Wednesday 4/15/09
Who: Harlow and Kennedy When: Wednesday afternoon Where: His classroom What: Teenage girl behaviour
Harlow stayed in her seat after class, watching as all the other students filed out. She sighed softly as she stared up at her teacher, Mr. Kennedy Chase. He had become her favourite day dream as of late. He was handsome, kind and always smelled so damn good.
She got up and smoothed her short skirt before shoving her books into her bag and then put it on her shoulder. Harlow walked up to the front of the class where Mr. Chase was straightening up his papers from the class and bit her lip while twisting her pigtail between her fingers.
The small blonde tentatively stood next to the professor's desk and cleared her throat before speaking. "Professor Chase?" She said with a smile as she fussed with the strap on her bag and tried not to look at nervous as she felt.
It had been a rough start to the week, but slowly it was improving. One thing was certain- Kennedy was done trying to live out all the things he thought he had missed out on. Normal people might have been drinking through college and sleeping around, but Ken had done things, better things, than any of them. He had helped people and seen foreign countries and most people couldn't say the same. That was good enough for him.
Preoccupied with his work, he didn't notice Harlow until he felt a strange sense of unease. Looking up, he saw a fidgety young girl with very blonde hair. "Yes?" he said with a reassuring smile, exuding calmness to hopefully make her feel more at ease.
Harlow smiled at him, feeling what he was doing and appreciating it. "Um...I was wondering if you could help me out?" She stopped playing with her hair and tried to calm her nerves. Mr. Chase was nice he wasn't going to say anything unkind to her. Then again that wasn't why she was nervous, her crush on him was raging as she looked at him, struck by how much more attractive he was up close.
'Focus Harlow.' She growled at herself in her head and then spoke again. "Ever since I got here I've been having a really hard time staying focused and not seeing into everyone's lives. I'm not used to so many supernaturals in one place and I think it's messing with my abilities."
If Harlow needed help, Ken would of course be glad to give it. Setting the papers down, he turned in his chair to face her, hands folded in his lap. Her problem wasn't unique, a lot of students had trouble around other supernaturals. For some reason supernatural beings offset peoples' powers easily.
"I'm glad you came for help," he said gently. "Many students let problems linger for too long and then it becomes much more difficult to deal with. Please, have a seat." He motioned toward a chair at the front of the class as he wheeled his own chair out from behind the desk.
The girl watched as Mr. Chase seemed to stop everything to pay attention to her. She smiled widely when he said he was glad she came for help. Harlow twisted the end of her pigtail in her fingers and then chewed on her bottom lip. "I just don't like peeking into people's lives so much when I know I can control it better than this." She said as she sat down in the chair and then blushed when he came out from behind his desk.
Harlow was deeply in her school girl crush on her teacher, so much so that her heart was pounding wickedly with his undivided attention on her. She tried to speak and nothing came out so she had to try again. "Do you think that you will be able to help me get them under control again? I was woken up by someone last night by them walking past my room and worrying about an exam.
Ken had been a teacher for over fifteen years now, but until coming to TJS he had never needed to try and explain how his abilities work. Still, he wanted to help Harlow, which meant that he needed to figure out how her abilities worked so he could figure out how to control them. "I would love to try," Ken said to her with a smile, scooting himself closer. "Let me ask you something. Has anything happened to you recently that is particularly stressful? I know being in a new environment can cause a lot of stress, but anything else you can think of?"
Harlow smiled at him and lowered her lashes because she just couldn't hold his eye contact for long. She cleared her throat and then lifted her eyes back to his at his question. "Um...my life since Christmas?" She looked away for a moment, needing that minute. "I've lost all my family recently, and then found out I had a father and a brother. Well long story short, father is a dick and my brother, who is here is making getting to know him really really hard...not on purpose it's just how he's made, so I'm kind of alone a lot. I guess all that is stressful." The small teen said as her teacher came closer, which of course had a physical effect on her, her cheeks reddened again and her heart was pounding.
