Prom Watch

[Tamara Sulik]

If prom was something awesome for the students, to Tamara it only meant one thing, she had extra work. She left the staff in charge of watching the prom deal with the bottles of alcohol they might trying to bring in to add some flavour to the punch. She had enough work to do with preventing students from going wild. Because there was a tradition with prom. Normally, it involved getting a hotel room. They might not get one but they had plenty of rooms here. Not to add that there could always be someone organizing some anti-prom party or something. Or the college students wanting to celebrate too but without the young high schoolers around. In other words, Tamara needed more eyes than she had to watch over everything.

She didn’t like this part of her job. She wished she could party with the students instead of putting an end to it. She used to be that student partying too hard just because they offered them an occasion for it. As such, it was hard for the woman to see how much she had changed. She didn’t like it, not entirely. It had her wonder what happened to her along the road and she knew she was not a bad person, making this questioning but hurtful and pointless.

She already made a quick round of the dorms to make sure there was nothing too loud going on and that boys were not in the girl-only area or girls in the boy-only one. As for the co-ed dorms... she’ll just have to be vigilant. “Nothing to report so far. But it’s only starting,” she let out as she entered the dorm’s office. She didn’t want to spend most of her night walking the halls but she knew she will have to. For now however, most of the students were too busy leaving for prom so other than telling them not to push or be overly dramatic because one had a similar dress or that kind of crap, nothing major happened. She left the door opened though, and was keeping an eye at the view of the corridor she had through it. They would have to walk through here, so she’ll notice if a couple seemed too loving on their way to their room. She sighed. Really, what happened to her that she now had to prevent teenage sex?

[Adam Castle]

Adam had absolutely no reason to be walking around the student dorms. They weren't that close to the teacher dorms, and even if they were, he didn't reside there. The only other possible reason was that he had gone for a round with a student and ended up oversleeping, but that wasn't it either, being the boys' dorm and all.

Yet, there he was with a bottle of Jack in one hand and absolutely no idea how it got there. Some of the passing wards gave him mean looks, whereas others stared a bit longingly at his prize. He smiled and waved at a few, then proceeded to wander around, looking for a way out of there and spotted an open door. Light, sweet light!

The hushed whispers of plans for prom night occasionally caught his ear, and little by little, he was able to surmise that there should be a dorm monitor around that could give him directions out. Thankfully, he had found the dorm monitor's office. Fortunately, he recognized the monitor within.

"I swiped this from a student around the corner." He said, waving the bottle in the air and taking a swig before staring at her with his best concerned expression. "I kid, I kid. Rough night? Looks like you could use some company." He grinned, leaning against the doorframe.

[Tamara Sulik]

Tamara was bored and she hated to be bored. She could easily shirk her duties when that happened and this was not a good thing. Especially on tonight, as no doubt the students would try something. In fact, many of them would try something, they wouldn’t in a large group, unless someone organized a party upstairs. Maybe she should go and check. It would have the advantage of having her actually do something other than sit there for someone to come by.

She absolutely ignored the staff member as she was not in charge of watching them, but she did look up as he came to the office, swinging a bottle of alcohol in his hands. She raised an eyebrow out of disbelief to Adam as he joked about it coming from a student. “That is not exactly a joke to do right now. They might as well have a few stocked right now, to ‘spice’ the prom punch,” she pointed out.

The fact this man never made a good impression on Tamara was not playing in his favor. He could grin all he liked, this joke did not help his case at all with Tamara, let alone have her want of his company. “I’m working, I don’t have time to drink and chitchat,” she replied to him, her tone being somewhat cold, colder than his words would required perhaps, but that fit perfectly the relationship they had thus far.

[Adam Castle]

Well, she wasn't happy.

“I’m working, I don’t have time to drink and chitchat.”

"That was a better reception than I was expecting. Although, it's said prom night is one of the most magical nights of the year." He said, sliding into the chair in front of a desk and rocking back and forth. She looked abso-posit-lutely ready to knee him in the family jewels, or worse. No telling with these security types.

He chuckled at the mention of teenagers and booze. "Chillax, Max. These occasionally rich upstarts aren't doing anything different than what we would do. Let them have their fun. Besides," He took another swig of the bottle and wiped his mouth with someone's hanky, " it could use some 'spicing'. Tastes like rainbows and unicorn fart."

This, he realized he knew from being the one to tell them to spike it in the first place with the assurance that if they got caught, he'd bail them out. His memory was slipping.

