Do Not Disturb (Open)

[Isaac Marcotte]

Isaac slipped through his new dorm room avoiding eye contact with anyone in his way. Warm sunlight streamed through the windows. Strange how it can look so warm, but feel so cold. Isaac was feeling the same way about his life. He had always dreamed of traveling far far away for his little town. But now that he had his wish there was nothing he wanted more than his own bed; to go back home where he belongs. And on that note Isaac comes the door to his new room. This will be his room for the rest of his childhood. Isaac shuddered at the thought.


Isaac walked in and immediately was engulfed by the emptiness of the room. The emptiness was more than a lack of "Stuff' in the room. Isaac could not find words to describe the blankness of the room. The walls were a dead white. The sheets on the bed looked like they had been taken off of a cadaver. Even the window added to the morose ambiance. Isaac looked out of it and saw little people, far away, living their little lives unaware of Isaac's existence. Isaac felt as if he were sitting in a vacuum. Empty of all thoughts... emotions...hope.


A thunderous crash came up through the floor and shook Isaac out of his personal pity party. It sounded as if an elephant has fallen upon a piano. Despite his melancholy mood Isaac couldn't help but smile at the image. He threw his small suitcase on his bed and began to unpack. Six long sleeved shirts, one Sunday shirt, seven pairs of jeans, a pair of seekers and boots. It wasn't much, but at least it didn't take long to unpack.


Isaac sits and stares at his few possessions. His mind wanders back to his home his friends his family. He was never really close to them, but at least he had never been alone. His eyes start to get wet, and a lump began to form in his throat. Strangely, Isaac didn't care. Usually he tries hard to avoid crying, but this time it is just too much. His body, unused to being permitted to cry, takes a while to get started. And just as he got into the full swing of things he heard a knock on the door. He stayed silent hoping the intruder would just go away.

[Jordan Scholl]

Ordinarily Jordan would not have bothered. Seriously, was it his business if someone was having a bad day? But this was his new roommate, which meant a few things. First, Jordan needed to get on his good side in case of future disputes. Aaron already didn't like him, so it would be good to have another friend. More importantly, though, it meant that the guy was making a lot of noise while Jordan was trying to get his homework done.

He knocked on the door, quietly at first, then louder. "Um, are you all right?" he asked. The new guy was quiet, which was good. But now that Jordan had shown an interest, he figured it would be better if he didn't just wander away.

Make friends, make friends...

"So, uh, if you need to talk to anyone, you know there are counselors and stuff, right?" It wasn't something Jordan himself was familiar with--he'd come to school knowing what to expect and was still visiting his family on a regular basis (those he didn't see every day, anyway). "You can go down to the office, there's lots of people there."

Realizing what an awkward beginning to the conversation that was, he put his hand on his chest to introduce himself. "I'm Jordan, by the way. I've been here for, like, a year now. I know the school pretty well, if you have any questions."

[Isaac Marcotte]

Unfortunately the intruder decided to enter. And on top of that he also decided to ask stupidest question possible. “Are you all right?” the intruder said! One would think THAT was perfectly obvious! No I am Not all right, thank you very much! Isaac wanted to say. I have been here less than 24 hours, and I’m already labeled as the cry baby! Now leave! Isaac wanted to scream this at his new intruder, but he steadied himself. The time has come for damage control, he told himself. What is the best way to approach this situation?

Where exactly did he stand? Firstly he had been caught crying. Most likely some, if not all of he roommates, heard him. Secondly this intruder had decided to take it upon himself to…well…intrude. He did not seem very comfortable dealing with a crying new guy, so why did he come in? Was it obligation, pity, empathy, some combination of these?

Before Isaac could figure out what exactly was going on, and how he should react, the boy continued, "So, uh, if you need to talk to anyone, you know there are counselors and stuff, right? You can go down to the office, there's lots of people there." Ah, helpfulness was his motivation. Except this boy didn’t want to personally help; he didn’t want to get his hands dirty. It made sense.

So now for the hard question: how was he supposed to get out of this situation with out looking stupid to the intruder? The general idea was easy; the boy wanted to help so Isaac would make himself easy to help. But how exactly could he do that? Isaac decided to wing it.

