It's not okay: Brittany Attn: Any

[Eddie O'Flaherty]

Eddie couldn't help but blush when Brittany thanked him for being nice. Back home, something like that would have been expected, but in L.A. It must be different. “It's no problem, just glad things weren't worse.” That day had been so tragic, and he knew it was much worse for just about everyone else besides him. People with loved ones who had gotten hurt or killed.

His phone was out in moments, ready for any exchange of numbers he hoped would take place. Sure, he liked Brittany a little, but even more than that he was glad to gain another friend, someone who could drag him out of the house. “Yeah, that'd be great! I'd really like to find some people to hang out with. I'm so sick of being cooped up at home, or wandering around alone. I feel awkward going out to eat alone, or being that guy at the movies when like everyone else is out on a date!” He didn't mean to mention dating, and he hoped Brit wouldn't get more sad just by the thought of it. It's not like Eddie hoped that she and Evan would crash and burn. He liked her, sure, but he didn't want to be someone that broke up couples, though it looked like Evan might have done that anyway. He also didn't want to speculate on if she'd be able to stay friends with any of Evan's friends. That was usually a difficult situation that resulted in broken friendships in the long run.

“Bowling?” Eddie smiled, thinking of the bowling parties his theatre friends would have back home. “Umm, yeah. I mean, I dunno. I tried to go to a party like a week ago, and it was cool and all, but I didn't really know anyone there, and at parties everyone's usually grouped up already. Or maybe it's just me and I feel too awkward. I'm not so great at being the new guy at a party, I guess. But if you don't go, you can give me a call if you want.” He rattled off his number to Brit, and waited as she put the digits into her phone then called his. A few quick buttons pressed and he had her number as well. “Saved!” he said, smiling.

“Pizza's fine with-” Eddie was abruptly interrupted by a shout from not so far off. He turned to see a group of guys coming towards him and Brit, and one of them was Evan. He really hoped things between the couple wouldn't be awkward. “You gonna be okay?” he said to Brit as they awaited the group's arrival. He hoped so.

Eddie smiled and shook the proffered hand from Mike. “Nice to meet you, I'm Eddie.” He then turned to the rest of the group. “Hey Evan, hey Connor!” He smiled, glad to see the boy who had been so nice to him the first night he was in town. “And I don't think we've met, I'm Eddie,” he declared as he turned to Kian, again ready for a handshake. “Thanks for the offer, but how long will that take? I'd like to be back for class. Too new yet to start skipping already, you know?” He smiled. On the inside he was dreaded the awkward tension between Brit and Eddie, and if they weren't going to be back, he'd have a good, reasonable excuse not to be caught up in the drama. Still, it was a chance at making more friends...

[Kian O'Connor]

Since Evan had invited Eddie, Kian figured either he was okay or his friend wanted him to come along to keep an eye on or something. "Hi... I am Kian, Connor's ball and chain," he introduced himself with a laugh. "We won't be coming back...but it's never too soon to start skipping." He waved his hand a the half empty parking lot. "Besides it is Friday afternoon and its gorgeous out, its practically tradition to skip out after lunch. This is California Baby!" Kian was such a ham that almost sounded natural coming out of his mouth. "We're going for a boat ride, how can you resist it?"

He felt his phone vibrate and pulled it out. "Patch is on his way," he assured everyone. "Is everyone wearing underwear or have a suit in their bags, We can Jacuzzi, I finally got the bugger all cleaned up and ready to go." He didn't even blush for he was quite comfortable with his own body in underwear or not, he only mentioned underwear for Brittany's sake. He was glad they were in Connor's car today, six never would have fit in his jeep legally. Most of them would have had to squeeze in the cargo space which was metal and unpadded, like a tiny truck.

[Brittany Barnes]

Brittany was glad that she finally had the chance to exchange numbers with Eddie. He was a good friend and she liked him a lot...just not the same way he liked her, although any feelings he felt beyond friendship, she was oblivious to. Too caught up in her own current drama to notice anything out of the ordinary.

"Yeah, I can definitely call you and let you know if I'm going or not--if not we could always do something else," she suggested. Eddie was removed from the rest of her friends since he wasn't really part of the group so Brittany liked that. She liked that she'd have someone to go to that wasn't friends with Evan. Even the guys in her band had become friends with Evan, even though they'd probably still end up on her side if they did break up. Was she actually thinking about that? Breaking up with Evan? She didn't know. She was pretty sure she needed some time to figure it all out though. Putting a face to the name of the girl Evan had cheated, not not cheated with--Brittany wasn't sure what to believe anymore--had definitely been a huge blow. Maybe it shouldn't have changed things, but it did, and Brittany couldn't help it.

