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Post by Blair McLaughlin on Feb 22, 2007 5:41:03 GMT 7
The sweet aroma of coffee filled the nostrils of twenty-year-old Blair McLaughlin as she entered the world famous coffee shop. Starbucks was a normal part of her routine. She stopped by every morning, whether she was heading to class or not, to get a coffee. It was usually an attempt to heighten her awareness and make her feel like she had actually gotten some sleep the night before, but usually did nothing more then prolong the constant sensation of yawning for a couple hours. She removed the large black Dior sunglasses from her face and squinted slightly in the fluorescent lighting. Placing them on top of her head, Blair stepped up and joined the line that seemed to be much longer then usual. Shifting her weight from one foot to the other, she rolled her eyes at how slow the service was. How hard could it be to make? Not that Blair would know, she’s never made a cup of coffee in her life.
Being the daughter of a big Hollywood producer had its perks, and never lifting a finger was one of them. Blair had spent her childhood being spoiled, and especially after the death of her mother, getting fat. It wasn’t till high school when she’d lost the weight and got friends that she actually realized there were people who didn’t have everything she had, and it wasn’t until coming to University that she realized how much she didn’t want to be them.
Tapping her fingers against the large textbook in her hand, which she had brought in an attempt to study before heading to class, she stepped up as it seemed those on the opposite side of the counter had finally gotten their act together. After what seemed like at least 10 minutes (but was really only six), Blair stepped up and placed her order.
“Grande French Vanilla please,” she said, an air of fake politeness to her voice. Sure it was a boring drink, especially for Starbucks, but Blair liked to stick what she knows, and French vanilla’s were something she knew she’d be safe with. She handed the cashier a crisp twenty out of her Guess check-book style wallet and placed the change back in, throwing the wallet back into her Chanel purse. She wasn’t matching today, wallet and purse wise, which was unusual. Blair liked to show off her matching sets but this morning she wanted to use her big Chanel bag and was too lazy to transfer all her wallet’s contents to another one.
She grabbed her drink from the side, and made her way to a table. She wanted to sit and drink her coffee and actually get some studying done. She had stayed out way too late the night before and didn’t want to pay for it with a shitty grade. Removing her off-white pea coat and scarf she draped them across the chair opposite her, and sat down, smoothing out her black cashmere sweater. On her bottoms was a grey and black skirt with black tights underneath and black stiletto heeled boots that came up to just under her knee. Sure it was cold out, and she was on her way to class after being out for most of the night, but since when is that an excuse for not looking your best? If you’re Blair, it sure as hell wasn’t a good one.
Opening the text book for her Pysch class, she took a sip of her coffee, careful not to burn her tongue too bad, and attempted to study.
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Post by Shane Phillips on Feb 25, 2007 12:55:19 GMT 7
Okay, so what if it was obvious that Shane had only just rolled out of bed? He thought he made it look damn good. "Now who's bringing sexy back bitch?" He mumbled to his radio, flicking off the Justin Timberlake song before it got stuck in his head. That was the last thing he needed this early in the morning.
Well, at least he had had the decency and respect for other people to change his clothes before he left the building this morning. His blue college hoodie was thrown over the red t-shirt he had on underneath, his hood up and his sunglasses covering his face. That was the one bad thing about waking up in the morning- the sunlight. It took him a while for his eyes to adjust to the bright harshness of the Jersey sun reflecting off the tiny bits of snow still laying around. His acid-wash jeans hung off of him, but not too loosely- he wasn't one of those lads you see walking around with his pants below his bottom. No, there were too many jokes thrown around about those kinds for him to bother. His belt buckle today was one of his favorites- one made of platinum that spelled out the word "Bitch" in platinum. Happy 17th Shane- he loved it.
Turning into the Starbucks, he almost wanted to sing to himself. Coffee time soon, the best time of the day. Pulling into his usual parking spot, he spared himself the shock of the cold, reaching behind in the back seat and pulling on his camo-green parka with the fur around the hood. That's right, gangsta. He pulled that hood over the blue hood over his head and opened the door, getting out and spinning the key ring around his finger expertly. God he loved this place- the closest thing to home.
Walking through the doors, he was rediculously happy to see the line was going as fast as it was. He wasn't in the waiting kind of mood today, especially when it kept him for his caffine. He decided it may be a good idea to remove the shades and hoods- just so people didn't think he was about to shoot up the place. The glasses shoved firmly in his coat pocket, the hoods down, Shane made his order with the same big smile as he had every time before. Large double double- and no he didn't care if that was just regular and ordinary. It was what got HIM through the day.
Buut, alas, they didn't put enough sugar in it for him. He shook his head, dissapointed and walked over to the small island where you could grab your napinks and such. Reaching over for a small sugar package, he didn't quite notice the very familiar blonde sitting just a ways from him...
