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#Post#: 3040--------------------------------------------------
cAuSe I'm JuSt A tEeNaGe D i R t B a G bAbY: Reylo High School A
U
By: winterssmary Date: September 6, 2022, 3:35 pm
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REY [1]
By: winterssmary Date: September 7, 2022, 9:56 pm
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America was strange. While Rey hadn't noticed a lot of
differences in the two weeks she had been in an entirely new
country, the differences she had noticed were significant. For
starters, what was wrong with the healthcare system? Why did
people have to go into crippling debt just to keep from dying?
That didn't make any sense. Secondly, the people were much more
rude. She learned really quickly -- especially on her early
morning walk to the bus stop for school -- that people were much
more apt to talk to you without reason, but only to be as cruel
and inconsiderate as they possibly could in less than thirty
seconds. No one ever asked how she was doing when they responded
to her greetings and healthy foods were almost impossible to
come by. It was no wonder the streets of New York City smelled
of smoke and grease. She was starting to believe that was the
very foundation for the whole country. But, on the bright side,
the buses weren't to different. They had the same dirty seats --
years of filth having built up in the fabric and leaving a dank
smell on your clothes -- and poles that you'd only want to touch
with a gloved hand. It was comforting, at the very least, to be
able to find a quiet spot in the back of the bus where,
hopefully, no one would make an effort to talk to her. She had
been the new girl before -- but only one other time -- and
remembered how it felt to have to claw your way into a friend
group. Being that this was her final year of secondary school
and she was in a new country, she was especially worried about
first-day interactions. She didn't want to be left out, but she
didn't want to be a spectacle either. She hoped to make fast
friends once she joined the school's football club or started
classes. Bus interactions
-- if they were anything like the ones back in England -- were
not ideal for establishing good friendships. She wore her
headphones on the trip, keeping her music relatively quiet, just
enough to add a gentle ambiance to the trip but not enough to
keep her from missing any instructions from the driver. She
learned pretty quickly on the first day that riding the bus was
no always ideal, since she could have easily walked to her new
school -- Theed Academy -- in about half of the time it took for
the bus to complete its route. New York City traffic was
terrible. But it was nice to have this option for when the
weather turned sour. She finally arrived at her school, holding
her backpack straps tightly to her to try and keep her hands
from trembling. In truth, she had no idea how to properly
navigate this place. Theed Academy was a large school in
Midtown, larger than her old school back in London. But the
interior looked... roughly the same. American television had
prepared her for that bit. She peaked at her class schedule,
finding her locker. She struggled with the combination lock for
a few minutes, but was eventually able to figure it out and
store her binders and lunch bag. It took her a while to find her
homeroom with Mr. Skywalker, but it happened eventually, only a
few minutes before the bell rang for her to be in her seat. She
found a spot close to the back of the room to shuffle into. She
held tightly to her backpack again, the ends of her jumper
sleeves starting to wrinkle a bit from the paws that formed due
to her fidgeting. She let her eyes drift around the classroom,
her gaze falling on a few particular people. She noticed a
dark-skinned young man with short hair and a wide smile. He
spoke very enthusiastically to an olive-skinned man with dark
curls and large eyes. She saw a small-framed, tawny-skinned
woman trying to chime in, but largely being ignored by the
boisterous behavior of the curly-haired one. On the other side
of the classroom, she noticed a pair of young men. Both of them
were pale, but one was more pasty than the other. One had short,
bright red hair and a stern look of disgust on his face at all
times. The other one had softer features, a deep brow ridge,
defined, aquiline nose, and long, silky black hair. Rey would be
lying if she said she didn't find him attractive, but the sour
facial expression and all-black outfit was a little off-putting.
But she had met her fair share of edgy people in her day and
found them charming and delightful, once you got to know them.
She shook her head, focusing on the front of the room when she
heard the door shut, Mr. Skywalker approached the front of the
room. He was a short, lean man with sandy blonde hair and a
matching beard. He spoke gently to the class, welcoming everyone
to their final year of school before graduating secondary and
moving onto university. He greeted some of the students that he
already knew, reminded people of normal emergency procedures,
and then opened his mouth about a new student. She cringed at
that, knowing he was referring to her. He asked her to stand up
at the center of the class and introduce herself, wanting to
know a few fun facts about her and such. He even called her Miss
Plutt, which she hated hearing. She didn't like Simon's name
being tacked onto her own and would love to have it changed back
to her parents' name: West. But that wasn't an option at the
moment. She obeyed, trying to pretend that she wasn't nervous,
wanting to make a good impression. She smiled once she got to
the front of the room. "Uhm, hi, everyone," she said with a
little wave. "I'm Rey. Uh... I actually really don't like being
called Plutt, Mr. Skywalker. I'm... I'm just Rey," she said.
"And, obviously, but the accent, I'm sure you can all tell that
I'm from England. I just moved here from West London a few weeks
ago," she explained. Now... facts about herself... what could
she say to sound charming? "I... uhm... I paint in my free time
and... and I play football and have my whole life and I'd like
to go to university and become an architect one day," she said
with a little nod. She looked over to Mr. Skywalker, getting a
nod from him, silent permission to go and sit down. She
immediately went back to her seat. [/center]
#Post#: 3048--------------------------------------------------
[1] BEN
By: Zellaphone Date: September 8, 2022, 8:09 pm
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School might have been an excuse to get away from home, but it
sucked. A little over two months' worth of summer break was not
enough at all, not that Ben ever did much during the summer.
Still, he got to get in more work hours, go wherever he wanted,
and do whatever he wanted. He didn’t have to see his uncle five
or more times a week, nor did he have to stress about homework
or group projects or figuring out what the fuck it was he wanted
to do for the rest of his life. He could read whenever he
wanted, drink whenever, smoke whenever… as long as his parents
weren’t home, which they rarely were. He didn’t have to deal
with the idiots at school that was still trying to figure out
the difference between a continent and a country, or the ones
that thought so highly of themselves even though they couldn’t
spell narcissistic even if you put the word in front of them. He
was sick of Theed Academy, but at least it was his last year.
