delia may

         MAYBE HE WAS MISTAKEN in his choice to drop by the library on the way to the greenhouse. it was the most logical choice given it barely changed his plans for the rest of the day and he avoided both clutter and getting some sort of demerit from returning the books late. win-win, right? at least, that was the initial plan in mind. jovan hadn’t thought of including setbacks, like the wonderful attitude today’s librarian assistant offered him. “ duly noted. i’m not here to return the books, i’m here to see about avoiding any fines or penalties that i may incur tomorrow, or the day after. so, if you don’t mind, delia, ” he tilts his head, offering her a small, cordial smile. “ i would really, really appreciate it if you could process these for me. ”

okay, so maybe delia was taking things a bit to the extreme side. it was her fault that she was here in the first place. if she could just learn how to keep her mouth shut maybe she wouldn’t end up in these kinds of situations. it wasn’t above her however, to huff and puff while she was stuck here. “oh, great.” she rolled her eyes slowly with a taunting smile as she began the process of renewing his rentals. “you know, you do have two weeks with these initially, but seeing as you’re still not done...” she started slowly, not lifting her eyes from the computer screen. 

her week home to london was everything she needed right now. to be reminded that there is a world outside the campus grounds and to be wrapped up in the arms of her parents couldn’t be described as anything short of perfect. emma felt inspired again – a stream of new ideas for her portfolio for her class taking up most of emma’s thoughts.

one thing she remembered to bring back from london with her was a guitar her father gifted to emma for her sixteenth birthday. as soon as she had the time she naturally gravitated towards the music room ( the sound of her acoustic always sounded better there ) and hoped that she hadn’t lost her touch because it had been months since she last played.

sitting down on a stool, tuning the guitar before finally taking a breath and began playing the chords to sia’s ‘elastic heart’ and finally, began singing the words. near the end of the song, the abrupt sound of the classroom door opening cut her off and she immediately stopped. “ uh, hi there. didn’t think anybody would be passing by this late. “

delia had just left the campus gym, and was on her way back to her apartment when she heard the most beautiful and familiar voice floating through the halls. “i know that isn’t who i think it is...” she thought aloud, spinning to her left, and down a hall that she rarely traveled. emma had been gone for a week back to london, and delia hadn’t talked to her much since she had been gone. the two had been growing closer, and delia would definitely consider her one of her ‘closer’ friends. her hand gripped the doorknob to the music room, and she pushed it open - obviously startling the singing girl. 

                       delia may fulton. it was bad enough that they’d ended up at the same school –– she was a constant reminder of someone that he could have cared so much more for … he’d thought about their future, thought about how she fit into his life plans, how he could fit into hers. and then, with a flick of a switch, EVERYTHING changed for him. looking back, he regrets it. he regrets the yelling, the blaming, the false accusations, but mostly for HURTING her when she didn’t deserve it. he was being an absolute fucking brat, but she was the first. the first person joshua had already successfully pushed away. he just hated that she had to be involved at all.

the words she throws at him sting –– he doesn’t want to admit that, doesn’t want to show her that his icy exterior has hairline fractures, if one were to find the correct pressure points. and delia certainly had. josh wants to just walk away, leave … as she’d correctly accused him of doing so many years ago. and even if it hurt him in the smallest of ways, guilt bubbling up inside his stomach, he couldn’t imagine the pain josh had put her through by turning her back on her, by shutting her out. leaving would be the easiest thing to do, and would still leave her DISTANT … that was the important thing, out of all of this. he’d successfully gone almost four years without having a run-in like this, it’d be so perfect if he could just walk away. but he couldn’t risk it. he whips his head around, taking two bounding steps back toward her.  “what is there to FUCKING say? i’m sorry? because i’m not.” his words can apply to both their brief encounter, but also to their break-up –– either way, it’s a complete and utter lie, but she can’t know that.

delia burst out laughing in what seemed a slight fit of rage. the nerve of this man. it had been nearly four years since she had seen, or even thought of joshua. their break-up had been a pretty significant time in her life though. he was the first guy that she truly had feelings for, and the way that he ended things had broken her heart. the friendship between the two prior to the relationship had been perfect, as was the relationship that followed. there was never a fall-out to explain what had transpired in the end. joshua had treated her like his fucking enemy. the day that the two ended was still so clear in her head, the scene unfolding as if she was standing there in the moment. seventeen, and so stupid. why she ever thought that joshua could be her person was beyond her at this point. he obviously wasn’t and never was who she thought he was.

                  it wasn’t a secret that joshua lauder-holmes was only concerned with HIMSELF. that’s how he was, always, at ashcroft. he’d moved into his room freshman year, unpacked his things, sticking very intently to the lines that had been drawn that separated his half of the room with his roommate’s. he walked to class with headphones in, and when it was sunny, wore sunglasses as to avoid eye contact. he was there for one reason, and one reason alone –– and didn’t need any distractions.

