Stop the World (Ella)

[James Lawrence]

Friday afternoon. James' final training session had wrapped up for the day, and he started to head back towards the school. He was beginning to feel more and more confident about his decision to come back to Hammel and work towards helping the students hone their powers, instead of selfishly focusing on himself and his music career. He still longed to be on stage, but as he grew older, the possibility became slimmer and slimmer. For now, James was content to keep it as a hobby and continue living life in Pilot Ridge. 

That said, life in a small town got boring. The nightlife, though surprisingly good, still didn't compare to what New York had to offer. 

With that thought came an idea. A crazy idea maybe, but one James felt the need to share, nonetheless. He thumbed the pack of cigarettes in his jacket, too excited to share his idea to stop and have a smoke. He walked through the school at a quick pace, on a mission. To go to a certain dorm monitor's room since it was a Friday and he had a promise to fulfill.

It didn't take him long before he paused in front of room number three, giving a quick knock to signify his presence. Though, James had to repress the urge to open up and blurt out his idea. That would ruin the calm and collected image he strove to maintain. But, he was excited. Ecstatic, even. Provided she agreed. 

[Ella Robbinson]

Ella honestly hadn't expect to see James again. As much as they talked and as strange as it had turned out, she was almost positive he'd find the means to avoid his declaration that they'd meet up.

But it didn't change the fact that she was still finished work. With little idea as to what she should do for the rest of the day, she simply went home. Part of her might have been waiting; lingering false hope in the back of her mind as she tried her best to keep herself busy.

Then there was a sudden knock. Ella raised her eyebrows, but really, she was sure it would be some student requiring quick assistance for some mundane task. Getting up, she made her way towards the door, brushing her fingers through her as she pulled it open.

Instantly, surprise coloured her expression.

"You're-" Ella started, unsure of how she should finish apart from a single word; "Here."

[James Lawrence]

The time spent waiting for her to answer the door felt like an eternity. James' ran a hand over the strands of slicked back hair, unconsciously going over any imperfections in his appearance. His hand fell idly back into his pocket, holding onto the pack of cigarettes again. Nervous. Definitely nervous. He couldn't explain why or how she managed to make him feel that way by existence alone.

James could hear her approaching the door, a hand on the doorknob. Straightening up, his arms fell to his side casually as her face appeared. An involuntary smile brought the corner of his lips up. She seemed shocked by his presence and he tilted his head to the side slightly as a response.

The smile widened, a chuckle escaping his lips. "Of course." James answered with a nod. "Today's Friday, isn't it?" He'd broken promises before, but this was a promise he wasn't taking lightly. His gaze landed on her face, her features, before settling on her eyes.

"Were you not expecting me to show up?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

[Ella Robbinson]

It was a small process, but moments after she spoke, Ella glanced down to the particular smile he was wearing. As much as she might regret being so surprised, there was little she could do to stop the involuntary reaction. Given what she knew of him - which primarily stemmed from a high school reputation - Ella felt she had every reason to assume he'd forget. Or that maybe he was never genuine in the first place.

It was judgemental, she knew. But so were most people.

"It is Friday." She replied with a small nod, glancing back to his eyes again as her hands pressed against the side of the door. The small break refused to allow another person inside.

She immediately wondered if honesty was the right call to make, here. The question he posed to her seemed to have its own answer; an answer already articulated by her own outlandish expression.

"I wasn't," She replied. She supposed after the look she gave him, lying wouldn't make sense, "I thought you'd forget. Or have something better to do."

[James Lawrence]

Movement from the side of her body caused James' eyes to avert, hands blocking the space that would allow for him to enter. Then again, it was kind of presumptuous to think that she would even think about letting him in. His gaze went back to her face, catching her eyes. Since it was Friday, he was here, still thinking about how she would feel about his suggestion.

No matter how hard he tried, Ella always managed to disrupt his cool demeanor.

Her reply was short and honest; James had come to expect that much from her. "Not the case." He answered, without hesitation. He'd been looking forward to it, actually. Nodding towards the room, James asked "Can I come inside? Or are we going to continue the tradition of talking between door frames?" as his lips curled into a lighthearted smirk.

Unless she didn't want to see him; a case James immediately brushed off as absurd.

