NationStates Jolt Archive

Elizabeth Bailey stepped hesitantly off her transport as she arrived in Theao, looking around nervously. The young woman's fair skin was paler than usual as she took in the strange surroundings. This was the first time she had been away from home in her entire life. It sure was different.

Elizabeth was dressed modestly in a long black skirt and a white blouse. Her legs and arms were entirely covered. She had dark brown hair that might even be called black and a milky complexion. She wore glasses and she wore her hair a little short, atypical for girls from Wintermore.

Quickly, she tried to locate her host family or whoever else might have been sent to pick her up and take her to them. She was eager to know someone here so that she might feel a little less alone, a little less cut off from the family and community she'd been immersed in every day of her fifteen years. She smiled nervously. It was scary but it was exciting as well. She was really in a whole 'nother country!

A young man, nineteen years in age, saw a young lady looking around. Looking at her, he decided to see if she was exchange student. He brushed his light brown hair back and went to see her.

Approaching, a light smile on his face, he asked "Would you happen to be Ms. Elizabeth Bailey?"

"I would." Elizabeth answered shyly. Was this young man supposed to be the father? He seemed awfully young. Maybe he was a big brother or something.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." He replied, "My name is Michael, or Mike to friends." Mike's voice leaving it appearnt that he wouldn't mind if Elizabeth called him Mike.
"Shall we go pick up you bags?" Mike asked, gesturing in the general direction of the baggage carasol(sp).

"Ok, Mike." Elizabeth said nervously. "So, if you don't mind me asking, what's your relation to my host family?"

"I'm a member of the family, the eldest child." Mike replied as they walked to get the bags.

Elizabeth smiled and got her bags before following him to the car.

Once they arrived at the car, Mike helped her stow her bags in the trunk. Moving round to the driver's seat, he waited for Elizabeth to get in and buckled up, "So, do you have any questions you wish answered?" He asked as they set off.

Elizabeth climbed in. "Yeah, but I have so many I can't decide where to start. What's the school where I'll be going like?"

"It's good, a public school with an excellent set of teachers." Mike replied

Elizabeth nodded, falling silent for the moment.

"What is your homeland like?" Mike asked as they waited for a red light.

"Well..." Elizabeth started. "It's very different depending on what principality you live in. The main sport used to be hurling all over but recently baseball's become a lot more popular in Wintermore. A lot of tourists really liked it after visiting places like Excalbia and Upper Virginia. I've never been that much into sports though."

She took some time to consider what else to say. "The land is fairly swampy. If you go into the marshes, there's some places where there's alligators but there's not that much undeveloped land left except on nature preserves."

"We just had elections." she went on. "It was the first time we've had elections since the parties reorganized a couple years ago. The current government is a pretty broad coaltion including the Patriots, the Liberals, and Labor."

Elizabeth laughed a little. "I'm not sure what else to say."

"The main sports are called bat-ball, baseball and soccer. Much of the country is fairly mountainous, but there are nice tourist spots, and much nicer vacation spots." Mike commented, "Our present electoral section of parliment, is a nice blend of liberal and conservative."

Elizabeth nodded. "What do you mean by a blend?"

"There are enought cons and libs, to make them have to work together if they want to get things done in the council." Mike replied

Elizabeth nodded, falling silent for the time being.

As they pulled up in front of a house*, Mike spoke, "Well we're here, shall we go in and meet the others?" He asked

ooc: * http://www.thewhipplehouse.com/Images/18JUL04_Whipple_House_RGB.jpg

"Yeah..." Elizabeth answered, getting out to follow him inside.

He grabbed her bags as they headed inside.

Once inside, he called out. "We're home."
In response to his call, the other three people in the house arrived.
From the kitchen came Mike's mom, a blond in her late thirties/early forties
Down the stairs, a teen girl, who looked around Elizabeth's age showed up.
The dad, came from the living room, where the sound of a sports game could be heard.

"Hello, you must be Elizabeth. I'm Sasha, this is my husban Andrew, and our daughter Nicole." The mom said by way of introduction, "And of course you've already met Michael."
"MOM." Mike groaned

Elizabeth grinned. "It really is wonderful to meet you all."

