THIS IS STUDY HALL, NOT PLAYTIME! (matt&maryanne)

[wendy]

Study Hall was basically her only chance now to get caught up in History. Addison definitely regretted making this deal with Matthew; it’s not that she wasn’t doing well in the class. It was that she just felt behind. She would look up from her mediocre doodles to hear the teacher going on about Anne Boleyn and she’d wonder who on Earth they were discussing. Addison would send an occasional glare in Matthew’s direction during History class just to let him know how much she wished she hadn’t agreed to this. Study Hall, though, was the perfect time to catch up on your class work. Mary Anne Spencer wasn’t in their History class, but Addison had noticed her working on the same study sheets, so she knew they did have the same teacher. Asking for notes outside of class was not cheating. She still wasn’t paying attention in class; she was just paying attention to the notes of another student.

While Addison had never spoken to Mary Anne on a personal note, she was sure the girl wouldn’t mind relinquishing her notes for the brief time of Study Hall. There was one teensy-weensy problem, though, and that was that Matthew was also in Study Hall with her. Knowing him, Addison knew he would not approve of the notes. He would certainly consider it cheating. Study Hall was quiet today, an actual day for studying. Some days it would be class activities or preparing for tests in small groups. No, today was one of those sit-still-and-be-quiet-while-working-on-class-work for the entire duration. Which she didn’t mind. It was just that Mary Anne would probably be none too pleased to be bothered. At least they were sitting across from each other.

“Uhm, Mary Anne?” Addison started, whispering, leaning towards the girl. “Could I borrow your History notes? Just for Study Hall? I’ll be done before it’s over.”

outfit; click!

[MARY ANNE SPENCER]

Mary Anne was finaly feeling a bit of inner tranquility. The peace that she had wanted for this study hall for SO LONG had finally seemed to have fallen. When she signed up for a silent stuy hall this semester, she had assumed that order would be upheld, that rules would be followed, and that a strict teacher would always be on hand for instances in which rule-breakers were to be had. This was generally NOT the case. There was nearly ALWAYS some hooligan at hand to scream or shout or practically bounce off of the god-forsaken walls, and frankly, she was sure that they had broken each and every rule in the student handbook.

Needless to say, this was NOT acceptable. Perhaps the most wretched part of the entire situation was that, while Mary Anne had fully expected those American pigs to at least supply a capable adult to supervise the room, what poor Mary Anne instead got was the LEAST responsible adult she had ever met. He was like a chlid, really. A large, STUPID insolent child who frequently left the rooma nd never returned, leaving the children to their own devices.

And that was when it all took a turn from civilized, structued society to Lord of the Flies: New York Edition.

Today, however, was quite peaceful and orderly. She almost didn't know what to make of it, until she noticed that the most wretched hooligan of them all had yet to make an appearance for class.

"Tardy again....there's another time that boy had decided not to show up for class," she tutted disapprovingly to herself. As always, Mary Anne kept a mental check of the grievances each person made against the school, herself, and the Lord. It made her feel as though she had a personal connection with the Lord in that they both could see the wretchedness in sinners everywhere (although of course, none on Earth could judge as the Lord could. That was just preposterous poppycock!)

She was just about o drift off dreamily about biblical verses and the painful retribution surely facing each of those loud and noisy sinners when a surprise quip from the girl across the table shook her out of her hazy fantasy. It was strange. Mary Anne was sure she had never spoken with the girl before.

She knew exactly what this was. It was a chance to save this poor girl's soul. She had been steeped, STEEPED, in that wretched American culture that Mary Anne had come to loathe so very much, and this was Mary Anne's chance to save her, to teacher her about the proper ways to live.

"Why of course, hun! Ask and ye shall receive!" Mary Anne chirped happily at the girl, passing the packet over to her before rummaging around in her bag for a proper pamphlet. Before long, she had picked out the PERFECT one, whose message revolved around the importance of abstinence to stay safe and get admitted to heaven.

"You may also want to take this dear. You know, to Enlighten yourself." She winked conspiratorily at the girl, still absolutely over the moon to have found a new project, a new soul to save, a new sheep to bring into the fold.

