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It was true that she hadn't asked what the story was, which she nodded her head and simply agreed with a "Fair enough." She watched and she listened, seemingly completely interested in his explanations. He might have been dodging the question, but he wasn't so blatantly dodging it that it was stupid or pointless. Even his generic answers gave her plenty to work with.

By the time she was offered a piece of gum, she had pushed herself back up into standing without leaning on the yellow bike. With a shake of the hand, she refused the offer of gum, simply explaining "It's too sweet fer my tastes." Nothing too rude, just a simple fact. One day they'd invent nacho flavored gum, and then the world would be complete.

"Well, I still think yer interestin'..." she honestly stated as she pulled her worn denim backpack off her shoulders. For a moment, Ellie's attention seemed on her backpack rather than Jesse, beginning to dig through the interior for something. What she was looking for was about anybody's guess. She obviously wasn't a neat freak, she was simply the sort who tossed whatever she wanted in her backpack and would figure out where it went later on.

Eventually, she began to talk again, since she was having difficulties finding what she was looking for. "I ain't the sort t'make promises 'bout stereotypin'... but I'll try as long as ya promise not t'go 'round actin' like I'm jus' another titty-bag t'hit on." Obviously she had met Elzo before.

Eventually, the girl managed to pull out a small notebook and a pencil from the monstrous depths of her backpack. She pulled out a sheet of paper and began to scrawl out some sort of messy note on the inside. As she wrote, she casually answered his question.

"Yeah... I wouldn't be caught dead on Crystal's campus."

There was a pause, then a mocking tone as she spoke in a less lazy fashion: "Then I would be stuck talking like this all day long, and it really does get very annoying having to enunciate the full word."

Another small pause before she reverted back to her usual manner of speaking, laughing out a bit. "God, I'd probably hang myself if I had t'talk like that all day long. Hate that school! I'm over at Meadowview."

Her fingers finally stopped scribbling and the paper was folded into quarters. Holding the folded paper between two fingers, she then glanced over to Jesse, a slight mischievous look in her eyes. "So, Alvarez... I know we jus' met an' all, but could I bother ya fer a favor?"

If Alvarez was a fish, she'd be reeling him in right about now. With that grin of hers on her lips, she explained a little bit.

"It ain't anythin' too hard. At least, I'd imagine it wouldn't be. I'd do it myself, but I don't know the next time I'd see this jackass... and in all honesty, I really don't want t'see this jackass again, if ya get my drift."

She held out the folded paper, easily offering it to Jesse so he could take it from her. "I owe this dipsh*t somethin' fer Valentine's day, since he was so kind t'send me something." The sarcasm was hard to miss in her tone. "Jus' give this t'some guy named Elzo Xanis, then give him a big ol' punch in th'gut. It's th'least I could do fer him for a late Valentine's gift."

Ellie was not the sort to bat her eyelashes to get what she wanted. Instead, she just remained grinning. "See, ain't too hard t'do, right?"

His reaction was curious, to say the least. Yet, she didn't let it show so much that she for a moment doubted her own judgment. Second guessing oneself never did anybody any good. It was to her delight that Alvarez was being cool about the whole ordeal.

"Naw... ya don't gotta spoil me... one punch is good 'nuff!" She grinned before her eyes glanced over to Allison Lee, her expression shifting from careless joy to remotely thoughtful. Maybe other people would have been a bit surprised by the request of something in return, but she didn't seem at all stirred by his straightforward manners.

"Well, ya need any particular parts fer Allison Lee? I ain't gonna promise ya anythin' super expensive... but I could probably pull some sorta smaller part if ya need it." She shrugged a bit, momentarily thinking of how Hank would probably question her up and down as to why she was randomly getting a part that she didn't need for either the Spectrum or the Vortex.

Alvarez was apparently a businessman, and in all honesty, he earned at least 2 more respect points with the tomboy. Maybe Hank had rubbed off on her after all these years in regards to professionalism? It would make sense, since someday she aimed to have a business similar to his, just without the self imposed stress.

Ellie was a dreamer, to say the least.

Once their handshake completed their transaction, she tucked her arms up against her chest, folding one over the other. "I'd say that makes me special, but I honestly doubt that's the case. Any other Meadowviewers got balls 'nuff t'throw a punch at ya?" It was a valid point, since in her experience, most of the guys at school were pussies. There were some decent ones tossed in the mix, but she at least hadn't met too many who would be starting fights.

The mention of the infamous Rasmussen caused one of her brows to loft up a bit. "Never knew him personally... heard 'bout him and why he got suspended... that's 'bout it from me. Any particular reason?" The Hillworth boy in front of her didn't seem like the sort to bring up a subject for no reason at all, so now her interest had been piqued.

When he approached the Spectrum, the girl eased away, taking residence momentarily at the pole Alvarez had been leaning against before. Her backpack was still loosely hanging off of her shoulder, the recent contents that had been pulled out tossed back in carelessly. There was that momentary glare at his comment, but soon enough her eyes softened up when it was apparent he had been joking. However, to let him know that she didn't appreciate the comment, regardless of the intent, she flicked her middle finger up at him.

"Didn't want a paint job like every other a*****e out there, ya know?" she clarified as she pulled out that pad of paper again. The paper hadn't sunk into the depths of her backpack yet, but the pencil apparently took a bit more work to get.

"Usually, ya can find me at th'school's auto shop. M'dad's always sayin' that we pay our taxes an' crap, so why not take advantage of the 'free' access t'the tools in th'shop classes. However, I think it'd be better t'meet over at Hank's place." The pencil once more was whipped out after a bit of digging, and soon enough she was writing in that same horrible chicken scratch she had been earlier.

"Th' place belongs t'my dad's friend, Hank. I tend t'spend a lotta time there too. Ya can jus' call th'number and ask if Ellie's there. Hank doesn't mind, since it's like a second home fer me." With the proper phone number and address on the paper, she hoisted herself to standing without the assistance of a metal pole and held out the paper. "Here!"

As he got ready to leave, she made her way back to the Spectrum. Her grin softened up to a smirk, and her response to his departing words was simply "What would be th'fun in that?" In all honesty, if she tried to stay out of trouble, she never would have learned to ride a motorcycle in the first place.

She stuffed her hair back into her helmet before completely popping the protective gear back in place. Alvarez was already gone by the time her own bike was revved up. There was nothing sentimental about the whole ordeal. In similar suit, the girl made sure her backpack was all closed up, then zipped out, heading in a completely different direction.

[FIN]