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Adele Thayer
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Karma: 0 |  | Thrive (Fletcher)
« Thread Started on Sept 12, 2007, 8:28pm » | |
Bookshelves, high and defiant with scattered subjects and authors, couldn't really hide Adele Thayer from students browsing the third floor. She couldn't see the strangers passing because she laid sprawled out, on the couch, on her stomach. A rather large text-book sat as a tent over her head, creating darkness to shield out the fluorescent lighting from above. One arm hung over the side of the couch and her left leg curled up.
Adele's face remained buried in the cushions, her platinum blond hair draped over the arm rest. Thankfully, she did not snore when she took little naps, because otherwise the librarians would have ushered her awake and out the door.
Her other arm remained under her chest, her palm folded over her left cheek -- still veiled by the heavy text-book. Speech readings always put her to sleep because they weren't interactive like math and science. True, being in the dorm would have sufficed for her study time (or her nap) but her room was always empty. At least she knew there were other people around.
The girl turned, flipping on her side. Since her ear no longer hoisted the book up, it slid down and pressed into her nose. In protest she shoved the book off her head and onto a stomach. A poor mistake because she felt her breath go hitched and she sat up quickly. Not again she yawned, lifting her hands to smooth out her wavy tresses.
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Fletcher Heaton
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« Reply #1 on Sept 12, 2007, 8:51pm » | |
QH311-R22 was missing. According to the electronic records the librarian had huffily drawn up for him, it was neither charged nor on reserve, so it should've been sitting innocuously on the dusty iron shelf between QH310 and QH312, but there was nothing there except an empty space, about an inch think, where a book should have and probably very recently had been. He ducked out of the aisle and began to circle the row of tables between stacks.
He could've identified the Intermediate Chemistry book by Pitt from sheer familiarity with the text. The classes he took during the second semester of Freshman year had required it, but he had kept it afterwards and over the summer as helpful reference material. It was only in the hassle of moving overseas again at the beginning of this year that he had lost it at all. So when he saw a hint of its burgundy cover across the room, he instantly recognized it, lying face-open on Adele Thayer's lap.
Adele Thayer, his biology lab partner for the last year, who was apparently still too sleep-muggy to realize that he had approached her from behind, ran hands through her mussed hair. Fletcher grinned down at her fair crown, because the back, near her neck where her hands didn't know to reach, looked as if a small bird had roosted there during her nap, and made itself less-than-immaculately comfortable. "Missed a spot," he said impishly when he had bent low enough to reach her ear.
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Adele Thayer
Sophomore
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« Reply #2 on Sept 12, 2007, 9:26pm » | |
In her slumber she dreamed of a rusty merry-go-round and frightening clowns who thought it was amusing to stuff small children in cotton candy machines. So when Fletcher Heaton approached her from behind, she gave a start and ducked her head in-between her hands. A few moments passed by before she inhaled and turned her head to give Fletcher an unsure smile.
"Did I?" she asked frantically, going back to her origins when it came to female perfection and reached her hands to weave the strands over her shoulder. It didn't take Adele long to brush out the mess Fletcher had so kindly pointed out. She should have felt embarrassed. Curling her legs in, to make space on the couch, she watched the blond boy with wide and curious eyes.
Her biology lab partner, of all things, had to be her first crush. He was nice, honest and quite cute -- even if it a little snide at some points, when it was at least necessary. Yet, she knew quite well Fletcher would never look her way. After all, Fletcher befriended someone of fame. Adele was now a peasant compared to the nicely dressed males.
Nervous, her eyes drifted to the book in her lap. She should have stopped neglecting her work. "Have a research project?" asking wouldn't hurt. Breathing the same air as Fletcher would suffice with her, even if it drove her slightly insane.
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Fletcher Heaton
Sophomore
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but I had to grow;
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« Reply #3 on Sept 12, 2007, 9:40pm » | |
He grinned, for once being the person to catch another unawares, instead of the other way around. Adele was refreshing, and compared to the peacocks disguised as girls, who smothered themselves in perfume and painted their faces twice over, she was naturally pretty. Perhaps she was even prettier than Eve, because she her smiles weren't stamped on with red lipstick ink on to a porcelain doll's face, because she was a thousand degrees more real - tangled hair, library sleeping habits and all.
