Hail To Thee Dear Alma Mater (Open)

[Deleted]

"La la la la la~ Lu lu lu~ Da da da dum~"

Angie hummed something a little non-sense-icle as she cycled her way up the road that led to the school she went to oh so many years ago. It was always a trip of nostalgia, riding through these trees, on this road, the turns and winds until the gate finally came into view just around the bend. Going uphill, however, was a bit tiring on her legs, but at least she wouldn't have that sort of trouble on her way back. Just for fun, the woman rang the bell on her handle-bar and giggled at the sound. She wondered if people ever paid attention to that little ring? Inside the pink basket that hung off the front of the bicycle was a small bag that she had packed up with treats and goodies. Leftovers, really, from the diner. They sometimes let her take the pie home when it was about to pass the sell-by date. It didn't happen often, but it was much appreciated when it did.

The golden haired woman passed through the gate, her curls falling behind her in the gentle wind, and she turned into the parking lot, up onto the curb, and next to the bike racks. Angie didn't have a lock for her bike, unfortunately, so she was going to have to make this quick, though she couldn't think of any reason why anyone would want to steal her rusty, old bike.

Angie dismounted and straightened out her slim, pleated sundress, making sure it hadn't run up anything while on her trip. She picked up the bag and started across the courtyard towards the main building, where the offices were. Angie was just dropping the package off for her son, but she wasn't about to break any rules by by-passing the offices and obtaining a guest pass like she was supposed to. Besides, it was a nice day and she wanted to take her time visiting her old campus...even though she visited often enough anyways. Angie decided to put a little skip in her step as she continued to hum. She twirled, holding the package out like a pendulum. She really should have been watching where she was going and paying attention to what she was doing, because all that swinging ended up ramming the package right into something....or rather someone. Oopsie!

[Zebadiah Hayes]

As usual, Zeb hadn't slept well the night before. After checking in on a few students, he had walked around in the dark for several hours before heading back inside to stare at the ceiling in his apartment until the sun came up. He was running on fumes and caffeine today, but that was usual for him most days.

Still he managed to smile as he walked around the campus, chatting with students and staff alike. Though the bags under his eyes were dark today, no one had noticed them so far. Or if they had, they hadn't asked him anything about them.

He was just heading outside to get some fresh air for a bit. Perhaps he could squeeze in a nap before most of the students got out of class. He noticed a young woman riding up toward the campus and tried to catch her eye for a moment, but she seemed lost in her own little happy world. It was then that he started to feel he'd seen this woman before, or at least a younger version of her.

"Excuse me miss, do I know you?" he asked, or at least started to ask. He barley got to the word 'do' when the package the woman was swing around caught him in the stomach turning the rest of his sentence into a groan as the air was shoved out of him.

[Deleted]

If Angie had been paying better attention instead of frolicking about like a 14-year-old school girl in love, then she might have noticed the man trying to speak with her before she swatted him in the stomach with her care package. The encounter startled the prancing woman into dropping the package itself and flinging her hands up to her mouth in an act of pure shock and embarrassment. Her cheeks were already flushing into a faint pink that threatened to spread throughout her whole face.

“I’m so sorry!” she squeaked in her surprise. Her hands covered her reddening face even more, trying to hide it’s color. Then she grinned with a nervous giggle, her smile peeking out from between her hands. “Are you okay?” she asked with a foolish laugh. It wasn’t funny, she knew, not at all, but Angie couldn’t help herself. She always had the tendency to laugh when she did something particularly embarrassing. After all, laughing was favorable to crying, right?

Wait, he had asked a question, hadn’t he? Angie looked him over, trying to see if she could place him. The man did seem a bit familiar. “I don’t know….did you happen to go to school here?” she asked. Because she didn’t think that she remembered him from Savannah.

[Zebadiah Hayes]

Zeb knew all about being distracted. Although usually his distractions tended to revolve around sleep deprivation or worrying about one of his “kids”. It wasn’t often that Zeb had the chance or urge to frolic.

“No,” Zeb said, giving the woman a smile as he caught back the wind she had knocked out of him. “Nothing to apologize for ma’am.” He had gotten a lot worse. And it helped with the person who had smacked you in the stomach was a pretty young woman.

His smile grew at her giggle. He just couldn’t help it. Her cheery mood was contagious.

He was still trying to place her. She did look familiar. While Zeb usually worried more about remembering the student’s names and faces, he was also pretty certain she wasn’t a staff member. Unless, of course, she was new.

