This Phone Thing

[Samson Abioye]

It had been a few days. Almost a week, technically. Sam had picked up and put down the phone a few times, still wondering why he'd even bothered. This... wasn't something he normally did. Then again, he didn't normally find girls that helped him rescue dogs and climb trees so... distracting. He kept going around in circles, and he figured what was the worst he could do?

So he finally got comfortable, or as comfortable as he could, and punched the number on his cell phone. He leaned back, waiting while the phone rang. "Hello?" he said as soon as he could. "I'm trying to call Lara Jean. I'm Sam,' he paused, then realized more might be needed. "The frisbee guy. From the park." That should work, right? He just had to hope that it worked for Lara Jean Reynolds . 

[Lara Jean Reynolds]

Lara Jean had been watching adorable animal videos on Youtube when her phone rang. It was an unknown caller, so she wondered if she should even pick it up. She rather just continue watching the tiger playing with the dog. But best to get the call out of the way.

Hitting pause on the video, she answered the call. "Hello?" The tips of her lips turned up in a smile when she realized who was calling. There was a moment of silence as she collected her thoughts. "Y-yeah... erm, I remember. That took a while," she said with a nervous laugh. Her free hand scratched the back of her head. "What's up, Sam? Another frisbee need freeing?"

[Samson Abioye]

Okay, that was definitely her. Sam could recognize the voice and all so at least he'd managed to do that much correctly. There was a beat in there where he had to wonder if he'd maybe called the wrong person or something. He found himself shifting slightly, using the break to try and figure this whole thing out.

"No, no frisbees," he said, shaking his head as if she could see that. He paused, considering. "I wanted to call you," he answered simply, before realizing that he probably needed more than that to be involved in there somewhere. "I thought what you did there was admirable," didn't he say that already? Something told Sam that wasn't what most girls wanted to hear either.

[Lara Jean Reynolds]

Another frisbee needed freeing? Now did that not just sounded super lame. Lara Jean was glad they were on the phone so he could not witness how much she cringed at her own words. The girl was flattered that he called.

After the first couple of days since they parted ways and she had not heard from him, she figured that was probably the end of that. But then there he was on the other line a couple more days later.

"Thank you," she replied to the compliment. "You said it before ha ha. I appreciate it." There was a few seconds of silence before she continued. "D-Do you uh do you want uhhh never mind," she said quickly, but then just as quick, she changed her mind again. "Would it be totally weird if I asked if you wanted to go grab coffee or something?"

[Samson Abioye]

"I did," Sam repeated, his voice a little flat. He knew he was repeating himself, or at least he wasn't surprised to hear that he had repeated himself. He pursed his lips for a few moments, trying to figure out if he should just keep on being insistent or try to find a new adjective. A couple sprang to mind, including some that he felt like he should've been using.

Lara Jean spoke first. Sam tilted his head toward the phone as if she could actually see it. There was no immediate response as she said never mind; he wanted to let her have her way, after all. He did shift, figuring that perhaps he should try throwing out more than a couple of words. The question came before he could say anything.

"No," he said. "I mean, it wouldn't be weird. I was..." he sighed. "Sorry, I'm not good at... this," he gestured with a hand. "But I called you because... I asked for your number." Which was stupid and roundabout despite being true.

[Lara Jean Reynolds]

She sounded like she was stuttering and she wished she had not. She rarely had someone calling her just to compliment her on something she had done, what more a boy. Lara Jean did not have much practice with these things.

Her free hand was now clenching and un-clenching. After she had said what she wanted to, now she wondered if he thought asking that was weird enough. Stop. She scolded herself for overthinking it.

When he said it would not be weird, a smile found its way onto her lips. She laughed softly when he told her he was not good at this. That, she can agree for herself too. "Same here...Well yeah. What else could you have done with it right? Unless you were planning on handing it over to some mafia or what then I'm glad you didn't..."

Was that waaaaay off topic? Oh well. It was already out there.

[Samson Abioye]

Was that laughter? Did he manage to do good somehow? Sam didn't get it, and he didn't really get what was following that either. "I don't know any organized crime families," he offered, trying to sound nonchalant about it, just in case it was some kind of joke he wasn't quite getting or just in case she was serious. It wouldn't be the first time someone assumed that he was involved in crime, though they usually left off the organized part.

"Look, I'm not... great at this," Sam admitted, "but I would like to have coffee with you. Or something. With the weather, coffee or maybe cocoa or tea just makes sense." He paused again for a few seconds, considering. "As a date," he explained, swallowing. "I'm trying to ask you out on a date."

