Pursuit of Piece of Mind

[NATHANIEL LEN RICHARDS]

A typical day. Rain was pouring from the clouds that hung drearily above, he had gotten the usual morning wake up call from his mother asking him to join her and his grandfather for lunch, and instead of accepting this invitation, he turned it down once more and made arrangements to be on the opposite side of town than where his family would be dining. Today lunch just happened to be from a vending machine in the student lounge. Not exactly a wholesome meal, but anything was better than having to sit through an insufferable lunch with his mother and grandfather and listening to them babble about how a career in law was more the way of a member of the Richards/Wittaker family. He didn’t think his eyes would be able to withstand anymore eye rolling. Much more of that and his eyes were going to be permanently stuck facing the back of his head.

Tossing his two bags of chips along with his package of toaster pastries, Nate pulled out a seat and landed unceremoniously in it. He sighed as he stared for a moment at his gatherings. It really was pathetic that he had resorted to eating basically junk food just to avoid his grandfather. It was beginning to get exhausting all this avoiding crap. That on top of classes and his late night habits, it was a wonder he wasn’t dead on his feet. But it was apparent that everything was beginning to effect him, as he rose not two minutes after he sat down to walk over to a different vending machine to procure something to drink, which he had initially forgotten.

On his way back to his seat, he spotted something, or more like someone, that he figured could take his mind off things, even if for a little while. She was familiar, but he couldn’t even begin to pretend like he actually knew her. He had simply seen her around the school before. He assumed she was a business major like him, because he was sure she had been in a few of his classes. He grinned, planning out his course of action, and made his way back to his seat. He did not retake it, instead electing to gather his things and make his way over to his spotted target.

”Sorry for the interruption,” he said, though he was clearly not sorry at all. But it was polite, and he had been raised to be polite and he certainly wouldn’t forget his virtues in pursuit of a pretty girl. ”I believe you might be in my Understanding Global Business class. I was wondering if I could get your opinion on the last lecture. I’m struggling with the assignment the professor gave us and I could really use some fresh insight.”

The sad thing was, the part about struggling with the homework wasn’t just a line. He really was having issues, and it was his fault. If he didn’t spend so much time living the high life, then maybe he wouldn’t have a problem with his class assignments. But there was nothing like using a real ‘I need help with my homework’ excuse to see where it could lead with a member of the opposite sex. He looked at the girl, what was her name… he had to have heard it at least once. Kay..Kaye…Karlie? Karlie sounded right. He looked at Karlie and smiled, waiting to see of she was willing to offer up her opinion.

CREDIT SAM !? of A Changed Hogwarts. Don't remove the credit or I will find you. LYRICS someday - nickelback NOTES Tag: Karlie Mason WORD COUNT 582

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[KARLIE LOVE MASON]

Who hated the rain? Karlie.

Who loathed getting her clothes wet? Karlie.

Who was smart enough to leave their umbrella at home and predicted it'd be a sunny day when clearly, the clouds had been gathering gray above her indicating it was defintitely going to rain later on? Kar-.

Okay fine I get it you stupid conscience! Shut up!

Karlie Love Mason stared blankly outside a window as her Statistics class ended. For the whole of the lecture, she'd been as vibrant and happy as usual, raising her hand at every opportunity or still getting called if she just smiled knowingly at the professor when he called someone else and ended up with no reply from his students. There was no real competition here, Karlie guessed, or maybe they were absent or hadn't signed up yet. Surely someone here could equal her, not that she was asking cause she already liked the fact that she ruled this class and everyone regarded her with great admiration, or they were probably too scared to stand up for themselves. Everything was going well, until in the middle of her recitation, thunder broke through the clouds and she stopped, gasping in air as she turned her head towards the windows and regretted not bringing her umbrella. It had begun to rain in small amounts, until cats and dogs started to fall down as well. Karlie had completely lost her train of thought then when she looked back at the professor and had asked for help where she was, something she nearly never did unless times like these came up.

After class, a group of girls had approached her and asked if she could help them with a few problems they were getting troubles in, she agreed of course, any chance she had at getting more attention, she'd willingly accept. They'd form a circle and some others, especially boys joined and made small advances that the girls giggled at and Kaye smiled to. Her heart wasn't really in the group, her thoughts scrambled as she stared outside at the rain.

