The Midnight Barber

"Whoever has that dog needs to find a better place to let it annoy those of us still trying to sleep." Etty moaned out as she sat up in the middle of the quad. Yes, she had fallen asleep listening to her music between classes and was now currently more than annoyed with the sharp and shrill barking breaking into her music. Dogs. She hated furry animals, they served no purpose in life. When she was younger, she had a few animals, things that would curl up in her lap and purr or bark when they wanted attention but her connection to them were never fully formed. Something that perhaps should have been one of the first signs of some mental disorder talked through and worked out after many years but she didn't believe in it and her family wasn't about to send their quiet child to therapy to get her to open up. It just wasn't talked about, it was repressed and pushed down inside of her mind, which was good enough for her. Etty cared nothing of sorting out any sort of problems she had, she enjoyed being herself even if no one else seemed to understand it.

The dog didn't want to stop and so Etty gave in and got up fully. She still had a few hours before she had to be anywhere and she was sitting right in front of the building. Coffee. She needed coffee. Something to soothe her nerves and something to make the annoyance of the dog just a bit better. Tucking her headphones back into her pocket, Etty threw her bag over her shoulder and started off. It wasn't that far of a walk to the student center, there was coffee to be found there and it wasn't too horrible. She enjoyed just plain black coffee, something that seemed to be out of vogue with the rest of the world. When everyone started adding sugar and flowery names to a simple cup of coffee, Etty didn't know, but after living in Seattle, she had come to hate it all. That and the fact that they banned her cigarettes. Who thought banning cloves was a good idea? Etty was going through withdrawal or at least that was what she was going to blame her moodiness on. "Coffee, black." Taking her slightly overpriced cup, Etty wandered back outside and took a seat on the grass.

Sliding her sunglasses back over her face, Etty leaned back and waited, it usually didn't take too long for someone to sit down close enough to her, try to start up a conversation and as she crossed her long legs in front of her, she smirked as someone took a seat next to her. She'd wait it out, let them speak first as they usually did anyway. A typical hello and how are you, can I borrow a light floated out of the other persons lips and Etty dug in her bag for a second pulling out her small silver lighter before handing it over. "I'm rather alive today. Feeling like a plum tree." Responding in riddles amused her, what did the other persons face show, what were they thinking about her, she was curious and luckily disappointment in people had long since worn off and she lumped everyone into the same category of test subjects. "And you?" She asked, feeling like it was necessary to continue this conversation even if she wasn't that amused so far. Everyone got a few minutes at least, it was like speed dating. If you couldn't keep her attention for more than five minutes, Etty would write you out of her life, simple as that. She didn't have time for people that bored her.

Etty Crews was not amused, she was not amused that the day had started out full of sunlight and now, well as she looked up into the cloudy gray sky that feeling was over. Though there was the thought that moods were effected easily by seasons and weather, Etty never assumed it was the truth. Yes, there was a higher suicide rate during the winter, there was that odd seasonal disorder that caused people to go just a little insane. That wasn't her problem at the moment though, her problem was that Etty was somehow stuck behind a gaggle of people more concerned with trying to sell her a new low interest credit card than just move out of her way. The joys of college. Being shilled things she had no interest in, which as she thought about it was a bit ironic. Pushing through the crowd, Etty sighed as half of them ignored the girl and her desires. Why she had chosen to come here was still confusing to her. Etty didn't enjoy being around people, in fact she felt that the world would be quite a bit better if there was no one in it but herself. Though that didn't seem to be an option for her, so she had to find a way to deal with it. But, college. As she found her way out of the crowd, sneering at their need for a free t-shirt, Etty thought perhaps she shouldn't have listened to her grandparents. Continuing her education, was that something that was really necessary for her? Yes, her money was running short, but she had no need for things. She didn't think a long and involved shopping trip was really her style. Her clothing bought for cheap at the thrift store, Etty decided that as long as she made whatever she was wearing look good, it didn't matter how much it cost. Americans were strange.

It wasn't that she had grown up outside of America, she had only been out of the country a few times visiting her great grandparents in Italy, but she felt no connection to the country more obsessed with who has the most amount of money than a persons real self. Perhaps that was why she was in UNC, why her course load was focused on psychology when in reality it should have been acting or something artistic. She wanted to know what made these people tick, why they acted like they did and frankly, she felt like she was quite good at it to begin with. Pushing open the door to her dorm building, Etty secretly hoped that people were still mostly cleared out for the day. It wasn't going to be one of those times she wanted to have small talk as she walked around. "Hello." She said lightly, though it was strained through clenched teeth, to the poor people working at the front desk as she looked into her mail box, it was empty but she wasn't expecting anything anyway. Taking the stairs, Etty sadly let her eyes focus on something else as her brain processed the thoughts posed to her in her philosophy class and made a mistake, walking straight into someone on the stairs and bouncing back. A quiet curse floated through her lips, great she was going to have to say something now. "Apologies." She smiled out, a quick flash of her personable side, the one she used when she wanted something. "My mind sees to have wandered off for a small amount of time. I do apologize." It was possible for her to fawn over people, it was just fake. Very much so.

A trick, a ploy. Something she learned from ages ago. If you want something a bit of false flattery would go a long way. Most people gave in eventually, they were weak confused souls that needed nothing but a little pushing to open up and tell life stories. Women were the easiest, they tended to want to speak and talk about everything, but they weren't interesting to her. She didn't really find herself drawn to many people in this dorm, a few perhaps but only those that challenged her. It was what she needed, a challenge.