"Just a problem set," he answered, eyes also falling down to the book on her lap. The thread binding of the library copy was beginning to wear and thin, and the ends of the yellowing string were already peeking out from behind the deep-red cover. "Looks like you were making even better use of the book I needed though," he added cheerily, and without waiting for invitation or asking for permission, circled the couch and sat on the other end where her feet barely reached.
"Studying hard?" he laughed. Adele was not a poor study; Fletcher himself was witness to that, but she, like any other student, was prone to forgoing sleep for an hour of work late at night when procrastination got the better of them, as it often did. They all made light talk of it; it was a common suffering, and a sympathetic understanding existed between classmates - especially the students of the engineering school, who perhaps worked twice as hard for grades half as good. "Or hardly studying?"
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Adele Thayer
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« Reply #4 on Sept 12, 2007, 10:22pm » | |
Feeling her feet sink down with the other's weight, her head lifted to stare at Fletcher with a daze of affection. She could literally bask in the boy's happiness when he was around. There was a time when she would have been in Fletcher's league, among the rich, but now she was nothing but a mere student struggling to pay off loans.
"Yeah, books do their justice to block out the light sometimes," she said lamely, feeling her embarrassment crawl up her neck and over the curve of her ears. She tried not to focus on the way her feet were close to touching Fletcher's body, because if she did, just a little -- then her day would be slightly complete. Oh man, I am going batty.
She smiled weakly, "The latter, of course." These past few nights were sleep deprived ones because between working and going to school, she started to forget when deadlines were. The book sat heavy in her lap and she picked it up to fold the pages together, shutting the book. "Here, sorry for hogging it," the girl held the text-book out in offering.
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Fletcher Heaton
Sophomore
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but I had to grow;
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Gender: Male
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« Reply #5 on Sept 13, 2007, 9:36am » | |
He failed to notice any reaction to their proximity, having come to think, after a few months of similar treatment, that Adele was just naturally...spaced-out at times. It wasn't uncommon for him to barge into other people's personal spaces - he was used to it, and peers forgave him of it, like bending rules for a particularly favored child. It wasn't a big deal as long as it was Fletcher doing the invading, and not the other way around.
Truthfully, he and Adele weren't even touching, really, at least until fidgeting provided little additional comfort, and finally he tugged his bag from where it was sandwiched painfully between his spine and the back of the plush seat, nudging it into the space beside his lap and the armrest. He had to scoot over to accomodate it, and ended up just barely sitting on Adele's toes.
"Nah, you can keep it for now," he shrugged, wrapping a hand around the edge closest to him and pushing the offered book back at the girl. "If I recall correctly, you have the same problem set too," he added matter-of-factly, but the grin playing on his mouth was teasing as he cast her a knowing glance even while kicking off his shoes and propping his feet on the coffee table a foot away, "Y'know, being that we're in the same class and all."
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Adele Thayer
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« Reply #6 on Sept 13, 2007, 6:41pm » | |
Fletcher's body shifted closer and Adele's heart rate started to increase. The embarrassment in her neck and over her ears started to share her tan cheeks a light shade of pink. Curling her toes she slowly shifted her feet to rest under her thighs. She would have happily placed her feet behind Fletcher's back or into his lap, though it actions like that remained in her fleeting thoughts.
Adele allowed her arms to be pushed in, holding the book in mid-air as her eyes stared at Fletcher's handsome face. "I know," she murmured, sinking her back into the cushions. Between the two there was little space. She shifted the book upon her left thigh and touched her left shoulder to Fletcher's right. "Would you like to work together?"
In class Adele never raised her hand or asked questions, she got everything right but never put herself out there. Fletcher, on the other hand, was a magnet -- the professor would call on the blond boy more than once and he always had the right answer. She smiled every time he answered and waited for labs when they could work together.
"I have some of it started.." she said lightly, her eyes shifting to the cracks of the cushion on the left. Digging her fingers quickly into the dip of the cushions, she pulled out her smashed notebook. "Oops," she laughed, seeing the notebook paper crumbled.
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Fletcher Heaton
Sophomore
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« Reply #7 on Sept 14, 2007, 9:50pm » | |
"Who're you kidding?" he shot back, but not without humor, and he stretched out a hand to take the sheet of lined paper from her hand. "You don't need my help to do this," he said, peering closely at the pencil scribbles when squinting proved to be unsatisfactory, though it was still difficult making out the blurry exponents near the right edge, where Adele had obviously been squishing her letters to squeeze every last word into the margin.
