St. Aislin

[xXMysticXx]

"I know what drinking neat is. It's just not done with my good whisky. But whatever, " he said. " most girls can't actually drink liquor without diluting it somehow. " he said leaving the room to get himself a glass. He cane back with a bottle of tequila and inside of his glass was a small shot glass. He placed the glasses and bottle on the end table and poured himself a glass of the whisky. He took a decent sized sip sitting down on the armchair.

 

[Swan_Song]

"Tequila shots are best done with lime and salt," she said quietly, pouring another glass of whiskey straight. She took a gulp and said, "It's all about the fluidity of the motion, honestly. If you can't do it right, it tastes awful. But if you do it just so, it really is a nice experience." She sighed, then looked at Alexander questioningly. "Why haven't you kicked me out yet? Most people would, seeing as I am... well, the way I am, basically."

 

[xXMysticXx]

Alexander nodded. "Yes but I don't commonly keep lime in th house. I will admit I do buy things specifically to drink with but not quite that often. " he nodded again at her explanation, it was definitely one of the reasons why he liked seeing first timers out at bars they never really could get the right way to do it and ended up just making a lot of faces while attempting to down the drink. "What do you mean? " he asked. "The way you are what?"

 

[Swan_Song]

"... I'm really messed up. I swear, the only things I have in my favor are my art and my grades. I'm headstrong, I'm opinionated, and I'm a broken girl. Those three things definitely make me... unapproachable, to say the least." She took another gulp of her drink, then shook her head. "I'm overbearing, too. I guess it's just my way of trying to be concerned for people." She put the glass down and leaned back on the couch.

 

[xXMysticXx]

Ohhh, that. Meh, I'm getting sort or used to that." Alexander shrugged slightly. He glanced I've at her from the corner of his eye. He finished off his drink with one more sip before speaking again. " And you don't look broken, " He added in. "That overbearing thing does get sort of annoying though."

 

[.:SnazzyPizazz:.]

Sterling returned home shortly with a small bag in hand containing the packing tape he needed to secure that box he had brought home earlier. It was a care package of sorts he had put together for his sister. Sterling really missed her. They were like best friends, him and Auburn. Since Auburn was only seventeen she no choice but to stay with their parents while he chose to get away from all of the family problems and come to live with Aunt Mel. It was a large sacrifice to leave his life in New York, especially having to be separated from his sister. But all of their family's drama was too much for him to handle. So Sterling packed up his stuff, transferred schools, and came to live here with Aunt Mel. He sighed as these thoughts swirled around in his mind and began to tape the box full of goodies for his beloved sister.

 

[Swan_Song]

Sinead shrugged and said, "Well, I don't change for anyone. They can either take me as I am, or I walk away. That's really how it is." She poured herself a shot of tequila then downed it with ease, giving a slight smile. "Thanks for listening to my sob story of a life. I have to head home I think, so I'll... I'll just go." She got up, grabbed her school bag, and headed out the door, giving a soft sigh and shaking her head. She walked down the street by herself, admiring the nice weather.

 

[.:SnazzyPizazz:.]

Sterling jumped up once the package was taped up nicely and hopped into his Jeep once more. You'd think that having to run back and fourth to so many places would irritate someone after a while but Sterling didn't mind at all. He loved to drive and go places. It's part of what made life interesting for him. Going places and meeting new people. That and feeling the rush of the wind in his hair with the open freedom of his Jeep, well, Sterling just can never get enough. The engine roared to life and he started the car. His shades on and his music up, Sterling put the Jeep into drive and was off to the post office to drop off his package. He hadn't been driving for too long when he noticed Sinead walking on the side of the road. Sterling recognized her from school though they didn't really know one another that well. He honked at her and slowly inched to a stop. "Want a lift?" Sterling offered cheerfully, a large boyish grin spread across his face.

 

[Swan_Song]

"... Sure," she said softly, walking over and pulling her hat down over her face. "Thank you." She climbed in and buckled her seatbelt, avoiding looking at Sterling directly. "Umm... I live in Aisling Heights, about ten minutes from here. I hope I'm not causing you any trouble." After having a couple drinks, her accent was a little bit stronger, but she tried to pronounce her words as clearly as possible. It seemed Americans had a hard time understanding her. You would think that after living here for so long, it would have left her. But the people living around her were all Irish, so the accent stuck. The heights were probably the most ethnically diverse part of the town, with rich foreign tycoons all over the place.

 

[.:SnazzyPizazz:.]

Sterling grinned at Sinead behind his aviators, his lip ring gently stroking the enamel of his teeth as he pulled his lips into a smile. He reached out and turned down the volume of his music so he could converse with her. He took a moment to examine the girl. The first thing he noticed was the hat. At first he didn't think twice about it, assuming it was just nice touch to her outfit. But after seeing her pull it down over her face suddenly, it was pretty obvious she was trying to hide something. "Any time!" he said cheerfully and began to drive. "It's no trouble at all." He paused for a moment before casting a quick glance in her direction. "Nice hat."

