Excuse You?

[Mercedes Allen]

Poppy Lockwood

    Mercedes had been waiting for weeks to see if her fungal culture had worked, and today would be the day that she could finally see if any fungi had grown. She came a bit early, eager to see her results, but as she entered the lab she expected it to be empty. Imagine her surprise when the lights were on and somebody was already in the room messing with the equipment. She didn't recognize the person and knew that whoever it was wasn't allowed to be in the room at that time, much less messing with stuff. Her eyebrows creased and and a frown inched onto her face. Mercedes closed the door behind her, but didn't make an effort to move. She crossed her arms across her chest, rearranging her face into a somewhat friendly expression. "Um, what are you doing here?" she asked, cocking her head to the side and gracing Poppy with a fake smile.

[Poppy Lockwood]

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It was just another day for Poppy Lockwood. Her classes for the day had finished and she was walking back to her dorm when she came across an empty science lab. Much to her delight, it was unlocked. So she entered the room easily.

Looking around, she remembered the last time she was in the science room. It had been in high school and she took chemistry and physics as one of her subjects. I have returned. There were the stuff you would expect to find in a science room. Her teacher had always said to handle the equipments with care because they cost a fortune. Since she did not know how long she had, Poppy pulled a simple trick.

Taking out a black Sharpie, the girl began drawing faces on the beakers, test tubes, etc. She laughed at her handiwork. But her laughter died when she heard the door opening and shutting. Uh oh.

When she looked up, she was surprised to find that it was a girl who looked around her age and not a teacher. "You know just fooling around really." Her drawing continued. She was glad it was not a staff, so she did not pay much detail to the girl. "Wanna help?" Poppy asked without looking up.

[Mercedes Allen]

    She frowned at Poppy's reply. At the angle she was at Mercedes couldn't see what exactly the girl was doing, so she moved closer towards Poppy and looked over her shoulder, a cautious frown on her face. At the sight of the sharpie artwork she gasped, her mouth forming an 'o' shape.

     "What the heck do you think you're doing?!" she cried, snatching the beaker Poppy was defacing out of her hands. She groaned as she took in its condition. "Do you know how long it's going to take for us to clean all of these?!". She didn't even spare a glance at Poppy, Mercedes was too busy taking in all of the damage she had already done. With a sigh she looked up at Poppy for the first time since she noticed her little 'project',"Please tell me you haven't been drawing on anything else.".

[Poppy Lockwood]

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She was concentrating on her work. It had to look neat and pretty so anyone who would find it would know she had put a lot of effort into it. If you want to do something, you got to do it right perfectly. Poppy was on her sixth beaker when it was then grabbed from her hand and a smudge was made.

"What I did? Look at what you've done. You ruined it! It looks," she gestured to the beaker, "UGLY. Seriously, just look at it. That's serious damage." She complained at her ruined artwork. The girl had sabotaged it. "Err, who is this 'us' you speak of?" Poppy chuckled. "Ha, that isn't the only one."

Of course she felt dissatisfied. There was one imperfection in the whole bunch. The ugly duckling. For a second, she was really tempted to take that beaker and throw it out or just break it even so it would not ruin the bunch. "Look, instead of disrupting everything, why don't you make yourself helpful?" Poppy took out another sharpie from her bag and handed it to the girl. "It's pink, so you can draw the girls."

[Mercedes Allen]

    "Yes look at what you did. If you hadn't been doodling all over things you weren't supposed to in the first place then there wouldn't have been anything to "ruin"," she stated, making air quotes around the word ruin as best she could with the smudged beaker still in hand. As the girl spoke Mercedes grew more and more amazed that she had no concern at all about the money spent on all of the equipment she was so carelessly vandalizing, but instead she was concerned about the face Mercedes smudged.

    She unconsciously took the marker, still a bit dazed by Poppy's blatant lack of moral sense. Who does she think she is? Mercedes had to bite her tongue to keep from saying anything offensive. "Uh, I don't think so," she deadpanned, moving so that she was on the opposite side of the table. She faked a smile, placing the beaker on the table. "Lets try this instead, shall we?. Lets put the markers up," she then set the sharpie on the table with a little more force than necessary, "I'll go get the rubbing alcohol, and we can clean whatever mess you created before anybody sees what you've done." She said all of this as if she was talking to a child, all the while maintaining a pleasant front.

[Poppy Lockwood]

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Instead of joining in the fun, the girl ended it. She went on a talk almost similar to a lecture which made Poppy bored. Boring, boring, boring. Being caught before, she had heard her fair share of lectures and 'advices'. That was what the counselor told her mostly.