[MATTHEW PETERSON]

He should probably go to Study Hall...Then again, he should probably have gone to Math class today as well, but that hadn't happened, and it had hardly been devastating. But Addison wasn't in math class...Study Hall was usually bearable because she was there, if not simply because the teacher was outside the classroom more often than in. The bell had rung more than three minutes ago, Matt noted absently as he glanced upwards at a clock mounted on the wall. It was a bad tree-climbing day. A bad park-wandering day as well--the stormy-looking sky outside was enough to indicate that--so it wasn't as if Addison would have agreed to skip class with him anyway. Maybe it was best if he just went and pretended to do something important while in actuality constructing very poorly done Origami animals.

It was with the prospect of an hour spent doing nothing but folding paper (still boring, but maybe he could give one of them to Addison or something. She liked things like that, didn't she?) that Matthew trudged into the classroom, acknowledging the teacher with naught more than the smallest of nods. He was about to look around the room for wherever Addison was sitting, when her voice reached his ears instead.

“...Could I borrow your History notes? Just for Study Hall? I’ll be done before it’s over.”

Wheeling around just to be sure he'd heard correctly (although there was really no mistaking Addison's voice, seeing how well they knew each other) the look on Matt's face was one of almost pure horror. There she was, sitting with her back to him, asking the girl across for History notes. Cheating! Addison Rowe, of all people, cheating. His best friend, cheating on a bet they'd made. A good, solid, fair bet. Matt was positively flabbergasted. He stood still for a moment with his tongue in his cheek, glaring in the direction of the girl he'd previously assumed to be honest and the girl across from her (Mary Lou or something, he thought her name was. He didn't much like her at all), before taking a seat at the table next to them--just close enough to still be able to talk, but far enough away for any conversation to be rather obnoxiously disruptive. In all other words, the perfect spot to torment a cheater.

Matt set to work immediately, not acknowledging either girl as he tugged a rather crumpled Spanish packet from the bottom of his backpack. The paper airplane was completed within minutes. It was, as most things Matt found he made, near-perfect. Just perfect enough to be lobbed casually at someone's head. Which was exactly what he intended to do with it. The airplane flew gently through the air (timed exactly as the teacher turned away and sneezed) and hit Addison directly in the side of the head. He couldn't help but snicker a bit. Served her right. He was just beginning to construct another aviation device (this one, he decided would be a bomber, complete with rolled-up pieces of paper that were sure to deposit themselves atop Addie's head once in flight) when Mary Whatsit's voice pierced his concentration once again.

"You may also want to take this dear. You know, to Enlighten yourself."

What the hell was she...? Matt looked up almost immediately, unable to contain his curiosity. Abandoning his half-finished airplane and decision not to speak, he leaned forward over the table rather obnoxiously in his attempt to read what exactly was written on the pamphlet; it was a futile attempt. "I hope that's a guide to honesty you're giving her," he said rather bluntly, turning away from Addison to face Marilyn Andrews "She could probably use one of those," Matt turned to glare at Addison momentarily before settling back into his seat.

ooc: oh my. sorry this is so wordy/pathetic. not really sure what happened with matt here... o.O and dani, if you don't want addison to have been hit by the airplane, just feel free to ignore that part! i just wanted to get the post up. (;

[wendy]

Addison had yet to realize that Matthew was late to class. It was silly of her to not notice; they always sat at the same table, so she very well should have known to text him. Then again, he did often ditch class. Maybe that was why she hadn’t thought about it. He was probably wandering around campus or something, anything than having to sit in study hall for an hour. Oh well. It was probably best that he wasn’t there. He was certainly find this to be cheating. Addison smiled at Mary Anne as the girl handed the packet over. “Thank you so much.” Addison bit her tongue to keep from going any further. She almost wanted to complain about this whole not paying attention thing. It was probably best to not do that; she didn’t want anybody else to know she wasn’t paying attention on purpose, after all. Addison had begun to take her own things out, a pen and her own notes packet, when Mary Anne slid another packet across the desk. Just as Addison looked up, a paper airplane hit her right on the side of the head. “Oww,” she hissed, rubbing the spot gently. It hardly hurt, but still!

