Distractable Conversations

Who: Jessalyn and Madock
When: Around lunch time
Where: MSHS Hallways

Ghosts. Right. They were everywhere. Of course that was the most likely reason for why the school seemed so empty today. Everyone was out attending church, preparing for the world to end and Christ to come back. Or something like that. Madock wasn't at church. And he probably could have stayed home if he really wanted to, but somehow listening to the rest of his family chatter about the freakiness that was ghost infested Marquette seemed a lot worse than going to a bunch of half empty classes.

He was always distracted at school, but when there were ghosts floating about all over, it was hard for him not to be even more distracted. Enough so he didn't even see the girl in the hallway sitting on the floor with her legs out stretched. At least not until he turned his head forward again and stopped glancing out the window. By then it was too late. It all happened in slow motion. He tripped on her leg and went flying forward, hands hitting the floor with a painful sounding slap, but better his hands than his face. And that's when the apologizing started, as soon as he saw the little blonde girl. He was fine but his big feet probably hurt her when they hit her leg.

"Shit, I'm sorry." he told her as he pushed himself back up from the floor. "You okay? I didn't see you and I was uh... what was I doing?" he asked, more himself than her. "Oh, I was looking out the window and... Hi, I'm Madock."

Jessalyn was munching on an apple slice and scribbling in her notebook when she glanced up to see Madock walking down the hall toward her. Not really toward her since he was staring out the windows, but walking in her general vicinity. She didn't think much of it and had gone back to scribbling. Until his feet sort of kicked her legs and he tripped over her. Now, being a werewolf, Jessalyn was pretty adept at handling pain. But the guy was sort of muscular, and a football player, so it did kind of hurt her legs when he fell on them. Jessalyn winced and dropped her pencil on her notebook before reaching out to rub at the side of her calve, currently covered by a flimsy, floral skirt. She started to tell him that it was okay, but she still had her apple slice between her teeth. She bit through it and pulled it from her mouth, waving her hand dismissively.

"It's okay! It's okay. I saw you so I should have... moved or something." Only that would have been silly, since she had been on the floor and he had been walking, and it made more sense for him to go around her and everything. But she didn't want him to get angry, so it was best to just accept blame and make him feel better. She grinned, despite the throbbing of her leg. "I know who you are. I'm Jessalyn," she replied, since she knew he probably didn't know her. "Are you okay? You landed pretty hard and everything."

He raised a brow at her as he dusted himself off a bit. Not that there was much dust to really be brushing off, but whatever. He gave her a smile and nodded. "Fine. I'm good. Take harder hits at practice... you know me? How do you know me? I don't think I know you. But then again I don't always remember everything the greatest. So now I probably sound like a dick or something, but yeah. Jessalyn, that's a pretty name. Not that your name would be ugly if it were something else but... yeah, you know me?" Madock's brain always seemed to be a ping pong table with thoughts flying back and forth all together at the same time.

"I know you because we go to school together," Jessalyn explained, popping the rest of her apple in her mouth. She knew practically everyone in school, even if they didn't know her. She swallowed and grinned as he rambled on a bit, following everything he said pretty clearly, which wasn't surprising for her, really. And he thought her name was pretty! That was the second time that week someone had called her pretty. Okay, so he wasn't saying she was, but he said her name was, and her name belonged to her, so maybe in an indirect way he meant she was pretty too. "Thank you... and yes, I know you. Can't be that hard to believe? It's not a terribly big school, you know. And your name is unique to me, so it's easier to remember than the George's and Bob's. You don't think my name would be ugly if it were like, Esther or something?"

Again he flashed her a smile. "No, I don't think so. Name's don't much matter. It's more the person, right? I think you have a pretty good chance of even making Esther sound pretty." So maybe he was flirting, but he was allowed to do that. He wasn't engaged yet. "Why are you sitting by yourself?" he questioned, picking up on that bit of information first. "I mean not that you're not allowed to sit by yourself, but why aren't you in the cafeteria or something." Then the thought occurred to him that perhaps it was because there weren't all that many people even at school today. "Oh, ghosts, right I remember, bet there's like five people in there."

Okay, so he was calling her pretty! Wasn't he? Jessalyn was torn between believing it, and thinking he was maybe making fun of her. Some of the more popular boys did, after all. But she smiled, regardless. It was always easier to smile. "Thanks..." Although the innotation at the end made it sound a bit like a question. "I usually sit by myself," Jessalyn explained. "Sometimes I sit with Ransom, but he's got a girlfriend now so I don't want to like, hog up his entire lunchtime when he can be with her and stuff. And there's some people in school. What are you doing walking around by yourself? You're not in the cafeteria either," she pointed out.

"I'm not. No. Guess I'm not." he said, shaking his head. "I'm... thinking? Maybe, or just looking. Something like that but..." His attention was gone at that point, at least for a few seconds as his eyes were all but pulled towards the window. A ghost, walking by with a confused look etched on his face. Madock's own face got that same confused look before he realized he'd been in the middle of a sentence. "Sorry, what was I saying? Oh, right, I'm just kinda looking. Lots of... weird stuff today."

"You're very distractable," Jessalyn said, picking up her pencil again and beginning to doodle his name in block letters in the corner of the already scribbled on paper. "I bet you were thinking and looking at the same time, which was why you didn't see me sitting here. And probably why you don't know who I am." That made sense, of course. She drew the large 'D' before looking up at him. "There's always weird stuff here. More lately than usual, but I'm not too scared. I think the ghosts are kind of romantic."

He pulled a bit of a face when she called him 'distractable' but he couldn't hold it for long because, well, he was. "Well I haven't been here that long either." he pointed out. "I'll just have to make up for not knowing you by taking sometime to uh... get to know you now." he said. He sat down then, back against the wall beside her. God she was tiny. A thin little thing with big eyes, but she was cute and she was... doodling his name? He tilted his head a bit to look at that and try to focus on what she'd said about the ghosts. What was it again? Ghosts... not scared... romantic. "You think they're romantic?" he asked her. "Why do you think that they're romantic?"

