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Post by DAYONE LEO TYLER on Sept 30, 2011 15:23:10 GMT -5
"I would like that, thank you." Leo said bashfully. Not many people were this nice to him, usually they would barley even talk to him. He liked that over getting his butt kicked, or hiding away from the bullies that were chasing him. He did want to read that, he had remembered where he had heard the book before. It was in one of his English worksheets that listed some examples of modern romances. Not Romance like the books that filled the Young Adult section of the Library, but Romance like Knights of the Old. Stories like King Arthur, or Lancelot, those kind, the ones that started these new books. Leo listened to the girl as she thought, a hero huh? Leo wanted to be a hero, one who lived with chivalry and died with honor. Those kinds of hero's were his ideal hero. But he could never become one. Not as he is now, not as he was. He needed to find courage, that was one of the base principles of becoming a hero. Courage, something he didn't have, something he needed.
The girl cursed and Leo lay across the table, his nails digging into his palms, trying to get his mind of the burning pain coming from his back.The bully glared at the girl, but unlike stereotypical bullies he knew when to fight his battles, he was smart, street wise at least. The guy sneered, "Fuck you. You'll regret this," The boy started backing away, not bothering with the work that was scattered on the floor. His eyes were trained on the two, one standing the other doubled over on the table. "You to Leo." He said blaming Leo for getting in the way of the shock, but Leo was to preoccupied at the moment to hear him. The boy turned and left the library when he was out of their range of vision, but he was already formulating a plan to strike back.
Leo flinched when she touched his shoulder, then grimaced at the pain his back felt at the sudden movement. Taking a few deep breaths he sat down, and didn't look up at her. "He's done worse," Was simply all he said, and it was true, he was one of the frequent bullies that bothered, and hurt him. He didn't understand why the guy did it, he just did. Leo, keeping his eyes on the floor, asked her, "You didn't have to do that for me." it wouldn't have ended up with him getting hurt if she hadn't have done that. "He would have just walked away with the work. I wouldn't have had to get in the way for y-" He stopped, he didn't know if he had gotten in the way for her, no he just met her, he couldn't have, "The books," he continued. "They would have gotten damaged."
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Sept 30, 2011 21:45:00 GMT -5
Nell looked at the guy, raising her eyebrows as if challenging him to say something more. She didn’t know how old he was, but hopefully he realized elemental rock, paper, scissors had him beat. Because as much as she wanted to protect Leo, she didn’t want to have to fight. ”I’ll be eagerly awaiting your vengeance,” Nell said with a snort. She had bigger things to worry about than a schoolyard bully—like her family and a courtroom waiting for her back in New York. But when the kid threatened Leo, her gaze turned narrow. She didn’t get angry where she could pull of the narrowing of eyes or the icy glare, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t serious. But she said nothing, not wanting to encourage the kid to go after Leo. Even if she didn’t know you, Nell was protective over anyone she saw getting tormented. Half of it was her personality, the other half was her history.
Taking her hand back slowly, regretting touching the poor kid, her lips twitched into a small smile. She knew that people didn’t like the wide-eyed worry, the fussing over—it was annoying. ”Has he now,” Nell said slowly, her smile faltering a bit. No, she didn’t like that. At all. Nell waved her hand as if Leo’s words were tangible and she were swatting them away like nats. ”I wanted to do it,” she said easily. ”Not like I could watch the creep mess with you like that.” Once again, that breezy expression of hers faltered a bit as she chewed on her lower lip in concentration. ”Does he do that…a lot?” Leo may have been even more passive than her, it seemed, and she could see why the boy had picked on him. Bullies picked up on weakness and manipulated it. After all, she’d had experiences with the worst kind of bullies. Nell didn’t pick up on what Leo was about to say before he cut himself off, so she shrugged it off. ”He would have walked away with the work and you’d still have been his bitch,” she said, not using bitch as an offensive term. ”If you just tell him to buzz off, he’ll find some other kid to do his work.” Realizing that he was probably afraid of things getting worse for him after standing up for himself, she leaned against the table and said, ”And if anything goes down, you have me on your side.” She smiled after these words, to show how sincere they were. She was always sincere, especially when making promises.
