03.2023 | WELCOME BACK! Hello friends old and new! I'm so excited to welcome you all back to SITW! I've made some changes to the plot and added the ability to play supernatural charcaters! So come and check it out! I can't wait to jump back into this little town with all of you!
A strange history surrounds the town, it is a place where mysterious and supernatural things have been known to happen. The reputation of the town reguarly draws in visitors and newcomers alike. While some residents avidly believe in the supernatural, others are far more skeptical. What do you believe?
For her senior project, Klara was working with Calliope on getting the plants started. She and Calliope were in the same class, and although they didn't know each other very well, the brunette felt like they got along quite well. Their shared love for plants definitely worked in their favor. That day, Klara had brought carrot seeds with her. It was still spring, so it was the perfect season to plant them, although they might not be finished growing by the time the other plants had.
The senior opened the door to the greenhouse and walked inside. She put her backpack to the side and looked at the open space. A smile appeared on her face when she saw that Callie was already there. Klara loved meeting new people, and she thought Calliope looked pretty cool. She was secretly hoping that this project would help them become friends. "Hey!" she said cheerfully. She opened her backpack to grab the carrot seeds and walked over to the other girl.
"How's it going?" Klara asked as she crouched down next to an empty dirt patch. It was the perfect place for the carrots.
Post by Calliope Bartlett on May 18, 2024 19:18:53 GMT
The plants for the community greenhouse project were coming along nicely, she tried to spend as much time tending to the plants as she could while on campus. That is, at least while her mind wasn’t preoccupied with some other things. Or rather; someone. It was difficult not to catch herself thinking of Jack. A grin slipped across her lips as she checked over her notes. It felt so positively scandalous to be thinking of her principal by his first name. To be recalling their fun encounters. She didn’t typically find herself getting attached when she played with older men, at least not since the first time… but Jack seemed different and it was still a touch confusing for her and-
Her thoughts were interrupted by another student joining her in the greenhouse. Calliope didn’t jump, but she did turn her head in the direction of the voice and offered a friendly smile. “Oh, hey Klara.” While Ms. Bartlett was a townie, and founding family member; she didn’t hang out with the typical ‘popular’ crowd. She did make a point of knowing names, especially of those joining the group project. She had only recently befriended Alexis Vanderson, and did notice more of those popular girls attempting to at least not openly ignore her anymore. Probably because of Alexis. Most of her time was spent on her studies, and growing projects… both at home, and the senior project. Oh, and her new internship with the town paper.
“It’s growing good,” She chuckled to herself at her very cheesy gardening pun, not even bothering to hide her slightly embarrassed blush. “Sorry, couldn’t help it.” Callie admitted with a cheeky grin as she gave a gentle sigh and looked around the greenhouse. Her long blonde hair was in two Dutch braids one on either side of her head, helping to keep her hair from getting in her way while working. She wore a pair of light wash denim overalls that were only slightly dirty, as she had been moving some of the more mature plants into larger pots before taking a break to make notes on where each different type of plants was in on their growing stages. “I think at the rate some of the plants are growing, we might need to see about moving up the timeline for transplanting… but, what do you think?”
Post by Klara McKinney on May 18, 2024 19:40:57 GMT
Klara wasn't one of the popular girls, or at least not in the traditional high school way. She was mostly known because she was nice to everyone and tried to make everyone feel comfortable and happy. She was a bit of a people pleaser. She had seen Callie around town as well, when she was out partying herself, although she probably partied a little differently or less frequently than Callie. Klara did like going out occasionally, but she much more preferred having a drink on the water tower or with a view from a tent on a hike.
The brunette laughed at Calliope's joke. "Don't apologise, it was a good one", she said, still chuckling a bit. "But the plants are indeed growing good." She put her hair up in a bun and put on some gardening gloves before digging into the dirt to make holes for the seeds. She looked up from the patch when Callie spoke again. "I have my truck, so I wouldn't mind driving two separate times, or even more if necessarily. We're moving them to yours, right?" Or at least a patch of land given to her by her father. Klara was a bit jealous of them having so much land. She lived with her parents, and while they had a nice house, they didn't have much land, so there was no space for Klara to have her own greenhouse or keep animals. She'd love to own a horse, and a cow. She then hesitated. "Has the process of building the greenhouse there already started? I'm sorry, I've been out of the loop, I can't remember." She had been focusing on other assignments and her mother's illness.
