At the alley - Takumi/Izzy - open!

[fryn]

"Hai... Dating," confirmed Takumi with a bright smile. He knew this had to be hard on Izzy but she seemed to be coping well with her sorrow and grief. At least no one had noticed anything was amiss altthough he had a fgeeling Dare and Evan would eventuually corner him and demand to know why he'd kept changing his mind about whether to attend the bowling afternoon or not. Of course, he couldn't tell them. It wasn't his news to share. "So you and Lia are also dating?" he asked with a glint in his eye. "You said you were meeting someone yesterday," he added to the girl in question. "She stood me up for this person!" he added with a laugh.

He reached for a ball and frowned when he hefted it. "This is very heavy," he stated.

Izzy took the 16 pound ball from him and handed him a far lighter weight one.

"Arigatou," he offered. "I didn't realise they were different. I just thought to choose a colour I liked." He had such a lot to learn about the game but he was nothing if not willing.

"Lia-chan... How do I hold this thing. So?" He tried to get both hands and their attached digits into the holes. "Which ones do I leave out?" This was surely going to be impossible. He nodded to the newcomer, not all that sure who he was but certain he'd seen him around school. He seemed to know Lia and her Frenchman anyway!

"I am honoured to meet you, Kian," Takumi replied with a dip of his head. "This is Izzy and I am Yohino Takumi..."

[Izzy Chen]

Izzy understood the mistake. They both were asian, but they were not siblings. Izzy did laugh though. It was the first time she actually truly laughed, "I am Korean. I was born and raised here though." Izzy explained how her father lived in Korea, but her mother left when she was pregnant. "I do have a brother named Jett." Izzy left out the whole fact he is only her half brother. She honestly never thought about. She also left out the fact he is black. It just never occured to her. It would be interesting for Chrisotphe to meet Jett. They would actually get along well.

"Yeah we are dating, only a few weeks." She said with a smile as she watch Taki pick up a ball that seemed to heavy for him, "Its okay. All the balls are different saizes. You pick the one you can hold the best. I like size 8." Izzy picked a bright blue ball. "Your fingers go like this." Along with Lia, Izzy helped Taki figure it out. "Next you just throw the ball down the lane. The main object is to knock down all those pins and keep the ball out of those gutters." She pointed all this out to Taki.

"I will go first, if no one minds." Izzy set up the lane. She invited Ian to join as well when he was done handing out shoes. Then Kian walked over, "Oh my god...your Connors boyfriend aren't you. I am Izzy. I am on the paper with Connor. Its about time I met you." Izzy was glad, now she could stop teasing Connor about having an imaginary boyfriend. "Taki you need to meet Connor. You will like him. Please join us." Izzy offered. The more people who joined, the more she could kind of hide her emotions and everything. "Okay ready." Izzy took her first turn knocking down four pins. Then she took her next turn and knocked down four more.

"Okay Taki your turn. You just take a few steps, pull your arms back and then throw the ball." Izzy leaned up and kissed Taki's cheek, "That's cause you are adorable with the pink ball I handed you. If you want another color we can go pick one out." Izzy offered. She handed him the pink ball cause it was closest to her at the time. She did not think about the color, until she saw him.

"Lia I would love for you to join us on our adventures. The light house was rather fun. You all should join. This is fun. I am glad everyone was able to come. Its a good turn out."

[fryn]

"Another colour?" Takumi looked - and felt - astonished. "I love the colour. It is one of my favourite. Hello Kitty is always pink," he pointed out. "Well, sometimes in black when she is Punk Kitty but usually pink.

He drew in a deep breath and poked his fingers into the holes as Izzy had told him, hoping they'd come free once he'd thrown the ball as the mental image of him being towed all the way to the far end and still attached to the pink orb wasn't something he ever wanted to see happen in reality!

He glared at the pins down the alley, willing them to fall and then he took aim.

"Kuso! I am supposed to stay out of that channel at the side... aren't I?" Izzy smiled and nodded and Takumi responded with a wry grin. "Next time I will get it right," he said in a determined tone. "Zorro-chan. Show me how it is done!" he urged, nodding at Christophe as he spoke.

