xp_daytripper: (drive my car)
[personal profile] xp_daytripper posting in [community profile] xp_logs
Friday's looking to be a busy morning... Amanda has good news, and goes seeking the person responsible first to give it.



It took a supreme effort of will to walk through the halls and not actually run pell-mell towards Scott's office like she wanted to, but flattening fellow students was poor form. And knowing her luck, she'd probably knock over something expensive and Cain would have her back on repair duty before she could blink. She did, however, break out into an irrepressible grin and skip the last few steps to the aforementioned office before rapping smartly on the door. Fuck, she hoped he was there - she wasn't sure she could contain herself much longer, and a certain odd sense of honour wanted Scott to be the first to hear her news.

Scott was trying to pick a book to read on the plane. Shan had recently given him a whole new stack, which he'd left down here in his office rather than taking up to his suite, for some reason, so he was standing by the bookcases perusing the candidates with a little frown. Plane reading was something he didn't have to worry about, usually. Usually he was flying the plane, after all. The last time he'd flown commercial had been... well, heading to Hawaii with Alex back in October, and he'd spent those flights more or less passed out the entire time.

Shite, maybe he wasn't there... Amanda knocked on the door again, calling out this time. "Um, Ca... Mr Summers? You there?"

Scott looked up from the book. "Come on in," he called, and smiled briefly as the door opened to reveal Amanda, looking rather... excited, actually. "Hey. What's up?"

'Mustn't pounce, mustn't pounce, mustn't... oh, fuck it.' As Scott got the door all the way open, Amanda launched herself at him, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him breathless. "I passed!" she exclaimed, the grin very nearly threatening to join up all the way around her head and take the top off. "I took me driver's test today an' the examiner was a real humourless bastard, worse than you even, but I didn't lose me rag an' I passed an' it's all 'cause of you!"

Scott tried not to jump. Student. Hugging him. Students didn't hug him. Did not compute.

But then her words sunk in, and he surprised himself with a grin. "Of course you did," he said with a slightly breathless laugh. She did have quite a grip on her. He, somewhat tentatively, hugged her back. "I told you you'd be fine, and trust me, I don't generally going around blowing smoke up people's asses for the sake of making them feel better." She finally released the deathgrip, and he gave her a slightly quizzical look. "Although I thought your test was next week?"

It finally sank in that she was half-strangling Summers of all people, and she stepped back, blushing a bit but the grin still very much in evidence. She'd passed. Yay, achievement and progress and lights at the end of tunnels. "I didn't want people t' get all excited 'bout me takin' the test if I didn't pass," she admitted a little sheepishly. "'Sides, Monday's a bank holiday - I forgot the 4th's like this big party for you lot. I couldn't get Monday, but they said they had a spot this mornin', an' I decided t' jump in an' take it." She bounced a little on her toes. Passed, whee! "'Bout time I had a good surprise for people, yeah? Instead of the usual?"

The enthusiasm was... really kind of endearing, Scott thought, the smile tugging at his lips. All of a sudden, she seemed... well, eighteen, and it was good to see. "This definitely classes as the good kind of surprise," he said, then grinned. "And I have to admire your strategy. Always a whole lot more satisfying to present people with a fait d'accompli."

Her brow furrowed slightly as she tried to remember what fait d'accompli meant. Oh yes, like when her roommate got her to wear something other than black by the simple means of Marie-Ange just buying her the item of clothing the French girl had decided would look best. "Yeah, pretty much. I mean, I know people'd have been nice if I'd failed, but I wanted t' avoid all that, y'know?" She stuffed her hands in her jeans pockets in an effotr to stop practically vibrating on the spot. Manuel must be wondering what the hell had her so gleeful. "But yeah, I did really well. I could tell the bloke was expectin' me t' be awful, so I just got all super-nice at him an' didn't bat an eye. Even when he made me do the parallel parkin' twice just t' make sure I hadn't fluked it. Makes all those dead traffic cones worth it, yeah?"

"Traffic cones are meant to be killed in a good cause," Scott said, mock-seriously. At the look he got, he relented and grinned. "Actually, they are. You should see how many die when I teach advanced driving. It's a massacre of traffic cones."

"Oh the humanity," Amanda deadpanned, and then giggled. "Or should that be cone-anity?" She was too giddy and excited for the usual attitude with Scott. "Any way, I just wanted t' catch you an' say thank you for all yer help, 'pecially with not mindin' Meg bein' with us," she continued, trying for a degree of actual sense. "An' t' hug the stuffin' out of you as well, but that wasn't really planned, it just sort of... happened." She surprised them both by giving him a mock-conspiratorial look. "I won't tell Doc Grey 'bout that if you don't."

"Oh, thank you. And you're welcome," Scott said, more quietly but warmly. "It was actually... kind of nice to have her along, really," he said a bit more hesitantly. But it had been. "She's so enthusiastic about things. Kind of... infectious, I guess."

"Meg's special all right," Amanda said, every inch the proud big sister. "Every so often I look at how well she's doin' an' wonder if the cage was just some sort of bad dream. But I think that's just how she is - one of the naturally nice ones." Usually Amanda would add something along the lines of 'not like me', but she was in far too good a mood for that. "But yeah, I'm glad she didn't bother you. It felt odd, doin' the test without her - I nearly asked the bloke if we could come back here an' get her, Lucky charm or somethin' like that."

"Sounds like you did just fine - I'm sure she was there in spirit. Speaking of which," Scott said briskly, "the tradition after someone passes their driver's test is some small celebration of sorts - your choice, generally. But I'm about to get on a plane this afternoon. Raincheck for next week? I'll include Meggan in the invitation, of course..."

Amanda blinked. Of course celebrations of some kind were on the cards, but she hadn't expected Scott to offer, considering her gave her the impression he didn't like her all that much sometimes and the who with the what now? "Um, yeah, that'd be... good. Really good." She rallied from the surprise and stuck out her hand in lieu of hugging the poor man again and definitely having him think she'd become unhinged. "'S a deal. An' I promise none of those kiddie places were the furniture's shaped like cartoon characters." Even if Meggan would adore it.

"Deal," Scott said, shaking her hand with a certain amount of amused relief. He really didn't know how to cope with random hugging. That probably said something rather sad about him. "I should be back at the beginning of the week - drop me an email? And enjoy your weekend." Scott grinned. "Maybe take advantage of the new driver's license. But not too much advantage."

She wrinkled her nose at him. "Don't worry, 'm not goin' t' go bonkers with it now I've gotten it. A plastic card with a bad photo on it don't make me an expert overnight," she said, reminding him of one of his reminders. "Have a good trip, an' yeah, I'll chase you up on that raincheck, no fear." There was a definite bounce in her step as she headed for the door. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got more people t' jump on."


OOC Note: this would be because I didn't realise Monday was a) the 4th and b) a public holiday. So, early licence getting!

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