Pricks and Pool Sticks (Closed)

[Elisia Lark]

“Never said I was trying to make you feel better. You’ll need a different girl for that one,” It came off a little harsh, but really she was a competitive girl by nature even if she acted sweet outside of the competition. She was more focused on the game at hand really than his reaction to what she said. There were times when she sounded just like her brother and others when people would know they weren’t related at all. During a competitive game, she sounded a lot like Robbie.

As he threw the white flag, she narrowed her eyes. After all the crap he had been talking, how was she supposed to know that he wasn’t as sexist as he came off? Everything had been about her being a girl, when really he could have been hustled easily by anyone that was as good as her. Robbie for instance would have ended the game a lot sooner. “Well get used to it, and maybe quit with all of the stupid girl remarks. You sound like a jerk when you say stuff like that,” Ellie backed down from him and looked back at the pool table. One thing about Elisia was that she could be harsh when something bothered her and she would be completely honest about how she felt.

While Chris lined up his shot, she watched intently. Okay, so he really wasn’t terrible and she had to admit that if he beat her, it’d be fair enough. Not that she had any intention of kissing him, but it would be a well-deserved win for catching her at her hustling. He was just about to sink the last ball before the 8 when he got too cocky and missed the pocket he had been lined up with altogether. “You’re good, but you’re also pretty arrogant. Confidence is one thing, cockiness is another completely.”

Elisia rolled her eyes, “And I haven’t won yet, so don’t jinx me!” She lined up for her last couple of shots. First one in the right corner pocket up top, second in the left center pocket, all she had now was the 8 ball and she’d win. Lining up to ricochet the cue ball of the wall and hit the 8 into the left back pocket, she pushed the pool stick forward making it hit the white ball. It bounced off the wall in precisely the right spot and knocked the 8 in the left corner. “Now, I’ve won.”

[Chris White]

"You're becoming quite feisty, aren't you?" Chris said with a grin after Ellie's harsher comment. "It works for you," he commented a second later, "a lot better than the little innocent angel who doesn't know how to play pool that you were pretending to be before." Chris liked innocent girls, but he liked bad girls a lot more. He thought they were much more likely to hook up and a lot less likely to become a dreaded clinger. The cast of Jersey Shore avoids grenades, and Chris avoids clingers. They're so annoying...

Ellie pointed out that he sounded like a jerk, and she was right, he did sound like a jerk. He decided to avoid the subject though. He knew it would eventually spiral into an argument. Some girls just didn't know when to quit, especially when they were all emotional and offended. Plus, he already raised the white flag so to speak, so he moved the conversation in a different direction completely. "There goes feisty Ellie again," he said before letting out a sexy, seductive growl like you would see in a cheesy romantic comedy movie.

She was right about Chris being arrogant, too. He has been told that probably thousands of times between his family, friends, teachers, and coaches. He knows he's cocky, but he doesn't see it as a disadvantage. His cockiness fuels his confidence. "Yeah, yeah, I know."

After the 8 ball went into the pocket, it was official, Chris lost. "Yeah, you won," he said through gritted teeth, trying his best to suppress his anger. He grabbed the five dollar bill he had on the table. He handed it to her. "Here you go."

Chris took a deep breath and put the pool stick away. "Do you hustle people often?"

[Elisia Lark]

Elisia raised an eyebrow, “Feisty?” Well that was something she hadn’t been called before. She just hoped she wasn’t coming off as mean because really she didn’t dislike him, he seemed nice enough though she could do without the constant flirting. Most of it was lost on her, but she knew he was the type to do that sort of thing. Maybe if he was lucky she’d even consider being a friend, but that was just it. A friend. “Oh gee thanks. And I am innocent thank you very much.”

Arguing with Chris would be a lost cause of that she was sure so it was best for him to avoid the subject completely. Not that she was the type of girl to go on and on and on about how much of a jerk he was, but still, she’d have pushed her limits a little. Giving a short laugh she actually smiled. He was kind of funny when he wasn’t making jerk comments. His little purr (because it did not sound like a growl to her at all) was a little awkward though and she just looked at him strangely.

Elisia smiled at his dismissive answer and found herself actually having fun now. Especially since she had won and didn’t need to give him a kiss. Nice guy, sure, but not one that she wanted to kiss. Ew. She took the five and stuffed it in her back pocket, “Sorry for hustling you, but you have to admit it was a fun game. At least it was close right?” She asked with a smirk. He put the pool stick away and she put hers away also giving a shrug, “Only when I’m with my brother, or if I think the person deserves it.”

