{SB} Missed Me, Buttercup?

[Lucy James]

Tag: Quinn Wiley

Lucy walked across the packed deck, pushing her way through the crowd. This was one of the things Lucy absolutely hated about this damned trip: all the people. Sighing as she finally managed to guide herself out of the crowd, she looked around for a bit before she finally spotted a familiar face. Smirking a little, the brunette made her way up the stairs to the upper deck. It didn't look as if the boy had seen her yet, which just made it all the better.

Approaching him, she leaned against the railing with her arms crossed over her chest. She studied him in silence for a bit as she waited for him to notice her - and even if he didn't, it wouldn't matter. She was going to catch his attention one way or another.

Moving forward, she positioned herself right in front of him and cupped his face between her hands. Quickly, she leaned forward and placed a peck upon his lips before pulling away, chuckling. She patted his head as she took a step back, studying the boy's face with an obvious playful smirk splayed over her lips.

Boy did she enjoy riling the poor guy up. If their last encounter had told her anything, it was that the boy didn't at all enjoy her presence. "Missed me, buttercup?"

[Quinn Wiley]

Quinn didn’t really like the whole group thing but he would have been stupid to pass on the opportunity to go on a cruise ship to Mexico. He never went to that sort of trip before, if you don’t count the ski one earlier this year, and he was not counting it. The chance to get away and possibly get some interesting pictures, Quinn brought with him his brand new camera, courtesy of his weirdo friend Erin, outweighed dealing with all those other students onboard. Anyway, most of them preferred to ignore him. They had no idea who he was really and didn’t seem interested in knowing. It suited him just fine.

He didn't get seasick too much. The ship was so big he could barely feel they were on water. You could do things as if you were on land. In a way, Quinn thought it sucked a little. It would have been nice to really feel they were on the sea, other than the fact they were surrounded by water and they had a salty breeze.

Quinn already took some pictures. The ship, for starters and some of the students here and the sea. Mexico was what really interested him though. He was not joining them in fooling around the deck or anything of the like. He was not really good at fooling around. He preferred to be in his little bubble. He groaned at some point. He forgot his cigarettes. Maybe it was best this way as they might have decided to confiscate them otherwise but he could use one right now. Well, that feeling didn’t last long.

He had not noticed Lucy around, but she proved hard to miss when she stood right in front of him and chose to hold his face to peck his lips. He froze there, the only thing moving in his face being his eyes, blinking every now and then. “No,” he managed to say after a moment. He had no problem being brutally honest with Lucy and he sure didn’t miss her constant teasing. “What was that for?”

[Lucy James]

A smirk splayed over the brunette's lips at the boy's reaction; it was golden. Simply golden. She enjoyed the boy's blunt honesty, and truth be told, it just made the whole thing a lot more interesting. She had no romantic interest in him, and her general interest didn't stretch much further than enjoying torturing him and pushing his buttons, as was expected from the clearly damaged and sadistic young girl. Tilting her head to the side, Lucy watching the boy for a moment before smirking again.

"Oh I don't know," she said and shrugged dismissively. Flipping her hair, Lucy moved to stand beside the boy, her blue eyes wandering over the deck below. She didn't doubt why the boy was hiding up here; he didn't seem like the overly social type, which she could understand. Neither was she, after all. But whether or not his intentions were as innocent as she had come to notice that he often seemed, she doubted.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as she looked at him. "Are you stalking people again? You do realize not everyone would be as cool with that as I am?" She reached her hand out to flick one of his curls. "Aw, I didn't steal your first kiss, did I?" she asked as she moved her hand to his cheek, pinching it.

One of these days, he was going to retaliate, and she couldn't wait.

[Quinn Wiley]

Quinn dealt once with Lucy and frankly, that was one time too many. Taking pictures never brought in so much bad luck to him. That girl was worse than those no brain bullies who thought they could intimidate you with their big muscles. She dug her claws in you and not only wouldn’t she let go, you started to understand you’ll have to bleed nearly to death in order to push her away. Lucy James might be cute but she was a monster and a perfect example of who he didn’t want to be around people. Why would you want to deal with people when they can do that?

That kiss really took him by surprise. He knew it was just another one of her ideas to mess with him. There was no other explanation as he would never believe she fancied him. The only fancy she had in him was in the form of him trapped in a cage with electrified bars. It was how he felt with her, like the whole floor was rigged with mines he could trigger with every step. She never missed an opportunity.