"Karlie? You okay?" A girl asked, worry in her voice.

"Never better," Karlie answered, looking at the girl who'd asked and smiled. "So where were we?"

They all felt pushed their worry away and spoke for her themselves. Of course she was okay. She was Karlie, the girl who couldn't be anymore perfect but someone they could actually approach and talk to. At first they thought of her as one of the snobbish nerds who thought the owned the world, but when at times she helped them when no one was looking up to coach them, they knew they could count on the girl. Saying their goodbyes, Karlie bid them all with a warm farewell and turned in her seat to stare out into the rain again. She sighed, there was no use crying over spilled milk, and in this case, spilled rain. Like she could stop it or whatever. Lacking spirit, she got her things and stuffed them in her black hand bag, never a shoulder bag for a lady like her.

She occasionally turned to look outside the glass windows that lined up the hallways and was left with nothing to do but wait for it to stop. She headed towards the lobby and looked for a place to sit. There were a few people there whom she smiled at and decided she'd avoid them for today. She wasn't in her usual mood of drowning in people's attention. Something about the rain got her down. Looking for the most stranded place possible, she spotted empty seats in the student lounge and quickly made her way to one nearest the window. She hadn't noticed that the packs on the tables hadn't been opened and a boy who was browsing through the vending machines was in the room with her, a plant had obscured her view. It didn't help her awareness too that her mind was in a faraway place. She only stared out the window and frowned at the rain like it would scare the storm away.

”Sorry for the interruption,” The boy directed towards her and Karlie sighed. Trying to make her existence known by everyone had its drawbacks at times. She wasn't having the best of days. ”I believe you might be in my Understanding Global Business class. I was wondering if I could get your opinion on the last lecture. I’m struggling with the assignment the professor gave us and I could really use some fresh insight.”

She shifted in her seat and looked at the boy. He seemed oddly familiar. Everyone was actually. She racked her brain for his name.

"Richards, right? Nathaniel Richards?" She asked for formality's sake.

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sorry it took so long. xD

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[NATHANIEL LEN RICHARDS]

He heard her sigh, and he found this unusual. Typically when he saw her she was surrounded by people and was all smiles. The more time he spent in front of her, the more he was able to recall about her. They were small details, and probably had nothing to actually do with her personality, but her lack of a posse at the moment did not go unnoticed, just like her recent sigh hadn’t. But then he thought that everyone was entitled to a bad day, and seeing as he did not detect an umbrella amongst her personal effects, he concluded the weather could have something to do with it. Normally, Nate would question further, perhaps he hadn’t be as subtle in his approach as he had hoped (girls typically had a few drinks in them when he approached them, making even the most unsubtle of lines subtle), but everyone was entitled to a bad day. He sure wouldn’t like it if everyone questioned him when he was in a bad mood.

A moment after the sigh she directed her attention at him. Her eyes scanned his face, and he could see that look that said she was trying to place him. He wondered vaguely for a moment how many people she knew on campus and if she had once of those photographic memories that made it easy for her to put the name with the face. He shook his head. He couldn’t even begin to imagine retaining that much information. The though alone made his brain throb with the start of a headache. It seemed completely unnatural to be able to hold that much knowledge, but then again, he was a partier, so he probably killed more than a few valuable brain cells that held such information.

“I prefer Nate, actually. My grandfather calls me Nathaniel, and I despise the man. Mind if I sit?” Nate pointed at an empty seat across from her. He didn’t really wait for an answer, he was once again just being polite (but maybe this time it could be viewed as rude. One really should wait for an answer before sitting), and seated himself in the indicated chair. He popped open his drink, looking at her over the top of the container as he took a sip. He wasn’t sure what to expect from her, shock at his brutal honest about hating a family member that was in a way responsible for his existence, or if she would comment on how he just so rudely took a seat without the question being acknowledged. Either way, it would make it more fun, because he would have to prove he wasn’t such an arrogant ass, and there was something fun about proving people’s first impressions of him wrong. Can’t judge a book by it’s cover.

“Anyways,” he said, not wanting an awkward pause to form. Awkward pauses always killed his game. “I can understand if you don’t feel like helping me. We don’t really know each other. However, I hear that you’re the best to turn to in such situations. Ever think about charging people for tutoring? I’m willing to bet you would get recommendations from all the professors, and you could make a killing.”

