confusion on a massive scale

who: kaysen and chance
where: Thom's basement
when: night

Chance followed, preferring to walk aimlessly rather than stay at the party and risk getting his ass kicked again. He usually did well one on one, but when there was more than two, he was usually screwed. He could hear a couple obscenities being yelled toward them behind him, but he ignored them, not wanting to return for another beating. He caught up to Kaysen, using his shirt to wipe the blood from his chin. "Are you hurt?" he asked, turning to study her in the dark.

"Depends on your definition of 'hurt'." Kaysen said, not believing what had just happened and what was currently going on. Her theory about everyone going insane all at once was holding more water now. Because seriously. Either way she was walking between houses, using short cuts that got them closer and closer to the street she lived on. Which still had her wondering where the hell she was taking him. "You look hurt though, what happened? Er. I mean, not what happened I saw what happened, what's hurting?"

He managed a laugh, even though it hurt to smile. Stupid busted lip. His mom was going to freak out. "Besides the obvious," he said, motioning to his face. "I think I bruised a rib. It's no big deal, it'll heal eventually. I'll just try my hand at shallow breathing for a bit." He was embarrassed to be wheezing in front of her, but that was price he was willing to pay if it meant he got to shut those fuckers up for awhile. He licked his lip to clean the blood from it. "Nice shot by the way, with your board. I guess I shouldn't be praising you for violence, but it was impressive."

She shot him a Look. "You started a fight." she said. She was happily going to be stuck on that, and not thinking about the why for this very second. Because that was amazingly confusing and she was already mentally flailing more than she had in a good long while. Not even Thom had made her flail this much. Wait. Thom. She knew where the spare key was, she'd been able to go over to his house whenever she wanted since she was a little girl. Granted she hadn't in years, but...she still knew where the key was. Having a solid destination in mind, she was more confident as they walked. Thom had a first aid kit or several. She remembered. "But, um. Thanks. I'll probably just be killed later for it."

"I didn't start a fight," Chance protested, rubbing his side. "They started it when they started cutting on you. Anything that happened after that they deserved." And he was certain of that. Chance rarely liked to plow his fist into anyone's face unless it was warranted. "And if you get killed for it later, I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you." At least she was still walking with him and not chewing him out. That much.

"You like, ran over and started wailing on people. That's totally starting a fight." Kaysen corrected, tripping over a tree root that had lept out at her from nowhere. She grumbled under her breath. She needed to be on the sidewalk on her board. Then she wouldn't fall all over herself all the damn time. "When we get to um. My brother's friend's house, you have to be quiet." she informed him. They were coming up on her street, so it wasn't far.

"Hey, I gave them a chance to apologize to you, and they opted against it." Chance frowned, wondering why she was blaming him when it was those assholes who were being, well, assholes, to her in the first place. "What do you mean your brother's friends house?" He was starting to slow his pace, unsure of where this might be going. "What are we going there for?"

"He has first aid kits, and I can't take you to my house." Kaysen said, looking back at him as he slowed. "He's not home, don't worry." she added. Because that had to be why he was bugged, right? "We just have to make sure we don't wake up his mom." Which she could do. They could go right down to the basement and it'd be fine.

Chance stopped completely and stared at her, completely and utterly confused. He was starting to understand her paranoia when it came to people, because suddenly he was wondering if she was going to take him somewhere quiet to beat the shit out of him. "Wait, for one, I don't need first aid," he told her. "Two, even if I did, don't you have a first aid kit? And third, the last thing I need is to get caught in some stranger's house, especially by your brother's friend's mom."

She crossed her arms and gave him a Look. "Yes, you do, because you're like, bleeding and stuff, I'm not taking you to my house because....because! You can't just walk into my room and stuff! And my parents would kill me. But Thom's is safe, okay? It'll be fine. Just come on already." she said. Kaysen was a small, short girl, but she was giving him a look like she could kick his ass if he told her no. She totally couldn't, but that wasn't the point!

Chance thought about taking off. With anyone else he would have. But he had been with her for more than five minutes without, okay, so he was getting an attitude from her just a little bit, but she was seemingly concerned for his well being. At least that's what he was willing to tell himself. He was still unsure about following her into someone else's house, but what else could he do? Finally he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "All right, fine, but if we get caught, I'm totally sticking it on you."