“Yes, thank you. I think I will go talk to them” Isaac said; he smiled and put on (what he hoped to be) a brave face. That should be good enough Isaac thought. He wanted to help me without getting his hands dirty, and he has succeeded. He can leave now.

Only then did Isaac realize that he had just let the conversation slip into an awkward pause. The boy was still standing in the doorway not making any indication that he wanted to leave. In fact he was acting as if he had more to say, but he wasn’t saying anything. What did the boy want? He did what he set out to do, he helped!

"I'm Jordan, by the way. I've been here for, like, a year now. I know the school pretty well, if you have any questions." O! he wants to be MORE helpful. Well Jordan you could help by going away! Isaac thought sarcastically. Instead of saying what he was thinking Isaac wiped his eyes and smiled. (Strange how people love to see others smile; especially when they are trying to help.) “Yes you can actually.” Isaac said “I am curious, how do I get to the music room from here? Some one has already explained it to me but I have forgotten” Isaac leaned forward as if nothing in the world were more important than Jordan’s reply

[Jordan Scholl]

So...no answer. That probably meant he wasn't all right. He looked like he might have been crying. But not anymore; that was a good thing!

Jordan smiled back. "Okay, cool. Dr. Neville's pretty good, I've heard. Or one of the others...they're all pretty cool. And they deal with this stuff all the time." Or so he'd heard. Again, he hadn't really depended on it himself.

Still smiling--that was good! Hey, someone else who potentially didn't hate him! Now if only Jordan had about three more friends, he could have a posse and take on the rest...no, don't let your mind get ahead of you.

"Um, the music room? Well, it's over in the basement of the performance building, where the auditorium is, but why do you want to go there? Are you in band or something?" He wrinkled his nose. "I hate practicing in there. It's always really disgusting, and people leave gum all over the stands. And then everyone keeps interrupting you. Usually I just practice in my room, or outside if it's nice weather. What instrument do you play?"

And, shockingly enough, he was actually interested. Aside from spying on others and digging up all their embarrassing information, one of the few things Jordan liked was music and playing his guitar. He'd tried soccer here, but the team didn't work out as well as he'd hoped--too many people he didn't get along with, so that had even fallen away. Was this another music person he could talk to?

[Isaac Marcotte]

“A musician, how fun!” Isaac though almost sarcastically. Isaac was in conflict: this boy had infringed on Isaac's pity party therefore Isaac was determined not to like him. But he was the first musician Isaac had ever met who was his own age. Isaac wanted to be excited about meeting a fellow artist, but he didn't want to admit his original assumption was incorrect. In the end Isaac decided to change his mind about this boy, and like him.

What tipped the scales in the boys favor was his description of the band room. Obviously this boy was a notch above the other gum-sticking annoying- interrupters that constituted the other members of the band. If Isaac was going to become friends with a musician it might as well be a good one.

“I usually practice in my room,” the boy said. Well I guess that means the boy plays something other than a piano Isaac thought. Either that or this school is way more wealthy than Isaac thought. Isaac thought back to the few musicians he had seen in the city. Nearly all of them were guitarists. Odds are this boy is one of them. Pity thought Isaac. He didn't believe an instrument could be important if it only played cords. But still it should be fun to play with him.

“I play the piano,” Isaac said, “mostly I dabble in the classics. Brahms, Mozart, and the like. It looks like I'll be stuck playing in the Band room.” Isaac gave a little smile “What about you? What instrument do you play? Must be small if you get to play outside. ” It was only fair that the boy tell since Isaac had already told.

In Isaac's perfect world there would be a piano outside, but so far Isaac had never met a rich person who shared his view. Isaac shuddered at the thought of the piano in the “disgusting” band room. It was probably out of tune and had sticky keys. Isaac wished he owned his own instrument. Perhaps if he complained to the right people Isaac could get the piano tuned.

[Jordan Scholl]

"Wow, piano!" That instrument had always seemed too difficult for Jordan to learn. And really unwieldy. And a little...old. But it still sounded good, and all bands could use a keyboard. This was something to keep in mind. "Have you been practicing for a while?" That was probably a dumb question--he played the classics. "I mean, I guess you have. Sorry, that was dumb." He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

"Pretty small. I play guitar. I don't get to practice that much, though. There's a lot of schoolwork, and then there's training, and I have other activities. I mostly like Country music. I like the chords and harmonies and stuff. Cash has some good stuff..." He slowly realized that this person probably didn't care at all about this stuff. Country didn't exactly have a lot of great piano pieces.

