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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 11, 2012 15:10:15 GMT -5
As he didn't mind helping people out so long as they were nice enough about asking, Joshua had spent most of his afternoon helping out a couple of ninth graders find their way around the massive Academy library. The year was still young and as new arrivals to the castle it made sense that they'd be feeling a tad overwhelmed. They handed out maps of the school during the first day and one could be picked up at the office if it was for some reason misplaced but those maps did not do any good when it came to finding the right study material in the library. "And you said that you needed to know where all the literature for English was, right?" The Water girl confirmed with a nod and he pointed her in the right direction, adding a brief description on how to effectively peruse the collection of shelves before he could return to his own work. Since this was one of his free spaces between morning classes and lunch, he had intended to use it mostly for studying. Senior year meant a whole lot of drowning in work, especially with a double major and an aspiration to keep his grades as high as possible.
He sighed, more out of distraction than anything else, and returned upstairs to the third floor where he usually situated himself. It was quieter up there, especially in the beginning of the year when the often-loud freshmen had not yet realised the library had multiple floors, and quiet was something he liked. He wandered over to the history section and ran his fingers lightly along the spines of the books as he walked slowly along the shelves, looking for one book in particular. It had been checked out the last time he'd tried to obtain it but it was back now, the cover bearing a little wear-and-tear from obvious years of use. He never understood how some books came to be in the awful conditions they were in. The books in his personal library were in immaculate condition because he was careful with them. What did people do with their books around here, use them as spare basketballs or something? Shrugging it off—hey, at least it wasn't covered in foreign stains that blocked out the words—Joshua tucked it into his bag for the time being and made his way over to his usual table.
The fact that someone was already sitting there did not phase him, for it was a library open to the entire student body and the tables, like most in libraries, were large and suitable for around eight to ten people rather than just one. However, he recognized the 'intruder' and so he twitched his lips at her instead of simply flopping down without any sort of acknowledgement. "Oh, hey Scarlett," he greeted her, his tone amiable enough. He was in a pretty mellow, neutral mood. A bit tired from the caffiene kick of the morning wearing off but still alert enough that he was confident he'd be able to effectively study or hold conversation as he was doing now. "Are you studying already, too, or just a bit of reading?" It was curious, his gray eyes still fixed on her. It wasn't polite to completely ignore someone as you spoke to them, after all. He paused only to pull the book he'd picked up from his bag and set it on the table, knowing that in the next hour or so he'd probably have multiple books on hand all stacked up next to him. He liked to cross-reference things and read them from the perspectives of different authors and people to try and glean the most accurate account.
[Sorry it's a bit meh, hope you don't mind I had him talk to her so you could work off something <3]
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Post by scarlett on Jun 11, 2012 15:39:51 GMT -5
 It was just the beginning of the school year, yet Scarlett was already finding herself back at the library, which is where she had spent most of the freshman year. It wasn’t that she never went anywhere else, she did occasionally go out and meet some new people, but she just really liked the quietness of the library. She loved reading, and she hated being trapped up in her dorm with a bunch of roommates that didn’t really bother to get to know her very well. She wasn’t exactly the most outgoing person herself, but she wasn’t so shy as to scare off people from talking to her. Company was actually something she enjoyed, even if it was a comforting person who happened to be a complete stranger.
Now, though, she found herself on the third floor of the library that not many people new about. It was where she managed to hide all of her favorite books that she didn’t want idiotic freshmen to touch. Even though they were now out of order because of her, the librarians didn’t seem to mind since they hadn’t moved them back to their proper positions. Today she looked through her stash of books until her fingers found one of her favorites. It was a bit lame perhaps, but Pride & Prejudice was maybe the most fantastic book she had ever read in her entire life. Sure, it was old English and hard to understand at times, but after having read it at least five times before each in just one sitting, she’d figured out exactly how old English writing was done.
