Survival Of The Fittest

"Thanks Nate! I had so much stiff competition, so I'm sure it was neck-in-neck," Joshua beamed, gently resting his pile of textbooks upon the table and placing himself in the nearest vacant spot, shuffling slightly as he did so. The hardback plastic chairs in the Beale Library had always proved themselves to be particularly uncomfortable for Joshua, especially ever since his sudden growth spurt midway through sophomore year, and he had to wiggle around in his seat before he didn't feel quite so awkward.

As the group spoke, a senior that Joshua vaguely recognised from the theatre shows he attended for yearbook approached the group and introduced herself as Jane. Joshua was about to introduce himself in turn and was contemplating inviting her to sit with them before she promptly left, situating herself in a nearby seat. He was saddened that she hadn't chosen to pursue any more conversation with the trio, but was still grateful that he at least now had a name to match the face whenever he next saw her around.

Opting not to comment on the brief encounter, Joshua instead focused on Nate's inquiry about leaving, and Lani's assurance that she herself would be comfortable with him remaining. The puppy-dog eyes that the other boy made when he questioned his welcomeness tugged at Joshua's heartstrings; he couldn't bear the thought of upsetting him. In Joshua's mind, there'd been no question about Nate staying if the others wanted him to; he was none too eager to split the duo up, especially with the company they'd provided for each other before his arrival. Plus, if Nate was having trouble with the same Mathematics test, then that was even better; if he could help just one more person than he'd expected to, it'd make his day even brighter.

"Oh, of course that's fine! The more the merrier, right?" As he spoke, he lifted the first textbook off the table and sifted through to the appropriate section. "Are you having trouble with the test too, Nate?"

There'd been so many questions to get through that Joshua had almost forgotten about the Tupperware container of baking Lani presented him with, which he now turned his full attention to. He had to hold back a gasp at the intricate detailing of the brightly-coloured citrus balls; the effort she would've put into preparing them was obvious. In Joshua's eyes, this was the perfect sort of gift for him: something homemade, personal, and in no way material.

"Oh, and these citrus balls, Lani! Thank you so much! You must've spent so much time on them!" Gesturing towards the container, he nodded at both Lani and Nate, eyes alight with excitement. "Please, both of you, have one!"

"Oh, sure! If Lani doesn't mind." Nate smiled, plucking up the courage to go for one of the balls without waiting for permission first, savouring a modest, yet zesty bite. "Mmm, these are great!"

Chewing and swallowing, he looked back and forth between Josh and Lani with a content smile. This was exactly what he needed after panicking for half the afternoon: some friendly people who were happy to lend a hand and who were happy to have him around too. The tasty baking was just an added bonus.

Still, he couldn't help but catch sight of Jane over at the other table. Sat there all alone, even though she'd taken the time to stop and say hi. How was it fair that she didn't get any company either? Nate may have found Jane intimidating a lot of the time, but that didn't mean she should've been left out without a thought.

Oh, right, Josh had asked him a question.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, I'm really bad at math." He nodded, but still distracted by Jane. She really did look left out, and maybe she just needed an invitation? The worst she could do was say she was busy, he figured. Which was fine.

"Hey, Jane?" he called, a deal louder than he really should've in a library. "Did you want to come study with us?"

"I mean, as long as that's okay with you guys." He asked, consideration drawn back to his two present companions. After all, he was the guest in this study session.

Jane continued to read Gone With The Wind, but her mind wandered while doing so. There were so many things she could be doing. She could be sailing the world, or god knows, just something other than being in school. Not that Jane was the kind of person who would skip school, but today, she wished she was.

Hearing Nate shout her name, Jane was suddenly interrupted from her thoughts. It was certainly one way to get somebody's attention. Even so, it couldn't hurt to go over and talk with them, couldn't it? "Well, why not? I'll be there in a few seconds."

Jane walked over to the table where everybody was seated, and took a seat. "So, hi again, I guess? I'm Jane, and what are your names?" Like, Jane wished she could probably be anywhere at this point, but maybe it would be a good idea to go and talk with some people. and try not be a bitch. Well, at least try.

Seeing Lani offer citrus balls, Jane's mouth watered. All this reading made her hungry, although- Well, fuck it. She'd at least ask, that was polite enough, right? "Oh, those look really good. Could I get one?" If Jane was being denied, it would not be for a lack of politeness. Not today, at least.

"Please, Joshua!" Lani began. "I'm sure you won by a landslide!"

