the food court. how romantic! (mabby)

[danyisdarling]

Gabrielle nodded distractedly, pulling a hand through her tangled hair. She'd kill for a brush right now. Having a bucket list was cool. She also wanted to Bungee Jump, sing in a talent show, and go to the Great Wall of China. Oh, and being on that Real World show would be fun. She'd have to add that to her list. She should put "Go to the Snow ball" on there, too. Then she could cross one off soon. Accomplished feelings were nice. "You have a Bucket List?" she asked, curious. She sounded calmer than she was. For some reason, she had a feeling his… choppy?, reply wasn't good. She felt self-conscious again which was stupid. What was wrong with her?

… Speaking of the Snow Ball. Why… was her wondering? Her heart leapt into her throat. What if he was asking her?! Not that he would. There was no way someone like him would want to go with her. Gabrielle's gaze dropped and she began to toy with her sleeves. "Yeah, uhm, I have…" she'd have to raise her voice. Now she was murmuring. That was not helpful. She needed to be confident. Confidence was easy. No problem. She was always upbeat and energetic. It was her nature. Yet, here she was, retreating into some sort of shell, hiding from the world. She didn't want to say that it was Marcus' fault, but… well, he was just making her feel all sorts of different. Uneasy, shy, quiet, indecisive. It was annoying, actually, and it bothered her. Marcus was just a junior at Baum. It's not like he was some famous artist or anybody all that intimidating. (Defense mode was setting in again, though she didn't realize it). Clearing her throat, Gabrielle looked back up at him and folded her hands securely in her lap. No more stuttering and fidgeting.

[princemarcus]

"No, not really. But I'm up for anything that doesn't have to do with corn." Marcus responded with a small grin as he looked back over to Gabrielle. Now that was a subject he could talk about forever: the horribleness of corn. That stupid, yellow grain that forever haunted him. He had told his rant about corn so many times that he practically had it memorized. So if she asked him about it, he'd be ready and willing to share his opinion. He even had tried to start an 'I Hate Corn' group at school. Sadly, it didn't work out as well as 'The Silly Hat Enthusiasts' club. There were three members in that club! And ever since the posters were put up it seemed to be the talk of the school. Not all of it was positive talk, but any press is good press, right?

Seeing Gabrielle's facial expressions, Marcus knew he had to be smooth now. Anymore screw ups and his chance with her would fly right out the window. "Well....that's good." Marcus said, quietly slapping himself in the face. That's good? That's good? Why the hell did he say that? And wait....did he actually slap himself in the face? That was supposed to be a mental slap in the face! He wasn't supposed to actually do it! Fuck.

That's it. The more he waited the stupider he was becoming. He was just going to say it.

"Doyouwantogowithme?" Marcus said quickly, turning his gaze away from Gabrielle and pretending to be very interested in the fake green plant next to him.

[danyisdarling]

Gabrielle grinned and rose her eyebrows. "Corn?" She snickered. What was wrong with corn? It was only good if it was corn on the cob. Other than that, she really didn't care for it. Hey, it was a part of dinner on Thanksgiving. That was all. "Well, we sho…. you should start one," she said, pausing for a moment. We? How was she going to help with his Bucket List? His. Exactly. In fact, she preferred to keep some of her goals a secret. Like getting over her fear of sharp things. It wasn't something she liked people to know. Really? Freaking out over a butter knife? How embarrassing. Maybe if she could stop having that same reoccurring nightmare about it, she could start to deal with it. Stupid sharp things and faceless parents. Really, it was affecting her in real life and was starting to bother her. She often found herself looking for ------

What did he just say? Did he just…? Had she been listening? What if he asked what she thought he asked but she was wrong? Because that could be so mortifying. Saying yes to a question she wasn't entirely sure she'd heard. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Why hadn't she paid more attention? Okay. She was just going to say it. She was going to assume and pray that she was right. Because, if she wasn't… Well, she'd deal with that when (and if) it happened. He wasn't even looking at her. That was a teeny bit offensive. Oh well. "Yeah," she finally said. "That would be…" Would be what? Awesome, fantastic, marvelous? "Great." It came from her lips without much warning and she decided that was alright. It sounded fine.

[princemarcus]

"Yes, corn. It's the bane of my existence." Marcus tilted his head in thought as he thought about his father again, which was always linked with the thought of corn. He hadn't written him lately. Not that he did frequently, but there was always the letter about 'thecornfieldisdoingwell' or 'youneedtogetyouracttogethersoon,son' or the worst: 'whenyoutakeoverthecompanyblahblahblah.' Perhaps he had given up? Marcus hoped so. The last thing he wanted to do with his life was run a corn company.

