Everyone wants to be loved (open)

[Guy Roeby]

“I didn’t know... What? It’s a quote?” Guy raised his hands in surrender. He liked girls, he really did, they just weren’t his thing, he wasn’t good with them. Animals didn’t talk back and have feelings you could hurt unintentionally. “I really thought it was, original.” He scratched the back of his neck and laughed nervously. He was such a dweeb.

“Don’t worry, I play football,” he said, as though Mia would understand the mental pathways he had taken to make such a blurted sentence. Guy was just trying to say he was strong and nothing bad would’ve happened had she run into him, but he wasn’t that eloquent, and he probably never would be. Just keep your eyes focused ahead and pretend you didn’t actually make the stupidest remark yet. Guy hoped things would only go up from here.

Guy laughed a bit and shook his head. “Nope, that sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.” Kind of like him waking up in the morning and moving out of his bed, only more disastrous than that. “My mom told me once that our cat could swim, just to trick me,” he smirked at the thought of her, missing her, “I didn’t fall for it.” Come on, he wasn’t stupid... in theory...

Blushing slightly as he was caught singing, Guy chuckled to himself. He started the rap verse, “Oooo, chickabooboo ba babababa,” before realizing he didn’t know the rap verse at all. He was coming out of his shell at least, and he was distracted by the swats the cat was making at his strings. “Oh hey,” he said looking at Mia’s hands, “whatcha got there?” He meant the scooper, but maybe she wouldn’t take it that way.

[Mia Bell]

Mia chuckled and looked at him “You really don’t have to do that.” Anyone would have to live inside a rock to not know that, that was a quote. “I’m not good at coming up with things on the spot.” Or maybe she just didn’t want to try; how lazy did that make her sound? It wasn’t that her feelings were hurt, she just felt foolish.

“Really? That’s cool! So when I see you again, it would be okay if I tackle hugged you?” She said jokingly, she wasn’t sure if she would actually do that. She really didn’t see anything lame about his comment, she actually found it to be pretty cool. And plus side, he knew something else about the boy. The next game she would have to keep an eye on him.

“Aww, come on. It would only be a few scratches.” She teased; but maybe it would be a disaster waiting to happen. She shrugged “Cats do groom themselves.. So they really don’t need baths.” Unless they had flees, then they needed baths. “really? Well I’m sure cats could swim if dogs can… I think for animals swimming comes more naturally to them than us humans…” Because humans were just stupid like that, but she wasn’t going to say that.

Mia forced herself not to chuckle at his attempt to rap. It was obvious that he either couldn’t rap or just didn’t remember the verse. “I only remember one part of the song where he’s rapping..” And it wasn’t the best part in the song either; it wasn’t a verse she wanted to sing but would if Guy wanted her to. Mia looked at the thing in her hand, “Oh, the pooper scooper for Mr. poopy pants.” She held it out to him, she was only joking, considering he had been saying ‘pooper scooper awhile ago which is where the poopy came from. And besides that it was from one of her favorite TV shows. “That wasn’t meant to be offense…” Just in case he saw it that way…

[Guy Roeby]

“Don’t have to do what?” He asked, confused. What was Mia even talking about? Maybe if he saw it written somewhere it would ring a bell, but at the moment, he was too focused to let himself remember.

“No one’s ever done that before,” Guy said, sizing her up. “Yup, I could handle that.” He loved making new friends even though he wasn’t very good at doing so.

“If you drop a newborn baby human into water, they’ll paddle,” he said with a grin at the random facts he retained, and then his face dropped. “Not that I’ve ever done that before. I don’t have any kids to try it with... I mean! Uh...” His face felt heated and he just stopped trying to explain himself.

Guy smiled broadly. “I’m not offended,” he said, tilting his head to the side. She didn’t have to sing, but she could if she wanted him to. Taking the scooper, Guy went to work. He was just about finished with the first bin, when the cat he had been playing with before trotted over, swatting at the drawstring on his pants, which was very close to... other parts.

“Hey Jingles,” he said, taking a couple steps away from the job at hand, laughing. “This is serious business here,” he said, giving the cat a serious face, before looking around for a garbage can.

[Mia Bell]

Mia blinked at Guy, then scratched the back of her head “Er.. Never mind” She said giving a sheepish smile. Apparently the boy did live under a rock… That or didn’t know anything about quotes, because the one she used was a popular quote.

