OOC Date: June 3-June4
IC Date: June 3, 2010
5th Study Hall
Just your general classroom.
Teacher: Dr. Albert Hampton
The faint echoes of the bell still holds present on the air as students continue the slow, lazy shuffle into the class room of the fifth hour study hall. At his desk Dr. Hampton can be found, a newspaper held tightly in his aged fingers as he works at the latest cross word puzzle, leaving the students to their own devices for the beginning moments of class.
The windows have been uncovered, their blinds raised and the their panes opened to allow the soft glow of natural light in, as well as the comforting scent of saltwater and sea spray that hints at the air. It’s a shame to have such a slow class after lunch. It leaves students like Adam lazy and unable to keep their eyes open for the moment.
In front of him on the desk are his science notes, opened but disregarded as the teen dozes atop them. Really it’s not his fault; the allure of a nap is just that much more inspiring than the principals of chemical compounds.
Behind the napping jock, a small group of girls have gathered, their giggles flowing into sync with the ticking of the clock overhead while farther toward the back another group, composed of stoners and miscreants chuckle and work below the radar to hollow out a science book with a rather illegal pocketknife.
She had a rather decent lunch, some awesome conversation, and got the latest gossip around school all in the matter of an hour. Ashley always like after lunch study hall. It meant that she got an extra hour of break to let her food digest, and get some things done that could normally take up her precious 'at home' time. Shopping with the girls, or mother and grandmother was a treat that was better than homework.
As it stands, Ashley is hard at work, solving complex equations and integers that make up her math assignment. But she isn't too oblivious to notice the light snickering and rise of something amusing. Maybe? She looks up from her books, reaching to tuck her hair back over an ear and scans the room. Adam was right next to her, so it didn't take long for her to notice him taking a doze. Her eyes roll upwards, and she shakes her head, taking her pink pen that has the end portion bent into a heart and she reaches over to poke the boy, whispering.
"Adam.. Wake up. You're gonna get in trouble, either that or you'll start drooling all over your notes, and that's just gross. What are you working on anyway?"
Adam jumps suddenly at the poking to his shoulder, his head jerking up as his eyes widen dramatically as his dream comes to an end and … blasted.
It takes only a moment for Adam to recollect his faculties which unfortunately is plenty of time for him to look very very stupid. He blinks. He stares, and eventually he stutters to himself for a moment before he manages to recall that ‘yes Adam, you are a loser.’ He blushes then, just faintly before his eyes find the girl at his left, eyeing her firmly before he lowers his eyes to his notes.
“Ha! I did not.” He lifts the notebook to flash its droll free information with a small look of smug arrogance before he lowers back to the desk, “Supposed to be chemistry…. I dunno if I have the energy to deal with it though.” Or, perhaps he, like the other students, has given up the attempt to pacify the teachers with summer break lingering just at the end of a week and a half away.
Dropping his elbows back to the desktop again, his head lowers as his hands move through his hair, his eyes drifting toward the girls work before he sighs. “Why are you working on that? Really? Its not like you can fail at this point. You’ve passed…why bother?”
Ashley starts just a bit, jumping right along with the jock, pulling back her face like she expects an arm to come swinging in reflex or something. She even picks up her blue notebook and starts to brandish it like a shield before she settles into her senses.
She doesn't want to laugh in his face, yet she can't help but find the reaction rather comical. So she politely raises her hand to cover her mouth, and gives a few light nasal chuckles. "No. You didn't. I said you WOULD." the girl points out, giving two soft clicking snaps with her fingers, "Keep up with me here.. I really probably should have let you sleep. But I felt it was more noble of a thing to rouse you from your little slumber, rather than watch you twitch and whimper about plays on the field or clowns trying to eat you or something. That as to save you the humiliation of having Dr. Hampton wake you up in a far less subtle manner than I just did."
With a smirk, she returns to her books papers, her pen scribbling away, and her fingers lifting to punch a few buttons on her graphing calculator. Her dark hair slips down the side of her neck, caressing her cheek. "Ivy League schools don't settle for 'you passed'. Hard work and dedication are the things that make a scholastic resume shine brighter than your average applicant." she explains.
Adam wrinkles his nose as the girl teases him, how brows arching slowly as he blinks himself free of the haze remaining. He turns away from her as she continues to chide him, looking over his shoulder toward the giggling gaggle of girls and onward toward the faint glare of a girl as she guards the knife work from the uninterested eyes of their rather ancient teacher.
