Alex Faulkner (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
videokilledme) wrote2018-02-01 03:21 am
videokilledme) wrote2018-02-01 03:21 am
“And The Rest Is (World) History.” Alex, Bianca. (Persona Dreamscape) - Chapter Eight
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"And The Rest Is (World) History." Alex, Bianca. (Persona Dreamscape) - Chapter Eight
[music]
Alex texted Bianca the next day, as promised, and learned that Carrington won the game in just three sets, though she’d been exhausted afterwards, and had slept the whole bus ride home. He had coffee waiting for her when they met up at the library on Sunday, and they actually completed their project after another hour of work; all that was left was the in-class presentation, and when they turned everything in on Monday, a very impressed Dr. Pace said they could do it later that week and get it out of the way, if they wanted to.
“Also,” he added, looking over the top of his glasses at the both of them, “seeing as your current grades are some of the highest in the class, it would seem a reward of sorts is in order.” His sharp grey eyes studied Alex, then Bianca as he went on, “As of now, your two-person study group is no longer necessary. You can continue to meet and study together if you so choose, but as you both clearly understand quite well what is required to excel in this class, I am no longer requiring it.”
It was hard for Alex not to straight-up say I told you so, and a minor upward quirk in their professor’s right eyebrow hinted that perhaps he hadn’t kept it out of his expression as completely as he’d intended, either. Bianca, on the other hand, looked a little dejected about it. “Aww, I thought studying together was fun! That’s not much of a reward, Uncle Mal.”
“Be that as it may, it’s a fitting recompense for you hard work. And, as I said, you can continue studying together, if you wish. You simply don’t have to any longer.”
Alex suspected that part of “Uncle Mal’s” suddenly-more-lenient attitude was due to how insanely busy Bianca was with volleyball these days, as the team worked extra long hours to get ready for the end of the season and the upcoming tournament. She didn’t really have the time to meet up for study sessions, even if she wanted to. Sunday was still her day off, but lots of her schoolwork and socializing and catching-up-on-sleep time tended to get crammed into that one day. Which ultimately meant that, after they were released from the study group requirement, she all but dropped out of his life.
The sudden lack of Bianca in his life was unexpectedly jarring. They still sat together in class three times a week, of course (unless she had to miss class for an away game), and he still sent and received random texts here and there, but she didn’t even really have time to eat with him; all of her meals were eaten with her team, or else were quick, hurried affairs that lasted for maybe 10 minutes at most, with very little in the way of actual talking.
And so, once again, Alex Faulkner found himself alone.
That wasn’t anything unusual, really. He was used to being by himself--preferred it, actually--and he was content to spend his time as he’d expected to in the first place, though he did still go to the remaining few home volleyball games. What was unusual was the vaguely empty feeling he sometimes felt, a subtle, humming void in his chest that he had always managed to ignore or put aside before. It was akin to that strange, echoingly hollow sort of sensation he sometimes felt at the house when Bill wasn’t home.
Loneliness, he realized after what was probably really far too much time and thought. He was lonely...and it kind of pissed him off, actually. If he’d known that he would feel like this, that it would be something he couldn’t put aside or ignore, that he was going to be opening himself up to this uncomfortable not-quite-ache, then maybe he never should’ve let himself become friends with Bianca in the first place. And yet...he wasn’t certain that he could have resisted, even if he’d made a concerted effort to do so. Hers was precisely the sort of honest warmth and camaraderie that he’d always longed for, deep down; he couldn’t help but lower his guard and let her inside the walls he’d built up over the years. Even so, he wasn’t certain if this whole friendship thing was worth the emotional pain or not. Time would tell, as it often did. But he hoped--dearly, deeply--that it would be worth it in the end, and that things would go back to normal between Bianca and himself when volleyball season was over.
Part of him wanted to be upset with her--after all, if you really cared about someone, didn’t you make time for them, regardless of the circumstances? Could she really not even text him more than twice a week? But at the same time, he knew that wasn’t really fair of him. No matter how strongly he felt about their friendship, they’d really only known each other for a few months. In addition, Bianca looked so tired and overworked every time he saw her these days that Alex couldn’t bring himself to blame her for that level of disappearance. So he contented himself with their shared class time and the odd text, though he didn’t want to bother her, so he limited himself to sending her messages only a few times a week.
It was fine. He was fine. He’d been alone before, and he’d be alone again once they graduated in a few years. There was simply no sense in getting that attached to her…
But for once, sense wasn’t what mattered somehow.
