DJ//she's the sweetest drug

[James Barker]

So there was a Starbucks on campus, and he could have just sprinted over there in the rain to get something warm. Easier, certainly. But James didn't feel like that, so he jumped in his old truck to drive into town to get coffee. Well, he was going to the coffee place, but he was mixed on coffee and would probably get something like hot chocolate, but he wasn't sure. It didn't matter. Maybe what he really wanted an excuse to get behind the wheel. Things made more sense when he was driving.

The rain was heavier now and he was comforted by the swish of the wipers. He loved rain, and back home, he probably would have run around in it chasing his friends into pits of mud. But he wasn't back home anymore. Home being in north Carolina, not the suburban house he had lived in for years. He was lucky to find a spot close to the coffee shop and despite the fact that he rushed inside, his clothes still got soaked.

It was warm inside though and he smiled, undaunted by the sudden dampness of his being. He ran his fingers through his short dark hair and went up to the counter. "Hi, can I get a medium Hot chocolate please? Whipped cream and chocolate chips on top too. Thanks."James gave another smile and leaned his elbow on the counter, turning to look at who was in the coffee shop on this dreary afternoon. A group of three girls who were obviously studying took up one corner, an older man with a news paper and a solitary girl with a laptop in front of her. She was pretty, and that made James grin just a little more.

He paid for his drink and paused only a moment before heading to the pretty girl, why not take a shot at it? Wouldn't cause any harm to try and flirt a little. "Hey," He said, his winning smile still in place. "This seat taken?" he pointed to the seat across from her. Obviously, there were many empty tables in the place, so he obviously was really asking if he could join her to talk to her.

Hopefully she wouldn't mind. And if she did, oh well, he'd go back to his dorm and work on homework he had been putting off.

ooc- i'm assuming she writes on her laptop, but if she doesn't i can modify it.

[DJ Trighton]

It wasn't that DJ hated company. She didn't exactly like being alone, actually. It was just that... Well, writing was her life lately. She'd always thought that getting published would be the best thing that could happen. She was finding out quickly that until she made enough money to only submit work when she felt like it, being published made her detest her passion sometimes. She'd recently cut her hair off so she wouldn't have to deal with it, and she considered herself lucky to have managed to get a shower today. She'd been up since four working on her latest novel, a romantic comedy about a girl who joins forces with a cute cop to track down her missing fiance. She had yet to decide if she stuck with the fiance or ran off with the cop. DJ had never been one to make decisions for her characters. The writing process was much more fun if she let her characters have their own lives.

She was so wrapped up in her work that she'd long since let her hot tea (she was British by birth and hated coffee on principal) get cold, and she hardly noticed the boy coming through the door until he'd approached her table. Actually, it had taken her a second to realize he'd been speaking to her. A blush crept into her cheeks and DJ looked up from her computer and blinked at the boy a couple of times as if trying to see if he was just a figment of her imagination. It took her a second to realize that he was, indeed, very real, and, actually very cute. Maybe he was a worthy distraction.

"Oh... Right, um... go ahead." She let out a nervous chuckle and gestured toward the chair he'd asked about before closing her computer. She quickly glanced down at herself to be sure she wasn't wearing anything too embarrassing. Once she was satisfied, she looked up at the boy again, tucking a strand of short hair behind her ear and biting her lower lip. "Um... I'm DJ. Well, Danielle Jane, but mostly everybody calls me DJ except my dad who calls me Danni and my mother who insists up on calling me Danielle all the time and just... Um... I'm DJ." She couldn't really seem to help her rambling.

[James Barker]

James waited for a reply as the girl looked him over carefully before saying he could sit. It was rather cute the way she did it too. She wasn't looking him over to appraise his looks, nor was it a noticing of his heritage, it was more of an, oh, are you real, sort of look over, and it made him smile. Well, keep smiling in any case. He sat down easily and took a sip of his hot chocolate, holding it firmly with both hands because he was a bit chilly since he was now wet.

