The Best and Worst of Times
Who: Jessie and Nate
Where: Fountaine Park
When: Late morning/early afternoon
So maybe Jessie was ready to get a jumpstart on this whole 'being a better student' thing. The past week of so had seen her shirking her studently duties. Skipping school had sounded like a good idea at the start of the day and oddly enough, she didn't hate having breakfast with Maddy. She was actually fairly happy with the outcome of their meeting, even if she hated having to pass on the news she'd had to. But it was a fairly nice day and she had a test coming up, so she weighed her options. She could just go back home right now, explain to her dad that it was just one of those days that she needed to take off of school, and hole herself up in her room all day studying for her upcoming test. Or she could do that here, outside, in the park, and try to get some fresh-but-smoky air.
She positioned herself under one of the larger trees in the park and dropped her bag beside her. She liked the trees here. Even though they weren't blooming yet, she knew it couldn't be but so far away. The first day of spring was a day that she longed for, but if she was going to be studying A Tale of Two Cities, she'd rather there not be blooming trees. She'd get distracted and end up just not studying at all. So begrudgingly, she pulled her book out of her bag and opened it, picking up where she'd left off by scribbling notes with a pencil on the margins.
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As far as Nate was concerned, he had a free period just after lunch. His 'father' didn't much give a damn about his schooling, not now that he wasn't paying through the nose for it, and especially since Nate had said that he wanted to join the Syndicate. According to Iakov Konovich, his schooling was now on the streets. It was only his mother who was insistent that he graduate. Nate was fine with keeping them both happy, but it meant that he was equally fine with skipping classes when he wanted: especially given that he'd already studied much of the curriculum. He'd turn up to pass tests, and the rest was pretty much optional - like now, as he walked through the park, enjoying the day. The girl under the tree looked familiar, though he didn't know her-know her. That never usually stopped him though and he headed over and sat down beside her. "What you reading?" he asked, looking over at the book.
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When he sat down beside her, JJ spent a good moment just studying him. He looked sort of familiar but JJ couldn't place him, so of course she was staring at him in the way that someone would stare at someone else they didn't particularly know, but who had chosen to sit down beside them anyway. "Uhm..Tale of Two Cities? I have a test on it soon." She said, closing the book carefully so he could see the cover, but marking her place in it with her thumb. "Do I know you?"
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Nate smiled, a warm look on his face that managed to appear slightly tanned, despite the winter. "We go to the same school," he supplied to her. "But no, I don't think we really know each other. I've seen you around, but that doesn't really count, does it? I'm Nate," he supplied, holding a hand out. "And bad luck - on the book. I never much cared for Dickens."
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Jessie reached out and took his hand, shaking it as she answered. "I'm Jessie. Or JJ. Nice to meet you, Nate." When she let go, she glanced back down at the book and nodded. "Yeah? Me neither. This book is seriously boring, but I end up kind of hating whatever I have to read in school anyway. I like reading, but I hate being told what I have to read, you know?" She shrugged. "So are you skipping today too?"
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"I have a free," Nate said, handing her the same excuse as he'd told himself. The free was actually known as French class, but since he was better in that than most of his peers, he didn't see why he should turn up. It may as well be a free, for all that the class would actually teach him. "What would you prefer to be reading?" he asked her. "And I'm fairly sure that, generally, you don't do homework when you're playing hookie - kinda defeats the whole object, don't you think?" he asked her, a glint of humour and a little something else flashing in the back of his eyes.
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"Anything but Charles Dickens," She started, but knew that wasn't a good enough answer. "I was thinking about starting Brave New World but I have to finish this stupid book first." Jessie glanced back at him, shrugging. "I'm not usually this boring when I play hookie. I've just not been paying much attention in class anyway and I figured I could show up late and get yelled at, or I could skip altogether and try to get some work done, but that's not really happening either. I can't focus on a book so boring. I don't even care how it ends, I just want it to end, which it never seems like it will. This book will go on forever. It'll haunt me."
