Bad Luck: The Mix Up (OPEN)

[Carleigh Davidson]

Senior year. First semester was coming to a close and Carleigh was determined to get her grades up. They were nothing spectacular, a B- or two paired with C's of all varieties. Since she'd come to accept the fact that she wouldn't graduate the power training portion of grad, the blonde decided to focus on school. Which sounded great, except she was only spending an extra hour a week on homework assignments. Provided she remembered.

Carleigh was excited for this day to come. It was the day that they were getting back an English paper that she felt was her best work to date. She'd revised for grammatical errors, made sure her sentence structures were good and that the entire paper flowed from start to finish. When class came around, the blonde almost skipped inside the classroom, taking a seat. Considering just the year before she'd show up late with a coffee in hand, the image was almost unsettling, the blonde haired girl sitting there before the bell even rang.

As the bell rang, the teacher began handing out the marked papers. Sitting on the edge of her seat, Carleigh eagerly flipped it over the page. If anyone was looking, they'd see her usual bright smile falter into a neutral expression. Then a frown.

A big fat F, in thick red letters on the top of the page.

She repressed the urge to scream. How?!?! Carleigh's breath become slowly out of tune as she read a single comment on top of the page.

While I'm sure this is a great paper.. you read the wrong book.

Carleigh stared at the single sentence, in a state of denial. How could she have read the wrong book? She stayed unusually quiet, simply glaring at her page as if it was the paper's fault. 

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

No one knew the sting of a giant F on a report quite like Lucy Serrano. Had she been collecting the ones she'd received over the years, she could likely cover a wall. Who was to say she wasn't collecting them?

Furthermore, the Australian hardly had the same tact her hot blonde friend had. When she arrived early, the ink manipulator was still no where to be seen. Dragging herself out of bed had been a great pain, and dragging clothes on had been even more of a pain. Really, classes should never have started so early in the first place. Especially when there were important pit-stops to make before hand.

A quick brush through the door as she dragged it open with one hand, balancing a coffee cup on top of another one in the other as she gave no excuse and felt no need to anyway.

Another tardy slip for Lucy Serrano. Stop the presses and all that shit.

Settling in her seat beside the hot blonde - because they were senior classroom buddies now, too - Lucy set one of the cups in front of her and kept the other for herself. She hadn't bothered glancing over to look at the paperwork Carleigh was flying through.

Until the red colouring caught her attention.

Leaning over, Lucy lowered her voice a touch as she spoke, "Now see, that's just mean." She retorted, raising her eyebrows and tilting her head in the direction of the paper before leaning back in her seat again.

[Carleigh Davidson]

She read the wrong book. Carleigh couldn't believe how... how stupid she was! How did that mistake even happen? Her eyebrows scrunched together, flipping through the pages of her notebook where she had written down the title of the book. Nothing. Taking better notes was on the blonde's to do list.

Fiddling with the ring on her thumb, Carleigh looked up as a cup of coffee was placed in front of her. It took her a moment to realize that she was still in English class, and the inevitable fact that Lucy was going to be late. But she brought coffee, which was always nice. She looked up, giving her wife a soft smile as she fought to suppress her anger and frustration. "Thank you." Carleigh mouthed, unsure if she could trust her voice right now.

But she'd have to.

Carleigh bit on her lip, shrugging. "Well, it's my fault. I read the wrong book. Maybe I can beg for an extension or something." She didn't exactly have a plan. Since there was no paper in front of her desk, Carleigh assumed that her wifey didn't do the assignment. "Didn't bother doing it?" She asked, gesturing towards her own F graded paper.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

The harshest grade available always irked Lucy. It wasn't something she'd ever seen until she made it to Hammel; who knew people actually graded with letters? That seemed stupid. Still, Carleigh beating down on herself might have been logical - it kinda was her fault after all - but that wasn't how these things worked. Blaming the system was how this worked; the self-depreciation was for later, when no one was looking.

