[March 15th afternoonish, junior dorm]

[smallgayjew]

David hadn't had much to move into his room, really. Most of his things had to fit into what luggage he could take on the plane with him, though he'd had a few boxes shipped ahead. He'd taken a break from moving in to look around the school a bit, and when he came back he decided it was probably best to get things unpacked as much as he could before there were too many things going on for him to concentrate on it.

So there's a small, English boy digging through boxes in his room with the door open, iPod cycling through Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall as he sings along.

Comments

[smallgayjew]

He shrugged, though, yes, he did feel rather far away from anything and everything that was familiar.

"I suppose it is. But it was here or Australia." He spoke French fairly well, but he still didn't think he was up to finishing school in France.

[perfectshade]

"Wow, Australia." Color Ross impressed. "You really would've gone there? I read that their seasons are all flipped, because they're in the southern hemisphere-- but I've never actually been there myself, so..."

[smallgayjew]

David laughed softly, shaking his head. "No, I don't think I would have. My mum never would have allowed it."

[perfectshade]

"But staying in England wasn't an option?" His voice was quiet, nothing but innocent curiosity.

[smallgayjew]

"Like I said, international experience looks good for admissions." He smiled and moved to clear off one of the desk chairs. "Would you like to have a seat?"

[perfectshade]

"Sure, thanks." Ross sat down, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. "You're thinking way ahead, I don't even know what colleges I want to apply to, never mind what they wanna see or what looks good to them or anything."

[smallgayjew]

David had to take a moment to remind himself that 'college' did not mean what he was used to here.

"It's not that far ahead, though. Aren't you thinking about that already?"

[perfectshade]

Ross let out a little laugh. "No way! Well-- not seriously, anyway," he amended, because he did at least know he wanted to go to a "good" college. What that really meant, though, was a little fuzzier.

"I've got four years left, that's plenty of time," he added.

[smallgayjew]

"You're in your first year?" David asked, trying to lose the serious expression on his face.

It didn't last long, though. Soon he was saying, "But isn't that the whole point of this sort of school? Aren't we meant to be thinking about university?"

[perfectshade]

"I mean, I guess?" Ross shrugged. (With a little mental "whoops" for forgetting to mention he was a freshman-- but also a little mental dance of glee because that totally meant he didn't come off like a freshman, right?)

"But I just got done with, you know, thinking about getting in here. It seems kind of early, I dunno, maybe I'll start thinking about it once I've actually had a day of classes, 'cause yeah, I'm just starting my first year."

[smallgayjew]

David was hardly one to judge people for looking young. He probably looked more like a freshman than a junior himself. He'd been a very late bloomer.

He nodded at Ross's answer. "Fair enough, I suppose. And you have got some time, at least."

[perfectshade]

"Yeah. So... where are you applying? Or like, where do you want to go?"

The idea of it, the way David had framed high school as a time to think about university, stuck in Ross's mind. He didn't really want to think about it, but maybe hearing David's choices could point him in the right direction. Or something.

[smallgayjew]

"Oxford," David answered immediately.

It wasn't that he wouldn't apply anywhere else. It was just that if he got in, he wouldn't consider trying for anywhere else.

[perfectshade]

Ross grins. He only wishes he could be so sure about his plans for the future, but hey, in two years, he might be.

"You know what you're going to study?"

[smallgayjew]

"History, most likely. It's my best subject.

"Or maybe literature."

What he was going to do after university, he really had no idea.

[perfectshade]

"Well, neither of those are really my thing, but it sounds cool." And he really does mean it.

[smallgayjew]

David laughed softly, shaking his head. "Does it really?"

He'd never been accused of being cool before.

[perfectshade]

"Yeah! I mean, those are the subjects you like, right? So you'd be studying what you like at the college you want to go to, that sounds pretty cool to me," he explained, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. Duh.

[smallgayjew]

"Oh, I see." He smiled a bit sheepishly. "I think it'd be cool as well. Only, I didn't expect anyone else to."

[perfectshade]

Ross gave a half-shrug. "It kinda... boils down to doing what you really want and screw what anyone else thinks, right? I think that'd be cool to everyone."

[smallgayjew]

"I suppose that's one way to look at it."

That was not at all what David was doing. Not that he didn't enjoy those things, but he very much cared what other people thought.

[perfectshade]

"Well, that's the way to look at it to make it sound... like, widely appealing. Put a cool spin on it, you know? Although I think it's cool regardless," he admitted.

[smallgayjew]

"Why does my education need to be widely appealing?" David asked, genuinely curious.

[perfectshade]

"It doesn't, I'm just saying. If you put the right spin on it, you can make people think just about anything's cool." And with that, the conversation was starting to take an uncomfortably personal direction, so-- "Anyway, how do you like America so far?"

[smallgayjew]

"I hardly know as yet. I've only just arrived."

This was him being diplomatic. He wasn't at all sure that he liked America just yet.