A book + a cart = accident in waiting - Wes (open)

[wes]

As usual, Wesley's nose was currently glued to the pages of the book he held in his left hand. His right was being used to steer the shopping cart in a haphazard manner between the stock shelves. At random points he stopped and reached out to his right to pluck anb item off the shelves but his focus was very much on his reading material. After all, shopping for groceries compared to the debate on the ambiguity and contradiction of life in the Nepalese foothills held a greater appeal.

A far greater appeal.

That didn't, though, explain why his cart held a pack of sun-dried tomatoes, two tins of butter beans, a tube of toothpaste and a box of panty liners. None of which, it needs saying, were on the list still crammed into his jeans pocket and given to him by his mom along with the instruction to concentrate for once and get all the stuff she needed.

He paused again and added a trio of lightbulbs to the rest of his collection.

His meanderings saw him end up near the cchiller cabinets - not that he was even slightly aware of his surroundings... Not until, at least, Wes smacked his cart into something unyeilding.

He glanced up from his book, a confused frown on his face as he looked at the girl. If he had to collide with someone might as well make it a pretty girl... right? He shot her a freindly smile and glanced wryly at their well-tangled carts. The smile took on a wry tone and placed his book on top of the lightbulbs....

.. Lightbulbs? Wes's frown deepened, not remembering picking them up but...

"Sorry 'bout that," he said to the girl. "If I claimed my brain had been off in Nepal would you believe me?" As pick up lines went even he hadn't heard that one used before!

[Pippa Dashwood-Dune]

Pippa was a bit dressed down from her usual self. In a pair of skinny jeans, a fitted black top, and flip flops she stood looking at the prices of aspirin and trying to figure out what was what. Prom was last night and Pippa had of course attended with a date. She'd also attended the after party and needless to say, she'd drank a lot. Now, Sunday evening while most of her hangover was cured she still found herself with a dull but steadily annoying headache.

She'd panned all the medicine cabinets at home but nothing. Did the people in her house really not believe in pain relievers? Okay...they were probably just out... So Pippa had gotten in her car and drove to the closest store and was at current in the isle she needed about to grab a bottle of pills that would ease her head's pain when WHAM!

"OUCH!" Pippa exclaimed, the tone of her voice not sparing any theatrics. Okay...he head wasn't bothering her right now as there was a stinging pain in her arm and side where the cart had hit. Still she wasn't injured badly. In fact, she was sure that in moments time the pain would dull and transfer back to her head.

She glared at the boy who looked at her rather innocently. He was cute, she'd give him that. But reading a book while shopping in a store seemed sort of silly to her. And then his pick up line...if she could even call in that. Brain in Nepal...yeah...no...

Pippa placed her hand on her hip. "Its...fine," she said, the tone of her voice clearly indicating that it was anything but fine. "I hope you don't plan on reading while you're driving too," she quipped, not quite sure what to make of this guy.

[wes]

Wes grinned. "Nah... I have this book on audio for the car. You'd never believe how fascinating the concept of life in the Himalayas when com... pa..re.." he petered out and fell silent. Boring came very much to mind right about now. This girl wasn't interested in some remote Asian country. Besides, he'd probably landed a bruise on her arm thanks to his preoccupation.

"Yeeeah... really sorry," he repeated. "Even me being new to town is a pretty lame excuse... isn't it?"

He scowled at the lighbulbs once more. No way was that on the list...

The LIST!

"Aww man, my mom's gonna hang my hide out on the nearest barn roof," he said and he rummaged in his pocket. Nope... Nothing in his trolley was on the stupid list. He'd count himself lucky if hide-hanging was all he got!

He threw the girl a wry smile. She really was pretty... even underneath her current frown. "You sure you're ok?" he asked, his accent giving away his origins all too easily. "I mean that was some collision! I'm Wesley. Wes," he added.

[Pippa Dashwood-Dune]

"Well, there are these things called ipods. You could put the audio on one of those and listen to it with headphones," she said, her typical 'Pippa knows best' tone coming through, almost as if she was talking to her sister who never got things right.

