((Rea Adams, Memories from the Past))
The smoke from the exhaust of the Mercedes rose visibly into the cold morning air. Her butler had driven off, leaving her standing alone in the shadow of the school. Not in the metaphorical sense, of course, but in a more literal the-sun-has-only-just-risen sense of things, a long, early morning shadow being cast over her.
Rea checked her digital watch. The display showed up blank. The batteries were dead, because of course they were. She made a mental note to get them replaced as soon as she got home.
Anyway, it didn't matter much, it was easy to tell that the time was somewhere around 7 or 8. Or something, ever since moving to this bizarre country, the simple things were only subtly changed, yet they were hugely different.
The archaic, backwards and arcanely complex imperial system, Winter being at the end of the year, stores having their names changed for whatever reason. Small, simple things, but enough to make her feel like she was on another planet. Not the adventurous feeling of being on another planet, but the feeling of strangeness, of oddity, of being different from everyone else. Kinda like the aliens in that movie she saw recently, District 9 or something.
Another strange thing was that, despite it being the early morning, Rea wasn't on the verge of falling asleep. Probably had something to do with the freezing air of the morning. Cold not being something she was used to, her being Australian and all, and from Queensland to top it all off, she shivered.
Seems like the weather didn't agree with her, much like everything else here. Well, there wasn't much she could do about it right this second. For now, all she could do was walk towards her new school.
Cochise awaited.
Early Morning, Early Days
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Spinnentier*
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((Ben Fields continued from Where The White Boys Dance))
Mom had decided to drop them both off today. Really putting her life down for the troops, as she looked like she'd had a pretty bad shift that night. All melting eyes and pale pallor over sallow cheeks. Not like Ben would ever judge his own mother on any distinction of physical appearance. Lana, meanwhile, looked like she was going to get kicked out of school for the day on dress code violations. How could any shirt worth it's salt have so little sleeve to it? They'd rushed out the door that morning though, so no time to try and fix her shit. Whatever. Lana's middle school would put in the call, so even if Ben didn't get to pester Lana about her wardrobe choices Mom would.
Ben bounded out from the open car door, his strong-arming carrying him right to where the curb melted into the dewy grasses of the Belt. His sneaks clapped with twin squelches against the concrete.
Not a lot of kids out, looked like. They were pretty early, seven fifteen was the dubious claim of the car's barely digital clock. Lana's school was even further across the neighborhood, so Ben needed to be early so Lana could be on time. Traffic on the rickety Kingman streets and all. He sized up his environment with some modicum of trained finesse to the sweep of his neck. He liked to think it looked efficient. There was a tall- tall, he could feel his manly ego shriveling up even at a distance- redhead girl also on the curb a bit away. There had been a nice ass Mercedes rolling in around the same time as them. Hers? Was this the newest rich kid to somehow get tossed out of the lofty heights to land in Arizona's dusty asshole? Eh, didn't matter. He wasn't about to cold approach a girl out of the blue when their introductions had been car windows passing in the night.
"Hey Miss, my brother here's got a thing for you!!"
Huh. Well that had happened.
Lana's voice echoed away, her shout ebbing like a tide against the ground. The door neatly slammed shut and the old Honda began to pull off. Mom was an accomplice, the getaway driver. They must have been planning this one for... okay, no way it was planned, but they had thrown it together fast. In some perverse way he was proud. His Mom and his sister, using teamwork with immaculate form as they betrayed him to social faux pas. He really couldn't be mad. Besides, it was no biggie, unless this girl was somehow a dumbass. But they were teenagers, so it wasn't exactly impossible...
Anyways, he had to deal with it now.
"My sister's just got a thing for making my life awkward." Ben curtly shrugged to effect, as he dared to draw a little closer so they could talk without shouting at one another. A bit closer Ben's impression was that the girl was a freshman. Just... something about her. Maybe something as innocuous as the way she looked at the school buildings like they weren't melting unnoticed into the background canvas of high school life. He wasn't going to jump to conclusions or anything, though. "Sorry about that."
