nyc prep continued

Brooklynn nodded, looking at her own menu. "It all sounds delicious," she remarked.

Jaimie's eyes went wide for a moment, but her hands went to his neck, kissing him back. She kicked the front door closed and let herself melt into him.

one of his hands slipped ot the back of her head as he deepened the kiss. this was going against everything he had worked for wasn't it?

Carl smiled then focused on his menu. he ordered a simple Alfredo and salad.

Brooklynn ordered chicken parmigiana and some soup. "Thanks for coming out with me today. Infinitely more fun than doing it alone."

She pushed him back against the door, their lips still attached. She'd thought... well, she'd been sure he wasn't interested, she'd been so sure. But here he was and everything... it felt right.

Carl smiled, ' thank you for asking em to come...it was..is...really fun." it was like he had lost the ability to form intelligent sentences since the park. he took a drink of his water.

Braden wrapped his one arm around her waist pulling her closer if that was possible. he pulled his lips from hers pulling one side of her hair back and kissed her neck. this was so familiar.

Jeff pulled up to Sam's apartment and called her cell, " you ready?"

"Good. I'm glad you were able to get out of studying and stuff today." She smiled. "So what do you have to do tomorrow?"

Jaimie's hands went to his hair, pulling gently.
Her eyes flew open as she heard her sister clear her throat, watching the two of them expectantly. "Sasha," she said, pulling away from Braden.

"I have a Brunch/meeting with some Harvard alumni." he said with a little smile, " Dads pretty sure they will be begging me to come."


Braden let his arms drop from around jaime and leaned around her waving at the younger girl with a little embarrassed smile

Paige shook her a head a little while later, putting the controller down. "How do you do this? This is so hard."



"Yep," Sam said as she grabbed her purse. She looked down at her outfit. She had left her t-shirt on and put on a slightly tighter pair of sweatpants, that could pass a regular pants, and red heels. "On my way down." She flicked off the lights and headed down to meet him. Normally she'd wear a dress but she didn't think wearing a shirt dress and riding on a motorcycle would mix well.

"Years of practice," Jarid replied with a grin. He set aside his controller and leaned back. "You hungry?"

"Wow. Yeah, I'm sure they'll be begging as well." Brooklynn agreed. "You nervous?"

Sasha gave him a wave and a small smirk. Jaimie stepped away from Braden.
"I thought you were studying," she signed, embarrassed that her sister had walked in on that.
"Felt a bump. Figured I'd check on you."
"Thanks. But I'm fine."
"I can see that," the younger girl replied, grinning at Braden.

carl shrugged, "Not really. is that arrogant to say?"

ooc: if she is completely deaf how did she hear a noise?

"Hey there squirt." Braden signed though a little slowly, "sorry about that."

Paige nodded, "yeah, starving." She stretched and looked at the clock, she hadn't realized how late it had gotten.

ooc: duh. thank you for pointing that out. i will fix it.

ic:"Not at all. It's good to be confident," she replied with a shrug.

"I'm not a squirt," Sasha replied with a frown, but then a smile peeked through. "It's okay." She went equally slowly, giving braden time to catch the signs. "You've been gone a while," she observed.

"You wanna get some food? We can order in because of pj's," he motioned to the two of them, as they were both still in their sleep wear.

Carl smiled," I suppose." And thier food came

Braden nodded,"yeah. I had to figure a few things out." He was surprised his signing wad still fairly good

Ooc: be back in 1 1/2 hours

"I think it's good that you're not nervous. I mean, being nervous can make you come off as unsure and that could be bad, right?" she asked as they began to eat.

"I'm glad you're back," she replied. "She missed you," Sasha gestured to Jaimie, whose face went red and she ushered her sister out. She turned back to Braden, still blushing.

Paige nodded, "sure. Pizza?" she suggested

She was right. He hadn't been nervous about anything academically since forth grade. He didn't say much as they ate. He had hoped that the twisting in his stomach would go away with food. It didn't


Braden smiled, "you missed me?"

Jeff cat whistled as she came out, "looking good"

Sam gave a little bow, "thank you." She looked him up and down, "you look good," she said in mock surprise.

oxford girl wrote:

Paige nodded, "sure. Pizza?" she suggested

"Yeah," Jarid nodded, pulling out his phone. "Pepperoni good? Or do you like something else?" He liked her, she was cool to hang out with and seemed pretty chill.

