I Hate That I Love You || 1x1

[adheline]

♠ C L A Y T O N ♠
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tagged⇨ Jessie relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ school/park role⇨ meetings in the park boy

Having agreed to assist intimately with his dad's latest deal, Clayton came to school having gotten just a few hours of sleep the whole weekend. Their client was in another time zone, and was extraordinarily demanding. He was quiet in all of his classes, trying not to fall asleep but helpless against zoning out. Whenever he did manage to focus, it was mostly just to consider his dad's client. Though, he did manage to stare at Jessie's empty seat for a few seconds, reminding him of photography in the park. It didn't seem like a terrible idea after his weekend. If anything could get his mind off of it, that would probably do the trick. So, once school was done, her stopped at home briefly to grab a camera and the filters he got with Sky, then made his way to the park. He was wearing the green bomber Sky had made him try on at the mall, and paired with a dark knit skull cap, he was hoping to be less recognizable should anyone he knew be walking around out here. Not that many other people were willing to traipse around a park in December. It was perfect landscape for filter experimenting, however. He walked along a path, stopping periodically to catch a scene in a different filter or setting. He was reviewing his last picture when he noticed he'd caught a person, and he looked up curiously. It looked like... huh, it totally was. Clayton turned the camera off let it rest against his chest by the neck strap. She wasn't in school today, and she looked pretty content to be left alone, so he figured he probably shouldn't bother her. Still, some dumb part of him urged him to go over, if only to figure out why she was wearing a dress. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and took a few long strides to catch up, and closer he could tell that was definitely Jessie and he wasn't approaching a stranger. "Haircut looks nice," he said by way of greeting.

✬ N A T H A N I E L ✬
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tagged⇨ Skylar relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ school role⇨ science project boy

After a mixed fruit breakfast, Nathaniel went through the motions of school as usual. After not seeing Jessie in the morning, he couldn't help but worry that she was okay after the funeral. He didn't want to be a bother, though, so he only sent a quick 'here if you need me.' With her out and Audrey ignoring everyone in the school for the day, he found himself more or less alone through classes. Any free time was spent with Gustave Flaubert and bag of carrots. He supposed he ought to make more friends, not that he didn't talk to other people than Jessie and Audrey, but at this point he preferred the company of his novels. He's trading books at his locker when he gets a text from Skylar, and he quickly finished up before heading over. He wasn't looking forward to it. However genial she may have been the first meetup, he still didn't like her, and he wasn't sure how long he had before she naturally reverted to her usual tendencies of spite. After all, she was just as hateful as usual when they crossed paths over the weekend. Maybe he'd have the nerve to ask her about it one day, maybe at the end of their assignment, ask her why she felt the need to say nothing but bad things to them. He could only assume there was some sort of family thing going on, as there apparently always was with rich kids, or perhaps she used to be bullied on the playground and now has to assert herself by torturing others. Frankly, he didn't much care. Excuses were just that. When he got to their room, he saw her standing out front the door, glaring at her phone. He rose an eyebrow, hoping she wouldn't be taking anger out on him today. She seemed fine in class. "Hey," he greeted as he got closer.

⊰ A U D R E Y ⊱
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tagged⇨ Michael relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ school role⇨ the third girl

Audrey had gotten up in the morning feeling pretty good about the day, tossing on a comfortable sweater and leaving her hair down in order to truly bask in it. Though she came up with a good few punishments in retrospect, Audrey was happy with her request of Michael the other day. She was beginning to grow uncomfortable with the small thrills of being paid attention to, especially when induced by the likes of him. She didn't need to be paid attention to, and she wished she would remember that. Perhaps, she was getting to used to him. At this rate, he was more of a fixture in her life than her family. And for however long her calc class was going to be forced to sit in arranged groups, she was certain today would be the only day of peace. Michael was under obligation to leave her alone, Jessie was MIA, and Clayton was sulking in his seat, giving her the quiet needed to pay attention to the teacher. Otherwise, the day went fairly usual to always. Come the end of the classes, she stayed briefly to talk to her teacher about an essay, then made her way to her locker while sending Jessie a quick 'hope you're okay' text since she hadn't seen her all day. Approaching, however, she caught a familiar figure leaning against the lockers next to it. She frowned. "Can I help you, or is loitering just a hobby of yours?" she asked dryly, spinning out her combination and opening her locker. She tucked away her textbooks, pulling out the papers from earlier classes that she'd need for the night and sliding them in her bag. She resisted to urge to cut him a suspicious glance, wondering how he knew where her locker was. She was probably forgetting something, so she didn't linger on it too much.