But then she mentioned being a student at Hammel and things started to click into place. “I did…,” he said, trying to picture her younger self. “Amy? No…something with an ‘A’?”

[Deleted]

“Are you sure?” she asked urgently. “That must have hurt you an awful lot.” Angie knew it would have hurt her had she been on the receiving end. If there was anything she could do to make up for it, Angie was more than willing to oblige.

“I knew it!” she decreed once the man had verified her guess. That just made Angie even more excited and another giggle escaped her pink lips.

The bubbly blonde shook her head at his first guess. No, not Amy. “Close,” he reassured him. He was on the right track, especially with the first letter. He was on the ball with that one. “…..it’s Angie,” she finally gave up. “Angie May Thompson.” The woman extended a hand to the meek looking man. “And you are?” He looked familiar, but it was so long ago, Angie wasn’t sure if she could remember off the top of her golden little head.

[Zebadiah Hayes]

"I think I can handle it," Zeb said. Truthfully the knock had surprised him more than actually hurt him. And even if he was in pain, it would impolite of him to complain about it. After all the young woman hadn't meant to hurt him.

Zeb smiled again at her giggle. It really was adorable how chipper she was.

"Angie! Of course," he said smiling. Though he didn't remember all that much about her from school days, he could recall seeing her in the hallways a few times. He though perhaps they may have even had a class together, though he couldn't say what subject. If his memory was right she had been just a year or two ahead of him in school. He worried that maybe she would remember him as the 'nightmare boogeyman' but it was mostly those his own age, particularly the boys, who had given him that nickname.

"Zebadiah Hayes. Or Zeb," he added, since for most people his full name was a bit of a mouthful. "Please to re-make your acquaintance." He did a little bow before reaching out his hand to take hers.

"So what are you doing back at Hammel?" he asked. A lot of alumni stopped by now and then to meet old friends or help out. Though perhaps she was here to apply for a job or something, he couldn't help but hope the latter.

[Deleted]

Well, that was a relief. Angie gave a coy smile as looked him up and down. “Well, that figures,” she teased. “Leave it to a man to be all macho!” Angie would have given him a playful jab on the cheek, but even she knew better than to do that with someone she just met…only just barely though. Angie had to stop herself.

Angie wasn’t aware of how popular or unpopular she was in school, she was a little oblivious to the subtleties of social groups. She did know that many from her class and possibly around her graduating year had been there when she was pregnant with her son, but that was only in her first year at Hammel. She and this Zeb might’ve had a class or two together, but he might not have been aware of that time of her life if he was younger and still in the middle school classes when it happened. Otherwise, Angie didn’t remember his much at all.

“Zeb, then. I’m sorry, I don’t remember much. I’m sure if you had the same face I would have, thought.” She snickered. “I’ll bet it was quite the transformation, from young boy into handsome man.” Angie unconsciously gave a wink. Oh, yes she was flirting, in her own, casual way.

What was she doing back here? “I might ask you the same question,” she countered. Perhaps he had a child who went here as well? It was possible. “My son is a student here. I’m just here to drop of a little bit of something for him. He lives in the dorms and I always worry if he’s getting enough to eat.” That was normal, right?

[Zebadiah Hayes]

Zeb’s smile faltered at being called macho. It wasn’t an adjective he liked to attribute to himself. He much preferred to think of himself as chivalrous. No knight would complain about a lady accidentally knocking into him. Still his smiled returned at her playful jab. It caught him by surprise and he could help but joke with her for it. “Still trying to beat me up?” he teased.

Zeb did not recall that Angie had been pregnant during her time at Hammel, in fact he’d never known. He wished he could think of some memory to share with her, but the only pictures in his head he had of a young Angie were her walking through the hall or sitting in class. Nothing spectacular or worth point out.

“No need to apologize,” he said, waving off her worries with a hand. “Although I’d like to think I haven’t outgrown all my boy-ish good looks.” He laughed. It was obvious he was teasing himself here. And enjoying Angie’s flirtations.

“I work here as a dorm monitor,” Zeb explained. He tried to recall her son when she mentioned him, since he was better at remembering students. But without a name, he was lost. He couldn’t believe Angie was old enough to have a student at Hammel, but knew better than to bring that up. “What’s your son’s name? If I know him, I’ll be sure to check in on him for ya.” He saw nothing weird about worrying about one’s child. Although Zeb had not children of his own, he considered all the Hammel students to be his “kids”. And he worried about them all the time. Some more than others of course.

