Harder in Public

Who: Thom & Chrissy
When: Before school
Where: Chrissy's locker

Chrissy made her way through the hallway, avoiding the looks she was getting from everyone. Nose firmly stuck up in the air as if she could give a shit less what people were thinking and whispering about her. She opened her locker and shifted her back pack around to take out the books she'd be needing for her morning classes. A few girls whispered as they walked past her and she clenched her jaw. "You know it's much more fun to gossip about me when I can't fucking hear you, you stupid bitches." she muttered, to herself mostly.

"Yeah, but it'd be much less fun for them if they didn't get to see you being all pissed about it," Thom pointed out, arriving at her locker just in time to hear her angry mutter as he leant against the locker next to hers, as though he did this kind of thing every day. He'd been waiting, placing himself in a quiet corner where he could watch for her arrival unnoticed - people were used to seeing Thom hanging around on his own for no apparent reason, so he'd only got a couple of looks, which was a lot less than he and Chrissy were getting now.

She was a bit surprised by his voice, not expecting him to just appear like that, but she didn't let that show. Instead she painted on a smile and glanced up at him. "I'm not pissed about it." she told him. "Just tired of hearing about my ass, though I'm sure you don't mind it one bit." she smirked. Grabbing one last book from her locker, she stuffed it in her bag and zipped it up. "Morning, Thom."

"You know, there's several ways I could take that comment," Thom pointed out, carefully keeping his tone light, putting on an act for the passing crowds who were more than interested in this nice bit of gossip. "And morning - sleep well?" he asked.

She nodded. "Very." she told him, closing her locker and leaning her shoulder against it as she glanced up at him. "What about you? Dream about me all night?" she teased, her lips twitching slightly into a grin. The whispering only multiplied.

Bitch - she was enjoying this, he was sure. "If I did, I'm hardly going to want the whole school to know, am I?" Thom pointed out. he wasn't a huge flirt even when he was in a real relationship, he wasn't going to pretend to be one now. And if she found that dull, well... if she had a problem with it, she'd have to specifically bring it up.

She giggled at that. He was finding a way to work around saying too much. That was amusing, at least for her. "You'll just have to tell me later then." she said, still grinning as she raised an eyebrow slightly. She was half expecting him to get mad, though he might not show it. She wanted to get a little rise out of him. Making this easy on the boy wasn't part of the deal.

"Maybe you'll be disappointed," he suggested. Since the answer was 'no' - and anyway, he anticipated that if he ever dreamed of Chrissy Chapman, it'd be in a nightmare. "So, what's your first class?" he asked her, trying not to sound like he wanted to get this over and done with.

Ah, rushing it along, or at least trying to. She wasn't about to have that. Again, it wasn't supposed to be easy on him. "I have math, but there's no rush, hun." she said with her grin still firmly in place. "I've still got time to chat with you."

Of course she did - but, he'd agreed to this, so there was nothing more than the barest flash behind his eyes and then he smiled, pleasantly. "Well, good - I was hoping I'd get some times with you," he said, making a point of ignoring everyone around them as though they simply weren't there - he was good at that.

Good boy. she thought to herself. She figured he deserved at least a teeny bit of lenience for that, a bit of a reprieve if you will. She looked down at her watch and shrugged. "We can head that way and talk though." she told him. "Can't be late again or I'll have detention and I'm so not doing detention."

I'm sure you'd be able to think of a way to get yourself out of it, Thom thought. Chrissy had always struck him as a girl who got exactly what she wanted. he was just case in point, after all. "Well, I'll make sure you get there on time then," he promised her.

She smiled and shifted her backpack on her shoulder again and nodded. "Good. Shall we, then?" she questioned, taking a step away from the locker.

Thom took a silent breath, then stepped in beside her, not taking her hand, but close enough that his brushed against hers. He was more aware of the other people around now. He'd never been a particularly publicly demonstrative person - for all that he fronted a band - and the awareness of the people watching was there. He tried to treat it like a performance - that was all it was, after all. But he was a musician, not an actor. Still, it had to be done and so he did it as they started down the corridor.

