((Cheridene Williams, continued from... golly, her last thread was a long time ago, wasn't it?))
To the question of whether or not she'd be going to the biggest party of the year, Cheridene still didn't have an answer.
She didn't really do parties. Sure, she supposed they were fine and the few times she'd been asked to go to one, she went and had an alright time. Some of the people at school were cool, but why not just hang out with those people and only those people? The only reason she'd gone to the few parties she did was because somebody else had specifically invited her, and turning down an invitation would be rude.
So far, Cheri had managed to evade such direct approaches. Listening to people talking through the grapevine clued her in that it would be at Forrest's house. She supposed that was exciting; Forrest was known for having one of the nicest houses at that fancy gated community, though you wouldn't really know it just by looking at the girl. When you were rich, you were typically expected to dress a certain way, act a certain way, enjoy the popularity that freely comes with money. There were some kids who liked to defy that stereotype though, and the girl with rainbow hair was chief among them.
Cheri envied her for that. Not for the money and the big house, not that she'd mind living like she just came off some trashy MTV crib show. Not for the hair, either. She liked her own hair exactly how it was. A rainbow probably wouldn't look good on her.
She sighed, then adjusted her positioning to fix her posture, taking care that the soft mat didn't slide away from the wall as she pressed her hips and back against it. Toes pointed above her head as all her weight sat on her upper back and shoulders, abs tensing until they hurt, when she'd allow herself a short rest and use the wall to lean her lower body against. Cheridene stopped her train of thought for the time being. Yoga was supposed to help her relax, and that worked best when she could clear her mind. This position made all the blood rush to her head anyway - no sense in giving herself a headache.
Yoga Fire
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MK Kilmarnock
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((Oliver Lacroix pregame start))
Man, what a boring day. Moronic teachers, pointless lectures and friends who were too busy to hang out all made for an overall pretty terrible combination. The stupidly hot weather outside didn't help much either. Thank god for air conditioning.
Oliver was met by a welcome rush of cool air as he entered the gym. He stood there for a moment, checking his watch, before something caught his eye at the other end of the building. A few steps towards the window confirmed for him that he wasn't alone in here, and several more allowed him to get a pretty good look at the girl stretching on the mats. His gaze travelled along the curve of her hips, lingering perhaps a few seconds too long on her breasts before reach the reddened face of Cheridene Williams. He supressed a chuckle at her focused expression and strange pose as he walked over to the matted area of the gym.
He hadn't spoken to her much before, but her face (and body!) were definitely recognizeable. At the least, chatting with her would kill a few minutes that he may otherwise have had to spend doing something that his mother would call "productive". Besides, as a newly single dude, how could he pass up a chance to chat up a hot girl?
Well, might as well kick off this conversation with figuring out what the hell she was doing with those poses. Probably some girly gymnastics thing, but whatever, his curiosity was piqued. Oliver waved to her as he entered her line of sight.
"Hey, watcha doing?"
Man, what a boring day. Moronic teachers, pointless lectures and friends who were too busy to hang out all made for an overall pretty terrible combination. The stupidly hot weather outside didn't help much either. Thank god for air conditioning.
Oliver was met by a welcome rush of cool air as he entered the gym. He stood there for a moment, checking his watch, before something caught his eye at the other end of the building. A few steps towards the window confirmed for him that he wasn't alone in here, and several more allowed him to get a pretty good look at the girl stretching on the mats. His gaze travelled along the curve of her hips, lingering perhaps a few seconds too long on her breasts before reach the reddened face of Cheridene Williams. He supressed a chuckle at her focused expression and strange pose as he walked over to the matted area of the gym.
He hadn't spoken to her much before, but her face (and body!) were definitely recognizeable. At the least, chatting with her would kill a few minutes that he may otherwise have had to spend doing something that his mother would call "productive". Besides, as a newly single dude, how could he pass up a chance to chat up a hot girl?
Well, might as well kick off this conversation with figuring out what the hell she was doing with those poses. Probably some girly gymnastics thing, but whatever, his curiosity was piqued. Oliver waved to her as he entered her line of sight.
"Hey, watcha doing?"
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MK Kilmarnock
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Well. There went relaxing.
