So Sorry For That, Man!

[Primrosette]

((Brendan Harte continued from Time To Open Up))

Brendan was out for a jog in Sumac Park. He felt that it was the best place for him to do that. The weather wasn't that hot and it was quite a warm day. It was just a same that he had to do this on his own as his father was terribly busy with work again. He knew that he shouldn't like it bother him. But it did. He wanted to tell him about how well he was going in Art class. And also with his short stories that he knew that he had to confess to someone else other than Bernadette.

He let as a small breath as he continuing to jog over the path. Then he was starting to disappear into his thoughts for some ideas of his currently unfinished story. He was stuck in the middle of it and he couldn't decide what to do with the main villain. Maybe he just had writer's block or something. He wasn't too sure.

Deane swooped down to the ground as light as a feather. The terrified girl was too startled to scream as he bared his bloody fangs. She was too afraid to move from where she was standing in the garden as he glided close to her. He let out a hiss as he grabbed her forcefully around her waist. He pushed a strand of her long, glossy blonde hair away from her neck. Then the vampire could see one of her veins throbbing. He licked his lips hungrily as he couldn't wait to taste her pure blood. He slowly his lips closer to her neck. He was ready to bite down....

Brendan smiled to himself. That didn't sound that bad. It was a little cheesy but he could try to change it later. He just needed a little more practice. Then he decided that he was going to finally show his story to his grandparents and his father. He couldn't keep hiding it forever.  

He nodded to himself happily as he moved forward more. This was turning out to be a great day for him. He was so lost in his thoughts that he wouldn't even realized if he crashed into someone in front of him.

[Laurels]

((Alba Reyes continued from Havana Escapade))

"97...98...99...100! Hustle!" Alba shouted as she continued to swing her golf club.

It was a nice day in Kingman, and Alba decided to take her workout beyond her neighborhood. Sumac Park looks like a good place for that. A few laps around the park, some calisthenics under a shady tree, then follow it up with some practice golf strokes. Alba was feeling good. She had a big smile on her face the whole time, and continued to cheer and laugh as she worked out. It was just the best day to work out.

"Okay! Break!" Alba shouted after a few more practice strokes.

She quickly put the club back in her bag and walked away from her practice spot. There was a vending machine nearby, and Alba wanted to get a Gatorade as quickly as possible before taking a nice sabbatical on a nearby bench. The idea sounded really enticing to her, so much that she didn't realize that the person jogging towards her hadn't noticed her.

[Primrosette]

Brendan didn't even notice the girl in front of him at first. He only had a second to realize that she was there. But it was too late to stop as he bumped right into her. He was knocked over by the impact and he fell forwards onto the ground. He landed pretty awkwardly onto his stomach. His chin bounced against the ground and he was dazed from the blow. What just happened? Where did that girl come from?

"Oooww...."

He blinked for a few moments. He was still a little stunned by what happened. He turned his head slightly and he was so startled that he had knocked the girl to the ground as well. Oh.... He should have not let himself get distracted by his thoughts. He could have seriously hurt her. He needed to check on her. And well.... Wait, he knew this girl. Alba...?

"Hey! Are you alright, Alba? I'm so sorry from what happened there! I-I'm so sorry. I should have been paying attention! I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't even realize that you were on the path! Are you hurt at all?"

He had got onto his knees which were stringing badly and he crawled over to Alba's side. He honestly didn't care if he got injured in the process. Alba was the only person on his mind at that moment. He leaned in closely to her face. He hoped that she didn't hit her head or anything. He didn't want to be responsible for a head injury.

"U-Um, is your head okay? I'm really sorry, Alba! I'm such a klutz...."

[Laurels]

Alba continued to walk absentmindedly towards the vending machines. This proved to be unfortunate when someone collided directly into her. Alba was pushed over a bit until she finally lost her balance and fell on her side. Her bag dropped to the ground and provided some cushioning, allowing her right side to have some protection from the ground. Her leg still skidded a bit on the ground.

"Aha, oh what?" Alba cried out when she fell.

She looked over and realized the other guy was crawling over and apologizing. Alba recognized him as Brendan Harte. He was an upperclassman on the swim team, someone Alba had seen around a few times at school.

"Oh, um," Alba began as Brendan unleashed a barrage of questions towards her. He was getting kind of close, making Alba blush slightly. He was asking if her head was okay.

"Oh. my head's great!" Alba shouted. "Don't worry, it didn't even hit the ground. And it's fine! I wasn't paying attention either!"

Alba hoped he was okay with that. She found it weird when people apologized to her excessively.