Did he know where he’d go after he graduated? No, but he knew
that he could essentially go wherever he pleased… which would
likely just end up being wherever his mother pleased, but that
was fine. Honestly, he didn’t really care at this point. As long
as his parents were finally satisfied with him, then he guessed
he’d be content as well. Ben drove to school, picking up Hux
along the way. It wasn’t at all the quickest way for him to get
to school, but he didn’t mind since he enjoyed the extra minutes
he got to listen to music. They arrived a little early, but that
was because Ben had insisted on getting there early enough so
that he could redecorate his locker, thinking it was the only
enjoyable thing about the first day of school. He went about
sticking some of the stickers he had in there, along with some
small band posters he had bought, and a flyer for his band, The
First Order, that he had printed out during the summer.
Meanwhile, Hux organized his own locker beside him, never
bothering to decorate it. They headed to homeroom after that,
and Ben was relieved to find that Luke wasn't there yet, or had
stepped out for a moment. He hated that his uncle was not only
his English teacher but his fucking homeroom teacher as well.
Leave it to him to have a family member working at his school,
as well as friends of his family. He never got to truly escape
from anything, it seemed. Ben took a seat at the very back
corner of the classroom, where he usually sat for English, and
Hux sat beside him, the both of them doing their best to ignore
everyone else. Honestly, it wasn't that hard since everyone
liked to ignore them, which was better than the alternative that
they used to have to deal with more frequently -- being bullied.
Ben leaned back in his chair and put in his earbuds, waiting for
homeroom to officially start as everyone slowly trickled in. He
didn't see any new faces, though it did look as though maybe a
couple of students from last year hadn't returned this year.
Dameron, Porter, and Tico were still around, which was slightly
unfortunate. While none of them had ever really bothered Ben, he
had heard them talk about him in a negative light on more than
one occasion, he and Dameron battled to be top of the class in
some classes, and he knew that Hux had a thing for Tico. Hux
denied it, of course, but Ben knew. Eventually, Luke came in,
his eyes going right to Ben and offering him that annoying smile
that made Ben look away, pointedly staring at his phone as he
turned his music off and took his earbuds out. Ben kept his head
down even as the bell rang and Luke shut the door, welcoming
everyone to their final year of high school and going over the
usual safety procedures and important announcements. It wasn't
until his uncle mentioned a new student that Ben looked up,
curious to see what sort of person he might have to deal with
this year. Luke asked the person to stand up and introduce
herself, calling her Miss Plutt, which, in all honesty, sounded
like a pretty ugly name. However, the girl that stood up did not
match the name at all. Ben's eyes widened as a girl with long
brown hair, sunkissed skin, hazel eyes, and freckles stood up,
going to the front of the class. She was far from ugly, in his
opinion. In fact, she might have been the prettiest person he
had ever seen, and her smile just confirmed that. She greeted
everyone, giving them a small wave that was somewhat awkward,
but Ben found it to be a little endearing. Her voice was light
and sweet, and she had an accent -- an English one, just like
Hux. She introduced herself as just Rey, telling his uncle that
she didn't like to be referred to by her last name, which Ben
thought was fair. An ugly name like Plutt didn't suit her, but a
pretty name like Rey certainly seemed to. Rey... like a ray of
sunshine. "Ah, she's English," Hux pointed out quietly while
Luke apologized to Rey for using her surname. “Great, maybe
she’s a pain in the ass too," Ben said back to him, trying to
sound unenthusiastic as his eyes remained glued to the girl.
"Shut up," Hux snapped, still whispering so that Luke wouldn't
call them out. They went back to paying attention to what Rey
had to say, listening as she explained that she had moved from
West London a few weeks ago. If Ben remembered correctly, Hux
was from Northwest London, not that it mattered. He doubted Hux
was ever going to talk to Rey, and she didn't seem like the type
to get along with Hux... or want to talk to him. She had
probably been a popular girl at her last school. She was too
pretty to have been anything else. Rey told the class that she
painted in her spare time, meaning that she was probably artsy,
just like Ben sort of was. He liked to draw sometimes. He
wondered if her paintings were any good. She also added that she
played football and wanted to be an architect, seeming to be
pretty set on that career goal. “She has to mean soccer. How
does she not even know that it’s called soccer here?” Hux
whispered, rolling his eyes. “Who cares? Everyone’s probably
going to flock to her,” said Ben, watching as Rey went back to
her seat. There was no way that everyone was just going to
ignore the pretty foreign girl. She'd probably end up in one of
the popular friend groups by the end of the day. “Everyone
didn’t flock to me," Hux mentioned. “Yeah, because you’re a
loser and a dick," Ben reminded him, glancing over at the new
girl again while Luke finished up announcements. "Go to hell,
Solo," grumbled Hux. “Just being honest, shitass.”
As it turned out, Ben had been right about Rey getting picked up
by a popular friend group quickly. Before homeroom had even
ended, she had been approached by Porter and his friends,
letting Ben know once and for all that there was no chance that
she'd ever want to speak to him, not that he cared. Or, at
least, he told himself that he didn't care. He tried to just go
about his day and not think about the new girl, but that proved
to be harder to do than expected. They ended up sharing first
period together, which was Chemistry, and she sat one seat away
from him. Just one, which made it difficult for him not to
occasionally look over at her. Second period, however, he was
free, not having to think about the pretty new girl at all as
Mr. Kenobi, one of Luke's old teachers, went over what they're
be learning in World Literature this year. But, third period --
Luke's English IV class -- Rey was there again and sat right in
front of Hux, meaning she was directly across from him, making
it easy for him to stare and get distracted by her. She looked
cute in her sweater, though he wondered if she knew that New
York tended to still be rather warm at the beginning of
September. Then again, he was wearing a hoodie, but that was
something he could easily remove. It didn't matter. He shouldn't
be thinking about her. He was relieved when he noticed that it
was almost time for Luke's class to end, meaning they'd get to
go to lunch, and he began to pack his backpack when the bell
rang. “Rey, will you and Ben please stay behind for a moment?”
Luke asked before Ben could even finish putting all of his
things away. "Fuck," he whispered, watching as Hux smirked at
him before putting on his backpack and leaving the class.