[lucky ⋆]

❅נєssιcα scσғιєℓδ❅

|| Meetings In The Park || Female || Seventeen || Pansexual || Location: Park || Tagged: Clayton

Jessie was walking absentmindedly, just looking at the almost bare trees in the nearly empty park when someone is suddenly beside her. Startled, she stumbles slightly, almost losing her step, but she managed balances herself. Stopping her steps, she turns towards whoever just approached her. For a minute, she almost didn't recognize him by his attire. She was so used to him wearing that one leather jacket. Once she finally recognizes him and registered what he said, she reaches up and fidgets with her hair a little. It was a bit of an impulsive decision she made after the funeral. Her mom cut her for her last night. "Oh, thanks," she says, slightly flustered. She still remembers what happens last time they were at the park together, though she has mostly gotten over it. "New jacket looks nice," she says as a response, gesturing to his jacket. She was tempted to ask about when happening in class today or if her friends were worried about her absence but thinking more about she wasn't really in the mood to talk about school and she doubts that he would know what her friends were feeling. Noticing he had a camera, her expression brightens up. "Are you taking some photos? Can I see them?" she asks excitedly. She had been wanting to see his work since she first discovered that he had the same interest in it as her. She looks up at him, slightly pleadingly. Taking a good look at him, she notices how tired he looks. Her expression switches to a more concern one. She steps closer to him, taking a better look. "Are you okay? You look a little dead," she asks with a slight frown.

♛sкчℓαя נαcσδs♛

||The Science Project || Female || Seventeen || Heterosexual || Location: School || Tagged: Nathaniel

Skylar could feel tears prickling her eyes as her anger and frustration begin to set in. Looks like she'll have to cancel her dinner reservation again. Or she could just have a fancy dinner by herself. Her train of thought was interrupted by the appearance of her project partner. She looks over to Nathaniel for a moment before averting her eyes to compose herself. She'll have to figure out dinner plans later. "Good, you're here," she says dryly as she straightens up. She clears her throat, holding her emotions back before finally turning to look at him. "I think we can finish doing the experiments today," she tells him while opening the door to the classroom. Stepping into the classroom, she walks towards the cabinets and begins shuffling through for the equipment they needed. "I assume you brought the materials" she comments distractedly. Once she found the equipment they needed she set it up on one of the tables near the door. She glances at Nathaniel from time to time. She hasn't seen him much today and the only times she saw him, he was alone. She did see that other girl he hangs out within the hall, but she didn't see Jessica all day. "I didn't see Jessie all day. Any idea where she is?" she asks, mostly just curious, but also a little teasingly. Pretty much the whole school knew about Nathaniel's crush on Jessie. It wasn't hard to miss with him always play the knight around her.

мιcнαєℓ нσяяιsσи

|| The Third || Male || Eighteen || Heterosexual || Location: School || Tagged: Audrey

As Michael waited by Audrey'a locker, it slowly dawns on him that this looks a little creepy. Him just showing up by her locker. He swears that he wasn't following her around just to find her locker. He just saw her use it a couple of times when he was walking in the hall and just remembered that's all. He waits for another few minutes, getting a little impatient and bored, but soon enough he notices a figure approaching. He pushes himself off of the lockers and gives her a wave and smirk. His expression just brightens more at her greeting. He always enjoys her reaction to him. It was so different from how everyone else's behaviour around him. Most people, specifically girls, would either swoon over him or get shy, but Audrey doesn't take any of his antics. "Hey Audrey, what a surprise." he greets. "Woah, we're grumpy today. I'm just chilling around the hallway with no ulterior motives," he says innocently. When she opened her locker, he reacts in mock surprise. "Oh, I didn't know that this was your locker." Once she gathered all her things, the changes to a more neutral expression. "I just wanted to know if you had a shift today." he begins to ask for his little favour. "Either way, you mind giving your dear coworker a ride to work?" he asks with a puppy dog look. He isn't expecting her to accept, but it is worth a try.

[adheline]

♠ C L A Y T O N ♠
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tagged⇨ Jessie relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ park role⇨ meetings in the park boy

Clayton winced when he saw he'd startled her, remembering just how clumsy she was and how easily he could alarm her. He's relieved as she regains her balance, and it isn't until his shoulders relax that he realizes he'd been ready to jump in and catch her, should she have needed it. Some sort of conditioned response he'd gained from being around her, he guesses. Focusing back on her, his eyes trail her fingers in her hair, wondering at how just a haircut can change so much about an appearance, while being just as suiting. He looked down at his jacket at her comment, running a hand down the front, to the right side of the camera. "Thanks," he murmured, thinking of how pleased Sky would be to hear that the jacket was appreciated. Ironic. His gaze turns back to her, eyes wide at her excitement over his camera. She'd expressed before a desire to see his photographs, though he hadn't expected her to be so enthusiastic when it came to it. He smiled in amusement, and in response to her own bright expression. Is fell when hers did, though, relaxing into a more neutral expression. When she took a step closer, his eyes fell down to her feet. "I uh..." He met her gaze, taken by the concern there. "Just tired," he said at last, softly. "Helping my dad out with a client." Clayton smiled faintly, reaching up and pulling the camera from around his neck. He holds it out to her in the small space between them. "You sure look worried, though. You must care about me a lot," he teases in a breath, leaning just slightly closer and corner of his lip curling up in reference to a smirk. He figures he'll get the jesting in while he can, and casually bring up her not being in school once he's had his fun.

