cold as ice*[MORGAN]

[JUSTIN DANIEL DUVAL]

WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO

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uh-oh when shes so damn cold like twenty below[/center]

Despite the bitter awful cold that it brought, he had to admit that snow made most area look beautiful. One of the worse times of the year was the slight little break between fall and winter. Most people didn’t believe there was a break, but Justin noticed there was a period where all the leaves had fallen from the trees, but snow had not yet piled itself on the ground. The ground was usually covered in crumpled leaves or at some attempt to clean up. The grass had been cold enough to shrivel up dead and brown all over the place. It was terrible. Then there was a blanket of snow that covered all that ugliness and replenished it to its beauty in the spring. Now that snow was covering the ground in the wonderful world of the holidays, there were less people out on the academy grounds. More people were trying to avoid having to walk outside. It was much easier to stay somewhere where it was warm as opposed to snuggle up in gloves and a coat, which was exactly what Justin was in. Just because he wasn’t gay didn’t mean he wasn’t allowed to dress nice.

He had a long brown jacket that wouldn’t even be considered a coat to most people. To him- this was a coat. Some smartass asked him if he was going to go on an interview that day. It must have been the darker pants because his look was entirely casual. His hair was even up and everywhere in a mess- more so than usual. Most of the time, he kept it clean, but he was going for a messier look. Apparently it wasn’t really working with the reviews he had gotten. Although, he supposed half of what he got was from those high school kids. That was the only problem with this academy. All of the college students and high school students were within a building. Or uh- castle. All the classrooms were separate- thank God- but they shared the same mess hall, washrooms, grounds, dorms, library and stage. There were a couple of them that he liked. The rest of them tended to be an annoying little bunch. But what was he to judge?

He wasn’t completely alone out in the academy grounds, however. There were a couple of people still wandering around and not giving a shit or two about the wonderful weather outside. He spotted a couple using each other to keep themselves warm. Another couple completely fine but still having the obligation to hold each other’s hand. In the far distance, there were two people cuddled under one of the snow covered trees. Justin was waiting for the moment when all the snow toppled on them, but unfortunately, it never came. With a sudden realization, he looked around and wondered simply why was he surrounding by couples? He supposed that most people had the naïve idea in mind that they were going to fall in love, grow up to get married, and never have any problems. The entire purpose of it was for the experience. Watching others get so emotionally close really bothered him. He wasn’t even quite sure why. Perhaps a small prickle of jealousy was wandering through him. Not for the relationship. Just having something he didn’t.

There didn’t mean to be such an exaggeration of course- as there were a few single people. He spotted the couple of single people but none of which he had any desire to talk to. Those not so many years ago, he was once a nerd. It wouldn’t’ have helped him if someone like current Justin went and tried to talk to them. They just had to figure it out on their own, the poor souls. Justin suppressed a yawn, discovering that people watching that day wasn’t as fun as he thought it was going to be. Then there was a question as to why Justin was outside himself. He was actually on his way to the library. Yes, the man read. It was an amazing concept whenever he walked into the double doors to a room full of books, but yes. Some of the habits of being a nerd seem to stick with him. Although, he didn’t read everything in front of his face. He was rather picky, but man, once he found one.

Much like he treated most other things in his life. Picky Justin. If the man had a choice, he was going to make the proper choice as far as he was concerned. He bit his bottom lip, ducking his head so that his nose was more in his coat and chest and less outside of the frost bitten air. If this day had any wind, it would be more than freezing. Not too surprisingly, Justin wouldn’t have minded the wind. It made him feel more at home. More nature with all of it. Wind was throughout all of the seasons. Seasons like this were favored by water because of the ice. He suspected that fire had to go through last resort to get outside. Glancing back up to see where he was going, he looked to see that he about ran into someone. At the last minute, he made a full stop and mused lightly, ”Looked just in time.” Before looking to see face-to-face who it was. If it was a couple, Justin felt like he might bash his head against the wall when he reached his destination.

THAT GIRL SHES SUCH A BITCH

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i tell myself i can handle it[/font]
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[MORGAN JANE FARREN]

welcome to the new age

Silence is a perfect thing. It is unbroken, and unquestioning. Some saw silence as uncomfortable, as distinctly foreign. Some even associated it with some misplaced sense of danger. This was ridiculous of course. There was nothing safer than silence. Silence couldn't argue, couldn't scream or shout or do any of those annoying things. And Silence couldn't accuse you, bring to light all the things you knew you had done wrong. Silence is perfect, because Silence is nothing at all. It is solitude, it is secrecy, yet it is nothing. And perhaps, that was why Morgan found it so appealing, why she found herself almost constantly in search of it. How could anyone not desire the simple pleasure of silence? There were those that felt the constant need to speak, to be heard, and to hear others.

The way she saw it, if one embraced silence - there was so much more to hear, to see, to learn. Noise encased the ignorant in a narrow-minded world. Then again, perhaps all of this was simply a rationale. Maybe all of this was Morgan's way of saying to herself "I dislike the rambunctious noise of city life". But did it really matter? A preference was a preference, and simply put - nothing more. An identity was really made up of preferences, of preferences and history and weaknesses. Some might add strength to that list, but Morgan never did. Strengths were really just what remained when your weaknesses were taken away. And did a strength even really form someone? Or did their weaknesses? Were we defined by what we could do, or what we had failed to do? She had always believed it to be the latter option.

