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Post by Admin Courtney on Oct 2, 2012 20:53:22 GMT -5
Mikayla tilted her head to the side, picking up on his slightly awkward tone. She wondered what was going through his mind when he said that. But of course, she did not have the power to read minds. In fact, she was glad she didn't. It seemed like it would be such a burden to carry.
"Thanks again, Gabe," she said with a smile as she picked up her tray. This time she would make sure not to bump into anyone or anything.
"Detention? Ouch," she commented. "I've never been in there." She flinched at how pretentious she sounded, but wasn't sure how to defend herself. It wasn't like she wanted to be in detention.
"Um, no, I was just going to sit by myself once I found an empty seat. I'm not sure where any of my friends are; it's possible they have already eaten. They always get down here before I do; I take longer, and it is not fair to them to make them wait just because I move slower through the hallways," she explained.
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Post by emilybuj on Oct 2, 2012 21:25:17 GMT -5
"Well..." Gabe said, rubbing the back of his neck again. "There's a few empty chairs near the doors over there." He pointed toward the exit and shrugged. "We should sit together. There's no point in us BOTH eating alone," he pointed out.
He liked this girl. She seemed really sweet and let him pay for her meal and was probably going to have to sit with him for dinner whether she actually wanted to or not. "I mean if you want to, of course. I can always climb into the back corner over there and hide the shame that detention has brought upon me." He put on his best 'bad boy' face which was not convincing in any sense of the word, but hoped it would at least get a chuckle.
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Post by Admin Courtney on Oct 2, 2012 21:29:09 GMT -5
Mikayla brightened at the idea of not having to eat alone. It was hard enough being the blind girl, but eating meals alone because her friends finished first and because she couldn't even find them in the busy cafeteria was no picnic. "That sounds like a good idea," she told him with a bright smile. "Lead the way."
When she heard him joke about climbing into the back corner, she smiled. "Don't worry," she said, balancing her tray in one hand and reaching out with her other to pat what she hoped would be his arm. "I won't let you eat alone in the corner of shame. Unless we both eat in the corner of shame, but I don't think either of us deserve that, do we?" She had no idea he had made any sort of face, and so she did not react to it.
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Post by emilybuj on Oct 2, 2012 21:44:57 GMT -5
Gabe made a dissapointed face that he hadn't got her to laugh, but just shrugged to himself again as she reached out and pat his chest. He looked at her kind of funny, but laughed figuring it to be some sort of joke. "Well after our little episode I'm not so sure," he commented, turning and leading her to the tables near the doors. It was only a few feet away. He put down his tray, and pulled out Mikayla's chair for her, let her put her tray down and pushed her chair in as she sat. His father did teach him to be a gentleman after all, even if he sometimes didn't quite act like one.
"It's so nice to finally be eating. I swear sometimes these days are just DRAINING," Gabe whined, "This school can take a lot of energy out of you." He took a huge bite of meat, instantly feeling more satisfied with the contents of his stomach.
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Post by Admin Courtney on Oct 2, 2012 21:53:51 GMT -5
She blushed when her hand touched him and she realised it wasn't an arm, but his chest. "Sorry," she said, giggling embarrassedly as she withdrew her hand. She followed him as she heard his footsteps retreat. She had not expected him to pull her chair out for her, and she blushed again, feeling genuinely embarassed. Did he think her incapable of doing that herself? She bit the inside of her cheek and muttered a thank you. She did not want to tell him off for being so nice, but she did not need to be pampered, either. She was blind, that was all. She decided if he did that again, she would say something politely, but let it slide for now.
Once seated, she picked up her fork and dug into her pasta. She could feel the steam hit her face, and blew gently on a fork full of the alfredo noodled before taking a bite. She nodded in agreement to Gabe's statement. "It really is, what with all of the homework and then trying to control our powers. But I'm glad a school like this exists. Imagine how much more draining it would be if we didn't know how to control our powers at all," she pointed out before taking a sip of her juice. She immediately regretted her choice of orange juice and wrinkled her nose. It definitely did not go with alfredo sauce.
