it's too early for this // [riley]

[RILEY GRAYSON TAYLOR]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-image:url(http://i54.tinypic.com/2vafwqd.jpg), border: solid #ffffff 5px; width: 400px; height: 500px;] "Oh, um...okay," Riley said, his foot anxiously tapping against the floor. He felt a little embarrassed about the whole thing, but was ready to move on. He didn't want to spend the rest of his time at Miki's house making amends for himself. He carefully set his fork down, resting it against the edge of his plate, and took a sip of milk, glancing over at Miki as he did so. He couldn't help but notice that she was not only pretty, but she also seemed a little out of it. He honestly couldn't blame her, because he would have gotten sick of himself, too, after too long - sometimes he even had to tune out his own thoughts when he got too irritating. "You all right there?" he asked, wanting to make sure she hadn't come to some kind of sudden realization that the world was going to end today or something...because, honestly, that was what the look on her face made it seem like. Riley picked up his fork again and shoved a forkful of chicken in his mouth. For some reason, he was suddenly reminded of the time when his mother wanted everyone in the house to go vegetarian. She'd watched some PETA-sponsored video the day before Thanksgiving and was suddenly too grossed out to cook a turkey, so they'd all been stuck with tofu instead. It hadn't been his best experience. When he wondered why he was thinking of this, he realized just how nervous he really was. That must've been why his thoughts were racing like this, anyways. "Ah...maybe that will make my mom proud; if I land in the World Record book for that. It just might make up for the lack of ability in the kitchen," he joked, reaching up to wipe his mouth with the back of his hand. Perhaps not the most polite thing to do, but hey, what did it matter? He was only at a girl's house after all....though he was mostly trying to convince himself that it wasn't a big deal with that thought. It was just Miki. He knew her and all that. "A little backwards, but that's okay. Most of us can at least microwave, so we'll survive," Riley teased, a slight smile on his face as he took another bite of rice. He put his fork down on the edge of his plate again when Miki grabbed an extra pair of chopsticks and watched intently as she taught him what to do. He sort of understood the gist of it, but when he went to pick up a piece of broccoli, the bottom chopstick slipped and the vegetable fell into his lap. "Um...whoops," he mumbled, not sure how to get to broccoli out of his lap without a napkin or something. He didn't want to seem gross by picking his food up with his fingers, so he grabbed his fork off the edge of his plate and stabbed the broccoli, putting it back down on the edge of his plate. Well, great. That was just weird, he thought sourly, picking his chopsticks back up and making a pistol with his left hand, ready to try this again.

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[MIKI ELAINE YASHIDA]

She could either lie through her teeth or be embarrassingly honest. Maybe the first option would be much better since it wouldn't be the first time adolescents lied to each other.

"I-I'm just recalling something embarrassing. Sorry if I spaced there for a moment." Her words gained confidence with each passing second, and the the girl decided to watch Riley's endeavor with polite silence.

Up and until he dropped a piece of broccoli in his lap; it wasn't the action that was particularly humorous, but the boys' face and his attempt to clean himself up that were entertaining. Like her, he seemed to be a bit on the awkward side of the social spectrum but, where she doubted her words, he seemed to doubt his very appearance. It was endearing. As he made the pistol sign with his hands once more, Miki went through the motions of holding the chopsticks.

How had she not expanded her social circle in the last year? She talked to the AV kids from time to time but hardly socialized with them like this. Sipping her soda, Miki contemplated trying to get further with Riley than another person. Then she almost slapped herself due to the innuendo enveloped in that comment.

'Bwara Miss Simple, Simple, geudaeneun geudaero yeppeo (S J Call!)'

The air was filled with the electro-pop tones of a korean boy band Super Junior. Miki pushed back from the coffee table and pulled her cellphone from her pant's pocket. The black screen of the HTC phone lit up with the words 'Sadie Hawkins'.

"Shoot, I forgot about that... Hey, is the AV club going to use a specific light setting for that dance at school?"

Miki hadn't been planning to attend at all but being stuck with the job of photographing the evening's forced her to attend. The image of her standing around with her camera and her regular attire wasn't too appealing, but maybe she could get a dress from the Macy's at the North-hills Mall.

"Why would they make it a reversed ordeal though..." She wondered under her breath.

