The Assembly... of DOOM. (ALL)

[Benjamin Linus]

After extricating himself from the madness he'd encountered with James, Ana, and Kate on the grounds, Ben realized that he needed to actually make an appearance at the assembly. He'd handed the duties over to Juliet, sure, but as the unofficial head of the school, he was required to at least show up.

He'd completely expected to have a showdown with someone beforehand. Ben smirked as he trudged up a hill and towards the multi-purpose room, aka the recreation room, aka where he needed to be about ten minutes earlier. Kate Austen. He'd expected her to be a bit wild, what with the murder, but he didn't expect her to come armed and then STEAL more arms. He snickered a bit, his aloneness affording him the luxury of doing son.

Then there was James. He seemed genial, but Ben knew there was a consumate liar lurking a bit deeper below the surface. And Ben wasn't stupid. He'd noticed how James looked Kate over completely and given her a meet-cute nickname. Those two were going to be interesting pieces in the larger chess match.

As for Ana... she would either be the queen or the pawn, depending on how she adapted to the world around her. Right now, she was looking like a pawn. Perfect.

He looked down. Damn it. He'd forgotten to wipe the dirt off his shoes. Oh well. If anyone was looking at his shoes during the assembly... Ben crossed over the hill and reached the door to the MPR. Shaking a strand of loose hair out of his face and putting a sly smile on his face, he opened the door slightly and slid in.

Once inside, he noticed Juliet was still talking. Good. He wasn't late. He slid into the back corner, glancing at the back of the students' heads. Most of them were present - shock.

[Sayid Jarrah]

He didn't really want to be here. He had told Hurley that, but Hurley had somehow managed to drag him in here. Sayid sighed and rubbed his eyes free of sleep. He was still tired and was mostly zoning out, Juliet just kept talking and talking. Sayid was getting so bored that the Ex-Gurlia started to think up ways to shut her up. Hm, Nothing to harmful, so Bombs and explosives were out of the question completely.

Sayid was startled by a sudden hit to the forearm
"Sayid, dude..Wake up."
Sayid glanced at Hurley and could smell the grease from the Fried Chicken.
"I would be, if it wasn't for Juliette's on-going speech."
Sayid retorted to the long haired freshman. Sayid thought he saw Ben slip in to the meeting, So, he was out playing in the jungle was he? Sayid smirked to himself. Probably trying to make sure no one was skipping this. In fact, Sayid wanted to get out right now and go explore the jungle, but he decided it could wait for after. He glanced at the clock on the wall. How much longer would they be here?

[Shannon Rutherford]

Shannon yawned as Juliet went on with her speech. This was so boring. If they were going to have these assembly things, why couldn’t they at least make them interesting? She was sitting in front of a burly freshman – what was his name? Henry? Harry? She couldn’t remember. – and one of those tall, dark, and handsome types. She’d seen them both around, but hadn’t had extensive conversation with either of them yet.

She doodled in her notebook as she vaguely heard Juliet droning on and on, trying not to fall asleep. She heard a voice behind her.

“Sayid, dude.. Wake up.”

That had to be Harry, or whatever his name was. She might not have known exactly what his name was, but she knew it wasn’t Sayid.

“I would be, if it wasn’t for Juliet’s on-going speech.”

That had to be the other guy. Sayid, apparently. She glanced over her shoulder.

“No kidding,” she said. “How do they expect us to stay awake for these things?”

She shook her head and went back to doodling, trying to look like she was taking attentive notes.

[Sayid Jarrah]

“No kidding, How do they expect us to stay awake for these things?”

Sayid looked at the girl who was sitting behind himself and Hurley. He noticed her blond hair and her eyes, she was as bored as the rest of them. Sayid, after a few moments decided to reply back to her. "They don't. They want us to die. I'm Sayid by the way." Sayid stretched out a hand for a handshake. Not sure what else to do or say, he leaned over "What are you drawing?" He asked, seeing her doddle on the page. Hurley was zoning out now. Sayid saw a spot that was empty right next to him. He wasn't sure if someone had been sitting beside him, but if they had,Sayid had forgotten. Would you like to sit here? It'd make conversation easier... He trailed off hoping to get her name.

[Shannon Rutherford]

As Shannon turned back to pretend to be attentive, the man behind her replied.

"They don't. They want us to die. I'm Sayid by the way."

Shannon smiled as she reached back to discreetly shake his hand. "Good to know." She said it more to herself than as a reply.

"What are you drawing?" he asked, leaning forward.

She glanced cautiously toward the front of the room before tilting her notebook for him to see. She'd been vaguely sketching a dress on a stick figure model.

