Coffee Shop Soundtrack

[DANI JAMES]

This is the start of something new.

Dani James stepped in her usual pair of converse with rapdity. The girl was in a flurry of excitement as she tied her shoes and once that was done, she scanned her stuffed closet for the perfect hoodie. She wasn't usually big on dressing up and it was no different today though today itself, was different. It wasn't all the time she made a friend online and thirty minutes later decided she was going to me him. That was another thing. It was a him. Hmm. Dani frowned as she picked out her favorite yellow hoodie. She was planning on texting Adrien and just letting him know once she was finished getting ready. It wasn't a date or anything, she hardly knew the guy. Parker, that's what his name was. She didn't remember getting his last name. Anyway, bottom line was, she barely knew him, she'd never met him, so this in no way shape or form counted as cheating. Besides, this wasn't a date. In the end, she just wanted Adrien to know that so he wouldn't feel bad or get mad and think she was unfaithful because she really did love the boy.

Finally all she had to do was make sure her hair was perfect because well, if she prided herself on one thing, it was her hair and she always made sure it looked fucking awesome. And in her opinion, it did and that was good enough so she scooped up her phone and money, grabbed her bus pass and made her way from her dorm across the grounds, out the gate and off of Winterthorne's grounds to the bus stop.

Dani shook off her yellow hoodie and dropped into a nice looking chair to save her spot. she was a little early, but it would be okay. She figured she could go ahead and put in her order. She could never have enough coffee. The girl at the register took her order promptly and the redhead took her seat and waited for them to call her name. She wondered who this guy was. Meeting strangers wasn't something she usually did but this time...something made changer her mind.

[PARKER JAMES]

Parker jumped off the internet faster than you could say white chocolate mocha! After all, that was his favorite drink. He wasn't quite sure what he was doing. Some random girl, Dani, sent him an IM. Here he was, less than an hour later, planning on meeting her for coffee. Was he starting to go crazy or something? He had no idea of this girl would turn out to be crazy or not. Quietly, he made his way through the dorm room and pulled out his favorite white hoodie to put on. Parker slipped on a pair of shoes randomly and made his way out the door in a hurry.

He decided that he would just walk down to meet Dani at the coffee shop. It didn't take a half an hour to get downtown. As he made his way down a few busy streets, he caught himself smiling at the thought of making a new friend. Things were so out of control lately he could use someone sane to talk to. Half of Winterthorne disliked him, while the other half had too many of their own problems to listen to his. Parker made his way past some flashing lights and wondered what was going on at this time. Sure, it wasn't extremely late, but couldn't people stay out of trouble for one night?

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a nearby car. Parker nearly jumped out of his skin as the car crossed the white stripped designated crossing area and came inches away from hitting him! Did they seriously not know how to drive, or were they not paying attention?! Either way, he was very irritated with the person driving the vehicle. Parker decided not to let it ruin his evening and jogged across the street before anyone else could try and hit him today. He arrived outside the coffee shop that he was so familiar with and almost turned around. What am I doing? He questioned himself for the first time since leaving. Here he was about to meet a girl that he knew absolutely nothing about. What if it was some kind of trick?

Parker swallowed hard and took a deep breath. What else could you really do at this point? It's not like he was going to turn around and stand her up. Dani could turn out to be a good friend. He put on his best smile and grabbed the handle to the shop and gave it a pull. He gazed around and half hoped that maybe she would have blown him off. Another thought suddenly occurred to him just then. They had no idea what the other person looked like. How awkward was that? He decided not to think too much into it and made his way deeper into the establishment.

He froze dead in his tracks upon noticing a girl across the coffee shop. She was wearing a yellow hoodie. Sure, a lot of girls wear hoodies, but it wasn't that. Call him crazy, but he swore she looked familiar. Almost too familiar. Parker couldn't put his finger on it. Again, he shrugged it off and approached the girl cautiously. "Uh, excuse me. I'm supposed to be meeting someone here. Are you Dani by any chance?" His face turned a light shade of pink and he got mildly uncomfortable. Wow! Could this be any more awkward? He took another deep breath and tried to remain calm.

[DANI JAMES]

She had to admit, she was a little nervous. She couldn't find a justifiable reason for being so, but she was. Perhaps it was the anxiety of meeting someone knew. Or maybe it was just that there was an unexplainable feeling in her stomach that something was going to happen and she couldn't explain it. You know, when you have those odd feelings out of nowhere? It was happening. I mean, why had she even IMed him? For no reason at all, she just decided to reply to some stranger.

