Please, leave the great indoors {[Emily]}

[camsta]

Cam inhaled deeply as he made his way through the spacious field. He'd been enjoying the time he was having with his friends, but sometimes it was just too much. Not that he would ever, not in a million years, complain about being popular. The knowledge that there's always someone looking up to you. That you, however insignificant you may feel that day, are the example to someone, was a feeling he lived for. He had always been a leader, and he knew some day he would lead people other than his high school friends or sport's teams to victory. He hadn't honestly decided what his future career would be. He'd thought about becoming a doctor. He certainly had the stomach for it. Not many people could make it through the boy's locker room without loosing their lunches, but Cam somehow managed to make the journey unscathed.

Or perhaps he would go into national defense, as his father had. He knew he would have no trouble leading a pack of troops through the battlefield. He hardly lost his temper when he was in the zone, and he wasn't distracted easily. Once his mind was set to something, he did it. Whether it be finishing his homework or meeting a friend for lunch, he did it. It was something he prided himself in, keeping his word. It was the one thing, his father had taught him, that no one could take from him. "They can take your life, your dignity, even your family," his father would say. "But your word is your bond."

Thinking about his home brought an unusual wave of home-sickness. It wasn't that he didn't love J. Cricket, he considered it his home away from home, but there was something about being with his parents that soothed him. Though he could take care of himself, he liked having his mother take care of him and, though he would never tell his father this, he like hearing the old stories of the "glory days". He admired his father, even if he didn't always act like it, and he longed for the day that he would be more like the man he'd received his middle name from.

But for now he would enjoy the fields he trod through. He glanced around, admiring the sun and the sound of birds. It truly was a picturesque setting. As he sat on the soft grass he inhaled again. He just loved the smell of fresh air. It reminded him of hope. Like anything was possible. He pondered this thought as he laid back in the grass and closed his eyes, not really paying attention to anyone or anything around him anymore. He was lost in a world of his own until someone forced him out of it.

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[emily]

Emily was all in a huff. "Today was supposed to be a good day," she muttered to herself as she took long strides towards the great outdoors. "Today was supposed to be a great day actually." It was a nice day outside, a sunny, warm day with the occasional breeze to liven things up and usually Emily matched the mood of her surroundings - so, naturally, it was supposed to be a wonderful day. It was a day that made her think that summer was on it's way in, not on it's way out. While she tried to find the best in most situations, namely the best in people, she wasn't quite the miracle worker and right now the lack of people was just what she needed. The school grounds could make her feel better; perhaps the air would just lift her spirits - the very least it could do would be to relieve her of the headache her father just caused. That would be nice because with the start of classes only a few days away she really didn't need the outside pressures to add to the stress.

Normally, school was supposed to be some dreadful experience, but Emily quite liked it. She got tutored in math and sciences because she was miserable at them, but high level history and english were an easy ride for her so there wasn't too much dread to the idea. Not to mention friends really helped ease the school time miseries. The sad thing though, was that school was a nice break from the summer. Over the summer she couldn't hang with her friends too often, and she felt a lot of pressure from the media and namely her father. She knew he meant well and she loved him dearly, but sometimes she wanted to just be with people who understood her a little better. Most of her good friends were at the academy, not so much at home in London. Her London friends just didn't understand why she opted for an Irish boarding school than the one that they all attended. They were politicians children, some more spoiled than others, and they never experienced what it was like away from high society and with a mix of people from all different backgrounds. They didn't see the problem with attending press conferences or polo matches or galas or tea time. While Emily enjoyed those things in her own right, she enjoyed the time away from all of that. J. Cricket Academy taught her that there was more to life and there were different ways of the world. Had she not attended J. Cricket, she wouldn't have realized this and therefore may have avoided the entire argument with her father that had just ensued.

With her arms folded, her hair bouncing in the breeze, she looked... Well, just like that really, with long strides and her eyes cast down. She was crossing the fields and decided that some time to herself would be good - until she spotted Cameron. Over time their relationship had developed more into mutual respect rather than one feeling inferior than the other. Maybe he could lighten her spirits? Maybe... "Hello," she said as nicely as she could. The argument still fresh in her mind caused her word to sound a bit pressed, like she was forcing it. In a way she was.