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Post by DAYONE LEO TYLER on Oct 1, 2011 16:15:32 GMT -5
Leo nodded at her statement even if it wasn't a question. That guy was only one of the bullies that tormented Leo. But he soldiered on and just took the bullying. He just didn't want to be hurt more if he retaliated. No it would end up hurting him more. "You wanted too?" He asked, "Nobody ever just wanted to. Nobody ever helped before," He stated quietly. It was true, no body ever had come to Leo's rescue. Even when they were beating him up and people saw, they just looked the other way, and pretended they didn't see what was happening. This was a first for him.
Leo kept his eyes away from Nell, but she asked a question, and he simply replied to it, just encase she might want to go out and torment him. "Yes, him and others." He stated quietly. Leo was like the school punching bag. If you needed to get violence out, but didn't want to do it on a stupid bag, then you had a stupid boy to do it on. He's been battered by many hands, and he's done work for those hands too. "But I'm fine, I'm still alive, with all my fingers and toes." He said trying to make a joke out of this very serious situation.
He shook his head. "Yea, but now I'm his target." He said stating a fact. He didn't know what to do know. He'd have to watch his back. Then she said something, she said that she'd be on his side. He didn't even know he had a side. Apparently he did, and now he had one more person on it. He looked up at her, and he didn't know what to say. So he said what most people would usually say. "Thanks, I think." He said quietly. Most people didn't help him, so this, this he really did appreciate. "Nell, I guess," He paused re saying the sentence in his head. "I guess, you'll have me on your side too," Leo sad to her. Then he added, "But I'm not that useful at anything really. So it doesn't count for much." he stated. He knew full well he wasn't good at anything, besides reading and well cleaning. But fighting? Yea he couldn't do that, nor could he defend. He was best at running away if he had to chose one. Sure he had his power, but hell he doesn't like to use his power for fighting. He loved his power, but he preferred to use it when it created something. When something was given instead of taken away.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Oct 1, 2011 18:13:55 GMT -5
She tilted back her head, as if looking up at the sky she couldn’t see beyond the roof. ”Of course I wanted to.” It was just what she liked to do. Sometimes, she felt as if she was put on this Earth for other people. No, she truly was. That was her purpose, she believed. Nell’s eyes turned pensive for a moment. ”Have you ever asked for help?” The words sounded like a consideration. She knew how it felt. She didn’t have schoolyard bullies, she had her mother. Being raised with her paranoia (”the world is a scary place, Nelly, don’t trust it.”) and having abandonment issues resulting from her father’s disappearance had her thinking for years that no one would help her. Because when she went to the library and the old man smiled at her, eyes warm behind thick-rimmed glasses, he went home to his own life and moved on from her. She wasn’t important enough to save. And even though she knew now that someone out there would have taken her from her mother, she still would never ask for help. She knew how that felt. Would you have left if someone saved you? She didn’t know, because she was terrified of what her mother could do and she showed just before she died that Nell had good reason to be.
Nell tapped her fingernails against the table she leaned on. They were down to the quick from her biting them, mostly her thumbnail. She hated the powerless feeling right now, because she knew there was no way to help Leo. Only he could help himself, really. She smiled at his joke, but not as brightly as it usually was because she was more concerned about him. ”You sure you don’t want to go to the medical wing or anything?” she said, constantly worried about others’ well-beings even after assurances that they were okay. She learned from Josh that that was usually a lie.
If she had a temper, she would have glared at nothing at all because of his words. But not in anger toward Leo—toward his bully. Again, she knew how helpless she was in this situation if she wasn’t around Leo when shit went down. She hated the thought of people going after him. She knew what it was like to be targetted, first by her family and then by half the school. The latter was more similar to his scenario, and she had been just like him during that time. Luckily, Josh was there as well as her other Earth and Water allies. But she had hated others fighting her battles for her because she wouldn’t dare hurt anyone else. She didn’t want to be a damsel in distress. ”You think?” she repeated with a humorous lift of her eyebrow. She laughed at his next words. ”You don’t need to fight for me or anything. It’s just nice knowing you have a friend.” That’s all she wanted ever, really. Friends. That you’ll lose once they find out what’s going on. ”Thank you.”