He dropped down to sit next to Izzy and reached for the bottle of flavoured water he'd bought from a nearby vending machine. "This is a lot harder than it seems," he said with no small amount of feeling. "But yes, Lia. You must come with us next time we brave the Lady of the Light!"

[christophe]

Christophe was pleased to see Kian and the two boys chatted for a few moments about when they could next meet up at the fencing school. He'd been there since his first time but hadn't encountered Kian again.

"Zorro-chan. Show me how it is done!"

He glanced at the feathered boy and grinned. Takumi's enthusiasm was infectious and it was impossible not to be affected by it. He winked at Llyria before picking up the heavier weight ball. He'd made this sort of shot countless times in the past and while 90% of the time he would earn himself a strike he was determined to make this count in that other 10%. Christophe pulled his aim a few degrees to the left... and released the ball. "Merde. Only five," he muttered as convincingly as he could. "I am afraid it is now up to someone else to show you how to bowl properly, mon ami," he added to Takumi.

He frowned down at the Japanese boy who had retrieved his pink ball. "I... ah... I am not sure you should be drawing on the ball, Takumi," he said uncertainly. "Is that a cat?" Takumi added two initials before finishing.

HK

"Really, they won't like you doing that," he repeated but Christophe gave up on reason when the other boy added a bow to the cat's head for good measure.

"Who is up next?" he asked instead.

[Izzy Chen]

"Don't worry babe. You will get it." She gave him a quick kiss for encouragement. "Bowling is one of those games that you have to play over and over before you are any good. At least thats me. The first few times I played, Jett called me the gutter ball queen. Now I can knock down at least one pin." Izzy said with a laugh.

"Good job Christophe. Five pins is not bad." She had no idea he was being modest. Izzy was no expert. he best score barely reached a hundred. She had gotten maybe one strike and few spares in all her years of bowling. "Really coming here is to have fun. Who cares how good you are at the game. Usually when i get bored I head to the arcade and play video games. Jett and I use to have a competition on the games."

She smiled for a brief moment as she remembered her mom bringing them once or twice. It was when she was actually trying to be a mom. Then her career took off and so did she. Izzy let a tiny tear fall and quickly brushed it away. No...she would not cry and would not feel bad. Things were perfect. Everything was okay....it would all be okay. Izzy took a deep breath, and closed her eyes for a moment. She felt on the verge of a panic attack from all the stress.

Finally once Izzy felt she regained her composure she turned back to Taki and Christophe and watched as Taki just finished drawing a cat on his ball. "Hey thats hello kitty." She said smiling. "Christophe is right, you are not allowed to draw on the balls, but I wont tell. i will be our little secret." She grabbed Taki's arm with a bright smile. "Lia your turn."

[Evan Hughes]

Just a little unnerved from his encounter with Jess, one that he was not prepared for, but one that he was glad he had left unscathed, Evan now walked casually over to the last people in his sights, as if getting ready for a teenage girl to jump on his back and start trying to scratch out his eyes again. But he got closer and closer to his friends, and there was still no attack, so it was a visibly relieved Evan who joined the small group, wrapping an arm around Takumi’s and Izzy’s shoulders.

“Hey, awesome you all could come!” he greeted enthusiastically before turning his attention to Izzy. “So you’re Izzy right, Taki’s girl? Good to meet ya, I’m Evan. Taki couldn’t stop going on about you yesterday at the jam. What, it’s true!” he grinned at the look his friend gave him. He then noticed that they were not alone. “Hey Kian! Weren’t you just over there?” he questioned, as if he couldn’t comprehend that Kian was also capable of walking too. He continued before Kian could answer him though. “Oh yeah, you know Connor right Iz? He and Kian are dating. I suggested you guys should all hang out sometimes. Cause they’re cool. Not as cool as me obviously, but that’s tough for anyone to beat.”

Laughing, he turned to the other two. “Hey Christophe and Lia! You remember me right? The idiot in the cafeteria kitchen?” Evan laughed, not feeling like mentioning the shooting the reason he was in the kitchen in the first place. “So you guys are dating now? Awesome, we’re all loved up! The rest of us are right at the end! Okay, gotta go talk to Ian, talk to you peeps later!”

