Troubleshooting [Jazzmyne]

[helleker]

My ODDS are STACKED

I’ve never been a GAMBLING MAN

-*-*-*-

Donnie remembered his power control teacher from when he was a student at Power's. He hadn't liked him. Sure, he had done his job, and he was good at it. He always knew what would help each individual student and by the end of his classes, everyone would feel just a little more in control, just a little more safe from themselves. But back then Donnie had wondered why he couldn't have done just that, but also have been a nicer person while he was at it.

Now, thirteen years on, he got it. Teachers weren't there to make friends, they were there to do their job and help the students, and it didn't matter who you were, as long as you did that well. He would, he reflected, rather have a student hate him and have full control over their power than like him and have no control. He tried not to think about the importance of his role in the Academy. Sure, all the teachers were important, but they were just as important out there, in the 'real' world. If they didn't do their job properly, what was the worst that could happen? The students wouldn't get a great job, a good salary? So what? If Donnie didn't do his job properly, there was a fair chance that one of these kids could kill someone out there.

That was the dark thought that crossed his mind as he sat at his desk in his classroom. The power control classroom was a large room, and Donnie had never asked but always suspected that the walls were reinforced due to the practices that went on in this class. There were always blasts of lightning and balls of fire being hurled around, so it only made sense that they had more room to do it in. It was also why a fire extinguisher remained always at arms length under his desk. There was also a lot of space, as most of the lessons were practical, though chairs and desks lined the outer limits of the room. He was told when he got here that he could change the classroom however he wanted, and he had. He had rearanged everything to how it was when he had been there as a teenager. After that he had felt a little strange about it, and hoped Miss Mays wouldn't notice what he had done. Not that it was a bad thing, it just felt like a weakness that he didn't like change.

It was lunchtime, so the room was empty except for him, and silent but for the distant noises of students. Students always made a noise, sort of like the murmuring of a crowd, but more lazy. Another thing he never noticed when he actually was one. Donnie had been eating his lunch alone in his classroom for a week now. Not because he didn't like the staff room, or the cafeteria, or anything like that. No, there was a specific reasoning behind the fact that even now he munched on a cucumber sandwich with one hand while flipping through some papers with the other.

When he had first started teaching at the beginning of that week, he had been true to his resolution and made sure to check all the student files for the powers he would be dealing with in class. He had then taken note of the students that seemed to him to propose a particular challenge, who might cause a problem - through no fault of their own - later on. He had contacted these students through notes sent by reception that informed them that he would like to meet with them when they had some spare time to discuss their powers, and that he could be found in his classroom during lunch times. The one-to-ones weren't compulsory, but they were recommended, as he had written. He had spoken to a couple of the students he had written to, and another couple had failed to show. On his desk was a small pile of the copied files of students who hadn't turned up yet, and even as he nibbled on his sandwich he continued to leaf through them.

He didn't mind spending his lunch hour in here alone, even if nobody did come in the end. The point was that he was here in case a student wanted to see him. That was, he supposed, the kind of teacher he was going to be.

-*-*-*-

I’ve NEVER HAD the WINNING HAND

But for YOU I’d LOSE IT ALL

Character/s used: Donald Matthew Helleker (click)
Word count: 579
Lyrics credit: The Overtones – ‘Gambling Man’ (click)
Tagged: JAZZY
Character outfit: Black suit and tie
Notes: Ummm… I always feel like I should write something here. Happy Sunday?

[jazzmyne alicia roan.]

Jazzy could never make up her mind of whether she loved school or absolutely hated it. She loved learning and she loved knowing that there was somewhere that she fit in, or at least fit in as well as could be expected, but she hated feelings like a ticking time bomb about to explode at any minute. That was really what she felt like all the time. A small little package that could do tremendous damage without any warning. It was an excellent metaphor to describe her, the more she thought about it the more she both liked and hated it. After one year of this school, one year of English and History and Power Ethics and especially Powers Control, she'd expected to be more in control. If anything she was more unpredictable. Her power popped up more often than ever, and her ability to control it hadn't increased a bit. She felt so helpless. She hid in empty classrooms for most of lunch hours so far this year, continuing her tradition from the year before. She never did anything over lunch hours. Just sat back in the corners, listening to music and dreaming about a life where she wasn't an abomination.

