-- IT'S A HOT START [Rowena]

[ADAM EVAN RIZZO]

YOU THINK YOU KNOW ME?

you ain't seen the half of me

The hallway was eerily silent as Adam stood there outside of his classroom for what seemed like the millionth time that year. They always liked to escort him out of the room whenever he took things to a loud and obnoxious level, though it was gratifying when some of the students found his antics funny. That was the point of it all anyway--to piss off the teacher and humor his fellow students. Many said he should go into acting. That was not something he found himself eager to jump into considering all of the stupid labels that came along with it. He would know, considering he teased people all the time, though Adam wasn't the sort to discriminate between the thespians and the bookworms. Everyone was fair game, always. When the bell rang he slid back into the room and took his detention slip with some sort of twisted pride, offering a flourished bow to the teacher before grabbing his things and leaving without even taking notice of her eye roll.

There were times when he wondered if he should just bring his pillow and blanket to detention by this point, considering he spent most of his time sitting in the back of the classroom with a none too happy teacher glaring at him from their desk. Tch. The disapproving scowls were nothing new. Instead, Adam merely glared back for a good, long second to show he wasn't bothered before leaning back and getting comfortable. He'd be here for a couple of hours. Yay for a wasting time doing nothing but staring at a wall. For the first few minutes the room was sparse, save for a couple of students who had followed him in. His dark eyes briefly flicked to the clock; he wished that this would be over and done with. Video games were calling his name.

Then another small rush of students came through the door and his interest was piqued. Who could he bother the fuck out of today? Some faces were familiar; they quickly recognized who he was and veered off to the left or right to sit somewhere near the front. He snorted. Losers. The pen stuck behind his ear was slowly removed as he tapped it on the desk, creating a partial beat while the rest went on in his head. Mid-tap, he stopped as a blonde sat herself next to him. A smirk graced his lips as he flipped the pen between his fingers effortlessly. "Yo," Adam greeted lazily, voice a bit louder than necessary. "What brings a beautiful thing like you to the back of the detention room?" If he could wiggle his eyebrows dramatically he would, but he stuck with the little smirk and his overconfident air. "Gotta admit, the view is definitely better now. I was afraid I'd have to stare at that ugly ass wall behind you." He lifted his finger and pointed at a wall that was covered in ridiculous motivational posters. Ugh, his flirtatious nature was almost sickening but that was who he was. Adam wanted to see how people responded to him. It was almost a game, in some ways. Not even caring that she might be completely irritated by his presence, he introduced himself. "I'm Adam, by the way. And you are...?"

[I'm exciteddd. <33]

[ROWENA AUDREY BENNETT]

Rowena was trying to pass high school but it was a learning process for the Thunder. When she'd spent all her years blowing off homework or asking her friends if she could copy theirs, actually doing her own wasn't something she was accustomed to. So when the teacher asked for their homework at the beginning of class, she knew a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Shit. There was a scraping of chairs as students got to their feet to head over to the in-basket and Rowena rose with them, a blank sheet in her hand. She didn't want to call attention to herself and so she dropped off the blank homework paper, absent of name and answers, and went back to her desk.

She thought that she might get off easy until the bell rang and the teacher cleared her throat. "Bennett, MacDonald, Hardy. I don't seem to have received anything from you." Hardy got off easy—they had been ill, they explained, and they managed to get an extension. Rowena and a boy she knew as Mackenzie or "Mack" hadn't gotten off as easily. "Didn't do it," Mack said with a lazy and disinterested shrug. Rowena chewed the inside of her lip and conceded, "Ditto." Mackenzie was given a detention and left the room with a roll of his eyes but the teacher held Rowena back. The typical lecture. She wasn't trying hard enough, did she really want to fail another year? She was nineteen, it was ridiculous. Ro stood silent through it all and gave a nod when she, too, was given a detention. The teacher handed her another blank, two-page homework sheet. She wondered if it was the same one she'd handed it. "I'd suggest getting this done in there."

Maybe I should. In a more bitter, rebellious time she'd have skipped the homework again and the detention too but her teacher was right. She was too old to be a high school student. Her classmates were three, sometimes four years her junior. It made her uncomfortable.

