Banter (A very creative title, huh) (Invite Only)

Aurelie walked into the square.

God, today is breathtaking, she thought. The skies were blue and the wind cool against her skin, yet the sun blazed brightly above her.

That done, she bumped into someone.

Jake bumped right into his friend/crush/acquaintance with a shocked look. "Aurelie?" he asked, and then winced as his voice cracked. They had both hit each other hard, and Aurelie was lying on the floor, laughing embarrassedly and wincing at the same time. "Uh..god...are you okay?"

"Never better," Aurelie said sarcastically, holding a hand to her head where a bruise was starting to form. "Ow!" Scrambling up (and ignoring his outstretched hand with a feeling of amusement) she brushed off her blouse and skirt. "What're you doing here?"

She knew she was being rude, but right now, her head was aching, her back was aching from where sharp stones had pricked it, and apart from that, she was still embarrassed about the little ice cream parlor incident (as she liked to call it in her mind) where she had cried her guts out in front of him and then kissed him on the cheek dramatically and then left.

To her relief, he seemed quite unperturbed.

Jake saw Aurelie's cheeks redden and felt sort of embarrassed himself. It had only been a few days since she had kissed him on the cheek and left, and he was still pleased and confused about it. She kissed him on the cheek, but she talked to him like a friend. She didn't flirt with him, but she talked to him. Talking, all the time.

Which made him mortified whenever he came to her. His tongue tied up and he started to sweat, and he couldn't think of what to say, what to do and if he should say hi, or if he should just give in and bolt away like a coward.

He realized she was speaking and tuned in again. "Uh....so..." he said, feeling himself turn red. "So...uh..."

Quite creative, you idiot, he thought to himself. Why don't you just say, I like you and I feel awkward around you already?

"I feel awkward around you," he announced.

Ah! You idiot! You weren't actually supposed to say that!

"I-" he started, "take that back."

"What?" Aurelie said, and then burst out into laughter.

As in, laughing, rolling, nearly crying laughter.

She was going insane.

"Did you just say..." she said. "Well, just for the record, I feel awkward around you too. As in a very friendly awkward sort of way." She laughed and gave him a hug. "Ah, you make me laugh, Prettyboy."

Only Aurelie could change an awkward moment into a funny, amusing one, Jake realized with a faint smile. "Hey, uh, wanna go sit down?" he said. "If you aren't going anywhere in a hurry? I'm just relaxing."

"Sure," Aurelie said, smiling and then looking around. "Uh...where?"

"Over there," Jake said, pointing to a small bench underneath a grove of shady trees. He outstretched a hand. "Mi'lady, care to join?"

"Of course," Aurelie said, laughing and taking his outstretched hand. He guided her to the shady nook, and they sat down. This resulted in Aurelie having to stretch her legs out because the ground was too close. "Uh....you know....maybe I can just do this."

Grinning, she propped her legs up on Jake. "Much better."

Jake felt the beginnings of a blush coming on when Aurelie propped her feet on his lap, but quickly, he said sarcastically, "Trying to find a comfortable position Lady?" Her sandels were flowered, he noticed.

"Yup." Aurelie wriggled around, and then said, "So......do you have any pets?"

"Nope..at least, not anymore," Jake said thoughtfully. "I had a pet gerbil, but then at that time, my father had a pet snake, and since the pet gerbil was so small, we had to put it up high so the snake couldn't eat it. However, the snake died, so we took the gerbil down, and the minute it saw the corpse of the snake, it squealed and died. Sort of a lost case, really."

Aurelie hummed quietly to herself, but at Jake's story, she opened them and laughed openly. "Really?" she said. "That's hilarious! I have a cat, Delia, and she has a fetish for big birds. She likes to chew them. Which is why I still don't have an owl, and why Delia wears a charm that only allows her to make noises and eat her CAT food, not birds." She grinned and took her feet off of him before hugging him slightly. "Were you sad about your gerbil's death?"

Jake considered it. "No...not really..." he said thoughtfully. "All I ever did was feed it and clean out the cage which wasn't a very endearing experience." He hugged her back and then let go as an elderly couple tottering by tsk'd their tongues.

"Such inappropriate behavior!" the old woman said.

"I know, Matilda," the old man said.

Jake turned red.

Aurelie giggled and laughed as Jake turned bright red. "Embarrassed, Ornery?" she asked, winking. "they should know that this is a friend-friend thing."

DAMN! She thought. WHY DID I JUST SAY THAT?

Jake fought to keep his smile from sagging into a frown. "Well then," he said in a voice that did not at all sound like himself, "I guess that it really is a friend-friend thing."

Stupid him.

Why couldn't he ever tell her that he liked her? Why?

Aurelie smiled timidly at him. "Well...I guess that's it..." she said shyly, smiling at him. "Uh...I guess i have to go." She stuck out a hand and shook his, before walking away.