THAT'S NOT MY NAME. {benny}

[JEMISSA CROCKET]

It wasn't often that Jemima drank coffee, let alone Starbucks coffee. The only thing she really liked were thier Frappichinos, and even they left an odd aftertaste. But splashing cold water on her face wasn't working, so she had to use her last resort. When it was her turn in the obnoxiously busy line, she ordered a Vanilla Frappichino and a scone or whatever and sat at one of the very few tables left open, obviously pissing off a blonde that had been eyeing the same one.

It also wasn't often that she was this much of a bitch, but she was exausted. She had stayed up last night until about an hour and a half ago. And she still hadn't gotten her homework all the way done. She had been distracted by... what? Oh, yeah, Gone with the Wind was playing on television during her usual homework time. It came on at 7pm, and ended about 11. Her second favorite movie (her first being Pinocchio) had made her forget all about the psychology homework until she almost fell asleep.

Jemima only had a few questions left, so she got out her giant textbook, barely being able to lift it, and began.

Three seconds later, she became crosseyed. Even psychology was this difficult for her at this exausted state. She took a huge gulp of her coffee, wincing at the aftertaste, then closed the book and laid her head down on crossed arms.

Next time, Jimmy was gonna rent Gone with the Wind and watch it after she finished all her homework.

[BENNY MOORE]

Benny was in an unnaturally chipper mood. Well, unnatural for him. He was sure that normal people who didn't spend their entire lives fawning over a girl the could never have felt this way all the time. he didn't know what it was, but everything just seemed....right. Today felt like it was going to be good to him, and that was a feeling he didn't get too often as his standards for a day being good were pretty much dead set on Mackenzie finally waking up from the work that she always seemed enthused with and realizing that Benny was there and loved her more than anything in the world. It was nice for a change. Everything just seemed...brighter. The entire city seemed more amiable as he strolled into the usual Starbucks for a quick drink before continuing on to classes.

The incredibly long line which would usually put a damper on Benny's very faith in humanity today didn't faze him as much. He was willing to wait a moment or two to place his order. He looked around the tables, trying to pass the time. To his pleasant surprise (though not quite unexpected on such a fine day as this) he saw what looked to be Mackenzie sitting at one of the tables. To his even greater shock he supposed that she was poring over what seemed like a book, something that in all the years he had known the beautiful and perfect girl he had never seen in front of her. It was a bit disarming to see her reading something, really. The only time he had ever seen her gazing so intently at a book was when she would go off into her own world to scribble a new idea for an outfit furiously into one of her journals, and as far as he could tell this was NOT one such an occasion.

Shrugging it off, Benny moved forward in line to the front, where he made sure to order both his own drink as well as Mackenzie's regular. He figured it was the least he could do for the girl of his dreams, and what with how well the day was going he was sure that every act of kindness would pay off. Maybe this was the day. The day that he finally felt like he ought to confess the feelings he had bottled up so deep inside. Maybe he would finally feel ready to tell her how he had felt since before pre-school, and maybe that strawberries and cream frappuccino with flavor shots would be the key to it all.

Placing the overly sugary drink in front of his fair miss, whose face was still rather buried in the book, he slid into the chair across from her. "You feeling sick or something, Zee?," he laughed, taking a sip of his own drink. "It's not every day that the world gets a glimpse of you doing something as mundane as READING. Should I check your temperature?"

[JEMISSA CROCKET]

Jemima was just about to fall back asleep, which would have been a bad idea because she had no way to wake back up, when she heard a voice coming from the seat across from her. She looked up. The first thing that happened was that she saw was another frappichino.

The second thing was that she saw a boy with beautiful eyes sitting across from her. Like, seriously the prettiest eyes she's seen ever.

The third thing was that his words registered in her mind. "You feeling sick or something, Zee? It's not every day that the world gets a glimpse of you doing something as mundane as READING. Should I check your temperature?"

Jemima sat all the way up, confused for a second. She didn't know who it was and he was talking to her like he knew her, and he called her Zee, which was totally not a nickname she had ever heard in her life and-

Oh, he wasn't talking about her. He thought she was someone else.

"I'm sorry, I think you've confused me with someone else," she said, feeling guilty. She hated when she strangers were people she knew, it made her feel like an idiot. It kind of put her into one of her moods where she'd be spiteful to everybody for the rest of the day.

And he'd bought the person he thought she was a coffee. This was depressing. Ugh, she felt so guilty now! She was never coming to Starbucks again, no matter how tired she was.

