a chance to know you {{james/CLOSED}}

[Isabella Chanelle Brookes]

|| outfit! ||
* * * * * * * * * *

Music was playing in her ears softly as Izzy's shoes squeaked on the clean, empty gym floor. Nobody ever went into the gym at seven in the morning on a Saturday, people usually started piling in around nine or nine thirty. Izzy was slowly starting to glisten, her hair up in a ponytail bouncing behind her. She flipped her bangs out of her eyes, running in for a layup and making it. Izzy grabbed her ball, jogging over to the bench with her water. The junior girl sat down, opening her water bottle and chugging down half of it. After that, she got up and walked to the middle of the gym, leaving her ball over near her water bottle.

Izzy pushed her bangs out of her face, them then falling back slowly. She took a deep breath and did a back bend, flipping over slowly. Quickly then, Izzy ran into a front hand spring then a front flip. She landed straight up, sliding down into the splits. Izzy stood slowly, turning around to face the center of the gym. She did some random gymnastic moves for about ten or fifteen minutes, then practicing one of the cheers. When she was done, Izzy was slightly sweating. She wiped her forehead, frustratedly flipping her head to get her bangs out of her face again.

With a small sigh, Izzy walked over and drank the rest of of her water. Izzy sat on the bench, listening to her iPod in silence. She rested her elbows on her legs, propping her arms up and resting her face in her palms. A small groan escaped her lips, echoing through the gymnasium. The music in her ears was very quiet, a headache pounding in her brain. Maybe getting drunk the night before hadn't been the best idea, she was definitely in pain. Izzy sighed, a yawn following. She'd only gotten a couple hours of sleep, and the work out this morning had helped a little, but she just wanted to talk to James. Izzy didn't know why, she just really wanted to be alone with him...

* * * * * * * * * *

[James Arthur Neville]

outfit

James wasn't sure exactly why he was up at 7 on a saturday. He couldn't sleep anymore, and the damn time change still had him in its grasp. Growling to himself, James swung out of bed, changed into some black gym shorts and a grey t-shirt that showed off his muscles. He covered the shirt with a Manchester United jacket. They weren't his favorite team, but he had some kind of fan apparal from every single team in the UK, and some foreign teams, thanks to relatives never knowing what else to get him. He grabbed a ball on the way out.

Skulking his way down to the gym, James heard the sound of a basketball being dribbled. He paused just outside the door, not sure if he wanted company, or even what he was going to do. The football (soccer) nets were set up at the far end, out of the way of the basketballers. Peering inside, a grin crossed James's face. It was Izzy, and she was alone. He wondered how she was feeling, and how she had managed to get up this early. Last he'd seen of her, she'd been rather drunk.

"You never sleep do you. Its a miracle that you can function."

James had walked up behind her, and was standing only feet away. He grinned.

[Isabella Chanelle Brookes]

|| outfit! ||
* * * * * * * * * *

Izzy winced and let out a small groan at the sound of another voice echoing through the gym. She turned around and jumped to see James behind her, only a foot or two behind her. The girl sighed, rolling her eyes. All the lattes and water in the world couldn't help her. She'd drank about three lattes since five in the morning, which usually helped her hang overs. But this morning, it didn't seem to be working.

"Sleep and I aren't exactly close friends. I love to watch the stars, and I do my best thinking at night. Then I'm already awake and ready by morning. Working out helps. Besides, I'm sleeping tonight. And I slept night before last. Sometimes I go a day or two without it though, and it doesn't effect me at all." Izzy smiled softly. Her lips tingled softly when she looked at him, and she remembered one thing from when she'd just started to get drunk, walking over to James and kissing him. But after that, most things were a blur.

Izzy had read once that being drunk was like a living dream: it makes you do things you wouldn't normally do when sober but you want to. Then, Izzy realized how badly she really did want to kiss him. "How drunk was I? On a scale of one to giggly loon who'll do anything?" Izzy knew for sure it was past a five if she barely remembered a thing. She just hoped the vodka hadn't made her a spazzy loon who laughed a ton and did things she wanted to when sober but was too chicken not to. Oh she prayed she didn't say anything too drastic, luckily for her Felicity and Olivia had been pretty drunk as well.

* * * * * * * * * *

[James Arthur Neville]

"Ah...you were pretty much a giggling loon."

James smiled at her. If she had been sober last night, he might have said something about the kiss. Something that would express feelings. But as he had no idea if she even remembered the incident, he controlled himself.

Pushing the thoughts to the back of his head, well not really. They kept creeping back.. He inched toward her, talking the whole time.

