Big Boys Don't Cry (Sydney)

[Grady Mitchellson]

It was a beautiful day outside. The sun was shinning. The flowers were blooming. Just a wonderful summer day.

And Grady couldn't be more miserable. 

For starters, he really didn't enjoy the hot weather. With his binder on, the heat was just too much for him and he was pretty sure he'd lost 10 pounds in sweat already today. So right now he was sitting in the shade under a tree by the pond with his feet in the water trying to cool off.

He supposed he could just go inside. Where there was AC. But inside there was also people. And people were annoying and stupid. Though most of the Hammel  students were accepting, or just didn't really care either way, there were always bullies. Always some idiot to make him feel like crap.

So he was out here, brooding, and wishing he could just crawl in a black hole and hide forever. At least he'd managed not to start crying. He hated it when his emotions betrayed him. For the most part he worked to keep things even. Men weren't supposed to be emotional, after all. Men weren't supposed to talk about feelings. or need help...right?

[Sydney Emerson]

Sydney was a very active person. But it was a constant effort. Physicality and athleticism did not come naturally to her. She had begun it as a challenge to herself and it was something she had found she quite enjoyed. Yet if she fell out of her routine, it was difficult to maintain. So she ensured that she didn't skip her run. When she fit it into her day was flexible, but it was non-negotiable.

That was what had her out by the pond on this summer day.

But as she neared the pond, she found herself feeling heavy. Just weighed down with misery. For once, she could easily recognize her power for what it was. These were definitely not her emotions. Thank god. She had been so much more emotional than normal lately, and quite frankly, she found it exhausting. How other people managed to deal with that constantly she had no idea.

Sydney slowed as she neared the water, noting the only other person around. It was quite a hot day and she had worked up a bit of a sweat. A break and the refreshing water... It wasn't a bad idea. Give her a chance to cool down and she was feeling a bit curious.

First she stretched a little before pulling off her shoes and socks, dipping her feet into the water as she sat beside the boy. It was then that she got a better look at him, vaguely recognizing him from the Student Activities Council, though they had never worked closely with each other before.

"Hey," she said after taking a drink from her water bottle. "...Grady right?" she asked, fairly confident she had correctly remembered his name, though it was always wise to double check.

"So what's bothering you anyway?" she asked bluntly, turning to look at him. The expression on her face was as no nonsense as her tone of voice. She didn't see anything wrong with this either. After all, they both knew that something was on his mind, so why pretend otherwise. Perhaps she could have been a bit more polite in asking, but her own curiosity - for slightly selfish reasons - had her a little eager. After all, the more she talked to people, the more she could learn to deal with her own annoying emotions. That was the goal at least.

Despite her brusque way of bringing it up though, she did genuinely want to know though. After all, he might look fine, but she could very much feel that he was not.

[Grady Mitchellson]

Grady wasn't exactly looking for company. So, when he noticed the girl approaching he considered getting up. But he didn't really have anywhere else to go hide out. And the water felt good on his feet. And he was hot, sweaty, and tired. So he figured he might as well stay. After all, he was here first. If she was going to be another ignorant fool, he had no problem telling her off. He wasn't really in the mood. Of course knowing his luck, he'd probably end up crying if he started shouting. He hated it, but he had the tendency to cry when he got angry.

Grady was glad she got his name right. Some of the older students had a habit of calling him by his birth name still. He tried not to hold it against them, but it was aggravating sometimes. Especially when he was already having a bad day.

"Uh...yeah," he said, wishing he knew this girl's name. He was pretty sure it started with an S, but he couldn't recall it at the moment. he felt bad that she knew his name (his real name) and he didn't know hers. Even worse when he realized he'd assumed she was going to be mean at first.

He was thrown a little by her question. First, because he was still trying to remember her name. Secondly, because it was so blunt. And third, well he wasn't used to the other students caring that much. Especially students he didn't really know.

"I...uh..." he stammered. "Who are you?" Great. Real smooth.

[Sydney Emerson]

As she approached, it was hard to miss the sense of annoyance she sensed from the boy. It blended rather well with the general sense of misery she got from him. While some might have been dissuaded were they able to sense his emotions, Sydney was far too determined to let a little something like his bad mood dissuade her. Especially since that was the reason she wanted to talk to him.

Truth be told, Sydney had no idea about Grady's particular circumstances that made remembering his name significant. She just had a thing for names. Well, to be fully accurate, she had a knack for remembering faces and worked hard to try to match names to those faces. It was difficult but she had done pretty well with at least remembering most everyone she was in clubs with.

She felt a sudden wave of emotion from him then - guilt. She didn't quite understand why, but when he finally spoke, she thought she understood. He probably felt bad that she knew his name and he didn't know hers. That seemed a rather silly reason to get upset, but considering how he had felt in the first place... well, she wasn't about to give him a hard time. Besides, she wasn't even a little offended. Especially since it meant he probably didn't remember her with the same negativity many students seemed to. Being so much younger than her peers and so outspoken meant she was quite familiar with the sense of annoyance that was often directed at her. She didn't let such things bother her but still, it was a bit of a relief.

"Sydney Emerson," she said with confidence, offering her hand for a handshake. She had a habit of introducing herself professionally no matter how casual the setting. "Sorry that I startled you. I know I tend to be more straight-forward than most," she explained.

"Anyway, I'm an empath. I can sense emotions. I noticed that you were upset and I was wondering why." A short pause. "I hope that's not too personal. It's just hard not to wonder given the nature of my power," she added, perhaps a bit too late. Sydney worried her bottom lip for a moment, wondering if she should further explain her motive, but explaining her robot tendencies as they'd been called was a little unnerving, even for someone as confident as her. Hopefully, he was open to talking. Finally she gave a small shrug. "I know you don't really know me, but I figure it'd probably be better to talk to somebody rather than nobody at all."

[Grady Mitchellson]

Once the girl said her name, Grady finally put two and two together. She was on the Student Council with him. Though he had only recently joined the club (part of his attempt to become more social and out of his shell) he still felt kinda stupid for forgetting her name.

She was right about the whole straight-forward thing, but he supposed it made sense with the whole empath thing. Though it made Grady a bit uncomfortable. It was better than being around a telepath, but still it made him feel a bit uneasy to be so...vulnerable. Usually he spent some much effort hiding his emotions, or at least faking that they were more "masculine" that it odd to be sitting here with someone he barely knew but who knew that he was upset.

"Yeah...it's...okay," Grady said. He wanted to feel like it was okay. He hated being judgmental of anyone. And after all it wasn't Sydney's fault that she was born an empath anymore than it was his fault he'd been born a "girl".

That thought helped him to forget his worries for the moment. Though Grady really didn't get girls, he did feel like he should protect them. Maybe it was his over-masculinity making him a bit misogynistic or maybe it was the way her bottom lip quivered, but he wanted to make her feel okay with this.

"Really, it's alright," he added, this time a bit more sincerely. "It's just...life, ya know? It just sucks sometimes. Like I didn't pick this life. Like you didn't pick to be an empath. It's just unfair I guess." Though now he was wondering if maybe Sydney really liked her power. There were kids who did. Grady for one didn't really mind his, but he wasn't exactly thrilled to be even more of a freak either.