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Post by emilybuj on Oct 2, 2012 22:11:30 GMT -5
"True," Gabe said, agreeing with Mikayla. "I mean... if it weren't for this place I don't know how I'd ever really be able to function as a normal member of society. The flight thing sure...I can live with being able to fly. If it were just the flight I probably wouldn't be here..." He shrugged, pushing his food around on his plate a little awkwardly.
"It's the other thing that's a pain in the ass really. They call it Charm," he explained. "And that's why I have to wear these glasses all the time," he tapped the frames of the pink glasses. He had a bunch of different colors (though the pink ones were his favorite), and was excited that he was mostly allowed to wear them. Along with his bow ties it spiced up his uniform a bit. So he sort of didn't mind them. At the same time they became a nuisance sometimes when he was trying to see in a dark classroom, and they made him come off as a douche-bag to some people, because who the hell wore glasses inside anyway?
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Post by Admin Courtney on Oct 2, 2012 22:17:29 GMT -5
Mikayla nodded again, agreeing wholeheartedly. She cocked her head interestedly when he mentioned that flight wasn't his only power. But before she could ask, he was already telling her. Charm?
"You wear glasses?" she asked. "What kind of glasses?" She wanted to picture them properly in her head. She hadn't pictured him with glasses, but she supposed that's what she gets for assuming what someone looked like. Not that she could help it. "What exactly does your charm do?" she asked, intrigued. She wondered if it meant the obvious: charm, like Prince Charming? Mikayla bet that was a fun power to have.
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Post by emilybuj on Oct 2, 2012 22:26:17 GMT -5
Gabe gave Mikayla the strangest of looks. "The ones on my face...." he said confused for a moment. He almost instantly felt sorry for saying it though, because after a few moments of thought he finally put two and two together. She didn't see him flying. She didn't help cleaning up (not that Gabe minded). The way she felt around for the orange juice. The way her hand landed on his chest. Her asking him to lead her "Oh my god... you're... I'm sorry... I didn't... I mean..." Gabe rambled in a panic. "Are you... blind?" he finally forced out, still in a little bit of shock. Sure, there were hints, but no obvious ones that the girl in front of him couldn't see. She walked talked and functions like anybody else might. He felt like he was being really offensive, and that made him very uncomfortable.
He took his glasses off, and actually looked at her eyes. They were blank and misty, and seemed to stare right past him. He couldn't believe he hadn't known. His face turned bright red at his mistake, and he was more embarrassed now than when he had knocked her tray to the ground - which of course now he felt worse about, though he probably shouldn't.
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Post by Admin Courtney on Oct 2, 2012 22:32:07 GMT -5
Mikayla fell silent, confused by Gabe's reaction. Why was he acting so...
She gasped, letting go of her fork and covering her mouth with both hands. Her eyes widened as realization dawned on her. He did not know she was blind! After the initial shock passed, she tried to stifle a giggle as it hit him. She had to press her hands tightly against her mouth to succeed, and once she had calmed down, she shook her head.
"It's okay, Gabe. Seriously," she told him through a grin. She probably shouldn't be so amused by his reaction, but she could not help it. Now she felt bad that she had thought he was babying her. And then it hit her that his being so nice had been genuine, and not at all about treating her a certain way because she was blind. "I am blind, yes," she confirmed. "I..." She shook her head slowly and leaned forward slightly. "Do you pull out chairs for all girls? Is that part of your charm?" she asked him, genuinely curious. "Because that's really chivalrous. I wasn't sure anyone quite did that anymore." She sat back in her chair, impressed.
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Post by emilybuj on Oct 2, 2012 22:41:40 GMT -5
Gabe put his face in his hands, utterly embarrassed by his obliviousness. And he wasn't sure if her laughter made him feel better about the mistake, or worse. It was probably horrible of him to think this way, but at the moment he was utterly grateful that she couldn't see the shades off pink his face was turning. He tried to keep confidence in his voice as he answered her question. "I... uh... yeah I do. I mean... it's not because of the Charm though. no. It's because of my dad and... he was a stickler for professionalism and politeness and... I mean I'm not professional but I try to be polite." Yeah the whole confidence thing was rocked. He was suddenly down the river without a paddle, and he wasn't sure how to recover. It didn't seem like Mikayla cared, but Gabe sure did. "I'm really sorry about that... I seriously didn't know..."
