this night is sparkling {adam}

[KYLIE JACOBS]

It hadn't been her best idea. Curfew was 10pm. Students were to be in their dorms by then. If they weren't, there was trouble to be had. Oh, especially if the advisors caught you sneaking out. It wasn't so bad if you were just running late in getting home in time. If they caught you purposefully trying to leave? Ohohoho. That was bad.

It was quite dangerous for Kylie to be sneaking out. Sure, it was 11 now and the advisors tended to lose interest around 10:30. Still, she could be such a klutz. Especially when she was trying to be quiet. It was one of the things she knew her roomie hated about her. Kylie just couldn't get a class of water without knocking over at least three things.

If somebody who knew Kylie ignored the fact that she was sneaking out, they'd wonder why in the world she was awake. Everybody knew how much she valued her sleep. Kylie was usually in bed before curfew was even in effect and even then, she tended to sleep in.

Tonight, Kylie could not sleep and there was absolutely nothing to do in her dorm. Besides, she'd wake up the roomie if she stayed in there. So, she'd tugged a jacket on over her pajamas and stepped into her slippers and she'd snuck out. To her surprise, it was easy.

Despite it being rather cold out, she'd wandered around until she found herself at the courtyard. Having been singing under her breath the entire way, she was surprised that she hadn't gone overboard with it; any sort of singing usually led to shouting the lyrics. That would've had her caught, though, and she seemed to sub-consciously realize that.

Finding a nice grassy spot with a clear view of the sky, Kylie settled down, deciding to stargaze. A little company would be nice (Kylie hated being alone) but she hardly expected it, what with the timing.

---

outfit
what am i doing

[sleepingprince]

Sneaking out was, as Adam had bragged to his roommate at least twelve times over, exactly as easy as it sounded. Why, half the time, no one was even looking. He could have been a burglar and no one would have noticed any different; the whole place would have just kept on sleeping, its inhabitants calm as Hindu cows. Now, it didn’t really matter that Adam hadn’t ever snuck out before, as his roommate had so kindly pointed out. He just knew these sorts of things. Like one sometimes knows exactly where friends hide their secret candy stashes after being in their houses only the one time. Well, maybe not exactly like that. But still, it was a sort of intuition. Some people, he supposed, were just born with it.

There had been a bet made. He, Adam Holst, was to sneak out of their room and out the front door of the dormitory without getting detected, and not return until two-thirty in the morning, sharp. Again via front door. It was, in all probability, an impossible challenge, but he’d accepted anyway. He always did. If he got caught, there would no doubt be consequences, and there was no way in hell his coach would be pleased to hear of his so-called tomfoolery, but there was pride at stake.

It was cold outside. Colder than he’d thought it would be. Instantly, Adam began to regret his decision, if only slightly. There was no way his flannel shirt and jeans were going to last him until two-thirty on a night like this. He’d have to find a streetlamp…or build a fire…or dig a trench, and use his body heat to help maintain normal internal temperature while sharing a bed with earthworms.

Or…maybe he could just find company.

There, in the courtyard, it seemed he was not alone. Whether this was a good or bad thing had yet to be determined, but whether friend or otherwise, the other person certainly had a lovely singing voice. At least, he thought it was her; it was hard to tell, what with the way she was lying in the grass so far away and whatnot. Still, he followed the tune, smiling slightly as he walked. Not exactly quiet, as he didn’t want to scare the girl, but not loud either in case that earned him extra, unwanted attention.

Stopping just two feet behind and to the right of the girl, Adam sat down without invitation, although he didn’t stretch out like the girl was; surely that would be far too much for a spontaneous late night meeting. He knew who she was—Kylie Jacobs, he was fairly certain, from his English class—but God only knew if she’d recognize him.

Still, he smiled slightly.

“Sorry, I, uh, don’t mean to bother,” he apologized, voice soft as he took in with a smile the fact that she was wearing pajamas. “I just heard you singing, and I was wondering what song it was…”

As if that wasn’t the creepiest way to start a conversation possible.

“Oh! And I’m Adam, by the way,” he extended a hand quickly before looking at it, realizing what he was doing, and quickly depositing it back in the grass where it had rested previously. Wonderful. At least now Miss-probably-Kylie-Jacobs would know who to report was stalking her when she went to file a report in the morning.

