Bad Luck: The Phantom of the Parking Lot (Teagan)

[Deleted]

Backdated to Monday, Nov 11, 2013

Any other day and this wouldn't be a problem....or maybe Oriel was just trying to kid himself. He imagined that if it had happened any other day prior to today, Oriel would have been fine with it. As it was, with the zipper on his backpack suddenly broken, Oriel had to make a quick decision - either clumsily carry all his books and other school supplies around in his arms with his wrist brace making things even more complicated, or say "fuck it" and leave everything behind, uncaring that he actually had assignments completed(somewhat) and due today. Not to mention, he had just spent that morning making himself and Phoenix lunch...they were going to eat it together under their tree...in the cold....but anyway, it was important!

So hard decisions had to be made and, after staring it over for about 30 seconds(because he was running behind as it was), Oriel opted to just take his notebooks(2) with his assignments stuffed between the pages and pencil/pen slipped through the binding ring, ditch his textbooks because he didn't look at them anyway, and stuff the lunches he so lov---.....he made...in a random plastic grocery bag.

In any case this must be some sort of holy(or unholy) miracle that Oriel was actually showing some amount of caring when it came to his schooling, especially considering how much he was know to just ignore what he couldn't do...but now that he had Phoenix around to help support him....well, they supported each other. Oriel was actually a little proud of himself.

So the boy ran across the courtyard towards the school building because of course he wasn't worried about actually being late for class that morning, nope! Not Oriel!

And so he started to cut through the parking lot, weaving through the cars like a phantom.

[Teagan Rae Brooks]

Teagan had went to class half asleep that morning, a purple beret pulled over her unruly blonde curls and a slouchy cardigan on. What really woke her up was when she heard the chatter upon walking into the room. The talk of a research paper.

"Have you started yours yet?"

"Ugh, I can't believe it has to be eight pages."

"I'm almost done. I mean, I have two more days to tweak it.

Two more days? Two? She'd hurriedly dug through her messy backpack for her planner and paged through it. She'd made herself buy one to keep herself organized but apparently it hadn't helped. She thought it was due the 23rd of November, not the 13th! Right after class she'd skateboarded quickly to the library only to find out that all of the books she'd needed were checked out! Seriously, who needed every book on bipolar disorder? How did that even happen? Was everyone writing the same paper for psychology as her?

She'd left, not really paying attention to her surroundings, knowing she had to make it to her next class, and she was probably going to be late and decided to cut through the parking lot to make it quicker, weaving between cars on her skateboard. She hadn't even seen the boy in front of her until she'd crashed into him--

[Deleted]

The plastic bag was thrashing and bouncing against his side, the books were clutched tightly against his chest, and Oriel was once again wondering why he was even trying so hard. Who exactly was he trying to impress here? Himself? For the past XX years Oriel had given shit about school, so why was he giving any now?

He dove in between two vans as he cut across the parking lot, so obviously he didn't even see the girl on her skateboard until he had emerged at exactly the same time that she crashed into him.

All he felt was the momentum which pushed him backwards, throwing him onto his back and skidding slightly against the black pavement. His wrist stung as it held onto the small figure that had landed on top of him….the thing was never going to heal if it kept getting aggravated like this. Another trip to see Dr. Nik, it seemed. But that was far from what he was thinking at the moment.

The crash had effectively stunned him and in his disorientation, all Oriel could do was rest his head back and hold on tight to the slim girl.

Meanwhile, the crash had also effectively thrown everything Oriel was carrying - his books, his homework, and his lunch bag - all across the parking lot, with the light breeze managing to scatter the papers just a little more than they already had been, a few of them landing into idling puddles of….stuff….what was that stuff anyway?

Oriel groaned, lifting his head and blinking up at the girl, taking no time to turn his relaxed what-the-fuck-just-happened face into a who-are-you-and-why-are-you-on-top-of-me glare. Though he certainly wasn't making it easy for her to get off with that iron grip around her waist.

