Reflection of the memories> openn

[Scout Nolan]

Outfit

Scout had just left her class. Her bag remained at her side and her phone in her hand. She looked at the screen, it still lifeless. No one had ever texted her or called her. She always thought it was her, but it could be just because no one liked her. That she knew of. She walked out in back of the school to the abandoned field. She walked out to the middle of the open football field.

Scout wasn't quite ready to go to her boring apartment quite yet. Sure it had an Xbox 360 in it, but it's not that fun to play alone. Scout let a sigh escape her lips as she sat down in the grass, setting her bag beside her. She laid back, shutting her eyes to block out the warm sun.

She explored her mind. Thinking about everything that's happened lately. Was she a social reject? Was she not worth everything? So what if she was "emo" as some people call it. It was just her thoughts and how she thought of herself. Scout sighed, shutting her eyes tighter, seeing if she could see black behind her eyelids instead of a deep red. Scout failed, and covered her eyes with her arm and relaxed totally, putting her thoughts of the day in the back of her mind.

[jasper devine]

now the sky could be blue, could be grey,
* without you i'm just miles away.

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Walking alone: something Jasper felt like he was doing more and more of around the campus of Kansas City University. Arms crossed over his chest, he wandered along the edge of the soccer field, head down, hoping to be able to get the hell out of there before all the thickheaded jocks and sports stars came running out for practice. Jasper hated sports. All right, well, perhaps that was a bit of an overstatement; he didn't hate them, exactly. It was more that he didn't quite understand them. His parents and friends had often tried to give some sort of insight on the way soccer and football work, though for some reason, it just never clicked. In addition to his lack of knowledge, his lack of strength and stamina made him look like an absolute idiot on a field or court, thus causing even the smallest public attempt at running, weight lifting, or anything of the sort a guaranteed embarrassment; and Jasper absolutely despised anything that had the potential to cause him any kind of humiliation.

Luckily, though, those days were, basically, just about over. He didn't have to worry so much about physical education now that he was in college, especially in his senior year. Thank God. At this point, Jasper just wanted to grab his diploma and get the hell out. Sure, he had some nice, fun experiences at KCU, but, in all honesty, it was nothing to write home about. Plus, Jasper had never been fond of the area. Kansas City. Yeah, right -- the place was in the middle of goddamn nowhere. Whoever decided to call it a "city" was out of their mind. In fact, it was a mockery to all the real cities out there, like Chicago or Manhattan. He couldn't wait to get out of it, and to finally be able to go home, where his real friends and family were. God, did he miss them all. He missed his mother... as childish and silly as it was for a twenty-two year old man to admit. But, could he be blamed? It had been quite a few years since they had last seen each other. Plus, you were never too old to spend time with mom, right?

Dear God did that sound so schmaltzy. Jasper had always been very sentimental, though, especially for a boy his age. However, he was unable to dwell on the matter further, for he had gotten so wrapped up in his thoughts that he was completely unaware of the young woman sitting in his path.. at least until he tripped over her and practically collapsed on top of her. Luckily, though, he was able to catch himself mid-stumble before he actually fell on her. God, would that really make the situation awkward... well, even more than it already was. He stood there for a moment, in a daze, suddenly feeling panic creep over him. Oh, dear God, what did he trip over? Or who, for that matter? Fuck, hopefully he didn't hurt him, or her, or it. Frantically, wide eyed, and with a horrified look over his face, Jasper spun around, his jaw dropping as he noticed the girl sitting on the grass. "Oh... Oh my God," He muttered before falling to his knees beside her, staring at her with such a terrified look over his face you would've thought he just shot her or something, "I'm so sorry, you have no idea, I totally had no idea anyone was even in here -- are you alright? I didn't hurt you, did I? Oh, fuck, God, I'm so sorry." He spoke like he was having a heart attack, in a rushed voice and extremely worried tone. He held his breath as he waited for her reply, lips quivering nervously while he silently prayed she wasn't hurt... and that she wouldn't bite his head off for being so absent-minded.

[Scout Nolan]

Scout had drifted off to a small sleep. You know, the kind where you're asleep, but you're aware of your surroundings? Yeah, that's the state she was in. And have just been out in the woods this morning getting high and the effects just now wearing off. Man, did she get burnt. She had just layed off the drugs, not doing it three times a day. Sure, there were times that she did it more than once, and some days not at all. She had realized through therapy that there were more important things than drugs all day all the time.

She could hear footsteps on the somewhat tall grass, but she had just ignored it. It was either a professor telling her to get off the grass or the coach doing the same. Or possible a student just walking by for a shortcut to go home. The footsteps sounded like they were getting closer, but she stayed where she was. She was sure that they would go around her, it obvious that she was there. But she was wrong.

