High School Romance! (ShitsujiCarty and Sanuye)

[Sanuye]

Pip let a small smirk show on her face as he clapped and just let the smirk grow at his comment. "And where would be the fun in that? A lady's gotta win sometimes after all. And besides, I thought you were trying to bluff me and then I thought you were trying to double bluff me. It got really confusing after a while." She smiled but blinked as he moved closer, his face almost directly across from hers. She tried to inch back a little but the back of her chair held her steady in position. She hadn't had anyone this close to her for a long while and it made her extremely uncomfortable.

But his eyes were warm and his smile just a little bit more genuine, even if she tried to deny it. A dark blush rushed up her face and she turned away a little, mortified at her reaction to something so ordinary. "W-w-well..." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "W-well I guess it'll be okay. Besides, I like cooking. I haven't cooked for more than myself for a long time." But as nice as the moment was, she politely smiled as she used her right hand on Carter's chest to move him back out of her face.

 

[Shitsuji-Carty]

Carter
"Don't the ladies usually win in the long run." he commented after she smirked pround of herself. Until she began to blush "hmm Pip? Why did you studder so much there?" he asked teasing her some more, Carter was beginning to think maybe this partnership wouldn't be so bad. "Cooking and eating is always better with company." he said wondering if she would agree, only to rather be met ny her hand pushing him back.

It had been a while since he had someone else make a meal for him, but could someone who lives on their own afford a good meal? She said she lived alone maybe she wouldnt mind him bringing some snacks then. Maybe another time he thought to himself as he wondered when class would get out. He laid his head upon the table in an effort to sleep as the teacher bored him.

 

[Sanuye]

Pip nodded proudly, affecting a pompous British accent. "Why, of course! Who else would win?" And she just pouted to herself a little at his teasing comments, wondering why she always had to get stuck with the difficult ones on these projects. "Yes, I suppose it is. I do try and eat with Nala's family once a month or so but.. It's just not the same, you know?"

As the class dragged on, Pippin had the weirdest desire for the entire school day to just pass by quickly. If she didn't know better, she would've thoughts that she was looking forward to the afternoon- but why would she? It was a preposterous thought, almost traitorous to her current agenda of : Do NOT fall for the bad boy. She'd been repeating it around and around in her head, and she thought it was helping, at least a little. She wondered what she was going to cook though... She'd have to count her money carefully in order to be able to pay her bills and such that month, as well as afford enough food for two for a while.
On a fresh page in her notebook, she quickly began writing down her expenses for the month and figured out how much she had to spend that money, after she paid her bills and electricity. It met out at about 100 dollars for the month spare, for food mostly, and she pursed her lips, thinking hard. She had enough to scrape by, if she was careful with it.

 

[Shitsuji-Carty]

Carter
Hearing her accent he laughed a little before giving his retort. "Well i would have enjoyed winning too ya know." he said thinking about not having to do anything for a week. Carter kept listening as she talked, for some reason he found himself draw in. "Yeah it sucks by yourself, i try to go over to Seth's place and hang out with him when i can." he said looking over in Seth's direction, the boy was paired up with another guy, and seemed to be discussing their plans for the project.

Now Pip was quiet again, maybe she was thinking about something? Carter wasn't sure he could only guess from whatever expressions she would make. Then before he could say anything his phone went off as he got a message. It was from his family, telling him they needed to get rid of some of the extra food they didn't need. Some smaller meats, and a good amount of vegetables, otherwise they would go bad within the week. Carter planned to pick them up on his way to Pip's thinking she might need them more since she was to be cooking for them. "Pip, i will be bringing some food to your place tonight, if you want more just let me know." he said showing her the text that said they had extra at their home.

 

[Sanuye]

Pip just chuckled at his comment. "Of course you would. Isn't that all boys think about, food and girls?" She darted a look over to the blond boy's friend, wondering why she'd never noticed that they were friends or even acquaintances. She really needed to be more observant these days. "It's good to have friends I guess."



