.[fear].[factor]., tag:: Alexia

[Donovan McVane]

Donovan walked through the hall at a casual pace, holding the stack of homework papers that needed to be graded in one hand, and a mug of coffee in the other. He still groggy and not entirely convinced that he needed to be up at such an early hour, though he had promised to pass back the student's essays at least a week ago, and he was a man of his word. Most of the time.

First period had not even begun, and since that was his prep period anyways, Donovan figured that he would have ample time to finish reading three classes worth of papers, as long as he had enough coffee to keep him alive.

The hallway was practically empty and it wasn't until he drew nearer to his room that he noticed too late the figure approaching him. It was one of his students, Alexia.

"Dammit," he muttered, stopping short a step the second his eyes locked on her.

He considered for an entire two seconds just turning around and going somewhere else, before realizing how completely childish that was. It wasn't that he didn't like Alexia, it was just that...dealing with her took a lot of energy- energy that he needed to use on things other than trying to make it through a conversation with her. Besides, he was cranky and didn't want to be held responsible for hurting her feelings.

Sighing, he picked up his step and continued on his way, hoping that maybe there was a chance that she hadn't noticed him. And that was just as likely as him wearing a tutu to his next class.

[Alexia Andrews]

It was nothing but one of those casual mornings. Alexia, not being a break-fast girl, was wandering around the hallways, eating an apple. She did not even needed to eat it to get trought her first period, she was never hungry on mornings, but she had to do it in order to prevent any heart attacks from any of her friends. She was always given the ' importance of a good breakfast for students ' talk, and it was only bound to end with anorexia suspicions . . . All she had to do to prevent all this drama, was to force a random fruit trough her system.

The main difference today was that she felt like being away from the gang while eating. She wasn't feeling really bored, and not that happy either, but as the young girl rounded the corner, there was a view bright enough to lighten her face in a singular way.

Mr. McVane was walking in her direction, totaly vulnerable, at her own little mercy . . . How pleasant. However, he was not walking torward her, even if that was how it magnificently looked, he was heading to his office. She could not explain this kind of fascination, that her friends referred to as ' sick ', she grew for her cynical English teacher, she could only live with it !

She kept on walking at a normal pace, pretending to be more absorbed by the empty walls than him, even tough she was flashing him constant looks. Had he noticed her ? She wasn't sure... The urge to salute him grew greater as the distance between the two persons grew shorter. The only fact that she had seen him before her day even started would've been enough to make the young weirdo happy and giggling for a while, for no good reasons, but she could not fight it anymore . . .

- '' Oh, Mr. McVane... '' She called, looking up at him as she went by, faking the ' oh, haven't seen you, there ' tone. '' Good Morning ! ''

[Donovan McVane]

'' Oh, Mr. McVane... ''

Was there no such thing as luck anymore? Donovan flashed her a smile as he inconspicuously picked up his speed. If he was fast enough, the conversation would be a short yet cordial one, and that was about as much as his sleep-deprived brain could muster.

"Morning Alexia. You seem happy this morning."

Where were the keys? He could hear them jangling faintly, as if they were laughing from the deep recesses of his pants pocket. Yes. Donovan McVane was at a point in his life where even his keys were mocking him.

"Shut up," he hissed at them, leaning to the side so that he was able to completely shove his hand down his pocket. He grasped the cold, diabolical keys, and a triumph tweaked the corners of his mouth upward, "Gotcha."

So now he was talking to himself in front of a student. That wasn't a start down the path of crazy at all. Though he figured that if he was going to lose his marbles, it might as well be in front of Alexia. He doubted that she would tell on him.

[Alexia Andrews]

The young student's smile grew more defined as her teacher answered her cordially. He was speaking, and that was enough to keep her going, it made the inner voices, moaning about her lack of respect, vanish. Well, what was disrespectful in greeting Mr. McVane ? Okay, maybe he was not the most talkative one, maybe he did looked in a slight hurry . . . But it was not a lack of respect, a lack of concern about some person's mood maybe, but no t disrespect !

She shrugged lightly and raised an eyebrow in an innocent way as her interlocutor made a statement about her actual mood.

- '' Why, Me, unhappy on mornings? Oh, when does that happen . . . '' Alexia answered ironically.

