heart-warming or heart-breaking? {Jackson}

[angeldreamer]

Holly-Ann pushed open the door to the music building and stepped out into the October afternoon, breathing deeply and relishing in the chilly air which rushed in to fill her lungs. She loved this time of year; it felt just like home. She could almost taste the snow in the air, snow which was expected to fall at any moment. The first snowfall of the season was always a very special time for Holly. At home with her family in Denver, they would go outside together and just watch it falling; then once enough had accumulated, they would have their official First Snowball Fight of the Season. It was harder once her older brother Matt had left for college, but she and her little sister Samantha still had a blast. But Holly didn't really have time for snowball fights anymore, not since coming to Washington University of Arts; and even if she had, it wouldn't have been the same without her siblings. So for the past two years, when the first snow began to fall, she had simply watched it...watched and remembered.

But it wasn't snowing yet, so she returned her thoughts to the present. Her fingertips still tingled a bit from her latest practice session; not at all an unpleasant sensation, and far preferable to the numbness which would otherwise have immediately stolen over them when she stepped outside. Still, the blood flowing through them would only keep them warm for so long, so she reached into the pockets of her black peacoat and pulled out her gloves, slipping them on to protect her hands - her future. Beneath the coat, she wore a pale blue sweater patterned with white around the bottom and on the cuffs of the sleeves. To keep her legs warm, she had on a pair of black slacks which were warmer than they looked, having an inner lining sewn in to further insulate the wearer; and on her feet were simple black boots, with only the smallest of heels, in case of the predicted snow. She also wore a knitted white hat and scarf to protect her head.

As she set off down the path back across campus, she reflected on the day's events so far. She had had two classes that morning, one in music theory and the other a music history elective. Music Theory was always a very useful class even when she didn't understand all of the concepts right away; it had already proved invaluable to her on more than one occasion while she was working on her own compositions. The history class, on the other hand, was far less exciting. This particular class covered only music from the twentieth century, and while Holly did love music from every era, she much preferred to learn the history of the earlier music. Still, it was interesting enough - any music-related class would be interesting, as far as Holly-Ann was concerned - and she didn't have any trouble keeping up with the reading or learning all of the dates and events they had to remember.

After class, she had grabbed a quick lunch before heading for Block N, the music building. She had reserved a practice room for this afternoon, something she did as often as she could on the days when her classes didn't interfere. She had spent several hours playing, first practicing a couple of pieces for her private lessons, then playing her own accompaniment while she went over some songs for the voice lessons she still took as well, and finally spending an hour or so working on her latest project. Today she had made a fairly large adjustment to the piece, by putting it in an entirely new key, and she was fairly pleased with the results, though it was still definitely missing something.

But that would have to wait for later. Right now she was due to meet her boyfriend for dinner, and she quickened her pace slightly as she passed building after building on the way back to the dining hall. She and Jackson had been dating for several months now, and everything was going nearly perfectly. He was the perfect gentleman, the kind of guy she had always pictured herself falling for; and she certainly was falling, and falling fast. The only problem was, Jackson didn't seem to be falling for her. Holly-Ann knew all too well that he had been dating Paige Roberts seriously until their sudden, still unexplained split; and when he had asked Holly out soon after the break-up, she could easily put two and two together. He was still head over heels for Paige, she could tell; yet all the rumors she had heard insisted that the break-up had been Jackson's idea in the first place.

She shrugged off all her doubts as she opened the door to the dining hall and went into its warmth. Jackson was hers now, and unless he broke things off with her to return to Paige, she would not give him up without a fight. Slipping out of her coat, she glanced around the large dining hall to see if Jackson had somehow gotten there before her.

[jackson]

Jackson opened his shut eyes and rolled over to his side. Peeking out of the slits, h glanced at the clock by his bedside. It was dinner time. And Jackson was not one to miss a meal time. In fact, he had ate only about two and a half hours ago, before he took his nap. Chicken flavored raman noodles cooked in the microwave in the kitchen on his floor. Mmm. Truth be told, raman noodles never got old to Jackson. They were perfect. A great filler, salty - like he likes his food - and warm, which was absolutely great in this freezing weather. So, I will repeat, they were perfect. Sometimes he had the beef and the oriental flavor. And with that, we had a very healthy diet. Or, let's call it a college diet.

Jackson rolled back onto his back for a minute before getting up. He made the short walk to his dresser and pulled out a pair of dark wash jeans and a plain gray, pull over hoodie. Over that, he put on the black leather jacket he bought when him and Holly-Ann went shopping at the mall a couple of weeks ago. Jackson had been in desperate need for new winter clothes and as the air grew chillier, they had decided a shopping trip was necessary.

Of course, this was back when Jackson was happy and things were uncomplicated in his love life. Now, only a half of a month later, things were more complex than ever. Just two days ago, Jackson had run into Paige, his ex, at the theater. They said a few bitter words, yelled a little bit, and then Jackson kissed her. She kissed him back, yes. But if we are being truthful, Jackson started it and as an effect, he cheated on his girlfriend, Holly-Ann. And if she found out, Jackson knew she would be crushed. However, he was not sure if he could lie to her and keep this a secret. Time will tell.

Eventually, he opened the glass doors to the dining hall he and Holly-Ann always met up at. Jackson, after grabbing a cookie off the dessert stand for a little snack as he walked, made his way to their usual table. It was by the window, but where they could see the entire room. When he reached it, he put on a smile for Holly-Ann and kissed her on the forehead - the way he always greeted her. "Hey Holls." With that, he sat down across from her - They would probably chat a bit first before getting their food together.

word count: 436.
tag: holly-ann.
outfit: click.

[angeldreamer]

Holly-Ann had only been waiting for a few minutes; just long enough to see that Jackson had not, in fact, beaten her to the dining hall. So she had made her way over to the table where they always sat, and slipped into her usual seat to wait for him. Looking around again, she saw him just coming through the doors, and a smile crossed her face as she greeted him with a hug. "Hey babe...nice jacket," she said with a grin, sitting back down as he sat down across from her. "Isn't the weather just gorgeous today?" It was to her, anyway, though she knew a lot of people would not feel the same. "I still say it needs to snow, though! The school could do with a nice thick layer of white...maybe classes would even be cancelled!" Not a chance of that, though; snow was such a common occurrence here that people in general knew how to deal with it, so everything just kept right on moving whenever it did come.

"Aww, you brought me a cookie!" she joked upon seeing the treat in his hand. "That was so sweet, thank you!" She pretended to reach for it, but then stopped, laughing. "I'm just kidding; I wouldn't want to deprive you of your sugar, I know you need it to keep warm. Besides, I can't eat dessert before supper anyway!" Yes, she was traditional about that as in most other aspects of her life; some people spouted the philosophy "eat dessert first," but Holly-Ann had always preferred saving the best for last.

"So how was your day, babe?" she asked him then. "Anything exciting? Has the drama department picked their next big production yet?" She hoped it would be a musical, then she could possibly help with the accompaniment, which would allow her and Jackson to spend a lot more time together. If they only had that time, she knew, she just knew, he would start to fall for her. Sooner or later it had to happen...didn't it? As long as he didn't go back to Paige...as long as he stayed with her, there was still hope. Staying with her meant choosing her over Paige, so she was content as long as he continued to do so.