The young woman in question raised her head. She had been making her way down one of the many twisting pathways of the Academy, making her winding way back from the Library and back home where her family and daughter waited for her return. She moved quickly, having little desire to attract any attention. She was small by nature, almost unusually so, though it had never truly bothered her. Some assumed that simply because of her size, she was an easy target. But those who assumed such a thing knew nothing – at least nothing of her. For they failed to account for her unusual talent. Morgan smiled, her confidence rising just a bit as a stray breeze tugged at her loose hair. She was weak, yes, but powerful all at the same time. Morgan was anything but blind to her own faults. But that didn't keep her from passing judgment on others, as she assumed they passed judgment on her. It was natural, instinctual in every way. Life was a selfish thing, focused on survival and the betterment on one's self. Morgan ran a hand through her hair as she walked. She had no intention of stopping until safely inside her door.

It wasn’t that she disliked a specific person. It wasn’t even that she was avoiding any person – or kind of person – in particular. See the thing with Morgan was simple – she didn’t like people at all, as a species. She found them distasteful, generally ignorant and worthless. They were self-centered imperfect creatures. She didn’t deny this about herself. As she had admitted, she had many horrid faults, as did everyone else. But while most looked past the faults, or pretended they didn’t exist in the first place, Morgan stared them straight in the eye. Perhaps this was the source of her troubles, she spent too long staring at her own misdeeds. There had surely been a time when she had been different. She had been more optimistic, more willing to turn the proverbial blind eye. She had been a fool then, a young girl untempered by experience and the grand mistakes once could make. She’d turned a blind eye in the question of a young Thunder boy, ignored his flighty tendencies – his superficiality. And bam, she’d ended up a single mother of his bastard child. She would never regret Emmaline, she loved the little girl more than anything else in her life. But she would have appreciated the support – would have appreciated even a single word from his lips being honest.

She clenched her jaw, gritting her teeth. She’d long since gotten over the entire situation. She saw the man occasionally. As far as he knew, she’d aborted the pregnancy. And that was all he would ever know. As far as she was concerned, he was nothing to Emmaline – and nothing to her. She didn’t pine for him, didn’t wish for some reconciliation. For a long time she had. She’d dreamed of it. But not anymore. She was three years older, wiser. She’d learned people were horrible imperfect vindictive selfish violent creatures. All but a few precious individuals. She’d come back to the Academy less pleasant than a wet cat, claws and all. Friends she had once had learned to give her space. And now she went her own way. And contrary to popular belief, she preferred it that way. After all, she had her sister, her parents, her daughter. Hell, she even had Nell. All one needed was a single friend, right?

She stopped suddenly when something – or someone – barreled into her. She stumbled backwards a few steps, fury already forming on her face. Her hair framed her face, her angry eyes narrowed. It was a man, similar in age to herself. The idiot had this stupid surprised expression on his face, utterly idiotic. Her teeth clenched. She had a particular dislike of being touched. “Here’s an idea, try watching where you’re going asshole!” She was already gathering her coat around herself, preparing to march angrily away. That tea was sounding better and better, and she didn’t intend to linger around out in the open.

[JUSTIN DANIEL DUVAL]

WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO

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uh-oh when shes so damn cold like twenty below[/center]

Now that was at a proper spot, he was able to really look at the person he just about toppled over. It wasn’t even snowing heavily. It amazed him how he could get so into thought that he saw everything but wasn’t paying attention to anything. It was a good thing he never did this on the road or he would be hitting everything. There was a recent study that showed daydreamers were some of the most critical thinkers. Justin liked to think this was true although he had his doubts on the matter. Some daydreamers were just so far up in the clouds they couldn’t pay attention. Perhaps the other person was quite similar to this. Or thought perhaps Justin would actually move for them. Either way, it made Justin softly chuckle to himself. He dug his hands deeper into his pockets for extra warmth, but when he saw the face of whoever it was, his heart just about stopped.

Justin knew many beautiful women. Actually- underestimate- he knew too many. He tended to be a little bias and gravitate toward beautiful people. It was a nasty little habit of his that he tried not to change. Why should he? If he could get away with it, he was going to. The woman in front of him now had to be among the top. She was just… gorgeous. Not hot, not sexy. No. If he thought a woman like that, he considered it an insult. Her distinctive features, even with a clenched jaw, shown out. Justin had to sit and look for a couple of minutes, almost as if he were surprised this was even happening to him. Despite all of this, she looked… mad. Upset. Justin assumed that it was the natural frown she had to her face- as many beautiful women he knew had that. It just seemed to be a common trait. It usually made a whole different person when they smiled.

However, this woman did not smile at him. On the contrary, she snapped, seeing as she really did stumble back a few steps. Oh, ouch. Justin find that he was indeed an asshole, but ouch. Still, think that someone like Justin was just going to stand there and frown all hurt? Of course not. If he did that, too many opportunities he could have had would have been lost and out of his grasp. Instead, he had to take the opportunity and fight back. Now it seemed like a small determination. To do what, he did not yet know, but he was going to figure out this puzzle in his head by the end of this meeting. She could easily try to stop away, but let’s face it- Justin’s longer legs would suit to his advantage. She’ll have to get a giant cattle prod in order to push him away properly. ”Hey now, this is… quite literally a two way street.” His voice barely audible through the air, as it usually was. His voice was always soft and had a sort of soothing melodic rhythm to it. It hardly ever changed. Even times of great emotion, he tried to keep it together.

