[Joy & Sadness] That moment when you want to say 'please stop invoking Murphy's Law...'

[isadrag]

Joy may not have actually asked 'what could happen' when they got that new console installed, but if there was one thing they all had learned by that point, it was that if something can go wrong, it's probably going to.

That's what they were for though, right? To help Riley through any troubles she went through in her life.

Unfortunately, it's something completely different when the trouble is history repeating itself - this time, however, Sadness wakes up one morning to find herself... not in her room. Not even in Headquarters. ... And nowhere in the Mind World. Instead, she was lying on something rather soft, and green, and leafy...

Grass. She was lying on grass. But grass didn't exist in the Mind World! She slowly tried to sit herself up, if only to try and see where she was... and saw a building in front of her. With multiple kids staring at her from in front of it.

The sign read something about a Middle School.

School. In the human world. With actual people staring at her. Staring down at her hands, they were still blue... and she was still wearing her sweater... but she was human-sized too?

Whatever the kids were thinking, they started covering their mouths and giggling, which caused Sadness to back away a little, putting her hands together and lowering her head a bit. They thought she looked funny, didn't they? Oh, this is bad... This is so, so bad...

Was this really a dream? Or was it reality? Were any of the others here? What was going on...?

Comments

[isadrag]

Trying to ignore the laughter (with minimal success), Sadness tries her best to remember. The first class would be... homeroom, right...?

"I think so," she whispers back. "We're going the right way."

[letssaveourgirl]

Okay!

And the other kids could laugh all the wanted, but they won't bring Joy down! Tugging Sadness along with her, she moves down the hallway a little further.

Oh, that's right! This does look right. Okay. "Here we go!" she says. What can possibly go wrong?

dangit joy, stop invoking murphy's law! XD

[isadrag]

Sadness sure wishes she had the same level of confidence Joy has... because the laughing was unnerving her.

Even more so when they walk into Homeroom and are asked to take their seats alongside everyone else. Sadness knows how this is going to go... they're going to get called on for being new, aren't they? Do they know their names? Did they get put in the roster under different names...?

...She ends up hiding her face a little. She isn't sure she can handle the pressure.

XD

[letssaveourgirl]

Oh, why Joy can do this! It's a matter of being cheerful and upbeat, right? "I'm Joy!" she tells everyone. "And I'm very glad to meet you all. I'm sure we'll all be good friends."

See? That's how it's done.

[isadrag]

That's how it's done... if you can be cheerful and upbeat. Sadness, however, is neither of those things.

But she forces herself to try. "Oh... um... h-hi... I'm... I'm Sadness..." She feels the pressure mounting on more and more as everyone looks from Joy to Sadness. "It's... it's nice... to meet... you all..."

Well, she made it through without crying or sniffling. That's an achievement, right? Right?? At the very least, the giggling seems to stop after that. A portion of the class seems to feel sorry for her now, if the looks they're giving her seem to indicate.

[letssaveourgirl]

Glass half-full, that means at least they aren't laughing?

They're both encouraged to take their seats and Joy does, giving Sadness what she hopes is an encouraging smile. Riley likes school - mostly. It'll be fine!

Until the class is told to take out their homework, which of course, Joy and Sadness don't have. Vocabulary words. Oh, boy.

[isadrag]

It does, and she tries to smile a little in return.

Thankfully, since they're new, the teacher helps the two of them out by giving them a list - apparently, the list of words everyone else was given a day ago. Of course, it also doesn't help the two of them weren't able to bring a writing utensil or any paper, but a nearby student was kind enough to offer them each a pencil.

[letssaveourgirl]

Okay! So, that's a start! The words aren't too difficult, thankfully. Joy catches her tongue between her teeth and writes slowly and carefully.

School is fun, isn't it?

[isadrag]

They're almost no trouble at all for Sadness, who learned a lot thanks to reading the manuals. She'd be lying if she didn't say that it's kinda fun to learn, both then and now.

But this is only the beginning of a normal day at school.

[letssaveourgirl]

It is. After vocabulary comes math.

Math! With one right or wrong answer. Isn't it nice that it's that simple? That straightforward?

Joy lets out a happy sound as she solves a division problem. Look at that. She nudges Sadness's shoulder. "Math is fun!"

"No talking!" she's told.

Oh. Oops.

I'm loving their dynamics for school so far XD

[isadrag]

Straightforward is good. Either you're right, or you're wrong. There's not really an 'almost' in math.

