Roomies

Lark chuckled. "Yeah, I used to act a lot back home. It might be fun."

She continued walking and turned around at Joe's comment.

"Alright then, I guess I'll see you later."

Lark darted down the hallway and quickly went in line for food, grateful that there was still some left. Setting her tray down on a table, Lark felt a light tap against her shoulder. Lark smiled when she turned around and saw who it was.

"Hey, Amy, how are you?" Lark asked, kindly.

"A lot better than this morning, thanks."

"That's good!" Lark said cheerily before she saw who walked into the hall.

Jace had a white bandage on his nose from where Lark punched him and was flanked by two other guys. I guess he's either widely popular or he just is part of a sports team.
 
Joseph walked in a moment or so after Jace had, and didn't seem to pay much heed to the boy- his mind was rather clouded in relation to the topic, and it was better to avoid him for the time being, in Joe's mind. As he made his way to the line to get some food, he was able to get enough to satisfy his minimal appetite and made his way off to look for somewhere to sit. He ended up joining the others he'd sat with earlier that day, having been waved over by them, and they chatted incessantly about books- something he enjoyed. However, one of the guys in the group whispered something about Jace, and questioned his popularity since he was actually quite clearly a jerk to many people.

"He's handsome, but even the girls don't like him much," The girl that Joe normally sat next to mused. "He's been said to be a bit of a player and generally just harsh. No girl goes for that."

"Actually, Celia, a lot of them do." The earlier boy noted. "But I agree...He's no Prince Charming. Most people look at him like a villain...So those two would be his henchmen, right?"

"There's no point in talking about him that much," Joseph noted with disinterest. "People have different views of the same topic easily. We're just going to fuel his ego if we talk about him, even if he doesn't pay heed to us. It's better to just leave him be and protect those he hurts without giving him more attention." He took out his book again, taking a bit of food in his mouth while reading. The two who were talking about it gave Joseph a curious glance, but shook it off.

"You're too calm even for a book lover," Celia noted.

"I'm used to the busy nature of crowds and such. If he causes trouble, he can get in trouble. If he's not, there's no point paying too much heed. It just feeds his desire."

"Wouldn't it feed it more to ignore him?" Joseph shrugged it off as he read.

"I'm no psychologist. I just know that it's always worked in the past at home. And our home had a number of kids like him."
 
Lark glanced back to Amy before her new friend can see where her eyes were leading. A couple of guys and a girl with jet black hair sporting a purple streak sat down next to Amy. Lark glanced up from her food and raised her eyebrows--she wasn't expecting guests.

"Uh... hello," Lark greeted, warily.

"Yo," said the girl.

The two boys waved and Lark looked back at Amy. Amy smiled and turned to her friends.

"Lark, these are my friends: Natashia, Gary, and Luke."

"Ah. I'm--"

"We know who you are, sweetie," Gary interrupted, his blue eyes excited. "You're the girl who got stuck on floor A."

"Gary, at least let her finish the damn sentence," Luke scolded.

Gary rolled his eyes and leaned in toward Lark. "So, how is it? Living with a guy. I mean, I know already, but this is interesting."

Lark moved back from his advance and both Natashia and Amy rolled their eyes. Luke pulled the teenager back and with a huff, Gary crossed his arms over his chest.

"Gary really likes gossip, if you haven't noticed already. Don't worry too much about him, I'll make sure he doesn't get too much into your business," Luke reassured Lark.

"...Thanks."
 
"You're really relaxed in general, aren't you, Joe?" The boy, eventually found to be named Steve, mused. His hair was a dirty blond, combed nicely to the side. He wore his uniform in a very stiff manner, and his glasses were up to the tip of his nose, which he quickly fixed. Celia, who had dark hair leading down to her hips, giggled a bit as she watched him, then turned to their new friend.

"I'd say I'm pretty normal." He replied without much thought. He was stuck in his book, and it was both a relief and a bother to the people at his table. Celia sighed lightly.

"Your roommate is lucky it's you she was put with since she's stuck with a guy. You probably spend the entire time reading anyway and don't notice her."

"Isn't it lonely though then? I mean, if she's all alone basically from Joe ignoring her..."

