The Trouble with Love

[style=font-family:Georgia; font-size: 36px; letter-spacing: -2px; text-align: center; color: #ffffff; text-shadow: 2px 1px 1px #747474; line-height: 28px;]la chanson des oiseaux[/style][style=font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; text-transform: uppercase; color: #a3a3a3; letter-spacing: 1px; text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #ffffff; text-align: center;]la voix des enfants pleurent à l'agonie[/style]
[style=margin: 10px 10px 0px 10px; padding: 5px; background-image: url('http://i.imgur.com/81xeW.png'); font-family: Arial; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify; color: #4a4a4a; padding: 5px;]"H-Hey," Elizabeth waved as Alexander took a seat across from her at the table. In an attempt not to look completely ravenous or shaken, she suppressed her reaction to the flaming hot pizza passing down her throat and instead sat completely calm and collected, such as was she normally hoped to project her personality toward others. The two of them had gotten to know each other pretty well in the past few weeks, but Elizabeth still wasn't quite at the "be yourself" stage with Alexander. Not quite. Instead, she always attempted to act as infallible as possible. As cool as possible.

There had even been that one incident nearly a month ago where she had accidentally passed gas in front of him. Gross right? Yeah. But when confronted with the accusation (or what felt like an accusation) to whether she had been the one who had done it. She flat-out lied. Lied. There wasn't even anyone else nearby who could have done it. And Alexander had to know that it wasn't him... she'd beaten herself for having denied it some minutes later, but she still stuck by what she had said.

Alexander was simply too cool to even be seen around a girl who passes gas (even though it was only one time). No guy could understand a girl who did such a thing. It was almost the same as if he'd seen her for who she truly was, or what she truly looked like. Yeah, the fact that he thought her power was only to change her skin color was a boon. If he knew about that gross tongue she had to accompany it, or the fact that she shed large portions of her skin in a single day, he'd probably never even talk to her again.

Elizabeth took another sip of her water and then placed it down on the table in front of her. She brought her gaze back to Alexander and smiled.

"So, the pizza is hot," Elizabeth gave him fair warning. It had been delivered to their table while he was gone after all, so he hadn't yet gotten the chance to experience the intensity of the pizza's heat. She laughed lightly in a nervous attempt to ease the mood and shift away any suspicion that she had lost her composure at all.

[/style][style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10px; color: #5a5a5a; text-align: center; text-shadow: 1px 1px 0px #ffffff;]CREDITS • made by lovesolfege from OTE[/style]

[style=font-family:Georgia; font-size: 36px; letter-spacing: -2px; text-align: center; color: #ffffff; text-shadow: 2px 1px 1px #747474; line-height: 28px;]la chanson des oiseaux[/style][style=font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; text-transform: uppercase; color: #a3a3a3; letter-spacing: 1px; text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #ffffff; text-align: center;]la voix des enfants pleurent à l'agonie[/style]
[style=margin: 10px 10px 0px 10px; padding: 5px; background-image: url('http://i.imgur.com/81xeW.png'); font-family: Arial; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify; color: #4a4a4a; padding: 5px;]Elizabeth rolled her eyes at his little smartass comment. Obviously, she knew that food out of the oven was hot... she had only been trying to give him fair warning, and that attitude of superiority which he projected on her was getting on her nerves. Granted, after an entire summer of hearing that mouth of his, she was almost used to it. Even when he was being a jerk, she knew he meant nothing too much by it and had to do her best not to take it to heart. Hopefully he didn't actually think she was stupid.

Rather than gathering potential retorts, Elizabeth simply moved on and worried about it no longer. She returned her attention to the delicious food before her and took another slice of pizza to add it to her own plate. With a hearty grin, she reached down for the pizza, this time blowing on it gently before her bite. Truth be told, her taste was delicate to heat... she was a person who liked her food cool, perhaps even a bit cooler than most people.

A few chews, then a swallow, and another piece of the pizza had been devoured. She lowered the pizza back upon her plate and returned her attention to her partner. Wow, to think he actually had the audacity to bring up school on their little date. Did Elizabeth like school? Sure. Why not? She liked power, she liked having some friends. She liked being remotely popular. However, she didn't like talking about it or thinking about it while she was off. She was just weird like that.

"Eh... I could go for another month or two off," she answered his question with a shrug of her shoulders. She really couldn't care less when they went back. Honestly, aside from the social aspect of school there was nothing really to like. She could learn everything better on her own anyway. And the subjects that she didn't study on her own she really didn't care about... like English and History.

"But I guess it's okay," she faked a smile. "Why, are you excited?"

