Oh What a Day [ Jared ]

[Egan Monroe]

It wasn’t a good day by any stretch of the imagination, but neither, had it yet, turned into a particularly bad one. Oh it had been a doozy alright, no doubt about it. Egan, usually perfectly punctual, had overslept by nearly thirty minutes. He had had to throw on a pair of jeans and bolt to his classroom, getting his shirt and shoes on as he ran. Despite the multitasking, however, he was still five minutes late, and the teacher was quite cross with him for it.

Now one might think “oh, that’s not so bad. Everyone oversleeps. It’s expected!” but ah, that wasn’t the only thing that happened. Not only was the poor boy late, oh no, but he had completely forgotten his book bag on the floor next to his bed, complete with his homework for the day, note-taking paper, and his school books. Another scolding. Poor Egan, by the end of class, was close to tears. He had rarely gotten berated by his teachers in the past. Very, very rarely, as in, once, maybe twice, in his entire lifetime. To more than double that rate in a single hour crushed him.

But the day wasn’t over, oh no. Things did start to get better, however. After a quick run back to his dorm, Egan arrived at his next class on time and with the required materials. He even managed to answer a question at more than a whisper, and the teacher gave him a smile for that. He was rather infamous for how shy he was, but an answer was an answer and a smile was a smile.

Egan was on his way to his third class, English, when things started getting rough again. He was in the hall, and, as usual, he seemed to be the only student wanting to go in the direction he needed to go. He tried to push against the current, but a very tall boy, one Egan recognized as being quite the spiteful bully, seemed to hone in on him and rammed into his shoulder. Egan’s book bag went flying and he toppled over, barely catching himself with his elbows before his face gave the floor a very sloppy hug.

[Jared Park]

True, Monday’s aren’t particularly fun considering that they’re what some may call the party-pooper that signals weekend’s end (and the subsequent start of a usually stressful school week), but Jared’s managed to get a relatively ‘amicable’ relationship with Mondays – he’s arranged his schedule so that he starts later than usual (hooray study block), thus having time to get some extra sleep or sneak in a few works he’s failed to finish during his weekly Sunday cram sessions.

This week wouldn’t have been any different – cramming and the like – had his computer not crashed the night before, sending him back to square one with his (already) three-page essay on Macbeth’s Act1. And he couldn’t really blame anyone by himself; it was his own foot that unplugged his laptop, and since the battery wasn’t there as he was using it as a desktop computer, it turned off. Recovery only gave him the first five paragraphs of his work.

Frustrated beyond compare, Jared told himself that he’d just finish it that Monday morning. And while he did wake up on time, the irritation that accompanied having to repeat everything blocked him greatly; compared to how easy the words flowed the night before (he finished those three pages in an hour), it’s been an hour and a half and he only finished two paragraphs.

Left without much of a choice (the paper was a relatively huge chunk of his grade), Jared opted to skip the first class of his week to finish the said paper (he can always ask a few of his friends for what they talked about in Biology anyway). Lucky for him, he finished it just on time.

He was on his way to his class, saying hi to the people he met on the very crowded hallway, when a bag suddenly flew to his face, sending him tumbling a few steps back (at least he didn’t slip this time). “Ouch,” he pouted and rubbed his aching nose, “Who did that?”

His slight fury fizzed almost instantly however, when he saw what seems like a guy flopped awkwardly on the floor. “Oooh. What happened?” he asked as he bent over (good thing the crowd was thinning already), “Isn’t it a bit too early for an afternoon nap?”

He tried to help the boy over, unconsciously checking for injuries (he’s fairly sure he didn’t cause his fall this time). “You good?” Well of course he’s not, but hey, standard question. “You look familiar. We’re in English together, right?”

ooc:
OHEMGEE. Late and rather crappy. I'm sorry Pariah. D;. Hopefully next time will be better. -nodnod-
- Jam

[Egan Monroe]

Being knocked over so unceremoniously wasn’t anything new for Egan. Back in grade school, he had been the kid who always wound up with scraped knees and elbows, not because of playing rough, but because of kids pushing him over. Sometimes it had been on purpose, but surprisingly often the tumbles had been completely on accident, albeit unremorseful. He had always been small for his age, and his quiet demeanor didn’t help in his inability to be noticed.

