One Thing

[Avelino!]

So this what America was like... He had never been here before. Running away wasn't easy, nor did it sound easy, but Benjamin lived for excitement. Besides, he couldn't let his brother leave and have fun without him, now could he? And Benny couldn't bear the fact that his mum and dad were splitting apart... so he came here. He was thrilled, really. He had arrived a few days earlier, giving him enough time to look around and explore a bit. He had found a Starbucks but hadn't taken any note of which route he used to get there. So, instead, he went to the closest coffee shop - Mud and Grinds.

Ordering an iced coffee and a huge, chocolate-chip cookie, Benny scanned his eyes over the shop for an open seat. The shop was brimming with customers. Few seats were left empty. Few. Not none. He spotted a table near one of the windows. Somebody was already occupying it, but oh well. There was an empty chair left, and Benny intended to snatch it before anyone else could. “Excuse me,” he started, a charming smile appearing on his face. “Is this seat taken?”

[Kelli-wa]

Mady had been working for a while today already, well, three hours. It wasn't that long, but she was on her lunch break and since she didn't really have a car at the moment, she couldn't leave to get lunch unless Bo, her manager, drove her. She didn't want to bother him, and she sure as hell wasn't going to call her brother to help her out, she hated bothering him as well. He worked so hard and she didn't think he got nearly enough credit from either Mara, her older sister, or Micah, her younger sister. As she sat at one of the only tables that she'd seen was left open, she was sipping on a Jones soda and eating a muffin, which was the only thing she'd found on the menu that seemed filling enough to last her a little while.

Then a boy's voice chimed out and it seemed to ring over the rest of the not-so-loud roar of the rest of the occupants, even though he wasn't talking very loud. Maybe it was his accent, but when she looked up she was shocked. He was cute. I mean, ah-dor-able. She was frozen for just a second looking at him, but then she felt her breath come back to her and she gave him a small smile, "Uhm, no, it's not. You can sit there, I'm only on my lunch break, anyway, so I'll be out of your hair before too long..." Really she had an hour long break and it had just started, so she figured if he started to act like he didn't want her there she could slip away and hide in the back room until her break was up, or until he left the shop.

[Avelino!]

A smile appeared on his face as she stated the seat was unoccupied. “Thank you,” he said softly, slipping into the seat in front of her. Usually he didn’t ask to sit with strangers, but it was summertime and he had no friends – literally. And the girl seemed nice; not to mention, she was extremely pretty. Benny couldn't help but raise a brow, though, when she mentioned getting out of his hair; he really didn’t consider her to be bothering him. After all, it was he who requested to sit with her, right? “I like your company,” he reassured her; there was no need to rush. He was sure that she was tired, anyway. “Hopefully I'm not bothering you?” he asked, with a small smile. Setting his coffee down on the table, he offered his hand for a shake. “Benjamin,” he introduced himself. “But you’re free to call me Benny or Ben.”

Sorry. This post is pretty crummy.

[Kelli-wa]

Mady shook her head lightly. Of course he wasn't bothering her, he hadn't really done anything yet, but she couldn't exactly figure out while he thought he enjoyed her company when he'd only just arrived. Mady was typically quite an outgoing girl, you could ask anyone, including her best friend, Vic Grey, but in front of cute boys the 17-year-old seemed to transform into a blubbering idiot who tripped over words and couldn't figure out her first name. She wished that wouldn't happen and she forces herself to give him a smile that if you didn't know her would seem normal, but her friends would know that there was something off about it. She let her real smile shine through, however when he said his name and nodded lightly, "I find it hard choosing between the three..." You are NOT about to use a line from Wayne's World on him. Not going to happen Mady, one it really isn't that funny, and judging by his accent, he might not understand the joke. "Nice to meet you, Benjamin," she said, not able to contain herself from using his full name the way they did in the movie. "I'm Mara--No, I'm Mady. I was thinking about my sister..." She covered her face with her hands and shook her head. "I'm sorry."

[Avelino!]

