[PRP] Reboot (Hana/Chester)

[Smerdle]

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.

Silverah

 

[Silverah]

Hana had been to see her academic advisor, which was always... something. Her time at Rider-Waite was as much a waste of time as anything could be said to be, and she was well on her way to accidentally earning a degree in English Literature if she didn't make up her mind and transfer soon. With her high school transcript, her state science awards - any major research university would be glad to take her.

But any major university would mean proving herself again.

And any major university would not have Dhan.

As she wheeled around the corner in the administrative building, hands shoved deep into the pockets of her oversized bomber jacket, Hana spied a familiar figure slouched outside the admission office. He wasn't supposed to be back here, she thought.

And she doubted he'd be glad to see her.

"Chester?" asked Hana, affecting a bubbly tone. "Oh my god, it is you. Hiiiii! Do you remember me???"

How could he have forgotten her? She still held his lost virginity in her tightly-clenched triumphant metaphorical fist.

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

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.

Silverah

 

[Silverah]

"I'm good," said Hana, still with the same affected cheer. "Just saw my advisor. I didn't know you were back in town..."

She eyed the sheath of papers in his lap, and put two and two together very quickly. That was... too bad, although she did feel a surge of schadenfreude.

"I know you miss me," said Hana, "but don't you think transferring to Rider-Waite is a bit extreme? I mean. You could have just skyped."

Smerdle

She's a brat lmao

 

[Smerdle]

"You know, I tried, but for some reason you had me blocked."

He felt a seed awaken in his chest, a seed that had lain dormant for more than a year. A sassy seed.

"I just wanted to give you a heads-up that your GPA might be threatened for a month or two." No use hiding what she already knew. "I won't be around long enough to ruin your chances for valedictorian, but a little warning in matters such as these is only polite nonetheless."

Silverah

I FINALLY DID IT

 

[Silverah]

"What? Really?!" Hana asked, tipping her head to the side. "You must be thinking of someone else."

She slid into a seat beside him, cozying up like they were old friends. "Oh. Chester," she sighed, a hand on his arm. "If you're back here... you're no threat to me."

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

The wound was too fresh for him to ignore the sting as she shoved her finger into it. Chester bit his lips together in a thin line and went back to straightening his papers even though they were already in a perfect pile.

"I am going back," he said. "This is a temporary arrangement. Just for the summer so that I can earn some credits while I work a few things out." He really did believe so, that much was evident when he finally looked at her again, first her hand on his arm, then up almost into her eyes. He couldn't quite bring himself to get all the way there.

Silverah

heart

 

[Silverah]

Hana nodded like she understood, and reached out to give Chester a consoling - or condescending - pat on the head. "Of course you are," she said, not lifting her other hand from his arm. She was all up in his bubble, with no signs of getting out.

"If you still like me," she said, "you can just say so. You don't need to play hard to get. I don't bite. Unless you're into that now."

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

Chester shifted in his seat, looking away again as the flush finally stained his cheeks.

"No, thank you." He swallowed. "Though I never thought liking each other was a requirement." In fact, the competitive snarking had been most of the allure.

Silverah

 

[Silverah]

"Of course it wasn't," Hana assured him, her smile reaching her eyes. She leaned in, breath hot on his cheek. "Anyway. You have my number."

And then she pulled back, unhanding him, and reached for her backpack.

"Anyway," she said, back to bubbly. "I should probably go. It was so good to catch up. Don't be a stranger, ciao!"

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

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."

Silverah

HANA: 1, CHESTER: 0