Cheridene grimaced and gave some thought to how she'd remove herself from the position she put herself in, as it didn't exactly lend itself to conversation. If she had tried speaking, the pressure put on her neck and back would have squashed her voice down and made breathing a trial. She swallowed the irritation of having her pose interrupted and pushed off the wall with her feet, slowly guiding her weight back and somersaulting backwards until her knees hit the mat, whereupon she could get on her elbows and push over into a seated position with a sigh.
"Hey," she said simply, giving Oliver the once-over. Not an annoying kid, but in her experience he definitely kept to himself. Kind of a grease-monkey type. Shit, had they ever really had a conversation after four years of going to school with each other? Probably not, she decided. She didn't go out of her way to talk to people. When you're friends with people like Sam, you let them do the talking for you.
"I was doing yoga. Yeah, the pants are actually for something," Cheridene added as a little quip. "STILL doin' it, actually. Guess I can take a break though, was starting to get a headache." She started to bend her knees outward which involved spreading her legs, and thought it better to turn herself so she wasn't perfectly squared up with Oliver to do that, pressing the soles of her feet together and pulling them toward her hips to stretch out her thighs. She wondered, briefly at least, what Oliver was doing here. Lifting weights?
Too much of a pain to ask. He might come out and say what he's doing anyway.
Cheridene grimaced and gave some thought to how she'd remove herself from the position she put herself in, as it didn't exactly lend itself to conversation. If she had tried speaking, the pressure put on her neck and back would have squashed her voice down and made breathing a trial. She swallowed the irritation of having her pose interrupted and pushed off the wall with her feet, slowly guiding her weight back and somersaulting backwards until her knees hit the mat, whereupon she could get on her elbows and push over into a seated position with a sigh.
"Hey," she said simply, giving Oliver the once-over. Not an annoying kid, but in her experience he definitely kept to himself. Kind of a grease-monkey type. Shit, had they ever really had a conversation after four years of going to school with each other? Probably not, she decided. She didn't go out of her way to talk to people. When you're friends with people like Sam, you let them do the talking for you.
"I was doing yoga. Yeah, the pants are actually for something," Cheridene added as a little quip. "STILL doin' it, actually. Guess I can take a break though, was starting to get a headache." She started to bend her knees outward which involved spreading her legs, and thought it better to turn herself so she wasn't perfectly squared up with Oliver to do that, pressing the soles of her feet together and pulling them toward her hips to stretch out her thighs. She wondered, briefly at least, what Oliver was doing here. Lifting weights?
Too much of a pain to ask. He might come out and say what he's doing anyway.
Oliver grinned briefly as he saw Cheri flip over, contorting herself into a fairly compromising position before adjusting herself on the mat.
Yoga, huh? Made sense, girls always seemed to be into that sort of fruity shit. It looked fucking retarded, to be completely honest, but then again, lifting weights wasn't much better. Oliver's tongue quickly darted from his mouth, licking his lips before receding back to where they came. At the very least, he was able to get a nice view out of it, as opposed to having nothing to look at but some sweaty guy's bulging biceps. One of those little pleasures in life, like when you're walking down the street on a hot day and a cool breeze hits you square in the face.
Anyway, might as well continue the conversation. Not like she'd given him much to work with, but she hadn't told him to get lost either, which meant his chances weren't one hundred percent dead. In any case, stranding here talking about yoga was miles better than standing around outside waiting for something interesting to happen. Oliver gave a quick stretch before probing further, hoping his tone would strike a balance between sounding too interested and sounding not interested enough.
"So, you do this for fun or it some kinda sports training?"
Yeah, that sounded pretty good. She was into sports, so maybe he could use that as a way to get her talking.
Yoga, huh? Made sense, girls always seemed to be into that sort of fruity shit. It looked fucking retarded, to be completely honest, but then again, lifting weights wasn't much better. Oliver's tongue quickly darted from his mouth, licking his lips before receding back to where they came. At the very least, he was able to get a nice view out of it, as opposed to having nothing to look at but some sweaty guy's bulging biceps. One of those little pleasures in life, like when you're walking down the street on a hot day and a cool breeze hits you square in the face.
