Just a morning run... [tag: Jake] on Labyrinth Gardens

Lizzie Lavine

December 03, 2006 1:05 AM

Just a morning run... [tag: Jake] by Lizzie Lavine

It wasn't a particularly early Sunday morning, but Lizzie was up. She'd woken up to haunting and frankly annoying dreams involving her and falling down stairs. Needless to say, the nightmarish dreams led her to a certain state of insomnia, wherein she dressed herself in runner's shorts and a tank top, dragged a pair of cross-trainers from under her bed, and slipped silently out of the 5th year girls dormitory. The rest of her house was probably sleeping in, and Merlin only knew she didn't want to wake a houseful of sleepy Pecaris.

After taking a quick break to tie on her trainers at the foot of the stairs, Liz crossed the common room and exited out to the Gardens. She stretched a small bit then took off down one of the paths, her footfalls only joining the noisy chorus of birds, squirrels and other miscellaneous beasts that inhabited the labyrinth. Liz had always enjoyed running, but her most recent runs felt increasingly more like she was running away from something than running for fun.

Lizzie, just stop it, a sharp voice in the back of her mind upbraided her, What are you making a big deal over? A boy? And to what end? You're being ridiculous.

She quickly silenced the voice and as she did so, her mind returned fully to what she was doing, which was running at full speed and breathing hard. Liz stopped for a second to catch her breath and turned into one of the small offshoot fountain areas. There, Lizzie came to a complete stop and sat down on the gravel path that circled the fountain, her head resting on her knees. Liz took a minute to calm herself down- she had been running far too hard for only being slightly warmed up and for that early in the morning- when she heard the distant sound of footfalls. Someone else was on the paths that morning...\n\n

0 Lizzie Lavine Just a morning run... [tag: Jake] 0 Lizzie Lavine 1 5

Jake

December 03, 2006 10:10 AM

Just a morning-er-wandering by Jake

Jake had decided to get up a bit earlier than usual this Sunday morning. He was still waiting for his team to sign up on the Quittich sheet, but figured that it would take a couple of more days until he was certain he had all the essential players. But, he wasn't going to let his lack of team prevent him for getting in a bit of practice.

He had spent the last hour on the Quidditch pitch hitting around a bludger and perfecting his aim. He still needed a lot of work, but he felt better knowing that he was at least practicing. After his time out on the pitch, Jake hadn't felt like going back inside just yet. It was nice out and most people were still asleep. That meant that the school was pretty much all to himself for at least a little while.

Walking through the paths in a sweaty shirt and a pair of shorts, his sneakers dragging slightly against the dirt, Jake was in his own little world. Lately, Jake had been rather preoccupied with a few different things this year. One, being it was one of the toughest years academically. Two, he had his Quidditch team to work on. And three, a certain girl he had been thinking about all summer and now had to work out what to do about her.

Jake had finally made it to the center of the paths with a slight smirk on his face when he noticed a girl sitting on the ground. It took him a moment to realize that it was Lizzie. He hadn't seen her in awhile and she looked different. Though, it could be the outfit she was wearing and the fact that she looked as though she had been running a marathon. "Hey Lizzie, what are you doing out so early?"\n\n

6 Jake Just a morning-er-wandering 42 Jake 0 5

Lizzie

December 03, 2006 10:20 AM

Aren't we all really wandering? by Lizzie

Lizzie was just getting her breath under control when the footsteps she'd heard finally materialized into a voice. Looking up, her eyes met those of an equally sweaty Jake. It didn't surprise her that he'd been out early as well, really, him being the Teppenpaw Captain and all. With that thought came a small pang of memory at the Pecari loss last term.

"Hey Lizzie, what are you doing out so early?" he asked, which prompted her to stand back up and face him.

"Hey Jake," she replied, shrugging causually, "I'm just out for a run. How 'bout you?"

The little pang returned, but this time Lizzie quelled the mental rebellion before it could have any detremental effects. Jake's team had won, and she could accept that. He was a good captain, and he had a good team, why shouldn't they have won?

"Hey look, I never got a chance to tell you, thanks for, you know, the whole thing during the Championship." she said, waving her hand about slightly to indicate what she meant, "I mean, Jen told me about it later with you and Idoya catching me and everything... Thanks. And congratulations on winning. You guys played really well."
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

0 Lizzie Aren't we all really wandering? 0 Lizzie 0 5

Jake

December 03, 2006 11:33 AM

Being philisophical, no? by Jake

Jake grinned at Lizzie and moved closer to where she was located. "I could have guessed that." Jake said, indicating her physical state at that moment. "I was out practicing on the field and didn't feel like going back inside yet." Jake answered her with a shrug of his own. "Everyone's probably still sleeping, so I wouldn't be doing anything but sitting there anyway. So, I figured a walk around for a bit."

