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Post by felipe on Aug 2, 2010 2:52:51 GMT -5
Felipe had slept late that morning. Hardly a surprise given the time he'd first dropped LizBeth off at her home and then reached his own house. Even then sleep had been hard to come by but finally he'd managed to drift off but only to find himself wake well after ten. A lazy morning had followed and then an equally lazy lunch but come early afternoon Felipe knew he needed to get out of the house... and get some fresh air to clear his sleep-laden brain.
Venice Beach on a Sunday afternoon was bustling with life. He walked past the bright yellow sign that denoted the beach area... the one that claimed it to be 'another day in paradise'. There was the usual countless kids carrying skateboards around under one arm and the equally countless kids who tried to skate around the other milling forms. Not all of those attempts were successful and the odd shout or warning rang out above the general hustle of everyday life.
Felipe stopped at a corner Starbucks (did every street corner in the entire country have one?) and grabbed himself a cappuccino to go. An extra espresso shot sat neatly inside the paper cup... He had a feeling he'd need that before the day was out.
He wandered past a row of shops - antiques, surfing store, a 7-11 and an art boutique - and headed on towards the main beach. Felipe ignored the basketball and tennis courts and ducked across the bike path towards the ocean front. Whether he'd run into anyone he knew was a current unknown but as he knew only a handful of people he had a feeling it would be unlikely!
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Post by Abigail Winchester on Aug 2, 2010 6:42:23 GMT -5
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Post by felipe on Aug 2, 2010 7:32:10 GMT -5
It was something of an eternal mystery to Felipe Luis Vila Nova...
No matter what country you were in, a Starbucks cappuccino - non-fat, of course - tasted the exact same as the last (or next) one. Some things in life were a foregone conclusion and in this instance the Brazilian boy kind of liked the uniformity.
He leaned back against a sign that told skateboarders to give way to pedestrians and sipped the magical brew.
An eternal mystery for sure.
He scanned the beach as he drank his coffee, squinting slightly against the afternoon sun when it slanted directly into his eyes. It really was a glorious day.
He was a million miles away when he felt a shoulder bump against his and he blinked his way back to the present, smiling when he saw who it was. Ok, so they didn't exactly hang out at school together but he knew her from 2nd period. English. How could he have failed NOT to notice the attractive brunette? It was her eyes that had first caught his attention though. They were unexpectedly blue given her hair colouring.
"A penny?" He laughed slightly. "My thoughts are worth a lot more than that!" he added with a wink. "At least two pennies!" He shuffled over slightly to allow Abby some sign post to also lean against. "I can't believe you are here all alone, though," he continued, glancing down at her figure in appreciation. "I suddenly feel very over-dressed!" Felipe finished.
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Post by Abigail Winchester on Aug 2, 2010 17:13:29 GMT -5
His accent was charming to Abby and she smiled lightly when he made space for her. And his little joke made her chuckle albeit a little condescendingly. It was nothing personal, Abby had been brought up a bit differently and she was slightly snobby sometimes.
His not so subtle once over of her made her grin. She knew she looked good and having someone as cute as him notice that, it was worth the few extra hours she spent in the gym every morning and night.
"I could say the same for you," she took a sip of her drink and turned to him. "I surf alone most of the time. What's your excuse?" she smirked playfully and laughed at his comment about over-dressing. "Anything more than surfer shorts is over-dressing when you're going down the beach, hon."
She took another sip of her drink before clearing her throat. "I'm Abby by the way. I don't know if you knew my name. I know you're a foreign exchange student of some sort. Felipe right?" She smiled winningly and held her slender hand out for him to take.
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Post by felipe on Aug 3, 2010 3:14:31 GMT -5
"Abby... yeah I know," he replied, grasping her hand. "We have English class together. I make a point of remembering the names of all the pretty girls," he added with a grin. "Felipe, yes" he added. "I am an exchange student as you say. From Brazil. Sao Paolo."
He finished the last dregs of his coffee before speaking again.
"But as for my current solitude..." He lifted his shoulders in a wry shrug. "I can count the number of people I know on maybe just the single hand." A slight exaggeration perhaps. "And this is Sunday. Everyone else is off having fun but I am not complaining. Had i been invited to join them then I wouldn't have met you, would I?" He glanced down at his jeans and threw her a crooked grin. "I see I have a lot to learn about what is normal to wear to the beach." He made a mental note to stop by one of the outfitters on his way back home and grab a pair of board shorts. After all, he had a feeling he'd be spending a fair deal of his free time here on the beach seeing as though it was within easy walking distance of home."
"Do you like dogs?" he asked. "I have one. Rufio. He is a Fila Brasileiro. Brazilian Mastiff. He stands this high," he told Abby and he held one hand out at his side at around lower hip level. "I often walk him over there in the park... If you happen to be around later I could have him meet you." Not everyone liked dogs though... and even then not always the larger ones.
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Post by Abigail Winchester on Aug 3, 2010 13:29:16 GMT -5
"Aren't you charming." Her statement was accompanied with a grin. "You're a walking cliche of foreign men in the USA," she chuckled with a shoulder bump. "Sao Paolo...I've never been there," she gave him a sideways grin. Being raised an army brat, most of the time she was in a foreign country, exotic or not, was spent mostly at home due to school or being too busy trying to help her mother out with the chores and the kids.
"Felipe," she chuckled at his blatant flirtation. "You really should stop buttering me up. I'm talking to you already, you don't need to do anymore to make me stay." She pushed herself off of the signpost and turned to face him while he talked. She liked facing people when they were in conversation. It seemed more personal and Abby didn't mind personal. "What's normal is some skin. You're way too covered up." Abby explained in humor.
