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Post by ALTAIR SABINA BENNETT on May 14, 2012 17:33:11 GMT -5
Altair licked her lips as she cradled her head on the desk, making a makeshift pillow with her arms. Words others spoke around her didn't make sense, they mixed in with her thoughts and became a part of her half-awake dream. She felt the sensation of something pulling her down and her eyes fluttered. Even as she drifted into unconsciousness, she always looked presentable. Her hair twisted behind her head in a bun, sun from the window making it appear pure white. She'd rolled the sleeves of her blouse up to her elbows, and her crossed legs were clad in skintight jeans, heel dangling from her toe. The long necklace made a metallic sound against the desk when she turned her face to protect herself further from the sunlight. Even if she'd had a terrible night before, she was always up in the early morning choosing her outfit, making coffee, brushing her teeth. She didn't enjoy the idea of sleeping in. So much of the day could be missed, and she was quite the busy bee. Her beauty sleep had been diminished as of late, and the only hours she could regain it were the ones she spent in school.
She had nothing against the teacher, wasn't sleeping just to spite her. Even if she was in trouble, she wouldn't explain how juggling a modeling contract and heavy partying was really killing her. In her less-than-coherent dream she'd begun to formulate excuses that might be acceptable. She saw her grandmother, thought about hypothetically killing her. Even her parents back in Great Britain. She wouldn't look into it, right? Altair hadn't spoken to her and Rowena's parents in two years, and she had no desire to speak to them again. She knew her sister shared the same mentality. In her dream Rowena appeared. Or maybe it was her, with dreams even she couldn't tell. Ro was sick. But what if Ms. Thomas had her in a class? Could she risk that? If the girl shimmering like a picture in the water really was her, then she could say she was sick. She didn't think she could pull off sick, however, the only noticeable thing about her exhaustion was the bag under her eyes.
Eyelids now fluttering, she was deep into her nap. Should she just tell the truth? Would Ms. Thomas understand how busy Altair was? Teachers don't have lives outside of school. The thought was only partially coherent in her dream world, but she'd managed to pick it up and add it in to what was going on around her. Ms. Thomas was in her dream now, and even this wasn't enough to get her to stir. In her mind she must have wanted the woman out, why would she want to involve teachers in her dreams, but her mind wasn't really under her control at that moment and the woman turned into a pool. Shame. She didn't wake when the bell rung and dismissed the students, didn't even stir. Her purse slumped against the legs of her chair, notebook and folder beside it. She didn't carry a backpack, they were hideous. The Fire leader kept almost everything in her purse.
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Post by nala on Jun 8, 2012 10:30:20 GMT -5
It had been a relatively good class session, Nala though as the students filed out of her room, some saying goodbye, others hanging around a little to ask questions about the homework. She wasn't an idiot -- she knew a lot of the students tried to avoid taking her class because somehow, she had gotten this reputation of being some devil teacher, but she really wasn't. At least she didn't think she was. It seemed a little counterproductive to only want to take easy classes, anyway -- those who coasted through high school would probably just end up getting a really crushing reality check once college started. That certainly was the case for her, and she had actually been a decent student. As she gave a few details to help a student with their research paper, she wondered if she was really that bad. Not all the students hated her, at least. It annoyed her just how much their opinions meant sometimes, but she just wanted to know if she was doing a good job or not.
The classroom cleared out and Nala sighed, relaxing a little, stretching her neck from side to side. Teaching three classes in a row tired her out a little, and she was glad that she had a planning period to just recenter herself and prepare for the afternoon. As she turned to go to her desk and wind down a little, she noticed a person still in her class, in the back. One glance at the hair and she could tell who it was -- no one walked around without that hair color and went unnoticed, really -- and Altair had her head down on her desk, snoozing peacefully. It wasn't the first time she had caught Altair sleeping in class, and she was pretty sure it wouldn't be the last, but she usually woke up in time to actually leave when the bell rang with the rest of her classmates. She didn't really mind people sleeping through class -- well, all right, she minded a little bit -- as it would just reflect badly on them later and certainly not herself, but she couldn't just leave her there to sleep. She was sure she probably had another class to go to, after all. She could sleep there.
