sweet sweet freedom (Luke)

[Jennifer Cole]

Every average day in the life of Jen consisted of boring classes that she knew, nor cared, anything about. For Jennifer it just doesn’t stick, nor does it entertain her, sure if she tried at it that may be another story but I don’t think anyone will ever see that day. To avoid being bored for the next couple of hours, she did what Jen quite often did during History class, she bailed. Instead of turning into her classroom where she was supposed to be learning very unimportant facts about a history that nobody cared about, Jen kept walking until she got to the end of the corridor. At the end there were two big doors, without a moment’s hesitation Jen pushed the doors open and walked out. A lot of other people, less experienced skippers, would have made a run for it. This technique does not help it all, it hinders. If someone, a person who could get you into trouble, sees you running out of the doors and across the school away from the classrooms, they are going to be suspicious. It is more effective to just stroll naturally and not cause any unwanted attention, then people are more likely to think that you have somewhere to go and are doing something responsible. Remember, more likely, not one hundred percent of the time.

It wasn’t long before Jen was away from the classrooms; she let out a sigh of relief and dropped her shoulders to relax. As her eyes roamed the area Jen had realized she was already where she had been headed, the school pond. When she had first moved to Hammel at the age of thirteen, the pond had been that place where she could just relax and get away. The pond gets very busy now; everyone wants a piece of it, so much so that there is no peace and quiet there anymore. That is except for when you visit it during class time, all the loud clumsy children are off elsewhere and the pond is up for the taking. Jen let her eyes fall onto the seat beside the pond, it was clear of people so Jen headed straight for it, taking a seat when she reached it. Leaning back into the chair made Jen smile, as much as people would argue, she really did enjoy the quiet sometimes. Most of the time she was the one making the noise or indulging herself into a loud situation, this would surprise a lot of people that she was actually a little bit human after all. Now she was seated she watched the lake and pulled her jacket close, the downside to being outside in winter by the lake was that it was freezing. Still she held onto the quiet and convinced herself it wasn’t that bad as the frost started to bite into her cheeks. The only other option was to head back to the main building and go to class, however it was too late now to find a spot without getting caught. This all meant that if she went back now, she would most likely end up back in class or worse.

Being seated was nice but the cold was now nipping through her jeans into her legs and so Jen decided it would be better to keep moving. Pushing herself up off the bench she started to pace. The feeling in her legs returned a little bit by little bit but by this point Jennifer had had enough. With a quick movement she gave up on the pond and headed to a warmer place, her sights set on the gym. Not needing anymore instruction, her legs began to move and slowly moved their way back into functioning legs. They kept moving until she was a little way from the gym, it looked to be clear of teachers and Jen hoped she was right. Moving swiftly she entered through the front doors and continued around to the pool area. It was unlikely that there were going to be any classes on in there and it was always warm. Without a hesitation she pushed the pool door open and looked around, she was right again, nobody but an empty pool room.

Walking into the heated area she immediately felt a lot warmer, so much so that she loosened her jacket and pulled it off. Underneath she wore a nice tight fitting white tank top which reached the top of her tight jeans and showed a tiny bit of the skin in between where they met. Jen was headed for the pool seats around the other side which were incredibly inviting, when she reached it she sat and sighed. Finally. Pulling out her cell she went through her phonebook and wondered who she was going to ask to join her.

[Luke Pyrrhos]

Groggy, eyes still very heavy and blurry, Luke did not want to get up. In fact, if he could set his alarm on fire from right here without either burning up the room or setting off those dang sprinklers, he would. But as both of those were most likely going to happen if he so chose to use his powers, Luke decided against such, and instead blindly reached over to the alarm and threw it on the ground, across the room. His roommates were used to this, but didn't seem to make any different notions than from what they were doing before. The alarm stopped ringing, and he might have actually broken it, but at this point Luke didn't care. He was still exhausted, and was diligent about getting that extra half hour of sleep that he needed. After all, a grumpy pyro was never a good thing for anyone.