✬ N A T H A N I E L ✬
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tagged⇨ Skylar relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ school role⇨ science project boy

Both of Nathaniel's eyebrows shot up, catching a moment of shakiness in her composition. Something must have actually happened, when to begin with he assumed it was just annoyance at someone texting her or something. He doesn't say anything, though, as he follows her into the classroom. He casually dropped his bag on a random table, briefly watching in his peripherals as Skylar raids the cabinets. He rolled his eyes at her mentioning the materials, unzipping his bag and pulling out an array of neatly labeled containers. "No reason to be here without them," he answered, double checking that he brought all the different materials. Satisfied, he transferred them over to the table she had begun setting up at. He set them down just as she asked about Jessie, and he glared dimly at her. Nothing he could do to help the blush over his cheeks, though, so he turned away from her and focused on twisting the containers until all the labels lined up perfectly. Useless, since they'd be picking them up and rearranging them anyways, but he'd rather entertain his hands for the time being and distract himself. "Why, miss your favorite victim already?" he asked vacantly, turning it on her. She asked about Jessie so casually, so normally. But she was still the girl who made a habit of verbally attacking his friend. Promptly, he made his way back to his bag, two tables over, and pulled out his notebook and a pen. He flipped to the page he'd had open last time, which he'd added their solutes to after they'd gone out and bought them. He turned to the next clean page and set the notebook on the table, jotting down the date and a quick title at the top of the sheet.

⊰ A U D R E Y ⊱
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tagged⇨ Michael relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ school role⇨ the third girl

Audrey rolled her eyes at Michael's play at innocence, knowing better by now than to assume anything was coincidence when it came to him. Her flat rejections were always meant to deter certain people, scare them away from her, but he seemed to think they were some sort of invitation. Every turn she took he seemed to be there, to the point that he was simply part of her normal life, and him being here was less abnormal than it really ought to have been. Didn't make it any less suspicious. Pulling her keys from a hook on the inside of the door and stuffing them in her pocket, she zipped her bag up. "I do work today...," she trailed off musingly, shutting her locker and turning to look at him. She stopped in the middle of hoisting her bag strap over her shoulder, thing was darn heavy, caught by the look on his face. It was somewhat unfair how annoyingly cute it made him look, eyes rounded and lips pursed with remarkable resemblance to a begging puppy. A guy this attractive should have no troubles making friends or getting himself into a relationship, surely there were other people he could find to pester. She blinked, remembering where she left off. "Which is why I don't want to prolong time spent with you by having you in my car." She pushed her bag strap up slowly, but didn't move to walk away. It slid down a little, and she regretted again having a messenger bag when she knew how much she'd stuff it with papers and books. "Why do you need a ride from me anyways? Nobody else you can ask?" She wasn't about to leave him hanging without a good excuse since they were going to the same place, and unfortunately she did bring her car to school that day because of the chill. Normally she walked. And, he did keep good on his promise to leave her alone in calc. Still, if she could at least make sure he knew she wasn't eager to take him anywhere, she'd do so. If she could remind him he had other options, that would work, too. Preferably shortly, because they would have to leave soon to be on time for work.

[lucky ⋆]

❅נєssιcα scσғιєℓδ❅

|| Meetings In The Park || Female || Seventeen || Pansexual || Location: Park || Tagged: Clayton

Jessie's concern doesn't ease much at his answer, but she still returns his faint smile with her own. She continues to stare at his tired though, thinking to herself that despite what she thought before about him getting away with everything, his life isn't as easy as she thought it was. Her expression relaxes more when he hands her his camera. She focuses her attention on the camera as she takes hold of it. She was about to go through it before her attention is brought back to him when leans in slightly closer. She flushes at both his words and as she just realizes how close they are to each other. "I-I, uh." she stutters as she tries to think of something smart to say back. It's a little hard though as she keeps remembering the last time they were this close. "Well... I guess... I kinda do." she mumbles. Gah, she's not at her best right now. She's still in a more sentimental mood and wasn't fully ready to bicker with him. She ends up just confirming what he said as she couldn't think of anything else to say. "If you don't like it, I can stop." she tries to tease back at the end, after failing to do so at first. But it does have as much bite as she wanted. Embarrassed, she looks down towards his camera and focuses fully on it, trying to pretend that she didn't just fumble. She relaxes a little as she begins to look through his photos. She's impressed how he manages to create so many different atmospheres despite having taken all of them at the same locale. Once she reaches the end, she simply breath out a quiet, "Wow."

♛sкчℓαя נαcσδs♛

||The Science Project || Female || Seventeen || Heterosexual || Location: School || Tagged: Nathaniel

Skylar continues to set things up for their experiment. She briefly glances up at Nathaniel's reaction to her questions but is slightly amused at his blushing. She rolls her eyes slightly, walking over to her bag and getting out her notebook and pencil to jot down whatever happens during the experiments. Her attention focuses back to Nathaniel at his questions. She looks unimpressed at his attempt at trying turn this back onto her. She shrugs and says nonchalantly, "A little, but probably not as much as you miss her." She gives a smug look before looking down at her notebook and making a table to easier organize their finding. "I'm just a little curious that's all," she says more seriously. More than a little, if she was being honest. She was always a gossip, especially when it comes to Jessie. That girl is surprisingly guarded for someone who's supposed to be so genuine and caring. "She seems to be a little wishy-washy lately. So, I was wondering if something happened," she says simply, with a slight frown. Even though she wants to see if she can get anything to use against Jessie, she isn't completely heartless. If the girl is actually going through something, she may lay off of her. Just a little though. "Which one do you want to test first?" she asks as she notices they were all set up. She doesn't want to spends forever on the experiments. She wants to get them done as efficiently as possible, even though her plans tonight has fallen apart.