As it turned out, the person who ended up helping to fill that void was just about the last person Alex ever would have expected it to be.
Connor Katou, Carrington University’s resident annoying loudmouth, happened to have a Tuesday/Thursday class in the same building as Alex--in the room right beside Alex’s, no less. Alex had noticed this at the start of the semester, and had done his level best to avoid Connor; but of course, he couldn’t manage it forever.
It just so happened that one day, Alex had stayed after class to ask the TA a question, then let himself get distracted by a text from his cousin as he headed for the door--which meant he wasn’t quite quick enough to slip out before Connor noticed him. The tall senior happened to glance into the classroom as he walked past, then slowed to stop as recognition dawned on his face. A moment later he was smiling an irritatingly sparkling smile and casually leaning his shoulder against the door frame, his lean, lanky body taking up enough space that simply going around him wasn’t possible.
“Well, well, if it isn’t the cute little punk kid from my history class. Fancy seeing you here.”
“You’re in the way,” Alex said flatly in response, without glancing up from his phone.
Connor blinked, nonplussed at the bland reaction to his attempt at socializing. “What?”
At that Alex did look up, his mouth set in a firm line, his grey eyes equally hard. “The way. As in, a specific area of space that I would like to move through, and that you’re currently standing in for no good reason.”
The handsome student just stared down at him, mouth slightly agape, and made no move to--well, move, prompting Alex to hiss, “Move, dumbass.”
Connor gave an involuntary, stumbling step backwards, which was all Alex needed to squeeze by. Without a backwards glance, he slipped his headphones over his ears and cranked the volume up as high as it would go. He heard Connor calling something after him, but he ignored it--he had absolutely no interest in listening to anything a jackass waste-of-space like that guy had to say.
Connor, however, evidently felt quite different about things. Now that he’d taken note of Alex, he was always standing there waiting for him after their Tuesday/Thursday classes, and before long he started waiting for him after their shared history class as well. Just like when he’d been flirting with Bianca, no amount of icy disdain or snarky one-liners seemed to put him off; if anything, it only made him latch on to the blue-haired teen harder, and Alex couldn’t fathom why. Connor followed him to the cafeteria, to his next class, to the gym, to the library (Alex never went to the ‘secret base’ when there was any chance of Connor following him), even to the STEAM labs in the library basement; wherever Alex went after class, Connor trailed after.
Alex put up with it--it wasn’t like he could make Connor stop following him--but he didn’t really engage either. For the most part, he continued on his way as if the other student wasn’t there, only responding when he couldn’t help it. Connor never actually forced his way into Alex’s activities, didn’t even sit down and invite himself to eat with Alex in the cafeteria. He just walked with him to and from places, chatting at the smaller student and smiling and waving at the majority of the people they walked past in a very familiar manner; most of them greeted Connor by name, something Alex grudgingly found a little bit impressive.
This had been going on for nearly two weeks when, one lazy Saturday evening, Alex’s phone vibrated, showing a text from a number that he didn’t recognize. Frowning slightly, he tapped the screen, bringing up the message:
HEY HEY ALEX its connor!!!
Alex resisted the urge to throw his phone back over his shoulder onto his bed, or even more tempting, against the wall.
> Connor. How did you get this number.
i know a guy n admissionz ;)
> My cell phone number is not on record in admissions.
does it rly matter how??
> Yes.
Alex was sorely tempted to block him--a few months ago, he would have. But his time with Bianca had softened him somewhat, made him more inclined to give people a chance. Even hideously annoying people like Connor.
Still, he had limits.
> Answer the question now, Connor, or I’m blocking you.
geez fine I got it frm Bianca ok
That unexpected reply rocked Alex back on his heels. Why would Bianca have given his number to Connor? She knew that Alex didn’t like him--she didn’t seem to like Connor much either, for that matter, and Bianca at least tried to like everyone--and she knew how private Alex was. He had trouble imagining her willingly giving up his phone number to someone neither of them really cared for. Maybe it was a lie. But...maybe it wasn’t. Maybe Bianca had her reasons for wanting Alex to talk to Connor.
And maybe Alex didn’t care that much how Connor had gotten the number, and was secretly glad to have someone to talk to. Although he’d never have admitted it, Alex was just lonely enough in the wake of Bianca’s near-total absence over the past few weeks that he decided to give the other student a second chance. Connor was pretty popular, though in a different way than Bianca, Alex had seen evidence of that much himself; if everyone else liked him, maybe there was actually something worthwhile beneath the overly-flirtatious troublemaker persona he showed the world.