[/justify]

notes; WHY DO YOU HAVE TO MAKE ME CRUSH BENNY'S MOOD LIKE THIS IS DON'T EVEN

oh, and HERE'S an outfit because I was bored. :D

[BENNY MOORE]

In his mind, as he twirled the straw to his drink around the cup, he ran through all the different possibilities for confessing his feelings that he had imagined over all those years. Curiously, he had never dreamed that it would be like this. He never thought it would be so casual. Telling the girl he loved in a coffee shop before classes just lacked a certain degree of grandeur that the younger Benjamin Moore had searched for in the ways he had dreamed up, and yet this was what felt right to him. Not finding some convoluted way to get her out into a field of flowers where he could tell her about how he had mooned over her for years was strangely okay with him. This was more natural, more casual. He could just come right out and say it to her, tell her exactly what he had been screaming inside his head for his whole life. He could just act like it was no big deal, like it was something trivial as the weather, and she would think that he hadn't spent years and years trying to get those three little words out of his mouth. Yes, this was it. This was the day he had been waiting for-

"I'm sorry, I think you've confused me with someone else,"

Well...that certainly put a damper on things. Under the skin, he instantly recoiled back into his shell. That was what he got for thinking that a day could be so perfect. He went out on a limb and where did it get him? absolutely nowhere. Simply sitting there awkwardly across the table from a girl he had never met before and one incredibly pricey drink that no one would want now.

Well, he ought to have seen it coming, really. Nothing ever could be that great in his life. His past experiences should have shown him that. Still, though, he really ought to at least attempt to make the best of the situation. He had already paid for the damned thing, and he was rather sure he couldn't attempt to return it. Why couldn't he just use it as a peace offering for the honest mistake and try to make a new friend? That was what he was always telling himself he needed: another friend besides Mackenzie to take him out of himself and get his mind off that obsession for a while. True, his loves doppelganger was probably not the best candidate for such a position, but she was better than anything, right?

Sliding it over to her, he smiled again, a little more shyly at this point. "Sorry, honest mistake. You look just like her. Um, would you like a frappe? Best not let it go to waste, right? I'm Benny, by the way."

[JEMISSA CROCKET]

Jemima could almost see the boy's seemingly good mood fade away quickly. That was her sixth sense, being able to tell what was wrong with people. It helped her assess thier problems. For example, the way he twirled his straw made her think he was thinking about how he was gonna word something he was gonna tell the girl she thought Jimmy was. She couldn't tell what it was, though. She wasn't that amazingly awesome at reading people, especially with this lack of sleep.

Though a finding a good solution might be just the thing she needed to get her mind going for the day. Though there was no way to tell as she had never been this tired or given such an opportunity as this. It was tempting to clap her hands and rub them together in such a way that she was about to something important. But she didn't, of course, that would freak him out, most likely, and her opportunity would be gone because he would shut her out and/or alk away.

Jemima had finished her first Frappuccino and hadn't even realized. Well, it would have been awkward just to give him money for it, plus she had spent all the money she had on her on her breakfast, so she nodded in thanks and took a sip.

Damn, that thing was flavorful. Jemima couldn't keep the look of surpise off her face. It was comparable to when someone gets splashed in the eyes with chlorine-filled water. She quickly recovered, not wanting to be rude.

"This girl you like must like sugary things."

Jemima said it quickly, only hinted slightly at the 'you like' because she wasn't one-hundred-percent sure that's what the issue was. He hadn't talked to who he thought she was like a sister, and that would likely be the only person someone would spend this much money on extra flavor shots for. There had to be about ten in there.

Though, honestly, it wasn't bad, so she took another sip.

"Oh, I'm Jemima, by the way, but you can call me Jimmy. Or anything else, really." As in, I hate the name Jemima. "Yeah, I hate it when I confuse strangers with people I know. It's so frustrating."

First step in the Jemima Carley Problem Solving Method for people she just awkwardly met: relating to the patient.

[BENNY MOORE]

Benny felt the familiar "Oh shit" feeling slink back inside him as he over analysed the doppelganger's usage of the word "like." While she took another sip of the drink, he bit his lip a bit nervously, wringing his hands underneath the table to keep her from thinking he was about to have some kind of emotional breakdown. It was probably no big deal, right? He couldn't possibly give off some kind of vibe that people could pick up just from spending a few brief moments with him, did he? Was there some kind of siren he was always sending out screaming "DESPERATE! DESPERATE! I AM REALLY DESPERATE!"? No, that couldn't be it....right? She just had to assume that he was friends with her based on the fact that he had bought her a freaking five dollar drink. There was nothing to worry about. He was just working himself into a frenzy as per usual. He could stop acting like a freak and rubbing his palms together like some kind of supervillain before anyone saw him and wondered what the hell was going on.