"So, do you have something to practice on here?" Jordan asked, glancing around. It seemed like a valid question--the guy might have an electric keyboard he used. "Or are you just going to have to use the school instruments?" That, of course, could really suck.

"The main school piano isn't really good; I think it's just like a square piano or whatever. But I think one of the teachers has a grand piano somewhere. One of them is a really big music guy. His name is Bradley, uh..." Jordan couldn't remember his last name at this point, though the face was clear in his mind. "Jeeves, or something. I can look it up, I have it in my notes somewhere if you're really interested."

[Aaron Walker]

((hope y'all don't mind if I just in here))

AJ didn’t spend too much time in his room. Not because he hated Jordan, although the other boy did confuse the heck out of him (who could think any of AJ’s schemes adventures were anything less than genius?), but the small area of their dorm room didn’t offer much in the way of exploration. But every so often he did have to make an appearance. If only to throw on some clean clothes.

He was surprised to hear noises coming from the area. Usually he was the one making the ruckus while Jordan tried to explain that keeping the noise down after 2am was a rule…or something like that.

“Jordan, you finally loosing up?” AJ asked, bursting into the room without bothering to knock. “It’s about time. What do you say we see if we can find some ice cream in the freezer downstairs? We could make forts out of it for gummy bears…with rivers of hot fudge! And then—“ He had noticed the other boy when he first walked in, but was too excited for introductions. Suddenly it occurred to him that this other kid was he new roommate. He remembered one of the teachers or other staff mentioning to him that someone would be moving in soon.

“New guy?” he asked, before plopping himself onto new guy’s bed. “You like ice cream?” He grinned, waiting for the other boy to return the gesture. Surely everyone loves ice cream. And rivers of hot fudge.

[Isaac Marcotte]

Isaac did practice; a lot. Almost every single day for the past...four years. Woh, Isaac hadn't thought about it before, but he had been playing for over a quarter of his life. Time flies. The assumption that one must be talented to play the classics was not true in Isaac's case. There were very few original pieces that Isaac could play.

"I mostly like Country music. I like the chords and harmonies and stuff. Cash has some good stuff..." Darn, Isaac was right. A chord playing, country music loving, sorry excuse for a musician. Who ever decided that country music should be considered an art form should get shot. Seriously, ANYONE can yodel into a microphone. Yet half the world seems to be addicted to the stuff...

"So, do you have something to practice on here?" What?!? did Isaac have a piano in his dorm room? How rich did this guy think Isaac was? Seriously what sort of people go to Hammle that having a piano in your room is normal. Isaac could never afford to buy his own piano. Isaac began to wonder just how poor he was compared to the rest of the students at Hammel. He had no idea that the boy was talking about an electric piano because Isaac had no idea such things could exist.

Fortunately as these thoughts were going through Isaac's head, the boy kept talking. Isaac was spending so much energy trying to understand the implications of the boy's question that he barely registered any of the other words that were coming out of his mouth....Normal... to have.... a Piano...in your room...

With these thoughts flying around his head Isaac could only barely squeak out “I'll just use the school piano” Only after a length of time did Isaac realize that he must have the most stupid horrified expression on his face. Thankfully the boy had kept talking. Maybe Jordan hadn't seen the look on Isaac's face. Maybe but unlikely. For the second time in the conversation Isaac would be on damage control.

As Isaac was waiting to see how Jordan would react, the best/worst possible thing happened. The weirdest most atypical human Isaac had ever seen burst into the room.

On one hand the last thing Isaac wanted to do was deal with: a mentally unstable, overly extroverted, ice cream addict. Isaac should be drowning in self pity right now, not dealing with these bozos. On the other hand this idiot had just saved him from a very sticky social situation. Isaac should be glad for that...but for some reason he wasn't.

This new boy spouted about thirty words in ten seconds. Isaac could understand about half of them. The idiot plopped himself down on Isaac's bed, and gave a grin a that looked like it belonged on a small monkey. There was nothing Isaac wanted more than to glare at this moron till he left. But no point in making enemies with such a friendly person.

