+Anima the Roleplay part 2 (Because part 1 was burried alive.)

"Ah," Damien replied to her first statement. The gang comment stuck. "Yes, 'everywhere' certainly does. I apologize for the town. It does get... a little out of hand sometimes."

Blood, on human fists, sprung from the bear-creature with the human eyes...

The image came and left his mind like an old, unclear video taken on someone's cellphone. It cut out before he could see any farther, fortunately for him. He shook it off as best he could before rolling down his window.

"Hey..." he shouted to the boy. "Do you need a ride?"

His face had become suddenly darker. Cecilla's mind whirled and swirled with the possible causes for his worsened mood. He seemed dismayed to think about gangs. Perhaps he had a gang-related accident or past? Not sure why, all she wanted was to lighten his mood. He seemed like he could use more laughter in his life. Then she had a revelation.
"Oh God. I'm in a car with Garry Stu."
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Cara looked at the girl, panting slightly after getting the disgusting worm wannabe off of her leg.
"I'm just a bit farther than that in that way. Sure, I'll walk with you." Cara took a few steps. "So how is life?"

Peter looked at the car and sighed. It seems he was spotted after all. He didn't want to accept the offer, but he thought better of it. Walking in this weather was not good.

"Well my parents told me not to take rides from strangers. I'm Peter. Tell me your name and we're no longer strangers."
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Antha nodded at Cara as she said she lived only a little farther away. She thought about the question.

"Fine as a teenager's life can be."

"Damien. I suppose we're not strangers anymore, then. Good to meet you, Peter."

Damien unlocked his door and waited for Peter to enter. He immediately put that mask of calm back on, not wanting any concern or suspicion from his passenger (soon to be pasesengers). He disregarded the very quiet statement about someone being a Gary-Stu. Nah, no one said that.

The floor in the back was muddy from Carter occupying the seat earlier. He sighed, and continued waiting for Peter.

Peter slid into the back, taking note of the muddy floor. But he kept quiet about it.

"Thank you Damien. It's nice to meet people who actually care if kids are walking home in a storm."

"Sorry about the floor. Other passengers from earlier. You're welcome. It's no big deal," Damien replied. He continued driving.

"So where are you two headed?"

He looked over at Peter. Immediately, he wondered if he was a Crusader or not. There were a lot of Crusaders in Humbleton. Again, another unwanted thought invaded his mind. Brian. He knew he was back. The hospital had most definitely been under siege by him the past few days.

[i]"Fine. Gosh, you actually sounded kinda threatening there, Carter.[i/]

"Is that sarcasm I hear from you, Amanda? Sarcasm? You're learning," Carter replied with mock enthusiasm. He almost clapped his hands, but would have felt way too dorky if he had.

He was glad that Amanda had removed her hand from his hair, though. She could mess with it a little, but not a lot. Carter wouldn't allow more than a few pets.

Looking over at Amanda, Carter wondered how he had ever chosen her. She was the exact opposite of what he usually looked for. He normally went after girls that weren't all books. And she was a senior. Which reminded Carter that he hadn't made a cougar comment in a while. He calculated her expression to see if she was in a good enough mood to be teased.

"I was headed toward 1313 DEAD END DRIVE," Cecilia responded,"I'm not referring to the board game, either. Somebody had a sense of humor and decided to name the street DEAD END DRIVE." She added a sarcastic lilt to her voice, suggesting that the person was a moron.

She took a few moments to observe the newest passenger from the mirror to her right. He was soaking wet, though that wasn't surprising. He seemed rather neutral. She reserved judgment until she knew more about him though.

"I'm headed to 69 Willimantic Ave," Peter said. "And it's not a problem. I'm already soak so the mud doesn't bother me too much."

He looked at the two passengers. One was a young girl who he probably went to school with. The other was older. He wasn't sure what to make of them yet.

((OFFICIAL EDIT (if you care): Damien and Amanda have been in a relationship significantly longer than a little over a week; this was just decided.))

Amanda sighed, and fake-glared again. She wondered what going through that bright redhead of his. Hopefully it wasn't another comment that would get him slapped. And since all Roleplay characters just always have mind-reading powers Amanda had to think about the whole turn of events during this day. How on earth had she ended up with someone like Carter? Not that she had a real problem with him. But he was the complete opposite of who she thought she would end up with. For one thing, he was about three years younger than her. Or worse. He didn't seem very motivated, and seemed just as disorganized as she did. Also, he made too many sexist jokes for her taste.

However, she felt a strange feeling around him that she hadn't felt with anyone else. She could truly be herself around him. Yet her mind wandered to a place she didn't want to return to.

Another rainy day... there was talking, too much talking, and he offered her a glass of something, some unidentifiable alcohol, they talked, and they said too much... and then, lips met, too deep, something fiery that had never been there before... holding and touching that was unfamiliar... at some point, their clothes were strewn on the floor... they were on his bed...

