Burn This City--

[Kellan Grace Callahan]

--claimed by Kelsey <3

It wasn't very often that Kellan Callahan skipped class. She was an average student who didn't particularly like going to school, but her parents were paying for her education out of their pockets. She didn't think it'd be fair to them if they were paying for classes that she didn't attend. Today was one of those rare days where her devotion to Neil and Angelina's check book wasn't enough to overrule her desire to just get away.

It was just after 1 in the afternoon, and after taking one wrong train and getting off at the wrong stop when she finally hopped in the right train, Kellan eventually found herself at one of the few places in the city that she could actually stand: Strawberry Fields in Central Park.

Kellan had felt uncharacteristically down for the last few days. She usually handled stress by pushing it aside until it went away, but it seemed that everything that she should she had gotten rid of was pouring back in all at once.

She was in her second semester at the university and she still hadn't declared a major. That was a hard thing to do when you had absolutely no idea what you wanted to do with you life. Even when she was younger, Kellan never had the answer to the "what do you want to be when you grow up?" question. Well, here she was, supposedly "grown up," and she still didn't have the answer.

To make things worse, her birthday was coming up. Most kids her age loved celebrating their birthdays, but Kellan wasn't looking forward to this one at all. Nineteen was just so much older than 18 and it was only one year away from 20. Nineteen was old and 20 was practically ancient.

Her boyfriend didn't like her any more, or at least that's how she interpreted it when he left her hanging after she found the courage to tell him she loved him. Kellan was okay with it at first - she didn't want him to say it if he wasn't sure - but the more time that went by, the more offended she got. She never said it again after that night, hoping that if she didn't bring it up, Kenneth would forget that it happened.

She hated New York. She didn't understand what the big deal about the city was. It was cold, everyone moved too fast, and she got lost on a daily basis. Seattle hadn't been her favorite place either, but at least the Emerald City didn't leave her feeling violated and claustrophobic.

Kellan missed her family. She missed her mother's tiramisu and her father's stories about the shipyard. She missed her brother and how he would introduce her as ' My sister Kellan. She used to be annoying but now she's pretty cool.' She was even starting to miss her stupid little sister, who, for the last nine years, had been the bane of her existence. They were all an ocean away, which explained Kellan's sudden distaste for the Atlantic.

She hoped that spending some time at the memorial dedicated to her second-favorite Beatle and fourth-favorite celebrity of all time would put her in a better mood.

Her favorite sunglasses sat perched on the top of her head, though Central Park wasn't getting much sun. Everything in The Big Apple, from the sky to the buildings, was gray until at least the end of March. Kellan missed the sun.

The park was quiet for a Tuesday afternoon. Crouching low in front of the memorial's Venetian mosaic, Kellan ran her fingers across the IMAGINE tiles and wondered how John Lennon dealt with all of his stress.

[noah]

Noah had always been sort of indifferent regarding his attendance at school over the years. He supposed it was the inevitable outcome of having one parent as a teacher and another who saw absolutely nothing wrong with letting him sit out for a day as long as he promised to 'learn something on his own.' Still, he wasn't the kind of person who stayed home to watch TV or catch a few more hours of sleep. If he was going to sit around and kill brain cells, he figured, why didn't he just go to school? The boy generally preferred to spend his morning running, before waking up his best friend Vince so the two of them could work out together at Gold's and then grab lunch at Ben's. After that, the rest of his day was generally open to suggestion.

Today though, Noah had gotten a bit of a late start and was therefore still only in the first leg of his 'personal health day' routine. And, to only further slow him down, he had a friend that had insisted on tagging along his heels - his dog Ripley. His father had left early for work that day and Noah hadn't been able to turn his back on the sound of the puppy's whining that morning. So he had brought the little monster along, walking down to Central Park so that the two of them could jog in the cold Spring air together for an hour or so. Now, dressed in basketball shorts and an ancient Honeydrippers t-shirt that he had ripped the sides out of, Noah was heading for Strawberry Fields for his cool down walk, Ripley ambling along happily beside him.

The bulldog in question was almost six months old now, but he still rightfully clinging onto his puppy mentality, and even after an entire morning spent running, he still had enough energy to leap about, snapping at bugs and trying desperately to sniff everything all at once as he tugged Noah excitedly forward along the path. The dog's impatience only caused it's owner to chuckle, profoundly glad for the silly creature and happy he had decided to bring him along this morning. Digging his phone out of his pocket, Noah sent Vince a few insistent text messages, hoping that the other boy was awake even though all the signs at this point were suggesting a pretty clear no.

Frowning at the idea of an afternoon spent alone, Noah pocketed his phone and kept walking, letting Ripley take in all the familiar wonder of Strawberry Fields that he was currently missing by instead watching his feet. Most of the park was vacant this afternoon, but as they moved deeper toward the middle, there were a few people milling around the IMAGINE tiles, and the energetic little bulldog suddenly wanted to meet them all. The first person they attempted to pass was Kellan, and if it hadn't been for his dog's determination to smell the girl's shoes, Noah might have passed her by altogether. Ripley jumped up in the interest of investigation, laying his paws on Kellan's leg and wagging his tail furiously as he sniffed at her knee. After a moment he let out a small whine, which pulled Noah away from the mosaic and out of the subsequent funk he had fallen into. Giving the leash a little tug, he looked up to apologize on behalf of the puppy, only to find that he recognized it's target.

"Hey there." The countenance he wore was caught between amused and surprised. He had only met Kellan a few times, with a passing conversation at school and a handful of momentary run-ins at Eiji or Draco's place here and there, but he had already formed his own full opinion of her by now, and it was full of only good things. He was enough of a gentleman to leave his inward thoughts at just that however, tucked somewhere safely behind 'She seems really sweet' and 'Kenneth's a very lucky cat.'

With Ripley jumping around embarrassingly around his ankles, Noah reached up and scratched the back of his neck, wondering for a moment on the coincidence of them meeting here. "Playin' hooky?" His lips curled into a sideways smile, knowing and playful. That was a crime he could relate to.