Survival Of The Fittest

((Continued from: Lunch Room))

It had been a long while since Ali Grayston had called the Senator and demanded that he release her from her captors at Bathurst High School; a request which Senator Grayston more than willingly obliged to appease the vivacious brunette most commonly known as his daughter.  Receiving prompt permission to leave the schoolgrounds, Ali had eventually headed back to the elustrious Kensington Heights subdivision which she called home, only to disappointedly find that once again, her parents were nowhere to be found.

The Grayston mansion located on beautiful and scenic Ramsgate Drive proved to be uneventful, and after much silent contemplation and quite a while of idly staring at the clock, Ali had produced her ever faithful cellular phone from within the confines of her purse and made one very important, at least in her opinion, call.  That call had all but determined her plans for the evening.

She now found herself loitering idly by the stairwell that led to Central Mall's underground parking quarters where, after wasting a plethora of time and gas circling around the underground parking chamber of death, Ali had finally found a relatively close spot to park Daddy's brand-new Corvette Convertible, which she had conveniently borrowed while her parents were out of town.  It wasn't as if Daddy minded anyway, he never did.

Now Ali stood, arms wrapped loosely around her torso, casting sidelong glances down the nearby stairwell in hopes of spotting the individual she was waiting for.  Her hand absent-mindedly strayed down to her waist, where she proceeded to pull lightly at a loose string that hung from the side of her form-fitting shirt.  She couldn't help but laugh inwardly at herself at how desperate she seemed... to herself, anyway.  Nobody else had a clue, not even the Sisterhood girls.

Pacing back and forth quietly, all the while, toying with the loose string she'd spotted on her shirt, Ali couldn't help but think back to those desperate few hours after she'd pressed the little red "end" key on the cell phone pad.  Time seemed to have stopped since that moment.  It's funny how relative time is.  When you're excited and pumped up about something, it seems to take forever to get here, because it just can't come fast enough.  Still pacing absent-mindedly, Ali closed her eyes, thinking back to just a few hours prior.

***

When she'd hung up the cell phone and tossed it onto the bed beside her, Ali couldn't help but roll over into the plush pink comforter that adorned her bed and grin.  It's funny how one person can make you feel special... complete, even.  That one person had just gotten off the phone with her, and had even gone so far as to accept her invitation to dinner.  Ali was simply overjoyed with this fact, which in itself was quite a feat, because Ali Grayston didn't seem to get "overjoyed" about much of anything.

The next few hours that transpired seemed prolong and never-ending, but somewhere during the moments that time all but stopped, Ali had managed to shower and get dressed.  Doing a once over of herself in the mirror, Ali couldn't help but think to herself that, to put it bluntly, she looked damned hot.  She'd taken the liberty of curling her hair into big, bouyant, loose curls that now cascaded down her shoulders and framed her silouette nicely.  Her makeup was even better.

Her eye makeup was thick and dark in color, giving her an overall mysterious and seductive appearance.  At least, that's what she'd like to think.  In contrast, her lips were a dark red in color, and the liner that encircled them seemed to make them pout even more than normal.  She'd opted for rather casual attire in a vain attempt to make her intentions more subtle, and had simply thrown on a black tanktop, overlapped by a torn white t-shirt with the number "87" across the chest, a white band over her right arm, a pair of skin-tight jeans with holes in various places amidst the fabric, and a pair of high-heeled sandals.

Twirling around in front of the mirror, Ali once again confirmed the fact that she looked hot.  She looked beyond hot, even.  She looked drop dead gorgeous.  And she most certainly didn't look sixteen.  Smiling knowingly to herself in the mirror, Ali actually got a shiver up her spine.  That was the goal, and in her own personal opinion, she'd overcome the whole "sixteen" part very, very well.  The tight clothes she'd chosen for the evening framed her perfected figure perfectly, even if they did look a bit suggestive.

It was okay to look suggestive, that's what older guys liked, right?

Snatching the bottle of Dulce and Gabana perfume that sat on the vanity in front of her, Ali spritzed herself, enjoying the aroma a bit too much herself.  After putting the final touches on her makeup and throwing on a bit of jewelry, Ali bounded out of her bedroom and down the stairs of the Grayston household, stopping just long enough to snatch Daddy's car keys from the key holder in front of the door.  In retrospect, she probably should've asked... but they were out of town, so who cares?

Within a matter of minutes, Ali was off, tearing through the streets of Kensington Heights and down the hill into the bustling town below.  Her destination was Central Mall, where she would meet up with a certain Mr. Right... and she just couldn't get there fast enough.

***

And that was how Ali wound up here, standing idly by the stairwell, awaiting this certain special someone.  It's funny how people go so far out of their way to impress people.  It's even funnier when said people aren't interested in the material things that the impressee owns.  Ali knew arriving in Daddy's Corvette wouldn't impress him.  She knew the expensive jewelry and perfume that lingered over her form wouldn't impress him.  Despite that, she could still hope...

Everybody has crushes and infatuations, even people like Ali Grayston.  Of course, nobody could ever know about that, it'd blow her entire persona right out of the water.  She couldn't lose the macho-bitch, Queen Bee attitude she held at Bathurst High.  Luckily for her, this particular individual didn't attend Bathurst High School.

She found herself smiling just thinking about him.  He was different from all those other guys.  People like Ian Rico... Ian was cute, yeah.  There was no arguing with that point.  Truth be told, though, Ali had no desire to have Ian.  She simply came onto him as a means of... asserting herself, so to speak.  She pretended that she wanted Ian Rico simply to see if she could indeed have him.  Chalk it up to inflating one's self-esteem.

This guy... he wasn't like that.  At all.  Sure, Ali wanted to impress him, but only him.  He was... he was perfect.  Sighing audibly, Ali immediately came back to her senses and wiped the dopey looking grin that had overtaken her desireable features away.  Glancing around haphazardly to ensure that no one had noticed her in her silent reverie, she let out an audible sigh.  Absent-mindedly, she looked down at the Fossil watch that adorned her wrist, then back down the stairwell.

What if he didn't show?

Trying to find parking at the mall was always in itself – hell at best, which was currently why Greggory was having such an issue trying to locate a decent parking spot that wouldn’t in the end with him trying to locate his car in a confused state of manner. Taking another corner, and ascending further downward in the underground parking – really how deep did this thing go? But sure enough as he figured, no one would want to park this deep and there where quite a number of spots still open here, though this just meant that climbing the stairs was going to be quite the adventure. Oh well, he needed the exercise he supposed.

Moving into one of the parking spots near the stairwell, parking her car and killing the engine. Removing himself from the vehicle, making sure the doors where lock – though he wasn’t sure who’d want to take anything out of it, let alone steal it. Slightly bending at his waist, he glanced himself over in one of the car’s side mirrors, the call he had received today was quite unexpected – which left him little time to clean up, though he by the looks of it seemed to have done a good job. Seeing as a few hours ago he was partly covered in varying colors of paint.

Brushing the front of his shirt he moved over toward where the stairwell lay, moving in and glancing upward toward where the top level lay. Sighing a bit at the sight in the distance between him and where Ali was to be meeting him. Exercise indeed, so pushing the thought as to how much his legs where going to be bothering him once he reached the top he started up the stairs, already having the feeling he was running slightly meet in meeting his friend. Changing from his paint-splattered clothing and into a nicer pair of khaki colored cargo pants and white button up top, not bothering to locate his decent pair of sneakers and simply slipping on a pair of sandals – he was sure Ali wouldn’t mind too much, he knew she worried about her looks a lot, he wasn’t sure how she felt about other’s.

Though it was rather funny, least in his opinion, how different his friend was from when he had first met her. They had been young, he was twelve, and so she had been around eleven at the time. Back then, he remembered, first seeing her at some random function they had been holding during her father’s run for office, his adopted father acting as advisor and campaign manager for Senator Grayston. He was new to the area, and she had been the only other kid there – and that had been pretty much it.

Now though, he was currently rushing up a large staircase for this friend who had been the one to make the unexpected call some hours before. It had been a while since they had last did anything together, each of them always seemed to be busy with something or the other. Basketball and baseball taking up a lot of the spare time Gregg had during the school year, and art projects and other things in relation always seemed to keep him busy in all the rest of his spare time throughout the rest of year, that and trying to prepare himself for upcoming graduation next year, and then college after that.

So he had to admit, hearing from Ali was something unexpected, though surprising and at the same time nicely surprising.

As the top of the stairs came into view, Gregg allowed his ascend up them to slow down a bit – trying to recapture his breath before reaching the top. Brushing a couple strands of dirty colored blond hair out of his face, noting a faint trace of blue paint captured along between his index and middle finger. Seemed he hadn’t scrubbed hard enough during his shower…

Licking the index finger on his other hand, and began scrubbing at the area of paint as he reached the top of the stairwell and exited outside in the fresh air and light – a lot better than the stale air of that underground parking area. Glancing about, though quickly found himself catching where Ali seemed to be pacing herself. Smiling a bit brightly as he began moving toward the younger girl, dropping his hands and pushing them into his pocket jeans, musing lightly as he paused in his steps a foot or so away.