Once they'd left the main corridor and turned down a very sparingly populated hall she leaned close enough that only he could hear her. "You're not having fun are you?" she teased, knowing all to well that this was harder on him than he'd care to admit. "At least you're a decent actor." she whispered, pulling away again as Kimber and Gisele passed in the opposite direction. She flicked her fingertips in greeting to the open mouthed, surprised girls as they blinked in disbelief.

"Did you really expect me to be?" Thom asked her, quietly, before turning his head slightly to meet Kimber's eyes and nodding slightly. Then he looked back at Chrissy. "This isn't really my kind of thing, you know," he pointed out, though he was vague on what exactly he meant by that.

"I know I'm not." she said softly. She was pretty sure it was more being with her that annoyed him than anything else. "But... you agreed." she reminded him. "So do put on a smile, gorgeous. Act like the happy boyfriend." She raised her brow slightly at him and picked up her normal tone. "Come find me before practice?" she questioned.

"I've smiled," Thom pointed out, though he gave her another one and even went as far as stepping a little closer, putting a hand on her hip. He kissed her yesterday, he could do this today. Just another performance, that was all. "When's practice?" he asked her, honestly not knowing. He didn't have much to do with the cheereading squad.

"Right after school." she told him, shifting her hand to put it atop his on her hip. "Promise I won't keep you long, I know you've got stuff to do." Not that she really knew what he was doing after school, or even that it really mattered, but letting people think she did was a totally different matter.

Thom raised an eyebrow at that, but there was a group of people passing, so he swallowed his comment and came out with a much more acceptable one. With a smile - since she'd asked for it. "I always have time for you, Chrissy."

She grinned. "Awe, you're sweet." she said, her words spoken so sweetly they almost dripped from her lips. They reached her math class then and she leaned against the wall beside the door, continuing to smile at him. "Thanks for getting me to class on time. I'm sure my teacher appreciates it."

Thom knew how this next bit was played as they hovered outside the door. Boy gets girl to class, boy doesn't want to leave, some handholding, an option on kissing, then reluctantly walking away. The end. Thom opted for the handholding as a start as he reached up to snag hers, pulling her in a little. "Well, if he comes and thanks me later, we'll know, won't we?" he joked.

"Guess we will." she agreed with a nod, eyes ticking up to his. She could almost feel the eyes on them as her classmates passed the twosome and headed into the class. "He might even send you a nice thank you basket. Chrissy Chapman on time for once. You're a miracle worker, Harkin."

His quiet laugh at that wasn't faked, as he gave her a more honest smile. "Yeah, yeah - you should get in there though, you can still be late standing outside the door," he reminded her, looking to where the classroom was filling up.

She nodded and shifted her bag on her shoulder again. "Guess I should." she agreed. "See you after school then?" she asked, eyes moving to his once more. "Probably only get you for a few minutes. Maybe you'll get me to practice on time too." she teased.

"Maybe I will," he agreed. At least she was giving him excuses not to have to hang around for hours, he was grateful for that. She could be being a whole lot more of a bitch about it. Maybe she wasn't entirely sure of his limits - and he hoped she wouldn't decide to try and find them. "See you later then," he said, wondering if she'd be expecting him to take that option on a kiss.

She figured he'd have to work his way up to kissing her in public, so she thought she'd let him slide. At least this time. She moved her free hand to brush across his cheek as she moved away from the wall and stood on her tip toes. Her lips found the cheek opposite her hand, close to his ear and she placed a soft kiss against his skin. "You owe me for not making you kiss me." she whispered. Pulling away she returned to her normal height and smiled at him. "See you later."

He didn't respond to that, just meeting her eyes as he pulled away after a natural time. She might be being less of a bitch about this, but still, he didn't like this whole 'owing' shit. "See you later," he told her, before turning and heading off to his own class.