[open] Origin of Species [open]

[Laken Rose Cullens]

How cliche, going to a coffee shop with a book. To Laken Rose Cullens, that screams a few things. First, it screamed nerd; the book says it all. It is not just any old book, it a book for her science class, The Origin of Species. This blonde beauty was into biology way more than any person should be allowed on this planet. Second, it screamed loser; she couldn't even find a friend to go have coffee with her, which to her seemed pretty pathetic. Third, it screamed lonely, depressed, emo child; everyone knew emo kids loved coffee.

Laken knew she looked like a loser. She knew how the rest of the world at Banting would perceive her. Blowing that off, she walked across the street to the coffee shop. Her love of coffee and need to study pushed her forward, all other peoples judgments out of her head. She'd never cared before what others thought of her, why start now?

With her ear buds shoved into her ears, the buds attached to her pink Zune, as usual, she was of course listening to music. It was set to random again, the way she liked it unless she was in a particular kind of mood. Laken was never to be found without her Zune much less it not being attached to her head. It was her trademark look, the thing she always had on. Some people had a certain necklace, others a certain hair style, but she always had her ear buds in.

Getting to the shop, she walked in and went straight to the counter. Of course she saw countless classmates and other students from her school. Laken ignored them, time for some serious caffeine and reading. She ordered a Berry White Rabbit, one of her favorite things from a coffee shop back home. White mocha with berry flavoring and whipped cream on top. Very girly, but it was her fix and she needed it now.

Grabbing her cup, she carefully walked over to one of the many tables, hers being empty. Laken was surrounded by quiet chatter, which she would easily block out when she began to read. Seeing all the groups though, she kind of regretted not asking someone to come with her; she was sure others needed to study as well. With a sigh and a feeling of regret, she sat down and opened up her book. It really was lonely but she focused on the words in the book, letting her subconscious take over worrying about the lonely feeling in her stomach.

[Lukas Greene]

Coffee. It wasn't necessarily something that Lukas particularly enjoyed. Perhaps it was that the only times he had tasted it, it was the cheap, burnt sort of flavoring that felt bitter on his tongue. Perhaps that he had once spilt it on himself, causing a few burns, that made his mind unable to accept the flavor. But for whatever reason, it wasn't something that he drank, no matter how much his friends insisted that it would wake him up and give him energy.

And yet, here he was, opening the woodframed glass of a door, and knowing he had entered the coffee shop by the chime of a bell overhead, and the smell of roast beans that enticed his nostrils. It nearly made him order one of the steaming cups, accompanied by a hand sleeve to protect him from the heat. And yet, he remembered the last time that he had been convinced by the smell and had taken one swig, only to spew it upon the freshly mopped floor. And so, instead, he purchased a safe cocoa, feeling in the mood for the milky, chocolately flavor the drink would bring.

After paying and taking a few warm sips, he scanned the shop. He didn't notice any of his friends or team mates, not surprising considering they preferred to hang out in places that were, perhaps, more suited to their parents income that they all too willingly liked to spend. And he himself would hardly ever come here, but for some reason today his feet had carried him to this very destination.

Most of the tables were full of people, girls gossiping, couples gazing at each other, and the few guys that chose to hang around to flirt with whatever girls they could find or to cause the owner and manager as much difficulty as possible by attempting to cause mischeif and turn the place to a dump; and quite possibly some of them acheiving.

But as he took another look he noticed one girl, sitting alone, book in hand, some manner of a beverage in the other. Lukas hadn't seen her before, though he guessed that she did attend Banting University, as most of the people that came to this coffee shop did. In need of some sort of conversation, and not wishing to approach a group of people, he wandered towards her nonchalantly. Still grasping his cocoa he slid into a cushioned chair across from the girl, smiling in an almost shy manner.

He spoke to her in a smooth, even voice, trying to speak kindly and modestly. "Hey." It was, in all, a very stupid sounding phrase to use, and clearly clique, but when in doubt, it was better than nothing. "Science, eh? Interesting choice." He spoke, addressing what she was reading. While he was, in essence, popular, without being on a sports field or without his friends, or people that looked up to him, near or with him, he was out of his element. A feeling that he experienced all to often when he moved as frequently as he did.

[Laken Rose Cullens]

Looking up from her text, a small smile instantly came across her face at the greeting of the stranger. Laken was very much into being polite, friendly, and welcoming to anyone, even people she wasn't the fondest of. It was blessing and a burden; she could make friends easily but if she didn't want to be around someone, well, good luck trying to get them away from the girl. That part was very much a burden.

"Hello," she said conversationally. Her blue eyes momentarily met his until he commented on her book. Oh geez, she thought, now I know I look like a loser. Mentally, she was kicking herself in the face for not thinking of a better place to study and get her geeky habits out of her system. Though she was feeling quiet a bit like a loser, Laken figured it might be better this way, having people know her geeky habits before they started talking to her too much. Better them know in the start than to find out a few months later and have them flip out.

