@Princess P.: *Raises hand* I promise to try to keep this thread alive.

@ZB: Do you think that Callen should be mad at Lily? I don't really think that Jasmine would be mad. Do you?

@Oregano: I like the idea of GenkuSuh having sewing. It's a good idea. I think that we should go ahead and have home economics. Who thinks that's a good idea.

//Lily//

Well everything was perfect yesterday evening and now on Tuesday morning, everything is all mixed up. I get up at 6:00 with nobody else awake. I get a fresh uniform from the dresser and change into it. I unbraid my hair and brush it out. I leave it down today. I didn't have the energy to rebraid it. 

I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth. After I was done I went to the dance studio. I decided to practice till the cafeteria opened at 6:30. I changed into ballet slippers and turned on some music. I started doing the routine Ms. Bahar had showed us yesterday. I was so absorbed that I didn't notice that there were a few people in the corner of the watching me.

I continue practicing ignoring the people. After I had finished the routine I turned off the music. I was about to leave when the people in the corner walk over to me. A girl I recognize says" You're Lily, right? Well I'm Mai." The name is familiar, but I am still not sure where I recognize her from. " Well we think you should join the team that's training for the MatoDyfi. We don't know if we're going to be picked, but we might as well be prepared. We think you'd be an asset." "Is this your team?" I asked gesturing toward the two boys behind her. "No we have a couple more. This is Adonus and this is Tari. Then we have a girl named Alamea and a boy named Darius. So are you in?" " I will think about it." "All right." They left and I followed after changing back into my regular shoes. 

I think about what they said as I walk to the cafeteria. It is about 6:40 now. I had already decided about joining the team by the time I reached the cafeteria. I had decided to join the team. I went to my table and sat down. The rest of my room wasn't here yet. I put some bacon and sweet rolls an my plate. I look to table 16 and see nobody. I finish off the food on my plate and leave the cafeteria.

This was probably really awful, but I didn't know how else to bring the MatoDyfi back in to the story. Yeah and sorry they picked both my characters. I only just realized that.

Wow! Welcome Oregeno! You write really well! I wanted to post now but Oregano just did so I don't want to interfere! I'll post ASAP, Promise! OH and Princess P: *raises hand* XD 

I am brainstorming about stuff that could happen at the dance but I don't know what... 

Oh very well.  Sheesh!  Anything to keep the thread up.  I sweat this'll turn into a conversation between myself and myself.  Do you know we're second longest thread EVER on the Inkwell?  Let's beat the first one!  Come on!

--Artemis--

I'm walking to the stables and Jasmine runs up to me and grabs my hands.  "He tried to contact me! she cries. "He met Mary-Lee and tried to tell her to tell me something, or give me something, but she says he was walking with someone, that must have been Elizabeth, I haven't seen HER crying her heart out lately, and Mary-Lee says she wouldn't let him, that is, not that Mary-Lee wouldn't let him, but the girl that must have been Elizabeth wouldn't let him, oh what do you think it was, would he have apologized, or  told me to get lost, or what, or, or do you think he was going to try to get back together?"

I sigh inwardly.  This is so awkward.  I can't get her hopes up, and I can't let her down, either.

"Whatever he was going to say," I tell her, "there's still the whole rest of the year, and them another semester.  You'll get back together again at some point.  Don't worry."

I have my fingers crossed.

"Oh, I hope so!  I hope so!  Let me go tell Callen, maybe she'll snap out of her bad mood if she think that what she said to him did something.."  Her voice fades as she dashes off.

I groan to myself.  What if they don't?  I'd never forgive myself then.  Well, I guess I would, if Jasmine fell in love with someone else even more deeply and married him.  Then I would.  But until then, I can only hope.  Hope and feed my ostrich.

I go into the stables.  My ostrich - Darius, after the king - has a pen right next to Mary-Lee's.  I don't know Mary-Lee that well, but she's there stroking Athena's head, and she's involved with the whole Jasmine and Jacob fiasco, so I say hi to her.

"What?  Oh! Hi."

She seems to have been daydreaming.

"I hear you met Jacob and he was with someone," I say, in an effort to bring her out of herself.  "What did she look like?"

"Light hair, light skin, light eyes, tall," she says.  "I didn't really look closely at her.  You know Jas?"

"Yeah,"  I say, and start feeding Darius.

