It's a fixer-upper.

[Nealosi*]

Jackie Kovacs stood outside the fading blue walls of his new home. It wasn't perfect; the tiles and shingles were falling off, the white picket fence must have been in disservice for years and the yard was wild and unkempt. At least all the plumbing and electrical worked, Jackie could nail two pieces of wood together and paint them, but beyond that he didn't know the first thing about renovations.

The house wasn't the most appeasing thing to look at, but the view was one you could kill for. Jackie could get used to life out here in the suburbs. Not that he had enjoyed life in their downtown Montreal apartment, but his nearest neighbour was about half a block away.

Jackie's mother had bought the lonely house on the hill for a few reasons; the view was great, and she wanted something she could fix. She didn't really want to be away for people, and in fact, the family of two were quite genial to any well-wishers they had seen from around the neighbourhood. These were good people, Jackie mused to himself. Practically stepfordian, but they didn't seem to sneer at his single mom, or her sixteen year old boy.

"Well, son," Jackie's mother put a hand on his shoulder. "What do you think?"

"Well," Jackie shrugged and fidgited, he needed a cigarette, but he never smoked around his mom. She was trying to quit, he wasn't. "At least the view is ok."

She slapped his arm for passing crass judgement so quickly.

After a few parting words Jackie decided he would go for a walk through the neighbourhood. This mother was going to do some unpacking. Jackie thought this might be a good time to get himself oriented, and have a cigarette.

Maybe he could meet some of the local suburbanites. Maybe they had some deep, dark secrets. Jackie began to think up extravagant movie plots involving secret suburban cults.

Yeah, he could definately get used to life out here.

((Looking for contact with anyone in the area. Feel free to post ))

[Megami*]

At least the weather's nice.

It was the only coherent thought that ran through the mind of Tanesha Lexx as the African-American girl waddled aimlessly down the various streets of Denton's eastside subdivision, Carrington Pointe.  The horrible truth was that Tanesha hated this part of the evening.  Hate wasn't a strong enough word.  Tanesha Lexx detested this part of the evening with every fiber of her being.  As of late, her mother had been pushing her to lose some of the extra baggage she had put on -- okay, maybe it was a lot of extra baggage.  Either way, Linda was insistent that Tanesha lose weight.

Ever since the ridiculous trend diets of 2005 had come, Linda had been on a health kick, and poor Tanesha was forced to bear the brunt of it.  So, since the diet fad swept America, Tanesha had been reduced to eating the smut that diet plans called food.  Perhaps one day it would occur to the heavy-set black girl that regardless of what she was eating, having two to three servings of it during each meal period wasn't doing her weight any favors.  Not only had Linda been on a healthy-eating kick, but worse, she'd been on an exercise kick.  Tanesha had been in a state of shock and disbelief the first time Linda snatched the television remote from her hand, shut off her most precious belonging, and instructed her to go outside and take a walk around the block.

Now, Tanesha usually handled these walks like any responsible, mature adult would.  She rounded the corner around her house and proceeded to flop down on the park bench and write in her diary until she deemed it suitable to come home.  It was a win-win situation, really.  Tanesha didn't have to go through the atrociousness of actually bothering to exercise, and if the day called for it, she could even have a bit of an angst fit in her journal.  The best part of it all was that she had her mom completely fooled, and Linda actually thought that she was out walking.

Today, though, Tanesha had chosen to actually walk through the neighborhood.  More like, Tanesha had chosen to inconspicuously meander by the new neighbor's house that had just recently moved into the neighborhood.  Her mother had brought Missus Kovacs a welcoming basket earlier and had actually come home bragging on the single mother.  Tanesha couldn't have possibly cared any less about Missus Kovacs, though.  No, what Tanesha was interested in was the fact that her mother had just happened to mention that the new arrival had a son about her age.  Simply put, Tanesha wanted to find out if the Kovacs boy was hot.

She'd tottered off down the not-so-treacherous hill hoping to run into the Kovacs and introduce herself as just another helpful neighbor bearing good will toward the torn family.  What she hadn't expected was to spot a new face meandering down the streets of Carrington Point in her direction.  The blonde streak in his hair gave him a vague look of femininity that Tanesha couldn't help but find attractive.  Fact was, she'd always liked her guys to wear girl pants.  Not that she was a lesbian or anything, of course not.  It just made their butt look nice.

