* IF I LAY HERE [sandy]

[robbie]

Gale was always a friendly person. He was always smiling, even if he was upset. That wasn't very often, though. He was genuinely a very happy person. That was just who he was. Not much could get him upset, and if it did - well, then it was probably pretty bad. After his father was killed was really the only time he remembered really being upset. It just didn't happen for him. He was too cheerful. It was probably a downfall most of the time. And he always put everybody else ahead of himself. He had changed a bit though, lately. Since he met a bit different crowd of people. He wasn't ever into parties or anything, until about a month previous. He hadn't been drunk before either, but a drunk game of strip poker ending the night in sex certainly wasn't like him.

But today, however, he was meeting his best friend Sandra. It had been a while since the two of them just hung out. They where usually busy. Whether it was with school or something else. It wasn't very often he found time anymore to just sit around and do nothing with his friends. Being the leader made him busier also, but he was alright with that. He liked staying busy. It was better than having nothing to do all the time. Though his 'busy' scedual did include a lot of eating and sleeping, and of course swimming. Those where his favorite hobbies. Since the weather had been bad though, it had been hard to find a decent time to go swimming. Although, Gale didn't really care. Last time he went swimming at the lake, though, he had been rather rudely attacked by Nells cousin, Raphael.

Today was decent, however. Gale was slowly trying to overcome his fear of heights. And the tree he used to climb. When he had just started at the academy he remembered walking out on that limb jutting out into the water and jumping off it. It was terrifying. Addrenaline pumping. It was such a rush. But now, it didn't seem like that much of a rush. So today, he thought he would try climbing to a bit higher branch. There was one a few feet above the one he used to jump off. As he climbed the tree, he felt his heart pumping. The air was a little nippy, as he wasn't wearing a shirt, and was only wearing basketball shorts. He kept his eyes up, forcing himself not to look down.

That was only effective for so long though. He glanced down as he climbed and felt slightly light headed. "Almost there." He said almost weakly to himself. He climbed up the last few steps and sighed as he pulled himself out onto the branch. He started standing up, hovering for a few minutes before forcing himself to stand up. He had his arms out to his sides, and walked slowly - one step at a time across the branch, to keep his balance. It waved just slightly under his weight, and he took a deep shaky breath as he glanced down at the water. He could see how high up he was, and only waited a moment before launching himself off the branch and diving in, hands first. He was like an otter. He had many different ways he liked to dive, he just loved being in the water. He waited under the water for a moment before popping out and brushing his hair out of his eyes. He smiled when he saw somebody, a bit of water in his eyes so it was blurry. "Hey." He said, with a smile, as he started swimming towards the shore.

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[SANDRA HARU CHANG]

Between all the stuff that Sandra had to do (or avoid doing) in a day, it was definitely always nice to be able to go and waste time with some friends. Of course Sandra didn't often actually call it wasting time because that just seemed rude to her friends -- there was no such thing as wasted time so long as she spent it enjoying herself. Doing homework was a much bigger waste of Sandra's time than sleeping or chatting with her friends. Certain friends though, she was sure, would be more okay with it but it really depended on people's levels of comfort. Essentially though, she was wasting time in the sense that she wasn't doing anything productive, but hey... Hey. Building on friendships was productive, at least she thought so! Then again, she and Gale were already pretty dang close, so she didn't really know what the point of that was, but hush, Sandra just wanted to go spend time with her best friend without hearing someone's voice in her head nagging her to do something useful. For some reason the voice sounded like her brother... and for some reason this didn't surprise her at all.

She knew that the lake would still be pretty freezing cold, considering it wasn't that warm yet in May and the water was always colder than the air temperature during the day (for scientific reasons and blah blah blah that Sandra knew but didn't care much about) but she would be just fine. The water was pretty wonderful, she had to say. It was possibly just an effect of living on the coast for so much of her life -- now that she had moved in with her brother into Maple Hollow so she could go to the Academy without boarding, it was obviously much more mountainous and less coastal, but her hometown of Vancouver would always be... well, just that, her hometown. It wasn't like she exactly pined for the ocean or something ridiculous like that, but she did miss these things about her childhood. Those had been the good old days before complications, not that her life was ever very complicated even now. She had it pretty good, she'd admit. Still, there were times when she missed Vancouver and the beach, but luckily the lake and its sort of kind of beach would make a pretty good substitute for that. It was also kind of cool that they had it on the grounds, too, so it was more private. Then again there were Fires and Thunders to worry about, but Sandra wasn't overly concerned about them when there was a lake nearby for her. Water elementals did it better and all that jazz. She almost giggled aloud at her own joke but refrained as she walked outside.