Jessalyn's smile brightened considerably when he sat next to her. He wanted to get to know her! It was just like when Dylan relented and spent some time with her too. Granted, he talked about another girl the whole time, but that was okay. She was just happy to make new friends. "I don't know," she replied, starting on the 'O'. It didn't bother her that he could read what she had been writing, since it was nothing too secretive. She was too focused on spelling out his name now to care. "Ghosts have always had a romantic air about them for me. Not the scary ghosts, but the lost ones... like the ones who don't know they're dead. Or the ones who are so in love with someone else, they can't bear to cross over and leave them. They're tragic, you know? As long as they're not evil entities and everything." She drew the 'K' a little bit bigger than the other letters. "I think I would come back and haunt someone... I think it would be fun."

"Well when you put it like that, I guess it is kinda..." Again with the pause and a glance out the window. At least it was only a couple of seconds this time. "Kinda does sound romantic." he finished. "Hey look, you even spelled it right." he grinned, completely forgetting the topic of ghosts and focusing on his name on her paper. "Most people forget the 'C' or they just spell it M-a-d-i-c-k or something and I'm like 'dude, no 'dick' in my name', but then they just think it's funny but uh... yeah... so um. You think haunting someone would be fun?"

Jessalyn frowned, though it was brief. A smile seemed to be a permanent fixture on her face most of the time. "It's Madock though! So Madick wouldn't even sound right, unless you were complaining about your dick, then you'd go around saying 'Ma dick!' but that's even more... weird... so...." She trailed off and shaded a bit underneath his name for a pathetic little 3D effect. "But 'dock' also rhymes with... er, you know. So either way you're really sort of stuck with the comparisons." Straightening away from her notebook, she reached up to push some hair from her cheek before she looked at him. "I think it could be, depending on the person. Like, someone who's been mean to you would be prime for a haunting. Or someone I had a crush on once. Freaking people out a bit! Not like hurting them or anything. I don't know if ghosts can do that anyway."

It was kind of weird and strangely kind of hot to listen to a girl with such a pretty face say words like 'dick', but he tried not to focus on that. Or the fact that he kind of wanted her to say 'cock' too. You, Madock, or fucking weird. he said to himself before taking in what she was saying about the ghosts. "Haunting someone who has been an ass would be fun." he nodded. "Scaring the hell out of them. Bet they'd get over the whole 'let's torture people' thing." he smiled. "Crushes would be interesting, but then I wouldn't wanna seem like a stalker ghost ya know?"

"They might get over the torture people thing, if they knew they were being haunted by someone they used to torture. So you would have to make it obvious!" She set her pencil down and reached into her bag to pull out a couple colored markers. She popped the red marker's cap off and began to color in the block letters of his name. "And you don't have to be a stalker ghost. They'll never know you're there in the first place. And you could always say you're not stalking, you're just... protecting them. Checking in every now and then to make sure they're okay. But I guess that could be construed as weird and creepy." Jessalyn sighed and began to sway her feet side to side. "Besides, I don't think someone like you would need to stalk anyone, ghost or not." She set the marker down beside her and uncapped the blue one to outline the doodle.

He half wondered if that statement was a bit flirty, but he wasn't sure. She was probably just saying he was some dumb jock. And jock, yes, but dumb, no. "Someone like me?" he questioned, bi-colored eyes focusing more on her fingers as she colored in the little name doodle that on the doodle itself.

"Yes. You're cute, and popular. You probably ask a girl out and they say yes, right? So... no reason to stalk them. Not that I stalk people who say no to me or anything," she was quick to explain, in case he might think so. "I actually don't think I've met anyone I would stalk if I were a ghost, but... you know." And now she was just starting to talk stupid again. Jessalyn capped her markers and shoved them back into the bag at her side. His name was written in her notebook in blocked, colorful letters. "I like your eyes though. I never met many people with different colored eyes. Does that mean something? Or was it just genetics or something?"

He grinned when she called him cute. The popular part he didn't much care about. "I don't ask girls out a lot." he told her honestly. "I guess I'd like a girl to say yes to me for more than the fact that she just thinks I'm cute or because I run with the right crowd or whatever." he shrugged. And then she talked about his eyes, which meant she noticed them and noticing them was awesome because she was paying enough attention to his face to catch sight of his eyes. Presently, one was blue as always and since he was in a fairly good mood, the other was a bright green. "Genetics." he said, writing the bit of uniqueness off easily. "Most people just think it's weird. Especially because this one's hazel, it changes colors, so sometimes I have a brown eye and a blue eye or sometimes a greenish one and a blue one. So I guess it is kinda weird in a way."

"Don't you think most people ask other people out because they think they're cute?" Jessalyn asked. "I guess some people like to get to know someone first before asking them out... people who don't live by their hormones and everything." Which, in this school? Didn't happen often. "I don't think your eyes are weird at all! I think they're unique... maybe everyone with the same colored eyes are the weird ones. I love eyes that change color with like, your mood, or what you're wearing." Jessalyn squinted a bit as she studied his eyes herself. "They're blue and green now. Sort of like the lake in the summer. I like them." She had an overwhelming urge to scent the boy. Rub her cheek along his neck or something. It took everything in her to keep still. She had sniffed Gabe the night before at Charlie's party and had freaked him out. She didn't want Madock to start scrambling in an effort to get away from her.

