Assignment (OPEN!)

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While the girl was serious, Brooke let out a laugh at the thought of someone suing over a simple class project photograph….though the sad part was that there were actually people out there who would sue for small and silly reasons like that. Those laws were created, though, for the protection of privacy. What if one of the photos was so good they wanted to publish it? What if the subject was trying to keep their face out of the media for some reason? And what if that reason was foiled because of that published photo? These were some interesting things to thing about and Brooke liked to spin out a bazillion considerations like that just for fun.

Brooke giggled sheepishly when the photographer girl relinquished victory to Brooke. "Heh…that's okay. I don't 'spect it t'all."

"Ya think?" Brooke hadn't actually considered that before. She was just a girl who liked to question, half for natural inquisitiveness, half for social interaction, and half for personal amusement at seeing people's wtf face. "I dunno, maybe?" She could easily get on a lot of people's bad side though. Some of her teachers at Hammel seem to think poorly of her while other thought she was quite bright. Most students couldn't keep up or got annoyed which was fine because it was fun to see them confused.

Brooke understood the importance of taking care of delicate equipment. She herself had often gone on a violent(sorta) rampage at singers at karaoke who thought it was okay to abuse the microphone. Blowing into the mic, tapping the head, slobbering your mouth on it, dropping it, and swinging the mic by the chord were all super taboo no-nos. Not just in her book but in entertainment in general.

Brooke peered in at the photo the girl was showing. "Oooo! Sneaky! Thoough…betcha if ya show 'em this foto, they'd figgur it out right aways!" Because seeing it like that, it was so obvious! "Doncha think?"

[Kristina Novak]

Kristina chuckled slightly at Brooke's response. She realized it was kind of, sort of ignorant on her part, but so far, her hobby hadn't caused her any real trouble. She'd just be careful on what she chose to photograph and display.

Nodding, Kristina smiled at the younger girl. "Really, so long as it's a class that welcomes debates. The professor of a math class might not appreciate it." she said, her lame attempt at a joke. "I'd recommend it. I think you would have a lot of fun." The girl seemed to have a curious personality and liked to debate for fun. She seemed to have an intelligent mind for it too.

"Maybe, maybe. Guess I could go up to them and show them the photo. It'll be the new way on campus to get matched with someone." Kristina flipped to the next one of the same friends, with the same look in their eyes. It was cute. She loved capturing moments like these. "It's kind of funny that way, you never see how you look at someone... but it's so obvious to everyone else." She laughed.

Looking at the stranger, Kristina nearly facepalmed. "You know, I don't think we've even said our names. I'm Kristina, by the way." Might as well introduce herself.

[Deleted]

Brooke should probably back off already, but backing off was definitely against her religion. Yes, it was a religion. Annoying and informing people was her own personal cult and she was at the center of it all. Of course, Brooke was the only one who thought that way. Either way, Brooke thought that this was a rather productive and informative conversation. She liked this pretty person here.

"Hmmmm…" Brooke hummed as she considered the girl's suggestion a bit more. Brooke would be starting there in the fall, so it was for good purpose that she investigate exactly what kind of classes this here university had to offer. The zany girl honestly should be going to a more prestigious school or just go to one closer to home…but Brooke didn't think she was ready to leave Pilot Ridge just yet. She'd grown fond of it. "I will have to scourge through the class list then and find out." And possibly look up ratings of all the classes and teachers too.

"Uh-huh!" Brooke agreed with a wide nod. "Oh! You can probly start a matchmaking business! And send photos to people randomly of their secret best-matched partner based on how they interact in your candid fotos." The venture's base being completely opposite of what Brooke had been lecturing the photographer just a few moments ago. She giggled at the ro-man-TIC connotations, her hands clasped up swooningly under her chin.

Her daydream was interrupted when the other girl brought up a very valid point. "Oh, that's right. Nice t'meetcha Kristina!" Brooke swirled around and extended her hand with a bright(totally not sinister) smile. "I'm Brooke."

[Kristina Novak]

"Debates seem fun if you're into that sort of thing." Kristina said with a shrug. One day, she had been in her art history class and unexpectedly, a debate between two different sides on a subject Kristina couldn't even remember. Her vocabulary hadn't been as advanced as the other kids, but she still managed to get her opinion across. It had been a loud class, for sure.

"Yeah, there are so many different options for classes. It's so different from high school." Kristina told Brooke, nodding as an affirmation. "I'm in my first year and I'm just taking introductory classes to see what I like."

"Totally, that's a great idea!" Kristina needed to find a way to earn some extra income. Maybe she'd go look for a job or something. If that failed, then she did have Brooke's plan to fall back onto. "It'll be a matchmaking dating service. Send them out on a date after getting them on photo. You can help out. Partnership." What a change from the beginning of their conversation. But, Kristina welcomed the change.

