FACE DOWN Ch6- Impossible

Jonathan drummed his fingers against the table. He looked at the clock. 4:42. Twelve minutes late. Where was she? Was this revenge on him because he had been late last time? Would she really stoop down to such levels as to purposely being late just to spite him?

The door suddenly opened and in walked the girl in question. Kristen beamed at him. "Sorry I'm late," she said, moving inside, "I was on the phone and lost track of the time."

She sat down beside him, eyes shining with absolute giddiness. Jonathan mentally rolled his eyes at himself, knowing he would probably regret asking the question coming out of his mouth, but he couldn't help himself, "And who, may I ask, were you talking to that has made you so bright and chipper?"

"My own prince charming, David," Kristen replied, sighing dreamily.

Ah right, the guy she had been raving about last session. He smirked. "I take it your date went well then?" Why was he asking this? Now she was probably going to go off on a frenzied rampage about how wonderful it was.

"Were you expecting anything else?" she asked, raising her eyebrows, "Oh that's right. He's got lines and lines of girls just waiting on him, so he's probably just a second-rate dingbat who doesn't even know how to take a girl on a proper date, right?"

Alright, little miss sassy. "And he picks his nose," Jonathan added, suppressing another smirk.

Kristen snorted. "Yeah. And eats it. Gross," she said, "Anyways, I'm sure you'll be happy to know that the date was fabulous. We went for walks, ate sandwiches, looked in shops. And he was a perfect gentleman the entire time. Not to mention he's an amazing kisser. And he promised..."

"Whoa! You already kissed on the first date?" Jonathan interrupted.

Kristen looked innocently up at him. "Well yeah," she said, "We were at the sandwich shop talking and, well, he kissed me."

Jonathan was staring at her incredulously. "How far into the date was it?"

Kristen shrugged. "I don't know. We ate first. So maybe a half hour, forty five minutes."

"You kissed a guy only a half hour, forty five minutes into a date?" Jonathan asked, disbelieving.

"Well technically he kissed me," Kristen replied, "Why are you so interested in my kissing habits?"

"It wasn't even a goodnight kiss on the porch or something," Jonathan was now basically muttering to himself.

"Well of course we kissed goodnight too!" Kristen said, "What do you take me for?"

"If you have to kiss on the first date, which you really shouldn't, it should only be the goodnight kiss," Jonathan said.

"What? Why?" Kristen asked.

"It could ruin the relationship."

"Oh and you would know?"

"Yes. I would."

"You have personal experience in this area?"

Jonathan paused. "No..." he said finally, "But I've seen it happen dozens of times. In my family."

"Right, okay," Kristen said, "Look it doesn't matter. It already happened and I still see a bright future ahead for us. He promised a second date tonight."

"Whatever you say," Jonathan said, smirking once more.

Kristen shook her head. "You're impossible."

Jonathan raised his eyebrows and held up his arms sarcastically. "Hey, you guessed my nickname."

Kristen snorted. "Really? Who else calls you that?"

"Anybody who meets me," Jonathan replied, sounding almost proud, "But mostly my roommate."

"Your roommate?"

Jonathan shrugged. "Well you think I'm impossible and you only see me for an hour once a week. Imagine if you had to live with me."

Kristen cracked a small smile. "Absolute torment," she stated simply.

Jonathan gave a nod, holding back a smile of his own. "Right," he said. He looked at the backpack sitting at her side and cleared his throat, "Now are you going to get out your homework or not?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kristen rushed to the front door and opened it. "David!" she cried happily.

He stood, smiling with his hands in his pockets. "Ready?" he asked.

"Yep! Let's go!" Kristen said, shutting the door behind her and yanking him by the arm.

"Whoa! Slow down. Do you even know where you're going?" David protested from behind her.

Kristen immediately stopped pulling his arm. "Sorry," she said, "I'm just a little flustered. I went to see Annalise again today as usual and she actually talked to me this time."

"Isn't that good?" David wondered.

"Not when she's telling you to go away and never come back," Kristen said staring at the ground.

"What did you say before she told you that?" David wondered.

"I was just telling her I had another date tonight with the same guy as before," Kristen said, "Then she suddenly opened the door and asked where we were going. Then after I told her, she told me to stop coming by for my own good."

"Hmm," David responded simply.

There was a short silence between them. David suddenly held out his arm. "Well let's not let it spoil the evening. Shall we?"

Kristen wrapped her arm around his and they began walking once more, at a much slower pace than before. The cinema was not far from Kristen's house, so they did not have to walk very far. Fortunately it was not crowded either. Not surprising since it was a Thursday and nothing earth-shatteringly interesting had been released lately.

"So what are we seeing?" Kristen asked.

"Well let's see what's playing," David said, pointing.

They approached the sign with showtimes. They both studied it for a moment.

"Okay, it looks like there's only two options open to us if we want to get home at a decent hour," David said, "You did say you had to get up early tomorrow, didn't you?"

Kristen nodded. "Yeah, unfortunately. Early morning class on Fridays. Blech!"

"Alright. Well our two options are Lucy's Letter or The Corpse Maze," David said.

Kristen turned to look at the posters for the two movies David had just named. The first looked like some sort of mushy, sappy romantic flick, while the other seemed to be a horror, slasher, gore and violence film. Kristen grimaced at the mere sight of the horror poster. Just the look in the eyes of the character on the poster holding the blood-soaked machete was enough to make her run for cover.

"Um, well, what do you want to see?" she asked.

"I think The Corpse Maze looks pretty good," David answered.

"Are... are you sure?" Kristen asked, "It looks a little bloody and violent to me."

"Exactly why it looks interesting," David said, "Come on, it could be fun!"

Kristen cleared her throat. "Couldn't we see a much happier film? Like that one?" She pointed to the poster for Lucy's Letter.

"Kristen, do you know what would happen to me if I went into a movie like that?" David asked, "They'd revoke my man card."

"Yeah, but--"

"Kristen, if you get scared, I promise you can hold onto me," David said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "Scary movies are much better cuddle movies than that mushy stuff." He kissed her cheek.

