I Lost You Years Ago (Dylan)

[Blaire Montoya]

Looking for Jack was a lot more difficult than it seemed. She had absolutely no idea where he was, and for some reason he wasn't answering his phone. Still, it didn't mean she was going to stop trying to call him. It wasn't snowing, so she was lucky enough to be able to walk through the courtyard and not get covered in it. Still, she'd bundled herself up with a scarf and a decent jacket to try and avoid the cold.

Australians and cold; they rarely ever mixed.

Blaire moved with her phone in hand, typing out a message as she walked. It meant that her head was down, so when she came into contact with another human being she stopped suddenly and bounced back. "Sorry!" She called out, pocketing the device and looking back up at him. The more she looked at him, the more she started to realise she recognised him.

"It's you!" She began, "Dylan, right?"

[Dylan Alexander]

Unwrapping a sucker, Dylan absentmindedly popped it into his mouth as he bobbed his head to the music blaring from his headphones. He was cleaning up to go to the pool and was lost in his music.

Which was probably why once he finished packing his sheet music into his bag and left the room, he wasn't paying much attention to where he was going. Hence, the bump.

He accidentally bit the inside of his cheek and swore through the lollipop in his mouth and looked up to see who he hit. The first thought that ran through his head was that the girl was damn gorgeous. And then came the accent and then came the recognition.

Dylan had to stare at her for a long while before frowning. "Uh...yeah. Uh...I'm Dylan." He said dumbly. Shaking his head, he moved his lollipop to the side of his mouth and sucked lightly. "Um...you seriously look familiar. You know me, that means we have met before...right?"

[Blaire Montoya]

Blaire had thought so. She always had a knack for remembering names and faces. Years had made him age but at the core he still looked just like the guy she sort of knew years ago. This was bound to get a little embarrassing, especially when he didn't remember her name. But like the pro that she was, she took it all in stride. It wasn't worth fussing over.

"Sort of, yeah." She replied, indicating to herself. "As in, we went to high school together." Sort of being the operative phrase. He had a few years on her which meant that by the time she got to Hammel, he had pretty much leaving. But she still remembered him. She shook her head a few times, extending her hand out anyway and smiling at him. "Forget it. I'm Blaire, and I'm sorry for running into you."

[Dylan Alexander]

The longer he looked at the blonde, the clearer his memory of her became. When she indicated that they had, indeed, met before, Dylan smiled and nodded.

They hadn't actually crossed paths that often, seeing that he was graduating when she first came, or at least when he first noticed her anyway. Wow had she grown up.

"Blaire! That's right!" He grinned, taking her hand in his and shaking it lightly. "Eh, it's no big. I should have seen where I was going too." He pulled his hand from hers and scratched the back of his already messy hair. He suddenly felt a little self-conscious about his appearance in front of her. He hadn't worn his beanie because those aren't actually school-appropriate attire, which made his hair look even wilder than it usually was.

"Uh...haven't you graduated?" He asked, chuckling lightly.

[Blaire Montoya]

Blaire shook his hand, smiling at the eventual light of recognition he had in his eyes. That was a relief to see. Not that she really thought she would get recognised. It was almost ten years ago, and she wasn't even sure if they actually had a one on one conversation together. She just knew she remembered him for... Other reasons. And that was definitely not something she wanted to admit to.

School girl crushes, and all that. "Me too." She replied, finding her phone in her pocket and indicating to it by holding it up.

"Oh yeah, about five years ago." Blaire replied, though she couldn't help but laugh along with him at the question. "I actually have a brother who studies here now, and I was looking for him. I guess he's busy or something." She shrugged; he was a teenage boy after all and he seemed to be pretty popular around campus. "What about you? I take it you're here for a better reason?"

[Dylan Alexander]

Dylan chuckled when Blaire showed him her phone. So it wasn't entirely his fault. Not that he would point that out. That would just be rude. "Ah well...a man should always apologise first." He ended up saying.

Her laugh made him grin. At least she wasn't offended by what he said, though he figured it would be best to think first and blurt out later when it came to talking to girls. Especially ones who looked like Blaire.

"Oh! You have family here! That's cool." He smiled, already liking her even more. He had a younger sibling of his own that he adored and doted on. "I'm working here actually. Uh...swim coach and uh music teacher. Doing double duty here just because I can." He gave her a lop-sided smile, smoothing down the back of his hair.

"Are you staying in Pilot Ridge? Or are you just dropping by to see your brother?"

[Blaire Montoya]

"I'll take that as one, then." Blaire replied finally. She wasn't even sure if he had said sorry, but she was going to take it as such either way.