“Sorry if I’m late, parking is always a rather eventful trip.”

After taking the time to check her watch one more time and study her cell phone scrutinizingly to confirm that Gregg had in fact not called and cancelled their planned evening together, Ali had once again begun pacing the tiled floor of the first story of the mall at a leisurely pace.  When she heard the unmistakable voice of Gregg Archer echo out from behind her, her heart automatically leapt up into her throat.

Stay cool, girl.  Stay cool.  You don’t want him to think you’re a spaz, do you?

Slowly, Ali stopped her pacing and turned to face Gregg, her arms still wrapped loosely around her torso in an unassuming manner.  The disappointed look that had formed on her features was apparent.  Of course, Gregg had no way of knowing that Ali was not at all disappointed by the fact that he was late.  In fact, she was ecstatic that he had actually shown up.  No, Ali’s disappointment stemmed from the fact that she’d gone above, beyond, and tremendously out of her way to “beautify” herself, and Gregg hadn’t said a word about it.  Not that he had any way of knowing that.

“Hey...” she stated quietly, the discouraged look that had overtaken her features just as quickly fading into her signature smile as it had come.

Taking a few steps toward Gregg, quickly shortening the already limited distance between the two in the process, Ali stretched out her arms, embracing the somewhat taller boy in a tight hug.  It had been quite a while since they’d last hung out.  For that matter, it had been quite a while since she’d last seen him, not counting that appearance she’d made at his last baseball game that he was completely unaware of.  Despite herself, she could feel the warm smile that made its way across her lips as she embraced her counterpart tightly, quickly releasing him from her grasp lest the entire scenario become awkward.

“It’s good to see you,” she added, subtly giving him a once over as she did so, “...You look nice.”

So maybe it was said in the hopes that Gregg would tell her that she looked nice.  Or smelled nice.  Or was pretty.  Or just... anything.  Not that he didn’t look nice.  Greg always looked nice, especially in Ali’s eyes.  Her head tilted sideways a bit, and she hoped he wouldn’t notice that she was indeed scooping out someone that she could easily consider to be a childhood friend.  He had been so much more than that for such a long while now though that it hardly seemed awkward or unusual anymore.  Too bad Gregg didn’t know that.

Ali didn’t have many constants in her ever-changing life.  Her father was always here, there, or the other place.  Her mother was always orchestrating some new campaign or off trying to sell some new idea.  Everything was always pushing forward in the Grayston household, be it her father’s re-election into the Senate or a new add-on to the house or something in between.  Gregg Archer, whom she had met at the tender age of eleven, was one of those constants.  Maybe that was why he was so much more “special”, so to speak, than the majority of the other people entangled in Ali’s life.

They’d played together a lot as kids.  Greg’s father, adopted apparently, was a crucial player in her father’s election campaigns.  Greg, who was probably around twelve at the time, often seemed to accompany his father to this or that political event, and Ali was always being ushered around by her parents as well.  Thus, the two, being the only children to attend such things, found a playmate within one another.  He was older than her, but age didn’t seem to be such a big deal back then.  A lot of things didn’t seem to be such a big deal back then...

Ali didn’t really know when it happened, but sometime after her fifteenth birthday she had begun to look at Gregg.  I mean, really look at Gregg.  Sometime after the disconcerting and embarrassing years of adolescence and puberty had surpassed the two, Gregg began to change.  Or maybe it was Ali who changed.  It was during that time that Ali realized that Gregg wasn’t Gregg anymore.  He’d begun to change into something different.  Something more.  Simply put, Gregg had changed into something that Ali desired.  Even to this day, those feelings of infatuation and admiration continued, although Ali would never admit it.

Stepping away from Gregg a bit, Ali absent-mindedly rubbed a spot on her arm, focusing her attention on it instead of her companion.  She didn’t want him to feel put off or anything.  She sighed, eventually settling for scrutinizing the nearby restaurants and bistros for something suitable to eat.  Not seeing anything that particularly struck her fancy, not that she was really hungry anyway, she once again turned to Gregg, the smile once again overtaking her features.

“So...” she began, somewhat awkwardly, “What sounds good?”

In truth, he could’ve dragged her to the scuzziest, filthiest, most disgusting restaurant this side of the Mississippi river and she couldn’t have cared, simply because it would mean that she’d get to spend time with him.  Casting a sidelong glance at her companion that she could only assume he was oblivious to, she secretly wondered if perhaps he was just as crazy about her.  If he was, he certainly didn’t act it.  Sighing inwardly, Ali forced the thought into the back of her mind.  Gregg didn’t think of her like that.  Why would he?

She was probably just some kid to him.  Some goofy, awkward adolescent who fawned over him to no end.  Even if that weren’t the case, the fact remained, she and Gregg Archer would never work.  They were far too close, they’d known one another far too long.  And yet, in the back of her mind, Ali couldn’t help but silently hope that one day they’d cross that fine line between friendship and something more.

Maybe one day...

Around anybody else, Ali would’ve been the one barking orders and issuing commands.  Here and now, given her present company, however, Ali was quite reserved.  Instead, she’d planned on letting Gregg make the choice concerning their plans for the evening.  Anything to keep him happy... content... that was what Ali wanted.  She wanted whatever made Gregg happy.  Even now, she didn’t quite understand it.  It was so much more than an infatuation, and he was so much more than just another random guy.  Gregg was special.  If only she could tell him that... even if she did... no, it was a bad idea.  It would just make things uncomfortable and ruin any sort of friendship the two had had prior.

Instead, Ali remained silent in her thoughts and idle daydreaming.  She looked on at Gregg, the faux smile she usually adorned replaced by something rare for Ali - a genuine smile.  She was adamant about the fact that he was choosing the night's events, and truth be told, she didn't care what they were or what it entailed.  None of that mattered, because for Ali, this was the perfect evening.  In the back of her mind, however, she couldn't help but feel a bit panicky that they might run into one of the girls, or worse... another of her classmates from Bathurst.

Gregg found himself blinking in a slightly confused manner when Ali turned to face him – the look of disappointed etched in across her features sent the male into a tailspin of question formatting about what he could of done in the past seven seconds since he had arrived. Thought the formatting of thoughts where a bit thrown to the wind when the other approached him, he frowning slightly before being pulled into a tight hug; returning it warmly and as best he could, pondering still as to what might be the problem. Usually, though it had been awhile since they had last seen one another, Ali was usually all grins and giggles when they where together, now though…

When she pulled away, commenting on his dress, Gregg couldn’t help though laugh as he look himself over. “Thanks, seeing as this was all I could find that wasn’t covered in paint in some form.” He mused, glancing up as he scanned Ali over lightly, cocking his head with a grin. “You look nice yourself – but then again you always do look pretty, out of the two of us you’ve certainly always been the one with the better sense of style.”

Though of course, Ali’s sense of style certainly had changed from when they had first met – back then at those functions when it was Sunday dress they where forced into a majority of the time. But what did he really expect, for Ali to show up dressed in some puffy white dress with ribbons in her hair? Sighing a little, he rubbed an area along the back of his neck as the other fell into a bit of a bout of silence.

“But, yeah… it’s really good to see you again too.”

He really had missed his friend, it was odd almost now though – they had hardly any time for one another. What with all they did at their own schools and all, Ali was never talkative of what she did at Bathurst, or the dealings on over there, hardly ever did she talk about it. Though he never pushed, though he was sure she knew all there was to too know of him and his dealing about his own school – what with the main point of a lot of his conversations. Ever since he moved here he tried to keep his focus on a lot of after school stuff, kept him from having to go home to an empty house so early every day.

What with his dad always gone off somewhere with Ali’s own father – he wondering how long this latest trip of theirs’ was too last before they got a chance to come home. And though his mother wasn’t into politics, she was the one of the heads leading a chain of banks across New Jersey, and the Northeastern region as was always busy at the office or on a trip to open a new bank or something to that nature weekly. So he usually just found himself either in the comfort of training for some sport at school, or trying to amuse himself at home in every humanly way possible without getting himself killed or setting the house on fire – or both for that matter.

Though as the question came, he was caught a bit off-guard, what focused on his thoughts and all at the moment, which really he shouldn’t be. He was here to spend time with someone he considered a close, and good friend, not ponder his home life. Smiling though, Gregg cast a short look about the area – eyeing the nearby eateries with a rose eyebrow, he never was one for eating out, usually in was microwaveable mac ‘n’ cheese for him, so with a slight shrug toward Ali, he kept the smile. “I don’t know – though really I should be asking that question, because you should know by know; I suck at choosing.”

That said and done, he moved over to the girl, locking arms with her and started to move into a walk.

“Though I suppose if you can’t choose, we can walk around until we spot something that looks good, alright?”

Although the flattering comments thrown her way by her companion were shrugged off visibly, Ali was inwardly jumping for joy at the fact that he'd even acknowledged her choice of attire.  Told her she was pretty, no less.  Of course, she shouldn't be thinking like that, Gregg clearly didn't think of her that way... did he?  Ali made a futile attempt at brushing the thoughts from her mind.

