One quiet Tuesday afternoon a small young woman with long dark hair walks into the coffee house. She's dressed in a blue and gray flowered 1950's style house dress, complete with petticoats to give the proper fluffy skirt, though the stitching around the hem is coming undone. She quietly, and without asking, posts a handwritten note on the bulletin board by the bathroom, amidst the advertisement for tarot readers and upcoming concerts. The note is written in a formal and spidery cursive, and reads:


Requested: Poetry
Suitable for an online poetry journal and/or modest chapbook. A small recompense is offered. Speak with Melina Petrova, or email at WhisperingPoet@poetryweb.net

(ooc:not a real email.)

The woman, presumably Melina, walks gracefully to the counter and orders a tea. After getting her tea, she sits at a small table and quietly watches the next table over, a group of high school girls reading tarot for one another.

 The gaggle of high school girls seem intent upon reading one girl's cards. She has black hair about shoulder length with bright red streaks, the manic panic not even days old. They all giggle as a blond flips cards completely butchering a Celtic cross spread.

"No way, the two of stars"

"Ooh, that means you'll get back with Reggie. I knew it"

"That's not how you do it, Sarah's so much better"

"Shut up," replying the girl being scrutinized with a jovial attitude.


The only other people in the place are all engrossed in reading or sketching. The afternoon crowd a bit more younger then later in the evenings. In the background you can hear the Legendary Pink Dots on the jukebox. There are a few rougher guys in a corner that seem to have been drinking for awhile, obviously the younger girls finding a place to hide have not escaped everyone's notice. They are dressed in leather jackets with a variety of punk band logo's badly stitched on.

The targeted girl at the next table stands intent upon yet another cup of coffee. She smiles as she passes, but turns around as if finding some courage.

"I love your outfit, its way cool," hoping she doesn't sound too retarded.

Melina smiles kindly, knowing full well the kind of courage it can take to speak with someone new.

"Thank you. You find the nicest things at thrift stores, don't you?" She says, her quiet voice barely audible over the music. "My name is Melina." She extends a delicate hand politely.

She keeps one eye on the guys in the corner, even as she's speaking with the girl. She doesn't like the look of them, and wants to be ready to step in between them and the younger girls before there's trouble, if she needs to.

 "You sure do," with a large smile. She had hoped she did not sound like her age, adolescence is tough for some and the shift for her was trying sometimes.

"My name is Brianna, though my friends all call me Brie. Do you read Tarot? My friends and I are trying, but we are not that good. I tried to read the book, but I get all mixed up on the cards. Staves, wands and towers all get sorta jumbled up especially when you have Algebra on the brain."

The younger men just seem to be talking in low voices occasionally broken by a look toward the younger females followed by some laughter. You do spot what looks like  some sort of gang patch they both are wearing, but from your angle its a bit hard to see.

Melina shakes her head slowly, "I'm afraid not. I've been known to read tea leaves a little, but," She pulls on the string attached to her tea bag, "you can really read this kind."

She stands up and looks down at the cards on the next table over, the cups and swords meaning nothing to her, and yet.. "I do love tarot cards, though. They're like little pictorial poems. So much meaning, wrapped up in one image that seems so simple." She smiles at the girls, "Perhaps, like poetry, sometimes what it actually means isn't nearly as important as what it says to you."

She glances at the corner, trying to read the patches on the young men's clothing from this new angle, while giving them the impression that these girls now have a chaperone.  

 The girls all look at you as if you had somehow given them leave to do exactly what they had been doing as if it were right.

"I told you I felt something"

"Not uh, its like that Ouija board"

"I know it was weird"

Brie smiles and shakes her head, she had always known these girls and was only beginning to realize she did not quite 'fit in'. She had known them for so long they would end up staying friends, but she could feel they did not share her likes and desires. "Thanks Melina, would you like another cup of tea? I'm getting a cup of coffee anyways and my folk's are real generous when it comes to studying," with an impish smile clearly implying that studying was not on the curriculum today.

