December 1 , 2013: Stories Told

These bits and pieces are from a continuity of No One Important called Storytellers, which is one of the earliest versions of NOIA to exist. In fact, I believe that there is one single continuity that is older than this one and one era of names that is earlier than this one. This falls into about the same era as Dear Readers did with our story being driven by the current main character Kristie and also ND is still around! He hasn't been forgotten yet and we love that for him.

Another interesting detail in this one is the existence of the character 'Norma', who is apparently ND's double. Back in the era everyone had doubles, not exactly mirror versions of themselves but people whose places that our main cast took over when they ventured to their 'dream' world. Kristie and Corey's were originally Albert and Carl, though I can't remember who was who, and Maurice... I believe during this time Maurice was still 'the Dictator' in the other world, no name given.

But, yes, I've never heard the name Norma before in any version of NOIA that exists in my memory. If ND was eventually forgotten then Norma may as well have never existed at all. Other than being ND's double, I don't know anything about her either. I could tell you the ideas or plot for almost any character of mine, but I have no clue what is up with Norma, nor what purpose she was going to serve, if she ever had a purpose at all. It will never fail to fascinate me what gets lost to time when you're trying to write a story.

---

December 1, 2013

“Kristie, I find you to be annoying and obnoxious, I think you should stop talking, as to not bring others down to your idiocy.” Maurice snapped, dark eyes glaring at the blonde who was chattering away about everything and anything she could think of.

“Hey! Did you guys hear? Mr. Madsen is out again today, isn’t that weird?”

And, of course, the brunette was ignored by her friend, as the idiot jumped subjects, once again.

But Corey soon followed suit, “I know right? He rarely, if ever, is absent, but he’s been gone twice this week!”

+++

“Are those girls really ‘them’?” A voice reached the girl’s ears as she slowly woke up, reaching a hand to brush back blonde hair, only to find her hands bound by something like a soft cloth.

“They don’t look like much do they? I think we got the wrong-”

“Don’t say that, stupid, obviously we got the right people, I think you would know if we did not.”

The three voices continued their bickering as the grey eyed girl slowly blinked open her eyes, finding nothing but darkness when she did.

“Where am I?” She muttered, eyes blinking as she adjusted to the lack of height.

“Kristie?” A familiar voice came from near her a whisper, as to not alert the other people. “What are you doing here?”

Kristie scowled, what kind of question was that? “You think I know?”

+++

“Dude, I had a dream last night that we go kidnapped-”

“What? By evil french fries?” Maurice asked, voice heavy with sarcasm.

Which made Kristie laugh as she shook her head, “No, it was just a weird white van actually.”

Corey was next to roll her eyes at the blonde, “Wow, that’s so exciting Kristie.”

+++

“Kristie…”

She twitched, muscles tightening and relaxing in a sudden moment, transitioning from sleeping to rejoining the world of the living.

“Kirsten…”

She rolled to her side, grey eyes remaining shut to the bright sun she knew would be waiting for her.

“Kirsten, wake up!” The voice finally snapped, sounding tired of the girl’s brush offs, there were many things they could be doing.

“I’m up!” She bolted from her sleeping position, bolting to her feet and standing woozily in front of the angry man. “I really hate you sometimes, ND, I really do,” she muttered, rubbing at droopy grey eyes, not yet adjusted to the bright light outside.

ND just smiled, not even looking offended, because not much could offend ND. He was one of the most unshakable persons that Kristie knew. Proven in trust by the blonde, in the fact that he could call her by her real name without dying soon after. “Glad to know I’m such a great influence on you but, really, we must get going, who knows where Coretta went in this whole mess.”

December 10, 2013

I find that, at this moment, words escape me. I wish to tell you all of the terrible things in my life, everything bad that has happened ever come of my fate. Indeed, Karma must have had a great dislike for me, before I was ever born. But I find that it is difficult to tell you only of the bad when good weaves itself throughout. I don’t want to speak of that, none of the good, for good things make you soft, make you hesitate, and, as an assassin, I can never afford to hesitate. Those have been hacked away since the time I had entered Limbo, having no body to take the form of, the last time I had touched someone… I had murdered my best friend, my love, the only one I had ever truly cared for.

But I am getting ahead of myself, I am no longer a child, no longer naïve to the world around me. One of my best friends saved me from this real world, the other was determined to damn me, to forever keep me there with no escape.

It may resurface things that I haven’t thought about in a long time, but I will tell you this story. The story of my life.

Can you spot the traitor, the ally? Can you see the things that I couldn’t?

+++

She grinned, the ‘she’ that used to be me, it was her first day, new school, new friends. Or, well, not really new friends, the same friends whose [boards?] had made them almost familiar. They weren’t her friends, they were her sisters.

