\\ i hate this (claudia/amber)

[collie]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: dddddd; border: #cccccc solid 8px; width: 420px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] DON'T MEDDLE WITH HER HEART, MEDDLE WITH HER MIND TAGGED: AMBER OUTFIT THREAD PIC NOTES I HOPE THIS WORKS :3 The building looked massive, red and ominous. It was making her rethink everything that had led her to this point. She didn't like it. She frowned in the direction of it as she stood there before it, feeling so insignificant in its presence as its walls towered over her. There was a part of her that cursed herself for wasting the money it had taken to get here by bus. What was she thinking?? She had always been a terrible student and she use to swear up and down that school was no place for her. The fact that she had even graduated had been a feat in-and-of-itself (and Adam deserved all that credit). Not to mention she had had her heart set on going to the Art Academy – one day, someday, when money wasn’t as much of an issues. But no, here she was. And she had done such a great job of building herself up to do this, convincing herself it was the right thing to do so she wasn’t just ‘another statistic’, that she was working towards doing something for herself, bettering herself, instead of just barely holding down a job or sitting around at home all day like a hermit wondering how Adam was doing. A summer course wouldn’t kill her. If anything it could be the start of something big – something good. But all the positive thoughts she had had prior to getting here vanished the moment she set eyes on the building. The big, terrible red building. Negative thoughts filled her as she talked herself down, mentally berating herself for being so foolish as to think she’d actually be able to make anything of herself. She was so close to just walking however many miles it was back to the house, humiliated and angry at herself, yet, instead, her feet began to carry her towards the steps until, against her better judgement, she was pushing past the doors into the sad, dated interior. Her blue eyes wandered the lobby, soaking it all in and hating how familiar it was to the walls and floors she had left behind after graduating from high school. For some reason, she had this weird notion that college was supposed to be infinitely better than high school and, thus, the hallways, the interior, everything was supposed to be better.. or at least not remind her of her past. The fact that it didn’t set her on edge. However, the young blonde thing behind the front desk gave her an almost too sugary sweet smile yet Col somehow felt it was meant to be invited. What was that word? The one that described most of what she lacked? Hospitable. Yeah, that was it. Now, Collie couldn’t smile back – in fact, she kinda found it creepy – but she did cross the foyer to the desk, pausing there, as if unsure what to do next, before she shifted her purse uncomfortable on her shoulder. “May I help you with something?

[/i][/color]”

The fact that the blonde’s voice sounded just as sugary made Collie eye the girl hard before she looked away, once again painfully aware that she had no clue what she was doing. She had seen a sign in the park mentioning summer classes – and she had convinced herself they were at a discounted price so as to feel like she was getting a deal and not actually wasting money. “Yeah, uhm… I spoke with someone on the phone about taking a class here… over the summer.. a psych class.” Psych. The thought of it both terrified and intrigued her.

“Oh, of course. Take a seat, Claudia won’t be long.[/i][/color]”

And then that sickly sweet smile again. The sight of it made Collie back away a bit before she nodded, as if an afterthought. She turned and found herself facing a small, neglected looking seating area and, taking a step towards it, she then sent a quick look over her shoulder towards the blonde, copping another big fake smile in response as she attempted to smile back but the damn thing probably looked more like an uncomfortable grimace. She turned her attention back to the seating area, then and inspected each cushion before choosing to drop her bum down onto. She really hoped this waiting business wouldn’t be long. She loathed waiting. It meant she would be there, alone, with her thoughts and she didn’t like that at all. However, rummaging through her bag, her hand fumbled around for her mobile and source or escape but, upon retrieving it from the depths of her bag, she realised it would not be her day. Dead. Alas! The bloody thing was dead. Again. Heaving a dramatic groan, she let her head drop again against the back of the cushion, hoping, praying to whatever god was out there that this wouldn’t take long.
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created by ADE! Pb-ified by WILL

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[claudia pilar domínguez]

As much as she would have loved to be at home with her husband and children, Claudia had offered to teach summer classes and advise incoming students. It was not a hard job and she actually enjoyed it, but she would have much rather have been on the beach with her four-year-old daughter and Lulu, their long-haired Chihuahua, than cooped up in her first-floor office. But it had been her decision to teach these classes and have these advising sessions, and it would do her best not to complain about making a little extra money. She was not obsessed with making money and actually would have done her job for free if she could live the same life she lived now, but that was impossible. Money would always factor into the equation somehow.

