Keeping Up [Amy TAG open]

[Amy Baker]

Amy had woken up way too early after having watched the Silver friendly match between the boys and girls. It motivated her into keeping up a strict regime that enhanced her speed. She knew she would never be as good as the boys, she couldn't kid herself. She knew her boundaries. And knowing them was an advantage in her opinion. Now she had to be that much better and hope she would finally get noticed by a scout once prelims for the girls soccer team came around.

As she was warming up on the old open basketball court, she eyed a few early joggers longer than necessary. Stretching her limbs to loosen them up, a few male joggers leered at her sports bra and shorts ensemble. Yes, she had breasts...deal with it. Her long ponytail swished back and forth as her nimble body moved around in her warm ups. After twenty or thirty minutes of it, she went to get her basketball from her gym bag and started some dribbling practices which escalated into dunking and free throws. Her moves seemed effortless and her technique pretty smooth. For a girl.

The sun had fully set when she realised that she had school. With a rush, she packed her ball and grabbed her track pants and hoodie and got on her bike to head to school. In the middle of her cycling, she plugged in her MP3 player in her ears and enjoyed the cool breeze whipping her face, clearing the beads of perspiration that had coated her neck and a bit of her face. She rather enjoyed cycling at this time of the morning. It wasn't too hot nor was it too cold and she was able to enjoy the ride as much as possible.

Once she arrived at school, she parked her bicycle at the stand and without paying attention, turned around to walk to school only to bump into someone she hadn't expected to see. Just as she was about to apologise she saw who it was.

[christophe]

How in hell was he supposed to find a costume by tonight? It was an impossible task - even given the fact that Lia had pffered to help. Perhaps it wasn't too late to get out of going? After all, the prospect of a bed sheet acting as a toga filled him with fear and repulsion. He'd be the laughing stock of the party! Besides, Lia would be disappointed and he couldn't be the cause of that. No, Christophe had to hold onto the hope that Lia's contacts would come through and find that costume.

The French boy pushed his hands deep into his pockets and whistled softly to himself as he wandered along the street and towards school. Soon he'd be able to afford his own car... and then he wouldn't have to keep on borrowing his mother's one. Not that she minded but it was hardly desirable to have to keep asking for permission.

In deep thought he walked through the main gates and made for the main school building itself and as he did so his shoulder caught against a passing body. Not so much a body as the large pack that was slung over one shoulder.

"Désolé," he offered in a mildly distracted tone. "I wasn't concentrating," he added as he focused on the girl he'd bumped.

[Amy Baker]

Amy wasn't the type to stare. She really wasn't. But as of late, especially since seeing Kayla the other day, she had been staring way too much. At girls, mostly. And then there was this boy. He looked vaguely familiar. Older than her, for sure. His looks were refined. Almost feminine but retaining the rugged masculinity with his slight five o'clock shadow. His deeply accented voice gave her the shivers as one hand went up to her ponytail to tug it lightly out of sheer habit.

Summoning up all the French she knew, she snapped out of her staring and gave a little smile. "C'est bien." She shrugged but felt a bit uneasy as he too stared at her. Those were some intense eyes. Amy slowly shook her head. "I wasn't either. I tend to do that." She realised she still had her headphones on, which explained why she sounded slightly muffled. Hastily, she pulled them down and chuckled nervously. She felt so awkward, being all weird around a boy. Sure he was hot, any living being could see that but why was she seeing it?

Amy had been friends with guys like this one. And she was okay with that so far. She didn't have heart palpitations...maybe all this was PMS...her hormones going out of order because it was her time of the month. Yeah. That sounded way more sensible than the fact that it was just a natural reaction for a girl when she saw a good looking boy.

"Uh...are you going in?" she asked, pointing to the school. Of course, when she realised how idiotic the question was since they were in school, it was already too late. The words had escaped and there was no way she could stop from being viewed as the loser who liked to ask questions with obvious answers.

[christophe]

Christophe held the girl's eyes with his own, wondering if he knew her from around the school. She was looking up at him as if they'd met. Had they? His memory wasn't the best but he felt sure he'd remember a pair of eyes of such an intense blue. He half smiled when she spoke back... and in his own language. Her effort had been noted... and appreciated. "Trust me," he replied. "The fault is mine. My head was up in the clouds," he assured her with a wave of his left hand. "You have loosened a little of your hair," he added and he reached up to gently tug the strand that had escaped its ponytail restraint. Christophe threw her a friendly smile as he spoke.

