Mutatio

Angie and I had been so hyper this morning that we decided to grab the largest piece of poster board we could find and plaster Lor's name on it. It's not like we wouldn't recognise her when she got out, but we thought it might make her feel a little more welcome.

I was wong. We didn't recognise Lor when she left the airport. Her skin looked gray, her hair flat, dull and lifeless. Her eyes looked like those of someone who has seen to much in their life, dark circles from lack of sleep clinging to them. There was the smallest of scars in the left corner of her mouth as the only evidence of the expirience that led to this all. To hide the scars on her wrists (despite the fact that it was mind-June and around 85 degrees) she wore thick sleeves tha connected to her ring fingers. If we didn't recognise Melanie, we might hae left her at the airport.

I was shocked, but I wasn't famous for nothing, so in less than a blink of an eye I was greeting Lor like nothing had happened (meaning a glomp and "OMG Lor, I can;t wait to introduce you to everyone!"). Angie wasn't half bad either and locked her arms around Lor's neck. I remember when we were all normal teenagers high-school was hell, but this was worse.

We couldn't be together everyday back then, so Lor got lonely. Angie, who now acted as my personal assistant while she was training to be a chef, was always with me, but Lor was alone. We could have prevented this whole disaster without fame. Damit, I lost my train of thought.

Lor smiled at us, a painfully controled expression, and listened as we rambled on, knowing she probably wouldn't want to talk for a while.

"What should we do first?" Angie cheered.

"Let's meet the natives!" I cried and grabbed my friends, draggin them to the nearest Starbucks.

"Ewwww..." Angie whined. I explained to Angie that one must have sustinence when meeting such people.

Lor took out her iPod and plugged a headphone in her ear. I tried to ignore it, but I couldn't help glancing at her hollow, gray eyes. They'd been blue once, but not that I thought about it, they hadn't always been that way. There wa an entire year where they were just as lifeless, just as hollow. It was two years ago, 7th grade, the year when her parents got divorced.

"Where are we gojng, Ash?"

Oh, right. We're going somewhere. "I'm taking you two to met my cast members."

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The studio was large, with at least ten elaborate sets built for different scenes.

"And this, mine friendies, is the piece de resistance."

The set in front of us was a large, ornate bedroom. The bed was small, twin sized, and was covered by a very large patchwork quilt. There was a small closet (fully stocked with moth-eaten clothing) witha full-length mirror haning on the door. Complete with my own personal bathroom, this was my favorite set. Sure I'd rather be staying in the 'dorm' with queen-sized beds and walk-in closets.

Angie quickly made herself at home, sitting at the desk in the corner and flipping through the large stack of tetbooks. My character was a student at a boarding school (there weren't enough beds in the dorm, so I was in the infirmery) run by a corrupt government. The school was teaching us to burn the 'witches,' who were really just people with zits. Because of this, everyone was obsessive about their skin and wore makeup like it was clothing.

Lor ws looking around the room, head tilted slightly to the side and moving robotically. Her eyes may be open, but she really didn't see.

"Hey, Ashley! I didn't know you were coming in today." called a male voice from behind us. I turned to see one of my co-stars, Phil. We called him Philly for no real reason.

"Philly!" I cried and briefly hugged my friend. Angie coughed suggstively and Lor glanced back atus before continuing to ignore us.

--------------> Lor's POV

After meeting a few of Ashley's natives, we said goodbye and piled into the car. I saw Ashley and Angie's motuhs moving, but 'Sonne' by Ramstein was blasting in my ears.

Eins, hier kommt die Sonne
Zwei, hier kommt die Sonne
Drei, Sie ist der hellste, stern von allen,
Vier, hier kommt die Sonne.

"Lor?" I blinked and looked up to see my concerned friends standing over me. I hadn't noticed we'd stopped. "We're here."

"Oh..." I mumbled and got out of the car. Ashley and Angie helped me bring all of my luggage up to my room, which was just as dark as I'd expected it to be. I liked it.

"We thought you'd like it." Angie said, beaming at me.

"Yup. ^.^ There's a webcam on the computer so you can talk to your family and actually see them."

I nodded, managing a small smile. "Thanks guys. It means a lot." I heasitated. "Do we have any sushi?"

They glanced at eachother, beaming. I didn't know what was happening until they hit me. Literaly. Well, perhpas glomped is a better word.

"Aww, such a cute little commoner!"

"You can have all the fancy tuna you want!"

"Yeah yeah, fancy tuna and all that. Now, would you guys mind leaving me alone for a few minutes? I want to get out of my travel clothes."

Angie and Ashley gigled before pushing me over and leaving. I smiled to myself. I missed having my frends around all the time.