Escaping Purgatory [open tag]

[Ezra Kingsley]

After church, Ezra didn't feel like going home. Isaiah's missing mass was new but she managed to convince her parents to leave without him anyway. She didn't know what could be expected when they arrived home which was why she did follow her parents only to check on her brother and his new wife to be. It was too quiet in his room and when she saw her mother heading to Isaiah's room, she quickly distracted her and went into the living room. Despite the scarce time she ever spent talking to her mother, Denise actually followed Ezra into the kitchen. One thing Ezra knew her mother would gladly talk about for hours on end was her event planning so Ezra took out a giant bag of chips and scarfed the whole bag down by herself, knowing her mother wouldn't dare touch the chips if it was the last thing she could do.

Possibly about an hour passed before Denise finally stopped talking and wanted to check up on Isaiah and that was when Ezra took the opportunity to talk out loud. "Oh come ON Mama! You only care about Isaiah and not enough for me. I am trying to rekindle the relationship we used to probably have when I was in your womb. Can't you see that? It's just not fair that Isaiah gets all the attention especially now what with his marriage to Raven and all. I can't even get an hour out of your time to focus on me? You're selfish, Mama. Selfish!" she burst into fake tears, quite proud of herself for the little theatrics she was pulling. If the emphasis she put on Isaiah and Raven's name was not enough to rouse them from whatever they were doing in their room, Ezra was sure to kill Isaiah if he was ever caught by their mother.

But her little performance caught her mother's attention and before she knew it, Denise's arms were around her, hugging her tightly and whispering soothing words. "Oh sweetheart...I'm sorry I...I never thought you felt that way...I'm so sorry." Ezra froze in her mother's arms, completely not expecting this. She had actually expected her mother to give her an earful long enough for Isaiah and his fiance to straighten themselves up. Or even giving her daughter a tight slap for being so rude. It would be even more rude if she were to push her mother away at this point so she let her mother feel motherly long enough for Isaiah to get out of the room.

Once she spotted Isaiah peeking from behind a wall of the house with an okay sign to her, Ezra patted her mother's back repeatedly to get her off her. "Alright, Mama...good bonding. I'm gonna go out now so um...bye." She mouthed a You owe me, sucker and an affectionate stick out of the tongue to Isaiah before dashing out of the house still in her Sunday best after stuffing her pocket with some stray cash she found on the table beside the door. "I'll be back! ...ish," she added the last part once the door slammed shut.

The rain was really coming down hard as she stepped out on the porch so rummaging through the little cupboard right near the door of their house where they kept the shoes and other outdoorsy stuff, she grabbed a very large umbrella and walked out on to the street. Her exposed legs which her knee length boots nor dress covered froze in the windy rain but Ezra kept on walking to the nearest coffee shop to find some refuge and a hot beverage.

Leaning the umbrella on the glass window of the little cafe, she walked into the semi-empty cafe and ordered a big mug of hot cocoa and found a seat in a nice cozy crook of the squarish coffee shop. Sipping a little from her bowl size mug, Ezra pulled at the hair band that had securely held her hair up in a ponytail, letting her white blond hair spill down her shoulders. "Good cocoa..."

[Zane Douglas]

Normally Zane didn't mind when his parents performed with the L.A. Opera but with the rain it made things boring at home. He hated being cooped up all day.

The show started at 2:30, and his folks had already left for their call time. He figured they wouldn't be home until 7 or so but usually there was a cast get together after so that would mean even later for them.

There was no sense in being bored, so he grabbed an umbrella and went to his car, which he nicknamed Bumblebee. He drove in the rain until he found a nice nondescript coffee shop. They seemed to be better than the big named places.

He went and stood in line looking around him. He felt so insignificant being smaller than most people around him.
Finally it was his turn to order.

He ordered a large hot caramel apple cider and a snickerdoodle cookie. It was a nice blend for a cold day like this was turning out to be.

Once he got his order, he looked for a place to sit. That was the cue someone needed. Zane didn't see the foot sticking out near him, which caused him to fall spilling his drink everywhere and crushing his cookie.

