groovygamers.com

Mr. Monnitoff meets all the writers for the paper in the office at the end of the day to introduce Donnie Douglas to you, not knowing you already know him.  His moment of embarrasement passes and he gets down to other business.

"I wanted to know what, if anything, you guys might be working on.  Especially regarding any of the recet strangeness here?"

"Well, I witnessed one of the Ninja attacks. I could write up a hard-fact article or even an opinion piece, if you want."

"You witnessed a ninja attack?"  Mr. Monnitoff seems a little suprised, "did you report it to the principal?"

Donnie looks away evasively. "No. It happened before he made the PA announcement, so I didn't think about it."

"I have nothing on the ninja, but I could try to drawn them if you want. I have onlya picture of the fight, but I wouldnt like to use it. I feel it wouldn't be right to Rory. Is it true that the guy who fought with him is under investigation for murder?"

"Oh."  Mr. Monniforr says thoughtfully.  "Well, you saw them then.  That confirms it's not a bizarre urban school legend.  An opinion piece might be better, easier to put together.  Unless you think you can get an interview with one of them?"

Donnie grins. "Doubtful. They had t-shirts wrapped around their heads. Ninja-style, yknow? If I see one around, I'll ask him."

"The district attorney is pursuing a case of manslaugher.  His name is Buck Merrill and he's a Junior who's had problems with violence and drugs before.  They're being a little secretive about what the drug was though."

Sylvia gets in late.  She had a frog-dissection lab in last period, and clean-up was like a CSI episode starring the Swedish chef.  She comes in just in time to hear Mr. M talking about the drug.  Where's Kel?  She won't say anything about it until Kel speaks up.

"Maybe we could make an announcement and say we would like to interview them privately and how to contact us?" Colin asks hesitantly.

Kel rushes into the class, hopping over a desk and into another, it sliding a few inches as he does so, he let's out in a rush, "Sorry I'm late, sir.  Math test, very difficult."  Then he fumbles through his backpack and pulls out a small sheaf of papers.  He extends it to whoever's closest and says to the group, "I've been trying to figure out how to right about the fight and the um...yea.  I thought, since I didn't really know Rory, it might be easiest to write from an outsider view, and then add on opinions about him from friends and family.  I also talk about just points on bullying in general, and how it well, it ruins everything."  He passes it around and says, "What do you guys think?"

((http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=619320))

After reading through it, Donnie looks up, eyes shining with unshed tears. "Goddammit Kel. This is amazing. I didn't know you, *sigh* you were such a talented writer. Seriously, I can barely talk around the lump in my throat." He scrubs his hand across his face.

(OOC Dammit Jongleur. You and your Nat 20!)

Kel shakes his head, "Eh, I'm sure anyone who really knew him could've done a lot better.  I still think we should add in what those people have to say."

Sylvia reads over Donnie's shoulder and then looks into Donnie's face.  He's the sensitive type, obviously, which makes her smile.  How a boy like Donnie has made it this far without having been jammed into a locker is a tribute to his natural charisma.  "It's great, Kel.  It could even change things around here, I think."

"I wanted to ask you if you guys plan on chasing any hard stories?  There are two kinds of students that do the school paper.  Those that do the easy stories and those that chase after the hard ones.  I don't want to influence you, but I need to know how much I'll be called to the principal's office to defend your 1st Amandment rights."  He finishes with a smile.

Kel smiles and says simply, "Often."

Sylvia's gaze drifts to Kel's face.  She has a story.  She has a whopper of a story.  She really wants to write it.  But she can't.  Not without bringing worse trouble their way than a mere principal can dole out.

"Then, try to keep me in the loop.  I'd like to be a little prepared if I get called in.  Nothing looks worse then me saying you should be allowed to express yourselves but having no idea what you're intending to write until I read it like everyone else."

Colin has to admit with himself he's starting feel a little weird about Kel. On one hand, he's cool and he likes to be his friend. On the other hand, though, he's too cool to be true, he's always under the spotlight, and he's starting to feel more than a little envious of him. Realizing he feels this way though deeply ashames him. He wouldn't like to be that kind of guy.
He gets out his photo collector a quickly leafs through it. He remembers that there was one...
He finally finds it.
It's the picture of a boy, taken from behind. All we can see of the boy is  the the back of his head, that hangs down, like in pain or sadness. It looks like the colors have been drained away from him. he's standing in the corridor of a school, and all around him there are the blurred wakes of people running past him at impossible speeds, as if he was frozen and all the world was going too fast and was too busy for him to fit in.
He offers it to Kel. "Would this go well with your article?"

Kel's jaw drops as he looks at the picture, he catches it and nods, stating matter of factly, "It's perfect Colin."

Colin gives a faint smile. It does make him feel a little better, but not as much as he hoped.
"Glad you like it."

"I'm all for hard stories, but it the end it's really your call." He looks at the writing stuff. "I can be your private eye, but you'd better decide what to go after. I mean, really." he gestures at Kel's article. "That's way out of my league. You did a better job with the incident at the labs than I could ever do, and, man, I was there."

Donnie, recovered from his reading and quite aware of Sylvia looking over his shoulder, (What is she wearing, God it smells nice.)clears his throat and returns his attention to the situation at hand. He notices Sylvia staring hard at Kel, and his jaw tightens. Damn this. Stupid jealousy. Maybe they are just friends. Stop thinking that way. School just started, you have all year. He clears his throat. "Do you want us to be balh-blah reporters, or do you want us to be investigative reporters? What I mean is, do you want us to be a pain in the ass for the school in regards to reporting the truth, or do you want us to take it easy on the administraion?"

"That's up to you guys.  Keep in mind that the school can make your lives a living hell if it so chooses.  That being said, do what you feel is best for the students."

"That's not always easy to tell." Colin says absent-mindedly.

He turns towards the others. "So what would you like me to work on?"

"I'm curious about what happened between the two kids who tried to get it on in the lunch room.  We could see about talking to them."

Colin grimaces a bit.

"I think I can try to get a hold on Fern, but do you think either of them would appreciate the whole school to know what happened?"

"By now, everyone in school knows what happened.  I'd like to know why it happened."

"Just remember that knowing what happened and why are equally important.  I'll let you guys give some thought to what you'll be working on.  Just give me a heads up if you decide to go all investigative reporter on me."  With that Mr. Monnitoff leaves the office.

Gretchen goes back to work on the layouts, finding places for Colin's photo and Kel's article about the fight.

Sylvia tries to find a moment to talk to Kel.  "Have you heard anything from your uncle?"

He shakes his head, "Nope, nothing at all."  He thinks about it and then adds, "I think it was more of a I contact him thing, not the other way around."

Sylvia would ask him what he's waiting for, but surely Kel has his reasons.  She eyes him, though, like the absence of news pains her.

((OOC: Should I archive this one?))