мιcнαєℓ нσяяιsσи

|| The Third || Male || Eighteen || Heterosexual || Location: School || Tagged: Audrey

Just as Michael thought, Audrey doesn't agree to his little favour. He pouts dramatically as she dismisses his requests, but isn't too broken up about it since he was expecting her to do to that. He's surprised that she doesn't just turn and leave him and raises an eyebrow when she questions why he does ask anyone else for a ride. He actually can't ask anyone else and he'll explain why to her. "Well, Skylar's doing her science project today, so can't ask her." he begins. "I don't really like getting rides from her anyways with her personal driver and all that, it's just too much." He actually shudders slightly as he continues his explanation. He can't even imagine having Skylar's driver drive him to work. "I have no idea where Clayton disappeared to as usual. Though I might have an idea after the park thing." He mumbles the last part to himself. "So, can't ask him either. And I don't really know who else exactly own a car so that just leaves you." He does a grand gesture towards Audrey before relaxing back to his usual position. "Besides, you and I were heading to the same place, so why should I bother something else?" he reasons with a shrug. "But you said no, so I'm not going to push it. I'll just take the bus." he ends his whole spiel with a sigh, pretending to be defeat. "See ya later." He gives her small salute, turns around and begins to walk away. Slowly.

[adheline]

♠ C L A Y T O N ♠
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tagged⇨ Jessie relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ park role⇨ meetings in the park boy

Clayton's expression dims as he watches her, realizing that she wasn't quite in the mood to clap back at him. Neither was her blush nearly as satisfying as usual. Boring, but also concerning. He counted on her wit in their conversations, but she seemed a little out of it. Melancholy, even, if he had to put a name to it. He leans back, merely humming in response to her threat to stop and pushing his hands in his pockets when she takes the camera. As she scrolls through his photographs, he eyes her curiously. Quiet moods he's seen on her before, though almost singularly towards her late best friend. Potentially, this could be related. He wants to know, but he also wants to be tactful for once. Carefully taking the camera from her once she's finished her perusal, he drops the strap back around his neck and promptly shoves his hands into his pockets once more, feeling unusually bashful. "Just some experimenting," he trails off, trying to casually dismiss the images. Despite the conversations he's had with her about them, he was still nervous to share his work. Not necessarily because he didn't think they were good, but because he still struggled with the concept of his image. Even around her. But it... seemed different now, the way in which he wanted to uphold appearances. Perhaps his quest for approval now extended to her, and she didn't much care for who he usually was. Frankly, it was a fact he never saw coming, yet he furrowed his brow and regarded her. She wasn't the only one who cared. Unfortunately. "You weren't in school today, but you don't look sick. Everything okay?" he asked, switching his weight from foot to foot.

✬ N A T H A N I E L ✬
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tagged⇨ Skylar relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ school role⇨ science project boy

The smug look on her face made him glower, and he sat heavily in one of the table's chairs. He was angled slightly towards her, and he frowned at her while spinning a pen in his fingers. Curious. Right. Curious for fodder, information that she could use to tease abuse Jessie with later. If Nathaniel could credit the girl with one thing, it was using information. Always had something to say about whomever at any given moment. He didn't trust her as far as he could throw her, and considering his brief foray into shot put, it wasn't very far. "She's busy," he said dismissively, turning away. He contemplates their solutes before sliding a couple into different places. Closest to Skylar is the table salt, which he opens and pushes in front of her. "Start with the obvious ones," he says decisively. "Salt, sugar, copper sulfate, calcium hydroxide, and then ethylene glycol." Pulling his notebook closer to him, he jots an 'H' for hypothesis and circles it, writing 'salt: subtle change.' "Obviously, salt's gonna be soluble pretty consistently through temperatures," and he says it more to himself than her purely because he's used to mumbling to himself in group projects, pretending that his partners are listening. "Sugar will be more regular..." He writes the hypothesis down in brief notes, just points for him to return to when he writes the report later. Once he has a bullet point for each solute, he pushes the notebook out of the way, spinning the pen again. "Right, so, room temperature first," he says uselessly, sure that she already knows what she's doing.

