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Post by felipe on Nov 24, 2009 6:48:45 GMT -5
Lunch with Jessica had been good. No, more than good... Great. She hadn't told him what was wrong, though, and there was no way Felipe would even consider pushing her to tell him. She knew he'd listen if and when she was ready to talk. Plus they had the weekend to look forward to despite not having a clue what they'd do. Jessica knew the area far more than he did and so perhaps she'd come up with some ideas. Maybe his mum would even let him borrow her car? Unlikely but it didn't hurt to hope!
The end of school bell had long since sounded but Felipe was still on the campus. In the computer room, in fact, searching for the address of the nearest fencing school. He really wanted to resume his lessons once more and travelling to the one he'd found further down the coast wasn't really an option. Surely there was one closer to Santa Monica?
He huffed a breath as he called up a search page, mentally crossing his fingers at the same time.
Felipe was so engrossed in his task that he didn't hear the door open and someone enter. In fact, he hadn't a clue he had compnay until he heard a chair scrape across the floor and the tell-tale 'chime' of a Windows OS coming to life. He looked up in surprise, unale to see who the other person was as they'd seated themselves opposite, effectively screened from view by their monitor. Felipe coughed slightly and called out a greeting...
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Post by Lana Cross on Nov 26, 2009 12:51:29 GMT -5
Staying after school, Lana headed to the computer lab. In her new computer class they were going to be starting a unit on computer graphics which she was excited about. The teacher wanted her to finish the current unit before she could start that one, so she decided to spend as much time in the computer lab as she could before Monday.
Lana noticed she was not alone, but being very shy, she said nothing just heading to a terminal. She pulled out a disk from her bag while the computer booted. This unit was on office applications, which she thought was pretty boring, but it was required.
Lana was a short, slender African-American. Her long black curls were done in narrow dreadlocks. She was striking rather than pretty. She was dressed in a knee-length cream lace dress with small mother of pearl buttons up the front. She had strap sandals with laces that criss-crossed over her calves. She had on the hat that rarely left her head except to sleep.
Once the computer flared to life, Lana began to set up for her project, forgetting almost everything as she concentrated.
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Post by felipe on Nov 26, 2009 14:28:58 GMT -5
Felipe frowned slightly when his opening greeting went unasnwered but then again, he hadn't spoken all that loudly. Sure, he could have tried again but that would have seemed wrong somehow. Regardless, the Brazilian was a sociable boy, he wasn't about to let the opportunity to either meet someone new or chat to a person he already had met pass him by. He pushed his chair back slightly and stood, crossing to the other row of monitors and leaning over the one that masked his companion.
A girl. And one that seemed to be unsure whether to look up at him or not. Not that it would stop Felipe from trying to get her to talk. If anything he saw that as a challenge.
He leaned his forearms on the top of her monitor and reached down slightly to tap on the screen, leaning a little further down at the same time.
"Hey," he opened. "Anyone home?" he asked with a grin and despite trying to resist the urge he rapped gently on the girl's forehead. He leaned back on the top of the monitor and grinned down at the girl, not at all sure what she'd make of his opening gambit...
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Post by Lana Cross on Nov 27, 2009 1:16:24 GMT -5
Lana deep in her own little world, did not even realize when the boy moved. Her eyes had just started to move her eyes up at the tapping on her screen when he touched her! She squeaked and pushed back in her chair. She didn't catch her balance though and went tumbling to the floor, where she lay trembling in shock and fright.
"No, no, no," she mumbled, shaking her head. Deep inside she knew she was fine, it was getting the message out to the rest of her body that was the problem. Sometimes her control was better than others and with the stress of a new school, she was not exactly top of her form.
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Post by felipe on Nov 27, 2009 3:18:03 GMT -5
Felipe looked on in astonishment when his sudden appearance caused the poor girl to tumble backwards and onto the floor. Ok, so perhaps the tap on her forehead hadn't helped but still... She looked terrified... and he felt dreadful. What on earth had possessed him to do what he'd done? Calling out a greeting had been fine... Even peering over the monitor. But to knock her on her forehead? No... He should have fought that particular urge.
"Caro deus! Eu sou tão pesaroso!" he exclaimed. "I am so sorry! I shouldn't have startled you!" He strode around the desks and bent down to reach for the girl's hand. "I really am very sorry," he repeated, a look of concern etched across his face. "Let me help you back to your feet."
Felipe stretched out his other hand towards the girl, not all that sure she wouldn't scream or burst into tears in response but he could hardly just turn away and leave... Not when he'd been the sole cause of her accident.
