It's the Bear Necessities (Open)

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Leo was in bit of a dilemma. He badly wanted to sit back and delve into a book he’d gotten for Christmas, but his stomach was making noises and felt as if it was being turned inside out. Foooodddd… Leo jumped as he nearly heard it groan. What time was it again? The boy looked down at his watch, surprised how fast his Sunday had been spent up. Tomorrow, he’d have to go back to class and continue on with school. He habitually ran a hand through his already mussed up brown locks before walking toward the cafeteria; book swinging by in his hand. 

He offered one of the lunch ladies his usual quiet smile before asking in an even quieter voice for an apple and some water. After paying for them, he took them gladly over to a table near the still remaining sun and bit right into his apple. His stomach immediately went silent. With that, the boy took it as satisfaction and opened up his novel. As he began to read, Leo was surprised he was letting his mind wander around. Soon, it was no longer about the story, it was about life.

Leo wondered if it was normal to be sitting all by himself on the weekend, with a novel as his companion and eating an apple as if he was in some sort of story. He raised a brow at this thought – was he bad at being social? Perhaps… Avery was always better at that end of the teenage spectrum. He simply didn’t want all the drama and distractions that came with forming relationships or so Leo told himself this. Finally Leo resorted to some sort of broken hope - he sat and sat, and sipped and bit, and looked, waiting for some kind of distraction to save him from his boredom.

[Rose Hoff]

Rose had, of course, finished her homework near the beginning of the weekend as she always did. If she didn't have her homework done as quickly as possible, she would get anxious and wouldn't be able to focus on anything else. So that was done, and she had already visited both Vintage and Eleanor. Having her two mares in different barns was a bit of a hassle, and she would have preferred having them both in one, but it wasn't that big a deal. Besides, it was extra exercise. Now she was sort of aimlessly wandering the campus, a couple of books clutches in her hands and a small bag hung on her elbow. The sun would soon disappear, and she could already feel the chill settling. What she was doing, she didn't really know, but for some reason she ended up walking towards the cafeteria.

Rose had spent as little time as possible in the cafeteria since she'd come to Blue Ridge, so she didn't really know why she was going now. Perhaps it was because of the little revelation she'd had over Christmas, or maybe she was just overtired and wanted to find someplace warm, and not very crowded. Sure enough, it was quiet enough, or almost enough for her to be pleased. She realized that it would be odd to go there and not get any food, but even more importantly, she remembered that she hadn't eaten dinner, except for a yogurt earlier. Right. Dinner was important. Rubbing the pads of her fingers together, she figured that if she got a snack, she would be good. Perfect. She was going to get better on her own, without getting fat.

She got a banana and a little single-size container of peanut butter, as well as two packages of Saltines. 12 calories, per cracker, 2 crackers per package. Forty-eight calories of crackers. Her mind did the math without her trying to, and she shivered, shaking it off and paying for the food. Was the cafeteria worker looking at her funny? No, she couldn't be. Right? Light eyebrows knit up, she made her way over to where a boy she recognized was sitting. She sat close enough to be friendly, but not too close. His name was Leo, if she remembered correctly, and he'd seemed friendly. Quiet, like her.

She smiled at him in greeting and put her stuff down before getting a fork and knife. Returning to her spot, she peeled and sliced up the banana. Opening the package of peanut butter, she dipped her fork in before stabbing a slice of banana and putting it in her mouth. It was good, and sweet.

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Leo felt a bit like a creeper as he watched everything going on in the airy room of the cafeteria. Different sorts of smells surrounded him, but none as strong as the scent of his apple as he was chomping into it. He wasn’t quite ready for dinner yet, but figured he’d go grab some more food when he was done with the chapter. He was feeling too lazy to go get more food at the moment and he was content or rather, intrigued by a group of rough looking boys laughing raucously about some manly joke that brought a ghost of a smile to the brunette’s lips.

