Shy First Steps

[chibinanashi†]

((Raine Schwarz continued from Modelling))

In her room at home, Raine had clothes scattered everywhere. She was intensely nervous when Ridley had asked her to lunch at the mall. The mall was where everyone could see you. It made her very happy that they were going to be seen in public as a couple, not just two close friends.

She held up a t-shirt and a sundress. Remembering when she had asked Ridley to model for her, Raine recalled the soft smile he had when he saw her. She decided to go with the sky blue sundress with the hemline stopping just above her knees. Wrapping around her neck a little harvest gold scarf for xomfort, Raine recalled seeing it in a fashion magazine at the doctor's office.

Raine brushed her hair, brushed her teeth and looke over to her stepmother's makeup kit. However tempted she may be to imprress Ridley, she ignored it, Better to love someone for who they are than what they look like, right?

Stepping down the stairs quietly, Raine caught her father's gaze. He looked at her for a brief second then went back to his phone call. There would be no 'be back here by this time...' or 'that boy had better not...". No, there was nothing. So, she grabbed her purse and sat outside on the porch swing, waiting with her gaze turned to the floor.

[KingKamor†]

((Ridley Landon continued from Modelling))

Every so often, Ridley wondered whether his hair looked good enough by checking in his rear view mirror. He had always been self-conscious about it, but today it seemed that each lock of curls didn't feel like cooperating at all. His hair wasn't the only problem; the car that he was driving was a green '96 Jeep Grand Cherokee. It was a hand-me-down from his godparents, so his family had gotten it for free, but it was so worn down that they had to pay for repairs almost equal to that of a new car. Raine wasn't exactly the materialistic type, but he couldn't think of a time when she had been in his car, so he honestly didn't know what to expect her to think about it.

His ipod was blaring a particularly addictive song from Beatmania called "smooooch," which he had recently found online and downloaded. It was amazingly catchy despite the cutesy animation that came along with it. He could easily picture a montage of good times with his friends as the song played, and he actually got a little teary-eyed sometimes from how simple and carefree the song was.

Now wasn't the time to get teary-eyed over a Japanese pop song, though. He was just about to come up on her house as the song ended and went on to another one, but he decided to turn the ipod setup off as he stepped out of the car in his brown baggy cargo pants and wide-collared t-shirt. He decided not to waste time, so he went up and rang the bell without hesitation, though his heart was pounding at the thought of one of her parents answering the door instead of her.

[chibinanashi†]

Ridley could see a young twenty-some year old woman look outside the lace curtains of the house. She came to the door and opened it up, looking Ridley up and down. "...A boy?" She said almost in disbelief. "Wait here." Her black hair was tied up in a tight bun and her face was caked with makeup. The woman's black blouse clung to her body with a deep v-neck and a corset worn underneath with tight black pants. She turned and disappeared to the back of the house.

Her voice snapped, loud enough for Ridley to hear. "Raine! You have a boy here for what reason!?"

Raine was pulled from the back porch to the front door. "I...I mentioned it at dinner last night, remember?"

"As if I would remember. Go. Now." She snapped before shutting the door on them both.

Raine bit her lip and lowered her gaze. "I'm sorry you had to see that. That was my stepmom." Quickly, she shook her head and looked back over to Ridley. "E-E-Enough of that! We should get going while the day is still going, right?" Slowly, she reached out to take Ridley's hand, leaving time for him to pull away if he didn't want the contact.

[KingKamor†]

A little taken aback by the odd welcome, Ridley simply rolled with what was going on. He let her pull him by the hand and, having noticed her blue sundress, remarked, "You look nice." He always found it difficult to maintain eye contact with people as he gave them comments. It might have had to do with the fact that he usually joked around with play-insults with his friends so much that it had eventually become hard to be truthful to others.

Before she could respond, he said, "Your stepmom is... uh... young is what I want to say, but..." He trailed off. "In any case, let's get in car." He motioned over to the green Jeep.

[chibinanashi†]

Raine smiled softly as they walked down the stone path across the front lawn to his green jeep. When he referred to her stepmother, Raine bit back a laugh but a small giggle seemed to escape her lips. "A lot of people ask us if we're sisters." Raine glanced back to the house, standing beside the passenger side of the car in case it was locked. "But my father always had a...umm....thing for younger women. My stepmother happens to have a thing for older men with lots of money."

"They're well-suited for each other." Raine summed up, crossing her arms just under chest. She then looked over his jeep and placed a hand on the roof of it. "I like your jeep though!" Raine looked over to Ridley and smiled gently. "It seems to match your personality very well."

"I've never been in a jeep before though..." She breathed, a small hint of excitement to her voice. It seems the state of the jeep didn't bother her.

[KingKamor†]

"Yeah, I guess they are suited for each other... in a way." He didn't want to continue the conversation, so he was glad that she had changed the subject to his car. "Yeah, my family and I got it for free from some good friends of ours, so it was a piece of crap when we got it. You get what you pay for, though, so we paid pretty much the cost of a used car in repairs over the past two years."

He opened the door on the driver's side. "Go ahead and get in. It's unlocked." He plopped down on the fuzzy driver's seat and recalled how the leather of the seat underneath it was so cracked and worn that his family had to put the fuzzy encasement on both front seats. He decided not to mention it, though.