But by then, she was rather anxious. What would Leo think of her if he knew? It was something she always thought of in the back of her mind when talking to someone. Would you still be on my side? She was a bully, after all, the biggest kind. She had a feeling that Leo would be afraid of her because she was a murderer. And he might find out, when the trial came around. She remembered what her aunt had told her—the media loved stories like hers. Unimaginable tales of a young girl killing her mother in cold-blood. ”You should stand up for yourself sometimes, Simba,” she said a bit abruptly. Nell found she liked that nickname—‘Leo’ sounded to similar to her father’s name, León. She remembered her father telling her that his name meant ‘lion’ and of the Castle of Lions in Spain and how important a figure they were in Christianity. She hated that she remembered these small father-daughter moments from their past. She wanted them to disappear.
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Post by DAYONE LEO TYLER on Oct 2, 2011 12:53:18 GMT -5
Nell asked him another question. He thought about it, and while he thought about it he went around picking up the origami he had scattered along the floor. Picking up one of her flowers he looked at it for a moment, a small moment, before answering. "No, I don't deserve it," he stated that and he believed it. He knew he didn't deserve the help others could bring to him. No he deserved every hit he got, every assignment that wasn't his he deserved. It was his fault he couldn't stop his father, and he hated it. He could have stopped him, but no instead he hid. Why did he hide? Because he always did as he was told, and he was told to hide. He hated himself for it.
He picked up another crane and gently shaped it so that it was in it's proper form once again. gently he set it down onto the table. Quietly he shuffled around to the other side and continued to pick up some more stray figures that had fallen. "No it's alright, I'll be f-" He winced as he moved his back the wrong way, "Fine," he completed. He set down the last of the figures that had fallen to the floor and gently he sat it down on the table.
He sat down back at his seat and he busied himself with the paper figures. His fingers gently arranged them into position. Letting them seem as if they were in a scene. He didn't know what he was doing, just moving things, busying himself waiting for her to speak. He didn't like to start conversations, no it was more like, he was only there to answer someone. And sometimes he didn't answer at all. He had one instance where some random girl voiced all her concerns to him, he listened, but he continued to read. By the time she was finished, she smiled and thanked him. He didn't understand why, he had done nothing for her. All he did was sit there. "Yes I do." He said answering her question. Then he listened to her, and she said friend. she was calling him a friend? "Your my," He paused saying the word over and over in his mind "Friend?"
Leo smiled at her, and it was a rather genuine smile, one that only the books in this library had seen before. "I've never had a friend in a long time," He said quietly. It was true, Leo hadn't had a friend in a long long time. Last time he had one was before his parent's died. And he was really small then. After that, he was so closed off to the world that he didn't try to make friends, and he ignored others attempts at being friends. He was just shut off socially. Eventually he just stopped being with other people.
"I guess, but," He didn't want to say this, because it was personal for him, but she was his friend, and friends did things like this right? "But I'm scared. I don't want it to get worse." He didn't want it to get worse. It was just that, he thought his life was bad already, and if it got worse he didn't know if he'd be able to stay alive any longer.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Oct 2, 2011 19:09:10 GMT -5
Nell felt a sadness in her stomach at the boy’s words. Oh, Leo… ”Don’t ever feel like you don’t deserve help,” she said, though her voice wasn’t very stern or commanding. It was actually pretty somber for Nell. Why do you tell that to others so easily? Her past was filled with feeling like she didn’t deserve help, just like her mother told her. No, mama told her that she was trying to help her, that if she wasn’t punished then she’d just repeat her mistakes. That woman had seeped into Nell’s brain like poison, and almost everything wrong with her can be traced back to Mia. It was a sickening thought, even though Nell wasn’t even aware of it.
Watching as Leo fixed up the cranes, her brow was creased in lines of worry. Her heart was bleeding for him, and never once did it cross her mind that it should be bleeding for herself, too. Josh said that he’d make her love herself, but when she didn’t even take herself into consideration in any situation, it would be a difficult road. She still didn’t understand why he’d made a promise like that. She didn’t understand a lot about him, but she couldn’t help loving the guy who took her for all her faults and mistakes. Not wanting to be a pain in the ass, Nell simply nodded. She’d keep an eye on him, of course, but she wasn’t going to drag him away when he didn’t want to go.