CREDIT SAM !? of A Changed Hogwarts. Don't remove the credit or I will find you. LYRICS someday - nickelback NOTES Tag: Karlie Mason WORD COUNT 540

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[KARLIE LOVE MASON]

“I prefer Nate, actually. My grandfather calls me Nathaniel, and I despise the man. Mind if I sit?” Karlie noticed how his brows frowned at the thought and as quickly as the expression came, it faded away when he smiled and pointed a seat across her. She studied him for a minute and decided she had no choice but to let him sit across her, she had to, else lose the facade she had on. She thought lazily of her room and planned on screaming into the pillow later on, the sudden precipation was really bringing her mood down. If she wasn't careful, she might start acting out her true self and would totally regret it. She gave him a smile that didn't really reach her eyes and nodded her head to the seat infront of her. Only then did she notice the unopened packs of junkfood at the table and she looked at them questioningly. Had she been so lost in thought that she forgot she'd brought food to the table? She started to reach for the food and stopped midway when realization hit her. What was wrong with her today? She withdrew her hand and looked at him apologetically.

"Sorry, I hadn't notice that the table was taken,"

[/b] she said, her tone still dull from her mood. She cleared her throat and swallowed. He hadn't really told her to go away, not that anybody did ever but just in case she added, with life this time. "I'd go sit somewhere else if-"[/b] But she caught her words when Nathani-, Nate, sat down without waiting for her reply like she'd agree to him anyways. It was his table to begin with. She smiled at that thought and shook her head. Her hair swaying around her like water rippling in a pond. She combed her fingers through her hair as Nathaniel looked at her expectantly, like she was to comment on what he'd said earlier or for his actions. She wasn't one to judge people anyways, she accepted them as they came and went. Karlie adjusted herself to agree with people. So far, her methods around people hadn't harmed her. She looked at him quizzically and smiled. She didn't know what to say. The setting was starting to get awkward. She lost focus with his eyes and tried to remember the assignment they had. She'd finished it last night when she pulled an all nighter and basically kept the ideas tucked neatly inside the many drawers in her head. Now she merely had to open the drawer and was sure she'd get the ideas back. Someone talking interrupted her thoughts.

“Anyways, I can understand if you don’t feel like helping me. We don’t really know each other. However, I hear that you’re the best to turn to in such situations. Ever think about charging people for tutoring? I’m willing to bet you would get recommendations from all the professors, and you could make a killing.” Was he kidding? Karlie liked helping others out, let them know she knew everything, anything, that she was the best, the greatest -

Enough. Karlie's thoughts went, she wasn't really feeling like being the queen of vanity she was at the moment. She felt exhausted, it had been a long day, and she was supposed to be back in her room now. The dreaded rain stood in her way and she almost glared at the windows. She still had to keep her facade up. No studying for her tonight though, her energy was getting used up. For once, she relaxed her shoulders and lay her back on the chair. It felt good to at least let some of her normal human needs out. She'd been sitting ramrod straight for the day. She hoped Nate wouldn't mind the little fault she did, but if he did, well, it'd already been done.

Only this once. She told herself.

He'd been flattering her with his last sentences and she smiled at that, nothing like words of praises could cure her mood some. Karlie straightened her back and gave the boy all her attention again.

"Of course I'll help. Tell me which parts you didn't get and I'll tell you what I know."[/b] She smiled, resting her elbows on the table. "And that's a good idea but I don't think I can make them pay. I mean, they're already struggling with their studies and they have to struggle with money too?"[/b] She asked rhetorically. "I'd help anyone as long as I can without needing any payment in return." [/b]

Just that I received the attention I want. She smiled, and for the first time since the rain started, her smile reached her eyes.

Karlie was thrifty on money, if she had any to begin with. She knew how hard it was to earn cash and she just couldn't see herself making people pay her. It's like she was cheating them, using them for something they were weak in. Maybe no one would understand her line of reasoning, but using her own wits to earn her money, that just felt wrong. She believed in working hard for something you wanted, and getting it the easy way wasn't her method. She wouldn't feel like she deserved what she was getting unless she'd actually fought for it. Like getting money that easy, she'd just donate it to charity.[/blockquote][/blockquote][/justify][/size]

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lmao. that is long. xD

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