[Lara Jean Reynolds]

Of course he did not. It was probably a bad joke. Lara Jean was relieved when Sam continued speaking. Phew. That saved her from having to explain herself or whatever over what she had said - which was not something she looked forward to.

A date. That was it. The seventeen year old took a deep breath and nodded her head before realizing he could not see what she was doing. "A date would be nice. I would like that," she said finally. "Erm where should I meet you?"

[Samson Abioye]

There was a pause there. Was she nodding too? Sam almost smiled at that; it would figure, wouldn't it? was that why he felt drawn to her, some sort of shared awkwardness? She was pretty cute, so maybe that was it? Well, maybe he'd have a chance to figure out when they went on their date.

Which she agreed to. Sam nodded as if he expected that, his earlier line of thought at least making him response vocally pretty soon: "Well, I go to school at Bellefonte Academy, so it's going to take me a bit to get into town," he frowned, considering. "And I really don't know any coffee shops or anything. I guess I could look one up? Or is there somewhere you'd like to go?" He tried a slight smile. "No reason for both of us to feel uncomfortable," and another pause, "I'm also buying," it wasn't a question or offer so much as a statement. Again: he very nearly couldn't help it.

[Lara Jean Reynolds]

Lara Jean bit her lip when she realized exactly what she had agreed to. A date. Half of her wondered what exactly had possessed her to say yes, while the other half was surprisingly thrilled by the idea of it.

When she heard the name of the school, she wanted to interrupt but could not. She waited, but at every short pause, there was something else to reply to so she listened and replied at the end. Her words caught in her throat at what he said last. "Oh...oh. You don't- I mean- uh that's not necessary?" Urgh, she definitely did not sound smooth like in the movies she had watched.

"And Sam, eeerrm I attend Bellefonte Academy too. I'm actually in my dorm right now," she said with another nervous laugh. "I can meet you at the school gates or something. Then we'll go...and find a place. I don't really have any in mind," she admitted. "How does that uh sound?"

[Samson Abioye]

What wasn't necessary? Sam frowned as he went over what he said, trying to figure it all out. The silence let the next bit come out, and he had to let out a slight snort at that. Go figure: all the people in Kalispell and he finds another girl who just happens to attend the same school he did. Well, weirder things had happened, he supposed. Plus, it would make meeting up pretty easy.

"You too?" he asked, before pausing. "Are in your dorm, I mean." Another pause. "I'm in mine. Not yours," he looked away for a moment. That had been a little awkward and unnecessary, but you could just about clarify this entire conversation under those two descriptors when it came down to it. "And yeah, I can meet you at the school gates, no problem. It sounds good."

Another pause. "I'm looking forward to it," and Sam couldn't help but let a little surprise into the words there, as if he couldn't quite believe he was saying that to someone, let alone a pretty girl.

[Lara Jean Reynolds]

He attended the academy too. What were the chances of that huh? For one thing, that would make him a mutant too so she would not have to worry about slipping up about her power. Not that she was planning to, because Sam might just find that...weird and...awkward.

Her head on impulse turned around to scan her room. "Right, of course you're not. Ha ha." Obviously, Sam was not there. What was she thinking? "Awesome! Me too," she replied, a little way too quickly. "Uhh I'll see you in 30 then." Without waiting for a reply, she hang up.

30 minutes. More than enough. Lara Jean washed up a bit and put her cap and sneakers on. She slung her camera across her shoulders and headed for the school gates. There was 15 more minutes to spare. She wanted to be early, if only to calm her jitters.

[Samson Abioye]

Was what he said funny? Had Sam said something that was humorous or something? He didn't think so. Unless the whole awkward behavior and all was just humorous. He supposed that would be preferable to it being insulting or something worse.

Not there: good. There were some nerves there. Must be the dating thing. Sam rubbed at his face. This was generally why he didn't like this sort of thing: all the awkwardness. But he knew that she was good, pretty, and all sorts of things that he liked in a girl. So he wanted to know her better, and potentially romantically. "Thirty works," Sam said. He nodded, and realized only after the fact that she'd hung up on him before he'd even gotten the response out.

Sam got up. He shaved, got some aftershave on, got into a nice black sweater and some decent jeans, spent some time working on his hair, and decided that he was more or less ready for the date. It wasn't like she hadn't already seen him relaxed. So Sam got everything together, grabbed a jacket, and headed down for the gates. He was early, about ten minutes or so, but...

"Hey there!"

(if you want to continue this here; I'm good with it. If you want to make a followup thread for the date, I'll post there. your call)