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Post by Melissa Jameson on Apr 9, 2008 18:15:56 GMT -5
[September 10th, Around 2 pm]
A sigh escaped the lips of a lone teenager as she sat amid a pile of rather large text books. Her practically gone coffee was sitting next to them, and the girl kept absently picking it up to take a sip. She had actually finished off more of her coffee than she had of her homework. Bright blue eyes sped down the wordy page of a Psychology book. Melissa Jameson was studying for the first time this year, and she had to say that it was a bit more difficult than she had first believed. No to say that she was stuck or anything. Even if she was, she'd never admit it. No, she was just going somewhat slower than usual. As she twirled a piece of her hair in her fingers, she turned the page.
"Aha!" she said to herself, quickly picking up her pencil to scribble down some random fact that she knew she would need later. One could never be too careful about taking notes. Especially in a class like this. She was mostly uncertain about what her future in this class held. She wasn't at all sure that she liked the teacher. Which was never a good way to start off a school year. Still, she wouldn't let that get in the way. She wanted to excel in everything she did. Well, maybe not math. She gave up in excelling in that quite a few years ago.
Her eyes left the page, slowly wandering over to the other inhabitants of the cafe. It was much slower here than it had been at the coffee shop she'd frequented in New York. Then again, there were quite a few more people in Manhattan. She liked it better like this, though. She could have hardly gotten any sort of studying done with the constant shouts of people indoors an out.
Honestly, though, this studying was getting rather boring. The girl was wishing that she'd at least brought her iPod. Music would have help her a little bit. Closing the text book, she let out another sigh and stifled a yawn. The day wasn't anywhere near over and she was already getting tired. Melissa took another chug from her coffee cup, hoping that it would have some effect. Though, coffee had all but lost it's effect on her a long time ago.
Switching notebooks, she started a paper that was for her Journalism class. At least that was something she was interested in. It might help her stay awake a little longer. However, she was starting to think that it was about time to head back to the school. Ah, the joys of college life.
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Post by Adrianna Evans on Apr 10, 2008 20:43:03 GMT -5
Adrianna Evans was absolutely swamped with work. Art was hard enough, two painting, drawings, or whatever due at the end of every other week, not to mention the several hirigana she had to memorize at the end of this week. Japanese was a hard language, but she made it work.
Adrianna carried three things to the local Starbucks that day, a sketchpad, her Japanese textbook, and a notebook to write in. She ordered a hot chocolate, and turned to find no place to sit. God, what a perfect day for studying....when everybody in this small town just had to come to the Starbucks.
She sighed and looked around, looking for someone that she could sit with, and perhaps a conversation. It wouldn't be entirely easy. She was often shy around new people, but she had been getting better at that.
Finally, she located another girl with several books on the table, with a notebook in front of her. Adrianna hesitantly approached her. Shifting her weight, she chewed her lips before spurting out, "May I sit with you please?" She only prayed the girl would allow her to.
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Post by Melissa Jameson on Apr 10, 2008 21:38:43 GMT -5
Biting at the end of her pencil, Melissa frowned. Was that really how she wanted to word that sentence? She was trying so hard to do her best at this, wanting to make a good impression with her professor. But, somehow, she just couldn't get this one part right. Sometimes it was frustrating being a perfectionist. She would know, she had that problem quite often.
She sighed for what was probably the hunderedth time since she'd started studying. She picked up the coffee cup to find that she had already emptied it. Maybe she should get another one. Then again, she was much too lazy to do that. So, she just sat the empty cup back on the table, and continued to fret over the paper.
She hadn't been expecting anyone to talk to her and when the other girl addressed her, she gave a small jump. Looking up, she gave a friendly smile. "Sorry, you scared me a bit." Realizing that she had been asled a question, Melissa shook her head. "I don't mind at all." she moved some of her books around to give the girl a bit of room.
"Sorry that it's kind of a mess."
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Post by Adrianna Evans on Apr 11, 2008 16:13:21 GMT -5
Hirigana, the main writing system of the Japanese language. Kanji was also used alot, but they were for nouns, mostly. Carefully, as Adrianna stood before the other girl, she went over the various kanji she already knew. A, I, U, E, O The vowels came in that order, usually. However, pronounced differently than in the English language.
She patiently waited for the answer, and was surprised herself when the other girl jumped in fright. She must have been concentrating harder than Adrianna herself thought she was. With the affirmative, and the movement of various books, Adrianna placed her three school items and her hot chocolate onto the table. She shook her head at the girl. "It's fine. I'm used to mess."
