Wandering the Mall - Celest (Open)

[Celest Zouvelekis]

Celest was bored. She rarely spent time in the mall, however Dena had convinced her to go with her in the morning. Celest had gone along with it figuring it might be good to break out of her shell a little and hang out with her sister, however, Dena had ditched her the second they had arrived.

Celest had gone off and decided to go to the book store. She'd spent awhile there but after some time she'd gotten a little bored. She'd left and decided to look for Dena, locating her at the comic book store, but when she saw her with that Caitlin girl so decided to leave them be. Celest had walked around for awhile, finally settling down on a bench for a bit.

Now it was lunch time and Celest was actually supposed to meet up with Dena now, but knowing her sister, she'd still be distracted. Still, Celest got up from her bench and headed toward the food court.

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[Haden Kiley]

Haden was bored out of his skull and having finished his homework the night before being the big geek he was, he had thought thr weekend would bring invites to parties he could get drunk at but nothing. So that was how Haden Kiley, a popular boy with the tendency to be very geekerific, found himself alone at home with nothing to do but stare at the walls. Not something he liked to do. He tried texting Lana but there was never a response so dressing in a plain white t-shirt and jeans, topping it all off with a messenger cap, he drove off to the mall, deciding maybe he could get something done about his boredom.

Heading straight to the food court to get something to drink before his walk, he spotted a girl who looked oddly familiar. He didn't know why she did but he decided to approach her anyway. She was cute so it wouldn't hurt to get to know her even if she wasn't who he expected she was.

Getting his drink first, he sipped from his cup before walking up to her. "I'm sorry...but aren't you Celeste Zouvelekis?" He smiled a little. Haden wasn't shy so he introduced himself and talked about how he used to watch the show she had been. He wasn't even sure if he was actually talking to the reality TV star. If she wasn't Celeste Zouvelekis, she'd be flattered he had made the resemblance anyway so it didn't look like he was going to hit a snag at any point.

[Celest Zouvelekis]

Celest had never really liked being in front of the cameras. She simply did not like the attention. And now that she wasn't in front of cameras, she tended to try and bring as little attention to herself as possible. With her hair pulled back and wearing a conservative blouse, black pants and boots, she felt the comfort of invisibility as people walked by her without taking notice. She very much preferred it that way.

So, she was a little surprised when she heard her name. Someone recognized her. And while Celest preferred not to have the media attention, she was always very polite about it. She was always nice to people who did approach her, just as she'd always been polite in front of the cameras despite her hatred of them. She'd always been shone in the light as the good daughter on the show, the quiet one, who always followed the rules. And although that really was who she was, she did know how to play it up for the fans, being extra nice.

However, when she turned to see the person who recognized her, she saw someone that she recognized as well. An avid people watcher, Celest often knew her peers even if they did not know her. Even the older kids at school that she'd never spoken to, she tended to have an idea of who was who. And this was Haden Kiley, a rather popular junior. Maybe he'd recognized her from school and not from the show, although pretty much everyone at school knew about the show anyway.

She nodded. "Yes, I am," she said. "You're Haden, right?" she asked. Of course she knew that she was right but she didn't want to creep the boy out. It was normal when people knew who she was. She had been on TV. It was less normal when she knew who they were in return, but then again Celest had never really been normal...just ask her siblings.

[Haden Kiley]

Taking a sip from his drink, he nodded when she recognised him. He wasn't surprised she knew his name, he was quite popular anyway. "I am. You should be a freshman now right? Is it lame that I actually watched your show?" It was lamer that he actually admitted that he watched the show, he thought to himself.

"Have you had lunch?" He asked, not forgetting his manners. "I was actually planning to cover the whole mall because there was nothing else to do at home. You wanna catch a movie? There's this comedy showing upstairs in the cinema if you're into funny." Haden realised that he was talking too much and he looked at her with a little smile on his face.

He was reminded of Lana again when he thought of the comedy movie. Haden was hooked on Lana for some odd reason so why he wanted to hang out with this freshman was beyond him. Sure she was cute and she was a celebrity but that shouldn't influence his decision for just staying home and waiting for Lana to reply his messages, right?

Shaking his head mentally, he chuckled to himself. "So are you still doing the whole reality TV thing?"

