Burn it off (Matt)

[Kailin Bishop]

Kailin was, for the most part, back to her normal, bubbly self after what happened with Anthony. There was a few minor differences, but nothing that anybody could pick up but herself; she always wore smiles and a friendly tone, but nobody knew how distant Kailin had become when it came to guys and friends in general. After both of her closest friends deserted her, well, you learned. Kailin was no exception.

But one good thing came out of all of the horror that the Blonde girl had endured; she started running again, going out every other day for a few miles at a time. In the beginning, she could barely make it half a mile before keeling over from exhaustion. Now she was at 2 miles before she needed a decent break.

Her sleeping schedule was regulated and her depression levels were practically non-existent which made for better school work and a better ability to keep up with everything that she was doing. It was a relief, truly, to have picked up almost all the pieces of herself and continue living the life the way she wanted to live it.

Trust issues or not, Kailin was going to be friendly and she was going to be liked. It was who she was.

Out of the showers and relatively cleaned up, Kailin emerged from the locker rooms and onto the track just to relax near the bleachers. What with twelve siblings, nine of which still living at home, the only time she really could relax was at school, at that was saying a lot. She jogged towards the bleachers a bit, but as she did so, she caught a lone figure in the corner of her eye.

Curiosity piqued, the Hammel senior turned to look. There wasn't much to see except for a head of blonde hair, but what intrigued her was that he was completely alone, running up and down the bleachers, when there were at least four other groups of people practicing on the field. Kailin even planned on hanging out with some of them after she had a few minutes to herself.

Should I go over there? Kailin asked herself, arms crossing against her chest. Maybe he really isn't alone? Maybe she would wait and see.

Yeah, that sounds right.

[Matt Davis]

Matt was making it rain on the bleachers as he hurriedly paced up them. The beards of salty water flying from his hands, face, brow, and legs as he pushed himself farther and farther. His shirt was completely soaked from the neckline down to his stomach. But he continued.

This time, Matt wasn’t running away from his problems or even running -with- his problems. No, this time his head was on right. What was filling his mind: Nothing but the sweet sounds of a little Darkness. As he neared the halfway point up the bleachers he started to speak up, singing between panted breaths just as he neared the top.

“Just listen to the rhythm of the heaaart!

There's a chance we could make… woo...

We'll be rocking 'til the sun goes down

I believe in a thing called looo… ove

Ooh-ooh!” 

It was hard to sing as he continued to race, but running while working out helped witht he lugs -and- burned off some calories. Two birds! The song ended when he reached the top, and for once he froze midstep, almsot tripping over himself. This wasn’t on his ‘Heartpound’ mix… but he did love it. He shrugged and turned, racing back down while singing loud enough for those nearby to pick up. It was still broken as he panted and ran down.

“I’m walkin’ on sunshine… oh-oh...oh, Walkin’ on sunshine… I’m….. on sunshine! Woa-oah-oah!” 

Nope. That wasn’t going to do it. Matt stopped when he reached the bottom this time and moved to where his water was sitting, on a bench at it’s lowerst level. He turned and flopped down while pulling out the buds in his ears and slipping out the old zune. That’s right...zune.

He’d sit by himself, not even looking around for anyone else to near him. The tall, young man took a long drink from the bottle before squirting a little bit of the water onto his head, making his golden hair fall flat onto his head.

[Kailin Bishop]

Had this been an hour earlier, Kailin would have been pretty damp with her own sweat, hair wrapped up in a messy bun; but after said shower, she found herself in an athletic tee and shorts just in case she was invited for another activity - it always happened. But she held a water bottle to her lips as she watched a boy going back and forth, up and down the bleachers singing at the top of his lungs with no intention of quieting down. Part of her wanted to smile, but the other half still remained a bit skeptical that he was alone. But when he sat down, she knew then that he wasn't expecting anyone.

She could just tell.

So, as Kailin was Kailin, she stood up and took herself towards the blonde boy, a slight quirk of her lips indicating her intentions - a friendly conversation. She tried shoving down the suspicion that bubbled up inside of her because what happened was not what this boy did, but rather other boys. Plus, she was only going to say hi and see if he was a new student (they came relatively often). Nothing more.

"Quite the voice you got. I didn't think it was possible to sing and run those bleachers the way you were." She said in a lighthearted tone, gesturing to his soaked figure. "You have skills."

[Matt Davis]

Matt looked up when he heard someone approach. Unlike her, she didn’t hide his smile. He offered it willingly, and quickly. His lips were large which made his awkward smile seem more genuine than most. No shame in it.