[Teagan Rae Brooks]

Her fall would have hurt much worse, but it was mostly broken by the body that she fell onto. Her book bag had fallen off her shoulder and lay discarded on the ground and her skateboard had went off in another direction, rolling into a puddle. Teagan kept her eyes shut for a short minute and let out a groan, not yet ready to face the person who she'd collided with in her desperate attempt to get to her next class on time.

She finally lifted up her head, her mass of curls hanging over the guy's face. She was completely stunned and so was he, as it seemed they'd both been in their own worlds until the collision. She awkwardly tried to pull her beret back into place on her head, noticing that her hand ached and it had been scraped and pebbles had eased their way into her palm. Awesome.

This must have been quite a weird sight in the parking lot, and someone getting out of their car shot them a strange look. "Well," she breathed. "What a climactic ending to my shitty morning."

[Deleted]

Oriel continued his glare up at her until she finally opened her eyes. He continued it while she fiddled with her beret. And he continued it while she spoke out her obvious discontent for the situation. However, Oriel had not released his grip around her waist either, instinctively holding onto her as if she were a lover, though more likely just to ensure that she didn't fall off him into the asphalt until she finally decided she was uncomfortable enough to get off him.

"He rose an eyebrow to her words. "I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or an insult." He snorted. "Anyway, how long you planning on staying on top of me?" His voice was low, sarcastic, and obviously grumpy.

[Teagan Rae Brooks]

Teagan wasn't paying very much attention to his glare, she knew it was there, but in her opinion, he didn't have the right to glare at her like that. Sure, she'd run into him, but it wasn't as if he was paying attention to where he was going either. Besides, his grip on her waist. It didn't exactly make her comfortable to try and get up.

"Take it however you want," she shot back, before rolling her eyes. "How long are you planning on keeping that death grip on my waist?" Two could play this game. If he was going to be grumpy with her, she could be grumpy right back. She had her reasons after all, with her current problems with her essay that was due in two days instead of two weeks.

[Deleted]

"Until you finally decide to get off me," Oriel snapped back. Really, he may be a dick, but Oriel wasn't about to let a girl go tumbling by herself in the middle of the parking lot. Obviously this girl didn't appreciate that and his glare only became more pointed.

Whatever, this was getting them nowhere. He smirked up, his head cocked sideways. "Tell you what, Tumble-ina, I'm a man of compromise. We obviously ain't getting nowhere just glaring at each other, so, I propose: you get up, I let go. Capisce?"

[Teagan Rae Brooks]

"You realize that your death grip is preventing me from really moving to get off of you. So technically this is your fault," Teagan was quick to respond. She always was in these types of situations. Besides, he was being snappy. If she wasn't so grumpy herself, maybe she would have thanked him for catching her, breaking her fall, but that wasn't on her mind. That damn paper was.

She scowled at the nickname he'd given her. Ugh, really? "Deal," she said, giving him one last glare for the Tumble-ina comment and put her palms on either side of him to push herself up.

[Deleted]

"Would you rather I let you roll around on the asphalt?" He snickered with a sideways smile. "Guess you don't mind getting yourself all blackened up. Then again, it ain't like your wearing something special or nothing." Really, what kind of rags was she wearing anyway? Not that she looked bad in them or anything, but Oriel was under the impression that girl actually cared about their appearance.

Ok, good. This girl was capable of compromise. As she pressed her palms up against the blacktop, Oriel released his grip around her waist and guided her up with one hand(just in case), scooting himself back a bit with his other hand so that he sat upright. "Well, now that wasn't so hard, now was it?"

His mind hadn't even moved to wondering what happened to his homework papers. Though that changed quickly as a car drove past them.....right over the plastic bag of tupperware that held his and Phoenix's lunches. "Well, fuck..." Now he was irritated.

[Teagan Rae Brooks]

"Whoa," Teagan said, holding up a gravel-scraped hand. "First of all, boundaries. You just crossed them. Don't talk shit about what I wear. Everything I wear is necessary." Sure she wasn't from the area, she was from California where there wasn't a reason to wear a long sleeved cardigan and a beret and a million other things. The weather was much different, but she really didn't appreciate him calling her clothes rags, when after all, this yellow faded cardigan was her favorite item in her closet. "And I've had my fair shares of rolling around on the asphalt, thank you." She moved over towards her backpack and put it over her shoulder before grabbing her discarded skateboard off of the ground. Sure, she was good on the board, but wipe-outs happened no matter what and it was as close to surfing as she was going to get around here.