Honestly, he was surprised he had gone so long this year without getting knocked over too often. He had had a couple of good spills, but not for the past few weeks, and he had even managed to avoid pretty much every other sort of bodily injury, aside from sore muscles from running in soccer. He didn’t mind that, though. He loved soccer almost as much as he loved cooking and playing his guitar, and that was a whole lot, so he was willing to suffer a bit for it.

Egan thought that he would be passed by unnoticed after crashing to the floor, save a glare or two, perhaps. He had felt himself crash into someone as he fell, and he tried to sputter out an apology, but he couldn’t raise his voice enough to be heard. When he looked up, he blanched a bit. The last thing he had expected was to see a face staring right at him. He paled a bit and stared back, not at all unlike a deer caught in the headlights, and instinctively he tumbled over the thought of just ditching his book bag and fleeing. That was silly, though, and he was such a stupid boy for considering it.

”I…I…um…” Egan was completely deadlocked, his mind as frozen in shock and surprise as his eyes. He hadn’t hit his head or anything. He was simply just this shy. ”I ran into someone…I’m real sorry…I won’t do it again…” He knew it wasn’t his fault. He knew the hallway had been too crowded for him to possibly avoid the bigot aiming for him, but he felt the innate need to apologize anyway.

The familiar stranger looked him over as the two boys got out of the way of the rest of the crowd – if one could even call it a crowd anymore, it had thinned so much – and Egan tried not to blush. ”I’m fine. Thank you…” He said quietly, rubbing an elbow that he was sure would bruise.

He tilted his head a bit and looked the kind teenager over, trying to place his face. When he offered up English class as a possibility, it suddenly hit Egan that that was exactly where he knew him from. ”Yeah…yeah, I think that’s it. I sit against the wall on the right…kinda close to the front. I hope I don’t make you late…and…and thank you very much for helping me. You’re very nice.”

ooc: a bit long, I apologize But your post was great! You hush!

[Jared Park]

As it was, Jared himself isn’t exactly new to the whole floor-hugging scene – the boy has his own fiar share of scrapes and scratches, even the occasional bruise or scar even. Unlike Egan though, it wasn’t because he was shoved day in and day out; while a significant number came from his mishaps when attempting a trick in one of his dance practice sessions (aerial flips were tricky after all), a majority of his injuries actually come from his own carelessness.

You see, even though the boy’s all sorts of graceful in the dance floor, he’s quite the klutz out of it. He has a tendency to hop, skip and jump himself to all sorts of stupidly funny situations. He hasn’t done anything as serious as to be taken to the infirmary just yet, but he figures one day he just might.

The Canadian let a small chuckle escape him when he saw Egan’s shocked expression. That was probably the first time he saw it on anyone else other than him (or AJ, back when they were cornerned confronted by the ogress and her giant of a brother). Oddly entertaining, if he can says so himself. “Oh don’t stress about it; it’s not like we can all phase through solid objects and survive the hallway madness without a scratch.” Unless of course the boy’s a phaser, because that would suck. “Just hold on to your bag more tightly next time. I’m sure no one will appreciate having their nose squished.”

Good thing being Asian means his nose bridge isn’t really as prominent as others. He figured it’d hurt more if his nose was any more sharper.

He tried to help the boy up, placing his hands under his armpits for support. “Oh. I think I know your name. Evan right? Evan Monroe?” He could vaguely remember Ms. Singleton asking him to speak in class more. Or was it Edgar Jones that she wanted to speak up? He can’t remember much; guess he should pay attention in class more instead of chatting with Henri and Jessica. “Don’t mention it. I haven’t heard the bell yet anyway, so we’re safe. Think you can walk to class? Because if you can’t and I help you, it’ll be a perfectly good excuse to miss class.” He’s such a good student, isn’t he?