She nodded a few times when he reiterated the part about her having a sibling. When he said that he worked here, things seemed to come full circle for her and there was a light of recognition in her eyes. "Jack- My brother, he's into sports. I think he does track though." She'd thought that they couldn't both at the same time, "But his power is water based; he transforms with webbed hands and scales and- Ahh, you've probably seen him." She waved her hand idly, realising she was rambling and promptly stopping herself. Though she knew her brother took music classes because he played guitar.

"Oh, I live here now." She explained, indicating behind her as if it were an indication to where she lived. Absent minded movements and all that. "I'm studying at the University of Vermont, actually. And Jack's here, so I figured that was reason enough to come back and stick around." She smiled back at him, running her hand through her hair idly.

[Dylan Alexander]

"Huh?" Dylan looked at Blair with a small crease in his forehead out of confusion before he realised what had happened. He laughed and shook his head. "Oh right. I'm sorry! I guess I forgot to apologise. I'm sorry for bumping into you like that. I should have looked where I was going." He grinned sheepishly.

"Jack...damn I feel bad for this. I'm really bad at remembering people. Exhibit A," he gestured towards her with a little chuckle. "But I'll look out for him." He nodded.

He didn't know why the prospect of her living in Pilot Ridge excited him but it did and he showed it. "Oh, I'll see you more often then." He gave her a lop-sided grin, one hand stuffed deep in his pocket and the other stretched out to gesture to her. "I'm glad to hear that." He chuckled awkwardly before looking away, wondering why he even woke up that morning.

"Um...so, you live on campus?" he asked, twirling the sucker in his mouth, unaware that it definitely made him look childish.

[Blaire Montoya]

Blaire smiled finally at the apology that came from him. She didn't really need it, or more to the point it didn't really bother her either way. But it was cute that he said it, regardless.

"Most Aussie's go to the school Switzerland; Exhibit B," She replied lightly, grinning in his direction and indicating to herself, "Though I was only there for a while. But yeah, he's hard to miss once you hear him."

Blaire offered him an involuntary confused expression first before it broke into a smile. At least she didn't straight up laugh about it, though she did have a tendency to do that at the wrong times. "Yeah, you probably will if you want to." She answered finally.

"Oh no, I have my own place. An apartment near the lake, actually." She felt the twinge of the phone in her pocket, indicating that it was probably a phone call and it was probably Jack. Blaire couldn't really help but smile at him anyway, what with the way he was treating that lollypop in his mouth. "So you live in Pilot Ridge too, right? We should catch up some time."

[Dylan Alexander]

Okay, so her smile was pretty distracting, Dylan thought to himself, hoping against all odds that she didn't have telepathy.

"I'll keep that in mind." He chuckled at her description of her brother. "Mental note, made." He said out loud before frowning to himself. Did he just say that? The music teacher looked back up at Blaire with a grin at her statement. "Yeah? Yeah. I mean. Sure. If...you don't mind."

Wow, he didn't have any game at all, did he?

"Oh yeah? That's cool. I'm nearer to Burlington. Bit of a drive but I like it." He nodded happily. "But yeah, we should definitely meet up downtown. Give me your number, I'll text you or something." He fished his phone out of his pocket and gave it to her so she could program her number in there.

[Blaire Montoya]

Blaire nodded, offering a thoughtful expression that broke away into a smile. "I don't mind." She replied simply, and left it at that.

"I don't mind the distance either. Plus I get to ice skate whenever I want when the weather's like this." She joked, grinning at the thought in tandem with how much she knew Jack appreciated the location of her place. She retrieved the phone from his hands, turning it in her hands and typing her number in. Once she read it over again to ensure it was right, she handed it back to him. "Yeah, you could text me. Or something." She repeated with a nod, placing her hand in her pocket and curling her fingers around her phone.

Blaire felt it ring again, and she took a small step backwards from him with an apologetic look on her face. "I have to ahh, take this." She pointed out, retrieving her phone and indicating to it with her free hand. "But yeah. You should message me."

[Dylan Alexander]

Not reading too much into the look Blaire was giving him, Dylan only nodded and acknowledged what she said next. "Sweet." He grinned and while she typed, Dylan chuckled at her statement about skating. It sounded awesome though. Maybe he should ask if she wanted to do that with him.

Hmm...

"Better be the right number." He teased, shaking his phone as an indication to what he was saying. He sounded like such a creeper so he quickly deposited his phone and held both his hands up, gesturing for her to take it.

"Um...yeah, I will. Uh...yep, text. Good to see you again...Blaire. Gotta remember that name now. So uh...bye." He held up one hand in a wave and turned around before realising he was actually going the other way.

"Wrong way," he chuckled, pointing to where he had been heading. He turned to where he was supposed to go and waved to Blaire again. A grin spread across his face as he realised he had gotten a girl's number.