Can't Change Anything At All (tags Dare)

[Phil Lim]

Phil shook his head regretfully when Dare asked if he'd want to go bowling, "I can't, I have a standing engagement." He explained, "We have a club, and the meetings are Saturday afternoon." He shrugged, "But have fun." He didn't know Taki, but he knew of Evan -- because who didn't know the loud, friendly jokester of Gould and his bright haired lady companion? "Perhaps if it were the evening..." He mused. Unfortunately, if it were anywhere before around six he couldn't make it. After all, there was the club, and before that, though he himself had nothing to do, Mew had Synagogue, and at that particular point in time he didn't want to go without his red-headed friend. He was never really decisive about if he wished to drag the other boy with him everywhere or hide away from him.

"Oh, you know what," He remembered suddenly, "I don't think I can go to the park on Sunday, either." He gave Dare an apologetic grimace, "I kind of forgot, I promised Mew I'd let him teach me how to play A Tale of Pirates. Could we push the park thing to maybe after school on Thursday? I would say tomorrow, but I'm not sure I could get everyone to come on such short notice."

[Dare Madison]

Dare was so confused he had to pull his blackberry out of his pocket and look at his calendar. He wasn't very good with the damned thing, but he tried to put every event in. He paled as he saw how messed up he had gotten his schedule.

"Oh... Sunday afternoon would have been bad for me too. That's when the bowling is. I will move the park project to Thursday..." he said as he made an entry and then put a reminder for him to email the others who helped him out every week. "If I can get Mew to agree to changing your pirating lesson and come bowling would you come too? I would really love to have you both there. Maggy too if she wants to."

He poked buttons adding youth group to the list and making a note about Khakis and polo shirts. Saturday afternoon was the first Jam of the band they were trying to make. He really hoped Syn wouldn't be hanging around.

[Phil Lim]

"Splendid!" Phil beamed, discovering that he was actually looking forward to helping clean up the park. It would be a great social outing, and it would be doing some good, too! He bit into his burger, glancing over to the other boy.

"I'm thrilled you mentioned this endeavor," He told Dare after swallowing, "It will be a worthwhile activity, and of course, I'm confident you will get along with the rest of the group. Annie, you should meet her, she's a charming young lady, though she's deaf, so do not be offended should she fail to answer you. She's quite good at reading lips, but you do have to be facing her, and she's very supportive of the gay rights movement, she attends ever rally that comes through, as her fathers are gay." He explained, "She's truly a sweetheart. Oh, and she's quite keen on cupcakes, so expect that she'll bake more of them than we can possibly eat in one outing." He mused, "And Melodee, she's brilliant, cool and collected, but very kind. Tyler, he's more...interesting, I'm not entirely sure what he's interested in beyond courting Maggy, which was quite a surprise, I admit, I wouldn't think they would be one another's type." Hmmm, who else did that leave in their group? That Kaelyn girl, but she'd only attended the one meeting and he hadn't seen her since, and he hadn't seen Lily since inviting her last month. Ah, well. "Annie has some interesting friends, too, who may wish to attend," He added, "And you can invite Evan and, ah, who else did you say was going bowling?"

He took another bite from his burger, chewing as he contemplated. "Sure." He agreed at last. Bowling couldn't hurt anyone, could it? He wasn't that interested in MMOs, anyway; he just liked excuses to spend time with his friends. "It sounds fun."

[Dare Madison]

Dare was very excited and waved his blackberry. "Oh my god, I have a social life!" he exclaimed, thrilled that he could tell his father something good when he went home. "I didn't think it would ever happen. Dinner with Phil Tuesday, Park clean up Thursday, Band Jam Saturday, Youth Group and bowling on Sunday. It's amazing only two days not scheduled."

Listening to Phil describe his friends, Dare was quite eager to meet them all. "They sound wonderful. It's going to be great. Did you say Annie would make cupcakes? I will bring punch or tea then. Maybe a cooler full of soda? What do you think?" He had never organized anything that included food and suddenly it seemed rather frightening.

"I have never bowled before, have you? I hope someone can show me how," Dare mused as he played with his lasagna, cutting it into tiny pieces and moving it around on his plate. He looked at Phil, struck again by how very pretty he was. It was very hard not to reach out and see if his hair felt as silky as it looked.

[Phil Lim]

Phil had to laugh at Dare's enthusiastic reception of a social life. "On occasion social lives are good things to have," He agreed. "Best not overbook yourself, though, as a respite is sometimes also needed." He loved spending time with his friends, but sometimes he needed alone time. For instance, most of last week he'd spent by himself, because he couldn't face the living for grief over the dead. But with the help of Annie he'd begun to peep out a bit more, slowly. She was encouraging that way.

"Annie will provide cupcakes to any and all occasions. Beverages are not a bad idea," He agreed, "But expect cupcakes at any gathering Annie attends whether anyone planned on food or not. She just enjoys baking, and she's good at it." Cupcakes by Annie were his favorite kind; brightly decorated and unique, like their creator, and not only quite delicious but baked with love for any and everyone who ate them.

He shrugged at the comment on bowling, "I went once, with the youth group, and I did rather abysmally. Maggy's good, though, perhaps she can help the rest of us....if she doesn't prefer to laugh at our feeble struggling." He grinned, "But it isn't supposed to be about winning, is it? Or is there some prize I'm unaware of?"

