Taking A Chance (Karalie)

[Cade Maddox]

It had been a silent walk from the Hammel campus into downtown. Cade hadn't said much, and neither had his companion. Then again, his companion was his good friend The Phantom (of Opera fame), and unless they were working on musical endeavors or watching girls from a distance, he, like Cade, enjoyed the peace and quiet. Cade hadn't been downtown too many times, but the characters seemed to be resolute in getting him to get out more and interact with a world he largely ignored. Which meant, Cade was reluctant to admit, that his brain was trying to tell him something.

A simple day, simple attire. Cade was dressed in a white t-shirt and black pants with white sneakers.

In that moment, Cade realized that they were walking past a Coffeehouse, and Cade could see some cupcakes and other treats from the window. Oblivious to Cade, a lot of people commented and noted the caped man with mask next to him. The Phantom, with a low voice, asked, "Why are we stopped in front of this drinking establishment? Aren't we out to improve your wardrobe?"

The Phantom wasn't exactly fond of the amount of people around.

Cade didn't have a ton of money, but he also didn't spend it much, so he looked in his wallet and counted what he had. It had been a long walk, he was gonna have a cupcake. Decision made, "We're gonna stop in for a snack." The Phantom was quick to point out, "Well, I'm going to find a seat then, you know us and lines. Ignorant fools." The characters had an awkward time around a lot of people, and Cade didn't blame them. They looked real, but their intangibility freaked people out.

Cade briefly glanced over at the seating area so that the Phantom (via his subconscious memory of what he just saw) could decide on a seat. He had seen a couple of people, so he was sure the Phantom would find a seat away.

It didn't take long for Cade to get through the line, buy his cupcake and water bottle, and make his way over to the seat the Phantom has chosen. When he got over, he realized the Phantom had awkwardly, and with only a little subtlety had been starring at a girl that Cade had seen barely a side view of when he had initially come in. The chosen table was right next to the girl's. Cade pulled out a chair for the Phantom to (pretend) to sit in, before setting down his cupcake and water.

Cade wanted to apologize to the girl for The Phantom (in reality, Cade's) awkwardness, and finally turned to look at her. The Phantom wasn't capable of actually seeing her face, but yet, Cade could see why he would've stared had he known. She was really pretty.

"I..." Cade's mouth almost immediately dried and he grabbed the water bottle, taking a drink from it, not even realizing he had awkwardly left the single letter word hanging without followup...

[Karalie Heise]

College courses were, in many ways, different than high school ones.  She did appreciate her time at Hammel though, away from her parents, where she was able to truly learn the responsibility one needs to do schoolwork on time.  Sure, there were plenty of teachers to hold her accountable, but in her college courses that simply wasn't the case.  She liked the freedom that came with doing her assignments, even if there seemed to be ten times as many to do.  

One of her favorite places to work on her papers and other assignments was the cafe.  There was an endless supply of coffee and the wifi was free, so why not? It was a good atmosphere, and there were always interesting people to look at.  There was also the occasional good looking guy offering to buy her a coffee, and if she was interested enough she would oblige his request.  There was that one time a girl had offered and she had to do her best not to sneer in response.  Some things never changed.

The nice thing about the cafe in a college town was there weren't many older men who came around. She didn't like the way they looked at her, finding it unsettling.  Especially weird ones that came dressed in masks and capes.  When the Phantom came in and sat near her she couldn't help but offer a somewhat disgusted look.  Did he think he was clever or funny, or was he simply out of his mind? She couldn't decide which was more likely, but the problem was mostly his gaze.  He kept staring at her and making her increasingly more uncomfortable. Should she say something? She had in the past and she would now, but she didn't want to call more attention to him than necessary.  That was probably what he wanted and she wasn't about to give that freak what he wanted if she could help it. She could go complain to the manager, but they were probably hoping he would just leave.  Being a regular, she didn't recall seeing him before.