Post by Calliope Bartlett on May 18, 2024 20:25:19 GMT
The fact that not only did Klara find herself laughing at the pun, but even telling her it was a good one made Callie’s smile beam a touch more brightly. the only other person who appreciated her gardening puns was usually her younger sister Kota, and she had been a bit busy with her own things here lately. The only person she’d really laughed with lately, was West. And that wasn’t a ‘publicly acknowledged’ friendship. And part of her liked that, getting to keep West all to herself at times. She softly shook her head, she didn’t need to think about him or Jack right now. Though her stomach did feel a sort of flutter as she forced her attention back to Klara. “Oh, I’m glad you think so!”
While the two girls hadn’t spent much time hanging out in the traditional sense, she did think the other girl was good company. Lately more of Callie’s ‘friends’ from the party scene had been reaching out to her less. Not that she blamed them. When you used to party hard and nearly died and had to behave to appease your parents; it wasn’t easy to still find herself at the parties or even in the same circles. Which was just another reason why she was thankful for the greenhouse project and her internship… and whatever this thing with Jack Hollifield was.
“I mean, ‘technically’ the land belongs to the town. Grandfather made sure to leave it to the town under the stipulation that it be strictly used as a community greenhouse and garden space for anyone to enjoy.” She couldn’t help but smile as she spoke, recalling all the times her aunts and uncles shot the idea down simply because there was ‘no money to be made’ from it. But her grandfather wasn’t quite so greedy, and he told her that if she could get the people together to build the greenhouse, and grow the plants; he would offer the land. It was definitely a passion project of hers, and she was only thrilled to see it was already close to becoming a reality. Thanks largely in part to the school for agreeing to such a large senior group project and the awesome seniors who wanted to help, like Klara.
“I’m still working on passing out the fliers and getting volunteers’ information together to find out when the best time would be to start construction… I’m handy with a nail gun, but I draw the line as roofing.” Dark eyes sparkled with amusement as she gently shook her head and then raised a brow. “You don’t have to apologize, it’s all coming together and it’s going to turn out great. How about after you get those seeds planted, we canvas the town and see if we can drum up a few more volunteers?” She offered, knowing it would likely go much more enjoyably if she had company.
Post by Klara McKinney on May 18, 2024 22:59:41 GMT
Klara, who was only human, had unfairly judged Callie by her reputation the first time she had heard about her, but Callie had proved to be very different from other girls that partied hard and enjoyed going out. She wasn't a bitchy, popular girl. She actually seemed pretty down to earth, and she was way kinder than Klara had initially expected. She smiled at Calliope when she said she was glad she enjoyed the joke. The brunette had always loved a good play on words.
Klara, born and raised in Sweetwater, liked the Bartletts. As a child, she had often wished she had been born into their family. Living on luscious lands and owning farms sounded like the dream to her, but all she had was the greenhouse at school. And the cows, of course.
"Oh, I see", she said with a smile. "That's so generous of him!" She liked the jea of a community greenhouse. She was sure that she'd keep visiting it even after the school project.
She told Callie that she had been out of the loop, and the blonde kindly brought her up to date with the information about the progress. She laughed together with her, as she covered up the seeds in one of the holes. "My dad might be able to help, he built the shack in our backyard. I'd have to ask him, of course, but I can't imagine him saying no."
She covered another few holes while Callie spoke. Canvassing the town together sounded like fun. "Yeah, sure! Sounds like fun." She didn't have a lot of seeds to go anymore, so she'd plant those and water them, and they would be able to go.
When she was done, she got up from the ground and removed the gardening gloves. She wiped some loose earth off of her pants and looked back over at Calliope. "All done!" she said. "Do you want to go on foot, or take my car?"
