Don't Kiss the Girl

[JD Paerson]

"Yes. He is annoying." JD said bluntly, then did his best to forget Zac. Why spoil a good day by imagining your personal human backpack overhearing everything you say?

JD shrugged. "It's not that big a thing, really. It's just a TV show." Then he grinned. "Yes, definitely Bugs Bunny. And Tom and Jerry. Good times. They even show some of those in Germany and other countries. I think it's because there's not as many words, so it's easier to switch countries. I got to watch a lot of the old cartoons as a kid." He smiled, remembering. His parents hadn't let him watch a lot of television, but what he could watch he always enjoyed.

He put up a head to try to defend himself. "Not saying your voice isn't just fine, I didn't mean to imply anything. I mean, you have a great voice. It was just if you wanted it to be better. Not because it needs it, just..." He trailed off. He knew at least when not to try to shove his foot farther into his mouth, at least sometimes.

Jalen hopped easily onto his back, which was a bit of a relief. He also was glad he didn't have to worry much about her falling off. She seemed quite confident, though whether in her own ability to hold on or in his ability not to topple over it was difficult to tell exactly. "Don't worry. I went to the bathroom before I came here." Because that sounded...smooth. He winced and hoped Jalen didn't notice before heading out.

JD stiffened slightly when Jalen reached into his pocket for his mp3. Then he forced himself to relax again--at least as much as he could--and accepted his iPod. "Thanks. It really does help." He selected a song and started to go, opting to hold the device in one hand instead of attempting to put it back in his pocket.

He was surprised when she called him "Superman." Was it that obvious a nickname, or had she heard it from somewhere? Had Zac or Robbie been sharing their new nickname for him? At least it didn't sound so bad when she said it--more of a compliment than a joke. "Let's go, then," he said, smiling and turning his head to see her expression. Then he turned up the volume on his music and started to go.

It was a bit harder for him to run with someone on his back, as he'd suspected. In addition to the extra weight he had to compensate now for being top-heavy and make sure that he wasn't running under any low-hanging branches. All of his dimensions and measurements were different, but the running itself was still instinctual. He wasn't able to reach top speed due to the turns of the pathway and the poor traction of the dirt, but he still managed to go pretty quickly. After about five minutes he began to slow, recognizing the area that he was coming up to and wanting to stop. He slowed for a minute, then brought himself to a careful stop, sliding sideways in the dirt.

"Here we are," he said, a bit breathlessly. He felt a bit light-headed, but nothing too bad. He estimated that carrying someone had used up his energy about 4 times faster than he ordinarily would have lost steam. It might be a challenge getting out again, if they decided to take the loop the long way around when heading back.

The place where he had stopped was near a small cliff. He stepped off the path and into the brambles, holding the branches aside so Jalen could follow him. "There's a river down there. Nice sandy bottom. And, of course, not too bad a view from here either." He sat on the edge of the cliff, dangling his legs over the edge. "Thanks for the help, by the way. It was good for me to have the practice, I think. And now my trainers can't yell at me for not doing practice on my own time."

He stood after a few minutes and stretched again. "Well, that was probably enough of a break. We should probably head back now. It's almost dinnertime."

[Jalen August]

Jalen managed a smile, “Well, at least he isn’t here now, so don’t worry about him. Hopefully I never have to deal with crossing that bridge,” she said with a grin. How bad could this person be, really?

Searching eyes scanned over JD as he tried to explain himself, flustering all over the place. “Relax JD, I was only joking,” she said with a carefree wave of her hand, dismissing his uncollected ramblings and moving on to the next topic of interest. She was happy that he didn’t care about her lack of television watching, so why would she make a big deal about his trying not to seem like a douche for thinking he made fun of her? Jalen liked to think she was a little more understanding than that – there were better things to be angry about.

Laughing at the boy’s response to her bathroom joke, Jalen shook her head. “Alright Sparky, guess we won’t have to worry about pee breaks then,” she was still only joking around, and hopefully JD would catch onto her playfulness soon, otherwise they were in for a long, boring, and awkward time.

