paint your wings

Nathan looked up when he dismissed class, watching as the students began to pack up and leave. Seeing Savannah, he watched her carefully, having taken note of her behavior over the course of the month that she had been in his class. "Savannah, could you stay after class for a moment?" he asked, arching an eyebrow. He wasn't entirely sure if she would agree, because he knew she had every right to just leave. He didn't want her to feel as though he were singling her out, of course - he was just wanting to check on her; he knew the other students were paying more attention to her now that he had said her name, though they were still dispersing. Part of him just felt the need to check on her, at least, to make sure that nothing was bothering her outside of class.

---

Letha was late to class, at least by twenty minutes, but it was nothing new. Humming to herself, she made her way to her seat, ignoring the annoyed stares from some of the students and the muffled whispers of Why does she even bother coming to class when she's always late? She offered a tight-lipped smile to those people and sat down in the front of class, leaning back in the chair and crossing her legs on the edge of the table. Her eyes rested on Professor Carson and she arched an eyebrow. "Well, Professor? Did I miss anything important?" she asked in a sing-song voice, though she didn't really care. At one point, she had actually cared, but that was a long time ago, back when she thought knowledge was important.

Savannah sighed and nodded her head while she continued to pack up her things after class was over. Then she walked up to Professor Scott's desk once everyone was gone, not really caring if they were all starting to whisper about why she was being asked to stay after. Even if she was curious herself the last thing she really cared about was what everyone said about her. Honestly she knew she wasn't in trouble given she hadn't done anything that could possibly get her into some kind of trouble and it was probably just something silly like lending her a book or something. Because that'd happened before, she did kind of take school seriously and well she could never know too much. Then again she supposed he could be able to tell that she looked tried, or maybe he knew about her and Matt. Either way she was about to find out. "So what's going on?"

---

Zane sighed quietly to himself when Letha walked into class late, as usual, and asked if she'd missed anything important. Honestly today she hadn't missed anything too important. They'd just been going over the reading from the week before, and for the most part it was just a refresher for everyone. "So far we've just gone over the reading from last week and I've let the class know that I did post this weeks assignment online. So everyone should check that for the assignment. And we were just about to start talking about a few things I told everyone to look for in the reading. So really you're just in time for all the fun." He replied to Letha specifically before he was walking over to the board to move onto the next thing with his class.

Nathan eyed the girl for a long moment, thinking over how he could ask something that was likely personal for her. He wasn't fond of prying into others' lives, but he did want to help his students as much as he could. "I'm sorry if this comes off as a little intrusive, but I think it's important to ask," he mentioned, making sure to keep his attention on any change in behavior or actions when he approached the subject. "Is everything okay, Savannah? Nobody's been bothering, have they?" he asked, a concerned frown filling his features, because he didn't want any of his students to feel alone, or to be hurting. Maybe he felt like it was his responsibility being a teacher - or maybe it was just a natural concern that had been filling him since the day he was born.

---

"Oh, boo," Letha said, letting a sigh escape her lips. "Perhaps I should leave and come back in another ten or fifteen minutes?" She smiled, then, tilting her head only slightly with curiosity. It wasn't like she would pay attention either way, honestly. Sure, she had actually done the reading, but that didn't mean that she would ever own up to it. On the bright side, at least she actually liked this class. Though that could have more to do with the fact that Professor Carson didn't seem to treat her as though she were wasting his time even showing up to class (which, admittedly, she probably did, but at least Professor Carson seemed to put up with it, whereas the other professors just wrote her off.)

Savannah pursed her lips together and was silent for probably a moment to long as she thought of how she should answer. "Everything's fine. I'm just a little tired because I stayed up a bit later than I really should've last night talking to my sister. But really everything with me is fine." She told him hoping he bought it really. And she hadn't really lied to him because she really had been up late the night before talking to her sister, though she hadn't exactly told him about Max. Honestly though she was pretty sure she'd gotten that all taken care of. She had a plan when it came to him, she just hadn't quite put that plan into action yet. Though she didn't really mind him asking if she was okay, clearly he was just worried about her, the thing was though she didn't really want to drag him into the whole mess.