Everybody knew how destructive her mood could be on mornings, mostly when she was sleepy, but she didn't doubted that this change of mood schedule would please most people, including him, at the moment. She stared as her teacher desperately searched for something in the depths of his pockets. His keys, she supposed, and she was quickly proved right as he extracted them from his pocket with a triumphal exclamation. He was talking to himself, or mostly his keys. Well that's new, and quite precious. she thought as a soft laugh parted her lips before she could make a statement about his successful search.

But her laugh grew more enthusiastic than it was supposed to be, and it flew out of her lungs exaggeratedly. Then, what was bound to happen ... happened. Ms. Andrews performed a tiny, but undeniable, pig laugh. She moved the hand holding an apple before her mouth quickly, stroked by surprise. How could that happen, and why now ?

She was about to receive the deadliest silent stare ever, she just knew it. She had to make the atmosphere less tense, and quickly.

- '' Have mercy, and pretend you didn’t hear that ... '' Alexia implored, with a dramatic tone. '' And, please, promise me you didn't have any microphones on you ! ''

The young Alumbrados smiled sheepishly before she took a quick bite of her apple, trying to ameliorate her case. Laughing was not going to be an option for the next minutes.

[Donovan McVane]

' Why, Me, unhappy on mornings? Oh, when does that happen . . . '

Was she being sarcastic with him? Donovan managed a small smile, but it wasn't enough to distract him completely from his goal: getting into the room ASAP.

"I don't know Alexia, I don't have the pleasure of seeing you every morning. You're a happy kid though, so my guess would be never," he said, treading with great care around the word 'pleasure'. He focused on the door, knowing that he wouldn't be able to lie through his teeth for the sake of her happiness for much longer.

But now he was having trouble finding the right key. 'How unfortunately predictable', he thought heavily, adjusting the mass of papers in his arm so that he could squint at the teeth of each individual key. 'Memo to self- label keys with sharpie'. It shouldn't have been that hard to find the right one, he had only been using the same classroom for, oh, just everyday for the past year of his life. Now that was a depressing subject.

All of a sudden, Alexia began to laugh, and Donovan looked up at her, mildly confused. What was she laughing at? His eyes darted down to make sure that his fly was zipped. It was. Shoes untied? Nope. Then he realized it must have been the whole talking to the keys thing, but if that was it, he still felt worried. It wasn't that funny, was it? He hadn't exactly done a great job of hiding the fact that he was a lunatic.

He smiled if only to humor her, but she did not stop laughing. And then it happened. She snorted. Donovan bit his lip to keep from laughing himself. What a kook. He supposed he deserved it though for being such a head-job himself- it had only been a matter of time before he encountered someone crazier than he was.

' Have mercy, and pretend you didn’t hear that ... '

Donovan wasn't sure how to handle it. If he had been a student himself he would have dubbed her 'Miss Piggy' right on the spot, but it wasn't his place as a teacher to do so. He decided that he would just have to bring it up in class later and embarrass her.

He grinned. "Now now, what do you care what an old bat like me thinks? You should be free to snort in front of whoever you damn well please- and I think you should. Be free with your piggy self."

[Alexia Andrews]

Alexia, who remained hidden behind her apple, was surprised to realise that her cheeks were not burning with blushing as much as they should, regarding the present situation. The latter would have been nothing but one of those very comical things that she would have been able to laugh about, herself ... Had it not been performed around Donovan McVane.

However, she felt quite relieved to realise that a horrible staring moment never came, but she could swear that a deadly battle against laughter took place on her teacher’s lips before he finally spoke. She raised a questioning eyebrow at him. His answer was quite interesting, but it was hard to figure out if he was being meanly sarcastic. No, he would never try to hurt her feelings, would he?

- ‘’ My Piggy self ? . . . ‘’ She spoke, slowly recovering from her shameful performance, as if she was analysing this potentially new nickname. ‘’ Nah, now that would be in-humanizing myself ! ‘’ Alexia disagreed, slightly wrinkling her nose with a fake offended tone.