After those words, Adrianna delved into the world of the Japanese language. An odd language, many thought. Most people thought it sounded like ching, chang, chong, xio, and stuff like that. Okay, sure, she was somewhat of a hypocrite there, saying that about a different language, but in her eyes, Japanese was much different.
The sentences weren't as completely different than Chinese sounded. It was more sophisticated, more flowing. Words like watashi, sakura, itachi, iruka, ones that made more sense to her than any other Asian language. Her interest had budded when she was in sixth grade, a girl that stood at her bus stop had gotten Adrianna interested in the world of manga, Japanese comic books, but they weren't always funny. The next step was obviously anime, the animated version of manga.
A sigh escaped her lips as she buried her face into her hands. What had she gotten herself into? This was harder than she first thought, but she was rather talented in the language department. She had taken French during high school, actually starting before that, in eighth grade. She had pride in the fact that her teacher thought that she was one of the best French students she had.
But this was different. Not only new words for things, but new characters even. Speaking it was much easier than writing it. Over the course of her four-year study, she would learn all the characters, but learn much more words during that time. Okay, the hirigana and katakana weren't that hard, it was the kanji she had the most trouble with, different strokes, different patterns for each. There were limitless amounts of Japanese kanji, the katakana and hirigana did have limits.
Looking up, she noticed the other girl deep in her work as well. So, instead of continuing with her Japanese work, she grabbed her sketch pad. This weeks subject was people. Probably one of her worst areas, for all she did people. The problem was, she always drew animation people, the general Japanese style of drawing, which was far superior in any comic styling. With a sigh, she started to draw the girl opposite her, hoping she was concentrating enough to not notice Adrianna sketching her as she studied, for it would be extremely embarrassing to her.
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Post by Melissa Jameson on Apr 11, 2008 18:45:50 GMT -5
Melissa smiled as she sat down. Maybe it would be nice to have some company. Even if she was studying, and she didn't know this person. It might be better to know that she wasn't the only one who was working. From looking at her, she wasn't sure if she attended the local high school, or her school. She looked as if she could be at either. Then agan, so did Melissa.
"Well, at least I'm not the only one." she said in a joking manner. It wasn't like she was messy all the time, but she was a teenager, so somethings were bound to be messy. Her room back at home was one thing that she could just never keep clean for very long. She supposed it was a curse or something. She just hoped she could keep the dorm clean. After all, she did have a roommate now.
Melissa glanced at what the girl was studying. It was a different language. That much she was sure about. Her first guess would be Japanese. She wasn't very familiar with the language, never having actually watched any anime, or read any manga. Nobody she knew was into it, so she'd never tried. It did look complicated, though. All those symbols would have given her a headache. She did know French, having taken it in high school. But that was all. She preffered to stick to English. It was what she was good at.
She stifled a 'Yesssss.' as she finally figured out how to say what she wanted to say. It always felt good to realize that what she wrote was actually plesant to read. Glancing up, she noticed tht the girl in front of her seemed to be drawig something. Seh couldn't see it, and didn't want to ask, fearing that it would be offensive or something. Some artists were like that, after all.
A few more minutes went by, and Melissa was realizing that she was now getting tired of Journalism as well. She didn't know how long she'd been here, and was too lazy to get out her cell phone to check the time. Glancing up at the other girl once again, she caught a glimpse of what it was she was drawing and began to blush as she realized that it was actually her. That was certainly something that didn't happen very often. Not many people she knew had ever tried to draw her. She was actually rather flattered. Especially since the drawing was quite good.
"That's very nice." she said, pointing to the sketch pad. She felt like she should compliment her. After all, this was kind of cool.
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Post by Adrianna Evans on Apr 12, 2008 10:38:38 GMT -5
Adrianna continued to draw, the scratching of her pencil, in a way, soothing to her. She sat back and sighed, looking up quickly. The eyes just weren't right. They seemed more....cartoony than she had intended. Growling, she grabbed her eraser and rubbed it over the eyes, erasing them nearly completely.
She looked up, and noticed that the girl was looking at her, probably wondering what she was drawing. She hastily looked down and continued to draw. Oh, she would be so embarrased if the other girl knew exactly what she was drawing, and that would be horrible.
When she looked up the next time, she found the girl working once more. Stifling a sigh of relief, she continued on the eyes, attempting more and more to draw what she saw, rather than knew. It was a lesson that was drilled in her, but it was always hard for her to do that. She constantly looked up to enhance the eyes.
