** don't let it all come undone `

[flick lani austin]

WITH EVERY BREATH IM BREATHIN IN---*

[/i][/size]
i'll be trying to make it so much more[/font][/font][/center]

She couldn't believe high school was really over. It still came as a shock everytime she thought about it. Mom would mention something about the University or Dad would mention something about high school memories, and it would hit her all over again. Early in the day she had been sitting at the kitchen island while her mom tidy up from the family's brunch. Friday, one of Flick's dogs, sat contently beside her stool, staring up at her as if waiting for food to magically drop. To the dog's dismay, all the food had been eaten and put away. Flick fiddled with the keys that were on the counter in front of her. It was Saturday, and she was left without any plans. Her mother glanced over her shoulder at the bored looking girl before her. "Why don't you go out and get your books?" she suggested, nodding to the list of texts that was pinned on the fridge. Flick's brown eyes followed and rested on the paper, before she hopped up. "I don't see why not," she shrugged, taking the list from the fridge and folding it in half. With a few steps she was beside her mom, giving her a quick hug. "See you later mom," she chimed as she headed out the door. Her father was already at work, and her mom was leaving the house soon anyways for her meeting with all her pregnant friends.

[/size][/color]

There were two possible places where Flick could purchase the texts on her list. Sam Weller's bookstore, where her friend Marcello worked, or the University's bookstore, which they opened in advance so students could be ready for the start of their semester. Since the University was open, and slightly closer, Flick decided that's where she would head. If she had known whether or not Marcello was working, she might have gone to Sam's. But she drove to the University campus instead, and pulled into the front office parking lot. Slightly timid, she headed inside to ask the receptionist where she would be able to locate the bookstore. The woman behind the counter was harsh, and acted as though Flick was wasting her time. But Flick didn't see what other things she would have been doing, seeing as when she walked in, the woman had been texting someone on her phone. But she got the directions and headed out of the office.

With her nose in the map, it was hard to concentrate on walking. The receptionist had highlighted the fastest route to the bookstore, and it was close enough that Flick didn't need to get back in her car, so she simply walked. There were few people around the campus, since it was still August. A few kids Flick recongnized from her high school, wandering around like she was. Others were being shown around by who Flick assumed to be older students and some teachers. It wasn't long before she reached the bookstore, where older and younger students alike were browsing the isles. She'd say there were about 7 others in there, besides herself and the cashiers. She took out her list and unfolded it, bending out the crease. Her chocolate brown eyes moved up and down the list, then up to the signs above each isle. She started to move down one, slowly and carefully, eyeing each section with percision. It was only obviously that she would need help, but she just wanted to look around before asking anything. To her surpise, she quickly spotted one book on her list. It was on the back shelf, but to high for her short frame to reach. Furrowing her brow and wrinkling her nose, she turned to walk down the rest of the isle and look for other ones first.

[/blockquote]

TAGS--* dawson (:
OUTFIT--* linkage
WORDS--* 643
LYRICS--* relient k--up and up
CREDIT--* MEELA! & BABY THAT'S JUST ME! at CAUTION 2.0 ?!
NOTES--* kinda lame/short.[/size][/font]

[dawson leighton kipling]

Twiddling the keys to his grandmother's old ford crown victoria Dawson stood in her kitchen as the eighty year old woman examined her jug of milk and flipped open the egg carton, trying to decide if she needed him to pick up anything for her. He had intentions of going out anyway to go check out the college campus where he'd be moving in a few more weeks and attending his classes and he figured it wouldn't be a problem to pick up a thing or two for her. He was after all borrowing her car. As delightful as bridge with her and her two dearest widowed friends Rose and Sally had been, he needed to get out of the house. He'd been staying with family for the past couple weeks, first his mother's parents, now his father's, and last before he could move into the dorms would be his Aunt Adelina. It annoyed him, having to be dependent on his family like that, especially family he scarcely knew, aside from the Christmas and birthday cards they'd sent for years with an endering 'love' at the end. Letting out a sigh, he almost started down the road of his homesickness when Gammy looked back to him to inform him that she had plenty of food and just needed him to pick up some toilet paper, giving him a very specific brand and type. "Extra plush? Got it," he said, leaning his six foot one and a half frame down to kiss her soft, fatty cheek and telling her he'd be back in time for supper, knowing having him at her table brought her quite a delight and he wouldn't disappoint her. Dawson did bear a strong resemblence to his father, her eldest and arguably most favored son, so he supposed that was why. She'd slipped up and called him Tilden several times since he'd been there, so it would make sense.

