Small Town Celebrities party log for Sept17-Oct6

[dirtyredneck]

The Redbright students clearly aren't getting enough homework if they have the time to start following their favorite members of supernatural society around for the chance at getting The Perfect Shot of them looking hot. It starts slow and small, for the first week, anyway. Just a random person pulling out their phone and taking a quick shot. Can't even be sure it was you they were photographing. By the five days in, though, they've started making a game of it. Groups of two and three going out together. Following people for a while. Having the audacity to wave when they're looked at. Some even invite their target to take a picture with them and their friends. (If you say yes to that, please do flex a little.)

Ratings on the website change on a day to day basis and currently both Redbright Professors and the Hillingdon Clan lists are the current most popular due to the territory change over and general familiarity with the groups.

Hans Estergaard had been reigning supreme as #1 in Hillingdon since he had the audacity to challenge Sylvia for her seat on the council. An unprecedented length of time! (It's like the students enjoy the idea of someone standing up to Sylvia, the person ultimately in charge of telling them what to do. Go figure.)

Most factions are getting more attention from these folks, though. They really have a lot of time on their hands.

[[ooc: post around like it's a party log. If you want an npc bothering you and want me to play them, put NPC request in the subject line.]]

Comments

OTA, in Barnet territory

[vampire_barbie_girl]

Caroline had first noticed them a few days ago, when she was out exploring the Haringey area, in her continuing efforts to get to know the city. At the time, she hadn't been sure if the group was taking pictures of her or just what was around her. And so she'd gone about her business and put them out of mind.

Then it happened again the next day, when she comes back to to check out a few interesting places she spotted earlier. It was a different group this time, but the same thing happened. She even lead them on a little chase, just to be sure they were really following her.

They really were.

It's almost enough to make her reconsider checking out Barnet next but she decided to go ahead and try it. And, of course, there they were again. This group even waved. Caroline declined to wave back, instead hurrying along her way, not quite watching where she was going.

[catphishing]

Oliver has not had this issue. One of the upsides of being normal. Of course, he's not immune to being run into by people trying to hurry by them without being disturbed. He winces at the impact, immediately stepping back with wide eyes so he's not in her space.

"Oh my god. I'm so sorry."

[vampire_barbie_girl]

"No," Caroline says quickly, "it was my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going. Sorry."

She glances back, just in time to see a flash going off in her direction. She makes a small noise of disgust, then turns back to the person she just nearly ran over. "Sorry, that wasn't directly at you." She sighs heavily. "I'm just having an odd night."

[catphishing]

"That's okay. I can't blame you for being distracted."

He can see the flash, and despite not being a target he's not oblivious to what's been going on. He could probably even do something about it, but revealing the extent of his ability to illegally hack things to a total stranger seems a bad idea. That doesn't mean he doesn't feel bad about her having to put up with it.

"They're jerks. They'll get bored of it."

[vampire_barbie_girl]

"Wait ... do you know what's going on?" It would be great to finally get an answer about that. And figure out where she could go to explore the city in peace.

[catphishing]

Oh. She doesn't know, does she? He falters, not especially wanting to be the one who explains it, but he's already made it obvious he gets it, hasn't he?

"Have you seen the website?" he asks, though he thinks he knows the answer to that already.

[vampire_barbie_girl]

There was a website. A website with pictures, presumably. Of her. This was not exactly reassuring information.

"No, I haven't," she says as she pulls out her phone. "What's the address?"

[catphishing]

He recites the address easily, glancing over at the group who are still hovering from a short distance. They're still taking pictures. He guesses he's going to end up on there after all.

"It's the Redbright kids," he says by way of explanation as he waits for the site to load and her to see it.

[vampire_barbie_girl]

Things are beginning to actually make sense, which is nice. If those are Redbright students, then they must be supernatural of some sort. Which also meant that they have figured out that she is too.

Finally the site loads on her phone. She stars at it for a moment, then laughs. "Okay, wow. These guys have too much free time on their hands." A website about supernatural hotties.

Actually, she realizes, it might be helpful for her to look at this thing. Then she'll know a few more of the supernatural faces around town.

[catphishing]

It's a relief when she reacts the way she does. He'd been expecting a less positive reaction, which it's not like he could blame her for. He smiles a little, the anxiety he'd been exuding while waiting for the page to load lessening.

"Right?" He glances over to where they're still gathered. "They'll have less of it as the year goes on."

[vampire_barbie_girl]

Caroline shakes her head, still amused. "Well, I'd hope the homework would kick in eventually."

She scrolls down the site a bit more. "So wait ... where am I on this list? Do I not rank, even after being chased around Haringey for two nights? That hardly seems fair."

[catphishing]

"No, look. Scroll down a little further."

He peers over at her screen, keeping a close eye on it until...

"There. See?"

She's definitely made the list.

[vampire_barbie_girl]

"Well, that's alright then." She looks at the page a bit more and realizes that they hadn't figure out what she was yet, apparently. Which was probably good, all things considered.

She puts the phone, then looks over at the guy who's been so helpful. "I'm Caroline, by the way," she says. "Do I want to ask why you know about this site?"

