Nine Million Bicycles (Jade)

[Sophie Fitzpatrick]

Ah, the mall. There was nothing as great as a card filled with money and a day at the mall. The road was easy to walk and the Opportunities were many. Oh yes, Sophie had the entire day to herself and she'd be damned if she didn't spend it well. She'd buy new clothes, new shoes, maybe something nice and sweet for Ash... Fun, fun, fun!

Walking into her favorite store where they had all kinds of sweet and cool dresses, because everyone who knew Sophie knew that she loved wearing dresses in all kinds of situations. Party: Dress. Sleepover: Dress. School: Dress. Dresses here, dresses there, dresses everywhere!

As Sophie was reaching out for one of the black, a little cooler dresses - because even she liked the dark style every now and then - her hand touched another's and she quickly peeked up to find herself starting in a hazily familiar face. ''Uhm. I'm sorry.'', she muttered and pulled her hand back.

[Jade Parrish]

When Jade had the opportunity to go shopping--she took full advantage of it. Taking on extra hours at Starbucks along with college classes and a demanding role in the college newspaper had been brutal, but it meant extra spending money and she was treating herself to some retail therapy--which meant a new dress and a lot of new accessories to go with it. Her closet was overflowing with dresses and shoes and millions of combinations to put together at her finger tips. She loved it. She dressed to impress, even if she really didn't have her eye on anybody in particular. It was fun and she took pride in looking good even if nobody was paying attention. The fun was in getting people to pay attention.

She usually went for darker, intense tones in her clothes and knew that she had a ton of black dresses--but that didn't stop her from looking at them. There were so many different styles. She reached out to check the tag when her hand hit someone else's. Her blue eyes settled on a tall blonde. "Hey, you look familiar," she pointed out. It clicked. "Ah, that's right. House party. You're the one with the wicked pool."

She approved of the dress she was picking out. She wouldn't peg the girl for black--but knew she could rock it. Blondes could pull a lot of things off.

[Sophie Fitzpatrick]

Sophie smiled at the girl. Riiiiiight, house party. ''Oh, God.'', she said with a laugh and let her hand drop to her hip. Well, that night was blurry, and that was probably a good thing too. She had been really drunk and hadn't really stopped there either. Oh no, most of the night was completely blackness and she was happy that way. She didn't have to remember all the awkward things that might or might not have happened. And the house had been packed from top to toe with drunk teenagers. ''Well, I hope you enjoyed yourself.'' She could faintly remember some silly business happening in her pool, but she couldn't remember enough to know if this girl was one of them.

Sophie reached her hand out and her smile widened. ''I'm Sophie by the way. Sophie Fitzpatrick.'' Gawsh, she was so formal. How awkward.

[Jade Parrish]

"It was a pretty bitchin' party. Except for a few people who were oddly obnoxious. That Jack kid...man, don't even get me started," Jade said, remembering that night, or well...some of it. She'd drank enough to have a good time--which she usually did, but she never drank enough to where she blacked out or anything. She was usually taking care of those people. She happened to play nurse a lot of the time. She'd enjoyed herself. Met some new people. In fact, she remembered seeing Sophie....talking to a certain guy. It occurred to her that she'd made a mental note of Sophie being attractive...as she usually did with people. When someone caught her attention, she remembered it.

"Jade Parrish and are we really going to do a handshake right now? Is that how the Fitzpatrick's do it?" She asked with a laugh.

[Sophie Fitzpatrick]

Sophie laughed, again. ''Yeah... That usually happens when you have an open house party.'' It sure did. It wasn't the first time and probably wouldn't be the last. Somehow, her parties always attracted the weirdos. Well, some of them anyways. But truth be told, she had been to busy swooning around Ash and meeting Layla's hottie to even pay any of the obnoxious people as much as a glance. After people started breaking things, she had completely stopped paying attention. Luckily, Ash had helped her clean up the mess. Not that they had really needed to because that's what maid companies were for, but she had enjoyed spending time with him, even if it had been spent cleaning up.