[Chris White]

Chris laughed loudly. "Yeah right. Innocent girls aren't hustlers" he mocked. "You can get beat up in certain places for hustling, you know that right?" It was true. It happened on TV all the time (that made it true, right?).

"Yeah, no, it's wasn't very fun. Losing sucks," Chris admitted, "but now I know not to underestimate you." He definitely learned his lesson. He wouldn't take up bets with strangers, especially of the cute female variety, unless he looked into it a bit further first. He silently promised himself that today was the last day he would get hustled so easily by a girl.

"You think I deserved it? Are you calling me a bad person?" Chris smirked. "Well, you're probably right. I'm not the nicest person in the world, and I like to do a lot of things I'm not supposed to do." He grabbed one of the pool balls, tossed it up in the air and caught it a few times. "I'm sure you're not perfect either. Want to share?"

The game is over and the money is gone. Chris figured he might as well stick around and get to know the girl a little better.

[Elisia Lark]

Elisia snorted, “Well I am innocent, but my brother taught me how to hustle because he thought it might come in handy and it turned out he was right.” She looked at him as he warned her against hustling certain people in certain places. She’d watched plenty of tv and she knew that he had picked it up from there. “That’s ridiculous, it isn’t like I plan to hustle anyone at a bar.”

She rolled her eyes as he complained about losing. Typical guy. Robbie was pretty much the same way whenever he lost, but that was Robbie and she loved him. Chris didn’t get off that easily. “Oh quit your whining. It’s one game, I’m sure if we played again you’d beat me.” Lies. She’d probably beat him much faster if they played again because she wouldn’t feel the need to take it easy on his ego.

Ellie giggled, “Yes I am actually, and you so did deserve it. I saw how you taunted that boy before we played.” She smiled as he admitted to not being a very nice guy. Well, at least he was willing to say he did bad things. “I am quite perfect, an angel if you will. There’s nothing to tell really, but I’d be willing to hear some of your stories if you’d like to share them.”

[Chris White]

"Oh yeah, it was really handy," Chris said with strong sarcasm, "it won you a whopping five dollars!" He rolled his eyes and smirked. "If you were smart, you'd hustle at the bars. You could make a lot more money there than you would here," he informed her. "You won't catch me bar hustling though. I'm technically not allowed to get in." It was true, he was a year off from being able to legally enter bars, but that has never stopped him before. He has become quite good at fixing his brother's old driver's licenses up with his picture.

Chris scoffed. "It's not just a game, I lost money!" He really didn't care too much about losing the five dollars. He was still more upset about being beaten by a girl than anything else. "I'm definitely not playing you again either. Losing once is bad enough. Any more than that and I'll have to give up pool for the rest of my life." He was joking, but he still didn't want to play her again.

"There's nothing wrong with a little taunting. It's only a problem if you allow yourself to be taunted like he did. I'd say he deserved it more than anything," he explained to her. "I doubt you're as innocent as you say you are. No one is." He smirked. "I won't tell you anything unless you confess one of your sins to me... a good one too... or you give me an awesome kiss."

[Elisia Lark]

Ellie rolled her eyes, “Bitter much? And yes, it was handy because it kept me from having to suffer through kissing you.” Okay, she was joking, Chris wouldn’t have been that bad to kiss because he was pretty cute, but she had her sights on someone else. “And usually I don’t do it for money, I do it to teach a lesson,” She said as he told her it would pay off to hustle at bars. If she ever did that, Robbie would be there to protect her from the scary men that might come after her for taking their money. “’Technically’ doesn’t keep you out though I’m sure.”

His complaining had her snorting, “Oh but Chris it’s just five dollars, no big deal right?” Chris was actually lucky enough to see her sassy side, few people ever got through enough to pick up on it, but it was actually fun. “You’re just upset because it was me that beat you. You wouldn’t care if it was anyone else like a guy.” It was completely necessary to mess with him, in fact it was really entertaining seeing him all huffy.

“Oh sure, but it’s still not right just like hustling isn’t,” She pointed out with smile. And she really was as innocent as she said. The only bad thing she did was hustle. And that was only for Robbie. “I don’t have any sins to confess! And I am so not giving you a kiss. You want that kiss you’re going to have to beat me at pool.”