Kristen sighed. "Alright," she finally relented, "You have more experience, I guess."

He winked at her. "Great! I'll go get the tickets."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kristen knew she was never going to sleep again. Ever. She had her eyes shut and her face buried into David's shoulder through most of the movie, but she could still hear the horrible noises. There was hardly ever a moment when someone was not bleeding or dying or getting their head chopped off or losing a limb or SOMETHING! And then with that crazy machete murderer while they were all trapped in that stupid, stupid maze! In short, Kristen despised it.

She clung tightly to David's arm as they walked back to her place... in the dark... with noises all around... and sudden movements. Her eyes darted back and forth, just waiting for a machete-wielding maniac to come out of the shadows and attack them.

"So I was just thinking..." David suddenly spoke up.

"WHAT!?" Kristen cried, turning back to him suddenly, "Where!? Why!? Is there something to worry about? Should I be thinking too?"

"Whoa there. Calm down," David said, "I was just thinking about something you said earlier."

"Oh," Kristen said, relaxing slightly.

"I was thinking about what you said about your sister," David went on, a bit taken aback by Kristen's outburst, "How she only ever responds when you talk about your dating life."

"I never said that," Kristen said.

"Ah, but it was implied that she's interested," David pointed out, "So I was thinking maybe I could come with you on one of your visits and see if she wants to actually meet your boyfriend."

Kristen looked up at him, eyes twinkling. "Boyfriend?"

David looked at her. "Well... yeah," he said, with a small smile, "Unless there's someone else?"

Kristen stared at him in awe. Never in her whole life had she thought it possible to be in a relationship with someone like him. She shook her head. "No," she said softly.

David nodded, then pointed ahead. "Your house," he said.

It was then that Kristen noticed that they had stopped walking and were standing directly in front of her home. "Oh, right," she said, swinging her arms like an awkward schoolgirl, "I guess I should go now. Um... goodnight. Tonight was... interesting."

"Yeah, what a movie, right?" David said.

"A lot of blood," Kristen said.

"Yeah," David said, "Anyways, I'll call you."

"Okay, and I'll let you know about Annalise," Kristen said.

"Sounds good." David leaned over and kissed her, long and slow. When he pulled back, Kristen felt lightheaded.

"Good night," David said, turning away.

Kristen teetered in place, watching him go. "G'night."

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FACE DOWN Ch5- First Date

Kristen approached the door. Room 53. She raised her fist and knocked. "Annalise?" she called.

There was no answer. "Annalise!" she called again, "It's me, Kristen."

Still, there was no answer. "I'm just here to tell you that... I've got a date!" Kristen continued, "He's super nice and unbelievably good-looking. Like, wow! And he asked me out. He's picking me up in like a half hour. We're going... actually I don't know where we're going. But I'm sure it'll be amazing. Just think, my first date ever and it's with the perfect man!"

The door remained closed. Kristen wasn't sure if Annalise could even hear her, but she was determined to let her know that she cared and wanted her in her life. "Anyways, just thought I would let you know," Kristen said, "I'm going to go get ready. I miss you!"

She turned and walked away from the door. Every day she visited Annalise's apartment and gave her an update on what was happening. One time she brought her a plate of cookies- double chocolate chip, those were her favorite- and left them outside the door. They were gone the next day, so she must have been listening to her at least some of the time, right? ...Or maybe she just found them. In any case, at least she was aware that Kristen was coming by.

Once Kristen got home, she immediately began to fret over what to wear for her date. Should she wear pants or a skirt? Casual or formal? Where were they going? She wished she knew so she could dress appropriately. In any case, she knew she would have to look her best. She didn't want to him to show up at her door with her looking like a slob.

She eventually decided on a green skirt and black top. Not too formal, but just a step above casual school-wear. She looked at herself in the mirror and gave a little twirl. Her skirt fanned out beautifully around her and she decided she was satisfied.

Just as she was finishing twisting her hair up into an simple bun, there was a knock at the door. No one else was home, so she quickly stuck the last pin into her hair and rushed to the door.

There was David, holding out a bouquet of flowers, grinning with his oh-so dashing smile. "I know this is probably completely cliche," he said, "But I couldn't resist."

Kristen took the flowers from him. "Thank you! They're beautiful. No one's ever given me flowers before."

"Really?" David said, sounding surprised, "Well I'm glad I could change that."

"Let me just put these in water," Kristen said. She turned back into the house. She went into the kitchen and began searching the cupboards for a vase. She finally found one on a shelf above the refrigerator. She filled it with water and stuck the flowers into it. She set it on the counter and just stared at them, smiling, pleased.

Then she suddenly remembered... "David!"

She rushed back to the door. She opened it and found David still standing there on the porch, looking rather confused.

"I am so sorry!" she said, "I didn't mean to take so long! I should have invited you in or something."

David laughed. "It's fine. I always like being left out in the cold by women I'm about to take out."

Kristen cleared her throat and chuckled nervously. She met his eyes. "So... where exactly are we going?" she wondered.

He smiled. "Town," he answered, holding out his arm.

Kristen wrapped her arm around his. "Town?" she repeated.

"Mm-hmm," he replied, "I thought we'd walk down town and take a look at the sights to see, maybe find a good place to eat, look in shops. That sort of thing. Not too boring, is it?"

Kristen grinned at him. "No! It sounds perfect!"

"Great!" he said, "And I know the perfect place to start. There's this fantastic little sandwich shop just a few blocks down. You'll love it!"

"Ooh! I love sandwiches!" Kristen exclaimed.

"Me too!"

"They're my favorite."

"Seriously? Mine too."

"Of course, chocolate takes the cake though... Or rather, is the cake."

David smirked. "Did you really just say that?"

Kristen shrugged. "Err, well, sometimes my mouth runs away with me."

"So I've noticed," David said.

Kristen blushed a deep crimson. Why did she always have to make herself look like such a confounded idiot in front of him? David noticed her embarrassment and quickly added, "I think it's cute."

Kristen looked back at him, smiling coyly.

After walking for a short time, David pointed ahead. "Here's the sandwich shop."

