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Post by rilieycox on Jun 13, 2011 13:38:45 GMT -6
Riley sat on the bleachers, a stack of quizzes on her lap, a cigarette between the fingers of her right hand and a mug of lukewarm coffee next to her. She didn’t have many vices, she didn’t drink often, exercised, and aside from a few hereditary medical conditions, was perfectly healthy. Her ice blue eyes scanned the scrawled answers on one of her quiz papers as she absentmindedly lifted the cigarette to her lips and inhaled deeply. Such a simple pleasure. She’d picked up the habit working in South Central. It seemed you couldn’t turn a corner without finding a staff member sucking back the nicotine. Despite being a little old to succumb to peer pressure, she had. And had been a smoker ever since. She justified it though, of all the things to be addicted too, caffeine and nicotine were hardly the worse possibility.
She knew most of the other staff and teachers at Blackwood chose to indulge their habits in private. Ellie was constantly chewing Niccorette to resist the urge to smoke when the students were out and about. The younger teacher didn’t care if the kids saw her. In fact, she preferred it if they did. She wanted her students to see that she was human, she had flaws. She thought it made her seem more approachable. She let the smoke curl out from her nose, slowly drifting up and dispersing through the air.
She chuckled lightly to herself as she attempted to grade the topmost quiz. Some of her students were inventive, that was for sure. She let the paper rest as she used to her hand to reach for her coffee mug, taking a large gulp of the liquid. A gust of wind rustled through the air, fanning her long hair around her face and causing the papers on her lap to flutter dangerously. Instinctively, she brought her hand down to stop the quizzes from blowing away. With one hand holding a mug of coffee, her other hand was the obvious option. The lit end of her smoke, still held between her fingers, brushed the edge of a sheet of paper. Immediately, the smoldering tip burned through the top piece of paper. Riley dropped the smoke, pulling the paper up to examine the damage. She put her mug down and brushed her hair back from her face. She sighed “ Well shit” Riled muttered under her breath, looking though the small hole in the paper, the edges of which still glowed with dying embers[/size]
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Post by Nickolai Volkov on Jun 13, 2011 21:10:30 GMT -6
Nickolai walked the grounds of Blackwood Academy often. He had lost his blazer sometime earlier in the day and had rolled the sleeves of his white button up shirt. His tie was loose but still around his neck, so over all Nickolai counted himself as still in the uniform. He would defend his wardrobe to any teacher that happened to comment. The wind blew ruffling his hair and Nickolai grinned, it felt nice to be out side.
After being cooped up all day in class, the level two was happy to be out and about. Of course he didn't like that there was nothing to do but it was better then being inside. He almost wished that Anton was with him, they two of then could surely find something to do, but no his twin was off with his red-headed lady, his dear Alchemy. Nickolai rolled his eyes, his brother was so sappy sometimes.
The teen continued along his way not paying attention to where he was walking and eventually ended up in the baseball field. He looked around hoping to find something when he spotted the teacher. Ms. Cox. To go bother her or not...Nickolai frowned and buried his hands in the pockets of his slacks, he was regretting not returning to his dorm and changing but hey what can you do. Making up his mind he continued his walk until he was at the bottom of the bleaches and watched his teacher silently for a while a sudden gust of wind nearly blew the papers away that Nickolai guessed she was grading. He watched with a smile as she burned a hole in one of the papers. He just had to comment. "I hope that wasn't my paper."
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Post by rilieycox on Jun 14, 2011 0:27:29 GMT -6
Riley looked up at the voice, and seeing the familiar figure of Nickolai standing there, hands in his pockets, she smiled. “ Not unless you changed you've changed your name to Alice. She said as she rested the burned paper on top of the others and moved them to the empty spot next to her. She placed her half full mug on top of the pile to stop the wind from stealing them away. She leaned forward, casually resting her arms on her legs and letting her hands dangle over her knees. “ Too bad for you really, I feel so guilty, she'll probably end up getting bonus marks.” the young teacher said amiably, her lips drawn into her trademark smile.
She watched the student, her eyebrow slowly raising. He was definitely taking some liberties with the uniform, but in the grand scheme of things, it was a minor infraction. Nickolai was one of her easier charges, and it would take more than rolled shirt sleeves and loosened tie to make her lay down the law. “ Nice look.” she said with humor in her voice, nodding her head towards him.” But if the headmaster wanders out here, I gave you a stern talking to about it. Deal?” She quickly scanned around the field, almost expecting to see his twin wandering about It wasn't uncommon to find the two of them close by. “ On your own are you? Not getting into trouble I hope” she laughed.
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Post by Nickolai Volkov on Jun 14, 2011 13:37:18 GMT -6
Nicky grinned up at the teacher, He removed on hand and ruffled his hair, "I was thinking about it...you know to match Anton's name and all that." He said with a grin. Nickolai stepped up on the bottom bleacher step and rocked back and forth on his heels, He pouted, "Awww that's not fair, teach!" He whined mischievously. "What about fairness and shit?" He blinked and smiled, "Oops." He rubbed his jaw still grinning.
