Timelined before An Education
Cecilia: Cecilia lounged back on the headboard of her bed, picking her way through a few calculus questions, in no particular rush since this set of problems wasn't due till next week. Things were going much better this year. She'd even been taken out of remedial math. Finally, she felt as though she was operating at the top of her game.
Janet: Janet walked into the room after taking a long shower, she'd hung out with May earlier on in the day and the two of them had been a bit rough and tumble so the shower was much needed. "Hey roomie," she grinned, tightening her robe and going to get some clothes out of her dresser. "Whatcha up to?"
Cecilia: "Hey yourself.. Mm? Oh, math," Cecilia laughed, distracted. Marking her place in her textbook before closing it and turning her full attention to her roommate. "Calculus to be precise. I know what you're thinking: 'Holy shit she's got that much work already?' Well...yeah, unfortunately, I do."
Janet: "Blergh. That doesn't even sound like any type of fun at all." She got behind something and stripped off her robe and slipped on her panties and her sports bra, not wanting to make Cecilia uncomfortable. "Why do you have so much work already?" She asked and came out once she had her shorts on.
Cecilia: Cecilia averted her eyes slightly out of propriety but not out of embarrassment. As far as she was concerned Jan didn't have anything she hadn't already seen. "I wanna be a doctor, a trauma surgeon, specifically. To even be considered for med school you gotta have an undergrad in science which is sorta heavy on math, chemistry and biology." She shrugged. "There's a lotta material to cover, I guess they just like to get right into it."
1
Janet: "Ah, understood entirely. I'm not sure what I want to do exactly. I was majoring in biology in college but I dunno if that's what I want to go into. But what you want to do sounds really interesting. If you need help with the math though I would totally be willing, " she suggested, sitting on her bed and crossing her legs.
Cecilia: "Thanks," Cecilia said, smiling a little. "They just let me outta remedial this year so I think I'm okay but if I do need help I'm glad to hear someone's available." She turned to face her roommate, mimicking her position unconsciously. "You mean the college you went to before you came here, right? Biology seems a sorta odd thing to go into with no concrete idea of what you wanna do after. No offence or anything, it's just a big commitment to take on for a lotta 'maybes,' you know what I'm saying?"
Janet: "Oh, I completely agree with you. It was just one of those things that I'm good at you know? So I figured why not. However I minored in business so that I could get some actual experience in something." she shrugged and leaned against her pillow. "I'm good at fixing things...and good at science..so maybe engineering would be a good field. Hard field but it might be best for me you know?" She said
Cecilia: "Oh God, engineering...that doesn't sound like a bad idea though. I think Fabian's new roommate is studying mechanical engineering, actually." She smirked widely. "If you take the robotics, business or engineering classes though you're gonna have Shaw as a professor!" Cecilia laughed at that. "I still can't get over the fact he's a professor!"
Janet: "I don't know Shaw very well," she said, cocking her head to the side before picking up her magazine on the table that was about cars. "I think engineering sounds best honestly so maybe I'll try that out. Robotics, business and engineering sound up my alley." she laughed
Cecilia: "I do, or at least I've the pleasure of his acquaintance, he's the caretaker of the New York Hellfire Club so it's kinda hard for me to avoid him, what with Fabian being who he is," Cecilia said, shrugging. "Mayday would say he's a sorta 'Bruce Wayne' figure. Smug, lots of money and a huge cad."
Janet: "Well, I don't doubt it then." She laughed and flicked through it, thinking of maybe redoing the paint job on her car so it was a bit more sleek. "He sounds like someone I'll probably find frustrating, but get along with in the long run...or he might drive me insane. Either way I'm taking his classes I think."
Cecilia: "Oh, don't let his personality stop you from taking his classes. Even if you hate him as a person there's still a lot you can learn from him, he's the CEO of his own company, so obviously he's done something right," Cecilia said, tilting her head at Jan's magazine. "You're into cars?"
Janet: "Well then it is settled. I'll be taking his classes," she grinned and then nodded. "Oh yeah, I worked at a mechanic shop for a little while during high school. Should have been the tip off to my parents that I was a dyke, " she joked and shrugged. "They just interest me, and I'm good at getting them fixed up."
Cecilia: "See, I don't get that," Cecilia said, raising an eyebrow. "How does being interested in mechanics make you a dyke? I mean, my uncle's wife is cop, she's one of the butchest people I know but she's not gay and Fabian gets mistaken for that all the time and he's as straight as you can get."
Cecilia: She shrugged. "Maybe I'm just playing off of my own experience though. I'm sure I'm nothing anyone expects when they think of a science major. They're probably expecting some white and homely chick that wears cardigans or something."