Not too far in front of them sat a small shop with a blue neon sign reading, "Sadie’s Sandwiches" over the top. They began to make their way towards it.

"So how do you know this place?" Kristen wondered.

"Well, my dad's in politics," David explained, "I used to have to wait for him to get out of some big important meeting or whatever in the Town Hall just over there."

He pointed across the street. Kristen looked at it. "Isn't that where foreign diplomats and stuff meet?"

"Yep."

Kristen looked at David once more, surprised. "Is your dad a foreign diplomat?"

"Ambassador, actually," David replied, "All the way from Russia."

Kristen looked at David in a new light. "Wow. So you're like... not American?"

David smirked. "Yes. I'd say that was an accurate assertion."

"Sorry. It's just, you don't even have an accent or anything."

David shrugged. "Well, we actually lived here for the first eight years of my life. I grew up here. I guess, it took care of my accent. I liked it here so much that I came back for college." He leaned closer to her, “You actually pronounce my name “Dah-veet”, but I stopped correcting people after the first eight thousand times.”

He winked and then opened the door to the sandwich shop. "M'lady," he gestured for her to enter first.

Kristen smiled and walked in. It was small, like a fast food joint, but not brightly colored or strongly scented with disinfectant. They approached the counter. "Hello, what can I get ya?" the girl behind the counter asked.

"I'll have a regular sized turkey with everything on it, but no onions," David replied, then gestured to Kristen, "And she'll have..."

"A large roast beef with everything," Kristen immediately said, "Also could you add avocado? Oh, and bacon? Oh, and possibly some ham and turkey? ...and extra cheese?"

David looked at her, surprised. "What?" Kristen asked.

"Nothing. I just didn't expect someone so small to eat so much," he replied.

Kristen raised her eyebrows. "I told you. I love sandwiches."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Okay, wait. So this is your first date ever?" David asked, pushing away his sandwich wrapper, long since finished.

"That's what I said," Kristen replied.

"So that means you've never been kissed or anything?" he asked.

"Ah, ah. It's my turn now," Kristen said, "What is... your worst childhood experience?"

David puckered his lips, thinking for a moment. "Well, I have ten older brothers..." he began.

"You have how many?" Kristen cried, incredulous.

"Ten," David repeated, "Yeah, I know. Mom and dad went a bit crazy. Anyways, when we were growing up, four of them literally pretended that I would spontaneously burst into flames at random moments. So they would tackle me to the ground and beat me with rugs and stuff... for eight years. Horrible way to live, really."

"That's awful," Kristen said.

David shrugged. "That's what brothers do."

"Sisters aren’t much better," Kristen said, "Annalise and I were really close while we were growing up. But then suddenly she became, you know, a recluse. Now, every time I go to see her, she completely ignores me and shuts me out."

David took her hand and she felt her heart flutter. "Kristen, I think she must be completely crazy for doing that. Also, I want you to know that I would never do something like that to you."

Kristen looked up into his eyes. He smiled as he took her other hand. Her heart rate was off the charts now. "Um... i-it's your turn," she said, trying her best to keep her voice steady.

David scooted closer to her. "Okay," he said, "So, you really have never kissed anyone before?"

Kristen could barely breathe as she forced herself to shake her head in response. Her stomach was doing somersaults and her head was spinning madly. She was barely conscious of David moving towards her. What was even happening? She might actually pass out!

But then his lips were on hers and everything seemed to freeze. Time stood completely still as his lips gently moved against hers. She was floating on a cloud, lost in a wonderland. But then it was over too soon. He pulled back, leaving her completely breathless, and gave her a half smile. "Well?"

Kristen grinned, "I think I might need another test." She grabbed the front of his jacket and pulled him in for another kiss.

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FACE DOWN Ch4- Tutoring

Kristen entered the small wooden door with 23 marked across the front of it. She checked the scrap of paper in her hand just to make sure. Yep. "Barnes Building, Room 23, 4:30". The lights were off inside. Kristen felt around for a switch and quickly turned them on.

It was completely empty except for a few old-looking tables and banged up chairs lying on their sides around them. This was where she was supposed to meet her tutor? Well he wasn't here yet and it was two minutes past 4:30. Should she just wait for a few minutes?

She set a chair upright and sat on it. It was eerily quiet in the room and it was so bare. Like one of those asylum rooms with the white walls and no windows... except the walls and floor wasn't padded, but still. She began humming to herself in order to break the silence.

Five more minutes passed and still nobody showed up. Maybe she had heard him wrong. When he called the other day to set up a time, she had been busy cooking at the same time, so she might have misheard what he was saying. Maybe he was waiting for her somewhere else entirely. Because why would he want to meet in such a lonely, depressing room like this anyway?

Just as Kristen was about to pull out her phone and make a call, the door opened. A tall, blonde boy in a black coat and hat walked in with his head down. When he looked up at her, Kristen was shocked to recognize him as the boy who had been thrown out of Friedman's class the other day for hating on fairytales.

He didn't smile or anything, just simply said, "You're Kristen, I suppose?"

"Um, yeah," she replied, "Jonathan?"

He nodded and walked over to her. He picked up a chair and set it up across the table from her. "Let's get down to business then."

Kristen didn't move, she was still studying him, puzzled. He got a scholarship for math? He didn't look like the bookish type. He looked more like a football jock based on his build. He was rather large and stocky. Plus he did seem to have an attitude like those jocks on TV did, going off the show he made in english class.

"Is there a problem?" he asked.

"Hmm? No. I was just wondering... why did we have to meet here? Why couldn't we have met at the library or something?" Kristen asked.

"This is closer to my apartment," he said shortly.

"But don't most tutors meet in the library?"

"Yes."

"So why didn't you?"

"I told you, this is closer to my apartment."

"Don't you like to walk?"

"No."

"But you could meet so many fun people at the library!"

He just rolled his eyes.

Right. Okay, so he didn't seem like a big talker either. She would have to change that. There was a short silence as she tried to think of something.

"So... what year is this for you?" she asked.

He raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Well I'd just like to know how much more advanced my tutor is than me," Kristen replied.