He was on the verge of tears as the person who tripped him laughed like a hyena.

[Ezra Kingsley]

She had been enjoying her little corner and hot cocoa that when she heard someone laughing like an idiot behind her, she wanted to shut them up. Turned out to be a little guy who had tripped and had made a little mess around him. Her instincts were to laugh her head off too, which reminded her of that supermarket where she had met that dog boy and had laughed at his little incident. She remembered how bad she felt afterwards and so she figured to get back some karma points, she put her mug down and went to the guy, shooting bolts with her eyes at the guy who had laughed at the fallen boy.

"Laugh it up, funny guy. Try getting some snickerdoodles stuck in your nose sometime and see how that feels." She raised a fist at the laughing guy before crouching slightly to help pull the boy up. "Hey...hey you alright?" She could see the glassy sheen in the guy's eyes, a sure sign that he was about to cry. Biting her lower lip to stifle the cooing she was sure to do if her mouth was open, she helped the boy stand up and wiped off the crumbs over his face and shirt.

She turned to the laughing guy and gave him a deep frown. "You should know better...jackass." Ezra pulled the guy to her table and asked him to wait while she asked for help to clean up the floor and got her new friend another cup of whatever he had before and another snickerdoodle. She returned to her table and placed her purchase on the table in front of the guy. "Don't worry about paying back. I'm kind of gathering karma points right now." She gave the guy a smile, wondering if she had ever seen him around before.

"I'm Ezra. Kingsley." She added her last name as an afterthought. "Do you go to Gould?" she asked since she had never seen him in her school before.

[Zane Douglas]

Zane was used to being tripped or pushed and when it happened at school, it didn't hurt so much. Being in public though it was much more humiliating, and that's what hurt the most.

Being humiliated.

He heard the voice of a girl, sounding like she was defending him. That was something he wasn't used to, he just sort of blended into the backing. He clammed up slightly when she helped him up all he could do was nod yes, that he was okay.

The brushing off of the crumbs though made him feel like he was a toddler again, he didn't say anything though. He felt a few tears fall from his eyes, which he quickly wiped away while she went and got him a new cookie and drink.

"I'm...I'm Zane, Zane Douglas." Came a small vocal reply. "Thank you." He bit his lip slightly not used to the attention he was getting. "I go to Gould." He wondered if she a part of the school combining together. "I don't think I ever seen you there, but then at my height I don't get to see much of anything." He hated being short, in his opinion it was a fate worse than death.

[Ezra Kingsley]

After sipping her cocoa a bit, leaving a little moustache over her lips, she gave Zane a big smile. "I like that name! Well, I like a lot of names. I mean cool sounding names. I'm kinda grateful that the one thing my parents did right was name me Ezra. I mean the whole history behind him being a Jewish prophet when I'm obviously not Jewish is kinda weird but isn't Ezra such a cool name?"

Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly before cocking her head to the side to look at him properly. He was so cute. And not just in the little boy cute kind of way. Blinking a few times, she realised she was staring too much and cleared her throat out of embarrassment. "I'm a Silver. And don't worry about your height. You'll grow. Boys do that easily. Me? I'm thinking I'm going to be stuck in this height forever." She laughed without a hint of self-deprication.

For her, it was not too bad being short. In fact she liked it alot. There were a lot of things she could get away with being her height and not a lot of things could happen to her. Perks of being a girl too. "I wouldn't even be surprised three years from now you're gonna shoot up!" She encouraged him. "But you're cute the way you are...you can get away with a lot of things." Shrugging, Ezra pushed the plate of snickerdoodles nearer to him. "Go on...eat up." She smiled widely.

[Zane Douglas]

"Ezra is a nice name too," Zane replied not sure how to make small talk. "It beats the run of the mill names like Jessica, Jennifer and so forth." He scratched the back of his neck. "I was named for an author of western novels, silly I know but I have an uncle who loved them."

He looked rather glum. "Me? Grow? Its doubtful, I mean I'm already 16 and unless I hit a growth spurt I think this is it. I'll be a munchkin the rest of my life."

