M is for Magic of the Friendship Sort

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

Oh look at that, Ellen Banks actually shared a dorm with Erika and Germy. It was a wonder that Frank hadn't run into the other girl more often by now, since she certainly had no qualms about invading either Erika's or Germy's space. The former had been her roommate on the ship thingie, and Frank totally liked the other, so, yeah, there probably would have been a fair amount of hanging around this place. But then again, from what Frank had gleaned, they didn't really like Ellen, mostly because nobody seemed to really like Ellen.

Which had convinced Frank that what Ellen really needed was a friend. And, since locks, like, were no match for someone who could literally chew them away, she had decided to let herself into Ellen's room. Well, technically she got let into the main room and then sort of sneaked into Ellen's section of the room more forcefully. Once there, she'd started setting up what she considered a "friendship trap." This happened to include a massive basket of various goodies, mostly involving junk food. It also meant putting up a few decorations throughout the room, sometimes leaving gift certificates (though Frank didn't do that for the people who, like, had money, because they got upset), and of course having all the material to make friendship bracelets. Frank was looking over the various fabrics now, all of which had been spread in semi-organized lines across the bed. They were all bright colors, of course, bordering on neon, and Frank was adjusting them and feeling them.

"Yeah, this should totally work," she told herself, nodding. She rocked on her heels a few times and dug into her pocket for the packet of Skittles she'd stashed there. She knew she needed to eat a fair amount of sugar to maintain a good buzz, and she didn't want to dig into Ellen's surprise friendship basket just yet. While she chewed the Skittles, Frank checked her watch, raising her hand and studying it, wondering.

[Ellen Banks]

There was a very good reason Ellen didn’t make the acquaintance of the entire student body, besides the odd friendly smile or greeting, because quite frankly a majority of the parasites that polluted her hallways (and rest assured they were her hallways, they certainty belonged to her more then 99% of the population of the school. Hell her family could probably buy the school if the Bellefonte’s didn’t have such an attachment to the school. Still money always beat out emotional attachment in the end. All it took was the right price. For the right price a person would sell their souls…everyone had their price it was just a matter of finding it and then? They were putty in their hands. That was the main lesion that big Phil Banks imparted to his children. Money, power, reputation these were ideals that the banks family held above all else.



But the main reason why Ellen Banks choose to ignore the people that she did, because quite frankly she was easily irritated. Usually Ellen could keep her cool, frustration? She can control. Stress, couldn’t possibly harm her. But the natural stupidity of others got under her skin like nothing else, so really it was for her best interest if she avoided the people that annoyed her so. And their best interest also…they certainly didn’t want to see Ellen mad.



On the day in question Ellen was having quite a pleasant afternoon, she had a free period between classes giving her time to go through her mountain of arrangements she needed to make for the upcoming prom event. She would have preferred to take on the task of arranging it herself, but she supposed she had to delegate some responsibility to her fellow council members.



With this in mind Ellen turned the door knob and entered the room…and beheld the scene before her….at first she couldn’t believe what she was seeing…no…no one could have possibly been stupid enough to break into her private room…no one wished for death that much…but yet here a girl was….going through her personal stuff…Placing something on HER bed…Touching her private items, prying, snopping.



Ellen first herself to stay very calm…as she went to grab this intruders attention “…Excuse me…can I help you with something? …What exactly are you doing in my room?”

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

At first Frank didn't actually realize that Ellen was back in the room. She was so focused on the friendship bracelets and the gift basket and making sure everything was just right that she'd forgotten that this was all technically arranged for a person who might be coming through the door at any moment, likely spitting fire about having their personal space invaded (what was with people and personal space anyway, like, seriously, it was just so messed up!).

The voice got Frank's attention though. She whirled, throwing her arms out wide into a welcoming gesture. This did mean sending Skittles flying in a wide arc not unlike a rainbow, but Frank hardly seemed to mind. "Surprise!" she sang out, dragging it out. The sound of Skittles hitting the floor and likely rolling into various areas within Ellen's room was nearly covered by Frank's incoming barrage of talk: "So, I know what you're thinking, you're all like 'who is this strange girl and why is she in my room and what is that crap all over my bed', but no worries, I am here to provide answers," Frank paused, sucking in breath for a moment, but she'd talk right over any other words (a gift of hers that rivaled her mutant power) as she continued: "I'm Frank Cox, yeah, those Coxes, and I'm in your room to be your friend! and that is friendship stuff!"

