Call me. Maybe? (Aiden)

[Dusty Fae]

Dusty stared at the wall of mobile phones on the wall. She needed to but one. She knew it would be useful if she had one here at school. And since she has no immediate plans to leave Trenale after she was fine with school then it was about time for her to get a phone. The problem was that she just didn't know what kind of phone she should get. There was a whole wall of phones. They were each slightly different in size and shape and color. And there were a whole wall of cases for them. And to make matters worse, there was no sales person in sight.

So there Dusty was, feeling smaller and smaller by the minute as she stared at the towering wall of mobile phones. She has not prepared for how overwhelmed she would be.

[Aiden Mumble]

Did anybody actual work here? Aiden couldn't be sure. She'd been leaning against the sales counter for close to twenty minutes now and her patience was running thin. She tapped her finger loudly on the wooden counter, her broken phone just beside it. Her mother had called again asking how she was doing and if she'd sung in public yet and how great it felt and blah blah blah. It was all Aiden could do to remain curious and civil, but her phone did not receive the same love and care. She loved her mother and she didn't want to hurt her. It tore her up that she couldn't make her parent's proud. Between that guilt and the buildup from saying "No mom" and "I'll do it soon I promise," its really a wonder only her screen got busted when she chucked it against the wall.

Picking her phone back up in shame she imminently realized she could hardly last a day without it. She rushed to the store as soon as possible, only to find it basically abandoned. Only one other person had appeared since she’d be waiting. A girl who had been staring at her options for a little too long in Aiden’s mind. She looked as though she’d never seen a cell phone in her life. Then it occurred to her. This was a magical school, she very well could have never seen a cell phone in her life.

Aiden stopped tapping her finger.

”Uhhh” She began awkwardly. ”Are you lost?” She tried. That wasn’t exactly what she wanted to say, but she didn’t want to offer help in picking one out and get mistaken for working there.

[Dusty Fae]

Dusty hardly even knew that anyone was in the store with her, so hard was her concentration on the task at hand. She looked over at the girl when she spoke. "Kind of?" she hazarded as a response. "I'm trying to pick out a mobile phone but I didn't know where were so many choices." She bit her lip, unsure. "I don't know where to begin."

[Aiden Mumble]

Aiden couldn't hide a reaction to the girls accent. Her eyebrows raised and she tilted her head slightly. Where was this girl from exactly that she talked like that and acting so strangely about "mobile" phones. Who called them that anyway? Was this girl from outer space? Or perhaps back in time. It occurred to Aiden in that moment that, given the school she was attending, either of those were real actual possibilities.

Aiden regarded her, trying to get a better sense of how to proceed. To be honest Aiden didn't usually start casual conversations. One might mistake her for quiet until they asked her for her opinion on almost anything. Was this an act? Was this girl really just some lost little southern belle? Aiden was always looking for a trap. This would be easier if it was a trap, then she could put her defenses up instead of awkwardly trying to help an innocent stranger. Well, she'd started this mess, she might as well see it through.

"Well..." she said "Don't get this one." She held up her shattered smartphone. "You throw it at one wall and that's it, it's done for." She finished. It was a lame attempt at being funny at best.

[Dusty Fae]

Dusty very nearly hopped from foot to foot in her anxiety over the silly little telephones that she wouldn't even be able to use. She stopped herself though, holding in the urge to fidget. Grown up ladies didn't fidget after all.

Dusty looked at the phone in the girls hand. She was surprised that it wasn't even more damaged. "Why would you throw it at the wall?" she asked confused. If you bought a phone then what was the point in ruining it?

[Aiden Mumble]

Either she was making this girl nervous, or she was naturally jumpy. Aiden hoped the later. Aiden didn't mind making people nervous, normally, but this girl seemed genuinely sweet. Aiden wasn't in the business of bothering people that didn't deserve it. Still, it would be weirder to try and end the conversation now. Especially since neither of them had been helped.