Before she could look to see who’d thrown it, Addison saw just what the packet was about. Blushing quite furiously, she was honestly surprised when Matthew was suddenly peering over at their table. Addison gave a quiet squeak of embarrassment. She snatched the packet from the desk and shoved it into her bag, her cheeks still a bright red. What absolute, awful, wretched, terrible timing Matthew had. And… and who was this Mary Anne girl to be teaching her about… about abstinence and--! Addison ducked her head, hoping to hide her face. They were just kids, the lot of them! This was high school! Who even thought of such things in high school? Soon enough, Matthew was saying something. Luckily, this completely distracted her from what had just happened. She looked up quite quickly, glaring at him. “Honesty?” she repeated harshly, “and just what is that supposed to mean?”

Addison knew perfectly well what it meant. So what if he thought this was cheating! it didn’t mean he had a right to call her dishonest! “I’m perfectly honest!” she exclaimed, glancing briefly to Mary Anne with an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry if this is, uh, distracting you from working.” Addison resumed her glaring at Matthew, “I suppose I’ve learned to deal with him being so obnoxious but that doesn’t mean he has any right to drag you into this.” While she spoke to Mary Anne, her words were sharply directed at Matthew for the most part.

notes; hahahahahahahaha

[MARY ANNE SPENCER]

This was exactly what Mary Anne lived for. Introducing others to the proper way to live was by far one of her favorite past-times. Were she not to be married to Prince Harry one day, Mary Anne could easily envision herself working as some sort of primary school teacher. A wondrous pillar of moral virtue introducing children of every background to the proper way to hold a cup, to always say please and thank you, and to never, EVER talk in a supposedly silent study hall.

But none of that had to do with the topic at hand, which was this most lovely girl and how Mary Anne was going to shape her from a heathen beast, speaking and working in cahoots with the beastly boys of the school to a quite nice and refined lady of virtue and goodness. She would be magnificent, FANTASTIC, once Mary Anne had gotten through with her. Oh, there was just so much that she could teach this fine young girl, so many rules and regulations and manners and prayers, and it would all be working to create one more upstanding citizen. Just one more. And then SHE could go off and work on her OWN projects and it would turn into a wondrous domino effect, creating an overall wholesome world.

And that was when HE showed up, popping his head in at the worst possible time. Speak of the Devil and He shall appear. The beastly one, the awful one, the downright vile FIEND who plagued her study hall days. Analyzing the situation, Mary Anne realized that this was quite obviously a trial sent from the Lord to test her. Just as Jesus had lasted in the Desert against the devil's temptations, Mary Anne would last against this ghoul's idiotic wiles.

"Oh, darling, don't worry about it. I'm sure I can get this homework done at ANY time. It's not all the time that I can get to talk to people so openly about their dirty night habits. Now, trust me, he's right. Honesty is the best policy. If you just open up to me, I can show you the right way. The TRUE way. GOD's way of going about all those animalistic little tendencies. Just tell me, sweetheart, I won't judge!"

[MATTHEW PETERSON]

Although tempted as he was to snatch up the pamphlet Macy Dan had given Addison, Matt was stopped mid-reach by the sound of Addison's question. Her face was awfully red...either she was really angry (which couldn't have been the case, as he'd done nothing but point out the truth), or really embarrassed; it was an answer he'd have to find out later. Once her actions had been good and properly punished. "You know exactly what it means. You're cheating," Matt glared ferociously at Addison, stealing a pointed glance at the History notes for good measure, just in case she needed further indication of her wrongdoings. "I can't believe you," he shook his head in disappointment. Then, before really thinking about what exactly he was doing, Matt had snatched up the notes from the table and began studying them intently. Or, pretending to do so, anyway. The paper was full of names and dates he hardly recognized or cared about, and far too boring to pay actual attention to for more than a minute. Why on earth did Addie even want to learn this stuff? He'd saved her from a year's worth of boredom in accepting his bet, and this was how she was repaying him? It was despicable, and had the offender been anyone else, he could very well have hated them for it. As it was, Addison was going to be stuck with his disappointment. Which, in some cases, could be far worse. It was then that Matt declared a silent oath to never speak to her again. Or at least for the rest of the class period.