His lips quirked up into a little grin. "I guess that is the reason that fuels a lot of the relationships - if you want to call them that - at this school. Who's hot and who's not. The cool kids and the popular ones. Jocks and cheerleaders. I mean... I guess I could get a cheerleader if I really wanted to, but I think I'd like a bit more brains beneath the hairspray and glitter." he shrugged. "Oh, personality would rock too. Instead of shopping, cell phone, 'omg he's totally cute' and cheers. Gets old pretty fast. But I guess I can't be picky either since like football is awesome and I spend like a ton of time talking about that and people probably like think I'm a -..." His eyes flicked to the notebook again. "Why'd you write my name?" he questioned, belatedly. Very belatedly. "Oh, they probably think I'm just a jock. Sorry, train of thought took a detour through notebook town apparently."

He definitely had a point. A lot of people in school were more worried about their social status than anything else. Jessalyn would have been lying if she said she didn't try to befriend popular people. She wanted people to like her. Everyone really. So she did whatever they wanted to get their acceptance. It was probably kind of sad and pathetic on her part, but it got old after awhile, being nothing but a loser. "Well, you know, some jocks are smarter than people give them credit for. They have to know strategy, and make quick, correct decisions at a moment's notice. They're usually pretty good at math too. I think they just get an unfair stigma... like a lot of people do who get labeled as one thing or another." Jessalyn looked down at her notebook when he did and felt her cheeks flush before she grinned. "I don't know. It's a fun name, and it was fun to write. Why not?" His wasn't the first name she had written in that notebook. "I can scribble it out if you want," Jessalyn offered quickly, reaching into her bag to find her black marker. "I know it's weird and everything."

"No." he said, maybe a little too quickly as he took her marker from her and uncapped it. He found a clean spot and doodled in the girl's name. He got 'Jessalyn' down and glanced up at her. "One 'N' or two?" he questioned. The last thing he wanted to do was spell her name wrong that would have just sucked.

She'd watched him write her name down with a smile on her face. "Just one 'N'. You got it right." Jessalyn smoothed her fingers over the letters, feeling more pleased than she probably should have, given he just wrote her name down. But it was in her notebook! She remembered Kavin writing on her paper too. She had liked his handwriting, just like she liked Madock's. "Do you know how many times I've been called Jessica?" She giggled softly and looked back up at him. It took another trip into her bag, but she pulled out her green and blue markers again. They weren't quite the colors of his eyes, but close enough. She used both to draw around where he had written her name. A multicolored cloud or something. That way she could remember that he was the one who had written it, if her brain decided to completely freeze and she forgot.

He capped the marker again while she was drawing that little cloud around her name, a little smile once more playing on his lips. "If your parents wanted you to be a Jessica, they woulda named you Jessica." he told her. "Jessalyn is prettier anyways. Jessica sounds boring and there's like a billion of them at this school. I'm glad my name is different, even if it is a little weird. Least it's not the same as eight other people in homeroom, ya know?"

"That's a big reason why I can remember your name." Jessalyn pointed out, smiling past the burning of her cheeks. She wasn't used to boys being so nice to her who weren't Ransom, or someone humoring her. It made her fumble about for a moment while trying to think of something intelligent to say. Unfortunately, that wasn't her strong point. "You have a unique name, and unique eyes... no one can say you're just a jock." She subtly inched a bit closer to try and breathe in his scent as well... to see if it was as unique as everything else.

The smile didn't fade from his lips and he wasn't paying much attention as she moved slightly closer. Far too distracted by her face. Her eyes were big. But not big in a freakishly out of proportion way. He liked them. Was completely and utterly distracted by them. After a moment or two he realized he was staring at her and shook his head to get himself back to reality. "Sorry..." he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I think I have a thing for eyes." he muttered to himself though it wasn't supposed to have come out at all. He'd meant for it to be a thought, but it had forced it's way into syllables and his vocal chords didn't cooperate. If she did perchance get a whiff of him, it wouldn't be unbearable. He smelled like cologne and body wash. At least most of him did, his hair smelled like the beach. Yay for scented shampoos. Even in winter he could get a little bit of summer.

That confused her for a second and she glanced the other way down the hall to see if there had been someone wandering toward them. When she saw no one, she looked back at Madock. Was he talking about her eyes? Was that a good thing, having a thing for eyes? Did that mean she had nice ones or something? Or was he just messing with her? Jessalyn hated not being sure... but his heart beat hadn't really changed much, so she didn't think he was lying to her. Her smile turned a bit shy, and she looked back down at her notebook where he had written her name. Cute boys didn't say stuff like that to her. They made fun of her, or they talked to her about other girls they liked. She did like how he smelled though... she got a whiff of him beneath the cologne. Not that she minded the cologne, but she always wanted to get to a person's natural scent. It said a lot more about them. "I have a thing for smiles," she admitted after a moment, because her entire body was starting to flush at the silence. "Uhm... I like yours."

Against the better judgment of his boy brain, he bit his lower lip through a little grin. "Thanks." he told her. He'd caught her glance in the other direction, the confused look her on her face. "I meant why I was staring..." he told her, an eyebrow slightly arced. "Don't you get compliments on your eyes like always?" he asked. "I mean they're big. Well... that probably sounds really fuckin' gay, but um... they're nice." Tell a girl she's got 'big' eyes, yeah, that'll win you some prizes.

"Compliments on my eyes?" Her smile was back, wide and amused before she laughed a bit. "Oh, no... not really! I mean, my mom tells me I have pretty eyes, and not to gunk them up with make up and stuff... er, somehow I don't think... that's the same." Probably not. She lifted a hand the side of her face a bit self consciously. "They're not as nice as yours though! They're only one color and everything." So lame, but Jessalyn wasn't really used to this particular shift in subject. Using the green marker in her hand, she began to draw an eye on the paper next to her name. Having something to do with her hands made her feel better. "Oh! But it doesn't sound gay," she was quick to add, a bit belatedly, in case he thought that it was. "Saying that I have big eyes? Er, nice, big eyes. It's sweet so... thank you."