[Chris White]

"Pfft. You'd love a kiss from me. I'm great at it," Chris assured her. "It'll be the best kiss you ever had. Heck, maybe if you're as innocent as you say you are, it'll be your first. Wouldn't that be a treat for you? You could tell everyone that your first kiss was from Chris White. Everyone would envy you for sure." If it wasn't obvious before that he thought highly of himself, it was now. "You must not be a very good teacher then. All I learned from you was that I can't underestimate you anymore." Truth was, Chris was pretty dense at times. If Elisia wished to teach him a lesson, she'd have to pound it through his thick skull first. "I go almost every weekend. It's quite fun. I bet you'd be smashed only after one drink."

Chris laughed. She caught him. "No, I would definitely care if it was a guy that beat me. I don't like losing to anyone." He was telling the truth. Elisia being a girl only made it even more annoying.

"I'm sure as hell not playing you again," he said while crossing his arms. "I think you owe me a kiss anyway. I mean, I did teach you to play... even if you already knew how. You owe me." Chris figured that the likelihood of convincing the girl to kiss him was slim to none, but he decided to throw that out anyway. What harm could it do? The worst she could do was so no, and Chris would move on to some other girl. That's just how he worked.

[Elisia Lark]

Elisia looked at him unimpressed as he went on about how amazing it’d be to kiss him. Sure, if he kissed her, it would be her first kiss but she was damn sure that she didn’t want to kiss him. Robbie had warned her against guys like this and she wouldn’t disappoint her brother by doing anything like that. “Uhm, no. I’m fairly sure half the girls in this school have kissed you so they wouldn’t really envy me since they’ve been there and done that. So I’ll save it for the girls that actually would enjoy it,” Ellie said with a smile. She was still attempting to be nice and spare his ego.

“Well that’s a good lesson to take then, how about instead of not underestimating me, you don’t underestimate anyone?” She said quietly. If he was going to take a lesson it shouldn’t be specifically about her, he should apply it to everyone. She wasn’t the only person capable of hustling him because, well frankly he wasn’t as good as he liked to believe. And she definitely wasn’t surprised by the fact that he went drinking every weekend. “I’m sure it is and I wouldn’t know because I’m waiting until it’s legal.” Or until Robbie tried to sneak her in, but she’d only go drinking with someone she trusted if it was going to be underaged.

Ellie smirked, “See you’d care, but not as much as you do right now. C’mon Chris you and I both know it bothers you more because it is me.” She believed that he didn’t like losing and she knew he would have been annoyed and probably would have been a little harsher if it had been a guy who beat him. At least he wasn’t being as big of a jerk anymore. He was actually sorta funny.

If she was more comfortable, she probably would have picked on him a little more about how he was too afraid to play her again. But she wasn’t. His reasoning behind why she should kiss him was pretty solid, but not working. Ellie knew for a fact that he wouldn’t care if she kissed him or not. He’d have another girl in a second. Probably in less than that. “Fine, you know you’re totally right,” she answered with a smile. Stepping closer to him she leaned in and gave him a peck on the cheek. “There, you never did specify so, that’ll just have to work.”

[Chris White]

"Half the girls in the school? What? Do you think I'm some kind of man-whore or something?" Chris said with mock surprise. He shrugged his shoulders. It might be true. "You don't have to save it though. I've got plenty to go around."

What Elisia said made sense to Chris. She was absolutely right, he shouldn't underestimate anyone, and he wasn't afraid to admit that now. "You have a point there," he told her, "I guess the lesson is learned then. Is there anything else wish wish to school me on, Ms. Hustler?" He then laughed because Hustler was the name of a pornographic magazine. "And you're right, it does bother me. Are you happy now?"

Chris smirked when she gave him a kiss on the cheek. He was surprised she'd be willing to give him even that, but he definitely was not satisfied. He wanted to see if he could get something more out of her. "What are you, my grandmother? Let's do a real kiss," he said as he took a casual, nonthreatening step toward her, hoping she would close the distance and give him what she wanted. "You'll enjoy it. Trust me."

[Elisia Lark]

“Shocking right?” She laughed and shook her head. “Oh no it’s fine, I’ll save it for them. That way you’ll have plenty more to go around,” Ellie smiled and raked her fingers through her hair. Chris was relentless, though she figured he was just messing around. He wouldn’t want anything from her, it wasn’t like she was hot stuff or anything.

