-- DARK DAYS ,

[KIMBERLY B. MAYFIELD]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: dddddd; border: #cccccc solid 8px; width: 420px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] WE'RE STILL SO YOUNG, DESPERATE FOR ATTENTION The Words: 1051 The Outfit: here! The Notes too lazy to change up the template/image, ily paigels c: there was nothing like spending the afternoon in the columbia courtyard. it had been a few days since the party, and kimmy was still paranoid someone would mention something. this wouldn’t have been such a big deal if she’d known the guy more than three hours, but if anyone noticed him walking out of her dorm and mentioned it, it would be mortifying to only know a few things about him. kimberly did want to see him again though, even if it would be awkward. the awkward part was what needed to be avoided at all costs. it was impossible though, because there was no un-awkward way to go up to someone and tell them you slept with them a few days ago. especially when kimmy was pretty sure she didn’t tell him the right name. she couldn’t remember exactly what she said, but it wasn’t her first name, that was for sure. that made her feel like the biggest idiot ever. hopefully he’d have realized that the name kimberly had given wasn’t her actual name, and if he got her number he’d put her name in knowing it would change if they talked again. right now though, her mind was on sketching in the courtyard. her last class of the day had just ended, and even though the day was a little chilly (at least to her), her sweater seemed enough to keep her warm for a while. besides, it was worth putting up with a little chill to be able to sketch the beautiful scenery. kimmy even had her colored pencils with her, much preferring them to any other medium. well, besides crayons. who could resist grabbing a few crayons and cracking open a new coloring book? the girl didn’t have any of those, considering in all of her classes she needed to use either colored pencils, paints or pastels. there were other things, but generally kimmy opted for the others. pastels were fun on occasion, but they often made a mess and the redhead couldn’t be bothered to clean up so much. it was difficult enough when it got on your clothes, if it got on the things in her room, it would take weeks for it to all disappear. suddenly, kimmy’s phone went off. she’d finally gotten over thinking every text or call would be dakota, so the girl just checked it, seeing it was a text from her mother. the woman trusted her daughter completely, which was a shock considering how much control they liked to have over her and how she’d always tested their limits. to avoid having to text or talk to anyone in her family the night of the party, kimberly told them she’d be working on a piece for a class and needed total isolation to get it done in time. yeah, it made her seem like a procrastinator, but it did the trick. her mother hadn’t called until the next night, by which time kimmy had mostly gotten rid of the disgusting feeling of the hangover. after her shower she’d taken two aspirin and drank gatorade the rest of the day. she became a bit sick of the gatorade, but it made her feel a bit better. it made kimberly remember why she didn’t do much heavy drinking, and would serve as a deterrent for a while. there would be no parties for her for a while now. the hang over wasn’t the only reason though. assignments were picking up, and she needed to get them done. that was exactly why she was heading to the courtyard. the text was read a few times before the girl understood what her mother was trying to say. the woman was still new at texting, so kimmy often got a text that was riddled with typos or only half of the intended message. as usual, her mother was letting her know about one of her brother wonderful achievements. well, this wasn’t exactly an achievement, but it was something her mom was excited about. apparently her brother was engaged. she hadn’t even known he was dating a girl, to be honest. it was nice that he was engaged though. he was 24, which was a bit young, but old enough to get married. he’d always had the luck though. granted, he hadn’t had many girlfriends, but they were always nice and their parents approved. kimberly rarely dated someone that had her parent’s approval. she was too young to be married anyway, so it didn’t really matter. her mind focused on formulating a reply while she continued to walk to the courtyard. it wasn’t that she didn’t care or wasn’t excited, but there wasn’t anything she’d get out of it. odds were it would only end in her being forced to get too dressed up for a reception where she’d be sitting by herself. if kimmy didn’t know the girl, there wasn’t much of a possibility she’d be in the wedding party. after coming up with an adequate reply, kimmy looked up to concentrate fully on where she was going. a few steps later, she noticed someone that nearly made her turn around the other way. he wasn’t that close, but kimberly could tell who it was. dakota was in the courtyard, right where she wanted to be. great. it wasn’t like she hated him or anything, but the awkward factor was key. instead of heading in his direction, she turned to the side, walking around a little section of greenery to avoid sitting by him. thinking she was in the clear, kimmy sat down on a bench and pulled out her sketch pad before perching her sunglasses on top of her head. pencil in hand, the redhead looked up, admiring the way the trees and leaves dotted the landscape. it was nice. beginning to draw, she only got to draw a little before someone sat on the same bench as her. they were long benches, so it wasn’t like they were invading her privacy (they probably didn’t even realize she was there as well). kimberly looked out of the corner of her eye, catching a small glimpse of the person’s clothing. yeah, they were familiar. it was him. the girl didn’t even look up, she just continued sketching, hoping he wouldn’t realize it was her. created by ADE! Pb-ified by WILL

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[DAKOTA J. OLEANDER]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; background-image: url(http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss279/legendskseeker/oceanbreezebg.png); padding-bottom: 20px;] words // 1240 // outfit // clicky // tagged // emmy/kimmy boy with a coin, T H E N M A K I N G A W I S H , A N D T O S S E D I N T H E S E A The bag that hanged from his shoulder helped him carry the expensive, heavy equipment he’d ‘borrowed because renting would cost money’ from the film department. It was nice of the school to think that student loans were going to be enough to send its students into a deep depression as well as a further recession, and so Dakota appreciated that he could take out equipment without paying for it – although, when he thought about it, he kind of was paying for it. Though the equipment was free to him now, the cost of the use of them would be added to his student loans, or possibly had already been taken out of the money he’d gotten from local scholarships. Yeah, he was a smart kid, smart enough to depend on state and government money (mostly) to get him through at least two and a half years of college. The rest was up to Dakota and his family, but considering he was an only child, he doubted his parents would have any issues. Plus, by that time, Dakota would have already applied for more scholarship money as well as a few new student loans, just until he could graduate and go on to make million dollar movies with Universal or Disney. Maybe not Disney. He’d just left the film building, bag in hand, his boots crunching against the cold Chicago cement. He was ready to go on to the dorm, fall asleep, wake up, eat something, and head out for another class, but something was keeping him from that. Dakota couldn’t say what, except that there was just something there. He didn’t much care to elaborate on it anyway; he just pulled the bag close to him and looked around. He had a project due soon, one that he had to put on tape and edit all on his own. He didn’t have a script and he didn’t have a premise. He only had about three weeks, this camera, and whatever he could find around him, and hopefully that would be enough. Maybe he’d find someone, get shooting done in a few hours, and get the editing just as fast. The sooner he finished, the sooner he could relax, and the sooner he could let up on the smoking. At least a little bit anyway, considering at this point, Dakota almost depended on smoking to relieve stress and make the day easier to get through. It wasn’t the soul component of staying awake and alive through each day, but it helped, even if he had to leave class a few times to make sure he didn’t start fidgeting. The courtyard was a good place to try and find inspiration, though. Dakota used to sit here last year and write out scripts, just little skits he’d shoot for assignments. He shot a few things here, but those projects were horribly rushed and ended up being nothing but flops with the teacher because there are just too many people at one time in the courtyard. He’d decided he wasn’t going to do that again before last semester had ended, and so now that meant he had to find someone new to film with, someone new to star, and somewhere new to put it all together. He’d thought about trying to find that girl he’d walked out on the other day, the one that had introduced herself by Mayfield, which hardly sounded like a first name. But Dakota’s problems with that were the fact that he hadn’t paid any attention to where her dorm was after he’d left and he didn’t have her number, not even under Mayfield. It disappointed him that he didn’t know how to find her or get in contact with her, but he figured if it wasn’t meant to be, then why would he push it? Maybe because he hadn’t stopped thinking of her hair, her eyes, her lips since he’d left her room. His guilty conscience got worse and worse, or maybe bigger and bigger every day, and it really wasn’t fair to put himself through that. But the only way to rid himself of that guilt was to find her, apologize, and possibly get her to understand that he just hadn’t really known what to do other than to leave, considering he didn’t know her at all. But that didn’t sound like a sincere apology. It sounded rather brash, actually, and that wasn’t the type of karma that Dakota wanted to put out into the universe. Still, he felt obliged to say something. He wanted to know her, and he wanted to figure out what the story behind Mayfield was. He wanted her to know he was really here, that he wasn’t just some stupid one night stand, even if that had really been what they’d had. Still, it would be a different situation if they spoke on a regular business, maybe if something bigger came out of what they had together the other night. Whatever he did, he had to figure it out before hand, just so he would be prepared. Dakota was so lost in his own thoughts and plans for an apology that he hadn’t realized where he’d been headed. He looked around once he stopped and noticed which direction he’d been headed in, though he didn’t understand why he’d gone this way. He shrugged though, not really caring at the moment. He found a bench, though he hadn’t noticed right away who he’d sat next to, and pulled the bag up onto the bench between himself and the person next to him. He unzipped the top and gazed in, checking once again to make sure that he had everything he was going to need. Camera; check. Tripod; check. Tripod clip; check. SD card; check. Pretty much, everything was in order, just as it had been only minutes ago. Dakota was set and ready to go, so he shut the bag again and sighed. When he looked up, he realized who he was sitting next to, but he didn’t quite know what to do. Did he talk to her? Did he even try to start his apology? But what would he say? He hadn’t had enough time to think of something, even though he really did considering he’d had the last few days. But he had to say something. He had to make it right. He put on his normal smile and scooted a bit closer, but only enough that maybe she would realize he was there. If not, he had other ways of getting her attention. “Hey,” he said, almost shrugging. He stopped himself considering he needed to take this situation pretty seriously. Well, at least a little serious, just until he could get things straight. But what else could he say to her, because he didn’t even know what her name was….even if she’d given him a name. He didn’t believe for a second that Mayfield was her first name. But he didn’t really blame her for giving him that name considering they’d met when the two of them were pretty wasted. “I don’t know if you remember me, but uh, we met a couple of nights ago.” And he kind of hoped that was enough for her. It was already an awkward situation because he didn’t know what to call her; all Dakota wanted to do was making things right and to lift the awkward sheet that hanged above them. “I’m Dakota.” notes // lol too lazy to change anything but hi