“Hey!” He said as he breathed out, a little louder than he should. When he realized it was hard to hear her he decided to pop out both of the buds. They hung down at the wet neck of his shirt and his attention lifted back to her. His eyes scanned quickly across her, admiring her enjoyable shape and appreciating the fact that she was in workout gear.

“Yeah? Yeah it’s hard to do...b-but it helps… With working out?” He seemed beat, like he had been pushing him a great deal. “With...with a… breathing and stuff? And makin’ you think about it. Old coach used to make us sing some old chants from his air force days.”

He grabbed at the neck of his shirt and started to pull it up, but then looked back over her. “Y-You mind if I take it off? Not breaking a rule am- am I?”

[Kailin Bishop]

The boy seemed very willing to talk to her, and the way his lips pulled into a breathless smile was a bit contagious; her own smile grew. But his out of breath response made her a bit confused. What kind of person made a bunch of kids sing and run at the same time? She supposed it helped work out the core while the person ran, but that must have been... awful. Plus, Kailin was far from a decent singer. Give her differential Calculus, she could speak that language with no issues. But make her sing? Better cover the ears.

She was a bit surprised, truth be told, that this boy was asking to remove his shirt and didn't even know her name. Of course she wouldn't complain because he looked incredibly overheated and probably would do good from a little air touching his skin. "It's not like you're taking off your pants," She said, not really thinking about the words coming out of her mouth. When she realized, her cheeks immediately went red and she laughed at herself.

"I mean, yeah, go ahead. I don't mind, but I mean, at the very least I should know your name first. I'm Kailin."

[Matt Davis]

Matt shook his head a little breathlessly while still pulling off his shirt. He didn’t wait past her offered permission before he slipped it off. The buds flew out wildly as he tossed the shirt down to his waterbottle. He grabbed the buds up quickly and slid them into his pocket.

“Pants? Wha- Oh… No, those only come off after ladders, or maybe bench presses. Or maybe swimming. Not bleachers. Y’think I’m crazy?” The large smile he sported was quite bright still and showed the jovial nature of his words.

“Yeah! Name. I’m Matt. Matthew Davis.” He stood up then and stepped closer, giving her a more clear vision of what she was looking at. Matt stood tall over her, almost a head. However the more prominant feature was his chest. He was well toned. very well toned. The sweat on the muscles gave him a nice shine too… And boy did he know it. However, surprisingly enough, he wasn’t thinking about making a show. If he was, he would’ve twisted his hips some more to make those side muscles pop. Instead he simply stepped closer and offered his hand.

“You gonna run bleachers too? I don’t care if y’take your shirt off… but I think that -might- be breakin’ a few set of rules. Even in Vermont.”

[Kailin Bishop]

The first thing she noticed about this boy was his height. She wasn't used to having guys be anything but a few inches taller than herself, so with him, she felt incredibly small. That was both an irritating and reassuring fact that Kailin felt torn about. How old was he, anyway?

There wasn't much of an ogling of his physique that could be expected of a teenage girl, but that was just Kailin. She found there was no real desire in her to ogle, but she could appreciate a pretty sight. He was fit, she had to admit, but that was as far as her observations went. A hand grasped his in a firm shake, shaking her head 'no' to his question. "I ran four miles not thirty minutes ago - I'm exhausted enough. Plus, i do enough stairs when I get home. Living on the third floor is a great workout, but you probably already know that, Matt."

Her hand fell back and her other reached up with a bottle to press it to her lips, taking a sip. "So I'm just curious, but would it be considered a cheap shot to ask how the weather is up there?" The blonde offered with a slight laugh. Oh, she was so funny.

[Matt Davis]

Matt had heard that one a few times. Last time, though, it was from his nana’s sister. So, you know… It was older than classic. Still he knew the response and gave a laugh. “Well, to be honest, it’s partly cloudy and with a chance of showers…” He looked down at himself and then to his shirt, all of which were soaked. “... 30% chance, but that just means I have no idea really…”

Matt took a step back and practically fell into the bleacher before looking back up to her. His hand slipped into his pocket to pause his track. It wasn’t what he normally listened to, but he was feeling happy enough to listen to walking on sunshine.

“It’s also not really a cheap shop...Coming from someone you’re size though, I might call it a low blow, eh? Eh?” He laughed a little at his own joke and motioned to her. “Don’t dish it if you can’t eat it, you know?”