And Frank moved to the side, gesturing toward the bed with jazz hands, as if she were some kind of game show presenter or something.

[Ellen Banks]

Ellen didn’t care what name this person had nor any patience to pretend otherwise. Even through she was well aware of the Cox’s family and their enormous wealth (Not as impressive as the Banks family fortune of course. Unlike some people Ellen’s father had to work for his money. He lived in the squalor and dirt and worked and sweated and bled to make his money) Even though The Bank’s weren’t nearly as close the coxes as they were the bellefont, but she seems to remember the odd occasions where her father and Frank’s doing business together. The exact circumstances were unknown to Ellen, but they seemed to have a mutually beneficial relationship. The fact that Ellen was aware of Frank’s family doesn’t excuse te fact that Frank has forced her way into Ellen’s room without consent and permission, like a common thief in the night. Give Ellen a few moments and she was sure that she could find some kind of rule that Frank was breaking.



Ellen winched just a little as the candy scattered in every possible direction, Ellen prided herself on pure perfection and as such her room was always kept in immaculate conditions, anything less would be a insult to her families name. Her eyes narrowed a little at this Frank Cox’s imagining very uncomfortable ways she could potentially be put in for dare invading her personal place



“A basket full of friendship.” Ellen replied quickly lapsed into her normal habit of a pleasant smile and condescending tone in her voice like she was talking to a five year old “…Oh, well how very thoughtful of you. I’ll be sure to open it as soon as possible, but thanks for stopping by. I’ll be sure to see you in class” Ellen said standing aside intending to toss the basket as soon as Frank was out the door

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

Frank was used to this sort of reaction. She wasn't completely stupid; she generally understood that she got on people's nerves from time to time and that not everyone wanted her unique brand of friendship and love. It was weird though; she almost would have sworn, now that she was face to face with Ellen, that she'd met the other girl before. Maybe she'd been part of the arranged playdates that Frank had hosted back when she was much younger? Frank probably would've asked, but asking would've meant that she spent more time thinking about that, and the thought barely flitted into her mind, just long enough for her to go "Hey, have we met befo--" and then Ellen was trying do dismiss her.

"Noooo, nononono!" said Frank, shaking her head. This meant that hair sort of went in various directions, ending up in her mouth. She had to blow her lips several times to try and get it out, which did mean something resembling silence for a few beats. She managed eventually. "That's not how it works!" Frank then turned and pointed at the bed, where the various lines of fabric were. "See? I put together all the stuff for us to make friendship bracelets!" Frank let out a little squeal and clapped her clenched hands together before leaning against Ellen and beaming, "So you'll have something to remember me by! Besides the basket, which is totally filled with awesome stuff that you so shouldn't throw away. Just. Saying.'

Frank then nudged Ellen, then threw an arm around her shoulder. "So c'mon, loosen up and have some fun. It doesn't hurt, I swear, and I only bite when I'm really hungry, and there's totally Skittles like, all over your room now," Frank twisted, looking about, "so I'll so eat those first, promise."

[Ellen Banks]

Ellen was trying, she really was to be polite in fact considered herself to be acting a lot more nicer then she perhaps should have been considering that Frank was currently breaking into her room. That was The bank’s breeding infused in her. Civility before anger. Always and forever, never realize that the person was having an emotional effect on Ellen. Smile and shake their hands with one hand and hide the blade you planed to plunge into their heart the moment Ellen saw the perfect moment to plunge into their backs. But…the fact that Frank refused to take the hint and leave, was ever so slightly annoying oh dear…it seems like the poor dear was just a little dim wasn’t she? Couldn’t seem to take the quite obvious hint that Ellen was clearly giving her.