"I...should." Did she just say 'we should start one?' What did she mean by that? Does that mean she saw a future for them? Was that....a good sign? "Maybe I should start now," Marcus said softly, taking another sip of his coffee. What would he add to his bucket list? To have at least 50 silly hats in his collection, of course. Maybe to be in a Broadway play. No, that was stupid. And not at all manly. Gabrielle wouldn't want to go out with someone who aspired to be in a musical, she wanted someone perfect! So he'd be perfect for her. Or he'd at least try as best as he could to make it seem like that.

"Really?" Marcus turned away from his intense gaze on the plant to look over at Gabrielle. "I mean...that's great! Really great." Marcus couldn't hide the huge grin that had placed itself on his face. She wanted to go to the ball! And not just with anyone, with him! How could this be going so well? Nothing ever went this well for him!

[danyisdarling]

Gabrielle couldn't help but to giggle again. Well, she certainly was getting to know him. "Is it alright if I ask why?" she asked, obviously breaking that rule. You shouldn't ask if something was okay while asking at the same... time. Had that made sense? Maybe not. She shrugged to herself before taking another sip of hot cocoa. It had cooled down considerably. That was good. Still, though, the warm drink wasn't helping with her still-slightly-stinging (alliteration, yeah!) tongue. Maybe she should just finish the cookie for now.

At his agreement to the whole Bucket List thing, she was struck with an idea. (She almost wished that a light bulb had flashed on above her head. That would've been cool). Digging around in her bag, she finally found a blank sheet of paper. She usually carried some around, incase anything struck her as interesting or note-worthy. Next, she took out a pen and wrote on the first line of the paper:
1) Go Skydiving with Gabrielle. Then, she slid the paper and pen across the table and beamed at him. "Voila, your first Bucket List."

Maybe the huge smile wasn't just about his Bucket List. It was also that she had a date to the Snow Ball and it was with the cutest, sweetest, most handsome boy she knew. Yay! Great... really great! Oh, life was positively perfect right now. It really was. Today was probably the best day of her life. (Well, for now. Maybe they'd be another best day of her life some other... day).

(yesssssss 1,111th post!)

[princemarcus]

"It's a long story." Marcus said to her quickly, while looking out the nearby window. Talking about his family was a bad idea. There was no way he could seem relatively normal while ranting about his corn issues. Why would he even bring that up? What the hell was he thinking? She wouldn't want to go to the dance with a corn-hating freak.

Okay, he needed to retain some of his manliness now. Maybe she'd forget about the whole corn incident. He took the paper and wrote down 2) Go to a wrestling match and 3) Go to the basketball championship. There, that seemed manly enough. Then spontaneously, he quickly added 4) Go out to dinner and a movie with Gabrielle on Friday night? to the list. He slid the paper and pen back across to Gabrielle, smiling nervously at her.

Marcus turned over to grab his coffee from the table, and accidentally knocked over his unzipped backpack. Out spilled his biology book, a pencil case......and his lucky yellow beanie with a dancing dinosaur on it. Well, that was perfect. Now he was going to look like a total freak. He quickly stuffed the hat back into his backpack and tried to distract Gabrielle by changing the subject. "So um....are you taking Biology? Tough stuff." Please don't have seen the hat. Dear lord, please have her not have seen the hat.

[danyisdarling]

Gabrielle raised her eyebrows for a minute before shrugging and letting the subject go. She didn’t want to pry. It was rude and she really didn’t want him to leave on account of her being… rude. She thought, now, about something else to talk about. In the sudden moment of silence, she recognized the instrumental of the song playing through the Starbucks speakers. “Oh…” she muttered, tilting her head to the side as if this would help with hearing. “It’s Bubbly,” she added after a moment. They’d just been talking about Colbie Calliat.

As he slid the paper back across the table to her, she began to hum along with the words. She didn’t really want to sing again, in front of him. Her confidence over the whole singing thing had been shot down when she found out he’d heard her earlier. Looking down to the paper, she realized that two and three were things that didn’t really seem like he’d, well, enjoy. What did she know, though? She’d just met him after all. Then, she read number four and she felt her face burn. Struck with yet another idea, she reached into her back pocket and took out her own Bucket List. She always had this on her. Grabbing the pen, she added to her list 12) Go out to dinner and a movie with Marcus on Friday night. He was so cute. Gabrielle hoped he’d seen her write it because she didn’t really want him to see the rest of her list…

Gabrielle looked up just as he knocked over his backpack. She was usually the type to help in situations like this but he’d already shoved the things back in. But not before she caught sight of a yellow beanie with… a dinosaur on it? Ohmygod, that was so cute! Before she could really stop herself, she blurted, “Ohmygod, that’s amazing!” Okay, maybe that wasn’t the best thing to do. He seemed nervous about it. She should probably just follow him on the subject changing… “Oh, er… no,” Gabrielle answered.