He tilted his head away from her hand. Surely there was supposed to be something romantic about someone playing in one’s hair but it was just too scary with her. “Of course not. I’m actually trying to avoid them. The moment they notice I have a camera, they expect me to take all the pictures they want of themselves and their friends,” he retorted. As if he didn’t think they looked ridiculous enough with all the selfies they took. But they didn't bring their phones everywhere, afraid to throw water on them he supposed. Still, the fact he had a camera did not mean he would take pictures for everyone. He should probably start charging, maybe they will stop. And if not, it would make it worth his time a little more.

He flinched, not just because of the cheek pinching but also because of her words. Was this so obvious that no girl ever really wanted to kiss him or be with him? He did remember one once, who seemed to like his stray dog look but they never went further than holding hands and he had his cousins to thank for that. He felt so humiliated when they teased him. Sometimes, people really don’t understand how hurtful they can be. “Leave me alone. Don’t you have someone else to terrorize?”

[Lucy James]

Nodding at his words, Lucy realized that it actually made a lot of sense. As much as she understood his passion for photography, it couldn't be a whole lot of fun being the one everyone used as a personal photographer. But if one liked taking pictures enough, couldn't that sort of thing be viewed on as experience and practice? "So, you really don't enjoy taking pictures when people know about it, huh?" she asked, turning to look at the crowd down below. "Or is it just the people you don't like?" she asked. She wondered though, if he really was as anti-social as he gave the impression of being. She could admire that though. She knew all about wanting to keep people on an arm's length away.

She studied his expression for a long, quiet moment before she finally nodded. "I'm sorry then," she said, pursing her lips. All fun and jokes aside, she hadn't really expected it to be his first kiss and although he hadn't admitted to such, she had clearly prodded at some kind of scar she shouldn't have been prodding at. Lucy never claimed she wasn't a decent human being. She could read people and although she rarely cared, she understood perfectly when she'd gone to far.

"This must come as such a huge shock to you-" she looked at him again with a smirk on her lips. "-but most people don't enjoy having me around," she added with a wink. In most cases, Lucy didn't mind that at all. In fact, it was exactly what she wanted. It was easier that way. "They're clearly intimidated by my charming self." Of course she wasn't going to leave him alone. Duh.

[Quinn Wiley]

He sighed, rather annoyed she would bring up once again the fact he stalked her. “It’s not that. They just don’t want to take their cell out in case it would get wet. There’s nothing interesting in taking a picture of a bunch of people fooling around by the pool,” he replied. It seemed to answer her other question, about him not liking people. Although Quinn was more ready to say it was people that didn't quite like him. Either way, his dream was not to end up taking pictures during proms and weddings. If he had to take people’s picture, let it be for fashion or special shootings, something more interesting. He wasn’t really into taking pictures of people having fun when he clearly had none. He could not share their pleasure.

Her apology sounded so out of place coming from her that it had Quinn flinch a bit before staring at her. Was she? He had a hard time believing her. He simply shrugged, as if the matter had little importance. Who remembered their first kiss? This one mattered so little he could even pretend it never happened.

He arched an eyebrow as she kept talking. She had a smirk and even winked at him as she admitted people did not like her. Obviously, she didn’t care. “You’re kidding, right? I never would have guessed,” he replied. For a moment he could almost looked amused by this. “Clearly,” he agreed with her with the same caustic sense of humor she had. He could understand that as he was like her about this. He preferred not to have people near him and the best way was to force them away. “They think I’m a creep,” he added, again, using the same tone she had, sharing with her how people liked him just as much as they liked her. Though it was not quite right. They probably hated her. They couldn’t care less about him. They didn’t even know he existed.

[Lucy James]

His sarcastic response had the brunette grinning a shit-eating grin. She could appreciate a good sense of humor, and though the boy probably wouldn't agree with her, Lucy could see some similarities between them. Maybe that was why she didn't mind being around him. He didn't bullshit around and instead of fluttering about her and treating her like she was some kind of decent human being, he told her exactly what she was. She was a stone cold bitch and her personality wasn't worth shit. That was exactly who she was, and how she wanted people to view her. Instead of this fragile little thing that needed to be fixed.

