Dorm Lobby - All Day Tuesday

[joan-notjane.livejournal.com]

Joan didn't have any classes on Tuesdays. So she was sitting in the dorm lobby with some crappy handdrawn posters that said "Joan Girardi for Junior Class Rep".

She also had cookies, but don't worry, she didn't bake them, they were from J,GOB.

Comments

[unddann]

Lola headed through and paused when she saw the posters.

". . . Rep?"

Yeah, she didn't know that one.

[joan-notjane.livejournal.com]

"Representative," Joan explained. "I wrote too big to fit the whole word."

She offered Lola a cookie. "It's for Student Council."

[unddann]

"Ah." Lola took the cookie and nibbled at it for a moment. "If you win, I'll start calling you 'Burgermeister'."

[joan-notjane.livejournal.com]

Joan raised an eyebrow. "I don't think that there's anything to do with hamburgers."

[unddann]

"Nein, of course not. You're not from Hamburg." Yeah, Lola knew a lot of her country's cities had managed to turn themselves into names of foods in the US. But she was discovering that misunderstanding could be a lot of fun.

[joan-notjane.livejournal.com]

"Wait, there's actually a place called Hamburg?" Joan asked. Geography had never been her strong suit. "Is that where hamburgers were invented?"

[unddann]

Lola honestly didn't know. "Maybe? Hamburg is a big city in Germany. If you are from there, you're called a 'Hamburger'. If you're from Berlin, you're a Berliner." She grinned. "But you must be careful how you say it, because 'Berliner' is also a donut."

[joan-notjane.livejournal.com]

Joan giggled. "Yeah, I could see where it would be bad to introduce yourself as a donut."

[unddann]

"Your president already did so. I don't remember which one. It was before the wall was down, maybe even before the wall went up?"

[joan-notjane.livejournal.com]

"I don't know much about history," Joan admitted with a shrug.

[unddann]

"If you were German, you would know about this," Lola said calmly. "American presidents are often fools, but it's not always so, ah, obvious. So we remember it."

[joan-notjane.livejournal.com]

Joan chuckled. "Oh, I think a lot of Americans are well aware of how foolish our presidents can be."

[unddann]

"Will you be foolish as the, ah, rep?"

[stocksgrrl.livejournal.com]

It was definitely hard for Turtle to fail to notice something like this. Competition. It made her stomach start to tighten in knots with worry and her head buzz with a reminder that she'd have to step up her game a little, but now the whole lobby with baked goods approach was out of the question, because then she'd look like she was copying, so she'd definitely have to get some creativity flowing.

Although her lips might have been tight with disapproval as she looked at the Junior part of the this supposed Joan's poster, Turtle had a friendly smile on her face as she approached the girl. "Hi, there," she said, offering her hand. "Turtle Wexler. Nice to meet you. Junior class rep, huh?"

[joan-notjane.livejournal.com]

Joan smiled, oblivious to any internal issues Turtle might be having.

"Nice to meet you," she said, shaking the other girl's hand. "Yeah, I figured it would be a good way to get involved."

[stocksgrrl.livejournal.com]

"Oh, it is," Turtle said, just a hair too quickly as she nodded. "I was on last year's student council, and it's definitely a lot of work, but I love it. I'm really hoping to get elected in this year, too, especially since I have some experience to help back me up. Do you have any experience in student government, Joan?"

[joan-notjane.livejournal.com]

"Um, no, but I have a lot of enthusiasm to learn new things," Joan said.

[stocksgrrl.livejournal.com]

"Oh, that's good," Turtle said, nodding. "Enthusiasm's what really counts in the end, right?" Her smile continued to be bright, but something about the way she asked that made it seem like she didn't really believe it. Really, though, it was self-defense. She had to tell herself that it took a lot more than enthusiasm, and that's why she didn't have to worry.

"You're new, right? Just started up this semester?"

[joan-notjane.livejournal.com]

"Yes, I am, which means I have a lot of really fun ideas," Joan said, realizing that Turtle was subtly undermining her.

She tilted her head. "You're Marco's friend, right?"

[stocksgrrl.livejournal.com]

Turtle blinked a little. "What's Marco got to do wi--"

Then her eyes widened. "Oh, God, don't tell me that he's running for Student Council, too!"

[joan-notjane.livejournal.com]

"Not that I'm aware of," Joan said. "But I've been wanting to meet you."

[stocksgrrl.livejournal.com]

"Why?" This was really not helping Turtle's confidence here, her face evident in all if its distressed concern. "What did he tell you? I'm sure that, whatever it was, if it's bad, it's probably not true and he only said it in a pathetic attempt to make himself look better in front of a cute girl."

[joan-notjane.livejournal.com]

Joan was very confused by Turtle's protests. "All he said was that he wanted me to tell you that I think he's cute. And he laughed when I asked if you were his ex."

[stocksgrrl.livejournal.com]

Turtle blinked at Joan again and then promptly brought her palm to her face.

"That isn't fair," she muttered. "You never met Anders so you have absolutely no basis for comparison."

And then a thought struck her and she looked back at Joan, shoulders deflating. "Did he make you get it on paper, too?"

[joan-notjane.livejournal.com]

"No. And who is Anders?" Joan asked. "It's kind of a gay sounding name."

Tact, what tact?