Would You Believe?

Who: Drea and Kyle
When: after school
Where: corridor

The day sucked. Hell, the weekend had sucked too. So yeah, why should today be any different? He was trying to deal with the fact that Gabe was claiming to be a werewolf, and that Alexis apparently didn't care much for apologies and Kyle? He sucked. All around. People might not come out and say that, but given his reactions with Gabe, and his mistakes with Alexis, they didn't really have to. And since everyone was stuck at school due to the snow, Kyle couldn't even retreat to his house, and to his bedroom and his pot. The gym was already crowding with people now that classes were over, so he couldn't even go there and play basketball to work things out in his head.

That didn't stop him from going into the gym, grabbing a basketball and leaving though. He found an empty corridor where the teachers either had already checked for stray students, or hadn't checked quite yet, and sat himself down. He threw the basketball against the opposite wall, catching it when it bounced back to him. He formed a rhythm and didn't quite realize he was taking out his aggressions on the basketball, or the wall. At least not until he tossed it angrily and it bounced at an odd angle away from him to start rolling down the hall. And he watched it go, too lazy and pissed off to actually go after it.

Drea did not like this. She reeeeeeally really didn't. It was bad enough being stuck at school for as long as they had to be stuck for on a regular basis, but overnight?! Christ, sleeping in the gym with all those people was seriously going to murder her. And cafeteria food twice in a row? Not her idea of a good time. So it was in a sour, restless mood that she left her last class. She didn't go straight to the gym, halfway hiding out in a bathroom until things sounded like they'd more or less cleared out.

Until the loud bouncing began, anyway. Frowning vaguely to herself, she emerged just in time to see a basketball roll by her. Out of reflex, one foot went out to stop it, and she looked down the hall to it's supposed owner. He looked vaguely familiar, but a lot of people did now. Drea bent and picked up the ball, still a bit ginger with herself, and started to slow-dribble it back in his direction.

Kyle cocked an eyebrow when the girl grabbed his basketball. Well, at least he didn't have to go after it now. He drew his knees up and rested his arms over them, watching her. "You know how to dribble," he said, rather lamely. Not everyone knew how to dribble, he had seen enough basketball tryouts to know that for sure. "I know you... maybe." He just couldn't figure out where, other than school. Kyle studied her closely. "You ever ice skate?"

Drea passed the ball back and forth between her hands. Her back was still tender, but at least her arms worked fine. She just couldn't get all fancy-pants or anything. Not at the moment. She smirked just a touch at the question and nodded a bit. "Not in a faggy fruity way, but yeah," she told him. "I don't think you know me. You may have seen me whip Gabe Winters' ass after ya'll's practice sometime. I'm Drea," she said, in case the name rang a bell or something. She doubted it.

Kyle blinked and then chuckled at her comment. You didn't hear many girls say faggy fruity these days. Wow. "Yeah, that might have been it... you're the hockey chic... er, girl." He didn't need another female pissed off at him today. "Kyle," he said in way of introducing himself. He eyed his basketball in her hands. "Thought everyone would be in the gym or auditorium by now... not looking forward to the massive sleepover either?"

She wouldn't have minded being called a chick. In fact, it was kind of preferable to 'girl', but she didn't say so. "Somethin' like that, yeah," Drea said with a little half-smirk. She helped herself -- kind of slow and carefully -- to a seat on the floor next to him. Not too close but not too far either. He smelled nicely like Boy, and it was a comforting scent, even if he was sorta upset-tinged. "God no, fuck that shit, I'd rather sleep outside," she said conversationally, offering the basketball back to him. "It's goddamn ridiculous, I dunno why they didn't see this coming sooner and just send us home."

Reaching out, he took the basketball and stretched his legs out in front of him. He circled the basketball in his fingers and felt himself grinning a touch. "You'd be really cold outside," he pointed out. "Wouldn't you rather just sleep in the janitor closet or something?" He began to shoot the ball up above him, catching it easily as it came back down. "I would have thought someone would have watched the weather channel... or you know, when the snow started coming down, maybe thing... hey, we ought to send these kids home. Now we're all stuck." Which sucked. Like everything else. "I miss my video games," he admitted with a laugh. "And my bed... and my room. Can't even keep myself occupied with playing basketball in the gym or something with everyone filing in there."

