String tension.

[Eden Doe]

You pull one end of the string tied to a freely rotating axle, but the tension is equal along the entire length of the string. Forces of equal but opposite magnitude, but all that changed when you introduce a motor to wrap the string around the axle to further increase the tension along the string -

Eden raised her eyebrows when the two other girls she had walked into the dining hall with asked if she needed to go to the bathroom. "No? Do you?"

Yeah, said Jean.

No, but Jeannie does, said Camila.

Eden didn't even bother trying to persuade Camila that Jean didn't need a chaperon to take her to the restroom. And evidently, Jean and Camila had no desire to try to persuade Eden that yes, if you're a girl, and you are friends, you never let each other go to the bathroom alone. As if it was one of the laws of nature, or physics - they did an awful lot of irrational things for students who enjoyed the sciences. Eden enjoyed their company and appreciated how they always sat near her in physics, but sometimes, they were just...

"I'm going to get something to eat and find us a table," Eden told them firmly. They trotted away after reassuring her they wouldn't take long (they almost always did), and Eden turned on her heel to march to the growing lines congregating around the food. She checked the time, wondered briefly if she would be able to get her lunch and eat it all in time to get back to physics; how were Jean and Camila going to do it, for that matter, when they were going to be lounging in the restroom for the next ten minutes?

Not her problem. She rolled her shoulders, cracked her neck, and reached up to roughly work the kinks out from the junction of neck and shoulder. Yeah, she needed this break.

[Noah Michael Rivera]

[http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=95581930 ]

The lunch bell called out to him. His savior from his boring english teacher. Did she ever shut up? There were excited screams and squeals, stern voices of teachers quieting the students as they roamed freely out the class rooms on their lunch hour. Dark features sulked around him as he walked silently down the hall. Turning left he made his way to the cafeteria. The place smelled of yesterdays meatloaf, and burnt tator tots. Noah raised a fist to clench at his nose. The food they served here wasn't all that bad, but the smell was horrible. At least in his opinion. 

His other arm hung limply at his side, barely hanging onto a sack lunch he had packed from home. He considered himself an above average cook, at least for the stereotype of his gender. He wandered through the writhing mass of bodies that had gathered in the cafeteria for the hour. There was not a whole lot going on here.

He rolled his dull eyes as he caught site of a group of girls babbling on about using the bathroom or something. Why did girls always travel in groups? Girls were something that would always be a mystery to him, he much rather preferred the company of another male. Admittedly the one in the center was kind of cute though, and she had guts for blowing off her other friends. He liked her. Or didn't he? It was hard to decide from a distance.

He was shy ordinarily, and  mostly sulked in the corner eating his lunch alone. Today, could be different. No. It wouldn't be. Turning away from the line, he dragged his feet towards his regular spot. The voices inside his head banged against his thick skull. Yes, he wanted milk. Turning on his heels, he rocked back towards the path Eden had taken. She was standing in his way. /How rude./ He thought, as he leaned over her purposely to grab a carton of milk. No, they didn't like her. But she smelt good.

ooc- It is.. a challenge writing someone with two personalities ^^ Eheh. 

[Eden Doe]

Hell, no.

Eden already had issues with maintaining close proximity with people she didn't really know well (and Eden still had boundaries with even those she did know well), but this little dickface wanted to start pressing her buttons scarcely a moment into lunch. Okay, yes, she did harbor a grudge against him, but who could blame Eden for relying on personal experience to make snap judgments of people? It wasn't just a matter of getting off on the wrong foot; if the lying sack of camel dung couldn't redeem himself in even the slightest way in her eyes between now and back in junior year, when she'd first had the displeasure of encountering him, then he never would. And she didn't intend to stick around long enough to see him try to take that step, regardless of his intentions - he was a thief and liar and frankly, she didn't like believing in second chances.

Screw up the first time, screwed for life: Eden liked it that way.

But the dickface didn't seem to understand how that worked. Well, actually, he probably did, but he was flaunting his utmost disregard for her thorough displeasure. Clearly, he'd seen her standing there. Clearly, he knew that people liked maintaining the borders of their personal bubble, and he had to know that Eden, of all people, preferred to keep her distance from him. It wasn't as if she tried to hide that she disliked him, after all. Granted, she didn't go around badmouthing him to everyone else, but when it came to one-on-one interaction, she wasn't afraid to drop him very obvious hints that his presence was not appreciated.

Her typical I-will-not-tolerate-your-BS attitude when it came to these kinds of situations might have led a few to believe she was a vindictive hard-ass, but Eden wasn't one to care overmuch about others opinions anyway. Especially Noah.

She leaned away from him when she realized what he was doing, and her blood was already starting to boil. "Let's not," she said in clipped tones, not even turning around to look at him. Today had been a long day, and she wasn't about to let Noah make it too much longer. Well, other than what he had accomplished already.

[Noah Michael Rivera]

He had no idea what her problem was with him. He shrugged, fingers clenched to a carton of chocolate milk. He slipped back behind her, milk in hand. That was all he wanted, Noah frowned. It hurt when people mistreated him for no reason. His mind raced as he tried to figure out what wrong he had done towards this girl to have such a snippy attitude. His other subconscious mind was unaware of their rocky meeting a year ago.

