* MY LIGHT IS ELECTRIC [Matthew]

[lieanna]

Calm and relaxation wasn't something that usually graced the college students plate. But she always tried to find time for her friends and of course her family - the latter much less pleasurable. Since moving into her own apartment she didn't quite see as much of her parents. She always got the 'How is everything?' texts, which she had a habit of ignoring. Not because she was trying to be rude, simply because getting them every five minutes from her mother was sort of annoying. So she liked to claim she never got them. Since she was paying her own cell phone bill, her mom really had no buisness - or ability - to go through her phone anyways. She didn't have anything bad on it - at least not that she could think of, but still. She didn't like people looking through her phone.

Today, however, she was meeting up with her old friend Matt at Tim's. They where pretty decent friends, but it had been a while since she had seen him. Not by choice, of course, but because his schedual was even busier than hers was. It was hard to find a mutual time between them both that they could actually sit down for more than thirty seconds and talk. There wasn't really a lot on the agenda for today, but sitting around and drinking coffee and talking sounded like a good enough plan to her. There really wasn't much better than just talking with friends. Complaining about life. Whatever really came to her mind. She missed Matt, too. So it was nice that she was going to be able to see him again.

She got there a little earlier than she had planned on meeting him, and ordered her usual coffee. Or rather, a caramel latte with extra whip cream. She was pretty skinny for the amount of sugar that she endulged on. It was almost gross if you really thought about it, but hey, she wouldn't dwell on it. Her and all her best friends seemed to binge on candy and energy drinks. She had the drink clutched in her hands, enjoying the warmth it was giving off, as she found an empty table a bit away from other people. She figured Matt could find her - it wasn't like she was hiding or anything. She set her bag on the floor and pulled out her much abused sketch book, and started working on a drawing she had been working on. Yeah, she was very much so into art - even if her parents didn't like it. It was more of an abstract drawing than anything, but she liked the way it was turning out. She figured she could just work on it until Matt showed upp.

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[MATTHEW FUYU CHANG]

Matthew was running late. That in itself wasn't the crime, though Matthew often held to himself to a much higher standard than that -- being late was disrespectful and rude, his parents always taught him, and as lame as it sounds, it was something that stayed with him throughout his life thus far. And he knew that it really wasn't his fault that he would probably be late. He hadn't expected there to be a traffic jam -- thank god it wasn't at a standstill, but in general, traffic was flowing much slower than he had hoped. He was a little late leaving campus, which was mostly his own fault -- he had stayed a little extra after his last class to get some work done in the silkscreening studio for his final project in the class, but ended up just setting himself back because he was clumsy tripped over a leg of a stool, and in the process, dropped his only container of ink all over the machine he was using. Thankfully the ink was water based, so it made it all the more easier to scrub off of everything and it would be a cinch to wash the bits of ink that got on his clothing, but his design was destroyed as well as his piece of canvas, and all in all, instead of getting work done, he spent half an hour scrubbing the machine and its surrounding areas clean as he grumbled to himself about how it made absolutely no sense that silkscreening was a requirement for his degree. It was the same soliloquy he gave when it was midterms and finals and for classes he really couldn't care less about -- math, science, "wellness for life", whatever that was. And all that wellness class gave him was a permanent depressive notion that he ate way too many calories a normal person his height and age should eat. Thanks for knocking that self-esteem down, academia. Thank you. That added in with the fact that it was around finals and he had a ton of work to do, and Matthew would be surprised if he survived the rest of the semester without a heartattack or a stomach ulcer.

Either way, after a frazzled phone call and some friends coming to help him out -- there was more ink than he even realized, jeez -- he finally got into his car to drive back to Maple Hollow, only to run into traffic and at least he had no control over that. Thankfully, though, the traffic began to move again, and he was only ten minutes late when he pulled into the parking lot of Tim Horton's, a favorite spot of his. He still felt really bad that he was late, though; he didn't like to keep people waiting in general, ever, but at least it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. He sighed once he turned the ignition off, studied the bits of orange on his shirt and flecks of ink on his pants, and got out of the car. He walked in and first scanned the room for Anna, his friend from high school, and spotted her in the corner, away from the other pockets of people. She seemed to be engrossed in whatever she was doing in her sketchpad, though, so he decided to get some coffee first, then slide into the seat across from her once he had it in hand. "What are you working on?"

Matthew asked, then grinned in apology. "Sorry I'm so late, there was a bit of a situation while I was silkscreening and then there was traffic on the way back. I hope I didn't keep you waiting for too long?"