Ellen couldn’t help but roll her eyes at Frank’s moaning and head shaking. It was actually would be humorous if it wasn’t so pathetic in every sense of the world. Honestly it was like dealing with a small child as oppose to a peer. A friendship bracelet oh dear lord…was this honestly happening. Did this girl know absolutely nothing about Ellen Banks? Did she seem like a person who would be so interested in such childish things. She didn’t think so…..



And she didn’t need a friendship bracelet to remember Frank by the headache she has given her. Ellen rubbed her temples just a little and sighed. “Sure of course, a friendship bracelet. So lovely” Frank wasn’t leaving anytime soon. Might as well grin and bear it. She raised her eyebrow just a little at Frank’s words “I don’t think eating skittles off the floor is the most hygienic” and then narrowed her eyes as her hand on her shoulder. Looking to it blinking and back to Frank as if to say “Do you really want to do that?”

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

Most people took the idea of "turning into the skid" when it came to Frank, or maybe just "lie down and let the stamped rush about you." That didn't always work out so well, and it seemed to work out even less well when dealing with Frank. Acceptance meant that the subject was willing to go along with whatever Frank had planned, and Frank took even that to mean "I so want to spend time with you and you are so right and lovable and everything awesome and cool in the world."

"Well, they usually look kinda weird," admitted Frank, looking at the fabric. "It's not really about the pretty though. We could totally buy better looking stuff. It's about the friendship part of it, and the whole act of weaving and making something that's special and unique and all that good stuff," and Frank would likely have gone on to give Ellen a one armed hug. Oh, she was aware, if in a sort of vague manner, that Ellen didn't like the whole touching and hugging thing. She also didn't really care, pretty much at all.

"Pfft, don't worry," said Frank, waving a hand and unwinding from Ellen. She ducked down, plucked a Skittle off the bed, and popped it into her mouth. She at least had the decency to chew and swallow before pointing: "My power is that I can eat anything. It's like the crappiest power in existence, 'cept maybe these twins I know that can, like, feel what each other is feeling, which means that if one gets a boner or something the other one does. Weird, huh? More like a party trick, but I guess mine is like that. Which colors do you want!?" and yes, there was no logical change there. Frank just turned to Ellen, smiling and then gesturing at the various, multicolored strands laying on the bed. "For the bracelet, obviously."

[Ellen Banks]

….She wasn’t going to leave was she?



Ellen could almost understand Frank’s refusal to leave her side. After all, if nothing else she was what all the girls here desired to be. She was more or less the personification of what sociarty deemed the perfect highschooler to be. Rich, intelligent, hard working, charming and of course causing the collective population of the school to stop and stare at her whenever she walked down a hallway (Her hallways) Who wouldn’t want to stand in her reflective spotlight?



But the fact that Frank had such a ….unique personality certainly wasn’t helping Frank’s case. Was there…was there something wrong with this strange girl? Was she on some sort of medication. If nothing else that would explain why she was….well, her.



And she was still hugging her, why was she still hugging her? Seriously if looks could kill Frank would be dead a million times over. Was she that oblivious? “Well if anyone knows special it’ll be you” There. A thinly veiled insult that no sane person could possibly mistake for a compliment. If that didn’t drop Frank that Ellen wanted to strangle her, nothing will.



Well, the good news was that Ellen was free for Frank’s vice like grip…but the bad news was that Frank started running her mouth and just kept going…and going and going. No, Ellen didn’t particularly care about borners or Frank’s eating habits…or…or anything….oh god, she was getting such a headache. Was This a joke? Was she being punished for something, what could Ellen have done that was so horrible to deserve Frank? “What?...just, just slow down” Ellen said her irritation starting to boil over “I don’t know Red or something….Say, don’t you have some…I don’t know, homework to do? I’ve seen you in cheerleader practice a few time, shouldn’t you be practicing the latest routine?” Ellen moaned getting desperate “…and why do you feel the need to be my friend? What about me that screams I need friendship anyway? I assure you I have an abundance.