Those lucky enough had both common sense smarts and book smarts. For Justin, he was pretty much almost all book smart. There was some common sense that he had to gain through experience, but as far as natural what was normal, he didn’t know any of it. Anyone else wouldn’t have even responded, and if they had, it would have been as icy and fiery as her comment towards him. However, it seemed that Justin had a different mindset. If she continued to put him off, perhaps he would get the sense to back off. What would most likely happen is he would continue being himself. People that didn’t like him bothered him. Why wouldn’t they like him? Not to say that he put any effort into having people like him… only some of them. Right now, his eyes were set on her. Yes, he could be associated with that. First impressions, of course, but Justin was a stubborn child. Many times, he had been told that he should have been a water, but it was hard to with so many little fire elements he would find within himself. Ah, the advantages of being a wind.

THAT GIRL SHES SUCH A BITCH

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i tell myself i can handle it[/font]
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[MORGAN JANE FARREN]

welcome to the new age

It wasn’t that she was incapable of a more kind or understanding confrontation to the current situation. Rather it was simply that such a response had never even occurred to her. Her automatic response was aggression, something akin to self-defense. To show weakness, to duck her head and stumble through her words, it just communicated her own insecurity – lack of confidence. And the true predators, the ones that stalked these streets day and night, they would pounce on her. They would sniff out her weakness, perk their canine ears and lunge. And once their teeth locked into her, she’d never be free. It was perhaps an over exaggerated view, but one she held nonetheless. She knew, one of these days, she’d soften. There’d be someone who would lull her into a sense of security, convince her to lower her shields. Nell was already doing just that. And it scared Morgan more than she cared to admit. Because she wasn’t the kind of girl that could fight back with anything more than words. She wasn’t tall and muscled like a man. She didn’t walk with authority like Nell. She didn’t have any sort of authority, any semblance of power. She was nineteen, a single mother with a dangerous ability she barely knew how to handle. She was one confrontation away from disaster, and she knew it. It kept her cautious, kept her bitter and aggressive. In her mind, it kept her safe.

So yes, perhaps this young man was just as awkward and imbecilic as he seemed to Morgan. Then again, perhaps he was more cunning than he let on. Perhaps running into her was simply an excuse to slip something in her pocket, or slip something out. Perhaps it was an opportunity to test her, see what kind of fight she would put up. And perhaps, when she rounded the corner, he’d slip a bag over the head and she’d vanish into the alleys of Maple Hollow. It was entirely unlikely – impossible even. Maple Hollow was one of the safest places she knew. But she was a pessimist. She couldn’t help but imagine the worst things people could do. It kept her guarded, kept her from getting too close. Because the one time she ignored those warning bells would be the one time it all went wrong. It was a prospect she wasn’t particularly eager to explore. So she reacted the only way she knew how – with every ounce of fire in her body. Everyone knew – the predators wanted easy prey. And she would be anything but easy prey. As if on reflex, heat pooled in her palms – reminding her of the one fail-safe defense. She’d looked up the word, in one of her rare trips to the library. She’d searched through dictionaries till she found it. Pyrokinesis. It was the word for what she had, for what she was. The school, they called them Elementals. But the rest of the people, the super power geeks and losers who had no idea what really existed – they called it Pyrokinesis. She was weak, she knew that without being graded or held back by the Academy, forced to repeat years again and again. But it was something. And perhaps, if luck was her way, the boy before her was nothing – just a guy taking a stroll.

“And I, quite literally, don’t care. Unless you have some further imbecilic line to quote, I suggest you get the fuck out of the way.” Her eyes were challenging, angry. She pulled her coat tightly around her. A cool wind toying with the strands of hair around her cheeks and shoulders. Everywhere else, the winter wind was quiet, blowing quiet snowflakes. But around Morgan, well everything always seemed a little more aggressive, a little meaner. She had the sudden animalistic urge to bare her teeth, but she resisted. She walked the thin line between bitch slapping and assault. And perhaps the only thing worse than a predator in the night was an official in a uniform.. She had good reason to not want to be found. She made to brush past him. She had no interest in continuing this conversation. She could already see it would go nowhere. He would insult her, she would insult back. But would there really be anything more? She didn’t give him the benefit of having the last word. No, that was reserved for Morgan. Her shoulders hunched slightly, shielding her against the winter chill. Suddenly, the prospect of returning home to a cup of tea was even more appealing.

[JUSTIN DANIEL DUVAL]

WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO

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uh-oh when shes so damn cold like twenty below[/center]

It was lucky that Justin had natural social skills. When he first came to the school, it might have been a different story, but he learned. He figured out what it was that people liked. If someone really didn’t want his company, they would go run and hide from him. If they just didn’t like anyone in the world, it was his job to lighten up their spirits. He had been successful a few times, but he was hesitant to admit that there were more failures than successes. Justin was going to try though. Because he could. It was hard to change the path of his stubborn boy. He wasn’t even completely sure what he wanted out of this? Ultimately have this beautiful woman sleeping next to him? It was a little early to determine that. Just by first impression, he would defiantly put her under the yes pile. Despite the fact that she looked just as cold as the weather they were experiencing at this moment.

