Lettered Difference

[jess]

-- open

It was odd to see Jessica Rey without her gaggle of giggling girls. Usually every where the popular Almasian went, her little group would follow, agreeing and laughing along with her every word. But even Jessica needed her privacy every once in a while, and this was one of those rare occasions.

Even rarer was that Jessica Rey was outside.

The rich girl didn't hate the outdoors, particularly when it consisted of neat, orderly rows of trees and flowers, but she certainly didn't look very in place there. Name brand platform shoes made deep impressions in the dirt, and her flirty skirt swished about her legs. Nothing in this valley-girl image spoke of a deep connection with nature.

Actually, there were two reasons that Jessica had headed this way. Three if you consider wanting to get away from her own personal fan club a good reason. The first was that she held a folded up piece of a paper: a letter from her distant pen-pal. This wasn't something she really wanted her little fan club to know about, as it didn't exactly fit with her normal image. Rich popular girls do not write and send money to Japanese schoolgirls. It just didn't happen.

Second, Jessica really did want to stare at the flowers for a while, and just take in something naturally beautiful. You could only take so much fakery, after all.

[noah]

Noah was singing, as he always seemed to be lately, as he walked along the Grounds, headed for the school so he could catch some dinner before he went out for an evening run. His iPod was plugged into his ears, those white ear buds impossible to miss as he drummed his fingers along the side of his thigh to the beat of John Bonham's legendary drumming, 'Heartbreaker' by Led Zeppelin blasting through the headphones.

Noah, dressed in heavy blue jeans and a striped button-up that he hadn't even bothered to fasten, sauntered around the outside of the school, his singing eventually fading to a hum. So engrossed in his own thoughts and classic rock, the Cavanite had yet to even notice Jessica, though he would surely pay her attention once she entered his field of view. Noah had a weakness for pretty girls, but at the same time, he had an awful distaste for bratty ones.

[jess]

At first Jessica didn't even notice Noah. Which was saying something, as she had something of a "hottie radar," that had yet to fail her. And Jessica was nothing if not a "people person." Meaning that she loved to find and tease people, not that she actually got along with most of them.

Yet she did feel a distinct tingling, almost as if she had "spider-sense." Frowning, she looked around, believing that one of her cronies had followed her here. Jessica knew she couldn't ignore them forever.

That's when she saw Noah.

"Wow," she mouthed, eyes bugging slightly. They ate up every bit of Noah's half-exposed body, before heading back for seconds. He was just scrumptious. Jessica licked her lips and folded the letter. Letter, what letter?

How to approach this...

The boy didn't immediately look familiar. But his hotness practically eliminated his apparent lack of name brand quality. Enough that Jessica was willing to at least play with him, if nothing else. But it was hard to figure out just how to initiate the games.

She took a few steps toward him, frowning as her mind worked. Those platform shoes gave her what she wanted, though she probably didn't want it once it had happened. The shoes caught on something, and Jessica teetered for a moment, before falling flat on her face.

[noah]

Unfortunately for Jessica, she came into Noah's vison just in time for him to begin appreciating her before she fell so gracefully to the ground. He laughed right away at the sight of the beauty queen tumbling to the ground, purely out of instinct. Though this came across as bad form to the Cavanite and he quickly covered his mouth with his hand, reaching up with the other to pluck the stark white headphones out of his ears.

Noah quickly turned off his mp3 player, quieting Robert Plant's remarkable voice as he jammed the iPod into his pocket, already heading toward where Jessica was sprawled on the path. The handsome boy knelt down before her, wearing his usual illuminating grin as he offered the Rey heiress a hand.

"I'll admit that I'm a real sucker for grace." Noah's voice, quiet, full of laughter and decidedly New York, broke the silence of the grounds as he grinned down at the girl. His eyes had caught the little bit of sun that was fighting through the November overcast and with that never failing, trademark smile, Noah looked positively jolly.

[jess]

Unlike some people, Jessica did not take being embarrassed well. It didn't matter that it clearly didn't matter to Noah that Jessica had just tripped. In fact, it sounded as if he found it downright cute. Which only made things worse.

She scowled at him, as if it were his fault that she'd tripped. For that matter.

"That wasn't graceful," she pointed out. She took the hand as if she deserved it, and levered herself upright. "At least you're a gentleman, even if you have a horrible accent."

As if Jessica was one to talk. Despite her extensive travels, she still had a decidedly Southern drawl. Light and somewhat pleasant, more belle than backwoods. But still an accent.