She rubbed her arm. "New in town, I suppose that's not a surprise," she said looking him over once more. He was cute...he had potential at least, but everything else was all wrong. "Let me guess...North Dakota?" she asked, picking the first remote place that popped into her head. Clearly this guy was from no major city and the barn comment easily confirmed that.

"What, did you forget the tampons?" she asked, eying the panty liners in his cart. In fact everything in his cart was rather random. Now, of course Pippa had gone on her own shopping trips that had yielded random items at the same time...but never that random. She wouldn't have been surprised if he'd just been grabbing things without looking, the way he'd been reading and all.

"I'll survive," she said simply. "I was buying aspirin anyway," she pointed out. Yes, it was some collision, but she didn't say a word about it. She was staying composed, not yelling, which for Pip was her being nice. "Pippa," she replied to his introduction, still acting a bit snobbish.

[wes]

“Yeeah I know but my iPod’s battery crapped out on me. It’s back home on charge hence...” Wesley tapped the book. “But yup... We arrived in town only last night. My first full day here. Not a bad start, eh?” glanced down at her arm as she continued to rub at it. He’d apologise for a third time if he thought it might help.

“Tampons?” Were those on the list? He frowned and rummaged for it once again. Nope.

Thank god!

Neither, though, were the panty liners.

Wes made a mental note to slip them back onto the nearest shelf as soon as he could. “Actually... I reckon I need to start over again. With the shopping,” he clarified. “I don’t think *any* of this stuff is needed.” Perhaps the book had been a bad idea.

“Pippa.... Nice name. And also nice to meet you in spite of the situation.” Or was that despite it? He was never sure what the difference was.

He snagged a pack of aspirins off the shelving to his left. “Here ya go,” he added. See? He could get the right item if he concentrated!

[Pippa Dashwood-Dune]

He didn't say where he was from so Pippa wondered if she was right about the whole North Dakota guess. Funny if she was since it had been a total random guess just based on the fact that it seemed like it would be a remote place with like barns and things. "It's really fine," she assured him, giving him a bit of the break only because he really did seem like he felt bad. Plus, the pain was already beginning to dull. "I'll survive," she told him.

She watched him as he pulled out the list of items he was supposed to be getting, clarifying that none of the items he'd picked up were on his list. Pippa found herself laughing despite herself. He seemed so innocent. Certainly, he'd never rise the ranks of popularity but there were definitely worse guys out there. At least he didn't seem like an uber nerd like that Wynn guy her twin sister was dating. In fact, maybe he would be a good guy for Lexi, since Wynn was obviously a bad idea. Plus, her sister capturing the attention of anyone popular wasn't an option, not the way she acted. That whole thing with Jay had been a fluke. Pippa thought that perhaps an introduction would be in order since her sister was clearly a disaster waiting to happen most of the time and needed all the help she could get. See...Pippa did care...in her own way at least.

"Thanks," she said simply when he complimented her name. There was no need to explain the part about it being a nickname because she was not a fan of her real name. Not. One. Bit. She gave him a look when he grabbed some aspirin. She hadn't decided which she wanted anyway so she just figured she'd go with it. "See, that wasn't so hard. Now, if you put the book down, I bet you can find all the things on that list of yours," she pointed out, placing one hand on her hip. "Need some help?" she asked, figuring it wouldn't hurt to be a little nice to the new kid. After all, she had some ulterior motives. And walking around shopping with the boy seemed more interesting than going home...for the moment at least. Knowing Pippa, she'd be bored in 15 minutes and bolt, but for now she had nothing better to do.

[wes]

Wesley threw Pippa a grin, totally oblivious to the fact she was tolerating him only. And barely! "Sure, some help would be great!" he replied. "Thanks... I appreciate it." His mom wouls think an imposter had taken the place of her son when he went back home with all the right stuff. He handed her the list and went back to pushing his cart.