[Primrosette]

Brendan hadn't suspected that she would shout at him so it had caught him off guard for a few seconds. He never did like it when people would yell. It normally made him feel like he did something wrong. But he suddenly felt relieved when Alba was just telling him that she was alright.

"That's such a relief that you are okay. I don't think I would be able to uh... forgive myself if I had accidentally hurt you." He was showing her a sincere smile as he was still very close to her face. "Do you need a hand to get up?"

He had to be polite. He knew that she said that she had not been paying attention either. But he didn't want to just leave without helping her up first. Maybe he could start a conversation with her. Maybe he could buy something for her as a genuine apology.

[Laurels]

Alba chuckled to herself as Brendan sighed in relief. From his response, she couldn't help but find the whole thing kind of silly. She was fine, and Brendan seemed to be taking this really seriously. Alba didn't know him well enough to know if this was normal behavior, but she couldn't help but find it humorous that he was being so dramatic.

"Don't worry about it," Alba said. "It's not like I could have lost my head from us colliding."

"Oh, and I can get up. Thanks for the offer."

Alba got herself off the ground. She brushed her legs to get some dirt off, and adjusted her bag on her shoulder.

"I guess my desire for a drink blocked my awareness," she told Brendan.

[Primrosette]

Brendan was okay with Alba rejecting his offer to help her up. Kind of. He was a bit happy that she thanked him. He realized that he may have panicked a bit too much. He felt a little embarrassed by his behavior. But he had been really concerned about crashing into her.

He cleared his throat awkwardly and he slowly got up himself. He winced slightly as his legs were hurting. He gazed down at his knees and he saw that they were grazed and bleeding a little. He decided to ignore it. This hasn't been the first time when he had hurt himself due to his clumsiness. He glanced back at Alba and he gave her a wobbly smile. He had to calm down and try to not overreact to anything else.

Wait, Alba was getting a drink. This could be his chance to make it up to her for what just happened between them. He had some money on him anyway.

"Oh? You were getting a drink?" He said curiously. "W-What were you going to buy? And.... Um.... Would you like me to get it for you? If you don't.... Then that's.... okay, I guess...."

His voice was becoming quieter and quieter. He really did need to get his confidence up. He really didn't want to disappoint Alba for some reason. He figured that he just wanted to bond with her more and get to know her.

"S-So what are you doing here? Were you practicing?" He was eyeing her bag on Alba's shoulder.

[Laurels]

Brendan gave Alba a smile after she got up. She couldn't help but be charmed by this. Sure, Brendan came off as overly apologetic, but there was something so sincere about it that she couldn't really fault him.

That's when Brendan offered to buy Alba a drink. Alba raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, well..."

Alba suddenly felt torn. On one hand, it would be nice to have someone else buy her a drink. On the other hand, she didn't like the idea of Brendan wanting to buy her forgiveness. Even though she was poor, Alba wasn't that proud to get free things. She could appreciate them, but she really wished she could get things on her own. It's part of why she would channel so much into her golf playing so that a National title could ensure she wouldn't have money trouble ever again.

"Sure. You can buy me a drink," Alba said, glancing at the nearby vending machine. "I've gotten parched from practicing my golf swings, and I see they got Blue Powerade, so I'll take one of those."

Alba hoped that would answer both of his questions. It was then that she cleared her throat and continued.

"However, I have to buy you a drink in return. I'm also to blame, since I got in your way, so what do you fancy? Don't feel afraid to ask, I have enough to cover it."

[Primrosette]

Brendan gave her a small nod as he listened to her. So she was playing some golf. That was pretty great. Brendan hadn't played it himself but he had a slight interest in it. He liked the idea of taking his time to concentrate on hitting a golf ball with a golf club and getting it into a hole. He thought it would be nice and peaceful. Away from all of the drama that he had to deal with sometimes. Maybe he could ask Alba if he could practice with her in the future. But right now, he was focused on trying to make things right first.

"I see. I'll get that drink for you. It's no problem. I'm happy to get it for you, Alba. So how long have you been doing golf?" He was trying to get a good conversation going. So he decided to go with the topic of golf.

His eyes wandered over to the vending machine. Now that he thought about it, he was a bit thirsty. And he had forgotten to bring his water bottle with him. Was Alba really okay with getting him something? He was actually afraid to ask. But if she was offering then it would be rude of him not to accept. Right?

"Okay. Sure. Then we will be even, right?" He grinned as he started to get out his money and he started to put the coins into the vending machine. "I'm not that fussy about what to have. So I'll have the same as you. I think this is nice that we are doing something for each other. It's really.... s-sweet of you to do this for me."

