16269/Field Day!

Field Day!
Date of Scene:	06 November 2023
Location:	Public School 41 - Greenwich Village
Synopsis:	Julia and Eugene meet at a Field Day at Rachel's school. They talk for a while and exchange phone numbers.
Cast of Characters:	Flash Thompson, Julia Carpenter

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Flash Thompson has posed:
It's the Field Day and Physical Fitness tests for PS 41! A flyer had been sent home to all the parents that there would be a health fair and competitions for prizes and class pride!

Brining in a little extra help to assist with the students, other gym teachers that were not busy were asked to come in. One of those is a young man that is in a wheel chair. Dressed in a form-fitting Happy Harbor Seals shirt and a pair of sweatpants that are tucked in under the stumps of his legs, Eugene Thompson is currently helping children with the climbing rope.

Currently, there is a child on a rope that is making her way up. "You got this!" he encourages, cheering her own. "Just a bit more and you can ring the bell and get a prize!"

Next to him is a small box of medals that he is handing out to the children that manage to make it all the way up and ring the bell.

Julia Carpenter has posed:
Julia's already sent notice to her boss that she's taking the day for Rachel's Field Day and will not be available except in case of an emergency. And actual emergency.

She's one of the parents that's volunteered to help corral all the kids, making sure they don't linger too long at any one event or crowd too closely to the testing areas. She's moving along with Rachel's class, which puts her currently between the tire run and the rope climb. Since Rachel's class finished their last event a little early, she has them watching the class ahead on the rope climb.

"See guys? Nothing to it. Keep one leg wrapped around the rope, the other foot on top of the foot with the rope. Use your legs to stay on the rope and save your hands and arms for moving up the rope."

She ushers one of the boys away from the class currently at the rope to make sure he doesn't get separated, offering, "Hey Bobby! Stay with the class. I know waiting isn't easy, but after this we get to grab lunch and snaks, okay?"

Flash Thompson has posed:
*Jingle* The sound of the bell ringing announcing the success of the girl on the rope as he releases the rope to drop onto the cushion with a 'WHUMPF!' of air.

"Great job!" Eugene offers as he holds up his hand to give the girl a high-five and then fastens the little medal around her neck before she goes to join the other class before Rachel's class is in line.

He swivels his attention to the first students and catches sight of Julia. His eyes take her in, as she coaches the students on how to do it. "She's got it right, use your legs to hold your place and inchworm your way up!" One of the students, an astute one, asks. "How do you climb then, Mister?" looking at Eugene's lack of legs.

He laughs a little nervously, a hand running through his strawberry blonde locks. "Well, I have to use all upper body strength, but I don't weigh so much!" A grin at that.

Julia Carpenter has posed:
Julia Carpenter says, "See guys? She's only one class ahead of you guys, if she can do it, you can do it!"

Giving the class a bit of a pep talk, Julia offers an encouraging smile, "Bobby, you want to go first? Don't worry, I'll be right here, anything happens, I'll catch you."

Looking over to Eugene, she smiles, "Julia Carpenter. I'm Rachel's mom." She glances to the eight year old that looks almost exactly like her. Long strawberry-blonde hair done into a braid, bright blue eyes, freckles. "I'm the class mom helping out with this bunch."

Stepping onto the mat with Bobby, she walks him through how to get started, then steps back to let him go."

Flash Thompson has posed:
As Julia is giving the class a pep talk, Eugene lets her handle it. She's doing a great job, after all. He rolls back a little on his wheels as she talks to Bobby. "Bobby can go first if he wants." he agrees, recognizing the fact that it might be a special needs child. Or at least attention deficit.

She introduces herself and he offers a gloved hand to her. "Eugene Thompson. It's great to see parental involvement at these events. I'm the physical education teacher at Happy Harbor High School." His own introduction made as he turns his attention to Bobby getting on the rope.

"You ready?" he asks the boy. And then he tweets on his whistle. "Go!" His eyes keep an eye on Bobby in case he falls, near to Julia still.

