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Post by natalie on Jul 29, 2011 14:50:15 GMT -5
Under other people's standards, Natalie had not had the best day at work. She saw one little girl come in with a pair of pigtails that were horribly done by her father. When a little boy asked her why her hair was so ugly, the little girl's eyes had filled up with tears. She didn't have a mother. Nat had felt horrible and promptly sat with the little girl in her lap, french braiding her hair. Thankfully, that had put a smile on her face, and the little girl had given her a giant hug before running off to paint. Moments like those were why she loved her job. But then there were other moments, like when all the older kids had banded together to throw her into the lake, that made her think twice. Of course, after she'd swam up to the surface, seeing all of them laughing and at complete ease made her wet clothes seem alright.
As soon as work was over, she rushed home, remembering her plans with Parker for the day. Of course, he'd tried to teach her before, but she always chickened out, scared of falling. This time, though, she came prepared. Her short hair was still wet from her shower as she sat on one of the skate ramps as Parker skated around. She sat with her legs dangling, a pair of knee pads on, along with elbow pads and a helmet to top it all off. Her bucket list sat beside her, number twenty reading 'Learn how to skateboard.' She really needed to get started on her list, since she had just remembered last night the world was going to end in 2012. That didn't leave her a lot of time.
outfit!
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Post by parker on Jul 29, 2011 15:28:38 GMT -5
Long boarding and skateboarding were two things that Parker could never live without. He'd been skating since he was eight, and it had been his main focus in life since. He had gone all through school getting teased for his obnoxious tic. Random people expected him to burst out swearing thanks to the Hollywood interpritation of Tourette's. That wasn't how it was, though. Most cases didn't have the foul language, and in cases like with Parker the tics slowed down as you aged. His blinking problem was hardly a problem now, it mostly just showed up when he was really nervous. The first time he'd told Natalie that he loved her had been the worst for his tic. He had been freaking out trying to think of just how to tell her, and ended up with just coming out and saying it. I love you, Natalie.
Work was easy for Parker. He was one of the attendants at the skate park, meaning he mostly just watched over the park to make sure no fights were busting out or people weren't hurt. Of course, most of the people that showed up knew what they were doing. And those that didn't learned pretty quickly. Having clocked out for the day, Parker grabbed his board and went to the half pipe, showing off a bit for Natalie like usual. He came to a stop and went over to sit next to her, kissing her cheek gently. "Hang on." He pulled her into his lap and slid down the half pipe, laughing. Park grinned, blinking a few times and hopping off the ramp to help her down. "Okay, you ready?" He beamed, placing his board flat on the ground in front of him.
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Post by natalie on Jul 29, 2011 17:27:26 GMT -5
When Natalie had first met Parker he seemed like a pretty normal guy--as normal as a teenage boy can get, really. He hadn't noticed the blinking thing, because she didn't notice those things about people. She saw everyone as the same, and everyone was perfect in her book until they proved her other wise. People used to call her an optimist, but Nat never understood that. To her, the way she saw life was how it was supposed to be--like a child, completely nonjudgmental. Of course, the first time she found out Parker had Tourette's, she'd taken a small step back. She'd been terrified he was going to start screaming at her, but that didn't happen. He'd been one of the first people to make her think twice, but maybe that hadn't been a bad thing. Because she'd never found anything she didn't like about him.
The twenty year-old's face broke out in a smile when she kissed her cheek. She giggled as he pulled her onto his lap. When Nat realized what he was doing, she quickly covered her eyes, squeeling as they moved down the ramp. Her helmet fell off her head as they came to a stop, and she grabbed it before taking his hand. Putting the helmet back on her hand and snapping it closed around her chin she nodded. "But can you tighten this for me first, please?" Nat pointed at the strap of her headgear. She lifted her chin and stood on her tiptoes to give him easier access.