As she sat, reading through one of her favorite parts, she found herself accompanied by someone. She looked up from her book as she heard a familiar voice, and smiled up at Josh as he greeted her. “Hi Josh. No, not studying yet. So far my professors have been pretty lenient on the required reading lists,”
[/color] she admitted, setting her book down, still open, on the little table and looking up at him. She didn’t know Josh extremely well, but she knew him enough to know that he spent about as much time in the library as she did, so she’d seen him around a lot, enough to know his name and that today he seemed to be a good mood. Hopefully he didn’t mind her sitting at the table he usually occupied himself with. Scarlett hadn’t seen him so she just figured that he was out with Nell or something. She hadn’t seen him until he approached her only a minute ago. “How about you? Studying?”[/color] [/justify][/size][/blockquote][/blockquote] |
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 11, 2012 18:36:10 GMT -5
Since he did not know her too well yet, Josh didn't know much about what Scarlett was interested in or what sort of classes they were taking. Scar was two years below him, Nell's year, and so he didn't know too much about anything when it came to her school experiences. His curiosity was peaked when she mentioned her professors being lenient, though, teetering for a moment on the edge of indecision before he decided to ask, "Oh, really? What's your major, have you chosen yet?" He'd known what he was going to major in since he was in the second grade and it had never wavered, his resolve had never broken. At the same time, the Fire graduate respected that not everyone was alike to him in that sense. The man had a double major and he worked himself to the bone some days, it was dangerous to be a lot like him. There were days when he would go without eating or sleeping in favour of his studies. Really, he was lucky he had someone in his life that cared about his health. Nell was a godsend. If not for her, he probably wouldn't eat and then he'd end up in the hospital with a million different issues instead of working at the hospital like he wanted to in the future.
For an aspiring doctor, he had some pretty bad habits.
Sighing, he gestured to his book and said, "I wish I were as lucky. A few weeks in and I'm already overloaded." His tone was not raised in too much complaint, though, and after a moment his lips twitched into a smile. "I don't mind too much, though. Gives me something to do." He wouldn't have taken on a second major if he didn't want to learn more about history and so he couldn't rightfully bitch and whine about his classes knowing that he'd kind of brought it all upon himself. In high school he could understand complaining about classes but in college it was fair game. You could drop out if you wanted to. Of course, Josh didn't take into account that most people 'couldn't' drop out because they needed an education. He didn't think that deep, just scratched the surface. If people did not see things the way he did, he didn't go out of his way to relate. He had that sort of insensitivity about him. He wasn't a bad guy, just not a very empathetic one.
He nodded, turning his attention away from the history book and back to Scarlett. "Yeah, actually. Planned to get some in before lunch, then I have classes after, then work until like one in the morning." Busy, busy day. He was always busy. He was seriously considering switching his job to part-time seeing as he really just did not have enough time lately. He could manage to cram studying and work into his schedule but it left out time for his family, his friends. He did not want to mess up his relationship with Nell by only seeing her for five minutes every day. Besides, it would take a lot of stress off his back. Maybe I'll talk to Amanda today, he mused to himself. She was a nice, understanding woman and she liked him quite a lot. He tended to gain an easy reputation as a hard-worker and a good guy in the workplace and so he could pull things to work in his favour sometimes, like when he'd wanted to take Christmas off so that he could be with his family. He was incredibly lucky that his boss was not a bitch. "So how've you been lately?" he asked, wanting to be polite.
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Post by scarlett on Jun 14, 2012 13:01:01 GMT -5
Scarlett was perhaps the most indecisive Wind student ever to come through this academy. She was pretty talented in most subjects, so she could technically go into any major she chose and do well. The only problem was she couldn’t pick one. There were so many choices and so little time. Ever since she first came to the academy, people around her had started picking out their majors and best subjects. While her peers were too busy to that, Scar was just focusing on her work. Every now and then she’d try to come up with a good major that suited her, but nothing ever seemed to catch her interest full heartedly. Now, five years later, she still couldn’t decide. Her only wish was that she could really find something that suited her personality, like most of her friends seemed to have done. She knew from listening around that Josh was one of the few students who actually wanted to do a double major. Just the thought of it made Scarlett’s head spin. But, he did want to be a doctor, which requires much more schooling than most other careers. A double major was probably actually a good idea for him, but definitely not for Scar.
So when Josh asked her about her major, she only sighed and shook her head miserably. “No, I have no idea what I’m going to do with my life. You might have a lot of work, but just be grateful that you figured out what to do. I’m still searching for something that fits me.”