She noted the younger boy who sat down with the Phantom of the Opera and gave him a dirty look as well.  He was hot.. really hot, but she wasn't about to forget he was spending time with that creepster which automatically made him a creepster in her eyes. When the boy made a noise she stopped what she was doing and glowered at him.  It was hard to remain annoyed at a face like that, but damn would she try.  She raised a brow expectantly, waiting for him to continue the sentence he started and then left hanging.  When it became clear that he wasn't going to continue she shrugged her shoulders expectantly.  "You what?" She drawled in response, egging him on and then looking at the creepster next to him.  "Have uh creepy man followin' ya'll around? I know." She shot back, shaking her head before allowing her dark eyes to fall back on her macbook screen.

[Cade Maddox]

Even after all of these years and constant interaction with him, the way Cade's characters would act and react to the environment still amazed and confused him. Somehow, his subconscious could take a glance, and the character could react fully. In the mere seconds he had looked at the seating area, he had seen the back (maybe the side?) of the head of this girl, and that was enough for the Phantom to pick the table near her, and awkwardly (totally not but kinda am) staring at her.

It didn't help that his Phantom character and his Christine character were going through one of their bad patches, and the Phantom was trying to force himself to interact with other girls in order to make her jealous. Of course, that led to awkward stares most of the time because he truly loved Christine and even if he felt others were pretty, he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

Brown hair wasn't normally Cade's thing (He liked blondes more) but this girl...this girl was beautiful. Every line of her face made him wish she were an actress and he could recreate a character she played. Enamored for sure, and without a moment of hesitation, he set the drink down, and with a rarely found courage replied to her, "I am so sorry about him. I. He. I can't control how he is. I mean, I do, but not directly."

This gorgeous girl seemed so grievously offended by the Phantom's actions that it took all of Cade not to apologize profusely before her. In that exact moment, something tickled in his mind and he looked behind him and the Phantom was gone. He likely had disappeared in the usual fashion of turning into little particles and then -boom- nothing.

It wasn't often they disappeared without Cade's conscious decision to remove them, but perhaps the Phantom realized Cade's embarassment and departed on his own? Trying to figure out the psychology of the characters, who were technically him, perplexed him to no end.

It was only a moment before he had turned to face the girl again. "I, I'm sorry, I'm a meta, he's part of my power. I did not mean to offend or bother or anything. When I looked, he must've seen your face." He felt his cheeks get warm. He was talking way too much.

Cade just took a seat and grabbed his cupcake. If the girl didn't speak to him after that whole exchange, he wouldn't blame her. Social situations never go right for Cade Maddox. Cade just needed to accept it.

[Karalie Heise]

The boy began rambling and she quirked a brow.  What on earth was he going on about? Of course she couldn't expect him to control the older man.  It was probably some deranged uncle or something that was in his care, and she should probably feel bad for him.  Heck, she wouldn't want the job of taking on a sick relative like that, but she still didn't like that the guy was watching her the way he was.  Clearly he wasn't well, but that was besides the point.  She didn't have the patience for the unwell either. Maybe on occasion she would, but she had some work that needed done and compassion wasn't top of her priority list of things to have today.

She was about to tell the boy it was fine as long as he controlled the man, when the strangest thing she could ever recall actually seeing in person happened.  He disappeared.  The Phantom man disappeared into little bits and then.. gone.  The look of annoyance faded into that of slack jawed disbelief.  Surely that hadn't just happened..  Her skin tingled, goosebumps rising and the small hairs at the nape of her neck starting to stand on end.  

Karalie froze, staring blankly over the boys shoulder, not knowing what to think or how to feel or what to do.  The boy started in again with his apologies, finally explaining he was meta and the Phantom was his creation.  Dark chocolate brown eyes fell on the handsome apologetic face of the boy and her mouth pursed.  What was he playing at?  

"The hell you jus' do tuh him?" She asked suddenly, her throat far more dry than she had expected.  Karalie cleared her throat and pushed her palm to her cheek, trying to get herself under control.  "What.. what on earth was that all.."  She licked her lips not really sure what to say, a blush creeping up her cheeks.  She had no idea what to think.

[Cade Maddox]

Cade really wasn't sure what her accent was. But it was nice...searching his mind, trying to match it up to anything he had seen, he determined it was some kind of southern accent. All he knew was it sounded sweet.