Isaac smiled. Big enough to make the idiot like him, but not so big that Jordan would think less of him (at least that was what he was going for) “Of course I do.” Isaac held out his hand “I'm Isaac. What's your name”

Jordan, who was in no way adept at social interaction, was obviously uncomfortable being in the same room as the idiot. It wasn't like Isaac blame him; that kid was nuts. Isaac had an idea that would get him out of this room, and make Jordan like him more. It was risky but the reward outweighed the risk. “Jordan just promised he would show me where the music room is. You should scout out some ice cream for us, and we can have some when we get back”
Isaac was betting on three things. First, Jordan actually wanted to go to the music room. Second, the idiot did not want to join them. Third, the moron would take the bait and leave.

[Jordan Scholl]

"Well, if you're stuck with the school piano, you'll still probably run into Bradley Whats-his-name anyway, and he's really good, so he'll probably let you practice on his piano. Because it's actually kind of nice." Jordan wasn't so good at picking up on facial expressions, or he would have commented on the confused expression the guy had. As it was, he hardly noticed.

But then, of course, AJ showed up. Of course. Because he was always popping in, saying the most random crap, and then bounding away. He was like Tigger squared.

And then the new kid smiled and held out his hand and introduced himself. That was a better reception than Jordan had gotten. Now he knew the kid's name--Isaac. Shoot, it looked like AJ was going to win over another roommate. They would probably spend all night talking again, and then what if there was another dog...Jordan didn't think he could handle that.

He shifted his weight from foot to foot, impatient to get out of AJ's range. The guy was prone to sudden hugging attacks. He backed against the wall as his hyperactive roommate plopped down on Isaac's bed.

"Wait, huh?" Jordan said, listening to Isaac. He'd had no intention of actually leaving the apartment. And now Isaac was encouraging AJ. "Hey, how about this instead. AJ should go hang out with Jared and get ice cream. Because you guys are good friends and all that. I've still got work to do, but if you want to go scout out the music room then you're free to do that. I just wanted to introduce myself and make sure you were doing okay."

Everyone should just...leave him alone. He didn't want to be dragged along on any wild escapades.

[Aaron Walker]

AJ reached out and shook Isaac’s hand vigiously. “Awesome!” he said, still grinning. “I’m AJ. I live here too. At Hammel. I mean in this room at Hammel. I mean…we’re roommates. So it’s good you like ice cream. And I know you name, I guess.” He started to bounce a little on the bed, still excited about the idea of an ice cream expedition.

AJ smiled up at Jordan, not understanding that the boy was upset with him. “Yeah,’ he continued, turning back to Isaac. “You should totally meet Jared. He likes ice cream too!” He got up off the bed and started walking around the room to check out Isaac stuff around the room.

“Awh come on Jordan,” he said, shoving his roommate playfully. “You can take a few minutes to show Isaac the music room, right?” he leaned in to whisper the next sentence. “After all, he is new and all.”

Hopping back onto the bed beside Issac, he threw is arm around the other boy. “All work and no play makes Jordan a…a…boring boy?” he said, forgetting how the saying went. ‘Right buddy?”

[Isaac Marcotte]

Isaac was not sure who Jared was or what he had to do with it, but Isaac did know that Jordan had completely let him down. Isaac couldn't believe how dense this Jordan guy was. Seriously it isn't even that complected. I don't want to be here you don't want to be here so we leave... It isn't rocket science. “I just wanted to introduce myself and make sure you were doing okay." Bull you wanted to stick your nose in Isaac's business just to annoy him, and when he really needed you, you just bailed out.

And this AJ character...Seriously? Isaac had trouble believing that kid was as idiotic as he was acting. Perhaps AJ was just trying to get on Jordan's nerves. If that was the case AJ was doing an amazing job. Jordan looked like he might melt through the floor any second. But the look in AJ's eyes as he bounced up and down on the bed was to genuine; no one could fake that look.

“You should totally meet Jared. He likes ice cream too!” Is that how people are defined in Hammel Isaac wondered. Is there some secret code that no one told me about? Is there some alternate meaning to “liking ice cream.” O carp I told him I “liked ice cream” I sure hope that it doesn't have some significant meaning.

All of a sudden Isaac began attaching different meanings to the words AJ was saying. If “liking Ice cream” could have alternative meanings heck anything could. The sentence “After all, he is new and all.” became especially worrisome. Isaac had a sudden desire to run away .

