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 Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 8:35 pm
Of course he volunteered! Well, it was mostly at the shelter, but he did go to the soup kitchens during the holiday season, and then he donated blood whenever the opportunity arose. It wasn't like he was trying to be a goody two shoes necessarily... he just liked thinking that he could actually make a difference with a little kindness. He realized that it probably didn't actually make a difference in the grand scheme of things, but making one person or one animal happy at a time was enough for him.
Christopher frowned sympathetically when Paris told him about his fish, feeling guilty for having brought it up. Well, crap... he just wasn't asking many good questions, was he...?
"I'm sorry to hear that," he said softly, knowing it was only a fish, but still. A pet was a pet was a pet. She still must have taken care of it, cleaned its bowl, fed it, watched it swim... It was just sad to think of someone losing a pet, regardless of what it was.
"I used to have a golden retriever, Eleonora... Well, she was my brother's, but she passed away several years ago. So yeah, Annabel is my only dog," he explained as a familiar pain in his chest grew for a few moments before fading again. He loved that dog, so yeah, it was still painful sometimes. But it was all in the past now, and there was no point in dwelling on things that can't be changed.
"Are you... at Crystal on a scholarship...?" he asked, cautious but unable to fight the curiosity. What?? She'd told him she went to Crystal, and now she was saying that she didn't have enough money for a pet...? Unless her parents were expecting to get some pure bred animal and spending lots of money, but that was kind of ridiculous when there were plenty of animals at shelters, and they always had half off days, or even buy one get one days...
Hmm... Maybe it was just one more thing he shouldn't be asking...
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Posted: Sun May 15, 2011 9:58 am
Paris pet Annabel for a little longer before she seemed satisfied and went back to her water. He continued to consider the prospect of having his own pet, but decided that with the state his life was in right now, it would be irresponsible of him to do so. He wasn't the most responsible individual on the planet, of course, but where animals were involved he could at least care a little more, and he wasn't sure if that was sad -- that he couldn't put that sort of care into other people -- or cruel.
Then again, he'd never claimed he wasn't selfish. He'd never claimed to be decent or sympathetic either. He had one good friend and the rest were just acquaintances -- people he'd grown up around and therefore felt some level of comfort with, people who'd attended the same school and had established some sort of camaraderie with him. He didn't know how to care about any other person aside from himself, and he wasn't sure he wanted to.
He smiled sadly at Chris's little story about his last dog. He'd had a normal life, then, hadn't he? He had two parents in one home, and at least one sibling, and dogs and who knew how many other pets, and he went to a nice school and had nice clothes that he probably hadn't found at a thrift store or the Good Will. He was probably universally adored in his neighborhood for being kind and generous, and had plenty of friends, and he probably didn't have to worry about being a part of a group everyone thought was a terrorist organization.
Paris was forced out of his thoughts as the questions returned to him, momentarily confused before he remembered he'd told Chris at the party that he went to Crystal. "Oh, yeah. A dance scholarship," he lied, though it wouldn't be a hard one to hold up. He could dance well enough to get one, and he'd been inside Crystal before. He'd never thought that night he'd snuck in with Ladon would actually be of use, but it'd be helpful in keeping up the act.
Which made him wonder why he was even bothering to pretend. He didn't have much of a reason to at the moment, though the thought that Chris seemed to have absolutely no idea was somewhat amusing.
"I don't really like it there," he said. Judging by Chris's reaction when he'd first mentioned Crystal, he didn't think Chris liked it very much either, though he didn't know why. "Too many of the same type of girl. They think because they're pretty and they have money they can walk all over you, like being rich and beautiful gives them some sort of right or privilege over less fortunate people."
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 1:00 pm
Yes, he'd had a pretty good life. There wasn't much to really hurt him except for the fact that his father was away for work all the time, but it wasn't as though they didn't get along with what they had. As for people adoring him... well, it all depended on what kind of people they were... There were a good handful that weren't all that fond of him, though any hostilities start from their side, not his.
"Oh really? Wow..." Chris said, impressed with her now that he found out she was actually on a scholarship. Well, now he felt like a real jerk for thinking she was some rich daddy's girl with countless credit cards and huge closets and... probably lived in his neighborhood.
"That's awesome... I'm on scholarship too, for DCU," he shared, kind of happy to have something in common with her. "Baseball scholarship..." he added, wanting her to know that they were both in school for some kind of athletic activity. Not that his grades were bad, of course, but it was still something nice to share, he thought.
"How many years do you have left?" he wondered, concerned for her when she said she didn't like it at her school. He knew how that felt, of course... He hadn't exactly been all that excited to be in high school, either. People there were mean and only thought of themselves. "You'll be done with it soon, at least..." he said, hoping to reassure her. No, he didn't like high school, and he especially didn't like Crystal for the kinds of girls in there, but... Talking to Paris had him realizing that he was wrong about some things. He didn't think he would meet a Crystal girl like her. Not that he knew much about her, but enough to know he liked talking to her.