[KYLIE JACOBS]

The longer she stargazed, the colder she realized it was. She had clearly not thought this out. Then again, sneaking out had been a split-second decision. She hadn’t put thought into that; why would she have put thought into the weather? That was just silly. Tugging her jacket on tighter, she shifted a bit. The ground wasn’t comfortable either. Maybe it would be best to just go back inside. She could stargaze another night – preferably a spring night. Oh, but the night sky was so very pretty. And what if she were to miss a shooting star as soon as she left? She refused to let that happen. Okay. Ten more minutes. That should be enough time.

Her singing seemed to jump all over the place, switching songs every so often. She gave each genre its turn because that was only fair. Because she was singing rather quietly, she heard the approaching footsteps of another. Oh, what wonderful timing! And to think, she hadn’t been expecting company. Well, it was her lucky night. Carrying on with the current song, she waited a bit impatiently for them to join her. That was only polite, right? They spoke then and not only did she realize it was a guy, but his voice was familiar.

She sat up slowly, not wanting to move too quickly in case that made her any colder. Pulling her hair over one shoulder, she turned back and looked at him. “No, it’s fine.” She dismissed the apology with no problems. Company had been what she wanted so he had no reason to say sorry (then again, it wasn’t like he’d known). “That one was…” she paused, thinking. “Stolen, I think. By Dashboard Confessional.” She shrugged. “I was kind of going between songs.” He was sitting too far away.

Scooting over to him, she settled beside him and pulled her knees to her chest. Cold, cold, cold. “I know who you are,” she said, laughing a little. “English.” She pointed to herself. “Kylie.” He probably knew that, though. He’d pulled his hand back before she could shake it. That’s what she got for being too slow. However, Kylie realized she was being a bit loud for somebody who was trying not to be caught. Lowering her voice this time, Kylie asked, “what’re you doing out here so late?”

[sleepingprince]

Well, that had gone better than expected. At least she hadn’t jumped up and run off screaming, or brandished anything resembling weaponry in his direction. Already he was exceeding his expectations; it would appear he’d brought his a game, whatever that meant in situations like this.

“I don’t think I know that one,” he admitted after thinking for a moment, “Sounded nice, though. You’ve got a good voice. And an iPod in your head, apparently.” he added with a chuckle as an afterthought, slightly impressed by what she’d said, assuming she was telling the truth. Why she wouldn’t be, he had no idea, so perhaps that was a good thing.

Adam watched curiously as she shifted up and closer to him, noting the way she seemed to shiver in the night air. Had he a jacket, he would have offered it. As it was, he had the strangest feeling it’d be even creepier to rip off his flannel and go virtually topless. Best for them both to shiver a bit. And, well…she was inching closer. That had to mean something, right? Maybe she just wanted to cuddle. With the first person she saw. In the middle of the night. In a courtyard. Stargazing at the stars you had to literally squint to see, because of all the city lights. Whatever suited her fancy, he guessed. He was no killer, so he supposed she was safe for now.

“Right. Just making sure. Didn’t want to scare you or anything.” smiling warmly, he couldn’t help his amusement at just how loud she was speaking. It was obvious she’d never done this before (neither had he, but his inexperience wasn’t quite so obnoxiously advertised). He thought for a moment, and deciding against telling her he was out her because of a bet, simply shrugged, drawing his own knees up to his chest. “Could ask you the same thing. It’s an awfully cold night for camping.

[KYLIE JACOBS]

As it was a song that’d come out about four years ago, Kylie hadn’t really expected him to know it. Then again, she didn’t even know the sort of music he listened to. “It came out in 2006.” She laughed, then, realizing her comment had almost made his seem that much funnier. Then again, it probably wasn’t even something to joke up. She’d memorized so many songs by so many bands from so many genres. Lyrics sometimes got mixed up in her mind, the wrong words playing to the wrong tune. It didn’t happen often, only when it was a song she didn’t particularly care for. One that really didn’t need to be memorized in the first place. “I really do, though. You could probably hum a tune and I’d know which song it’s from.” Realizing that he’d compliment her singing a bit late, she smiled brightly. “Oh, and thank you!”

It seemed talking was warming her up. It sort of made sense, to Kylie anyway. She didn’t really care how just as long as the cold wasn’t getting to her as badly. Kylie looked up, leaning back just a bit to make it easier on her neck. To anybody else, the stars would be hard to see due to the brightness of the city lights. To Kylie, the stars were easy to see. It might have been that she really wanted to see them; maybe it was that she was imagining them. The constellations she thought she could see were probably made up, subconscious shapes made up from memories of her childhood. “I’ve always loved stargazing,” she said softly, remembering again to keep her voice low. This would definitely help her fall asleep later. If she watched long enough, she’d be able to pretend she could see the night sky once her eyes were closed.