At the question, Lucy shook her head. She raised her eyebrows expectantly, extending her hands to allow the paper to ceremoniously fall out of the teacher's and into her own.

"I forgot to take notes, right." Lucy provided the simple explanation to the best of her ability, but it likely didn't surprise the blonde. Putting pen to paper was something she frequently did, but the outcome hardly ever involved a string of letters. "Took a peek at yours last week, so. I'm gonna guess we're in the same boat."

And sure enough, as she placed the graded paper down on the surface, her mark matched, accentuated with a rather eloquent side bar note to its side; Plagiarism provides an automatic failing grade.

Disappointed.

With a descending whistle, Lucy crinkled her nose. "So harsh."

[Carleigh Davidson]

Carleigh was pleasantly surprised to hear that Lucy took the initiative to do the assignment. While she wasn't a huge fan of homework, it had to be done. There was no way around it. The only other option was to fail. At the thought, the blonde couldn't help the way her eyes flickered to Lucy's form, seated at the desk next to her. Senior class buddies.

She began an explanation, as Carleigh tilted her head to focus her attention on her. The teacher droning on in the background didn't provide enough interest, not to mention Carleigh wasn't the hugest fan of her. Wasn't it common courtesy to let her try again? Maybe not. She chuckled. "Love, you never take notes." She politely pointed out in the middle of Lucy's sentence.

With the rest of it, the grin fell into a frown. "Oh... damn, I'm sorry." Carleigh's eyebrows raised once at the comment. She would have been fine, had she not looked at her paper. Had she not read the wrong book. She wasn't even mad over the fact that Lucy took a glance at hers, but was mad at the fact that she dragged her down with her.

"No kidding." She answered, letting go of the silver ring. A sigh escaped her lips. "We wouldn't have both failed if I just... paid attention." Carleigh couldn't explain how or why, but she felt at least partially responsible. Not only for the assignment, but getting Lucy to pass. Nobody else seemed to care. Her own nose wrinkled at the thought.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

A momentary grin flashed across Lucy's lips at Carleigh's interjection. No, she didn't take notes. She never did. The only time she took pen to paper was to provide the illusion; her notebooks were filled with equal sketches and mindless drawings.

Raising a hand, Lucy waved it in her direction. There were no need for apologies here. Another bad mark was simply that. The repercussions of it would likely find her in another moment of time. "Don't even." She replied, nonchalantly. There were far more pressing things to get upset about, but she had a distinct feeling the blonde would take this accident to heart.

And true to the thought, Lucy was right. Carleigh's latter statement flagged her attention in a new way; concern in her dark eyes for a brief moment before she hauled it back. "Hey, look. These things happen, y'know? What's another failing grade in the larger scheme of... Failing grades?" She asked with a shrug, "You could say; here's an idea, Lucky. Why don't you bloody well pay attention for once?"

[Carleigh Davidson]

Lucy didn't appear to be concerned about the failed assignment; a reaction opposite to the blonde. One failed assignment in the grand scheme of things wasn't bad. Just a minor setback. There would be more chances to pull up her grade. Even if she wasn't concerned, the guilt still ran through Carleigh's mind.

Picking up her pencil, she began to tap the eraser end against the thick red felt on the top of her page. F for failure. Carleigh quickly turned the page over, her eyes averting from the page. She just couldn't stand to look at it. Maybe one day, she too would have the nonchalance that her wife possessed, but right now, it stung. Because she'd actually worked hard on the assignment. When Lucy casually mentioned failing grades on failing grades, her nose scrunched up. "That's a little harsh, don't you think?" There might have been some truth to her statement but the blonde would have phrased it differently.