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Post by parker on Jul 29, 2011 23:37:05 GMT -5
There really wasn't anything wrong with Parker mentally, he was just a normal guy. Or, he tried to be. He had his odd moments, but so did every other person. Parker was a really caring person, always looking out for others and wanting the best for them, even when they wanted the worst for him. While most people let bullying get to their head, Parker hadn't. He'd simply distracted himself, because he knew that it wasn't his fault -- he was just different. Different wasn't necessarily a bad thing, he'd learned that. Because he hadn't been stuck around the players through high school, Parker hadn't picked up bad habits with girls. He treated girls, especially Natalie, with the utmost respect. He would do anything just to put a smile on his girl's face, because he lived to keep her happy. He wanted to help her out with anything she needed help with, he wanted to hold her hand all the time, he wanted to hold her when she was scared, he just wanted her happy no matter what.
Sometimes Parker wished that more people wore helmets and padding. It was like seatbelts. One wrong move and you could end up seriously hurt, no matter how experienced you think you are. One wrong thing could be just the tiniest bit off and you're seeing your life flash before your eyes. Parker had had that happen a couple times, but he was more of the live in the moment guy. He didn't wear gear because he'd never bothered to get it. But he liked that Natalie was prepared. He couldn't stand seeing her hurt. Smiling, Parker nodded and tightened the helmet strap a bit so it fit her. "There. Perfect." He gently leaned down to kiss her once before getting ready to help her out. He put his feet under the skateboard, blocking the wheels from rolling, and offered his hand to Nat with a smile.
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Post by natalie on Jul 30, 2011 1:23:17 GMT -5
You know how people are doomed to be known by a single, dominant trait? You know what I mean, The Brain, The Tall Girl, that sort of thing. Natalie was The Chipmunk. She'd even heard it one day in the girl's locker room. "Do you know Natalie Jang?" Came the question as Nat had been drying herself off in the shower, but the answer caught her off guard. "You mean The Chipmunk?" People did constantly make fun of her for her voice, and it would have her in tears all through her freshman year. But her older sister, Jenny, had sat her down. Told her her voice was a gift, it was what set her apart from others. It had taken some time for Natalie to understand, but she had, and now her voice didn't bother her at all. Instead, she laughed along with others when they'd make fun of her for it.
Natalie smiled into the kiss, as she always did. She was a smiler, but being around him made her even more happy, if that was possible. She slipped her hand into his, biting down on her lip as she hesitantly took a step onto the board. Big brown eyes looked up at him for reassurance before she put her other foot on it too. She took her hand out of his and placed them both against his chest for support. "I'm going to fall, don't let me." But maybe that's what love was, knowing you could fall, but trusting someone enough to know they wouldn't let you down.
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Post by parker on Jul 30, 2011 9:44:55 GMT -5
Parker had been nothing more than the twitchy kid to most people. Had they actually known what was wrong with him they probably wouldn't have teased him his whole life. Actually, that was probably a lie. People tended to get scared when they learned that Parker had Tourette's. He wasn't a freak or anything, he just.. blinked excessively sometimes. One of the things that Parker loved so much about Natalie was that she wasn't judgemental. It was nearly impossible to find anyone lately that didn't sit there and judge every single person at least once. Everything was about appearance, and if someone didn't fit their perfect mold they put them down and act as if they were just a pile of dirt. It was pretty ridiculous in Parker's eyes that not even for one day people couldn't go without judging.
Natalie's voice was cute, it was unique. It fit really well with her personality, and Parker just loved listening to her talk. Resting his hands on her hips, Parker shook his head gently. "I'll catch you before you even get the chance to fall," he explained in reassurance. Carefully, he took his foot away from the back wheel, then from the front. He tightened his grip a bit on her hips, looking at her with a smile. He sidestepped, pulling her slowly on the skateboard in a straight line before stopping. "You alright?" he checked, ready to stop the lesson if she was scared.
