[!] GABRIELLA & ETHAN

[TAYLOR THE CANADIAN]

You have until January 2nd to make your first posts. Failure to do so will result in the locking of this thread and your disqualification from the event.

Once the place holder posts have been made, the thread will remain until it has gone inactive naturally (one month with no posts) or it is completed.

Have fun!

[gabriellaseong]

outfit

Gabi's hair was a mess. Her friends have been trying to find the right hairstyle for her blind date for the Valentine's events. Most of her friends are already taken, or just not interested. Gabriella was pressed ganged into this event. Even her mother joined in to make sure that she is signed up for this event. The only one who was against this was her brother. She appreciated him for being on her side, but she signed up because of all the pressure she was getting from her friends, and mother. After a few more times of combing out the tangles they created, they decided to give me a simple hairstyle, all of them smiled at their creation. Gabriella thanked them and slipped into a casual dress that my mom sent from my closet back home.

"You look so pretty, Gabi!" Sarah gushed as she made sure that everything was in place. Gabriella smiled at her own reflection. What she was really thinking was, Why did I ever sign up for this? The girl sighed as she walked to where she would meet her blind date. Lucky for her, the event was in doors. Gabriella looked around and saw that most people were wearing a pair of jeans, and a hoodie. Why did she let her friends dress her up, she felt awkward wearing a dress, even though it is casual to this blind date event. The girl scanned the room and found a table with her name on it. She walked towards the table and sat down on the chair. She felt embarrassed to be wearing a dress while most of the girls were wearing a pair of jeans with a nice top. Gabriella mentally slapped her forehead, that's what she should have decided to wear.

Gabriella sighed as she stood waiting for whoever is coming. She knows that the school will not pair her up with a fire elemental, if they did, surely something will happen. The girl held on to the card that her friends made sure she wrote. The girl couldn't come up with anything creative to put on the card. One, she has never been in a relationship, and two, she has no idea how love is supposed to feel like. Gabriella started to wonder how she would feel when she meets this guy. Maybe it will be someone she already knows. It would be awkward for her to start a conversation with someone she rarely knows, because this is a blind date, not a casual meet and greet.

Gabriella wasn't sure on how to present herself a few nights before this, but she decided to just be herself. She is already outgoing so this shouldn't be too hard, right? Even if this is a blind date, Gabi's going to treat it as if it's just a hang out with the guy she's supposed to be on a date with. Hanging out is sort of like dating, right? She's never been on a date, so she has no idea what it would be like, and how this will go. Gabi thinks that one reason why her mother urged her to do this is because she wants her to have the experience of going on a date. What's wrong with not ever been on a date? Gabi saw nothing wrong with that, but apparently society does. The girl frowned at that thought. Maybe it is a good thing that she's finally getting a chance to be on a date, for once. Maybe it will go well, or it won't. All these thoughts running through her head were making her more nervous than she already was earlier.

Gabi took in a breath to calm herself down. Okay, you can do this, this "date" will go well. Gabriella told herself, she even started to feel a bit more relaxed than she did earlier. Gabriella looked around the room for her blind date. She didn't even bother to look at the card that was in front of her. The point of a blind date is not knowing who the person is. If she did look, what's the point of going to this event? She wasn't sure if he was even coming, but Gabi decided to stay just to see if he will actually come.

[erin]

Peer pressure wasn’t something Ethan ever had a problem with. His bold personality usually kept him from giving into something he didn’t want to do. But he was human and occasionally he went astray from this belief. Such as now. The idea of being set up on a blind date sounded horrific to him. Potentially being matched up with someone he might hate? Or, worse, with a Fire or a Thunder? Yeah, that didn’t exactly sound like Ethan’s idea of fun. It wasn’t that he had a problem with being someone he didn’t know, he loved meeting new people, but just the whole concept of a blind date made him cringe, mostly because of the word ‘date.’ Ethan had never been pinned as being suave with the opposite sex, despite the fact that most of his friends tended to be girls. He found it such a struggle to move beyond the friend status, which was why he never had a girlfriend. Middle school proved to be torturous for him because having only girl friends and being the theater kid led to him being called gay on more than one occasion. And it was this ridicule that caused him to itch at any notion of a date. Really anything that dealt in the realm of romance made his skin crawl.