"It's not like I don't notice anything. I'm talking to you while I read right now, aren't I?" Joseph gave a light growl to his 'friends', glancing at them momentarily before closing his book. "It's not like she wants a male roommate anyway. It's unfair to her that she has to have one when she doesn't actually want to be there. She was very uncomfortable in the beginning. It's better to act normal then to treat her differently from everyone else, right? If this is how I normally act, it is. I don't want her to be conscious of me, so it's better off if I just treat her like any other person."

"You're a real idiot," Steve groaned. Even Steve knew better than to think a guy and a girl living in the same room was so simple as Joe made it sound. "Seriously...Do you even notice girls as girls?"

"I do, but it doesn't matter." Joe replied rather simply, ignoring their faces. "A person's sex is just that. It's not the person themselves."
 
Lark laid down on her bed, tired. Being the introvert she certainly was, talking to Amy's friends were tiring.

"So like, has anything happened?"

"Excuse me?"

"You know, like... Anything?"

"Um--"

"Dude," Luke scolded again, slapping Gary upside the head.

Lark let out a scoff and took off her tie. Ridiculous. She just wanted to go through the year without a problem, but word gets out so fast--and suddenly she's in the limelight. She never liked it. Lark was fine with being herself, sure, but she didn't like people sticking their noses into her business. What an inconvenience. There was a knock on her door. Hesitantly, Lark stood up and lazily walked over to the door.

"Yes?" Lark asked. It was the very attractive senior she had a run in with. "Oh... Hi."

The blonde smiled. "Hi, I just wanted to say that this week is the start of the senior buddy week. Today we're having the roommate bonding stuff going on, so this floor is going to meet in the courtyard at eight."

"Isn't that kind of pushing it toward the curfew."

The senior shrugged and pushed his hair back, revealing his green eyes. "Yeah, but it'll be fine."

Lark shrugged. "Whatever. Okay, thanks."
 
He was late going to the room compared to Lark- Joseph had ended up helping a couple of people doing their history work, and had then gotten lost in a book again soon after. When he made it to the room, he noticed the senior and smiled. He'd just heard the situation regarding curfew and where to meet, causing him to get past the blonde male and his roommate politely while responding. "Eight at the courtyard... Sounds understandable to me. I'll set an alarm for it." He turned to look at Lark, adding, "Should I set it on vibrate, or loud enough for us both to use it?"

As he waited upon her answer, he went to the desk he used and put his book down, digging in his pocket for his phone. He set an alarm for the time period and inserted a medium until she answered, so he could fix it. As he did so, he also turned to a nearby calendar book, checking it for anything he had to do, including people to call or class requirements. Seeing it was a birthday for someone, he began to write a note to himself on a sticky-note pad, writing to 'find a good gift for a ten year old girl who loves biking and bears'. He put the pen down before finishing the last letter, keeping an eye on his phone. "Ah, is there anything we need to bring with us for the event?"
 
"I don't think so, he didn't say anything. Then again, it's probably some lame hazing ritual and we just don't know," Lark said, laying back on her bed.

A phone buzzed and Lark sat up to see that it was hers. Walking toward the small, desk, the girl unlocked her phone and read the text message. Turned out her best friend was handling herself nicely without Lark. That was good. The day Lark left, her best friend was clinging to her for dear life, sobbing about how she won't be able to live without Lark. Texting back quickly, Lark looked at the clock.

"It's almost seven-thirty. When do you want to head down there?"
 
"I'll give the benefit of the doubt for what it is...But you're right, that is what statistics show are the more common scenarios with these types of gatherings." Taking a seat at the desk set for him, he did a little bit of homework while she was working with her phone. He'd done most of it, but one part had baffled him and required his dictionary, which he hadn't had at the time. As he worked on it, he seemed to flip quite rapidly through the pages, seemingly knowing just how far he had to go for the word he desired. Finding it, he read the description of the word with haste, and turned to the question that bothered him. Answering it with regular speed chicken scratch, her voice caught him again, and he stopped to look at her.

"That time already? Well, you're fast, so you likely could go a bit later... But I'm not all that fast, so I should probably just start heading down now- better to be early than late." He gave a soft smile, closing up his work and putting it into a folder that was labeled 'homework' on his desk. He got up carefully, pushing the chair under the desk when he was behind it. "Did you want to go together?"
 
Lark stretched her arms over her head and took a moment before answering.

