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Post by Sunshine on Oct 5, 2009 21:26:24 GMT
People tell her she's too hard on herself. Being smarter than the average ball of Sunshine she let the matter drop. All she did was nod to him and give him a quick hug before putting distance between them again. She noticed his pack was empty and tilted her head. "Do you have another pack in your room? Or do you need to go out and buy one?" She'd either wait for him to get back or this would give him a chance to run and duck for cover. However she did have to acknowledge his question. "I understand, but even realizing you messed up is a step in the right direction." Penny refused to believe that there wasn't hope for him.
"Oh I don't know. I've heard there are people around who like spicy food. I'm sure someone will eat it, if not I'd just donate it." The last bit was said with a shrug as if it were no big deal. It really wasn't she'd find someone or some place that would take the left overs.
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Post by wisdom on Oct 5, 2009 21:43:24 GMT
The hug caught him off guard, causing him to freeze up and pull an awkward expression. He hadn’t seen that coming, even considering the girl’s bouncy happy-go-lucky personality slash heavy mothering instincts. With an embarrassed cough to clear his throat he shook his head at her next question. “Theres bound to be a pack lurking around the place somewhere.” Truth be told there were quite a few he’d stashed away, most being in his room, but a significant quantity having wormed its way into the bottom draw of his desk in the classroom. “All right, enough angst, eh? Feeling sorry for yourself never got you anywhere after all.” He gave his head a rueful shake, what was he thinking going all retrospective and angst ridden in front of the girl? He was supposed to be a teacher; it was high time he at least pretended to fill the role.
“So, happy things and all that.... How’s your school work coming along?” He almost winced at how lame the subject change sounded. It occurred to him, as it did frequently throughout the day as he was teaching, that when he actually tried to be a teacher his mind just drew a blank. In hindsight he’d really wished he’d actually paid attention to his lecturers etc, maybe then he’d have a clue about actually handling some of this stuff.
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Post by Sunshine on Oct 5, 2009 21:52:33 GMT
"Sorry, it just kind of looked like you needed one." Penny looked down at her feet and wondered exactly how awkward she made him feel, then decided she didn't really want to know. When he said there was bound to be a pack somewhere she looked up at him and grinned. "Well then go get it and I'll clean up the rest of this mess. If you want to anyway." She had a funny feeling if he didn't get the pack he'd be running soon. "I don't consider it feeling sorry for myself, we were being introspective. But yeah, time to move on." She grinned again.
"Gah! I thought you said happy stuff." Her giggles were to let him know she was just teasing him. "Homework is alright. How's assigning homework coming?" She tried to give him a smirk but she's not very good at it.
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Post by wisdom on Oct 5, 2009 22:17:20 GMT
“Er, thanks.... I guess.” Being hugged wasn’t exactly a new thing for him, it had just been a while since someone had. It was certainly... Novel. Rubbing his face to rid it of its embarrassed expression, he thought about the girl before him once more. She certainly was going to be a mother hen when she grew up, if she already wasn’t shaping up that way already.
“Nah, I’ll clean up.” He gestured to the pile by his feet as opposed to the near spotless area around Penny’s. “Mostly, if not all, of its mine anyway.”
He squatted and began grabbing a few of the butts, stuffing them into the empty packet from whence they came. In truth he’d of probably just left them here and gone on his merry way, but with Sunshine here, not to mention her volunteering to clean up after him, he just felt... Guilty. “The kitchen will probably be free by now, or failing that just say I’m smoking in the garage and that’ll make the staff clean out.”
“I suppose for a teacher happy stuff is supposed to be school stuff.” He scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Honestly? I’ve been avoiding giving it out, if you lot are anything like I was I would of ditched it the moment I got home... Besides, seems a bit weird giving you homework when your school is the home.”
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Post by Sunshine on Oct 5, 2009 22:41:36 GMT
Penny watched as started to pick up the butts and she dropped down to one knee to help him. "It's just as much my mess. Besides two people get the job done faster." Well she was good at making things awkward wasn't she? Once again she half wished she wasn't the way she was, but only half wished.
When he mentioned the kitchen she looked up at him. "That mean you are hungry?" It could be a hint to get lost but she wanted to clarify. "I would never intentionally get you in trouble, especially for my own personal gain." Brown eyes looked up at him when she said that, she really wouldn't do that. She grins and giggles. "I usually do my homework. It will help with your 'good teacher' disguise and annoy some of the students. Homeworks not that bad, teenagers are just lazy."
