|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2016 2:09 pm
|
|
|
|
Failure was like a particularly persistent paper cut. Always there, occasionally painful. He had heard that college could be too much for some people, especially colleges like MIT, but he never would have been able to wrap his mind around what that meant had it not happened to him.
He'd had expectations, and instead of changing them once he'd received that first failing grade, he'd spiraled into despair, second guessing himself and his goals. And now he was here. Sitting outside the admissions office at Rider-Waite, staring at a sheaf of application materials with a furrow between his brows and a frown on his lips. He hoped he was unrecognizable these days with his affected fedora and close cropped hair, but there were some pretty observant people in Ashdown, some of whom were his peers, some of whom presumably went here. The longer he sat in disgruntled disbelief, the more likely he was to be noticed by someone undesirable. Paper cut, meet lemon juice. Still, he didn't move.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 04, 2016 8:14 am
|
|
|
|
He was not nearly as unhappy to see her as he would have anticipated. Surprised and embarrassed, sure, but all those reactions served to do was keep him politely silent through her greeting, wide eyes staring instead of rolling sarcastically when she was done. Did he remember her? He rarely forgot the people he'd made a complete fool of himself in front of, even if he couldn't recall their names. He knew every syllable of hers.
"Hana. Hello." Chester wished he could don an enthusiastic mask of cordiality like she had, but he knew any attempt he made would be nowhere near as convincing. "I didn't expect to see you here." He hunched a little more, hoping to hide the patchy flush creeping up his neck between his collar and the brim of his hat. "You...um... look good, though. How are you?" He glanced up at her again, less hesitant than he had been at first, and for a second there was more than pouting self-pity in his eyes.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 29, 2017 8:47 pm
|
|
|
|
Anyway.
The universal conversational dismissal. The one word that managed to say, 'well, this wasted some time, but I just thought of all the fun I could be having without you, so bye.'
Granted, coming from Hana it was equally as likely to be a manipulation tactic as it was an honest brushoff, and even though Chester was aware that might have been true, it still worked. He leaned after her for a split second when she pulled away, wanting her to stay and deem him more worthy of her time than whatever she was leaving to do.
He hated himself for it. He hated her a little too, but he always had.
Chester gave her a sullen glare as she grabbed her things, finally settling on a fanning of his fingers across his papers in lieu of a wave.
"Ciao."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|