what a gentleman! {silas}

[STELLA HINES]

There was nothing like a good run on a Saturday afternoon.

The timing was perfect. Stella never ran in the morning. God forbid she had to get up early for anything other than classes. That was bad enough, you know. Nobody should ever have to get up early, not unless they want to. And… well, anybody who wanted to get up early just to get up early could stay away from her because she did not want to associate with people like that. Afternoon was and always would be the best time to run because it wasn’t early but it wasn’t late, and the weather was usually very nice.

Like, today. The weather was very nice today. It was warm, just warm enough to enjoy the shady spots of her route. It was windy, too. Oh how Stella loved a windy day. There was nothing like the breeze in her hair during a run… during anything, really. Besides, a windy day just made her hair so wonderfully tangled and she’d always loved having messy hair. It sort of came with the curls, though, didn’t it? It drove her mother mad sometimes. And, of course, anything that drove her mother mad was a good thing in her book. (Not that she had a book like that, or of any sort. She hated books. Ugh. Horrible tree destroyers, they were).

Perhaps the best part of this route was that it just so happened to finish a couple blocks away from one of Stella’s favorite sweet shops. On some days, she could make up an excuse to go get a treat. Usually, that excuse was that she’d run the couple of blocks and that that would make up for the calories or whatever. Stella had never really cared about her weight. With the weird diets her mom put her on sometimes and her constant running (mostly the constant running), Stella didn’t really have to worry about watching what she ate. (Thank God. She liked snacking. It kept her already-high energy levels even higher).

Pulling her ponytail tighter, Stella picked up her pace and booked it the rest of the way to the sweets shop. She wasn’t even sure the name of it. Just that it was a sweet shop, and that’s what she liked calling it. Why, she was moving quite quickly today, wasn’t she? She could make an excuse for more than a couple of treats today! Skidding to a stop just out front the door, Stella allowed herself a quick victory dance (as she did at the end of every run), and then she let herself in.

It smelled good in here today, didn’t it! Mmmm. Making her way to the counter, Stella picked out from the display cases what she wanted, and by the time she’d reached the register she was ready. “Yes, hello! I’ve just come from a jog and I’m absolutely starving, so if I could, I’d like that and that and th—” pointing at each item as she said ‘that,’ because she definitely couldn’t be bothered to know the names of them. All that mattered was how delicious they would taste in a minute. Nodding without really listening to the price, Stella reached to pull her wallet from her… pocket…

Where was it?! “Oh no… oh no, oh no.” Searching a bit frantically now in every pocket she had, Stella became increasingly upset and frustrated and annoyed and loud. “Oh nooooooo!” She moaned, slapping her palm against her forehead. “I don’t have my wallet!” She was an idiot! She was so stupid! How do you leave home without money or identification?! All she had on her was her music player, and what good was that going to do her! No good, that’s what! Facing the cashier, Stella put on her best pathetic smile and shrugged. “I’m sorry?”

stella wh-what the fuck are you wearing...

[SILAS SCHMIDT]

Silas knew it before he opened his eyes.

It was one of those days again.

No, not one of those good days. It wasn't even one of those everything-that-could-go-wrong-does kind of days. It was one of those days where Silas felt like the absolute worst person in the entire world. Almost as if the earth had decided that he wasn't worth the trouble, and to add injury to insult, had defecated on his head. All the guilt inside of him was just curled around his heart like barbed wire, squeezing it until it would certainly burst. Everytime he closed his eyes, he saw his father's face, heard his voice, smelled his cologne and could almost taste the smoke from his cigars. It was killing him. Most days, it was a faint memory in passing. Something someone said or the way someone moved. But other days, like today, it hit him like a freight train. His father was never coming back. And it was all his f-

No. He couldn't do this today. He couldn't live his life this way, in pain. It had been two years, and he had to deal with it like a man. Now, how to coax the barbed wire coil from his heart.. He had to find a way to release his pain. Silas let his grey eyes fly open and he stared at the ceiling, his brain working furiously towards the quickest target.

