To the New Horizon (Open)

[Nora Blackburn]

(ooc-No worries I was hanging with my hubby instead of hanging around online so I wasn't in a rush.)

“I don’t know whether to say that I have any hope of surviving if there happens to be someone that chooses fists instead of words. I would hate to be apart of any debate team.”

Her own sense of humor made her laugh to try to make at least some light of the unknown situation that seemed to be ahead of her. She would have to choose her words carefully while she was attending this school. The thought of someone striking her made her uneasy. She had never rose her hand to anyone and wouldn’t want to try even in order to defend herself. She had a way of being invisible to most, maybe that would work in her favor.

“I guess knowing the right people who knows everyone else could benefit when forewarning is in order.”

Looking down at the disheveled pages of her book she decided to give up and try when she was at home. She only worried that papers wouldn’t try to go flying when she opened her bag.

“So, what stimulates you? Would it be books, movies or from your display early, I’ll call it extra curricular activities?”

She leaned down her chest pressing on her knees as she looked towards the grass, her hands hanging down to her side. Her eyes looking around the ground at the grass before focusing on an small ant working its way towards the bench they were sitting on.

[pinefresh]

Pine laughed at Nora's comment about the debate team. As if Hiricine would ever have such a thing, then again he would not be surprised if it did. The school was big and most people here had given up on fighting after the watchmen were gotten rid of. The girl was entertaining to say the least, her wit was rather sharp for something that seemed so dull. He knew however that looks could at times be deceiving and let it stay at that. There was also the fact that if she loved the library and spent time with her teachers it would mean she was intelligent. It was either that or deep down she was really easy and liked to fool around with the teachers. Somehow he doubted it was the latter but it would be funny if it was true. Besides, it would help explain the wrinkled shirt and messy hair better than her excuse about her brothers.

~Sometimes my mind is too dirty for my own good~ He thought to himself as he banished such thoughts from his mind. Pine was known for his over active imagination and ended up getting hit for it. Then again you really couldn't expect more from a 17 year old male. It isn't like they have anything better to do but think about sex and funny scenarios.

"You seem to be getting the idea however it gets complicated. You see there are many kids here, like you, that don't want to fight and just want to live out their high school years peacefully. Ninety percent of the time it is hard to determine who is who. Peaceful could mean non-violent and passive, it could mean non-violent and aggressive, or violent and passive. It really depends on what the student was initially like before they came here. Not all of them are troubled children, in fact majority are just normal people doing normal stuff it is a small percentage that are like...well, me." He said and allowed her to continue talking.

Pine greatly regretted that when she asked him what stimulated him. There was no way he could keep his mind from wandering on that one. ~Black lingerie...silk panties...nice curves...stripping...a women that does all the work...pie...wait what?~ That last one hit Pine right out of the dream. He must have been getting hungry if he was thinking of food instead of sex. "Oh um...exercise and food, lots of food, music, fighting works too I guess... Yeah what about you? What gets you...stimulated. Yeah what do you like?"

[Nora Blackburn]

(Ooc-pie..that would be on the top of my list)

Following the ant with her eyes as it went under the bench she turned her head and looked at Pine as he thought about the question. She could imagine the wheels which were little gears, turning about in his head as his reply was delayed but she couldn’t guess what he was thinking.

“Food works for pretty much anyone but it’s a lack luster answer. It ranges far too much.”

She paused thinking of her own since he switched up the question. She was unsure of how to bring about her answer. It wasn't that tricky but she still didn't know if her freedom of speech would chase him away. She was just getting used to the idea of having someone else around her age to talk to.

“I would have to say, sitting in the middle of a field with nothing but nature all around, all the while reading a great novel. Leaving nothing buy my imagination take shape with the written word.”

She looked towards the grass again. Her fingers fiddling with her shoe laces. She smirked as she looked around to see if there was another ant making its way towards the picnic table.

“But that’s merely a cop-out since you have probably already figured out I like books. So I guess, hmm. I would have to say food, movies, classical music, and observing.

She straitened her back as if a steel bar was inserted in her shirt as she looked up into the blue sky and then back at him.

"Course observing more naturalistic subjects rather than the ones looking back at you strangely. I seem to be drawn more to things that can not speak or walk on two limbs. It would be a little weird to sit and observe people all day. If I were to do that then I know I would have a reason to get picked on by students who have nothing better to do but lack self conscience."

She smirked.

"Being that your still technically new to the area, would it be strange to ask you what there is to do around here?"