"Junior," he replied.

"Oh really? My sister's a junior," Kristen said, smiling.

"Hmm," he said with disinterest.

"Maybe you've met her."

"Doubt it."

"Annalise Ford?"

"Nope."

"I guess that makes sense. I'm pretty sure she takes all her classes online. At least since her sophomore year. I just thought maybe you'd met her before that."

"No," he said shortly.

Kristen paused for a moment. "I've already met lots of great people around since I started here."

He rolled his eyes once again. What was with him and doing that?

"Yeah!" she continued, "I made a friend on my first day. His name's Petey. And then I met this amazing guy. I think he's going to ask me out. And..."

"Wait, wait. You think he's going to ask you out?" Jonathan interrupted.

Whoa, hold up. Was he actually asking her a question now? Progress! Kristen looked at him. "Well, yeah," she replied, "I gave him my number."

He smirked. "Do you have any idea how many guys just go around asking for girls' numbers, but then never call them? They have like a mountain of random girls' numbers piled up in their closets. They just use them as bragging rights for their friends."

Kristen frowned for the first time. "People don't do that."

"It's true."

"Well David is not like that," Kristen said confidently, "He's a true gentleman. He'll call."

Jonathan raised his eyebrows. "He's probably got boat loads of girls just waiting for his call," he said.

"No," Kristen said, crossing her arms defiantly and turning away from him.

"Waiting by the phone every day in anticipation," he continued.

"That is ridiculous."

"And you're just one in the long lineup."

"Unlikely."

"Plus he probably picks his nose."

Kristen turned to look at him once more, caught off guard. "What?"

He was smirking. "And then eats it."

Kristen glared at him. Now he was just trying to annoy her... and it was working. "That's disgusting," she said.

He shrugged. "All guys do it. It's just a fact."

Kristen wrinkled her nose. Then she glared at him again. "Okay look mister, I don't care what you say. David will call. He said he would and I believe him. So that's that."

Just then, her phone rang. With a final scowl at Jonathan, Kristen answered it. "Hello?... Why hello, David!" She threw Jonathan a "told you so" look. He just folded his arms over his chest and watched her stand up and pace about the room.

"Yeah, I'm great... No, it's fine. I've been busy anyways. It's not like I was waiting by the phone every day or anything." She saw Jonathan smirk.

"Am I free on Friday?" She looked at Jonathan once more, smiling cockily, "Yes, I believe I am... 6:00? Sounds great... Okay. See you then!"

She hung up the phone. Did that just happen? Was she really going to go out on a date with David Leskov? It was too good to be true! She squealed and without any choice of her own, began to dance in place, caught up in her own excitement.

"Wow. You should really be on Dancing With the Stars," Jonathan deadpanned.

Kristen immediately stopped dancing. "Shut up," she said, "I am going on a date with my own prince charming. I have every right to dance like a maniac. Even you cannot spoil my mood now."

Jonathan shook his head and Kristen could have sworn she saw a small smile play across his mouth, but it was so quick, she couldn't be sure. "Well now that that is all over with, can we get to your math now?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, yeah, sure," Kristen said, sitting down and grabbing her backpack, "Where do we start?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The sun was just peeking through the thick overcast that loomed over the sky. And Jonathan had thought it was going to rain. It practically always rained whenever he decided to go outside for anything other than class, story of his life, the outside hated him. But for some reason, the sun was coming out to say hello today.

He reached his apartment, unlocked the door, and entered. Tiny was the word to sum it up. One sofa covered in patches against the wall, a dilapidated kitchen on the other side, a blanket over the window used for a curtain, his roommate's sweatshirt thrown in the middle of the floor. Yep, that's what he called home.

Jonathan moved inside and picked up the sweatshirt lying on the ground and folded it. He was the housekeeper around the apartment. Even though the place was a dump, he still tried to maintain it. Only he and his one roommate were the ones that lived there. There was only one bedroom with one creaking bunk bed. Jonathan slept on the bottom and every night he was always afraid that maybe the poles would give away and his roommate would fall down and crush him flat.

A head covered in shaggy brown hair popped out of the bedroom. "Oh! You're home!"

"Yeah. Just," Jonathan answered. He held the sweatshirt out, "What have I told you about leaving your things in the middle of the floor?"

His roommate, Sam, stepped out of the room sheepishly and took the sweatshirt from him. "Sorry," he said, "At least it wasn't my backpack and everything this time, right?"

"Yeah, sure," Jonathan muttered, turning away and sitting on the couch.

Sam came up beside him. "So how was tutoring?" he asked.

Jonathan shrugged.

"Are you going to stick with this one this time?" Sam wondered.

"I don't know," Jonathan answered.

Sam's mouth formed into an "O" and he sat down beside him. "That's different. You normally say "no" right away. You should stick with this one if they don't repel you right away!"

"Maybe," Jonathan said.

"Yes. Yes, yes, yes!" Sam insisted, "Do it! This could be the first person that my dear little Johnny-boy doesn’t hate on sight! It's a miracle! You like them! I have to meet them!"

"Please, Sam," Jonathan scoffed, "I do not like her."

"Oh it's a her, is it?" Sam asked, "Johnny, I've known you since... what? Kindergarten? First-grade? Pre-school? I know when you're lying."

"Okay, okay. Fine. She kind of amused me," Jonathan said.

"Amused you?"

"Yeah."

"What are you Shakespeare?"

Jonathan frowned at him. "Look, all I'm saying is that I think I'll give it another go to see how I feel about the arrangement before I make my final verdict."

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FACE DOWN Ch3- A Tutor

"Two weeks in and I already need a tutor!" Kristen exclaimed.

Petey looked over at the paper Kristen was fretting over. Her second math test. 64% with a note from the professor: "Possibly get a tutor before you fall behind".

"I got a C on the first one though!" Kristen protested, pulling out her last math test.

Petey looked at it. "No you didn't," he said, "69% is a D+."

"Ugh!" Kristen whined, tossing both papers aside and plowing her head onto the face of the desk with a loud thump.

"Shh!" Petey said, "This is the library after all!"

