[OPEN] Oh the humanity!What a life for the Ghost

A sunny April day found Sapphire Ross wandering aimlessly around the streets of her district, with no real destination in mind. A bag was slung over her shoulder, and as usual, it contained the things that she used the most: a small notebook and pencil, her reading glasses, and, most unsurprisingly, the book she was currently reading. She had a cup of coffee in her hands as well. Saph loved coffee, even though she knew it wasn't the best thing to drink. Many a morning found her in the local coffee shop, latte with whip on the table and book in hand. It was a favorite pastime of hers.

Walking the streets was something she did when she had nothing else to do, which was fairly often. She was fond of her own company, but even then, sometimes you just had to get out. And besides, when her sister Topaz had gone to who knows where earlier that day, their mom had insisted that Sapphire get out and do something as well. So it wasn't like she had a choice.

The problem was, though, the District One teen had always been a quiet, soft spoken person, so getting out and doing something didn't normally involve people. She had a few close friends, yes, but often they were busy and it was mainly only school she saw them in. And she wasn't particularly good at introducing herself to new people, either. So Sapphire often found herself with a lot of spare time on her hands.

Sometimes Saph wished she could be more like her sister. Topaz was a social butterfly who'd never had a problem making friends, very outgoing and extroverted. She was better at talking than Sapphire, if that makes sense. She didn't get tongue tied all the time, and was more of a people person.

Topaz often tried to get Saph to come out of her shell, though. Especially now that her sixteenth birthday was approaching, just over a month away. Many teen girls from District One still supported the century-old tradition of having a big celebration on your sixteenth birthday, and Topaz had done just that on hers. She'd had practically the entire school over to their house with food provided by one of the best caterers in the district and decorations to die for. Their parents, who, in Saph's opinion, had always been too lenient on what they let their daughter do, had left the house to go out to dinner for the night, and had mistakenly allowed a large quantity of champagne at the party. Tope had gotten so tipsy that Sapphire had caught her in various corners of the house with about five different guys, and she had danced in a manner their grandmother would refer to as 'disgraceful' with at least a dozen others. Saph had refused to drink a drop, and hadn't had a whole lot of fun that night at all. So needless to say, she didn't want a party like that when she turned sixteen, and she'd told Topaz that. But Tope hadn't given up yet.

Sapphire was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice the gaggle of girls in front of her until she bumped into one. "Excuse me," she mumbled hastily as the girl, who looked to be around fourteen, turned to glare at her. At a brisk pace she moved farther down the sidewalk, a decent distance away from the young teens, and leaned against a building. Then she examined the girls closely. Not a one of them looked older than fourteen and they all seemed to have forgotten about Saph's abrupt appearance. Instead they were staring at a boy across the street. He had to be around three years older than her, and five or six years older than those girls, but nevertheless they were still staring at him intently, giggling and batting their eyelashes. When she caught a good glimpse of his face, though, she could hardly blame them; he was quite good looking, and there was something about his intense blue-gray gaze that was...entrancing.

Unaware of what she was doing, she found herself dodging traffic to cross the street and get a closer look at him. But then suddenly he turned, as if he could sense someone was watching him. Then he seemed to notice her. "Sorry!" she said quickly, although she didn't really know what she was apologizing for. Staring, maybe? She knew she should walk away and save herself from utter shame and embarassment, but she couldn't seem to make her feet move.

OOC- Lol yeah, I can definitely see her in that song! xD And yeah, believe me, that's perfect for Saph, because even though she's shy she wouldn't let herself be taken advantage of.

Walk away. Walk away right now, and save yourself the humiliation. I mean, look at those girls over there, look at the looks they're giving you! Get out. Now. The little voice inside Sapphire's head that often prevented her from doing things was telling her to get out of there fast. Saph was the kind of person who's key to happiness was avoiding confrontation, and this was most certainly confrontation in one of it's more serious forms. Normally, she'd get out and pretend this never happened, but for some reason, she could not tear herself away from that face...

And then the unthinkable happened. He reached out, as if about to shake her hand! Was he just being friendly? Was it pity, that made him reach out his hand to her? She hoped it wasn't the latter, because Saph was tired of being pitied.

But she moved a little to fast going to shake back, and he seemed to move a tad to quickly as well, because suddenly Sapphire was looking down to her coffee spilling all over the ground. He had begun to speak before it fell, but the spill had distracted him. Damn that coffee, Saph thought angrily, reaching down to pick up the spilled cup. Luckily the little bit that had been left hadn't gotten on either of their shoes. He was going to talk to me!