[Ella Robbinson]

Not the case. The words passed his lips so easily, and Ella fought the urge to glance at where they'd come from. There wasn't an ounce of hesitation from him as he spoke; almost like he knew she'd be surprised. Or that she'd be honest. Trying to figure out how this was supposed to go was always a difficulty. "Clearly." She replied, her tone light given how easily the single word could have been taken negatively.

Momentarily, she glanced behind herself towards the place she called home. As home as one could be in a technically share place with so many students.

"If you'd like." She replied, easing the door open as she stepped aside. "There's not much to look at." Because the place itself wasn't much; some single bedroom apartment perfectly crammed into the first floor of the dorms. Despite the floor space, the comfort it provided was everything it was supposed to be. Most notably, the place itself had little of the hemokinetic imprinted onto it. Years living there and she still hadn't found the means to make it her own. To make it home.

[James Lawrence]

The tone of her voice was light as well; the two of them joking about their interesting track record. As unusual as their dynamic was, James wouldn't change the way she always kept him guessing, always a little bit unsure. His smirk softened into something that resembled more of a grin.

She stepped back from the space underneath the door frame, giving him permission to step inside. James followed behind her, allowing his eyes to wander around the room. Anything to give an indication of her interests, or hobbies, or something. Instead, brown eyes were met with blank canvases on the wall, no touch of the girl standing in front of him in the room. He almost wanted to ask if this was just a temporary room, with how little the place was decorated. But that alone spoke volumes about her.

Trying to mask his surprise, James' eyes landed on her. When he walked into a bedroom, his intentions were normally not to have a conversation. The less talking, the better. He had to fight the urge to divert his attention to her bed, which was undeniably hard. But he managed. "You don't like to decorate?" James asked, his gaze flickering down to her lips for a couple of seconds before back up to her eyes. It wasn't the question he wanted to ask, but the curiosity was overwhelming. 

[Ella Robbinson]

With another step, Ella closed the door behind him. She briefly kept her gaze to the back of the door, knowing without looking that he was likely glancing around the room. Maybe even picking it all apart. She didn't know where his mind might take him. How could she?

Finally, she straightened her back and turned around, hands leaving the door and interlocking together behind her back instead.

Eyes widened a touch when she caught where his eyes were going. He did that a lot, didn't he? It must have been a generic reflex or something.

"It's not that." She replied, though she knew the reasoning was going to be weak before she offered it. "It's hard to feel like you're home when you're in a dorm building." More specifically, the same dorm building she already lived in for a good five years. But that hardly needed to be said. "Plus, I don't have a whole lot to put up anyway." Family photos were scarce, as were a majority of sentimental things she might have placed around the area to make it more personal.

[James Lawrence]

With his eyes on hers, it was easier for James to ignore the rest of the room, an unfocused blur in the background at this point. He hadn't noticed that he'd been caught looking; she gave no clear indication or some sort of reprimand.

Although he felt there was more too it, James had to agree with her statement. Being around students 24/7 had to be draining. At the end of the day, he could leave campus and go home, but this was her home. Still, James thought that this would be a sanctuary of sorts, a place that she could make hers. But, he was confident in assuming that the room looked almost, if not identical, in comparison to the day she moved in. He raised a questioning eyebrow when she said there wasn't a lot to put up. "Nothing?" James asked, pausing only to gather a second question. "Humour me; tell me something about yourself." He would have clarified something he already didn't know, but that did little to narrow it down.

Not to mention, it stalled for time as he gathered the courage to ask. As excited as James had been before, he feared that she would say no.

[Ella Robbinson]

Ella quickly supposed that there wasn't a whole lot of difference between 'not a whole lot' and 'nothing'. Truly, he was well within his rights to make such an assumption; now that he'd seen it, he had a better insight than most. But before she could respond and agree with him by any means, he asked her a question.

It felt rare, but it was so simple. The broad nature of the request itself instantly forced her mind to go blank. Without a narrowed parameter, Ella wasn't sure where to start. She didn't want to default to anything negative, but it was a complete reflex. Thankfully, she stopped herself before she delved into the details of her personal life. Of her family life. And in that moment of stagnancy, she quickly denoted that he didn't want to learn about that anyway.

"Good or bad?" She asked in return, well aware that the latter far outweighed the former when it came to the past.