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Nate considered this, then stood up and offered her his hand again, this time to pull her up. "It'll definitely haunt you, and we can't be having that! Tell you what. I'll make you a deal. You play hookie with me for real in the proper and age old style, and I'll give you the abridged version of the book. I had to study it a couple of years ago, so I can give you enough bull about themes and motifs and whatever else they'll be expecting to cover you. And you can be free of the insane boredom that is Dickens," he suggested.
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At first, Jessie just stared at him. Really? He wanted her to play hookie with him and she'd get an abridged version of this book at the end of it? She was, of course, a little suspicious. It sounded like something Dodge would pull, the whole, 'it's a win-win for you if you hang out with me' situation. So of course she was a little leery, but she stood up with his help and brushed off the pants of her legs. "Before I say yes, I have a question. Why? You don't know me, why would you want me to play hookie with you and on top of it, give me a book?"
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Nate cocked a smile at her. "You mean, what's in it for me?" he asked, rhetorically. "Well, I get a change to spend some time with a pretty girl and, really, playing hookie with someone else is always more entertaining to doing it alone. So - you'd be doing me a favour keeping me company, and if telling you about something I already know is the price of that, it's a price I'm willing to pay," he said, smoothly.
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The pretty girl line might have worked on anyone other than Jessie. It certainly wasn't going to work in the headspace that she was in. But she'd get an abridged version of this book that she knew she was nowhere near finishing and maybe she should give Nate a chance anyway? Just because he called her pretty didn't mean he was going to be like Dodge and go after her aunt and Maddy too. It didn't mean anything, really, so why should she write off someone she didn't know at all immediately? Deciding to ignore the pretty girl thing altogether, Jessie pulled her schoolbag up onto her shoulder and stuffed the book down inside it. "What's the plan, then? If you're some kind of hookie expert, you should have a plan."
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"Did I say I was a hookie expert? Maybe. Not around here though - so, today my plan is limited to the park, unless you'd prefer to check out some other area of town. Me? I quite like it here, you know, on the days it's not raining. It's nice to be out when it's not raining," he told her. He thought that sounded good, though in retrospect figured that he should have sounded more certain. In control. Possibly.
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"No, I think the park works. I like it too. I don't come down here too often unless it's spring or summer, but I was thinking the same thing. Sort of..why be cooped up in a classroom when I could be out in the park instead?" She asked before taking a few steps away from the tree. "So...what grade are you in?" He'd read the book she was reading before, not to mention he looked older than her and he wasn't in any of her classes.
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"I'm a senior, but I've spent most of my time in boarding school - which are really dull by the way," he told her, because that kind of thing was expected. Either you found boarding school dull as anything, or you were the kind of uptight person who enjoyed that. Nate was neither. he'd actually really enjoyed his time in Italy, but that was because he'd had a good game going in working the system, which meant that he was able to play by his own rules. Of course, the growing war had brought a stop to all of that and home he'd come. "And they always studied everything in a different order there - I'm finding I've mostly covered everything already," he admitted.
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Jessie was not under the impression that she would like boarding school. She would be away from her family and for her, that was just not possible. No amount of cultural discovery could make her want to live away from her family for so long. "Boarding school sounds dull...and pretty lonely. You're too far away from your family. I don't think a boarding school is for me." A little confused, Jessie added, "So you've pretty much already studied the things you're learning in school here, but what would you be learning back in boarding school if you'd stayed?"
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"I would imagine that I'd be learning things that I don't already know," Nate teased, his blue eyes flashing with mirth. "But, I came back instead, so I don't get to find out what probably equally boring things they had in store for me. Do you have a big family? You're close?" he asked, showing interest in her and assuming that since her first stop was to mention her family.
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Yeah, maybe it was a pretty stupid question, but she'd been curious about his classes considering that he'd said they were in a different order than they were back here. When he asked her about her family, though, Jessie's smile was bright and genuine. "Yeah, I have a pretty big family and we're all really close. I live with my dad, he means the world to me. Did you miss your family while you were away?"