Kylie looked back down at Adam and she smiled. “I heard you coming,” she said, “so I wouldn’t have been scared anyway.” She was happy to avoid adding that she was easily startled; that was the last thing you wanted to tell people. Then, they went out of their way to scare you. Bit cruel, really. Kylie noticed and wondered why he’d avoided answering her question. Instead, he directed it back at her. Well, she could answer it easily. “Couldn’t sleep.” That sounded boring, though. “Which is saying something.” There, that would probably lead to more questions. Keep the conversation going. Because she liked talking to Adam; he was nice and there was something familiar about him that she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

[sleepingprince]

"Right," Adam nodded, still smiling, "Bet it did." As if his theory hadn't already been proven. At least she seemed to think it funny enough as well, seeing as she'd laughed at herself; that was always a good thing to find in company, the ability to laugh at one's mistakes. "One of the best traits a man can find in a woman," according to his father, he found himself thinking absentmindedly. Not that he was thinking of Kylie like that. At all. He hardly knew her. She was pretty, sure, and nice, from what he knew, but...no. Just no. Not girlfriend material.

Grateful to her for the unknown interruption of his thought process, Adam recovered quickly, looking the girl next to him up and down once, as though deciding whether or not she could possibly be telling the whole truth. Again, he didn't see why she'd lie. But he could pretend she had.

"Really? Any tune? So you listen to a lot of rap music then, do you?" Eyes widening in momentary shock, he shrugged. "You don't really seem to the type to recognize Wheezy." Not that he was, either. He knew his fair share of Lil' Wayne from the locker room, and would be lying if he said he didn't know the words to more than a few of his songs, but he'd never recognize or gather together the words of one were he only to hear the background beat. And never mind the fact that you couldn't hum rap. Hopefully she'd just forget about that little detail.

So she was stargazing. How, Adam still had no idea. Either she was crazy or had a great imagination, and at this point, he honestly would have believed either.
"Stargazing..." quizzically, he tilted his own head back to look at the sky, eyes squinting in a vain attempt to take in the apparent splendor Kylie'd come out here to bask in. All he saw was blackness. Just the city lights, blocking out the atmosphere. Typical New York City. "How?"
He hadn't meant to be rude.

Of course she'd heard him coming. Good, he supposed, that he hadn't scared her straight out of her skin. He shrugged, offered her another small smile. "Guess my plan worked."

What she said next had him instantly interested. Adam had never taken much notice of Kylie in class other than to note the fact that she was there at all, and thus was a bit surprised at her new admitted fondness of sleeping. He leaned back, stretching his legs out on the grass in front of him, torso supported by his forearms. "So you're not normally a night owl, then?" He looked up at her from his new half-lying position, teasing sort of grin on his face. "Huh. I definitely took you for the addictive-sneaking-out type. My bad." Tongue in cheek, he waited patiently for her response, eyes lingering on her face for a half second before he turned to stare forward at a point just above his shoes. He could do this until two-thirty, easy.

[KYLIE JACOBS]

He had a nice smile. Was it weird of her to notice that? Oh well. She didn’t care if it was. At least he did smile. Teenagers these days could be so full of… angst. Was that the word? Whatever it was it seemed to make the very idea of smiling foreign to them. Adam, though, well, she was quite sure he’d been smiling since he’d arrived. … Yeah, it was definitely weird of her. Time to stop thinking about that and focus. It was terribly rude to let her mind wander like that during a conversation. “Really,” she insisted, raising her eyebrows. “It did.”

Kylie had to stop and ponder his response. She’d never really been called out on her ability to recognize nearly any tune. It was a bit strange. He was definitely right, though, if she thought about it. If there were a genre that she was the least familiar with, it would be rap. Kylie gave him a scrutinizing look for a moment before giving way to a resigned sigh. “Alright, you’ve got me there.” She laughed, somehow finding her being caught amusing. “Not that I don’t listen to it,” she added quickly, “I listen to everything.” Still, if she were honest with herself, she probably couldn’t put a name to a lyric or beat of very many rap songs.

