a lousy day out [Jennifer)

[Nicki Burne Michigan]

Nicki had discovered much too late that there was no where good to hike around Sabal Private High; just a few miles of forest way out on the horizon and the city in the opposite direction. If he had been alone, that wouldn't have been a problem, but today he had a stalker. Or at least that was what he called her in his head, he didn't dare to say it out loud. He had ran into her in the library and she had insisted on coming hiking with him once he had told her that he was skipping the rest of school for the day. He had just wanted some time alone, and now he was stuck with some junior following him like a body guard. It was seriously annoying. So, yeah, if he had been alone he would have just gone back to his room and spent the rest of the day napping, but no. Now he needed to prove that hiking during school hours wasn't bad... except, as mentioned, there wasn't anywhere to hike. So he had ended up wandering the city, pretty much ignoring Jennifer and eventually ending up on the banks of lake Eola.

He sighed and flopped down on the grass, laying on his stomach and desolately tracing a finger over the surface of the water that started just a few inches from his face. His little hissy fit had stopped about halfway through the walk, and now he actually felt a bit guilty about blowing up at Jennifer like that, just growling at her and storming off. However, Nicki wasn't the type of person to say the first apology. It wasn't that he felt Jennifer needed to apologize for something, but he did feel that she should be the first one to talk. Mainly because Nicki didn't feel like moving his jaw unless there was a reason. "Now there's a million reasons for you to go, but if you can find a reason to stay..." he sang quietly to himself, still making little circles on the water. He didn't really enjoy swimming, but he didn't despise it either, like some of the other shifters did. Yet another thing that required a reason, and he honestly couldn't find a good reason for submerging himself in the clear liquid, chlorine-filled or not.

The freshman sighed, rolling over on his back and holding his hand a few inches above his face, watching the water that had stuck on it drip down into his nose. He was still dressed in jeans and the knee-length brown sweater that he had been wearing back at school, and the long sleeves were much too hot for the 70-degree weather that was currently floating around. He moved his now dry hand up a few inches to cover his eyes, squinting in the sunlight. It was a nice day out, but Nicki preferred weather in the 50s, with the sun a lot less bright. That was why he liked the mountains so much, really. Even though it was a bit harder to breath up there, he was used to it. He kind of guessed that the pika side helped with that, all the 'the animal affects you' shit that had been explained to him on the first day of school.

The freshman blinked and watched Jennifer with dark eyes, wondering if she was mad at him for blowing up on her.

notes song lyrics from whatever it takes by lifehouse... yay, nicki's not mad anymore XD

[JENNIFER ROSE MCMAHON]

i am human and i need to be loved.

[/font][/color][/blockquote] [/center]


From the moment Nicki, the freshman who seemed to want nothing to do with Jen, had stormed out of the library, Jen had been close behind, keeping her eyes well locked on the freshman. Of course, with the ability of her shift, it wasn't that hard to, er, stalk a target. Stalk. Was it a little creepy what she was doing? Yeah, maybe a little. But even if Nicki didn't like it, it was for good reason.

With every step the freshman took, Jennifer was always, at the most, five steps behind. She half-expected Nicki to pretend like she wasn't even there - and yeah, that's exactly what he had done. All the way off campus, and all throughout Nicki's wandering about the city, the boy didn't even look back. Finally, after their trek through the city, the two had made it to a more quiet setting - Lake Eola - they definitely weren't on campus anymore.

And, still ignoring Jennifer, Nicki had found the location to his liking, and plopped down at the water's edge. Jen, feeling a bit awkward towering above the freshman, took a seat several feet away.

As Jen watched the freshman play with the water, she understood why he would much rather come out here than sit, confined in a classroom. An outdoorsy person herself, somedays she would even prefer having her "alone time" in the woods than be sitting in a class that she loathed.

The junior sat tugging absentmindedly at a strand of hair while staring out at the beautiful lake in front of her. It really was a beautiful place to be. After minutes of this staring at that water that appeared motionless, Jen felt eyes watching her. She turned to Nicki who seemed to be studying her.

"Not the best of first impressions, huh?" She asked giving a small laugh.

-----*-----

Outfit: This.
Status: Completed.
Words: 303. Kinda short. Meh.
Notes: This is ok seeing as though I'm not feeling my best. haha. I think Jen feels bad.