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He liked the smile - it was a clear sign that he'd hit upon a good subject and because of that, it was one he intended to pursue, and one he could use. "My family?" he asked, shaking his head. "No - it's mostly just my mom and my step-dad. I'm an only child, so was my mom. I guess there's my step-dad's family, but somehow it's not the same, is it?" he asked, pulling a little face that was edged with some sadness, aiming to garner a little sympathy, even if it wasn't outward. In truth, he'd never really cared that much about family anyhow, not in the way most people did, but he never let that show. Outwardly, he was a dutiful and loving son, and he played the role faultlessly, even in the face of his step-father forever telling him he wasn't good enough. "And yeah, I missed my family, but mom and I wrote a lot - it was always good to hear from her, and she used to send these cute little packages... which I'm not gonna go into, since it'll probably leave me looking like a real wuss," he joked, self-deprecatingly, flashing her a charming smile. "So - just you and your dad, huh? I guess you too must be close," he surmised, something which he got more from the way she'd brightened up than anything else.
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"I'm an only child too," She started, still smiling. "I think it's sweet your mom sent you packages. It's nice that you have a mom who'll do that for you." She wasn't sure why she'd said that, but the subtle jab at her own mother was surprising to JJ. She shouldn't even be thinking of that woman, let alone blabbing out something that could be taken as a jab at her to someone she didn't know. If she ever went away, she imagined her father would send her nice packages like his mother had. But her thoughts were getting out of hand now. "Just my dad and I," She started. There was no reason to explain why Becky was staying with them. That was their business and no one else's. She was happier to stay on the subject of her dad. "We're really close; I tell him everything. I don't think I could go off to a boarding school because it meant I wouldn't get to see him or any of my family."
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Nate winced slightly, as if only just now picking up on something. "I'm sorry - I didn't mean to suggest... I didn't even think," he told her, sounding truly apologetic about the whole thing. "I - I never knew my real dad, my mom married my step-dad when I was little, and then - well, I didn't much get a choice where I went. He thought it would be best for me," he said. He'd thought it would be best for him and Nate hadn't actually had the opportunity to say otherwise. He'd been eight years old and told that he was moving abroad. he'd come home every summer - a long and lonely boat ride - but otherwise, he'd been on his own. And he'd learned from that. And he'd learned that he wasn't the write off that his step-father thought he was. He was so much more than that. But, being just that suited his purpose, being underestimated suited his purpose, so he'd learned to play the game and now he presented what people expected to see. To him, it didn't matter what the truth was, the only person that mattered was himself.
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And what JJ heard was him apologizing for something he shouldn't be apologizing for. Did what she say sound like her mother was dead? That wasn't exactly where she was going with that and as much as JJ hated the woman, she couldn't wish her dead. She just wanted her away from her family. She instantly shook her head. "Oh, no, it's not like that. Don't...don't worry about it." Jessie listened to his story with a frown, though. "So he just sent you off to boarding school? That's so unfair! I'm sorry you had to leave because your step-father made you..."
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"I don't want to sound ungrateful," Nate said, quickly. "He's been good to my mom and me, and I know that mitty mom loves him very much," he said. Which was the truth. His mom loved the guy. But then, with the best will in the world, his mom was as thick as two short planks and had found her niche in the world as a shiny little geegaw on a mob man's arm. But she was happy with that, as was her husband. And Nate was good with the situation as well. Everyone was happy.
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"I don't think you sound ungrateful, I think you should more like someone who was forced to go to boarding school when maybe they didn't want to. I don't understand how your step-father could do that to you." She had to wonder why his mother didn't stand up for him, why she wouldn't let him get shipped off if they were so close, but she didn't ask. It would be rude and way uncalled for. "Did you at least like where you went for boarding school?"
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And that was good, for that was exactly what he wanted to sound like. That poor, hard done by young man, a chink to be pitied, for all the family riches and privileged. In his experience, there was little that women liked more than to think they'd found that little secret chink in a guy's armor, even if they didn't realize it at the time. He didn't show any of that outwardly though, instead turning to her question. "yeah, actually, I loved where I was sent," he told her. "I went to school in France until I was around twelve, them moved to Italy. Really, it was more that most people ever get to experience," he added, with some feeling.
