The Deck | Saturday Afternoon

[puppywithatutu.livejournal.com]

It didn't count as moping if Caroline gave off the air of relaxing in the sunshine on the deck with a book. The day was too nice to stay cooped indoors when she had a magical ring to protect her from the evil rays of the sun and sunglasses to ensure no one saw her reaction to the book, should she actually read it and fall victim to tears.

Not that this was likely when she'd been paused on the same page of her Sparksian novel, imagining how her life could translate into one of these things. Of course, Caroline was aware that the closest she ever came to a depressing romance novel was when she'd turned into a vampire and lost Matt to her jealous and overly sensitive ways. She sighed, wondering if she was always doomed.

Okay, maybe this did count as moping.

[Open deck!]

Comments

[tripledmyself.livejournal.com]

After the...whatever the fuck that was last night, Nathan had gotten up fairly early for him and had taken off into town just to make it easier for the both of them to ignore each other.

Now, coming back with a cigarette already between his lips (but not lit), he spotted his confusing as fuck roommate on the deck which is where he'd hoped to smoke.

Whatever, the deck was big enough for the both of them and he was adamant that this wasn't his fucking fault. She'd been the one to suddenly start ignoring him so he was just going with the flow.

So, he stepped up on the deck without looking at her, lit the cigarette and sat down, back to her so he could smoke. It was petulant and childish but she'd started it.

[notlikejack.livejournal.com]

"Caroline! Hi!" Bobby had his science book under one arm. "What are you reading? Isn't it nice out?"

[puppywithatutu.livejournal.com]

Like Caroline could even pretend she hadn't heard him clomping onto the deck. At least she thought her sunglasses did a good job of hiding how hard she was staring at how Nathan refused to look at her and then actually sit with his back to her.

Jerk.

She angrily turned the page in her book despite failing to read the previous one and swore as it tore.

[puppywithatutu.livejournal.com]

Bobby was a seriously welcome addition to the deck. "It's fantastic out! And you might judge my reading material but whatever, it's this book they made for a movie...or movie from the book. I don't know which came first but it's really good!" Well, the part she'd read seemed good.

[notlikejack.livejournal.com]

He did what he could. "You could just look at the copyright date and the date of the movie and...you probably don't actually care, huh," he realised.

[tripledmyself.livejournal.com]

Hey, she'd started the ignoring yesterday, he was just going with the flow, wasn't he? Besides, sitting with his back to her meant he'd be less likely to be the first one to talk.

He was a jerk though but at least he was a jerk who just blowing smoke circles instead of taking out his phone and pretending to call someone who wasn't her just to be an even bigger jerk.

[puppywithatutu.livejournal.com]

"Well, I wasn't going to like, set my happiness by it, but your idea would work if I did care?" Caroline was trying to be nice. It was a difficult state for her to maintain of late. "Do you read a lot, Bobby?"

[puppywithatutu.livejournal.com]

He was just so mature. Caroline really appreciated that in a guy and wished she could tell him in a way that wasn't just shooting daggers at his back with her eyes.

But be the first one to talk? She didn't think she could do that. At least not yet.

[tripledmyself.livejournal.com]

If it was any consolation, he was pretty sure he could feel those daggers hitting his back but he was not going to turn around and he was determined not to start a conversation since he'd done that last time they'd been ignoring each other.

Instead, he finally did take his phone out and flicked over to one of the games and started playing while he imagined what sort of looks she was shooting him and wondering how angry she actually was.

[notlikejack.livejournal.com]

"Um." Bobby looked down at the book he was carrying. "Yeah, kind of. But usually science books. I never read that one."

And he never ever would.

[puppywithatutu.livejournal.com]

Caroline eyed his science book. "Is that a textbook or...where do you get books about science that aren't textbooks?" Because surely those didn't exist.

[puppywithatutu.livejournal.com]

Nathan and that stupid phone. Briefly, Caroline regretted hooking him up with a replacement for the one she destroyed. She thought maybe if he paid half the amount of attention to the words he said as he did to the games he played they wouldn't be at this standstill.

[tripledmyself.livejournal.com]

This standstill wasn't his doing though. If he'd said something wrong last night, he'd made the effort to try and ask what but she'd decided ignoring him was the better option so he was going with that.

He wasn't the only one who could use words and he'd tried to use them last night. Maybe she remembered how she'd acted to him when he'd asked after her last night. He'd taken the initiative to try and figure out what he'd said and gotten a fake smile in return.

[puppywithatutu.livejournal.com]

From Caroline's way of seeing it, Nathan had not gone nearly as far as he could have to decipher what the problem was, but really, his lounging in her view on the deck was very telling.

"Seriously, you're going to sit with your back to me when I was here first?" Caroline commented, still half hiding behind her book and sunglasses.

[notlikejack.livejournal.com]

"This is a textbook! But there are lots of other books about science! Like - ooh, you might like A Short History of Nearly Everything. Even my mom read it, and she doesn't really like science a lot," Bobby enthused.

[tripledmyself.livejournal.com]

"It's a public deck," he said blandly, just barely shrugging a shoulder and making no move to look at her. "I'm going with the flow of the day and the flow has taken me to this deck and this chair and this position. I'm not bothering you."

[puppywithatutu.livejournal.com]

"Are you sure that isn't a history book instead of a science one?" Caroline asked. She wasn't stupid, just trying to understand.

[notlikejack.livejournal.com]

"Well, I mean, it's kind of a history book," he admitted. "It's a history of the universe! So there's a lot of science thrown in."

[puppywithatutu.livejournal.com]

"That's where you're wrong since you actually are bothering me." His presence was a bother.

[puppywithatutu.livejournal.com]

Caroline couldn't help her nose crinkling in reaction to the idea of a history of science. "That doesn't sound all that entertaining, Bobby. I think I'll stick to my novels."

[notlikejack.livejournal.com]

"You're missing out," Bobby assured her.

[tripledmyself.livejournal.com]

"I'm not even talking to you or acknowledging your presence, how could I fucking be bothering you?" he asked, unable not to sound annoyed.

If he was bothering her by sitting a few feet away from her on the deck, they s were going to have a hard time sleeping and living together later on.

[puppywithatutu.livejournal.com]

"Hello, do you hear yourself, 'I'm not even talking to you or acknowledging your presence,'" Caroline pointed out in snappy tones. "Doesn't that count as bothering in your country?"

[puppywithatutu.livejournal.com]

"You are, too. But I bet you'd love the movies that go with these books," she told him, teasingly of course. Caroline understood how boys could be about romance.

[tripledmyself.livejournal.com]

Nathan rolled his eyes. Whatever, she couldn't see but the sentiment was still there.

"You're not bothering me so no." Had he just twisted her words? Probably but he wasn't really bothered either. He was just mad that nothing he seemed to do was enough for her and he was really, really fucking trying.