miss halfway, open

[Darcy Marsden]

She was going to fail the SATs if she kept this up, Darcy was sure. Okay so maybe that was a little dramatic, especially since she didn't actually have to take them till next year. She was however not gonna get through her Language SAT notes at this rate. She'd been falling asleep on her bed for about an hour. She'd given up sitting at her desk half an hour before that. This lack of concentration nonsense had to stop. If she wanted to get through the stupid Language Arts class in one piece she had to do her homework. And maybe Sully would have to switch to a different class. Okay so dramatics again. At least she'd talked herself out of wearing heels down to the common room. She hadn't worn a pair of honest to goodness heels since the Valentine's Day dance and there were so many lovely pairs sitting in her closet just wanting so desperately to be worn. Somehow she didn't think Sid would have an issue with it, she could imagine everyone else's faces though.

She'd trudged down to the common room down the hall from their room, blissfully empty and flopped into one of the chairs, swinging her legs over the arm and stuck a pillow behind her back. Her mother had always hated when she studied like this at home but it was comfortable enough but not too comfortable that she could fall asleep. Darcy figured it was exactly what she needed. She had her earphones plugged in and playing a playlist somewhere between dance music and the music she plugged into to fall asleep at night. The SAT words were pretty standard, she figured Professor Blackwood needed words that worked for every grade level. Still copying out the phrases and such was already making her sleepy.

She could switch to Biology but really, DNA sequences weren't that much more interesting. Maybe now was the time to try working on her power? Trying to work with the wood in her pencil even? If she could get it work maybe taking notes in class would be that much easier. Though on second thought, Darcy thought maybe her professors wouldn't want her abusing her power like that. Still, it couldn't hurt to try. She laid the book down flat and placed the pencil down on top of it, concentrating. After a moment the pencil started to roll back and forth but not much else. Darcy's eyebrows knitted together and she went back to concentrating.

[Devon Sullivan]

Devon needed help. He'd finally gotten his PSAT scores back and he did pretty well with anything that had a formula you could memorize but even in math he struggled with the word problems. It was a matter of knowing what information to throw away - and while his ambitions for life after SGA weren't great he didn't want to spend the rest of his life working for his dad. Just the thought of it depressed the sixteen year old greatly. So after a long run, then some time in Auto Shop he had finally worked out what he was going to do. Having been partnered with her in Language Arts was really what gave him the courage to do it. She was so helpful and didn't make him feel...well stupid.

That was the trouble with Lu, who would have helped him eagerly; she was just so naturally smart she didn't have to work for things. She didn't understand how he could not understand things. Then again he didn't understand how she could forget not only to check her oil but that he needed to be changed - or how she just overlooked red warning lights and beeping from her freaking car. Darcy on the other hand...hadn't made him feel stupid. Actually she'd been really helpful; which kind of made him like her more. He didn't have to worry when it came to asking her questions - she was just awesome at knowing when he was confused - and then walked him through whatever comprehension issue he was having.

Now he just had to work up the nerve to ask her as he climbed the stairs to the girls' floor. Lady Luck was apparently on his side as he entered the common room. She was sitting on one of the couches staring intensely at her... pencil? The way her brows knitted together made him smile. The fact she was basically one of the most gorgeous girls he'd ever met might have played into his wanting help from her. Girls like Mallory who were overtly sexual were, you know, fun to look at maybe. The thing was Devon had watched one too many episodes of The Wonder Years and he was more interested in the Winnie Coopers of the world than say the more predatory nature of the Pussycat Dolls. His brothers insisted that meant he was light weight gay... but Joey married a stripper who gave him a mad case of the herp and left him to take care of their two year old Maya so she could go to L.A.

A girl like Winnie Cooper would never do that - and neither (in his opinion) would a girl like Darcy Marsden. He stood rather awkwardly at the top of the stairs and just watched her for a moment - until even he felt like a creeper and had to clear his voice, "Uh, Hey Darce. Just the girl I was looking for," he gave her a slow lazy smile hoping she wouldn't think he was some weirdo stalking her. He had to play this cool he couldn't be overeager and needy but he didn't want to be an asshole either. With shoulders hunched and hands shoved in his pockets he moved slowly toward where she was seated, "So, you know, I'm pretty sure I'm the worst study partner out there but, um I was wondering if maybe...." his voice trailed off as he took a deep breath, "doyouwanttotutormeireallyneedtobringupmygpaifIwanttostayon the baseball team," d'oh! Could he sound more awkward and desperate?

