I Hate That I Love You || 1x1

[adheline]

♠ C L A Y T O N ♠
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tagged⇨ Jessie locale⇨ home role⇨ meetings in the park boy

Taking a step back, Clayton lets Jessie take the stand and place it to her liking. It looks like she's going for a seated shot with the loveseat, which is a good change from their standing solos. It will also give an inherently more comfortable tone. He heads over when she asks about the angle, but before he gets there she leaves to demonstrate. He leans over and watches her position into a pose through the viewfinder, smirks, and takes a picture. She's adorable. Then he seriously considers the angle she's picked. "Perfect, I like it." She does have a knack for finding the elements of a good composition. The background and angle play well together here. "Alright, let's see what we can get out of three pictures for now," he suggests, picking through the timer settings. If they start with a small number, they can make sure the shot works without having a bunch of awkward photos. But he also doesn't want to get up after every picture to press buttons. "And I'm putting the delay at ten seconds." To give them time to come up with something between takes. She doesn't have anything specific, and he's not really sure what to do, either, so they'll have to figure it out as they're sitting there. Although, he's got an urge to try and throw her off balance since he's been given an opportunity here. Once he's got the right numbers set he hits the shutter release button and scoots around the camera to join Jessie on the loveseat. He sits close, slinking an arm across the top of the cushion behind her. He's counting down in his head the ten seconds until the first picture goes off, assuming a relaxed, casual pose. Something that suggests he's interested in Jessie, but at ease sitting next to her. Then at the last second he gently cups her cheek and kisses her just long enough for the camera to catch it. He drops his hand and eases back against the cushions. "Two left," he advises, rather pleased with himself.

✬ N A T H A N I E L ✬
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tagged⇨ Skylar locale⇨ venue role⇨ science project boy

Nathaniel shrugs when she comments on how many questions he has. To be fair, the entire time they've been civil with one another, he actually hasn't asked a lot of questions. Nothing prying, anyway. He feels like she knows a lot about him, he's an open book and she isn't hesitant to ask about him - or Jessie - but he's a little behind when it comes to getting to know her. Or maybe he just feels that way because they talk about Jessie a lot but he has no one to question her about. He does know about her parents, kind of, about the cosmetology, fashion, and science. And he knows about her taste in gelato. So, not as behind as he thought, now that he reflects on it. Still, he's expecting a little more detail than he gets from her answer. It's interesting how dismissive she is of her past relationships, though. Even though both of his relationships ended somewhat bitterly, he still has nice things to say about them. They had genuine feelings for one another, and both relationships came with a lot of good memories. But Skylar keeps pointing out that he's probably seen her boyfriends, so maybe it's a hazard of her social circle. Like she feels compelled to be in a lifeless relationship purely for status's sake. Or convenience, as she says. And she's right. It's kind of sad. He has seen and heard about her relationships before, but he never payed much attention to it. Lots of drama, he remembers that. Lots of guys who all seemed less than stellar in the personality department. She doesn't seem to like to dwell on it. He gives a slow smile as she turns the conversation to friendship. "You are a great friend," he agrees. Even before the two of them became friends, back when he didn't much like her, he couldn't ignore the fact that she cared a lot about her friends. "I'm sorry your relationships have been..." he pauses briefly to find an accurate but inoffensive word, "lackluster." Even though she's disappointed in her history, he doesn't want to insult anyone. "Maybe you should try dating outside your social circle. Break the cycle." He doubts there are any more of her boyfriend clones roaming around the unpopular crowd. Well, there are definitely still some bad characters, but at least they won't look the same.

⊰ A U D R E Y ⊱
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tagged⇨ Michael locale⇨ museum role⇨ the third girl

A smug grin crawls across Audrey's face when he confirms that she got it right. The score's tied up, meaning if she plays this turn right, she might be able to get a win out of this. There isn't a real prize for winning this, and it should be more important that they're learning about each other here, but she's honestly pretty pumped about the possibility of winning the game. She looks up at him when he nudges her, feeling a small heat of shyness, but he's making a joke shortly after so she decides not to think too much of it. "Well, your sister seems to think you're amazing at elementary math so I had to assume you could at least manage first grade," she teases back. Now she's faced with having to come up with facts that are just as tough as his. Things about her past are pretty easy to guess, though. And the present. She's a pretty straight-laced individual, and although she wants to do fun things, she mostly doesn't. All in all, she feels predictable. So she decides to take a different tactic from him and go simpler, rather than deeper. The small things are still important, too. One good thing can make a whole day better. And they're not as contingent on things he already knows about her. So, hopefully, harder to guess. "I hate the rain," she opens with, getting the lie out of the way. She actually loves the rain. She likes reading by the window during thunderstorms, and when the rain is clean and coming down in the perfect intensity, she likes to walk down the street and stomp in the puddles. Which is childish and pretty much asking to get sick, but it's surprisingly cleansing. "I like apple butter on my pancakes." Something her grandma showed her as an alternative to syrup when she was a kid, maybe seven years ago, and she's been committed to ever since. She doesn't have pancakes all that often, though. "And... I can do the clover thing with my tongue." Something that has no use in her life, but has always thought was really cool. When she was younger she was so proud of it, mostly because it was something she could do but her sister couldn't.