⊰ A U D R E Y ⊱
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tagged⇨ Michael relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ school role⇨ the third girl

Audrey breathes deeply through her nose as he starts listing off his acquaintances, not knowing why she would have expected a short answer. Her eyebrow raises at his explanations, especially the bit about the driver. Not that she imagined he would enjoy the lavish lifestyle of having a driver, but she didn't expect him to be quite so opposed. Despite wherever he came from, he surrounded himself with the fabulously wealthy. Somewhere along the way she just assumed it was because he liked the perks. When he ends his little guilt speech, she stands and watches him, letting him walk away slowly for a good few seconds. She tilts her head, purses her lips, and wonders why she wants to smile. Playing along with his little show of dramatics, she sighs loudly and catches up with him. Twirling her key ring on her finger, she steps in front of him. "Lucky for you, I'm somewhat attracted to charity cases," she says, biting her lip shortly after. Of all the words to choose, and to say to him of all people. "I mean, attracted as in... not in, but, you know, just... towards, not- ugh," she gives up quickly, turning away, willing herself not to flush with embarrassment. "Whatever, come on," she grumbles, stalking towards the parking lot. In hindsight, he might not have even noticed had she not made such a huge deal about it. She would never live this down, because even if he were to let it drop she'd replay the cringe-worthy scene over and over in her head.

[lucky ⋆]

❅נєssιcα scσғιєℓδ❅

|| Meetings In The Park || Female || Seventeen || Pansexual || Location: Park || Tagged: Clayton

Jessie's awkwardness beforehand dissipates when she hands him his camera back as she notices his bashfulness. She smiles at the sight of his unusual shyness. "It's really good." she still compliments his photos genuinely even though he's trying to brush it off. She's a little surprised when he asks his question. Not at the question, that she was expecting, but how he serious he asked it, especially compared to his previous teasing tone. She doesn't mind too much. It is a little unexpected but welcomed. She used to be annoyed at their every interaction but has to admit that she's been enjoying their banter recently. Right now though, with Clara still on her mind from yesterday, she just is still a little emotional. She's glad he recognized that. It shows how far they got compared to a week ago. With that realization, she feels no hesitation in answering him honestly. She tends to bottle things up even with a close friend, but she feels like she could just say anything to him for some reason. She tugs at her black dress a little as she starts to answer. "Clara's funeral was yesterday," she tells him with a slightly sad smile. She gives him a quick rundown of how they decide to stay the night and drive back in the morning. "I'm fine though. I think it was what I needed to finally move on," she says with a stronger smile. And she means it. It's not just something she's saying to make him not worry. "Thank you for caring though," she says, slightly alluding to his previous comment, but not in a teasing way. She's genuinely thankful for his concern over her.

♛sкчℓαя נαcσδs♛

||The Science Project || Female || Seventeen || Heterosexual || Location: School || Tagged: Nathaniel

Skylar frowns at the fact that he didn't divulge any information at all. She thought she would at least get something out of him. Then again what did she really expect considering how protective he always is towards Jessie. Whatever. She'll just have to find out for herself. It's no big deal. At least that's what she will be telling herself for a while. He would be the best source of information on Jessie, but also the hardest. She'll focus her attention on their project for now. She sits down on one of the seats and watches as he opens the table salt and places in front of her. She stares at it for a brief moment before glancing back at him when he starts explaining the order of experiment. She raises an eyebrow when he starts more or less mumbling to himself. Slightly annoyed as this is a group project, so they should be coming up with all this together. She manages to get what he said and jots it down in her notebook. She looks at him questioningly as he finishes, seemingly waiting for her to start. "Before that, we should come up with a set amount of water and solutes," she says, straightening up in her seat. Leaning forward, she taps him on his head with her pencil. "Also, speak up. Don't just rattle off by yourself. Remember, we're doing this project together and I'm not like other group mates." she tells him slightly peeved.

мιcнαєℓ нσяяιsσи

|| The Third || Male || Eighteen || Heterosexual || Location: School || Tagged: Audrey

As Michael slowly walks away from Audrey towards one of the exits, he tries to peek back as subtly as he can to see if Audrey's relented or not. He smiles when he notices her starting to catch up to him and turn back to face the direction he was walking in again. His smile grows as she steps in front of him, agreeing to his favour. He didn't get to be too happy for long as Audrey suddenly became flustered at her words. He watches slightly confused at the whole ordeal. It wasn't until she walks away did he realize what made her so flustered. He looks in amusement as she hurries to the parking lot with him following back. He definitely would not have noticed her usage of words if she didn't point out. But since she did, he'll definitely use it against her some time. Not now though, since that might make her back out of her offer to give him a ride, but maybe sometime later. Besides, she's probably fully expecting him to do it right now. It's much more fun to catch her off guard. Once they exit the school, entering the parking lot, he jogs up beside her as they approach her car. He walks to the passenger side and puts his arms on top of the car as he waits for her to unlock everything before remembering his last encounter with her car and jumping away. "Oh, I got to watch out for your car door potentially hitting me," he says, slightly wide-eyed in a defensive pose. "Ready for another exciting day of work?" he asks, still in the position.