Her eyes darting back to the book, her hands tilting the spine toward her so she could briefly read the title, she nodded. Why in the world did she just check the title? It wasn't an uncommon thing, when people were talking about books. Laken never understood why people would do that when they were reading; it wasn't like the person with the book could have forgotten the title, they were just reading it. In her head, it didn't make any sense to her, yet she just did what she thought to be goofy and silly.

"Thanks," she said when the boy commented on the book being an interesting choice. "I love biology." What else could she say on the book without rambling on about evolution and things her company wasn't even interested in. It would probably just scare the poor boy away. Laken had learned to control what she said, not to scare people away with her vast amounts of knowledge. That took a lot of practice.

"It's about evolution, really," she said, a little apologetically for categorizing the book so generally. She knew he didn't care, she knew it wouldn't matter to him, she knew all this, but she still said the things she knew he wouldn't care about. Laken had put the ball into his court now, knowing that what he said would make or break the conversation, and not having that control put her a little on the edge as she waited for his reply.

[Lukas Greene]

There were a million ways that he could answer the girl. The vast majority of which were only usable when surrounded by his friends, the people who would instantly judge the girl as a loser, for who honestly cared about science, biology, evolution to be specific, enough to spend spare moments of their precious, money enriched lives with it. Of course, there was no true way of telling if this girl had a money enriched life, without asking, that is. If she did, she didn’t entirely like to flaunt it in people’s faces as Lukas, and posse of friends, did, by wearing flashy labels.

He quickly ran his fingers through his hair, blinking a few times to clear his head. Why was it that he couldn’t just blow the girl off right now, just laugh at her book, what she said, make fun of something with her appearance, and leave smiling? It was something that he had done on several occasions. But always then he had been with his friends, someone had noticed the girl sitting alone, and the “fun” had started. But here he was, away from all his friends, talking with a girl that could quite possibly ruin his reputation, and at that moment, he was willing to risk it, just to see what it was like talking to her.

He let his eyes wander from the book cover to the girl herself. His brown eyes looking into her clear blue ones, wondering if she would look back into his. Realizing that it was, in fact, he was supposed to be responding at this point in time, he sat up a bit more, taking a sip of the chocolately substance to buy for time. How do you answer someone about something that he really didn’t have an interest in? Of course, science was quite possibly his worst subject, something that his mother, or rather adoptive mother, wasn’t entirely happy about. A tutor couldn’t hurt, assuming that he actually talked to her long enough that she would care if he was barely getting by in science.

“Evolution… So is this for your science class or do you just like knowing that I turned from a monkey into an intelligent monkey-person?” It was quite possibly the worst attempt at humor that he had experienced, but he was dying here. Perhaps he should tell her that it was his worst subject. But how can you respond to that? Oh, that’s too bad. See, it’s my best subject, I do all the extra credit and everything. Good luck passing the midterm, though. She wouldn’t feel ridiculous saying that, at all. But, unable to come up with anything else, he decided he would have to risk it. “Science is sort of, well, definitely, my worst subject.”

And now, as though playing an agonizing game of catch, he had just thrown the ball back to her. He leaned back in his seat again, for that throw seemed to have taken a great deal of thought. And seemingly, as well, it had drained an immense amount of energy, and color, from his body. Now what could she say that would make me sound any less stupid.

[Laken Rose Cullens]

Happily accepting the proverbial ball of conversation, Laken did indeed look back at him, unafraid of looking him in the eyes. The bright blue color had been described to her many times before as piercing, sometimes even creepy because they seemed to see right through everything. She had in the past shrugged those thoughts off, not taking them to heart, knowing very well she could do nothing about her appearance. Besides, being a little unique never killed anyone... often.

Laughing lightly at her company's attempt at humor, she decided to give some of it back. "I don't need a book to tell me you came from a monkey," she said, hoping the jest in her voice would be strong enough for the boy to know she was just joking around, "all I need to do is look at your face."

Laken was very open at times. While she was a shy, quiet, smart, pretty bookworm at first, if the person she was around made a joke, no matter how terrible it was, she would answer back with one. It was something about humor that she loved and would never pass up a chance to tell one, no matter how terrible it was. She hoped with all her might that the boy knew she was kidding. She actually found him to be quiet easy on the eyes.

Giving him enough time to reply to her early comment, she replied to his with a smile on her face. "Oh, that's okay. Only nerds are good at it," she said to him, taking the pressure off him and onto her, not wanting him to feel uncomfortable about him admitting he wasn't the greatest at science. "Besides, I'm sure you're a lot better than you say," Laken said to him, her voice upbeat and confident.

The proverbial ball of conversation was thrown back to her company, and as she waited for his reply, she stuck one finger in the book and closed it lightly around her finger, her blue eyes looking back into his brown eyes, still hoping he wouldn't take her monkey comment too seriously.