Dani waited patiently, her legs tucked under her, her hoodie draped over her lap. It was a good five minutes before one of the baristas called her named and she eagerly jumped up to her caramel frap and blueberry muffin. Coffee was an addiction with her. Or perhaps it was just the smell. The comfort it gave her on a cold and rainy day. Either way, it was nice. The tiny redhed checked her messages for any replies from Adrien but her screened showed nothing new. The time showed her new friend should have been here by now. She looked around in anxously as if she actually knew what he was supposed to look like. What if he didn't show? What if all that had been some joke to make her look stupid or something? The notion to just leave before she could be humliated crossed her mind and she almost did get her stuff and leave but an unknown force held her in her spot and now two minutes later, an unfamiliar voice caught her ears.

Uh, excuse me. I'm supposed to be meeting someone here. Are you Dani by any chance?"

"Hmm?" She stopped sipping her coffee through the clear straw and looked up in surprise. "Uh..." She stared. Why did he look so familiar? Whoa. She blinked. "Yeah, whoa, sorry. I'm Dani," she nodded and smiled. "Nice to meet you, Parker." She stood up and offered her hand. "Sorry," she said holding up her drink in her other hand. "I kind of got thirsty while I was waiting."

[PARKER JAMES]

His face lit up like the sky during the fourth of July. Parker wasn't sure why he was smiling. Honestly, he didn't smile all that often anymore. It had been a long time since he had cracked a genuine smile. There was just a huge lack of things to be happy about for months now. Dani changed that. Sure, it sounded silly to think someone you met five seconds prior could have any power over you. Something about her intrigued him. No, not in a sexual way, oddly enough. She was very attractive, but that wasn't it. Smiling more, he bite his lip and prepared to sit down.

"Phew. I was so nervous. I thought maybe this was some kind of joke, or that you would stand me up." Parker nervously chuckled. She was looking at him oddly for a moment so he questioned it. "I'm not what you expected?" He frowned slightly after his words. There was no time to dwell on it though because she soon apologized for not waiting to get her drink. "No worries. I will actually excuse myself really fast to grab my own. Never stand in the way of me and my coffee." This time a joyful laugh escaped his lips, which was followed closely by a smile. Some warm feeling was beginning to fill his body. This only ever happened when he was about to heal someone. What was going on?

Parker walked over to the barista, who had seem him enter. They smiled at each other and said their hellos as she prepared his drink. He was a regular here and fortunately for him it was his favorite barista on shift tonight. "Thanks, Chloe!" Parker took his light caramel frapp from her and headed back to sit across from Dani. He carefully took his seat and sipped at his drink. Mmm! It was delicious! "This really hits the spot. Good ol' light caramel frapps. There is nothing like them." He felt as if he were talking about some kind of piece of artwork instead of a 16oz blended coffee drink.

There was a brief moment of silence before he quickly filled it. "I like your hair." Parker blurted out followed by a blush. What was he saying? This was not how he typically interacted with people. He felt so awkward and out of place, yet oddly comfortable and relaxed. Regaining his composure, he rubbed the back of his head with his hand. "I'm sorry. Sometimes I say really stupid things. I hate awkward silences." Parker smiled across at Dani as he played with the straw in his drink. They had only just met, but he liked her already. With any luck, they would hit it off and become friends. Good friends were hard to come by these days.

[DANI JAMES]

“Awuhaha,” Danni’s face lit. She had been nervous too. “I thought the same thing! I was like ‘man, I’ll bet this guy isn’t even going to show up.’” It was true. How funny that they had both thought that. “Oh, no, no, I wasn’t--I mean--Obviously, I didn’t know anything about you, but I promise, I wasn’t expecting anything bad.” She smiled as if to insure she wasn’t lying. She wasn’t, after all. “Yeah, okay.” She nodded quickly and let the boy rush off to get his own coffee. She knew exactly how he felt. Ever since her mom would let her drink coffee with her when she was six, Dani always liked it. When she was little it made her feel grown up. Now it just tasted great. She cleared the chair next to hers off. Someone has left a napkin on it and she balled it up and discarded it. She pretty much loved these chairs. They were huge and super squishy and comfy.

She was happy, already. It was funny, but Parker just had the infectious smile she’d caught as soon as he’d came up to her. “You like Light Caramel Fraps?” She couldn’t believe it when he sat down and said that. “That’s what I got too,” she told him with a grin and shook her cup. “They’re pretty much the best thing ever.” She liked having things in common when she made new friends. It made her feel special. She was trying to think of something else to say; a small conversation starter but nothing was actually coming to her. That was odd. Usually, Dani always knew what to say. She was always so bouncy and hyper and outgoing. Before she could come up with something, he beat her to it.