Unfortunately, the target became his best friend, the one whose floor he currently slept on. Tyler sat at his desk, doing homework, minding his own business and Silas let him have it. Silas got dressed for the day as he talked loudly and haughtily. He dissed Tyler's room, his mannerisms, his classes, his school. Nothing seemed to have the desired effect. Then he began his rant on Tyler's friends.

"I love how you've got all of, what, two friends here?" Silas drawled sarcastically, "It's really great. You know what you should do? Get some new ones. Because the ones that you have suck. You've got this girl who you've been drooling after for god knows how long, but you're too much of a pussy to actually make a move or tell the girl how you feel. I don't know why you like that bitch anyways, she's such a fucking teacher's pet."

Silas could see Tyler's hand tightening on the pencil, his handwriting slowing dramatically, eyes fixed determinedly on the notebook before him. Turning away as he put on his shoes, he continued tactlessly.

"And that other girl, the one who looks like a bird," He paused and snorted at the memory. Why couldn't Tyler find some normal people to befriend? "Who the fuck let her into this school? I guess she just stared at them until they caved. She's crazy as hell. Maybe she should have left her fish eyes back at the bayou or some shi-"

His sentence was left unfinished as he straightened up and turned around, only to be knocked backwards. After he got over the initial shock, his jaw started to throb uncomfortably and he stared at his friend with surprise. He didn't know this Tyler. This Tyler had dark, stormy eyes that looked murderous at the moment. He had sharp features that were menacing in every way and intimidated Silas so, that he backed away a few paces.

"Get out, Silas. Don't take it out on me, or my friends."

Silas frowned, but he left the school quickly, not wanting to hang around and irritate this new Tyler who was so quick to use physical means to shut him up. He found himself wandering around the city, and contemplated other ways he could make the sharp barbs on his internal organs release their grip. Silas meandered into a shop selling lots of sugary things and as sugar was the best way to mend any unhappiness, he got right in line. Just as he had finished paying for his own treats, a cute, energetic girl with a wave of curly bronze hair bounced into the shop. She happily picked out the items she wanted and he had just turned to leave when he heard a wail.

“Oh no… oh no, oh no. Oh nooooooo! I don’t have my wallet!”

Feeling an uncharacteristic pang of sympathy for the girl, he paused at the door. He saw her smile pathetically at the shopkeeper, in an attempt to perhaps win some pity points, but he could tell the shopkeeper was having none of it.

“I’m sorry?”

Silas turned around and walked back to the counter. He gave the girl a little friendly smirk.

"This is New York, sweetie. You think you're gonna get anywhere with that?"

He grinned to show he was teasing and pulled his wallet out.

"I've got her."

The shopkeeper rang up the bill - damn, that girl could eat! - and Silas handed him the sufficient bills. Strangely, as he did this, his chest felt much less constricted. Who'd have thought that doing something nice could make you feel just as good?

OUTFIT

845 WORDS FOR DANI!!

[STELLA HINES]

The cashier was having none of it.

Please please please please please, oh come on, please! Seriously, how big did her puppy dog eyes have to get? It’s not like she’d even ordered that much! And the longer she stood here, the hungrier she got. Stella glanced behind her, hoping she wasn’t holding up a line. It was one thing to make the cashier’s life difficult. It was completely different to make some poor innocent bystander wait because of her foolishness. Luckily, there weren’t any customers behind her and she was allowed a moment of relief before she had to turn back and face the shopkeeper. Surely, there was—

Who was calling her sweetie? Looking back around, she was surprised to see some really tall kid taking his wallet out. Of course she knew her pathetic pity party wouldn’t have gotten her anywhere, but it didn’t hurt for her to try. She glared at him for a second of a second and then she realized that he was paying for her treats and a big smile replaced the scowl. “Wait, really?? Ahhh, seriously!!! Best person ever!!

Ohmygod. Yeah, really. He’d totally just bought the sweets for her. “You are seriously just, like, ohmygod, the best person ever.” Bouncing on her heels, unable to hold still now even if she wanted to try, she shot a smirk at the cashier. Hah! Take that, you dummy. Stella was sure, had he not been working, he would have throttled her. That’s what people tended to want to do when Stella annoyed them. She was all to used to it.

