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( HOWLONGHASITBEEN )
since this storyline began
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The cold wind hit Jacks bare face as he stood beside the lake. Leaves were flying all over the place and his mind was just as scattered as the leaves were. Wrapping the winter jacket that covered his torso tighter around his small form. Clenching his eyes shut Jack figured if he didn’t think about how cold it was that he could possibly stay out here a little longer. That thought was immediately shaking from his head as another blast of wind hit him on his left side. Taking a deep breath Jack coughed a few times and knew then that it was time he went inside. Turning quickly on his heels the boy walked back towards the castle moving his baby blue gaze around the grounds. Most of the people that were out there when he came out had obviously headed back in. There were a few people that were still out there, but they were so covered up that he didn’t know how they could possibly see. Chuckling a bit and shaking his head Jack grabbed the handle to the large oak door that led inside the castle and opened it walking inside letting the warm air soothe him.

Closing his eyes Jack stood where he was for a minute letting the warm hair heat his body up a little bit before he continued walking through the school. Opening his eyes again he had realized that people were staring at him. Jack’s eyes moved from one person to another he gave them a small smile, and continued on his way. Was it really that weird that he was outside or maybe it was the fact he looked weird. Whatever it was Jack really wasn’t liking all the attention that he had been getting ever since he came to this place. People stared left and right and he completely hated every second of it. Walking through the school now Jack had completely forgotten he was wearing the bulky winter jacket so the boy shed the jacket and held it close to him over his arms. Jack took his free hand and ran his fingers through his hair sighing softly. He felt so alone right now. He had been so busy since he arrived at the school that he hadn’t had any extra time to actually get to know people and just talk to them. So he didn’t know of anyone that he could possibly just waste time with right now.

Jack knew exactly where he was going right now. His mind was set on his destination. He just hoped his feet could take him there. He was tired that was obvious by his slow pace, but it was entirely too early for him to go to bed yet. So his destination was the room of requirement. It was just a few floors up from the first floor. He was lucky that he wasn’t too tired to climb stairs. Upon approaching the first set of stairs Jack stood at the bottom and looked up them. Breathing in deep the boy climbed the stairs and reached the top continuing his trek through the school. He knew he would be even more tired when he reached the room. It was the one place that he knew would be quiet. The dorms and the common room were bound to be filled with people. The library was always quiet, but he wasn’t really into books. The few times he had been to the auditorium he had found that it was quiet but the chairs didn’t sound too comfortable to him right now.

The walk didn’t seem too long when he wasn’t paying attention. He had finally reached the blank wall that would soon have a door appear on it. Taking in another deep breath Jack paced in front of the wall with his eyes closed repeating the same few words in his head. Within seconds a noise broke the silence of the deserted hallway. Jack knew instantly what the sound was and quickly opened his eyes and stared at the large door that was now in front of him. It didn’t take him but two seconds to open the door and step inside. Closing the door slowly behind him Jack looked around the room and a smile appeared on his face. It was dark but very comfortable feeling and the fire in the fire place was the only thing that could be heard. Jack dropped his jacket on the floor and walked over to the large couch that sat infront of the fire. On the table in front of the couch were two cups of hot cocoa. He wasn’t the biggest fan of hot cocoa, but it sounded good right now. Sitting down by one of the arms of the couch Jack grabbed the cup of cocoa in front of him and sipped the hot liquid letting it slide down his throat. This was exactly what he needed. Jack was glad now that he had chosen the room or requirement over the dorm or the common room.

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( HOWLONGHASITBEEN )
since this storyline began
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Leaning his head back against the back of the couch and closed his eyes. Jack breathed in deep and held the breath in for a few seconds. The crackling of the fire filled his ears and he let out the breath and sat motionless on the couch. The sound of the wind blowing was heard through the one window that was in the room. He was glad that he had made the decision to move inside. He was sure if there was anyone left outside that they would be making their way in as well. The temperature was only going to drop more and more. Being outside would be more interesting though when it started to snow. That was one thing he was looking forward to. Snow was amazing to him. It was solid and yet if you touched it it turned instantly back into a liquid. It was beautiful and if you looked at it long enough it would eventually hurt your eyes. Jack smiled at his thoughts and opened his eyes again. Being alone was good for a time, but after a while it got rather lonely. Laying down on the couch The boy rested his hands under his head and stared at the fire in front of him.