“Aha, thanks!” she smiled lightly. She loved her hair but she always tried to stay modest. She didn’t want to be one of those girls who only cared about looks and whatnot. “I like your hoodies,” she told him. Why was it so much harder for her to think of stuff to say. Dani stared at him. Gosh, she felt like she had seem him before. Not only that, she felt like she was missing something right in front of her face. “Its okay, I say stupid things all the time and it won’t even be an awkward moment, so you’re good.” Sometimes that girl just spoke without even thinking. Her eyes flickered back to her drink. It wasn’t polite to stare. He was good looking sure, but it wasn’t like. There was just something about him…

“So,” Dani sat up straighter, “Are you in any of my classes?”

[PARKER JAMES]

"Yes!" He exclaimed with a little too much enthusiasm. "I mean, yeah, they really are the best thing." Parker smiled over at the girl and wondered what to say. There was this lingering feeling inside of him. He couldn't place his finger on it, but there was something about her that put him at peace in a very weird way. Almost like he could be himself around her and not worry about anything. Was it possible that he was losing his grip on reality?

Parker glanced down at what he was wearing when she complimented his hoodie. "Thank you. I hardly go anywhere without one." His face lit up again and he added a joking comment to go with it. "You can pretty much call them my security blanket. I feel comfortable when I wear them." Nervously, he let out a small chuckle again. Why did it feel so weird to talk to her? He felt like he should know a lot more about her already. Then again, they had went to the same school for God only knows how long. Funny that they had never met.

Dani put him at ease with her comment about nothing being awkward. That made him feel better about the situation quite a bit. Parker shifted in his seat and started to fidget a bit, a habit he had been unable to break. "That's good. I try to think before I speak, but sometimes my emotions make that hard." He smiled innocently enough in her direction. Dani looked away from him and it was in that moment that he realized he had been staring, too. Oops! She was probably thinking he was being rude now. Whatever attracted him to her wouldn't let him forget about it.

"I'm not sure if we have any classes together. I am taking astronomy, battle tactics, control your powers, and mythology. What about you?" Parker traced the outside of his coffee lid with index finger. He couldn't think of anything to talk about to save his life! Why didn't this feel uncomfortable, though? Things always felt uncomfortable to him when there was silence. This felt different. He couldn't help but feel like she completed a part of him that he didn't even know was missing. Everything would be so much easier if it all made logical sense.

Parker gazed back up from his cup and noticed for the first time that Dani had green eyes. They were very pretty. He leaned in a little closer to get a better look. Without realizing what he was doing, Parker tilted his head and thought hard. Those eyes...he knew them from somewhere. This was madness! They had never met in their lives before tonight. Why was he so determined to find out why she appeared so familiar to him. Not to mention why he was strangely at ease around her, a complete stranger. "Sorry. I just, you look familiar. I feel like I've met you before." He blushed slightly and looked away, feeling ashamed. "I know it sounds weird...." Parker trailed off thinking to himself before her voice pulled him back from the deepest parts of his mind.

[DANI JAMES]

She let out a chuckle. At least he tried to think before he spoke. Dani had this habit of just saying what was on her mind or worse, rambling. She wasn’t mean about at least, she just had strong opinions and was quite observant. If she noticed something, chances were, she was going to point it out. She was not, however, going to point out that they had both been staring like something crawling along their faces. How rude of her. Get a hold of yourself, she thought mentally and frowned. People didn’t appreciate being stared down.

“Oh!” Dani nearly jumped. She was like a little kid sometimes! “I’m taking astronomy! I knew we had classes together. And I’m also in Battle tactics.” she didn’t want to tell him that that was still not the reason she felt he looked familiar. It wasn’t about seeing him somewhere, it was more about his facial features…

She was comfortable. It was nice. There was no more anxiety as their conversation flowed a little bit better. Already, Dani was an outgoing girl so she never really had a problem with being uncomfortable around new people but this was different. This was as if she had known Parker her entire life and they had just decided to come get coffee. Even this state of comfort was new to Dani.

What was it that she wasn’t seeing? She had a feeling it wasn’t going to just come to her. These things often made sense when you least expected them to. And they often made you feel stupid for not realizing it sooner. “Itsokay,” she smiled annd shrugged it off. She wasn’t going to tell him that she was thinking the exact same thing in her head. She had never met in her life. Ever. So that meant she was just being ridiculous. “Happens all the time.”

“Dani!” Someone called her name and she immediately looked up. Was someone calling her? She glanced around. “Dani Jaaaames,” someone called from cross the room and she looked over to see one of her friends waving. “Hi!” Dani mouthed back and shot her a smile before bringing her attention back to Parker. She was here with him, after all, so it would have been rude to just ignore him.