He laughed lightly when she finished going over her name. Adorable. That's what this girl was. "Nice to meet you DJ. I'm James, and you can either call me James or Jay, I answer to both." James told her with an amused grin. She was ever cuter up close, and the rambling was just endearing. Did she have any idea of that? In any case he was delighted with the fact that he seemed to rate over whatever she had been using her laptop for since she'd closed it upon allowing him to sit down.

"What I won't answer too is 'guy from the coffee shop', so make a point to remember my name." James was still grinning and he winked lightly at her, totally joking. he'd probably answer to that if they ever met again. "I'm kidding." He said shaking his head. "Anyway, what's a pretty girl like you doing all alone?"Subtlety had never been his finest quality.

[DJ Trighton]

People were not DJ's strong suit. She never knew how to deal with them. In fact, she was pretty much miserable at dealing with anyone in real life. She was always terrified that she was going to do something that would embarrass her or piss the other person off. So when James told her that he wouldn't answer to 'guy from the coffee shop', she felt her eyes widen. She must have looked afraid because James quickly assured her that he was kidding. "Right. I knew that," she lied, hoping she looked more comfortable than she felt. She reached for her cup of tea and quickly distracted herself by drinking some.

Her eyes widened again and DJ choked out a cough, spraying little bits of tea on the table in front of her. Her cheeks burned pink and she reached for a napkin, quickly cleaning up the tea on the table and then burying her face in her hands. She shook her head and took a couple of deep breaths. "I... um.... Look, you're pretty much barking up the wrong tree. I have no idea what you're expecting here, but I really suck at this. And I mean really." DJ let out a long sigh and reached for the comfort of her tea again, taking a few deep gulps.

Finally, she tilted her head at him and blinked a couple of times. She hardly realized she was staring, but she let herself lapse into silence, her greenish brown eyes fixed on James's face. He had some sort of quality she just couldn't place, but she figured if she didn't scare him off, she could easily become addicted to his company.

[James Barker]

Somehow he managed to chuckle quietly as she spat some tea out onto the table, not really at her expense, but at the reaction. He listened to her and cracked a smile that had a little bit of a playful smirk thrown in too. "I'm not expecting anything, I think you're cute and I'm trying to flirt with you." James said just as bluntly as before. As for barking up the wrong tree, was she trying to say she was a lesbian, because that's how he'd heard it before, but he was undaunted thus far. He'd go if she asked him too.

"And suck at what, talking to people? You're doing just fine." He smiled at her before taking a long sip of his hot chocolate. Absently, he started to play with the bottom edge of his unbuttoned flannel shirt as he watched her watch him, waiting for a reply. It didn't bother he that she was looking at him, she wasn't looking at him in any particular way, and therefore he didn't mind.

[DJ Trighton]

DJ's eyes widened when he said he was trying to flirt with her. "Why?" she asked, looking terribly confused. She wasn't exactly the sort of girl that ran around thinking she should be flirted with. She didn't think she was all that pretty, and she just didn't see what she had that would make a guy want to come flirt with her. She was used to guys asking her for homework help, and she was used to people recognizing her from her pictures in the back of the novels she'd published. She was not used to attractive men talking to her of their own volition, and she certainly wasn't used to being flirted with.

She didn't reply to his assurance that she was doing just fine talking to him. Sure, she was talking to him, and she seemed to very good at making words come out of her mouth. She was not, however, good at saying what she wanted to say or thinking about how things might sound before she said them. It was better if she kept her mouth shut. Less embarrassing.

Her eyes followed his hadns as he moved to play wit the hem of his shirt. The corner of DJ's mouth tugged up in a crooked smile. "Did you know you're kind of beautiful?" she asked softly. A moment later, she realized what she'd said and clapped hand over her mouth. "I... um... heh... uh... oops." She shrugged and turned her eyes toward the table, her cheeks burning pink again. She really was awful at this.