[Darcy Marsden]

Darcy was an awkward person. She knew that about herself. Most of the time she could swing it so that she came off as funny or cute. It was easier not to be awkward around people like Sid and even Perse and Dallas. People who expected her to be a dork and were used to it. When she'd first met Sid... honestly Darcy wondered why the other girl had wanted to be friends with her. She'd talked her ear off with questions and hugged the then no-touchy Sid within the first five minutes of meeting her. She'd become more comfortable with herself in the time she'd been at SGA. When she talked to her dad about it he suggested that she'd relaxed because she no longer had to worry about hiding her gift. It could also be that her mother wasn't telling her to stop being so spastic every day.

If she had been at home now, and her mother had walked in on her doing this..it wouldn't have been pretty. Her mother had always seen her gift as some sort of deformity. Darcy figured it messed with her perfect family image. It was why she'd always gone to her dad when she'd figured out something new that she could do. Like she would have to phone him later or tomorrow because her pencil was starting to lift off the book! And then she heard a familiar voice and her concentration broke. "OH! Ohhh damn." she pouted a little before looking up and seeing Devon. Did he have to be so damn adorable? It was easier to pretend that she had been happy around him because he was a happy person when he wasn't around....which didn't make any sense whatsoever but really when did she make sense? She tugged her ear bud out and smiled at him.

"Heya Sully."

When he said she was the girl he'd been looking for she gave him a half confused smile. "Well you caught me trying to levitate a pencil, you sure I'm still the girl you're looking for?" He looked a little nervous which made her nervous. In the short time she'd known him she hadn't seen him like this, other than when he didn't know an answer in class. She pulled her legs in towards her and crossed them kindergarten style as he walked towards her. She gave him what she hoped was a comforting smile. If she hadn't lived with Sid she might not have been able to decipher what he'd just said, or maybe it was just because she'd run so many sentences together herself that it somehow came out in regular English in her head. She smiled wide and sat up straighter.

"Okay first, you are not a terrible study partner.And secondly, the baseball team needs all the help it can get so we can't lose you now can we?" She laughed and tossed her iPod down. "Pull up a seat Sullivan, and know that I take payment in the form of candy for my obviously excellent tutoring services." She smiled a big cheesy smile and chuckled. She stopped for a moment and put a hand up. "You know I'm joking right? I do not expect you to pay me in any way shape or form for studying with you."

[Devon Sullivan]

He liked her smile, well truth be told Devon Sullivan just plain liked Darcy; but there was something about her smile. It was warm but not cheesy, He laughed a little as she explained what she had been doing and just shook his head, "Hey I practice by taking a part things I have no idea how to put back together. You way seems a lot less likely to piss off my dad," he dropped down beside her. She smelled good - better than his roommate or the locker room anyway. She didn't wear too much perfume or lotion or anything; there was just something fresh and clean about her. There was this funny feeling in his arm to wrap it around her. That would probably not be the honorable dude thing to do though.

"You're right about that. the baseball team I mean. I keep trying to talk Mack into giving up her spot on the squad and come pitch for us. That girl has an arm that could set a bat on fire," there was a note of affection in his voice - but very much the kind one felt for a sibling. When she wasn't out smoking him on the pitchers mound in a pick up game...he found her annoying lovable. He wouldn't want to live with her of course. He could never decide if Mack lifted Dallas out of her funks or put the girl deeper in them.

Rubbing the back of his neck he looked at Darcy again, a little bashful, "I think I'm doing alright with the SAT words, the flashcards make them easier to remember/ The thing I'm going to bomb on next year is the essay and sentence structure. I don't get the rules you know? Like I get the basics but... when the hell does anyone anywhere ever use a semicolon? And then the samples they give us are such crap because no one has talked that way since the fifties," he paused for a breath and shook his head, "All the parts get confused in my head because really there are no hard and fast rules but there are rules that you're expected to follow for certain things. Honestly? Learning how to ask out a girl is less nerve wracking and confusing"..