His comment toward choosing a dining establishment sent Ali into a fit of giggles.  Men suck at a lot of things -- asking for directions, driving, cooking, cleaning, doing their laundry, choosing restaurants -- Gregg Archer was certainly no exception to that last rule.  He was bad at choosing anything, at any time.  So much so that Ali had been forced to order for him on more than one occassion.  Of course, this often sparked an awkward glance by the current waiter or waitress who'd already seemed to jump to the conclusion that she must be his over-controlling girlfriend... but who cared what those people thought?

The passing thought was quickly snapped from her mind as Gregg took her by the arm and began ushering her through the mall, clearly intent on her being the one to choose the restaurant -- by any means necessary, it seemed.  She couldn't help but be taken a bit aback by this quite forward move, and although once again she outwardly paid it no mind, it sent her thoughts into a tailspin.

Casting a sidelong glance at her companion as they walked through the mall, the brunette made an attempt at studying the older boy's features to see what he was thinking.  He was being awfully forward for someone who was just a friend -- then again, he was a childhood friend.  They'd known one another for years, so a simply gesture like the one he'd just made shouldn't be thought of as anything other than friendly.

Sighing in annoyance at the inner feud that was being waged in her mind, Ali inconspicuously wrapped her fingers around Gregg's arm, eventually allowing her vision to linger over the restaurant choices lining the corridors of the mall, she taking the time to mentally evaluate each one before making a selection.

There was La Fiesta, a quite popular little Mexican restaurant where the waiters walked around with sombraros on.  No, that wasn't a good idea.  Kady Williams was a hostess there, and the two girls shared an Algebra class together.  Kady was a bit of a gossip, if she saw Ali out, especially with her current companion, it would surely spread around the hallways of Bathurst High School like wildfire.  That idea was a definite no, Ali decided.

Continuing to skim the corridors of the mall for a quiet and offset restaurant to eat, her eyes fell on another little bistro amongst the shops and chambers of the mall -- Sally Ann's.  It was a small restaurant and only housed a few tables and chairs, and at this time of the day, it looked relatively uncrowded.  Wait a second.  Shellie and Shana Bodine's parents' owned that restaurant.  Ali was well-aquainted with the Bodine twins and hung out on them quite often.  Another bad idea.

Shaking her head in mild annoyance, Ali inwardly cursed at the small town in which they lived and the fact that she knew much of the crowd that had flooded into the mall on this weekday evening.  Why don't we just go back to my house?  Of course, she couldn't really suggest that they just blow the mall for somewhere more private.  He might get the wrong idea.  Plus, she'd already made him drive all the way to the mall, fight the hustle and bustle of work traffic, and probably run up half a dozen flights of stairs to meet her here.

That would just be rude.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Garfield's, and suddenly the lightbulb in her head came on.  As far as she remembered, she'd never seen hide nor hair of any of her classmates inside the contours of the somewhat posh and overly expensive little restaurant.  It was secluded, right down to the booths.  It was perfect.  Smiling outwardly, she motioned toward the eatery, casting an almost pleading look toward Gregg in the process.

"How about there?" she mused, suddenly stopping to think that it was indeed quite expensive and Gregg might not have the cash on him, "If you don't have the money, I'll spot you."

There.  Crisis averted.  He'd bought her lunch on a couple of occassions when she'd misplaced Daddy's credit card, so she probably owed him the cost of a meal anyway.  Besides, it was just perfect.  She wouldn't have to worry about those cumbersome classmates of hers interrupting her perfect evening.  Besides, maybe she could spring heading back to her place on him inside.  They could always go swimming or something.  Nobody was home, therefore, nobody was there to care, right?

Smirking inwardly and patting herself on the shoulder, Ali Grayston thought she had it all figured out.  They'd grab a bite to eat, head back to her place to go swimming later, maybe rent some movies or something.  It was perfect, at least in theory.  Now, all she had to do was convince Gregg that it was perfect.  Over the course of dinner, Ali was positive she could do that.  Almost not awaiting his response, she tugged on his arm, virtually dragging him in the direction of the restaurant.

As they walked along the length of the mall were more of the finer dining establishment were, Gregg noted quite a few that would have been nice – though glances toward Ali toward him his friend was thinking other wise as a majority of the ones they passed she didn’t give much of a second glance. Though Gregg simply shrugged this off, after all he did request she be the one to choose because his choices in life always seemed to steer toward the harsher paths that one could take, a sigh pressing past lips at this thought.

Though as a sharp tug which caused him to be jerked off into a certain direction broke his train of thought, Gregg glanced over Ali lightly before glancing over into the direction they where going. Eyeing the restaurant with a questioning glance, Garfield’s? To which Gregg almost continued help the tilt his head at, the name didn’t strike him familiar – then again, the mall wasn’t commonplace for him, let alone the finer eating establishments about the location of said mall they had been browsing about these last few.

He glanced at Ali again at the question she asked about it, to which – once again, Gregg just simply shrugged. “Sounds good.” Though the rest of the statement caused a small laugh to escape him as he shook his head. “No that’s fine – I just got my pay check a few days ago, so I still got some of that left over, more than enough to cover a meal; least I hope.”

Entering the small eatery, he took the time to take a glance about. It seemed one of those restaurants where the lights where kept down to the dimmest they could get without everyone running into one and tripping over everything. Vines, plants and the like circling and hanging about the lot of things, giving the whole place a rather comfortable, down-to-earth kind of feel to it. The soft music, which he couldn’t quite place but seemed to be play about the classical sense, overlapped in the background – making everything just seem, well rather claming. The lack of people that seemed to be present in the restaurant added on to it, he rather curious as to such but perhaps the people around preferred those crowded ones, with the blaring loud music.

Or perhaps he was thinking to hard on the subject at hand.
Yeah, probably…

It didn’t take long for one of the hostess to appear, she seemed to be rather happy to see people. Questioning if it was only the two of two of them, Gregg nodded his head a bit watching as she grabbed at two menus and lead them along away from the near front of the restaurant to one of the smaller booths turning toward the back, she placing both menus down and mentioning that someone would be with them shortly.

Detaching himself away from Ali, he moved toward to sit down – happy, as mentioned running up almost what seemed to be several dozen sets of stairs did not do his legs any good. Baseball and basketball were both sports that required a bunch of running on the players part, but he didn’t have basketball till the winter, and baseball till next spring, so with no practice and hardly any training on his part. A bit out of shape in his running as a bit of an understatement in a few ways…

Though all the running had been done for a good cause, so he was content though still exhausted by it all none the less. A glance at Ali and he smiled a slight bit, nodding toward the other side of the booth, "Come on sit, this'll give a chance to catch up - seeing as neither as been nice enough to call the other till today."

Inwardly jumping for joy that Gregg held an indifference toward eating at that particular restaurant, Ali steered the boy in that direction.  The bright lights and loud sounds of the bustling mall were soon replaced by the restaurant's dim lighting and mellow, relaxing music as they entered, and Ali quickly found herself griping more tightly to Gregg's arm out of sheer habit.  Garfield's was known as being a hot date spot, though Ali could only assume that Gregg was oblivious to this fact -- as far as she knew, he didn't make it out to the mall often, much less opt to eat at elaborate and overpriced restaurants such as this.  The hostess greeted them politely, although Ali couldn't help but notice the older girl sizing Gregg up out of the corner of her eye.  Of course, given the proximity (or lack thereof) between Gregg and his brown-headed companion, it was only natural for the hostess to assume that this one was most certainly off the market.

And Ali was fine with conveying that image to people like her.

Casting a faux smile at the dainty-looking hostess, Ali continued to attach herself to her companion's arm and followed the bleach-blonde girl at a meandering pace, casting sidelong glances around the entirety of the restaurant every so often to ensure that indeed, none of her classmates -- especially none of her girlfriends -- were anywhere in the immediate area.  Content with the fact that no threat appeared present, Ali finally snapped back to reality long enough to slide into the cooshy seat across the table from Gregg.  Avoiding direct eye contact with her companion, she instead opted for looking absent-mindedly at the menu that the hostess had presented them with.

"So..." she mused, suddenly at a loss for words, "What's new with you?"

***

"Regina, you've got a couple in your section," the hostess mused quietly as she returned to her stationary position at the podium.  A reluctant sigh slipped from the lips of she by the name of Regina as she glanced to the two people who had been seated in her section.  Krystle, previously known as the bleach-blonde hostess, shrugged her shoulders lightly at the annoyed look that had plastered itself onto Regina's dark features.

"Pretty sure I'm about to leave," Regina mused in an annoyed manner.

"It's worth hanging around for," Krystle mused, a sly grin slipping across her delicate features, "The guy's a looker."