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Post by Admin Courtney on Oct 2, 2012 23:00:56 GMT -5
When he spoke again, Mikayla realised how bad he must be feeling. She calmed down her laughter, and even managed to calm her grin to a soft smile. "Politeness is always good," she said. "More guys should learn that. Girls, too," she added. She knew her own cousin had a thing or two to learn about the whole subject.
She felt an odd tenseness between them. She hoped he didn't feel uncomfortable around her now. She frowned. "Hey Gabe?" she said. "It's okay, really. I've been like this for a while, and I'm actually impressed that you didn't notice. It's usually the first thing people notice, which sucks, because they treat me like I'm some fragile doll or something. I'm not. I'm just like everyone else, except I can't see. And I can control the weather," she added with a grin.
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Post by emilybuj on Oct 2, 2012 23:07:25 GMT -5
Gabe smiled back at Mikayla, and kind of wished she could see it to know that her joke made him feel a bit better about the mistake. He took a deep breath. "Well... I'm glad you're not offended by my obliviousness. I may be polite but I don't always pay too close attention to detail," he admitted. There was a short silence where neither of them knew what to say, but then Gabe figured he should backtrack to before the fiasco happened.
"Oh right... well... my glasses... I should probably answer your question," he said. "Basically when people look into my eyes they naturally trust and adore me... like I'm a celebrity or something. I can pretty much convince people to do whatever I want when I don't have the glasses on. Some of my teachers actually require that I wear them to class every day. They just get mad that I won't wear the back ones. I like to mix it up, but my favorite are the pink." He wondered if she was blind of birth. Did she even know what colors were? Had she ever seen them before? Maybe she didn't even know what it meant to look somebody in the eyes. He just hoped that what he had explained made at least a morsel of sense to her.
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Post by Admin Courtney on Oct 2, 2012 23:17:24 GMT -5
When he spoke again, she could tell he felt a bit more at ease. She was glad; it would have upset her if he had began to act differently around her. She was enjoying their conversation, even if it had been short so far. He was funny.
"I'm not offended; I'd be offended if you meant to offend me," she told him. "And I don't suspect that you did." She smiled.
She went back to her food, picking up her fork and eating the pasta. It was not as hot as it was before, but she did not mind. Cold alfredo wasn't so bad. And the orange juice taste was out of her mouth now, so it tasted just fine. She listened as he explained his power. It sounded like it came in handy a lot, and she could see why his teachers found him to be troubling.
"Pink glasses, eh?" she said, nodding approvingly. "I bet they look awesome. Much more interesting than black."
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Post by emilybuj on Oct 2, 2012 23:32:02 GMT -5
"I know!" Gabe said, proud of his decision to sport the pink shades. So she wasn't born blind. At least he knew that much now. "And a lot of girls say they look awesome but sometimes I don't really know if they mean it or if it's the Charm talking," he admitted. "The glasses aren't always effective. People can still see through them in the right light. If I wanted to shut it out completely then I'd basically have to black out my eyes completely." He shrugged, and took another bite of his food.
"But they get the job done," he said with a nod, continuing with his dinner. "You know... when I want them too," he said mischievously. He decided from now on he'd stick to the vocal comedy with Mikayla for obvious reasons. Even though he loved making dramatic facial expressions.
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Post by Admin Courtney on Oct 2, 2012 23:41:03 GMT -5
She heard the mischievousness in his voice and grinned. "Oh, I can imagine what they could be used for. Convincing a teacher that you actually deserve a B on that last essay and not a C. Getting out of detention..." She laughed, and put her fork down, having finished her meal. She washed it down with the rest of her orange juice, ignoring how the tastes clashed. She hated eating and not having something to drink. After a while she was left with just the orange juice taste, anyway.
"So your charm power," she said, pushing her tray to the side and resting her arms on the table between them. "They affect people when you look them in the eye? What happens if they can't?" she wondered. "Do they affect someone if you look at them, or do they have to be able to see your eyes?"
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