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[lieanna]

Anna was a dedicated artist. Yes, she loved everything about it. She even considered literature to be art - well, plays anyways. She was a huge fan of Shakespeare, even though many people didn't know that about her. She thought that A Midsummer Nights Dream was simply the best play ever written. Well, that and the classic Romeo and Juliett. Pretty much everything about his works, she loved. But of course, her music and her drawing was her favorite passions. Reading plays was just another one of her past times. She had quite a few of them - all being artistic. She was a very artistic person, and she wasn't really that afraid to show it off. Hell, she was majoring in music in college, so that showed for something. She wanted - or at least hoped - to make the big time some day. To travel. That could always be fun. And well, exactly her dreams. Her parents wanted her to be in the medical field, but that wasn't what she wanted for herself.

She was so engrossed in her drawing that she hadn't noticed Matt come in. Nor had she noticed that he was late. The time seemed to move so much faster when she was in one of her artist coma's. It happened also if she was writing a song, or work on a drawing. She did however only draw in black and white, mostly with pencil. She liked making detailed drawings, which you couldn't really do with pen - but it was hard to do too much when you where color blind. She couldn't help but jump just a little when she heard Matt's voice, and looked up at him and smiled. "Hey." She started, before setting her pencil down. "Oh it's nothing. Just a drawing." After his next comment, she looked at her phone and noticed the time. Wow, she had been there for a while. "Oh no, don't worry about it. I hardly noticed you where late. Artist coma's. I'm sure you know the feeling." She said, laughing a little bit and glancing over at her unfinished work of art. After a moment she glanced back up at Matt, and leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table. "So how have you been? Haven't seen you since... well, since prom!" She piped up, her green eyes settling on his.

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[MATTHEW FUYU CHANG]

As an artist, Matt knew better than to ask to see someone else's work, even though he was curious as to what Anna was drawing. But seriously, he knew what it felt like to be asked to see his unfinished work, and maybe it was the bitter, stubborn perfectionist in him, but he staunchly refused anytime anyone asked and he wasn't done. It was just a personal thing, he supposed. Not to get all snooty or anything, but all the creative forms of art were steeped heavily in the maker's own emotion, their own turmoil -- every nuance of annoyance with a time-wasting project could be measured in the hastily smeared stripes of paint; the happiness the characters feel as they finally embrace through the flow of ink from a pen; the bitter, heartbroken aria a girl in France sings as the country around her decimates her hopes and dreams for love. It was an emotional tier, really -- one couldn't expect their audience to feel everything they did without putting their own emotions into it. You give what you get, after all -- if Matthew wanted to impress his audience and really make them feel something, even if it was just utter exasperation at how stupid an assignment was, he was going to funnel that emotion into his work. ...and hope he still got a decent enough grade for it. He hadn't failed a project yet, though, so that had to account for something, right? Either way, it was a small bit of a surprise when he saw Anna with a sketchpad -- he either didn't know or just hadn't remembered that besides all her music stuff, she was an artist -- and the curiosity kind of reared its ugly head, but he managed to tamper it down just long enough to say, "Yeah, I totally get what you mean. It's almost ridiculous how you lose track of the time, isn't it?"

He put his coffee down on the table to slip his car keys into his pocket, along with the leftover change he got from the Tim Horton's counter. He felt a little bit ridiculous about the ink splatter, but it was Anna -- she, of all people, probably wouldn't judge. Thank god he hadn't seen Sandra on the way or something, because she definitely would have. "Oh, you know...god, prom seems like so long ago! But just school and work eating up most of my time. Sorry I'm such a shitty friend,"

[/color] Matthew apologized, even though somewhere inside him, he knew it really wasn't his fault. People had to prioritize their life all the time, and between school and work he didn't have much time to himself or to his friends, save for the people who managed to come over unannounced and he just happened to be there. He didn't want to be the sort of person that people viewed as flighty because he wasn't..it just made him a little sad that he just didn't have the same amount of time to devote to his friends as he did before, and that difference was still weighing on his guilty conscience. "So life has been pretty busy. A lot of projects and homework, but it's a good kind of busy, I think."[/color] He took a sip of his coffee. "What about you? How are you doing? What's new in Pleasantville?"[/color][/justify][/color][/font][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[lieanna]

Everything held some artistical quality. Or at least it did to Anna, and she figured that Matt was probably the same way. It so happened that everything she saw either painted a picture in her mind, or lyrics, or a poem. Everything she saw made her think of a new art project. She might see something and think I want to draw that. Or words just seem to form themselves in her mind in a way that made her want to rip out her notebook and start writing words down. That was why everywhere she went, she always had a sketchbook and her note book with her. However, she never ever let anybody look at them. Just like she hardly ever let people touch her guitar. If she did, she was hovering over them like a mother bear. "Ridiculous is an understatement. Talk about like... well, yeah, a coma." She said, laughing a little. It was really crazy how she lost track of time when she was focused on something - esspecially her art.

