[open] By Your Side

[Alisha]

Eli nodded, understanding her words completely. The smile that had graced his face when Anne had laughed remained in place. Despite the fact that it was the anniversary of his parents death, and he had spilled his guts to a virtual stranger, he was actually thinking that this day would turn out to be a good one. He felt lighter, now that he had gotten some things off of his chest. "That's perfectly fine," He told her, "Just know that I will be here for you, if you'll let me." Eli grinned, his heart feeling less heavy inside his chest, "So, Anne, what do you do for fun?" He asked, attempting to keep the conversation going without covering heavy subjects, for her sake.

[Tori]

Anne grinned when he did. Was her prayer really coming true, this very day? It was an odd thought to process through her head, but shaking that out of harms way, Anne returned back to the conversation instead of her mind, just smiling and nodding as he talked. With that last comment he made though, about him being here for her, that was when things felt a little awkward for Anne. She grinned back to him, but inside she was just so confused. Whenever she heard that line, it was either a parent telling a child, or a boyfriend telling a girlfriend. And she was certain that he was neither. At least she hoped he wasn't trying to get her to be his girlfriend. "Um, thanks." she simply put, thankful that he finally getting into another topic of conversation. This one was getting a little too uncomfortable for her. "Well, um," she giggled, "As you can tell, I like to skateboard." she chuckled, pointing down to the skateboard at her feet. "And uh, music?" she added in, pulling out the iPod that he had started the whole conversation in the first place. "I see you like the same." she continued on, nodding her head down to his skateboard next as well as his own iPod he had on him.

[Alisha]

Eli noticed her closing off when he said that he would be there for her, and mentally kicked himself. "Sorry," He said, "I didn't mean it that way." He shoved his hands into the pockets of his hoodie to keep himself from running his hand through his unruly hair. "It's just nice to know that someone will be there if you ever want to talk about things." He shrugged, and smiled as she brought out the iPod. "Yeah. The thing is practically glued to me at all times." He chuckled. "I used to cook. But I haven't in a very long time." He looked down. "I'm living with my aunt now, my sister went off to college. Who do you live with?" He asked, just wanting to learn more about her. If they were going to be friends, which he hoped they were, they would kind of have to know these things about each other.

[Tori]

Anne shrugged her feelings away, "Nah, its cool. I know what you meant. It was just...uh, the way you said it, I guess." she admitted to him slowly. "It is nice though." I guess. she shrugged her shoulders again, slipping her iPod back in her pocket again, chuckling at what he was saying about his own. "Seriously. I don't even know what I would of done if I had really lost my music." she snickered, patting down her pocket, making sure her iPod wouldn't slip out again. "Um, I'm living at home, with my dad, er, foster dad and other foster siblings." she explained, "What grade are you in? Er, I mean, what grade will you be in next fall? I'll be a senior, finally." she rolled her eyes at the last word, with a light laugh.

[Alisha]

Eli grinned at the similarities in their attachment to their iPods. When she explained her living arrangements, it made him wonder what had caused her to be living there. He knew it would be a sore subject, so he dropped it. "I'll be a senior too." He answered, "I can't wait to graduate and get out of here. Have a fresh start." He thought about how long they had been standing there, and wondered if she had somewhere to be. Eli didn't think he did, oh well, he would figure that out later. "You don't have anywhere to be, do you?" He asked, "I don't want to keep you."

[Tori]

"Seriously. I mean, I'm probably not gonna be away too far. But living in the dorms of Riverside University is far enough from home to me." she laughed, even with the back of her mind feeling so relieved that he nearly ignored what she said about being a foster child. It made her want to trust even more than she had planned to. "Um, no, not that I know of. And even if I did, you wouldn't be keeping me. Because I wouldn't let you keep me." she laughed lightly at the last part, teasingly.

[Alisha]

Eli just smiled at her, "Good to know." He said. He didn't know what to say after that, months of solitary living had rid him of his conversation skills. It had gotten so bad, that even at home, he almost never spoke unless asked a question directly. He would answer to be polite, because it was in his nature, but Eli never initiated any conversation. Ever. This was the first time in months, and it was weird and awkward to him, not that he'd let it show. He smiled again, "I kind of want to leave, at least for a little while. There are just too many memories here for me." He said, referring to his parents, "it had been my mother's dream that I make it to culinary school. So that's probably what I'll do."

