I Hate That I Love You || 1x1

[adheline]

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----park meetings-x------【 tag | Skylar 】【 location | school 】

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Finally, signs of a cease to her quest for answers. He hates the analytical details himself, he can't fathom why she wants to delve into them. Until, quite suddenly, she flings two impossibly annoying questions his way. Clayton rolls his eyes and avoids her stare. Well, nothing to do but to answer them. Thinking back to that very first night at the park, when he decided to approach a stranger crying on a swing only to discover it to be Jessie, Clayton can't say there wasn't already something there. If he really hated her, if he wanted nothing to do with her, he would have stood up and walked away the moment he realized it was her. He's not a saint. He won't listen to the woes of an enemy, certainly not on a voluntary basis. And they switched so effortlessly, conversation natural and nothing at all like their fights at school. Actually, now that he thinks more on it, isn't that the day he decided he wanted to make her blush at any opportunity? Was it really that early in their meetings? Day two, she'd hugged him. And kissed his cheek. And hadn't that made him nervous? Clayton was really content up until now to never think this deeply about it. In fact, he was still content to ignore the signs he'd missed, but he couldn't very well do that with Skylar eyeballing him from two feet away. "I guess... that first night in the park. When she told me about her friend passing away. It wasn't hard to be nice to her. I could have walked away, but I didn't. I guess I stopped hating her somewhere along the way before that. I mean, don't get me wrong, I thought she was a stuck-up goody two shoes, but I think I kept picking on her more because I liked the fights than just hating her." He could tell when he breached upon liking the fighting just a minute ago that Sky doesn't quite grasp the meaning of it. Otherwise she wouldn't have asked about the build-up. What he can't figure out is how to make her understand. He frowns, tapping his thumbs together as he thinks. Sky used the word kissable again, which he's wondering if he took to be more meaningful than she meant it to be. Would he have liked to interrupt one of their hallway spats with a kiss? Probably. But attaching the word 'feelings' to a situation like that feels too serious for what it was. He didn't have feelings for her before these past couple weeks. Probably. Clayton's nose scrunches up and he glares at the wall to his left. This is awful and he'd rather be clueless. "I might have possibly been in denial for a while," he edges out. "And some of what I did and said might have been, in retrospect, for attention and to see how she'd react. But feelings?" What's annoying is that he feels like denying having feelings at any point before very suddenly on that day they played video games is very obviously him still being in denial. After a moment he scoffs and kicks lightly at the leg of Sky's chair. "Geez, Sky, take a guess. It takes time to develop feelings. I can't give you a detailed timeline." As for that day playing video games--for some reason the unfolding of events is almost embarrassing. Maybe because he's so used to going into relationships with smooth confidence and that he's never really fumbled like he did with Jessie. "Anyway, at her house. We were playing video games, and her dad came through and gave me the dad look, which led to us joking about liking each other. Even though I knew she didn't mean it, when she said she liked me, I just..." Even now, after their actual confessions and everything, his heart picks up to mimic the way he reacted back then to the statement. Like he'd been wanting to hear the words before he ever realized it. "I couldn't help myself." Speaking of his heartbeat and other lovesick symptoms. Hadn't Sky muttered something under her breath? "You ask some very pointed questions for someone who doesn't want details. Also, punishment or not, I do have something to ask, actually."

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---science project--------【 tag | Jessie 】【 location | school 】

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Watching her blink double quick, Nathaniel startles. Oh, no. He isn't going to make her cry, is he? Gosh, he didn't mean to do that. He doesn't even want her to feel guilty about it, he just wants some answers. Listening to them all, he watches her and notices the sentences string together into another one of her nervous ramblings. Everything she says makes sense, in the grand scheme of things, but she sounds so distressed as she relays it. Absolutely furious? Nathaniel may have felt low as could be after learning the history of her situation with Clayton, but it couldn't compare to the way his gut wrenched to see her dip her head down like that. He reaches out a hand, but withdraws it before he can make contact. A friendly touch on the shoulder is just that: friendly. But between her relationship and his lingering feelings for her, he's unsure if he's allowed that anymore. "Hey, Jessie," he calls softly, "I'm not mad. Okay? I promise, I'm not angry with you." While he can see why she might assume he'd be fuming at the way she kept things from him, he hopes she knows, even if it's way deep down, that he's not the type. He's more forgiving than that. He cares more about her and their friendship than amassing reasons to be upset. He smooths a hand down his chest, along the soft fabric of a shirt he and Skylar had dug up from the depths of his closet. Skylar did that, too, didn't she? Assumed she was an inconvenience on Saturday, that he was just dealing with her rather than wanting to spend time with her. He can't tell if that means he's chronically underestimated or plainly bad at communicating his feelings. All things considered, he hasn't known either of the two very well for any substantial length of time. He's only started to talk to Skylar these past couple weeks, and while best friends with Jessie, she only transferred here a few months ago. This is the biggest thing to rock their friendship thus far, so there isn't any way for Jessie to know how he'd handle something this significant. He's not handling it super gracefully, but there's no benefit to getting mad over it, that's for sure. He knows as well as anyone that sometimes things happen in curious ways. "I just feel... a little left out. And surprised." He rubs a hand against his jaw, blowing out a slow breath. It's a suckish feeling to know that your best friend is sneaking around with public enemy number one behind your back, and then to find out three other people knew about it first. But putting that feeling aside for a moment and looking at the situation logically, Nathaniel believes her when she says she didn't mean it to end up like that. So if she didn't do it intentionally, there's really no use in blaming her for it. "Look, technicalities or not, I'm the first person you told. Right? That's all that matters to me. After what I said at the aquarium, it's not like I left a very welcoming opening for you to tell me about liking him like he did to Sky." Were the roles reversed, he's not sure he'd be very forthcoming, either. All he really said after finding out about their friendship was that he still didn't trust the guy. "And as for Audrey and Michael. We already know they're the nosiest people in this entire school. I'd honestly be shocked to learn they didn't snoop their way into it." He bends his head down a little to lessen the height difference. "See? Everything makes sense. So, I'm not furious, and you can go back to the other question I asked. Alright?"

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-------the third-----------【 tag | Michael 】【 location | Michael's house 】

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Noodles. It's not quite a singular dish, but it's a good choice. As he says, there's an unlimited number of ways to prepare them. Even so, Audrey would still go mad if she had a different noodle every day for the rest of her life. She needs more variety than that. That's something that she's grateful for about her upbringing, actually. Her parents always encouraged her and her sister to try new things, and especially to try local foods on any vacations they took. She's pretty lucky to have experienced as many culinary cultures as she has, particularly because she herself can't cook to save her life. If she were left to her own devices, she'd have to suffer through a limited diet of cereal, salad, and microwaved soup. She rolls her eyes at his grin, well aware of his aversion to the rules. He's right, though, she didn't play by the rules either, did she? Following him into the house, Audrey thinks about all the other times she's broken a rule. They all seem to involve him. It's not a negative thought. Actually, she recalls the memories fondly. She sticks to her rules because they're safe. Something to hold onto when she's scared of messing up. Then, in comes Michael to throw her rules out the window, showing her it's not so scary to breathe a little after all. She watches him gesture to the room at large, an amused smile playing at her lips. Always so theatrical. Audrey's steps halt when he mentions the emptiness of the house, blinking after him. She waits for a wink or a smirk, any of his usual teasing motions that would turn the statement into a suggestion. He does neither, just makes his way in the direction she remembers his kitchen to be. It may fluster her more than if he had used it as an opportunity to flirt, because now she's unsure if he said it intentionally and is waiting to pounce, or if he truly just said it mindlessly. She hurries after him, tucking hair behind her ear and glancing around with a nervousness she didn't have two seconds ago. They were alone in the car, but he was rather preoccupied with driving. Being alone in a house is a little different. "A-as I said, whatever you have is fine with me," she reminds him, latching onto the more innocuous thing he said. Then her mind drifts back to the other thing. Why say that and then walk away? Maybe he realizes what he's said and just doesn't care. All of a sudden she wonders if it's possible that he's cognizant of being alone, what opportunities that allows, and isn't interested. Then why mention it all? To make her nervous? That doesn't make any sense. Her eyebrows furrow at the tangled thought. She's confusing herself. Michael knows she overthinks everything, he can't just say stuff like that and then waltz away. It's not something she can very well ask about, though. Especially if it is that he's not interested, because that would be plain embarrassing. It's... a silly thought, she decides on. He probably just mentioned it so that she knows they won't be interrupted. From... what? Her face flares, so she runs a hand through her hair to dislodge it from behind her ear, letting it cover up the blush as she turns away from him, pretending to find his cabinetry fascinating. She runs a finger along the edge of the counter, clearing her throat softly. "Thank you for cooking for me, by the way. And for trusting me with it. I don't think I've said that, yet." While she's sure it's not the hardest hitting secret he has, it's still a secret. He chose to share it with her, which she recognizes and appreciates.