Asshole. Everyone else continued to leave, and Ben wondered what
Luke could possibly want from the new girl and him. It was just
the first day and they weren't associated with one another in
any way. He threw his pencil into his backpack and zipped it up
as Luke began to explain things to Rey at the front of the
class. “I reviewed your English grades from your last school,
Rey, and I think you could really benefit from some extra
lessons. I’d hate to see you fall behind here during your last
year," his uncle told her, smiling kindly at her before he
looked at him. “Ben, maybe you’d like to offer Rey some
after-school tutoring? You’d have to work around your schedule
at the library, I know, but I think you could make it work,
yeah?” Ben could have sworn that his heart stopped at that
moment. That was what Luke wanted from him? He looked from his
uncle to the new girl, his heart suddenly beating again and
fast. “Why can’t you do it? Isn’t that your job?” he asked his
uncle as he approached the front of the class, sparing any
politeness in his tone since class was over. He already knew the
answer to his own question, though. Luke didn't offer tutoring.
The school didn't want to pay him overtime for such a thing, and
Luke didn't want to work for free unless it was absolutely
necessary, which was fair. Luke's expression dropped slightly,
letting Ben know that he was already disappointed in him.
However, he still spoke calmly to him. “Because I don’t offer
tutoring, Ben. You know this. Besides, I think you could both
benefit from this, don’t you think?” Luke asked him, and Ben
scowled. He knew exactly what his uncle meant by that statement,
and he didn't like it. Luke had been trying for years to get him
to make more friends, saying things like I'm concerned for your
future all because he only talked to Hux at school and avoided
everyone else. Luke didn't get it, though. No one wanted to be
his friend, and that was fine. People were just disappointments
anyway or treated him like shit, so why bother? As for the whole
tutoring thing, though, Ben didn't really see any way out of it.
Luke was just going to keep bringing it up and making him feel
bad until he gave in. Hopefully, new girl was a faster learner
and wouldn't need that much help. “Fine, whatever. I don’t need
any friends, though," he told his uncle gruffly, taking his
backpack back off and sitting it on Luke's desk, unzipping it to
tear off a bit of notebook paper and grab his pencil. He
scribbled down his cellphone number and stuck it out to Rey, not
looking at her. He would deny that it was because he was too shy
to make eye contact with her. “Here’s my number. I can only
tutor for half an hour after school. I have work," he warned
her, pissed off about this whole thing. He didn't want to waste
his free time teaching some pretty foreign girl how to do things
as simple as read or write. “We can start today, I guess," he
added with a sigh, zipping his backpack back up and putting on
one strap, still avoiding her gaze. “Just meet me at the field
bleachers and don’t take too long getting there. I won’t wait up
for you," he told her, inconvenienced by all of this. "Ben--"
Luke tried, but Ben was already leaving the classroom, holding a
hand up to let Luke know that he was finished with the
conversation. He heard Luke sigh and address Rey. “Please excuse
him. Ben really is a good kid, once you get to know him, and
he’s top of the class. I know he can be a great help to you,"
his uncle told her, and Ben rolled his eyes as he stepped into
the hallway, starting to catch up with Hux in the
cafeteria.[/center]
#Post#: 3051--------------------------------------------------
REY [2]
By: winterssmary Date: September 10, 2022, 2:15 am
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Rey had an easier time adjusting to the American school than she
thought. Before homeroom had even ended, she was beginning to
make friends. A few of the people who were sitting in front of
her made her acquaintance really quickly. Finn Porter -- the
quarterback of the American football team -- in particular, was
extremely outgoing and invited her to eat lunch with them later
in the day. He put forth a lot of effort to legitimately try and
make her feel comfortable, which was a relief. She was
incredibly grateful to him. But it wasn't just him. Poe Dameron,
Finn's boyfriend, was just as outgoing and friendly, though more
snarky and less down-to-Earth, like Finn. But he was funny and
they were funny together. They had another friend, Rose Tico,
who seemed pretty friendly as well. Apparently, she was a
wrestler, which Rey found absolutely fascinating. For a woman
with such a small frame, she could pack a punch, apparently. She
found the whole group to be really fun and friendly, which was
all she could hope for on the first day. Her glasses weren't too
bad in the beginning. Her chemistry class was exactly what she
expected and her US History class seemed like it might be
challenging or interesting. She just hoped it was accurate
history, since she'd read somewhere that America did not like to
tell the truth in its academia. Then, she had her English class
in which all of her new friends -- the the cute guy from
homeroom -- were in the room with her. She still sat in the
back, not wanting to impose on anyone, but it meant that the
cute boy was right diagonal from her. She didn't do it on
purpose. Mr. Skywalker was the teacher for this class too and he
spoke so gently and with a kind voice. It put her more at ease,
especially given that this was her worst subject of them all.
However, she was scared at the end of class when Mr. Skywalker
called her by name, asking her to stay behind. She worried that
she had already done something wrong. However, he then asked Ben
-- who was apparently the cute guy -- to stay behind as well.
She got increasingly nervous at that. When she arrived at the
front of the class, Mr. Skywalker pointed out that her grades in
language arts were... not very good. She instantly felt ashamed
an embarrassed, even as he spoke so softly, not judging her at
all. It just made her feel stupid. He recommended that Ben --
who was not happy about being her -- tutor her after school,
since Luke didn't offer it. "I don't want to be a bother to
anyone, really," Rey said quietly, knowing that Ben was getting
increasingly irritated with Mr. Skywalker's suggestion. But that
wasn't an excuse for Ben to talk to a teacher in the way he did.
Ben, after fighting for a while, gave in to Mr. Skywalker's
request, practically showing a piece of paper with his phone
number into her hand. She stammered to a moment, caught
off-guard by the uncomfortable situation. Ben said that he could
only do a half hour of tutoring after school, since he had work.
"I actually work after school too. And I'm going out for the
football club tomorrow, so a half hour sounds perfect," she
said. He said that they could start today, demanding that she
meet him at the bleachers by the football field and not to be
late, otherwise he would leave her. She was rather taken aback
by how aggressive he was, how mean he was. "Today? Okay. I can
do that," she said, suddenly feeling knots in her stomach. Not
only was she nervous about spending a half an hour with someone
who so clearly hated her for no reason, but she didn't like that
she wouldn't have the option to take the bus if something came
up. But she would be alright. She could walk. She just hoped it
didn't rain. Or get too hot. The boy then hurried out of the
room, as if he would catch on fire if he had to stand in Mr.
Skywalker's classroom any longer. She let out a breath once he
was out the door, feeling uncomfortable, her hands shaking a bit
when Mr. Skywalker called out to his student. "Is he always like
that?" Rey asked quietly, not sure if she was more concerned or
annoyed. Mr. Skywalker asked that Rey excuse Ben, since he was a
good kid once she got to know him, apparently. And he was at the
top of his class, so he could help her greatly. She nodded. "I
really don't want to be making any enemies during my last year
of school, but I have to do better in this class. Thank you, Mr.