He found it considerably less stressful to be by himself and away from the deep looks and stares that other people usually held for him; though no matter how much he wanted to exclude the fact that it made him feel a bit sad, Leo got lonely. He bit his lip gently, feeling rather stupid for acting like a too sensitive person. He wasn’t the one to feel bad feelings, rather to be the stone for all those that needed a shoulder to lean on when needed. Leo frowned and nearly blew his book up by staring at so hard. He soon realized it was a hopeless attempt anyway, as no matter how hard he stared at it, it wasn’t going into his head.

A smaller head of light blonde approaching his table caused the brunette look up and see a girl he’d most definitely seen before in some of his classes. He’d never gotten the chance to actually talk to her, but he knew her name; or thought he knew it. He looked down as she smiled, his shyness filling in before he looked back up and give her back a tiny, shy smile. He watched silently, as she opened up her snack? Was it dinner for her? He didn’t know, but he waited quietly, wondering whether to say hello or not. After staring at his book for another few unproductive minutes, the brunette finally turned his attention to Rose. “Hi, it’s Rose, correct?” He asked softly, not wanting to get her name wrong because he knew a lot of girls got offended when this happened. He never understood why, simply that he didn’t like when people shouted at him.

[Rose Hoff]

Rose sort of felt as if she was more worried about food now than she had been before. Before she had felt like she was being naughty and sort of betraying people. Now she felt as if she was just trying to trick herself out of the habits she'd formed. Looking down at the food she'd gotten, she wondered whether it would look weird to the people around her. It was normal, right? She'd eaten yogurt, and that was protein, and now she was eating sugar and carbs and that was normal, she assured herself.

Before Rose had come to Blue Ridge, she'd been a bit more open, and a bit more friendly, but for whatever reason, she was shyer now. Words and real smiles didn't come as naturally to her now as they did, and she sort of missed her old self. Maybe by adopting her old eating habits again, she'd be able to get that back. She'd heard the laughing boys as she'd walked past them on the way to the table, and she'd almost shrunk back from them.

After sitting down, she focused her gaze on her food for a while stomaching down a couple more slices of banana. She looked up at the sound of his voice, probably more surprised than she should have been. For some reason, she felt a little panicked and had to force herself to answer, voice just loud enough to not be considered a whisper. "Yes, My name is Rose. You're Leo, right?" She forced herself to keep looking at him rather than back down at her food, or opening one of her books. Fingers twining in her lap, she bit a sliver of the inside of her lips. She'd become socially anxious without even realizing it, and now she was determined to change that.

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Leo smiled slightly at the girl, looking back at his book calmly. He seemed to have a rather neutral air about him, a presence of calmness to anyone that ventured by. He’s always been the rock, the strong one anyone seemed to rely on. Leo never really had much to lose in general, and he was rather content taking care of people. The boy in truth, wanted to pursue some sort of career in the medical field when he grew up despite his father’s wants for him to have the farm. In all honesty, he was sadly growing apart from his land more and perhaps, finally moving on.

He looked up gently to meet the blonde’s forehead as her eyes stayed lowered for a moment. Her voice was quiet and Leo found himself straining his ears to hear her soft voice. It was gentle and he immediately felt a tidbit shy for having to have scared her. It seemed as he had, though Leo was rather used to it. He was a large being, with big figure and considerably taller than many of the students in the school. He was as gentle as a feather despite his size, and could be quite accurately compared to a Shire horse. A gentle giant.

Leo offered the blonde another kind smile as she kept her gaze on him and focused to do the same. He nodded, happy to see that he’d gotten her name correct. “Yes, I’m Leo.” he paused slightly, taking in a breath as his gentlemanly manner played into a part of his speech. “Nice to meet you finally. You’re a sophomore?” He asked this cautiously, not wanting to get information out of her. It was a conversation starter at the very least and he was rather curious. Rose didn’t seem to have the look of a freshman nor an upperclassmen in her eyes, and he hoped he’d judged correctly.