What seemed to be about thirty minutes his time, Luke woke up to an empty dormitory. He got up, off of his bed, yawned stretched and cleared his eyes. Still, not a sound. Looking over to where he clock should be, he found that it was no longer on the ground, but someone had been nice enough to pick it up and put it back where it should be. Probably Ann... He shuffled on over to it to squint and view the time. It turned out that his idea of thirty minutes had been more like nearly an hour. Great. Well, he had two choices: go to class late and interrupt the would-be very frustrated professor, or go and do his own thing while everyone else was in class. Was that even an option?

He sauntered on over to the communal bathroom the four of them shared, showered, brushed his teeth and got ready for his favorite thing to do in the morning; a nice swim in the deserted school's pool. Considering how much chlorine was in there, he probably wouldn't have to shower before, but he was in his rut, and it was too late now. He even smacked on some cologne, you know, just in case there happened to be a pretty lady he'd meet along the way.

Fifteen minutes later, he was out the door of his dorm room in casual jeans and a polo, his book bag filled with a towel instead of books and paper, but looking filled all the same. He moved on through the hallway swift and confident, assuring anyone who saw him, student or professor that he did indeed have somewhere to go, and wasn't like those dumb punks who skipped class with it written all over their faces. Now that's where they went wrong. But Luke was indeed a master of class skipping. Perhaps that's why he'd been there for so long, or because he missed the days of the tests for classes he could care less about. He was kind of an American, yes, he'd been here nearly long enough to count as one, but did he care about American History? God no. He couldn't give two craps about who fought who and who won. Did they fight Greece? Luke thought not. So did it matter? No. Obviously his professors didn't agree with his way of thinking..but oh well. It wasn't like they could force him to love something when his mind was quite obviously in other spectrums of life.

There they were, the shining glass and metal double doors that led to the swimming pool. It was an indoor one, filled with moist humidity that clung to the walls and the plastic chairs and basically anything in the room. Bingo. No one seemed to be around, so in Luke walked, put his belongings down on one of the chairs, and started to strip out of his pants, shoes, socks, and polo. But no worries, it wasn't like he was going to wear his birthday suit in these here parts. Underneath his rather loose jeans were his pair of Billabon trunks. He could have opted for a Speedo, just for laughs, but he figured he'd let the goods breathe.

He moved on over to the edge of the pool on the deep end, and just as he was about to jump in, he looked over to the opposite end of the pool, and something stopped him from leaping in. Down at the other end was a quite familiar blonde that would be impossible to mistake for anyone other than his good, and rather appealing friend, Jennifer Cole. Jen had been here probably just as long as he had been, but they didn't really start talking until just a year or so back. She had one of those powers that he still couldn't understand, but there had been no reason to act upon it for her to show him, so he never really found out what she did. But his was a dead giveaway. Still, their personalities were very much alike; they were both flirts, and that's how the hit it off at first. He still thought she was the most gorgeous girl in the entire school, hell, the entire state probably, but telling a flirt that would just be like giving candy to an eager child. She didn't need him to tell her that for her to realize it. After all, she wouldn't be a flirt if she didn't know that already. But still, the two of them became good friends over the years, still playing around and messing with each other, but with the ability to have a normal conversation as well.

Luke could walk over there and greet her, or he could do something else, just to mess with her. Option two. He backed up, and ran to jump into the pool, cannonball style, causing a great big splash, although not necessarily big enough to get all the way down to her. Still, he knew he would catch her attention and stop her from texting for one second. With that time, he would be able to swim down to her, which is exactly what he did. Within about thirty seconds, he got down to the four feet zone, and splashed out of the water. He might have actually got her there, but just in case he had still missed, Luke climbed out of the pool, politely pulled her up and hugged her tightly, making sure to get the doll wet. "Hey beautiful. What brings you to the pool this morning? Playing hooky?"

[Jennifer Cole]

Whilst Jen was sitting alone she had time to think, to let her mind wander. The first thought that popped into her head was about her ability, her ability was a bit weird compared to everyone else’s and often it was very hard to control. When she was around someone whose power she has never mimicked before she has to be super cautious, she doesn’t know how to control it and it could go extremely wrong. The good thing about her ability was that she was getting to a stage where she could control it and wouldn’t let it get the best of her. Putting a hand through her blonde hair, she shook the thoughts about her power aside.

