Highmauve: Library, Study Room D

Winter giggled softly as he insisted that he did the sniff test. He obviously didn't do it right but she let him have his fun. "I'm sure you did. Lesson learned, okay?" She said with a smile.

She looked at Jake as he tried his best to cheer her up and she'd be damned if it wasn't working. He had an almost infectious attitude. She couldn't help but to enjoy his company. Even his wink was playful.

"Alright fine. You convinced me. And I'm sure that Noelle doesn't really count as staff. She's hear for work-study. She doesn't have much authority." She looked at the taller boy. "We'll take turns. You go first since this is your idea."

"No, no, no, no." Jake shook his head quickly, his curls moving after his body "Listen. You are the one who needs to break their library curse. You go first. And Noelle is on staff. She gets paid and everything. Plus, I bet you've seen Noelle angry. She can control anything when she is angry."

He gives a dramatized shudder but smiles at Winter. This girl was fun and needed a laugh, and Jake was just glad that he was there to help. He sits up, leaning over his knees, his finger beginning to trace his ankh again. It was therapeutic and a habit he had never been able to break. He watches the small girl with sparkling eyes.

"Come on. Hide and seek in the aisles? Stealing the bathroom key? OH! Turning on Kenny Loggin's Footloose and going ham on those beats!" His mind was spinning with fun activities for the two of the them.

Winter smiled. Jake was persistent. She will give him that. "Alright fine. But we can't piss off Noelle or else the cure continues." She said, laying down the ground rules. "We both don't want her mad at us so probably leave the books alone."

Winter leaned back in the couch and thought hard. What would be fun for them to do? They had to pull something off. Something fun. Something daring. She couldn't really resist such a challenge.

"Alright fine. Hide and go seek. But... No powers and no using other people to help you hide. Bathrooms off limits as that's not fair. I'll hide and you seek." She said with a grin. "Start counting!" As soon as he did, she took off running into the dephts of the library.

"Alright." And he begins to count. Slowly, as he did with his six younger siblings when it was his turn to babysit. Each number deliberate and meaningful. He was standing at his full height, covering his eyes.

He knew this was ridiculous.

He also knew that, with his height, he had an extreme disadvantage. He had to think small if he had a chance to win.

"Twenty! Ready or not, here I come!" Jake begins to stalk the aisles, walking on the balls of his feet, almost utterly silent. He looks low, under the shelves and desks, trying to find the much smaller girl. But, he was a master at hide and seek. He could do it.

Winter grinned as Jake actually started to count. He was counting! This was great. They were actually going to play hide and go seek in the library. It was ridiculous. Sure. But fun!

She looked around for a suitable hiding spot. She was small so she had to use that to her advantage. She scanned around the area when she spotted her spot. Perfect.

She had found a large vase with a fern. It's green leaves provided the perfect cover for her. She quickly hid, making sure that no part of her body was exposed. She grinned as she curled up. He couldn't possibly find her here!

Jake kept looking, humming to himself. He scouted high and low for the small, chatty Cathy. He looked through bookshelves, behind trash cans, under desks and tables. He was smiling the entire time. Truth was, he spotted Winter a while ago. He had become really great at hide and seek ever since his younger sister manifested her own mutation. Once you find yourself looking a mouse who could be hiding anywhere in your home, you could find anything.

But Jake wasn't going to let her know that. So he kept looking. After five minutes, he silently snuck up to the Fern and stood over it, waiting for her to look up.

He didn't notice as Noelle walked by with her book cart, who took one look at Jake, shook her head, and moved on.

Winter hid in the fern silently, covering her mouth. She couldn't help but to grin. THis was a great hiding spot! THere was no way he could find her! She smiled a bit to herself. Jake barely knew her and yet he was willing to cheer her up. She couldn't help but appreciate him. SHe decided to make an effort to hang out with him more, especially after the whole Trevor thing. That had to be rough for him,

A few minutes passed and Jake had walked by her hiding spot a couple of times. He clearly had no idea that she was there! Perfect! She couldn't help but to giggle after he had walked away. This was too good!

She looked up to brush some of her hair out of her face and then she saw him. She made eye contact and playfully sighing in defeat. "Alright... you got me." She said before crawling out of the fern. She stood up and brushed herself off before giving him a questioning look. "You knew that I was there the entire time, didn't you?" She said after a bit.

"Not the entire time. Just after about 2 minutes. It's alright though, I'm a hide and seek master." He smiles smugly. In all honesty, he was glad that Winter was smiling and laughing, getting her mind off of Sienna. What a piece of work. "Alright, shortie. It's my turn start counting."

And he's off in a flash. With his height, it was near impossible for him to just... crouch under a desk. Or behind a fern. So he had to get creative. He passed Noelle again, who was stacking books onto a high shelf- Oh. Now THERE was an idea.

He quickly went to the other side of the library and placed his foot on the second lowest shelf. Then, he hoisted himself up to the top, laying flat on his back. Due to their height, he doubted that Winter would be able to see him, and he could jump down on either side. So, he waited.

Winter smiled and rolled her eyes. "Alright... alright. Fine. Youre the master.' She said but grinned anyways. His smug attitude was well earned. she wasn't about to give him flack for it. Not yet anyways. When he called her "shortie", she gasped, pretending that she was offended. "Shortie? Will, I'll show you that I am fun sized, Sasquatch." she retorted before covering her eyes and counting to twenty.