Eddie was just agreeing to grabbing some pizza when she heard her name. She turned around to see Evan with Kian and Connor, and one other boy. "I guess I'll have to be," Brittany whispered when Eddie asked if she'd be okay. "I didn't want to deal with this right now though."

But before Eddie could really respond to her concerns, the other group had reached them. There were some introductions, but Brittany mostly stayed quiet. Luckily the pain in her forehead had subsided and whatever bump she did have was covered by her hair. Evan grabbed her hand and she let him, mostly because she didn't want to let on that she was upset. Not now...not in front of everyone.

They invited them along to Kian's boat which was sort ironic...mostly because Brittany had been planning on skipping her afternoon classes as well. But she didn't want to go with them. She couldn't deal with Evan at the moment...especially while everyone else was around and she had to pretend that everything was okay. "Ya know what...I wish I could come with you guys," Brit said, "but I have a test in chem," she quickly lied picking the afternoon class that she didn't have with Evan. "I can't afford to get a zero this time," she said with a shrug. "But you guys go and have fun," she said. "Maybe I'll head over after though," she said, another lie. She wasn't going over there. She kind of felt bad lying but she'd explain it all to Evan later, when it was just them. She owed him that much at least.

[Patch Kimball (aka DJ Fluff)]

"Hey, what's this about subs and boat parties?" Patch greeted his friends as he strode up to their little gathering. He was a bit surprised to see Brittany, as Kian hadn't mentioned her in his missive, but he supposed he shouldn't be too surprised since she and Evan were generally joined at the hip -- just like Kian and Connor. It was really a good thing Mike wasn't attached, because being the only single person around a crowd of couples was never all that comfortable.

He hadn't seen Evan yet, so he hadn't heard about Syn or about that morning, so he failed to pick up any awkwardness between the two. He tried not to think about couples that hard. "So if Brit's goin' then where's pop princess Mal?" He queried. Where one girl was, the other was rarely far behind. Maybe she was spending time with J.J. That thought made the boy feel a tad bit guilty; he'd spent far less time with J.J. ever since meeting Evan, but then again J.J. had been busy with The Rioters.

"So this is Christophe," He introduced the Parisian boy to his friends, "He's from France and he has keen taste in music and he likes soccer, so of course he must be awesome."

[christophe]

The French boy nodded to the others in turn and murmured a few words of greeting. He'd never be able to remember all of the names provided but he did his best.

There seemed to be a few couples but at least two of the other boy's looked to be unattached so he wouldn't feel too much like a third wheel. That said, their dates might be on their way and he could still end up in that unwanted position. Still, an hour into the party and he'd likely forget he was on his own. It was a pity he hadn't had time to ask Llyria to join them but then he wouldn't have presumed he was free to ask a friend of his own as he only knew Patch out of the group as it was.

It was about then that the girl - Brittany, Christophe thought - said she had to leave. A pity as she seemed like a fun person to be around. That said, they all did to Christophe who was sadly in need of company. He missed his old group of friends from back at le Lycée Louis-le-Grand on rue St. Jacques. That suddenly felt a life time ago. He wouldn't have dared to skip a class back there as the rules were beyond strict. The USA seemed so much more... free.

"Thanks for letting me join you," he added in his accented voice. "I deeply appreciate the respite from government." Christophe's eyes glinted with amusement as he spoke.

[Kian O'Connor]

Kian waved goodbye to Brit, of divided mind about her leaving. He liked her a lot, but this was supposed to be a boys night out anyway, so for Mike's sake it was probably just as well. If he had known there was trouble between Evan and Brit, he might have felt different

"Hi Christophe," he greeted the newcomer. "If Patch recommends you we know you are a superior human being," he teased for their friend was known for being picky about companions. He loved the French man's accent and vowed to himself to study it.

"Its going to be a tight squeeze in Connor's car, but it should be okay for its not that long of a ride to the docks. We'll get the subs delivered to the boat as it will be easier," Kian said trying to figure out how to do it. "I guess everyone just pile in." He wished it wasn't Connor driving then they could share a seat, but then maybe that wasn't such a good idea. It was easy enough to get aroused around his boyfriend without sitting on his lap.

"Christophe do you like boats? Mine is a house boat so it is best for parties. We can't really waterski or anything, but we can swim and hot tub," he said wanting him to feel welcomed.

[Evan Hughes]

Before he could say anything to Brittany, two more people joined their little gathering and Evan turned his attention to say hi to his best friend and someone he didn’t really know. “Hi Christophe.” he smiled, trying not to seem too distracted, though it was hard for him to take in all Patch said with his mind elsewhere. This concerned phase he seemed to be going through today really didn’t suit him. He didn’t like worrying all the time.