[adheline]

♠ C L A Y T O N ♠
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tagged⇨ Jessie relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ park role⇨ meetings in the park boy

Despite himself, Clayton feels a small touch of content at seeing her smiling. Any funerals he's attended were for those of whom he hardly knew, so he couldn't attest to the pain or difficulty she felt. Still, he knew at least what she felt, having been the recipient of her discussions on the matter. Merely following her through the process connected him to it; to her. He may well and truly be a terrible person, but with this he couldn't help but want to be otherwise. "That's good, then," he murmurs, and Clayton finds himself smiling back at her. Then he glances off to the side, sighing. Caring. "Yeah, well..," he trails off, watching a squirrel twirl around a branch with a softer smile. He isn't sure what else to say, or if there's anything else to say. He's not usually the sentimental sort of person, not verbally, anyway. He only ever managed to make himself sound like an idiot when he tried. After a moment of silence, he meets her eye again, biting his lip. He hadn't seen her since the weekend, when they crossed paths at the cafe. They hadn't said anything, but he'd noticed a thing or two. A skirt, food. Nathaniel. It's something he probably shouldn't ask about, but the curiosity had been nagging at him ever since. He isn't sure why it stands out to him so much, but once he wants to know something, he can't really stop himself from asking. "So. You and uh, Nathaniel? At the mall?" he started, trying to sound casual and failing miserably. He really hated himself right now. "Finally going out?" He manages to ask this one normally, narrowing his eyes inquisitively.

✬ N A T H A N I E L ✬
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tagged⇨ Skylar relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ school role⇨ science project boy

Nathaniel blinks when he feels a tap on his head, finally looking up at his lab partner. He realized as he stared at her that he hadn't glanced at her once since he'd sat down. Disgruntled, he ran a hand through his hair, physically pushing away the ghost of her pencil. He's almost tempted to ask why she hadn't set the amounts already, but figures that sort of goading violates their truce. That, and it was a petulance that didn't really suit someone his age. Instead he shifts forward in his seat, clearing his throat. "Right," he starts dryly, considering the equipment on the table. He figured they'd want smaller samples if they were going to make the experiment go at a decent pace. "Well, what do you think then? Twenty-five milliliters water, five grams solute?" he suggested, leaning his elbow on the desk and his cheek on his fist, sitting sideways in his chair to face her. However much he disliked it, she was right. He needed to talk with her. Partner project and all. He forgets sometimes that things can get done faster, and more accurately, with more than one person on the job. Their teacher clearly expected quality work to come out of this partnership, far be it for him to allow their report to suffer at the hands of his mumbling. "And how many temperatures do you want to test? We'll want enough to make curves, but not so many we're here all night," he asks, glancing at the clock.

⊰ A U D R E Y ⊱
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tagged⇨ Michael relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ parking lot role⇨ the third girl

Audrey narrows her eyes at Michael when he doesn't say anything about her slip-up, figuring he'd be all over it. Any mistake she's made thus far, he's hopped on immediately. Instead, he seems content to move past it, which isn't as relieving as she'd like it to be. She didn't know if he was clueless, unconcerned, planning something, or perhaps she'd made him uncomfortable? It wouldn't be the first time. She'd noticed those few times she'd been too close, or too invasive, when he'd tense up. Perhaps she'd finally found her way of scaring him off, the thinks dully. As she unlocks the car, Audrey glances up at him. She almost jumps when he does, staring at him and the pose he'd assumed. Her shoulders drop minimally at his mention of the door, realizing that's all it was. For some reason, though, and it truly is some mystery, the casual question he poses while still standing like that makes her laugh, and she's quick to try and hide it in her shoulder. He was ridiculous. But maybe... she could come to appreciate that in her serious life. Perhaps. Not that she'd ever tell him that. As it stood she'd still be okay with him leaving her alone. She opens the back door and throws her bag in, peering over the top of the car at him as she shuts it. "Just get in, you idiot," she commands, biting down the smile that came from her laughter. She follows her own direction, sliding in the driver's seat and starting the car.

[lucky ⋆]

❅נєssιcα scσғιєℓδ❅

|| Meetings In The Park || Female || Seventeen || Pansexual || Location: Park || Tagged: Clayton

Jessie continues to smile as her answer seem to calm his worries. Her smile fell a little after his mood shift again. She blinks a few time at his question at first as she trying to process what he asked. Her and Nathaniel? Mall? Going out? She's confused at what he is talking about until she remembers them meeting briefly Saturday at the mall. So much happened since then, she almost forgot. Her eyes widen once she finally figures out what he was talking about. "Oh, no. I-It's not like that." she starts stuttering before stopping herself completely. Why is she trying so frantically to explain herself? She takes a deep breath before talking again. "We're just friends," she explains calmly. "We planned it a few weeks ago and I wanted to hang out to make up for the fact I been so not there for the past week." She continues her explanation, her tone more gloomy at her own flakiness. Even right now, she hasn't contacted any of them since she got back. They must be worried after her not being at school. "And I don't like him like that. I don't think he likes me that way either," she adds as she looks down. "Did it really seem we were going out?" she asks in a quiet voice, glancing up at Clayton. She was very surprised at his assumption, but in retrospect, it probably did. She was a little more dressed up then usually. He was paying for her everything. They went to the movies. Ah, how did she not notice until now?