She couldn't help but think to herself that the boy making his way leisurely through the neighborhood was quite the looker, if she might say so herself.  And he was definitely, definitely new.  Carrington Pointe was a very close neighborhood, Tanesha knew everyone who lived there.  Her mother was part of the neighborhood watch.  This boy, she didn't know.  Therefore, the African-American girl could only surmise that this boy had to be the Kovacs boy.  Damned shame her mother didn't tell her his name.

A smile crept over the heavy girl's lips as the eyed the incoming stranger up and down.  She liked skinny boys, she always had, and this one was no exception.  He was one of those boys that the girls would probably have their grubby little mitts all over the second he stepped into the hallways of whatever high school he was going to attend.  Therefore, if Tanesha was to stand a chance (even if it was just in her own mind), she'd have to get to him before they did.  Despite the thoughts racing through her mind, the black girl tried to keep it cool as she casually approached the new boy.

"Hey," she stated plainly, "You're new here, right?  My mom's the one who brought the welcoming basket over earlier.  What's your name?"

Here goes nothing.

[Nealosi*]

Jackie trudged up the hill that he was fairly certian lead towards his house. He noted a few familiar landmarks that he had seen before, but he didn't remember the shrub he nearly tripped over. He was fairly certian he could find his way back to his house now, well, from where-ever the big brown house was.

Jackie looked up as he drew closer to his new home. 'Home is always home as long as you've got family,' somehow the proverbs of Jackie's Grandfather had been ringing through his head lately. Maybe he should write them all down.

There was a larger African-America girl standing just outside Jackie's yard, although he could hardly tell she was a girl. He made no attempt to stray from his path home though. He would have, had she been a little taller (taller meaning adult, and thus meaning awkward conversation), but being as short as she was Jackie put a grin on his face and confronted the girl.

Jackie was glad she had made the first introduction, Jackie always got embarassed when he had to initiate conversation.

He stuck out his hand and smiled. "I'm Jackie," Jackie liked his name, but he always blushed everytime someone reminded it was a girls name. "You can call me Jack, or whatever you like. I geuss"

Real smooth, genius.

He noted her close cropped hair and baggy shirt. He was glad she wasn't tarted up like most girls these days. It was refreshing. People like this girl are just easier to talk too. Jackie always gots nervious talking to the 'popular' girls, and the 'popular' crowd. It was good to know that some normal people around here.

"Yeah, we just moved in the other day," Jackie wondered if she went to the same school as him. "It's kinda a dump right now, but the views good, and my mom has Extreme Home Makeover fever so it should be inhabitable soon. Sorry I didn't catch your name? By the way, which school do you go to?"

She seems friendly, no harm in striking up conversation.

Jackie eyed the mid-evening sky. Its was drawing close to dusk, and the shine of the low sun flashed in Jackie's brown eyes. He could definately get used to the view.

[Megami*]

The boy seemed rather receiving of Tanesha's introduction.  She smiled to herself, genuinely glad that she had found somebody who didn't take one look at her and base her as below them purely by the fact that she was black... or overweight... or not exactly feminine... or any combination thereof.  As the Kovacs boy stuck out his hand and introduced himself, Tanesha received the gesture warmly, quickly taking his hand and shaking it back.

"Jackie, huh?" she repeated, "... I like it.  You don't hear it on a guy too often.  It's a nice name."

She could imagine that people probably tended to point out that Jackie was a bit effeminate, and Tanesha would generally agree with them, but the name seemed to suit this boy particularly well.  After all, there was nothing wrong with a slightly effeminate name for a slightly feminine-looking young man.  Nothing wrong at all.  As Jackie went on to explain that they had just moved in yesterday and that they were still in the process of unpacking, Tanesha smiled and nodded.  As he inquired about her, though, it took her a moment to fully process what he was asking.

"Me?" she reiterated, "I'm Tanesha.  Tanesha Lexx.  I go to Bathurst..."

Did Jackie go to Bathurst too?  Tanesha couldn't help but imagine that if he did, whores like Ali Grayston and Carmen Somerset would have their grubby little fingers all over him the instant he walked through the double-doors of the building's entrance.  Then again, Tanesha couldn't help but wonder what was worth -- competing with people like those girls for the boy's attentions or competing with girls she didn't know at all.  Perhaps the latter would be worse... then again, who could possibly be worse than girls like Ali and Carmen?