[Tori]

After that moment of silence, it was awkward for Anne. Especially when it was with someone whom she had literally just met. Of course if it weren't for him, she possibly wouldn't have gotten her iPod back. It made her giggle slightly at the thought of her going through that madness without her music to listen to while riding along the sidewalk to the skatepark or something. It wasn't till when he mentioned it when Anne noticed they were still standing literally outside of the church building. Which almost immediately brought back memories of her family. No tears, just memories. "Yeah, now that you mention it, I better get away from this place too. For today, I mean." she told, a small grin just escaping the corner of her lips as he continued speaking on. "That's cool. I didn't know much about my mom, but all my dad told me was to just follow whatever dream I have, and stick to it to the very end. Which is exactly what I plan on doing once I hit the college scenes." she nodded to herself, looking down at her feet, where her skateboard was, thinking of heading to her next destination now. But oddly enough, she didn't feel like going at it alone. "You wanna go hang at the coffee shop for a while? I was just gonna head there for a bit before I head back home anyway." she asked, not really caring whether he decided to ditch her instead or not. Though she was still curious to know more about this kid, even if he didn't know a thing about her just yet.

[Alisha]

Eli smiled at Anne's offer, and nodded slightly. "A frappechino sounds good right now. Although I detest coffee, the vanilla bean ones are awesome." Eli really did think it would be a good idea to get to know this girl a little more, even just as a friend. "I think it's open mic night tonight, " He said with a grin, "Maybe we can catch a few performances." Eli shrugged. He thought it would be really nice to make some good memories on what was such a sad day for him.

[Tori]

Anne chuckled lightly. "Yeah, I'm more of an ice blended person myself." she told, flipping her board back into her hands, carrying it at her side, already leading him off to the coffee shop and away from the church entrance. "Open. Mic. Night?" she questioned at first, making a face the way she spoke those three words. "Eh, I do like listening to the performers up there. But, try to get me up on that stage, I'll punch your lights out." she laughed afterward, joking at the last part. "But seriously, me on stage. No bueno." she repeated again, more seriously but still with a light chuckle.

[Alisha]

Eli chuckled and fell into step beside her, holding his board in his hand. "I certainly wont try that then." He laughed, "I was a choir boy at school growing up, but I'm not nearly good or brave enough to get onto a stage and sing for a crowd." He watched their surroundings as they walked on the sidewalk, Eli had become quite the people watcher during the time he had been silent. He would often just sit in a park, his hood pulled over his head, and earbuds in his ears, just watching the people interact around him. "I hate the bitter taste of coffee. I can deal with the smell though," Eli said, "My dad always told me I would grow to love it." His eyes widened when he realized he spoke of his father without feeling empty, and he grinned.

[Tori]

Anne couldn't help but chuckle at the fact that the boy next to her, who seemed to be as much of a skater as she was, was a choir boy. "Seriously?" she snorted out. "I mean, you just...you don't look much like a choir boy..." she told him, glancing back at him from head to toe. "Then again...now that I look at you some more, I can sort of see you singing along with those girls." she said, adding emphasis on the last word, playfully, nudging his arm to show she was teasing. Anne watched as they were growing nearer and nearer the coffee shop, she could already smell the freshly brewing coffee. "Well, at least you like the smell of it. Otherwise, I don't know what I would do if I brought someone who hates the smell of coffee in a coffee shop." she laughed out, kicking a rock out onto the streets.

[Alisha]

Eli shoved her playfully, feigning anger. "Hey!" He said, "No judging. I was little, and the girls were pretty." He failed at the anger bit and let out a laugh. "And I wasn't the only boy." When he looked away from her, he could see they were a few shops away from their desination. "I wouldn't say I like it." He said, "I just tolerate it. At least they don't let anyone smoke in there. Now, that is disgusting." Eli shook his head. He hated the smell of cigarette smoke.

[Tori]

"Yeah, I bet they were pretty." Anne snickered, ending up laughing after being shoved playfully. "I bet most of the guys in choir were gay too." she teased about with him. "Am I right?" she laughed, returning her frown to her face when he mentioned the thought of smokers. "Oh god. I'm so glad they don't let any of those people in either. I mean, I can tolerate it. It just bugs me with the way their treating their bodies like that." she told him honestly, wrinkling her nose a bit, "It sickens me, really."

[Alisha]

Eli's pseudo frown morphed into a smile at Anne's words. Sure, she was teasing him, but he had to admit he was enjoying it. He had never thought he would smile as much as had ever again, especially not that day. He wondered idly if it was fate or destiny, but he had given up on things of that nature the night his parents had died. "Some were," He retorted, smirking. His first girlfriend had actually been in choir with him. She had been a beautiful girl, with an amazing voice. Alia and he had dated throughout all of freshman year, but they broke it off when she had moved to some foreign country to go to a prestigious school staged around singing. They still talked occasionally. Eli laughed at her comment about the gay choir boys, "Some were a but questionable." He admitted, "Me, well I spent most of the practice time we were allotted to make out with my girlfriend behind the risers." Those were fond memories, of a time when he was just a boy without a care in the world. "I know!" He said, smokers were disgusting. He didn't think he could ever date a smoker. "The habit it too gross; it kills your body, suffocating your lungs with nasty disgustingness. It's so unhealthy."