Friends over Coffee? [Private/ Sienna]

[Clay Richards]

Clay stood at the front of class watching his students sitting there working in small groups on their class United Nations project. He had split the class of twenty students into five small groups of four students. Each group represented some of the major countries around the world and had to come to an understanding of some sort over one of the groups country going to war with a smaller neighbor country, which was also a group of students. This project would last the rest of the week and it only being Tuesday meant that they had not got very far in their arguments and reasoning.

His eyes kept darting to the metallic watch he had on his wrist to monitor the time that the class had left, now only ten minutes. “Only ten minutes left guys, start getting to a stopping point for today please.” He started to walk around the room to hear the final snidbits of information that the groups would mutter to each other. He listened to the ones that played major states of power discuss ways that they could keep their own interest the primary basis for their decision, something he assumed would play out. As he made his way back to the front of the room the hands on his watch moved to the top of the hour indicating that their class time was indeed up.

Okay guys times up. Go ahead and put your desk back in order and you are free to go. Do not forget that tomorrow’s class you will need access to the web so bring any laptops or tablets you may own! He went up to the board and erased the minor directions he put there at the start of class while the students gathered their things and left. Once he was done with that he gathered his own books and papers that he still needed to grade and placed them in his satchel before heading to the teacher’s lounge for his hour break until his next class.

Today Clay wore a pair of khaki pants, a light blue button up shirt, a red neck tie, and a pair of dark leather dress shoes. As he walked through the halls he gave smile and nods to his students that he passed. He had only been working here for since the start of the fall term but had already grown to really enjoy the campus and students there. He was once a student here himself back in the day but that was nearly ten years ago now and most the staff that he had, had all gone save a few.

He entered the teacher’s lounge and instantly went for the coffee pot. There were few teachers here at the moment, most were still coming and going to their next classes. He found a nice clean mug and poured himself some coffee but left enough room for the sugar and cream he would need. Once everything was all good with his coffee he found a seat near the coffee table and couches. He was about to enjoy a nice little read of the current events in the world and enjoy his coffee. Should he be grading his papers, yes, was he, nope, that was something that could wait until later. He pulled out an ipad and opened up his BBC app and started reading the main articles there as more teachers entered the small lounge.

[Sienna Reid-Estrada]

Given it was already 11:30 in the morning, Sienna found it necessary to consume at least some sort of caffeinated drink to supplant her lack of sleep the night prior. In order to maintain a decent income and still have enough to save for a house, the redhead kept her job at the diner but took late afternoon shifts as frequently as she could. It wasn't to say that it was as difficult mentally as going to school for her masters and working part time, but there were earlier mornings and later nights that drained the redhead immensely.

So upon the first break she could grab in between classes -aka student lunch time- Sienna slipped into the staff lounge and, with practically no hesitation, she stepped over to the half empty coffee pot, no longer too picky about the temperature or quality. Sure, Sienna could have gotten a coke, but the coffee was free.

It seemed, however, that many of the staff members were having the same idea, but some ended up leaving after realizing just how many people were crowding themselves into the small room. However, Sienna wasn't deterred, and if anything, it meant that she could make more acquaintances within this new job. After all, she wasn't powered and so this was the first time this 23 year old was seeing any of them.

She took the seat on one end of a couch that was occupied by a man on his ipad, scrolling through goodness knew what. But instead of trying to peer over and act like a creep, the young woman simply decided to address him, "Glad for a break?" She took a sip of her coffee, "I've been needing this all day."

[Clay Richards]

As more of the faculty came into the cramp room the good seats were quickly grabbed. Most the teachers had been working together for some time while people like Clay had only been there for a few months. He had not made too many friends with any of them so he was not expecting any to actually bother to come and talk to him during their small break. His cup of coffee sat there hardly touched, only about a fourth of it had been drank. He was still reading the news stories on his ipad when movement and the sound of a female to the side of him caught his attention. He mentally marked the spot of the story in his mind and looked up to see who was actually talking to him.

There before him was a young woman, from the looks of it younger than him, with fiery red hair. He returned her kind smile with one of his own. Her question was a simple one and one that appeared to be an ice breaker if anything, similar to asking how the weather was. ” I could not agree any more to that statement.” He gave a small chuckle as he reached for his cup of coffee and took a sip. Once he was done with his sip he held onto the coffee and he decided he would enjoy some conversation with this other teacher. “This week seems to be dragging by slower than normal. Maybe I’m just a bit antsy for the upcoming holiday seasons around the corner.” He went ahead and turned off his ipad sensing that this might go on longer than just a few seconds. He outreached his hand to shake hers. I’m Clay Richards, the new Political Science teacher here. What about you? Are you also a teacher here?”

[Sienna Reid-Estrada]

Ah, the holiday season. It had always been something that Sienna looked forward to, especially when it came to the school being out of session for even the briefest of times. Now was no different, though the redhead had forgotten entirely about it. Her lips tilted up into a sheepish smile at the thought, the expression replacing the coffee cup that had been there not a few moments before.

"I'm the kind of girl who doesn't have time to notice," She offered with a light but honest laugh at that, knowing full well that it wasn't typical to hear a girl her age say something such as that. She had 'all the time in the world' according to her elders, but with all of that time occupied, what else was there? She hoped that soon enough it wouldn't be that way, and she could schedule in more time for herself, but as of late, she was simply trying to get herself going in the world ahead of her - much like she always had.

"But I can see what you mean, Friday would be wonderful right about now." Sienna was hardly expecting such a quick introduction from the man in front of her, but the surprise wasn't unwanted. "Sienna Reid-Estrada, if we're being formal. If not, just call me Sienna. I'm relatively new myself - just got a job as an English Teaching Assistant. I have to go one year before I can get my license."

[Clay Richards]

The woman was quite good looking even Clay had to admit that. She seemed to have a natural charisma about her. Clay’s smile seemed to be stuck on his face as he talked to her, after all he was happy to finally actually be making some sort of friends with his fellow staff member. She mentioned how she was not the kind of girl who even took the notice of the approaching seasonal days, everybody counted the days until Halloween and Christmas no matter what age they were, didn’t they?

”Yea Friday would be perfect right now but I was told at a young age don’t wish your life away, not a single day. A philosophy that seems to actually make a great deal of sense when you think about it.” He took another sip from his coffee now putting his cup to nearly empty. It seemed that his thirst only continued with their conversation. “So you are still trying to become a teacher huh? Does that mean that you are in your final semester in college and just student teaching? That must stink to still be a student but also be expected to teach students. Not a position I would want to be in but hey I guess you got to start somewhere right?”[/color]

The teachers in the lounge seemed to go about their business not stopping to even give note to the two who were starting in on their conversation. Clay took another drink from his cup to only notice that it was now empty, a bummer if there was ever one. He sat the empty cup on the table. “Hmm, well looks like I’m going to have to power through the rest of the day without caffeine, good thing I only have a few more classes before I can sneak on out of here.” He gave her a warm smile at that comment.