Mack wasn't there when she entered the detention hall. He'd probably decided to skip it. She didn't recognise any Thunders with whom she got along, a disappointment, and so she headed for the back of the room and took a seat beside an unfamiliar boy whom she had every intention to ignore. That is, until he spoke to her. The blonde looked up from where she'd been fiddling with the zip on her bag and made a noise in her throat. "Tch. Not you, so don't get your hopes up." He continued on as she got the zip unstuck and pulled out the thick textbook to drop with an audible thunk on the desk. He continued, and though Rowena did not give any indication that she was listening, her thoughts were a different story. Beautiful, huh? She liked that. She didn't feel beautiful, not most of the time. A girl could play pretend but she felt ugly on the inside. Didn't change the fact that this kid was just that—a kid, to her at least.

She looked to him again when he introduced himself, an unfamiliar name. "Do you pay any attention? You should know who I am." There it was, the air of false confidence and bravado that she liked to give up. It was only partially true. The leaders were not known by every single elemental in the school—some only got to know their own leaders. He wasn't a Thunder, that was for sure. Rowena just liked to think she was popular. It made her feel better. "Rowena Bennett, Thunder leader." And high school failure, to her intense disappointment.

[<33]

[ADAM EVAN RIZZO]

YOU THINK YOU KNOW ME?

you ain't seen the half of me

Oh ho, confident little thing, wasn't she? He smirked and chuckled to himself, not even remotely bothered by the shoot down. It took more than that to make him feel like shit about himself; if you can't love yourself, no one else would want to love you either. Though his thoughts on this were heavily skewed. It was just an excuse to feel high and mighty. "Hah, my hopes are always high," He replied, lifting his chin a little in some sort of defiance. "If I sit around and assume that everyone's gonna turn me down then I'll never get anywhere, will I?" Persistence was a strong suit, albeit a bit annoying to those around him. Was she irritated already? Hell if he knew and hell if he cared. At least she didn't turn down his complement.

Her next question caused him to snort, however, and the smirk faded into a mixture between that and a confused scowl. "Oh, I should? I'm sorry princess, I didn't realize the fucking royal family came over from England to grace us with their presence." His eyes rolled back into his head, ever the dramatic, and shook his head. Through the scowl there was amusement, wondering why she would think the whole world had to know who she was. Then again, he was the same way. People always pinpointed the flaws in others they have in themselves. Still, he was intrigued and the curiosity kept him from scoffing and turning his head the other way, acting like the petulant child he could be. "Rowena, huh? I like it. Bennett reminds me of those witches that are super powerful and super gorgeous and shit." Thinking on it, he said, "Unless you're a super bitch which could potentially kill the awesomeness entirely."

Which was a bit of a lie, considering he found a lot of girls attractive and normally their attitude didn't sway him one way or the other. Maybe if he were dating them he would care but at this point Rowena was just a pretty face who happened to give him an excuse to pass the time. "Okay so seriously, why are you in here?" He asked, raising an eyebrow and leaning back in his chair again, eyes still focused on her. Adam had to admit he liked her hair too, a bright blonde that he didn't see often. Ever for appearance first and personality later. Maybe that was part of his problem. "You one of those bad asses that just doesn't give a fuck and does what she wants? Or were you caught in the middle of something and got shoved in here 'on accident'?" He put air quotes around the last portion of the sentence, smiling. "Can't be all that good for a leader of your prowess to be locked up in here." Mockery? A little, though there was probably a complement mixed in there somewhere. It was always difficult to tell.

[ROWENA AUDREY BENNETT]

The blonde didn't bother suppressing her sigh of exasperation, propping her elbow on the table and leaning her chin against the back of her hand as she stared. So he's one of those types. They were common among her side of the alliance and so it was nothing she'd never seen before but in her opinion they were all the same. They worshipped the ground that they themselves walked on. "Shove your head a little further up your ass, I'm sure the view out your mouth is lovely." Her words were monotone and sounded bored. Disinterest was a game that she prided herself at playing.

A smirk played her lips—she couldn't help it, the thought entertained her. How stereotypical. Her accent caused many to make digs about the queen if they were trying to insult her. She liked the idea of being worshipped but being a princess did not appeal to her. Too many restrictions. To Adam, she said, "So were you born a smart ass or is that something you grew into?" She acknowledged the hypocrisy in her own statement but refused to pay it any mind. The banter back and forth gave her something to do that was not her homework. She knew in the back of her mind that said work needed to be done and that it would be best to get started on it but it was so boring. What did she care about English? Her passion lay in fashion and fashion alone.

