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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 16, 2012 1:10:15 GMT -5
Joshua drove home from work that day feeling a lot more relaxed than usual, as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He had offered to work the early shift so that he could chat with his boss when there wasn't too much going on and he'd asked her if she might be willing to let him switch from full to part-time in terms of his job. He'd been finding it difficult to juggle two majors, a job, and a social life, and being with someone romantically made that even harder. He did not want to neglect Nell or any of his friends and he certainly couldn't start slacking in senior year and so the job was the one thing that could comfortably 'go', or at least loosen up. Thankfully she'd been all for it and had wished him luck with senior year. They'd talked out the shift in pay, hours, and benefits and then he'd worked his shift and got into the car to go back home. Nell would not be home and (thank god) Bryce was out also but he was pretty sure Annabel was in. Sure enough, he found her shoes lying just inside the door when he stepped in. She never puts them away, he thought with the brief irritation of someone who was picky about keeping a clean house. The mansion was near-spotless, thanks in part to the housing staff that he'd hired, and he planned on keeping it that way. Impressions were important.
He was situated and studying at the kitchen island shortly after taking off his jacket and putting it away, a look of concentration on his face. He took his studies seriously and was determined to do well, especially since he was in senior year and could not afford to slip up. It was the last little stretch before he could get into graduate school and really focus on his future career. Despite how intent he was upon the words, Joshua still looked up when the melodic chime of the doorbell sounded throughout the house. Mansions tended to overdo it of course and his was no exception. It could be heard from all floors and since the kitchen was directly to the left of the front foyer, he definitely heard it. He recognised the face through the front door before he pulled it open, doing so with a brief smile of greeting and a, "Yo, Sandra, right?" He didn't know her too well, they'd only bumped into one another once or twice. He knew her brother and she knew Nell and Devin but despite their common friendships and relations they had never spent a lot of time together. All the same, he did not view Sandra as someone to be disliked and so he was friendly enough as he asked, "Looking for Nell?" He wasn't offended. Since his fiancée was so damned friendly it wasn't surprising to have people show up looking for her.
He could not remember his fiancée specifying a time that she would be back and so he said, "She's not here right now, unfortunately." Unfortunate for Sandra and, well, Josh too. He did love the girl and all! Wouldn't be engaged to her if he didn't! He looked a little uncertain for a moment, as if weighing options on what he could do. It seemed a little rude to just shut the door in her face and all. He wasn't very good when it came to judging situations with people he didn't know all that well and so he often got awkward and sort of stumbled through strange territory when it came to conversation. "Uh, do you want to come in?" he offered suddenly, stepping backward and a little bit to the side to gesture into the foyer of the large house. The two curved staircases led up to the second floor where he knew that Annabel would be in her room playing video games. He wasn't quite sure why he'd offered to let Sandra come in, just trying to be friendly and cordial and all that, but maybe Nell would get back soon and then it would be all well and good. "I was just doing some early studying and all that. How are you?" Politeness was a good thing to fall back on, right? Making conversation!
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Post by SANDRA HARU CHANG on Jun 23, 2012 23:34:17 GMT -5
Since Nell had shown up at her apartment -- well, Matt's apartment -- with her black eye and this story (not a fictitious story, Sandra was sure considering the minor injury, but even so one that seemed like it was from a completely different world) about this brother of hers, Rafael, and all the drama that had been going on. She still didn't know the details, even then, but she knew that if there was any kind of fighting or violence involved, with people who weren't even otherwise involved... Sandra knew that it had to be pretty bad. Well, that could have just been her paranoia and worry talking too, but she did think it was always better to be safe than sorry. That was probably something she'd picked up from her mom. Either way, she did want to make sure that Nell was alright, and so on a random weekend when Matthew was out somewhere, she decided to take the bus out to the fancy residential area where she knew Nell and Joshua lived. Annabel too, she was guessing. She had only known the younger girl for a little while, though. She had been to the neighbourhood before, and had only been to Nell's and Josh's place specifically a handful of times, but considering that these were mansions and what-not, it wasn't too difficult to find the correct place. Still, since the bus didn't exactly drop her off at the door or anything, it was a bit of a walk, but Sandra was okay with walking! She wasn't as lazy as people would sometimes assume, at least not when she actually had something she needed to accomplish. She'd stopped by the store on the way and grabbed a pack of Oreo cookies too, though she was sure that Nell wasn't lacking in food or anything in the mansion. She had to look a little weird, wandering around this place with Oreos and not much else, but Sandra was kind of used to looking strange, and it didn't much bother her.
She rang the doorbell and listened to it as it went on, one of those fancy ones that she could hear quite clearly from outside, which she liked -- she could never quite hear the quieter ones, and then she didn't know whether or not to ring again. Someone opened the door fairly quickly, but it wasn't Nell. "Oh, hi Joshua!" she greeted happily enough. It wasn't like it was a surprise or anything that he was there, after all, not like it was like seeing some random classmate at the mansion. It was his place, anyway. "Yeah, I was," she confirmed with a nod. She didn't bother wondering how he'd known -- though she was pretty friendly, it was unlikely that she'd have just shown up to talk to someone who wasn't a close friend, considering the process that coming here had been anyway. "Oh..." Her face fell a little bit at this news -- darn it, she really had to stop showing up to places without asking or even calling ahead to let them know -- but the smile quickly returned. She wouldn't really let something like this deter her, though Joshua did look a little uncertain about her being there. She didn't expect an invitation in or anything. "That's okay! Hm... I can always just come back later or something, my bad, I should have called her or --" She cut herself off once he started speaking, smiling again and nodding. "Sure, I'd love to come in!" Well, hopefully he wouldn't go back on that or anything, because she stepped in without hesitation once he moved aside to let her. She had been here before, but the sheer size of the place never failed to amaze her. Sandra didn't say this aloud, though.