[goodgraces]

While returning from an in-home visit to one of the Redbright kids, her head filled with ideas for their next session, Guinevere paused to log a few notes into her phone. Stopped as she was in the middle of the pavement, she had to dodge quickly out of the way when a distracted pedestrian went rushing by.

Only after the woman passed did Gwen recognize her. Or, at least, she thought she did.

“Caroline? Is that you?” she called out while hurrying to catch up. “It is! How are you?”

They didn’t know each other well enough for hug, so Guinevere reached out to warmly grasp the other woman’s arm instead, leaning in slightly as she did.

As soon as she touched her, the gaggle of Redbright students across the street raised their phones in unison, excitedly snapping shots of the pair.

[vampire_barbie_girl]

"Gwen!" Caroline knew so few people in the city so far that it was a treat to see a familiar face. "I'm doing great, how are you?"

She was aware of the group taking pictures but she didn't actually look at them. Running away hadn't worked, maybe just ignoring them would. And if not, at least she'd get to see one friendly face tonight.

[goodgraces]

“I’m doing well. Busy, as always.” That was a simplification of things, but now wasn’t the time for a deep discussion. “In fact, I've just finished up a late visit with a student. What about you? Do you live around here?”

The group of Redbright stalkers was growing more excited. Some of them even began to move closer, getting bold as they vied for the best shot.

[vampire_barbie_girl]

"Oh, you're a teacher? That's pretty cool. I live in Hackney, so pretty close." Caroline paused, wondering if she'd just given out too much information. Oh well, if she had, there wasn't much she could do about it now.

"Do you have any idea what's going on with, uh ..?" She angled her head in the direction of her photographers slightly.

[goodgraces]

“Of a sort. More a specialized counsellor, really.”

Guinevere might have gone into a better explanation had Caroline not mentioned Hackney. That was vampire territory! A look of concern washed over her face as she tried to concoct the best way to warn the unsuspecting (so she believed) woman about the supernatural dangers lurking there.

But before words could form on her lips, Caroline asked about the group of kids across the way, which Gwen has been steadfastly ignoring.

“Um, what’s going on with…?” She turned to look in the direction indicated, trying to make sense of what was going on.

One of the young men, deciding to stand out by showing off, hollered at the women, “Now kiss!”

His two closest mates hooted and clapped. However, there was a notable shift in the three girls present, who were all now glaring at the loudmouth.

[vampire_barbie_girl]

Caroline isn't quite what a specialized counsellor would do but it sounds important. She'd ask more, if the group follower her hadn't gotten even more distracting.

"Yeeeeah," she said in her best unimpressed voice. "This is the third night they've followed me around. It's pretty annoying."

[goodgraces]

“They’ve been following you?!” Guinevere sounded incredulous—and disturbed. Annoying was a seriously understated description for three nights of harassment!

“What on earth for?” Was this a new way for teens to amuse themselves: playing at being paparazzi by photographing strangers?

She stared in distaste at the group of gawkers. There was something familiar about some of the kids, but seeing them in this context was throwing her off.

At least one of the boys seemed to recognize her as well. As Gwen scrutinized the group, a guilty look came over him. Trying to subtly fade from view, he slowly backed away to stand behind his friends.

[vampire_barbie_girl]

"I have no idea. The first time, there weren't as many of them but now, well ... just look at them." She glared at the group. She noticed one of the boys reacting to seeing Gwen. "Do you know them?" she asked, wondering if maybe they were some of the students she was counselling. She needed to find out what school they were from, what school Gwen worked at.

[goodgraces]

“I think I…might.”

And that was when it clicked. Yes! Yes, she did know them! Or, at least she recognized some of them. They weren’t students to whom she’d been assigned, but she had seen them around the institute grounds. All of them except…

“Dylan! Dylan Wright, is that you back there?”

Gwen moved toward the group, aiming to get a better look at the boy cowering behind it.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to hide from me.” Her voice was calm but tinged with concerned. “What are you doing out here? And on the night before your big test no less!”

Wide-eyed and heart pounding, Dylan opened his mouth but no sound came out. He really didn’t want to get in trouble with Miss Leodegrance (or worse, disappoint her). Finally, after a futile attempt to come up with a suitably workable excuse, he opted to follow the only reasonable course of action: run for it. Without bothering to say a word, Dylan Wright beat a hasty retreat, leaving his stunned companions behind.

[vampire_barbie_girl]

If Caroline had known Gwen could scare the group away, she would definitely have tried to get in touch with her again. Of course, only one had gone running so far. Caroline decided to wait and see if the rest would follow suit.

[goodgraces]

Guinevere was as shocked as anyone at the turn of events. She had only wanted to speak with Dylan, reason with him, not frighten him away. Their next session was definitely going to be an interesting one.

In the meantime…

She turned to look at the remaining Redbright students, who were now a bit uneasy, no longer confident in what they were doing.

The notable exception to this was the mouthpiece from earlier. Unmoved by his friend’s departure, he decided this would be a perfect time to make a play for Caroline.

“You’re right fit! You got a boyfriend, yeah?”

[vampire_barbie_girl]

Caroline rolled her eyes. "I only date men," she told him. "Boys aren't worth my time." She took a step forward, a predatory gleam in her eyes. She was still in control but it was time to take off the kid gloves - no pun intended. "Why don't you run along now. I'm sure it's past your bedtime."