So why did he find himself anxiously standing in front of the mirror, making sure his hair looked decent enough and his outfit was okay? Honestly he wasn’t sure. All he knew was that his friend had talked him into it and was going to be at his apartment in a few minutes. She had talked him into tagging along, telling him that she didn’t want to go alone. And after sufficient begging and pleading, Ethan finally caved. It didn’t seem too terrible at the time; show up, make some small talk for a bit, and then go home, continuing his life. But now he hated himself for giving into his friend’s pleas. His curly dark locks seemed tidy enough for his liking and he was pleased with his dark jeans, white tee, and gray cardigan. But his appearance couldn’t replace the dread in his gut.

The doorbell rang exactly when his friend said she would be there. Shrugging on his black pea coat and a scarf, Ethan twisted the door knob and greeted his friend. His apartment was far enough from the Academy that they couldn’t walk so he hopped in her car and they were on their way. She seemed utterly excited for the day and all Ethan could do was nod and smile. He wasn’t going to show his nerves, of course not. Ethan never felt nervous and it wasn’t an experience he enjoyed. He knew he would play his nerves off well, one of the benefits of having acted a decent portion of his life. But it didn’t prevent the feeling he had in his gut of wanting to run home and forget this whole thing.

He and his friend entered the Academy and joined the group of people lingering around. “Oooh I see my name!” his friend exclaimed, pointing at a nearby table with a tall, muscular boy sitting down. Her face lit up. “Oh he is gorgeous! Catch you later Ethan, have fun!” And with that she flew over to her table, leaving Ethan alone in the crowd of people. He silently groaned to himself, figuring he should find where his name was. He nonchalantly peeked at the name cards of empty tables or tables with a girl sitting at them. Finally he found his name and to his relief his blind date was already there. He was nervous before that she wouldn’t have shown up.

He didn’t think he had met her before, although he was sure he had seen her around campus before. “Hi there, I’m Ethan,

[/color]” he greeted, his usual grin plastered on his face. He wasn’t sure what the proper protocol was for greeting someone on a blind date, or really a date at all, so he stuck his hand out like he always did when meeting someone. “Looks like we’re paired up for the next hour or so, huh?[/color]” Was that what he should have said? Should he complement her? Yes, that seemed about right. “You look very nice,[/color]” he told her, still smiling, trying to sound as casual as possible. Boy, it was going to be a long day.[/blockquote][/blockquote][/justify][/size]

[gabriellaseong]

Gabriella has been waiting for her "date" to come for about ten minutes. The girl was about to get up to use the restroom to freshen up, but her "date" finally arrived. The boy looked familiar but she didn't know his name. Gabriella is sure that she has seen his face before, but she doesn't remember where. He looked about her age or younger. "Hi, I'm Gabriella. It's nice to meet you." The girl said shaking the boy's hand. He seemed like a nice guy, maybe they will get a long. The two of them are off to a good start. "Yeah, I guess we are," Gabi said with a smile. It wasn't a compliment or anything but she just found it a bit amusing. "Thank you. You look nice, too." Gabriella felt the need to compliment him, too. He did look nice, he is cute. The girl can't deny that.

"So, have you been on other dates than this?" Gabriella asked, still holding on to the card she was supposed to give to her blind date. She wasn't sure if she wanted to. It did take her a while to come up with something, but it's probably an awkward letter for a blind date to read. This is Gabi's first "date" ever, her mother would definitely want to know all the details about this tonight. She sighed thinking about what her friends would pester her about. Gabriella took a drink of water from her cup, and set it down. The girl never liked blind dates, setting people up to go out is not how she planned on meeting her future husband. She wants to meet him on her own with no one interfering in their love life.