Being judgemental certainly wasn't something Anna was good at. Nor really did. Ever. She always thought that the real person came out after a while, once they got to know you, not when you first met them. She wasn't a thunder. They where well known for being quick to judge, and first meetings meaning everything to them. Anna actually found the ink splatters and paint to be characterizing of Matt. He was an artist too, after all, so it really showed who he was. She wasn't going to make fun of him for it. She was actually surprised he had come here to meet her before changing, though. "God doesn't it? I was still in high school way back then..." She laughed a bit and shook her head. It really did seem like a long time ago. Her last year in high school, and now she was in college. Like she was all grown up! "You aren't a shitty friend, Matty. I know you're busy, I've been busy too! Today was just a good mutual day for us both I guess!" College certainly had been keeping her busy too so it wasn't all on his head that they hadn't hung out much. "Uhmm... really not a whole lot. College pretty much just keeps me busy.. majoring in music, you know. Pretty busy all the time, too. And working... Pleasentville still seems to be... pleasent, I suppose." She said, laughing a little bit, and shaking her head. There was always something going on, but not with her. At least not a bunch of stuff she just felt like spilling. "Moved out of my parents house, finally got my own apartment, so I guess that's exciting." She said, nodding a bit. That was probably the only exciting thing in her life. "So school has been going good for you then, I guess?"

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[MATTHEW FUYU CHANG]

It really did seem like just yesterday when they were all at the high school formal together, and now college was underway again and, while Matt was sure Anna probably just went to the Academy like most of the other elementals, college was still college and time sure as hell flew fast when you were busy all the time. And Matthew had to consider that if all his art classes kept him as busy as he was, then he figured that Anna's music classes must be doing the same -- Matt didn't know any major that really had it easy (except there was something about psychology that made it ridiculously easy, even to him) but music -- like art -- was one of those things that weren't just classes and go. There was practice and extra requirements and so much time to dedicate to it on the side that yeah, it did make Matthew feel a little better to know that she was busy, also, and that this day really did seem like some magical day where they both had time to carve out of their afternoons. "Man, college. I...actually, I sort of forgot that you're in college now. My little girl, all grown up!"

Matt faked in a dramatic voice -- he knew as well as anybody that Anna was able to take care of herself just as well as anybody else in the community, so he wasn't serious about that at all. But still, it was just mind-boggling that in the span of time that passed in a seemingly blink of an eye, Matt was in his second year of college and the girl he accompanied to a high school dance was now well into her first semester at college. Just. What? Time, please, help a brother out and slow down.

"Oh man, moving out! How did that go for you?"

[/color] Matt asked, mostly because he sincerely wished it wasn't as much a headache as it was for him. Everyone made it sound so easy -- "Oh yeah, I just moved into an apartment, woo!" and "Oh, signing leases and blah blah blah!" like that was it, but Matt was having severe doubts on whether or not high school was actually making them ready for life, because no one told him anything about what a lease was and assigned parking spots and what soundproofing walls meant. (If he had known about that last one, he probably wouldn't be having issues with his damn neighbor, not so affectionately dubbed Dubstep Guy.) And jeez, keeping up with utility bills was something that hadn't even occurred to him until the moment the first electric bill came -- his first few months living in an apartment by himself was sure as hell a learning experience and really, this was the sort of stuff that high school needed to prepare people for, not advanced trigonometry and calculus. Matt didn't know when the hell he would ever need to know how to divide tangent by cosin, but it would have been nice to learn generic legal terminology so he wasn't staring at a piece of paper like an idiot when he was about to sign his apartment's lease. "That's pretty exciting, though, being on your own for the first time. Where do you live? I'll stop by sometime and you can give me the grand tour,"[/color] Matt grinned. Girls were usually more aware of how to decorate the space they occupied, so it'd be fun just to see what Anna would do with it. "And yeah, school has been school. The only thing getting in my way is my own clumsiness, honestly."[/color] Matt gestured to the various ink splatters on his clothes from the screenprinting accident earlier, as a case in point. "But it's fun. I really wouldn't change anything about it, despite being busy all the time. How about your program? Are you just doing music or vocal performance, music education...?"[/color] Matt trailed off, egging her to answer his question.[/justify][/color][/font][/blockquote][/blockquote]