[lucky ⋆]

❅ Jᴇssɪᴄᴀ Sᴄᴏғɪᴇʟᴅ ❅
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[ meetings in the park ] [ location: Clayton's house ] [ tagged: Clayton ]

Jessie watches Clayton looks through the viewfinder as she poses. When she hears the click of the shutter, she's caught off-guard. She blinks as she barely registers his opinion on the shot and the following instructions. She wasn't prepared to think of a pose right away. She thought they were going to talk through it a little before they start up the timer. Before she could tell him to wait though, he was already on the couch with her. She scrambles a bit to think of what to do. She doesn't want to look like a deer in headlights. As she sees Clayton drape his arms on the cushion behind her, she figures she'll just do a relaxed and nonchalant pose. Just as she relaxes into the pose though, her head is suddenly being twisted towards Clayton. She barely realizes what was happening when his lips meets her lips. Her eyes are wide open initially but slowly closes as she relaxes into the kiss. She didn't fully understand his intentions until his words when he pulls away from her. She pouts at his actions. Stewing over what he just did, she didn't have time to get ready for the second picture and the shutter goes off before she goes do anything else. At this point, she knows there's no hope for the next photo. There's no point for her to even think of a pose. So, she should instead focus her attention on getting her revenge on him. Remembering that the timer is going off soon, she realizes she needs to act fast. She doesn't even think through it and just before these last pictures are taken, she grabs the collars of his jackets and yanks him towards her. Instead of kissing him though, she just keeps him close. She's hoping the picture will capture his expression as she does this. She meant to try to taunt him by doing this, but as she stares into his eyes, she's caught by their closeness. At this point, all the pictures have been taken, so they should probably checking them out and resetting the timer. She makes no moves to do any of that though. Her grip on his jacket has loosened a bit at this point. Her eyes roam across his face and dart down to his lips briefly. She feels her breath getting heavy as she drifts closer.

♛ Sᴋʏʟᴀʀ Jᴀᴄᴏʙs ♛
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[ the science project ] [ location: venue ] [ tagged: Nathaniel ]

A mellow smile crawls across her face when Nathaniel agrees with her. Skylar didn't expect him to agree so easily with her past behaviours. She guesses just because she was awful to someone else doesn't mean she's always awful to everybody. She purses her lip and gives him a sideways glance towards him when he suggests dating outside her social circles. She suppresses the sigh in her chest as she looks away. "Perhaps." she shrugs. "I'm not exactly actively looking." She knows he's right though. If she recalls her dating history again, she thinks the one time she dated outside of her usual types was during summer two years ago. She was spending the summer in England and during that time, she dated the son of one of her parents' business partners. While he was still attractive and popular like her other boyfriends, he was far more academically inclined. Like her, he was one of the top students at his school. Unfortunately, they agreed that it was only going to be a summer fling in the beginning because neither of them had any plans to move outside of their home country. They are only teenagers after all. There was no way they were going to make a big commitment like that. It was her most mature relationship though. It was also the relationship she cried about after they separated. Usually, she's fuming rather than crying at the end of the relationship. "Although, it would be nice to have someone to go to the dance with since I'm pretty sure my current plans will probably fall through," she mutters under her breath. She can probably round up some of her single girl friends and still have some fun. But she can't help but think she's missing something special by not going to one of the last dances with someone. She'll just have to turn her focus to more of a leadership role and try to be feel fulfilled by making sure everyone else has a good time. "I think that's enough wailing for one day," she says as she stretches out her arms. They have been sitting here for a little bit too long and she's had enough time to calm down. "We should probably get on with the rest of the day." She stands up and straightens her outfit.

☀ Mɪᴄʜᴀᴇʟ Hᴀʀʀɪsᴏɴ ☀
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[ the third pair ] [ location: museum ] [ tagged: Audrey ]

Michael grins as Audrey teases him back. He can't help but think how different her response is to his annoying antics compared to when they first began talking. She barely gave him the light of the day. Now, they banter easily with each other. They even have their inside jokes with each other. That fact makes him unreasonably giddy. He tries not to have that get to his head though since he still needs to keep his head in the game. As Audrey states her facts, Michael is surprised that they're quite simple. He thought it would be more complicated than what she's putting out. He knows she's trying to trip him up, but can't tell how. There's not much to go on, but it doesn't really matter. He already knows the answer from the first fact she says. Being an outgoing guy, he interacts with people from various social circles. Although he might not be best friends with them, he's had plenty of conversations with similar types of people as Audrey. People who are way more academically inclined than him. Literature wise to be specific since he clearly is a master mathematician as stated by his little sister. People who are more simply know him as bookworms. And he has never met any bookworm that hates the rain. It always comes up whenever he tells them that he's not really into reading. They all gush about how it's a great rainy day activity. A stance that he can neither confirm nor deny because he's never done it. If he heard more varied responses, he might have had more of a hard time with this. But since he's never heard otherwise, he's inclined to believe that's the lie. Perhaps, he should think this through more, but he decides to go full in and not even consider the other facts. "Oh, this one's easy." he scoffs. "Rain is definitely a lie." He doesn't give any more than that. Not his reasoning or any of his thought processes. No faltering either, he is completely confident in this answer. He wants this to look as impressive as possible when he gets this point. That is if he gets this point. This will backfire and he'll probably look like a real idiot if it's wrong.

[adheline]

♠ C L A Y T O N ♠
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tagged⇨ Jessie locale⇨ home role⇨ meetings in the park boy

Seeing Jessie pout over his little trick, Clayton's grin turns smug. The second picture catches their expressions, but it looks like she's too preoccupied to notice. He, on the other hand, is soaking in every second of his success one by one. It appears he's gotten not just one, but two good pictures out of this. That is, until suddenly he's being tugged towards her. His smirk slips away, eyes rounding in surprise. He reacts automatically to her nearness, chest tight and pulse picking up, and he vaguely registers the final picture capturing the tricky mix of shock and anticipation splashed across his face. It's a lot, so it takes him a moment to do the math and figure why she tugged him close, but not all the way. In the millisecond it took to get here, he's forgotten about the first pictures entirely. About the camera entirely, sitting just a few short feet away. She has a funny way of distracting him like that. By the time he's distantly gathered that it's revenge, he's very focused on the roaming direction of Jessie's gaze. He swallows, his attention dipping down as well. It occurs to him somewhere in the depths of his mind that he could take his turn in this little game and back away suddenly, putting him back on top of whatever scoreboard they're using. It's what they do. Go back and forth, mess with each other. Increasingly with flirty nearness like this. Maybe he should do that, actually, because she expressed before that sometimes this can be a little bit much for her. Although she said it was fine, he promised to himself that he'd move slower. But as she gets closer, all he can manage is to close the gap between them. He brings his hands up to cup her face, softly pressing his lips to hers.