Her thoughts then jumped to the poor suckers stuck in history class, it was good to be her. Feeling the need to do something Jen stood up and walked around the pool edge, not close enough to fall in but close enough. Jen didn’t want to get her boots wet so she bent down and pulled them off, then placed them against the wall away from the water. Rolling the ends of her pants up Jen went to the water’s edge and let the water play on her feet. The feeling was quite relaxing and Jen smiled a rare smile that not many people got to see, it made her wish she had brought her bathers.

After a few moments Jen heard a noise outside, like someone was coming. Not particularly wanting to get caught Jen returned to the seat where she had been sitting previously, grabbing her leather boots on the way. As she sat she saw the person enter, it wasn’t a teacher at all, it was someone she knew quite well. Luke. The boy sauntered in looking as good as ever. Luke and Jen had known each other a while now, their flirty personalities drew them to each other. As he walked further in, obviously not noticing her, Jen let her eyes roam over him. Jennifer had a very strong attraction for him, she wasn’t quite sure what it was but there was definitely something about him. Not that she would ever tell him that, she was sure he didn’t need another boost to his ego.

Staying silent she returned to looking down at her cell, pretending that she hadn’t noticed him as she felt his eyes on her. Luke Pyrrhos being Luke Pyrrhos, jumped in doing a cannon ball and splashing everywhere. Jen let out a little scream, it had got her legs, but not very much so she wasn’t too displeased. Looking up from her splotchy wet pants she saw Luke getting up out of the water in front of her. His body looking as good as ever, maybe that was what distracted her from protesting at first from being pulled close to him. As she was pulled in Jen wriggled and tried to get out of his hold as he got her all wet. “Luke! Jen exclaimed and tried to get out of his wet grip, the only thing being that the feel of his body up against hers was quite nice, but she still didn’t like getting wet from him. A laugh escaped her lips as she was finally able to get back from him, and look down at her wet clothes and then back up to him.

“I could ask you the same thing Mr. Pyrrhos.”

[/color] She said with a smirk which edged into a slight smile. Putting her cell onto the seat, she looked back at him meeting his brown eyes. “Is it that you are following me again?”[/color] The blonde asked taking a step forward and putting her hand on his firm chest, teasing him with her light touch. She could feel the heat off him, not natural heat but his ability, and she felt it transfer into her. This was an ability that she has come into contact with before so could control it quite well. Letting her hand fall as she smirked, teasing boys was always fun and Jen was quite good at it.[/blockquote]

[Luke Pyrrhos]

The gentle presses against his hard torso, the flirtatious smiles and attitude, it all just screamed Jen. And, if it were any other girl, he'd probably shag her right. But she'd made it clear that she wasn't really into that, and she was much harder to get. So that's why Luke was where he was with her, but that wasn't really a bad thing was it? I mean, they got to mess around like this all the time, nothing intended, no pain afterward or confusion; no strings attached. This was exactly what he needed right now, and she fit wonderfully into his life, like the missing puzzle piece in the 100-piece trickster.

He pushed back a strand of her hair that had fallen into her face, and then stuffed his hands in his pockets as he replied to her inquiry, "Looks like I'm going for a swim this morning." He smiled, and walked back towards the water. "You know, the water's quite warm, once you get used to it and all, you should pop right on in with me." He looked her once over, noticing that he'd been keen to say this and realize she was wearing a white little tank top. If she actually came on, it would be more of a treat for him; she'd already seen him with barely anything on other than his trunks. And surely, she'd find some reason to crack up if he'd come in much less material. Despite how attracted he was to her, he still had his dignity, and sometimes enlarging hers was to make fun and belittle his. That's just how power-hungry prideful mongrels like themselves got on.

He slipped on into the water, ducking beneath the surface for about fifteen seconds before popping back up again, slicking his hair back, and wading towards her, "Don't you have an engrossing history class to be in?" Giving her a sideways smile, he moved on closer to her, holding on to the edge of the pool. His body was warm, and maybe that's why the water seemed a bit cooler than normal. His body took a lot more getting used to to feel truly comfortable in the water. But then again, if she did come in, and was a bit cold, she could always cling on to him for warmth, and he couldn't say he wouldn't enjoy that, for it would be a down-right lie. Who wouldn't want the beautiful Jennifer Cole clinging to their body for warmth? Right, exactly. You'd have to be bloody insane to turn that offer down.