"Fine." Kaysen said, then turned and continued on her way, getting them to Thom's house in no time. She glanced at her house as they passed it, considering they were neighbors, and her parents were still awake. The lights in the living room were on, anyways. Sooo off they went quietly into the back yard at Thom's, where she grabbed the key. Then she let them in the back door, and quietly down into the basement where she turned on the lights. Being it was a huge house, there was a huge basement. And there was a lot of odds and ends down there, including a comfortable couch. That was where she directed him with a jab of her finger. She made sure the basement door was shut. Then she sighed. "Okay, we're good. My brother practices with his dumb band here with Thom, it's soundproofed." She remembered the summer Isaac and he had done it, so she knew it had actually been accomplished.

He sat, grimacing as he did so before leaning back against the couch and trying to stretch out some of the pain. Breaking and entering was one of the few things not on his list of extra-curricular activities, though considering she had a key, maybe it wasn't really breaking. But it was certainly entering. He eyed her warily, keeping his bloody hands from the couch as not to leave any evidence of his being there. "Your brother is in a band?" He may have heard something about it around school, but rarely paid attention. "They any good?"

"They were playing at the party." Kaysen answered, looking around for the first aid kit she knew was down there. For some reason, there had always been quite a few first aid kits at Thom's house. Then she found it, and headed over to him. She had a terrible moment of indecision as she stared down at him and the couch and didn't at all know where to sit, then she just flopped down next to him and opened up the kit on her lap. She started going through, wondering why the hell some stuff was in there. There looked like a little satchel thing that had weird stuff in it like feathers and rocks n stuff, and a few other odds and ends that kind of looked like they should have been in a new agey store. More rocks...some with carvings...weird. But there, she found the disinfectant wipes and she took a couple out to hand over to him so he could start wiping up the blood.

He took the wipes from her and leaned forward, cleaning off his hands first before he brushed the wipe over his chin and cheek before tackling his still somewhat bleeding nose. "I didn't hear any band playing when I went in, they must have taken a break or something." He shot her a look and knew he was probably on thin ice as it was with her, but decided to ask anyway. "Why doesn't your brother ever stick up for you? It seems kind of fucked up that he's inside partying and you're resigned to skirting around the bushes, trying to be invisible."

Kaysen kinda pushed Chance back so he could lean against the back of the couch and tilt his head back to try to get the nosebleed to stop, and she sort of awkwardly tried to peer at his chin to see how bad the bleeding was there and if she could bandage it. They almost matched now, she still had the lame scrape beneath her chin, along with the painful one on her arm. But she wasn't thinking about her! "He does, he just...doesn't see most of it." she said, frowning lightly. "We don't exactly hang out. He's gonna be a senior and I'm only a sophomore."

He allowed her to push him back and he pressed the wipe against his nose, trying not to think about the fact that yeah, she was touching him. Clamping down on that rare sense of excitement, he glanced her way. "So?" His words were a bit muffled, but he didn't care. "I'm a senior too, though I guess siblings don't really want to be seen together in school. Are you guys close?"

"Why do you want to know about me and my brother?" she asked, getting another wipe out and she rubbed it against his chin, trying to figure out if she really wanted to try to bandage it, and in the end she decided she should. So she busied herself with looking for an appropriate one. It gave her opportunity to not have to look at him. Thankfully, it hadn't sank in yet again that they were talking. She was busy. Later she'd flail probably until she dropped unconscious, but at current she couldn't be bothered. Her mind was firmly set elsewhere.

"I don't know, curiosity I guess," Chance admitted, taking the wipe away from his nose and clenching it in his fist. He stayed where he was, however, afraid that if he moved he'd ruin the moment. Whatever kind of moment you could call this anyway. He smiled as wide as he could without re-splitting his lip. "Or just making conversation, whichever one is less likely to get me in trouble."

"I'm not sure yet." Kaysen said, shifting to look at his lip closer. She didn't know what to do there, but thought maybe he should have some ice. "I'll think about it while I get you ice." Sighing, she stood up. "Stay right here." she instructed, before dashing up the stairs to go grab ice from the freezer. Or an icepack. Knowing the Harkin family, there was probably an icepack.

Chance sighed and waited, shaking his head. This wasn't exactly the way he wanted to get her to talk to him. He didn't think getting into a fight would impress her, but he couldn't help his temper. Instead he had pulled her into something he shouldn't have. Though he couldn't help but grin a bit at the memory of her whacking that dude with her skateboard. She may play invisible mouse, but it was nice to see she had some kind of spark inside of her that wasn't sarcasm. Chance touched his lip tenderly, sort of wishing it would keep bleeding if it meant she'd stay around with him for a bit.

