one x one | peggy_rogers and viverrinus

[ingenuity,]

I stayed silent as Maria stumbled over her words, feeling bad for reacting so badly. I made everything just so much worse. Why couldn't I be some smooth guy that can handle things like this? I wish I could have just said "Yeah, I like you, too. I've wanted to be more than friends for a while" but no. Nope, I had to go and be all awkward about it and act like I was going to pass out or something. I put my head on the table, completely embarrassed, until James came over. Like a jerk, he acted as if I was deaf and couldn't hear. I looked up and glared at him. I already didn't like this guy. "Of course I'm not creeping out my girlfriend, you dolt," I said without thinking, then stopping and doing a recap of what I just said. I called Maria my girlfriend. I got visibly irritated at a stranger, who happened to be Maria's friend and dance partner as well as someone her mother liked. I also called the guy a dolt. Oops. Anger and embarrassment aren't a good combination. "Can't you see you're bothering her? Get back to work and mind your own business," I snapped rudely, not meaning to come off that way, but glad that I sounded more confident than I was.

I looked at Maria, hoping she wasn't mad that I stepped in and did what I did. James was her friend, after all, and I had been kind of rude. But he was bothering both of us, so what was I supposed to do? He was insistent on thinking that I was some creep even though Maria said I was a friend. So I said she was my girlfriend... Maybe it was just to get him away. Maybe it wasn't. Maybe I wanted her to be my girlfriend. What am I saying? I totally wanted her to be my girlfriend. She was my best friend, but, like she said, I was a boy. And she was a girl. I found her rather attractive. I sure hoped she felt the same about me. The redness in my face had gone, but it was returning just the slightest bit when I thought about it. I just hoped desperately that I hadn't already messed it up.

[Burning_Roses]

James looked shocked as Cole told him off, “Excuse me? Your girlfriend?” He snorted and I glared,What a jerk, what does mom see in him?I stood standing at almost eye level with James, I jabbed a finger in his chest,
“Yes he’s my boyfriend and if you don’t back off, I’ll have your butt kicked out of the academy for harassment. Don’t forget who is the only girl in school who will dance with you.” James went pale and clenched his jaw,

“It’s because no one is as good as me but you.” He smirked and I thanked her lucky stars most of the shop had cleared out except a couple baristas who were laughing at James. I moved forward causing James to move back as she laughed,
“Please! My mother only picked you because of your face and even then she doesn’t have good judgment, not to mention your ego is the size of Manhattan!” James fell back and glared,
“You’re gonna eat those words and so will your little boyfriend” he got up and scrambled to the back of the store the others taunting him as I walked back over and grabbed my purse and held out my arm with a smile, “Shall we go?” It was clear I had no problem with anything as I laughed, “No one else in the world I’d rather be dating” I tilted my head with a lopsided grin brushing blonde hair back from my eyes

[ingenuity,]

I laughed as Maria insulted James' ego and stood up ready to go when she was done with this little squabble. I cleared my throat and looked at James. I'd never been in a fight before, but if I was, I had to say I wouldn't mind beating this guy up. "Little?" I was 5'11, which was certainly not little. No, I wasn't offended. I was one of those kids who looked a lot weaker than he really was. Truthfully, though, I was far better at running than anything. I rolled my eyes. "Jerk," I muttered before nodding to Maria and smiling. "Yeah, let's go." I walked out with her, the stupid grin on my face staying as she said there was no one else she'd rather be dating. "There's no one better to be in a relationship with than my best friend." I moved my hand a bit and held hers, intertwining our fingers. I was silent for a moment before looking at her and asking, "How is your mom going to feel about this? I mean, I hardly think she's going to want your boyfriend staying over... For obvious reasons. Are we just not going to tell her?" it'd be nice to know what the plan was. "And if she asks how we met?... I mean, she's never seen me before. I know her pretty well, but she's got no clue who I am except for when you told her and she just thought I was only an imaginary friend. I mean, technically... But like... Not real. She didn't know I was real." Yes, I was an Imaginary friend, but not the type of imaginary friend humans thought existed. Imaginaries. No imaginary. There was a difference.

((ah, this is sorta short, sorry.))