Walking out the front door of her little bungalow he walked over to the car, opening the passenger door before realizing his mistake and walking around the hood to the proper side. Settling into the hot interior he groaned a bit, overdramatically wondering if his insides were baking. The part of Africa he was from wasn't really that hot, never even getting over twenty-eight degrees celsius in the hottest months of summer, which he didn't exactly know the conversion for in fahrenheit, but he knew that the balmy ninety-seven degrees the weatherman had announced that morning was a lot hotter. With a sigh he put the key in the ignition and started the car, hoping the air conditioner would kick on sooner rather than later as he backed down the driveway. He picked the right lane for a change instead of following his instinct to go in the opposite, gripping the wheel uncomfortably. Even though no one else was even driving around the neighborhood just then he felt nervous. It was for this reason he was holding on to his Zimbabwe driver's license and international permit rather than testing for a Utah license. It was a complicated process anyway so it was probably better this way, though he felt a bit like a coward for not just getting it already.

By the time he was parking in the university's visitor parking lot he'd calmed down quite a bit and wasn't as concerned about being cooked in the car. Picking up the folded piece of paper sitting on the passenger seat with his textbook titles scribbled on it, he slid it into his pocket, forgetting to lock the car as he wandered up to one of the few buildings on campus that seemed open. As he walked up he took the door from a petite brunette that walked by him without a second glance, gazing in at a young-looking woman at the counter, "I'm looking for the book-," he was cut off, looking a bit surprised when she told him to follow the girl that had just walked out before doing as he was told. He felt kind of stalkery as he followed several yards behind her, but she didn't seem to notice so he didn't feel too bad and it did get him where he wanted to go.

Walking into the cool interior of the store he stared around at the miscellaneous items that filled the store, everything from a large variety of school supplies to a wall covered in shirts with trendy things like 'I'm a U Girl' written on them. He supposed in time he'd have a collection of school spirit clothing like everyone else seemed to, but today he was having to blow a large portion of his new student loan on text books, which he was none too enthused about. With a little grumble beneath his breath he joined the other browsing students in the dull corner of the store. He found his first book quite easily, sitting proudly among the other books with S authors. Taking one of the multiple copies in his hand he flipped the thin paperback open, flicking through the pages before pressing it back shut and gazing at the copy. They certainly didn't make it look very exciting with the black cover, odd red square, and plain white title 'Prophecy and the Biblical Prophets'. Turning it over he looked for a price, his eyes widening as he saw the seventy-two dollar price tag. Granted, he was used to the several thousand dollar price tags that were common in Zimbabwe's overly inflated economy, but like with the temperature he knew this wasn't a cheap purchase. Sighing, he wondered if there was a more affordable alternative or if he was just stuck spending this much. He usually bought used if he could, but he didn't really know how to go about that here. Holding on to the book for now he began to scan down the shelf for the other book by another author with an S surname, shifting out of the way as a girl joined him in looking over the titles, not paying her much mind until he noticed her straining to reach a book on the top shelf, not able to respond before she abandoned her attempts. "Miss," he spoke as she walked away to get her attention, "Which one do you need? I can reach it for you," he offered, the polite offer just coming naturally to him, though he realized that that sort of kindness wasn't half as common here. Oh well, he'd already offered. The worst that could happen would be some sort of odd feminist lecture. Shifting his weight and fiddling with his ring, he waited for her reply, wondering why she looked familiar to him. She was, he realized, the girl he had followed here, but it was her face he recognized and he hadn't really given it much of a look earlier. He was probably just being stupid though. He went to church and occasionally out for errands or whatever and that meant he didn't really know all too many people yet.

__ ( O U T F I T here
__ ( W O R D S 1179
__ ( L Y R I C S "love bug" - jonas brothers
__ ( N O T E S d'awwww, jason and annie met in the college bookstore, too.

