I'm not giving in, I swim (OPEN)

[Amanda Joy "AJ" Lane]

AJ was working on healing herself. In all ways. And swimming was something that had always helped her feel better, not to mention that water was seen as a healing element, and a calming one at that. She didn't remember the last time she'd been at the pool, probably in her bitter stage when she decided she wasn't going to associate with anybody back in September, back when she'd decided to let her monsters gnaw away at her insides until she was nothing but an empty shell.

Things were different now. She had some training (even if it was a little) and she had been working with her power on her own, trying not to fear it anymore. It was difficult, but she'd made some progress and she'd went to a school dance, the first one since her power manifested before she'd come to Hammel. And that had been a scarring experience.

She floated on her back in the pool, which was rather empty at the moment, tangled brunette ringlets fanning out in the water. She should think about joining the swim team again. Maybe she could make some new friends... After all, River had suggested it. Even if that felt like eons ago.

[Judah Linn]

Why the Hell am I here? In reality, what was Judah doing in the pool area? He hates water and all forms of it for several different reasons. Perhaps he was here to break that dislike. It wasn't so bad. He showered like a normal human being. It wasn't so terribly bothersome then. Why did it bother him in a pool? That was something he didn't understand, but also a thought kept shoved at the back of his mind. 
Usually, Hammel's pool was silent. There was normally nobody there to annoy him to one person free-swimming silently. The gargantuan, filthy beasts that roamed this school would never find Judah in here. They would never expect a Pyro to be around the water.

To Judah, this was regular routine. Enter, ignore all and any swimmers, and lay on the bleachers with his headphones in to drown out splashing. Today it was a bit different. He peered through the door to familiarize himself with the surroundings, his expression straight and locked as he brushed dark brunette hair from his eyes. This did not last long though. The corners of his lips turned down as he noticed the single swimmer. Silent, floating on her back, unmoving. Semi-alarming, yes. It made his step inside a bit longer and harder to take. She seemed... lonely, in a way. He hated that feeling. Loneliness. The word even sounded hollow and disturbing. 

Judah took an echoing footstep towards the pool instead of the bleachers, his Chuck Taylors making a scuffing sound on the concrete. "Hello," He stated quietly, but clearly enough to be heard, "Are you okay?"

[Amanda Joy "AJ" Lane]

It was quiet. Peaceful. AJ got lost in her head. It was easy to do when you had her imagination. It was a curse and something amazing at the same time. It was what allowed her to write so well and think so deeply, but also gave way to her anxiety.

She was just lying on her back, eyes closed and enjoying the water, until she heard the shuffling of shoes on the concrete, making her open one eye to look towards the edge of the pool. It was a boy and even from this angle he looked slightly concerned. Why did everyone she meet always think something was wrong? Couldn't she just float here peacefully in the pool without someone thinking she was having an internal crisis?

"Yes, I'm okay," she answered softly. Which was true. She was doing okay for the first time in a while.

[Judah Linn]

She seemed to pull a slight attitude on him. For a not so talkative kind of person, an attitude could be off-putting and could force him back into silence. "Sorry for asking," He murmured and sat himself on the bleachers.

Judah rifled through his backpack and pulled out one of his notebooks. He was failing trig and needed to study for the upcoming semester finals. He refused to ask for help and it would be his downfall. To his horror, his notebooks, instead of being filled with notes, were covered in doodles. He really hadn't been paying attention! Fine. He would just sketch some more. Not like it would do him any harm. He drew a pen from his bag and began to draw his favorite anime character: Sailor Saturn.

Judah kept one headphone out, there being another person in the room. There was some kind of courtesy involved in his actions. The girl was alone. If she wanted to speak to him, she was welcome to do so.

[Amanda Joy "AJ" Lane]

And then he stopped talking completely. Confused, AJ stopped lying on her back so she could get a better look at him. He was sitting on the bleachers where spectators normally cheered on swimmers, some sort of notebook in his lap. His one comment had made her think that she'd been rude in her response, but really, she was just tired of being asked the same question over and over again, although he couldn't possibly know that.