---

Zane looked at Letha then motioned to the door. "If that's what you really want to do then you know where the door is. And we'll all still be here when you get back." He told her knowing that he was the only teacher who treated her the way he did, but he had his reasons. And it bothered him a little that everyone else was so willing to just write her off as some student who just wanted to be in college for the parties. Even if by her attitude most days said that about her he was almost positive it wasn't true. He couldn't pinpoint what it was about her that made him think differently than everyone else, but there was something. Maybe it was just the fact that he saw it as his duty not to give up on any students, even when they make it difficult. And he only thought that way because he'd seen so many kids already who never had anyone believe in them, and he felt that's what they needed.

(I'll reply to the 5SOS roleplay when I get even a remotely okay enough idea of what to write. xD)

Nathan knew immediately that she wasn't telling him the truth. Or, at least, the full truth. Part of him just knew that she was holding something back. And, he wasn't sure if it was because of the silence that she gave before answering that was maybe a beat longer than it should have been, or if it was just intuition, but he just knew something wasn't right. "Savannah, you can tell me," he told her after a moment, offering her a kind smile in hopes of easing her worries. "I'm just worried. You are my student, after all, and I don't want you to have to face problems that could otherwise be handled." That, and he didn't want his students to have to deal with too much when they already had stress from school to deal with. There was no reason to add extra tension and drama and stress to the equation, right? "If you need somebody to talk to, you can come to me."

---

Letha smiled, then, but didn't say anything in return - nor did she get up to leave. Had it been another class, she probably would have, simply because she knew the professors never expected her to come back. But, she liked this class, due to the professor not jumping to the conclusion that she was a total ditz. Everybody assumed she was at college for the parties, but, the thing was, she hadn't attended a single party since beginning college. Not that anybody would actually believe that. They all assumed that she was some wild child, when, really, she was pretty much a recluse. She preferred it that way, though, she supposed. Falling silent entirely, she gestured for the professor to go ahead and continue his less and, though she pretended that she wasn't, she actually kind of paid attention.

[ okay, that's fine. I'll probably reply to the Maze Runner roleplay tomorrow when I get home from work. And the Teen Wolf roleplay will get a reply hopefully tomorrow to, right now I just can't figure out how to reply ]

"I know." Savanna said nodding her head and smiling at him. If there was one professor here that she liked more than all the others it was him. And that wasn't just because he was honestly the cutest. Either way she knew that she could talk to him if she needed to, what was really going on was just one of those things she really didn't want anyone else to get involved in. And she did really think she had it under control. "I've got everything under control though, promise." She said biting her lip. Actually she was supposed to be meeting up with a friend after this class so they could go get the restraining order, which was of course step one in her plan to get Max off her back. Because she couldn't take it anymore, she just couldn't spend another day knowing she hadn't done anything to try and get him to see she really was done with him.

---

Zane went on with teaching the class, he wasn't too shocked when Letha didn't get up and leave. Honestly he hadn't really expected her to. Anyone else might've, but well he didn't. Maybe because he really did see something different than everyone else when he looked at her, but who really knew. "And that's everything for today." He said looking around the room a while later when he was done with the lecture for the day. "Before I dismiss you all just remember that your assignments are up online, and that my door is always open if you need to talk about anything." He told them before letting them go, and he did hope that if any of his students were ever having issues with class or with something else that they'd come and find him.

(No rush~)

"Claiming that you have everything under control is an admission that something's actually wrong," Nathan observed, though he nodded and offered a small smile. He didn't want to pry, not when he knew that such a thing could get some people to rush the other way entirely. If he wanted to gain the girl's trust and get her to divulge her problems, he knew better than to press her and try to get her to tell him what was bothering her when she didn't want to. Usually, after approaching the subject of checking on a student, they would eventually tell them when they felt that they could. Still, he made it a point to remind her, "Just remember that, if anything is wrong or if anything is bothering you, you can talk to me, no matter how small or big the problem. Understand?"

---

Letha let out a sigh at the mention of it, because part of her actually thought about talking to the professor. But, she figured that wasn't such a good idea - no, it would ruin the appearance she had now and though she knew that he was probably the one professor who hadn't given up on her yet, she didn't want to give him a reason to think that she was just going to change into a goody-goody all of a sudden. "Nice lecture. You may have overdone it a bit and you may need work on your delivery, but at least I didn't fall asleep this time," she chimed as she packed up her things and stood up. Of course, she had never really fallen asleep in the class; she had pretended to, sure, but she actually did bother to listen.

