dog eared pages [OPEN]

[Riley Murray]

If the whole world was simplistic, which in truth was inconceivable, there would be three types of people. There would be the morning people, active by day, up at the wee hours of the morning going on a jog, doing well in school. In contrast, there would also be the night people who were just out of it during the day, yet alive and partiers at night. Riley however fell into the third category: every time of day people who always seemed to have a bit too much caffeine in their systems judging by their hyperactive personalities, lively energy, and constant smiles.

Therefore, Riley frequently found herself up early, closer to the time of sunrise rather than the sensible time of breakfast. In some ways, it was just natural. Riley had always been an early riser even as a little kid. Like clockwork, when the sun went up and so did she ready for a fresh brand new day. Take today for instance. When Riley woke up and glanced at her silent alarm clock, it read 6:57. Next glancing out the window, Riley saw the ever so familiar early morning son.

However, if one was to actually watch how Riley woke up, they would see a reason behind the reason. It wasn’t as if she hid it well, just no one was ever there to see it. Every morning Riley bolted out of bed, stifling a shriek from her mouth as she tried to suppress the bad images. The reason was an altogether different and much more sinister reason called nightmares of the past, dreams that could frighten even the bravest out of bed. Riley did not consider herself exceptionally brave and it showed today especially as she was too late to quite the noise.

Too late, Riley thought as she got out of bed. She stood in silence for a moment, listening for noise threw the thin walls, hoping she hadn’t woken her dorm mates up. She heard silence. She had gotten lucky, but she was also awake, and the thought of going back to bed terrified her. Instead, Riley tugged a black zip up sweat shirt on over her tank top and green flannel sweat pants, grabbed a book, and left her dorm room for the common area.

Now settling onto the couch, Riley curled her feet under her body and opened the dog eared novel to the page she had stopped at. It was there that she continued to read for some time.

[Jared Park]

If the world was then that simple, then Jared would’ve been part of the third group as well, the hyperactive, enthusiastic and overtly optimistic people. He’s just overflowing with energy (partly with him being a boy, another being a kid) and he’s not afraid to let it show. He’s talk, talk, and talk all day if he can. He’ll skip, jump and even do a cartwheel if he feels like it. He doesn’t like being down or angry, and if he can, he won’t let other people feel it too (which would spell disaster, for both him and others, if he woke up and found himself being an empath with control the level of Ann). This positivity of his may be attributed to his background when he was growing. He had so much love and care back then, that he feels like he’s got more than enough to share across the whole country. As the saying goes, you can’t give what you don’t have.

Unfortunately such a classification group won’t work for the world, ‘cause as Jared’s positivity somehow points him majorly to the third division, he’s much too lazy and sleepy for him to wake up early, which somehow tells him as belonging to the second group, the night-walkers. He was up all night, cramming his Biology lab report and History essay away, together with trying to figure out the answers to his Algebra worksheet. He wouldn’t even wake up if he hadn’t heard his alarm shout noisily for the fifth time already.

Lifelessly pressing the snooze button on his clock, he sat on his bed slowly, his hair a huge mess and his eyes bare opened. He yawned without a care, opening his mouth as wide as it can. After looking around for a bit and scratching his messy hair, he dragged his foot towards the common room, his stomach grumbling and telling him he should have something for breakfast already.

In a trance-like, zombie state, he failed to notice Riley’s presence in the room initially. He just went straight to their shared cupboard, grabbed a white bowl and a spoon, then went towards the shared pantry. In there he bent over to reach the box of Fruit Loops he had stashed, and made a mental note to buy himself some when he goes to town with Emma next time as his was almost finished. After pouring himself some milk he went to his usual place at the couch. Only after a few munches did he notice the blonde girl reading on the far end of the couch.

“Mornin’ Riley,” he said between chewing, not caring that he’s had his mouth full while talking. Apparently Jared loses his manners in the morning. “Isn’t it a bit too early to read?”

[Riley Murray]

Riley had no problem admitting that she was not an academic kind of girl. It wasn’t that she was stupid or anything. She just didn’t have the patience to deal with that kind of stuff. For instance, assign a test and Riley would do okay, but in truth, she knew the information well. Or ask her to read a book, and she probably won’t do it, but that didn’t mean she hated reading. She just hated the boring, stuffy, classic kind that teachers assigned. What Riley really loved was the ever so interesting genre of fantasy.