Julia Carpenter has posed:
Reaching over, Julia takes the offered hand and gives a shake, "Nice to meet you, Eugene. And thanks, I think physical fitness is very important, especially when kids are young, set good habits early." She offers a quick smile before turning her attention to Bobby.

He's pretty good at the rope, too! Julia smiles, watching him, leaning in to murmur to Eugene, "Thanks for letting him go first. I'm pretty sure he's ADD even if his parents haven't had him tested... it's very easy for him to get bored or antsy, and then frustrated because of it..."

Bobby moves up the rope pretty quickly, hand over hand, hitting the bell and sliding back down the rope to land with a small thump.

"Way to go, Bobby!" She offers a high-five to the boy and sends him to Euguene for his medal.

Flash Thompson has posed:
Returning the shake of her hand, Eugene releases to turn his attention back to Bobby as he shimmy up the rope. When she leans down, he swears he can smell her perfume if she had it on. Which is weird, he never used to notice such things.

"No problem. I was like that when I was little, made me in a bully." He's clearly paying the piper for that as he hears the bell ring and when Bobby drops back down, Julia offers a high-five, he gives Bobby a fistbump and presents him with the medal. "Who's next?" he asks with a grin, though he might have slowed down the line so that Julia could stay around a little longer.

Julia Carpenter has posed:
Bobby grins and gives both the high-five and fistbump, taking his medal proudly and moving back to the class to show it off to his friends. Julia smiles after the boy, then motions for the next kid to come up to the rope.

She doesn't wear perfume, but there's a faint hint of watermelon and mint from the lotion she uses.

Glancing to Eugene, she smiles faintly, "Yeah, I think that happened to a lot of kids back in our day. It wasn't super well known at the time, so most parents just thought their kids were 'acting out'.." Shaking her head, she glances up towards the girl on the rope, "You got this Maggie! If you need to rest, just hang on with your hands and put your weight on your foot!"

She glances to Eugene and smiles, "Looks like you grew out of it, though. Military?"

Flash Thompson has posed:
"You're doing great Maggie!" Eugene encourages as he pulls himself up into his seat, settling in more comfortably. He's grown used to the wheelchair at this point. "I've met too many parents that want to blame the teacher for their child. It's sad, I think they don't remember that when they were children they were responsible for their own actions." But he's not getting too deep into that. Not here.

When she asks if he was military, he nods. "Product of troops to teachers. After I lost both of my legs in Iraq, along with most everything else I held near and dear to me." But before he can delve further, he hears a cry and looks up.

Maggie is struggling. She's almost there. But she can't get to the bell. And eventually she gives up and drops to the mat in disappointment.

Excusing himself for a moment, he rolls over to help Maggie up. "It's okay. You did a great job. And I am really proud of the effort!" he gives her a little fistbump and digs around in the box, giving her a sticker instead of a medal. "You'll get it next year!" he promises her. With Maggie getting in line, Eugene returns to where Julia is. And it's Rachel's turn!

"What do you do for a living?" he asks.

Julia Carpenter has posed:
Chuckling, Julia gives a nod towards Eugene, "Don't get me wrong.. I've seen some.. not-great teachers across the years. But I've seen more not-great parents that insist their child is absolutely perfect and can do no wrong." She keeps her eyes on Maggie as she talks to Eugene, making sure the little girl is okay.

"I can't say I was military but... I understand loss. And I'm deeply sorry for yours." Then Maggie is dropping and Julia moves forward to make sure she's okay, smiling at Maggie for her effort.

THen Rachel's up and Julia grins, "You got this Rach!" Glancing to Eugene, she chuckles, "I.. I'm IT for one of the many many MANY branches of the government. They have a lot of systems that don't play nice with each other... my job to keep them up and running."

Flash Thompson has posed:
"Nice. I never got the techie stuff, I was more a jock." Eugene admits with a chuckle. "You can do it Rachel!" he offers up his own encouragement, as he has for most of the day for the kids going up and down the rope.