”Let’s go then JD had said, turning to catch her eyes. Jalen thought she was going to melt into a puddle at the sight. She lowered herself closer to the boy and held her grin as the image of his smile became seared into her memory. Holding on tightly to both him and the bucket, Jalen was excited to see how fast they were going to be going. She tried to catch a glimpse of what was playing on his iPod at the moment, but he took off before she could see.

JD probably didn’t notice, but the view he had was amazing. He was a tall boy, and while Jalen was used to a view from the top, seeing it at high speed was even better. Her long hair was flying directly behind her and out of the way, and she loved how the wind pushed gently on her face. They weren’t going at supersonic speed or anything, but the girl could start to feel herself became a tad jealous at JD’s powers, which seemed more along the lines of what she would love to have, considering her passion for running. The trees were a green blur, but still beautiful.

Not a word was spoken between the two of them, and Jalen didn’t really mind. It was a comfortable silence, plus, she didn’t want to ruin JD’s concentration. It seemed like they had only just started and he was already slowing down. Jalen slid off JD’s back swiftly, landing on her feet, wobbling for a moment. “Forgot I had legs...” She said, finally gaining her balance as a relieved sigh escaped her lips. She looked up at the boy with a wide grin, “That was fun!”

Hesitating, Jalen wondered if it would be the best idea to follow someone she had only just met. He was being really sweet to her, unusually so. Or maybe, it was only unusual because most boys weren’t like this. The blonde decided to follow anyways, ducking under the branches and such that JD held out of her way. If he tried anything stupid, his eardrums would be just as shattered as the glass she was carrying in the small garbage bucket.

“You’re welcome,” she said, studying the back of JD’s head carefully. “Do you always run like a maniac to get where you’re going? Or do you stop to smell the roses once in a while?” Jalen asked her company, leaning down to grab an unusually tall dandelion. Okay, so it wasn’t a rose, but the white puffy seeds were fantastic. She was right about him though, as soon as he had sat down he was ready to go. Boredom probably struck this guy more easily than most – that could be a flaw, as Jalen often considered herself not the most interesting of people.

Offering the weed to JD, Jalen kept the bucket of glass-sand close, taking in the view. A clear river, a good looking sweet young man by her side – she didn’t really want to forget today. “I think I’m going to keep this...” She said softly, looking at the sand inside her bucket. She hadn’t really noticed before, but it was unusually white, and when the sun hit it just so, it was almost invisible.

Jalen thought maybe JD wanted to go because he wanted to get rid of her, and she understood – at least in her mind she did. “Thanks for showing me this place JD,” she said, holding his eyes momentarily as she wrapped both arms around the bucket of sand. She looked at the river once again, upping the soundwaves around her to hear the roar of the water crashing against the banks. She didn’t want to say bye, and she was stubborn enough to wait for him to do so first.

(OOC: Thread doesn’t have to be over unless you think this would be a good place to stop! Let’s see what happens?)

[JD Paerson]

He was...Sparky? Refreshing and sparky. JD was getting all sorts of new nicknames. He supposed he should be pleased about all this. Wasn't this supposed to be a sign of friends, that they gave you new names? And these were a lot better than some of the others he'd picked up over the years. So he decided it might be time to bestow some nicknames in return, even if he mightn't be as creative. "Right then, Blondie. All systems locked and loaded, or rather unloaded, and ready to hit the road. Zoom zoom."

Had he not been trying to keep himself from toppling over when they first stopped, JD would have reached over to steady Jalen. As it was, the most he could do was smile sympathetically. "Yeah, that happens. It took a while for me to get over the transition between speeds, too." He straightened and stretched for a moment. "I'm glad you enjoyed it and didn't get too sick or anything."

Jalen hesitated for a moment before following JD, and he realized that she was probably wondering if it was totally safe to be following someone who was almost a complete stranger off into the middle of nowhere. He wouldn't blame her for being afraid and was a bit surprised himself that she was willing to come at all. To make sure she didn't get more worried, he promised himself he wouldn't do anything that would make her feel uncomfortable.

"Nope, pretty much always in maniac mode," he said in response to her question. "Never was much interested in botany." He knew that wasn't exactly the question, but it was the best answer he could give right now. Though if she enjoyed running as well, maybe she also understood how it could be an escape instead of just a hobby. And when it was your escape, it was hard to make yourself stop at all.

