.::Another Beautiful Day::.

[Clarity Wright]

Pressure was applied. The pleasant click was heard. Shutters closed then opened and the picture was obtained.
A small smile spread across her features, looking onto the LCD screen of her camera. Moments ago, Clarity had asked a family if she could take a picture of their young son and dog playing Frisbee. They agreed and she caught beautiful shots of the dog in the air as well as the little boy running over to play with his pet.
Standing up, she smoothed out her white top with the coloring DC letting on the chest and pulled the bottoms of her jeans over her plain black Converse shoes. Holding the camera out to the mother of the family, she scrolled through the photos she took.
"I can print them off at Walmart and give them to you," Clarity said with a smile.
"I'd love that," the lady said. "How much should I give you?"
Clarity laughed slightly, putting the cap on the lens and powering it off. "There's no charge. It won't cost me much. I just really enjoy taking pictures and I'm glad you like the shots."

Moments later, she was folding up a ripped piece of paper from her notebook and placing it safely within her purse. She figured later today she's print the pictures and stop by the family's home tomorrow to drop them off.
After readjusting her purse, Claire took off toward one of the park benches that was sitting beneath the shade of a large oak. After sitting down and crossing one of her legs over the other, she began to take an interest in surveying all the people at the park. Since it was such a beautiful day, there was more people out than normal; occasional couples walking around holding hands, families hanging around the parks and running through open fields of grass, dogs barking and running around happily as they played with their owners, and the occasional loner, like Clarity, who were walking around or took pleasure in observing others like she was doing.
Heaving a sigh, Claire looked up at the clear blue sky. Memories of her old friends were filling her mind, and she allowed herself to become absorbed within those thoughts.

[Forrest Ezekiel Andrews]

A gentle breeze caressed the cheeks of Forrest as he walked into the park-as usual-by himself. The teen would have gone surfboarding, but because of a very small cold, he was warned to dress warmly on a lovely spring day. So there he was, dressed in a dark hoodie and faded jeans with black Vans. It was /extremely/ hot so Forrest decided to take off his jacket.

Somehow his arms were stuck in the midst of the jacket as the teen wavered his arms to slip off the jacket. No success however, so Forrest staggered and fell onto his butt before he successfully took off the jacket. But now his bottoms were hurting...

Forrest quickly looked around to make sure no one had seen his embarrassing moment. Hopefully...no one /had/ right?

[Clarity Wright]

Clarity was digging through her purse, pushing aside her notebook, keys, and other random odds and ends. After a moment, she found what she was looking for: her Ipod. Avoiding one of her earrings that tended to get caught on the chord, she placed one headphone in her left ear while the other dangled before her chest. Turning the device on, she began to search for something to listen to.
Many people were surprised by the kind of music Clarity listened to. If they knew her before, it wouldn't really be too shocking. But to see her now, dressed in different attire that makes her seem a little more preppy, her choice of music would come as a surprise.
She continued scrolling, wanting to listen to something harsh and with a lot of screaming. After a moment, she sighed and decided to listen to Attila. As the music began to block off the outside noise, she lifted her head up slightly to push stray hairs away from her face. Just as she done so, her eyes locked onto something quiet amusing. A male, just ahead in the distance, was struggling with his jacket. Avoiding her lip ring, she bit down softly on her lip, trying her best not to laugh out loud as he lost balance and fell onto his rear.
'Oh,' she thought with amusement. 'I hope he's okay.'
She waited a moment longer, making sure her giggle wouldn't slid past her lips. Once she was sure of that, she pushed her Ipod into her front pocket, zipped the top of her purse, stood up and began to head in Forrest's way.
"Hey," she said quietly once she was close enough, extending a hand to him to help him up. "Are you okay?"

[Forrest Ezekiel Andrews]

Forrest looked up and grinned...somewhat sheepishly. "O-Oh! Yeah...I'm fine. Thanks," he murmured and took the hand to help him get back up on his feet. He flushed and looked down at his dirty shoes. It was obvious that she had seen him...he was so going to slap himself later for the idiotic event.

And I'm pretty sure she let out a few laughs or so...who wouldn't...he thought with a defeated sigh.

"Thanks for helping me. I'm Forrest," he introduced before bending down to pick his jacket up. "Oh..." he laughed somewhat nervously and quickly dusted off bits of grass on the outergarment.