Kristen just groaned in response.

"A tutor's not so bad," Petey said, "You can make a new friend!"

Kristen turned her head, her cheek still resting on the table. "Who makes friends with their tutors?" she asked, "Aren't they paid?"

"Yeah. But you still could," Petey said, grinning, "It could be loads of fun!"

Kristen scoffed and sat up straight again, resting her chin in her hand, resigned. "You're right," she said, sighing, "I'll give it a try."

"Good for you!" Petey said, "I'm pretty sure you sign up or apply at Student Services in the Castle Building."

Kristen nodded. "I guess I'll do that later then."

"Great!" Petey exclaimed, turning back to book, "Now what do you think Thoreau means by "It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."?"

They spent a good hour going over their homework together, sharing ideas, comparing answers, etc. before they finally packed up and left the library, burned out.

"Have you tried seeing your sister yet?" Petey wondered.

"No," Kristen replied.

"Why not?" Petey asked innocently, "I thought you said you wanted to see her last week."

Kristen sighed. "I did. It's just... well, Annalise's a bit... I don't know. You wouldn't understand."

"Why don't we go see her right now?" Petey suggested.

"What?" Kristen asked.

"Yeah! Why not? We've both got time on our hands. Let's go see your sister!" Petey exclaimed.

"Oh, uh... I don't think that's such a good idea," Kristen said, "She doesn't really like people..."

"Come on. It'll be great! When was the last time you saw her?" Petey asked.

"A year and a half ago, but..."

"And don't you want to see her again?"

"Well, yes..."

"Every minute you spend saying "I'll do it tomorrow" is just another moment wasted. Another moment added on to that year and a half."

"I know, but..."

"So don't you think now is as good a time as ever to put an end to it?"

Kristen sighed. Then she took a deep breath. "You're right," she said, "I should just do it."

"Yes!" Petey said, grinning, "So come on! Let's go!"

Annalise lived a few blocks away in an older apartment complex, The North Ridge Apartments. The two friends walked there, side by side until they approached the rusty white gates. Fortunately they were not in a car and were able to simply walk around them through the brush at the side.

"Do you know what room she's in?" Petey wondered.

"53," Kristen said.

They found the room at the far end of the complex. The windows were shut and the blinds were down. There was even dust on the windowsill, visible from where they stood. There was no sign that anybody even lived there. Who knew if Annalise was even home.

"Go ahead, knock," Petey encouraged.

Kristen raised her fist and took a deep breath. This was it. After all this time, she was finally going to see her sister. What would it be like? Would Annalise be happy to see her? Would she invite her in? Should Kristen give her a hug? Would she want that? It had been so long, maybe it would be awkward.

"Aren't you going to knock?" Petey's voice broke through her thoughts.

Kristen realized she was still standing in front of the door with her fist raised. She pounded on it and stepped back, waiting anxiously. Nothing happened.

She rocked back and forth on her heels, hands clasped behind her back, waiting as patiently as possible, but still nothing happened. Maybe she didn't hear the knock?

Kristen tried again, this time a little louder. “Annalise?” she called, “It’s me, Kristen!”

She stood back once more. Still, nothing happened. Kristen felt her spirits dropping.

"Maybe she's not home," Petey suggested.

Kristen sighed. "Yeah... maybe," she said, dejected, "Let's go."

They turned to leave, but suddenly a clicking noise forced them to look back. The door handle was jiggling. Kristen rushed back to the door, watching it hopefully.

It opened ever so slightly. The silver chain was still locked over the gap. Suddenly, an eye appeared. "Hello?" a timid voice spoke from behind the door.

"Annalise? Is that you?" Kristen asked, peering into the crack in the door.

"Kristen?"

Kristen could not see anything except for one large blue eye, but she recognized it as Annalise's indefinitely. She smiled at the eye. "Oh, Anna! It's been so long!" she exclaimed.

"Kristen, what are you doing here?" Annalise asked.

"I came to see you," Kristen replied, "I've missed you."

Annalise looked down for a moment. "I've missed you too," she said quietly.

"So why don't you come out?" Kristen asked, "Look, I brought a friend."

Kristen gestured to Petey behind her. He gave a wave. "Hi, I'm Petey!"

Annalise looked away. "I can't," she said.

"Why not?" Kristen asked, reaching out to her, "If you just--"

"I just can't!" Annalise snapped, "Now please, just go away!"

Kristen lowered her hands, crest-fallen. The door closed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kristen took large bite of her donut as she marched down the sidewalk. Custard spurted out the sides, but she didn't care. Her encounter with Annalise was still replaying in her mind and quite frankly it was really bothering her. It was the first contact they had made in over a year and she had told her to go away. Why? What had happened to make her so reclusive and afraid? Had Kristen done something?

Kristen reached the Castle Building and half-consciously made her way inside through the wild throng of students, still munching on her donut. What if she had done something? Something so horribly awful that Annalise never wanted to see her again? ...But she did say that she missed her. So why didn't she just come out? Or at least talk to her?

She suddenly became aware that she had reached Student Services. She didn't even look at the person sitting behind the counter, still mostly focused on Annalise. "I'd like to sign up for a tutor," she muttered as she took another large bite of her donut.

"Kristen?"

At the sound of her name, she suddenly looked up. Much to her surprise, David sat behind the desk, name-tag and all, smiling at her.

"Da-fff-id," Kristen said with a mouth full of donut.

He watched her, still smiling as pleasant as ever as she struggled to swallow her mouthful. She finally managed to empty her mouth and looked up at him, smiling as well. "Hi!" she said.

He chuckled slightly and pointed to her cheek. "Uh, you got a little..."

"What?" Kristen reached up to the spot he was pointing at and felt custard smeared across her cheek and lip. "Oh!" She turned away while she tried to wipe it away. Seriously, could she look like a bigger idiot in front of him of all people?

She turned back once more. "Hi!"

"Hi," he said, "A little hungry, I see."

"Oh that. I passed a donut shop on my way here and they had some donuts and I was feeling kind of down and I always eat when I'm upset so I bought one to eat on my way over, but then I didn't expect to see you. Not that I mind eating donuts in front of you, it's just..."