Jake tilted his head as Lizzie continued to talk. She looked rather uncomfortable talking to him and Jake couldn't gigure out why. Had he done something to make her angry at him? He couldn't think of anything that he might have done, but he couldn't be sure. He chuckled when she was finally finished talking, "Lizzie, that was like, months ago. But, you're welcome. I guess Lexi doesn't know her own strength, sorry about that."

\r\n\r\nJake was finally standing beside Lizzie, still smiling. "Anyway, I'm sure you would have done the same if given the opportunity." Jake replied. Tepps were a house known for friendship and doing the right thing, so he didn't think twice about helping anyone. Other houses...they might not be so quick, but he still would place faith on them to say they still would have been as helpful as they could have been. "How was your summer? Do anything interesting?"\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

6 Jake Being philisophical, no? 42 Jake 0 5

Lizzie

December 03, 2006 11:52 AM

I suppose you could say that by Lizzie

Lizzie smiled back at Jake, and nodded when he explained his morning activities and such. She understood not wanting to go back to the commons or dorms just to sit there. She grinned and rubbed the side of her neck absently as he accepted her little bit of gratitude for saving her from a plunge that would have surely caused damage. She shrugged, however, when the subject of her summer came up.

"It was fun, I guess," she said, "I went home and hung out with my brothers, and of course Jen came over for the last week or so of break, so I had fun. Probably not as much as Jenny, who got to go down South to Brazil with her father for the summer... Lucky girl. I stayed home with my family and she goes off to South America."

Lizzie stopped there, however, remembering El Nino and the fact that Jen didn't exactly want Jake to know about him... She waited for Jake to ask about Jen's trip, and then technically Liz wouldn't be at fault for revealing any information. Well, in her mind's eye, at least. \n\n

0 Lizzie I suppose you could say that 0 Lizzie 0 5

Jake

December 03, 2006 12:09 PM

And so I have. by Jake

Lizzie's summer sounded much like Jake's usually did. Hung out with the family. Did this with so-and-so, blah blah blah. The only difference was that, his summers were spent in two different countries, not including America and an extremely loud and boisterous Spanish family who had to know everything and everyone all the time. And that wasn't even mentioning Anita.

"You two are attached at the hip." Jake teased. If they hadn't been in separate houses, Jake doubted he would have even known Jennifer. Though he had never heard of her called Jenny and didn't think it quite suited her. But the nickname did bring a grin to Jake's face and he briefly wondered what she would do if he started calling her that.

"Brazil? Why'd they go there?" Jake asked. It seemed like such a random place for the two of them to go. It could have been on business, but Jake didn't know exactly what it was that Jennifer's father did for a living besides being a Diplomat. "What could she have done that was all that interesting if she were just down there with her dad?"\n\n

6 Jake And so I have. 42 Jake 0 5

Lizzie

December 03, 2006 1:26 PM

Indeed, sir, you have. by Lizzie

Liz rolled her eyes at Jake's comment about their shared hip. They were best friends, that's what best friends did... Besides, it's not like they'd spent the entire summer together. Now that would have indicated hip attachment, and certainly, they did not infact share the structural bone.

"Last time I checked, Jake, I had hips of my own that I didn't share with anyone," she added cheekily with a grin, "And her father's the American Ambassador to Brazil working with the government down there for something."

She waved the occupation ambiguity off. Liz had learned long ago not to get involved with even mentioning the inner workings of politics. Even if she did know what Mr. Zucchero did other than being an ambassador, Lizzie wouldn't have said anything further. The real job at hand was artfully playing out her scheme to get Jake and Jen to get it together and date. Phase one of this social project Lizzie was planning was to make Jake jealous or seemingly jealous enough of Felipe (El Nino) to get in gear and ask Jen out.

"Well," she said, trying to act as though she wasn't planning this out, "Some people who work for the embassy down there have kids our age, and from what I've heard about what went on, she met Felipe, Mr. Z's secretary's son. I guess she had fun with him, since you know, it was all she would talk about for a while. She even told me that they all watched the Soccer World Cup, you know, that muggle sport? It's really big in Central and South America I guess..."

Lizzie let a second pass by in an attempt to make her conversation non-chalant, then continued with a shrug.

"Anyway, what about you? Family time for you too?" \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

0 Lizzie Indeed, sir, you have. 0 Lizzie 0 5

Jake

December 03, 2006 4:30 PM

Ah, the drama by Jake

"Yes, you do, and from I hear, there's a boy at this school who has a thing for your hips." Jake replied with a smirk. He had no idea who the boy was, but it wouldn't be hard to figure out eventually. Plus, he was only going on other people's words, so he could only assume they were right with their observations.