The teenager was casually leaning back on the wall near the classroom entrance as she noticed that her teacher seemed to be greatly struggling with something. He had already found his precious keys, but what was his big urge now … Opening the door, maybe ? Of course he was trying to do that, and in a slight hurry it seemed, but that was a fact that Alexia’s conscious found to unimportant to register.

Important or not, if he was to succeed this perilous mission, their conversation was more than likely going to fade away, and that was something she was still ignoring, for it was an hurtful truth, and she was very good at shielding herself from those. However, he was in great peril but, luckily, mighty Alex was there to save his day, even if ending this precious encounter was the price to pay !

- '' Do you want . . . Help with anything? '' She questioned innocently, motioning his extra papers and random stuff that seemed to be a great burden, right now.

[Donovan McVane]

Donovan's eyebrows flitted up with amusement at her response, "Well to each their own. I don't think Miss Piggy is that bad myself. She did have Kermit and a lot of pretty dresses."

He was finally able to retrieve the right key, despite his attention to Alexia's slip-up. He was sure that if it had been anyone else, they would have just laughed it off and walked away, but then laughing was what had caused this whole dilemma in the first place.

' Do you want . . . Help with anything? '

"Nope. I think I can handle this bad boy all on my own," Donovan said sensing the way out being presented to him. Though after what had happened he was almost reluctant to evade her, and was tempted to stick around and torment her for a few more minutes. But the papers in his hand weren't going to grade themselves, and that wasn't part of the game plan.

"Thanks though Alexia. I appreciate it." He finally managed to get the door open.

He went to maneuver inside, but somewhere in between, he hit the doorknob with the hand holding the coffee mug. His eyes widened, but he wasn't quick enough to right himself completely, and with the burden of the essays in his hand the mug toppled to the ground, escaping his grasp.

His arm froze back down at his side. Donovan simply stared flatly at the coffee that had spilled all over his shoes. "...I believe this deserves a moment of silence."

He closed his eyes and held the papers over his heart solemnly. With this coffee tragedy he had no idea how he was expected to make it through the day, let alone his grading 'cram' session.

[Alexia Andrews]

The young student grinned uncontrollably and simply nodded as her teacher cheezily thanked her for her attention. It was just another one of those situations that could get her giggling for no reasons. Plus, she just knew that all those over sincere thanking were some kind of courtesy he felt obliged to perform, and that he did not necessarily meant. That was funny for, again, no reasons. It was with an imperceptible ounce of sadness on her face that Alexia prepared herself to leave as he was about to open his classroom's door. But something very sudden and unexpected happened.

Splash.

- '' Oh no . . . '' She gasped, like any girly witness would, reguarding the situation.

Was Fate on her side, or simply against Donovan, today ?

She bit her lips as she contemplated the embarrassing incident and looked up at Mr. McVane. She could expect all the types of reaction coming from him, but she was quite positive that she was going to assist the 'I'm-a-teacher-so-I-must-not-get-angry-because-of-that-
in-front-of-a-student ' one.

However, he seemed to react in his very singular, and quite comical, way and Alexia was only bound to play along, even thought that meant holding back another risky laugh and sound dramatically serious. She remained respectfully silent for a few seconds before she asked;

- '' While I go searching for the marching band, shall I look for a towel, as well ? ''

Of course, a marching band was necessary to mourn this beloved cup of coffee, but it also had to be washed away, sooner or later. Right now, the only thing that seemed qualified to accomplish this task was the Kleenex box, resting on Donovan's desk.

[Donovan McVane]

'' While I go searching for the marching band, shall I look for a towel, as well ? ''

Donovan sighed, keeping his eyes shut as he considered his options. He shifted in his shoes, his face twitching into a frown. The coffee had managed to seep through his socks, and that was just...gross. 'Focus.' So the problem. Whether or not to send Alexia off on her bizarre way, or accept her help. Decisions, decisions. Donnie opened his eyes after a moment.

"...Yeah. That'd be great. There should be some paper towels in my class...somewhere," his brow wrinkled as he tried to remember exactly where that somewhere was.

He opened the door wider to let her in, slowly beginning to follow after. He moved his feet delicately gritting his teeth as each movement was accompanied by a loud squish. And she thought her snort fest was humbling.