[Lukas Greene]

As her eyes gazed into his, he acted much the way that any guy would to being faced next to a quite beautiful model; he attempted to speak and found that all that would come out was a small uhhn, in other words, he found himself instantly lose half of his IQ, a thing that he couldn’t lose. But as what she said finally registered, he drew away from her eyes quickly enough to be able to speak in intelligent language.

Grinning widely, a truth grin, not one of some other, confusing, emotion, erupted across his recently made-fun of face. “I get that reaction a lot. Particularly when all I can respond to a girl is ‘uhhn’. But I’m happy to say that my mother still finds in necessary to dress me, since I seem to have lost the majority of my fur.” It seemed like a quick-fire of comedy, bouncing back and forth like one of the rubber balls that you could put in a quarter in the machine, and they would come out in little plastic orbs. But as he spoke, he was worried that perhaps she wouldn’t catch his humor. Of course she would understand that he was kidding, he had deemed her someone with enough intelligence to have skipped several grades already, let alone detect jokes within words.

But saying that his mother dressed him? He honestly wasn’t sure what he had been thinking by that comment, seeming as she hadn’t dressed him since he was four, for the day before his fifth birthday he had declared ‘I’m all grown up now!’ and had happily told his mother she didn’t have to dress him. Of course, after walking around naked for the first half of the day, she had decided to tell him that, if she wasn’t to dress him, he actually had to put on clothing.

Lukas gazed at her again, her face was appealing; full lips, her pale complexion was without marks, and of course her almond shaped eyes, the eyes he could hardly look at, but didn’t want to look away from. And she seemed to be one that cared more for being smart than most of the girls he went for. Not that he had really found any girl that he truly liked that had felt the same for him. And as he sat there, in a coffee shop, sipping from his cup and her from hers, he realized that he still didn’t know her name. And here he had been for all this time, and neither had introduced themselves… He was about to tell her his name, when she spoke again. Her voice was soft and kind, welcoming but playful.

“You’re certainly prettier than any nerd I’ve ever met. And I guess that by being a nerd you’re definitely smarter than most people I’ve been around. So far I’m not quite seeing why it’s so bad to be a nerd, as some girls seem to hate being called that.” Lukas knew that he was being quite upfront by calling her pretty, but it was true, and he wanted for her to know it. Of course, he didn’t wish to scare her away by being overly, well, himself. “The only way I could be better than what I say is by saying that I’m failing. Can’t do that, otherwise I won’t be able to play soccer. Or do anything else I’m good at, for that matter.” He smiled at her again, not wishing to be negative with what he said, just stating that he was okay with her, so called, “nerdiness”, as it seemed to be getting her somewhere, or it would eventually if it hadn’t yet.

It seemed that the sporting of this conversation was going to continue, not let the ball drop halfway there and leave both of them to decide whether or not to go get the ball, or to just allow the other to try and pick it up. But before he threw it, he had to get something else in. “I don’t believe I know your name.” He said. He didn’t really feel like giving her his name until she answered, just in case she decided to drop the ball where she was and leave the field, he didn’t want to let her leave with a souvenir from the day. Though he didn’t think she would do that.

[Laken Rose Cullens]

As Laken mentally wrapped her fingers around the proverbial ball of conversation, she thought of Kyle for a brief second. These two were so different, the one sitting across from her and her friend. It was mind boggling to her how she could attract such a wide variety of people. They were different indeed; she'd never laughed or joked like this with Kyle, though so far, she hadn't been serious with this boy either.

After a second of that quick thought, all thoughts of Kyle were brushed away again and she focused on the conversation at hand. Laken had a picture in her mind of the boy in front of her as a small child, covered in blonde hair. Progressing through his life, she pictured less and less hair until he was around fourteen, all monkey-like hair on his body gone. She laughed at the picture, and at him since he was the one who put the image in her head.

"Well, I'm glad you're not running around naked at least," she said in between laughs. "It's kind of illegal now a days."

She was going to let her mind elaborate and let her eyes wander to take all of him in but before she got a chance, her thoughts were interrupted by the compliment the boy had given her. She was certainly prettier than any nerd he'd ever met. Laken's eyes held a small amount of shock that he had enough confidence to say that. Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink at the compliment, not used to having boys to be bold around her. All the boys she knew were very quiet. She was a little flustered, her mouth opening to say thank you, but nothing coming out. Hopefully, she could get her brains back to answer anything else he said.

Laken smiled shyly at the boy as he went on to talk about nerds and how people didn't like being called that. That she could answer, her brains rushing back to her head. She chuckled and said, "I can't deny what I am, so why be offended." It was true. While she liked being labeled as herself, she did have nerdy and geeky tendencies. She was well aware of that and wouldn't say otherwise. She wasn't so insecure about herself that she would deny she liked to study, liked to get good grades, and was usually doing something to improve her knowledge.