"Cool." he grinned. "I don't know, girls are weird, gotta pick the compliments just the right way or something. Most of the time anyways. Like you can't be like 'you've got a nice rack' or something because they'd totally freak, but a girl telling a guy that he's got a nice package? Totally opposite reactions. Weird. What were we talking about again? Oh, eyes, sorry, boobs apparently distract me. Well, everything kinda distracts me. And now I'm like totally talking about nothing and yeah... stopping now." he said, his face flushing a little around his cheeks. He shook his head and picked at a fraying hole in the knee of his jeans. "Your welcome, by the way."

"That's because guys think about sex a lot more than girls do," she explained. "And guys want girls thinking about their dicks, right? Er! Sorry, package? But girls don't want to be just a pair of boobs to a guy." She glanced down at her top and tugged it down just a bit. "Though I don't think there's anything wrong with a guy thinking you have a nice chest. It's better than them thinking you're flat, or something." She was thin, so she didn't have much in way of breasts, sadly. A boy once told her she barely had a handful, which... well, it sucked. She looked at him and grinned. "You're not talking about nothing! You're talking about compliments and stuff. That's something." She noted the flush on his cheeks and felt herself relax again. If cute boys could feel embarrassed, then she was okay.

He flushed a little more when she said 'dick' again, and then forced himself to look away when she tugged her top down just a bit. You will not stare at this chick's chest. She just told you that she wants to be more than boobs to a guy. Fuck. "I think girls think about sex just as much as boys do." he added. "Just... they're better at hiding it. Which totally isn't fair. I think that sucks the most about being a guy, seriously. Girl sees a hot dude and thinks about doing stuff with him? No one even knows unless she says something. Guy sees a hot chick? Spelled out for the whole world to see." Why are you talking about this?

Jessalyn stared at Madock for a second or two before she burst into laughter. "I think you've got a point. That must suck for guys to have their bodies react in such an obvious way. Though it's not always comfortable for a girl when she's sitting around and thinking about a guy like that. Sure, it's not like it's out there for the world to see, or anything." She was thoroughly amused by the turn in topic and she looked back down at her notebook, grinning as she colored in the green eye. "So, I totally feel for you and the potential humiliation you could experience should you ever fantasize about a girl in public. If I ever see you walking down the hallway with your books in front of your lap, I'll know why... and I promise I won't call you out on it." She would have to ask Ransom how he deals with that stuff. Being a werewolf, she felt she was a bit more sexual than she would be if she were completely human, but she saw nothing wrong with it.

He swallowed, mostly because he was wondering if she ever sat around in class thinking about a guy like that. "Thanks." he said, a smile coming through despite his still reddened cheeks. "I appreciate you being kind enough not to run shouting through the halls that I have a boner should that happen. Though I'm usually smart enough to get my brain off of that topic before it gets that far south."

"Then you're probably stronger than most boys," she said with another grin. He was pretty funny... and nice. So that was... er, nice. "You're blushing pretty bad." Jessalyn reached up to poke at his cheek with the non-inky side of her marker. "Am I making you uncomfortable? We can talk about something else! I don't think arousal and boners is probably the best subject for us, or something."

The fact that she noticed his blushing just made his cheeks darken further to the point they were almost burning. "No, you're not making me uncomfortable..." he told her. "Just not used to girls who don't like gasp or pale in the face of a conversation like this." he smiled. "Usually they hear the word 'dick' and run for the hills screaming. That or giggle uncontrollably and whisper to their girlfriends."

"Oh! Well, I guess I could do those things... my best friend is a boy, and I have a brother and stuff, so those things don't really embarrass me." Jessalyn shrugged, still smiling at his pink cheeks. "I've noticed though, when I do say things like that, guys get red faced and stammer for a bit, so I guess both sexes sort of react to it? I mean, if you say dick or whatever to your guy friends, you probably have no embarrassment about it, right?" Maybe she should keep her conversations a bit cleaner... she didn't like embarrassing people. Like Charlie and Ransom, and her lightsaber comment. But sometimes she didn't really recognize the boundaries between her thoughts and her mouth.

"Well it's not that embarrasses me..." he said, trying to think of the right word to describe what hearing her say a vulgar word or two or talk about something like they were talking about did to him. "It's... different, but not bad. Just different to hear a girl say stuff like that. I like it though. I mean... not like that. Like not like I'm like... wanting to jump you or something because you said 'dick' but I like that you're not afraid to I guess... if that makes sense."

She watched him speak, her eyes occasionally falling down to his lips. She liked the way they formed words. Her own lips twitched to the side for a moment before she nodded. "It makes sense." He didn't want to jump her. Though that wasn't the point of what he was saying at all. "I guess I'm really not a gasping, giggling kind of girl when it comes to certain words? I don't go out of my way to say those things all the time, or to like, shock people. If it comes up in conversation then... though I can just imagine the reactions I would get if I walked down the hall saying things like that." She wouldn't be invisible then, would she? Leaning her head back against the wall, she kept her eyes focused on his face, wishing he were closer so she could smell him better. "Do you like being here? Since you're sort of new and everything."

He followed suit and leaned back against the wall too, shrugging slightly at her question. "It's okay I guess." he said. About as okay as a town could be when you knew the reasons why the family even moved there in the first place. But he couldn't exactly tell her that they moved to be closer to the family that his sister was about to be married into this upcoming summer. Then she'd really think that he was weird. "It's cold. Not used to that part just yet. California to the snowy north was quite a change."

"It's only going to get worse," she said. "Colder, I mean. This isn't really anything compared to what will happen. Lots of snow... and ice. And more snow. I hope you have a good coat." Without really thinking much about it, she reached over to take his hand, turning it palm up in her own before she began to draw a ladybug on him with the thin, red marker. "I like going out in the snow, especially to the lake. It gets even colder around the water, but if you dress warmly enough, it's worth it because the water gets really pretty." She liked run about in her wolf form, but she couldn't say that. "I think I'll go to California someday. Maybe. I want to see Rodeo Drive, and all of those really nice clothing stores."

