from the top | rp discussion

Kaylie wasn’t doing anything spectacularly interesting, at least, not to anyone who happened to be walking around. She was just sitting at a table near the middle of the union, watching everyone go to and fro. The start of the school year always lead to a bit of a craze, the first-years trying to find their way to classes, people seeing their friends they hadn’t seen all summer (for those that actually had friends), and just a general stress and excitement of being back. Kaylie couldn’t complain too much about the change of pace, she was genuinely excited to be back, and away from home where her parents tended to coddle a bit. She liked a general white noise, which was why she was here in the union, sketching on a pad of paper, occasionally glancing up at the scene in front of her to create the picture in her mind. Okay, so she was more staring at the other side of the union…but everyone knew at this point that’s what she did, it wasn’t like she was staring at anyone. Oh, wait. Kaylie blinked, realizing that someone had broken her field of vision. She turned her attention back to her pad of paper, hoping they'd just move out of her field of vision.

It wasn't hard to see all of the people who were Rockwell vets, getting to see all of their best friends they had literally seen two days ago on their private plane ride back from Spain... yeah, Jessica, did you miss Britney so much because it had been sooooo long? Annoying.

Harvey had never been a guy that lacked self-confidence, but it was impossible to act like he didn't stand out right now as a loner, because he hadn't made any friends yet. He knew that the jocks would be his crowd, but sports practices hadn't started yet, so he hadn't met anyone from his teams. He was missing his school back in SD pretty hard at the moment -- whatever college this school was going to get him into didn't really seem worth it right now. He'd already been struggling to understand the layout of this campus... you could say he wasn't in the best of moods right now.

Kaylie kept scratching away at her pad for a few moments, trying to get a more concrete outline of the few tables and chairs in the union before she added in any actual people. Hm, those seats in the corner would look a lot better if they had cushions on it…so she added in a few quick boxes to fill out the space. If the light came in from above…yeah, like that… She thought as she flicked her graphite pencil over the pad, the side of her right hand getting dusty with the graphite she was smudging as she went.

Moving her head slightly back, Kaylie nodded. She had a good start. But if she was going to be here long she needed some more water. So she grabbed her half full tumbler and opened the top. She started to stand up when she ran into something. Or, someone. When she hit the solid block mass, her open tumbler tipped and spilled all over her, the table and the pants of whoever she had run into. “Ah, fudge.” She said calmly, looking down at her damp blouse and now-water soaked sketch. There goes another one. Oh well. “I’m sorry. Are you ok…” She started to say, looking up, fully expecting to see Asher or some other jerk from Fulsom, but she stopped when she didn’t recognize this one. “Oh, hello.” She said with a quick smile, as if she hadn’t just spilled water all over this new guy’s pants. “Sorry about the water."

If Harvey hadn't been lost in his own swirling world of self-pity, he would have seen the girl and been able to get out of her way... but he was staring at two guys showing pictures of their summer vacation in Australia, which was more than a little bit distracting. He jumped backwards when his pants were soaked, and he made a noise from the back of his throat in discomfort for a full ten seconds. Then he took a deep breath. "It's fine... it's just water, and it's not like the pants are worth anything if it was vodka or anything else in that little bottle." he mentioned, looking down at his soaked pockets.

He fished his phone from his pocket, flicking the water off its screen. That would be a fun email home. Harvey tucked it back away, not wanting to think about it right now. It's not like he had any messages anyways... it was like radio silence since he'd moved. Everyone had promised to stay in touch, but you know, they didn't. He met the girl's eyes for the first time, noting the difference in color. "No harm, no foul. Sorry about your sketch though --" he nodded his head towards it, before pulling it up from the table. "Wow, this is... wow."

Hm. That was different. Every other person at Rockwell would have started screaming at her for ruining their vintage/patent/designer/whatever pants. But not this one. Kaylie tilted her head slightly, about to ask, but he was already pointing out her sketch, and pulled it from the table, water droplets splashing on the floor between the two of them. Kaylie just crossed her arms over her now-wet shirt, and shrugged. “Eh.” It wasn’t anything super special, just practice. “It was just for fun, nothing too serious….what did you say? No harm no foul?” She glanced at her sketch, made a mental note, but then turned her attention back to the guy.