Anyway, might as well continue the conversation. Not like she'd given him much to work with, but she hadn't told him to get lost either, which meant his chances weren't one hundred percent dead. In any case, stranding here talking about yoga was miles better than standing around outside waiting for something interesting to happen. Oliver gave a quick stretch before probing further, hoping his tone would strike a balance between sounding too interested and sounding not interested enough.
"So, you do this for fun or it some kinda sports training?"
Yeah, that sounded pretty good. She was into sports, so maybe he could use that as a way to get her talking.
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MK Kilmarnock
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"Little bit of both, actually," Cheridene grunted. Once again, the position she'd put herself into was not very conducive to speech and she was hunched over her feet that had been pressed together to bow her knees out. This position was good for the lower back, but most of the pressure of the stretch was placed on her groin. Annoying timing on Oliver's part, but it was a stretch that couldn't be ignored and she wasn't about to let anybody encroach on her workout time either.
"Basketball season's over, but there's still running." She sat up midway through the sentence and straightened her legs out. "So it can't hurt to keep, like, limber and shit." She looked up at him. Yep, that was a mistake, he was eyeing her like a weirdo. Time to look back at her own legs. "But it's also just good for you in general and like, I do it to help me relax, like it's 'me time'."
She could only hope he got that hint, because that was about as harsh as she could be.
"Basketball season's over, but there's still running." She sat up midway through the sentence and straightened her legs out. "So it can't hurt to keep, like, limber and shit." She looked up at him. Yep, that was a mistake, he was eyeing her like a weirdo. Time to look back at her own legs. "But it's also just good for you in general and like, I do it to help me relax, like it's 'me time'."
She could only hope he got that hint, because that was about as harsh as she could be.
Well, she didn't really seem too relaxed, but eh... Everyone needed to cut loose from time to time, after all, and as one of the people who needed it a lot more than average, he was in no position to criticise her methods of doing so. Looks could be deceiving, after all. Still, this conversation was going pretty much nowhere, and if Oliver wanted to avoid the void of awkward silence that would quickly be upon them, a change of subject was drastically needed.
"So, speaking of relaxation..." He paused for a moment, giving his arms a quick stretch. "You coming to the party later?"
He didn't have to specify which party, of course. Anyone at George Hunter would have known which one he was talking about. With any luck, he'd be able to catch her there and talk a bit when she was a bit less...distracted.
"So, speaking of relaxation..." He paused for a moment, giving his arms a quick stretch. "You coming to the party later?"
He didn't have to specify which party, of course. Anyone at George Hunter would have known which one he was talking about. With any luck, he'd be able to catch her there and talk a bit when she was a bit less...distracted.
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MK Kilmarnock
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And THERE it is.
"Oh, you mean Forrest's?" Cheridene asked in a halfhearted attempt to play dumb, but not too dumb, about the whole thing. The biggest party of the year was, along with prom, the talk of the entire school. She knew that from some empirical standpoint but had managed to stay on the fringes of school society, playing a teetering game of tightrope, balancing total irrelevancy and social death with getting sucked into all the drama that came with going to a school full of totally-not-racists, totally-not-bigots, and totally-not-sluts-trying-to-sleep-with-all-the-racists-and-bigots. And a smattering of cool people here and there, she supposed.
"Yeah, I mean, I been thinkin' about it," she said. "Don't sound very relaxing though, does it?"
Actually, that gave her an idea. Something to change the subject with. Keeping Oliver around may not have been the king of ideal situations but it was the lesser of two evils if it drew talk away from Fastball or whatever the fuck they were calling it. "But this, this IS. You wanna try it with me?" she asked, putting on more of a smile.
Grin and bear it, Cheri. Do a couple poses, get him to talk about something else, then claim you gotta go take a shower.
Actually, you do kinda smell funky. Maybe you do need a shower.
"Oh, you mean Forrest's?" Cheridene asked in a halfhearted attempt to play dumb, but not too dumb, about the whole thing. The biggest party of the year was, along with prom, the talk of the entire school. She knew that from some empirical standpoint but had managed to stay on the fringes of school society, playing a teetering game of tightrope, balancing total irrelevancy and social death with getting sucked into all the drama that came with going to a school full of totally-not-racists, totally-not-bigots, and totally-not-sluts-trying-to-sleep-with-all-the-racists-and-bigots. And a smattering of cool people here and there, she supposed.
