Realistic or Modern Rockwell Academy

[jinkx]

"I-I-it's okay." Camelia looked down and fiddled with her thumbnail, "I... I'm s-sorry I s-shouted at you. I-I-I didn't m-mean to. M-my voice s-seems h-have a mind of it's own." She chewed her lip, "So..." She looked around as she searched for something to say, "W-where are you f-from?"

 

[AngieG]

Celina laughed nervously as Nathan hugged her, acutely aware of Julia standing just across the party with that annoying Geoff kid. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy Nathan's hug or his company, quite the contrary. Maybe she enjoyed it too much, and she wasn't sure what she would do if she lost her only real friend. "It appears as if we have caused a scene." she muttered quietly to Nathan, her eyes quickly scanning the crowd of eyes that were fixed directly on them. "I hate being the center of attention. I always end up being it though, so I got used to it. Adaptation, evolution, Darwinism and all that." Celina ranted.


Margo blushed and pulled away as some dude shoved past them mutter obscenities. She traced his path back to Celina and chuckled. "Looks like another suitor of Celina's was sent to hit the road. She has a worse track record than I do." she joked, though of course she didn't know what happened, and she also knew this was how rumors started. "Anyway, what do you want to do?" she asked him.

 

[Emem]

Nathan smiled weakly at Celina's comment and quickly dropped his arm and placed his hand in his coat pocket. He cringed at the thought that he had made things terribly awkward with his, supposedly, friendly gesture.


"That's acclimation, not adaption." he said, without thinking about it, science had always come easy to him. "Species evolve, not individuals." He added briefly, while absent mindedly looking at the other party goers, as they returned back to their conversations after the scene he had caused, he watched Julia and Geoff approach, adding to the awkwardness.


"Hey, what trouble have you guys gotten yourself involved in over here?" Julia asked with a raised eyebrow as she approached Celina and Nathan. She watched Nathan awkwardly drop his arm from around Celina, but pretended not to have noticed. "Didn't we have a promsie that you were supposed to behave tonight missy?" she said to Celina.

 

[TheOneAndOnly]

Trent shrugged, taking another sip of the cider. "I'm honestly down for anything, babe. Anything on your mind?"


@Fallen from Heaven

 

[jinkx]

She paused for a second, thinking it over.


"Well, o-originally I'm f-f-from B-Bucharest. That's in R-R-R-Romania." Camelia said, "B-but then, my f-family moved over h-here. Uh... We've mo-moved around a lot... b-because of m-me. I-I'm not very good a-at f-fi-fitting in. But anyways." She shrugged, fiddling with a strand of her hair, "I j-just want to g-go home. I d-don't really l-like it here."

 

[AngieG]

"I was behaving. That caveman wasn't. He tried to drug my drink." Celina muttered, but shrugged. Nothing could be done about it, not without getting herself in trouble too. Victim blaming, it was rampant. Although Celina didn't feel she quite identified as a victim. "Anyway, Nathan handled it." she said simply. "Just watch yourself. Boys are stupid."


Margo shrugged absentmindedly. "I'd hate to take you away from your party and your friends. Let's hang out with them." she said simply.

 

[Dak]

Geoff stood there shocked. There was a lot of things that pissed him off, but one thing that he cannot stand is people driving people. "Wait, back up you said he tried to drug you!"Even though Geoff knew Celina really didn't like him. He couldn't stand it. "Did he try to do this before?"


Tag me if I have to see it

 

[Emem]

A look of disgust formed on Julia`s face. Her reaction was, in part, due to the fact that she had always considered drugging to be an 'other problem'. It was a problem, no doubt, but she was naive in thinking that that sort of thing would never happen at Rockwell. While Julia was wildly opinionated when it came to these sort of matters, she also tended to believe people were generally good, and probably trusted them too easily. Julia thought about all of the times at parties she had willingly taken a drink from someone, accepting it as nothing more than a kind gesture.


"I'm sorry," she apologized "I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions and assumed you had caused something." she said simply.