`notes :: OH MY GOD, RAMBLE RAMBLE. SO LATE. DECIDED TO PUT DAVE IN THIS. AGAIN, I BEG FORGIVENESS. UNIVERSITY SUCKS BA-
`tags:: RILEY/HALES
`words :: 639 WORDS

[RILEY GRAYSON TAYLOR]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-image:url(http://i54.tinypic.com/2vafwqd.jpg), border: solid #ffffff 5px; width: 400px; height: 500px;] "Oh, okay; I wasn't sure what you were thinking about. You definitely seemed out of it," Riley said, coming across a lot more curious than he meant to. Of course, he was curious as to what she was thinking about, especially because the word 'embarrassing' was tacked onto it, but he wasn't going to put a lot of pressure on her because of the subject. She obviously didn't want to tell him, or she already would have. Riley could respect that, and so he would just leave that side of the conversation at that and move on. He knew he wouldn't want someone he barely knew butting into his personal thoughts, anyways. After Miki graciously showed him the steps of holding chopsticks again, Riley mumbled a quick, "Thank you," his cheeks still a bit warm after the broccoli incident. Well, he wasn't the most coordinated, even though he was a decent baseball player, so the whole ordeal shouldn't have surprised him. But yet it did. Mainly because he had felt so confident previous to that incident, and now it was like his slate had been wiped clean and he was just his typical shy self again. He much liked the energetic, self-confident Riley better, but he wasn't sure where that Riley had gone for the time being. Definitely far away. This topic consumed Riley's thoughts as he carefully attacked a clump of rice with his chopsticks and shoved it into his mouth quickly, not leaving enough time for it to fall into his lap. He couldn't help but feel a little excited at his success as he chewed and swallowed. "Yes!" he exclaimed, doing a dorky little fist pump. It wasn't until he realized the level of dorkiness of this that he blushed and went back to eating in humble silence. Riley's head popped up as Miki's ringtone went off - a song he didn't recognize, which seemed to be in a foreign language. He watched intently as she took one look at her phone and suddenly brought up the dance. "Um, I think they were going to use red and blue lights with one of those traveling spotlights, but I'm not sure; I wasn't assigned to work on lighting. I have to be backstage doing audio for New Directions, but I think I get breaks," he explained, when asked about the light scheme for the dance. He honestly wasn't sure why she would be asking, but he supposed it probably had something to do with what she would be wearing, or else it probably wouldn't have mattered enough for her to ask. It wasn't that he found her vain; it just seemed like an odd question unless it was affecting her directly. "Reversed? Oh, you mean girls ask guys? I think they just want to rub it in our faces how 'modern' our school is, or something like that."

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[MIKI ELAINE YASHIDA]

"Oh! You did it. But now, in the spirit of healthy competition, I shall top that."

Playfulness filled her voice as she twirled the chopsticks in one hand and then grabbed a piece of chicken. She flicked her arm up and her hand as well, then opened her mouth as the soy-sauced covered bit of meat began it's descent. She caught it and chewed, her shoulders moving a bit with the giddy laugh she was holding in. Covering her mouth for a moment, she coughed and then took a long sip of her soda.

"Ok, note to self-"She patted her chest and coughed for a moment. "Leave all food-stunts and daredevil tricks with treats to Riley. I think the chicken went down the wrong way..."

She gathered her composure as Riley explained the blue and red light patterns they'd be using in the gymnasium for the dance. She wondered if they were going for a more patriotic theme this year. Nodding, she unlocked her phone to take a quick note of it. Her cameras would require a new filter or two to adjust the glare and flare of the lighting.

"I have to be backstage doing audio for New Directions, but I think I get breaks," She blinked. Breaks? She'd mostly be taking pictures of the activities and the main arrival of the students. It was thanks to the luck bestowed by Kami that Figgins hadn't thought of making a booth or some special area for 'couple photos'. That way Puckerman and Zizes wouldn't be holding up the line again. They're pictures had come out great though... Miki wondered if perhaps she should ask him.

She couldn't ask David, not because he wasn't handsome, but he wasn't really her type; if you added the fact he was clearly lusting for someone in the Glee Club, the thought of it got worse by the second. There wasn't any other guy who she could ask without being asked if she went to McKinley herself. Plus, if she could ask Riley, they'd probably have fun.

If they didn't turn into puddles of awkwardness on the dance floor. If and if and only if. When had she become a fan of thinking of the improbable? Hadn't she become accustomed to being open and precise? Quick and to the point? Sure she, as any smart human would do, reflected on her actions before actually taking them but this particular action didn't want to take shape. She merely sat there, teaching the junior how to hold chopsticks and discussing odd bits about their, admittedly, dull lives.

"This is going to come out of left field. Is that the correct baseball expression?" She took a pregnant pause before continuing but drank some soda before releasing her words into the air. "I mean you and I won't be working the entire night and it is Girl's Choice so... would you like to be my date?"

Blunt, stubborn honesty. Hopefully that would work and she could use the dance to sort out her feelings as well as figure out why she became so muddled around the boy.

