A tad too high [Max]

[Rodrigo Santos]

Rod was taking a nap. He was laying on the floor, or rather, the roof, enjoying the bright sunny day above him. He liked the quiet warmth spring brought to Hammel. It reminded him of home, with less druggies and a lot more rules. He didn't care though, or at least didn't mind at the moment. Not when there was that nice breeze and that nice sun warming him up above.

He'd escaped to the roof just for this, just to enjoy the quiet and solitude it brought. He could still hear laughter though, way down, and the monotonous voice of some nearby professor. Sometimes he could hear someone reply in a know it all voice in the background, right in the classroom below him and he would smile as he knew whose voice that was. Maybe that was why he was here, really, skipping his own class. Just to hear her nearby. It was so odd how into her he was, especially thinking he was far more into her than she was into him, which really messed him up. Not to mention, the whole idea that she would hide him, that she could be embarrassed of being seen with him, had left him feeling insecure about the whole thing. Plus the money issue. Goddamit, the money issue. What did other kids do with their girlfriends? He was pretty sure he was the only broken one in Hammel, or at least, one of the poorest students. 

Rod took a deep breath, moving to get a better position, trying to not think about it when he felt his fingers start to hurt. Better not get tense. That's right. Just let the faint noises lure you into-

"FUCK!" He jumped like a scary cat as he heard a noise nearby, his nails now fully out and he winced as he looked down at them. Okay, maybe that noise could'd been just some steps or maybe something else. Whatever it'd been, it probably had been caused by the guy now standing nearby. 

"Shit, dude!" Rod complained, glaring at him, "You scared the crap outta me!" 

[Maxwell Esposito]

Max had found his way to the roof one day while wandering around as he often did. At first he couldn't even remember exactly how he got up there, but he managed to find his way back down into Hammel and remembered the path as his own secret getaway. The only person he told it about was Rod, and that's because the guy offered him a smoke and they obviously couldn't partake in such things in or around the campus. The roof was a much safer place, so long as the two could get along for the duration of their time up there.

And although Max knew Rod knew how to get up there, he didn't expect to find the kid basking in the sun when he skipped math class that day. And clearly he hadn't expected Max to see him either, because when Max's feet hit a grate on the roof, Rod jumped like the roof was burning him, and his nails extended to full length. "Shit dude, chill!" Max urged, taking a step back, momentarily thinking Rod would lunge at him and pierce him with the daggers he called finger nails. "Who the hell dijya think it is?" The only other person who ever came up on the roof were security and maintenance guys - both of which Max could hear coming from three floors down. Max actually thought it was gutsy that Rod would be up there without him.

Max pulled the pack of cigarettes he'd pinched from his trainer from his back pocket, along with the sterling silver lighter he'd bought with an old paycheck - one of the only legitimate purchases he'd made in a while. He placed the cig between his lips and lit up, then tossed the pack toward Rod, figuring he might want one too. There was an unspoken rule between them that if one person managed to get a hold of some cigarettes, that they'd offer some up to the other. "Took 'em from James' office," Max explained after a long inhale, smoke leaking through his lips as he spoke. "Easiest pack I've ever snatched."

[Rodrigo Santos]

Max. It was Max. Rod leaned back down, sending the guy a glare. "Fuck man! Whatcha do that for?" He growled at the guy. "Shouldn't ya be in class?" He asked, though the guy was obviously skipping, just like he was. He sighed, trying to relax once again. "Thought ye were a teach or something." He mumbled, looking up at the sky again. Not like Rod was any new to detention, he just didn't want to be caught and ruin his afternoon with Syd. Study sessions! Oh yeah. He smiled dumbly at the thought. Oh wait! Max had smokes! Yeah!

Rod caught the box easily and grinned at his friend. "Awesome." He said as he pulled one out and turned it on with the lighter Max had thrown at him. "Hmm, the good kind." He said as he pulled the cigarette from his lips and blew out a cloud of dark smoke. So good. He closed his eyes once again and smiled as he could faintly make out his girl's voice from the classroom below.

"Ya hear that?" Said Rod with a smirk. Of course the boy did, it was a joke. "That loud, nagging, obnoxious voice?" His grin grew wider as he turned to Max, "That's my girl, man." He said finally, feeling proud. She was answering something or the other, or maybe asking questions herself. Ha! As if she didn't already know everything there was to know about anything. "She's smart." Of course she was. That was why she'd chosen the best guy in campus to date. The idea made him smile again and he closed his eyes so he could focus on it again. He wished he could have this dude's powers so he could hear her clearly. Ah, that would be nice to fill the time...

[Maxwell Esposito]

"Why the fuck would a teacher come up here?" Max asked as if it were the most obvious thing- that honestly the only person who could possibly be coming up on the roof this time of day. "And who are you to be tellin' me to be in class. You're up here too, moron." Max sat down slightly closer to Rod, but still a comfortable distance away. They weren't really friends after all... more like... accomplices. He took his pack of smokes back as soon as Rod took one out. He didn't need him sneakin' the whole pack, accident or not.

Part of the reason Max liked the roof so much was that it was relatively quiet. That being said, the boy still heard far too much for his liking. There were classes going on below them, and classes going on below that. And to the left, and to the right, and anywhere and everywhere. Max took a long drag of his smoke as Rod bragged, but his comments caused Max to raise an eyebrow. "Well firstly, from experience, girls don't usually like when you call them loud, nagging, or obnoxious," Max pointed out, wondering how any of those adjectives could possibly be a compliment.

