Alone in a Crowded Place -Open-

[Danny Snecks]

Danny sat slouched in a chair. He sat at a small table in the corner of the food court. There wasn't any food in front of him. Nor was there going to be anytime soon. His head was down and his hair was in his face. He looked staright down. Danny wasn't feeling very upbeat. He really didn't even have a clue how he ended up here. He just did. He guessed that he walked here because it was somewhere away from his house. His dad kept bugging him to get out and meet some people.

So Dan just sat there in the food court. Being new in town, he hadn't met anyone yet. He came to not like the neighborhood more and more lately. It seemed everyone didn't dare come near him. So at lunch he'd just skip out and go find a quiet place to sit and stare at the floor.

He got used to it. He didn't quite fit in with the 'darker' people, and he definitly didn't come close to a jock. So he made his own group. A loner group. Thats what you call it...right. He was a loner. But to tell ya the truth, he didn't mind it so much.

[Adrianna Mollon]

Adrianna was always alone at the mall. She didint mind it much, never fazed her. She would usualy just watch the intresting people walk by and write it some where. But someone caught her eye today.

She knew him from seeing him at Lunch. Danny something, she thought to herself. They both seemed like loners so why not go and talk to him. She aproched him from behind her long broan hair following. "Um... hey your danny right?" She asked not really wanting to make a complete ass of herself.

[Raquella Sawamatsu]

Raquella had just rampaged the sewing store for a few patches of nice-ish fabric. Usually, she bought all of her fine silks from her uncle's store and had them shipped, but these weren't really the sort of luxurious cloths she was used to. She often avoided the mall, except for a pair of jeans or sweater. Most of her clothing was hand-made and custom ordered.

Speaking of custom-ordered and hand-made, she had on a beautiful white silk shirt-minidress, with sleeves to the elbows and a V-neck. Underneath was a pair of denim cutoffs she'd borrowed from Aiko, and also, a pair of knee-high black leather boots also belonging to her cousin. A silver sequined hairband held back her curled black hair, which was also elaborately pinned up. They had different tastes in fashion, one streetwalker and the other a tad more conservative, but hell, playing dress-up never hurt anyone. Aiko had on a bright blue dress, with t-shirt sleeves, that ended about mid-thigh and puffed out with a cream-colored petticoat, and her knee-high boots, but, a plasticy pink. Topped off with green eyeshadow, pink lipstick and liner, hair down. Who's mother was paying attention?

Aiko loved spending money. They needed more bonding time, so they'd decided to head off to the mall. Now, hunger was panging, and they were in the mood to be American. A&W. Walking up to the cashier, they both ordered their meals and root beer, and scoped the court for a place to sit.

There was a guy, all alone...almost. And that, for Aiko, was a sign from heaven. Except, hell, there was some girl. Ugh. Female competition. Personally, the more responsible Sawamatsu, Raquella, didn't approve of talking to strangers, but...she wouldn't be refused. Raquella led the way to the boy's table, and Aiko immediately sat down, crossing her legs and smiling.

"I'm sorry, would you mind if we sat down?" Wow, a new adventure.

[Danny Snecks]

Danny was in his own mind. Just stuck there. And then he jumped. Someone was talking to him. "What? Oh yeah. I'm Danny." he said with a slight smile. He couldn't quite remeber her name. Probably because he never knew it. Danny sat up staright. He looked at her. She was pretty. Dan bit his tounge slightly. Then when the pain kicked in he stopped. Why was he such a loser? He looked at her, just staring. Then he looked away noticing what he was doing. "Umm, I'm sorry. I don't know your name." he said slowly moving his view to her eyes once again. He began to bite his lip now. He stopped again.

Dan felt really embarrased not knowing her name. But it wasn't his fault. No one even bothered to come up to him. He began to wonder how she knew his name. So he decided to ask, "How did you...how did you know my name?" he asked. Shit. Why did he have to be such a loser. She probably already had a boyfriend.

Another girl came over too. He watched her. Oh shit,. oh shit. She was really pretty too. He wondered why they were both talking to him. "Sure....you can...sit." he said stuttering a bit. He bit his lip again. What was he doing!

[Raquella Sawamatsu]

"Hi Adrianna." She said briskly, with a hint of ''god save me now, okay, no god. you'll do'' The girl was pretty much recognizable, but that damn 'all Asians look alike' idea probably killed her reputation with her cousin strolling around.

Aiko had already put the A & W tray down and was smiling at Danny as Raquella sat down beside her. Aiko leaned forward a bit, that tight blue dress showing off...well, it's easier to make a list of what isn't being paraded about. The so-called more responsible half of the duo began twirling a French fry between her fingers, and grinning. The party-er said in a small little voice "Hi, what's your name?"

It was just a question, and the answer would hold all the wisdom in the world. What was his name? Why were the two suffocating him? Now, remember. Sometimes, it's more simple not to ask.

[Adrianna Mollon]

Adrianna laughed and sat down. "Its Adrianna... yeah odd name i know. Your in my study hall." She added to the next qustion. He was quiet, so was she, seemed that they should be friends. "Sorry to annoy you. I have bee alone all day, you seemed to be one of the intresting people here.' She said with a smile, he did. "So what brings you two her to jock land?" She said with a small grin. Feeling the atomosphere getting more comfortable she was good at that, one of the only things she ever pirded in her self.