Mom had decided to drop them both off today. Really putting her life down for the troops, as she looked like she'd had a pretty bad shift that night. All melting eyes and pale pallor over sallow cheeks. Not like Ben would ever judge his own mother on any distinction of physical appearance. Lana, meanwhile, looked like she was going to get kicked out of school for the day on dress code violations. How could any shirt worth it's salt have so little sleeve to it? They'd rushed out the door that morning though, so no time to try and fix her shit. Whatever. Lana's middle school would put in the call, so even if Ben didn't get to pester Lana about her wardrobe choices Mom would.
Ben bounded out from the open car door, his strong-arming carrying him right to where the curb melted into the dewy grasses of the Belt. His sneaks clapped with twin squelches against the concrete.
Not a lot of kids out, looked like. They were pretty early, seven fifteen was the dubious claim of the car's barely digital clock. Lana's school was even further across the neighborhood, so Ben needed to be early so Lana could be on time. Traffic on the rickety Kingman streets and all. He sized up his environment with some modicum of trained finesse to the sweep of his neck. He liked to think it looked efficient. There was a tall- tall, he could feel his manly ego shriveling up even at a distance- redhead girl also on the curb a bit away. There had been a nice ass Mercedes rolling in around the same time as them. Hers? Was this the newest rich kid to somehow get tossed out of the lofty heights to land in Arizona's dusty asshole? Eh, didn't matter. He wasn't about to cold approach a girl out of the blue when their introductions had been car windows passing in the night.
"Hey Miss, my brother here's got a thing for you!!"
Huh. Well that had happened.
Lana's voice echoed away, her shout ebbing like a tide against the ground. The door neatly slammed shut and the old Honda began to pull off. Mom was an accomplice, the getaway driver. They must have been planning this one for... okay, no way it was planned, but they had thrown it together fast. In some perverse way he was proud. His Mom and his sister, using teamwork with immaculate form as they betrayed him to social faux pas. He really couldn't be mad. Besides, it was no biggie, unless this girl was somehow a dumbass. But they were teenagers, so it wasn't exactly impossible...
Anyways, he had to deal with it now.
"My sister's just got a thing for making my life awkward." Ben curtly shrugged to effect, as he dared to draw a little closer so they could talk without shouting at one another. A bit closer Ben's impression was that the girl was a freshman. Just... something about her. Maybe something as innocuous as the way she looked at the school buildings like they weren't melting unnoticed into the background canvas of high school life. He wasn't going to jump to conclusions or anything, though. "Sorry about that."
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Spinnentier*
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As a loose collection of spare parts and junk putted away along the road, a voice called out from a window. Probably that of a younger sister of the boy who stepped out of it earlier. According to her, the boy apparently had a thing for Rea, though that was probably not the case. She'd never seen him before, so either this guy became smitten incredibly easily, or he was just a victim of his sister's lies.
Guess she better talk to him, you know, get to know a few of the natives, that kind of thing. So she stepped a little closer to him, close enough that they could talk without raising their voices. Now she was this close, she looked down on him, though not metaphorically, as people as affluent as her would be expected to do so. No, she looked down on him in the physical sense in that this boy was minuscule. A good twenty or so centi-
Dammit. Imperial, not metric. This country really was bizarre.
"It's fine," she said. Though maybe she could have a bit of fun with him while he was here. "I'm okay with people being open about their feelings towards others,"
Guess she better talk to him, you know, get to know a few of the natives, that kind of thing. So she stepped a little closer to him, close enough that they could talk without raising their voices. Now she was this close, she looked down on him, though not metaphorically, as people as affluent as her would be expected to do so. No, she looked down on him in the physical sense in that this boy was minuscule. A good twenty or so centi-
Dammit. Imperial, not metric. This country really was bizarre.
"It's fine," she said. Though maybe she could have a bit of fun with him while he was here. "I'm okay with people being open about their feelings towards others,"
He met her gaze evenly. At an angle. Fucking hell this girl had been whipped into shape by puberty. He eyeballed at least five inches she had on him, give or take. Why were half the girls in this school taller than him? He swore the number of six foot laffy taffy behemoths in Cochise wasn't supposed to be indicative of the national average. Looked it up and all.
"I'm okay with people being open about their feelings towards others."