[/color] Come to think of it, she was actually a bit jealous of Josh’s good fortune. It was rare that a person knew for a hundred percent sure exactly what he or she wanted to do with their life. She was happy for him, and bit sympathetic because of his doubled work load, but for the most part she loathed his easily made decision. Josh had always been pretty interesting to her. He seemed a little… odd. But, of course, most people who are smart – doctor smart – were always a little weird to talk to in conversation. Their intelligence was just so beyond Scarlett’s that it made it kind of amusing and a bit hard to follow sometimes. But she could usually keep up with Josh. He was a pretty decent guy, but he reminded her a bit of a robot. Filled to the brim with information, very hardworking, but not empathetic at all. But, so far, he seemed to be a pretty nice robot. She nodded in agreement with his statement. “Yeah, I know what you mean. I rather have a required reading list so I can read something else other than Pride & Prejudice for the millionth time.”[/color] Scarlett was shocked when he mentioned working until one in the morning. “One in the morning…? Whoa,”[/color] she stared at him a moment, astonished. His life was so much busier than hers. When he did have time for his girlfriend? Or, was it fiancé now? She wasn’t sure. She hadn’t talked too much to Nell lately. “Are you always up that late working? That doesn’t sound like a very enjoyable night,”[/color] she admitted. If she had to work that late, she would probably just give up. With all of the strange, restless nights she’d been having lately, the last thing she needs is to stay up really late on top of that. As of now, she still only felt like she had about five hours of sleep, so she couldn’t imagine working until after midnight. Then all the time it takes to get back and shower and whatnot. She shook her head slightly, still surprised to hear that. Her attention was brought back to Josh as he spoke again. This was definitely the longest conversation she’d ever had with him. “Oh, I’m fine. Kind of bored, actually… I’m ashamed to say that I’m nowhere near staying as busy as you. Lately I’ve just had a lot of time to myself because all my friends are out working and stuff. That’s why I spend most of my time here.”[/color] [[sorry for the lateness.]] [/justify][/size][/blockquote][/blockquote] |
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 16, 2012 1:10:38 GMT -5
Scarlett definitely didn't seem too bubbly about the whole undecided major deal. He could sympathize with her but not empathize, for Josh had never dealt with indecisions in his life. There had been a few, of course, as everyone goes through tough times at least once, but for the most part he'd always been pretty sure of himself. Be grateful? He puzzled over the wording for a moment, wondering if that was resentful or merely a statement of how she felt. He decided to take it as the latter and did not get offended, shrugging instead. "Never said I wasn't grateful," he pointed out. He didn't smile but he didn't look upset, either. Josh was not an overly expressive person and wasn't big on smiling which caused him to look unapproachable a lot of times. He was decent if you tried getting to know him, though, even if it took a little patience and persistence. "Hell, I love knowing what I want from life." He did, too, and he wasn't going to lie about it. After a pause, he said, "Not that it's necessarily a bad thing if you don't." It sounded to him like she saw it as negative, though, and that sucked (for her). He wondered how it felt to flounder about in indecision. He'd known since he was eight and so there was no lack of certainty whatsoever.
Required reading was always pretty fun when it forced you outside of your usual genres and caused you to explore different things but Josh also found it a bit of a nuisance when he did not enjoy the books from the list as much as they were supposed to be enjoyed. He was critical of writing styles and his ability to believe what he was reading and that could ruin it for him sometimes. Maybe that was another reason he didn't do too well with fantasy. "I usually just go to a bookstore and browse things." He would go in without a real purpose and come out with ten books or so that had looked interesting enough to read. In places like Chapters that allowed the reading of books before they were purchased, he'd crack them open and read the first chapter to see if it sounded like something he'd liked. Otherwise he took a risk, braved an adventure. "Millionth time though, eh? Guessing it's a favourite?" He couldn't say he really had a lot of favourite books, he read so much that a lot of them got buried under new favourites that he found. He was very well-read, booksmart. The man had a personal library, for god's sake.
Work was something that he could actually agree with Scarlett on. He usually didn't feel stressed or overwhelmed but Joshua was realising that it was starting to affect him. "Yeah, I don't sleep much," he said with a dry kind of amusement in his voice. "I'm thinking of cutting down my hours, actually." He needed to keep the job because he wanted a solid reference for medical school that was not connected to his family. He did a lot of volunteer work during high school at Maple Hollow's hospital but since it was owned by his father he knew that having a second and less close-knit reference would help him more when it came time for needing letters of recommendation and the like. "Well I like what I do, I'm a medical assistant of sorts, but I could definitely do with, y'know, not being up past midnight when I have school in the mornings." Thankfully he didn't have any of those really early morning classes but they were morning enough that his sleep schedule would benefit from reduced hours. Hell, his entire life would benefit from reduced hours. Definitely considering it.