[lucky ⋆]

❅ Jᴇssɪᴄᴀ Sᴄᴏғɪᴇʟᴅ ❅
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[ meetings in the park ] [ location: school ] [ tagged: Nathaniel ]

Jessie keeps still as she waits for something that never comes. Instead, she hears Nathaniel's soft voice calling out to her. She peeks up at him in surprise when he tells her he's not mad at her. Not fully convinced and still expecting the worst, she watches him carefully and waits for his next words. Even though it doesn't seem like the case, she can't help but think somehow this is going to turn around on her. As he elaborates, though, she's slowly beginning to realize that he means what he says. Her running thoughts pause briefly at the mention of Skylar. Namely, that Nath refers to her by a nickname. It's the first time she's heard him call her that and it catches her off-guard. She doesn't have the time to think about whatever that means as the main thing on her mind is fixing this current mess she created. Despite Nath's continued reassurance, she still feels a bit uncertain. "A-are you sure?" she asks. "I still made you feel left out though." She finds herself still grasping for reasons for him to be angry at her for some reason. Taking a minute to take his words in, she realizes that perhaps she is making this situation into a self-fulfilling prophecy based on her previous experiences with situations like this. If he's not angry at him, she shouldn't be trying to make him so and try to move forward. "Sorry, no, you said it was okay." she apologizes, feeling like an idiot once again. "Sorry, I'm such a mess." She feels like she should explain that it isn't because of him that she's thinking like this. This is purely her and her panic-induced thoughts. "I've never been good at resolving things like this," she reveals in a rush, feeling a bit embarrassed by her reaction in retrospect. "And this is the first time we weren't on the same page. I didn't know what to expect even though I know you and you're not the kind of person to get angry." This feels even more ridiculous now, seeing him assuring her of that and even changing up his body language to make her feel more comfortable. "My mind just kept defaulting to assume that it would end in the worst-case scenario." Since that's not the case here, she shouldn't be operating based on that. Instead, focus on working through what's happening. She gives him a small nod in the end, to confirm she's no longer in her mind. "Sorry, your other question..." she considers briefly, thinking back to what else he asked. It was about being confused and what stage of their relationship they were in. She can't help but feel a little flustered trying to come up with an answer for him. "Um, I am, but I'm also not exactly." she guesses. She's not as confused compared to when they first decided to try this out, but it doesn't seem like she's any less confused. "I am less confused than when things first started, but I think me and Clayton will always be a little confusing." She feels like Clayton would agree, but it seems like he's more sure of himself than she is sometimes. That might just be a matter of the difference in their experience and personality though. "I think we're still trying things out, but..." she trails off briefly. She looks away shyly with a blush before telling him in a voice barely above a whisper. "I wouldn't mind calling him my boyfriend." She had made that decision confidently in her mind, it's different saying it out loud.

♛ Sᴋʏʟᴀʀ Jᴀᴄᴏʙs ♛
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[ the science project ] [ location: school] [ tagged: Clayton ]

When Skylar asks him those two questions, she is expecting him to go back a day or two from the almost kiss he mentioned before. It was meant to be more of just a teasing question, not to be taken so seriously. So when Clayton brings up the first night that started this whole, her eyebrows raise so fast, it's almost comical. They continue to do so when he starts talking about even before that. Her eyes are practically bulging out of her head and she barely notices his soft kick to her chair when he implies the length of time of his feelings. "Oh," she replies simply. She barely registers the next part until he calls out her hypocrisy. Her eyebrows furrow immediately when he mentions he has questions too. She has no idea what he would need to ask her, but considering what he just revealed to her, she feels like she could let him off the hook a little. Besides, it's not like he would have questions as bad as hers. "Alright, alright. I get it." she relents, "You've been pretty forthcoming, even with the vagueness, but I get you're just not good at talking about things like this. So, I'll ease up a little. You can ask me questions too." Before he gets his turn though, she feels like she needs to defend herself and her questions. "Just to clarify, though, I do want details!" she exclaims. "Because you're my best friend and best friends should know about stuff like this about each other." She gives him a pointed look like he should know this before elaborating further, "But you're also like my brother, so I don't want to know that much detail. You get what I mean?" She wants to know all the juicy details, but she doesn't want to know all the mushy details. She feels like that's pretty reasonable for her to expect. That's also not the only reason she's asking so many questions. "Besides, it's also kind of fascinating. Considering how you guys started and where you are now. You're telling me, you wouldn't be curious?" she asks. She still remembers that first day at school when Clayton told her about what happened with the new girl and bonding over their mutual disdain for her. She cringes briefly thinking back on that. Compare that to now, hearing him pretty much gush over her, it's quite a change of heart. Anyone would be curious how it ended up that way. She can't believe she didn't catch anything in between that. "And wow, how did I miss that so much for that long?" she questions herself. Despite the question, she has a pretty good idea of why. "I guess I was too blinded by my hatred, though, there were times I feel like I caught you staring at her for way too long after a spat." She tries to recall the couple of times she caught the tail ends of their fights. She just assumed he was glaring at her. At this point in her ramblings, what he said about the kiss finally caught up to her. "Wait, did you say 'you couldn't help yourself?'" she asks incredulously, "Did you not mean to kiss her when you did?" As she asks that she feels like she's forgetting something else. Her eyebrows furrowing, she realizes she offered him a chance for questions then didn't give him the time to ask anything, she relaxes back in her chair. "Sorry, sorry!" she apologizes, holding her hands up. "Your question first. What do you have for me?" He can't blame her for having a lot of thoughts after a revelation like that.

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

The unfamiliar quietness in his house is quite noticeable to Michael. He doesn't remember the last time he came home to just utter silence. His siblings all are pretty involved with after-school activities, which they have made work with him and his dad's work schedule. It hasn't lined up so particularly for him to have the house to himself in a while. It just so happens Mel planned to have a playdate with a classmate of hers today while the twins have club activities at school. And his dad is still at work. He has lucked out so far that the twins haven't been around the two times he had Audrey over. They would no doubt snoop around, which is something that they might have unfortunately picked up from him. They have gotten quite good at it to the point that it would have distracted him the whole time, watching over his shoulder for them. Without that distraction and without needing to look after Mel, he can give his full attention to Audrey. So, when there is a quiet hitch in her voice, he notices fairly easily when otherwise he might have missed it. He glances towards her as he opens up one of the cabinets. He tries to not react too much as he sees her looking a little flushed. Especially since it seems like she's not trying to draw attention to it. He can't help but feel a little concerned though. He keeps a watchful eye on her as he checks if he's got the ingredients he needs for what he's planning to make, trying to keep his look passive just in case he's reading too much into her expression. His eyebrows lift when she thanks him for doing and sharing this with him. He feels the corner of his lips curl up. He can't help but smile genuinely at what she says and why she says it. "I don't think you need to thank me for that," he tells her. He gets why she is though, he did make it a bit of a big deal when he told her. It is kind of like she's the first person outside of his family he shares this with. "I'm not complaining though." He's never going to deny any gratitude or compliments. Recalling their conversation where he offers to do this for her, he remembers something that makes him smirk. "I do expect to be paid back with something of equal value. If I remember there were talks about a piano." he brings up cheerily. "Especially when you're getting a full service from what I divulged." He gives her a serious look at first but caves in pretty quickly and says with a quick laugh. "You don't need to if you don't want to though." Being the one that was here in the kitchen the most, he knew where everything should be for the most part. So, it didn't take long for him to get everything he had and needed out on the counter. "It looks like we're in luck for your cabbage and tofu needs. I got pretty cabbage here and some kimchi even," he exclaims, feeling like his idea is going to work out. "We are low on tofu though, so we're probably going to have to a mix of proteins." He has to remind himself to buy some more soon. Placing everything out on the counters, he asks, "So, are you going to just spectate the show or am I going to have a sous chef today?" He wouldn't mind cooking it all, but it might be a little boring for Audrey with nothing to do. "Are you doing okay by the way?" he questions since he couldn't tell if something was wrong from before. "You looked a little flushed there. Was the drive over okay for you?"

[adheline]

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----park meetings-x------【 tag | Skylar 】【 location | school 】

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The way Skylar's eyebrows fly up and her eyes widen, Clayton can tell he's stunned her. He gets a weird sort of satisfaction from that. Maybe because it's a nice lull between her rapid fire questions. Plus, she allows him to ask his question, which is more than he actually hoped for when he said he had one. Allow being a strong word, perhaps, as she continues on without actually giving him time to voice anything. He nods along with her distinction between details, kind of getting it but mostly not. Details are details are details, to him. They're all more than he would normally divulge. He can see why she's curious, though, he'll give her that. Even he had to figure things out as he told her just now, because as Sky says, the start and the end are two polar opposites. A lot has changed in a short amount of time. Plus, he already knows Sky's a raging gossip with a relentless quest for personal information. She's never not curious. Usually, she's pretty well on top of sniffing out stuff like this, so even though he had been keeping it a secret, it is surprising to the both of them that she didn't catch him in the lie. That said, he himself missed it for a while, there. He frowns when she mentions him staring, though. There's no way he stared. Right? It definitely wouldn't have been conscious, but he would have noticed himself doing it. Most likely. He thinks about it more, and yeah. Yeah, he definitely stared. He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. That might have been a helpful thing for him to realize earlier. Then again, if he ever realized before that night in the park, he might have tried to deny his feelings more intentionally. As in, he probably would have been worse to Jessie, rather than better. Hard to say, and it's all hypothetical anyway. He's kind of over thinking about the back then stuff. Skylar's back to her questions, which he focuses on instead. He smirks at her apology, relieved at the reprieve from her interview. He would go ahead and answer her last question before asking his, but he just knows she'd end up with six more asking for details, but not that much detail. Whatever that's supposed to mean. "Thank you." He takes a brief, moderately dramatic pause. "I just want to know what's going on with you and Nathaniel Vise." He props his elbows on his knees and leans towards her, clasping his hands together. "Or, Nath, as you said. Under your breath with a lot of concern." Oh, this is fun. He can see why Sky couldn't stop the flow of questions. It's not so bad on this side of the conversation. "I'm just reading between the lines, here, but it sounds like the two of you are spending time together outside of your project? And at the mall, after your little trip to the fitting room--he was staring at you, and you were acting weird." Michael the spy hasn't been any help with this particular curiosity of his, and Clayton's been eager for the chance to sit down and ask Sky about it. Since that interaction at the mall, he's been concerned for Sky's sake. "You went from calling him a geek, to apologizing because of him, and now you're disappointed when he cancels on you? That's a bit of a transition, too." He almost wants to tack on a bit about who's holding out now, but he's still on the hot seat himself and doesn't want to push his luck too far.