Win some, lose some. It wasn’t as if it was going to change his entire pattern of life by the time he was done here. He wasn’t just going to let this go with a couple of distant words. Some of the best ones he had gained had taken the most work. The whole work hard and get rewarded thing turned out to be right on some cases. Even if there wasn’t anything promising in the finish line, it would be a little embarrassing to him just to let the conversation end where it was for a moment. It took quite a bit for Justin to start bickering and insulting back. Once that line was crossed, it was very hard to return him back to the good side, but so far all she was doing was making foul words come out of that pretty little mouth. Ah, he did that all the time and his mouth was far too pretty for that kind of language as well. Cursing were just strong words. They meant nothing to him but a second language.

She was not taking this bone. Justin made a sigh heavy enough to show the breath out in a cloud of white smoke. It really was freezing out here. ”Why so harsh?” He asked in the same calm cool voice. Several times, he had to be reminded about learning the hard way what happened when he attacked someone who was challenging him. Attacking whether it be a guy he was about to fight or if it was something like that. If he would have said that in a ‘I’m offended’ type of tone, that was when she lost all of her interest even if she had any to begin with. Justin wasn’t cocky enough to think that he impressed her right now. He was cocky enough, however, to believe he was going to change her mind with that. Those that tried to push him away where often found that what went around came around with about as much force. Hurray for physics.

This next line was a long shot and quite honestly, he’d probably end up doing it no matter what her answer was. But Justin was all about pushing the limits and figuring out how long he could put his hand over the fire before he burned. ”Look, I’m very sorry for almost running you over. I promise though my coat is big, I’m not of bulldozer size.” He wasn’t going to mention that he was very well built because that was just going to ruin his point, ”Let me walk you to your next destination to make up for it.” There wasn’t a chance he had that she would suddenly light up and say ‘oh in that case sure’. But that wasn’t his goal. This was a step to get toward there. It would take quite a bit of talking before he got her to ease up was his prediction. Despite what others may say about him, they would find that the prick was more right than he was wrong. It was one of the annoying attributes of Justin, but it was one of his favorites to play. With all his socializing, he had a very good idea of how to deal with people.

Justin positioned the other way, craning his neck and feeling a bitter wind escape to his skin as he did so, but he didn’t move much besides that. It was a little out of his way, but the library was going to be in the same place as it was when it left. This seemed much more important. Yes, Justin enjoyed reading, but considering he might not see this woman again… it was a big campus. A huge campus even. He had never seen her before (and trust him, he would remember such a face) so the chances of this again was minimum to slim. Let the fun challenges begin- far as he was concerned.

THAT GIRL SHES SUCH A BITCH

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i tell myself i can handle it[/font]
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[MORGAN JANE FARREN]

welcome to the new age

There was a disheveled look about him, one of youth and mischief. He looked much like an overgrown college student, all grins and parties – no future. Her lips pursed. Scratch that, her assessment had been inaccurate. Such a thing was a rarity, for Morgan had a highly observative nature heightened by the need to survive. She had a tendency to read people quite accurately, to be able to judge them almost to a tee. Thus, usually when she made an observation about someone it was entirely accurate – much to the annoyance of the person in question. But for once, she was retracting her assessment. She had concluded that this young man was, in her own words, an overgrown college student with no future. But upon hearing him speak, watching the pathetic display of anger and the wincing fear, she was forced to reassess. While she had no love of long words and formal speech patterns – she was generally decently well spoken. At times she spoke in simpler terms for those of lesser intelligence, but even that wasn’t usually necessary. She pursed her lips, looking him up and down again. Yes, she had reached a new and quite definite conclusion. This man was no overgrown college student. Oh no. He was an elementary aged child. And judging by the utter blankness in his eyes, she was inclined to wonder whether he had a mental disability. It would certainly explain his inability to speak proper English, or, rather to speak at all. Truly, most pathetically of all, it was almost as if he found himself charming. It was as if he imagined he had a chance at entering her social circle, of piquing her interest. Such a thing was impossible, entirely improbable. She hadn’t the slightest intention of ever acquiescing to such romances again.

He was a fucking peacock. That’s what he was. He was strutting about, flapping his feathers in his face. He kept looking at her with that stupid grin, those quirked brows. Perhaps that worked on other women. No, she knew it worked on other women. She’d seen them enough times – watched how they batted their eyelashes and giggled like imbeciles. It was as if the moment a man looked their direction – all sense of self-respect flew out the window. And that was the worst part. She couldn’t understand the desperation, that ability to throw all sense of propriety and maturity out the window. It disgusted her, really. Or that was what she told herself. It was easier to think she was disgusted, then to recognize she was jealous. Those women, who earned the smiles of handsome men, they were beautiful. They were “gems of society”. Morgan, well she had a reputation. She was bitter, dangerous even. She was given a wide berth, even by those that would under normal circumstance torture her to no end. They had learned, the hard way, to give her peace. And by word of mouth, so had everyone else. Which truly just made this man’s persistence all the more surprising. She frowned, her lack of amusement or interest clear on her features. God this kid had determination. She folded her arms over her chest, her brows drawing together. She hated how calm he was, completely unperturbed. She was used to chasing people away, or at least to some sort of fight. She was good at those, knew how to handle herself. But with this, this calm smiling sort of thing. Hell, she wasn’t prepared for it. She didn’t speak his language, evidently. And he didn’t appear eager to simply let her pass, to let her get on with her day.

