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Post by Tiff on Feb 2, 2011 23:51:39 GMT -5
Garret weaved his way through the unusually crowded cafeteria, surprised that he couldn't find a single individual that he knew. He spotted a familiar face, and with a little impatience he dropped his tray on the table next to his younger brother, Grady. He pulled his chair back and sat. "Where's Collins?"
Grady spooned chicken noodle soup into his mouth and pulled the spoon out, looking around. "Collins probably went off campus, you know cause she's a senior and knows how to keep herself out of trouble so she gets to take advantage of her senior privileges." He dunked his spoon back into his soup and picked up his water bottle. "Are you going to be out of detention in enough time to attend the baseball practice? Coach wants us to meet the North Ridge guys who transfered."
Garret picked up his piece of pizza and made a face as he took a bite. "Yeah, I'll be out, but I think I'll pass." Grady laughed. "You're going to pass up meeting Avery Mondego and his remaining underdog team? You have your priorities all out of whack. I'm going to be there, maybe coach will let him keep his captain title and run this team, at least he keeps himself out of trouble, unlike you."
Collins slid her tray onto the table and sat down quietly. "Avery and his team will more than likely steal the starting line up right from underneath you, especially if you aren't at practice tonight. He's good, sorry Garret, but you suck." Garret and Grady both jumped. "His sister would have had my position on the softball team and the swim team had she not passed." She wasn't happy about this, having Cadence on the team would have made a heck of a difference for Riverside softball. "But, I wouldn't fret too much Garret, he's not interested in impressing the scouts, he's far more interested in playing a good game and staying in shape." She spooned a piece of cheesecake into her mouth. "He's going into the Air Force."
"Crushing much?" Garret asked, slightly annoyed at his cousin. "I wouldn't dream of it. He has a girlfriend, it's a well known fact." She rolled her eyes. "If anything it sounds like you're jealous." She said, pointing her spoon at him. "I'm not jealous, just annoyed. It's my senior year, my captainship...." Grady and Collins both cut him off. "Well you don't act like it..." They looked at one another and laughed.
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Post by kristay on Feb 3, 2011 8:32:19 GMT -5
Since Yume, Aya and Jackie, had mostly the same classes, they decided to have lunch together. With trays already filled with food, they scoped out the entire cafeteria. Jackie sighed impatiently. "The caf is packed today, we better get some seats before it's too late." They weaved through the lunch-crowd looking for vacant seats and Jackie pointed out some to her relatives.
Yume and Aya heard the faintest strains of their conversation and Aya inwardly bristled at the sound of Avery Mondego's name coming from one of their lips. But before either of them could protest, the blonde haired beauty marched up to them and offered the group a bright smile. "Hi, I'm Jackie and these are my sort-of relatives, Yume and Aya. Would you mind terrible if we sit with you? The caf is packed and we're just about ready to eat people.", her blunt words didn't match her petite physique and charming appearance. Her clothes probably didn't help either, with her pink off the shoulder top tucked into denim shorts, she did look tinier than she actually was.
Yume and Aya balked, they couldn't very well tell Jackie no just when she had already wormed her way into their presence. Aya sighed softly and stepped forward, smiling apologetically. "Sorry about her, she's a bit... over-enthusiastic." Jackie rolled her sparkling blue eyes at her and grinned at the rest of the group, her eyes landing on Collins. There couldn't have been that many fiery haired girls like her... She had to be the one. "Are you Collins?", if she was the girl that her older brother had been speaking about, then it would have been the perfect time to ask questions.
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Post by Tiff on Feb 3, 2011 12:07:47 GMT -5
Garret glanced up at the three beautiful ladies he'd never seen before but said nothing he ate his pizza and stared at the one who had spoken second. Grady and Collins smiled. "Sure why not." Collins said pulling the chair out beside her to invite the girls to sit. She raised an eyebrow at her name coming out of the tiny ones mouth and nodded. "Yeah, I'm Collins." She smirked tilting her head to the side, curious as to how this new girl would know her name already. "Do we have a class together?"
Garret finally finished chewing his pizza and decided he'd be an ass. "Are you transfers from North Ridge?" He was nearly positive they were. "Excuse him." Collins interrupted. "He's a royal ass to every one." Garret grinned. "No Collins I'm not. Its a fair question. They interrupted our conversation which I suppose is alright especially if they know anything about the dynamic twin duo. Do you?" He asked, inclining his head. "Tell us everything you know about Avery and Monte Mondego." If he had a desk lamp near him he would have shined it in their faces.