[Tamara Sulik]

Tam already had enough to do with students not to take care of lonely teachers. Though it was true it was boring right now. Adam however suddenly made her see a whole new appeal to walking the dorms in case she would hear very loud music or anything else indicating a party was going on in one of the rooms. “For the high school students, maybe. To me it's just extra work,” she pointed out.

Tamara had not been a model student in the past, she was ready to admit it. She broke some rules, she partied and she played the part of the sexy girl with a bad reputation people thought she was. But when she was a kid, there were people to prevent it from going too far you had to get away from. Now, she was that person and those kids had to find ways to get passed her. It might not be her dream job but it was hers nonetheless and she did not intend to slack. If she did it just once, something bad could happen.

She didn't mind him sitting on the chair in front of her but she raised an eyebrow at the way he addressed to her. “Well, we had people to make sure our ‘fun’ was not going too far,” she told him on the same sort of matter-of-factly tone. She stared as he drank straight from the bottle. How much did he have already? The last thing she wanted was to have a drunken Adam on her hands. She shrugged at the mention of spicing up the punch. “I’ll let the security down at the gym deal with that. Why are you here exactly? I thought most of the staff was asked to check for the students tonight.”

[Adam Castle]

For situations such as Tamara Sulik, Adam wished he had a particular pupil's power of persuasion. It wouldn't possibly be so painful for her to just seemingly relax for one night, would it?


"Actually, my prom date died, so I didn't have much fun." Adam sniffled a bit, then leaned back in the chair and put his feet up, looking at her quizzically. "Oh, that's what I was supposed to be doing? See, I got lost and came here because I thought this was a way out. But, I mean, since that's what I'm supposed to be doing, guess I'll just stay here with you."

Adam drained the bottle and tossed it into a wastepaper basket at the far corner of the room. When he didn't hear it smash, he took a pen and paper out of his pocket, scribbled 'perfect ten' on it and slid it across the table to her.

[Tamara Sulik]

Tamara didn’t think she had no idea how to relax. She was very good at relaxing. It was just Adam that made it so hard. The fact he pushed her the wrong way once got her not to like him and she couldn’t be down for a good time when someone she would call a nuisance to be polite was sitting there in front of her, telling her she needed to ease off. He did not know her. Then again, she probably didn’t know him either but the difference was that she didn't want to know him and could live perfectly fine not talking to him more than their jobs asked for. Adam however seemed to have an almost masochistic desire to talk to her. He even brought alcohol.

She didn’t know if he was joking about his prom date but she was not sure she wanted to know either. The fact he said it like that had her believe it was his idea of a joke. “A way out for what exactly? Because if you want out of the south wing, then yes, you just turn right once you leave that office and you’ll get out, I assure you. But I suppose if you were meant to be at the prom, they worked it out without you. And you probably shouldn’t in your state,” she replied, nodding towards the bottle he had and even finished and tossed away. She looked as he did, fearing it would break and she would have to clean up. What drunk people could do sometimes!

She didn't hear any breaking noise so he must have been lucky. She’ll still take it out of there later. She didn’t need people to think she was drinking on the job. He passed her a written message and upon reading it, she looked at him with disbelief. “Tell me, was the bottle full when you found it?” He didn’t seriously down an entire bottle, did he? Dealing with drunken teenagers was one thing. Dealing with a drunken Adam however...

[Adam Castle]

Adam started to get up, thought better of it, sat back down and leaned forward, his lips curved into a smile. "And what state would that be, Tammy? Drunk? Incapable of a single coherent thought, unable to distinguish whether the lovely woman sitting in front of me wants to kick me or kiss me?"

He looked over at the waste bin where the bottle in question lay. "Yes, it was brimming. One hundred percent mineral water, each droplet infused with minerals to make a growing Adam become a Castle." He tilted his head back and laughed for five seconds, then leveled his head and stared at her, his face contorted into a grin.

Adam had taken a psych class for absolutely no reason, and if there was ever a time to use the knowledge you had and didn't want to waste because it cost an arm and a leg, it was probably now.

"Tamara, honey, do you or anyone you know have a drinking problem? Is this why you have so much pent-up anger towards a recovering alcoholic such as myself? Talk to me, honey."