A man had tripped over her. She could tell it was a man because of his build and the million sorry's she had heard. Scout's immediate reaction though was; shooting up as if someone shot a gun and looked directly at the man. "Jesus Christ. Watch where you're going!" She was always like that at first. Then realizing what she said, she calmed down a little. She never thought before she spoke. Just one of those qualities she wished she never had.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to blow up on you." She said, somewhat sincere. The man wasn't all angry and stuff, so she didn't have to be either. He did look like someone that would be so calm about her laying in the middle of the field and react as 'who-the-hell-sleeps-in-the-middle-of-the-goddamn-football-field'. She got that a lot. Not that many people cared about her. Nothing new.

[jasper devine]

Well, so much for praying. Those worried pleas he shouted in his head apparently went unanswered, for his fears were realized when almost instantly, she snapped at him. The sudden guilt in his heart caused it to sink along with the edges of his lips, forming an apologetic frown across his pale, frightened face. His cheeks flushed red in embarrassment, though he hung his head shamefully in order to try to hide it, looking like nothing more than a mere child, cowardly ready to accept the consequences of whatever horrible things he had done. He opened his mouth for a moment to apologize once again, though he held back the urge, for fear it would only make matters worse. That was the last thing he wanted to do at this point. In fact, he wanted the opposite, but at the moment was highly afraid to even breathe the wrong way let alone try speaking to her again. He worried that trying to make up for his blunder would only backfire and make her even more angry, which would, in turn, make him even more upset. So, basically, he felt trapped in a lose-lose situation.

As the seconds passed, Jasper grew more and more shame-faced, and more uncertain of what he should do. A part of him said to just leave, for she obviously didn't want to be bothered and he had screwed up enough as it was, and yet, he was too frightened to move. He wanted to fix things, to show her he was very sorry for intruding so rudely upon her, but, just wasn't quite sure how. God, why hadn't he just been paying attention in the first place? He bit his lip regretfully. Jasper had a bad habit of daydreaming, and getting so deeply lost in his thoughts that he became completely unaware of his surroundings. Thus had been the case when he tripped over the poor girl who had been relaxing on the field. He did his best to keep himself focused, but unfortunately concentration really wasn't a strong point of his; not that that even came close to a decent excuse or justification for tripping over someone, though.

He sighed heavily, finally beginning to work up the courage to look at her. His head rose slowly and his lips parted once again, though she had beat him to words. Her apology made him feel a little better, and even caused a small, sheepish smile to cross his face. Well, at least she had calmed down a little bit... sort of. Jasper shook his head, sitting up a little straighter, feeling a bit of his strength return to him as he spoke, "Y-You don't need to apologize..." He said quietly, his voice hushed and still a bit shaky, "I'm sorry, I should've been paying more attention..." Again, he shook his head, though this time more at his own mistake than anything she had done. Normally, he had Emma, his daughter, at his side, to keep him from walking straight into on-coming traffic. But, apparently, he was going to have to start devoting more time on watching where the hell he was going, because he was a complete mess without someone keeping him from any distractions.

His eyes glanced at the ground again before back up at her, worry once again glowing in his warm, hazel eyes. "Are you alright? I didn't hurt you, did I?" Jasper asked, genuine concern in his soft voice. God, would he feel even more terrible had he hurt her. Wouldn't that just be the icing on the cake, huh? First, he completely disrupts any kind of reflection she may have been having, and then on top of that, he causes her harm. His muscles tensed fearfully at the thought. Luckily, though, she didn't seem like she was in any sort of pain, or at least, showed no sign of it if she was. That was sort of a plus, which made him feel a little calmer... for the time being, anyway.

[Scout Nolan]

Scout was in shock. The man seemed kind of scared. What's there to be scared about? Someone like her couldn't possibly intimidate a guy like him. She was just skin and bones, and he... wasn't. She bit her lip, checking herself all over for pain. None at all. Just her heart beating so fast that it felt like it was going to pump out of her chest. Normally, she wouldn't react this way and be more calm. But she was still 'intoxicated' with her morning supply. Her head twiched a bit, trying to get a stray peice of hair out of her face.

"I'm fine. Totally pain free." She gave a reassuring smile. She sat up, reaching her hand to her back in case there was grass on it. When it was all clear that she knew of, she stood up, then wiping her butt of any grass. The sun was overhead, beating down on them as if it was going to eat them for dinner. Ew, burnt human for an eat. How... dusguisting. Maybe to cannibals it's fine, but not her. Blegh.

"Are... you okay?" She asked, her head tilted to the side. Something she always did when she asked a question. She was sure if anyone was hurt, it would be him. He took quite a fall, plus trying not to fall on her, would be another difficult position. At least he was more lucky than her. She would've taken someone out. She didn't have good reaction time. She could just land on a person and not realize it until the person said something or she finally felt it.

