You and I, Collide

[Cassi]

Feeling suffocated by the amount of boxes piled around his room, Vance grabbed whatever was on the top of the clothing pile, jumped into his car, and sped away from the cookie cutter suburban home. Driving through the perfect looking town, Vance looked out at the perfect families living their perfect lives. In a particularly cynical mood, he drove until he reached the end of the town. Pulling over, Vance looked out into the looming dark forest. Before exiting the car, Vance grabbed a light from out of the cup holder.

Listening to slightly wet summer grass squeak underneath his feet, he looked for a place to sit and think that would not result in him being wet. 15 meters or so from his car, he saw a tree with low branches. Climbing up around ten feet, he pulled out the lighter, and pulled a branch off the tree. Pushing and sliding his fingers against the silver wheel, fire erupted out of the lighter, and Vance attempted to light the branch on fire.

[Kelli-wa]

Mara had decided to go for a little stroll which turned into a big stroll which was turning into a long walk as she took a turn in the park that led her to the forest. She really needed something to clear her head because, let's face it, her siblings were quite overwhelming. Between her younger sisters always fighting and her older brother not letting her help him when he needed it, she needed a break. There was too much conflict in her mind and she wanted it to wash away. There was too much work, too much laundry, too many bills that her brother wouldn't let her pay. Their water had been shut off for two days, forcing her to have to steal the bill from her brother and go to the water company herself to pay it after their sisters had caused a scene on the second morning. "How the hell am I supposed to look decent if I can't take a shower? I refuse to be seen like this," was what her sister Micah had chosen to say which got her grounded, not that she would listen. Neither of them listened to Mara, Mitch was the man of the house and the enforcer, she was just there, taking care of everyone and no one at the same time.

She saw a small flicker appear in the trees near by and wondered what it was. It looked like a flame. She furrowed her brow and followed in the direction of the light and found that she had been correct. A boy, who could be no older than Mara herself was next to a tree holding a lighter firmly in his hand. Is he trying to set it on fire? she wondered as she quietly got a little bit closer. She licked her lips and shook her head lightly, discovering that he really was trying to light the tree., "Didn't you listen to what Smoky the Bear said?" she asked him, scolding him really. "Only you can prevent forest fires."

[Cassi]

“Stupid branch won’t light.” He muttered under his breath, frustrated. Ignoring the branch, Vance watched the fire dance as the wind pushed the inferno left and right. Bringing the lighter closer to his face, Vance allowed the smell of lighter fluid and green leaves travel to him. Closing his eyes, he began to calm down.

Started, Vance’s eyes jolted open, and through the cyclonoscope effect of the releasing gases, stood a girl. As she spoke to him, he raised his eye brow, and continued to let the small flame burn. Rolling his eyes, and relaxing his hand the trigger so as to put out the blaze, he replied “Well, if everything wasn’t so damn green in this town, maybe I would listen.”

With the fire boring him now, Vance peered over his legs, down to the ground. Tilting his head slightly to the right, he shouted down to the girl “What would you do if I jumped?” Not waiting for an answer, a few seconds later, he pushed off of the tree, aiming himself toward her. When gliding through the air, he looked over at her to see her reaction and allowed a small and barely noticeable smile to appear on his face. Landing firmly and safely on the ground, he looked over at the girl, now that he could finally see her properly. Keeping his barely-a-smile, he stated, "Hi, I am Vance. And you are?"

[Kelli-wa]

Mara crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head lightly, "Well it wouldn't be that way if everyone decided to light shit on fire all the time," she stated, moving her hands from their crossed position to her hips. She wanted to smack him upside the head in all honesty, but she didn't even know him, he had no right to punish him, even if he was quite stupid.

She shook her head and gave him a shrug at his question, "I don't know you, why would I care what you do?" she asked him, trying to seem impartial, except she really was worried that he might hurt himself because she really didn't want to have to take him to the hospital, but the motherly side of her really just didn't want him to jump, but of course he did it anyway. She shook her head as if she disapproved and sighed as he introduced himself. "I'm Mara," she told him. "Why are you even here if you hate it?"

