And 70 Million Would Be Wrong (Open)

[ennis]

It wasn't like she was in a hurry. Really, E.J. had plenty of time to get to her first class of the day. And as a teacher, not a student, she reminded herself. It was still a little bit of a shock sometimes, realizing and remembering that she'd made it through college, and had become a teacher. It got even more unreal when she thought about her first year as a teacher. She missed Europe, if she was to be honest. It was so much simpler there, which was something that this school, in all it's oddities, was not. It lacked what she considered simple pleasures, things her nomad lifestyle had caused her to grow used to. Where was the challenge of communicating with a stranger? Having to interpret what they were saying through gestures and intuition when they didn't share a language? Where was the cows she'd help milk, the chickens she'd collect eggs from? The goats that had pushed at her hands, wanting treats or to be pet? Coming back to some where so formal and civilized after having lived so simply was a bit of a culture shock.

Even now, after six months back in the states, she was still adjusting. It was hard for her to not wake up every morning, and to expect to find herself in the home of a host family. And it was even harder to remember them and not feel guilty. The towns she'd stayed in, the people she'd lived with; they'd had so little. She'd lived with them, with that, and yet now, she was back here, living in luxury as if she never had? It felt a bit like a betrayal. Of course, E.J. hadn't told anyone this. She hadn't told anyone about her urges to just pick up and leave either. After all, that was what her mother had done, wasn't it? She'd packed her bags and left, and never given a second thought to E.J. and her father. Was she really like her mother? Flighty and indecisive? With all the urges to pack up and flee to Europe again, she couldn't help but think so. Lost in thought, mind in a far off village, surrounded by children carefully listening to her every word, it was no surprise that she walked into a wall. Falling backwards at the force of the collision, she rubbed at her head. Damn it, she needed to stop day dreaming and walking at the same time.

[gabrielmonroe]

Gabe was walking down the hallways before class, his security uniform crisp, and his shined shoes echoing as he tromped along the deserted corridors. His dark brown eyes were alert, as always waiting for the first sign of trouble. Though before morning classes started, there was unlikely to be any ruckus. Most of the little hellions that called Blackwood’s home would still be in their dorms, or huddled in the cafeteria eating. Not wandering about looking to start something. Regardless, he was going to be ready for it if they decided to break their pattern. His face was set into stern lines as he walked the familiar loop he did every morning through the halls.

He truthfully enjoyed the morning shifts more than evenings and nights. He liked the quiet, and the relative peace of the school when the kids were all still to sleepy to actually get into anything. And more importantly, Gabe, as a default, was set to morning. Though throughout his career he’d been accustomed to being up and focused anytime of the day, he always preferred first thing in the morning. Even after pulling a late shift at the school and not collapsing into bed until well after one, he would still up at the crack of dawn and with enough energy to go for a run before anything else. And in the time since he’d sustained his injury, he’d noticed his back and leg hurt less in the morning, and gradually grew stiffer as the day went on. All in all, it added up to him being more chipper between the hours of 5 am and 10 am than he was for the rest of the day combined.

He set his eyes on a girl, no, not a girl, a young woman, probably in her early 20’s, walking the opposite direction, coming towards him down the halls. Thin, freckled and with a shock of long red hair. If Gabe were a more outwardly transparent man, his lips may have quirked into a small smile. He always had a weakness for redheads. She appeared to have a bit of a vacant, distracted look on her face, as though she were a million miles away.

A million miles away or not, he was still surprised when she walked straight into a wall, falling back to the ground and rubbing her head. Years of training, (18 to be precise) that his mother had drilled in him took over, and Gabe was down the hall and at her side in an instant, crouching to the ground and holding a hand out to help her to her feet. “ Are you alright?” His voice was softer than it normally was, but his face, schooled for years to remain impassive, was oddly at odds with the polite gesture.[/size]

[ennis]

Falling down was embarrassing enough, but it was only worse when someone else noticed. Especially someone attractive, like the man that was crouched above her. Blinking up at him, a blush came over her face. Taking his hand, she stood up, brushing herself off. "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you..." She wondered what he must think of her, having walked into a wall. It wasn't even like she was reading. She'd just been lost in thought, thinking about what she'd left behind. If anything about her ever changed, her ability to humiliate herself certainly never did. Damn it, why was it always attractive men that she made a fool out of herself in front of?