[Laurels]

"Oh, I've been doing golf for a few years now," Alba said as she fished a few coins out of her pocket. "It's something I've latched onto since I was young, and it might be a good way to pay my way through college."

Alba paid for a Powerade and plucked it out once the vending machine produced it. She held it out for Brendan to take.

"And that makes us even," she said.

Alba chuckled.

"So, shall we move this talk to that bench over there?"

Alba gestured towards a nearby bench. It was better to have a companion for her break, and Brendan looked like the kind of person she could enjoy it with.

[Primrosette]

Brendan listened to Alba saying that she had been doing golf for years. Just like him with doing swimming ever since he was a kid. Well, at least they were both doing something that they seemed to both enjoy. He was thankful that he loved swimming since he was a small child. He was losing his track of thought now. He could see that Alba was holding out his drink to him, waiting for him to take it. He did a switch as they give each other their drinks and he was actually feeling surprisely calm around Alba. He didn't know why though. She seemed to be a nice person, just a little loud. But he was sure that he could grow to her bright personality.

"Oh, sure. I don't mind. I could use a break from my jog for a while." He agreed with her as they headed over to the bench together and he sat down, feeling a bit happy to be resting. "....I should make sure to take care of my legs when I get home...." He laughed awkwardly and he was holding his bottle close in his lap. His knees were stringing a little. It was his fault for not seeing Alba right in front of him. He sighed a bit sadly. "....I wish I could stop being clumsy, you know.... I have the worst luck...."

[Laurels]

"Alright, time to sit," Alba said to herself as she and Brendan walked over to the bench.

She cracked open the Powerade and took a sip as Brendan spoke. He lamented his clumsiness.

"Hey, it's no big deal," Alba said. "As long as you don't have a job that could involve dropping anything valuable, you'll survive. You know, like if you were to work in one of those germ warfare places and you were made to carry some deadly virus in a test tube, where breaking the test tube would release a virus that causes your eyes to bleed out of your head and your skin to melt of your bones, and the virus then travels through the air and causes an eye-bleeding-skin-melting pandemic that destroys America."

"Or, you know, something else. Like working in an antique shop, for example."

Alba took another sip. She had no idea where this spiel came from. Maybe it was from something she saw on TV. But maybe it was the perspective Brendan needed.

[Primrosette]

Brendan blinked. And then he blinked again. What Alba had just said to him was genius! Not for real life, of course. He wouldn't want to doom America over being a big klutz at heart. He thought that it was a genius idea for a story. Then he would write about body horror. It would freak people out and they would think that it is gross and disgusting. But they would still read it! He was now inspired to use Alba's idea in the future. He would also give credit to her for it.

Brendan cleared his throat and he let out a small chuckle. "That sounds like it would be pretty cool for the virus one.... For a story or the plot of a horror sci-fi movie. You ever thought of being a writer, Alba?" He asked curiously as he opened his bottle and he took a sip. He pulled a small face. He wasn't really a fan of this drink but it had to do for now. "I'm been writing some short stories. Maybe I could show them to you some time. What do you think?"

....Wait. He just told her his secret. Wow. Maybe Alba was making him feel confident enough to open up to her.  

[Laurels]

Brendan chuckled at Alba's virus anecdote. He asked if she ever thought about being a writer.

"Not really," Alba said. "I can come up with crazy ideas, but I fall apart when I try to put it to the page. My dad loves those kinds of stories though, so I see a lot of that kind of literature around my house."

Brendan mentioned that he was writing short stories and offered to let her read some.

"Sure! That sounds pretty cool. I don't really know any writers, so it'd be cool to see some of what my peers are writing."

"Is that your hope? To be a writer someday?"

[Primrosette]

Brendan gave a small nod and he looked a bit thoughtful. "This must sound crazy to come from me. But what if we work on a story together? Like maybe you can come up with the idea and I could write it as a story." He suggested as he thought that it would be an interesting thing to do with her.

Then he would have to invite Alba over to his home if she was up for it. He was slightly red in the face. He had never had a girl over at his home. He would always go over to his friends' houses. He wasn't going to push it as they were only starting to get to know each other.

"Y-Yes. I do want to be an author one day. I just need to get my stories out there and hope for the best." He took another sip of his drink and he shifted a little to get more comfortable. "This feels very relaxing. Talking to you."

He laughed gently and he shook his head slightly, staring up at the sky. "I think I'm glad that I bumped into you, Alba...." He glanced back at her with a kind smile. "I'm sorry. That doesn't make me sound silly. Does it...?"