Amanda gasped as though she had been punched very hard in the stomach. Never had she seen it so clearly before. She couldn't even remember when it happened. She bit her lip, and abruptly stood.

"I-I... I have to go."
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Damien smiled very slightly at Cecilia's location, and nodded.

"Alright then," he replied to Peter. He debated telling him he was a teacher. He did look a slight bit familiar, though he wasn't entirely sure if he'd seen him in his own classroom before.

He drove in the direction of Peter's address, since it was closer. And Cecillia's was on his way home.

((By the way, for Montana: Solitaire.))

Carter watched Amanda's expression change into something shocked. He wondered what was wrong when she gasped as if she had just been punched in the stomach. Something was clearly going on, and that knowledge that there was something was only intensified when Amanda said she had to go.

"Amanda, what's wrong?" Carter asked, grabbing her wrist so she wouldn't run out on him. There had to be something going on. Amanda wasn't usually this weird. He looked into her gray-blue eyes, trying to decipher something from them, but getting nothing but shock and maybe a little bit of fear.

"I... n-nothing," Amanda whispered. "I just... really have to go."

She felt a huge wave of, was that nausea? wash over her. The thought was so sickening, so terrifying. She looked at Carter's hand on her wrist. Their joking earlier today, she hadn't even thought of that while they said those things. She didn't want to believe it, but she couldn't deny that it had happened. She tried to pull away from Carter, but she felt herself glued to the spot she was in. She slid down to the floor, not pulling out of his grasp, and cupped her other hand over her mouth.

Why hadn't she thought of it earlier? Why had she remembered... now? She racked her brain for anymore information...

It was late when she awakened, but even in her current, still slightly intoxicated state, she knew she had to get home... she tried not to consider what she'd just done, as she clumsily gathered her clothes from the floor and redressed. She staggered down the stairs of the apartment building, and hurried out the doors to a drizzly parking lot.

Though she knew it was dangerous, she stuck her keys in the car and drove out. Her mind, her body, was on flight mode. And she had to escape; it was so... unreal...

That drive home. That treacherous drive home, how deeply she slept that night, how miserable she felt in the morning, just coming at her.

It was three weeks ago. It was a Friday night, three weeks ago.

"Well, it's obviously something," Carter said, feeling a little annoyed that Amanda didn't trust him enough to tell him what was going on with her so suddenly.

Carter felt Amanda try to pull away from him, but his grip on her wrist just tightened slightly as she did so. He slid down to the floor next to her, watching as she used her unheld hand to cover her mouth. Suddenly Carter wondered if Amanda was going to throw up. The way she looked made it seem pretty likely.

"Are you alright?" he asked, all irritation out of his voice, replaced by concern for her. He hoped that Amanda was alright.

"Sooo.... Do you like coffee?" Cecilla tried awkwardly to start a conversation. She had never been skilled at the art of small talk. She preferred to discuss literature or general happenings of people's lives. She smiled in an awkward way and sighed. "Nevermind. I fail at talking. Just...nevermind." She shut up and turned away.
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Cara nodded and walked ahead, starting to skip before realizing she would fail soon enough and end up falling. Too late. She tripped. And fell on her face. Luckily, she didn't start bleeding.
"Whoops. Fail. Heh." She had gotten up slowly, she was dizzy-ish.

Damien did like coffee. Most of the time, anyway. A brief, nostalgic smile was upon his face before extinguishing at what he associated coffee with now.

"Nevermind. I fail at talking. Just...nevermind."

"Don't worry about it. I fail at talking most of the time as well."

He checked back at Peter in the backseat. He pressed the button to turn on his radio. He was still on that station from earlier that he was listening to storm announcements for. "Breakeven" by the Script flowed through the speakers in his car. Again, he masked his emotions.

"You mind?" he said, quietly. The storm was background noise within his car, as the lyrics pulsed through his ears and into his head. Amanda's face, her words, from earlier, came to mind. And a newly revived determination for it all not to end.

But who was he kidding? Damien could tell she wanted it over. And if he kept on pushing... well... nothing good could come out of it.
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Amanda cringed at the annoyance in Carter's voice, while struggling to resist the urges to vomit or cry. This just... there was no way this could have happened. She so refused to believe it.

And then something else became disturbingly obvious.

One month ago, one month ago this week, she had her period. This morning, even then, yesterday, nausea, without a single thought like this.

Amanda stood, and ran into the bathroom, barely in time to reach the toilet before she wretched.

Carter watched, not sure of what to do, as Amanda ran to the bathroom. He heard her wretch in to the toilet. What was wrong with her? She had seemed fine earlier, but then... something had just suddenly changed. And then she had thrown up.

Cautiously, Carter walked to the bathroom, and peeked his head inside, seeing Amanda leaning over the toiliet. He walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright?" he asked, concern taking over all other emotions. He didn't know what was wrong, but whatever it was, it didn't look good.