He supposed there really wasn't a lot to do when everyone else was busy but he hardly ever had that problem. He was the busy one when it came to most of his friends, though he did have people like Caitlyn who were similarly dedicated to school and work ethic. It was nice to relate to someone but it meant he hardly saw her. It was a good thing he lived with Nell or he and his fiancée probably wouldn't talk half as much as they did. "Ah, you don't have a job, then?" That was how she made it sound but he phrased it as a question so that she could correct him if need be. He didn't mind being corrected sometimes but others made his pride kick in and he got far too touchy. "Yeah that doesn't sound fun. Well, at least you've got books to keep you occupied." He loved reading and so it was only natural that Joshua thought having all that extra time to read sounded pretty swell after all. Then again, maybe Scarlett was different. Maybe after you did something for so long you started to get tired of it.
[s'fine!]
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Post by scarlett on Jun 17, 2012 9:38:06 GMT -5
Scarlett had never really been indecisive when it came to big decisions, except for this one. She really didn’t want to go into any major that she would end up despising after a year, or a month, even. No, this was probably the biggest decision of her life, so she didn’t want to mess it up. She didn’t want to end up going through double the years of school because she changes her mind later. But it was kind of looking like she’d end up with extra years anyway, if she couldn’t make a decision by the end of this year. She might as well at that time just pick something that sounded curious to her. At least then it would sound to other people like she had her future figured out, even though that was far from the truth.
“It’s not a bad thing if I don’t?”
[/color] is that really what she just heard leave his lips. How was it not a bad thing? She had never been so clueless in her life, and now she had a huge decision to make and she had no idea what to do with it. She sighed, “That’s easy for you to say. You’ve got it all figured out. At this point I just want someone to pick for me,”[/color] she admitted grimly. It was always easy to say something was fine if you had no part in it. It’s once you’re as lost as the person you’re talking to that it becomes an issue. It must be nice, she thought, to know immediately what your niche is in life. She loathed Josh’s ability to make decisions. She was, however, thankful that Josh wasn’t the type of person to pick on her for reading an old timey romance novel hundreds of times. There were plenty of idiotic young guys at this academy who would run all over her, teasing her for her love for Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth, even though they weren’t even her favorite characters. Scarlett nodded in reply to Josh, “Yes, it’s always been my favorite, now and forever.”[/color] It sounded a bit lame when she said it that way. But what people didn’t know is why she loved the book so much. It had been her now deceased twin sister’s favorite book, and after she died, Scarlett decided to read it for the first time in her memory and fell in love with it just as much as her sister had. Now it was really the only thing that she had that made her feel connected to her after all these years. Of course, she would never tell the guys teasing her about this. They wouldn’t believe her, probably. And if they did, it wouldn’t stop their jokes. When Josh mentioned cutting down on his work hours, she nodded, “Good idea. It would probably be for the best.”[/color] Even though there was no doubt in her mind that he was a straight-A student, it couldn’t hurt to get some more sleep at night. He spoke of his job next, which didn’t surprise Scar at all. A medical assistant was a perfect job for him, considering his love of medicine and decided major. Scarlett’s family had always had a lot of money though, and even now when it was just her uncle she lived with, money was never an issue. So, really the only reason to get a job was out of boredom. And she preferred to be bored than work. “Nope, jobs don’t really sit right with me. I hate waitressing and anything related to the sort. And I don’t really need a job so… I rather read or flip channels,”[/color] she admitted. Lately she had actually lowered herself to watching soap operas when she was alone in her dorm. Of course, she would never admit that to anyone… ever. “I’m a rather boring person, if you haven’t noticed.”[/color] [/size][/justify][/blockquote][/blockquote] |
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 18, 2012 0:49:19 GMT -5
Joshua really wasn't sure how to respond to that. He had said it as a disclaimer to reassure Scarlett that he didn't think she was a loser or a slacker simply because she didn't have her life goals quite as figured out as he did but he supposed she was right in a way. It was easy for him to say. "All I was saying's that I don't see it as a negative thing." It might have been nice to apologise and amend his words but he wasn't good with that kind of thing. Pride would not allow him to outright admit defeat. He did feel a bit bad but it was nothing like real guilt. He wasn't the most empathetic person in the world. A nice guy, yes, but not one that made it his life's goal to relate to everyone and feel as they felt. That was more of an Earth elemental's type of deal. He was Fire. Immensely loyal, a great friend, but... not like an Earth, not at all. "Well is there anything you like?" He wasn't trying to be condescending or anything but if there was a subject she preferred over the others he supposed that would be a start. He wondered what it was like to flounder about and not know what you were going to do in the future. He couldn't fathom it.
