Realistic or Modern Rockwell Academy

[Emem]

Julia's great mood was ruined in a matter of a minute. She stood with her mouth agape, in shock at what she was hearing. A lump formed in the back of her throat, she wasn't sure what to do or even what to say, this had certainly not been the confession she was anticipating. She bit her lip as her words and emotions failed her and left them in a completely awkward silence, meanwhile her mind was racing.


'I most definitely am not okay with this...but, do I have a right to be upset? I mean, I did break up with Nathan, theoretically, he should have the right to date other people... He has dated other people, or so the tagged images of him from the Summer by other girls suggested. So why is it bothering me that he's decided he likes my best friend? That's a stupid question, obviously there's a reason it's bugging me, bestfriends are not supposed to date your ex-boyfriend! Celina made a good point though, they hadn't brought out the best in each other for quite a while, but despite the two months of summer, I guess I'm still not really over the breakup. What was worse was how quickly and easily all this had happened, a few play practices together and an attempted assault was all it took for them to go behind my back.' Julia was additionally, uncomfortable with the fact that Celina said they had nearly slept slept together after one night of admitting their feelings. Julia hadn't been alright with Nathan kissing her for the first time after two months of dating. Julia didn't take these kind of things lightly, they should imply commitment, but then again, she knew Celina stood on a very different camp in that regard.


"I-I don't know what to say, or for that matter, whether to be angry or disappointed... or happy for you. I mean, I guess I'm glad you didn't keep this behind my back... but I just don't know." Julia admitted quietly, when it felt that so much time had passed that she needed to respond.

 

[AngieG]

Celina nodded, wringing her hands. "Yeah, I pretty much feel the same." she grumbled. No one was ever harder on Celina than Celina. Ever show she did, every routine, every cheer, every scene, she shit on herself for the most minor things no one else would notice. She mispronounced that word, or said it with a strange inflection, or she messed up that spin, or she missed that one beat. It was one of the reasons she was so successful, but also why she was constantly stressed out. She had never had this experience in a social setting though. "I don't know, I should have just left him alone after he told me and waited to talk to you about it. I wasn't thinking. I don't know how I feel about him. I'm too stressed about all the drama about it to figure that out. I don't even know what I'm asking you. I'm just sorry. And I would never hurt you on purpose." Celina told her.

 

[TheOneAndOnly]

Trent opened up the door to his room, his hair still wet from his post practice shower, and saw Margo up and about. "Hey, Mar. Hope I didn't wake you when I left. You look so... so pretty." He kissed his forehead, hoping she wouldn't notice the colouring in his cheeks, and handed her a brown paper bag. "I got you some breakfast, figured you might be hungry. Croissants and coffee okay?"


Teddy shook his head after walking into the dorms, passing by Cole's room. He wondered if he was okay, considering how much he drank last night. He quickly stopped over to his room to grab a gatorade, then gently knocked on Cole's door. "Yo, buddy. You okay in there?"


Robin was busy reading her book in her room, cozy and surrounded by blankets. It was great to finally get lost in a book again, especially after the craziness of these past few weeks.

 

[Emem]

Cole heard a knock on his door as he pulled on a pair of jeans, and recognized the voice to be Teddy's. He walked over to the door and opened it. "Hey... yeah. I drank way too much last night, but I have ten minutes to make it to practice or my team will pay for it tomorrow, so I guess I'll suffer through the hangover for a few hours." he groaned, walking back to his closet and pulling on a t-shirt at random.


"Are you back from practice already? Jeez. No sleep for the football players eh? Win a game yesterday afternoon, back at it in the morning." he grinned slightly.


Julia nodded after Celina rambled some more. She really wished she would have left for her ride ten minutes earlier, she did not feel like dealing with this right now.


"Well, if you came here to apologize, thanks, I guess. If you came here for some kind of blessing or something... I'll have to get back to you on that." she mumbled, but then decided she was better off telling the truth, because it would prevent a lot of awkwardness later on. "I'm not vehemently against you and Nathan dating, but I also don't like the idea either. Then again, I don't see why my opinion is relevant in you deciding whether you like him." she admitted, not that this answer was that helpful in clearing her position on the matter up at all.

 

[AngieG]

Celina nodded, crestfallen. She didn't know why she was, she had known coming into this she might have ruined the friendship. She had always had a hard time grasping Julia's priorities. If the roles were reversed, Celina would probably just warn Julia about bad habits of the ex, but otherwise be okay. Of course, Celina generally had a hard time staying attached. She always used to say she should come with a warning label when she started dating. But the roles weren't reversed, and Julia's relationship with Nathan probably meant more than all of Celina's relationships combined.