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Post by Blair McLaughlin on Feb 25, 2007 13:18:36 GMT 7
Coffee in one hand, Blair held the textbook up with the other, reading the text like it was the Bible and being careful not too take too big of a sip of her drink as it was still rather hot. She remained completely oblivious to the people entering and exiting the store. Usually she would keep an eye on the door, waiting for someone familiar to come and distract her from her work, but this morning it seemed her attention couldn’t be spread out three ways. The coffee and studying were already a little too much to handle for the girl, considering the time of day and lack of sleep. God, this is boring. University was nothing like Blair thought it would be. She assumed it would be like high school, only with more hard-core parties and more interesting classes. Really, that was true, Blair however didn’t appreciate as much as she thought.
She’d left California with the intent to start over. After junior year, Blair had turned into the school slut, who was also a back-stabbing bitch. She was fake to everyone around her and had no true friends. She wanted to show up here and have a clean slate. Make friends she truly cared for, and have them truly care for her. End her hard partying days and work towards a career. Well, that lasted long. She soon fell into her old habits, and although they no longer were as big a deal to those around her, they were a huge deal to her. She feared she’d never be able to change.
Her mind wandered away from the text on the page and began to question all this. Her left hand loosened it’s grip around the hot beverage it was currently holding, and Blair absent-mindedly went to set it down. When she did this however, it tipped on an awkward angle and ended up spilling all over the table. Thank god it missed her text book.
“Fuck,” she muttered underneath her breath as her chair quickly scraped backwards so she wouldn’t get any coffee on her. This was just what she needed, an embarrassing situation to start the day off. Day’s that began like this never ended well and Blair could see her mood getting worse and worse. She got up off her chair and wondered towards the little island that contained the napkins. Usually she’s just leave the mess, but making a quick getaway didn’t seem possible, so she’d have to do it herself.
She noticed a boy standing there too, but didn’t pay much attention as she moved in beside him. As she reached over to grab a handful of napkins, her eyes wandered up and she recognized him immediately.
“Hey you!” she said quite cheerfully to Shane, even though her current mood was far from it, bumping her hip with his. She hadn’t seen the boy in quite awhile and was genuinely glad to see him, even if she had just embarrassed herself by spilling coffee everywhere.
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Post by Shane Phillips on Feb 25, 2007 13:29:31 GMT 7
There he stood, oblivious to the world around him stirring his coffee like it was just the two of them left. He had blocked away all noise from around him, his mouth opening wide in one of the most pathetic yawns he had ever created. Ahh well, it probably meant he was finally waking up. No more of this walking zombie shit.
He took one more taste of his creamy caffinated beverage and decided it could use just one more sugar- by the time he was done with this cup he'd end up in a diabetic coma. Bah, it was worth it. He wasn't even thinking about anything really. A bomb could have gone off behind him and he wouldn't have noticed till someone tapped him on the shoulder and told him his leg was about a block away.
But yes, ultimately thoughtless and complete oblivion to everything around him left him quite vulnerable to the innocent by-stander. He couldn't help but wish he had a familiar face to converse with, which was odd because he had come here hoping for a fresh jab at things. Oh well, nastalgia was a part of him he supposed.
He was about to pick up his coffee mug before he heard a HEY and felt a bump on his hip. He figured it was someone talking to someone other than him at first, but the bump on his hip made him turn around. And what did you know?! "HEY!" He grinned widely, dropping his stirring stick in his cup and wrapping his strong arms around the little Blair. He couldn't even help himself- it was so awesome to see someone from home. He lifted her off her feet for a moment, setting her back down and looking at her. "I had no idea you were here!!!" He exclaimed, rather loudly for someone who had just woken up. He was sure she wouldn't mind though. Well, he hoped. Fingers crossed it wouldn't ruin her rep. around here.
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Post by Blair McLaughlin on Feb 25, 2007 23:15:37 GMT 7
Blair smiled widely as he wrapped his arms around her. She had lost contact with so many people back home after she left for university. As he lift her of her feet, she laughed lightly. ”It’s so great to see you!” As she landed back down on her feet, she took a good look at him. The two of them hadn’t been the greatest of friends back home, but they got along and hung out occasionally. He still looked the same, which was good. Change wasn’t something Blair liked, especially when it had the opportunity to be drastic.