He didn't judge what other people read. Romance was not his thing, not in books or movies at least, but he didn't care if someone else was into them. It didn't make them any less of a person in his eyes. Hell, Nell listened to opera and he could not claim to understand the appeal. He'd still gotten her the tickets for Christmas. It was as the saying went, 'to each their own'. Not everyone liked cutting things up for Biology or a future in saving lives. "I don't have a favourite book, really. Or I should say I have a lot of favourites." He had read so many books in his lifetime that it was hard to settle on one, or two, or ten. He either liked a book or he didn't and if he liked it enough he guessed it could classify as a 'favourite'. Occasionally he would re-read books but he had a good memory and it usually wasn't a necessary thing. Especially since the books he read were mostly non-fiction and so it was harder to miss exciting details and 'plot points' because non-fiction didn't exactly have a 'plot'. "Yeah, especially since it's senior year." He dreaded the idea of exams when he had a full-time job. He was debating on whether or not he should save up vacation time and ask for a week off near exams so that he could focus on his studies. This year had to count.
His family were incredibly rich and sat upon a vast fortune. Josh lived in a mansion with his fiancée, drove a sports car, could comfortably pay off fees for college. His life was set. He hadn't needed a job, he'd wanted one. A lot of his friends thought he was a bit strange but he dealt with that. "Well there's more jobs out there than waitressing," he pointed out fairly. Then again, Josh wouldn't enjoy waiting tables either. He might have liked his job at the tattoo parlour if he hadn't been working illegally and under the table and if his boss hadn't been a manipulative jerk. Ah, the joys of being kicked out by your parents at eighteen. That had been hellish but things were all good again and he loved his current job. "I took mine over the summer because I had too much time on my hands and I wanted credentials for my medical school application." He was getting into medical school if it was the last thing he did. Joshua was driven and determined to make this happen, it was all a matter of how easy it was going to be. He figured that it would run a lot smoother the more credible people that could back him up. One or two shoddy references was not going to cut it.
He didn't watch television that much, only for the news, but he read more than most people that he knew. He could not argue with reading. He was a bit surprised when Scarlett called herself boring, not sure how to react. Was she kidding or being serious? It was hard to tell with people sometimes. "I took on a job to fill my time up and you're calling yourself boring?" He didn't think he was a boring person, he was only kidding around (though he sounded a bit too serious to be joking, he needed to work on that) to lighten the mood. He really had taken on the job to fill the empty days of summer and he'd regretted it somewhat when Nell hadn't been living with him because then they'd had very little time for one another. It hadn't been fun. Then she'd moved in and everything had been alright again. "For the record, I don't think reading is boring." He shrugged. If other people did that was their problem but he liked it as a hobby. And chess, puzzles, tennis. He wasn't much of an action-oriented person, apart from the tennis of course. He worked out and jogged to keep his energy and muscle up but that was necessity rather than enjoyment.
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Post by scarlett on Jun 19, 2012 15:32:11 GMT -5
Scarlett only sighed as Josh asked her what she liked. That was the problem. She generally liked just about every subject known to man… the problem was that she didn’t like any of them enough to want to do it for the rest of her life. She rather just change the subject, except that’s what she did every time. Avoid the subject. “Honestly…?”
