i just sighed, c

Tara slouched in her desk, carving her name onto the desk with a nubby pencil. The teacher snapped his pointer stick on a student's desk in the front row, deeming some sharp demand on the girl that was forgotten as soon as Tara heard it. But then her pencil broke, led flung to the other end of her desk, and she blew away a strand of her hair in exasperation.

She leaned over and hissed at Nathan, but he didn't stir. She repeated the action, but still no response. She prodded him sharply in the shoulder with the broken end of her broken pencil. "Psst, Nathan." She whispered. "Earth to ego."

@nath

Tara almost had a retort all planned and ready, but then the teacher was in front of their desks and Tara could barely hold back another sigh.

She looked at Nathan as he stood up, blindly hoping that he'd say something that wouldn't get her in trouble. All she'd wanted was a pencil, for Christ's sake. And the moment he decided to run off his mouth and crush her foolish hope as he did so, she cursed herself for thinking that Nathan of all people would have a spare pencil. Nathan, who slept in the middle of Maths and didn't give a crap. Stupid, stupid, Nathan.

She could already hear the D word before it came out of the teacher's mouth, and she put her hands behind her neck and glared long and hard at Nathan. If looks could kill, he'd be a pile of guts on the floor. As the teacher headed back towards the front, looking well and satisfied with himself, she narrowed her eyes at her fellow student. "Thanks for that. Really. All I wanted was a spare pencil, you know."

@nath

Tara glanced from the teacher and back to Nathan. She was testing the waters and she didn’t want to get another detention because she’d been provoked. ”A burrito? I’d expect you of all people to dream of something more risque, but whatever.”

Date. She didn’t like that word. It correlated with too many terms that sat like a rock in her stomach. Or a boulder. ”You wish.” She didn’t but that was more than obvious.

@nath

For the time being the teacher was forgotten and Tara squinted back at Nathan. She'd been in enough failed relationships to know that romance was the furthest from being her thing. She only ever bothered with one night stands anymore. And then her skin would crawl when she'd get a call back because the whole situation seemed too complicated to deal with. A part of her was simply disgusted with it.

At least he was fairly straightforward. She didn't like games of cat and mouse. Nonetheless, she had a hard time believing him. She didn't even give him an immediate answer, drew out her thought process as slow as her fingers were through her hair. Suddenly she was sick of contemplating and blew out air. "Sure. You're as good a lover as they come, right?" She didn't sound serious, but she'd given him a yes and that was enough for her.

She didn't really want to think about what she was doing. The ice at the bottom of her stomach would melt faster if she thought of it was another form of a booty call. Somehow, Tara still felt like that just wasn't good enough. Not for her, not if it was Nathan.

@nath

She gives him a half smile, mostly because she feels like she owes him one. But it's lazy and it dissolves as soon as the teacher starts his next sentence. She finds Nathan keeping his eyes on the clock and she can assume with confidence how this afternoon is going to end.

She's not groggy but when the bell rings she flinches as though she is. She stands up and takes a few seconds to put her stuff together. She's in no hurry and as far as she's concerned, it can wait. She shrugs and her lips turn up into something that's not quite a smile, but getting there. "Detention. How romantic."

Tara does the honors of leading the way, even though Nathan probably knows the route better than her. It's hard to navigate the halls with all the people moving about but she figures that she's easy enough to spot in a crowd.

@nath //you deserve better than this

Tara almost shied away from his touch, but she knew that there wasn't any affection laced with it, or the kind that she almost feared. As long as they were supposedly dating, it was okay, right? She didn't think that they'd have to set boundaries.

She snorted and shook her head. "I actually have to do my homework and y'know, get into university. We can burn yours, though." She shifted her bag and smirked up at him, but it was more of a half smile than anything teasing. "Maybe my dog can rip it up, too."

@nath

Tara rolled her eyes, considered bumping him in the side but she felt kind enough not to throw off his groove. "It's not sappy. It's responsible."

She shrugged. "His name is Shamrock. My parents liked it better than lucky." She paused, only just the tiniest bit embarrassed by the name. At least she hadn't really picked it out. "He's a golden retriever. Real friendly, and he'll slobber all over your homework if you let him." She was thankful that it was easy do small talk with him, more so than she was that she had detention. At least she wouldn't be alone.

@nath