"Sure, I don't mind. It's kind of boring here, anyway. I've been done with my homework for hours."

Kicking herself off of the bed, Lark headed toward the door. She waited for Joe before heading out. It seemed like the rest of the floor was heading out too. The hallway was cluttered with teenage boys and Lark was glad she changed into a sweats and a t-shirt before stepping out. It looked like a lot of the upperclassman were ready to get down and dirty. Stuffing her hands into the pocket, Lark flipped her hair over her shoulder. After seeing the rest of the boys on the floor file out down the stairs, Lark made her way down. The wind hit her as soon as she stepped out of the door.

"Looks like fall is heading here early," She muttered to herself.
 
Joe had made sure to wear comfortable clothing anyway that day, and so he followed suit easily once she left. The crowd in the hall was slightly unsettling for him, but he was at ease- after all, the likelihood was most of the guys wouldn't pay much heed to him, besides his love of books and the fact that he was on their floor. He had dragged a hooded sweater along with him as he left, wanting to be careful because he'd noted the change in wind out the window. When he noticed the way Lark responded to the wind hitting her, he leaned his head on his shoulder, just slightly behind her. "I think fall has been here for a while already...But it's definitely making itself more noticeable. You cold?"
 
Lark smiled and turned to face Joe.

"No thanks. I have my own jacket. I figured we needed it."

The two made their way toward the courtyard. Lark saw immediately that it was going to take some physical effort for this "bonding" session. Shoving her hands in her jacket pockets, Lark sighed deeply. Looks like that senior was telling the truth. Just not the whole truth. Feeling stares, Lark faced the rest of the boys on her floor and rolled her eyes slightly. Oh this is going to be great fun.
 
Joseph carefully followed her after smiling to her note that she'd brought her jacket. He hadn't noticed it, and felt both foolish and relieved. As he saw the group and noted the fact that physical effort would indeed be required, he let out a slight sigh of sorts, mostly towards the stares towards his roommate. It was going to be a long night, in his eyes. However, looking at how she reacted, he seemed a bit relieved. Once they were instructed on the first exercise for the bonding, he took his place as he needed and joined in cooperatively.
 
Lark breathed hard as she landed on the dirt. This bonding experience was turning into a full scale work out. Quickly, she grabbed the tree branch and climbed quickly to a higher one.

"This isn't exactly my idea of fun!" She shouted at the upperclassman chasing her.

"Aw come on. It's all good fun," One said. His sneering smile made Lark want to punch him.

There was a sound coming from a few feet away and as soon as Lark saw the boys run off, she quietly climbed down the tree. As soon as her feet touched the grass, two hands grabbed her into a choke hold.

"Oh no you're not," Lark warned.

Quickly, Lark flipped the young man over her shoulder and darted toward the finish line, where she was supposedly safe. Just to make sure, Lark stayed hidden in a smaller pine tree.
 
It certainly was a workout- and it wasn't one Joseph particularly enjoyed. He wasn't particularly fast, and was easily caught by upperclassmen- however, unlike them, he was able to get away quickly because of his strong arms, and got out of someone's grasp by pulling himself up with a branch, watching the other student fall from surprise at his lifting.

As he rushed to the finish, not near the front of the pack but not near the back, he rubbed his arms from carrying too much weight at once- it wasn't his best idea, but he was at least at the finish safely. He didn't bother to hide afterwards, and the upperclassman that had fallen from his grip of the tree tackled him to the ground afterwards while laughing. They then both got up, looking around.

"Where's your roommate? She was doing well but suddenly isn't here. Did she go back inside?"

"I'm not sure," Joseph stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "But I'm sure she's fine. She might be trying to keep from being assaulted by the likes of you. Though she could probably throw you off, you do know she's still a girl." He smiled easily. "Even if she does have her tendencies towards being far more of a fighter than I am."

"You, a fighter?" The upperclassman laughed instead. "I'll admit, you have your moments, but...You're too quiet to be a true soldier, Joe."

"Perhaps I'd be better as a spy then." He soon mused facetiously, before taking a seat near the pine tree without knowing she was there- or at least, without noting it possible. As he sat, he let out a deep breath, relieved it was over, before one of the upperclassman called that the 'bonding exercise' was over.
 
