Impact in Three, Two, One [Thane]

[Calysma Jamille]

Class was finally out for the day.

Callie bounded out into the hall, beaming and backpack bouncing on her shoulders as she joined the stream of students being released. No more stuffy classrooms and sitting still for her. Nope, she was on a mission to find one of her friend groups and see what they were up to for the rest of the day. Who knew, maybe they were planning a game or movie night-- those were always fun. Or maybe a study group. Even though those weren't quite as exciting, it was a lot better than studying by herself.

She waved and called hello's to several students as she virtually skipped down the hall, nearly running into any student in her path in the process. Not on purpose, of course, but graceful she was not, and never claimed to be. Not terribly graceful, and also clueless that one of her pigtails had come very loose, and was about to lose the band holding it. To give them credit, they'd actually stayed in for a while this time. On average, Cal lost about twenty hair bands a week, after all.

Perhaps her friends were outside. It was a pleasant enough day, anyway, perfect weather for wearing her favorite tie-die jacket. Spring was finally starting to show up! This in mind, she made a beeline for the door. Some fresh air would be nice, whether the specific friends she was looking for were there or not.

Coming to the door, she tripped on one of her perpetually loose shoelaces, and ended up crashing through it. To give her credit, she managed to regain her balance, but only just in time to turn and collide with someone.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" she gasped as she tripped backward, very nearly losing her footing again. "Are you--" she paused as she blinked at the guy she'd run into. He looked familiar, she was pretty sure...

Of course he looks familiar, you share classes with him, Lacey retorted. His name is Zane, or Thane, or something. Seems like a loner.

Thane, Emily agreed. That's right. He doesn't really seem to get along with a lot of people.. it's kind've sad.

Their voices flashed through her mind, and fell silent equally as fast as Cal hurried to finish her earlier sentence. "Thane, right? Are you okay? I didn't mean to run into you-- I just tripped 'cause I forgot my shoe was untied-- I saw it earlier and just forgot to tie it-- I'm really sorry! I didn't mess anything up, did I?" She caught her breath, giving him a chance to answer.

[Thane Graves]

No more classes. Thank fucking god. Well, no more classes he was going to anyway. He really didn't feel like attending his last one, mostly becasue he really didn't give a shit about literature and what a blue shirt symbolized. It was fucking blue! Skateboard in hand and headphones over his ears, blasting music at a volume that nobody should be subjected to, especially when it was metal music, he wasn't really paying attention to anybody around him. He hated to. He hated getting involved with others, he hated awkward small talk and he especially hated when the voice in his head narrated everything he did! Speaking of...

Thane hated the voice in his head.

He fought the urge to curse outloud and felt the urge to smoke another cigarette.

Thane badly wanted a cigarette.

Needless to say, when a pretty red head collided with him, coming out of the school doors like a whirlwind, he only sent a glare to her as she apologied, only knowing she was apologizing because he read her lips. The words I'm sorry forming on a mouth were awfully familiar to him.

Did she not realize he was wearing headphones? She just kept talking. "Well maybe you should tie your shoes then. It seems to be the moral of your too long of a story," was al he said in reply, trying to move past her.

[Calysma Jamille]

Cal blinked at him as he snapped at her, also only now realizing he was wearing headphones and she could hear it blasting from where she stood. He seemed awfully mad, but she supposed that was her fault, really-- she had been the one to run into him. "You're right, I should--" she started to say, but then he was moving again, clearly not meaning to stick around.

Rip his idiot headphones out and stomp on them. Don't let him talk to us like that!

Cal flinched. "Shh," she muttered under her breath before bounding after him. "Hey! I'm am sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your..." she trailed off, realizing he probably couldn't hear her, or at least not well, so she tapped on his shoulder instead. She wasn't in the habit of walking away from encounters like that. Really, she'd need to make it up to him, especially since he'd been so irritated by it. And she couldn't make it up to him if she didn't know anything about him, right?

Who says you need to make it up to him? We should probably just leave him alone, he doesn't look safe.

But we don't know he's unsafe.

That was right! They--she-- didn't know that Thane was unsafe, simply because he wasn't super friendly. Maybe he just didn't have enough practice at being friendly! It seemed a perfectly logical and feasible conclusion to Cal, anyway.

[Thane Graves]

Thane felt a had on his shoulder and he just knew it was going to be that petite red head again. Couldn't she tell that he didn't want her to apologize again and again for running into him? He really didn't want to talk to her. He took one headphone off of his ear, knowing that she just wouldn't quit unless he did so. The music still blared from his headphones and he made no move to turn it off.