[James Barker]

"Did you really just ask me why?" he repeated with a chuckle. was she really asking him why he was trying to flirt with her? "Because you're cute, and thus far, very sweet. So wy wouldn't I try to flirt with you?" James asked, his eyebrows furrowing together. Didn't people flirt with her on a normal basis, or did her manner and uncertainty throw them all of their game. Lucky for her, he was no stranger to awkwardness. And she hadn't said anything against him yet. Not like she had said anything for him either...

Looks like he thought to soon.

James laughed as she blushed at her own words. "See, that's why you're adorable. I can tell you mean it, because another girl might have said it just to stoke my ego."He said with a grin. Stoking a man's ego was a good way to make him feel good, shallow but true. there just had to be more too it than that. A relationship was more than words, more than touch.

"Thank you DJ," He said with a little flattered smile, his won dropping ever so slightly. "You're sort of beautiful yourself."

[DJ Trighton]

He seemed surprised that DJ wanted to know why he was trying to flirt with her. Now that he bothered to explain it, though, she guessed he had a right to try and flirt if he wanted to. Not that she'd exactly made that easy. She was miserable at flirting, and he'd probably think she wasn't interested in him. "I...uh... don't mind your flirting," she admitted. Actually, she liked it. She just had to manage not to act like a freak about it first.

And there he went again, sweeping her right off her feet. DJ grinned at him and tried hard to ignore her blush. "Hey, um... Do you... uh... do you go to the university?" she asked. It was something to talk about, and that was better than letting things move back to something awkward. She was going to try not to be a complete reject about this for as long as she could manage.

[James Barker]

James smiled as she said she didn't mind the flirting, that was a good sign. he assumed she wasn't uninterested, if she were, why let him join her in the first place? Maybe she was just friendly? But he did not give up that easily and she seemed to be making a small effort to flirt back, or at least say something, and for that he was grateful.

"Yup, I'm a Sophomore, so I'm 19. You?" He asked not even realizing he had dropped his age, but sometimes it was an important thing to know and so he got used to it without noticing it. James assumed she must go to the school herself, she obviously wasn't in high school, and she didn't really seem old enough to be out of school, but maybe she was.

James took a moment to really look at her. She had very pretty eyes, lips, face... he liked the gentle curl of her hair and the color of her skin. Beautiful really. How could she not know it?

[DJ Trighton]

Things were getting just a little more comfortable for DJ, and her blush seemed to be subsiding a bit. She trailed a finger along the top of her teacup and nodded at James's answer. "I go there, too. I'm a junior... and I'm twenty." She didn't care all that much about age, but she figure if he'd told, it was only fair. Hopefully he wasn't one of those awkward guys who thought they had to be older than whatever girl they were interested in. Not that she had the highest hopes of keeping James interested.

As James took his time to look at her, DJ let her eyes focus on his damp clothes. He was probably cold, and she frowned. "Hey, I live around the corner," she offered. "It's warmer there." The apartment she shared with her sister would, indeed, be warmer than it was here and far warmer than it was outside. And DJ hadn't even begun to consider the awkwardness of inviting a guy she'd just met to warm up in her apartment. Actually, she lacked a lot of understanding in the area of dating. She didn't really get what was so weird about inviting people over, and she didn't expect him to take it as anything more than she meant.

[James Barker]

Had it been anyone else, he would have questioned their motives, but he doubted she had nay hidden innuendos in her inviting him over and therefore he didn't infer any. But it still took him a minute to decide. He did enjoy her company, even if she was a bit socially awkward. watching her blush was cute anyway. And really, one year age difference was nothing and he didn't give a damn about being younger. It was stupid to get worked up over that. Age was just a number, really, especially the older you got.

"Um, yeah, that'd be cool." he said with a little shrug, sipping his hot chocolate. He was a bit cold, he didn't mind the damn jeans, but the wet shirts were killing him. Of course it had to really pour the second he got out of his truck. James smiled reassuringly at her. he was tempted to make some joke about how he wouldn't take advantage of her, which of course was true, but he didn't want to make things weird, especially where she didn't seem them as weird. Not to mention, maybe he could throw his shirts in her dryer. That would be amazing, but maybe too much to ask as a stranger.