Gabriella thought this school would never do something like this, and that she would be pressed into doing this. The girl looked around the room again and saw one of her friends flirting with her blind date. It seems that every time she meets a cute guy she thinks that he will be the one, but comes to her friends crying because they broke up. Gabriella doesn't want to go through heart break, so she told herself to wait for the right guy to come along. If they are meant to be, it's going to happen sometime in the future, right?

[erin]

Now that he was finally at the Academy, his nerves had cooled down a bit. After all, he never had a problem with meeting new people, and wasn’t this pretty much the same thing? But then the fact that it was a blind date popped back into his mind. If it weren’t for that, Ethan was convinced he wouldn’t be nervous in the slightest. But, after meeting Gabriella, Ethan felt more relaxed and figured since he was here, he might as well make the most of it. All doubts aside, he’d at least make a new friend out of the day. Having greeted his date, Ethan decided it was okay to sit down. He removed his scarf and coat and draped them over the chair, which he sat in. “So, Gabriella, what year are you in?

[/color]” he asked her. She seemed around his age, which would explain the feeling that he had seen her before. He quickly wondered what element she was in, but was afraid to ask in fear of her being a Fire or Thunder. Of course he’d go along with the rest of the date if she were but grudgingly so. He decided to wait until she answered to ask her element, unless she asked him first. When she complemented him back, he grinned and responded with a, “Thanks.[/color]” She seemed nice and Ethan’s outlook on the whole blind date thing started to shift to being brighter.

“Well, certainly not like this, with the whole blind date thing,[/color]” he said lightly with a smirk, “But I guess I have been a couple dates before. Nothing ever serious…[/color]” His voice trailed off. He’d never been serious with a girl before and frankly the thought scared him. But he had been a date or two before, taken a girl out to the movies or coffee but that was where it ended. “What about you?[/color]” he asked, wondering if he was prying too much but figured it was okay since she had asked it first. He realized the whole dating scene was sometimes a touchy topic with some people, he being one of them sometimes. He didn’t really know much when it came to dates and knew he would be able to relate to Gabriella if she too wasn’t experienced in the dating world.

Ethan jogged his mind for something to talk about. Neither of them knew each other and what better time was there to learn about someone than on a date? So, he said the first thing that came to mind. “Hmm, so tell me something about yourself,[/color]” he said, but then realized how broad that really was. “Like hobbies or sports you play or something like that.[/color]” He smiled then, hoping he wasn’t making things awkward. As outgoing as he was, he found himself skilled in the realm of awkward situations as well.
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[gabriellaseong]

She saw her date approach and was glad that he introduced himself to her first. Gabriella wasn't sure what to say to him when he came. His handshake was nice and firm, the way she would like anyone to shake her hand when meeting them for the first time. Yeah, it's kind of formal, but it's always been the best way to make an impression. The girl looked up at Ethan when he asked her what year she is in. Gabriella smiled, "I'm a sophomore, how about you?" It seemed only fair that she should ask, too. Sure it's what most people ask when they meet for the first time, but it's fine with her, as long as the two of them have a good conversation, she'll be okay with it. From the look of things, it seems like this will be a nice blind date for Gabi and Ethan. "You're welcome," the girl replied to his thank you. She was telling him the truth, he looked nice in that outfit he put together. Even though his outfit does make Gabi feel a bit overdressed for this event. Gabi sighed inwardly as she thought about her friends who always pestered her about the way she dressed for school.

Gabriella nodded as Ethan told her about his dating experience. She was hoping that he wouldn't ask, but of course he does. The girl didn't want him to judge her for not ever have been on a date before. Most people find that as a flaw, as if people don't find you like-able. "This, will be my first," Gabriella hesitated and looked down at her lap, embarrassed by this fact. Hopefully Ethan won't find this fact as a negative thing, maybe he's different. Maybe he thinks that it's good to have not been on a date for eighteen years. Gabi believes that she still needs time to mature before going out with anyone, really. Gabriella would wait for the one she is meant to be with instead of throwing her heart around.