[Celest Zouvelekis]

He didn't seemed fazed when she knew who he was, yet he asked if she was a freshman now, as if he wasn't aware that she went to the same school as him. "Yeah...I go to Gould," she said quietly, nodding when he said that he used to watch the show. "I get that all the time, so probably not," she said about it being lame. "You'd be surprised of all the different types of people who apparently used to watch."

"No, I haven't had lunch yet. I was supposed to meet my sister...but I have a feeling that she forgot," Celest said. "I've been wandering the mall most of the morning," she told him. She was a little surprised when he asked if she wanted to catch a movie with him. He only knew who she was based on the show. Sure he went to her school but he'd made it pretty clear that he was only talking to her because she'd been on TV at one time. And while Celest was always polite, she was used to getting out of hanging out with people who assumed they knew her because they had watched her on TV.

"Thanks for the offer," she told him, "but I should probably stick around in case Dena turns up," she said. He smiled and it was rather charming, she had to give him that. He was very good looking, but truth be told, Celest was more put off by the fact that he was acting like he knew her than anything else. She wasn't really interested in hanging out, even if he was nice to look at.

She shook her when he asked if the show was continuing. "I don't think so," she said. "There is some talk about it from the network, but I'm pretty sure we're through with it all." At least Celest really hoped that they were. She had no desire to get in front of the cameras again, but she was still young enough that her parents had the final say. But with Uncle James around, it was unlikely they went down that route anyway. There was enough drama without the cameras around to make it all worse.

[Dena Zouvelekis]

After what had been considerably more than three rounds of Dance Dance Revolution, Dena still hadn’t quite managed to beat Caitlin a single time. And the more they played, the more she got distracted by the cute, bouncy girl besides her, and the worse she did. It didn’t stop her from continuing suggesting just one more game. Mainly because of the cute, bouncy girl besides her. She did manage to save herself from complete gamer embarrassment when they turned their attentions to Street Fighter, which would normally be a less strenuous activity, if not for the exuberant way Dena felt compelled to play it.

By the time it came to lunch, saying she was hungry would be a grave underestimate. And she managed to remember (which was quite a feat, given the distracting games, and the very distracting thoughts of what that night held in store for her and her new girlfriend) that she was meant to meet Celest.

So dragging her girlfriend towards the food court, she decided to let Caitlin take care of the very important food gathering while she looked for her sister, and then waved enthusiastically if need be to signal their position. Besides, they needed Celest to talk her into wearing a costume tomorrow at bowling, something Dena hoped would be easy, given her sister’s love of them.

After half a minute of looking around, she spotted her sister, looking as though she was trying not to be spotted. So as was her way, Dena ran up to her, loudly, drawing as much attention as possible. “Celest!” she enthused in her great mood, grabbing her for a bear hug. With the same wide grin on her face, she turned to the person Celest was with. “Hi guy I don’t really know. I’m Dena!”

[Haden Kiley]

At the rejection, Haden shrugged and nodded even though his pride was a bit wounded. So far, no one had ever turned down an offer from Haden so that surprised him a bit. He supposed there was a first time for everything. Besides, the turn down was just a small one so it didn't make much of a difference.

It kind of made things that much better when said sister suddenly appeared all bouncy and cute and screamy. If he didn't know any better, Haden would have thought Dena and Celest Zouvelekis weren't sisters the way they brought themselves. Celest seemed so quiet and as much as what he watched on their show, she acted more mature and down to earth than her other siblings.

The display of sisterly affections right in front of him proved that big time. "Hi...Dena. I'm Haden, formerly known as guy you don't really know." He touched the side of his messenger cap gently with a slight nod. His smile still attached on his face, he realised that he was no longer needed in this picture so he decided to make his leave. "Well, I'm quite glad to have met both of you. Don't worry, I won't ask you to sign anything. Celest, Dena." Haden placed a kiss on both the girls' hands as a gentlemanly gesture more than anything. "Don't be a stranger now." He turned and walked away from the pair.

[Celest Zouvelekis]

As if on cue, Dena appeared. While Celest was glad to see her sister hadn't completely forgotten about her, she was a little worried. After all, while Celest wasn't the type to go to movies or just hang out with people she didn't really know just because they had watched her on TV or went to her school...Dena was. Dena was more spontaneous. And while Celest hugged her sister in return, she was a little worried that Dena would take up his offer on a movie and she'd end up spending the afternoon with someone who thought they knew everything about them because he'd watched them on TV.