"Which high school do you go to, Jackie?" she inquired.

As she asked the question, her gaze followed the light-headed boy's.  Tanesha had to admit that the view here was pretty nice.  She didn't really get into the whole mushy romantic schtick though, it just wasn't her thing.  At least, she didn't like to think it was.

"You sure got a nice view here," Tanesha commented, hoping to keep the conversation going.  She really wasn't good with this whole willing social interaction bit, but she was going to give it a try, if only because she thought the neighbor boy was sort of cute.  Of course, the fact that he was actually real enough to talk to her only added to the fact.  If Jackie Kovacs wasn't careful, he might wind up with the heavy-set black girl forming yet another borderline-obsessive crush -- this time on him.

[Nealosi*]

"Oh, I go to Hobbsborough," Jackie was slow to reply. "I haven't been to school yet though, 'cause there was some sort of accident there. I'm pretty nervious, I geuss. I don't really know anybody that goes to Hobbsborough."

Jackie took another few steps towards his house and leaned against the dilapidated white picket fence. He shook one of the loose posts and chuckled at how run down this house really was. He didn't mind, as long as the roof didn't fall in on him. Jackie kicked at the dusty sidewalk. Jackie thought about the clean, nice houses all along Carrington Pointe. Tanesha's house was probably a lot more cleaned up then this, he felt slightly embarassed to be standing in front it.

He noticed Tanesha's warm responses, at least there was someone in the neighbourhood he could talk too now. Back home his families flat was in the midst of downtown Montreal. The only people too 'talk' to were middle-class business folk with no time for idle conversation. Jackie remembered being shut down by the vast majority of his neighbours in the past. Jackie had loved going to school back in those days, just to get away from the boring pretentious conversations of adults.

"Bathurst, eh?" the mention came to Jackie as a slight defeat. He was a little dissappointed that he had to go into a new school without knowing anyone. He was terrible with inroductions. "I'll have to stop by some time, you could introduce me to your friends."

"I'm glad you like it up here," Jackie brushed his hair from his face as he turned to look past the house. "I thought I might sound kinda sappy saying it."

Jackie looked at the girl again. "So, what do you people do for fun around here?" a naive grin spread across his face. "I haven't had a chance to look around much. What do you do for fun in New Jersey?"

Surely this tomboyish young girl had a few friends. She probably had a few stories to tell too, she just seemed a little rigged, dispite her casual appreance. She looked like the adventurous type, Jackie just had to get her to ease up. He just didn't know how...

[Megami*]

"Oh yeah," Tanesha muttered lightly as Jackie reminded her of the incident at Hobbsborough, "I'm not too sure what happened, it was all over the news though.  Apparently some girl OD'd on pills in the bathroom and it caused a big scene.  I heard they had to put the school in lockdown and all kinds of stuff because of it."

Tanesha hadn't really known Kim Jones-Larame, seeing as she had never attended Hobbsborough and didn't exactly have any friends that attended the school either... not that she had many friends period, but that was besides the point.  She'd seen the story on the news, but she couldn't say she got that reeled into it.  Especially when she heard it was Kim.  She had seen her from time to time performing in productions that Hobbsborough's Drama Department was famous for in the town.  She never really knew Kim outside of the characters she portrayed on the stage, but Tanesha could only assume that she was probably just like every other popular, bleach blonde bimbo in the tri-county area.  Jackie's comment about swinging by Bathurst and having Tanesha introduce him to her friends made her cringe inwardly.

"That'd be cool, I guess," she gestured kindly, "I can't really say I've got too many friends.  I'm not the prettiest swan in the lake, if you haven't noticed."  How could he have not noticed?  "I'm in band though, so I hang out with the band kids a lot."

Good job, Tanesha.  'atta girl.  Reveal to him that you're a band nerd within ten minutes of meeting him.

"I, uh, I play xylophone," she offered with a haphazard smile.

Jackie's next inquiry had to do with fun, and Tanesha couldn't help but giggle slightly at the thought of fun in this backwater place in New Jersey.  It was practically the armpit of the United States.  Fighting back the snort that threatened to come through her nose, she shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

"This is a pretty dull place," she admitted, "Not a lot going on around here.  There's the mall if you like stuck-up snobs, the coffee shop's okay..." her voice trailed off momentarily as she noticed the white sands of Denton's shoreline out of the corner of her eye, "Oh, or there's a really neat amusement park down on the shore.  It's worth going to.  I don't go too much though, I get sick on most of the rides..."