 

[xXMysticXx]

Before Sinead hardy Alexander had managed to sneak in a response as she was heading for the door. " Well I tried to walk away, you followed me home. " He reminded with a slight grin. After she was gone, Alexander poured himself a shot in the now empty glass and downed the shot smoothly. He sighed and shook his head. That girl truly was something. He plopped himself back onto the couch and flipped on the tv. He had had a long day, on the bright side of his life it meant he didn't have to go to school today. On the other hand though by tomorrow morning the old ladies would spread their gossip and the entire town would have heard about his being incarcerated overnight and therefore was physically unable to attend school especially since the next morning he would have to hand in his police signed form and explain to the office why he'd missed school and then they too would be gossiping. He really hated having attention on him.

 

[Swan_Song]

Sinead glanced over at Sterling from the corner of her eye, wary of his attention on her. Could he possibly see the bruise? She adjusted her hat, trying to hide less of her face so he wouldn't suspect anything. "Oh, thank you," she said softly, folding her hands in her lap and staring downwards to the floorboards. "My grandmother knitted it for me, back home, when I was younger. I'm surprised it still fits." She looked over at him and smiled ever so slightly. She kept her distance from him, leaning on the door.

 

[.:SnazzyPizazz:.]

Sterling kept a steady eye on the road as he talked, ever so slightly shifting his eyes to the the girl beside him every once in a while. "It suits you," he said with a smile. "But why, may I ask, are you trying to cover that pretty face of yours?" he asked sincerely. He always saw her in school walking in the hallway, mostly keeping to herself. Sterling liked to look at people, liked to analyze their behaviors and get a good sense of their character. He had no idea why Sinead was was trying to hide her face. He never suspected anything horrible like what the situation really was. He just assumed she was having a bad hair day or had a bad case of the zits or something equally embarrassing.

 

[Swan_Song]

"Oh, it's mostly trying to hide my hair. I didn't have much time to fix it this morning." She showed him her hair, which looked perfectly fine, but she needed some sort of excuse. "Keeping it this short poses problems sometimes. I almost wish I would just shave it shorter, but I feel like this length is a bit more flattering." She was rambling a little bit, but it was helpful in avoiding the subject of her home life, and the bruise on her face. "And... thank you for the compliment." She held back a remark about how many other girls he called pretty that day, but she avoided it.

 

[.:SnazzyPizazz:.]

"Hmm, your hair looks great to me," Sterling said after taking a quick glance. "You should definitely keep it like that. The way your hair frames your face, it's a great look for you." He chuckled at Sinead's hesitation when she thanked him. "What, you don't like compliments?" he asked her with a grin as he slowly came to a stop at a red light. Sterling sat back into his seat and looked over at Sinead after taking both hands off of the steering wheel. He liked talking to her. This was probably the most engaging conversation he'd had in days.

 

[Swan_Song]

"Well, I... I'm not used to compliments," she admitted shyly, going quiet once more. She wasn't smiling. Smiling for her-- honest smiles-- were very rare in her life anymore. Even compliments from cute boys didn't make her smile. She glanced over at him and blushed, then looked away once more, staring at the scenery. "And again, thank you for the other compliments." She wasn't used to talking to anyone really, so this was a strange experience.

 

[.:SnazzyPizazz:.]

Sterling had to stifle another chuckle. This girl was something. She seemed so fragile, so vulnerable, yet so strong at the same time. It was cute. He found himself attracted to her. He shook his thoughts away as the light changed and gripped the steering wheel once again as he accelerated. He desperately tried to think of something to talk about. Sterling was tempted to ask if her hair was really what she was trying to hide but decided to leave the matter alone. He didn't want to pressure Sinead into speaking about something she obviously didn't want to talk about. "So Aisling Heights huh?" Sterling asked with grin, keeping his eyes locked on the road. "Pretty Ritzy place." He laughed softly and clicked his barbel on the back of his front teeth.

 

[Swan_Song]

"Yes," she said softly, avoiding his gaze. "My dad is a corporate businessman, and so his job transferred to America so he could get more publicity and customers for the company." It was simple enough, plus it wasn't going into too much detail. Besides, he probably didn't care to know a lot about her anyway. "It's... it's great." She leaned on her arm and gave a soft sigh, staring out at the road and chewing her lower lip. She wasn't quite sure what to think of Sterling and his kindness towards her.

 

[.:SnazzyPizazz:.]

Sterling frowned slightly. He could tell she was lying and felt bad. Sterling sighed and smiled sympathetically at Sinead, trying his best to go about this as softly as he could. He knew she probably wouldn't be comfortable opening up to someone she hardly knew. But he had to try at least and give her the opportunity. "Why do I have the feeling you don't mean that?" he asked softly before stopping yet again at another red light.

 

[Swan_Song]

Sinead said, "Oh, I sounded like I didn't mean it? I'm sorry, I'm just really tired today. It's a very nice neighborhood, and I do like living her a lot. I'm just ready to move back to Europe." She gave a slight shrug. "Thankfully, college isn't too far off. There's too much drama at the high school." She didn't add that some of it revolved around him and his flirting, figuring that would be a touchy subject. Besides, it didn't matter. He wasn't going to flirt with her anyway.