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Chivalrous. Macho. Those were synonymous in Angie’s vocabulary. Both were meant to impress and show off their best qualities to a woman, whether it was meant to woo them or not. At least that’s how Angie saw it. “What? Don’t tell me a petite little woman like me is going to hurt a nice strong man like yourself with a tiny little punch.” She just teased him right back. It was true, however. Angie didn’t think that her tiny little fists were able to hurt anything no matter how hard she threw them.

She laughed again. “Boy, man, it’s all the same to me, really. Though I always did like the distinguished and rugged look.” Angie was referring to his stubble. Angie always did like the look and charm of an older man, though she knew that Zeb was her age if not younger.

“A dorm monitor?” she repeated with interest. Angie remembered her own dorm monitors and…well, how much fun it was to mess with them sometimes. In a building full of teenagers, Zeb must’ve had his work cut out for him. “My boy, his name is Glads. Glads Thompson.” She giggled at the introduction. Angie usually got a strange look at the boy’s name so she was expecting the same from Zeb.

[Zebadiah Hayes]

Zeb considered the two words to be polar opposites. In his head macho was linked with guys showing off their muscles, bragging, and locker room humor. All of which, he couldn't stand. Chivalry, on the other hand, was more about honor and respect. It was how his father had raised him. And it was a code to live by.

"Well I have met some little women who could certainly pack a punch," Zeb offered. After all, working at Hammel he had known some deceptively strong people. Still if Angie's ability was anything related to super strength, she must have great control over it. Though she might be able to do some damage if she kept swinging around her bags.

Zeb smiled again, rubbing at his chin. In truth he did prefer to let his stubble grow out a bit. But most of the time it was just a side-effect of him being to tired to bother. Though it was nice to know that it was appreciated. "Good to know," he replied. "I'd hate to think I outgrew all my good looks and charms."

He certainly did have his work cute out for him some days. Though it helped that Zeb was willing to let minor offenses slide from time to time. "Mr. Thompson," Zeb said, pausing for a moment while he recalled the boy. Though he wasn't close with him, Zeb could picture his face. "He has your eyes." Zeb didn't feel the need to comment on the boys name. It was a little, unusual, but then again there were far odder names out there. And also he didn't want to offend a pretty young lady.

"Do you visit him often?" Zeb asked, wondering if Angie still lived in the Pilot Ridge area, or if this was a less frequent occurrence to find her here. He didn't recall ever seeing her before, but that didn't mean much. He was usually busy with the kids and only got involved with their parents when there was an issue that needed dealing with.

[Deleted]

“Oh, nonsense,” Angie insisted. “A woman holds nothing against a real man. She’d have to be…a weight lifter, or trained in some kind of fightin’ technique to do any kind of real damage.” Angie believed that whole heartedly. Women couldn’t fight back, no matter how much they wanted to…

Anyway…

Angie laughed with his little joke. “Of course you didn’t, hun. I’ll dare to say you got yourself even more of it with the age coming on.”

Angie nodded excitedly when Zeb finally recalled her boy. “That’s right, he did. Well, I think he got my adventurous nature too. He’s nothing like his father.” That was for certain. If her son had looked too much like Gerry then….it would have made things a little bit tougher, maybe? Good thing she didn’t have to find that out. Angie loved her boy no matter what.

The woman nodded. “I do, actually, though he comes home to visit me more than I ever come to him. Just because it’s so much trouble, you know, having to go to the office, getcher self a guest pass, and then go to the dorms from there.” It never occurred to her to have her son meet her at the office or just in the parking lot. And even if she did, Angie liked the adventure of walking through nostalgia and meeting his classmates. Some of them were just darling!

[Zebadiah Hayes]

"Don't try to convince my sister of that," Zeb said, laughing a bit. Though is Zeb was truthful to himself that's really how he saw women as well. His dad had imparted on him the view that women and girls were precious and needed men to protect them. So while he supported females who wanted to do that for themselves, he still wanted to be the big manly guy who cared for his lady.

His sister on the other hand would probably shove him for saying so.

Zeb smiled watching Angie talk about her son. It was clear that she cared for him. NOt only because she was here to deliver him a package. But she seemed to light up even more when she talked about him.

"I'm sorry if it's a hassle for you," Zeb said, shrugging. "We just want to keep everyone safe." Really he didn't like hearing that the process made it hard for people to visit their own children. Though he did recognize the need for the rules.