“Benjamin it is, then,” Benny said, nodding. Most people would rather stick with the simpler nicknames. The shorter, the easier, the better, right? Well, in his logic. He couldn’t help but chuckle and quirk a brow when she introduced herself as her sister. “No worries,” he laughed, “Everybody screws up.” He took a sip of his iced coffee. “Although I’ve never met anyone who introduced themselves as their sister…” he teased, “It can happen, right?” Hopefully she wouldn’t think he was trying to be mean. It was just harmless teasing. It had happened before, though – somebody had mistaken his humor for actual insults, how daft! He beamed a smile to show that he was just trying to be funny; although he doubted that she would think he was serious - she seemed like a reasonable person, after all. She was full of willies [nerves], though, and he wanted her to relax a bit. Maybe if he could get her to joke with him, then she'd chill.

[Kelli-wa]

Mady rested her forehead in her hand and shook her head lightly, still scolding herself for being such an idiot. "Yeah, I just am scatter brained right now, I'm sorry," she said, trying to find something to take the embarrassment away, her face was still stained a dark shade of pink. "But it's Madalynne or Mady. Or you know, anything you want, really. I'll probably answer no matter what you call me... Idiot, that weird chick." She shrugged lightly and smiled at him, trying as hard as she could to make the blush disappear from her cheeks. "So, Ben, where are you from?" she asked lightly before she took a sip of her Jones soda, hoping the question would take the limelight away from her.

[Avelino!]

He only smiled at her embarrassment; he had to admit, he found her cuter when she blushed. "Madalynne is a pretty name," Ben told her; he liked the name. She definitely lived up to her name: a pretty name for a pretty girl. "I'll think I'll call you Madalynne." Benny grinned when she asked him where he came from. Obviously she had noticed his accent. He had completely forgotten that he was technically a foreignor. "Britain. I'm from Worcestershire, Britain." Specifically, he was from Malvern (which is located in Worcestershire). "Just moved here a few days ago, actually," he added, not bothering to explain how he got to Riverside. "How about you?" Benny questioned, "Have you always lived in California?"

[Kelli-wa]

His compliment made the blush in her cheeks darken, the girl was nearly a tomato now and she shook her head lightly, unable to stop the smile that was appearing on her lips. She was unable to look up at him again for fear that he would be looking at her and that would make her blush even more, she was sure of her face got any hotter, it would burst. Instead she stared down at her muffin and licked her lips before speaking, "Thank you, I'm glad you like it, I guess." She had always wondered away the reason she couldn't get a boyfriend while she was talking to her best friend, but then now that she was in this moment she remembered, she completely shut down when they spoke to her, always making a fool out of herself when she couldn't control her idiotic jokes. "Benjamin from Worcestershire, Britain. I'll try to remember that and pronounce it correctly, but that's kind of a weird word." Wow, stupid? A weird word? Someone might be insulted by that... She also had a tendency to say things she didn't mean around cute boys she didn't know. "Uhm, I'm from Chicago, Illinois. I've lived in Riverside since I was seven though, so I consider myself a local," she stated, getting her blush to fade enough that she could look up at him with a silly smile.

[Avelino!]

Benjamin only smiled at her comment about Worcestershire being a weird word. "Yeah, I guess it is a strange word." he remarked; thinking about it for a while. He didn't think of it as weird, but then again - he lives there... or, lived. Benjamin actually thought Americans were strange himself. No doubt, he had expected people to find British customs strange, and British names. Plus he was surprised nobody had cracked a joke yet about 'having a spot of tea', or said 'ello gov'na'. He nodded his head, wondering about Chicago; "What's it like in Chicago?" he questioned. This was his first time in America but he had heard of the big cities; such as Chicago and New York and Los Angeles. New York and Chicago were both on his 'cities to visit while in the US' list, actually. "And I'm a foreigner. Or a tourist." he nodded. Taking a pause, he added, "Tell me more about yourself... and American customs." he smiled, suddenly becoming as curious as a child.

this is late and i apologize. :(

[Kelli-wa]