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Post by wisdom on Oct 6, 2009 18:53:13 GMT
“Just as much your mess, eh? And they say the math programme is failing...” Pete muttered the last part mostly to himself, shaking his head as he did. “ Luv, two to... Well... A lot... Pretty sure that, even with my weak grasp on maths, it’s more MY mess than yours.” He shovelled the last remaining few into the packet, sliding it into his jacket pocket as he stood up. “See done and done. Honestly luv, try to be a bit more selfish, eh? Let someone else clean up their own mess once and a while. If you spend all the time worrying about other people, you tend to miss your life as it goes by.” His sister had that was for sure, she’d been so wrapped up in putting others first that by the time she’d got around to herself it was pretty late in the day so to speak.
“Says the teenager... And the question is do I really want to annoy a bunch of super powerful teenagers, all with a unique grasp of the term ‘self control’?” Of course he wasn’t actually afraid of them, well maybe a few, but he just didn’t see the value of homework with the vast majority of the students. And it was unfair if nine tenths of the class didn’t even bother, while people like Penny etc did. Well, that and he knew that homework for the students invariably meant more work for him. “I think I’ll just go with a ‘moderately ok teacher’ disguise if it’s all the same, less hassle and expectations.”
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Post by Sunshine on Oct 6, 2009 19:29:08 GMT
Penny took several steps back and wrapped her arms around herself. She'd made him mad or annoyed him or something and she didn't know why. "I... I'm.. sorry." She worried her bottom lip and was pretty sure this was her cue to leave. No one's ever told her to be more selfish and she blinked at him. Never in a million years did Penny ever think that trying to help would make someone upset with her. "I do worry about myself. I just like helping...."
The young girl was wondering where the smiling and laughing went. Knowing she'd pretty much pushed when she probably should have stepped back, she just nodded in agreement. "Alright...." She wasn't sure what to say now and that very rarely ever happens to her. It was a bit disconcerting.
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Post by wisdom on Oct 6, 2009 19:44:50 GMT
Pete’s eyebrows rose up in confusion at her sudden change in mood; he hadn’t meant the words he’d said to come out quite exactly how they’d sounded. He rubbed his face irritably with the palm of his hand and tried to think of what to say in a situation like this. This is certainly a case for why people like him shouldn’t be teachers, he always had a habit of saying things wrongly, or rather have them taken the wrong way...
“Luv, I’m not mad or anything... Just chalk it up to nicotine overdose, eh?” He tried to grin but in the face of having pretty much robbed the sunny personality from the younger girl it wasn’t exactly an easy task. “All I’m saying is, sometimes you should think more about helping yourself rather than others occasionally... I know you like helping and all, but there are sometimes when you shouldn’t...” He grimaced and rubbed his face once more. “...Shite... This is so coming out wrong.”
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Post by Sunshine on Oct 6, 2009 20:02:14 GMT
Oh this misunderstanding stuff sucks. Big time. "It's alright, I misunderstood. I think I understand what you mean. I try not to be a doormat if that makes you feel better. Don't know if I succeed or not. But at least I try." She hoped that made him feel better because she doesn't want to be the reason for his distress.
Penny realized he was just concerned for her emotional well being. That right there proved that he was at least a decent person. She just wasn't stupid enough to say anything to him about it. "You want to get another pack, and I'll get something to eat?" Penny highly doubted that he'd actually meet back up if they went their separate ways at this point, but she put the offer out there anyway.
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Post by wisdom on Oct 7, 2009 16:45:27 GMT
Pete palmed his face once more, “Luv, it’s not about making me feel better, it’s more about stopping people using you.” He really couldn’t seem to word it properly in the way he wanted, it all just came out like one big broken record. He gave her a thin wiry smile and decided that it was probably best to just drop it before she ended up in tears or something worse. He really couldn’t deal with something like that. “Just try to think of yourself before someone else at least once a day, eh?”
Another packet sounded good around now, especially following that brief emotional dip. Of course that would put him at around the three mark for one day, and he really doubted his lungs could survive a bashing like that. He was surprised that his chain smoking had yet to catch up with him, but then again it just seemed to affect others differently, or at different times. “Nah, I’ll pass. As much as I do enjoy my B&H, I’m pretty sure I’m not ready to be gearing up for an early grave if it’s all the same to you.” He didn’t exactly want to ditch the girl to be honest, but rather had kind of drawn a blank on the whole what to say aspect of their conversation. Pete Wisdom lost for words. How his former colleagues and teachers would be surprised at that turn of events.
