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prettyflowers 2009-10-27 02:42 am UTC (link)

Autumn climbed out of her SUV, shouldered her bag and grabbed her plate of goodies: mini cheesecake bites. She took a deep breath, hoping she was dressed okay for the occasion. She would be dressed just right in Georgia but it was a whole different world up here. She walked into the backyard and saw several people chatting and looking as if they were having a good time. She hated being the "new girl" but she swallowed her insecurity and headed over to the food table. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	witchyguardian 2009-10-27 03:53 am UTC (link)
	Amelia was about to lead Ben into the house to check on the veggies when she saw Autumn come around to the yard. She gave a wide smile and wave. "Autumn! Hello, hello." She gestured to the stairs up the patio. "I'm so glad you decided to come. Come on up and meet everyone." She gestured to Ben. "This is Autumn, she's going to be new this year, teaching Biology." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

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callsignphoton 2009-10-27 04:01 am UTC (link)

As soon as Amelia greeted this 'Autumn' person, Ben turned around to look at who had the name. And boy, did he look. His eyes widened for a second as he saw the beautiful brunette coming up to them, and for a moment Ben lost all reaction. He snapped out of it just in time for her to get to where he was standing with Amelia, and held out his hand, with a charming smile. "Nice to meet you, I'm Benjamin. You can call me Ben." Stupid of him to introduce himself by the whole name, especially because he never did and she had already greeted him as Ben, but he was still a little awestruck. And maybe if Amelia noticed, if she even cared a little bit, it would produce some reaction on her. "I am the Guidance Counselor." He added, still smiling. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

prettyflowers 2009-10-27 04:08 am UTC (link)

"Hi Amelia!" She trotted up the stairs to follow Amelia. "Thank you for having me over. I really appreciate it!" She handed the plate to Amelia. "I made some cheesecake bites." Autumn turned to Benjamin and had to pause for a second. Because seriously. He was gorgeous. She slid her hand into his, her hand feeling tiny in his. "Hello Ben. It's very nice to meet you too!" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

witchyguardian 2009-10-27 04:19 am UTC (link)

Autumn was beautiful. There was no doubt about this. Ben's reaction, however, was surprising. She couldn't blame him for being attracted to Autumn but did he have to eye her as she walked up. She saw the way his eyes widened and the 'My name is Benjamin' faux charming thing was annoying. Her eyes narrowed and she raised an eyebrow, barely holding back the urge to cross her arms at her chest. She knew she had no control over who he was interested in and she had no right to be jealous but she did take issue with a man asking her on a date one day and making eyes at another woman the next. But she said nothing to him. Instead she smiled at Autumn and nodded to the cheesecake bites. "These look so great. I can't believe you made them!" She laughed. "Sloane and I, the lovely English teacher right inside, were talking earlier about baking blunders. It's nice to have people around who can make sweets." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

callsignphoton 2009-10-27 04:22 am UTC (link)

Either Amelia didn't care, or she was being awfully good at hiding it. Either way, Ben wasn't happy. Which was why he decided to focus more on the 'new kid in town' for the time being. Cheesecake bites. Will would be happy about that - it was more food after all - and Ben was pleasantly surprised, too. Especially since he hadn't brought pie. "So are you joining in the ranks next year, or already on summer school?" He asked Autumn, after smiling at Amelia's conversation about baking. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

prettyflowers 2009-10-27 04:32 am UTC (link)

Autumn immediately sensed some tension and anger coming from Amelia. She felt like it was projected at Ben but couldn't be 100% sure. She laughed when Amelia said that they had been discussing baking blunders. "I'm a baker," she admitted. "It's what I do when I'm stressed or need to think. So I have about five dozen of these cheesecake bites at home," she laughed. "I'm on for summer school," she answered to Ben. "It'll be a good way to ease into the swing of things." She felt his interest in her and smiled at him, flirting just a little. "So you're the Guidance Counselor, huh? How long have you been a counselor?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	callsignphoton 2009-10-27 04:47 am UTC (link)
	Well, baking was an option Ben had never considered. When he was stressed he played hockey and kicked some ass and that was that. Or drank. It depended on the stress source, really. "Oh, good." Ben smiled at Autumn. "Oh, I don't know..." He said to her question, glancing at Amelia briefly. "About four or five years I think?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

witchyguardian 2009-10-27 04:49 am UTC (link)

