Bill Dawson was an above average student in college. He was blessed with both brains and looks, though sometimes that did make him suffer from being a little ‘over-confident’. He generally felt things would always ‘work out’ and had a rather catching ‘can do’ attitude to life, which often inspired others around him.
Bill had a good number of friend and had even been student president for the last year. He did pretty well, though was outvoted by a slim margin to Cassady Marsh; a rather ‘peppy’ cheerleader girl. Bill didn’t mind losing that much, in truth he only ran because he wanted to see if he ‘could’ win… though when he did win, he suddenly realised he had to do better in the job learning as he went. He thought he did well, bringing various concerns or actions to teachers… and this made him wonder what kind of work he would do in future? Politics could be an option, people seemed to gravitate towards him naturally… a natural born leader perhaps?
He was physically quite imposing with rather dashing, handsome looks. His hair a little unruly but certainly not scruffy. He was the archetype of ‘tall dark and handsome’, with a charming smile. Broad shouldered, and decent muscles- though not exactly a body-builder type. He played various sports including swimming, basketball, football… and while he didn’t excel at any specific athletic activity, he enjoyed modest success in them all the same. He wasn’t a ‘star jock’ player, simply because he didn’t work hard enough and had little inclination to put himself under that sort of pressure. Though blessed quite physically he sometimes lacked attention and focus, particularly for training or strategy. When he wanted something with all his heart though, his attention was unwavering.
In terms of relationships with his fellow students it was mixed. Most certainly knew Bill, from his semi-decent job as a class president. Some though saw him as a bit of a loser given the actual ‘loss’ in the contest after a year, though he didn’t campaign all that much. Still, he was considered a ‘cool’ guy even if he didn’t seem inclined to hang around anyone. He liked his own company for the most part and had a flare for drama. Not that he considered himself for an acting career, finding that a bit too egocentric. Why would anyone ‘want’ to see him until he had something to show for it?
He was walking down the hallways of the school, with those glimpses of people noticing him with a dashing charming smile. They always stopped to notice. It was the ones that didn’t pay attention much to him that he was most curious about.
He spied one of the nerdier guys holding a comic looking at it quite intently… although Bill would ‘never’ admit it, he was curious of such pursuits… it was just that someone as… stationed as he was, couldn’t really partake of such hobbies- and appearances had to be kept up. So naturally he decided to have a little fun. “Hey, what kind of weird comic is that you’re reading?” He said looking over the boy’s shoulder.
“Its- uh- well-“ The other teen stammered. Shawn blushed. “It’s my sisters!” He quickly insisted. “They call it shoj-“
Bill Dawson laughed as he snatched the strange comic up with eager delight. He had never seen anything like it. Something from Japan? Bold colours in pink that looked saccharine sweet. The main protagonist looked like the most girly thing he had ever seen. “What’s this.. ha… Oh God…”
“Hey- give that back!” Shawn demanded trying to get it as the taller student lifted it away from him. “It really belongs to my sister okay! Please you’re gonna rip it!”
“Your sister eh… isn’t she a bit old too for this?” Bill flipped through the strange pink themed comic not sure what to think. “Haha- oh God-” He laughed again at the absurdity of what he was seeing. Bright colours of pink, hearts on it… someone fighting with ‘the power of love’ or something. Lots of ‘frilly bows’ and ‘poofy’ magic... suffice to say he was rather intrigued but somehow appalled by it. “So why do ‘you’ have it? You’re a little old for show and tell you know.” He gently handed it back, not wanting to be ‘too mean’.
“It- It’s just a story- I was showing it to someone-“ He held it preciously and put it back in his bag.
Bill rolled his eyes. “Come on, that’s way way too girly man. Heck all that stuff is just… weird.” He dismissed it quickly. “It just rots your brain. I can’t imagine what it does to a girl, let alone a guy.”
Shawn gave another embarrassed look. “It’s my sisters, I was just taking it back to her from a friend.” He looked awkwardly. “Don’t you like superhero comics?”
“Hm.” Bill thought about it with a shrug. “Superheroes… eh…” He gave a light shrug. “It’s a waste of time. They aren’t ‘real’. I deal with the real stuff, mechanics, science, politics, you know- the stuff that matters?” He never was into movies though knew the plots of the big ones just to keep up with pop-culture.