Ambassador of Brazil, then that was definitely a reason for the two of them to go down there. Jake wondered if he ever knew that about her father. He knew the Ambassador part, but that was about all. Well, he learned something new everyday.

Whatever joking behavior Jake might have been in, went flying out the window the moment Lizzie mentioned Felipe. A roaring sound came rushing into Jake's ears while heat rose into his face. He couldn't quite figure out the jumbled flow of emotions that were boiling deep within his chest. Anger, embarrassment, humiliation, possibly depression. The idea that Jennifer liked someone else, had a good time with someone else caused foreign emotions to run through Jake.

Lizzie was still talking, but her voice sounded muffled due to the rushing sound. Jake had to control his facial muscles so as to not give anything away. "Oh, no, I don't know that sport." Jake said, his own voice sounding strange in Jake's ears. He had to clear his throat before he spoke again. "Spent the first half with mi Papa su familia down in Mexico and then with Mama su familia in Spain, which is always fun cos I got to see Anita and Bella sang to us. Not much else." Jake noticed that the more he spoke, the more dead sounding his voice became.

"So, she really likes this guy then?" Jake asked suddenly, unable to prevent himself from asking.\n\n

6 Jake Ah, the drama 42 Jake 0 5

Lizzie

December 03, 2006 7:12 PM

The question is, comedy or tragedy? by Lizzie

Lizzie was carefully observing Jake's reactions to the El Nino comments, and just as she assumed he would, he adopted a kind of blankness to his vocal tone. Not that she wanted to see Jake unhappy, not at all, infact, what she was going to do was to help him. Help him with Jen at least. She only hoped that Jake would forgive her eventually after all the dust settled.

"Oh shut up," she said, a slight blush reaching her cheeks as he commented on The Boy, "Anyway, sounds like you had fun this summer. Mexico and Spain aren't bad places to vacation."

She knew that she had Jake's attention when he burst out with questions as to Jen's opinions of El Nino. Lizzie herself wasn't quite sure how things ended with the Brazilian, but supposedly they'd gone their ways peaceably. Cross-continental relationships never worked anyway. Liz took a moment to respond, putting up her best look of mild shock at Jake's insistance.

"Well, I mean, I guess she does..." for a fleeting moment, she had doubts about just what to say, then she added, "...but I'm pretty sure they broke up. Well, I'm kind of sure. She's might still have- well, nevermind, but Jake-"

Liz faltered slightly, not knowing exactly what to say. The look on his face was enough to make her stomach roll with guilt. She hadn't wanted to tell him about Felipe at first, but the more she observed Jen and Jake together, the more she knew that they were both meant to be together. And this was the only means by which, Liz thought, they would finally get it together. She sent a quick prayer to whatever power listened to protect her from Jen's wrath when she found out. \n\n

0 Lizzie The question is, comedy or tragedy? 0 Lizzie 0 5

Jake

December 03, 2006 8:19 PM

Let's hope Comedy by Jake

Jake had to swallow a hard lump in his throat for a moment. It felt like everything him and Anita had spoken about over the summer meant nothing now because Jennifer hadn't liked him after all, but, instead, was dating some guy named Felipe who's father worked with her father. "Yeah...don't think of them as vacations though." Jake said almost automatically. His mouth was doing all the work for him while his brain wrapped around the idea that Jennifer wasn't really Jennifer anymore.

And then another thought occurred to him. If Jake didn't see Jennifer as Jennifer anymore, then how would he be able to talk to her or look at her without feeling the way he was feeling right then? He was angry, he knew that. Though whether it was at Jennifer, Felipe, or himself, he wasn't sure. But, it was an emotion he certainly didn't want floating around in his body. And, if it was because Jennifer wasn't Jennifer anymore, then he just wouldn't allow himself to be around her anymore.

Besides, she was happy with Felipe, he doubted she would even notice.

Lizzie stopped talking and Jake looked up at her. He was still having trouble with hearing things properly, but her sudden silence was enough to draw his attention. He released a breath that he hadn't realized he had been holding and uncurled his hands. Without having intentionally done so, the overwhelming sense of loss had forced his hands into fists to keep himself in check.

Shrugging at Lizzie's silence, Jake forced a smile, "Good for her. I'm glad she's not a wallflower anymore." Jake said, trying to make his voice sound as normal as possible, but even he knew his smile was as fake as they come. "I think I'm gonna go lay down, I don't feel very well. You should go take a shower, Lizzie, you stink." Jake said to try to joke and gave Lizzie a light push on the shoulder before losing the last of his control of his muscles and losing his smile completely. "I'll see you later, Lizzie."\n\n

6 Jake Let's hope Comedy 42 Jake 0 5