Nathan stood strangely quiet, half a step behind Celina, facing Julia and Geoff. He took a swallow of his half filled drink, but disliked the taste, despite the fact he had been drinking the same thing all night. He discretely poured the rest of his drink out, deciding that maybe he'd had enough partying- or at least drinking- for the night.

 

[AngieG]

Celina wrinkled her nose, but laughed. "No worries, Jules." she said, then glanced quickly at Geoff, shaking her head curtly. "No but he assaulted one of my cheer leaders and she transferred. Anyway, sort of put a damper on my evening. I might just go for a walk or something." Celina shrugged.

 

[Emem]

"That sounds like a brilliant idea, wandering off in the woods by yourself when a psychotic football player is lurking somewhere." Julia said sarcastically. "You're too bull headed for your own good sometimes Celina. Will you let me come with you at least?" she asked with a frown, she glanced at Geoff, hoping he wouldn't mind her abandoning him, then again, friends always came first, so if he had a problem with it, it would be better to know sooner than later.


Nathan caught Julia's glance at Geoff and finally decided to speak up "You look like you're having a good time tonight Julia,, no sense calling it an early night. Celina, I've had enough to drink... I'll walk with you back to the dorms, if you want?" Nathan offered, as it was the friend thing to do.

 

[Dak]

Geoff didn't mind, in fact he wanted to go with them. "Listen. I know you really don't like me. But I'm gonna go with you whether you like it or not." Geoff obviously knew that she wouldn't like it. But he hated it when guys think that they can just dominate and drug women. He would go with her if she liked it or not. Besides Geoff was bigger than both Julia and Nathan, so he could add a lot of intimidation. He knew his shoulder was bad, but he couldn't care if he didn't have a shoulder.

 

[AngieG]

Celina sighed at Geoff. "No, you won't, Geoff." she spat. "Because that is almost as bad as fricken drugging my drink. If I say no, it is a god damn no and you better god damn respect it!" she growled at him, struggling to keep her cool. Everything about this guy just rubbed her the wrong way and made her want to bare her fangs or do something equally animalistic. "I don't want to go back to the dorms. I want to walk. Jules you stay, keep your guard dog with you." she muttered, then grabbed Nathan by the arm and marched off. "Ughhhh I hate that guy! Is that totally unreasonable? He's just a fricken idiot. His idea of women is absolutely archaic! Maybe I'll just be a lesbian." she said jokingly, but still grimaced.

 

[Emem]

Julia was left feeling a mixture of anger towards Celina's underhanded comment, but also had to admit that she was right... It didn't matter what your intentions were, if someone declined your offer, you should leave them alone. "Listen Geoff... if someone doesn't want your help, you gotta leave them alone." She said hesitantly, watching as Celina dragged Nathan off.


Nathan obediently followed along until they were away from the party , before pulling his arm away from Celina slowly. He walked along quietly with his hands resting in his jacket, looking at the stone he was kicking in front of him.


He listened to Celina's concern "No, I wouldn't say that's unreasonable. He's an alright guy to talk to, as a guy, but he gets weirdly overprotective and sounds like an ass when he treats girls like long lost puppies."

 

[Dak]

"Mind If I tell you a little bit of a story, and you'll see where I'm coming from." He said going over to a stump near the fire. "The reason I got a little overprotective is because I knew someone who had that happen to them... My cousin." He sighed. "She was in college, her sophomore year. She was invited to a party where she was drugged and raped." He looked at the fire, as if he was looking past it. He had dead eyes. "He got what he deserves... May he rot where he is ." He just kept watching the fire.

 

[TheOneAndOnly]

Trent glanced over at the group of friends, a couple of whom were shouting at each other, particularly Celina and Geoff. "Looks like our friends are having a disagreement. To be honest, I'd be down to get out of here. I have the sudden desire to get really baked, eat some pizza, and watch a Miyazaki movie, maybe Princess Mononoke." He idly tucked a strand of Margo's hair behind her ear. "Would you want to join me?"