Pippin blinked at the text message in front of her face, before a smile spread across her lips- a little brittle and fake. Sure, she was thankful but she hated pity in any of its forms. She nodded though, not prideful enough to deny that the food would definitely help her over the next week and even beyond. "Thanks, it'll help. Meat is expensive after all." She smiled and turned to the other, curiousity bubbling inside her. "So what's your family like?"

 

[Shitsuji-Carty]

Carter
He smiled as she made another joke "you forgot about games." he added "yeah it is, you and Nala?" he said looking at her questioning the nickname. "What is up with that name? Does she have some name for you?" he asked a little more curious than before.

He was glad to hear she would accept the food, he would feel bad eating all her food and never giving anything back. "Im glad to hear you accept, thats means i can eat as much as i want." he smiled then frowned as she asked about his family "my family, their just a bunch of sticks in the mud. More boring than anything else." he said a sigh slipping out.

 

[Sanuye]

"Ha, guess you're right..." She smiled in response and tilted her head curiously to the right. "Oh, her nickname! She doesn't like her full name of Nalaino, so we shortened it to Nala. She just shortens mine to Pip or Pippa."

She grinned and shook her head. "Well, I hope you find my cooking acceptable... And I am sorry about your family. Living with upright people must be difficult, especially for someone as out of the norm as you are." And she really didn't envy him. She may have had parents who would rather shoot up heroin than buy food, but at least she had a clear way out. Nothing was ever clear in a family like Carter's family.

 

[Shitsuji-Carty]

Carter
He listened as she spoke about her and Nala, and the nick names they had came up for each other. " Pippin, Pip, Pippa heh." he chuckled repeating the three as if it was a tongue twister or something.

"This class feels like its been dragging forever, when are we supposed to end?" he asked putting his head down on the table. He was tired from the night before of all night gaming.

 

[Sanuye]

Pippin just smiled at his antics and shook her head as he used her name as some sort of limerick or something. Just as she was about to answer him, the bell chimed and she began packing her stuff into her bag. "I don't have any classes with you the rest of the day, so I probably won't see you unless you wanted to meet up at lunch. If not, I'll see you this afternoon."

 

[Shitsuji-Carty]

Carter
He smiled when the bell finally rang, "this is our only class together? I could've swore we had more." he chuckled "but your inviting me to lunch? How bold Pippa-chan." he said as he started to pack his things away "say, do you mind if i extend you invitation to Seth?" he asked usually eating lunch with him.

After the dissuccion of lunch he had to ask Pip something "one last thing before you go, i will be a little later than you want me to be, so start without me." he said as Seth came over to talk to him.

Seth gave a wave of a hand motion to say hi to Pip before speaking to Carter "ready to go?" he asked holding his things over his shoulder. He almost looked like a delinquent the way he stood there his bag over his shoulder and one headphone in his ear. Carter got up and threw his bag over his shoulder as the two left the room together. But before going Carter quickly said "text me your answer."

 

[Sanuye]

Pippin

She blushed and sputtered a little, realising how forward she had become in the last hour or so. "U-um... This is our only class today, since we have doubles. I t-think we have more...?" She glanced at Seth, and then nodded to Carter. "I think that'll be fine. I'll check with Nala though." She waved a hand at Seth in return, watching as they both slipped into the casual persona of the rebels and bad boys, almost delinquent in their stance. She knew she had to keep reminding herself of who she was in this school- she was the one with no social structure, she didn't fit in the same way that Carter did. He at least had a persona that fit into the overall scheme of the social climate- she just refused to be part of it, which had it's pro's and cons. She called out a quick affirmative as he left, Nala wandering over just as he left with an incredulous expression on her face.