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[camsta]

As Cam lay there, his eyes closed, his mind raced over a number of things. First of all, he thought about the beginning of classes, which was fast approaching. School was not, in the least bit, Cam's favorite thing. He was great at his glasses, yes, but he found them a bit tedious. He enjoyed his friends, he enjoyed sports, and he enjoyed the time away. His friends at home had a tendency to be a little overbearing, but he knew they meant well. It wasn't their fault they were overbearing jerks. Okay, so maybe it was, but he knew he shouldn't hold it against them. Sometimes he just felt as though everyone expected too much of him. He was almost an adult, yes, but he still had a while before he had to fully take on the world. The thought made him cringe. He still seemed like such a child. He still felt like such a child. Though he may have had a good head on his shoulders, he was still ill-tempered, he still complained when he had to get up too early, and he still got distracted by a pretty face. One face in particular came to mind and he smiled slightly.

He had known Emily Swann since his sophomore year, her freshman. He had, at one point, found her annoying. She was younger than him, and much too smart for his liking. He felt that he was, in almost all ways, superior. Oh, how foolish he had been. As they progressed through school he began to respect and, often times, admire her. She was smart, but now rather than despising it he adored it. There was something about smart girls lately that had been catching her fancy. He realized that it wasn't that he had ever been annoyed with her, not really anyway. It occurred to him now that he had mistaken intimidation for annoyance. She intimidated him, and while he wasn't sure he liked that he certainly had to give her props. The only other person who truly intimidated him was his mother. Why was it that women could cause him to shrink into himself while men had no effect on him? He frowned amidst his thought, letting the pictures in his head return to Emily rather than his mother. The fact that she was heart-achingly beautiful didn't hurt either. He admired the way her hair fell down to her shoulders, or the way her eyes appeared to have flecks of gold in the sunlight. Though he didn't have any classes with her, the sound of her laugh (which he had come to recognize) in the hallway could brighten his day. He'd sworn that he wouldn't be interested in younger women any longer, but there was something about Emily Swann that fascinated him, and he found himself wanting to know more and more about her each day.

He shook the thoughts of this junior girl from her head. It wasn't as if she liked him, after all. She'd be slightly crazy too, seeing as he'd been nothing but a jerk to her. And he dared not tell her of his true feelings for her. While he may be bold, he was not, and never would be, that bold. Besides, maybe he was better off single. Focusing on his studies and preparing for his future. Especially seeing as he didn't even know what he wanted to pursue yet. There were just so many things to consider. And he wasn't particularly sure what he was even good at. As he thought about this, he jumped at a familiar voice saying, "Hello," in a friendly tone. 'Emily!" he exclaimed in a greeting, sitting up quickly and turning to face her. There she was, the girl who'd been so adequately occupying his thoughts lately, gorgeous as ever. Though she did look a little stressed. He blushed slightly, realizing how ridiculous he must look, sprawled out on the grass with wide, startled eyes. He brought himself to his feet and brushed the grass off of him, clearing his throat. "Err...how're you?"

[emily]

Well Cameron seemed to be in high spirits! The bright smile he gave her lightened her mood ever so slightly and she allowed a small smile in return. Then she caught the light blush and that made her smile more true. Unfortunately, there was only so long her anger could be pushed aside. If there was one word to describe Emily, the word to use would be stubborn. She wasn't going to let go of the silly argument with her father so quickly. If she couldn't let time do it's magic, she would have to just rant about it to somebody. She would then hope that that somebody would take her side, and then she'd be fine and dandy for the rest of the day. Emily didn't want to bore Cam with her story of an argument that some people only wished they could have, but there was nobody else around. There was a bit of guilt in the back of her mind though, because why bring him down with her? She doubted that that would actually happen, but what if it did? What if the prospect of her being pulled out of school for a few weeks ripped at his heart? Well, that was definately wishful thinking because there was no way that could actually happen; he didn't feel that way. He couldn't feel that way. This was Emily and Cameron, they just didn't feel that way about each other...

Emily turned that thought over in her mind for a minute, having spaced out momentarily. When she realized her fault she realized that her gaze had been holding on to those startling eyes of his. "Oh, uhm," she tucked some hair behind her ear and averted her gaze to the distance to the right of him. "I'm... well, I suppose... I've seen better days." She could've thrown something witty out there, like how the scenery was improving her mood - although that wasn't really witty, that was in numerous movies when couples flirt with one another and Emily and Cam were not a couple nor did they flirt with one another. However, usually a girl doesn't get lost in someone's eyes while thinking about them together if there was no secret desire there. Was that what it was? A secret desire? The thought made Emily want to do two things at the same time: laugh and dismiss the idea totally because it simply couldn't be true (and maybe she was slightly in denial about the whole idea of it), and it made her want to think even further and search those eyes of his for something more. Both of those things were pushed aside because it was clouding her mind too much and almost made her Captain Obvious.