Taking Brooke's hand, Kristina shook it and smiled back at the cheerful girl. "Nice to meet you as well Brooke. I like your name." She nodded, cheeks turning a bit pink. Was that weird to say nowadays?

[Deleted]

Brooke had never really considered debating, like "professionally", like on a debate team or whatnot. Now that she thought about it, it probably would be a good outlet for her mile-a-minute mind that liked to challenge and confront then twist around to contradict. "I think I'll look into it," she said honestly. Brooke had a lot of random factual knowledge stored up in her brain just itching to get out, thanks to her long and random bouts of reading whatever was available at the library. Last year she'd gotten into ballistics and tried to construct a trebuchet to siege against the school….that plan had been snuffed out quickly before it even began.

"Ooo! Yeah, I hear college is completely different n' that's why a lotta peeps stake out community college first, coz the classes're easier." At least that's what she'd heard. People she knew, who shall remain nameless, often complained about the large lecture halls and lack of individual instruction. "Which classes you like so far?" It'd be good to get the opinion of a first year first hand like this.

Brooke giggled like a little girl, pleased with the excitement that Kristina had for her idea. Realistically, it probably wasn't possible, but that just meant that they had to try harder to get such a thing accepted and milk in a market! Brooke liked a challenge.

Brooke's grip in her hand-shake was strong, firm, and possibly just under the threshold of painful depending on the receiver. For such a tiny girl, she had quite the grip strength. "Thankies!" she said brightly. "I like yours too. An' you gotta cool accent too. Where're you from?"

[Kristina Novak]

"I think you would enjoy it in that sort of setting. Then other people are ready to challenge you as well instead of stammering in confusion." Kristina wasn't going to press further on the subject. She just thought that Brooke would enjoy the environment and ability to express herself on different controversial issues.

"I debated on doing the same." She admitted with a smile. In the end, Kristina decided to push through it and she was happy for the challenge that first year university brought. She smiled, chuckling a little bit. "Well, I'm obviously biased but I enjoy photography class and my art history class. I took a fun psychology class last term." she began listing. Really, she liked them all except for English class.

And clearly, her accent was showing as Brooke brought it up. Kristina wiggled her fingers after their handshake, a bit surprised by how firm her grip was. She smiled at Brooke, continuing to move her fingers around. "Originally from the Czech Republic and moved here when I was younger." Kristina explained.

[Deleted]

"Yeeeaaah," Brooke said with a sigh in her voice. She wasn't too keen on starting out with community college either. If it was supposed to be a stepping stone into university, then it was probably just like high school….and Brooke didn't do well with kids her own age very often. She wanted a challenge and it seemed like university was good to give that to her.

"Ooo, psychology! That sounds fun!" Like really fun, psychology was something that Brooke really enjoyed learning about. It might've had something to do with her own mental problems, but Brooke liked to think that Dr. Neville had imprinted the interest on her a bit. She could definitely see herself becoming a world famous psychiatrist, going off and curing the minds of poor youngin's from all manner of backgrounds. "Are you an art major?" she asked, curious since it seemed like Kristina liked the arts in particular.

Brooke grinned. "Czech? That's awesome! So you've been here awhile, right? I wanna go travel outta the US sometime someday, but…..well, I don't think my parents could afford it." Plus, that kind of travel made her nervous. She wanted to be able to stay close to the people who she'd made connections with and such n' such.

[Kristina Novak]

"But, I'm glad I just came to university right away. Don't have to worry about credits not transferring or pushing off the adjustment." Kristina added with a nod. She wanted the girl to choose university. Clearly, Brooke was intelligent enough and wouldn't struggle, so long as she didn't party every weekend instead of doing homework. She would be fine.

"First year they're all pretty much introductary sorts of classes, but then you get a feel of what you're interested in." She smiled softly at Brooke. "It was a lot of fun. I learned a lot of things, but it wasn't boring. I'd recommend it." Plus, it seemed like a subject she was already interested in. "You enjoy that sort of thing?" She asked.

Again, Kristina nodded. "Will be declaring a photography major when the time comes."

"It's... different, for sure." Kristina laughed, sighing with a twinge of homesickness. "Oh, yeah. Been out here awhile. Went to Hammel and then decided to stay for university. Then I want to go back. To the Czech Republic." She frowned. "Shame that money has to impede on such a wonderful thing. I think everyone should have the chance to travel somewhere new. Europe is pretty, from what I remember."