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---science project--------【 tag | Jessie 】【 location | school 】

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The corner of Nathaniel's mouth twitches up at Jessie's doubt. It's like she wants him to be mad, or something. He doesn't repeat himself, though, just lets her work her way down. It's as he thought, then. She just didn't know what to expect. At least they've moved on from that little hurdle in the conversation, and she's back to telling him about Clayton. Yippee. At least he's not the only one confused by the pairing. If Jessie herself, being one half of the relationship, is confused, then no one can blame him for taking his time to process the news. He presses his lips together when she uses the word boyfriend, the admission soft to go with her blush. Cute. He can't believe she's getting all shy like this, despite the fact that they've been talking about Clayton and their relationship this entire time. Well, no. He can believe it. It's Jessie. "Wow, look at you," he teases gently. "You must really like him, huh?" He sighs and leans back against the wall, examining the tightness of his chest. He's disappointed, for sure. Not that he ever planned on asking Jessie out anyway, but now he really can't. And it's evidence that he was right not to have bothered. Compared to Clayton, a relationship with Nathaniel might have been too boring for her. Honestly, he couldn't even get mad when she expected him to. He would consider that a good thing, but Jessie mentioned once that she wanted a push and pull. So, yeah. Bummer. All that aside, though, he realizes that any pain he expected to feel is notably absent. It doesn't hurt him to know she's with someone else. A sign his feelings are settling back into friendship? Very hopefully. The secrets, and lies, and all of that hurt. But that's because they're best friends. Besides, they quickly resolved that and he understands where she's coming from. Specifically being hurt by her relationship, though. Nope. He actually feels oddly calm about it now. Maybe because there's reasoning behind it now, and he can see her feelings written all over her face. So he shoves his disappointment down and offers her a small smile. "I'm happy for you, then. Stunned. But, happy that you're happy." And he is. Even if the only evidence he has that Clayton isn't a total jerk are the few moments of civility he witnessed at the mall. Ugh, he really needs to get over this lingering resentment. What else does he know about Clayton? They've gone to school together for years, but their paths rarely crossed. He usually only saw him before classes or in the hallways, maybe in one or two classes in years past. Actually, there is something he's noticed with a few of the more popular guys, Clayton and Michael included, and it makes him smirk to recall the scene. "You know he's got a fan club you'll have to fight off, right? It's like this... gaggle of girls that form in the morning when he shows up." He doesn't know, nor has he ever cared to find out, if it's got more to do with the popularity, the money, or his attitude. He may also be exaggerating by calling it a gaggle, but especially with the dance coming up, he can see the number of girls trying to get his attention ticking up. Nothing Nathaniel has to worry about, thankfully. Well, thankfully in some ways.

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-------the third-----------【 tag | Michael 】【 location | Michael's house 】

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Relieved that Michael's following along with her thread of conversation, Audrey begins to relax again. She's definitely just overthinking it, then. He doesn't stop to expand upon the fact that they're all alone, and neither does he mention her reaction to it. He does bring up the piano, though, and she glances at him as he does so. She almost forgot about that little facet of their agreement. He would be the very first person to hear her play, including anyone in her family. It's a bit nerve wracking. The trepidation eases when he offers to let it slide if she doesn't want to do it, and she turns to fully face him. It's nice of him to let her off the hook, and it feels better knowing it's a choice and not a requirement. Still, she really doesn't mind. After all, he's sharing something with her. "No, no. I promised to play for you, so I will." She's not sure her merely adequate rendition of Chopin quite equates to a thoughtfully home cooked meal, but he agreed to it, so she'll take it. Anyway, that's not something she has to worry about until after they eat. Audrey looks over the collection of ingredients on the counter, his excitement contagious. He's got cabbage and kimchi. A man after her own heart. She's taking a second to consider the safety of their meal if she tries to help when he finally addresses her minor freak out over what she now knows was a very casual statement. She blinks at him, taken aback that he really has no clue. Gosh, for such a flirt, he can really be quite... wholesome, she decides. Here he just wants to cook her some cabbage, and she's letting her mind run wild. Which, irritatingly enough, isn't at all difficult to do. Even before they started to get along she caught herself with the occasional 'what if' pondering. They're not just coworkers and classmates anymore, though. She's allowed to ponder. Just--preferably not right in front of him with such intensity. The thoughts and nervousness are gone now, at least, replaced by the fuzzy feelings she has under his attention. She smiles slowly, warmth spreading across her chest at his attentive questions. He's sweet to notice, and then to ask. "I'm fine. Thank you. Maybe just a little warm." Since she's actually at a comfortable temperature, she doesn't want to shed her cardigan. Thankfully, she's got a quick alternative in her figurative back pocket. She bunches up her sleeves and pulls a pale blue scrunchie off her wrist, then starts to gather her hair, pulling it into a neat bun. Which she should probably be doing anyway if they're going to be cooking. "There, all better. The unforgiving trials of long hair," she explains flippantly, gesturing vaguely towards the bun. Excuse made, she crosses the distance between them and settles by his side in front of the food. "As for being sous chef, I think I'm up for the job. I'm not a good cook, but I can follow directions to a T." Both of which are facts she's sure he already knows about her. "If there's any period of time that we're just standing around waiting for something to happen, though, you're going to have to distract me."

[lucky ⋆]

❅ Jᴇssɪᴄᴀ Sᴄᴏғɪᴇʟᴅ ❅
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[ meetings in the park ] [ location: school ] [ tagged: Nathaniel ]

Now that it's out there and Nathaniel didn't have the worst reaction Jessie thought he would have, just a rough beginning, the anxiety she's been feeling all day is finally beginning to slowly fade away. Especially when he's able to tease her about the situation. Even though it's flustering her, it's much preferred than the alternative. Besides, she's used to being flustered anyway. Her light blush darkens at his words. She didn't expect that one admission would reveal so much of her feelings. "I do..." she confirms softly with a nod. She blinks when he tells her he's happy for her before smiling at the sentiment. For some reason, she didn't expect that. She's lucky he's so supportive even after everything. She can understand his hesitation towards the whole thing. He doesn't know Clayton like she knows Clayton. That makes her realize that him more acquainted with her friends. They kind of will anyway with their friend group sort of merging when she and Skylar made up. But Nathaniel is still understandably wary of Clayton and Audrey seems overall indifferent towards him. She doesn't want them just to tolerate him. She wants all of them to get along. She knows that isn't something she can force either. She hopes she'll find a way to have them all get closer gradually. She would like to do the same with Clayton's friends and herself. When Nathaniel brings up Clayton's 'fan club,' she shakes her head slightly in amusement and sighs. "I have noticed," she says with a light chuckle. "It's kind of hard to not notice." There have been a couple of times that she saw girls turn their entire attention towards him as he entered a hallway. She can lie that there weren't a couple of times that she caught herself staring at him along with other girls either. Despite that, this hasn't been on her mind at all in regards to her relationship with Clayton. Other than the first request she had for him, they had been out of sight, out of mind. "I haven't thought about them much actually." she says in realization before shrugging, "Benefits of all this being a secret, I guess." Now that they are brought up again though, she remembers how guilty she making that request. Even more so now, considering everything she has shared with Clayton, she realizes how ridiculous she was being. "I'm not so worried about fighting them off..." she says with a frown. She doesn't like this notion of girls fighting each other over a guy. "I mean shouldn't be 'fighting' them anyways." Besides that, Clayton has made her feel incredibly secure in their relationship. The way he looks like her sometimes, makes her feel like the only girl in the world. The moment he tells her he will give her anything she wants as a prize for a simple card trick is burned in her mind. "I'm more worried about the attention I'll get from them and everyone else." She already gets enough whispers due to their previous status as enemies, but most people tend to overlook her since she is at odds with the popular crowd. She can't imagine what they would say now. She doesn't know if she's ready for that yet. Especially, not right after the spectacle with Skylar, which hasn't fully died down yet. "I don't think I'm ready for everyone to find out yet." she confesses, "I'm kind of hoping to just keep this between our group of friends for the moment."