Nickolai looked down at his clothing when she commented on his outfit. Nick just shrugged and smile, "Sure thing, ma'am, I promise should old headmaster Blackwood say anything I'll look properly subdued. Promise!" He put a hand over his head and raised his right hand trying to look earnest. Nickolai's smile fell a little when she mentioned that he was on his own. He missed his partner in crime. "Yes, alas it is so. MY dear twin is off with his lady love, the crazy miss Alchemy." Nickolai said dramatically. "So no trouble here," He sighed. "How about yourself? Being cruel and burning poor students paper's out here." Nick shook his head. "How terrible."
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Post by rilieycox on Jun 14, 2011 14:04:40 GMT -6
Riley laughed, shaking her head at Nickolai’s mischievous smile and casual swearing. Small things like this interaction, the fact that he was at ease enough to joke with her, not be tense and on edge. That was what made her feel like she was doing something right with these kids. People could argue till they were blue in the face, she would never change her approach. She’d let her colleagues dole out the detentions. She’d rather stay like this.
Her lips pursed slightly in concern when she noticed the small drop in his smile and the sarcastic sounding dramatics in his voice when he talked about his brother. So Anton was seeing someone. That should make for an interesting relationship. That aside, it would probably be good for the both of them. Her eyes focused on Nickolai, unfortunately what was good for one brother wasn’t necessarily true for the other. Her heart went out to him. She couldn’t begin to understand what kind of emotions would be involved, she wasn’t a twin. But she could imagine. She knew the two of them were practically inseparable.
She shook that line of thought from her head. She wasn’t about to pry. If Nickolai was upset and needed an outlet to talk about it, she would listen. But it was more her style to let people open up to her, rather than dig. She’d leave the prodding to the shrinks. Instead, she pasted her bright smile back on her face. “Oh yes. You know me. I am wicked and cruel and passive aggressive like that. It’s what happens when I catch you daydreaming in class. You’ve been warned.”
Her neck was craned up to look him in the face, despite being lower down on the bleachers, he was still tall enough to make her have to look up. “ Well, since you aren’t doing anything, and you made the mistake of whining about fairness, how about I give you a chance to get a few bonus marks as well?” Riley patted the bleachers with the palm of her hand. “ Take a seat and help me grade these quizzes. I could do with some company.”[/size]
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Post by Nickolai Volkov on Jun 14, 2011 18:49:39 GMT -6
Nick shrugged and sat down pushing his hair back out of his eyes and looked at her "Tell me what to do, teach." He said sitting down a foot or so away from Ms. Cox. Nick was almost glad that Anton wasn't with him other wise he would have had to say no and walk away. Because of Anton's dyslexia he would have brushed the teacher off to spare his brother's feeling. Nick actually liked Ms.Cox she was a good teacher and let him be himself, like when he swore any other teacher would have given him detention for something he knew they did all the time.
"Which quiz are we grading, teach?" Nick asked peering at them curiously. Nick rocked back and forth unable to sit still after two years in this place he hated being still and being confined. It made him edge when he even thought about it.
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Post by rilieycox on Jun 14, 2011 19:30:57 GMT -6
Riley beamed as he sat down, “ I do love when people ask me to direct them. Perhaps I've got a little bit of control freak in me.” she joked as she moved her offee cup to the side to pick up the stack of papers. “ My freshman class are learning about the French revolution right now.” she said handing a selection of the papers to him. “ I decided to brighten up their Tuesday afternoons with a pop quiz on Robespierre. I'm sure they were elated.” she laughed, her eyes crinkled with mirth.
“So you'll have to collect your extra credit points on the next on I drop on you.” She pulled a purple pen out of her jacket pocket, and passed it to the fidgety Nickolai. She'd grown accustomed to him being antsy after having him in her class. The boy seemed to constantly be in motion. She picked up the remaining pile and pulled a quiz she'd already graded from the stack. “ You can use this as a key, if you think they answered similarly, then give them the marks, partial if you think they missed a few components.” She knew she would have to go over the work again later, but she wanted him to see she trusted his judgment.
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Post by Nickolai Volkov on Jun 16, 2011 21:04:11 GMT -6
Nickolai just grinned and took the papers from her. He balanced them carefully on his knee, so he could get a better grip and straighten the stack. He laughed loudly when she said the last part, Nick shook his head. "I"m sure that brightened their day, teach." Nick liked the way her eyes crinkled when she smiled, it reminded him of his mother.
The boy continued straightening the papers but turned his head to smile at her, "Wanna drop a hint on just what I'm getting points on?" He prodded playfully. Nick took the pen with a quiet thank you and looked it over. It was purple. The level two rolled it around in his hand thoughtfully before turning back to his teacher. Nick took the offered key and sat it down beside him where he could still read it and clicked open the pen. He clicked it closed again before clicking it back open one more time. "Kay." He said when she explained how to grade it. He was surprised that she would trust him with this. Most teachers wouldn't. Nick read the first question and then the first answer and had to raise his eyebrows...how was he supposed to read this? This kid had terrible hand writing. "Can I take off for not being able to write properly?" He asked pleadingly.