@dakup


Teddy blinked. "Romania? That's crazy far." His look softened when she talked about not fitting in. "I... kind of know how you feel. I got picked on as a kid." He gestured for her to sit down next to him on the bench. "Why don't you like it here? Has anyone made you upset? Or is it homesickness?"


@Fallen from Heaven

 

[AngieG]

Celina nodded. "Exactly, that's what it is! I couldn't quite put it into words, but that is totally it. You hit the nail on the head." she agreed, walking in silence for a few moments and shoving her hands in her pockets angrily. "I don't mean to take you away from the party. You can just ditch me at the dorms if you want and go back. I'm fine. This year just has crappy parties. We had way more fun when it was just us and the newbies at the lake, with the dodge ball." she said, reminiscing as if those events happened years, rather than days, ago.


Margo nodded with a grin. "Sounds awesome, I love his movies. I'm a fan of Kiki's Delivery Service and Spirited Away myself. I've never seen the one you mentioned." Margo grinned, suddenly giddy at the turn of events.

 

[jinkx]

Camelia glanced around to see if anyone was looking at her before sitting down on the bench, crossing her arms. She bit her lip.


"N-no, nobody upset me or a-anything. I-I just... Don't like it h-here. I m-miss my b-brothers and m-my sister. And I m-miss my par-parents. And I miss m-my old s-sch-school. And I-" She shook her head, "I-I-I am sorry. I'm s-shutting up n-now." With that, she edged away to the other end of the bench.

 

[Emem]

Julia listened patiently as Geoff gave his explanation. "That's really unfortunate, I'm sorry to hear that." Julia agreed. "But you're missing the point. The reason that kind of thing happens at all is because of a lack of respect. Whether you disrespect someone with good intentions or bad intentions, the lack of respect is the problem. The sooner we can get the good guys to have some respect, the sooner we can fight the societal problem." she said simply.


Nathan quietly thought about what Celina said for a few moments. "I agree, the parties this year have sucked. I've had enough to drink tonight. I guess I'll go back to my room after our walk also." Nathan decided, continuing to kick the stone along the path and staring at the ground. He was well aware he wasn't being a particularly good walking companion, but his reluctance to say what was on his mind kept him quiet.

 

[Dak]

Geoff sighed. Still looking off into the distance. "I guess your right." 'Still wish I could've knocked his teeth out.'He thought about the guy that raped his cousin. "You've probably lost some respect for me. Maybe I should just shut up." He said. He looked away from the fire, towards his feet.

 

[AngieG]

Celina looked at Nate and raised an eyebrow. "What, no teasing? No wise crack comment about me or Geoff or, well, anyone? Did YOUR drink get drugged?" Celina asked, bumping into him playfully. "Not funny. Sorry. Look there's no point calling it a night because other people suck. We don't suck. We're pretty cool, I think. So let's hang out. Have our own party." Celina said, trying to tempt his smile back. "What's wrong?" she asked suddenly, stopping and grabbing his arm, pulling him to a standstill beside her. "Where did you go?" she asked, referring to his thoughts. Clearly he was preoccupied mentally, and for a brief second she was very worried it was about Julia. She wasn't sure she was allowed to talk about Julia with Nate. Was she allowed to talk about Nate to Julia anymore, either? Now she was close with both of them, and she suddenly realized the tedious predicament she had gotten herself into.

 

[Emem]

Nathan stopped and looked at Celina, frowning slightly. "I'm sure not acting very cool." he sighed. 'You know what Nathan? Acting like a loser and pretending to be fine just isn't going to work. You're too much of a moper when something is actually bugging you, I know you like to pretend like you're incapable of taking things seriously, but that's a lie. Get it over with, and move on with you life you idiot.' he mentally told himself.