At the question, Abby narrowed her eyes in thought, wondering why the name sounded so familiar. Then she broke out into a genuine laughter, her eyes practically twinkling under the sun. "Rufio! Like Hook's Rufio! The boy who...kinda died in the end right? I had a crush on him when I was a kid." She shook her head in amusement. "Dogs are okay I guess. I mean I'm not crazy about them but they're lovable enough I suppose." She nodded lightly. "And you have a big dog. Are you sure he doesn't walk you in the park?"
Abby patted his shoulder before walking to the beach, an indication for him to follow. "Let's sit on my towel. I love standing and looking cool and all but I don't want my things to be stolen." She reached her towel and pulled down the surfboard she had dug into the sand beside her towel. She put her drink on the towel and turned slightly so when Felipe arrived, she would be facing him once more. The wind blew some of her hair into her face and she pulled it back with her fingers. She rummaged through her tote bag for a scrunchie and tied her hair up in a messy ponytail with a few strands left hanging. "Graduation's coming up...you have plans afterwards?"
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Post by felipe on Aug 6, 2010 6:24:34 GMT -5
“If am too covered then I can easily change that,” Felipe pointed out as he followed Abby over to where she’d laid out her towel. He kicked off his tennis shoes and rolled up the bottoms of his faded jeans a few inches, exposing well tanned shins and feet. A few seconds later and he’d unbuttoned his shirt and dumped it onto the edge of the towel. He felt as if he fitted in with the rest of the beach’s occupants a little better now!
He watched Abby as she tied back her hair.
“Graduation? I am thinking of going on to higher education at the local college,” he told her. “Or did you mean plans for the summer? If so then nothing really. I don’t know the area all that well or enough people yet to do anything much more than spend the time around here. How about you? Have you anything planned?” If not he’d hopefully see her from time to time. Maybe even go out on a date or something... He'd like that!
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Post by Abigail Winchester on Aug 7, 2010 20:25:53 GMT -5
Amused by the impromptu strip tease, Abby looked on until he was done and sitting beside her. He had a body she could bounce quarters off, to put it bluntly. Suffice it to say, she was quite glad she got him to take his clothes off. "See, that wasn't so hard was it?" She bumped her shoulder with his playfully, loving the skin on skin contact. She rummaged through her bag once more to grab a bottle of sun tan lotion. She started spreading it all over her, liking the sweet smell of mango and peace over her arms first. She worked on her legs as Felipe talked about his future plans.
"So you're staying here? You're not going abroad? Backpacking? Cut across Europe?" She asked with a playful smirk. "I'll be staying grounded. Mostly because someone needs to keep a close eye on my siblings when my parents can't be around." She answered his question. "And as for summer, I guess I'm staying here. There's no party like an LA party right?" She was spreading the lotion across her stomach as she spoke. She wondered if she could convince the boy to do her back...
"Would it be a terrible imposition if I asked you to spread some lotion over my back?" She gave him a hopeful smile and held out the bottle to him.
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Post by felipe on Aug 8, 2010 2:03:29 GMT -5
“An imposition?” Felipe smiled and shook his head. “It would be my pleasure,” he added instead. He took the bottle and squirted some lotion into his left palm. Rubbing his hands together first he then spread the cream onto Abby’s shoulders, working it down to the small of her back and where the lower half of her bikini began.
“Would you mind if I used a little for myself?” he asked. It made sense as the strength of the sun was very different to what he was used to back in Sao Paolo. Sure, he tanned easily but that didn’t mean he was stupid enough to ignore all the skin cancer warnings.
Abby nodded and Felipe smeared lotion over his shoulders and chest. It was, after all, far better to play safe than to regret things in later life.
“No, though... to the backpacking or European tour question. I would like to. I mean, who wouldn’t? But...” He shrugged slightly. “... any trip is not quite the same when made alone, is it?” Had he still been living in Brazil the chances were he would have done something of that nature with his old friends but now he’d moved to California Felipe realised it would be impossible to cling to his past... To his old group of ‘amigos da escola’.
“Perhaps we might even get to spend some of the summer together? I’m sure I will be hanging out here on the beach for a fair bit of it. We can comfort each other over our sad and lonely lives,” he finished with a wink.
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Post by Abigail Winchester on Aug 8, 2010 8:24:27 GMT -5
She turned her body slightly so Felipe could easily apply the lotion on her back. When he was done and asked to use it on himself, she nodded. "Go ahead. Would you like me to do your back?" she asked, innocently enough. People who stupidly assumed that Abby was a flirt would probably use this moment to strengthen their argument for it. But Abby couldn't have cared any less and since when was flirting with a European man ever wrong? Especially since the European man in question was flirting back? Or so she thought anyway.
"I would actually love traveling alone." Abby reasoned. "No hassle of being responsible for the other person, you can concentrate solely on yourself...it's pretty much heaven for me. Sounds selfish but we're all entitled to be selfish once in awhile, no?" she cocked her head to the left slightly.
The prospect of having someone to 'spend some of the summer together' appealed to Abby. She was sure Diego wasn't about to come running back to her after that stupid bump in the other day. Besides, she needed to get over the junior somehow. Stop thinking about him too much and Felipe was the perfect distraction.
His wink made her laugh. "Oh you really are a charmer aren't you?" She chuckled, bumping her shoulder with his once more. "And speak for yourself. I do not have a sad and lonely life." She ignored the fact that she actually did. "But sure. Perhaps we might." She chuckled again. Stretching, she wondered what time it was. She should be going home to her little monsters right about now. "Do you have somewhere to be now?" she asked Felipe.
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