Lame.

[Nealosi*]

Jackie winced at the mention of a death at Hobbsborough. Was the school really that bad? A girl had died at the school. Jackie had a whole new set of reasons to be nervous about going to school.

"Wow," Jackie allowed a graveness to spread across his face. "That's a really sad. She really died, eh? I can't believe someone would just give up  like that."

Jackie looked back at Tanesha. He grinned, but his eyes remained as grave as ever. Better left grief for another time. Jackie didn't want to make himself look like even more of a sappy idiot.

Jackie was taken aback by Tanesha's self-depraving comments. He hated to hear people get down on themselves.

"Hey, don't say stuff like that," Jackie nudged Tanesha lightly. "Band people are good people. That's a past-time that actually requires a little finesse and creativity. Forget sports, I couldn't hammer out a tune with any instrument for the life of me. I'm just a starving artist."

Tanesha wasn't photogenic, of this, Jackie was certain. But at least she was civil and kind, unlike most ‘pretty' girls. Jackie was in no way put off by her appearance. Though at this point, Jackie could tell Tanesha was a little uncomfortable herself.

Jackie could hear his mother cursing in French inside.

"Hey," Jackie stood straight, he felt like a giant around Tanesha. He made a rushed speech. "Feel free to stop by anytime to chat. My doors always open, my mom may seem crazy, but she's harmless. She's just French-Canadian. Thanks for telling me about all the stuff around town too, but I gotta go. Duty calls and I got a lot of unpacking to do."

Jackie started to jog up the pathway leading to his house. He stopped and turned, scribbled something in his notebook, and ran it back to Tanesha.

"That's my number. Gimme a call tomorrow and you can help me find my way to the coffee shop. Tell your friends too. Nice to meet you, Tanesha! Juste une minute, mama," Jackie ran inside.

She's a nice girl. At least there's one person I know. I didn't even make a complete fool of myself in front of her.

[Megami*]

As Jackie revealed his thoughts -- or rather, insecurities -- concerning attending Hobbsborough now that he'd found out the reason behind the brief shutdown, Tanesha fowned a bit.  Well, it was either tell him now or have him witness the big Kim Jones-Larame memorial they'd surely have for their starlet when he returned to school, right?  Hobbsborough had quite a reputation of violence anyway.  Sure, Bathurst had its preppy cliques and its thugs and delinquents, but Hobbsborough had been forced into a melting pot of clashing cultures.

Honestly, that was just asking for trouble.  It was only a matter of time before something did happen, and something finally had.

Her frown turned into a grin as Jackie praised her musical talents and position within Bathurst's band.  It was refreshing, not to mention really nice, to meet someone who classified band students as something more than nerds and geeks by definition.  Of course, had she gone on to explain that she spent countless hours in front of the television and hours online playing MMORPGs and whatnot, he probably would have thrown her into the nerd category immediately.  Or maybe he would've been into that sort of thing too.

Yeah, Jackie probably liked video games and stuff, most teenage guys did.  Perhaps that was why Tanesha fit in so much better with them than the fairer sex.  The problem with fitting in so well with the guys -- and being rather unattractive to boot -- was that she almost consistantly fell into the "friend" role with them.  She was cool, according to most of her guy friends, but just "not their type".  No, their type generally consisted of bleach blonde bimbos who stuffed their bras and wore skirts so short that they exposed virtually everything.

She jumped visibly as a loud stream of gibberish came from inside the Kovacs household.  At first, a baffled look formulated across her pug features at the interruption.  Tanesha'd heard her grandparents in Louisian speaking Cajun a time or two, which was ultimately just another variation of French, so the words sounded vaguely familiar but were still unrecognizable.  As Jackie explained that his mother was, in essence, telling him to get inside and help, she nodded.

A wide grin spread over her features as Jackie issued his phone number to her before bidding her a quick goodbye and heading back toward his own abode.  Turning to head back toward her own house, Tanesha clutched the piece of paper containing the phone number to her chest tightly, still smiling.  As much as she knew that inevitably she'd just fall into the "friend" category again, she couldn't help but try to tell herself otherwise.  She continued to meander up the streets of Carrington Pointe with the number clutched to her chest, and a solitary word passed through her mind.

Cool.