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Post by Sunshine on Oct 7, 2009 17:38:54 GMT
That was the one thing she was worried about. Could she really tell when people were just using her? Well when it was blatant and they tried to talk her into doing something she didn't want to do, then yeah, she could tell. But what really consituted as 'using' her? Did she let people use her? Was it really taking advantage when she didn't mind helping? "It's when they just start to assume I'll do it, isn't it? That's what you are talking about..." Maybe she'd have to rethink this whole thing. "I promise, at least once a day I'll think about myself and might even tell someone no and mean it."
Brown eyes widened and she shook her head. "Oh no, I wouldn't want you to go into an early grave either." Penny tried to wrack her brain for something to talk about. Nothing too overly personal but something none the less. "Who was your favorite James Bond?"
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Post by wisdom on Oct 8, 2009 17:45:20 GMT
Telling someone to stand up for themselves, to avoid being used, was something new to Pete Wisdom. In all honestly, back in the day, people like Penny would of been his first choice when he was in a fix and needed a quick way out. It was probably for that reason that he really didn’t want her to fall victim to people like him, the kind that really only thought about number one and number one only. ”Just use your instincts, ok? Think before you do and all that. As I said, its better to be wanted for the right reasons.”
“Darling, do you even need to ask? Sean Connery is the James Bond, all the rest were, and indeed are, pale imitations.” So it had come down to small talk, a subject he usually religiously avoided when all possible. Still, with the possibility of offending the girl still looming on the horizon, Pete really didn’t want to offend the girl with his usual dodging tactics. “Of course he is Scottish so I suppose that does count slightly against him, but even with that handicap he still is the one and only.”
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Post by Sunshine on Oct 8, 2009 19:20:07 GMT
Penny nodded. She was glad that she wasn't the only one that worried about her becoming that little slave girl, so to speak. It would be hard for her to tell someone no, unless she didn't like them. She had yet to meet someone she didn't like enough to want to tell them no. There were somethings that one couldn't pressure her into, and for that she was grateful. "It's the guilt thing. People think that I'm just acting this way, and when they start calling me a liar, if I get upset the guilt kicks in. I don't know why I'm so easy to guilt though, even if it's not my fault. But I'll work on it. Promise."
The girl nodded in agreement, Sean Connery was James Bond, there was no doubt. Her head tilted a bit when he didn't seem to keen on small talk. She wondered what they could discuss that wouldn't cause him to make him uncomfortable. "There is nothing handicap about him being Scottish. But then I like accents so, I'm biased. What kind of things are we allowed to talk about?" There she goes with that, not checking what she says, thing again.
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Post by wisdom on Oct 9, 2009 21:54:26 GMT
“It’s not me you need to make that promise to, it’s yourself.” Pete shrugged. “At the end of the day, it’s your life and all that, luv. I can stand here, spouting all what you should and shouldn’t do, but at the end of it all, you’re the one that has to live with it.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, wishing and not for the first time that he had a cigarette once more. “I’d just rather you didn’t make mistakes that could otherwise be avoided. Some history need not be repeated and all that.” When he was her age he’d hated all the teachers that had tried to tell him how to lead his life, now here he was doing the very same thing. How times had changed, and it was debatable if it was for the better or not.
“It’s not the accent I was talking about luv.” He didn’t really think he had enough time to fully explain all the intricacies of the whole English and Scottish rivalry, let alone be able to explain it in a way that didn’t make it sound so... Petty. He almost let a smirk slip as she just came out and blatantly asked point blank the does and don’ts of their conversation. The girl really was observant, a skill that was almost as useful as any super power in his mind. “No sense in beating about the bush, eh? We can talk about anything you’d like really, within reason of course."
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Post by Sunshine on Oct 9, 2009 22:46:45 GMT
Penny nodded. "You really are good at this, even if you don't think so. Don't worry, it didn't go in one ear and out the other. I'm really going to try, though sometimes I might forget." She wasn't sure what he meant about history repeating itself but she didn't have much of a chance to really ask. She noticed that the lights had come on and it was dark outside. "Oh dear, I have to get going. I'm sorry to have taken up so much of your time, I don't see the reason to beat around the bush, and I'd love to talk with you again out side of class." All of this was said as they girl was nearly jogging for the door.
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