[Deleted]

"Mmm! Yeah! I heard that was a problem and it makes a ton of students all pissy at the advisor staff." Though it wasn't their fault….well, it might be. It was definitely someone's fault that those credits always had a bitch of a time transferring over, but that was something Brooke was gonna have to look into a bit more. But it went without saying, Brooke had already chosen to take the university route. Ooo, maybe she and Kristina would be classmates come the next year! Brooke was gonna have to do some serious stalking to find out Kristina's class schedule for fall so she could cross it with her own freshman classes.

Brooke nodded sharply. "Yeah! I like reading about that stuff!" In the past, she was merely wanting to know about her own condition, wondering if knowing more about it could help her keep it at bay through just willpower. Unfortunately….psychiatric disorders didn't work that way, she found. She could stare at the sky and see that it was yellow, think that it was yellow, know that it was yellow all while her mind was telling her that it was supposed to be blue and there was something wrong with her and it wouldn't make any difference. Just because you know you're crazy doesn't make it stop.

Sigh…that was depressing, but she tried to not think about it.

"Photography's fun," she said, itsy-bitsy spidering her fingers together thoughtfully. "An' you're really good. Whatcha gonna do with it, you think?"

"D'ya got family back there?" She probably did, considering she was wanting to go back there. Brooke, on the other hand, had no desire to go back home to Colorado. While she wanted to see her parents, she didn't want to see her community. At least not yet. Maybe in the future after she'd gained a little bit more courage, but not now.

[Kristina Novak]

"I see potential students all the time lined up to talk to someone..." Kristina thought back with a nod. Sometimes, you could hear the students before nearing the office. "But yeah, if you want to stay local and go to a challenging, but good school, then I say go here. Maybe we can see each other." She offered with a smile.

"Could do a psychology major." Kristina suggested, smiling to herself as Brooke beamed and talked about psychology. The way her face animated in response, how she talked about psychology... it was cute. Completely adorable. She loved hearing people talk about their passions. "There seems to be a lot of different kinds of classes for psychology. Specialize in a field or something."

Shrugging, Kristina laughed a little. "Uhm, don't really know yet." She blushed, expecting a lecture in response. She'd heard them before, and wouldn't be surprised if Brooke had an opinion. Most people gave her a hard time about being a "starving artist" after university was over. "But thank you. I appreciate the compliment." Kristina shyly smiled.

"Distant relatives. My immediate family is in Boston, we all moved out here as first generation." She quickly explained. If she could afford it, Kristina would love to send herself and her family back to the Czech Republic and visit their homeland. It had been awhile, ever since she was a young girl, that they had been. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of extra money to spare for all of them. "How about you? You from around here?"

[Deleted]

Oh, yes! That was more than enough reason to come, so that she and Kristina could be classmates! Brooke would make sure of that. "I'd like that," she beamed.

"Mmm!" Brooke agreed with another sharp nod. "I think that's a good idea too! I'mma hafta talk to the doc about it." Now Brooke was just musing to herself, but she assumed that Dr. Sean had a suggestion or two about where Brooke could exercise her potential effectively. "You're not so bad at an argument yourself though. You totes managed to convince me right just now."

Brooke didn't intend of lecturing Kristina for not knowing what she was going to do with her degree. If Brooke herself didn't know exactly what she was going to do after high school, much less college, then she really had no room to talk. Instead, she shrugged. "Guess you'll figure it out. How much time you got left 'til graduation?" Because she probably had plenty of time to figure that out.

"Ohh wow! That's totes awesome!" Brooke herself was of Mexican heritage, but she wouldn't be able to tell you what generation she was. It was always interesting to meet people of different ethnicities, especially those who were still so close to their original culture. Brooke's family was completely americanized save for a few family traditions that she didn't quite get. She shook her head. "Nope. I'm from Colorado territory." It hadn't been a territory for over a century though. "My…" She thought back, "I think maybe my nana's nana might've been from northern Mexico, but Momma and Daddy don't talk a lot about their families." Now that she thought about it, Brooke wondered why that was.

[Kristina Novak]

Kristina smiled back, triggered by Brooke's beaming and infectious smile. She could use more friends as well. Her usual, serious demeanour and uninviting facial expression probably didn't help her case. Thankfully, things seemed to be turning out alright between herself and Brooke after her overreaction. Already, that had seemed like such a long time ago.

Blushing at her compliment, Kristina shifted from her spot on the table. She wasn't use to reacting in this sort of manner. She probably smiled more during this conversation than with anyone else. "Well, thank you." Kristina shyly said, giving the girl a curious look. "Doc?" She asked, hoping that she wasn't prying too much.