Or maybe not. Either way, he might as well find out what this was all about.
> What do you want, Connor?
u wanna hang out???
> With you? Not really.
LOLz man u rly r harsh XD
i luv it lolol
just makes me wanna hang out w/ u more
> Why?
idk guz Im a masochist??
> No, why do you want to hang out with me?
y?? u seem rly cool!!!
Alex had been called many things over the years, but 'cool' was not one of them. He didn’t know it, but there were actually a fair number of people around campus who thought his punk-rock appearance was pretty cool, though they were either too intimidated by his quietly standoffish attitude to say it to his face, or wouldn’t have owned up to it anyway.
> That’s not a good reason, Connor.
sure it is!!! cmonnnn gimme a chance!!!
u can pick where we hang!!! ill buy u dinner 2!!
Alex deliberated for a good 10 minutes. He would’ve liked to take longer, to really consider it and weigh the pros (not many that he could come up with) and cons (of which there were an infinite cascade)...but he honestly didn’t have anything better to do that evening. He didn’t have to work, he was caught up in all his classes, Bianca was busy of course, there was no volleyball game tonight, and he’d already spent the better part of an hour and half practicing and playing around on his keyboard. Bill was out of town for the week, so he didn’t have to make dinner, there wasn’t anything on TV or NextFlik that he really wanted to watch, there were no shows he wanted to go to or new movies he wanted to see this weekend, and he’d returned all his library books two days ago.
He was bored.
He was lonely.
He decided to say yes.
> Fine. 5:30 at Up-N-Down Burger.
yESSSSSS!!! AWESOME!!!!
> And cool it with the exclamation points already, it’s annoying. You only need one.
NOT WHEN UR THIS STOKED!!!!!!!
Alex made a low noise of disgust, and this time he did give into the urge to toss his phone onto his bed, already regretting his decision. And yet, he couldn’t deny that it was a little nice to have someone acting so excited about seeing him, even if it wasn’t completely genuine. Alex had no use for pleasant lies, especially from his friends, but Connor definitely wasn’t a friend, or even anything remotely like one.
But maybe, just maybe, he’d find a way to win Alex over somehow.
READ MORE
"And The Rest Is (World) History." Alex, Bianca. (Persona Dreamscape) - Chapter Eight
[music]
Alex texted Bianca the next day, as promised, and learned that Carrington won the game in just three sets, though she’d been exhausted afterwards, and had slept the whole bus ride home. He had coffee waiting for her when they met up at the library on Sunday, and they actually completed their project after another hour of work; all that was left was the in-class presentation, and when they turned everything in on Monday, a very impressed Dr. Pace said they could do it later that week and get it out of the way, if they wanted to.
“Also,” he added, looking over the top of his glasses at the both of them, “seeing as your current grades are some of the highest in the class, it would seem a reward of sorts is in order.” His sharp grey eyes studied Alex, then Bianca as he went on, “As of now, your two-person study group is no longer necessary. You can continue to meet and study together if you so choose, but as you both clearly understand quite well what is required to excel in this class, I am no longer requiring it.”
It was hard for Alex not to straight-up say I told you so, and a minor upward quirk in their professor’s right eyebrow hinted that perhaps he hadn’t kept it out of his expression as completely as he’d intended, either. Bianca, on the other hand, looked a little dejected about it. “Aww, I thought studying together was fun! That’s not much of a reward, Uncle Mal.”
“Be that as it may, it’s a fitting recompense for you hard work. And, as I said, you can continue studying together, if you wish. You simply don’t have to any longer.”
Alex suspected that part of “Uncle Mal’s” suddenly-more-lenient attitude was due to how insanely busy Bianca was with volleyball these days, as the team worked extra long hours to get ready for the end of the season and the upcoming tournament. She didn’t really have the time to meet up for study sessions, even if she wanted to. Sunday was still her day off, but lots of her schoolwork and socializing and catching-up-on-sleep time tended to get crammed into that one day. Which ultimately meant that, after they were released from the study group requirement, she all but dropped out of his life.
The sudden lack of Bianca in his life was unexpectedly jarring. They still sat together in class three times a week, of course (unless she had to miss class for an away game), and he still sent and received random texts here and there, but she didn’t even really have time to eat with him; all of her meals were eaten with her team, or else were quick, hurried affairs that lasted for maybe 10 minutes at most, with very little in the way of actual talking.
