Riley Parker entered the library with a sense of dread covered in the usual layer of confidence.
A number of things were leading up to her freaking out in that English Class midway through September. For one, the new episodes for the latest season of SOTF TV was airing tonight, and she was fucking freaking out over it. It was a great season, and that wasn't exactly helping Riley relax and focus on class.
But the real problem was the actual class. The English teacher, Mrs. Callahan, wanted to students to have an "introduction" of sorts to each other because some of them were new or something. This apparently meant, pair people up and do a collaborative essay with them. It wasn't a bad thing in theory, since Riley had nothing against writing.
But pair projects with sucky people sucked, and naturally she'd gotten paired up with that Lukas douche.
Lukas was an asshole hipster who hated SOTF because he didn't really understand it, and naturally Riley had to work with him for three days in a row. Today was the fourth, and it'd already been tense and difficult for Riley.
Riley sat down at the computer, and glared at the still-empty chair next to her. Today they'd done the research (it was a trivial thing, on the legalization of weed), and now they were doing the actual writing, taking turns.
Best case scenario? Total silence.
A Dispute of Tastes
(Davison) Start of Junior Year, private
((Lukas Graves: Sandbox Start))
Lukas Graves casually sauntered into the library, his ever-present grin smugly adorning his face. He had business to attend to there, and his smile did a good job of hiding the fact that he'd rather be doing pretty much anything else.
For English class, he had to write an essay with one of his classmates, which wouldn't be too bad if he didn't get someone annoying. However, lo and behold, he gets stuck with Riley Parker, the freaking SOTF superfan. Seriously, he heard that girl going on and on about SOTF pretty much every time he passed her in the halls. She was the type of fan that annoyed him the most: the obsessive fan.
Naturally, that trait made her the absolute last person that he wanted to be paired with, but alas, luck's a bitch, and here he is, stuck with the partner he didn't want. Still, that didn't mean he couldn't have a little fun with it. Hell, why else would he be wearing an anti-SOTF T-shirt he had found at a protest a year or so back? He swaggered up to Riley and dropped his backpack next to her.
"Afternoon, Parker."
Lukas Graves casually sauntered into the library, his ever-present grin smugly adorning his face. He had business to attend to there, and his smile did a good job of hiding the fact that he'd rather be doing pretty much anything else.
For English class, he had to write an essay with one of his classmates, which wouldn't be too bad if he didn't get someone annoying. However, lo and behold, he gets stuck with Riley Parker, the freaking SOTF superfan. Seriously, he heard that girl going on and on about SOTF pretty much every time he passed her in the halls. She was the type of fan that annoyed him the most: the obsessive fan.
Naturally, that trait made her the absolute last person that he wanted to be paired with, but alas, luck's a bitch, and here he is, stuck with the partner he didn't want. Still, that didn't mean he couldn't have a little fun with it. Hell, why else would he be wearing an anti-SOTF T-shirt he had found at a protest a year or so back? He swaggered up to Riley and dropped his backpack next to her.
"Afternoon, Parker."
"Hi." Riley said. Her face was less than welcoming, using her disdainful glare that she'd perfected over the years. Lukas was wearing a stupid shirt, probably solely to piss her off, which was dumb because even if it worked everyone else in school would get pissed at him too. Seemed a bit cheap if you asked Riley.
Riley briefly considered making nice. There was some metaphor or famous saying that applied here, she assumed, possibly the one referring to Rome. Wouldn't it be possible to just not be a bitch to him, and he'd refrain from whining about her tastes in television? Maybe they could just play nice for one day and not deal with bullshit?
Eh. Not like he would show the same courtesy, and it wouldn't give him a magical epiphany about how SOTF was not the devil.
"I'm writing the intro, you do the first paragraph." She turned back to the computer and started clacking away at the keys, trying to ignore the presence of her partner next to her.
Riley briefly considered making nice. There was some metaphor or famous saying that applied here, she assumed, possibly the one referring to Rome. Wouldn't it be possible to just not be a bitch to him, and he'd refrain from whining about her tastes in television? Maybe they could just play nice for one day and not deal with bullshit?