Once she reached twenty, she started searching right away. He could not have gotten far. She looked around and he wasn't anywhere in her immediate line of sight, so she started walking. She started her search low and then scooped her eyes upward. She knew that since he was so much taller than her that he couldn't just crouch down and hide like she could. He would have to find something big and tall to hide behind.

She began searching up and down the aisles. She pasted Noelle, smiled and waved at her before continuing her search. She looked up at where Jake was hiding but he was right. Her height made it impossible to see on top of the top shelf and therefore the top of the shelf itself. She placed her hands on her hips as she thought. He had to be around her. He wouldn't have gone outside. If Jake was so good, he would have found a really good spot. Somewhere that she wouldn't think to look.

There was a tall statue that he could hide behind... But it was clear on the other side where she came from. She sighed and started walking away from Jake who remained unnoticed by the mutant girl.

Jake stays up on top of the shelf, absolutely still. Once he knew Winter had passed, he carefully rolled himself off of the shelf.

Now, in his mind, it was a James Bond-esque move where he landed lightly on his hands and feet. Then, he was going to carefully make his way to the other end of the Library and repeat his process until Winter found him, drove herself insane, or the Library closed. It was GENIUS! But it didn't really go that way.

THUD!


Jake landed flat on his back with a groan, the shelf teetering ever so slightly. His eyes go wide as the books fall, almost in slow motion, landing on top of Jake in a patter. He grunts at each hit, choosing to lay there until he was completely buried.

Winter started to walk away in search of jake when she heard it. A big loud thud followed by a groan and several books falling. She paused. That couldn't be.... but then she reflected on Jake's personality. Oh yeah, it definitely could be. She turned and followed the sound of the falling books until she found Jake, buried in a pile of books.

And Winter laughed. It was loud and mirthful. She covered her mouth to dampen the sound but she bent over and slapped her knee. This was too funny! He somehow managed to fall and make the books pile on top of him.

She walked up to him and uncovered his face. She grinned. "Got you, oh master of Hide and Seek. Was this part of your subtle and yet brilliant plan? If so... it worked." She started helping him up by picking up the books before extending her hand out to him. "We're probably going to get kicked out cause of this." She said with a huge grin.

Jake began to clear the books off of him, bringing himself to stand. Quickly, he began to pick them up and place them back on the top shelf, sloppily. He knew he was going to catch hell from his favorite bookworm, but he would be in even more trouble if the mess stayed where it was.

"No, we aren't going to get kicked out if we can leave before anyone sees us." He is about halfway down with the pile of books, the shelf now almost too cluttered to add more. But that is what Jake did. Eventually, his attempts prove fruitful, and he begins to nonchalantly walk away, whistling. Like a cartoon.

He turns to Winter, urging him to follow. Noelle was only two aisles away. He would, of course, come back later to help clean up. But Winter didn't know that. And he didn't want anymore bad memories for the girl in this place.

Winter helped him by handing him books as she couldn't help put them back on the shelf. She's a little too short for that. She watched with a raised eyebrow as he stacked them hapharzardly. "uh .... Well... That's one way to stack books." She said.

Then he started to walk away, she shook her head and quickly followed after him, looking casual as well with a grin. She smiled up at the taller boy.

"We should probably go. Thanks for cheering me up, Jake. You're a good friend even if we do barely know each other."

"I get that a lot." Jake grins, walking her towards the door "But I'm glad you're feeling better. Forget Sienna, she seems kinda gross. I mean, we are all kinda gross in our own way. But she seems like the kind of gross that judges other people. And that's not cool. Plus, you're cute and feisty. I'm sure you'll snag another girl pretty quickly."

While Jake grew up with Catholic values and restrictions, he didn't really subscribe to ALL of those beliefs. Sure, he went to Church occasionally when he was at school and all the time with his family back home, but it was mainly just habit. And if he didn't like the priest, he didn't go. He had way too many people telling him that he was going to hell, he didn't need some old guy to remind him of the fire and brimstone. At the end of the day, Jake loved people and as long as people were making choices that weren't harmful towards them or other people, why was it his business? He might not understand it, but he wasn't going to fear it or be a bigot. 

"You got this."

Winter smiled as he described Sienna to a 'T'. Then she blushed when he mentioned snagging another girl. "Well I.... Well.... Actually I...." She was about to deny the fact that she was into girls when she realized that he had heard probably the entire conversation. She sighed. "Alright... Fine. I like girls.... And guys. Just... Don't tell anyone."

She smiled. "But thanks. I already... Have a girl in mind. We just have to figure out our schedules. It's sort of.... Long distance." She blushed even more. "But you probably don't care about any of this." She walked back over to her things and started packing up. "I hope I didn't distract you too much."

"I won't tell anyone. Don't have any friends to tell."

That one hung in the air awkwardly- he quickly changes the subject "I needed a distraction, so no worries! IF you need anything, I'm around!" He throws her a wave, making his way back through the building. He wanders aimlessly for a bit, eventually going back and resetting the shelf.

Winter frowned ever so slightly when Jake mentioned not having any friends. Now that was depressing. She remembered that the one person who he hung out with was Trevor. She looked away before looking back at him as he walked away.

"Hey, Jake! I'm your friend. You need me or any distraction I can give... Just come and find me. We'll do this again sometime." She called before waving back at him. They all had their troubles but it seems that Jake hasn't really dealt with all of his .. as if she could talk. But still...