✬ N A T H A N I E L ✬
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tagged⇨ Skylar locale⇨ venue role⇨ science project boy

Even though he might not have been meant to hear it, Nathaniel catches the mumbled bit about the dance and it snatches his attention. Since he doubts Jessie will be going with him, for various reasons he's gathered these past few days, he might ask another girl in one of his classes, but more likely he's planning on going alone. Then it hits him that going alone to a dance is super lame. What do you even do when there's no one to do anything with? It's a social event. Skylar has no shortage of people around her to go with, but if he asks this one girl from class and she says no, he's more or less stranded. Most of the people he knows have plans already, and he's not going to taint their nights by being a third - or more - wheel. He'll have to worry about it later. They're moving on, and Nathaniel cranes his head up as Skylar stands. Without thinking about it, his eyes settle on her hands fixing her outfit. The moment he realizes he's staring, he drops his gaze and stands up, brushing his hands against his jeans. "Yeah. Jeffrey's probably worried about you. You kind of took off back there." He gestures vaguely to the corner of the building she'd pulled him around. "With me." What he's observed between Skylar and her driver is a sort of closeness and understanding that makes him think Jeffrey's usually there to help Skylar through things like what just happened with her mom. He wonders what the guy thinks of Skylar choosing to drag him around to the back of the building instead. "So where do you want to go?" he asks, heading back towards the front of the building, where the car's waiting. "Assuming you still want me around." He'd understand if she needs some time to herself, but at the same time he still wants to hang out.

⊰ A U D R E Y ⊱
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tagged⇨ Michael locale⇨ museum role⇨ the third girl

When Michael doesn't even hesitate, Audrey scrunches her nose up in annoyance. She thought for sure the random facts would be the ones to stump him. What makes him so confident? It can't have been that easy. For all he knows, she can't stand having wet hair. Or sticky clothes. Or... or... other things people don't like about the rain. She can't think of much off the top of her head. But lots of people hate the rain. Nothing she said had any relevance to her personality, neither were they things he could have observed about her. Right? She's beginning to doubt her logic, but she's still not sure where she failed. It's aggravating. "Your unfailing confidence is obnoxious," she grumbles. Which is a lie. It's kind of annoying, but mostly she finds it attractive. Which is annoying in itself. She sighs. "How did you know? You didn't even think about it." Easy, he said. So self-assured, positive he had it right. She hates that even as he's knocking her down a peg, she's still impressed. It's getting harder to convince herself she just wants to be friends. She'd like to say that she's never thought about what she'd like in a guy, but that would be a lie. She'd never admit it to anyone out loud, but Michael actually fits into a lot of the characteristics she always found herself leaning towards. Confidence being a big one. But he's surprised her, too. Or, she's surprised herself by liking him. She always thought she'd be interested in an academic like herself, someone serious who makes big plans and keeps to them. Maybe her expectations for commitment stem a little from that. This image she's had in her mind, of a guy she didn't think would show up until college at the earliest. But she's so not going back down that road right now. She's just going to enjoy this game for right now, even though she's failing miserably at it.

[lucky ⋆]

❅ Jᴇssɪᴄᴀ Sᴄᴏғɪᴇʟᴅ ❅
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[ meetings in the park ] [ location: Clayton's house ] [ tagged: Clayton ]

When Clayton lean forward to press his lip against hers, Jessie was already meeting him halfway. He's soft and gentle, which makes her heart melt. But she wants more. She doesn't know why she's feeling this way, but she needs him closer. Even though, they're practically pressed against each other. Perhaps all the teasing back and forth has been getting to her. They have been pushing it a little further too, having the privacy to do so. The anticipation is getting the best of her. Her arms loop around his shoulders and pull him in even closer. She begins kissing him more urgently. Eventually, it begins to get a little overwhelming for her and she softens up her actions. She releases her grip on him slowly. Her hands trail back along his shoulder blade and settle on his shoulders instead. She pulls away, a little bewildered that she had just done that. She's never kissed anyone like that before. The closest thing would be when they shared their first kiss together on her couch. Although, that was more him than her. "I think we got a little distracted," she says in a breathy tone. They were supposed to be posing for some pictures together. She supposes they did get some pictures though probably not with their desired poses. She can't believe the first picture they captured was them sharing a kiss. That thought makes her eyes drop down to his lips briefly. With her mind floating away once again, she licks her lips instinctually. Forgetting the fact she might ruin the lipgloss she put on. Although, it seems that there's much less of it on her lips than what she initially put on. "Should we..." she begins, trying to remember what they were doing before. As she roams his face once again, she finds it hard to remember. What were doing before? Right, pictures. She keeps having to remind herself. "Look at the pictures?" Despite asking, she doesn't make a move. Still just focused on him.

♛ Sᴋʏʟᴀʀ Jᴀᴄᴏʙs ♛
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[ the science project ] [ location: venue ] [ tagged: Nathaniel ]

Skylar squeezes her eyes shut when Nathaniel mentions Jeffrey's been waiting. "Oh, right. Jeffrey." Skylar knows that if they head back, Jeffrey is no doubt going to question them. He won't ask directly with Nathaniel here, but he'll hover around the issue to try to get to the bottom of things. It's going to be so awkward. She briefly breaks out of her thoughts when he questions if she still wants him to hang around. "Of course I want you around," she tells him without thinking. She blinks when she realizes what she just admitted and tries to not scrunch up her face too much in embarrassment. "I mean I had the plans with you in the first place." She tries to cover for herself but doesn't want exactly what she could say to do so. Instead, she just shuts her mouth and goes back to thinking about what to do with Jeffrey. "Maybe we should just dip?" she proposes quietly, shuffling in her spot. "I don't think I can handle Jeffrey right now." As much as she loves Jeffrey, he's practically family to her, she doesn't think she has the energy or confidence to face him right now. Especially not with Nathaniel in toll. Not to mention, it'll just be a reminder of what just happened with her mom. She just wants to get away from that, she doesn't want to jump right back in. She knows she'll have to have the conversation with him eventually. She just prefers if it was done later. "He has to leave if I tell him to." She stops, realizing that sounds a bit harsh. "I mean I know he means well, but he's definitely going to awkwardly try to figure out what happens without directly asking," she explains, hoping he understands her issue here. "So, I can tell him to leave and we can find another ride instead." She's not sure they can actually, but they have other options too. "If we can't, maybe we can take the bus..." she begins to suggest, but her words drag out at the thought of taking public transit. "Or we could just walk."