Out of the blue, his mind went elsewhere, back to Greece. Then he pictured the bella but shook her out of his mind. When he thought of her, it was hard to stay concentrated on his current loving attraction. And right now, he'd rather think of the latter. Instead, he replaced the beautiful faces, imagining how Jen would react to his lovely homeland. Sure, she could go to Miami anytime, but imagine if he took her to Greece! Maybe even the tease would bend under the allure.

"So darling, what do you think of Greece?"

[Jennifer Cole]

The tease was always fun with Luke, he loved to play with her and try to get her to yield and sleep with him. It wasn’t as if Jen hadn’t slept with a lot of guys but she doesn’t just give it away, like some whores who go to Hammel. Being irresistible had and untouchable had a huge appeal, one she didn’t get bored of the guys because they kept her entertained and two, guys always want what they can’t have. Jen watched him as he pushed a stray piece of hair out of her face, it was quite an intimate notion but Jennifer didn’t really think about it too much.

Instead she let her eyes follow him as he moved away and she chuckled. “Yes that is what it looks like.” She said smiling as she made it very clear that her eyes were raking his body. He went on to invite her into the water, something that she may have considered if she had bathers. Then again she wasn’t one to worry about her getting down to her underwear in public, it was just that she didn’t ever feel the need. From what she could tell he was more than keen for her to go into the water, for the obvious reasons of getting to see her in her underwear no doubt. “I’ll have to think about it. I don’t get down to my underwear for just anyone.” She said with cheeky smile, walking a little closer to the water’s edge as she did so.

As he submerged Jen watched him whilst she moved away from the pool and then after a couple of steps turned back again. When she returned to her spot he was making his way towards her in the pool, Jen pulled her long hair to one side and played with it a little before letting it drop. She let her attention turn back to Luke and listened to his question. A smile crept onto her lips and she raised an eyebrow, she took a step closer to the pool edge so he was now very close to him. Bending down she lowered her face to his, her face a few inches away from his. “I could have sworn you were in that class. So I could ask you the same, why aren’t you in class you rebel?” She said keeping her tone light and teasing. Being so close to Luke made her heart increase a little, which surprised her a bit, not many guys could get her heart beating. With a smile and brushing off her surprise, she splashed some water in his face and begun to stand up. He could grab her and pull her in, if he wanted to and she would be caught by surprise.

His next question had caught her off guard a little, she hadn’t been expecting him to ask her about his home country. Just about everyone in the school knew he was from Greece, so it wasn’t unusual that she knew it was his home country. “Well its quite big and faraway, but from what I hear its quite beautiful..” She said with a smile when she thought about her earlier dreams of travelling the World, when she was younger she had wanted to travel. That was after her mother left, she wanted to travel the World and find her. Now she wanted to travel the World and never ever see that woman again. Thinking about her mother had made her angry and this resulted with heat in her hands, they were not on fire but just a lot hotter than usual. Taking a breath out she relaxed and the heat subsided, a breathtaking smile planted on her lips. “So Mr. Pyrrhos, what do we do now?”

[Luke Pyrrhos]

So close that he could pull her into the pool with him, she surprised him, breaking his concentration on her mysterious eyes and dewey lips, when she plashed him right in the face with a bucket of water. Taken back, he wiped the chlorine out of his eyes and whipped his hair around to get the water out of it. Still, he laughed at her and said, "Good one, you'd got me there." The rest of the water droplets on the rest of his body that wasn't submerge were drying up quickly on his skin, almost steamy, but that would be sure to look a bit weird, as he was pretty sure Jen had never seen him in the pool before, and get a kick of this somewhat interesting oddity of his. But he finished that conversation with, "Learning history from a book is for schmucks. Besides, wouldn't you rather go see it for yourself than hear some monotonous professor preach it for an hour or so?"