[Kailin Bishop]

"At least I know I should bring a small umbrella out today," Kailin was well aware that the joke was overused, but that's what made it funny. Cheap. Amusing. But then again, when all she ever heard was overused jokes that her siblings heard from somewhere or another - namely JJ - the blonde found it hard not to appreciate such cliches.

Her own posture relaxed as she put her weight on her right side, but she found herself laughing at the shot he offered her. So this was turning out to be a good decision, talking to him; he was funny, and could most definitely take a bit of her teasing. All of her friends knew that she would throw some jokes at others expenses, all in good fun. That included herself, but never did she truly mean it.

"Oh I can handle it, but you know, there are always ways I can bring you down to my level." No, in no way did she mean it, but if he was going to go at her, she was going to throw something at him.

[Matt Davis]

“Well I don’t know about that… I’ve done pushups that’d let me see over your head.” He smirked to her and went to take another drink, squeezing the bottle. It only sputtered, shooting a haze of water wildly onto his face before he jerked it away. He shook it some and sat it down. He pouted a little. Empty. And he was darn thirsty too!

“So, tell me Weather girl, if you aren’t hear to run up a few steps, are you just here to get close to the eye of the storm.” He pointed up to his wet hair and shook it enough to cause some of the cold water to fling about, some of which may have hit her ankles.

“Or d’you come out here for other reasons? An’ just think that work out clothes looks kinda cute on you?”

[Kailin Bishop]

"You'd be lucky if I said yes to that question," Since when was this getting into a back and forth banter that was almost flirtatious in nature? Kailin decided that it was only because she wasn't trying to be rude, and to be fair, she wasn't attracted to blondes. And for all she knew, he could be a new kid to Hammel, which would mean he could be a freshman.

But it was just witty banter, and nothing more. Right?

"Oh, because I'm that pretentious that I'd sit around a track field just to be told I look good." She rolled her eyes, a lighthearted snicker passing her lips. "Ran four miles - I just came back out to take a minute or two to myself."

[Matt Davis]

“Well, as a point of fact...Since you been here I don’t think I’ve said you looked good. Just that you might think you did.” His eyes dropped over her for a second and he rated her in his head. A total nine. No, too high. Drop the standards. Not North Carolina. Seven. Nah, at least an eight. Shut up. He looked back up to her and smiled genuinely.

“So if you just ran four miles and are just hangin’ out… Why aint you sweatin’ Annn… Why do you smell nice and clean?” He sniffed the air some before laughing and leaning back some in the bleachers. He took a deep breath in and sighed it out. It was damn cold in Vermont, but it gave him a nice little chill and really helped cool him down. “...Or do I just smell bad by comparison?”

[Kailin Bishop]

"You didn't have to," Kailin tried not to stiffen when she noted he was looking at her, analyzing her in a way. The girl had been self conscious, especially after May, but she tried not to let that discomfort show, and she seemed to pull it off pretty wel. Living a life hiding any negative emotion helped with that mask. Kailin raised a brow.

"It's called a shower," The blonde gestured to the building where the locker room and showers were located, "And you smell like a guy who just worked his butt off running up and down bleachers." Musty guy smell wasn't her favorite thing, but she could handle it - she had to handle it. Brothers.

"But I can't relax in post workout clothes - ans I especially can't relax when I'm damp with sweat. Just not how I like to do things."

[Matt Davis]

Matt smiled up to her, now fully looking her in the eyes. He had his glimpse, had his fun, but now he seemed to be pretty focused on her and wouldn’t let his eyes veer down too much. It’d be rude.

“Alright.” He said with a smile and he held his hands in the air. A surrendering motion. “You beat me Weather girl. You can take a seat with me if you’d like…” He reached off to the side and grabbed his gym bag. He yanked it closer and opened it up to draw out a sleeveless hoodie. He pulled it on over his bare chest and made sure that his ear buds pulled out from the center.

“Y’can sit with me and relax for a bit if you’d like… I’m just gonna watch some of the other runners for a bit. Hope by then my legs’ll stop feelin’ like jello an’ I’ll have enough energy to get off my butt and go grab something tasty.”

[Kailin Bishop]

"Such a tempting offer, I think I might have to take it." Weather girl... She had a feeling that the nickname would stick for some reason, and though it was odd, she didn't seem to mind. At least it wasn't something derogatory and negative in connotation. Or at least she hoped it wasn't.

Was it?

Honestly, she was thinking too much about the simple offer, and she stood there for a few extra seconds looking like a complete fool. She sat down a few scoots away, because even if she didn't mind musty guy smell, she didn't want to be too close.

"So are you new to Hammel?"