"Yeah, I mean, I been thinkin' about it," she said. "Don't sound very relaxing though, does it?"
Actually, that gave her an idea. Something to change the subject with. Keeping Oliver around may not have been the king of ideal situations but it was the lesser of two evils if it drew talk away from Fastball or whatever the fuck they were calling it. "But this, this IS. You wanna try it with me?" she asked, putting on more of a smile.
Grin and bear it, Cheri. Do a couple poses, get him to talk about something else, then claim you gotta go take a shower.
Actually, you do kinda smell funky. Maybe you do need a shower.
"Yeah. You should come, it's gonna be awesome..."
Oliver pursed his lips, his arm moving back to scratch the back of his head as he considered her offer. On one hand, doing the poses himself didn't look very comfortable, and to be honest, he wasn't exactly a fan of folding himself upside down and looking like a complete tool. On the other hand, he took the trouble to talk to this girl, and refusing would probably piss her off, putting all of his smooth-talking to waste...
What the hell, he had already invested a decent amount of effort into this conversation already, so he might as well give this a shot. Besides, nobody else was watching anyway. He took a deep breath and sat down on the mat, flashing a grin at the smiling girl next to him.
"Anyway, this yoga thing looks fun, but I've never tried it before, so I'm not really sure how to do it. Wanna give me some tips?"
Oliver pursed his lips, his arm moving back to scratch the back of his head as he considered her offer. On one hand, doing the poses himself didn't look very comfortable, and to be honest, he wasn't exactly a fan of folding himself upside down and looking like a complete tool. On the other hand, he took the trouble to talk to this girl, and refusing would probably piss her off, putting all of his smooth-talking to waste...
What the hell, he had already invested a decent amount of effort into this conversation already, so he might as well give this a shot. Besides, nobody else was watching anyway. He took a deep breath and sat down on the mat, flashing a grin at the smiling girl next to him.
"Anyway, this yoga thing looks fun, but I've never tried it before, so I'm not really sure how to do it. Wanna give me some tips?"
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MK Kilmarnock
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"You're not the sports type, are you?" Cheri asked wryly. "It's just stretching. Just do what I tell you, try to copy me, and if it hurts, let me know." She brought her arm across her chest and hooked her other arm under, pulling it closer gradually. She would normally count to ten in her head while doing this, but she only counted to five and did so aloud so present company wouldn't be out of the loop. She'd already stretched both shoulders anyway, so she was more making her point than anything.
"You prol'ly know this one as a plank." Cheri slid her feet to the side and morphed from her seated position to her hands and knees, facing Oliver. "Just act like you're doing a push-up, but you won't actually go down. There's like, two of these, but we're gonna do the one that works out your arms more." She breathed in slowly, inhaling through her nose at a depth Oliver could probably hear clear as speech, and fully extended her legs, drawing her knees up from the mat, as she exhaled. Just like she'd described, it now seemed like she was about to start a push-up, with her elbows remaining straightened.
"Just keep this..." she said gently, "for about twenty seconds. Then slowly let yourself down. Nothing is fast in yoga."
"You prol'ly know this one as a plank." Cheri slid her feet to the side and morphed from her seated position to her hands and knees, facing Oliver. "Just act like you're doing a push-up, but you won't actually go down. There's like, two of these, but we're gonna do the one that works out your arms more." She breathed in slowly, inhaling through her nose at a depth Oliver could probably hear clear as speech, and fully extended her legs, drawing her knees up from the mat, as she exhaled. Just like she'd described, it now seemed like she was about to start a push-up, with her elbows remaining straightened.
"Just keep this..." she said gently, "for about twenty seconds. Then slowly let yourself down. Nothing is fast in yoga."
"So, the yoga community's incorporated memes into their workout, huh?" Oliver chuckled to himself as he moved himself into position, keeping his eyes on Cheri in order to make sure he copied her correctly. Was that arm thing necessary? She didn't exactly give him much time to figure it out himself, and he wasn't very interested in lagging behind.