"What about you?" she returned the question, "How're you today?" Maybe the way to let go of her father's argument and the thoughts of any sort of feelings developing, was to just listen to him. Give her something to distract her. Unfortunately, if she was trying to deny any sort of feelings, hanging around and conversing with the man she may - or may not - have feelings for, probably wasn't the way to do that. Emily didn't want to look at him either, but she did anyway. If she was trying to ignore any said feelings, than she didn't want to acknowledge the fact that he was more than handsome wasn't going to help her much. She had noticed that when they first met (it was difficult not to). However if she hadn't begun thinking about potential feelings - that she denies - she wouldn't have run into the problem of having those handsome features take effect on her. Correct?

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[camsta]

Cam couldn't help but smile slightly as he caught her slightly distracted, taking her a while to respond. Maybe she liked him too? No, it couldn't be he realized, discouraging the thought from dwelling in his mind. It was more likely that she was distracted by his good looks which, he couldn't deny, he had. It wasn't that Cam was cocky of his good looks (perhaps a little bit), but he'd heard enough times that he was handsome to believe it. Though it still pleased him that she noticed his looks. He wanted to impress her, and if she was into outward appearances he could play that card. Though he didn't think she was particularly into outward appearances. God. What am I doing? he thought to himself. We're not couple-material.

When she finally responded, Cam noticed that she avoided looking at him. "Oh, uhm...I'm... well, I suppose... I've seen better days." This didn't particularly thrill him, and he wondered what was bothering her. For surely there was something, she had a slightly distracted look about her, as if she were thinking about something else. He wished that he could read her thoughts, rather than attempting to read from her expression. He'd never been a fantastic reader, and reading girls was something he was particularly horrible at. He was constantly saying things he shouldn't, of course he was notorious for making it up in the most spectacular of ways. Going back to the mind reading thought, he was also glad that Emily could not read his mind, which was currently occupied with studying her face. Of course he had always noticed her beauty, but it particularly hit him today as he tried to convince himself that he did not, in fact, have feelings for her.

"What about you?" she asked. "How're you today?" Cam looked thoughtful for a moment. How was he today? He hadn't done much. He had attempted exploring, which had brought him here. Though it hadn't been his desired outcome, he was happy with it nonetheless. He did have a habit of getting lost. Navigational skills were not something that he'd inherited from his father. There wasn't much he'd inherited, come to think of it. His looks and leadership skills, but that's about it. Most every thing else, his charm, his kindness, his organization...he owed it all to his mother. "Well...I'm good, I suppose. Outside on a gorgeous day, with a gorgeous girl," he added with a small smirk. He knew that he probably shouldn't flirt with her while he was attempting to convince himself of his lack of feelings for her, but he couldn't help it. Plus, it was just the truth. She was a gorgeous girl, and it was a gorgeous day. He stifled a blush that he felt creeping up his neck and tilted his head slightly to the side as he slid his hands into his jean pockets. "Something bothering you, Swann? You seem...tense."

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[emily]

"Oh," Emily blushed at the compliment. She wanted to say more of a thank you and tell Cam how kind that was, but she couldn't get the words out. She had been told she was pretty, but this was... different. It would've been lovely to say that it didn't stir up any butterflies in her belly, but it did. It would've been great if it hadn't because the whole relationship thought in her mind was simply that - a thought, well, she wanted it to be that simple. Ah, shameless flirts, now that title was as simple as it could get and she didn't particularly mind the idea. That was how they had begun communicating over time. Here and there a flirtatious remark was dropped, but it had never really bothered Emily before. It wasn't bothering her now, but she was beginning to acknowledge some truth behind the whole ordeal on her part. And she didn't like to acknowledge business such as that, not with Cameron anyway (although they would be quite the couple).

When he referred to her as Swann, it was only routine. She called him Norrington more often than not, and he called her Swann. It was just the ways of the world! But today she was particularly irritable about it thanks to her father's proposition. "Emily," she corrected quietly, not sure why she had done so. There was really no reason for it, but she felt as though if she were about to share the burdens of her day, she might as well do it on a more personal note. "And yes, actually," she stated point blank. He had put two and two together nicely. "It's my father. His latest campaign idea to earn a few more points in the tally involves some grand plan involving me." Her father, being a respectable member of the government, was always trying to one himself up. He didn't really need to do so, but he just enjoyed knowing that he could accomplish it and do well. He wasn't a power hungry, self absorbed hot-head. It was actually the opposite; he just wanted to give himself the satisfaction. Emily sort of felt bad for him. He was all alone in their house, only with the company of Emily's old nanny that simply could not be fired, and a loyal butler. Emily's mother had died and Emily was at school. Phillip Swann was left to himself, work, and occasional media. Damn media.