"Plenty of time." Kristina said with a thankful nod. "This is only my first year of university. I stayed back at school an extra year for my English." Although she was way better at holding a conversation now, she still had slip ups and mispronounced certain words. Means that herself and Brooke could hang out longer. The thought made Kristina smile again. "Plan on hitting up the career center here to get some help for a career."

One of the things that Kristina looked forward to was calling her parents every other weekend and talking to them on the phone in Czech. It kept her language skills, as there weren't many, if any, Czech people in Pilot Ridge. Besides her older sister who made no attempt to preserve her first language. Thankfully, it still came naturally to Kristina. "If you're really into art and history, then it's a great place." She gushed, smiling at the faint memories of home.

She nodded when Brooke said where she was from. "I heard there's good mountains for skiing up there." Kristina listened, frowning a little. That was a little weird. "Oh, huh. Mexico seems pretty nice." She offered as a response.

[Deleted]

Brooke too was glad that this meeting between herself and the Czech girl was turing out quite well. Normally, Brooke would have left by now, after the other party got too frustrated to deal with her anymore. Brooke was used to it. She was not used to people actually pushing past those first few minutes and trying to match her either in silliness or intellect. Apologies were sometimes made when she pouted, but they normally didn’t turn into good conversation.

Brooke liked Kristina. She was pretty, fun, smart, and super-duper nice!

“Ah, I mean the doc at my high school. He’s pretty cool, I hang around him a lot. And he’s super smart! He’s like a wizard! or a jedi!” Because wizards and jedi were awesome, thus making Dr. Neville awesome as well.

“Oh yeah? How old’re ya? You look purdy young by the looksies of it.” But Brooke had never been good with age determinations. Brooke gave her a thumbs up. “That sounds like a plan!”

She nodded. “Yeah, I looove history,” she agreed, bringing her hands to her face to contain her “love”. “Cuz it’s like reading a story and ya know what they say? Fact is stranger than fiction! Nobody coulda made up all that stuff!” Especially since a lot of those things in history were what books tended to base their own conflicts on. Parallels were alllll over the place!

“Yah, there are! It’s omg so pretty when it snows!!” It literally looked like the snow villages the sold at the stores around christmastime. She nodded at the other comment. “Mmmhmm…never been there myself though.” Despite that, though, Brooke did grow up with spanish in the household, so she was...semi-fluent? Something like that.

[Kristina Novak]

The only doctor that Kristina was aware of was Dr. Neville at Hammel. She hadn't required much of his help, only the mandatory first meeting. Her power was physical and she hadn't found the need to talk to him. Still, he seemed like an alright person. "Did you go to the high school here... Hammel?" Kristina asked, trying to think if that had already come up in the conversation.

"Nineteen. Turning twenty in the fall." She said, wrinkling her nose. Twenty. The big two-zero. She smiled a little. Either people thought she was still in high school, or was in her mid twenties. There never seemed to be the inbetween. "So still... young, I suppose. How old are you?" Kristina asked, figuring around seventeen or so.

She smiled involuntarily when Brooke began talking about history, unable to contain her excitement. It was extremely cute. "That's true." She agreed, also being a fan of history.

"I hate the cold but love snow." Kristina snorted a little at the contradiction. It made it harder to find interesting scenes to photograph but the Czech girl liked a good challenge. "Do you ever want to go one day?" She inquired, tilting to the side and resting her elbow on top of her thigh, head on top of hand.

[Deleted]

They hadn’t talked about where they’d gone to school yet, so this was the first that Brooke heard that Kristina had gone to the same school that she was currently attending. And she wondered if maybe she’d seen the other girl wandering around the halls before. Brooke had been there for several years, after all. But considering her attitude and inability(and unwillingness) to integrate with the other students, it wasn’t surprising that they didn’t know each other. It was a shame.

Brooke nodded. “Mmhmm, Hammel,” she confirmed. “You too?”

Ohh, so she was two years older than Brooke. Even so, they should have seen each other before. Then again, it was a big school with a large student body, after all it housed the meta-children from all of America; from Canada, the USA, Mexico, and all of South America and the Caribbean, right? That was a lot of kids! “I’m gonna be 18 in June,” she replied. “So we’re not all that far apart in age.” Though Brooke was often mistaken for someone far younger than she was, especially considering her tendency to giggle and play around like a kid.

“Yup! It is!” History was one of Brooke’s favorite subjects, right up there with psychology. “I tried explaining it that way to someone once and they just totes could not get it. Really! It’snot that hard!” She could get huffy about it, but that was pointless, so didn’t bother trying to tutor that boy again.

Brooke giggled. She understood that sentiment. She didn’t mind the cold but didn’t prefer it. It was only good when there was snow. But with her ability, she could enjoy it more without getting too cold. Brooke shrugged. “Meh. Maybe. Just to travel, I think.”