Mornings had never been quite her thing, though she'd gotten good at handling them. She'd been woken up early her whole life, to do chores on the farm. And then in college, for morning classes and to finish up homework. Even while she was in Europe, she'd woken early, helping out with chores before heading off to teach. Still, despite being used to them, she didn't enjoy them. Or, rather, she didn't enjoy waking up. E.J. loved sleeping. It was one of her favorite things to do. Not to mention that she was a vivid dreamer. They were always so realistic, and usually happy. Dreams of the past, of things that hadn't happened, and quite often silly things, like talking animals or dancing trees. For her, dreams were fun. Happy. An escape that took her away to fantastic places. Not that she didn't like the real world. A change was nice, though, and having to wake up from the change wasn't easy.

Taking the backpack she carried in place of a purse off, she dusted it off. Stupid laminated canvas, getting dusty and dirty so easily. E.J. supposed that between the Elmo t-shirt she wore, and the Hello Kitty backpack currently in her hands, she didn't look like the most mature person around. Of course, her jeans, boots, and vest almost made up for the immaturity, but she didn't think so. She liked her sense of style, or lack thereof, as it maybe was, just the way it was, though.

Slipping the backpack back on, she smiled sweetly up at him. He really was attractive, even if he was dressed like a prison guard and had the joyful expression of one. "I'm E.J. MacDonald, the Spanish teacher. I, um... I'm not usually this clumsy. I promise. Today's just an off day." Not to mention that she'd not had any caffeine yet. That was the cause, really. Not her complete lack of focus. Yeah, she wasn't fooling anyone. It was time to get her head out of the clouds, or rather, Europe. She was in America, and her thoughts needed to stay there.

[gabrielmonroe]

Gabriel helped the diminutive red head to her feet, and stood back, his arms held behind his back and feet braced slightly apart as he watched her dust herself down. His typical ‘at ease’ stance was so ingrained into his body, he doubted he would ever be able to let it go. He was aware, as Andy had no problem pointing out, that he looked anything but ‘at ease’ standing like that, but as Gabe would argue, you can take the soldier out of the war, but you couldn’t take the soldier out of a man. A fact that he was proud of, regardless of how many times he was told, rather rudely, that he had a stick up his ass. It was who he was. He’d attempted, on occasion, to stand slouched over, his arms loosely at his sides like so many other people, but within minutes, he’d be back to his ramrod straight posture, without consciously making the decision. It was simpler, and more natural for him to be like this, and if it made people think he was anal, well, Gabe really couldn’t be bothered to mind.

His normally stern face softened a little more as he took the girl and her eclectic clothing in. He hadn’t even been aware that they made Elmo shirts in adult sizes, though her frame was small, so there was a chance it was actually meant for children. Paired with a backpack shaped like some kind of cartoon cat, she probably could have passed as a student. Which of course made him feel a little repulsed by his initial thoughts that she was attractive. He had to remind himself that there was a big difference between being a student and looking like you could be one. She was a teacher, which meant she was at least in her early to mid twenties. Definitely no shame in that.