[/style][style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10px; color: #5a5a5a; text-align: center; text-shadow: 1px 1px 0px #ffffff;]CREDITS • made by lovesolfege from OTE[/style]

[style=font-family:Georgia; font-size: 36px; letter-spacing: -2px; text-align: center; color: #ffffff; text-shadow: 2px 1px 1px #747474; line-height: 28px;]la chanson des oiseaux[/style][style=font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; text-transform: uppercase; color: #a3a3a3; letter-spacing: 1px; text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #ffffff; text-align: center;]la voix des enfants pleurent à l'agonie[/style]
[style=margin: 10px 10px 0px 10px; padding: 5px; background-image: url('http://i.imgur.com/81xeW.png'); font-family: Arial; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify; color: #4a4a4a; padding: 5px;]And there it was. Alexander was being sweet again. He could always go from being a jerk one moment to being the most compassionate, kind, tender loving man she had ever known. It was like an unpredictable rollercoaster ride and Elizabeth simply had to take a seat. She had no control over it. His mood, and how he treated her, seemed to have nothing to do with what she said or how she acted toward him. They were completely unrelated things. Then how would she make him so that he would be sweet all the time?... if only he were so easy to manipulate.

Her eyes rolled downwards where she examined his hand which had taken hers by surprise. She then raised her gaze on level with him once more. His gorgeous and dazzling eyes seemed to be focused on hers. Why he had taken such a sudden interest into romance escaped her, but it was enough to send her heard racing and leave her expression completely dumbfounded and lost in what was apparently love.

"T-Tha-Thanks..." She felt so stupid. That dumb look on her face, and the uncontrollable stuttering. She did not feel cool right now and was growing more and more embarrassed by the second. Her cheeks even turned a bright crimson red color, thus expressing her embarrassment more than what could be seen on an albino. As always, she was able to get her color under control relatively quickly returning it back to its normal more pale complexion.

"I try," she then said in a much more relaxed tone. She didn't want to have her last words on the subject sound like that of a clutz. Such a thing would tarnish her reputation. Perhaps not with Alexander, but still. She did have such a thing to watch out for. However, she squinted her eyes suspiciously as a thought came to her head.

"You want to make out don't you?" That would explain his sudden turn to romance.

[/style][style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10px; color: #5a5a5a; text-align: center; text-shadow: 1px 1px 0px #ffffff;]CREDITS • made by lovesolfege from OTE[/style]

[style=font-family:Georgia; font-size: 36px; letter-spacing: -2px; text-align: center; color: #ffffff; text-shadow: 2px 1px 1px #747474; line-height: 28px;]la chanson des oiseaux[/style][style=font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; text-transform: uppercase; color: #a3a3a3; letter-spacing: 1px; text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #ffffff; text-align: center;]la voix des enfants pleurent à l'agonie[/style]
[style=margin: 10px 10px 0px 10px; padding: 5px; background-image: url('http://i.imgur.com/81xeW.png'); font-family: Arial; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify; color: #4a4a4a; padding: 5px;]Her cheeks transformed red of embarrassment again once she had heard his next comment as well. Pizza breath? Well, she supposed she did. But considering he had it as well, wouldn't the taste like... cancel out or something? Elizabeth realized that she had jumped the gun a bit, perhaps, in assuming such a thing. maybe he really did just care about her and that was that. Maybe there was nothing deeper behind what he had said. Maybe he hadn't had some kind of underhanded objective. But given the way that their relationship had such formed, it wasn't like she could completely expel the thought that he had a bit of a manipulative nature, regardless of whether or not she liked him.

He pulled his hand away from hers after such a transitory portion of time. She wouldn't have minded doing so longer, but she wasn't going to look desperate or reach for his hand or anything silly like that. Instead, she'd decided to just go back to what she had been doing only moments before, grabbing another bite of pizza for herself. She'd return to that sequence. Lift pizza, a few chews, a swallow, and then repeat. And it was good too. She enjoyed it.

She she took a bite, she looked up at Alexander. He was sooooo cute too! Except he wasn't only cute, he was cool too. And now he was talking about actually wanting to see her more? She couldn't even fathom why someone as cool as him would want to hang out with someone like her. Sure, she knew that he liked the physical expressions of romance the two of them shared, making out, and the like. But he actually wanted to hang out with her? He liked her as a person? Why? Someone like him? It was too much.

"Well, you see me plenty," Elizabeth decided to say. Hopefully it didn't sound rude or stuck up. However, she was simply trying to say that whenever he called her, she was always there after all. Granted, this summer she had spent a month in Norway with her father, but still, aside from that she was most often around and accessible for him.

