Please Lock

[b i n g e]

ＩＳＡＢＥＬＬＥ ＧＡＶＥＬＩＳ
❁❁❁
Female || 17 yrs || Straight || Black Ranger
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Isabelle laughed quietly as she walked, having faintly heard a response to her parting comment. What remained of her ten minute walk home was uneventful. She skipped up the front steps and opened the door. She could hear the television as she entered but didn't stop to watch it. On her way to the kitchen she was surprised to find the older of her two stepbrothers at the dining table with his head in his hands. Isabelle sat on the table beside him and watched him curiously. She had expected him to be at the game. Football was considered a big deal in the house and she doubted her stepmother would have taken it away from any of them. For a moment Isabelle thought she saw something between his fingers and reached for his chin. He swatted at her hand and turned his head which only made her more determined. He finally caved and Isabelle forced him to face her, revealing his black and swollen eye.

"Ninth graders again?"

"Yeah and I didn't want everyone to know at the game."

Isabelle let go of his chin and shook her head. If only he would give her their names; Isabelle would make them think twice about picking on her younger brother. He shrugged sheepishly and grabbed his things before scurrying away to his room. No doubt to hide from his stepsister's impending interrogation.

"I just don't know why they do it." Isabelle's stepmother emerged from the kitchen.

"I mean there's his name," she said, turning to face her stepmother.

"What's wrong with his name?"

"Jaxon with an 'X'?" Isabelle exclaimed. "Who names their kid Jaxon with a bloody 'X' in it?"

"His dad picked that."

"X marks the spot."

"You're being a little unfair."

"I'm not being used as a punching bag."

Isabelle brushed past her stepmother and walked into the kitchen. She brewed herself a coffee and leaned against the counter, not bothering to add milk or sugar. She watched as her stepmother fussed around with preparing dinner and eventually Isabelle joined in. While her stepmother worked Isabelle emptied the dishwasher, stopping on occasion to sip her coffee. She tried to get answers from her stepmother as she did so but the older woman wouldn't budge.

[seadragonCaspian]

The bot soon hovered over to Connors desk and chirped at him as he did his homework. Connor glanced at it but decided to ignore it for now. The bot chirped again and landed on the desk as little claws came from its body. If it couldn't deliver the stone on its own, then this human would have to do it for it. Connors eyes turned back to the bot the moment he heard something hit his desk. The bot had popped the red stone out of place with the black stone following soon after. It chirped at the boy to take both and deliver the black one to the girl he had scanned. Connor took the red stone and noticed an engraving that looked very much like a dragon. The bot hopped off the desk and landed on the floor with a dull thud. It then scuttled under his bed and went into sleep mode. Connor then looked at the black stone. He figured that the bot wanted him to give it to the girl he had seen earlier. But why? What was the importance of these stones? The male shook his head, set the stones aside and decided that he would give it to her the first chance he got tomorrow. He finished off his dinner and homework before laying down to go to bed

[b i n g e]

ＩＳＡＢＥＬＬＥ ＧＡＶＥＬＩＳ
❁❁❁
Female || 17 yrs || Straight || Black Ranger
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Isabelle spent the rest of the afternoon on the couch watching a horror movie until her stepfather and other stepbrother returned from the game. The two came in loud and fast, instantly talking in football lingo and Isabelle couldn't have gotten to her room faster. She came down to join them for an awkward dinner, they couldn't help but stare fleetingly at the black eye. Despite the glances, no one addressed it in conversation. When dinner finally dragged to its end the game once again became the hot topic and Isabelle retreated to her bed where she lay there reading 'Little Women' until she fell asleep.

[seadragonCaspian]

Connor woke up to his alarm and would've forgotten all about what happened last night but the bot he had found was staring at him intently. He jumped up and scooped up the little thing before shoving it back under the bed, "Stay there!" Commanded the boy as he hurried to prepare for school. The bot did as it was told. Connor pocketed the two stones before hurrying down the stairs. He greeted his grandmother with a good morning before hurrying off to school. The boy wanted to get there as soon as possible

[b i n g e]

ＩＳＡＢＥＬＬＥ ＧＡＶＥＬＩＳ
❁❁❁
Female || 17 yrs || Straight || Black Ranger
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One does not need an alarm when they live with two younger brothers. That was one of the first lessons Isabelle learned when she moved in with her adoptive family. She stood no chance of sleeping while the two boys argued loudly downstairs. She already suspected the reasoning and confirmed it when she joined them after getting ready. The two were going at it over the cereal box prize. It was one of the few arguments Isabelle knew how to solve between the two of them. She snatched the toy off one of them and placed it on the highest shelf of the pantry, where a collection of other cereal box prizes were lined up. She ignored their protests as she grabbed an apple and headed back towards the living room as so she could check her timetable.