What felt like hours of waiting were only minutes and the little container was soon in her hands. In contrast to the anguished groan she’d made just moments ago, Stella now let out a happy little squeal, sounding exactly as one would imagine an over energetic five foot red head to sound. “You are my new favorite person.” She said to the tall kid who’d bought for her, stepping off to the side so as to no longer hold up any lines. “I’m Stella!”

She wondered if she knew him. Most people she tended to meet on her trips out were from Baum. It was kind of weird how it worked out like that, but she was never complaining. It meant making and keeping friends that much easier. (Something someone like Stella needed, seeing as she had trouble keeping friends. Not that you’d ever hear her admit that). “You go to Baum, don’t you?” Now she just had to know. It was. Like. Of the utmost importance.

Glancing down at the box of sweets, Stella decided right then that there was no way she could keep these all for herself. Tall kid had bought for her. It was like a rule of the universe that she had to share. “Would you like any of these? I know I probably got a lot for someone my size and I kind of owe you now, y’know? Unless! I mean, if you’re in a hurry! I’ll let you go, I’d hate to make you late for something.” She was rambling. Shut up, Stella! You’re going to scare him away.

[SILAS SCHMIDT]

Her surprise made him chuckle. Really, it was such a small thing he had done. But he learned the hard way that the little things can make a big difference. And apparently, he had just made this girl's day.

"Yes, really. And seriously, it's no big deal."

He decided that he liked this girl. She positively radiated energy. It was like LSD incarnate, a little girl personifying acid. She seemed like a fun kid, and he had no regrets about buying her sugar. That would just make it all more fun. Silas caught the look the cashier gave her and he gave the guy a rather terrifying glare in response. How dare he look at Silas' dear little acid trip with such contempt?

Having to look almost directly down at her, he grinned. She was so little! What was she, like twelve? Was he about to get arrested for giving sweets to a minor like a creep? Naw, she had to be older. She wasn't with any adults (although with parents these days, how could you tell?) and she was wearing running clothes. Very colorful ones, to be honest. In bright sunlight, it could blind him. Her hair was windswept and just the oddest shade of orangeish-bronze that it simply had to be natural, because who the hell would bottle that shit? And she had a pair of big, quick brown eyes that could probably make anyone say yes to her.

"I'm Silas. Actually, yeah, I do go to Baum." He looked at her curiously, "How did you know that?"

She offered up some of her sweets and he shook his head, holding out his own package.

"Only if you take some of mine. Don't worry about that. I don't have anything going on. I'm just wandering by myself."

He fished something chocolate from his bag and popped it into his mouth. He watched her for a couple of moments, before throwing her an approving smile.

"I like you, kid. You should come chill with me. You know. If you don't have anywhere to be."

He wouldn't admit it but he was awfully lonely. And he was becoming more fond of this girl by the second. If ever there was a pair of long-lost siblings, it was Silas and Stella.

[STELLA HINES]

Why couldn’t people always be this awesome? Maybe it was just bad luck. Maybe she attracted the wrong sort of people? Negative Nancy’s? Debbie Downer’s? EHHH, no, that wasn’t it. Positive Peggy’s attracted other Positive Peggy’s. It was how things worked. It was how things had to work. Opposites attract was stupid. It had to be one of the dumbest things she’d ever heard anybody say. It wasn’t until she wondered why tall kid wasn’t standing still that she realized she hadn’t stopped bouncing on her heels. It seemed kind of impossible for her to ever stop moving. Maybe somebody should dare her to do that one day. Stand still for 10 minutes, Stella. … Yeah, no, she’d be done with that at 15 seconds.

Huh, did his shirt say reckless? Wasn’t that her middle name? No, that would be Raeanne. Oh, close enough. Yeah, this Silas kid was pretty great. Where had he been all her life? Was he glaring down that dumb cashier? Hells yeah! Hello, new best friend! “I go to Baum, too. I just sort of assume everybody I meet goes there, to be honest.” Stella shrugged. Her logic for that really didn’t need to be explained. The last thing she wanted was to sound like some weirdo. “What grade are you in?” He had to be at least a junior, given with how tall he was. She was probably wrong, but it wasn’t like she’d own up to that even if it that was the case. Even if he was a senior, he’d been a junior at some point. That counted.

