fandomhighdorms | Third Floor Common Room, Wednesday Afternoon

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Third Floor Common Room, Wednesday Afternoon

Since a certain class had wound up being messier than Amy had anticipated, she was left with wet hair in the middle of the afternoon due to the need for a spontaneous midday shower. So no, this Texan wouldn't be going back outside in the cold today.

Instead, Amy claimed a spot on the common room couch and started to flip through the documentaries playing on TV. There was something about the real-life personal drama of fiction novelists, so she stalled on that for a while. She almost tried to Skype Karma in so they could watch together, but then she remembered that her best friend had school all day, instead of just for an hour here and there.

Well... fine. Amy could watch a documentary by herself. She didn't need her best friend/ex-girlfriend/unsecret crush to join her for it to be fun and interesting, right? ...Right?

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It was cold and boring in Travis's room so he'd gone out in search of both warmth and something to do. One floor up, he found a common room with someone actually in it so he stopped in there.

"Freaking cold outside," he grumbled, not unused to the cold but totally willing to complain about it. "Afternoon. How's television today? Engaging or ultimate brain cell killer?"

Okay, Amy was so grateful to have company. Listening to every word the narrator said got exhausting after a while.

"It's not bad," she offered, scooting over to make room on the couch in case he wanted to sit. "It's a documentary about writers whose lives are even more messed up than the stuff they write about. Kind of predictable, but it's pretty interesting. I'm learning a lot about Ann M. Martin."

Although then again, Amy was a documentary geek. "But you can change it if you want," she added.

"No, no, this is good," Travis told her, dropping down onto the couch and rubbing his hands together to warm them up. He wasn't a huge book guy but scandalous documentaries were things he could get with.

"Better than what I typically find on these televisions. Inevitably, I get religious shows that preach and talk and talk and preach and I just tune out or fall asleep."

Amy wrinkled her nose. You had her sympathy, Travis.

"That sounds more like what I'd find on TV at home," Amy said. "Except it would be because my stepdad DVR'd it and wanted us all to watch it together. I promise this is more entertaining so far."

For one thing, it was more than just one sweaty guy in a polo talking.

"I haven't met you yet, have I?" She'd encountered a lot of new faces over the past week. "I'm Amy."

"Don't think so," Travis said, giving her a little wave now that his hands weren't ice cold. "Travis. New kid, one semester removed. Nice to meet you. You one of the glossy new students?"

"Yep, I'm all shiny and new," she confirmed. "Nice to meet you too. What do you think of this place so far? Other than the TV thing."

"Uh, I think different's a good word for it," he said after some thought. "Different and a little strange but a nice change of pace from Missouri. I needed to get out of there so why not cross half the country and end up on some small island that no one's ever heard of, right?"

"Right there with you," Amy said immediately. "I'm sort of here for a change of scenery. I'm from Texas," she added, letting some of her natural accent slip through. "And I'm good with strange as long as it's not Austin strange."

"What's Austin strange?" he wondered curiously. "I'll confess I know very little about Texas beyond the stereotypes that are blasted on television and movies."

"Well, my friend calls Austin 'a blue oasis in the red sea of Texas,'" Amy said, although she thought that that description was a little ridiculous. "My high school social hierarchy was the opposite of every movie I've ever seen. You had to be really into protesting or sort of oppressed to be popular, enough so everyone else felt their own version of privileged guilt, and there was a sit-in or a rally or something almost every week."

So not very stereotypical, all in all.

But that was a lot of words to throw at this guy. "I'm guessing Missouri is a little different from all of that," she hedged.

"Little different," Travis said, holding his thumb and finger just a tiny distance apart. "There weren't a lot of protests at Springside High. It was more typical, I guess. There were the popular kids, the student council kids, the religious kids and then those kind of just wandering through."

That was him. Well, that was what he tried to be but the whole dying and coming back life made that hard.

"I'm sure there were political types in there somewhere but I didn't really run in those circles. I'd be terrible at it anyway. No one wants me to do any public speaking."

"Believe me, it's not one of my skills either," Amy promised. "But my... my ex, I guess, was really into it, so I got stuck going along with it. I kind of thought a more typical school would be nice, though. Easier to blend in if that's what you wanna do." And it was definitely what Amy wanted to do, if she could help it.

"Seems like this place is more like my old school than yours, though," she guessed. "With all the people transforming and doing telepathy right and left and no one batting an eye."

He was pretty partial to just blending in, being someone that garnered no attention at all as well. It was a nicely achieved dream here.

"Yeah, that took some getting used to the first couple times I came across it," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "I mean, I've experienced some pretty far out there things but there's my far out experiences and then there's this place."

He spread his arms wide. "Big gap there."

"Agreed. Until I came here, I thought the weirdest thing out there was that thing on Reddit about the guy with an extra ear. And I didn't even think it was true," Amy admitted. Looking back at the TV screen, where one of the interviewees was talking about how she wrote her characters based on her own life, Amy remarked, "I guess if I were in her book, this place would be a neat plot device to make me be less cynical or something."

In which case the joke was on Fandom, because Amy was going to be cynical foreeeever.

"Not sure if this is a place that's gonna make people less cynical." Not after some of the weird, dramatic stuff that he'd experienced. "Maybe a little more open minded and tolerant of weird things? Sure but people seem to think you need to grow a thick skin to get by here."

Travis glanced at the television this time. "Yeah, I don't think this place is some after school special to make you a better person. More like...I don't know, a person able to adapt to anything. Up to and including extra ears."

"I think I'm pretty open-minded," Amy mused, although she didn't sound very sure. Actually, thinking back on the events of the past year and how impatient she was with people back at Hester, maybe she wasn't open-minded at all. "Huh. There's a chance that I'm completely wrong about that."

Food for thought!

"So, okay," she said, shifting on the couch to get more comfortable. "What are you into other than growing and changing as a person?"

{{i'm sorry! our power went out because my roommate is a dumb, whoops.}}

Travis tilted his head in thought.

"Skateboarding," he finally said. "I like the occasional video games. Old movies. Classics. Art museums. And sleep. But everyone loves them some sleep. I hope."

He liked it because it was nice to be able to sleep again all through the night.

[No worries! I ended up passed out on my sofa so apologies on my end too!]

Edited 2015-01-08 11:41 (UTC)

"Sleep is the best hobby there is," Amy agreed solemnly. And now she actually got to do it since her classes didn't start at 8:30 every day! "I always wanted to learn how to skateboard. How do you do it with all the stairs here? Or do you just use the railing?"

"Boardwalk," he answered immediately. "Best and only place to really get good speed going. I've...tried to skateboard around stairs and it ended up with a skinned elbow and some major road rash."

He winced. "Not recommended but the boardwalk's good. If you ever wanna give it a go, let me know. You can borrow my board."

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Third Floor Common Room, Wednesday Afternoon

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