His face actually broke out into a smile when she spoke, he doubted it was simply an off day, she had looked like her head was lost in the clouds, and in Gabe’s experience, when someone had their head a million miles away like that, it wasn’t a rare one time occurrence. He admittedly had very cut and dry, black and white views on people and personalities. And in his mind, you were either the type of person who’d get swept off in a daydream, and say, wander into a wall, or you weren’t. She was clearly the former. A trait that while annoying in men, he found endearing in women. Women were supposed to be like that, a little flakey, more imaginative, swept away easier. Most people would probably call Gabe out on having outdated notions, but it was how he was raised, and while he knew there were exceptions, having met a plethora of tough, no nonsense women, he still expected that most were like this young Spanish teacher, and rested just a little on the flighty side.
“Of course. I’ve seen a lot of people walk into walls on an off day.” he said, his voice slightly teasing. “ I’m Gabriel Monroe. It’s nice to meet you E.J. Quite an interesting name.”.[/size]

[ennis]

E.J. grinned up at him, as a light flush settled over her face. Yes, embarrassing herself in front of an attractive man was nothing new, but it was never fun. Especially when she was still new at this school, and didn't have a lot of friends. Because really, even if she was being optimistic, she wasn't hopeful for anything more than friendship. She knew that she wasn't the most mature woman here, and that there were probably students that acted more like adults than she did. Between her wardrobe full of cartoon character t-shirts, and her love of Saturday morning cartoons, it was pretty obvious that she hadn't grown up. Adding in the fact that she still, after all these years, had no sense of shame, and could never refuse a dare. Really, she was as boyish and mischievous as she'd been all her life. Some things never changed, and that was definitely one of them. Blinking herself out of her thoughts, she looked at him, a soft giggle escaping her. His posture was so straight and serious. The only person she'd ever seen stand like that was her Uncle Atticus, and even then that was only when he was sober. Of course, Gabriel, she thought, probably was sober. He didn't seem like the type to be drunk this early in the morning. But now she wondered... Had he been in the military too?

She leaned against the wall, looking him over. Clearly he was one of the guards, unless he wore the uniform for the fun of it. She didn't think it was just for fun, but of course, she didn't know him yet. For all she knew, he could be the drama teacher, and the serious security guard was a role he was playing. That didn't seem likely, though, and she rather liked the idea of him being a security guard. It would fit perfectly with the tough, badass, masculine man vibe she was getting from him. For some reason, she really liked it. Then again, she'd always been attracted to strong men, hadn't she? Hopefully Gabriel would be as kind as he was surely strong, though. Then he'd be perfect, wouldn't he?

Another giggle escaped her when he smiled. Oh, he had a very, very nice smile. He seemed like he could be an incredibly interesting person to be around. She'd always enjoyed learning about people, hadn't she? And Gabriel seemed like he'd be fun to learn about. Pouting, feeling like joking and being a tad melodramatic, she stuck her nose in the air. "I'll have you know that walking into walls is completely normal. It's far more weird to not walk into one." Laughing, she shook her head. She was horrible at maintaining a serious face. "Gabriel is an interesting name too, if you think about it. Were you named for the angel, or something else? E.J. isn't as interesting as it sounds, though. It's just short for Ennis Jane. My uncle used to joke that it was too big of a name for such a little girl. So, he started shortening it to E.J., and pretty soon, everyone did. I'm used to it now." Taking a breath, she continued. Well, at least her skill in languages didn't go to waste, because E.J. definitely loved talking. "Anyway, I guess that I was day dreaming a bit. But it's hard not to, you know? Especially when an idea or image gets stuck in your head. And then it becomes all you can think about, right? And that's pretty much what happened to me. I suppose that I do that a lot. Not too much, though!" He probably thought she was weird. She wouldn't blame him.

[gabrielmonroe]

Gabe couldn’t help that his smile grew when she giggled, such a lighthearted, free sound. It was not something he was accustomed to hearing. Giggling in his life was definitely in short supply. There were a lot of things in his life in short supply at the moment. Gabe had never been the kind of person who needed anyone else. Though he enjoyed the company of friends, of family, he was well suited to be on his own. Over the years, since joining the marines, he’d found that what few friends he had had, were replaced with similarly independent and hard faced men. They had a sense of fraternity, a brotherhood that was rarely rivaled. But whether it counted as actual friendship was debatable by some. Simply enjoying someone’s company for the sake of it wasn’t an activity Gabriel found himself engaging in often.