He smiled shyly at her, nodding his head slightly in agreement. he was glad he wasn't the only one t actually mistake someone like that. God, he had felt so retarded, but if she had done it herself then she MUST understand his situation, right? It was at least a little reassuring.

"Yeah, I know. I promise I don't mix people up like that all the time. This was totally a major fluke," he laughed apologetically. He still wanted to kick himself for making such a stupid mistake. Honestly, he ought to have been able to tell when the love of his life was sitting there and when it was just some random girl. Why wasn't the book a clue? He KNEW that Mack wouldn't be caught dead reading; he should have just gone with his gut feeling.

Well, it was too late now to question the whole thing. He just had to go with it, and obviously Jemima (Jimmy? Was that really a girl's name?) understood. Maybe if he kept the conversation flowing the awkwardness would dissipate.

"So, uh, what did I interrupt you reading there?" Sure, it was a stupid way to continue the conversation, but it was at least something, right?

[JEMISSA CROCKET]

"Yeah, I know. I promise I don't mix people up like that all the time. This was totally a major fluke.

"Well, people make mistakes. That's kind of a part of human existence." What a stupid reply. Jemima just wasn't on her game today. Like, at all. Otherwise she would have said something a lot better than mentioning human existence and basically repeating the same topic over and over. Though, after about her sixth sip of the coffee in front of her, she could practically feel the sugar running through her, making her a bit jittery.

Okay, so that was a bit of an exaggeration, but still. That thing was damn sweet.

Great, now he had turned the conversation towards her. Well, she had to keep it going, and maybe she could turn the subject back on this girl... what had he called her? Zee? Probably a cute little nickname. She adored when guys gave girl cute little nicknames that weren't offensive in any way.

"So, uh, what did I interrupt you reading there?"

"Oh, I wish I was reading," she said with a sigh, "but unfortunatley it's the psychology homework I failed to complete last night." That was another thing she needed to find out. Honestly she couldn't tell how old he was, though he had to at least be... high school aged.

Well, that would be strike two, because he was probably in love with this girl and he likely was a few years younger than her. Which sucked because she still couldn't get over how beautiful his eyes were. She was trying not to stare because that would be creepy, but it was hard to get someone to trust her enough to confess thier issues when she couldn't even look into thier eyes.

notes; idk if you meant to quote this video, but. i had to share.

And seriously, he has freaking beautiful eyes. :D

[BENNY MOORE]

Benny couldn't help but laugh inwardly at her attempt at being reassuring. Well, yeah, of course it was being part of the human experience. If making mistakes was all it took to classify as being human, Benny would arguably be the most justifiably homosapien on the planet. He couldn't imagine a mistake bigger than falling in love with one's best friend. There wasn't a situation feasibly worse that a 17 year old boy could make with his life. God, he was just such a pathetic excuse for a person. He very much doubted that kids in High school were supposed to feel these levels of stress. Was that even healthy? Christ, he was probably going to get some kind of a nervous tic just to let everyone know that, yes, he was kind of incredibly fucked up.

Oh. Psychology. Right. Wait.... did Baum eve offer a psychology class? He was pretty sure the nearest school you could take a class like that would have to be the.... Oh shit, she must be attending that big official university thing on the other side of the city, right? Well, that would certainly explain why Benny had never seen the dead ringer for his favorite girl before. If she had already gotten out of the hell that was High School then he would have had no reason to get to know her before now.

"Oh, well, psychology sounds fun. I kind of was thinking of maybe going into that field myself..." It wasn't a total baldfaced lie that Benny was telling just to keep the conversation going. He really did still think that if his art didn't work out for him, then he could always become a psychologist. Years of being Bffls with Mackenzie had prepared him for listening to people's problems. He figured that he could always fall back on utilizing that talent.

"I guess you'll probably want me out of the way then, right? So you can catch up on all your schoolwork?" He smiled with that embarrassed face that he had perfect after years of having to make it constantly and prepared to leave. Well, that's what he got for thinking the universe was sending him a little spark of sunshine for his otherwise dreary life. He should have known to stick to the pathetic, self-deprecating feelings he was so used to by now rather than trying to get a little happiness.

[JEMISSA CROCKET]

"I've wanted to take psychology since I was born, so my parents say." Yeah, she was running around helping people solve their own little issues and performing crayon-written psych evaluations. Well, she wrote doen what their problems were and how they could solve those problems, but whatever. It was cute.