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Post by kristay on Feb 3, 2011 12:15:12 GMT -5
Jackie smiled and thanked them profusely as she set her tray down and sat in front of Collins. Aya and Yume smiled gratefully at the trio as they too sat down and began picking up their lunches. Aya picked up her coffee and sipped quietly as Jackie's eyes gleamed excitedly at Collins. "Jackie, calm down; you're gonna scare the poor girl.", Yume muttered in an embarrassed tone.
"Oh, no we don't have classes together. I think you know my older brother though, Xander.", she giggled as she started picking at a salad she had ordered. "At least, he mentioned there was a Collins he met at a coffee-shop. I think it's you, am I right?" Yume turned to Garret and nodded. "Mmm, we were from MABTown and we moved when the hurricane hit." Yume shifted an uneasy eye at Aya who was deathly quiet, her actions mechanical as she sipped at her coffee and set the cup down, staring at her tray. "Um, I don't really know much about them actually...", Yu said, trailing off as she picked up half of her sandwich and bit into it.
Jackie finished chewing and swallowed before adding, "Monte Mondego? Wasn't that Aya's ex boyfriend wh- ow!", she yelped when Yume kicked her under the table and Jackie muttered a soft apology as she went back to her lunch. "Anyway, what do you think of my abnormally shy brother, Collins?"
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Post by Tiff on Feb 3, 2011 12:50:37 GMT -5
Collins waved off their thank you's, it really wasn't a big deal if any of their other friends chose to show up they'd just add more chairs. She grinned at the mention of Xander's name and nodded. "Awe yes I met him at Mud and Grinds." She chuckled a bit. "He must have described me in very exact detail." She flipped her hair and laughed. "Though insuppose the red hair is a dead give away. Well maybe easier to pin point, plenty of girls have red hair, so in short yes I am the Collins he spoke of." She was happy to hear she wasn't the only one who spoke about the other to her friends or in his case siblings.
Garret studied Aya and raised an eyebrow. "Well spill." He said picking up his pizza crust. "What can you tell me?" Grady watched Aya and shook his head. "Garret drop it." He put a gentle hand on Aya's arm. "You don't have to talk about him to my idiot brother." Grady was interested about the twins but this was the wrong way to go about obtaining the information. "Ah I see." Garret began. "He broke you're heart."
Collins kicked Garret under the table and tossed a sweet potato fry at him. "I like him." She smiled in response. "I had a feeling he was painfully shy and that could have been a major issue. I'm shy at times to and he basically calked out to me when I was slipping into that shy stage." She started picking at her fries. "What did he say about me? I'm so curious."
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Post by kristay on Feb 3, 2011 17:31:18 GMT -5
Jackie grinned slyly at Collins. "More like I coerced him for the details I wanted; I'm very persuasive when it concerns 'family intrigues' and since Xander barely has any, whenever he does do something suspicious, I have to jump at it." She drank some of the bottled water she had purchased before looking at Collins apologetically. "Not that you're an intrigue or suspicious, god my mouth really does run away with me, huh?" Jackie had the decency to blush as she spoke again. "He really likes you; not sure if I'm allowed to say this but he was really happy when he got home from that coffee shop.
Aya turned a cold gaze towards Garrett, the chipped smile on her face, making her expression even more strained. "The only thing I can tell you about the twins is that anything you can do, Avery can do faster and better. He's a fucking beast and there's just no way you can handle that...", her eyes skimmed his entire form in an amused way, "...with this. And Monte? He's just as brilliant but doesn't give a fuck." She finished her coffee and stood, glancing at Collins, giving her a much warmer smile that seemed quite pained. "You're right, he is an ass." And she walked away.
Yume stood to follow her but Aya called out that she'd be fine so the girl sunk back down and gave a sheepish smile to Garret. "You really shouldn't have provoked her; she's had a hard time adjusting to Riverside." She shook her head as if she was disappointed in the more outspoken brother before going back to her lunch.
Jackie on the other hand ignored the awkward tension that had settled on their table. She laughed at Collins. "Xander is a turtle; he's just that shy. It pleases me to know that you enjoyed talking with him, it means he must have taken a liking to you if he could talk to you with such ease. Public speaking kills him actually, I'm not sure how he's going to manage the company if he can't speak to all his workers.", she shook her head as she nibbled on more salad.
