The heart is a bloom
Shoots up through the stony ground
There's no room
No space to rent in this town

Elliot's hand moved ever so slowly across the canvas of her easel, making sure to capture every single detail of the scene in front of her. The silence made it impossible for her to sit still; instead of calmly sketching across the paper, she continuously squirmed and fidgeted to no end with absolutely zero concentration. This is not normal . . . she thought to herself as she set the pencil down and attempted to sort out her thoughts. She tucked a peice of her hair behind her ear against the opposing breezes and she zipped her jacket up even further. Weather disagreeing, she may just have to go inside and forget about her plans altogether. After a few long moments, Elliot reluctantly stood from her padded seat and slid her feet out of her clogs. Then, with a small scream as the cool grass brushed against her ankles, she approached the lake, which had been her main landscape and goal of sketching. Obviously, that wasn't about to happen. Not today, anyway. At least she could value some alone time and keep nature's little joys all to herself. She smoothed her skirt even though she knew no one was watching her as her blue eyes scanned the environment.

Eventually she reached the bank and she sat cross-legged, just close enough to have the ability to peer into the water. She leaned forward to let her finger drift into the ripples and make them part one at a time. Of course, her little R & R plan didn't last for a long amount of time either. A quiet brushing sound could be heard, and Ell looked ahead in pursuit of the noise. A soccer ball was rolling her way, which meant that, more than likely, another human being was too. In silent desperation of her own world, she quickly grabbed her shoes and headed to the nearest tree for cover. Just get the ball and go away... she pleaded in her mind, even closing her eyes for a few brief seconds. Before long a figure was coming her way and she dared to peek around the tree to take a better look.

He didn't look familiar at all, that was for sure. She watched with a pitiful expression as he waded into the chilly water to retrieve the soccer ball. He has to be freezing to death! Elliot thought, biting her lip for a split second. She watched until he had waded in up to his waist, gotten his treasure, and moved back out. It seemed as if the desire to know who this boy was appeared to be too much for her. She slowly moved out from behind the tree and followed him while taking off her jacket and tying it around her waist. She at least had to make sure that he wasn't about to die of hypothermia, right? Hoping that he could hear her graceful steps, she kept walking until she was at an audible distance. "Hey, aren't you freezing to death?" Elliot called to him while stopping briefly to take the fleece from around her waist. "I could offer you my coat." She found herself blushing as she said this - she knew that she had bought it from the guys' side of Hollister, but found it to be a neutral sort of clothing. She watched him carefully for his expression, hoping that she wasn't being overly-friendly. Her main concern was just to worry that he would think she was stalking him.

You're out of luck
And the reason that you had to care
The traffic is stuck
And you're not moving anywhere

'I am pretty cold but I am still alive.'Elliot smiled as she tightened the knot of the jacket around her waist. "I'm glad to hear it. Otherwise I would feel guilty for not consulting to your health sooner." At his seat invitation, she sat exactly where his hand had been after sliding her shoes back on. She then stuck her hand out to meet his. "It's nice to meet you, Ethan. I'm Elliot...Elliot Carey." For some reason she considered it formal to introduce your first and last name, but that was just Ell. Of course she knew that that was an extremely lame quality. After the handshake, she let her eyes drift from Ethan to the landscape ahead of them, and she took in a soft sigh to absorb it all. This was obviously one of the reasons she loved where she lived - you could never sketch one place twice. There were so many sites to see, so many people to meet. It was almost overwhelming. With these thoughts pushed aside, she looked back at him.

"So I saw you earlier. Are you on a soccer team?" Elliot was not all that familiar with sports except for track, which she rarely participated in anyway. She mostly chose to ignore the fact that she enjoyed running almost as much as art itself. Her hand happened to lay right beside a dandelion and she disassembled the stem from the ground softly. Such a pretty weed with an misunderstood reputation. She let it spin around between her thumb and index finger absentmindedly, watching the yellow colors blend together.

