A Whole Day of Reading

[[OOC: Seriously sorry if you feel insulted by Karatsu's disliked book pile, they're just books that I dislike XDD;; ]]

10:00 PM. It seemed like the librarian had forgotten him, or else he would have been kicked out by now. Don't worry, though; he forgot about her too.

Right now he was in the middle of the library, sitting on a chair on one of those mindless desks. A lamp was on, giving him enough light to read; in one hand was a magnifying glass, which he uses to read when books aren't in braille, and the other held Twilight by Stephanie Meyer.

"A perfect statue, carved in some unknown stone, smooth like marble, glittering like crystal........" he muttered, then frowned ."So wait, he sparkles?! A sparkling vampire?! What is he, gay as well as straight?"

He tossed it to the mountain of books he already tried: Lord of the Flies (Ugh), Going, Going, Gone (who cares. really), The Last Girls of Pompeii (Why did HE even bother to look?), Itch (.. What kind of nickname is that?), Escape from Memory (Sorry, he already had that ability), and many, many more.

He picked up the next book, The Morgue and Me, and began reading. Interesting book. Flipping the pages while reading with the magnifying glass, it only took half an hour to read the rather large book. This was one thing about him; he barely had to skim to read quickly. And once he reads it, it's etched in his mind; he will remember what happens in that book, always.

Now what...? he thought, bored. There was an insane to-read pile, but he had seriously spent the entire Saturday reading. That probably lowered his popularity points; while others would be hanging with friends, he had books. Then again, I have little friends in this school. he thought, grabbing another book.

It was starting to get cold, so he reached down to his bag, which was on the ground, and pulled out a blanket. He lazily tossed the cloth over his shoulders.

"Matt" leaned his chair back against the wall behind him, propped his feet on the desk, and began reading again. In a few minutes the book was tossed to the 'dislike' pile.

.... Bored. he thought, eyes drooping. What to do?

Unless somebody barges in and bothers me, I'm probably going to fall asleep. he thought, looking up with the magnifying glass. All he saw was the blurry black-orange of the lamp light.

A soft 'bump' brought Richard out of his zone. His fingers stopped typing, and hovered over the keyboard to his Macbook. He had come into the library earlier in the day to write. An idea suddenly struck him, and he rushed to the library, mostly because hardly anyone was there and as such it was quiet. Perfect writing atmosphere. He looked to see what time it was, and was surprised to see that it was past ten. 'Is it really that time? Yesh, I've been here a long time,' Richard thought to himself.

He made sure to save his document (which, when he looked at it, was several dozen pages long, enough for a novella), and shut off the Macbook. It was time for him to head back to his dorm and reward himself with something. Before his grand idea, he had been stricken with a rather bad case of writers block. Now, he was finally out of his slump. 'Maybe some of that special ice cream I got a few weeks ago. It should still be alright, right?' he asked himself.

He stood up, tucking his Macbook under his arm, and began to leave the library. He rounded a corner, and stopped. Sitting at a table was a fellow student, a boy by the looks of it. A pile of books sat on the desk, and it looked like the boy had just thrown them there. At the moment, he was looking through a magnifying glass. Intrigued (and slightly curious as to what the fellow student was doing here so late), Richard walked towards the student. He grabbed a chair and set it down on the opposite side of the desk.

"Hello there. I don't think we've meet. I'm Richard, Richard Diagon," Richard said, extending a hand to his fellow student.

"Matt" had heard the sound of footsteps approaching him, but he merely dismissed it, telling himself it was either the librarian coming to pester him or somebody just leaving the library, since he was close to the exit anyway. His thoughts were leaning more towards the it's-the-lirbrarian side as the footsteps grew even closer, so he didn't even bother to look down. It wasn't until he heard the person's voice did he realize it was a student, not the librarian.

"Gah!" he exclaimed, startled-he shouldn't be startled, really, but when was the last time someone just went up to him and talked to him. Only yesterday..! he thought, disgruntled as he slammed all four legs of the chair to the ground. He really had to stop being so awkward around people; true, he hadn't had a lot of friends before, but that's why he went to this school! To get friends! Dammit. He looked up at the student. A guy, obvious from the voice, with brown-red hair. Was that a holly hairpiece?

"Um.." There you go with the stuttering again! He glanced down and noticed that the guy-Richard-had held out his hand. "Matt" grasped it, shaking it slowly. "I'm 'Matt Blood'. It's nice to meet you, Richard."

At least he got through that. He was surprised that somebody was here; it was pretty late, and he had thought that no one would be in the library besides him.

"Matt Blood...good to meet you too," Richard said. The name was a little peculiar, especially the last. He had a suspicion that it wasn't real, but then again, there were some fairly strange last names out there in the world. Richard had heard some bizarre ones when his mom took him to meet her old gypsy friends and family (such as Apolloza and Benieschawrtzawitz).