Skywalker," she said.
After school -- going through her lunch with her new friends,
her gym and math classes, and her art elective -- she went to
the big bulletin board in front of the main office, having to
fight the crowd just to find it and figure out where to go to
begin with. During the morning, Mr. Skywalker had said that
sports teams were taking sign-ups at this board and she didn't
want to miss her chance for her football try-outs. After
fighting the line and eventually finding her pen, she signed her
name on the line. Then, she hurried off to the fields. Or, at
least, she thought she was going toward the fields. And she
wasn't sure if Ben meant the American football field bleachers
or the regular football field. Or the baseball field. It could
have been anywhere, really. Eventually, she got lucky, finding
him. He seemed annoyed at just the prospect of being alive,
which was rather unnerving. She wasn't sure she liked this guy
very much, no matter how cute he was. She was all for giving
people plenty of chances to be themselves and open up, but after
everything Finn and Poe and Rose told her, she was worried about
Ben. He apparently had a habit of picking fights and causing
chaos and just generally being mean to people. But he'd also had
a hard time in school before, often being bullied when he was
younger. Rey wasn't alright with that and could understand his
defensive attitude, but she didn't think it justified his
treatment of Mr. Skywalker. Or her, treating Rey like some kind
of burden when he didn't even know her. She waved over to the
boy, wanting to give a good impression and try to give him the
benefit of the doubt, no matter what her new friends say. She
could get through to him by just being friendly, right? "Hey,"
she said with a smile. She rolled up the sleeves of her jumper a
bit, realizing that it was warmer outside than she thought.
Based on the morning temperature and how cold Simon kept their
flat, she expected it to be cooler. She needed more summer
clothes for New York City, she supposed. "Glad to see you waited
up for me," she said, not sure if she was being playful or
sincere. He didn't set a time for her to arrive, but still
demanded that she not be late. "I had to get to the footba-
soccer sign-up sheet before they took it down," she explained,
hoping he would understand. Surely, with as fit as he was, he
participated in sports at some point, right? "Anyway, how was
your day? I mean, I saw you in class, but you don't talk very
much," she asked with a smile and a little laughing, trying to
be as jovial and outgoing as possible with him in hopes of
getting him to not be so guarded and mean around her. [/center]
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[2] BEN
By: Zellaphone Date: September 10, 2022, 5:49 pm
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Ben learned by the end of the day that he wouldn't be able to
avoid the new girl as easily as he had hoped. In fact, she ended
up being a distraction to him for most of the day since they
didn't just share homeroom, chemistry, English, and lunch
together, but also calculous and gym as well. There would
literally only be two periods a day in which he wouldn't see
Rey. He'd be seeing her more than Hux at school, which was crazy
to him. Why did he have to get stuck with the pretty foreign
girl so much, and why did Luke have to suggest that he tutor
her? He didn't want to worry about having a crush on a new,
beautiful, British girl who was likely going to become wildly
popular in their last year. He could tell that she was way out
of his league, and he knew from the group of friends she was
already becoming a part of that she was never going to like him.
She'd probably end up making fun of him, or believe some of the
rumors about him that had been spreading through the school for
years. No matter what, he knew nothing good was going to really
come out of him and Rey interacting. Except maybe her English
grades going up, but he didn't exactly care about that. He was
just going to tutor her to keep Luke off his back, and he hoped
she didn't actually need that much help so that they could end
things quickly and never speak again. That would probably be in
both of their best interests. After his final class of the day
-- civics taught by one of his mother's friends -- Ben headed to
the football and soccer field. Usually, he and Hux would hang
out after school under the bleachers and smoke while they
unloaded about their days and life and such, but he had already
griped to his friend at lunch that they'd have to skip doing so
today since he had to tutor the new girl. It worked out, though,
since Hux had to go to his internship at his father's business
today anyway. Ben stood underneath the bleachers by the entrance
to the field, pulling out his lighter and box of Marlboros while
he waited for Rey to show up, wanting to try and relieve some
stress. He really didn't want to be here. Not for this, anyway.
What was he even going to say to this girl? What was she going
to say to him? He wasn’t very good at talking to people,
especially not one with such a sweet smile, beautiful voice, and
looks that could kill him if he wasn’t careful. He couldn’t even
look at her earlier when he had given her his number. This was
going to be a disaster. She was definitely going to make fun of
him before this was all over, so he probably shouldn’t try at
all to impress her. He lit a cigarette, shoving the lighter and
box back into his hoodie pocket before checking his phone. She
was late. Or, well, later than he thought she’d be. He hoped she
hadn’t agreed on meeting him just to end up bailing on him, or
had gotten lost. She’d text him if she were lost, though, right?
Maybe she had thrown his number away. However, before he could
get too lost in his own thoughts and what ifs, he spotted Rey
heading his way, giving him a little wave that shouldn’t have
been as cute as it was. He put his phone away, taking a quick
drag and debating about going ahead and putting his cigarette
out before deciding against it. Rey was from the United Kingdom,
and if she had a problem with his smoking, she could just tell
him. She greeted him once she got closer to him, giving him a
smile that already had him having to look away from her in order
to give him the courage to say anything back. Why did she have
to be so damn pretty? And why did she have to have freckles? He
loved freckles on girls. “Hey,” he greeted her back awkwardly,
fumbling with his lighter inside his hoodie with one hand as he
held his cigarette in the other. She rolled up the sleeves of
her sweater, probably already getting hot since it wasn’t
exactly sweater weather yet. He planned on taking his hoodie off
once they sat down. She told him that she was glad that he had
waited on her, and he wasn’t sure if she was trying to be
serious or playful, so he said nothing. She explained that she
had to get to the soccer sign-up sheet before they took it down,
almost calling it football again as she had twice this morning.