She pushed off from the table and sat down when Leo did, licking her finger before picking up another crane, her eyes half on that and half on the boy shifting things around on the table. Always smiling, a smile that grew brighter as she said, ”Yeah, if you want me to be your friend. I have to say I’m very good in that department.” She rubbed the back of her fingers against her chest and looked at them as if very proud of herself. But she was also being completely sincere—she’d love to be everyone’s friend if she could be.
The sad feeling in her gut that came with his previous words about him not deserving help disappeared with his smile. ”Friends are good to have,” she told him, and that was the truth. She kept a wide circle of them, of people she loved and cared for. She didn’t know where she’d be without Josh, Ace, Ari, and Noly, and everyone who was important to her. In fact, without them, there would be nothing. She didn’t believe there was a purpose for herself if she didn’t have people to care for. Of course, it was something she consciously acknowledged. It was simply a part of her.
And the feeling that came with Leo’s admission of fear was a strange one. It was her empathy that wanted her to put her arms around him and tell him that everything was okay and she’d never let anything get worse for him. ”Nothing is as bad as what you’re going through now,” she said gently. She felt like a hypocrite. She stood up for herself and ended up killing her mother. Her life wasn’t better, now. No, in many ways it is. Choosing how to phrase this, Nell told her new friend, ”Life isn’t going to be perfect and there will always be people out there who don’t like you. It’s how you deal with it that counts. You have to know how to take a bad situation and make it better.” She was almost tempted to break out into The Beatles if she wasn’t making this situation as serious as it was now. She remembered telling Deirdra something similar, and she wanted Leo to know that even though life isn’t perfect, it’s pretty fucking good.
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Post by DAYONE LEO TYLER on Oct 5, 2011 19:36:36 GMT -5
"But I don't," He said simply. He truly believed that he didn't deserve the help that people would give. He thought he really did want people to help him, he didn't want to ask for it. He didn't ask for it, he didn't deserve it, though he would give his thanks if people did help. Like Nell, she did help him, and he thanked her. And it was his punishment, for his cowardice, for not being able to do anything for his parents.
"You'll have to teach me," He commented sadly "I'm not that good at it," And it was true, he wasn't the greatest friend someone could have. He was really a quiet person, but he guessed the best thing about it was, he would listen to you. He would sit down, and he'd quietly listen to your story. Even if it wasn't a great one, he was one that would listen. He'd try his best to not be a jerk, and ignore them. No he liked to hear about other peoples lives. It was like a book, just not written down. Oral tradition was a great way to pass time, and knowledge to other people. So he listened, learned, and if they asked, he would tell them what he thought though they usually didn't. But he hadn't had friends do that for him, no it was more or less random people who just talked when he sat quietly in the library.
"Really?" He said with a bit of thought. "I don't really know," he said with a shrug. His lack of friends hadn't really concerned him before. To him he had all the friends he needed. All of them were in these books here in the library. Most of them he had already met and saw their lives change before his eyes. He didn't know if he needed other friends, he had a lot as it is. Though, having someone like Nell be his friend, it was nice.
Leo shook his head, "Maybe," He said. Always the pessimist, "I don't know, if I fall in love, and than my love dies before me, I'm sure that's one of the worst." He said, well he was a romantic pessimist. "I'm sure your life's going on better than mine," He said with a shrug, "But I can't tell the future, so maybe you're right," Leo said agreeing with her finally. He gave her a smirk, "Thanks."
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Oct 5, 2011 21:33:38 GMT -5
Nell wasn’t about to argue or push. She understood how annoying that could be, when oyu were so certain of something and someone else acted as if they knew better. Perhaps Joshu nderstood that too, and that’s why he’d been gunning for subtlty when he said he’d make her love herself eventually. I don’t even want to think about myself. No, she was more conerned about others right now, about Leo and the fact that she wished he could understand that he deserved so much more than what he got from life. Everyone did.
Leaving the topic of what Leo did and did not deserve alone, she grinned at his comment. ”I can be a pretty good teacher,” she said. ”I’m teaching my cat Spanish, and I have to say, it’s going pretty well.” Actually, no, but she liked to deceive herself into thinking that she was somehow getting through to Pablo. Besides, anything to cheer up her new little buddy that she was still trying to resist from offering food to. She waved her hand. ”Doesn’t take too much effort, don’t worry.” Not for her, she didn’t think. She liked people and she liked making friends, so she did everything in her power for them. It was just a natural process, something she didn’t even have to think about. It was for her like eating and sleeping. So she was certain Leo would have no problem with it. After all, he was Earth, and they werefriednly people. Well, what she knew of them from her experience so far. It wasn’t long that she’d known of other elementals, of course.