♛ Sᴋʏʟᴀʀ Jᴀᴄᴏʙs ♛
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[ the science project ] [ location: school] [ tagged: Clayton ]

Skylar notices he doesn't answer her last question before asking his, which considering how long she took to give him his time she doesn't blame him. She's going to remember though and make sure she loops back to that question later. When he does ask his questions, she is a little surprised about the subject before realizing she hasn't talked to him at all about Nathaniel. "Ah, I guess I haven't talked about Nathaniel with you. To be fair I haven't had a chance to," she says in surprise. Realizing how little they talked this week, she gasps, "Oh my god, we barely talked this week!" She has a lot to catch him up on. "Anyways, yes. It's been quite a transition. But a lot can happen in a week, especially since we were meeting up every other day at least for our project." she argues. She pouts and gives him a look. He's one to talk. As if his relationship with Jessie didn't develop within a similar period. And now that she thinks about it at least had the chance to tell her about like during their trip to the mall. At this point, she doesn't even know how far they progress during that time. However, she wouldn't have reacted as well as she is now, and considering how angry she was initially, it was probably smart of him to not tell her. She can't hold that against him. Now, how to explain what's been going on between her and Nathaniel without making it sound super long-winded? "When I apologized, I also agreed to try to change my behavior, so since we were so ahead in our project, I suggested we hang out." she starts casually, "It was just simple things, just talking and getting food. He also helped me with the dance when nobody else was available." She knows she has to elaborate a bit more since she doesn't just get close to anyone that easily, which she doesn't realize until this moment as she thinks it through. "He found out about my parents too and he's been very attentive to that," she explains, her tone much softer than before. "It made it easier to rely on him, I guess. He made me feel less lonely this week." She doesn't really how much he has been there for her this week until now. "I guess he's my friend. Like an actual friend. But it's still relatively new." she tells him. About her being weird though, she has a pretty good idea why that is. She briefly considers not sharing it, but having it bottled up for a while, it kind of just spills out of her. "Other than that, I might be acting a little weird since I also kind of want to kiss him sometimes, but that's out of the question with all the complications with his feelings towards Jessie even if he says he's getting over it." she practically breathes out in one long word. As the words leave her mouth, she remembers why or rather who made her begin to think this way, to begin with. "Which, by the way, sorry, is very awkward for you, but is also all your fault for me thinking this way because of what you said during the field trip." She points an accusatory finger towards him before suddenly waving everything off. "But it doesn't matter, I'll get over it." She clears her throat and her demeanor returns to how it was before she completely spills her guts. It's almost as if she didn't make a huge confession or say anything of the things she just said. "That's pretty much all to it." she shrugs as if it was no big deal. "Back to my question?"

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

Hearing that Audrey will be keeping her promise about playing something for him on the piano, Michael is more excited than he thought would be. He didn't care if it would be good or not, he's just pleased that she was willing to share something like that with him. He'll have to remember where his family stuffed the keyboard. It's been a while since anyone has used it. He hopes it still works. Scanning inside his cabinets, his eyebrow furrows slightly as he hears Audrey talk about feeling a little warm. He doesn't feel like the temperature in his house is particularly different at the moment. He wonders if maybe his family keeps the heat a little higher than what she's used to. Grabbing a couple of ingredients, he brings them over to the counter and sets them down in groups. "Oh, should I turn the thermostat down?" he asks as he glances towards Audrey right as she's pulling her hair up. He tries to not actively stare as she does so, but he can't help but be a little entranced by the action. He meets her eyes with a slight shy smile at her explanation, feeling a little flustered getting caught up in admiring her. He lifts his head and straightens up to clear his head. Shifting his expression to more of a grin, he muses, "Hm, I do like you with your hair up though." He takes a more deliberate glance across her facial features before he says, "I get to see all of your pretty faces this way." He makes sure to pause and take in her reaction to his words and actions before getting back to business. Taking another scan inside the fridge and cabinets, he frowns slightly as he realizes he has everything except for the tortillas he is planning to make. He chews on his bottom lip for a couple of seconds, trying to decide on what to do before remembering he knows how to make them from scratch. With that in mind, he grabs the rest of what he needs and finally settles by the counter. He's pleased to hear that she'll willing to help out even though she says she's not a good cook. He wouldn't have minded if she just watched, but it wouldn't be as fun. He let out a light chuckle when she told him that he'd need to keep her distracted. "I'll make sure to keep you working then," he remarks. Looking over at what he has out on the counter, he considers what he could have her do. He thinks of two suggestions, depending on what she's comfortable with doing. "Alright, then sous-chef Stockwell. How are you're chopping skills?" he asks. "You can help me chop some vegetables." There are plenty of things that need to be diced up, so it'll occupy her time. Even more so if she's not too good at it. However, if she has no experience with a knife he doesn't want her to hurt herself. "Or would you try to measure and mix things and help me make some tortillas?" He can name off the measurements while he chops instead. "Either of those should take up your time." He's ready to create distractions if necessary though. He feels like he's pretty good at them, especially when it comes to Audrey. "But I can do distractions if it comes to it," he assures before smirking as all sorts of distractions come to his mind. Some of that would be distracting for both of them. He can't help but tease her a little, letting his voice go lower. "I know how to be distracting, but I don't think we're thinking about the same kind of distractions."

[adheline]

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----park meetings-x------【 tag | Skylar 】【 location | school 】

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So, Sky was the one to instigate hanging out. It's surprising, but it also makes more sense than if it were Nathaniel. Clayton's attention snags more on her mention of the dance. She's extremely particular when it comes to her events and planning them, to the point that both he and Michael steer clear. Even if no one else was able to help, it's surprising she let him anywhere near it. Nowhere near as shocking to learn that Nathaniel knows about her parents, though. It's a tough situation, and a facet of her life that Clayton's very familiar with. But that's because they're lifelong best friends. Neither he nor Sky like to talk about their parents very much, much less with someone she's been friends with for all of a week. If that. Skylar's go to is a distraction. Like shopping. Clayton inches closer to the edge of his seat, thoroughly invested now. Every sentence is more confounding than the last. It is somewhat as he thought, though. They're friends now. And then in a burst of words she confesses it's a little bit more, but before he can wrap his head around that she's already trying to pretend like she didn't say it. He scoffs when she blames him, as if a mere joke could have altered her brain chemistry like that. Although she's right about one thing. This is very awkward for him. Somehow, he's found himself at a point in some sort of love square. He'd never concerned himself very much with Nathaniel Vise up until now, and suddenly he's everywhere. "Wait a minute." She can't seriously be expecting him to just move on from that. "What?" There's so much to unpack from that one sentence that he's not even sure where to begin. Not to mention that she doesn't think it matters. "That's pretty much all?" he parrots. So much for girl talk. Sky kept pressing him for details, leaving them out entirely when it's her own turn. "What exactly do you mean, you want to kiss him? Like, just to see, or do you like him?" It's definitely a tangent from her usual type. Which might be a good thing, going by the way she's been treated in the past. Except for one glaringly obvious issue. As she said, Nathaniel likes Jessie. Of course, she also said he's getting over it, didn't she? That's rather intriguing to Clayton, for obvious reasons. "He said he's getting over Jessie," he repeats, eyebrows furrowing. He hasn't seen Nathaniel enough lately to judge that for himself. Last he saw of him with Jessie, he'd been morosely avoiding any and all attention. Not the prolonged pining glances that Nathaniel usually gave her, but nothing to indicate the opposite, either. "Is he actually?" The way Sky had said that makes him wonder if she's dubious, or if she's just looking out for herself. As she should, really. Going into something with someone who likes someone else is a sucky situation to be in. "Sky, honestly," he gripes. "You're the one who just lectured me in details."

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---science project--------【 tag | Jessie 】【 location | school 】

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Even as Jessie brushes the lack of concern over other girls off as part of the secrecy, Nath picks up on another reasoning behind it that actually stacks a point, grudgingly, in Clayton's favor. He hasn't done anything to make her worry about it. Not that she should worry to begin with. Nathaniel smiles a little at how Jessie expresses that she doesn't want to fight anyone regardless. He phrased it like that as more of a joke than anything, but it's still reassuring to hear that she hasn't turned to the dark side or something. Not everyone in the popular crowd is especially... sane. That in mind, Jessie's concerns over the rumor mill are completely justified. Nathaniel's never minded much what anyone at school's said about him, or anyone else for that matter. He's pretty adept at tuning out the mindless hallway whispers that surround any minor social event. In fact, most of his intel is involuntary secondary gossip from Audrey, who swears she doesn't gossip but actually does, when she's bored. He's felt stares, though. Mostly when Skylar and Clayton began to target him and Jessie, and again when they made peace. It's not a particularly pleasant sensation to be the center of someone's attention in that way. Even so, Nathaniel's dubious about her resolve to keep everything a secret still. It's been a secret, and it seems to work for them, but he can't imagine it for himself. If he were in a relationship, he'd want to be able to act organically whenever they're together, in private or public. And that doesn't mean he'd need obvious affection in public, or anything, but he wouldn't want to have to portray any feelings other than what he has. It all just sounds so messy. Nath prefers straightforward honesty. It's a lot easier when everything's out in the open. Unbidden, he recalls Skylar voicing: 'well, not everything.' Leave it to Sky to remind him of his inconvenient feelings for his best friend when she's not even here. So, mostly honest. Either way, Clayton lives in the limelight. He's never been shy about his relationships before. Or anything else, for that matter. "Clayton's okay with that?" He realizes belatedly how that sounds and backtracks. "I just mean, his previous relationships have been pretty public. I don't know him well enough to know what's in or out of character, though, I guess." Maybe he's enjoying the change to having privacy.