Despite herself, Regina was suddenly curiously peaking out from behind the wall at the booth in which her two newest customers had just been seated.  Her eyebrows raised slightly as she took in the baseball boy facing toward them, but a resigned sigh quickly escaped her lips, "Yeah, Krystle.  It looks like he's very, very taken.  That girl's probably a trick, too.  It's not worth hanging around for the lousy tip."

Before the hostess could speak up to reprimand Regina for her selfish attitude, a voice spoke up from behind the two.  "If you don't want the table, I'll take it," the dark-headed boy who had just stepped out of the kitchen mused with a grin.

"Whatever," Regina stated flatly, her arms crossing over her chest as she uttered the word, "You can have it."

"Fantastic," the boy, whose nametag read Colt, mused, "I'm glad you're wealthy Gina, but some of us have bills to pay.  You know, if you weren't such an uptight bitch, and if you didn't go around insulting people's girlfriends, you might actually get decent tip money."

The never-faltering smile that remained plastered on Colton's face conveyed the joking manner in which he spoke to his colleague, but the baffled and befuddled look that crossed over Regina's features remained fixated on them as Krystle let out a laugh-turned-snort at the comment.  Despite the air of jokingness that Colt had made the remark with, part of him was serious, and part of the words he had uttered had a valid point.  Continuing to grin, Colton snatched the check pad from the hands of his fellow waitstaff member and gave her a small salute and a wink.

The rather annoyed look that Regina had expressed only moments prior quickly melted into a giddy smile at this action.  Despite the pompous and overbearing manner in which he presented himself, despite the egotistical and smart-mouthed way he spoke to his companions, despite his overall attitude, Colton had a personality that you could only hate in a playful manner.  For starters, he had an air of attractiveness about him that you couldn't help but notice, and was friendly and charismatic.  His words always held a comical demeanor to them, and despite the nasty and callous words that often spilled freely from his lips, it was almost impossible to take him seriously.  He was one of the "veteran" waitstaff at Garfield's, having started as a dishwasher at the age of sixteen.  By eighteen, he had made his way out onto the floor and was one of the more popular waiters, driven by his charismatic personality.  Colton was good at his job and he knew it.

Attaching the ever-present, never-faked Colton Valero smile to his lips, Colt meandered slowly over to the table where the couple formerly known as Regina's latest clients glanced idly at their menus.  Upon discovering who his latest customer was, Colt couldn't help but grin amusedly.  Gregg Archer, fellow Franklyn classmate, fellow baseball teammate, and quite frankly, good buddy of his sat seated in the booth.  Colt was a little taken aback to see Gregg in a place like Garfield's, he never knowing Gregg to enjoy luxuries like fine cuisine and expensive prices.  What Colt was truly curious about, however, was not why Gregg Archer had made an appearance in a restaurant like Garfield's, but who had persuaded him to undergo such a feat.  Quite frankly, Colton was rather curious about the dark-haired lady friend who sat across from Gregg, her back turned to Colt.

To Colton's knowledge, Gregg didn't have a girlfriend.  If he did, he never talked about her, and even only being able to see the back of the girl's features, Colt noted that she was quite pretty.  Most definitely something worth telling others about, if you know what I mean.  Colt's curiosity was suddenly overwhelming, as the girl held a sense of familiarity to him, but not because she was a student at Franklyn.  In fact, Colt was almost positive he didn't recognize the girl from school, which only baffled him even more.  Casually strolling up to the table, he grasped Gregg on the shoulder to get his attention, the grin once again overtaking his features as he greeted his fellow teammate.

"Hey, man!" It wasn't the most polite greeting in the world, and it wasn't etiquette he would normally use on-the-clock, but this was Gregg, and Colt didn't care how much money they paid him, he wouldn't be calling his baseball teammate 'sir' anytime soon.  Inconspicuously turning his attention to the lady friend that currently occupied the seat horizontal to Gregg's, Colton's eyebrows raised in mild shock.  It wasn't an expression that was noticeable along his features, but one glance at the face of the young lady accompanying his teammate instantaneously made a name click into place.  He knew the girl with Gregg, all right.

In the biblical sense.

His head tilted to the side ever so slightly and a smirk came across his features as he looked at the brunette, his head beginning to shake a little bit in dismay and confusion at the awkward situation that he'd unwittingly put himself in.  He and Ali Grayston, they knew one another alright -- intimately.  Neither one of them were ever really one for relationships, so what they had could best be called a fling.  Not even a fling, really.  To put it bluntly, for quite a while, he and Ali were what could best be described as "fuck buddies".  It wasn't a pretty term, but that was pretty much the gist of it.  They'd met at a party a while back -- both of them had been intoxicated at the time, he thought she was hot, she thought he was cute, and they wound up going off in his truck and hooking up later on that night.  Not the most romantic story, right?

Things sped up from there, and although neither one of them were looking for a committed relationship, nothing was stopping them from being friends-with-benefits, as it was so often coined.  This relationship, if it could truly be called one, had continued for a couple months, and when she had suddenly stopped calling him, Colton had simply gone elsewhere to find that which he'd apparently lost with Ali.  He hadn't talked to her since then, though in all actuality it had only been roughly a month since things had come to an abrupt halt with the two of them.  Now, the first time he saw her since then, she was here with one of his teammates -- one of his friends.  Ali glanced up at him, and although a look of astonishment and surprise overtook her features for a brief instant, it was quickly overtaken by a look of indifference.  Obviously, she had no intentions of shining any sort of light on their connections to one another.

"... What do you guys want to drink?" Colt asked after a moment.

"Diet coke..." Ali mused.

She'd grown rather silent since the appearance of their waiter, but if asked, could simply blame it on the fact that she'd been browsing through the rather vast menu of foods that Garfield's provided.  As Colton took Gregg's drink order and wandered off for the back, Ali couldn't help but curse inwardly at the recent turn of events.  She'd been so careful to choose an eatery where she and Gregg wouldn't be bothered by the plebians and urchins that Bathurst High School was known for.  She had never once stopped to think about people that she wasn't connected to through Bathurst High.  Besides, she had no idea that Colton Valero worked here.  Unsurprisingly, throughout the course of their "relationship", his place of employment had never come up.  Shaking her head a bit in mental anguish, Ali continued with the plastered facade of nonchalance on the outside.

Within a few moments, she looked up at Gregg, a smile alighting her features as her eyes met with his momentarily.  This had to be dealt with immediately, lest it be blown out of proportion and end in a bad scenario for her.  The more oblivious Gregg was to the fact that she and Colton knew one another -- and just how close they had been -- the better of the both of them would be, she imagined.  Besides, she'd like to think that Gregg didn't know about her "reputation" at Bathurst High.  In all actuality, she hadn't been with that many guys.  Yes, she'd had her fair share of partners at sixteen years of age, but things get blown out of proportion rather quickly, and she didn't need Gregg thinking that she was a common whore.

"Hey," she mused quietly, "I'll be back in a minute."

Excusing herself in a matter that was rather polite and unbefitting of Ali Grayston, she cast another glance back toward Gregg and smiled once again before exusing herself in the direction of the restrooms -- which just happened to be around a corner and near the kitchen.  Rounding the corner, she caught sight of Colton standing in the back, not even having to wave the dark-headed boy down before he came over to her with a bit of a baffled expression on his face.  Before he had time to ask, Ali simply held her finger to her lips and shook her head.  She didn't owe him any explanation, it was none of his business.  Colton seemed to simply shrug this off.  It wasn't as if he cared that she was here with someone else, they weren't ever seriously involved anyway.  Not committed-wise.

"Listen," Ali stated sharply, her voice hushed so that no one could hear them speaking, "I don't want Gregg to find out about... you know, about us.  It just wouldn't be right, you know?  Not on my part, not on your part... he is one of your friends, after all.  And... look, it'll just cause us all a lot less trouble if you act like you don't know who I am, or like we're just casual acquaintances, or... or something."

Interrupting her before she continued to babble on, Colton placed his hand on her shoulder and offered an encouraging smile, "You read my mind, doll."

And that was that.  Nothing else had to be said, nor would it be.  Both Colton and Ali were on the same page when it came to avoiding risque situations, and exposing their relationship as ex-lovers to the one guy Ali truly cared about as well as one of the guys Colton was rather close to on the baseball team could only mean turmoil on both their parts.  Giving him a curt nod, Ali turned around, slowly making her way back to the booth where Gregg was seated.  For all he knew, she had just gone for a short bathroom break.  And frankly, if Ali Grayston had her way, that's all Gregg would ever know.  A relieved sigh escaped her lips at Colton's cooperation in retaining their secret.  Of all the things that had gone wrong today, at least that much was going right.  Then again, why would Colton want to expose a dark secret from the past anyway?  It wasn't as though either of them were emotionally attached to one another or anything of the sort, neither had ever considered the other anything more than a casual acquaintance at best.

Sliding back into the table across from Gregg, Ali once again smiled.  When she was with him, it was one of the few times she actually conveyed a genuine smile, and despite the reputations, the rumors, the high-school drama, and the compulsive need to be on top of the world, the kind smile that she conveyed when she was genuinely happy was very becoming of the brunette.  Reopening her menu and continuing to mull over it for a minute, Ali glanced idly at the dozens upon dozens of potential dishes plastered to the menu before once again looking up at Gregg.