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TEMPLATE BY KHRISTIAN OF CAUTION 2.0, LYRICS BY IRON & WINE[/center]

[KIMBERLY B. MAYFIELD]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: dddddd; border: #cccccc solid 8px; width: 420px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] WE'RE STILL SO YOUNG, DESPERATE FOR ATTENTION The Words: 1285 The Outfit: here! The Notes blah i hope it's okay~ with her mind on the wedding, kimmy couldn’t help but wonder what her own wedding would be like. well, if she even got married, considering her luck with boys hadn’t ever proved to be too good, and her parents hadn’t ever been fans of the guys she brought home. that was partially her fault, but could you really help who you liked? she’d tried to bring that point up. her parents had only told kimberly she was going through some sort of a phase, and she’d be attracted to better guys soon. it was funny though, because all the guys after they’d said that were similar to the others, and the boy she was into now surely was no different. robbie had a few tattoos and his ears stretched, something they wouldn’t like. they probably wouldn’t like his nose ring either, but that was probably what they’d notice least. okay, so kimberly didn’t totally love his appearance, but it was about more than that, right? he was sweet to her, and he was funny. they had a lot in common. the girl didn’t see herself marrying him or something, since they hadn’t been talking for very long, but she could see him in a suit, standing at the altar all done up and fancy. hopefully a wedding wasn’t in her near future. kimberly wouldn’t mind getting married, but there was no one she felt that strongly about. she was only 20. her mind was not on getting married, it was on passing her classes and getting the degree she was working for. and not doing anything stupid enough for her parents to make her come home. she already freaked out when they wanted to visit (which she knew they would soon). they were the kind of parents who secretly scrutinized her room, looking for even a hint of something they didn’t approve of. kimmy understood they were nervous, having her so far away, and they probably did want her home. she was their youngest child, and a daughter no less. yeah, if they found out about what she’d done the other night, the girl would’ve been stuck in the hospital for days, getting every test imaginable just to put them at ease. they’d probably demand to meet dakota, and then pummel him with a million questions. but yeah, kimmy was always sure to make sure her room was spotless and devoid of all hints of her activities of any kind before they showed up, lest she be faced with their wrath. they’d only ever gotten fuming mad at her once. her senior year in high school, the weekend before graduation, kimmy had come home drunk. it wasn’t just drunk actually, it was beyond wasted. the redhead hadn’t been paying much attention to her drinks, and before she knew it she’d consumed a lot more than she should have. it wouldn’t have been a problem if she had made it up the stairs to her room without tripping multiple times on the steps. kimberly laughed at every fall, which woke her parents up. obviously, this did not make them happy, and she was grounded for a while. luckily that was it. they didn’t take away her phone, her car or anything. granted, she couldn’t really use her car, but still. it was a pretty lenient punishment for their standards. well, not exactly, considering the next morning they yelled at her and told her how reckless she was, all while watching her sit there on the couch with an excruciating headache. her brother hadn’t ever done something like that, so it was probably a good thing. they didn’t quite know how to react, so punished her in the only way they knew how. the only punishment kimmy had gotten recently was from herself. clearly nothing like a grounding, and it would probably be considered more of just exercising self-control, but to her it was punishment of sorts. when assignments needed to be due and there wasn’t a lot of time, kimberly didn’t let herself go out. if someone wanted to hang out, she said no. if she got hungry or thirsty, there were snacks in her dorm. the girl liked to do what she wanted, but when it came to her grades, it got serious. failing wasn’t in her agenda, especially since her classes all revolved around something she loved to do so much. if someone told kimmy they’d pay her to sit around her house and do nothing but create art, she’d take the opportunity in a heartbeat. it wasn’t about being lazy; it was about being able to do nothing but be creative without any guidelines or harsh criticism. it would be perfect, even if she’d probably become nocturnal. whoever she was with would have to deal with it, although they’d probably have to be an artist of some sort themselves. anyone else would probably get annoyed at how much time she spent with a sketchpad in her hands. the scene before her slowly transferred to the page in her hands, becoming clearer with every leaf carefully drawn. her eye for detail was incredible, or so she’d been told. her drawings always had that little something else that the others didn’t. or so she’d been told. kimmy was a modest person and only bragged when she was in the mood to do so (which was rare) or when someone else was being a jackass about their talents. there were just those times when you needed to put people in their place, and when it came to art, kimmy had no problem doing so. the girl was proud of herself, so why not be that way? she wasn’t being rude herself about it. her pencil outlined a tree, paying extra attention to keep herself from looking over at the person who was currently occupying the space next to her. kimberly did really want to talk to him, but it wasn’t going to be the easiest thing, which was what kept her mouth shut. if he decided to speak to her, then she’d take it from there and react accordingly. if he was nice, she’d do her best to keep up a civil conversation without those awkward lapses. if he asked her if she wanted a repeat of the other night, she’d slap him. simple as that. she noticed him move a little closer, hoping to god it was just a little coincidence. it wasn’t though, because just a few seconds later, he spoke. sucking it up, kimmy stopped sketching and looked up at him. “oh, hey,” she replied with a smile of her own, doing her best to be polite and not act stupid. the girl nodded as he explained who he was, obviously remembering but not wanting to interrupt. “yeah, i, uh, remember,” the redhead responded with another small smile, almost as if to assure him she wasn’t angry or anything. it was a stupid thing they both did, but they were drunk and it was in the past. you could feel awkward about it, but you couldn’t change anything. “i’m kimberly, but most people just call me kimmy. since i’m pretty sure i didn’t give you my first name…” kimmy introduced herself, ending it with a bit of a laugh. it was amusing, and if she wasn’t so rigid, it might break the ice a bit. that would start them off on the right foot. created by ADE! Pb-ified by WILL