Eh, screw it. Oliver winced slightly at the faint cracking sounds coming from his joints as he extended his legs all the way. He followed his partner's pattern of breathing as he held the position, the tension in his muscles slowly increasing. Damn, this yoga thing really was harder than it looked.
After, like, a million years of waiting, he finally was able to let himself down, looking up at the girl next to him. With any luck, he didn't end up looking nearly as stupid as he felt back there. In any case, the next words out of his mouth didn't sound nearly as confident has they were before.
"So...what's next?"
Eh, screw it. Oliver winced slightly at the faint cracking sounds coming from his joints as he extended his legs all the way. He followed his partner's pattern of breathing as he held the position, the tension in his muscles slowly increasing. Damn, this yoga thing really was harder than it looked.
After, like, a million years of waiting, he finally was able to let himself down, looking up at the girl next to him. With any luck, he didn't end up looking nearly as stupid as he felt back there. In any case, the next words out of his mouth didn't sound nearly as confident has they were before.
"So...what's next?"
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MK Kilmarnock
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Ah, that's good, he was willing to do another one. Cheridene thought she felt a twinge of something that faintly resembled pride, whether it be for Oliver showing genuine interest in something new and unfamiliar or for her own encouragement to that same effort. It almost offset the utter confusion at what he'd said earlier.
"I don't really know what that means," she said offhandedly in regards to this talk of memes in yoga, unsure of when she'd mentioned a meme of any kind. "Buh-ut uuuuuuuuh, okay, something else next." She sat flat on the mat and crossed her right leg over her left, waiting for Oliver to do the same. "Make sure the sole of your foot, yeah that one, is like... down flat." She set her hand on her knee, planted the other on the mat, and then slowly turned. "Then you'll like..." she realized she'd picked something of a complicated pose, to demonstrate moreso than to actually perform, but it was too late to do anything other than hope Oliver got it. "Just turn into it and feel that stretch in your abs and lower back."
She paused to breathe. Having to explain the poses meant paying extra attention to her breathing patterns or else risk missing the entire point of the exercise. Just talking with the exhale. "And breathe out... and breathe in when I do."
Please don't just be a massive waste of time.
"I don't really know what that means," she said offhandedly in regards to this talk of memes in yoga, unsure of when she'd mentioned a meme of any kind. "Buh-ut uuuuuuuuh, okay, something else next." She sat flat on the mat and crossed her right leg over her left, waiting for Oliver to do the same. "Make sure the sole of your foot, yeah that one, is like... down flat." She set her hand on her knee, planted the other on the mat, and then slowly turned. "Then you'll like..." she realized she'd picked something of a complicated pose, to demonstrate moreso than to actually perform, but it was too late to do anything other than hope Oliver got it. "Just turn into it and feel that stretch in your abs and lower back."
She paused to breathe. Having to explain the poses meant paying extra attention to her breathing patterns or else risk missing the entire point of the exercise. Just talking with the exhale. "And breathe out... and breathe in when I do."
Please don't just be a massive waste of time.
Bit of a flop there with the joke, but oh well - he'd just have to try better with the next one. If he was in a more stable position, Oliver would have shrugged, but as things stood this yoga thing was tying up way more of his body than he expected it would. Picking himself up, he followed Cheri's movements with his feet, his awkward, jerky movements standing in stark contrast with those of the girl next to him. After several agonizing seconds of fumbling, he turned, quickly realizing that his legs were not crossed properly.
"Shit," he whispered to himself as he uncrossed his legs and crossed them again, doing it right this time. The last thing he wanted was to go through all this trouble of playing along with this girl's hobby and then screw up and look like an idiot in front of her. At least they were the only two people here, which was a plus...
Oliver's breathing slowly came into sync with Cheri's as he held the position, craning his eyes to look over at her. After a few more moments of this, he broke the silence with a comment, speaking a little more quickly than he had planned to.
"Am I doing it right?"
"Shit," he whispered to himself as he uncrossed his legs and crossed them again, doing it right this time. The last thing he wanted was to go through all this trouble of playing along with this girl's hobby and then screw up and look like an idiot in front of her. At least they were the only two people here, which was a plus...