The girl half expected the conversation to end there. Most of them did—a few insults were changed, glares were passed and then they would retreat back to their own devices. The detention hall did not allow fights to break out and so their options were limited. He went on, however, to make a comment on her name and babble on about something else she probably didn't care about. She only half-listened, typical of her, though she did catch the end. Kill the awesomeness of what? I wasn't listening. There was one word that stood out in particular and she said, "Gee, sorry, looks like I am a bitch. No refunds." If he had a problem with it, she certainly didn't care. No skin off her back. Rowena didn't have a lot of friends and it was not hard to tell why by the way she treated others.

She was considering answering his question when he continued on about it, giving choices that were entirely inaccurate and earning a look from the Thunder. She pinched the bridge of her nose as if he was causing her pain and shook her head. "If you'd shut up for two seconds, maybe I'd answer you." Some people. She was a quiet person and didn't do well when people babbled on at her. Oh, if she liked you she could handle a conversation but he was a stranger and she was already irritated enough thanks to class. "Sorry to disappoint you but you're wasting your breath. I didn't do my English assignment." Again. It was the third one she'd failed to complete this year and it was beginning to wear her down. She wasn't cut out for this... school... thing. "You can go ahead and tell me you're some admirable badass but I'll tell you right now that I'm not going to believe you." So much for letting a guy down easy. Rowena had no shame.

[ADAM EVAN RIZZO]

YOU THINK YOU KNOW ME?

you ain't seen the half of me

There was no missing her sigh and the look on her face. Typical of anyone who listened to Adam ramble on and on about himself and whatever else came to mind. He didn't care much though; if he worried over what every person though of him he would be an emotional wreck. No one had time for that. "It's really nice, actually," He replied effortlessly, not even phased by her comment. Instead he gave her a small wink and glanced over to the teacher to make sure they weren't staring at him, as though anticipating him to set the room on fire or something ridiculous. This teacher in particular had to put up with him quite a bit, poor soul. Shrugging lightly to his own train of thought, he looked at Rowena again, expression mischievous.

"Born and raised," Adam said with a slight glow of pride. "And what about you? Did yours come as a bonus with your award winning personality?" She really wasn't all that bad, in actuality. Not compared to some people he dealt with on a daily basis. A total stranger was able to take his attitude and turn it on him without tears or yelling, something he had to find quite admirable. Not that he would tell her this, or even look remotely surprised by it. Maybe Rowena encountered people who dropped conversation after a few back and forth's but Adam never was adept at allowing someone else to have the last word. Everything always seemed like some sort of competition. "You didn't really charge much so I won't miss it." Penny for her thoughts? He didn't feel like making the joke aloud because that would ruin it for himself. As long as he found it amusing that was all that mattered. "Besides, I've met badder bitches. They might give ya a lesson or two."

Being as talkative as he was--not to mention he wasn't particularly opposed to hearing his own voice on occasion--it didn't even register that he practically prevented her from responding to his question. Strange how someone could keep their private life a total mystery to those around them and yet talk everyone to death. He lifted both of his eyebrows for a second when she actually spoke, instinctively going quiet. He laughed when Rowena mentioned her English assignment. "That is disappointing. It's just English. I'm not really sure how you managed to fuck that up. I can always help with that, you know." He liked writing, reading, anything that dealt with the English language and most times he forgot that others didn't have the same strong suits. That, mixed with his general insensitivity, was not the best combination. At one point he was fearful of telling others his affinity for Shakespeare and literature but he was slowly working with it. He wouldn't stand on the grounds naked with a sign but there was some progress.

Adam rolled his shoulders and looked nonplussed. "And you think that because you tell me that, I'm instantly going to assume you're right?" He asked, chuckling before yanking out a school book of his own and finding the dog ear he made for his homework assignment. "And you say my head is up my ass."

[ROWENA AUDREY BENNETT]

The boy seemed quite proud of himself as she mocked him and Ro was impressed as he volleyed back a comment of his own. A lot of her verbal spats ended in someone getting flustered and sputtering out half-baked insults that didn't make much sense. Please tell me he's not a Water. It would be a shame for them to have someone like that on their side. They had enough wise-ass pranksters already, she was sick of them. "Cute. At least my ass has more going for it than intelligence." Ironic, considering Rowena herself wasn't that smart. What she lacked in brains she liked to think she made up in other areas but it was hard for her to believe at times. There were good and bad days.

