So far, I'm Gone [OPEN]

[MATTIE STONE]

Matt walked down the hallways with her head down. Usually, the spunky girl loved to interact with her friends, but not today. There was just something about this particular day that left her with her head bowed in a mixture of embarassement and confusion. Despite the crowd of busy teens around her, she just couldn't help but feel alone. One of the worst feelings is loneliness, it's a feeling of complete isolation when you need no more than a friend, or complete abandon when you need to be loved. The world can be such a cold, unfriendly place on days such as that particular one when you walk this ice hard planet alone. The days when there is no helping hand to raise you up when you slip and fall which, when alone, you're bound to do.

Whatever the reason for Mattie's inner confinement, she walked the halls in a zombified state, no explanation for her social withdrawl. She was completely unaware of her surroundings. There are reasons why you shouldn't try to drive unattentive. Unattentive drivers cause road accidents. If Matt were an old car, she would have caused a beautiful accident at that moment. Luckily, Matt wasn't a car, she was only a fifteen (nearly sixteen) year old blonde girl carrying a plethora of books towards her English class, had she been a car, someone may have been hurt by the particular collision that happened in the hallway.

Head bent and books tucked firmly to her chest, Matt walked through the hallways blindly. Just like a distracted driver, she didn't notice any of what was going on in front of her so when the person in front of her stopped, she ran right into them, her books scattered all over the floor. She sat on her rear, swallowing the tears that threatened to consume her 'what's wrong with me?' she wondered.

Outfit

[LEVI MCCARTHY]

Levi was on his way to one of his classes. He was in an okay mood today, all things considered. He had just found out this his baby sister Missie was attending Brightwood, Which was a good and a bad thing. Good side, it meant Missie was safe under his eye, he loved his sister and had hated being away from her and Kail. Bad side it meant things were going bad at home, and his dad had shipped her off again. It worried Levi that Kail hadnt followed yet and had been left alone to indure god knows what.

With his backpack slung over his shoulder he weaved through the mess of students, he need something to ease his mind. Kail would be okay, and probably end up joining them shortly, but who knew what'd he'd be like when he got here. Levi hummed a song to himself composing it in his head at hopes of distracting himself from what could be going on at home. That was why he was here, right?

So into his mental composure he didnt noticed the blonde girl with an arm full of books until he smacked into her. "Oh, Christ! Im sorry." he said hurriedly backing away from the girl slightly

[MATTIE STONE]

Matt closed her eyes, trying to imagine herself anywhere but sitting on the cold hallway floor surrounded by the judging eyes of the rest of the students. She lifted her head up, brushing her light blond hair away from her face to see a shocked looking boy who was probably a year or so older than her. "It's not your fault..." her voice was soft and dejected. Painfully, she began to gather her books into a pile. She felt the tears on the edge of her eyes spill over, only one, then two, then no more. She furiously wiped the glisening tears away from her face. She looked up at the boy who still stood there looking shocked her light blue eyes scanned him quickly before looking back down. It's not polite to stare.

She was on her hands and knees, trying to get all of her books and loose papers, some of which had been stepped upon by careless teens. One spiteful student even kicked her science book. She glared up at him but continued grudgingly to attempt to pick up all of her books.

[LEVI MCCARTHY]

Levi dropped to the ground gathering up the books and papers that he had help spill. He glared at a kid that had decided to be spiteful and kick her book, he shook his head, Kids could be so stupid sometimes. Once ha had managed to gather up everything near him he offered the pile to the girl.

"Im really sorry about that. " He smiled at her apologetically. He was about to turn and leave figuring this girl didnt want to waste anymore of her time on him when he noticed it had looked like she had teared up. "Hey, Uhm I am really..sorry. Are you alright?" he asked, his lips turning up in a quizzical look, his blue eyes filled with apologies.

[MATTIE STONE]

Why was she being like this, it was unreasonable and unlike her in many different ways. Matt sighed, the tears had vanished and she was beginning to regain her composure. The boy held out her papers which she graciously accepted "Thanks," she put them into her pile with the rest of her work. He seemed like a nice guy, he had a look of genuine concern and caring on his face, along with a gentleness she just couldn't brush off. She allowed herself to smile a warm smile, "Thank-you so much for helping me," she wanted to put his mind at ease, he seemed like he was only sticking around because he didn't want to the cause of some serious injury.

Matt was unhappy to contemplate that he was fairly good looking. Great, run into the good looking guy and everyone thinks you did it on purpose. It was an easy feeling to shake off though, he looked more the bad boy type, she didn't really go for 'his kind'. She was more into the intelligent, fun loving sort of students who were serious about school but had a fun loving side. She wondered if he'd ever smoked, he looked like the kind who might. Stereotyping Mattie! Very bad. she inwardly scolded herself and as if in recompence for her thoughts, she tucked her things under one arm and held out a hand to him. "Thanks again," she noted that that was the third time she'd thanked him "I'm sorry for running into you. I'm Matt by the way, klutz extraordinaire."