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Post by Tiff on Feb 4, 2011 0:07:28 GMT -5
Garret leaned back in his chair as Aya told him off and with a smirk on his face he watched her go. "Damn." He said. "She's hot." He leaned forward, dropping the front two legs of his chair to the floor again. He looked to Yume. "Does she hold grudges?" The smirk remained plastered on his face. She hadn't exactly told him anything he didn't already know, he'd played against Avery and North Ridge creamed them. It was a shut out game after all. Grady returned to his soup and wished his brother wasn't such an ass sometimes.
Collins made a mental note to track Aya down later and formally apologize to her, but turned back to Jackie. "He is a sweetheart, but I don't think he's going to stay as quiet as he's always been, not if he's going to start spending more time with me." She shrugged one shoulder. "Though he might find that I talk too much and just want to run for the hills."
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Post by kristay on Feb 4, 2011 3:44:24 GMT -5
Yume looked at Garret, a bit surprised that he found Aya attractive. "The way she responded to you? She's going to be hostile to you everytime you see each other." Jackie cut into their conversation just as Yu paused to sip at her water. "Yeah, Aya's got a lot of pent up emotions nowadays; I know it's bad to talk about her without her present but she's been keeping it all inside and it's just not healthy. We're worried.", she said shrugging.
"Collins had a point though; Avery's really friendly but when it comes to the game, he just wants to play it well. Not really for anything else; he's going to the Air Force when he graduates." Yume piped in; she had obviously lied about not knowing about the twins, she just didn't want to say anything with Aya around. "Monte's more competitive I think, I haven't really met the twins outside of seeing them around the cafe in MABTown or when Aya would go out with Monte.", Yume knew Aya hated it when she felt bad for her but sometimes she couldn't help it. "Avery's girlfriend is Gracie and... Monte's girlfriend now is... Serena I think her name was.", she lowered her voice at the last part, even though she knew Aya was nowhere in sight.
That day she had come half-frozen and so stunned that she couldn't speak as tears ran down her cheeks was still fresh in Yume's mind. No one could console the poor girl and she refused anyone but Cameron to hold her. Yume shook her head as she finished her lunch and started on the bread pudding she had bought. Apparently, she was done talking.
Jackie clapped her hands together excitedly. "That's great Collins! I've been trying everything to get him out of his shell; he's a lot nicer than my other brother Seph so I really want to help him get out there you know? He's cute, right? I just don't understand where his lack of confidence stems from when he has everything." She shook her head as she remembered the numerous times her handsome older brother had clammed up when talking to pretty girls. She leaned closer to the other girl she had taken a liking to and smiled conspiratorially. "He'd never run for the hills you know; I think he's a really lonely dude. He just doesn't know how to start the conversation; he actually likes to talk." She leaned back in her chair again and laughed. "Don't tell him I said that though; he'd slaughter me."
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Post by Tiff on Feb 4, 2011 19:16:35 GMT -5
Garret frowned, he didn't like the sound of that and he was just arrogant enough to think he'd be able to bring her around. "Where do you think she went?" He asked. "If she's got a bunch of pent up emotions and she's going to be hostile towards me every time she sees me I might as well help her out." He winked, rolling his garbage up into a tight ball and then pitching it across the lunchroom into the garbage can. "God Garret, you think you could pitch like that in an actual game?" Collins asked, as she watched the little door thing on the trash can lid slam shut after his trash made it into the can. Grady nearly choked on his soup as he was draining the broth from the bowl.
"Oh he's way cute, I just didn't know if you'd want to hear those kinds of details." She picked up a fry and pointed it at Garret. "I can't stand to hear those sort of details about him." She grinned and turned back to Jackie. "So besides being excessively shy, what's something that'll get him going? Something that'll make him talk and talk until I can't take it anymore?"
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Post by kristay on Feb 4, 2011 19:30:23 GMT -5
Yume wasn't really paying attention as she swallowed a bite of her pudding. "Mmm, probably outside. She does that a lot when she thinks; her older siblings hate it because she usually goes to extremes and comes back half-frozen." She shook her head as she took another bite. "You should be careful if you plan on playing with people Garret, she may seem tough but right now... She's probably the most fragile person I know. Not physically, not anymore at least... But inside, it's all broken up." Jackie and Yume paused in conversation to watch the throw and Jackie smiled at Garret. "Collins is right you know; if you actually pitched like that in an actually game, you'd give the Mondego twins a run for their money."
