Semester Abroad (closed for justabrick)

[brandijade]

"It is," she said, wondering about him. He wasn't exactly aggressive, but the way he was touching her was a little too friendly. Or maybe that was just how people here were. Ocean seemed to have left himself behind, but Kumara gave her a non-answer about him when she asked if he was a monk. Then he talked to her as if she was a monk.

"Well, you won't catch me taking a vow of silence," she said. Or asking anymore questions, she thought.

Then two others came by, clearly on their way to enjoy each other's company. She noticed Kumara answered their question about her. She noticed they didn't speak to her, though they were quite openly speaking about her.

"I suppose I'll just have to talk to myself, then," she said, walking back towards the entrance. "What's a reading? Aren't we all readings? Are we just pages in a book, then? Yes, so shut up and wait for someone to read you."

 

[justabrick]

“Hey, woah!” Kumara follows you, touching your hand. “Sorry, we’re just not used to newcomers to our little family. Let’s go talk with Naranja and Sweetgrass- they’re really nice, it just takes some time to get to know them… I’ll get you some more of that delicious wine…?” he smiles.

“And, sorry about the mystery behind the ‘Reading’,” he adds, “It’s a kind of personality test we do here… but it goes deeper than that… It’s hard to explain… and I didn’t want to force it on you…”

 

[brandijade]

I looked at him, skeptically. And I wondered exactly what was making me so angry. And then I remembered Jack.

"Don't worry about it," I said, after a moment. ""I'm just not in the best place to be meeting a lot of new people."

"I just caught my boyfriend cheating on me, like, a few hours before I got on the plane," I said. "So, I'm not really in the best mood. And then the money exchange thing... did you forget to tell me that they charge 40%, or did maybe you help yourself to a little service charge? Whatever. I don't even care about that. It's just... I wasn't in a trusting mood to begin, and that didn't help."

I shake my head.

"I'm sorry to be such a downer, maybe you should just take me home."

 

[justabrick]

"Oh, honey!" said Kumara, hugging you gently against his toned chest, "I had no idea that's what you were talking about back when you mentioned it in the taxi!"

He blushes secretly, wondering how you found out about his skimming of your funds, but decides not to address it. "Let's just take a walk, huh? It sounds like you need to clear your head a bit, and there's a full moon out tonight..."

He holds out his hand with a smile.

 

[brandijade]

He hugs me, which is kind of nice, except I'm sort of getting sick of everything. He proposes a walk, as if that will make me forget everything, and I let him lead me out. I guess I know I can't trust him, so why not go for a walk?