Then, he mentioned sports. The lights clicked on in Laken's head as some of the pink from her cheeks left. He was a jock, a popular person, someone who could kick a ball better than he could write an essay. She understood, she got it. That simple sentence was all she needed to evaluate the boy in front of her. She'd watched enough people, known enough people to know what he was like, to know he was going against his crowds wishes to talk to her. Though she found that a tad bit offensive, she would continue their conversation like nothing had clicked in her mind.

The statement of the boy not knowing her name withdrew her from her own thoughts, and she looked back at him, in the eyes again. The shy smile was still on her face as she looked at him. Laken was decided if she should or should not give the boy her name. If he was indeed like all the other jocks, he could use her name against her, openly mocking and teasing and spreading rumors. People would know who she was if he used her specific name, not just a physical description. Should she trust him enough with her name?

"Laken," she said, her tone holding a touch of distrust and shyness. "Laken Rose Cullens."

She decided to trust him.

[Lukas Greene]

Lukas grinned at her next comment, partially for the humor, but more so by the slight embarrassment that this caused him. He wasn’t one to blush, his face generally stayed the same, tanned, color, through emotions, the only thing that could truly change it was the cold while in the mountains and the heat while in the center of summer. But, as she had just been kidding, it would be rude of him to either stop the joking, something that would tense up their conversation remarkably, or to just not answer that, and leave her wondering whether she had gone too far, something that wasn’t the case.

“Well, it took awhile to get the pants on my legs and the shirt on my chest, but I’m sure that by Sophomore year I had it down pretty well. Except that one time…” He smiled openly after the pause, allowing expressions to continue the sentence, as no words could quite act in the same way. “You just get charged a fine, generally. Some guy at my old school collected enough money, and some profit, and then ran across the football field at half time. Only problem… You have to climb a fence to get back.” He grimaced at the memory of the lit field, how his breath had been showing in front of his face, a hat was passed in front of him, and what had happened next to the boy. “Definitely not a thing that I would like to do.”

His eyes were straying about the place, attempting not to look at the eyes. The piercing stare that felt as if it knew him, but was judging him on everything that they could learn from his speech. It was as though, by talking to someone who actually cared about their schoolwork and would live off more than just their parents fortune, he was becoming known in a different way. Like she would judge him on what she picked up from his words, and by bringing up sports to her, he may have just ruined his chances of getting to know the girl.

But as the color came to her face, spreading over her cheeks in a blush, he looked back at her, meeting her eyes, trying to read what they thought of him. They didn’t hold the hatred that other cliques often showed for him. Didn’t hold the lust that some people wished they could be him. Didn’t show the laughing fun of people that were around him. They didn’t hold the disappointment that many of his teachers had for him after exams, knowing he could do better, but realizing he didn’t care enough to. And still, they didn’t show the love that his parents felt for their only child, even though he looked nothing like them, and would never share the blood in their veins. So where did that leave him, in her eyes? Was he just a popular snob to her? A jock who didn’t care for anything but sports, his teammates, and himself? Or did she think that she could find something besides those two, and was being disappointed by what she found? There was truly only one way to find out, and that was to sit here, with his empty drink, and talk to her. Truly talk to her like no one he had ever talked to before. Because, for once, he actually cared what someone said.

As his thoughts continued, he realized that, unless he answered her statement, she would leave him in his thoughts, for he wasn’t talking to her. “That’s good not to deny who you are. But…” This was his chance to try to ask her in a way that wasn’t totally upfront like he had been before. He realized that, if you were going to talk to someone like her, you had to bring things up gradually, not place everything on the table. “Can’t you be more than your clique gives you? I mean, someone that’s a nerd could also be a jock… Couldn’t they? And just because someone is, say, wanting to be popular, that doesn’t mean that they don’t care about other things, like schoolwork, does it? I don’t know. Maybe this is why people take philosophy.” He felt as though he was getting in too deep with a stranger, someone he had met only brief minutes before. It was one thing to joke, but quite another to get deep into stuff like cliques. Particularly when they were dealing with too quite different ones, themselves.

Laken. Laken Rose Culens. She surprised him by answering him upfront, not playing mind games like the flirtatious girls did at the mall, among other places. He thought that every girl giggled and asked for his name a thousand times before finally answering. How refreshing that a girl didn’t have to giggle to tell someone her name. “I’m Lukas Greene.” Feeling as though he should lighten the moment, he stood up, stood beside her and extended his hand. “Very pleased to meet you.” He addressed her in his best British accent, which wasn’t a very good one. He felt as though now was when he was supposed to ask her to dance, but the only music on was the elevator sort, hardly something he could Waltz to. And he doubted that she would want to attract that much attention.

And so, yet again, the ball was thrown. A shorter distance, as the two came together with knowledge, but a heavier ball, as the weight of their words now meant more to the other, and everything they said could be used against them. As now, they had shared their names.

[Laken Rose Cullens]

As the boy across from her told his story, Laken listened with interest. She laughed quietly at the appropriate places, very amused by the story. "I'm so sorry you had to see such a horrific sight," she said. "I would need months of therapy to get over such an event."

