5th floor common room | Friday Afternoon

[liarallmyown]

Since Jace had only had classes on Monday (which was quite strange for mundane schools, or so his research told him) he had spent most of the week outdoors, getting a feel for the island. The place was small but there were a lot of oddities about it. Jace guessed there was a backstory to a lot of it, but would he ask someone about it? Of course not

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[shestheworst]

Britta was on her way back to her room after her Leadership class, noticed the common room, realized she hadn't scoped it out yet, and figured now would be a pretty good time. She so poked her head in, then drifted in, sizing up the TV area and the kitchenette, and looking pretty impressed.

"Boy," she said, dropping unceremoniously into a armchair and kicking her legs up to drape over the arm of it; she rested her hands on her stomach as she eyed the ceiling. "I bet if this were an apartment in New York, the rent would be ridiculous."

Her, being an expert on New York now, of course.

[liarallmyown]

Jace had been living in a church ever since he moved to New York so he had absolutely no idea what this girl was talking about.

"Why would you pay rent for an apartment with no bathroom?" At least he didn't think the common room had a bathroom. Unless the sink counted.

[shestheworst]

In New York, it would!

"Because it's the only thing affordable?" Britta proposed with a grin. "And maybe you'll be lucky and there's a Barnes and Noble down the street. You live on this floor?"

Hey, he was cute. Britta could at least try to not seem too terrible when a cute guy was involved.

[liarallmyown]

Jace nodded. "Down the hallway in 527. Do you?"

[shestheworst]

"Yup. 512."

Britta kicked up her feet a little so she could sit up, lean forward, and hold out a hand in greeting. "I'm Britta."

She cocked her head toward the TV. "Did you plan on killing braincells all afternoon?"

Because if he did, she knew some much better ways to do it.

[liarallmyown]

"Jace," he said, shaking her hand for a brief moment. "You don't really believe TV kills brain cells, do you?"

[shestheworst]

"Not literally, no," said Britta, "but it sure as heck distorts them. Every second of broadcast television is probably sending, like, a hundred different subliminal messages to make you dissatisfied with your life, did you know that? It's brainwashing millions of people every day."

[liarallmyown]

"There's plenty of things outside of television that make you dissatisfied with your life." Not that he ever had a problem with that. Look at him.

[shestheworst]

"Well, yeah," Britta allowed, "but TV definitely not helping things, that's for sure."

[liarallmyown]

"I like to think it takes more than five tacky women to make me dissatisfied with my life," Jace said. "But this is the first time I've really sat down and watched TV, so maybe I haven't seen enough of it yet."

[shestheworst]

Britta hadn't even bothered paying attention to what was on the screen, and she turned her head to take a quick look. Her eyes narrowed slightly, her lip curled, and she shook her head. She turned back toward Jace, positioning herself distinctly away from the TV and towards the cute boy.

Now, if it had been Real World, then it would be a different story. Luckily, she had no idea what in the world that was, but it looked terrible.

"Do you really even want to see that much of it?" she asked. "I mean, you could just be having real conversation with real people instead. Like, for example...Jace. That's an interesting name. Where are you from, Jace? What brings you to this school?"

[liarallmyown]

"I suppose you could say I'm from New York City, and I came here because I'm a castle aficionado," Jace answered. Neither of those things were true.

He glanced over at Britta. "And why are you here? Part of the young criminal element that gets sent to boarding schools insteal of jail?"

[shestheworst]

And that would be Britta preening, giving her leather jacket a proud little tug. "Got it in one," she said. "Billboard tagging, anarchy, and truancy. Not too shabby, if you ask me."

And an elaborate jealousy plot, but no need to bore him with that.

"And, hey, I just got back from New York myself. Man. What a place, huh? Almost makes it worth it being stuck in this Alcatraz boarding school knowing I can get there in a weekend. Where in New York? Anywhere interesting?"

[liarallmyown]

It was seriously a miracle that Jace didn't roll his eyes at Britta's little jacket tug. Mundanes.

"I live in a church in Manhattan," Jace said, figuring that was interesting enough. "Completely rent free and the cat eats cockroaches, so I can't complain."

[shestheworst]

Britta's eyebrows lifted a little. "Like, an abandoned church, or something? Or are you, like, a monk or something?"

Talk about a waste!

[liarallmyown]

"In what universe would a monk dress like I do?" Jace asked, gesturing to his jeans and black shirt. "It's just a church that I happen to live in. It wasn't abandoned, it was just given to my people a long, long time ago."