Turning away from him, Rowena twirled her pencil around her fingers as she assessed the two-page, double-sided assignment. I hate school. She dated the page and scrawled her name at the top and responded to Adam without looking in his direction. "You wouldn't have been able to afford full price." He followed by insulting her attitude, something that did not phase her as much as a hit to her lacking academics or beauty might have. She knew how cruel and cold she was. "I don't need lessons from amateurs, thanks." She lived with Altair, that had been a lifelong lesson in and of itself. She loved her sister but the girl had a serious 'tude and so Rowena had adapted to fire comebacks at a decent speed.

While his earlier digs had hardly phased her, the laughter as she confessed her reason for being in detention grated heavily upon her nerves. Cold blue eyes narrowed into a glare. "Well excuse you, Einstein." Thinks he's so smart. Ugh. Jealousy was one of her greatest flaws. She hated when anyone had the things that she wanted and intelligence was one of those things. Bet he's not even that good. It was the only way that she could make herself feel better about the situation. He offered to help her and whether or not he was serious, she did not care. Her ego had been wounded and she wasn't going to damage it further by accepting any assistance from her assailant. "I don't need your help. I just didn't do it." All right, so the reason she hadn't done it was because she didn't know most of the answers but he didn't need to know that. A nagging part of her brain reminded her that she could probably use the help but she ignored it. She was good at ignoring her own positive advice.

As she turned her attention back to the homework once more, she hoped that she didn't look as lost as she felt. Sometimes she could scrape by with creative writing or poetry, she was good at artistic mediums, but answering questions? She hated that. "I never said that. I said that I wouldn't believe you." Maybe he needed to get his ears checked. She didn't respond to his comment about having her head up her ass. He was the one who was in the wrong, at least in Rowena's opinion. A glance over to him between questions revealed that he, too, had an assignment in front of him. "So what are you in here for, Mr. Hotshot?" He seemed to think he was all that but maybe he'd landed himself in detention for an equally mundane reason such as talking in class or showing up late.

[ADAM EVAN RIZZO]

YOU THINK YOU KNOW ME?

you ain't seen the half of me

Adam snorted. "It's adorable, I know. But I didn't realize asses could be intelligent. That's a new one on me." He knew what she meant, he was just being difficult and annoying. That was the fun in dealing with strangers. How far could you push the envelope before they finally snapped and freaked out? A fun game to be sure. Unfortunately Rowena had yet to flip out on him so he would continue. "I mean, yeah you've definitely got a lot going for your ass though. From what I could see before you sat down, at least." He chuckled and continued to smile, pushing the buttons and testing the waters with her. This sort of thing drove Asher insane but being the older brother there was a lot more bending to be done so they wouldn't kill one another. Rowena had the ability to beat the shit out of him and no one would think much of it.

He watched as she twirled her pencil and looked at the homework in front of her, wondering what the assignment was. As private as he preferred to be, he sure did feel nosy today. Maybe because school work wasn't exactly a personal matter. "Oh ho, hot shit aren't ya." Adam said with a chuckle. "Fortunately I happen to have a five in my wallet." He actually pulled out his wallet and waved the blue paper around for reinforcement before stuffing it back into his back pocket. Not that...he had much more than that at home but she didn't need to know that. Allowance was usually twenty dollars a week, most of which he spent on food. On a more serious note, if she were to charge for anything he knew he wouldn't be able to afford it.

"You can just call me Albert." He bragged, brushing off his shoulder and looking haughty. Intelligence was certainly not his thing, but since English was a subject he was comfortable with it made it easier to be an ass. Science was probably the most difficult for him since it required using the other side of his brain, more factual than anything else. He didn't hate it but he'd much rather write an English paper than work on lab notes or something. "Uh huh. Whatever. Did you not do it because you're a lazy ass? Or because you didn't know how to do it?" If he were asked that question he'd tell them he was lazy, because admitting he didn't have the capability was not his forte. Admitting to any shortcoming wasn't his forte.

There was a light shrug of his shoulders when she responded. His confidence went a bit further than it should, but in some cases it helped him cope with the fact that not everyone liked him, or thought highly of him, or enjoyed his company. He was well aware of it. The boy simply didn't care a good portion of the time. Or pretended not to care. Either way spared emotions. "Mr. Hotshot. I like it." Adam noted at first before actually answering her question. "I'm here because I pissed off the teacher. Not much of a surprise, hah." He seemed pretty pleased with himself as he smiled, flipping to the next page to read instructions. Oddly enough the one subject that haunted him was the one sitting on the desk. "I made a joke, people laughed, teacher got mad...and then I decide to argue with her and be loud. I don't see the problem with making people laugh but whatever. She has a stick up her ass anyway." No one appreciated a class clown anymore. What was this world coming to?

