Title: it's not my fault grass is SOFT
Description: tag: alice
Simon Flynn - November 17, 2007 11:36 PM (GMT)
The day was cold and stormy, just how he liked them. Most people wondered why a guy like Si, especially one who could control the weather when he felt like it, would revel in the fact that clouds obscured the sun and the temperature dropped in the low twenties. He simply answered that it made it more interesting; you saw sunny days all the time. Hell, he'd created a few sunny days himself. However, you hardly ever saw a storm like this one brewing on the horizon. Maybe it was just him, because he was so in tuned with the forces of nature (ha, how corny does that sound? he asked himself), but he appreciated the intricacies of a storm like this one approaching. The way the clouds clumped together, the way they moved with the wind, the way the snow around him looked muted and too bland to be the snow that had fallen, white and crisp, just the night before. And there was more on the way, if the clouds were anything to judge by. They looked just a little heavy, as if they were ready to unload their burden on the school and surrounding area.
Si cleared off a bench in the gardens and sat down, shivering as the cold cement seemed to seep through his jeans. Okay, that's just a little too cold, he told himself as he stood back up again. He didn't like too much cold, that's for sure. Which was weird since he loved this kind of weather. Simon guessed that because of the weather, he was wearing more heavy clothing on his torso, not to mention two pairs of socks, instead of two or three pairs of pants. Then, if he had thought to don his snow pants, he could sit down comfortably and relax. Guess it wasn't meant to be. Simon glanced around at the cleared paths and walked over towards the nearest one, his boots making crunching noses in the old, packed snow. He smirked; as a kid, he and his grandfather would roll in the snow and try to make songs out of the sounds it made. He closed his eyes for a moment; though his grandfather had died years ago, it still left a small hole. He blinked the residual pain away, removed his iPod from his leather jacket pocket, and slid the headphones into his ears. He was going to take a walk instead of sitting down. He'd still be alone, which is what he wanted, but he'd be moving. Maybe work up some heat. Yeah, that was good.
Simon took off towards the path and once his feet graced it, he followed it around the gardens. He tried to imagine the well-groomed gardens in their full glory. Bright flowers like sunny daisies, lush and full tulips, and the occassional rose bush sprouted in the spring and were carefully tended by the school's landscaping staff. Now, the flowers were dead and the snow had covered any reminders that they'd been there. That was a downside of the weather he loved so much; it covered up too much of his world. Simon clicked on his Nickel Creek playlist (an album his mother thought he'd like for his birthday last year...it was quite catchy; he enjoyed it) and let the fiddle and country music wash over him, putting him in an even better mood.
Alice Black - November 18, 2007 12:19 AM (GMT)
Alice looked up at the sky, now absorbed with clouds of gray and the warning of a storm. She smiled to herself, enjoying the mounds of snow around her. Yet, so much snow brought back bad memories... Of course, it was hard to imagine that anybody could remember back to when they were just born. Yet, for some strange reason, Alice could remember, very clearly, that crisp morning, when her parents had held her safely in their arms, walking out of the theater; her brother trudging behind in the snow. She sighed, letting the cool wind blow her hair back, letting the stiffness of the cold take over her body. How long had it been since her whole family was like that, happy at all times, with nothing to worry about? It was a very, very long time... Nobody would ever believe this, but Alice had once been indulged in herself, crying her eyes out in her room, letting the darkness consume her. Yet, thankfully, that darkness had never really taken her. It had spared her, let her live in the light. And living in the light was much better than being depressed. Maybe it was because of this that depression was such a touchy subject for Alice.
Alice pulled up the hood of her coat, edged with fake, white fur, over her head, her brown locks falling lifelessly onto her shoulders. Over the course of her three years spent at Aura, whenever it had come to winter, her parents had sent her real fur coats, warm and fuzzy and comfortable. But Alice never really liked them. After all, she was against the idea of wearing real fur. Luckily, finally, as her junior year had come around, she had convinced her parents to send her fake fur coats. And it had been hard to convince her parents to do this, even though that was not a complete surprise. They were Hollywood stars; they were determined parents who never gave up. God, how much Alice loved them. Right now, she wanted to go back to those winter mornings when she would come down the stairs and be greeted by her parents, who would give her a cup of steaming hot chocolate with tiny marshmallows floating in it. But again, that had been a long time ago. A very, very long time ago.