"Thanks!" she said instead, slipping off her winter boots and tugging her scarf and hat off. It was nice to be inside where it was warm. "Pretty cold outside, ya know." She wasn't even trying to make small talk or anything, honestly, but rather was just making an observation on it now that she was inside and could feel the temperature change. Outside, she hadn't really felt it as much, but now that she could feel the shift, it must have been pretty cold outside. Luckily, she knew how to bundle up, having been at the Academy (and therefore around Maple Hollow) for a few years now. Mountains were cold. "Oh, what were you studying for?" she asked, pretty unaware of any awkwardness that Josh might be feeling. She was friendly by nature and not easily bothered by things like that. "I'm good though! Just hanging around, I guess, getting used to Grade Twelve. Want some Oreos?" Sandra hopped around from one topic to the next as if they went hand in hand and the transition made perfect sense. Eh, hopefully it wouldn't be too jarring, but she never could tell. She held up the packet of cookies she'd brought with her.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 24, 2012 3:53:10 GMT -5
It always seemed like most of the people that stopped by the house were here to see Nell and that did not bother Joshua a whole lot. It probably would have made him uncomfortable during the time in his life when he was uncomfortable with even his own friends knowing where he lived but those times were past now and he'd sometimes hung out with his acquaintances at the mansion before he considered them close. It was no longer a sacred, off-limits place and that was alright. It didn't belong to his parents any more, either, and having a lot more free reign was definitely glorious. He didn't like the feeling of being controlled or having a bunch of rules put in place for him. He was twenty years old, almost twenty one, he was pretty sure that curfews and stupid rules beyond 'please don't get drunk and have sex on the couch in front of your little sister' were extreme. Not that he'd ever done something like that. Even drunk he wasn't that extreme. He didn't realise that he'd started talking at the same time as Sandra and he smiled sheepishly as he finished. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to cut you off or anything." Not that she'd been saying anything super amazingly important but it was still nice to be polite. He'd been raised with manners and all that. If he didn't like a person he wouldn't bother with pleasantries but even though he didn't know Sandra all that well yet there was still the desire to be nice toward her.
It was pretty cold outside, all things considered, and he nodded to Sandra's words. It might have been small talk, sure, but it was still conversation and he jumped at the chance to have something to fill the silence. He did not feel awkward when things got quiet unless he assumed that the other person might feel the strain. Since Sandra was so friendly from what he'd seen of her, he figured she'd prefer speech to silence. "Yeah, it's pretty brutal," he agreed, glancing out at the snowscape before he closed the door behind her. "We've got decent heating in here, though, so you should be alright." Decent? Well, it was probably better than decent to most people. It was a mansion, after all. You didn't pay a huge electricity bill and mortgage only to get shitty, second-class heating. "The coat closet's just there, if you want somewhere to hang up your things." He gestured to the closet which was to the right of the door. "Did you walk?" he asked with surprise, having noticed just now that there was no car in the driveway. He was going to suggest that she could move it so that it was in the sanctuary of the (overly large, like everything else in the house) garage but if a car did not exist, there was no need to relocate it. "Geez, no wonder you're feeling the cold." Was Sandra old enough to drive? Well, she was in twelfth grade... maybe she didn't know how, didn't own a car, Matt could be using it?
She asked what he was studying and Joshua glanced instinctively toward the kitchen where he'd left his study materials, as if looking at them was going to do any good when there was a wall in the way. Looking back to Sandra, he replied, "Oh, I was doing some stuff for Biology, actually. Thankfully it's way easier to study now that I've got the MCATs out of the way. They're, uh, tests to make sure you qualify for medical school," he clarified, wanting to make sure that he didn't go onto one of his spiels that would only make sense to people going into the same field as him or who had looked into it enough to know how the process worked. He didn't know what all Sandra knew about going into the medical field and so he figured that clarification was a safe bet. Then even if she did know, it was no big deal. "But I'll probably call it a day, at least for now." He meant call it a day in terms of studying and he was mostly doing it to avoid being rude. He didn't do well with talking much to people when he was trying to study and he didn't want to invite Sandra in only to shut her out. "Oh, sure! I love Oreos," he admitted with a bit of a grin. He was a sugar whore for sure. He gestured toward the kitchen and led the way through the arched entrance. He sat at the familiar kitchen island, ignoring the books piled high about medical jargon or other, and gestured to the fridge. "Want anything? We probably have milk to go with those," he laughed, "or anything else you can think of, probably." With some exceptions but their fridge was usually brilliantly stocked.
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Post by SANDRA HARU CHANG on Jun 25, 2012 19:53:31 GMT -5
Sandra wasn't bothered in the slightest by being cut off -- she knew that she kind of talked way too much as it was anyway, and even then she also just kind of liked to listen to people just as much. She was friendly, maybe overly so, and could probably honestly hold conversations with inanimate objects if she so wanted (she sometimes talked to Roosevelt, in fact, when she felt particularly like talking and there was nobody around). It was much better, though, when there was someone to answer her. "No problem!" she said, waving a hand to emphasize the point. She really hadn't been saying much of importance. "Yeah, it's definitely much nicer in here," she said with a grin, nodding. "For real, your place is really nice, though! And huge." She let her eyes grow wide as she looked around just this main foyer in general. She had been here before to see Nell, but it seriously was a very decent place, and she knew that Joshua was the owner but had never actually gotten to tell him this or anything. Then again, she figured he already knew, but there was never anything wrong with compliments. "Thanks! And yeah... well, I took the bus and then walked in from the bus stop, but it was only a couple minutes," she answered, shoving her gloves in her jacket pocket and then hanging the rest of her things on a hanger from the closet. "So it wasn't so bad! Don't have much of a choice anyway without a license." Even if she had a license, she wouldn't have a car, especially since she was pretty sure Matthew wouldn't have let her borrow Luke even if he hadn't already taken the car somewhere -- which he had, and did pretty often.