"I didn't do it on purpose!" she shot back, instinctively. "Well, I mean..." she fumbled. "I threw it at the wall on purpose, but I didn't mean for it to break, I guess I didn't think..." damn, small talk was hard. "It was just something my mom said, you know how they can be." she said with a small attempt at an apologetic smile. She wasn't sure why she needed to defend herself at all. It was like this girl put out such a aura of innocence that Aiden felt like a rotten criminal by comparison. Maybe it was just the accent and stereotyping.

Aiden set her broken phone back on the counter and glanced behind it, hoping that aannnyyy second now someone would come out and save her from herself.

[Dusty Fae]

Dusty blinked in surprise when the girl shot back at her with force. But then she backed off immediately and Dusty didn't know what to do with this. Her explanation left something to be desired though. The mention of knowing how mothers were made Dusty pale slightly. Though she already looked plenty pale with all the black she was wearing. "Oh," she said softly. "I'm not sure I do. My momma never really had many rules or expectations. Except that I had to do more with my life than she had some with hers. But I'm sure my momma was quite a bit different than yours."

[Aiden Mumble]

"My momma was..."

Oh no. Oh no it couldn't be that her mother had... no, She might just be referring to her childhood, right? That's at least what Aiden had supposed by the first half of her response. That half was normal, but it still made her feel like shit. Something about the way she was saying it paired with the the fact that Aiden could not relate. Not to make her mother sounds like the was strict by any means, but she did have a lot of expectations. Her father did too. Such was what was tear Aiden from the seams. What a silly thing to let rule your life with this girl...

Her mother had died, hadn't she? Aiden noticed her black outfit and suddenly thought it wasn't just a fashion choice. Did people still wear black after a funeral? Perhaps she had even just come from a funeral. She came from a funeral to buy a phone. Well, OK, that seemed unlikely, but grief makes a lot of people do weird things. Maybe she was just looking for something to do. Don't call Aiden a detective yet, but she was suspicious that this girl had never had a cell phone before. Hey, some parents didn't like their kids to have one for a long time. This one seemed at bit old to have never owned a phone, but, again, who knows where she was from.

"Oh hey, I'm sorry..." Aiden began, gently. She figured even if her mom hadn't passed away she'd hit some sort of sore spot. Being gentle wasn't Aiden's forte, but she gave it her best shot anyway. Aiden looked at the ground for a moment, searching for the right thing to say.

"Listen, I can help with this." Aiden said, finally. She was gesturing to the wall of phones. She figured she should probably change the subject. "Lets just say this isn't the first phone I've broken, so I'm pretty much an expert on their options." she said with a sheepish smirk.

"I'm Aiden, by the way." she added as an afterthought.

[Dusty Fae]

Dusty was not gonna cry. She wasn't. No matter what happened, she wouldn't cry. Maybe when she got back to her room, but not here in the middle of the shop. It was fine. She was fine. She could talk about her momma without crying. It would be fine. She could will herself not to cry. "It's fine," she assured the other girl. And it would be fine in time. Dusty could be sure of that.

"I would be grateful for your help," she breathed out in relief. She couldn't just stand and stare at the wall of phones anymore. She had to pick one out and buy one. "I think it's clear that I'm a little over my head."

She smiled. "I'm Dusty."

[Aiden Mumble]

Aiden exhaled along with her new acquaintance, happy to feel the conversation shifting into a more neutral zone. Aiden had been at this school for a decent amount of time now, but she hadn't done much socializing. Most of her time was spent rehearsing in secret, or finding somewhere to be alone and read. She'd met her fair stair of people, but she'd really only built any kind of a relationship with one, and he was gone. Everyone else she either hated, or had taken to bed and chosen not to speak to ever again. None of them were anything like Dusty, except for, perhaps, she was as pretty as some of them. Still, this wasn't the time or place to be hitting on anyone. Not to mention she'd just made this girl think of her possibly dead mother.