“Hey, Kristie!” We turned, our smile bright, and she waved over the two girls, one with a deep frown and the other as bright as our own. I don’t understand how anyone could smile like that, the same thing Kristie could do so easily. I don’t know what kind of happiness you had to have to smile at all, but it seemed like it would forever escape me.

“Corey, what are you doing here?” Kristie asked, our eyes wide and excited, until we realized something, “Oh that was a stupid question, you’re at school, duh!” She smacked our forehead and laughed.” She smacked our forehead and laughed that stupid, stupid laugh that had definitely become a thing of the past.

“Well, aren’t you just special?” The girl with the scowling brown eyes asked, voice sounding annoyed by the energy.

December 12, 2013

We walked through the school, looking at everything but mostly examining the layout in the hope that we wouldn’t get lost on our first day. I still find myself laughing at that place’s layout, so many ways to get to one place, it was more confusing than a maze. Well, I would laugh, if I could laugh, but Kristie was the laughing type, not me.

“Excuse me?” Our head turned at the small voice, grey eyes glancing back to look at the girl, when Kristie’s face broke out into a smile.

“Norma!” We shouted, suddenly clinging to the girl with a hug, which gives me chills just to think about. How I, no, she could touch someone else so casually was beyond my, our, comprehension. “I haven’t seen you all summer, how are you?” We asked, Kristie’s grey eyes sparkling with uncontrollable excitement. To show such unabashed displays of emotions, how disgusting to think of. Even if Norma had been ND’s double, there was no trusting anybody, because you never truly knew anyone, not until it was too late.

“Well, I was just really busy, my parents made me go to a lot of summer camps, to get me ready, you know?” She asked, mint green eyes dropping to the ground with the statement, she never has been very comfortable talking about her parents. That was history now, though, wasn’t it?

Kristie just laughed that stupid, stupid laugh that we would reserve for only our friends. “Ah, no worries dude, we all have annoying parents,” more true words. Now, never think that I was an optimist, even when I was Kristie, I expected my death every day, I embraced it. We always had a habit of trying to make others feel better, even if it was at our own misery. Maybe we were masochists, who knew anymore?

Norma smiled, her sly smile, “Thanks, Kristie, I-”

“So, what are you awesome people talking about? I feel left out.”

We rolled our eyes at the girl who had magically popped out of nowhere, but a small smile still appeared on Kristie’s lips. “Sorry, but your awesomeness will just have to bow down to my amazingness,” she spoke with confidence, but we knew we were faking. We had no confidence, not yet anyway.

Corey scoffed and flipped her long black hair over her shoulder like the drama queen we knew she wasn’t. “No, no, no, do not take that attitude with me, I just might sic my minions on you.”

Norma and Kristie just giggled like that was the dumbest thing they had ever heard. I knew that Corey would make good on her promise, soon enough.

“Are you idiots already causing trouble?”

We jumped as a hand clapped onto our shoulder, a shiver racing down our spine, she is the only one ever able to sneak up on us in all our life. The only one to ever send our heart racing like we were going to die.

Corey was, of course, the first one to respond, bringing us out of our momentary freeze. “Hey girl. What have you been up to Maurice?” Her small touch to my shoulder quelled my distrustful heart’s need to beat.

Maurice smirked, I shudder to think what the world would turn to if Maurice were to ever get her hands on it. Oh wait… “Oh, you know, overthrow some people, become leader of a few small countries, nothing special.”

This had us all chuckling, laughing a little louder than they should, but they didn’t care. Kristie had never cared about what other people thought of her, which is something I have to applaud her for.

Out of nowhere the bell rang, signaling our class and causing the widening of all of their eyes, except Maurice, for she was notoriously straight-faced.

Norma was gone in a flash, disappearing with a gasp and a wave, followed soon after by Maurice, who never stopped in her casual stride.

“Shoot,” us and Corey whispered at the same time, bolting for the classes that they hoped they would be able to find.

I will spare you the details of those first classes, they were boring and I barely remember them myself.

I can’t even understand the joy Kristie felt as she left her classes for the ever exciting lunch period.

Of course, she found out lunch wasn’t much better than her classes.

Our grey eyes blinked as we looked around the greatly over-crowded cafeteria. We looked around for anywhere to sit, any table available, before escaping back to the outside world, our claustrophobia catching up with us. To this day, that lunch room is the scariest thing I’ve ever seen… maybe.

“Are you okay?” The familiar voice of Corey came from behind us, nearly making us jump but not quite.

Kristie smiles and brushes her off with a, “Yeah, yeah, just trying to get over the feeling of almost being trampled.” Core looked skeptical, but still gave a laugh that sent them both into giggles. Such ugly obvious displays of emotions, if only they knew, if only they knew.

“Stop being a drama queen,” Corey said with an exaggerated eye roll.

“No, no, no.” We said, our hand flipping up as if to stop the train of thought, “The only drama queen here is Maurice-”

“Who is a ‘drama queen’?”