"Here. Take these back. She doesn't want them," before looking to see if Mary Lamb was even paying attention, Matt had thrown the notes over the table in her direction. They separated halfway through the toss, however, and the resulting small rainstorm of History notes was slightly catastrophic. Matt couldn't help but laugh. He was just about to comment on the girl's catching ability when she spoke. The words, although directed at Addison, interested him immediately; without really being aware of it, Matt was slowly sitting up straighter, his brow furrowing ever so slightly as he tried to work out what exactly she was talking about.

Dirty night habits? Forgetting for the moment his solemn vow, Matt looked between Addison and Mary Anne, clearly more than a bit confused. "What's she talking about?" he asked Addison suddenly, eyes widening in horror at the first thought to come to his mind. "Have you been sneaking out without me?"

[wendy]

Oh, this wouldn’t do at all! Why hadn’t she waited until break or lunch time or another class to ask for the notes? “It is not cheating!” she replied, glaring just as fiercely at Matthew. She was hardly angry with him, that wasn’t it at all, just a little frustrated and still rather embarrassed. “I’m still not paying attention,” she explained, “this is outside of class.” Addison gestured to the packet of notes just as he’d snatched them from the table. Addison half-reached to grab them back, tossing another apologetic smile at Mary Anne. “Matthew, those aren’t mine, you’re being rude.” This probably wasn’t the best thing to say, but she really did need to teach him when such behavior was allowed (it never was, really). Again, Addison attempted to take the notes back, even going so far as to tug on his wrist, trying to pull him closer so that she could reach. Once that hadn’t worked, she slumped into her seat, arms folded over her chest. “I really am sorry,” she told Mary Anne as he continued to look through the notes. “And I do to want them!” She exclaimed, sitting up, just in time to watch as the notes were scattered about the desk.

Addison glanced furtively to the teacher, who hardly gave them any notice, before she began to return the papers to the stack in the right order. She rather ignored Matthew then, his laughter only annoying her further. History notes weren’t any fun when they weren’t in order and she quite disliked that Matthew had made such a mess. Then again, they were hardly fun in the first place. Half-listening to Mary Anne, Addison couldn’t help the blush rising in her cheeks again. This girl assumed an awful lot. Addison shook her head, carefully setting the packet back down on the desk. “No, no, there’s no—” Matthew cut in then, surprising her a bit because she was sure he would’ve decided to not talk to her for the time being. Sneaking out without Matthew? The very thought was silly. Her parents always knew of her exploring; there was no sneaking out for her unless somebody had insisted that she do so. Addison gave him an incredulous look as if to say ‘you think I’d do that?’ From her lips, though, came in a rather haughty tone: “Maybe.” Which was, of course, a lie, but it was a tiny little white lie that he was sure to disbelieve anyway.

[MARY ANNE SPENCER]

Frankly, Mary Anne had to bite her tongue so hard in order to keep herself from harping on the boy that it was beginning to hurt more than a bit. She merely hoped that she could find a spot in the conversation where it would be considered polite to butt in before she literally bit through the wretched thing. Goodness, she wanted to stand up and slap some sense into the volatile young man, but no, that was not her way. She was willing to wager (if she were the wagering sort, which good children of God were certainly

[/s] not) that there was not a single culture the whole world over that would find such violence socially acceptable among proper young ladies. Mary Anne was supposed to be a pillar of moral fiber. She had to retain the higher ground, without sinking to the level of the morons that paid manners no heed.

