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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on May 22, 2009 23:11:35 GMT -5
Michael looked up at Brindle and then sighed. He ran a hand through his hair. Was it not possible for even one thing to go right? Dare and Markise were finally talking again and now Markise just wanted to leave. Was it too much to ask that something good happen for once? "Hopefully Dare will be able to help some," he said, though he knew that Markise didn't even tell Dare everything.
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Post by Brindle Sterling on May 22, 2009 23:17:24 GMT -5
"Mhm." Brindle nodded lightly as she picked at her leaf. "He'll have to find him first, though. I haven't seen him in weeks. I'd started thinking maybe he'd already left when I heard from Mama." She had no idea where he was. Of course, she hadn't tried scouring the school for him, but they used to run into each other enough that she figured he was avoiding her now.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on May 22, 2009 23:22:27 GMT -5
Michael shook his head, he had no idea how to find Markise. "I guess Dare could go by his shop," he suggested. As far as he knew Markise still opened it, didn't he? He knew Markise had a shop, at least. He felt so useless, not being able to help with Markise. He knew that he didn't need any more stress, but even not being able to help added to his stress level, because he knew that Dare wouldn't be happy to know that Markise wouldn't be able to come to the ceremony.
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Post by Brindle Sterling on May 23, 2009 13:21:33 GMT -5
Brindle gave Michael the most convincing smile she could. She really did think that Dare had a better chance of finding Markise, even if Markise was avoiding him too. Still, something told her that if he was avoiding everyone, he wouldn't be in his shop, he'd be hiding out where he wouldn't think anyone would find him. She hadn't actually tried to hunt him down, but she hadn't thought she'd need to before Mama's letter. "Kise'll come to his senses," Brindle said, though without knowing why he'd just disappeared, she couldn't be sure. She hoped so, anyway.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on May 23, 2009 13:34:28 GMT -5
Michael wasn't so sure about that statement, but most people came around eventually, so he didn't really think that Markise could stay like that before. "If he would talk, I think it would probably help him," he said absently. He had learned that talking helped, even if he steered away from it a lot of the time now because he didn't want it to lead to a fight with Dare.
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Post by Brindle Sterling on May 23, 2009 13:38:07 GMT -5
"He talks to me," Brindle said. "Not the past couple weeks, but usually. I know he leaves stuff out sometimes, but I usually know what's going on and everything. I don't know, something must've happened a couple weeks ago for him to just start hiding like that." She paused, her lips pressed together in a line as she thought. She didn't know what might have happened, but she thought she had a pretty good idea who it had happened with. Why else would he tell her nothing?
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on May 23, 2009 13:49:27 GMT -5
Michael glanced over at Brindle, and his gaze stuck for a moment when he remembered going after Markise. Then he looked away, hopefully before Brindle could ask questions. What in the world had happened to make Markise stop talking to Brindle? "I don't know what to say," he said. He wouldn't be any good in helping Markise.
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Post by Brindle Sterling on May 23, 2009 13:55:58 GMT -5
Brindle gave a humorless smile and shook her head. "It's really not your problem," she said. "Unless you want to get rid of a certain Australian so Markise can't moon over him anymore, there's not much you can do, either." Brindle wasn't entirely sure that Michael would know who she was talking about, but whether he did or not, she didn't expect him to hunt the guy down and dispose of him. If that was all she wanted, she'd figure out how to do it herself.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on May 23, 2009 13:58:00 GMT -5
"The last I heard Markise didn't want anything to do with him," Michael said. He remembered talking to Markise that one day about that Logan guy, and he knew that he was the reason Markise had been like he was at the club. But out of everything the guy had already done, what had he done this time to be so bad to send a letter home to leave?
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Post by Brindle Sterling on May 23, 2009 14:04:42 GMT -5
Brindle rolled her eyes. "He said he didn't, but I think he was more hurt than anything. I could tell because he'd tell me how horrible the guy was for a while, then it would get less and less til he didn't mention him anymore. Then after a while he'd start talking about how horrible he was again. I don't know what was going on, but something was going on." She didn't want to think he'd get back with Ariel after whatever had happened in December, but it seemed so likely.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on May 23, 2009 14:58:45 GMT -5
Michael nodded, though he didn't tell her what he knew. It was between her and Markise, and if Markise wasn't telling her anything that happened, then he wasn't going to tell her. "Maybe he needs the summer break," he said, "But that doesn't mean he can just up and leave and not come to the ceremony." He didn't want Dare to not have Markise there.
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Post by Brindle Sterling on May 23, 2009 15:08:09 GMT -5
Brindle shrugged. "I don't know," she said softly. "I'm just his sister." And yet she wasn't sure if he'd talked to anyone more than he'd talked to her this year. Who else would he have? An Australian whose every word was apparently an insult? "I can't even figure out why he wants an apartment instead of coming home." As she said the words, a thought niggled at the back of her mind, but she couldn't quite grasp it.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on May 23, 2009 19:36:08 GMT -5
No matter which angle they looked at it, neither of them could figure out an answer to the questions, at least not without laying out everything both of them knew. Soon, it was time to go back to class, and Michael promised to get back to her on looking after Elouai before leading them out of the forest and heading back up to the castle.
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