Savannah nodded her head. "I understand. I promise though everything's under control so there's nothing to worry about. And I know that probably sounds like that means something's wrong, but if it gets to the point of me not being sure I can handle it alone I'll let you know." She told him biting her lip, honestly she didn't want to drag him into the whole mess. It was all being taken care of, and hopefully her plan would work. Of course if something did go wrong and it didn't work then Savannah wouldn't really be afraid to come and tell him, because she really did trust professor Scott. She'd trusted him since his first class she'd taken the year before right now though she just thought it'd be best to keep him out of it. "I really should be going if that's okay though. I'm supposed to meet up with a friend."

---

"Thanks for the feedback. I'll make sure to keep that in mind." Zane told Letha looking over at her while he spoke to her after class. "Was that everything or did you have a matter you needed to discuss with me?" He asked her, not trying to get rid of her or anything along those lines, but if she was going to leave then he could go ahead and head out as well since this was the only class he actually had all day today, and well he might've been a professor first to the students, but he was a human too and liked to enjoy a nice afternoon watching Netflix and drinking wine. Because well yea, he was a wine drinker. Beer had never really been his thing, yea he could drink one every now and again and it wouldn't bother him or anything he just didn't prefer usually.

(Sorry if this is short; I'm on my phone. D: )

Nathan felt a little conflicted, but nodded nonetheless. "Sure. I wouldn't want to keep you," he told her, offering a smile before he went ahead to clean up his space. "If your friend has been waiting long, do extend my apologies to them." But, he wasn't really apologetic about it. He probably should have been, but he was more worried about checking on Savannah than he was about her friend waiting on her. Maybe she would open up to him eventually and he would actually be able to help her, even just a little. He felt it was his duty to be there for his students, after all, because not everybody had anybody there for them.

---

Letha's lips upturned with just a slight hint of amusement and she lifted her shoulders in a shrug. "As much fun as it would be to waste your time, I'm not a fan of talking about personal problems," she hummed out before shifting her bag and offering a wave. "Until next time, bud." Grinning, she turned and made her way out of the classroom, making sure to be quick about getting away. As much as she really did enjoy the class, she didn't want others to think that her behavior was slacking any. No, better to keep up with the facade that everybody had gotten used to.

[ it's fine . I'm sorry my posts are all over the place. I just can not stop playing Just Dance... lol. ]

Savannah nodded her head, though she got the feeling he wasn't actually sorry for keeping her. And well that went hand in hand with her not telling him what was going on, but she would tell him if she needed to. "Thank you for being here if I needed you though." She told him smiling softly before heading out the door. Yea it wasn't uncommon for teachers to be around if students needed them, but sometimes she felt like they weren't nearly as comfortable to be around as Professor Scott was. Not to mention there were times when she felt like maybe they wouldn't be as helpful as they thought they'd be, or that somehow talking to a teacher could get them into some kind of trouble or something. Either way she headed out of the classroom and went to meet up with her friend.

---

"And that's your right." Zane told her as he started to pack up his things so he could head out. "Yea until next time." He told her laughing a little pretty sure that next week when the class met she'd be late then too. And like always he'd just let it go. Because well at least she did her work, even if she wouldn't admit that she did it and he didn't tell anyone that she did. And he was sure she'd pretend to ignore him or act like she wasn't listening but somehow he just knew she was. Even if she didn't take notes, there was no way her grade would be as good as it was if she didn't pay attention. He just let her be though because well if that's what she wanted then that's what she wanted. And he didn't see the point in messing with something that worked. Even if that made him different than all the other professors.

(No worries, haha! Quick question: Do you want Letha to be the friend that Savannah's meeting?)