"And why do you care about what they think?" she asked as she looked at the various groups of people down below. "If they think you're a creep, so what? Do you want them to like you, is that it?" she looked at him again, her lips pursed. She wondered if he was lonely, and this was just his way of projecting his anger. Maybe they weren't really that similar after all.

Lucy wasn't lonely. She wasn't socially awkward. She was an introvert by nature and she preferred her own company over other people. She didn't enjoy being around them, and usually for the most part, she only did when she had to - or wanted something. "At least creep beats stone cold bitch," she grinned.

[Quinn Wiley]

Quinn did think Lucy needed some help. Some psychological one. But he also couldn’t care less whether she chose to get it thus explaining why he did not worry for her. Why should he worry about someone who enjoyed toying with him like a cat does with a bug? He would throw things at her not really minding the effect his words might have. If they had any, it would appear to be pleasing her, something Quinn was not used to. People tended to dislike how bluntly he could bring the negative aspect of everything. Lucy didn’t seem to mind. He could almost like that if she wasn’t so horrible. At least she didn’t pretend to be anything else, he supposed he could give her that.

Did he want them to like him? No, because the moment he’ll care, they will go. But everyone needed at least one person to care for them, right? He didn’t want to admit he desperately wanted someone on his side even though he constantly pushed them away. He was envious of how people seemed to bond so easily together when everyone he met simply abandoned him.

He didn’t want to tell her all of that though. The things she would say if she was to know! He knew his expression probably darkened as he thought all this so he tried to shrug and pretend like he didn’t care. “What’s the point in liking them? You start giving a crap and you end up disappointed at some point,” he let out. Yet, as he did that, he couldn’t help looking at his camera. It was a gift. From someone who considered him a friend. That was so weird and almost hypocritical of him to say that while having this camera with him. He looked away because he didn’t want to think about that.

He looked at Lucy when she said a creep beat a bitch. “You sure? At least when you’re a cold-heart bitch most leave you alone. I’d say we’re a tie.” And yes, he dared a small smile. Not a grin like hers. He never liked his smile. But he was not hating this conversation, oddly enough.

[Lucy James]

"Or you disappoint them," she added with a shrug. No, Lucy could hardly blame the boy for his words, although she wasn't as worried about people disappointing her - as she expected the worst of everyone anyways, as she was about being the one to disappoint. It was one of the many reasons why she kept pushing people away and up until now, she had succeeded. Then there was that damned twin, Frankeenteen, Ghostie and Teddy who just wouldn't leave her the hell alone. Dear god, she swore they were all masochists.

Maybe that was why she didn't mind this kid. Maybe she saw too much of herself in him. She didn't know. All she knew was that she hadn't immediately hated him, and that was new.

"I wish people left me alone," she replied as she returned his gaze. "It doesn't always work out the way you'd want it to." She averted her gaze again as she looked up towards the sky, her eyes narrowing slightly. "They seem to think that people like me are broken toys they can just fix," she said as she turned to look at him again. Her stoic expression had returned, but it only lasted for a brief second before the smirk returned.

What people didn't seem to understand though, was that Lucy didn't want to be fixed.

[Quinn Wiley]

Quinn did his best not to flinch when told he might be the one disappointing others. Instead, he tried for it not to affect him and merely shrug at it, as if it was a matter of little importance. “They are the ones who keep saying to be yourself but then they want you to be happy like everyone else and when you cannot, of course, you’re the one who has a problem,” he let out. He was hoping his voice showed just how ridiculous he found that and that he had no desire to do that. What was the point of faking happiness, just so they can pretend that everything is fine? It wasn’t like Quinn to act like this. He learned there was always a grey cloud threatening to come over your beautiful day. What was so wrong in always seeing the glass half-empty?

Quinn scoffed but not because he thought what she said was stupid. More because he knew it all too well. “It’s unbelievable how they don’t get it sometimes, no? Why can’t they understand we might be fine with the way we are? If we didn’t, we’d be trying to change that,” he replied. He didn’t realise he used the word ‘we’ there. It wasn’t one he used a lot as he normally dissociate himself from everyone else.

Somehow, his mind thought of his aunt and, weirdly enough, of Erin too. Neither of them would like to hear him talk like this. It made him want to say it even more but, at the same time, he felt slightly uncomfortable, as if a little ashamed of his sudden outburst. “I don’t mind being around people but I prefer to choose who and when, not be forced to tag along and play their game when I’m not interested.” Was this better? Somehow, he still felt like they would slap him for saying it.