[/color] Pursing her lips slightly, she thought for a moment, running her hand through her long hair, untangling a few knots. “I like everything… a little bit. But I don’t like anything a lot, though, and that’s what I need to find,”[/color] she admitted. “If there were no such thing as doctors and medicine, what subject do you think you’d major in?”[/color] she asked only to see if he even had a backup plan. And to see what else he liked besides medicine and stuff. After all the times she’d just talked small talk with him in the library over the past year or so, she’d never really gotten to know him very well. So she decided it was about time to. She thought for a minute or two when he said there were other jobs besides waitressing. That was true, although the other typical jobs, like cashiering and bartending, didn’t really sound too attractive to her either. Sighing, she repositioned her legs because her left foot was starting to go numb from lack of movement. Smirking slightly, she looked back up at him, “Maybe I should go work at Barnes & Noble.”[/color] It was a joke, technically, although it really wasn’t that bad of an idea. She admired Josh was taking on a job on top of all his school work just because he had some free time last summer. She doubted that his free time was really that much, though, with his double major and all. Still, it was time enough to work for hours a day. “Good for you. You must be the least lazy person in this place.”[/color] Most of the people she knew would rather go on beach vacations or something during their free time in the summer, not go fill out a job application. At least there were a few people with good worth ethics in this town. When he spoke of her being boring, it took her a few seconds to realize that he was joking. It was really hard to tell sometimes, especially with someone has flat-toned as Josh can be. His expression was always pretty much blank or unreadable, so telling when he was serious or not was always a bit difficult. Once she realized he was kidding, though, she managed a smile. “Yeah, I guess I am. But at least you did something productive with your boringness,”[/color] she admitted, showing her front teeth a little in her smile. “And I’m glad you don’t think reading is boring. It always saddens me when I see kids refusing to read…”[/color] she admitted. Reading was only boring if it was poorly written or if the plotline was slow moving. Even then, most books were at least decently written, and Scar never read anything that was very hard to follow or understand. Then again, as a kid she could remember refusing to read herself, because she rather be on the computer than wasting her time with Pride & Prejudice. She would still hate reading, probably, if it hadn’t been for her sister. [/size][/justify][/blockquote][/blockquote] |
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 21, 2012 5:31:49 GMT -5
He did know what it was like to be fond of a whole lot of subjects, at least. He was intelligent, above average in fact (though certainly not prodigious), and so it was hard for him to dislike subjects when he was good at a vast majority of them. He had a steep learning curve and picked up on new things quickly. In combination with his good memory, it did brilliant things for his grades and knowledge base. "Mm," he said, a thoughtful hum in his throat. "I can see why that'd be difficult, then. Have you been taking a lot of different classes?" He figured the answer would be 'yes' but he asked anyway to be sure. He knew some of his friends found their interests through trial and error. He was glad that he had never had to go through those periods of like and dislike until he found love. She asked her question and Josh had an answer for her immediately. "History and something related to mathematics for my second major, I'd think." Oh, he still would have taken a double major. It was in his nature to learn as much as he could. "I like the way mathematics function, patterns and consistencies, and history has always been a love of mine." Math had been incredibly easy for him even as a kid. He was brilliant at memorizing things and following instructions so getting down the formulas and executing them had been a piece of cake.
He chuckled at her joke. "Hey, maybe it wouldn't be half bad," he shrugged. He'd never had an aspiration to work there but that was because he was sure of what he did want to do. Maybe it would suit Scarlett? "Better than waiting tables. I don't think I'd like doing that, either." He was not an incredibly anti-social guy but he also wasn't the type that could click with everyone. He also had a temper and so dealing with moody customers who acted like the servers were responsible for every little nitpicky issue they had with the establishment would not fly with him. No, he'd stick to doing what he loved so that he could breathe easy and deal with the difficult patients with patience. "Just don't like having nothing to do, I suppose." That was true. What he didn't mention was that he only had so many people he could rely upon to hang out if he had free time. Besides, dorky as it was, he liked learning. He liked working. He liked feeling productive, mostly, since it gave him a sense of purpose in the world. He hated wandering aimlessly. To not have a purpose in life frightened him and so he worked hard to ensure that he would never have to deal with that fear.
He nodded in agreement at her comment about kids. It was sad to think that the next few generations might not grow up as smart as the last because books were being replaced by technology and that was frightening. And why learn mathematics when there were programs and calculators that could do all of the work for you? He did not like the way things were going. Jesus, that made him sound old. Feel old. "I liked it even when I was a kid," he recalled. "Even if I didn't understand half the stuff I read." He would tug his father's medical journals from the shelf and marvel at the absolute jargon that was written on the pages. Then he'd get out their huge dictionary and sit happily with it in his lap, translating and trying to understand. No wonder the guy had turned out to be so smart. He'd been a dork from the get-go. He'd been bullied for it a lot, though, and that was something he did not tell others. "Well if you like reading, would you do something literature-related?" It was out of curiosity more than anything. He knew he'd never want to despite his love of books so he knew it was likely it wasn't her thing.
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