[PARKER JAMES]

He smiled politely when she got excited. Dani seemed to be easily stirred into action. She reminded him a lot of himself. This was the first time in all his years at Winterthorne that he felt a little piece of home was here with him. They connected so well it was as if they were family. Wouldn't that be like a daytime soap opera? Parker thought to himself with a silent chuckle. Nobody would ever believe a story like that. Hmm, so they had astronomy and battle tactics together? That was interesting, but still not where he knew her from.

"That makes sense then." He was very friendly and tried to convince himself just as much as her. That's not where it's from though. This is something different. Like a piece of home is here with me. Parker smiled at her and cleared his throat. "That must be where it's from then." He had been fidgeting with his drink to the point where he was surprised the cup was capable of containing the frapp inside. Oops! One day he really was going to break that habit even if it killed him!

Parker started settling into the flow of their encounter. He was beginning to try and shake those annoying thoughts that wouldn't leave him alone. Dani had told him that it was okay that he felt he knew her from somewhere. Duh! They had classes together. That was all there was to it. He just needed to take a deep breath and let it all go. One. Two. Three. Deep breath now. Let it out--

Suddenly, his relaxation method was cut short. He practically jumped out of his seat at the voice calling to Dani. What did they just say? Parker tried to convince himself he was just hearing things. He glanced over in the direction. That was his last name. Something similar to a chill run up his spine. There was no was that was possible. He must have heard her friend wrong. Parker went slightly pale and appeared quite confused for a moment. This wasn't a dream, was it?

"Uh, that's weird." He paused while he debated whether or not to say anything. Why point out something that you didn't hear correctly? She would only think he was going crazy. Talk about a way to lose a new friend in 2.2 seconds. When he noticed he had her attention again, he spoke with an unsteady tone in his voice. "I know it's not really any of my business, but did-did she just call you Dani J-James? Now he really felt quite childish. He wasn't even able to ask the question properly. This was beginning to get more than a little bit ridiculous. Parker's hands were starting to shake and he was bouncing his leg impatiently. He decided to tell her why he was making such a big deal about it before she thought he was some kind of nut.

"Because if she did," Parker paused for a brief second again in an attempt to regain his composure. "That's my last name." Silence filled the room as they stared at each other from across the table. It didn't seem like either one of them were going to run for their life. They both seemed to be frozen in place at least for this moment in time. He half expected her to jump out of her seat and run. Parker almost hoped that maybe she would. Not because he didn't like her company, but because this was starting to feel like the twilight zone. What was going to happen next, or would he rather not know?

[DANI JAMES]

Okay, so having classes with another person really wasn’t that excited, but well, this is DanI we’re talking about. She’s easily amused. Flash something shiny at her and she’s all “Oh, what is that?! I wanna see!” So of course it was no surprise to hear practically gasp in excitement when he said they shared classes. Whoopdeedo. She didn’t even pay attention in half of those classes, that’s just the kind of person she was. Hyper and happy. You would think she would always be depressed with the life she lived but that kind of thinking wasn’t for DanI. She couldn’t even dream of spending her time being sad. It was just too much of a waste of time in her opinion. Why be down when she could smile and make others happy? She’d tried being mad and hating her life. It wasn’t fun. Instead she choose to repress the bad memories and stick with the good ones.

“Mhmm. I’m surprised I didn’t ever talk to you. I thought I knew just about everything from Winterthorne.” A frown crossed her face. It wasn’t like DanI to not know the people around her. She was going to have to start being more attentive in class. Boy, he sure did seem nervous. She wans’t that scary looking was she? DanI raised an eyebrow at Parker. He was practically spilling your drink. “You’re about to--oh, I thought you were going to drop it,” she chuckled. “Are you okay?” You seem a tad bit anxious. “I’m not making you uncomfortable, am I?” she had a tendency to that sometimes. And sometimes she had a tendency to accidentally use her powers subconsciously. And that never turned out good.
Once she was being picked on by this super mean girl and she accidentally amplified the girls fears. The girl burst into tears in a split second and no one seemed to understand why she was moaning about bugs.

“Huh?” She turned to Parker and looked at him questioningly. She hadn’t heard what he had said. Something about something being weird? She continued to mouth something to her friend then waved her off before fully bringing her attention back to her new friend. He looked fucking white. You would have thought he had seen a ghost or something. Ha.

“Mhmm,” DanI nodded and sipped her Frapp casually and crossed her legs. “I’m sorry, did I not fully introduce myself?” She smiled. “My last name is James.” The redhead smiled happily and leaned back in her chair. She was liking this guy. He was really nice. A little uptight at the moment---she wondered what was bothering him--but otherwise, really nice. It took her a moment to notice the look on his face. “What‘s wrong?” She leaned forward, towards him. She didn’t even finish asking when he spoke.