[flick lani austin]

WITH EVERY BREATH IM BREATHIN IN---*

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i'll be trying to make it so much more[/font][/font][/center]

When Flick was growing up, she always thought of herself as tall. The time of growth had reached her early, and she had always seemed to be one of the tallest in her classes. But then everyone else reached that time, and she seemed to shrink. Even though most of her friends only had several inches on her, she some how always managed to feel quite short. It was probably because her dad was really tall, which made her feel little in comparision. Her mom was quite short and since she was, she figured her biological dad must have been too. Flick was 5'4/5" ish. In between there. The thing that made her feel so short though, was not being able to reach things. She could never reach the top shelves in the kitchen, or above the fridge. And now, it was the bookcase at the store.

[/size][/color]

Before she could get very far, a deeper voice broke the quiet that was surrounding her. "Miss, Which one do you need? I can reach it for you." Flick stopped walking and turned on the ball of her foot to look to where the voice had come from. A young man, who looked almost a foot taller then her, was standing before her, looking a little nervous, though his voice had been polite. Flick smiled her oh-so friendly smile as usual, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear as she did. "It's the one with the black spine and silver writing," she replied with a slight smile, as she could feel a slight blush rise to her cheeks. Flick was only slightly embarassed that she couldn't reach it by herself. But she was used to things like that at this point. 'Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling' was the book she was trying to reach. Flick had taken an interest in helping people from a young age. Now it only made sense to look into pursuing that, and following her faith. She was taking a course in Christian Counseling as well as a Creative Writing course. It had been her dream from day one. Writing was a passion that Flick shared with her mother. Those were the only two courses Flick was taking that year, since she wanted to look into both as a future career. She wasn't sure she would make it big as a writer, but that didn't bother her. She wrote because she loved it, and would probably continue it on the side of a career. Counseling, she hoped, would be that career.

Realizing how rude it must sound for her to just tell him what book it was and nothing else, she quickly spoke up again. "Thanks," she broke in after a second. "You didn't have too," she added with a chuckle. After a second, she spoke again. "But I'm kinda glad you did, it saved me from going to ask up at the front," she laughed lightly. Glancing back to the front of the store, the young female cashier looked busy on her phone while the male just looked big and intimidating. Turning back, Flick looked up at Dawson, trying to decide if he was familiar or not. She knew a lot of people in the area, but not him, though his face wasn't completely unfamiliar. Then again, she thought that about most people. Flick went out enough to know most faces, if not the person who the face belonged too. [/blockquote]





TAGS--* dawson (:
OUTFIT--* linkage
WORDS--* 590
LYRICS--* taylor swift--crazier
CREDIT--* MEELA! & BABY THAT'S JUST ME! at CAUTION 2.0 ?!
NOTES--* aweee! lol that's adorable.[/size][/font]

[dawson leighton kipling]

Dawson watched silently as the brunette turned to face him with much more grace than most of the women he'd known in his lifetime, though of course American girls were probably taught how to be more dainty and graceful and whatnot. When she answered him he nodded a bit, finding the pleasant smile odd as he wasn't really used to random smiling. He was used to only smiling when there was a real reason to. Turning to look at the books before landing on the one she'd mentioned, he laughed a bit at the irony. "I was looking for that one, too," he said with a smile, placing two fingers on the tops and sliding the twin books out together and into his large hand, handing her one and shifting his to his other arm, covering the paperback. He wasn't even going to look at the price this time. He'd just wince when they gave him the total and hand over the money.

He shrugged a bit when she told him thanks, smiling just slightly. He had offered hadn't he? It wasn't a big deal anyway. There had to be some benefit to being over six feet tall the way he saw it and he guessed that was being able to reach things. Really he'd never considered himself tall as many of the other guys he'd gone to school with were as tall if not taller and some of the girls weren't too much shorter either. Of course there were exceptions to this, but as a general rule most of the people he'd always known were tall. He'd only moved to America around a month ago but already he couldn't walk in a grocery store without being asked to get something for someone. Now it just came natural to offer to reach things for people who couldn't. "It's really not a problem," he said finally with another shrug of his shoulders before smiling a tiny bit, "I'm used to it."

