Turning a New Leaf (Jace.)

[Jalen August]

Jalen had avoided leaving Hammel unless accompanied by someone, mostly because she was afraid of running into Cody somewhere in town, and she wouldn’t know what to do. A friend would drag her away, or be a shoulder to cry on, even though the chances of running into her ex were slim to none. He spent so much time on his ranch that he didn’t get out much. The reason she hadn’t gone out much, was simply because she was still getting over him. How much time that would take, she wasn’t sure, but luckily she had friends to cheer her up - and a strong backbone.

Starbucks had always managed to cheer her up (aside from that one run in with Braxton), and that’s where the blonde was headed. School had taken a backseat in her mind, as she was unable to concentrate for very long. Right now she needed a small vacation, and she was tired of lying in her bed all day, wishing she had something to do. Her spunk and life force had literally been sucked out of her; she needed to socialize once more. She had never realized how much time Cody had taken from her, but luckily, there was more time to be had.

Strolling into the mall in jeans and runners, Jalen had her curly blonde hair down and around her shoulders, which were adorned with a pale blue t-shirt and a black leather jacket. Nothing fancy, but it was comfortable. The girl stood in line at her favourite coffee place, thinking a mocha frap would sit just right in her tummy, when she spotted a cute boy in front of her, who happened to remind her of Mr. Branson. She gulped, her sensitive hearing going into overdrive as he placed his order. He would have to really like green tea lattes in order to get one – they were one of her personal favourites, but were an acquired taste.

When he went to the other side to collect his order, she was staring at him, and the cashier’s smile was twitching. Weren't employees here supposed to be friendly? Offer her a free drink perhaps? Jalen shook her head and ordered her frappé, paid, and went to go wait for her drink as well – right next to the boy she had been staring at. Great... She thought to herself, glancing up at him. Why was she acting like this? Usually she would have said something by now, the flirt that she was. Jalen sighed, watching the boy’s drink be placed on the counter.

As if almost by habit, Jalen grabbed his drink, the familiar smell of matcha filling her nostrils. She didn’t hesitate to go to the table which held the various milks and lids, about to add cinnamon to the drink she believed was her own.

[Jason Simple]

*j*a*s*o*n*

Jace had, ever since the encounter with Adrianna at the Starbucks, learned that Starbucks had a very nicely laid out and extensive menu, and a different way to prepare everything in existence. And they listened to it all and did what you wanted. Now that he'd made his way through trying every kind of frapp imaginable, he was working down the list of lattes. This one he wasn't too sure about, but he was intent on trying everything this place had to offer, and so it was going to be consumed by him at least halfway. If he still disliked anything halfway through the drink, he gave up, but so far he was liking pretty much everything Starbucks threw at him.

He had just been waiting in line, placing his order the same as always and calling the cashier by first name, something that annoyed this one when Jace did it for some reason. He waited for his drink. He was slow in grabbing it because he was having a one-sided conversation with the person making the fancy foam on top of someone else's drink. When he went to grab the cup that had a Jason &hearts scribbled on it in sharpie, another hand whisked it away. He watched the girl walk away, slightly shocked, then looked at the cup that had just been set down for the girl. He picked it up and walked over to where she was standing at the "accessories bar", as Jace referred to it, and set the cup down next to her.

"Excuse me." He said, smiling quizzically. "In some countries taking a man's hot beverage and exchanging it with this is a crime." Lovely conversation starter, Jason. How about you mention the shocking lack of cinnamon on top of the pumpkin bread next.

[Jalen August]

Jalen’s head shot up towards the person speaking to her. The guy in line, and he was accusing of taking the wrong... drink... “Oh man,” she said, looking down at the drink she thought was hers. Sure enough, there was the name ‘Jason’ on the cup. She blushed profusely, and slipped a paper cup holder before presenting it to the boy named Jason. “I’m really sorry, I’ve never done anything like that before...” She said, looking at the drink that was rightfully hers on the condiment bar.

The blonde looked back up at the boy, he looked familiar. Actually, she was pretty sure it wasn’t just because he had strikingly similar features as Cody, no. She was pretty sure he sat near her during the sex ed seminar. “Again, I’m sorry,” she said, taking her iced drink, her dark eyes meeting his, “I usually have what you’re drinking.” Great, now she was going to sound like an eavesdropper. Her eyes lowered again, shielded by her lashes. “Thought I’d try something new today...” She said, still trying to defend herself, but the image of digging herself a deeper hold than the one she was in kept popping into her mind.

Shaking her head, the usually bubbly girl muttered, “I’ll stop bothering you now,” before making her way to a vacant table, considering never coming back to this mall again – too many memories.

[Jason Simple]

*j*a*s*o*n*

Jason watched in mild amusement as the girl practically jumped at the sound of his voice. He smiled at her and said, "It's okay." She was clearly a little out of it, and there wasn't any real harm done, so he just shrugged it off and took his original drink back for himself. It was when she kept apologizing and trying to explain herself that Jace started to look at her a bit closer. She was attractive, that was clear from the start, but also vaguely familiar. Like he knew her from somewhere, somewhere important...

Oh. Yeah, that's right. The sex ed seminar. That explained why he recognized her, he had been sitting near her then. Maybe he had seen her at Hammel at some other point, but that was the one place he had actually seen her in any kind of close-ish proximity. And now, he was certainly seeing her very closely, although he was trying not to stare. It would be rude otherwise. When she said she wouldn't bother him anymore, his eyebrows shot up, and he found himself speaking to reassure the girl, although she was already walking away. "Really, it's cool--" He sighed, taking a sip of the drink he'd ordered to see if anything needed to be added. It wasn't awful, but there was something he couldn't place that made him not immediately love it.

As he tried to find himself a table, Jace found himself passing by the blonde girl, and paused. He smiled down at her. "Hey. You know, you weren't bothering me, back there." He examined her face, taking another sip of his drink. "You, ah, mind if I sit here?" He was hoping she'd say yes. Starbucks was made better with company, and she seemed like she needed it.

[Jalen August]

Jalen just wanted to forget about this whole thing, sipping at her cold drink, her eyes hadn’t left the boy. She thought she was being a bit rude towards him, but could she say? Really, if she kept on sputtering words he was going to think she was mental. ‘Sorry for staring at you, but you look exactly like my ex, who I just broke up with a couple weeks ago, insert smiley face here.’ Yeah, that was not happening.

Jason was passing by her again, and she looked up at him with her dark eyes. Why was he looking at her like that? It was so – familiar. “People steal your drinks all the time?” She asked, pushing the seat across from her out with her foot, the back of the chair skidding into the boy’s leg. “Be my guest,” she said, but there were other tables which weren’t full. Why did he want to sit here?

“Jason, right?” She asked, pointing at the cup he was holding, a small grin on her face. This was her chance to recuperate from that awful set back. “How’s the drink so far? It’s an... acquired taste,” she said, taking a sip of her frosty drink. Next time, she as ordering what Jason had. “I’m Jalen, by the way, I think we go to Hammel together,” she said, cutting to the chase. Her eyes wondered over to the stores in the mall, and she considered buying a new iPod. Where would she be without it really?

She ran her hands through her hair, a sigh escaping her. “I really don’t like what I got,” she said, looking down at the drink on the table. “Mocha frap, just isn’t cutting it,” she offered, trying to make light conversation. She wasn’t in the mood for hot and heavy conversation, not when she was just starting to break out of her relationship woes.