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

"Aww, thanks!" chirped Frank. "You're special too," and Frank tapped Ellen on the nose before, you know, returning to the friendship bracelet. It was fairly apparent that little things like insults didn't really have much of an effect on Frank Cox. You first had to believe that people would actually go through the effort of insulting you for some reason, and while Frank had heard plenty of slurs about her, she refused to believe that anyone actually believed them. People got upset and touchy about weird things, and Frank had just sort of learned to adjust.

slow down? Frank wasn't sure that was even possible, but if her new friend wanted it, then she'd do so. Or try. More like try. And likely fail. Miserably. "Red is a good choice," said Frank, purposefully speaking as slowly as possible. she grabbed a few different colors of red, which included pink for some reason, and brought them closer to Ellen. Since Frank had resolved to at least talk slower for the next few seconds, that meant that Ellen actually managed to get a few words in edgewise.

"I'm actually pretty caught up on my studies," she said, shrugging. As caught up as she needed to be, at any rate. "And I totally practiced already. Nope, I cleared a big hole in my schedule just for you!" she chirped and then turned to Ellen, holding up the red string and smiling from around it. "And everyone keeps saying that you're some kind of heinous bitch or something, but i figure that you just need a friend, and I love making friends with everybody!"

And she smiled, again extending the various red swatches of fabric, an obvious extension of the hand of friendship. Or something.

[Ellen Banks]

The very instant Frank dared to tap Ellen on the nose. Ellen grabbed the stupid girl’s arm twisted it behind her back and quickly tossed her out the nearby window leaving her to crash back down to earth in a giant Frank shaped hole full of skitties and friendship bracelets never to darken Ellen Banks doorway again.



If only.



No in fact, Ellen didn’t suddenly snap and throw this insanely irritating girl out of the window Even though there was certainly a large temptation to do just that) Ellen prided herself on being able to control her temper…but this…this woman, was testing her…



Oh my god! This girl couldn’t even take a hint when Ellen was making it clear that she didn’t want to talk to her, That Ellen just insulted her, What did Ellen need to do to get her point across? Violently shake her to and fro and scream in her face to get the hell out of Ellen’s room? Would it then sink in that Ellen could do without the pleasure of her company?



Ellen looked on with utter bemusement as Frank began to speak in a almost robotically slow voice. Ok, she was convinced this was a joke clearly Frank was playing some kind of practical joke on Ellen in order to rile her up. That had to be the only explanation, no one could possibly be THIS moronic. “What..what are you doing-no I just meant…Never mind” Ellen sighed seeing that arguing with either a moron or merry prankster was fruitless.



“Oh joy, no you really shouldn’t have” Ellen said with no enthusiasm whatsoever at Frank revelation that she had a lot of time on her hands before emitting a dry little chuckle at the revelation that the general population of the school viewed her as some kind of monster. “I bet they do” It was almost sad in a way. They felt so afraid of her that they were perfectly fine with talking behind her back but when she was in the general area as them…no one had the guts to stand up to her. Perfect. Ellen had trained the school well.



Ellen looked down at the swatches blinking somewhat taken aback by this gesture before gingerly taking them not quite sure what they even were for “Look….have you ever considered the possibility that….maybe were not….ummmm compatible as friends?”

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

Frank did sort of recognize the lack of enthusiasm. She didn't seem to understand the reason for it; either that or she just dismissed it out of hand. Hard to tell with Frank. "You just need to get into it. It's much more fun when you're actually making the bracelets instead of talking about them. And don't worry about what they say, unless you want them to say that, in that case, go you! You're a heinous bitch! Woot!" She did a little arm thrust. What? Sometimes people wanted to be known as the heinous bitch that dominated the school. Ellen certainly qualified as one of those type of people, that much was certain.

Frank waited (im)patiently while Ellen looked at the swatches, eventually taking one. She heard the question, but no sooner had Ellen said it then Frank was waving a hand and blowing out a raspberry. "Everyone's compatible for friendship," she said. "Seriously, have you, like, never watched a cartoon before? That's what a whole bunch of them are like. We need friends and stuff," Frank picked up a few swatches herself, holding them up to sort of look at Ellen. "Oh, right, you should be picking ones that I like, which is pretty much all of them. Oh, did you want to eat something? Sorry, my brain's always stuck on eat; kinda my power," she reached into her pocket to pull out candy, taking another large bite, obviously enjoying the nomming of said foods. She managed to talk around them without garbling a word:

"Besides, we're totally compatible. I'm a girl; you're a girl. I'm rich; you're rich. We're both mutants," frank shrugged. "Seriously though: I'm, like, friends with everybody. everyone's compatible. Wait, I totally said that already, didn't I?" she giggled and sighed, moving to work at the bracelets, weaving the swatches with uncanny skill, clearly well practiced in the art of grade school craft making.

