Study Time

[Gravitic]

((This thread is being started for an RP between me and Kat, but anyone that wants to jump in can. Just some fun RP fluff.))

The library at St. Joseph's was virtually silent; only the scattered whispers between study partners and the occasional giggle from girls ranking the boys in the library they thought were cute broke the stillness.

At a corner table by himself, Sean McClelland sat with a pile of history books and a notepad in front of him on the table. He took no notice of the glances from the other students or the whispered conversations that might (or might not) be about him; he had gotten used to things like that long ago. Instead, his focus was on a well-worn paperback copy of "The Fellowship of the Ring"; the corners dog-eared from many readings. Occasionally, he looks at his watch to check the time, waiting for his appointment to arrive.

[Gravwarp]

((You asked for it.))

Bryan pushed open the library doors with his back. He was chuckling at some shouted joke in the hallway. The young man's arms were loaded with the boxes for several chess sets.

Sister Salvation sat behind the Librarian’s counter at the front of the room, Bryan smiled sweetly at the sister as he approached. "Good morning, Sister," the boy said to her sweetly, "I'm here to set up for the Chess Club meeting this afternoon."

Her impassive look never flinched as she replied, obviously unimpressed with the boy's attempt at charm. "There are tables in the back," she answered and went back to reading a periodical without giving him a second glance.

"We'll try not to get too rowdy." Bryan chuckled, signifying his joke but the attempt at humor was ignored. He shrugged softly and walked to the back of the library nodding to those that said hello.

Bryan quietly set the boxes down on one of the open tables and began setting up all the boards. After all the pieces had found homes on their boards, he sat down and began making place cards for the players in today's matches.

Setting his pen down after a few moments, Bryan looked around the room and seeing Sean with his nose in a book; the boy waited till he could catch Sean's eye and when he did, Bryan waved over to him in a pleasant greeting.

[Ekaterina Gordieva]

Her gym bag strap draped over one shoulder, Kat hurried down the hall trying to get a look at her watch through the pom poms in her hand. 4:35 Shoot! First study meeting and I'm already late. Kat readjusted the strap of her bag and pushed through the door of the library, trying to draw as little attention to herself as possible. Scanning the room quickly, her eyes feel upon Bryan and she waved to the football player before continuing on. Moving quietly between the tables, she reached the pile of history books and the boy absorbed in his novel.

"I am so sorry," she whispered, plopping down in a chair next to him and letting her gym bag slide to the floor with a thud. "Franky had us in practice a little late. Some new pyramid thing." Kat set her pompoms on the table across from her and rubbed at her upper arm. She was sure to have a few bumps and bruises. It sucked being the top of the "Saint Joe's Cheer Squad dogpile", almost as much as the bottom. She looked over at Sean. "So, World War I. I'm lost. This is the part where I get to play the dumb cheerleader," she said grinning a bit.

[Gravitic]

Sean looks up as Bryan appraoches and gives him a nod. "Hey there. How's it going?"

As Ekaterina bursts in. Sean closes his book and gives her a bit of a smile. "No worries. I already spend a lot of time here anyways. Not like I have anything else to do..."

Sean takes the blank notebook and a mechanical pencil and places them in front of Kat. "Well, I'm here to help you so that you won't be lost like the troops in the Argonne. Okay, this may seem weird, but right now, I want you to list as many songs, TV shows, and movies that you like as you can. Just do a page's worth at most. Trust me, this will all make sense before we're done."

[Ekaterina Gordieva]

Kat looked at him quizzingly. "Lost like the troops of what?" Tenitively she took the pencil and paper and looked over at him again. "Just... whatever I like? Well, alright then." She shrugged and began writing quietly. For the most part the list looked like what one would expect from a teenage girl. Lots of sappy chick flicks and teeny-bopper movies, TV shows like The Hills and The OC and American Idol. Her song list was populated by singer/songwriters like Anna Nalick, Nora Jones, and KT Tunstall with a littel sprinkling of classical.

A few entries didn't seem to fit in with the rest though. Under TV shows, she listed Heroes and Lost and Daft Punk was entered under her song selections. Smiling, she handed the paper back to Sean. "So what is this like some new studying technique? Cause if you can link Anna Nalick back to World War I, I'm going to be impressed."