[pinefresh]

"Food is not a lack luster answer." Pine said rather quickly and somewhat defensively. "Though it may seem too general to the less refined members of society it is quite the appropriate answer. Food is so abundant here and in such variety it is by far the best answer. Let me ask you, have you ever really thought about how many different types of cheese there is? I mean think about it there is Brie, blue, cheddar cheese ranging from the white American to the Original British cheddar which might I say is by far the best, soft cheeses with everything from garlic to apricot in them, Swiss, Gouda, Ementhal Provolone, Romano and the list continues. Not to mention you have the Goat cheeses versus the Cow cheeses. I am on a mission to try them all. Each one is distinct and delicious with its' own combination of foods and drink. The different cheese you use in a salad changes the whole taste of the salad. Food is remarkable because it is always distinct and always changing. The Chinese food you get in a San Fransisco restaurant is nothing like the Chinese food you get in a New York restaurant. The same concept can be applied to hamburgers." He said closing is argument.

When she talked about reading in the middle of a field Pine smiled to himself. There was many a time Pine sat in a field reading and when you factor in ground conditions, bugs, time of day and location it is really nothing that special. Then again he was a soldier once upon a time and he knew what the true outdoors were like, cold, wet, full of bugs, and completely unforgiving. In many cases his time out in the woods were the best and worst times he ever had. Minus the poison ivy and mosquito and black fly bites. Come to think of it there was nothing more horrifying to a man then the sound of black fly or mosquitoes buzzing. Imagine to yourself looking up at the sky and realizing that cloud you were looking at wasn't a cloud but a swarm of blood sucking mosquitoes.

Pine snapped back to reality after remembering his encounter with a cloud of mosquitoes he got so scared that he pulled out his bug spray and used it as a torch. It was probably the only time he was ever reamed out for acting like an idiot and praised for his resourcefulness. Nora claimed the book in the field a cop-out and listed off other things she liked. Pine looked back at her when she mentioned observing. Observing what exactly?

"Around here to do...Fight!!!! wait you could go to the waterfront, go shopping, hit a beach, visit the naval base, join the local book club. Inside the school you have the gym, the workout room, library, the various clubs you could join...other then that I guess you could go find yourself a boy to chase after."

[Nora Blackburn]

She couldn’t help but laugh, Pine seemed to have an in tacked sense of humor which in the very least surprised her. His knowledge of cheese itself was impressive and would put her moot point at an end.

“Okay you proved your point and also made true on the statement that food is the way to a mans heart. I have never seen anyone so passionate about cheese in my life. You are absolutely questionable you know that.”

She shook her head. As he gave her a list of different things to occupy her time she smirked. Taking off her glasses she tugged at her shirt and began rubbing the cloth on the lenses as she spoke.

“A boy to chase after? I don’t know about that. I have trouble with the two at home, which can be considered or declared a dangerous and non-thrilling sport. You ever try to force a six year old into a bath tub as he was dipping mud from his nose? I will tell you one thing its not easy. Jeeze, Im so glad they are old enough now. Try having to change one diaper while the other was playing, lets color over the walls with shaving cream and toothpaste. My version of chasing the boys was nothing but a horrifying game of ‘what next’.”

“Stressful to say the least it would be undoubtably the same if I were to chase after a boy around my own age. Lets face it, Boys are just as complicated as girls.”

She laughed again as she looked through the glass to make sure the lenses where clean before placing them back onto her small nose.

“I never thought about just going to the beach. We lived inland and far enough away to where it was still a few hours to go to the beach. Here it just seems like a hop and a skip away.”

She remembered going to the beach when she was little. It seemed as if it were so many years ago when things weren’t hard on the family. She guessed it was one of the sacrifices they had to make once her family become discombobulated. Maybe she could take her dad and her brothers one day. It would be nice to spend a day at the beach. She could even prepare lunch to take with them.

“I’ll have to go there pretty soon. With the colder weather coming, I may only be able to look at it rather than enjoy it to it’s full potential.”

Nora then started to twist her finger in her hair. A habit in which she did often.

“You know what, Im kinda glad I had that run in with that guy in the hallway. Well not really the experience but rather having to meet you. Now you probably don’t think nothing of it but to me its nice to have that be a positive in my day. Its been pretty much negitive since I moved here. Nothing to spark my interest in staying, and even thou I know I wont be able to go back home I still long for it. I never had to move before. I knew the people and I knew the town but now... I’m completely lost. I was never one for big cities and seeing so many strangers and so many places I haven’t been to before has me going for a loop.”

She turned her head upwards to the sky again. It seemed like the same sky but everything else was so different.