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[DAKOTA J. OLEANDER]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; background-image: url(http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss279/legendskseeker/oceanbreezebg.png); padding-bottom: 20px;] words // 1111 // outfit // clicky // tagged // emmy/kimmy boy with a coin, T H E N M A K I N G A W I S H , A N D T O S S E D I N T H E S E A Good, so at least she was in the mood to talk. Right? Responding was a signal of that, right? It was a good sign, as far as Dakota could tell. Maybe he could have his cake and eat it too, even if he wasn’t necessarily putting this situation in those terms. He didn’t really pride himself in having slept with someone, especially a girl he hardly knew, even if he’d known from the minute he’d met her that he wanted to actually get to know her. Actually, knowing that made the situation even worse. Dakota wanted to get to know this girl, but sleeping with her was possibly the worst thing he could have done in his quest to do that. Now they had even more of an awkward situation between the two, and depending on the physical wellness of the other, possibly one or more visits to their general practitioners. It was horrible to say that, but in this day and age, possibilities were endless. While Dakota would like to assume that this girl was clean, he couldn’t be sure, and it really wasn’t fair to either one of them to just make an ass out of the both of them. But at the same time, he didn’t want to ask and make her think he was assuming; if there was something wrong, maybe she would tell him, but then again, maybe not. All Dakota knew for sure was that he was clean as a whistle, probably because he didn’t sleep around like some might think he did. But he couldn’t really think about that anyway. I mean, he could, but he had other things to deal with first. Like finding a way that would be acceptable to apologize, because if he didn’t, the whole relationship – whatever it was or wasn’t – wouldn’t be going anywhere, and it was obviously vital for Dakota to save whatever he could. He wanted to get to know this girl, wanted to be her friend, party with her, get to know her, see where things went from there. He just wasn’t exactly ready to give up on knowing this redhead. It made him sound like he had plans to use her when he said that he wanted to feature her in a film, but really he didn’t want to do it just to pass his film class. He wanted to do it because she seemed interesting – just something about her when he looked at her made him want to put her in front of a camera, even if she had no speaking lines, even if he was just making a montage with some indie music behind the images. He wanted to spend time with her, to understand everything about her and interpret all of that in ways only he would understand – but maybe that was just the life of an artist. She could understand that, but Dakota only knew that much because he’d caught a glimpse of her sketch pad. But now that he had her first name, this would be easier. He chuckled light heartedly, glad that now he had something to identify her by besides Mayfield. “It’s nice to formally meet you then, Kimberly. I was afraid I’d have to go on without knowing that Mayfield wasn’t your real name!” He almost sounded too formal, but that was Dakota when he was trying to keep things easy. It wasn’t formal in the manner that he sounded stuck up or high strung – he was actually quite satirical within his formal manner of speaking. He was just honestly trying to keep things from being too awkward, even though he was sure that was inevitable. The awkwardness of the situation wasn’t something that he could control from this point – actually, that wasn’t the truth. He could control it from this point, but previous awkwardness wasn’t something he could control. But knowing that, Dakota was going to try and just keep things simple, easy, able to converse about. Nothing heavy, nothing that would make her turn and run from him. He wasn’t that type of person anyway. Even if he didn’t know Kimberly all that well, Dakota cared enough about her already to just respect her and keep things on a level that wouldn’t create even more friction between the two of them. It was only fair to try. “You, uh,” he started, chuckling again. He looked away quickly, mostly for effect, then smiled back at her again. “You told me your name was Mayfield. You know, in case you didn’t get that already.” He chuckled again, only louder now, just to keep the light, easy mood. He wasn’t trying to make her sound stupid and he didn’t want her to feel like he was. Dakota was just telling it like it was, only with his sense of humor mixed in with the conversation. He figured that would be a nice way to start off, maybe a good way to keep her interested in him enough to stick around and befriend him. Then again, maybe he was just worrying too much about that. If she didn’t want to be his friend, maybe she would have just gotten up, rolled her eyes, and walked away. He didn’t take her as that type, and he had never taken her (so far) as the type that didn’t do friendships after one night stands. He wasn’t that way, and Dakota hoped he wasn’t just looking at the best in people. He wanted this to be real. So he shrugged, but still smiled. “But, you know. I don’t really blame you.” Yeah, then he sounded a bit cocky, but he meant it purely on a humorous basis. “It’s a cute name, but Kimberly suits you more.” Now he was just being cheesy, but Dakota felt that was a good offset to the cockiness that really wasn’t meant to make him sound like God’s gift to humanity. He moved his bag a bit closer to Kimberly, then followed with the rest of his body, hoping he wasn’t getting too close for her comfort. He just didn’t want to be so far that he had to practically yell for her to hear him. “And there was a lot of booze involved the other night, so I’m surprised that I didn’t tell you my name was Oleander.” He didn’t really know that Mayfield was her last name, but she didn’t know that Oleander was his last name; either of them could have been their middle names, but honestly either way it was and would have been comical if they’d continued to go by Mayfield and Oleander. They sounded like a modern Bonnie and Clyde almost. notes // oh lala

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TEMPLATE BY KHRISTIAN OF CAUTION 2.0, LYRICS BY IRON & WINE[/center]

[KIMBERLY B. MAYFIELD]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: dddddd; border: #cccccc solid 8px; width: 420px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] WE'RE STILL SO YOUNG, DESPERATE FOR ATTENTION The Words: 1205 The Outfit: here! The Notes i love themmmmmmm it was good that things were going smoothly, because kimberly wouldn’t have been able to walk away for some false reason. well, it really depended on how he’d been. if he’d started the conversation acting like some huge jackass, the girl wouldn’t have had any problem hitting him or flipping him off before storming off. then, honestly, kimmy would’ve worried about him following her or something. dakota didn’t strike her as a rapist or something, but damn, college wasn’t safe. especially in a big city like chicago. girls were being date raped all over because they weren’t careful enough and guys were assholes. it didn’t seem like that was an issue though, because dakota was harmless (or that was the impression she got) and there was no possible way she could be drugged. the only other awful thing that could happen was if he was completely boring or something. it would be painful to sit there through not funny jokes and tedious conversation. it wouldn’t be easy to just look at her phone and make up some lie about having to be somewhere. well, it would be easy, but the redhead would feel terrible about it. he was obviously making an effort to be civil with her and possibly create a friendship. but with how it was going, a friendship was welcome. kimmy liked him so far, and there was nothing wrong with making a new friend, even if you met because you’d had a one night stand. if you were friends with them, that made it more of a fling, right? and that sounded a whole lot better. no one was asking anyway. no one probably would ask. kimberly could be a tad paranoid, especially when it came to her reputation. she didn’t have a certain image to uphold, but she didn’t want to look like some cheap slut. if people saw one guy walking out of her dorm in the morning, they might assume he wasn’t the first, and from there it would snowball into this giant rumor thing that portrayed her entirely different than she was. and then they might assume that was why she had a private dorm; it would make one night stands easier and a lot less awkward. her thoughts could run for hours, endlessly thinking up what others could assume about her. why did what others thought matter though? they didn’t know her, and if they were stupid enough to just jump to conclusions, then they didn’t deserve to know her. kimmy knew she wasn’t some prize, but she wasn’t an awful person. she was interesting. people liked to know her, and liked to stick around. the girl always wondered if people knew who she was though. like, they walked past her on campus and went, ‘oh, there’s kimberly mayfield.’ they probably didn’t, but they could’ve. some of her teachers did like to display her work, and people could know her from those classes. that almost made her feel famous, in a way. kimmy laughed slightly when he spoke, imagining how weird it would be if he always called her by her last name. actually, it would’ve been normal in general, since people did call others by their last name. for her though, it was weird. it wasn’t often that people did that, so hearing it would make her think. they had each other’s first names though, so this friendship was off to the right start. “it’s nice to meet you too,” the redhead replied, flashing him a smile. it was nice that these smiles were genuine, not forced so she would come off as polite. she was really enjoying his company, even if they’d only been speaking a few minutes. in fact, he’d even managed to take her mind off of robbie. he didn’t know about the other night. no, she wasn’t about to tell him that while they were talking, and on their way towards being exclusive (or so she thought), that she slept with some random guy. that would probably ruin everything. he wouldn’t want her then, and she’d be left there, lonely and heartbroken. the girl would have to go to her brother’s wedding dateless, even though it was a pretty long time until then. they’d probably only just gotten engaged maybe a day ago. if they’d planned the wedding for a month from then, that’d be insane. her parents wouldn’t allow it anyway. the girl listened as he explained what she’d done, a guilty smile on her face. actually, it was more of a ‘yeah i can’t believe i was that stupid and i’m glad you didn’t abandon ship’ smile. if he woke up, remembered that, then decided to never see her again, kimmy would have never forgiven herself. it would have made the whole situation worse. of course, she wouldn’t have ever known if it was true. never seeing him again would mean they’d never talk, and clearly she wouldn’t get a glimpse into his thought process. “yeaaahh, i didn’t know i’d given you my last name, but i knew it wasn’t my first.” it made her feel stupid, but it really was better than a fake name, or no name at all. it would’ve been good if she never wanted to see him again though, considering he wouldn’t get the right girl. although, her description couldn’t be confused with anyone else. so if he started talking about her appearance, someone would lead him to her door. that would have been cute if he showed up at her door with flowers or something. it was her imagination working though, because that would’ve been weird if it happened. but he wasn’t at her door, he was sitting next to her on the bench, engaging her in nice conversation. she smiled when dakota made the comment about her name, a smile you would almost expect to be paired with a small blush. kimmy didn’t blush often though, even when guys flirted with her. she took what the boy said as more of a compliment than flirting, which still deserved a smile. he was a nice boy, and she wondered what he parents would think of him, just out of curiosity. he had a good personality, and he wasn’t hard on the eyes. there were tattoos, but no abnormal piercings or anything that she could see. he wasn’t all that bad. she might’ve had a crush or something on him if she didn’t already have her eye on someone else. her eye was on him the other night because of all the alcohol, as he’d mentioned. there was a hell of a lot of it. “we’d have been quite a pair if we just went by our last names,” she spoke, smiling amusedly. it would have been an inside joke of sorts. that wouldn’t have been a bad thing, if they wanted to have a friendship. created by ADE! Pb-ified by WILL

