life on the nickel

[shrugs]  If the w-world was right, there’d be n-no problems.  I’d be able to s-see in color, R-Rosie wouldn’t be paralyzed, Rhyannne wouldn’t be mu-mute and Eli-Elijah wouldn’t be blind.

I guess you're right.

[sighs and leans back in a chair to watch Sage]  Nothing in the w-world is right.  T-the world is wrong.

[He turns his head to look at him with actual curiosity] Why do you say that ?

[shrugs]  I think she c-can be however y-you want her to look.

No. [He shakes his head as he changes the line of the sculpture's nose a little bit.] I need something right.

[comes up besides him]  Wh-what, what are you talking about?  Th-that’s awesome!

Thanks, but I'm not completely convinced. [He pauses.] I don't even know if my mother actually looks like that.

[He’s barely even finished speaking when her lips her on his, drowning out the end of his sentence as she pulls herself up onto her toes, her arms tightening around his neck. She trails her hand down to cup his face, closing her eyes to prevent the tears that threaten to fall, her heart leaping as she winds her arms around him, pulling him flush against her. She wants to tell him that she doesn’t care if he’s socially awkward, or weird, because she’s weird, too, and that it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t know how relationships work; none of that matters, but where words often betrayed her, she knew her lips wouldn’t, and so she told him everything he needed to know in that one kiss.]

[He doesn't even think about it ; he immediately reacts to the kiss, his arms wrapping around her waist to keep her as close as possible. One of his hands slides up, his fingers digging into her dark hair. He has to break the kiss after a little while though, just to hug her as close as possible, his face buried in the strands of brown hair that tickle his nose. He doesn't say anything. Body language is enough.]

[The silence between them seemed to stretch on for hours, even though it was probably no longer than a few seconds, the two of them still, like waxworks, or pawns in a game of chess, neither willing to move. Finally, Cecily stepped forward, her tread cautious, as if she were dancing on landmines. She took another step, looking up at him, her feet frozen to the spot.] Sage… [She started, but was unsure of what she was trying to say. She didn’t know what to say to him to make him feel okay. She took another step, placing her hand on his wrist.] Sage, look at me.

[Sage finally looks up, his hand turning, his fingers wrapping around Cecily's gently. He gives them a light squeeze before letting go.] I thought... I mean-- I know I'm not... actual boyfriend material or whatever. I'm too weird, too socially awkward... Hell, I have no idea how a relationship works. But I thought... [He pauses. Licks his lips nervously. And finally drops his gaze again.] I thought maybe I'd be good enough for a wonderful girl like you.

[Cecily moves aside to let the children out, her eyes breaking the contact between herself and Sage. Sweet kids, she though; she knew them from her cabin. The youngest one, Zoe, was much too shy for her own good. But she’d come out of her shell soon enough. Once the door was shut, Cecily looked back up at Sage again, letting go of another breath, and forcing herself to breathe in again, her hands clenched around the cardigan, fidgeting nervously with the cuffs of the sleeves.] So… [she repeats, her eyes wandering to the floor, to the window, anywhere but his face, before she finally find his eyes again.] So if you don’t like gestures, or playing games, then why did you kiss me? 

[He doesn't say anything. He doesn't answer, simply because he doesn't know what to tell her. His mind was already a mess when it came to her and she expected him to explain why he kissed her when he didn't know himself ? Or-- well, he actually did know now that he'd realized he had a crush on her. But seriously, saying 'I've got the biggest crush ever on you' didn't sound awesome. So he just keeps quiet, avoiding her gaze carefully.]

[Cecily opens the door, clutching the handle, and then releases it, shutting the door behind her and leaning against it. She doesn’t care that she’s only got a cardigan, or that her make-up’s smudged, or she only has one shoe and it’s not even hers. She only cares about the answer to her next question. She leans against the door, her eyes locked with Sage’s, the children in a separate world to her. Her words come out in a breathless rush as she tries to catch her breath, repeating what he had said to her only a few weeks before.] ‘When you kiss someone it should be because you love that person, not because you suddenly want to play around.’

[Sage doesn't say anything at first. He just notices the oversized cardigan, probably a man's. Same for the unique shoe she's got. The messy hair, the messy eyeliner. Saying that she just woke up, considering it's the middle of the afternoon... No.] We'll finish the lesson tomorrow, okay guys ? I need to talk to Cecily. [The children just nod and leave the cabin. There's just the two of them now, and Cecily's outfit, everything, he can't help but thinking that Toby was right. Lost cause. He waits for the feeling of his heart sinking in his chest. He can't say a single thing, though. She already repeats the words he said to her a while ago-- and he's surprised, really. He's surprised she remembers it.] 'I don’t like that. I don’t like playing with gestures. When you kiss someone it should be because you love that person, not because you suddenly want to play around.' That's what I said when I told you Ginger tried to kiss me for New Year's Eve. So ?

[Sage is taking care of two unclaimed kids from the Hermes cabin. One is a twelve or thirteen year old boy with dark hair and grey eyes ; the other one is a little girl sitting on his lap. She's not more than ten years old and she has golden curls and big chocolate eyes and she holds a stuffed wolf in her arms as if her life depended on it. He's telling them the myth of Atlantis when comes the knocks. He frowns.] Door's open !

[she bends in her seat, picking the note from where it landed on the floor and opening it. she almost lets out an overdramatic groan at the ‘blondes aren’t my type’ line, looking up at him and pointing towards her open mouth like she was gagging. she rolls her eyes and shakes her head, scrawling back another reply before flicking it at him]

[He almost doesn't answers but finally scribbles a word without even looking up from his book, sending the answer to Ginger.]

[Cecily’s eyes skimmed across the note, and she tried to restrain the sigh that threatened to slip through her lips. She didn’t reply to the note. Instead, she threw Ginger an unamused look, and screwed it up in a ball, throwing it at Freddie’s head to wake him up — again. She speculated that he hadn’t slept well, which meant the bad dreams were back. Her fingers laced together uncertainly, and she made a mental not to talk to him about it tonight. Cecily flipped the page of her notebook and clicked the lid of her pen, pressing the nib against the page. She had planned on drawing; but as soon as her pen hit the page, her mind seemed to go blank. She didn’t know what to draw; She didn’t move the pen, and instead a large inky blotch appeared on the page.]

[ginger rolls her eyes happily at her friend, pulling out her notebook again and tearing another sheet free. she bites the end of her pen for a moment then starts her note to sage]

[Sage doesn't react immediately. He's bored out of his mind, as he knows this lesson by heart already-- perks of having an eidetic memory, but he didn't know what else to do. He glances at Ginger, though, then at the note he finally picks up and unfolds before rolling his eyes and answering.]

[She nods and then moves from her bed to his, sitting on the end of his bed.] Go on.

How do you know you have a crush on someone ? What does that even mean anyway ?

[Raises an eyebrow.] Did you forget how to read?

[He closes his book with a grunt, frustrated, and leans against the headboard of his bed.] Millie-- I've got a question, actually.