Three's Company

2.01 | Introductions of a Complex Nature

Introductions of a Complex Nature

rationalize: [rash-uh-nl-ahyz, rash-nl-ahyz]; verb; to ascribe (one's acts, opinions, etc.) to causes that superficially seem reasonable and valid but that actually are unrelated to the true, possibly unconscious and often less creditable or agreeable causes.

    Everyone, at some point in their lives, has tried to rationalize something to themselves; they have tried to make themselves feel better for doing something that is inherently wrong by telling themselves that it is alright in their specific situation. This act of rationalization does little but delay the feelings of guilt that will inevitably come, no matter how hard the guilty party tries to repress them.

    Everyone has also, at some point in their lives, tried to rationalize feelings that they know they should not be having for the opposite sex. There is something about falling for someone you shouldn't that convinces people to think that it is just a "fling", an error in judgement that will fade with time.

    Occasionally, this is true.

    Most often, it is not.

    Feelings aren't fleeting, and they are usually something that lasts for an extended amount of time. The only thing that keeps us from committing to those feelings and from recognizing them as legitimate and worthy of thought, is rationalization.

    There are so many reasons to excuse and dismiss feelings that we shouldn't have. And the most popular reason is because those feelings aren't for the person we're currently with.

    Whether you're dating, engaged, or married, the feelings you attempt to rationalize are rarely directed towards your significant other. Instead, they're directed at an outsider; someone who has just come into your life, or who you have just started to see in a different light.

    Whatever the reason, the problem remains: you have feelings for someone who isn't yours. Someone who may or may not harbor those same feelings for you. Someone who is different, who could be a new chapter in your life, who could be good for you. But who, for the time being, is nothing but a problem for you.

    The answer, naturally, is to rationalize those feelings.

    I don't actually like them.

    It's a fleeting crush, it'll just go away.

    In some cases, it will "just go away".

    But in most, it won't.

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    The first day of school was something that was never dreaded by or anticipated by Ethan Meek. He had always just gone with it, and whether it was summer, the school year, or a break in between, there wasn't much that could get in the way of his regular routine of not caring very much about school.

    The only reason he attended in the first place was to impress his overly-rich and overly-expectant parents, and to play basketball. Anything else was just a note scribbled in the margins of Ethan's book of life.

    He had never been the number one of much in his life; he had always had to share the title with his best friend, which he had never quite minded. It meant that he was never lonely or burdened with unreasonable expectations from anyone outside his family. Instead, he and Caleb Halpon were both equally weighed down, and his best friend happened to also harbor most of the intellect of the friendship, so there was that that Ethan never had to deal with.

    He was perfectly content in his current position in life. He had a beautiful girlfriend, a great group of friends, he was co-captain of the varsity basketball team, and he was taking classes that he knew he would be able to pass with ease. His love of music was finally coming to light in the percussion class that he was taking with Caleb, and he was able to do so without looking like a complete band geek. The school musical looked interesting, and perhaps he would go to watch it with Scarlet this year.

    There were no chances, no wild cards, in his senior year.

    The first day of his senior year wasn't expected to bring anything exciting. He would wake up and go to school, associate with people he hardly liked, avoid the cheerleaders at all costs, and grab something to eat with his girlfriend of two years afterwards.

    The only difficult thing would be refraining from mentioning his girlfriend to his best friend. It was still a sore subject, the whole act of actually having a girlfriend at all.

    For Nova Desai, the first day of school had always worried her. At her old school in California, she had never been popular. She had never been a nobody, but she had never been popular, or even close to the most attractive by any California standards. The boys all went for the tan, leggy blondes with the short skirts and winged eyeliner, which left Nova to fend off the boys in the same social class as herself, but who, for some reason, only seemed to grow less attractive with age.

    Nova had never had a steady boyfriend. She had had her fair share of crushes on people who would never even look twice at her; the basketball and football players at her old school who every girl fawned over and who would never think of talking to a girl like Nova. Brunettes who didn't own a miniskirt didn't fare very well in California.

    Living in West Virginia and attending a new school for her senior year was sure to ensure some sort of change. Yet for some reason, Nova felt even less nervous than she usually did before a first day. She had always assumed that the "new girls" felt nervous before their first day at their new school, but she just felt relief. Relief that she was going to start to have a normal life again, relief that she didn't have to sleep outside, relief that she didn't have to worry about where her next meal was coming from, relief that she no longer would have any immediate reason to harbor anger towards her estranged father.

    Nova Desai was positive that this school year would bring about a change of pace for her: a normal pace. She would be able to feel like a normal girl with a normal life, and nothing would be able to alter that in her head. This would be the best first day of school she had ever had.

    She was determined to have a completely normal school year.

    But then again, no one can truly control how their life pans out.

Welcome to Part Two of Three's Company! I hope you guys enjoy it!

This is Nova and Ethan's story, which I realize from the summary sounds very similar to High School Musical. I promise the story is completely different, although the premise is similar (the point of the three stories is to take familiar storylines and create something unique out of them). So please enjoy! Updates will take place every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday!

-Katherine