[princemarcus]

you have

[/color]s t o l e n[/color][/font][/size] my heart[/color][/font]
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ⓜ + ⓖ

Marcus smiled as the song came on. "It starts in my toes, and I crinkle my nose..." Wait. WAIT. He was NOT supposed to know the lyrics to that song off the top of his head. Bubbly was the girliest song in existence...normal guys wouldn't know the lyrics to that! His head was suddenly filled with ideas of what Gabrielle would think if she saw his ipod. The top played song as of last week was Love Story by Taylor Swift, followed by Defying Gravity from Wicked and Toxic by Britney Spears. He subconsciously looked down at the front pocket of his backpack, just to make sure the ipod was safe and out of site. Thank god, at least that had stayed in its place.

"You have your list with you?" Marcus asked curiously, seeing Gabrielle write something down on a piece of paper. At least, he assumed it was her list. Maybe she was writing down everything that he was doing wrong. Oh god. What if she was actually a spy for his biology teacher and was there to fail him for not showing up to their meeting? No. That wasn't it. He needed to calm down. She was perfect, and that was that. There was nothing wrong with her.

"It's....old," Marcus said defensively as Gabrielle commented on the hat, zipping his backpack closed. "I like hats, I guess." He mentally slapped himself. I like hats? Who says that? Stupid...but at least liking hats didn't make him seem girly. I mean, it wasn't as bad as saying liked lacy bras or anything. Not that he minded lacy bras....just not on himself.

"It's a hard class..." He said absentmindedly, looking out the window. Wait, she could be a biology spy. Shit. "....but very rewarding! And fun!" He added quickly, looking back over at Gabrielle, smiling as convincingly as he could. Not that it was that hard, just looking at her made him smile.

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[danyisdarling]

sleepless long nights
that is what my youth was for

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Gabrielle almost “awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww”-ed. That had to have been the cutest thing he’d done so far. He knew the lyrics to Bubbly… or at least the chorus which was better than nothing. “Wherever it goes, I always know, that you make me smile~” she continued, letting her eyes close and a smile spreading across her lips. Oh, it was such a cute song. All of Colbie Caillat’s songs were cute. Gabrielle wouldn’t mind meeting the woman someday just so she could tell her “I love your music!” At that, Gabrielle wondered briefly what else Marcus listened too. Was what he’d said earlier true? She didn’t want to consider him to be a liar. No, he certainly wasn’t that because he was too perfect. Was he telling her things that he thought would impress her? Oh well, it wasn’t a big deal because he was greatfantasticamazingsuperb no matter what he liked.

Gabrielle opened her eyes and looked down to her Bucket List. She bit her bottom lip, a nervous habit. “Erm… yeah, actually,” she answered after a moment of hesitation. Had he not seen what she’d written? Okay, then, she was going to dive into the deep end right now and basically tell him all of her secrets. She slid the paper across the table to him and managed a small smile. “It’s not anywhere near done…” Gabrielle was actually feeling a bit self-conscious over this small thing. It was just a Bucket List. It wasn’t a big deal. He wouldn’t judge her over her silly fears, would he?

Gabrielle leaned back just a bit, slightly surprised at his defensive tone. Should she not have said anything? She’d told herself not to and yet she had. Way to go, Gabby. “I-I’m sorry,” she murmured, trying to make things better. Oh, was this all going downhill? That’s what it felt like. He… liked hats? “I like dresses,” she replied, lamely. “If you liking hats is the reason you have that one,” she gestured to his now zipped backpack, “then there’s no problem with it. I really like it.” Okay, maybe that would make things better.

Gabrielle raised her eyebrows and giggled. “Oh, really?” She wasn’t a big fan of classes that would give her trouble. Maybe he’d just saved her from a dangerous class choice. “Well, thanks for the warning slash… encouragement?” She wasn’t sure if that made sense.

(you can find gabby's bucket list in her diary)

TAGGED ! [/color] marcus!
LYRICS ! 1234 - Feist
WORDS ! 321
CREDIT ! by deLISH at deLISH graphics.[/font][/size]