Therefore, it would be of no surprise that early in the morning she would be found reading Lord of The Rings, a book she enjoyed as a title and continued to adore as a teen perhaps even more so. Because the book was interesting and unique, her copy was now dog eared and old, yet it rested copy against her knees as almost as if it belonged there. All set up, Riley read on engrossed by the fellowship’s perilous journey to destroy the one ring to rule them all, almost as if she thought it all real.

That however did not mean she was clueless to the outside world. In fact, Riley noticed plenty of things: the clock ticking away, the sun rising just a bit higher, and her stomach now grumbling, desiring breakfast. Ignoring it all, Riley continued to read. That is, until she heard Jared’s alarm clock go out several times as he kept hitting snooze until he finally got up and entered the common area.

Riley looked up for a moment as he entered and smiled. Clearly he did not notice her. Remaining silent for now, Riley continued to read.
Her eyes continued to scan through pages, while at the same time Riley listened to the familiar sound of fruit loops, clinking as they hit the bowl, and the slosh of milk, waiting there to be eaten for breakfast. Riley continued to read up until Jared sat down on the couch and suddenly realized she was there.

“Took you long enough bed head.” Riley said referring to his messy hair, not that her ringlets were any better. “Morning to you too.” She said now glad for some company. “It’s never too early to read some good old Tolkien.” She insisted, shutting her book while remembering page 273, now focused on her conversation with Jared.

[Jared Park]

Jared was never the academic type. That title belongs to his older brother, Jasper, and he has no intentions of stealing it from him. Not now, not ever. But it doesn’t really mean that Jared does bad at school (Jasper would not allow that to happen) – he’s just average, for all intents and purposes. And it’s not because he’s too slow or stupid to keep up, it’s just that he doesn’t try. And the main reason he doesn’t want to try overachieving is books. Books and reading.

Books have always been Jared’s nemesis. Like all teenage boys, Jared was energetic, lively and possesses an attention span as long as a matchstick (or even shorter); the bioelectric nature of his powers only makes things worse. Reading novels and textbooks usually entails sitting still for more than an hour or so, reading huge chunks of text, usually with little or no pictures, hence relying only on one’s imagination. And while Jared was certainly not lacking in the imagination department (his odd choice of clothes were a testament to that), his short attention span simply can’t work well with little visual stimuli. He likes color and variety so much (his clothes are mostly composed of neon prints and shades) that he just can’t get himself to finish a book with ten pages of continuous text. He is, however, a huge fan of comic books.

“Sowry, bwain’s nosht funcshioning werl in duh mornin’” he answered, not caring that he has milk spilling out the corner of his mouth. Jared’s usually not this sloppy, but it seems his manners were far too tired to wake up at this time of day. Sorry Riley.

He munched happily through his fruit loops, savoring every bit and loving the fruity taste it imparts on the milk. “Whantshome?” he asked, offering Riley his bowl. He finally finished munching what’s on his mouth and swallowed them with a rather loud gulp, followed by his routine lip lick. A rather loud yawn suddenly escaped his lips. He then stretched for a bit, pulling his oversized shirt up to cover his exposed bony shoulder. “Meh, you’re just jealous ‘cause my hair’s much more disorganized than yours,” he laughed, ruffling his hair for a bit, making his unruly mane even more atrocious.

“Tolkien? Tolkien who?” He tilted his head in confusion, giving Riley a puzzled look with his half-shut eyes. Clearly Jared’s dislike for books extended to his poor knowledge of famous authors, especially of those who wrote legends. The only authors he knew despite not reading their respective works were J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyer, and only because he’s heard their names from his crazy fanboy/fangirl classmates. “Haven’t I heard that name before?”

[Riley Murray]

Riley rolled her eyes at Jared when he spoke in a garbled tongue because of his large mouthful of cereal. Disgusting, Riley thought, although she didn’t hold it against him. When a person is hungry they should eat and that’s that. Satiating one’s stomach was priority number one while manners were somewhere way down the line of needs.

Lucky for Riley however, she understood speaking with a full mouth like it was her second language. “Who’s to say you’re brain is ever functioning properly?” Riley teased, her mouth breaking out into a grin letting him know that she meant no harm in saying it. All was just fun and games…that is until someone got hurt.