as such, it was a typical day, overcast hanging over edinburgh’s skies, students at ashcroft were a new, particular type of GLOOMY since news of lydia tran’s survival had broken out. and still, josh only concerned himself with his own business: he walked through the halls from the dance studio back to his dorm, headphones blaring the newest background song as he memorized movements in his brain –– he’d convinced himself that there was never a moment he couldn’t be improving –– until he was interrupted. by someone walking straight into his path ( or quite possibly, him into theirs, though he’d never admit it –– his eyes were a bit pre-occupied with his phone ). “jesus, FUCK, watch wh– ” he caught himself when his eyes flickered up, recognizing instantly who had quite literally stepped into his life again. josh stopped in his path, swallowing hard. he took a moment –– just ONE moment, to look at delia again, before hastily resuming down his path, without uttering a single word. it would be easier that way. for both of them.

‘it is freezing in here.’ delia thought to herself as a slight shiver ran through her body. she had just left her study group, and to say that she was annoyed would be an understatement. delia was not one to be preoccupied with the whereabouts of others, but it seemed like the only thing on everyones mind was the reappearance of lydia tran. even thinking of the girls name gave delia a sick feeling. it was hard not to imagine who would be next on this chain of unfortunate events, and she feared that she could be next. it’s not like she was particularly liked around campus. 

fire had always been somewhat of a relaxer for ace – ironic that the symbol of destruction was a calming source for him.  he was currently sat on the ground with his back up against the tree, a crispy, dead leaf held gingerly in his hand as he held a lighter under it.  he watched as the fire spread throughout the leaf – devouring the leaf quickly.  he let the heat hit his fingers that held the stem before he dropped it to the ground, watching as the fire dwindled out from added moisture from the fresh grass.  after the fire was put out, ace looked over at his new pile of leaves, barely noticing that a person had appeared in front of him at some point during the duration of the burning leaf.  he jumped in his spot – would have scooted back, but his back hit the tree he was leaning against. “What the hell?  Don’t sneak up on someone like that.” he scolded the other – truth be told, they could’ve been loud as hell but fire had always drawn the attention of ace over anything else that might’ve been happening.

finally, peace and quiet; delia thought as she made her way into the clearing with her ‘special bag’. there was nothing really special about it though, it was just a tote big enough to hold her blanket, a few books, and two bottles of water. it was hard for delia to escape sometimes as her family was well known in the media, and she hated feeling as though she was being spied on twenty-four seven. she had found this ‘secret’ spot a few months into her freshman year at ashcroft and had been escaping there ever since. this time however, she was not alone. delia had just laid down her blanket when the smell of smoke invaded her nose. “what the-” she questioned aloud, picking up her blanket and walking towards the smell without much thought. this was her spot, and she’d be damned if she was going to let someone come in and take it from her. the tension throughout her body eased as she saw that it was just ace. of course. just as she was about to open her mouth to speak the male spotted her, clearly spooked. “first of all, I was not sneaking.” she shot back, irritation clear in her tone. “maybe if you were actually paying attention to your surroundings you would’ve seen me walking up,” she continued as she came a bit closer. “what are you even doing right now?” she questioned, although it was as clear as day. “are your intentions to burn everything flammable in sight? because if that's the case tell me now so I can run,” she added, her tone a bit softer as she offered a joke. 

         ivy had been parked on a bench for about two hours now. her dixon D3400 camera affixed to her hands, she’d been trying to capture something worth using. the writer’s block was in full force; so it was time for her tried and true method of finding inspiration from her surroundings. people watching was a great way to do that. sometimes, she’d be intrigued by one person in particular passing by; then she’d raise the camera to her eyes, and snap a picture. she would never USE that film without consent, of course, it was just something for her to look back on for inspiration. like when an unreasonably tall man walked by, ivy found herself absentmindedly taking a picture. when she put the camera down, she realized that somebody had approached the bench at the wrong time, and might have just seen her suspicious looking photo-taking. ❛❛ i’m not a stalker. ❜❜ she said quickly, NERVOUSLY — just like a stalker would? ❛❛ oh, god, that probably makes me sound even more like a stalker. but — i’m not! ❜❜

delia had been walking to the starbucks closest to campus, only a few blocks maybe from her last class of the day. she had made it halfway when she noticed the brunette sitting on a bench taking photos. delia being a naturally curious person stopped in her tracks for a few seconds to observe the girl before deciding to approach the bench. “hi-,” she started to speak, before being quickly cut off by the stammering female. “no, don’t worry,” she quickly countered as she saw that the girl had become flustered. “if you were a stalker I'm sure that you wouldn’t be taking pictures of your victim in broad daylight in front of dozens of people.” she laughed reassuringly before pointing her chin towards the man now a few steps down the block. “if I may ask though, why him?” she questioned, raising an eyebrow as her eyes lingered down towards trying to see exactly what was captured. “I'm sure that I would be a much better target, cuter might I add.”