That morning, she had been called to the office in English class. Apparently the message that was being delivered had been forgotten about when it was supposed to be sent out, and had only been discovered this morning when the front office was being cleaned up. The receptionist politely handed her a note, and sent her on her way so that Jazzy could read it in peace away from others. So she'd hidden out in the hallway, away from the prying eyes of students, and read what was written down.

Of course it made sense that she would be a student getting a note like this one. The only time anyone was truly safe around her was when Miss Mays was around to negate her ability and make her, for the most part, completely normal. She knew as soon as she read the note that she had to do as it suggested. She couldn't afford to be one of those students who said 'nah, I don't need it' and run off to do whatever the hell they wanted at lunch hours. If any extra time with the Powers Control teacher could benefit her she had to take it. She practically didn't have a choice in the matter.

When the lunch bell rang at noon, Jazzy went to her locker and put her books away. She pulled out her purple over the shoulder backpack, put her fedora hat on her head, and grabbed her iPod. It was the routine she'd been following every school day for the last ten months. It was only when she was halfway to the musty old classroom that she usually spent her lunch hours in that she remembered that she had somewhere to be.

It too Jazzy a while to find the right classroom. Power's Control was in a different classroom than it had been last year, and she became accustomed during the day to find different classes by where they were located in comparison to the class before or after. Finding rooms from her locker wasn't something she'd had to do yet this year, other than her first and last period classes, of course. At about twenty after twelve she finally found the right classroom, the one that said 'Power's Control; Mr. Helleker' in big bolded letters on the front. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door and peeked inside. "Mr. Helleker? You uh... wanted to see me?"

[helleker]

My ODDS are STACKED

I’ve never been a GAMBLING MAN

-*-*-*-

Donnie unfortunately still had a mouth full of sandwich when a student appeared at his doorway, so all he could do at first was murmur
"Mhmm." and nod for her to come in. After that he quickly swallowed and shoved the papers he was looking through into a reasonably neat pile.

"Come in, please have a seat." He offered, gesturing to the chair he had placed on the other side of the desk just in case anybody did intend to show up. While she did that, he busied himself tidying lunch items back onto the blue plastic tray that sat on his desk.

Glancing at her face, he pulled a particular file out from the pile he had stacked up.
"It's Jazzmyne, isn't it? Jazzmyne Roan?" He had always been pretty good with names and faces, and had taken the time to learn the names to go with the pictures from the files he read.

Jazzmyne was one of the first students he had picked out when looking for potential students that he would need to talk to. By the words written in the information before him, her ability was both highly destructive on a social level and almost completely lacked control. That wasn't the worst part of it, however, but they would get to that later. No matter how many facts were in the power section of the info file, it didn't tell you anything about the person, not really. Donnie hadn't read any of the other information sections about any of the students out of respect for their privacy. That, and the fact that he wished to get to know them for who they were, not what they'd done.

"How are you today?" He asked pleasantly, though his expression remained as humorless as ever. It was important to make a good impression with students, especially the ones that were going to require the most attention in the future.

-*-*-*-

I’ve NEVER HAD the WINNING HAND

But for YOU I’d
LOSE IT ALL

Character/s used: Donald Matthew Helleker (click)
Word count: 326
Lyrics credit: The Overtones – ‘Gambling Man’ (click)
Tagged: JAZZY
Character outfit: Black suit and tie
Notes: I haven’t had a cucumber sandwich in AGES…

[jazzmyne alicia roan.]

Jazzy slunk into the room, eyes down, her posture stiff and uncomfortable. She was never really relaxed around other people. The only time she ever truly relaxed was in her room, or in 'her' lunchroom. When there was no one else around she didn't have to worry about hurting them. If she didn't look at people she was far less likely to hurt them. Pretending the world and the people who inhabited it didn't exist was a useful way to keep other people safe.