"What looks good?" she inquired lightly, silently hoping her companion would remain oblivious to the events going on around him.

Focusing his attention downward on to the somewhat small, and lightly fashioned text of the menu placed before him by the waitress that had left some moments before. Gregg eyeing the contents with a slightly withdrawn expression, personally he was never much for food like this – true both his parents where really well off, they liked in a great house on the right side of town, and seen he had been adopted he had been offered all the good things in life and then some, though he be damned if he acted like a majority of the kids that where in the same shoes as him. Perhaps it was because he had grown up being on such a different level, being shuffled from one family to the next for so long – actually having concerning, loving parents was a bit of a shock for him for lack of a better way of putting it.

Simply put some mac’ n’ cheese would do him over well, though remembering he was here more or less for Ali – he simply allowed himself to smile the thought away.

Flipping over to another side of the menu, Gregg lightly lifted his attention away as the question from Ali came – he looking at the younger female for a brief moment before smiling with a shrug and returning his attention downward too the menu. “Not really – mostly just working on applications and the like, for college and all. Trying to work out all my classes for next year, least trying to work it all around so I can at least do baseball without it being a burden on anything.”

He sighed lightly, flipping the page back; “What about you? You never seem to talk about your school with me?”

For a moment he wondered if the other girl was going to open up and actually talk, or if this was going to turn into a one-sided conversation like it usually did sometimes. Though before Gregg had a chance to think any harder on the subject, a grip on his shoulder and a odd greeting for such a place made him take his attention away from what he had been so focused on and turn to look on the features of one of his fellow classmates and teammates at school, a rather odd expression between shock and confusion spreading across his features. “Colt?”

He knew he probably shouldn’t be surprised to see his teammate, because he knew somewhere in the back of his mind he remembered Colt making some mention of his work-place, he knew they pretty much all knew he worked in the at the cinema – then again like with making choices remembering bits of information about people, like birthdays and the name of their cat’s wasn’t something he usually kept on top priority; heck he had a time usually remembering names he wasn’t going to bother remembering all this other stuff. Though as he smiled at the other male, he found himself blinking slightly, eyeing the odd glance over he seemed to be giving Ali – the shake of his head made the question form at an even faster pace.

Turning his head away from Colt he glanced toward Ali and nothing other than a look of indifference seemed to don the features of her face, Gregg lightly chewing down on his bottom lip with his teeth – a horrid habit he performed when slightly, or in this case, overwhelmingly confused about a situation. Though still – it was odd.

But with a shrug he allowed himself to push the thought away and back, returning to his menu though continuing to lightly chew on his lip. By the look on Ali’s face they didn’t seem to know one another, which was what his mind was telling him was going on. Though if they did they had done a grand job of never mentioning the other around him. Maybe this was something he also didn’t know about Ali too add to slightly growing list, a sigh escaping him as he just simply shook his head of the thought, it really wasn’t his place to wonder. If Colt and Ali knew one another, they seemed to not care to acknowledge it, or perhaps his thoughts where just getting the better of himself, and things weren’t as big as he was portraying them.

He was starting to become convinced, though – that life was more difficult to figure out than a majority of his math homework a lot of the time.

Flipping the page of the menu over again, not even sure what he was looking for – he hardly understood a majority of it truth be told. It all sounded weird, and looked pricey, too things that never should go together in his humble opinion.

At Ali’s voice commenting out on leaving for the bathroom, Gregg tilted his head up nodding lightly and smiling a bit and glancing back downward as Ali wondered away from the table. Sitting there alone now he couldn’t help when he began to drum his finger lightly against the table, propping an elbow atop the wooden table and resting his cheek down against an open palm. Eyes wondering over the dishes, upon dishes that this place offered, casting his attention over to his drumming fingers, narrowing them at once again the sight of a spray splatter of paint along his wrist this time.

Really – he was going to have to start funding into paint that washes off easier, that or buy a pair of gloves or something. He thought, lifting his head and licking at one of his fingers, scrubbing at the area once more to try and rid it of the reddish hue that was staining the somewhat tanned skin.

By the time the last remnants of the paint left skin was when Ali returned, he glancing up at his friend with a return smile as he lowered his finger away from his wrist. Watching her lightly for a minute as she went back to looking over her own menu, something he had given up quite sometime ago – simply going with the easiest thing to understand on there. Least it had chicken in the title, most of these things made no sense what so ever to him and he really didn’t feel like playing lucky in order to find out what he could be getting with tonight’s meal.

The question allowed the smile to stay as he shrugged, “I really don’t know – anything that I know what’s in it, that’s always good for me.”

A noticeable frown, though it more resembled a pout than a full-on disappointed look, formed across the features of the vivacious brunette who sat across from Gregg Archer as he commented vaguely on the large variety of platters offered at the restaurant.  More than anything, Gregg seemed more than a little disinterested, if not a bit turned off, by the restaurant she had chosen to eat at, and that more than anything disheartened the bronze complected girl that sat horizontal from him.  This was exactly why she had wanted Gregg to pick the restaurant, she hadn't wanted to drag him somewhere he wasn't interested in going and force him to sit through a meal that he didn't even want.  Why did boys have to be so difficult?

"Gregg..." Ali stated coyly, her eyes fixated on her companion as she spoke, "Do you not like the restaurant?  We can go somewhere else, you know.  We don't have to eat here if you don't want to... really."

Although he probably hadn't intentionally conveyed his distaste for the restaurant she had chosen, it was rather noticeable on Gregg's features as he stared idly at the menu that he wasn't all that impressed with this place.  Then again, she'd more than given him ample opportunity to select an establishment of his own accord, so now he had more or less gotten stuck with what Ali wanted, and Ali simply wanted a place where she could be rid of the nuisances that plagued her throughout her time in the compulsory education they call high school.  Of course, things had taken a potential turn for the worst when she had run into someone who rivaled even the plebians she was forced to share a classroom with here.

Casting her companion a warm smile, she couldn't help but notice the tall, built physique that was once again approaching their table, this time with drinks in hand.  Colt smiled awkwardly, the metal braces that encompassed his teeth gleaming in the dim lighting as he did so.  Ali couldn't help but smile half-heartedly as well.  Although it would probably just come off to everyone else as her vain attempt at being polite, she really did appreciate Colt's cooperation in withholding a certain bit of information concerning her past -- their past -- from the sandy-haired baseball player sitting across the table for him.  She really did owe him, though it was a debt Ali wrongly assumed that she would never be forced to repay.

As Colt slid the drinks down on the table in front of the couple, Ali couldn't help but notice the sidelong glance he cast her from the corner of his eye.  Choosing to disregard it, she simply gave him a curt nod in thanks, and Colt seemed to take the hint.  The tanned boy had found himself in a lot of situations over past relationships and the choices he had made, and truth be told, this was no exception.  Things would have been weird, if not completely uncomfortable, if either himself or Ali had chosen to blow things out of the water in front of their third party, and Colt was actually rather grateful that the brunette hadn't verbally assaulted him on sight.

"So Gregg," he mused casually enough, causing Ali's stomach to knot up inwardly in apprehension at the words that might be uttered next.  Her fear seemed unnecessary, however, as Colt's next statements were a direct attempt at pulling Gregg into the conversation and thus making the situation less awkward between himself and Ali.  "I've got to know, man.  Where've you been hidin' this beautiful lady friend of yours?  How come you never introduced us to her?"

Inwardly, Ali let out a sigh of relief.  She'd been holding her breath since Colt had addressed him directly, feeling apprehensive at the thought of Colton announcing their prior connections on a whim.  When he'd actually gone out of his way to ensure that Gregg didn't get the wrong idea about anything, however, she felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.  She'd have to get ahold of him later and thank him for being so cooperative in the matter.  She certainly hadn't expected so much from him.

"And you," he addressed Ali casually, as though he'd met her only moments before.  Truth be told, Colt's acting at this point in time was Oscar-worthy.  Then again, he'd probably found himself in quite awkward situations many times, so he'd probably had a lot of practice at this sort of thing, "What're you doing with this loser here?"

Ali couldn't help but laugh, a genuine laugh, at Colton's comment.  In a way, she couldn't help but contend that many other people had probably asked that question as well -- not that Gregg was a loser by any means -- but the pair just seemed so wrong for one another.  They were polar opposites in almost, if not every aspect.  Still, Ali couldn't help her growing infatuation with someone who could easily be considered her best friend, but in truth she never knew whether or not her infatuation was requited.  Had it been any other boy -- any at all -- she probably wouldn't have been so concerned about it.  Around anyone else, Ali didn't just think she was the epitomé of hotness, she knew it.  Her unfathomable confidence and entrancing demeanor could have easily won over just about any guy her heart desired... any guy except the one that she truly wanted.

