Eating Out

[Milo Parker]

Milo listened to her and nodded slightly when he heard her say that she wasn't good at talking. He'd kind of assumed that from the few times that he'd talked to her. Even their conversations just then had been proof of that. She wasn't talkative, but as she told him, she was good at answering things. So she just wasn't any good about starting the topics of conversation, which was fine with him. He always preferred being the one who started the conversation because it gave him control of where it went and where it didn't. So he smiled slightly at her as he thought about what he wanted to start the conversation with. What he thought would be something that would actually get her talking and something that he was interested in. It wasn't really easy to find something that met that criteria. "Let's see what do I want to ask?" he asked a loud as he kept thinking, that way at least something would be said. It was a momentary distraction from the silence that was currently surrounding the two of them until he came up with something to talk about.

"Ahh I've got it!" he said as soon as he figured out what he wanted to ask her. "This is something that I've wondered for a while and you are the perfect person to answer it for me. So from what I hear dance is pretty hard core. I mean the kinds of things that you guys have to do, all the work you've got to put in, plus your teacher, it sounds like a lot. Then on top of it, you're suppose to live it - or so I'm told. It's suppose to be your life." He looked over at her, trying to see if he was wrong about anything that he'd heard. He couldn't really tell so he just kept going so that he would be able to get to the point, what he really planned on asking. "How do you manage to do it all? I mean devote yourself solely to dance. Don't you ever want anything different?" He couldn't see how someone could just live for one thing. He loved writing, it was a major part of his own life and he did devote a lot of time to it, but it wasn't his whole life. He had other things that he did, other parts that took up time and demanded attention from him. He liked having his social life, it was something that he valued also.

As he waited for her answer he hoped that she wouldn't want to turn the conversation and start asking him the questions because he wouldn't want to answer them. He never wanted to answer personal questions, they made him very uncomfortable. Not very many people knew many, if any intimate details about his life. He preferred to keep it that way too. He didn't mind knowing about other people, having them tell him about themselves, however when the tables were turned and he was the one who was sitting in the hot seat it was a completely different story. If he ever followed the advice 'Don't dish out what you can't take back in' or 'Do unto others as you would do unto yourself' he would just stop asking questions about people's personal lives. However, he wasn't one that often took advice that was given to him.

[Taylor Smith]

Taylor gave a small smile when he nodded at her affirmation that she didn’t talk much and wasn’t good at it. She’d figured he would have guessed by himself by now. After all, it wasn’t much of a secret nor something she could easily hide, since in order to hide the fact that she didn’t talk much, she’d have to force herself to talk, which kind of killed the purpose of the whole thing in the first place. Usually, she wasn’t even comfortable enough with other people to even attempt talking, especially with people she didn’t know well. But for some reason, she was starting to feel more comfortable with Milo, though it hadn’t been all that long – about half an hour, three quarters at the most – since they’d started talking. But still, she had the impression that she was getting better at it as they kept talking. She was pretty sure the blush had finally left her cheeks completely and he smiles were coming more easily, wider and natural. He somehow put her at ease and, she figured, that was without even trying to. It felt good to be sitting in front of someone and not feel as though she had to prove something to them.

Her smile widened slightly as he wondered aloud what question he should ask, glad that he’d accepted her suggestion. When he said he’d found something, she tilted her head slightly and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, listening intently as he spoke, smiling when she realized he would be asking something about her talent. In some ways, he was right. She knew dance came off as extremely hard, and having practiced it since she was very young, she had to admit it was most definitely no piece of cake. She nodded at what he said, figuring he was assuming it and waiting for a confirmation before going on with his question. As she listened to it, her smile softened a little and she sat up straight in her chair, looking directly at him. “Dancing the way we do,” she started, trying to find a way to explain correctly. “It’s like every other talent at the Academy, really. It can’t be a mere hobby, not even something we simply enjoy. It has to be a passion. It has to be something we could never get enough of, and I suppose it’s one of the ways of how we manage it.” She glanced down at her hands as she went on, like she always did when she started talking about a more personal part of herself. “For me… well, it has never been hard to make it my life, to live my dance, because it is my life, it’s who I am. When I dance, I’m not the same person. I let myself live. There’s no place for shyness, no place for self-consciousness or anything of the sort. All the feelings I can’t express in real life, I let them out when I’m dancing. I could never do anything else.” It was probably how she managed not to burst from keeping everything inside, too.

She was about to return the question when the waiter came up to their table with a smile, asking if they were ready to order. Taylor nodded, figuring Milo must have decided what he wanted too since his menu was down on the table and he was busy asking her question. “I’ll have the Pollo Giovanni,” she said, hoping she hadn’t messed up the name. “With a green tea, please,” she added. She then waited until Milo had named his own order before turning back to him with a little smile, raising an eyebrow. “What about you? I mean, writing isn’t all that easy either, you have to have a wide imagination and a lot of inspiration to come up with the number of stories they ask of you,” she said, playing with a strand of her hair lightly. “Especially considering you’re starting your fourth year here,” she added.

• • • • •

[Milo Parker]

He listened as she began to answer his question. He understood what she meant about everything having to be a passion at the academy and for the students there was always passion present. He was passionate about writing but he didn't let it define who he was. For some reason he wanted more than to just be known as a writer. He wanted people to see him outside of his work. Then again it wasn't dancing, it wasn't art or music. He knew that some people allowed themselves to be a writer and allowed themselves to be inspired from different parts of their lives... he wasn't one of those people. he liked to stay away from his life as much as possible, his writing didn't show who it was like her dancing did for her. It wasn't the same thing, which might have been why she was able to be more passionate about it. It was an escape, just as writing was for him... but it was a different kind of escape. It was an escape for her to be who she truly was, writing was an escape from his life where he didn't have to be himself. Where he could be the characters and feel their problems and pain. It was what kept him from bursting, not facing everything but being able to push it away. It was a healthy way to keep things where he felt that they should be.