It wasn’t even something he’d really noticed was missing in his life. He had his work. That had been more than fulfilling enough for him. But since being discharged, since finding himself thrust back into civilian life, he was discovering that without the strictly regimented life of a soldier, he was at a loss. But at 34 years old, starting a new, and less desired career, and proud owner of a body riddled with scars, constant pains and a brain that wouldn’t stop the nightmares every time he closed his eyes at night, he was almost willing to admit things weren’t ever going to be the way they were for him. He wasn’t an idealistic young man anymore. He didn’t have the luxuries he once counted on. He’d lost his second family when he was forced to remove his uniform. And the thought that this was what his life was going to entail from now on, running around after delinquent kids while hiding how much it pained him, and resolutely refusing the medications and therapy the army physicians so strongly recommended, well his outlook seemed pretty bleak.

This was probably the root cause of the odd and tentative friendship he seemed to have formed with the flamboyant math teacher, the reason he didn’t callously push away all the bright smiles and hugs lavished on him by some of the more ardent students. Probably why a slight flush and giggle from young teacher had his heart feeling lighter than it had since he’d arrived at the school. No, Gabriel was not the man who would admit when something was wrong, he was not the man who would ever complain about something being missing in his life. He was the man who would stoically face whatever hand was dealt to him. But that didn’t mean he was so hard headed that he didn’t recognize he needed something, even if the words would never pass his lips.

He let out a low chuckle of his own as the woman babbled on, listening to her with a slightly inclined head. Ennis Jane. It didn’t sound too big to him. If anything, it sounded like a nice and sturdy country name. He wondered where she was from originally, perhaps a country raised kid like him. He always found that the people raised in smaller towns or farms had their heads screwed on straighter than their city counter parts. Even if those heads were inclined to run into walls. “ I’m named after my great grandfather, though I suppose he could have been named after the angel originally. People are hard pressed to find a name that doesn’t have some biblical root, I’ve noticed.” he said with a shrug of his broad shoulders.

He shook his head slightly at her talk of daydreams. Though he found himself generally less focused here than he ever was in the marines, Gabe was hardly one you could call a daydreamer. There had been a few harrowing moments when he was first taking his steps back into civilian life where he found his mind trapped in a bit of a waking nightmare. Seeing not the people and places around him, but flashing back to the agonizing moments after the bomb went off, or countless faceless people he’d fired on over the years, the smell of blood and sand and the acidic sting of gun powder. Those episodes, which the shrink told him were all to be expected when someone has PTSD, had faded after a few weeks. Which incidentally had convinced Gabe he was right, and that the whole disorder was a crock of bull. Since his vivid recollections were contained to when he slept, and the idea of daydreaming was a foreign concept to him. “ I’ll take your word on that one. I’m not one for daydreaming myself.”[/size]

[ennis]

Oh, she definitely liked his smile. If she could, she'd have to make sure he did it a lot, because it was really nice. E.J. had always adored men who smiled nicely. Growing up in a family like hers, it was hard not to laugh and smile all the time. Good smiles were just something she'd learned to appreciate. Unfortunately for her, she hadn't seen many lately. This school was full of students who were so miserable, and she barely knew any of the other staff. It was a bit dreary, if she was being honest. Of course, her attempts to brighten things up (at least in her own classroom) weren't going well so far, but she knew they would. With enough smiles from her, and happy music playing, they would have to cheer up, right? She needed someone else to be as happy of a person as she was. Otherwise, her eternal smiles seemed unnatural.

