Private Finished Fool Me Once

Jae entered the student lounge in a damp towel wrapped around his shoulders, his hair still wet from his dive in the lake. With the ocean a much farther trek than it once was, Jae sought the school lake for respite. With his powers it was simple to avoid the other aquatic based students, and the lake was big enough to provide the solitude he sought.

The teen's move into the school dorms was official now. He had a bag of clothes and several boxes waiting to be unpacked, but Jae avoided the task. He's avoided many things since the incident. The rumors and gossip surrounding him had exploded once students discovered his sudden move to the dorms. Several were dangerously close to the truth and Jae simply couldn't face it.

Jae went to the vending machine, several bills in hand to pay for an assortment of snacks. When he heard James call out, he turned. "James." Jae said, and forced himself to smile. It made the side of his face ache. "Um, not much. I just finished a swim." Jae can pretend that everything was fine for a few minutes. "How are you doing?"

"Ah, has it?" Jae said, knowing full well that he hasn't kept up with his friends as much as he had been. "I'm doing good. I got perfect scores on my last tests so I'm pretty happy about that." Then James went straight for the throat. Literally, of course. Jae paled whem his sudden move to the dorms came up. "Oh, um. . . yeah. It's, um, nice."

Jae laughed at the forest fire joke, but it was a weak laugh. "That's good. Wouldn't want the island to burn down. Um, I should probably get back to my room. I have a lot of studying to do." Jae made a vague motion with his hand, as though saying 'what can you do?'. It hurt, to brush James off like this, but James could be as stubborn as himself some times and Jae wasn't sure if he would ever be ready to explain everything that had happened.

"Oh, sure." Jae said, but it was a shaky answer. He hadn't expected James to invite himself along, nor the his persistence. That's fine, Jae can pretend everything was fine for a little longer. If he simply pretended as though he were given a role to act, then he could get through this. "It's not much." Jae said, honestly. He had his clothes, but beyond that he had only school supplies and his letters from auntie Sol and uncle Hwan.

Jae lead the way through the halls, quiet, and unsure what to say. What topic would be safe? "It's, um, getting warmer isn't it? It will be a nice time to have spring." The teen tried not to wince as the words came out.

James didn't call out Jae's awkward attempts at small talk and Jae was thankful for it. "You lived in. . . Arizona, right?" He vaguely recalled Arizona being one of the hot, dry states. "I don't think the weather gets too hot here."

As they came closer to Jae's room, the teen talked less and fidgeted more. When they reached his door Jae forced another smile and said, "Well, this is me. Um, thanks for walking with me. I'll text you later?" Jae could at least do that, understanding that he couldn't nor shouldn't avoid James like he has. His friend deserved better than that.

"Oh, um, I suppose." Jae said, hesitant and trapped by social niceties. A position he frankly disliked, but dare not break by being rude. It reminded him of being thrust into American culture with only a very basic understanding of English. Of being teased for being too formal, always too polite and completely lost in the native intricacies of culture and language. Jae held the door open for James to enter.

The common room was quiet, one of his dorm mates studied at the kitchen table. Jae greeted them quickly and motioned James to his room. Jae's dorm room was much like his room at his aunt's house. Barren of any personal affects, cluttered only by school supplies, and impeccably clean. "It's not very exciting." Jae said, honestly. "My dormmates are quiet and our dorm parent is quite nice." Though, Jae didn't really know any of them well, preferring to keep his distance from them.