Amelia gave a tight smile to both of them. "I'll keep that in mind if I get a sweet tooth later." She nodded to Autumn. "I'm sorry to be a rude hostess, but I need to pop in there and check on Sloane and the veggies for our skewers." She ignored Ben entirely and left the porch to enter the kitchen. "Sloane!" She called as she entered, "How are those veggies going?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

prettyflowers 2009-10-27 05:00 am UTC (link)

"Do you need any help?" she called after Amelia. It was her Southern manners at work...plus, Amelia seemed annoyed and Autumn wanted to make sure she hadn't done anything wrong. She looked back to Ben and gave a helpless shrug, not knowing what was going on, why there was so much tension around. She was feeling slightly uncomfortable, her senses picking up all the many emotions flying around. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

witchyguardian 2009-10-27 05:04 am UTC (link)

Amelia turned at the question and gave a nice genuine smile. She knew she had seemed to liked Autumn for a reason. Manners were important. "Well there's not a whole lot going on at the moment. I think we're going to put the veggies on skewers and grill them once the meat is nearly done and then dig in. You should relax and enjoy yourself." And she meant it sincerely. She was already kicking herself for being somewhat cold and hoped it hadn't been too noticeable. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

callsignphoton 2009-10-27 05:16 am UTC (link)

That Amelia had ignored him completely did not go unnoticed by Ben, who's jaw had set as he watched her walk into the kitchen. And then - oh, great! - Autumn wanted to help. He was going to be snubbed completely in a matter of minutes. At Autumn's shrug, Ben gave her one of his own, although he liked to think he knew exactly what Amelia's deal was. "But if you need anything you call us, alright?" He told her anyway, only his voice and face showed nothing more than the truth of his being bothered by her attitude. He turned back to Autumn and smiled. "Sorry about that, this being a hostess thing must be hard." He wouldn't know, he'd never been one. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

prettyflowers 2009-10-27 05:29 am UTC (link)

Nice warm fuzzy feelings again from Amelia and Autumn relaxed. "Yum, sounds delicious! We'll be out here if y'all need anything," she echoed Ben. She turned back to Ben with a laugh. "No worries! It is overwhelming sometimes to be the hostess. You gotta keep tabs on the cooking, entertain guests, make sure everyone is happy...it's a tough job!" Autumn looked around and cleared her throat. "So, it looks like it's just the two of us," she commented. She looked around the backyard and noticed the trees and plants and flowers. She looked up to the sky and inhaled deeply. "It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" Yes, she was talking about the weather, but for her it wasn't small talk. The weather was important and part of Mother Earth. It was something to be celebrated and taken seriously. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

callsignphoton 2009-10-27 05:45 am UTC (link)

Ben smiled and nodded, although he knew damn well - or liked to think he did - that it wasn't Amelia's hostess duties that had made her react that way before. He smiled again. "Yeah it does." And they really had nothing to talk about, apparently, but Ben could easily think of something. Although apparently he wouldn't need to, because Autumn had started talking about the weather. Well, he'd take it. Nodding, Ben agreed completely, because it was, indeed, a beautiful day. "It is, thank God. Imagine if it had been gray and raining today. The barbecue would be ruined!" Small talk, small talk, small talk. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	prettyflowers 2009-10-27 06:00 am UTC (link)
	"I love the rain too. It gives the air a nice clean smell and rejuvenates the earth." Realizing she was talking weird to someone who was probably not an Earth Elemental, she quickly covered, "And I'm babbling. So, are you from Scarlet Oaks?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	callsignphoton 2009-10-27 06:03 am UTC (link)
	This was flower child talk if he'd ever seen it. Ben smiled, nodding, although he really hadn't thought about rain all that much. "Well, sure, but it ruins barbecues all over the world." He decided to joke around with it. Nodding, Ben stuck his hands in his pockets. "Born and raised, what about you?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

prettyflowers 2009-10-27 06:14 pm UTC (link)

Autumn laughed at his insistence that the rain ruined barbecues. She decided that perhaps the weather wasn't such a great topic of conversation. "I'm originally from a small town in Georgia. I just moved here a month or so ago," she answered him. "My accent didn't give me away? I never really thought I had an accent until I came up here and boy was I wrong," she laughed. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