[LEVI MCCARTHY]

Levi examined her, she was very pretty and had a very kind face. Her eyes were really pretty as well, and he figured if he kept looking at them he'd probably get lost in them.She also looked about a year younger than him Its not polite to stare, levi he heard his mothers words echoed in his head. He reverted his eyes to his feet. It's no problem, really It was my fault He reached up to adjust the shoulder strap of his backpack.

Levi smiled "Well Hi Matt, Im Levi." He reached out his hand. "Im run into pretty girls extordinare." Levi could be a flirt, though he generally didn assert himself often. "Your a Sophmore, right? Maybe you know my sister, Missie." Levi hated making casual conversation and he wasnt sure why he was attempting, introducing himself and saying see you around would have been enough, but for some reason he wanted to stick around and talk to his girl. Maybe it was because he hadnt seen a kind, friendly face since he had gotten to Brightwood, or maybe he was smitten, who knew.

[MATTIE STONE]

Mattie looked up cautiously at him, he was staring at her, she met his gaze steadily. He had nice eyes, they were remarkably blue. She chuckled a bit and smiled at him, "I'm pretty sure I ran into you, I was a little distracted" she a paper under her arm came loose and she quickly tucked it between the pages of Les Misérables a book designed for college students, but a book she very much enjoyed reading. It was taking her a longtime to read it, much longer than most of the other books she'd read, in fact, she just made it to the part where Jean Valjean stole the silver from the bishop. Previously, she'd seen the musical production put on at her local high school back home and she'd fallen in love with it On my own, the pavement shines like silver the songs replayed in her head constantly and finally, she decided to purchase the famous novel by Victor Hugo. Of course, there was no way she'd been prepared for the overwhelming depth in the book she'd begun to read, it was tiring, but it's colassal size impressed most people since it was quite a hefty novel.

Matt chuckled lightly at his comment, her cheeks flushing only slightly, "I'm flattered," she said refering to his comment about her being pretty. "McCarthy right?" she thought back "Yeah, I think there's a Missie McCarthy two seats to my left in the English room and three to my right in history." she thought back to the tough, punky looking girl who often smelled of cigarettes. She'd never really spoken to her much as they didn't exactly seem to be the same type of people. Missie seemed quite reserved and tough whereas Matt was beginning to develop a tight knit group of friends whom she stuck by and got along with quite well. She smiled "She seems like a nice girl..." Matt never had a bad thing to say about anyone, their reputation, their friends, anyone or anything.

[LEVI MCCARTHY]

Nice? Levi laughed, he really didnt consider Missie nice, well not to everyone around her, She wouldnt go out of her way to make you hate yourself but she would indeed ignore you, or not take any intrest in anything you had to say. You Obviously Dont know my sister.She's nuts. Though Levi was impressed that the girl hadnt gone on about Missie's tattoos, crazy hair from day to day or her piercing, most people were shocked that they were brother and sister, since Levi had a clean cut look about him and Missie looked like she'd punch someone the minute the spoke to her.

Levi tilted his head reading the title of the book, he had no idea what the hell it was. "Ah. quite a reader huh?" Levi asked inquiring the book. He couldnt believe he was standing in the hallway having a conversation with a girl. He leaned his shoulder against the wall casually.

[MATTIE STONE]

Matt chuckled "Your faith in your sister is touching" her blue eyes sparkled with fun. Levi seemed like a fun guy. "I haven't much spoken to her... but I think she has a good heart." Mattie thought everyone had a good heart. To her, everyone had some good in them. She tenderly ran her lithe fingers along the spine of her book. Her actions were, as usual, absentminded and not intended at all, simply an escape from the world. She had no siblings so she didn't understand the idea of having siblings. Here's the thing, she could hear the softness in his voice, unintended, but still there, when he spoke of his sister. Obviously, he loved her a lot. Even when he said that she was insane, there was a love underlying in his voice, a sentiment deeper than that of anything else she'd seen before.

Levi asked about her book and Matt grinned. "I read often enough to be an avid reader but not so much that one might call be obsessed." Matt smiled widely. "This particular book is called les misérables, you may have heard of it." she began, "Contrary to what it's title may imply, it's actually in English though the book was originally in French. It's by Victor Hugo, he's a litterary genius." she glanced fondly at the book. "My aunt took me to the musical when I was eleven and I simply fell in love with it. This year I decided to buy the book on which it was based" she shrugged.

[LEVI MCCARTHY]

Missie does have a good heart, she's like an M&M you have to get past the hard candy shell to get to the chocolatey goodness Levi stopped when he realized how rediculous that sounded, he laughed Im sorry that was a horrible analogy He ran his fingers through his short brown hair, listening intently to her talk about the book. The truth was Levi enjoyed reading but he never had much time to do so, between classes and writing music, and he didnt understand most litature written before 1950.