She didn't really know what to say, she had hoped Julia would be the voice of reason one way or another, either yell at her for being so stupid or assure her to go for it. But instead, she was right where she started, in limbo.


"Alright, well. I'm sorry, text me if you want to talk. But you seem like you need time to think." Celina said, glancing up at her to assess the accuracy of that statement. She nodded simply upon seeing her and wrung her hands. "I'll see you." she said lamely, walking out the barn, stifling a sigh. Celina walked quietly to the arts building, wringing her hands. When she got inside the went to the dance section, passing multitudes of vending machines. She could never eat before she danced, always made her tense and cramp. She stalked into the changing rooms and found her locker, changing into a leotard and putting her hair up into a bun. She went in to stretch, walking in just as her partner, Jake, did and they set about to work.


Margo grinned at Trent. "Sounds great, thanks." she said, taking the bag and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Pretty, huh? Well, you're easy to please." she teased. "You okay?" she asked him, glancing up at him and the strange look on his face. She opened the bag and bit into the croissant.


@Emem @TheOneAndOnly


Ooc: you guys see my message? Wondered if I should add another guy in.

 

[Dak]

After some time, Geoff had finished with the multiple tests that the shop teacher was giving him. He passed everyone with the flying colors. First came the belt sander, the the table saw, then the drill press, and a wood burner test. "Good job." The shop teacher said. "Bring your car by tomorrow. I wouldn't mind taking a look at it." He said moving towards the table saw. He was going to go back to what he was trying to do.


Geoff walked out with a big smile on his face. He remembered that he had his first horse riding experience. He pulled out his phone. "Hey, wanna go out on that ride?" He hit the send button and waited for her to answer.


@Emem

 

[Emem]

Julia nodded her head forcing a smile, that probably seemed more like a grimace, when Celina mentioned she probably needed some time to think. "I'll talk to you later." she offered, though Julia knew that was probably a false promise, as she'd avoid dealing with the situation for as long as possible, in typical Harper fashion. She would probably live in the barn for the semester, if it meant not having to deal with this predicament.


Julia bit her lip as she watched Celina walk away, but as soon as she was gone, Julia let herself into Chief's stall and started brushing every last speck of dirt off of his golden coat. Keeping busy was the best way to avoid problems.


Her phone vibrated and she took a really long time deciding whether or not to look at the message she received. She sighed and pulled out her phone after a few minutes, curiosity getting the better of her, in some sick way. She had half expected it to be from Celina, or Nathan, or maybe even Cole, if news had travelled quickly. But, nope, it was a text from Geoff, asking about joining her for a ride. Her heart sank yet another level lower, she most certainly didn't want to be around people at the moment, and now that she remembered her lunch plans, she was thoroughly dreading the idea.


For most people, it would have been easy to just text back, 'Hey, i'm not feeling very well, can we do lunch another day?', but Julia was never one to blatantly lie. In the end she settled on, "Hey. I'm actually already at the barn, and almost ready to leave, maybe another day! Do you think we could maybe do lunch another day? I just realized how much homework I've been putting off." , it wasn't a lie- she did have quite a lot of homework and was about five minutes from being on the trail, but she still felt bad as she hit send.


Nathan's practice was going terribly. The coach, normally a very agreeable guy, had yelled at him twice, once for being too slow on the pass off of the relay and a second time for zoning out during instructions. He even swam his own laps slower than his usual "hangover standard". The combination of anticipation, not enough sleep, and a minimal hangover were the necessary factors to result in such a poor performance.


When the coach finally released the team, Nathan found his way back to the showers unusually subdued. The other guys were joking around about practice, most of the jokes directed towards Nathan, which would usually be met with a smart comeback, but were left without reply.

 

[Dak]

Geoff felt his phone go off. He opened the message. He didn't mind, he knew that people had thing's that come up, and if she didn't want to hang out that was acceptable. He remembered the conversation he had with her about homework. "Alright. You want some help with that homework?" He sent her.


@Emem

 

[jinkx]

Camelia was woken up by her cellphone ringing.


"Mhm..." She searched for it, stretching out her fingertips. She didn't want to open her eyes because the moment she did, she'd have to acknowledge the fact that it was morning and that she should probably get up. She had studying to do and people to apologise to. Eventually, she found her phone and pressed it to her ear.


"Bună d-dimineaţa." she greeted, sleepily.


"Camelia! How's it going?" Cassius sounded too bright and happy, considering how early it was.


"I think I b-b-broke some s-school rules." Camelia muttered, "And I cried my e-eyes out t-twice."