-------------To be continued!  I promise!---------------

I am a bit confused, Elizabeth M, about the ballet group. I wasn't planning on any of them doing dance. Oh and if you don't like their names you can change them. I just picked them off the top of my head and didn't botherto change them.

//Lily//

I hadn't seen Jasmine all day and it was already our free time. I had picked horseback riding today so I headed far out on the grounds. I had a certain horse that I always rode, Lace. She was a black mare with Arabian features. After we had gotten to a certain level in riding we were allowed to take out the horse of our choice without an adult around. I had reached that level last year.

I got out Lace's tack and put it on her. I led her out of the stables and mounted her. I started her off at a canter and gradually got her into a gallop. I rode her with my head low.

After a couple hours riding I rode Laceback to the stables. As I was leading her back into her stall I saw that girl Mai again. She was grooming Cal, a thoroughbred. I had already taken off Lace's tack, so I grabbed a rubber curry brush and started grooming Lace.

"So, have you decided yet?" I turned and saw Mai leaning against Lace's stall door. " Yes, I have decided to join your team." " Good. Glad to have you on the team." She left the stalls and I continued brushing Lace.

//Callen//

I exited the Bio classroom and stripped my hands of dissection gloves. We tore apart a western Kyrian lizard. Jaz ran up to me and grabbed my arm. "Oh, hey Jaz. Fancy seeing you out." She giggled, then caught up to me. "Callen. Mary-Lee says that she saw Jacob with another girl, probably Elizabeth, and she said that he said that he wanted to talk to me and it seemed like he was going to have Mary-Lee pass on a message but then the girl who was probably Elizabeth pulled him away before he could say anything. Do you think we could get back together or did he want to tell me to get lost or what?! You're his sister! Don't twins have like, telepathy, or something?! GIVE ME A SIGN!!" I laughed at how desperate someone could be for Jacob. "Wait, you honestly think that twins have telepathy? I wish, dude! I could give him a piece of my mind, literally! But, we can figure out if the other is in trouble, or sometimes, even what we're feeling. It's kinda weird. But, I can tell that he's troubled. Knowing Jacob, he goes through girls like socks. But, it's almost like, I dunno, like, gosh, how can I say this?" I pulled her out of the hallway so we wouldn't be interrupted. "He, almost feels like, you're different." She stepped back and crashed into a bucket. "I-I'm different? Really?!" I nodded. "Like, you're a really special sock, that's really fuzzy and has, like, basketballs on it and stuff." "Really?!" she repeated, almost under a trance. "Yes, really. And twins, well, we know each other. I can tell what he feels. It's weird, but, hey, it happens. Now, go find Jacob. I'll meet you at lunch, then we can work on our ostriches together, cool?" She said yes and almost ran out of our closet to go find Jacob. Ahh, young love. Then again, I guess I'm kinda in love with Darius.

Sorry I haven't posted for a few days! We've been pretty busy around here…

//Eli//

I walk down the hallways with Kataira. We are headed to chorus. It's 3:00 and I'm eager to get this over with so that I can get back to my room to read my new book that I picked up from the library.

"Hey, Strawberry!" Banier says with a wink. Kataira turns to me with a look of confusion on her face. I give her a look which means "I'll tell you about it later". That's one of the good things about being a twin. Kataira and I understand each other easily without saying a word.

"Hi, Banier," I say. "Are you headed over to fencing now?" Banier is not interested in singing, so he tells me. He would rather be fighting with a sword rather than singing in a high pitched voice.

"Yeah, that's where I'm headed now. You going into singing?" he asks.

"Chorus," I correct. "not singing."

"Chorus, singing, same thing," Banier teases. I sigh and glance at Kataira. She gives me a look which means "we'd better be going or we're going to be late".

"Sorry, Banier, but Kataira and I had better be going to class now or we are going to be late. Hey, are you trying out for the MatoDyfi team in fencing?" I ask.

"Maybe, if I make it. Are you going to for chorus?" he asks. We walk down the hall together. Banier is on my left, and Kataira is on my right.