[/center]

[Clarity Wright]

Once he was back on his feet, she brushed her hand through her hair, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips as she watched his somewhat jumpy state. Her soft brown eyes scanned over him, and it was even harder for her not to smile as a soft red color appeared on his cheeks.
Clarity remained quiet a moment longer, listening as the male introduced herself to him, before he reached down to grab his jacket. As he done all this, she still noticed that he was acting nervous. She giggled softly, looking up at him as he shook out his jacket.
"I'm glad you are okay," she replied, her voice still as soft as before. "My name's Clarity, but I go mainly by Claire. It's nice to meet you."
At this point she had pulled her Ipod back out of her pocket to turn it off. After doing so, she pulled the headphone from her ear, wrapped it around the device, and unzipped her purse to place it back in. As she was zipping up the zipper, she glanced at him once more.
"Its nice out today. Why did you have a jacket on?"

[Forrest Ezekiel Andrews]

Forrest grinned. "Nice to meet you Claire. That's a pretty name you have," he replied before scratching his neck; a rare sign that he was nervous. His hand slipped into the rough material of his jean pocket as the other held the jacket.

"Ah...well...that is, I have a cold. A tad bit, really, but my mother told me to wear one in case." His mind suddenly froze, registering as to what he had just casually blurted out. Forrest clamped his mouth with his long fingers.

This really is not my day! Why...oh why did I mention Mom?!Feeling as if he was tortured, Forrest bit back a sigh and plastered on his usual grin. Oh boy...was she really going to think he was a dope.

Maybe even a Mama's boy...dang it. So much for first impressions.

[/center]

[Clarity Wright]

A warm breeze started up through the park. Claire gave a quiet sigh as her long hair once more found its way before her face. 'It'd be nice for someone to remember my face without stray hairs dancing before my vision,' she thought with annoyance. Grabbing her hair, she leaned her head down slightly and pulled the hair back like she was going to pull it up. Instead, she pushed it off toward her right, allowing the hair to cover her right shoulder and leave her left side bare. This helped out a bit to keep the hair from covering her face every time a breeze started up.
When he told her that she had a pretty name, she felt heat rush up to her face. She knew she was blushing, and she found her gaze traveling to the ground quickly as she looked away, feeling slightly embarrassed herself. She continued looking at the ground, listening as he explained why he had a jacket on. Just then she realized he got quiet.
Glancing up, she noticed he clamped his hands over his mouth. She gave a soft laugh, slowly reaching out toward him and grabbing hold of one hand, which she pulled away from his mouth.
"Did you say something you'd think I'd make fun of you for?"

[Forrest Ezekiel Andrews]

Forrest quickly pulled his hands away from his mouth; blushing a bit as Claire grabbed one of his hands. "N-No! I mean...well...." he trailed off and scratched his head, frowning. "Okay...maybe I /did/ say something unnecessary....or well, actually-" as the rambling continued, Forrest stopped again and frowned even more.

This is getting even worse... Fate just love to play with him. Forrest took a deep breath and exhaled, somewhat dramatically.

"Okay. Let's try this again. So...I assumed that when I 'accidentally' mentioned my mom uh...you might make fun of me for that." He shied away hoping that his words weren't taken the wrong way.

[/center]

[Clarity Wright]

'I must be making him nervous,' she thought as he rambled. 'But I'm gonna assume its a good kind of nervous.'
After he caught a breath and seemed to get his thoughts more organized, he spoke again. This time, she seemed a little confused.
"Why would I make fun of you?" she questioned as she slightly inclined her head to one side. "Mentioning your mom doesn't give /me/ a reason to make fun of you. I'm not mean like that." She smiled slightly, straightening up a bit and pulling at the ends of her shirt slightly to fix any wrinkles that may have appeared.
"But I understand why you must've worried."
Her eyes traveled up to his.
"I'm just a stranger that you know nothing about. Everyone worries about what they say when first meeting someone and what kind of impression they'll make."
Now she was grinning playfully, her body moving closer before she circled around him a couple times.
"Hmmm... Let's see. My impression right now... I see a clumsy guy who got caught up in his jacket and is a momma's boy."
She stopped walking around him and stopped right before him.
"Or better yet, I see a guy who is just really nervous, even though he shouldn't be afraid to speak to a girl. But despite being nervous, I'm sure he's funny, kind, easy to get along with, sweet, and fun to be around." After a long pause she added with a smile, "And may be just a little clumsy."

[Forrest Ezekiel Andrews]

Forrest flushed and felt a bit...silly to think that Claire would make fun of him. But then again...first impressions were very important.

"I-I guess. Sorry for making that comment. Usually, other people I meet would think like that, I guess." As Claire circled around him, Forrest couldn't help but stiffen, his back straightened. He looked somewhat like a statue....a very /nervous/ statue at that.