"Well, it's nice to know that you're finally having a normal high school experience." Cassius said, drily, "I have some good news! I saw Chloe yesterday and-" That woke Camelia up fast and she sat bolt upright.


"Wh-what?" she demanded, "Did she m-mention me?"


"She wanted to know where you'd gone. I said you'd moved to a boarding school and she just said 'oh'." Cas finished.


"And then?" Camelia egged on.


"And then, she kicked a soccer ball at my head."


"Look... Cas... You need to c-come pick me-me up. I h-hate it h-here..." There was a long pause. Their connection crackled and failed and Camelia let the phone fall from her hand. Then, she got up and slowly began to get dressed. She hoped that breakfast was already being served because she was so hungry that she could eat a baby whale- okay, so that was a slight exaggeration. She finished getting dressed and pulled her jacket on before she headed to the cafeteria. Today was not going to be a good day.

 

[AngieG]

Celina vented to her dance partner, and he listened with the expertise only a gay best friend could provide. Of course, he couldn't exactly tell her what to do either. Then, they got to talking about the rut cheerleading had gotten into. "Why don't you sing?" Jake asked. Celina used to, in fact, sing. But the coach thought she didn't bring enough diversity to the half time shows. "What about those new girls, Margo and Robin? They sang pretty well at auditions. And you three couldn't be any more different." Jake suggested and Celina chewed it over, suddenly inspired. They ended practice early and Celina jumped in the showers there, then dressed fast and ran to her dorm. She dressed quickly, she still had lunch with Nathan. She got her phone, now fully charged and sent him a quick text. "Hey, we still down?"

 

[Emem]

Julia received a text almost instantly, Geoff was now asking her if she wanted any help with homework.


No, I'm okay. It's just English homework.' she replied, further blurring the usually hard and fast line between honesty and deception.


She decided to hurry to get tacked up, before anyone else could confront her. She walked back to the tack room and grabbed Chief's english schooling tack. She walked back to his stall and tacked him up inside, instead of taking him to the cross ties. In five minutes she was all ready to go, with boots and helmet on.


Julia walked Chief out to the mounting block, as she did Nick came over with Titan, a gorgeous bay Dutch Warmblood gelding, all tacked up. His owner, Lauren, was a senior and captain of the jumping and dressage teams, as well as student council president and on a handful of other clubs. Nick had a helmet and riding boots on, so she guessed that he was exercising him for her.


"Hey, are you going out for a trail ride?" he asked, Julia nodded, pretending to fiddle with the bridle to look away.


"Mind if I join? Lauren can't exercise Titan today, something about a student council emergency, and his training schedule doesn't leave room for a day off."


It seemed as if the universe just really didn't want her to be alone right now.


Julia was out of excuses "Okay." she said, noncommittally, mounting. Nick mounted also, and they clattered across the cobblestone covered yard, and off through the trails. At least while riding there were things to do instead of talking. As soon as they made it onto the trail, Julia loosened her reins and let Chief break into an extended trot. Titan effortlessly kept pace, but it limited the ability for conversation.


Nathan was hanging around his room, working on some science problems when his phone went off, he smiled a little when he saw it was from Celina.


"I'm ready whenever ." he replied.

 

[Dak]

(Any music student in, hell anyone who just wants to have some fun join in. It's a huge jam session.)


"Alright, have fun. Don't work yourself too hard. See you tomorrow?" He texted her back. Geoff was determined to have this day be a little productive. He was kind of bummed that he couldn't go the the gym then he would go out and sit in the quad and practice his saxophone. He walked back up to his room, where he kept his alto. He played his Bari in the schools jazz band, so he kept his alto in his room, at the foot of his bed. He took it out and warmed in up. There was something about a big guy like Geoff playing an instrument so small as a alto that made him look really non threatening.


After he had gotten warmed up. He walked out of his room and down the stairwell. He walked out the door and made his way to the quad. There weren't a lot of people out there. He could see a couple sitting next to each other. Another student was doing some reading, and another was working on some homework.


There was a water fountain out in the middle of all of them. He sat down near the edge of the fountain. The couple were the first one to take notice. He blew a couple of notes to keep the sax warm. This got the attention of the other two. He started to play "Come away with me" By Norah Jones.


[media]



[/media]
@Emem

 

[AngieG]

"Meet me at my dorm, I'll be ready in a few." Celina texted back to Nathan, and set about making herself pretty. She was still incredibly stressed out, and very aware that she still had no answer and that none of her problems were solved. But, the thought of seeing Nathan made her forget about a lot of that, and she thought maybe everything would be okay, eventually. It was unseasonably warm, so she put on a cute, fifties style red polka dotted dress and threw her hair back in a surprisingly neat bun, with gentle tendrils that framed her face. She was light on the makeup, weaning herself off of it slowly. She threw on some moccasins and grabbed a light jacket just in case it got cold.