Once Lark heard the upperclassman call the day over, she let out a sigh of relief. It was starting to get uncomfortable in the tree and the wind wasn't helping at all.

"Thank god that's over," she said as she hopped down the tree next to Joe.

Dusting off her hands, Lark stood up straight and looked around. The upperclassman she beat were on one corner of the field talking to each other, looking over at Lark a couple of times. She shrugged and stuffed her hands in her pockets. Yawning, Lark turned to Joe.

"We have homework today, so I'm going back up to get started on it."
 
Not noticing the upperclassmen anymore, Joe turned to Lark as she spoke. Smiling, he nodded. "I'll join you. I left my book up there, and I want to finish it." He began to head towards the dorm again, his arms relaxing behind his head as he walked. His pace was pretty easy to keep up with, so he didn't look back too often to check on her- though he did once or twice. Once at the door, he held it for her with a gentle smile. "What homework do you have left to do? I did most of mine, but I haven't finished my essay yet for English...I should probably do that before I read..."
 
(OOC: I'm really sorry for not replying at all. I've been terribly busy this past week and I might be busy for part of this week as well.)

Lark thanked him for holding the door for her and immediately went to her desk.

"Uhm, I don't know," She admitted. "I usually get them finished before the period ends. I should probably go and check if I have anything left to finish, actually."

Lark rummaged through her backpack to find her planner. Once she did, she quickly flipped through the pages until she found the correct date. As usual, she forgot to write half of the assignments down and was left thinking for a moment before she remembered the only assignment she didn't finish.

"Right... Pre calc... Gross," Lark muttered to herself, her nose scrunching in disgust.

Reluctantly, she sat down and opened her note book, pulled out her calculator, and clicked her mechanical pencil. After forty-five minutes, she gave up with a long sigh and leaned back in her chair. She didn't understand anything.
 
((OOC: My apologies are the ones that are really in order. My computer got messed up and I haven't been able to use it for the past week ;-;))

He worked on his essay during a good chunk of the forty-five minutes she'd spent getting frustrated by the pre-calculus homework. He'd done his earlier on, and thus had no need to worry about it- he happened to be mediocre at math, as he was in most things. Turning to see her as she sighed, just reading his book since he'd finished his essay five minutes prior, he marked his place and stood from his desk, walking to hers and looking over her shoulder.

Seeing the question she was working on, he pointed at it and began to explain without asking if she wanted him to, pointing out what it was that she was likely getting confused by and explaining it in a way that people who weren't as good at math as the teacher- meaning normal students- could understand. Realizing soon after explaining the question and trying to help her with the question, he realized his error in not asking her interest in his aid.

"Ah, sorry...It's just, you seemed like you were having trouble, and since I already did it, I figured I might be able to help. I know I said to basically pretend I wasn't here just the other day though...My bad...Sorry about that."
 
Lark laughed. "No, it's fine. I could really use the help, actually. I'm terrible at math. I don't know how I even get placed in these classes."

Shuffling through her papers, Lark found her pencil and scribbled on her paper. After finishing her math homework, Lark pulled out her laptop. Firing it up, she couldn't wait to get to research the musical that the theatre department was putting up. It was going to be fun. They picked a really nice show--the school she used to go to didn't have very good choices, the director kept with her own rules which cut out some of the greatest musicals. It was going to be fun.

After fiddling around for a while, she finally found what she was looking for. This musical was quite dense, Lark had to admit, the storyline was one that not many people talk about--however the music was amazing and of course, it had Aaron Tveit. After listening to the music, Lark smiled to herself--she might actually have a really good audition with these ranges. She was nodding her head to the music playing on her iTunes when someone knocked on the door.
 
Joseph smiled with relief that she wasn't angry when he began aiding her with math, and even more so when they finished the math she had to do. While she went on to work on her laptop for research, he took to his bed to read in silence. While reading, he dozed to the sound of the quiet, having been entranced by the book as was so common for him. However, his slumber didn't last long, as he shot up from his unusual sleeping position, hanging slightly off his bed, to the sound of a knock on the door.

He turned to look at Lark- she seemed to be into her music to him, though he wasn't fully sure what she was listening to. However, he didn't want to disturb her, and thus got to the door on his own. He called out to ask who it was while simultaneously turning the knob with a curious expression. "What's up? Is something wrong?"
 
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