"Ooh, I see! What are you doing for Biology?" she asked, willing to pretty much talk about anything, especially as she didn't know Joshua very well. She was going to make do with what little she did know about him, and this was one of those things that she did know. Sandra did also know what the MCAT's were, mostly because one of her friends had an older brother who was also studying to be a doctor... not that Josh wanted to be a doctor, of course, but more accurately a physician-scientist. That was something she knew and remembered about him, too. "How did your MCAT's go? Good?" she asked happily, figuring that he'd done pretty well. She always got the impression that Josh was very smart somehow, and hey, he wanted to go to medical school and didn't make it sound like it would be a stretch for him. "Hm... if you're sure. Don't stop just because of me though, I should have probably made sure Nell was even here first before I came or something..." This was kind of a moot point, though, since she'd already come in and hung up her things. He at least did seem enthusiastic about the Oreos, and she grinned triumphantly. "Yay! Hm... Milk is probably good! Do you have chocolate milk?" Some people thought that Oreos and chocolate milk would just make for a horrendously sweet combination, but those people would be wrong. Okay, truthfully, she had weird taste, however, and tended to like sweet things a little too much (on top of her love of hot sauce, of course). "Oh, regular milk is cool too though. I guess the Oreos are sweet enough." She took an empty spot at the island as well, going ahead and breaking open the pack of Oreos rather than raiding through his fridge. She might have if she were with Nell, but it seemed rude considering she and Josh didn't really know each other too well. Sandra did have manners, contrary to how it might have seemed when she was around close friends -- then their homes were pretty much her home.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 27, 2012 12:45:00 GMT -5
Though he did not know her well at all and this made him a bit uncertain when it came to dealing with her, Joshua had seen enough to classify Sandra as 'really nice'. She seemed like a generally cheerful and pleasant person to be around and so his awkwardness was more because he wasn't past the acquaintance stage more than anything else. They'd only spoken that one time and so he couldn't call her a friend yet. Not that he wasn't open to doing so, it simply took him more than five minutes to make friends. He wasn't a trusting person. "Oh, uh, thanks," he said with a quick smile when she complimented the house. "I do try to keep it that way. Nice, like. I can't really control the size unless I start knocking down walls or building rooms or anything..." He trailed off in thought for a moment. No, he definitely did not want to add any more things onto the house, it was big enough for the four three people it contained. His brother could hardly be considered a person in Joshua's opinion. "Always thought they should extend the bus down the actual road," he remarked. "I think it used to, actually, but a few of the neighbours complained since everyone can afford cars and we don't need the bus. I don't think they remembered that visitors are not always the same." He scoffed and shook his head. Joshua was often ignorant, though, and so he really shouldn't have been talking. It was hypocritical. He had so much money and privilege that it totally slipped his mind some days that not everyone lived the way he did. "You're old enough for one, aren't you? Guessing you just haven't got around to it?" He'd been taught by his father before he actually had to take the tests and so he'd been well-prepared. Josh had been so excited for learning how to drive that he hadn't actually waited until he'd turned sixteen at all.
He always tried to refrain from getting too in depth when anyone asked him about his studies because it would slip his mind that not everyone had studied through three years of Biology courses for a major and so they wouldn't understand the strings of jargon he was capable of spouting. Remembering it now, though, he said, "Immunology, actually. Dealing with the immune system, though you probably guessed that." It might have sounded boring to some people but he could go on for hours about how fascinated he was with the human body. And he was damn proud of his, actually, because Josh did not get sick often. His immune system was a beast. It was nice that Sandra asked after his MCAT results, like she actually cared. Hell, she seemed like she might be the type of person that would care, so he didn't hesitate to answer. "They went great! I scored a thirty nine, which is, uh, really damn good actually." He didn't want to sound like he was bragging but there was no way he could voice his score aloud without feeling a glow of pride. It was a competitive score, as in 'I-could-go-Ivy-League-if-I-wanted' competitive. He liked that. "No, no, it's fine, really," he insisted when Sandra politely assured him that he could continue studying if he wanted to. "I don't mind. We have people drop by every now and again without word, I could have just ignored you and pretended I wasn't home if I was that determined to avoid you." He chuckled. Well, that sounded rude, didn't it? Well, it was true, and he probably would have ignored the door if he was that opposed to company. He didn't go out of his way to be amiable. He got out the chocolate milk when she mentioned it and slid it lightly across the counter toward her, also grabbing a couple glasses and the regular ol' milk for himself. "Help yourself and all that," he said, common courtesy. He poured himself a glass of milk and grabbed an Oreo, nibbling on the cookie before he contemplated the idea of the milk.
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Post by SANDRA HARU CHANG on Jun 27, 2012 14:36:25 GMT -5
For real, Josh's place was enormous. It was the kind of place that Sandra would easily get lost in, being pretty inept when it came to that kind of thing, navigation and what-not. She guessed that he was pretty used to it, though, if he had always lived here, and she didn't really know otherwise, so she'd assume that this was the case. "Sure!" She never hesitated in handing out compliments or just generally making nice when she saw that the situation called for it, which was pretty often. There wasn't enough positivity in the world as it was. Sandra could do her part to dole it out a little bit at a time. "Yeah, I guess that breaking down walls and stuff would make it pretty messy, though, and then less nice. But I think it looks awesome the way it is!" She smiled brightly, but shrugged a little bit (hopefully not in a rude way, though she knew that her mom was always reprimanding her when she shrugged) at what he said about the bus. "No big deal," she answered. "It's not that far, just a little while since it stops right on the intersection." She pointed in the direction she'd come from to indicate where the bus stop was, but he probably knew that since he did, after all, live here. "Don't blame your neighbours, though." Then again, she supposed that even if she had a car, she might not want to drive everywhere. Taking the bus wasn't so bad -- it was kind of interesting to see all the people, and it cut back a tiny bit on pollution. Sandra wasn't a huge environmentalist, but hey. "But yeah, I am. Just kind of too lazy, I guess. Don't want to study for the whole written thing, though I hear it's actually really easy..." There was of course a written test before she'd actually get to learn how to drive. Sandra hadn't cared enough to bother with either of them immediately upon turning sixteen.