"Sounds good, but I don't have much in the way of vibes being sent your way." Brusquely said. He could have run with the joke, probably hit a full home run with it- whoa, not in the euphemistic sense- and left onlookers eating his dust. All of the absolutely nobody in the vicinity watching the both of them. But nah, it didn't strike him as worth the time. They were both fresh, novel sights for the other. Possibly even literally foreign, judging by the girl's colorful tinge of some accent Ben's hick ass brain couldn't certainly guess at. British? Aussie? Whatever. Point was, the dumb jokes could be saved for if they were still on speaking terms at the end of the day. Slash hour.
"Stop me if I'm making assumptions, but I'm thinking you're new to Kingman? Most important advice from a hometown boy, watch for the scorpions. They crawl up walls." Ben had seen that shit with his own two eyes. Still got sudden flashbacks to the shrill screams of middle school girls from time to time. "What brought your folks around? Can't imagine the locale was all that inspiring, but I swear to god that's what everyone I ever ask says: 'We fell in love the miles of fucking rocks and blistering desert wind shear'."
"I'm okay with people being open about their feelings towards others."
"Sounds good, but I don't have much in the way of vibes being sent your way." Brusquely said. He could have run with the joke, probably hit a full home run with it- whoa, not in the euphemistic sense- and left onlookers eating his dust. All of the absolutely nobody in the vicinity watching the both of them. But nah, it didn't strike him as worth the time. They were both fresh, novel sights for the other. Possibly even literally foreign, judging by the girl's colorful tinge of some accent Ben's hick ass brain couldn't certainly guess at. British? Aussie? Whatever. Point was, the dumb jokes could be saved for if they were still on speaking terms at the end of the day. Slash hour.
"Stop me if I'm making assumptions, but I'm thinking you're new to Kingman? Most important advice from a hometown boy, watch for the scorpions. They crawl up walls." Ben had seen that shit with his own two eyes. Still got sudden flashbacks to the shrill screams of middle school girls from time to time. "What brought your folks around? Can't imagine the locale was all that inspiring, but I swear to god that's what everyone I ever ask says: 'We fell in love the miles of fucking rocks and blistering desert wind shear'."
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Spinnentier*
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So this wasn't the shy, anxious, stuttered-response-and-then-run-away type of kid, as he proved with his response. There did seem to be something troubling him though. It was her height, wasn't it? She was taller than almost every boy at her previous school, and without doubt was definitely the tallest girl there. Sure, it intimidated people, but that was the fun part. She did develop a habit of ducking every time she entered a doorway, however.
"Yeah, I just moved here from Australia. I have no idea what they were thinking, but my parents certainly fell in love with this place... somehow," She replied to the boy, now having revealed about himself he had lived in the town for at least a while. "But in terms of scorpions, it's no problem for me, we have lethal toilet spiders back where I'm from."
Obviously, this was a lie, or at least was only true for the most remote of outback towns. She'd never actually seen a Redback Spider before, being an inner city girl, but she was well aware of the stereotype; the apparent view here of Australia as a dangerous, lawless desert country.
Anyway, she should probably get his name, as she suddenly realised she didn't know it yet. Or anything else about him, really. Guess it was a good thing to get to know the people here, that much could come in handy for later.
"Yeah, I just moved here from Australia. I have no idea what they were thinking, but my parents certainly fell in love with this place... somehow," She replied to the boy, now having revealed about himself he had lived in the town for at least a while. "But in terms of scorpions, it's no problem for me, we have lethal toilet spiders back where I'm from."
Obviously, this was a lie, or at least was only true for the most remote of outback towns. She'd never actually seen a Redback Spider before, being an inner city girl, but she was well aware of the stereotype; the apparent view here of Australia as a dangerous, lawless desert country.
Anyway, she should probably get his name, as she suddenly realised she didn't know it yet. Or anything else about him, really. Guess it was a good thing to get to know the people here, that much could come in handy for later.
Sounded like bull, USDA approved.
"Australia, huh. I'm ill-educated enough to sort of buy into the deadly animal stereotypes but that one's pushing it." Maybe if one of the lethal spiders happened to Spidey-web into a toilet. But fuck semantics and technicality. He'd already had enough English for one life time his Freshman year go at it. "But yeah I guess if you're from Down Under the wildlife here in Kingman's kiddie pool for you. Maybe that's why your parents wanted to have a go at it out here. Neighborhood safety. Just, uh, ignore the drug busts and shit." Most of the neighborhoods immediately around Cochise weren't especially problematic in the 'bored white people on meth and heroin' department, to be fair. So it wasn't an immediately apparent problem. What were the stats? Three hundred something arrests last year?
