[OPEN] silent treatment

[zayne atekahr thompson]

Zayne huffed faintly, taking a sip of his soda, absently chewing on the end of the straw as he tossed a pile of marked papers aside.

It was Saturday and he could honestly use a break, looked up and around curiously, listening to the mingled chatter of others. Blue eyes skimmed the crowd in silence before he dropped his gaze to the math tests stacked before him, glancing at his answer key. He could grade without it, he knew he could, but it felt more comfortable to use. He didn't know why he'd always been so good at math. Well, he had an idea, but still.

Taking another sip of soda and setting the cup aside with his right hand, he jotted down notes on the test with his left, marking down the wrong answers and scrawling the score on top.

He slid the graded test to the bottom of the pile, starting on a new one in silence, pausing to rub at an eye.

[august]

August wandered into the mall, his red eyes fading to their natural color. He chewed on his lip, careful of his slightly elongated fang. He looked into a few stores, tempted to lure in a few people, but deciding against it. The further and further he got into the store, the less and less likely he knew people would be to walk out with him. Not that they would ever be seen again.

He saw a guy sitting at a table with papers and his eyes grew bright, a smirk playing on his lips. He walked over, bending over to see what he was doing. He hated math, although he couldn't remember the last time he did it. But he did know he despised it. "You actually like numbers?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, his eyes meeting the guy's and he smirked again.

[zayne atekahr thompson]

Light blue eyes glanced up in question, and his lips tilted faintly. He grabbed his pencil in a random hand, jotting 'teacher' on the top of his key and tapping it with the tip of the pencil before returning to his grading in silence, shifting his weight and reaching for his soda to take another sip, absently chewing on the straw in thought.

Circling a thirteen our of fourty-five score, he did the mental calculation of the percentage with barely a problem, and jotted it on the top as well before starting on the next.

[august]

"Fuck that." He said with a shake of his head. He sat down across from him, reaching into his pockets. He pulled out his phone, glancing at it before he put it away again. He needed to clean the screen; it still had Marc's blood on it.

"Why would you even.. I don't get it." He shook his head, crossing his arms across the table. He laid his chin on top of his hands, looking up at the guy. He chewed on his lip thoughtfully, something he had told Cole to do a lot. 'Fucking mutt.' He thought, tapping his foot on the rung of his chair.

"Well, I guess someone has to do it. I know it wouldn't be me. I hate math. And children.." He drew his eyebrows together. 'And people.' He thought.

[zayne atekahr thompson]

Zayne shrugged, glancing up at him warily between grading as he spoke. finishing his soda, he tossed it into the nearby trash can and pulling another test from the pile.

He glanced back up at him again, licking his lips absently before he pointed at his throat, raising an eyebrow some, and returned to the tests. He needed to get them done so he could enjoy the rest of the weekend without any worries.

[alyssa jane 'AJ' tucker]

AJ had her hands full, walking with her head down to avoid seeing anyone she knew. She should have seen when August got up to walk away, but she didn't. He ran smack into her, and kept walking without a care. She dropped her books, and bit her lip. She rubbed her arm, mumbling a sorry to him, but he was gone. She rubbed an eye, bending down at the knees to gather her books and papers.

"Dork." A tall boy with a letterman's jacket spat, pushing her over. The girl next to him laughed when AJ toppled over, looking up helplessly at him.

"Don't be laying in the middle of the fucking floor, freak." He told her, and she continued to try and pick up her things. He kicked her book away, then started walking again.

[zayne atekahr thompson]

Zayne glanced up at the scuffled, shaking his head as the guy walked away. He frowned some at what replaced the sight, though, glaring coldly at the two, wishing he could tell them off. But he couldn't. When they left, he got up from his table, setting his pencil down and crouching to pick up the book that had been kicked towards him.

He walked over to her, holding it against his hip as he picked up a few other things then offered her a hand up.

[alyssa jane 'AJ' tucker]

She picked up the few papers she had left, her illegible scrawl on the pages. Sometimes even she didn't know what they said. She took his hand gently, letting her help him up.

"Thanks.." She whispered, looking down. She tried to dig a hole in the floor with the toe of her shoe, then remembered he had the rest of her books. She held out her arms for him to put them on top of the others.

"I can carry it.." She whispered, watching some more students walk past. She moved towards him, keeping her head down. She hugged her notes close, bringing her hand to her mouth as she looked up, watching them walk away.

[zayne atekahr thompson]

Zayne set them gently in her arms, watching the way she moved closer with a frown. He glanced around, then patted the table in a gesture for her to come sit. She seemed completely uneasy about being here with the others her age. She was what, nineteen? Twenty?

Sitting back down, he shuffled through his papers thoughtfully, then divided the stack and slid the graded ones back into the folder, staring down at the half finished test on top of the ungraded stack. He shook his head, grabbing his pencil with his left hand, pulling his key out with his right and correcting what was done, then writing 'incomplete' at the top.

[alyssa jane 'AJ' tucker]

She moved hesitantly to the table, sitting down across from him. She put her books in her lap, holding them there in hopes they wouldn't fall off. She reached up, messing with the hole where her nose ring should be. She could still hear the screaming of her parents when she got it done. She put her hand back to her mouth, leaning over to see what he was doing. She leaned too far and one of her books went sliding to the floor.

"Oops.." She mumbled, sitting the others on the stool next to her. She crawled under the table, hitting her head on her chair as she came up. "Oops.." She mumbled again, sitting down awkwardly in her chair. She sat the book on top of the others, bringing her hand to her mouth again. She watched him a moment before she leaned close as if she had a secret.

"You teach?" She asked, then straightened back up in her chair, biting on her finger.