"Oh Michael," Nicole said sweetly, as she teased her brother by using his full name, "Take Elizabeth's bags to our room, while I get to know her better."
Mike scowled at Nicole, but did what she asked.

"So Elizabeth, would you like to get settled?" Sasha asked

"Sure." Elizabeth answered Sasha before turning to Nicole. "So what would you like to know? There's nothing all that special to know about me." She smiled a little shyly.

Nicole grinned, "If there's nothing special, how come you're an foreign student?" Nicole commented as she began giving Elizabeth a tour of the house.

Elizabeth blinked at Nicole more than once. "I...really don't understand the question. Is there supposed to be some special quality foreign exchange students have?"

"For one thing, who ever was in charge of deciding which of the host countries you went to, thought you could take the courses and school schedual." Nicole commented

"Yes..." Elizabeth said, increasingly confused. What was this girl talking about?

"So what grade were you in?" Nicole asked, "Did you have a boy friend, was he cute? What do you like doing in your free time?"

"Tenth grade." Elizabeth answered. "And no, I didn't have a boyfriend. I'm not allowed to date yet. In my free time, I like to read and play computer games."

"What kind of books and games, and did you have a crush on anyone?" Nicole asked

"Oh, I mostly like the Uber Antonio Brothers, The Carpenter's Road Rage, stuff like that." she answered.

"Ah, are they good?" Nicole asked, "And would you like to go to the park or mall?"

"We can go to the park." Elizabeth said.

"Alright." Nicole said as they headed down to get thier shoes. As Nicole passed Mike, she smacked him in the shoulder, "Tell mom we're going to the park."

Elizabeth followed Nicole along.

Nicole brought them to a large, spacious, neat/clean park. There were kids in the jungle gym, a game of soccer going on as well as basket-ball. There were dogs chasing frisbees and many other normal park activities.

Elizabeth walked through the park with the other girl, remaining silent for the moment. Her small mouth smiled a little. Things seemed so relaxed here. It reminded her a lot of pictures she had seen from the Federated Menelmacari States of America.

She turned her gaze to the dogs and the children, smiling and adoring smile. Life seemed so innocent in the park on a fresh spring day. She waited for Nicole to talk. Conversations so far had all been rather brief and she still felt rather in the dark about her new family and surroundings.

Elizabeth laughed a little as she saw one of the soccer players fall. It relaxed her to see people struggled and failed here as they did everywhere else. The world was a diverse place but not as diverse as people often thought.

She folded her hands in front of her lap as she walked, keeping her eyes lowered most of the time in a demure and proper expression.

Two cute boys, one blond and one with deep brown hair wandered over. The blond gave Nicole a kiss on the cheek. "Hi Justin, Scott."
"Who is your cute friend?" The brown haired one, Scott, asked
"This is Elizabeth, she's a foreign exchange student, so none of your chicanery Scott."
"It's a pleasure to meet you." Justin said
"Likewise." Scott added, as he gently took Elizabeth's hand and planted a kiss a centimeter above it.

Elizabeth grinned lightly at the attention of the two young men. "It's nice to meet you both. Nicole and I were just out for a walk."

"Might we join you two lovely ladies?" Scott asked with a charming smile directed at Elizabeth, while Justin turned his charm on his somewhat girlfriend.
"I don't know, what do you say Elizabeth?" She asked

Elizabeth just smiled. "I don't see why not. We weren't really doing anything interesting, though. We were just going on a walk." She blushed slightly at the look Scott was giving her.

She started walking again, assuming that the boys would fall in with them. "So are you guys in school too?" Elizabeth asked. The answer was rather obvious but she asked anyway. "I can't wait for the first day. I'll have to go buy supplies, of course. I'm not sure what kids here normally get but it's probably not that different from back home...I don't think. I hope the curriculum isn't too different or I'll be totally lost."

Elizabeth laughed nervously. She'd never been walking with boys like this before. "You probably don't want to talk about school anyway. So what do people our age normally do in the summer around here? I tried to ask around and find out before I came but nobody I talked to seemed to know, so..." Elizabeth shrugged lightly, starting to feel a little awkward.