Drea wrinkled her nose up. A janitor's closet with stinky mops and stuff? No thanks. She'd take people-smell over that particular one, barf. But most humans didn't think in those terms, their noses weren't as good. Which she'd always thought must be kind of a boring life, not being able to smell much. Like they were missing out on a lot. But who was she to judge? Maybe it was awesome, who knew. Him saying he missed his video games kind of made her grin, though, because that was such a boy-thing to admit to. She would probably miss video games too, if she had any. "Yeah well don't get all weepy about it just yet," she said jokingly, elbowing him in the arm just a bit. "We got a long night ahead of us. I'm sure you'll pull through somehow. ... though some basketball does sound pretty good. Or would, if y'know ... gym was free. Which you just said. Yeah." There went that ramble again.

Kyle chuckled and then grinned, taking the elbow jab good naturedly. "Yeah, I'll try not to sob and embarrass myself just yet. Maybe around midnight, when the longing gets to be too much." He looked at her and then back to the basketball thoughtfully. "Do you actually know how to play basketball?" So many girls he knew pretended to know... then they dribbled around and shot granny shots. That wasn't basketball. "Because we could totally find an empty classroom and set it up to play."

"Do I know how to play basketball?" she scoffed, grinning back a bit. Oh look, she'd gotten him to smile, go her. "Of course I know how to play basketball, what kind of lame-ass would I be if I didn't? However, I am going to have to take a rain-check on that one, 'cause I'm sorta recovering from a nasty spill off of my board, so," she shrugged and gave him a chagrined face, truly regretting that. She didn't want to rip still-healing things open, after all. Nor did she want to give him a bad impression of her game, but that was just pride talking.

"So all the people who don't know how to play basketball are lame asses?" Kyle asked with a small laugh. "Sorry about your er, injury though. You like to skateboard?" He imagined that's what she meant by 'board'. Kyle was an athlete but one thing he sucked at was skateboarding. He didn't have much balance on those things and they tended to roll directly out from under his feet.

"Um yeah, of course,' Drea said, as though that should be obvious. That they were lame asses. She followed it up with a grin, however, hoping that he would know she was joking. Then she was nodding. "Yeah, a skateboard is kinda like my second home? Except when I fall off, then it's like ... a booby-trapped home, I guess. Of course I can't do it in the snow or anything, so it's a seasonal thing, but back home I rode it more than I ever took the bus or anything. Do you know how? To skate?"

Kyle shook his head quickly. "Oh hell no. I mean, no offense to you and your board, but I pretty much suck at staying on one of those things. I can stay on ice skates, no problem, but skateboards? They don't agree with me at all. Sucks." He grinned, not overly heartbroken over it. He had his sports. "I'm guessing by back home you mean where you lived before here? Where was that?"

"Nah, 'tis okay. Plenty of people can't," she said with an amiable shrug. Granted, plenty of people couldn't stay on ice skates either, but at least they were independent of each other. "Back home was Chicago," Drea told him, wrinkling her nose up a bit. Not for Chi-Town, which she loved, but for the inevitable 'omg, why'd you come here?' question that people threw at her. As if she'd had any choice in the matter.

"Chicago? I love Chicago," Kyle said with a grin. "I've been there a couple times, when my dad's gotta go on business. I like going to the baseball games. Saw a Bears game once too. Non-sports related though, it's a nice city. I bet you miss living there, right?" He would. There were a lot of larger cities he would prefer to live in than Marquette.

Drea brightened up when he said he'd been there, because almost nobody'd told her that yet, and it was awesome! "Isn't it sweet-ass?" she asked rhetorically, with a little grin. "I miss it, yeah. Had all my boys in it, y'know? We all grew up in the same neighborhood, and I just know they're all bein' retarded without me." She made a face, but it was in good humor.

"Yeah, it's sweet-ass," Kyle agreed with a laugh. "I think I'd rather live there, than here but... well, you can't choose where your parents make you live, right? And yeah, your boys probably aren't. Most guys are retarded anyway... more so when they don't have a chick around to keep them in line. Unless you were totally retarded with them, then I would bet you're missing them."