"So you live close by then?" Zeb asked. She must if her son visited her often. He tried to remember if he'd ever seen her around the town. Then again, Zeb realized he didn't really get away from the school that much. Though he was realizing that maybe it would be a good thing for him to get out more.

[Deleted]

“No?” she asked, genuinely curious to hear about Zeb’s sister. “Let me guess. She’s got that kind of ‘wild’ streak in her that you just can’t control, right?” Angie knew there were a lot of girls out there who thought they could take care of themselves, and it was very admirable of them to think so. But she would have to say they were just young and trying to be brave. Poor things would land themselves in trouble if it weren’t for good big brothers like Zeb here watching after them.

“I know, and I really do appreciate it,” she assured the man, gently placing her hand on his arm to put him at ease for it. “If it weren’t for the dormitories here, I don’t know if I’da been able to do a lot of things myself. Taking care of kids is a big job.” She laughed, suddenly realizing how that might come across. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to make it sound like you’re a baby-sitter, but…it really does help.” As much as Angie would love to have her boy back at home every day, she knew she just wouldn’t be able to give him the attention and care he needed from a mother, not with her job taking up so much time. She did her best with the time they did have together though.

Angie nodded. “Yes, well, relatively close. Pilot Ridge isn’t that big of a place, pretty much everywhere is close to everywhere else.” That’s just how it was with small towns. “I can get here in twenty minutes on a bicycle,” she said, pulling her shoulders back proudly. It used to take her thirty!

[Zebadiah Hayes]

"Yeah, that's her alright," Zeb said with a grin. He loved his sister dearly. And though he tried to give his twin space to live out her own life, he couldn't help but want to step in and protect her from the world. Of course, just as often it was he that needed her to protect him. But he didn't like to offer that information out. "I guess that's what sisters are for though. Gotta give big brothers something to protect." Of course Zeb was only a few minutes older than her, but he still considered himself the big brother.

He gave her a smile as she touched his arm. And a laugh at the word baby-sitter. "Don't worry sometimes babysitting feels like a big part of my job. Not that the kids would like to hear that." Sure the students at Hammel were far past their baby years. But a lot of the drama in the hallways and dorms reminded Zeb of breaking up fights between two-year-olds about sharing toys. "I really enjoy it though. It's nice to give back to the next generation, ya know?"

If Angie could get here on a bicycle then she was definitely close to the school. "Well it's good that you're close enough to stay in touch with your son. I know a lot of students here miss out on the important parental connection." Of course for a select few, having no contact with their parents was actually a good thing. "You bike a lot?" He asked. He'd considered getting himself one a few years back after hearing that regular exercise could help with sleep. But it had been years since he'd been on a bike. And he doubted whether the 'it's like riding a bike' statement really held true. Surely he'd half to re-teach himself how to balance.

[Deleted]

Angie wouldn’t understand exactly what how he felt for his sister, after all Angie didn’t have any siblings, but she did understand the urge to protect and look after family. “Oh, you’re such a doll. I almost wish I had a big brother like you to look after me when I was a l growin’ up.” Then she might not have gotten into the mess she had as a young teen. But then again, then she also wouldn’t have her little bundle of sunshine to keep her smiling just as bright.

She giggled in response. “Oh no, I’m sure not. They all think the world revolves around them and that they can take care of themselves.” Angie nodded with a nostalgic smile. “I remember those days well, I thought the same thing at that age.” She was such a dumb kid, really. “Well, that’s good!” she said merrily, giving Zeb yet another supportive bat on the shoulder. “It’s always nice to have a job you find rewarding.” Angie’s was too, in it’s own way.

Angie had to chuckle softly at his support. “Well, it wasn’t easy getting out here, honestly. We’re originally from Georgia. But I thought it was more important to be out here for my son than to keep myself a thousand miles away.” She smiled through her reasoning, not wanting to go in depth to the real reasons why she come out, though what she gave were definitely a part of it. “I think it’s been good for him.”

Angie nodded, her blonde curls bouncing up and down with the motion. “We don’t have a car. The bicycle’s all I got, so I don’t have much a choice but to use it a lot. But Pilot Ridge is small little town. There’s a lot of nice places in walking distance too.” Angie preferred to walk, actually. The only reason she rode the bicycle to the school was because she liked to ride it down the hill on her way back, like a little kid.