Hopefully she'd know what half the items were on the stupid list as he'd never even heard of gnocchi. The bath stuff aisle maybe? Or was it a cereal? Thank god he'd run into Pippa! Literally!

"And Canada," he told her, belatedly answering an earlier question. "I'm from Canada. BC. A small town north of Vancouver. I hafta say its very different down here. Life moves along at a far quicker pace. Are you California born and bred?" he asked. "And do you go to the local high school? Gold... or something." Wes hadn't really been pating attention (there's a first) when his parents had told him about his new school. "I hope so anyway. It would be good to see a friendly face around the place!"

Wes smiled ruefully. "I know... I ask way too many questions."

[Pippa Dashwood-Dune]

Pippa glanced down at the list he handed her. It really was a simply list. This guy must have major A.D.D. "Yeah, I think I can handle t his," Pippa said, her tone slightly sarcastic and condescending. After all, she did love telling people what to do and loved when she could point out how much better she was, even if it was something as simple as being able to locate the items on the list.

Ah. Canada. Pippa had never been to Vancouver so she didn't really know much of it, but she imagined all of Canada to be pretty remote with all that frozen tundra...it still explained it. At least she got the remote part right because there was no way this guy was from a big city. He practically screamed small town.

"Yep, basically," she said about being from California although she hesitated when he mentioned the high school...her high school. Maybe he wasn't so bad to show around the store but the last thing she needed was him running up to her in school making a big scene like they were good friends or something. Although she did doubt her friends would care too much since he did have to cute factor. And she could easily explain how she'd already detected the nerd in him. Although she did still think he might be good for Lexi...or at least better than the current nerd who wasn't even cute, at least not in Pippa's opinion.

"Uh...yeah I go to Gould," she said, "of you need this," she added grabbing one of the items off of the list and tossing it into the cart. "It's a pretty big school though," she said, hopefully discouraging him from seeking her out. It really was too bad that he was a nerd. He was tall though...maybe there were some redeeming factors... "You play football?" she asked him. "Our team's pretty good," she commented, thinking that if he was at least a football player people wouldn't care what came out of him mouth. But he was from Canada...did they even play football in Canada? Pippa had no idea.

[wes]

“Thanks again,” Wesley offered when Pippa agreed to help him find the items on his list. It would save him a good hour. An hour he could spend checking out the rest of the local area. The place was huge!

“The school’s big? Damn... The one I was in back in Squamish only took 300 kids - and that was across all of the grades. I’m sure to end up getting lost. Maybe we could meet up or something? For lunch? Or even before classes start...?” He didn’t want to lose touch with Pippa as she seemed so open and friendly.

“I can play football but I have to tell you I’m not that great. Now ice hockey. That I can play but... I don’t suppose school has a hockey team... right?” A sport that was far more popular in Canada but he also knew the US league was strong. “I’m pretty good at baseball and volleyball. Hopefully they get some games going on the beach... Well, for volleyball... not baseball. What sports do you like playing?” he asked. It looked like she kept herself in shape..

[Pippa Dashwood-Dune]

"Squamish..." Pippa said, the look on her face unsavory. There was really a place called Squamish. And only 300 kids in the entire high school? Well, she supposed that was at least better than 300 people in the entire town. "So what brings you to LA from Squamish?" she asked, mostly for the benefit of her own entertainment.

When he asked to meet up in school, she pressed her lips together. "Yeah, sure," she said kind of vaguely figuring she'd never actually show up. What were the chances that he'd really find her anyway? And if he did, so what? There were definitely way bigger losers at school than him.

So he was a bit of a jock. "I guess you could probably find an ice hockey team but not at school," she said. "You should try out for baseball," she told him. The baseball team wasn't quite as popular as the football team but some of the guys did play baseball in the offseason and it was certainly still acceptable. Any jocks were really. Sure this kid was going to have a hard time assimilating but she still didn't think he was hopeless. Maybe he'd even turn into a project...if she didn't get bored first.