unique as he was". He had a strong feeling his parents were up to something, and he was feeling guilty that he was angry about it. They would never mean to do such a thing.

ooc; meep. im still sneaking on, haha. im going to a convention today and will be back sunday, so this may be the only time i'm on. =\

[marz malone]

Marz nodded seirously at Phil's comments about French - it was essential, plus French was just an awesome course to take. They always got to miss school to go to French-speaking places, and for this Spring Break the grade 10 and 11 french classes were going to go to France to learn about... French culture, obviously. Marz was already excited - she loved traveling, although her past experiences in Europe hadn't really ended up all that well... "Well French is important. I mean, 33% of our country's population speaks it as a first language, so the government won't hire you unless you're fluent in English AND French..."

Marz grinned at Phil - his words were her exact sentiments from the year before when she had started Yorkwood "Trust me, I used to feel the exact same way. But Yorkwood grows on you - they make you more you and less them. Or something. The way I see it is that Yorkwood is an experience - every other school is just a school - or something. I don't know. Yorkwood is hard to explain - and here's something I wish someone had told me when I first started. For the first couple months, you're going to think we're insane and we have no structure and we're a bunch of hippies, but don't write us off. You'll become just like us, I swear." Marz gave a devilish grin, her blue-grey eyes sparkling a bit, as she continued began to lead Phil out of the office.

[{PHiL} wall.]

"Precisely why," Phil said with a nod as she explained the French language. He never complained when he was tutored for it. He knew it was help in his future, and so did his parents.

As she lead him out, and spoke more about the school, he wasn't quite so sure about the place he was going to be at from now on. Make him more of himself? Impossible, he was already himself and nothing more. Right? And hippies? Now he was slightly frightened. His parents would definitely disown him if he became a hippy. He frowned slightly, but tried to think positively.

"So, what are the courses here?" He asked her. "I wasn't quite exactly fully informed when coming," He further explained.

[marz malone]

Marz sighed as he asked about courses - courses at Yorkwood were complicated things - as he was in grade 10, just like she was, he was able to take eight courses. But of those eight courses, one of them could be a grade 12 course (the final year of highschool) and two could be grade 11 courses, meaning that he could be potentailly taking only five grade 10 courses. Keeping track of all the courses was quite the ordeal, as almost all courses at the school were open to them.

"You had to ask that one didn't you Phil? Jeez." Marz muttered, a bit bitter, but /mostly/ joking. She knew the question was bound to come up at some point. "We have all of your average maths plus a couple advanced ones, all three sciences, french and spanish... various arts, although I'm assuming you aren't interested in those, entrepreneurship, psychology, sociology, anthropology, philoshphy, english of course, writer's craft... the list goes on. What courses are you interested in? I think it would be easier to list from there...."

Marz continued walking down the hallway that the office had lead to, into the main area of the school, where the classrooms and lockers and such were held. She paused for a moment, waiting for Phil's answer to her question, and also to figure out their "plan of attack" for the tour around the school.[/size]

[{PHiL} wall.]

"I'm not so sure on what I'm going to take this year," He said. "I've thought about philosophy for some time, though. Psychology or sociology perhaps. I could go for anything, really." He shrugged slightly then. He was interested in mostly anything, though the arts were a bit fuzzy in his head(he found himself quite good at dancing though, strangely enough).

As they walked and talked, he was gazing around at the school around him. He needed to get used to his surroundings. He may have been pretty good at things, but he hated changing things. When he stopped being home schooled and tutored to go into private schools, he was slightly frightened. After a while, of course, he got used to it. He may have hated not being taught alone, he still went through it for his parents. Now he was going somewhere else, completely different than anything he was used to.