He watched her as he waited for her to ask whatever it was that she was going to ask, but got interrupted by the waiter. He waited as she placed her order and then smiled slightly when the waiter turned to him. "I'll have the Pollo Scaloppini with a Mountain Dew," he said. He didn't care if he didn't pronounce the name exactly correctly because he'd already become used to saying the way that he was. It was going to stay that way now and there wasn't a way to change it. He never got any complaints about it or anything so he just assumed that it was fine. He looked back over at Taylor as she began to speak once the waiter had left. He could understand that she wanted to ask him the same sort of question and he decided that it was one of the types of questions that he would feel alright about answering. It wasn't really all that personal so it all worked out fine. "Writing can be really easy sometimes, when you've got a lot of inspiration for a story," he said with a shrug. "It's never really the plots that get me, those are easy to come up with. Small events that I hear about or even see in everyday life can be a big influence on what I want to write about. The things that give me troubles most of the times are the characters, because it's not just another part of a story. Each one you come up with has to be their own person. And you really almost have to become another person to do it, sometimes that's hard. To make another person and then to be able to see things from their point of view and know how they'd react to a situation.. it's the difficult part."

He smiled slightly as the waiter brought them their drinks. He took a drink of it before he looked back at her and continued. "A lot of times you can give and take a bit of each character and create another one if you're really not having any luck figuring it out, but then you get back to figuring out how a character will respond to the challenges that they've got to face." He stayed quiet for a second before he decided that he wanted to steer the conversation back to her. "Still though I think that it's got to be quite a bit harder to be a dancer. Not only do you have to put your mind and emotion into it, but you've also got to put so much physical work into it. With writing you don't have to work your body as much. It's got to be exhausting to be having to put so much into it, but I suppose that you got over that with time. It probably is just part of your life now, isn't it?" he asked thoughtfully.

[Taylor Smith]

She smiled lightly as she listened to his answer next, nodding slightly at his explanation. It made sense that writers inspired themselves from events that happened around them, she thought that what was amazing would be making those events their own, changing them and fitting them into a place they didn't necessarily belong to in the first place. She was always curious about it, whenever she read a book, to know how difficult it must be to create a world that wasn't their own, to have characters that were unknown to them, but she figured it was one of those things, that the authors actually got to know their own characters. It might seem weird to some people, but she thought it was normal to consider them as real people, especially to the person who'd created them. At the same time, thinking of them as real, with a personality of their own, might make it more difficult to, somewhat, 'control' them. As he spoke, she couldn't help but examine him a little. She didn't know why, but she had the feeling that if she was to ask questions, she had to be careful. She felt as though he wasn't someone who'd answer to anything and everything. Probably only questions that were standart, questions you could ask pretty much anybody without necessarily learning too much about the person itself. She couldn't push away the feeling that whatever personal question he got asked, he wouldn't answer.

She smiled at the waiter as he brought their drinks, thanking him and taking her own, sipping at it lightly. She was quite thirsty, but she figured she might as well make it last since this restaurant wasn't necessarily the cheapest and she didn't want to spend too much by ordering several drinks. Then again, she figured that if she got too thirsty, she'd just stick to water afterward. She very rarely drank soft drinks, or juice that weren't made from natural fruits. Just like she very rarely ate junk food - McDonald's, Dunkin' Donut... those place were some which she never went to. The only times she ate unhealthy food was when she went to the theater, or was in a very hard part of the term when she had to cram a lot. Then she had to munch on something, and she usually settled for healthy snacks, but sometimes they couldn't be found and if she needed something right now, then she took whatever was available. She usually felt guilty afterward though, and trained harder. Because of course, dancing wasn't only about.. dancing. The actual dancing part could be exercice enough, obviously, more than so even. But she always spent about an hour or half an hour a day training and doing some exercice to increase her strength and flexibility - not that she needed any more of the latter, but it was her perfectionnist side.

Just as she'd been thinking of that, she heard him mention that dance was probably a bit harder because it was also physical work. She smiled lightly, nodding. "Well... getting used to it has become easier, the part of having to be so active. For some people, it's much easier too," she said thoughtfully. "Because as you get better, the level of difficulty increases as well. And I'm one of those unreasonable people," she added with a light smile. "Those for who it's easier usually stop pushing when they feel as though they've reached their limit, or when they tired. I never stop until I'm ready to fall to the ground, I always push further than my limit. I never get to a point when it hurts very badly, because that's simply bad for the muscles, but I at least try to reach until it's uncomfortable, until I'm exhausted. And even if I wanted to change that, I couldn't. Sometimes I don't do it on purpose," she shrugged lightly. "But I can't stop myself, because I can't get enough of it. I don't think I ever could."