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Post by natalie on Jul 30, 2011 11:36:10 GMT -5
"I know, I trust you." It was funny because Natalie always thought being in love was about feeling like you belonged to someone. That just wasn't the case with Parker. Belonging was supposed to feel comforting, the way it made things sound like they were decided. People liked the thought of being held, until the grip was too tight. People liked certainty, until there was no way out. The love Natalie felt for Parker wasn't the type that would hold and bind you, twisting them together. No, it was the one that left her to stand on her own solid ground, leave him to do the same. But all the while, there would be a tender space between them. And that's what the most basic and somehow the most forgettable thing is: love is not pain. Love is goodness. It's solid and it's simple.
Nat's eyes widened slightly as she felt his weight shift away from the board, before she realized what was happening, they were moving. "I....yeah..I'm okay." In reality, she was scared of most things, Natalie was in constant fear she'd get hurt somehow. After breaking her leg when she was six, the paranoia never quite left. "But let's keep going, I want to learn."
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Post by parker on Jul 30, 2011 20:57:39 GMT -5
Parker had always believed the best relationship was one when both people felt equal. They could trust each other and not have to sit there wondering if they were going to break up at any given time for whatever reason. "Good." The grin that slid across Parker's lips practically had him beaming. Natalie could always make him smile, no matter what. She didn't even really have to do anything, just having her around made him happy. So many people looked for reasons behind why people made them smile, but Parker knew the answer to why he was smiling. It was the fact that he loved Natalie, he loved everything about her and that kept him smiling at all hours of the day. Sometimes at work he would just be thinking, and smile at absolutely nothing. It got him weird looks, but he didn't care.
Nodding gently, Parker kept hold of Natalie. He wasn't going to let her get hurt if it was the last thing he did. "Okay. So the next step is going to be pushing off. Just turn like this.." he demonstrated the stance, still keeping hold of Nat, then went back to standing normally. "And from there it's easy. You just.. push off and glide, bringing your foot back onto the board." Parker smiled reassuringly. "Once you master that, the rest is fairly simple." Parker kept hold of her, making sure that she knew she was safe in his hands.
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Post by natalie on Jul 30, 2011 21:45:48 GMT -5
Brown eyes watched as he instructed her, Nat's finely done eyebrows scrunching together in concentration. It looked easy enough, she just needed to take one foot off the board and push. Yeah, she could do that. But it was the same thing as practicing a conversation in your head, you planned what you would say and you'd plan how they'd reply and you'd know just what to say to that. Of course, when the time came to talk, you forgot what you'd plan to say and the conversation spiraled down a road you didn't want. "Yeah, I think I understand," Even though she was sure she didn't. But Natalie was dead set on learning how to skateboard, and she wasn't ever going to learn if she wasted time asking him to show her again and again.
"Okay," Natalie changed her position on the skateboard so she had her profile to him. She slid a hand down from his chest to grab onto one of his hands, probably a little too tightly. She moved to put her foot on the ground to kick off. Somehow in the middle of this seemingly easy step, Nat managed to get her foot caught behind her leg. She wobbled for a second squeeling loudly before falling onto Parker. "Oh my goodness. I'm so so so sorry."
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Post by parker on Jul 31, 2011 18:58:36 GMT -5
Learning new things was easy for Parker. Since he'd never been very social, he picked up learning habits that just made it easy to pick up new stuff. Sometimes he wondered if it was because he was 'defective' in one way that it made him more efficient in other ways. Nobody's brain was exactly the same, everyone learned at their own pace, and Parker understood that. It had helped him gain patience with others over the years. Patience was something that Park had learned not many people had, and he never quite understood how people couldn't learn to give others time. They deserved it, especially when people took their time with their own stuff then made others rush through it. That was the thing though, life was never one hundred percent fair.
Parker held onto her hand, not even wincing at how tight she was holding his. Before he realized what was going on, Natalie had fallen onto him. He stumbled to keep standing, wrapping his arms around her tightly so she didn't fall over either. He waited a second to make sure she was alright before laughing. "It's alright." Straightening out his position and hers, he kissed her cheek gently before jogging after the board. It hadn't gone too far, luckily. Skating back over to her, he stopped the board and hopped off. "Wanna go again?"
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