"What?" he deadpanned.

Thane really wanted to walk away and leave her there.

Yeah, he did. He didn't need the voice in his head to tell him that.

[Calysma Jamille]

He doesn't really want to talk to us.

I bet he's just shy...

You mean rude.

Maybe he's not used to making friends!

Maybe there's a reason for that.

Even if there is, he has to be lonely.

Maybe he likes being lonely.

Of course not! No one likes being lonely! Of course he wants friends.

"I've seen you in class before!" she said aloud. "And I've never said hi, so..." She quickly extended a hand. "I'm Calysma. You can call me Cal though. Or Callie. I don't really care."

I care.

Shh.

"Are you hanging out with friends now? I mean..." She furrowed her brow, trying to organize her thoughts better. "Since class is out. What do you like to do when class is out?" She paused, then realized he might be trying to get somewhere on time. She didn't want to make him late to anything, that wouldn't be a good start to making a friend, so she added quickly, "Can I walk with you?"

[Thane Graves]

Woop de doo. Many people had seen him in class. Of course, they probably didn't see him in class more often, mostly because he hated going and the damn voice in his head made everything harder. It made him feel insane.

He'd been told on more than one occasion that it was his power. It was called Trans-Dimensional Perception, he could hear someone narrating his life. He felt like that guy Will Ferrel played in that movie, Stranger Than Fiction. Of course he'd watched it stoned, so maybe he'd missed some of the point, but still. The point was that he heard a voice, someone supposedly narrating his life and it weirded him the fuck out.

Her name was cool, that was about the only thing he took from her introduction. "Does it look like I'm hanging out with friends?" She looked puzzled even as she asked the question, as if she was gathering her thoughts. Then she rephrased her question. He held up his skateboard and then tapped one of his headphones. "Listen to music and skateboard. So hard to figure out." He rolled his eyes as she asked to walk with him. Did she think that he was going to say yes? Instead of answering, he started walking again.

[Calysma Jamille]

He's not very talkative, is he?

Why should he be? He doesn't know you. Leave him alone already before he punches you.

He wouldn't do that!

Listen to music and skateboard... Right. Lacey told her that had been obvious, and Cal supposed it had been. She wasn't really one for details though... He started walking again without answering her last question, and so of course she took this as an invitation to tag along. So, she fell in beside him, trying to keep herself from skipping too much as she did. This was going well so far! He'd answered her first question, about what he liked to do when class was out, and he was fine with her walking with him. Yes, definitely going well so far!

"I tried to skateboard once," she said, perfectly happy to fill the dead space with chatter. "I had some friends back in high-school who skateboarded. I broke my wrist though, and then I almost broke my other one later when I tried again. My friends told me it'd be better if I just watched after that." She clasped her hands behind herself. Making friends was more than just chattering at someone; she needed to ask a question so they were having a proper conversation. Well, that would be easy enough! "What band is that you're listening to? It sounds sort've like..." she put her head to the side, thinking for a moment before naming a band in the same genre. "I used to know someone who listened to that band," she explained happily. "That's the good thing about music! There's so many different kinds that everyone likes some kind!"

[Thane Graves]

The voice in her head was right, Thane wouldn't punch her. He wasn't so sure he could punch a girl. Mostly he never felt the need to. Ignoring them usually did the trick. If anything one of them would punch him, but nope, this girl was just following him around incessantly.

He hadn't invited her to walk with him and yet there she was. He should have said he was going to class. And then she was filling the silence with a story of her failed attempts at skateboarding. "Sounds like they were right," he chimed in boredly. "And it's Lamb of God." Now she was rambling about music. Did she ever stop? Sure he didn't think anybody could really hate music, but he wasn't about to have a conversation with her about it.

[Calysma Jamille]

"I've never heard that band exactly. I'll have to recommend it to my friend though! He'd probably like it." Cal swung her arms a little as she strolled next to him. "Where do you skateboard? Is there a skatepark around here? Or do you just use it like a bike?" She pondered. "Are you going into town?"

You're asking too many questions.

He hasn't asked me to go away, maybe he doesn't mind that I ask a lot of questions!

Are you blind?

Cal sighed. Lacey could be such a worry-wart sometimes. Thane would've asked her to go away if he didn't want her around! He would've told her that he didn't want her walking with him. And he didn't, so of course he didn't mind her tagging along. Anyway, if he was going to skateboard at a skatepark, then maybe she could pick up a couple tricks for not falling off a skateboard so she'd be able to figure it out one day! If she could do that, then she could hang out with even more people!

