The Monster Under The Table

[Jimmy Halloway]

Jimmy was in the library to study. Normally, he’d do that in his room, with his cards, as he knew he could be noisy as he recited them, but he heard everyone was studying in the study rooms of the library and he wanted to do like everybody else. Besides, his teacher gave him a few books that could help him, no doubt in an attempt to make their worst student succeed in their class. Jimmy being Jimmy, he was always the last one to understand in class, but at least he was trying. He put all of his effort into his study. Plus, he couldn’t see the teacher’s reasoning here, he saw nothing but kindness in this. He couldn’t say it helped however. At best did it allow him to have a bigger pile of books on the table around him. Bigger pile however meant more chances to lose something. Not in the sense ‘unable to remember where I placed it’, that never happened to Jimmy, all thanks to his power. More in the sense that he ended up dropping them on the floor. That, sadly, had to happen.

It was just a pencil, but as he heard it fall and hit the floor, he moved and dropped the content of his pencil case. And, as he pulled his chair and kneeled on the floor to pick them up, it was the sheet of paper with his assignment on that joined the rest, floating its way out. Jimmy began with a chase for his pencils, walking on fours on the floor of the library as some rolled their way pretty far. Then he returned to his table. He was under the table, going for his sheet, only someone had arrived during his little cleaning up to sit at the same table and now had their foot on it. Facing said foot, he looked at it for a moment before tapping on it gently to get their attention. It was unclear whether it was the foot’s attention or the person’s he wanted to get. Probably whichever allowed him to get his paper back.

[Rain Tseung]

Rain was half skipping, half walking through the halls. Today was a lovely day, granted it was cold out but that was to be expected in the winter. There was snow on the ground, but the sun was shining, which to Rain was also a good thing. She liked the sun, while she liked the snow too just because it was fun to play in, she did not like the cold so much. Even though she grew up in Canada the girl was never able to get used to the cold. Ever since she got her powers the winter has become such a dreary time, the fact that all the plants were in a hibernation of sorts made her feel slightly alone, and sad.

As she walked into the library she smiled at the Liberian, dropping off some cookies as a thank you for helping her all the times before she came here. Also, who didn’t like/want cookies? After dropping off the cookies, and having a nice quick little conversation Rain looked for a table to sit at. Looking around most of the tables were taken, maybe it would be a good idea to sit with someone. It would give Rain a chance to make some friends. She smiled at the thought of making new friends. She saw a boy picking up pencils and walked over toward him. She wanted to try and help him pick them up, but he had already picked all of them up when she got there. She sat at the table, not even knowing there was a piece of paper under the table. “Hello, I hope you don’t mind me sitting here with you.” She looked under the table when he tapped her foot, “Oh I’m so sorry! I didn’t know that was there, I hope it’s still okay.” Rain lifted her foot gently, trying not to destroy the fragile thing. “I was going to help you pick your pencils up, but you had gotten them all when I came over. “

outfit

[Jimmy Halloway]

Jimmy always did things that had people stare at him and not in a good way. He heard some sighs as he picked up his pencils. He didn’t make anything of it. As long as none of them directly talked to him, how was he supposed to assume those were for him? No one helped him but that too he didn’t take badly. He just focused on the pens and pencils and collected them all, undisturbed by the fact he was walking on his hands and knees all around the study room.

When the girl first talk, he didn’t pay attention, not sure she was truly talking to him. He was not really sitting after all. When, he sort of was, now that he was looking at her foot keeping hold of his paperwork, but he didn’t see her going down on the floor to sit with him. She kept talking after he tapped her foot to show her the paper. Something about an apology. Sadly, Jimmy was too focused on getting his assignment to really pay attention to anything else. As she lifted her foot, he put his hand on the paper and made it slide towards him. It was a bit dusty so he cleaned it against his shirt. Now that he had what he’d been looking for in his care once again, he could focus more on what was around him, including the girl and the things she was saying. Something about his pencils. He looked at the case that he kept with him, but had the good idea to close now. “I got them,” he said.

Now was the time to get out from under the table. Jimmy crawled backwards but not enough to be totally fine and hit his head against the side of the table. A thud could be heard. “Ouch,” he let out. With one hand, he put his case on the table, with the other, his assignment. Then, slowly, he got up, touching his head where he hit it. He got hurt like that before, so he knew it wouldn’t last, but, right now, it was painful.

He had been rubbing his head but stopped as he looked at the girl. His focus was now on her and he could almost forget about his head thanks to that. He was scanning through his mental images, looking out for her. If he had seen her, even briefly, from afar, she’d be there.

[Rain Tseung]

Rain had no judgments toward the boy, all she saw was someone trying to gather their stuff off the floor. That was one of Rain’s strongest character traits, she hardly ever judged anyone, especially before actually meeting them and before getting to know them. She would not want others to judge her so her morals told her not to judge others. If Rain had came in earlier, or had saw him earlier she would have helped him, wouldn’t even hesitate to do so, that was the type of person Rain was.