"I had no idea you were here!!!" He had said it rather loudly, which was something Blair usually hated. People always felt the need to drawn attention to themselves, and it agitated her to no end, but she would let it slide this time, only for the reason that she was glad to see him. ”Yah, Rutherford U baby,” [/b] she replied smiling. ”What about you? What are you doing up here? She continued, referring to New York. As she stood there she suddenly felt bad about abandoning contact with the people who she had called her friends in high school, but hell, who was she kidding they never liked her anyway. It was now that she remembered the napkins she was holding in her hand, and why she had wondered over here in the first place. ”Are you sitting with someone? she asked before inviting him to her table. ”Cause I’ve got a table that you’re more then welcome to join me at, that is of course if you’re not on your way out. She pointed to her table near the far left of the establishment. Blushing, she looked at the coffee mess that needed to be cleaned. ”I’m a bit of a clutz this morning and made a mess.[/b][/color][/blockquote]
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Post by Shane Phillips on Feb 26, 2007 4:29:06 GMT 7
Yeah, he had said it loudly, but it was his last intention to retrieve any attention from anyone in the store. He was just incredibly happy to have someone he could relate to around here- that knew the group of people he had departed from.
Rumors had flown around about Blair back at their old highschool- rumors that weren't very nice. He call still remember them all, all the locker-room talk about her. He had hated it. He wasn't the perfect man, but he hated hearing women talked about like they were objects. He had tried his best to ignore it, pretend it wasn't happing, but now in heinsight, he should have popped some serious caps. Well, here they were both attempting to make a new start, and he would give her the benifit of the doubt.
He looked down at her, and he had to admit, she did look amazing. It felt like it had been forever since he'd seen her last, and no, they hadn't been tight at school, but so what?They had talked at parties, but only briefly. He remembered having lunch with her sometimes, bonfires on the beach with her and their other friends- it was hard to be close to everyone when your group of friends consisted of around 30 people. But again, they were both attempting to make a change here, and he wanted to get to know her better. People were a very interesting race, and he wanted to witness change in someone everyone said would always be trash.
"Um, no I'm here alone." He said, grabbing his coffee mug and turning to go sit, but then he noticed the napkins in her hand and laughed. "Smooth- I'll clean this up, you go get yourself another cup of coffee and we'll chat alright?" He said, taking the napkins from her hand and making his way over to the table with a blanket of coffee over it. "Go." He said, before she could argue with him, this would only take a second to clean up anyway.
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Post by Blair McLaughlin on Feb 26, 2007 7:54:25 GMT 7
”Aww, you’re too sweet, but you don’t have to, I can do it, it is my mess.” Arguing was no use with him, and with a final “Go” she made her way back into the line to get a new coffee while he went over to clean it up. She missed this. The whole talking to old friends thing. It was great to see a face that connected her to back home. Home, oh god, it had been awhile since she had been back to California. She’d went at Christmas, true, but it was only for a day or two before her and her step-mom made their way to the Caribbean for the rest of the holidays. She saw her brother every once and awhile when he stopped by, but still she made no effort, it seemed like only others did.
She stepped up to the counter once again, slightly embarrassed this time, and ordered another drink. The cashier looked at her strangely for a moment but then hurried along to fill her order. Blair scoffed in her direction. How rude, people got double orders all the time, and Blair was just one of them. Or at least that’s what she’s saying to anyone who doesn’t know any better.
Grabbing her drink for the second time that morning, she headed back to the table, a smile on her face. Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, Blair sat down across from Shane. ”So Shane, it feels like it’s been forever! How’s life treating you these days?”
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Post by Shane Phillips on Feb 26, 2007 7:59:46 GMT 7
It was a strange feeling for him, but Shane actually felt...giddy? with the knowledge that he'd be hanging out with someone from home when she finally got her coffee sorted out. He cleaned quickly and efficiently, dumping all the soaking wet napkins into the garbage behind him. He didn't mind doing it- he knew she was thankful. And he had a way of cleaning up after other peoples messes- be they coffee-related or emotional.
He flopped down in one of the empty chairs when he was done, rolling up his sweater sleeves and waiting for his coffee date to return with her refilled beverage. How long had it been since he had seen her? He tried to remember, but he couldn't. He didn't remember saying goodbye to her at any parties, at any graduation- it was odd. He was thinking hard when she came and sat back down in front of him, but he smiled at her return all the same.
"I think it has been forever." He laughed, shaking a stray hair out of his eyes and leaning forward, his elbows resting on the table as he held his mug. "When did you leave Cal?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowed. There was something about not remembering her leaving that thouroughly bothered him now.
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Post by Blair McLaughlin on Feb 26, 2007 8:15:40 GMT 7
She had to think about it for a second. When had she left California? It was just after graduation, that she could remember. Her apartment had already been boughten for her and furnished when she had moved in, which was in the beginning of August of her freshman year in University. She placed her elbow on the table, and leaned her head against her head, tapping it as if to demonstrate she was thinking. ”Wow, I almost can’t even remember,” this was beginning to bother her, I mean, it wasn’t that long ago, how could she have forgotten? Then she remembered. At graduation she had been in a huge fight with a former best friend. Something to do with boys and the evening of prom that had left the two completely dysfunctional. She had skipped a lot of the after parties school mates were having to head Paris. She had wanted to get out of there as fast as she could.