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"France and Italy, huh? That sounds amazing. Which did you like best?" Definitely more than she figured she'd experience. Even if they had the money to travel like that, she wouldn't be in France or Italy for as long as Nate had been. But she had to wonder which she might like better, France or Italy. Or where she'd want to go if she had the chance. She'd figured she'd probably prefer to be in Italy, if only because of the food and she really knew next to nothing about France.
"I don't know?" Nate
"I don't know?" Nate suggested, as if he were unsure. "I mean, I was there at very different times and all. Kid for one, not so much for the other. And, well, France was in the city and all, whereas the school I was at in Italy, well, that was way up in the mountains, miles from anywhere. Really damn beautiful though. Like you wouldn't believe. All mountains, lakes and snow." He smiled a little, as if recalling a fond memory.
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"Sounds pretty," She agreed. She could picture it, a big boarding school nestled away in a mountain, overlooking a lake at winter with snow wafting down from the sky. It sounded beautiful. "I guess I just don't associate Italy with being cold, though..." Shifting her bag onto her shoulder again, she added, "Tell me your favorite thing about both places then?"
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Normally, Nate tried to keep the conversation on other people. And normally, that wasn't too much of a challenge. Most people were more than happy to talk about themselves, after all. But, if she'd prefer to listen to him talk about himself, then he wasn't so obvious and crude as to switch topics. He tried to be more subtle than that. And he tried to give people what they expected. And if they expected a guy who was happy to talk about himself, then that was what they would get. He smiled a little,his expression softening. "I liked the leaves in the fall in France. They used to sweep them into great piles in the road, and the school I was at, the buildings were down from each other? Anyhow, they used to walk us, twice a day, down the road, crocodile fashion, and in the fall there would be these great piles of leaves that - even though we weren't meant to - we'd jump in. And Italy? The mornings - I'd get up early, before anyone else. You don't get peace like that. Like there's nobody else in the world. It's just you and nature. Just to sit and watch the sun come up over snow-capped mountains, that first light hit the lake below. then hear the sounds of life starting in the building behind you. Yeah, that was something special."
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His memories of France were cute. He's said he was young when he was there and she could imagine a group of small boys all jumping onto a massive pile of leaves only to be scolded at in French. But it was the idea of Italy and the peace he found there that really hit home. Maybe she needed to do something like that. Wake up really early, not just early enough to not be late to school, and sit and watch the sun come up. Everyone else at home would be sleeping, she could hear when they started to wake up... At the very least, it couldn't hurt. "Sounds really nice. I don't generally like to wake up really early, but I think I'll try it. Waking up before everyone and watching the sun come up just because...Can't remember the last time I did that." Sure, she'd been awake before the sun came up recently, but it wasn't because she wanted to see the sun. It was because she couldn't sleep. "I mean, it probably won't be the same here because we're in a city and someone's always up no matter what time it is, but the idea is still nice."
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There. He had her interest there again, a hook sent out, returned with something on it. Just as planned. He smiled, a little - not too much. "I've done it. A couple of times. Since I've been back. There's a pier, down at the dock - far enough out that you can catch the sunrise over the water. I go down there sometimes. Maybe you'd like to join me some day? There's a lock, see - you'd need to get through it, but I've got a key. Jyst sit, watch the sun come up. A bit of peace," he suggested to her.
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The idea was nice, but Jessie was cautious. She didn't know Nate, even if their conversation was pleasant and better than reading Charles Dickens. And then there was the question that was really nagging her. Jessie didn't really go to the docks. They were places she didn't want to be, didn't exactly trust being, so why was it that someone only a few years older than she was had a key to one of them? "...Yeah, maybe, but why do you have the key to a dock?"
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He caught the hesitation there, and wasn't overly surprised. After all, she didn't know him. Some, though, he knew, would have readily agreed. But, he played to the person. And, in fact, he didn't mean her any harm - not that she had any way of knowing that. "My step-father owns the dock," he explained to her. He never tried to hide the fact his was a Konovich. Largely, it was pointless. many people in the city already knew, and the rest, well, it was hardly a secret, and he could play the reputation along with the rest. His entire life had been one game after another. Still, with Jessie he played it by being almost coy.