• • • • •

[Milo Parker]

Milo listened to her answer and nodded slightly. He supposed that like everything some people would just have things a bit easier then others naturally, but it was like that in everything that was a skill. He got a little more interested as she went along and started talking about how she was when she danced. He'd seen her dance a couple of times and she was definitely talented, but also it was apparent in what she did that she had a lot of passion for it. He could see her pushing herself without realizing it, because it was so easy to see that it was what she loved doing more then anything else. "Wow," he said, he might have added something else but he got caught up in his own thoughts and decided that he wouldn't. It was almost weird to think of what he did as an art, he got told so frequently. Usually he could find good arguments as to why it was an art, how writing was just as much of an art as anything else at the Academy. But at that moment, he really couldn't see it. Or maybe he just couldn't see it with himself at the moment. He didn't have the kind of passion that she did for his own talent.

He wanted to do something with it, true enough, but in a lot of ways he kind of just let it be. Let writing be for when it was, when he wanted to. He never pushed himself when he got stuck and he never really put an extreme amount of effort into it. It was just what it was. He thought for a minute, trying to figure out when he'd been as passionate about it as she sounded. It didn't take him long to figure it out, after his mother's death. That was when it was his everything, his way to keep himself stable and have a reason to do anything. Then he wanted more then anything to be great and to just keep writing. Story after story he wrote, and he couldn't really stop himself. He'd gone through what seemed like endless notebooks, dozens of pens and pencils simply writing. Writing for a way out and a reason to do anything. Most of the stories that he'd written weren't very good admittingly. And only one was about the event. One out of dozens. It had been the only time that he'd ever written about something that was happening directly to him. He'd had a main character of course, the story had been from their point of view, about someone who'd experienced a loss in the towers like he had. He still had that story around and he could remember it word for word.

He shook his head out of his thoughts though and turned back to Taylor. "It's good to see that you're so passionate about your dancing," he said with a small smile, that didn't quite reach his eyes. "I've seen you dance a couple of times, it's pretty easy to see how passionate you are on stage, too." She was one of the better dancers that he'd seen during that times that he had gone and seen the dancers preform. It was just something about the way that she did dance that made her stand out more then anyone else on the stage did to him. Or maybe it was just simply who she was. For reasons unknown to him, he'd always been aware of her presence. She was a very attractive person no doubt, but there was always something more to it also. Something that he could never quite place his finger on, no matter how hard he tried to. Which was why he just came to accept that it was how things were. "So other then dance how is your academic work going?" he asked, deciding that the sooner they got off the subject of talents the better at that point in time. He didn't like how he was feeling about himself at that moment, the loss of confidence wasn't any good. He just hoped that it didn't come off like most of his moods ended up doing sooner or later. People usually asked questions when his mood changed, which was only natural, but that was some conversation that he'd rather avoid.

[Taylor Smith]

She smiled lightly at his reaction, about to answer something when she saw something change on his face. Somehow she could tell he'd just gotten lost in his thoughts, and she wasn't certain they were all that happy thoughts either, but she suposed it would probably be best to remain quiet while he did, not wanting to interupt him on whatever he was thinking about even if it wasn't necessarily cheerful. This was one of the things she'd heard about him before, from a more select number of people however. Most students she hung out with that knew him agreed to say he was an outgoing guy, always joking and sometimes pranking even, and that seemed to be the most popular saying about him. However, there was a smaller group of people, mostly girls, who'd been closer to him at some point, that went against that saying in some way. Not by saying he was introverted and depressed or anything, but merely by mentionning he was a very closed up person, someone who never went deep into personal subjects and that ran away from those almost. That he was the kind to break off a relationship when it was getting more serious and the girl was getting too interested in his past and personal experiences. Some of what she'd heard might not be true, of course... but he did seem like it, somehow.

Watching him while he was deep in thoughts caused her to start thinking as well, though it could have been caused by his expression as to her explanation as well. People often did wonder why she worked so hard, why it was so important to her. Maybe there was a bit more to it than simply passion, or at least there had been. She really did love dance, more than anything else, and she would most likely die before she stopped dancing, but she figured it hadn't always been like that. She could remember, when she was a kid, hearing stories of her mother, how great she was, how beautiful and amazing she looked on the stage, how grand her talent was. At that time, Taylor had already been dancing for a while, but it was mostly for the fun of it. After hearing all those things though, and knowing she was the one who'd caused her mother to stop dancing professionally, she hadn't been able to help the guilt that'd filled her. Instantly, she'd felt as though she somehow had to do something about it, make things right in some way. She'd heard before of parents who had been unable to realize their own dreams and made their children do it instead. In her childish mind, she'd figured it was what she ought to do as well, what was to be expected of her. It took a while for her parents to realize why she was now getting so caught up in practicing and getting better, but by the time they did, she was too much into it to stop. It'd become more than a child's wish to please her mother. Like she'd told Milo before, it'd become her life. Simple as that.

She looked up at him when he started talking again, her eyes somewhat shinier than before, and she couldn't help but notice that the smile on his lips didn't reach his eyes. Whatever it was about his past that he didn't talk about, it was not good. She gave a small smile of her own as he mentionned it was easy to see how passionate she was on the stage, taking it as a compliment though she didn't mention it out loud. When he changed the subject, she went along with it, figuring it was probably for the best. Maybe the previous subject of conversation had been the thing to make him fall into bad thoughts, and since she didn't dare ask him what was wrong but didn't like seeing anybody in this kind of state, she didn't mind talking about something else. "Some of the classes are going okay," she said, playing a little with the straw in her glass before taking another sip. "Things like English Literature, Languages and History are quite alright... obviously Gym is not problem either. But Science and Maths have never been my strong point... I had to get tutoring lessons for Science last year and I think I might be needing some again," she added with a light frown before shaking her head lightly, smiling again. "What about you? Any classes you're having problems with, or are they all going well?" she asked.