It didn’t surprise him that she did sports due to how fit he had
noticed she was during gym. She was fit, fit too, with biceps
and everything. He had been surprised when he had first seen her
arms, but pleasantly so. She was lucky that their soccer team
wasn’t usually bad either, though he didn’t necessarily like
anyone on the sports teams. That was why he had never tried out
for any teams at Theed Academy, which ended up leading to a
whole other problem. He guessed she’d just end up being in two
groups that he didn’t like, which was whatever. Again, it wasn’t
like they were going to be friends. Rey moved on, asking how his
day was, surprising him yet again. Did she actually care to hear
how his day went? She acknowledged that she had seen him in
class, but pointed out how he didn’t talk very much, laughing a
little. It didn’t feel like she was making fun of him, to his
relief, but it still was strange how much she seemed to be
trying to be nice to him so far. Didn’t her new friends already
warn her all about him? “Yeah, I'm not much of a talker,” he
admitted, still not looking at her. "And my day was fine... I
guess, but would you rather hear about that or actually learn
something?" he asked, glancing at her for just one moment. As
nice as she seemed, he didn’t exactly have time to stand around
and chat with the new girl for no reason, asking about each
other's days and whatnot just to be polite. “Come on, let’s not
keep wasting time and get this over with,” he said, walking
towards the field before heading up the bleachers, stopping
towards the middle rows and sitting down. He took off his
backpack, setting it down and then removing his hoodie while
still holding onto his cigarette, making sure his black t-shirt
was pulled down. “So why are your English grades shit, English?”
he asked Rey with a smirk, thinking it was kind of amusing that
the English girl was, apparently, bad at the subject of
English.[/center]
#Post#: 3057--------------------------------------------------
REY [3]
By: winterssmary Date: September 11, 2022, 8:05 pm
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Rey didn't like having to fight the crowds of the congested
hallways of Theed Academy once the bell released her from her
art class. She'd had a great time there and taking her time
putting away her supplies, but she still felt like she was being
bounced around on her way to the front office. She just wanted
to make sure she didn't miss the deadline for football sign-ups,
sure that was the best way to make herself feel more at-home
while she continued to transition to American life for the year.
She managed to make it to the list before it was full, finding
that it was a co-ed team and not a lot of girls had signed up,
but she would be alright. She wanted to make friends. She didn't
care about their genders. She just wanted a more comfortable
experience until she could get back home to London. It made it a
little harder to get to Ben for their tutoring session quickly.
It made it even more complicated that she wasn't sure which
field he was referring to when he asked her to come to the
bleachers. If she didn't find him at the football field, she
would have to text him for clarification. Or assume he left her
behind, like he claimed that he would. But, luckily, she was
able to find him eventually, though it took her a while to
navigate her way through the school. She waved to Ben once she
saw him, hanging out underneath the stands, giving him a little
smile. Despite hearing some less-than-kind things about him from
her new friends at the lunch table today, she wanted to give him
the benefit of the doubt. Mr. Skywalker seemed to have high
hopes for him, which was probably a good sign... unless he was
just trying to comfort her so that she wasn't afraid of him
tutoring her. She greeted him kindly, noticing how quickly he
looked away from her, as if he was disgusted by her or the
thought of being around her. She would be lying if she said it
didn't hurt her feelings a little bit, but he might have just
been shy or have issues with eye-contact. She could excuse that.
He gave her a rather quick response, one-worded, as if talking
to her were the last thing in the world he wanted to do. He was
smoking a cigarette, which she wasn't crazy about, but she had
gotten rather used to at home. She just thought that smoking was
different here in America, but maybe she was wrong. She did know
that it was unhealthy and she wished that young people wouldn't
do it, but it wasn't her business. She rolled up the sleeves of
her jumper, already feeling the effects of the heat. She had
expected it to be cooler during the start of the school year
like it was back home, but she had been wrong. She tried to make
light of the awkward situation, saying that she was glad he
didn't ditch her since she wasn't there super fast, but Ben
didn't respond at all, which only made it more awkward. She
explained that she had to wait in line for sign-ups, having to
correct herself from saying football again. She tried to make
friendly small talk, asking how his day was and pointing out
that she noticed he didn't talk much in and between classes. He
said that he wasn't much of a talker and she nodded. "I get it.
Neither was I for a while," she said. He said that his day was
fine, but got rather snippy afterward, saying that they should
actually learn something instead of talking about it. She
blinked. "I -," but what was she supposed to say to that? Was
she supposed to be happy about that? "Excuse me?" she asked,
wondering where this attitude was coming from when she had been
nothing but friendly to him. He insisted that they stop wasting
time and that they get this over with. She scoffed, shaking her
head softly as she followed him up the stands and into the
middle row of bleachers. Who did he think he was? She understood
now why Finn and Poe said he was bad news. "Okay, so you hate
small talk. Got it. That's all you had to say," she muttered. He
took off his backpack and sat down, pulling off his hoodie,
which Rey watched a little too closely. Part of her hoped that
his shirt rode up a bit, knowing from their time together in gym
class that he was pretty fit. But he held onto it, which was
rather disappointing. He asked why her English grades were bad,
calling her English, smirking as if he'd made the most clever
joke in his life. "Very funny," she said. "I dunno. I'm just a
slow reader and sometimes the poetic language confuses me,
especially in classical stuff," she admitted, looking away from
him, holding her arm in one hand, a little nervous and unhappy
about the question. It was a fair question, of course, but it
made her feel incredibly insecure. "It's like, maths is so easy.
There's only one right answer and it's pretty straightforward,
you know? You have a method and you follow it and boom: the
answer is two," she explained, hoping that it all made sense.
Maths were straightforward. English was the exact opposite. "But
when I read something, it's like I can read it over and over
again and I still have no idea what it's saying. Like, I know
the words, but I still don't know what the sentence means," she
tried to explain. "Does that make sense or am I just
rambling?"[/center]
#Post#: 3060--------------------------------------------------
[3] BEN
By: Zellaphone Date: September 11, 2022, 11:02 pm
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Ben waited for Rey after class at the football field, standing
under the bleachers and lighting a cigarette. He trusted her to
be able to find her way since he didn't think it would exactly
be hard to find the giant field right outside. Then again,
perhaps she'd accidentally go to the baseball field. If that
were the case, he assumed that she'd text him, unless she had
already thrown his number away, or had decided that tutoring
with him wasn't worth her time. Honestly, he wouldn't really
mind it if he did the latter. As pretty as Rey was, it wasn't
like he wanted to get stuck tutoring her or spending time with
her. Judging from the friends she had seemed to have made today,
she likely had a poor opinion of him already, which was fine. It
wasn't as if he had actually wanted to be her friend or
anything. He knew just from looking at her that she was far out
of his league, and probably wasn't the type of person that would
ever want to get to know someone like him. He couldn't even
blame her, really. He wasn't exactly a thrill to be around,
which was why Hux was his only friend. It was probably for the
best that he just tried to get all of this tutoring shit over
with as quickly as possible so that they could both be free from
one another if she even showed up. He checked his phone, seeing
just how late she was. He could have left like he had threatened
to do, but he decided not to. A few minutes late wasn't really
that big of a deal, but if she took much longer, he had no
reason to stick around. As he continued to wait, he started to
go through all the scenarios of why she could be taking so long,
as well as all the scenarios of what could happen if she did
show up. What if she was dismissive of him right from the start?