[ROWENA AUDREY BENNETT]

Some people had to have the last say in every argument or exchange of words. Rowena was no such person. She lifted carefully maintained blonde brows at him and then shook her head, looking down at the paper and choosing not to respond. Not everything needed a comeback and she was perfectly comfortable with letting it drop. He was just being an ass for the sake of it now, she wasn't that stupid.

She was not looking toward him as he spoke and so she was confident her long hair would hide the smirk that played across her lips. It made her feel good to know that he'd been admiring her but she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that. Besides, he looked younger than her. He was tall but the youth was in his face, his features. Hell, most of the high schoolers were younger than her. She didn't go for the young'uns. So she said, "Sadly for you, flattery only gets you so far." She sounded bored as she printed her name on the page. Bennett, two n's and two t's. Everyone spelled it wrong. It annoyed her.

Disinterested in him as she was, Rowena did like that he wasn't a complete idiot. She liked when people could keep up with her. "I prefer the term electric." It was an obvious play on her element, which she'd told him earlier. She was still unaware of his but as of right now it was not something she was intent on learning. She scoffed and gave him an almost pitying look. "Gonna cost you a lot more than that, hon. Nice try, though." She used the pet name to be purposely condescending. It annoyed people and she liked getting on the nerves of those she exchanged verbal blows with. She didn't have the hot temper of a Fire and so it was fun to watch people slowly grow angrier as the conversation progressed. 'Course, she was mostly messing with this kid, there was no real drama between them, but old habits die hard.

"I won't be calling you anything." She flicked her blonde hair and tried to pretend that the blow to her confidence had not been as severe as it felt on the inside. Damn her self esteem. He called her lazy and she looked coldly at him. She was more irritated than enraged. "Like I'm going to believe you've never forgotten to do your homework." His holier-than-though attitude was grating. "I have better things to do with my time, anyway." Spending hours in her room working on sketches and sewing probably didn't sound like a productive use of her time to some but it was what kept her the happiest. Heck, she preferred spending time with Silk to doing English homework and it wasn't like rabbits did a whole lot.

He seemed perfectly capable of taking her mockery as a compliment, not that this bugged her. "Bragging about being an idiot? I think you need to change a few bulbs upstairs." Was she calling him stupid? Why yes, she was. It wasn't like she could talk, given that she'd landed herself here for her mouth on many occasions, but she didn't brag about it at least. That seemed silly to her. She had to admit, though, she was curious. "So what was the joke?"

[ADAM EVAN RIZZO]

YOU THINK YOU KNOW ME?

you ain't seen the half of me

Some people might have felt awkward or uncertain in the silence, wondering if the other person was bored or annoyed by their presence, but someone like Adam didn't think much on it at all. Instead his mind drifted elsewhere as he watched other people in the room, smiling at another girl a few seats up. He really was a shameless flirt, and a relentless one at that. It was a miracle he had not been beaten into the ground yet. The girl didn't freak out, slap him, and start yelling profanities at him so--while there might not be a chance--at least she made it fun. "Oh?" Adam blinked and the smirk tugged at his lips. "So you're interested but have reservations. I can accept that." It didn't really matter if she was interested or not. He was just being who he was, something that many people couldn't stand.

"That's shocking." He replied with his own play on words, rather amused with himself. Since when was he not? He wasn't going to sit around and wait for others to lift him up or find him funny; he had to do it for himself first. Of course...there was the chance at going overboard. Cough. "Really? So you have a set price on the street? Damn, if you're that good I guess I need to save up to get me some." A bit of a hint that she made herself sound like a whore, hell if he knew whether she was or not. The only thing he knew was that Rowena was extremely attractive and there was no denying it, bitch-mode or not. "Just let me know which corner you frequent and I'll pick you up tonight." Said with nonchalance and without even passing her a look, as though he were dead serious. Hah, there was no way he could get away with that. Sneaking off to a party maybe, but buying girls on the corner? Probably not the best idea. Molly would wonder where their money went.