• • • • •

[Milo Parker]

He gave her another smile with the answer, though this time it was a bit more genuine. "Classes are going the same as usual. I'm not really doing extremely well at anything other than writing, but I'm not doing all that bad in everyone else either." He shrugged slightly and took another drink out of his class. He had a bad habit of drinking all of his beverage before the meal even got there. So he usually ended up buying a couple of drinks before the meal was through. He never cared that much to change his habits though. After all it was only a couple of bucks extra to get refills. "I mean I guess that I could be doing better," he said with a shrug. "But when it comes to school work I could always be doing better. Or so my father seems to think anyway. I personally don't care that much. I'm not flunking out or anything, I manage to do well enough to be able to stay at the school. So that's good enough for me." Without realizing it his tone had turned a bit sharp, as it usually did whenever he brought up his father. He wasn't exactly the biggest fan of his dad.

His father often gave him long talks about what he could do, and how much more he was capable of being good at besides writing. He never paid him any mind though, because it was really the only thing that his dad ever told him. Other then that he liked to ignore him completely, so why should he have ever paid him any attention at all? If all he ever had to tell him was get better and then go back to ignoring him and acting as if he didn't exist it wasn't logical to listen to him. He didn't owe him anything really, unlike his father seemed to think. He wasn't ever planning on really saying thank you to him either. Not for his money, because it really didn't mean a thing to him. He often thought back to what he knew of his mother and wondered how she could ever fall in love with a guy like his father. He hadn't ever been around enough for him to know if he had been a better guy before the death of his mother. Maybe he had been, and he liked to hope that was the case despite all the evidence that suggested otherwise.

He looked up at Taylor and realized that he'd gotten lost in his thought again. He also realized that his last comment to her must have come off sharp. "I'm sorry," he said, offering her a small smile. "You must think I'm a jerk or something. Normally I'm not quite as... preoccupied as I seem to be this evening." He took another drink of his pop. "But I promise that I'll stop it and try and commit more to our conversation. I've just got a lot on my mind... for once," he said jokingly with a grin that still didn't quite reach his eyes. He figured that he could lighten the mood a bit if he went back to his joking ways. "But I'm sure that you'll do fine with math and science. I'll admit that those aren't exactly my strongest points either. I just don't think that I could ever get a tutor." He flashed her another grin. "I wouldn't pay attention to them enough to help me out any. Plus I don't think that I could get past my pride enough to do it. I'll admit that I've got quite a bit of it, just as most guys seem to have in case you haven't already noticed."

[Taylor Smith]

Taylor's smile widened a little when she noticed a change in his own, though she knew he probably was still not completely done thinking about whatever he'd been thinking of. As she listened to him, she nodded slightly, though she knew he mustn't be completely having very bad grades in his other classes. The Academy had higher standarts than usual schools, and getting an average of sixty percent wasn't cutting it for them. In some classes, the passing grade had even been raised up to seventy percent, which, though it was only ten of different, was a huge difference to what other people might experience. And students who merely had around the passing grades usually had to to prove they still did belong where they were, since there were so many other teenagers after the places they'd been lucky to get. It was one of the reasons Taylor always worked so hard on her school work, because she knew it was a priviledge for her to be here, and she didn't want to let go of it, and she'd improved a lot since she'd joined the Academy too. She didn't want to lose the chance to learn even more.

She couldn't help but stare a little after he spoke up about his father, quickly lowering her eyes to her drink when she realized what she must be looking like at the moment. There was definitely a harshness in his tone when he talked about him, and it made her a bit curious, but she knew that was surely personal matters and she didn't want to force him to talk about that either, because she knew she'd most likely not get anything out of him anyway. It saddened her a little though to think he must have problems back at home, like it always did whenever somebody she liked was in that situation. She was lucky enough to have great parents who'd always encouraged her and given her all the love she needed thorough her childhood, and still to this day they did. When she'd told them about the Academy, they hadn't even wondered if she would be able to get in or about the money that would be needed, because the scholarship might not cover all the costs. They'd simply been happy for her, telling her she could definitely do it and helping as much as they could.

"It's alright," she said with a small smile when he apologized about what he must have sounded like, looking up at him again after taking a small sip from her green tea. "And I don't think anything even remotely close to that," she assured him, honesty easy to read in her eyes. She smiled lightly when he changed the subject back to maths and science, though in normal circumstances, it might have made her wrinkles her nose or something of the sort - she really did hate those subjects. She laughed a little when he said something about being a bit too proud to get a tutor, grinning lightly at him, which was rather unusual for her but seemed to be getting more frequent tonight. "Don't worry, there are a lot of girls that are very proud as well," she said with a small teasing smile. "My biggest problem would actually be that I'm too much of a perfectionist... a lot of people say that so it's a bit overrated, but oh well," she shrugged lightly, smiling a little just as the waiter brought over their food. "Thank you," she said a bit shyly when her plate was placed in front of her, taking her fork and scooping a bit of the food, blowing on it lightly before tasting it. Yup, definitely her favorite.

• • • • •

[Milo Parker]

Milo was a bit surprised to see that she was being honest about what she was thinking, it was easy to read just by the way that she was looking at him. He wasn't used to seeing such an honest response about anything, but the honesty was just so obvious that he couldn't deny it if he tried to. It was sort of weird, he'd never realized before if she'd ever done something like that. Probably she had but he hadn't been paying attention which was a good likelihood with him. A lot of times he just didn't pay attention to detail, because detail often required a lot more thought. It was noticing things that were so small that most people overlooked them, and it used to be that noticing a lot of things always got him into situations that he didn't necessarily enjoy that much. Mostly because he couldn't stop himself from making a comment when he did notice things. That was why he usually just decided not to pay attention to the smaller things, and if he did he made himself swear not to say anything (which never worked). Because once a conversation turned to that of little habits and details... then it always lead to his own little habits and details.