At the mention of class though, the boy instinctively flipped his backpack to his side and opened it to check on his essay. Oddly enough it wasn’t on his clipboard. Hrm. Did he leave it on his room? I hope not. “You haven’t seen a clump of paper fly around here when you fell, did you?” he asked, looking around.

Please let his papers be just mixed with the other stuff in his bag and not forgotten on his room printer or got blown away when he was hit by the bag (he could’ve sworn he was holding them right before the bag hit him thought).

ooc:
Long posts are not a problem. XD. Rambly ones like mine, may be though, just a bit. D;. =P.
- Jam

[Egan Monroe]

Unlike Jared, the infirmary wasn’t a stranger to Egan, though he luckily had never had to go for anything serious. A couple of times, it had been teachers escorting him into the room after watching him take a tumble and wanting to make sure he wasn’t concussed. He never was. The hits were never hard enough. But they wanted to check all the same. Sometimes he’d get cut in his encounters with the bullies, and he would wind up needing bandaids. On rare occasions, long before Egan was enrolled in Hammel, a particular group of boys rather enjoyed pushing him against a wall and scratching his skin with a pin. The most common injuries were twisted ankles, wrists, knees, and shoulders that required some ice, bed rest, and every now and then a brace. Once Egan had to be on crutches for two weeks after taking a fall and tearing a ligament in his ankle. Luckily it had been during late spring, after soccer was over and football wasn’t scheduled to start for a couple of months.

Egan blushed a bit in embarrassment when the student chuckled, and he tried to figure out if he was being laughed at or laughed with. He nodded a bit in agreement with the phasing comment. ”I w…wish I was a phaser…lots of things would be real easy then…” He paled a bit when the kid mentioned people getting hurt. ”I…I didn’t…I wouldn’t mean to…to hurt anyone…I…I’m sorry…it just…it was sudden…I didn’t have time to…to think…” Egan realized he was doing it again, the panicked rambling thing, and he clamped his mouth shut.


Though common sense told him this kid would never aim to hurt him, instinct made Egan bite his lip nervously as the boy helped him stand. He wished, more than anything, that his brother was here. Eli would know how to calm him down. Eli would be able to comfort him and tell him this kid only wanted to help. Egan would listen to and believe him, because he always did.

”It’s um…it’s Egan…but you were very close. And you’re…J…Jared? Jordan? Jared…right? I’m…I’m sorry…I’m not good at remembering names. I know you’re last name is Park though, right?” He didn’t want to mention how he remembered Jared’s last name, but not his first. It was a silly connection he had automatically made in his head, and it apparently hadn’t shaken off.

Egan nodded a bit when he talked about the bell, and he tried not to sigh in relief. He had never been late to a class unless he was destined for the infirmary, and he didn’t want to break that record now. Not that he wanted to keep the record for record’s sake, he just knew it was very impolite to walk in late, and he didn’t want to be rude toward his teachers and fellow students.

Walking? Egan hadn’t thought about walking on his own yet. His ankle had hurt him a bit while standing up, but it hadn’t crossed his mind that it could be worse than that. He looked down at his feet shyly for a moment, noticing that, without really doing it on purpose, he had taken the weight off of his left ankle. ”I um…I think so…”

Egan scanned the hallway when Jared started looking as well. Paper, paper, had he seen a paper? He was too busy cringing away from the tall person and getting in everyone’s way…

”Is that it?” He pointed to a sheaf of paper crammed under a set of lockers. It looked to be in okay condition, though there was a trace of a footprint at the bottom corner of the top sheet and a tear next to said print. ”I’m so sorry if it is…I could reprint it for you, if you like? I’m real, real sorry…”

[Jared Park]

Should he be asked about his laughter, Jared would insist that he’s laughing with Egan and not at him, but we all know the truth. In his defense though, he wasn’t laughing with any malice in mind; Egan’s surprised face was amusing, but not degrading. Heaven knows he’d like to be able to do it himself. (Who knows, maybe Dani wouldn’t kill him after he pranks her should he give her that look.)