It was nothing she had not heard before. Now the girl here was making her sit through recycled events. Moreover, they were about the same age. Poppy seriously did not want to sit through it. But unfortunately the girl had basically kept the beakers away from her. The brunette groaned in annoyance. "Oh my god that's so boring."

Since she would not get any drawing done, she took a seat. "Don't you know anything about pranking? The point is for people to see what I've done." The girl's face looked pleasant but being around people with her attitude, Poppy knew she was irritated with the trick and the brunette herself.

But that was all the more reason, Poppy was enjoying the little situation. Her fun was ruined so she felt like being an ass about it. With her hands reached out, she took one of the beakers she had drawn on. "Pretty ain't it?" She showed the beaker to the girl. "Let us call him...Mr. Lee. Now, Mr. Lee is very alone and very sad." Her lips frowned. "So why don't you hand over the pink sharpie so we can make a Mrs. Lee, hmm?"

[Mercedes Allen]

    She rolled her eyes and left the desk, opening a cabinet in search of the rubbing alchohol. "Do you honestly think that this is something I want to waste my time doing? Cleaning up your mess?". She ran a finger lightly across the various bottles as she spoke, grazing their labels. Being raised in  strict home with high morals it was simply impossible for Mercedes to do anything without thinking about the repercussions of her actions. Doing things like what Poppy had done was something she'd never even think about doing, but that didn't mean that she was a total stick in the mud. That's why Poppy's next comment made her pause and look up from what she was doing.

    "Yes, I know a lot about pranking actually. But there's a fine line between pranking people and everybody being able to enjoy the prank afterwards and pranking somebody for your own personal benefit. This? This is just stupid. It's not funny to anybody but you." She didn't bother to spare Poppy a glance and continued her search on another shelf, only to find the rubbing alcohol a second later. On her way back to the table she grabbed a roll of paper towels, ripping a few off.

    Mercedes looked at the beaker in the girl's hand, "Yes, I do agree that Mr. Lee looks a little depressed. Actually he looks really depressed." She cocked her head to the side, faking concern. "You know, I don't even think that a Mrs. Lee could even get him out of this stupor," she popped the top of the bottle open and carefully poured some of the rubbing alcohol on the paper towels she previously ripped off. "I think he'd be better off with a little alcohol to drown his sorrows." With that she grabbed another one of the beakers Poppy drew on and began IT wiping clean. "See? It's already working for this guy!" She sent Poppy a fake smile and held the beaker next to her face, a gesture similar to flipping her the bird, and continued to work.

[Poppy Lockwood]

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"Look, if you think it's a waste of time. Don't bother doing it then." The girl was complaining that she had to save Poppy's ass. Like she even asked for it. Which made it even more boring and annoying. Whilst she had a rough idea why the girl was doing this, she still ticked her off.

The whole situation felt similar to her encounter with another girl, Blair Collins. She had just finished setting a prank as well when Blair caught her during her escape. The younger girl had given Poppy a lecture talk similar to the one she was receiving from the ginger now. Ugh, take two. She did not particularly enjoy it then and she did not enjoy it now either. Of course then she had managed to loosen Blair up and even pulled a prank with the girl afterwards. But with the roll the other girl had going on now, Poppy doubted they were going pull a prank together anytime soon.

"Newsflash ginger, I really do not care what others think," she admitted out loud. "Yes I was having a great time until..." Her hands gestured to the girl. All of her. "...you came along with your no fun act." Poppy rolled her eyes. "How uptight can one be?"

When the girl came over with the bottle of rubbing alcohol, the brunette stared at her with no interest. What she did next brought a small smile and a chuckle out of Poppy. That was pretty funny. She then held it next to her face and Poppy did a little comparison. "Yeah it works." She nodded. "Maybe you should use some too. You'd look so much better, just like that guy." She returned the fake smile.

[Mercedes Allen]

    Mercedes ignored her first comment, not wanting to acknowledge it herself. She's a bit of a mother hen, and no matter how much she denies that part of her it'll always find a way to show itself. She cares for others too deeply, her abilities making her even more gullible to getting sucked into good deeds. She was trying to keep Poppy out of trouble, but as their conversation continued she began to think that letting Poppy get in trouble would be less frustrating.

    "That's surprising. You're just as immature as I pegged you as," she muttered sarcastically under her breath. She tends to keep these nurturing tendencies hidden from others. Deeply, deeply hidden.

    She glanced at the partially clean beaker, "You think? I didn't think I was as bad off as Mr. Lee and his buddies, but since you appear to be the wise ass here you must know far more than me when it comes to my own needs."

