481/Cafeteria Encounters

Cafeteria Encounters
Date of Scene:	13 March 2020
Location:	Cafeteria - Happy Harbor High School
Synopsis:	Christine and Roy have dinner at the cafeteria and talk about their previous school experiences and relationships.
Cast of Characters:	Roy Harper, Christine Lake

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Roy Harper has posed:
Roy Harper tends to eat, and he tends to eat a lot, which is likely due to his high metabolism and the fact that he's almost always active, training, and when he's not confined to classes, moving about. And so it is that at dinner time he has a tray of food in front of him piled high with a number of items, and a large glass of water sitting next to it. He's taken up a seat at one of the round tables that are usually for larger groups of students, but he seems to be there by himself for the moment. Whether he's waiting for anyone else is anyone's guess.

Christine Lake has posed:
Christine enters the Cafeteria, having showered and changed after cheerleading practice. She's wandering around, looking for an open spot. And it looks like the only open spot would be the table that Roy is sitting at. She doesn't particularly mind, since Christine is always happy to make new friends. "Mind if I join you?" she asks the athletic teen. "Or are you holding spaces for others?

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy Harper glances up when Christine walks over, pausing mid-bite and then shaking his head, indicating he doesn't mind, then nodding at one of the open chairs before he mumbles, "Sure, make yourself comfortable" around the bite in his mouth. He shrugs his shoulders and finishes his bite before adding, "Not sure if anyone else is coming. How's it going? I'm Roy."

Christine Lake has posed:
"Christine," she replies, offering out a hand to Roy in greeting. "So, did you just arrive here? I haven't seen you around before." She starts to eat her side salad, saving her grilled chicken breast for later. "And where are you from, Roy? I'm out here from San Francisco." Yup, she's a cheerleader, allright. Happy, perky, bubbly...

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy Harper takes the hand and gives it a shake in greeting before he settles back into his seat. His own plate has chicken on it but also mashed potatoes, corn, a roll with butter, a pudding cup, and an apple. And it does look like he plans on eating all of that, himself. "Been around for a little while, but not that long," he answers. "Starling City. Why come all the way out here from San Francisco? I hear they've got great food out there." Better than cafeteria food, at any rate, his expression seems to say.

Christine Lake has posed:
Christine shrugs, picking at her chicken a bit. "You know how it is. Parents thought my friends back home were a 'bad influence' and distracting me. So, they ship me out here for a 'fresh start'." She's rather petulant and sullen, but she takes a deep breath and smiles. Back to happy mode. "How abut you? What's your story, Mr. Starling City?"

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy Harper raises both brows and says, "Huh." That's apparently a new one that he hasn't heard before. He shrugs his shoulders though and leans back in his chair, gnawing on a piece of his roll, and says "Home schooling wasn't really a thing, regular school wasn't working out. My uncle thought this place might be a good idea." He looks around and then says, "It's alright so far." He reaches for his glass of water and takes a sip. "So what were you doing that they thought your friends were a bad influence? Knocking over banks?"

Christine Lake has posed:
Christine pauses for a second, just a bit of hesitation. Then, she shrugs. "Booze and pot at a party. A couple of times. You know; typical teenage stuff that the parents freak out over." She takes another bite, folowed by some water. "I have to admit, though...this place is pretty cool. Lots of great people. And the teachers actually listen to us. So, I guess there's worse private schools to be sent to."

She looks Roy over again, more examaning than before. "So, what's your thing? What do you do? I mean, you look like a jock. But...baseball instead of football?"

Roy Harper has posed:
"Oh," Roy says, "Yeah. I know all about that. Same thing my uncle freaked out over, sortof," Roy says with a bit of a smirk as he rocks back on the back legs of his chair, balancing precariously there and then lowering the front legs a bit. He finishes off the roll and begins spooning up the mashed potatoes between bits of conversation. "Yeah, I mean.. I've met some cool people here. Can't complain about that. Better than the last school I was at, at least. I might actually bother to do some schoolwork this time around." He flashes a bit of a grin at that. "Archery," he says, when she asks what his thing is. "You? Let me guess. Dance team? Cheerleader?"

Christine Lake has posed:
Christine smiels and raises her arms in a pom pom pose. "Cheerleader," she aadmits. "Junir year, but I made the Varsity team here, So, again, things are going pretty good. Aside from missing good Chineese food." She smies and shrugs. "I did the food tourist thing in New York the day before I checked in here. It's all totally overrated out here. San Francisco has a *way* better Chinatown and better food." Regional bias, much?

