Grey Afternoon (open)

[November Adams]

The compliment that fell from the other teen's lips brought a heat back to Ember's face. She was squeamish when it came to things like this - things she knew she wasn't the best at, nor deserved much praise for. She really only continued playing because;
A. It was something to do, and,
B. Her sister loved to watch the webcam videos that she sent her of playing music.

"Thanks," Stumbled clumsily from her lips as she glanced away. Her fingers had stopped moving on the strings, losing their beat as embarrassment seemed to keep a hold on her. November laughed nervously, scratching her head as she glanced back to Tess. "Yeah, I'm not usually self insulting, I promise." She assured with another laugh. "It's just with guitar, really." It was true - beside that, and her annoying baby face, Ember didn't have a problem with herself. She had flaws, but chose not to really acknowledge them. Mainly because there were too many teens in the world that were constantly down on themselves and she really didn't feel like being one of them. What's the point in being sad all the time?

Ember grinned at the girl's light tone sarcasm, "Nah, I think you could make it. Be a composer or something, ya know?" She urged with a playful smile. "It... is something you like to do, yeah?"

November gave the girl an incredulous look when she asked if she would be a professional. She laughed, "Ah, probably not. I hadn't the slightest idea what I'm doing after this. Maybe I'll go to Canada or something." She said offhandedly, flitting her hand around absentmindedly. "You figure out what you're gonna do with you life?"

[Tess Holmes]

Looking over her shoulder at the piano Tess nodded as she shifted her gaze back to the other girl.  "Yeah.  I guess I do," Tess grinned.  Despite her best intentions to hate everything her father loved, Tess was a sucker for music and especially the piano.  

"A composer?" Tess asked, a laugh escaping from her with a raise of her eyebrows.  "I wrote some stuff when I was a kid.  It was all such crap.  I've never really thought about sitting down and trying to write something," Tess added with a shrug of her shoulder.  Tess started to play around with the guitar again.  She stopped for a moment to fix at the worn strap.  It had seen much better days and was kind of digging at her shoulder now.  

Tess looked up suddenly at the second question.  Not expecting it even though the idea wasn't far removed from what they were talking about.  She hoped her face was blank but there was a wash of nerves that she felt pulse through her that she was fairly certain she hadn't hidden too well.  Tess's rallied quickly with a smirk.

"Not really.  Mom wants me to go off to college and be her little lawyer like they've been wanting me to be since I was two," Tess said with more than mild distaste. Tess moved her bangs out of her eyes.  This time it was more of a nervous tick than them having really been in her eyes.  "Maybe they're thinking I can just hurl books at the opposing counsel," Tess added.

"If you've already called Canada then maybe I'll just disappear into Iceland for a year or two," Tess joked.     

[November Adams]

Ember could only watch as the mood in the room swiftly changed according to the girl's tone. The light conversation turned almost eerily dark with the mention of her parents; words said with such distaste that one could only be lead to believe she really did not get along with her parental units. November could only give her a soft, almost sympathetic smile. She didn't know what that was like - her and her parents got along just fine. They were a pleasant family, and both of them were very hesitant to ship her off to HI... But they wanted the best for her. Evidently, this was not the same for Tess.

"Lawyer, eh?" Was all she could think of saying. Silence held the room in a choke hold. "Erm..." November glanced to the side, off to the window streaked with dark rain. "I... I'm sorry. That your parents are like that." She explained, looking back at the teen across from her. "Must be hard," She idly ran her fingers along the neck and body of the beaten guitar strapped around her. She had nearly forgotten it didn't belong to her. It had a certain comfort, like the leather jacket she wore.

Nervously laughing through the quick conversation change, "Oh yeah, isn't Icelandic like the hardest language to learn or something?" She offered the bit of random information thoughtfully, musing on the useless facts swimming in her head.