♛sкчℓαя נαcσδs♛

||The Science Project || Female || Seventeen || Heterosexual || Location: School || Tagged: Nathaniel

Skylar could see how disgruntled he was as he ran his hands through his hair. She raises an eyebrow then narrows her eyes as he seems to want to say something about it, but decided not to. Normally, she would have probably taunted him into saying whatever he wants to say, but right now she's more interested in getting their project done and done well. She knows that wouldn't do anything productive, so she simply listens to his suggestions and questions. Plus, they did make a temporary truce until this project is over, she should try to respect at least when they are working on the project. "That sounds fine. Enough for the experiments, but also not too much to make this way too long," she says, agreeing to his suggested measurements. She hums at his question, looking at the clock as well before looking back to their materials. "I think we could do five different temperatures," she tells him. "Cold, cool, room temperature, warm and hot. Should be enough for us and not take too much time. If we need to, we could spend another session experimenting." she says as she grabs some water that been sitting out since they set out all the materials. It should be room temperature by now, but she measures it just to be sure before pouring twenty-five milliliters into another container. She scoops the appropriate amount of salt into a test tube. "Room temperature and salt first," she announces as she adds the water in. She swishes the test tube around three times exactly before setting it down to see the result.

мιcнαєℓ нσяяιsσи

|| The Third || Male || Eighteen || Heterosexual || Location: Audrey's Car || Tagged: Audrey

Michael relaxed in his defensive pose as he sees Audrey starts laughing at him and his antics. She quickly hides it, but he still looks at her in amusement with a large grin. He watches her as she gets into the driver's seat. He continues to stare for a moment before frowning to himself at why he got so much enjoyment of making her laugh. Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he still keeps up his little silly pose until she tells him to get in. He carefully opens the car door, dodging it even though it didn't fly out this time and sliding in slowly. He kept quiet as she started the car and waited until they're on the ride and she can't back out of this to talk again. He slightly deflates in his seat to set up what he's about to say. "You act like you're so fed up with my little dramatic, but I don't think you mind it that much, do you?" he asks, voice slightly getting insecure at the end. He looks away, feigning hurt and disappointment. "I mean, isn't it one of the reasons you're attracted to me?" he asks, turns to face her again with a smirk. His tone completely changing from before. intentionally emphasizing on the words she used beforehand. He knows he was going keep this one for later, but who was he really kidding. He didn't have the patience to wait for that long. Especially in a long car ride, despite it not being long at all.

[adheline]

♠ C L A Y T O N ♠
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tagged⇨ Jessie relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ park role⇨ meetings in the park boy

Clayton wonders if bringing up the mall was even more random than he originally assumed, since it takes her a moment to remember what he's talking about. One of his eyebrows reaches into his bangs as she explains, but he isn't about to rat her friend out to her. Clayton barely had anything to do with the two friends until the park meetings started up, hardly ever saw Nathaniel, but everyone knew about Nathaniel's little crush. Heck, even Skylar brought it up when she could, as long as she saw the two of them together. Surely she could see where he's coming from..? "A little," he shrugged to her question, not able to help smirking a little. His eyes flit over her face, slightly narrowed. "You do know what a date looks like, right?" Obviously he can't assume anything about her relationship history, so he can't find it in himself to make too much fun of her right now. That, and she did seem a little too worried about something, probably having been out of touch for the week. She clearly cared about her friendships. Still, her surprise was fairly amusing, and he couldn't really help but tease a little. "How many accidental dates have you been on?" he asks in a light laugh, raising a hand to smooth down the back of his hat. He almost forgot he was wearing it, since he usually didn't put anything on his head. Kept his ears warm from the chill, though.

✬ N A T H A N I E L ✬
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tagged⇨ Skylar relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ school role⇨ science project boy

Nathaniel decided he really needed to get over how quick they could agree on things. It surprised him every time, despite knowing it was coming. Perhaps he just really didn't want to be slotted in any sort of similarities to her, although the list only seemed to grow, unfortunately. He could have happily continued on believing they had nothing in common to one another. Nath nodded along to her temperatures, adding them to his notebook. "Okay," he agreed briefly, watching her measure the temperature of the water. At least he could appreciate the thoroughness of Skylar as a partner, a trait he usually didn't find in his groups. To be honest, too, he tended to launch into things without thinking everything through beforehand. She'd already caught him in that act. In fact without her input he might of not noticed he hadn't set an amount until he went to make the second sample and realized he didn't have experimental numbers. It wouldn't be the first time, and he was willing to bet he'd do it again within the year. "It'll probably be easier to do everything at one temperature at a time," he suggested, eying their first salt sample as she put it down and recording the results. "So we don't have to keep heating and cooling," he added, looking up at her and twirling his pen. Before doing anything else, he wanted to get her opinion. Lest he get yelled at again.