Scott took up position beside Elizabeth, while Justin was on Nicole's side.
"Yes, we're all in the same grade you're going to be going into." Nicole replied
"A smart girl like you, I'm sure you'll be able to keep up." Scott said
"We normally hang out, go to the beach, bike, normal stuff." Nicole commented
"I'm sure you'll adjust fairly quickly, Theao's fairly logical, at least at the local levels," Justin commented, "The goverment and that stuff, now that's where people get into problems."

"What's wrong with the government?" she asked.

"There's nothing wrong persay, it's just very difficult for people to understand the way it works. Of course it was intended that way." Justin replied, "Essentially, it's nearly the simplest possible form, but there in lies the problem. For a better explaination, you'd need to talk to someone who's studied it."

"Ok." Elizabeth answered.

"Would you like to go to the beach or shopping or anything?" Nicole asked

"Shopping." Elizabeth answered.

They headed to a large elaborate mall*. As they entered, Nicole commented, "You've been given an allowance, so ..." She trailed off suggestively.

ooc: Similar to the West Edmonton Mall or Mall of America

"What do you think I should get?" Elizabeth asked curiously.

"School supplies arn't an issue, so perhaps some books or clothes?" Nicole suggested

"If you didn't bring a bathing suit, you could always get one of those." Scott commented

"What are bathing suites like here?" Elizabeth asked curiously.

"Depends on age and personal preference." Nicole replied, "I personally have a mid-scaled two piece."

"I think I'd rather have a one-piece." Elizabeth said shyly.

Nicole leads Elizabeth to a store. The guys, seeing the sign make a comment to the effect of don't be long.

Inside the store, there were racks of female swimsuits, ranging in size, colour and style from what would barely conceal anything, to ones that would have seemed prudish in the 1920s.

A sales lady approached, "May I help you two?"
Nicole looked to Elizabeth to see if she'd prefere to get assistance or go it herself.

"Yes, ma'am." Elizabeth answered the saleswoman. "I'm looking for a bathing suit."

"What kind of suit would you like?" The salesclerk, Monica if her nametag was to be trusted, asked as she lead the two girls toward the teen section.

"What do girls normally wear here?" Elizabeth asked.

In an almost mirror of Nicole, Monica the saleclerk replied, "It really depends on age and personal preference. We've had girls who purchesed bikinies(sp), those who've chosen skirted one-pieces and nearly everything in between."

"I'd like a skirted one piece." Elizabeth answered.

Elizabeth was lead to a sub-section. The suits were the traditional design for a one-piece, but with a mid-thight length skirt.
"So, do you see one you like?" Monica asked, gesturing to the dark blue, green, and black suits.

Elizabeth picked out the dark blue one.

"Would you like to try it on?" Monica asked

"Is that allowed?" Elizabeth asked.

"Provided you keep your panties on, yes." Monica asked, somewhat surprised she was even asked the question.

"Oh, ok." Elizabeth answered, taking it and going into the back. She walked out with it on a few moments later. "How do I look?"

Nicole looked at Elizabeth, "You look great."

Monica asked, "Is it comfortable and fit properly?"

Elizabeth nodded. "It feels ok. Are you sure it doesn't look slutty?"

"Elizabeth, you're culture isn't much for showing skin is it?" Nicole asked, "And to answer you're question, not at all."

"My culture?" Elizabeth sounded confused.

"The nation you live in's traditions and generally considered acceptable social graces. For example in Theao, part of the culture is the way our goverment works, and the fact that it's generally considered good manners to sneeze or cought using the back of your left hand to cover you're mouth." Nicole replied

Elizabeth shook her head as though Nicole was talking non-sense, visibly confused. "What kind of a nation would just have...Nevermind." She just oozed frustration and inability to understand what the other girl was talking about.

Nicole, seeing the confusion, commented "Forget about it, but don't be surprised if you things that may seem strange."

"Would you like to purchase the suit?" Monica asked

Elizabeth looked even more confused but shrugged. "Yes, ma'am." she said, walking up and paying Monica.

As Nicole and Elizabeth left the store, they were meet by the guy, "So what kind of bathing suit did you get?" Scott asked

"A blue one piece with a skirt."