She raised her brows at his words. She was returning to her earlier opinion of him – he was definitely imbecilic. “I’m harsh because you nearly steam-rolled me.” She shook her head, rolling her eyes as she did so. “Just let me pass.” She just didn’t know what this guy was thinking. Her voice was dangerous now. What little patience she may have once possessed was running thin. But his next words, well those made her jaws fall clear open. She stopped, midway through pushing roughly past him. She stepped back with shock. “I don’t care what size you are. Get out of the fucking way.” She shook her head enthusiastically, barking out an unamused laugh. “Like hell I would let myself be seen escorted by someone of your obviously low intellect.” She shook her head again, rolling her eyes. She didn’t care at this point, even if it meant getting a little mud on her shoes. She was done with this loser. She stepped around, walking clear across the grass. Her shoes sunk into the wet gunk, squelching with each step. But if she cared, she refused to show it. She just kept stomping her way, determined to leave him far in her wake – him and his disturbingly calm smile.

[JUSTIN DANIEL DUVAL]

WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO

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uh-oh when shes so damn cold like twenty below[/center]

If she had known anything about Justin’s stubbornness ability, she might have thought of him differently. There were a couple of times watching her face where he thought she might change her mind. Nope. As soon as there was any sign of decrease tension in her face, it just heightened even more. This was a hard one. Justin wasn’t going to doubt that. Probably one of the biggest challenges he had to deal with in a long time. All for what? A hookup? A one nighter? Justin wasn’t sure. This could really turn into anything. If she kept it up and Justin didn’t step it up, it wasn’t going to turn into anything, but he was certain that he get something out of her eventually. Just by the way things were going right now, he had no idea that this could have turned into something more. His mind didn’t wander very far into all the possibilities. Just the ones currently on his mind. Justin would be in for a shocker later.

For now, his mind was going to stay that narrow minded determined wind element that he was. Like most wind elements, his personality was quite unpredictable. For example- he wouldn’t do this charade for just anyone. In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time he was so moved by someone that he would put something like this up. Justin thought of his last hookup- as Justin only hooked up with beautiful women. Nope. He wouldn’t have done this. He took her on a couple of dates first, of course, but it wasn’t as if it had been hard. Justin could have been called some type of user for doing and ditching, but it hadn’t been completely harmless. He had tried the relationship other than physically and the pair- both of them- had considered it wasn’t as good as it should have been. What people saw and what actually happened were often two different things. Especially since most of his ‘ex’s’ like to get sympathy so exaggerated the truth. It was a risk he always had to take and accept.

Risks. Justin was a huge risk taker. If he didn’t take the risks, then he wouldn’t have the experience he would have today. He was going to enter the world knowing exactly what he liked and what he didn’t like. That was the only way to find out. Doing it. Justin also hardly pushed anyone away. Despite what others might have thought, his little act of being cocky and such was really because he was cocky. There wasn’t some sad secret boy that just wanted to be loved… at least- that was the story he gave everyone. The truth was so far down deep inside of him that he himself didn’t realize it. He thought he had everything. If only he knew. Justin just went on having a happy frozen face. She wasn’t buying any of it. Her voice was becoming less and less tolerate as she growled for him to go away. She was going to have to use a crowbar. ”Forgive me princess,” Probably not the best time to start nicknames, but it just flowed out of his mouth before stopping it. As much as he was going to try, he wasn’t going to fake anything, ”It was not intentional. If I would have seen you properly, I would have gladly ran out of the way.” There was a slight tease in his voice, as if Justin was becoming more comfortable with the situation.

She started to march her way forward, but it appeared that his words had really caught her by surprise. More hope sprang through Justin but was shot down almost at once. At first, he thought she must have had… a uh- interesting laugh. However, it was more sarcastic and a way to say she wasn’t amused more than anything. Which was probably best. It was such a waste to ruin an image with such qualities. It was like that beautiful woman who talked like she had a gorilla’s hand down her throat. It was quite annoying and the musically capable Justin felt like his ears were burning. Same with the very loud ones. Not the drunk having a good time, but the ones who were just loud all the damn time. It was funny that she said low intellect. Did he really give that impression? Damn. Justin was extremely intelligent. When he allowed himself to actually learn in the classroom. He didn’t bother on correcting her. She’d just have to find out for herself. As she said that, she stomped away, stepping around him across the wet, wet grass. Like Justin would be let go that easily. ”I didn’t hear a no out of that.” He called out, trotting a little bit and taking longer strides in order to catch her. He walked along side of her, not trying to think about what this was going to do to his very nice shoes and pants.

There wasn’t much she could do from here. He’d probably let her go once she reached the building. There was a point where all of this would become a little more than what was socially acceptable. That was his limit, but he could at least stay with her until then. If she broke out into a run, he’d probably let her go as well. Chasing after her at that speed never looked good. Especially if she was probably turning her head and cussing him out the entire time. And Justin was yelling back LET ME LOVE YOU. But as long as she was stomping around at a normal pace, he saw no problem with this. ”Can I get a name before you completely reject me? Or do you prefer me to make one up for you?” He told her, making a small threat if she refused. He was going to give her his name by the end of the day. Give her something to think over instead of ‘that one guy’. If she even remembered it. He hoped for his sake, she would.