The fifteen year old quickly tossed the empty foam cup in a nearby garbage can just as he was exclaiming "Oh, god!" "Oh, don't worry about it!" she insisted briskly. "I hardly had any left anyway, and it didn't spill on us." To her surprise, she found herself smiling. Well, actually, it wasn't surprising; Sapphire tended to get giggly when she was nervous.

But then he introduced himself! Kade. Kade. She said the name in her head a few times, linking the sound of it. Kade and Sapphire. But as soon as that thought passed through her mind, she cringed. Stupid. He had to be around three years older than her. There was no way. He was just being polite, by introducing himself. That was it. But still, she couldn't help but say her name as well.

"I'm Sapphire." she smiled shyly as she spoke. "Pleased to meet you."

Sapphire could hardly believe her ears. Was he seriously offering to...take her out, to buy her a new coffee? Her, of all people? He doesn't mean anything by it. Her inner voice was quick to crush her spirit. He's just doing what any decent guy would do. He feels bad.

Other than for school projects, Saph had only ever gone somewhere with a guy once. He was something of a science geek with a great love of genetics, so the whole time they were in the cafe they'd gone to he'd gone on and on about punnet squares and hybrid crosses and gel electrophoresis and what-not, so when the check had come she'd paid her half and gotten out of there b efore he could get to deeply into base pairs and protein synthesis. Sapphire was a scholar at heart, so she liked science, but there was only so much genetics one could tolerate. And he hadn't been that cute, either.

Not like Kade.

The minute she thought it she pushed it away. Yes, the boy in front of her was drop dead gorgeous, in her eyes, but this was just an offer he was making to be nice. He didn't mean anything else by it. But nevertheless, it still felt nice to be asked...

"I'd like that," she responded, before realizing that she was probably being too vague. "To go with you, I mean." Oh, great. Now she sounded like a fool. This was going well. Just perfect.

"You don't have to pay for me, though..." Her voice trailed off, and she looked down at her feet. She didn't want Kade to feel responsible for paying, especially because what had happened had been an accident, and she'd almost been done with the drink, anyway. She didn't want him to spend money on her. It was the invitation that mattered.

Sapphire looked him over for a minute, trying to see if his words were sincere. Chivalry was dead, she had no doubts about that upon examining Panem's male population. But there was the occasional gentleman, one who knew the proper way to treat a lady. The important thing was for the girl to be able to distinguish the serious ones from the ones who were just fooling around, else she'd probably find herself disappointed.

Somehow, though, Kade seemed like he really meant it when he said he'd never make her pay. And a lady. He'd called her a lady. She tried to remember the last guy who'd called her that. Wait, no, she'd never been called that, at least not on respectful terms. It flattered her, and she had to smile. "Well okay, then, I guess if you don't mind..." Her voice trailed off for a second. A small part of her said to refuse his offer; it wasn't right to make him spend money on her. But another part said to accept, because really, how often was she treated like a lady? Even if she was far from one, feeling like one didn't harm anyone. "Sure."

Saph was about to say more, possibly thanking him for offering to take her out, but suddenly she felt a shove come from the side. Oh, no. Now she was going to fall, and look like a complete idiot in front of this older guy before her. But then she felt Kade's arm in front of her, and she quickly steadied her fall by grabbing onto it. She let go right away when she had herself standing upright, though. And then the fifteen year old turned to see who had pushed her.

It was a girl, a tall girl with brown hair and blue eyes to match Saph's. But there was many differences between the two, such as her angular cheekbones and hostile-looking facial structure. Saph's eyes widened and she backed away a few paces. This movement earned a sneer from this girl. "Oh, um...sorry," This time she had no clue why she was apologizing. For being in the way when this girl had come careening into her? It had most likely been intentional. But apologizing was just an automatic reaction for Sapphire. If something happens, say sorry, so you don't get blamed. Or if you did have something to do with it, you're forgiven.

Well, most of the time.

"Um...not to be rude, but...who are you?" she asked, hoping it didn't sound offensive. This intruder seemed to be easily angered.

Sapphire's eyes widened in surprise as the girl before her spoke. "I...I..." As was completely normal when she was overwhelmed, Saph could not seem to formulate words into a good enough response, so she had to resort to pointless stuttering. Why did this girl intimidate her so much? What she said was true. Sapphire had always known she really wasn't pretty. She was overshadowed by far when put up against the gorgeous girls of District One, who took so much pride in the way they looked. Saph tried her best, she really did, but she really just didn't measure up to the same standards as most of her district's female population. At least in her eyes. It wasn't like she cared...much. She'd always put more stock in her studies than her appearance. All the same, though, she'd been glowing when Kade had called her a lady, and the way he'd looked at her so softly and invitingly, rather than reproachfully as most people did, had given her a warm feeling inside. Saph had thought for a second that he'd really meant it.