[Lucy James]

"So, why do you care about what they tell you to feel, or not to feel? You're your own person, no? You can do whatever you want, and if they don't like it... Well, tough shit." She did understand him to some degree though. She had been like that once upon a time too. But she had moved so far beyond her own ability to give a shit about other people or what they might have thought of her. She did what she did because she could, and no one could ever tell her she couldn't. There was no way the brunette would ever allow someone to step into her life and start ordering her around.

She tossed the boy a quick glance before she nodded sagely. "Because at the end of the day, they don't care about us; they care about how others make them feel. By being around someone like us, their own moods change accordingly, and most people instead of taking the obvious choice of just leaving, decide that they'd rather stick around and mold people into their own liking," she drawled. It was obvious that the brunette didn't like people at all. In fact, if she had a choice, she would have lived somewhere desolate where the only living human around was herself. And possibly someone to stop by every once in a while to sell her drugs. Now that, that would have been perfect.

"Then stop letting them," she replied simply as she shrugged. "If you don't want to, then don't. It really is that simple." She had a feeling the boy was hesitant because at the end of the day, he didn't really want to be alone. He didn't want to be the weirdo looking from the outside and in. Sighing, Lucy turned her attention back towards the crowd, once again leaning over the railing; maybe they weren't all that similar after all.

[Quinn Wiley]

“Oh yeah, tried that,” he let out when she said he should not care what others think of him or wanted him to be. He had a bitter smile as he said it. “You’d think losing a mother would allow you to be a depressed kid but no, my grandparents wanted me to smile and be a normal kid, like the rest of them. I didn’t, so they threw me at my aunt. Figured three loud cousins would do the trick,” he told her. He knew it was not the whole story. His grandfather got hurt and his grandmother did not have the strength to deal with both a kid and her husband. But Quinn couldn’t help to think that, had he been a regular kid, they would have kept him. Instead, he felt like, once again, those he should rely on didn’t want of him and abandoned him. And they were surprised he didn’t want to trust anyone!

It wasn’t that Quinn hated people. He pushed them away to protect himself. But, in the end, he was just begging for someone to prove him wrong and stick around. Vicious circle much? He nodded to her words. He thought the same. “They just don’t want to see that everyone is not all rainbows and sunshine. I’m not forcing them to stay if they don’t like how I think.” In fact, he was encouraging them to leave. Quinn was not the best friend to have because, when he didn’t want to see someone, he was not going to take on himself and still meet them. And he wouldn’t ever bother finding excuses. He just didn’t want to see anyone, including some person who strangely wanted to see him.

He shrugged when she said he should just stop letting them carry him around. “It’s actually easier said than done. What’s so wrong in not wanting to be around people so much? I don’t mind watching them from a distance but we all know I don’t fit in so why bother trying. I sure don’t.” Quinn knew what he could do to fit in more but, as he just said, he didn’t want to do it. He didn’t want to be liked because he was able to change and be like them. He was who he was and they had to take him like this. He nodded in Lucy’s direction. “Is that why you decided to come here, because you didn’t want to be around people?”

[Lucy James]

Looking at the boy with narrowed eyes, Lucy remained quiet as he shed a little light into his personal world; it made her wonder, if he truly hated people and being around them as much as it seemed like he did. Sure, he didn't want to change for anyone, or act as if he was someone he was not. She understood that. But at the end of the day, his loneliness would come out the victor. She considered the two of them to, in some ways, be cut out from the same stone, but he didn't share her natural instincts for wanting to be alone. She didn't do it to prove a point, or to prove that she was some kind of special snowflake. She did it because she wanted to. Because she enjoyed being alone.

Yet, the contradiction in that was almost hilarious. Because here she was, willingly conversing with the boy. Willingly being around him. His presence soothed her. She didn't know why. "People often expect more than some people are ready to offer," she replied solemnly. "They don't always think their wants through, and in a way, I don't think they can be expected to. People are selfish from nature. We're all looking out for our own best interest, in a way or another; even those who help others doesn't solely do so because they want to cheer people up, they do so because they want to make themselves feel better."

She had to give the boy some credit though; at least he had enough courage to stand up for himself and be exactly who he wanted to, regardless of how other people felt. She wondered just how long that would last.