“Ivy League schools are more worried about hefty donations and meeting minority requirements than good grades.” Adam manages his own little criticism in there as he leans back in his chair. Luckily, it seems to be an empty-minded and empty emotion criticism and little more. His hands reach to snatch her pen away, if she lets him. A small attempt to get her attention again. He clearly has no interest in working on his homework this period. Not with the memory of a warm, sun drenched beach.
“Anyway, it’s no fun to stress all day. You’re gonna have wrinkles before you’re 20 if you keep stressin over…whatever that is.” He does give the work and calculator a small game, though he seems more determined than ever to distract the die-hard student from her work. “You wont let me sleep, I don’t think you should get to work.”
"Adam!" she growls a whisper through tightly clenched teeth, as her pen is snatched right out of her hand, leaving a rather sloppy, quick line at the end of a '2' she was writing in. Her hands slap lightly down upon the text book and notepad on the table in front of her. The quick whip of her head to glare at him sending dark locks to flick and slap into her cheek. She reaches over to try to snatch it back, missing entirely, and abandoning the notion.
"The donations part I'll leave to daddy. I'll take care of the rest." she shrugs, "And I am NOT stressing. I'm just using study period for something productive rather than being lazy. We can't all get by on running around with a long-handled racquet that is strung with loose netting to catch, carry, and pass a small solid rubber ball in an effort to score by shooting the it into an opponent's goal. Good season by the way. Bet your parents are excited." While she explains away his game in her usual smart-alecy type of way, the last part of it is sincere.
"Anyway. Dean, Benton and I are considering throwing a party at the end of the year. Do you think you'd like to come?" her dark brow arches, and then her eyes narrow after wards at him trying to distract her. "If I can't work, then what am I gonna do all period?"
Adam is unmoved by her growl and rather than hand the pen back, he toys with it. Clicking the pink ballpoint rapidly, he uses the pen to distract himself from the glares and sneers of the girl at his side. “I make fine grades, I have you know.” He points out with a slow, easy tone. He’s more than a little amused by the rashness of her behavior, especially since its centered around homework. “You’re just jealous that you’re not as coordinated as I am.” He offers her a wink before, as easily as it came, he finds himself disinterested with the pen. It’s surrendered to the geek at his side with a small guilty smile and a shrug of his shoulders.
“Party huh?” Yes, the mention of a party takes precedence over the conversation of lacrosse and his rather futile attempt to make A’s on his tests. He manages B’s. It’s the best he’ll give the world. “Well, I guess it’s mandatory huh? Where you thinkin? You’re house or like, Skins?”
Skin’s. A cool enough club, always manages to intimidate the skittish and socially uncomfortable jock. “Cause, ya know..people crash and all.” His mind drifts back to a handful of parties crashed by the uninvited. Most of which turned out well enough. “Either way, course I’ll come. I’m pretty sure I’d end up there regardless anyway.” Teams are like that. “Why? You inviting me?” cue the grin. He’ll make her ask him formally.
She brings her eyes up to roll back and forth while her head gives a few shakes, "I'm not saying you make bad grades. I'm just saying that I won't be getting in on an athletic scholarship like some people. An academic one? Okay, maybe. And maybe if I do well on the tennis team next year, I can do that. But I'm banking on other things to get me where I wanna be." she lifts her shoulders in a shrug, looking over at him and smirking. "Coordinated? Maybe.. I'll remember that the next time you need tutoring in something. I'll totally make you get me a gift as penance before I shell out anything." From her tone, it would seem that she is mostly joking, though there is a seriousness to it as well.
"But yeah. A bash, actually. At our place. Daddy will let me have a party, so I'm thinking of holding it near or the last day of school. And of /course/ it's mandatory? It's gonna be a blast." She knows full well she can get her family to shell out the expenses to make it pretty awesome.
Her dark brows lift up curiously, and then she grins, shaking her head, "Don't get any ideas, Adam Blake. I'm asking you because I like you. I consider you a friend at least, and you're not too bad to hang around. Ben and Dean like you well enough, so you're cool in my book too."
“Eww.” Oups. Judging by the look on his face he’d not actually *meant* to say that aloud. He blushes furiously as he realizes his laps, his eyes diverting themselves to his notes. Wow, chemistry suddenly seems so much more interesting for some reason. “Not that you’re..ya know, eww or anything. Just..I didn’t mean it like that.” He remains fixated on the spiral of his notebook for now, his hand clinching it tightly in his hand as she works quickly through his thoughts for the right way to smooth out the social wrinkles he caused.