Almost dropping the ball out of pure surprise, Laken had not been expecting something so... deep wasn't the right words though it was close to that. It wasn't something someone of his status usually asked. Only in movies did people like him ask girls like her questions like that. They were definitely not in a movie and it surprised the crap out of her. She of course at the last second saved the ball from hitting the floor, again surprised by how it was heavier this time.

She moved in her chair, repositioning herself as she listened to the words that came from her company's mouth. She sat up straighter, more attentive almost, slightly leaned forward in interest. It was unexpected but pleasant and she would not let this subject drop until she was sure that he was done talking about it. Laken knew it was going to be an interesting conversation, to say the least.

"Well," she said thoughtfully after letting him finish speaking and giving herself a few seconds to get her thoughts together. "Nothing is impossible. You could belong to a certain clique, a certain group, and still do other things, yes. People don't have to let their label or peoples perception of them govern their lives and what they do, how they think, or how they act."

All this was much easier said than done of course. Laken knew people weren't always that accepting or that open minded. She knew people weren't always brave enough to step out and be different than what people expected them to be. It was hard, she knew this. While she was speaking idealistic words, it was words she lived by, she knew others would not, or simple could not, do the same, for whatever reason. That was, after all, the reason cliques even existed; people acted and did the things other people thought they should, placing themselves into groups.

The only truly unlabeled student Laken had ever seen was herself. She knew she was attractive, though she didn't believe it, by people telling her so. She knew she got good grades, she worked very hard to do so. She knew she had many different types of friends included the geeky kind, the emotional kind, and now the popular type. In her eyes, she never fit in a specific place, she just was, and talked to whom ever and did what ever pleased her.

"A jock could be a nerd as well, I suppose. People are people and have their own different interests, needs, and wants. Just because people are grouped together and are suppose to be one way, it's okay to be different because the world is filled with people, not robots."

Laken surprised herself at what she just said. Though she didn't let her confidence waver on the outside, she felt vulnerable on the inside. The boy could easily make fun of her, laugh at her, and tell others to do the same. All because she had idealistic thoughts, she could be ridiculed. Maybe the boy wasn't talking to her to become friends, maybe it was to find ways to expose her, to make others laugh at her. That was a little unnerving to her because a boy this cute and popular should not be talking to a girl like her.

Distracted by her company standing up, she learned his name. Lukas Greene. Well, it certainly had a nice ring to it. She took his hand while laughing lightly over his fake accent. "It's very nice to meet you too, mate," she said, following suite and using a fake accent just as horrible as his. Laken liked the good humor they shared together. It was nice to laugh so much and be able to be serious at the same time. She happily tossed back the ball, hoping he would catch it and not let their conversation drop, though it was getting heavier with each pass.

[Lukas Greene]

It was refreshing to have someone that truly listened to you. While he talked she truly seemed interested in what he was saying, it wasn’t as though she was just waiting for the perfect chance to change the subject back to what she liked, what she was doing, about how she looked, and about the problems in her life. Every time she laughed, a quiet tinkling sound, it made his mouth instantly spread wider, allowing whitened teeth to shine through. “What makes you think that I didn’t go to therapy? Matter of fact, I haven’t been let out of it yet.” He paused to look at an imaginary watch on his wrist, then looked up at her. “Hopefully I don’t have to cut this conversation short so that I can get to it on time. If I don’t show up two minutes before then they call in- you know- the men. The ones with the coats. Of that color.” He raised an eyebrow at her, then burst out with laughter.

As he collected himself from his own humor, [he cracks himself up xD] he was yet again surprised by how intent on his own words she was. Her entire body seemed to be attentive towards what was flowing from his mouth, making him feel almost as though he was on a stage, and held a captive audience. A feeling that made him feel slightly on the spot; there wasn’t much pressure when your audience just continued on with their own lives, only thinking of themselves, and talking during the performance. But when all those people were actually listening, actually paying attention to every detail of the set and the actors, it made Lukas on the verge of being nervous; she would notice if he screwed up what he was saying, she would care if he said the wrong thing.

But as she spoke, he found the worries of what the crowd thought lifted, as though he had picked out one person from the flock that would love it, no matter how goofy he looked or how many lines he forgot. And sitting there, with Laken, Lukas felt closer to her than he had to anyone for a very long time.

“But not just in how that person could be. I mean, could someone truly see that person as something more than just what their label is? Like…” He was unsure whether to continue on this route, for if he did say something wrong, or if he did relate it too much towards their given situation she may feel too awkward, come up with a hasty excuse and leave as quickly as possible. Leaving him stranded at this table, where he would sit for hours more, quite possibly, feeling empty. However, he felt that if he didn’t venture into this realm, he would never know, truly, what she thought of him. Something that seemed to mean a considerable amount to him, suddenly. “Could, someone, see me as something other than a jock? And upon seeing me, would, someone, instantly just figure I was a popular jerk? Or, is there some way that I could convince, someone, that I’m not like that, truly?”

