Stakes & Mistakes (Closed)

[smileyface58]

Name: Kyle Jackson


Age: 21


Description Only (DO NOT POST PICS): Kyle is a fairly tall guy, he is solidly built and back in his heydays he was even considered to be slightly popular. Of course most people steer clear of him now. A nineteen year-old with a child? How horrendous. His hair is a light shade of brown, almost blond but not quite. His eyes are also the average shade of chestnut brown, nothing special. He has a couple of scars from childhood years, nothing too serious, and some bumps and bruises here and there. Pick a guy you think is average: not ugly, but not drop dead gorgeous; that's Kyle.


Personality: I like to RP this out. I don't like giving my characters set parameters, we are all a little different sometimes.


History: RP out


Other: He has a 5 year-old daughter


"Daddy!" The little girl ran to him, her large backpack swinging and her pigtails bobbing around her head.


"Hey, sweetie!" He picked her up and swung him in his arms, "How is Miss Amelia doing today?" A smile spread across his face.


"I am good daddy! I drew you a picture!" She pulled a scribble of paper from her bag and handed it to him. Kyle set her gently on the ground and looked at it carefully.


"You used my favorite color. I love it!" He patted her on the head. "Where should we-" He was cut off as the door opened again and she came out.


"I want her home by 5. No later. And Kyle..." She glared at him angrily, "Don't do anything stupid." She slammed the door in his face and he heard her angry footsteps as she walked back down the hall. She hated him. She hated him for everything in the world. That was okay. He hated himself sometimes.


"Daddy?"


"Yeah, Ames?" He replied still staring at the red door, knocker swinging.


"Why don't you and mommy live together? All the other kids mommys and daddys live together." She zipped up her huge pink backpack and grabbed Kyle's hand, dragging him to the car.


He had been waiting for this question. Waiting for it for a while now. Ever since she was born, that day he held her in the hospital, he knew this day would come. He still had no answer. Kyle opened her car door and buckled her into her car seat.


Once she was situated, he sat in the front and started the car. "Daddy? Why don't you and mommy live together?" She was asking it absentmindedly now, her mind was more focused on the barbies in her hands. If he ignored the question long enough she would forget, or at least give him a couple hours to come up with so stupid excuse as to why he couldn't answer. "I asked mommy." She said quietly.


His breath stopped short. "What did you say?"


"I asked mommy." She replied. "She said it was because you were icky and not very smart, but I don't think so daddy. I think you are nice and not icky." She went back to playing with her dolls.


Kyle frowned. Icky and stupid. Yes, that sounded like Amanda.


*****


There were about one thousand reasons why he shouldn't have done what he had done that night; but there were one thousand and one reasons why he was so very glad that he had. All of those reasons were sitting in the small plastic chair in front of him, "Are you excited for your first day of preschool Ames?"


The young girl nodded her head so furiously he could hear her pencils and pens rattling in her backpack. He chuckled and poked her in the side, "You're not nervous now are you?" He continued poking her and she giggled trying to escape his tickling.


"No! No! I am a big girl. I'm not afraid of anything!" She stood up and put her hands on hers hips, standing like some sort of miniature sized super hero. Kyle smiled, he wished he could say the same. As the preschool teacher came in and talked with him, telling him everything little Amelia would do and learn this year, his mind drifted elsewhere.


Not afraid of anything, huh? He wished he could say the same. He was afraid of everything and it hadn't always been that way. Three years ago he was on top of the world, fantastic grades, amazing at sports and not bad with the ladies either. Yeah well, one party took that all away from him. Fast forward three years and he had a daughter and an ex-girlfriend who practically sent him death threats every time he looked at her. One bad decision, and it led to one bad life. Well, no. Amelia wasn't bad. She was good and all, but sometimes he couldn't help but wish she had come along eight or ten years later...


"Mr. Jackson? Are you still listening?" Kyle shook his head and realized he had been staring out the window.


"What? Oh, yeah. Sorry, please continue." He made sure to look the teacher in the eye this time and tried to keep his mind off how bad his life sucked, not an easy task. Not at all.


(Sorry this introduction is awkward. It's actually 2 separate intros put together. I couldn't decide which one I like better... to be honest, both kind of suck. I will get better though as the RP goes on. Introductions are my weak point I guess, haha).