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-------the third-----------【 tag | Michael 】【 location | Michael's house 】

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Pleasantly surprised and immensely flattered, Audrey immediately files away Michael's comment on liking her hair up. Even if it is just a set up for his next line. Any ruminations on how thoughtful he is to ask about the thermostat and to compliment her so casually fly right out of her head, and she's left staring at him. "Ah," she utters, too startled to use an actual word. There's no blaming this blush on the heat, unfortunately, but she can't bring herself to do anything to hide it, either. The way he's looking at her. Gosh. It's both admiring and cocky, and both are frustratingly attractive. At this rate, she's not sure she's ever going to acclimate to the looks he gives her, and it doesn't help her composure that this is coming right on the heels of her freaking out about being alone in the house. Her hand comes up to her chest as he turns away, too flustered to figure out how to properly thank him for calling her pretty. There's the flirting she'd been expecting earlier. She exhales slowly and deliberately to calm herself down, eyeing him as he looks around the cabinets. He's very intent on something, whatever it is he's looking for. His search gives her a few seconds to cool off, at least, and to hide her petulant frown at being intentionally and successfully flustered. Once he's brought out whatever it was he was looking for, Audrey takes stock of all their ingredients. It's nothing intimidating, but still more than she's ever worked with on her own, in all her lack of experience cooking. He must be good, she speculatively affirms, especially if he's going to be making tortillas. She perks up as he says it, forgetting for a moment that she needs to decide between the two jobs. Her parents only ever get store bought, and only the really fancy or authentic restaurants make them in house. Her attention returns to Michael when he brings up distractions, relieved he won't leave her to stand around and stare at cooking food, until she catches sight of that smirk of his. She swallows at the tone of his voice, refusing to blush for the third time in as many minutes. Or, she tries to refuse anyway. They're really not thinking about the same kind of distractions, but she's not going to just let him tease her like that. So, she tips her chin up defiantly and shrugs. "I don't know. We might be." She lets her eyes wander to his smirk briefly before turning to face the counter. Tempting. But she needs to focus. "As long as you've got a job for me, though, I guess it's a non-issue, isn't it? I want to help make the tortillas. Completely from scratch?" she queries, diverting from what are admittedly enticing distractions back to the topic at hand. "That's so exciting." Clasping her hands together in front of her chest, she peers again at the counter, trying to guess what from the array of ingredients she'll be measuring out. "Where do we start?"

(Sorry for the wait! Crazy time of year haha)

[lucky ⋆]

❅ Jᴇssɪᴄᴀ Sᴄᴏғɪᴇʟᴅ ❅
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[ meetings in the park ] [ location: school ] [ tagged: Nathaniel ]

Jessie's not surprised that Nathaniel asks about Clayton's feelings about the secrecy. Even though she hasn't had many issues with the setup, she can recognize the hardships that can come with it. Her interest peaks at his question when he mentions Clayton's previous relationship though. "Oh, is that so?" she blurts out, not able to contain her curiosity on the subject. She catches herself right afterward though, realizing how that sounds. She has already talked about this with Clayton about his past relationships. She no longer wonders how she measures up compared to them. That thought has long passed. She's more curious about how he reacted to them. There are just moments where she seems to catch him...off-guard she guesses, when she doesn't expect it. Like briefly during their photoshoot yesterday when he said she makes him nervous sometimes. She thinks she kind of understood, but she wasn't sure. So, she's curious to kind of cross-reference from his other relationship. She realizes though it's probably not a good idea to do that by gossiping. She'll have to talk with the source directly. "Well, it did sound like he dated flashier people before me, so I'm not too surprised," she says on understanding, brushing off her initial intrigue. She considers Nath's wording on the topic, trying to find the right words to describe her thoughts on the matter. "I don't know if out of character is the right description. But it does seem like he's not used to it," she explains. "It feels like he's a little out of depth sometimes with our relationship." As she says that, she realizes considering everything there is a lot that anyone would be out of depth with. That's not what she means though. "And not just with things that anyone would have trouble with considering how confusing we are." she clarifies with a slight chuckle. "It seems like this doesn't seem like any other relationship he had." From the description she has gotten about his past relationships, it sounds quite different from theirs currently. After explaining all that she realizes none of that answers his actual question and could perhaps send the wrong message. She quickly adds, "But he told me he was okay with keeping between the six of us when we talked about telling you and Skylar." So, she has to assume at least he's okay with it at the moment. She can understand if he changes his mind, but that's a discussion she'll need to have with him. When she mentions Skylar, a couple of thoughts popped into her head. First, she's again wondering how Clayton's side is going though with much less pessimism. Second, about the fact she has been meaning to catch up with Nathaniel about her since the mall. "Ah, about Skylar!" she exclaims suddenly, eyes widening, before lowering her voice. "Sorry, I've been meaning to ask you about her. Unless you have more questions for me?"

♛ Sᴋʏʟᴀʀ Jᴀᴄᴏʙs ♛
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[ the science project ] [ location: school] [ tagged: Clayton ]

Despite Skylar pretending that nothing important was said at all, she knew what was coming. She braces herself for the questioning she was going to get when Clayton caught up to what she had said. She winces at his first one-word question, not unlike how he did when she said it to him. His questions aren't as hard-hitting as hers though. Could be she's well-versed enough in this type of questioning that she was already expecting it. She narrows her eyes at him when he focuses on a particular part about Jessie. She doesn't get a chance to roll her eyes when he grills her about the details. "Ugh, I know, I know," she exclaims, raising her hands in defeat. "It's just a lot." She makes a big circular motion with her arms. There was no way she could have given all the details in one go. She's willing to share them, she just didn't have the time. "Unlike you, though, getting details from me won't be like pulling teeth," she grumbles before uttering under her breath. "I question if you're asking all this for me or more so for you?" She's sure he's concerned for her as well, but she felt the need to comment on the obvious other reason he's so interested in this. "Alright, first of all. I don't know why I want to kiss him," she admits with a frustrated shrug. "I don't think I like him? I just think he's cute and wouldn't mind kissing him." That might not be a super satisfying explanation, but it is how it is. "Which isn't too out of the ordinary for me. Even though he's different quite different than the guys I usually feel this way with." There are been plenty of guys within their crowd, she has had the same thought. She's sure she has told him about them on multiple occasions much to his annoyance. It doesn't have to be deeper than that. "I'm sure you had similar experiences," she says, giving him a knowing side-eye. "Normally, I would just try to kiss the guy and get over it, but I can't do that here obviously, considering what you're asking about." She knows she'll be shot down, so why bother trying? This could be one of those that just passes like many others. "As for him getting over Jessie..." she briefly considered how to answer before realizing she had no real idea. "I don't know. I'm not a mind reader." Nath's pretty understandably dodgy about it. One thing is for sure though. "He's pretty determined to do it though," she tells Clayton. "He realized she was never going feel that way about him cause she said she wants a relationship with a 'push and pull.'" As it turns out, that checks out now, she guesses. "I just don't think it's going to be an easier process without him expressing it and facing the issue head-on. But whatever works for him." she tries to not sound bitter about the whole thing. "Not that I really should care It really shouldn't matter, but it does and I don't know how to deal with that," she whines before slumping face-first onto the table.

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

With Michael being busy gathering all the ingredients, he hasn't noticed how much he has been affecting Audrey. He would have considered easing up if he did, but currently, he's riding the high of finally being able to openly compliment and flirt with her genuinely. He has been holding back out of respect for their newfound friendship and even then he couldn't help himself at times. He has no idea how bad he is for Audrey. He only catches her reaction to his last little comment about distractions. His eyes light up seeing the blush across her face and his eyebrows raise with interest when she doesn't shoot down his advances. However, he doesn't push her to do anything she isn't comfortable with yet. They are fresh into this relationship and it's as far as he knows her first relationship. Although they had already kissed once before, that was under unusual circumstances. Despite this, he let his eyes linger on her lips as he saw her eyes go to his. He snaps out of it as she does, focusing back on the counter. He can't help but smile at her eagerness. For him, having made them before many times and knowing how simple the recipe is, the thought of making tortillas doesn't invoke anything for him. Her excitement reminds him of the early days of his cooking journey. "Such an eager beaver." he chuckles while shaking his head with affection at her. "Tortillas, it is then." He makes a grand gesture at the particular ingredients she'll be using as almost a declaration. Hearing her decision, he scans the area for one last thing in preparation. "Alight then, let me get this out for you," he grunts as he bends down and opens a cabinet. Reaching into the crevice in between a couple of jars, he pulls out a little notebook. It's had a lot of use as some pages are loosely hanging out while others as taped to some other pages. But it's also quite flattened as it seems it hasn't been opened in a while. "My cooking notes. It's been a while since I pulled these out," he tells her as he begins flipping through the pages. "I really don't use this anymore, but there should be..." He turns to a page for the list of ingredients and a rough step-by-step he has written out for making tortillas. "Ahh, here it is. This should help, maybe." He admittedly doesn't write the best notes. The recipe should be simple enough though. "Nothing too exciting to start with, unfortunately. Just mixing the ingredients," he explains with a shrug. "Mix in the dry ingredients first, then add the oil and water. When it becomes dough-like, knead it for a bit on the counter." He grabs the cutting board as he goes through the whole process. "Don't forget to dust the counter with some flour, so it won't stick. I'll start chopping while you do that. Let me know if you're having any problems." He hopes it's not too much for her. He believes in her capabilities though even if he has questioned them before to tease her.

(no worries. c: it's a busy time of the year. happy holidays btw!)