Success! Thank you Judge Harkin for being prepared. She took the ice pack from the freezer then crept back downstairs, going to sit back down with Chance again. "Has your nose stopped bleeding yet?" she asked, reaching out to hold the ice pack to his lip, then hoping he'd take it from her so she didn't have to sit there awkwardly and hold it for him. Which would have been massively weird.

"Yeah, I think so. Thanks." His nose still throbbed, but he'd deal. He'd been in worse shape, that was for damn sure. He'd heal quickly and be fine. Until the next time he heard anyone putting her down. School was going to a be a bitch this year. Chance lifted his hand up to the ice pack, covering her hand firmly with his own to hold the ice pack against his lip. It was freezing, but it was well worth it.

Her eyes widened and there was flailing. Internally, loud air raid sirens were going off. Duck and cover was looking like a good plan. Externally, she just didn't know what to do. "Got it?" she asked, trying to get her hand back. And y'know. Not run immediately out the door and to her room and never come out ever ever again. That sounded good too. Ohhh the flailing.

He would have held on longer had he known she'd let him. Instead, he had a feeling she would start freaking out, so he loosened his hand to let her pull hers back. Studying her, Chance relaxed against the couch again. Kaysen literally looked like a cornered rabbit who didn't know which way to run. "Are you sure you're okay? You didn't get knocked around or anything, did you?

The question distracted her from her envisioning her plan of just up and fleeing. Distracted, she looked at him and almost asked him to repeat himself, but a mental rewind and replay gave her the gist. "Oh. Um. No." she answered, shaking her head. "Wait, yes I'm okay, no I didn't get hit or anything." she quickly corrected. You're stupid.

"Good." Though he was vaguely disappointed he couldn't bandage something up for her. God, that was twisted. He tore his gaze from hers and looked around the basement. He sat up, keeping the ice pack to his lip. He would have stood to start wandering around, but since she was still sitting next to him, he stayed put. "Do you come over here often? I mean, you know where there's a key...is your family close with these people?"

"Not really. I mean, the parents know Thom's mom. But they don't like, hang or anything. It's just Isaac and Thom that do. I just...I dunno. I can come over if I want to." she said. While she hadn't thought about it like that oh, like, ever she did know that for certain. Even if Thom came home right now, she wouldn't get yelled at by him for it, or so she didn't think. "He's got that loyalty thing with my brother, so..." she shrugged.

Loyalty. Chance considered this, recalling Thom and Isaac in school. Joined at the hip...sort of. Isaac was more outgoing than Thom was. Chance didn't think he'd ever heard Thom say more than a few words since they attendd school together. He supposed he had that whole brooding thing going on for him. Of course, Chance wasn't about to admit he was that observant. He just saw more than people thought he did. "I guess it's kinda nice that you feel welcome over here. Thanks for this," he told her, motioning toward the ice pack and such. "I'm sorry I dragged you into it, but I can't say I'm upset by the outcome."

Kaysen sort of gave him a bit of a look. "You just went and picked a fight over something stupid." she pointed out. "And totally got your ass kicked. How can you possibly call this good?" she asked. It was starting to creep into her consciousness that she happened to be having a conversation with this guy. She wasn't sure how that happened, but yeah. Something. Oh dear.

"Hey, I didn't get my ass kicked. I was outnumbered." He felt his ego bruise slightly. "And it wasn't over something stupid. You heard what they said about you. You really think that didn't deserve a shot in the jaw?" Remembering it was just getting him worked up all over again. "If I had to, I'd do it again."

Rolling her eyes, Kaysen sat back, her back against the armrest of the couch and she crossed her arms over her chest. Which didn't work out so well since her camera was hanging there, so she took it off from around her neck and put it by her backpack and board. Then the arm crossing worked. "I hear that stuff like, every day someone spots me. If I picked a fight every time I'd be dead by now."

"No you wouldn't." Chance couldn't stop the grin spreading across his face. "You got your skateboard to take them down with. You should defend yourself...the next time someone says something to you, punch them as hard as you can in the nose. They'll probably stop messing with you." He gave a swift shrug. "That's how I got people to stop pushing me around. I just don't take the shit anymore. If I wind up in Saturday school because of it, oh well."

Kaysen eyed him. "Okay, you're like, way older than me, way bigger than me, and a guy." she pointed out. Then, to prove her point, she stood up. She even spun around for him. "Notice anything? Like that I'm short, skinny, and probably couldn't throw a real punch to save my life, maybe? Cuz that's the truth! And besides which. Like, I hit someone? I'd be dead inside an hour because that person would go get all of their friends to beat me up and they actually have friends."