“Well, if you have good control if it anyway,” the Canadian shrugged, helping Egan up and even dusting his pants, “Not to make fun of anyone, but you have heard of that incident with an upperclassman and the girl’s washroom’s right? Or the part where he fell down from the auditorium to the labyrinth that is the research complex below us?” He looked around once or twice, just to make sure Evan or Levi isn’t around, before continuing. He was friends with Levi and with Robbie (who he supposed is Evan’s close friend); he doesn’t want to seem like he’s spreading bad things about Evan.

Because in his mind, he’s not. What’s wrong with a little gossip here or there anyway?

Jared did sense what he thinks is panic in the boy so he tried his best to calm him down, giving him pats on the back and a brief massage on his shoulders. “Hey, it was an accident. No one should blame you for that.” He knows a handful who would, but then they’re infamous bullies so that’s to be expected. “Though if that happens to me again and I found out it was because of you, you should beware.” He did a few ninja-esque moves (read: his fail imitation-impression of a karate chop) to prove his supposed prowess. “We Asians are born ninjas after all,” added the boy with a wink, completely forgetting the fact that his face just got owned by a bag a few minutes earlier.

His face twitched slightly when Egan mistook his name for Jordan. While he wasn’t averse to being mistaken as someone else, Jordan just has quite the negative connotation in his head that he’d prefer being called HEYYOU than that. “It’s Jared. Jordan’s the cranky, know-it-all who thinks he rules the school ‘cause his uncle is a power trainer and his other uncle’s the Head of Recruiting.” Not really, but he’d like to believe that’s where Jordan’s apparent snobbish attitude comes from. Never mind the fact that it’s Jordan’s room he’s bunking in rather frequently lately since he’s AJ’s roommate and all that. “Yeah, I’m Jared Park. It’s my English name. My Korean name’s a little more complicated.”

“Egan. I’ll try to remember that.” He mouthed it off twice, hoping it’d help him retain the name more. “And since I got your name wrong too, I guess we’re even.”

A wave of relief washed over the teen as Egan pointed out a crumpled pile a few paces from where the bag hit him. “Wait here,” he nodded, sprinting towards the lockers and almost jumping for joy when, indeed, the papers were his. “N’aww. It’s ok. I don’t think Ms. Singleton would mind.” She’s too nice to mind anything anyway. “It’s just a little stepped on the back. Crumpled, but not wet or ripped. It’ll do.” Jared’s submitted far worse. His lab report in Biology, for example. “And besides, printing would make us even more late than we are right now.”

“Going to need help walking to class?” he asked, offering his hand. It’s not a long way from them anyway, but he figures it wouldn’t hurt to ask.

[Egan Monroe]

Egan’s lack of knowledge about the school gossip was never easy to ignore, but it wasn’t exactly obvious either. He didn’t have any close friends, and those he did talk to usually tended to shift the conversation away from school and matters pertaining to it. So when Jared asked about something to do with the girl’s washroom, Egan could only look at him in slight horror at the thought of what might have happened and shook his head. The fear grew in his eyes at the mention of falling, and Egan shook his head again. ”Is…was he okay…? That sounds awful. What happened to him? If…if you don’t m…mind telling me, I mean…” Egan blushed a bit and ducked his head at his audacious behavior. He hadn’t meant to ask in such a demanding manner. Or…what was a demanding manner for Egan. For others, it would have sounded like an extremely timid display of curiosity and interest.

For a second, when Jared’s hands made contact with Egan, he felt the overwhelming urge to flinch. He held back, though, and was grateful for it as the student quickly massaged his shoulders. It felt wonderful, and was perfect for lifting his spirits a bit. He looked at Jared for a moment as he seemed to flail about, and at the comment about the Asians, he chuckled lightly. ”I can tell.” He said softly, suppressing another giggle.