Smiling gently, still blushing as he agreed with her. She let out a light sigh of relief as he moved on to a new subject, but she shrugged lightly, "Honestly, I don't remember too much about it. I was little when we left. All I know is Mitch hated it there, he's my older brother, and Mara loved it. They're pretty opposite on a lot of things." She was talking about her family again and she shut her eyes, scolding herself before she looked back at her new friend with a gentle smile. In all honesty, she wasn't really sure what customs they had... Coffee? Was coffee a custom? She smiled at him lightly and shook her head, "Well, uhm, I work here, obviously, and I don't actually like coffee, which is why I probably shouldn't work here..." She started to ramble about things that didn't matter, how she drank jones soda instead of coffee because she couldn't stand the bitter taste. She blushed again and shook her head lightly, "Uhm, customs? I'm not entirely sure what kind of things you guys do over there, so I don't really know what's different. Do you have drive-in movies? I think that's a pretty big deal. At least it is to me..."

[Avelino!]

Benjamin chuckled when she said that she shouldn't even be working at a coffee shop when she didn't even drink coffee. He liked coffee enough to drink it without gagging, but it wasn't his choice of drink. This morning he just needed something to pump him up; so that he could 'explore' a little more around Riverside. Although he was typically an early-riser; he had slept late the last night, busy unpacking boxes in his room, making him drowsy. However, the conversation with Mady had wiped away the boy's sleepiness by now. Not to mention, the coffee's caffeine had kicked in. "What's a drive-in movie?" he questioned. The title seemed obvious; it was a movie that you drove into, though Benjamin couldn't quite imagine 'driving into' a movie theater. Maybe he was thinking too much. Dropping the thought, he mentally kicked himself for not knowing, and for making himself look like a fool in front of the pretty girl; which was a very peculiar thing for Ben to do. Honestly, he'd never been to a drive-in movie - but apparently it was a big deal; or, at least, to Mady it was.

[Kelli-wa]

Mady smiled lightly at him as she took a sip of her soda. He was positively beautiful, by Madalynne's standards, anyway, although, she guessed he would meet many other people's standards as well. Let's face it, the boy was hot. A certified hunk, almost, or he could have been. His question shocked her a little. "So is that an American thing then?" she asked lightly, shaking her head almost in disbelief. How could someone not know what a drive in movie was? That just seemed unreal! She licked her lips as her blush started to fade a little bit. "Well... Its a big screen outside..." she started, but then she thought better of it. For some reason, right now her confidence level had skyrocketed. "You know what, why don't I show you. Do you have any plans tonight?" she found herself asking. It was almost crazy, she was having some sort of out of body experience. She was never this smooth...

[Avelino!]

Benjamin shrugged, "I guess so." he wasn't sure if there were drive-in movie in Britain, but he had never heard of one. Maybe there were some, but probably not as common as it was in America. He nodded, listening to her explanation of a drive-in movie. When she suggested taking him to one herself, a grin spread across his face. "You'd really take me to one?" he questioned, excitedly. "Nope!" he answered, almost too quickly. This was way better than what he had planned - he was just going to sit at home and unpack; that could wait. "Would 8:00 be alright?" he could probably pick her up. He couldn't help but blush, his cheeks tinting a light shade of pink. His gaze sudden fell on his iced tea. "... hmm... would this count as a date, then?" a sheepish smile appeared on his face when he looked up at her. Hopefully it did - he liked this girl, she was interesting. He definitely wanted to get to know her better.

[Kelli-wa]

Mady smiled lightly, glad that she'd found something he hadn't heard of before. It was funny, actually. She'd grown up going to the drive in and she never thought about it being an American thing, maybe it wasn't, though, maybe they just had more of them here. They were a dying breed, but there was still one that had about five screens about forty minutes out of town. It was honestly one of her favorite things to do. Biting her lip lightly as he answered her she nodded, of course she would take him! She licked her lips, thinking about the time he'd told her. "I get off at seven. Can we do it then?" She always had a spare change of clothes when she worked just in case, and today, she deemed it cute enough to wear on an outing with this boy. His next question had her blushing like an idiot, a big grin spreading back onto her lips. She nodded gently, "If you want to count it as a date. I mean, I wouldn't argue with you."