DanI’s eyes grew a little wide. “Really?” She blinked. How weird. They were in class together and never once had she ever hair something call Parker, let alone say his last name. “Where are you from?” It was definitely weird, but it had to be a coincidence. Haha. What if they were related. How freaky would that be?

“How cool!” She exclaimed, in attempt to lighten his look. “We have the same last name! I can’t believe I never noticed you in class. You would think we would have been paired together or something or sat next to each other in assemblies…”

[PARKER JAMES]

This girl had him all sorts of confused. Parker smiled at her as she gasped in excitement about their shared classes. She reacted in almost the complete opposite manner he had about all of this. He was pretty much frozen stiff by fear and apprehension. She seemed to pick up on this because pretty soon she was asking if she was making him uncomfortable. Parker bit his lip for a moment and thought to himself. Well, it would be rude to say she was because it's not really her.... He shook his head no before he spoke.

"No. You aren't making me uncomfortable. I am just blown away by all of this. I guess it really is a smile world." He smiled and it lit up the room. This is where what was left of his angel charm came into play. Parker hoped that she wouldn't be able to see past the bit of lie he was telling here. Lies were normally not something he told, but he didn't want to hurt her feelings any. Dani was watching him nervously destroy his cup and he hung his head for a split second. When he looked up, there was a light shade of pink across his cheeks. I tend to fidget a lot. Sitting still can get difficult for me sometimes. I guess that's where I fidget." He paused. "I'm kind of a nervous guy."

Things were getting off on an incredibly awkward foot now. They were going great until Dani's friend decided to blurt out her last name. Sure, he would have to know it at some point in time, but he had a hard time accepting this as some kind of coincidence. Why was she acting so calm about all of this? Was it possible that he was just reacting too much? Parker bit his lip and tried to remain calm. He felt some heat finally return to his cheeks and his lips formed into a smile. "I'm from Italy. What about you? This would probably be the true test of this situation. Dani would probably be the cause of his death if she would tell him that she grew up somewhere nearby.

Parker finally eased up a little and nodded at the words that followed. She did have a point. You would have thought that they would have been placed by one another in classes. That just didn't make sense. Winterthorne must have decided their seating arrangements in a different way than by last name. He was mildly curious about what the method would be, but was too focused on Dani to let it get to him. "That is a good point. We would have definitely met before if things had been handled by last name." Parker finally settled back into his seat and his body language was speaking more of a relaxed tone now. He was just going to have to accept whatever it was that was going on here. You can't control everything, even if you wish you could.

"So, does a pretty girl like you have a boyfriend?" He smiled sweetly across at her and his words were kind of playful. Dani was pretty, but he didn't want to give the impression that he was hitting on her. Parker was just trying to lighten the mood a little. This whole freaky situation was just too upsetting for him to think about for very long. You just had to learn to roll with the punches. Create your own future out of what is handed to you. Dani was somehow placed right in front of him. Neither one of them could change whether or not they may be related, but they had control over what happened from there. He felt protective over her already. There was no reason they couldn't at least be good friends. He made a conscious decision to let his cares go out the window for the time being. Parker was eager to see where this journey was about to take him.

[DANI JAMES]

Outfit! (bout time. xD)

How funny. They had so much in common yet them seemed nothing alike in the fact that he was on the edge of hit seat and Dani was lounging all over hers. She could practically feels his ‘I’m nervous’ vibes and she wasn’t down with that. As we had some to see, Dani was a laid back-casual-I’m cool if you’re cool kind of person. And all this tension he was harboring was threatening to make her nervous too. What was his deal? So she asked him and he still didn’t answer right away. Instead he shook his head and she was about o point out that yes, he was definitely tense when he spoke for himself.

She watched him cautiously. Despite her hyper attitude, she was quite observant. “Ah.” She nodded. “I see.” Okay. Now things were starting to make sense. This was her after all. She could only sit still for so long. She laughed a bright, carefree laugh. “Is that all? We don’t have to sit. We can take a walk, I don’t care.” There was no need to be nervous. She didn’t bite [hard]. “Relax, yo. No need to be nervous. I promise I’m not strapped.”