"Secondly, of course I can fuckin' hear it. I can hear the vice principle taking a shit in the teacher's lounge bathroom too," Max commented, reminding Rod that -yes- he could hear things. Too many things. So many noises. "And loud, nagging, and obnoxious is an accurate description."

[Rodrigo Santos]

Rod growled at him. He was such a dick. "Well, what do I know?! It could be! Maybe you rat told on me." He knew Max was right, but he wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of letting him know that. Rod had been trying to nap! It wasn't his fault he got confused after waking up. "Well, I'm just thinking of yer future, Max." He added with a smirk, half glaring up at the guy. His glare intensified when Max took the box of cigarettes back. "What? I wasn't gonna take it!" He was going to, but he didn't need to know that.

The chicano chuckled at Max's points. He knew Syd would've hit him if she'd heard him calling her obnoxious or nagging or loud, but he still liked being mean to her. She was just so cute when she got mad, like a fluffed up little bird. But Max kept talking and Rod grinned widely as he seemed to get annoyed at his little joke. Good. Served him right for making fun of him before.

"Hey!" He said angrily, growling at him, "Ye can't say stuff like that 'bout her." Only he was allowed to say anything about Syd. "Anyway, jealous?" He asked, still grinning and placing his arms under his head, using his hands as pillows as he stared up at the sky. "She's super hot too. Got a nice pair of-" Wait, she didn't have a nice pair of. "Eyes." He finished. Dark brown eyes. Oh, how he liked those. He snorted then. "Least I got a girl in my life." As he said that he could faintly hear her speak up again and he smirked. She was probably having that one of one discussion with the professor thing nerds usually did. How did he end up with someone so smart anyway? He removed the cigarette from his lips and blew some more smoke out. Ah, this was life.

[Maxwell Esposito]

"Why the fuck would I let anyone know I even know about this place, ya fuckin' moron?" Max asked, letting out another puff of smoke as he spoke. Rod wasn't the brightest, and that was just one of the things that Max didn't particularly like about the guy. Max had a very low tolerance for stupidity - and not necessarily bad grades or anything like that. He didn't understand why it was important for anyone to know the capital of Morocco or the square root of negative 456. But if you lacked any form of common sense, Max had little time for you. Rod was definitely one of those people that seemed to lack it, in Max's eyes.

"You said it first!" Max pointed out, when Rod got defensive about his so-called-girlfriend. Max rolled his eyes as the kid went on bragging about his girl, obviously pausing to rethink the parts of the body he commented on. Max took a long drag when Rod put the nail in the coffin with his argument - that at least he had a girl. Max supposed that was fair. Although, Max wasn't particularly interested in having any sort of serious relationship any time soon. Relationships were emotionally and monetarily taxing - two things Max definitely wasn't interested in at the moment. "No comment," the brunette muttered before taking another drag.

"How the hell you'd get a smart girl?" Max asked the question Rod was already thinking. Though obviously Max's tone was much more accusatory. Max smirked. "Gotta be somethin' wrong with her if she chose a fuck-up like you."

[Rodrigo Santos]

Rod growled at Max as he called him a moron. "I ain't no moron, you asshole!" He replied in anger. "Why are ye here anyway? Came to spoil my fun?" Why else would he be around? Fucking Max, man. Rod was already getting mad, trying his best to keep his anger under control, mostly because he knew Sydney would get upset if she found a new wound on him. And then he went and insulted his girlfriend! Rod was already feeling his finger tips tickle and bend, and he took a deep breath. Good thing he was smoking or he'd have already launched at Max.

"I can say whatever I want." Said Rod, "Ye can't." Syd was HIS girl after all, not Max's. He could do whatever he wanted with her and say anything he wanted too. Nobody else could. When Max settled for 'no comment' Rod smiled proudly at him, thinking he'd just won an argument against Max, which was actually very hard to accomplish given how smart the brat was. So the chicano settled back down, for a moment forgetting his anger, the faint sound of Sydney's voice relaxing him again. And then Max spoke again.

"Hey!" Rod growled at him, his nails growing as he turned to the boy. It didn't help that Max seemed to have found the perfect button to press, considering Rod had been worrying about Sydney's comment on hiding him, as if he wasn't good enough for her. And now this jackass was just repeating that! "Take it back." He growled under his breath, glaring at the boy, already throwing his cigarette away and ready to leap if Max didn't apologise. No one talked about Syd. No. One.

[Maxwell Esposito]

"Put your talons away, wolverine, it was a joke," Max said without even flinching. Inside Max was afraid that perhaps one day Rod would actually lash out and really hurt him, but if there was one thing Max learned growing up where he had, it was never show your fear. "I gave you a damn cig, you should be happy I came up here!" Max insisted. "And then you gone and throw it away like it's nothing," Max added, watching the still still smoldering cigarette rolling slowly away from the boys.

"But you got to admit there's somethin' strange about a girl like that likin' a guy like you," Max reminded his acquaintance. He said it this time in a less mocking tone, one that almost came across as impressed, even. Almost. "Maybe you ain't no moron, but you ain't no genius either, man. And I was under the impression that genius chicks liked to stick to their own kind... unless shes got a thing for bad boys and thinks you somehow fall under that category," Max teased. A pestering smile graced his face as he gently held his smoke between his teeth before taking another puff.

"She anything to look at?" he asked, having only heard her voice to base his judgement.