BAD RECEPTION , (open!)

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Conrad hung around the cliffs quite often as opposed to the rest of the grounds--he liked the fact that not many freshmen had enough guts to climb up there in the winter, and even a lot of the older kids stayed away. It provided a place where he could smoke and drink and phone his siblings without the prying eyes of the rest of the world ogling him. He really wouldn't have tried to hide the fact that he smoked or drank if it wasn't off limits on school grounds, but he most definitely wasn't going to let anyone listen in on a conversation with Hannah or Nathaniel. His siblings were in even worse shit than he was right now. Technically they weren't his true siblings--both were only related to him through their father's side. But it didn't matter to Conrad. They were the closest thing to blood related that he had, and the only people that he really cared about. Too bad they were both off in another fucking country.

"Fucking reception!" he snapped irritably through a mouthful of the cigarette between his lips, shaking hands fumbling with the phone. Shit, it was freezing out here. It would have been much easier to just call from the dormitories and hope that one of his roommates didn't walk in on him, but Conrad was too cautious for that. So instead he was stuck out in negative weather, shivering in his lack of warm clothing and trying to get his cellphone to pick up a signal. "Stupid bloody thing," he glowered at the phone, giving up and shoving it back into his pocket with more force than necessary. Fine, then. Didn't look like he was getting through to his sister today.

It was on his way back from the cliffs that Conrad found out exactly why people tended to avoid the cliffs. A patch of ice hidden beneath a fresh coat of snow lay in front of the boy, and he was too pissed off at his bad luck to really watch where he was stepping. He slipped on the treacherous ice and landed hard on a sharp bit of rock which broke the skin and dug a lovely wound into his forearm. "Fuck," the Brit cursed in pain, his accent especially thick as he clenched his teeth and hissed in a breath. It was bleeding already, staining the snow with scarlet. As there was no one up here to help him--he probably wouldn't have accepted the help even if there were--Conrad hauled himself up with his good arm and made his way slowly and laboriously down to the bottom. The cut looked more long than it did deep, but it was jagged and still bleeding everywhere so he reluctantly removed his sweater and bound it around his arm so that it staunched it a little.

Of course, this didn't help the fact that it was absolutely freezing outside and that removing a layer of clothing only made it worse. He half-jogged and half-walked back to the building and shouldered the heavy wooden door open, pausing once inside to take advantage of the warmer interior. But now what? He could go back to the dormitory and just hope that the cut didn't get infected, and that it healed on its own, and that he didn't have to use this arm for anything... or he could suck it up and go to the medical wing (a place which he hated). Unfortunately for Conrad, the latter seemed like the only sensible option. He was probably going to get in trouble for skipping class again considering that was where he should have been when he was up in the cliffs with his phone, but that didn't matter as much as fighting off any sort of infection did. He walked slowly and thanked his luck when the bell rang halfway there, letting him off the hook.

The waiting room was pretty bare when he entered, with only a Water student in there as she waited for them to finish with the previous patient. From the looks of her, one of her pranks had backfired and hit her in the face. He didn't try to hide his amused snort as he sat down to wait.

[haley]

Haley was nervous. More nervous than he had been since the last time he was sure he had a brain tumor. Though the doctors had simply sent him away several times, anyone who would listen to him, he would still tell him about his non existent tumor. But this time he knew for sure there was something wrong with him. The other day, while walking around the campus, Haley looked at his arms and noticed a new freckle on the surface of his skin that he had never seen before. He was sure that was a sign of skin cancer. Haley was too young to be worrying about skin cancer, but with the amount of toxins that were emitted daily, he could never be too safe. So he was sitting on the bed, waiting inside another doctor's office with his fate resting in the hands of the professional. Haley stared the doctor down, wondering why every doctor felt the need to be dramatic when they announced what the diagnosis was.

"Mrs. Haley Addams?" The doctor's eyebrows furrowed, giving Haley an uncomfortable suspicious look. "Are you..." Haley rolled his eyes almost instantly and cut him off. "Yes, I am Haley. What's the deal, doc. Do I have skin cancer or not?" Haley asked impatiently. One would think that after the amount of time Haley spent in this room and seen the same doctor, the doctor would know that he was male and not female. Haley was sure the doctor did it to bother him each and every time. The doctor sighed, "No, Mr. Addams, you do not have skin cancer. You would know if your skin was cancerous. However, we do have some sunscreen you can get if you are worried about developing skin cancer in the future." The doctor said as he was already writing out the prescription for it as if he had read Haley's mind. "Thank you, doctor." Haley took the prescription and smiled half heartedly, "See you next week." He said skipping out the door.