"This is all review stuff, we had this stuff last semester," he decided. He had as much faith in Adele's mind as in his own. She seemed to possess a natural sort of smarts, whereas while Fletcher, while capable of picking things up just as quickly, worked hard and put in hours to retain that information. He had asked her to be his partner for that reason first, in the name of making clever allies and all. He had continued because she was his friend.
"But it's not so simple that it could put you to sleep." He handed the crumpled paper back to her, after smoothing it out to the best of his ability on his lap. It did little help, but it was better than nothing. He turned to her, cocking his head in inquiry. They weren't bags yet, but there were the hints of shadow smudges under her eyes. "You look pretty beat. Anything wrong?"
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Adele Thayer
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« Reply #8 on Sept 14, 2007, 10:20pm » | |
All review, was it? Adele's mouth thinned into a flat line. She figured Fletcher wouldn't have minded working with her on the bases to get their assingment done quicker, though he took it as a sign that she asked for help. A girl like her rarely did that. Even if he mistook her question she couldn't help but give a shy smile to hear his confidence in her.
Taking the paper back and trying not to grin too widely because Fletcher had smoothed out her paper, she sat up a little straight. She would have to copy down the assignment on a clean sheet of paper for points. It wouldn't do if the professor couldn't read it. When Fletcher asked if there was something wrong, she swallowed and lost her posture again. A friend would ask a question like that and mean it to be sincere.
"Oh you know, stress from class and work. The basics, no big deal," she shrugged it off like her life was just that way. No problem, waking up far too early to go to class and do schoolwork during lunch to go to work and come home far too late to put in a good hours of sleep. Adele had a strong immune system but she knew she stepped over the line, a cold would come on if she didn't request some days off from work.
"Well, you look certainly handsome as usual, though. I am envious that college doesn't affect your composure," she elaborated even though she was screaming obscenities in her head for calling Fletcher handsome.
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Fletcher Heaton
Sophomore
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« Reply #9 on Sept 16, 2007, 1:34pm » | |
Fletcher laughed, then scoffed out an indifferent, "Whatever," but it was difficult to mistake the change in hue in his face even as he turned it away, and the slow but sure creeping of red down the length of his neck. Adele was honest when she spoke to him, or at least seemed to be, and it wasn't often that he was praised like that instead of like a well-behaving child. Even if the embarrassment was somewhat mortifying, the pleasure of receiving that kind of comment overrode it.
"You're a total heartbreaker," he chided, pushing at her legs with his elbow as he rolled his eyes. He was using his other hand to cup the curve of his neck, feeling the relative coolness of his palm keep the flush from spreading. Fletcher was foundering under the weight of schoolwork as much as any other student; he just hid it better (or masked it, rather, being that hiding was not one of his fortes). "You have no idea, all this stuff is driving me nuts. Chemistry might be okay, but man, Biology is going to be the death of me. I can feel it."
He leaned back and let his head fall onto the top of the pillows cushioning his back, swinging a dramatic hand against his eyes, fitting of a gaudy and very badly pulled-off Shakespearean play. He had never held any delusional aspirations to being an actor, after all. "If news reaches you about the death of an unfortunate but nonetheless stunning member of the Sophomore class, you'll know what got me," he said cockily, but even as he was speaking he was beginning to laugh.
The sheer absurdity, that nowadays he could joke about death like it was nothing at all, when only a few years ago he was turning corners with the feeling that it would be his last, because for many of his friends, it had been. For a moment, he was struck with the objective wonder at how fast people moved on, but it passed like the hours and the seconds, and Fletcher, also, kept on going.
"Though, except for maybe the bird's nest you were sporting on your head earlier, you're not too bad yourself, Adele."
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Adele Thayer
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« Reply #10 on Sept 16, 2007, 6:12pm » | |
A shade just as red as Adele's cheeks started to flush Fletcher's neck. Inside the girl smiled to herself, accomplished that she wasn't the only one who could get embarrassed by words and actions. When her legs were elbowed she tilted her weight with the push, her body shifted into the cushions supporting her back. "Oh, I am sorry, had no idea," she laughed at the heart breaker comment.