Shawn lifted his glasses a bit as he studied Bill. He wasn’t sure what to say but wanted to defend his hobby. “Well, stories of heroes have been around since ancient times… people are into Marvel, Star Wars…. There’s a lot of super-hero stuff that’s actually really cool!” Shawn insisted. “Wouldn’t it be great to be a hero? I’d… like to be one anyway.” He knew it was impossible… but still… there was ‘something’ so enticing about that fantasy. To stop evil dooers, save the world…
Bill looked at Shawn with a wave of his hand. Was this a moment he was supposed to encourage him? He didn’t know. People always looked to him for answers though. It seemed he was always obligated to do that… “Well…”
He had a rather ‘traditional’ view of heroes… A hero was the ‘average guy’ doing his bit for family, friend or country perhaps… but there was little reason to actually ‘be’ a hero to him. Bill was an only child, so didn’t have anyone younger to look out for as such…
Losing one’s life seemed to be the only way to be a hero in this world… if it was to the benefit of someone else and hardly something one could benefit from. Maybe it was a jaded view, but Bill just didn’t like the idea of such self-sacrifice… at least not to be called ‘hero’… maybe because it was just the right thing to do?
Though, what was a hero in the modern age? Shawn seemed to be wishing hard for that purpose and meaning in his own life, and as always Bill felt tried to say something, to fill the silence. “Well, you could join the football team I guess,” Bill thought idly and slapped the nerdy boy hard on his shoulder. “It’ll do you wonders. It’s the arena of the modern age.”
Shawn winced rubbing at the casual slap. “Eh, maybe you can, not me.” Shawn replied.
“Sure you can! I’ve seen people improve a lot. We’ll even play some games together if you like.”
Just like that the fact he took his comic seemed forgotten. Admittedly Shawn didn’t think Bill was the kind of guy to offer encouragement like that… he found himself suddenly quite impressed. Could he really improve? Maybe if he thought so… “Hm… maybe I’ll do that.”
“Great, let’s try tomorrow. Got some stupid test today.” He shook his head. “Miss Gosa is the closest I’ve seen to evil so far.” He chuckled at that. Their English teacher had a slightly crooked nose, was somewhat elderly and punished students quite harshly with embarrassment, often forcing them to read their own mistakes back to the class. She gave out detentions with ease… and was a problem he often had to bring up as student president- but- she was also seen as a teacher who gave ‘results’…
“You really don’t think there’s such thing as… actual Evil?” Shawn asked suddenly.
“Evil? What like Devils?”
“Yeah.” Shawn quickly nodded.
“Nah!” Bill laughed confidently. “What, you’re getting religious now? Whatever, it’s cool. People will believe whatever they want. The real goal in life is to fight for what you want! There’s no such thing as evil, it’s all motivation you know? Like- You know what you can do, and you just have to ‘do it’… like- you see that girl?” he pointed over.
Shawn glanced. Melissa Hallows… one of the cutest girls ever! Blonde hair, a cheerleader… the nerd knew he’d do ‘anything’ to have a date with her. Which was why he avoided her like the plague at the same time.
“Hey Mel!” Bill said with a wave.
“What are you doing?” Shawn gasped. He can’t just… call a hot girl over like that!
Melissa seemed just as surprised. She approached a little cautiously holding a notebook. “Hey there Bill,” She replied. “Is something going on?”
“Yeah, want to go on a date?” Bill asked boldly. “Got a free Saturday, we can watch a movie… get some shakes,” he wiggled his eyebrows invitingly.
Melissa stared looking surprised, blushed and then started to laugh. “Ha- In your dreams,” she batted her hand as she walked away.
“So… what was the point of that?” Shawn looked quite bewildered.
Bill didn’t seem undeterred. “Eh, Well, I decided I might try to be a hero today” he laughed in response. “Now I have my tragic backstory!”
Shawn did have to laugh a bit at that. “Oh dear. So spurned by the hot girl, Bill will become the hero we all need… to win her heart?”
“Hey that’s pretty good! Yeah that sounds about right.” Bill was actually hoping Mel would say yes, even if the odds were so very slim. That did hurt a bit… but he had to shrug it off. There was no point in getting too caught up about a loss.
The two continued to walk down the corridors as various students passed them. Still Bill wanted to impress Shawn at that boldness. “Come on that was pretty heroic though, wasn’t it?” Bill asked wondering if this would qualify as sufficient risk.
“Well… the hero tends to get the girl.” Shawn responded flatly.
Bill groaned. That was annoyingly true. ‘Maybe someday…’