Though she could come off as a bit of a ditz considering how much she talked about everything and yet nothing at all, Sandra really wasn't very dumb -- she could figure out that immunology had to do with the immune system. At least, she could make a very good educated guess. She just grinned and nodded, not taking offense at his need to explain it. It was after all always nice to have confirmation. "Ooh, that's interesting!" She didn't know much about it, however, so there wasn't much she could ask other than, "Is it fun?" Well... she could have also asked him to explain his entire Biology course thus far to her or something, but that just seemed unnecessary. Sandra didn't even like Biology! She definitely wouldn't be cut out for Josh's chosen field of study. "Hey, that's awesome!" she said, nodding. She didn't know anything very much about the MCAT's, though, so she'd just have to take his word for it. "Next step, medical school?" It was said in a kind of light-hearted joking tone, but actually, considering she already did know his plans, it was a serious question. "If you're sure," she said, and that was all the assurance she needed. She tended to take the things people said as truth. It would be silly if he said that it was okay but it really wasn't -- she'd be perfectly willing to leave if he didn't want her there. "I'm glad you didn't actually ignore me, though, I guess." She laughed. "Are you home alone right now?" Nell wasn't home, but she didn't think he'd said anything about Annabel. Sandra nodded and poured herself a glass of the chocolate milk, then nabbed an Oreo for herself. Twist, lick, dunk. "Thanks! Mmmm, Oreos."
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 29, 2012 8:25:53 GMT -5
Sandra might not have minded buses but Joshua had a definite issue with them. The first time he'd ever taken the city bus, aside from when he'd been ten years old and didn't have much of a memory of it, had been a rather unpleasant experience. Used to sports cars and a pampered existence, the close, cramped seating, weird people, and smells of the city bus had not done all that well for him. And then there'd been the fact that he hadn't been carrying anything smaller than a twenty and had to awkwardly ask the other riders for change while the bus driver gave him a nasty glare. Never again. Still, if Sandra didn't have a problem with the bus he wasn't going to challenge her. To each their own! "My neighbours aren't all the friendly sort," he chuckled. "Some of them are alright, though. Do you know anyone else that lives around here?" He didn't know if any of the other mansions were occupied with students of the Academy. Other than Nell and himself, of course. Rafael, too, since he lived with Nell's father. And Asha, though she'd vanished without a trace. "It is a bit weird that you need to pass a written test in order to drive, I guess. I suppose it's to make it safer, but, yeah." He hadn't had any problem with it because he was not a lazy person and he'd been so impatient to learn how to drive that he'd studied for it without complaint. He was very good at studying. "Do you know how to drive and just haven't taken the test or have you just like, never learned?" He was curious, really, considering the fact that he'd learned a lot sooner than the law actually permitted him to. Shh, don't tell. It wasn't like they could do anything about it now even if they did find out.
He didn't think Sandra was stupid, which was why he'd added the bit about her probably figuring it out on her own. It would be sort of cruel for him to assume that she was thick, it was more out of habit than anything else that he'd explained himself. "I wouldn't necessarily call it fun," he mused, considering the question seriously. He was never the type to give a half-assed answer to a question unless he was trying to avoid answering and there was no reason for him to avoid this. "I mean, studying is studying. But I definitely find it interesting so it's not a total drag or anything." He knew a lot of the material that he was studying already and sometimes it could feel repetitive to go over things he was already aware of but he put up with it because he knew that it was for the best. There were so many things to study for his major and so many classes and units. Bacteriology, virology, immunology, the list went on and on. So many 'ologies! "Oh, for sure," he said. "I'll have no trouble getting into at least a few schools with a thirty-nine. It's... well, it's a really brilliant score. Like, top-school kind of score. But I want to get into UMH and it's not the best of the best or anything so I'm hoping that'll give me an easy ride. It'll at least get me an interview." If he got an interview that gave him a chance to impress them. Not that it took much to impress when you maintained a 4.0 GPA and scored an amazing mark on the MCAT. "Nah, my sister's here, too. I think my brother's out though." Ugh, he hated Bryce with a passion. He was glad that his brother wasn't home.
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Post by SANDRA HARU CHANG on Jun 29, 2012 21:58:12 GMT -5
It was a fairly rich neighbourhood, so somehow it didn't surprise her really that not all of Joshua's neighbours would be... friendly. Sandra wasn't a very judgmental person, of course, that was the thing -- if meeting any or all of Josh's neighbours, she'd assume that they were all lovely people unless they proved otherwise, and it didn't matter how much money they had in the bank! That was sort of the thing, though, wasn't it, that rich people were snobby or selfish or... whatever it was. She wondered to what extent it was true. She didn't know very many people who were wealthy enough to live in a place like this. "Oh, Jen! Uh, Jensen Brewer, I mean... She lives kind of near here," Sandra said, smiling. Jen wasn't Joshua's next-door-neighbour or anything, but for someone like Sandra who after all didn't know this neighbourhood inside and out, it was close enough. "Hm, maybe just a bit weird! Then again it kind of makes sense. Rules of the road and stuff," she said, shrugging. The extent of Sandra's knowledge on rules, apart from the common sense ones, was that she wasn't supposed to cross a double yellow line... After that, she was lost. She'd probably fail the written test if she took it now. "Never learned! I've driven a few times when my dad let me though, but only in like, parking lots and stuff." She could see why nobody trusted her enough to let her drive more than that, though, at least until she got her license. "Other than that, nah. But in the Hollow I only have Matthew's car and he'd never ever let me drive it. It's like, his baby." She giggled a little, but she was actually being pretty serious.