"I'm sure you'll look beautiful in it." Scott said

Elizabeth blushed fiercely. "I...well...really?"

"Would you like to go to the food court?" Nicole asked Elizabeth.

"Sure." Elizabeth said, noting that the boy didn't answer.

They head to the food court, Justin beside Nicole, while Scott fell in beside Elizabeth. He leaned over and said softly, "Yes, really."

Elizabeth blushed furiously, although she said nothing in response.

The food court had many different resteraunts, from chinese, to traditional burger, to pizza, to chicken, and a taco joint, as well a multitude of other fast food joints.

Elizabeth got a burger and sat down with the others. "So what else do people do around here?"

"Most kids our age just spend time at the malls, beach or out doors." Nicole replied, "At least until school starts anyways."

"Doing what?" Elizabeth pressed.

"At the beach, swimming, tanning, beach games, that kind of things." Nicole commented
"Window shopping and the arcades are the most prevelent of the mall based activities." Justin added
"And for the out-doors, various games, and picnicing." Scott finished off.

"That sounds like fun." Elizabeth said.

"So which would you like to do?" Scott asked

"Well, we're already at the mall." Elizabeth needlessly pointed out.

"True." Nicole commented, once Elizabeth finished her burger, they got up and began window shopping, heading in the general direction of the arcade.

Elizabeth walked with them, looking for anything particularly unique or new or interesting in the windows.

There were a vast arrey of stores, ranging from very specialised, like the bathing suit store, to ones that were 'everything emporiums' and everything in-between.

ELizabeth walked with them to the arcade.

The arcade was enormous, a vast arrey of neon lights, sounds and swarms of kids spending thier allowences on games ranging from the vintitage Frogger and Tetris, to the most state of the art 'interactive' games like DDR* and downhill skiing.

ooc: * Dance Dance Revolution

Elizabeth smiled. "So what's fun?"

"Depends on taste, Justin here swears by the classics." Nicole commented, as Justin nodded his agreement. "I prefere the more interactive games like Area 51 and Tunnel Racer. Scott, he loves just about every type of game." Nicole commented as she glanced over at the 'new game' section.
"I'd suggest you just experiment to find the kind of games you like. How about we meet back here in oh, half an hour, sound good Elizabeth?"

"That sounds good." Elizabeth said. She spent the next hour playing videogames before she finally wandered back over to the others. "Well..."

ooc: Mind if I retro-con the passed hour a bit?

OOC: Go ahead.

"So what do you think of Elizabeth?" Scott asked Justin as they head toward the classics section, Nicole having departed to the interactive games.
"She's nice, not my type thought."
"I like her." Scott commented, "See ya later." He added as they arrived at the classics section and headed to find Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was confusedly blasting dinosaurs with rocket launchers in a video game.

A few punks had that could be found in the arcade, always pushing the limits, but never actually breaking the rules, approached Elizabeth as her character died, "Hey hot stuff, how 'bout you and me go play some tonsile hockey." The leader said as he leaned into her personal space.

Elizabeth just stared at him in horror, backing away with wide eyes. "WHAT?!"

"You know you want it sweet thang." The leader said

Meanwhile Scott had decided to check out the scroller games, and noticed a few of the jerks that frequented the arcade were clustered around Elizabeth.
Walking over he asked her, "Is everything alright?"

"No!" Elizabeth said, scurrying behind Scott. "Those guys were trying to rape me."

Scott whipped around to face her, while the three punks blanch bone white.
"Are you serious?" He asked

"I think so!" Elizabeth said. "They were crowding around me and saying they wanted to do gross things to me and they wouldn't back off even when I tried to get away. Make them go away, Scott!"

Seeing that they weren't going to get charged with rape, the three had turned and took off like the demons of hell were at thier heels.

"I'm sorry about them, they think they're all that and tend to push acceptable behavior in general." Scott commented, his voice turning serious, "On a very serious note, rape is one of the few crimes that there is still the death penalty for, so accusations of rape are view with as much, if not more attention than murder cases. Even formal accusations get put in a person's criminal record file, unless there is a complete proof of innocence."

"Then what were they trying to do?" Elizabeth asked. She had been sure they were trying to rape her. What else would explain their behavior?

