[ ALL THAT STUFF'S A SIDESHOW. ] -- ryan

[aspenmurray]

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
there's beauty in the breakdown it gains the more it gives
THE MORE IT RISES WITH THE FALL
SO HAND ME THAT REMOTE CAN'T YOU SEE THAT ALL THAT STUFF'S A SIDESHOW
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

So, it was safe to say that Aspen Murray was royally pissed off. Seriously. She couldn't remember a time when she'd been as angry as she was at just this particular moment as she stomped through the busy corridors of Murphy's Academy of the Arts. Then again, she always thought the same thing every time she became angry. It was rather humorous to her friends and family but to Aspen, she was all hardcore bitchiness when she was pissed off. With a worn and dog-eared copy of Shakespeare's The Taming Of The Shrew tucked in the back pocket of her favorite pair of destroyed, boy-cut jeans, she made her way out into the school's courtyard. Huffing, her flame-red hair flying about her face, she plopped down beneath a huge, old oak tree. Pushing the sleeves of her charcoal gray sweat jacket up to her elbows, she drew the her legs up and leaned against the trunk of the tree.

Aspen pulled the book out of her pocket and flipped it open to where the neon-green post it note was stuck and tried to concentrate on the words printed on the yellowed page. All around her, other students congregated in groups or sat on their own like her. The air was filled with laughter and cheery bird calls. Over all, it was not an environment conducive to being pissy and stand-offish. Pursing her lips, Aspen glared at the words, not really seeing them. Bloody hell, why did it have to be today that her math tutor criticize her of her trigonometry skills? Good God, she was a fashion major not an engineer! Really, she didn't understand why it was necessary that Murphy students be geniuses as well as extremely gifted in some sort of artsy thing. Mercy, but if the book in her hands were a person, her hazel-green eyes would be burning holes right through their skull -- that is, if her hands hadn't already crushed it.

Suddenly, she realized what she was doing to her poor book and sighed. Her mum always said she had a temper to match a hell cat. Aspen supposed it must be true, if the bent pages were any indication in how she dealt with negativity. In all honesty, she didn't handle anything remotely unpleasant very well. Being the youngest in her family, she had always been the more vocal of the three Murray siblings. It was a trait she inherited from her dad -- as a result they'd been close all through her childhood. He'd always been the one to keep her under control when her temper threatened to light everything within a meter-radius aflame. Tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear, Aspen sighed again. Lately, since he'd fallen ill just before she come back to school for the fall, it had been harder and harder to keep her temper under control. Aspen was terrified of her father dying and almost more so of not being able to control herself at all if he went.

Biting her lip, she set her book on the grass beside her and laid her hand back against the tree. She pushed thoughts of home out of her mind and concentrated simply on breathing even for all she was worth. She would not lose it in front of everyone.

[ryan]

Ryan normally just walked about Murphy, to get pumped up for something. The problem was, is that he didn't really have anything to get ready for. He had a book of Joseph, with him, which he always read constantly. He still didn't know what song to sing for his audition , something italian. 'Nessun Dorma' he thought as he searched his mind for another song, he needed one that showed off his high vocal range. He was looking at his book. He didn't see the small red haired girl he was about to hit, until it was too late.

[aspenmurray]

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
there's beauty in the breakdown it gains the more it gives
THE MORE IT RISES WITH THE FALL
SO HAND ME THAT REMOTE CAN'T YOU SEE THAT ALL THAT STUFF'S A SIDESHOW
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It was just too unfortunate for the poor fellow who had had the unlucky chance to knock into her while she sat there. Aspen was stunned speechless by the impact of the solid body against her. A moment later, however, when that bruised feeling started to spread through her body, her temper began to flare up to volcanic temperatures. "Bloody fucking hell," she almost screeched, clenching her fists to keep from hurling her poor book at the git. Jumping up from her spot on the ground, she turned to face the idiot, her red hair flying messily in her face. Letting out a long breath, she brushed her bangs back furiously. Her hazel eyes finally focused on the culprit -- all of what seemed six feet of him. Her jaw tightened, a muscle in her cheek twitching dangerously. Though he looked familiar to her, Aspen didn't recognize him. By the looks of him, he was probably one of the twittering songbirds that hung around the auditorium all the time.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She demanded, putting her small fists on her hips. What Aspen lacked in stature, she certainly made up for in pluck. At least, that's what her dad used to say when her brother's teased her about her height. "Didn't your mother ever teach you to look where you walk?" She had to keep herself from sneering petulantly at him. Oh, but was she pissed off. Not so much because a guy had practically stepped on her, but really just a culmination of the day's events. Unlucky enough for the guy, he was to be the target in which she flung her furious daggers. Aspen was usually a combustible element to any equation, it just so happened that today she had decided to explode. Poor, poor git.

[ryan]

"we'll im sorry, mila'dy" he said, his english accent coming through, which often did when he was suprised. "I didn't see you ther" as helped pick her up. He really wasn't trying to make her day shit, he was only trying to get to some other place. Either she was really easy to piss off, or she wasn't having a good day. He didn't know what to do, he didn't want to piss anyone off , but he always thought it was just natural for people to either love him, or hate him, which he thought was due to his abrasive personality.

[aspenmurray]

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
there's beauty in the breakdown it gains the more it gives
THE MORE IT RISES WITH THE FALL
SO HAND ME THAT REMOTE CAN'T YOU SEE THAT ALL THAT STUFF'S A SIDESHOW
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Yep, definitely a theater twit. Aspen rolled her eyes at his exaggerated accent, not to mention his old-fashioned way of speaking. If there was anyone who was more suited to Shakespeare, they definitely had competition in this idiot. Either he was completely fake or just really, really English. Her nostrils flared as she blew out a long breath through her nose. She relaxed a little though her temper was still smarting. It always took the gust out of her sails, so to speak, when the person she'd aimed her anger at apologized for whatever slight. Imagined or not. It was harder to argue with someone when they were willing to take the blame for the situation. It was quite exasperating, really. Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, Aspen crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

"Honestly?" she said, her tone almost darker than her eyes. "Was that supposed to be some sort of short joke? Because, for your information, I'm quite aware of my stature without some pansy-ass prick pointing it out to me, thank you very much." If Aspen hadn't been used to how her temper affected her tongue, she would have been embarrassed at what had just come out of her mouth. She wasn't usually the one to make up accusations, but something about this guy irked her to no end. He was just too....pretty, for God's sake. She wouldn't be surprised if he were wearing make-up or something.