As Carter thought more, he tried to piece together what could have suddenly make Amanda so sick. He couldn't think of anything that would make anyone fine for almost the entire day, then suddenly so sick.

Amanda stopped, shaking, pulling back from Carter, and sitting down on the floor. Her eyes were watery and wide. It couldn't be... no, there was no way. She didn't realize she was whispering this. She wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve, and nearly collapsed on the floor. There was no way. Her breathing was shallow. She couldn't believe it. Curling into herself, she shook her head, which rested on her knees, tears falling against her will.

"No... this... no, there is no way this is happening," she whispered.

Cecillia observed the smile that flashed like lightning upon his face. She decided there must have been a good memory associated with coffee and stored this knowlege away for future reference. She then decided to initiate an actual conversation while replying to his question simultaneously.

"No, I like this song. It's really sweet, while being just a bit overdramatic." She started singing along quietly. She was reminded of her first and only boyfriend thus far. He had cheated on her with one of the girls she had generally disliked because they were so shallow. Apparantly he did not care about the level of intelligence as long as the body was willing. She had been the opposite way. Mind over matter. She was almost certian that her face had become somber, and so had her voice.

Damien noticed the change in Cecillia's face in his peripheral vision, and heard the change in her voice. He could hear the emotion in her quiet singing as well. Damien refused to open his mouth and do the same, instead taking in the music and lyrics in his own silence. When the song finally concluded, he spoke.

"Yeah," he replied, his voice still. "It is a good song."

"The storm appears to be leaving Husky County and heading north into the rural Lakeville area. We still don't recommend travel until the area is clear."

He seemed to tense at the mention of the town. It was only 20 miles out. He glanced over to the streets, to see where they were. Nearing 69 Willimantic.

((Sorry about that, this is Aly, and I forgot to log out of Tani's account...))

Carter reached out to Amanda again when she pulled away from him. He was even more confused when she started whispering about how something couldn't be happening, how there was no way it-- whatever it was-- was happening.

He sat on the floor next to her, sliding himself close to her. Carter slid his arm around Amanda's shoulders as her breathing continued to be shallow. He did the best he could to keep her from slumping completely onto the floor.

"Amanda... please tell me what's going on." Carter was pleading now. He didn't know what else to do. She was hardly talking to him right now, right as she was practically having an emotional breakdown.

"There's no way that what's happening? I can try to help you, Amanda, if you would just tell me what's going on." He reached over to wipe the tears from her face as he said this.

Peter kept quiet. He wasn't good at small talk either. Besides he didn't know these people that well. So he had no idea what to talk about. He knew he might he considered rude for not talking, but he didn't care. Which was also kind of rude.
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Antha looked at Cara, her face concerned.

"Are you ok?" She went over to the girl, to make sure she wouldn't fall again.

Amanda shook her head again, unsteadily making another attempt to stand, but instead just leaning farther into Carter. She glanced into his eyes for one moment.

"I... I... I can't do this, Carter," she whispered. "I'm really sorry... I-I... I don't think we can... do this... w-we can't... be together, Carter."

Slowly, she was getting her bearings back. Other things she could never do: tell Carter what could be happening, her parents... she knew her parents would never look at her the same. She knew that this could destroy whatever her and Carter had just started, even today.

And then there was Damien.

"I need to go home," she whispered.
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Soon they arrived at Peter's address. Damien unlocked the doors from up front.

"Have a nice day, Peter," he replied.

Peter nodded at Damien.

"Thank you for the ride. Maybe we'll see eachother again. If so I owe you for this. And don't say no. It's only right I do something nice for you. That is if we meet again."

Peter slid out of the car and bolted to his house before Damien could respond. He opened the door and went inside.

Damien nodded back. He would have said that it wasn't necessary for him to do anything in return, and that Peter most likely would be seeing him again, considering he most likely went to Humbleton's high school. But he left before Damien could respond. He paused for a moment, making sure the boy made it into his house, before heading off the direction of Cecillia's address.

"Have you ever seen him before?" he asked.

Hm, Cecillia was in that English classroom, when he'd walked in to get Amanda 'home'. She probably didn't notice him. In fact, Damien hoped she hadn't noticed him, since he'd been going in for one particular student. He could tell that the other teacher had been a slight bit suspicious.

Regardless, he continued driving.

Carter put his arm around Amanda as she leaned in closer from her failed attempt to stand. He pulled her even closer, not wanting to let her go. Whatever was going on, he was going to find out.

"I... I... I can't do this, Carter. I'm really sorry... I-I... I don't think we can... do this... w-we can't be together, Carter."

"What can't you do, Amanda? Why can't this work? Is it because of Mr. Blake? Because I don't care about that. He doesn't matter," Carter said, trying to hide the frustration that was coloring his voice again. He looked her in the eyes again.

"I need to go home."

"No. Amanda, you need to tell me what's wrong. I'm not letting you leave until you do."