The professor had been in the middle of eating lunch when her cell phone rang? Usually, she tried not to answer her personal phone while at work, even when she was in her office doing absolutely nothing, but she always made excuses and found reasons to do it. Her husband had called her, which meant that he had just put Grace down for a nap and boredom was starting to settle in. Claudia always felt the same whenever their youngest child was sleeping and their teenage daughter was doing her own thing, but she always found ways to bate the boredom. She would clean the house (even if it was already clean) or take a nap on the couch. Her husband always wondered how she found so much energy after going to bed particularly late and waking up at the same time every morning. What he did not know was that she napped for about an hour whenever their daughter laid down to sleep. It always helped to recharge her energy halfway through the day.

Claudia spent all of fifteen minutes talking to her husband before her office phone rang. She checked the number on it and, realizing it was the secretary, answered the phone. The blonde woman told her that she had someone waiting to see her. The brunette woman checked the time on her computer, announced to her husband that she had to go, and shuffled down the hallway. She hated forgetting about appointments. Usually, she was already in the lobby waiting to greet people if she knew that they were coming, but not today. Today, she had been chatting with her husband.

Her office was at the end of the hall, which meant that the walk was somewhat long and tedious. The floors were made of concrete tiling, and her five-inch heeled shoes clicked loudly and rhythmically against it. She always did have a heavy step, but that was only because she walked with strength and confidence reflected in her stride. She may not have been very tall, standing at a measly four-foot-ten, but she certainly could keep up with even the tallest of people in those little shoes of hers. It was not long after leaving her office that she appeared in the lobby, looking a little flustered at having forgotten about the appointment (and the fact that her husband had been flirting with her over the phone), but otherwise immaculate. She had traded in her waist-high pencil skirts and uncomfortable button-up blouses for an assortment of professional summer dresses, and she had brought out the bright yellow peep-toe heels that her husband had bought her for Christmas. She had not had a chance to wear them because of the weather, but now was the time. She was a vision, definitely a looker, but she was far from perfect.

Seeing that there was only one person waiting for her, she approached the girl sitting on the chair and then glanced warily at the blonde secretary. The woman gave her a look, obviously of confusion, but Claudia shook her head and turned her attention back to the potential student. Collie Charlston was her name, or at least that was the name that came to the professor's mind when she extended a hand and began to speak.

"Collie? Hello. My name is Claudia Domínguez." The words came out smoothly and free of an accent. People always assumed she had an accent before they heard her speak, simply because of the way she looked and her name. She had been born in Cuba and raised in Miami, but she had grown up in a bilingual household where she learned both languages at the same time. She spoke both fluently, but her English was far better than her Spanish in terms of an accent. She spoke Spanish without sounding American, but she did not appear to be from any Spanish-speaking country. And that bothered her. But she did not have time to think about those things when she had an advising meeting to do. So, after shaking the young girl's hand, the woman led her down the hallway and into her office at the end of the hall.

The office was nothing particularly special. It was just an office with a desk, a comfortable chair for the office owner, and two uncomfortable chairs on the other side that were obviously for students, or potential students, like Collie. There was also a bookshelf lining the wall to the left; it was filled with psychology books and music books and even a few children's books for the days that she had to work and bring her little girl with her. But the office had a homely feel to it too. There was an air freshener sitting on the corner of the desk with a not-too-strong scent wafting from it. There were pictures of her family on her desk and some of the empty shelf space around the office. Some of the pictures had the entire family, but there were individual ones too. The newest one was a picture of her daughter, Kennedy, on her graduation day. She was wearing her cap and gown and holding a diploma. She looked happy and proud to say the least.

Claudia slid between the bookshelf and her desk and lowered herself into the swivel chair. She had to situation her sitting position to make sure her feet were not hanging from the floor, as they usually were. Wearing tall shoes helped, or at least she thought so. She motioned at the chairs across from her desk.

"Have a seat," she stated. It was not a demand, but an offer. Some students came into her office and preferred to stand. She never did understand why, but she always assumed that it had something to do with germs or maybe the need to seem superior. Of course, germs was not the case for this girl since she had been sitting on the furniture in the lobby down the hall. That was the reason she glanced at the blonde secretary; usually, they tried to warn people about the seats, especially if they were pretty girls like this one.

The woman leaned over to a filing cabinet and flipped through the many dividers until she came across the information that Collie had sent to the community college. The woman retrieved a manila folder and opened it as she closed the drawer with her foot and turned back to her desk. She scanned it and then stopped, taking a moment to look at the young girl again.

"I thought you looked familiar," she told her, offering yet another genuine smile and a few nods of her head. "You graduated with my daughter." She let her gaze linger momentarily before she closed the file and set it aside. "How are you?" she asked. The question was a little random, but serious. She wanted to know how the girl had done since graduating from high school only a few weeks previously. Some people were emotional wrecks while others were perfectly fine. Claudia could not read this girl quite yet, not that she was actually trying. She rested her hands on the desk and twisted her rings around the finger of her left hand, waiting for the response.