Jackie cackled and wiped a tear from her eye. "Well I'm different; hearing someone make goo-goo eyes at my brothers is kind of odd, but when hearing it means their betterment, then who am I to say anything bad?" She grinned coyly as she took a swig of her water. "You were at the coffee shop right? Did you see him when he finished his coffee? It's like a part of him dies inside right? I think it's kinda cute to watch such a hulking guy get sad over coffee but he has an inane obsession with the stuff.", she paused again to think of something else but she shook her blond mane and looked at Collins again. "I don't really chat up my brother you know? So I'm not really sure what he likes to talk about, aside from coffee. But he's the type of person who can follow any train of thought if you bring it up. He plays the bass guitar?" she added, not sure if that helped in any way.
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Post by Tiff on Feb 4, 2011 19:41:19 GMT -5
Garret opened his mouth to make a not so smart comment about Aya and her broken insides, but Grady put his hand on Garret's arm and squeezed hard, detecting the coldness his brother was about to spew. "Alright, I won't pick with her, but I would like to give her an outlet." He was beginning to feel for the girl and whatever it was that she'd gone through recently to leave her so shattered. He pushed his chair back, stood up, took a bow. "I'll consider it." He said, in response to throwing like he should, and then walked away from the table in the same direction Aya had gone before anyone could stop him. "Is he going to come back black and blue?" Grady asked, a smirk on his face, his brother deserved a good beating.
Collins squinted her eyes and nodded. "Oh yeah, I felt so bad for him and I didn't even know what was wrong. I bought him another coffee to make that look go away." She considered what Jackie told her about him playing the bass guitar. "Well I have no musical talent, so what about sports?"
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Post by kristay on Feb 4, 2011 19:54:00 GMT -5
Yume rolled her eyes, knowing nothing she could say or do would stop the stubborn fool. "Hmm, black and blue's a good description yeah. If he wants to be an outlet, fine. It's like signing up for his own funeral though." She shook her head and finished the pudding. "Stupid boy.", she muttered as she drank more water before turning to Grady. "So how old are you and Garret? Are you two graduating this year?" She gave him a friendlier smile, sensing that somehow, Grady was on their side. And deep down in the darkest reaches of her heart, she had a feeling that somehow, Garret was on their side too; and that he could help with whatever Aya was feeling.
Jackie laughed. "Well it never actually goes away; after the next cup is finished, he'll be sad again! He's learned to control it in public, but sometimes he can't help himself. All the caffeine he ingests in a day, I'm surprised he can still fall asleep at night." She shrugged and smiled. "Me neither, both of my brothers are musicians though and my elder sister has been doing ballet since she was in diapers." She tapped her chin in thought, trying to remember if Xander had done any sports before. "Oh! He used to be on the varsity swim team but he stopped. I'm not sure why, I think it was because he didn't really like competition and preferred to swim on his own terms. He's fast though because he did track and field too. I don't think he plans to take up any competitive sports any time soon though; he did the running with our dad, but I think he swims on occasion. Maybe you could catch him at the pool?" She wasn't really sure though because she had not seen hide nor hair of any of his sports equipment. "What about you? You play softball right? What else?"
Aya leaned against the wall of the school building as she adjusted her position on the ground. She was seated with her legs crossed, one of Yume's Bob Ong books cradled in her cold hands. She turned the page and adjusted the frameless glasses she had started to use for her reading. The cool wind breezed by and she sighed softly, content and warm in her the black leather jacket, she had shrugged on before heading outside. She flipped another page and read it, smiling at the author's words as she read through the paragraph. Aya paused and rubbed her hands against her dark jeans before gazing at the surprisingly peaceful scenery before her. It was really quiet and there were only a few students outside, the others most likely preferring the warmth that the school offered them.
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Post by Tiff on Feb 4, 2011 20:13:25 GMT -5
Grady laughed. "Good, I hope she beats the shit out of him, maybe it'll knock some sense into him. He's seventeen and I'm sixteen, he'll be graduating this year, but I have another year to go." He pointed at Collins. "She's graduating too, she already has her acceptance letter from Riverside University." He liked to brag on his cousin, mostly because they both liked to pick on Garret. "What about you?" He asked, directing the question at the three girls, not just Yume.
Collins eyes lit up at the mention of swim team. "We have more in common than I initially thought." Her eyes were just glittering with excitement now. "I play softball, volleyball, and I swim." She pulled her book bag from around the chair and unzipped it, pulling out her swim jacket. "Everyone tends to think I like softball the best, but I would literally go swimming every single day if I had a place to go." She rolled her eyes. "I swear I've asked my parents to install a single lane swimming pool with heat in our back yard a hundred times. I would risk running through the freezing temperatures to get in or out of it, but they insist on not giving in." She laughed. "So what about you?" She asked. "I mean we've talked about me, my stupid cousin, and your gorgeous brother, let's hear about you."