Pausing to take a sip of her coffee, Carleigh fidgeted with the cup, eyes meeting Lucy's once again. "This year though... you're gonna graduate." She said, a voice full of determination. Did she have a plan? Not exactly. But she'd think of something. Someway, somehow, Lucy Serrano was going to be a grad of 2015.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

The fresh ink on Carleigh's report was beginning to irk Lucy. It was the obvious reasoning for the blonde's distress, and she'd have liked nothing more than to change it. They both knew there was a failing grade within the lines of that work, so why cement it with such a bold remark?

She didn't change it, but she wanted to. It would have been so easy for something that might have offered even the smallest hit of comfort.

Lucy shook her head. No, it wasn't that harsh. She could be harsher, and she knew that. But she was grateful that was still a fact Carleigh hadn't come to learn of - unless she kept her ear to the ground and bothered to listen to a word of what people said about the ink manipulator she was now calling a friend.

She turned her gaze to the blonde's hands, knowing well that she couldn't sit still when she was nervous. A small flick of her attention to the red mark on her paper, again.

"So confident." Lucy drawled, "You got plans to make that a thing? Or are you just handing out inspirational beliefs today to spite yourself."

[Carleigh Davidson]

Somehow, Carleigh never heard much about the infamous Australian before their flour baby assignment. She knew little things, like how Lucy was covered in tattoos and other small details. Nothing about the harsh words that she had the capability of unleashing. Had Carleigh heard anything about it at this point in their friendship, she'd brush it off with a laugh and assume it was a joke. There was no indication of it being there.

Another sip of coffee, followed by a pause. A question. Carleigh tore her eyes away from the paper to face Lucy, swiveling in her chair with crossed legs in the aisle. She let out a snort. "Oh, come on love, you can't tell me you want to stay here another year." Plans. "And maybe I do." Carleigh retorted, projecting confidence in her voice and posture. "Trust me. I'll make it happen. We so got this."

"And it's not inspirational; it's the truth."

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

A careful hand ran fingertips along the edge of the cup against her table. Time to talk about these things always felt important; how Carleigh managed to strike the Australian in such serious ways was still so far out of reach it threatened to annoy Lucy.

The ink manipulator rolled her eyes at the statement given to her. She hardly wanted this to be the place where she admitted she didn't want to have to stay. Certain things were still incredibly difficult to voice in any capacity; given her recent conversations with the psychometrist, leaving seemed more important than ever.

She reeled back in her seat at the idea that Carleigh had plans to drag the Australian through graduation with her.

"Pretty sure I don't wanna know." She replied, resting the brim of the lid against her lower lip. She raised her eyes from the red mark on Carleigh's paper, feeling the shift of the ink as the significant, highly unnecessary F on her page lost its shape and searched for something new; "Gonna start changing grades when no one's looking?"

[Carleigh Davidson]

Carleigh never expected to find such a serious friendship out of the one with Lucy Serrano. But it was a much needed friendship; a consistent in her life. A genuine friend that she could talk to about serious manners but still joke around with when the time called for it.

This was not one of those times. The blonde chewed on her lower lip, blue eyes on the Australian. An eye roll, but no verbal response. Carleigh would assume that the eye roll meant something along the lines of 'do you think I want to be here any longer?' because it fit. "No? You don't want to hear my plan?" She asked, pouting. Not that she had a plan. But Penny was smart. Penny was her girlfriend. It was just too convenient to not at least try. And even then, there was herself. A consistently average student.

She snorted. "You know it. Just start batting my eyelashes and stealing gradebooks." Carleigh ended with a grin, raising her own cup to her lips. She didn't take notice to the changing letter grade, not wanting to look back at her paper for the time being.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy offered a thoughtful shake of her head. More to the point, she assumed Carleigh had no definite plans. Maybe it was just nicer not to ask. Maybe she was sparing her the need to think of something concrete. Or maybe she really just didn't want to know. The failing grade at her desk made the situation all the more prominent.

"Relying on those big blues to hook you a decent win." Lucy denoted. She had to admit that the blonde's optimism and ability to make light of a clearly upsetting situation was completely welcomed.