"It really all depends on who you get for a teacher, really. I mean, I had psychology classes in high school back at home, but..." Her voice trailed away, momentarily distracted by a disgusting memory, a far look in her eyes, but regained her crumbling train of thought and continued. "But if you just go into it into college, it's best to take a few classes online beforehand because I know none of the teachers at Barrie take pity and go easy on beginners. I'm not the best person to talk to about teachers, unfortunately." She looked down and her hand started shaking ever so slightly, making it clear something was wrong.

"Oh, no, it's fine. The professor lectures for three fourths of the class before he even remembers homework." She looked up again and smiled, taking another drink of the sweet frappuchino. "Besides, it's nice to have someone to talk to and keep me awake. Though I'm not sure I'll be sleeping after this high sugar intake."

Well, there had to be some conversation somewhere. "So tell me about this girl." Yeah, it was a a little blunt, but she was curious.

[BENNY MOORE]

It was kind of weird to actually be allowed to stay at the table. Benny was used to being awkwardly shuffled away from lu ch tables at school whenever Mackenzie was in class because he was, pathetically, too shy to bother making new friends. The fact that she legitimately seemed to like him was...well, he supposed that the word other people might use to describe it was 'hopeful,' though Benny hadn't had very much experience with that word in his life. What, from his father heading off before Benny was born, to his mom's own ill-fated crush on the boss, to Benny's own experiences with the boss's daughter, it seemed that he was fated to have a rather dismal life, without much chance or use for hope. This, though, this seemed to be a sign that he wasn't totally hated by the entirety of the human race. Maybe it was something about girls that shared Mackenzie's looks, but they seemed to at least be able to tolerate him.

Perhaps this was a chance to make a new friend after all. It seemed as though she was a perfect fit, right? From what she said it seemed like her entire existence was for the purpose of listening to other people's problems, and Benny was nothing but one big psychological problem, right? Perhaps she could be even more than a friend. Perhaps she could be the one who could tell him what the hell was wrong with him exactly, and why he seemed to have nothing but the girl he had been best friends with since before he could walk on his mind at all times.

"Well, I mean, I don't realy know what you want me to tell you. Uh, well, we've been friends for...well, FOREVER, really, because our parents work together, well my mom works for her dad, but yeah, I mean, y'know, we would always play with each other, and we would always be together, and really, we do everything for each other, and I guess I should just be happy at that, right?"

[JEMISSA CROCKET]

Oh my god, just admit that you're in love with her, dammit! It was obvious, to Jemima at least. But coming right out and saying that would probably offend him or something. Scratch that, it would downright creep him out. And it wasn't exactly polite to creep people out when you just met them and they were a few years younger. And you apparently looked just like the girl they were obviously in love with.

No, that wasn't a good idea at all.

So basically, she had to word that differently.

Jemima took a sip of the coffee. "Is that what you want to be happy with?" she asked, eyeing him skeptically. "I mean, I'm just saying that's not what it sounded like. Like you were doubting yourself."

That was considerably less creepy than the reply that first popped in her head. Of course, he might not have the comparison.

notes; THIS IS THE WORST POST EVER. SHOOT ME.

loljk, i'm gonna rewrite this.

[BENNY MOORE]

He took a sip from his coffee, really feeling more than a bit awkward in this conversation at this point. It would be just his luck to manage to find the one girl in the city hellbent on psychoanalyzing him on the subject of Mackenzie. Why couldn't she just let the matter rest and they could go on to discussing something else, like the rare streak of nice weather or how delicious the starbucks coffee was, or how much they were looking forward to summer and the end of school, or REALLY anything else. He thought enough about his relationship or lack there of with Zee every waking moment of his life. Couldn't this girl just take a hint and talk about something else? He'd bought her a damn coffee, for crying out loud! This seemed to be kind of prying for someone he had just met.

"Umm, well, you know..." He stammered a bit, still taken aback at the brashness of this Jemima girl. Everyone else he met just kind of took for granted the relationship between Benny and Zee, and they at least had the good sense to keep from asking about it or wondering aloud whether it was what Benny "wanted to be happy with."

"Well, I mean, I guess if you really want to know, then no, it's not something that I'm perfectly comfortable with, but it's not like I can just go ahead and question it, can I? I'd much rather be her best friend forever than try and be something more than that and lose even her friendship." He took another sip of his coffee, trying to keep from accidentally saying anything more that he would regret later. Really, they had just met. He didn't exactly know how she would react.