Sadness keeps to herself for the most part when solving problems, only looking over to Joy momentarily when she's nudged, and smiling a little. Otherwise, she's usually mostly focused on her own paper, working out the problem slowly, but feeling alright about her answers.

Hee! It's cute.

[letssaveourgirl]

Look at that! A very nicely completed page of math problems.

It feels strange, really, though. Joy looks around, taking in all the other students and how they interact, how they're all either working or not working. How many times did they see something like this in Headquarters? Joy never really thought about it. But now here they are, and there is really no way to account for the ... well how noisy it is and how strange it feels.

[isadrag]

Finishing her own page of problems, Sadness neatly sets her pencil on top of her paper, and, seeing Joy look around, decides to do the same. It's strange, being out here like this... in a way, it's almost like being inside of a movie. After all, their world wasn't this world. The Mind World may as well have been their 'real world', compared to the world Riley lived in, even though it was just as real as theirs was.

And yet... Sadness couldn't help but feel a little lost. This was like a day in the life of Riley, outside of her head... but it felt far different than she'd ever imagined.

She leans over to try and whisper to Joy. "I haven't seen Riley so far... Do you think we should check out the city after school if we still don't see her...?" Sure, they shouldn't tell Riley anything if they find her, but... if they did, Sadness would want to make sure she's okay...

[letssaveourgirl]

(whee!)

If they did see Riley, what would that even mean? Were they fired or something? Did they do something wrong? How did they even come to be outside of Riley's head?

"I don't know," Joy whispers back. And boy does that make her feel uncomfortable to say. But she just ... really doesn't know. People just don't get whole new emotions ... do they?

/immediately posted that to plurk! EXCITE!

[isadrag]

Sadness stays silent for a moment while she... contemplates what her words probably meant to Joy. She frowns and puts a hand on Joy's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Joy... I don't mean to bring you down with me..."

:D

[letssaveourgirl]

"No, Sadness, it's okay," Joy says, reaching up to squeeze the hand on her shoulder. "We'll figure it out. Together."

That's one thing they've learned, right? It's much better to do things as a team.

[isadrag]

She nods slowly, perking up a little. "Yeah. Together." It was always better to do things as a team. And even if it was just the two of them for now, they made a great team.

Of course there were other classes to worry about, but the one Sadness knew she would like the least was coming up. Gym. That was going to be... well, interesting. She knew if nothing else she was anything but athletic, even here.

[letssaveourgirl]

Joy knows that they need gym clothes too. Which they don't have.

So, she tries to explain to the teacher that they are new and were not prepared. They're allowed to sit out on the bleachers, watching the other students play dodgeball. She'd forgotten how violent it is.

[isadrag]

Oh good, they don't have to participate! That's fine with her. She's more than happy to sit on the bleachers with Joy.

"It's nice to kinda see what it's like to be in Riley's shoes." She seems perfectly content with dodgeball. Probably because of her sympathizing with the ones that get hit with one. Do they really need to throw the balls with all of their strength...? Fear would have a field day here.

[letssaveourgirl]

Anger would be so happy here, it wouldn't even be funny. Goodness.

Joy winces each time someone gets hit. Riley is tough, it's true, having played hockey, but still.

[isadrag]

At least during hockey you don't have to worry about getting hit in the chest or face with a ball.

After a while, even Sadness was covering her eyes before anyone got hit. It was a little much.

[letssaveourgirl]

"This is terrible," Joy whispers. How is this all right?! Who made this a game?! "If we have to come back tomorrow, we'll ... just ... not come to gym class."

[isadrag]

Sadness can't help trembling a little after watching so much of this. She just... nods in agreement, her voice lowered quite a bit. "Y-Yeah... n-no more of this..." So many kids getting hurt... this was sad. At least partially sad.

[letssaveourgirl]

It is with great relief that they are finally let out of gym class.

How was Riley not reduced to tears everyday? Terrible.

Joy grasps Sadness's hand. "It'll be all better now," she declares. "It's almost lunch time anyway."

go go headcanon on this XD

[isadrag]

Oh, thank goodness it was over. Sadness squeezes Joy's hand in response, and nods. "Lunch time..." They never had to eat all that much, but she remembers how bad Riley thinks lunchroom food is...

...Still, it has to be better than watching dodgeball. Or being laughed at by other kids... right? That's how she has to think. Or try to. She just... finds it so hard to be optimistic still.