[Burning_Roses]

//You’re Fine//
I smiled and squeezed his hand as we walked down the street, “His ego needed to be checked and put into place, badly.” I laughed and swung my arm back and forth while thinking, “We’ll sneak in, She’ll never find out. She leaves for a business trip tomorrow and won’t be back for a week, that’ll give us plenty of time to form the perfect story and to get you enrolled and starting at the Academy” As we walked we passed a tall gothic building, besides being tall it was huge, I pointed, “That’s the academy.” I smiled at Cole squeezing his hand, “Inviting isn’t it?”
Laughing I continued the walk until we were back at the fence of my home and I climbed over and walked across the back yard and up there tree into my bedroom window as if sneaking away had become second nature. I sat on the floor with a grin waiting on Cole, leaning out the window I waved him quickly, “Come on slowpoke!” I laughed softly and went to sit on my bed. “So she leaves tomorrow, I can get you an audition in the morning before my clases start so I can be there. After the audition they take a day to decide they’ll call, you’ll be in and then we’ll work on the You’ve-got-to-impress-my-Mother piece of music” I stretched and laid back on the bed, “Sound like a plan?”

[ingenuity,]

I nodded as she said we'd sneak in. I could only imagine what her mother would think if she found out that a boy snuck into the house and into her daughter's room. Maria would probably get in trouble big time and then her mom would want to speak to my parents, only to find what I have none. I literally have no parents. That in this world, I technically don't exist.that did not sound like a situation I wanted to be in.
My attention was taken by the huge gothic building that stood out like a sore thumb. The place looked ancient... And expensive. "Definitely," I replied in a mutter, turning my gaze forward again once we passed it. I was silent for a while, just thinking. Girlfriend. She's my girlfriend. It feels no different. What even was the difference between boyfriend and best friend? Holding hands? Kissing? I felt my face flush slightly red when that thought came to mind. I glanced at Maria. I'd never had a girlfriend before. Mostly because we weren't allowed to have significant others until the human forgot about us and Maria and I never separated, so... I was completely new to this.
I followed Maria up into her room with ease, used to climbing trees usually, although if I fell I wouldn't have the ability to fly and it actually would hurt. I listened to Maria's plan and nodded. "Yeah. That works... So I should get to work on the music right now. I don't have my sheet music, so I've got to rewrite it... Do you have a piano or guitar by chance? Well, I'm assuming I can't use a piano without your mom seeing or wondering who's playing. I just need something to make sure I have the notes right at least and I can't trust myself to get the right note every time." I wished that I had my guitar and music. The music may not have been great, but it was my own hard work and time and I couldn't remember it all. Some I had memorised, but the majority were gone. At least you still know how to play the instruments... And you can always write more music. That was true. "I also need a pencil and staff paper. I can do without the staff paper, though... Any paper will work."

[Burning_Roses]

I smiled as she held up a hand, “You think your best friend who goes to an academy for music and the arts doesn’t have staff paper and pencil?” I laughed softly and went into my closet as I began to move and throw things, old drawings featuring a younger me holding hands with Cole. A lot of those came flying out, an old folder full of diaries entires basically detailing each day of my life since I could write and form coherent sentences. A few articles of clothing flew out and I walked out carrying a large chest, “I used this back when I was a music student, everything your musical heart desires is in that box.” I smiled and then my mother called my name and I opened the door calling out to her, “Yes Ma’am?”

“I’m leaving early I’ll be back in a week, you know the rules” I laughed and smiled at Cole,

“Yeah I’ll see you in a week, love you!” The front door slammed shut and a few minutes later a car peeled from the driveway down the street, “Piano’s Open” I laughed and opened the dooor walking downstairs into the main foyer where the old fashioned grand piano sat, to make sure it was in tune I sat down and began to play Für Elise but stopped, “Ok it’s tuned. Please have at it.” I turned walking back upstairs, “I’m gonna go get changed in a dance outfit so I can warm up and get a basic dance layout”

[ingenuity,]

fun fact! I have a cabinet grand piano that's probably close to 100 years old and it's all in great condition! a little out of tune but we haven't gotten someone to tune it yet. I can play piano, trumpet, and guitar. Piano was my first instrument (started playing it when I was about seven) and trumpet was soon after. I recently started playing my guitar. Still gotta say trumpet is my favourite tho... I'm in my school's band. Marching season was just finished and we never got lower than second place! woo! Concert season now. so excited.
That was unnecessary, lol. sorry