It was a social experiment... so-to-speak.


`notes :: I BETTER GET THIS DONE DAMN IT-
`tags:: RILEY/HALES
`words :: --- WORDS

[RILEY GRAYSON TAYLOR]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-image:url(http://i54.tinypic.com/2vafwqd.jpg), border: solid #ffffff 5px; width: 400px; height: 500px;] Riley watched as Miki caught a piece of chicken in her mouth and laughed, his good-natured expression starting to fade as she started coughing. "Don't go choking on me," he joked, but he was really sort of concerned. But then he realized that she couldn't be coughing if there was something stuck in her throat, and started to feel a little stupid. "Oh, so now I get stuck with having to look cool? I'm afraid I'm gonna have to disappoint you; I've never been good at that," he said with a shrug of one shoulder and a slight smile. He was never hesitant to poke fun at his nerd status, which constantly aggravated certain members of the AV club, but he wasn't about to stop just because it got on their last nerve. He didn't even completely understand why; probably because if Riley was a nerd, it made the rest of them even worse nerds...after all, he had the redeeming quality of being a baseball player. But they were nerds, so why shouldn't they just admit it and move on? "Think so," Riley muttered in response to Miki's question about the expression she'd used. He wasn't completely sure; he was obviously familiar with legitimate baseball terms, but he'd never been good at English, so he wasn't so good at figures of speech and stuff like that. Riley completely froze up when he heard the rest of her question. "Would you like to be my date?" He opened his mouth, but nothing came out; there was a huge lump in his throat hurting any and all chances of being able to stammer out a response. He'd never been asked out before - he'd done the asking, like, once, and gotten rejected, and that was when he gave up on trying to get a girlfriend - and it wasn't that he didn't want to go to the dance with her. He just wasn't any good with words and wasn't sure how to say 'yes' without screwing up. "I, um," Riley stuttered, running a hand through his hair. He could feel his cheeks heating up to a bright crimson red, worse than they had been all night. It was so awful being so pale because whenever he got embarrassed, there was no hiding it. Three little letters! It's easy! Say it with me now: Y-E-S. Yeessss. See? he thought. He started to say something again, but all that came out was, "Er..." Spit it out, boy! "Uh, um...yes? Yes." He let out a hopefully-not-audible sigh of relief at the fact that he'd managed to answer, and then it sunk in: he had a date. An actual, legitimate date. With a girl. A real one. He felt like soaring. There was, of course, always the fact that he couldn't dance at all, and would probably end up breaking something, but that didn't need to get brought up just yet. After all, Riley Taylor had a date to the dance.

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[MIKI ELAINE YASHIDA]

"I, um,"

Miki was never one to complain about not experiencing what most other teenagers did, for example: first loves and the experiences that came along with them. However, she realized at the very moment Riley was floundering for an answer that she wishes someone had told her how anxious the moments before an answer were. The heart pounding, the jaw clenched ever so slightly and a bit of heat running underneath the skin. If she could flush as red as the boy had, she would've. All in all she could sum up her feelings of anxiety and minor anguish into two words: It sucked.

Trying to seem nonchalant and calm, she grasped her chopsticks once more but felt the wood digging into her fingers.

"It's fine if you don't want to go, I understand if you-"

"Uh, um...yes? Yes."

She blinked and her eyes grew comically wide for a few moments before a wide smile crossed her face. She moved her right hand, forgetting the glass of soda right beside it.

[Clunk!

The soda spilled across the coffee table but, thanks to it's contents being drained early by the thirsty girl, not much spread out. Miki placed napkins over the spill, stopping the mix of water and soda from dripping onto the carpet.

"And when I have children I'll tell them about the time I asked a boy out... and nearly spilled my soda all over him." She muttered under her breath, but smiled all the same. Cleaning the spill up a bit, she took the dirty napkins and tossed them into the trash, returning to her place moments later, the wide smile turned into a small upturn of the corners of her mouth.

"So...I.. You don't seem like much of the type to dance and I'll admit that I don't often feel the desire to move to the beat of music in front of others so.. let's just awkwardly dance together and hope there will be some slow songs?." All her courage and honesty had been whisked away by a simple three letter word, leaving her sitting with her legs folded beneath her and an air of satisfaction.

He had said yes. The first boy she ever wanted to 'go out' with had not rejected her; she knew she wouldn't be able to avoid an instance like that in her life but she wondered if feeling like she were flying high was normal.

It was then that the simple beauty of adolescence surrounded her and, in a moment of maturity a year or two beyond her age, Miki realized how wonderful the next three years might turn out to be.


`notes :: ???!!!!!
`tags:: RILEY/HALES
`words :: ---mWORDS