Italy? Whoa. How neat it would have been to live somewhere like that! Now she felt silly answering his question. “I’m from Tennesee,” she said with a grin. “Not quite as cool as Italy, but I’ve been there a quite a few times. My Dad used to take me on spur of the moment all the time when I was younger.” There was never an explanation. Sometimes her dad would just walk in with tickets to Italy and announce to her that they were going for a visit. When she was younger, she thought it was the coolest thing ever. As she grew older it was still awesome, because she got to go around the city on her own but her dad always disappeared for the day and came back really late. He never wanted to talk about where he had been, he only told her to not worry about it and do ‘whatever teenagers did in a foreign country.’

“Yeah, you know…” Dani pondered the thought for a moment before shrugging it off. “Oh well. Its Winterthorne. Who knows how they do shit around this place. They probably seat us by blood type or some crap.” She wasn’t too worried about his. He seemed more interesting in the subject than she did but hey, different strokes. She didn’t want to tell him that talking about seating arrangements and last names was a little boring because it wasn’t his fault that she was easily bored. (As well as easily amused.) These things just happened, in her opinion, and that was that. They knew each other now so it really didn’t matter, right?

"So, does a pretty girl like you have a boyfriend?"

The question caught her off guard. She wondered for a split second whether thus guy was hitting on her, but his smile was just too damn sweet. She had a feeling he was just trying to make conversation or something. “Uh, yeah, actually I do.” The words made DanI blush which was a feat in itself because Dani hardly blushed at all. Just the thought of Adrien made her break into an unexplainable grin. “His name’s Adrien, do you know him?” She tried not to talk about him too much, otherwise she would get started and never stop. “He’s a demon and he’s a seni….” Her voice trailed off. Parker sure did seemed deep in thought. “Parker?” She flashed him a grin and shrugged it off. “Do you want some more coffee?”

[PARKER JAMES]

outfit: www.polyvore.com/parker2/set?id=9481869

He chuckled as she joked about biting him. Parker wasn't worried about Dani. There was no reason that she had given him to believe she would harm him. You could never be too sure about the students around this school though. A sigh escaped his lips and he nodded when she suggested a walk. "Another coffee and a walk sounds good." Something in the air was making him uncomfortable just sitting around and it had nothing to do with Dani anymore.

Parker's body relaxed a little when she told him where she was from. Where the heck was Tennessee? He thought that it sounded like it was a place he remembered hearing people talk about from the states. This moment of comfort didn't last too long. Who visited Italy regularly and under such odd circumstances if you were from America? There seemed to be a lot of missing pieces in this situation. He was beginning to think he was needing to spend more time around Dani. Who knew what truth they may uncover if they spent enough time together.

He managed to control his expressions a little better this time. You are from the states? That's quite a ways to come. Do you miss home?" Parker decided not to touch on the Italy part of her story just yet. It was probably better not to come across as some extremely uptight nut when you first meet someone. There would be time for them to get into more personal stories later. Before he could think of something to change the subject with, she had provided her own little bit of information.

You have a point there. In fact, they probably do seat us that way. I don't know my blood-type. His grin gave away the fact that he was just playing along with her speculation. Parker honestly didn't know his blood-type, but he never thought anything of it prior to this chance encounter. This situation was getting even more interesting with every turn of conversation. He signaled to the barista for two more coffees from where they were sitting. She looked like she was about to finish up her shift. Parker wanted to be sure he got his drink made right while he could. Dani answered his question about seeing someone else while he waited.

All of a sudden he was pulled back to their conversation. He bit his lip because he felt bad for spacing out. What was wrong with him tonight? He never acted like this. Parker smiled at Dani and noticed that she had a slight blush across her cheeks. His expression melted at the sight of it. She looked so pretty when she did that. There was a kind of familiar comfort seeing her look like that. Something was reminding him of home again. Warmth instantly run through his veins. "He must be a lucky guy." He jumped back into the conversation to show that he was paying attention to her. "The name sounds familiar. I've probably run into him with other people or something."

Parker smiled. This was going a lot better now. He was glad that Dani had not taken the opportunity to run twenty minutes ago. A pretty woman stood in front of them and placed two new drinks in front of them. He smiled and thanked the woman, while he placed the money on the table in front of them. Parker stretched and stood up and signaled to Dani to go outside. "Looks like we think alike. I got things covered." He was sure that there may be chemistry between them if she hadn't already been seeing someone and he was sure they weren't related.

"Would you like to take a walk outside?" We can either just walk around the town, or I could walk you back to Winterthorne if you would like? I will let you pick." He smiled and got ready to head back out into the cold. That was something he would never quite get used to here. Winter weather most of the year was not appealing to him. As they say, when in Rome, do as the roman's do. Parker could at least try to make the best of it.