Welcome to Kingman.
"You know your schedule yet?" Helpful instincts rising like red on the USSR flag. The girl probably had everything on lock, or more likely her parents would be managing that for her. But it didn't hurt to be sure. An early trip to the counselor's office was always a good call to make, Hunt's draconian attendance policies meant most of the staff tended to be in early. "Oh, and the name's Ben."
He casually rolled a hand out for the obligatory shake, hand half-limp and kinda still shriveled from the rushed morning shower.
"Australia, huh. I'm ill-educated enough to sort of buy into the deadly animal stereotypes but that one's pushing it." Maybe if one of the lethal spiders happened to Spidey-web into a toilet. But fuck semantics and technicality. He'd already had enough English for one life time his Freshman year go at it. "But yeah I guess if you're from Down Under the wildlife here in Kingman's kiddie pool for you. Maybe that's why your parents wanted to have a go at it out here. Neighborhood safety. Just, uh, ignore the drug busts and shit." Most of the neighborhoods immediately around Cochise weren't especially problematic in the 'bored white people on meth and heroin' department, to be fair. So it wasn't an immediately apparent problem. What were the stats? Three hundred something arrests last year?
Welcome to Kingman.
"You know your schedule yet?" Helpful instincts rising like red on the USSR flag. The girl probably had everything on lock, or more likely her parents would be managing that for her. But it didn't hurt to be sure. An early trip to the counselor's office was always a good call to make, Hunt's draconian attendance policies meant most of the staff tended to be in early. "Oh, and the name's Ben."
He casually rolled a hand out for the obligatory shake, hand half-limp and kinda still shriveled from the rushed morning shower.
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Spinnentier*
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"Rea Adams," she bent over slightly to shake his hand. "Good to meet you, Ben." Look at her, making friends with the locals. He certainly wasn't what she expected the people here to be like; he was surprisingly well groomed. He seemed somewhat intelligent, more so than she was expecting, and appeared to be pretty perceptive, picking up on her accent and discerning from it that she was from out of town. Or maybe that part came from the fact he'd not seen her around this place before.
Whatever the case, her preconceptions of the town and its people were shattering before her eyes. Or, you know, this was just the single intelligent person here. In either case, she was talking to someone who was (probably) about as smart as she was.
"Yeah, my schedule and everything's sorted out," she added, straightening her back to her full height, just to mess with Ben. "There usually anyone else here this early?"
Whatever the case, her preconceptions of the town and its people were shattering before her eyes. Or, you know, this was just the single intelligent person here. In either case, she was talking to someone who was (probably) about as smart as she was.
"Yeah, my schedule and everything's sorted out," she added, straightening her back to her full height, just to mess with Ben. "There usually anyone else here this early?"
Did she really need to bend down for the hand shake? As if their limbs didn't have a range of motion. Ben was going to obviously give her the benefit of a doubt on this one, but for a lesser friend he would have called bullshit.
"Full name, huh? Fields is my last. Nice to meet you, Rea." If she wanted something weird and frivolous like 'Miss Adams' or whatever best to get the haranguing out of the way fast. When their hands parted his idly cleaved a few of the tufts of his hair apart. Unnecessary. He quickly shoved the idling hand into a pocket before it did more damage. She riposted by putting even more height differential into the equation, and he swore he could physically hear the smug comment that wasn't actually said. His response? Shit, she had even more inches on her? He didn't even have any slack in his own posture. He'd been straight as an ironing board because of an unfamiliar face.
Putting his best foot forward he found a way to shoot it. He could appreciate that on a dramatic irony level. Wait, that was what dramatic irony referred to, right?
Nope. Not putting his mindspace into that academic morass again.
"So I guess you've got your map and directions down as well? I hate to be the guy that has to ask but I knew some freshman with spatial reasoning skills that nicely crush your hope in future generations. And, nah. Usually the only kids hanging around school at this hour are those seeing teachers or who drive from home or whatever. Most of the others start showing in a few."