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[DAKOTA J. OLEANDER]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; background-image: url(http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss279/legendskseeker/oceanbreezebg.png); padding-bottom: 20px;] words // 1102 // outfit // clicky // tagged // emmy/kimmy boy with a coin, T H E N M A K I N G A W I S H , A N D T O S S E D I N T H E S E A Dakota could relax now. Well, at least a little bit. If he relaxed too much, he’d start taking this situation for granted, and that wouldn’t end very well. It wasn’t like him to be overly cocky, but if he felt like the situation was completely in his hand, he had the potential to crush it like a bug. And then what? This was only one girl. It wasn’t like he took and threw away women as he pleased, but she was only one girl. She was just someone that he hardly knew, just someone that he could easily forget – only that wasn’t so true. Her eyes burned into his mind since that night, and the color of her hair tainted everything. It wasn’t necessarily safe to say he felt lost without her, but he seemed to feel a little more comforted in his own skin when she was around. There was just a calming quality about her that emanated and sat around the people she looked at, or maybe it was just Dakota. Either way, it made him feel like she wasn’t just another girl, like she wasn’t just as dispensable as any other girl around campus. This girl was one in a million apparently, and Dakota only knew it because he felt it. He chuckled at what she said, and not because he was forcing it. It was a genuine chuckle, something that would be detected as fake if it had been so. Things would be different if everything was fake between the two of them, because if Dakota hadn’t really felt this way, he wouldn’t have tried to start a conversation with Kimberly. He would have just seen her and probably walked away, even if that was rude and Dakota wasn’t necessarily so. He was just a guy; if he didn’t feel anything for a girl, he usually didn’t really want to spend time with her. Even friends that were girls meant something to him, even if it was just a friend meaning, but that was what he wanted to start with Kimberly. He wanted her to like him enough to let him over for those movies she’d wanted, and he wanted her to trust him and talk to him. Sure, it wasn’t like most guys to want to hear about girl problems, but Dakota was a good friend. He listened to anyone, mostly because he’d realized from a young age that if you didn’t listen to a woman, they turned and walked away from you in some way, shape, or form. And usually, Dakota didn’t work this hard to get people to like him. He wasn’t necessarily lazy with people, but most of the time people just did. He was nice, easy to talk to, fun most of the time, and just overall the kind of guy that aimed to be with a larger group of people at one time. It wasn’t to say that he had people coming to him, but he had an easy enough time getting people to like him. Maybe this was different because he’d accidentally slept with Kimberly. Well, he wouldn’t say he regretted it, he’d just rather say that he hadn’t meant to. Alcohol had influenced him to do it, but it wasn’t a one man show that night. He couldn’t bear all the blame, but he could bear the responsibility to try and make things right. If he remembered correctly, he’d kissed her, not the other way around. But she’d put her hand on his jeans, which had confirmed, for Dakota, that they’d be doing what he’d initiated. But again, the booze had lead the way, not his conscience. But sober Dakota wouldn’t have asked for a ride like he had, and he wouldn’t have kissed a girl he didn’t know. Sober Dakota would have cared enough to come back to her dorm and put her to sleep, then find his own way back to his dorm without a hangover in the morning. But he couldn’t stress that anymore. What would have happened didn’t and what could have happened didn’t; what happened had happened and now all Dakota could do was apologize and try to get her to understand that he hadn’t planned on sleeping with anyone that night. But for now, laughing over last names would do, he supposed, probably because it actually was quite funny. So Dakota laughed once more. “Could you imagine, just going around introducing ourselves as Mayfield and Oleander?” He didn’t know why, but Dakota found that really comical. He’d never introduced himself as Oleander, probably because he’d never been James Bond for Halloween. He was more of a comedy/action movie kind of person rather than a spy movie anyway. Slapstick over whack stick, he guessed. Still, he found their name situation quite funny, even if he couldn’t say why. It simply just was, apparently. But then he stopped laughing, because one way or another they were going to have to talk about what had happened. Again, he looked away, but only briefly. Then he ran a hand through his hair, which probably at this point needed a cut, and looked back at her. He was still half smiling, but he didn’t seem quite as enthusiastic. He sighed, trying to figure out what to say next. “Look, Kimmy.” He sighed again and put a hand on his bag. He was having a really hard time trying to figure out what to say. This wasn’t a situation he’d really ever gotten himself into, so he didn’t know how to handle it, but he was going to try his best to make sure it wasn’t blown out of proportion. “I hadn’t really…..um. I didn’t mean to get that far with you the other night. I mean I hadn’t really had plans to get that far with anyone, actually.” He had to stop, back track, and pretend like he hadn’t just told her he hadn’t planned on doing anything with her when he had actually done something with her. “I don’t really, um, do that. Like I usually just go to parties for some music, drinks, and a place to smoke without some administrator looking over my shoulder or something.” Okay, so where was the ‘I’m sorry’? He wasn’t done anyway. “And I’m really appreciative of the ride back here from the park, don’t get me wrong, but like….um. I dunno. I kind of freaked the next morning.” And here came the apology. “So um, I’m sorry that I just got up and left. I didn’t really know what else to do.” There we go, Dakota. What a good boy. notes // awee stumbly dakota aweeee

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TEMPLATE BY KHRISTIAN OF CAUTION 2.0, LYRICS BY IRON & WINE[/center]