"It's thier form of 'dating' or courting a girl." Scott replied, "They believe that's the best way to get a girl, and for some girls that works."

"Oh..." Elizabeth said, looking a little startled. "I thought they were trying to rape me. I really did."

"Would you like me to stay with you incase someother guys try pulling a similar?" Scott asked

"Yes, please." Elizabeth answered.

Scott played games with Elizabeth, or at machines beside her, for the rest of the rest of the hour. No one bother or pestered either of them.

As they met up with the other two, Justin spoke, "So, what should we do know?"

"What is there to do?" Elizabeth asked.

"Well, there's the beach, the pool, movie theater, park, if you like muesums, there's one of those nearby as well." Nicole replied

"Let's go to the movie theatre." Elizabeth decided.

"Alright." Nicole replied
The four walked down to the theater, Justin's arm around Nicole's shoulder, and Scott beside Elizabeth.

When they got there they could see the movies were: The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Just Like Heaven, The Greatest Game Ever Played, Flightplan, The 40 Year-Old Virgin, A History of Violence, Serenity, Lord of War, Proof
Into the Blue, The Transporter 2, Roll Bounce, In Her Shoes, An Unfinished Life, and Corpse Bride.

Elizabeth blinked. "Are these all movies produced in Theao? The actors look Wintermorean or American in most of them."

"Most of them are Armerican movies." Nicole replied

"Oh, ok." Elizabeth said. "I want to see a local movie though. I'm supposed to be learning about Theao, not the FMSA."

"That would require a different theater." Justin replied

"Ok..." Elizabeth said, seeming fairly confused.

The four headed to a smaller theater, similar to an IMAX theater. The movies available there were Lost Battalion, and Sledge.

Elizabeth selected Sledge.

The movie turned out to be a war movie, in a similar vien as Braveheart, or Excaliber.

Elizabeth enjoyed it very much.

As the movie ended, the boys excused themselves to head to the bathroom.
"So, what do you think of Elizabeth?" Justin asked
"I really like her." Scott replied
"So do I," He noticed Scott's glower, "But for different reasons."
"Know the arcade punks?"
"Ya, what about them?"
"They owe me big."
"Really, why?"
"Randy was hitting on Elizabeth in his normal style and she was on the verge of calling rape."
Justin winced and replied, "Man, they do owe you."


Meanwhile, "So Elizabeth, what do you think of Scott, cause I think he likes you." Nicole asked

Elizabeth smiled politely. "I like him too." She paused a moment. "Oh...did you mean...Well...I don't really know him yet. We just met a few hours ago."

"Ah, well I'm pretty sure he likes you." Nicole said
As the boys returned, she asked, "So, what should we do now?"

"Why do you keep asking me?" Elizabeth protested.

"Because you're the guest, and it's bad form to insult a exclude a guest." Scott replied

"But I don't know what there is today." Elizabeth complained.

"We could go to the park?" Nicole suggested

"Alright." Elizabeth answered.

The four head to a nearby park. The park was moderately populated with trees and bushes, as well as having a large lake in the center. There was a number of play structures and swings that were festooned with children.
There were people walking and playing with thier dogs, and people playing games like ultimate frisbee, and soccer.

Elizabeth looked around curiously.

"Want to play a game of hacky?" Justin asked

"Not until I'm married!" Elizabeth protested vigorously. "I'm a virgin."

"I think we have a little miscommunication. I meant a game of hacky sack." Justin replied, pulling out a red hacky sack. "Not sex."

"What's hacky sack?" she asked curiously. "Is it like baseball?"

"Not really, it's closer to keep-up in soccer." Justin replied

"Keep-in soccer?" she asked. "I don't know what that is either."

"Keep-up, not in, Scott, shall we demonstrate?" Justin replied
"Sure." Scott replied

Justin 'served' the hacky sack, and Scott returned it. They volleyed it a few rounds, keeping it simple, to demonstrate.

Elizabeth watched with some interest. "That looks like it might be fun."

"Then let's play." Nicole said
They each took position, in a sort of circle, and began.

Elizabeth made a good effort although she almost never managed to kick the sack.