⊰ A U D R E Y ⊱
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tagged⇨ Michael relationship⇨ non-existant locale⇨ car role⇨ the third girl

Once Michael manages to sit safely in the car, Audrey pulls out of the lot and starts driving towards work. He seemed to be sitting in her car an awful lot lately. She wonders if she'd have to drive him home, too. As she eases into a halt at a stop sign, he starts talking, and she takes the moment to glance at him. He looks kind of... upset. Taken aback, she focuses again at the road and moves past the stop sign. It seemed she'd done it again, said something wrong. She may not particularly like him, but she wasn't a fan of delivering continued blows to actual tender spots. Truly hurting him was never part of the plan. She almost wants to apologize. All thoughts of being sorry quickly hit the floor, however, when he brings up her earlier comment. She spares him a quick glance, and sure enough he's got that infuriating smirk on his face. Thankful she's got the road to look at instead of him, her grip tightens on the wheel. Embarrassment floods through her. "Well," she says under her breath. She can feel the burning sensation of a blush, and for some reason she can't quite think her way out of this one. Annoyingly clever of him, to trap her when she can't just turn and walk away. She really, really wants to. "I'm not... I mean. I really don't." She let out a breathless, surprisingly nervous laugh, shaking her head. "Any attractive qualities you may or may not have are completely drowned out by how annoying you are," she says, lifting her hand to tuck away her bangs, fingers brushing her cheek to subtly check the heat on her face. Yeah, still blushing. "Why do you like messing with me so much?" As she asks, she makes a left turn. One final road before they got there, and the subsequent escape from this conversation.

[lucky ⋆]

❅נєssιcα scσғιєℓδ❅

|| Meetings In The Park || Female || Seventeen || Pansexual || Location: Park || Tagged: Clayton

Watching his expression at her explanation and question makes Jessie clenches her teeth nervously. She winces slightly at his answer as he confirms her worries. She gets flustered once again at his question. "Of course I do." she declares with a pout before explaining her situation with Nathaniel. "I just never thought of Nath in that way, so it didn't occur to me until you mentioned it." She briefly wonders if she should be thinking of Nathaniel in that way. They are pretty close and hang out a lot. She didn't get to think about it too much as her thought are interrupted by Clayton's second question. "I-I don't know. I mean I haven't been on much dates in general," she answers, getting more flustered by this entire embarrassing situation. She only really had one boyfriend before that last for like a month. Other than that she hadn't really been on many dates. Although, she might have been on dates she just didn't know about like he's insinuating. "At least I don't think I have," she adds, weakly. She still feels like she should defend herself though. "I mean any time two people hang out could be a date. You and Skylar could have been on a date at the mall. We could be on a date right now." she blurts out, her eye widens immediately afterwards. She covers her mouth with both of her hands after that comment to stop her rambling. She removes them slightly away after a bit, wanting to say something, but nothing is coming out of her mouth. She can't even remember what the point of her whole spiel is. Instead, she just stands there with a slight blush.

♛sкчℓαя נαcσδs♛

||The Science Project || Female || Seventeen || Heterosexual || Location: School || Tagged: Nathaniel

Skylar eyes the test tube carefully and notes down the result as well. She was writing a few more notes for herself when Nathaniel spoke up, causing her to gaze at him, but still kept her head down in her notebook. She finishes writing just as he finishes speaking, so she raises her head to regard him. "Good idea. It'll be more efficient that way," she says, both satisfied and slightly impressed with his suggestion. "You're living up to your reputation, nerd." She tells him as a compliment, for the most part. She has to admit that he's good at this as expected, but she can't be completely nice as they are still them. She continues to move through the rest of the test. Testing each of the solutes they have at room temperature. Making sure that she measured everything before testing and recording the result. She stays mostly silent as she does this. Only speaking up when she announcing the solute and temperature, even though is a little redundant, or when she confirms the result with him. She gets through their third test before she couldn't take the silence much longer. While she likes how efficiently they are going through their project, she's just a naturally chatty person. Even though her conversation partner is not ideal, she still rather say something than not. "So, any plans after this?" she asks as she measures out the calcium hydroxide. Not the best conversation starter, but hopefully it'll at least get one to start.

мιcнαєℓ нσяяιsσи

|| The Third || Male || Eighteen || Heterosexual || Location: Audrey's Car || Tagged: Audrey

Just as expected, Michael's smirk widens at Audrey's reaction to his comment. He starts laughing hysterically as flusteredly tries to explain herself. It only grows louder as she tries to recover. He begins to pull it back at her question as he tries to compose himself enough to answer her. He takes a deep breath once he gets all his laughter out and tries to think back to what she asked. Well, the simple answer is that she doesn't react like anyone else around him. And what's even better, she's so easy to get a reaction from. "Do you really need to ask after what you just did?" he asks her. Her reaction just now is the perfect example. "That is the reason why." Of course, there is beginning to be a bit more to that, but he'll not willing to deal or think about that right now. Or ever. Or at least not anytime soon. But for the moment that is on his mind, he let some of it slip out. "And I guess, I'm attracted to you as well," he says as another callback, but his tone is a little more serious than usual. "But it's mostly the reactions." he quickly goes back to his regular playful tone. While he is mostly focused on enjoying her reaction to his teasing greatly, he did also notice that before that, she seem to actually begin to feel bad at his solemn appearance. Which confirms that she does at least care about him a little despite all she said about not wanting him around her. That's what he thinks at least. And for some reason that almost pleases him more than her reaction right then.