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[color=E81B00][i]Hmmm... guess I sounded more hostile than I thought..."[/i][/color]

Granted, Shawna was out of practice when it came to sounding happy, or even neutral really. The eight months of drugs, booze and apathy had really settled into a world-weary cynical voice. Clearly she had been watching Natasha Lyonne too much. 

Still, she wasn't intending to offend the jock in front of her. At least not at this time. But he seemed so shocked by the notion that one could choose to not be at school. It was pretty straight forward in Shawna's mind. You just don't go to class. You do literally anything else. It was fun. All those bad influences from the PSAs had that right at least.

Meanwhile, Jack was expressing a disdain for classes that was very familiar. He was correct that he didn't need to know when George Washington... conquered America. The internal sigh in Shawna's mind was deafening. Even the most expensive schools in the land couldn't teach some people. A low-level ACC university was going to be very proud to have Jack's grades to make up for. The football star was right. Society had made sure that he needed to know absolutely none of those things to succeed.

[color=53F0FF]"What do you even have next, anyway? Something just as boring? I feel that, dude. School totally SUCKS."[/color]

Shawna had to actually think for a second. It had been a while since she gave enough of a damn to look at her schedule for the second semester. What did she have? Some Biology course she could fake her way through? English? Did she sign up for Drama while high? She should probably check her phone or something. But Jack was still standing here, still asking questions. The man who catch balls good probably deserved some manner of an answer.

[color=E81B00]"I'm gonna be honest with you, Jack, I got no clue what I have next. I have not checked out my schedule yet, and I kinda forget what's on there. But you're likely right. It's going to be boring as hell. And that's why I wonder if I should have tried to find somewhere else to be other than school right now."[/color]

Shawna thought for a second. She could still get out of there. Time was still on the clock for that great escape to one of the bridges or to WPB or some place that didn't remind her of failure. Her Audi was still in the parking lot. She still had a rolled-up joint tucked in her wallet. That would make for a pretty peaceful session.

But that wouldn't be fair to Sunshine. It wouldn't be fair to Lia. It wouldn't be fair to... to herself even. This weird floating feeling. It was starting to affect other things she was thinking about. It just confirmed that even with the break that Jack and his lackey's presence provided in that sheer warmth that was permeating through Shawna from her picnic-table conversation, it wasn't some temporary high.

[color=E81B00]"But, I guess I finally got a reason to stay here for a bit. At least enough of a reason to go in there and pay a bunch of lip service. Maybe rattle off the year James Cook discovered how to make a sandwich or something. But you know what, Jack?"[/color] Shawna put her free hand on Jack's arm, that very well-toned arm of his, firmer than she was expecting. But it was a momentary distraction. [color=E81B00]"It's gonna finally be worth it for the reason I got."[/color] The warning bell rang out telling students to get their act in gear. [color=E81B00]"Anyway, try to survive that history lesson, brah."[/color] Shawna smiled as she let go of the football star and headed inside to try and figure out where the hell she was supposed to go for first period.