Wringing her hands in quiet rage which boiled JUST under the surface, never breaking past the content smile plastered on her face, she watched as all her papers were flung about the room, heedless of the HOURS of work that she had put into taking those notes and then organizing them all by date and highlighting key phrases. It was nothing. She had to forge on in the face of such ignorant tomfoolery. She had a soul to save, and she could let nothing stand in the way of rescuing the poor girl sitting across the table from such a vie beast a boy. If it was the last thing she did, Mary Anne would convince this gir to renounce her foolish, hedonistic ways and embrace a calmer, more genteel sort of company. She would see the error of her ways, God Bless it!

To be honest, it was that coy little "maybe" that set Mary Anne off. This poor, misguided soul was playing dumb about her own grievously wretched urgings, acting oh so very cheeky to the demonic little boy. It was an outrage to hear such sass coming from such a young girl. There was so precious little time left to mold her into a perfect, fine, upstanding young lady before she was unleashed upon the world as yet another unruly young adult.

"Are you sure, sweetie? That seems rather vague..." Mary Anne offered to the conversation, just barely keeping herself contained rather than leaping to her feet to throttle the young idiot. "You know, confession is the first step to rehabilitation. Just let it all out. Confront the boogeymen of your past and everything will be all right."

[/blockquote]

[MATTHEW PETERSON]

She had to know she was cheating. It made Matt positively livid to think she didn't know the meaning of the word, and even more upset to find that she refused to admit she'd stooped so low. "It's all the same thing. We made a bet and now you're breaking the rules," Had he not been so upset, Matt probably would have said something nasty in return to her tugging on his wrist; as it was, he merely chuckled a bit cruely, delighting in each one of her steadily more unsuccessful attempts to get him to give in. He shrugged rather carelessly as Addison began to pick up the scattered papers, only granting Mary Anne one glance before continuing his glaring in the other girl's direction. "Don't apologize to her," Matt snapped at Addison, "You didn't mess with her bet," it was scarce, the number of times he managed to sound this angry, and at Addison, of all people.

He watched Addison carefully, every bit as tense as a coiled spring, eyes wide and searching her face for the slightest hint of remorse. More even than he wanted an apology from her, Matt hoped she hadn't been sneaking out without him. It was completely different when he did it without her. That didn't mean anything; but to find out that his best friend had been sneaking out without him would have probably crushed Matt beyond even her cheating; particularly, he found himself thinking as he clenched his jaw, if she was sneaking around with someone. That would be the worst of all.

Shock covered his face instantly as Addison uttered that one little word, the look on her face suddenly meaning nothing, because she'd never lied to hm before and she wouldn't start now, would she, with something this obviously important? After the horror had washed off his face, Matt was left to shake his head once or twice in disbelief. "You wouldn't..." She couldn't be. She wouldn't. Never. And yet, ridiculous as the idea was, Mary Anne seemed to believe it....Wheeling about to look the older girl in the face, Matt's face was a mixture of confusion and disbelief. "Boogeyman of her---What the heck are you talking about?" he shook his head again before turning back to Addison. This time his face was slightly more sad than shocked, and he could only hope she'd forgotten about the little mishap with her History notes. He could knock some sense about that into her later; Matt didn't forget things like cheating. "You're not, right?...Sneaking out?"

[wendy]

This was just dreadfully wretched and awkward. If only Mary Anne weren’t sitting there, stoking the fire. Addison hated lying and she wouldn’t have done so if Mary Anne hadn’t asked such a question. A ridiculous question, really. Dirty night habits. It made her shudder! Addison was quite glad Matthew didn’t seem to know just what Mary Anne was talking about. That would make this all the more awkward. She shook her head quite sternly. “It is not cheating!” Addison was not going to give this up, having grown a little tired of letting Matthew be right all the time. For one, she most definitely was not a cheater! Two, if she thought it to be cheating, she wouldn’t have done it, because she knew how Matthew felt about deals and the rules that went along with them. Matthew didn’t often snap at her, not seriously anyway, so she was a bit taken back by his anger. Still, this wasn’t her fault! “Somebody’s got to apologize for your behavior.” Addison hated arguing with him, especially in front of others. Speaking of…

