Just like paradise (Open)

[Markus Menagassi]

One of the best things that he could say formed part of Paradise was starbucks. He wasn't much of a coffee fan, but since he tasted what starbucks had he just became crazy about it. He dressed like every other day with some blue pants and a buttoned red shirt with his black belt as usual. He didn't know much about fashion or even the right combination of colors, but he liked it so he just dressed that way. If he wasn't dressed that good he was sure someone would tell him and then he might consider changing, but for now he just dressed like that.

He ordered a cappuccino and sat on one of the tables there with his laptop. He didn't had anything really to do that afternoon so he wasn't in a rush to go home or to go someplace else. Something had been disturbing him though and it wasn't Kristen. It was a dumb game of solitary that he hadn't been able to win and that was just so unacceptable for him. He had to win, first because he never gave up on something and two it was just a computer.

So Markus just sat there and played at times since he drunk a bit from the coffee and wondered around a bit.

[Kadie Taylor]

Kadie was a huge coffee addict. She came into starbucks every single morning, and most afternoons. And, really she was grumpy before she'd had that first sip of coffee in the morning. They knew her well around here. It was a small-town so it wasn't that hard, but they knew exactly what she got every morning. Not that hard either. All Kadie ever ordered was just straight coffee. She thought that adding sugar or anything else to coffee only ruined it.

So, she wandered into Starbucks, and smiled at Rob, the guy behind the counter. He immediatley grabbed for a cup to pour coffee for her. She was sure that he had something of a crush on her. But he was 25, and Kadie had a chip on her shoulder where it concerned guys. Luckily, he hadn't tried anything. But everyone knew the rumors about Kadie. She was the Snow Queen. Guys knew not to mess with her. And if they were stupid enough to mess with her? Well, they quickly found out the hard way, that that was just something you shouldn't do.

The guys who had had bets to see if they could be the ones to 'melt the snow queen's ice-cold heart', usually found themselves being pushed into the pond by the school or some such other thing.

But, Kadie could be nice to guys. Rob came over and handed her her coffee. She nodded her thanks, and then she finally noticed Markus. Here was a guy that Kadie had no problems being nice to.

"Hey you," she said with a smile as she walked over to him. He seemed a little preoccupied to her.

"This seat taken?" she asked indicating the seat across from him.

[Markus Menagassi]

Markus kept looking at his laptop screen as he still couldn't get the game done. He heard some people come in the store, but didn't really pay attention since well he was playing the game. He was half way done with his coffee as he thought that it may be time for him to go someplace else. He was already getting bored with the game and guessed he will continue the battle some other time during the day or some other day.

He didn't look up when he heard a "hey" until he noticed someone asking for the seat. He noticed it was Kadie "Oh no not at all" he said with a smile on his face "you want to sit down?" he asked the obvious question with an obvious answer, but anyways he liked to ask the obvious things sometimes even though might make him look stupid.

He have heard lots of things about Kadie, but he never really let himself judge other people at least not without knowing them. He never really believes what other people say about others. If it were true or not it is nobody's business but that person whom they are talking about.

"Hey there how are you?" he asked innocently as he lowered the screen that didn't let him see her well "I can see you like starbucks coffee too." ;D

[Kadie Taylor]

Kadie nodded with a smile as she sat down. She knew that many were surprised when she was pleasant to guys, considering that she was only pleasant to less then half the guys in the school. But, the rumors and what people said about her didn't bother her. In fact, she encouraged the talk. She encouraged guys to feel intimidated by her so that they'd mostly leave her alone. But, she was okay with some of the guys at school.

"I'm great. I'm always great when I have coffee. I'm a huge coffee addict," she admitted with a grin.

"Are you a coffee addict too?" she asked with that grin of hers. She knew of a lot of people who called her a coffee junkie, but it really didn't bother her. She knew that it was true. But she also knew that many didn't understand her addiction to the stuff. Especially since she never put anything in her coffee.

"How are you?" she asked him, getting comfortable, and sipping at her coffee.

[Markus Menagassi]

Markus smiled as she asked him if he was a coffee addict too. He never really thought about it, but he didn't really consider himself a coffee addict since he didn't really liked it until he tasted starbucks. "I don't think so starbucks coffee is the only one I like and don't really come here a lot." He knew coffee was addictive, but its magic didn't work on him.