"Thank you. It's been a few years, still getting used to it. But, the VA is setting me up with this set of cutting edge prosthetics, and maybe I can be on eye-level with you." A bit of a smile at that as he tests the waters.

His attention draws from Julia to watching Rachel and then the other kids, to make sure that everything is running smoothly. Her company is great, but he still has to do his job.

Julia Carpenter has posed:
Rachel is Julia's daughter. She's pretty fit for a kid and monkeys right on up the rope! Hitting the bell at the top, she grins and releases from the rope, letting herself fall back onto the mat with a round of laughter.

Julia watches Rachel with a grin, moving to give her a hand up, then offering a high-five, "Awesome job, Rach!" Rachel slaps hands with her mom, then trots over to Eugene with a big grin, "Hi!"

Julia chuckles and turns to the other kids and motions for someone to come forward, "C'mon guys, see? Totally safe! We got you covered, who's next?" One of the boys hanging around Bobby rushes up, ready to 'prove himself' and Julia grins, "Alright, Kyle! You got this, buddy!"

Julia turns back to Eugene and Rachel, "Eugene, this is Rachel, my daughter. Rachel, this is Mr. Thompson, he teaches phys ed over at the Happy Harbor high school."

Flash Thompson has posed:
When Rachel shimmies right on up and jingles the bell before falling down with a laugh, Eugene checks his watch. "I think that's the fastest time I've seen today!" he says, his tone impressed as he offers his fist to Rachel for a bump before he gets out a medal to hand to her. Once it's settled around her neck, he turns his attention to Kyle.

"Go for it, Kyle!" he calls out as Julia makes introductions, he offers Rachel a smile. "It's nice to meet you, Rachel." he offers in way of greetings. "Your mother is doing a great job of encouraging your classmates."

Julia Carpenter has posed:
Rachel daps him back and grins, "Yeah, mom's pretty cool for a mom." She doesn't linger nearby, scooting on back to her friends for high-fives and chatter.

Kyle struggles a little with getting his feet set properly, but after a few tries, he gets it right!

The rest of the kids make it through in decently short order. Most of them get up the rope with a bit of encouragement, some of them can't quite make it and fall back to the mat with encouraging words on how well they did.

At the end of it, she gathers up the kids and smiles at Eugene, "Well.. it was great talking to you. We're up for lunch now.. maybe we'll see you again later on."

Flash Thompson has posed:
With the kids moving along, Eugene hands out medals and stickers as needed. There's a lot more medals than stickers, so that's a good thing. Means the kids are active and playing well!

As the last of the kids are done, Eugene offers his last bit of encouragement. But then there's no more kids left and Julia is herding them together to head off.

'Maybe we'll see you again later on'.

There's a moment of doubt. The idea that noone wants anything to do with a crippled, legless veteran. But he shoves that idea. "It was great talking to you too. Would you like to maybe grab a bite to eat sometime?" he suggests to her.

Julia Carpenter has posed:
Julia pauses at the question, ignoring the tittering among the kids, to looks back at Eugene. She offers a smile, "Sure, I'd like that." Stepping forward again, she pulls out her phone and unlocks it, going to the contacts and then hands it to him, "Put in your number.. give me a call when you want to set something up."

Smiling, she waits for him to put in his information, then takes the phone back and tucks it away again. "I'll look forward to hearing from you." Julia offers a quick smile, then looks to the kids, "Alright guys, enough laughing at the old people... lets get food!"

Flash Thompson has posed:
She said yes? That is a surprise, and Julia can see it on his face. He's used to that pitying smile and a no thanks. So when she says yes, it takes a moment for it to register. "I'll make sure to wear my formal legs!" he comments with a laugh as he takes her phone and enters his digits.

Handing the phone back to her, he gives a wave with his free hand. "Have fun at lunch." comes his response as he watches Julia and the kids off. And he moves to police up his area to get ready to do it all over again after lunch.