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Post by Scaleface on Aug 2, 2006 18:42:14 GMT -5
((open, please no flooding))
She was trying to learn. Trying being the key word. Scaleface sat in the quiet library, having found a table by the windows to set up her study-session. She had at least ten different books scattered out on the table, and was currently reading a novel... upside down. Oddly enough, she found she could read better this way.
But the words were big, and no matter how she turned the book, they didn't get smaller. Finally, Scalefeace groaned in frustration and tossed the book. It missed the table and landed on the ground with a thud. SHe rested her arms on the table and buried her head in them.
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Post by Torrid on Aug 2, 2006 20:19:05 GMT -5
After returning to the Institute from home the first place Jen went to after getting settled was the Library. It was an obvious choice. Jen loved to read and could get caught up in all the stories. It was one reason she didn't have that many friends. First off she never really was all that good with people and second she just enjoyed reading that much. It was easier for her to delve into the stories and avoid people than to learn how to form bonds.
She had formed one with Mike before she had to leave. Their relationship really only just started--if it really even did, she wasn't so sure anymore--then she left expectantly. She didn't even give him word that she was leaving and hadn't talked to him since. She felt really bad and was nervous to see him once again. That's why she was here--to get away from the confrontation and bury her head in a book.
After walking in she noticed a girl sitting down. She appeared to be reading a novel but upon closer inspection Jen realized that the girl had the book upside-down. A confused look came over Jen's face. "What are you doing?" Jen asked the girl, curiously.
((What's flooding? Is it when tons of people all reply?))
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Post by Scaleface on Aug 3, 2006 16:27:29 GMT -5
((yep... having too many people can get incredibly chaotic lol))
Scaleface jumped at the sudden voice, eyes darting over to see a newcomer. She quickly calmed; "I'm tryin' to read," she said; "But... the words are too big... I'm just taking a break..."
Rising, she went and picked up the book, dusting off the cover; "I'm Scaleface. Who're you? I ain't seen you around before." Her large grey eyes landed on the girl, expectant but dull.
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Post by Torrid on Aug 4, 2006 2:16:30 GMT -5
"I'm Jen," Jen replied, simply. "I started here awhile ago but I had to go back home for some time. You may have came here after I left." She expected that she'd get this a lot. Most of the people would probably assume she was a new student since she had been gone for such a long time. That made sense because they had never seen her before. Jen would just try to be brief about her explanation. It wasn't really all that important anyway.
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Post by Scaleface on Aug 4, 2006 14:36:20 GMT -5
"I've only bin here... three months," Scaleface said, having ot add up the days. "Sure it's good your back, though," she mused, sitting down at the table. She opened up the book again, upside down, but couldn't get much reading in. There was one word she couldn't say right in her head.
Pointing at the word, she looked up at Jen, blushing a little though her eyes were hardened with pride. SHe didn't need the help, she told herself, she just didn't feel like sounding it out.
"Ya know what this word is?" Scaleface asked, pointing at the word "Ostentatious".
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Post by Torrid on Aug 4, 2006 15:33:48 GMT -5
Jen looked down at the word. She knew it but had to think for a bit about what it was and how to explain it. She nodded. "Yea, I know it," she replied. "It means... it's like... like when you're trying to impress someone and you're showing off--you know, trying to make yourself look good."
It probably wasn't a word that everyone would know off-hand and even so Jen had to think about it anyway. She had been reading since she was a kid and had this thing that she would look up every word she didn't know in the dictionary so that she'd be more familiar with them. So Jen was pretty good with vocabulary in school.
Jen hoped that her explanation was good enough because while she could get an A+ on a vocab quiz she was always so bad at explaining things to people. At least on the first try anyway. If Scaleface still didn't understand she'd probably ask Jen for further explanation.
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Post by Scaleface on Aug 4, 2006 16:47:17 GMT -5
Scaleface had hoped that Jen would sa it out loud, but she didn't. Knowing the definition didn't help her any. Nodding though, she looked at the book, and shoved it away.
"I'm tryin' not t' be illiterate," Scaleface said simply; "Don't laugh, but I've bin in here four two hours and I've only read a couple pages of that book... it's hard."
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Post by Torrid on Aug 4, 2006 19:03:34 GMT -5
((OOC: She did say it out loud. I meant that she first thought about it then she said it outloud. The stuff in the quotes is what she said. Sorry for the confusion.))
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Post by Scaleface on Aug 4, 2006 19:52:16 GMT -5
((oops no I shouldn't have put it in quotes it was just to give the word lol))
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Post by Torrid on Aug 6, 2006 15:25:31 GMT -5
((Oh, I get it now. She wanted her to say the word out-loud. *smacks head* Sometimes I'm just that thick-headed. lol))
"No, don't worry about it," Jen said. With words like ostentatious it definitely wasn't an easy book. "No one is good at reading when they first do it. It's just something that you need to work at. Take me for instance, when I was in grade school I'd always needed extra help in English class. They'd always have me reading something or other to help me with it. I just came to love reading and in time you'd never see me without a book."
She smiled. It was always funny to think of how frustrated she was when it came to reading and how she felt so stupid but not much later she loved reading. It really was something she'd always love after she'd gotten into it. "It might be be easier though if you start with simpler books--ones that don't have as big of words as ostentatious. Then you can move up to books with bigger vocabulary. And--" Jen said walking over to the shelves and looking around. She pulled a book out and brought it over. "And this might help you." She placed a dictionary in front of Scaleface. "It has explanations of what the words mean, how to say them, and a lot of other useful stuff."
Jen was trying to be as helpful as she could. She loved reading and knew first hand how frustrating it could be to try to learn when you were just starting. She also knew that it was something that demanded practice. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither was reading ability. Maybe it came natural to some but others it was something that involved practice.
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Post by Scaleface on Aug 7, 2006 16:07:49 GMT -5
Scaleface listened to her. She just coudln't relate their stories, no matter how generous Jen was being or how remotely similar they could have been. It was just different for Scaleface.
"I'm... that was the first word that threw me off," she explained, then she looked at the dictionary.
Scaleface laughed quietly and half-heartedly; "Thanks," she said, looking at the cover; "It never even dawned on me there might be one lying around..."
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Post by Torrid on Aug 10, 2006 23:19:49 GMT -5
Jen shrugged. "I probably spend too much time in here," she replied. "I seem to know where everything is." She had a feeling that she wasn't helping very much and couldn't help but feeling like she was on a canoe and didn't even have a paddle. She knew that she didn't always have the answers but she always liked to help.
The best thing she could do now was forget about it and stop thinking she had to do everything right. That was something that Jen was used to feeling. She always felt like she had to fix everything and she hated misunderstandings but there was only so much trying one person could do before they became pathetic.
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Post by Scaleface on Aug 20, 2006 11:41:22 GMT -5
"I ran around here for an hour tryin' to figure out where everything was," Scaleface said; "It's pretty big, I can tell ya that!" she laughed quietly, goodnaturedly, knowing she was probably coming off as stupid.
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Post by Torrid on Aug 23, 2006 17:01:57 GMT -5
"Yea," Jen said with a smile. "That's what I like about it. It's so big and there's so much to read." Jen didn't think of her as stupid at all. She had been too busy feeling like a fool herself. She had said that she loved reading and the library about 10 times already and yet here she was saying it again. "Do you like to read?"
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