He took the dandelion in his hand and looked at it thoughtfully. "My mother always said that if you made a wish and then blew all the seeds off a dandelion in one breath, your wish would come true." Taking a sideways glance at Jalen, he took a deep breath and blew off all the seeds. He plucked another flower from next to him and handed it back to her. "Your turn. Time to fulfill your wishes and help lots of other dandelion plants grow." The bare stem of the flower she had given him was tucked into the pocket of his jeans.

He didn't exactly understand why Jalen wanted to keep the shattered glass, but he realized that she wouldn't be able to keep it in that garbage bin forever. "Do you have a container for it? My mother kept sand from the beach where she had her honeymoon in a little glass bottle. But it's hard to find glass bottles anymore. You might have to do a hunt for one through some antique store somewhere." He was not good at shopping either and had no idea whether something like that could be found at another store in town. Glass bottles were old, in his mind, and only plastic ones could be found nowadays.

When JD saw that Jalen was willing to stay sitting by the cliff, he frowned momentarily. "I'm glad you like it here, Jay, but you can't just stay here on your own." He knew that they were far enough down the path that it would take her a good twenty to twenty-five minutes to get back on her own, probably more since she wasn't exactly dressed for running. By that time it would be getting late. Not wanting to abandon her, he sat down on the cliff edge again.

"When you're ready to go, I'll give you a lift back to the school. I don't want you to have to go back by yourself." He pulled out his iPod and fiddled with the controls, going through his playlist to try to select a song. Finally he settled on "Higher Power" by Boston, hitting the Play button then immediately pausing and turning off his device. Now it was all set for when he began the trip home.

[OOC: I'm good to keep going, just wanted to make sure there was room to close if you wanted. We also might want to redirect the thread back toward the school and possibly open a continuation thread in a new location.]

[Jalen August]

Grimacing, Jalen wasn’t too impressed with the nickname ‘Blondie’, but hopefully he would forget about it if she didn’t react to it. It was a horrible name really, but JD didn’t seem the type to seemingly call her stupid on purpose.

The seventeen year old smiled, fiddling with her hands by locking and unlocking her fingers together – a nervous habit she had picked up some time ago. “You don’t have to be interested in something to enjoy it,” she said, the feel of her own skin comforting. There were plenty of things she didn’t have a lot of interest in that intrigued her – like star gazing.

Brown eyes watched the boy eagerly, waiting to see if he would get all the seeds off in one go. Offering him a smile at his glance, Jalen was happy to see that he got them all. “What did you wish for?” She asked as she took the one he offered her, twirling it around between her thumb and forefinger. It was okay if some of the seeds fell as she did so. She thought for a moment, letting the first thing come to her mind be her wish. A smile momentarily flashed across her face before she blew the seeds away, tossing the stem onto the ground. “More dandelions just mean more wishes for someone else.”

Glancing down at the small pile of sand in the bucket, Jalen glanced up at JD. “You must love your mom a lot.” She said matter-of-factly, not trying to poke fun at the boy. She didn’t think he was a moma’s boy, but after he described his father, it wasn’t surprising that he would see his mother in a brighter light. “I have a container in mind already,” she added, giving the pail a small shake, watching the glass-sand shimmer within. It would be nice to have a memory of their time together. It was no honeymoon, but it was still a great day.

To say she was happy JD stayed would be an understatement, but she played it cool. “Why can’t I stay here alone?” She asked, looking at him as her legs swung beneath her. “It wouldn’t take that long to get to the school Jonah,” she said, letting his real name roll off her tongue before it could properly register. She had noticed her mistake though, and a blush rushed to her face. “Uh, I... I mean JD,” she was looking away from him now, searching for something else to say, “You don’t have to do that, you’re probably tired out.” That’s the best you have to come up with? She thought to herself, looking down at the sand pile. Today would be remembered as the day she made a complete fool of herself in front of a boy she really was starting to like.

Eyebrows furrowed, Jalen glanced to the boy’s iPod, “Good song,” she said simply, hoping things weren’t going to get awkward. “I’m ready to go back now,” she decided, getting up quickly. Her change of heart was simple – she wanted to be as far away from JD as possible, before he got a bad impression of her. It didn’t make any sense to ruin a perfectly good thing. A quick glance down at the memory in her hands attested to that. Glancing back at the boy, the blonde smiled sheepishly “I’m getting hungry.” There, that was a good excuse.

