In search of a friendly face - Felipe (attn Jessic

[felipe]

The morning lessons had passed in mundane satisfaction. Mundane as that meant Felipe could settle back and watch the world pass him by through the windows to his left. That in itself had been a rarity as he would normally have applied his full attention to whoever was teaching but for some reason today he felt restless. Ill at ease. Another rarity for the usually happy go lucky Brazilian youth. He'd spent all of the first period in trying to work out why he felt the way he did and it wasn't until part way through the final lesson before lunch that the answer struck him.

He was feeling lonely.

Homesick? No... not that... Just in need of some friends. Real friends. Ones he could call upon without due notice and arrange to meet up. Company. Felipe was used to having plenty of friends like that back in Sao Paolo but he was finding it hard to find that sort of life here. Most other people already had their established groups, making it close to impossible for him to join in. Sure, he'd met a stack of people since he'd arrived in California and he got on well with each and every one of them but none could be called close. Ok, that wasn't quite true... There was one but he hadn't seen her for days.

Felipe glanced at his phone as the lunch bell sounded and quickly sent a text...

'Jessica... I am in need of seeing a friendly face. I'll be in the cafeteria for lunch... Ya know, if you can make it. Fel.'

He pressed send, wondering if he was the only kid alive who refused to use text shorthand. Quite probably he was.

Felipe pushed his books into his locker, glancing at the neighboring one as he did so. Jonell's locker. He drew in a deep breath and huffed it almost silently out once more. Friends. Definitely in need of friends and hopefully he'd be seeing the one he deemed his best one for lunch. If not... He huffed another breath and set off...

[Jessica Pruitte]

The day had only managed to get worse after the encounter over breakfast. Jessica had managed to not do her homework, skimped on the in-class essay writing one sentence “What’s the point?” There really wasn’t one anymore, her whole lifestyle had been destroyed by adults who thought they knew better. Starting with her parents, going through Ryan Wolfe, every teacher she’d ever been placed under, the cops, and ending once more with her parents.

Classes crawled by at a painful rate, leaving the teen even more on edge than before. She was jonesing for a fight. Had almost managed to have one over breakfast, but the interruption by boyfriend and Japanese and just about everything else had canceled that out. There was the now familiar burning behind Jessica’s eyes as she stormed from the classroom and towards the entrance gate to the school.

Done. Over it. Just had enough. Jessica was ready to quit, but just as she reached the doors that lead outside her phone buzzed against her hip. Yanking it from it’s holder she glared at the text…

Jessica... I am in need of seeing a friendly face. I'll be in the cafeteria for lunch... Ya know, if you can make it. Fel.

… and softened. Felipe. He hadn’t forgotten about her then.

The frown returned as the memory of his smile at the other girl and her hand on his arm swarmed her mind. It stung. No, it stabbed and twisted, but he wanted to hang out with her now.

Turning on her heels, Jess clipped back to the cafeteria where the lunch staff were waiting with a tray of unrecognizable gloop. Undoubtedly on her parents orders. They were trying to starve her into submission, she just knew it.

Tray in hand, Jess scanned for Fel and found him, his friendly face thawing her enough to actually smile as she sat down across from him.

“Hey.”

[felipe]

"Jessica... thank god," he stated. "I am close to going insane today. It must be a full moon tonight or something." He reached over and covered her hand with his, squeezing it gently. "My day started out badly when I got lost. Again," he told her with a scowl. "And then this... He pushed a flyer across the table towards her. "Werewolves and vampires? Here?" He shook his head. "I'm not the only person losing their sanity. But you're here and you will cheer me up... Like you always manage to do." He threw her a smile bright enough to rival any star's glow. "How has your day been? Better than mine, I can hope!"

He reached for a dish of already congealing pasta in a cheese sauce and wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Macaroni... I doubt this meal has even seen a shred of pasta." He pushed it aside. "Feel like escaping for an hour? We can be back for the first bell." He threw her a grin. "What do you say? Do you feel like being reckless with me, Jessica Pruitte?" His grin deepened. "Or are you scared we'll be caught?" That was sure to have her agreeing to go more than any amount of persuasive cajoling.

[Jessica Pruitte]

Her day hadn’t been going better than Fels, and in her opinion it had been worse, but she wasn’t going to say as much. Particularly when he’d reached across and given her hand a friendly, warm, ice-thawing squeeze. He was still her friend. He hadn’t forgotten about her, or wanted to ignore her very existence. However unfortunate that existence may be.

Smiling across at him in turn, Jess eyed the ‘macaroni’ on his plate. Looked like the cafeteria staff had decided to use her parents bribes (alleged!) to torment everyone in the school.

“God yes, please.” the teen begged already getting to her own feet to escape the prison disguised as a high school. “Did you find what you were looking for this morning?” She was waiting for him to gain his feet as well. Abandoning the lunch trays and the table, Jess lead the way through the labyrinthine corridors towards the front of the school, completely ignoring the stationed officers as she and Felipe left the grounds.

Apparently it didn’t take much cajoling to get Jess to ditch school. Particularly not on a day like the one she was having. Though it had, admittedly, gotten better because of the text and how she’d been greeted when she found Fel.

“And where did you wanna get lunch? There are a ton of places around here, and we have an hour.” She still, at least, had her personal account, her parents couldn’t close that, and it had a good chunk of money left in it. She’d be happy to buy him whatever food he wanted right then.