However, he didn't extend the invite. He introduced himself to Dena who was less of a people watched than Celest since she hadn't recognized him from school, and then he said he'd take off. Maybe he saw that Celest wasn't like all the other girls who always seemed to fawn over him. He was very good looking and he seemed nice even...but Celest just wasn't that girl. She wasn't opposed to dating guys but she was pretty sure that when she started doing that, it would be for a reason more than just randomly running into someone or thinking they were cute. At the moment, there wasn't really anyone that Celest was particularly interested in anyway.

Haden gave them each kisses on their hands before leaving. "Well, it was nice running into you," Celest said politely. Maybe Dena would persuade him to stick around, but Celest would not. She just wasn't social like most of her siblings. "Bye," she said, offering him a smile.

[Jack Chandler]

The chatter of a large crowd of people drifted into the Macy's, nearly drowning out the music playing softly throughout the department store. Jack stood sulking near the register as his mother paid for the entirely too dorky collection of garments she had picked out for him. He didn't mind nicer clothes, and actually liked some of the slacks he had at home, but the particular outfits his mother had come across this day were just abysmal. Jack would no doubt be forced to wear them to school at some point, and he was already mentally preparing himself for the teasing he would receive.

His mother passed the bags down to him, the indication that it was time to forge ahead into the mall. Jack followed his mom, doing his best to lag far enough behind that people wouldn't connect the pair, but not so far that his mother would notice. She stopped to glance in the window of the new Anthropologie store, giving Jack an opportunity to set down the bags. He glanced across the mall towards the arcade, the one store he wished he could visit on this trip. Two girls caught his eye, a pair that he recognized. Dena and Caitlin were here!

“Hey Ma, I'll be back in a second,” he yelled, though he was already far enough away for any protestation on his mother's part to be worthless. He fought through the flow of the crowd to try to catch up tot he pair, but it was difficult. They were much shorter than most of the older patrons, and the mall was very crowded. Still, he managed to catch glances of the girls every now and then, and after a while it became obvious they were heading towards the food court.

Jack turned the corner and the food court came into sight, but he couldn't see the two girls. He wandered out into the middle of the tables, looking for Dena and Caitlin. Instead, he found Dena, Celest , and an older boy that looked vaguely familiar. He started off towards the pair, still glancing around for the missing Alderman girl, but he arrived just after the other boy had left.

“You guys have fans everywhere, huh?” he said, excitement in his voice. He was glad to see his friends, but he was even more glad to be away from his mother. “I saw Caitlin, where'd she go? I wanted to ask you about something. I heard people might be crashing the big bowling thing that's happening. Can I come?”

[Dena Zouvelekis]

Dena gave an amused little giggle when Haden kissed both hers and her sister’s hand, not expecting the gesture. After all, that was like what happened in the old days, guys didn’t go around now kissing girls’ hands. Or if some did, every guy she’d ever known wasn’t included in that group. Then again, maybe some were, she paid more attention to girls after all. “Bye Haden!” she called out enthusiastically after him, waving even though his back was turned and he would miss it.

Realisation dawned on her then, and she grinned even more up at Celest. “You were talking to a boy!” she enthused, like this was something completely unheard of. It both was and wasn’t. Celest of course was very capable of talking to a member of the opposite sex, and had shown that ‘skill’ on many occasions. But not in the way, and not for the reasons, Dena automatically assumed. And hoped. “He’s cute. You know, for a guy.” she commented as she watched him walk away. “You know what you should do?” she asked, answering her own question anyway without giving Celest a chance to. “You should find out his phone number. I bet I could for you. And then call him tonight, and ask him to come tomorrow to the bowling alley. Come on, it’ll be fun!”

The addition of Jack to their very little group, as well as his comment, made her squeal and he was granted the gift of a hug too. “Was he a fan? I didn’t know. But isn’t it great?” she grinned, bouncing around. She loved having fans, and she loved having fans her lavished her with attention. She liked being lavished with attention.

“Caitlin’s getting us some food. And it’s not crashing if you were invited, and I was invited. So that means I get to invite whoever I want too.” she corrected. “Though crashing sounds more fun to do. And of course you can come! I’d be annoyed if you didn’t! I know!” she exclaimed, excitement playing animatedly over her face. “You can come, if you dress up in costume! You too Celest, you should dress up, it’s going to be so much fun! A few of us so far are going to be dressed up, I’m staying over at Caitlin’s house tonight while we try on costumes.”