He honestly didn't even recognize her. He was a nice guy, most the time. Except his side job he had recently gotten involved with. He was careful though, to keep work separate from his school life. It was possible she was on her period. Or even some sort of rumor had been spread about him. He figured the later, as they were common around Somerset. So far he had been lucky to avoid them, until now. 

A deep sigh escaped his lips, "I'm sorry." He spoke to the backside of her head. His voice was soft and genuine, mind flipping a 180 from a moment earlier. He needed to make things right, and he would punish those that had wronged him. His expression grew dark, brows furrowed. Though a moment later, his eyes were bright again a smile on his face awaiting her reaction.
--- [for when she turns around]
"My name's Mike." He offered a hand, a moment later someone called a greeting to him from across the cafeteria. "Hey Noah!" Without thinking he lifted a hand and waved it to whomever had addressed him. To Eden, it probably seemed as if he had just lied about his name, confirming her theory.

[Eden Doe]

Jesus H. Christ, the guy was still going hard at it, from the very moment he'd walked up to Eden. He even had the gall to reintroduce himself to her, when she knew exactly who he was, the dickfaced, lying thief. Back then, it had been the directions to a class, which hadn't been a big deal in itself, and then stealing her things, which had been the first step into hell: Eden didn't have a lot of things. She had few possessions, and every single one of them was valuable in her eyes. A pencil? A pen? She'd grown up knowing intimately, fearfully, the value of a penny; she took the loss of even the smallest thing with great heaviness of heart.

Well, maybe not so much heaviness of heart so much as a shaking fury that she could have lost track of something so important.

And speaking of fury - "I'm sorry."

The dickface had the gall to sigh. Sigh. He was going to sigh at her when he'd done what he'd done? Like he was some kind of martyr, the peacemaker, the victim? Oh, sure, she was giving just as good as she got, but now that meant she was the unreasonable one, now? The hell was that all about? Dick face.

The surprise made her reflexively turn around to pin her stony gaze on him, but the sight that met her eyes did nothing to soften her attitude. She was stuck in her ways, and that was that - she didn't mind a whit. As far as she knew, he was just putting up a front, and like hell was she going to fall for it. She'd seen it before.

"My name's Mike."

"Hey, Noah!"

Hell, no. She wasn't even surprised, really, because she'd expected as much: every word a lie, or something just the slightest bit deceptive if nothing else. "You've got to be kidding me," she said flatly, shaking her head as she turned back around to advance up the line. "I already know who you are, but nice try. Mike. Noah." Dickface, she added privately. "Feel free to give a shout when you make up your mind."

[Noah Michael Rivera]

He tilted his head to his side, and held up his hands in front of his face and waved them defensively. His mouth formed the shape of an 'o' as he realized that he may have confused her. Reaching for his wallet in his back pocket, he flipped it open to show his valid ID. Like everyone else in the worlds drivers license, his picture was goofy. He pointed with his index finger at his name, "See?" He stated happily pointing out his name was in fact 'Noah Michael Rivera' "I just go by Mike." He reached his free hand around his head, scratching at his neck feeling a little awkward. 'Man, I'm really not good with chicks.' He groaned inwardly to himself.

He pulled a few dollars wedged in the corners of the wallet. "Look I dunno what I did to piss you off.." He was being blunt here, not ordinary for him. 'Besides bump into her.' He added silently. It really did mean a lot if he could make himself up somehow. "Here let me at least pay for your lunch..." He offered pulling the dollars from his wallet before placing it back in his pocket.


[how funny would it be if he pulled out that pen he took from her yrs ago? xD ]

[Eden Doe]

"Look I dunno what I did to piss you off.."

Eden bristled. He really "dunno" that she was on to him? That she could see right past his act? She didn't fall off the turnip truck yesterday, but evidently, Noah-Michael-Dickface thought he could pull one over her. Or, even worse, he really had forgotten their first and certainly distasteful encounter back in her junior year, when she'd first transferred - well, she thought, maybe it made sense that he wouldn't remember her. After all, being the lying thief he was twenty-four-seven, he must have had a string of unwitting victims falling for his tricks and sleight of hand. Eden couldn't have been the first, nor could she have been the last, and now that she thought about it, she couldn't have been that unique in his eyes: he must have forgotten her among the sea of students he had to have pulled the same tricks on.

And that only made him appear that much more abhorrent to her. Look at that, she fumed inwardly, look at him acting like some damned sheep. What's that all about?

But of course she knew. It must be an act, everything he did. Everything was just to prep the victim for further deception and thievery. If Eden didn't hate him before, she certainly felt the stirrings of it now. She didn't grace his statement-question with even a one-word dismissal; it would be completely pointless. Why should she have to justify herself to someone like him?

"Here let me at least pay for your lunch..."