[ that totally works for me. and it'd make sense if our girls were friends ]

(Haha, okay! I just wanted to see what you thought of the idea. :) )

Nathan smiled slightly and nodded to Savannah's words. "Any time," he assured her, and he meant it. He wanted Savannah to know that he would be there for her if she needed him to be - he wanted to help her and he could only hope that she would accept that help at some point. Though he wasn't sure if she ever would, he wanted her to at least know that, if she did decide that he was worthy of her trust or if she thought that she needed somebody to talk to, then he would listen and help in any way that he could. When she was out of the classroom, he went ahead to pack up his things, trying to avoid rushing because, when he rushed, he usually forgot something. He didn't want to do that, so, once he finished packing, he made his way out of the classroom.

---

Letha tried not to smile when she heard the professor laughing, but she was clearly amused by it. Thankfully, she was pretty sure he couldn't see it, and, before long, she was out of the classroom. Pulling her cell out of her pocket, she checked the time, mentally cursing at the fact that she was running a little late to meet Savannah. Hopefully, her friend hadn't gone off to handle things on her own. Quickly, she made her way to the meeting spot that they had agreed on, but she couldn't spot Savannah and hoped that maybe Savannah was just running late, too. Either way, she glanced around, hoping to see Savannah wandering nearby - maybe she just got thirsty or something or wanted to drop by the campus store to get a snack.

[ I think it's a great idea. I was kind of thinking that since our girls are friends maybe the professors could be good friends too ]

Savannah walked out of the classroom and towards where she'd told Letha they'd meet up after class, and she just hoped her friend wasn't worrying about her or anything. After all she was only running like five minutes late at the most. She smiled though when she saw her friend apparently just arriving. "D'you get held up too?" She asked biting her lip and tucking some hair behind her ear. "This is going to work right?" She asked softly hoping that it would work. Honestly Savannah wanted Max out of her life, she didn't have to have to look over her shoulder every second or have to worry about the people the talked to. And honestly getting a restraining order seemed like the only option at this point. She just hoped that it would actually work and he'd realize she really didn't want him around her. Otherwise this whole plan would be totally pointless.

---

Once Letha was gone Zane went back to packing up his things, double checking to make sure he had everything. Even though he didn't really live that far away from campus so it wasn't like it'd be a big deal if he had to come back for anything he'd just rather not have to come back once he'd left. Honestly unless it was something important like his keys or something if he got home and had left something he almost felt like he'd just leave it and wait until he was back for work. But who knew it that's really what he'd do or not.

(Ooh, yeah, that could totally work! The professors could even ask for advice on how to go about helping the students, too. :3 )

Nathan swung his keys around on his finger as he made his way down the hallway. Coming across his friend's classroom, he peaked in to see him still inside, though it looked like he was finishing packing up. "You wouldn't leave without a goodbye, would you?" he greeted his friend with a joke, leaning against the door frame of the classroom. He had known Zane for years - though they were both relatively new to being professors, they had attended this very university together and had been like brothers. In honesty, Nathan was pretty sure that being a professor here would have been a lot more stressful if he had been alone in it.

---

"Something like that," Letha offered with a smile and a lift of her shoulders. "Couldn't go through the day without annoying my favorite professor, could I?" She winked, then, jokingly, because she was hoping to ease her friend's concerns. Throwing her arm around her friend's shoulders, she turned and helped lead her friend away, so that they could get this done. "Of course it will work. It has to. Otherwise, you know, we'll have to get sulfuric acid and drop his ass into it," she joked lightly, though she wouldn't hesitate to defend Savannah against Max, if it came down to it. But, she hadn't bothered to do it yet, because Savannah had decided to get a restraining order and Letha didn't want to jeopardize that opportunity by causing more problems with Max than necessary.

[ that sounds brilliant! ]

Savannah laughed and shook her head at her best friend. Of course Letha would go to the one class she actually enjoyed, and well Savannah could blame her for that. Honestly she was glad that her friend did have that one class she liked, which was taught by a professor she liked too. It was good for her. "I hope you're right." She said biting her lip. "Professor Scott was asking question before I could leave the classroom. And I'm worried that if this doesn't work he's going to get involved and I just don't want him to get into drug into this." She said sighing. She didn't think it'd be a bad idea necessarily to have an authority figure like him in her life. Her problem with it was that he seemed like a nice guy, and she didn't want anything bad to happen to him because of her. And well Max wasn't a good guy, he also didn't care who he might've hurt, and Savannah could easily see him going after her teacher and hurting him and then she'd only feel worse.