[Thane Graves]

She didn't look like the type who would listen to that band, so he wasn't surprised when she said she hadn't heard of them. It made him roll his eyes. "I don't really know where I'm going," he replied. When did he ever? And why was she still insistently following him? Why was he so interesting to her?

"You ask a lot of fucking questions, you know that?" Damn, she just kept rambling and rambling. What was with him and meeting people who didn't shut up?

[Calysma Jamille]

Didn't know where he was going. Oh, well, that wasn't terribly strange. Cal wandered around not knowing where she was going plenty. You met more people when you didn't have a concrete destination in mind!

She flinched slightly when he snapped at her. Maybe she had been getting on his nerves after all...

Told you.

Cal bit her lip and studied Thane for a moment, debating her next words. She wouldn't just leave, of course. In fact, maybe he hadn't even meant to come off sounding so irritated. Despite the optimistic thought, even Cal had to admit it was a little too optimistic.

"I'm sorry..." she said slowly, still processing a little. However, a moment later her mind had picked back up, and she went on more quickly. "You just weren't talking much, you know." She skipped a step or so. "I didn't think that you just wanted to listen to me talk. I'll stop asking questions though, if you want!" she added brightly. "I guess it is kinda tiring to be asked questions and stuff all day in class, and then have to answer extra questions afterwards. I guess you're an introvert then, right? I have lots of friends who are. They're like that too-- they don't want to talk a whole lot either. Is there something--" she caught herself as she nearly asked him another question, and redirected the sentence elsewhere with, "If there's something you'd like to talk about or ask me about, just say so! You don't have to be shy." She smiled, giving him a moment to contribute something to the conversation before she started rambling again. She already had a thousand possibilities to talk about, after all.

[Thane Graves]

She finally stopped talking when he'd snapped at her and he relished in the moment, thinking maybe he'd scared the red head off and she would stop blabbering, but it only lasted for that moment.

And then the girl started talking again and Thane heaved a sigh in annoyance. If she would just leave him alone, leave him to his bitter self.

Ugh, his narrator was back. And a bitch, as always.

The red head apologized and launched into something that seemed like some sort of analysis of him. Maybe he didn't want to talk or be asked questions. He wasn't an introvert, he just wanted to be left alone.

"I'm not shy. And I don't feel the need to talk about anything. I'm most definitely not an introvert. I'm just not a fucking chatterbox like you." He reached the door on the opposite end of the hallway and threw it open, tossing his skateboard onto the ground and jumping on. He was still desperately hoping she would find someone else of interest.

[Calysma Jamille]

"Oh." Cal blinked at his denial of introversion. "You seemed like one, since you weren't talking much. And 'cause you weren't around friends. I'll remember that you're not! Do you--" she cut herself off as Thane tossed his skateboard down and hopped onto it. She only skipped a beat though before jogging along after him.

Really, Calysma? Lacey sounded more exasperated than usual.

What? I've run along with friends who skateboard before!

"So what do you like to talk about, then?" she questioned as she bounded alongside Thane. "Just 'cause you're not a chatterbox doesn't mean you don't like to talk about things, right? I mean, I guess everyone likes to talk about something, unless they're really really shy. I've met people like that! But even then end up finding something they like to talk about after a while! It just takes longer for them..."

[Thane Graves]

"Yeah, I know I did. Whatever. It's like being in Psych 101 walking with you. Would you stop analyzing everything I do or don't do?" Thane was beginning to really get annoyed with this girl. "I don't have friends because I don't like most people and I don't think the things I'd want to talk about, aka, not liking most people, is something you want to talk about or can relate to." Since she seemed to like everyone, or at least following them around, including him.

Seriously, she had to have some sort of problem if she wasn't leaving him alone yet. Most people got the messge.

[Calysma Jamille]

"You don't have friends?" Cal gasped. "But that's so sad! Everyone needs friends, or else they get lonely! I'll be your friend!" Really, that he would so easily declare his not having friends status was, in itself, a sad thing to her. How could anyone not care about not having friends? Surely he did care-- he just didn't want anyone to know.

"We can talk about not liking people if you want!" she went on, unfazed. "I've met people I don't like before. Mostly they were mean people who hurt other people... Bullies, you know? Some bullies aren't really that bad once you get to know them, but some are! Hey!" She started twisting around, finagling her backpack so it was on backwards-- bouncing against her chest and stomach rather than her back. Not the most comfortable, but it worked for when she needed something and couldn't stop. "Do you want some cookies? I made some this morning!"

They're probably all broken by now...

Cookie crumbles are good, too! Especially when they're chocolate chip cookie crumbles!