He blushed at her comment and patted his cheeks self-consciously. And for some reason, he couldn't look her straight in the eye as his heart sped up a bit more quickly than before.

Calm down...just breathe...relax... Though his internal pep talk didn't help much, Forrest smiled somewhat shyly now.

"T-Thanks."

[/center]

[Clarity Wright]

Claire grinned.
"I am /far/ different from what others expect," she whispered, setting her purse on the ground next to her leg. She arched her back in slightly, stretching her slightly tanned arms up toward the sky before bringing them back down to her side. After that, she leaned back down to pick back up her purse.
When her bronze eyes looked back at him, she bit the inside of her cheek. He was so stiff from her circling him and she just now took notice of that, as well as how bad the coloring in his cheeks were and how his words seemed broken when he spoke.
'Am I really making him so nervous?'
Claire eyed Forrest silently, tilting her head like she had done so before. 'I really didn't think I could make anyone so nervous, let alone a guy....' she thought, feeling a little confused.
Deciding that she didn't want to pressure him as to why he was nervous she asked instead, "Are you feeling alright? You did mention how you had a cold. I wouldn't be happy if you ended up getting any sicker."

[Forrest Ezekiel Andrews]

"Huh? Oh, yeah! I'm uh...great!" Aside from his comment, Forrest stifled a cough that had suddenly swelled up his throat. He scrunched his nose is a slightly adorable way as another cough followed suit. Sniffling a bit, Forrest rubbed his nose and grinned.

"Really! I'm fine! Nothing to worry about. It's a small cold." The brunette was sure that she was a bit...well...puzzled as of why he was acting this way. Just the fact that he couldn't even look at girls let alone talk to them made him anxious.

"S-Sorry. You must think I'm kind of...weird. I get nervous around girls..." he trailed off and his gaze once again swept down to his shoes.

[/center]

[Clarity Wright]

"Funny how you cough after saying you are great," she joked as she opened her purse and rummaged through it. Seeing as she has allergies, she is normally caught sneezing quiet a bit at random times. Because of that, she starting buying the small little packs of tissues that you can carry around.
Finding the little pack, she pulled it up to the top of her purse and pulled out a tissue for him. "Here you go." She didn't really think about it, but after she said those words, she noticed her voice was more normal and soft to him then she normally is to others. She also thought about how she was taking a interest in him quicker then she has ever taken notice in someone before.
Claire allowed herself to break from those thoughts when he mentioned how he said she must've thought he was weird. The girl laughed softly, shaking her head with amusement. "You are far from weird. As you said, you are nervous, which is a normal thing." As his eyes fell down toward his shoes, she couldn't help but think of how adorable he looked right now. Claire stood before him, placing a finger gently beneath his chin and lifting his head up.
"You don't need to be nervous." A calm smile pulled at her lips as her eyes focused onto his. "Its not like I'm going to hurt you."

[Forrest Ezekiel Andrews]

Forrest felt a gentle finger under his chin and suddenly their eyes met. As she was closer, Forrest couldn't help but admire Claire's beauty. And then, his heart began to thump, unmistakeably racing faster than ever. His throat felt suddenly parched, and the pit of his stomach felt as if a thousand butterflies had just entered into him.

"I uh....o-okay..." he managed to mutter out meekly and accepted the tissue. Even if he believed that Claire wasn't going to "hurt him" his heart just wouldn't let him oblige to that fact, so it never stopped racing. Forrest's cheeks were dusted slightly red as he sniffled and crumpled the now-used tissue.

[/center]

[Clarity Wright]

Claire felt something flutter in her stomach. It was finally the first time he looked her in the eye, and she felt as if someone knocked the breath clean out of her. She clamped her lips shut, forcing herself to take a slow breath through her nose. She observed him a lot since she came over to help him off the ground, but she felt as if she was really /seeing/ him. To look him in the eyes, she was noticing just how handsome he really was. As her eyes began to take in all his features, she felt the pace of her heart quicken in her chest and the thumping was starting to ring in her ears. 'This is new,' she thought to herself, but she wasn't really afraid of the feeling. It was new to her, yes... But she found herself taking pleasure in it. Yet, at the same time, she also found herself growing nervous. Nervous because she didn't have a full understanding of what he was thinking about her.
She took notice in the tissue, and broke her gaze away. In a way, she felt slight relief to that. But she also felt disappoint because she wasn't feeling that intense stir of emotions anymore.
"Do you need another tissue?" she asked in a voice that was quieter than usual.