What if she asked about rumors she might have already heard
about him? What if she was just chatty or something? What the
hell was he even supposed to say to her? Would he be able to say
anything? He hadn't even really looked at her when Luke had
asked him to tutor her, feeling nervous to do so for whatever
reason. Well, he knew the reason. Rey had entered into his life
less than seven hours ago and he already had a crush without
even knowing her. It was stupid, he knew, which was why he was
going to try and not think about it and probably not look at her
some more despite the fact he had practically gawked at her in
every class they shared. After a couple of more minutes, Ben
finally spotted Rey approaching him, giving him a little wave
and a smile, much like she had done to the whole class in
homeroom. She greeted him, and Ben quickly realized that this
was probably the closest they had ever been to one another,
except maybe when he had given her his number in Luke's class.
It was much easier to see her freckles from this distance, as
well as the pretty flecks of green in her eyes that he hadn't
noticed before. Quickly, he looked away from her, greeting her
back shortly and awkwardly. Dammit, why did everything about her
have to be so pretty? He noticed her rolling up the sleeves of
her sweater, which wasn't surprising. One of his first thoughts
about her had been that she was going to get overheated in that
thing. He was getting pretty hot in his hoodie, but luckily for
him, he could just take that off. She said that she was glad
that he had waited up for her, and he wasn't sure if she was
trying to tease him or not, so he kept quiet. He hadn't planned
on leaving the second she was late. She explained that she had
to sign up for soccer tryouts, almost referring to the game as
football again like she had that morning. He supposed that was
going to be a bit of an adjustment for her, but she was going to
get made fun of if she didn't get it right soon. She then asked
how his day was, as if she really cared, which he doubted she
did. She was just trying to make small talk, but she didn't need
to bother. They didn't know each other, and they didn't need to.
This was just a transactional meeting, really. He'd tutor her,
and then Luke wouldn't pester him endlessly about it or make him
feel guilty. Win-win, he guessed, even though he'd really rather
not be doing this at all. He'd rather be spending time with Hux
who was a dick, yeah, but a tolerable one... most of the time --
they understood one another -- or, he'd rather be reading a book
or playing Mortal Kombat or something. She acknowledged that she
had just seen him in class, but said that he didn't talk much.
He agreed with that, admitting he wasn't much of a talker. She
nodded, trying to assure him that she understood since she used
to be the same way. He raised a brow at that, not sure if he
believed her. She seemed naturally social, which he couldn't
relate to at all. He then answered her question, saying that he
guessed his day was fine but asked her if she'd rather hear
about that or start her tutoring. They could skip all the
niceties when she was just going to end up hating him anyway and
he was never going to speak to her again after all of this. She
sounded surprised by his attitude, as if she probably hadn't
already been warned about it by Luke or her new buddies,
questioning him. “I asked if you’d rather hear about my day or
actually learn something," he repeated himself, but he knew that
she had heard him the first time. He told her to follow him so
that they could stop wasting time and get this whole tutoring
session over with, thinking she'd be pleased if they hurried
along. He certainly would be. Talking to her was... weird. It
was weird having the pretty foreign girl try and be nice to him.
He heard her scoff behind him as she followed him up the
bleachers, stopping at the middle row and sitting down with him.
She muttered that she understood that he hated small talk,
telling him that was all he had to say and he took off his
backpack. “Alright, I hate small talk," he said with a shrug and
a smirk, pulling off his hoodie without dropping his cigarette
or letting his shirt ride up, feeling more self-conscious than
usual around her. He tossed his hoodie onto his backpack, taking
another drag of his cigarette before smirking and finally
sparing Rey a glance, asking her why she was so shit at English
and calling her English, thinking it was kind of ironic. She
flatly told him the joke was funny, clearly thinking otherwise,
which only widened his smirk. She admitted that she didn't know
why she struggled with English, saying she was a slow reader and
that poetic language confused her, especially in classical
literature, which made his expression fall a bit. Classic
literature was something he thoroughly enjoyed, and it
disappointed him somewhat to hear that she didn't share that
interest. She looked away from him, suddenly looking nervous as
she continued to explain herself. She told him that maths was
easy for her, not dropping the s as an American would. She said
that it was easy because there was only one right answer and it
was straightforward, but with reading, she could read something
many times and still not understand it, knowing the words but
unable to figure out their meaning. Alright, so she sucked at
reading. That was... still pretty disappointing, and he wished
that it wasn't. So what if she didn't share a passion of his?
She asked if she was making sense or if she was just rambling.
“You said you weren’t a talker once?” he questioned, quirking a
brow before taking another drag. She did talk a lot, though he
guessed it didn't really bother him. He sighed, turning toward
the bleacher and slightly resting his leg on it, facing Rey more
and glancing away from her again briefly. “Do you try and use
context clues when you're reading or do you never understand
anything?” he asked her, not actively trying to sound rude, but
failing.[/center]
#Post#: 3063--------------------------------------------------
REY [4]
By: winterssmary Date: September 12, 2022, 8:59 pm
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Rey was glad that Ben hadn't completely stuck to his word. He
didn't abandon her and leave her all alone at the bleachers. He
didn't just flake and walk off. He was still there, waiting for
her with a cigarette in hand. She was a little uneasy about the
fact that he was having a smoke so brazenly and out in the open.
Wasn't that frowned upon in American schools? She thought she
read that somewhere, but maybe she was wrong about it. It wasn't
abnormal for her, but it had been a few weeks since she saw
someone smoking at all, let alone on a high school campus. She
waved and smiled as she greeted Ben, trying to explain why she
was late so that he didn't think she was just lazy or had a
thing against punctuality. She then asked how Ben was and how
his day went, saying that she would have been happy to talk to
him during class, but that he never gave her much of an
opportunity to do so. He said that he wasn't much of a talker
and it lead her to explain that, at one point in her life, she
was shy as well. She remembered being scared to speak in her
early elementary years. She was afraid to try and make friends
and terrified to ask questions to her teachers. Asking to go to
the bathroom was a challenge for her. Ben quirked a brow, but
didn't comment. He said that his day was fine, but that she
didn't want to hear about that would likely rather learn
something. She was taken aback by this, his sudden display of
hostility, as if he were offended by her trying to play nice.