[KIMBERLY B. MAYFIELD]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: dddddd; border: #cccccc solid 8px; width: 420px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] WE'RE STILL SO YOUNG, DESPERATE FOR ATTENTION The Words: 1185 The Outfit: here! The Notes he's so cute :3 obviously, kimmy wasn’t one to make up excuses, but there was something about dakota that drew her in. his personality surely wasn’t what she’d expected, although you could put that to judging a book by it’s cover, so to speak. the other night hadn’t been a good judge of character, due to the alcohol, so the girl didn’t know exactly what to expect if she’d spoken to him. he looked like he might be the type to fuck and ditch, but who was to say? he surely didn’t come off as how he was though. it could’ve been her imagination running wild, but he seemed like he would act nonchalant about everything, worried more about when the next party was than when his next class was. it was a refreshing mistake, actually. it was nice to see he didn’t quite fit the stereotype she’d plastered him with. since he’d spoken to the girl, that meant, in her mind, that he didn’t think it was right to sleep with a girl then never speak to her again. dakota had manners, which was a big surprise (here comes another judgement), considering a lot of college age guys lacked them. of course, this wasn’t like every other school. if this was like a regular college, with frat guys and sorority girls, kimberly would have only spent one year there. she wouldn’t have been able to get along with those people, at least if they were like the ones she’d known of. the guys were like the popular guys in high school, sports oriented and all about acting tough and being obnoxious. the girls were like the popular ones, worried about shopping and cheerleading and looking good for the jocks. the artsy types, like herself, were usually the brunt of the jokes, or just pushed around while the girls walked through the hallways in a giant line, or the guys sprinted to their next class. kimmy was also glad that this wasn’t like high school in the fact that there weren’t couples making out all over the place. there was nothing wrong with giving your boyfriend a quick kiss before you went to your separate classes, but when you were walking down the halls all over each other, it was a problem. pda like that was disgusting. kimmy wouldn’t do that, even if her boyfriend wanted to. it was common courtesy. if you didn’t want to see it, that probably meant others didn’t want to see you doing it. she couldn’t really complain about people though, considering she had a private dorm. kimmy didn’t have half the problems other college students had. the ones that used the dorms, anyway. they had to deal with dirty rooms, hygiene issues and privacy issues, among other things. true, not everyone had some or all of those problems, but kimberly didn’t want to deal with that. it was a tad spoiled, but her family did have a bit of money, so she was kind of spoiled. every little thing wasn’t handed to her, but most things were. it didn’t go to her head, but every so often it would shine through. at least kimmy was generous when the opportunity arose. the girl didn’t mind giving her friends a little money if they were short or really needed it, and it wasn’t uncommon for her to give homeless people a few bucks. she’d even let people stay in her dorm for a few nights, as long as they were a friend of hers. her heart was in the right place; her mind just sometimes took over. her dislike of spoiled brats kept her in check though, considering the redhead never wanted to be like people she didn’t like. kimmy didn’t want to be a mean person either. it was never her intention to have people hate her, unless they were rude first or they deserved it. some people just were not nice, and when they said the wrong thing, you knew they didn’t deserve your friendship. that wasn’t the case at all right now. dakota was a good person, and they were making jokes. it was a wonderful start, and kimmy only saw things improving from there. maybe he was friends with robbie, and if they became good enough friends, he could let her know how he felt. of course it drifted back to robbie. kimmy just wanted to be his girlfriend, to cuddle up next to him so he’d be the first person she saw when she woke up. it was taking a while for them to get there, even if they’d already kissed and held hands more times than she could count. the girl couldn’t help but think about him while she was talking to dakota. a laugh passed her lips at his words, finding it even funnier thinking about it a second time. “everyone would remember us, that’s for sure. they’d probably think we were a little weird though,” she added, grinning. it didn’t bother kimberly that she wasn’t doing what she’d planned to. sketching needed to get done, but this was nice. she could sketch this from memory too. the mood changed though, and kimmy could tell from the look on his face. she wasn’t about to freak out, but she was curious. dakota began speaking, kimberly listening intently to figure out why things got so serious. it all became clear very quickly. kimmy kept her mouth shut, not interrupting him to put in her two cents, although she didn’t really have much to say. not yet, at least. the girl needed to hear everything he was going to say before she knew what was going to come out of her mouth. it was nice to hear his apology though, to know for sure he didn’t normally do that and he wasn’t a jerk. a smile curved on her lips as he finished speaking. “it’s fine, really,” she began, pausing for a second before continuing. “i don’t usually do that either, just so we’re clear.” she didn’t want him to think she was a slut or something, just like he’d clarified so she didn’t think that about him. “i’m, uh, not exactly the smartest drunk, as you know, so i wasn’t really thinking right. i don’t know how i would’ve reacted if you’d have still been there when i woke up, so i think it was kind of for the better that you left,” kimmy explained with a little chuckle. it would have been too embarrassing if she’d woken up next to him, obviously naked, and started screaming because she didn’t know what else to do. they both would’ve freaked out and they probably wouldn’t have spoken ever again. so yeah, his leaving, in her mind, was the best choice. created by ADE! Pb-ified by WILL

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[DAKOTA J. OLEANDER]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; background-image: url(http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss279/legendskseeker/oceanbreezebg.png); padding-bottom: 20px;] words // 1057 // outfit // clicky // tagged // emmy/kimmy boy with a coin, T H E N M A K I N G A W I S H , A N D T O S S E D I N T H E S E A Just because she thought it was best that he’d left didn’t make Dakota feel any better about it. Sure, he felt better now that he’d spoken to her and he felt better now that he knew she wasn’t mad at him, and for sure he felt better that he now knew her name, but the fact that he’d taken the cowardly road and walked out…. It hurt his pride, above anything else. He wouldn’t tell her that, though. In fact, he probably wouldn’t say that it didn’t make him feel better at all. It wouldn’t be fair, it wouldn’t be nice, and it wasn’t something Dakota was going to do. He was just going to go with it instead, just nod and smile, get over it. He’d do a lot of things in his life that he’d look down upon; he just had to start getting used to it. He would do a lot of things with or to Kimmy that he would later regret; it was a part of life to do things like that, and the two of them, if they had any chance of even being friends, needed to realize that together. It wasn’t like he was accepting the situation so much that he saw it was inevitable to break her in half or something, it was just that he needed to know when accepting an acceptance was good and when pushing an apology was better. Still, this was going better than he’d expected. Dakota didn’t really know what he’d expected, but this was better than that. She was nice, and he was nice, and no one was yelling. The sky was mostly blue and the camera in his bag wasn’t broken. There wasn’t much for Dakota to be particularly annoyed at, so he figured why make it any worse by worrying? No, that was it. He needed to do something, needed to get up and go find something to occupy his attention, but he didn’t want to go without Kimmy. Maybe that was just it though; he could invite her to do something, but just as friends. No dates, considering they didn’t even really know each other yet. He needed something to do, and he needed something that would help him understand Kimmy a bit better. Maybe going out for lunch would work, as long as they walked, but he’d make sure, if that was what he was going to ask her, that they weren’t on a date. It would just be two potential friends grabbing something to eat, just so they could actually be introduced to each other. Plus, wasn’t it like a good thing if you took a girl out for food? Get her to show how comfortable she is around you? Something like that; Dakota hardly kept track. And truth be told, he was kind of hungry. This was about the time that he’d go to his dorm, take a short nap, grab some food and get ready for another class, but at the moment he wasn’t on that schedule. So now, he wasn’t really too tired, but he was quite hungry for someone that didn’t really have a particular eating agenda. He could go for something hot and juicy, maybe a hotdog or something. Maybe he could convince her to skip her next class and they could go to the park again, only this time without booze and music. They’d have each other, the sun, some hot dogs, and time to talk. They didn’t have to stand too close and they didn’t really even have to smile at one another. They really just had to talk, open up at least a little bit to one another, make sure they both knew each other’s boundaries. Maybe this was going to be more useful than Dakota had planned; he needed someone to stick by through parties that didn’t smoke pot compulsively and he felt like Kimmy needed someone to party with that she could trust, although he would understand if she didn’t trust him at a party. Then again, it wasn’t like he’d been the only one that had insinuated the one night stand. But he was getting a bit ahead of himself. Dakota back tracked, smiled a small smile, and almost shrugged off the serious aura he’d created around himself. “I doubt I’m gonna drink that much for a while. Let’s just say that.” He shrugged then, and went back to his joking, easy tone. He cleared his throat though, mostly for effect, but still smiled. He had to make a move soon or nothing was going to happen. He knew what he meant by ‘make a move’, and that was enough for him to actually do it. “So listen,” he said, leaning in a bit. Okay, so maybe he was starting to act like he was asking her on a date. But hey, honesty would change all of that, and honestly was definitely Dakota’s style. “I, um. I probably should have asked this the other day, but would you like to grab a bite? No strings attached, promise.” He wanted to get off of campus. The camera next to him made him want to see the world, see Chicago, see it in the day and see a hot dog in his hands. He wasn’t quite sure what a hot dog had to do with his camera, but he wasn’t going to start questioning himself – that was when troubles arose. “I’ve got this assignment I have to work on, and I think the park is a good place to at least start.” Maybe if she believed they’d be going to lunch for class, she’d go and let him film her. Maybe she’d just want to get away from school as much as he did, and would agree instantly to just going to get a bite and to play with the camera. “Plus, I have some insane math class next that I’d really rather not sit through for two hours.” He flashed an obviously joking smile, even if he wasn’t joking. It was more that he wanted to seem almost satirically desperate so she would laugh, roll her eyes, and give in to go. That would be nice, because it would make things go Dakota’s way. He wasn’t necessarily a brat, but he liked it when things went according to plan. notes // oh my god why did that take me forever to write?