Garret wandered through the halls until he came to the exit, he slipped through the door, giving the front office a quick glance, he was forbidden from leaving the campus or even setting foot outside the building unless he was signed out or school was over. But he was willing to risk it, what was another couple days of detention going to do? He spotted her and with his hand shoved deep into his pockets he walked up behind her. "Hey." He whispered, trying not to scare her, then stepped right up beside her. "I hear you need an outlet? I'm willing..."
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Post by kristay on Feb 4, 2011 20:30:16 GMT -5
Yume grinned because she seriously hoped Aya did that too, but she had a feeling she wouldn't physically hurt Garret. It was a bit impossible for the petite Ayame to overpower Garret but she was sure every painful thing that Aya could think of would be said to Garret and Aya's words were just as painful as a punch to the gut. "Ahh, Aya, Jackie and I still have a year to go. Jackie's brother Seph is also a senior here and I think... Georgie, another cousin of ours is still a senior here but I think Seph is hiding in the music room at the moment and Georgie's probably with her boyfriend. Aya has two older siblings, Ser and Kai who are in college. And my older brother, Cameron is in Riverside too. Xander, the guy Collins was talking about, is going to Riverside and his twin sister is undecided. As for us? I dunno what I'll be taking but I'm sure that I'll be going to Riverside University. Jackie wants to take Creative Writing and Aya wants to take Photography but she says she might leave the country for a year and travel first; not sure about that yet." She took a breath, only then realizing how many they were. "I know, there's a lot of us, it's a bit ridiculous actually but you get used to it."
Collins grinned, she was practically dancing in her head; Collins and Xander were going to be perfect together. "You know, if you ask Xander nicely, I'm pretty sure he'd let you swim in our pool; you two could do laps together. I think he'd like the company actually." She gave another of her suggestive grins before putting her elbow on the table. "Hmm, well I'm the youngest; and I'm their half-sister. My mom was their dad's secretary but she passed when she gave birth to me so they adopted me. My step-mom was great; she loved me like I was one of her own... I was really sad when she died actually, I always thought she was my mother, not the one who gave birth to me." She shrugged and took a deep breath before continuing. "No musical talent here, but I am a writer; I dunno what I'm going to do with that but that's what I'm good at."
Aya almost jumped when she heard Garret behind her. She didn't bother to turn though and instead ran a hand through her short hair. "Willing to what Garret? Be an ass again? No thanks, I have a lot of those types of guys lined up already." Her mood had just began to clear when she had finished another chapter and he had to come up and bother her and her quiet time. What was up with the guy? She had already left to ensure the lack of violence in the cafeteria and now he had followed her. Did he have a death wish or something?
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Post by Tiff on Feb 4, 2011 20:48:02 GMT -5
Grady was counting in his head. "Nine, wow." His eyebrows would have disappeared if his hair were longer. "I'm still having a hard time adjusting to all these huge families that have recently moved in." He lifted his water bottle to his lips and took a gulp. "I mean, most of you are cousins, but the other day we went to Palmer's after school and there was a big family there. I thought, maybe they're just friends, but it definitely wasn't." He shrugged. "It's odd to a guy who only has one brother and a single cousin running around town to see that."
Collins tugged her swim jacket on and nodded. "I think I will ask him." She wondered how bright red his face would turn if and when he saw her in a bathing suit. "You could write a novel, or my friend Chelsea, she's studying to be a photo journalist, you could do something like that." She motioned in the direction Aya and Garret had gone. "Maybe you and Aya could work something out. Some photographer's only like taking pictures and in order to get their stuff to sell, they'd have to write a story to go along with it." She shrugged. "Unless, she's thinking of just doing portraits or something, then you don't really need a story to go with it."
Garret kept his hands in his pocket. "Well...." He grinned, he knew he was an ass. "I can't really control my ass antics, but no, that's not what I meant." He shrugged one shoulder up. "I'm practically a stranger, I know a little more than your name, and if you want, you can get whatever it is off your chest and then maybe I'll promise to never see you again." He turned toward her, encouraging her to do it. "Or, you know, you could tell me and then see me again, cause I wouldn't mind that either." He raised an eyebrow.
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