Nala

Surely Pip was smarter than that. She couldn't even remember the last time Pippin had been able to talk to others for a full period of class- or had looked at them with that particular look on her face. "Pip. Please tell me you didn't fall for him- for either of them?" Pippin's face snapped to hers and she blinked in confusion and then embarrassment as a blush stole over her face, a guilty sign of being caught red-handed. "Oh no. No nonono. We talked about this, remember?" Nala grabbed her best friend's hand and practically dragged her their next class. "He's a bad boy, Pip. Do you remember what happened last year? At all?!" Pip's face reeled back in shock and an undercurrent of pain, obviously remembering the catastrophe of last years clash with a bad boy. "...I remember." Pip whispered, eyes guilty and sad. Nala hated to bring up the past but she needed it. "You gotta stay safe okay. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

As the lesson progressed and lunch loomed close, Pip just sighed. 'That leaves a lot of things I can do...'

 

[Shitsuji-Carty]

As Carter and Seth got to their next class seth began to ask him about what his project would be about.
"so did you and your new partner figure out who's doing all the work?"
"yea she beat me so im helping by going over to her place and doing research."
"she beat you? What kinda game did you lose? And its for a whole Week dude."
" relax it was just a guessing game, and i kinda let her win.
"you let her win? Don't tell you have some sort of crush. Idiot.
Seth said as the next class began the two were sitting next to each other once more. It would be a little while till lunch, hopefully pip would remember to text him.

(seth is yellow, carter is red)

 

[Sanuye]

Sitting in her maths class, Pip sighed as she watched the clock tick down ever so slowly, hating how minutely time seemed to be passing. There was almost a malaise hanging over her, a feeling of uncertainty and impatience that was really starting to annoy her. She was normally a patient person- just not at this moment it seemed. Nala was chatting away next to her as she grabbed her phone, sending a quick affirmative text to her science partner and Pip turned back to her best friend, finally tuning into whatever the other girl was talking about now. "-And of course I didn't tell my mum the truth, she'd flat out kill me if she knew I was going out with Justin and..." With a sigh, Pip tuned out once again, not quite up to the frivolous topics Nala often dwelt on.

When the bell finally rang for lunch, Nala sprung up out of her chair and explained that she had soccer practice and wouldn't be around for the lunch period that day. With a smile, Pip watched as her friend hurried away, before packing up her own items and stowing them in her carry bag. She made her way to the lunch hall, quickly grabbing an apple to supplement the food she'd brought from home today, taking a seat outside in the sun at an unclaimed table.

 

[Shitsuji-Carty]

Carter and seth were in their english class as they waited for the bell to ring. Carter seemed to be watching the clock more than he normally would, almost excited for something. He didn't want to act like it but there was just something interesting about Pippin.
"would you just relax, it isn't gonna move faster no matter how hard you glare."
"ahh shut up, your not the boss of me."
" no I'm just a concerned friend, who dislikes the idea of you taking advantage of some girl."

The two continued to go back and fourth until the bell rang for lunch. Getting up they both made their way to the lunch room where they got in line for food. While standing he got a text from pip saying it was alright to bring Seth along. Once they had their food the looked around for her until spotting her outside. The two make their way to the table.
"i just think it's stupid to have to write some many formal things. What happened to all sense of creativity." he said complaining about their latest english assignment.
"well there isnt anything you can do about it, so get over it. Hello Pippin." he said ending their previous conversations to include her.
Carter sighed as the two of them sat at the table, Carter next to her and Seth across from them. "i didn't tell you, but Pip here was the one who invite me to lunch." he laughed enjoying having another chance to tease the shy girl.

 

[Sanuye]

Pippin smiled at the two approaching boys, before returning Seth's polite greeting. "Hello Seth, how have you been?" Sure, they weren't friends or anything- but she'd been going to the same school as him for a long time and she'd spoken to him once or twice she thought.
She blushed a little and sighed good-naturedly. "Technically, I asked if you wanted to meet up for lunch. You're the one who said yes." She laughed a little along with Carter and then had a quick moment of realisation. "Nala said she's sorry for not being here but she's the captain of the junior soccer team, so she's gone all responsible on us." She shrugged her shoulders and took a drink from her water bottle, wishing she'd brought something warmer to wear from home that day. Sure, jeans and a top were warm enough- but she really should've brought a jumper or a scarf, cursing inwardly as she felt the cold wind spring back up, sending shivers up her skin.

