Still Young

[Carter Chevalier]

Winter always left the campus blanketed by an unfamiliar element. For a terrakinetic, it was strange to feel something keeping him from his natural favour. With each step Carter took, he found little comfort in the ground beneath his feet. Because he was back. At Hammel. And only for one thing only.

His younger twin brother was still around, and Carter had every intention of dragging him to a passing grade for the back half of the school year. He knew little of his brother's difficulties when it came to his relationship stance, as he'd heard absolutely nothing of a resolution. Or a change. Or a focus. Or anything.

Hands in his pockets, the blonde weaved his way through idle students still standing around enjoying winter's progression over that particular afternoon.

A strategic step to one side and his shoulder collided with someone else's in the movement. Immediately, the contact forced him to take a few steps back; to find his footing before he went over in the snow itself. His face was initially aware of the issue - someone ran into him. Glacier eyes searched for the individual at fault, and his fingers searched for the line of his hair to keep it perfect.

But a girl? He hardly expected that.

His ill feelings were gone in an instant, and immediately, he extended a hand out. "Are you alright?"

[Karalie Heise]

It wasn't like she was rushing because she had somewhere to be.  Quite the contrary, really.  Karalie had nothing to do.  Zilch.  She wasn't even supposed to be back at Hammel, but instead at home, enjoying her time with her family and basking in the afterglow of Christmas while awaiting the new year.  She'd had a fight with her parents, though, which left her feeling uncomfortable in her childhood home.  Karalie was tired of being an embarrassment, and she'd told her parents so.  The outcome wasn't what she'd hoped it would be.  Instead of her parents welcoming the thought of the truth, they were more stern about keeping her reality a lie, and let slip what they really thought of people like her.  It stung, and she only stuck around for another day before ridding their home of her kind. 

It left her back on the Hammel campus with the others who didn't care to go home, and she found the smaller crowd more delightful.  What she didn't find delightful though, was the intense cold.  It had just snowed, and though the walks were all clear the temperature outside was much colder than she liked it to be.  Even bundled appropriately she could still feel the chill seep through her layers and into her bones.  It was like she was shivering from the inside out, a feeling she despised.  So when Karalie did make her way to the great outdoors, her movements were brisk and maybe not as calculated as one's should be, especially with the potential for ice on the ground.

She didn't even see him until she was running into him.  It wasn't a direct hit, more of a side swipe and the power behind it sent her stumbling to the side and falling on her ass into the snow.  Karalie let out a gasp and then an aggravated growl as she sank into the frozen nonsense.  Karalie looked up to see who she'd run into and an annoyed set of the palest eyes she'd ever seen caught her gaze.  His angry look seemed to soften immediately as they made eye contact and she suddenly felt flushed.  The guy seemed to be made of snow himself; everything about him was pale from his eye to his skin and his immaculate hair.

She took the hand outreached and allowed him to help her back to her feet.  She wasn't worried about snatching any memories with two pairs of thick gloves on.  "I'd be better if this snow'd melt." She replied swiping snow off her denim clad rear end.  Luckily she had a thick pair of long johns beneath so the quick contact with the snow didn't make her behind any chillier than it already was.  "Sorry 'bout that, I wasn' really payin' attention tuh where I was goin'."  She gave a shy sort of smile, folding her arms over her torso.  "Normally I'm not such uh klutz." 

[Carter Chevalier]

Had it been a man - or really, anyone with an obvious questionable nature or upbringing - Carter would have easily kept his unamused front. His bright eyes could cut like glass, and he knew that. But this was a girl, and it was impossible to deny how good she looked. Gloved hands collided and he used little force to ease her back to her feet.

Carter couldn't help the small, amused breath he dropped at the notion of the snow melting. And as she continued, he swapped a spare set of glances to the people around them, enjoying the snow they both seemed to almost disapprove of.

"The fault could be entirely mine," He reasoned quickly, "I was trying to avoid people."