”Oh…oh right…I’m sorry…” Egan looked down a bit, partly out of shame and partly out of trying to remember, as Jared told him who he was and who Jordan was. ”I’ve never been real good at names…but I’ll try to remember who Jordan is, and I’ll remember your name now. Jordan’s the one I wanna avoid…” The last sentence was muttered quietly to himself in an attempt to help the memory sink in. He hadn’t had a run in with Jordan yet, but he had heard some rumors and he wasn’t looking forward to the day when he finally met him. ”I like your English name a lot.” He looked back up and smiled slightly. ”It’s okay if you forget it. Most people do. I don’t mind nicknames if you wanna come up with one, as long as you don’t call me Eggy.” Egan blushed a bit at the mention of the nickname only his brother was allowed to call him. Egan was usually a very passive person and basically terrified of confrontation, but the last time someone had called Egan “Eggy” had been the last time Egan had raised his voice.

Egan obeyed when Jared told him to stay put, and he watched with a tilted head as his peer jumped a bit and then came back. ”I hope she doesn’t mind…I’d feel terrible if you got a lower grade ‘cause of me and my clumsiness. And you’re right! We’re late!” Egan paled a bit and looked at his watch, wishing, not for the first time, that he had time control instead of animation. ”Um…” Egan shifted his weight a bit from foot to foot, only wincing slightly when he rested on his strained ankle. ”I think I’ll be alright. Thank you though.” He smiled gratefully at Jared before readjusting his book bag so that it rested more comfortably before pointing himself in the general direction of their classroom and taking a hesitant step. His ankle didn’t hurt nearly as bad as he had expected, and he almost didn’t have to limp at all. He was sure he’d be fine by the end of the day. ”And thank you very much for your help…you are a very good person, Jared.”

Ooc: I’m so sorry this is so late D: My internet has been freaking out the past few days and just hlwegwhwhke. But I’m back now!

[Jared Park]

Jared had to stop himself from chuckling and simply resorted to sticking his tongue out in amusement when he saw Egan’s face. Apparently the boy doesn’t know that he himself has a tendency to have quite the clueless expression. Surely enough, if he hadn’t found quite the friends in Robbie and AJ (and Eric too, before he transferred out to Kocher), heaven knows he’d be as unaware as the blonde he’s talking to right now.

“He got out alright of course,” grinned the Canadian, waving his hand to (hopefully) take Egan’s worries off. “It’d be bad to talk about it if he got injured right?” Well, it’s bad to talk bad behind anyone’s back at all. Isn’t Jared’s selective amnesia on things just amazing? “He got out of the wall soon enough and found his way back up when the research thing happened. Though I heard Vincent Verax has developed quite the fascination with his pants and began stealing them at a regular basis.” He’s only been in a pants-ing event once. It wasn’t pretty. “He’s another guy you should stay clear off. Though it’s not hard to hide from him, since he talks a lot and all that.”

If only restraining orders worked on the goth.

He promptly replied with a nod, manoeuvring through the hallways a whole lot easier now that the crowd has trickled down. He hopes they’re not that late yet; he remembers Jimmy telling him something about a supposed pop quiz in the beginning of class and Jared isn’t all that high up in his marks to afford another missed test. “Thank you. I like it better too. Rolls off the tongue easily.” While he’s still versed in conversational Korean, he was born and grew up in North America anyway, so he’s oddly more comfortable with such words, much to the chagrin of his grandparents. “And don’t worry, I don’t think Egan’s hard enough of a name to mix up. And Eggy just sounds plain weird.”

“…Can I call you Egghead though?”

“Pfft. It’s not a problem,” nodded the boy as their classroom came into view. True enough, Ms. Singleton’s already discussing about Macbeth’s Act2. Not good. “Come on, let’s sneak around through the back,” said the boy in barely a whisper, thankful that the classrooms had two doors with them.

