More Treble Than It's Worth
((OOC: Just a foreword before the actual prompt. Umm, this is a vent prompt based off my feelings last week and the week before and I wanted to try them out with Rose and this AU. So, on that note, don’t read/reply if you’re triggered at all by depression, heavy stress, lack of eating/sleep for various reasons, and other forms of emotional stress. I don’t want to upset anyone, and for future reference all things i think are triggering will be tagged! so.. yeah))
Rose usually came off as quite the quiet, friendly, sweet, creative, and kind girl who managed amazing grades and had very little friends within the school. As quiet as she could be though, she always had something going on, whether it be writing for pleasure or the paper, playing music or composing a piece, or even more mundane tasks. She also seemed very friendly despite the little she talked, and that’s because she was. Her outer shell was much harder to crack than one would think.
Lately however… Rose had been acting different. She was never focused in class and barely seen around campus. The hauntingly sweet sounds of her Violin hadn’t been heard in days and if it was it sounded almost torturous. Her grades had begun slipping in the past week or so, and everywhere she went she seemed to produce this dark aura, and it wasn’t just because of her dark makeup and accessories. No, something about Rose seemed off and dark, even to a stranger who only knew her from class.
The truth was, she was done, in simplest terms. Stress began cracking her first, digging under her skin with her constant need to be doing something until her schedule was so busy she rarely slept or ate in attempts to get everything done. That was the next thing to chip away at her walls - energy. With how little she ate and how much less she slept, she’d been using so much makeup to cover up the bags under her eyes that she was running out of ways to cover it since she ran out, as well as her even thinner than before frame. What followed after was a slow spiral downwards as her energy led to apathy, which led to complete silence in class, and even the odd snappish or rude reply to something as tiny as walking too slow in the halls. She began to give up on homework and even lost almost all her creative flow and had minimal desire to write, sing, or play music. It was just all gone… All she seemed to do now was lie in bed, her door closed and her headphones in quite loud.
Except today. Today she attempted the outdoors, sitting by the lake and watching leaves float down to it’s surface in the cool breeze. She had a large pink scarf wrapped around her neck, headphones in on full blast as her dark sweater was zipped up tight and her hands were kept in it’s pockets. It was almost peaceful out here, only the sound of her mindless rock music blasting in her ears and the oranges and golden-yellows of fall surrounding her. In fact, she was so lost in almost feeling something she didn’t notice the person walking up behind her until they tapped her shoulder and she immediately began glaring at them for bothering her.
“Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you.” The young gentleman said in apology. Claude Dieter, the foreign student from Trier, Germany. He thought he had recognized the girl sitting by the lake. He couldn’t really remember her name–it was some kind of flower–and he thought that he would come over and say hello.
To start off on why he was even outside: Claude was taking a break from all his classwork and adjusting to the new school and environment around him. He had decided to walk around the outdoors of the campus, seeing if there was anything cool or interesting that lied within the outside world on campus ground. Maybe a cave? A walk path? Who knows.
Claude took a seat next to the girl, whom he had found sitting alone here in the outside world. “We same class together; music.” He says. “I thought that I had recognized you from afar. My name ist Claude.”
As Rose prepared her little “fuck off” speech, she paused as she looked over and realized she didn’t recognize this student. She removed an earphone as a subconscious decision to hear him out, maybe find out who he was and what he was doing here. Was it studying help or something? She knew there were probably rumours going around about her high grades being in an accelerated class but she wasn’t the only one…
He had such a thick accent when he spoke… She questioned in her mind where he could be from, and what brought him to this school. It wasn’t all that amazing once you stayed here long enough, but maybe that was just her opinion.
“Claude, huh?” She echoed softly, her voice much sweeter and gentler than her glare had been. If looks could kill, she’d easily be able to mass murder. But her voice was that of a singers, easy, airy and light but filled with a natural confidence that came with talented vocals. “I’m Rose. I hope you don’t feel offended by my saying I hadn’t noticed in you in class. I get a little caught up in the music sometimes, so I rarely notice anyone.” She explains, almost defensively.
Much like what had just happened now, she thought, reflecting back on how zoned out she was simply with her earphones in, let alone concentrating on an actual piece of music.
