place the blame [open]

[Onzy]

Zoe flicked the ash from the end of her cigarette as drove into the small town that was just a half hour away from the College she had been sent to. Her parents had made her go, unable to deal with her rebel tendencies for the last while. While being three years, the same amount of time that she had lost her brother and thanks to her parents, the closest thing to a sister that she had. Now, after three years she was to see Kris again, and though she wouldn't admit it, the thought frightened her. Her conversations with her sister-in-law had been brief, but what she gathered was that Kris had been going steady with someone for about two years, hadn't remarried and was a mother of two. It angered her slightly to think that Kris seemed to have forgotten Jax so easily.

She had made a road trip to the College, stopping to stay over with friends and to party along the way. All in all, it had been a pretty good week. A good week for her, but she was now a week late to the College with no way for people to contact her. Zoe was having her horses shipped over after she had settled in, but she was hoping to ride her brother's mare if Kris would allow her. The stable yard that they had in Germany had been sold off, and only a few horses had been kept. Thanks to the GPS she found the College easily, not that it was hard to spot. The grounds were impressive, and everything was suited to her lifestyle. Zoe just wanted to settle in before even confronting her family that wasn't technically family, actually a very complicated situation.

Parking the Mini Cooper in the lot, Zoe checked her make up and popped on her sunglasses. It was mid morning, but the nineteen year old looked like she had just stepped from the fashion pages of Vanity Fair. Tight fitting jeans with knee high leather boots. A form fitting white tee with black cardigan, light scarf and hat on her head. She entered the building with as much attitude that she could muster, which was actually quite a lot. There was someone behind the desk, but the new students didn't seem to faze her. Just take a seat love. Mr. Rees will be with you shortly, the secretary told her, and Zoe nodded. She didn't go sit however, not in the mood to be confined to a chair much longer. Instead, she walked along the walls, inspecting the art that adorned it with mild interest.

[Sync]

Intelligent blue oracles swept over the entrance to the college critically, looking for a sign that he may be going the wrong way. Unable to find one, he determined that he was, in fact, in the correct place. Casting a side wards glance at his furry companion, he allowed a small, warm smile to grace his handsome features. As soon as he heard the sound of an approaching vehicle in the opposite direction, he forced it back into a cold, hard mask of indifference. An expression he was more than familiar with. Looking through his rear view mirror, which was angled perfectly to peer into the horse trailer he was pulling, he checked on his mare held inside. He'd only been able to bring Alisa with him today, due to the fact that Vanquish had managed to injure his leg and was currently lame. Caleb hadn't wanted to risk moving him from London, so his mother had offered to bring the stallion when he was better.

A deep sigh emitted from the tall male as he parked his car. Jake's tail began to thump the seat he was sat on excitedly, his large cranium tilted in a curious manner, as if to ask where on earth were they now. Caleb gave a dry chuckle, leaning over to ruffle Jake's audits. "New home." he murmured in answer to his mutt's unsaid question, allowing himself out of the vehicle and calling Jake from it too. The large dog bounded out unceremoniously, stumbling into his owners legs. The boy just managed to stay up right, smirking in amusement at his pets antics. Rolling his eyes affectionately, he turned to walk to the trailer to check on his Andalusian mare.

After checking on Alisa, who proved to be completely unaffected by the move, Caleb and Jake ambled at a leisurely pace to the main office. Caleb had an unreadable expression on his face as he entered the room, allowing Jake to bound in first. The secretary peered at him curiously with a warm smile on her lips. Caleb did not return it. Seeing that he would not address her freely, the secretary took the initiative. "If you take a seat on the chairs through there, Mr. Rees will see you shortly." She told the silent boy shortly, to which his lips twitched into an amused smirk.

As he walked through the corridor she pointed at, his smirk grew as she tsk'd at him. Jake walked beside his master now, expression alight with as much curiosity as Caleb had indifference on his face. As they emerged from the corridor, Caleb's eyes fell on a blonde female stood inside the room. Letting his oracles sweep over her appreciatively, he inclined his head in a slight nod of greeting before taking a chair. Jake, who had noticed the other human but didn't seem bothered by her presence, flopped down gracelessly in front of Caleb and placed his massive cranium in the boys lap. Caleb dropped his gaze and began to scratch behind Jake's audits absentmindedly, his mind reminding him to call his mother as soon as he was done with the principal. She'd kill him otherwise, for not telling her that he'd arrived safely.

Not five minutes later, a stressed out male burst through the door of one of the offices. Caleb and Jake looked up, neither looking particularly concerned. The man stalled when he saw two students outside his room, his nose scrunching up in frustration. "Umm, Mr Andreev and Miss Fitzpatrick I assume? I've been called on an emergency, I shouldn't be longer than twenty minutes so if you stay put i'll be back as quickly as I can." he fired off rapidly, already making his way toward the office entrance. Caleb just blinked once slowly, before returning his attention to Jake. He didn't even bother to gauge the reaction of the girl to the situation. He couldn't care less if she stayed put or left, he had no intention of communicating with her anyway.

[Onzy]

Zoe was slowly becoming bored with waiting. It was not one of her strong points and it didn't help that she had ADD and was bipolar. The meds helped, but some days she didn't want to be stuck in a medical induced haze. There was no feeling there, and she wanted to feel. Right now she was in one of those hazes, but the ADD still came through. Her slightly, too quick movements, showed that, but it added to her quirkiness. Well, guys seemed to like it. She was supposed to have been at the College a week ago. Now she was a week late and had not let Kris now that she had arrived safely. She was already in a big pile of trouble so it didn't matter if she ended up in more.

