A Bitch, Ex Hooker and A Lonely Boy Who: McKenna and Jaycen, then Keegan and Jaycen Where: Chloe's Sugar Shack When: Saturday Afternoon, February 5
McKenna was in line, and impatient, as she was made to actually wait to get a latte. Her irritation clearly obvious by crossed arms and the way the blond tapped her foot in annoyance. Couldn't the idiots working the register move any quicker to get the line down so she could get her drink and get out of the place. Isn't that what the poor excuses that worked there were trained to do.
Right before her in line was Jaycen Crosby, who, luckily for her, had no problem deciding what he wanted. "Just gimme a dark roast, cream and sugar. Thanks." He said with a sweet smile and that low hum of a tone as he looked at Mouse, who skittered off to fix his drink. Reaching to the shelf under the counter, he plucked out a pack of gum and placed it on the counter to purchase as well.
"It's about time." The blond muttered beneath a breath finding herself next in line. Hopefully the boy in front of her would be out of the way in the next second so she good finally get her latte and depart the place.
"Jesus Christ, McKenna... where's the fire?" Jaycen grumbled, rolling his eyes as he walked a few steps away, grabbing some napkins and a stirrer. "Pressed for time or just in a hurry to get back to hating everyone?"
"In a hurry to distance myself from losers of your caliber. Unlike your pathetic self some people actual do have a life." McKenna shot back as she stepped forward. "Give me a caramel latte and try not to dawdle." McKenna directed to Mouse who simply gave a nod and then tried to hurry to get the order as she didn't wish any harsh words from the blond.
"Wow. I see you've finally mastered the fine art of bullying. Your journey to the title of 'Utter Complete Douche' is complete. Go see Marty Haggarty, he probably has your trophy." He said with annoyance, as hey... Mouse was a cool gal.
"Whatever." McKenna quipped giving a roll of her eyes to the guy's comment. Like it matter what Jaycen Crosby, or anyone of his class for that matter, thought of her. Digging the correct amount out of her purse for the drink, McKenna tossed the money on the counter instead of actually handing it over to Mouse once the timid girl returned with her drink. "About time." McKenna commented sarcastically to the girl before she turned with drink in her hand to finally leave The Shack.
"Hey! McKenna!" Ok, no way was he letting this one go. He knew from talking to a few kids at school that Mouse worked such awful hours here because she was so poor... "Forget to leave a tip? Come on... don't be a COMPLETE jackass here... seriously..."
"A tip? Seriously? The geeks service was no where near exceptional, in fact it was barely acceptable. But if you feel she's entitled to a tip feel free to leave one on my behalf. You know, losers unite and all." And then offering her parting words, McKenna turned to make a path to the exit.
Sighing, even though he really didn't have much money, Jaycen did just that, dipping into his own pocket to put a couple of ones in the tip jar. After being submitted to that... Mouse deserved SOMETHING for her troubles. "...why do people have to be SO damn mean to feel cool?" He asked, more to himself than anything as he turned to walk away...
"One of the great mysteries of the world." Keegan found herself addressing the comment, even though it had been a rhetorical one, made by Jaycen when the teen stepped up to the counter with the aid of a cane as she still wore a knee brace and needed the assistance the cane provided. This had been the first time she had been out of Catherine and Brandon's apartment since Catherine had taken her in after almost running her over. The couple's place was within walking distance of the coffee shop, which had been why Keegan had paid the place a visit to get a cup of coffee with money borrowed from Brandon.
Jaycen took a look over at where the voice came from... holy hell, the girl was HOT. Any anger he felt towards McKenna kind of ebbed away when he saw the gorgeous little thing talking to him. "I know, right?" He said, shyly. "Um... what... what happened to your leg? If you don't mind my asking..."
"Car accident," Keegan started explaining, "wasn't watching where I was going. You know how people can get distracted now and then." The teen smiled lightly to the guy. And it was mostly close to the truth, and car accidents do happen all the time after-all.
"Wow... I'm SO sorry..." He muttered, blinking in surprise. "Some people shouldn't be allowed to drive, I swear." He said with a nervous chuckle. "I, um... I'm Jaycen." He said as he extended a hand to her.
Judging from the words she had heard spoken between Catherine and Brandon back at the apartment when they first took her in, Keegan was under the impression that Catherine fell into that category, but it wasn't something the teen wasn't going to be holding against the young woman. "Keegan." She said with a reluctant extending out of her hand to Jaycen.
"That's actually... a really cool name. You go to school around here? I don't think I've ever seen you..." He mentioned, as though wracking his brain to remember if he'd met her before.
"A coffee, two sugars, one cream." Keegan momentarily diverting her attention from Jaycen to Mouse when the young woman timidly asked for her order. "I'm new to the city." She told Jaycen looking back over to the guy. Sure it was a lie, but it wasn't like she could tell him anything close to the truth. He seemed like a nice guy and Keegan didn't want him leaving with a changed opinion about her. The city was big, but it wasn't large enough to guarantee that their paths wouldn't cross again.
"Well... if you're new here, sorry that McKenna had to be your introduction to the kids around here. Trust me, they're not all as annoyingly vapid. Some of us are actually pretty nice." He said with a little smile, stuffing his hands into his front pockets.
