I Am A Pen! (Poppy)

[Deleted]

Jackson was self-conscious today. Much more nervous and uptight than usual, though he was trying to keep his usual friendly face. Sometimes it actually worked, and he completely forgot about the certain item that Kodi had forced upon him. The dentokinetic had tracked him down at the beginning of the day and, for one of his weird, sick, twisted games, told Jackson to keep that particular item in his bag for the duration of the day...and then to join him in his dorm room once classes had ended. There were a number of other conditions as well that are too inappropriate for the mention on a pg13 forum, so the rest shall be left to the imagination. And given Jackson's superbly active imagination, he had grown very, very conscious of that particular item in the front zip pocket of his backpack. Right there with his collection of pens and pencils and erasers.

It was nearing midday, however, and lunchtime was the perfect time for him to relax and forget about such things. He'd sat with his (girl?)friend Bunny, walked the short little princess to her next class, then skipped off to his next class with a smile on his lips and a song in his heart.

Jackson had set his backpack on the chair of his desk when one of the other students called him away for a quick explanation on the homework assigned from the night before. He provided his assistance without complaint, smiling as he pointed out the errors on the person's homework sheet, running his hand through his bleach blonde hair and scratching his head at the nape of his neck. His roots were starting to get much more noticeable these days. Jackson wondered how disappointed Bunny would be if he dyed his hair back to brown? Oh, well, he'd ask her...sometime. When he remembered. For not he just needed to concentrate on correcting this fool's terribly done homework... He really should start charging a regular fee for this shit...

[Poppy Summers]

Maybe, eventually, she'd start carrying extra pens around instead of relying solely on her favorite at the time. Maybe she ought to be more responsible about things like that. As it was, she wasn't and her current fave had become problematic when it ran out of ink last period. There wasn't really enough time for her to go running back to her dorm for a new pen, but she knew Jackson was in the next class.

He was a nice guy, always had more than enough pens for twice as many people in class and he woudn't mind if she borrowed one.

Poppy had every intention of asking for a pen, but he was busy and class was going to start soon. He was so chill and it wasn't like she was going to keep the pen all day. Rather than interrupt his conversation she stooped down and unzipped the pen pouch going right in for one. It obviously wasn't going to be like the smooth pen she'd been using, but it would do. Purpose served until she could get refill ink or decide on a new favorite.

No harm no foul, right?

[Deleted]

Under normal conditions, on any other day, Miss Poppy Summers would have been correct in the Jackson wouldn't have minded (too much) if she poked around in his bag for a pen. After all, that was half the reason why he kept so many, for other people to use. That, and he liked using the colored ones to doodle in the margins of his notebook.

Today was not a normal day. And on this abnormal day, Jackson would argue that she shouldn't have been poking around in his things in the first place, at least not without asking first. Even if it was a simple shout across the classroom to let him know that she was invading his privacy without properly asking, that would have alerted him enough to offer Poppy either a yes or no before she did it. Unfortunately, he couldn't be the nice guy he was and tell her 'no' politely if she didn't ask first.

Jackson saw Poppy pass by in his peripheral just as he was explaining the purpose of sentence diagrams to one particular idiot, and didn't think anything of it at first. He happened a glance up just in time to see her unzipping the front pouch of his backpack, and again, it didn't register right away what she was doing. An immediate second glance had him snapping out instinctively with a loud and sharp, "Hey!" Jackson abandoned his pupil without thought and rushed back to his desk area. "Get out of there! Those are my things!" It sounded uncharacteristically possessive of him, and drew more than a couple looks from his fellow classmates. Jackson wasn't thinking about them at the moment, though. Just whether or not she had noticed that....that item that was still sitting shamelessly in that pouch.

[Poppy Summers]

As she was barked at with far more force than she could ever recall Jackson using, Poppy stayed crouched where she'd been and just stared at him, pouch open and mouth agape.

"Excuse me? I mean, I know this is yours, but that's why... it's not like I haven't borrowed pens from you before. Geeze, what crawled up your butt and bit you?" The defensive became an immediate thing, and though she didn't mean to lash back out, it just sort of happened. The same way the shadows curled around her, expanding and contracting as her own emotions snapped and flared while she tried to process why he was yelling at her.

People were looking at them, and Poppy puckered her lips in a particular pinch she'd inherited from watching her mother deal with something stubborn or unsavory by her standards.

"I mean, really," the girl lowered her voice with a sideways glance at those around them whose attention was suddenly very sharp upon them. "It's just a pen, Jackson, I'll give it back." It was her attempt to sooth things over, though she still hadn't apologized for her transgression. She didn't even really recognize it as a transgression. He had pens. She needed a pen. It really was as cut and dry as all that.

[Deleted]

Jackson was careless, and before he knew it he’d uncharacteristically shouted at a person for doing something that…yes, he normally wouldn’t have shouted at her for doing. Well, he wasn’t known to raise his voice for anything, really, so that was even more of a surprise to their classmates no doubt.

Despite all that…that didn’t change the fact that she was this close to uncovering something he didn’t want anyone to know about. And now he had to justify why he was so upset over something that normally wouldn’t have bothered him.

“N-no, I know that but…” Shit, what was he supposed to say? “That’s still my bag, and even if I give them out like candy, I still appreciate it if you ask first.” There, that was reasonable…right? Probably. Jackson crossed over back to his desk area, completely abandoning the person he was helping just a moment ago. His face was red, not only from embarrassment, but from unchecked anger as well, which he was trying to reel back in as quickly as possible. It would do no good to lose it here, it would just make people ask more questions. “L-let me get it for you, okay…?” he said in a much calmer voice, though red alarms were still going off in his head, keeping his nerves on high alert.