Chance eyed her, taking the open opportunity to sweep his gaze over her as she spun around. "So? You keep fighting, show them they don't intimidate you." Chance stood from the couch and dropped the ice pack down. "I'm not way older than you...you're what, sixteen? You punched me in the shoulder remember? I probably have a massive bruise," he teased before standing in front of her. "Go on, punch me. Let me see what you got."

Kaysen's eyes widened as she looked up at him, and she immediately shrank back. "I'm not going to punch you!" she cried. "Gah, psycho!" He was already bleeding! And bigger than her! Maybe this was where the trick was. Get her alone...shit, she was alone. And she could scream all she want, Thom's mom wouldn't hear because the basement was soundproof. Ohgodohgodohgod....

"Hey, I'm not a psycho!" Years of being called one had dulled him to the sting. He spread his arms out wide so she could see them. "You don't think you can hit anyone? Or defend yourself? I didn't either. I got jumped in the eighth grade by three juniors from the high school. They kicked my ass and I didn't try to defend myself because I thought I was too skinny, and short. No one bugs me anymore because I finally threw a punch back. You can hit me. I know you want to, and you've probably wanted to since I caught you skateboarding."

She was still staring at him like she thought he might take a swing at her. "Yeah, and again! You? Guy! Me? Girl! And if you haven't noticed, the entire school hates me! It's different! I'd just get really really hurt then suspended and my parents are hard enough on me as it is! I get sent to the hospital and I'm doomed!"

Chance tried not to, but he couldn't help it. He huffed. "I go to school with you! I don't hate you, so stop generalizing. Your brother doesn't hate you, and this Thom kid must not hate you either. So just stop, okay?" He tilted his head to the side and shot her a contemplating look. "All that pent up anger you have? I know you can pretend what these kids do or say to you doesn't bother you, or maybe you don't pretend, I don't know. But don't you ever just want to let go and kick their asses in?"

"No." Kaysen said, eyes narrowing and that anger he'd been talking about was as a matter of fact rising up. "Know why? Because there's more of them than there are of me. And maybe you don't want in on 'kick Kaysen' day, but that's just you. And what, two other people? Against the whole. Fucking. School?" She didn't realize it, but she was advancing on him. "You don't get it. This is my life, this is the way my life is going to be, and that's just the way it is. I've tried before when I was littler and all it ever got me was broken property and targeted all the more. So fuck you with your...whatever the fuck it is you think you're trying to do."

He let her advance, and bent down until he was inches from her face. "So take on the whole fucking school. You can't stand there and pretend you know how it works, because you don't. You don't even try to defend yourself, you just let them walk all over you and then cower away with your tail between your legs like a kicked puppy. You're interesting, and fascinating, and you have all these layers about you, but you only show the surface because you're such a fucking coward around these boring, cardboard cut out kids and it sort of pisses me off. One fucking hit in the jaw, Kaysen, that all it takes and instead of them whispering behind your back about what guy who might have 'sucked off', they're whispering about how you kicked whats her face's ass the night before. Which would you prefer?"

Tears stung the backs of her eyes and she really looked like he couldn't have done any worse if he'd up and hit her. Her anger disappated just like that, fleeing her entirely as she tried desperately not to burst into tears. "...get out." she said quietly, looking away. She bit at her bottom lip to stop it from trembling, which wasn't really that easy. In fact, it didn't seem to work out for her at all.

His own temper dulled immediately. He hadn't known what he was trying to do, but it wasn't make her cry. Again. "Kaysen, I'm sorry. I'm just tired of watching you get walked on by everyone else. It's frustrating because you're nothing like what they say and you fucking deserve more than the shit they dish out. Especially when I've been where you are." He reached out to touch her arm. "You don't want to hit anyone, you don't have to. I'll do it for you."

When he reached out, she scrambled back, knocking herself into the staircase. That had her sitting down hard on the steps, and she winced. Her teeth bit into her lip a little, so he was now not the only one with a bloody lip, and her tailbone was distinctly displeased with her behavior. She looked up at him, and she shook her head, looking away immediately. "I don't know what you want from me, but you can't have it, okay? Please go away. Just...leave me alone. And don't start anything because of me, it'll probably just backlash on me anyways when you're not around." she said, all in a bit of a rush.