“I know your supposed to expand your horizon and let things flow but its really strange and hard at the same time.”

She stopped herself from explaining anymore and dropped her head to look at Pine.

“Excuse my manners. Me blabbering about like that. I pretty much keep to myself at most times.”

[pinefresh]

~Boys as complicated as girls?~ Pine thought to himself as the words left Nora's mouth. There was no way an average guy was as complicated as a guy. Guys were pretty simple, kind of like dogs. You give them affection, you give them some space to roam, food to eat, and a nudge in the right direction once in a while you were set. Pine was not nor did he know any overly complicated guys, in fact he was usually the guy that beat those types of guys up. There was no need to make things more complicated than they already were. Pine's philosophy was to say what you mean and do what you say. He liked his life simple and rather uncomplicated, like his women. Of course by simple and uncomplicated he also meant hot.

Before he said anything he re-evaluated the situation. He looked at the girl, knew something about her idea of a good time and realized trying to tell her differently would be pointless. Nora clearly gained most of her understanding about men from romance novels. Though he was interested that she was trying to compare boys her age with that of her brothers. On top of that she was trying to call his knowledge on the subject into question.

"I'm actually the oldest of three boys. Their ages are 14 and 8, trust me I know very well what you are talking about. Now imagine trying to wrestle two boys about your age into a bathtub while they are covered in mud. See what happens is that since you are a guy they don't hold back and many times I also ended up in the bathtub with them. Trust me, men are like good alcohol we get better with age. Oh and we also generally get less complex."

Pine let Nora finish talking about how glad she was to have met him and how she was sorry for talking his ear off. The truth was he didn't mind at all, it was killing time between classes.

"Yeah...don't worry about it, if you have anymore trouble with those kids you come find me. I'll be sure to set them straight."

[Nora Blackburn]

Nora nodded slightly in her defeat as he explained that he also had siblings. He seemed more real and had also been in her shoes. It was sorta nice to know that she wasn't the only one with responsibilities. Course she had not known any different since they had been her responsibility for so long.

Listening as he extended the offer of help if she should happen to stumble into trouble again was more than a nice way to stumble into conversation rather than any relief. She enjoyed chatting with him and the thought of having the opportunity to do it again was something she could look forward to.

"Thank you, It would be a shame to have to rely on just them to engage in conversation again. You know what."

She paused digging into her bag again, pulling out a notebook and pen.

"Here's my number. You can keep it or throw it out, its completely up to you."

Writing her number and her first and last name on a piece of notebook paper she ripped the section out and folded it in half.

"If you ever get bored or whatever you can give me a call."

She smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear. Sure she probably wouldn't normally give out her number specially to a guy but Pine seemed nice and she had to get friends one way or another, even if he wasn't ever going to call.

She wasn't to sure what he reaction would be.

[pinefresh]

"Thanks" Pine said honestly "I'll keep that in mind."

Pine took the piece of paper with the number and logged it into his cellphone. He then took the paper and put it in his pocket which he would later transfer to his little black book of numbers. The book was his backup of phone numbers just in case he lost his phone or it was damaged beyond repair. So far Pine had broken six cellphones in the past three years and was convinced he was going to break the one he had on him sooner or later. It happened commonly during fights when Pine is forced to dodge at the last second by means of a dive or accidentally uses the phone to block a shot. Even once he pulled out his cellphone and threw it at an opponent to stun him. That was a funny story better saved for later.

Pine took a look at his silver Swiss Army watch and noticed he had 8 minutes to get to class. It seemed he was so lost in the conversation that time really did fly by. He stood up and stretched before turning back to Nora.

"Well it seems you made good on your word and now I must get to class before I am late. Take it easy Nora and I'll see you around."

With that Pine gave her a small smile and a wave and made his way back into the building and to class.

[Nora Blackburn]

Sitting there feeling quite proud of herself. She actually had given her number out. Course the thought that he took it anymore than friendship probably helped. But even thou she did not expect him to be the knight in shining armor or her nice strong savior she was still proud of herself that she, of all people was actually able to do it. She wasn’t shunned away so that was a good sign, maybe she might actually gain a friend.

As he excused himself she couldn’t help but smile as he walked away, silently congratulating herself on a job well done of not looking like a fool. But before she realized it she too had to get to class.

“O shoot.”

She shoved her notebook into her bag, still disappointed about her book but didn’t take time to make sure none of the pages had fallen out. Jogging up to the door that now stood alone, She pulled on it and let herself back into the school.

Just another day at school, at least she had some perks.