[adheline]

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----park meetings-x------【 tag | Skylar 】【 location | school 】

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A lot is an understatement. Clayton rolls his eyes when she takes a moment to complain about him, not at all surprised as she does so. True to her word, though, she does answer. Clayton's eyes narrow as she confesses to being confused. Even as she brushes it off as a mild attraction, her doubt speaks volumes. Sky's pretty self-aware. Normally, she has a better grasp on this sort of thing. Or, at least, she has no problem voicing her opinions on other people's feelings. But she's right. It's not the first time she's had this impulse, as she's made him well aware of each time it crossed her mind. And he's been in the same boat several times himself. Sans extensively talking about it, obviously. He perks up when she mentions Jessie wanting a push and pull, because despite being in the relationship and knowing full well that they thrive on banter, it's nice to have confirmation that Jessie likes that about them. That she actively wants it. Her friendships are much more amicable, and while he was never insecure about their dynamic, he had to wonder about it. Clayton tries not to let his amusement show at the sour way Sky describes Nathaniel's feelings for Jessie, until she plants her face on the table and he's free to smirk down at her. He can't help but want to pull her leg a little. "So, what I'm hearing is you want another guy to confess to my..." His what, exactly? Whatever, not what he actually wants to focus on. "Look, this is obviously eating at you. Which is kind of telling. Who cares if he has lingering feelings, you should go for it. It's just a one time thing to get over with, right? Neither of you are actively pursuing anyone. That's literally the only thing that you don't have to worry about, if that's what's holding you back." If Nathaniel hadn't decided to move on, that would be one thing. But if he doesn't have any commitment, his feelings are a moot point so far as system-ridding-kisses go. "Unless, of course, it's more than that. The thought of him hung up on her bothers you," he accuses, prodding her playfully. "How about you deal it with your own advice. Face it head-on. Kiss him, and if it helps you get over it, great. Now you know for sure." It's all so convoluted, and witnessing her whine and face plant into the table has him in the mood to tease her about it as much as he can get away with. So, he calls back on her casting the blame on him, and what he said at the aquarium. "If you don't get over it, just think of it this way: You're finishing the trifecta. Everyone'll be coupled off. As it is, you're obstructing the flow of 'close bonding' by ignoring the sparks between you and your 'cute' lab partner." He can't even take himself seriously as he says all this, but he commits even as his smirk grows.

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---science project--------【 tag | Jessie 】【 location | school 】

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At Jessie's almost surprised reaction to hear about Clayton's previous relationships, Nath's reminded suddenly that Jessie wouldn't have seen any of them at all. He never cared to keep track, but he can't think of any from this school year so far. Aside from Jessie herself. Apparently. He tips his head as she seems to retract her curiosity by affirming his statement, wondering how much she and Clayton have talked about it. At least a little, he gathers. She seems to have an understanding beyond just second-hand gossip. Not that it would take much to come to the conclusion that Clayton's never had a relationship like this before, but the out of depth part is unique. No one would ever accuse the ever hubristic snarky rich boy Fortescue of being out of his depth. Although, he should probably stop using descriptors like that when thinking about Clayton. Even if they were and may still be at least partially accurate. "Well, that makes sense, I guess." Jessie's the last person he would call flashy. At the very least, it's good that the two are on the same page about keeping the relationship private. Nath may not be sold on the idea, but whatever works for them. Frankly, he'd be scared of the whispers if he were in Jessie's shoes, too. Clayton's popularity draws a lot of attention not only to himself, but those he interacts with. He's sure if Jessie never upset him to begin with, she would been able to exist peacefully at school without constantly being gossiped about. Quite suddenly, though, Clayton's cast out of the conversation and Skylar's in his place. Nathaniel startles at the emphatic interruption, eyebrows lifting at his project partner's name. It's not the first time either of them have mentioned her during this conversation, but it's the first time she's the focus of it. He can't imagine what she wants to ask about her. "Uh, no. No more questions." Baffled as he is at the subject change, he's honestly relieved. He's well and ready to move on from the details of Jessie's secret little relationship with Clayton. Talking about Sky is much more anodyne. Mostly. He can't help but think about the little confusing moments that have passed between them, but they all happened in private. There's no way for Jessie to know about them. Which begs the question of what she wants to know. Unless she wants all the thrilling details of their solubility experiment. "What about Skylar, exactly?" Jessie doesn't even know he's helped Skylar out with the venue, he doesn't think. Actually, he hasn't talked about Skylar much at all, has he? He and Jessie haven't been as close as usual lately, which left them both a little clueless as to what the other was up to. Arguably, he's been up to way less. Though, not nothing. He's been fraternizing with a former enemy, too, although in a much different way. They've had dinner, and dessert, toured a venue. Went through his closet then played a game in his basement. He tries very hard not to think about what happened in his room that day, before his mom showed up and then disappeared like the inconvenient fairy that she is.

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-------the third-----------【 tag | Michael 】【 location | Michael's house 】

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There's a notebook. Audrey watches as Michael flips through it, taking a brief pause in doing so to glance at his face as he explains what it is. She wonders how many people have seen this notebook, which at first glance looks like a hot mess, and at second looks a lot more like a labor of love. For as blithely as he helped with bagels at the coffee shop, and engaged in a little cooking battle with her for his siblings, cooking is obviously more than just a casual hobby like he made it seem when he first told her about it. He's put some serious work into this hidden talent of his. If he doesn't use the book anymore, does that mean he can cook off the cuff? She takes the notebook, reading over the page that it's open to. Oh. Tortillas are rather simple, really. Not that she expected anything elaborate to go into what's essentially circular bread. For some reason, though, she expected there to be a little more to it than this. "So you can take notes," she teases, gently thumbing an errant page as she reads over the measurements again. "I think I can handle this." Her biggest problem is really the actual cooking part. Takes way too long. Doing as he says, she measures out the dry ingredients first. From cooking shows, of which she's a casual viewer at best, she doesn't think they have to be perfectly exact, but she's not going to find out for sure now. Meticulously, she scoops out the dry ingredients and combines them in a bowl. She does the same with the oil and water, stooping down as she pours into the measuring cup to make sure she stops at the meniscus. She is not going to mess up these tortillas with Michael standing right there. She stirs until she supposes it's doughy enough, then sets the bowl aside and sprinkles some flour over the countertop. Kneading the dough takes a second to get the hang of, but it's actually a pretty soothing motion once she's in it. When Michael said 'for a bit,' though, she's not sure what that equates to. So after her interpretation of a bit, she decides to check her progress with him. She's dusting flour off her hands when she notices a little puff of the white powder on her shirt. Then when she tries to brush that off, she spots another on her jeans. "Flour is a menace," she declares. "How did I even do this?" After a moment of doing little more than embedding it into the fibers of her clothing, she gives up and turns to Michael with a sigh. She doesn't mind the flour, it'll wash out just fine, except that it probably ruins the overall look she spent five extra minutes debating on this morning. "Well, how does the dough look?" she questions, gesturing towards the pillowy mound on the counter in front of her. Hopefully it's at least close to the right texture.

(Thank you! You as well, happy holidays!)

[lucky ⋆]

❅ Jᴇssɪᴄᴀ Sᴄᴏғɪᴇʟᴅ ❅
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[ meetings in the park ] [ location: school ] [ tagged: Nathaniel ]

Jessie's glad her explanation made sense. With how complicated her relationship with Clayton was, she wasn't sure if she would have been able to word it well. Her big revelation comes to an end when Nathaniel confirms he has no further questions about her and Clayton. She's a little surprised with how quickly it ended, but she's not complaining. She built this moment up too much in her mind. It ended up being much simpler than she was expecting. The only hurdles were the ones she made herself. She's happy to move on to other topics though. She never likes having the attention on her. It isn't until Nathaniel asks her to specify her question, she realizes there is so much to learn about Skylar and Nathaniel. The last time she asked Nathaniel about her, it was about how their project was going. She remembers being surprised to learn they hang out together outside of their project. She didn't get a chance to ask about it more when the question was turned to her and she felt guilty about hanging out with Clayton without telling him. She missed a lot between them and that was like a week ago. She wonders if anything more has happened since then. "Oh, I mean, I guess everything," she says with a light chuckle. "I feel like I only really know a snippet of what's been happening between you two." She doesn't want to sound accusatory about this. It's not like he's been actively keeping this from her. Honestly, it's more on her being so distracted by other stuff. She hadn't even thought to ask until recently. "That's largely my fault though. Sorry." she apologizes sheepishly. "I haven't been too attentive this past week. I didn't ask about it until now." And because of that, the questions have been compounding. She just realized she never asked how the initial apology from Skylar came to be. It happened and she just accepted it. In her defense, there was a lot on her mind that day. Between getting the apology, trying to deal with the kiss she had the day before, and noticing the new developments between Audrey and Michael, she guesses it just slipped her mind. "I mean you told me she was going to apologize to me and she did." she questions, "And I have no idea how that happened?" A day or two after was when she learnt about them hanging out outside of their project. "Then at the mall, you told me you guys went out for gelato?" she continues. While she didn't get a chance to ask more, she did notice their behaviors around each other. "When you guys were off on your own though, I couldn't help but notice some tension." She didn't know whether or not to worry about that since she had no clue what kind of relationship they had. "I guess I'm just curious about what's going on?" she inquires. "Have you guys been hanging out more outside of your project? Has she been doing good on her apology?" She's mostly asking out of curiosity, but she also a little concerned as a friend.

