Today, Beacon Hills High School prepares to welcome a new student! Several new students, in fact; a whole class of them. As summer gives way to fall, so too does freedom give way to restriction. Get in your seats, everyone.
Everyone should find a partner! They'll choose three partners throughout this class; the first one will last for a third of the year.
Pass on Lydia and Harley, been there, done that. But... she slips down next to the sneaky fellow photographer.
"Get any good pictures today?"
"The lighting in the hallways isn't very forgiving, but the windows in the cafeteria? I'm really looking forward to developing the ones I took here. But I am hoping I'll be able to do something with the hallway photos, I read about this cool technique in an old issue of Popular Photography..." She pauses, realises she's rambling, "Uh. I'm sorry. I'm Juliet. Wanna be partners?"
She shakes his hand, acting very professional. But then cracks a small smile. "Please poke me next time I start rambling. Sometimes I get to a certain point and there's no stopping me. I just, uh, photography is my thing, you know?"
"I'd love to see it. And ditto. Though, kinda depends what sort of imagery you're okay with seeing. I have.. a tendency towards the... morbid? That's not the right word. I can show you some of my safe for work stuff, if you prefer."
"Why thou art so fair?" She laughs, "Please. I was raised on it. My dad is obsessive like that."
"Are you. I've always had trouble with Ibsen, but I know a good writer when I see one. Speaking of, we should get back to these lame exercises."
Indeed, the exercises listed on the board are reasonably insipid.
-Discuss something exciting that happened over the summer
-Tell your partner something unique about your family
-Share a happy childhood memory
"Uh, maybe a little lame. But. I'll start?" Beat. "So this summer was really exciting actually. My cousin and I managed to convince my dad to let me attend high-school. I was home-schooled. So yeah, it was a big thing. In celebration we went down to the water hole on our property and had barbeque. It's probably super corny, but my cousin and dad are super homebodies and they're pretty much all the company I get, so them coming out with me was... nice."
"No, that doesn't sound corny at all. It's sweet. The only thing I can think of is buying a new camera."
"Ohh. What model did you get? Have you seen the new Canon? I want it so much. But also. I'm so attached to my Olympus. It would kind of feel like cheating."
"Last one broke, so. I don't like replacing them.
Only child, decent parents. Nothing too interesting with my family."
"I'm also an only child. My birth was complicated, to say the least, so it was just me and my dad. Well. And my cousin, but he's always been kind of a second dad to me, despite his age," she laughs, amused at this. "The Salvatore's have been around since the Founding of Beacon Hills, that's interesting, right?"