Oh, such depressing thoughts! Alice couldn't afford those. She straightened her back, plastered a beautiful smile onto her face, and walked into the gardens of Aura. Her hazel eyes scanned the snow that was heaved on top of absolutely everything. After looking for quiet a while, her eyes rested on a bench, a bench that was barely touched by the white, puffy snow. Walking joyfully to the bench, her hand reached out in front of her, sliding across the bench as the snow flew off, seconds later resting peacefully on the ground. Alice sat down, beaming. It was only November, yet there was already snow. She would be sure to play some snow fights with her friends. And she absolutely couldn't wait until December! She was this year's hostess of the Winter Ball. Alice couldn't wait to start planning away endlessly. Yet, the thought still remained: who would she go with? Her mind lingered on the image of one of her best friends, her partner-in-crime, the king of the majestics... Simon Flynn. But, she knew he probably didn't like her. After all, Simon had like hundreds of girls at his feet. Like every year, he would probably choose one of them. Sighing, Alice raised a hand to her forehead. Well, she shouldn't be so sad about it, anyway. Simon went with a different girl every year, so Alice had gotten used to it already. And, long ago, she had lost the courage to tell him how she truly felt. Her feelings had faded a bit since the first time she had met him, but they still remained.
Alice looked around once more, spotting Simon walking, all alone, probably listening to his iPod. Speak of the devil, right? She jumped off the bench, skipping towards him. Twirling right in front of him, she beamed a smile and said, "Oh, you're such a lonely little freak, you know that, right? Walking all alone... But, don't worry, Alice is here to save you from your loneliness!"
Simon Flynn - November 21, 2007 05:24 AM (GMT)
Simon jumped about a mile into the air when Allie popped into view. He had expected to be alone; sure, students and staff both walked the gardens on occassion, but on a day like this? They certainly had to be crazy to step out their doors without a full-on winter parka draped over them and miles and miles of clothing between them and the elements. Instead, Allie tumbled into view, just as energized and excited as she had been when he first met her. Indeed, it brought back a rush of memories, from the first time he'd seen her to the first time he said hello to the first time she ran away from him. A lot of firsts in his memories. Huh. But this time, she jumped right into view without a care in the world. He tugged the earphones from his head and gaped at her.
Just managing to catch her words, he smirked. She was always a little bit of a smart-ass, but that's what he liked about her. "I'm going to let that 'freak' comment slide, seeing as you are such a big one yourself." He tugged on an errant strand of hair that had flown out in front of her face. "But I somehow like you anyway." He gave her a brotherly once-over. "Aren't you the least bit cold?" he asked her in a shocked voice. A girl like her, smaller than most with a petite figure, wouldn't have a lot of natural cushion from the cold; if she wasn't so wrapped up like a Christmas present (what kind of present, Simon wondered), she'd probably be dead from frostbite. Simon looked over her coat (faux fur, of course, since Alice was never really comfortable with some of the things her parents sent her...the fact that she had kind of defied them in this aspect made Simon smile to himself; she had come into her own in the past few years) and resisted the urge to run his finger along the edge of the fur. It had to be warm; hell, it even looked warm to his eyes. But looks could be deceiving. "You should have stayed indoors. I know you don't really like the snow." Why had she come out in the first place? Just for a walk, like he had? Or had she seen him wandering around aimlessly, merely looking for something to occupy his time with.
"Anyway, I'm not lonely. Or, I am. Does it count as being lonely if you specifically look to be alone? Or is that just depressing?" He wondered aloud, commenting further on her little statements. Simon shrugged; he didn't really consider himself lonely. After all, he was always surrounded by people. Well, they were mostly girls who were fawning over him; his adoring masses, as his little brother joked. But was he lonely? Simon couldn't really answer that. "Does someone know if they're lonely when they're lonely, or do they just think they like to be alone? And, if they know they're lonely, how do you get out of that? Surely, someone who is lonely has to meet some people in their life; I mean, they can't be nomads or whatever. So, when you're surrounded by people, can you still be lonely?"
Okay, now he was making his own head hurt. He shrugged off his questions. "Never mind. What are you doing out here?"