"I play tennis, whenever I'm free. I like to read, cook, and hanging out, you?" Gabriella replied to Ethan's second question about her. Those are the three things that she does whenever she finished studying and doing the assignments her professors assigned, and yes even after hours of practicing her water manipulating skills so her professor won't nag at her. Gabriella couldn't think of anything else that she was interested in.

[erin]

When Gabriella told him she was a sophomore he nodded and responded, “Freshman, just started the whole college shin-dig.

[/color]” He smirked and folded his hands on the table, relaxing in his chair. At this point his nerves had completely dispersed, Ethan feeling back in his own element of meeting new people. “What are you majoring in?[/color]” he asked to make more conversation and because it was the thing people usually ask when they find out you’re in college. He found it rather annoying sometimes when adults constantly asked what he was going to major in before he got to college, but he couldn’t blame them for it. Then, because he couldn’t hold off on the question any longer, “If you don’t mind my asking…what element are you...?[/color]” Ethan tended to be a little frank with his words sometimes mostly because he was never shy about what he asked. If he wanted to know something he usually would just come out and say it no matter the reaction.

He was surprised to hear it was Gabriella’s first date, but he understood. He’d never had an actual, serious girlfriend before which was something he found embarrassing so he could relate to her on that level. Ethan merely grinned at Gabriella and told her, “Ah, don’t worry about it. Hey, everyone’s got to have a first date sometime, right?[/color]” He kept his tone light yet sincere. “Well I am honored to be your first date, I promise we’ll make it a good one,[/color]” he said, smirking. He would never judge someone by their lack of experience with the opposite sex because he himself was no expert. It was a sore topic for him and he could understand if it was for other people as well.

He nodded as Gabriella answered his question. “Oh very nice! Hm, I have never picked up a tennis racket, my cooking expertise extends to making a bowl of cereal, but I do love to read,[/color]” he said with a smile, trying to make some connections. “Well I love music, been playing the guitar for years, and I do musical theater, I’ve been acting since I was a kid,[/color]” he told her. These two interests of his were more than just hobbies, though. They were his passions, the two things that kept him sane when he still lived with his father and had to endure the torture of middle school. And he found himself wanting to make a career out of them.

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[gabriellaseong]

Gabi smiled when Ethan said that he was a freshmen. She remembered her first year quite well. It was a chaotic yet fun experience, and now she knows she needs to buckle down and study, because the material is only going to be harder from here. Enjoy it, the workload is going to increase." Gabriella said as a word of advice to the little freshmen. She did her best to enjoy her first year of college, and she did. "I'm a Psych major, you?" The girl said fiddling holding onto the card, not sure when to give it to him. Gabi doesn't even really remember what she wrote on the card. She had to write it right before coming out to this event. Gabi looked up when Ethan asked what element she was. "I'm a water elemental." She answered with a soft smile.

When Gabi told Ethan that this was her first date, ever she was expecting something different from him. What made her smile was when he said he was honored to be her first date. "Thanks." She felt shy for some reason. She usually isn't shy when meeting new people, but maybe because of the word "date" is still in the back of her head. This is just like meeting a new friend, so why is she being so timid? Gabirella tucked her hair behind her ear. This is just like meeting a new friend at an event, it's not a date. Gabriella told herself, she was trying to calm her nerves down, even though Ethan seems to be a nice guy. He might even be the same element as her.

Gabriella chuckled when Ethan mentioned his cooking skills. Most college students are like that, they come to school without knowing how to cook much. But for some reason Gabi is a kitchen girl, she can stay in there for hours, preparing something or just even doing homework, after the counters have been cleaned. Gabriella nodded when Ethan said that he loves to read. Not many guys are avid readers so she was glad to know that Ethan has a love for books. "Wow, really? I wish I knew how to play the guitar," Gabriella commented after Ethan answered her question. "And I do love musicals," Gabi added, it's true. She has been into musicals for a while now, probably ever since she watched The Sound of Music. She loves that musical, and the songs are really good.