"So, Matt, what're you still doing here in the library this late?" Richard asked, setting his Macbook on the desk and crossing his arms. "I've been writing in the back corner since about five this afternoon. I tend to disconnect from the space-time continuum when I start writing. One moment, it's 9 in the morning and next thing I know, it's 3 in the afternoon, and I've missed most of my classes. My grades tend to be not so good when I'm on a really good writing streak."

This guy talks kind of funny.. "Matt" noted while Richard explained why he was in the library so late. Space-time continuum? Who really says those type of things? Ah, but he likes writing, too. he thought. "Matt" was that much of an avid writer; he had many hobbies and talents, but he was spread out with them and didn't focus on a single one.

"Writing for five hours... Your fingers should be sore from something like that," he joked, deadpan. "I was... Attempting to read since three in the afternoon. As you can see, I didn't have a big success with most of them." He nodded towards the pile of rejected books. "Since I really had nothing else to do, I just stayed here the entire day."

He had tried much more books than the ones around him, he had just put them back around seven-ish to stretch his legs.

"Nah, my fingers have gotten quite used to writing for extended periods of time. I suspect that they secretly hate me for writing so long, so often," Richard said.

He looked at the pile of books as Matt pointed them out. He grabbed a couple, examining the covers. Lord of the Flies, Last Girls of Pompeii, Twilight. He kept the Lord of the Flies in his hand and returned the others to the pile. He had read this book a couple years back, and found it rather entertaining. He had lost his personal copy during the move to his dorm, and could only wonder where it had gone to. Deciding that now wasn't the appropriate time to check it out, he returned it to the pile and shifted his attention back to Matt.

"I never have much to do on Saturdays either. I should take the advice of some of my friends and start dating again. I kind of miss having a girlfriend..." Richard said, his voice drifting off, thoughts of his past girlfriends making their way into his head. He quickly banished them; thinking about them only made him miss them more. He turned his attention back to Matt.

"Is this your first year here?"

"Huh..." "Matt" said, watching Richard inspect–at least that's what he thinks he's doing–the books from the tried-to-read pile. Who could really type for five hours straight? Though I have nothing to say, since I read for at least six hours.. I don't think I even had dinner yet. That was no problem for him, though; he was too used to skipping meals every now and then to save money.

He blinked and looked back at Richard as he talked again, missing the nostalgic look on his face. "A girlfriend, huh.." he repeated, in thought. No one really bothered him about something like that; a few had suggested it, but "Matt" just shrugged it off, saying that he was 'too young'. I'm seventeen now.. Maybe I should get one too. But there's way too much drama.. It seemed like Richard had more than one girlfriend before; that means that he ended relationships too. Must be harsh.

He (Richard) changed the subject quickly, though "Matt" couldn't blame him. He didn't have anything to respond to that. "Yeah, it is, despite that I'm a junior," he answered. The awkwardness from before was ebbing off; he was slowly getting more relaxed into the conversation. "Same for you? There's a lot of new students this year."

"Same for me. I'm a sophomore," Richard said. 'He doesn't quite look like a junior,' he thought.

He brought a hand up to check his hair piece, and felt that it was slightly askew. He adjusted it for a little bit, and re-crossed his arms once he was satisfied with it. 'Maybe Matt'll ask about the hairpiece,' he thought, 'Or maybe he'll just stare and wonder in silence. I don't know why more people ask me about it.'

"You enjoying your time here? I'm rather enjoying this school. Good people, good teacher, plenty of stuff to do when class is not when. Well, at least not today."

Ugh, so you're telling me a sophomore got more girlfriends than I did. he inwardly winced, shaking off the thought a moment later. It didn't matter. Right?

This guy crosses his arms a lot.. "Matt" observed, watching Richard. He was able to see that motion through that blurred eye of his. Maybe Richard had something to hide, or it was just a bad habit. Crossing your arms usually mean that you're self-conscious about yourself or you don't want to be socially influenced.

He watched Richard adjust his hairpiece, wondering what that was all about. A holly hairpiece.. At least he thought it was holly. It seemed like it. Maybe it was for festive spirit, as it was wintertime, or just a habit..? Hollies seemed kind of girly, didn't they...? Maybe this guy was afraid of lightning, as the shape of the leaves naturally repelled lightning. Ah, well, he could always ask.

Before he could, though, Richard asked a question. Does he like this place?

"Matt" had to hesitate before answering. Did he like the school? So far no one had bullied him.. Well maybe that was because there were no bullies.

No, not possible. he instantly thought. Maybe they just didn't notice him yet, with all the new students.

"Yeah, I guess." He slightly disagreed with the plenty of stuff to do part, since he was visually handicapped. All he could do was hang around the school; he needed help if he was to actually go out, since he didn't know what was outside the school grounds. Well, he guessed he could make it on his own, but that would be risky. I'll probably just end up doing that out of boredom. he thought. One person can just cook and wait too much.

"It's a bit boring, but they say this school gets hyped up sometimes. It seems a bit empty of teachers, though."