☀ Mɪᴄʜᴀᴇʟ Hᴀʀʀɪsᴏɴ ☀
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[ the third pair ] [ location: museum ] [ tagged: Audrey ]

Michael can't help but grin widely seeing her reaction to how quickly he figured out her lie. "Obnoxious?!" he chortles uncontrollably. "Oh please, you love it." He shakes his head when she asks how he knew right away. "We're still in a competition here. I can't just reveal all my tricks." he refuses to give his reasoning. Mostly because it'll lose all the mystic and that would be lame. "You still have a chance to tie it up." For a moment, feeling a little bad with how frustrated she got, he considered easing up his turn. He knows she wouldn't want him to give her pity points like that though. And he still wanted to win. It is only the second round anyway. Besides, he also found her frustration to be quite adorable. He hums as he begins to think of his next facts. His last strategy didn't work out. It did stump her initially, which was quite fun to see. He figures if he gives facts that are in distinct categories, she wouldn't be able to compare them and just have to go on how well she knows him. "My favourite holiday is Christmas." he gives out his first fact. A preference. It's also the lie. Holidays are always hard on him since it's the times his mom visits. It's not consistent though, which leaves him even more on edge. He does enjoy getting presents though. "I only learned how to swim around two years ago." he continues. The second fact is skill-based. It could potentially trip her up since it's known to be pretty athletic. "And I've been dumped more times than I did the dumping." Lastly, he gives out an event-based. This one is a bit of a trick since most of his 'relationships' end as a mutual agreement. But there are a couple that did dump him, which is still more than him, who has only done it once. These are pretty simple facts on a surface level, but they are a little contradictory to his known personality. Seeing that he seems fairly jolly, is very active and quite the stud. He's interested if she can figure this out.

[adheline]

♠ C L A Y T O N ♠
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tagged⇨ Jessie locale⇨ home role⇨ meetings in the park boy

Surprised but not complaining, Clayton easily follows Jessie's change of pace. He slides his hands through her hair and down her back, pleased with the closeness she's instigating. Pleased that she's the one taking the initiative, and that she feels comfortable enough with him to do so. When she backs away from him, he's sufficiently dazed. It takes him a moment to register her sentence and what exactly they've been distracted from, but he recovers quickly. He sees her eyes dip and smirks, but in all honesty he can't help but glance down, too. They're still trapped in a moment here, and even though Jessie mentions taking a look at the pictures they took, she isn't backing away. "Probably a good idea," he answers, not moving either. After all the fakeouts they've been pulling on each other today, it's hard to pull away now that they've actually kissed. It feels like they still have some anticipation to make up for. It's almost overwhelming, simply because it's been a while since he's been this affected by someone's simple proximity. He's used to putting up walls in relationships, but he guesses he forgot to do that here. That thought alone is enough to crack through the haze. Clayton runs his gaze across her face one last time, then breaks away to stand up and get the camera. He takes it off the tripod and pulls up the first of the three pictures. He can't help the self-satisfied grin that crawls across his face as he returns to his seat next to Jessie. "Here, take a look." He holds the camera towards her to take so she can see the pictures.

✬ N A T H A N I E L ✬
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tagged⇨ Skylar locale⇨ venue role⇨ science project boy

Skylar's quick, easy response that she wants him around makes Nathaniel stare. He doesn't think he's much of a nuisance or anything, but he also doesn't think he's quite reached the level of being her first choice to hang out with when she's feeling down. Particularly not to the point of her saying 'of course.' Her reasoning makes sense, though. Besides, she hasn't done anything to make him think she wants him to leave. She brought him to the back of this building while she processed, after all. Then he's surprised again when she suggests avoiding Jeffrey altogether. Especially with the reticent way she does so. He waits for her to make it through her explanation and transportation suggestions, smiling at the way she trails off when she starts suggesting the bus. "I'm okay with walking," he tells her. And he really understands her wanting to avoid Jeffrey for a bit. They might have stalled for a while back here, but the ordeal with her mom literally just happened. She'll have to talk to Jeffrey at some point, but for now some avoidance doesn't seem unreasonable to him. It would probably be worse for her to have to go through questioning with him there, too. Make it a lot more awkward than it would be on its own. "And you don't have to explain yourself. I get it." That is, he doesn't have the same problems, so he can't necessarily relate, but he can empathize. "And even if I didn't, it's none of my business."

⊰ A U D R E Y ⊱
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tagged⇨ Michael locale⇨ museum role⇨ the third girl

Audrey purses her lips as Michaels laughs, not believing her complaint for a second. He's not wrong, but she isn't going to admit it. He's not going to tell her how he knew either, so she's taking a lot of losses in quick succession here. Maybe she can break the chain by getting the next round right. She's prepping herself for his facts when he starts speaking again, but with every one that he lists her optimism of saving the score wavers. He's good at this game. It could be that he's played more than her and so he's got more practice under his belt, but she's getting less confident in her ability to come out of this with a win. Although, her main goal here was to learn more about him, so at least she's accomplishing that. She squints at him while she contemplates each of the facts, as if staring at him will help her find the right answer. He seems like the type of person who would get excited over presents, so she thinks the holiday could be true. Plus he can be a bit of a dork so getting into the holiday spirit would be natural for him. That said, there's a lot to dislike about any holiday, especially one that lasts as long as Christmas. She gets sick of the music before it's even December. And it strikes her as odd for him to only learn how to swim two years ago, so that feels closer to a lie to her. Not only is it similar to her own swimming fact, which would be rather coincidental, he's an athlete. For some reason, it sounds weird that an athlete, even one whose sport has nothing to do with water, couldn't swim for so long. But the dumping... With his casual policy to dating and amount that he's done, she can't believe he's been dumped more than he's been the one to do it. It directly contradicts her impression of him, but maybe that's his strategy and it's actually true. "I think... hm." She pauses, struggling to make a decision. The Christmas fact is the only one she believes, and that makes her suspicious. In the end, though, her doubt over the last fact wins out. "Being dumped more is the lie." He's a good guy, she can't really think of any reason for him to be dumped very frequently.