Post by Calliope Bartlett on May 19, 2024 0:14:07 GMT
It wasn’t surprising to the young Ms. Bartlett for people to have her misunderstood. Afterall, she had made quite the name for herself at parties when she was younger. Something that truly embarrassed her now. Especially since she didn’t need the alcohol to have a good time anymore. And as for other party ‘goodies’… she didn’t partake. Though she did have her own rather impressive growing project from her large walk-in ‘closet’. But that was only known by a select trusted few. And her other… exploits; had been kept rather private due to her preference of older men. And while she might look like the typical spoiled ‘rich girl’, she definitely didn’t behave as such. Well, aside from maybe her ‘inappropriate’ interest in her principal… but Jack didn’t seem to mind.
“He’s one of the good ones.” Callie admitted with a smile. The girl adored her grandfather, aside from her parents; he was the only extended family member who didn’t continue to give her grief after her… indiscretions. “I’ve always thought a community garden or greenhouse would be a great way to help out our local families in need, while also giving anyone the opportunity to try their hand at tending to plants.” She wasn’t one bit shy about her love of working with plants. Even when she wasn’t scheduled, sometime she could be found helping out at her family’s orchards. She couldn’t help it, there was something so starting about tending to the land and getting to see something beautiful come of it.
“Really? Hey, you should totally ask him. Even if he can’t, he might know some people who might want to join in and help.” Her tone was cheery and determined. While construction wasn’t exactly something the senior found herself involved in often, she wasn’t one to back down from a challenge. She could be tenacious like that, almost annoyingly so at times. Klara’s enthusiasm was greatly appreciated, especially since Callie had been doing most of the canvassing through town on her own. Not that she minded, she’d much rather put her time into this than find herself being roped into the decorating committee for Prom.
“Great! I really appreciate your help Klara, it’ll be nice to have company and not just be going at this solo.” Callie offered a smile, then moved to grab her crossbody bag, pulling out a clipboard and pen. “Oh, I’m fine with either option. I’ve already gone around the center or town, stopping by the local businesses and leaving flyers there so people can see them. And there are a few flyers up on the quad’s bulletin board, but I haven’t gone through the West Side of town yet… we could start there if you’d like.”
Post by Klara McKinney on May 19, 2024 16:59:41 GMT
One of the good ones. It made her wonder whether it meant that there were bad ones. Were there members of the founding family that were difficult to get along with? Of course all founding families were capitalists to some degree, vut were they so bad that other were significantly better? Klara tried not to get distracted by the thought and focussed on the seeds. She preferred to focus on her own family rather than other people's family. It was none of her business anyway.
"It truly is", she replied kindly. "I love communal initiatives like this one. Have you ever seen one of those little libraries in the street, where you can take a book if you leave one?" She kissed her fingers. "Chef's kiss. I love things that bring people together." Klara smiled again.
When she mentioned her father, Calliope responded positively, which made Klara happy. Some people looked at her weird because she got along with her parents well. She was still a teenager and had her disagreements, but in general she got along with them well, and she loved them deeply. "For sure", the brunette responded with a smile. "If you want, we could exchange phone numbers. I could let you know what he says." Most people didn't say no if you asked them for a phone number for a project, but she preferred to give them the opportunity to decline.
Hearing that someone appreciated her help made her feel happy. She smiled, showing her teeth. She had an infectious smile. It tended to make people around her feel happy as well. "It'll be fun!"
When she asked Callie whether she wanted to take her car or not, she said she was fine with either. Klara rubbed her chin, thinking. "Maybe we'll take the car there, and then just walk. I recently got a BlueTooth device for the cigarette lighter in my truck, so we can listen to music on our way over. You can connect your phone, if you want." She laughed. She also loved discovering new music.
Post by Calliope Bartlett on May 24, 2024 20:44:52 GMT
Of course every family had their issues, and while being business minded wasn't necessarily a bad thing, it did tend to result in certain members of the family being a touch greedy when it came to proposed ideas. Thankfully, the community greenhouse project wasn't being shelved until the land could be secured. It would be a project she actually got to see one-hundred percent through before starting college in the fall.