[James Lawrence]

The question left James' mouth before he could think much about it. A quick look around the room normally gave a hint or two about a person's interests or hobbies, and there was nothing for him to go off of. His apartment showed his love for music, with his guitar and a shelf dedicated to his CD collection. His eyes darted around the small space one last time, searching for some sort of indication.

Eventually, James gave up. His gaze landed back on Ella, awaiting a response. Anything worked, big or small. It was difficult to define a person within a few character traits, and proved to be incredibly hard with her.

He couldn't help the amused grin that appeared on his face for a moment. Of course, she would ask that. He took a moment to think about what she knew about him and realized that that list had the potential to be short as well. He remembered their conversation in the halls of the high school, when they were young, and he had told her things about his addiction and reasoning behind it. "Either one." James answered, not wanting to make that decision for her. Part of him was curious as to what negative things she could possibly say about herself.

"But, if I have to choose, bad. Mostly because I want to see what you think is bad about yourself."

[Ella Robbinson]

Either one. Ella took it with a bolster of confidence for the fact that she didn't need to delve too far. Except that considering anything good was suddenly a quick struggle.

And he amended that, whether he knew it or not.

"I..." Ella mused lightly, taking a spare set of seconds in order to consider how to best respond to that. Something bad. It was always supposed to be something bad. Really, she would have opted for the same thing. Bad options said a lot more about a person. What, did he want to learn more about her? Make some kind of connection or... Something?

"I got held back for two years." She admitted finally, "I was here for a long time after you left."

[James Lawrence]

James didn't speak until she did, letting her think about what to say. How to answer the question he posed. He took the time to also think about something he could offer in return; something bad she didn't already know about him.

What she admitted came as a surprise to James, the shock loud and clear on his face. After their one and only conversation, he had gone on to graduate that year. She stayed behind and continued her life in Pilot Ridge. "Power training?" He asked, knowing that was a thing. She didn't strike him as the unintelligent type. The contrary, actually.

"You've been here all along." James added on. She'd never left. There were underlying implications in his tone of voice, but he pretended not to notice that they were there at all. He wouldn't call it fate meeting her here again, rather a coincidence that he was sure to take advantage of the second time around.

It took a lot of energy for him to muster up his own response. "I... left town, with one goal in mind; to become a well known musician. And I failed." Admitting failure was hard, especially for someone who took such pride in their image. He didn't even know if she wanted to hear something about him. But he spoke, anyway. 

[Ella Robbinson]

The moment he asked if it had to do with power training, Ella found herself wearing mild surprise. Truth be told, she had no idea what he was doing back at the school; she had no idea he was a powers trainer. "Yes." She replied, lightly. Because in the same motion, she knew it was an issue that plagued several students over the years. And so she chalked it up to that.

And she nodded to the denotion he offered. She hadn't been lying when she said she never left, and there it was; cemented with a little more proof.

The last thing she expected after that silence was a reciprocated answer. She felt as if it were an inevitable pattern they were falling back into - so unlike one to offer something so personal, let alone the other. What James ended up offering her seemed to strike her more than the prior understanding, and she opened her mouth to speak before she could rightly consider the words she was going to offer.

"This was your second choice," Ella said, as lightly as she could manage. But it almost felt a little bitter, "This was my only one."

[James Lawrence]

Her answer confirmed what James was already thinking. It seemed impossible for someone like her to be held back for academic reasons. He didn't think much of the surprise that coloured her expression, since it was subtle. "It happens to a lot of students." He offered. Not to dismiss her confession or to make her feel insignificant, but to offer reassurance. That she wasn't a failure for needing a little more time.

Had he thought about it for a longer period of time, James might not have given an answer. He was still a smoker; that hadn't changed from his high school years. It was a weak confession in comparison to the secret he'd been harbouring. The real reason why James found himself back in Pilot Ridge with his teaching certificate and deflated dreams.

It was a pattern between the two; sharing secrets that never seemed to find the light. James' gaze stopped on hers, swallowing hard at her next statement. That staying was her only choice. His eyebrows furrowed together, a mixture of surprise and confusion. "Why was this your only choice?" He asked, forgetting the boundaries that he was surely crossing at this point. His eyes didn't leave her face. "You didn't have to stay here." But she did.