"Arhery? That's cool. I don't think we have an official team or anything, but I'm pretty sure there's a club you can join. How good are you, Robin Hood?"

Roy Harper has posed:
"Yeah, I'm a Junior, too," Roy says, chuckling a little at her arm raise of victory. He raises his brows a little as she informs him that not even Chinatown has good Chinese food. "Well, that's disappointing." Not that Starling had great Chinese food either, but one could hope. Apparently it is a momentary disappointment though, as he continues to push mashed potatoes into his mouth as she talks. "Yeah, I heard there might be a club or something. I'll join it if there is." When she asks how good he is though, he grins and shrugs his shoulders. "I'm alright."

Christine Lake has posed:
Christine nods and starts cutting up her main course. She's in thought for a bit, then she smiles. "So. Been here long enough to have your eye on a girl, yet?" And Christine has just the cute red-headed cheerleader in mind to set Roy up with...

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy Harper raises a brow at the question and then shakes his head, "No." He pauses for a moment and then says, "I'm not really into girls." He can see those wheels turning, and he's going to head that train off before it even leaves the station.

Christine Lake has posed:
Christine laughs and waves Roy off. "No, no...I've already got a guy. And that's fine, that you're into guys. Nothing wrong with that at all." She shrugs and continues eating. "Sorry, I just...kind of like seeing my friends happy. So, I guess I do a bit of meddling from time to time. But, if you want me to back off, then I will. I also know how hard it is to be the new kid here and trying to figure everyone else out."

Roy Harper has posed:
"Yeah, yeah, I saw the matchmaking look. I've seen that look. I know that look," Roy says with a bit of a suspicious smirk in her direction that shifts into a smile of amusement. He shrugs his shoulders though and says, "You're fine. I've just had girls try to hook me up with other girls before, and so I've learned it's better to just be up front about it than risk embarrassment or confusion when it becomes real obvious that it isn't going to happen, you know?" He chuckles, "So who's your guy?"

Christine Lake has posed:
"My guy's name is Alton." She gets the typical goofy lovestruck smile on her face. "He's pretty cool, and we click really well. I'm sure you'll see us doing the whole PDA thing at school." She gives a half shrug, still smiling. "Yeah, I know. I'm kind of stupid smitten with him. But...we're all in high school here. That's kind of what you do in high school, right?"

Roy Harper has posed:
"I think I saw him at the assembly the other day," Roy squints, considering, and trying to remember those that he remembers seeing there. Then he nods and says, "That's good. I mean, the whole, clicking thing. Kind of important when you're dating." He grins and pokes through his meal, slowing down a little bit finally. "Sure, I guess. I mean.. I was always kinda busy for that sort of thing. But I'm human. I've definitely been attracted to people. Dating though?" He shrugs his shoulders. "Had a lot going on."

Christine Lake has posed:
"I get that," Christine replies. "It's just...nice to have someone in that kind of 'support you no matter what' role, you know? Someone that can hold you when you've had a bad day, push you when you need to work harder at something. Someone that's more than a friend." She finishes off her chicken and dabs at her lips with a napkin. "And now I sound like a total clinger, huh?" She smirks and gives another semi-shrug.

Roy Harper has posed:
"Yep, totally codependent. I think you should seek therapy immediately," Roy says dryly, almost flat enough that it could be taken seriously, but it's followed immediately by a grin that shows he's not serious. "Nothing wrong with wanting somebody like that. Just.. not a thing I've ever had." And he doesn't seem uncomfortable talking about it, either. "I don't have a lot of friends, either, to be honest, let alone something more than that."

Christine Lake has posed:
Christine smiles as she stands up to bus her table. "Well, you've got a friend here now," she informs him with a smile. She dumps the refuse and remainder on her tray in the garbage, the stacks the tray with others. "Well, time for me to get back and do some homework and studying. It was good meeting you, Roy, And I'll see you around school."

Roy Harper has posed:
"Nice meet you too, Christine," Roy says with a bit of a grin, tipping his baseball cap to her as she goes to head out. "See you around, eh? Don't study /too/ hard." He then turns back to his meal to finish it off before heading back to his own dorm room -- perhaps to even study, himself.