♛ Sᴋʏʟᴀʀ Jᴀᴄᴏʙs ♛
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[ the science project ] [ location: school] [ tagged: Clayton ]

Skylar peeks up towards Clayton as he starts speaking. It wasn't until he said it, that she realized she was telling another guy to confess to the girl he was seeing. "Yeah, kind of, but that was before I knew two were already together," she mutters against the desk. She doesn't know if she would still give the same advice to Nathaniel if she knew that Jessie was already unavailable. It was different when she thought both of them had a fighting chance. Even with Jessie's sentiment about wanting a relationship with 'push and pull.' Feelings are complicated. Sometimes people think they want something, but could very well change their mind later. Of course, she was rooting for her best friend ultimately, but she thought it was a neutral playing field. Now though, knowing everything, she would be a little more wary about confronting his feelings head-on. The guaranteed heartbreak and the following awkwardness add more layers to the situation. She honestly can't think of what advice she would give on the spot with all this new information. Skylar's eyebrows furrow as she listens to Clayton's advice. She blinks as she takes in his word and realizes that it's pretty good advice. She's more used to venting to him about stuff like this than receiving actual advice from him. She slowly sits back up and nods along slightly. Until he brings up his comment during the field trip and starts talking about the trifecta. She quickly realizes that he's teasing her with the way he's unable to contain his smirk. She rolls her eyes at him but doesn't call him on it since she figures she deserves it a little. One thing does catch her attention with his teasing though. "The trifecta?" she questions. That implies all three pairs will be coupled up. "Did Audrey and Michael also couple up without telling me?" She wouldn't be outraged if that's the case. Just a little annoyed, but Michael doesn't usually tell her things like this. That can't be right though. They were just going on a date and not even a real one. "Wait, no. Wasn't their date this weekend?" she shakes her head. Bringing this up reminds her that she wanted to talk to him about it after learning about it from Audrey. "Ugh, I forgot to tell him off about how he got that date." She couldn't believe it was from a bet. What's with her friends being such wusses? With her annoyance building, as she considers Clayton's actuality, she makes a decision. "You know what, fine." she decides. "I will go for it because apparently, I'm the only one out of the three of us that's not a coward." She looks pointedly towards Clayton. "If this messes up the delicate friendship I just built up with him, I'm blaming this all on you." It's his fault in the first place. She doesn't address whether there could be more to this feeling or not. Perhaps because she already knows. "Now, answer my question!" she demands, standing up and crossing her arms. "Did you or did you not mean to kiss Jessie when you did?"

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

Michael chuckles as she teases him about taking notes. He's capable of doing it, but he's too often too lazy to put in the effort to make them. Even with these notes that he had actively tried to keep, some pages are quite rough. He's pretty sure there are a couple of them that just list the ingredients and nothing else, especially toward the end of the book as he got used to measuring just by eye. Luckily, this particular recipe he wrote down earlier on, so hopefully it's somewhat useful. It seems she's got a handle on things with his notes and explanation. Seeing her get started, he turns towards his task. He moves the vegetables onto the cutting board he laid out. It usually takes him no time to cut up all this, but he slows down today to give her some time to complete her job. This way he can also check in on her in between each vegetable safely. Every glance towards her makes him bite back a grin. She's so focused on doing a good job. It's adorable. When he moves on dicing up the tofu, he needs to turn his attention away more as it's much more delicate than the vegetables he was cutting up. Once he was done with the chopping, he scooped each pile into their bowls. He was just scooping the last bits into a bowl when he heard her muttering. Glancing towards her, his eyes widen slightly in surprise as he sees all the flour on her. It's not too much, but it's a little more than he was expecting. That's when he realizes that he forgot something. He looks sheepishly towards a hook beside the fridge where the aprons hang. "Oh, sorry." he apologizes, turning back towards her. "Probably should have given you an apron." He should have known he would have forgotten about that. He rarely wears it himself because he never remembers it. His cooking skill is good enough that he usually doesn't need it. He doesn't mind getting messy anyway. The aprons here are mostly used by his dad, though it doesn't seem to help. He feels a little guilty for not remembering Audrey though. He hopes it doesn't ruin her clothes. It doesn't look like too much and she doesn't seem to mind either. He still feels the need to make up for his mistake though. Seeing that they can't clean up right now in the middle of cooking, he only sees one way to do that. "Well, too late now. It's okay though," he says with a shrug before dipping his hand in some flour and dusting on himself. "See, now we match." He's gonna get some on him as he checks her dough anyway. He picks up her work and takes a moment to look over and feel it. "Looking pretty good." he praises after his assessment. It looks like she did everything to a tee. "Let's cut these up into pieces and roll them up." He sets the dough down and faces her. Now, he's much closer to her, he notices she doesn't just have some flour on her clothes. He reaches up to brush it off her cheek. "Ah, you got some flour on your face."

[adheline]

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----park meetings-x------【 tag | Skylar 】【 location | school 】

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Clayton shrugs when Sky questions the status of Michael and Audrey. Being preoccupied with this upcoming discussion with Sky, he totally forgot to ask Michael how his date went. Now that he remembers, he's really curious. He wish he thought to ask. He makes a mental note to do so the next time he sees him. After talking through Michael's feelings with him before the date, and what his plans for it were, he's pretty confident that, eventually, Michael will make his move. Some day. Or Audrey might, given that Jessie confided that the blonde's feelings somewhat mirror Michael's. Of course, that also includes the hesitancy. So, who knows, really. He feels like he would have noticed if Michael was moping, though, so he has to assume it went relatively well. But then, he thinks if it went really well Michael wouldn't have been able to keep his mouth shut, whether he was asked about it or not. There's really no guessing here. He can't wait for Sky to tell him off, though. Hopefully he gets to witness that. Would be much better than being the target of it like he is now. He rolls his eyes and scoffs when she calls him a coward. Seems a bit extreme for the situation. He's also so not a coward! Out of the three of them, he's the only one who took an actual shot. To be fair, though, Sky hasn't had as much time since discovering her attraction to her project partner. Or has she? He's realizing suddenly that he actually has a ton more questions for her. She revealed that her and Nathaniel were hanging out quite a bit outside of their project, but she didn't say exactly how he came to learn about her parents, why they talked about his feelings for Jessie, or how she came to find him kissable. Or when. He scoffs when she promises to blame him again, as if she didn't just get all high and mighty about how she'll do it because she's not a coward. Whatever, he doubts that even if it doesn't go the way she wants it to, that it'll ruin their 'delicate' friendship. If they came to a friendship after their previous animosity, he feels as though Nathaniel's more forgiving than to let something like that be what breaks them. That does bear another question, though. Clayton wants to know how Sky thinks it'll go when she does it. Like, is there a chance Nathaniel feels the same way? This and his other questions have to be put on hold, because Skylar's back on her quest to wring every little piece of information she can out of him. As she stands, he crosses his arms like she does, but slouches defiantly into his chair until he's just barely sitting on it. Stalling, he glances around the room. Less because he's embarrassed, more so just to annoy her. "Mean to? I guess, technically, since you're so interested in details..." he drawls. "No, I didn't mean to. She was just... right there," he explains, gesturing the approximate distance with his hand. "She also kind of called me a coward, so obviously I had to prove her wrong." Then, he retreated to the far side of the couch, so perhaps he'd actually proven her correct. Not that Sky needs to know that bit.

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---science project--------【 tag | Jessie 】【 location | school 】

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A snippet. That's fair. As irritated as he was to be left out of everything Jessie had going on, it's not like he went out of his way to share, either. Not that he and Skylar have really been up to that much. He did actively hide something, though, didn't he? Back when they went to the mall and he flippantly explained his familiarity with Sky's car for being project-related. He didn't have to do that, but he hadn't wanted to talk about it then. He doubts Skylar would have wanted to, either. Everything Jessie brings up is valid to question. He guesses she was too flustered, distracted, or guilty to ask about them when they initially came up. Though, clearly, it's all still on her mind. Nath rubs a hand along the hair at the nape of his neck, deciding on a point to start with. He supposes he'll reassure her that Skylar's keeping to her promise to do better, then start at the beginning. Kind of how Jessie did when explaining everything with Clayton. "Yeah, we've been hanging out. And she has," he tells her sincerely. "Kept with her apology." Not a contrary word since then. They've had a few differences of opinion, but overall he's really enjoyed spending time with her. Actually, Skylar's way surpassed anything he ever expected her to do when she first told him she'd try to be better. To be honest, he half expected her to revert after a day or two. Hoped she'd do well, though. And she has. "Which started when I went to her house a couple days into our project. Her um..." He doesn't really feel comfortable disclosing Skylar's complicated family life, so he dodges that specific tidbit. "Her dinner plans fell through, so she offered to include me. I still don't really know why I said yes. Mostly, I was curious, I guess? We were kind of civil at that point." More bickering than actually fighting. "We ended up talking about you and why she hated you, which led to her apology to me and a plan to apologize to you." The rest of dinner was pretty awkward, but it opened up the way for their tentative friendship. "And gelato... yeah. Neither of us were in the mood to work on the project, so we went for a walk and talked about little things. Eventually gelato came up, so we went to get some. She was..." He blinks, picturing the moment she stole a bite of his gelato. "Friendly. Thoughtful, actually. Which she is every time we hang out. We've been way ahead in our science project, so when we meet up we end up doing something else. And I've been helping her plan for the dance. On Saturday, I went with her to the venue." The rate things are going, he'll probably end up going to this dance that he's helping with by himself. Jessie and Audrey likely won't be needing to go as friends. Not a big deal. He'll still see his friends there, and when they're occupied with their dates, he can inspect and form conclusions regarding whatever catering choice they make. "It's all just been surprisingly pleasant. And the tension," he trails off, trying to recall the specifics of that day. The only thing that he can think of that really disrupted anything was when Skylar came close and fixed the fit of his clothes for him. He's still not sure exactly what happened there, so he shrugs. "We're still adjusting."