It wasn’t long after he had laid down and got comfortable did another sound fill the room. The sound of singing. It wasn’t bad singing by any means but it wasn’t expected. Sitting up again Jack ran his fingers through his hair again to get his hair out of his eyes. Blinking a few times his eyes stopped on the girl that had obviously just entered the room and hadn’t taken notice to him yet. A small smile appeared on his face again as he rested his chin on the back of the couch and listened to the music that came out of her mouth. It was actually kind of soothing. Closing his eyes Jack was just waiting for the girl to turn around and see him. Which happened sooner than he thought it would. Biting his lip he listened to her the smile never faded though. Slowly he opened his eyes and looked at her. Really he didn’t feel like moving, but he didn’t want to be rude. So the boy stood up slowly and straightened out his pants. It was a habit from whenever he stood up.

Walking over to the girl slowly Jack shook his head slowly. ‘No need to be sorry you didn’t know that someone would be in here, and for the record your not intruding.’ The words rolled off of his tongue easily. He had been in this kind of situation more than once, and wasn’t at all in any way mad. In fact he was glad that she had happened upon the room while he was here. Being a loner wasn’t at all as fun as he thought it was going to be. Jack took notice to the girls body language and figured she was much more uncomfortable than he initially thought she was. Hopefully by seeing the smile on his face she would become more comfortable but he wasn’t going to hold his breath. ‘Its nice to meet you Saelom, im Jack.’ Jack held out his hand to her in an attempt to greet her properly he only hoped that she would take it and not leave him there like that.

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( HOWLONGHASITBEEN )
since this storyline began
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Standing there Jack watched the girls every movement. He was good at watching people but not making it too obvious. His light blue eyes moved from the girls face to where her hands were. At first she started messing with the bottom of her shirt. After a few seconds though they then moved down to her thighs. Moved again and then moved back to her thighs. Jack chuckled a bit and moved his eyes to rest on her face again, but before he knew it her hands were moving again. They moved to the back of her head and started messing with her hair. Jack bit his lip and held himself back from chuckling more. He was being entirely rude and he hated that. Taking in a deep breath he was calmed now. The little things amused him. Sometimes it was quite annoying to him actually it annoyed him quite often. Jack shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Standing was not what he really felt like doing right now, but it wasn’t going to kill him and he was very aware of that.

Jack covered his mouth as a yawn ensued. Closing his eyes he stood there for a minute and then opened them looking back at her. “Im so sorry..lack of sleep does that to you” He laughed a bit and turned to look at the couch and then to look back at Saelom. It was nice having company even if the company did seem kind of uncomfortable. He wanted to change that but he wasn’t entirely sure how to do that. Being himself would probably scare the girl off. He was usually hyper and could be very immature at times, right now though he wasn’t even sure if he could pull that off. “What would you have done once you seen someone was here? Would you have left?” His tone was serious, but there was a hint of playfulness in it as well. “Im glad your still here..having someone to talk to is so much better than sitting in a room alone” Yes, he was the one who had made the choice to go to the room of requirement alone, but he didn’t realize when he made the decision that It would be as lonely and quiet as it was. He wasn’t want to fall asleep yet, and that’s exactly what would have happened if she hadn’t walked in on him.

“Im okay..as you could probably tell im kind of tired, but that’ll change soon im sure.” When he was tired and started up a conversation the feeling of being tired usually left quicker than it came. Running his fingers through his hair once more to move the black strands out of his eyes, Jack motioned towards the couch as the faded smile began to make its appearance again on his face. “Would you like to sit down, might be a bit more comfortable than standing.” Instead of leading the way to the couch Jack stood where he was and waited for a response from her. If she didn’t want to sit there would be no reason for him to go back and sit down. He’d even be okay with them sitting on the floor right where they were. “How are you by the way..im pretty sure I was rude there for a second and forgot to ask you” His eyes narrowed a bit at his own stupidity. It would be surprising to him if she were to ever want to talk to him again. Jack hoped it didn’t get to that point. People made mistakes and he was sure she knew that.