She wanted to bury her head in her hands and disappear as she felt the gazes of every one of the stalker-girls she'd ran into before trained on them. Oh, this was a mistake, a big one. She shouldn't have even came this way on her walk. She should have gone the other way, and headed straight home, rather than taking the long way around. None of this would have happened if she'd just done that...

But as quickly as this frightening girl had came, she was gone, stalking away and shaking her head and muttering something in the direction of Kade that sounded sort of like 'stupid'. Saph was immensely relieved to see the back of her head, but the appearance of her had brought the usual feelings of distress and low self-esteem upon the blue eyed teenager. They had evaporated for a little as she'd talked to Kade, but here they were, back again.

Then suddenly Kade asked if she was still up for coffee. "You still want to..." Her voice trailed off, and she stopped herself. No. She wasn't going to act like an introverted, scared little puppy anymore. Even after the girl's comments, Kade still wanted to take her out for coffee, so maybe he reallydid like her. At least, he wanted to be her friend, and that was enough for Saph. "I mean, um, sure. No, I'm not too shaken up," she insisted, rather hurriedly. She forced a smile onto her face, but the aftermath of the remarks still stung.

OOC- Awww, Romeo and Juliet! Lol well let's hope this doesn't end tragically...

Sapphire had always been one for the simple pleasures in life. This was ironic, due to the fact that she lived in the richest part of Panem save for the sparkling Capitol, and she had the potential to be spoiled with whatever delicacies she desired. Her parents were such important CEO's of a popular luxury manufacturing corporation that they'd even taken trips to the Capitol to meet with the president. She was very well off; there was no use pretending she wasn't. But while she could have all the jewels, clothes, and other unnecessary spoils she wanted, she rejected most of them. Her parents often called her ungrateful. Maybe she was, but it was completely unintentional. She simply had no use for these things. She loved her books. And her electronics, of course, because reading had provided her with a deeper understanding of technology. But other than that, as mentioned before, she preferred the simple pleasures. And going to get coffee with a guy she had already come to like over only a few minutes of conversation definitely qualified as one of those.

There was silence between them as they walked towards the coffee shop, but to Saph, it was not an unpleasant one. Sure, the arrival of whoever that girl had been had shaken things up a little, but that had passed. Now, being led to the coffee shop by a sweet, good looking guy that would make even Topaz jealous, Sapphire was content. Hopefully that would last.

Like a gentleman, Kade held open the door to the shop for her once they reached it, and smiled at her as well. It was clear he was still thinking about whatever had happened back there, or else deep in thought about something else. She hadn't known him long enough to guess what he was thinking.

As they joined the line formed at the counter, Saph decided it was time to at least attempt conversation. She didn't mind silence, but maybe he did. Maybe he wasn't having a good time, or he thought she wasn't. So, even though she sucked as a conversation starter, she muttered "So...how are you?" It was a feeble attempt, but at least she had given it a shot. She wanted to get to know Kade, because it was rare for Saph to meet someone she connected with. Most just avoided her because of her introverted personality. But it seemed like Kade was different. And who knows? Maybe the few words she had uttered would lead to something.

As Kade informed her of what he did, Saph wondered how she had not guessed it before. Now that she knew that he was a jewler and a crafter, it was plain to see by his cautious demeanor, careful hands, and intentive gaze that he created things. Kade was someone who worked with his own two hands, carrying out ideas from his own head, someone who was truly gifted, Sapphire could see that in his eyes. Kade was an artist, and even though she'd only known him for a day she could see that.

It really made her book smarts seem overrrated.

As they sat down with their drinks, Sapphire listened intently as Kade told a tale of his newest project. The passion in his voice was clearly evident as he spoke; the person in front of her loved what he did, and in this world finding someone like that was truly rare. It was more than just a hobby to him, his crafting. It made Saph slightly jealous, the fact that Kade had found something he really loved to do and turned it into something he could make money off of. What did she love? Reading, yes. And writing, maybe. But you couldn't make a living off of those. They were just mindless hobbies. Other than that, she couldn't do anything special.

Suddenly Kade stopped talking, much to Saph's dismay. She wanted to hear more about his work. "That's amazing!" she breathed, hoping he could see that she sincerely meant it. "I'd never be able to do something like that. She thought for a moment. "I'd love to see some of your stuff some time! That is, you know, if you want me to," She stuttered a bit on the last words. What was she thinking? What if he didn't want to show her his projects? What if it was a personal thing? Sapphire herself hated when people read her writing. She had no business, expecting Kade to show her things that belonged to him.

But she really, really hoped he would.