[Cassi]

“Why am I here in this town if I hate it?” Vance questioned, shocked that she asked. His rare almost-a-smile immediately fell. Stalling, he turned around and leaned against the tree truck behind him, and crouched down to grab pieces of grass, and immediately began tearing them into small pieces. Trying to formulate an answer, Vance dropped the ripped grass, and glared down at the ground; pulling his eye brows in, he let his mouth fall into a frown. A decent answer wasn’t coming to him. He could tell her half of the truth; he followed his family down, but that could just lead to even more questions, like why they had to leave at all. He could outright lie; say he really just liked the college or some bullshit like that. But he didn’t want to lie.

Grinding his teeth, he searched for another way around it. How to not say very much, but not lie by saying too little. There was no way around it. He had to be very vague, to avoid the possible questions that he didn’t want to answer, to either her or himself. Holding his stare with a small grey pebble, he mumbled, “It is complicated.” Mentally slapping himself for the extremely vague response, his mind rushed through something else to say, when he added, “I needed a change of scenery, and when the opportunity arose, I took it.” Glace still low, he evaluated what he said and when he deemed it adequate, he allowed his face to relax a little. Shifting his focus back up to Mara, sighing, and slightly tilting his head to the right, he asked, “What about you? What makes you tick?”

[Kelli-wa]

Mara sighed and rolled her eyes lightly at his obviously too vague answer, "Okay, well then maybe you should go downtown or something. It's not so green over there, in fact, I think you'd fit right in," she said, meaning it as an insult. She wasn't typically a bitch, but something about this boy was picking at her, like maybe he needed a little bit of discipline. He was too--too angry. She gave him an odd look with his next question, making her eyebrows furrow and her head pull back a little bit. "What makes me tick?" she asked. It was hardly the question that seemed to fit there. It was far too vague for her to actually answer and besides that, why would she want to offer that information to this guy anyway?

"What makes me 'tick' is none of your concern. You can't just ask a question like that after revealing absolutely nothing about yourself when I asked you a question," she told him, not that she would tell him her whole life story if he did happen to tell her about himself. She wanted to act like she didn't care, because in all truth, she knew that she shouldn't care about him at all, she'd just met him, but he intrigued her. He was something different in this black and white town and she couldn't really put a finger on what it was that was pulling her toward him, but she let herself take a step closer. "You're weird, I don't really get your deal."

[Cassi]

Raising his eyebrows, he allowed his small smile to return, and this time with a hint of satisfaction glimmering in his eyes. 4 simple words seemed to bring such a negative response into this girl. He could get under her skin without even trying, evoke such emotions in someone he never met, and he liked that. “Wow, touchy are we? It really drives you that insane that I didn’t want to answer a single question?” Amused yet annoyed that he was forced to answer first, he searched his mind for something to tell her that would satisfy her, while not telling his whole life story.

Gah, screw it. “Well, I was born in flashy New York City. It was boring there. Everyone trying so hard to stand out, causing everyone to blend in. Then my parents divorced, and now I live with my father, next to my cousin here in this boring town where everyone almost literally blends in. I have way too many siblings, and… I don’t know what else I am supposed to say. I don’t know what my deal is so you might have to figure it out and tell me.” He sighed, glancing down at the ground, avoiding her gaze. After a moment, he allowed his eyes wandered up her body, looking at the way it curved, until he reached her eyes.

Realizing she took a step closer, he imitated her, stepping closer until there was only a foot of distance between them. Staring down at Mara, he asked, “So, will you answer my question now?” He raised his eyebrow and refused to look away until she answered to his standards.

[Kelli-wa]

“I’m not touchy, I just don’t really like to share something with someone who’s not willing to share something with me in return. It’s just rude,” she argued as she shook her head lightly at the boy. It didn’t drive her insane that he hadn’t answered her, she just didn’t like it that he’d answered without revealing nearly anything and then asked her to tell him something about herself. Why would she ever do that? As he started to answer her question, though, she listened. If for no other reason because she knew that if it had been her, she would want him to listen. She didn’t necessarily care where he was from, or what he was doing here, but she had to admit he intrigued her, although, she wouldn’t admit it to him.

She sighed at his question, her heart skipping a beat, for some reason, as he stepped closer to her. She looked up at him and shook her head lightly, but she knew it really wasn’t fair for her to expect him to answer truthfully and then not do the same herself. She shrugged, “I don’t know what makes me ‘tick’ but I’m originally from Aurora, Illinois. I moved here when I was ten,” she told him, not really knowing why she was telling him this. “Unlike you, I’m happy with my life,” she lied, shaking her head gently. “I like it here. If you want to stand out, though, you just have to do something different from everyone else. Its your own fault if you blend in.”