She was still facing the front, but she heard every word clearly. Too clearly, in fact. A surge of renewed hostility rose from the ashes of the simmering resentment that had managed to settle into the bottom of her stomach and rose into her throat and threatened to eject itself as a wave of obscene profanity from her mouth. What, did she look like a beggar? Did Noah-Michael think that a few dollars would fix whatever had happened and make everything new? Well, of course, he apparently didn't remember how they'd met, but did he think he could smooth over her anger with money nevertheless? Eden wasn't unfamiliar with comments on her financial background - she just chose not to be embarrassed about it. And she had never let it make a beggar out of her. Was this douchebag trying to irritate her deliberately?

Dickface.

"I don't do charity," she said, her voice surprisingly controlled. Maybe a bit too controlled. "Even if you do, apparently." A dual meaning: while one might assume that Eden was referring to Noah's giving it, she meant his liberal use of the five-finger discount and magnetized hands, the dirty kind of charity. "Look, just drop it. It's not a big deal." Well, actually it was, but she didn't intend to carry on a conversation with the dickface any longer.

[Noah Michael Rivera]

He was confused, sure, but the more he dwelled on it the more sense it seemed to make to him. He had done something in the past.. Something this girl held a grudge against him for. It wasn't surprising really. Not many people actually /liked/ or even associated with him. Was it because he was different?

In the back of his mind he struggled as he tried to come up with where he had come across her before. Failing, he only drew blanks. So many faces in his years, and he had only just begun his 'profession'. Mostly ripping off old ladie, still, he had felt bad about the whole 'scam business' ordeal. She couldn't be a narc or something, could she? The paranoia was beginning to seep in. She couldn't have had any other possible reason for being so cold towards him, could she? He shook his head to ward his pessimism away.

Feeling self conscious now, he frowned. Without bothering to pull out his wallet again, he crumpled the dollars and shoved them back into his pocket. He wanted to apologize again for inconveniencing her, but he decided he had best leave her be. Turning to leave, his jaw moved slightly to the left as he bit down on his right cheek. It was a habit that normally occurred when under stress.

***

 At the taste of blood, the lanky man rolled his eyes and chuckled darkly. Turning back to the line now, ”Oh now look who is throwing a tantrum.” His voice differed now, the pitch was deeper than before. The strained tone of voice that Eden was doing suggested that she was reaching her limits, and that she couldn't deal with his demeanor for much longer.

He had a certain charm to him and many hadn't trouble accepting it, yet he knew the real reason that he got under her skin. The pencil he had taken a year ago was still held in his possession, resting in the safety of his backpack. It was a simple mechanical pencil, though soon after taking it it had become his new favorite writing utensil. Was she really holding a grudge over /that/?! Well, she wasn't getting it back, he thought smugly to himself. Vaguely paying attention to what the senior was saying, he glanced around the cafeteria curiously, deciding if he should pull her strings even further.


"I don't do charity"

The words stung, he was just trying to be a nice guy. But no, that wasn't him, not now. As the line had moved forward, Eden still stood her ground her tray empty. It was possible she didn't notice it move, or it was possible that indecision was a female thing. ”Perhaps you should take time your time to think about what you /really/ want.” He suggested referring to the menu coolly, although there was still a hint of arrogance in his tone.


His head tilted to the side, letting out a faint cracking noise. A usual cheeky smirk rested on his face. "A free meal's a free meal." He stated emotionless staring over her head. ”See it that way if you want but I can assure you it was only of good intentions." Noah shrugged not wanting to ebb her on any further, and silently cut out of line.

[Eden Doe]

”Oh now look who is throwing a tantrum.”

Eden's eyes widened in mock amazement. It sounded as if his voice had dropped an octave or two out of the blue - was it his way of asserting dominance? Eden wasn't unfamiliar with the entitlement to authority some particular young men felt, and the subsequent bicep flexing, the shoving, and other examples of testosterone production increase. So, what? This Noah-Michael was trying to spook her? Sure, the abrupt change in demeanor might have disturbed some unsuspecting victims, but Eden had known all along: this was the true nature of the guy, and the innocent lamb facade was just that, a joke, a front, something he used to get others to trust him. How could it be any other way? It was seamless, the transformation. She'd witnessed it again.

"And look whose balls just dropped. Incredible."

But regardless of their fast approaching a boiling point in the middle of their less-than-civil conversation (admittedly Eden's fault, mostly, but only because she was prepared for whatever bull he was about to try to throw at her). Noah-Michael seemed completely oblivious to what she had to say, but clearly he had something to share himself.

"Perhaps you should take time your time to think about what you /really/ want.”

Sure, Eden wanted to say, but she could feel the encounter coming to a close. Good, because continuing the pointless conversation only made her want to hate him more, but she couldn't do a thing about it because in the end, he'd done nothing to her this time that she hadn't provoked. But that was fine too, because in Eden's eyes, he deserved every bit of it.

Noah-Michael cut out of line, and Eden didn't bother looking over her shoulder to glare at him. There'd be no point - the best-case scenario, after all, ended with him out of her hair and certainly out of her field of vision, and she could already feel her blood pressure slipping downwards. Slowly, but steadily.

She advanced up the line, having thrown a few things on it, and casually glanced to her left at a young girl - freshman? sophomore? - as she waited her turn to pay at the cash register. "Never assume anyone's changed," she told her with a slight smile. "They'll just prove you wrong."

Good thing Eden rarely ever made that kind of mistake.