"Yes, I am heading inside," he continued. "And I count myself lucky to be able to do so with such a companion." He leaned down and whispered conspiratorially, "I will be the envy of every guy present," he said with a wink. "But my manners are terrible! I am Christophe," he said with an extension of his right hand. "A pleasure to meet you..." He left his sentence hanging and waited for the girl to provide her name. Hopefully she would... otherwise he was about to look pretty stupid.

More so than usual anyway!

[Amy Baker]

His insistence at being at fault was met with Amy's blank expression. He was obviously not American. Shrugging that thought out of her head, she almost yelped when the guy suddenly tugged at some loose strands on her head. Holy crap! Where did this guy come off tugging on her hair? She wasn't exactly complaining but it scared the crap out of her. The most physical a guy ever got with her was the rough albeit playful shove after watching her play her best and closely beating them at their own game. The blush on her cheeks was not out of anger or shyness. It was more out of humiliation than anything.

She took a quick second to process what he had said. Wait...was he flirting with...holy crap he's coming nearer. As he whispered in her ear, she instinctively moved back a bit, scrunching her whole face, almost in agony. This is way too much for Amy in one sitting. But what he whispered made Amy snort derisively. "What guy?" she blew the statement off with a pshaw and a dismissive wave. "Possibly the janitor..." she added quietly.

Christophe...what a name. Would he mind if she just called him Frenchie? She couldn't find it in her to say the name out loud without laughing. Maybe it was her own fault for being such a dude to find calling a name like Christophe such a laugh. This boy did not know what he got himself into, bumping into her and introducing himself as Christophe. But boy was he fine. "Urm...Amy. Baker. Nice to meet you too...you don't mind if I call you Chris do you?" She of course, out of courtesy, did not mention why she wanted to just call him by his first syllable. Well, at least she had enough decent sense to do that. Yay for Amy!

[christophe]

Christophe would have had to have been both blind and a fool not to notice the girl's discomfort. As his eyesight was perfect and his mentality well-blanced he backed off a little, not wanting to terrify her even more than he'd done already. The French were, by nature, tactile people and so this was nomal behaviour for Christophe. "Even the janitor," he corrected. Low self-esteem as well? A pity as she had very expressive eyes when she wasn't doing her damnedest to play the part of a startled deer.

"Bien. Amy Baker. I am pleased to meet you," he replied with a glint of amusement in his dark eyes. "Of course you may call me Chris. Back in Paris... that's where I was born," he added... just in case his accent hadn't been clue enough, "... my friends called me Tof but Chris is fine as well."

They had entered inside the school by now and Christophe didn't even notice the looks that were cast their way. The school tomboy with a guy? Unheard of? Perhaps but life was full of surprises, wasn't it?

"Your locker is this way? My luck is definitely in as mine is down this hallway as well. We are able to proceed together... unless you prefer that I stop bothering you. Do you prefer that, Amy Baker?" he asked, eyes wide and 'innocent'...

[Amy Baker]

Amy shrugged at his correction and held back her laughter. "Right right...even the janitor." So this was a first, a guy subtly complimenting her. She wasn't sure if he was flirting with her or he was just that nice... Well, whichever it was, it was freaking her out.

Way to state the obvious, Amy wanted to chuckle but held it back when Chris said he was born in Paris. Like his suave charm and accent weren't already proof enough. And Tof? Her apparently five year old mind snorted derisively as the word Tofu came to mind. It was just too close to Tof to not point it out! Of course she wasn't going to point it out to him! That would just be tactless. And really mean! And Amy is a lot of things but mean is not one of them.

And while Chris didn't seem to notice the looks thrown their way, Amy did. It was common for Amy to walk with a guy sure. But being silent and not all up on his grill about last night's football match? That was unheard of. And the way they looked at her right then, it was downright embarrassing! She knew she was supposed to be eternally grateful for Chris somehow. He was actually talking to her like she was a girl!