Focus Aiden.

Her name was Dusty. Aiden had to crack a small smile in spite of herself. That was possibly the most western name Aiden could think of. She wondered if perhaps it was a nickname, or if she was just a country singer. Shake it off, Aiden, she didn't to be told she had a weird name after you almost made her cry. Try not to be a monster for once. She thought.

"Right." Aiden began. "Ok. So. No offense, but you don't like you've ever had a cell phone before." She said, trying to keep her tone light instead of just plain rude. "We should probably try something simple. What do you want to be able to do? Just calls? Texting? Normal stuff like that?" Aiden abandoned her phone on the counter and stepped closer to Dusty and the wall. She furrowed her brow, reading the labels and searching for what might be a good fit. "Any specific colors you like?" She added, trying to narrow it down. Having a task to do was making talking a whole lot easier.

[Dusty Fae]

Dusty shrugged. Aiden certainly weren't wrong about that. She hadn't ever had a cell phone before. She made a face, slightly embarrassed by this. "The telephone ain't even invented yet back home," she admitted. "So I've never even used a telephone." It seemed like everyone else at this school knew how to use the technology and she was the only one who was left behind.

Dusty nodded. "Simple is good," she confirmed. Then she looked worried. "What's normal?" she had never even heard of texting. What did that even mean? What did that do? "I like the color blue, but color ain't that important." Apparently what was important was other things like texting and normal stuff, whatever those things were. Perhaps she should have done a bit more research before she bought one.

[Aiden Mumble]

Jesus. Phones weren't even invented where she was from? Aiden tried to conceive of a place back home that was like that, but she couldn't manage. This place was insane, she might as well stop being shocked every time someone said something slightly psycho. Crazy as it was, she was probably straight out of the past. That would explain her clothing choices if she was "in mourning" or something. Aiden felt another pang of pity.

Aiden furrowed her brow, concerned when Dusty started to panic. Normal? Where all the words she just said that foreign? Well, of course they were, she'd just said phones hadn't even been invented yet where she was from. Ok. Be patient Aiden. You can't help this poor girl out.

"We'll stick with Calls and Texts then, that's pretty normal." she explained, pulling one of the display phones off the wall. It was a flip phone. She didn't even know stores still carried these. They appeared to be mostly marketed toward old people. Dusty was probably, technically, an old person, right? Also it came in dark blue, which was a bonus.

"Ok, lets try this one." Aiden said, showing her how to flip it open. "It turns on like this...and you press these numbers to call someone" She continued.

"Can I help you?" a voice came from behind the counter at last. Thank God. Aiden had half a mind to spin around and yell at him, but she was truly afraid she might frighten Dusty. So, instead, she shot a glare in his direction. Then she sigh and offered the phone to Dusty. "You should get this one." she said. "I already added my number in there, if you get confused or you need something, you can call or whatever." she said, honestly. She was a little worried about Dusty surviving out there in the world. This school wasn't exactly known for it's safety.

[Dusty Fae]

Dusty nodded, glad that someone else was taking the lead and telling her what to get. That was much more helpful really, even if she didn't know what texting was. She would figure it out. Maybe she could ask someone. Maybe they had someone at the school who would help her. Maybe someone was in charge of helping students who didn't know the technology.

Dusty watched carefully when Aiden showed her the buttons to push if she needed to make a phone call. That was interesting. It didn't seem very practical but that was alright. She'd figure it out. Dusty took the phone, turning it over in her hands. "Alright. I can do that." She wouldn't know how to find Aiden's contact information if she really needed it, but she could try anyway. "Thank you for the help. I'm real grateful."

Feeling a bit triumphant Dusty walked up to the counter with the cell phone in hand. "I'd like to buy this one, please." She fished out her leather wallet from back home. Then she carried her new phone out of the store. She waved to Aiden as she left. "See you around."