But she rolled her shoulders back once in a shrug, glancing away momentarily. "Back home, grading with letters just... Isn't a thing." She explained, her nose twitching at the idea of giant red letters to articulate failure. "Never really understood it. Where did it even come from?" There, another sidelong glance to the F that was on her friend's page. Now bright pink; because if an insight into her room had been any indication, it was a favoured colour. Now a smiling face beaming back at her.

"What's the point of red, anyway. It's like you don't know you failed."

[Carleigh Davidson]

"Got to use 'em to my advantage." Carleigh said, a wide grin spreading across her face. She was doing her best to joke about the failing assignment situation, instead of dwelling on the negative. Because she wasn't the type of person to do that; her reputation as a bubbly blonde proved it.

The subject of graduation was dropped, for now, but it was likely that Carleigh would bring it up in the future. It was something she was concerned about, as Lucy's friend. Her gaze landed on the Australian, explaining how the education system was different. No letter grades. Carleigh had no answer for where it could have come from. Someone, at some point, had decided that letter grades would equal to a certain range of percentages. Those grades would then become a stressor for students, herself included. She gave a simple shrug, unsure if Lucy was looking for an answer or not.

"Who knows." Carleigh's nose scrunched up, taking another sip of coffee. "Too bad the grading system isn't like that here."

Her eyes fell to the page, noticing the colour change from red to a bright pink. It was enough to get a genuine smile out of the blonde.

"I guess it's kind of like the grade thing. It started off as a thing and now we all just know red is a marking colour." A harsh colour. It signified faults.

[Lucy Serrano-Blaise]

Lucy nodded purposefully, deciding it was better to keep her mouth shut. There were a lot of things she could say about the particular shade of blue Carleigh's eyes were, and she could spend a lot of time staring if given the opportunity. Such things were likely better left unsaid.

The Australian considered herself something of a pro at subject changing. If not for structured transitions - which sometimes weren't, anyway - it was the nonchalant method of carrying a moment that won her over. And she was momentarily proud to leave the subject of graduation. A classic duck and move combo. She'd used it a lot when she faced the topic with Carleigh.

With interest, she watched the expression of the blonde change. Small gestures hardly changed the actual grade, but a genuine smile was better than the broken expression she'd been offering moments prior.

"It's useless. Like, confidence crushing." She replied, or it might have been more of an admission. "I asked mum once - she's a high school teacher - and she said it indicates fault. Fault and probably that idea of a higher up criticising your work. So it's the standard. Red is a dictator's colour."

Momentarily, she considered the response her psychometric counterpart would give to such a statement. She'd have to point it out, later. A dictator's colour for the Redcoat herself.

"Anyway," She pressed on, intent to disallow herself the notion of getting caught up in obvious thoughts, "Do you think you can do it again if you ask nicely enough? Cause I don't think that's a thing for anyone else but you." Or perhaps, more to the point, it wasn't for repeater students who spent years building a negative rapport with a teacher.

[Carleigh Davidson]

There was only so long that the subject of graduation could be pushed away for. One month, and already it would be winter break. Carleigh couldn't wait too much longer without risking the possibility that it would be too late and her bae would repeating senior year... again. And clearly, what the blonde was doing was not enough and needed to recruit someone else.

Someone else being a certain British girl with a knack for academics.

The smile stayed on the blonde's face as her eyes tracked down Lucy's form briefly, her gaze landing back on brown eyes. "Totally." She agreed. If anything was hurt right now, it was Carleigh's confidence, which was hard to hit in the first place. "I don't think I'm ever going to look at the colour red the same." She wrinkled her nose. She didn't know about the comparison between dictators and teachers but that didn't seem important.

Finishing the last sip of coffee, Carleigh shrugged. "Maybe, I don't know though, isn't that kind of a suck up thing to do?" She had zero experience in asking for a redo. Usually, the blonde was fine with her Cs. "If I do, I want you to get a second chance too. It's only fair."