Stella went up on her tippy toes, trying to peek into his bag. “What’ve you got?” Maybe it was exactly appropriate of her to ask that, seeing as he had just bought for her. But her curiosity got the best of her, and he had offered… (Just because people offer things, Stella, doesn’t mean you should always accept). Wandering by his self? That was totally perfect! Now that she’d finished her run, she had nothing to do but go back to her dorm and play video games, or something equally boring. “Me too!” Dropping back a step away from him, Stella clasped her hands behind her back, carefully holding onto her box of sweets. Maybe she’d best ease off. It might be silly, but she was still worried about scaring him off.

Wait, he liked her? Was that what she’d just heard? People… people never liked her when they first met her! Gracie had been nice enough, and she’d even agreed to a race. But that… was it, really. “Yes!” She bit down on her lip, trying not to have any more outbursts like that. Like she needed to sound too eager. “I haven’t got anywhere to be, either. And no plans. Except to go home and be bored to death, which I will happily pass on.”

[SILAS SCHMIDT]

"I'm a senior. What are you, like an eighth grader?"

He threw her a grin so she knew he was kidding. She couldn't really be an eighth grader. Could she? No.. She seemed like she was young, but she also seemed old enough to be a freshman at least. Maybe she looked so young because she lacked certain -ahem- equipment. Wow, he needed to get his mind off that, that was creepy. Holding the bag briefly over her head, he brought it down so she could see the sweets inside.

"It's mostly cookies. But I've got some kinds of bars and fudge in there too. I didn't really look, to be honest. I've got an iron stomach."

Popping a cookie into his mouth, he passed her a few as they strolled down the street. This girl was alright. Maybe they could start a group of kids who didn"t play by the rules. Naw. The larger the group, the easier it would be to get caught. Better if it was just the two of them.

Silas looked around at the people. You hardly ever saw people this weird in Hutchinson. There were the occasional oddballs, but people were generally pretty normal. People with facial tattoos, so many piercings that it was waaaaay past being cool and weird fashion sense were everywhere on these streets. There was even a girl who had dyed her long hair in a sort of rainbow gradient. How the hell would you even begin to figure that out? And why would you do it? The girl passed by and dropped something. Silas knelt and picked it up for her.

"Hey, wait up, Rainbow Brite."

The girl actually stopped and Silas handed her back her phone, a smile on his lips.

"Be more careful. New York, you know?"

Just to add to the ridiculousness, he winked at her before turning to walk away with Stella. Glancing over his shoulder he saw a very confused, pink-faced Rainbow Brite.

People were too easy.

Silas looked down at Stella, grinning. She was like a hamster on crack. She was constantly moving and when she spoke, it seemed like she was in a rush to get all the words out. He reached out an arm and wrapped it around her tiny shoulders, giving her a fond squeeze.

"You and me, kid. Gotta stick together, you know? It seems like no one else has fun like we do."

[STELLA HINES]

Man, what was it with people always assuming she was some itty bitty baby? Maybe she’d have to try on some of those stupid heels her mom bought her just to seem taller. Was she just ridiculously short for a fifteen year old? Yeah, maybe. She rolled her eyes and went up on her tip toes for a couple of steps. “No! I’m a sophomore, thank you very much!” She happily took the cookies he offered, eating them slowly as they headed away from the shop.

Stella hardly noticed the people walking by, with their tattoos and piercings and crazy hair colors. Maybe it was that she had a bright hair extension in herself. Or it could have been that she’d do something stupid like that just to piss her mom off. Yeah, maybe this people just had tattoos on their faces and piercings on their collarbones because they were doing it to annoy somebody else. But it was probably something dumb like sentimental meaning or some hipster bullshit.