And so, once again, Alex Faulkner found himself alone.
That wasn’t anything unusual, really. He was used to being by himself--preferred it, actually--and he was content to spend his time as he’d expected to in the first place, though he did still go to the remaining few home volleyball games. What was unusual was the vaguely empty feeling he sometimes felt, a subtle, humming void in his chest that he had always managed to ignore or put aside before. It was akin to that strange, echoingly hollow sort of sensation he sometimes felt at the house when Bill wasn’t home.
Loneliness, he realized after what was probably really far too much time and thought. He was lonely...and it kind of pissed him off, actually. If he’d known that he would feel like this, that it would be something he couldn’t put aside or ignore, that he was going to be opening himself up to this uncomfortable not-quite-ache, then maybe he never should’ve let himself become friends with Bianca in the first place. And yet...he wasn’t certain that he could have resisted, even if he’d made a concerted effort to do so. Hers was precisely the sort of honest warmth and camaraderie that he’d always longed for, deep down; he couldn’t help but lower his guard and let her inside the walls he’d built up over the years. Even so, he wasn’t certain if this whole friendship thing was worth the emotional pain or not. Time would tell, as it often did. But he hoped--dearly, deeply--that it would be worth it in the end, and that things would go back to normal between Bianca and himself when volleyball season was over.
Part of him wanted to be upset with her--after all, if you really cared about someone, didn’t you make time for them, regardless of the circumstances? Could she really not even text him more than twice a week? But at the same time, he knew that wasn’t really fair of him. No matter how strongly he felt about their friendship, they’d really only known each other for a few months. In addition, Bianca looked so tired and overworked every time he saw her these days that Alex couldn’t bring himself to blame her for that level of disappearance. So he contented himself with their shared class time and the odd text, though he didn’t want to bother her, so he limited himself to sending her messages only a few times a week.
It was fine. He was fine. He’d been alone before, and he’d be alone again once they graduated in a few years. There was simply no sense in getting that attached to her…
But for once, sense wasn’t what mattered somehow.
As it turned out, the person who ended up helping to fill that void was just about the last person Alex ever would have expected it to be.
Connor Katou, Carrington University’s resident annoying loudmouth, happened to have a Tuesday/Thursday class in the same building as Alex--in the room right beside Alex’s, no less. Alex had noticed this at the start of the semester, and had done his level best to avoid Connor; but of course, he couldn’t manage it forever.
It just so happened that one day, Alex had stayed after class to ask the TA a question, then let himself get distracted by a text from his cousin as he headed for the door--which meant he wasn’t quite quick enough to slip out before Connor noticed him. The tall senior happened to glance into the classroom as he walked past, then slowed to stop as recognition dawned on his face. A moment later he was smiling an irritatingly sparkling smile and casually leaning his shoulder against the door frame, his lean, lanky body taking up enough space that simply going around him wasn’t possible.
“Well, well, if it isn’t the cute little punk kid from my history class. Fancy seeing you here.”
“You’re in the way,” Alex said flatly in response, without glancing up from his phone.
Connor blinked, nonplussed at the bland reaction to his attempt at socializing. “What?”
At that Alex did look up, his mouth set in a firm line, his grey eyes equally hard. “The way. As in, a specific area of space that I would like to move through, and that you’re currently standing in for no good reason.”
The handsome student just stared down at him, mouth slightly agape, and made no move to--well, move, prompting Alex to hiss, “Move, dumbass.”
Connor gave an involuntary, stumbling step backwards, which was all Alex needed to squeeze by. Without a backwards glance, he slipped his headphones over his ears and cranked the volume up as high as it would go. He heard Connor calling something after him, but he ignored it--he had absolutely no interest in listening to anything a jackass waste-of-space like that guy had to say.
Connor, however, evidently felt quite different about things. Now that he’d taken note of Alex, he was always standing there waiting for him after their Tuesday/Thursday classes, and before long he started waiting for him after their shared history class as well. Just like when he’d been flirting with Bianca, no amount of icy disdain or snarky one-liners seemed to put him off; if anything, it only made him latch on to the blue-haired teen harder, and Alex couldn’t fathom why. Connor followed him to the cafeteria, to his next class, to the gym, to the library (Alex never went to the ‘secret base’ when there was any chance of Connor following him), even to the STEAM labs in the library basement; wherever Alex went after class, Connor trailed after.