"Are you saying you want to go on more dates?" she questioned him. The difference she was implying here was that dates and hookups were two different things. In the past, the latter was what she'd been experiencing quite a bit more.

[/style][style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10px; color: #5a5a5a; text-align: center; text-shadow: 1px 1px 0px #ffffff;]CREDITS • made by lovesolfege from OTE[/style]

[style=font-family:Georgia; font-size: 36px; letter-spacing: -2px; text-align: center; color: #ffffff; text-shadow: 2px 1px 1px #747474; line-height: 28px;]la chanson des oiseaux[/style][style=font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; text-transform: uppercase; color: #a3a3a3; letter-spacing: 1px; text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #ffffff; text-align: center;]la voix des enfants pleurent à l'agonie[/style]
[style=margin: 10px 10px 0px 10px; padding: 5px; background-image: url('http://i.imgur.com/81xeW.png'); font-family: Arial; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify; color: #4a4a4a; padding: 5px;]"Really?"

Elizabeth squinted her eyes. She could hardly believe what he had just said. Really? He'd want to go on some more dates. Since when did he care about such a thing? She hadn't known him as the type to get so closed to someone, a girl, to be more specific. He had been more in tune with the physical aspect of relationships and almost completely ignored the emotional side. Instead, he'd used his own craftiness to win her love.... if blackmail could even be considered such a thing.

Elizabeth set her pizza back down on her plate and left her eyes fixated on Alexander. What was he thinking? What was his plan? Why did he really want her over at his place for dinner? He wasn't the type she could read so easily. There had to be more to him than just wanting a date. Or perhaps she was wrong. Maybe he was simply ready to evolve to full-blown romance. And to go through the effort of actually cooking something himself for her? Well, that was truly saying something.

"So, you do like me, don't you?" She cracked a little smirk. Her tone itself was quite playful, almost as if mocking him. "You loooove me."

After this, she began to giggle, almost uncontrollably. They weren't quite laughs, but moreso simple playful, almost childish giggles. She tried to hold them back, but doing so wasn't so easy. A few brief seconds later, she was finally able to stop laughing, but held a rather goofy expression.

"Dinner at your place sounds lovely," Elizabeth added.
[/style][style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10px; color: #5a5a5a; text-align: center; text-shadow: 1px 1px 0px #ffffff;]CREDITS • made by lovesolfege from OTE[/style]

[style=font-family:Georgia; font-size: 36px; letter-spacing: -2px; text-align: center; color: #ffffff; text-shadow: 2px 1px 1px #747474; line-height: 28px;]la chanson des oiseaux[/style][style=font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold; font-size: 10px; text-transform: uppercase; color: #a3a3a3; letter-spacing: 1px; text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #ffffff; text-align: center;]la voix des enfants pleurent à l'agonie[/style]
[style=margin: 10px 10px 0px 10px; padding: 5px; background-image: url('http://i.imgur.com/81xeW.png'); font-family: Arial; font-size: 10px; text-align: justify; color: #4a4a4a; padding: 5px;]Elizabeth had to take a moment to think of his proposal. Saturday... did she have anything to do on Saturday? Elizabeth had a habit of forgetting her plans, and she never used a planner, so it wasn't like she could just check to see what her Saturday looked like. However, considering that this was summer and her father was away, she was reasonably sure that her Saturday' was vacant. She probably didn't have anything to do. At the most, her mother wanted to take her shopping at the mall or something, but she could easily get out of that. In fact, her mother would probably be excited to know that she was going out on a date with a boy.

Now, it was onto the secondary phase of thoughts before answering his question. Now, if she made herself so easily available, would she seem desperate? She had to figure this part out. And how hard would he work to go out on a date with her? How much did he want to do it? Elizabeth wanted to test the theory. Perhaps he was just bored and needed something to do Saturday night. It was possible that was his primary goal rather than actually seeing her. Maybe if it was one of their first dates, or if she hadn't known him so well already, she would have just given a straightforward "yes." But no, not now.

"Saturday's a little busy for me," Elizabeth answered him. She then turned slightly to the side, turning her attention to her green purse which sat beside her on the table's booth. She dug into it, pulling out her cell phone. She pressed a few buttons, somewhat randomly, ending up on the empty calender display. Of course, she made sure to hold the phone high enough so that Alexander couldn't quite see it.

"Friday is better for me," Elizabeth said, now closing her iPhone's app. She turned, gently placing it back into her purse once again. The girl returned her attention to Alexander across the table.
[/style][style=font-family: Arial; font-size: 10px; color: #5a5a5a; text-align: center; text-shadow: 1px 1px 0px #ffffff;]CREDITS • made by lovesolfege from OTE[/style]