Adam is well known for two things. Firstly, he’s a nice guy. The nicest most of the time. Some call it Golden Boy Syndrome, others call it faking. Whatever it is, it’s a constant front that he carries. The second thing is that Adam /doesn’t/ date. He’s more than comfortable within the Friend-Zone. In fact, that’s lead to more than a few rumors of its own. Still, for now, he licks his lips and hums lowly before he clears his throat.
“Obviously I suck at talking.” If all else fails, admit the obvious! “You’re not eww, yes I know friends..and I appreciate that by the way,” just in case she didn’t realize that, “And, yes I’ll come. So long as no one takes my keys. The last time someone did I spent an hour convincing Robbie’s mom that I *don’t* drink.” It took forever, and he was stone cold sober! “So, assuming that I’m still invited then, yeah.” Repeat repeat repeat, and carry on until you’ve made a big enough ass of yourself to push the conversation onward. “So, other than party throwing what’s you plans this summer?
Eww? Okay.. That's about to be taken the wrong way in about 3.. 2— Okay. He saves face. If there is one thing Ashley has to admit, it is that Adam isn't a bad guy. Sure, he may do one or two things that makes her get just a little on the indignant side, but it's all in general fun. The 'eww'? That would have been a step in the wrong direction had he not fixed what he said and made it clear what he meant by it.
"It's okay, I completely understand. But you don't have to like, get all blushy and stuff. When I said I liked you, I /meant/ as a friend." Much like him however, Ashley doesn't date. She's tried, failed, tried, failed.. It is a vicious cycle that has repeated itself on more than one occasion, with different trials than the subsequent time, but usually always the same result. De-saster. So maybe it was a little odd that she was just 'cool' with the jock Golden Boy. But it worked for her. To Dean and Benton, he was a popular, handsome guy that didn't hit on their sister, and a fellow teammate. Though secretly, Ashley had to admit, it was kinda funny to watch the jock blush and squirm just a little if she could cause it.
She holds her pen in the center and shakes it back and forth, causing both ends to ratta-tat-tat on her notebook idly. "No one will steal your keys. I trust you enough for that. And if you really needed to, you're more than welcome to crash in one of the guest rooms. Or the pool house till the next day." she shrugs her shoulder, smiling, "Mmm.. This summer? I dunno actually. I think the family is planning some kind of getaway, but I don't really wanna go. I'd like to stick around and see if there is anything to get into here."
Adam is calm within seconds of going silent. Something that apparently dawns on him as odd. Girl shy? Oh yes indeed. When Ashley is nice enough to point out the disaster that is a blushing Adam, she is met with a sharp cut of his eyes which only intensifies as the girls behind them burst into laughter. “Thank you for that.” He grumbles lowly, though despite the growl in his tone and frown on his face, the emotion doesn’t really reach his eyes. No. It’s a front that is quickly dismissed for a sigh and a shameful look of surrender to the idea that he’s been his own worst enemy for the last few minutes.
Instead of dwell on this, however, Adam pick up his own pen and begins the slow, lazy process of clicking it. “Vacations suck with my family.” He admits dryly, “I stick around, though really there’s not all that much to do here. Parties, some beach time. Sleeping till 4:00 in the afternoon and eating myself out of a healthy playing weight.” He flashes her a grin a few seconds later, “I tried to learn to play golf last summer. Epic fail on my part. The Club owner still looks like he’s gonna blow a vein every time he sees me. Shatter one restaurant window with a rouge golf ball and you’re the next best thing to the devil.” His eyes trail beyond her at that, toward the window before he yawns. “I dunno. Might like, get a job or something. Maybe. I was thinking about lifeguarding.”
She takes a look over her shoulder for a moment, tossing the snickering bunch a look that would be an indication that /she/ didn't find it funny. In the case of Adam, she didn't really harbor any feelings or desire to make him look like an idiot, other than harmless teasing. Other than that there was nothing that would constitute her intentionally treating badly. "Oh come on, Adam. You, me and the snicker sisters back there all know that being the good guy that blushes makes you one of, if not the most acceptable guy at Seaside High? What sweetheart seeking high schooler would be able to resist those 'widdle weddening cheeks'?" In the last part, her tone changes, sounding like cooing baby talk even pouting her lip out cutely as she reaches over with her finger to give his cheek a playful pinch unless he stops her. She then just smiles and snickers a bit, "Stop being so hard on yourself. You've got a lot to offer a girl."