He had to admit, he was still impressed with her attitude. He hated dealing with the pussies who fell apart at one insult and tried to play victim because they couldn't deal with his personality. Rowena was on a short list of people which he found intriguing. Adam scoffed a little bit. "So I'm not even worth my name? I'm hurt." He held his chest dramatically as pretended to be on the verge of tears. "I'm sorry I don't meet your socialization standards, your highness." It was always fun to make people feel small, or attempt it at the very least. He wasn't all that bothered by her comments; sometimes getting a rise out of the young Fire was incredibly easy. Some things made him laugh, others sent him into a rage. He was like a time bomb. Or bi-polar. "Like what?" Adam asked, actually interested. No snarky comment tacked to the end, either. What a surprise!

She continued to bounce right back with everything that passed his lips. Mona and Annabel were pretty good at that too, one reason they had been his friends for so long. No matter how Adam liked to act, he appreciated the people who stood by his side. His loyalty knew no bounds. "I never said I was bragging and I never said I was an idiot." He replied simply, picking at the corner of the book with a fingernail. A small smile twitched on his lips when she asked after the joke, laughing a little bit before pulling his eyes away from the page and back towards her. The blonde hair was still something he really liked. "It was just a 'that's what she said' joke," The boy explained, knowing that not everyone found them amusing but he did. Apparently his classmates did too. "But I guess it was horrible timing. Maybe my teacher hasn't been laid in a while and took it to heart or something. I dunno." He half scowled and shrugged. Not that it mattered now, considering he was sitting here in detention and there was nothing he could do to rectify it. At least he could get some schoolwork done before going back to his dorm. His eyes fell back to the book. "You the type to sit in the back of the class and roll your eyes? Or would you have laughed?" Thinking for a second he added, "If you found the joke funny, I mean."

[ROWENA AUDREY BENNETT]

Much as she liked how he'd called her beautiful and stroked her ego a few times, Rowena could say with confidence that she was not interested. Guys only wanted one thing from her and she wasn't so desperate that she couldn't pick and choose which of them got their way in the end. Sex was the last thing on her mind with the amount of stress school had been putting on her lately. "Please. I'm not desperate. What are you, twelve?" Twelve year olds couldn't attend the Academy and thus it was an exaggeration but he certainly didn't have the features of the college students that Rowena usually went for. She liked them older than her, strong and muscular. Someone that made her feel safe, even if it was only an illusion for a single night.

The blonde blinked at him. "You hear that?" She paused as if encouraging him to listen for a sound that was not there. "That's the sound of a joke you sent to an early grave." She refused to admit that she'd appreciated his return humour. No need to encourage him any further into thinking that he could get something out of her. Years of playing hard to get had taught her the art of feigned disinterest. Of course, if he was the type to enjoy a chase it was possible she was only further igniting the spark. Giving him a sugary and obviously fake smile, she said flatly, "I wouldn't bang you for a million quid, hon." There was a flat-out lie. Who would refuse sex if it was worth a million bucks? Sex could be good and even bad sex sounded like a good deal when there was money on the line. She was very materialistic.

Pretending to consider it, she said, "Adam, was it?" Her light voice still carried the accent of her birth place. With an exaggerated sigh, she shook her head. "Nah." That wasn't to say she'd remember that she was not supposed to use his name if they ever bumped into one another again. It was more of Rowena being difficult than a serious vow to hold off on getting familiar. Far from offending her, his comment brought a smirk to her lips. "Looks like you'll need to try harder." Rowena liked it when people strived to impress her. It was something she was used to, being the Thunder leader, and something she would miss upon graduation. You could get people to do favours for you when they wanted to be in your good books, favours like 'helping' with homework or covering for her or helping her to kick some ass if she was outmatched.

Rowena did not answer immediately, pausing to consider his tone. He had not sounded as if he were trying to mock her but suspicion kept her guarded. She considered snarking him but decided against it. "Like sketching, painting, designing, drilling a bloody hole in my head, anything." It was evident from the final choice that she was not a big fan of homework. Who liked it, really? Even the smart kids who could do it on time and in high quality couldn't be fond of it, surely. She refused to believe anything of the sort.

Aha. There was a feeling of relief as she made the connection in her brain to one of the questions, jotting down the answer—or what she hoped was the answer—before looking back at the boy. "I said you were an idiot." A smart-assed, witty idiot, but an idiot all the same in her eyes. Brows arched coolly as she tried not to look curious. "And what exactly did she say?" She was usually quite good at being nonchalant but Ro couldn't help but giggle as Adam tried to analyse the reasoning for being put in detention. "It's no wonder. Who wants to bed a teacher?" All right, so there were some teachers in this school that were damn fine but that didn't mean she'd fuck them. No, that was even against her standards. "I don't know." She shrugged, answering honestly. It really depended with her. Maybe she'd have laughed, maybe not.