"So when you can't sleep you come play basketball. Are you any good at it?"

Darting in, he snatched at the ball in her hands, twisting away, he tucked it under his arm and grinned at her.

[Isabella Chanelle Brookes]

* * * * * * * * * *

Izzy sighed, flipping her bangs out of her eyes once more. "Well that's great.. I remember a few things, but a lot is blurry. I must have been totally wasted, and I learned not to do so again. Killer hangover in the morning is not so fun." Izzy yawned a small bit, closing her mouth quickly. She wasn't about to blurt out that she remembered kissing him, especially if he wasn't going to bring it up.

"Oh, and I swim at five in the morning before here..." she started, realizing that the ball had been snatched. "Hey!" Izzy protested, crossing her arms and smiling widely. "Come on, Jamesy!" Izzy's voice was small, cute, like a little kid. She pouted softly, moving closer to him. Her arms were uncrossed and she was moving closer and closer to James.

* * * * * * * * * *

[James Arthur Neville]

James stood his ground, amused that she kept talking after he'd grabbed the basketball away. He now held it loosly in front of him, watching as she moved closer. James made a tsking noise with his tongue, shaking his head at her delayed reactions and monologue about her hangover.

"Hangovers, not so much fun. Thats why the English are so much smarter than Americans. We're allowed to drink when we're sixteen, so the lessons in hangovers come sooner, and the novelty quickly wears off, let me tell you."

James took the tiniest step foreward and stopped, waiting for her to make the first move. Izzy was cute when she was angry, even if she was just pretending. He wasn't going to lie, the little nickname was a little much, and very much overused by past girlfriends who'd all thought they were so original. But overall, the effect was adorable.

[Isabella Chanelle Brookes]

* * * * * * * * * *

Izzy kept following him. Her thoughts were trailing elsewhere, like on the kiss. Izzy was trying to keep the thought out of her mind, but it just kept coming back. It was odd how she wanted to think about it at the same time as trying to get rid of it. She listened as he talked about England. After he stepped forward Izzy grabbed at the ball, getting it back in her grasp. A smile of pride spread across her lips.

"I've learned my lesson. I'm really not going to be getting drunk anytime soon.. Although a drink every now and then might still be nice. And before you say anything, no I'm not an alcoholic," Izzy said with another smile. She licked her lips quickly, as they were slowly chapping. Then, Izzy started chewing on her lower lip a small bit.

* * * * * * * * * *

[James Arthur Neville]

They were so close now. Going on about how she wasn't a drunk, he saw her move for the ball. As Izzy grabbed the ball, he snatched for it again. Instead though, his arms wrapped around her waist and he held her there, loosely enough for her to get away if she really wanted too, but tight enough to keep her from just stepping away.

"Exactly what do you remember from last night? 'Cause there was something I'm not going to forget."

He whispered the words into her ear, lips inches away. James waited about a second for her to get out whatever she was going to say, if anything, before gently lifting her face up to his with one hand and placing his lips to hers in a soft kiss.

[Isabella Chanelle Brookes]

* * * * * * * * * *

Izzy dropped the ball when he wrapped his arms around her, watching it for a second as it bounced off in the opposite direction. She could have fainted when she heard his perfect accent whisper in her ear. Izzy could feel the warmth of his breath and she was very glad that she had minty-fresh breath at the moment. When he asked her what she remembered, she shrugged. "Everything before I tripped... Including the one thing I'm sure you're talking about.."

Izzy's voice trailed off as their lips touched for the second time. When she was over the fact that her heart was racing as fast as a NASCAR car, Izzy pushed away, putting her hands on his chest to give herself the extra force she needed. She didn't know why she did it, or why she spoke after. It was completely unintentional, and she wanted to just be back to having his arms around her. Izzy backed away a little bit. "I know Felicity.. she wasn't saying anything about food when she went over and whispered in your ear... And I know that you guys have hooked up before, what's to stop you from doing it again even if we ever did go-" Izzy cut herself off from her ramble, she was talking really fast and tears were starting to bubble up in her eyes. Why was she about to cry? Izzy really didn't know, but she ran back over to James, wrapping her arms around him into a tight hug. A few tears spilled down her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I don't even know why I'm crying..." she mumbled, her face buried in his chest.

* * * * * * * * * *

[James Arthur Neville]

James was confused when she pushed away from him. He had thought things were going well, and she had kissed him back. It wasn't until she started crying that he decided he hated Felicity. Izzy was smart enough to figure things out, and Fifi had probably told her as it was since they were all together all the time. James made a face at the mention of her name, one hand on his hip, the other rubbing the back of his neck in frustration.

