Perfection Requires Constant Effort (Kate)

[Sydney Emerson]

Sydney had never been good at socializing. 

It pained her to admit it, but it was nonetheless a fact. Which is why most her interactions revolved around either studying or one of her extracurricular activities. Those were things she was good at, and she had never been one to take unnecessary risks. Challenging herself was one thing, but she handled everything in a logical manner. If the odds of a productive result were not in her favor, it was best avoided.  

So she didn't go much out of her way to get to know people. She was comfortable conversing during a study session or while practicing, anything where her path naturally intersected with others, but she wasn't the sort to try to make such opportunities. She simply allowed them to happen naturally. She would say this was the most logical approach, but the reality she was not ready to face is that she was scared of failing.

But she still enjoyed studying with others, so it was something she often did. 

Like today for instance. She was meeting a classmate, Kate Warren, to study. The two had several classes together and were both on the track team and Student Activities Council as well. As such, their paths crossed often and they were fairly well acquainted. It made studying together an obvious choice.

Sydney had arrived at the library a while earlier than they had agreed, reserving them a table to use and giving herself time to read while she waited for Kate to arrive. It was much simpler this way she found. If she was always early then she seldom felt rushed which allowed her to be relaxed and afford the task at hand her entire concentration. Sydney liked things efficient after all.

[Kate Warren]

Most teenagers would consider a 'good time' to be mindless activities, such as attending a party or playing video games. For Kate, this was not the case. She would not even consider participating in an unproductive activity even if all of her homework and studying was done. If she had nothing to study, no homework to slave over, and no club even to attend, she would busy herself with something, anything to make her feel productive. Also, there was hardly ever a time in her life that allowed that kind of free time.

Kate had just finished ballet rehearsal and returned to her dorm to shower. According to the clock that hung on her bedroom wall, she had thirty minutes until she was due to meet up with Sydney to study. She had made plans with the girl simply because they shared the same dedication to schoolwork and seemed to have similar attitudes about it. She wouldn't consider Sydney a friend yet, but making plans was the first step to bonding, which she was good at.

After a quick shower, Kate slipped on some jeans and a white sweater, since it was chilly outside. She dried her hair and, not having time to straighten it, pulled it into a high pony tail so loose curls hung around her face, but not in a messy way. Kate would never want to look unkept. She wasn't exactly vain, she just wanted to give off a good impression. Who knows when you'll have to meet up face to face with somebody important. After light makeup was applied and she looked presentable, Kate pulled on boots and slung her book bag over her shoulder. Ten minutes, just enough time to make it to the library.

The walk was cold but not unbearable. She arrived exactly on time, not a second early or late. Kate smiled brightly, her pearly teeth lighting up her face as she sat down at the table across from Sydney, who must have arrived early.

"Hello, Sydney. How are you today?" She said politely with another grin. Kate had an A+ in friendliness. She immediately began pulling out textbooks and notes, preparing for their study session. "Today's topics will be...English and Calculus for me. Those seem to be the soonest tests since I last consulted my calendar." She said with a concluding nod.

[Sydney Emerson]

Sydney didn't have to look at her watch to know that Kate had arrived precisely on time. It was a quality she quite appreciated about the older girl. Very few people had her appreciation for promptness, yet Kate was one such individual. In fact, they two agreed on quite a lot of things. They shared a need for perfection in their work and a desire to spend their time efficiently and productively. While others were content to waste their time away on frivolous and fruitless ventures, these two classmates preferred to focus on constructive activities instead.

Kate was the most like-minded person that she had ever meant. Which probably made her the closest thing to a friend that Sydney had.

The two probably weren't friends in the conventional sense, but Sydney was fine with that. The concept of friendship was still a bit baffling to her. She didn't see what the benefit was. From her research she had determined a lot of the concept hinged on providing emotional support, but she had never really felt the need for that. She was an independent person by nature it seemed. Besides, with all her studies and activities, she didn't really believe she had time for friends.

