Post by TARIQ IBRAHIM ARAIN on Jan 19, 2013 17:50:38 GMT -5
[/style][style=width: 305px; padding: 10px; background-color: #efefef; text-align: justify; font-size: 11px; font-family: arial; letter-spacing: 1pt;]The roads may have been cleared of the snow that had trapped Mayview's students over the end of December and the New Year, but the strange, insular sense of being cut off from the outside world was still prevailing through the middle of January. It was partly because the school grounds were currently so empty. Many of the students had gone back to their families for a long weekend or more, having been granted the extra time off as compensation for the loss of winter break.
Tariq's weekend, in contrast, was to be spent on cleaning duty - which currently meant litter-picking outside in the snow. A stubborn layer of icy slush still remained on the ground, and the white sky and biting air suggested a new snowfall later. His hands were numb despite his gloves, sometimes fumbling the grip of the litter picker and letting its pincers tear through some unidentifiable plastic trash instead of clasping it.
The only thing making this a little more tolerable was the fact the only witness to this embarrassment was Gwendy Trojan - and she was a fellow penitent in this detention.
His patience broke. With a sudden movement, Tariq swung the almost overflowing black sack into the nearest trash can. "That's it, we're done. There's nothing left to get," he said firmly, giving Gwendy a pointed look. A few sodden scraps of paper were buffetted along by the wind before them to become lodged in the bare branches of a bush. Some kind of fruit lay rotting in the flowerbed. "Time for a break. It all looks so clean."
The two of them were some distance from the dorms, classrooms and the main part of the school. One of the newer outbuildings was just a few yards away, and Tariq didn't care where he was - he just wanted to get out of the wind. Tariq held the door open for Gwendy and followed her inside.
The brightly coloured posters lining the walls gave the room the impression of being claustrophically smaller than it was. A number of metal chairs with faded cushions circled a wooden table, with a desktop computer in one corner of the room and what he had heard the school nurse refer to as a 'recovery couch' in the other. The school did have a separate medical room and infirmary, but this room was clearly multipurpose for all of Mayview's pastoral care: counselling, sex education, careers advice... over the years, Tariq had made a point of spending as little time in here as possible. As far as he was concerned, his teachers' business with him began and ended with nothing more personal than his grades.
After leaning the litter picker against the wall, he took off his coat and dropped it over the back of one of the chairs, rolling the sleeves of his plaid shirt just above his forearms. He eyed Gwendy surreptitiously, gauging her expression. After that brief moment of alliance in the classroom and slightly conspirational silence outside the principal's office, Tariq wasn't quite sure how to behave towards her now that they were alone again. In the half hour spent of their detention so far, what little conversation had mostly been about the task at hand.
He wasn't going to give an awkward silence the chance to settle.
The room's internal door creaked slightly from disuse as he stepped out and glanced along the corridor. The staff room opposite looked empty.
"Hey, tell me," he said casually. "How do you take your coffee?"
Tariq's weekend, in contrast, was to be spent on cleaning duty - which currently meant litter-picking outside in the snow. A stubborn layer of icy slush still remained on the ground, and the white sky and biting air suggested a new snowfall later. His hands were numb despite his gloves, sometimes fumbling the grip of the litter picker and letting its pincers tear through some unidentifiable plastic trash instead of clasping it.
The only thing making this a little more tolerable was the fact the only witness to this embarrassment was Gwendy Trojan - and she was a fellow penitent in this detention.
His patience broke. With a sudden movement, Tariq swung the almost overflowing black sack into the nearest trash can. "That's it, we're done. There's nothing left to get," he said firmly, giving Gwendy a pointed look. A few sodden scraps of paper were buffetted along by the wind before them to become lodged in the bare branches of a bush. Some kind of fruit lay rotting in the flowerbed. "Time for a break. It all looks so clean."
The two of them were some distance from the dorms, classrooms and the main part of the school. One of the newer outbuildings was just a few yards away, and Tariq didn't care where he was - he just wanted to get out of the wind. Tariq held the door open for Gwendy and followed her inside.
The brightly coloured posters lining the walls gave the room the impression of being claustrophically smaller than it was. A number of metal chairs with faded cushions circled a wooden table, with a desktop computer in one corner of the room and what he had heard the school nurse refer to as a 'recovery couch' in the other. The school did have a separate medical room and infirmary, but this room was clearly multipurpose for all of Mayview's pastoral care: counselling, sex education, careers advice... over the years, Tariq had made a point of spending as little time in here as possible. As far as he was concerned, his teachers' business with him began and ended with nothing more personal than his grades.
After leaning the litter picker against the wall, he took off his coat and dropped it over the back of one of the chairs, rolling the sleeves of his plaid shirt just above his forearms. He eyed Gwendy surreptitiously, gauging her expression. After that brief moment of alliance in the classroom and slightly conspirational silence outside the principal's office, Tariq wasn't quite sure how to behave towards her now that they were alone again. In the half hour spent of their detention so far, what little conversation had mostly been about the task at hand.
He wasn't going to give an awkward silence the chance to settle.
The room's internal door creaked slightly from disuse as he stepped out and glanced along the corridor. The staff room opposite looked empty.
"Hey, tell me," he said casually. "How do you take your coffee?"
ooc: i meant to write 2-3 paragraphs, i don't know what happened! sorry it's so long~