She glanced up as she saw a fairly attractive male come in with a dog, and she tipped her hat in greeting. Zoe resumed her pacing of the walls, getting more frustrated with the whole situation. Time was not the best thing for her to have on her hands, so she wished to have fairly little of that on her hands. Parties, art, dance and horses took up most of her time, but the last two was something she had not cared about for a while now. She would dance to expend her energy and she would ride because her parents would have it no other way. Glancing across at the male, she stared at him shamelessly. He was hot, there was no other way to say it actually. The male bursting out of the office caused her to break her staring, and she shrugged at his words. It doesn't really matter, because she had been waiting for a while already.

You'd make a good photo, Zoe said eventually. It was true, mainly because she'd know as photography was her favourite medium and she had taken enough photographs of people to realise when they worked well on film or not. She plonked herself onto one of the seats, and rearranging herself so that her legs hung over the one arm of the seat. Taking out her phone, she finally made it her mission text Kris. In the office waiting for the principal. I'm alive in other words. was what she sent off to receive a reply a few minutes later. Dealing with emergency. Stay there!.

[Sync]

He could feel her eyes burning into him as she stared, causing a chuckle to emit from the male. It was a familiar burn, one he'd received from many of the opposite sex before. Actually, he'd received some from the same sex too. Jake, confused as to why his owner had made such a noise, pressed his nose into Caleb's wrist and looked at him as if he was demanding an explanation. In response, Caleb just smiled warmly down at his mutt and patted him on the shoulder affectionately. Jake seemed to take this as an acceptable response, and allowed his limps to become almost like jelly, his massive cranium in Caleb's lap the only thing really holding him up. Rolling his eyes, he wondered if anyone else had a dog quite as lazy as his. He doubted it. Just as he was about to allow his mind to veer off in it's own direction, the girl decided to speak up. A brow rose in response to what she said, his blue oracles lighting with amusement. "Is that so?" he answered, deciding to humor her.

A dull thump began to start in his head, a sensation he was so familiar with now. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the battered glasses case inside. Pulling out the glasses swiftly, he sighed in relief as the headache immediately began to retreat. He was supposed to wear them at all times, but flat out refused. Settling instead for when he could feel a headache coming on. Or if he truly couldn't see what was in front of him. The plain black frames suited him though, so he had no fear that wearing them made him look ridiculous. They just got in the way most of the time, so he preferred not to wear them. It was as simple as that. He peered down the corridor, sighing when there was no obvious sight of the principal returning. Knowing his mother would kill him if he didn't ring her soon, he lifted Jake's cranium from his lap and watched as the dog flopped onto the ground. Standing, he pulled out his phone and swiftly dialed in his mothers' number.

"I arrived safely." he told her as soon as she answered, his Russian accent thickening instantly. It always did when conversing with his mother and her side of the family. She insisted he speak English though, even if he preferred to speak in Russian. He listened with an amused smile as she told him off for not greeting him properly. "Sorry. How is Vanquish?" he asked, his expression growing concerned as he asked about his beloved stallion. A grin lit his expression at the news. "You'll be able to bring him down next weekend?" he asked for confirmation, which she agreed to. "Okay mom, I'll see you on Saturday. Love you, goodbye." Yeah, he was one of those men who had no problem telling his mother that he loved her. No matter how embarrassing it may be, he'd be nothing without her. She deserved to hear how much he adored her. Especially after how his father treated her. Disconnecting, he then slipped the phone back into his pocket and returned to chair. "How much longer to you think he'll be? I have a mare to settle in." he asked the other student, though his oracles were fixed on Jake. He knew Alisa would be perfectly happy inside the trailer, but Caleb's mind would settle as soon as he knew she was in her stall and fed.

[Onzy]

So what if the guy interested her. Zoe was bored and needed some form of entertainment as she had been confined to the waiting area by not just the principal, but her sister-in-law as well. If she could, she would go outside and have another smoke, but that was just too much effort to leave the warm confines of the building. Yes, that is so, she answered, throwing him a cheeky grin. Zoe could also be classified as a shameless flirt, and if it meant getting some sort of action at this place then so be it. She liked the setting and everything, but it just seemed so boring. There was always something interesting going on at her old school, she would know as she was usually the cause of it.

Zoe at least had manners, and so drew her attention away from the male as soon as he made the phone call. She did notice his accent thickening, and found it to be incredibly attractive. Maybe the time she was spending here wasn't going to be so bad, if there were more guys like this around the place. Zoe snapped her head around when he asked her about the principal. To be honest? I have no idea, she said simply, her patience wearing thin. Wasn't there a vice-principal of sorts who could also do the job? I'm Zoe Fitzpatrick, she said, introducing herself just to force some sort of conversation out of the too quiet room.

The medication for her ADD was an on and off thing. Some days she would take it and be completely normal (a day like today) and others she wouldn't and would be bouncing off the walls. It was just how she rolled, but her behaviour on those days also became quite destructive. She just wanted to get down to the barns and see her brother's horses. Amor and Tulip meant the world to her before the move to America and now she just wanted to have them back for a bit.