He knelt down in front of her quickly, wondering why he had the bad luck of making her cry, or fall. Was he really that intimidating? "I don't know what I want from you," he admitted. He panicked inwardly when he saw she had bit her lip, unsure of what to do. Did he offer her the ice pack? Get a tissue? She was bleeding. "I don't want to leave you alone," Chance said, the words slipping past his mouth before he could think about them. He was too busy staring at the blood on her lip and he reached up to touch it tenderly. "I want you to give me a chance."

She squeaked, honestly scared of him right then, and she shrank back, though there wasn't that terribly far to go being she was on the basement steps and all. Not a whole lot of running room on steps. He hadn't hurt her before, but he could get away with it right now. Soundproof basement, no one around to help her. He could if he wanted to. "Why are you doing this? Why are you here, and why did you--" she stopped, because her voice cracked a bit, and she sniffled, now actually crying. She hated herself for it, but she couldn't help it. She was confused and afraid and she felt trapped too. With someone who she didn't understand in the slightest.

"I'm here because you brought me here," Chance reminded her lightly before pulling his hand back. He stood and backed away, shoving his hands into his pockets. No touching then. He was slightly angry that she kept looking at him like he was going to hit her, or worse, rape her. It made him feel like shit, and after spending a year pining...no not pining...merely watching, he finally had the opportunities to talk to her, and all she could do was shrink away and give him that suspicious look. "Don't cry, all right? I'm sorry...fuck, I'm not sorry." He turned away and resisted the urge to kick something. His ribs hurt like a bitch. "I shouldn't have to say I'm sorry for trying to get to know you. If you think I'm like the rest of them, then that's your problem, Kaysen, not mine. If you think I'm out to trick you somehow, or pull something over on you, that's your problem, and if you want to be offended by me, and cry and shrink away, then do it, but I didn't get my ribs bashed in by some fuckhead just to pull you into some sense of false security just so I could hurt you later." He pulled his hoodie up over his head, and realized his nose was bleeding again. Fanfuckingtastic. "I'll leave."

She wiped at her eyes miserably, and wished she'd not gone out. Maybe for the rest of the summer she would just stay in her room. Like, the whole time. She could live there, right? She'd just have to give up boarding--god no, nevermind, it was one of the only things she had a passion for. She'd go insane. She looked at him, eyes still tearing though she was trying hard not to sob or anything stupid like that. The effort was making her tremble, though. "Why should I trust you?" she asked, voice barely audible, and she sucked at the bite on her lip, blood seeping from it.

He caught her pulling her lip between her teeth and he turned, searching the floor for the ice pack. Bending down, he picked it up and handed it to her, maintaining a safe distance. The question weighed heavily on his shoulders and he sighed. "Because I'm asking you to. Because I'm not so bored with my life that I need, or want, to focus on hurting you. I'm not like them," Chance said with slight ferocity. "I'm not. Just give me a chance to prove that to you."

She took the icepack and put it to her lip, though she thought he probably needed it worse than she did. It was throbbing, but not like, the worst injury she'd ever had. Skateboarding gave her worse. Hell. She still had worse just from ditching the other day in front of Thom. "But why?" she asked, because she honestly couldn't figure it out. She could see no payoff for him in what he was up to. Oh god. Unless he just...pitied her. That would probably be worse than anything.

He felt frustrated, but didn't want to show it. It would probably only freak her out and he was treading as lightly as he could right now. Chance moved back and slumped against the wall, suddenly very tired. It was an exhausting thing, getting your butt kicked. "I just...I can't..." He couldn't tell her the truth. No way. Out of the question. "I guess I can relate to you, and you're interesting and a part of me wants to get to know you better." It was as good a reason as he could give without making her run screaming from him.

She sniffled, and wiped at her cheeks, trying to get herself to stop crying like a little baby. Stupid boys. "I'm not interesting. I'm weird and lame and there's nothing cool about me. If there was, I wouldn't be public enemy number one with everyone else, now would I?" she asked. She didn't wholly believe that, but right now it was as close as she could get to how she did feel. She'd never been able to articulate it properly. She also relaxed a little bit now that he wasn't in touching distance.

"Weird and lame is interesting," he told her, sliding down the wall until he was sitting on the ground, his knees bent and his hands still firmly tucked away in his hoodie. "At least I think so. I'm weird and lame too. I'm not trying to downplay what you go through," he told her, turning his head to look at her. "But everyone else has nothing to do with me. I'm not asking you to talk to them, or be their friend. I'm asking you to talk to me."