Oliver's breathing slowly came into sync with Cheri's as he held the position, craning his eyes to look over at her. After a few more moments of this, he broke the silence with a comment, speaking a little more quickly than he had planned to.
"Am I doing it right?"
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MK Kilmarnock
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"Dunno," Cheri said, her voice somewhat strained. "Can't really..." She couldn't really see him like this because the position had her turning away from him, but she'd just about stretched for as long as she needed to. She settled her mind by telling herself that sometimes yoga instructors had to stop and help beginners in the class rather than just doing all the poses themselves. She also immediately fought herself on that, because she'd never forced the instructor to stop, herself.
She straightened her legs and her waist so she could put some attention to Oliver and his position. For being as anxious as he was about doing it correctly, he wasn't bad for a definite first-timer. All the same Cheridene felt a twinge of schadenfreude at somebody meeting difficulty with an activity he'd previously discarded as 'just stretching', as if that was something easy and pointless.
"You've got it down mostly. Just need to..." Rather than finish verbally explaining herself, she rolled to a half-kneeling position and moved Oliver's foot where it should have been. "Tell me if it hurts, you'll be feeling some stretching in your hip. Aaaand turn," she put her hands on his shoulders just long enough to coax him to turn, "... just like that. Hold for another ten seconds, just count it down. Most people wouldn't be doing this position first time, guess I should have stuck to something else since you're copying. But I guess I wasn't thinking about that."
She straightened her legs and her waist so she could put some attention to Oliver and his position. For being as anxious as he was about doing it correctly, he wasn't bad for a definite first-timer. All the same Cheridene felt a twinge of schadenfreude at somebody meeting difficulty with an activity he'd previously discarded as 'just stretching', as if that was something easy and pointless.
"You've got it down mostly. Just need to..." Rather than finish verbally explaining herself, she rolled to a half-kneeling position and moved Oliver's foot where it should have been. "Tell me if it hurts, you'll be feeling some stretching in your hip. Aaaand turn," she put her hands on his shoulders just long enough to coax him to turn, "... just like that. Hold for another ten seconds, just count it down. Most people wouldn't be doing this position first time, guess I should have stuck to something else since you're copying. But I guess I wasn't thinking about that."
Oliver gave a quick chuckle. "I guess you weren't. No worries, though, I think I'm getting the hang of it." Of course, he wasn't quite sure he enjoyed the whole exercise yet, but a new experience was worthwhile, regardless. Worst case scenario, he got to kill some time that he would have otherwise standing around doing nothing, or, god forbid, studying.
Despite the direction in which his thoughts were going before he sat down on the mat, by now he was so focused on the task at hand that he barely noticed the girl touching him. He followed her instructions as best he could, giving a brief grunt of exertion as he reached the limits of the stretch. Thankfully, he hadn't hurt himself, but the position wasn't exactly one he thought was comfortable. After the countdown had finished, he released his position, taking a few deep breaths and turning his head around to look at Cheri.
"Well, that was pretty neat. You got any more exercises to try?"
How many stretches could there possibly be, anyway?
Despite the direction in which his thoughts were going before he sat down on the mat, by now he was so focused on the task at hand that he barely noticed the girl touching him. He followed her instructions as best he could, giving a brief grunt of exertion as he reached the limits of the stretch. Thankfully, he hadn't hurt himself, but the position wasn't exactly one he thought was comfortable. After the countdown had finished, he released his position, taking a few deep breaths and turning his head around to look at Cheri.
"Well, that was pretty neat. You got any more exercises to try?"
How many stretches could there possibly be, anyway?
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MK Kilmarnock
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"Yeah, I got like fifteen or twenty more that I needed to get through," Cheridene lobbed, holding her mischievous expression just for a moment or so. Oliver wasn't the worst company she could ask for; that prestigious award went to any of the various cheerleader types who she either didn't know and didn't care to, or had gotten to know far too much about them. This was still her private time, though, and was still searching for the most subtle, most polite way to 'finish your business and leave'.
Speaking of finishing his business, she hoped he'd forgotten all about the invitation to the party.
Speaking of finishing his business, she hoped he'd forgotten all about the invitation to the party.