-- STOP FLATTERING YOURSELF && [brielle]

Joshua loved the library, he really did, but there were certain times of the year when it became an absolutely unbearable place. Like now. With final exams fast-approaching, even the slackers of the Academy had finally been shoved into a last-minute study marathon. Josh, who started studying the moment he learned things to study, was well-prepared enough that he didn't need to feel the overwhelming anxiety. That wasn't to say he disapproved of their desperation or that he felt himself superior, it was the fact that most of them only "studied" that bothered him. And by "studied", that meant they spent the majority of their time chatting in groups of their friends and completely ignoring the coursework. He was not the only one getting irritated by this, for he heard a Fire elemental nearby muttering an insult under his breath. There was a moment where Joshua almost laughed, agreed with him, but then he remembered the alliances and turned his own attention back to his book. He wasn't even here to study that afternoon, he was merely reading a good book and did not want to head all the way home to do so. It wasn't that far but he had a class in another hour or so and so to head home and hang around the mansion for only fifteen minutes seemed like a ridiculous idea.

An irritated huff from behind him preceded the tell-tale thump of a closing textbook and the Fire elemental he'd previously considered talking to stood up. "Fuck this shit," the other boy muttered, and Josh couldn't agree more. They seemed to have picked a bad place to sit, with two of the "studying" groups nearby. He supposed there were quieter places filled with the people who were here for all the right reasons but those places would have long since filled. His fellow Fire caught Joshua's gaze for a moment and the brown eyes narrowed in irritated suspicion. "What do you want, Dale?" In high school he would have taken this like bait, snapped, started a fight. It wasn't worth it now, though, especially since he really was not in the mood for confrontation. "Nothing." The other graduate seemed to contemplate saying something further, looking almost contemptuous as he stood there, then must have decided he was similarly disinterested and left the library. Joshua waited several minutes, during which he tried and failed to focus on the reading, and then decided that (no matter how much of an ass he might be) his fellow elemental had the right idea. He'd go find somewhere else to read.

He was contemplating an empty classroom until his stomach growled and suggested that he head down to the first floor instead. He had to push open the heavy double-doors leading into the mess hall, for they were only propped open during the few hours in which the students had their respective lunches. Seeing as it was not such a time, there were only a few other students scattered around the hall. This suited him just fine and he grabbed a bagel and a bottle of water before finding his own table to sit down at. He sat in the same place he usually did with Nell and company during lunch, more out of habit than anything else. There were plenty of empty tables but this was the place he always sat and so it brought with it a sense of familiarity. He decided to finish eating before he picked the book back up, not wanting to get crumbs between the pages (it was a serious pet peeve of his) and so he spent that time glancing around at the other occupants of the hall. He could see a group of friends gathered around a laptop and laughing, perhaps stalking people on Facebook or watching YouTube videos, another girl reading as he was, a few people eating. He did not know what elements they all were in (he thought the book-reader might be an Earth) but none of them were bothering him, so he left them alone.