"So... why the mental health day...?" he asked, cautious of bringing up more things that shouldn't be brought up.
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 2:51 pm
Baseball explained the body. Paris eyed Chris and didn't bother to hide his interest. Most of the guys he spent his time with were those of the less fortunate variety -- drunks, the occasional druggy, punks trying to escape from broken homes and dangerous streets. Occasionally some of them made it out -- the future dentist acquaintance that had taken him to the party in which he and Chris had met was one of them -- but only so many could be that lucky. Still, Paris felt a sort of kinship with them; home was home, and most of his neighbors had been around his entire life.
He'd befriended one good boy, also from a broken home, but at least that home had been comfortable. He got a similar feeling from Chris, a safe feeling, though he knew how dangerous getting close to people could be. Chris seemed harmless -- kind, generous, a model citizen. He took care of animals, made good grades, played baseball -- the all-American guy going to a nice school because he played the American past-time well enough to get a scholarship. Paris looked into his face, as handsome and open as it was, and thought that he should be disgusted by Chris's good fortune, or angry and jealous that he didn't have it for himself.
But he wasn't. He didn't have the energy to be jealous over some nice guy's normal life. He only felt sad.
"I have one year left," he said. Making things up was easy to do when he could add a little truth to it. "Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it. I'm just going to dance. I don't have to go to school for that. I'm good enough," he told him, seeing no need to be modest. He asked himself that all the time: what was holding him back?
"The mental health day is for my sanity," he quipped, his mouth twisting up into another little smile. "If I stay there any longer, I'll go crazy. Girls are scary when they're crazy, aren't they?" It was so easy to pretend, and almost a relief; sometimes he got tired of being who he was. "What about you? Any finals today you should be studying for?"
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Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 11:58 am
Baseball explained the body? His body?? Er, alright...? He wasn't a body builder or anything like that. Just a pitcher. Well, he worked out for baseball season, and throughout the year to keep in shape, but it wasn't anything more than that.
Chris took another bite from his bagel as he listened to Paris talk about how she didn't know if going to school was worth it. He frowned lightly, shaking his head at her, hoping she wouldn't do something as stupid as drop out, or whatever she was planning on doing. "You don't want to do that," he said, hoping to convince her, but not knowing how well he would manage to do that. "You should at least graduate from high school, and then you can do whatever you want. It'll be easier in the long run. If something happens and you don't end up dancing, you can at least get a job somewhere else," he explained, not knowing if what he was saying was good enough to get her to want to stay in school or not.
If something happened to him... if something happened to prevent him from playing baseball... he would want something as a backup... Which was why he was going to school for architecture. Sure, he would love to play baseball all day, every day, but he also knew that there was a chance something would happen and he wouldn't be able to do that. Instead, he was going to back up his ideal plan with something else he loved doing.
"Do you have any other classes you like...? Something you could maybe get a degree in...?" he wondered, wanting to maybe get her thinking about possibilities other than dancing. Not that there was anything wrong with dancing! He just wanted her to be prepared.
He nodded in response to her questions, sipping at his juice for a few moments before responding. "Yeah, I have a psychology exam coming up, and a drafting project to finish," he told her, choosing not to comment on the crazy girls...
Yeah... he knew a few crazy girls who went to Crystal... Not fun at all...
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Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 12:41 pm
"Yeah, I hear that from everyone," he said, not too happy to be getting a lecture from Chris, though at least he was saying it nicely. That didn't mean Paris agreed with it, or that he was going to listen. In fact, most of it went in one ear and out the other, just as it always did when someone tried to convince him that staying in school was the best option. Maybe it was for some people, but for others... not so much. He'd never been very intellectually inclined, even when he'd been younger.
"Not very many other classes I like, no," he replied, looking down at his iced water and twisting the cup around on the table. "I'm not the learning type, I guess. I'd rather be out doing things and seeing places, not sitting around discussing the greater meaning behind a poem or dissecting frogs or whatever. It's all pretty pointless if you ask me. If I can't dance, I'll find something else to do, but I doubt what I'm learning in high school will be worth anything anyway if that happens."
Paris could feel his mood worsening by the second. He needed to get off this topic before he made himself seem like some punk dropout with no hope for a decent future. He didn't see how it was any of Chris's business anyway, considering how little they knew of one another, and there were far better things for them to discuss that didn't have the potential for sour moods or a lack of interest in one another. He wanted to at least seem like he was worth Chris's time.