[Nicki Burne Michigan]

Nicki never meant to be rude, it was just kind of engrained into his system that he could blow up easily. So, no, he hadn't meant to be rude to Jen, but he couldn't very well backpedal and explain that it was all the fault of some mental disease that he had been afflicted with when he was younger. Well, the remnants of said mental disease. Nicki was a proud kid, and he wouldn't admit that anything was wrong with him if he was offered the world. It's why he had gotten so mad when Jennifer told him that he was denying his problems; Nicki didn't like hearing the truth. In his mind, he was king of the mountain... and the people that got the upper hand were just the kings of bigger mountains. That didn't matter, he still owned his own. Even if it was more of a hill than a mountain, more like a sandbox than a hill. He would still never admit that he was wrong, and therefore just couldn't bring himself to say that he was sorry. Somewhere inside, he really did feel bad about that, but that was just another thing that he couldn't admit to either Jennifer or himself.

He continued watching Jennifer for a moment, then sat up, supporting his weight with his elbows. He found ti kind of awkward how she was sitting so far away, like he was an animal that might run away if she got too close. Well, he supposed that in some ways, he was. The lion and the pika; what an odd little pair to be sitting by a lake and watching eachother calmly, the prey not in the least bit skittish. But it made him think. Who really was the prey here? He didn't think that Jen meant him any harm, even if her stalking creeped him out a bit and annoyed him to a large degree. And though he had meant her harm when they were back in the library, he was much calmer now. What could he have done, anyway? Thrown words at her? She could have swatted him away like a fly. No matter how much he wanted to hurt somebody, he just couldn't. Well, he could try, but unless their shift was a vegetable it wasn't like he would do much damage.

”No, acting like a stalker really isn't a good first impression,” he agreed, raising an eyebrow and grinning. ”But blowing up isn't a good first impression either.” There. That was the closest thing to an apology that would slip past his lips for the rest of eternity. At least, directed to Jennifer. Maybe he would apologize to someone one day, but if he did, it wouldn't be this girl. He sat up, legs folded like a preschool child and patted the grass next to him, inviting her to sit. It was kind of awkward when she was so far away from him. ”I don't bite,” he said, grinning devilishly. ”You know...” Nicki put the pad of his thumb lightly over his mouth, looking out at the water. ”I've been wondering. What's your shift?”

[JENNIFER ROSE MCMAHON]

i am human and i need to be loved.

[/font][/color][/blockquote] [/center]


Jennifer hadn't meant for that first introduction to go as wrongly as it did. The truth was, she had hoped it would go north, not south. Based upon Nicki's own behavior and some of Jen's intuition, she could tell that he was having some problems, and yeah, she really did want to help out. Maybe it was a little wrong of her to be so forward about it. She only knew the kid for less than ten minutes and already she was trying to play Dr. Phil.

"You're right about that. I guess I was trying to be a little too helpful, and got all physco stalker on you," Jen laughed lightly and continued, "I don't completely blame you for blowing up. I'd probably do the same."

Jen really didn't blame Nicki at all. She knew what it was like to blow up. She knew what it was like to be annoyed until you just wanted to scream in someone's face. Would she have preferred him not to have someone blow up at her? Of course. She didn't like it when people were angry with her. But now, sitting at the lake, things seemed to have calmed down a bit, and Nicki seemed a little less reluctant when it came to talking to Jen. In fact, he kind of seemed a little welcoming to her presence. Just a little.

"Well, if you insist," Jen replied, hoisting herself up off the ground and walking a few short feet. She took a seat next to Nicki , turned to him and smiled, "There we go!"

Jen let out a sigh, thinking of what to say next. Things were a little tricky with the freshman. He hadn't taken a huge liking to Jen, and she didn't want him storming off again. Finally, something came to mind, but before Jen could ask herself, Nicki had asked the question that Jen had always referred to as "the big one". The big question. All of the kids that went to Sabal Private High had always wanted to know this of one another. What's your shift? It was an important topic, and Jen was surprised that it hadn't come up earlier. Usually it was one of the first questions out of her or an acquaintance's mouth.

Oh, wait, I know why it hadn't come up earlier... Jen reminded herself of the not so great beginning she had had with Nicki.

"Lion. I'm lioness, yup," she replied to Nicki's question, and, curious about Nicki's shift, she asked the same one, "And you? What's your shift?"