Any other class and Isabelle would have skipped but seeing music as her first class of the day coaxed her into going. It was easy enough to skip school with two stepparents that were both out the door come half past six. Isabelle was left with a dilemma between getting to school early or staying and listening to her brothers argue. She chose the better of two evils and headed out for school.

She did her best to avoid everyone on campus as she normally did but the occasional stare still drifted her way. She ignored them until she reached her room. Unsurprisingly, it was empty and locked. However for someone who had a history of breaking into buildings, picking the lock wasn't a challenge. It took all of a second before Isabelle was walking into her classroom. She dragged a chair over to the window where she sat and rehearsed the song she planned to use for her performing assignment.

"...I listen to a whisper," Isabelle sang quietly, "slowly drift away..."

[seadragonCaspian]

Connors first class happened to be English. He got there before the teacher and just sat against the wall. The boy reached into his pocket and pulled out the two stones the bot had given him. He carefully looked them over. Connor found the etching on the red stone again before turning his attention to the black stone. It seemed to have an engraving of some sort of dog on it instead of a dragon. He wondered what the stones could possibly be used for. Maybe he was just being pranked?

The bot, being the curious fellow that he is, decided to explore the house while Connor was not there to stop him.Hovering took up much of his energy so he decided to use his legs. The bot scuttled across the ground to the closed door. This was his first obstacle and he wasn't about to let it stop him from exploring

[b i n g e]

ＩＳＡＢＥＬＬＥ ＧＡＶＥＬＩＳ
❁❁❁
Female || 17 yrs || Straight || Black Ranger
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After rehearsing another two times, Isabelle retreated to the back of the room in time to watch the other students pour in. She pulled out 'Pretty Women' and sat back to read it. Her dark hair curtained off her face and her eyes never left her pages. Of all her classes, she was never called upon in this one. The attention seekers leapt at every opportunity to outshine everyone else and Isabelle preferred it that way. As a little game, she had started to tally the artists that everyone was covering on her bookmark, which followed:

Beyonce: |||| ||||
Justin Bieber: ||||
My Chemical Romance: ||
Ariana Grande: ||
Ed Sheeran: ||
Other: |||

It was just a way for her to keep entertained as the classes dragged on. When music finally finished, she lingered until the majority had cleared. While the herd moved towards their next class, Isabelle slipped away to the library. She found a quiet corner and curled up in the single seater lounge to continue her novel.

[seadragonCaspian]

English seemed to drag on for Connor. It wasnt boring. He just couldn't bring himself to focus on the subject at hand. When the bell rang, he hurried towards math which could be considered his favorite subject. This was because he was good with numbers and usually found some way to use the formulas in his life. However there was a note on the door telling the class to meet in the library. Connor frowned at that but decided to head towards the library anyway. The teacher was probably out sick and didn't want to stress out a substitute. Once he arrived at the library, he glanced around for his classmates but his eyes landed on Isabelle.

The bot chirped before leaping upon the handle and trying to turn it. He wasn't very successful and ended up falling off. However, this didn't stop the little bot as he was determined to get out. The bot leaped again and turned out to be successful this time. He chirped in triumph before hopping down and scuttling to scan a vase

[b i n g e]

ＩＳＡＢＥＬＬＥ ＧＡＶＥＬＩＳ
❁❁❁
Female || 17 yrs || Straight || Black Ranger
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Isabelle's focus had drifted away as she lost herself in thought. It always happened when Isabelle read and when she realised she was doing it, she had completely forgotten what had happened on the page. At present Isabelle's thoughts were a jumbled mess; alternating between her brother not defending himself and her upcoming music assignment. She suspected it was only a matter of time before her brother came home with broken ribs or nose. The child had already endured insults, broken bike and a black eye. Granted, she had tried to teach him how to defend himself but he couldn't even master that.

Her music assignment on the other hand brought with it the sense of vulnerability which Isabelle loathed. To stand up there and pour her soul into a song that took her weeks to decide on; it pitted her on the edge of a breakdown. It was almost ironic - put Isabelle in a fist fight and she would come out swinging but put her in front of a class and she froze. Not wanting to continue her wayward train of thought, Isabelle snapped her attention back to the novel and began to reread the last page she was on.

[seadragonCaspian]

Connor took a deep breath before walking towards her. He aborted his mission halfway and just went to where his class had been stationed. The male wasn't very good with confrontations but he was good with deciding what moves to take. Just walking toward her seemed as bad a move as leaving the king undefended in a chess game. He hoped that she had not seen him approaching her