Looking back up at the sky with Adam’s question in mind, Kylie realized the stars were practically impossible to see. The city lights were, in fact, outshining them. That was wrong on so many levels! It actually kind of infuriated her. “Imagination,” she admitted, trying not to sound as disappointed as she felt. How she’d never realized this little con of New York was unknown to her. She’d always loved stargazing in Connecticut; it must’ve been that she just didn’t like the idea of anything man made ruining something natural. “It’s a shame, really.” She shrugged and pivoted to face him now that she knew there really was nothing to see in the sky.

Kylie realized then that he was wearing jeans. Jeans? Who wore jeans this late at night? Either he hadn’t been getting ready for bed or he just wore them as pajamas. She hoped for the first because the latter just sounded uncomfortable. Kylie shook her head, “I’m the farthest thing from.” Ha, Kylie, a night owl? Right. Kylie grinned, not used to the teasing. “Oh yes, it’s my favorite past time.” Though the idea of sneaking out every night and not getting her beauty sleep sounded horrible. “I’d say you were a pro at it, but surely you’d have learned by now that jeans wouldn’t keep you warm with this sort of weather.”

[sleepingprince]

“Everything?” Adam couldn’t help but be a bit skeptical about that last statement. There had to be something she didn’t listen to, and he was going to find out what, if only to prove to…no one in particular…that he was right. Typical thought process, really. It made perfect sense.

“So,” he paused to think for a moment, pondering all the musical genres he could come up with. “You listen to a lot of opera? Drake? Not that they’re the same at all, but still. Or…are you, by any chance, a fan of The Fratellis?” he quirked a brow lightly, holding a clenched fist out to her as though he was holding a microphone, voice suddenly taking on the simultaneous monotony and urgency of a newscaster. Hopefully this all wasn’t too weird for her. He doubted it, though. She seemed like someone who at least enjoyed the idea of fun and games.

Imagination. Now that was an answer he hadn’t heard before. Not that he’d ever asked the question before either, but still, it felt like the sort of response people didn’t give often. He had to admit, he was impressed. Very impressed. Nodding slightly, Adam looked back up at the sky again, squinting slightly as though maybe that would make him able to see them too. The effort was pointless.

With a small, slightly disappointed sigh, Adam turned to look at her again, glad she was at least playing along. “I knew I saw right through you.”

He shrugged off her statement about jeans, choosing once more to ignore the fact that he’d never done this before, voice light. “Donno. Maybe that’s why I am a pro though, huh? I’ve built up immunity over the years.” Which was exactly why he was shivering, of course.

[KYLIE JACOBS]

“Yes, everything.” She answered, full of confidence that she could handle whatever challenge he was about to issue. And if he did name a band or artist that she didn’t recognize… The very possibility offended her so she quickly dismissed it. There was no way that would happen. Kylie waited, trying to guess what he’d say, which bands or genres he’d mention. He’d probably call her out on rap music – she knew she didn’t look the sort to care for it. That was one of the things she liked about meeting new people; being able to surprise them. She never really was what somebody expected.

Kylie nodded, “I adore opera.” She paused to think. “Rosa Ponselle,” Kylie said after a moment, surprised she’d forgotten the name. “She’s my favorite.” Kylie hardly expected Adam to even know the woman, much less to have heard her ever sing. There he was, though, calling her out on rap just as she’d predicted. She laughed, shaking her head. “Fine, fine. You caught me. I’ve listened to maybe a minute of his music.” She scrunched up her nose, “if you can call it music. He was better off on Degrassi.” The Fratellis. She simply loved The Fratellis. Listened to them every day. Kylie nodded eagerly, “I love them. And don’t ask me to pick a favorite song. Because I couldn’t.” Picking a favorite song (or even a favorite artist) was impossible for her.

Kylie couldn’t help it; she stuck her tongue out at him. Childish, sure, but she wasn’t very mature anyway. It was important for somebody to know that upon first meeting her. “Building up immunity to the cold…” That sounded difficult to her. She’d been through many cold winters and she’d never built up immunity. Was that even possible? “Sounds nice,” she finally said, “how’d you do it?” If he was dancing around the truth, she was unaware of it. A bit not like her, she was usually rather good at catching those sort of things.

notes; i am so sorry for this awful post.

[sleepingprince]

Well, she certainly was stubborn. Not that Adam minded all that much. Well, maybe a little. He wasn’t much for being wrong, after all, and absolutely couldn’t stand when his theories were proved incorrect. It was almost as bad as losing. Almost. At least they were similar?