[Dare Madison]

Dare nodded, listening seriously to Phil's advice. "I will do my best not to overdo it. Touring there were always parties, but they just happened and if you wanted to join you did. Life is a lot more complicated here. I was really pretty unhappy when I had no social life, but now it is kind of overwhelming," he admitted. He had this fear that his dad was going to try to make him include Syn in his plans and that was something he had no desire to do. He felt guilty when he was sure all Phil really wanted was his sister back while Dare really wanted his new one to go away.

"I don't think I have ever had a cupcake," Dare admitted with a blush. Sweets had not really had much of a place in his life. He hadn't ever had a birthday party either or been to one for that matter. Parties had always been adult ones, drinking drugs and girls and he had always been sent to bed once the first top was removed. He had seen cupcakes in bakery windows and they looked like something out of a fairytale. "Annie sounds great. I think I will like her. She sounds like an artist."

"I don't think there is a prize, but I am not very competitive anyway. I just don't want to make a total fool of myself I guess. With my luck I would trip and my bowling ball would pull me down the alley and I still wouldn't knock over any pins," Dare said, chuckling at the mental image.

[Phil Lim]

"Never had a cupcake?!" Phil gaped. He hadn't realized it was possible to have not had a cupcake; that was the sort of treat that children had brought in to share with the class when it was their birthday. Cupcakes were just one of those ubiquitious parts of childhood, and he'd never considered that someone might not have had one. "Annie will rectify that." He promised, with the air of someone promising a blind man he would soon be able to see for the very first time.

"So," He continued after taking a moment to savor his burger, "I am sorry I haven't kept up. Life was just..." He shrugged, turning slightly to look at the wall instead of his companion, then flicking his gaze back to the blonde, "I'm afraid I haven't kept up with anyone, really. Maggy and Mew insisted I go out to some party, but then Maggy wanted to leave almost as soon as we arrived. I wasn't keen on being there, either, but then...actually, it was Mew's idea, perplexingly enough." He really had no idea how his friend had gotten an invite to a cheerleader's birthday. Not that he didn't think Mew was cool, but he was fairly certain his own fondness was not shared by the popular crowd, and Melodee, while well-known, didn't exactly run in the same circles as Bree Marcus. She did run in the same circles as Tyler, though, and he'd been a guest star, so maybe that was how? But he hadn't really thought Mew and Tyler had gotten on together. Now that he was thinking about it, this was something he needed to get to the bottom of.

"Anyway!" He shook himself back to reality, "other than planning bowling trips and playing guitar, have you been up to anything interesting?"

[Dare Madison]

Dare tried to think of something that Phil might find interesting, but the only thing they hadn't talked about really was the arrival of Syn. He supposed he couldn't keep avoiding the subject forever. Phil would find out and then he might be upset Dare hadn't talked about it. Everyone always said honesty was the best policy, so...

"Well I kind of had a shock today. I came home from school and there was a naked girl in the bathroom... no one was supposed to be home and so I just walked in without knocking. Well she screamed and my dad came running in. Unfortunately it wasn't a groupie. I really wish it had been. Apparently he had a thing about a year and a half before I was born and she was the result of it... And now she is living with us. She is horrible. I am not sure I will survive it. Phil... she calls me Perve Boy. She is evil," Dare told Phil, his expression showing how badly he was taking the whole thing.

[Phil Lim]

Phil felt a twinge of jealousy for Dare's situation. Not for finding naked girls in his room, or finding out that his father had an affair, but that he had acquired a sister just when Phil had lost his. And he didn't even want her! It was supremely unfair! He would have given anything to have Aimee back; if only there was some way to trade. But of course there wasn't. Life was just unfair and that was the end of it.

"Oh," He responded, unsure what to say. "Living with you, really? Does that mean she'll be attending Gould as well?" It was very, very apparent that Dare wasn't thrilled with this turn of events. Of course, as much as he wanted Aimee to still be alive, Phil had to admit that if he had lived his entire life as an only child and suddenly found out one of his parents had a child prior to him, and he was expected to live with her, he probably wouldn't have taken it very well, either. "I do not much care to spend time at my home, either," He mused, "So if you need to escape, you can join me and Mew and Maggy in the evenings, we'll have emergency escape from the house time until she's adjusted and is less ahh of an irritant."

[Dare Madison]

Dare saw the strained expression on Phil’s face and thought he had made a mistake speaking of it. “I wish I could send Syn back and that would bring back Aimee,“ he said reaching to cover Phil’s hand with his, just a gesture of comfort, nothing approaching an indecent move. “I would even give her to you, but she is horrible, probably a Satanist. I would never do such a thing to you. “

“I believe Dad is going to register her tomorrow… She will take placement tests I suppose as she dropped out when she was 16 and has been living on the streets since then. Dad is pretty big on education and he won’t have time to keep an eye on her if she went on the road with him like I did, so even if she hates it she will have to go or leave,” Dare said, feeling a touch of sympathy at her situation. “I think she will have a harder time fitting in than I did. She is so raw and bitchy.”

He smiled gratefully at Phil. “I appreciate the invite. I am sure I will take you up on the offer. I would like the company and the reprieve. I still would like you all to come over sometime, but you might want to make a decision on that after you meet Syn… “ Dare said with a sigh. He finished up his salad and started on his Lasagna which was really delicious.