"You were upset?" David asked.

"Oh, yeah. It was nothing really," Kristen replied, "I just tried to visit my sister, but she... didn't want to see me."

"I'm sorry," David said.

Kristen nodded with a sigh.

"You could try again some other time," he suggested, "Maybe she was just having a bad day."

"Yeah, I guess," Kristen said, looking down at her feet. But then she thought about it for a moment. Maybe if Kristen showed Annalise that she truly did care about her and honestly did want to see her, she might eventually open the door! "Yeah... you're right. I should just keep trying. She should let me in eventually, right?"

"Absolutely!" David agreed.

Kristen smiled at him. He was just as handsome as she remembered. And he popped into her mind through the day more than she liked to admit. And now in his green vest with the school's crest embroidered onto it, it just brought out his stunning eyes even more.

"So uh, about your tutor?" David said after a moment.

Kristen realized she had been staring and quickly looked away. "Oh yeah, right," she said quickly, flushing a deep red, "Um, it's for math."

"Ah. The ones who are in highest demand," David said, "Let me see what we've got."

He turned around and opened a drawer, sorting through files and papers. Kristen watched his back as he sorted through them. "So, you're not a tutor?" she asked.

He laughed. "No. I just work the desk," he replied, "I can barely pass my own classes, much less show people how to pass theirs."

Kristen laughed herself. "I know what you mean."

He finally turned back around. "Here you are," he said, "How does someone who got a scholarship for math sound to you?"

"Ha! Sounds like a perfect candidate," Kristen answered.

David handed her a sheet of paper. "Fill this out," he said.

Kristen quickly filled out the paper. It was just her contact information like what her name was, her address, email, and telephone number. She handed it back to David.

He looked over it. "Everything seems to be in order," he said, nodding.

"Yeah," Kristen said suddenly dejected, realizing it was time for her to leave.

"Now fill one out for the tutor," David said, pulling out another paper.

Kristen's head popped up in surprise. David was giving her a half smile as he pushed the paper towards her. He winked and stuck her first paper into his pocket.

Kristen felt her stomach flip. She smiled back and took the paper. She quickly scribbled down her information once more, but was hardly aware of what she was doing. Her head was in too much of a buzz. She handed it back to David, doing her best to keep her smile to a minimum.

"You can expect a phone call within the week," David said, "...Or maybe two."

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FACE DOWN Ch2- English Class

Second day, which meant more classes to find. Kristen looked at her schedule. Next up on the list: "English- Friedman- 12:45".

After David's advice from the previous day, she had a much easier time locating all her classes so far. Kristen walked through the small green door into her English class.

More like a lecture hall! Kristen was taken aback by how enormous the room was. All her classes so far had been in regular-sized classrooms with tables and/or desks with chairs and everything. But this was more like an auditorium! Stairs led up to more seats in the back. The further back you wanted to go, the higher up you went. Like a movie theater.

At the front, an enormous white board covered the entire wall. Students were slowly trickling in and finding seats up and down the stairs, simultaneously mingling with one another.

As Kristen took in the sights around her, she suddenly heard a voice behind her. "Kristen! You're in this class too!?"

Kristen turned and found Petey standing behind her, grinning. "Petey!" she replied, smiling at the sight of him, "Yeah, Friedman, English."

"Oh! As if this day could not get any better!" Petey declared doing a little happy dance, "Come on! Let's go find a seat!"

He grabbed her arm and began pulling her towards the stairs. Kristen gave a small giggle at his enthusiasm. "Alright, I'm coming!" she said happily.

They found a seat in the middle with a good view of the front. As they sat down, Petey leaned over to her, "So I never asked, what semester is this for you?"

"My first," Kristen replied, "I'm a freshman."

"Really? Awesome!" Petey exclaimed, "I'm a sophomore myself."

Kristen glanced around the room again. "So is this supposed to be like a combination of all years English or something?" she wondered.

"Ha! No, but I'm pretty sure there's only one or two freshman English classes offered per year, so if you aren't lucky enough to get a spot your first year, you have to keep trying for years to come," Petey replied. He reached into his bag and pulled out a slip of paper, his schedule, and showed it to her. "See? I have two English classes this year."

"Huh. Isn't that sort of... inconvenient?" Kristen asked.

"Yep," Petey replied brightly, "But the more years you miss, the higher chance you have of getting into the class."

Kristen furrowed her brow. "So it basically is a combo class... just teaching freshman material."

"Mm-hmm," Petey replied, "But don't worry. Most people manage to get in by sophomore year. Only those super lazies who don't even try are here their junior or senior year... or even beyond." He widened his eyes and raised his eyebrows, looking at Kristen dramatically.

Kristen smirked. "Well I'm glad we both made it into the non-lazy category then."

"You're darn right!" Petey said, grinning. He held up his hand for a high-five. "To the non-lazies!"

"Non-lazies!" Kristen agreed, high-fiving him.

Just then the class fell silent. It was like a spell was cast over the entire room. Kristne and Petey looked around, confused. What was going on? Their eyes fell to the front of the room, where a large man stood in front of the white board. Large doesn't even begin to describe it. He was probably close to seven feet tall... if not more. It was hard to tell from this distance. He had a round, pudgy red face and flaming red hair to match, including a bushy mustache. The entire class was staring at him, most likely drinking in his enormous size like Kristen was.

Suddenly he spoke. "Hello!" he said in a cheery voice. He smiled up at the rows of students. "Welcome to English 101! I am Professor Friedman, your instructor. But you already knew that, didn't you?"

There was silence. He continued on. "We have quite a schedule for this year, but don't worry. We are going to have so much fun! Books, essays, and even poems! Who likes Shakespeare?"

Some people raised their hands. Based on his appearance, one would not expect him to be so... jolly. He was like a giant, red-headed Santa Claus.

"Oh, and we must not forget our fairytale section," Friedman continued, "That always seems to be one of people's favorites. It's definitely mine. I love fairytales! Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson, Charles Perrault, Joseph Jacobs, and so many more!"