Rain noticed the boy wasn’t really paying attention to her, at first she thought it was a little rude, but considering she had invited herself to sit that his table she thought maybe she was being rude as well. “Um. I hope it’s okay if I sit here… If not I can go, it wouldn’t be a problem if you wanted me to leave.” While she was curious what he was doing, as it seemed he was doing some type of homework she was curious as to what type it was. “I’m really sorry about the paper. I honestly didn’t know it was there.” Rain bit her bottom lip as the boy made no effort to really talk to her. “Uh. Do you need help with anything else? Was there something else you dropped?” The girl was ready to help whenever, as long as he wanted it.

The brunette winced as she heard the sound of Jimmy’s head colliding with the table. “Are you okay? Do you want me to get you some ice? Or maybe some pain relievers? The Liberian might have some, granted you would need a drink but I can get that for you to…” Rain started rambling, she rambled when she was flustered and didn’t know what to do. She wondered if she would get up and look at his head, or go to get some ice without him answering her. “Maybe you should go see the nurse? I can escort you there? Just in case you have a concussion?”

They were the same age at fifteen, which could mean they had some of the same classes together, or maybe several of the same classes together. However, Rain did not recognize the boy at all. The girl was a little oblivious when it came to her classmates, mostly because she was there to learn so she did not pay attention to her classmates, and gave her full attention to the teacher. She wanted to do well in school, and that meant not fraternizing with her peers inside the classroom.

[Jimmy Halloway]

Jimmy didn’t get why she asked him if she could sit down. He blinked at that too. If she wanted to sit and he was not taking that seat, he didn’t see why he should have the right to prevent her from sitting there. At least he could understand when she talked about his paper. He looked at it and rubbed it against his shirt to clean it up. It was fine. It got just a little crunched but he doubted anyone would mind that. He could still write on it no problem. He shook his head. He didn’t get why she was asking him so many questions but at least he got them, well most of them. He showed her his pencil case. “All here,” he assured. That, at least, he could be certain of. His memory was spot on when it came to things he saw and he saw that he had all of his pens and pencils in there.

The hit was not as bad as it sounded but it resonated in his head nonetheless. For now, it hurt a lot and with a hand holding his paper and another touching his head, he was left with none to get up on his own. It took him a moment, actually a little stunned by the hit. The girl was rambling and he was not sure if it helped or worsened things for him. “My head,” he whined. He reached his chair and nearly bumped his head again as he pulled himself from under the table.

Jimmy placed his homework on the table before sitting up straight on the chair. Because he pushed it to get up, he was a little away from the table. His eyes noticed people staring at him, or maybe was it at them, but he paid no attention to this, only letting his brain making an image of it before he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he saw the girl.

He scanned every detail, from her haircut to her clothing style, not forgetting the shape of her eyes or mouth along the way. Was she frowning? She looked like she was frowning. He felt bad, as he was certain he was responsible for it. “I know you,” he said. He might not have recognized her shoes, he certainly did not associate them with her, but he recognized that face, even with the frown. “Art club,” he added. There was more but the first image that his brain managed to get of her was from the club they were both in.

[Rain Tseung]

Some people liked being left alone sometimes, which is why it was always polite to ask if they could hang out with the other person. Her parent’s always taught her to be polite and respectful. He had the right because everyone needed their space and wanted to be alone, which is something Rain respected, because if she was ever not in the mood to socialize she would hope the other person would respect her. “Well, I am glad you got all your pencils and pens!” She exclaimed, she was happy for him, just like she would be happy for anyone.

Rain wondered if she should repeat her question. Should she ask again if he wanted to go to the nurse’s office or not… “Do you want to go to the nurse’s office?” If anything they could give him some advil to help with the pain. Unfortunately she could not feel the pain he was in, therefore did not know how bad it was, if it was anything to be concerned with at all.

The brunette felt slightly awkward at the boy’s staring, why was he staring at her? Was there something on her face? Did her outfit not match? Was her makeup messed? The reason why she was frowning was because of her concern for him from him hitting his head. “Oh! Art club, that’s right!” Now she remembered him, but his named stilled escaped him. “I’m Rain, it’s nice to meet you finally after seeing you in art club.” Rain was always pretty friendly in clubs, she was there to socialize afterall, but sometimes there just wasn’t enough time to really get to know everyone. “Do you go every meeting? Or do you only go every once in awhile?”

[Jimmy Halloway]

Jimmy was not like most people. He could feel discomfort but that usually came from the things he did, or to be more specific the things he couldn’t do. Sometimes, he could be uncomfortable because of someone’s attitude, but he usually loved being around people. He even tended to be too close to them. As such, the concept of personal space or bubble one doesn’t want others near was not something he got very well. At least you could tell his private space was pretty small.

He smiled as she said she was happy for him. Those were just pencils and pens but so few people said they were happy for him that it made his day to hear her say this. He even showed her his case to further prove he had them all. Who would have thought a full case of pens and pencils would make two individuals happy?

She asked him about the nurse’s office. He shook his head. The pain had already subsided. He likely had a bump but he neither felt nor saw any blood on his hand so it couldn’t be too bad. Unaware of what a concussion was, he couldn’t worry he might have one.

“Rain? Like the rain?” He had no idea the rain could also be a person. He would have to note it down somewhere. “I’m Jimmy,” he added to introduce himself. Jimmy wasn’t the best at drawing, he did like kids normally drew, but he liked drawing and councillors believed it was important for him to have an activity. Being not so great in sport, art class was really the best choice for him. He nodded at her first question. “I do. I really like it.” He said with childish enthusiasm.