THAT GIRL SHES SUCH A BITCH

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i tell myself i can handle it[/font]
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[MORGAN JANE FARREN]

welcome to the new age

She pulled her jacket more tightly around her shoulders. The weather had gone from tolerable to unbearable in minutes flat. It wasn’t as if she’d been blind to the clouds. No she’d dressed for an overcast day. She hadn’t dressed for rain. She scowled, her brows furrowed together in annoyance. She regretted again her own state of relative poverty. A car would have been nice right about then, maybe with those fancy heated seats. But as far as she remembered, she’d never even ridden in a car. Perhaps she had before, but all that was gone now. Besides, cars were too enclosed. A flip of the switch and all the doors were locked, you were trapped like an animal. No, it was better to walk.

She ran a hand through her hair, pushing it away from her face. It was beginning to get dampened by the rain. Strands were sticking to her face. She scowled again, her features now downright stormy. She would have stopped, sought cover, but she had places to go – people to see. Namely, she was going home. The thought softened the scowl slightly. She had a proper house now. Sure it was small needed a paint job and a few pieces of work here and there. But it was a house. It had a little porch for Emmy to play on whenever she fancied. It had proper bedrooms and bathrooms, a kitchen. No one would dare call it fancy or modern, there was a certain oldness to it. But it was a house. And someday she would fix it up, make it a place to envy. Or, even better, she would buy one of her very own, something she could stand before with pride.

It wasn’t a mansion, but it sure beat the hell out of some crap apartment many single mothers lived in. She tugged on her clothing. Underneath her quiet trench coat she wore a uniform – a uniform she was not proud of. It was striped and brightly colored. And perhaps worst of all, it was a dress. She’d nearly refused the job when she’d seen it. But a sharp elbow to the ribs from Nell had shut her mouth pretty quickly. She needed the money, and it paid decent wages – good enough that she was able to pay Nell’s wages from her own pocket, buy little trinkets and gifts and candy for her baby girl. She shook her head, thinking of the other woman. She didn’t understand her, and didn’t attempt to. The two women spent an unusual amount of time together, at least unusual for Morgan’s style of living. But somehow it worked. She stayed for dinner occasionally, played dolls with Emmy while discussing absolutely nothing of importance. They took turns cooking. But they never asked each other a single question. They were just those kind of people.

She thought again of her work, of her boss. David didn’t usually like to go easy on her. Most days, he liked to assign her to sector six. In waitress speak, it was just about the worst place to get stuck with. But of the staff, Morgan was the most efficient. Most of the other employees were either lazy, shiftless, or too stupid to be of much use. The cacophony of orders and requests confused them. This left Morgan to take the extra tables, the extra work, but usually the extra tips as well. If she didn’t get moving, didn’t push past this lump of too-confident smiles, she’d arrived, quite sodden, and ten minutes late to work. She could imagine the frustration, that moment where David decided whether she deserved a lecture. But after giving her the once over, noting her dripping hair and irritated scowl, he’d simply wave her away. It’d be a wise decision for the both of them as she’d be in no mood to take a lecture. She’d wring out her dress as much as she could before grabbing a spare pad and pen. The tables would already be filling, anxious guests drumming their fingers on the plastic. By the time she got home, she knew she’d smell unpleasantly of grease and dirty dishes. So truly, this slight delay, his insistence, was doing her no favors.

The thing that really got to her, really prodded at her nerves, was how unperturbed he was. He was calm, teasing. It made her want to jab harder, find just the right places to get at him. She frowned, clenching her teeth. She whirled around, her small fingers curling into warning fists. The snow and puddles beneath her feet sizzled slightly – a warning. She was in no mood to play games, and wasn’t particularly gifted with self-control. “Then you’re deaf as well as suicidal, because I in no way desire your company.” She gritted her teeth, snapping out the words. She would have turned, sprinted away, but there was something so embarrassing – shameful –about running. It was like admitting some sort of defeat. She groaned, her lips pressing into a firm line. “Morgan,” She hissed the name, her eyes narrow. “Morgan Jane Farren. Happy? Leave me alone.” She folded her arms over her chest, hugging herself. She had no interest in his name. She checked her watch. Her shift started in fifteen minutes, and she was at least a thirty minute walk away. She groaned inwardly, cursing this imbecile for wasting her valuable time.

[JUSTIN DANIEL DUVAL]

WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO

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uh-oh when shes so damn cold like twenty below[/center]

There were many people that must have thought by looking at the situation that Justin was making zero progress. However, Justin had enough experience to believe that he was gaining a little process. He had no idea what she was really thinking, but he was sure something was near maybe she should trust this guy. He was trying. Justin could care less if it was even based on some sort of pity, but he was excited for anything that he was able to get. His eyes flickered back over to her. How could anyone really do anything different when meeting her? It was because people didn’t know what was good for them and weren’t up for that much work. Such a pity. Justin was sure that this all was going to come to a final close sometime. He was actually cocky enough to have high hopes such as that. He had success like this in the past, but he also had failures. Perhaps this would be the biggest challenge one of all, becoming the greatest success. Hopefully not the greatest failure.