The thought was rather disheartening.  Honestly, she didn't know how Gregg felt about her, or if he even thought of her in that way.  She secretly hoped that he did, but the signals he threw her were all over the place, and she could never seem to read the other boy's actions or understand his intentions to the fullest.  More often than not, trying to understand Gregg simply left Ali confused and frustrated.  With anybody else, she probably would have been a lot more assertive and simply came onto them, and for the most part, any of the guys she had dated had reacted very positively to that dominating and somewhat overbearing aspect of her personality.  Ali had always remained somewhat placid with Gregg, however.  Compliant.  The truth was, Ali was almost afraid to assert herself with her counterpart for fear of ruining the deep and trusting friendship that they had established throughout the years.

Better a friend than nothing at all, I guess.

Of course, the thought of using Colton to extract information from her companion only then occurred to the brunette.  Of course, the way Colt was poking and prodding now, it could probably be done, and relatively easily.  The problem was, Ali wasn't sure if she really wanted to know.  For all she knew, Gregg could have a long-time girlfriend at Franklyn or something that he never mentioned around her.  Or worse.  Girlfriends were one thing, more often than not they were easily removable and simply a minor inconvenience that had to be overcome in order for Ali to get what she wanted.  What could possibly be worse than Gregg seeing someone else was the fact that Gregg might honestly be oblivious to her feelings toward him, or, dare she even think it, simply think of her as a kid sister of sorts.  That fact in itself would decimate the brunette beyond compare, and Ali wasn't sure if it was something she was willing to find out.

She was quickly burst from her reverie by the sound of Colt's voice ringing out, "So are you guys ready to order yet, or do you need a few more minutes?"

"Oh..." Ali started, shrugging her shoulders lightly, "I'm ready, I suppose... if you are."  The last statement was, of course, directed toward the sandy-haired boy who occupied the table alongside her.  Having realized that all the tension and nervousness from earlier had erased the majority of her appetite, Ali settled for ordering a small meal consisting of a small steak and a shrimp skewer.  As Gregg ordered and Colton retreated from their table and toward the back to give the orders to the chef that awaited in the kitchen, Ali eyed her companion up and down once again.

"Gregg..." she mused quietly, "What do you want to do after this?"

Now was the prime opportunity for the proposition she'd been reiterating in her mind all evening.  If all went well, they'd head back to the Grayston household in beautiful Kensington Heights, maybe go swimming in the private pool that sat secluded by a privacy fence behind the Grayston residence, and perhaps hang out and watch movies.  Since nobody was at the house aside from her, it wouldn't matter how late Gregg stayed over, or even if he were to crash out on the couch for the evening -- something Ali secretly hoped would come to pass.  In her mind, it was the perfect evening... or rather, it would be, if he was up for it.  Part of her braced herself for the disappointment that had the possibility of following, but she couldn't help but remain hopeful and optimistic that she would, at the very least, be able to spend the rest of the evening with him.

Colton, meanwhile, had just delivered their orders to the chef.  He might have been playing it cool on the outside, but the fact of the matter was the Colt was in a situation where he really didn't feel comfortable.  If he'd have had any idea that his classmate was out having dinner with his ex-girlfriend, then he probably would've made Regina wait that table after all.  His prayers came in the form of the vivacious blonde who had just clocked in and made her way to the front.  She was his ticket out of here, and fast.  Colt had had all he could take of this place, and quite frankly, he was tired of putting himself in an awkward situation.

"Kallie baby!" Colt cooed, getting a grin from the blonde-headed girl, "I need a favor."

Kallie's smile turned into a skeptical look as Colt attempted to proposition her.  The blonde gave him a bit of a condescending smile before replying, "Colt, you know I have a boyfriend."

Much to her surprise, the dark-headed boy standing before her seemed confused for a moment.  Within an instant, though, he burst into a fit of laughter, finally recalling what sort of proposition he'd made for the girl a few weeks prior, "Not that, Kal.  I've got a lot of homework to get done babe, I need to split.  Think you can take Table 23 for me?  I've already taken their order to the back, you'd basically just be on maintenance patrol.  You can even have the tip."

"Are you sure?" Kallie inquired lightly, the skeptical look still on her face.

"Yeah babe, I just really gotta go.  I've got a big history exam to study for.  You know how it is.  Truth is, I completely forgot about it 'til my buddy said something."

Okay, so maybe he hadn't completely forgotten about it.  He'd never really planned on studying for it anyway, but at the moment, it seemed better than the alternative of continuing to put himself in this awkward situation.  Kallie nodded slightly and smiled, even though a puzzled look still remained on her features.  Colt smiled lightly and embraced the girl before she ever really had time to respond.  At that point, Kallie melted, and the deal was pretty much sealed.

"Thanks hun, I appreciate this.  You don't even know," he stated simply, receiving simply another nod from Kallie for his words.  Taking that as his cue to exit, Colton hightailed it to the back, clocked out, and made a bee-line for the exit of the restaurant.  He'd see Gregg at school, no doubt, and despite himself, he couldn't help but think that he was in store for an interesting conversation.  Perhaps it was wrong to lie to his friend, especially for an ex, but it was the easiest way around things.  Besides, Gregg probably wouldn't want his left-overs.  Smirking at the thought, Colt exited the mall and headed out to the crotchrocket he had taken to riding around town.

((Colt continued elsewhere.))

Gregg found himself blinking in an alarmed manner as Ali spoke out, absorbing each word as it was voiced, and he soon found himself lifting his head in a manner of slight panic shaking it as if to try and shake of Ali’s spoken words that where currently dancing about his mind – doing a tap dance of sheer elimination. The frown wasn’t helping anyone; namely him as he rose his hands. “No, no. This is fine, really Ali. It’s just… hmm, I’m not used to this is all. I’m so used to fending for myself, and being able to tell what I was about to eat by the name alone instead of playing a horrible game of musical chairs with my stomach, that’s all. As long as you’ve known me, really you should know by now not to take anything I say into a higher train of thought.”

He smiled lightly, musing a bit as glanced down at his menu with a light sigh. He really didn’t mean to make her upset or mad; really it was the furthest thing from his mind. He’d seen his friend express both emotions to their fullest extent, and personally – he wasn’t interested in being on the receiving end of either of those this evening. Glancing over the menu in placid expression deciding on his meal for the night, he closed the small menu up. Leaning back in the booth a bit as he returned his eyes on the girl sitting in the booth across from him. Tilting his head somewhat as he opened his mouth to speak –

Though before he was able to put his thoughts into words, the sudden reappearance of his fellow teammate and friend bringing them their drinks caused him to turn his attention upward at him. Giving the other boy a small nod as he lifted his drink, taking a sip, hardly noticing any of the tension that was seemed to practically screaming at him in with a giant neon sign lighting the background in a grand demeanor with fireworks and the whole sa-bang too go along with it.

And Gregg couldn’t be any the wiser.

And the sound of his name being called, he placed the cup back down on the table glancing out the corner of his eye at Colton. Smiling a bit at the question as he pressed a smile toward Ali, though at the next statement that left Colton’s mouth – this time directed toward the before mentioned Ali made him blink for a moment or so before shooting a glance at the other male. Ali’s laughter didn’t help the matters either as the smile faded into glance that clearly read ‘You’re supposed to be on my side’ kind of look. Frowning slightly with a small pout forming along his bottom lip. Though somewhere in the back of his mind he couldn’t help but slightly agree to the spoken words.

Least in the presence of Ali he probably looked like quite the loser. Today was a good day of dress; because this was something special though on usual terms he’d simply be dressed in something that was usually spotted and sprinkled in paint. It was his passion after all, painting – though he had scholarships lined up for him for baseball and even basketball, both of which he was an excellent player at. Though it wasn’t something he wanted to pursue after high school instead it was painting, something he hadn’t been noticed for as much as his athletic or academic career. The passion of it came from what he remembered from his childhood, what little was fresh of the time he lived with his father. His father painted, taught him some things before he died… the things that had been taught disappearing from thought for the longest time.

That is till probably around the time he moved up here and met Ali did he start painting truly, though he be damned if he ever admit it his friend had been the inspiration for a number of the paintings he had done throughout the years. He never had been sure what had drawn him to the girl currently sitting across from him, or what kept them friends – be it wanting to keep this good friendship or perhaps something more he hadn’t fully come to terms with yet, be whatever he just knew he was enjoying this part of life more than any other part he had been through already – early life was nice, before his father killed himself, and life was but a simple blur before he moved to New Jersey and begun living with his new family.

He blinked out of his thoughts at Colt’s voice, and Ali muttering something back, he glancing up with a nod of his head once the words had time to sink in. He waiting until Ali finished his order before he gave his, watching as Colton walked off before returning and taking another small sip of his drink. Perhaps it was time for the awkward silence portion of the night, Gregg had always been good at bringing those on. After all, that’s how his last few dates had ended.

In complete silence.
He enjoyed it, though the girls he asked out didn’t seem so keen on the idea, it seemed too most – if they weren’t talking about something, and using like every other word, than the world as they knew it would cease to exist and mass chaos and destruction would reign supreme.