"Are you at all hurt?" he asked. "Do you need to see the nurse?" She looked unharmed but he wasn't about to let that assumption continue unanswered. "I'm Felipe," he added in something of an afterthought but given what had happened that could perhaps be excused.
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Post by Lana Cross on Nov 27, 2009 4:20:00 GMT -5
Lana's dark brown eyes focused on Felipe and the trembling eased. It helped that he spoke to her gently and didn't just pull her up. "Not hurt," she whispered and managed to get to sitting. She was dreadfully embarrassed by her fit and didn't know how to explain it to the boy who seemed nice if a bit impulsive. "I'm Lana and I am sorry I scared you." Of course he had frightened her first, but that was very easy to do.
Noticing his outstretched hands, Lana timidly put hers into his to be assisted to her feet. He was very tall, but she wasn't frightened of him anymore now. She smiled tentatively. "I get frightened when people touch me and I am not expecting it. I am better than I used to be though." She used to go almost catatonic and it would take medication for her to be pulled out of it.
"Felipe... that is Hispanic? Right? You have a nice accent. I have lived here all my life," she said, looking up at him as she gently pulled her hands back.
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Post by felipe on Nov 27, 2009 5:33:19 GMT -5
"Yes... I am from Brazil," he replied, stepping back a small pace after he'd made sure she'd regained her full balance. "I am really sorry I scared you," he went on. "I normally am a lot less... ah... pushy." Felipe offered her an uncertain smile as he spoke. "I am pleased to meet you, Lana, regardless of what happened." He looked closely at her. "Are you sure you are ok?" It sounded to him as if he hadn't merely startled her as he'd first believed - although that would have been bad enough - but that something more had caused her to react that way. He dreaded to think how this might have turned out and was relieved when she looked to be alright.
"Would it help if I fetched you something to drink? There is a vending machine not that far away..." Luckily he'd spotted it on his way into the computer room as he'd have struggled to locate one otherwise, being so new to the school.
Felipe was still suffering from a deep sense of remorse for what he'd done, despite Lana's assurances that she hadn't suffered any harm as a result. What in hell had he been thinking? HAD he even *been* thinking at all?
Probably not.
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Post by Lana Cross on Nov 27, 2009 9:49:20 GMT -5
Lana smiled and tried to reassure him that she wasn't upset or damaged. "I am fine, Felipe, but if you don't mind I would like a bottle of juice." She asked, thinking it would make him feel better to do something practical. She wasn't used to people being that concerned about her. Her mother used to leave her lying places for hours until she did it in the grocery store once and Social Services almost took her away. She edged her way back to her chair, righted it and settled down again.
"Brazil is supposed to be beautiful... why did you move here?" Lana asked, thinking L.A. must be a let down after such an exotic location. To her the glamor of Hollywood had ended with the 50s and after that everything had become crass and boring.
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Post by felipe on Nov 27, 2009 13:22:40 GMT -5
"My dad... He wanted to set up his own business," Felipe explained. "He's a dentist. The opportunities for your own practice back in sao Paolo are pretty low and so we uprooted and came to California. The land of straight, pearl-white teeth," he said with a grin. "I'll just get that juice. Be a sec."
Felipe vanished, glad to be able to offer some kind of help... even if it was only in the form of a tetra pack. He was back within seconds, presenting Lana with her drink.
Felipe dropped down to sit on the floor at her side.
"Really, its not too bad here," he went on, knees bent upwards and arms hooked around them. "I mean, my first day sorta sucked with all that shooting but..." Felipe glanced up at Lana and threw her a smile. "It could have been worse... right? I just can't think in what way..."
He tilted his head to one side as he continued to look intently at Lana. "Sooo... how come I scared you like that? I mean, you don't look to be nervous to me..."
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Post by Lana Cross on Nov 28, 2009 13:08:04 GMT -5
Lana opened her juice and took a sip to have a moment to think about her answer. She decided it was best to go with the truth. Lying was not only wrong, but it got confusing trying to remember all the lies. "I have Asperger Syndrome, its a lesser version of autism. Touch is one of the senses that is overwhelming to me, especially if it isn't expected,"she said and tensed, ready for the verbal abuse that usually came along with the announcement. Everyone seemed to think that meant she was mentally deficient, retarded as they called her.
Lana still didn't understand why Felipe was so interested in her. Two days in a row she had to explain her problems. She only hoped this young man was as understanding as Hayden had been. "I can leave if you would prefer to be alone here. I can come back later," she offered, as he had been there first. It would make it less likely for her to finish before Monday, but she wanted to be fair and she knew a lot of people were uncomfortable around her once they knew.
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