"Yeah, I guess so," I tell him. Kataira is convinced that I am an amazing singer. She thinks I should try out for the MatoDyfi team, but I'm not so sure. What if my voice cracks in front of all those people? Then what will I do? But I know if I don't, Kataira will be mad at me forever, so I made an agreement with her. I will try out for the chorus team if Kataira will try out for the music team. She is an amazing piano player. And it's not only me that has noticed it. Pretty much everyone that she plays for notices her talent. Well, except for that one teacher. He thought that she was a really bad piano player, and that she should play more jazz and rock and roll music. Kataira can play that, but I think she's better at the other stuff. You know, the Mozart, Beethoven, classical kind. That teacher? He has not taste. No taste at all. So if Kataira's talent is piano, then I guess mine is chorus. Yeah, I can play piano. But no one can play better than Kataira. At least that's what I think. What she thinks? That's a whole different story. And, yes, she does play violin, too. So do I. But she is one of the best violin players in the world. But that isn't really her passion. Yeah, she likes violin. She's the only person I know who actually likes to practice. But her passion is piano. I think she even likes it better than the harp. "What?" you're thinking. She plays the harp, too? Yep, she has played piano and violin her whole life, and she just started harp three years ago. But like I said, piano is her passion. That's why I want her to try out for the team. But of course she insists that I try out for chorus. I'm one of the lead singers in every musical that we put on. I think that's why she wants me to try out. I'm still sort of nervous, though, but I did agree to do it, and we Abishags always keep our promises. Especially the twins.

"Eli? Eli? Are you there?" Banier waves his hand in front of my face.

"What?" I ask. "Oh, sorry Banier. I guess I kind of dozed off for a while. Sorry about that," I apologize.

"That's fine," Banier says. "Hey, here's room 309. I guess I'll see you both later!" Banier waves and runs down the hall for fear of being late for fencing.

"Eli? Are you okay?" Kataira asks. "You seemed to be in a trace for a few minutes. And I've noticed that you've done that a few times before. Do you think we need to call Great Aunt Ethel?" she asks.

"No! Don't do that! I mean, you know how much Great Aunt Ethel will worry. She'll say that it's her duty to keep us alive. Yeah, right. Like she really wants us alive. She'll send me to the doctor, she'll have them run all sorts of tests on me, she'll have them…" I say. Kataira looks at me like I'm going crazy.

"Okay, okay, I won't tell Great Aunt Ethel," Kataira says. "But only if you go into class with me RIGHT NOW so that we won't be late. Deal?"

"Deal," I agree, and we walk into class.

Okay, sorry that didn't really get anywhere. And sorry about the weird fourth person or whatever person I was writing in. I guess I just started writing like that, and that's how the rest of my post came out. I hope you all don't mind. I actually kind of like it because it's a change from what I usually like. And you sort of get to see what Eli is thinking and what Eli and Kataira are like.

I think that we should go with Jaz getting out of her room and going to find Jacob, because it seems that whatever puts her down, she's the kind of person to cry for a few hours, then collect her emotions and get out in the world. That's just what I got from her posts.

//Callen//

I yawned and picked up my lunch tray, walking towards the end of the lunch line to the trash cans. I ate lunch alone, and I couldn't find Jaz or Jacob. I guess that they were talking or something. I tossed everything in the trash and collected my bag, brushing through my hair with my fingers. The caf was slowly clearing away, everyone was going to their next classes. I pushed the door to the caf and revealed a huge pink and green banner for the Back to School dance. It was next week, and if I was going, I didn't have a dress or anything. I promised myself and Darius that I wasn't going if Jaz wasn't going, but I selfishly wished that Jaz would find someone else or make up with Jacob so that I could go with Darius. I was really looking forward to it. I looked up at the banner, Student Council must have made it. BACK TO SCHOOL DANCE! NO DATE YET? GET ONE SOON, BECAUSE IT'S NEXT FRIDAY! NO SCHOOL ON SATURDAY, SO COME ON DOWN TO THE BALLROOM AND CELEBRATE ANOTHER COMING YEAR AT GENKUSUH!! 7PM-11PM, DON'T BE LATE! The banner colors disgusted me, but the message was clear. I walked under it and towards the stables, excited to spend another 1 hour with my favorite guy, Rome. Once I got there, I shoved on my blue helmet put on my knee and elbow pads. I went into the tack room and grabbed his saddle, which was really just a thick pad that strapped underneath their legs. I went into Rome's stall and set the saddle on the door. I stroked his neck, and he made that weird ostrich sound that I love so much. He bent around and nibbled at my hair. This was his last year at GenkuSuh, too. We got to keep our ostriches once we graduate, so I knew I wouldn't have to miss him too much. I ran my fingers through his feathers to get any dirt off, and hoisted his saddle onto his back, strapping it under his stomach. He stomped his feet and shook his head, excited to be riding again. Once he was ready, I changed his food and water for when he returned. I led him out to the race tracks and opened the gate. I jumped on and positioned my knees right where his shoulders were, so that he wouldn't flap his wings and hit another ostrich. The sand was hot under his feet, but he was used to it. I clicked my tounge and he was off, one of the fastest and best trained ostriches at GenkuSuh.