It was sort of reassuring, in a way, to know that studying wasn't fun for anyone, even the really smart people like Josh who, from what Sandra knew, seemed to just... excel at everything. She supposed that the main difference here, though, was that people like Josh, while they didn't find studying fun, were willing to do it anyway. It wasn't just intelligence, it was work ethic. Yeah... Sandra had none of that. She arguably had none of the other, either, but she figured that it wasn't the case only because if she wasn't studying, then she had to be doing something right, and chances were that she was just lucky. "But at least you find it interesting! Better than studying something boring," she said with a nod for emphasis. Sandra found studying everything boring, though, but she did retain information pretty well, especially when she did find the subject interesting. Honestly, immunology wouldn't be that fascinating to her, but there were other things that were! "You can do it! An interview to get into UMH, you mean?" She wasn't sure about this whole process; she was just a lowly twelfth grader who didn't even want to think about college and studying, after all. It wasn't the type of thing she even wanted to consider at the moment, but then again she was pretty fixated on the present and doing what she wanted. Sheesh, this whole thing was just a huge pain. School was stupid. "Oh... you have a brother? I never knew that before!" It caught her off-guard and this reminded her of her very similar reaction when she had found out about Nell's brother, too, just the other day. This then in turn reminded her of the reason she had come here in the first place, and she paused in a sip of her chocolate milk as if she wanted to ask something, then changed her mind and drank it anyway.
(...idk if the thing about jen living near josh is true, i just saw that she lives in the upper class district, lol. so, uh. never mind if she doesn't and pretend i said something else.  ;;;
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 30, 2012 8:12:48 GMT -5
Though the street that Joshua lived on contained about ten decently-spaced mansions with astronomical price-tags, it was still technically a part of the collective upper-class neighbourhood. The community was gated and pristine, filled with the typical snobs who thought that anyone without money was below them. Joshua was proof that not all rich folks were snobbish, at least, even if he was a tad entitled. "Oh, yeah, I know Jen," he said, nodding. They were friends of sorts, not the closest but certainly not mere acquaintances. "And yeah, I guess it makes sense for some. I learned it all from being told by my parents." When he'd gotten to the written test there had only been a few things that were unfamiliar to him. Joshua was very smart and had a good memory for retaining information so when his father had drove him around and taught him all the different road signs and traffic laws, he'd stored that away in his mind. He was a good driver, actually. His only offence had been speeding and evading arrest when he'd panicked over the gunshot at a party. The charges had been dropped when he'd explained with some embarrassment what had happened. Panic attacks were not fun. "I can understand the sentiment," he chuckled. "I'd flip my shit if someone wrecked up my car. It'd cost an arm and a leg to fix it." Then something occurred to him—Sandra'd never seen his car, had she? "She's a Lamborghini and they don't come cheap," he clarified. He loved his Aventador to bits. His father had gotten it for him, taking the hint from the way that Joshua had subtly drooled over the car for months after its showcasing.
He definitely preferred a study session focusing on immunology as opposed to art or theatre or something like that. Not that he found them extremely boring or anything but, well, Joshua had always been more interested in mathematics and science as opposed to the creative arts. He was decent in English and he could find his way with words for a paper but that was as far as it extended. It was not his forte, so he preferred to stick with the things that were. No one liked feeling inadequate. "Yeah. They have to interview their applicants to make sure they're cut out for the whole medical school deal." Someone might have perfect grades and a good MCAT score but absolutely no drive to entire medicine for anything but the money. They tried to weed out the applicants with no sincerity or personality because the health care field was one that required taking lives into one's hands. It was dangerous to admit just anyone. Josh understood this and so he was patient with the tedious idea of interviews. "Yeah, he's been staying with family in Nova Scotia for the past few years," he replied easily, telling the truth but avoiding the dirty secret part of it. If he hesitated too much or told a flat-out lie, it might be seen through. So Joshua was careful in his secrecy. "He goes to the Academy as well, a Fire, but I wouldn't recommend saying hello." His tone was wry. Everyone knew that Fire and Water did not mix. Joshua was a safe bet since he was on Water and Earth's side in the alliances but it was safe for Sandy to assume with Josh's words that his brother was not. Observant, the graduate did not miss the way that she appeared to stop herself from speaking. "Something up?" he asked, furrowing his brow. He left it open so that she could decline to speak if she really wanted. He hated making people feel forced into telling him things.
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Post by SANDRA HARU CHANG on Jun 30, 2012 23:44:27 GMT -5
She hadn't known that Josh and Jen were acquaintances too -- mostly because she knew so little about Josh in the first place -- and so she stored this fact in her brain for later. She was pretty good at retaining information, actually. It was probably the way she'd managed to do relatively well in school thus far, because she sure as heck didn't put in enough work to be able to warrant it. "Yeah... Other than that I don't think I know anyone else around here, no," she said, shrugging a little bit. There weren't too many houses around here after all, and the only people she really knew were elementals like the Academy students (or occasionally teachers, but really it would be creepy if she knew them that well). "Oh, true! My parents try to tell me small things sometimes but I think mostly they want me to do it myself," she replied with a sheepish grin. Thus far, this whole "doing it herself" thing hadn't been going very well at all. She'd find a way somehow, though, when she later decided that it was worth it. Thus far, it just... wasn't, yet. "I think I'm lucky he'll even let me ride in it," she said. "Though yeah... yeah, I can imagine that Lamborghinis are pretty expensive." Sandra's knowledge of cars was extremely limited, though. All she knew was that Lamborghinis and Rolls Royces cost a lot... and that was pretty much it. What else did she need to know? The girl didn't even have a learner's permit!