[ADAM EVAN RIZZO]

YOU THINK YOU KNOW ME?

you ain't seen the half of me

He scowled when she claimed not to be desperate. Well, wasn't that a fine slap to his ego. "Fifteen, actually," He replied with a snort, looking down his nose at her. As much as the boy wanted to feel older it was difficult when his attitude spoke volumes of his actual age. Not that people who were in their twenties were always capable of constant maturity. Adam just liked to think that his height and new post-pubescent voice would help him along. He inclined his head away from her as she basically asked him to fall into silence, instinct leading him to do so before rolling his eyes and letting out an amused yet agitated chuckle. "Cute," He commented. "But it was already there before I said a word. You have to admit yours was pretty shitty." There was the amusement on his face, glad that he could bounce back and forth with someone.

"You say that now. Don't bash it before you try it, babe." There was a playful smirk on his lips, confident and cocky and extremely sure of himself. She already turned him down but what could it hurt to keep flirting? They were stuck in the same room for the next hour or so anyway. Hell, they would probably part ways afterwards and turn into hallway acquaintances at best. He scoffed and pulled out a notebook, preparing to take notes when needed. "You remembered it either way," He said simply, marking the paper with the date and the chapter title so he could keep track of which notes were which. God, how he hated note-taking. Writing papers for English class was one thing, but this? Like pulling teeth. "You think you're something else, huh? Gotta have everyone kiss your feet. Hate to break it to ya, hon, but you aren't that hot." Which was, of course, a lie. He'd be lying to himself too if he tried to believe that she wasn't attractive. They guy found so many females pretty; it could be considered a problem.

Adam eyed her as she talked, not sure if she would answer him seriously or give him another biting response. Either way was fine by him; to be honest, anything less than snarky would have shocked him. Which it did. He blinked. "An artist? Nice." There wasn't much he could say to that, though he was impressed. He almost made a comment about enjoying writing but held back, and instead chuckled about the hole in the head. "Sounds like an excellent option sometimes. I'd rather set my work on fire and say it was an accident though." There was an incident in his ninth grade year where he became so angry over an assignment that it randomly burst into flames. Whoops. If only drawing out his element was that easy all the time.

Although note taking wasn't difficult, it was time consuming and Adam would much rather do any other assignment. Unfortunately that was all he was required to do tonight and he wanted it done. Ugh. Adam shrugged and huffed loud enough for her to hear. He knew he wasn't an idiot so it was no skin off his nose. "We were talking about molecules and she had this...model thing she was going to pass around the room. And one guy pulled one of the pieces off of the stick and she said 'oh my god now I'm going to have to work it back in!'" He flailed his hands around a little for added effect, mimicking the woman's voice as best he could. "She was so pissed. It was perfect." The look on her face, the faint pink tint to her cheeks was simply the icing on the cake. In a way he felt bad for her since she looked so flustered, but at the same time it made it all that more hilarious. Adam wrinkled his nose. "God, I wouldn't. This woman looks like an elephant and a gorilla had a kid." As much as he liked to chase skirts and flirt, there was a line to be drawn somewhere. His teacher was definitely on the other side of that line.

The boy went back to his work for a minute and allowed silence to linger between them, reading a few paragraphs and taking a couple of notes now and again. His focus was horrendous. He set the pen down for a minute and cracked his knuckles. "Alright, so now you got me curious," He admitted at last, glancing over at her with an inquisitive expression. "What do you design exactly?"

[ROWENA AUDREY BENNETT]

The boy stated his age as if it was going to change anything and Ro actually snorted before shaking her head. Wow, worse than I thought. She'd mostly been toying with him, thinking maybe he was in the eleventh or twelfth grade, but it turned out she hadn't been far off the mark. "You're a good five years out of age range. Sorry." Not sorry at all, most like. The girl didn't think she could seriously consider someone that much younger than her. It'd be like fucking a kid and even she had standards. Not like she hadn't crossed this age boundary once she had enough drinks in her but she was sober at present and that was enough to draw that line. With a roll of her eyes, she said, "I wasn't trying to be funny, unlike you. You failed, by the way." She added this last bit as if being informative but really she was just being a bitch.

Passing him a pitying look, she said, "I won't be trying it." He was persistent, wasn't he? Some small part of her admired his persistence but the rest was simply exasperated. Was she going to need a drill to get through that thick skull of his?