-----*-----

Outfit: This.
Status: Completed.
Words: 427.
Notes: -

[Nicki Burne Michigan]

If he had been sitting still anywhere else, Nicki would have been bored out of his mind. As it was, he found sitting on the grass by lake Eola quite peaceful, and he was almost tempted to lay down again and take a nap, but he didn’t think that Jennifer would like that. She seemed like the type that got bored easily, too, but that was just a guess. Maybe he wanted him to fall asleep, so she could be alone for a while. Of course, if she wanted to be alone then she probably wouldn’t have followed Nicki in the first place. He smiled as she admitted that she had maybe been a bit too helpful. ”I don’t mind the bit too helpful part…” he said quietly, his back to her. He knew that she would hear. ”But I guess it was the psycho stalker part that got a little disturbing.” He didn’t comment on the fact that she would have blown up too. Anyone would have blown up unless they were a sociopath, she had just been that annoying. But Nicki didn’t blame her. She couldn’t help how much of a nuisance no much, no matter how hard she tried. It was just inevitable that she would make some people dislike her, everyone had enemies. Some just had more than others. Nicki didn’t like to think of his tormenters as enemies… just people that, well… yeah, maybe they were enemies.

Nicki had definitely calmed down by now; he was completely zoned out as she took a seat next to him. ”I didn’t insist,” he mumbled, his cheeks betraying him. Okay, he was blushing, and he didn’t know why. Whatever, he did that a lot. It didn’t mean anything, after all. Just… ugh, he didn’t feel like explaining to himself. He shook his head and looked out at the water. The freshman had a sudden urge to take off his shoes and socks and dip his feet in the water, but he didn’t want to get his feet wet. Which sounds extremely contradictory… but it wasn’t. He loved the feel of his feet when they were in the water, but he hated drying them off once he had to leave. Though, he wished that we wouldn’t have to leave this place. It was just so darn peaceful. He sighed, laying back on the grass and putting an arm over his eyes to block out the sunlight.

The short freshman stiffened as she told him her shift. Yes, it was an extremely important question that the kids of Sabal Private High pretty much worshipped. It was even more important than know someone else’s name. Ever heard of a highschool pecking order? At Sabal, there was a new meaning to that. Your shift affected who you hung out with and what classes you took, which clubs you were in and how socially accepted you were. Something like a lion wasn’t just dangerous to Nicki, it was dangerous to his social status… or lack thereof. If Jennifer had a lion shift, it was almost automatic respect for the big cat, while Nicki having a pika for a shift guaranteed him endless torment and little to no friends. There were, of course, those who defied the packing order, and that either passed with flying colors or put you even lower on the scale than you already were. Like Asia, who everyone seemed to like. She protected someone like Nicki, but as everyone liked her and she had a hunting animal as a shift, no one really cared. If Nicki tried to socialize with certain people, he would be murdered and thrown in the dumpsters somewhere in town. There was all that, and then there was the fact that Jennifer’s shift could probably kill him with one swipe of its paw.

”Oh…” he choked, turning to curl up on his side with his arm for a pillow, watching Jennifer nervously. ”I’m a… uh… American pika.” He said it like it was something shameful, his blush just intensifying as the words made it through his lips. His voice sounded like he was being strangled.

[JENNIFER ROSE MCMAHON]

i am human and i need to be loved.

[/font][/color][/blockquote] [/center]



Jen wondered what Nicki would have done if she hadn't followed him all the way out to Lake Eola. Would he still have come to the banks of the lake? Or, maybe, would he have gone someone else? Out to have a bite to eat? After all, the cafeteria food wasn't really the best in the word. Maybe he tolerated it. Jennifer's best bet was that Nicki probably would have left Jen at the library (obviously) and gone back to his room to do whatever Nickis do. Whatever Nickis did, Jen had no idea, but part of her, well, most of her, was glad she had stalked Nicki out to the serene location. Things were a lot calmer, and maybe Jen could finally attempt to be helpful. Without freaking the poor kid out, that is. After all, he didn't seem to mind her help. But Jen pretended that she didn't hear the "confession".

"Yeah. Sorry about that. Just, well, it's silly, but I kinda felt I had to," she gave an awkward laugh, "Like I said in the library; everyone has problems. I guess I felt like I needed to help you with yours."

She had to admit, it was a little silly. Maybe a lot silly. And yeah, it was a little creepy. And annoying? Oh, definitely annoying. But, maybe Nicki bumping into her chair was like fate. And not Jennifer's lame definition of it either. Real, legit, "I'm supposed to help you" fate. But then again, maybe it wasn't.