The field of medicine was one that was definitely not easy to get into, as far as Sandra was concerned. She had heard the argument countless times from her relatives, honestly -- middle-aged aunts and uncles who thought that it would be relatively easy for someone who had half a brain. They were mostly thinking of the money, though. Sandra didn't have much need for money... Alright, it would be nice to have tons of money, but she was lazier than she was broke (which was very) and she didn't have the drive for it anyway. "Because of the moneys" would have been a very, very bad answer if someone asked an aspiring doctor why they wanted to go into it. "I guess that makes sense, too. You'll do great, though! I can't think of anyone who deserves it more!" Then again, this might have been a fairly empty thing to say, because she didn't personally know too many aspiring doctors (or physician-scientists). Whether or not it meant much, she was being honest. "Oh, Nova Scotia. That's cool!" she chirped happily, not sensing that anything was out of place in what he said. She wasn't the type to question other people too much on things like that, except out of curiosity, and there wasn't much to push about that one. "Huh. What grade's he in?" she asked, cocking her head to one side. Whatever grade it was, she highly doubted that she would say hello to a Fire anyways. Things like that never went well. She knew to stay on her own side of things. At his question, though, she hesitated a bit, swirling a cookie around in her chocolate milk. "No, just... Nell... has a brother too?" She wasn't sure whether she should be disclosing this type of information about her friends, but Josh was Nell's fiancé, after all. He probably knew about this brother of Nell's already, probably knew much, much more than Sandra did. "I mean it's kind of why I came over here, I wanted to see if she was okay... Not that I think anything's happened or something, but just in general." She carefully twisted another Oreo apart and licked at the filling, with her face growing a little warm. She wasn't really sure why she'd felt the need to say this, but Sandra pretty much never avoided questions and things when people asked her.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jul 1, 2012 15:13:38 GMT -5
She really did seem genuine with her chipper compliment and so Josh twitched his lips into a small smile in response. "Thanks." He was becoming a doctor more because he wanted to than because of the recognition it might get him but it was still nice when people showed their faith and support in him. He didn't know Sandra very well but that didn't make it any less nice. She was a good person from his experience. He might have had trust issues but they were not so extreme that he believed the worst in everyone. He was relieved when she didn't seem to realise anything off about the Bryce thing and he merely nodded, playing up the facade. "Yeah, it's really nice. Have you ever been?" He was curious but he was also trying to subtly divert the subject away from Bryce. He was good at changing the subject without making it seem glaringly obvious. No need to dwell on something that isn't a problem. His brother was a problem but Joshua did not want to make it seem as such. "I've only been out east a few times but since we've got family down there it's not too hard to find a place to stay on vacations." The house was gorgeous, situated near the ocean. His mother had bought it for her parents when she'd started hitting six figures as a sort of a thanks, or so Patricia had told him. It had surprised Joshua to learn that his mother had grown up practically impoverished. Their family was so successful and wealthy that he'd never assumed her coming from any background other than a wealthy one. People are full of surprises, he supposed. "Sophomore," he said, then clarified, "Uh, college sophomore." Bryce was a couple years younger than Joshua, having just turned nineteen (where Josh was soon to be twenty-one). His brother had not attended high school because he'd been committed to an asylum around the time he was meant to start but Josh unsurprisingly left this little detail out of the conversation. Sandra didn't need to be informed of all their dirty laundry, after all. Not even Lark knew the details about Bryce.
He noticed the somewhat hesitant way in which Sandra spoke of Nell's brother and he gave her a reassuring smile, not wanting her to think that she was somehow betraying some deep secret that had never been shared between the couple. "Yeah, I know of him," he told her. He could not help but wonder how it was that Sandra had come to learn of Rafael's existence. He tried to ignore the nagging reminder that Nell had not told him about Rafael, he'd found out through a rather unfortunate argument, but then he reminded himself that it had been back when the Thunder was still a new face in Nell's life. His suspicions about Rafael mounted when Sandra mentioned checking up on Nell, gray eyes flashing with some unidentifiable emotion. The usual rush of adrenaline, the desire to protect his fiancée was immense. There was no one around to protect at the moment, no dangers that he knew of, but every time he thought about she and her half-brother in the same room together he bristled instinctively. "Nell is fine," he said slowly, and suddenly they were not laughing lightly over cookies but it seemed as if they'd breached a certain uncomfortable subject. Untrodden grounds. He avoided talking to Sandra about everything he knew concerning Rafael, just in case, but now he was worried about Nell as well as Sandra. "Is there anything I should be concerned about?" He had a feeling that Nell would tell him if anything was really wrong but maybe Sandra had heard something that he didn't know? Why else would she have turned up at the house to check on Nell? "She was perfectly alright last I saw of her but if anything's wrong..." He trailed off, the implications clear: I want to know about it.
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Post by SANDRA HARU CHANG on Jul 3, 2012 23:23:53 GMT -5
Sandra rarely if ever said things that she didn't mean, unless it was very, very apparent it was a joke, so she just beamed at him. "Sure!" Though she didn't expect that the reason he wanted to become a doctor was really to receive praise or anything like that, Sandra was of the opinion that it was always nice to receive compliments and gestures of support and the like. Whether or not it was a reciprocated sentiment, she considered Josh a friend of sorts, just... certainly not one of her closer friends, she'd guess. "To Nova Scotia? Nope! I haven't been that far out East. Not in Canada, I mean." Her family visited Japan pretty much yearly, actually, but Japan was nothing like Nova Scotia, obviously. "Where d'you usually go when you stay there?" She liked to keep conversations going, and it was actually pretty easy for Sandra. The girl was actually just curious about everything. Talking and asking questions was ridiculously easy for her. She liked to hear about people's lives, their experiences -- she had ridiculously few of her own, it seemed. Then again, she also liked to talk, so it was really give and take. She supposed that it really depended on what other people did and said, but if the situation called for it, she could definitely talk enough for two or three people. "Yeah... I probably don't know any Fires in general," she said, frowning a little. "I mean other than you! But you're nice." She giggled a little bit nervously, but it wasn't because of Joshua or anything. Large fires themselves made her nervous. She was alright with Fire elementals, like Josh and Lark, but many were just kind of... vicious.