Kristen perked up slightly at the mention of fairytales. She grew up reading them. They were her favorite. She had a book thicker than the dictionary just filled with them back home that she always read every night when she was younger. She clasped her hands together and smiled to herself. She might really enjoy this class.

Then she realized that Friedman was looking at someone sitting near the back. She looked back as well and saw someone raising their hand. "You have a question?" Friedman asked.

The boy raising his hand lowered it and crossed his arms. "What do you mean by "fairytale section"?" he asked.

"I mean we will be reading and analyzing fairytales for about three weeks. What makes a fairytale a fairytale? What are some of the famous ones? What is some of the symbolism and meaning behind some of them? At the end of it, you will each write a fifteen page analysis on a fairytale of your choosing," Friedman explained.

The boy scoffed. Friedman furrowed his brow. "Something wrong?" he asked.

"Well, it's just... fairytales," the boy said.

"What about fairytales?" Friedman asked.

"They're fairytales," the boy said distastefully.

"Not all fairytales are about princesses and magic, young man," Friedman said, face hardening, "You'd do well to remember that and respect them."

Kristen looked back at the boy in the back. He glanced at the other boy sitting beside him and muttered something. Friedman raised his voice, "Something else you'd like to say?"

The boy looked at him, his surprised expression slowly turning to defiance. "I was just saying that I think it's ridiculous that we'll have to write fifteen whole pages on a stupid fairytale," he said.

Kristen turned her head back to Friedman. He seemed to really love his fairytales. How was he going to take that comment? She saw his face harden even more than it already had. He rested both of his hands on his desk and stared up at the boy. "What did you call them?" he asked slowly.

Kristen looked back at the boy once more. He almost looked afraid of the stoic expression on the large professor's face, but he remained firm in his statement. He looked him square in the eyes and repeated firmly, "Stupid... fairytales."

There was an audible gasp in the room as everyone slowly turned to look back at Friedman. He just stared at the offender, stone-faced for a long moment. Everyone was silent and tense, wondering what he was going to do.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, he broke his stare and walked around the desk. He marched up the stairs and right to the boy's side. He grabbed him by the back of his jacket and began pulling him down the stairs. "Ow! Hey! What are you-? Ow!" the boy protested, just barely managing to pick up his backpack before it was out of reach.

Friedman dragged him down the stairs and towards the door. "You can have opinions. That's what an English class is all about, but have some respect!" Friedman grumbled as he pulled.

He opened the door and shoved the boy out into the hall. "Goodbye!" he called in his old jolly voice, "Come back when you've learned some common decency!"

He shut the door and returned to the front of the classroom, everyone's eyes following him. He cleared his throat. "Now, the section after fairytales mostly covers poems..." he said. And he went on explaining the course as if the entire encounter with the fairytale-hating boy had never even happened.

Well, this class ought to be interesting.

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FACE DOWN Ch1- Day One

It was Kristen's first official day at college. Somerland University. She was beyond excited. Ever since her older sister had started attending two years earlier, Kristen had wanted nothing more than to follow in her footsteps. She had been cooped up in her house her entire life, homeschooled all through high school. Finally she had a chance to get out and meet real people. She didn't get to live out on her own like her sister, she still had to live at home. But Annalise only got to because she basically ran away and secluded herself after her first year at college. Annalise was... Annalise was a bit a distant.

Still, at least Kristen got to get out and meet new people. Maybe she would even meet The One! Who could tell! Kristen had never been on a date in her life and the thought of standing alone and suddenly meeting eyes with a tall, handsome stranger across the room thrilled her. Then he walks over, tall and fine, introduces himself, and they spend the entire night talking and laughing. Then he asks to see her again. And then after some time of midnight call-ups, romantic dinners, and movie cuddle nights, he eventually proposes on bended knee, declaring his eternal love, and they get married in the mountains under the colorful sunset with that pine tree smell and fresh mountain air!

Kristen turned her attention to her schedule. "Economics 101- Pouperston- 10:00" was first on the list. "Pooperstown?" she questioned to herself.

"Actually, it's Pouperston," a voice spoke up behind her.

Kristen started and turned. A short, round boy with jet black hair stood behind her, grinning, holding a small orange backpack in his hands.

"Don't worry, everyone does it. Just don't ever say it to his face," the kid said, slipping the backpack over his shoulders.

"Oh, thanks for the warning," Kristen said.

"Yeah. He'll get soooo mad!" he told her, "One time he actually threw his toupee at this guy when he said it."

"He wears a toupee?" Kristen asked.

The kid nodded. Then he grinned once more, "I'm Peter, by the way, but everyone calls me Petey."

"Oh, okay. I'm Kristen," Kristen replied, sticking out her hand.

"Hi, Kristen! One thing you need to know about me is that I‘m a hugger," Petey said, tilting his head and looking at her with bright eyes.

"Oh, alright," Kristen said, lowering her hand and spreading out her arms, "Have at it!"

Petey happily wrapped his arms around her middle and squeezed. Kristen gave a small smile. He barely came up to her chin. He was like a little, chubby kid who just loved everybody. She could tell.

He let her go. "It was great to meet you, Kristen!"

"You too. Um, I'll see you around, I guess," Kristen said, she wasn't really sure if she would or not, but it seemed like a good thing to say, "And thanks again for the warning about 'Pooperstown'."

He giggled. "Aw, no no problem," he replied, then he turned to leave, "Bye!"

He practically skipped away. Kristen smiled after him. Well that was a good first encounter, she supposed. He was so happy and nice. She hoped she would meet more like Petey. She turned to enter the building where her first class was located.

It was the most enormous building she thought she had ever seen. How was she supposed to find just one class inside such a massive structure? She should have asked Petey for directions. Nevertheless, she marched inside optimistically. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe it would be one of the first doors when she walked in.

So much for hoping for an easy find. Doors upon doors upon doors! And students were everywhere rushing every which way. Not to mention several staircases going in every direction. Kristen looked at her watch. She still had fifteen minutes. There was still time to sort all this out. She had time to find one classroom... Right?