He stopped just before the waiting room and handed the lovely receptionist the small piece of paper. "Ah, Haley, what are we prescribing for you today?" She asked, looking over the tiny frames of her glasses at the paper. "Just some sunscreen, Vivian." Haley replied. "Did anyone ever tell you you had such beautiful eyes. The glasses really bring out the color in them." The receptionist looked at Haley, embarrassed, "Oh Haley, you always brighten up my day. Have a seat while we get this ready for you." Haley smiled as he walked into the waiting room. Scanning quickly the vacant room, his eyes immediately shot over to a boy sitting in his usual seat. He had seen the boy before; maybe he was even in his grade and they shared some of the same classes together, but either Haley never paid attention or the boy never showed up. But Haley was destined to find out.

Unlike Haley, sitting in doctor's offices and waiting rooms did not seem like a past time for most kids his age. This kid definitely did not seem too pleased about being here. As Haley contemplated whether it was safe or not to approach him, he noticed the blood stain sweater wrapped around his forearm. Deciding to take the leap, Haley walked over. "Hey," Haley said as he sat down next to him, "Would you like some alcohol swabs for your cut?" Haley asked as he reached in his back pocket. Since Haley was such a clutz, always tripping and falling and scraping himself, the swabs came in handy. He handed the boy the swab, despite his temptation of opening it up himself and taking the sweater off and applying it himself. Haley wasn't even sure if the boy heard him at all. In that case, he was probably talking to himself.

ooc: i hope it's okay i posted, if not just tell me!

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[amps]

[Of course--it was open (: And FFFF- Haley is oddly adorkable with his hypochondria xD]

Conrad felt the tell-tale uncomfortable prickle on the back of his neck that usually meant someone was looking his way, and striking emerald eyes turned to fix themselves on the person in question. The eyes were neither welcoming nor cold--instead they were carefully neutral and would have looked curious were Conrad's expressions not so monotonous and lacking emotion. "What?" he challenged after a pause, his thick British accent permeating the room. It was vivid in Stark contrast to the usual accents of the school; many of the students were native to the country, and to Conrad they were the ones with the strange and other-wordly accents. Well, they had been at least, in the beginning. He was on his fourth year at the Academy now, so he'd unsurprisingly become used to the serious lack of his fellow Englishmen (and women...?). He missed his home and he missed his siblings, but Conrad didn't show things like that on the surface.

Come to think about it... this guy looked somewhat familiar, didn't he? Conrad's brow furrowed ever so slightly as the other boy walked over, wondering where he had seen him before. They looked around the same age, at least. Class, maybe, the Brit decided non-committally. He didn't often pay attention to the people he shared classes with. Hell, Conrad barely showed up to his classes often as is. He had skipped so much in the previous year that they'd threatened to actually expel him for truancy. Conrad was thus being slightly more careful with how often he missed lessons as he didn't want to get expelled and deported back to Britain where his life was hell and his siblings were not around. Much as he missed 'home' as well as Hannah and Nathaniel, he knew there was not much of a life for him back there. His parents sure as hell weren't going to let him back into their home. Well, parent. His stepmother hardly counted; she hated him anyway.

He was slightly surprised when the not-so-stranger spoke to him, given that Conrad usually didn't seem like the most approachable of fellows and most people just ignored him. He wasn't exactly what you could call confrontational or violent, he was just a little callous when it came to dealing with folk. He flicked a green gaze toward the speaker as he was greeted, returning a simple, "Hey," the same word that had been spoken to him. The accent was a little less thick when he spoke his words with less volume, but it was still decidedly prominent for the fact that he had been here for three years. He was stubbornly holding onto the one part of Britain he had left, and that was his voice. (And his citizenship, but it meant fuck all when he was stuck here, didn't it?).