She looked at the man. Pretty cute she had to admit. A little older. Maybe in his twenties? "I'm Scout. Call me Sin though." When she was born, she was given the initials SIN, standing for Scout Ianna Nolan. Her mom was wiccan, but converted to an athiest after their house got haunted. Her mom called her sin also because she was a naughty little girl and still is one.

[jasper devine]

Jasper sat there, holding his breath, intently watching her as she inspected her body, tapping his fingernails impatiently on his thigh. They say 'patience is a virtue' but, unfortunately, he'd never been very virtuous in his life, despite being brought up Catholic. He had never been very good at the whole waiting thing, for suspense wasn't something he could handle very well, especially in these situations, that posed the potential that he might have hurt someone. Luckily, though, she didn't keep him waiting long, and she soon revealed she was fine. Jasper heaved a sigh and put his hand femininely on his chest in relief, showing off the heavily chipped white nail polish over his nails, "Oh, thank God..." He smiled, his worried eyes growing cheerful, "I was so scared I hurt you or something."

Following her lead, he too, stood up, brushing any kind of dirt and what not off his jacket and white pants. There were a few grass stains on his pants from the fall, which he tried vigorously to get off, but, unfortunately, was unsuccessful. Again, he frowned, his brow ruffling childishly in annoyance. Well, hopefully they would just come out in the wash. Until then, though, it seemed he was just going to have to live with it. But, dear God was that going to bother him. It was kind of his own fault, though... white pants really aren't the best thing to be wearing when walking through a field. But, still... He bit his lip, trying to figure out something he could do. Unfortunately, however, nothing rational came to mind. Fuck. Damn, could one of those "Tide-to-Go" stick things work wonders right now. He made a note to pick one up on the way home, as silly as that sounded, and rose to his feet.

Still irritated by the flaws in his clothing, Jasper kept his hand down, glaring down at the stains as he continued to brush himself off, as if they would magically disappear if he rubbed hard enough. However, he was distracted when the young woman spoke, her voice startling him a bit. His head rose almost immediately at the sound of her voice. The smile returned to his face at the sight of her. He nodded a few times, the brown, obnoxious poof of hair atop his head bouncing in front of his eyes, "Yeah, I'm fine." He answered happily, finally shoving his hands into his pockets, giving up on getting the stains out... for the time being, anyway. As hard as he tried to forget, the thought remained in the back of his head, causing one of those silent, mental freak-outs in Jasper's mind. He had such an issue with his appearance being messed up it wasn't even funny. If even the slightest thing was out of the place, Jasper couldn't deal with it and immediately had to run and fix it. So, one can imagine how crazy it must seem for him to just deal with a few somewhat big, obvious grass stains on his pants.

But, things seemed to get better as Scout introduced herself, her words proving to be a nice interruption from his worries. He smiled at her name, finding it absolutely adorable. It was like the little girl in 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' by Harper Lee, which had always been a very enjoyable book for him, if not one of his favorites. As cute of a name as it was, Jasper had never heard someone with it outside of the book, thus giving him another reason to love it. "That's a very pretty name," He said pleasantly, "Like in 'To Kill a Mockingbird', right?" Though almost instantly after saying this, his put his hand over his mouth, as if he had just done something terribly wrong. He bit his lip, looking down quickly, "I'm sorry, I'm sure you get that a lot." Best not to point out the obvious, right? While it was humorous for some, most just found it annoying. With a sigh, he returned his hand to his pocket, only to pull it out again in order to hold it out in greeting to Scout, "Oh, I'm Jasper." The smile over his face widened as he spoke, "It's nice to meet you."

[Scout Nolan]

Scout watched the man intentively. As he tried to wipe off the stains, Scout had to smile. "No matter how much you scrub, it's not gonna come out without some kind of bleach." She giggled after she spoke. She watched him still try to get it out, the funniest thing she had seen. Was he aware that it wont come out? Once he put his hands in his pocket, she pressed her lips together, stopping herself from all laughter.

"That's a very pretty name, Like in 'To Kill a Mockingbird', right?" Scout smiled big, not many people had pointed that out, maybe three or four times in her life. Then again, she hadn't met many people. "I'm sorry, I'm sure you get that a lot." Scout shrugged after his apology. "Yeah, I'm named after her. My mom said it fit me 'cause when I was little I was not the most well behaved child." She shrugged again. "And don't worry, I don't get asked that, that often. I guess some people just don't enjoy a good read. Or they assume that I am named after her." Once she found out she was named after a book character, she read it and loved the book. She still read it a lot. Over her nineteen years on this Earth, she had read it about fifty times at the least.

"Oh, I'm Jasper." Scout offered her hand out. "You're not named after any book characters, are you?" She asked. She had a sense of humor. Well she wished she did. The only book character she could think of with Jasper was the 'Twilight' series, but she was positive that was after his time.