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TEMPLATE BY KHRISTIAN OF CAUTION 2.0, LYRICS BY IRON & WINE[/center]

[KIMBERLY B. MAYFIELD]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: dddddd; border: #cccccc solid 8px; width: 420px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] WE'RE STILL SO YOUNG, DESPERATE FOR ATTENTION The Words: 1051 The Outfit: here! The Notes i reply too fast omg honestly, all kimmy wanted to do was put the little incident in the past. calling it an incident made it sound weird though. it was a mistake, but it made it sound like a bad mistake, like one she’d never want to repeat again. the girl wouldn’t want to have a one night stand again, but he wasn’t the worst person she could accidentally sleep with. she’d rather she accidentally slept with him again than risk it with some stranger, although he’d once been that stranger. if they’d slept together again, as much as kimberly hated to admit it, they’d probably be sober. yes, she liked robbie, but dakota was attractive. and he had a nice personality. and he just seemed like he would be really sweet when it came to any situation resembling that of a relationship. kimberly could’ve been sugarcoating it though, trying to make what had already happened seem better. it wasn’t a big deal now though. it was over with, neither of them slept around and she wasn’t pregnant. okay so it was still too early to tell, but kimmy honestly doubted it had happened. he had to use a condom, right? it only made sense. didn’t guys keep them in their wallets or something? that could’ve been a stereotype or something though. the redhead went a lot on her judgments and stereotypes, which wasn’t her best idea. stereotypes were never the best thing to reply on, and obviously her judgments weren’t too spot on either. you could attribute it to her being a little sheltered when it came to people. sure, she went into the city and stuff, but growing up in an affluent neighborhood in new jersey didn’t quite give her the exposure to culture that she could’ve used before coming to chicago. it wasn’t like culture shock, since she could readjust to new places quickly, but at first it had been a little weird. her love of the school helped her fully adjust quicker, and it took no time at all for things to seem somewhat normal. after finishing school, kimmy wouldn’t mind living in chicago. it was a bit far from her family, but it was a great place. the atmosphere was wonderful, and being close to the school would be good if she wanted to go back. there was nothing wrong with taking more classes. kimberly wasn’t too keen on school, but college wasn’t that bad. being stuck in a school for eight hours for over a decade was worse. it was weird, how she couldn’t stand the state mandated schooling, but as soon as it came to college, she was the first one to say she was going. probably because that was the only way she could be almost completely independent from her parents, even if they were paying for the schooling. and everything, basically. kimmy knew she needed a job, but she didn’t know what she could do that would occupy her. it seemed very unlikely for there to be any jobs out there for a college student that involved art. being a waitress didn’t seem interesting enough. sure, she could work at a store, but they might not be so flexible when it came to scheduling. she could work nights though, and her friends could visit her then too. the biggest thing that kimmy didn’t want in a job was boredom. if her friends could visit her, that wouldn’t be a problem. a job at night meant they didn’t have classes (generally), and would have the free time to go see her. was that selfish? she’d do the same if her friends wanted it. it wasn’t even the fact that kimberly didn’t have plans most nights because they were all made last minute. she liked to see her friends, and if they wanted her to visit, she’d gladly do so. kimberly nodded, agreeing completely with dakota. “you can say that again,” she laughed softly. the hangover was another reason not to, aside from stupid choices. her head never hurt more than when she woke up after a night of what seemed like endless drinking. that made her classes seem to drag on, and life itself was unbearable for a day. but after another good night’s sleep, her mind was refreshed and everything was okay until the cycle repeated itself. yet again, dakota’s expression changed, and kimmy was curious. his mannerisms were so interesting to her. he didn’t just switch from one mood to another, he had to do something in between that signaled a change. like looking away, or clearing his throat like he just had. most people didn’t do that. maybe she just didn’t pay attention enough though. the girl didn’t think she did that. then again, it could’ve just been another thing she noticed to make it easier to like him, not that it was hard to begin with. it was because of how easy it was to be comfortable around him that his proposition sounded great to her. it would help with her work too. “that sounds great, actually. i don’t really want to go to my next class either, and i could get some ideas for projects at the park,” kimmy answered with a smile. it was an awfully nice thing of him to do, and even if she didn’t want to go (if there hadn’t been a class), there was no way she could turn him down. he was nice in the way he asked, not demanding or too unsure about it. and it was just the park. yeah, people went on dates to the park, but he’d said no strings attached, and the park was a lovely place to go in general. if something went weird, she could simply say she’d forgotten about a test in her next class and walk to another part of the park to be alone. kimberly shut her sketchpad, placing it and her pencil in the bag. standing up, the redhead brushed off her jeans out of habit before looking to dakota with a smile. “ready?” created by ADE! Pb-ified by WILL

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[DAKOTA J. OLEANDER]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; background-image: url(http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss279/legendskseeker/oceanbreezebg.png); padding-bottom: 20px;] words // 1204 // outfit // clicky // tagged // emmy/kimmy boy with a coin, T H E N M A K I N G A W I S H , A N D T O S S E D I N T H E S E A Oh this was much, much better, much easier than Dakota had expected. And he didn’t mean that in a devious, ulterior motive manner; he meant it really was just better and easier than he’d thought it would be. This was better because there was no screaming, no making each other feel like crap, like it was their fault alone for what had happened. Dakota hadn’t really expected that, but it had been a possibility in his mind. And that didn’t go to say he would blame Kimmy solely, even if she blamed him solely. That was just… Well, that was not how he was raised, to be honest. And it was going easier by means of, well, all he had to do was start talking and things were better. Of course, it depended on what he was saying, but obviously Dakota had thought of the right things to say. Usually he was good at that; he kind of lived by right and wrong. If he felt something was right with his whole self, he did it and vice versa for wrong. Of course, smoking wasn’t exactly the most right thing he could have done to himself, but it felt right when he puffed and his shoulders relaxed and his head stopped moving so fast. That was enough for Dakota to just keep doing it. Also, this was too easy because she just agreed. Just like that. Even though Dakota could see a reason as to why she would want to skip her next class, this still felt too easy. She just….said yes. He had to stop for a second and realize that he wasn’t alone in this, that she was actually going to the park with him. But he also had to remind himself that this wasn’t a date. This was just them going to the park, getting something to eat, so that Dakota and Kimmy could get a less physical feel for each other. Plus, no one would yell at him for smoking – unless Kimmy wasn’t too fond of it. But if she told him so, he wouldn’t smoke in front of her. It was rude and, once again, Dakota was raised better than that. Ladies needed to be treated as such, and though their meeting wasn’t very lady like of Kimmy, he had reasons to believe she actually was a lady (perhaps the fact that she made it clear to him that she hardly did that like it was a living for her). Dakota smiled and nodded, watching her stand up. Even if this was too easy, that didn’t mean it was any less fun. He’d rather be doing this than sitting next to his roommate in that awful math class, considering he had almost no clue what the hell any of those equations meant. He’d be surprised if he passed that class, but by the end of the semester, Dakota would probably be buried in the text book, finding practice tests online, hoping he could just pass the exam so he could walk out of the room at the end of the semester and say he passed the class. Eh, one class was nothing (actually, it was), and he could get the notes from his roommate later. That is, if his roommate wasn’t a lazy jackass like Dakota and actually went to the class. Whatever; he’d find someone with the notes. Someone would be smart enough to not skip, to make an appearance, and to get the notes. Dakota would be willing to pay someone for notes, but for the moment he was a bit more concerned with buying hot dogs in the park. So he stood up and almost reached out for Kimmy’s hand, but kept his hands to himself (except for the one that reached and picked up the camera bag). The walk wasn’t long, but it was longer than the cab ride from the other night. Still, the park wasn’t all that far from the campus, and the wind was cool enough that it wasn’t necessarily an uncomfortable walk. Dakota mostly kept quiet unless Kimmy asked him a question, but mostly he was trying to keep conversation for the park. He didn’t mean to seem boring, he was just planning a strategy (almost). And then the park came up, and the turned into the entrance. Dakota quickly found a vendor and lead the way, ordered two hot dogs (of course while asking Kimmy what she wanted on hers), and paid for them. He then turned and lead the way to a small opening, clear of most people, just big enough and comfy enough for the two of them. He sat down, then motioned for Kimmy to do the same, and took a bite of his hot dog. It didn’t taste quite right, but that was because he smoked so much, so he was kind of used to it. Once he’d chewed and swallowed, he put the dog down with a napkin under it, then pulled his camera bag closer to him. “This project’s kicking my ass, and we only got the assignment today.” He pulled the camera body out, then the lens and attached the two. “I have no script, no actors, and three weeks to fill a hole.” He sounded a lot more stressed out than he felt, but he didn’t really care too much. Honestly, this project was almost freaking Dakota out, but he was handling it nicely, he thought. Besides, he’d only gotten the criteria for the project this morning, before he’d run into Kimmy, so he really hadn’t had time to worry too much. He didn’t turn the camera on, but he lifted the eye piece to his eye and aimed the lens at Kimmy, smiling with his unoccupied eye squinted. Right now, he was just playing, but eventually he wanted to get her on tape, partly so that he could get this out of the way and partly because she seemed really photogenic. Dakota had always been able to call the photogenic types, which was part of the reason he’d even wanted to come to Columbia for film. He lowered the camera and still smiled, picking up his hot dog again for another bite. Once that was down, he lightly leaned on the camera, just to get a better look at Kimmy. “Kimmy, you’ve got the best eyes I think I’ve ever seen.” He meant it just as a compliment; he wasn’t necessarily trying to hit on her. He was just being nice, so he turned the camera on and lifted it again, aiming it at her. He hadn’t put his SD card in the camera yet, so it wasn’t rolling, but if Kimmy didn’t catch that, he wasn’t going to say anything just yet. “Would you mind if I made you the star of my film?” He said it in an exaggerated tone, like he was some famous Hollywood director or casting director, but he laughed at himself and put the camera in his lap again. “You’ve got the face for it.” And now he was serious, at least in tone. He was still smiling, and he just hoped keeping Kimmy interested now would be as easy as it had been before. notes // woooooooooooo