She admired the kind of person that Joshua was. He came across as so calm and well put together; he was another strong role model for the student body. Kind was probably a fantastic descriptor. All these attributes made spending time with him in this kind of environment all the more enjoyable.

Lani was pleased that Joshua had let Nate stay. She enjoyed his company too; he seemed so much more earthed than half the school, and had comparability to her as well. She knew the studying would help Nate feel much more confident about the test, and he looked like he could do with a morale boost of some sort.

"I'm glad they taste good!" Lani mentioned as a giggle protruded from her lips. Her prayers had clearly been answered: she'd burnt far too many lemons than she would care to admit trying to get the batch as perfect as she possibly could. Without Flannery's help, her persistence might well have been futile. Joshua had even offered her a taste of the creation, however she decided to decline, moving her hand in a dismissive wave. "So sweet of you Joshua, but I'm fine for the time being. You go ahead!"

Nate's increased volume on his call out to Jane gave Lani a little bit of a jump. She wasn't expecting it, that's for sure, and hoped simply that a librarian wouldn't heed the resounding voice. "Um. I'm fine; again, up to Joshua; he's the tutor after all." Trying to sound sensible, non-deflective, and of course, actually fine. The girl approached them, with a reintroduction Lani thought largely unnecessary. Maybe she had just felt the need to mention it twice? Lani smiled, coercing her wandering mind back into uniform.

"Hello Jane," Lani started; she really didn't know much about Jane, and from the initial interaction, she felt quite awkward—being around new and unfamiliar faces did that to her—but she hid it as best she could, to not make Jane well out of place. That would be worse. "My name is Lani." She stated, continuing on. "It looks as though you know Nate already, and this is Joshua, my junior math tutor."

Could she get one? Lani was taken a back briefly—it wasn't the way she would go around asking for food that looks as though it were made out of special occasion. Again, Lani was being wrongfully judgmental; fair trial and all that? She shook it off. She wouldn't hand Jane one herself, as there were of course not hers to give.

"My mum and I made them for Joshua; he's really been helping me and my grades. They've actually jumped nearly a full letter grade!" The uneasiness returned. She didn't really want to continue speaking, and while forcing the decision on or address of her question onto Joshua wasn't a choice she wanted to make, she told herself it made more sense for him to be the one to respond.

Nate listened to the conversation at hand until he was interrupted by the buzzing of a phone in his pocket, its beeping to announce that he'd gotten a text loud enough for all the library to hear. He never was one to remember to mute it in these sorts of places.

As he pulled it out and checked the screen, (it was an older model, of course; nothing flashy or cool) his heart skipped a beat. Typical that he'd forget what he was supposed to be doing right then and there instead of being in the library. Why wasn't he better at keeping track of things?

"Ah, geez." He whimpered, standing up in his chair. "I'm sorry guys, I've got to go."

He slung his backpack up over his shoulder, hurrying out of the library before he had time to realise that he was supposed to restack all the books he'd taken down.

((Nate Turner continued elsewhere))

"Oh, I'm Joshua. Joshua Bracewell," Joshua said, simultaneously answering both of Jane's queries by lifting Lani's container and offered it to her as he spoke. "And sure! They're free for anybody, honestly."

In his efforts to ensure everybody was aware the citrus balls were free for all, Joshua almost forgot to take one for himself. Not wanting to offend Lani, nor have her believe his thanks was anything less than the sincere gesture it was, he plucked the nearest one up and popped it into his mouth. As he bit down, he was immediately greeted by a cocktail of flavours dancing delicately across his palate. He swallowed the remainder after a few more bites, savouring the lingering sweetness in his mouth.

"Wow, Lani!" He gushed, "these are fantastic! You and your mum have done an amazing job!"

Unfortunately, it was shortly after that moment that Nate apologetically announced he had to leave their group, hurriedly slinging his bag over his shoulder before bolting from the library.

"Bye Nate!" Joshua offered the other boy a quick wave as he dashed from the room, leaving a stack of textbooks behind in his wake; with the speed at which he rushed away, he couldn't be sure Nate had even heard him, let alone seen his gesture. Poor guy – he must've been in a real hurry to forget about his books. Joshua could only hope none of them were particularly important, but he made a mental note of their titles just in case Nate didn't return for them before their session was over and the group dispersed. If he didn't, Joshua planned on returning them to their respective shelves himself, not wanting to leave any extra work for the library staff.

Turning his attention back to Lani and Jane, Joshua opted to ask the latter a question that'd been resting at the back of his mind since her presence in the room had been first brought to his attention.

"So, what brings you to the library on such a nice afternoon, Jane?"