When she looked up again, to add finishing touches, the girl was once again looking up at her. This time, she could see her drawing. Squeaking, she quickly slammed it into her lap, a place where the other girl couldn't see it. However, she had already seen it. A blush crept upon Adrianna's cheek at the girl's words.
"Oh, um, not really." She mumbled in reply, thouroughly embarrased. Of course, the one thing she didn't want to happen, happened. What an idiot for wishing that it wouldn't happen. Obviously the opposite happened. "It really isn't all that great. I'm not good at realistic humans.." She murmured to the girl, looking down at the hidden sketchpad.
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Post by Melissa Jameson on Apr 12, 2008 22:40:29 GMT -5
Melissa had never been overly good in the drawing area of life. Her skills with the pencil were strictly limited to words. Ah, sweet words. Something she could actually understand in this crazy world. That was why she'd chosen journalism. Not only did she love to state her opinion, or to share what she loved with others, she just simply loved words. It may have been a very nerdy thing for her to love, but she honestly didn't care. Words were simple. They had their meaning and that was it. It gave Melissa some sanity in an otherwise insane world. Oh yes, she was so deep sometimes.
The only times Melissa had actually attempted to draw had ended in catastrophic failure. She would guess that her level of drawing could only compete with that of a second grader's. Which was really quite sad for a college student. This was the reason that she never attempted to draw anymore. She preffered to not cause people to run away screaming from the pain in their eyes. Yes, it was that bad. Maybe.
The girl was taken aback by the other's squeal. Well, that had certainly been unexpected. Melissa bit her lip to avoid smiling. She didn't want this girl to think that she was finding that funny. Even though she was. She noticed her blush, which only made her own blush deepen. Apparently she wasn't supposed to see that drawing. She knew the feeling of not wanting others to see her work. When she wasn't sure if something she wrote was good, she kept it under lock and key, away from prying eyes.
"I think it's really good." she said. "Much better than anything I could ever do." She hoped her encouragement was helping. She really did find hte drawing quite good. She hadn't gotten the best look at it, but from what she'd seen, it was nice.
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Post by Adrianna Evans on Apr 19, 2008 11:18:10 GMT -5
Truly, Adrianna had not been an artist until she had gotten into anime. Although, she had started the year before that. She had started to draw in the anime style in fifth grade. She had thought she was really good then, but she now knew she wasn't. She didn't get proportions, or curves. Her drawing was quite angular.
But before that, even, she was absolutely horrid. She couldn't draw at all, and had been envious of those with better skills. Now, she was envied. It was somewhat new to her, for her skills to be envied, when all she had done was envy others. It was odd...
Looking up, Adrianna shook her head, propping open her sketch pad once more. She was slightly more confident now, someone had actually complimented her drawing. "It really isn't that good. There are better people in my class.....mine pales in comparison. I-I hope you don't mind me drawing you....it's just....I need to do it for class...and you were right there....and...yeah..." She trailed off, somewhat uncomfortable.
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Post by Melissa Jameson on Apr 23, 2008 18:38:55 GMT -5
Melissa had never been an extremely patient person by any means, and so, when she wasn't good at something, she generally didn't try. Unless it was something she really wanted. She had never had a huge desire to draw, therefore, had never had the patience to actually learn. She did envy other people, though, who could draw effortlessly. She wasn't sure how it was that she could draw so horrible yet someone else could make the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.
Melissa saw the girl seem to get a little bit brighter. She knew she liked to be complimented, too. When someone told her that what she wrote was good, it was the highlight of her day. Getting comments for her work was the ultimate reward. Knowing someone had actually enjoyed it was a very satisfying feeling. However, when someone said that what she wrote was bad, it was like a blow to the gut. Melissa was very sensitve about criticism of her work, which was why she had to be convinced that it was perfect before ltting others see it. Someone telling her that they hated what she wrote really messedwith her mood. It was never a fun thing.
"I doubt it's that bad compared." she said in a friendly voice. "And, I don't mind. I'm actually kind of flattered. Even if you only decided to draw me because I happened to be here." she gave a smile, and added jokingly "If you want, I can write a story about you since you happen to be sitting in front of me and I need to have a short story done for my Creative Writing class." She really didn't expect the girl to want her to write a story about her, she was just trying to be funny. Hopefully the other would get her humor.