Though truthfully, he doubted that was a warranted response for such a moment. But the point still stood - there was no need for an apology. "Not a fan of the winter months?" Carter asked her, already feeling idle flecks of snow catch in his platinum blonde hair. But for the moment, as he drew his hand away, he felt no need to reach up to fix it.

[Karalie Heise]

She snorted, that was an understatement if she'd ever heard one.  "Where I'm from, we don' get snow."  It wasn't completely true, but it wasn't completely false either.  "Well, not much." She corrected.  When it did snow down in Mississippi it rarely left more than an inch or two, and the chaos that exploded in response would be laughable where she was in Vermont.  Stores would be sold out of bread, milk, rock salt, shovels and water within hours at the mere breath of there being any snowfall.  School had closed for less than two inches.

Her small frame didn't help matters much, either.  Some folks were naturally well equipped for the cold, but her genes were not those.  She was petite in most senses of the word, and therefor easily chilled.  "Yah'd think after uh couple years I'd be used tuh it."  She gave a shy little laugh, rolling her shoulders cutely before looking away, a gust of wind sweeping past and sending a new chill down her spine.

[Carter Chevalier]

It didn't surprise Carter to hear that she came from a place where it didn't snow much. How she dressed so intently was proof enough of that, and there were enough strays from all over the world gracing the halls of Hammel. Her accent gave a little insight as to where in the country she might be from, but as it stood, he himself was hardly American. With a majority of his upbringing happening in Paris, the accent still lingered despite so much face time with the American masses.

"Admittedly, it's not my favourite element." He replied easily. "If it were, I imagine it'd be much easier to tolerate." In a small, brief moment, he did his best not to turn his nose up at the growing flakes on his shoulders.

Shaking his head briefly - as if to scold himself for his own lack of manners - he extended his hand to her again.

"Carter." He introduced, offering the warmest smile he could offer despite the obvious temperature drop. "Were you off to somewhere important?"

[Karalie Heise]

Another winter hater. Or snow at the least.  She could appreciate that since most of the people around there seemed to love it.  The one's who were used to snow didn't mind it, and the ones who came from climates that didn't offer it usually enjoyed it, finding it magical.  Sure, it was beautiful, but snow would be much better if it weren't so cold and wet.  Like every other weather element, it was fine at a distance.

A hand was extended and Karalie couldn't help but hesitate this time.  She relaxed immediately when she remembered the gloves and gave her hand in return, slipping it into his.  "Karalie." She replied, considering his name.  His accent was sexy, but Hammel was full of sexy accents. She couldn't place it, though.  Accents, though she had a thick one herself, were not her strongest suit.  

"An' I wasn' goin' anywhere, really.  Just back tuh my room, cause.. well.."  She bit her lip and looked around.  "Ain't nothin' really tuh do 'round here, an' I ain't keen on drivin' in this."  Her car was brand spanking new and the last thing she wanted was to total it due to some snow and ice.

[Carter Chevalier]

Hesitation always had its own tells. Carter did his best not to accept them as they were, but they were impossible to ignore. Still, he took her hand as she inevitably offered it, a softer greeting with a light squeeze over the usual handshake one might give to someone of his own gender. Small securities were enough to express to anyone that he knew what he was doing when it came to greeting people. Years of conditioning in a monetary-based household, and his manners were a result.

Karalie. He'd have to remember that one.

"Hmm." Carter mused through the sound lightly. Unfortunately, she was right. There was so little to do around campus. "With an aversion to winter, there isn't much to do outdoors." He offered, especially if leaving the grounds wasn't an option. "There's a lake near Pilot Ridge. It's usually frozen over by this time of year." With a small hum, he shrugged the concept away.

"Well, I won't keep you today." After all, it was hardly a good day, "But you've really got to let me make it up to you. After all, I did knock you over."