(( ugghh sorry for the wait and the lame, short posts. I'm really struggling to write over here. :c ))

[lucky ⋆]

❅ Jᴇssɪᴄᴀ Sᴄᴏғɪᴇʟᴅ ❅
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[ meetings in the park ] [ location: Clayton's house ] [ tagged: Clayton ]

Jessie can't seem to pull her gaze away. She glances up briefly when he agrees with her, almost forgetting what exactly he's agreeing to. Despite his words, he's just as still like her. Now that's she's staring into his gaze, it's even harder to pull away. She doesn't know how long they were just sitting and looking at each other, but eventually, something changed in Clayton's expression and he was able to break off. She sighs slightly in relief. As much as she wanted to continue, it was getting a little too intense. She's glad he was able to snap out of it because she wasn't sure if she could. Despite her relief, she narrows her eyes when he hands over the camera with a grin, remembering the content of the photos they took. "Hm, I suggested it, but I'm not sure I want to see," she grumbles. She gives Clayton a warning look before she takes a small breath and looks down at the picture. She raises an eyebrow as she takes it all in. She hates to admit it, but the first picture isn't too bad. It's almost cute if she didn't look like she was half-flailing. "That's..." she begins. "Better than I thought it'd be." She flips to the second picture and instantly regrets it. She hates how dumbstruck she looks. That combined with his smirking makes her face flush in embarrassment instantly. "Oh geez." That is all she says before quickly moving to the next picture. It doesn't lessen her embarrassment by too much, but she can still see uncertainty in her eyes. But seeing him just as flustered as she was before helping. "Now, this is the best one." she quips, her voice quivering slightly as she's still recovering from her embarrassment. Even though she's joking, for the most part, she does think this picture is pretty cool. Because it's nearly impossible to recreate those poses and expressions with the candidness in this photo. It doesn't really fit the background through. In the end, she has to admit the first photo was the best. "Honestly though. This first picture would have been kind of cute if it was more..." she pauses to think of the right word. "Intentional, you know?"

♛ Sᴋʏʟᴀʀ Jᴀᴄᴏʙs ♛
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[ the science project ] [ location: venue ] [ tagged: Nathaniel ]

Skylar tries to not squirm as he stares at her. She's not sure what exactly he's seeing and she doesn't like the idea of being potentially scrutinized for whatever reason. When he answers her though, she breathes out a sigh of relief. From his agreement to both the plans to dip and the method of travel. "Good," she says simply before whipping out her phone. She send a quick text to Jeffrey about him being dismissed. She briefly smiles that she successfully delayed the awkward conversation they would have had to have. But then she realizes when he receives that text, he most likely want to check up on her. Right at this moment. Her eyes widen slightly as she cranes her head over towards the side of the building to see if she can see him. She only gets a glance of the car she rides in nearly every day before the driver's door opens and Jeffrey steps, trying to find her no doubt. She doesn't have much time to think, so she doesn't. "Let's go," she tells Nathaniel hurriedly before she grabs his hand and starts walking further back around the building as fast as she can. She curses herself for wearing heels today. At the back, she can see there's another road before a line of trees that covers the back of the building. Despite potentially scratching up herself or even worse her clothes, she pushes through it. The heels again didn't help. She seems to make it through unharmed though. The trees do luckily help conceal them. She's not taking any chances however and continues down the street. She doesn't know how long they walked, but eventually, she stops by a crosswalk when she felt they were far enough away. She takes a few moments to catch her breath. She doesn't realize she's still holding his hand until she begins to straighten up her clothes. She blinks as she looks at their connected hands before quickly dropping them. "Sorry," she says, though she's not quite sure why she's apologizing. She does a glance around. "Let's find a place to get food now."

☀ Mɪᴄʜᴀᴇʟ Hᴀʀʀɪsᴏɴ ☀
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[ the third pair ] [ location: museum ] [ tagged: Audrey ]

Seeing the gradual shift in her expression, Michael's already inflated confidence in his facts grows even more. Although, they're both been getting things correct, so technically they're tied since they haven't finished thus turn of his yet. But it somehow feels like he's winning way more than her. He guesses he is in a way, judging by the difference between their expressions. She's again taking a bit to think over her choices, a little longer than his previous turn. Probably since the fact is pretty isolated from each other, so there's no easy way to cross out her options this time. His eyebrows raise when she begins to choose her answer, curious to see if she'll get it right. Upon hearing it though, he can't stop himself from grimacing. "Ooh, looks like that's the end of our stalemate," he announces, with an exaggerated tone of disappointment. "Unfortunately, that's incorrect." Looks like he's winning officially now. "The lie was the Christmas one," he tells her. "It is not my favourite holiday." He's about to let her have her next turn, but he notices they just exited one wing of the museum. He looks around the room and sees that they're entering the food court. He didn't even realize how much they got through the building already. His attention was elsewhere. If he remembers correctly, from the two seconds they had the maps, there are two more sections in this museum. He's not sure if they're going to get through everything. They might only have time for one more or so. "Should we end the game and get some food?" he asks. Even though he's winning, he doesn't want the game to end just like that. It feels a little cheap. And considering how beaten down Audrey's been last two turns, he doesn't to end on a bad note for her. Although, she might be wanting to move on because of that too. "Or we can continue the game afterward?" he suggests. "We can take a break and maybe talk about some of our truths for a break." He remembers he has a couple of things he wanted to talk about when he found out what the truths were. He's guessing she feels similarly.