[x---Lindsay---> ♥]

Aiko had basically stopped listening to anyone speak since she'd finished her last sentence. Uh, no, she was not in anyone's study hall. She got confused easy. Eh. Raquella made her boredom more subtle and just laughed and smiled. She hadn't understood a word. It was kind of in a muddle. Adrianna needed to enunciate, in her opinion. Well, the only time something was boring for her was when it wasn't a one-on-one conversation that she was talking the most in.

"God, this is so big. There's so much stuff here." Well, to them, two kids burgers and a Mama burger, and two medium fries with their root beer was a lot of food. They looked at Danny charmingly, eyelashes and all that. "Do you want any? I'm sure you're both really hungry, out all day shopping and whatnot. We've got food."

(I'm sooo sorry Raquelle....I deleted your post by accident. So I'm posting again under my name...sorry again!!!)

[Danny Snecks]

Danny looked at the girls. Why did he feel like such a loser? He looked up at the girls and then looked down at his fingernails, hoping they didn't see him staring. He concentrated on his half bitten fingernails. He just stared down. He looked up again but only for a milisecond considering they were talking to eac other.

Then one of the girls offered him food. He jumped a bit startled. "Uh, no thanks." he said as politely as he could. He wasn't one of those rude boys you usually see. It was her food. He wasn't going to take it. He wondered why they were over talking to him again. He never really had any friends. Except his brother Mikey. Mikey. Why did that have to come into his head now. He tried to wipe the thought from his head and not look depressed in front of the girls. Although he was. He tryed not to think on it by concentrating on a hangnail and trying to get rid of it.

[Adrianna Mollon]

Adrianna looked at him. He was intresting, not in a bad way, but he seemed like someone who could unfold into an amazing thing. She wasent really studying him, just looking at him intently before she smiled. "Your in it right now." She said with a grin. Then she smiled at the look he gave her. "Sorry... I am coming off a bit odd. You just seem nice..." She said taking a water bottle out of her bag. "So... when did you come here?"

[Danny Snecks]

"Oh, well...okay. Um, thanks?" he said a bit confused. Then he smiled. She seemed nice too. "I moved here a month ago. After my mom...." he stopped. He shoudln't tell her. No one should feel how he felt. He looked down at his hangnail pretending he didn't say anything. Then he noticed how he didn;t finish his sentence. He tried to shake it off. If she asked he considered telling her. but he didn't want to break down on front of them. He just looked down, his hair in his eyes. Dan tried to look up again and accomplished it without breaking down. He decided it would be okay if he coninued, "after my mom....passed." he didn't say 'commited suicide' like it really was. He justf inished with that.

[Adrianna Mollon]

Adrianna looked at him and listend, then heard what he said, and she gave him a look. Not one like "oh my god i am so sorry" more like, "wow... you will get through it." She looked at him then nodded. "Thats whats got your brain then." She said sipping her water. She made the air comfortable, she saw him lossining up a bit. "I am sorry to hear it though. One of my best friends died a while back... he jumped." She said drinking agian, hoping he would get the point with out her needing to explain.

[Raquella Sawamatsu]

"Eh, well if you're hungry." If Raquella was crappy at dealing with death, her cousin was worse. The girls had lost a lot of relatives, but that family was a bit like a crazy competition, not really comforting: Who was the prettiest, more intellectual, athletically inclined? At first she'd hated being born into it. But then she realized: Everybody came together, and it was less like a family circle, more like a dysfunctional support group. They all needed that. And nobody really cared.

"Well, I'm very sorry to hear about that." The light dimmed. Aiko and her both did not feel comfortable being their exuberant selves. She hated loss, and she hated talking about death: in the real world, people were always pulling the 'I'm more fu**ed up than you' card and unless you had an alcoholic father, depressed pill-popping mother, drug abusing siblings, a rapist uncle and many more web-blog and Maury scenes, your feelings didn't matter.

[Danny Snecks]

"Yeah...wow. I'm sorry." he said, "Yeah, my mom choose the gun." Danny looked down. He really shouldn't have shared that with them. and now he really needed to get off the subject and get the thought out of his head. "Umm, do yous guys want to...." he stopped to think for a second, "go do somehting more interesting than this?" he asked. Wow, what was he doing. Making a bigger fool of himself? All that silence and now he decides to talk. And it was so off subject too. He looked down, "We don't have too." he said. He was mad at himself for that too now. He had to say that. Why couldn't he do anything right?

Danny concentrated on his hangnail again. He felt like such a loser at the moment. He looked back up as if that would solve everything. He patiently waite for a response. Did it seem like he was staring now? He looked out at the wall. Now it looked like he wasn't paying attention. 'For crying out loud, get this right Dan!' was all his brain was shouting.

[Adrianna Mollon]

Adrianna looked at Danny and saw her old self in him. People would never guess she was shy now. At partys, she danced, with new people she talked. A while back she never said a word. Something she was use to. But she automaticly felt attached to Danny. "Yeah, sure." She said with a smile to his qustion.

She stood up. "What do you like danny? I bet i can find a store for you..." She said in a normal matter, paraying she was making it slightly comfortable for him... it felt like it.

[Raquella Sawamatsu]

"Oh, sure." She said, folding her hands in her lap and striking a glance at Aiko, who had been eating the kid's burgers without much concern for her waistline in comparison to her cousin, who never ate a thing out of fear every single article of clothing she owned would burst after a bit. Most people thought Raquella was too uptight at times. But she wasn't exactly. She made wonderfully casually great conversation, especially with men.

Danny was probably wondering what she saw in him. But Raquella sort of liked that helpless-y cute depressed submissive-seeming type of boys. Then again, a girl like her...she liked all sorts of boys, except for Yukio Takahashi, to her father's dismay.