Thoughts of her father turned over in her mind. He would probably try to call back in a little while to try to reason with her. He always did; he gave her time to cool down and then tried to relight the fire in her eyes. Half of the time though, he was too slow. Emily was a master at running out of situations and taking matters into her own hands. She hadn't had time for that yet, but she would do it soon enough. The idea was making her antsy. "Let's walk," she suggested, before beginning on her own. He could follow her if he chose, but she was going to continue talking regardless of if he was beside her or not. Maybe she would look crazy talking to herself, but sometimes it was helpful for her to hear how her words sound. When she knew he was beside her, she continued with the topic of argument.

"He thinks it'd be... best for the family, as he put it, if he pulls me out of classes for the next few weeks. I told him it was ridiculous because classes hadn't even begun yet and I can't catch up that in the math or science department because I can barely keep up with the curriculum as it is and there is no way I'm going to another fancy event in a stuffy room with women only interested in money and politics and tea time. Not to mention the press conferences which are the worst thing. He doesn't need to be in any higher position than he is now and if you ask me it's 'best for the family' if he doesn't try anymore because it's just too much at a time especially since he just gained that position at the start of the spring. I really can't stand anymore political events. That's the whole of my summer really, and to make that even longer would be like... I don't know, it'd just be a wonderful way to ruin me. I just got here, after all, and there's you and everyone else to consider and so much to actually get out there and do! For fun, and it'd be okay to be tired at the end of the day here because it'd be spent well, not just... Well, do you know how exhausting it is to have to stand still and look pretty?"

Emily was talking in a rushed voice, barely keeping up with her own words. When she realized her last sentence she could stand it anymore. She just started laughing at herself. That wasn't exhausting at all! Well, for normal people. It was for Emily because she liked to be involved, not on the side like her model-mother would. Her words embaressed her and she put her head in her hands, giggling like a child. She shook her head a little and looked up once more. Emily had come to a conclusion. "I'm ridiculous."

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[camsta]

Cam smiled as she blushed, that having been the better of the two outcomes in his head. The way he saw it, she could either accept his flirting graciously or reject him altogether. Though he pinned her too kind to reject him, he had feared that when he complimented her she would call the action out as being foreign and strange. Though to him, the action wasn't foreign, nor should it be strange. He was slightly frustrated by her silence in response, though. "Oh," did not seem enough for him, and he wished that she'd given some indication of her feelings about the comment. She had blushed, so he guessed that would be response enough for now, but he was ever so curious to know what she was thinking still. She was not the type of girl Cam usually went for, not the type at all. He was used to tall blondes who would wear their emotions on their sleeves. Whirlwinds of drama and attention, always perfectly put together until they broke a precious nail. Emily was far more composed than that, and smarter for it too. She kept her emotions to herself, and most likely no one knew what she was thinking until she relayed her thoughts upon them. How he hoped she might tell him everything she was thinking sometime. Though he knew that wouldn't be. Couldn't be. To each other they were Swann and Norrington, and that's where it would remain.

Today, however, Swann didn't seem to appeal to Emily today as she corrected him. The action surprised him, though he didn't question it. Instead he walked alongside her as she, finally, explained to him the cause of her tension. As she explained about her father, he nodded. He was quite familiar with her father, seeing as they came from the same town. And especially since his father's occupation caused their family to be up-to-date with politics most of the time. As she mentioned her father's want to pull her out of school his stomach sank very slightly. It wasn't as though he saw her every day, but he knew he had the chance to see her daily. But a few weeks with no chance to see her? That just wouldn't do. As he listened to her reasons and her father's reasons he nodded. Both made a bit of sense to him. Of course her father would want her along, families looked good to the public and, Emily being her father's only. At her very last sentence Cam couldn't help but laugh. His laugh was prolonged by her laugh, which was quite infectious. Once he was sure she was finished he finally opened his mouth.