With swimwear underneath her regular clothes, Sandra made a beeline for the lake. She tried to spot Gale, but it was pretty difficult... She had no idea where the heck he was. Looking around, her eyes wandered upward and she spotted a very familiar figure on a pretty high branch. Huh. Well, that was interesting. She didn't know what the heck her friend was doing climbing up to such heights, but she walked over anyway. Yeah, there was no doubt once she got a bit closer -- it was definitely Gale. Her suspicions were confirmed even further when he finally popped up out of the water after his dive. "Hey!" she called back, waving a little out to him where he was. While he was swimming she took the opportunity to wade into the water herself, leaving her things on the shore. Meh, would anyone steal any of her stuff? She doubted it. Sandra didn't have much worth stealing. "Boo!" she said once Gale resurfaced in front of her -- she used her fingers to splash a bit of water in his face. "So do you always dive in from heights of like fifty feet when you go swimming?" she asked, grinning as she gestured toward the tree.

[robbie]

Gale loved swimming, and he was so dedicated to it that even if the water was freezing he didn't care. It was the one thing that he really loved doing outdoors. Yes, he was pretty lazy, if he wasn't swimming. He did love to shop, and sometimes enjoyed riding his bike. Though since he finally got his license, it was a lot easier to get around and not have to ride his bike everywhere. Though it seemed the only place he rode his bike to was the mall. He was thankful for a fast metabolism because he really wasn't that active. That was probably why he was lean, but not very muscular. He wasn't complaining though, he still thought he was good looking. Though he did have a bit of envy for some guys - like the wind leader, Asher, for instance. He would kill to have abs like he had. But of course, he didn't work out. So.

He smiled a bit brighter as Sandy waved back. He was much more relived to see her there that Rafael. He didn't feel like having another... shocking swimming experiance again. That wasn't fun. Nor did he enjoy getting black eyes. Not on a regular basis anyways. Even if it made him look tough. He resurfaced again - this time right in front of her, and flinched a little when his face was met with a small splash. He stood up in the water - since he could now, and was in front of Sandy. At her question, he turned and looked up at the tree. "Well, not always from quite that high." He replied, turning back to her and smiling. "Getting a little higher each time." He grinned brightly at her, before walking out into the water a little bit more.

He quickly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for a tight hug. "So, I've missed you!" He said, before dropping his arms. They used to hang out all the time - but now it seemed more scarce. They both had busy schedules. Being the leader, too, made it even harder to find a lot of spare time. "What have you been up to?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her before casually falling backwards and backstroking a little ways. He was still listening to her, but he was content in the water. He had talked to her a bit, and knew a few things. Like her new boyfriend, for example, and that her and her older brother where gonna be going back to Japan for the summer. But hey, it never hurt to ask right?

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[SANDRA HARU CHANG]

She just laughed when he flinched. "Too easy," she sang. It really was easy. She wasn't even so much of a prankster, despite being a Water -- that kind of thing wasn't for all of them! In Sandra's case, she really just wasn't sneaky enough for it... and it felt so mean sometimes, the things that her fellow Water elementals did, but she was pretty alright with it when it was harmless. This wasn't even a prank, nope. "Soon you'll be jumping from impossible heights, you know," she said, laughing a little and looking back over at the tree. She couldn't tell now which branch he'd jumped from, considering branches all looked the same to her... and it was a pretty huge tree. "And then one day you'll be leaping off the CN Tower into a pool of water below and then you'll be world famous and I'm going to have to pay to buy a ticket to see you diving," she rambled on with a giggle. Sandra's mind went weird places, but hey, everything was possible -- alright, except maybe diving off of the CN Tower because that stuff was actually having to do with boring laws of physics and the like, but close enough.