The smile was actually a little bit helpful, mostly because she was pretty unused to Josh smiling. Seriously, it was... actually a little weird to see, but not in a bad way. Even so, it wasn't enough to really make light of the situation or anything, considering the gravity of everything, and Sandra just stayed quiet, unsure of what she should say. Even if it wasn't a secret between Nell and Josh -- and she was quite sure even without his reassurance that it wasn't, that Josh did after all have to know Nell better than she did -- she felt bad talking about it somehow. Friends just didn't go around telling other people these things! She hoped it was okay because it was Josh and after all she didn't think she was sharing any new information. After all, nothing that Sandra could say would be something that she thought would come as a surprise to Josh, unless Nell made it some kind of point to lie on a daily basis, but oh, Sandra just didn't think that was very likely at all from what she knew of Nell. The girl was seriously too trusting, though. "I know, I'm sure she is," she said, going a bit pink. "But I just... wanted to talk, I guess. Hang out. Not that's much help or anything, but." She didn't even end the sentence, just left it hanging right there, wondered where Nell was. She was probably okay at work, of course. "No, no, nothing, I just wanted to drop by." She didn't actually want to worry Josh or anything -- it really had been nothing that had prompted her to come over here. "I mean... she showed up at the apartment, Matt's I mean, and I guess mine kind of not really, and she had like -- like, a black eye, and she said something about her brother's friend or something but I mean, that was a while ago so you probably already saw it. I really just wanted to check in! It's nothing new!" Now she felt bad if she had worried him, and her story probably didn't make any sense, but that was mostly because it was the truth. It really had been a few weeks ago now, too... This visit really was sort of unwarranted.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jul 5, 2012 16:12:52 GMT -5
He liked to travel, to see the world, but Joshua had a fondness for Canada that could not be contested by any other country. It was home to him, just as Maple Hollow was, and that would not change no matter where he found himself in two, five, ten years. Curiously, though he didn't want to pry, he wondered, "Have you travelled at all?" He always tried to set it up so that the things he said to people could be responded to with a simple 'yes' or 'no' on the off chance that they didn't enjoy talking about themselves. He'd been that way for a long time before he'd relaxed a little bit more and started to loosen up about things and so it was second nature for him to be careful even around people as amiable and seemingly open as Sandra was. Better safe than sorry, as they said. She asked about where they stayed and he answered, "My grandparents are in Halifax so it's mostly there. We've stayed in hotels a few times when we do exploring." It was fun to drive around the small province and see a lot of the cities. It would be much harder to do in a province like Ontario where everything was so far apart, at least a lot farther than it looked on the map. And then there was Maple Hollow in BC that wasn't close to anything. Oh, the qualms of the traveller.
It wasn't surprising that Sandra didn't know any Fire elementals, just as his knowledge of the Waters had once only been that he loathed them and their pranks with every fibre of his being. He'd come pretty far from his pre-traitor days. His early traitor days had been bad as well because he hadn't started to warm up to the Water elementals until he'd made his final, solid decision to switch sides for good. He still butted heads with the more arrogant and persistent ones but some, like Sandra for example, were tolerable. She was actually a fair bit more than just tolerable else he wouldn't have let her past the doorstep. He felt a brief prickle of discomfort when she clarified that he was nice. Though flattering, it reminded him of the stereotypes all over again. "Being born a Fire does not make people naturally unpleasant," he pointed out. Then, amending his words without actually apologising, he said, "It's nice to know you don't see me as unpleasant, at least." He would never apologise to people no matter how wrong it seemed that he was but he also wanted to avoid any awkwardness.
There was a scowl fixed on his features as they discussed Nell and her issues with Rafael, a permanent one that darkened his expression considerably. It was not directed toward Sandra but it still gave off a rather frightening impression. This was the man who'd stabbed Rafael for punching Nell in the face the last time, after all. "I'm sure she'd appreciate hanging out," he said. It was genuine but his tone was flooded with the anger that he felt and so it might have been a little hard to tell. His hand, previously resting in a relaxed position on the kitchen island, had curled into a tight fist. He was not yet shaking but he could feel the waves of anger crashing over him like the tide. It was hard to think properly but he managed. "You can hang around until she gets back if you want. I don't know how long it'll take but she never mentioned that she'd be out too late." They usually mentioned to one another if there was going to be a significant time spent away from home so that no one got worried. After all, when you lived with a person you tended to notice their absences.
Things went from bad to worse when Sandra mentioned Nell showing up at the apartment with a black eye. "Oh. That." It was clear by the way he worded things that he was already aware. He'd noticed when Nell had been suffering from that particular injury and naturally he hadn't been happy with it but he'd managed to avoid hunting her brother's friend down and bashing his skull in. After the knifing incident with Rafael he was a little more conscious of legal consequences. Five years in prison for aggravated assault was bad enough, he didn't need to go adding any more things to his record. "Well, if you were worried about telling me, you don't need to be," he assured her. His tone was clipped, stiff, but the anger was not meant for her. "Already knew. I don't like it any more than you do." He tried to protect her but unless he shadowed his fiancée obsessively he could not always be around to intervene. He sighed. "Well, I don't know about anything that's gone on recently. She's been okay. So... yeah, I hope that helps." He gave her a somewhat awkward smile. It was nice to know that there were other people out there who worried over Nell, that he was not alone.
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Post by SANDRA HARU CHANG on Jul 6, 2012 23:29:09 GMT -5
She wouldn't really consider what she and her family did travelling, honestly. They visited family mostly, went to Japan pretty often because that was where Sandra's mother was from... where her family still was, actually, apart from Sandra's grandparents, who lived with them. She supposed it was a bit weird that she knew so much less about where her father came from, but then he had come to Canada much earlier. He was probably more like herself and Matthew. No... really, Sandra didn't go much of anywhere, at least not with the main intent of travelling and sightseeing and what-not. "Travelled? Mm, not too much! I've been to Japan!" she said, smiling a little. They went every summer, and actually, Sandra really did like it there. It was a different world from Canada, though. She'd definitely choose Vancouver and Maple Hollow over most any Japanese city that she could think of. "Do you travel much?" she asked in return. Halifax did sound nice, though she couldn't say that she knew of much else that went on in Nova Scotia. She was definitely from the West Coast, alright. Then again, Maple Hollow -- while still in British Columbia -- wasn't much on the coast. "That's always fun though! Halifax sounds really nice. What is there to do in Nova Scotia?" she asked, cocking her head to the side. She definitely didn't mean to offend any Nova Scotians or anything -- she just genuinely would not know.