[chibinanashi†]

Raine opened the door to the jeep and sat down in the seat, fixing her sundress. She rubbed her back against the fuzzy seat and she grinned. "It've very comfy!" Raine commented as she buckled her seat belt.

"It's very comfortable!" Raine giggled, closing her eyes and relaxing against the seat. "You're very lucky to have a vehicle of your own...I don't even have my own license." She lamented before turning to look at him. "You look very sexy today!" Raine forced the sexy word out of her month. She wasn't entirely fond of it, but if it was something Ridley wanted to hear, she'd say it.

[KingKamor†]

Ridley was already so used to the fuzz that he hardly ever noticed it anymore. "Yeah, I guess that it's comfortable." More often than not, however, a fold in the top layer of the seat would form and he would have to sit off center so as not to have the fold dig into his ass.

At the comment about her not having a license, he remarked, "Aw, that sucks. Sorry to hear that. It's practically mandatory these days, so I can only imagine how tough that is." He recalled his time with his permit when he had to drive with either one of his parents or his older sister just to get anywhere. Those were some experiences that he rather would have erased from his mind.

"You look very sexy today!"

He almost snorted with laughter, but he caught himself and put his hand over his mouth. "S-sexy, huh?" Another bit of laughter escaped out from the side of his mouth. "You don't need to say that, you know. You can just say the same thing that I did: 'You look nice!' or something like that. 'Sexy' is usually reserved for more... intimate moments... but that's just how I see it."

He started the car. "But... thanks." He smiled at her as he pulled out of the driveway.

[chibinanashi†]

"Ahhh...." Raine's face turned an absolute cherry red as Ridley explained to her the difference between using sexy and nice in terms with social interacting. She had recalled him using the word back when he was modelling for her and Raine figured it was normal. She had been mistaken.

"I'm so sorry!" She quickly apologized and then looked over to him. "Yes...You look very nice today, very handsome!" Raine corrected herself. "So...I haven't been to the mall in ages, where did you want to grab a bite?"

[KingKamor†]

Ridley could only smile at how damn cute she was being. "It's no problem. And thanks." Once she asked him about where they should eat, he paused to think about it for a moment. "I don't know. Do you have anything in mind?"

He wanted a corn dog from Hotdog on a Stick at the moment, but it was his policy to always be the gentleman when it came to the girls he dated. Most of them saw his chivalry as a sign of weakness as a man. That never stopped him from changing who he was, though. He wasn't about to change himself just so that some superficial women would like him.

"I actually haven't eaten breakfast yet," he said with a laugh.

[chibinanashi†]

Raine placed her index finger on her chin and bowed her head in deep thought. "So...you haven't had breakfast and I have a craving for coffee...There must be a place in the mall where they still serve breakfast right? Kind of like a Denny's right?" Raine suggested an easy compromise. "Unless of course you'd prefer a small little cafe somewhere, I really don't mind."

She gave him her best smile as she reached out and laid a cautious hand on his shoulder. Of course, Raine wanted to instead hold his hand, but when one drove they drove with both hands on the steering wheel. Otherwise, it'd be unsafe driving right? Still, Raine wanted Ridley to be happy being with her. If he wasn't, she'd feel guilty about it.

[KingKamor†]

He twitched his shoulder a little bit at the feeling of her hand, but relaxed after a second or two. "I guess that their Starbucks serves coffee and general breakfast foods all day, right?" Cookies and other pastries weren't that bad of a lunch.

The mall wasn't very far, so they were already coming up on the neighborhood in which it resided. He pulled the Jeep into the parking lot and drove around a little to find a good parking place. "Come on, somewhere in the shade, come ooooooon..." he chanted to himself as they rounded another corner.

"Ah-HA!!" He yelled as he pulled into a spot that was in the shade of a tree. "Okay, here we are."

[chibinanashi†]

"Yes! Shade!" Raine joined in enthusiastically, raising her right hand in air in victory. Pausing, she glanced over to Ridley and blushed deeply. "I guess I got into it." She murmmured before quickly unbuckling her seatbelt and getting out of the jeep.

Her eyes squinted at the sunlight. It was very bright outside with barely a cloud in the sky. The only shade they had was from the tree they had parked near. "It's very nice out." Raine commented, walking over to Ridley.

[KingKamor†]

He chuckled to himself and said, "It's fine. I got just as enthusiastic, didn't I?" He unbuckled himself as well and hopped out of the car. He didn't bother to lock the doors, and walked up to meet Raine. Without much of a word, he began walking towards the entrance to the mall with her.

"So, do you have any money for shopping? Or do you want to look around for a few hours and just hang out?" He asked. He, himself, brought about forty dollars in case he saw a game or manga that he wanted, but he didn't want to keep his hopes up.

[chibinanashi†]

"Mm?" Raine glanced over to him then down at her purse. "Yes. I always carry some money with me just in case I see something I like. My stepmother is right about one thing though...Indulging in yourself once in a while is always good."

"I'm...thinking of maybe a nice dress or something." Raine followed close beside him. Every now and then, she would glance up at him and try to guess what he was thinking.