”Well,” she began. ”I went to Paris right after grad with my step-mom, it was my graduation present. I skipped all the parties as I had an early flight, and then I moved here right after. I didn’t say good-bye to anyone. I just kinda left I guess,”. She shrugged her shoulders to show that it wasn’t a big deal, and it wasn’t. Blair didn’t really care and the amount of phone calls she’d received from old friends showed they didn’t really either. University was proving to be the change she needed, life was good.
”I had no idea you had even applied to Rutherford though. Well that’s if you go to school here, I’m just kinda assuming,”. She always seemed to jump to conclusions, but she had a good feeling that he actually was a student here, not just a resident of the city. Still, she could feel a slight blush come to her cheeks as she reached for her drink and carefully took a sip.
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Post by Shane Phillips on Feb 26, 2007 8:37:57 GMT 7
He listened to her story, and it was quite obvious to everyone in the room that she had his full attention. Well, to be honest, what guy in this room wouldn't kill for her attention right now? Yes, he had heard rumors about this girl and her best friend, but he didn't listen in too closely on them- he wasn't much one for gossip. He just went with the flow. That's what made California Shane California Shane- he was easy going. "Bah, I don't blame you for the lack of goodbyes. Most of the people out there are about as deep as a bowl of cerial." He said, blowing on the top of his coffee and taking a sip.
He listened as she spoke about Paris, and he was rather impressed. His graduation gift had been a trip to Hawaii with all of his friends before they all went their separate ways. Many of them had gone to Harvard, some to Yale, the rest of the ones that didn't care where they ended up off to different colleges just to please their mothers. He didn't hold anything against any of them, he just doubted he'd be seeing them anytime in the near future.
"Yeah, I do go here." He laughed when she asked what he majored in. It was a pretty safe assumtion that he went here being as he was here, but people could be mistaken. "Majoring in Art History and design." Art had always been a passion of his. His dream was to start his own comic book series, but that would take a helluva lot of work. "How bout you missy? You threw your textbook away pretty damn quick when you threw your coffee all over the place."
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Post by Blair McLaughlin on Feb 28, 2007 10:15:23 GMT 7
”I thought so, just making sure,” she replied shrugging. She knew plenty of people who came to this area for reason’s other then the school, but she should have figured that’s the only reason he had left California. ”Art history and design eh, that sounds… fun,” Blair smiled, not intending to sound rude at all. Art was something she greatly appreciated, but had no talent for. Her brother was the artsy one of the family, she had gotten the book smarts, but… so did her brother. It was a whole big imbalance, that made Blair jealous, but she’s not going to get started on that now.
”Me? Psychology baby,” she said pointing to the text book which was lying near the edge of the table completely abandoned after Blair’s little spill. ”Yah, well studying has never been a favourite thing of mine. Guess I’m just taking every opportunity to get away from it,”. She was actually rather pleased with herself that she hadn’t flunked out of University yet. Failure was her greatest fear, and yet she did very little to stray away from it. It was a miracle she had made it so far and would surely need to straighten up her act if she wanted to stay here.
Looking up at him, it was now that she realized how cute he really was. God, she missed them Califorina boys. The one’s here, up north, were so different. She had missed this, she decided. Lunching or going out for coffee with people who she truly cared about. Maybe she’d make some phone calls to old friends, try to re-connect. Or not.
”I’ve missed you,” she said all of a sudden, sighing and leaning back in her chair, taking slow sips of her hot beverage. ”Really, I mean it. This was just what I needed." [/color] ooc;; writer's block >.<[/blockquote]
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Post by Shane Phillips on Feb 28, 2007 10:51:48 GMT 7
((HARDLY!!!))
"Yeah- you know how it is down there though. My mom wanted me to go to university to make the family look good. If I had it my way, I'd just go nuts and do my comic book solo, without the schooling." But there was a part of him telling him now that if he had stayed away, he would have missed out on something great here. He studied her face for a second while she talked, and mentally kicked himself for not realizing how truly beautiful she was before they had both come away to here. Not that it would have made much difference at home- to them, beauty was everything. It was hard to tell the real thing from the fake and the makeup, but out here, it was just so painfully...obvious.
"Ahh, psychology eh?" He asked, sitting forward with his elbows on the table. "Can you read my mind yet?" He teased, wagging an eyebrow playfully. He laughed at her next comment about studying. "Bah, you're from the beach- we're made for surfing and drinking, not books and studying." It was the simple truth, it was just the lucky few that made it into a high-class school that carried onto post-secondary.
He smiled to himself and looked down at the table at her second last comment- about her missing him. Someone had missed him? Of course it wouldn't be the same without all his old friends, but would he ever really miss them? He didn't think so. She, on the other hand... "I missed you too." He said, looking back up and giving her hand a little squeeze before letting it set back on the table. "I'm glad we've got each other here- having you around is going to make things much easier."
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