She questioned him and he repeated himself, as if he didn't care
at all that he had obviously upset her with his attitude. He
said that they should stop wasting time and get this over with,
as if she were the biggest inconvenience in his life and a
plague upon his existence. It was upsetting, to say the least,
and it made her pretty apprehensive about being tutored here.
She followed Ben up the bleachers and onto the middle row of the
stands, taking her spot next to him. She took off her backpack
and Ben did the same. However, he also took the time to take off
his hoodie. Rey liked watching how his arms looked and how his
muscles flexed when he pulled his jacket over his head. She was,
admittedly, a little disappointed that he kept his shirt from
riding up. She wouldn't mind getting a glimpse at his chest. She
told him that he could have just said that he hated small talk
and he responded by saying just that, a smirk on his face. "I
was just trying to be friendly. Didn't mean to hit a nerve," she
grumbled with an eyeroll. After a moment, Ben asked why her
English grades were bad, calling her English as a joke. She
sarcastically told him he was funny, even though she thought it
was a rather uninspired tease. She tried to explain herself,
saying that poetic language and classics were confusing to her
and that reading wasn't as straightforward as maths. She didn't
like how open-ended and difficult reading was, since
interpretations made it impossible for her to understand a lot
of the material, even when she knew what all of the words meant.
She asked if she was making sense or just rambling. Ben
responded by very bluntly pointing out that she claimed she
wasn't a talker once. She rolled her eyes. "Believe it or not, I
had an... unconventional childhood. Talking wasn't usually
encouraged," she said vaguely. She didn't need to let him know
her entire life story. "Took a lot of work and courage to
finally start speaking up," she added. He took another drag of
his cigarette before asking if she ever used context clues of if
she was just incapable of understanding anything. She halted at
that for a moment, eyes wide in shock. Did he just... did he
just imply that she was stupid? He didn't even know her. "It's
not that I don't understand anything it's just that so much of
it seems tedious and dense for no apparent reason and I get lost
in all the nonsense," she said, a little offended, but wanting
to defend herself. She wasn't stupid. She was just... lost
sometimes. "Why not just say that she was angry? Why do I need
four paragraphs of metaphor and description that brings in
completely irrelevant things in order to understand that?" she
asked, obviously rhetorical. "I'm not an idiot. Reading just...
isn't my strong suit," she said, a little more docile, obviously
insecure. [/center]
#Post#: 3066--------------------------------------------------
[4] BEN
By: Zellaphone Date: September 13, 2022, 4:24 pm
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It took her longer than Ben had expected, but Rey did,
eventually, show up to the football field for tutoring, just a
few minutes late. She greeted him, explaining that she had been
signing up for soccer tryouts, which didn't surprise him. He
remembered her mentioning her love for soccer when she had
introduced herself in homeroom. He probably should have
suspected that she had been signing up for tryouts instead of
assuming she had gotten lost or was just planning on ditching
him altogether. She asked him how his day was, attempting to
make small talk even though Ben didn't find it necessary. They
weren't here to chat or get to know one another. Ben was just
here to tutor her and prevent Luke from getting on his back
about it. She had no reason to pretend that she actually cared
about him when she didn't even know him and had likely already
heard some awful things about him from her new friends. She
mentioned how she had seen him in a few classes, but he didn't
talk very much. He told her he wasn't really a talker, and she
tried to assure him that she used to be the same way. He raised
a brow, doubting that just from how comfortable she seemed to be
when speaking to people, but he didn't question her. Instead, he
told her that he guessed his day had been fine, but asked if she
wanted to hear about that or start learning something. He didn't
have a lot of time to waste, especially not with the pretty new
girl that would probably end up making fun of him with everyone
else by tomorrow. She seemed shocked by his attitude,
questioning him, to which he simply repeated himself, asking her
to follow him so that they could stop wasting time and get this
all over with. He needed to leave for work soon, and what little
bit of downtime he usually got between school and work was being
used up doing this. She followed him up the bleachers and into
the middle row, sitting beside him as she mumbled that he could
have just told her that he hated small talk. He smirked, telling
her just that as he took off his backpack followed by his
hoodie, careful to keep his shirt pulled down and his cigarette
in his hand. She told him that she had just been trying to be
friendly, grumbling that she hadn't meant to hit a nerve. She
was quick to get defensive. “You’re the only one sounding
offended here, sweetheart," he pointed out, still smirking even
as he used the petname he had picked up from his father,
obviously not using it in any romantic sense. He then got down
to business, asking her why she was so bad at English, calling
her English. She sarcastically told him he was funny, and he'd
be lying if he said that he wasn't having a bit of fun teasing
her. So far, she was holding her own. She explained that she
struggled with poetic language and classic texts, saying that
math was more straightforward to her whereas reading was just
confusing. He couldn't completely relate. Yeah, math was
straightforward, but he enjoyed reading much more and really
liked classics and poetic language. She said that she could read
something over and over and still not understand its meaning,
even if she understood the words. She then asked if she was
making sense or if she was just rambling, and he asked her about
what she had said earlier about once not being much of a talker,
quirking a brow, and taking a drag of his cigarette. She was
rambling a little, but he understood what she was saying. Rey
rolled her eyes, telling him that she had an unconventional
childhood, whatever that entailed, and that she hadn't been
encouraged to talk often. Was this something that schools in the
United Kingdom practiced? Did she go to a private school before
coming here? She added that it had taken her a lot of work and
courage to start speaking up, and while he wanted to ask her
more about that, he refrained. He didn't need to get to know
her. She wasn't supposed to matter to him, because nothing was
going to become of them. "Congratulations," he said to her,
finding that it was a lot easier to speak to her using sarcasm.