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TEMPLATE BY KHRISTIAN OF CAUTION 2.0, LYRICS BY IRON & WINE[/center]

[KIMBERLY B. MAYFIELD]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: dddddd; border: #cccccc solid 8px; width: 420px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] WE'RE STILL SO YOUNG, DESPERATE FOR ATTENTION The Words: 1308 The Outfit: here! The Notes c: skipping classes wasn’t a normal thing for kimmy, but there was a first time for everything. technically it wasn’t a first time for skipping a class, but it was the first time she’d skipped a class without being ill. it made no sense to skip them when you didn’t have anything going on. after all, you were paying for them. it was okay to skip one or two classes in a whole year if you had something to do though. at least that was how she saw it. and this seemed worth it, considering they’d slept together a few days prior. if anyone found out at some point, it would make it look better if the two were friends. yeah, she was a bit paranoid about it all for no reason. this wasn’t like high school; people really didn’t care as much about petty gossip and drama. sure, you had a couple of busybodies, but not nearly as many as if you dropped by the local high school. that was good, because kimberly didn’t quite like being involved in drama or being talked about. the redhead could hold her own, but sometimes things just got to her. girls were full of emotions and mood swings and those things. she couldn’t help it when things got the better of her on occasion. it didn’t happen often, but sometimes you just needed to feel defeated to pick yourself back up again and be stronger. everything traced back to her childhood. okay, not quite, but it was easy for kimberly to hold her own because her parents had honestly been too preoccupied with her brother to take notice of the small things with her. they were busy going to conferences, going to his games or going to honor society inductions. she wasn’t left alone to grow up, but a lot of things went overlooked because they had to attend to her brother’s achievements. it was okay though, because it made it easier for her to do the things she wanted to do. it made it easier to come out to this college and be alone, it made it easier for her to throw herself out there and not be so bothered by harsh criticism or mean people. their inattentiveness led to her growth as a human being, and helpful growth at that. it wasn’t to say that they never helped her with her problems, but they surely didn’t spend as much time helping her as other parents helped their daughters. it honestly didn’t bother her though, and majority of her childhood memories were happy ones. sure, there were some broken bones and upsets, but everyone went through them. and the things that were most important to her were happening right now, at college. that d she got in sixth grade didn’t matter to her. what mattered was if she got a d on one of her pieces of art, which would probably destroy her. people couldn’t upset her much, but bad grades on something that was important was like a stake through the heart. her art was more important to her than a lot of people realized. if she chose to immortalize you in artwork, it was a big honor. well, she didn’t think of it that way, and most people didn’t either, but with how much effort and how proud kimmy was of any given piece of art, you had to be special for her to put the effort in. if it was exceptional, she’d even consider giving it to whoever was in the portrait. a good number of her friends received pictures for presents, whether it was for a birthday or a holiday or something. it was a simple gift that meant a lot. not having a job, it was easier to paint rather than go out and buy something. the walk to the park was a mostly silent one, but that was okay. kimberly wasn’t one of those people who was afraid of silence, and it was nice to admire the city in all its glory. being in dakota’s company was enough for her (at the moment), since they still had a while to go with each other. if they talked nonstop on the walk there, there would be no conversation left for the park itself. you couldn’t expect them to just be engrossed in their work the whole time, because that would pan out to be a bit awkward. although, maybe not, because him having his camera out and her sketching away might bring up a whole slew of questions and keep them occupied. the two arrived at the park in no time at all, and dakota was quite the gentleman and bought her food. it was just a hot dog, but it was still nice. “why thank you,” she spoke with a grin upon receiving hers. she hadn’t expected it, and it was awful nice. they did barely know each other. he was a nice guy though, and it made her glad that even drunk she could pick a good guy. it was basically luck of the draw, but still. kimmy sat down next to dakota as he had motion, setting her bag down before taking a bite of her hot dog. it was good, better than she’d expected for coming from a park. although, parks did often have the best food. his words took her from her thoughts about the food, causing her to nod slightly. “i hear you. i’ve got two days to do this colored pencil piece that will impress my professor. the two days isn’t bad, but impressing my professor seems impossible.” maybe it was just her imagination, but the professor wasn’t easily impressed by student work. she watched him play around with the camera, putting it together before pulling it up to his face and looking through the eyepiece. kimberly smiled, looking down slightly as if she were shy. the redhead wasn’t very camera shy, but she was more used to being behind the camera than in front of it, considering her minor was in photography. she only liked being in front of the camera when it was planned. the girl took another bite of her hot dog, hoping he wasn’t filming. that was just embarrassing, to her at least. kimmy set down her hot dog, deciding she should at least take out her sketch pad and consider what to sketch. she listened as the book was pulled out of her bag, and a smile crossed her lips. “i could say the same to you,” she replied, noting his eyes weren’t like everyone else’s. they were crystal clear, so captivating, really. she laughed at the way he asked his question, because his tone was funny and because she wasn’t quite sure if he was serious. dakota’s next comment confirmed it was a serious question, and it was impossible to say no. and she could get something out of it to. “i’ll help you if you help me,” kimmy told him, a smile on her face. it wasn’t going to be something scary or anything. he had to be able to tell by her smile. “i’ll be in your film if you’ll be in one of my projects. i can always use a subject, whether it’s my art or photography.” it was awfully hard to find someone to work with her, mostly because they insisted they weren’t photogenic enough or something. but this was like a deal so he couldn’t reject, right? it was a playful deal though. he really didn’t have to do something he didn’t want to. created by ADE! Pb-ified by WILL