She gives her head a jerk, and her hair flips back over her shoulder, as she returns part of her attention to the paper splayed on the table beneath her for a moment. Just long enough to finish the equation she had been working on. "Wow, so /that's/ the mystery behind what the great Adam Blake does in his free time? I was expecting something far more exciting and.. I dunno.. Active?" she looks back over at him, "You should see what Dean, Ben and I have to go through. Normally the parties we end up having to go to? Consist of us dressing up like antique dolls and 'proper lords' while prancing amongst extended family members and the big shot "influential" upper crust, /dazzling/ them with our accomplishments, accepting their vacuous compliments and surreptitious relationships just so that they can try to squeeze funding from our family." she shrugs her shoulders, "But at least I get a new dress out of it, so I can deal." Ashley Kerrington can be a bit materialistic at times. At the best /and/ worst of times, actually.
Listening to him speak about getting a lifeguarding job, Ashely find another opportunity to illicit more of an unsettling blush from the boy. Since he won't let her work, she'll make him uncomfortable until he either lets her be, or explodes from embarrassment. "Lifeguarding, huh? Hm. So we'd get to see you topless, glistening and perched atop of a white chair, occasionally running down the beach like a grand hero to rescue an unfortunate beach goer and possibly get the mouth to mouth treatment? I foresee /a lot/ of drowning girls, and some boys actually. I'll make sure you're on duty before I decide to get a cramp in the water." She has to be teasing. Ashley is on the swim team, for her to drown is rather difficult.
"Anyway.." she sighs, "I haven't decided what I'm gonna do for the summer. I'm halfway tempted to try summer school. Next year is the most important year of my high school life. I gotta be more than just a shining star."
Ah, there is one thing Adam is not. Sure, girl shy chalks up on his board, but pathetic is not one of them, so Ashley’s baby talk is met with a blank, flat gaze of unmoved anti-humor. Rather, he merely stares her down blankly for the moment. Until she’s done of course, plus a few clicks of a moment. “Are you don’t now?” He asks it flatly enough, though it’s clearly a punctuation of the fact. Adam is annoyed, but only mildly so. The aggravation rolls off his shoulders with a sigh and a forced chuckle.
He moves on to new topics easily enough, his eyes trailing back toward the girls who, for the moment, have given up snickering but not watching. “I don’t go to those parties. My dad doesn’t make me, but they dress Abbey up like a show dog.” That said there’s a small amount of distaste to the topic, as if it caused a bad taste in the back of his mouth. “Dad and I made a deal a few years ago. I don’t care about his money, and he pretends I have pressing scholastic and athletic obligations conveniently on the same night as every function until I’m 40.” See, father-son negotiations at its best! “The New Years parties are always fun though. I won’t say that I haven’t wandered in a few times to watch the drunk upper crust hit on one-another's wives.”
In regards to the lifeguarding, Adam only grins, his cheeks thankfully clear of the seeping blush of embarrassment from earlier. “I guess so. I suppose we’ll have to see how it goes. I dunno for sure that I wanna work. Part of me is really, really lazy during the summer.”
The girl rolls her eyes back and forth, "I'm done.." she sighs with a tone of defeat and a pinch of apology with it. "I was just kidding. I have to find something else to do since I'm not allowed to be a 'square' and do homework in study hall." The sarcasm is more than evident, but it doesn't leave the context of friendly poking.
"I'd say you were lucky.." she begins, reaching over to her expensive looking backpack, which is on the other side of her, pulling out a little bag of chocolate chip cookies of the miniature variety, plopping them on her notebook. "..But I actually don't mind them so much. I get to dance, wear beautiful gowns, be elegant and feel like a princess allll night. I'll have to show you some pictures sometime." she opens the bag and holds it out toward him, offering some.
"Why don't you find something productive to do over the Summer? Like pick up a new hobby or something.." she reaches and plucks a cookie from the bag, taking a bite and savoring the taste. Her brows raise wide in the discovery of an idea, "Oh! You could come shopping with me or something. Boys are actually pretty fun to shop with. And I doubt you'd complain as much as Ben or Dean."
Adam declines from the offer of cookies. Frankly he’d had a good enough lunch for a while. Maybe that was why sleep was lingering so close to the front of his mind at the moment. The very thought of sleep draws a yawn from the jock, his shoulders rolling lazily before he bends to slump against his desk again, his head resting on his arms as they fold over his notes. He does however turn his face to continue to watch the girl. “You enjoying being a princess. Shocker.” He teases drolly. He even rolls his eyes a little to enunciate his intentions of a tease. “To each his own though, I guess. If you like it, that’s good. I just hate to deal with people who talk to me based on my families account status.” Saying, empty headed money grubbers bug him.