Nodding sagely at his words, Lucy moved closer to him. Her hand came out to rest upon his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Good; no one should feel forced to do something they don't want to." She knew that all too well, in more ways than one. She had encountered that, lived that every day since she was twelve years old. She understood. "To the spring break trip, or up here?" she asked as her hand dropped from his shoulder. "I came here because I wanted to to see you." Her eyes narrowed slightly at that, the admission tasting sourly against her tongue. "I have other reasons for being on this boat though."

[Quinn Wiley]

Quinn was not trying as much as Lucy to decipher the strange personage that was before his eyes. He believed he got some of her, perhaps a little more than she liked people to know but still far from all that made her Lucy James. What he knew so far was enough. Basically, she enjoyed being on her own and was not afraid to speak her mind. He got that. He also knew she was not against making fun of people, something he could also understand even if this was an aspect of her life he enjoyed a lot less, since he was one of her victim. He wished he could care as little as she seemed to. It would have made her comments ineffective on him. Instead, he grew defensive and merely dug his grave deeper. Although now, he seemed to meet her during one of her good days.

It had him dare to pull out his pack of cigarette. “You want one?” he suggested as he showed it to her. She didn’t look the kind to tell him it was bad for his health. He could give her a few more reasons why it was bad for him, and everyone one on his ship, but he preferred to keep that to himself. He knew it was a bad habit. Obviously, he was not smoking it to look good in society, since he had no one to look good for. It made it harder for him to just quit. Still, he had only the cigarettes he had here and if he kept offering some to people, he would soon have to accept spending time without any nicotine in his system. He wanted to believe he could make it.

As he listened to her, a thought popped in his brain: and people thought he was the bitter one! This girl had a worse opinion about people than he did. “Some people aren’t so bad, but you’re right. You can’t have a society based on individuality without making everyone a little selfish at the same time.” He didn’t why he argued that some people weren’t that bad. Maybe because he didn’t want to think he could be that bitter? Life gave him every reason to be though. He looked away, not wanting to think about this.

His gaze returned on her as she grabbed his shoulder. He wondered what she might be doing. “You should be careful. I might start to think your reputation is false,” he said with a smirk. Oh, he still thought she was a bitch. He just couldn’t believe he got on her good side so much. He shrugged t her question. “Whichever you want,” he replied and she then answered him. He raised an eyebrow but something in his eye proved he was more surprised than this at her word. She wanted to see him? Who the hell wanted to see him? “Don’t worry, it’s not like I thought I could have been the reason for you being here.”

[Lucy James]

Looking at the pack of cigarettes, Lucy shrugged. "Sure." Although her usual habit of smoking revolved mostly around that of weed, she didn't at all mind a normal cigarette every once in a while and she was hardly a perfect picture when it came to health either. This was hardly the first, nor the last time she let her body consume something it shouldn't have, and for whatever it was worth, Lucy figured a cigarette was by far one of the more healthy things she could opt for.

"Well, then you have far more belief in humanity than what I do." She offered him something of a smirk at that; she couldn't blame him, even if she didn't agree. His opinions were his own to have and she was the last person to ever question them. Again; she wasn't a hypocrite. Or at least, she liked to think that she wasn't. It wouldn't be the first time she'd contradicted herself, and it wouldn't be the last either.

Chuckling at his comment, Lucy shook her head; no, she had no doubt in her mind that it would take a lot more than that to change the boy's mind. "I'm not worried," she offered with a shrug. She did however move around him to sit down on the other end of his seat. Leaning against him, Lucy propped her chin on his shoulder as she reached for one of the cigarettes. "Is that so?" she asked, tilting her head so that she could look at him while still having her head propped on his shoulder. "That's awfully pessimistic of you," she noted, more so to herself than to him.

Holding the cigarette in one hand, she moved her free hand to place her index finger right below his chin, moving his head to face hers. For a moment, she studied his expression; his face; his eyes. "Hm," she let out. The comment before, about his first kiss and his reaction hadn't been lost on her during their conversation. Besides, when did she ever miss a shot at poking fun at someone? "I suppose I owe you a better first kiss than the previous one." Without giving the boy much chance to mull her words over, Lucy leaned forward and placed her lips against his as her fingers moved to splay across his jaw.