(It's all good~ Sorry for the delay on my part too. Got busy with the holidays and got sick right afterward. @.@)

[adheline]

♠ C L A Y T O N ♠
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tagged⇨ Jessie locale⇨ home role⇨ meetings in the park boy

Seeing a warning in the look Jessie flashes him, Clayton's grin doesn't falter. Just turns more smug. As she looks down at the picture, however, he can feel it slip slightly as he focuses on her reaction. He can be insensitive sometimes, he knows that. Especially when he's in a playful mood. This time, though, he wants to make sure he's not overstepping any boundaries. Her comment on it is promising, and he glances at the photo again from over her shoulder. Given the shock that the camera captured, he's just glad she doesn't hate it. He barely has time to take in the second photo as she breezes past it, but she keeps the third one up with plenty enough time for him to track every measure of emotion on his face. It's amazing how these three pictures in order describe them so well. This back and forth, the small games they play. How quickly he goes from messing with her to being messed with. There's a certain tone to her voice, though, that makes him think she's still affected. He is, too, and he's still disconcerted by how easy this all is. He supposes he's just better at rolling along with it. Although, she's quick to return to assessing the photos. Very photographer like. Professional. Until she says the word 'intentional.' He tries to resist giving a cocky smile, and he fails completely. "More intentional, huh? If you want to try again, I'm game." He wonders if she meant to imply anything, or if it's just one of the many times she's done so accidentally. "You can just ask, you know. If you want me to kiss you again so bad. No need for convoluted plots to force my hand."

✬ N A T H A N I E L ✬
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tagged⇨ Skylar locale⇨ venue role⇨ science project boy

At first casually watching her text Jeffrey, Nathaniel raises an eyebrow when she moves to look around the corner of the building. Does she need to see him read the text or...? He can't ask, because she's taken his hand, again, and is dragging him away. Again. He quickens his pace to catch up with her, fending off branches as she leads him through a small area of trees. Once they've gotten through the trees, he expects her to stop and jerk her hand out of his, but she keeps going. Avoidance seems like the last thing Skylar would resort to when faced with a problem. The way she's handled things in the past, and the way she's told him to handle his problems, give him a more confrontational impression of her. But she's really going the extra mile to avoid here. Literally. Eventually she draws them to a stop, and although he glances around to catch his bearings, mostly he's looking at her. Making sure she's okay. And their hands, which are still clasped together. He debates whether he should let go first or let her, and by the time he starts questioning why it matters so much to him, she's released her hold. He tucks his hands in his pockets, averting his gaze down the road. It takes a second, but he manages to recognize the street. He doesn't come out this way too often, usually sticking to the mall and the surrounding buildings for shopping and eating out, but he is confident there are few places around the nearby blocks to eat at. But the way she so casually moves on to food right after charging through trees and almost running down the street has him fighting a grin. "You sure? We haven't crossed any state borders yet." Still, he starts to continue down the street, heading towards the collection of buildings that way. "You want anything in particular?"

⊰ A U D R E Y ⊱
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tagged⇨ Michael locale⇨ museum role⇨ the third girl

The moment Michael grimaces, Audrey knows she's gotten it wrong. She tips her head back when he verbally confirms as much. Dang. Even as she gave her answer she wasn't absolutely certain, but she still wouldn't have guessed the Christmas fact for being a lie. It just seems like that holiday would be right up his alley. To be fair, if she had to pick any holiday to be his favorite, she's not sure she would disqualify any of them. They all have aspects of festivity he'd probably like. Though, she probably hasn't experienced any holidays the way he has. While she's the youngest child in her family, he's the oldest by several years. Plus, she suddenly remembers his mom is away, which must make things hard. When Michael switches the subject to food, Audrey follows his gaze. Food actually sounds great now that they've come upon it, and she's realizing that she hasn't eaten anything today other than the five grapes she had for breakfast. She'd been too nervous and distracted today to think much about it. "Yeah, let's take a break. I'm not quitting on the game yet." Even though she hasn't been able to come up with any tricky truths yet, which make it feel like she's doing worse, she only guessed wrong the once. She still has a chance to get her score up. But for the time being she wants to do some prodding on his truths and lies so far, especially now that he's mentioned it and given her the opening. As loud and chatty as Michael can be, she's finding that he doesn't like to get very deep into his personal life. She doesn't either, so she understands, but she wishes she knew more.

(( blech, finally found some time. sorry again for the wait ))

[lucky ⋆]

❅ Jᴇssɪᴄᴀ Sᴄᴏғɪᴇʟᴅ ❅
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[ meetings in the park ] [ location: Clayton's house ] [ tagged: Clayton ]

Jessie knew that her wordings was strange, but didn't realize how suggestive it sounded. The minute she sees his expression at her words, she knew she was in for some teasing. She rolls her eyes, pouting slightly initially. She couldn't hold it for too long though, letting out a soft chuckle. She gives him a light shove as she says, "That's not what I mean." Although, she supposes it was kind of what she meant. She just wanted a picture like that where she was more prepared. So, she guesses she was asking try again in a way. She was thinking of just general cute couple pictures,s not kissing specifically. Now that she considers it more, she doesn't think they can recreate the vibe if they tried intentionally. And she would feel awkward purposely posing out those pictures. It would end up stiff and lose all the charm of what they currently captured. "Well, not exactly. I guess I was kind of..." she covers her face, shaking her head briefly. She changes her mind about what she said. "But, never mind." She peeks through her hands at his next words, raising an eyebrow. She narrows her eyes when he says she's coming up with all these convoluted plots. He was the one who kissed her first! She simply retaliated. She wasn't even thinking about that when they sat down in front of the camera. She pouts again, turning to him with her hands on her hips. "Really now?" she questions, finding herself getting a little riled up by his accusation and cocky demeanour. It's frustrating and confusingly attractive. "Okay, then," she says with a shrug. She pushes her hair back behind and slides towards him. She stares directly into his eyes and simply tells him, "Kiss me."

