5th Generation

Episode 1: Brainstorming

Sandy Pine sat with her friends in the local bookstore and tapped her fingernails in boredom. The brunette theatre geek had gathered everyone there, but so far nobody was talking. Sandy was a very talkative and outgoing girl, but she was closest with Paz, Hazel and Jacqueline. Jacqueline was fairly new to their group. The goth had moved to the town only a few years ago. Hazel was a very sweet and optimistic girl who loved something new practically every year. This year it was the cartoon Gravity Slides. Finally was Paz. Paz was Sandy's oldest friend. She was an amazing artist and very soft spoken. It seemed to work out well because Paz didn't talk much, and Sandy never shut up. 

She had brought the girls there that day because they had wanted to make a web comic and needed to brainstorm an idea. It was then that she realized that her friends were glaring at her. Had she been tapping her nails this whole time? Oh. She sent everyone an apologetic look and mentally kicked herself. She really needed to get rid of that habit. Nervously, she adjusted the flower wreath of fake pink roses that sat on her wavy brown hair and folded her arms on the table. For some reason, Sandy wore the flowers every single day. It was comforting. Next to her, Jacqueline used a spikey gloved hand to brush a strand of violet hair from her half black half purple bob out of her face and rolled her eyes in boredom. Across the table, Hazel was writing out codes on a sheet of paper. The group's only blonde loved that stuff thanks to her show. It had tons of Ciphers thrown in, so Hazel knew all about them. Paz had her ear buds in and was drawing something. It was completely silent and nothing was happening. Sandy had always hated silence. As a theatre geek, she joined every production she could and naturally loved people. Acting was her passion and she was pretty good at it, if she said so herself. Some of her friends told her that she sang well, but she wasn't sure she believed them. That being said, it was almost impossible for her to just sit quietly. Especially around her friends. 

She glanced at them again. Jacqueline was staring into space. She was wearing her leather jacket as always. She even wore it in the summer. No one was quite sure why. The girl was pretty secretive. Even Sandy and her other friends did not know much about her.  Sandy rested her head on her arm and sat through the awkward silence. "I can't believe you dragged us here when you didn't have any ideas!" grumbled Jacqueline suddenly. 

Sandy jumped in surprise and adjusted her flower wreath. "Sorry Jackie! I figured we would be able to brainstorm something TOGETHER!" She explained. Jacqueline frowned and rolled her eyes. 

"It's Jacqueline." Sandy had forgotten how much Jacqueline hated nicknames. 

Hazel looked up from her paper and grinned at Jacqueline."Oh come on! Nicknames are great! Right, Flowers?" She asked, gesturing to Sandy's flower crown. Sandy returned the smile.

"Exactly, Hazel!" She replied in an upbeat tone. Hazel nodded and started playing with her necklace. It's pendant was Phil Decipher, of course. Phil Decipher was the triangular antagonist of Gravity Slides and Hazel was completely in love with him for some reason. It was a bit odd, but Sandy didn't judge. Jacqueline only rolled her eyes and returned to staring into space. Sandy couldn't stand any more silence, so she leaned over and tapped Paz on the shoulder. She looked up from her drawing and pulled an earbud out of her ear. "Hey, any ideas for what we should do?" Paz thought for a minute, then shrugged and put her earbud back in. Sandy rolled her eyes. Her friends were not always the most helpful, but she loved them anyway. Maybe she could come up with something if she put in more effort. After a few minutes, she started tapping her fingernails again. 

Finally, Hazel piped up. "Are you SURE you don't have any ideas, Paz?"

 Paz thought again."um..well we-" but Sandy interrupted her before she could finish her thought.

"Ooh!! Wait! We're in a bookstore! Why not look around for ideas?" The other girls agreed and split up. Sandy was on her own now and was determined to find SOMETHING. As she wandered the shelves, her mind wandered. It was fine until she tripped over a large box. She and the box both toppled over, spilling the box's contents in the process. She landed on one of her ankles awkwardly. Oops. She looked over at what had fallen out of the box. One object in particular snagged her attention. A journal with spiral binding and a hot pink cover. It had a black skull on the center with pink roses for eyes. She cautiously picked the mysterious journal up and examined it. The cover was worn and dull, while all the pages inside were crisp, clean and new. Odd. And that cover. Despite it being dirty and washed out, it seemed to glow. It was so mystifying, that Sandy barely noticed the pain in her ankle.