She tilted her head as she looked at Leo, her natural curious gesture. ”Do you think about that a lot?” she asked genuinely. She wasn’t trying to snark at him—that wasn’t how she did things. As a matter of fact, she sounded a bit like a therapist. She didn’t know whether or not she liked that, but since therapists liked to help people, she guessed she was similar. Her smile turned warm as she said, ”Not even my life is perfect, but I prefer to look at the bright side of things.” Lately, though, her optimism was sinking like a ship. No, life wasn’t going very good for her. And no matter what she tried to do, the best she came up with was minor distractions to keep her mind off the ultimate fate of her being sentenced to prison. ”If you let your pessimism take over, everything will look bleak. Find joy in the little things and carpe diem.” She fluttered her hands around as if to emphasize her words. Preaching something she wasn’t so good at when it came to herself. You’re a hypocrite. But she had more power to believe in others than herself.
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Post by DAYONE LEO TYLER on Oct 8, 2011 9:27:40 GMT -5
Leo looked up at her, surprise on his face "Your cat can speak?! In Spanish?!" He said impressed. Leo took some things too literally, his social awkwardness unable to tell when someone was making a joke. So Leo took this seriously, for a few minutes anyway. "Wait," He said with a pause, "That was a joke?" He asked a little embarrassed. He was rather slow with things like this. Really if people wanted too, they could easily string him along for something. Like this, he quickly believed that Nell actually had a Spanish speaking cat. Of course, if the lie wasn't believable, like an Alien has come and is blasting everyone away with it's ray gun, he wouldn't believe that. That was too obvious. But if someone said something more believable that most people wouldn't fall for, well Leo would.
Leo shrugged at her question. "Not really," Leo said, no that was a lie, he did every day. Of course he didn't really have anyone to love in that sense. But family, well all he had left was his Aunt. And he thought everyday that if his Aunt left, well, he'd be alone, and scared. He didn't want that. Every day when he used to live with his Aunt, every time she got sick, or she hurt, Leo worried. Because she was all he had, and she was what kept him from just fading away. He loved his aunt deeply, and he really didn't want her to go, not yet, not ever really. But he knew she would one day, and that day, he hoped he'd have friends to lean on. He tried to picture the day of her funeral, but it wasn't like the movies where the rain came down, where the dark heavy clouds hung their heads and wept their cold wet tears. No not like those days. He once asked her what kind of day she'd want to be buried on, and what she said surprised him. 'I want to be buried on a sunny day, where there's no clouds hanging on the sky, where the sun smiles down. So then people should be happy, not for my death, but for my life. Crying doesn't do a person much good, Leo, and I don't want anyone to cry. So now he pictured her funeral day as being sunny, bright, the birds chirping. Not something you'd usually find in a funeral, but it fit his aunt's personality.
Leo gave her a smirk at the old saying, "Seize the Day." Why not, what was their to lose, maybe he should try and seize the day. But he didn't know how to start. His fingers drummed the table thinking, thinking on how he should seize the day. He didn't know how too, he didn't really know where to begin. He leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling, and then he finally got the courage to ask.
"How?"
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Oct 8, 2011 16:41:28 GMT -5
Nell mussed up the back of her hair, smiling when it sounded like Leo wholeheartedly believed her. That was a first. If she ever told anyone about what she was doing with Pablo, she was usually met with an incredulous look and laugh. ”Well…I’m hoping that he’s getting it. Cause you never know how kitty minds work. But all that comes out is meowing.” She wasn’t too embarrassed to admit how she thought, because she was an outgoing person. It took a lot for her to get shy, and she actually didn’t think it was possible. ”And no, it wasn’t a joke!” she said enthusiastically, so that he didn’t think she was taking advantage of him or anything. No, she honestly was teaching Pablo how to speak Spanish. Well, mostly in her free time. ”I have flashcards and everything,” she said with an easy laugh.