"Full name, huh? Fields is my last. Nice to meet you, Rea." If she wanted something weird and frivolous like 'Miss Adams' or whatever best to get the haranguing out of the way fast. When their hands parted his idly cleaved a few of the tufts of his hair apart. Unnecessary. He quickly shoved the idling hand into a pocket before it did more damage. She riposted by putting even more height differential into the equation, and he swore he could physically hear the smug comment that wasn't actually said. His response? Shit, she had even more inches on her? He didn't even have any slack in his own posture. He'd been straight as an ironing board because of an unfamiliar face.
Putting his best foot forward he found a way to shoot it. He could appreciate that on a dramatic irony level. Wait, that was what dramatic irony referred to, right?
Nope. Not putting his mindspace into that academic morass again.
"So I guess you've got your map and directions down as well? I hate to be the guy that has to ask but I knew some freshman with spatial reasoning skills that nicely crush your hope in future generations. And, nah. Usually the only kids hanging around school at this hour are those seeing teachers or who drive from home or whatever. Most of the others start showing in a few."
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Spinnentier*
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This was hilarious. Here was this guy, doing his best to appear as tall as he could, having his masculinity obliterated by some redheaded freshman. She could barely conceal the smile from that thought. He really was trying, wasn't he? Spine straight, head up, attempting to appear nonplussed by her height. Being almost exactly 6 ft tall tended to have this effect on people. Got her a lot of attention, not always appreciated attention to be sure, but attention nevertheless.
Rea didn't even notice he hadn't told her his last name the first time. She was so used to more formal introductions when meeting people that it had just become habit for her. His response showed he didn't usually get last names out of people. Was she really that detached from normal people? Should she be concerned that she wasn't referring to herself as a normal person?
Well that sudden unintentional philosophical internal discussion could be saved for later, there were people to talk to. Or rather, a person to talk to, but still, the point stands.
"I'm gonna be honest, I have no idea where everything is. This place is so different from the schools we have back where I'm from."
Rea didn't even notice he hadn't told her his last name the first time. She was so used to more formal introductions when meeting people that it had just become habit for her. His response showed he didn't usually get last names out of people. Was she really that detached from normal people? Should she be concerned that she wasn't referring to herself as a normal person?
Well that sudden unintentional philosophical internal discussion could be saved for later, there were people to talk to. Or rather, a person to talk to, but still, the point stands.
"I'm gonna be honest, I have no idea where everything is. This place is so different from the schools we have back where I'm from."
Yep, Ben swore he heard the condescending commentary piping out from under her mopcut somehow. But it wasn't being said. No leads, even though they both dubiously knew what was up.
"Different in what sense? Can't really imagine just how different the architecture standards can be between two modern countries." Maybe he was betraying his lack of experience here. All Ben really knew of the lands beyond the borders of Arizona- let alone over international waters- was pixels on a coughing and chugging too-old-to-be-antique television set. Travel was a different concern for a different time, anyways. He was busy with more immediate concerns day to day. Here and now.
"Well tell me your classes and I'll be able to show you all of them. While we're waiting around we might as well." The way he said it, almost seemed like neither of them had a choice in the matter.
"Different in what sense? Can't really imagine just how different the architecture standards can be between two modern countries." Maybe he was betraying his lack of experience here. All Ben really knew of the lands beyond the borders of Arizona- let alone over international waters- was pixels on a coughing and chugging too-old-to-be-antique television set. Travel was a different concern for a different time, anyways. He was busy with more immediate concerns day to day. Here and now.
"Well tell me your classes and I'll be able to show you all of them. While we're waiting around we might as well." The way he said it, almost seemed like neither of them had a choice in the matter.
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Spinnentier*
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"It's different in the sense of the buildings being..." She paused, trying to come up with something. "Well, I like this place's rustic look..." Yeah. Well done, super convincingly said there. Great, now he was gonna think she was a stuck-up, overly rich, sheltered princess. I mean, she was, but she didn't want him to see her as that.
"Anyway, my first class is in the science rooms, wherever they are." That ought to do it. Not the slightest hint of sudden subject changing there. Not much she could do about it now, apart from hope he didn't think she was a snob. Come to think of it, that seemed to be a problem she had to deal with on a regular basis, trying in vain to not seem like the entitled rich-kid she really was.