[Ellen Banks]

This was something Ellen doesn’t really get the concept of. Why actually make something when it was far easier to have things done for her. Ellen was quite a busy woman, with a lot of important business that required her attention. She neither had the passion for it nor the inclination to get started on such childish endeavours. So if she wanted a friendship bracelet(Why she could possibly want something so childish, was beyond her) she could buy thousands and thousands if she so choose, and if it must have been homemade she could always make someone make her one. S she had no desire to try and do work if she could avoid it. “I never care about people say Frank, If I could care less about the opinions of the envious I assure you I would” Ellen told Frank calmly neglecting to mention she didn’t know if she should be pleased that Ellen recognized her reputation or wringing her stupid neck for daring to speak to her with such distaste



She would have hoped that Ellen’s little question would have brought Ellen’s and Frank’s clear and pronounced differences to the way they lived their collective lives. Clearly that was to no avail. She was a stubborn one wasn’t she? “I don’t watch Cartoons. I’m not a child and I’m perfectly capable of being on my own. I don’t need people. ” Ellen said simply, vocalizing her utmost beliefs and with a roll of her eyes reluctantly picked out a swatch. “Ummmm….let’s say bring pink. You strike me as someone who enjoys bright colors” Ellen said picking out the brightest colors on offer., it was best to humour her just so they can get this over with.



“Everyone’s compactable huh? Ellen said not looking up from the swathes “That’s something that can be argued” Ellen muttered, she believed hold heatedly disagreeing with that statement, of course everyone isn’t compatible. Ellen could hardly walk into the street and make nice with a disgusting homeless beggar, Nor did she want to. She had standards after all.



“Are we having fun yet?” Ellen signed as she slowly began to work on the bracelet she had no interest in

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

"Sure you do; everyone says they don't care what people are saying, but they, like, still get mad when Dirty Laundry's all 'you're a big, fat slut' or something. We've got those emotions and junk," said Frank, somehow managing to sound at least passably wise, which was probably a complete fluke that we shouldn't linger upon much, especially as she was already sorting through different fabrics and moving to make a bracelet for Ellen that even Frank had to realize the other girl was likely to just throw away as soon as Frank let her alone.

She did giggle at Ellen's next bit, moving to bump her hip against the other girl. "I didn't say you did now; i totally know that most people grow out of cartoons, which is stuuuuupid, 'cuz they're awesome. But surely your parents let you watch them or something? Or maybe read fairy tales or something? that's what my parents---well, my butler did most of that stuff, but you know how it is," she shrugged. Frank rarely actually talked about her home life, but she figured that if anyone would know about it, it was definitely Ellen Banks. "And there you go with the whole 'don't need people' of course you do! Everyone needs---ooh, pink is awesome! And so is that one, and that one, and that one!" she pointed at various colors that Ellen had selected, confirming the other girl's suspicions that Frank indeed preferred bright, almost neon colors.

Frank mostly ignored the compatibility comment, not because she didn't hear or didn't have something to say about it, but because the next comment got Frank to let out a little whoop. "Yes! That's the ticket! Isn't it fun to do stuff like this? And you totally get something out of it that you can show to people that will look so pretty and let people know that you so have friends who you are totally tight with and junk," said Frank, nodding. "It might get people to leave you alone a little more, because then they'll be all like 'oh, she's got some friends already,'" and Frank was nodding, as if Ellen couldn't possibly argue with the knowledge. "Careful though, you'll make it a mess if you're not steady, like this," Frank demonstrated with her own project, weaving it slower than she'd been doing, but still with the same quality she always demonstrated.