Riley’s grin only continued to grow as he offered her some cereal. Sharing was caring, especially when the person being shared with was too lazy to get up and get their own breakfast. Most would be disgusted when the person doing the sharing was a complete slob, eating with their mouth open and chewing loudly. Even worse, the amount of germs in that bowl was probably astronomical! But that wouldn’t stop Riley and her grumbling stomach. She was much too used to Jared. “Gimme some!” She said completely forsaking a polite please.

“Me? Jealous?” Riley asked rhetorically. “Not a chance!” She insisted. “My luscious yet crazy locks will beat yours any day of the week.” She insisted shaking her head for emphasize, sending her hair flying. Jared’s hair was long and straight for a boy, allowing for some serious bed head. Riley’s however was long by anyone’s standards. Even worse, it was a full head of perfect spiral like ringlets that seemed to frizz and poof all the time. There was no doubt in her mind that hers was the wilder of the two.

“Tolkien who? You crazy Jared?” Riley asked now completely serious. She understood better than most that some people just didn’t like reading, but come on! This was J.R. Tolkien! Not some random nobody! He should know better, especially with Riley as a roommate. “Tolkien as in the author of the Lord of the Rings, the greatest series of all times. Ring any bells in that empty head of your?” Riley asked.

[Jared Park]

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how Riley may have wanted Jared to react), Jared did not get Riley’s eye roll; his eyes were still half-shut, which means he only sees half of what he’s supposed to see. If he did see it, he might feel a bit guilty about his sloppy eating and might try to act better. Being up in the morning doesn’t really excuse one’s manners, or so Jasper says. But since he failed to notice Riley’s disgusted reaction, he just continued on what he’s doing, even slurping milk noisily once or twice.

“Valid point,” laughed Jared after gulping down another spoonful of cereal, “I don’t remember if I even have a brain. Perhaps I should have it checked tomorrow.” Jared was never one to take jokes seriously, probably because he throws them all around too more often than not. He even tapped his head a few times and added, “Oh gosh, it sounds so hollow. You may be on to something here. I’m scared.”

Food sharing has never been a problem to Jared. Growing up, he and his siblings shared almost every utensil. Spoon, fork, glass, bowl, everything. While this may sound acceptable considering that they’re siblings and all, this somehow carried on to Jared’s friends and other acquaintances. Whenever he sees one of his friends before drinking, say a mango-flavored bubble tea, he’d rush over and ask for a sip, using the same straw and not really caring. And since most of his friends didn’t really care much too (only one of his was extremely conscious about everything; the rest of them were as sloppy as Jared is when it comes to sharing), it didn’t really occur to it that it wasn’t that hygienic. And after all, exposure to foreign bacteria is said to strengthen one’s immune system, right?

“In what universe Riley, in what universe?” he laughed, leaning over a bit to ruffle Riley’s blonde locks. And true, it was more tangly and curly than normal, but what’s to be expected? They aren’t perfect little gods and goddesses who looked prim and proper every time. Sleeping brings out the worse in Jared, as he tosses and turns and makes awkward positions. He even unintentionally drools at times, though it has lessened as he grew older. “You need to make it go a bit crazier. Yours simply look like drenched seeweed. Mine’s more of an electrocuted lion’s mane. Rawr.” He even made a claw-pounce imitation to make the point even more hilarious.

“So that’s why he sounded familiar!” Jared laughed, a bit embarrassed about his recent flop. For all his geekiness and dorkiness, he’s never been too heavy on the LotR series, unfortunately. “Is that the Frodo-hobbit-’My precious’ movie series?” he asked, complete with the voice impersonation. “Sorry, I’m not too heavy on books. And I slept through all the movies. Haha,” he added, feeling oh-so-proud of himself.

[Riley Murray]

Riley smiled as Jared played along with her joke rather than taking it as rudeness. “Wouldn’t that he a site to behold? I can just imagine it now.” Riley said laughing slightly thinking how the staff would react if he went up to them with this issue. “Dr. Neville would probably diagnose you with mad cow or something new find called scare crow syndrome.” Riley said referring to her favorite old childhood movie, the wizard of oz. “Do you need to suppress an urge to burst out singing If I Only had a Brain?” Riley asked raising one eye brow at him. “Because sometimes I swear I hear you singing in the shower.” She teased.