Mia chuckled “really? I guess I’ll just have to be the first!” She stuck her tongue out a little. Now she was defiantly going to have to tackle hug him the next time they met.


“Where did you hear that? That is such a myth… Newborn humans can barely move their arms and legs there’s no way they would be able to paddle much less move their head to keep it above water…” It was one of those things that would never be found out, unless if you were just cruel. “Who the heck would do that anyways?” Someone had to know and there was only one way to find out…. “It’s fine. Your too nice to do anything like that.” She smiled, it was a compliment.

Mia took another pooper scooper and went to clean one of the other liter boxes. Chuckling at how the kitty almost neutered Guy with its claws. “More like their business.” She laughed a little at her own pun.

[Guy Roeby]

Guy just shrugged. He didn’t dwell on the smile she was giving him, and turned away obliviously. What? Had she said something? Oh right, the tackling thing. Scratching the back of his neck again, Guy only looked slightly uncomfortable at the thought of a pretty, outgoing girl tackle hugging him. But who knew, maybe it would make everyone else on the team respect him or something. “I’ll hold you to it, get it? Hold you?”

“Nope, nope, it’s true,” and then he frowned, “unless you know, the child psychology textbook I’m reading is wrong.” It sounded crazy, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t awesome. “It’s a survival instinct,” Guy said, trying to make his point and case. Then he shrugged, feeling dumb for even bringing it up in the first place.

“Well they could say thanks,” Guy said, dumping the doo doo into the trash bin. Mr. Jingles mewed and Guy looked over at him. “You’re welcome,” he said, going to the next one. There were plenty of cats here, and if you were a good pet owner, you had one litter box per animal. So there were a few to clean. At least they weren’t too stinky.

Mr. Bo Jingles went over to Mia’s leg, rubbing up against her looking for affection. Guy smiled, he just loved animals. “You must smell like fish,” he said, not really thinking about the words coming out of his mouth.

[Mia Bell]

Mia chuckled “Awesome pun!” Guy was nice, super awkward, but she was okay with awkward. Hopefully one of these days the will get pass that awkwardness.

“Really?” She raised an eyebrow “wow.. That’s something I’m going to have to look into..” Then she thought about what that would imply. She put her hand up “Not that I don’t believe you! I’m sure it is in a textbook. But I just like looking into things like that. Especially since I’m really into psychology…” Mia looked at him and tilted her head to the side a bit “Are you into psychology?”

“Aw! I’m sure they’re saying ‘thanks’ .” She chuckled as the one cat started mewing. “see!” Mia got up to throw the plastic bag of poo and pee into the trashcan. And went to the next litter boxes “Do we have to clean all of them? Or like should we?” Mia didn’t mind, it wasn’t like she had anything better to do.

“Oh, well hello there.” She said as she started scratching Mr. Bo Jingle behind the ear. “Fish? Are you trying to tell me something?” She said jokingly, but she really wasn’t joking. Did she really smell like fish?“I need to clean myself better if I smell like fish…” She mumbled…

[Guy Roeby]

If anyone hung around Guy long enough, they would eventually come to find his awkward nature endearing and rather hilarious. It didn’t happen in a day though, he was terrible with first impressions. Mia was just lucky to have found him in his element.

Guy smiled a bit and shook his head, “I didn’t take any offense, it’s good to be skeptical and not just believe what some random person says.” Then he smiled a bit and nodded. “Love it. I just wish they had a class at the school. But hey! I could borrow you the textbook... if you want?”

Shrugging, Guy carried on to the next litter box, closer to Mia. “Wouldn’t hurt anyone. Then no one else has to do it until later.” It made sense to him.

The same cat Guy had dubbed three different names by now wouldn’t leave Mia alone. He chucked to himself and then his face fell. “No, I didn’t, uh, mean it like it I just thought he...” and then Mia looked so worried, it made Guy nervous. “I was just teasing you,” he laughed nervously, “you actually smell really good...”

Okay, that did it.

His vision went fuzzy on him, and he closed his eyes. “Please don’t be naked!” He said then, carefully taking a peek. He let out a sigh. “Nope, just muscle vision this time,” he laughed a bit in relief. He could just smack himself right now, it wasn’t any wonder that no girl liked him.