He headed back out a little further into the water and she followed, not hesitating in hugging him back despite how sudden it was. "I missed you too!" she said once they'd both withdrawn. Sandra really had missed him. She didn't think it'd actually been that long, but time spent away from the people she liked always felt to drag on for ages. It wasn't like she didn't have other things to do or people to talk to, of course not, but everyone was special, and Gale was her best friend! It had definitely been too long since they'd gotten to hang out, just the two of them. Both of them had just had other things to keep occupied with lately. "Seriously, it's been way too long... but me? Not much!" Well, there were things, but she was sure she'd mentioned them before already, and it was nothing she felt the burgeoning need to bring up again. "Just hanging out, I guess. Trying to avoid studying, but Matt keeps nagging me." Even with the end of this half of the year coming up, Sandra wasn't too pressed to study for... anything. "What about you though, what's new?" she asked, giggling as he swam off slowly -- she followed without complaint.

[robbie]

Gale was a major prankster when he was younger. It had been dwindling as he got older, but that didn't mean he still wasn't into pranking people when the chance came around. He mostly liked to pull pranks on the fire students. Like turning on the sprinklers when they walked through the lawns. Or 'accidently' making pipes explode in the bathroom. Or better ones, like... well, he was sure there where better ones out there. Probably ones he had done once or twice, too. He was the king prankster last year. "Nah, I don't think the heights will get too impossible." He laughed a little bit, his long ish bangs sticking to his forehead a little. "Hey! Not a bad plan. I wouldn't mind being a professional diver. I mean, those guys are sexy." He said, laughing a little more genuine this time and rolling his eyes. "And you wouldn't have to buy a ticket! You're my best friend - you would definitely get in for free to see my world famous dive off the CN Tower."

Yeah, he was a dreamer. He would certainly not be jumping off any tower any time soon. While he was slowly getting over his fear of heights, it seemed to only fully go away when he was drunk. But hell, when he was drunk he just turned into a dare devil. He would do just about anything. Or anyone, for that matter. It was like a whole nother person replaced him. "Well good!" He said, laughing a little before releasing her. They really hadn't spent much time together lately. When they where younger they seemed to spend every waking moment together. But everything seems different than it was when I was younger. Gale thought, before mentally shaking his head. Sometimes thoughts popped up that he didn't want to be there. "Let's not go this long without hanging out again. Deal?" He said, raising an eyebrow at her. "Ew. Studying." He said, wrinkling his nose up a bit in disgust. Even though he had great grades, he hated studying. Hell, who didn't? "Nobody should have to study. We should all have photographic memories." That would make life so much easier, or so he thought. "Really? Not a whole lot. But I'm a boring person. You know that." He said, laughing a little as he continued to back stroke. He had done stuff, but he didn't really want to tell Sandy all about his drunken escapades. "Just, you know, normal Gale stuff."

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[SANDRA HARU CHANG]

Sandra giggled. "You make it sound like the heights will just get, like... a little impossible." There was only one level of impossible, after all -- the level of not being possible, and that was just what it was. "Yeah, I don't think being a professional diver would be so bad," she agreed, smiling. She didn't know much about diving (or really any kind of professional sport) but it was probably pretty awesome. She couldn't think of any other reasons for people to pursue something that took so long and cost them so much effort and energy and... Really, Sandra was just an overall lazy person. She'd probably stick with the whole school thing just because it was... easy -- no professional sports in her future. Well, she also heard college was much different, but she'd survive she was sure. It wasn't like she was incapable of doing things. "Good! Man, the bouncers there are going to love me. Do I get VIP tickets?" She wasn't sure what VIP tickets would entail for something like a dive off a huge tower, but this was all in jest anyway.

It definitely wasn't fun at all when she didn't get to spend as much time as she'd like with her friends. Friends like Gale were pretty important to Sandra -- they'd been friends since starting at the Academy way back in ninth grade. Things had been so different back then, but some things never really changed. Many other things also had, though, so it was never easy to just pick and tell. "Deal," she agreed without argument. Then she sighed. "I don't even know why it's been so long, it's stupid! I'm sorry." Friendships were a two-way street so it wasn't like it was entirely her fault, but she was sure she could take at least part of the blame. She'd been kind of distracted as of late. "A photographic memory would be the best! To just skim through these textbooks and know the whole course from beginning to end..." She was sure it'd be more useful for some classes than others, but it'd cut down on studying by a huge margin. Then again... Sandra didn't actually study anyway, so maybe there was no point. "But what's normal Gale stuff?" she asked with a little giggle, falling into place and backstroking along beside him.