[erin]

Ethan smirked at Gabriella’s comment about college. “Oh joy, looking forward to it,

[/color]” he replied sarcastically. Actually accomplishing his schoolwork wasn’t something Ethan was exactly good at. He preferred pushing it off until the last minute and regretting his procrastination the night before something was due. The biggest adjustment work-wise Ethan had to make now being in college was his studying. He realized he actually had to do it, and most of the time just breezing through his book the night before didn’t cut it. Unfortunately he was starting to learn that the hard way. He nodded when Gabriella told him her major, not exactly keen on the whole psychology-thing. He was taking an intro class in it and had no idea what was going on, but he wasn’t going to admit to that. “I was undecided before, but I finally landed on music,[/color]” he said. It was rather recent that he had declared his major, being hesitant before about going after it, mainly because of what his dad would think. But lately he found himself not giving a damn about his father’s opinion. Ethan couldn’t help but feel relieved when Gabriella said she was a water elemental as well. “Oh, lovely, well then we don’t have to worry about alliances and whatnot because I’m a water too. That’s a relief,[/color]” he admitted, smiling. He didn’t put too much into alliances, but he mostly kept his space when it came to Fires and Thunders.

He hoped Gabriella didn’t feel embarrassed about not having gone on a date before because he honestly didn’t find anything odd about it. He certainly was no expert in the romance department and didn’t know the first thing about how to act romantically. Whenever he was around a girl he liked, he just asked the same way he always did around people. Which was probably why he was constantly stuck in the ‘friend-zone’…but nonetheless Ethan was glad to be Gabriella’s first date. “It’s really not as hard as it looks, at least not the basics. You’d be surprised by the simplicity of some of the songs out there today,[/color]” he said with a light laugh. “I’ve been playing since I was a kid. Actually I work at the music store downtown and I give lessons, if you’d like to swing down one day I could show you some chords,[/color]” he suggested, grinning. He loved sharing anything music-related with other people because it was his heart and soul. As were musicals. “It’s hard not to, huh? Something about the theater is just…magical,[/color]” he said, getting a little dreamy-eyed at the thought of it. Not everyone shared his strong passion for the arts—especially not many guys. But it was something that went down deep in him.


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[gabriellaseong]

Gabriella nodded as she listened to Ethan's answer about his major. She was undecided for sometime, and he's only a freshman so he still has time to change it if he wants to. It's kind of late for Gabi to do so, she only has two more years at this school, and then she's out, or she can transfer, but she still needs to master her powers. Her mom probably doesn't want her to transfer out of the Academy. When Gabriella told Ethan what elemental she is he relaxed. She smiled when she saw this she couldn't help but smile. Was he that nervous about what elemental his date would be? Gabriella isn't sure what she would do if her blind date ended up being a fire elemental. She was mainly nervous about this "date" thing. She tried her best to get that word out of her head, but it keeps coming back up somehow.

Gabriella did feel a bit embarrassed that this is her first time on a date. Well at least it seems like this date will go well, and Ethan seems like a gentleman to everyone he meets. Even though the girl hasn't really been intimate with any guys her age, she knows what she looks for a in a guy. She finds this weird because she hasn't been too close to any guy but her brother. Her brother always made sure that she isn't hanging out with one guy who she sees everyday. He was always overprotective like that. He's probably going to want to know about Ethan, what kind of guy he is, and if he's been a gentleman throughout this little date.

"I'd love that, but do I have to have my own guitar?" Gabi responded to Ethan's invite to his guitar lessons. She's hasn't been able to explore the town that the Academy is surrounded by, so this would be nice for her to go out and learn something for fun. Gabriella has been interested in learning how to play for a while. The water elemental smiled when Ethan said that theater was magical. "Yes, yes it does," She said agreeing with him, and drinking from her cup of water.