Gregg had a hard time picturing such ever happening, but to some of these girls – well they had to have something going on in their heads in place of a brain. That’s why he was glad to have Ali – she wasn’t like most of the girls that flock about campus, smearing on lip gloss every two minutes, and chatting at such a speed and pitch that he was sure at times only dogs could translate. Even then, it would probably be hard.

Least Ali wasn’t like that around him – he hadn’t idea of what she was like at school, though he hoped not any different from now. It was rather hard to see her acting any differently than what he was to, the thought just rattled him a bit. It was a bit weird too, trying to picture Ali taking like that – as well as being somewhat scary. Though shrugging off the thought before it got too out of hand, Gregg glanced toward Ali once she started speaking, questioning him on what he was going to do after their dinner. Personally, he hadn’t thought about it. Though probably he would just return home and finish up that painting he had been working on when Ali’s called.

He shrugged a bit, smiling in the end though. “I hadn’t really thought about, I don’t have any plans or anything to do, so is there something you’d like to do?”

At Gregg's confirmation that he was indeed free for the remainder of the evening, Ali inwardly jumped for joy.  She had been so nervous that he might've made previous plans, or that he might've had homework stacked up, or that he might've just not wanted to go anywhere else after their little "dinner date", but those fears were quickly put to rest.  However, she couldn't help but feel some sort of fear and apprehension about propositioning Gregg to head back to the house with her after this.  It wasn't like Gregg and Ali didn't hang out quite often anyway, but it was something she'd noticed about herself in recent years -- the more she was around Gregg, the more nervous she felt about opening up to him, or asking him to do simple things.  Inwardly, she couldn't help but think that maybe she was too obvious in that aspect.

But surely he would've said something if he knew... anything...

Ali's eyes absent-mindedly fixated on the table separating the two, and her finger traced an undefinable pattern in the dark mahogany of the structure.  Ali Grayston was not a shy person by nature, and she never had been.  She had always been aggressive, dominating, and to several people, quite intimidating.  She was a very self-confident individual and conveyed that message to virtually everyone around her.  So then why did she have so many problems with this one person?  Truthfully, Ali hated this side of herself, but it wasn't something she had learned to overcome.  Her eyes slowly moved from their spot fixated on the table up to her companion once again.  She was sure he hadn't noticed the awkward tone she'd taken within the past few moments, Gregg didn't normally seem to notice those sort of things anyway.

Just ask him and get it over with.

"I actually, well, there is," she stumbled, inwardly kicking herself for the uncouth demeanor in which she was presenting herself.  It was so uncharacteristic of her to be reduced to a bumbling idiot, and by no means did she want Gregg to get that impression from her... then again, maybe she was just reading into her own actions far too much.  "I thought maybe we could go rent a movie... or go back to my house and go swimming... or both... or just whatever, you know?"

Smooth, Ali...

Perhaps it hadn't come out as articulately as she had first hoped, at least the question was out in the open now.  In a way, that sort of took the pressure off of her shoulders.  Of course, at this point, it was completely out of her hands, and solely on Gregg as to what his next course of action would be.  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a blonde-headed girl approaching with the food they had recently ordered, and inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.  At least now that the food was here, this conversation wouldn't turn into an awkward or unberable one.  Inevitably, Gregg always seemed to ask about Ali and school, and that wasn't something she particularly wanted to discuss with her companion, because in truth, she wasn't particularly proud of some of the actions she had taken during her time at Bathurst High.

As the waitress approached and slid their respective plates in front of them, she offered up an apologetic smile before stating simply, "Hey guys, I'm Kallie.  Colt had to skip out early today... unforeseen issues, you know how it goes.  I'm gonna be finishing up your meal for you today, if you need anything, just holler."

Giving them a curt nod, the blonde turned and walked off, and Ali couldn't help but smirk a bit.  It was so like Colt to skip out on the situation, especially knowing that she was more or less stuck there answering all the questions her companion might have to offer up about their engagement earlier in the evening.  Simply put, it figured.  Colton Valero was one of those people who breezed through life, and who seemed to know just how to get away scott-free in every little thing he ever did.  She couldn't help but muse over the fact that he'd conned the blonde waitress into working his table for him, and couldn't help but ponder what sort of relationship the two had that she'd so willingly overtake his job for him.  Her mind quickly snapped back into the present, however, and her gaze returned to her companion.

"I just thought that, you know, it's been a really long time since we've spent any real time together."

Although the comment might have sounded like something a whiney girlfriend would say to her significant other, it was true.  With her cheerleading schedule, her work on the dance committee, and now her Homecoming nomination, among other things, Ali had been quite busy.  Gregg too always seemed to be slammed with stuff, from baseball and practice to painting to basketball to scholarship forms and everything in between.  It seemed like ages ago that the two had spent more than a few hours together, and it was something that quite bothered Ali.  A warm smile was cast at her sandy-haired companion in an almost vain attempt to seal the deal, though the fact was that she had no control over it.  Awaiting his response, Ali half gazed over the food that had been offered up, her appetite almost non-existent due to all the tension and apprehension the evening had had to offer.  Truth be told, she was more than ready to go home and just relax.

He eyed her again, once she began to speak – though if found it odd that he voice stumbled somewhat, Ali was a rather forward person by nature so seeing her in such a state was a bit shocking to witness. Even when they where young, Gregg had always tried to take on the older, more protective, brother figure to Ali; though she proved time and time again, and if bruises didn’t fade he have those as evidence, that she could very well stand up for herself. So this was just – slightly different from what he had become so used to seeing when they where around one another. But he returned to listening, focusing in as she slowly drew out the question, he blinking slightly though allowed a smile to pass in the end.

“That sounds good, been awhile since I’ve seen a movie and swimming doesn’t sound have bad either.”

He mused a bit, though he wasn’t one to do it as a sport, he enjoyed a swim every now and again. Though as of late, and lacking a pool at his house currently trying to use the bathtub as a substitute pool had turned out some interesting causes, as well as a completely wet floor that he went on to slip upon as he exited said bathtub. That and this would be the first time that him and Ali could actually spend time together, instead of in the company of others like at a mall – or simply just speaking over the phone, he had a habit of falling asleep during such on more than one occasion, this would just be a bit better.

Though out the corner or his eye the approaching blond, food in hand, caught his attention – Gregg lightly wondering somewhere in the back of his mind as too where Colton had run off too. Though as the waitress, Kallie, placed their food down before them she went on to explain Colt’s sudden leave of absence. Gregg looking slightly amused because truth be told, it sounded like something Colt would do, though somewhere in the back of his mind something just wasn’t fitting into the puzzle, and no matter how much he tried the piece he had come to let be what he believed just wasn’t going to wait in.

Turning again he let his attention swift to his food – least it looked better than what they had decided to name it. That was always plus in his book, he glanced toward Ali as she pretty much spoke his earlier thoughts. Musing a smile once as he went about removing his fork from it’s napkin entrapment. “That’s just what I was thinking – even though we talk on the phone a lot its been a real long while since we’ve actually just done something together, something simple least like watching a movie and swimming.” He poked at his food a bit, before lifting up a bite and chewing thoughtfully.

Tasted better than it looked and what they decided to call it, another plus.

Swallowing, he glanced at Ali simply musing a smile. “I’m sure it’ll be great, course that means there has too be a great movie involved too. Anything you want to see, because I haven’t really had the chance to check out all that’s open to see – though nothing fairy-tale-princess-happy-ending, you know? I have to suffer enough of that when my mom is home.”

Well after almost six years of being forced to watch any movie with romance in the genre, be it comedy, tragedy, whatever his mother had seen it and so had he. She didn’t like watching movies alone, said it was rather ‘boring’ and because his dad wasn’t at home a majority of the time – following Ali’s father around to make sure he remained in his Senator position kept him on the road all the time, so that meant only Gregg was left to face the wrath of the tear-jerking, love-sick movies – well you’d be a bit sick of it was well.

Though shrugging it off, he sighed, “Course it doesn’t really matter, it up to you what we watch.” He said lightly, taking another bite of his food.

A genuine smile spread across the brunette's lips as Gregg agreed to her offer of swimming and a movie.  Perhaps it wasn't the most romantic of things to be spending a Friday night doing, but the plain truth was that there was virtually no time for any sense of solitude between the two.  The truth about Ali was that she was a very materialistic person in many aspects, not someone who truly enjoyed the simple aspects of life.  When he was around, though, it was so much different.  It didn't matter if they were just sitting on the couch watching a movie, Ali felt a sense of completion around her counterpart, although she'd be far too embarrassed to ever tell him that.  As Gregg commented about renting a movie, a smile played on the other girl's features.

"Any movie is great, as long as you're watching it with me," she mused playfully, "You're disappointing me, Greggory.  I wanted to watch a chick flick."