---

Zane looked up from his bag and at his door to see his best friend Nathan leaning against the door. "Well you're always out of here before me so I just figured you'd come say goodbye to me when you were leaving." He joked back. Though it was true that Nathan was always out of there before Zane was. And he didn't know how that always happened but it did. "So'd your classes go well today?" He asked knowing that they'd talk about thing while they headed off campus. Hell maybe they'd decide to go grab a beer or something at the pub down the street. Who knew. It wasn't like he had any classes to teach the next day anyways. Which mean that he could stay out a bit later than usual if he wanted a drink, it also meant he had the following day to grade papers and get outside of work work done.

(Awesome~!)

Nathan lifted his shoulders in a shrug, then, and pushed himself off the door frame. "Well, I wouldn't leave without saying a goodbye," he joked lightly before stuffing his hands in his pockets and leading the way down the hallway to leave the school building. "They went well enough. There's this student that I'm concerned about, though. Something's just seemed off about her lately and I told her that she could talk to me, if she needed to, but she seems pretty adamant to avoid that." It didn't make much sense to him, because he didn't like seeing his students trying to deal with problems on their own. He wanted to help them, because he felt it was the right thing to do. Maybe they just thought that he liked to pry, though; he wasn't entirely certain of it, either way.

---

Letha arched an eyebrow, then, eyeing her friend for a long moment. She could understand why she didn't want the professor dragged into everything - though she had never had Professor Scott, from what she heard, he was a pretty nice guy. Probably not as nice as Professor Carson, but that was her own opinion. "Well, you could just tell him the basics?" she suggested after a moment. "Enough to where he doesn't worry, but not so much that he gets involved. Like, you had a bad relationship, it ended, and you're trying to get into the normalcy of being single again, maybe. Leave out how bad it was or the fact that you're getting a restraining order, definitely. Being single after such a long relationship is enough to cause anybody stress, so he might understand that."

Savannah nodded her head, Letha was right. She could just tell him the basics next time she saw him and maybe it'd get him off her case. At least enough so he wasn't worried about her anymore. Which was what she wanted. "I just felt awful not telling him what was going on when he asked before I could leave the room though. Because I mean he just wants to help, but we both know Max is and I mean the last thing I want is for a nice guy to get caught in the middle of all this." She said, even if the nice guy was her teacher. The way she saw this it was better this way. Or at least she was telling herself it was better this way.

---

Zane pulled his bag over his shoulder and headed to the door flipping off the lights as he made his way into the hallway with his friend. "What concerns you about her?" He asked, "Or maybe a better question is are you worried about her and her safety?" He added knowing that if there was one person who would literally worry about anyone it was Nathan. The guy was probably one of the most compassionate people Zane had ever met. He was that guy who was friends with like everyone when they were in school, or at least tried to be friends with everyone. And if there was ever someone in need of help or anything like that Nathan was the guy to go do. And Zane could tell he was worried about this student of his, he just didn't know why.

Nathan sighed as he thought over it. "I don't know what it is, exactly," he said honestly before lifting his shoulders in a shrug and looking over at his friend, "I don't know if her safety is in jeopardy or anything. Her behavior has just been different lately. She's seemed distant, distracted. It worries me, because I can't recall a time where her behavior was odd like that." Not that he was really supposed to pay that much attention to one student, but Savannah was a good student and he wanted her to succeed. He wanted to help her and he wanted to help all of his students, so he didn't really think too deeply into the matter of his desire to find out what had been bothering her lately. It wasn't out of character for him, either, from what he was aware of, so he didn't dig into it.

---

Letha nodded in understanding, offering her friend a small smile. "I know," she assured her before turning her attention ahead. "But, after this is over, you won't have to worry about it anymore." Or, at least, that was what she hoped. She wasn't sure how the law worked, but she was pretty sure that if Max did come around Savannah, he'd be locked away for a while and Savannah could try to move on with her life. That was what Letha wanted for her friend - for her to be happy and be able to live without constantly being worried about the next time Max might attack her. "Let's get this over with quickly, though - you know I don't do well with authority figures," she joked lightly, nudging her friend teasingly in hopes of lifting her spirits a little.