"You are not ridiculous, first of all. You're perfectly reasonable. Why start school off behind the rest of the pack when you don't need to? Missing a few weeks in the very beginning isn't exactly the best way to start the year. However, I see your father's point. In my experience with politics, which is much, only what I've read, it's best to appeal to the public and families always appeal to the public. For him it's best to have you on his side and he may not be thinking about your needs, though he should be. While I'd love it if you were allowed to stay for the few weeks, I'd be more than happy to help you with your math and science should you need to leave. Those are two of my best subjects and, well, I'm always willing to help out a friend," he said with a charming smile, nudging her shoulder playfully at the word "friend".

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[emily]

Emily played with his words. She wanted to twist them to make them something that benefited her because she didn't want to see the other side; she didn't want to see how she was wrong and her father may have been right. Unfortunately, she was never good with manipulation of any kind, not even manipulating her own mind. She saw his point; he saw her point and saw her father's. So really, he wasn't taking sides, but it seemed like he was encouraging her to listen to her father. She didn't like that idea - although, the idea of him tutoring her in her worst subjects wasn't too bad. She shook her head at the idea of leaving though. "He just got his position," she said more to herself than to Cam, "Why does he need to prove himself the minute he gets achance? Why can't he just let it be for a little while?" She could've kept going with how her father just needed to breathe and get used to something; he might find he liked where he was and wanted to enjoy it for a little bit. "Summer's the time for campaigns. It's always been that way with us," she muttered. Maybe she didn't like spending her summer that way, but at least it was something she knew was coming. Why should she spend even more days galavanting across the country she had come to know so well, when she could be galavanting across the academy grounds in pure bliss with Cameron her friends. The latter was more inviting to her.

He'd love for her to stay though. Why was she hanging on to those words? Well maybe because she'd love herself to stay too? The more practical reason was because she wanted him to say that, a piece of her did anyway. He gave her a bit of reasoning that her father wasn't good at doing in arguments, which made her calmer and he sparked that little bit of... something inside of her. "What would I do without you?" she questioned rhetorically with a grin as he nudged her. "Although, I'm afraid you may need to help me with those subjects regardless of whether I stay or whether I go." She wasn't thinking about the last bit though, she was thinking about the first bit. What would she do without him? It was a wonderful question with very little room for interpretation in her mind though it was meant to be rhetorical. Without Cameron she would very easily go mad. Okay, maybe not very easily, but if she hadn't run into him a few moments ago, she would probably be destroying herself with no voice of reason like his.

No voice of reason like his. No one like him; there really wasn't. Emily, naturally, had been drawn to him due to his looks, but that's only because that's the first thing anyone notices about anyone. She's not quite the girl to judge based on appearance though. She looks deeper than that. Emily had always been the one to look for the better inside of somebody. It's the person inside she fancied more so than appearances, and with Cameron, well the appearances would just have be a bonus. He was a fine man that anyone would be lucky to have. Why on earth was Emily considering this? She wasn't sure she wanted to find out right away which was something else she wasn't sure of. She was probably skeptical because all they were, and all they had been, were shameless flirts and the fact that she may think of it otherwise was scary. She wouldn't think of it any other way than shameless flirts. In this moment she made up her mind; she would refuse to think of it any other way than simply that. Emily would put aside his charm, his compliments, his smarts, his voice of reason, his kindness. She would put it aside and the only way she could actually do that, would be to get her mind off of such silly things.

"I'm sorry about giving you my troubles," she told him, "I'm sure you have better things on your mind." Emily wondered what those things on his mind were. She wanted to tap into it and pour herself a nice tall glass of Cameron thoughts and drink them in. "Speaking of better things," she began, hoping that there were better things to speak of, "how was your summer?"

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[camsta]

While Cam would've loved do side with Emily, he knew he needed to defend her father. It wasn't fair to leave his argument out to dry while he was gone. He let himself imagine what would happen if Emily were forced to leave for a few weeks. Academically it wouldn't be that big of a blow to Cam. They weren't in classes together, nor were they even in the same grade. Socially he would remain unscathed too. They didn't really have the same friends or hang out at the same places. She had mostly junior girls as her companions, and he hung out with senior boys. But emotionally he knew he would miss her. It wasn't as if they talked a lot, probably once a week. But he enjoyed her company. She was clever and funny. Smart and sensible. While she had a rebellious side, she followed rules and that earned her favor in Cam's book. As she continued talking, Cam shrugged. "Maybe he just wants to get ahead of the game. Yes, he could probably leave it as is and put off on the publicity but he's probably just anxious. Nerves will make people do crazy things, such as yank their daughter out of school for a few weeks. Have you calmly explained to him the reasons you want to stay? Surely he's sensible enough to consider your side of the argument, yes?" Cam asked. Her father was a politician, after all. Were they not trained to listen to both sides of a story?