[Egan Monroe]

He wasn’t sure why, but for some reason or another, Egan felt more panic when others were in trouble than when he personally was. Not the getting-yelled-at sort of trouble. Utter devastation was a better description of how he felt when he, or anyone who he didn’t think deserved it, got yelled at. It was the more dire situations, like the ones Jared was talking about, that would upset him and make him hope they were alright in the end. His shoulders sagged a bit in relief when he was told the kid survived his brush with embarrassment. He nodded a bit at Jared’s probably-rhetorical question about being bad to talk about it if there was an injury involved. Egan had never had much experience personally with gossiping, so he wasn’t quite sure what was acceptable and what wasn’t, but that sounded legitimate enough. He paled a bit when Jared told him to steer clear of Vincent Verax, knowing full well that he would never be able to avoid someone he didn’t know. He nodded again, still keeping his mouth shut, and instinctively signed “thank you”. He didn’t know much sign language at all, really. Just the occasional word or phrase, like “thank you”, “sorry”, and “apple”. “Thank you” and “sorry” came in handy a lot, though.

Egan blushed a bit when Jared said “Eggy” sounded like a weird name. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be upset or offended by that, or just shrug it off. It was a very special name, and meant a lot to him, but Jared couldn’t possibly know that, and it would be very unfair to get upset with him about it. Besides, it was just a name, and he had every right to have his own opinions about it.

However, Egan was a bit surprised when he asked to call him “Egghead”. No one had called him that in an inoffensive way since grade school, and everyone else who used the name meant it as a mockery. But Jared wouldn’t do that, right? Jared seemed like a very nice person, and Egan trusted easily. He nodded once again after a moment of thought. ”I don’t see why not. If you want to call me Egghead, feel free.” He smiled slightly for a moment before looking down shyly once again.

The idea of sneaking was a shocking one, much along the lines of telling a teenage Amish boy to use a computer. It went against Egan’s classroom principles, but he knew that, if he was going to even attempt to stay out of trouble for just this one class today, it would be necessary. ”Okay…I’ve never snuck in before…” Egan followed his new friend – could he even call him a friend yet? – into the classroom, trying to be as quiet and inconspicuous as he possibly could.


ooc: I'm so sorry about the delay in getting this up My internet has been bitching recently, and you wouldn't believe how many times I've had to call the company and bitch at them in return.

[Jared Park]

Jared would be lying if his ‘Egghead’ idea bore no ill will towards Egan. Sure he was nicer than most, but that doesn’t mean he’s all sugar and no spice. What set him apart from those other ‘Egghead’ callers is that his ‘ill will’ is more along the lines of just playful mischief than deliberate humiliation. ‘More bark than bite’, if that expression can possibly apply to this situation anyway.

“You’re free to call me any name you wish too,” he said in glee, “As long as it’s not like, Birdbrain or anything. Because then I’d kill you.” He’s trying to think of possible nicknames that one can derive from Jared, but so far, the only thing he’s got is Red. And boy was that exciting or what. “Or you can just call me lord and master. I’m totally cool with that,” added the boy as he gave Egan a playful nudge on the side.

“There’s a first time for everything,” grinned Jared as they neared the classroom door. Once there, he crouched down, putting a finger over his mouth to tell Egan – and their classmates that’ll inevitably see them – to keep their mouths shut. Ms. Singleton wasn’t exactly the strictest of teachers, but then Jasper has always warned him to be wary most of the patient ones. When they explode, he says, they explode.

Everything was going well (they’re almost to the two empty seats at the far side of the room; why can’t people leave empty seats near the door anyway?) until Jared accidentally slipped on a discarded pencil, falling on the floor with a loud thud. “Err, hi Miss Singleton,” he waved weakly, “Err, ahh, my room’s printer ran out of ink so I went over Egan’s but then his acted up too so…” It’s amazing how the boy easily made a story up, considering how bad of a liar he was. And yes, please ignore his frequent pauses and almost constant stuttering. “…We’ll just go back to our seats now?”

Hopefully Ms. Singleton will let them off easy this time.

ooc:
Shall we call this a wrap? I'm good with anything though. =D.
- Jam