Eh. Not like he would show the same courtesy, and it wouldn't give him a magical epiphany about how SOTF was not the devil.
"I'm writing the intro, you do the first paragraph." She turned back to the computer and started clacking away at the keys, trying to ignore the presence of her partner next to her.
Lukas pulled up a chair and slid into it, casually leaning back while Riley gave him directions. He already had a pretty good idea of what he was going to write, so he didn't really feel that he needed the instruction. Still, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to piss off his partner, so he held his tongue while she talked. However, once Riley had begun typing away, Lukas couldn't help but run through his information.
"So the thing is that pot gets people high, and they like the feeling. Because of that, they want more pot. So when you think about it, they get a mental dependence on the drug, but not a physical one, because they can function without it, but in their mind, they think they need it. I'm in the ballpark here, right?"
It's possible that Lukas was just trying to help. Then again, it's also likely that he just wanted to mess with Riley in such a way that it could be spun as him trying to be helpful. Honestly, he felt that his reasons for his sudden infodump were a little bit from both ends. He wanted a good grade, but he wanted to have a little bit of fun with it, too.
"So the thing is that pot gets people high, and they like the feeling. Because of that, they want more pot. So when you think about it, they get a mental dependence on the drug, but not a physical one, because they can function without it, but in their mind, they think they need it. I'm in the ballpark here, right?"
It's possible that Lukas was just trying to help. Then again, it's also likely that he just wanted to mess with Riley in such a way that it could be spun as him trying to be helpful. Honestly, he felt that his reasons for his sudden infodump were a little bit from both ends. He wanted a good grade, but he wanted to have a little bit of fun with it, too.
Riley was no stranger to pot, and that Lukas was against it only added another issue she had with him to the list, along with, like, everything else about him.
"I...no, not really. Didn't we discuss this?" She started digging through her bag for her notes.
"Here it is. If you're using pot it's no worse than beer or wine. Even if you want to use it it's not like you think you're addicted, it's just like wanting it. I thought we agreed it'd be pro-legalization?"
She couldn't resist adding another jab. "Or were you too busy spiking your hair to notice?"
"I...no, not really. Didn't we discuss this?" She started digging through her bag for her notes.
"Here it is. If you're using pot it's no worse than beer or wine. Even if you want to use it it's not like you think you're addicted, it's just like wanting it. I thought we agreed it'd be pro-legalization?"
She couldn't resist adding another jab. "Or were you too busy spiking your hair to notice?"
Lukas smirked. "Heh. Guess you can respond to an argument after all. Good to see all that TV hasn't rotted your brain."
Lukas knew that Riley would know that he was talking about SOTF, and frankly, he didn't care. He also was trying to hide the fact that he actually did forget what side of the issue they were on briefly, although that was a legitimate accident. Still, Lukas wasn't too bothered. Riley had to work with him if she didn't want to fail, and he just couldn't resist the opportunity to get a little bit of real-life trolling in.
He rested his elbow on the table and faced Riley. "Actually, I think we can build off that. You know how they have all those PSAs about not drinking and driving? Well, they should make some about not toking up and driving, since we're pretty much putting pot and alcohol on the same level here. You get what I'm saying?"
Despite the fact that he was deliberately screwing with her less than a minute ago, Lukas was back to trying to help. He did love messing with her, but he still needs that grade.
Lukas knew that Riley would know that he was talking about SOTF, and frankly, he didn't care. He also was trying to hide the fact that he actually did forget what side of the issue they were on briefly, although that was a legitimate accident. Still, Lukas wasn't too bothered. Riley had to work with him if she didn't want to fail, and he just couldn't resist the opportunity to get a little bit of real-life trolling in.
He rested his elbow on the table and faced Riley. "Actually, I think we can build off that. You know how they have all those PSAs about not drinking and driving? Well, they should make some about not toking up and driving, since we're pretty much putting pot and alcohol on the same level here. You get what I'm saying?"
Despite the fact that he was deliberately screwing with her less than a minute ago, Lukas was back to trying to help. He did love messing with her, but he still needs that grade.