“I believe the word is dull,” Isaac said quietly “but boring works too”

[Jordan Scholl]

"I'm not dull," Jordan muttered. It just so happened that all of his activities were rather clandestine, so he often wasn't able to talk about all the cool stuff he was doing. That was it. Really.

He sighed heavily. "All right, yeah, I guess I can show him the music room." He really didn't want to leave, but AJ was, unfortunately, right. It was the nice thing to do. "Do you want to go now or did you want to finish unpacking and stuff first?"

But, of course, that was not the real issue at hand. Jordan was lazy and didn't want to walk to the music room, but he also didn't think that Isaac should be subjected to AJ's hyperactivity. "Hey, AJ!" he said. "You should go get that ice cream. Right now. Don't worry, I think Isaac can handle his stuff all by himself." This, of course, was to prevent the guy from trying to unpack everything.

People who got all up in your business were so annoying.

"You know, I didn't ask before, but how old are you, actually? Because people come in at all different ages, and I just wasn't sure...I mean, I was thirteen when I got here, but now I'm fourteen. Lots of people come here when they're thirteen or fourteen. Maybe we'll have some classes together, or something." He shrugged to show he wasn't really all that excited about the idea of having someone who he didn't hate/hated him in a class.

This guy didn't hate him yet, right?

[Isaac Marcotte]

Isaac heard Jordan's muttering. He was sorely tempted to respond “No just stupid.” The only reason Isaac had to endure the mindless blatherings of AJ was that Jordan refused to take the hint. And on top of that Isaac had to figure out exactly what “liking ice cream” means around here. Isaac didn't have a very creative mind, but already he had thought of many disgusting meanings for the term.

Then there was a sigh, and wonder of wonders the idiotic boy finally got the hint. Or perhaps he didn't. Jordan didn't look nearly as excited as Isaac thought he would. Instead of looking like a boy who just escaped a horribly awkward situation, Jordan looked like he just got shanghaied into cleaning toilets. Seriously man! This is what you want, be happy.

Isaac looked around...he hadn't really brought much other than what he had already put out. Considering he didn't have any pianos to unpack. He had brought his cloths, his school supplies, his journal, and that was it really. He didn't have that much stuff to begin with. No posters to put up on the wall. No pictures of family. Nothing to make Hammel feel like home. “Now would be good” Isaac said “I can always finish unpacking later”

Ok, Isaac thought to himself, objectives one and two have been accomplished. Now, to get rid of AJ. But Jordan was way a head of Isaac; Jordan had already sent the lunatic on his mission for the Ice cream (what ever that means exactly). Isaac had to admit, Jordan handled the situation quite well. He used nice short sentences so that AJ could understand him. And the emotion Jordan used was near perfect; a mixture between battle speech excitement, and how people speak to puppies.

This Jordan kid was king of the useless phrase. Yes, Isaac did know that Jordan had not yet asked about his age. And what did he mean “actually”? Isaac doubted that the word had any meaning at all. But instead of saying these things Isaac said,“I am fourteen too. My schedule has not been finalized yet, so I don't know if we have any classes together.” Isaac returned the shrug as if to apologize for not yet having a schedule.

To say Isaac hated Jordan would be an overstatement. After all Hate is a strong word. More accurate would be, Isaac thought Jordan was just as stupid as all the other Hammle people he had met. ought Jordan was just as stupid as all the other Hammle people he had met.

[Aaron Walker]

((sorry this is late...and crappy))

“Dull?” AJ said, pausing to see how the word sounded. ‘Yeah, that sounds right,” he smiled and patted Isaac on the back. “Thanks pal!” He grinned at the other boy, positive that they were quickly becoming the best of friends. AJ was so excited about the possibility of having a roommate that he actually got along with. He missed Izzy and even though he hadn’t gotten to know Rhett that well at least he had brought a puppy into his life, if only for a short while.

Maybe this new kid could help AJ to get Jordan to relax a little, loosen up, and have some fun.

“Okay, awesome!” AJ said jumping up and running to the door. “We have a plan!” He was almost out into the hallway when he heard Jared continuing the conversation. “You’re fourteen?” he asked Isaac running back into the room. “Me too! So maybe I’ll see ya around in class. Wouldn’t that be great?”