Post by gabrieldartagnan on Apr 6, 2009 19:03:18 GMT -5
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i won't feel lonely when i'm on my own
I'VE GOT YOU TO MAKE ME FEEL STRONGER
AND YOU'LL BE UNAWARE BUT IF YOU NEED ME I'LL BE THERE
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The thoroughfares of the Jervis Shopping center were brightly lid and crowded on that Saturday afternoon. The sounds of happy chatter and laughter filled the air adding to the light-hearted atmosphere. Had Gabriel been paying attention he probably would have recognized three-quarters of the shoppers, for they were mostly students from up at the academy. There wasn't much for them to do when they were out of classes, so they escaped to the village and all it had to offer by way of entertainment. Which, comparatively, wasn't much. Nearly everyone he knew that hadn't been born and bred on Irish soil found the isle quite boring most days -- with all the rain and all the green. For Gabe, who was raised mostly on airplanes going from Paris to Milan to London to New York -- the quiet country life was quite freeing for him. Relaxing, if you will. He'd loved it when he'd first started attending the academy and he loved it still. His parents didn't really understand the attraction, having always lived the fast life with little else to compare it to. Gabriel had stopped trying to explain it to them years ago.
Now that he was in his last year here, his mind began to wander to such things as what he would do afterward and where he would go. The thought of leaving Ireland kind of bothered him. Bothered him to the point that he'd begun to entertain the idea of buying a flat in Dublin or a little cottage up in the North to escape to. It was difficult for him to imagine not being in the country for long periods of time. Only returning for visits and such. It was almost inconceivable. Unfortunately, he also loved the life he lived outside of the academy -- constantly on the move, always experiencing new things. He couldn't just give one up for the other. He was at what could be termed as an impasse. So, until he could make a decision, he devoted himself to keeping his mind off the future. Staying in the moment, so to speak. What could he say, really? The future, for lack of a better word, freaked him out. At this particular moment, he was seated on one of the shopping center's benches and had his rather attractive nose stuck in a book.
It wasn't philosophy or something else equally as intellectual. As much as he tried to pretend he was into all that, he honestly just liked to read. Anything. Everything. He'd even been known to pick up one of his sister's romance novels on those rare occasions of desperation in which nothing else was available. He'd always been that way -- devouring the written word as if it were the only thing to keep him alive. Even he sometimes thoughts that something to read would be all he needed to survive. All through his childhood years, his siblings would tease him for his love of reading. It only made it worse when he accidentally revealed to them once that he'd read the back of the toothpaste tube so many times he had the ingredients memorized (stannous fluoride 0.454%, w/v fluoride ion 0.16%). An over abundance of information shared that had resulted in the longest ever running family joke. Since then, he'd kept what others knew of his book obsession to less embarrassing genres.
Today, however, he'd just gone and dorked out at the bookstore. He couldn't help himself, really. They were having a sale on paperbacks and he'd found some that he couldn't have just left there. His roommate was probably going to complain -- considering there were now six new additions to his already extensive library in their room. His books were starting to take up space, he would probably have to ship some home soon to keep the peace. At the moment, though, Gabe was content to sit where he was with the book in his hands and enjoy the afternoon. Hopefully, no one would notice it was him sitting there, his green eyes glued to the page, acting like a complete idiot. He would have to be back at the academy soon, back to his more intellectual and cool alter-ego. Oh, God. He was using comic book terms -- hopefully no one would be around to witness this nerdy Gabriel.