Kaysen looked a little confused at him. "You're not lame." she said. "You're like...that dark broody mysterious guy that girls whisper about and wonder what you're 'really like'." she said, airquoting with her free hand. The look she was giving him sort of suggested he should really know that already, because it was obvious. "You get into fights 'n like, don't care about shit and all that stuff. That's not lame."

Chance couldn't help it...he chuckled and shook his head. "Yeah, that's how people see me. I do care about shit, I just don't vocalize the shit I do care about. I'm fucked up, and the girls who talk to me just want me to treat them fuck them and then treat them like shit afterward. It gets old. And I'm not mysterious at all. People just don't know me, and they don't bother to try too."

Her eyes stayed on him, wary but she was kind of getting past the crying thing finally. That was a plus. "Well. It still means you're not lame." she said. "And that people don't really hate you. Maybe they did before or something, but you're different now to them. See like...what happened back there? You'll get glorified over it. The story'll change and by then you'll have been defending someone else. And me? I'll just have gone home with like, three of the guys to do whatever with them."

"Heh." He refused to look away from her now. "That makes them sound pretty lame if you ask me. People may not hate me, but they dpn't understand me either. I'm not some angsty emo kid, but yeah, I'm not Mr. Popular either. I'm just...who I am, and not many people know that, which is how I like it. In any case, what happened tonight? You and I know the truth, even if they want to twist it around to suit their own twisted reality." Chance leaned his head back against the wall, a tiny smirk on his face. "Look, if you don't want me around, just say so. I can leave you alone. I thought maybe if I showed off a bit, you may want to get to know me better."

Well, that got her absolutely gaping again. "Showed off?" she asked. Yeppers, witness Kaysen not knowing what the fuck he was talking about. This was an utterly alien concept to her, and she needed it spelled out. "Wha---with...huh?"

Smile tight, Chance felt his cheeks flush and he closed his eyes briefly to curse himself interally. This is why he barely spoke to anyone. Things tended to slip out that he never meant to. "I just meant on my skateboard." Nice cover. Yeah, that would work. "Earlier, in the parking lot. Showing off my incredible talent," he finished with a tiny grin.

She was still staring. "I'm still behind on the showing off thing." she said. "You were showing off for me?" she asked. "I...er..." Yep. Total screaming confusion. Bafflement, even. "I'm behind. Help me out. You wanted to do something like that for why?"

Panic kicked in again. Restless, his knee began to bob up and down as he chewed on his lip, tearing it open again. It didn't bother him this time. He couldn't even look her in the face, which was ridiculous. He was totally in control of himself, and yeah...who cares? He could tell her some form of the truth. "So you'd talk to me," he replied with a shrug, his knee still bouncing. "That's all."

So you'd talk to me. The words made sense. She understood all of them in the sentence. She just wasn't clear on how they added up in relation to her. For a few moments, she looked very much like she was doing an impression of a fish, mouth opening then shutting again as that whole zomgwtf feeling overtook.

When she said nothing, Chance found the courage and looked at her. She looked...stunned? Shocked? Baffled? He could just imagine what she'd do if she knew the truth. "It shouldn't be that surprising," he responded lightly.

"Um, hello." Kaysen said, dropping the ice pack to the stair next to her. "It is so! People don't want to talk to me! That's not how things work! People ignore me or they pick on me! They don't like, try to...impress me?" she suggested, sill sounding like this was blowing her mind and she couldn't grasp it.

"God, woman, get it through your head, I'm not people," Chance told her, though his tone had no malice within it. "I'm an individual person, with my own name and everything." He released a breath and forcibly stopped his knee from moving by placing his arm over it. Licking his lip again, he spared her a glance. "But did I manage to impress you?"

She considered, eyeing him. "You confuse me more than anyone I've ever met in my life, and I've only just really met you today." Kaysen answered him. Which might not have been the most solid of answers, but was the truth. "That might be impressive, I don't know. The jury is still out on you entirely."

Chance nodded. Relief flooded him, and he was thankful she had stopped crying at least. And had stopped questioning his intentions. "That's a much better answer than I had expected." Silence fell between them for several moments before Chance picked at a loose thread along his jeans. "So...does that mean you'll let me talk to you again?"

"I dunno." Kaysen said, shrugging one shoulder, and she was pushing at the cut on her lip with her tongue, since it was physically impossible to have a cut in your mouth and not poke at it. "Why're you so determined to talk to me? Are you trying to prove something?" she asked. "I'm not like, some charity case."