Your vantage does indeed afford you a clearer look at their patch. It looks red with a black circle and an X through it. It looks home made and doesn't strike you as any band you had ever heard of. One of them makes toward the restroom while the other heads toward the counter. His eyes upon Brie, they have a look that betrays more interest then it would seem especially to one that is a bit older and a bit more wise.

Melina worriedly glances at the trouble headed Brie's way. She recognizes the sign on the man's jacket from various graffiti around her basement apartment in the slums. This is bad news.

She smiles at her new friend "I'd love some tea. Do you mind if I walk up with you? I can never quite decide how much cream until I'm pouring it." A flimsy excuse, to be sure, since Melina never used cream or sugar. But she was hoping Brie wasn't that talented a detective.

She smooths her skirt and waits for Brie to start towards the counter.

 "Sure," in an excited manner. She had always enjoyed her friends and Melina seemed way cool. She hoped she came here regularly, she would be in here a lot if that was the case. She turns and starts toward the counter with Melina by her side.

The man in the jacket stops abruptly, he had thought she would be alone. He knew his chances would be slim with the other woman with her. He glances at the jukebox as if that was what he had come over before, but you can see his sidelong glance that confirms your suspicions.

You both approach the counter as the younger man that helped you earlier comes over. "What can I get for you?"

The door to the restroom opens "Yo Bro lets jet, I got beer at my place and I gotta get back or Lindsey will chew my ass."

The man at the jukebox nods and the two head toward the exit doors, passing you both on their way out.

She lets out a sigh of relief upon seeing the men turn to leave. As they pass, she whispers under her breath "Angel full of kindness, do you know hatred?" but by the time she and Brie are at the counter, she's smiling as she orders her tea.

She walks over to the cream pitcher, lifts it up, then sets it back down. Turning back to Brie, she says "No cream today, I think." She walks back to the table and sits down.

Once Brie returns, she says quietly "I think I have to go once I finish this cup, if you ladies don't mind. But perhaps we could meet here again?"

 "That would be great. I hear there Poetry night is really cool," Brie says in an almost too excited way.

"It was great meeting you Melina, and hope you have a great day," as she realizes she might want to hang out again. Maybe next time she will try and come alone, she was older anyway. Six months is an eternity at their age.

"Great getting to meet you"

"I told you she was cool"

"No you didn't, hey stop kicking me"

From the gabbling girls around the table, their thoughts often ten miles away from their heads. They quickly begin to look back at the cards with a 'do me next' coming shortly after. You can see that Brie just doesn't fit with the rest and she knows it. It can be read on her face, her attention on you instead of the madness that is right next to her.

"Agreed, I'd love to attend some of the poetry nights here. I'm sure I'll see you there, if you can make it on a school night. It was a pleasure meeting you, ladies." She finishes her tea and walks to the door.

About halfway there she stops. If Brie is going to come back here, who's to say that those men won't be here again? On the other hand if Brie doesn't come back, both of them have just lost a potential friend. She turns around and walks back to the girls.

She leans over the table, and whispers "I really must go, but I wasn't sure if you all knew. There were some men in here earlier, and I do not believe they had good intentions. If you are going to be about town, please be careful about noticing the people around you. 'Four be the things I'm wiser to know: Idleness, sorrow, a friend and a foe.' as Mrs. Parker once wrote."

She stands up and says softly "I do hope we'll meet again." And with that she turns to leave, conscience satisfied, if not clear.  

--Last edited by Melina Petrova on 2009-02-16 11:40:57 --

 Brie smiles and nods, "I certainly will from now on, I appreciate the heads up." The others are far more interested in their cards to pay any attention to her, their thoughts lost into groupthink and boy craziness.

As you leave you notice that Brie still sits quietly, thinking about something. She seems lost in thought as if she were a million miles away.

Melina smiles as walks out the door. There's something special about that girl, She thinks. I'll have to find her again sometime. I wonder if she writes poetry...