♛ Sᴋʏʟᴀʀ Jᴀᴄᴏʙs ♛
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[ the science project ] [ location: streets, then restaurant] [ tagged: Nathaniel ]

After the stress of everything, Skylar couldn't help but let out a genuine chuckle at Nathaniel's words, realizing the absurdity of the current situation. She lets a deep breath, feeling like she could finally act semi-normal again. She takes a good look at where they ended up at. She doesn't think she's ever been to this part of the city before. At least, not properly. She only passed through here by car to go to the venue for a couple of events recently. So, she has no clue what's around here. "Not really," she answers, feeling just hungry in general. Feeling really hungry, actually. "I could go for anything right now." As she finishes that sentence, her stomach lets out a loud growl. She flushes red at the embarrassing sound, realizing that she hadn't had any food yet today. She spent the morning just scrambling about the dance. Feeling self-conscious, she finds herself grabbing his hand again and dragging him into the nearby building that looks like they serve food. Heading inside, it looks like a nice family restaurant. The decor is quite cozy and homey. There are only a few patrons inside, which makes sense since it's just past the lunch rush. Looking around doesn't make Skylar any less self-conscious. She's not used to places like this. Her crowd has a designated plaza they always go to hang out. And all the shops there is very the place to go for teenagers. She can't really back out now that she's inside. Especially, not when the waitress seemed to have noticed them and is heading over now. She looks over towards Nathaniel and shrugs. "Here, I guess," she says with uncertainty, feeling completely out of her elements.

☀ Mɪᴄʜᴀᴇʟ Hᴀʀʀɪsᴏɴ ☀
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[ the third pair ] [ location: museum ] [ tagged: Audrey ]

Michael grins as he hears that the game will keep going. He knew that Audrey wouldn't let him win like that. She only faltered once so far, so she still has a fighting chance. He feels like he should be a little disappointed that he didn't get the win yet, but he finds that he thinks he would have been more solemn if she did end the game then. And not only because it would be kind of cheap. He had many wins before where he only pulled off because of his tricks. It's been satisfying every time it works. He likes making up plays and seeing them through. If she did end the game, it would have felt like her shutting herself off from him. That would have hurt way more than any loss he could have taken from the game. Especially after all the progress, they made with each other. But she didn't, so he's not going to dwell on the hollow feeling he has, just thinking about that possibility. He looks around at the available shops for food. There were only a few options and he was okay with any of them. He turns to Audrey, gesturing in front of them, citing he'll follow to whatever she decides. He wonders if she still remembers that he said she could pay him back for lunch. He hopes not since he only said that to get her off his case for the entrance tickets. Maybe a couple of questions about her truths can help keep it off her mind. Micheal thinks back on the facts she gave. One of them pops up immediately. Perhaps, it's a little childish. He had it on his mind when she first said it. He didn't ask about it initially since he was so sure of what the lie was. "Can you really do the clover thing with your tongue?" he asks with genuine curiosity.

(No worries. ^^ Hope things have gotten less busy for you.)

[adheline]

♠ C L A Y T O N ♠
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tagged⇨ Jessie locale⇨ home role⇨ meetings in the park boy

Clayton melts into laughter at her gentle push. He figured she probably didn't mean it that way, but he couldn't miss the opportunity to tease her. He raises an eyebrow at her unfinished sentences, curious about what's going through her mind. He thinks he can kind of guess some of it, at least. The photos turned out well, and he expects it's got a lot to do the candidness of them. It's them in action, and if they tried to pose more intentionally, the pictures wouldn't have had nearly as much character. The two of them are unexpected in many ways, so it's only fitting their photos are, too. He can tell his words have gotten to her, though, and he feels his smirk coming back. That is, until she moves closer and instructs him to kiss her again. Gah. Clearly she knows how she affects him, but does she know how much? She's definitely gaining confidence in these moments, compared to when he first started flirting with her. He blows out a huff of amusement, mostly at himself and the pathetic lurch of his heart. "If I must," he mutters, just to get the last word in before he takes both sides of her face in his hands and draws her in to a hard kiss. Goading her probably had some selfish motives behind it. Her response was shocking in some ways, but not surprising. He kind of expected her to challenge him, and he's certainly not complaining.

✬ N A T H A N I E L ✬
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tagged⇨ Skylar locale⇨ restaurant role⇨ science project boy

Thankfully, Skylar laughs at his joke. A good sign that she's winding back down from the tense stress this whole situation's given her. He blinks when he hears her stomach grumble, glancing over to find her blushing about it. He hopes she ate today. Especially since it's been a particularly taxing day for her. As he's thinking this, he feels her hand in his again, finding her leading him into a quiet restaurant. He's getting more and more used to this hand holding thing, finding that their hands fit well and it feels nice. Which is probably not a good thing. He should probably let go, but when he meets her gaze and recognizes some vulnerability both there and in her voice, he instead strengthens his hold. Once the waitress greets them, he confirms their party of two and she marks a few things off on a tablet then grabs two menus. Soon they're being led through the tables to a small booth. He lets go of Skylar's hand so he can sit across from her, taking the menu the waitress hands him while she offers the other to Skylar. "My name's Olivia and I'll be your server today," she starts, and Nathaniel takes a second to glance her over. She's pretty and energetic, probably just a couple years older than them. "Can I start you off with some drinks? Any appetizers?" Both of those are right on the first page, which he skims. Given that Skylar's hungry enough for her stomach to audibly protest it, he thinks an appetizer is a good idea today, even though his family usually skips over it. Besides, he's pretty hungry, too. "Lemonade, please. And we'll have the sampler." An appetizer that has a little bit of everything on it, so they'll both definitely have a few things they like. Olivia turns to Skylar for her drink order, then scurries off. Once they're alone, Nathaniel flips through the pages to the meals. He glances at his companion from over his menu. "See anything you like?"