You thought you'd found a friend
To take you out of this place
Someone you could lend a hand
In return for grace

'Yeah. I'm on the school varsity team and the regional traveling team. We have a game tomorrow.' Elliot nodded lightly as her light blue eyes softly gazed back into his. "I'm surpised you don't look so familiar at all. I've gone to a few of the games with some friends." She looked away for a moment at the dandelion she was twirling in concentration, aware that Ethan was still looking at her. Feeling herself blush ever so slightly, she went on to answer his next question. "When I'm not doing anything else, I like track." she replied, studying him once more. "I'm mostly for long distance, but I'll participate in other things sometimes." She tucked the dandelion behind her ear and hugged her knees.

As Elliot laid her cheek on one of her knees, she said, "So, sports not included, what else do you do for fun?" She felt incredibely at ease around Ethan, and she had yet to figure out why. Her guess was simply that he was a free-flowing person and easy to get along with. She felt the oncoming breeze tickle her neck with her hair, but she ignored it as she was eager for his answer. She secretly hoped that he wouldn't ask about what she loved to do, because she could either make herself look like a dork or lie, which wasn't happening. Anyone who knew Elliot would automatically say that she loved art, and they were right. Every waking moment was spent in attempt to make her efforts better, and sometimes that caused people to think that she was wierd and possibly shun her. Of course, she hoped he wouldn't think the same way.

It's a beautiful day
Sky falls, you feel like
It's a beautiful day
Don't let it get away

'I'm not the biggest player out there or the most famous...but I'm getting there. I just need to get the coach to put me as a forward and then everyone would know my name.' Elliot nodded in understanding and tilted her head to look at Ethan. "Well, you're probably bigger and more famous than you think. I'm sort of blind at times, and I will admit that sometimes I don't pay the most attention to things...that was more than likely my fault." She bit the inside of her cheek for a second as she felt her bracelet slide down to her wrist.'Ahh...a runner. That is pretty hard work. Plus long-distance? Woah. The only running I do is on the field or court.'At the mention of running, a slow smile spread across Ell's face. "Yeah, it is pretty hard work." she agreed. "But it comes naturally to me. I think the fact that I was born with long legs helps." At that thought, she stretched and folded her legs in front of her and laid her hands on the grass again.

'Hey, are you doing anything Friday night? I heard they have a new movie that is coming out the day before.'At the mention of a movie, Elliot turned to look at him again with a small smile. "That'd be great! Are you talking about Fool's Gold? I've always wanted to see that..." Fool's Gold was the only movie Ell knew was coming out soon, so she figured that Ethan was talking about it. But of course, she'd been wrong before.

You're on the road
But you've got no destination
You're in the mud
In the maze of her imagination

Elliot sighed softly to herself and slowly descended to lay on the cool grass. She leaned her elbow up and started to twist a peice of her hair around her finger whilst feeling the brush of the dandelion falling out of its perch. Her eyes followed it until it hit the ground and then they slowly gazed at Ethan again.'You are probably right but I don't think you are blind. You saw me freezing my butt off.' She shook her head with a smile. "That's because you were smack dab in front of me. And making a lot of noise, of course." Laughing a bit, she reached over to prod him playfully on the shoulder. Now, of course, she was happy that she had decided to come out to sketch and it hadn't really turned out as she had planned.

'That's like me and sports. But it is a different story with the guitar.'Elliot looked up, surprised. Ethan didn't seem like a guy who would play music to his own enjoyment, and before she knew it another smile was creeping its way across her face. She was starting to like him, and he almost had the appearance and personality of a flawless guy. "I wish I could play some sort of musical instrument..." She bit her lip and laughed a little. "But of course, we can't all be perfect. I've settled with art."

'Yeah, I did too. So you will go with me?' Before she knew it, she sat up and smiled at him. "You mean, as a date sort of thing?" Bold, very bold. She could feel herself blushing, and she would be okay even if it wasn't a sort of 'date'. However, she was just happy to hang out with someone. The elastic that she had in her hair was pulling very uncomfortably, so she released her long locks from it and was relieved as they tumbled down her shoulders and back.