"Okay," she said as she made her way to the chair in front of his desk. Her voice was quiet and soft. She never spoke very loudly, likely because she didn't speak much at all usually. Once seated she clasped her hands together in her lap and started down at them, apparently very interested in the exact shape and curves of each of her small little fingers. She nodded when he spoke again, raising her head a fraction of an inch just long enough to look at his face before she looked away again, reminding herself of the dangers of eye contact with another human being. "Jazzmyne Alicia Roan," she confirmed.

She could tell by his tone that he was making an attempt to be friendly and approachable, but another quick glance at his face made her suddenly even more uncomfortable. Smiling came from the eyes, in her opinion. If the eyes weren't smiling the emotion wasn't sincere. She wasn't a fan of teachers and people who tried to deceive you with false emotions. They weren't in things to help you. They were in it for their own reputation or bragging rights. Still, she smiled as pleasantly as she could for a quick second. She wasn't going to lie and say that her day was fantastic, but nor was she going to say her life sucked however much she felt it did sometimes. "My day has been pretty good so far, sir. How has yours been?" One of her teachers last year, her social studies teacher she thought, had ten rules of life that each student had to memorize. Rule number seven: When someone asks you a question you should always answer politely and then repeat a similarly worded question back to them. It was only polite.

[helleker]

My ODDS are STACKED

I’ve never been a GAMBLING MAN

-*-*-*-

Well there was no doubt that the girl before him was extremely timid, but surely that was to be expected. He didn't know about her life at all, but he couldn't imagine an easy way of living with a power like hers without difficulty and a lot of control. Control that he hoped to help her to learn.

"It's been good, thank you." He replied automatically to the question that was returned to him. It wasn't something he really thought about, but yes, his day had been unremarkable and perfectly pleasant. It was just the pleasantries of asking and replying that were important, really. Not that he expected that to make her feel more at ease in any way.

"Jazzmyne, I've only asked you to come and talk to me because I believe your power may take more work to learn to control." He said, getting right down to business now that the niceties were out of the way. "Now, that's not to say that it cannot be controlled. I am of the opinion that given enough time and patience, and practice, any natural power can be controlled in a way that makes life easy for you to live. That's what we want to accomplish, and I am going to aid you in any way I can to help you achieve that."

It was all very well making promises and guarantees, but, having been a student himself once, he knew this would mean nothing to her until he started proving that he meant it. At her age, Donnie would have just written him off as a teacher who didn't really care, and he was sure that she would do the same.

He paused for a moment, before glancing down at the paper in front of him.
"Your personal ability is listed as telepathic pain induction." He noted, "There's a description here, but I'm much more interested in hearing about it from you." He placed his hands together, interlocking his fingers over the desk. "After all, who knows your power better than you do, right?"

Asking a student to describe their own power, especially when it was one as complex as Jazzmyne's, was a good starting point. Not only would it give Donnie what he needed to work with, it would make Jazzmyne think about the way things were at the current time - the starting point.

"Could you maybe try and describe it to me?" He asked, his tone soft enough to be encouraging without being demanding. "Only in as much detail as you wish."

-*-*-*-

I’ve NEVER HAD the WINNING HAND

But for YOU I’d
LOSE IT ALL

Character/s used: Donald Matthew Helleker (click)
Word count: 451
Lyrics credit: The Overtones – ‘Gambling Man’ (click)
Tagged: JAZZY
Character outfit: Black suit and tie
Notes: -

[jazzmyne alicia roan.]

"Jazzmyne, I've only asked you to come and talk to me because I believe your power may take more work to learn to control."

Had Jazzy not been so timid and polite, she would have certainly rolled her eyes. In her head the more outspoken personality of hers, the one that never ever showed except in the deeper corners of her brain, offered a snide reply. Gee, you think? I mean, I've only been here a year with no effing process, nearly killed my step mom, and have made seniors run in terror. No, my power's perfectly under control. It's like a rose bouquet. Perfect. But though the voice in her head was perfectly biting and sarcastic, her outward persona remained the same as ever. Quiet, respectful, or as respectful as you could be without actually looking at a person, and entirely open to everything he was saying. She wouldn't dare voice the little ideas in her head of what she should say. It wasn't safe to let even a sarcastic emotion take control of her.