[Ellen Banks]

Showing someone that their actions had a emotional effect on you was the beginning of weakness, that was the rule in which Ellen Banks lived her life by. If you let people know what an effect their words had on you, they had power over you, say for instant if Frank was deliberately trying to get under Ellen Banks pampered delicate skin (Which Ellen was starting to suspect that was the case) Then if Ellen showed her desire to lean forward and strangle this oh so irritating child, then she would know that her attempts were getting to her and thus would only be encouraged her, Well ellen wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction, no sir. She was going to do exactly what you should do when you’re confronted by attention seeking behaviour. Ignore it. Ignore it until the person realized that it was going them no where.



Ellen rolled her eyes at Frank mentioning dirty Laundry and stumbled just a little as she bumped into her “Please. Like I would pay any heed someone spreading rumours and slinging mud, Someone so pathetic” Ellen muttered gripping her fabrics just a little too tight, it was clear to all that she was indeed enraged by what the blog said about her, but she prefers to keep those emotions bottled up, or at least until it could be effectively be expelled. “What about you? You don’t strike me as someone who gets mad easily.



So Frank, had a butler. Did she tell Ellen this to impress her? Like she was meant be awed by this? If so she was quite mistaken, no it was true that the Banks didn’t have a butler because unlike some people her family believed in hard work, of doing things for themselves sure Ellen was pampered it was true but she didn’t mean she wasn’t handed her good grades and reputations on a place, she had to work to get the social standing she did, and oh how Ellen pitied that poor butler having to wait hand and foot on Frank. She would imagine he would have quite a lot of horror stories to tell. “I was only allowed an hour of TV a day Hour and a half if I was good and I didn’t need stories to be read to me I read them myself. ” Ellen said with no small amount of pride in her voice at how independent she was at an early age. She didn’t see anything wrong with the manner she was brought up in, why would she? She was grateful for the life her father provided her and would personally thank him for standing back and letting Ellen learn these things on her own. “Why I’m I not surprised…” Ellen sighed as she handed Frank the fabrics.



She had to admit, Frank could easily convince herself of anything couldn’t she? have even a rather flawed and nonsensically point like that, even if she were to believe what Frank just said. she didn’t want people in general to avoid her, if people stopped hanging out with her, then how would she keep herself entertained? She just wanted Frank to leave her alone, and in fact Ellen was pretty much done with Frank, if she wouldn’t leave on her own maybe she could be persuaded…



With a plan forming in her head she pretended to observe what Frank was showing her and following accordingly, before suddenly blinking rapidly in pain and grimacing “Ah…Frank, can you come here and check if something is in my eye I think some dust got into it or something

[Frank "Sunny" Laffont]

"You keep saaaaaying that, but you don't really mean it. You probably want to be prom queen and have people respect you and stuff, which I guess doesn't really mean that you care about what they're saying, but you do want them to think a certain way about you or not think about you or--- me? Nope, I don't get mad at anything," said Frank. She shrugged. "It just seems like too much work, really. Plus it's super hard for me to do."

It really was, always had been for Frank. She'd found it much easier to be nicer and more vivacious just in general. People liked you more that way and things were just easier all the way around. Frank certainly thought that she had a pretty good life, at least when she stopped to think about things like that. It certainly sounded like it might have been a better one than Ellen got.

"Only an hour and a half? And you had to read stuff yourself? that sounds just awful! There's a lot of stuff to catch up on now, but thankfully you've got a friend who knows just what's awesome and you should be looking at and stuff. Oh, and you're supposed to use that fabric to make a bracelet for me! It should look like this!" she held her own almost finished creation up for Ellen to examine. It actually looked well done since, well, Frank was something of an expert at doing this sort of thing. But it still was very much a woven bracelet made out of fabric, albeit expensive, specially made fabric, since Frank knew that Ellen wouldn't want anything but the best. Most of the basic was filled with the best stuff that Frank could think of and buy.

"What? Sure thing, bestest best friend! Whatever you need!" Frank dropped her bracelet and leaned over, reaching up to begin grabbing Ellen's face to twist the other girl into a position where Frank could better look. This did mean that Frank would soon be attempting to stretch out Ellen's eyes just a little...