Levi watched her talk, her motions and the loud of her voice. She seemed to be passionate about it, which made him smile. He loved girls who had intrests besides painting nails, clothes, and parties. He tried to stay focused on her words but kept getting distracted by the little things, the way her eyes looked, the way her lips looked as she spoke, the sound of her voice. He luckily snapped back to reality in enough time to catch the last few words of her sentence Ah. Musicals now there is something I can relate to

[MATTIE STONE]

His anology, in a sort of weird, but nice way, it brought a smile to Matt's eyes in a way that few other things can. A smile played at her lips, illuminating her face, "No, it's a great anology," her soft smile illuminated her entier face. "In a weird kind of way, it's almost... poetic." Of course, the stereotype was that if you talked to a girl about chocolate she'd be in love with you in seconds. Not true. Matt liked chocolate, but not too a point where the simple mention of the word made everything better. The way he's applied the use of chocolate here was something she liked because he didn't seem to be doing it to impress her and if he was, he was very good at hiding it: no, this relation he'd come up with was something he'd obviously said because that's simply what Missie made him think of, an M&M.

The mention of musicals finally seemed to make something click with him, she could tell just by the change in his eyes that "musical" meant more than "book". She grinned. "It's such a master-peice." her hands moved intricately as they always did when she spoke, "A chef-d'oeuvre of the theater. The amazing story combined with the music which stays in your head for ages..." she sighed wistfully, A worm can roll a stone, a bee can sting a bear nearly every song was one she'd known since first seeing the musical, in fact, even before that since her aunt had the CD (they both shared the passion for that particular musical). She snapped herself out of her nostalgic daze, "You must've heard Susan Boyle on Britain's got talent sing I dreamed a dream, that's from Les Misérables! Fantine sings it..." she trailed off realizing she was getting carried away again.

[LEVI MCCARTHY]

Levi laughed at her enthusiasm, his blue eyes twinkled. "Ill have to be honest and say Ive never heard the song" Levi wasnt as much into musicals as he was writing and composing music and he didnt watch a lot of TV. "Id have to be honest and say my favorite musical is Sweeny Todd" Levi found something romantic in the idea that A man would come back and murder everyone involved in taking his wife away from him.

His eyes scanned the clock in the hallway "Oh Shit" he mumbled under his breath, It was getting closer to the time he needed to get to class, he didnt want to be late again. "Can I walk you to class?" He asked standing up straight. "That is if your going to class.."

[MATTIE STONE]

Matt smiled ruefully, "If you ever get the chance, it's worth the money." The musical was something that stuck with her and it had ever since she'd heard the music. The story itself was something that one couldn't help but to fall madly in love with. Based during the french revolution, the story was of Jean Valjean, an ex-convict who changed his life through lies. The story was touching, even though she found the relationship between Cosette and Marius weak. Eponine died for him! Men can't see what's right under their noses! she thought furiously. Men have a tendancy to be ridiculous when it comes to girls, big boobs and a nice ass are their only criteria, that's what makes it all so infuriating! You thought Joel was different... she shook her head, desperately trying to clear those thoughts away. She was never going to make the same mistakes she had. She would never go too fast with a boy. She didn't know if she even believed in love anymore. Levi's words shook her from her thoughts, it wasn't the time to be thinking of such things. "Sweeney Todd? That's a good one too" She smiled, the music to that one was pretty darn good too.

He pointed out the time which made her gasp. "Oh my gosh!" she never swore, nor did she use the Lord's name in vain. "I promised Tom I'd get to class early!" she was only kind of panicky, she'd promised her best friend she'd meet with him and he'd be really disapointed if she didn't show up. "You can walk me to class if you don't mind running," she said slyly.

[LEVI MCCARTHY]

Levi laughed "Well if your in a hurry.." Levi hated running and he would take her comment as she was in a hurry and didnt need him tagging along with her. He adjusted the shoulder strap of his backpack. "Well, Uhm" Levi was completely at a loss as to why he was asking, but he kind of liked talking to this girl, sHe seemd very passionate, friendly and of course She was beautiful. "Do you maybe want to get slice of Pizza with me tonight?" he bit his lip, one eye brow raised.

Levi cursed himself the minute he said it. There was no way this intelligent girl was going to want to go out with his lame self. He ran his hand back through his short brown hair nervously "If your busy I completely understand.." he said quickly.

[MATTIE STONE]

It was easy to understand why running at break-neck speed down the hallways just to drop her off at class and sprint to his. She hated to leave, it had probably been about twenty minutes since she'd first run into him and she could already tell she really enjoyed his company. So few people at Brightwood chose to be kind, friendly or even faintly caring. Matt shook her blonde head laughingly "Yeah, I'm quite notorious for being late, but I feel bad leaving Tom to do the prep for the presentation by himself. I promised him I'd be there." A guilty look came over her face, Tom was such a good friend, always there for her, yet she often let him down. Standing there in hallways with Levi, she felt very selfish leaving her best friend to do all the work by himself.

When Levi suggested pizza after school Matt smiled and pulled a corner fro
her notebook off 709-2375. Mattie Stone =) she shoved it into his hand and smiled sweetly. "Please not during class hours okay? The teachers are really strict about phones." With that, Matt ran off to her class, her foot steps sounded thunderous against the tiled floors. She flew swiftly past rows and rows of lockers, she was so mad at herself for forgetting about Tom. She was glad to have going for pizza with Levi to look forward to because it seemed that these days, things to look forewards to were becoming few. It would be nice to make a friend who wasn't part of 'her group'.[/blockquote]