"Altair?"
[/color] Nala began slowly, a little cautiously -- she knew Altair was the Fire leader, and that had to mean she was capable of raising some kind of hell. She took a few steps towards the girl, calling out her name again to no avail -- Altair didn't even move. Frowning, Nala reached out and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder and shook, fiery eruptions be damned. "Altair! Wake up, class is over."[/color] She kept her voice even and temperate, genuinely more concerned than angry once she managed a somewhat obstructed view of the bags underneath her eyes. No make-up could hide just how exhausted one really was, after all. [/justify][/font][/blockquote][/blockquote] |
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Post by ALTAIR SABINA BENNETT on Jun 9, 2012 14:19:51 GMT -5
If Altair had a choice, she wouldn't have stayed so late after class. She'd have ran away like a bat outta hell when the bell rung, but not even that had been enough to disturb her from sleep, the swirling and strange dreams that made perfect sense to her unconscious mind. She didn't hear when her teacher first said her name, instead she was thinking of oranges now, big oranges that hung heavy on a tree inside her apartment. She didn't remember having a tree there before, but that was beside the point. She was hungry and they looked delicious. Unfortunately, she didn't get to eat them because she was shaken awake and her eyes popped open. "She's dead! She died!" It was her instant reaction to shout these things out, not even thinking of what they meant as she careful rubbed underneath her eyes, thinking of those oranges and how sad it was that she didn't have them right now. For a split second she wondered if when she went home the tree would be there. No matter how unrealistic a dream was it could be realistic to the one experiencing it. And she was half-awake anyway, seeing the woman who'd shaken her awake through blurred eyes, tears prickling at them. Which would help her words, but were only because she had had them closed for so long.
She straightened herself up, still delirious as she straightened her shirt, looking around to notice that no one else was there. She hadn't really heard Nala's words, just knew that they had been spoken and there had been a hand on her shoulder to accompany them that. She was too tired to even think of how much she hated that, being touched without permission. Even the scumbags she'd let touch her when she'd be working had only done so after been given permission. Especially the nervously awkward ones. In her other job, dancing on that stage? No one was allowed to touch her, and she had liked that power. They could look, feed off her body all they wanted, but that was as much as they got. "My grandmother," she said before she yawned and stretched her arms up, like a cat just awaking from sleeping in the window where the sun could shine on her. Unfortunately, the sun hadn't been so bright lately, it being winter and all. "She died last week. That's why I have been sleeping all the time." She decided to roll with it, since the words decided to come out of her mouth when she first woke up, anyway. Nala did not deserve an explanation, not in her opinion, but here she was inventing a story. She wouldn't apologize, though, certainly not. Her grandmother had just passed away, after all.
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Post by nala on Jun 20, 2012 10:59:47 GMT -5
Nala blinked and jumped back in surprise when Altair woke up with a cry, rubbing her eyes and looking exhausted and upset in general. Nala frowned -- she hadn't meant to startle the girl, but she didn't really know what was bothering her, either, the words Altair had shouted could have easily been in regards to her dream or something rather than anything in regards to her real life. "Altair, are you all right?" Nala asked cautiously -- still, no matter what, it was hard to tell where she stood with Altair and whether she would snap today or be kind of civil to her. Nala kind of hated how iffy it all was -- she would have preferred Altair be constantly mean and undermining her authority than flip-flop between two extremes like she seemed to do all the time.
And, sad to say it, but something about what Altair said as an excuse to her sleeping ways sort of bugged her, something about it seeming a little off. She was pretty sure she heard that from her once before, in just the past few weeks. "Your...other grandmother?"