"I don't believe we've met," she moved her hand in his, preparing the appendage to be kissed. "Jessica Rey, of the Texas Reys."

[noah]

"Ah, says the girl who sounds like a looney tune." Noah took an immediate dislike to Jessica, and though his tone sounded polite and humored still, his eyes were storming and if the Texas native decided to keep up the condescending act, he wouldn't be able to keep the edge from his voice. Still, everyone deserved a chance to redeem themselves in Noah's eyes, and that included Jessica. The New Yorker ran a hand through his shaggy blonde hair, eventually pausing to rest his fingers against that spot on his neck, a trait that made him look adorably shy.

"Never heard of you." He smiled easily, those should-be-illegal blue eyes bright with laughter as he looked down at their clasped hands. The Cavanite paused for a moment before running a thumb across Jessica's knuckles and then looking back up to meet her gaze.

"I'm Noah. It's nice to meet you Jessica." Noah grinned crookedly, his smile beaming in the shade of his bangs. He took a self-indulgent moment to look the girl over, wasting no energy attempting to be subtle as he appraised her.

"I always thought Jessica was a pretty name." She was cute, he would give her that much. Though Noah was fairly sure that she would be much more appealing if she could wipe the spoiled look from her features; it did nothing save for cause her to resemble something of a pug.

[jess]

Looney Toon? Was he really daring to call Jessica Rey a Looney Toon? Cute or not, he'd just crossed a line. Jessica's eyes narrowed dangerously. His next words were nearly the worse he could have possibly chosen, save for "you're ugly." Never heard of her? A nobody like him probably wouldn't have.

"Wouldn't expect you to," she drawled. "We clearly travel in very different social circles."

She raised her eyebrows. "Noah? It suits you."

By now she was quickly losing interest in him. Yes, Jessica was a pretty name. That was a fact she was well aware of. Besides, it was a totally unoriginal compliment, and not one that Jessica had the time for. Honestly, this "Noah" was looking more and more like a lost cause. Jessica didn't even want to flirt with him at this point.

"I don't remember seeing you before. Are you on the staff here?" she asked. She slid her hand out of his, circling a perfectly manicured nail. "Groundskeeper, maybe? You look like you could be a groundskeeper."

Or a stablehand. Something that required shoveling feces.

[noah]

"Obviously," he bit his lips, brow furrowed for a moment as he tried to decided exactly what to do next. Noah was a forgiving boy, an incredibly gracious soul and probably as understanding as they came, but this girl was a bonafide bitch.

"Thanks." He decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and and pretend her remark about his name had been a compliment. Noah, had a soft spot for his own name, having picked it out himself, and it put kudos in his book when someone else complimented on it. Stretching a bit, the Cavanite hooked a thumb in the waistline of his jeans, the tan skin of his chest still bare to the dim November sun.

"Catty suits you." Noah sighed, his smile faltering in the face of Jessica's thinly veiled bite. Nonetheless, he answered her. "Unfortunately, no. But us being strangers makes enough sense considering I take you for an Almasy, which creates enough distance." He shifted his weight onto the other foot, looking down at the brunette with something like annoyance in his blue eyes.

"Besides, I picture you wasting your time inside, and probably in front of a mirror," 'not because you're that pretty, but because you're obviously that self-absorbed.' "or spending your daddy's money shopping, while I prefer spending my time doing something worthwhile."

[jess]

From Noah's response, Jessica could tell he wasn't an Almasy. Which lowered his stock even further. He'd gone from "maybe a distraction" to "a minor annoyance." And he wouldn't stop talking! That was sooooo annoying. Jessica just wanted to order him to shut up.

"Don't you think you're something?" she sneered. "Let me guess: you're from some trashy little suburb where you were King of the Roost? It's not impressive here, Nick."

She tossed her head and somehow managed to look down on the taller boy. The letter and the joy it had brought were now completely forgotten: Jessica's wrath was focused on a new target.

"Actually, I don't spend all that much time in front of a mirror," she argued. "I do spend a lot of Daddy's money. Mommy's money too. Even some of my own, when I get really bored. You see, that's what people with money do. They spend it. Clearly that's not anything you would understand."

Jessica quickly scanned Noah and just as quickly dismissed him. "Worthwhile? Like wondering around a garden stalking pretty girls? That's called stalking to all us real people."

[noah]

"There's a big difference between New York," He stressed the city, his teeth gritted. Noah thought - knew, NYC was the greatest city on Earth and Jessica was just pushing all the wrong buttons. "and some trashy suburb, but I can see how someone who just climbed out of a backwater bayou could mix that up."