Taking Jared’s silence on the gimme comment and interpreting it as a sure Riley! Have as much as you want. Riley grabbed his bowl out of his hands and chewed a mouthful of his cereal. Delicious, she thought, although not quite cookies and crisps, but it would have to do. As the scrumptious flavor of fruit loops filled her mouth, Riley chewed loudly wondering if he would realize how annoying for her hearing him chew really was. Probably not, she assumed before taking another spoonful.

“Why in Murray Land, the most wonderful land of all.” Riley said after swallowing some cereal and smacking his hand away from her hair. “It’s the land of elves, munchkins, and sparkly fairies, where everyone’s hair is wild and untamed.” She explained while maintaining a completely straight face. Liking the idea of her hair resembling sea weed, Riley decided, “Fine, just call me Amphitrite, queen of the sea in Murray Land, and all others for that matter.” Amphitrite, wife of Poseidon, sounded mad cool to her. In fact, it was way cooler than being like an old boring lion, so take that Jared.

“Shame Jared. Shame.” Riley said shaking her head in mock disappointment as he finally recalled who Tolkien was. It took him long enough. “Yes that’s Lord of the Rings series as in Frodo the hobbit, my precious and all.” Riley said including a damn good Gollum impression as well. Riley’s disappointment however turned real as she heard he never read the books or saw the movie. “What? How could you do such a thing! I know the movies are long, but come on! They’re so worth it, yet you won’t even give the movies a second thought.”

[Jared Park]

Jared actually enjoyed the joke. He doesn’t mind being the object of all the laughter in the room, as long as it’s all done in good faith and he knows no one would take it seriously. After all, nobody likes a kill joy right? “Oh gosh, that is if they’d be able to take a picture of my x-ray. Invisible to all things mechanical and creepy remember?” he laughed. Maybe he was taking the matter too seriously, maybe not – he could care less really. It was all good fun, no need to overanalyze everything he’s going to say, even though his statements may contradict in one point or another. “Hey, at least I’d be unique dear,” he laughed, “Have you ever heard of an adorable guy like me live for so long without a brain? I am great!” Jared wasn’t really a vain or self-centered kid, but he does like to throw himself compliments, especially if he’s making fun of himself. Adds to the hilarity of the issue, he says.

He stopped munching for a while when Riley mentioned the song. “If I Only had a Brain? There’s a song like that? Have I missed a century or something?” He would’ve given Riley a witty reply to her singing-in-the-shower jab (he’d readily give her a sample to show her how awful good he sounds) but he was stumped with the song title. Was there a memo about the allusions to use today that apparently he didn’t receive?

Jared actually enjoyed Riley eating out of his bowl, no matter how disgusting that sounds. He felt that they’ve really grown closer. You just won’t eat out of any person’s plate right? Well, unless it’s a really scrumptious meal that is. Anyway, Riley was one of Jared’s first friends in Hammel, probably because they were roomies and Jared was a bit of a room-bum before he found any other friends, and he actually looks up to her, like a big sister-mentor kind of thing. He was actually happy he had two seniors as roomies – he knew who to turn to for tips and all regarding subjects and the instructors themselves.

“Oh gosh, I almost puked when I heard the name. Such a disgusting place to live in,” he chuckled, even doing a mock-puke to emphasize his joke. “Are you sure I’m the only one here without a brain?” He gave Riley’s head a light knock and said, “Hellooo there! Anyone inside?” He then added, “Sparkly fairies are lame. Purple-and-pink unicorns, now that’s awesome.” He slurped the last of the milk from his bowl before attempting to say Riley’s new name. “Aphri-Amfi-Amphitrit-gosh your name is hard to pronounce,” he laughed, “Why can’t it be a simple Crazy Seaweed Queen or something?”

“You know, you can actually replace the voice actor in the film. You even have the face for it,” he laughed, putting the bowl down on the side table and making a square with his hands, as if measuring Riley’s face. “Riley, I’m a teenage boy! I’ve got the looks, the body and the wit. Attention span is the only thing I don’t have. Heck, I’ve started all of them but fell asleep at the first few minutes.” He even flexed his arm to show his skinny arm, to further make his statement look ridiculous. But really, Jared’s attention-span is like that of a five year old. It’s amazing how he can finish most movies really.