If progress was going to be this slow, however, he figured that this was going to take more than one meeting. Which was fine. It gave her some time to ponder over the matter. Luckily, he went in knowing all of this. Yes, it would have been nice if things turned out to surprise him, in a sense surprising himself, but the reality of it was that hardly anyone was going to accomplish this in one meet. If that were possible, he was sure that he would be the first one to do it. See, if he was the famous actor that he dreamed to become, perhaps it wouldn’t have taken this long. Women were in love with the thought of a celebrity falling in love with them. As opposed to the perfect man she saw in front of her. Yeah, Justin didn’t really understand it either, but what was he to question? It was more of him trying to cheat the system a little bit and twist to get what he wanted. Every once in a while, one would find him doing something for others, but that wasn’t often.

If he were smart, he would have brought an umbrella with him or something. But then thinking again, he was afraid that she was probably going to take it away from him and smack him in the head with it a couple of times. Ah, whatever worked he supposed. Justin didn’t really have any expectations except the end. How they were going to get there was always something much different and something that he didn’t particularly care about. That part he was just going to have to perform his best and place a smile on his face whenever he saw it was fit to. If only he hadn’t taken the word ‘no’ so harshly. He would be turned around and on his way to the library right now. At her comment, he laughed more and asked with an amused laugh, ”Suicidal? Are you planning to kill me? Or is there some high prized boyfriend of yours that wants to make sure that nothing of his is touched or looked at?” Oops, that probably shouldn’t have been established at first meeting, but Justin just never thought past ‘holy shit she’s so beautiful I want’. Well, just because there was a status of taken didn’t mean forever taken. It just meant harder. And he would be a giant jackass. He tried to respect that part of relationships, although he had his shares of cheating while he himself was dating.

Not all hope was lost and her telling him her name was his proof. Morgan. His mind just completely skipped over the happy leave me alone part of the conversation, as he was still implanting the name forever in his mind. He was terrible with names, but he was sure that he would be able to get this one. Morgan wasn’t a name he would have expected, but Morgan Jane sounded pretty. ”Morgan Jane, I like it.” He said out loud, giving a slick half smile. Although she didn’t ask for it back, he introduced himself, ”I’m Justin. Justin Daniel Duval.” He actually wasn’t fond of his last name because he could just hear his father’s echo through it, ‘You’re a Duval son!’ That was a common phrase for any father to son kind of talk, but Justin had never began to understand it. It was a family pride thing, but Justin knew nothing about the rest of his family aside from his little brother and mother. His eyes flickered when she made another movement and saw her checking her watch. His father’s watch was heavy on his wrist, and of course, that was his signal to ask, ”Late for a date?” He teased, making a reference to that white rabbit in that one Disney movie. It was Disney right? It was hard to tell between all the different animation movies. The others hardly ever made even a close chance to Disney, but there were those few he was surprised on. The high critic of movies didn’t just stop at real. Cartoons were important too.

THAT GIRL SHES SUCH A BITCH

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i tell myself i can handle it[/font]
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[MORGAN JANE FARREN]

welcome to the new age

Who was Morgan? When she asked the question, she wasn’t asking in the literal sense. She knew, or rather knew that she would never know, who she could have been. She knew who she had become. She knew who she sometimes dreamed of being. But those were entirely different things, entirely set apart from the concept she was now considering. Who was Morgan? For some reason, famous names rose to mind – scientists and politicians and the such. She knew she wasn’t some mad scientist. She wasn’t attempting to place herself on a scale of Frankenstein to Mengele. She didn’t fit on that scale. Rather she wanted to have an inkling what her scale was. She had no serious occupation to speak of – she didn’t think of herself as a waitress, not the way others saw themselves as professors or engineers. And she wasn’t sure, given the choice, what she would want to be. She had so little experience in any serious profession, knew so little of them. Once, she had thought she might like to be an architect, or an engineer.

Yes, she wanted to build. She wanted to build things, draw things, create things, and then see them become a reality. She wanted to walk through the hallways of her own design, tracing her fingers around woodwork finish she had sketched in yellow and red. It was a fantasy, one of those whims. She had no background in such fields, had never taken any classes. And she’d never sat down and taken the time to draw or research. She had neither the money nor the time to waste on such fantasies. But it didn’t stop such ideals from existing. It was this that partially contributed to her obsession with the little house across the street, a few down from her parents. She didn’t see it’s chipped paint and rotted wood. She saw a canvas, a clear page with which to create. She saw an experiment. And she’d do it bit by bit. An extra twenty dollars here would be a can of paint. A raise and forty dollars might be some polish or lumber. It would be slow, agonizing. But when she finished, she liked to imagine she would have something beautiful. But then again, it was all just a foolish ideal. She was no Tesla. She didn’t even have a name to put to what she wanted to do – proof of her own lacking knowledge.

Morgan wasn’t what one might call an image of hope or dreams. She tended to be realistic, to a fault – cynical really. She had no belief that her life would get any better. But she didn’t think it would get much worse either. The way she saw it, she simply had eight more decades of sludge to trudge through and then she’d die. It was a thing meant to be shrugged over, then moved over. If one let every little thing matter, let themselves worry and fuss over whether everything would be okay, well nothing would get accomplished. And besides, what was the use of “could have been”? Sure, she had a solid job now – but this wasn’t what someone would call a career. Perhaps Morgan had the credibility for a real career, but how could she know? She wasn’t sure if she would ever graduate high school. The Academy seemed happy enough holding her back. She was a fine student, but not a brilliant one. She might go to college, but had no real ideas of what she would do or who she would be. It was all generalizations, all thoughts she really avoided giving too much credence to. Above all else, she had Emmaline to think of.