He smiled slightly as he heard her confess what her biggest problem was. "You look kind of like someone who would be a perfectionist," he said with a nod. "Not in a bad way though.. just in the way of what you've told me so far about yourself." It was a real logical explanation about why she would push herself so hard for dance, it could help explain why she didn't really mind having to admit that she did need a tutor. He didn't know very many people that were perfectionists, but from what he knew of them in general sometimes they were hard to be around. After all it annoyed him just a bit how they had to keep trying to get things perfect, the world was an imperfect place. There wasn't a way that anyone could ever achieve the perfection that they actually spent so much time chasing. However, her perfectionist attitude that she claimed to have... wasn't really all that noticeable. She wasn't wanting everything perfect, just a few things. Which, though he didn't practice aiming for perfection himself, was understandable.

He looked up at the waiter when he brought his food and gave a nod. "Thanks," he said, taking a bite of his food. He loved the dish and was glad that he was able to have it for the first time in a while... or rather the first time done right in the while. They had a cook back home, and she tried to make the dish a few times over the summer it just hadn't turned out very well. "So how are you liking your food?" he asked, between bites. "From what I've tasted of it a few times it's pretty good, then again all of the food here is good. It's why this is one of my favorite places to eat out." He took a few more bites of his food and a drink out of his glass. He never bothered to blow on his food, because it wasn't something that he cared enough about. It was rare that he ever really burned his mouth or anything of the sort, maybe if he had done so more then he would actually take the time to cool off his food a bit before he shoved it into his mouth. He always learned more from experience than anything else, he figured that he had to mess up in his own ways before he would actually trust what everyone said about whatever action that he was doing that people thought he shouldn't.

[Taylor Smith]

Taylor concentrated her attention on her food for a little while, no longer knowing what to say to the guy sitting in front of her. She was starting to realize that the last couple of minutes spent with him 0 more than a couple of minutes actually, she noticed when she glanced at her watch that it'd almost been an hour now - were probably the longest she'd talked with someone she hardly knew, but what was stranger still was that she felt completely comfortable with him now. Well, almost. Of course, that didn't mean there'd be no more embarassment or blushes, seeing as even her parents could say things that made her blush, though obviously not for similar reasons. But that was who she was, and add to that a complexion that made her skin turn red easily. It could be slightly annoying when she was trying to behave normally, the knowledge that she could turn a deep shade of red in five seconds if anything was said that tended to make her blush. It could actually sometimes make her hold back on things she wanted to say, because she was worried that the response would make her uncomfortable, causing the inevitable blush. For some reason though, she didn't feel so worried about that at that very moment, though she had no clue as to why. Maybe it was because of Milo's personality which somehow put her at ease; the curious thing about that was mainly that Taylor was usually even more uncomfortable around boys, especially cute boys, especially boys she had a crush on. And Milo belonged to all three categories. Though it was really a small crush. Tiny. Almost inexistent. Well, at least she could fool herself if not anyone else.

She took another bite of her food, again blowing softly on it before putting it in her mouth. She'd had bad experiences about overly warm food before, in public, which had been very embarassing at the time, and even now thinking back on it, it tended to make her cheeks redden slightly. She'd been a bit younger then, about eleven, eating out with her parents in a rather popular and fancy restaurant that was almost filled with people. Long story short, she'd ended up spitting out the scalding hot food and shrieking from the pain of her burnt tongue, bringing everybody's attention on her. Then, her parents had started laughing and she'd ran off to the bathroom, feeling mortified. It could seem like a rather silly and unimportant story now, and Taylor herself thought she'd reacted in a rather stupid way, but her childish pride had been quite wounded, not to mention her tongue. Shaking her head slightly at the thought, she sighed and took a sip from her green tea, figuring she ought to try to stop getting lost in her thoughts now, not wanting Milo to think she was rude or anything of the sort. It was one of her rather bad habits, daydreaming and such, but it was rarely a problem seeing as it didn't often happen when she was with other people.

Once he spoke up, Taylor looked up at hime with a light smile, nodding slightly when he asked how she was enjoying her food. "Very much," she said, her smile widening a little. "It's my favorite here," she added, tilting her head slightly. "What about your food?" she then asked. He seemed happy enough with his meal, but she figured she ought to return the question. "I've never had that, so if you tell me it's good, I might try it next time I come here for a change," she smiled lightly, taking another bite of her food, not bothering to blow on it this time as it'd already started to cool down to a reasonable heat. She then glanced at him curiously, a light smile on her face as she figured it was probably her time to try to supply to the conversation, seeing as he'd done that a lot already. "What do you plan on doing once you graduate?" she asked him, feeling a bit sad though ignoring it once she remembered he would be graduating this very year. It was a bit frustrating that she was only now getting to know him better and that they would have less than a year to spend together if they ended up being friends - she forced herself not to add 'or something more' - at some point or another. "It must feel weird to think this is your final year here," she added. "Well, I suppose that depends... I think for me it'll be," she said thoughtfully, wrinkling her nose slightly. She hated thinking about leaving the Academy, even though she still had a year more left to do. Actually, hate wasn't strong enough of a word. She had the feeling she would feel lost wherever else she went while here, she'd felt at home.