He had a rectangular face. And a fascinating combination of blond hair and green eyes. He wasn’t a first-year, he was too big and looked to old for that. But she didn’t recognize him, and she was pretty sure she knew everyone on campus. “Where did you transfer from?” She asked suddenly, without much of a waring. “This may sound rude, but your clothes aren’t designer, your hair isn’t moussed up…” She glanced up at his head, then back down to meet his eyes. “And your eyes don’t say money.” She stopped, and looked at him for a beat. Not staring, not judgmental, necessarily, just looking. Studying him like she would a still life. “I’m Kaylie, by the way.” She said suddenly, “Kaylie Illisory. I’m in Gabriel. I’m assuming you’re in Fulsom?”

She seemed surprised by his cool acceptance of the spill, and immediately pegged him as a transfer student -- as if it hadn't been obvious before she had doused his trousers. "Yeah, you haven't heard it before? It just means don't worry about it, spills happen. You artfully made it look like I had an accident, but you're obviously artistically inclined, so that shouldn't be a surprise." For someone with such sturdy hands, she seemed clumsy. It was a shame the charcoal drawing was already blurring from the water though, despite the ease she dismissed it, it looked really good to him. He could never draw something like that.

It was probably normal though... with all of these gifted kids around here, they all probably thought they were run of the mill and nothing special surrounded by so much excellence.

"Uhm... South Dakota." he avoided her intrusive stair, leaning back against a table. She had long auburn hair and designer clothing, the kind she was currently telling him he lacked, like he didn't already know? He resisted the urge to roll his eyes -- it didn't seem like she was being rude, just sort of stating the facts as she they occurred to her, as if she was comparing notes with him. "Yeah, Fulsom. What clued you in? The lack of obvious talent?" he asked, looking at her with a sheepish kind of smile.

Lack of obvious talent? Hardly. “I notice things.” Kaylie said, as if that explained everything. “Your torso tells me that you workout,” She said, motioning with her graphite-covered hand towards his torso. The partially soaked shirt helped her there, that much was obvious. She motioned with her fingers towards his face. “You have a lot of freckles, and your face is really tan, so you must spend a lot of time outside.” She thought about adding the fact that his arms were chiseled, with one slightly larger than the other, showing her which arm was his dominant one, but decided against it. “The only guys who spend any time outside are the athletes, so…Fulsom.” She said with a shrug. It was obvious really.

“Plus you’re not yelling at me for ruining your books.” She added with a light smile. “All the guys in Satio carry some sort of book with them.” Usually with their noses buried deep in them, forgetting to look up and see the sun. They’re probably all vampires. It would make sense, the way they cower whenever they see the sun. Kaylie glanced back at the wet sketch he’d placed back on the dry spot on the table, then back at him. “I said all of that aloud, didn’t I?” She asked, but then shrugged. “Oh well.” She grabbed a napkin dispenser from the nearest table and started patting down the water. “So, South Carolina,” He’d said Carolina, right? Or was it Michigan? No, there was definitely a south… “What made you decide to transfer to Rockwell?”

"Was that the goal the whole time then? Spill some water on me to get a sneak peak at the goods?" he asked, teasing her lightly to ease some his more uncomfortable vibes he was getting from her. Was everyone here this... what was her name? Kylie?

Apparently this girl wasted no time with pleasentries -- she was all about the deep and probing questions. She had no problem analyzing him with her eyes, and then making her observations blunt and without boundaries. He was surprised she didn't tell him exactly what his IQ score based on his eye width or something, for how intently she was probing him with her gaze. He felt stupid to respond to her questions with a, 'Sorry its personal'... but like, it was? "As deeply uncomfortable and unsettling as this conversation has been, and trust me, I have enjoyed it, I have to go change for my next class." Thanks to her. "Maybe next time you can ask me how it felt when my childhood pet died or something." he called over his shoulder, hoping she wouldn't take him too seriously.