The other boy offered him something, yet again surprising Conrad with just how forward he was. Conrad was used to the subtle Thunder element with their double-sided meanings and their lack of social skills (in his opinion), so he hadn't really expected anything like this. Normally he would have flat-out denied and insisted that he was fine, but as the entire reason he was here hinged on the idea of the cut becoming infected... "Sure, why not." The receptionist called an unfamiliar name and the Water girl from earlier got up and went into the other room. "Seems like I'd be waitin' a while for them to finish up with her, anyway." He wasn't the most patient of guys and he didn't really enjoy waiting, but he supposed it would be a little more bearable if he had a little reassurance against the bad wound on his forearm.

He accepted the swab from the other boy and turned his attention to the arm, gingerly untying the sweater and clenching his teeth against the pain as he pulled the fabric away from it. "Son of a--fuck," he cursed, switching midway through as he pressed the swab to the wound and it burned as a result. But Conrad was rather thick-skinned and determined to appear nonchalant about the fact that this hurt like a bitch, so he just kept his jaw clenched and gave no further indication that he was in pain. "That'll be the last time anybody catches me up them bloody cliffs," he said vehemently, half to himself but certainly loud enough so that his unexpected company would be able to overhear. "God damn it." The blinding sting faded after a while, though, Conrad releasing his pent-up breath and turning his attention back to the other boy.

"Thanks," he said, for he was not usually one for formalities but it might have turned awkward if he'd just ignored him. "You look a bit familiar, mate, have we met before?" His brow furrowed, then he shrugged and stuck out his uninjured hand (after first placing down the swab of course) and added, "Name's Aldridge, Conrad Aldridge."

[haley]

At first, Haley thought the boy hadn't heard him or was ignoring him, which Haley didn't blame him if he did. Not too many people were sociable at the medical wing, since most of them did not want to be here in the first place. But attending this academy where anything can go wrong, it's pretty inevitable people end up here at least once during their time at the academy. Haley had been here so many times, he lost track after he could no longer count the times on his hand and feet. Long enough to get to know all the doctors and receptionists, that's for sure. He had seen a lot of people over the years sitting in the weight room, but seeing this boy had been a first. As he waited for a response, his mind racked on what this boy was. He wasn't a water element, that was for sure. But what was he? Wind, Fire, Earth, Thunder? None of them seemed to match his appearance, but then again Haley didn't exactly walk around with buckets of water on his feet either.

He was a taken aback when he heard the boy finally reply to him. Haley immediately picked up on the accent, assuming he had to be British. Haley even found himself somewhat drawn to it in an odd way he wasn't sure if he liked or not. Surely the boy must have gotten the girls, and even some guys (like Haley, although most people would argue he was more feminine than masculine), wrapped around his fingers. Haley was sure if he stuck by this guy, that some of that skill would rub off on him, and boy did he need all the help he could get. Unfortunately, Haley was not very lucky when it came to romance. With his personality, girls automatically place him in the friend zone, which he did not mind too much, but it sucked that it happened every single time. It was still too soon to tell, although the way the boy reacted to Haley's hospitality, it was promising.

It was nice, talking to someone while he waited for yet another prescription for him. The amount of drugs and medication Haley had back at home, one would think he was a pill popper, but it was as though he collected them instead of used them. Haley felt at ease though, having access to lots of medication for emergencies. It was his safety blanket and although the sunblock would only be used for a few days after he gets it, Haley felt the need to use it just as an excuse for talking to the boy a bit longer. Watching in awe as the boy stripped off the sweater, revealing a pretty narly looking cut. Haley had seen worse, but unfortunately he did not have anything else to help with the cut, otherwise he would offer to escort him back to his room and help him. It would probably take less time than waiting to be called back, but the boy would think Haley was trying to pick him up or something.

As he sat there, he realized he hadn't said a thing since he handed the boy the alcohol swabs. This was not like Haley. Any chance people gave him to speak, he usually talked up a storm. Sometimes people told him to shut up because he talked too much. Feeling speechless for the first time, Haley chuckled at his comment. He felt bad for laughing while the boy was in pain, and as soon as he started, he stopped. Glancing up at the clock, Haley wondered how the boy managed to go to the cliffs, injure himself, and headed to the medical wing in the time since school had been out. Thinking it over in his head, he knew it was impossible. The boy had to have ditched class. Haley, too, had ditched often times, but usually he was here. Admitting that he was at the cliffs just because Haley deduced that he must do it on a daily basis.