Gazing down at her, his eyes caught on the dainty diamond cross she wore around her neck. Again, he couldn't help but wonder if he somehow knew her, especially seeing that. Of course she could just be Mormon, it seemed everyone he met here was Mormon after all, but he'd met a few people who weren't. His family in the area all went to church together, the same church his parents had left behind, which had enabled him to get an internship with the church's youth ministry. He'd just sort of been lurking though on Sundays and Wednesdays; they weren't going to introduce him until the start of the new school year for the high schoolers. She looked so familiar though he couldn't stop himself from asking, and hoping she wouldn't find it too weird, "If you don't mind me asking, you don't by any chance go to Southeast Christian, do you?" He looked a bit apologetic, not wanting her to think he was a creep, "You just look kind of familiar..." he said in explanation, sliding his hands in his pockets and jingling his keys a bit nervously. He wasn't one that liked conversation with people he didn't know, in fact it was surprising he'd even asked. He was a shy sort of person in general, but attractive girls made him even worse. He preferred to just stay quiet when talking wasn't neccessary. Honestly, he wasn't really sure why he'd even asked.

__ ( O U T F I T here
__ ( W O R D S 573
__ ( N O T E S sorry 'bout the wait.

[flick lani austin]

WITH EVERY BREATH IM BREATHIN IN---*

[/i][/size]
i'll be trying to make it so much more[/font][/font][/center]

Waking the book from his hands into her own, she eyed the cover of the text. "I was looking for that one, too." Flick looked up and chuckled. "Well there you, two birds with one stone," she grinned. It was an expression she heard a lot out of her mother. Her mind drifted to her mom, who was probably having tea with her friends now. Her mom was ready to pop, due within a few weeks. It was an exciting time for the family, and Flick rarely left her mother's side. But today had been an exception since Briar had already made plans to meet with her friends, and Flick didn't exactly think she should go along. Of course, she would be welcome, but her mom needed her own time, just as Flick did. So they had both parted ways, leaving Flick in her current position. It was quite ironic that the guy who needed the same book as her was here helping her get it. "So you're taking Christian Counseling here then?" she asked him, figuring the answer was yes. She wondered if he would be in her class then. There was no reason he would be buying the book here if he wasn't planning on going to the University.

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Her chocolate brown eyes darted back to her list briefly, out of habbit, before she was looking back up again as he spoke. "If you don't mind me asking, you don't by any chance go to Southeast Christian, do you? You just look kind of familiar..." His voice was apologetic, though Flick didn't mind his asking at all. A smile spread over her face as she nodded her head. "Yeah, I do. You do too? I thought you look kind of familiar too," she chortled softly. If he was from the church, he must have been new. She did seem to remember the face, but the fact that she didn't know him gave it away. Flick knew everyone at the church, she was extremely envolved. "I mean, you must be new to Southeast right? Not to be rude," she added quicky, "I mean, I just know everyone there... but I don't know you," she said with a sideways smile.

The guy before her seemed quite shy, and honestly, Flick was often the same. It was strange seeing as she could easily be described as shy, but loved meeting people. That shyness usually came into play for things like public speaking and acting, especially in large crowds of people. When she was younger, her teacher gave her a solo in the school play. Flick was a talented enough singer, but when she got up on stage in front of everyone, she became real shy. It wasn't exactly stage fright though, which was the weird thing. Things like that made her shy, while meeting new people was a thrill. The brunette had always been friendly and inviting towards others.[/blockquote]





TAGS--* dawson (:
OUTFIT--* linkage
WORDS--* 500
CREDIT--* MEELA! & BABY THAT'S JUST ME! at CAUTION 2.0 ?!
NOTES--* np. mine's shortish though.[/size][/font]

[dawson leighton kipling]

He smiled a bit when she said he'd killed two birds with one stone, nodding, "Yep." He didn't know what else to say to that, honestly. Glancing at the book's dull cover he expected her to walk away and when she didn't he was a bit surprised. At her voice he glanced up and nodded, "Yeah, it's one of those requirements I never got around to," he said with a bit of a shrug. He found the prophets and theology, even Greek, around a million times more interesting than discussing how to talk to people. Admittedly though it was probably a class he needed. He tended to be a bit too judgemental and he knew he had to learn how not to do that. His eyes lit up a bit when he realized she'd asked because she was taking the class, "Do you have professor..." he laughed a bit, "Owyang, I think?" He knew he'd said his or her name wrong, or at least he was fairly sure. It was sort of funny that he could speak in three very different tongues, but a simple Asian name threw him for a loop. He shrugged a bit, an embarassed smile on his lips. Maybe it was just a hard name to say and it wasn't really that he was dumb and uncultured, though it did sort of feel that way.

