Wandering the Mall - Celest (Open)

[Celest Zouvelekis]

"No...no," Celest said shaking her head. She knew exactly what her sister was getting at. "He started talking to me." Yes, he was cute, but no, she was not interested in dating him. She wasn't really interested in dating anyone at present. Unlike Dena who was rather girl crazy (or at least Celest thought she was), Celest was not boy crazy. She continued to shake her head when Dena started going on about inviting him bowling. "I don't even know him really. He's like a junior or something at Gould," she said vaguely. "He only talked to me because of the show."

Celest hated getting attention from boys or even when her siblings made it out like she was getting attention from them. It was embarrassing to her and she really couldn't imagine anyone she'd be comfortable enough dating that she'd actually want to bring around her family. She loved them at all but they tended to be on the eccentric side. And Celest knew that if she did go on a date with someone they'd never let her live it down and she'd probably get teased endlessly and asked endless questions, neither of which she was very fond of.

As Jack joined them, Celest smiled. Glad that he seemed to appear in such a timely manner since he was a good reason to change the subject. "Hi, Jack," she said. "What's going on?"

But of course Dena seemed to dominate the conversation like she usually did...going on about bowling and Cailtlin and costumes. Not that Celest, really minded. She was quiet, she liked that her siblings tended to talk so much because it took the focus off of her. But she also did know if she wanted to say anything she'd have to jump in as soon as the conversation lulled.

"Yes, I'm going bowling too," she said. "You should come. I don't think its an invite only thing anyway. Seems like an open invite to everyone from what I hear," she told him. She tilted her head slightly to the side that the mention of costumes. "The bowling thing is a costume thing?" she asked, but then Dena went of to explain that it was only a few of them dressing up, which probably just meant Dena and Caitlin. And as much as Celest enjoyed making and wearing costumes, specifically dresses that looked like someone would wear in a fantasy novel, she wasn't so keen about wearing them in public....mostly because it made her stand out, which she didn't want.

"Well, let me know if you need any help with them. I guess you already bought them but if you need any accessories or anything made, just let me know," she offered to her sister. She decided against telling Dena that she would not be joining her in the whole costume wearing thing...she'd save that battle for later. "You too, Jack, that is if you decide to dress up."

[Jack Chandler]

“Oh,” Jack blurted, surprised. “I had heard a bunch of us freshman were gonna crash, cause it was some big upperclassman deal. I mean, it'll still be fun. I guess I just heard wrong.” He was sure he had been told that they were crashing, and that was the big deal about going, so he was slightly disappointed to think no trouble would be caused. The thrill of getting kicked out would have made it a lot more entertaining. He glanced over at Celest to see if he could figure out what she thought.

Celest was always good at being his trouble radar. If she didn't like the idea, but still went along with it, Jack usually figured it was safe. The day Celest refused a good time was the day Jack would too. The mention of costumes, however, dalmost changed this. “Costumes? Like, what kinda costumes? I don't know if I have anything like that...” Jack tried to brainstorm anything he might be able to wear, but other than a suit, he wasn't sure he had anything non-normal.

Jack smiled at Celest's offer to help him with a costume. “Yeah, that'd be great! I have no idea where to start though. What do you guys think?” His hands slid into the pockets of the khakis he was wearing, an absentminded habit of his. His mother always barked at him for having his hands in his pockets, though he never understood why it was a problem. Still, it made him look more uneasy than he usually was. He glanced around, to see if Caitlin was coming, but once again failed to find her. He wanted to get to say hello to her before he had to take off, but he figured his mom would already be mad enough. So he decided to wait longer. Plus, he was in the company of two pretty girls, and a third was on her way. It wasn't a bad place for a boy like him to be.

[Dena Zouvelekis]

“Of course it’s going to be fun!” Dena enthused, thinking that this was so obvious, she didn’t really need to point it out. But she loved to talk, and so she did. Whether people wanted to listen or not. Luckily her present audience consisted of her sister and one of her friends, so even if they wanted her to shut up, they were far too nice to say so. Something she happily took advantage of now. “It’s bowling and food and all of us and costumes! It’s going to be great!”