He was slightly frightened by what he was saying. As though he was about to try and go against everything that he should have done. He didn’t drink coffee, he shouldn’t have come to the coffee shop. He was popular, he should have left as soon as he realized none of his friends were here. He was cool, why had he sat at a table with a little geeky girl? And yet, every wrong choice that he had made that day seemed more right than any of the correct decisions that he could have made, instead.

“Eh, your accent is horrible.” He seemed serious at first, but then broke into a grin. He knew that hers’ was better than his would ever be, but that didn’t mean that it was necessarily impressive. He then sat down next to her, not entirely certain why, but for some reason thinking it a good deal at the time. And the ball was, yet again, passed, though hesitantly to make for a difficult catch.

[Laken Rose Cullens]

As Lukas laughed, Laken couldn't help herself. It was infectious and it made her have to laugh as well. She shook her head and said between the laughs, "I knew something was a little off about you." It was quiet amusing, really, to have him around her. It seemed to her like she could joked around and throw friendly punches at the other. It was very refreshing. She would have to remember him around exam time to help keep her from a mental break down from all the studying. "I understand, if you have to leave. I wouldn't want the men in white coming after you."

Her company was consistently shocking her with his thoughts, his concerns, the things he was sharing with her. Laken was impressed, interested, and compelled almost by what he was saying. How could someone of his status act in such a way? She'd never heard of such things. People watching was something she enjoyed doing, all the boys like him flirted with girls, could careless about what grades they got, and burned all their parents money on parties, clothes with the right labels, and fast cars. She'd never seen a boy in his position talk the way he was talking to her.

As his voice flowed out of his lips, she calculated her answer. She wouldn't lie to Lukas, tell him something that he wanted to hear. No, she would be honest with him even if the answer might hurt his feelings or crush his hopes. It was never in Laken's character to lie to someone or to tell them what they wanted to hear. She thought that was being mean and she was not fond of being a mean person at all.

"Could someone see you as more than a jock? At first glance, no," she said, her face apologetic. "How you look is part of your label, unfortunately. Not only in how you dress, but how you hold yourself, the presence you give off." Laken knew that wasn't always true, just most of the time generally true. She knew she didn't look like what she truly was, though she figured thats why she was one of those people without a true clique. Beautiful, like a popular. Brainy, like a geek. Understanding, kind, and emotional like an emo kid. She wondered if he'd bring that up because she didn't have an answer for it, though she knew that would lead to an interesting conversation.

Laken gave her next words a considerable amount of thought. About as much thought as someone could give their words in the middle of a conversation. It would no longer be a conversation if the word flow suddenly stopped for too long so she had to think fast. It was a very good thing she was as smart and organized as she was. Thinking fast was something she was good.

"You could convince someone you were different though," she said, hopefully giving him hope. She gave him a smile as she continued, "You've already changed my view of you quiet a number of times since you've first sat down." Laken wasn't sure if she was being too bold or too up front, but she was being honest. In her mind, he'd gone from friendly jokester, to stuck up jock, to someone... someone with something more than what he showed. It was that something that made her want to talk to him, kept her in her seat. She wanted to know what that something was.

"Show people you're different by actions and conversations. Actions like taking school seriously, not looking down upon those beneath you socially, and conversing with everyone, not just those you deem socially worthy, beautiful, or that could get you somewhere."

Laken thought about her words. She felt almost like a preacher or a therapist, or maybe a mixture of both. She was sure that the boy with the cute hair and eyes was getting quiet fed up with her idealistic talk and speeches. It was a bad habit of hers to talk about things like this too much. She felt quiet strongly, actually, about this type of thing. When she feels strongly about something, watch out and be ready for a flood of words.

"Though, I'm not saying talk to every single person you see. Just... be more open minded about people and how you decide on who to talk to and who not to talk to."

She nibbled her bottom lip, a nervous habit, and looked at him with apology in her big blue eyes. Guilt and a little pang of embarrassment flooded Laken when she was finished talking. She knew she'd probably gone too far, probably talked too much, and probably said all the wrong things to him. She would wait for his response before acting on her feelings, but it was clear on her face that she was nervous, anxious, and a bit guilty.

Lukas's comment about her accent helped clear her up a little bit, though the tension was still there, only a small bit relieved. His grin did most of the work. "Well, then we're a perfect pair, aren't we?" she said lightly. If neither could to English accents very well, they were a pair in that aspect. She passed him the ball, heavier with her guilt, and didn't think about how her accent comment could affect the receiver.

[Lukas Greene]

“But why would I ever want to leave?”

The words fell from his opened mouth before he had time to run them through his mind, as though someone had taken control of what he should have said and what he wanted to say and jumbled them so that what he should have said was thrown into a heap on the side of an alley-street. As soon as what he said did register in his mind, he grinned with embarrassment, yet again. It was, in fact, true that he didn’t wish to leave, now, but it wasn’t necessarily something that had to be voiced aloud.