⊰ A U D R E Y ⊱
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tagged⇨ Michael locale⇨ museum role⇨ the third girl

Scanning over the options in the food court, Audrey's decision making is put on halt when he brings up one of her last truths. She blushes, staring up at him. "Oh my god, that's what you want to talk about?" Of course that's what he'd pinpoint first. He manages to focus on all the embarrassing things she says. She's not sure why it's embarrassing, but it is. The only reason she threw it out there before is because she needed a random, useless fact to aid in her plan. A plan that failed, so really, it was a waste telling him at all. She bites her lip, glancing around furtively to make sure no one's looking their way. Then she briefly opens her mouth and does the clover thing. "Satisfied?" She doesn't wait for him to answer, heading in the direction of one of the shops. After a quick perusal of the menu, she asks the guy behind the counter for an Italian sub and soda, then turns to Michael so he can order. While she waits, she tries to think of what she wants to ask him about first. Most of the questions she has are kind of personal, so she'd rather wait until they're sitting for that. And actually, she has a quick curiosity now that she wants to know before they move on. "How about you, can you do the clover thing?" She's yet to meet anyone else who can, not that she goes out of her way to ask the people she meets if they're able to do it.

[lucky ⋆]

❅ Jᴇssɪᴄᴀ Sᴄᴏғɪᴇʟᴅ ❅
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[ meetings in the park ] [ location: Clayton's house ] [ tagged: Clayton ]

Jessie knew it was coming. She told him to do it. Yet, she didn't expect him to comply so quickly. Not that his readiness is a problem. She's happy to comply with him. This time he's firmer with his actions. Perhaps her eagerness earlier helps him be more assertive. Her arms settle in their usual place and she lets herself just enjoy the feeling. As she does though, she can't help but feel a little setup. This is oddly reminiscent of the first time they kiss. Where he pushes her and she responds by challenging him on his words. And then this happens. He had to know what he was doing. When she pulls back, she shakes her head as she takes in a small breath. "Who's coming up with convoluted plots?" she questions. He doesn't have to answer. She just wants him to know she's on to him. She pulls away from him. This time, she wants to get things back on track. "Are we just abandoning the photoshoot now?" she asks with a soft chuckle. She jokes, but she's hoping they're not. It's not often she finds a setting like this. And even though, technically she could come back another time and probably will with her connections. Right now, it's new and fresh and that sort of feeling you can only get on the first visit. "As much as I enjoy this," she gestures between them. "I want to get a few more shots here." Now, there's a bit more distance between them, she can think straight. Somewhat. She feels like making out for the last few minutes broke something in them. They should keep up the distance if they want to get anything done. "So, I don't think the group shots are working for us," she tells him. She feels like she can't trust either of them to behave. "Let's do some more solos?"

♛ Sᴋʏʟᴀʀ Jᴀᴄᴏʙs ♛
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[ the science project ] [ location: streets, then restaurant] [ tagged: Nathaniel ]

Still looking unsure towards Nathaniel, Skylar is surprised to feel his hand squeeze her hand slightly. She didn't even realize she grabbed his hand when she lead them in here. She just did it without even thinking about it. She blinks and looks down at their connected hands, trying to understand what she's feeling when he tightens his grasp. She holds back a gasp at the fluttering in her stomach. She doesn't have time to fully contemplate what was happening as the waitress greets them. When Nathaniel takes the lead, she simply just watches dumbly. Seeing him take control of everything relaxes her though. As they are led to their table, Skylar feels her uncertainty fade and is replaced by an unusual comfort. When they have to let go of each other's hands to take a seat, she finds herself feeling disappointed. Her focus shifts to the waitress' cheerful greeting though. She takes the menu but doesn't look at it yet, waiting for her turn as Nathaniel talks to the waitress first. She didn't think it would be her turn so quickly after though, so when she's asked for her drink order, she scrambles a bit. "Uh, just water, please," she says, just going with something basic since she had no idea what they have. She turns to the menu as she walks off, not wanting to make the same mistake with her actual order. Normally, she would go for something light like a fruit salad or maybe even a BLT. After such a stressful morning though, she just wants to indulge. So much so she might even want to order two dishes. She's a little afraid of being judged for that though. She should go for one. "Maybe, french toast..." she tells him. She pauses. Unable to contain herself, she adds hurriedly, "And also steak and eggs?"

☀ Mɪᴄʜᴀᴇʟ Hᴀʀʀɪsᴏɴ ☀
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[ the third pair ] [ location: museum ] [ tagged: Audrey ]

Michael gives Audrey a cheeky grin at her reaction to his question. He shrugs as if there's nothing odd about what he just asked. He watches her look around, waiting patiently for her to show her talents. It took him a minute to notice that she was making sure nobody was looking their way. He guesses she might be a little embarrassed by this, which he hasn't considered. Simply because if he could do it, he would be showing it off to everyone. Not everyone likes to show off as he does though. By the quickness she does shows him, she definitely does not. "Immensely," he tells her as she starts to walk off. He follows her towards the shop, ordering a sub and drink similarly to her. He turns to her at the sound of her voice. He furrows his eyebrow slightly, thinking about her question. "Hm, I don't think so." he considers. As far as he remembered, he was never successful did it every time he tried before. But he could have magically acquired a new skill without him knowing. Without any regard to anyone around them, he stuck his tongue out and started trying to curl the tip inward. He tries to glance to see if he was doing it. When he realizes he couldn't see the results, he gives up. He shrugs, feeling resigned by the fact he probably can't. His next words slip out without much thought. "My tongue's useful in other ways," he tells her with a smirk and a wink. His tone comes a little too suggestive than he would have liked out of habit. He was trying to hold back and not come on too strong today. Luckily, he was saved by their order number being called. Seeing an out, he grabs his food and follows up by saying, "Like enjoying this sub." He waits for her to do the same, so they can grab a table.