Nicole's skill level was only slightly better than Elizabeth's. Meanwhile Scott and Justin complimented the girls whenever they managed to hit the sack.

Elizabeth smiled at the compliments, althought, after awhile, she did say "I'm no good at this game."

"That's alright, neither am I." Nicole commented

Elizabeth just grinned at her.

"Want to watch the guys and gossip?" Nicole asked

"What would we gossip about?" Elizabeth asked.

"Boys, celebrities, other people." Nicole commented

Elizabeth nodded. "....ok...."

"What are the celebrities like in your nation?" She asked

"You mean like music and movie stars and the like?" Elizabeth asked to clarify.

"Ya," Nicole replied

"Well, Alexis McKay is getting married. She's a famous sci-fi actress who's been in a lot of television shows." Elizabeth volunteered.

"Ah," Nicole replied, "The tabloids are slamming Raphael again, this time claiming his gay. He's the youngest member of the royal family, a rock star, and a hunk."

"He's a member of your royal family and you just call him Raphael?" Elizabeth asked in utter shock.

"It's not a formal occasion, so of course." Nicole replied

"Of course?" Elizabeth asked. "It's not like that anywhere else I've heard of."

"The nobility is quite relaxed with titles." Nicole replied "Nobles and noble children interact on a quite regular and normal level."

She looked around, "I can see, at least one marquess dealing with his dog's waste, and a duke's son who's in our school playing soccer."

Elizabeth frowned slightly. "I...see...."

"Do you feel they should be more pompus and formal?" Nicole asked

"Of course!" Elizabeth said passionately, clearly finding this a very disturbing aspect of Theao culture.

"They use to be, a long time ago." Nicole replied, "But back when the Emperor brought in the council, he brought them to heel. Back then, the nobility would have made the french aristocracy, just prior to the Revolution, look like infant children. When King Leonardo implement the reforms, he forced them to behave or be stripped of thier titles. It worked."

"Why don't they behave then?" Elizabeth asked earnestly.

"They do." Nicole replied, "They behave like normal citizen in almost every respect."

Elizabeth was visibly struggling to control her facial expression. She looked like she was about to cry or scream at someone, clearly very upset at learning about this social arrangment. "Why would His Majesty ever want them to do that? To call upon one's own nobles to completely abrogate all responsibilities and yet maintain rank is...it's...well..." She stuttered, words hardly able to convey what she thought about it. "Why do you bother recognizing noble titles at all then?"

"They do have responsabilities, for one thing they make up just under 15 percent of the goverment." Scott commented as he slammed the hacky sack at Justin.

Elizabeth decided not to say anything else about it, although it clearly still bothered her. She simply continued her poor attempts at playing hacky sack.

"So do you have any questions on things you've seen, learnt or experianced?" Scott asked

"Not right now." Elizabeth answered.

"Alright." Scott replied

Nicole happened to glance at her watch. "Elizabeth, we got to get going, it's almost dinner time. Somehow time got away from us."

"Yeah, let's go." Elizabeth said, heading home with Nicole.

"See you later guys." Nicole said

"I'll be counting the minutes." Scott said with a grin.

The two girls headed homeward when a cop car pulled up, "Hi Nicole."
"Hi Officer Tony, could we get a ride."
"Sure hop in."

Elizabeth looked a little confused but she climbed in.

The cop drove them both to Nicole, and now Elizabeth's home.
"Thanks Officer Tony," Nicole called back as they headed into the house. They could smell dinner cooking. It was a beef and potatoes meal.

Elizabeth climbed out after Nicole, still looking bewildered from the rather confusing day.

Seeing Elizabeth's expression, she commented "He's an uncle."

"Oh, cool." Elizabeth said.

"Also handy, as his 'beat' is in this general neighbourhood." Nicole replied, "I smell dinner, so let's go wash up."

Elizabeth followed Nicole to the washroom and cleaned herself up for dinner.

They washed up and headed down for dinner.

There was a roast, mashed potatoes, corn, and gravy.
"So Elizabeth, did you have a nice day?" Sasha asked

"It was pretty cool." she answered. "I learned a lot, I think."

"That's good." Sasha said, "Would you like some potatoes?" She asked as she began serving food to the others.