• • • • •

[Milo Parker]

Milo smiled slightly when she answered his question, glad to have a bit of the silence that had occurred out of the way. "My food is good," he answered her with a nod. "It's my favorite here, too." He hated going back to silence, silence was the enemy, it allowed him to think too much and that usually put him into a bad mood. He'd much rather talk about nothing important, even something that was completely random than just sit there in the silence and think. The rare times that he did have silence surrounding him, he always made sure that he had a notebook and a pen or pencil or something. He liked to take advantage of the silence that way, since he was already thinking he could at least write something and keep his mind off of what he wanted to. Plus that was usually when he ended up getting his writing assignments completed, mostly because he was more serious when there was silence. His writing often reflected his serious moods, and it was rare that his writings were comical. It was something that surprised most people at first, especially the one's that were in his year. They'd all expected his writings to be light and comical, nothing real deep or serious. Now people were surprised if it was otherwise, no one really ever expected a comical piece out of him unless that was part of the assignment. Sometimes people still came up to him and asked him why he wrote so differently than he acted, but he never gave anyone an answer so most people had just learned to let it go by now.

Her next question was one he had no clue of the answer. Everyone seemed to be asking the question, he should have been expecting it actually. Considering the fact that he was a Senior and at the end of the year his time at the academy would be up, so it was only natural for people to wonder what he was going to do with his life next. He didn't know yet though. It was still a completely unfamiliar territory, he wasn't sure what he wanted to do once his time at the place where he'd come to accept as a home was up. It scared him a little to think that he was going to be out on his own without anyone else around to help him really. He knew that his father had been waiting for the day that he graduated for a while, although he rarely saw him as it was he knew that his father was going to be perfectly happy to throw him out into the world and just let that be that. And as scared as he was he was going to be glad not to have to depend on his father for anything more... but that was going to come later still. After all he was going to go to college for sure, so he'd need the money for that. He could have gotten his own money and paid for things himself, but he figured that if his father was going to hate him there might as well be a good reason for it. Besides the grumpy old man had more than enough money to go around. It wasn't like he was going to run out anytime soon.

He nodded slightly as she added the last part. "It's very weird to think that this is going to be my last year at the academy. After all it's basically my home, I'm not quite ready to leave it yet," he confessed to her. "But I think that I'm just going to have to accept it anyway and do the best that I can." He paused for a minute, taking another drink of his pop sitting in front of him. "As for what I'm going to do once I graduate I'm going to college for sure, but I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do past that. I'm probably going to end up going to school around here, it'd be weird to go anywhere else in the country or even world now. I'm probably going to end up going to the Kansas City Art Institute, get more done with my writing," he said. He'd been looking into the college and found that he liked the sound of it. It was going to be a bit different from the Academy of course, but still it was going to be similar in a lot of ways. It would probably be the best choice for him, he'd even mentioned it to his father who was more than thrilled to learn that he planned to still go to school far away from his New York home. He had no clue if he was really even going to end up doing something with his writing, though he probably was going to at least try. Plus it wouldn't hurt at all to have more training with it in case that was really what he did decide to do.

[Taylor Smith]

"Well... that's good then," she said, smiling a little, feeling a bit like an idiot but not finding anything else to say. She didn't have any experience when it came to making light conversation, saying random stuff and hoping the other would pick up on it and then they'd be able to talk about whatever and whichever topic they chose without having to go into deeper and more serious subjects. She'd only spend about an hour now with Milo, and still she was able to tell that he wouldn't be one to answer questions that were directed to his personal life, not that she wasn't curious about it, but something in the back of her mind told her it would be a bad idea to ask him about his family or anything related to that. It made her a bit sad, and almost guilty too, because she always considered herself extremely lucky to have her parents with her. However, even though she loved her parents and she thought they were really great, she usually kept herself from saying anything about them, or answering personal questions about her family also. For one thing, she was always afraid she'd end up commenting about how her life was great to someone who had a lot of problems, and then she also figured it wasn't necessarily any of their business, how her family life worked. She didn't always keep a lot of things secret, mainly because she sucked at lying anyway and she didn't like not answering questions that were asked to her. She'd be one to answer very embarassing questions about herself if it came to it. But the rest was for her to know, and only her.

She smiled as he answered her question, nodding slightly. "I can understand that," she said, looking around the place with a light sigh. "It feels as though I'm going to miss every single place in this city along with the Academy. I get attached to places very easily," she admitted, looking down at her plate with a light shrug as she took a sip of her green tea. "And the Academy is definitely one place that feels homey to a lot of people, I think," she added thoughtfully. "Even those who came here though it wasn't their own choices." She knew that some people had been sent to the school by their parents, parents who wanted their children out of the way. She only wasn't aware she was actually talking with one at this very moment. It was a bit of a depressing thought to her, knowing that some people, some of her classmates, some of her friends even weren't wanted by their own parents, when she thought they were such amazing people. Of course, sometimes there was maybe a reason behind it, but she couldn't think herself of a good enough reason to send away a child, though obviously some people did. "It's a bit selfish of me I suppose, but I'm glad I'm not a Senior," she said with a small smile. "I feel as though I just can't get enough of this school, nor will I ever. Sometimes I even wish Mrs. Meyer would retire soon after I left so that I could take her place, and then I always feel very guilty about it," she laughed a little, shaking her head. "That woman is an institution by herself, I doubt she'll ever leave unless she is forced to. And I wouldn't want the students that are to come to miss out on her either," she added with a light smile. "She has made me improve a lot."