[/color] Nala asked, a little curious, and not really wanting to disbelieve her -- after all, if Altair was being honest, then hell, her grandmother just died and here Nala was, acting like a prick of a staff member who was all butthurt about a student sleeping in her class. True, she didn't know many details about Altair's life, just that she was a model in her spare time, but (even though she didn't want to believe it) she was hesitant to readily accept that someone could have both their grandparents die in the span of two weeks. Either way, Nala decided that, for now, or until she learned what the truth really was, she'd just go for it for now. "I'm really terribly sorry to hear that,"[/color] Nala said, still keeping her distance, though training her eyes to stay on Altair. "Is there anything you need? And if you want to talk, I'm here, though I know you and I don't really get along a lot, but,"[/color] Nala supplied, "I really do care."[/color] She wondered if she sounded genuine. She actually was concerned -- if Altair had been the spitting image of Aphrodite and looking well-rested and totally made up, with no care in the world, then she probably would feel more confident in calling the girl out on her bullshit (if it was one), but the way Altair looked generally exhausted made her hesitate and consider that maybe she wasn't lying. But the last thing she really wanted to do was incur the wrath of the school's Fire leader -- that isn't to say that Nala couldn't just blow the inevitable fire being thrown back, but that was just messy and a lack of proper discipline on her part, really. Besides, the skill level was too great, as Nala was much older and probably had more experience with her elemental powers. And, you know, she didn't want to get fired, and she was sure "getting into an elemental battle with a student" was probably on the top of the "Things To Do To Get Fired Instantly" list.[/justify][/color][/font][/blockquote][/blockquote] |
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Post by ALTAIR SABINA BENNETT on Jun 21, 2012 14:55:58 GMT -5
Altair combed her fingers through her hair, trying to get it back into the state it had been in when she'd first come into the classroom. After all, she hadn't necessarily been planning on taking a light snooze. It just...happened. That's how these kinds of things tend to work. She blinked her bright blue eyes at Nala. They were still glazed over from that lovely little nap she had, but they were still glimmering, like beacons. They could see through fog. "I'm good, great," Altair said, always a pro with her words. She was great at recovering at least, she could pretend that she hadn't just been rude and fallen asleep during a lesson. But she was always rude, and it wasn't much different than how she treated most other people.
She wrinkled her nose up in confusion when Nala mentioned this being her other grandmother. What the hell... Then it dawned on her. Well shit, she'd used this excuse before. It was one that she used for quite a few teachers when she had to lie. But usually, she was completely honest with people. Why should she lie? She had nothing to hide. Altair thought that the woman might be incredulous and disbelieving in the excuse, so Altair said, "Yeaahhh...my Grandma Abner." She actually did have a Grandma Abner, but she was alive and kicking. Or so she assumed. There were no Christmas cards or calls, her and Rowena absolutely did not keep in touch. Their hate was aimed toward their parents, but by extension that also meant their family.
Then came the sympathetic words, and if she had a conscience, she would have felt guilty about lying like that, about making someone believe she'd lost a member of her family. As it were, it was the fact that she was sympathetic that bothered her. She had every right to get like this, but since Altair didn't need it, this spurred her to action. "All right, no, it wasn't my grandmother. She's fine. Maybe, I don't know." She lifted up her hands. "I just have a modeling job and insane hours and...just, if you give me some makeup work or something, it might help." She shrugged. She didn't like taking hand-outs from teachers, she didn't like help. Too much pride for that. But she knew that if she wanted to pass, if she wanted to graduate and take care of Rowena and keep the apartment, then she needed this. She was willing to admit to shrug off any pride for her sister.
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Post by nala on Jun 25, 2012 13:43:45 GMT -5
Nala considered herself a fairly, er, fair person, regardless of what the student body had to say about her. She knew many students didn't appreciate how she taught or what she taught, which was fine, but it was one thing to sleep in class and then lie about why she was sleeping in class and another thing entirely to actually fess up to the lie once she had already fallen for the play. In a different time, a different place, and probably with a different person, Nala would have appreciated the honesty, but the almot flippant way Altair had come clean had irritated Nala, though she couldn't quite put a finger on why just yet. Well, besides saying that a family member died when they really didn't. Nala was pretty sure that was kind of up there on the list of things to do to garner some serious bad karma. Either way, she really didn't know just what to say in reply to Altair, figuring that no matter what, Altair's lack of respect for authority figures would still remain. "I don't know why you decided to lie to me in the first place," Nala started, can't helping the slightly irritated tone her voice took on. Well, no one said teachers had to be completely devoid of emotion. "You could have just told me the truth instead of making something up."