But for the life of her, she just couldn't stop thinking about how this was all some grand scheme to humiliate her by building her up and then knocking her down in public. Public humiliation just doesn't sound good unless it's in the form of winning against your most bitter rival in a game. Okay, Baker. Chillax. Just go with the flow. Act like a girl. Or at least a semblance of a girl. Don't even think about giggling. I will cut you if you do.

"Well whaddya know...my luck is in too!" she chuckled before shaking her head. "Sorry...I'm not in a right state of mind." She excused herself. His offer to stop bothering her made Amy stop walking. Which resulted into her knocking back a senior who cursed the living daylights out of her before walking off. It took her awhile to apologise and when she did, she looked at Chris. "Sorry...you're not a bother. Uh...no we're cool. We could...proceed. Together." It felt so weird using the word proceed in a sentence...what were they, in the 18th century? This guy was something else.

She kept up with him and frowned slightly before saying what had been on her mind. "This isn't a joke right? I mean...you're just walking with me not because you're planning on screwing me over in a second? Like...there isn't a room full of cameras just waiting to jump out and yell "Smile! You're on candid camera!" or Ashton's going to come out any time soon and yell "You just got Punk'd!" or whatever right?" Well, it wouldn't hurt asking.

[christophe]

Christophe stopped dead in his tracks - right in the centre of the main corridor. He frowned. "A joke? Why would I be playing a joke on you? We have only just met and I would only play a joke on someone I knew well." He wasn't sure if he'd said or done something wrong. English - American - wasn't his first language and the culture differences between this country and his wn were enormous. "I am walking with you because... well, at first it was in apology for bumping into you but now it is because I like to." He lifted one hand towards his heart. "On my word there will be no screwing... of any description!"

His frown deepened a little. "Why would you think I was joking with you, though? Do people joke like this with you a lot?" If so how could it be termed a joke? Christophe wasn't sure he'd find it funny to mess around with someone's head. No, he had to be missing something. "Wait... Is it you who is doing the joking?" he asked warily. "I mean, I am still very new to school. Is this some kind of... ah... test... An initiation?"

[Amy Baker]

Throughout his little monologue, Amy went through different facial expressions before she finally settled on a blank expression. So maybe she got it all wrong. Serves her right to always assume people's intentions. It's just her luck, really. The first time a guy was actually taking an interest in her farther than her ability to withstand fart jokes and all she's wondering is when he's going to tell her that he was probably dared by his friends to take an interest in her and humiliate her the first chance he got.

She's probably giving off a really bad first impression on this guy who probably just wanted to be her friend. He even complimented her for God's sake. She did find his putting his hand on his heart a tad theatrical and the words that came after was a laugh. But she wasn't going to laugh at it. Not yet anyway.

"No joke...my style of joking is far more entertaining than this." She shrugged. Wow this boy is really not American. Which was why it resulted in her re-evaluating the whole 'He's joking and will try to humiliate me the moment I put my guard down' bit.

Reaching one hand out, Amy waited for him to take it. "Obviously I started on the wrong foot. I'm Amy Baker, I'm a sports enthusiast and my interaction with boys is limited to armpit farts and cursing at stupid football players. How about yourself?"

[christophe]

Christophe hesitated no more than a heart's beat before gripping her hand firmly. He hook it and added a bright smile for good measure. "I really am please to meet you," he said. "Christophe - you know that part already... Broussard," he provided. "I promise I will not perform a single armpit fart and as my knowledge of football is limited to...well... nothing really I guess we will have to find something else to talk about. I haven't been at this school for very long. Before I came here I lived in Canada. Whistler, British Columbia to be exact but as I mentioned, I am a Parisian at heart. My passion lies out at sea. Orcas," he added. "I am lucky in that I have only just been given a job at the local aquarium... Looking after the orcas they have there. I am still struggling to believe my luck! Do you like the sea? You mentioned loving sports... Do you swim? Or dive?"

He side-stepped a couple of boys that were heading towards them, resuming his place at Amy's side after they'd passed by. He felt sure he'd heard one of the boys make a comment of some description and had aimed it at either himself or Amy but whatever had been uttered had been done in a rapid manner, making it impossible for the French boy to translate it.

He glanced down at Amy, still confused as to why anyone would play such unkind tricks on her. She seemed really friendly and pleasant to talk to!