but i will stay down with my demons
music for a teenage nico di angelo
friendly ghost, eels | nightdriving, tribes | teenager, mona | show yourself, okkervil river | needle in the hay, elliott smith | after the storm, mumford & sons | hero, family of the year | demons, the national | simple song, iwan rheon | teenage icon (acoustic), the vaccines | [bonus] golden slumbers/carry that weight, mumford & sons
Jake Rosenbloom wasn’t in her house in order to inspect her wardrobe, he was there to discuss the trip with her parents. He’d done that, of course, but now she’d had to endure him watching her pack—something he assured her that he wasn’t fond of either. He wanted to get the hell out of dodge as soon as he stepped into her house, she could tell. He was only checking on her as a favor to Professor Cahill, but she knew the woman would pester him with questions when he got back so she tried to be as courteous as possible to make his job a little easier.
“I figured the prof would have enough stuff,” Rowan shrugged, “I mean she has to pack all of her equipment.”
Jake nodded, his eyes sweeping over her textbooks tossed carelessly on her bed, obviously not packed in her trunk.
“I’m guessing you aren’t planning to study on this trip.”
Rowan snorted, “I doubt there’d be time.”
She secured her trunk and began emptying her schoolbag to take as a carry-on. It was weird having someone standing in the doorway, but she didn’t ask him to come in further—that would be even more awkward. She didn’t know Jake very well, but she’d heard from friends who took his class that he was a great professor. She knew he was a couple years older than Professor Cahill and, unfortunately, was respected more among his colleagues because of it.
Or maybe it was because he was male, Rowan mused, tossing a paperback into her carry-on.
He pointed to her bag, “What book is that?”
Rowan mumbled the title under her breath, slightly ashamed to be caught with a book her mother (and probably the professor in her doorway) would call trash. She was surprised, however, to see a curious smile cross the usually cranky professor’s face.
“That’s the new one, right?” He said, the strange gleam in his eyes dissipating.
Rowan nodded, “Do you read them?”
“You could say that,” He scanned her bookshelf by the door, “you’re a big fan, I see.”
She felt her cheeks redden, even though she knew he wasn’t judging her—it was a bit embarrassing knowing an adult (and a teacher, no less!) read the same books that she did.
The Sanctum of the Lost God was book number five in the Amelia Jones saga—a penny novel series like the romances her roommates read religiously. Amelia Jones was no damsel in distress, though, and her books were action-crammed adventures about lost civilizations—not epic love stories. It was the protagonist herself that got Rowan interested in studying archaeology, though it was far more boring than Ms. Jones’s escapades.
Perhaps that was why she had jumped at the chance to tag along with Professor Cahill—after all, she was more than ready to go on her own adventure.