Her smile widened slightly when he mentionned he'd been looking around for Colleges and had found one that was interesting and that was actually in the city, though she tried to hide the fact that she was happy about it by taking another bite of her food. It made her feel better to think that he might after all still be around during the next year to come, though it wasn't necessarily something she wanted to admit to him right away, nor to herself for that matter. After all, she shouldn't feel so happy about the fact that he wouldn't be going far away for College, especially since there was no way of knowing if he really would go to the one he'd just mentionned, if he changed his mind. If he sent in an application, he was sure to be accepted - Gordon Parks' students were usually accepted wherever they went, because they had extremely good recommendations and usually good enough grades as well. Here, an average grade was in the high 80 percents, and whenever somebody got grades that were lower than 85, the professors talked to them and suggested they get some help from a tutor or something like that. That'd happened to Taylor the year before, and she was glad it had too. She still hated Science, but at least she got good enough grades most of the time now. "That sounds great," she said with a light smile, looking at him. "I haven't given a thought to College yet, though I still have more time to do so," she added.

• • • • •

[Milo Parker]

He smiled slightly as she said that she could understand that he would miss the place. It was something that most students of the academy had in common, he'd come to learn. He heard her say that she got attached to places easily and it made even more sense. After all, to people that got attached to places easily it was probably going to be even harder for them to leave the Academy behind. Because he wasn't one to get attached to anything easily, but he knew that when he graduated it was probably going to be one of the sadder days in his life. More than the school itself he knew he was going to miss the people the most. He knew that he could always keep in touch with people via e-mail, but it was hard to imagine not seeing Addison or Holly every day. Hell it was hard to imagine not seeing people like Aidan anymore, whom he didn't even get along with. He'd fallen very comfortable in his spot at the school, in the way that his life was going. It was all so right for him, the prospect of that rightness being taken away was a scary one. He'd come to like the place and the people too much probably, if he hadn't maybe it wouldn't be so bad to think about leaving the place. But then again, maybe it wouldn't have been the same kind of experience either. He had to weight everything against each other and figure out what it was all worth in the end. Though even after a second of thinking he realized that there was no way that he'd trade the experience that he got for anything. It was a great one, he didn't regret it.

He heard her comment about being sent without choice, but he'd never actually heard of a student that was there completely without a choice. All of the students that he'd ever meant usually wanted to be there. Even though his own father did want him out of the picture, he still wanted to be there. If he hadn't have been, then he would have never suggested it. He knew well enough by then that if he gave his father something that would mean him leaving his father would be all for it. He used that fact to his advantage quite frequently actually. It got him a lot of things that he wanted, he'd never heard the word know when it came to him asking his father for absence. "I don't think that anyone doesn't want to be at the Academy," he told her. "Even if their parents do just want to send them away." He laughed slightly as he heard her comment about being glad that she wasn't a Senior, though he couldn't blame her. And laughed even more when she told him about her wish of sometimes wanting to take the place of the dance teacher, but feeling guilty about it. "I'd think that that's probably pretty understandable as well," he said with a nod. "I could never take the place of Mr. Forester, not that I don't want to or anything. But it's just that I'm not even anywhere near as close to as talented he is." He was only ever modest about one thing, and that was always his writing. He never thought that it was anything better than good at the very best. But even some of the things that his friends loved the most he'd simple refer to as alright or okay.

He couldn't help but notice the way that her smile seemed to widen slightly when he told her about the fact that he was planning on attending college nearby. It could be that she held interest in him and was actually glad that he was going to stay in the area in case something between the two of them happened. Or it could just be that he was imagining things. Either were likely after all, he usually would have automatically assumed that she'd fallen for his good looks and charm, but she wasn't exactly like the other girls that he got involved with. So there was no way of telling. She could have just been happy that he seemed to have found a solution that made him happy. She seemed like the type of person that would be happy for someone else just because they were happy. It was always so hard to tell with those people, he was never quite sure what their thought process was. It annoyed him just a bit, because he always wanted to figure it out. He listened as she told him that it was great, which still wasn't any help and heard what she said, giving her a small smile of his own. "Yeah you're right, you still do have quite a bit more time to think about that," he said with a nod. "After all you have a whole year until you have to face the music and become a Senior." He added the last part teasingly.

[Taylor Smith]

She gave a small smile as he said he doubted people didn't actually want to come to the Academy even when it wasn't their own decision in the first place. "I know, I'm sorry, I think I expressed myself the wrong way," she said, blushing slightly. "I mean... I know that there was some people whose presence here was not their own choice in the first place, even though they were actually happy with it in the end," she said, trying to explain herself better. "People who love it here and knew they would love it the moment they learnt they would be coming here, but who still wouldn't have had any say in the matter if they hadn't been happy about it," she added, biting her bottom lip lightly. "Anyway," she said, sighing lightly, shaking her head. She felt like she should stop adding to it, but she was hard to stop when she got on a subject. For some reason she always felt bad when someone else didn't understand the right meaning of her words, because she felt like it was her fault, she should have expressed herself better. Some times it probably was her fault, like right now, she knew that the way she'd talked about it could be interpreted the way Milo had, so it was her fault, but some times it just was the other person who interpreted things as they wanted just because it pleased them to understand them that way, and she still felt guilty about it. "I doubt too that people who are here don't want to be here," she said with a little smile. "I couldn't understand if that were the case. I can't understand why anybody who loves art would not want to be here. It has so much to offer," she sighed lightly.