“I mean… Yeah, I guess that is what I mean.” He finished, thoughts having run dry as to what he could have meant. Though he felt as though he had drowned the humor from this sector of their conversation, something that he couldn’t do, for risk of turning it from awkward to overwhelming; something that often drove company away. Here with Laken, it felt so- perfect. He didn’t wish for some stupid, spontaneous, comment to ruin that.

As she spoke in reply to his most hopeful wishes, he felt crestfallen at the remarks he received. She did, in fact, merely see him as a jock. And anyone of her particular stature, that being of intellectual, gorgeous, indecipherable personality, would see a jock as a jerk. And those that were jocks, and hence being jerks, would, of course, be jackass populars. And populars, of course, were linked to money, money linked to fashionable clothing and expensive, hotrod sort of cars. If that was what she imagined him as, then there was little hope for him, and where this conversation was going.

Hope for him? Did he honestly wish for something else to spark between him and this stranger after this once-in-a-million possibility of a chance? And was he being truthful in thinking that she would ever want to see him again, given her current situation of conclusions, assumptions, and further more, correct, misgivings about him? It seemed as though he was kidding himself, and yet, he actually wanted for a friendship to evolve. Or, perhaps, he was wishing for a particular kind of friendship? Taking her talking as a chance to glance at her again, he realized that she was most definitely attractive. And he was, most definitely, being attracted to her.

“Am I in any way convincing you I’m not a jackass, then?” He asked, feeling that this answer would define what he did next. “I mean, by me talking to you… Have you really gotten to know me as something other than you could have possibly thought? Or am I just another jerk in your mind? Just another guy that’s wasting his time?” He looked her square in the eyes again, this time his eyes were softened, butter on warm toast, and he felt as though he had known this girl forever, though this half hour of his life should hardly be able to account for those years he had survived.

Her next comment surprised him. The perfect pair? As he thought about it, he figured that she hadn’t meant anything by it, had merely been responding like any good Brit would. He found this slightly humorous, in a most bitter sort of way. But, seeing as he had already thrown out enough information to believe that she either had what she wanted or didn’t care for gossip, why not throw it all out? “Yeah, we are.” He smiled towards her, feeling as though she wouldn’t catch the hint, because guys like him weren’t supposed to catch onto things like that. The ball now seemed a deadweight in his hand, and he happily passed it as though playing hot-potato.

[Laken Rose Cullens]

The air caught in her throat as Lukas admitted that he didn't want to leave. Didn't want to leave her? Laken was used to having boy be so bold toward her. It was certainly flattering to her, but she being ever modest and afraid of people actually liking her, her mind went over a million reasons why not to get flustered over her company's words. He probably just meant he liked the coffee shop, she thought. Or he could have been saying that to get me worked up. Boys like him knew they were cute and used it to their advantage. He is probably just trying to hurt me; boys like him did that for fun.

Rendered speechless, Laken decided to ignore that statement of his. She refused to believe that he meant it in a good way, refused to get her hopes up that he meant it how she thought he meant it. She would not be left vulnerable and weak around him. No, she would be stronger than the other countless girls she was sure he'd charmed. Her defenses were up.

Laken's face was thoughtful as she seemed to think about Lukas's words quiet carefully, hiding her real feelings. She continued to lightly nibble on her lower lip, her nervous and thoughtful habit. Why did he care so much? she thought. Yes, it was a very interesting conversation, very good conversation, something that would probably leave her happy for a few days. Her book she was previously reading was set on the table as she propped her elbow on top of it, holding the side of her face with her hand, and looked directly at him.

Again, her words were carefully thought out. "I haven't known you long enough to make a sure statement on that," she said. "For all I know, right now, you could be pretending to be interested in what I have to say and then use it against me later with your friends and the rest of the student body. If that were true, then no, you did not convince me you were someone different."

If Laken was to be honest with herself, she would find that in some way he had convinced her that he was different. If she was honest with herself, she would admit that she wanted to know him more, know him better, figure out that he was different, and trust him enough to believe it with all her heart. If she was honest with herself, she would admit that she wanted all this because she wanted more than just a one-time coffee shop talk. If she was honest with herself, she would admit that maybe she wanted more than just a one-time coffee shop talk because she was indeed attracted to him in more ways than one.

Too bad one of the things she did best was lie to herself.

"I would like to know you're not just another jerk," she told him. Her voice wasn't giggly or flirty, like other girls. It was serious though still conversational. Laken could say things that other girls did and have it be taken totally different. "I'm hoping you're not. I don't think you are, currently, but like I said, I could find out differently two days from now."

As she answered, her eyes did look back into his. She blushed a little, his eyes intense yet soft. It held a lot of things it seemed to her. Her blue eyes showed her shock and wonder about him. They were curious like a little child who'd just seen a magic trick for the first time. Laken liked his eyes, she didn't want to turn away but as she felt the heat rising to her cheeks, she had to look away.