Even though coffee did make him feel good sometimes since he eats all the time it is a way for him not to feel empty. It made him sleepy and that wasn't normal since he had heard that coffee was for people not to fall asleep.

"How are you?" were the following words he heard from her and it made him think how he was, he actually didn't know, but at the same time he knew that things were the same and always would be the same. He was doing ok at school and out of school was maybe a bit better, but deeply inside he wasn't that great "Hm well I guess ok I mean things are the same around and nothing great has happened either, how about you?" he asked curiously wondering if maybe something exciting did happen to her.

[Kadie Taylor]

She nodded.

"Yeah, nobody's coffee beats the coffee here," she commented. She was picky when it came to coffee, especially considering she'd grown up on the stuff they had here.

Kadie listened to his response and nodded in understanding. She shrugged at his question.

"Nothing new with me either. Nothing too exciting," she responded. Really for her, it was just school and modeling. And modeling, she hated with a passion. She wouldn't be doing it, but her mother made her.

"So, are you liking school so far, this year?" she asked him, just making conversation.

[Markus Menagassi]

Markus smiled at Kadie's statement and well it was true. He had never liked coffee until he drunk the ones from starbucks. Either they were really good or they put something in it. Anyways he didn't care what it had, but that it was quite good.

He wasn't really surprised that there was nothing new with her either since well it was a small town and there wasn't much to do besides school and being too busy being bored. She was a girl though and girls should always have something to do all the time or have something to say.

He looked at her seriously "Are you kidding me?" he asked still seriously but later on just laughed a bit. He was never good at staying all serious when he was joking. "Well school has never been too good for me, so it is just like every other year at school even though now I am supposed to have matured a bit" he laughed at that. It was every kids promise that they will never grow up and that they would always play around, but some kids did really kept that promise like him.

"How about you any good thing in school?" he asked curiously as he closed completely his laptop "I was playing a game but couldn't seem to win" he said embarrassed.

"Oh hey you know we should do something in town. I mean like some party or something a fair since well town is getting too bored for me" he said out of nowhere. He had no idea what he was talking about, but he knew that he wanted to do something big.

[Kadie Taylor]

She laughed at his comments, especially when he said that he was supposed to have matured a bit. She understood the feeling though. But really, she felt like she had grown up a lot since her experience. But in many ways, she still had a long way to go.

"Well, English is always fun for me. Other then that, school is the same," she responded. It's really what Kadie liked to do. English was just her thing. She'd wanted to be a journalist ever since she could remember. Only problem was, her parents had other plans for her. But, since when had she ever done what her parents wanted her to do? True, she was still in modeling, but she had to somewhat keep the peace at home. Quitting her modeling would really put her parents into an uproar.

"Oh yeah? What game were you playing?" she asked with a grin.

At his suggestion that they should do something, she grinned again.

"Yeah? I think Jessika Powell is having a party at her place tonight," she suggested.

"Or, there's always other things you can do around here if you're creative enough," she added with a wink.

[Markus Menagassi]

It was kind of hard to believe that a girl like her would actually enjoy English class, but well he knew that she wasn't like people thought she was. She was a really special girl. He really thought that she didn't really had a bad life since she was into modeling and well she had money, but things aren't always as what they seem from the outside.

"I was playing a solitary game, but I think I ain't that lucky since I sucked at it today. I hate loosing against a computer" he said taking a sip of the last coffee he had left in his cup.

After hearing that there might be a party at Powell's house, a big smile grew on his face as he thought of the possibility of asking Kristen to go with him, but rapidly changed his mind by the thought of her going already with someone else. He just hated to feel rejected, at least more than he already does.

"Oh well I might as well go to the party for a bit" he told her thinking of something great as he looked at her "hey are you going?" he asked curiously really hoping that she would.

"Well I don't have a great imagination, but I love cars and hate shopping." He could do some racing or go to a club.

[Kadie Taylor]

She laughed at his words that he hated losing to a computer.

"I know, it really sucks," she agreed with a nod. She liked to play games like that too. And whenever she got beat by the computer, it just made her want to play all the more to kick the computer's butt the next time.

"Yeah, I'll be going. Jess is one of my best friends, so even though the parties aren't really my social scene, I go for her. I'd probably be able to say no to anyone else," she admitted with a grin.

"Well, I love cars, and I love shopping," she replied to his next comments. It was true. She loved cars, especially racing cars. She could be quite the tom-boy. However, she also loved a little shopping spree and could be quite the girly-girl too.