Adele listened to Fletcher's complaint. Biology, just like another other classes, took a lot of thought and knowledge. Every sense of learning had to be stored and retaining information always would be time-consuming. When his head fell back, she slowly tilted her head to rest on the boy's left shoulder and looked up at him with light sympathy. "No worries, I'll come to your wake," she frowned a little and lifted a hand to touch her fingers against Fletcher's.
"It'll be hard to grasp the concept that a corpse is so...stunning," using the boy's choice of words caused her to turn her head and place her chin on his shoulder, pouting her bottom lip out. "If it gets to be too much, don't hesitate to come to me, you know. We can work it out together and possibly have fun." School work would never be a task to look forward to but if Fletcher and Adele worked together, perhaps they could make fun of the topic.
Not so bad, must have meant decent. In any case, she sucked in some air and whistled up at Fletcher. "Haha, don't flatter me, I am nothing compared to Leah Epson or Rachel Aldeit," those two girls were in their class and to Adele; they were the type she envied on the bases of their rich hair and brimming eyes. At least she was smarter than them. Finally, lifting her chin she looked at the shelves of books, the topic a little awkward.
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Fletcher Heaton
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« Reply #11 on Sept 16, 2007, 9:23pm » | |
"Leah Epson? Rachel Aldeit?" echoed Fletcher, and the repetition of the names was hollow with unfamiliarity. He frowned, lifting his eyes to the arched tiers of the ceiling and running through stores of recalled information for any hint of a Leah Epson or a Rachel Aldeit. Their names came up occasionally as off-hand comments, vague references that weren't important, faceless titles for faceless people as far as he was concerned, which meant, in comparison, they paled against Adele Thayer.
"Don't know 'em," he concluded finally, flippantly, and with a shrug, dismissed them like a week-old topic run dry. Unlike Adele, he was neither uncomfortable with the direction their conversation had taken, nor with the physical contact. He was used to both, subjected to his fair share of comparisons of Who Was Prettier Than Who amongst college boys, obviously, and previously allowed to breach more personal bubbles than the average person should've been able to, given his penchant for being instantly friendly.
"For your information, though," he added, mouth curling into a grin, even as his gaze idly traced the half-circles of the ceiling architecture as they swooped and intersected, ending at walls, joining at hanging chandeliers, and echoed by the high glass windows, painted gray-blue by the sky. "A corpse can be stunning if it's my corpse," he finished, smirking at his own play-conceit. He figured he'd actually make a terrible-looking corpse (everyone did), pale with death and stiff with rigor mortis. He shuddered to think about it.
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Adele Thayer
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« Reply #12 on Sept 18, 2007, 12:37pm » | |
A bystander would have figured Fletcher told the girl bad news because her eyes widened with horror. Thankfully, her eyes were burning into the bookshelves. Every college boy knew who those two were; they were the two most desired girls on campus and they just happened to be in Fletcher Heaton and Adele Thayer's Biology class. Straightening out her face, her head turned to see Fletcher smirking.
A vague image flashed in Adele's head. Fletcher's beautiful blond hair no longer had a shine, but was dull and dirty. The ivory tone over Fletcher's cheeks lost its touch and faded to a sick white, as though transparent because his veins were showing. Fletcher's lips didn't look pink but blue. Adele crushed under the mental image and almost gagged. Quietly, she shifted to wrap her arms around Fletcher's neck--at least as best as she could with the couch being in the way--and leaned her head in.
"Maybe if I was a necrophiliac," she chuckled, trying to get the sick taste off the tip of her tongue, "But I am not. So, stay alive." Adele could explain why she wanted Fletcher around so badly, that she had liked the boy's confidence and his honesty, even when it was bitter. When Fletcher's warmth sank through her shirt, she was satisfied and released him.
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Fletcher Heaton
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« Reply #13 on Sept 21, 2007, 9:40am » | |
He laughed, easing in and out of the weak embrace with as much grace as he had when smiling, both at the ridiculously morbid turn their conversation had taken, and Adele's warning. "Oh, I'll try," Fletcher said, with exaggerated over-the-top sincerity, even going so far as to slap a hand over his chest (the right side, on purpose.) "Staying alive is such difficult business, but I'll try my damned best for you, Adele Thayer."
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