Socializing 101: FAIL. FAIL. FAIL. (Zack >.>)

[seishounohana]

"No, I don't... I'm fourteen..."

Emily blinked and took a step back in surprise, acting all anime-ish again. Well, how else does a mangaka know how to react? She looked as if she was at a defensive stance of some martial art. "Hontou ni?! You're a year younger than me!" She flung her arm at him. ".. and you're taller than me!!"

Being so short actually sucks.

"Heh... me... working in a restaurant... haven't thought of that before that... is it a comfortable place?"

She took a deep breath to control herself and began to walk again, along with him. "Eh... I'm on a particularly spoiled job... I get paid to draw... being the advertising manager and all. But the other jobs look like they have good, if not better benifits than I."

[Zack]

"Mmm..."

His mind tumbled into thought. He was a bassist in all aspects of music he played and sang so a solo performance to a mainstream audience wouldn't cause high appeal. He'd have to find a band to play with and he wasn't sure if he could actually stand being around people (if anyone could stand being around him) for long enough periods of time to make a successful band. That aside, there probably weren't many musicians around.

"Ah... definitely lucky... do you know what employee positions your boss is hiring?"

[seishounohana]

Emily thought for a while, "Well... I'm not so sure, but I guess we don't have much linecrew and waiters on there. There are probably some positions that are available, but I'm not so sure... I'll have to bring you to Mr. Winters one of these days... well... If I ever find you anyways." She giggled, smiling. Well, certainly this was her first.... un-emo conversation. It was like she could say anything she felt like and not hold back.

It was... a satisfying feeling. It should be harder to let go.

[Zack]

Zack couldn't cook to save his life. Never mind get paid for feeding customers. He then thought of his table waiting ability. It was possible, definitely not a forte but earning money wasn't a bad thing and probably worth the effort.

"I don't know... I'll figure it out when I meet this Mr. Winters..."

As they neared the courtyard, Zack dug his hands into the pockets of his shadow black pants and strolled right in. The setting sun greeted him and a chill lifted his gaze to the blending hues of the sky.

[seishounohana]

"It's been a while since I've been able to... talk like this with anyone." Emily said, sitting on a bench once they've gotten to one on the courtyard. The sun was already setting, look at the time.

Good thing was, she was independent at such a young age - Layla was her caretaker, and seriously... she had no curfew. "Though... Hnn... you do need to be 15 years old to work."

She sweatdropped and stretched her arms upwards. Nothing like a good stretch! Too bad she has a preference for clothes that are revealing some of the time - like right now. (refer to picceh on profile, without the turtleneck.)

[Zack]

While Emily was stretching Zack was still en route to the bench. This left his head above her arms in altitude. The stretched pushed up a few points of interest and caused the pale skinned boy to show a very obvious red tinge on his cheeks. He sat down and looked back at the setting sun, the orange light making the blush harder to see.

"Ah... too bad then... I guess I'll just wait a bit..."

Zack kept his eyes on the horizon, not daring to see what pose Emily was in now. Turns out that he's a shy guy.

[seishounohana]

"Nah... I can try pulling some strings... after all I am pulling off 40 hours of work when I'm only allowed 25 as a minor." Emily put her hands back down, "You should sit."

She offered him a place to rest, after all - they've been standing for the past two hours just talking weird things.

Interesting first encounter.

"Tell me... about yourself..." She requested, "Umm... after all if we're going to be friends we should know each other at least to some extent, ne?"

[Zack]

Zack sat down.

"Tell me... about yourself..."

That seemed to be a little stalker-esque. It made him tense up again. If the reason for asking the question was not so explicit it may have been more comfortable, however if he had detected any reason he would suspect a hidden agenda. Well, he had to admit, she seemed nice and trustworthy, he had some chips on the table anyways, it was too late to fold.

"I... absolutely love music..."

[seishounohana]

"I... absolutely love music..."

Oh! Music! Emily was more into art than music, but that doesn't mean she shunned herself from it. "Really? I'm not exactly into music other than Japanese anime music and ... well... classical opera."

She crossed her arms and looked at him, "Mm... anything you want to learn about me in exchange? Just so I don't seem... stalkerish..."

[Zack]

Now that was eerie. She could read the narration from the fingers that were pulling the strings to his actions. Wait, he didn't know that but...

"Are you psychic?"

Doesn't hurt to ask... just in case...

[seishounohana]

She blinked.

What's with all the paranoia? "No, but my psychologist is?"

She shrugged, "I just feel you're uncomfortable with me... maybe I shouldn't push you into saying anything more."

[Zack]

Zack looked away once again now feeling like a complete asshole.

"S-sorry... I'm... just afraid..."

The calm demeanor melted down and with that came emotion. He was tormented by hurting Emily's feelings but he was also afraid to trust her. He didn't know what to do.

[seishounohana]

"S-sorry... I'm... just afraid..."

'Shut up bitch...'

Thump...

'Do you want acid on your face Lourdes?!'

Thump...

'A failure...'

The words flooded into her concsious mind - those hurtful words. Just because they were afraid of her... or.. Kari rather... but she wasn't Kari.... and she had sedatives to calm her down.

But Emily was ... still hurt.

Heartbroken.

What was the point of friendship? Heartaches? "I-I... think I should go home..." she was nearing the verge of crying.

[Zack]

Looks like he really did hurt her feelings. Zack was very afraid for that and he wasn't sure why [which also made him afraid]. Running the situation through a simple Fight or Flight filter he decided he should probably leave her alone or she'll explode and he'll definitely be in trouble. He also needed to stabilize his own composure.

"Alright... Um... If you want someone to talk to... come look for me..."

He stood his ground. Should he leave or should he wait for her to go?

"Nice meeting you Emily!"

His voice was starting to quiver and crack, his vocal cords used to song and not speech. Zack's eyes wandered from Emily, unable to witness her reaction.

[seishounohana]

"Alright... Um... If you want someone to talk to... come look for me..."

Emily rubbed her eyes for a moment, taking deep breaths to stop crying. Well, it was obvious she broke into tears despite the fact that she's somewhat denying it through her actions. "Look for you... but you don't even trust me..."

She stood and with her back towards the boy, she took a step towards the way she came in... but... she stopped...

"Nice meeting you Emily!"

"..."

She looked at him for the one last time... her mind wishing he'd stop her like all those happy movies she saw as a very young child... however this wasn't the movies. This was life, nothing like that ever happens.

She then made her way towards the door slowly, just as she popped a pill onto her mouth again.