''Gosh, I'm sorry. I'm so used to being around my parents friends. It just becomes a habit, y'know?'' Man, she really needed to start hanging around more people her own age and not those creepy PUSE friends her parents had. Seriously, who could ever be against superheroes? They were AWESOME. Like Tony Stark. Simply awesome.

[Jade Parrish]

"Yeah...you never know who is going to show up. Like me. That's a problem in itself," Jade said with a laugh. "Takes a lot of guts to open up your house like that though...to the public. Especially Pilot Ridge. Not only are teenagers here crazy, a lot of them are also metas." It was no secret and she didn't know Sophie well enough to know if she approved of metas or not, but to Jade it didn't matter. She didn't really tiptoe around any subjects for anybody. She wasn't in the business of catering to people.

"For a second I was worried I was being judgmental, because the name Fitzpatrick just gives off a fancy vibe, but I'm guessing your parents are a pretty big deal?" She didn't mean to really butt in, but on the other hand, she tended to do that a lot without trying. Ah, the joys of being a reporter. "Well, you don't have to talk like that around me." She never liked hand-shakes anyway. They were too formal and business like and Jade was a very touchy person who would much rather hug somebody or kiss them on the cheek as a greeting. It was much more personal.

[Sophie Fitzpatrick]

''Oh, psh. I doubt you're the worst thing that has ever stepped into my house. Trust me, that wasn't the only party I've held, and believe it or not, it was actually one of the calmest ones yet.'', she said with a grin. Man, she didn't even want to think about the early high school parties and all the things that had happened inside those walls. Sheesh. ''Well, in my opinion, that's just a plus.'' Superheroes equals awesome. ''I'm a huge superhero fan, so.'', she said with another laugh. Sure, even if her parents hated metas, she sure as hell didn't. No, Sophie envied them and their cool powers. Man, if only she could have been born a meta. Now that, that woulda been cool.

''Well...'', she began with a smirk and tapped her chin. ''It's more like that think they're a big deal, rather than actually being.'' Her parents really needed to get a kick in the ass and stop being so God damn arrogant. They ran around thinking they owned the city just because they had a whole lot of money. ''Well. I'm glad to know.'' No, Sophie wasn't much of a formal person herself, it just happened every now and then. She didn't like being a wealthy snob, even if she often gave out the impression of being one. She didn't want money to control her personality and behavior, even if it allowed her to go on wild shopping sprees.

''I have to compliment your taste in fashion.'', she said and nodded towards the dress.

[Jade Parrish]

"Perhaps not. I still have to break in my new apartment with a party. There wasn't a lot of opportunity for partying at Hammel," Jade said with a shrug. "Although I assume your place is the go-to place for parties. Cleaning up that mansion must be a blast....man, that's a big house." She didn't mean to make Sophie feel as if she was too well off. Jade understood that nobody could help what they were born into. "Ah, you weren't one of the oh-so-lucky ones diagnosed with a power? Shame." Whenever she looked at someone she tended to think about what power they would have, regardless if they were a meta-human or not. "Sucks you missed out. Although I wouldn't really relate a lot of us to super heroes. I think my power makes me more of a villain actually."

"Ah, I get it. My parents are similar. They think they're important because they live for their church," Jade said with a roll of her eyes. She usually didn't speak of her parents often and when she did, it was just a short statement like this one. "No offense if you're religious, but that shit is so corrupted sometimes." She shifted her weight from one leg to the other.

Her eyes panned to the dress. "More like I have to compliment your taste. I usually prefer thrift shops over the mall honestly, but this store is too great to pass up." It wasn't that she just liked thrift shops because they were cheap, but because their clothing wasn't so cookie-cutter-esque. "Black is sort of my color." Not like the blonde couldn't tell. Jade was wearing a black skirt with a red and black plaid top and her black combat boots and her nails were almost always painted black, even if they were chipping. "It's simple, but sexy."