[/color] Nala considered Altair's plea for extra credit. Truthfully, Nala ahd half the mind to say no just so it could, perhaps, spur Altair into action and pay attention for once in class and maybe touch her homework some other days, but if what Altair had told her about being a model and having insane hours was true, Nala figured that it'd be pointless and just more work for her in the end, having to decide what would be fair extra credit. Then, the thought of Altair failing and having to repeat the grade and having her as a student for another year almost made Nala say yes right off the bat. She didn't, but she felt a little bad that that was her first thought. Besides, there remained the issue that she didn't know if Altair was telling the truth or not. "Look, I don't know if you're telling the truth or not,"[/color] Nala began slowly, walking away from Altair's desk and back to her own, starting to organize her notes and texts for her next class. "So how about this -- if you can prove to me that you really are a model and have insane work hours, then I can decide on some make-up work for you."[/color] She didn't bother adding a 'sound fair?' at the end of that, seeing as Nala really didn't care and this would be her offer for now, and if Altair was offended that Nala was doubting her now, well, maybe she shouldn't have lied in the first place.[/justify][/color][/font][/blockquote][/blockquote] |
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Post by ALTAIR SABINA BENNETT on Jun 26, 2012 22:37:37 GMT -5
Altair showed a few sociopathic signs some times, mostly in how she interacted with people and how she actually about them. She may not always share her feelings, but usually prided herself in being upfront. Still, there were a lot of personal emotions she kept locked away. Like how she felt about her sister's death, something she'd gotten over but would still stick with her. She would always remember Syria, but at least the pain had long since passed. Sometimes she could recall the anger and the hate and all of the rampant emotions. "I don't know either, instinct." She shrugged nonchalantly, not feeling the need to explain herself even though it seemed to have bothered Nala. And reasonably so. She just didn't care about that. "I get more crap from teacher's when I tell the truth, they like to think I make up excuses. I think it's just because they don't like me." She flashed an almost charming, sarcastic smile. Altair wasn't one of those types to blame bad grades on teachers who despised her, but there was some reason behind it. A lot of hers did not appreciate her attitude or her laziness. Altair tried most of the time, but other times, she couldn't.
The Fire girl's eyes narrowed when Nala walked away, claiming she didn't know whether or not she was actually telling her what's really going on. "So I take back a lie to come up with another lie? Right." There was every reason for the teacher to think such a thing, but she was an easily incensed person. She stood and grabbed her purse, making sure everything was in there, including her phone. No one had called. Not unusual, unless there was something going down that she should be made aware of. Altair looked over at Nala, a drawn out sigh leaving her lips. "I'll have to see," she said in a tone that made her seem like the one in charge, a tone that she was sure would tick any teacher off. "Maybe I can get a schedule. Would that be okay? Or I don't know, I can call my agent or someone who's higher up than me." She had the number, if Nala wanted proof right now, she could call. But then she would be that girl, the one who needed excuses. She wanted to keep this job, no matter what.
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Post by nala on Jul 10, 2012 12:37:09 GMT -5
The thing was, Nala didn't really want to go through all that trouble just for some verification of Altair's work. Besides the fact that it was almost embarrassingly easy to fake something like that, there were certain lines that Nala had herself, in terms of getting involved in student affairs of any kind. Obviously, intimate relationships were out. She was fairly good at weathering questions too personal to answer and making sure that her interest in a student's life was only academic. This was kind of toeing that line, though; she didn't like being unfair, but she also didn't like favoritism, which was what she was concerned about should she give Altair make-up work. On all other sides of the situation, it really wouldn't be that big of a deal, she supposed. She wanted to help Altair, even though she wasn't her favorite student by far, but it was hard to want to do so after being lied to. So where does that lead her? Irritated, wanting to help without being viewed as being taken advantage of, lenient though Altair would hardly be worthy of it. "I can't see why anyone would dislike you," Nala said flatly, the sarcastic edge creeping in more than she had intended it to. And really, the thing about Altair that made Nala more sad than anything else was this ridiculous air of being 'grown up'. She had no idea what happened to her student in the past, but regardless, it just seemed like a sad situation all around.