It wasn't that she was lonely. At least, that's what she told herself. It was just that she liked seeing other people happy. Of course, that wasn't true. She did like seeing other people happy, but she was very lonely. The only person she knew well in this school was Duncan, and he was being difficult. Even when she'd been in Europe, she'd been able to quickly make friends and get close to people. Never had she been truly alone. But now? She spent most nights alone in her room, grading papers or knitting. She'd taken up knitting in her boredom. She was only twenty-five years old; her life shouldn't be so stagnant already. Yet it was. It was stagnant, and boring, and occasionally, in moments of weakness, she'd blame her brother. It was because of him that she was here, to keep an eye on him and make sure he stays out of more trouble. Yes, she'd agreed to come here, volunteered even, but had she had any real choice? It wasn't as if Duncan could be trusted on his own. It worried her, sometimes, just how much he was like her. How different he was from her worried her even more.

When she'd been a teenager, she'd made a lot of mischief. Egging cars, dry ice bombs, pouring gun powder into glass bottles and then lighting it and running... She'd done a lot of stupid things, along with her cousins and Abel. It was a family joke that Jimmy, Fin, Abel, and E.J. made it to graduation with all their fingers. Stupid had been the name of the game for the four of them. Starting from when they were kids, and would ride down 'Gopher Hill' blindfolded, and see who could get farthest into the lake, they'd done stupid stunts. Duncan had grown up seeing the quartet being reckless and stupid. It only made sense that he'd imitate it, right? But while the older MacDonald cousins had rebelled with reckless behavior, they had never, ever experimented with drugs. They didn't see much point, as they got a pretty good thrill out of all their stunts. Not to mention that their parents had drilled it into their heads that drugs were bad. They were a fairly laid back family, really. But Duncan? He'd broken rule number one in the MacDonald family, and for some reason, E.J. wondered if that had anything to do with how he'd seen her behave as a teenager.

The town she'd grown up in was small enough that their pranking and mischief making had never gotten them in too much trouble. No one had ever been hurt besides the four of them, and it would have been more trouble than it was worth for the sheriff to chase them down. E.J. guessed that was one of the best parts of growing up in a small, country town. You could be as mischievous as you wanted, just as long as no one got hurt, and you didn't burn down all the crops. Smiling sweetly at him, she wondered what he'd think of her if he knew what a hell raiser she'd been less than ten years prior. "That's a good source for a name... And I don't think Ennis has a biblical root. It's a town in Ireland, actually. My grandmother was born there." The Irish-woman had died shortly before Ennis turned seven, and had doted on and adored her first granddaughter, despite the fact that another had come just two months later.

Tilting her head a bit as he shook his head, she laughed softly. Oh, he was nothing like her, clearly. Daydreaming was something she did quite often. "Why not? I mean... hasn't an idea ever just struck you, and you couldn't stop thinking about it?" That happened to her a bit more than she liked to admit. Her imagination was almost constantly getting away from her, wasn't it? Not that it was bad. At least in her mind, it wasn't. But still, some people considered it odd when a grown woman would sit for hours, her head in the cloud, just dreaming about some fairy tale she'd come up with. That was why she'd started writing in high school; to get the ideas that were constantly coming from her daydreams out. She'd written a whole novel, though had never edited it or even touched it after finishing it. She'd finished it right before her break up with Abel, and afterwards, hadn't wanted to see it. He'd encouraged her the whole time she was writing it. And, since then, she'd not written a thing that wasn't for a class. It wasn't her thing anymore, she claimed.

[gabrielmonroe]

1. Gabe’s shoulders relaxed slightly as they spoke. He was still ridged, lord knows it would take a miracle for him to drop the structured stance he was used too. But there was a noticeable change. A more introspective man might have noticed this and realized his soul was asking for something, craving more interaction with other people. But Gabe was anything but introspective. Like so many other things, he just wrote off introspectiveness as BS. Perhaps on a deeper level, it was different. If he admitted he was craving the interactions, then he would have to commit to forming relationships. If he created relationships, he’d be settling into his new life. And if he admitted that, he would be coming to terms with the fact that this was his life now, and that he wasn’t going back to the marines. Something he’d been secretly holding out hope for. Of course, Gabe didn’t know any of that, maybe he would had he ever gone to the therapy sessions that had been recommended to him. As it was, he was blissfully ignorant, and would just enjoy company for whatever reason.