"I'm kind of into fashion," she said.

'Kind of into fashion' was an understatement. If she ever found the opportunity to do anything even close to fashion-related, she jumped on it.

"Would you like to sit here?" Sayid asked. "It would make conversation easier..."

She raised an eyebrow as he trailed off, fishing for a name. She smiled. "Shannon," she said. "And who said anything about conversation?"

She smiled to herself as she turned back to face the front. Okay, so the guy was cute, but she was the type to play it cool and play a little hard to get.

Besides, Ben had just walked in at some point, and the guy had eyes like a hawk. There was no way he wouldn't spot her if she changed her seat.

((OOC: I'm going to wait a few days before replying again in case anyone else wants to reply. Just so you know I'm not ignoring the thread or anything )

[Sayid Jarrah]

((OCC: That's okay, I will too after this post.))

Sayid listened to her words and saw her drawings of clothing, So she was into fashion. And her name was Shannon. But her last words hit him hard, like a train had smashed into him.
" Apparently nobody. He whispered as he turned back around to face the still droning on Juliet, "What did you say Sayid? Sayid heard Hurley ask him in a low whisper. "Nothing Hurley. He waved his friend off, barley noticing Ben looking at the crowds sitting in the bleachers, most likely making sure no one was doing anything wrong. Sayid finally understood why Shannon didn't want to sit by him. Ben. Sayid repeated her name on his lips, making sure not to make a sound. She was pretty, but she seemed like the kind of girl who if you ever got lost with, would be useless and would barley help anyone or care about anyone's problems if anyone had any. But despite all of that, she was kind of cute.

[Jack Shephard]

Jack stewed internally while he sat in the assembly hall. He'd rested his chin in the palm of his hand, those dark receptive eyes of his taking in the other students around him. He was quiet and attentive enough for now, his mind barely able to keep alert to what Juliet was saying. If he kept alert, his sharp memory would absorb everything. Jack rarely took notes for this reason alone; he had an uncanny power of recall of things heard or seen. This ability, along with his keen and rational mind, allowed him to excel without really trying.

The boy noticed Ben as the man had slipped into the classroom; his brown eyes following the elder's form as it made way inside and propped up against a wall. Jack looked down at the floor and away before his eyes would meet Ben's, as to not appear to be staring at the instructor. Something about Ben raised the hackles of this young man and Jack adopted a black look. He turned his gaze back to the other students, shifting position in his seat so as to run a hand over his hair. He looked over at Sayid and Shannon, while they whispered to one another.

Jack turned his attention obediently back to Juliet as she spoke about whatever orientational stuff that was relevant. It didn't matter, really. He leaned his tall form back in the chair and listened while folding arms over chest; his visage showing the remote interest in the subject as well as the troubled frown that painted his features most days.

[Ana-Lucia Cortez]

It was a dare. Her friends, for what little she had had told her to wear a dress to the assembly. Borrowing a sundress from a girl named Carla, Ana-Lucia strolled into the assembly not even caring if she was late and took a seat on a nearby chair by an older boy. Her dark curls fell over her shoulders, mid-back length as she sat with her legs stuck out like a boys. Wait a minute. No. No. She couldn't do that. Someone would be looking up her skirt in no time. Rolling those honeyed eyes back into a glare, the girl quickly crossed one leg over the other and had a hard time keeping her leg up on top of the other one.

"Damn." Ana muttered a little too loudly. Some students peered over at her and some that knew her were giggling as well which stirred any of the speakers at the podium to stop speaking. "Sorry." Haley muttered as she sat back down in her seat, though looked at Ana over her shoulder.

Cortez offered a fist as she looked to the boy next to her. Some random kid. "What are you lookin' at?" the woman muttered sourly, the kid turned back to where his attention was focused to and avoided her eyes.

But she did peer over at the one guy who was seated on her other side.

Her sneakers and the dress stuck out like a sore thumb. Some of other girls wore heels, or sneakers and jeans. Nope. She wore Carla's sundress and dirty sneakers.

"Great." a mutter.

Her eyes however stared back at Jack once more. Hm.

[Jack Shephard]

How could Jack NOT notice Ana-Lu enter the hall? For one, she was late and two her demeanor was quite tomboyish and loud. This made the boy grin a bit and sit up in his chair in interest as to see what would transpire next. Jack's dark eyes took this girl in, she was actually fit for that dress and vice-versa. He covered his wide grin with a hand in a coy way and looked away, laughing to himself in that usual hushed manner he had about him.