PATIO callsignphoton 2009-10-28 12:03 am UTC (link)

Well, it did! It ruined most summer activities, which was why it wasn't supposed to rain in the summer. Which it wasn't, but it had been. Ben knew because he couldn't go out for a doggy walk while or after rain without getting his fur all dirty, which he couldn't afford to let happen. So yeah, he wasn't a fan of rain. "Oh, welcome to Scarlet Oak, then." He said with a pleasant smile, then shrugged. "I had noticed something but it's not that noticeable to me, at least. Now that you've said it, though, I'm thinking I won't be able to stop hearing it." He teased. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

Re: PATIO prettyflowers 2009-10-28 12:17 am UTC (link)

Autumn laughed and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "People keep lookin' at me all funny when I talk. It actually took me a while to realize why. Oh, and don't try to order sweet tea. Nobody up here knows what that is. Y'all just get it all wrong." She chuckled, thinking how deprived they were of the sweet drink. "So, this is my first year teaching...got any pointers for me? I am a little nervous, to tell you the truth." And she was...terrified was more like it. "When I was student teaching, I'd get stopped in the halls all the time because the teachers thought I was a student. It was hard to get my class to take me seriously at first." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

Re: PATIO callsignphoton 2009-10-28 12:25 am UTC (link)

Ben snickered. "Yeah well I think if anything it adds to your charm." He smiled charmingly at her, hands still in his pockets. As she mentioned sweet tea, Ben knitted both eyebrows together. "I don't even know what that is! Is it good?" Her question awarded her with a whistling sound out of Ben, as he sighed. "Well...Don't show fear. Don't ever show fear, don't show you're intimidated, pretend you know exactly what you're doing at all times. They can almost smell fear, if you screw that up in the beginning, you might be screwed." He gave a small laugh at her student/teacher problems. "Yeah see, you're all petite, so you have to make up for that by being tough. Otherwise they might eat you alive, sorry to say." Scary, but true. Oh, so very true. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

Re: PATIO prettyflowers 2009-10-28 12:51 am UTC (link)

"Is it good?" Autumn repeated, incredulous. "Oh my GAWD it's the best thing ever. I'll so have to fix you some. You have really lived until you've had some sweet tea." She nodded, her smile bright at the thought of sharing it with him. She was equally as charmed by him as he was her. "Don't show fear. Right. Got it." Autumn laughed nervously. "Can I call you to come beat them down if they are horrible?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

Re: PATIO sirensparrow 2009-10-28 05:54 pm UTC (link)

Miranda had been in the kitchen, but seeing that she wasn't much help in there, something about too many cooks, she poured a few glasses of the lemonade Amelia was offering and brought some outside to meet the new teacher. And tried not to smile at the fact that Ben was already making eyes at her. "Thought you two might be thirsty out here," she said, holding out glasses to the two of them. "I'm Miranda, by the way. I teach art." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

Re: PATIO witchyguardian 2009-10-29 02:52 am UTC (link)

Amelia entered the patio area with a plate of chopped veggies and set them on the table to open the marinade. She shook the bottle and twisted the top off to pour the marinade over the veggies. She wouldn't admit it, of course, but she was glad Miranda had joined Autumn and Ben outside. It felt less awkward now. Not that it was really awkward to begin with, she tried to tell herself. She stayed out of the way, happy to let everyone mingle and have a good time while she watched the veggies start to soak up the flavor. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	Re: PATIO prettyflowers 2009-10-29 03:01 am UTC (link)
	"Hi Miranda! I'm Autumn and I teach Biology." She took the lemonade, flashing a grateful smile. "Gosh, this looks great. Thank you!" She took a sip. "It's good!" Autumn smiled as Amelia came onto the patio. "There's Amelia! You sure you don't need any help?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

Re: PATIO - witchyguardian, 2009-10-29 03:10 am UTC

Re: PATIO - callsignphoton, 2009-10-30 03:07 am UTC

Re: PATIO - prettyflowers, 2009-10-30 04:26 am UTC

Re: PATIO - witchyguardian, 2009-10-30 04:38 am UTC

Re: PATIO - prettyflowers, 2009-10-30 04:58 am UTC

Re: PATIO - callsignphoton, 2009-10-31 06:08 pm UTC

Re: PATIO - witchyguardian, 2009-10-31 06:46 pm UTC

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