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[DAKOTA J. OLEANDER]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; background-image: url(http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss279/legendskseeker/oceanbreezebg.png); padding-bottom: 20px;] words // 1111 // outfit // clicky // tagged // emmy/kimmy boy with a coin, T H E N M A K I N G A W I S H , A N D T O S S E D I N T H E S E A A deal was something Dakota was willing to dish out. He wasn’t necessarily a gambler, but if Kimmy wanted to swap subjects, what was the harm? He wasn’t really putting anything on the line, right? Even if she had a boyfriend (although she’d slept with him, which, considering he liked to see the best of people most of the time, he doubted was the case), all they were doing was getting to know one another on a personal and artistic level. There wasn’t any romance between them, at least not yet, which meant that he was safe from fists and words of another guy. It was almost weird because, when he looked at her, he swore there was no way she was single. He wouldn’t let her be if their relationship hadn’t started the way it had. But the instant he looked at something else, he realized that she wasn’t the cheating type (not that he’d thought that otherwise) and that she wasn’t with someone. Then again, they’d both been extremely drunk, and he hated to use that excuse, but when booze was involved, pretty much anything was possible. Dakota couldn’t help that alcohol affect the two of them the way it had; all he could do was sit back, apologize, and buy Kimmy a hot dog. So if Kimmy wanted to use him in….whatever she wanted to use him for, she could do so as long as he got to film her. That was nice, but what really caught his attention was her photography minor. Well, he didn’t really know it was her minor, but he could guess considering she had the sketch pad and spoke about sketches and art before photography. Truth be told, photographers, girls that could handle cameras, were a huge turn on to Dakota. Even if she was a lesbian, Jodi Foster was one of the hottest people if you asked Dakota, just because she knew how to work a camera, just because she knew how to direct movies. Just the thought of a girl with a camera was enough to fire Dakota up, but he kept himself in check pretty well. Considering he was trying to be Kimmy’s friend and not her fuck buddy, that was essential. He had to keep it in his pants, honestly, which was something he’d failed to do the first time he’d met her. But as far as that went, he wanted to forget about it. Move on with his life, just film her and be her friend. If things went farther than that, then cool, they went farther than just friends, but if not…. Well, Dakota could handle himself. He took another bite of the hot dog and nodded, enjoying both the thought of being a subject to art and the taste of the food. He’d come here before, by himself and otherwise not so alone, had the same hot dog before (okay obviously not the exact same hot dog, but the thought was the same), but suddenly with the change of company, it was almost a better dog. It almost tasted better, but Dakota talked himself into believing that tasting that was all a part of his sunny disposition for the day. It was like no one could bring him down; he was skipping his next class and he got to hang out and talk art with an extremely cute girl, someone he knew was at least attracted to him in the slightest manner. It was just easy to be happy and smiley around Kimmy, not that it was particularly difficult to be the same way anywhere else with anyone else. Still, he didn’t really feel like he had to fake it. He could genuinely chuckle and joke around and he didn’t really have to be Mr. Future Millionaire Director for Kimmy. He didn’t always have to be that person, but it was a refresher to know that at least one person didn’t expect of him, you know? However, her comment about his eyes only hit him after he put the hot dog down again. No, his eyes weren’t that special. They were nice and blue, but they weren’t any bluer or nicer than the color of the caps they put on babies the day they’re born. They were like his dad’s eyes, something that had attracted his mother initially, as she’d told Dakota, but Dakota had never really seen something extraordinary about his eyes. He’d seen better – he was looking right at a better pair than his own, even if they were the same color. Almost the same color, anyway. Kimmy’s eyes were like constellations, only better. Dakota couldn’t really put his finger on it, but he really liked looking at them, though he wouldn’t go so far as to say ‘love’ just yet, considering he found it was a cheesy, almost creepy thing to say at this point in their friendship. Maybe when they got a bit more comfortable with each other, he could break out the ‘l’ word, but for now, he’d just stick to what he thought about her eyes – they were the most blue, the most captivating he thought he’d ever seen. So he shrugged and smiled, giving off a humble feel, which is what he wanted. He wasn’t quite the cocky little prick, so Dakota liked to show it. Instead of worrying about it though, he took out his SD card, loaded it into the camera, and went back to their little arrangement. When he looked back up at her, he smiled wider. “You know what?” He leaned in again, but just enough so that he was leaning on the camera in his lap. “I think that can be arranged.” He turned back to the hot dog and finished it off, then went and paid attention to the camera. He’d been working with DSLRs for years, since before coming to Chicago from upstate Illinois, so he’d mastered the art of working carefully and holding a conversation simultaneously a while ago. “You’re not doing some nudey project, are you? I mean I don’t have a problem with that but your boyfriend might.” He was working with the focus, looking through the eye piece with the camera on, trying to get everything to look perfect. His tone was still a bit jovial, but he was partly serious too. If she had a boyfriend, maybe he would be a better candidate for nude poses, considering everything they’d gone through so far. Still, he’d only asked to ease a bit of tension, just in case there was any. When he looked back up at her, he was chuckling at himself again, shaking his head. “Just kidding.” notes // i wrote that pretty quickly~

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[KIMBERLY B. MAYFIELD]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: dddddd; border: #cccccc solid 8px; width: 420px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] WE'RE STILL SO YOUNG, DESPERATE FOR ATTENTION The Words: 1132 The Outfit: here! The Notes c: if anyone heard the first part of her reply to dakota’s question, they’d probably think she wanted to do dirty things, or for him to get drugs. seriously, in chicago, you couldn’t assume everyone had innocent motives. kimmy had thought that once, but then the really sweet girl in the dorm next door was getting arrested for possession. well, kimmy hadn’t thought the girl was all that innocent, really. there were always bags under her eyes and she was jumpy. she made kimmy nervous just being around her. that was just one person, but it just kind of opened her eyes. you couldn’t trust everyone that seemed sweet and innocent, and vice versa. not everyone who looked like some asshole drug addict was untrustworthy. she’d always wondered how people perceived her. she didn’t always look completely innocent, but kimberly didn’t think she looked like a drug addict at all. though, it wouldn’t surprise her if people thought she was a slut. that was the assumption almost every girl came to about other girls, and if you wore one v-neck or one short skirt, rumors spread like wildfire of your promiscuity. everything was in the name of art though, and kimberly couldn’t deny he would be a perfect subject. there was just something about him that was so picturesque, aside from his iridescent blue eyes. as weird as it probably sounded, the redhead wanted nothing more than to be able to paint him. in time though, because it would probably be easier to use him in a photoshoot, unless she could fit him in the project to impress her teacher. it probably wouldn’t be hard, but they’ve have to spend an awful lot of time together in the next two days, unless she got an idea quickly. this also meant that if she didn’t get an idea quickly, the girl wouldn’t get much sleep in the near future. kimmy wasn’t unaccustomed to getting little sleep. it happened often that she sat up thinking or working on a project, even when it wasn’t for a grade. most of her summers were spent being nocturnal because the redhead just couldn’t stop working on a piece in the middle of it. she’d lose her motivation and inspiration. she’d never missed school from working on something (because her parents wouldn’t let her), but a few times she’d come close. art class usually tided her over until the weekend, or the next break. she watched as he considered helping her out, smiling at how he made it look like he actually had to seriously think about it. unless he actually did have to think seriously about it, which was a little weird. either way, he could take his time, since they really weren’t going anywhere anytime soon. kimmy took another bite of her hot dog, noticing it was almost done. it was a good thing she hadn’t been starving, because one hot dog seemed too small. maybe it really wasn’t, but when you could eat it so quickly, it kind of left you wanting more because your brain hadn’t realized how much you’d eaten yet. kimberly didn’t eat much though, so it didn’t take a whole lot to leave her content. it wasn’t that she was anorexic or something, which someone had actually accused her of when she was younger, it was just that she didn’t feel the need to eat once she was full. a lot of people ate when they were bored, but she’d never been like that. it was pretty easy to distract her from boredom, whether it was with art or not. sometimes, that wasn’t such a good thing. if something was important to her though, it could hold her focus for a long time. dakota held her focus easily, and he didn’t even have to do much. it could’ve been his eyes and how easy it was to be pulled into them. it could’ve been his voice, or his personality, or just the way he seemed so focused on his art. sure, he hadn’t done much, but just him carrying that camera around with him was enough to hold her attention. it wasn’t that there weren’t other guys who were as into their major as he was, but she was pretty sure half of them would’ve dropped whatever they were doing to talk to a girl. college guys were into their work, but you couldn’t say they weren’t into getting girlfriends or just hooking up too. dakota didn’t seem mesmerized by her just because she was a girl (although they had already slept together, which could take his mind off of it). the camera was important to her, and kimmy could respect that. she could relate. her sketch pad was with her always, and her camera was pretty much glued to her hand when the time was right. their majors were going to get them somewhere in life, so why not be attached to them? it only made sense, even when they weren’t in school. the girl took another bite of her hot dog, listening to him accept their deal. it actually made her really happy for multiple reasons. one, naturally, was that subject were kind of hard to come by. another was that they’d be spending more time together. it would be fun, really. kimmy had friends, but a lot of them were girls that were just way too into their work to do anything else. having someone to hang out with, aside from robbie, would be nice. “great!” kimmy replied, grinning. she finished her hot dog, wiping her hands on a napkin before opening her sketch pad and grabbing a pencil. dakota’s next question surprised her, and the girl couldn’t help but giggle. the comment about the boyfriend made her smile amusedly, just because it was funny how he jokingly worried about that, so to speak. “you’d like to do ‘some nudey project’, wouldn’t you?” she teased with a smile on her face. “but i don’t have a boyfriend, so you wouldn’t have to worry about that. well, not yet. i’m just talking to someone, and, well, yeah,” kimmy added with a small shrug, still smiling slightly. the redhead just wanted robbie to ask her out already, because she was just getting impatient. what they had at the moment was nice, but a relationship was always better. they’d make such a good couple too. of course, that was her biased opinion, but she had no one to dispute it. created by ADE! Pb-ified by WILL

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