"They should be in the, uh, the...I don't know. The back cabinet or something." He paused in his step to gesture at the cabinets in the back of the room, which proved to be yet another mistake. The essays fell from his grip in a rush, scattering themselves all over the floor of the classroom.

"Shit." He looked up, astonished. His horrible fortune made him forget that he was in the presence of a student and wasn't allowed to use obscenities. "I said shoot. You heard nothing."

Toddling over, his shoes squishing the whole way, Donovan bent over to pick up the papers, muttering words that were far worse under his breath.

[Alexia Andrews]

She waited for her reaction silently, flashing her most innocent smile filled with unbearable preciousness. She wasn’t sure why, but she half expected him to turn down her offer. But why would he refuse her most humble and honest offer for help? However, a precious smile could only be helpful. When Mr. McVane opened his eyes and came back with the living and gave her a positive answer, her inner self giggled with triumph as she was allowed to walk in before him.

However, he did not even seemed sure whether he did possessed towels of any sorts in his classroom. Maybe it was all just an evil plan to get her into his class, where she would be alone with him and completely vulnerable? She only considered this option mentally and jokingly, and as much as she was wiling to joke about it out loud, she did realised that such jokes did not seemed to be his type and that the time was certainly not the best. Perhaps it did made her feel awkward as well, for some reasons.

- ‘’ Okay . . . ‘’ Alexia let out, with a simple nod, walking to the cabinet that he had just indicated.

Her lips twisted into an awkward type of grin as she heard the light sound of sheets floating off a surface and onto the ground. He must have dropped whatever were those sheets he was holding when she arrived, and that only made her feel more embarrassed for her poor teacher. That did not sound like the best day ever at all, just yet, and she mentally noted no to push her luck too much further. Strangely, it has been said once or twice that her presence could be somehow irritating for grumpy people. How was that possible? She heard something else following the dramatic sheet fall, but that sounded more like a certain word coming out of Donovan’s mouth. Oh, how inconvenient from a teacher . . .

"I said shoot. You heard nothing."

- ‘’ Oh well, sure, what else ? ‘’ She grinned at him shortly, over her shoulder, before she turned back to the cabinet.

There was a very short moment of hesitation before she opened the wooden door; it just somehow felt bizarre to simply walk into his class and to browse trough armoires and drawers. Oh well, it was an emergency, and he had asked her to look, right? With a determined gesture, Alexia stuffed her half ate apple in her mouth and firmly clenched her teeth into it. She would need both hands for this important search.

She looked trough the first cabinet that only contained books of all sorts that she did not even cared to examine, and the second door she opened contained nothing more useful. She acted silently, but quickly, as she closed the cabinets and adventured herself trough the third door. She let out a victorious exclamation, which only sounded like a random noise interrupted by the apple still stuffed in her mouth, at the sight of a brown paper towel roll. She took the object with one hand quickly to tear it out of the cabinet, but something else was dragged along as she did so and fell to the floor. Her body froze instantly.

Was it important ? Was it broken ? Was he going to kill her ? He did not needed any more things being dropped in his classroom right now. However, she realised what the object was soon enough, and it was the last thing she could have expected. Alexia picked up the troll doll and starred at it with childish amazement, but only shortly, as she reminded herself that Donovan could just be staring. It was about the most comical thing that had ever happened to her in this school, well maybe not, but the urge to laugh was getting even more stronger, but still remained impossible, now thanks to the apple. She did not even dare make up scenarios regarding the questionable object, and she certainly wasn’t going to ask questions. The young girl simply replaced Mr. Troll in his rightful place without a word and closed the door. She approached her teacher and handed him the paper towel she was holding and took the apple out of her mouth with her free hand.

- ‘’ Cute... ‘’ Instantly came out. ‘’ Uh, I mean, found them. ‘’ She declared.

[Donovan McVane]

‘’ Oh well, sure, what else ? ‘’

"Good. Great," he nodded sharply in approval.

The last thing he needed was her running off to tell the principal or even her father that evil Mr. McVane was cussing up a storm in her presence. He wasn't exactly afraid of being fired per say- it was more that he didn't want to push the limit that far just yet. He had a nice set-up at Hilltown, and if he wanted to screw it up he would do it all on his own.

