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 Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 10:46 pm
Tate didn't own an iPod. She didn't own a particularly new cell phone. And she had absolutely no interest in underclassmen, or even same-classmen, or anyone, really.
The only reason she was agreeing to mentor a sophomore at all was because otherwise she'd get a detention for not having shown up to algebra three days in a row. I'll let it go with this, Miss Jenvieve had said, I know you're having a hard time. But it's important to attend class, so start coming here, okay?
Damnit, it was too little, too late.
Now she was sitting outside the school, waiting for Karmilita Fauxtiev or whatever to show up so she could... mentor the kid. Tell them about the college application process or whatever, the one she hadn't yet started. At least she had to tell them about how to arrange their schedule.
She almost felt bad for this Karmilita kid.
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Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 11:21 pm
Karmi was particularly happy. Not to say that most days she wasn't happy, but today felt special. At least in her mind the day seemed to be going well enough. After a while, a long while at that, of waiting for a Junior to mentor her she had finally been able to find one that was available. Tatiana Konstantin. She had been repeating the name in her head all day in an attempt to put a face to the name. All of those attempts had failed; she had never met her.
Casually she walked outside the school towards where she had been told to meet her so called "mentor". With her Junior year coming up fast she was in need of some tips for colleges, classes and the like. She wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but she was hopeful that it would go well, if anything. After all, a mentor was there to assist, right?
Slowly she approached a girl sitting by herself. "Hello." she said calmly, "Are you Tatiana?" she inquired, with one of the trademark smiles she was known for on her face.
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Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 11:54 pm
Tate watched the pink-haired girl approach. Ugh, so chirpy. Were they all crazy that way? Had she been a crazy bouncy little kid when she was a sophomore? Nah, couldn't have been. That was when Giselle was still around, when Tate actually gave a flying ******** about everything. Not like she'd cared much. She'd just cared a little more. But she had never been happy and chirpy like this person.
"And you're Karmilita, right," said Tate, but it wasn't a question. She straightened up, plucked at her uniform top to pull it into line, and picked up her bag. "How'd your classes go today?" Questions by rote, the questions she had written on her arm under the sleeve of her winter jacket. "Let's head inside, I think my nose will fall off if I stay out here much longer."
Fitting action to words, Tatiana trooped off towards the building. She seemed pretty sure that Karmilita would follow her...
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Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 12:13 am
Blinking a few times, she looked after the girl then took off behind her like a lost puppy. Though the smile on her face had faded down to a smaller one, she was attempting to keep an air of happiness about her. "They went well enough." She said, awkwardly since she could feel a sense of tension in the air. "And you can call me Karmi, if you'd like." At this point, she felt it wasn't prudent to mention the weather.
Hopefully, she looked at the back of her "mentor", but didn't get a glance back. This is going to be... different. She thought, holding her bag close as she continued at her heels. Not sure what to make of the situation, she cleared her throat to clear the air. "So, um," she began, "What's on the agenda for today?" It was a lame attempt at a conversation, but too late to take the question back. Words were failing her and she wasn't used to the situation. Patiently, and out of curiosity, she waited to see what the reply would be.
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Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 1:27 am
She understood most sophomores expected happy, peppy mentors. After all, she had had one of that cloth herself. Well, Tate was not a happy, peppy person, and she was only doing this under duress, so as not to lose more time to the educational system than otherwise. Reaching into her bag for some papers, she said, "Well, today we're going to talk about what you want to do with your life." Pause.
"And then we're going to take a look at what electives and required classes you can take to get there," she added, rolling up her sleeve to look at the list of questions.
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Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 3:28 am
"Oh." Karmi said simply, wondering why there was such interest in rolling up sleeves. The rest of my life. Her thoughts echoed back. Droning out on the complex thoughts of the not too distant future, she looked back at her mentor. Something about her seemed agitated, but Karmi was, to put bluntly, a damn coward when she thought pressing a matter would result in excommunication. But that was always her fear.
Succumbing to her love of talk, she cleared her throat lightly. "So, do you like to be called Tatiana or is there another name you like to be called?" Merely hollow words, since she wasn't sure on what to make of her personality yet, only time would tell what she was truly like. Not to mention she was stalling for time, while avoiding leading back to mention of the education system, so she wouldn't have to answer the question of what she was aiming to do with the rest of her life with a reluctant "I'm not sure."
Biting her lower lip, her mind raced with possibilities, and yet failed to focus on any one idea. She felt like Douglas Adams had; remembering a quote in one of his books that only six ideas can occupy the mind at a single time with the rest of the mind being filled with penguins. A small laugh escaped her lips at that thought, but she choked back the rest in her throat. It was a total and utter failure of the first impression she wanted to give to her upperclassman.
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Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 11:34 am
"Call me Tate," said Tate; "Tatiana's a stupid, fluffy name." Tate, however, was a much better name. Sounded stronger. Was stronger, more memorable than a silly girly name. Tatiana. Fft.