[robbie]

Gale laughed. "Well, maybe. I guess it depends on how drunk I get." He joked. He was more fearless when he had alcohol in him. But Sandra probably thought it was all a joke - He was pretty sure he hadn't told her about all his drunken excursions lately. Probably best if she didn't know, too. She would probably get concerned and he couldn't do that to his friend. Not to her, anyways. Unless she heard it through the grapevine somewhere. "Nah, and they get all the ladies, too." He said, smirking a little to himself. Most divers where hot. Or at least hot in the sense that he was outrageously jealous and wish he had a divers body. He knew he wasn't too bad looking, but he certainly didn't have a divers body. "Well of course you do! Can't think of anybody else I'd give VIP tickets too." He smiled a little, and brushed his figners through his hair. Yeah, he really needed to cut it soon.

Things really had changed a lot since back when he and Sandra had first met. At least he thought they had. It wasn't bad changes, though, for the most part. Way back then Gale was fairly timid, not as outgoing. Now he liked to think that he knew just about everybody. He was super friendly and got along with just about everyone now. Being the leader, he kind of had to. He liked to get to know everybody in his element - just to be friendly. He wanted people to feel comfortable coming to him. He did only have one semester left of being the leader though - and the thought was crossing his mind frequently. College was going to be so different. "It's not all your fault, San. We've both been busy." He said, waving his hand through the air to dismiss it. Though he had a feeling most of her business had to do with Devin - but he wasn't going to say that. Not outloud anyways. But nobody could keep his thoughts from him. "Oh I agree. Would make life just that much easier. Wouldn't have to actually remember things." He snorted and rolled his eyes a little bit, still backstroking a little across the lake. "Oh you know. Swimming, eating, partying, eating... the works." He hadn't ever been much of a party boy, but as of late all that seemed to be changing, so he felt it was okay to put it on the agenda.

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[SANDRA HARU CHANG]

Sandra just laughed -- she didn't really know if it was a joke or not, but it didn't really matter either way when it was said in good fun. She didn't think it really mattered to her personally what her friends did, so long as they didn't wind up doing anything really, really stupid. Whatever drunken escapades Gale had or hadn't been involved wtih recently, she wasn't about to hold it against him either way. "Just don't do anything to hurt yourself, okay?" she asked, the smile on her face light and happy. She didn't really think Gale was dumb enough to do anything dangerous... or would he? No, Sandra believed the best of her friends. "Mhm, ladies swooning all over the place. And then you'll be super popular diver dude!" She giggled. "Pfft, I'm sure there's plenty of people. But I'm glad! I'd be sad if I couldn't get in to see you do something that epic." What else were friends for if not to support one another in their daring dives off of enormous record-breaking towers? Heh, she knew it would never happen, but Gale really was a pretty decent diver (and swimmer) so she was sure that he could do most anything he put his mind to.

She sighed a little at the thought of being busy. They really had been -- most everyone was these days. There were exams coming up and that meant homework, final projects, and studying for stupid tests. When she tossed in everything else in life, she knew that she admittedly still had pretty little on her plate compared to other people, but it was still a busy time. "Everyone's too busy," she said with a sigh, unaware of Gale's real thoughts on the matter. "It's so dumb! Why does school exist? And and and... work and stuff." She scrunched up her nose and frowned. Sandra didn't have a job, not yet anyway (not that she was actively searching...) but many of her friends did work part-time. "Exactly! Or like you would, but it'd be so easy to remember things," she said, laughing a little. "And then school would be a cinch and you'd never have to worry about anything." Knowing and understanding were different things completely, though. She did imagine that in the long run, it wouldn't help quite as much as it did during an exam when she needed to remember quotes or diagrams or other such important facts. Then again, she had no idea what it was like to have an actual photographic memory. "You forgot eating," she teased. "But that's cool! Having fun, eh?"