 

[Dak]

(@AngieG You guys should totally walk by the Quad.)

 

[Emem]

Nathan received Celina's text instantly and smirked.


Is that a few as in a few minutes... or a few hours? I'll be over soon. he replied, jokingly.


He left his work open on his desk and got ready to go into town. He still wasn't clear whether this was a date or not, so he was careful to dress casually. He took advantage of the nice weather as one last opportunity to sport his favourite pair of beige board shorts before the eternal Colorado winter. He settled on wearing his varsity jacket and a green polo shirt. He figured a dress shirt was too formal for a casual lunch, maybe-date, and it was too warm for a flannel shirt. He had just showered after practice, but sprayed himself lightly with cologne to mask the chlorine smell of the pool.


He left his room and headed over to the girls dorm. When he arrived at Celina's door he knocked and waited for her to answer, while he was casually waiting he noticed the note on Julia's door, across the hall, saying she was at the barn. He also saw that she had finally put up the usual picture collage that was on her bulletin board. His eye caught one from the spring of Freshman year, when Julia, Celina, Cole and himself were lounging in the sand on the island, during one of their many sunday afternoon adventures. He wondered if they would still have Sunday adventures this year, or if that phase was over.

 

[AngieG]

Celina answered the door and smiled. "Hey." She said. "I'm ready, smartass." she joked, referring to his text. She saw where his eye had been drawn before she opened the door and her smile faltered. "Simpler times." She sighed simply, brushing a tendril out of her eyes and fiddling with her wallet. "Where do you want to go?" she asked him.

 

[Emem]

Nathan's attention was drawn back to the door when Celine answered. Nathan grinned at Celina's retort and then nodded solemnly when she mentioned how much simpler the times were. "You look dressed for Maggie's with the 50's style going on there, but your choice, I'm cool with whatever." Nathan shrugged.

 

[AngieG]

"Maggie's sounds fine." Celina nodded, closing and locking her dorm room. She looped her arm through his, casually, like she used to do when they would hang out and she was a little tipsy. As they got outside Celina heard very loud, very jazzy, music. Jazz had never settled well with her, and when they rounded the corner of the building and she saw who was behind it she groaned. "Not in the mood for this today." Celina said simply, steering them in the opposite direction, taking the long way to the parking lot. "So.... I talked to Julia." Celina started. "It... Went. It didn't go well, but, I guess it didn't go terrible either? So I'm still stuck in limbo." Celina said. She knew she should get a backbone and make a decision one way or another. But her whole life other people had made decisions for her. What she would wear, study, eat, where to go to school, who to be friends with, who to date. She had thought she would finally enjoy making a decision all her own, but now she only saw how complex it was. Although she supposed if she was going to make adult choices, like trying to sleep with Nathan, she should be prepared for adult consequences.

 

[Emem]

"That's cool, we'll take the long way so that you can avoid talking to people you don't like." Nathan joked, as he was steered the other direction. "If we're going this way, we might as well cut through the forest and just walk. The shuttle won't be here for another 20 minutes." he said.


He listened to Celina's description of her and Julia's conversation. He thought he had a pretty good idea how the conversation would have went, without having been there. Julia wouldn't have said she hated the idea, but she also wouldn't have said she approved, because that was a typical Julia response.


"Okay, so you're still stuck in limbo. Now what?" he asked, looking over at her and waiting for a response. They reached the trailhead, and began walking down the path. This was the trail the administration paid to maintain, not the secret ones that the students used to get to the lake for parties. There were a couple people jogging. Nathan waved as they went by, most of them being jocks that he knew moderately well. There was also a giggling gaggle of freshmen girls ahead of them who seemed to need to stop every few feet to laugh again.


Coincidentally, as they got farther into the trail system, they saw Julia and one of the stablehands, Nick, riding towards them at a trot. Nathan recognized Chief before either of them, so many times while they were dating Julia coerced him to go down to the barn with her and sometimes even go riding with her.


Julia was riding behind Nick and Titan, so she didn't see who they were approaching until they were too close to inconspicuously go off on a different trail. She groaned as she tried to make a decision what to do. It wasn't as if it was an option to jump off the trail and hide with her 16hh Thoroughbred. The potential for him to have thousands of dollars in vet bills from trying to do so, meant that facing the situation was the better alternative. Nick slowed to a walk, as trail rules dictated. As they drew level Julia said "Hey," with a forced smile and she lifted one hand off of her reins to wave. Nick looked back to see if she wanted to stop, recognizing that they were friends, but Julia clicked Chief on in response.


