A Granger Summer

[David Starsky]

October played real close attention to the interrogation held between Novia and Mi-Hyun. "October Oswin!" He immediately responded as to not leave her in question for so long, continuing to observe the conversation with a wide-eyed expression. He sort of felt guilty letting Novia do the talking. Of course what was there to be guilty for? Not much, really. Nothing at all, in fact. There was always these weird feelings he had, however. Like anxiety when something was just a little out of place. He gave Mi-Hyun a quick smile before he walked off with Novia. Feeling a bit odd while he put his shoes back on after that whole scene, he couldn't help but feel there was something wrong with her.

"So um... you seem a little disappointed? Maybe. I don't know... the world would be a lot easier if we could tell people's emotions. Maybe technology would allow it sooner or later. Then again, an obsession with technology would lead us to become pretty spoiled people who wouldn't know what to do in an emergency without such a thing." He said, continuing on with his trademark pondering. He started out to the hill he was on and looked back at her. "Y'know, in all this haste and sneaking around, we haven't really got a chance to know each other besides from introductions. Maybe we should leave this place for a while? I'm not really feeling comfortable... here. Unless if you'd like to keep searching for your sister."

[The Xtreme One]

Once he was out of the bar, Grayson’s anger finally burst out. With great ferocity he kicked over a trash can, sending it quite a distance to the side. “DAMN IT!” He screamed. It was these sorts of things that made is blood absolutely boil. What had he done? He hadn’t said anything bad to directly to Casey, he made a joke and what does the guy do? He runs off to his big boozy brother with two left feet and a penchant for leather pants. All he said to Issa was that he was going to keep her secret, he had no reason to reveal it. All these people wanted was someone to take their own frustrations out on, someone who wasn’t one of them. Grayson happened to be that person tonight and it made him sick. He leaned over the barricade and looked out past the yachts and at the lake. He needed to calm down, if he didn’t he knew that he would do something stupid and doing something stupid would cost him big time in the long run.
As he paced outside the club, Gray noted Julie coming out of the door. Finally a friendly face, or was she going to blow up at him for going off on the Donovan’s like he did. She took his arm and told him to stop, to calm down. She yanked him forward and pulled him into a kiss. What on Earth was she doing? Was this the alcohol talking or was there something more to it? It didn’t matter at this point as Grayson responded to it. He placed his free hand on her cheek and extended the kiss for a while before pulling away. “Well I didn’t expect that” He chuckled softly. “What was that for?”

[Bumblebee848]

Lizzie cocked her head, glancing at Annabeth with slight worry as she followed Ralph to the door. She desperately hoped her younger friend was alright, but was guiltily unwilling to try and play the role of the listening friend and the shoulder to cry on. Annabeth had always played that role marvelously, but Liz never knew quite what to say when someone else was feeling down.
Sighing lightly, she settled for a light squeeze on the girl's shoulder, before following Ralph out the door, curtsying with a giggle as he held the door open for her, bringing back memories of when she was younger and Ralph was the only boy around that would humor her when she wanted to play princess. Her crazy schemes always involved her running around in some frilly dress, getting into ridiculous trouble as she solved mysteries and stopped crime as a Nancy-Drew-Princess hybrid, but always ended with Ralph coming to her rescue as her lovely Prince Charming, who occasionally was named Ned Nickerson for the sake of continuity.

Walking down towards the lake, Liz couldn't help but blush a force down a smile as she remembered those embarrassing times. As fate would have it, though, her wild imagination had only been nurtured, so that it could be put to good use today. She wouldn't say she regretted those times in the least, regardless of how horrifically embarrassing the home videos were.
Noticing an absence of footsteps, Liz turned, just barely missing the evidence of Ralph snapping a quick candid shot. While she loved candid shots in general, she hated them when they were of her. She hated any and all photos of herself. As he joined her and began to skip stones, she smiled softly, staring at the ripples forming across the otherwise pristine water, laughing when some of them sank on the first try.

"We'll, that's a rather broad question." She responded, in a deadpan tone. Laughing, she took her hat off and rested it gently on the ground as she slipped off her sandals. "It's really been the same as always. Mother's been planning these extravagant parties, my silly brothers are off gallivanting around doing...who knows what." She added the last bit in quietly, thinking back to the shock of seeing her eldest brother rocking out on stage. "Daddy's just as...him as always." She waded gingerly into the water, wriggling her toes against the sand comfortingly. The water was almost warm, filled with the feeling of summer. Closing her eyes, she clasped her hands behind her back, and inhaled deeply, rocking back on the balls of her feet.

"Dartmouth!" She exclaimed in excitement as Ralph broke the news. "That's wonderful, congratulations!" She continued, turning to wade back towards him with a bright grin, which faded gradually as he continued. She waited for a moment, letting the silence linger as she tried to think of what to say, staring up at the moon.
"I think..." She started slowly, rocking back on her heels this time. "You should do what you want to do." Sighing, she scooped her skirt under her legs, which she tucked neatly beneath her as she sat by his side. "I know your dad is expecting you to go to Princeton, but...well, it's your life, not his. These are the next four years of your life we're talking about, and the years that it influences after that. You really can't just let his expectations define who you are...you know?" Digging her fingers into the sand, Liz bit her cheek. "I know I'm being a bit of a hypocrite, but you can't let your fear of disappointing him rule your life. If your decision lets him down, tough nuggets; if he's a proper father, he'll be proud of you no matter what, I mean you got into two Ivy League schools! What else can he ask for?" Glancing at Ralph shiftily, she hesitantly reached over, placing her hand over his. She really wasn't sure how much help she was being at this point. Without having ever gone to even a single day of school in her life, she wasn't exactly speaking from experience. All she knew was that she wanted him to be happy. If there was nothing else she could say...

"I'll never give up
Never give in
Never let a ray of doubt slip in
And if I fall
I'll never fail
I'll just get up and try again"

Taking a crazy chance, she began to sing the chorus of one of her old favorites, Win by Brian McKnight. Whenever she had felt on the verge of giving up or beaten down by life, she would just listen to that song over and over again. Though she was nervous to be singing in front of someone, she trusted Ralph more than anyone to listen without criticism, and the quaver slowly left her voice as she went on. Squeezing Ralph's fingers, she kept her eyes tightly shut, sure that she would lose her nerve if she made eye contact with him.

"Never lose hope
Never lose faith
There's much too much at stake
Upon myself I must depend
I'm not looking for place or show
I'm gonna win"