Brows raised, Adam waited patiently for her response to his question, smirking a bit at the inevitable victory that was to come his way. There was no way she liked The Fratellis. This girl, with her blonde hair and fair skin and big eyes, out stargazing in the middle of New York City? Absolutely not. He had her now, and he knew it. Oh, sweet, sweet victory—

Unless. What? What was she even talking about? Unable to keep his poise, Adam’s face scrunched into one of confusion and moderate disapproval at her answer. Opera. Opera. Seriously? That was just pathetic. Shaking his head in what was apparently shame for her and her musical taste, Adam shrugged after a moment, brushing off the fact that he had no idea who the hell she was talking about without so much as a word. No way in hell was he going to admit that. Why, for all she knew, he could be an opera expert. He wasn’t about to let her believe otherwise, never mind the fact that it was more than obvious that he wasn’t.

Scoffing at her dislike of Drake, Adam shook his head once more. Still, though, he couldn’t help but smile because he’d gotten her to admit she disliked something. “Only a minute? Really? I mean, sure, he’s no Elton John or anything, but you’ve got to admit, he’s got some talent. Like on Take Care. It’s not bad, if you give it a shot,” he nodded, not quite sure why he was so very interested in this conversation. Music was by no means he area of expertise, and Adam tended to stay very far away from the things he wasn’t good at and couldn’t cheat his way though—Not that he ever cheated. Not ever. You couldn’t fake your way through knowledge, though, whether he would have or not.

He smiled again. Well, at least she had remotely good taste. The Fratellis were one of his favorites as well; maybe this was actually going somewhere. “No?” he asked challengingly, eyes narrowed as though to assess whether or not she was trying to lie, “You don’t even have a top two? Because I mean, for all I know you’ve never listened to them once in your life, and now you’re just saving face.” It was a good point, even if he was almost certain she was telling the truth.

Chuckling at her childish, wordless retort, Adam ran his fingers through his messy hair before leaning back completely into the grass, his arms crossing back behind his head as a sort of makeshift pillow. It certainly didn’t make him any warmer, but at least the grass wasn’t wet. “Oh, you know. This and that…” he shrugged, unable to come up with a semi-decent lie and therefore turning to look at her with a small grin. “Practice. Lots and lots of practice.”

[KYLIE JACOBS]

“You don’t like opera then,” Kylie assumed, grinning at his expression. Kylie shrugged. To each their own. Kylie was open to listening to new music so she supposed it wouldn’t hurt to give Drake another chance. She sighed, almost a resigned sort of sound. “Fiiiiiiiiiiine. I’ll listen to that one sometime.” Well, that had certainly sounded whiny hadn’t it? At his mention of Elton John, she did her best not to say anything because then she’d really be impossible to shut up. She’d start talking about him and then she’d somehow move onto other artists and—it would just be a bit of a mess.

He was smiling. She must’ve said something right then. Oh… The Fratellis. Kylie narrowed her eyes as well, ready for the next challenge. Oh! Pft. “As if,” she answered, scoffing. No way would she say something just to impress somebody else. “Alright, alright. Give me a minute.” Or maybe a few. It was probably one of the few ways to shut her up. She had a tendency to rant on and on about music but ask her for a favorite song and she’d go quiet. Sometimes, she preferred to just avoid the topic of music. Some people thought there were much better things to discuss like… politics or something just as boring. Finally, though, “Chelsea Dagger and Look Out Sunshine.”

And then she visibly winced. Oh, how she hated picking favorites. It actually pained her. “Never ever make me pick a top two again,” she told him, trying to sound menacing and failing miserably. Kylie was sure he must’ve been cold. He was hardly dressed to keep warm. So, with that in mind, she started to realize that maybe he was making it all up as he went. However, she wasn’t sure why he’d bother lying so she shrugged (mostly to herself) and let it slide for now. They hardly knew each other anyway; it wasn’t like he had to be a hundred percent honest with her.

Kylie grinned, clicking her tongue. “You’d imagine plenty of cold winters would be enough practice.” She wrapped her arms around herself and curled up, making herself as tiny as possible. “Yet here I am freezing.” Kylie rolled her eyes and watched as he laid back. Well, that couldn’t have helped any. She glanced back up to the sky, almost imagining more stars; however, she dismissed that quickly and focused back on Adam. This conversation was much more interesting than pretend constellations.