She glanced at the notes on her arm, then back up at Karmilita. Was she going to cry? Jeez. "Don't cry," said Tate awkwardly, "Not much about school worth crying about, you know?" She paused, and then said, "I'm graduating in June and I still don't know what I'm doing. So if it's about that, don't worry. And if it's about me being like I am, you gotta work with it... So. What do you like to do."
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Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 11:33 pm
Karmi nodded and shook her head to get rid of the feeling. Awkward; that was the word for it, but Tate was right, she had to work with it or neither of them were going to get anywhere. "Tate, got it." she said, then pressed on to answer her question. "Well, I like an assortment of things but what I really enjoy right now is running." That wasn't going to do though, she rambled on. "Not sure if that would help anything for what I want to do later in life, though."
Her ramblings stopped after that once she began to concentrate on the question of the day. But if Tate didn't know what she wanted to do and she was fine then Karmi should be the same way. Still, being lost on the matter entirely wasn't going to help her pick her classes for the next year. Looking forward to Tate again she cocked her head slightly. I wonder how she got roped into being a mentor...
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Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 11:49 pm
She nodded and made a note in her book. "Running. Okay. Are you on the track team or thinking of trying out or something because..." Another glance at the inside of her arm. "You could use that for a scholarship. Um. So. I guess you'll want to take a gym class next semester..." Tate pulled another book out of her bag, this one with the Meadowview logo and "Course Booklet 2010-2011" emblazoned on the front.
"Individual and Dual Sports has a running section," she offered after a moment of searching. With her finger pointing out the appropriate space, she turned the book to face Karmi.
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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 12:44 am
"I am on the team." Karmi said, sticking her nose into the booklet. Tate was well informed, that was for sure. She couldn't help but question why she herself hadn't acquired one of these books. Karmi's eyes searched until it found the appropriate class explanation. A smile broadened on her face. "That does sound good," she said, then looked back up at Tate.
Despite the helpful suggestion from the book she was wondering something. "When you were a sophomore what did you want to do?" It was pure curiosity, but still could show some insight into if she should focus most of her classes to what she wanted at that exact moment or if she should leave some neutral classes in her schedule. Her head spun thinking it over. Putting a hand under her chin shrugged to herself.
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Posted: Mon Dec 14, 2009 1:33 am
Sometimes Tate wished she had glasses. Not like, coke-bottle glasses, just, you know, a pair of frames with some glass in. So she could stare over them at kids. (She did not have the gift Giselle had possessed of Rowdy Sixth-Grader Quieting Stare.) She circled the course upside-down and then set down her pen.
"When I was a sophomore, I wanted to be the President," she said frankly. "This clearly is not working out well for me. It's best to just do what you want to do now."
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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 1:13 am
Karmi stared at the book and looked back at Tate. "That sounds like a big ambition." She smiled up at her. "You do have a commanding presence though." The compliment came off strangely, but was still a compliment none the less. Though Karmi could sense the agitation, she kept her smile. Tate was a role model already, regardless of the situation. In only the few minutes Karmi had learn to appreciate a harder attitude.
"I'll follow some classes like that." she said, nodding. "But I'd like to leave one open to chance if I can, see if I enjoy a random class." The thought behind it was silly, but thus was Karmi's way. Anxiously she looked at the booklet. Maybe later she would find one of her own and flip to some random page and pick a class from there. Perhaps her luck would find her a class she would enjoy or might be inspiring. She looked at Tate again. "So, do you still want to be President?" she asked innocently.
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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 8:04 pm
She laughed. Not a good laugh, either, a harsh one. "Yeah. Me. President. Good one." Tate frowned then, expression flat. "No. Like I said, don't know what I want to do. But I don't want to be President." Ambition had kind of died in a big way this time in her junior year.
"Alright," said Tate after a moment, where she seemed to pull herself back together. "Your form says you've completed your language requirement, still need four credits in English, one in mathematics, one in science... Are these sounding familiar at all, Karmilita?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 15, 2009 9:33 pm
Karmilita. She hadn't known anyone to use her full name at school, save for substitutes that didn't know any better. "Right, right." she said quickly. When Tate put it that way she snapped back into taking the subject at hand seriously. "English is one of my weaknesses. What would you suggest for an English class if that's the case?"
She hated admitting that, especially to someone she had just met, but if Tate was in a helpful mood she'd be able to get the information she needed. "And is Chemistry any good?" Ignorance was all around her when it came to planning ahead for school. It was one of those things that slid back into her mind and only surfaced in case of a challenge. This was of course just what Karmi needed; someone to challenge her. Thus, the proper thinking process could take hold.
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Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 2:06 am
"Remedial," said Tate bluntly. "No. I lied. Take Brit Lit, Exposition, Creative Writing, and Exposition II. Start with Exposition, it'll give you essay help."
Ugh. She was so bored.
She flipped through the book, circling the classes she recommended with a bold swipe of her pen. "Chemistry is better than Physics if you're not good at math," she said, "Of course, chemistry also requires math. That's why I took Astronomy, which has minimal mathematics and a lot of memorization. You've gotta take one, though, so pick."
Tate gave the book back, open to the page of one-credit science courses.
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