The girl before him had lost all traces of attraction, any appearance of good looks had faded and he was finding her more annoying by the second. Noah, being a man of convictions and nobility, instantly hated the girl simply because she seemed to lack any sort of principles, and she was flaunting it.

He leaned in close enough to see the cracks in her pretty mask, eyebrow raised as he looked down patronizingly on the girl. "That might have been the case if there happened to be any pretty girls outside today. But it looks like it's just spoiled, dog-faced brats pretending to be something special." Noah growled, his tone heated and sharp as he stepped back, trying to hide the way his lip curled back into a snarl.

With his parting words lingering in the air, the Cavanite turned and headed for the school, already fumbling around in his pocket for his iPod. Noah was never mean to girls, ever. He had been raised by a feminist of the strictest kind, and his mum had brought him up to be nothing short of a gentleman, especially where women were involved. Trying to erase his own words from his head, he felt slightly sick.

[jess]

Poor boy from NYC thought he had it made? Please, a homeless bum is a homeless bum, no matter if he lived in a decent city or not. Besides, Noah probably lived in one of the artless, hopeless sections of the city. Places Jessica wouldn't even sent her servants.

"STOP!" she ordered, layering the command with her Gift. She stomped toward him. No one dared to call her, Jessica Rey, dog-faced. That was simply unacceptable! And from a boy with little to no class? Unforgivable!

"Listen to me, you little worm," she hissed, pulling close. "I'm probably the best thing you will ever see let alone touch. You should be thankful that I'm even speaking with you."

Well, it was more like speaking over him or down to him, but no one said that Jessica was a master of grammar.

"In fact," she smiled. Now's when things would get complicated, and she wasn't certain how well her Gift would hold up to this next bit. "You should be on your knees, begging me to forgive you for what you said."

The complicated orders always got... messy. And Jessica simply didn't have the practice she really needed to pull it off.

[noah]

Noah had just been about to plug in his earbuds just as Jessica called out to him, her voice sharp and venomous and instantly, the sick feeling in his stomach doubled as he felt himself drawn to her, to obey.

He dropped the headphones and turned around, just in time to catch Jessica's snide rant, and even though he could not turn away, he began to think to himself just how unattractive the heiress really was. It's such a shame when good looks are overshadowed by a personality like Jessica's. He let her bark at him, watching as she became even more like some sort of mutt, some abandoned dog that yipped like a Chihuahua but bit like a Rottweiler, until her last command escaped her, and he set his resolve firmly.

"No," He growled, even though his knees were shaking, ready to give in. The Cavanite gritted his teeth, reaching for his headphones and putting them back in his ears, turning on his iPod loud enough that he would be spared any further lectures or orders.

Taking a deep breath, Noah then perhaps went a little overboard and scooped up Jessica, one hand behind her knees and the other looped around her back as he decided to fight fire with fire, Gift with Gift. Pushing off the dirt trail beneath them, the blonde pushed for the sky, Jessica in his arms as he hovered for a moment, nearly fifteen feet off the ground as he looked around, searching for the perfect perch. Eventually he spotted a tall enough tree and pushed past the ache already building in his body as he flew forward a few feet, finally letting Jessica down on a sturdy enough branch.

Looking all too pleased with himself, the boy wiggled a few fingers at the girl in a mock wave, before dropping carefully to the ground, headphones still intact as he headed for the school once more, hopefully done with the irritating girl for good this time.

[jess]

"You don't say 'no' to me!" insisted Jessica. She thrust her hands down to her sides, pouting in true form. Her eyes narrowed, and her mouth opened to berate him again.

But the only noises to come out of her were shouts of surprise as Noah swept her up. Stunned, Jessica could only blink for a few moments. By the time she had full control of herself, Noah had lifted several feet off the ground. Still, she began yelling and thrashing. When she started to slip out of his hands, she had to cling tightly to him. To show her annoyance with this situation, the heiress dug her nails into Noah's back.

Though she did notice the body she happened to be pressed against. And the flesh her nails dug into. Shame he acted the way he did, or else he might actually be worthwhile.

She slid off his body, and clung desperately to the tree. When he started flying away, her mouth opened, and she started protesting, vehemently.

"You're going to leave me here? You can't just! Wait! I'm talking to you, get back here!" Jessica waved an arm, which nearly made her lose her balance. Glowering, she clung to the branch again.

Noah.

She'd remember that name. Growling, she dug into her pocket, fishing for a cell phone and salvation.