[Mia Bell]

Mia already found Guy’s awkwardness cute, though that was probably an adjective he didn’t want to hear. But Mia worked well with awkward, sometimes, other times she made it more awkward but she still didn’t mind it.

Mia nodded and then gave him a warm smile. “I love it too, but sometimes it makes me feel bad for myself…” She wondered if he knew what she was getting at. When a textbook said what was wrong with your life because of certain things, it made her hate herself even more. “I wish the school did too. That way I could learn more about it than just reading it in a textbook. And that would be great! You don’t mind though?”

Nodded to his statement in agreement; “Yeah, It’s not like I have anything better to do.”

She continued to pet the cat, forgetting about the dirty litterbox that she had to clean. Mia chuckled “It’s okay. I should have known you were only teasing. And thank you!” She blushed a little, now a little embarrassed

Turned to look at Guy, her face one of confusion. “Huh?” She wasn’t really sure what he had meant by that, or if he meant anything by it. Was he expecting her to take her clothes off or something? “Muscle vision?” She was still completely confused.

[Guy Roeby]

Guy smiled softly, “Hey, we’ve all been through bad things, that doesn’t make us bad,” he said sympathetically. He glanced down and then back up at her. It was hard not to overanalyze everything he did to begin with, but he was starting to realize it wasn’t because of something he’d been through, but rather just something was wrong with him, his personality.

“So long as you don’t give it to someone else,” Guy said, wondering how he’d get the book to her. He’d probably just walk around campus with it until he spotted her randomly. Yes, that made the most sense to him. “And you like child psychology?” That’s what this one was about.

Well this had been a nice segue from embarrassing himself into a different topic to embarrass himself with. “It’s my power,” he said, sitting on the ground and waiting for it to pass. A different cat came to curl up in his lap, starving for attention. “Well, part of my power. I have other fields of vision too,” he smiled down at the animal, as though he were talking to it and not Mia. “It’ll make trying to be a vet a lot more fun, won’t it? Yes it will!” His voice had petered out into baby talk.

[Mia Bell]

Mia nodded “You’re right! Of course. But it’s not the fact the it makes me a bad person but sad for myself.. You know?” She felt a little weird talking to him about her inner turmoil.

“Nah, I won’t. I would never feel right giving someone something that wasn’t mine.” All he had to do was ask around the dorms, she was pretty sure most people knew which dorm she lived in. But just in case “My dorm is 2-0-1. You can drop it off even if I’m not there my roommates are pretty good with package delivering.” Even so, she couldn’t help but wonder if this was just an excuse she made to see him again. He was nice, and cool, and seemed like he would be a great friend. “Well I like psychology in general. So any branch of psychology I think I would like. Not to mention I’m just the kind of person who wants to just keep learning..” If the last part made sense.

“Your power?” His power was muscle vision? That was a pretty weird power, it would be a great power for doctors and vets. “What are your other fields?” She asked tilting her head as she petted the cat that still wanted attention from her. Mia opened her mouth to respond but realized he wasn’t talking to her so she closed her mouth and let it be.

[Guy Roeby]

“I think so. Can I clarify?” Guy asked, even though he wasn’t really looking for permission because he was going to blab on anyways. “I think some things about us should remain a mystery, and I think we put labels on things that are maybe just a part of who we are.” It was okay that he was a little odd, right? No one was trying to treat him for it and no one should. The world needed diversity.

“It’s not like a lot of people ask to borrow textbooks,” he said with a shrug, realizing that what he had said before probably sounded stupid. He nodded, wondering if he was going to remember the room number and if he didn’t, would he ask again? “I tend to just remember random facts...” he said with a subtle grin. Nothing like subtly mentioning you were an idiot.

“I don’t really know, I keep finding new ones,” he said, his mental list popping into his mind. The cat he was petting blindly swatted at him and Guy opened his eyes, frowning at the animal. Yep, still all muscle. “So far I have muscle, x-ray, and... naked...” That last one he wasn’t very proud of and didn’t like at all. Even though he was a guy and had desires once in a while, that field of vision was just surprising!

“What’s your power?” He asked, finally looking up at her.