AFTER RACING

I took off my helmet and let loose my sweaty hair. After this I would reeeally need a shower. I noticed a boy staring at me, from the gate. "May I help you...?" I asked. "Actually, yes you can. My name is Faren, and I'm the leader of the GenkuSuh MatoDyfi Ostrich Club, and we would love to have you be in it. We don't know who'll be chosen, but with your skills, it might just be you." "Gosh, I'm flattered and all, but, give me more details. Who else is in it?" He opened the gate and walked up to me. "Me, you, Banier, Darius, Alec, Belope, Fireh, Lee, and Ingthor. Good group, even better with you in it." "I'll do it. On one condition. I'll train my way, you guys train your ways, and we'll all be happy. I've always trained by myself, and would like to keep it that way. But it would be nice to be in a group." He nodded and walked off. I handed Rome off to one of the many stable helpers and walked towards the dorms, having five minutes to shower.

Great post, Oregano! I don't really care which one we keep, let's just say we keep both of them (I don't think it really matters) and just continue writing. Also, I'm fine with Artemis and Mary-Lee being friends, but I just wanted to point out that Mary-Lee is ten years old, and Artemis is fourteen so there's sort of a large gap between their ages. But like I said, I'm fine with their being friends, I just wanted to point that out and make sure that you knew it.

Oh, my! So much has happened. I am so sorry for not writing! I read through the entire thread, but I'm sure I'll get something or the other mixed up; please excuse that. And also, I just simply cannot remember who is in what room! Could someone remind me? (I know it's around this thread somewhere but I really don't want to hunt for it.) And finally, when exactly is this ball/dance/thing-a-majigger coming up? In one day? Two? A week?

Karanah--

I positively detest dances. There are so many people, so much noise, and I'm always uneasy; although I only attended one once (what a mistake that was!). And then the inevitable: broken hearts. Jasmine is a prime example. Poor girl! What is going on with Jacob? I try and avoid boys in general. I can't figure them out! And even more astonishing: he's a fairy! Aren't they supposed to be above such things? I guess not.

Alamea nudged me. "Karanah! Pay attention," she whispered. Mr. ShiLay was speaking, his eagle eyes scanning the classroom sharply for daydreamers. I sighed. Alamea is really nice-- she's made me rethink my "no friends, no troubles" policy. I'm kind of antisocial. But this year, the girls in Rooms 16 and 14 have been really kind. So my new policy: "few friends, few troubles". It doesn't always work, of course.

Mr. ShiLay glared at me. I straightened up and tried to look attentive. "Now, class, who can tell me what major land formation was caused by the flooding of the River Danube?" I didn't raise my hand, though I knew it was the Thirteen Pillars. Someone else answered, a boy. I twirled the end of my long gold braid. Would we ever move on to more interesting things in Geography? Somehow, I didn't think that was likely. I took some notes, sparsely, just enough to cover the major points of the class. When we exited and passed in the notes as we filed through the door, I thought how, more than ever, Mr. ShiLay was like an eagle.

"What's your next class?" Alamea asked me.

"Art," I replied softly. {Wait, I don't know if they have art at GenkuSuh. I hope so. If not, could it be added on? It's kind of Karanah's talent.}

"See you later," Alamea called as she walked through the halls to her next class and I quickly went to mine. I opened the door of the art room and breathed in. Ahhhh. I don't know why, but I love the art room. The smell of paint, the sight of empty canvases, the sounds of art in the making; I just love it. And I love art, too.

"Hello, Karanah!" Ms. White called to me. I was the first in the room. I mumbled a response. It's not that I'm trying to be rude; I just dislike talking. So far today I had said only ten words. That's about average for this time of day, for me. "We'll be doing charcoal sketches today. If you like, you may begin."

I sat down in my customary corner stool and began to draw.