Where The Lonely One Roams (Open)

[Mike Rhodes]

Mike walked down the halls of the school, paying no attention to the horde of giggling students. It was better that way anyways. Being a dorm monitor, he needed to keep his cool and the best way to do that was to avoid eye contact with people, especially the girls. How was he supposed to keep his strict facade up if he started blushing and stuttering like a complete idiot? At heart, Mike was still an awkward teenage boy, but he really needed this job.

He had to do it. For Chloe.

Chloe was his everything. Not because it was the only thing he had left from Robin, because truth be told, he was a little glad she was gone. It was better that she decided to leave before Chloe managed to get any memories of her, that way things would have been a lot more difficult. No, it was better that he was the only one getting hurt from all of it. Chloe didn't deserve that kind of pain. But when she was old enough to ask such questions as 'Where is mommy?,' then what would he tell her?

He didn't know. He didn't want to know. Luckily, the girl was only two years old, and thus he still had some time to figure everything out, yeah?

Though, out of nowhere something, something tiny crashed into him, sending the boy crashing down from the clouds and back into reality, looking down, Mike waved his arms to regain the balance he had lost in and huffed, ''Oof, I'm- I'm sorry, err,'' he muttered and leaned his arm against the wall, exhaling as he felt his legs steady, ''I musta been in my own world,'' he chuckled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand.

[Hadley Roarke]

The track meeting started at three o'clock. It was now two fifty-eight. Two minutes to get to the track? Challenge accepted. Hadley double tied her sneakers and slammed her door shut. She jammed the key in her lock and twisted it, before yanking it back out. Today, she was so behind. Since her reconnection with her former mean self, she felt so much more alive. Not to mention all her problems worked out.

Her hair bun jiggled as she ran past the cliques of people. Why exactly was it cool to travel in packs? It was annoying for people who actually had places to be. If she wasn't in a rush she would- Had gasped as she collided with a guy. A cute guy. One could not help but notice this feature.

"I'm so sorry. It was my fault." If this was anyone else she would have promised them a swift kick in the ass when she got back from her meeting. "No, I wasn't paying attention. I was in a hurry.." Hadley trailed off and gave him a smile. She stuck out her hand, "Hadley Roarke. Enchanting fire goddess. You can just call me Hads, though." The blonde winked and put her hands in her back pockets. Smooth. Yeah, she definitely had her groove back. Satisfaction ran through her. It was so great to be normal Hadley once and for all. The slender, active, temperamental fireball was a fun card to play.

[Mike Rhodes]

When Mike catched a glimpse of the blonde hair, the face and at last the eyes, his cheeks flushed over into a deeper shade of pink. Oh god. This was exactly the thing he wasn't good at; Talking to women. It didn't matter if they were young or old, attractive or not so attractive, it always lead him into becoming a stuttering mess of social awkwardness meets Freddie Krueger; Somewhat of a creep.

When she spoke, Mike stood as frozen, completely in something in between awe and trying to convince himself that running away would look stupid, ''Uh..,'' he mumbled and blinked, his eyes dropping to her hand. It was quite the pretty hand too, ''Hi, Hadley,'' he muttered awkwardly and finally shook her hand. Oh god, was his hand sweaty? Was it shaking? He couldn't tell. He was far too busy keeping his heart from jumping out of his miserable chest. Man, he was pathetic, ''I'm Micha- Mike. Mike Rhodes,'' The blush grew into a deeper shade of red and he grew more nervous by the second.

Why did he get the sudden feeling of being the last piece of meat on a plate in a room filled with hyenas? Get a grip man, she's a student. You can do this. Yooou can do this. No, he couldn't, ''I'm sorry, I shoulda-'', he said and trailed off once more, looking away, trying his best to clear his mind. Oh man, when did it become so hot in here? Sheesh, he was burning up!

''I should, uh.. Go do... Stuff,'' Stuff? Really? Cussing to himself all the while having an internal fight against his better, more confident self, Mike once again forgot to watch were he was going - and watch out for possible open locker doors as he passed the blonde. As his crashed into the gray metal, it was almost like watching his life pass before his eyes, black and white pictures of every awkward moment he had every experienced, ''Ooof,'' he let out again, gripping his forehead with his hand and letting out a faint grumble.

Smooth. Really smooth.

[Hadley Roarke]

His awkwardness was painful to watch. He was adorable. "It's nice to meet you Micha Mike Rhodes," she teased with a softer smile. Maybe she needed to tone down a little so she didn't freak him out. He wasn't the type to find her fierceness admirable. At least, that's how he came across. The more he blushed the more she wanted to giggle, but she bit her lip and settled for the smile already gracing her face.

He couldn't finish a sentence to save his life, could he? Too cute. "Well, I have to go to my track meeting, anyway." She pointed behind him with an amused look. As he passed, she watched him walk. He reminded her of James.. This would be her little JimmyJamJame when he talked to women. When he crashed into the locker, she covered her mouth to stifle a laugh. Had ran over to him and grabbed his arm. "Please, let me help you."