He continued to snatch the papers off the floor, shoving them into messy bunches in his arms. Needless to say, they would be damaged upon delivery. But a few wrinkles never hurt anyone, right?

At the sound of something falling somewhere by Alexia, Donovan looked up.

"Don't tell me this room is cursed too..."

He wouldn't have been surprised however if it was simply his bad luck infecting everything within a ten yard radius. And it was knowing this luck that whatever she had dropped was bound to be something priceless he could never replace...

And then he saw it. The all too-familiar tuft of green hair sprouting from a plastic head, the chubby body, and the belly button jewel that corresponded with the color of the hair- it was the god-forsaken troll doll.

Donovan continued to stare at it, flabbergasted, at a complete loss of what he could say to explain such a thing being in his cabinet. How could he explain to her that it was shoved away so secretly because it completely creeped him out? He couldn't.

"That...was a gift." He said quietly, not particularly sure if this was something that needed to be spoken about out loud. Ever.

Finally he had collected all of the essays and held them firmly in his grip as he stood, clearing his throat importantly as if he hadn't seen the troll doll at all.

"Fantastic. Let me drop these off at my desk," he said, rustling the papers, "I can take it from here if you have somewhere to be. I don't want to hold you up."

He was a grown man after all, and grown men were perfectly capable of mopping up their own messes with paper towels. Making Alexia do it would feel like some undeserved punishment, but if she really didn't have anything better to do, he couldn't see a reason to turn her away.

[Alexia Andrews]

The young girl only nodded in a dramatic slow motion way when the mysterious origins of this mystical doll were revealed to her. A gift – right – and from who ? She did not really dared to investigate on the answer, though she started thinking that someone running around, offering troll dolls to his friends should be really interesting to meet! She did not even took the time to start mentally investigating on the identity of that troll prophet person, deciding that it did not matter for the meantime, and went back to eating her apple after Donovan had taken the paper she was handling him.

She was already feeling guilty for not actually offering herself to clean up the mess, but now that she was thinking about it, she was only bound to cause more damages when trying to fix previous catastrophes. So, she remained silent and still, until her teacher caught her off guard with his next statement.

"I can take it from here if you have somewhere to be. I don't want to hold you up."

If there was one thing that Alexia was quite gifted at, it was reading between the lines, and if there was actually a second thing in which she could do very fine, it was acting as if she could absolutely not read between the lines . . . It was merely obvious that her presence wasn’t exactly the most convenient to him at the moment, but she could not explain it; she liked to be that kind of presence around him. She felt like they formed the wonderful duo of Donkey and Shrek, and boy, that thought had to remain locked up in her head. She looked up at her teacher with round and innocent eyes and simply smiled.

- ‘’ Oh, no really, It’s no problem, I have nowhere to be. ‘’ She declared with a quick shook of her head.

She stared around the classroom, trying to forget that he had a mess to clean and that she had to remain completely un-helpful about it. Then, her green gaze came to rest on the pile papers that were resting on McVane’s desk and she took a victorious bite of her apple. Topic of conversation – found !

- ‘’ Hey, say, are those our essays? ‘’ The teen asked innocently.

[Donovan McVane]

He continued to shuffle the papers in his hands importantly, and glanced briefly at the clock as if to prove that he couldn't care less what her final decision was. Looking at the clock proved to be a mistake, however. He should have been halfway through the essays already. There goes my lunch break, he thought with a frown. His poor dry toast would just have to wait for him after school, of course by that time it would be even more brittle and decrepit. And dry toast wasn't like wine in the sense that it got better with age- oh no, it just continued to dry out until it cracked in two at the slightest touch. Dammit.

Donovan was suddenly struck with the feeling that a pair of eyes were watching him- a feeling that had become all-together to familiar ever since he started teaching Alexia. Sure enough, when he looked down (he would have had to stoop to be eye-level), those great big, almost creepy, eyes of hers were staring up at him. He was too accustomed to it to be startled anymore.

‘’ Oh, no really, It’s no problem, I have nowhere to be. ‘’

Why wasn't he surprised? Oh that's right. Today wasn't his day.

"Oh. Okay then. But I think that you should know the Tiny Gremlin People Organization is having a meeting this morning that you might not want to miss. You are their queen aren't you? Or was I misinformed?" he asked, cocking a brow.