She moved to get around Justin, yet again. But he was determined to continue their meaningless drabble of a conversation. She huffed a breath, clutching her books to her chest. If her hands had been free, she might just have punched him. But not really. She knew her chances against him were minimal, she was small. And she wasn’t about to set him on fire. Killing him wasn’t worth jail time, or losing her abilities. “It’s a tempting idea.” Her voice was icy. She didn’t bother to reply to the boyfriend comment. Did she seem like the type of girl boys sought out? She frowned at him. She truly didn’t give a damn whether he liked her name or not. And she sure as hell didn’t care about his name. She pursed her lips. “You’ve wasted as much of my time as I’m going to let you.” She shoved past him a final time, stomping away. This time she wouldn’t let him dart in front of her, wouldn’t let him stop her. She held her books close, her head down. She moved quickly, down the path, the snow crunching beneath her feet. She left Justin as far behind her as she could. But even as she retreated, as she all but fled his presence, she couldn’t forget his constant smile, the teasing light to his eyes. It was a bit disconcerting. As many insults, as much anger, as she had managed to throw at him – well he just kept smiling. She shook her head, pushing this thought away. She had left Justin far behind her, hopefully forever.

[fin?]

[JUSTIN DANIEL DUVAL]

WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO

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uh-oh when shes so damn cold like twenty below[/center]

It could be told that Justin was a little crazy. He probably was. He had a theory that most people were crazy to an extent. In fact, for him, he was an extra ordinary guy. The normal guy with a little bit of extra fun spice. He liked to think of himself of mysterious. No one could quite figure the guy out. He would play as the nicest man in the world, smiling and cheering one moment, then being every stereotype of a man slut people could throw at him. To strangers, he didn’t like to bring out that vibe of being a man slut. Not a ton of people liked that image. It was something more fun if they discovered it for themselves. Though sometimes they found out through the drunk text asking some… less than appropriate things. He couldn’t help himself it he was tired and lonely. Justin was only discreet for so long. It wasn’t as if he got every piece he could. It was just the piece he could get, he tended to hit past the limits and having hardly any build. Whether that happened with Morgan was uncertain. So far it was impossible to tell. He hoped so.

Her attempts to get rid of him was sure enough to get rid of him eventually. Just a little more. She was going to have to try harder than Justin was trying. It was a game in a way. A dance. An angry dance that he would eventually see if it was going to be good enough to resolve. If this were a play, perhaps he would have grabbed her arm and pulled her close, and start to break out into song. He would too. Justin loved to sing. That phrase must have been twisted every thought someone might have had of Justin, but truthfully, he enjoyed music. Making music was no exception. He also liked the look on people’s awed faces. He also had no shame in singing in front of others like that. Just as long as they would listen, he would play. Well, he was performing, he might as well. Justin liked to think he was the complete package. There was just a tiny little detail that made most of his relationships fail out- he got bored and decided to be an ass about it. Also- he was in no way humble. He liked to act like it. Perhaps one on one was different, but generally, a large crowd was perfectly normal for him. He liked to glow.

Even here he was glowing a little bit. He was sure that she wanted to murder him, but this wasn’t the last thing she was going to think. Justin didn’t even think ‘what if she didn’t.’ The man was not only confident, but if he started getting those silly thoughts into his head, the entire thing was going to move downhill. There was no way. That was how people started to doubt themselves. The trick to being so confident was not to have any doubts. Not to care. Sure enough, one by one, that would happen. Morgan- having to repeat it a couple of times in his head because he was seriously horrible with names- probably didn’t find it amusing. That was fine. Most people didn’t. She really did seem to be on the move. At her saying it was temptation to kill him, he only smiled. This wouldn’t have been the first time he had heard something like that. Not the last either. Yet, here he was, walking and promoting someone else to say something with similar lines. ”Not a good temptation. As I’ve told some of my friends, you’re far to pretty to be in a jail cell.” He found himself saying that to his best friend- Caterina- quite a bit. She had a general violent nature and was not in the mood for any bullshit. Probably something having to do with being a teacher or something.

There was not even a glimmer of happiness on her face when she looked at him. So much hate for one woman. He wondered if it was just him or if this was a normal attitude she had. If it was normal, the fuck happen to her to make her this way? Another mysterious comment. Typically Justin actually could really care less, but he found as he thought about it, he was interested in the manner. Something he wasn’t going to ask her, probably. That usually brought up sore subjects and if there was anything that he came out as an awkward twerp was when a girl was crying. Justin was very smooth most of the time, but there were only about two occasions where Justin became that little nerd he started out as. Crying girls was one of them. Most of the time, he just had to leave. When he felt obligated, those that knew him were always puzzled. But they didn’t question it. Justin was Justin and to be surprised by an action wasn’t… well surprising. With that, she took off. Took off to a point where Justin saw it was going to be pushing his limit (more than he was already) to chase after her. Instead, he stopped where he was. The small bit of wind he created in his own circle as he watched her disappear. ”Glad to do it again sometime love!” He called after her. She didn’t look back. Not once. The smile that had been frozen on his face faded and his cheeks burned. Well. Off to the library. Yeah, like he was going to be productive now. Bye Miss Morgan Jane. Until next time.

THAT GIRL SHES SUCH A BITCH

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i tell myself i can handle it[/font]
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[MORGAN JANE FARREN]

[fin! i start the new thread?]