She followed his gaze to where his things were, in puddles and a mess at that. "At least my backpack is in tact," she snapped.

Two people having a bad day didn't usually end well and when someone made a bad first impression on Teagan, it lasted.

[Deleted]

"Hey! I didn't say it looked bad. I ain't as fucking shallow as you think," Oriel said defensively. He actually had some sort of respect for girls who didn't conform to the norms of appearance. "I just though that girls were…you know, particular about mussing themselves up or something." Really, talk about reading too much into things, she must be one of those "feminists" or something. He never really had a thing for blondes, but at least he could say that this one wasn't wasn't one of those annoying bimbos.

"Well goody-good for you." He didn't care shit about his homework, it wasn't like another F was going to make much of a difference. "Now scurry along, Mussy-head, you're interfering with my bad mood." Which just got worse with the destruction of his loving, uh, well…his food he made with delicate care so that his boy--ugrgh---so his Phoenix could eat it and not fucking starve!

Oriel climbed to his feet, rubbing his braced wrist which had just gotten an unnecessary shock to it. He stepped about and started picking up the papers he could still salvage. Hmmm.....right. Now he remembered. She was that twin-making chick from the retreat, from that stupid truth or dare game.

[Teagan Rae Brooks]

"Really?" Teagan cocked an eyebrow. "Because I was thinking you were as shallow as I think." She crossed her arms after dropping her skateboard at her feet. "And a lot of girls are, but you must only have a perception of some of the female population, primarily the bitches who spend two hours perfecting themselves each morning. Nobody's got time for that." She shook her head vigorously. Sure, she had her own personal style and she didn't just roll out of bed, but she didn't spend her mornings perfecting her appearance either. Besides, her hair was impossible to tame.

Mussy head? Really? She sighed, running a hand through her curls. "I know about bad moods. What's your problem anyway?" She gestured to where he was picking up his papers now.

[Deleted]

Oriel sat on his rump with a quirk in his brow while she chided him. "Well tell me, if I only know those kind of girls, then how'm I supposed to know you ain't the same?" Though he knew he shouldn't assume, it was definitely safer to assume she would actually care about her clothes. "So what? All girls who care about their looks are bitches? If there ain't nothing wrong with not-caring, then there ain't nothing wrong with caring neither. I, for one, like 'em both ways." But just because he didn't care, didn't mean they didn't.

He lifted his eyes as he stacked his papers together and headed for another piece. "That a rhetorical question, or do you actually give a damn?"

[Teagan Rae Brooks]

"I've just seen you around," Teagan said with a shrug. Which it was true. Oriel was usually with someone. "And I'm telling you I'm not and I'm brutally honest. That's why you should believe me." Although she had to admit that the guy had a point when he said that there wasn't anything wrong with not caring so there shouldn't be anything wrong with caring. "Yeah, yeah to each their own," she muttered, waving a hand. "I'm just saying that style is style. And I happen to like my cardigans and hats, it's just who I am." She wasn't sure what to think of him yet, but she did feel bad about his papers being everywhere. "I actually give a damn. I'm sorry if I wasn't the most sensitive person after you would not let go of my waist and then insulted my clothing choice. Forgive me." She bent down and picked up a few papers, stacking them together.

[Deleted]

She'd seen him around? "Like how, 'seen me around'?" That seemed like a pretty implicative statement. "Don't worry, I believe you. I just don't understand how you expect me to know before you say something? I was just taking the safe route." Which just so happened to mean holding onto her like she was a frail object. Now that he knew better, next time, he'd just let her fall on her face.

Actually no, he'd probably still do the same thing. It was the proper thing to do. You don't let girls get hurt.

"Oy," he started with a roll of his eyes. "I told you, it don't look bad." He snorted, straightening the pages he had and stuffing them back into his notebook. "Like…fuck. You're probably going to slap me for this, but…" Oriel shrugged. "I'd bang you."