[Riley Murray]

Sometimes Riley forgot how young Jared was at only fifteen because she talked to him like anyone else. Now however, Riley couldn’t help but remember as she almost wanted to reach over, pinch his cheeks, and call him a cute little munchkin. However, she refrained. “Like a pet scan you mean?” Riley asked instead. “Scary stuff!” Riley said letting her voice tremble a bit making it sound a bit creepy. “True. I do find it surprising that a guy without a brain survived this long.” Riley said. “Although you know Jared, fifteen years isn’t really that long. The end could be coming any time now.” She said almost as if she were waiting for someone to go dun dun dun.

This time, unable to hold back her amusement, Riley snorted in laugher and said, “More like the 90’s kid.” The Wizard of Oz, while not a strictly 90’s movie, was something most kids of that generation had seen and adored. “You know, Oh, I would tell you why the ocean's near the shore. I could think of things I never thunk before, and then I'd sit and think some more.” Riley said singing out part of the song hoping that that might jog his memory. “Dude, where were you that you missed all that? Mars?” She asked completely serious.

Returning the bowl of cereal back to Jared after one final bite, Riley laughed about his comments on Murray Land. “Well that’s the point. It’s supposed to be like that to keep out ruffians like you.” Riley grinned thinking if she was to have her own world that would be a wonderful idea. “Meaning I have got an exceptionally well functioning brain.” Riley added reaching over and punching his lightly in the arm. “And for the record, sparkly fairies eat purple and pink unicorns for breakfast and then give the indigestible horn to their queen as tribute.” Riley decided at the moment. Perhaps that would be how they got away with calling her things like Crazy Seaweed Queen.

“I’ll take that as a compliment because Gollum is awesome!” Riley said batting away the insult like it was a pesky fly even smiling. “And don’t forget the narcissism.” Riley pointed out. “You’ve got plenty of that. Perhaps you could trade some in for a longer attention span.” Riley said wondering if that was possible and if it was would it cause a complete riot.

[Jared Park]

Jared on the other hand, knew full well how he stood in the world. Being the youngest for so long made it almost instinctive for him to be aware of how old people are around him and that he must show them some kind of respect. But that doesn’t really stop him; he knows he must show some kind of respect because they are older, he just chooses not to, most of the time. “Oh really? I don’t want to leave this wonderful world just yet!” he said in false fear, “Should I go find a vampire them and make her (or him, I’m not too choosy) turn me into one too? I’d rather live forever without a brain than leave this plane of existence so young.” He couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of his statement.

Despite being a 90s kid too, Jared apparently missed a lot while growing up. Inspector Gadget, Captain Planet, Voltron, and yes, even the Wizard of Oz. And while he sometimes feels bad for missing all those what would’ve been fond childhood memories, it’s not like he can do something about it still (he tried watching DVD episodes of the some of the mentioned series, and the apparent simplicity of the storyline and animation somehow put him off). “Are those parts of the song?” he asked, chuckling to himself as he realized how absurd he must’ve sounded and how Riley must’ve been so frustrated at him right now. First Tolkien, now Oz. Nice job Jared. “You are so not ringing any bells,” he laughed as he grabbed his bowl and went back to the kitchen to have another serving. “Nope. I think I’ve finished my Martian invasion by then and was on my way to Pluto to denounce the little ball of rock as a planet.”

“Sparkly fairies are evil then. To kill and eat such pristine and peaceful creatures – they’re driving the unicorns to extinction! The world can’t live without their sparkly magic,” Jared said as he rummaged through the myriad of cereal boxes, “And you are one evil queen for letting them do that. You evil Crazy Seaweed Queen person you.” He held the box of Fruit Loops in his hand and examined it a bit closely. “I think I’ve had enough of these loops already. Just reminds me of the thousands of unicorns your subjects eat for their fancy,” he joked, giving Riley a mock sob. “So, what to eat now?”

“Forget narcissism? Gosh Riley, it’s embedded in my very being,” he replied, waving his still unruly hair around, “To lose it is to lose the Jared Park you see right now.” He let out a rather loud laugh and almost rolled down the floor as he said that. He was anything but narcissistic (that’s Zac’s forte, not his) but riding along the joke was just too much for him to stop. “I’d rather be forever into myself than devote my time to other things, I’m so sorry,” he chuckled.