"There's retarded and then there's retarded," Drea said, ant he different meanings in the words were pretty obvious. She flashed him a grin and shrugged a shoulder, brushing the comment off. She did miss them, and fiercely. But that part of her life seemed to be over, and she couldn't keep mooning over it. Her mom was dead, things were different now. She was different now. "There's always graduation, right? Chi-Town's got some good schools."

"Touche." Kyle nodded and rested the basketball in his lap finally. "And yeah, graduation... you going to go back to Chicago once you're done here?" Kyle was thinking about going out of state... somewhere warm. A party school, preferably. Who knew? "Are you a senior?" He realized he didn't know... she looked young, but he didn't want to say that and risk incurring more female wrath.

"I dunno," she said, shrugging and nibbling on her bottom lip. She really didn't. It might not be a good idea. But then again, it might be the best idea. It wasn't like Marquette was a peach of a town or anything. "Nope, I'm just a lowly sophomore," she said, giving him a little smile. He was probably a senior. He looked like one. "Are you? Are you heading out once you're free?"

"Maybe. Probably? I don't know. Depends on which colleges I get accepted to. I want to go somewhere warm year round and see what that's like. I don't really think there's a lot keeping me here once schools out. Preferably I'd like to go somewhere where people don't think I'm nuts or whatever." He wasn't sure there was such a place now, if the ghosts were indeed, everywhere.

So he was a senior. Well that was cool for him, maybe he could get somewhere nice and normal. If there was such a thing anymore. "People think you're nuts here?" she echoed, one eyebrow quirking just a bit. Funny, in her experience, Marquette was like ... the last place anyone would think anyone was nuts. Too many people knew shit. Especially now. Even though some of those people had gone nuts, but Kyle seemed sane enough.

"Yeah. My girlf...er, ex-girlfriend thinks so. I'm pretty sure my best friend does, even if he won't say so. I can't... the ghost stuff? I can't see it." He waved his hand around impatiently. "Like, none of them. My friends can't see them when they're with me either. I'm starting to figure out why now, and I have some help, but initially... yeah, given everyone in the world can see and not me? I'm pretty sure they thought I was mental."

"Weird," Drea murmured, staring at him. Then she blinked and shook her head. "I mean ... not like you're weird or anything, I mean ... it's weird. That you couldn't see them. 'Cause they're there. But not that you ... yeah, sorry," she said, pulling a chagrined sort of face. "What is it, how come you can't see them?" she asked, her curiosity getting in the way of any semblance of manners.

He managed a small smile, understanding what she meant. "Yeah, it's weird. Freaky weird, which I assume means I'm weird somehow. I just haven't figured out how. This guy Dorian at Nevermore was gonna help me try and find out. My friends think I'm like... a repellent. They seem to go poof - the ghost - when I come near. Which is why I don't see them. Some random chick in town walked around with me... we saw nothing." And his best friend was apparently a werewolf. "So along with ghosts, people are telling me that there's other things and.. if I can't see them, it's just hard to believe, you know?"

"That's so ... I dunno, it's just ... wow," Drea said, eyebrows lifted. She could see how it would be useful more than anything else. "Then I'm gonna like ... hang out with you all the time, 'cause the ghosts really freak me out," she said, a bit lighter, and gave a bit of a laugh. She had to wonder if that trait applied to everything else, too. Like if she could shift with him around. Not that she was going to try it in school or anything, but it was a valid wonder.

Kyle laughed and then shrugged. "Yeah, sure, why not? I guess it's one way to be useful, you know? Since I can't do much else. I think it'd be kind of cool to see one, but that doesn't look to be an option right now." Kyle looked at Drea curiously. "Did you ever believe in this stuff before... before it all started happening for real?"

That was the question, wasn't it? Drea hesitated for a second, eyes ticking away before they came back to him. "Yeah, kinda," she said, wrinkling her nose up a touch. "My parents ... my mom, I mean, she was pretty ... into learning about stuff." Even though she'd been telling people lately about her true nature ... she kind of didn't want to tell Kyle. Like it would make him feel bad and even more left out or something. "I didn't see much until lately, though," she lied.

"Learning stuff," Kyle repeated slowly. "Lots of people like to learn stuff, but I mean, it's just weird to go out and learn about this stuff. I guess you'd have to experience it first, right? Or like, go out and look for it." Shit, everything was so upside down and weird now. "Do you believe in werewolves?" Kyle asked, rather abruptly, but he found he really wanted to know her answer.