Of all the towns in America, why this one? Why this school? Why couldn't she just go to a ludicrously expensive school like the ones she'd been to in the past? Where everyone else was a snob, and she was a snob, and she could make tons of snob friends and go snobbing together.
Maybe that was the idea. To let her see what normal life was like, to mingle with normal people, in their normal lives.
Talk to them, get to know them.
Well, Ben was a good start anyway.
"Anyway, my first class is in the science rooms, wherever they are." That ought to do it. Not the slightest hint of sudden subject changing there. Not much she could do about it now, apart from hope he didn't think she was a snob. Come to think of it, that seemed to be a problem she had to deal with on a regular basis, trying in vain to not seem like the entitled rich-kid she really was.
Of all the towns in America, why this one? Why this school? Why couldn't she just go to a ludicrously expensive school like the ones she'd been to in the past? Where everyone else was a snob, and she was a snob, and she could make tons of snob friends and go snobbing together.
Maybe that was the idea. To let her see what normal life was like, to mingle with normal people, in their normal lives.
Talk to them, get to know them.
Well, Ben was a good start anyway.
'Rustic', huh? Rea's quickdraw had a sort of pretentiousness about it. Ben almost wondered, guessing 'budding interior designer' or 'Daddys little princess' before he recalled just as quickly: Mercedes. Mystery solved, case closed. Cross-examination concluded, Rea was probably at least sort of a spoiled ass. But that wasn't his immediate concern, passing character judgement. The topic swap was bold as it was obvious, and Ben had this girl in the drink now. Or would have if he'd deign to dare a direct comment.
"You should see the rest of Kingman then, plenty of rust." Maybe a bit of running commentary. "Alright, West Wing it is. Follow me then, Mrs. President." Eh. He'd tried to make the reference, at least. Probably shouldn't have bothered. "If you've got Math and Science as your morning lineup you're in luck if you're looking for quiet. West Wing's also got all the elective classes with loud machines, so later in the day you're hearing the future Bobby Flay drill a hole through his pan with an egg beater while you're working on your quadratics." See, Ben knew this much from very poignant experience. A flash in the frying pan moment, literally. The smoke alarm in Mrs. Brown's class was fucking loud.
He began to move, with a backwards glance to be sure she followed. It was a short walk from where they were to the main doors of the campus building, multistory 'rustic' edifice it was. They had to go up a flight of stairs the moment they were in, and then a hallway that stretched into the squeaky tile bulk of the heart of Cochise's science department. Ben moved at a relatively quick clip, well within his athletic power. He only barely lingered enough to keep Rea in line of sight if she was a bit too laggard for his tastes.
"There's also a floor below, but most of the sciences specifically are second floor. You got a lab... Graham... Barks..." He pointed out each door as it cropped up in periphery vision.
"You should see the rest of Kingman then, plenty of rust." Maybe a bit of running commentary. "Alright, West Wing it is. Follow me then, Mrs. President." Eh. He'd tried to make the reference, at least. Probably shouldn't have bothered. "If you've got Math and Science as your morning lineup you're in luck if you're looking for quiet. West Wing's also got all the elective classes with loud machines, so later in the day you're hearing the future Bobby Flay drill a hole through his pan with an egg beater while you're working on your quadratics." See, Ben knew this much from very poignant experience. A flash in the frying pan moment, literally. The smoke alarm in Mrs. Brown's class was fucking loud.
He began to move, with a backwards glance to be sure she followed. It was a short walk from where they were to the main doors of the campus building, multistory 'rustic' edifice it was. They had to go up a flight of stairs the moment they were in, and then a hallway that stretched into the squeaky tile bulk of the heart of Cochise's science department. Ben moved at a relatively quick clip, well within his athletic power. He only barely lingered enough to keep Rea in line of sight if she was a bit too laggard for his tastes.
"There's also a floor below, but most of the sciences specifically are second floor. You got a lab... Graham... Barks..." He pointed out each door as it cropped up in periphery vision.
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Spinnentier*
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She had to admire her dad for choosing to marry a neurosurgeon instead of the more common and obvious choice of a generic supermodel trophy wife. Choosing someone intelligent, with brains, character, and an actual personality instead of an oversized barbie. Rea often wondered how she'd have turned out with one of those for a mother.