[Poppy Lockwood]

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The day just could not get any better could it. Ha, immature! That was what Blair Collins had called her as well. And some teachers. The counselor. Practically almost everyone she had had the pleasure of meeting.

Immature.

Childish.

Impulsive.

Reckless. That was just one of the many names she had been called. Poppy had heard it all and now was another recycled event. To be honest she was getting sick of it. "I rather be immature than uptight, honey."

The brunette leaned against the table. Her fingers played with the sharpie as her ears listened to the other girl. "Hey, I was merely suggesting. Since I am one of the people who will have the displeasure of seeing your face, I just thought you might want to improve on the look." She nodded her head in the direction of the Mr. Lee beaker. "Unless you don't mind looking like someone who needs alcohol to bring out of your stupor. That's okay."

[Mercedes Allen]

    Instead of replying to Poppy with something not so nice like she yearned to do Mercedes remained quiet. She brought her eyes up from her task to study the brunette for a moment, zoning out for a split second before returning her attention to the now clean beaker. "If so many people are calling you immature then why do you keep doing crap like this? You're just proving them right," she set the beaker aside, applying more alcohol to the paper towel. Part of her, the less patient part, wanted to duck tape her mouth shut and tie her to a chair in the corner of the room so she could finish cleaning in peace, but the other half, the curious half, wanted to know more about the girl. Damn empathy.

[Poppy Lockwood]

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The redhead was cleaning the beakers determinedly. Poppy chuckled at the memory it brought up. Blair Collins had the same determined look -- out to bust her for pulling a prank on the new staff.

"You remind me of someone," ignoring the question the girl proposed. The similarities were too good, the brunette could not help a couple laughs. Ah, good times.

Pulling herself together, she focused back on the girl in the room. "Look ginger, first. This isn't crap." She shook her head and she a shook a finger indicating her choice of word was simply not acceptable. "Secondly, I have fun pulling these kinds of "crap" and what do I care what they call me?" She shrugged.

Since a very young age, Poppy Lockwood disregarded others' feelings. Sefishly, she put herself as her own priority. It worked in her favor. She grew up to be someone who was sure and confident in her own skin. "It's just words and names. It only describes me and yeah I know I'm childish. Why should I stop having fun just because it's immature?"

[Mercedes Allen]

    Scratch that, the girl was just as interesting as a rock and had the brain capacity of a monkey. As Mercedes disinterestedly listened to the girl speak, she quickly came to the conclusion that she wouldn't be receptive to any advice Mercedes had to offer. Fine. If she wants to act like a five year old for the rest of her life I'll treat her like a five year old.

    She sighed, the look on her face one of obvious annoyance. "Look, I could do this all day, I really could, but the bottom line is that you're not going to take to heart anything I say to you. It would just be a waste of my breath and my time to try to get through that thick head of yours, so if you're not going to do anything productive can you do me a favor and just get the hell out?"

    Believe it or not she wasn't angry, nor was she at her bottom line, but even if she was it would take a lot for Mercedes to show it. She was simply annoyed by the girl's antics and wanted time to tend to her own projects, but she knew if the girl stayed and continued to be this obnoxious she'd become more than just annoyed.

[Poppy Lockwood]

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Ouch. That stung a little but Poppy found amusement in the other girl's words. Now it was beginning to get fun. The brunette like how did not accept bullshit and was pretty straight forward about what she wanted. None of that complicated woven tales -- straight to the heart of the matter. She smiled despite herself.

This was her way out. Moreover, she would be doing a favor for the girl. Escapes like these never came easy. Her captors liked to give her a lecture first before letting Poppy off the hook. Of course it was no point because she never listened. But the ginger in front of her saw through that and frankly just wanted her out of the way. So why was she not jumping at the chance to leave right that minute.

Poppy walked over to retrieve her pink sharpie and packed up her utensils. "Thanks. You're a smart one." She slung her messenger bag on her shoulders and started taking a few strides to the door, but stopped. Turning around, the brunette stared at the girl with the beaker and rubbing alcohol.

"I did six, if you count the one you smudged. The five are on the table and the last one is in one of the cupboards," she said with a heavy sigh. Fuck you, conscience.

[Mercedes Allen]

    She hadn't looked up from her work as the girl moved to leave, not really feeling a great need to do so. The corners of her mouth lifted just a bit at the compliment, which was really the only sign Mercedes showed that she heard her.

    At the girl's next words Mercedes looked up to meet her gaze, a bit surprised, "Um, Thanks." Maybe the girl wasn't that bad. She brought her eyes back down to the beaker, scrubbing it for a few moments before speaking up once more, "I'm Mercedes by the way." She held the beaker eye level to check for any spots she could've possibly missed, paying the girl hardly any attention.