He glanced back up at him once he'd found his smile again. "Besides, even if I didn't make it on stage doesn't mean I wouldn't be able to teach other people how to dance. Maybe I'll open my own studio and hold classes for underprivileged kids. They deserve a shot as much as anyone else. You never know. I could end up doing plenty of good for people."
He remembered having somewhat of a similar conversation with Ladon before -- what he would do with his future. It hadn't been nearly as frustrating as his mother or dance instructor harping at him about going to college; he hadn't felt like he had to be ambitious or impressive. He wanted to dance, period. He knew that he could, he knew that he had the potential to be great, but that didn't mean he would ever have the opportunity. Chris was at least right about that. Paris was alternatively hopeful and pessimistic about his chances, and the effort it would take to get there. But he could make use of his talents in other ways, and now that he thought about it, that didn't seem like such a horrible idea. Not his first choice, but it had potential.
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Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 10:33 pm
Chris blinked at her, immediately feeling guilty for repeating something she'd heard plenty of times before, and therefore probably made her even less inclined to think about it. Well, crap... that hadn't been his intention at all. He just wanted to make sure she knew there were other options available to her, and that finishing school would probably make things a lot easier for her in the future. But if that was something she really didn't want to do, then who was he to tell her otherwise?
"That would be amazing if you did that, you know," he said, looking up at her from poking at what was left of his bagel. "A dance studio for underprivileged kids...?" he repeated, deciding that he really liked the sound of that. Then again, he happened to like anything that dealt with helping others, humans and animals and the environment alike.
He... hadn't been expecting a comment like that from her. Actually, he didn't expect a comment like that from a lot of people. He hadn't really thought of her that much after they parted ways at the party last week, but now he was wondering if he should have paid more attention. She wasn't your average girl, after all. Sure, he knew many really amazing, talented girls. Girls who danced, girls who volunteered, girls who went out of their way to help others. They were great, and he was happy to know them... Which only made him want to know Paris more.
A clock tower from a nearby church tolled the hours, causing Christopher to glance up, frowning at how quickly time seemed to pass by. "I should get going," he said, regrettably, knowing he needed to get back to his apartment and get Annabel situated before running off to class again. "It was nice running into you again, Paris," he smiled, starting to clean up his things from the table.
Maybe they would run into each other again...
That was the thought in the back of his mind... Just a passing hope that they might cross paths in such a big city, even after knowing that they went to different schools and had different interests... And it made him feel kind of empty, knowing that the possibility of them running into each other again would be very low, especially after running into her just a week after them meeting...
"Would you like to have lunch with me sometime?" he suddenly asked, gold meeting her turquoise. Chris wasn't usually surprised about a lot of things, but he ended up surprising himself with this one. When was the last time he'd asked someone out, even for just a lunch date...? Oh, right... his ex... Maybe this meant he was finally getting over her...? Wow, that's kind of pathetic, but... it's progress...
"I mean, only if you want to," he quickly explained, "Or even coffee, if you would prefer that."
She was pretty... she was different... she had great dancer legs... boobs, not so much, but he could over look that for her amazing legs... And... there was something about her that caught his interest. Besides, it would have been weird if he'd just asked for her number for them to be friends.
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Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 11:02 pm
Paris shrugged in response to Chris's amazement. The only thing that made his suggestion amazing was the fact that so few people did things like that, otherwise his idea wouldn't have garnered such notice or praise. He happened to think opportunities like that should be presented to people more often, but then money made the world go round. He knew that even if he didn't have much; in fact, he thought that meant he knew it even better.
He began to collect his things as Chris made to get ready to leave, not quite disappointed by his eminent departure, but not looking forward to being on his own again either. He was making sure he had everything in his bag when Chris... asked him out? Paris glanced up in surprise, hardly able to believe that he'd actually heard him right.
"Are you serious?" he asked.
It only took him a few moments to realize how that could potentially sound. He hadn't meant it to sound as if he were shocked -- and perhaps even disturbed -- that Chris would ask him out; he hadn't meant it to sound as if he didn't want Chris to ask him out either. In all honesty, he wasn't sure what he wanted. He couldn't say he had any particular liking for the young man seated across from him. Chris was handsome, so Paris was interested in him enough, and he was different than most of the guys he went out with -- though he did things with them that he doubted Chris had in mind -- but they didn't really know one another, so saying he liked him would be a bit of a stretch.
But he was intrigued by him. He didn't mind talking to him. There was something about Chris that made talking seem easy, even if he sensed the potential for judgment should he let Chris in to certain aspects of his life. Their time together at the party had been fun, and chatting now had been... relaxing... in a way.
But considering they hadn't been in any rush to see one another again last time, he hadn't expected Chris to make the effort this time, and so he was unable to contain his surprise. That, and when was the last time anyone had asked him out to lunch? Usually it was a club or some seedy bar, not coffee or sandwiches or whatever Chris had in mind.