“ You know, I would say that anything that is in, or comes from Ireland probably has some biblical route. The founder of the town who chose the name was probably a priest, who not wanting to upset the protestants changed a few letters around, made it sound Gaelic, and hoped no one was the wiser.” he joked. “ I’ve met some intimidating people over the years, but the Irish Catholics are by far one of the most intense.”

He shook his head again, his smile bemused. “No, I can’t say that I have ever been so distracted by a thought that everything else took a backstage. Especially to the point where I’d walk into things.” he let out a small chuckle “ Which is probably a good thing considering a big part of my job here is paying attention to what everyone else is doing. I can only imagine what these kids would get up too if I was constantly in the clouds.”

He took in her youthful appearance again. It seemed odd that such a young teacher, who clearly could not have been teaching long, would choose such a hard place to start her career. Granted, Gabe hardly had faith in any teenager in general. Until they were 18, he naturally assumed they were all little shits who were getting into trouble. He wasn’t that old, 34 was still young, but something had changed since he was a teen. The fact that this school, and juvenile detention centers around the country were full to the brim, something was wrong. He blamed society and MTV and video games and all the other crap they were exposed to these days. When he saw what passed for entertainment, it made him sick. When he saw kids raptly playing games like Call of Duty, making war into a passing entertainment, he could only shake his head. No wonder so many were turning into little criminals. That being said, he knew the students here were a certain degree worse than others. It couldn’t be easy teaching them day in day out.[/size]

Occ- Sorry, that was a shit post. Mostly just rambled on uselessly… I also blame MTV and video games…

[ennis]

E.J. noticed as he relaxed, her smile softening a bit. Was he getting to be comfortable with her? If so, she'd consider that a small victory. He didn't seem like the type to be relaxed often, and his words were only reinforcing that idea. She could work with that, though. It just meant that she'd need to get him to open up a bit. She had to wonder why he was here. Duncan was her excuse, but what was his? Was it out of a desire to help these kids? Or just needing a job? Was he like her, here to look out for someone? Her curiosity made her wonder, but she wasn't sure if she should ask. It could be a touchy topic, for all she knew. She wanted to be friends, and so she'd wait for him to breach the subject. She could be patient, couldn't she? After all, it was part of the job description when being a teacher. And a big sister. She'd gotten good at waiting for things she wanted, and she wanted to be friends with him. So, E.J. would take her time, and get to know him. After all, she needed a friend here. Being alone wasn't any fun, really, and E.J. was a very social person to boot.

Laughing, she shook her head. "You have a point about that, but you're wrong about the name. Ennis is Gaelic. It means island, and the town was named that because of an island that was formed there. It's as Gaelic as it sounds." She grinned at him, and tucked some stray hairs behind her ear. "That's not entirely true, though. I mean, my gran was Irish Catholic, and she wasn't intense at all. Well, except when she cursed. Gran was known for having the foulest mouth in the county... But otherwise, she was a sweetheart..." Actually, if E.J. thought about it, her grandmother hadn't been a sweetheart. She'd cursed, encouraged all the bad behavior her boys got into, and once told her daughter to be a slut. Gran had been a little odd, but then again, she'd loved her family dearly. That was what really mattered, wasn't it?

A pout made it's way onto her face, and she crossed her arms. "You're never going to let me forget that, are you? I told you, I don't usually walk into walls. I'm generally much more coordinated than that." It was actually fairly rare for her to be day dreaming so much that she walked into something. "That's probably a good thing, though. I know that not all of these kids are too good... Some of them are sweethearts, but others... Not so much." Sadly, her brother was part of the 'other'.