He was glad he could assist Emily in this way. If he couldn't have the relationship he particularly wanted with her, at least he could be of some use to her. He wondered what she was thinking about. Was her mind occupied with the argument she'd had with her father? Was she thinking of school? Her friends? Or perhaps was she thinking of him as he was thinking of her? He hoped the latter was the case but he knew that was just wishful thinking on his part. Emily had never done anything to provide him with thought that she fancied him, aside from some shameless flirting. But both he and Emily were notorious for flirting, so that didn't mean anything, correct? At least not on her end. And while he secretly wished for more than a friendship between them, he hardly acted like it. She was Emily Swann, the girl he loved to tease and give aide to and that would be it between them, he was sure.

He smiled as she made excuses for herself. "I assure you, I don't mind hearing about your troubles. I quite like it, actually. I like helping you," he said. At least she could know of one of the things he was honestly thinking about. As she brought up his thoughts he couldn't help but grin. What would she think if she knew she was on his mind? She'd probably laugh. Though he turned back to look at her when she inquired about his summer. She was honestly the first person to ask and that didn't surprise him one but. Not many of his friends cared about what he did, except for Woody of course. "My summer was...interesting. My dad was over in the states, so we spent a lot of time there. The Americans were....cordial, but I'm glad to be home. My mother and I spent some time in France, but other than that it was quite uneventful. At least compared to your summer, I'm sure," he said with a crooked grin in her direction. "I say, I must've gotten six magazines with your face all over them. Not that I minded that one bit, better than what's usually on the rubbish we get in the mail."

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[emily]

Emily wanted to argue that it wasn't nerves, he wasn't anxious. Her father was everything but! He needed to make himself feel like he had the power - not in the power hungry way, but in the way that it was how he would satisfy himself when he was alone. Despite her desire to provide a rebuttal, she refrained and instead blushed as his idea. Had she calmly explained her side of the argument? That was a rather humourous though because when she goes with her instinctive words and loses her filter, she would be anything but calm. She explained herself yes, but not in the way that was probably going to earn her any graces. The other bit though, her father being sensible enough to consider her argument? Ha! Well, he actually was, but that was when she was sensible enough to deliver one like a reasonable young woman. Instead she had delivered her argument like a child having a hissy fit over the phone. It was embaressing. "I wouldn't say that the disagreement happened just like that..." she admitted, looking down. All hopes of having gained respect for maturity level over the years went down hill in her mind. "He would have been sensible if I was sensible in return, but I didn't give him much reason to be." She then grinned, "needless to say I didn't exactly present my argument calmly. I sounded like I was five years old again." She wondered if her father had thought of it and that way and had then proceeded to think about how his daughter used to prance around the house in dresses, toppling over from an overflow of energy.

Emily smiled at his next words. He would reveal some of his thoughts, and that was plenty for her to feast upon. It made her glow from the inside out, but she determined she'd have to keep a lid on it. There could absolutely be no way that he could know that she was feeling such things. Oh, no... She was feeling such things. A part of her had decided that when she told herself to conceal the simple joy his statements had brought her, that his presence had brought her. The only way she could push this aside, was to do what she had been doing all along: focussing solely on what he was saying as he was saying it. She wouldn't be like the other girls, she decided, disecting every piece of him. Although somewhere in that pretty little head of hers, she was doing just that.

She listened to his summer plans, quite interested. She wished she could trade her summer with his. His was different; the states, France, fun, exciting, new places. That was the deciding factor of whether anything could make her wish list. It had to be new. Her summer wasn't new, in fact, it was very old, and dull, and worse than most. Usually she got to relax at a few of their stops and enjoy herself, but it seemed that her father had more plans this time around. The crooked grin he gave her made her smile and melt at the same time. "I'm glad I served some purpose this summer," she determined while thinking she'd much rather have the rubbish. She didn't want the focus on her anymore, she wanted something new, and she was seventeen years old and had no more to show for it than the next polititicians daughter. Here was a boy who had seen more than she had and he only had one year on her. She had no doubt that his vacation was better spent than hers. Her vacations consisted on staying in her country, and when she was younger, before J. Cricket, she had come to Ireland. She had always wanted to travel the rest of Europe though. America didn't interest her as much as the rest of her continent, but she was interested all the same. "So tell me about America, and France! Did you see the Eiffel Tower?" She was fairly excited to hear about the two places that she had never ventured to, and her eyes danced with child-like curiousity.

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