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Post by rilieycox on Jun 17, 2011 10:59:35 GMT -6
She smiled and shook her head “ Nope. No hints. If I gave you a hint, it would take away the ‘surprise’ part of a surprise quiz. You’ll just have to wait to see when I feel generous.” she grinned, watching as he went to work grading the paper, and feeling a smug sense of happiness at how quickly he took to it.
When he’d asked about the penmanship, Riley laughed heartily, resisting the urge to lean down and ruffle up his hair like she would have done with one of her younger siblings. She contented herself with shaking her head “ Sorry kiddo. I wish you could, believe me. Sometimes I want too. But you can’t go docking marks off willy nilly. she sighed over dramatically. “ First off, it’s not really like me, so someone would be suspicious. And next thing you know, I’m getting called down to the headmaster’s office to be yelled at for foisting my work on to poor unsuspecting students. she raised her hand with two fingers up “ And secondly, even if they weren’t suspicious, someone would whine about it not being fair. And next thing you know, I’m getting called down to the headmasters office to be yelled at again. Really, that’s something I’d rather advoid.” she finished with a chuckle.
She went back to grading her paper, sitting in a comfortable silence, occasionally glancing up to look at the boy. After she’d finished a few of the quizzes in her stack, she rested the pen on her lap, smiling at Nick. “ So how are things with you Nick? Anton’s got himself a girlfriend, what about you? Breaking any hearts? she asked casually.[/size]
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Post by Nickolai Volkov on Jun 17, 2011 11:25:11 GMT -6
Nick rolled his eyes and mutter something about her generosity. He squinted trying to read an answer before marking it incorrect. Nick was pretty sure that The Artist Formally Known as Prince was not the correct answer, without even looking at the key, Nick was just good like that. He clicked the pen again as he read trough the paper. These freshmen sure didn't pay attention in class. Nick ignored that fact that he really didn't either, he spend his whole class period helping Anton. It wasn't a big deal Nick still managed to get his stuff done so no harm done.
The boy snickered at the word willy-nilly it sounded funny. He looked at her and grinned as she explained why he couldn't mark off for penmanship. Nick sighed in a dejected manner and looked down sadly. "If you say so, teach." Nick's eyes glinted playfully. Nick chuckled softly and tapped his foot quietly as he went back to looking over the papers. He tilted his head up when she spoke again.
Nick sighed and shook his head, "Not many willing to look my way honestly." He marked a question that was wring and spoke again. "And the ones that do.....are a little frightening." Nick smiled a little stiffly. "Other then that, I'm good, just been hanging out with Pixel." Nick smiled at his best friend's name."How about you? What do teachers do when they aren't grading papers." He gave the paper in his hand a little wave,
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Post by rilieycox on Jun 19, 2011 1:45:25 GMT -6
Riley chuckled again, shaking her head and sending her hair blowing in the breeze “ Frightening, huh? That doesn't sound promising, but then again, frightening is only a matter of opinion. You'll find someone soon enough. Friends are good too, never a bad thing to have a few of them kicking around. Pixel's a nice girl, spunky, but nice. she grinned, and grabbed her mug, taking a gulp of the cold coffee.
“ You think I have a life outside of this place? This is all I do” she joked, pushing her hair back behind her ears “ Well, maybe it's not that bad, but trust me, nothing that would be interesting to you.” she doubted a teenaged guy would enjoy hearing about her cats and the latest chick lit she was reading in her spare time.
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Post by Nickolai Volkov on Jun 30, 2011 14:28:27 GMT -6
Nickolai grinned Pixel was amazing. "Yeah level fours are more likely to bite then well...you know." Nick said feeling slightly embarrassed to bring that with with a teacher. "I'm going to call her that, spunky. She what she thinks." Nick grinned at the thought. He paused and looked over the paper in his hand before deeming it done and moving onto the next one.
"This is all you do?" He was surprised, even a gay man (Which he was) would tell that she was beautiful so she should have no problem finding a life outside of B.A.D. "Wow that sucks teach." He made a face even the students managed to make some sort of life here.
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Post by rilieycox on Jul 5, 2011 19:16:47 GMT -6
Riley raised an eyebrow and smiled at the biting comment I see, I think the 'you know' portion of that is best left unsaid.” she laughed lightly. She tilted her head to the side, watching him. It was always nice to see a genuine smile, and Nick's face lit up talking about Pixel. Definitely warmed her heart.
She shrugged, reaching for her bag and fishing out her pack of smokes. Taking one out she placed it between her lips I hope you don't mind she mumbled around the cigarette. She struggled for another moment in her bag, looking for her lighter, before finally grasping IT. She lit her smoke and inhaled deeply. A small frown passed over her face, the kid was right, it was sad. She was still young, she should be out there, making friends, doing the whole dating thing. But the idea frankly still terrified her. It had only been just over a year since the restraining order against Charles, and despite making light of the situation with her family and friends, brushing it off, it still plagued her mind all the time. No, she definitely wasn't ready for all that yet. She'd stick to the school and throwing herself into her work. Eventually she'd go back to concentrating on her personal life.
She let the smoke out slowly blowing it away from Nick and smiled at the face he was pulling Don't make that face at me. You say sad, I say well on my way to getting a raise because of all the extra time I put in she joked.[/size]
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