[Mia Bell]

She shrugged “Go for it.” She listened intently and nodded along to show she was listening. “What happens when the thing that remains a mystery make you too much of who you are now? Should it still remain a mystery? Or should it be picked away and analyzed?” Mia agreed with the label thing “I think people put labels on things, to make the mysterious parts of ourselves, not so mysterious. And for some people that gives them comfort and closure, because it helps them identify themselves. But for other’s it doesn’t seem enough to figure themselves out.” In high school, that’s what it was all about, teenagers trying to figure themselves out. Trying to figure out where they belong, what they like and what they don’t like, what they’re good at and what they aren’t good at. And labels help a lot of people figure all those out, and for most labels makes it easier for them. But the culture made it hard to be different, and almost frowned upon it. With the bullies picking on those or were different, or the culture saying everyone should sleep around because that’s just what everyone did now a days.

“Well, true. But I do have a friend who I swap textbooks with often. But don’t worry, like I said I don’t share things that aren’t mine to share.” She was talking about Willow, the name alone made a smile appear on her face. She needed to get together with that girl, have some girl time and catch up.”Random facts can come in handy a lot. If you can remember random fact you should go onto a game show or something. You could probably win a whole lot of money.” She didn’t see how that sentence said he was an idiot, maybe she was an idiot for not seeing it.

“Really? I haven’t experimented a lot with mine either.. Granted I’m kind of scared to..” Her power was dangerous and felt like the things she didn’t know about her power were on the more dangerous side of it. “Is it weird seeing cats all muscle? Or even me for that matter?” Mia froze and tensed when he said, naked… That made her extremely uncomfortable knowing that at any moment he could see her naked. But she relaxed, trying not to show him now unnerved she was by his power. “Weather manipulation.”

[Guy Roeby]

“I hope not,” Guy said almost instantly, “I really like a lot of what psychology says, but I don’t agree with everything.” It was hard for Guy to express himself this way, and make a stand. “But that’s probably more philosophy...” He added, before shutting himself down. He didn’t want anyone analyzing him and trying to understand his social abnormalities, he knew very well that he had them.

“You should start a textbook swapping club!” A few seconds after his excitement faded, he let out a little nervous laugh and looked around the room as if someone else had suggested such a thing. It wasn’t like anyone would be waiting for those books to become available. “And I have excellent reflexes,” Guy added, glad for the change of subject. “Like Minute to Win It.”

“Yeah,” Guy said, his way of agreeing with her. His power was scary and often got him into trouble. He was no peeping tom. “You look kinda tense...” he commented in answer, wishing that he didn’t freak her out. Guy looked away and stood, willing his vision to return to normal, so it didn’t feel like he was broken. “All weather?” He asked, going to the next litter box.

He promised himself a few more, and then he would leave her in peace.

[Mia Bell]

“I think philosophy plays a role in psychology… It kind of has to, if you think about it. But I don’t agree with all of it either. I don’t think everything in psychology is always right either…”

“That actually sounds like a cool idea.” Even though there were enough textbooks to go around, it was still a nice way to get to know other nerds. And even then it would save them money. Mia chuckled “Oh! I love that show! I have to admit I tried doing some of those things, some of them are really fun!”

“Huh? I’m sorry.. I didn’t mean to… I… I just… I guess I’m just really insecure about my body..” Which was true, very true; even though it wasn’t his fault for what power he got stuck with. She felt bad that she still felt uneasy about it. “I think so… I haven’t really experimented with it… Because my emotions kind of control the weather…” At least so far.

[Guy Roeby]

"I try to have a people first approach to life," Guy said, knowing that probably didn't make sense. What he meant was that people came first, and then their abilities or disabilities. Talking about these kinds of things weren't an every day occurrence and he seriously doubted that Mia wanted to hear about his views, and he really didn't want to embarrass himself either.

"I'm the best at flipping things into cups," Guy said excitedly, glad he wasn't the only one who watched something others would say was lame. "Practice makes perfect, since I'll be on the show soon," he laughed at the thought. Wouldn't that be incredible? Guy Roeby, doing something entertaining for the world to see. Classic.

"Oh..." Guy muttered, realizing what she was getting at. "Well, you have great muscles," he insisted with a nod, trying to make her feel better. "At least yours isn't embarrassing," he said sadly, "it's not like I try to see people naked. Honest." Like Elisia, he really hadn't meant to see her naked but he had! It was scary! Well, she wasn't, but...

"So you've never tried to just, make the sun shine being sad, or happy?" He asked, finishing up with the last of the litter boxes.