[fryn]

"Evan-kun!" Takumi greeted with a beaming smile. "And yes, this is Izzy," he added with a proud smile in her direction. He threw Evan a mock glare when he said something about having mentioned her a lot yesterday. He had but still... His glare slid easily into a grin. "I will come over and chat to you and Dare in a bit," he added when Evan started to leave.

He then turned back to face Lia. "So... you are dating? You didn't tell me if this is the person you stood me up for yesterday," he added with a good humoured scowl at the far taller boy.

As he spoke, Takumi positioned himself just behind Izzy's seat and he draped his arms around her neck form behind, leaning close to kiss her hair. He eased closer still so that only she could hear his next words.

"Are you ok?" he whispered. He knew this had to be impossibly hard for her and that she was doing her utmost to remain cheerful... At least on the outside. "If you want we can leave early," he added. He had a feeling, though, she would refuse and perhaps being around her friends was better than going home...

[christophe]

"Dating?"

Christophe blinked a couple of times. "Well... not sure we're exactly dating but... " Were they? He didn't *think* so but maybe Lia did? After all, both Takumi and now Evan had assumed so. "We've been out... once. Not counting today," he replied. Did that count as dating? Back in Paris probably notbut he wasn't IN Paris now... was he?

Evan ran off again and Lia took her turn at bowling, leaving Christophe to glance around the room and see if he knew anyone else present. Kian and Connor, of course. And Patch. He remembered him from the boat.

A nearby door suddenly flew open and Christophe saw Evan hurl himself on top of another boy. "Oh my god!!! Fight!!!" someone yelled. A girl. Christophe had been about to try and break the fight up but the girl who had shouted ran towards them instead, somehow getting between Evan and the other boy.

"Never a dull moment," Christophe murmured to himself and he turned back to see how Lia was faring. The drama seemed to be cooling down but he had a feeling that wasn't going to be the last upset today. Teens had a way of creating drama out of nothing, after all!

[Lia Juarez]

Lia was now totally stressed out. Two people assumed they were dating and Christophe looked far from pleased at the assumption. She was terrified he would think it was something she had told people. "We just met on Thursday," she said hoping that would scotch any rumors that might have started. She grabbed her longest flounce and pulled it up to secure at her waist so it wouldn't trip her as she bowled. Picking up her ball she went behind the line and aimed. "This is how it is done," she said with a playful grin. In excellent form she moved forward and released the ball. She had hoped for a split, but got a strike. Automatically she yelled "All Right!!!" and then blushed. She hAdn't wanted to show off, but she had been bowling since she was eight and with two brothers she had to learn skill or deal with endless teasing. From surfing she had good muscle control and balance which helped as well.

[Izzy Chen]

Izzy was about to speak when she felt a guy's arm around and for a moment she was shocked. Izzy was not use to all the touching, which was ironic cause she was a huggy person, but not with strangers. Then she turned and saw Evan. She knew him, but did not know him. She mainly had heard of him. "Oh he does...talk about me..should I be worried. Nice to meet you Evan." Izzy said with a wink. she laughed a little as Evan marched off.

"He is very hyper." She commented as she watched Lia take her turn and everyone questions Christophe and Lia about dating. "Sorry for mis understanding." She told them both. "Congrats on the strike Lia. Looks like we have out bowling expert in the group." Which was fine by her cause she could barely knock the pins down. But it really was fun. Actually Izzy had some funny bowling stories. It was very possible to send your ball flying down the wrong lane. She had done it.

Izzy felt Taki move behind her and she leaned back into his embraced as she felt his breath against her ear. His concern was touching, but she was fine. Well no she was not,but if one more person asked her that she might scream. Although no one at school knew yet. Just Taki, Jett, Ben, Eden and her family.Her family was the ones driving her crazy and taking that out on Taki was not right so she took a deep breath and let it out, "I am fine. Really. Its a one day at a time thing." She looked back at him and gave him a soft, but quick kiss. "Thank you...but its your turn."