She nodded, but didn’t say anything. Instead, she thought about how it wasn’t good to look on the downside of things. The negative parts. The fact that we may all just fade away eventually. Leo seemed like a bit of the pessimist, and now she could understand that. Now she stopped herself from thinking of the future, because months ago when she first came to the Academy everything was bright. She had her freedom, and this school was her maverick, and her past wouldn’t be able to catch up with her. But with the trial drawing in so close, she threw herself into whatever she was doing for the moment, not thinking about anything really. She stuck even closer to her friends so that she could relish this moments and not have to focus on the fact that she may never see their faces—never see Leo—again.
Playing with a wing of a paper crane, she thought about his words. ”Think like Nike—just do it.” She laughed as she said this. She was capable of seriousness, which she proved when she considered. ”Live like each day is your last. And do whatever makes you happy. Don’t worry about the rest.” Yes, that was exactly what she did with her life, how she went about each day. She cocked her head to the side, asked, ”So what were you planning on doing today?” The smile was mischevious hiding thoughts that were nonetheless pleasant. She hoped Leo understood that she wasn’t like his bullies—far from it. She wanted to help him in whatever way she could.
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Post by DAYONE LEO TYLER on Oct 18, 2011 14:25:33 GMT -5
Leo blinked. She wasn't joking? She was actually telling the truth? She was teaching her cat Spanish? Or was she stringing him along? He didn't get it, he was rather confused about what was going on in this conversation. He listened to her as she spoke about it. And the look on his face went from blank to utterly confused. The cat was, learning to speak Spanish? That was odd. And pretty amazing. This girl was very, different compared to Leo. Leo who was shy and quiet and not outgoing like this person in front of him. She was confusing, odd, but he liked that. He liked it because she was his friend, and he liked that about her. "You, confuse me," he said tilting his head to the side like a confused puppy.
Leo looked up at her "The shoe company?" Leo asked as he fiddled with one of the flowers, he didn't really know how to do something on impulse. He was a thinking person, he thought each choice through and through, thinking about the consequences and the effects. Something he did with many of his choices. Should he run, or let them beat him? He thought about that when he was confrontated. Then he listened as she went on and said a few major sayings about how to live life in the moment and such. "Live like Larry?" He added remembering the one spongebob episode he had scene. It was an odd reference and hopefully she got it, he didn't want to seem even more wierd than he was. He looked at her as she asked her next question. "I was... Just going to read," he said as he put down the flower and unconsciously cracked his knuckles. A bad habit he picked up from his aunt.
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Post by NELL DOE DALE on Oct 18, 2011 18:44:55 GMT -5
Nell’s face contorted into an expression when one is trying to resist a smile…but is failing. Leo just seemed so cute, she couldn’t help it. No, he doesn’t want a cake, Nell, don’t ask him if he wants some cake. ”If it bothers you, I’ll stop,” she said, even though she didn’t really see how she was confusing. She didn’t even try to examine herself to figure it out. It was probably the reason she didn’t realize certain things about herself—she never stopped to think about it. She never did the whole introspection thing, or stop and ask ‘Who is Nell?’ No, she was much more concerned about Leo and what he was like.
”Yep yep!” Nell said with a smile. Nikes were apparently the big thing in the 80’s and she knew the most about them thanks to the fact that kids tied the laces of their old shoes together and threw them over telephone wires. Most of them were Adidas or Nike. At his comment, Nell spread her arms and spoke in a dreamy voice, ”Live like Larry.” She liked Spongebob, and she usually had it on since it usually aired as she was getting ready for work. But she didn’t spend as much time watching shows as she did movies, and that was mostly when she was stuck inside and had nothing else to do. Nell blinked when he put down his flowers and then raised her eyebrow. ”Sounds like a plan.” It also sounded like someone she knew, but she kept the information about her bookworm boyfriend to herself as she returned to her own note-taking.
That is, until she felt the vibration in her pocket and took out her phone. She sighed, began cleaning up her stuff, including her paper cranes and shaking her head to get bangs out of her face. ”Sorry, my friend got his arm stuck in a vending machine and wants me to grease him out.” She rolled her eyes, and then sent an apologetic look toward Leo. ”I’ll see you around, I guess?” she said with a smile before waving with her free hand and exiting the library.
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