(OOC: Did you want to reply with a new thread?)

[JD Paerson]

"Never tell someone else your wish or it won't come true," JD told Jalen with a mock serious face. "And this one I am definitely holding onto." He watched her blow the seeds off her own dandelion, the tiny seeds blowing in a light wind before flying out over the edge of the cliff.

"I do love my mother," JD said, a bit surprised that she was mentioning it. "I don't see her much, though. Or talk to her, really. Not since I came here." It wasn't really meant to try to defend his relationship with his parents, just a simple statement of fact. He didn't go home a lot because he didn't like dealing with his dad. That meant not seeing his mother a lot, either. She was the person who had raised him, and he did still miss her sometimes. Like when he was thinking of old memories. He simply nodded at her reassurance that she already had a container. He wasn't going to press the issue.

When she said his first name, he jumped a bit. Nobody called him that, not even any of his teachers. Only his parents had ever used his first name. Yet when Jalen said it, it sounded...almost nice. Since she caught herself anyway, he decided not to comment on it. He'd still prefer if she said 'JD', but he supposed it wouldn't matter too much if she called him 'Jonah.'

"It's a good twenty minutes back to the school. I don't want you to have to walk back alone. Especially since I'm the one who brought you out here anyway. I can at least give you a lift back."

He brightened a bit when Jalen commented on his music. "It's not my favorite song," he said, "but it has a really good guitar beat in the background that helps me run. Though most people don't listen to Boston anymore, I still like some of the music."

She stood up next to him and he hurriedly stood as well. "All right then, I'll go ahead and carry you back. It'll only be a few minutes, and if you're hungry you probably don't want to have to walk all the way back to the cafeteria." He wasn't sure, though, if he should intrude on her dinnertime. He wasn't the best conversationalist during a meal; he got far too caught up in the actual eating process. "I can drop you off somewhere else, if you want. Maybe near the training fields--no one will be around there this time of day, and you don't have to worry about being seen." He knew he wasn't the best person to be caught around, so it was better to offer Jalen a way out.

Moving back onto the trail, he stood waiting, ready to give her a ride back to the school should she desire it.

[Jalen August]

A soft smile stayed on Jalen’s face. Just what had the boy wished for? “Fine, then I’m not telling you what I wished for either,” she said, a slight nod added a little edge to her otherwise playful statement. It wasn’t like JD had asked to know her wish, but the fact that he was making such a big deal out of his made Jalen more curious about it than she was willing to admit.

“Yeah, that’s what Hammel does to you – sucks you right in until you have total control of your powers,” she said, glancing at JD, “I’m pretty sure that’s their motto, or something to that effect anyways.” Of course Jalen had no idea where their ‘motto’ was, or if they even had one. “Do you still see them sometimes during the year though?” She asked, just trying to make conversation, not realizing she was also prying into the boy’s life. Maybe she wanted to get to know him better.

Running her hands through her hair to better cover her scar, Jalen couldn’t help by smile. “Why are you being so nice to me?” She asked bluntly, her dark eyes catching his smoky grey ones. She knew that he brought her here, but she also asked to be brought, it wasn’t like he had kidnapped her or anything. If he had, this would be a totally different scenario.

Watching JD move back to the trail, Jalen furrowed her eyebrows. Why would she worry about being seen? She hurried to catch up to him, touching his forearm to get his attention. “I’m not worried about being seen,” she said simply, offering him a smile. Taking a deep breath, Jalen took a couple steps beck and twirled her pointed finger around in a circle, “Well let’s go then, turn around, chop chop!” She said, grinning like an idiot. She didn’t want JD to think she was more sentimental than need be. She didn’t want him to see how clingy she was, how much she liked him already.

Once he let her back on, she dug around for his iPod once more, it was handy that she already knew where it was. “Let’s see what else you listen to then,” she said, hitting the next button on the boy’s iPod. Maybe if he was willing he would let her listen as he ran with her on his back.

[JD Paerson]

[OOC: This thread is continued at No Assumptions in the cafeteria.]