[Gravitic]

Sean read some more while Kat worked on her list. When she was finished, he took it and started looking the list over as he answered her question. "It's not really new, it's called mnemonics. It's a way of studying more efficiently by linking new ideas in ways that you already understand. It's like in the Karate Kid where Daniel's doing all the grunt work for Mr. Myagi, but in reality, he's learning some of the basic moves. It's kind of the same thing but only for your brain." He reaches into his wallet and opens it up. He pulls out a $10 bill and puts it on the table. "Here's an example. This is my last $10 for the month, but I'm going to bet it that you know a crucial fact about World War 1, even though you may think that you don't know it. And the question is: whose assasination is considered to have been the starting point for World War 1?"

[QueenCobra]

Val burst into the library, with a bright smile on her face. She marched up to the library desk and returned a few books, and then immediately darted to the "fiction" section for more new books. As she finished up with a stack of five books in her arms, she saw Kat studying with some boy. She thought of dashing over and saying hi, but she decided to just wave. She checked out and was on her way.

[Ty Cloud]

Ty hands slipped into his pockets, frowned a bit as he was lead into the libray. "Ty Cloud, you can't just pass notes in class. It's very rude first of all, and the notes! They talk bad about other students, VERY mean." Ty looked up, squinting from the lights above. "So...?" Ty gave sister an "I don't care" look. Sister sighed, knowing her message would never get through to the pretty boy student. "Until you learn, you're going to be spending more time in the library instead of acting up in class." Ty shrugged it off, knowing it was only a day of spending tiem in the library.

He walked through the wooden doors hands behind his head yawning. "Sup." Ty nodded at the librarian. She gave him a cold stare before ordering him to sit down at a table. He slung his back-pack on a random table sitting down. He leaned back in his chair covering his phone with his hand, beggining to text instead of reading.

[Ekaterina Gordieva]

Kat wrinkled her nose in concentration. She knew she had heard it. It was royalty. Some... baron? No that wasn't it. She smiled sheepishly. "I know he was some royal. From Austria, right?"

She turned and spoke loud as she dared to Bryan. "Hey, Bryan. Whose assassination started World War I? I know it was a royal guy. I got ten bucks riding on this."

[Gravitic]

Sean chuckled at Kat's answer. "Well, you knew more than most people on the street do. Let me ask you a related question: what's the name of the Scottish band that came out back in 2005 and had a hit with the song 'Take Me Out'? They're named after this guy."

[Ekaterina Gordieva]

Kat sat up a little straighter and waves her hands a little excitedly. "Oh. I know this one. Oh, um..." It was on the tip of her tongue. "F-something... Oh! Franz Ferdinand! I love that song. And the video was just creepy." Kat settled back into her chair and smiled again. "Okay so the assassination of Franz Ferdinand of Austria started World War I. And now, I can't get the song out of my head."

[Gravitic]

Sean smiled at Kat's cry of triumph. "See there. It'a amazing what you really do know. And it's good that you can't get the song out of your head be cause now, we're goign to re-write the lyrics so that they're about World War 1. Causes and effects, countries that were in it. stuff like that. So then, you just run the song through your mind, and there the answers are. Simple. And it was Achduke Franz Ferdinand of Austro-Hungary, but we'll get more in to that soon."

[Ekaterina Gordieva]

Grinning widely at her own victory, Kat propped her chin her hand. "Rewriting the song? Huh. Sounds easy enough." She smiled and waved to Val as she darted back out into the hall then unzipped her gym bag and pulled out her textbook. Setting it on the table, she quickly flipped to the chapter on World War I and turned back to Sean. "I thought you didn't go for mainstream music."

[Gravitic]

Sean shrugged and started to mark items in some of the other books for Kat to work with. "I don't. That doesn't mean i'm not aware of it, though. How can you not be? I mean, you'd have to be on a desert island with no communications just to not hear about the latest twist in Britney Spears' life or the latest song or anything mainstream. We're constantly innundated with it, whether we want to be or not. That's one of the biggest bugs I have about everything, that people need to see other people fall just to raise themselves up and feel better about their own lives. From music to acting to sports."

[Ekaterina Gordieva]

Kat's smiled faltered for a moment. He recognizes me. Why else would he bring that up? Is that why he's helping me? Cause I used to be somebody? No, you were the one that asked for his help, stupid. She quickly focused her attention on the textbook in front of her and pretended to be interested in a map of Europe circa 1914.

"Yeah. I hate that too. I mean, those celebrities are people too, you know? And it's not always their fault. Some times they can't control what's happening to them. Some times they didn't even want to be famous in the first place." Stop talking now, Kat. This is just a chance to get some help on some History work. Not a counseling session on Dr. Phil.