Addison turned to look at the girl, feeling less apologetic. This was going from her ‘cheating’ to assumptions of what she did with her spare time. All she’d wanted was a quiet hour to copy down the History notes! She sighed heavily, shaking her head at Mary Anne. “There’s nothing to confess,” she said, which was the truth. “Especially not in front of him.” Addison jerked her head in Matthew’s direction, wondering where the added comment had come from and why she would ever say such a thing. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep up this mean little act for lying had never been her forte. Still, she was a little frustrated that he was calling her a cheater and (even if Mary Anne was not making a good first impression), he was embarrassing her in front of a senior. Glancing back to Matthew had not been a good choice for he actually looked upset and that was going to get to her.

Her expression softening a bit, Addison nibbled on her lower lip. She lowered her gaze, not wanting to look him in the eyes. If this didn’t give her away, she wasn’t sure what would. Perhaps actually answering would, but now she felt bad for lying. "I don't know why it matters if I am."

[MARY ANNE SPENCER]

Oh, how Mary Anne loved to see the face of doubt flicker across that smug little boy's ignorant....face. if she had her way, he would see the error of his chaotic, unruly ways by the end of this conversation. Perhaps it would be a double whammy for Team God (the most helpful websites she had read on the issue of reinvigorating youth in the ways of God all seemed to point to giving the Almighty Bestower of Life a rather corny nickname, in her humble opinion, in order to strip away some of the stigma that the awful television culture of the modern age had created) and instead of just walking out of the study hall today with a newly converted young lady of society, she would get a modest choir boy out of the situation as well. Oh, she could see it now. With just a little gentle reforming by a careful, metered hand he could go from a wild, noisy brat to a wondrous voice of God. She was quite sure they were ALWAYS in need of a few more tenors, and what seemed like an impossibly wretched voice at the moment could surely blossom into what bordered on the sweet melodious call of an angel.

"I don't know why it matters if I am."

Mary Anne was broken out of her sweet musical dream by the impossibly brash and brazen comment spoken by none other than her original project. Such.... CHEEK! How DARE she pay Mary Anne such lip, as though her very immortal soul were of no consequence. That....GIRL seemed to tragically misunderstand what the stakes were in the very treacherous game of life, where every action was judged by a strict and austere Lord. She leaned forward in her seat, ignoring the boy for now, and locking the girl with what she knew to be her most judgemental stare. Gesticulting wildly, she flung into her reply:

"Excuse me? Excuse me?! Do you honestly not care what you do with your body? Do you think that it's alright for you to just go out like some kind common harlot with your legs spread eagled and assume that the lord will let you get away with it? I'll have you know that if you expect to have ANY potential for redemption it would be HIGHLY advisable for you to SHUT. YOUR. LEGS. in all future encounters with members of the male persuasion, until by the GRACE OF GOD you finally find yourself married to one."

Mary Anne realized with quite a bit of humility that she had gotten rather heated throughout the conversation, and had QUITE risen her voice above levels generally expected of a lady. Well, she supposed that in this very special case it could be considered acceptable, as it was only in order to make it perfectly clear to this girl that she must forsake her whoreing ways.

Leaning back in her chair, Mary Anne crossed her feet beneath her chair and readjusted her blouse, ironing out the wrinkles with her hands. "Now, please, DON'T try to paint me as the villain here. I'm only telling you this and speaking so harshly because I care! I don't want you to end up like those other girls. You know the ones." Her perfectly charming face was back, with the ever so understanding smile. She reached out across the table to try and place a reassuring hand on the young Addison's wrist, in order to establish a connection once more.

[MATTHEW PETERSON]

"Nothing to apologize for," Matt grumbled as he sank lower into his seat, crossing his arms over his chest as he shot Addison an angry, childish glare. She'd started it. If she hadn't cheated on their bet he wouldn't have have to tell her off, and then he wouldn't have had to take Mary Anne's notes and he wouldn't have had to throw them at her because Addison wouldn't have wanted them back in the first place. Yes, this whole thing was entierly Addison's fault. Matt wasn't quite sure why she insisted on blaming him for it, but he didn't like it one bit. She was just being stubborn, probably. "You're the one that should apologize..." he mumbled as an almost incoherent afterthought.