"Fifi and I are a thing of the past. She just doesn't want to admit it. Its not going to happen."

He wrapped his arms back around her as she ran back over to him and gave him a tight hug, her head resting on his chest. James kissed the top of her head and pulled her tight. He didn't want anyone else, but Fifi could be vicious and persuasive when she was angry. He hoped she could let her friend be happy, but all the same, they would have to tread carefully.

[Isabella Chanelle Brookes]

|| outfit! ||
* * * * * * * * * *

Izzy's sobs slowed down a bit. She knew FiFi, and she knew that FiFi would try her hardest. The tears stopped slowly, but no matter what she did, Izzy couldn't stop her heart from racing. Not once had she cried in front of a guy, especially about that exact guy. And the fact that she had pulled herself as tight against him as she could, that was a first too. The girl loosened her grip a bit, just enough so she could go on her tip toes and kiss him again. "I-is that a p-promise?" she asked in a still sad voice, stuttering a small bit because of her racing heart.

Izzy didn't pull herself tighter again, she just kept looking into James' eyes. She'd never felt so in place and so mad about it at the same time. The sad thing about what happened with Izzy, is when she fell, she fell hard and a bit fast. So, lucky her right?, she was always broken hearted in the end.

* * * * * * * * * *

[James Arthur Neville]

James knew he couldn't promise anything. He wanted to, so badly, but it would come down to the final decision: would he be willing to give up what he had worked for since coming to Melody Lake to be with the one he loved, or would he give in to Fifi and her power over the alphas. On one hand, it was only one year, and he could technically join the Celeb group for his role in that show of Liam's, or he could be a Charmer, it wouldn't be as big of a step down.

Instead of saying anything, he looked into her eyes for a moment, full of honesty and love, an unspoken promise. As she loosened her hold, he pulled her back to him, holding her just as tightly as she had just been holding him, and kissed her passionantly. He didn't think he'd ever been so...no. That was a lie. It had been like this with Jena. Almost exactly the same. James had promised himself that it would never happen again, not in high school, not like this.
Those thoughts were thrown aside for now, he would just enjoy it as it was.

[Isabella Chanelle Brookes]

|| outfit! ||
* * * * * * * * * *

When the kiss finally ended, Izzy hugged James with as much power as she could, as if she couldn't be more than a centimeter away from him. She rested her head on his chest, a sigh escaping her lips. The voice escaping Izzy's lips was a bit muffled as it was shoved slightly into Jame's chest still. "So... are we... like... you know?" Izzy had always been horrible at asking about anything that includes dating or going steady.

Izzy rested her chin on James' chest and looked up at him. Her blue eyes were sparkling, and could easily be mistaken as those of a little girl. Or a puppy. Izzy had always looked like a puppy, innocent, sweet, cute, energetic. In fact, she used to have a friend who called her Puppy. But most of all, she was like a little girl; curious, bubbly, adorable.

* * * * * * * * * *

[James Arthur Neville]

James smiled down at Izzy. Her eyes were so innocent, so trusting. He decided he loved her right then and there. Well, he had before, but now he decided that he was right. Fifi couldn't get to them. He wouldn't let her ruin the beauty and innocence of those deep blue eyes.

"Yes."

James kissed the tip of her upturned nose. Just then, two more boys entered the gym,. freshmen and of undefined rank. He just grinned at them over Izzy's head, and taking her hand, pulled her across the room as basketballs started flying, and yet more people started piling in. Apparently, there was some sort of pickup game going on, and they were standing in the way.

[Isabella Chanelle Brookes]

|| outfit! ||
* * * * * * * * * *

Izzy looked in the direction James was grinning and noticed the boys, giving them a quick smile. Soon, she was being pulled across the room. She giggled when they were out of the way. Her arms found their way around his neck, and a sweet smile was upon her soft lips. Izzy bit her lower lip and stared into his eyes. Yes, she's dated, but none of her boyfriends were nearly as gorgeous as James.

Just looking into his eyes she could tell that she was in love. Izzy was falling hard, and she hoped that it didn't hurt her in the end. She was still chewing on her lower lip, just looking at her. She could hear basketballs being dribbled and shoes squeaking across the floor. Izzy stopped chewing on her lower lip and kissed him softly, then wrapping him in another hug. "James? I'm really glad you showed up this morning..." she said quietly against his chest. A smile spread across her face as she pulled out of the hug a bit, still staying close against him, and smiling up at him with her eyes sparkling.

* * * * * * * * * *