She was still standing at the edge of the pool now, answering his last question about Greece, and honestly, her answer amused him. "Seems to me that you're a dreamer, Ms. Cole. Greece may be larger than Vermont, but certainly not too big. Its just right, small, and secluded for the most part. Rocky coasts all around, white sand beaches and cerulean waters. My village was filled with fishermen, like most coastal villages, our white stone houses piled high along the cliffs, the only way to get to some of them was by donkey. The food, delicious, my Yiayia always made the best in the entire place, sometimes in the summer, we'd have feasts where everyone would bring their catch of the day, we'd grill it or sauté it, bake, poach, fry it. You name it, my Yiayia and Papus did it all. Fresh vegetables and fruits, and drinks all round. Our parties would go from one night to three days. Everyone happy, in our little slice of paradise."

He sighed, after the image faded from his mind of his very clearly illustrated remembrances of his past. What he would give to go back.. his yiayia had promised him that if he ever find the need or the desire, and had the money, her house was his house, whenever he needed. And considering that there wasn't really anything to spend his money on in this place other than gas for his car or on clothing, Luke really didn't have any way to spend his money sufficiently. But, now that she asked the master question, so many ideas popped into his head, especially one certain big one that had been looming over him ever since he mentioned Greece. If she said yes to it, their adventure would be pure fun and excitement. It would have to be short, of course, because of the obligations of school and the such, but this was a Thursday, was it not? A three day weekend in Greece would be hard to beat. And by the time they got there, it would be Friday morning, the day still very young. Who else would he rather take than his fondest friend? It would be just that, so she wouldn't get worried or feel like she owed him anything. Her company would be the most fitting of payment than anything in the world.

He got up out of the pool, stretched out, letting the water on his skin vaporize, his nerves nearly showing. If she said no to this, he'd be ruined, but wouldn't show it of course. He couldn't. But imagine if she said yes. "Ms. Cole, how would you like to go to Greece?"

[Jennifer Cole]

It seemed she had been successful in splashing Luke in the face without him realizing what she had been about to do. Jen liked to surprise people, she wasn’t sure why she enjoyed it so much. The main fact was probably that it made her unpredictable, that was definitely something she hated. Being predictable. “It’s good to know you can’t predict what I am going to do. She said with a michevious smile as she placed her hands into the pockets of her jeans, which were slowly drying. Every so often she couldn’t help but let her eyes slip down his body and admire his physique, he certainly knew how to keep himself fit. It was then that she noticed the droplet on his skin evaporated into what looked to be steam. This interested Jen, sure she knew he was a pyro and that this was indeed possible, but it was a first for her and she liked it. Going to a school for special people, like her and Luke, it wasn’t a rarity to see something like that happen in daily life. There was always something going on, something unexpected and abnormal, but you kind of got used to being impressed and surprised a fair bit. Still Jennifer was a little impressed, not that she would tell him that or show it on her face. “Nice trick.” Jen said pushing her hair back, which had once again fallen onto her face.

Jen laughed when he mentioned that history was better learnt seeing it than reading it out of a book. This she totally agreed with and thought it would be obvious by the fact that she wasn’t in class, that she had no interest for learning history in a classroom. “Hence why I’m not in that class.” She said with a look that said, obviously but in a cheeky flirty way that she knew he loved and couldn’t resist. Jen knew exactly what to do with her body, all of it, to make a guy find her too hard to stay away from and be interested in.

After she had answered his question on Greece she could tell that she must have been showing a clear image on her face of longing. His reply proved this by going into deep detail about Greece, about how he grew up there and the fisherman, the food and his Yiayia. Jen watched him as he explained it, his face lighting up and also showing longing of his home. It made her want to reach out and touch him or hold him, something that she hadn’t wanted to do in a while. Dismissing that thought she watched him as he got out of the water. The way his muscles moved when he did so, could make a lot of girls fall to their knees in front of him. She bet they did. When he stood in front of her she was about to say a smart remark about his abs, but instead she stopped when he spoke instead. The words rushed over her a little, had she heard right? He was inviting her to Greece with him? This time he had caught her by surprise, hwoever she recovered her composure quickly. Jen had always wanted to travel and go somewhere amazing. Sure she would miss some class but Jen didn’t really think twice about that. How would she feel going overseas, with him? Immidiately a part of her got excited, she could do things she had dreamed of since she was little. He was offering it to her, straight out of the blue.

