Books and Notes [closed]

Pale spring sunlight streamed through the window of her dorm, illuminating the papers that seemed to be strewn about in no particular order. Pencils, pens, sticky notes, and crumbs lay across the papers. A plate that had, until moments before, held a small slice of cake, a fork placed neatly across it, frosting clearly having been licked off. Elisa's brain felt as though it were swimming in a pool of words. They all related to different subjects. There was math, history, English, science, and the specialized classes for training that were giving her trouble focusing on her gift. It was too much. 5 hours on a Saturday, studying for who-knows-what, when she could be enjoying what little sunshine there was.

She sat in indecision for several moments, leaning back in her chair, one hand tapping against the desk with the other resting in her lap. In one ear, she heard her mother's voice, insisting she study and work and climb to the top of the academic charts at this school. Desperately, she wanted to please her mother. After all, her parents had worked hard to bring her to this school. But in her other ear, a voice of reason said that she had spent so much time studying already. Surely a short walk outside would do her good. Besides, it was better for her memory to leave the words alone for a while, let them stew in her mind. The girl hopped out of her chair before she could rethink, grabbing a light jacket and exiting the dorm.

It wasn't warm enough to go too far, and so Elisa decided to stick to the courtyard. A crisp breeze blew stray hairs out of her face as she strolled leisurely through the planter boxes, glancing down at the flowers as she passed. She couldn't name any except the brightly colored tulips and daffodils. Before she reached the fountain, she paused beside the yellow flowers and bent to touch the petals, smiling at the velvet feel of them.

Books and notes were the last thing she wanted to see for a while.

Books, studying, books, studying, that's all Jake seemed to do. Why am I here anyway? Truthfully, he could leave any time he wanted. Cause it's what mother would've wanted. Giving sigh, the tall student walked to the courtyard, breathing in fresh air. Although he wasn't much of an outdoorsy guy, a walk around the courtyard after being stuffed in a classroom was always nice.

A small breeze sent a chill down Jake's spine and sent his short cut black hair flying in all directions. Walking on the concrete, his metal leg clanked each step or two. Jake tried to forget the reason that he'd lost his leg, but no matter how hard he tried, the memories wouldn't fade. Maybe some sort of hypnosis student could take 'em away? It was an odd idea, but anything was possible.

He walked for who knows how long, in a somewhat sad mood until he stopped. Standing a yard or two in front of him was a petite blonde. Maybe he could get her to cheer him up... Walking over to the girl, he stood behind her, practically towering over her. "Why hello. Enjoying the weather?" A salacious grin crossed his face and Jake's sour mood was whisked away with the wind.

The sound of a boy's voice caused the girl to jump up and turn around, nearly losing her balance. Elisa managed to catch herself on the edge of the planter box, pushing herself away with one hand before shoving it in a pocket, her shoulders hunching slightly as she took in the sight of the boy before her. He was much taller than her and standing much closer than she was comfortable with. And he was a stranger...

"Um, yeah, it's very nice," the blonde said, her voice much higher than it normally would have been. She could feel the panic start to set in, something that caused more panic to rise. I haven't learned how to control panic yet. Desperately, she hoped the boy would give her a reason to relax.

Stepping a single step back so he could get a better look at her, Jake kept his smile. "Ya know, I haven't seen you around before." Jake tilted his head so he portrayed a curious puppy. Although he didn't say anything aloud, he knew the look of fear and this girl was not very good at hiding it. He may have been tall, but don't judge a book by it's cover, right? Wrong. When dealing with someone like Jake, always judge, unless you want to end up with him in a bed. But he wasn't going to tell her that; might as well have some fun first.

As he spoke and took a step back, Elisa found herself able to relax a little more. In an effort to let him know she wasn't as surprised as she had acted, she let a smile pull up the corners of her mouth, a light-hearted gesture of greeting.
"I haven't seen you, either," she responded, her voice returned to normal. She felt positive that she would have remembered someone like him. He was rather tall.

Time to play Mr. Gentleman. "Well, now we've met. Jake Baxter, at your service." He said with a genuine smile. He could tell she was a bit nervous, but her calm tone told him that she was a bit more relaxed. Unfortunately how Jake put it; relaxation killed the girl. "So, what's a girl like you doing out here? Shouldn't your head be stuck in a book or studying?" There was a slight teasing edge to Jake's voice, but he couldn't play nice guy forever.

Jake Baxter. She was sure she'd heard the name before. Perhaps it was in passing; that girl, Kaya, had never mentioned a Jake before. Not that there'd been room for that in that little escapade...

"Elisa," she muttered, her last name trailing into silence. What did he mean, a girl like her? Was he suggesting she was too pretty to study? Too...young? Confused, she brushed it off to answer his other question, the one that wasn't rhetorical. "I was just studying, but I wanted to take a break. It's, uh, it's really nice out today." Understatement of the century.

"Yes, the weather is nice. Although, I've never particularly enjoyed the outdoors, you see, I'm more of a techy guy." Jake replied. Tired of just standing, he looked around and spotted a bench. Tilting his head towards the bench, he walked over to it and sat down, leaving enough room for her to sit. "Let's get one thing straight, I am not very good at starting conversations." That tall student chuckled the truth. "But I'll try the best I can. So," He shifted in his seat. "what's your favorite class?" Jake was honestly horrible at conversations, but the one thing girls liked to do more than anything was talk, so he might as well attempt to start.

If he hadn't started walking to the bench, Elisa would've never figured out what his nod was for. She was focused heavily on keeping her emotions under wraps, avoiding making eye contact, sure that she would slip up and effect Jake somehow. As it was, she followed him, seating herself on the edge of the bench, perched in a way that made it clear she wasn't relaxed, but she remained focused on him, not wanting to appear rude.

So he enjoyed working with computers, if she understood him correctly. They had always fascinated her, but she had always been interested in the study of people. His next question came at the right moment, her tongue prepared to spill her life story. It had been so long since she last talked with anyone about her interests.
"I like history," she said, her mind straying back to the names of dictators and their reasons for doing things. It had been in the notes she'd just finished studying. No, this was a break, not a stopping point for the day. Clearing her throat gently, she asked, "What's your favorite class?"

"Favorite class?" Jake echoed aloud. Come to think of it, he'd never really hated a class, all his teachers were pretty nice, but he'd never really thought about his favorite class. "Uh, I guess I like math. I'm pretty good with numbers so it's a pretty easy class." He chuckled, laughing at himself for even he was surprised that he liked math. "History is cool too." After answering the question, Jake had no idea what to say so he kind of just sat there awkwardly waiting for something to happen.

Elisa could feel how tense the situation was getting. It was weird, and she suddenly wishing she hadn't abandoned her studying. She could've just taken a snack break instead of coming so far and accidentally meeting some random guy. After a silent minute, she easily pushed herself into a standing position, hands shoved into her pockets and hunching her shoulders, her mouth working to find something to say.
"Uh, well, it was nice to, uh, meet you, Jake," she said, her heightened awareness of the situation making her spit out the boy's name.

Well, this is awkward. Jake honestly hoped hang out with her more, but unfortunately they didn't know each other very well. Guess she isn't the flirty type. Not really able to do anything more about the situation, he relaxed in the chair, showing he wasn't going to get up any time son. "The pleasure is all mine." The he tall student said in a chill tone, watching her get up.