Feeling like it would be rude to not look at someone while in the middle of talking, she did allow herself to look at him out of the corner of her eyes. Laken caught the smile, sending her heart a little a flutter. She smiled too, taking the comment as a compliment. She thought nothing of it, just as much as she thought about her comment that triggered this response. She let it fly over her head, timidly passing the ball back to her partner.

[Lukas Greene]

It was true, what she said. They hadn’t known each other long enough to truly be able to make more than assumptions and first impressions. Two things that either got Lukas way on the good side of people who looked up to him, or got him far into their realms of possible hatred; he wasn’t known for making good first impressions, the assumptions were all he had to rely on in situations like this. And, with someone like Laken, assumptions were something he’d rather just throw away altogether.

He thought about opening up to her, telling her about his past. About why he longed to be popular, about everything. He hadn’t done that for quite some time, and the last time he had with that girl, the girl he thought he loved and he had told everything, he had had his heart ripped open as she went and told the whole school, just to boost her popularity. It was a cruel thing that he never would have suspected of Laken, but then again, he hadn’t expected it from the other girl, either.

“Then how could I make you certain that I’m trustworthy?” And make me certain that you are, too. He thought. “I mean, what can I say or do to make you realize that I am different, what lengths would I have to go to to get you to understand that-” He stopped, suddenly realizing how close he had become to telling her something that most certainly would have been a conversation stopper. “Understand that I’m not a jerk.” He finished quickly, hoping she wouldn’t notice his hasty redirection of his words.

Slowly, color rose to his cheeks. The pinkish tint giving away what his supposed quick thinking had tried to make up for. Blushing had never been something to happen to Lukas. Through the misery of the few weeks of school after the girl, with everyone taunting him about why popularity was something important to him, he hadn’t blushed once. Over the years as his mother had made embarrassing statements about him numerous times in many public places, all he had done was grinned. But here he was, at age eighteen, blushing for the first time.

She hadn’t answered his comment. She hadn’t picked up on what he had intended for her to. But maybe it was for the best, considering that he had already been quite upfront with her, he didn’t wish for her to think that he was hinting at anything too thoroughly to the point of her being slightly annoyed with him. Particularly is she didn’t feel the same way back, he didn’t wish to embarrass himself more than he already had. And more, than he possibly would in the throws and catches to come.

[Laken Rose Cullens]

Her cheeks still a light shade of pink, Laken turned her head back toward Lukas to face him once again. She'd listened to him ask his questions, her eyes focused on him. It was probably a bit unnerving, having her bright eyes on you. She wouldn't personally know other than the times she'd freaked herself out in a mirror when looking back at herself. As her eyes looked over his face, she saw the pink in his cheeks. That surprised her more than anything he'd said so far. What was that all about? What got him so worked up, the only thing around was her. Was it her that did that?

Catching the slight break in his words, it seemed to her like he was caught up in thought and stumbled over his thoughts a little bit, nothing more than that. Why did he care so much? Laken was happy to answer his questions, to talk to him like this. It was actually really very nice even if her stomach was slowly twisting itself into knots. It really would stay on her mind for a few days. Though the question of changing someones opinion had gone and been targeted on her; how to change her opinion, how to gain her trust, how to let her know he is different than what everyone thinks and says.

The question had been eating away at her for some time now. She hadn't decided if she would ask it yet, though she was sure it would just slip out of her mouth as she responded to his questions. Thinks like that usually did, especially when she was talking the way she was. Laken knew she wasn't answering Lukas's questions straight up, but in more of a round about way. She did that a lot, it was more her style.

"I'm not sure, actually," Laken said, slowly, trying to figure out what to tell her partner about how to prove he's trustworthy. She'd never really thought about it and even as she did now, she couldn't think of how to prove that someone was trustworthy. It was more of a gradual thing, something gained over time, and it wasn't something that could be proved in one swift act.

Unless, of course, she'd tell him a secret and if it wasn't all over the school by next week, she could consider him trustworthy enough to be different. Though, that could be part of his plan; he could still back stab her with something later. Laken found it difficult to trust people but she desperately wanted to trust Lukas.

"Talk to me, I suppose. Hang out with me, don't ignore me. It would be easy for you to pass me in the hallway and ignore me, not even saying hey or anything. If that were to happen, that would prove you were no different than a stupid jerky jock. Spend time with me, accept me, don't be mean," she told him. She was just naming things off, things he could do, and would have to do, to get her to think he wasn't a jerk. She'd already started to believe he wasn't but she needed more time with him, more than this one-time coffee shop talk to fully believe he wasn't.

"Why does it matter though?" she asked him, quiet serious. "I'm not any body of any significance, why do you care what I think about you?"

Crap, she thought. She didn't want to say that, those questions just sort of fell out of her mouth. Well, they were honest questions, things she really wanted to know. Besides, it was time for her to start asking the questions.