Realizing she had been standing silent for a while, she looked up to him. “Sure.” She said with a breathtaking smile. One that she had not shown him before, that lit up her whole face. Then letting her old self return for a moment she smirked. “Is this all to get me in bed with you?”

[Luke Pyrrhos]

Ah! So she had finally sealed that envelope, signed off on the check, she'd finally bent over her normal behavior and accepted his invitation. Now with that the excitement would finally begin. Part of him couldn't believe he was actually doing this, another part was thinking, Who cares? Life was supposed to be spontaneous, especially as the young people that they were; you'd only be young once. His yiayia would be so happy to hear of this. Not that he'd need to call anyone but her, unless he was planning on surprising her completely...maybe not, maybe so. If she knew, she's probably throw a party, but then again, what was wrong with a neighborhood party? It could really show Jen what this place was like. "Alright, hun, pack your bikini and enough clothing for the weekend and maybe monday. But pack a few extra layers, Greece's temperatures aren't always warm and sunny, you may need a sweater or two." It was interesting to most people that Greece wasn't always 80 year round. In fact, just like most places, it had seasons, and sometimes weather even made it down into the 50's. It would be a downright shame if she had only brought summer-wear. But if that were the case, then they could always afford to go to the markets and find her some clothing. Maybe his yiayia had something laying around.

"And to answer your other question," Luke had been avoiding answering it, as if it were real or not. Then again, an invitation to Greece out of the blue could look like a ploy to get some action, it wasn't. Did she really think that was all he wanted with her? "Believe me, if I wanted to do was bang you, I would have given up a long time ago; you're one tough cookie. Come on, get your stuff, meet me near the front door in half an hour. I'll have everything set up from there." And with that, he shoved himself back into his pants, despite the fact that his trunks were still wet, although chest dry and warm, and slipped on his shirt and shoes, waving to her. By the time he was out, he again strolled through the hallway to his dorm room. He was lucky this time, his wet-ish pants may have given him away if the bell hadn't rung and students started filling the hallways, running from one class to the next, giggling in groups, or talking with their hands moving around in various directions. But his mind wasn't really on that, it was all on getting this ready as soon as possible, keeping his promise.

As soon as he got to his dorm room, he started to strip down to dry clothing, something a tad warmer, while he multi-tasked and grabbed his cell phone, finding his yiayia's number and dialing it, waiting for the rings and for her to pick up. Luckily she did, and sounding quite surprised to hear from him. "Γιαγιά, έρχομαι κατ' οίκον, στην Ελλάδα. Έχετε ένα δωμάτιο διαθέσιμο? Θα αγαπούσα για σας να συναντήσω το φίλο μου, σκέφτομαι ότι θα την συμπαθήσετε." His grandmother sounded awfully excited to hear it was a 'her' that was coming with him, but probably thought about something different than just a friend. Hopefully she won't get too carried away.

After finding that his yiayia was going to prepare a breakfast for them, as it would take about fourteen whole hours to get there, he went to work on Expedia, found two plane tickets to Athens, and booked it for that afternoon. They would leave at noon, which meant they had about two and half hours to get there. Now he needed to pack and find a taxi, unless she had a car..Nah, better wing it with the taxi. He packed his suitcase with all of the essentials, for both warm to moderately cool temperatures, and then grabbed his passport and information, finally calling a taxi service to come pick them up from Hammel's main parking lot in ten minutes. Hopefully she'd be ready by then. He had all of his money in plastic, but it wouldn't hurt to go to the atm at the airport. Luke figured that she must have a passport if she had agreed to go. Plus, she was a sophisticated young miss, so it would be odd to find she didn't have one. Of course she has one, don't worry about this. There are bigger and better things to worry about. Like getting caught. That thought did pop into his mind, but Luke always knew of ways to get around it. For example, he could show that his yiayia called to let him know that his grandfather had fallen ill, and as the family was very close, as was Jen to their family, they needed to leave immediately. See? That would work wonderfully. Luke checked his watch. It was time. They were to meet in two minutes, and he prayed she'd be there. The taxi was going to come in five. Everything was ready to go. Luke took one last look at his room, checking to see if he had forgotten anything, and then headed out of the dorm room, walking steadily towards the main doors.