[DANI JAMES]

She was in agreement. Sitting for too long made her uncomfortable and bored; it wasn’t something she did for a long time. She couldn’t even begin to count the number of times teachers back home would ask her after class ‘Dani, darling…do you have ADHD?” Or how many times her dad had taken her to the doctor to be checked for said problem for that matter. She really didn’t have it. She was just easily bored and the only way to fix that problem was to move around. She was actually quite smart despite what most people thought of her. She just sat back, did her thing and let the surprise come to the world when they least expected it. “Yeah, let’s do that.” she said rubbing her hands on her jeans.

A tiny smile creeped across Dani’s face. I’ll bet he doesn’t even know where Tennessee is, she thought to herself. The state itself was a fair size but her town was practically miniscule. And not a lot of students from Winterthorne could even remember where Tennessee was. A lot of them were from Europe to begin with so knowing people from the states made her feel at home. Italy was such a great place. She remembered how she always longed to stay there when she visited. Living there would have been amazing.

“I do…” Dani nodded quickly, her fiery red hair covering her eyes, “But I don’t, you know?” It was hard to miss home when you were in such a great place like Winterthorne and when home was like the one she had left, it was even harder to care when she went back. She had nothing left in the states. Her vegetable of a father wouldn’t want her to return if he had enough brain process to think about it. “I’d much rather be here.” She shrugged casually, never missing a beat. Things like home didn’t make her as sad as they should have. Sometimes it wasn’t healthy.

“Ahaha, I don’t know mine either. I want to be something awesome like Type X or something.” She was joking of course, but she really didn’t know what it was. Still, how could they have never been seated next to each other. Or had they been and they just never noticed? Unless the school was purposely modifying the seat arrangement? Bleh. Too many possibilities to think about at the moment. This was more interesting than it had started. Why had she never met this guy? He was in her class. Why hadn’t she ever sat next to him? They shared a last name. She was itching to extended this meeting and get to know him better.

“Haha,” She immediately shook her hair. “You’ve got it backwards. I’m the lucky one.” Adrien was good to her. Great to her, even. Minus all the times he had made her cry when they first met. Back then, she was on the edge of leaving him like her father. She didn’t cry easily; he was that bad. And now, it was a complete 360. Nothing was the same. She almost felt like she had started over and just met him. “Yeah, you probably have,” Hope he had met Adrien when he was in happy mode because boy did he have a temper.

Dani thanked the waitress and happily picked up her coffee. She could never get enough of it but she had had enough of the sitting. Her hand was already going for her pocket, reaching for her money when Parker beat her to it. “Oh, are you sure? I can pay…” She didn’t want him to feel like he was obligated to pay just because he was the guy or anything. Dani was an independent person. She glanced up at him. He was handsome. And sweet. In different circumstances she probably would have been attracted to him.

“Yeah, I‘m down for going outside.” She sipped her coffee and followed him towards the door.” She really didn’t care where they went. She was enjoying herself just like this. “Oh, wait!” She turned and jogged back to her and snatched up her jacket. “Forgot my hoodies.” She grinned and held out her cup to him. “Would you hold this real quick?” It probably wasn’t a good idea to head out into that cold without her hoodies on.

She sipped the coffee when he held it out to her before taking it and grinned. “Thank you,“ She pushed open the door to be greeted by a sharp breeze of ice wind and nodded for him to go first. Hmm…let’s go to the park? Or everywhere? Who cares, we’ll just walk around and end up someplace.”

[PARKER JAMES]

Parker smiled as she talked about home. She didn't seem to miss it too much. That wasn't very unusual around here. He was starting to think that he was the only one that really missed his home life. Everyone here seemed to have come from a shattered home life and wanted to escape so badly. That is what happens when everyone has a past that they are trying to escape from. Unfortunately, he couldn't escape his past as easily as most people. It seemed to follow him everywhere he went.

"Yeah, that makes sense. I kind of miss home a lot though. Things weren't this hard until this year here at school." He clenched his jaw and looked away for a moment. Parker was not going to get emotional right now. Taking a deep breath, he continued, "I guess growing up just is not a fun thing to do." The pain eased up from his expression and a slight smile returned to his cheeks. There was no use making it any harder than it already was. Parker believed that too many people made their life more difficult than it really had to be. He was determined to keep it as under control as possible.

"Type X? Sounds like one of the X-Men or something." He let out a joyful laugh. This was probably the first time he let out a real laugh in weeks. Ever since he left Italy to return to Winterthorne, things were back to hardship and struggle here. Parker really enjoyed Dani's company and he was more than a little excited to get to know her better. She was definitely a good influence for him. He suspected that she would bring out the adventure in his life and get him to live life a little more. Maybe he wouldn't spend so much of his time shut up with books and dwelling over his problems.

