† Not So Long Ago †

[Strawberry]

"Dash, would you quit looking at every girl that passes? Its not like they're going to stop any time soon just to talk and goggle over you." Christian rolled his eyes as his friend shrugged innocently, yet ignored him. Sighing, he linked his hands behind his neck and looked up at the sky. What I wouldn't give to be like him sometimes... he thought, smirking slightly. He suddenly jerked to his left, almost losing his balance, and he glared over at Dash.

"Hey, man! Look at that one! She has one nice figure," he said with a big grin. Yet she just walked by with a small smile of her own, leaving Dash to look at her backside. Christian sighed and jerked his friend around to look ahead, rolling his eyes yet again. "What? It's a free world, you know. If they don't like it, then they can just come up to me and slap me. But they haven't done that yet, so what's wrong? Or are you jealous?"

"I'm not jealous, I'm just saying your actions are actually rude to some. Maybe some girls don't have the guts to come up to someone as freakish as you and talk to your face and want to get away as quickly as possible," he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Dash only sighed drastically and shrugged, rubbing the back of his head. "Whatever..."

[Michael]

Also present on the Highroad was Michael, on his way from the city of Luca to return to Youth League headquarters. He had been to watch a game of blitzball. It was the Luca Goers versus the Al Bhed Psyches. The Goers had pulled of a victory, but the victor didn't really matter to Michael. All he cared about was the action of the game. Sometimes, he wished that he could be one of the people in that large sphere kicking the ball around.

As he walked, Michael noticed two other young men on the path, discussing something that was apparently quite interesting. He figured that the conversation related to women in some way, for one of the two was looking at every girl that passed him. "Hmph." Michael said as he walked by, seeing the opportunity for some competition. "You'll never get a girl to pay attention to you acting like that. You'll just make 'em uncomfortable. Either that, or they'll just lead you on until you make a fool of yourself."

[Reji]

I hate this place. Reji was walking down the path, an exaggerated scowl on her face. She hadn't wanted to really go anywhere where there was people. People ticked her off. Badly. Especially when they wanted to fight or something. Reji was not prepared to have to punch someone today.

As she made her way up the path, she saw some boys talking up ahead. In cases like this, it's best to avoid a group of male homo sapiens. She deepened her scowl and moved to the edge of the path, preparing to give them a wide berth.

[Michael]

Without waiting for a response from the other two, Michael turned around to look for an promising prospect. His plan: show this amateur how to pick up a lady. The first girl that he caught side of was... well, she had a nice body. It was hard to tell how nice her face was, unless it was always in that angry state. Michael just figured that she was made though. "Perfect." he thought to himself, a smirk spreading across his face as his eyes narrowed. "Watch and learn." he said to the guy next to him.

Michael tried to avoid making eye contact with the girl as he walked in her direction, lest he give away his intentions. As he walked, he estimated the place where his foot would need to be to meet hers, looking out of the corner of his eyes as he turned his head in the opposite direction. Without looking, he succeeded in tripping over her foot and falling to the ground. He would have to sacrifice for this performance, for he ended up hitting the ground pretty hard, barely catching himself before smashing his face. He then got on his hands and knees, shaking his head as he did so. Surely, the girl would give him some attention.

[Reji]

Reji stared down at the boy who'd just tripped over her foot. Apparently, the wide berth isn't going to work in this situation. Of course he did look pretty funny. "What'd you do that for?" she demanded, a slight smile on her face. It was one of those I'm-trying-very-very-very-hard-not-to-laugh smiles, though.

I have this nagging feeling he did that on purpose, she thought suspiciously. She smirked. Hmph, if they wanted her, they'd have to try excuciatingly hard. I wonder if all boys like to kill themselves for a girl.

[Michael]

Well, Michael had succeeded in getting the girl's attention. Her face had even brightened up in his presence. She looked quite pretty now that she wasn't so mad at the world. That made this much easier. Michael was sure that the guy over on the other side of the Highroad must be bewildered, but he did not allow a sly smirk to spread across his face. Instead, he manipulated his mouth into a nervous one, still somewhat avoiding eye contact with the girl as he got to his feet and turned around.

