Relationships :) discussion

.....

Astoria looked around at the flashing lights of the carnival rides. She couldn't believe she had driven all the way there to meet her friend who had backed out at the last minute. After paying for the tickets, she didn't want to just leave, so she walked around looking for something to do. She walked up to a vender to get a candied apple.

Michael took out a ten from his wallet in the a food vending line. God, this was taking so long. He turned around, looking for Garrett. Crap, the guy had left him, he must have gone off with Amanda somewhere. A girl stepped up into line behind him.

Astoria was a little chilly in the cooling night air. Standing in line as the slight breeze made her bangs flutter into her face, she pulled her arms close. She noticed the guy in front of her looking around.

Catching her eye, he waved rather awkwardly. "Hey," he said.

Astoria was a little caught off guard. "Hi" she said with a passing smile. She looked shyly at the ground.

He smiled, "I'm Michael. What's your name?"

"Astoria" she said softly. She got a good look at his eyes. She blushed and shivered a little. He was rather charming looking, but she was too shy to say much else.

He grinned at her. She was very pretty. "So are you a student at the college or something?"

"Yea" she said. "I'm a freshmen. Do you go there?" she asked almost surprised that she had found the courage to say that much. He had a killer smile.

"Yeah, what are you going to major in? Or do you not know yet?"

"I don't know. I'm thinking something medical. How about you?" she asked a little more confidently. She even managed to smile a little.

"Business Admin," he said, glad to see her less nervous. "First year working on my masters. I transferred from Cal Poly."

"Glad to hear someone knows what they want to do." she said. "Um, I think it's your turn to order." she said noticing the vendor waiting expectantly at the window.

"Oh, thanks," Michael felt a rush of embarrassment as he turned to the vendor. "Can I have a chili cheese dog?" He turned back to Astoria. "What do you want? It's on me."

Astoria felt a surge of heat in her cheeks. "You don't have to do that." she said sincerely.

"No problem. What do you want?" he said.

"A candied apple please." she said. "Thanks" she smiled at him to show her appreciation.

Michael turned around to order. He was hyper-aware of her behind him. The vendor handed him the food. "Do you want to go find a place to eat somewhere?" he asked.

"Sure." Astoria said. "There are some picnic tables around here somewhere I think." She looked around.

"Cool," Michael walked over there with her. "So what do you do for fun?"

Astoria thought for a second. "I read most of the time. I also like to paint and listen to music." she said. She couldn't help but notice how the faint blue glow from the lights of the rides made his eyes pop brilliantly.

{What color do you want his eyes to be? I don't care, you can pick.}

"I read a lot too, though I never have time. What kind of music do you like?"

{I don't really have a preference, but blue since the light is.}

"I love classic rock music." she said, a huge smile spreading across her face. "Have you heard of Van Halen?" she asked. She wasn't really hopeful though. Not many kids her age knew who they were.

"Of course. I like classic rock too. Mostly 80's though. My brother hates that era. He thinks the music was too commercialized. He's kind of a purist. But I'll listen to anything. Country, some of the mainstream stuff, occasionally rap, but only if it's good," Michael said.

Astoria couldn't believe he knew who they were. "I could hug you. People usually just look at me like I'm insane when I ask them if they know who VH is." she laughed a little from her own childish excitement. "The only rap song I can stand is Thrift Shop. I prefer the clean version." she said.

Michael grinned back at her. "It's really that surprising to you that I know them? I surprises me that you know them. I think guys are more into Van Halen and rock bands than girls. Or am I being all sexist?"

"Hahaha!" she couldn't help but laugh. "It's pretty surprising, and no that's not sexist. It's true. No girls know of them, and those who do aren't into them." Astoria said.

"I figured. So what do you paint? I'm jealous because I can't draw for crap." he said.

She smiled at him. "I'm sure you're not that bad." she said. "I like landscapes, but sometimes I'll try to recreate a famous painting." she took a bite of her apple.

"No, I'm really that bad." Michael laughed. "Do you have a favorite artist? I took an art history class sophomore year, so I know a few of them, though art isn't my thing."

"There are tons, but I really like Degas. He was more impressionistic, which I don't usually like, but he went through a phase where he painted a lot of dancers. They're some of my favorite pieces." she said. She was a little embarrassed at how nerdy she sounded.

"I don't like the impressionists and expressionists that much either. Part of me loves surrealism, but some of it's really weird for me. My favorite's baroque, especially Rembrandt, though I'm not that religious. Sorry, I bet that sounds super nerdy." He ran his fingers self-consciously through his hair.

"No it's not. It's refreshing to meet someone who can manage to hold an intelligent conversation." she looked reassuringly at him.

{What color do you want his hair to be? Also, what does Astoria look like?}

"Oh, thanks." There was a moment of awkward silence. "Do you have a boyfriend or something?" he blurted out. Crap,crap, crap. Micheal wanted to shove the question back into his mouth so badly.

{Well, what color is your actual hair? It can look like that. Astoria is fair complected, has short straight dark brown hair, forest green eyes, full lips, and a nose that is well proportioned to her face. She's average height and has a slim athletic figure.}

{My hair is kind of blonde, kind of brown. It's inbetween.}

Astoria bit her lip to keep from smiling like a lunatic. "No, I don't have a boyfriend. Never have actually." she said. The way he looked so terrified by his own question made her like him even more than she was already beginning to.

{My favorite color! Perfect!}

{Oh, I just saw Astoria's profile. Sorry, I check once when we first started and it wasn't up there yet, so I wasn't sure what she looked like}

Michael felt his face going as red as a tomato. But her answer surprised him. "Never? How come?"

"Well, I was sort of the wall flower all through high school, so no guy ever really took an interest in me. Plus, I was so focused on studying, I never really thought about it that much." she said.

"Really? You don't seem like the wall flower type to me." he said.

Astoria blushed a little. "You're easy to talk to." she said with another shy smile.

Michael smiled back. "You too." He cleared his throat, "so what do you want to do? Go on a ride or something?"

Astoria looked around. "Sure. I was supposed to meet up with a friend, but she couldn't make it. Which one do you want to go on?" she said as she got up to throw away her trash.

Michael followed her. "Doesn't matter to me, I'm not scared of heights or anything. Do you care?" he asked.

{Saw that you liked PJO. I love them too, they're my favorite series ever! I cannot wait for the movie to come out. Though the first wasn't my favorite, I think they could have done a better job and I hope the second one will be good. How about you?}

{Thanks for liking my review of MoA. And yes, I have high hopes for the movie. I was relieved to see that they fixed Annabeth's hair.}

"Nope. I've never had the courage to go on the one that goes up and then lets you fall back down at full speed though. Whatever it's called." she said.

{I had a similar reaction. But more contained, I cried on the inside. House of Hades is probably going to be amazing.}

"Then we can try it, if you want to. I've never gone on it either, but I will for you." he said.

{It is DEFINITELY going to be amazing. It had better be anyway. He's made me wait a year for it! If he kills off one of the seven though, I am storming his house.}

The words "I will for you" rang in Astoria's ears. Her heart did a bit of a flip. She attempted to keep her composure though. "All right, let's go." she said.