"No problem, it happens to me all the time. I started carrying around alcohol swabs just for this reason. You wouldn't imagine how many times they saved my life." Haley smiled, glad he was appreciated, even though it was small. "Oh, the name's Haley," He grabbed hold of the boy who called himself Conrad, firmly. He attempted to be friendly, but still stern. "Conrad, that's an interesting name. But then again, I knew from your accent you aren't from around here." Haley smirked. "I feel like I know you as well, but I wouldn't forget a name like yours." Haley shrugged. "It is possible we might have bumped into each other since this school is so huge." First he wasn't talking at all, and now he was taking up all the space for talking. Haley had to bite his lip to allow Conrad to reply, not wanting to hog the conversation.

ooc: i figured, i was just making sure. lol but thank you. i find conrad oddly appealing xD

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[amps]

Conrad took notice of the fact that the other boy wasn't saying much, but he made no remark against it. Thunder students were a naturally quiet bunch and so the absence of a lot of chatter was never much of a bother to him. In fact he usually preferred when other people refrained from talking his ear off about pointless shit but when he was bored as he was right now he wasn't entirely opposed to a bit of conversation. Con wasn't exactly an outcast in the Academy like some--people didn't fear him, he just kept out of their way and minded his own business for the most part. That was how it had been in his childhood when he'd been hanging around his older sister and younger brother all the time. Hannah cautioned him against making friends and connections as everyone on the streets was usually only looking out for number one and so he did. Conrad remained steady friends with only his siblings and even though he'd talk to other people he never had anyone he could call up to go out and have a beer or go see a movie or anything like that.

He'd dated a little at the Academy but not many of the guys here were his type. Well okay--he didn't have a type, he just didn't really mesh well with a lot of people in that sense. Conrad was stubborn and nonchalant and he wasn't exactly the most romantic of people so others tended to get the wrong idea and assume that he didn't really like them. And a lot of times this was true. He'd sleep around a couple times at bars with men he didn't really know if he was looking for a good time and hell, he'd even scored with a couple of the girls. Conrad knew he was only attracted to guys in the sense of a relationship, but sex was sex. If he was bored enough he'd be up for it, sure. Despite the fact that he'd had a couple love interests on and off, none of them had stuck. And the same thing had happened with friends--they'd be all buddy-buddy for a day or two and then Conrad lost interest and promptly dropped out of their lives.

Most people didn't care. He wasn't exactly what you could call an interesting guy. He didn't do much besides smoke and drink, score the occasional drugs and play some sports. Conrad was definitely of the 'masculine' sort--most girls didn't even realise he was gay until he pointed it out. His voice wasn't high, nor did it have that telltale quality. Conrad had no desire to change himself in order to fit that stereotype either, but it did annoy him when girls would hit on him persistently. He was sick of having to tell people that he was gay because a lot of them didn't believe him and that just sucked. They thought he was blowing him off because they weren't interested and for the most part he let them believe what they wanted.

At last the other boy spoke, going on about how they'd 'saved his life' a couple of times. A little overdramatic as standards went, but Conrad internally shrugged it off. Oh well. "What're you clumsy or something?" he said, arching an eyebrow. The way he spoke slurred a couple of the words together with the force of the accent, making the sentence sound a little unfamiliar but not entirely unpleasant. The boy introduced himself as Haley, and Conrad had to think on that for a moment. Haley? Had he heard him right? "Haley?" he repeated, obviously wishing to clarify that he wasn't hard of hearing. But he really didn't care if the dude had a feminine name--fucking parents were assholes sometimes, if his own were any indication. "Right, then. Cool."

After he'd gotten started with talking the other boy seemed to be unable to shut up, and Conrad's responses were a lot slower and more methodical in response as he tried to digest everything that was being said to him. "Yeah, maybe," Conrad agreed on the subject of bumping into one another with a bit of a non-committal shrug. Then his brow furrowed as he got a bit of an epiphany. "Wait a minute--what grade are you in?" he asked. "You look like someone I migh' have in one my classes..." That could be it, right? "Definitely not from the dormitories... y'don't look like a Thunder student." Nor did he talk like one, but Con left that bit out.