She asked about the stack of papers on his desk, and Donovan couldn't help but sigh. "No. I'm afraid those bad boys are right here."

He shook the papers in his hands at her so she could see just how much work he had to do, before continuing, "Those just happen to be in another ballpark entirely. They're the Student Assessment forms your dear principal wants me to fill out." He shook his head to show how much stock he put in the administration. Which was not much at all.

[Alexia Andrews]

"Oh. Okay then. But I think that you should know the Tiny Gremlin People Organization is having a meeting this morning that you might not want to miss. You are their queen aren't you? Or was I misinformed?"

The young girl was staring down at her apple, almost thoughtfully, before his words registered in her mind. When they did, Alexia brought up thinly narrowed green eyes up at him, glaring cruelly. She had to admit, it was a nice and sharp shot, coming from such an old timmer, but a cheap one, not the least. That was about the coolest thing about Mr. McVane: the guy could strike back to anything and keep up with a conversation that did not only involved school and country music. However, her height was touchy, and she was not about to accept that Donovan joined her friend's teasing vendetta about her short self, even if he was who he preciously was. Her mouth was left open in a perfect ' o ', and she stroke back, indignated.

- '' What's that supposed to mean ? You were misinformed ! '' The teen shook her head with indignation and stared down at her apple again. '' I keep telling you all - I'm the most perfectly normal human being, I just happened to be fathered by an evil Giant who dropped me into his creepy world of Giants - simple as that ! ''

The young girl explained, matter of factly. She did kept repeating that to everybody, and she came so used to her little theory that she came to faithfully believe in it. It just made perfect sense, after all. How could she be such a dwarf, when a man as respectably tall as Anthony was her actual father ? There was no theory - except the giant one. That, or she could blame it all on her mother's average height and the whole genetics thing, but that was just way too much work and scientific crap to think of.

She nodded sharply when he told her that the papers she had mentioned weren't their essays, and that he still had to correct those, anyways. Her attitude was still a little pout-ish toward her teacher and she shrugged when he stated the Principal and all hat magnificent work he was assigned to.

- '' Oh well, that's good, it shall keep you busy ! '' She said, bringing her apple back to her mouth, her eyebrows cocking up. '' That way you won't go wandering off, spilling coffee on his precious floors, and unfairly damaging his invaluable student's self esteem ! ''

Her tone became quite accusing and matter of factly at the end of her sentence, but no one could tell if she was being a teaser or simply down serious about his behaviour while she stared out the windows, munching a bite of her apple.

[Donovan McVane]

Donovan blinked innocently, "Oh was I? My mistake."

Maybe it wasn't fair to be such an evil person, especially when Alexia hadn't really done anything to deserve being labeled Queen of the Gremlins. Though in Donovan's book, Gremlins were wonderful little creatures, albeit a little misunderstood. Like Alexia! See, it wasn't that mean of him to say- he would even go so far as to call it an honor, but obviously this was not something she wanted to talk about. So Donovan decided to keep his theories to himself.

'' I keep telling you all - I'm the most perfectly normal human being, I just happened to be fathered by an evil Giant who dropped me into his creepy world of Giants - simple as that ! ''

He laughed, unable to keep a straight face. "You know, you and Felicity should start a clan. I think she's in the same boat..."

He paused, realizing what he had just suggested. He was horrified that the words had come out of his mouth, and mentally kicked himself. Felicity and Alexia working together would most certainly be hell on earth, of this Donnie was sure. Talk about being paranoid now, he would never be able to get a good night's sleep and be looking over his shoulder every five seconds instead of the usual ten in order to make sure that minions on scooters and skateboards weren't after him. No, that was definitely a bad idea.

'' That way you won't go wandering off, spilling coffee on his precious floors, and unfairly damaging his invaluable student's self esteem ! ''

Donnie grinned, "I think that was his master plan. Can't say it's working out too good though since I've managed to do both and school hasn't even started."

Alexia continued to munch her apple, and Donovan looked from her, to the mess on the floor, to the papers in his hands, and then back.

"Sooooo...are you going to get started on that mess or just stand around eating?" he asked, as politely as was possible for Donovan McVane.