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Jessie was no stranger to who owned the docks and what that meant right now. It made her more nervous and while she knew it was wrong, she couldn't quite help it. She didn't want to treat Nate based on what she heard about the Syndicate. He deserved a fair shot like everyone but that didn't mean she had to put herself in harm's way. "So..you do know that the docks don't really have the best reputation, right? I'm not saying this to be rude or anything, it's just...they come off as a pretty dangerous place."
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Nate knew full well, and that was often why he approached the subject the way he did - it gave him a better chance to react to the situation the way that was best suited to the individual. "I'm not my step-father, Jessie," he told her, reassuringly. "I know what they say, but I'm not into all of that." Which was a complete lie, but lies he was good at, and he didn't care that he used them. He had surprisingly little conscience, at the end of the day. He was out for what he could get, and he'd use anything at all to get there. He was already on his way, an active member of the Syndicate, determined to work his way up. "I know the docks can be dangerous. But not for me, or anyone with me. I stay out of all of that, but still... My step-father has a reputation that people don't easily cross. It gives me a certain amount of freedom."
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"I didn't mean..no, I'm sure you're not your step-father, but look at it this way. I can tell you right now my dad isn't going to want me going to the docks and I'm not going to do anything that'll worry him." It just didn't make sense to her. How could he stay out of everything if he was at the docks to begin with? "Can you blame me for being wary of a place that I only hear bad things about?"
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Nate didn't even pause as he nodded, regretfully. "I know - it was just an idea. I don't want you to do anything that you'd be uncomfortable with, or that would get you into trouble," he told her. "And - anyway, your dad would probably throw a fit at you going off doing something like that with a guy you hardly know anyhow," he pointed out. "Docks or no docks. Forget I ever mentioned it."
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"The idea's not bad, I think there just needs to be a different setting." She glanced back at Nate with a small smile. "And I'd probably need to know you a little better anyway." And run the idea by her father, who would undoubtably give her the right answer. "Why don't we sit together at lunch tomorrow? That is, if you're not skipping the whole day again." And lunch at school was safe. There were no docks, no Syndicate overtones to worry about. It'd give her a chance to learn more about Nate, not just worry about who his stepfather was.
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That would do, that would more than do. Nate's intentions were to make connections. In all honesty, though he did like dallying with girls, he was never out for more than they would give - he didn't see the point. Oh sure, there was the fabulous challenge of occasionally convincing them that they wanted to give him more than they generally would, but that was a very different thing, in his mind, to actual force. That, to force a girl, was tacky at the very least. And unnecessary. A failure. "Lunch would be great," he told her, with an easy manner. "I'm sure I can make it. I'll make sure I'm there," he amended, toning it like she was the reaso he'd make sure he was there.
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"Not to mention you owe me one abridged version of A Tale of Two Cities." She reminded with a smile. "And if you tell me you left it back in Italy, I'm going to be really upset." Nate had been nice so far. There was no reason to believe he meant her any harm. He deserved a chance to not be judged because of his family. Jessie just had to try not to do that. She really didn't like judging people, but this was definitely something she needed to refer to her own family for.
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He laughed a little at that. "Sure - I really do. Tell you what, meet me for lunch and I'll bring with me the notes I made for the project they got us to do on the damn book. I'd bring you the essay but that's in Italian. The notes are in English. You just have to get through my scrawl," he joked, knowing his handwriting was much more of an eminently readable and actually quite stylish copperplate than anything that would be classed as a 'scrawl', but with her, as with most other people, he would sell himself short.
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"You had to write an essay and do a project on that book? Did you burn your copy of the book when you were done? I would have." She could not imagine wasting that much time on that book. It was beyond boring. "I'm feeling luckier and luckier that I just have a test on it." Jessie did appreciate the help he was giving her. Not only an abridged version, but notes that she could compare with her own? It was definitely more than she thought she was going to end up with at the end of today. "Thanks, Nate. I really appreciate it."