She shook her head adamantly at Celest’s assumption that she had already bought a costume. “No, I didn’t need to, Caitlin’s got heaps, and she said I could borrow one! So I’m probably going to go dressed up as Yuna, you know, from Final Fantasy. It’s going to be so cute! Well, Caitlin will look cuter, but I don’t mind that.” she admitted with a broad grin. “So I don’t need anything else, I don’t think. Which is good, cause that gives you more time for yours and Jack’s costumes.”

Dena was clearly excited at the prospect of enlisting more people into turning up in costume. There was no reason she wouldn’t be, costumes were fun, bowling was fun, so combined, it clearly had to be twice as fun! “It doesn’t matter what costume, as long as you’re dressed up! It’s going to be great! Um, what could you dress up as...well, guys like to dress up as superheroes? Nah, that’s not unique enough. And Celest! You could wear one of your dresses, you look so cute in them. That’s it! You should be a knight Jack! That way, you and Celest would match. That’s what you have to do, please? Pretty please? It would look so good!” And, just to help her cause, she adopted the puppy eyes look and stared pleadingly at both of them. “Pretty please?”

[Celest Zouvelekis]

"Um...oh," Celest said when it was suggestion that she and Jack dress up together. It wasn't so much the idea of dressing similarly to Jack, after all, he was her friend--it was more the assumption that Celest was dressing up. Okay, so maybe she had seen it coming but she was hoping that she could have put it off a little longer at least...

"Well...a knight's costume might be a little more complicated than I can do," she said. "I can't really sew together armor...and while I do actually know a technique to make chainmail out of soda tabs...it would require over 1000 tabs and more time than I have before Sunday," Celest explained. Still she wanted to keep the focus off her...off her wearing a costume. After all, she did have plenty of dresses to spare, more than she could really wear, but the point was not standing out. Blending in was what Celest strove for.

She tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear and turned to Jack. "If you have any idea of what you'd like to be, I can still try and make something that will look good," she offered. "It doesn't have to match me though...I don't know what I'll wear," she said vaguely, mostly because whatever she did wear would be normal clothes. Even if everyone around her was dressed up, thus drawing unwanted attention to her, as the non costumed member of the group, people would most likely overlook her. Or at least that was Celest's thought process.

"Should we grab some lunch?" she asked, hoping that the change in task would take the conversation away from the whole costume thing.

[Jack Chandler]

Something about dressing up with Celest made Jack's face turn beet red almost instantly. He suddenly felt really hot and didn't understand why. All Dena had mentioned was dressing up like a knight so that he and Celest would match. What was so embarrassing about that? Still, his heart was beating quite fast, all because of some innocent idea.

“I, uh... a knight?” It would definitely be weird, and tons of people would notice. It also seemed kinda geeky. Jack liked movies like Lord of the Rings just fine, but he wasn't super into any of that dragon and knight type stuff. He had always been much too practical for such fantastical endeavors. Still, something in him didn't mind the idea. However, it had to pass the screening test that was Celest. “I guess, well, I will if you do, Cee.”

Luckily for Jack, Celest didn't think she could make a costume like that. “I dunno what I could be. I can give you a call or text you or something later and we can talk about it. I'd like to stay for lunch, but I better get back to my ma before she starts hunting me down.” Jack frowned at the thought of his mom finding him with two of the Zouvelekis'. She already despised their TV show, and she wasn't too happy when she heard Jack had become friends with the four freshmen kids. It was one of the reasons Jack enjoyed the friendship! Besides, of course, that they were tons of fun, and their family just seemed a lot more loose than Jack's stuffy parents. “I'll seeya later. Tell Caitlin I said hi.”

Jack turned to leave, walking slowly as he was in no hurry to find his mother. The boy soon disappeared into the crowd of shoppers, lost to the girls for now.

*wrapped for Jack*