And, golly gee, she was very bothered by the disappearance of the Phantom. At least he thought so? Or maybe she was so angry by the situation that the pleasure of him disappearing just caused those facial expressions. Cade really wasn't sure, but nothing surprised him more (in a good way?) than when she actually did speak to him.

"I...uh...I didn't do anything...he left...on his own?" Cade said, almost as if he were asking her, not the other way around. Honestly, he didn't know what caused them to leave on their own. Not when there was only one. It varied from character to character, he supposed.

Her cheeks were getting red, no doubt with anger. Cade couldn't help but feel she controlled herself well, though. Such a beautiful girl, and he had to upset her like this.

"I'm really sorry, I am," Cade said, sincerity bleeding from his face. With a look of concern, he replied as best as he could manage, "I...can create phyiscal versions of fictional characters from my mind, and sometimes I like to hang out with one...I was hanging out with that one...and then I...he came over to find a seat and he...I must have seen how beautiful you are and now you're upset...and I'm so sorry."

Cade was flustered more than he could honestly think he could be. On the inside he was quietly praying that he could rewind thirty minutes and redo all of this. Walking with the Phantom wasn't worth the distress he had caused her.

[Karalie Heise]

Her wide eyes studied the boy beside her.  What was he playing at? This freak was just there, a figment of the cutie's imagination, and it had a mind of its own? It could just.. disappear? It didn't make sense.  None of it did.  Then again, things that pertained to meta's sometimes didn't make much sense.  It was part of the territory.

The boy just kept going on, and she could see how apologetic he was, hear it in his tone.  He didn't mean to make whatever that was that just happened, happen.  She had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time and...

Beautiful?

It wasn't as if she hadn't been called beautiful a million times, but she never grew tired of hearing it.  There were plenty of times she would prefer not to be called so, but that was usually due t the mouth saying that little old word she liked hearing so much.  One doesn't spend their entire childhood striving for physical perfection and not simply love to be called beautiful.  She was trained to see it as a compliment not to be taken for granted, because once people stopped saying it you knew it stopped being so.

"It's alright." She offered, her voice teetering between kind and unsure.  He'd won brownie points back for his little compliment thrown at her in a not-so-creepy way, which was good since he'd gone and creeped her out plenty with that little Phantom business. "Jus.. don' do that anymore." She insisted much more patiently now.  She turned to her laptop and stared at it a moment before looking back at him.  He didn't seem familiar, but there were plenty of people who had gone to Hammel.  He looked a bit old to be a student, but who knew..  

"What year'd ya'll graduate from Hammel?" She asked, assuming he went there.  He was Meta, after all..

[Cade Maddox]

The girl seemed to be receptive to Cade, no longer angry. Cade relaxed, hoping that that would continue. She was far too pretty to have any sort of anger or worry lines affecting her face because of him. "I won't do it again...when you're around...promise," Cade said quickly, only just a little awkwardly. He was eager to prove to her that he was an okay person, not anyone to be concerned with. Usually people thought his characters were just people having fun in costumes or makeup and thus didn't mind.

Unfortunately for Cade, he didn't get out much, and talked to girls even less. No. This girl wasn't a girl. This was a woman. Young woman. Mature. Southern. Beautiful. Young woman. Just gorg-

Cade's distracted thinking about her was disrupted when she asked when he graduated from Hammel. A look of embarassment crossed his face double-fold. He was a student not a graduate...and he must've looked like an idiot in a daydream when she asked him.

"I...well..." Cade, who had done a decent job of looking at her when speaking before (difficult for him), couldn't meet her eyes now. He lowered his voice, still loud enough for her to hear, though. "I'm sti-. I'm still a student at Hammel."

Realizing how that might sound, he quickly added, "Not because of my powers. My characters are completely under control...I just...I got started on school learning late...and I uh, I couldn't really jump ahead." Gesturing slightly with his hand as he spoke, he finished, "Got a couple years to go." Cade hated the fact that'd he'd be legally able to drink before he could complete high school. But he promised himself he wasn't gonna go back to Mom.