Sitting back a bit, Ken looked at the young girl with mild surprise. A lot of the students here had troubled pasts, which was why their abilities needed honing, and it seemed Harlow was no exception. It was sad, and Ken's eyes showed it, but he did his best to keep his spirits up despite it. "I would say that counts as very stressful, yes," he agreed with a smile, putting a hand on Harlow's arm and exuding calmness for her. He could tell that thinking about this was upsetting her, because there was a blush on her cheeks. "I think for starters, you need to find a way to relieve your stress. Maybe you should try yoga, or meditation. Or if you prefer something a little more... vigorous... try running, or kickboxing."
Harlow could see and feel the sadness he felt for her and it only made her adoration that much more, he really cared for her. She smiled back and then glanced at his hand when he started to push calm at her. She knew what he was doing, and at the moment she appreciated it because her reaction to him was getting out of hand. Harlow lifted her brown eyes to his and then smiled. "I take self defense everyday and Fox has decided I'm too skinny so he's going to try to get me to gain muscle mass...so I am working out a lot...or will be." The blonde sighed at the idea, she was just not a work out person. "Maybe I need to do something just to shut my brain down?"
Physical exercise was good, and it seemed Harlow was getting plenty. So her solution was clearly a mental calming. "In that case, I think yoga would be good for you. It'll help you build muscle mass as well as calm your mind and align your body." There didn't seem to be a yoga program at the school, and Ken made a note to ask around about it. "See, yoga forces you to concentrate on your own thoughts and what your body is telling you, and I think in your case that might be exactly what you need. You need to recenter yourself, find your own balance. As much as I hope my classes are helpful, I know that lectures can't fix everything."
Harlow looked at him for a second and then bit her lip. "Yoga? Like downward dog and all that?" She twisted her pigtail around her fingers. "Calming my mind and aligning my body would be something new." She laughed and then refocused on what Mr. Chase was saying. Her eyes were staring at him, but she really didn't hear a word of what he said, until the very end. "Oh no your classes are very helpful." Harlow said with a brilliant grin and then blushed again when she got a wiff of his after shave.
Harlow really was being too kind. Ken tried to be as helpful as he could with his lessons, but training peoples' minds was only half the issue. Many abilities consumed peoples' minds, bodies, feelings, all of it. He could only offer help in one aspect, maybe two if he was lucky. "Thank you," he smiled warmly. "I'm glad that I'm appreciated." Getting to his feet, Ken waited for Harlow to follow suit before grabbing his notebook and heading toward the door. "Think about what I said. Yoga has proven to be very beneficial in so many cases, I'm sure it can help you. I'm glad you came to me for help, Harlow. You're a mature young woman."
Harlow was being really infatuated, that's what was going on. Kennedy was a good teacher, she wasn't making that up but when Harlow was in his class, somedays she hung on every word, and some she barely noticed anything he said because she was too busy daydreaming about him. Luckily she was already very good with her empathy because of her nana's teachings...but her clairvoyance was out of control since being here.
She blinked a few times when Mr. Chase got to his feet and grabbed her bag before standing up. She followed him with a sigh and then nodded. "Yes I will...I'm sure if you think it will help it's worth a shot." Harlow smiled wide at him and then blushed again when he complimented her "Thank you Professor Chase." She said quietly.
Putting a hand on the girl's shoulder, Ken gently led her out into the hallway. He didn't mean to be rude, but he did have somewhere to be and she probably had other classes as well. Plus, who wanted to spend all afternoon talking to their teacher? "You're very welcome," he told her gently, feeling quite pleased that he could help her. "If you need anything, don't hesitate to come to me, hm?" And with another dazzling smile, he started off down the hallway, feeling a bit like his old self for the first time in weeks.
Harlow would have spent all afternoon and all night talking to him, but of course the man was busy and was needed elsewhere. She continued to smile up at him and nodded when he told her to come see him. The smile sent her heart soaring and she sighed as he walked away. Waiting a few minutes before spinning around in circles until she ended up sinking onto the floor with a dreamy sigh and a smile on her face.