[felipe]

"I found my locker... eventually," he replied. "I ended up helping someone else find theirs too," he added with a wry laugh. "Imagine that... me helping someone else around the school! Tomorrow, though, is a completely different story as I will face the same search with any number of possible endings," he added with a resigned sigh but one that was filled with over-dramatism, telling her he was teasing... At least, to some extent. The endless search was true, if nothing else. "I need you to draw me a map," He continued. "From the main entrance and to my locker." Felipe shot her a grin and it was one that brightened considerably when she quickly agreed to escape school.

They were soon outside the school grounds, heading ainmlessly. It didn't matter where they ended up... Anywhere was better than the school dining room.

"Good question," he murmured. "Is there any particular place you would like?"

They mulled that over between them as they walked, settling on a small Mexican fast food restaurant called Gilbert's El Indio, located on a quiet street a few blocks away from the school itself. Felipe scanned the menu with Jessica. "I'm going to have tamale and enchilada... how about you?" And if they were late back so what? Spending quality time like this with Jessica was far more important.

He lifted his gaze from the menu and peered intently at her as she made her selection., unable to miss the slight tightness around the corners of her mouth and at the edges of her eyes. Something was wrong... Bothering her. He'd bide his time but one thing was certain... before the bill arrived he'd find out what that was!

[Jessica Pruitte]

The Interior of Gilbert’s was an eclectic mix of Mexican and Native American décor, but the food was something no one could debate was worth it. Even if Jess wasn’t one for the stylization of the place, the food... The food! Even if it was one of those cash only places, but the prices were low enough that it didn’t matter, she had enough on her.

“Tostada,” she quipped as the server took their order, “And a water with lime, please.” The please was tacked on at the end almost an after thought, but she was on edge. More than on edge. She wanted to enjoy her lunch with Fel, wanted to forget what she saw. Propping an elbow on the table and her chin in her hand, Jess grinned over at her friend.

Her friend.

Two small words that mean just about everything to her. She’d do everything she knew how to keep the one friend she had. The one friend since childhood that she’d known. If that meant scaring the cheerleader type away, then so be it. She was game.

“So!” she said at last, chin remaining firmly in the palm of her hand. “If I had thought to, I would have asked for a piece of paper from the waiter and I would have started drawing your map.” A benefit of her edict memory. She’d just need to know where his locker was.

[felipe]

"Aha... I have some paper... somewhere," he replied, rummaging in a pocket. "Hold on... At least I think... Yes!" He re-emerged with the remains of an old shopping list his mother had given to him a few days before. He'd completed his task but the note had remained in his pocket. He turned it over... only to find it already covered with various notes in his own handwriting and in Portuguese. For the most part they were lesson times as he seemed to have lost his timetable. Felipe offered Jessica a wry shrug. "Don't despair," he added and he reached across to a nearby table, grabbing a paper servietter out of a dispenser and smiling his thanks to the pair of young girls seated there.

"This will do the job," he said. "Won't it?" He was desperate for those directions. If nothing else they would give him an extra 15 minutes in the morning, saved from his wearing search for the right hallway.

He slipped it across the table and looked hopefully at Jess. "Failing that I will just have to talk you into meeting me in the morning and acting as my personal guide," he added with a wink. "Speaking for myself, I like the sound of that option better anyway!"

Their food arrived at that moment and Felipe offered his thanks to the server. He took a bite of his enchilada, peering at her intently.

"Sooo... even though you avoided my question earlier I get a feeling your day hasn't been great. Something happened?" He frowned slightly. "Someone upset you." A statement, not a question this time.

[Jessica Pruitte]

Pulling a pen from her ponytail where she’d stuck one after her non-essay of “what’s the point”, Jess paused. “What locker are you?” She asked. Though she didn’t know the full layout of the school, she knew the pattern and could approximate where his locker would be.

Interrupted by the arrival of the food and Fel’s comment about how he’d prefer her to meet him and show him to his locker. “I… dunno. I can try but I usually don’t get to school until first bell.” Which was true, unless she was trying to escape her parents, like that morning, but that had backfired. Hard. Besides all that she knew she was a handful. Mostly down, rarely up. Moody as hell, never mind that she had her reasons.

It was only recently that she’d learned how to smile like she meant it. A feat she credited completely to the boy across from her as she bit into her tostada. Only to have a mouthful when he asked her what was wrong. A second time and went so far as to be observant or intuitive enough to know that someone was involved.

Shaking her head, Jess tried to blow it off, chewing more quickly to clear the food away so she could answer.

“Just some bull shit. It’s really nothing to worry about.” She’d already dumped so much information on him already, it hurt to keep this a secret now, but she didn’t want to lose him as a friend and no one wanted to be around someone who was so ick all the time. She had to face it, she was very ick.

“Really.”

[felipe]

"Number 169," Felipe told her. "I am sharing it with a boy called Vuictor... if you know him. He has a spider. A tarantula." He shot Jessica a grin. "He has its skin in the locker," he added on a short laugh. "If you are there early then maybe give me a call and we can meet up. If not I will have to trust in your map-drawing abilities! Although starting the day seeing your smile sounds like the best idea to me."

She didn't smile enough and although he hadn't known Jessica for all that long already he wanted to witness it happen more often. Her face changed completely when lit with such an expression.

"You know... it helps to talk about things that upset you," he pointed out. "And you know I am always happy to do that... If you feel you want to." He wouldn't push her... Yet.

"This weekend we should do something," went on the Brazilian youth. "Something fun. I have heard that some of the students are attending Bree's party but I have not been asked... Have you?" She shook her head. "And others are going bowling. Again..." He shrugged ruefully. "So it looks like we have to make our own entertainment and I find that idea not even remotely unappealing. Unless, of course, you have other plans...? He was assuming a lot, after all!