Janet: "I was kidding mostly, but a lot of people just give in to stereotypes like that. A lot of people assume that purely because I keep my hair this short I'm a lesbian. But my hair doesn't define that. The fact that I am in love with a woman defines that, " she laughed and rolled her eyes. "Maybe you aren't what people would suspect a science major to be, but you're a pretty kick ass one." she pointed out and set the magazine back.
Cecilia: Cecilia raised an eyebrow. "In love with one?" she smirked. "Dammit, I knew I should of kept track of what was going on here during the summer. So... anyone I know?"
Janet: "I didn't tell you? Goddamnit I could have sworn I had. Though I dunno how many people are really aware of it. Mayday and I are dating." she smiled and pulled her knees to her chest.
Cecilia: Cecilia grinned. "No shit! Mayday's my best girl friend. Aw, man, you couldn't have picked better!" This was perfect, she actually knew the person who'd be coming over! "I think she'll really benefit from dating you. I'm happy for you guys, really."
Cecilia: Her brow furrowed a little and she ran a hand through her hair. "If it was an online thing I probably just missed the bulletin...sorry, I haven't spoken much to Mayday yet and...well, I sorta went dark for the summer on anything to do with here...I needed to just...get away from everything."
Janet: "Yeah, she kind of disappeared too..and I went to go find her because Hisako told me that Mayday wasn't going to come back...she tricked me basically and so I found out where Mayday was and went to see her...and told her how I felt. She and I are..really happy," she smiled and blushed a little.
Janet: "Well we haven't really broadcasted it so I don't think you really missed anything honestly," she laughed.
Cecilia: "Well, if I have I'm sure I'll hear all about it from her," Cecilia chuckled, though she wrinkled her nose at the mention of Hisako. It'd been months since she'd spoken to the other girl...and she wasn't entirely sure she was willing to change that right now either. "Huh...I wasn't really under the impression she cared much for relationships...strange she'd wanna play matchmaker."
Janet: "No doubt you will. We had a good summer together, I really enjoyed meeting her dad." she smiled and rested her chin on her knees. "I never thought she was the matchmaker type either but apparently I was wrong." she laughed and rolled her eyes. "How is Fabian by the way?"
Cecilia: Cecilia was going to say something rather uncharitable about the Japanese girl but decided against it. Janet had no reason to dislike her and all bad-mouthing her would do was make her look petty.
Cecilia: "Good, last I checked," Cecilia said, smirking slightly. "I don't think he's overly fond of his new roommate but he seems to be dealing with it. We spent the whole summer together in Puerto Rico. It was a really great time." Despite the occasional hiccup, she thought to herself.
Janet: "Well I'm not overly fond of my new roommate either but I think I can make do," she teased and swung her legs over the side of the bed to sit up properly. "Mmmm Puerto Rico, sounds exotic." she winked and grabbed her brush to start combing out her short hair that was still rather damp from her shower. "And did you sun-tan on the beach naked?" she laughed
Cecilia: Cecilia snorted. "Yeah, I'm a real bitch. Housing must hate you." She laughed even harder though as Janet asked about sunbathing. "I was born in Puerto Rico, actually. Moved to the Bronx when I was three...and no, I didn't. I'm not big on a bunch of strangers seeing my chest (what very little there is) and in the latter half of the vacation we flew my family down to stay with us - including my older brother and my uncle."
Janet: "I'm pretty sure they do, I mean fuck...being stuck in a room with you is like hell," she laughed and finished fixing up her hair. "You are? I'm surprised I didn't realize that, you look Puerto Rican. And I don't think there is anything wrong with your chest. But it is nice you got to see your family, that must have been fun."
Cecilia: "Oh, you have no idea the kind of hell I make other people's lives," she said, somewhat truthfully. Unfortunately that was just how life worked for someone like her. She always managed to hurt someone - either intentionally or through some other means.
Cecilia: "Really? Huh...I always thought I looked more African than anything. Afro-Caribbeans aren't so common on Puerto Rico as opposed to the other islands," she explained. "I mean, I am Puerto Rican on both sides it's just I came out looking more like my mother as opposed to my father who was the more stereotypical looking Puerto Rican. I don't think most would guess I'm biracial."
Janet: "Now I'm sure that's not true. I enjoy hanging out with you, you are interesting and fun to talk to," she grinned and fished under her bed for something for a moment before looking back up at her. "Oh, well you do look African, but it is something about your features that I can kind of guess you have Latin blood. You know?" she shrugged and finally found what she was looking for. Janet pulled out a flask and tossed it to her. "To ease your mind a bit before you finish the rest of your math problems," she said.
Cecilia: Cecilia chuckled and studied the flask. "Ah, you're a girl after my own heart, Jan. I think we're gonna get along just fine."