Teaching at Blackwood was surprisingly, or not, easier than teaching in Europe. In Europe, she'd had to contend with language and cultural differences, and often, she'd been clueless about what she was doing. At least here she could understand what her students were saying to her... Well, most of the time. There were times that there was a difference there, in how they spoke and behaved, just because there was an age difference. E.J. was only twenty-five, but that was still older than these students. She'd already finished high school, and gone to college. The problems that they were experiencing had passed for her, and she was onto a new set of problems. It was hard for her to not spend all her time trying to lecture and mother them. Mothering came natural to E.J., even if she wasn't always the most responsible adult. For years, she'd been a maternal figure for Duncan, and even when their father had married their stepmother, she'd mothered him. It had become instinct for her, and it carried over to her students. That was why she'd become a teacher, after all. Even if they didn't want to like her, she'd be there for them, whenever they needed her. No matter what it was for, even if it was just to keep them out of detention. She knew that someone needed to help these kids.

OOC: It's okay, I actually thought it was good!

[gabrielmonroe]

He chuckled lightly as she talked about her cursing grandmother. There was something undeniably funny about the visual of an old, frizzy haired woman swearing up a storm. “ Yes, well, cursing was another thing I find the Irish are especially good at. Those soft little accents of theirs are very misleading.” he said with a small grin. “ And the ones that don’t seem intense are usually the worse. They’re just better at hiding it, I bet this Gran of yours was a dangerous and high ranking IRA operative, wasn’t she? What better way to hide than by being someone’s loony grandmother.[/b]” he joked. He paused, realizing how rare it was for him to relax and actually joke with someone. Maybe it had just been awhile since he’d been around a pretty girl, he’d forgotten how disarming they could be.

Gabe smile grew a little as she pouted, her arms folding insolently across her chest. While not many people could pull that without him wanting to roll his eyes, when she did it, it was positively adorable. Not that it helped her look her age at all, whatever that may be. He subtly let his eyes look over her again, the sharp brown pools looking for any indication of age. Her skin was clear and unlined, her eyes didn’t even wrinkle when she smiled for goodness sake. He was hit again with the thought that she could barely be out of school herself. Which was probably a good enough reason to stop thinking anything she did was adorable. His shoulders squared slightly, and Gabe’s uncompromising stubbornness set in. He told himself he wasn’t the least bit attracted to the young red head, and now he wasn’t. Simple. Well, so he would have anyone believe. But his will was as ramrod straight as his back, and he truly thought he could concur any pesky feeling though sheer force of will.

“ Oh, no you are definitely not going to live it down. In fact, I’ll probably forget your name soon enough, and spend the rest of the year calling you the woman who walks into walls. It really can’t be helped, I’m definitely obligated to mock you for it for an indeterminate amount of time.” he grinned, his shoulders naturally relaxing again. Damn it. So much for an iron will, he’d already forgotten his resolution. But he was finding he couldn’t quite help himself, young or not, she definitely had a way of catching his attention. His eyes drifted to her hair, that was probably the biggest part of it, Gabe was a notorious sucker for read heads. Or it could be the indefinable quality that some people just had, and she possessed in abundance, to draw people in and put them at ease. Gabe had only ever come across one other person who’d been able to put him at ease almost instantly. And just like that time, he didn’t trust this much, it just seemed too easy.

His hands moved to his pockets, as she continued to speak. His head shook slightly, ah there was the rub, the innocent and naïve conviction that there were good kids here. How many teachers had that though? Gabe had nothing against the students per say, he was even attached to a few of them, but that didn’t change the fact that they were bad eggs. Maybe there were reasons they did what they did, but circumstances be damned, they were still criminals, and he was sure not to forget that, even when they seemed sweet and nice. “ Huh… just keep in mind even the sweethearts managed to get themselves in here… don’t let your guard down too much.” he said with a curt nod. Though he normally found idealism a pain in the ass, again, she managed to make it endearing. His inner self rolled his eyes, he’d definitely been alone too long if he was starting to find idealism endearing.[/font][/size]