Her eyes widened slightly at the abrupt and oh-so-appropriate question, and her fingers started to fidget with the hem of her shirt. "Um ..." she said intelligently, feeling a blush creep up into her cheeks. Damn, where had that come from? "Yes? I mean ... well, yes. I do." And now he was going to ask her why, and she didn't want to answer that, but she would have to because he was asking and she didn't like to lie to people really and shit. Maybe she should excuse herself to the bathroom or something ...

"I figured." He sighed and thunked his head back against the wall. Drea seemed sane enough. And she believed in weird stuff. And werewolves. Like Gabe, supposedly. Gabe who knew Drea... which made him wonder if Drea knew about Gabe. Cocking an eyebrow, he turned his head and looked at her. "Do you know any? Personally?"

Gah! Another bad question! Drea fidgeted a bit more. Why yes, yes she did. She knew some werecoyotes too, because she was one of them. He just looked all ... disappointed. "Well ... yeah, I do, actually," she said, and sounded almost apologetic about it. She didn't want to blurt out what she was, and hoped he would stop there and not ask who she was talking about.

"Yeah?" Kyle looked away from her, back to the basketball in his hand. He turned it over in his palms, his thumbs pressing into the rubber before he glanced at Drea again. "I do too. I think. I've not seen... but he told me. You think you would believe someone if they told you that, but you've never seen it for yourself?"

Oh ... oh good, he wasn't about to point the finger at her or anything. Drea nibbled on her bottom lip and tried to find an answer that didn't hinge on her being what he was talking about. "It ... depends on who it was, I guess?" she suggested, since that seemed logical. "Do you trust this person?"

"Yeah... wish I didn't, but I do." Gabe was pretty much his best friend, and he'd never lied to him before. That Kyle knew of. "But it's werewolves, you know? It's like... movie shit. It's so bizarre. I can tell when he's lying to me, but... I don't think he was." Kyle frowned and rubbed his thumb against his brow. "My girlfriend freaked out over the ghosts and I blew it off, saying she was paranoid. Needless to say, she's not my girlfriend anymore. I feel like a fucking moron."

Drea shrugged, a bit uncomfortably. She wasn't the best person to confide in, really, and had no idea on how to handle girlfriends. "Well ... I mean, you didn't know," she said, trying to at least make him feel a bit better. "If you're finding out that it's a thing with you ... maybe she'll accept that? ... but your friend, with the werewolves ... I don't think he's lying to you." And she hoped that would be enough.

Kyle managed a small smile. "Yeah. I didn't mean to dump all that on you. That shit always made me uncomfortable and awkward when my friends would do it to me... that relationship stuff. I don't know... we clicked at first. Now we just... don't. Oh well, not like she's the last girl in the world. As for my friend... I don't think he's lying either. That's why I'm freaked out." He threw the basketball lightly against the wall across from him and caught it when it bounced back. "Thanks for hanging with me and everything. I'm not the most exciting person."

"No pffft, that's okay," she said with a little laugh that was slightly nervous still. For perhaps different reasons now, because he was cute and a senior and confiding in her and everything. That kind of thing never happened to her. Not that she should read into it, because she totally wasn't, that'd be stupid. She was just an available ear, that's all. "It's just ... not a good time for anyone," Drea added, as though that were at all helpful. She paused. "... wanna go see if we can catch any freshman making out somewhere and scare the shit out of them?" It was really her only suggestion.

Glancing at her again, Kyle grinned and was thankful she wasn't trying to pile him with advice and wise words. Having someone simply listen was pretty nice. Someone who wasn't mad at him, or thinking he was nuts. "That actually sounds like fun," he said with a small laugh. Clutching the basketball, Kyle stood and stretched before offering a hand to Drea to help her up. "It's been awhile since I've scared the shit out of freshmen. That may be just what I need to feel better... major points to you for suggesting it."

With an embarrassed little laugh-shrug, Drea took Kyle's hand and let him help her up. Something she would adamantly refuse to do if she wasn't hurt. "I just like torturing people, I guess," she said with a head shake once she was up. "So c'mon, let's go be mean chaperones." Giving him a quick grin, she started down the hallway. It was something to do, at least, better than sitting around in the gym.