Alice Black - November 21, 2007 12:12 PM (GMT)
Alice smacked Simon on the head, grunting loudly. "Idiot," She mumbled. "Well, I'll ignore that comment for now, since you're more of a freak than I am," Alice said, shifting positions from one foot to the other, a habit she found herself carrying out whenever extremely annoyed. "Even though I like to do this," She added, jumping into the air and doing a double flip, landing back in the snow with a soft thud, "At least I don't have hundreds of girls fawning over me like I'm their king." She transformed into one of Simon's fans, a girl who went to the winter ball with last year. "Oh Simon, oh! Please be my one and only!" Alice mimicked, a sarcastic edge to her voice the whole time. Then after the little performance, she transformed back to herself and said, "Pathetic."
"And no, I'm not cold," Alice said, lightly tugging on her coat. "This is a coat. A warm coat, yes, but the only source of heat besides my body on my bode. My legs? They're wrapped in jeans, not some puff material. Doesn't disgust you?" Alice asked, pointing down at her legs and nodding quietly, as if to prove her comment correct. "Plus, I'm a gymnast. My body heat is maintained better than yours, so I can stay warmer faster and I need less layers to keep that way." Alice looked straight ahead, into the depths of the gardens. She remembered, last year Simon and her had taken a walk hear in the spring, talking about things that weren't that important. Sometimes, Alice could not explain his want for her company, or her own want for his. Oh, wait, she could. After all, she liked him. At least she had more dignity than his fawning fangirls.
"Well, lonely people are described as people with no friends; people who sit at lunch all along or worse, go to the stalls to eat. At times it's alright to be and even wish to be alone, but if that happens too often, the you truly are alone. After all, all human beings practically feed off their social lives... Just look at Hollywood..." Alice lost herself deep in thought. She had been alone once. More than once. Truly alone, with no people to call her "friends". To shoulder to cry on, no one to comfort her besides her family. No one to say good things about her except her parents, because she had already stopped believing anything good existed that involved Alice Black. Of course, she had been wrong. And of course, the time had passed, or else she wouldn't have turned out like this. But still... the memory was still as harsh even if the memory had spanned over a larger amount of time than it actually had.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Alice said, "Nothing in particular. Just... walking."
Simon Flynn - November 28, 2007 06:58 PM (GMT)
Si frowned when Alice did her little impersonation of the "fawning" masses. He didn't think it was that severe. He just thought that some girls had crushes, as everyone did (hell, he harbored a few crushes himself), and they didn't hide it as well as most. To say that girls fawned over him was like comparing him to a celebrity and their adoring fans, the fans that lined the streets of their homes, waving signs proclaiming marriage proposals and crazy, creepy stuff like that. Sure, Si would have to be blind, deaf, and dumb to not notice the girls that constantly stepped into his path and tried to get his attention. After all, he was quite aware of his status in the student body. If someone was elected King of the Majestics, they had to be. But Si wouldn't take it as far as Alice did. The fact that she seemed so sensitive about the subject raised more eyebrows than what she was saying or doing. Si wasn't aware that she felt so strongly about stuff like this. When she finished her little rant, he shyly smiled, trying to ligthen the mood. He wanted to get away from this subject as fast as he could.
Thank God she changed the subject. Si didn't think he could handle anymore of Alice's sarcasm and obvious disdain for the girls at Aura. Instead, he focused on what she was saying about her coat and how she was not in the least bit cold.
"What, I'm confused. If you're a gymnast, doesn't that mean that you're a lot...slimmer than the other girls? So, doesn't that mean that you have less body fat than others and that you wouldn't be as warm?" To accentuate his point, he made shapes in the air with his hands, pointing out that instead of a rounded shape (he made a circle), Alice was skinnier (he kept his hands straight and drew them downwards) than others. "Like, polar bears stay warm because of their fat and since you don't look like you have a lot of fat..." Careful, Simon! You know how girls can be sensitive, he told himself, "You wouldn't be as naturally warm. You know?" There. That wasn't insulting in the least, right? In fact, as he went over it in his head, he felt that it was more of a compliment than anything else. After all, he was calling her skinny, and all girls wanted to be skinny, right? "And," he was on a roll! "If you're a gymnast, doesn't that mean that you burn body heat more because you're all active and stuff like that?" He should have aced science because he was pulling an ace out of his sleeve with this one. He resisted the urge to pump his arm in victory.
