Misc RH OC Scraps

[BERRY GFS] Finals Stress

Finals week for Rainbow High students meant a lot of group projects. Pariya and Elena were assigned to no less than three of those projects together; it was understandable. Not only were they in the same runway group, but they were in the same focus-- set design-- and had most of their classes in common. But just because Pariya understood it, didn't mean she had to like it. Elena was a little bit of a problem for her. She was disorganized. She was spacey. And worst of all, she had a crush on Pariya. 

Pariya was only at Rainbow High to go to school. She didn't think other things like relationships or "fun" were important. If she wanted to be the best, she had to focus and work, and she couldn't be distracted by pesky feelings. So she decided that she didn't like being around Elena. That's what Elena was— distracting. Her dreamy brown eyes were magnets for Pariya's. Her ponytail was too fluffy. She really should tuck her bangs behind her ears so Pariya wouldn't feel like doing it for her. And she really wished that she would stop smiling. It was practically blinding when Elena smiled. Yet still, whatever Elena was like, Pariya was confident in her ability to stay cordial with others, and she wouldn't dare risk a grade over some girl. So she would work with Elena, no matter the circumstances. 

That night, the two met in Pariya's dorm room to brainstorm and model a few set ideas. They always met in Pariya's dorm to work; Elena's was a mess, covered in cosplay pieces, tools, scraps of metal, and whatever occult thing her creepy roommate was doing that week. Pariya's, meanwhile, had normal roommates and was always kept clean. She tried not to feel superior over that. Superiority was another useless emotion that wasted energy. But logic didn't always work to stifle emotions, as she would soon learn.

Since it was late and Pariya's roommates were trying to sleep, the two spoke in hushed voices. Since they were working on the same scale model, they had to sit close to each other. Pariya tried not to think too much about it whenever she felt Elena's hands brush against her own. They were just working together. Surely those moments were all accidents. She had to stay focused, or else this project-- their final!-- could be a disaster.

"Elena!" She said sharply, "You placed the curtain wrong, it's off-center."

Elena adjusted her glasses and looked closer at the offending model curtain. "I guess it is. That's okay."

"Okay!? It's an obvious mistake!"

"But this is just the model. We just won't make the actual set's curtain off-center."

Pariya furrowed her brow. "What do you think the point of a scale model is? We'll be referencing this when we make the set! It has to be just as perfect as we want the finished product to be."

"I guess so. But ya know, even if we got the curtain wrong in the real thing, what would that be? Two points off?" Elena yawned. 

Pariya's brain almost short-circuited. Two points off? TWO POINTS OFF? They couldn't have any points off! How would she be top of the class is she didn't have a perfect score? How would she get anywhere in life if she didn't care about details? How could Elena even think that way? 

Elena seemed to notice that Pariya had stiffened up. "Sorry," she said, immediately detaching the curtain and gluing it down in the correct place. 

A bit of tension released from her shoulders, but she was still on edge. Still. This was a partner project. She had to stay polite. Considerate. 

"I'm sorry," She said, even though she didn't mean it, "You must be tired and want to rush through this." But that's no excuse for getting sloppy. She hoped that part was implied. 

Apparently it wasn't. Elena cupped her face in her hands and smiled like an idiot. "No, I'm not tired I promise, But! Thank you for thinking of me!" She tried to hide her face. 

Really, Elena had to have a lot of nerve to act cute when Pariya was already agitated. 

She chose to ignore it and keep working on the model. Once Elena recovered and got back to work too, the project got done quickly enough. It seemed off to Pariya somehow. It bothered her. 

Elena, however, seemed upbeat. "Alright, good job!" She smiled, "Now let's start on the others." Pariya almost protested, but there wasn't anything glaringly wrong with the set model, so there was no logical reason to hold up their work. So she just nodded. The two got their calculators and laptops out. They needed to calculate how many materials they would require for their second project and write a report requesting them from the school construction program. 

She had to open several tabs for the project. She hated having too many tabs open. Elena was jiggling her leg. She hated that. Elena's hair was falling in her face again. She really hated that. She kept feeling like she should look over the first project again. She became aware of the passage of time and the feeling of her clothes. Somehow she couldn't bring herself to focus on her work. She hated writing anyway. She was running on autopilot while her brain sank into spirals ending in self-hatred. 

"Um, Pariya."

"What?" she snapped.

Elena's voice took on a soft tone. "This figure for the amount of nails we'll need is really big. Do you mind double checking the math?" 

"Yeah. No problem." But while she was searching for the numbers she needed, the text on the screen blurred. Next thing she knew, she was sobbing. It was just one thing after another, wasn't it? This was so humiliating.

Elena put her laptop to the side, and closed Pariya's too. She could hardly protest. Elena put a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"What's wrong!?"

Pariya could just manage to speak. "I'm just-- stressed! I messed up! This work isn't good enough."

"We can fix the math, okay? Everything's gonna be okay." Elena's hand drifted down to her back, and she drew little circles there with her thumb. Which only served to make her thoughts more incoherent. "Here-- you take a break. I'll do the work."

Pariya gasped. "No! It's-- it's a partner project, I have to--"

"You have to take care of yourself."

Pariya bit her lip. It wasn't that she didn't trust Elena. She was disorganized and spacey, but she was also dedicated and smarter than she gave herself credit for. She could probably do the work herself. And if Pariya was making simple math mistakes WITH a calculator, then she was obviously not in the right mindset to be working. But there was a block there that didn't allow her to conceptualize herself as anything but a computer. 

"...Okay." By now Pariya was only sniffling. Elena smiled sympathetically and took her hand back so that she could type. Now that she was free, Pariya strangely missed the contact. Her back felt cold. But now that she'd calmed down a bit, she reached for the model they'd previously finished. Elena shot her a worried look. She withdrew her reach and folded her arms. It was a little awkward, Pariya thought, for her to just be sniffling and not doing anything while Elena did all the work right next to her. 

"Elena, you're amazing."

Elena looked startled, and then bashful. "Uh, thanks."

She kept talking. It was mostly to herself. "You're smart and emotional at the same time. But you don't use that to be above anybody. How do you just not care about rankings?" 

"It's not that I don't care. But people are more important than grades. You're more important than your grades." 

Pariya thought about that in silence for a minute. Then she moved closer to Elena, so she was almost leaning on her. Elena took this as an invitation to continue her previous comforting. Which, it was. It was much easier for Pariya to not do work when Elena took up most of her thoughts. 

She'd learned a few things about herself that night. She was overstressed. She was a perfectionist. And worst of all, she had a crush on Elena.