I've been asked for a longer chapter, so here it is!
Gar could generally be found in Kory and Rachel's dorm, as his roommate was apparently "a freaky genius kid who yells if I touch his gizmos". Rachel did not seem particularly happy with this arrangement, especially since Gar had taken up residence on her rarely-used desk chair.
"And today, we touched on the topic of globalization, which I found very interesting. We were told that despite efforts to the contrary, international-"
"Kory, you're a great person and everything, but you're boring me to death," Gar said. He kicked his feet up onto Rachel's desk, causing the purple-haired girl to visibly tense. "So I was thinking, maybe we should join a club. Get to know some people."
"Yes!" Kory replied earnestly. "We would find others that share our same interests, and perhaps make more friends!"
"That's actually not the worst idea I've ever heard," said Rachel, injecting feigned surprise into her voice. Gar stuck his tongue out at her. "Although it's not too late for this to be disaster. Which club?"
"There's a Quidditch-"
"No."
Gar glared. "Fine. Then what about volunteering at animal shelters?"
"...That might be alright."
"Did you have a different activity in mind, Rachel?" asked Kory.
"There's a poetry group-" Gar groaned. "-that looked interesting. But it does require a certain degree of maturity."
"They both sound like wonderful options," Kory said, throwing Gar a meaningful look. "I suggest we try them both."
"Nothing you're interested in, Kory?"
"Not as of yet. However, if I do find an extracurricular I believe we will all enjoy, I will let you know immediately."
The first meeting of JCU's Animal Shelter Volunteers was on Thursday, and the poetry group on Friday. It was probably just as well, since Gar was so excited about the animal shelter he would not have been able to sit through a single haiku.
The three friends piled into Rachel's car after classes on Thursday and drove to Jump City's Animal Care Center. Outside, veteran volunteers were handing out neon green T-shirts emblazoned with the group logo. What seemed like several dozen volunteers were milling about, chatting with friends and trying to peek inside the shelter. One blonde girl, already wearing a T-shirt, stood up on a bench and cupped her hands around her mouth.
"Excuse me, can I have your attention, please? I want to start by thanking all of you for dedicating this time to help animals in need. I know we're all busy college students, but it's really great that you've come out here to show these guys some support. My name is Terra Markov, and I'm the Vice President of JCUASV. I'm going to give you a quick rundown of our duties here today, and then we'll go into the shelter in small groups so we don't scare the animals too much. Half of us-" She drew an imaginary line of demarcation down the middle of the group and pointed to the side away from Kory, Rachel, and Gar. "-are going to be walking dogs, and the other half will be cleaning cages. We're keeping the limit to one person per dog-please do NOT attempt to walk multiple dogs. Also, we'll be bringing the cages out here so they'll be easier to clean. Some are fixed, though, so a few of you will need to go inside."
Terra hopped down from the bench and began addressing the dog-walking group. Kory vaguely recognized her as one of Koma's friends, but before she could say anything to Gar and Rachel, a second JCUASV board member came to talk to them.
"Hey guys, I'm Angeline. We're going to wait until all the dogs are gone so it'll be easier to grab the empty cages. Try to stay here for the next fifteen minutes. It shouldn't be much longer than that."
Terra jogged over until she stood a few feet away from Kory, but gave no indication that she had seen her before. "Sorry you guys got stuck cleaning cages. We can squeeze in a couple more if anyone wants to walk the dogs. Maybe pair you two to a dog." Several hands went up, and Terra pointed them to the other group.
"Jerks," murmured Gar. "You don't come here just to have fun. Gotta do the dirty work, too."
Terra heard him, and grinned. She came closer to their group, still not acknowledging Kory, and asked, "What's your name?" Stunned and a little embarrassed, Gar stuttered an answer. Terra leaned closer to him and whispered, "Low key, Gar, I kinda feel the same way. Glad there are people like you around." She winked and walked off, leaving Gar nearly immobile, eyes wide.
Rachel clapped in front of his face. "Snap out of it. She's just a girl."
"S-sorry. She's just...really pretty." He collected himself. "Not that you guys aren't, it's just...wow. I think she's the one."
Despite Rachel's scathing "Don't be ridiculous", Kory said nothing. It seemed that Terra had a better heart than Koma-caring for abandoned animals, being kind to strangers-but Koma had already tried to make Kory do something for Terra, and it hadn't looked like the blonde girl would have objected.
They watched dogs of all sizes and colors led away, some barking and playful, others subdued. A few minutes later, a small group of students walked into the shelter and came out with several empty cages of all sizes. Kory, Gar, and Rachel got to work on a couple of them after grabbing pairs of latex gloves. The bars all along the sides and top needed wiping down with Windex, and the bottoms were a mess of shed fur, pellets of food, and sometimes droppings.
"Do you not like her?" Rachel asked, noting that Kory had been conspicuously glancing in Gar's direction. Terra was with him, talking and joking. Every time she laughed at one of Gar's painful puns, Kory's previous suspicions faded.
"She seems like a very nice person. I merely hope she does not mind how much Gar is blushing."