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Post by Adrianna Evans on May 10, 2008 16:05:29 GMT -5
It was an odd situation to be in, really. Yes, she liked the compliment the girl gave her, but she never felt like her art was so good. Yes, she generally liked it. Sometimes she did even impress herself, but she still felt she could do better. She probably could, really. But she never felt like what she did was enough.
Adrianna really did love to get compliments. It boosted her self-esteem, and made her feel good. Some might say she was vain, because she loved getting compliments, but she wasn't. She wasn't someone that simply strived for compliments, she just got them doing what she loved. Something completely different.
A smile tugged on her lips at the girl's following words. "Well, I guess not...but...there's still people way better than me in the art classes." When the girl mentioned not minding, she grinned. "I'm glad. I would be horrified if you minded. Else I would have to find another person to draw." At the mention of writing, Adrianna scrunched her face. "Uhm, no thanks." Adrianna could tell the other girl was joking, but still. "Oh, I don't think we've introduced ourselves. I'm Adrianna, Adrianna Evans." She said, smiling.
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Post by Melissa Jameson on May 12, 2008 21:10:00 GMT -5
Melissa shared the other's girl's feelings toward her art. Though, hers was pointed toward her writing. She had a few compliments about it, but she was always so skeptical about it. She was almost never completely satisfied. She supposed she was just being overly analytical because writing was what she wanted to do with her life and she was afraid that if it wasn't perfect, it wouldn't be good enough. It was a scary thought, not succeeding in your chosen career path.
Melissa also loved to get comments. It was what kept her going and gave her confidence. Confidence was something she lacked sometimes, and needless to say, she needed all the help with it that she could get.
"Well, you can't look at it that way. There's always going to be someone better than you. I've come to accept that." she offered a smile at this. It was a true statement. It seemed that there was always going to be someone to compete with, someone who was just plain better. Melissa tried not to let it affect her too much.
"Melissa Jameson." she gave the girl her name. Well, she seemed nice enough. It was good because Melissa could use all the friends she could get. She had almost none at the moment, having just moved here. "So, Adrianna, what grade are you in? Are you experienced or are you just a little Freshman like myself?"
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Post by Adrianna Evans on May 13, 2008 17:14:50 GMT -5
Adrianna grinned in response to the girl’s words. “Well, yeah...but still. Seeing how great someone in your own class is kind of depressing.” She smiled wryly at the words. “I’ve generally accepted it, too. But then you see something absolutely amazing and you just kinda get envious of their skills. You know what I mean?” Well, that was what happened with her, anyways. She knew she was good, but seeing the work of some of the other kids’ stuff just made you a bit envious of it.
“Nice to meet you Melissa.” She smiled. Then she remembered...the guy she was crushing on? Daniel Jameson, those two had to be related somehow. Odd how the world seemed to be against you and the person you crushed on. How great. Of course, she wouldn’t mention such a thing to this girl, why would she? She barely knew her. “Yeah, I’m a Freshman.”
((Sorry for the sucky post. =P ))
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Post by Melissa Jameson on May 24, 2008 13:05:35 GMT -5
"That is true." she said with a grin. Sometimes she wished she could be teh best, ifonly for a moment. It would be nice to know that what you didwas better than anyone else could do. It would be extremely satisfying to have that knowledge. But she knew it would never happen, and she was okay with it. Like most fantasies, it would simply remain that way. It was nothing she was going to linger on, knowing that it would depress her way too much if she did. She just tried to concentrate on getting better for herself and her career.
"It's nice to meet you, too." she responded politely. It was always nice to talk to someone who appreciated proper indrocuctions. It was certainly a change from the norm. Living in New York, not many people had time to stop and chat for a few good minutes. Everyone seemed to have their inner clocks on fast forward andwere always in a rush. The young woman liked the fact that this town seemed to be the opposite. It was set at a slower pace and a person actually had time to breath.
So she was a Freshman, too? That was even better. She wouldfinally have a friend in her own grade. She wondered if they had any classes together. Melissa always did so much better in group study sessions. She supposed that this could technically be called a group, but they didn't seem to be studyingthe same things, so it didn't help. Besides, they'd both completely stopped the studying part.
Oh yes, she was related to Daniel. She had the privelege of being that annoying boy's younger sister. She supposed that not a lot of people would know that they were related. She knew how little he must talk of his home life since he rarely ever came back to visit. Melissa couldn't be a hundred percent sure why he avoided her and their father so much. She just hoped he wasn't ashamed of them.
"Ah, that means you're new to the school too. Where did you move from? Or have you lived here? I haven't met anyone yet who actually lived her before coming to the school."
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