"But the teachers that are here are pretty cool, and young," Richard said, "That's what surprised me the most. Most of the teachers here I would place in their mid-twenties at least. I would have expected a lot more old people that just haven't left. The young-ness of the teachers is kind of refreshing though, if you think about it. The teachers are able to connect more with the students, and vice versa. That way, there is a more enjoyable learning experience. Another reason is that the female teachers are pretty easy on the eyes. I think that also adds to the overall learning experience. But listen to me ramble on like this.

Richard grabbed his Macbook, and tucked it underneath his arm. He stood up, and walked to stand next to the seated Matt. He looked at Matt for a moment, thinking about their interaction up to this point. 'I like him,' he thought. 'In my book, he's a rather cool cat. Maybe he and I could become friends.'

"We've both been here for hours on end, and I know that I'm pretty hungry. It feels like theres a hole where my stomach should be. What say you and I go somewhere and grab something to eat?"

"Matt" didn't answer, just looked back at Richard while the other student observed him. In his mind, he was simply thinking.

.. The teachers here are young?! he thought in wonder, though his face remained impassive. No way! I would have never thought that.. Well their voices aren't old and wheezy, but to think that they're young? Only around their twenties? That's interesting! Well it's not like pretty female teachers will do anything for me... But hey, at least it explains why the teachers are so easygoing around us.

He had never realized the school held young teachers; to him, teachers are teachers, their personal lives don't matter, and he doesn't like getting involved with him. His elementary school teachers always fussed over him, but he was clearly a I-don't-talk-to-teachers-unless-they-REALLY-want-something-from-me-such-as-making-up-a-test-because-that-has-something-to-do-with-my-grades-instead-of-my-eye-health student.

[[OOC: LoL.]]

He snapped back to reality when Richard made the offer to eat somewhere. Though he didn't feel like his own stomach caved in, he brightened. Food that isn't mine? Oh yes!

"Sure!" he answered, taking off the blanket he had placed on himself earlier and stuffing it into his backpack. "I'll have to take care of all these books first, though," he said, looking at the huge pile. That wouldn't be a problem, though; he easily knew where all the books were located, it would just be time consuming due to the amount of books and their weight.

[OOC: I agree. Lol]

"Fantastic!" Richard said. "Here, let me help you with some of those," He grabbed a couple of the books from the pile, balancing them on the palm of his free hand. "I'll meet you at the entrance when I'm done, then we can decided where we'll go to eat."

Richard made his way to the fiction section of the library, being careful so as to not drop the books. He was pretty hungry, and whatever he could do to get to food faster he would, well, do it. Finding the appropriate sections, he lazily set the books on top of the others, not bothering to put them back the way that they belonged. He was, after all, fairly hungry. Hunger tended to cause Richard to forgo some of his usual manners, such as putting books away properly.

Seeing that his palm was devoid of books, Richard made his way to the entrance of the library.

"All right. See you there," he replied, stacking up the remaining books into a fairly large pile. He took the stack in one arm, balancing it carefully as he began to make his way through the library. Simply glancing at the cover of the book on the top, he sorted it into the right category, and continued this process until, alas, the last book was gone. This had only taken a few minutes, despite his bad eyesight; all he had to do was shake his arm to bring it back to life, go back to his reading spot to turn off the lamp, and dust his hands off before heading to the library entrance, bumping into Richard on the way.

"So where should we go?" There wouldn't be that many places open, but they weren't looking for something luxurious, just something edible and enough to fill the stomach.

"Hmmm. Well, most shops off campus are probably closed. Those that are still open probably won't be selling food. The cafeteria stopped serving food a couple hours ago. The only place that I can think of going is to either of our dorms and fix something ourselves. Yeah, let's do that," Richard said. "But, then the question becomes which of our dorms to go to. We can't be in both at the same time (well, theoretically we could, but let's not get into it). My dorms a mess at the moment, and I'm not letting anybody in until I clean it up. So, would it be alright if we ate at your dorm?"

Richard had now made his way into the hallway outside of the library, and was walking towards the dorms. He didn't look behind him to see if Matt had followed him out, and he continued to stare foward.

"Matt" narrowed his eye at Richard's suggestion, but he didn't argue. Damn, so you're saying we DO have to eat my food after all. he thought sourly. It wasn't as if he disliked cooking or his food, but we all know what happens when you eat something too many times. You get sick of it. For once he was hoping he would try something different, but turns out that today's meal was going to be the same.

"Alright," he finally sighed. "Mine's clean, so I guess it's fine."

He followed behind Richard, hands in his pockets as he looked at the shape of the younger student walking ahead. I wonder what I should make. There's not a lot of ingredients in my dorm at the moment; Sarah-Rose bought me some, sure, but it's not like I didn't use it for meals. I still have to head out to the super market sometime, once I get directions for it. He's not Japanese either; I don't know what to make.

AAH, whatever, he didn't have to worry UNTIL they made it to his dorm.

[[OOC: I guess we should end this thread and move onto my dorm.]]

[OOC: Agreed. Should you start the topic then, since it's going to be in your dorm?]

[[OOC: Yup.]]