"Would you blame me, really? I give everyone the benefit of a doubt until I don't have to anymore. Whether that's a positive or negative...is up to the student."
[/color] Nala tucked away her notes for the class period, rummaging around in her bag for her folder for her next few classes -- Altair's class had been the last 12th grade class of her day, her 11th graders coming in after a free period, a period she usually used to either go bug Logan in his home ec room, or a period she actually used to plan future coursework. Needless to say, she was doing neither, which annoyed her a little, but that annoyance blossomed into something a little more full-blown when Altair kept talking. "I don't know,"[/color] Nala began. "I can't possibly know if they really are who they are now, can I?"[/color] Finishing with her organizing, Nala looked up and fixed Altair with a pointed look. "How about you just leave me with their business card or something and I'll handle it?"[/color] Any sort of remorse she felt for barging into a student's life like this ended with Altair's tone, but if there was anything she hated more than being lied to it was someone taking on a condescending attitutde with her.[/justify][/color][/font][/blockquote][/blockquote] |
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Post by ALTAIR SABINA BENNETT on Jul 13, 2012 3:23:30 GMT -5
Altair did not know whether or not she appreciated the fact that Nala took no shit. It was an admirable trait, really, but the Fire leader did not take kindly to anything that could be used against her at any time. Appreciation fell short when it came to that, her temper did not allow thoughts of, “Well, she is a tough bitch,” as she's pounding her fist into someone else's face. In this setting, however, it was easier. Academia did not leave much room for combat, no friction and no chance to let her do as she pleased. Perhaps she was so repelled by the idea of school, the idea of college and anything else that would keep her stuck in a classroom, staring at the clock as it ticked away the moments she could have been eating a cheeseburger, could have been fucking someone's brains out, could have been playing chicken in a car that one should not be playing anything in. The classroom was where inspiration went to die. ”You flatter,” she said, and there may have been a prickling of honest humor in that statement, not the usual bitchy tone that usually fluttered from her lips oh so gracefully. She had moments pf genuity, fleeting as the seasons.
Altair snorted, and even though the woman made perfect logical sense, she had to make comment on it. It was a necessity, if there was a checklist regarding the Fire's personality, it would include having the last word when it came to everything.”So you give the benefit of the doubt when it suits your needs?” No one ever liked a wise ass, but she did not set out to be liked in terms of her personality. She liked herself, and that was enough for her. People had to like her body because she was in the business of selling it. That had always been her business, it may have just been what she was put on earth to do, and she accepted the calling. She did not have to study to model, she did not have to be the smartest or the wisest or the nicest. All she had to do was listen to what people told her, and come away with it with grace. Also, she had to stay fit, healthy, and if her weight fluctuated too much, it was her weight on a line. Even though smarts were not a requirement, the industry was more intensive than most people seemed to think. She didn't care if others thought her work to be a cakewalk, only Nala because she was the teacher she tried to petition to.
And this was coming to frustrate her, not an admirable feat by far, but it still made a cute little grimace perch itself on her lips. ”You probably think I have more power than I actually have over people. Why would anyone lie for me?” It wasn't like she could have planned this, paid someone to vouch for her, or did what she did best and offer services in return. She wasn't going to lie and say she did not use sex to get what she wanted now that she didn't have to. It was one of the best ways she knew how to get whatever she needed. A business card. Altair's expression actually seemed to ease when that was brought up, and she fished through her purse, pulling out a wallet and unzipping it. ”That I can do,” she said, happy that she at least had it on her. ”Here, this is my...well, I guess you could call her my boss.” She was more of an underboss, but everyone had someone above them.
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