Ellie was glad that he actually got the lesson now. It took a while, but hey, at least he did finally understand the point. His inside joke was lost on her however because she didn’t know any types of dirty magazines. “Nah, I think you’ll do just fine with that one. Maybe some other time I’ll teach you a different lesson,” Wait had she just insinuated that she’d see him another time? Hm, interesting. “Was that so hard to admit?”

It was shocking even to her that she had done that. Then again, it wasn’t anything all that special. As he’d said, it was more grandmotherly than anything. It was doubtful that she would actually give him a real kiss like he was asking for. She was saving that for someone she actually liked. He took a step forward and she smirked. Closing the little bit of distance she reached out like she was going to cup his cheeks and instead pinched them, “Little Chrissykinz, you wouldn’t like a kiss from grandma.” Stepping back again Elisia folded her arms across her chest and laughed.

[Chris White]

Chris rolled his eyes. It would take a miracle to get a real kiss from Elisia. He was pretty close to just giving up. It was obviously she wasn't going to relent anytime soon anyway. "Yeah, it was hard to admit," he replied, "I have a reputation to uphold, you know?" For a second after, he paused. "Wait a minute, did you just say 'another time'?" he asked with a laugh. "Checkmate, girl. You like me." Oh yeah, he thought he had her on the ropes. "Maybe there won't be a next time unless I get a real kiss out of you."

Chris didn't smile when his cheeks were pinched. It was an all too familiar thing from his extended family. "Well, ha ha, aren't you funny!" he said sarcastically. "Last chance or you just might miss the opportunity of a lifetime." Chris leaned against the pool table and crossed his arms. A cocky grin sat on his face.

[Elisia Lark]

"Oh yes, the dreaded reputation of beating everyone at everything!" Ellie mocked with yet another roll of her eyes. Seriously everything he said was so ridiculous. Guys like him were so melodramatic. You'd expect that sort of thing from drama club kids, not so much jocks. If she wasn't as innocent as she was, she might have cursed right then and there, but she was a good girl that didn't swear. So instead she said, "Shoot." Arching her eyebrow she shook her head, "Oh no. How ever will I choose, to kiss or not to kiss that is the question. I choose not to."

Though Chris didn't smile, she sure did. It was pretty funny considering he actually thought he'd get a kiss from her. She nodded, "Oh sure, chance of a lifetime. I'm pretty sure you give every girl that chance darling and I'm not every other girl. You want it, you have to work for it." Ellie just looked at him with that cocky smirk and chilled posture. He really thought he was so cool.

[Chris White]

"Hey, that's a serious reputation to upkeep. It puts a lot of pressure on me you know?" he said with a bit of seriousness. Chris really did take his reputation seriously, at least that reputation.

When Ellie once again denied him, Chris knew he was done for the day. He might have an opportunity to get a piece of her later, but for now, it was a bit of a lost cause. "Okay, your loss," he said as he shrugged his shoulders. "Don't cry yourself to sleep tonight over this bad decision."

Chris actually didn't plan on working at it. He knew an opportunity would arise where he would swoop in and take what he wanted. That's pretty much what always happened. In the mean time, he would go for some other, more willing girls. "You're really missing out, you know?" he said with a grin. "Don't be jealous if you see someone else taking advantage of my offers in the future."

[Elisia Lark]

Elisia nodded, "Oh I'm sure. Not as fun to keep that one up as the whore rep huh?" So maybe that was a little harsh, but hey, it was true. He continued spewing how it was her loss and how she was missing out but really she didn't mind missing out on something like that.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure to keep the raging envy hidden," She laughed and nudged him. Who knew, maybe they would really become an unlikely pair of friends. Looking up at the clock she realized it was just about time to get to studying. Her schedule was thoroughly packed and though she would love to continue this conversation with Chris, she really did have to go.

"Okay, well I've gotta get going. I've got some crazy stuff I have to do, but I'm throwing a party on the 23rd right before Christmas and everything, but there will be plenty of booze and girls. You should stop by if you have the chance," Ellie gave him a smile kissed his cheek once more, giving him a quick hug. "Seriously, try and stop by. I'll see you around, remember what I taught ya!" And with that she headed out of the student lounge back to her room.