Alex put up with it--it wasn’t like he could make Connor stop following him--but he didn’t really engage either. For the most part, he continued on his way as if the other student wasn’t there, only responding when he couldn’t help it. Connor never actually forced his way into Alex’s activities, didn’t even sit down and invite himself to eat with Alex in the cafeteria. He just walked with him to and from places, chatting at the smaller student and smiling and waving at the majority of the people they walked past in a very familiar manner; most of them greeted Connor by name, something Alex grudgingly found a little bit impressive.
This had been going on for nearly two weeks when, one lazy Saturday evening, Alex’s phone vibrated, showing a text from a number that he didn’t recognize. Frowning slightly, he tapped the screen, bringing up the message:
HEY HEY ALEX its connor!!!
Alex resisted the urge to throw his phone back over his shoulder onto his bed, or even more tempting, against the wall.
> Connor. How did you get this number.
i know a guy n admissionz ;)
> My cell phone number is not on record in admissions.
does it rly matter how??
> Yes.
Alex was sorely tempted to block him--a few months ago, he would have. But his time with Bianca had softened him somewhat, made him more inclined to give people a chance. Even hideously annoying people like Connor.
Still, he had limits.
> Answer the question now, Connor, or I’m blocking you.
geez fine I got it frm Bianca ok
That unexpected reply rocked Alex back on his heels. Why would Bianca have given his number to Connor? She knew that Alex didn’t like him--she didn’t seem to like Connor much either, for that matter, and Bianca at least tried to like everyone--and she knew how private Alex was. He had trouble imagining her willingly giving up his phone number to someone neither of them really cared for. Maybe it was a lie. But...maybe it wasn’t. Maybe Bianca had her reasons for wanting Alex to talk to Connor.
And maybe Alex didn’t care that much how Connor had gotten the number, and was secretly glad to have someone to talk to. Although he’d never have admitted it, Alex was just lonely enough in the wake of Bianca’s near-total absence over the past few weeks that he decided to give the other student a second chance. Connor was pretty popular, though in a different way than Bianca, Alex had seen evidence of that much himself; if everyone else liked him, maybe there was actually something worthwhile beneath the overly-flirtatious troublemaker persona he showed the world.
Or maybe not. Either way, he might as well find out what this was all about.
> What do you want, Connor?
u wanna hang out???
> With you? Not really.
LOLz man u rly r harsh XD
i luv it lolol
just makes me wanna hang out w/ u more
> Why?
idk guz Im a masochist??
> No, why do you want to hang out with me?
y?? u seem rly cool!!!
Alex had been called many things over the years, but 'cool' was not one of them. He didn’t know it, but there were actually a fair number of people around campus who thought his punk-rock appearance was pretty cool, though they were either too intimidated by his quietly standoffish attitude to say it to his face, or wouldn’t have owned up to it anyway.
> That’s not a good reason, Connor.
sure it is!!! cmonnnn gimme a chance!!!
u can pick where we hang!!! ill buy u dinner 2!!
Alex deliberated for a good 10 minutes. He would’ve liked to take longer, to really consider it and weigh the pros (not many that he could come up with) and cons (of which there were an infinite cascade)...but he honestly didn’t have anything better to do that evening. He didn’t have to work, he was caught up in all his classes, Bianca was busy of course, there was no volleyball game tonight, and he’d already spent the better part of an hour and half practicing and playing around on his keyboard. Bill was out of town for the week, so he didn’t have to make dinner, there wasn’t anything on TV or NextFlik that he really wanted to watch, there were no shows he wanted to go to or new movies he wanted to see this weekend, and he’d returned all his library books two days ago.
He was bored.
He was lonely.
He decided to say yes.
> Fine. 5:30 at Up-N-Down Burger.
yESSSSSS!!! AWESOME!!!!
> And cool it with the exclamation points already, it’s annoying. You only need one.
NOT WHEN UR THIS STOKED!!!!!!!
Alex made a low noise of disgust, and this time he did give into the urge to toss his phone onto his bed, already regretting his decision. And yet, he couldn’t deny that it was a little nice to have someone acting so excited about seeing him, even if it wasn’t completely genuine. Alex had no use for pleasant lies, especially from his friends, but Connor definitely wasn’t a friend, or even anything remotely like one.
But maybe, just maybe, he’d find a way to win Alex over somehow.
READ MORE