"Well, if you didn't, I did!" Jen exclaimed as the freshman denied the invitation he had given her to take a seat next to him.

Jen was pretty sure that patting the ground meant "Oh! Come sit here!" But hey, maybe it was a "Yeah. You can come here....if you want." She didn't quite know yet. But, from what she gathered about Nicki so far, she guessed it was the second one.

When Jen told Nicki about her shift, she learned something new about him. His demeanor had completely changed, and he went tense. Of course, Jennifer understood why when he told her his shift. Looking at Jen with nervous eyes, he announced that he was an American pika. A prey animal.

Jen tilted her head at the freshman. He didn't seem too thrilled about his shift, "You say that like it's a bad thing. Why's that?"

-----*-----

Outfit: This.
Status: Completed.
Words: 398.
Notes: -

[Nicki Burne Michigan]

Nicki was tired of the constant apologies. Sorry about this, sorry about that, sorry for being a crazy psycho stalker. Hell, even Nicki himself had come close to apologizing to Jennifer. He stretched, rolling over on his back, feet a few inches from the water. He was oddly relaxed right now, it was almost a tired feeling. Sometimes he got like that when he was done blowing up at someone, other times he held grudges for eternity. Jennifer was lucky that he wasn’t holding a grudge. When Nicki had a grudge… well, it wouldn’t be proper to say. Bad things happened to the person he disliked, though they were normally sneaky things that didn’t require much physical effort, seeing as Nicki wasn’t very strong. Maybe if he was taller, things would get better, but it didn’t look like he would be growing anytime soon. His eyes narrowed, and he refused to look at Jennifer as she started talking about problems again. Hadn’t he already told her? He didn’t have any problems. He voiced that opinion a second later. ”I don’t have any problems. And even if I did, why would I want your help with them?” He couldn’t stop the second sentence from spilling out, his tone much sharper than he meant it to be. Though Nicki shifted into a prey animal, it wasn’t like he was a complete wimp. He could be rude when he wanted to be.

He ignored her statement about the invitation to sit. The non-existent one, that was. He hadn’t invited her, he had simply patted the ground next to him and said some words. The ground pat had been to… kill some ants. Sure, like anyone would believe that. A little sigh escaped through his lips as he looked up at the sky. The sun was covered with clouds now. Big, nasty, mean-looking purple clouds. He sat up, crossing his legs and looking over at Jennifer. ”I think it’s going to rain soon. Do you want to head back?” He could smell the rain, and the temperature was getting just a tad bit cooler. Personally, Nicki would have loved to spend a few hours in the rain. He was dressed for it, and he loved the little droplets that fell from the sky. He just wasn’t sure that Ms. Lioness Jennifer would appreciate them the same way that he did. She could always walk back on her own, of course, but Nicki didn’t know if she knew the way back. He had made the walk here twice as long by taking all sorts of unnecessary twists and turns and dead-ends, though that was mainly because he hadn’t had a destination in mind while he was walking. He didn’t want to be blamed if Jennifer got lost.

He stood up, glancing down at her as she asked her next question. ”It’s not a bad thing. Other than the fact that most of the students wouldn’t mind killing me, of course.”

[JENNIFER ROSE MCMAHON]

i am human and i need to be loved.

[/font][/color][/blockquote] [/center]



If there was ever a time Jennifer had ever felt she needed to undo what had been done, and start fresh, it was here with Nicki. She didn't want to continue to be an annoyance to him. In fact, she wanted a way out of that loop. Apologizing and maybe suggesting the whole "Hey, let's start over!" had crossed Jen's mind quite a few times since they got to Lake Eola. She had already apologized and done the whole "I don't blame you" thing, maybe one too many times, and maybe it was time to suggest the whole "starting over" thing....

"Alright. Yeah. So maybe you don't have problems," Jen backed off not wanting Nicki to blow up at her again, "And maybe I'm just a helpful girl who wanted to do something nice," she answered Nicki's question.

The latter was true. A lot of the underclassmen knew Jen as the junior that liked to help. Help with homework, help with boys, help with anything really. Well, as long as it didn't include doing something illegal, yeah. Jen was down for it. And, although Nicki may not have problems now, Jen would be down for helping him in future.

The junior sighed, leaning back on her hands, although, there really was no reason to get comfortable, as the freshman shifter announced a change in the weather. Jen looked up at the now sunless, sky and said, "Uh, yeah, I think that'd be best. You know cats and water. We don't mix all that well."