Yes, she had recalled his name. Was that really such a feat? "Don't flatter yourself, it's only been about five minutes." Much as she might have wanted to put this guy, his name, and everything about him out of mind, her skills of suppression were not that adept. "I'll have forgotten it by tonight, once I've settled with some company a little more my type." She had no real plans of hooking up with someone for sex that right but the dig at Adam was not something she could resist. They were both going back and forth now and it was more entertaining than most sessions in detention, she'd give it that. "Eh, I'm a damn sight better looking than you. I'll take that." She hid well the prickling discomfort that assaulted her. He had effectively taken back the earlier compliments that had her feeling good about herself and she was liking him less and less by the second. It was not a dislike yet, more like... strong irritation. He was an ass. Who was he to judge?

She shrugged, not saying more on the subject. Talking about herself was hard for Rowena sometimes. She was good at pushing people away but letting them in was another matter entirely.

At the word 'molecules', Rowena made a face. Ugh. Science. She'd never been good at the subject, nor any other subject that did not require strict creativity. She could probably good at English if she were a little more confident in her writing. Designs she was confident in, art she was confident in, but the written word? It caused her to lock up. There was no visual representation with words and this made her nervous. She shook herself from this thought and Adam managed to finally coax a brief laugh from her lips as he flailed around in his impression of the science teacher. The brief amusement vanished as she tried to picture the bastard child of two of the ugliest animals in existence. Gross.

She had gone back to her work and was troubled over question three when Adam's words jolted her out of her concentration, causing the girl to glance in his direction. "Great, just when I thought I was going to get some peace." It was her automatic reaction. If she shoved others away, she was safe. She wasn't good at this kind of thing. After an awkward pause, she said, "... Clothes, mostly."

[ADAM EVAN RIZZO]

YOU THINK YOU KNOW ME?

you ain't seen the half of me

Adam flirted with every female. That being said, no matter the age, there was always open opportunity to pass complements to whomever he felt like talking to at the time. Unfortunately for Rowena, he placed his focus on her. He didn't look entirely dejected but didn't exactly look happy either. Five years? There was amusement in his eyes, then a chuckle followed shortly after. He was no master at math but that meant she was what, twenty years old and still in high school? Interesting. "You weren't?" He asked, tilting his head. "I'm almost scared to see what you think is serious, then. Or funny."

He wiggled his eyebrows a little bit and smirked, giving a faint wink. Her rejections were a bit of a sting but if he tucked his tail between his legs and crawled away it wouldn't do much good either. "Aww, you say that now. I'll convince you eventually." Probably not since the girl seemed dead set on saying no, but he found it fun.

"Short term memory loss, tsk tsk. You really should see someone about that." Adam shook his head and sighed as though actually feeling bad for her. Would she really forget his name? Maybe so. He would probably remember Rowena's simply because this conversation was really amusing and made a normally dull and boring detention more fun. He always had people he could bother but she actually responded. There she went again, trying to make hits at his ego. Again it worked, just not nearly as much as it might have had he been truly interested in her. At this point the girl was just a pretty face with a sour attitude. "Ah, I'm sorry..." Adam cleaned out his ear with his pinky finger and leaned towards her. "I couldn't hear you over the bullshit." For all he knew she did have a boytoy to run home to, but that didn't matter. She made hits at his ego, he made hits at hers. That's how it worked, right? "Ouch, I think I actually felt the tip of that dagger reach my heart. So cruel to me," The boy whined dramatically. That actually did bother him, and only if she paid attention did she see his eyebrows twitch inwards.

As much as he wasn't ashamed to make cuts at Rowena, there was still this strange warm feeling in his chest when she laughed at his story. He liked making people laugh. His smile was small but evident as he watched her, then turned his attention back to his book. If only this stuff would do itself, then the world would be perfect. The girl had been such an excellent distraction thus far and, not caring whether he was interrupting her work or not, decided to bother her again. "You won't get much of that with me around. 'Specially not when I'm bored." Or procrastinating, which he enjoyed doing when the class work was so draining. He nodded and mulled over her response. "Got any designs on ya? I wanna see." He put the pen down and rotated his elbow, fingers wiggling in anticipation for any Rowena might have. The boy liked his clothes and could admire a good set of designs. It was unfortunate that the family wasn't too well off, otherwise Adam would have a closet full of expensive, name brand clothing.