Starbucks and Sarcasm

[Matreania]

Dylan sighed, "You can't leave now. If you didn't notice the teacher was watching us in the hall. He is going to ask us how it went and I am not going to lie for you." Dylan didn't turn around, "But if you want to go, I'm not going to stop you. Do whatever you want, but don't call me names anymore, it's annoying me. I have work to do and you know nothing about me. You haven't even taken the time to see anything that isn't being forced in you sight. So, if you want to call me names, at least look up my student profile, Teacher's Aid."

 

[Morigan]

Mel turned back to face him, glaring so hard her eyes were completely narrowed. "Fine," she spat out. "Let me see the damn papers." She shut the door again and sat at the table once more, holding her hand out towards him. "The sooner we get this started, the sooner we can leave."

 

[Matreania]

Dylan smiled, "Here." he said, he had the paper between the hard cover of the top book and handed it to Melanie, "The type is history, I picked the history of Edinburg, my cousin lives there. The audience is Elementary to Middles school students. It is supposed to be, like we are the teachers, we have to catch their interest and make sure they get the important points."

 

[Morigan]

Mel stared at him for a moment; the change when he smiled caught her off guard. She shook her head to regain focus and began skimming the paper. After a few moments reading she paused.


"Okay, I think I see what the professor is talking about. It's clear you know your stuff, the paper shows that. But it's very...clinical, I guess. More like you'd submit it to a peer review journal than for children." She pointed to a couple passages, showing him examples. "See, here you could use more descriptive words, paint a picture for the kids- a lot of them are visual and engaging their imaginations is always a good idea." She smiled a bit, she always liked kids.

 

[Matreania]

Dylan looked confused, 'paint a picture', he thought the picture was pretty clean. But when he looked up, she was smiling a bit, it was nothing like that impulsive annoying brat from a few seconds ago. She was actually pretty, he snapped himself away from those thoughts as he looked back at the paper, "I don't see how that is important history is facts not fiction, imagination doesn't effect facts. How are they supposed to learn a topic if they are so focused on imagination?"

 

[Morigan]

She sighed, though not with any real force behind it. "Because you want them to learn, but also to engage and remember," she said gently. "Think of how young they are...history with no connection is boring to them. But making it more exciting, more real to them, so they can picture what you want them to know...they will remember that for certain." She looked up from the paper to meet his eyes.


"Try to keep in mind that many of these children may not care about history, or facts, but with the right writing style you can make them care. Make the events feel current to them."


She laughed a tiny bit, "I always did like history."

 

[Matreania]

"Well I don't like kids." Dylan said, "If they can't grasp basic facts then how are they going to be knowledgeable adults." he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back. "I made it as simple as I could, without taking the important facts away from the paper. The children in the UCI seem to understand it when I read it to them"

 

[Morigan]

She sighed again and leaned her head on her hands.


"Dylan...could you just try? For the professor? If you don't like the change in style you can go back to this, but after graduation. He wants you to change but it doesn't have to be permanent if you hate it so much." She shifted through the papers again.


"And how can you not like kids? They're so innocent and trusting."

 

[Matreania]

"I don't hate all kids, just the stupid ones. Kevin in ICU is in 3rd grade and he talks about the damn Alphabet like it's new. Jen is in 2nd grade and we read my Clinical Studies books together, I have to explain some terms but her writing gets better and Kevin can't grasp basic multiplication." Dylan explained, "Plus he whines all the time, Jen is going through Osteosarcoma, and I hardly hear her whinnying. I just get annoyed with spoiled brats that can't open themselves up to others and center the world around themselves."

 

[Morigan]

"They're just kids," she said patiently. "Some will always be smarter than others. Perhaps this Kevin has a learning disability. Maybe he has negligent parents so he acts out for attention...people's home life is not always as good as it seems."


She paused, confused for a moment. "What is Osteosarcoma? Osteo is stuff to do with bones, right? Like osteoporosis?"

 

[Matreania]

"It's a bone cancer, a painful one, to make it simple. As for home live, he isn't home, he hasn't been there in almost a month. His parents come by, but I can't see any signs of maltreatment." Dylan said, annoyed, he didn't want to keep talking about this, "Anyway, I guess I should start by reading some kids book, maybe I can come up with something from there."

 

[Morigan]

"You don't have to hit someone to treat them badly," she said under her breath. But he didn't want to discuss the kids anymore, so she let it go. "Yeah, maybe read some children's books. See how it goes. Meet here again in, what, three days?" she suggested.

 

[Matreania]

"That's fine." Dylan said, as he started to open the think books again spreading them out so that they were flat on the table. "I'll meet you here at the same time we meet in the professor's office. Try to be on time, please, I have work by 6." He didn't really focus on her response, he starting going through what he had read and what he hadn't to get back to where he left off.