Not like this felt like an awkward stranger situation, even if that was sort of what it was. He waited for her to get up before he did.

[DJ Trighton]

She really didn't think it was a weird offer, and for some reason, DJ felt like she should have. She hated that she was so socially awkward, but, if she was honest, she spent more time with her characters than she ever spent with real people. She'd never had a situation like this with her characters, though, and, consequently, she didn't know how to read it. When James agreed, though, she smiled at him and tucked her netbook into an oversized purse. She finished off her tea and stood, slinging the leather bag over her shoulder. "Um... I kind of walked here," she mumbled. She'd lived in Cordova plenty long enough to know that the weather wasn't trustworthy at all, but she still never seemed to be prepared for it. Hopefully James wasn't one of those guys who was really awkward about people riding in his truck.

Wandering around the table and to his side, DJ took a moment to notice his size. He was a good six or eight inches taller than her, which made her head perfectly at his chest level. The thought struck her that they'd fit perfectly in a hug, and she instantly blushed again. Hopefully she wasn't as transparent as she felt.

[James Barker]

He smiled and stood up too, pushing in his chair as a force of habit. "Well, I have my truck here, so we can drive to wherever you live, unless its a close walk." he said pulling his keys out of his pocket and spun them around on his fingers before throwing them up in the air, spinning around and catching them. Okay, he was showing off, but he wanted to impress her.

james looked back at her with a grin, pleased that he'd managed to do that without falling on his face. He reached for the door and pulled it open, waiting for her to go through first. Thankfully, it wasn't raining , at least not for now. "What the hell, let me give you a ride anyway. I love to show off my truck." He said with a smile. Hopefully she wouldn't think he was just some jock or something. He just had a thing for cars and working out, it wasn't a crime. And he wasn't as shallow as all that. but you couldn't be deep with a person until they knew the shallow stuff.

James grabbed her hand and towed her over to his blue pickup and click the button to unlock it. He lead her to the passenger side and pulled it open for her.

[DJ Trighton]

One thing DJ had learned from writing romances was that all guys acted like animals at some point. And her was James's time to do just that. She watched as he tried a little too hard to show off and she stifled a giggle. If only he realized he didn't have to go to all that effort. She already appreciated what she'd seen of him so far, and she was perfectly eager to learn more about him. All he had to do was offer her the chance.

Grinning, she followed him out the door, thanking him for holding it for her. Most men were entirely too selfish to hold doors anymore, and she was glad he seemed to be a gentleman. "You're one of those car guys, huh?" she asked, though the question was abruptly cut off by a soft gasp that she tried hard to hide. Her fingers instantly tingled at his touch and she knew she was blushing profusely by this point. She couldn't decide if she wanted him to let go or if her hand had been born just to hold his. Luckily, she had run on auto pilot through most of high school and was able to follow him to the passenger side of his truck without walking into anything.

She climbed into the truck, appropriately ooh-ing and ah-ing at the vehicle. She drove a powder blue VW bug, but that was just because it was cute. Beyond that, she knew nothing about cars, so when she'd finished her obligatory appreciation, she settled for chewing her lip and wondering if he'd try that hand-holding thing again anytime soon.

[James Barker]

James laughed. "Yeah, kinda. I'm really good with my hands." he said. He realized, eniterly too late to comment on it, that he had meant he was good with machines, he worked with his hands. Good with your hands could easily sound dirty, but it already seemed like her mind didn't swing that way so he didn't bother to back track. But in any case he added, "I like fixing things, tools, handy man... you know..."He shut the passenger door for her and jumped into the driver's side and buckled up.

Without even realizing it, he had began to ramble about a few cool things the car had, but even he could tell it went over her head and he promptly shut his mouth and started the car. "Um, sorry," he blushed a little. "I got carried away, so where do you live?" he asked her turning to face her with a slightly embarrassed grin. he knew his way around well enough, so he should be able to find her address easily enough. He wasn't sure he could let her drive his truck.