“Rose–das a lovely name.” He compliments, giving a small smile. Her voice was soft, like summer rain when you don’t live in Florida and everything is a hurricane. Rose huh? He knew it was some kind of flowery name. “I hope I’m not disturbing you, I apologize if I am.” He says, his head tilting a bit and looking at her.
“I understand, sometime I get caught up as wwell. Ze music, it uh–distracts ze mind, ja?” He English could use a bit more practice, but it wasn’t that bad. “Mein name ist Claude, again. Ist nice to uh–meet you miss.” His large hand wrapped around hers, and he lightly shook it like a gentleman.
“No! No… Not disturbing at all. There’s really nothing to disturb out here with me. So please, don’t worry.” she replied, offering him a small smile, though it was a touch weak. She hadn’t smiled much recently… No performance had made her feel all that proud, and no friend had made her laugh in weeks…
“Distracts the mind. Yeah…” She echoes softly, her fingers alternating between fidgeting with her earbuds and her scarf, tightening and loosening the long pink piece of fabric helping her feel warmer. With all her fidgeting, she was caught off guard by his gentle and polite handshake. She did return it though, politely but with enough force to hint she’s not as fragile as she looks and sounds. “It’s my pleasure, Claude… Have you been at the school long? ‘Cause if you have, that might make me feel even worse about my zoning out in class..” she added with another small smile, this one more genuine.
“Nein, only fer a wweek.” He explains, taking a seat right next to her. He pushed some of his blonde hair back and blinked, then laid his arms on his spread out legs. “I only know du by apperance, never really found ze courage to talk to most around here…” he explains. “Much different than Germany, very much so.”
He turns his body a bit towards her, a smile creepinf up at the corners of his lips. “So, wwhat-uh-brings you here? Air? Nature? Inspiration?”
“I would imagine things are quite different… Though, I’ve never really been to Germany, so I can’t say for sure. What’s it like in Germany, anyway…? I-If you don’t mind my asking.” she added, turning to him slightly. He was interesting - perhaps because he was new and would perhaps have more to say than anyone else she knew - but she wanted to get to know him better anyway.
She bit her lip slightly at his question. “I guess you could say I just needed some air… Or, anything really. It’s just been a long couple of days, so I figured getting some air would be nice… Help get my mind working again like it should be.” she replied softly, seeming to fiddle slightly. “But uh, what brings you out here? Surely you didn’t come out here purely to find me..”
“Nein, I don’t mind.” He says with a soft smile. “wwell, as I’ve already said before, ist quite different than here.” He chuckled a bit, his hand lightly patting his knee. “wwe have thirteen grades in ze school system, here ost only twwelve? Das crazy.” He says. “But ist also cool. I could graduate a lot faster than I e ever could in Deutschland.”
“wwhat brought me here? wwell, not entirely sure honestly. I felt like taking a wwalk, explore mein neww area. So I did.” He explained to her. “Ist lovely out here, I could wwalk für hours.”
“Thirteen? That sounds like a lot of work… I would imagine twelve is a nice change. Has it been hard adapting since everything is english and I would imagine far different than what you’re used to…?” she rambled slightly. It was neat to hear about a different lifestyle though, and she had to admit it was taking her mind off other things.
“Yes, I guess you could say it is lovely out. There’s more sun here than back at my house, so that’s nice.” she commented. “Though I’ll warn you that if you have enough free time it won’t seem as desirable to simply walk for hours..” she added, offering a small smile.
He nods. “It’s been a bit hard, ja.” He says. “Ist been a bit hard, but I took English class at mein old school.” He explains. “But English is common in Germany, so ist not that hard to adapt.” He explaind some more.
He chuckled. “I suppose so, I probably wwould end up getting lost too.” He chuckled a bit more
"That's nice then that it's not a strange, hard change-over then." she adds with a calm smile.
"Maybe together we wouldn't get as lost?" she suggests with a small chuckle. "Walking with someone might make it easier to find our way back than if we were alone.." she explains, though without realizing she seemed to be sheepishly asking if he'd want to hang out with her more.