Summoning quite a bit of nerve, nerve he frequently lacked when it came to conversation with strangers, he hesitantly asked if they went to the same church. He wasn't sure what exactly it was that made him anxious to ask that aside from maybe looking like an idiot or potentially having to listen to the truth of the Book of Mormon. It had already happened once or twice since moving here, he wouldn't be surprised if it happened again. His face stayed somber as she smiled, nodding a bit. He wasn't much one for smiling all the time which he guessed probably made a lot of people find him either strange or overly serious and unfriendly. People didn't do that where he was from; smiling was just something that happened when one was happy, nothing that they could control. His wide shoulders shrugged a bit, a slight humored look crossing her face when she said she didn't know him. "You probably know me a bit better than you think," he said with a small smile, thinking of the countless times they had visited the church when they came back to the states every year or two. They were asked to share about what they were doing across the world, what the congregation was helping to fund, and the kids had always come on stage, well the ones that were left. The eldest three were now gone from home, leaving just Madison, Andrew, and Daya. Because so much of their family still attended Southeast, the Kipling family was apparently often mentioned to the people that did go to the church, something he'd started noticing. "You know the offering you guys take up a couple times a year for the missionaries in Zimbabwe," he asked, sure she'd heard of it as they'd taken one in the time since he'd come to Salt Lake, "And the Christmas offering for the little girl named Daya that has HIV?" He couldn't help but feel a bit homesick at the mention of his beloved little sister, but he pushed it aside, continuing, "That's my family, she's my little sister." Of course Daya was not his biological sister if she was wondering why there was absolutely no resemblence, not even in nationality. The money they collected kept her little heart beating, allowed his family to keep securing the expensive treatments for her disease.

__ ( O U T F I T here
__ ( W O R D S 625

[flick lani austin]

WITH EVERY BREATH IM BREATHIN IN---*

[/i][/size]
i'll be trying to make it so much more[/font][/font][/center]

Transfering the book from her left hand to land cradled in her right arm, Flick listened to him speak. "Yeah, it's one of those requirements I never got around to." As he mentioned it being a requirement, she couldn't help but wonder what for. But before she decided whether or not to ask him about it, he spoke once more. "Do you have professor... Owyang, I think?" The young woman grinned. "I do. I just hope that's how you say the name," she laughed. It wouldn't be great if she went about pronouncing it wrong, not being corrected. It was her guess they would be told the name properly, or eventually hear it somewhere first. But her guess was as good as his for now. Though once, during her freshman year, a girl had told her how to pronounce a teacher's name completely wrong. Apparently Ms. Eueck hated when people pronounced her name wrong, and was a very strict, harsh woman. Flick hadn't know and completely embarassed herself the first day. Though, the girl had done this on purpose, and Flick didn't think the guy in front of her would do that, from what she could tell.

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"You probably know me a bit better than you think."[/i] Confused, Flick furrowed her brow. Was he just being weird now? Because that answer really made no sense to her. "I'm not quite sure what you mean..." she began, followed by his explination. "You know the offering you guys take up a couple times a year for the missionaries in Zimbabwe." Flick slowly nodded her head once she thought about it, realizing she did. "And the Christmas offering for the little girl named Daya that has HIV? That's my family, she's my little sister." Flick thought about the next part again, and it came to her faster. She nodded her head, and heard the last part. She was taken aback slightly, realizing what his early comment must have meant. "Kipling..." she mused in a low voice. The name of the family, she was quite sure. "Um, so you must be..." Flick paused for a moment, wracking her brain. "Aaron?" she said, biting her lip as she made a guess. Flick helped out every year for all the behind the scenes work at Christmas, and knew a bit about the family. The parents, and their six children. Flick did remember them coming to the church every once in awhile. Though she couldn't put names and faces together, besides the parents. [/color][/size][/font]

His face became all the more familiar, though she figured he hadn't come back to the church for a few years maybe, as she barely remembered the more mature face he possesed now. She guessed he was older then her, but not by much. Her brain tried to remember the ages of the children within the Kipling family, but she couldn't grasp them. From what Flick gathered, he was here for school. Hense him buying his books and taking the same course as her. [/blockquote]




OUTFIT--* linkage
WORDS--* 515
CREDIT--* MEELA! & BABY THAT'S JUST ME! at CAUTION 2.0 ?![/size][/font]