He raised a brow at her when she took his hand, but he didn't pull it away from her. If she was going to draw something, the last thing he wanted her to do was smudge it up because he jerked away in the middle of it. "I have a good coat." he nodded, eyes fixated on the drawing as it formed. "Do you like... ice skate or anything?" he questioned.

"Ice skate?" she asked, tilting her head to the side as she began to draw the ladybug's head. "I can skate. I just don't go and do it a lot unless I have someone to go with me. At least if I fall with someone beside me, it's more funny than if I do it alone. I can't ice skate on the lake, obviously... it's too big and everything, but the rink is nice." And the ladybug needed little dots on it's back of course. "Do you ice skate?"

"I have... like once. At a rink." he told her with a little nod. "Busted my ass more than once so I haven't tried again, but cold weather and ice and skating kinda go hand in hand. All the movies ya know, mittens and holding hands and skating... and falling too." he grinned. "But yeah, the water would be fun to see too in the cold. All the snow and stuff near it."

"We could go skating together sometime," Jessalyn suggested, not really paying much attention to what she was saying as she was too busy concentrating on finishing the ladybug in his hand. "I mean, without the holding hands and stuff. And I doubt you wear mittens. But like... we could do the falling thing. If you ever wanted to." She finished and leaned back with a satsified smile before releasing his hand and capping the marker. Jessalyn set her hands on top of her notebook and finally refocused on him properly. "You're a football player, you should be more graceful!"

"Well technically you already held my hand just now so it wouldn't be much of a change to do it in the snow. I mean... hold hands in the snow, not actually like do it in the snow. That'd be like way cold and well, yeah, no." he said, shaking his head. "And I'm plenty graceful, you'll just have to come seem me play so I can prove it, won't you?"

She couldn't help but laugh again. It was refreshing to see that even the popular people in school could ramble as bad as she could. She had sort of pictured Madock as pretty smooth, maybe sort of cocky too... but he seemed pretty down to earth and genuine. And he smelled really nice. Like... beaches? "Yeah, I don't think I could handle doing er, it, in the snow. As hot as it could be, I doubt it would do anything but give my butt frostbite." Jessalyn pushed her hair behind her ears and suddenly wished she had done something pretty with it that day. Had she brushed it? She couldn't remember. The thought had her smoothing her hair down in what was hopefully a subtle gesture. "I'll come see you play sometime... I figure if you're good on the football field, then you have to have enough grace to skate without falling too much. I mean, I'm not like... you don't have to skate with me or anything," she said quickly. "Just if you ever get bored or whatever. Not like you would... I'm sure you have a pretty busy social life and everything..." Oh lord, she needed to quit now. She wasn't asking him out - Jessalyn rarely did that - but she didn't want him to think she was and freak out or something.

He tilted his head as she rambled. He couldn't tell if she was asking him out or not. He wouldn't have minded if she had, but he wasn't sure if he would ask if she would freak out on him about even thinking that was possible. "No." he said with a smile. "I don't really do all that much. I mean... football during the week, practice and stuff and parties and stuff on the weekends, or games or whatever if we got em. I wouldn't mind skating with you though. Sounds kinda fun actually but um..." Should he ask? Would that just ruin the whole thing? "I wouldn't have to be bored to hang out with you." he told her. That much was safe. "You seem pretty cool so far. And you're kinda cute so... Yeah, that totally wasn't supposed to come out so I should really shut up while I'm ahead."

Football games, practice and parties seemed like plenty to do. Much more than Jessalyn did. She generally stayed home on the weekends to make clothes. Unless she decided to crash a party, that was always fun. But it sounded like he seemed pretty willing to ice skate with her, so that was nice. More than nice! If he was being serious and not just saying it to make her happy, even if he had no intention of actually following through. Jessalyn smiled at him as he spoke, occasionally get whiffs of his cologne. It smelled just as good as the rest of him. Her cheeks flushed a bit and she grabbed a bit of her skirt to pick at the material, keeping her hands busy. "Pretty cool is good! And kinda cute is better than no cute at all so... okay! We can totally go do that sometime if you want. Uhm..." She remembered she had a cell phone and pulled it out of her bag quickly. And then she handed it to him. "Can you put your number in there? I'm still trying to figure it out myself and I can't seem to work it right." Gabe had tried to show her but she'd long since forgotten his instructions.

That got a grin from him. "Technologically challenged?" he questioned as he punched in his name and number into her phone. "No worries. Half the time, I couldn't work a DVD player if I tried. I don't think they like me much. Or maybe I'm just impatient and press the buttons too much or something." he laughed. Well at least she hadn't freaked out about him calling her cute. That was good right? His eyes flicked up just as a ghostly being was passing by the window, looking in at the two of them. His fingers stopped moving about halfway through his number and he sat and watched the being for a moment. Then he blinked and glanced down, half forgetting what he'd been doing until he recognized the beginnings of his number and finished it off, saving it into her phone. "Now you just gotta text me so I can program you in." he smiled as he held out the phone for her to take. "And in advance, forgive any random messages late at night. Sometimes I get bored."

"Sort of? I mean, I can use the number pad okay, but everything else is a bit confusing to me. I think my fingers are too big to push the right buttons." Which wasn't the case at all, but it felt that way sometimes. She was still happy about Madock giving her his number though. She only had a couple in her phone, and now she was adding one more. Her gaze followed his when he happened to look up, and she saw the ghost float by the window. Seeing it was pretty cool, but she didn't think it would stop being weird at the same time. She didn't look away again until she realized he was handing her phone back. "Thanks! Uhm... let me try..." She tried to remember what Gabe had taught her. Wasn't there a way to have a menu with words rather than the pictures? It took her longer than it probably should have, but she finally managed to get a :) sent to Madock's phone. Ecstatic once the Message Sent! confirmation appeared, Jessalyn shifted, drawing her legs up underneath her and turning toward him. Her eyes swept over his body, as if waiting for his phone to ring. "I think I did it! Hopefully you'll get it... and I don't mind random late night messages..." Not that she had ever got one before, but she was sure she would enjoy it. "I get bored at night sometimes too, so..."