She bravely marched forward into the hullaballoo of rushing students. She tried looking at some of the doors, looking for the room numbers, but it was hard to get a good view of them. She did manage to spot a room 113. No good. She was looking for a 404. She wasn't even close!

Where was she supposed to go? She didn't even know which direction to take. She would probably end up on the other side of campus and not even realize it. Was she even in the right building?

Students were bumping into her left and right, knocking her about, and not even realizing it (or maybe they were and just continued to rush past. Rude!). Kristen was not a particularly large person and was struggling to keep her balance with all the pushing and shoving.

Suddenly, something very large and heavy crashed into her. She toppled backwards, arms flailing and sending her schedule and binder flying out of her hands. She landed squarely on her behind, feet sprawled out in front of her.

"Ow!" she groaned, reaching back for her now very tender tailbone.

Now pushing and shoving was one thing, but full on knocking someone off their feet was another! She was ready to give whoever had done this a piece of her mind. She glared up at them. "Excuse you!" she cried out.

She suddenly became speechless as her eyes met with to most sunning set of green eyes she had ever seen in her entire life. The owner, a tall guy wearing a gray jacket and dark blue backpack, was staring down at her with concern. "I am so sorry!" he said, "Are you hurt?"

As if his eyes weren't enough. His face. His face was gorgeous! His high cheekbones, low-set eyebrows, perfectly sculpted lips, a nose that was perfectly proportioned with the rest of his face... she could go on! But at the moment, she had to reply to him.

"I, uh... no, no," she stammered slightly, a bit flustered, "I'm fine, I'm okay."

He bent down and began to pick up her binder and schedule for her. "Are you sure? That looked like a pretty hard fall."

"Yeah, yeah! I just wasn't looking where I was going because I was trying to find my class and then, you know," she said, "But it's fine. I'm great."

He handed her things to her. "I can help you find your class if you'd like," he said, smiling. Wow, that was one a dashing smile. So many pearly whiles there.

Kristen returned the smile. "Sure," she said coyly.

They began to walk through the crowd of students.

"Is it always this busy?" Kristen wondered.

"Well this is the Castle Building. It's the main center. Usually in the morning, especially at the beginning of the year when everyone's trying to find their classes, it gets pretty crazy," he explained. He paused, "So the way it works here, and in practically every building for that matter, is that the first number of the the room number is the floor number. Like a hotel. So if your room number is...?"

"404," Kristen replied.

"404. Then your class is on the fourth floor."

Kristen nodded. That would make it much easier now. Hopefully she wouldn't have to go through so much trouble trying to find her other classes.

"Oh. By the way, my name's David Leskov," her escort suddenly spoke up.

Kristen nodded, drinking in everything about him. The name just suited him perfectly. But then it dawned on her that he was expecting her to introduce herself as well. He had said his last name. Did that mean she had to also? She guessed so. "Um, I'm Kristen Ford."

He smiled at her. But then, it slowly faded and he peered closely at her. "Wait, Ford?" he asked.

"Yeah," Kristen said, confused, "Why?"

"Are you, by any chance, related to Annalise Ford?" he wondered.

Okay, she had not expected that. "Yeah, actually," Kristen replied, "She's my sister."

"Oh, okay," he said nodding, "I thought the name sounded familiar."

Kristen raised her eyebrows. "Wow, I didn't think anyone knew my sister," she said, "She's such a recluse."

David smiled. "Yeah, actually lots of people know her. She used to come around here a lot, but then suddenly for some reason she just disappeared."

"So did you like... talk to her?"

"Not really," he replied, "I just remembered her because of her head of rainbow. I had never seen anything like it."

"Oh I know! All those colors, it’s like it changes every time she moves her head, right? She actually has blonde hair. But I don't know where she gets it. Everyone in my family has dark hair," Kristen said.

"Yours isn't very dark," he remarked.

Kristen eyed one of the ponytails hanging at the side of her head. "Well red is definitely no platinum blonde."

David smiled again. "You know, I've always liked a redhead."

Kristen felt herself blush slightly. "Well your hair's kind of red, isn't it?"

David shrugged. "I guess," he replied, "But yours is a better red by far."

"But it's not totally red," she said, blushing again, "I mean, it's like a brownish red. And then there’s this blonde streak?"

David suddenly looked around to her other side. "I didn't even notice that," he remarked, "Wow. How did that happen?"

"I was born with it. Something wrong in the follicles," Kristen replied, "Although I dreamt that one night when I was little, a troll crept into my room and blessed me with a special gift that was only visible through my blonde streak. And then he kissed me..."

Ugh. She did not just say that she dreams about trolls, especially kissing trolls to a stunningly gorgeous guy. But he just chuckled. "Here's your class," he said.

Kristen finally looked away from him and to the door he was pointing at. 404, yep that was it. How did they get there so fast?

"I guess this is where I leave you," David said.

"Yeah," Kristen sighed.

"But I'll see you later," David said.

He would? Would they actually see each other again? "Yeah?" Kristen asked hopefully.

"Yeah," David replied, smiling, "Have fun in class."

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New Story

So I've written a story. It's about 35,000 words long, 18 chapters. It's just a little somethun somethun I've put together over the past couple months. I actually resonated it into a fanfiction originally, but I just liked the plot so much that I rewrote it with my own original characters, setting, etc. I wouldn't say it is the most well-written thing I've ever put down on paper (though it is better than a lot of my past things), but remember my motto about the plot?

Anyways, I'm putting up chapters from it on my blog here. One a day. Just... because.

So my official plot is: "He was perfect. In every way, he was the ideal prince charming. Too bad he was the physical form of that saying "if something seems too good to be true, it probably is". And it was almost too late before Kristen realized it."

Doesn't reveal much, I know. I got the idea while listening to the song 'Face Down' by the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. Then throwing in a few ideas I've had brewing in my brain, but never knowing what to do with them until now, I came up with a half-decent plot. It's not anything earth-shattering, but I was pretty pleased with the outcome.

Just as a warning, I've rated it PG-13 for sexual references and abusive behavior.

Here's the song I based it on:

See first chapter