Curiosity took over once more the minute Addison gestured his way, however, and Matt couldn't help but perk up despite his most desperate efforts. What couldn't she say in front of him? Didn't they tell each other everything? Well, that was a lie...Matt rarely shared anything of great consequence, but he certainly talked to Addison far more than anyone else, and that had to count for something, didn't it? He didn't keep secrets (he just didn't tell her things, which was entirely different), so it certainly wouldn't be fair for her to do so. Matt bit his lip sharply for a moment, searching her face for a hint of what they were talking about. It should have been painfully obvious, he knew that, but it simply wasn't, and that frustrated him a great deal more than even her cheating.

Before he could ask the all-important "What d'ya mean?" however, Addison's face had already begun to soften. He watched with baited breath for her answer, only to be severely dissatisfied once it came. Instead of taking the time to actually think about what it was she'd said, or dwell on the fact that she looked entirely uncomfortable, Matt simply blurted out the first thing that came to mind--luckily before Mary Anne began her tirade. " 'Cause that wouldn't be fair, either," why that was, Matt wasn't entirely sure, but he knew it to be the truth.

Mary Anne talked too much. It was rather annoying, really. Not to mention loud. Matt sat in simple silence as the girl ranted, his only movements being to blink a bit more than usual and steal the occasional glance in Addison's direction as the bizarreness of this conversation washed over him. There was a sort of heat swelling up in Matt's chest with every word she spoke--or yelled, as it was almost reaching that level--to the point where he would have seriously considered punching her, had she not been a girl. Instead, he laughed. A loud, obnoxious, downright rude laugh. "Is that what you think--?" he squirmed in his seat "--Addie's--oh God. Addie, she thinks you're a--Ha!" now clutching the stich in his side, Matt took a good deep breath or so in order to speak more coherently, although his shoulders still shook slightly and the grin never left his face. This was hilarious.

"That's the point. She's not like other girls, you blockhead. I wouldn't hang out with her if she was," Matt spoke between occasional huffs of leftover laughter, just as oblivious as ever to the fact that he was being anything less than polite. Honestly, though, this girl was being ridiculous. How could Addison have possibly been mad at him earlier? It was a shame he hadn't given her a papercut.

[wendy]

Addison was quite ready for this entire conversation to be dropped completely. She would have been much pleased to just get back to copying those History notes… except that she was sure Matthew wouldn’t let her, so she supposed making paper airplanes with him would be just as good a way to spend the rest of Study Hall. Anything but this terribly awkward-guilt fest. For Addison was jumping back and forth between feeling as such so quickly, she could hardly keep up. First, there was her lying about her sneaking out and there was the notes (still not cheating but she understood where Matthew was coming from) that led to her immense guilt. However, she couldn’t just ignore Mary Anne who seemed to be talking about something Addison had no intention of talking about; or perhaps Mary Anne was just getting adventuring and… Addison shook her head, ridding herself of the thoughts. She needed to focus on this conversation if she wanted it to end. If only there was a way to appease both parties; they were so opposite, though, she was sure there was no way she could do so.

Addison returned Matthew’s childish glare with her own before replying: “fine, I’m sorry. Are you happy now?” as if apologizing were the easiest thing in the world. He was just being stubborn. Before Addison could say much else to Matthew, Mary Anne had suddenly began a most loud and angry rant. Addison looked to the girl, startled and none too pleased at the judgmental glare she was receiving. The nerve! Not only were they in class, but Mary Anne had gone and made about a hundred assumptions! They hardly even knew each other! Not to mention how… how she’d decided to phrase it all! For a moment, Addison could do nothing but make surprised stutters, fighting the heat rising in her cheeks, her shocked expression slowly turning to one of annoyance. “Excuse you?” She all but snapped, pulling her wrist away, easily painting Mary Anne as the villain here. She was lost for words, somehow reduced to angry huffs, which is why she was just as grateful as she was confused when Matthew started laughing. What was he going on about and how could he have found that little speech amusing? If anything, he should’ve been defending her. Of course, she’d thought to soon. Well… he was sort of defending her.