As if signaled by the sweep of her eyes, his phone vibrated in his pocket and he shifted to get it out of his cargo pants. "Woo! You're coming up in the world Jessa." he grinned, showing her the message in his phone. He sent a fast reply of Good, I'll have someone to talk to that might not get bored w/ me. back to her and waited for her phone to ring in her hand.

"If you call me Jessa, do I get to call you Mad? Or Dock?" She grinned and then shrieked when her phone began to vibrate. It fell from her hand to the floor between them and she snatched it up quickly, embarrassed. "I thought it was suppose to make actual noise." Noise wouldn't scare her that way. But when she hit the green button, his message came up. "It's there! Right there, see?" She turned her phone over to show him. "You did that really quickly too... I'm impressed!"

"You can call me whatever you wanna call me." he told her. "And you can make it make noise." he said, reaching over to take the phone from her and turning the ringer up, showing her how to do it herself. "It's probably on vibrate so you don't get in trouble in class, but you just turn it down when you're in school and up when you're not." he explained.

"I have a friend named Dock, who lives in a clock and plays with his..." Jessalyn trailed off from her poem and smiled happily when he showed her how to turn on the ringer. Why is it that she couldn't figure this stupid stuff out herself? She was going to sit in bed later, with the little book that came with the phone, and learn every single trick of the thing. "I only got this recently," she explained with a sheepish grin. "My mom thought Marquette was small enough of a town that a cell phone was silly... she said you could just step outside your door and yell for someone and they'd hear you. But ever since the... weird stuff, she's been a bit more paranoid about getting in touch with me." Not that he asked for an explanation. "Thanks for that though. And spending lunch with me."

He grinned at her and gave her a little wink. "No problem." he said. "It was fun. And I'll be expecting some interesting text messages, doll." Doll was good for a nickname for her, he thought. She did kind of look like a doll. Big eyes. Awesome big eyes. He leaned over just a bit to nudge her shoulder with his. Well sort of, since she was much smaller than he was, even sitting down. "Might have to do this again sometime."

"I think I could come up with some interesting messages... " In fact, she knew she could. If she gathered up enough courage to actually text him. Ransom would be so proud of her. Making a new friend and learning to text! She nudged him back, as well as she could anyway. The closeness allowed her to breathe him in better. "Most days I eat in the cafeteria, so... you can always come over and say hi if you want. Or if I'm not there..." She lifted her arms up, as if presenting the hallway to him. "I'm here. Exciting, right?" Jessalyn slipped her phone back into her bag, along with her notebook and markers. And then she turned and took his hand again, flipping his palm up. "Be careful of the ladybug. If people ask you what it is, you can just tell them it's a manly bug like... a tick. Ew, no, that's not a good one. I don't know, make up a name like Gargatuan and tell them it's an African potency bug or something. Or just wash it off."

Madock had to laugh at that. "I don't think that ladybugs have the ability to be 'manly'." he told her. "If they did, they'd be called like... manbugs or gentlemanbugs or something, right? I'll just tell them that this cute chick wanted to draw on me. Like I'm gonna turn down a cute chick, psh."

"I could just give it some little muscles and a mean face," Jessalyn said, glancing down at his hand again. "Then it could be a manlybug. You'll start a trend... everyone will want one." He kept calling her cute! She couldn't quite believe it, though it was quite nice. It made her blush a bit, and struggle over whether or not she was suppose to call him cute back. Was she? He was cute. Really cute. But she didn't want him to think she was saying so because he said it first! "I like the way you smell," she blurted out instead. "Like... oceans and sand or something."

He blinked a little having definitely not expected that from her. "Uh... what?" he questioned and then realized afterward what she was talking about. "Oh, yeah... my shampoo it's like 'beach' scented or something. Probably what you smell. Never had someone tell me they like the way I smell. I'm just glad I ran into you before football practice and not after. I don't think you'd like the way I smell then." he grinned. He leaned over then to sniff her because, well... she'd told him he smelled good, maybe she smelled good too. And she did. "I like the way you smell too."

"Well, then I like your shampoo. And some guys smell really bad after sweating a lot, yes... sometimes they don't. I guess it depends on the guy." Though she did like more than his shampoo. She liked his scent. Jessalyn jerked only a touch when he leaned into her. She quickly realized he was just sniffing her, but sometimes she had that instinct to protect herself, even if there was nothing to protect herself from. She grinned and took a strand of her hair to her nose. "I guess that shower thing really works then. It's just soap though... I don't have any like, body wash or anything. And my shampoo is coconut! It's really the only thing I splurge on."

"Well it smells nice. You smell nice. Is nice cheesy? Does it make me sound like a total dork or something?" he questioned as he leaned a bit away from her again. "Nice. Nice is such a boring word."

"No, it makes you sound sweet! Not a lot of people randomly tell me I smell nice." She was usually telling them. Or not saying anything at all, if she didn't like their smell. "You could always come up with a new word for nice. Like..." Jessalyn opened up her big bag again and pulled out her pocket Thesaurus. Flipping through the pages, she found 'nice'. "You could say I smell cordial. Or charming. Oh! Winsome is good... 'you smell winsome'. Pleasurable... lovely." Smiling, Jessalyn looked up from the book. "Madock, you smell so well-mannered."

He chuckled and shook his head. "Well-mannered. That's a new one. I kinda like pleasurable, only that makes it sound like I wanna hump you or something because of the way you smell and it's our first meeting. Gotta at least wait to a first date, right?" Madock smiled. Then the smile flickered and faded out completely. "Not that I'd like... want to do that on a first date either..." he said, shaking his head and rubbing the back of his neck. "Lovely? Lovely. Yeah, you smell lovely." he told her, hoping she'd just ignore his fumbling.