However, she did appreciate another's company during mutual activities, which is what she and Kate did. It was quite pleasant in fact.

"Hello, Kate," she replied. "I'm quite well. How are you?" she asked politely. Unlike the elder girl, Sydney wasn't the particularly smiley sort. As such her greeting was said with a close-lipped slight smile - just a tug at the corners of her lips.

Her gaze went to her own planner, which confirmed Kate's conclusion. "That would be correct," she confirmed. It was moments like this that made her truly appreciate Kate's pragmatism. Most people she had discovered either in a sort of last minute panic or else based on the whim of their moods. It made far more logical sense to study based on the schedule of the week ahead. Anything else was a waste of energy.

She went about getting out the necessary supplies for those subjects, glancing between the two momentarily to decide where to begin. "Shall we begin with English perhaps?" Since English was interpretive, she found it to be more thought intensive than math, which was more logically intuitive. It seemed wiser to leave the easier topic for later.

[Kate Warren]

Kate felt a small sense of pride from the punctuality of being exactly on time. Perfection was not only getting straight A's. It was perfecting small tasks such as timeliness that truly made people believe that she was always one step ahead and never got anything wrong. Perfection was also surrounding herself with people who honored the same morals. When people saw Kate with Sydney, they probably thought, Wow, two perfect girls, the perfect match. They're going places. As opposed to what they would think if Kate were to surround herself in public with people like Zoelle Heroux, whose reputation was bad enough to reflect negatively on whoever she was seen publicly with. Not to mention, Sydney was also very pleasant company.

"I'm doing well," she said. "Prior to our meeting I had ballet rehearsal, my longest one in a while, so I'm physically spent." Her rehearsal had been three hours of going over detailed routines and having her every move picked apart by her instructor. It was exhausting, but in the end it was worth it. Kate glanced down at her books and mentally prepared herself for hard studying.

"English, of course. My favorite subject." She smiled fondly and set aside her math books for later use. She was just cracking open her notebook when her phone began to ring, quite obnoxiously for a library. "Oh! I'm sorry." She pulled out the offending device and sighed at the caller ID, glaring at the letters that read Mom. "I apologize, but I really should take this." She said quietly, standing up and walking a few feet from the table where she hopefully wouldn't disturb anyone.

"Mother, hello...I'm doing well, and yourself?...well, why doesn't he call and tell me himself?...oh, of course...another time then...goodbye." Kate hung up the phone after the brief and impersonal conversation. Vivian and Robert Warren had once again canceled their plans of attending her recital. She sighed and returned to her seat across from Sydney, giving an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, where were we?"

[Sydney Emerson]

"Ah yes. Don't you have a recital coming up? I imagine rehearsal must be especially grueling. Quite rewarding as well though." Sydney understood little about dance, but she knew that ballet required intense dedication and discipline, both of which were things that she highly admired. Regardless though, she did understand the exhaustion that came with any sort of physical training. Not being a natural athlete, it had taken many such days to become as skilled as she was.

Sydney smiled as the other mentioned English being her favorite subject. Sydney herself had mixed feelings on the subject. She enjoyed reading greatly and was quite knowledgeable in the details of grammar, but the interpretive nature left her feeling uneasy at times. Logic based subjects were constant, relaxing even.

However, the sudden ringing of her phone startled them both. She nodded as Kate said she needed to take the call. Forgetting to silence one's phone was a touch inconsiderate, but given that she had only just arrived at the library was also understandable, and thus forgivable. She busied herself with looking through her planner to refresh her memory what material their test was to cover.

Kate returned then, offering an apology. "We had just settled on starting with English," she answered. Though, something was bothering her now. She felt a small ounce of guilt or shame, but it was well overshadowed by disappointment and... anger? Frustration? It was puzzling.

"Did you just get bad news or something?" she asked bluntly. "You're upset." She didn't phrase it politely nor as a question. After all, she knew it was fact. Social niceties were a bit lost on the empath at times.