"So, since I've got friends, one of which is walking right here," he winked down at her, "I'm not lonely? Wicked." When she faded off into the distance or wherever she went, he glanced at her. She somtimes got like this when they talked about friends. She would reminisce about herself before she and Si became friends. It was pretty unpleasant to think about how lonely she had been, how mistreated, and Si felt a small pang in his chest. She was friend, his best friend, and she never deserved to be treated like that. Without permission, he suddenly reached down and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, planting a big, smacking kiss on her cheek. He hoped she didn't notice the way that his lips lingered just a little, how he reluctantly pulled his face away and just settled for hugging her.
"Now, we can walk together!"
Alice Black - November 28, 2007 10:17 PM (GMT)
Skinny. Ha, that was every girl's dream, right? And should she, Alice Black, be actually fat because of her obvious love of chocolate and candy? What Alice didn't understand, though, was why, for instance, America had a lot of fat people. Well, she knew that there were people who stared away at the television or computer hours at a time, but it wasn't that hard staying skinny. All you needed to do was to eat healthy, desserts here and there occasionally, (although for Alice it was a bit, well, actually, way, too frequent), and a good load of exercise to burn off all that extra body fat. That was all. And being a gymnast, even with her highly sugar-coated appetite, Alice got more than enough exercise to keep herself healthy, in good shape, and looking great. Actually, if you looked back at all her school year pictures, you would be able to see that she never was more than the average weight. Most of the time, after she learned gymnastics, she was slimmer than most of the girls. Well, Alice had to admit, she was pretty dedicated to the art; her passion, gymnastics. Obviously. Do you see any other girls walking on their hands or flipping in the air randomly?
"Hmph," Alice said, sighing loudly. "Well, I guess you're right, but wrong at the same time. Yes, I'm skinny, but I am used to having the comfort of extra body heat. Even though I was born in a cold place, I was... raised... with a lot of warm experiences," Alice paused, thinking, quietly; to herself, 'Yeah, right.' She continued. "Well, not experiences, but as a baby I was practically coated with layers of endless blankets. I just can't explain it. I'm used to feeling warm, and even in the cold of winter, I have something to rely on that will always be there. My warmth. That sounds crappy, doesn't it?" Alice laughed quietly to herself, her left hand rising to her mouth to cover her laughter. Her eyes were lit with joy, as she settled down and yawned quietly; politely behind the cover of her hand. She would never forget her manners, even in front of her best friend. Simon Flynn. Simon. Si. Her Si. Yeah, right. Not in a million years. Even if she did ask him out, the fawning fangirls would attack her as soon as they knew about it. That cost Alice another giggle.
"Why are you so touchy about your fawning fangirls, Brad Pitt?" Alice asked, teasing Si playfully. She heard some of the girls calling him Brad Pitt and comparing him to the celebrity. Ha-ha. "They are practically fawning over you. I swear. Like stalkers in love," Alice paused, putting her forefinger to her head, thinking for a second. "I remember, I passed this group of girls in the hall to English. It was a week a girl. Before they came silent with respect, seriously, by the way, that annoys me so much, they were chit-chattering away about you. 'Oh! Did you see Simon Flynn?' 'OMG! I totally did! He's like sooo the next Brad Pitt!' 'OMG, so totally yeah!' 'By the way, I got so lucky today!' 'How?' 'I got Simon's phone number!' 'OMG! OMG! Seriously?' 'Yeah!' Ha, that was funny. Enjoyable," Alice paused, overlooking Simon. "You are sorta-kinda like Brad Pitt, I guess."
Alice was shocked at the unexpected kiss to the cheek. This was a first. Her breath got caught in her lungs; her heart beat rapidly. As Simon slung his arm around her, settling for a hug, Alice felt heat rise in her cheeks. Gasping quietly, she pushed Simon away. Blushing ferociously, she said in an irritated voice, "Idiot. Don't ever do that again." She hoped that it didn't hurt his feelings. But Si couldn't do that to her. Kiss her, even on the cheek. It might have meant nothing to him, a simple, friendly kiss to the cheek, but it obviously meant something to her. Touching her cheek gently, she wondered if she had only imagined the hesitant lingering of Si's lips against her cheek. Probably.
"A-anyway," Alice said, trying to regain composure, "I find myself near death about the Winter Ball! Near death of excitement, of course. You know, I'm planning the event myself this year!" Her eyes gleamed once more, all traces of the blush gone. For now.