Parker waved off her explanation that she was the lucky one. His experience with most people brought him to the realization that men were usually the lucky ones. Women tended to put up with far more than they should from men. He was determined not to be one of those guys. Who wanted to be the guy that someone had to simply put up with? You wanted to be the guy that made the dreams come true of the person you love. You wanted to be their best friend, their confidant, and their lover. Parker smiled and nodded to her words. "You can think what you want, but I will stand by what I said. He is a lucky guy." Smiling, he stood up and shrugged off her attempt to pay for her coffee.

"I'm sure. You don't need to worry about it." He was more than happy to pay for a time this enjoyable. It had been entirely too long since he had relaxed to this level and took things as they came. Dani rushed towards the door with almost the same amount of enthusiasm he had. Parker couldn't help but suppress a laugh. She was so adorable. Maybe if things had been different they would make a cute couple. He noticed that she left her hoodie sitting on her seat. When she came back for it, he already had it in his hand and held it out to her. There was no way they would be caught dead at this time of evening without a jacket. It was probably cold enough with one let alone getting frostbite without one.

Dani handed him her coffee to hold while she put no her hoodie. He took the cup and waited until she was ready before walking outside. "No problem." Parker was very easy going and he really was not put out to hold her coffee for a minute so she could get bundled up. She offered to go to the park, or just aimlessly walk around and his face lit up. "Seriously? I'm totally all for just walking around and seeing where life brings us! We will consider it an adventure." Finally, he showed a great amount of enthusiasm for something. Parker felt like a child, but he had a feeling she wouldn't make him feel out of place because of it. He held the door open for her and gestured for her to go through first. Following closely behind, they walked out into the cool night air. This was going to be the beginning of something great. He just knew it. They were going to be close. The thought comforted him and filled him with warmth.

[DANI JAMES]

Unlike most people she knew who cried and moped about missing home, Danni wasn’t one of them. There was no mixture of sadness and love when she thought about home, there was no tear that came to her eyes when she pictured he family and there was most definitely no desire to go back anytime soon. She could handle being away from home as long as possible. Besides, there was no one to miss her so what did it matter?

Dani’s faced softened. “Oh, I’m sorry…” She had been so busy thinking about not missing home that it took her a moment to register the expression on his face. I guess some people were a little more forgiving with kinds of things your family could do to you. “Do you want to talk about…it?” She asked politely, careful not to make herself appear as though she were prying. He looked like he was going to be okay. “It really isn’t. I would love to be seventeen forever.” she made a face a laughed. That had just reminded her of a lyric from this band, Metro Station. It was a catchy song and all, but she kind of hated the band. “Ha, anyway, what part of Italy did you live in. Oh, man, I always adored the Trevi Fountain. It was totally lame cause there were like fifty million tourist there taking pictures and shit, but it was great at night when everyone was gone.” Okay, sometimes she got ahead of herself and rambled.

Points for Parker! She was a big X-Men fan so bringing them up had pretty much uped her level of likeness towards him. “Ooh. I would be Mystique. She’s fucking sexy and she has combat skills.” she was liking Parker more and more each second. They had so much in common! It was funny how they would make a perfect match if she wasn’t already with Adrien. The only thing that they didn’t share was her super outgoing attitude. She suspected once she got to know him a little more it would come out so that was her goal for the evening. “I would totally wear yellow tights and a spandex suit.” she wasn’t joking either.

Her red hair shook as she laughed in good nature. Sure, if he said so. “Okay, whatever,” She grinned up at Parker. She was going to forever dub herself the lucky one because really, Adrien was such a great guy. Even with his little temper, he was incredibly sweet. Most people pegged to be this really bug asshole because well, he used to be one, but they took the time to find out that he had changed. And during all that time that he had changed, she had learned so much about him and grown to love him. It made her all happy just to think about him which would explain the stupid grin on her face.

“Thank you,” She shot Parker a smile and stood up. She was ready to move around! Sitting still just wasn’t Dani’s thing. She was more of a let’s-go-out-and-spray-paint-something-or-terrorize-innocent-people-and-plau-pranks-on-them- kind of person. She glanced out the window, falling snowflakes blurry her visions to the outside world. Snow wasn’t going to stop her!

Oops, her jacket. Dani rushed back to get and stared blankly at her seat where it had just been and back to Parker by the door, who was holding it up. A playful grin broke out over her face and she made her way back to him and stared at him with amusement. “You trying to steal my jacket?” she teased and put it on. “Thanks, darling.”

“An adventure!” Dani repeated and pumped her first. “Come on, then, hot stuff!” She passed through the opened door very innocently before pulling Parker by his free hand into the outside in the world of snow to see where they would end up.