"Okay, the truth is, I need to know where we stand." Nathan admitted slowly. "Sometimes you act like maybe we could be more than friends, and the next minute I'm certain I'm locked away in the friend zone. Like back at the fire, nobody touches their best guy friend on the back of the neck, but you acted weird when I gave you a friendly hug." he said, raising an eyebrow. "You're a fun person to hang around with, and a great friend, and if that's all that we're ever going to be, that's fine. I wouldn't be thrilled about it, though I could deal, but please just put me out of my misery now." Nathan couldn't help but smile at the last part, just the very thought of knowing one way or another definitively brightened his mood.


Julia shrugged "People learn and people change. It's more important to me who you aim to be than who you are or were." she said vaguely as Geoff stared at the ground. "I feel I should warn you though, I'm not impressed at all by grand gestures, I like to pay for my own things, I like to be my own person and take care of myself, most of the time." she said.

 

[AngieG]

Celina stared at him for a moment, her jaw having actually dropped. Did Nathan, silly Nathan, goofy Nathan, just say something serious? And was that something serious about, dare she say it, romance? For once in her life Celina was speechless. "Wow, Nathan, I... Really didn't see that coming." she said lamely. How did she feel? She liked him. Now that it was said out in the open, put in front of face, she definitely liked him. That sounded so lame and noncommittal though, so she couldn't say that. But what about Julia? Would this be some kind of epic betrayal? Would she go down in history as the next Brutus to her Cesar? "I'm... Conflicted." she said finally, quietly. "I think I like you quite a lot. But Julia, she has been my best friend... Well my only friend, for so long. I don't know what I'd do if I actually hurt her somehow. I don't know how she would feel. Of course you didn't ask me how Julia would feel you asked me how I feel and I feel... Conflicted." Celina said again, rambling up until she said that last terrible word, conflicted. What a terrible word. She looked up at him, biting her lip and groaned inwardly. She didn't know what to do. So, instead of thinking, she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, pushed him off the path and up against a tree, and kissed him. There really wasn't much more she could say.

 

[Emem]

Nathan was thoroughly caught off guard by Celina's response, the word conflicted usually didn't mean here-let-me-kiss-you-against-a-tree. He had been fully preparing for the inevitable 'I just want to be friends' speech, but was pleased with her change in heart. He let her push him off the path against a tree and kiss him, stooping slightly to account for their height differential. It turned out asking for an ultimatum had been the right choice.


After a few seconds of kissing Nathan pulled away slightly grinning "If this is your reaction to being conflicted, I can't wait to see how you act when you've confidently made up your mind." he teased, before kissing her again, briefly.

 

[AngieG]

"Shut up." Celina muttered and bit his lip playfully. That had actually been very pleasant, one of the better kissing experiences she had ever had. And that only made her situation ten times worse. Whenever Julia had complained about Nathan she failed to mention his kissing abilities, or how nice his arms felt. Of course, Julia was never one to delve into the intimate stuff. "And what would you have done, hmmm? If the situation were reversed, what would you do, right now?" she asked him, finding it very difficult to get her point across between kissing his collarbone and nipping his neck. She was surprised by how easily she fell into kissing him. She certainly didn't want to stop. "We should leave though. I don't want to get caught. That sounds bad. Not yet anyway, let's go. Your room." Celina murmured, thinking Julia may come looking for her in her room, and she needed some time to figure herself out.

 

[Emem]

"Okay, okay. Let's go." he agreed, reluctantly pulling away after one final kiss. He slung his arm around her shoulder as they walked back along the path, thinking about her question. "I really don't think the situation works in reverse, at least, there would be a lot less of a dilemma around it. Guys don't think about these things as much as girls do." he shrugged. "But for argument sake, Cole is my best friend, say you were his Ex. If I wanted to date you I would either one, ask him if he was cool with it, If he said no I would either A) move on or B) go for it anyways, or two, not ask him at all, because if he liked you still he wouldn't have dumped you, as you clearly remember Julia did to me. Either way, it would be a gut decision, not one I felt much conflict about." he admitted. "Maybe that makes me a bad person, but it sure as hell makes things less complicated." he grinned. "But I do understand that you don't want to rub anything in Julia's face, so I'm okay with keeping this quiet or taking things slow for a while, if you want." he said, looking over at her questioningly.