 

[Shitsuji-Carty]

After Seth sat down, he spoke to answer her question "I'm doing well all things provided, how are you doing today?" he asked as she blushed a little, they couldn't be, no they just started to talk it must be from the wind or cold. Seth's red hair gave off a warm glow as the cold wind kept hitting them. He quickled chuckled as Pip started to call out Carter "haha oh im sure he quickly accepted too" Seth smiled and looked towards Carter to see his reply as Pip finished talking about Nala, and started to shiver in the cold.

"Well let's not get hung up on the details and just enjoy the company." Carter said trying to laugh off what they said, then realised that it was just Pip all alone. "oh im surprised to your friend would let you meet up with two boys like us. Doesn't she worry what will happen?" Carter said wrapping his scarf around her, the same blue one he was wearing this morning. "you can use this for now, someone so small shouldn't be shivering so much" he smirked trying to tease her more.

 

[Sanuye]

Pip smiled at the redhead, pleased that he'd been well. "I'm doing very well, though I'm thoroughly sick of winter now. I just want summer already." She sighed and laughed at Seth's agreement of her calling out his friend. "Oh he did. Even acted the perfect gentlemen and told me he'd be late." She poked her tongue out at Carter, wondering what devil had possessed her today- she'd made more jokes today than any day before.
Seeing Carter trying to laugh off her quip, she laughed and just shook her head. "I didn't actually discuss it with her- she's a touch overprotective at times after all, and she's already freaking out about Carter being my science partner.

Pip blinked in shock and surprise as Carter wrapped his scarf around her, a strange and unexpected gesture that had her reeling. She'd placed him into the box of a rebellious young man, who liked to tease and slack off. He just didn't fit the expectations of what she'd been told to expect from boys like him. "A-a-ahhh.... T-thank you..."

 

[Shitsuji-Carty]

"I agree with you on that, this cold weather has to go." Seth said in agreement to her comment he wasn't a fan of winter, but not to many people were. He smirked at her joke before watching Carter try to make his come back. "oh my, him a gentleman, never" he said before watching Carter put his scarf around Pippin and for a moment was speechless.

Carter blushed slightly and smiled as she thanked him "well you both called me a gentleman so i might as well live up to the expectations. And an overprotective friend, Nala, how am i supposed to have you if she's in the way." he said pretending to be deep in thought as he quietly at his food. He glanced over at her and for a split second the thought ran through his mind that she looked cute in his scarf.

"well when you say things like that, I'd be worried too" Seth laughed again as he waited for the surpised Pippin to do something.

 

[Sanuye]

Pippin merely sat in shock, still kind of reeling. She hardly had any contact with others, let alone boys after last years fiasco and it was so strange. She composed her thoughts but really couldn't make the blush go down, it was there to stay apparently. "A-ah, well. well. w-well." She was still a little bit in shock but she tried to pull herself together.

The quiet look of mock concentration and thoughtfulness on Carter's face her laugh and she quickly reined it in, blush still apparent on her pale face. And at that moment, the slight insult from before registered with her. " Hey! I'm not that small!" Well, she was- but that didn't mean that he could call her small.

She grinned at Seth, faking a concerned expression. "S-should I be worried?" She whispered to Seth,

 

[Shitsuji-Carty]

Carter smiled as it looked like they confused her, she studdered a little when she tried to answer them. Only to be stuck with a blush on her face. Carter seemed to be enjoying himself rather than just sleeping so it seemed like a good thing to Seth.
"your smaller than me, which makes you easier to protect." Carter answered
"heh, took you long enough to catch that. Be worried, Carter doesn't take interest in many people, but when he does he bugs the crap out of them." seth said as he laughed, it was true tho, most of the time Carter didn't care to make new friends, but there was something different about Pip.