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-------the third-----------【 tag | Michael 】【 location | Michael's house 】

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Audrey follows Michael's attention towards hanging aprons, shrugging when he apologizes. "It's fine." It's just flour, and even if it weren't, she's actually enjoying cooking. For the first time ever. A little mess is alright if that's the trade off. Plus, Michael makes up for it by way of imitation. Audrey's eyes widen, wholly not expecting him to do something like that. But in a totally unexpected way, it shoots her mood through the roof. He's a little chaotic, which she kind of knew to begin with but somehow he still manages to surprise her, but it's chaos acted upon in a really sweet way. He's fun and genuine. Being someone who prefers when everything lines up to expectation, she never imagined how much she'd come to appreciate this about him. A smile spreads across her face as she watches him examine the dough she made, matching flour stain being her main focus. Then, his praise over the dough feeds that smile into a beam. "Oh, good!" Her careful measurements paid off, then. Knowing when to stop kneading was either raw intuition or pure dumb luck, though. Cutting up the dough is another vague instruction that she's sure wouldn't phase anyone else, but leaves her to wonder precisely what size pieces they'll be needing and if he's got a way of uniformly measuring that. She's about to ask about this next step he gives when she feels his touch on her face, and the fluttery feeling that washes over her drowns out the thought entirely. He hasn't moved since looking the dough over, but she only suddenly realizes how close he is. The lack of distance didn't seem so significant when he was poking at the dough. It's a bit different now that he's touching her. "Thanks," she murmurs. Of course she has flour on her face. Who knows what mess she would have managed to make with the vegetables. Michael didn't seem to have an issue at all with that task, from the few times she allowed herself to glance over between measurements. She swallows, leaning slightly closer without much meaning to. An impulsive thought occurs to her, then. Without breaking eye contact, she reaches a hand toward the counter and wipes her index finger along the layer of flour she'd put on the counter for kneading the dough, then gently taps the powder onto his nose. "So do you." Ridiculously pleased with herself, Audrey has to bite her lip to tamp down her grin. "It's actually a very good look for you." Annoyingly enough, it is, in fact, a good look for him. Not that she'd suggest walking out in public like this. But it suits him in the way that cooking in general does.

[lucky ⋆]

❅ Jᴇssɪᴄᴀ Sᴄᴏғɪᴇʟᴅ ❅
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[ meetings in the park ] [ location: school ] [ tagged: Nathaniel ]

Getting a confirmation that Skylar's been keeping to her word makes Jessie smile. She had a feeling that she would be. Even though she hasn't interacted with Skylar since her apology aside from their mall trip, she has felt the shift in her behaviour. The trip itself was proof of that. She didn't have to help Audrey out at all. That and she has heard some of the girls that she has seen hanging around Skylar talking about laying off from talking about them. "That's good," she says to herself, under her breath. With her concerns relieved, her curiosity is piqued. She can't help it. For as long as she's been at this school, despite the amount she has interacted with Skylar, she's always been a bit of an enigma. Someone with that much commanding presence you can't help but wonder what they're like. She felt similarly about Clayton. That's not the only reason so curious though. Nathaniel also factors into this. Her usually agreeable best friend had such a heated reaction to Skylar, which she always wonder where it came from. And now that dynamic has been turned on its head. There's so much to unpack. Hearing that they somehow ended up talking makes her stomach drop initially. It's just a gut reaction she has learning that people are talking about her behind her back. She almost asks why they are talking about her, but she realizes it's not one of those situations. Considering her relationship with the two of them, it's not too surprising that she would have come up in their conversation at some point. Her worry quickly changes back to curiosity when he tells her it is then Skylar decides to make her apology. He doesn't elaborate further on what exactly they talked about, and she can't help but wonder what he had said to make Skylar want to change her behaviour. Nath seems to only mention it as an explanation of how they begin to get along. She nods along as he explains everything. She can't help but notice the pauses between certain words. "Friendly..." she finds herself repeating the word at the end of his explanation. Realizing that made her sound skeptical, she quickly corrected herself. "Ah, sorry. No, that's good she was friendly." She lets out a little chuckle before pointing out. "It just took you a little to find that descriptor." She wonders what exactly made him pause because it seems like the right descriptor. She takes a moment to take in everything they have done. "You guys have been hanging out a lot more than I thought." she realizes, eyes widening slightly. "I mean you're even helping her out with the dance." She's curious as to when he got on board with that. "She must really trust you then. From what I heard she's a real sticker when it comes to planning those things." She gives him a long look at the end of his explanation, in particular as he shrugs off the tension as just getting used to the new dynamic. She can understand that. She remembers the tension between her and Clayton the first few times they hung out. However, that ends up being something more. She bites her lip, she's probably thinking too much into it, but she realizes he might not know what was up himself. "Right," she says with a nod. "I'm guessing you're not too sure where it came from either." She gives him a lopsided smile. "But it sounds like it hasn't been an issue, so maybe you guys resolved it without knowing?"

♛ Sᴋʏʟᴀʀ Jᴀᴄᴏʙs ♛
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[ the science project ] [ location: school] [ tagged: Clayton ]

Skylar taps one of her index fingers on her crossed arms as she waits for his answer. It stops as she watches him slump into his chair deliberately. She gives him a bored look. She knows what he's exactly doing. He's her best friend after all and it's not the first time she had to deal with him doing things like this just to peeve her off. Her lips tighten into a straight line as she sees his gaze dart around the room. She knows she has to wait it out, but she's not happy about it. When he finally answers, her eyes widen briefly at his explanation before giving him a glare at the little amount of information he gives once again. She doesn't know why he's so surprised she has a barrage of questions when he answers like this. Realizing that's all she's going to get out of him unless she presses him for more, she throws her hands up in exasperation. "Ugh, I wouldn't be so into the details if you didn't give me this every time I ask a question," she complains once again about the vagueness of his answers. "You do this to yourself." she sighs, shrugging and shaking her head. "There's so much more questions to ask now." And she's going to ask them. She's not giving him any leeway this time. "Like, why were you two so close? I thought you guys were playing video games." she begins. "Now, I don't know much about games, but I don't think you guys need to be that close for it." From his gestures, if she saw two people that close on a couch, she definitely wouldn't be thinking that they were playing video games. "Why was she calling you a coward? Kind of." she continues. "How did calling you a coward lead you to kiss her?" There's only one thing she could think that Jessie was calling him out on that would lead to that. "Was she calling a coward for not kissing her?" It's at that moment, that she registers that he said he didn't mean to kiss Jessie when did so. "And you didn't mean to kiss her," she repeats his answer, coming to a realization. "so you got goaded into kissing her?" She blinks at the revelation because that goes against everything she knows about Clayton. "That doesn't sound like you at all. When you know you like someone, you're pretty direct about it." That's when it hits her. She turns to him with a gasp, covering her mouth with her hand in shock. "No way." she squeaks, dropping her hand. He didn't know. Shaking her head, she takes a seat once again to be at eye-level with him. "Oh, Clay. You weren't a coward." she coos in delight. "Well, maybe. Jessie was calling you that for some reason." she mutters under her breath, looking to the side briefly before meeting his eyes again. "But no, you were just clueless." she gasps. She has to hold back from teasing him too much. She doesn't want him to stop answering. She can't hold her amazement back. She can't believe little sweet Jessie got her best friend like this. "I don't think I ever seen you like this. Not even with your first crush," she says in wonder. She guesses it makes sense why he's been so vague with his previous answers. "I guess I never actually asked when you realized you liked her. I just assumed you did at some point before you kissed her." His telling her he liked Jessie during the field trip made her think he had figured it out beforehand, but now she realizes he had already kissed Jessie when he told her that. "But you had no idea, did you?"

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

Michael didn't really consider his action when he initially extended his hand towards Audrey. He just saw a smudge and naturally went to brush it away. For some reason, his brain skips over the fact that he'll practically cupping Audrey's cheek when he does this. He slowly comes to that realization as he stares at his thumb skim over her cheek. At that same moment, he notices the distance between them or more specifically the lack of distance between them. He freezes for a moment, hand still raised. He blinks when she shifts even closer, finally letting his hand drop down beside him. Her eyes haven't left him and he finds it hard to look away. He finally snaps out of his trance when her hand comes into his view. He pulls back just a little when her finger taps on his nose. Her words confuse him at first, but then he sees the flour on her finger and realizes what she has done. Seeing her pleased expression and watching her trying to suppress it, he can't stop himself from reacting. Before he can think about what he's doing, he grabs her raised hand and pulls her closer. The tip of his nose touches hers and he makes sure that they're really matching now like he said before. "Is that so..." he murmurs as he pulls back barely. "Same to you." They're so close now that it would be easy to take the next step. His eyes sweep over her face as he reminds himself to slow down. Audrey's pretty new to this. She just had her first date a few days ago. He needs to make sure she's not uncomfortable with any of this. Even though she sort of initiated this, he already feels like he's pushing things a little. He'll need her to guide him through that. It's been a while since he's actually dated anyone, so he feels a little out of his depth in terms of how to pace things. He's so used to one-off dates or weekly 'relationships' where he and the girl try to make the most of their limited time together. As these thoughts ran through the business head, he figured he should probably let go and step back. "Well, ahem." he clears his throat awkwardly, not sure how to redirect things naturally. "Let's keep, um," He blanks for a moment. "cooking." Another good reason to put a stop to things going farther. His cooking would have gone to waste if they left things sitting out for too long. And he knows if things had continued, there's no doubt they would be sitting out for a long time. He takes the dough again and puts it on the counter where there is still some flour left. Grabbing a dough cutter, he rolls the dough out a little before cutting into it. "I'm going cut this into smaller pieces," he explains, putting a couple of the cut pieces towards her. "You can grab the extra rolling pin over there." He nods his head in the direction next to the sink. Pausing briefly, he grabs a plate. "We'll roll these out and stack them here." Around half the dough is cut up into little balls by now. He grabs those pieces and sets them next to the plate. "You roll out these first few while I finish cutting the dough up." he points out before getting back to business. He considers briefly how to explain what she needs to do, but there isn't much to explain. "Just roll them out and make sure they are round and flat?" he says questioningly before letting out a laugh. "You know, tortilla-shaped."

(Sorry for how long this took! Had a busier beginning of the year than I expected. @.@)