Cute? Did he hear her correctly? She thought he was cute? He suddenly felt like Rudolph when Clarice called him cute! He wanted to fly over the moon and back! Only instead of his nose glowing red, his cheeks were a nice rosy color. "You really think I'm cute?" He had to ask just to make sure his ears weren't playing tricks on him. "I mean I've been called adorable as 'I wanna pinch your cheeks till your face falls off' but haven't been called cute." He took one of the Snickerdoodles and broke it half, gently taking a small bite from his half. "I think you've earned major karma points with this, thanks."

[Ezra Kingsley]

"Well thanks, that's what I said." She grinned before licking the top part of her lips. "Yum. Good cocoa. I'm going to get one more. Be back!" She rushed to the counter and got another hot cocoa and came back. "See I always thought Zane was that dude who played uh that purple superhero...dang I completely forgot what the movie was but he was extremely good looking. Billy Zane...that's who. Oh he's so hot." Ezra babbled on. "But how you got your name's pretty cool. I mean personally I wouldn't call my son Tolkein simply because my husband loves Lord of the Rings but who am I to judge? I just like your name is all. Wow I talk a lot." She chuckled a little before shrugging at his concern.

"And what is so wrong with being a munchkin? Besides, Isaiah he's my brother by the way, he started growing like a few months ago and he's already like what seventeen? Since he's a senior and all. I wouldn't worry if I were you. But seriously, I don't care how tall a guy is as long as he can treat me kind and has a great sense of humor, I'd totally jump his bones if he was a dwarf. Not that you're a dwarf. And of course I think you're cute. You're very very cute." A little blush coloured her cheeks which she wasn't aware of. Yes she actually thought he was adorable, like 'I wanna pinch your cheeks til your face falls off' kind of adorable but still.

He was attractive. She wanted to bring him home and do very naughty things to him. Then again, she was Ezra...EZ to some asses who thought they were funny. Couldn't hurt...he just looked so sad. She didn't like it when people are sad. Especially when they look like Zane. His reassurance of her gaining karma points made her smile even bigger. "Yay!" she clapped her hands lightly. "Thanks. I totally owe you one."

[Zane Douglas]

Ezra seemed to have more zip than the Roadrunner Zane thought as he munched on the other half of the Snickerdoodle. Maybe it was something in the coco, maybe it was too much sugar earlier. He really didn't know. He did know though, that he liked her. He stood up when she came back and sat down once she was seated. "Tolkein isn't that bad, it beats being called Bilbo or Frodo." A bigger smile was dawning on his face.

"Well, shortness runs in my family. I'm just a few inches shorter than my mom and my dad isn't much taller than her." He looked semi startled at her admission about jumping bones. How does one respond to that? "I would try as best as I could to treat someone right. Like you said its karma." He still didn't know what to make of her comment. Out of all the guys that went to school, he was still trying to piece why she would pick him, although her reasons were valid.

"You don't owe me anything really," He said. "Just pay it forward, spread the wealth or so people say." That was the least anyone could do.

[Ezra Kingsley]

When Zane stood up when she came back with her cocoa, she went a bit blur for a moment. Him and Isaiah would be amazing friends. They acted so weirdly around girls, pulling out chairs, standing up when a girl stood up, opened doors for them. They were like from another dimension. But the thought was quickly forgotten when he mentioned being called Bilbo or Frodo. She chuckled lightly. "That is so true." The smile on his face was infectious as she found herself smiling as well.

"Hey! I'd fit right in your family!" She enthused. "My brother and dad are both complete giants and even my mother is like...a head taller than me." She shook her head in amusement. "I really am a dwarf in the family. But like I said, I can get away with a lot of things." She beamed before stealing some of his cookie. "I can see you treating people right." Ezra nodded in response to Zane's comment with a little smile. Suddenly she was pretty glad the schools were joining up. She would definitely like to see Zane more. He's pretty cool, though a bit sad. And again she just didn't like sad people.

Shrugging at his little remark about paying it forward, Ezra wasn't sure what to reply to it. She thought a little about it as she sipped her hot cocoa. "Well, whatever it is I'm kinda glad that I helped out one of the good guys." She smiled.