I stood patiently as Maria took out the staff paper and pencil, shrugging. "I dunno. Not everyone uses staff paper. In fact, it's probably uncommon to have staff paper because most people don't write their own music. It's so easy to find music to play that no one needs to write their own." I picked up an old picture that fell on the floor as she dug through her stuff, ignoring the other stuff now cluttering her room. It was an old drawing of us together. I remembered when she drew this. I also remembered being there awkwardly when her mom asked who it was then explained that I wasn't real. It was ironic how she had once believed that I was just a product of her lonely daughter's overactive imagination. I looked up suddenly as I heard her mother's voice carry through the house saying that she was leaving early.

"Great," I said after she was gone, standing up and going over to the piano with the staff paper and the pencil. Sitting down at it, I began to play Moonlight Sonata just to warm up a little. I hadn't been playing the piano much because I was busy working on my guitar music. I stopped playing for a moment, humming the tune of the song that I had written. I started playing it on the piano, hitting a few wrong keys but quickly fixing it. I picked up the pencil and wrote four measures that I could remember, playing it just to make sure and continuing on. I continued this process, changing a lot of it until I had two pages of the music. It was relatively simple, with one set of repeats and a coda. It was a calm, quiet type of music- not generally what you'd sing to or play with a guitar. A good thing to dance to. I went over it a few times, adding little notes like tempos, crescendos, and styles. When I was done, I played it once through and went to Maria. "So this is what I've got so far. If you want, I can play it so you know what I'll be doing."

[Burning_Roses]

I smiled and moved my hair back, "I used to play before mother wrote it off as useless and trite" I made air quotes before rolling my eyes, "Sometimes I wish I could just run to New York"I sighed and leaned on my bed, "Writing music was a nice hobby when I was little but again mummy dearest..."I sighed and followed him downstairs and closed my eyes listening to the music. I imagined every move to it as I closed my eyes, smiling. "It's gorgeous"

I stood and smiled and walked upstairs changing into a dance outfit, simple and black before walking back down and stretching against the wall pulling my leg next to my head. "Sure let's run through it" Then she laughed before adding, "Babe, I love a good practice trial" I kissed his cheek with a smile

[ingenuity,]

I looked at Maria as she stretched, amazed at her flexibility and obvious beauty. I nodded, pulling myself back to the situation at hand as she said we could run through it. Just before I turned back to the piano, I heard it. Babe... it took me a moment to remember that she was my girlfriend now. I definitely didn't need a reminder of that when she kissed my cheek. With both of those things that she did, I felt my face grow a little red. I gave a small, slightly unsure smile. It was just a kiss on the cheek, but to me, it felt like so much more. Remember- I rarely even hung out with girls, and for a long time, I had to make myself think of Mari as just my friend rather than a girl. Damn... That got really hard when she grew up. Indeed. It got harder to treat her as just my best friend as we got older. I noticed certain qualities and she got certain qualities as time went on. Of course, it was explained to me eventually by an uncomfortable John, but I never really knew until I realised that Mari had definitely matured. I swallowed, ignoring the tinge of red that crept up on me and counted off before I began playing the music I had written. I wanted to watch Maria if she was dancing, but I had to keep my eyes on the music and on the keys. I wasn't familiar enough with this piece of music, so I had to make sure I was paying attention or I'd lose track of where I was.

[Burning_Roses]

I moved across the floor almost silently following the music however I felt was right. I turned and moved across the floor holding myself on point as i lifted my leg up wards and spun in the point. Yeah it hurt like Hades but I had already done this a hundred times in my life. I moved and turned bending back so I could smile at Cole before remarking, "I like the blush, it's a lovely color darling" I moved back across the floor spinning and moving as I leaned against the wall. I kicked and spun and kicked and spun keeping my foot in the air before standing totally on point. Holding waiting for the ending and when he hit the final note, I dropped letting my feet relax one pointing to the side as I smiled brushing my hair from my eyes, "Perfect. That song is lovely" I smile and sit on the piano bench next to him my own hands brushing the keys.

"You'll do great tomorrow." I laughed and softly and hugged Cole, I can't believe sometimes I got lucky enough to land him as a friend, I guess as much as the next person I had been blind to him growing up, he'd always been just Cole. Now finally seeing him as something more was new and kinda exciting