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Nate rolled his eyes, though it was at the issue, not at her. "The essay was the end point of the project," he explained to her. The schools he'd been sent to were a lot more challenging than the local school system - which was the real reason behind him being more advanced in his classes than his peers. They simply taught everything earlier and at a faster rate and expected the students to keep up. if they couldn't, they were out of the system. Parents generally didn't pay that kind of money for their kids to coast through what could otherwise be provided for free. "And don't think me, really - they're right there, gathering dust. Better someone makes use of them and doesn't have to suffer through Dickens," he laughed.
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"Well, it's still nice of you." She couldn't help but laugh a little with him. "I mean, seriously, of all the things he's written, we have to read the most boring one? I'm not a big fan of his anyway, but why couldn't they test us on A Christmas Carol or something?" She knew the answer, they didn't want people relying on what they already knew about something. They wanted their students to actually read the books assigned to them, and Jessie would...if the books weren't so boring. "I mean..there's ghosts, there's parties..it's Christmas. Fun for everyone, right?"
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"Ahh, yeah - but that would be the easy option. Personally, I think it's just that you need a real sadistic streak to become a teacher. Or maybe that's part of the college course - sadism 101 - how to torture your students," he suggested, stretching the title out like a billboard, his hands in front of him.
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Jessie laughed again. "It's like they sit around in their teacher conferences and pick out the most boring things to make us learn. Really, who cares if I read this book or not? If they were teaching me something interesting, I'd want to read it. But at least I don't have to do a project on it. That makes your boarding school teachers way worse than the ones here."
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"So - what would you consider interesting?" he asked her. "Aldous Huxley? Or does he just have potential because he's an unknown?" If that was the case, he was an unknown to both of them, though Nate made a note to get hold of a copy of the author's work in the very near future. He refused to have a situation where he didn't know something which might prove to be to his advantage, even if only a small one. Those small advantages could add up.
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"Probably a little of both. I haven't read anything by him yet but I'd like to and then there's the fact that he wasn't assigned to me by a teacher. I do try to read the books they tell me to, it's just that they're so boring...And I kind of hate being treated like I'd never read unless they assigned me a book. Maybe that's the truth for some people, but I actually really like to read so I wish I'd get the option of picking my own books to read for class."
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"Careful what you wish for - my old school, every year they'd have you do the same kind of project-assignment thing on a book you chose yourself. 'Wider reading' they'd call it. As long as the school library had the book in stock, you could pick it. Trust me - it's not as much fun as you'd think, even if you like reading," he told her, toning that to suggest that he was definitely on that list of people, that they were the same in that regard. "Mostly it's harder, because they expect the same depth and analysis without any of the 'them teaching you the book' part. And, I don't know about you, but for me - taking something apart, analysising it - that whole process takes the beauty out of a thing. It's like being told how the magic works."
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"I guess you're right. Maybe that's why I end up hating every book we read here. I can't just enjoy the book for what it is, I have to pick it apart and look at it under a microscope or something." Jessie shrugged. "It makes a lot of sense, now that you mention it. Well, hopefully I won't have to do any big projects. I don't think I will. I think the teachers like knowing what to expect from us. Makes it easier to grade, maybe..."
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Nate chuckled appreciatively at that. "More than likely - how terrible it would be, if they let us think outside the box," he quipped, rolling his eyes. "They don't want independent thought - they might discover that sometimes we know more than they do. Or worse, we might realise that..." They reached the edge of the park and he looked at his watch. "But, JJ - I need to get going. Nice as this was, I have a test next period, and they will miss me from that," he told her, regretfully.
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Jessie laughed a little, but nodded to him as they reached the edge of the park. "So you only play hookie part time, huh? Well, thanks for walking with me, Nate. And good luck on your test but if you already learned it, it shouldn't be too hard."
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"Yeah, I only play hookie part time. Just the parts I won't be missed for. I find not getting caught is a good motto for life. I'll see you tomorrow at lunch, JJ - it was nice to meet you," he told her, warmly. He meant it in his own way as well - he did so like to meet new people, make new connections. You never knew when they may come in handy.