The suggestion took him by surprise and it was his turn to look at Kaysen with that look of complete bafflement. He couldn't fathom anyone thinking he was treating them like a charity case. The thought was so absurd. "Yeah, I am trying to prove something," he shot back. "I'm trying to prove to myself that I can talk to you without making an ass of myself. So far, I haven't had any luck."

Kaysen made a face, eyeing him. "Well you picked like, the worst person in the entire town to decide to talk to." she pointed out. "So that's it? You're trying to prove something to yourself?" she asked. That...actually seemed to make her feel a little better. As long as it didn't have anything to do with her, she could accept it easier.

Chance released a noise that was caught somewhere between a laugh and a snort. "Would it make you feel better if that's all it was?" She was one of the most complicated, weird, fascinating girls he had ever met. Okay, so she was the only complicated, weird, fascinating girl he had ever met. All the others had been dull, stupid and too one dimensional for him. But not Kaysen. "You're not a charity case. I don't do charity cases. I'm not that...charitable with my time. I'm only deciding right now to prove to myself I can talk to you...maybe next time I won't make you cry."

"...that would be a start." Kaysen said drily. "I don't understand you." she continued. "And...yeah, I think that would make me feel better. I don't...this doesn't happen to me. This...whatever this is. Like, I've never even had those little stupid fake-boyfriends in third grade or whatever." Boys had just liked to throw rocks at her, without the part afterwards that came with the 'well he really just likes you
'. Nope. Not her.

"I don't understand you either, so maybe if you can relax around me, we can learn to understand each other," Chance offered. "Believe it or not, I've never had stupid fake-girlfriends, or stupid real-girlfriends either." His eyes widened considerably. "Not that I'm asking you to be my girlfriend, or anything." Slick. Real smooth, you dumbass.. He could feel his cheeks burn and cursed the fact that he had inherited his mother's pink cheeks when he was embarrassed.

Kaysen might have noticed his blushing, but she was far too busy doing it herself. And looking mildly horrifed. "I didn't mean it like that! I meant! Like! People don't talk to me or try to impress me or anything! Like that! I didn't mean like...no boyfriends or giflreinds talk!" she flailed. "And! Hey, look here, pal, this is me. So like, if you're looking for some amazing, hidden girl or something, you can bugger off now because this is me. Right here. This is how I am."

"I know," he assured her, thankful to see her stumble along as badly as he had. "I know this is how you are. I'm not trying to dig deeper, you know. If I didn't like who you were as I saw you, I wouldn't have even bothered to talk to you. And I wish I could tell you this is me, but it's not. I'm really not a huge ass, and I don't go out of my way to make girls cry. I have issues, and you know, I've scared people off with them, so...yeah..I just..." Stop talking. Stop talking now. With a frustrated sigh, Chance caught her gaze. "I like you. I want to get to know you better, and I want you to let me."

And we were back to flailing alarms and huge amounts of panicking. "Who are you?" she asked. "And why me? I've seen you around, but not like...have we even said two words to each other before? Why are you all of a sudden obsessing on me?" she asked. Then thought maybe she should have worded that better.

Taken back, Chance nearly started at the words, brushing his sweaty palms over the knees of his jeans. Was he really that transparent? "I'm not...I'm not obsessing on you," he said sharply, suddenly feeling like a complete idiot. She had an uncanny ability to make him feel stupid, in every sense. Chance pushed himself up and stood, avoiding her gaze. "No, we've never said two words to each other before, but that doesn't mean I didn't want to. So, look, I talked to you earlier, and tonight, and I'm talking to you now. I don't really know how much farther I can explain it."

"Lemme say how this looks from here." Kaysen said. "There's me, and my stupid life, and alla sudden, there's this guy who wants to randomly spend time with me, supposedly not to fuck my shit up, gets into a fight over me, and for some reason wants to put up with a bunch of my shit cuz he wants to get to know me, but there isn't really much of a reason why here. Why would you do that? I'm the equivalent of social leprosy. Just...why me? I don't get it."

Chance ran both of his hands through his hair, knowing he should go home now. Quickly. Run. Run. Run. He was going to look like a moron, even more than he already had today. "Okay, you want to know? Seriously?" Chance asked, dropping both arms to his sides, his hoodie falling back from his head as he looked down at her on the steps. "Because I know if I tell you, you're going to think I'm a complete...psycho, or whatever it is you think I am now."