She kicked off of the wall at the south side of the pool and swam to the other side, doing several laps before glancing up at the guy again. He looked concentrated on whatever he was doing and she didn't know if she should interrupt him, but she found herself at the edge of the pool anyway, peering at him. "Sorry," she said, her voice echoing off of the walls. "It's just...you wouldn't believe how many times I get asked that question. But I actually am okay today and it was off-setting having someone ask me that when I'm the best I've been in a long while."

[Judah Linn]

"Sorry for that, too. I get that question a lot too.. in a different context, sometimes. I didn't know." Judah got the "Are you okay?" question a lot. Sometimes it was for his being silent all the time. Other times, it was a sarcastic comment about his mental capabilities. Practically friendless, failing classes, and not-yet graduated at the age of nineteen. It was a stupid thing, really. Judah is just like everybody else. At least he isn't an asshole.

Sailor Saturn was coming together nicely. He shaded in her hair with the blue pen, even if her hair is black. Some say he is a good cartoonist and that he should embrace it. He assumed it was just because he could actually envision Sailor Saturn's face, as he watched way too much anime when he is alone. It was his dirty little secret. Nobody would ever suspect it. 

Judah pulled out his one headphone and shut his notebook, dark eyes meeting the girl's. His pen lightly danced across the red spiral notebook's cover, leaving blue ink swirls where ever the pen's tip landed. "What's your name?" He offered conversation. Why not? He had nothing better to do. Besides, he was only hiding in here. She didn't seem like one of the people from that sort of rich kid social class. The people that think they are all high and mighty and can do whatever they want. 

[Amanda Joy "AJ" Lane]

"I know you didn't know, which is why I'm apologizing. You couldn't possibly just know that I hate being asked that question," AJ replied, but it was true. The past few months had been filled with that question. From her teachers, her friends, even random strangers at one point or another. And now that she finally was what she deemed 'okay', she didn't want to hear it again.

"I'm AJ," she told him, watching from afar as his pen moved along the page. She so badly wanted to ask what he was drawing.

[Judah Linn]

"It's okay. It's no big deal. I understand how that could be a pretty awful question... I wouldn't want to hear it either." He should have considered that when he first opened his mouth. Judah had a rule. He had to think about what he said before he says it. Rule #7 had been broken and he didn't feel so great looking back on it. Judah needed to really watch his mouth. Guilt wasn't good for him. 

"Judah. AJ, huh? Pretty cool name. It's short for something?" AJ... cool. He knew an AJ, but it was a guy. A guy on his Junior Varsity lacrosse team maybe... five years back? Wow. Already five years. Crazy. "AJ" had stood for Andrew Jacobson, but the guy hated it with a passion and yelled at anybody who called him by full name. Except coaches. He would get thrown off teams if he did. 

Judah noticed the way AJ was looking at his notebook. Perhaps she'd noticed him drawing. "Uhm.." Judah fumbled, flipping the pages to locate one of his older drawings. His drawing of a dragon was the one he would show. She didn't need to know about his love of anime. 

Nobody was allowed to know that. 

[Amanda Joy "AJ" Lane]

"It's not that it's an awful question, it's more like it drives me mad to hear it so many times. When I'm not okay, I don't want to bother people and when I actually am okay, I don't want to be asked either." AJ felt that she was rambling and she didn't like it. He didn't need to hear this, nobody did.

She dunked under water for a moment, as if it would help clear her head and when she resurfaced, he was asking about her name. "Yes," she replied, moving wet hair out of her field of vision. "Amanda Joy, actually." She never felt like an Amanda and she told her parents this a million times growing up. And the Joy part of her name had been passed down from her grandmother. Judah, she liked that. It was a bit different.

When he noticed she was looking at his notebook, she shied away slightly. "Sorry. It's just....I wish I could draw. And my...friend, he's a really good artist as well." Okay, she officially felt lame. Travis was her boyfriend. And it felt so weird to say. It was a dragon. "Oh wow, that's awesome. Do you like fantasy?"