Ana showed the other boy her fist, and Jack had looked back just in time to see the spunk in this girl, a lovely latino that was strangely fetching in her own roughened way, yet terrifying to many of the other students. He was unmoved by this display, however, because he recognized that fire of discontentment in the girl, much like as it was in his own being.

And then he felt her eyes upon him, and unabashedly he met that gaze, offering the girl a friendly smile. Jack was really good with those, even if he were haunted by his own darkness, he was still a genuine and overall amiable young man. And by the time she looked back to him again, his gaze had not faltered in the hold upon her. Only after a moment or two of a held gaze did Jack look away, his lips still smeared with that delightful little smile as he scribbled something absently into his notebook and leaned back into his seat.

[Kate Austen]

Kate entered the assembly late. She didn't really care, and she knew that Ben hadn't expected her to show anyways, so she didn't expect punishment. She had hoped he would notice her entrance though. It wasn't that she cared what he thought, it was more for the fact that she would need brownie points. She tended to get herself into a lot of trouble and brownie points always helped.

She had also shown hoping to catch Jack again. She had cleaned up considerably since they last met. She was no longer half-dressed and covered in salty water and beach sand. Her hair was softly curled and dry, she had that perfect dash of makeup on, and she had thrown on a pretty mini-dress that she knew showed off her legs. She smiled softly as she noticed him, and she resisted shimming across ten people's laps to sit next to him. Instead, she took a casual seat close to the door. She would settle for flirtatious glances at each other as she knew when it was over, he would come to her. She crossed her legs and ran her fingers through her hair, pretending to listen Juliet.

[Jack Shephard]

Upon looking up at the door as it opened, it was all that Jack could do to keep his jaw from dropping on the floor. Those eyes of his widened, pleased to see who just entered. It was Kate, that lovely girl from the jungle he had met on the brief excursion he happened to take earlier. If Jack were a young man of faith, then maybe he would put the responsibility of their meeting upon some higher power. Shephard, however was a boy with a mind for the scientifically tangible and not the etherial.

But, the feeling that jolted through him like so much lightning could be enough to have a passing belief in something larger than the physical. Jack knew very little of such things, so he just didn't assume, nor could he really, because the boy just wasn't thinking. He was acting upon what we was feeling.

Jack's dark eyes followed Kate as she made her way across the room, giving her a warm smile and a friendly little wave as she met his gaze. He wished that he wasn't buried far into the row as well, so that they could at least sit together. Alas, it would not be so, and he would have to settle on diffident and alluring glances from across the room.

Twisting a pencil in his fingers, and wearing a large smile, Shephard turned back to listen in on the remainder of the orientation, but it would not be long till his gaze would return to the pretty brunette with those darling little freckles. He then shifted in his seat and tried to get a hold of himself, realizing that he was maybe being a little too obvious in his ways. Jack liked to try and keep things close to the vest, except for those rare occasions when he was simply, well, stunned.

[Benjamin Linus]

Well, well, well. Look who decided to show up.

Ben was surprised that Ana had shown up, but his subtle threats seemed to have done the trick remarkably well. Not only that, she was... wearing a dress. Okay. Ben would have to remember that; it could serve as potential blackmail material later on.

Ben watched Ana glare at some poor other girl, who immediately apologized for all her giggling - Haley, Ben recalled. Weirdest girl he'd ever seen in her life. And then Ana made a fist at a boy. This definitely was blackmail material.

But then the biggest case of "guess who" sneaked into the building, wearing a minidress to rival Ana's. Kate Austen. Wonder where the knife was being hidden now? Ben purposely raised an eyebrow at her, marveling at the fact that she had decided to attend, and without her new Southern friend in tow.

And then she looked at Jack.

Ben couldn't have been more pleased if he tried. A web of lovers. Brilliant. This would be helpful in so many ways.

Meanwhile, Shannon Rutherford, Hugo Reyes, and Sayid Jarrah were all looking at him covertly, subtly freaking out. That was the kind of reaction Ben was used to.

He wasn't used to the kind of look Jack Shephard was giving him though. Oh, he was trying to hide it, certainly, but the teen's eyes were dark, fearful, defensive. Maybe he sensed something coming from the teacher. He wouldn't be the first one. He also wouldn't be the first to underestimate just how dangerous Ben could be.

Ben gave him a tiny little smirk. That would probably scare him into looking at the much softer face and frame of Juliet.

Speaking of that, Ben focused on Juliet. Watching her from afar. Nice change of pace from her fighting a constant battle to get away from him. Why did she do that, anyway? She wasn't leaving. None of them were.