She shifted kind of uncomfortably, hoping that her comment hadn't actually bothered Josh too much or anything. That was never the intention when she talked -- she wasn't the type to put people down, even when she didn't like them or they were bugging her in whatever way. Not everyone got along -- and that was okay! She'd really rather ignore and be ignored by the people she didn't get along with specifically, though. She didn't consider Josh one of those... disliked people at all. "I know! I mean... I'm sure lots of Fires are really nice." Well, probably not all of them were, though. "Just not really to me, I guess." It wasn't really fair -- she'd never done anything to them! Well, she was a Water too, so she might have pulled a couple of pranks in her day (especially when dragged along with her friends) but mainly she didn't target anyone unless she had a reason, and even then it wasn't what she would describe as being in a mean way. "You're definitely not unpleasant at all." Fires had never liked Sandra much. She supposed that she grated on people's nerves, and she never even had to try.
After the whole incident with Josh potentially getting upset with her for that whole 'Fires are not nice!' comment (one that she didn't really mean, not really, only not many of them had ever done anything to prove her wrong), the scowl on his face now was... purely frightening, and she found herself a little bit jittery. She didn't think he was angry at her or anything, or at least she couldn't think of a reason why he would be unless it was still from her earlier comment, but his words seemed nice enough, and she nodded. "I... hope so, yeah!" Sandra wasn't good at much, really. All she could offer was a couple of Oreos and a few hours that were hopefully spent away from worrying or something, but even then she wasn't that good obviously if she hadn't even bothered making sure Nell was home yet. "Thanks! I hope I'm not bothering you, you don't have to babysit me or anything... I promise I wouldn't break anything." She paused, then added, "...Might fall asleep, though." She usually did when left to her own devices and without people around to talk to.
He seemed to already know, and she was glad of that, that she wasn't betraying Nell in some huge way by saying this. "Yeah... yeah, that." The conversation was much more serious than she would have liked it to be but at this point she couldn't think of any particular way to lighten the mood some. At least Josh didn't seem super worried anymore, at least not more than he might have normally been, and Sandra did feel better just a little when he reassured her that Nell had been okay. "That's good! I'm glad. I mean..." She nibbled on the edge of her cookie, or at least the one side of it -- she'd already eaten the other side and all the stuffing. "No, it's good. I'm glad she has you and everything." It felt weird to say, because while Sandra was extremely affectionate and pretty much wore every bit of her heart on her sleeve, she was rarely serious about these things. It was a little while before her face cracked a smile in return, not because of any reluctance to or anything. She didn't really know why. This conversation had been helpful though, at least she thought so.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jul 8, 2012 20:27:46 GMT -5
He had never been to Japan himself and so felt intrigued when Sandra mentioned it. He supposed that it made sense since she probably lived there, or at least he guessed, but he was interested nevertheless. "I've never been," he told her. "What's it like?" Everyone had their different opinions of places and people, travelling in general. He was curious about what she thought of Japan, what her experiences there had been like. Maybe he'd like to go if it was worth it. He made a mental note to look up some things that were tourist-friendly online. He didn't know any Japanese at all and that would probably be an obstacle but he was still interested in seeing it. He liked travelling. "Not too much," he said, for he was still young, "but a bit, yeah. I've been to Spain, France, Ireland, a lot of places in Canada." During his year off before he'd entered the Academy thanks to skipping a grade he'd went with his mother on some of her business trips. He'd seen Ottawa then and it had been really nice. "I really liked Ireland," he told her. "Very green," Joshua laughed, "but the people were nice and their accents are pretty cool." The Irish accent was his favourite, actually.
Activities tended to differ depending on the type of people you went with and why you were there, he supposed, but apart from visiting family he and his parents had definitely tried to see the sights and do some things. "My dad liked to fish," he remembered. "Bryce and Annabel would hang out on the beach with my mother, I'd look around for museums and such." You knew you were a bit of a dork when libraries and museums were more interesting than beaches or sporting activities. But he was vegetarian so fishing would not make sense and he was scared of drowning and couldn't swim so beaches were pointless. "A lot of good food, too, though I couldn't try any of the fish." He blinked, then clarified, "I'm vegetarian, so." He would never go vegan, though, because he didn't see the harm in eating dairy products.
It was more habit than anything to feel offended by such comments and it wasn't an insult to Sandra at all. In fact, when he thought on it he decided that she didn't seem the type to mean things in a cruel way and so he was quicker to forgive her than he might have been someone like Yeager or Jensen. "I guess it's like how I look at Thunders," he decided fairly. And Fires, now, too, he added to himself but not aloud. "They're probably decent to their friends. No one's nice to their enemies." Well, not most people. Nell was a pretty nice person all around but he'd seen her claws come out and so she did have limits. He'd actually been glad to find that out.
Speaking of Nell, the subject of her in relation to her brother had made him much more uncomfortable than Sandra's comment on Fires and so any ire toward her was completely forgotten. She might have felt worried about his scowl but Josh took no notice, completely absorbed in his own frustrations. "If it was a bother I wouldn't have let you through the front door," he pointed out with a twitch of his lips. He might have smiled if the frustration had faded but it still had its hold on him. "Nell's friends or not, it's our house and she's not home." He did consider it theirs and not his, even if it was only his name on the papers. They were engaged, a marriage-in-waiting, sharing things was something he was more than willing to get used to. "I'll probably hang around. I was bored anyway, it's not that I don't trust you." Sandra didn't seem the type to wreck shit but admittedly he didn't want to leave someone that was not a best friend to wander his house. He'd gotten better with his paranoia and suspicion but there were still traces. He laughed when she mentioned she might fall asleep but it was that kind of laugh that suggested he wasn't sure whether or not she was serious.
His smile was strained but it was there. I'm glad she does, too. He was relieved that he could be there for Nell in a way that not many others were. She was there for him, too, and though he'd never admit how much he relied on her he did know it himself.
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