He was obviously too awkward to help himself, or drunk. "Where do you need to go?" Had rose a brow and tried not to make him so nervous. She just had that aura anyway.. Hadley intimidated people for some reason. It didn't help that he was socially weird. "I can be late; I just don't want you to injure yourself," at this she laughed. She couldn't help herself. He was just too adorable. "You know you remind me of my little brother. He tends to get pretty weird around other girls too."

Only she could get herself into something like this. Ah, well. He was going to end up killing himself. That would be a sad loss to the school, because he was going to make some poor wallflower happy one day.

[Mike Rhodes]

Grimacing at her comment, Mike was forced to look away. He was making this a lot worse for himself than what he needed to - it was as Robin had always said; Take a deep breath, clear your mind, because if you don't, you'll say something absolutely ridiculous and make it worse for yourself. She had been a clever girl, even with her recklessness. But then again, that was why he had fallen for her in the first place. She had a different way of viewing the world, unlike most people she saw beauty in everything - and everyone.

Ugh, she was the last person he wanted to think about. Especially after she had so easily walked out on her own daughter.

Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. Oh god.

Clearing his throat, Mike pulled his arm away from her grip, rubbing the back of his neck before finally looking at the girl again, ''No, no. It's fine, it's just a.. Eh, minor bruise...or something,'' he said with something that was supposed to sound like a chuckle, all though, to him it sounded more like crow choking. And it didn't exactly make him feel any better to be compared to someone's younger brother, or the fact that she outwardly called him weird. GOOD JOB MIKE! ''Eheh, is that so?,'' he asked, straightening out the frills on his shirt, keeping his eyes down. The pain on his forehead was dulling and as long as he didn't look at her directly, he'd be fine, right? Well, he could hope anyways.

Let's try this again, yeah?

Taking a deep breath before lifting his head, still feeling very much awkward, ''Sorry. I get easily distracted, but I'm fine now. Promise,'' There, that wasn't so hard, hm?

[Hadley Roarke]

Clearly, he was not okay. Stumbling around and stuttering. She felt a little bad for overwhelming him. Hell, it made her feel confident though. This was a great start to getting back to the normal. Although the situation was unusual. "Yeah, that's not an insult. Believe me. He is so cute when he gets all flustered." It didn't really matter how he took it. She didn't really have time to try and hit on him. Besides, after making a connection with him and her brother, it would just be.. odd.

"Are you sure? I don't want to see you walking into any more lockers," Hadley laughed and stuck her hands in her back pockets again. He didn't want her help, so she wasn't going to force it upon him. Men could be so prideful. They had to do things on their own. All of them seemed to be the same in some way; didn't matter how different their personalities were. Each had that manly pride. "So, Mike. Where are you headed off to?" She was still unsure about leaving him. He didn't seem capable of making it through all the pretty girls here.

She grabbed her phone out of her front pocket. Three o'five. Yeah, it didn't matter. Gray or Riley could catch her up. Even Erika was right next to her in the dorms. The meeting couldn't be that important. Everyone knew Hadley worked out in her spare time, and she had been on track for a while. If it was something major someone would let her know somehow. No biggie.

"I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable. I can come off really headstrong. I'll tone it down a little." He wasn't looking at her. Maybe that was for the best. He might faint this time. God knows she didn't need that. Where was the nurses office in this place? She had no idea where it could be. Invincible Roarke never got sick. Her body just wouldn't allow it. Ever since her powers manifested, and her body heat jumped to a dangerous number, she seemed to fend off colds and sickness like nobody's business.

[Mike Rhodes]

Maybe it wasn't meant as an insult, but no guy liked to be compared to someone's, anyone's younger brother. Not only because it he was younger, but also because it felt as if the girl who said it took a good leap and kicked him in the nuts. Good thing Mike wasn't easily offended or even looked at the girl that way. Besides, she was a student, and he was a member of the staff. That was a no-no, ''Right,'' he said with a scoff and rubbed his chin.

''I'm sure,'' he reassured her. He didn't want to worry her, and besides, the moment she walked away, he's be able to pay attention to where he was going and he wouldn't feel nearly as nervous or flustered, thus he'd be fine. Juuust fine, ''I'm just headed towards-'' he said but stopped, narrowing his eyes. Wait, where was he going again? Oh god, was she staring? He needed to say something, anything. This looked dumb, like.. Really dumb. Mike opened his mouth to speak, but no words seemed to come out. Play it off. Pretend like you forgot something, or just remembered something you had to do. TALK MAN, TALK! ''Toilet. A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do,'' He said. ...Seriously? He mentally wanted to facepalm himself.

''N-no, no it's fine. I'm just distracted,'' he said with a faint smile, sticking his hands into his pockets and shrugged. Well, that was one of the wonders about having a two year old child, once people found out about it, they stopped looking at him like he was crazy and sort of understood why he was adding so odd - you know, raising a kid on your own used to make people a little loony.

Mike ran his hand through his hair and let out a silent sigh, ''Do you need me to write you a pass? Since you're late to your.. Uh, meeting?''