"I'm sorry." he said, his eyes looking just about everywhere but at the girl before him. "I should have been watching where I was going. It was completely my fault." After these words shifted, Michael's eyes finally shifted to meet the eyes of this girl. As usual, the eye contact was an intense experience. Inside, Michael felt like he was going to throw up from being nervous. But his outer shell prevented him from performing this action. "Please forgive me?" he pleaded with a gentle smile.

[Reji]

Oh great, NOW her conscience decided to pester her.
Admit it, he's cute.
ARGH!
Reji decided that her conscious was going to be COMPLETELY unreliable at the time, so she just let it flow. "Um, sure. I mean, it didn't hurt or anything." She smiled plesantly, a real smile this time.
Dohh! Conscious, time for you to go now...
No use, Reji's instincts seemed to be calling the shots at the moment.

[Michael]

Michael took in a deep breath and let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you." he said. He had gotten this far. Now he had to find some kind of small talk. Something to lead into a bigger conversation. He wasn't exactly sure what to say, but he had to come up with something before he became conspicuous.

"I'd hate to make an enemy of you." he began. Pretty good start, now to elaborate. "I try to be on friendly terms with people when I can. I feel like I owe you for being so willing to forgive. Perhaps you would let me take you to Luca? We could get some food there."

[Reji]

Hm. Now he wants to take me to lunch. Reji nodded slowly. "Sure. But, so we're not too skimpy on the preliminaries, I should get your name." Why is he so nervous? Reji sized him up as she spoke. Tall. Maybe handsome....

Shut up! She mentally kicked herself. Soon she'd be flirting like a clique. Digging a heel into the dirt, she looked down.

[Michael]

"Oh yes, of course." said Michael. "My name's Michael. Perhaps I can get yours as well?" This had gone surprisingly well. The girl seemed nice enough too, so Michael didn't think he'd have to worry about regretting the challenge he had made. It was win-win. He'd gotten a girl to have lunch with him, and managed to get a nice one at that. Today was a pretty good day.

[Reji]

"My name is Reji." She was now twisting some hair around her thumb. You're doing it already! STOOOOP! She pulled her hand down and looked up. "Thanks for um.....noticing me." Immediately she regretted her words. WHAT WAS THAT?!?!?! Are you TRYING to be a flirt?! Inwardly she argued with her consciense, but outwardly she blushed.

((Gotta go to bed soon, we have to do some stuff for school at 5 am....))

[Michael]

"Nice to meet you, Reji." said Michael, nodding once in greeting as if they had just met. He then raised an eyebrow, his smirk widening. "Well, it wasn't too hard to notice you." he said. "The pleasure is mine. You are the prettiest thing on the road, after all." That was going pretty far, but Reji seemed to like him. It was a funny feeling. He'd never truly had anyone like him before. Maybe his existance was worth something after all.

"Before we go for lunch, were you headed to any place in particular?" Michael asked. "I'd hate to slow your progress, and I'd be happy to escort you to your destination if you must go there right now."

((Alright, I'm gonna go ahead to bed. Good night.))

[Reji]

Reji laughed a bit. "Thanks....and no, I'm just walking." Eh? Was this Michael taking a fancy to her? No way, guys usually found her too tough to be around. Talking to her would be like taking a swan dive into an active volcano. So why did this one want to take her to lunch? Odd. Anyway, Reji decided to just go with the flow.

((Night ))

[Michael]

"Cool. Then let's get going." said Michael, holding out his arm for her in the traditional fashion. Looks like he had won this little competition, and the prize was a pretty good one. That was just one more person that knew that he was worth something. Possibly two, for maybe Reji thought something of him by now as well. He'd possibly even found someone to call a friend.

[Reji]

Reji smiled and took his arm. He seemed nice. Maybe today wasn't so bad after all.

((sorry, short! Have to go somewhere...))