Truth was, Jen really didn't feel like leaving Lake Eola. There was no doubt that the place was beautiful But, unfortunately, true to her shift, Jen was not the biggest fan of water. Including rain storms. Jennifer watched as Nicki stood up from the ground, good thing she had him to lead the way. If she were by herself, she'd definitely spend the rest of her life lost in the woods.

Looking at Nicki from her spot on the ground, Jen reassured Nicki,"Well, yeah. But they wouldn't do that! I wouldn't do that!"

She lifted herself up off the grass, turned to face Nicki, and gave a genuine smile.

-----*-----

Outfit: This.
Status: Completed.
Words: 363.
Notes: -




,

[Nicki Burne Michigan]

Nicki didn’t like starting over. He didn’t like redoing his homework or forgetting to save on a video game, forced to start again from a certain point. First meetings were very important for Nicki, and they depended on how much he liked a person. Asia, for example. The first time they met she saved him from bullies. It didn’t matter that after that she became almost stalker-like, Nicki just remembered the fact that she was nice to him without even knowing who he was. That was what stuck in his mind about someone; the first meeting. Jennifer stuck in his mind as annoying. Someone that he didn’t want to deal with, but at the same time, he didn’t want to hurt her. Nicki stretched his legs, considering taking a jog back to the school instead of just a boring old walk. He wrinkled his nose at the time, though. If he went back at a job he’d still have to attend Pack Politics, since it was about fifteen minutes before Full Transformation ended. He hated Pack Politics… so maybe he would walk slowly. Pretend to get lost, just to avoid his least favorite class. He would still have to go to Choir, of course, but he didn’t mind that as much. He enjoyed singing, even if it was normally backup parts. Considering that his voice only fit the female parts… he sighed, closing his eyes and letting the first few drops of rain fall on his face. He had been ignoring Jennifer while she was talking, but now he opened his eyes again and looked over at her.

”Not all cats dislike water… I used to have one that adored it,” he said, mouth turning down in a frown. He disliked stereotypes, even if they were about animals. Not all cats disliked water, so he hadn’t assumed that the lioness disliked it either. Now it was apparent that she did. He shrugged, turning back towards the city, and after that the school, then began walking. Though, unlike before, he turned around before he got off the grass, looking at Jen. ”You coming?” he called quietly, raising an eyebrow. He didn’t comment on what she said… because it was a lie. They would do that. He knew for certain that there were a few students who had their eye on him for dinner, and wouldn’t have a second thought about killing his pika self with one swipe. The lucky thing was that pikas didn’t live here, so it wasn’t like he could be mistaken for a normal animal or anything. Of course, that still wouldn’t stop some people. He sighed, turning away again and beginning to walk through the city.

notes if you want to continue it, we can have them walking back to school.

[JENNIFER ROSE MCMAHON]

i am human and i need to be loved.

[/font][/color][/blockquote] [/center]



Jen had come so close to voicing the idea of a do-over with Nicki. But, for some reason, her better judgement butted in, and she went against the plan. Part of her felt like, no matter how hard she tried, Nicki would still think she was this annoying junior who needed to just disappear. And, quite frankly, Jen didn't know how she felt about that. Sure, not everyone liked her. There isn't a person in the world that everyone likes. And yeah, Jen could handle it if people weren't all that fond of her. But this time was different. She really wanted Nicki to like her. Yes, she was annoying. But man, she was so much more than that. If only he could see passed the annoying exterior, and get to the real Jen, maybe then he'd be able to truly accept her. But alas, she couldn't make him do it, and obviously, Nicki didn't want to do it. Whatever.

Unlike Nicki, Jen had paid attention to what the freshman said about his cat, and was a little surprised, "Really? All of the cats I've ever met haven't been that fond of water. But, yeah, I suppose it's different for every cat," Jen replied, a little ashamed of herself for going with the stereotype, "What was its name?" Jen asked, curious.

As Nicki began walking, Jen stood for a moment in a sort of daze, wondering if he had heard her. She had said it loud enough, hadn't she? Of course she had. It seemed as though the freshman, who seemed to disagree, had chosen not to answer. But why would he disagree? Yeah, of course, Nicki was a prey animal. But Jennifer was sure that the students had enough self-control to keep their paws and claws off the pika. Right?

The sound of Nicki's voice took her out of the daze, "Uh. Yeah. Coming."

-----*-----

Outfit: This.
Status: Completed.
Words: 315.
Notes: Surre, I'm down for that.