~MJ~ wrote:

She was right. He hadn't been nervous about anything academically since forth grade. He didn't say much as they ate. He had hoped that the twisting in his stomach would go away with food. It didn't

Braden smiled, "you missed me?"

They ate in silence that Brooklynn felt was comfortable. "You look thoughtful," she observed after a mostly quiet meal.

Jaimie put a hand to her face, whiched burned. "She's being dramatic." she replied as a weak defense.

"Ok," he said slowly walking towards her, " but did you miss me?"

Carl shrugged, " just processing everything I guess." he said looking up at her," you educated me on quite a lot today." he said with a smile

"Pepperoni is good," Paige said. She was surprised how much she liked him, he was...normal.

"Happy to make you more of a genius," Brooklynn replied with a laugh.

"Did you miss me?" She fired back, doing anything to not have to answer.

"Cool." Within a few minutes the pizza was on the way and Jarid grinned. "You up for another round before it gets here?"

he smiled...really smiled again, " you did. thank you."

Braden shook his head taking a few more steps towards her, "Answer the question." he inability to answer made his heart skip. she had missed him hadn't she

Brooklynn smiled back. "So Harvard brunch tomorrow, then what? Studying?"

Jaimie bit her lip, gaze stuck on the floor. She nodded slightly, feeling embarrassed of herself. She was such a child. Why did Sasha have to say anything? Couldn't she just let it be?

"you got it." he said with a chuckle, " I'm predictable arent I?"

a few more steps and Braden wrapped his arms around her pulling her into a tight embrace.

"We definitely need to get you some new hobbies," Brooklynn remarked with a sigh.

Jaimie let him hug her, a little confused. Was he glad she'd missed him? Why? Why was it such a big deal?

"im all ears." Carl smiled, "but first...desert?" He asked pointing to the small desert menu

Braden held her for a long while then pulled away. He gently cupped her face in his hands

"I don't think I could really eat much more," she laughed, patting her belly.

"Say something," Jaimie said softly. What was he doing? What did this all mean?

"ok then." Carl didn't want to go home, "anything else you want to do."

"we...we need to talk Jaime." He said quietly

She shrugged. "I'm up for anything. I picked the other things, you pick now."

"What?" Jaimie asked, pulling away.

Carl shook his head," I don't know anything is the problem

"if...this is...going to...go anywhere...it....it can't be like last time."

Paige grinned, "sure. Maybe I'll win this time."

"Perhaps," Jarid allowed with a laugh. He restarted the game.

Brooklynn bit her lip. "Okay. Well we could always just go for a walk. I mean, there isn't much to do."

"What do you mean?" She asked, confused. "What could we do then?"

"do you dance?" Carl asked with a smirk

"We...could have an actual relationship." Was that a difficult concept fir her?

"Seriously?" Paige sighed a few minutes later after Jarid had beet her again. "I give up. I just can't win."

"Uhm, I can't say I have in the past," she said, biting her lip. "But I'm willing to give it a try."

"Oh," Jaimie said softly. "You'd want that?" She frowned. "I...I need to think about it."

Jarid was laughing. "Alright alright don't give up. Pick a new game," he said as the buzzer rang, indicating that their pizza was here. "I'll grab it. You do the game," he motioned to the game.

Paige picked the games up and looked at them all thoughtfully before she picked one she thought she could win. She pulled her hoodie off and got the game ready.

Jarid came back with the food a minute or two later, carrying paper plates and a couple cans of soda. "Good pick," he grinned, seeing the game she chose

"Food," she said grinning. She opened one of the cans of soda. "I can win this game."

"lloyd...we are going dancing." Lloyd came over they left money and got into the car

"right..."and there she was. Her good old self that held everyone at arms length, "right....Uhm...ill Uhm...see myself out then." He said backing up from her

"Yeah, okay," Jarid said, rolling his eyes. He opened the box of pizza and handed her a plate. "Wanna bet on it?"

Brooklynn smiled as Lloyd began driving. "You go out dancing a lot?"

"You don't have to go," Jaimie said, putting her hand on his arm.