 

[Morigan]

Mel bit her tongue to stop the sharp retort from escaping. She had foolishly thought he was going to be a little more polite...her own fault for getting her hopes up. Instead she silently gathered her things and left without another word.


She ate her dinner alone, still in silence, thinking of the child he had mentioned, Kevin. She didn't know if he was actually from a bad situation, though she hoped not. The rest of the evening passed quickly and she was soon in her room, lying in bed.


She tossed and turned restlessly for a while before falling into a fitful sleep, plagued by nightmares and memories. She spent the next few days focusing on her work and avoiding her friends until she could shake her recent bad mood. Before she knew it three days had passed. Mel considered being late just to piss Dylan off, but decided against it. She was just to tired to deal with another lecture from him. So instead she arrived thirty minutes early, like he preferred.

 

[Matreania]

Dylan sat with his arms crossed as Melanie arrived, he smiled, "Nicely done." he complimented her, "I was thinking you would have been late, just to annoy me." he stated. With a deep sigh, he took his backpack from where it hung, at the back of his chair and pulled out his paper, "Read through some books, and found myself completely lost. How is a respectable adult going to write like their vocabulary goes as far as basic zoo animals?" he sighed again, handing his paper over, "I attempted to duplicate the style, but I lack the personality to do so. Of course, that is just my opinion. And Jen and Kevin say hey."

 

[Morigan]

"I thought about it," she admitted honestly. "Maybe next time. I don't have the energy to fight about it today."


She took the paper he had pulled from his backpack and read over it quickly. "It's better, though." She highlights some sentences here and there. "See? These are particularly good at matching the style for younger people. But what you really need is more feeling. It's hard to explain..." She pursed her lips thoughtfully. "What makes you feel emotionally invested in something?"

 

[Matreania]

"I don't. I don't think it's important to act out your emotions when you have to focus on what is on hand." Dylan stated, "I'm too busy for emotions anyway. Without facts and logic I can't do my job or keep track of my we study in what class."

 

[Morigan]

"Oh," she said, stunned. No emotions about anything? She couldn't comprehend it. "Well...do you think you could fake it, for the sake of the paper? The professor strongly implied he wants more of your emotions to come through in your papers."

 

[Matreania]

"Fake it?" Dylan said, raising an eyebrow, "How would you fake emotions, you either use them or you don't, and I don't." He didn't mean for it to sound so forceful, but the fact was, that was just how it sounded. "Sorry, I just don't see a point for emotions when they just cloud your judgement. In my field, judgement means life or death and I rather life be the result, even if it isn't always."

 

[Morigan]

Mel leaned back in her chair, frustrated. Dylan was so...logical and practical and...had no concept of what she was trying to explain. And she was all about feelings, and art and expression. How was she ever going to make this work?


"Okay, so what would you feel if I walked over a slapped you right now, for no reason?"

 

[Matreania]

"I would probably think you were crazier then I already do. But you are impulsive so it might have been a reaction to a statement you took the wrong way. I don't see how an act can be done without some reason, whether I understand the reason would be more of the question." Dylan stated, before he raised an eyebrow in curiosity, "Why? Are you going to?"

 

[Morigan]

"No, of course not. But I don't mean what would you think, I mean what would you feel? Anger? Surprise?" She felt a headache coming on, and decided to change tactics. "What about how you feel when you're with a girlfriend? Or boyfriend- I'm not judging. But surely then you feel something, love or affection or happiness..." She questioned him.

 

[Matreania]

Dylan chuckled, "Did you just attempt to assume I am gay?" Dylan wasn't sure how to react but logic stated it was a observation that was more general then offensive. "I don't feel anything with your imagination. I don't date, it complicates the most basic needs by adding someone else's ideas. If I wanted that I would just ask a random person how to live my life. I don't feel anything with people I have never needed."

 

[Morigan]

"I wasn't assuming either way, not that it matters since you don't date. That sounds incredibly lonely...though I suppose you don't feel loneliness either? That must be nice." She tapped her fingers on the desk, frustrated at the lack of progress. "Well what about parents...people love their parents."

 

[Matreania]

"My parents are died. You probably should read my student profile." Dylan said, but changed his mind. "My parents died when I was 4, I lived with my mother's cousin until I was 7, then moved to my uncle's till I was 14, and then to my grandfather's on my dad's side until I turned 20, and he died. My cousin was a Vet and my uncle is a doctor. I am an R.N. at the hospital downtown, where my cousin is doing her Residency. I have paid for my education since I was 17, I have no priors or even a license, other then my R.N."