[Markus Menagassi]

Markus just smiled at her everytime he looked at her. He just thought that she was really nice and always had a great conversation with her. It was kind a of weird since the best conversations he has had in his life had been with her or at least that was what he thought.

He smiled even more after she said that she did was going to the party now the hard part was to come "Oh well since you are going umm would you mind going to the party with me?" he asked curiously as he could feel his hands getting wet and moving his legs a lot. That was what happened mostly when he got nervous, his hands start to get wet and there was a need to move his legs or his hands every second for him to feel "comfortable" which in his terms meant to do not show him being nervous. "I mean if you don't mind going with me or better said if you are not going with anyone else" it would really suck for him getting rejected, but he wouldn't make a big deal about it too. He didn't even know if she liked going to parties accompanied by guys or she just prefed to party with just her friends.

He wasn't sure if cars and shopping where the best mixture for a girl well maybe it was just weird for him to hear a girl like Kadie say that she liked cars. Of course everything was all good when it came to car shopping. Anyways he couldn't blame her for liking shopping since well everygirl likes it, isn't it?

[Kadie Taylor]

Kadie finished her coffee and looked up as he asked her to go to the party with him. She was slightly surprised, but she wasn't going to make a big deal out of it. Markus was her friend, so it wouldn't be any big deal to attend a party with him, right?

"Sure, I would love to go with you," she responded with a nod and a smile. It would actually probably be fun to attend a party with a guy. Then maybe all of the other guys who wanted to try to win her over would leave her alone. But actually, she usually did get the guys to leave her alone all by herself. She was quite intimidating. But there were always those new guys who didn't know any better. Even when guys who had tried to get her before, tried to tell the new guys that she wasn't a chick to mess with. They always had to end up learning the hard way.

Rob came over.

"Do you want another cup of coffee, Kadie?" he asked her, with the coffee pot, ready to fill her cup up.

"Alright, maybe just one more," she said, even though she knew she shouldn't. He grinned at her and filled her cup before going back.

"I know, I'm a huge coffee junkie," she said with a grin to Markus.

[Markus Menagassi]

Markus somehow was really happy that she had said yes and well she was his friend and there was anything wrong about it, but he was happy that was going to be able to go out with some other girl besides Kristen and think about taking some other girl out besides Kristen. He really thought that this "date" if it could be called a date would benefit him very good mentally "Oh thank you it'll be so great to go with you."

He looked at the guy that served her more coffee and just smiled as she said she was a coffee junkie that was funny since well almost everyone was "Hm don't worry I am sure you not the only one, but at least you got something to drink in the mornings" he smiled again. He couldn't help it but just smile at her.

He looked at his empty cup and threw it away to a trash can a few steps from the table they were sitting on. He looked at her and wondered for a bit about the guys that she was always around "So hey if I may ask why don't you have a boyfriend? Or you do?" he asked hoping that he wasn't passing the line.

[Kadie Taylor]

She smiled in response as he said that it would be great to go with her. Usually she turned guys down flat, but Markus was her friend. She laughed as he said that he was sure that she wasn't the only one who was a coffee junkie. True, but she had never seen anyone as bad as her.

At his next question, she sipped at her coffee before thoughtfully responding.

"I just don't want to be in a relationship right now. I've got other things on my mind. Plus, I haven't really met a guy around here I could stand to be with romantically," she responded with a slight laugh. Okay, so maybe her answer was a bit harsh to the male sex, but it was truly how she felt. Ever since she got hurt, she wasn't willing to try it out with anybody else.

"So, what about you? Why aren't you in a relationship?" she asked.

[Markus Menagassi]

Markus listened at what she was saying and really understood what she was saying. It was so hard to find that person that can make you happy and at the same time you can make him/her happy. "Well sometimes people have to wait some time until they find someone to share things with" he said with a small smile on his face.

As she asked him why he wasn't in a relationship the smile changed to a serious face. He couldn't really talk about it, but nobody knew his feelings for Kristen which was a bit hard since he had nobody to talk with about that. "Well It is somehow a hard story, but I do like someone but that someone doesn't like me and well I have to deal with that" he said trying to put a smile on his face, but he really couldn't. He really wanted to be with her, but couldn't at the same time. She just didn't love him or at least didn't like him at all.