Stella was particularly fascinated by the girl with rainbow hair. She considered stopping to ask how she’d done it, when Silas stopped and caught her attention. Ooo, dropped phone. Better hope the screen hadn’t cracked. Stella smiled at the girl, admiring her hair, but being too shy(??!?!!) to say anything. Pfffttt, hahahahaa. New York, right. She may have loved it but she knew most people would not have returned the phone like that. Yeah, she’d found a perfect friend in Silas.

She snickered, purposefully bumping her hip into him when he put his arm around her shoulders. The height difference was kind of insane, but again, she was probably ridiculously short for a fifteen year old. “Uhm, yes.” She said it matter-of-factly, “that’s because most people suck.” They probably didn’t even know the definition of fun (she immediately thought of one kid off the top of her head, hehe).

“So,” she said, pausing the finish off the last cookie. “What is there to do in New York, anyway?” Stella wasn’t one for actively seeking out things to do. She just went where her running took her, and they tended to be the same places. There was something nice about the familiarity of a place she’d been to lots of times before. And she sure as hell wasn’t going to see any plays or dumb things like that. Her mother tried that once, and it had not gone over well.

[SILAS SCHMIDT]

Silas' face split into a wide grin.

"Uh, yeah, you're right. People do suck. That's obviously why there are people like us. We make life so much more interesting. Like, can you even imagine if there weren't people like us? What would people do all day?"

He munched on his sugary foods and shrugged.

"I guess there's lots to do if you're over 21," he smirked at that. Ha! Like he followed those rules. "And as much as I would love to corrupt you, my little Stellacid trip, we've only just met. And it's not the right time of day. If you're bored at like 3 am, hit me up. We can find some fun trouble to get into then."

Silas rumpled her hair a little. Seriously, was she the ginger sister that he never had? Where had she been all his life? He liked being the odd one of his group. It made him stand out more. But once in a blue moon, he met someone who was cut from the same cloth and it just felt awesome. He wasn't alone anymore.

He caught sight of a squirrel scampering across the street and he got the most brilliant idea.

"You know what would be awesome and hilarious? We should go to the park and find some nice big oak tree. You're kinda little, but I can help you get into it. We can hide in the branches and throw acorns at people. Just piss everyone off, make them think the squirrels are having a war or something. Whatdya think?"

[STELLA HINES]

Where the hell had he been all her life? Not only had he bought her sweets for her, and was going to hang out with her today, he was also agreeing that people sucked. She’d had no idea people this awesome even existed. At least not in a place like New York. She’d always thought she’d have to go somewhere exotic to meet people like Silas. She shook her head, “I don’t even want to imagine it.” She’d had her share of living in a very boring place and she wasn’t going back to that. If she ever left New York, it’d be to somewhere else exciting.

Pouting a little, Stella suddenly wished there was such a thing as a magic potion to suddenly make you twenty-one. But only for, like, a day or two. She wasn’t quite ready to be attending college and working and figuring out her life. Ugh, fucking pass. She’d never be ready to attend college or work or figure out her life. “Oh, man, what?!” Had she heard him right?? “You do things at three in the morning?!” WHERE THE HELL HAD HE BEEN ALL HER LIFE? She’d been looking for people to have crazy fun adventures at ridiculous hours foreVER. And here he was, right beside her!!! “Yes, yes. Absolutely. Sleeping is stupid.”

As if she wasn’t already pleased enough at having the curly tangled hair, he went and ruffled it and she laughed a little. Yeah, so it’d hurt like a bitch to brush later but right now she was perfectly alright with just how messy it was. If she could reach, she’d do the same, just because she got a kick out of messing with people’s hair. It was kind of like how she messed with her mom by saying ‘yeah put me in a dress!!’ and then laughing at her when she actually thought Stella was serious. That’d actually gotten her banned from coming home for awhile…

She peered up at him, wondering what brilliant idea he was coming up with. It had to be great given how great he’d been in the short amount of time she’d known him. She was sure she could climb a tree on her own, as long as they picked one with low enough bran..ches, okay, yeah, maybe she’d need help. It took her only a second to reply before she grinned a wicked grin. “Yes. Hell yes. Hell fucking yes.” There was literally nothing in the world she would rather do right now than to climb up a tree and throw acorns at people.

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