"I'll try not to let her taint my opinion of Los Angeles." Keegan said with a little bit of a smile to the boy. And when Mouse returned in front of her on the other side of the counter, Keegan paid for her coffee and dropped whatever change she had gotten back into the tip jar. It wasn't much as tips might go, but it was all Keegan had on her person.
Now, that right there? Unintentionally made her seem like an even better person to Jaycen. He gave her a slightly impressed smile and leaned against the counter, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "So... you live near here?"
Keegan took a small sip of her coffee before offering the guy an answer. "Not far." It had been lucky for Keegan that the coffee place was within walking distance of Catherine and Brandon's apartment otherwise she wouldn't have made it to Chloe's, and most likely would have gone elsewhere for a cup of coffee.
"Any chance you'd let me walk you home? Not that I think you need protection... it's more of a lame attempt to spend time with a cute girl. So sue me." He snickered, giving a lopsided grin.
That put a dampening on Keegan's mood. A change in mood that etched across her features. "I'm not the type of girl that guys want to walk home." They wanted other things from Keegan, but to walk her home just to see that she might get there safely. That was something they didn't do. At least not for girls like her. With her gripping her cup more firmly, Keegan moved then to step past Jaycen.
"Um... no offense but... don't you think that's for me to decide? Unless you like... have a third arm, or you're really a guy or something... I don't see anything that makes you NOT the kind of girl I'd like to walk home..." He furrowed his brows, crossing his arms. "I mean... I'm not some skeez who's just trying to get you in bed or something..." he almost smirked there, thinking 'that would be more like the guy I'm STAYING with...'
Well that was obviously clear to Keegan. That Jaycen wasn't some guy making conversation with her just as an attempt to get into her pants. Keegan read that quite easily that Jaycen was one of the nice ones. "Which is why I'm not the kind of girl you want to be associating with." Keegan told him just wanting to leave the coffee shop and not prolong this conversation. The teen though wasn't about to flee the premises.
"Tell you what. I'll make you a deal. Walk with me. Tell me WHY you think that. And if you're right? I'll leave you alone and never tell anyone a single word of what we talk about. But if you're wrong? You have to let me walk you home from school tomorrow as well." Well now... maybe Jaycen was a little smoother than he OR his sister actually knew, hm?
"I'd rather not," because in Keegan's mind revealing to the guy what she was, or had been, would ruin his whole perception of her. She'd rather leave now and have him keep thinking she was some nice girl he had run into rather then reveal the truth and have him look at her like all the men she had come into contact with over the past three or so years. "I'll take the walk," she finally consented knowing that if he tried coming around attempting to see her or anything Keegan would complain to Catherine and/or Brandon by lyingly telling them the guy was bothering her. "But I'm not sharing anything."
Jaycen sighed, forcing a smile. In his mind? This was merely another case of a cute girl having zero interest in him. Wonderful. "Not a problem. If you... really don't wanna walk with me, it's ok. Maybe I was coming on too strong. I'm... really sorry."
"Sweetie, you were coming on anything but strong," and she knew just how strongly and forcibly men could come onto, and at, a girl, "and the whole walking thing? I don't have a problem with it." Keegan said with a faint smile.
"You sure? I just... I don't want to offend you. I guess I'm just tired of always being alone, and you seem as sweet as you are attractive. Which is... sadly RARE in this city." He said with a wry laugh.
Keegan wanted to tell him that she was anything but the sweet and innocent girl he was thinking her to be, but the girl managed to keep those words to herself. "You know if you're trying to brighten my spirits it's not quite working." Keegan said with a faint smile. She kind of felt for the guy, and if she hadn't just been pulled from the unsavory life she had been living, Keegan might have considered providing the guy with a little company so he would feel less lonely.
He sighed, once again taking it more as HIS fault than anything. "Sorry... I guess there's a REASON I don't really have many friends, huh?" He asked, forcing a smile. "I guess... I guess I'll just leave you alone. Maybe... see you in school sometime?" Hard to believe a kid as good-looking as Jaycen could be so... utterly lonely, huh?
"Hey, it's definitely not you." Keegan said and then actual dared to lay her hand lightly on the guy's shoulder. "It's all me. I'm not the type of girl you might be thinking I am. Nice guys like you deserve a nice girl."
"Again... how about letting ME judge if you're a 'nice girl' or not? I mean... you could tell me you've killed a man in cold blood and I'd still think you're more of a nice girl than McKenna or Sandra, you know?" He pointed out, smirking with a charming little twinkle to his eye.
"How about we just settle for that walk you mentioned." Keegan counter offered. No matter how much Jaycen might try persuading her to, Keegan wasn't about to share her deep, dark secret with the boy. Only Catherine and Brandon knew what she was and Keegan wanted to keep it that way.
"If you... really want to walk with me, sure." He said with a sad tinge to his voice. Perhaps all the trauma he and his sister had had effects on him nobody had realized, hm? "If it helps... I'm not exactly everything I seem to be, either."
"I'm not going to attempt to force you into a walk." Keegan said taking a step toward the door. The blond didn't think his life could have been, or be, anywhere near as bad as hers had been. He may have gone through a rough time, but it would no way compare to what she had been forced to endure.
"You'd never have to FORCE me to do anything as far as spending some time with you is concerned. Let's just.... take that walk." He said, sweetly. "If you want.... it can be in total silence. It'll still be infinitely better than sitting at home by myself."