[Tamara Sulik]

When Adam stood up, she watched him, certain he would just fall on the floor and possibly pass out or something. She didn’t know what he was like drunk and if that was it. All she knew was that he emptied a bottle of alcohol she had no idea how much was in it to begin with. She didn’t really like people calling her Tammy. Tam, she could still take it without any problem but Tammy was something else. “Yes Adam, that state,” she replied, trying to make her tone as serious as possible without showing any signs that she was annoyed. Kind of hard when you sigh first and stare at someone like they are actually disturbing you in the middle of something important.

She didn’t really have anything important to do. She could still see the students walking back from prom to their dorm through the open door. He was just in the way. Why did he bother again? She was not sure. She never understood why men couldn’t get the hint.

Her attention went to the hallway but returned on him as he claimed it was filled with water. Mineral water? “Are you telling me this is your natural state?” Maybe he should start drinking again. Who knows, maybe that would make him act like an actual human being. She had a smile coming to her lips but there was no kindness in it as she leaned towards him. “Adam, if I have a problem, it is not with my drinking.”

[Adam Castle]

Adam pondered her question for a moment, wondering if he was ever not an asswipe. It was possible. So far, he couldn't remember. "I think it might just be, although I get the feeling that may need to change."

Adam looked around the room to make sure there was no one else that she could possibly have been referring to, then stuck a finger in the middle of his chest. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were concerned about me." He whistled and sighed. "Wow. Is there any way that I could get on your good side?  I won't be averse to going on my knees."

[Tamara Sulik]

He only got the feeling it should change? No kidding! People like Adam were just wasting people’s time. She had no idea what he was doing of his life when not disturbing her but she seriously wished he would go back to that. He had to be useful, and competent, to be here at Bellefonte. She could not believe the school would hire someone who was nothing but a ball chained to their ankle. To Tamara however, he showed only that side of him and it made her hard for her to give him more than the benefit of the doubt. Even that was thinning out as he was testing her patience.

Yes, she was referring to him. It was at least what she thought as he pointed a finger towards his chest after what she said. “I’m more concerned on how to make you no longer my problem, Adam,” she argued but he was already going on about how he could get on her good side. She was tempted to say by leaving her alone but she doubted that would work. She was also tempted to have him on his knees, as he said, just to see that but this too she did not say. “Are you really like that all the time? Even with the students?” What kind of teacher they had if so!

[Adam Castle]

Did he possess an innate ability to piss her off more? Certainly seemed like it. Although, he would have thought this particular approach was less bothersome than other times. And she was giving him that look, the one that everyone had when they wondered why he taught there. He supposed Ellen Banks was given the same look, but her being here was safer to the outside world.

Her problem? Adam C. Castle was not a problem. He was the polar opposite of a Marty Stu, maybe, but most certainly not a problem. A little hard headed, but not a problem. A die-hard pervert, but not a problem. A comedian, but not a problem. Maybe it was time he took his leave.

"My students love me. Ask anyone. And I would have said I'm taken aback, but that was a pretty frontal assault. I see we can't be friends." He shot up out of his seat and started walking backwards to the door. "I'll be taking my leave now and I'll be sure to not let the door hit me on the way out." He said as he turned sharply, his forehead connecting with the edge of the door in the process.

[Tamara Sulik]

Tamara had been waiting for this moment ever since he entered the office. That lovely moment when he would say he was just passing by and had to go. The way it happened however sounded like she was kicking him out and even though she was still ready to do it, she’d rather do it by grabbing him and tossing him out of here, not by sounding like some cold-hearted bitch who questioned his ability as a teacher. Even if she questioned his ability as a teacher. And didn’t really care if he thought she was a cold-hearted bitch. “It’s not that we can’t be friends it’s just...” What? Come on, she finally had what she wanted, Adam Castle out of her office! She raised her hands in the air in a defeated gesture. “I can’t deal with people like you. I don’t know how.” Not without punching them in the fact at least.

Was she sad he was leaving? Certainly not. She had enough to deal with right now, being prom and all those kids hoping to live this moment by doing all sorts of crazy stuff. She couldn’t babysit Adam as well. She found nothing to reply to his comment as he left. She just sat there, staring at the door. Certain that he would come back with that smug grin of his and say it was just a joke. It wasn’t, right?

[Adam Castle]

As he walked down the passage as directed, he counted slowly from ten. The count was to see how long she would take to get up and rush out the door, begging him to come back. So far, there wasn't a single movement at five. He sighed as he got to the door, nudging it open and stepping out of the south wing.