Nathan waved back in response to Julia. "Hm. That could have gone worse." Nathan mumbled, when they were out of earshot.

 

[AngieG]

Celina groaned outwardly, the guilt acting like a monster that gnawed on her intestines. "I don't know what to do." she grumbled when Julia was gone. "I don't want to lose a friend just to have all this turn out to be a meaningless fling, you know?" She asked. She was sure he understood, even after they broke up Julia and Nate had stayed friends, kept the same social groups and hung out, albeit with other people. But even so, what they had didn't just go away when they broke up, they were still friends. Celina had respected them both for that, god knew her cast aways never hung around.


"It is as much up to you as it is to me. This, whatever this is, is a risk. If we piss off Julia, Cole will probably be mad at you, too." Celina told him, wondering if he had thought of that. "I guess I just don't want this to be all for naught. But I have no way to guarantee it won't be." Celina told him. Relationships weren't supposed to start this way. They should be like a spark, slow and warm, that eventually leads to a flame that could melt any doubts or fears. Instead Celina was torn to pieces, ridden with guilt, and worried. "At the same time, I like you. You make me laugh. And I don't take myself so seriously with you. It's possible you make me a better person." She said, stepping over a root and then up on a fallen log. Moccasins weren't exactly made for deep woods excursions.


She was grateful Nate was even listening. It had been an issue with Nate and Julia that he never took anything seriously. And while maybe to him this wasn't as big a deal, he certainly wasn't trying to downplay her thoughts or emotions either.

 

[Emem]

Nathan was trying very hard to take Celina's concerns seriously. It was a lot of work, and something he honestly could say he wouldn't have bothered with three months ago, he had grown up quite a bit over the summer.


"I think I've made it clear that I am ready to give this a shot. The question is whether or not you are? Do I think we're going to get married, have a white picket house with 2.5 children, one dog and three cats in suburban Connecticut and eventually grow old rocking away on rocking chairs together? Maybe not, probably not, but we're never going to know if it could happen if we don't give it a try. I don't see much reason to worry about how something could end before it even starts." he shrugged. "I really don't think you're going to lose a friend over this, anyways. Julia is smart, and for the most part she's forgiving. She's going to realize sooner, or later, that she's being irrational. As for Cole one, unlike Julia he recalls that she was the one that dumped me, and newsflash it's actually impossible to be unfaithful to someone you aren't in a relationship with, and two, I really don't think it's his place to say one way or another if he approves anyways."


"Honestly Celina, this is your choice to make, you have to make it, you can't just keep looking to other people to make your decision for you." he said, rather bluntly.

 

[AngieG]

Celina laughed out loud at his remark, since it was exactly what she had been thinking. "Darling, I could never live such a plain life. If you want to be with me, you're going to have to keep up." she joked, but nodded. "Alright. You're right. Let's give it a try. I haven't been on a date in weeks." Celina said, trying to adapt to his carefree attitude. She hoped one day Julia would forgive her. Celina was all about grand gestures, so she could probably work something out. "Let's go." she said, leaping down off the log, feeling like a weight had been heaved off her shoulders now that a decision had been made.

 

[Emem]

Nathan grinned at Celina's sudden enthusiasm "I'm a really bad influence." he laughed.


"Okay. Ten years from now, where will you you, maybe us, be?" Nathan asked, amused with the concept. Nathan had a pretty good idea where he would be. As much as he didn't like to plan for the future, his future career had always, to him, been a given.


They finally reached the road, it was only a five minute walk to Maggie's from here.

 

[Dak]

After Geoff had finished a set of songs. He walked out of the courtyard and walked back to his room. His mind was running from one thing to another. He was a little sad about not going out to lunch with Julia, but at the same time he knew that some things came first. He had some homework that he had to take care of.


He entered his room and took apart his saxophone. After he disassembled his sax he cleaned it. He would always do that. It was one thing that made him think about what he was doing. That's when he remembered that he had a first draft of a research paper due on monday.


He rushed to take care of his sax, making sure to put everything away so it wouldn't be scratched, or in the way. He rushed over to his laptop and started to research the affects of stress and the links to insomnia.

 

[AngieG]

"Where I will probably be, or where I want to be?" Celina asked, thinking about it. "Well, I will probably be famous. No kids until I am out of my prime, so not until late 30's. I'll probably start off as a singer, but eventually move on to film. If my mother has her way she'll live with me." Celina listed. "But realistically, I'd rather model or find a trade or something. Something I could do quietly and no one would know my name. Live in a foreign country, speak another language, and live off what I do in a small town near the sea. What about you?" Celina asked him.