A light smile once again played across the brunette's features.  By now, the nervousness and anticipation had subsided and the deal was pretty much sealed.  Ali could almost feel her sense of confidence once again blossoming.  She had to admit, that bumbling nature she took on anytime she had to address Gregg about such trivial matters annoyed her to no end, especially given the fact that once he agreed to whatever endeavor she was about to set the boy upon, her flirtacious and ambitious nature once again flared up.  Eyeing the food in front of her a moment before unwrapping her silverware and lightly picking at it, she chewed momentarily on a morsel before once again gazing across the table at her counterpart.

"Gregg Archer," she mused in an almost nagging tone, "I picked the restaurant.  You pick the movie."

Of course, this comment ensured that the two of them would spend probably an hour browsing through the movies at the local video rental store stationed below the Kensington Heights subdivision, but that didn't matter.  Of course, the Graystons had quite a movie collection anyway, simply due to the sheer amount of time Ali spent at the house by herself and her vain attempts at providing some sort of amusement to herself.  Continuing to pick lightly at her food, although her appetite had long since subsided, she couldn't help but allow a mysterious grin to remain fixated across her well-defined features.  The truth was, there was no other way she'd rather spend a Friday night.

And besides that, seeing her companion in swim trunks always made for a good night.

Ali was all but thrown from her daydreaming as the shrill sound of her cell phone ringing from within the confines of her designer purse echoed out across the restaurant.  Letting out a forelorn sigh before reaching into the purse and extracting the phone, Ali glanced warily down at the caller ID.  Of course, it would have to be one of the Sisterhood girls on the other line.  This night was going to have as many complications as possible, Ali reckoned.  Regardless, it was all worth it.  Shrugging her shoulders lightly, she tapped the "ignore" button on the display before shutting the phone off completely and tossing it back into her purse.  No more distractions, not tonight.

"Did I tell you I got nominated to walk in Homecoming?" Ali stated nonchalantly in an attempt to keep a conversation going on between herself and her generally silent counterpart.

What if he heard the rumors?

"I'm excited about it," she mused, a smile playing across her features, "It's already caused a lot of trouble though.  Somebody got jealous and spread this nasty rumor about me around campus.  But... who cares, right?  It's really sort of juvenile, to say the things she did out of jealousy and spite.  I still don't know who did it, either."

Realizing that the topic of conversation could easily turn into a one-sided rant of angriness on Ali's part, she quickly decided that no more angsting over whoever started that vicious rumor was needed.  She had just wanted to get that out there in case word had spread to Franklyn and Gregg had already heard about what she supposedly did to earn her nomination.  Stuff like that seemed to be a big deal to the general consensus of the high school population, though in truth, Ali found it quite juvenile and childish.  Even if he had heard it, he wouldn't have believed it.  She was confident of that much.  Gregg knew her far too well to believe something so horrid about her.

"You're coming to watch me walk, right?" she inquired after a moment.

He took another bite of his food, grinning slightly as he pointed his fork at the female sitting across from him with his fork. “Oh, wow – disappoint must be large then if your using my full name. And no, I’ll put my foot down to chick-flicks – you and my mother should spend more time together then.”

Gregg still couldn’t help the grin, namely because he was happy that Ali – however slowly – was starting to return to her normal, open personality. A shy and withdrawn Ali he didn’t know what to with, because he was used to being able to usually read what his friend was thinking, usually being the key term, because when she got like this that little ability flew out the window, smacked into a telephone pole before sliding into the ground and being ran over by a car.

Sad mental image indeed, but these are the ever-internal workings of Greggory Archer.

And as said name was being called upon, eyes casting upward from his meal as he took another bit of his food, though somewhere in the back of his mind found himself slightly shuddering at the odd tone of nagging that was fluttering about Ali’s voice. Though the statement wasn’t as bad as he figured it too be, which allowed his brain to stop going over the closet exits, he frowned a slight bit pondering over the future of the night being spent at the video rental store. Gregg’s inability to make a decision on the spot was probably one of the many reasons he couldn’t do any field of work involving such – like being a bomb technician.

Oh, the humanity if he ever landed a position to the likes of that.

Though none the less he was snapped out of his thoughts by the shrill ringing of a nearby phone, he glancing toward Ali as he watched the girl go about removing her cell phone from her purse and going over as too who it was that was calling her, and with a simple click of a button the said issue had been, more or less, taken care of – allowing Gregg to play a smile against his features again. “Alright I’ll pick the movie as long as you promise we don’t need up spending the night in the rental place doing such.”

Her next question caught his attention a slight bit, course he hadn’t heard Ali had been nominated for Homecoming – that would require speaking of said school in common conversation, something Ali didn’t do often. So with a shake of his head was all he gave for the answer as Ali went on to explain about what had happened in the aftermath of the nomination – she only wondering as too what said rumor could be about, and who would spread it, though rumor hadn’t reached Franklyn – they where far to busy talking about themselves to worry about the working of what was happening at another school.

Gregg looked thoughtful though, as she pressed the question as too if he was coming to watch her walk for the said Homecoming, he nodding once more. “Sure, I’ll come – you just got to tell me when and where and I’ll make sure too make it.”

A slight smile played over the features of Ali Grayston as Gregg all but stated the fact that she had silently contemplated just moments prior -- the fact being that if she forced Gregg into choosing a movie, they'd spend the better portion of their evening in the nearest Blockbuster.  It made for an exciting night, right?  Well, it shouldn't be too hard to keep from spending the entire evening within the confines of the video store... so long as she made sure to usher Gregg out the door after he grabbed the first movie with shiny lettering that seemed to have caught his eye.  And hey, even if it sucked, who really cared? The simply truth was that Ali's attention would be far too focused on certain other things, namely, certain other individuals, to put too much interest into what was playing on the DVD player.

"That, I can do," she assured him, grinning lightly.

Ali could easily recall the last time she had taken Gregg shopping and what a disaster it had turned into.  Well, disaster wasn't the right word, though the sad part was that Ali had pretty much been forced to pick out the entire contents of the wardrobe the boy had bought for himself that day on account of his blatant indecisiveness.  Lord help them all if and when the boy ever had to make a serious decision -- proposing to a girlfriend, naming his children, and God forbid, writing a will.  Those would all be interesting points in the life of Mr. Archer for certain.  Ali couldn't help but smile inwardly at the almost ridiculous thought as she continued to absent-mindedly chew at her food.

Gregg agreeing to come to Bathurst's Football Homecoming to watch her walk made her inwardly dance with glee, although a simple smile was all the gratitude shown outwardly.  Come to think of it, she really didn't understand Gregg.  He could make an impromptu decision like that in the blink of an eye, but when it came to something else as simple as choosing what to eat for dinner or picking out a movie to rent, the boy could spend hours upon hours pondering over such trivial and fickle things.  At the very least, he was amusing.  But really, he was so much more than that, at least to the vivacious brunette that occupied the seat across from him.

"Great," she mused, "I'd better see you there."

As her eyes momentarily interlocked with her companion's, she cast him a light smile before returning to her dinner.  He was so much more.  Despite all his faults and flaws, despite the fact that they were on completely opposite ends of the spectrum concerning a wide variety of daily things, despite all their differences and oddities, Ali couldn't help but inwardly think that despite it all, Gregg was perfect.  The thought was bittersweet, as it was a perfection that the Grayston girl assumed she would never have the pleasure of obtaining.  It's so funny how someone who seems so close to you can seem to be the furthest one from reach.

If only she could just tell him, things might be so much different.

The fact of the matter was, though, that Ali simply couldn't tell him.  She was far too afraid of the aftermath of such a decision.  After all, having grown so close to the individual sitting across from her over the period of their friendship, she couldn't imagine it being ruined by her futile and probably fruitless attempt at obtaining something she'd probably never have.  Despite it all, she couldn't help but have hope that maybe one day, she'd at least be able to tell him how she felt about him, even if it wasn't reciprocated.  It had been on Ali's mind a lot lately, Gregg's Senior year coming fast upon the both of them.

He was a smart boy, sharp as a tack in terms of academics, quite talented in the field of sports, and from what she had seen of his artwork, quite the incredible artist to boot.  So what happened after high school?  Gregg would surely get a scholarship, that much was pretty evident.  He'd go off to some big school somewhere, and where would that leave them?  Would it leave them anywhere at all?  She'd considered telling him on graduation night, because then, what did it matter?  But what if her insecurities were baseless and there really could have been more -- a more that she was currently missing out on?  Since when was it cool for a college freshman to be involved with a high school senior?

Inwardly groaning at the thought, Ali returned to the remainder of her dinner, trying to push the cluttered and scrambled thoughts out of her mind.  It wasn't worth thinking about, no point in worrying about it right now.  For now, it seemed like she had all the time in the world.  Sighing almost inaudibly, Ali inevitably rested her utensils on the semi-empty plate lying in front of her and glanced up toward her counterpart.  After this, she assumed she'd wind up following Gregg back to his house so he could grab his swimming gear, then to the video store, then back to Ali's house.  Unless, of course, her companion had other ideas.  Rather than inquiring, however, she kept the thoughts to herself, rather enjoying the unspoken understanding between the two.  Sometimes, silence is nice -- especially when even the presence of a special somebody can make you smile.