Rachel rolled her eyes. The two of them continued scrubbing and wiping, moving from cage to cage. They saw Gar go inside the shelter with Terra, where he remained for the better part of an hour.
Once Gar returned to them, he was speaking almost too fast for Kory to comprehend. "Terra says that more than half these guys are going to drop this club by next week, and then half of what's left will drop after that. How could you just leave these poor animals? That's why they started with dog walking, to try and keep people, and I think that's a smart idea, and mostly it was supposed to be volunteers who have been here before cleaning the cages, but she's really glad that we helped with this, because it's important too, and she says she'll look out for us next week, so we'll come back, right guys?"
Kory could only nod, hoping she wasn't agreeing to anything dangerous. Rachel sighed her assent, and Gar pumped a fist into the air in victory.
The poetry group called themselves Expressions, a word that Gar took to pronouncing "Esprexions" solely because it made one of the veins in Rachel's temple pop out. He had promised to behave himself during the meeting, on the condition that he could make fun of the club after.
The meeting was held in one of JCU's smaller auditoriums. The lights were dim, and a single microphone sat in a stand on an otherwise empty stage. The auditorium was fairly empty, with only about twenty or twenty five people taking up the front rows of the theater-esque seats. Kory, Rachel, and Gar cautiously walked to one of the middle rows, very aware of how loud each footstep sounded compared to the whispering of the members that were already there.
Suddenly, a spotlight shone on the microphone, and one of the poets stepped up behind it. The whispering died down almost immediately.
"Good evening, my friends. Welcome to Expressions," he greeted in a velvety voice. He scanned the meager crowd with icy blue eyes and settled upon Rachel. "My name is Malcolm, for those of you with whom I haven't had the pleasure of speaking. I'm glad to see some new faces here. You should know that there is no pressure to perform, though we'd like to hear you. Feel free to just let the words wash over you."
"What a douchebag," Gar whispered to Kory. She shushed him.
"Our lovely Maryann has prepared a piece to bring in the new year. I'd like to invite her on stage now." He gestured to a girl in the first row, who turned to smile at the audience before taking Malcolm's place behind the mic. Malcolm glided down the stairs and up the aisle, his gait as smooth as his voice, and took a seat next to Rachel without saying a word.
"Hello everyone. It's good to be back," started Maryann. "I have a poem I've called 'To Beginnings'." She cleared her throat.
"As the winter ice thaws,
As the night sky brightens,
We raise our glasses,
Our heads, our hopes,
Dreaming of what could be."
The poem had several stanzas, none of which Kory knew how to judge. Rachel had her brow furrowed, and next to her, Malcolm seemed just as displeased. Regardless, at the end, both of them snapped along with the rest of the audience.
"What do you think?" Malcolm asked, finally turning to the three of them. Kory and Gar looked to Rachel in alarm, not sure what the right answer was.
"Her word choice could be improved," decided Rachel. "Some of the words were too jarring for the tone. They would have fit better in a darker poem-which I would have preferred to begin with."
Malcolm considered her, pressing his fingertips together. Rachel shifted under his gaze. "I agree with you. I also prefer dark poetry, but unfortunately, we take all kinds." He gave her a lopsided smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, which were burning into hers. "Maryann, bless her heart, loves poetry but will never learn to write it. It's just in her nature. But I see a different kind of person in you." He lowered his voice to a whisper and drew his face closer to hers, so Kory could barely hear. But Rachel was clearly mesmerized. "You have a soul that yearns to be understood. You feel like an outcast and yet, you have so much to give. Such beauty that the world drives it away, calls it 'dark' or 'disturbed' but it isn't that, it is the truth."
Rachel's breath had caught, and she could only manage a wispy "Yes..."
Malcolm nodded, straightening. "I hope to see what you've written next week." And then he left to meet others, as quietly as a ghost.
Kory saw Gar prepare to make all kinds of comments, so she slapped her hand over his mouth and let Rachel have that moment. The other girl was staring at the seat Malcolm had occupied seconds before, still spellbound by his strangely charming influence.
Rachel had been even quieter than usual coming out of Expressions. Even Gar had gotten the hint not to tease her about the group, though this was mostly because Kory had taken to pinching his arm whenever he opened his mouth. Finally, the purple haired girl spoke.
"Thank you both for coming with me."
"Of course, Rachel!" chirruped Kory. "It was a most enlightening experience. I hope to learn more about the different meters and styles, as I am unfamiliar with poetry. However, it is an important art form and I believe that weekly attendance at these meetings will open many cultural windows for me."
"Doors," corrected Rachel. "And you don't have to come again, if you don't want to. I know how bored you were, Gar."
Gar shrugged. "I'm not the biggest fan. But you said you'd keep coming to the Animal Shelter Volunteers, so I'll keep coming here too." Rachel gave him an acknowledging nod. "But anyway, I'm heading home for the night. What are you guys doing tomorrow?"
"Reading."
Kory did not answer immediately. Koma's party was looming, and she was dreading it. At the same time, she knew that if she told her friends about it, it would only worry them. "I will be studying. I do not want to fall behind in my classes."
"You guys are lame. I need to find someone to play video games with."