Probably a lot like how most likely Ben saw her now. Rustic? Really? Of all the fumbled responses taking the place of "your school looks like someone stole it from colonial times", why did she have to choose "I like this place's rustic look"?
Rea wasn't exactly the most feminine student at her old school. Well, "not the most feminine" didn't really do it justice. Outside of school uniform, she couldn't remember the last time she wore a dress, and was fairly confident she had never worn makeup in her life. She didn't fawn over puppies, didn't faint at the sight of a wall-scorpion (or toilet spider, for that matter) and, despite being in a family that could easily afford twenty, never asked for a pony. That was what standard rich girls did, right? Ask for ponies and do each other's hair and whatnot? Not that she'd know.
Anyway, despite all this, she'd somehow managed to come off as someone who actually cared about such things; something she was actively trying to avoid. Of course, this wall all just assumptions. She didn't actually know how he felt about her. Well, that could be changed. For better or for worse.
"Ben?" Rea asked. "Do I seem detached from society to you?"
Probably a lot like how most likely Ben saw her now. Rustic? Really? Of all the fumbled responses taking the place of "your school looks like someone stole it from colonial times", why did she have to choose "I like this place's rustic look"?
Rea wasn't exactly the most feminine student at her old school. Well, "not the most feminine" didn't really do it justice. Outside of school uniform, she couldn't remember the last time she wore a dress, and was fairly confident she had never worn makeup in her life. She didn't fawn over puppies, didn't faint at the sight of a wall-scorpion (or toilet spider, for that matter) and, despite being in a family that could easily afford twenty, never asked for a pony. That was what standard rich girls did, right? Ask for ponies and do each other's hair and whatnot? Not that she'd know.
Anyway, despite all this, she'd somehow managed to come off as someone who actually cared about such things; something she was actively trying to avoid. Of course, this wall all just assumptions. She didn't actually know how he felt about her. Well, that could be changed. For better or for worse.
"Ben?" Rea asked. "Do I seem detached from society to you?"
Huh. That was a question.
They were hovering somewhere around a window now, one of all of five piddly glass affairs the school had. Ben vaguely wanted to glance out it, but he had a question to answer here. He exchanged a stare with Rea evenly. If she was looking at him, even.
Honest answer? "You seemed fine until you asked that question." Ben shrugged noncommittally, even though he was pretty sure of himself on that one. What kind of socially adjusted person felt they had to ask a question like that? Nominee for question of the hour, that. With plenty of hopefuls to come, possibly. Assuming either of them could make a pass at anything resembling literary genius during the pre-first period times where thought was nascent and far from fresh.
They were hovering somewhere around a window now, one of all of five piddly glass affairs the school had. Ben vaguely wanted to glance out it, but he had a question to answer here. He exchanged a stare with Rea evenly. If she was looking at him, even.
Honest answer? "You seemed fine until you asked that question." Ben shrugged noncommittally, even though he was pretty sure of himself on that one. What kind of socially adjusted person felt they had to ask a question like that? Nominee for question of the hour, that. With plenty of hopefuls to come, possibly. Assuming either of them could make a pass at anything resembling literary genius during the pre-first period times where thought was nascent and far from fresh.
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Spinnentier*
- Posts: 53
- Joined: Mon Jan 28, 2019 5:01 pm
Because of course normal people asked questions like that. What was she expecting him to say? "No Rea, you aren't detached, and I know this because normal people ask if they are all the time!" Welp, guess she could blame that on her somewhat less-than-spectacular social skills. No one really knew how hard it was being excessively rich! They didn't know the pains she endured, having almost no friends back home because she was incredibly condescending and looked down on everyone. It was harder than people realised!
Bloody hell, this was only her first day; how was she meant to survive an entire year of this? How was she meant to survive the entirety of high school here?
Not being so condescending would be a good start. Stopping herself from seeing herself as above everyone, things like that.
"I honestly don't know what the hell I was thinking would happen after asking that question."
Maybe she should just start with this Ben kid.
Yeah. That was a start.
Bloody hell, this was only her first day; how was she meant to survive an entire year of this? How was she meant to survive the entirety of high school here?
Not being so condescending would be a good start. Stopping herself from seeing herself as above everyone, things like that.
"I honestly don't know what the hell I was thinking would happen after asking that question."
Maybe she should just start with this Ben kid.
Yeah. That was a start.