Sneak a peek at the goods? There was the final confirmation she needed that he was, without any doubt, in Fulsom. Like Kaylie needed an excuse to see a guy’s chest. If she ever wanted to see a shirtless guy, all she had to do was walk over to the soccer field. Or walk into the gym and ask if anyone wanted to model for her. Not that she was particularly interested in any of the Fulsom guys, it was just for an artistic endeavor. But no one would ever believe that anyway. Oh well.

Before she could respond to anything, he was apologizing and heading off to change before class. Hm, guess that was a touchy subject. Would make sense, since it was the first year scholarships were given out. But still. Kaylie made a mental note to observe him a little more this year, and see what she could gather. He seemed interesting. Much more so than 95% of the guys already here. With that note in mind, she gathered up her dripping sketch, patted it dry with a couple napkins, picked up her pencil and bag, and headed off to change, and then to class.

The student union was probably one of Asher’s favorite places on campus, mostly because it was always full of people. People meant there was someone to talk to, which meant there was fun to be had, jokes to be made, and information to be gathered. But not necessarily in that order. This whole thing with the scholarship students was weird, and it was giving the school a different vibe than in previous years. Asher had started talking to Garret about the weird vibe, and it was definitely something they were going to have to look into.

Ha. Asher spotted one out of the corner of his eye. It wasn’t hard to tell who the scholarship kids were, their clothing was slightly off, and they just didn’t look…comfortable was too strong a word, they just looked slightly off. Oh well, time to say hello. Asher put on his easy-going grin and strolled over to the table. “Hey, is anyone sitting here?” He asked. He didn’t wait for an affirmative reply before sliding into a seat across from her. “I’m trying to hide from my soccer captain,” He said, making up a quick excuse. “I may have put bleach in his shampoo, and now he’s after my neck. But you didn’t hear that from me.” He said, as if it was some secret.

One of the benefits of transferring to Rockwell was the options — back home, Risa hadn't had many options other than to go to school, then go home and study in her room. But here, she could be wherever she wanted to be on campus. This was, of course, often at the expense of her friends peace and quiet. But it wasn't like she really minded; earphones existed for a reason.

So when some guy asked if he could sit at the same table as her, she didn't think too hard about it. The student union was a busy place; it was difficult to find an empty table, especially once classes let out for the day. She was about to reply when he sat down anyway — okay. Well, it wasn't as if she was going to say no. (But what was the point of asking if you weren't going to wait?)

Risa expected him to take out a notebook and start studying, or even just messing around on his phone. But he kept talking, and she almost missed what he said. "Hm?" She blinked. "Oh. Okay," she replied mildly, reaching over to retrieve her headphones from her backpack.

(view spoiler)[ Sorry its so short, I'm writing this right before I run to work (hide spoiler)]

Asher’s eyebrow flicked up for a moment. Was she really trying to study here, of all places? Sure, she was in Satio, but still… Asher reached into his backpack and pulled out a book and notebook. He could pretend to study if he wanted. “I”m Asher, by the way.” He said nonchalantly. “Asher Kenny. I’ve been meaning to introduce myself,” He hadn’t, but she didn’t know that. “But, you know, different departments and all…” He said, watching her for a sign, any sign, that he was going to get a reaction from her. Were all the scholarship students this intent on studying? If so, it would be a long year indeed for them. Speaking of studying and school, “How do you like it so far?” He asked, flipping open his book to a page that he should technically read, but wouldn’t do anytime soon.

((Sorry for the late reply, I've been really busy >.< ))

"Risa Miyasaki," she replied. It was interesting to be a scholarship student at Rockwell — while very few of the non-scholarships were outright rude, Risa often felt like some sort of rare animal in a zoo. Asher was no different. "You must be in Fulsom, then." It was a statement more than a question — he'd already mentioned a soccer captain which meant he was a student athlete, and Risa understood at least that much about the school.

"The book, or the school?" Risa asked. After a moment, she said, "I've read more interesting books before. The school is nice. Big," she added.