[erin]

Ethan smiled to himself, pleased that the date was going well. He had to admit, he had some negative preconceptions going into this whole thing. For starters, the whole blind date thing to him sounded like he was going to get paired up with someone who was weird or crazy. The fact that he had signed up for a blind date made him feel desperate and needy, which was not something he was at all. He was afraid whoever he got paired up with would be that type of person. But he was fully satisfied that that wasn’t the case. Being paired up with Gabriella was such a relief because to him she seemed kind and friendly and easy to get along with. He was grateful there was no awkwardness and conversation wasn’t hard to keep up. If anything, he hoped he had made a new friend out of the day.

Ethan sat up in his chair and ran a hand through his tangled curls. He had actually tried to tame his hair today, rather than leave it in the curly mess it usually was in. He briefly wondered how much time had passed and how much was left. They’d been there for a while now but Ethan couldn’t be sure on the time. Ethan grinned at Gabriella’s response to his offer, happy to hear that she would be interested. He shook his head. “Nope, if you don’t have one that’s fine, the store will lend you one for the lesson,

[/color]” he told her. Ethan did enjoy his new job, especially when they let him give lessons. It always excited him to pass on what he knew and inspire people in music. If he could get even just one person to find a love and passion for music through lessons, then he was happy. “Here, I’ll give you my number, you can let me know if you want to come down one day.[/color]” He took the card from the table and ripped it in half, jotted down the seven digits with a pen sitting on the table, and handed it to Gabriella.
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[gabriellaseong]

Gabriella smiled when Ethan mentioned that the store lends people a guitar. It's probably one of their used guitars that they lend to people. The girl thinks that people who want to learn would always look into the new ones instead of the used ones. Gabi knows she will, but then again she doesn't know much about instruments, and how one should buy one. Maybe a used one would be better than a new one. Hopefully she will be able to get there without getting lost. She isn't the type of person who likes to travel on her own. "Alright, and I'll text you so you can have mine," Gabriella said as she folded the piece of paper and put in the pocket of her dress. The girl can see her friends getting excited over a couple of numbers on a piece of paper.

"So when are your lessons?" Gabriella asked. She wasn't sure if Ethan ever told her what time or what days he gave lessons. She will have to squeeze it into her schedule somehow. She does need to study and practice her abilities more whenever she can. Besides that this little Valentine's day event has gone really well so far. She can see her and Ethan being good friends after this.

[erin]

Ethan was happy to hear that Gabriella was interested in picking up the guitar and glad that he could help. His favorite part about work was giving lessons, and he found that they had been giving him more of these shifts lately. He didn’t do all that well on the floor, helping customers, mostly because he got bored of it quickly. And when he got bored he tended to slack off. But giving lessons kept him interested and he could teach practically any instrument, being as he played a little bit of everything they carried, Guitar, bass, piano, drums, you name it, he could probably show you something on it. And above all else, he could at least teach how to read music. He nodded at Gabriella. “All right cool, sounds great,

[/color]” he said with a smile.

“My schedule tends to change from week to week but I’m almost always there on Saturdays during the day giving lessons,[/color]” he answered. He realized weekdays could get busy, especially with schoolwork and everything. Of course, Ethan was much more laid back than some people when it came to homework so it didn’t bother him much having to work. He noticed that some people around them had been wrapping up their dates, some people standing to put on coats. He glanced at his watch. “Oh jeez, look at the time! I guess it’s just about up,[/color]” he said. He hardly realized it was drawing near to the end.
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[gabriellaseong]

Gabriella smiled, and was excited about this. She has always wanted to learn how to play the guitar and learn how to play her favorite songs on an instrument. And she always wondered how artists can sing and strum at the same time. It seems easy but it might be hard for her. "That's perfect, my Saturdays are always free." Gabriella says with a smile. Of course her Saturdays are free, no school, but she also practices and studies whenever she can. The girl looks around the room to find that it's almost empty. Have the two of them been really talking for that long? It seemed like this would last a few more minutes, but maybe it was time for people to go.

"Yeah I guess so." Gabriella said getting up and fixing the skirt of her dress. She extends her hand to Ethan for one last handshake before the two of them will meet again, "It was nice meeting you," The girl said with a smile on her face. It was nice meeting him. Ethan's a great guy, and even though their conversation was cut short, she had a good time.