"I'm still trying to figure that out." Kaysen said. Really, she was amazed that she was still there. That he was. That they were still having a conversation of some description, even if it was a weird one she couldn't figure out. Part of her was still looking for the trick. The flaw that would click everything together and she'd go ohhhhh. That's why. So far, unfortunately, he just kept making her scared, cry, or confused. Sometimes all three at the same time. "But yeah, I wanna know."

Resigned, Chance tried not to throw his hands up in exasperation. Instead, he looked at her, frowning, torn between wanting to tell her everything in his head, and just lying and fleeing quickly. Either way, he wasn't exactly making her a fan, so either way, she was probably going to leave here tonight thinking he was insane. "I've been watching you...which yeah, totally sounds like that obsessing thing, but it's not," Chance said quickly, holding up his palms. "I've seen you in school, and I wanted to talk to you, but every time I tried you just walked by, staring at your shoes, so it was kind of hard. I don't know, I guess there was something about you that intrigued me, and I wanted...fuck, I don't know what I wanted. But when I saw you skateboarding today, I decided to try to say hi again, and yeah I fucked it up, and yeah, I fucked up tonight, but, fuck...I'm at least trying."

Cue staring at him like he was speaking a foreign language. She was left gaping, eyes wide and totally mystified. She couldn't tell if that sounded like the cutest or creepiest thing she'd ever heard. Maybe both. And it didn't help that she was stuck on the 'WHAAA????' of it all. Cuz yeah. The fuck? "...huh?" she asked in a tiny voice.

Chance tilted his head to the side to study her, his frown deepening. Okay, so putting it all out there when they had only really met that morning was probably not the wisest idea, but Chance wasn't always thinking properly. Blame it all on the bullet through the head incident. It was easy to use that as a fall back excuse. "Do I really have to say it all over again?" Chance asked weakly.

She blinked, and shook her head. "No." she answered. Though she still looked like she hadn't at all caught what he'd said. Because it sounded suspiciously like he had been kinda...following her. Or something. Or obsessing, or like...she had no idea? But there was weirdness. Massive, massive weirdness.

It wasn't really the reaction he'd been hoping for, but one he had expected. So he'd gone completely insane and put it out there. Jordan and Devon would have been proud of him at least. Kaysen was staring at him as if he were growing horns, or something equally creepy. There was that whole "feeling like an idiot" thing again. He wasn't sure how much longer he could stand there with the silence starting to expand his seeds of doubt and regret.

"Um." Kaysen started, since she was well aware that the silence needed to be broken. Unfortunately, talking to anyone wasn't her strong suit in the first place, and talking to some guy that was...her brain was still short circuiting on that score. "I...um. And...I..." Whee! Useless!

The stammering was enough for him and he forced a small smile before nodding in understanding. "Right. Look, I'm sorry. You don't know me, and me telling you all that stuff...it was just weird and, borderline creepy, I'm sure." It felt suspiciously like his stomach had just bottomed out. "I think I'm gonna go." He motioned to the steps she was currently sitting on. "I'm sorry, again..." He couldn't wait to get home and completely kick his own ass for being so damn stupid!

She was still flabbergasted, and she reached down to pick up the ice pack again, getting up and moving past him to put the first aid kit back where she'd got it from in the first place. Then she sort of looked back at him, strange sort of uncertain frown on her face. Like she didn't know what to do or say, because--she didn't. She had no idea whatsoever, and she was only certain that whatever she did, it was totally going to be wrong. "Um. Don't get into any other fights on the way home." she said finally.

That...sucked. Big time. But then again, what else had his life been up to that moment but complete suckage? Why should this have been any different? Chance tried to smile, but couldn't quite manage, instead, he gave her a brief nod. "Yeah." He hurried up the steps and out of the basement, through the back door. He shoved his hand through his hair as he crossed the lawn, wishing he could stop the hundreds of voices suddenly swarming his mind, telling him what a complete jackass he had just made of himself.

Kaysen felt really awful after he left, sure she'd done something wrong. She didn't know what else to do though. She had no idea how to feel, no frame of reference, and generally speaking--yeah. She knew fuckall about how to deal with anything. Right around now having a friend would be awesome, just to have someone to ask. Unfortunately...she didn't have any of those. So she walked up the steps, shut out the lights, put the ice pack back in the freezer and generally left the house exactly as she'd found it. Putting the key back, she went back home, went upstairs, and gazed out the window for a long, long time, mind grinding over and over again on Chance and what the hell was going on with him.