“Nah, Brit’s not going, got a test. Just the guys.” he explained, letting her say her goodbyes first. “Just gonna walk her back to the building.” he told the others gathered, before gently leading his girlfriend away, out of earshot. He heard something about the new guy being superior, but soon was enough away that he couldn’t hear his friends anymore.

“If you want, I could wait, you know, go back to class.” Evan offered, failing to hide he was worried about something. And he didn’t know what he was worried about, which was even more annoying. “Then we could go to the boat together. Or if you want, we could maybe do something else tonight, just you and me.” Something told him she was going to say no to that, and he didn’t know why she would, normally they both jumped at the chance for date time. The only explanation he could think of was she wasn’t alright after all, with what happened with Syn.

[Brittany Barnes]

Brittany sort of just nodded at the other boys as they came. She wasn't in a huge mood for introductions. She wondered if Eddie was going to go with them or not. She kind of hoped not. She had still been looking forward to grabbing lunch with him. It was getting sort of late now though. If he wanted to make it back to class on time, they might have to scrap the pizza plan. But she didn't say any of this aloud since she didn't want the others to know about it. If Eddie decided to go with the boys she'd just text him later to hang out maybe. She still did want to hang out with him after all.

Evan decided to walk her back to school, kind of dragging her away from everyone without really asking. "But...um...I...was still...gonna get lunch," she said, kind of in a confused manner. "Okay," she then agreed, figuring she could just take off once he was gone. "I guess I don't have enough time anymore anyway," she said, making up another excuse. It felt weird...lying to Evan.

When he suggested he stay with her and they head to the boat together or did something else entirely different on their own, Brit shook her head. "You go ahead with your friends--I had you all morning, I'll be fine on my own," she said, trying to persuade him to leave by playing the role of good girlfriend who didn't mind sacrificing their time together so he could chill with his friends a bit. Part of her wondered if she should just come clean, right now about the whole Syn thing, but she decided against it. She would tell him the truth eventually, she decided, but considering she'd just had her encounter with the girl 10 minutes ago, she wasn't ready to talk about it to him yet. That, and if she was sending him off to hang out with his friends, she didn't want him to be upset and distracted the whole time. She'd let him have his fun and she'd wait and drop the bomb later.

"So you...go ahead," she added, nodding towards the group. She tried to catch Eddie's eye, see if he'd stay back with her but she didn't want to be too obvious about it.

[christophe]

Christophe shook hands with the boy who owned the boat, envying him deeply but in a good natured way. He listened attentively as Kian spoke...

"Christophe do you like boats? Mine is a house boat so it is best for parties. We can't really waterski or anything, but we can swim and hot tub," he said wanting him to feel welcomed.

"Mais oui!" he replied enthusiastically. "Le plus certainement! I live for the water," he went on. "I used to live on the coast north of Vancouver. I spent any and all of my waking hours out on the sound. My mother believes I have salt water in my veins instead of blood," he added with a wry grin and the hint of a shrug. "I am hoping to get a job and save up for a small outboard boat but have a feeling it will take a lot of Saturdays and evenings!"

He trailed after the others towards the waiting car, not all that sure how they'd all fit in as some of the boys - himself included - weren't exactly short. Still, determination was sure to win through.

He drew in a deep breath and waited to see how the driver - Connor, Christophe believed his name to be - would assign positions. This was going to be... interesting, if nothing else!

[Eddie O'Flaherty]

Eddie made sure to greet the two new arrivals, Patch and Christophe. Part of Eddie was excited that he just met a bunch of new people, and that he ran into Connor again. He seemed pretty nice, and though Eddie and Julia were busy with the play he hoped they could all hang out again sometime.

The other part of Eddie, however, felt incredibly awkward in the group. Maybe it was all in his mind, but he felt like Evan might have been giving him the stink eye. Eddie wasn't sure why, it's not like he was trying to get in Brit's pants or anything creepy like that. Still, he got that vibe and he was pretty sure he and Evan weren't going to be great friends anytime soon, which meant this wasn't going to be the group he hung around.

As Brit and Evan walked away, Eddie took the opportunity to also leave the group. They were losing time, and it was likely Brit wouldn't want to hang out with him now. “Nice to meet you all, and thanks for the invite. Maybe I'll catch up with you next time.” Eddie smiled and waved as he walked away from the group, then gave once last glance over at Brittany. He caught her eye, and she gave him a look, but he wasn't sure what it was for. Did she want him to come over and interrupt something? For a moment Eddie slowed, debating the action, but quickly decided against it. Still, he better stick around and keep an eye on her, just in case.

He walked slowly, hoping Brit could escape Evan's clutches and catch up to him. He figured if he made it inside too quickly he could wait there and keep en eye on her through the windows on the doors.