Survival Of The Fittest

"Alright, I'm cool with that."

Roy's confirmation lingering in the air behind him, Aaron took a seat on the bench beside Melissa as she withdrew her headphones and greeted him.

"We're heading down to the food court for dinner. Wanna come?" He invited, guided solely by the groaning, empty pit in his abdomen. Waking up so late meant that consequently he had missed both breakfast and lunch, and he'd have to keep a reign on his appetite in order to ensure that he didn't digest a horse when they made their way to the mall.

Just as Aislyn was entering the girl's locker room, he called after her. "I'll be in the car!"

Turning to Roy and Melissa, Aaron nodded with his head out towards the parking lot. "It's a blue '96 Impala. Nothing special. I'm out near the back," he explained, snatching up his backpack and waving a casual goodbye. "See you guys in a few!"

With that, he turned and exited the pool.

(Aaron Boismier continued in Cooling Down)

"We're heading down to the food court for dinner. Wanna come?"

Dinner? Melissa blinked before she looked down at her watch. She nearly fainted when she saw what time it was. 'What I really wandering for that long? It's nearly dinner! Why didn't I get a call?'

She immediately reached for her cell phone and flipped it open, only to see that it was off. She tried to turn it on, but it wouldn't respond and she closed it with a hiss of irritation. 'Of course, it ran out of batteries. ...I'm not looking forward to going back home. But I might as well go eat...I'm already in big enough trouble as it is. It could be fun.'

She looked up to give Aaron a real response only to see him running off to his car, which was apparently a blue Impala. She wrapped her headphones around her iPod and slid the device into her pockets before picking up her backpack and getting off of the bench. She gave a nod and small smile to the guy still in the pool before running off to the parking lot.

((Melissa Li continued elsewhere.))

Leaving Aaron to his friend, Roy hit the locker room, his feet padding damply on the deck, leaving a trail of rapidly fading footprints. The fluorescent lights of the slightly musty room shown in varying shades of grey and a less than flattering green. Roy didn't find the relatively small storage area altogether unpleasant. While distinct in its odor of sweat, soap and the faint twinge of standing water, it wasn't unclean or grimy. If there was one thing Roy could complain about, it would be the somewhat cramped space between the rows of ugly, green lockers. One would think that lockers would come in colors aside from pistachio green.

Unlocking the unattractive block of metal, Roy quickly snatched his street clothes before relieving himself of his swim attire and redressing himself. Snuggly tying his sneakers, the swimmer stood, moving to examine himself in the small mirror he kept on the inside of his locker's door. His still damp hair had fallen into its usual tidy mess, giving him that strange mixture of scruffy and good looking. Not a bad look at all.

Locking the door once more, he made his way back to the pool, taking a seat on the lowest level of the bleachers. He didn't think Aislyn had heard Aaron's announcement, so it was only fair to stick around to escort her out. Bracing his elbows on his knees, fingers laced to cradle his chin. He hoped the girl wouldn't take long. He might courteous, but that didn't mean he liked waiting.

With a flick of her wrist, Aislyn popped open her locker. Snatching up a large tortoise shell claw clip, she deftly twisted her hair up and clipped it to the back of her head. A quick run through the shower to wash the chlorinated water off her and out of her suit brought her back to her open locker. She stripped and toweled off, wringing the excess water out of her swim suit. Laying the towel and suit on a nearby bench, Aislyn began to dress herself. Once she was clothed, she efficiently folded up the towel and inserted the damp swimsuit into its center. Reaching back into the locker without looking, she blindly felt around for the next piece of necessary equipment. "Where on earth is my swim tote?" she wondered aloud, her voice echoing around the deserted room. This place is so creepy when you're all alone in here, she thought with a shiver.

Bending over and peering into small compartment, she spotted the green and blue tie-dyed bag crammed into a corner. Pulling out with a quick shake, she stuffed the damp bundle into the swim bag. A quick glance in the mirror mounted inside the locker's door reminded her to take the clip out of her hair. Thank God for swim caps or else I would be sporting a total rat's nest right now.

Turning away from the lockers, Aislyn threw her hair forward. She tried to add some volume to her hair and undo the ‘hat hair' look caused by her swim cap. She checked herself out in the mirror again and did some swift finger combing before nodding in satisfaction. An elbow to the locker door caused it to swing shut with a loud bang. Grabbing up her backpack and swim bag, she headed out for the pool area.

Go me! I'm under ten minutes! Aislyn quickly spotted Roy sitting on the bench. Awww, how sweet! He waited for me. He must not have realized that I heard Aaron say he was going out to his car. Bounding up to him, Aislyn grinned at his damp and tousled hair. "Thanks for waiting for me. So, where are we off to?"

Roy didn't have to wait long. Shortly after taking his seat, he watched as Aislyn bounced out of the locker room and over to him. Rising to his feet, he stuffed his hands into his pockets, grateful that they'd only managed to hold up Aaron and his friend for a moment. Roy hated to make other people wait. Mostly because Roy himself hated to be made to wait.

"Thanks for waiting for me. So, where are we off to?"

Giving a short shrug, he started towards the door. "It's not that big a deal. We're going to the mall, to hit the food court. Aaron's driving, unless you've got your own ride." After mentioning the car, Roy had to stop himself from making a joke. No point in that. After all, at least Aaron had something that got him from place to place. It sure as hell beat Roy's having to bum rides, walk, or, God help him, take the bus.

"Anyway, come on. We don't have all day."

((Roy Archer continued elsewhere))

Without answering her question, Roy stood up and shrugged before heading towards the door. He's probably still cranky because he lost. I should buy the guy some Dairy Queen to take his mind off it. Or even better, tease him and tell him that he owes me a big M&M Blizzard since I beat him.

"It's not that big a deal. We're going to the mall, to hit the food court. Aaron's driving, unless you've got your own ride."

Aislyn trailed after Roy. "Nope, I don't have a car. In fact, I don't even have an American license yet." She frowned as she realized how lame that sounded. Geeze, just make yourself sound like a total baby, why don't you? "I mean, we were in Italy for my dad's last posting, and you can't drive in Italy until you're 18. I was just supposed to call my dad for extraction when practice was over." She reached into her back pocket and pulled out her cell phone. With a swiftness that came from lots of experience, she quickly fired off a text message letting him know that she was going to the mall with friends and would update him on the situation in a bit.

"Anyway, come on. We don't have all day."

"Oops, yeah. Sorry. Don't want to keep the others waiting. I'm right behind you."

((Aislyn McCreery continued elsewhere)