“Yes! I think those are brilliant. I know I might not look it, but I'm a sucker for the community projects. I'm at every one of the 'clean up the park' events the city throws together.” Of course, the last one she had attended in the fall, she had spent a touch distracted by none other than Jack Hollifield. My, how far they had come since then.
“That would be fantastic, let me get my phone…” Callie turned to set down her clipboard and rummage through her bag one again, this time pulling out the iPhone housed in a case with a large sunflower on the back. She offered the device to Klara after unlocking it and opening up the add a new contact. “It's so much easier to get these things handled when I've got accurate contact information.” She said with a gentle chuckle and shake of her head.
The mention of getting to listen to music they wanted instead of being at the mercy of the radio absolutely had her sold. “Oh, I'm positively green with envy! My truck has a busted radio, so I typically have very quiet rides.” She couldn't help but grin as she thought of her beat up old farm truck. It might not be much to look at, but it certainly got her where she needed to be. Plus, Callie wasn't in any hurry to buy a new vehicle. She rather liked her beat up old truck.
Post by Klara McKinney on May 26, 2024 12:14:43 GMT
Klara smiled at Callie. "Hey, I try not to judge a book by its cover, so you definitely don't need to look a certain way to love the projects", she said kindly. Of course, sometime prejudices turn out to be correct, but Klara would never assume something about someone's life or interests based on their appearance. She also liked the way Calliope looked. She was a pretty girl and her sense of fashion was cool. The denim overalls Callie was wearing were super nice, and totally fitting for a project such as this one.
She didn't have an iPhone herself, but she knew how to navigate one. The brunette added her first and last name to the contact, as well as her number. She texted herself from Callie's phone in case the other would forget, so she could save the number on her own phone later. Then she handed the device back to its owner. "There you go." Klara smiled. So far, this day had turned out great. She was looking forward to handing out flyers downtown with the other senior.
Klara laughed. She was very familiar with busted radio's. Her own truck was pretty old, and she was just lucky to have found a BlueTooth radio emitter. If she tuned her radio right, it would catch the device's frequency and would be able to play the songs that were being sent to the decide through BlueTooth. "Quiet car rides are the worst, because then you can hear every weird sound your car makes." She chuckled. If she cranked up the music loud enough, she wouldn't hear her car begging to be brought to the garage for a checkup. "Alright, if you're done, let's go."
After having waited for a response, she would move to walk towards the parking, where her truck was parked. She would unlock it and get in, putting the BlueTooth emitter into the cigarette lighter port and putting on the radio so it could find the frequency. "You should be able to find it if you look for BlueTooth devices, I think the name it BT car", she told Calliope.
Post by Calliope Bartlett on May 30, 2024 16:33:25 GMT
Klara’s response definitely brought a smile to Callie’s lips. It was nice, to interact with someone who had an appreciation and interest in similar things. Not that Alexis didn’t share interest or wasn’t enjoyable to talk to. In fact, Callie loved spending time with Alexis. But she tried not to drag her into the community projects, not while her family was dealing with everything going on with Price. Instead, she was letting Alexis and Mr. Vanderson find them an apartment to move into, and she was tending to her senior project.
“Perfext, thanks girl! Feel free to text or call whenever you want. I usually have my phone on me.” She accepted her phone back and tucked it in her back pocket.
Klara’s reasoning for why quiet car rides were the worst was something Callie could relate to on such a deep level! “Oh my god, yes! And sometimes, even when I’m not sure what the sound is coming from; you just know it’s a pricey fix.” Callie’s brown eyes rolled dramatically, but she was still grinning and happily amused. She gave a nod and pulled her bag over her shoulder as she followed Klara toward her truck.
“This is yours? I was wondering who this belonged to!” She exclaimed with a smile, giving a low whistle as she looked the beautiful truck over. Callie might not be the most knowledgeable about vehicles; but she loved a classic truck. “I love you paint job, it’s beautiful.” She finished admiring the vehicle and opened the passenger door, pulling her phone from her pocket before easing into the seat. The Bluetooth receiver was easy to locate with Klara’s shared details, so she tapped into her music and raised a brow. “What kind of music are you feeling?”