Addison looked back to Mary Anne, a bit calmer than she’d been moments ago. Mary Anne just didn’t understand and that was fine. She looked like the sort who had never climbed a tree in her life. “I’m not like… ‘those other girls.’” She quoted distastefully, not even wanting to imagine herself as such. “I’m sorry for snapping,” Addison said, realizing now she felt guilty for her attitude towards both Matthew and Mary Anne. “It’s just… you jumped to conclusions is all.”

[MARY ANNE SPENCER]

Mary Anne honestly couldn't see what they were getting so worked up about. She was just trying to give some constructive criticism! Why did everyone have to take everything so hard here in the states? Back home Mary Anne was SURE that people would understand that she was well intentioned and take her advice well into consideration. Here though, it was like they all thought she was some kind of Beast come from Revelation! Honestly, they were getting allw orked up into a tizzy for no apparent reason. She swore it had to be connected to the fact that manners seemed to be nonexistent in this godforsaken city. People back HOME certainly would no better than to snap at someone who was trying to help like that.

And then there was the matter of the boy, who clearly seemed to not be getting the point that Mary Anne had no intention of paying attention to him during this conversation. Eavesdropping was one thing, but his raucous laughter and frankly offensive terms that he was using to refer to Mary Anne crossed the line.

"Excuse me, but I don't think I remember asking for your input," was all Mary Anne allowed herself to say to the ignorant little brat. She wouldn't stoop to his level and make a scene. This was still a study hall. She had work to be done and couldn't waste time dealing with his particular brand of stupidity while there was the Lord's work to be done with the young Addison girl.

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry you feel that way. I promise, I didn't mean to jump to conclusions. It was just the way you worded things! I'm so sorry, really, I am!"

Mary Anne did her best to start picking up the pages of notes that were still scattered across the table, forming them into a neat little pile. "Now, darling, you can use these notes for as long as you want. I have no problem helping out those in need! I just hope that you'll forgive me. You will, won't you? I just want us to be friends!"

[MATTHEW PETERSON]

Matt worked his lips back and forth for a moment as he gave Addison a srcutinizing glare, trying very hard to determine whether or not she was actually sorry for what she'd done. Then again...why wouldn't she be? People didn't say sorry just because. "Oh, alright. I forgive you," he grumbled with a small roll of his eyes. "Just don't do it again, ya hear?" Girls really were impossible.

He actually flinched a bit when Addison snapped. Of course, Matt was aware that she wasn't yelling at him (how could she be? He'd done nothing wrong), but it was still...well, it was downright frigtening. Eyes widening momentarily, Matt couldn't help but shift a bit further away from her in his seat. He bit his lip, giving her a slightly disturbed glance before turning back towards Mary Anne. Addison outburst was instantly forgotten. "Funny, I don't remember Addie asking for yours, either," he snapped ruthlessly, only feeling a tad guilty for being so mean to a girl. But Mary Anne hardly counted, anyway. She was just downright awful. Worse even than that stupid guidance counselor they were always making him see--at least counserlor whatsherface always had cookies.

Matt continued to glare at Mary Anne as she stacked together her history notes, suddenly detesting her than he'd previously thought possible; and it was a hard thing to do, for Matthew Peterson to despise someone his own age. "No yoiu're not," he said evenly, jaw tight. Looking back to Addison, Matt gave her his best look of genuine concern (which really wasn't much, but for Matt was quite extraordinary), and spoke sternly, in the sort of voice that indicated he felt they would no longer be able to remain friends if she disobeyed. "Don't do it, Addie. You can't cheat now....and besides, why would you want to be friends with her anyways?" he jabbed his thumb back in Mary Anne's direction. "I bet she's never climbed a tree in her life," it was more than obvious by both the way he spoke and the glare he tossed Mary Anne's way that to Matt, never having climbed a tree was a capital offense.