Oh great... time to explain everything. This was usually something she never had to do. Teachers were often warned of her ability, and left it at that. As long as they knew it was dangerous and she wasn't a person to wisely get emotional, thinks worked out just fine. There was no more explanation of her ability needed than that she could torture you on a whim. Not that Jazzy couldn't explain her power. She explained it to herself often enough, she just never voiced her reports. It was kind of like she was one big research project to herself. An oddity. Something to be explored and explained, and who could do it better than herself?

She remained looking at his desk as she spoke in a rather monotonous voice. It didn't bother her to explain her ability. She was kind of detached from the whole thing, actually, whenever she really thought about it. "My power is to inflict pain on others. Tremendous pain. Anything from a headache to something so harsh they want to die." Even as the mental image of her step-mom writhing on the floor came to her mind, Jazzy barely flinched. She'd seen that scenario too often in her nightmares for it to have much of an effect on her when she was awake and aware that she wasn't reliving it all over again. "The first time it ever appeared I was already so powerful that I crippled my step-mother. Who knows what it's capable of now. My ability has absolutely no purpose but to kill others. Hey, I could make a CIA investigator, but then that would mean showing the world that freaks like me exist. I'm a danger to everyone and everything around me." As soon as she realized that her bitterness was beginning to show through, she shut up, reminding herself again that it wasn't safe to let her emotions run like that. Even a minor emotion. She didn't consider anyone else at Power's a freak. Their abilities had a purpose. Hers didn't. Therefore she was a freak in a sea of freaks. Great.

[helleker]

My ODDS are STACKED

I’ve never been a GAMBLING MAN

-*-*-*-

Donnie had only really been expecting the first part of her reply. Students would normally be stingy with details, only giving the plain facts - even more so for the ones with powers like Jazzmyne's, which caused trouble for them in their daily lives. However the teacher was unperturbed by the girl's confession about what had happened to her step mother. She was suddenly bitter, though he suspected that this was simply what was beneath the surface of her timid nature showing through. She did seem to be the type to bottle up her problems and keep them from the world. Of course, she had too, otherwise she would hurt people.

"You are not a freak." Was the first thing Donnie said, and he said it calmly and serenely, perhaps in an attempt to quell any tension that was between them, generated automatically by the teacher-student relationship. "I know you'll get told that a lot here, and you probably don't believe it, but it's true." He didn't believe it either, once upon a time. "Being different doesn't make you a freak."

He paused for a moment, leaning back in his desk chair and touching his hand to his chin in a habit that made him look most thoughtful.
"Jazzmyne, you should know something about me." He said eventually, "It is my job to work with students at this Academy and to help them. It's my job, and I get paid to do it. But I'm going to make it a personal goal to help you. Not just as a teacher, but as a person who cares. I cannot pretend to... begin to understand what you have been through because of your power, and I cannot change what has already happened."
He looked at her, hoping the sincerity of his words was being received.
"But we can change the future. We can, and we will, and we will do that through hard work and determination. But I can't begin to help you until you trust me, just a little."

He leaned forward again, with his elbows on his desk. Apparently every pose in his repertoir was equally serious.
"So how about it?" He asked, "I know I'm knew to teaching here, and I know you can't trust me straight away... but will you give me a chance?"

-*-*-*-

I’ve NEVER HAD the WINNING HAND

But for YOU I’d
LOSE IT ALL

Character/s used: Donald Matthew Helleker (click)
Word count: 398
Lyrics credit: The Overtones – ‘Gambling Man’ (click)
Tagged: JAZZY
Character outfit: Black suit and tie
Notes: HEY. WHOA. <- random noises

[Roberthealf]

Want to get the most out of your money?
? Out our best GUARANTEED CASINO BONUSES that we can offer here
only today!
best-coinscasino.com

?Please check our site for exclusive casino bonuses!
bit.ly/2TlMgEk

#casino #bigwin #poker #slots #onlinecasino #gambling #reactoonz #freespens #bonus #jackpot #stream #lasvegas #roulette