His fumbling only made her smile, and really, it was sort of adorable. "I've wanted guys because of the way they smelled before. Scent is a powerful aphrodisiac to some, you know?" And she was fine with admitting that, just so he wouldn't feel embarrassed by saying what he did. It was the truth. Jessalyn focused on smell more than anything... and then touch. It was probably why she found a lot of people attractive who might not be found attractive by those who go solely by looks. "Lovely has a much more gentlemanly sound to it than pleasurable does though... so I think it depends on what kind of circumstances you find yourself in. Both words could work, depending."

The flush on his cheeks didn't recede, but the smile did come back as he glanced at his watch. "Um... I think I made you late." he told her. "I coulda um.. Walk you to class maybe? If you're going I mean. Unless you just wanna keep talking. I don't think I've seen a teacher walk down the hall all day... And yeah. Lovely does sound a bit better for now at least. Might change it later, but I'll letcha know." His brain couldn't help but wonder if she was one of those that liked scent enough for it to be an aphrodisiac. The mere thought had him wanting to be sure to always smell nice, just in case she came around.

"Oh!" Class!" As sparse as they were, given most kids didn't show up for school that day, Jessalyn knew she would feel badly if she skipped. And her mom would be mad if she found out. "You can walk to me class if you want? I think I'd like that." She gathered her bag and smiled at him. "I can keep you from tripping over anyone else if you happen to get distracted by wayward ghosts." Jessalyn was definitely someone who preferred scent. Some people already knew that - especially the ones she had frightened off when she tried to get close enough to smell them.

He smiled as he got up, shifting his bag on his shoulder and offering a hand out to her to help her up. "Good then." Inwardly, he was grinning like an idiot, but he tried to tone that down a little. The smile that came out was a bit brighter than an average smile but at least he didn't look like a dork.

She took his hand and pulled herself up, knowing that she was going to look like a big freak in class if she sat there sniffing her hand where he'd touched her. Which was going to be hard to resist doing. He had strong hands, or well, one strong hand anyway. She assumed that came from sports and stuff, which she didn't mind. Slipping her bag on her shoulder, Jessalyn smiled up at him and started off toward her next class. "Are you going to go to class too? I think some kids left early since there seems to be no point in being here with the school half empty."

He shrugged. "I made it through this much of the day already. Might as well stick it out for the last little bit. I think I have practice today, but I've got the sneaky suspicion that coach is gonna cancel. Half the guys didn't even show at school so I know they're not going to come just for practice." Her fingers were warm when she pulled herself up and he was half tempted to reach over and take her hand again, but he resisted. Well, sort of resisted, stuffing his hands in his pockets to fight that urge.

"You showed up, so I guess you've got more dedication than they do," Jessalyn said teasingly. She wished there were more people at school with them, just so they could see someone like Madock actually talking to her. But then again, she kind of liked the halls being so sparse. She felt like she had him all to herself more than anything. "I think things will get back to normal once the ghosts disappear... if they do, I mean." She really hoped that they did, only so people would stop being so afraid. She smelled it all over the place, and it was hard to remain optimistic around it. "I'm glad you tripped over me today," she told him. "And that no bones were broken or anything... though I think it would have been worth it anyway."

"Glad you think my pain would have been worth us meeting." he grinned, but he understood what she meant and nodded. "Pretty glad I tripped over you too." he agreed, and he meant it. He was glad that he'd tripped over the girl. He was just busy now trying to figure out if he'd technically asked her out or vice versa. Or maybe neither one of them had asked either one out. He wasn't about to ask her, then he'd really sound like a goof. He'd just have to be sure and text her later and see if she answered. Then maybe he could figure out if she even liked him enough for a date. And why was he thinking about dating at a time like this? People didn't do that. Ghosts were about and he was trying to figure out if a girl might have a chance of liking him. It was then that he realized he'd spent a long time just thinking and not talking. "I'm sorry." he said suddenly. "Sometimes I just... zone out. It's not like I'm not paying attention to you... I am... I just really hope you weren't talking and I missed something..."

Jessalyn hadn't been talking while he zoned out. In fact, she had zoned out a bit herself, as she was prone to do when she was deep in thought, or giving something careful consideration. She thought Madock was nice. And cute... and smelled er, well, lovely. And he was flirtatious, which was really nice. So many boys simply talked to her because they had to, or because they wanted something. Which she didn't mind at all, but it was nice to have a boy actually talk to her because he'd wanted to. And because he hadn't wanted advice on other girls. That didn't mean Madock wouldn't ask her about other girls later, but that would be later. Not now. When he spoke, she blinked and looked up at him before grinning. "Oh! Yes, well, I was telling you about my deepest, darkest sexual fantasy," she teased. "But if you didn't hear it... I really don't think I can gather the courage to recount it all over again. Sorry."

His lips parted in a bit of a surprised look when she said that. "I uh... wow." he said, a nervous little goofy laugh emerging from him. He bit his lower lip and shook his head, glancing down at her. "Please, doll, gotta make new fantasies. I mean they're gonna change now that you've met me, right?" he smiled.

She laughed and nodded. "Yes, I guess they are. I'm picturing a lot of helmets and pigskin somewhere in there." Or maybe just beaches with green and blue water. She supposed the location of a fantasy didn't really matter did it? Just what went on in that location. Or something. Admittedly, Jessalyn had never really given it much thought.

"Or you in my helmet. Or my jersey." He blinked and shook his head, but that thought? Permanently etched. "That... was totally not supposed to come out. I promise I'm not some sex fiend." And he wasn't really. His experience was was limited at best. Sex? Not. He hadn't done that yet. Didn't mean he didn't want to, he was a boy after all. A teenage boy. A teenage boy that was probably way past when he should have done it.