It was always easier for him to be sarcastic with people than to
say the things that were actually on his mind. Luke would
probably tell him it was a form of deflecting. He took another
drag before sighing and turning more towards her, asking if she
ever used context clues when reading or if she was just
incapable of understanding anything. He hadn't really been
trying to be rude at that moment, but it happened anyway, and he
couldn't really bring himself to care that much. If this all
went to shit, Luke would probably just have to end up tutoring
Rey himself, which worked for him. He watched as Rey's eyes
widened in surprise before she started to defend herself again,
explaining that a lot of reading seemed tedious and pointless to
her and she got lost in all the nonsense. She rhetorically asked
why a book couldn't just say that someone was angry instead of
using metaphors and descriptions that felt like overkill in
order to understand that. Ben knew the answer to that, but he
waited for her to finish before saying anything, listening to
her declare that she wasn't an idiot, but that reading wasn't
her strong suit. "Clearly," he grumbled. He had never said that
she was an idiot, though there was still the chance that she
really could be, He didn't know her. “So you struggle with
details and imagination," he said, not even posing it as a
question as he smirked again. The metaphors and descriptions in
stories were there to help the reader paint a clear picture in
their mind. Was it always necessary? No, but neither were a lot
of background props used in films, or scenery shots, and yet
they were still there, adding more to the world on screen. Ben
wanted to know what else Rey struggled with, but he was starting
to believe that it would just be easier if he were to see what
her issues were himself. Thankfully, it didn't sound as though
she really struggled with writing or grammar, but just reading,
which helped him out. He turned his attention to his backpack,
unzipping it and reaching inside, digging around. "Here," he
said as he pulled out his copy of The Count of Monte Cristo that
he was supposed to start reading for his world literature class
soon, handing it to Rey. “Read the first chapter to me and tell
me what is happening," he challenged her, curious to hear her
read.[/center]
#Post#: 3069--------------------------------------------------
REY [5]
By: winterssmary Date: September 13, 2022, 7:42 pm
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It had been less than two minutes and Rey was already convinced
that Ben's attitude was going to present a problem. He was doing
his best to be as challenging as possible, it seemed. He was
throwing out short comments, rude remarks, and doing everything
he could to hush her up and move her along, as if she was the
biggest drag on his life at the moment. It was all rather
insulting, especially since she had treated him with nothing but
kindness and respect the whole time. Well, if he was going to be
an arsehole, she wasn't going to keep being friendly. He didn't
deserve it. He told him that she was just trying to be friendly
when she asked how he was, saying she didn't mean to hit a
nerve. Then, he implied that she was the one with the problem,
having the nerve to call her sweetheart. She hated that. Simon
called her that when he manipulated her as a child. And as a
teenager. And just in general. He used that term after he
apologized for getting physical with her several years ago.
Coming from such a condescending place, a place with no
sincerity whatsoever, it made her stomach turn. "I'm not your
sweetheart, you bloody fucking wanker," she said lowly, trying
to keep her voice even, to let him know that she unhappy with
the comment but that she wasn't having a large, visceral
reaction to it. She didn't want him to get to her. She just
wanted him to stop using that term if he wasn't actually a good
person. He asked what her problems in English were, even using
the term English as his poor attempt at a clever nickname. He
could have at least put more thought into it. She explained her
difficulties with reading and comprehending material, especially
when the language got too dense or metaphoric. She explained
that maths were more straightforward, which was why she
excelled, but that she did not have the same experience with
reading classical texts. She asked if she was rambling or if she
was making sense and he barely reacted, just asking her to
confirm that, at some point in her life, she was shy and quiet.
She rolled her eyes, explaining that her childhood and
upbringing weren't the best and that it discouraged speaking up,
especially if you were a girl. She said that she finally broke
out of her shell later in life, but that it took some work and
confidence. Ben then had the audacity to congratulate her. She
blinked. He was congratulating her on being abandoned as a
child, a ward of the foster system. He was applauding the fact
that she was passed from cruel home to cruel home until she
ended up with Simon Plutt, who regularly berated her and treated
her more as a housemaid than a daughter. She was hit for
speaking out of turn growing up. And sure, Ben didn't know that,
but he could have asked. Or not been a complete and total arse
and just kept his stupid mouth shut. She let out a low growl
before releasing a breath through her nose. He didn't know. "Are
you naturally condescending or do you practice in the mirror?"
she quipped. Ben asked if she was capable of understanding
anything, which was not making this tutoring session any easier
on her. She explained that it was too tedious for her to
navigate a text and that she sometimes got lost in the amount of
words when the ideas behind them were so small. She insisted
that she wasn't an idiot, but that reading was difficult for
her. He agreed with that, simply saying clearly. She pursed her
lips. She wasn't sure how much longer she could do this without
grabbing that cigarette from his hand and putting it out on that
stupid, pretty face of his. He smirked, saying she struggled
with details and imagination. "I struggle with people telling me
how to feel about something in eight different ways rather than
just telling the story," she said flatly. "If you can only hit
the word count for your novel by being obtuse, your story might
not be as good as you think," she said. She almost commented on
how filler words probably soothe him and help fill the empty
space in his lonely life, but she decided to save that for
another time. Ben reached into his backpack, finding a book and
handing it to her. The Count of Monte-Christo. She remembered
hearing about it and perhaps saw the movie in her childhood, but
she had never read the text herself. He asked her to read the
first chapter and tell him what she understood from it. "The
whole chapter? Right now? Are you mad?" she asked, suddenly
really nervous. How long even was the first chapter? "That's a
lot of pages... won't that take too long?" she asked, looking at
the massive book itself. But he insisted, so she began. She
struggled considerably with a few of the words, the
pronunciation being way too odd -- probably because the words
were so old -- and the meanings being completely lost to her.
She struggled to keep track of all of the characters, since
their names sounded so similar. And was that the name of a
person or place? She finished, having gotten through it despite
stuttering and struggling the whole time. "Uhm... okay... so
there's definitely a boat and a captain... and some people like
the captain but other people don't," she explained, speaking
slowly, trying to recall anything that she read. All she
remembered was her embarrassment. She felt humiliated in front
of this guy. "They've all got silly French names... there was
something about a marriage?" she said. She spoke some French
from her classes back in England, but that didn't make this
whole passage easier to understand. "I don't... I don't know.
Sorry. I was focused on getting some of those weird words right
and I have no idea what happened," she said, her hands fidgeting
in her lap, feeling absolutely humiliated. And stupid. "I
don't... I'm sorry," she said, her heart pounding in her chest
from anxiety, ready for him to completely make fun of her and
destroy what little self-esteem she had left. [/center]
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