Relaxing

[Jess]

It was warmer than Kate expected it would be in the gardens, so the first thing she did when she arrived was take off her old black sweatshirt and spread it on the ground. She sat down on top of it and took her backpack off, setting it on the ground beside her. The warm sun cut through what little morning fog still remained, promising that as the day went on, the temperature would continue to rise. This whole cold-in-the-morning, hot-in-the-afternoon weather was a pain. As much as Kate loved the changes and colors that came along with autumn, there was no denying that the varying temperature was not ideal.

Once she had gotten herself adequately comfortable, Kate reached into her backpack and pulled out the book she'd bought in town the weekend before. With her heavy senior-year workload, she hadn't had a chance to start it until today. After carefully removing the dust jacket and setting it aside, she opened the book and began to read. Though reading outside wasn't ideal, (Kate had never really been the outdoorsy-type, and she hated how the sun got in your eyes when you were trying to read), it was too beautiful a day out to remain inside.

The fact that the garden was empty for pretty much the first time all year didn't hurt, either.

[Admin Courtney]

Most normal people sat on the benches or on the lawns in the garden, but Talon did not like to sit somewhere where he might run into other people, or where he would be seen by others. The flowers in the gardens were on their last leg, so most of the bugs and bees had abandoned them to prepare for hibernation, leaving the flower patches free for Talon to hide in. However he was not a fan of sitting amongst the flowers, so he picked a patch of hydrangeas (though he had no idea they were called that) and lay on the cool ground in between them, hood over his face and iPod turned up so loud that someone passing by might think the hydrangeas had a speaker in them. Why Veritas Academy would put a speaker playing non-relaxing rock and metal music, everyone would question.

However, Talon did not give a rat's ass. He simply lay there inhaling the scent of the shrubs as the loud music from his headphones slowly worked its way to deafen him. But he was sure he had selected a spot that no one would bother him in or try to get him to turn his music down by nagging him about hearing loss. After a while he pulled out a cigarette and lit it, choosing to inhale the tobacco instead of the sweet flowery scent.
Yep. Much better.
Trails of smoke from his cigarette wafted over the hydrangeas as he smoked, but Talon paid them no attention. Maybe he would stay there forever and rot, since the smoking had not yet given him the lung cancer he was hoping for.

[Jess]

After reading for a little while, Kate heard the sounds of metal music coming from the flowerbed. She looked up from her book, glancing around the gardens for the source of the music. She didn't think anyone had been there with her, but being in an open, public area, you could never really rule it out. When her gaze drifted over to the hydrangeas, Kate noticed smoke slowly drifting up into the air.

Frowning, Kate stuck a bookmark in her book and stood. She brushed herself off and took a few tentative steps towards the hydrangeas, unsure of who she'd find lying there. She didn't know anyone who'd be dumb enough to smoke on school grounds-- that wasn't the type of person she typically associated herself with.

So it didn't surprise her when she didn't recognize the boy she found. She nudged him gently with her shoe. "You can't smoke here, you know," she told him quietly, a little irritated. She hadn't planned on socializing with anyone at all today, let alone someone she didn't know. All she wanted was to sit in peace and quiet and read her book... not listen to this kid's metal music and inhale his secondhand smoke.

[Admin Courtney]

The song changed to one of his favourites by Green Day. As the lead singer began to sing the first verse to Whatsername, Talon felt something nudge his side. He coughed on his cigarette smoke and his eyes flew open, immediately glaring at the girl standing above him. His eyes narrowed further as he squinted against the sun that was peeking out from a large grey cloud above.

He saw the girl's lips move but he didn't hear her, so he decided to be obnoxious and shrugged his shoulders, mouthing the words 'sorry, I can't hear you' as Billie Joe sang loudly in his ears. He then closed his eyes and took a long drag from his cigarette, hoping the girl would take the hint and leave him alone to brood in the bushes. After a moment he still felt her presence hovering over him and he opened his eyes, sighing and pulling his headphones off one ear. "There's no sign saying I can't smoke," he told her. "So there." He smiled sarcastically at her.