"I think I might look really silly in your helmet," Jessalyn said with a smile, despite the pinkening of her cheeks. Like he would have any fantasies about her. She wasn't big breasted, and she didn't have a lot of meat on her bones. Her hair was a bit crazy - some days anyway - and she was called 'weird' more often than not. Guys didn't fantasize about weird girls. They fantasized about girls like Chrissy Chapman, or even Charlotte Angel. Jessalyn couldn't help but laugh a bit at him and she reached out to nudge him with her elbow. "You're a boy. We talked about this already, didn't we? Boys think about sex. So do girls. It's a natural part of life!" Mating was definitely a part of hers. She had done it a few times... but it had never been anything remotely mindblowing. Then again, she probably shouldn't call it mating.

He smiled. "I dunno, you wearing anything of mine could be sexy." he told her. And he managed to hold back the blush this time, letting his face return to a normal color. He thought she looked just fine. Too top heavy just looked dumb and she was tiny so it would have made her awkward. She was different sure, but he thought she was cute in a unique sort of way. And maybe that's what he liked about her. She wasn't a cookie cutter girl like most of the females he knew.

"I don't think I've ever heard anyone describe me as sexy," Jessalyn admitted, but it was clear she was pleased with it. She was thoroughly confused though. Did he like her? Or just think she was pretty? Jessalyn wasn't entirely sure. She didn't to ask and run the risk of sounding like a dweeb. They hadn't ever spoken before. In fact, he hadn't even known her name before this afternoon. So she wasn't sure if this was a one time deal, or if... Jessalyn tore herself away from sinking into her thoughts and zoning out again. He was a football player. And cute! He had to have other girls who liked him. And he probably thought a lot of girls would be sexy in his jersey. Where was Ransom? She could ask him for advice and see what he thought. "You know, I don't just like, come out and talk like this with everyone. I mean, if they want to talk, that's great! But I don't usually... er... flirt so much."

His lips quirked up a little into a smile. "I don't either." he told her truthfully. "Most of the time I zone out too much for girls to take the time to get to know me. Especially the popular girls. The cheerleaders. You're supposed to focus your attention on them entirely or something and my attention... is bouncy at best." he shrugged. "But um... you don't flirt a lot?" he questioned. He wondered if that meant she liked him. Could she like him? Maybe she just thought he was okay to talk to. Didn't mean she liked him. She didn't really know him. But, there was always the chance to get to know him, if she liked him enough to make that effort.

"A lot of girls are like that, not just cheerleaders. I mean, I think girls like to think that the guy they like are only focused on them. Like there's nothing around that's more interesting. I think some guys can be like that too, but I find it hard to concentrate all the time. A boy I know asked me for some advice on this girl he liked, and I told him if they went on a date, to pay attention to her. The world shouldn't exist for him but for her. That's the romantic side of things. It might not always be realistic but..." Jessalyn shrugged and wondered if she was making any sense. "And no, I don't think I flirt a lot. Er, maybe I do and I just don't realize it. I guess it's rare when I'm actually aware of it." Which she so was right now. "But you're very easy to talk to. I don't feel weird about it or anything, as long as you don't." She didn't really embarrass easy, though it was pretty easy for her to embarrass others without meaning to.

He shook his head. "No, I don't feel weird about it." he told her, flashing her a little smile. "I mean, it's different. I'm not used to flirting a lot because girls are just... difficult or not interested or interested for all the wrong reasons." he shrugged. "It's easy to talk to you though." he agreed. "So cool then. Easy to talk to each other, good sign yeah? Or something like that. Or maybe I'm talking in circles again."

"Talking in circles is better than awkward silences," Jessalyn said. Although she didn't think there could be awkward silences with him. He zoned out, she zoned out... they could zone together and it would be okay. She only felt awkward when someone she was speaking to was emitting uncomfortable emotions around her. Thankfully, he wasn't. "We girls like to make things difficult sometimes. I don't really know why. I guess you just have to decide who is worth the difficulties and who isn't. Or something."

Approaching her classroom he gave her a smile as he leaned against the frame of the door with his shoulder. "Well, when you're already late for class because I couldn't stop talking to you, I'd say you've caught my interest enough to be worth the difficulties. At least at the moment you seem pretty worth it." he told her. The thought occurred to him that he was probably coming on way too strong and he better reel himself in before he ended up pushing her away, or making her run for her life, that would be bad. "So uh... class." he said with a little gesture to the door. Not that he was really ready to see her disappear into the room, but he couldn't keep her out much longer. "You should... like... call me or something." he suggested. "Or text me... or lose my number if I'm being a total doof."

Jessalyn wasn't thinking he was coming on too strong. She was sort of taken aback by his interest in her, only because a tiny part of her wondered if he was actually sincere. The bigger part of her, however, was ecstatic and bouncy. Cute boy liked her! She could tell... it wasn't like he was being coy or hedging it. "Class," Jessalyn agreed with a smile. "I'll call you... or text you. Whichever my fingers let me do with the phone." She glanced toward the door again, thinking it was best to go now before she did something totally bizarre... like shove her cheek against his to scent him or something. "Uhm... okay. So... class." She stepped backward, toward the door, though she wished she didn't really have to. "I think maybe you're worth the... boy difficulties too. So..." Her smile widened and she gave him a tiny wave before ducking into class.

He was still grinning when she shut the door behind her and he practically bounded down the hallway towards his own classroom. He maybe sorta had a date. Kinda. Maybe not. But... he had something, right? A promise of a call. And a cute girl that apparently thought he was cute. And he was worth 'boy difficulties' so that was good too, right? He honestly just didn't want to think too hard about it. He was, however, looking forward to that phone call. If it came that is. He was still grinning when he got to his class, manbug still on his palm. Ghosts or not, today was a pretty decent day.