Regardless, he was quick to cover up his error. "I didn't mean it like that. Sorry, that came out wrong," he said, attempting to explain himself. "I don't usually get asked out like this by guys, so... this is kind of strange. That's not to say I've never gone out with anyone. I mean, I have, but not for-"
He cut himself off, realizing that he was rambling, and not in the way he normally did. Usually he at least knew what he was rambling about, and even sometimes used it to put of or avoid particularly difficult subjects; this time the words were coming out before he even had much chance to think about them. He took a breath to relax and center himself, and decided that thinking about this right here, right now was not going to be the best option. He needed to make the decision now and think about it later, otherwise they could be here for quite a while.
"You know what? Yes," he said. "I'll have lunch with you some time. Do you have a phone? I can give you my number so we can figure out where and when later. Unless you already have a place and time in mind..."
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Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 11:28 pm
Oh damn... he hadn't been expecting her to react like that. Maybe it was too soon? Yeah, probably too soon.
Chris shook his head at her apology, about to tell her that it was okay if she didn't want to go out with him — he was just trying to figure out a way for them to run into each other again, and not wait for chance, especially if their luck was used up. Er, or maybe he was just speaking for himself. Maybe he was the only one of the two who kind of wanted to see the other again...? Ouch...
But when she started rambling and then finally agreed to go with him, he blinked at her, lightly biting his lip as he reached into his pocket to pull out his phone for her.
"Sorry," he said, feeling rather sheepish after expecting her to refuse him. He wouldn't have been heart broken! His ego just might have been damaged. Okay, his ego would have definitely been damaged, and probably by a lot. "I didn't mean to startle you or... make things strange..." he explained, repeating her words, his brows furrowed lightly in bemusement since he wasn't really sure what he was doing to make things strange, but apparently he was. How the hell did guys usually ask her out?? She wasn't into girls, was she? He'd kind of assumed that she wasn't seeing as she had been flirting with him at the party, and had gone with a date, but... maybe that was all for show?
"Well... I'm free on Saturday around eleven to three, if you're available then," he suggested. He would have offered a time during the week, but he didn't want to encourage her to take even more mental health days. "Here, did you want to put it in...?" he asked, holding the phone out for her to take.
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Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 11:44 pm
He certainly wouldn't mind running in to Chris again; he hadn't minded this time, so a third encounter would definitely be acceptable. He merely hadn't been expecting Chris to take things into his own hands and arrange for that to happen, though he knew leaving it up to chance probably wouldn't have brought about the desired results. There was no way he could be so lucky.
"As much as it's the obvious thing to do, I'm going to have to say 'that's what she said," Paris responded with a small but wicked grin, reaching out to take Chris's phone. "Or 'he,' depending on what you're into."
It didn't take him long to get into Chris's contact list, typing his name -- complete with an added "<3" beside it -- and then his number before saving it and handing it back. "Saturday's fine. I've been spending most of my weekends at the studio recently, but I don't have any classes or lessons on Saturday or Sunday so I don't really have to be there. Just call me or text me if you figure out where you want to go. I can meet you there."
This was... "odd" was really the only word he could think to describe it. It wasn't that he'd never in his life gone out to eat with anyone, he just knew that Chris wasn't asking to get anything from him except his company -- and in nothing more than a platonic fashion, most likely. He would just have to do this like he would if he were going out with a friend.
"So... I'll see you then?" he said, not quite a question but not a normal statement either. He stood up now that it seemed as if they were done, throwing his cup of water into a nearby trashcan and leaning over to pet Annabel one more time as he shouldered his back.
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Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 12:09 am
Chris wasn't really of the mind that fate favored him all that much, so when he didn't want to leave things up to chance, he was going to take a situation into his own hands. Granted, it had been a while that he'd actually asked anyone out, so he was still a little surprised with himself.
He blinked and then snorted at the joke, having had to take a moment to realize that he'd set himself up for that. "That was completely unintentional," he tried to convince her as he squatted down to be able to pick up Annabel's water bowl and untie her from the table, standing back up once he had the bowl in his hand so he could dump out what was left of the water and stick it back into his back pack.
"Sure, I'll give you a call... probably tomorrow afternoon," he said, running through his schedule in his head. That would give him enough time to look up a place for them to go and then for him to call in for reservations if necessary. He hoped she didn't expect to be taken out to a fast food place, because that would just be sad on his part.
He took back the phone once she was done with it, making sure the screen was locked before tucking it back into his pocket. "That sounds good to me. Thanks for keeping me company, Paris... I hope you have a good rest of the day," he told her as he collected his trash and bottle of juice to carry with him.
There. Now he could tell his older brother that he wasn't a pathetic loser who was "scared of asking out girls" or whatever it was his brother thought of him. Not that he'd asked her out for that reason, but still...
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