[Karalie Heise]

Her brow raised at the mention of the lake.  It was frozen. Why on earth would she want to go there anyway? Besides, sitting by the water or walking around it reminded her of Lucas, so she tended to steer clear of water sources these days.  One day she hoped it wouldn't make her think of her idiot ex, though.  
Karalie wanted to tell the boy he wasn't really keeping her, but in a sense he was.  She felt the familiar shiver in her jaw start and her teeth would likely begin chattering in the next few minutes.  She liked talking to the boy, though.  There was something very striking about him.. His overall look, and his accent..  When he offered to make it up to her, she couldn't help but feel her heart flutter just a little.

"I thought we'd agreed it was my fault." She teased, a flirty undertone in her voice as she gave her beauty pageant smile.  "Besides, I wouldn' know how ya'll could make it up tuh me.  But if yah had any suggestions, I'd be willin' tuh hear."  She wondered if she should offer him her number, but then decided against it.  It was fun to flirt, but if something sparked.. Karalie wasn't exactly prepared to put herself at the mercy of another boy any time soon, especially since she was just learning to control her hands.  It would take years to master, which meant most guys wouldn't want to hang around her anyway once they knew what she could do.

[Carter Chevalier]

Carter couldn't help but chuckle at the notion she provided. How it must have been her fault. How they agreed as such. In any other moment, Carter might have taken a person up on that. Usually it was their fault. Certain strange encounters were hardly the fault of a Chevalier.

But this was different, and so the warmth of his little laugh must have appeased the nature he was almost positive she was giving.

"I wouldn't be completely adverse to accepting whatever you're willing to offer." Carter replied lightly, his nonchalant tone perfectly rounded for moments like these, "A number, maybe. Coffee some time soon, if you're ever willing to brave the trip into town."

[Karalie Heise]

What could she offer him?  She was suddenly feeling a little bashful as she smiled back slightly, a coy gleam in her eye.  But when he asked for her number her heart fluttered around in her chest like a butterfly, making her feel light headed and a little ill.  He wanted her number! And to maybe go into town and get coffee!

Carter was everything Karalie had ever really wanted in a guy.  Handsome, charming, well dressed.. the accent was a nice touch and he looked like he probably came from money.  These were characteristics the shallow girl wanted in a partner.  She was a little surprised he would be interested in her.  There was a time Karalie believed she was quite the catch, basically for all the reasons she thought Carter was, but being cheated on by a boy that she had once deemed beneath her, well.. that had a way of messing with anyone's haughty attitude's about themselves.  He'd certainly done a fine job of knocking her off her pedestal.

"I suppose m'number might be uh fair consolation." Her lips quirked up at the edge. "Ya'll ready?" She asked, ready to recite the number for him to enter into his phone, or write down if he'd prefer.

[Carter Chevalier]

It was a gamble, Carter knew. He often preferred to give his own number out. Part of the game involved getting people to message him. But for whatever reason, this felt different. There was no harm in taking a number and actually wanting it.

And there was no harm in actively using it, either.

With a brief moment, he was reaching for his phone from his back pocket, procuring it in both hands. "Ready." He repeated. And as she handed out the numbers, he typed them into his device. Karalie, she said her name was. And he put it into his phone as such. Waving it idly, he tucked it into his back pocket again, taking his first step away from her. Difficult as it might have seemed.

"How long is the obligatory waiting period before I can message you?" He asked, a lighter, clearly humoured smile catching his lips instead.

[Karalie Heise]

She clicked off her number to him and watched him plug it into his phone, feeling giddy all the way down to her pink, polished, nearly numb toes.  She wondered if he would actually call.. She hoped so, she hadn't felt this excited about a guy in a while!


"On or two days." She replied coyly, deciding today might be too needy, but she couldn't possibly wait three days to hear from him!  Besides, she didn't want him to forget.  That would just be terrible.  What if he did? She tried not to let that thought cloud her mind as she took a step back herself, offering one last smile towards the boy before turning to head back to her room.  "I hope tuh hear from yah, Carter." She chirped, suddenly feeling a little warmer amongst all the ice.