Shaking her head, she decided it was better to drop the subject now before she got carried away with it. She looked up at him when he changed the subject, mentionning that he too didn't think he could actually take the place of Mr. Forester though it wasn't as though he didn't want to. "I doubt I'll ever be as good as Mrs. Meyer either," she said, smiling lightly. "She was part of a big ballet company I heard, she was the lead dancer for very long in it as well. I don't know why she actually quit, I don't believe she could have been fired or anything... but then again, the carreer of a ballerina is never very long," she said with a small smile, shrugging a little. She knew what she was getting herself into - she knew it was a very risky thing to do, try forever to get a good spot in a company, be in competition with all of the best, fight to get to the top, shine a little if you succeed and then fade away like everybody else by the age of thirty or so, sometimes sooner. The only choice left to a woman or a man that'd spent their whole life dancing and hadn't even ever considered any other option was then to teach dance, watch a new generation of aspiring dancers. A never ending cycle. And she wanted to be a part of it. Maybe she was insane, but she didn't care. It was the only thing she could ever see herself doing, and be happy while doing it. "Or maybe she only wanted to share her knowledge with more people," she added after a short silence, smiling a little. "She has more than enough of that to go around. Some students who study other talents don't actually understand how we can like her," she laughed a little, grinning lightly. "She is extremely demanding, I remember almost fainting during some of my Freshman classes. But getting a good comment from her makes up for all the pain. And I know it's all worth it, I wouldn't be this good if it weren't for her."

She took another bite of her food, inwardly wondering what'd gotten into her. She didn't usually talk that much. Actually, she never talked that much. Not even with her close friends. She was usually more of a listener than a talker, but it seemed as thought something about him made her want to talk about whatever he wanted to talk about. She didn't even care what the subject was, if he decided he wanted to talk about something that bored her out of her mind she'd probably go along with it. Smiling lightly when he said she still had a whole year before she needed to face the music, she nodded and sighed a bit. "You know, when there's something at the end of the month that I can't wait for, it seems like an eternity to me," she said a bit thoughtfully. "Now we're talking about a whole year, and it seems so close, too close. It scares me a bit," she admitted, looking down at her food. That wasn't usually something she talked about, her fright of facing the unknown. She was comfortable at the Academy, it was her home. Having to leave, going some place new where she wouldn't know anybody, leaving the few friends she'd managed to make during her years of schooling here and possibly not seeing them all so often from then on... it terrified her, plain and simple. And though she only said she was a bit scared by it, she knew there was no lying with the look on her face.

• • • • •

[Milo Parker]

He listened to her as she tried to explain what she had meant by her words. And he understood as she explained it, he nodded. Of course everyone always ended up loving their time at the Academy. How could they not? It was a place that really allowed them to be who they wanted to be, whoever that was without having to be afraid of what their parents would think. It was a chance to be free, for people like him anyway. For people who's parents never really accepted what their children had decided to become... or for those who's parents just didn't care. It was just a chance in general. Going to the school was the chance of a lifetime as he liked to think of it. Because he knew that he had a much better chance of achieving whatever he wanted to. People who went to the Academy had all this creditability and all the opportunities that they could ever hope for. It was something to be envied to be there. No one in their right mind would ever regret their time there. Not with all the doors that it opened for them. Not with everything that they'd be ready for once they left. Everyone left a hard worker, ready to work hard. The Academy made sure of that, even if they didn't excel in their talent as much as some other's seemed to they always had an excellent education to fall back on.

He was slightly grateful when she decided to stop talking and change the subject. He found that he was interested in what she had to say. Her thoughts about how she thought that she wouldn't be as good as Mrs. Meyer. He wondered why he listened to her. Honestly, he didn't listen to what people were saying often. Just the general jist of it. Details usually bored him. And when it was attractive girls... psh. As if he was actually going to be listening to what they really had to say. He had other things to focus on while they spoke on and on about nothing usually. But for some reason she managed to hold his attention, not only with her body either but with what she was saying. He didn't really know anything about dancing himself, so he wouldn't know for sure if what she was saying was true but he was sure that it was. He wondered why ballerinas careers weren't very long. After all if they could still dance there shouldn't have been a reason for them to not have anything anymore but that was the problem with his thinking. With writing as long as you could come up with stories, you could publish books. It was a career that could go on for a long time... that was if you could get published which wasn't easy. You had to be great at it and it had to be something that people would want to read. Something that would captivate the reader's attention. It was a risky career move to go into the field really, but he thought that it was worth it. Probably much like what Taylor thought about dancing. He listened as more words came, and her statement could have been the answer. After all, some people just liked to share what they knew. And from what she said Mrs. Meyer knew a lot.

He understood what she meant about things taking forever when they were wanted. He knew that anticipating an event made it seem all the more further away. And the events that were dreaded always seemed to come much too quickly. "I think it probably scares everyone a little," he said thoughtfully. "After all, no one is really completely ready to dive into the world of adulthood full force and leave this all behind us. Not one of us wants to never see this place again. It isn't just our school, it's been our home for four years." If he had it his way it'd be his home for longer. "I guess the professors that went to the school have things best off. They get to stay at the school and share what they learned inside and outside of the Academy with everyone else to come. It would be a great thing to be a professor. I however, on top of not being quite good enough with my work to teach, would be a horrible teacher. Can you imagine a class with me as the professor?" he asked her with a grin. "I think I'd probably give out extra credit for the student that made me laugh the most. It would be a complete zoo in there. We'd never get any work done at all. I wouldn't last more than a week."