“I have plenty of hobbies.” He then adds with a chuckle. “Sports are hobbies. I can’t afford the time to any more sports. I’ll find a good way to blow my time, I figure. Who knows. Maybe I’ll go all party crazy like everyone else. Make some bad choices or..whatever.”Again he rolls his eyes, and this time when the girls break into a giggle, he merely meets it with a playful wink back toward them and a knowing grin. It’d be epic if he held up his end of the joke. ‘Uptight Seaside Attacker Acts His Age, Film at 11!’ It would be a moment in history no doubt, but for now, it’s a joke.
Oh well, more cookies for Ash. She wouldn't actually eat them all in one setting, but she can at least enjoy a few for now. She watches him start to sink back into a mode of threatening slumber, and she decides not to bother him this time, as she'll be able to get back to doing her math homework. It bothered her to leave anything unfinished to be honest. Perhaps that was a quirk about her, among the many others. "Oh, it's pretty funny to deal with them. My brothers and I usually sit back and start picking at everyone's problems. We take bets on who is a pedophile, who is cheating on their wife, who's son is gay… or daughter for that matter. It's all pretty fun stuff. We find ways of amusing ourselves if we get too bored."
She was pretty close to her twin brothers. They were like a clique within a clique. A triad you might say. "YOU, make bad choices? Please, Adam.. You can't even sneeze incorrectly. I bet if you even got a girl pregnant, they'd find some way to exalt you for it. Or overlook it. It's just surprising that you're actually lazy. That..amazes me." the girl shrugs, looking back at the giggling group. She's glad she isn't like that… Not in school anyway. "Well you'll have to let me know what you do. I'd be interested to see what the insight is on Adam Blake."
Adam sighs..or perhaps it is a chuckle, as the girl carries on. “Well as long as you don’t die of boredom.” He acknowledges her games at the parties, though by the looks of it, he still don’t seem like he’ll be entertaining the idea of attending any himself. Not without the threat of bodily harm or blackmail, and since Ashley seems to believe that he is perfect, then perhaps there’s nothing to worry about in either avenues.
He does find himself yawning though, just for a moment before he chokes back a laugh with only mild success. It comes out as more of a cough, but the insight of shock and amusement is no less present in the action. “I am not lazy.” He argues with little strength. He might be. The thought has occurred to him a few times, “Anyway, even if I were, it’s more like selective laziness. Otherwise I’d be fat and useless and if my dad pr grandfather had any say about it..homeless.”
Settling back into his arms, his eyes close slowly as he emits yet another noise. A sigh of content. No more giggling behind his back. No more sneers from knife welding pricks in the corner..just silence, a cool breeze…and a bell.
His eyes open suddenly as the bell for next period sounds, his expression fluttering from shocked, to dismay…to annoyed. “Great…no nap, and now I get to run bleachers for another hour.” No doubt he has gym. What luck! “I. hate. Bleachers. When I finally pull the ‘epic jock mental snap’, I’m burning them down.” It’s just a side note before he sits up, reaching to tug his bag and shuffle his books into it. “I guess gimmie a call when you know when the party is, huh?”
Ashley? Die of boredom? No not likely. She'd probably find joy in coming up with math problems to solve, or something else that other people might find boring. It isn't that she was a big braniac, she just tried hard. Sometimes harder than she should. Oh well, she has good grades to show for it. And she's still hot, no matter how slightly scholastic she is. She seems to digress on the subject of what is done at formal parties for the time being, in an effort to move onto more interesting things. Like cookies! Nom nom nom!
"Wait.. Adam.." she frowns, confused, "You totally just told me that you get lazy in the summer. Now you're saying you're not lazy? That's a contradiction.." Even /she/ knows this much. She has had enough cookies for now, so she wraps up the little plastic bag and stuffs the confections back into her bag. "I couldn't imagine you being fat anywhere.." she comments. "Or useless… Outside of the normal general boyish state." a shrug. She does judge guys a bit harshly sometimes.
She has to lift her hand to her mouth and give a giggle, "Serves you right. I could have had my trig work done, but you had to distract me. That's karma, buddy. But I'm sure you'll be fine. You have alllll Summer to sleep if you want to." The girl stands and starts to stuff her things into her bag, "Anyway, sure thing. Either I will, or Ben or Dean will.. But we'll be figuring out the details tonight most likely. So.. have fun at gym!" she teases one final time.