 

[Lirael]

((No, it's fine! Trust me. I've seen some way worse. This is really great, I can roll with this. Trust me))


Name: Evangeline "Evan" Gautier


Age: 20


Description: Evan is rather short, standing right at 5'1 but don't let that fool you. With dark hair and nearly violent eyes, she always seems to have a smile on her face and a bounce in her step. She dresses casually, usually jeans and a t-shirt, her hair pulled into a messy bun or ponytail. But her most noticeable feature is her Creole accent as well as her tendency to slip back into Cajun-French at times. But she's working on it.


******


The morning rush was something that came as a bit of a surprise to Evan. Despite being new to the town, she couldn't wrap her mind over how many people seemed to pour out of the woodwork when it came time for the collective coffee social. She was convinced it was a conspiracy. It seemed as if everyone instantly thought, "Coffee time, let's go descend on the new girl at the cafe." At least things here were a bit relaxed, even if the patrons weren't. She couldn't understand how so many seemingly sweet elderly people that were so pleasant to each other could become so vicious if she wasn't RIGHT there with their coffee refills.


For the last two hours, she'd rushed and raced, filling and refilling, putting money in the tills and doing her best to calmly explain why their bills were the totals they were. By the time they had cleared out, she was sure that she'd spent less energy outracing the gator on her papere's bayou home. But at least they had tipped well. Adding a few of the bills to the small cup she kept under the counter for her tips, she glanced up, smiling. It was just after lunch now, and generally, they had a few mothers with their newly released preschoolers join them for a late lunch or at least a snack.


What a sight it was to see a young man bringing in his sister. It was an adorable sight. Why couldn't more brothers be this way? She absently blew a few of her dark curls out of her eyes, resisting the urge to tuck them back into the braid that had first contained them, she grabbed her pen and order pad, making their way to them. "Hi there," she said lightly, her nearly violet eyes dancing in cheerful welcome. Despite her best effort, a bit of her accent still leaked through. Okay, a lot of her accent, but she could pretend she was getting better, right? "You look like you just got out of school," she added to the little girl in pigtails. "Was today your first day?"


((I hope it's okay I had them in the cafe? I wasn't sure what to really do with him at the school. If not, I can certainly change it.))

 

[smileyface58]

(Yup. Totally fine.)


It had become a tradition of sorts. Every other Friday, just before she was dropped off at her mothers house for the weekend, Kyle took Amelia to the local coffee shop for a cookie and a hot chocolate. Originally, the so-called tradition had begun because he had a ten page paper due that evening and needed an extreme boost of caffeine to keep him awake, but Amy had enjoyed herself the first time and so they continued to go.


Amelia's large ladybug backpack swung heavily on her tiny frame and her little hand held tightly to his, "Can I get two cookies this time, daddy?" She smiled at him mischievously.


Kyle smiled happily down at her, "Oh... I don't see why not." The thought of sending her home to her mom in the middle of an extreme sugar rush made a little overjoyed. Amanda made his life a living hell all the time, and he didn't see why he couldn't return the favor, "Just don't tell your mommy." Amelia smiled happily, showing all her recently missing teeth.


She pushed the door open and ran to the counter, the smell of freshly ground coffee beans and sickly-sweet chocolate chip cookies hit him instantly. Amy ran to the counter and pressed her face up against the glass, excited that she would be able to try two new cookie flavors today. Kyle walked up and knelt down beside her, "Hmmm... what are you thinking Ames? Chocolate chip? Peanut butter?" She shrugged her shoulders and stared at the cookies a little longer, her mouth practically watering at the sight of all the delicious sugar laid out before her.


Kyle stood and nodded kindly to the woman behind the counter, "Hello." He said politely as he quickly scanned the menu above her head.


"Yeah!" Shouted Amelia excitedly. "It was my first day and it was super fun. I got to paint with my fingers!" She held her hands up for effect. "I can't paint with my fingers at home. Mommy says it's too messy."


Kyle tugged one of her pigtails playfully and poked her in the ribs, "That's because mommy knows everything would be painted but the paper in front of you."


Amelia giggled and went back to the cookies, "Da- er... Kyle. Can I get the chocolate marshmallows and the peanut butter?" Kyle winced and felt his ears grow hot. Please, please don't let her have caught that. It's an honest mistake right? Kyle and Amelia had this... agreement of sorts. In public, Amelia had to call him Kyle. It wasn't so much that he was embarrassed by Amelia or anything of that sort. He just, well, he didn't like the looks people gave him. It was best people believed that he was her brother, or maybe even an uncle. Anything but her father.


His senior year, when Amelia had first been born, he took her out and openly told people that yeah, she was his daughter. The looks he received from older people were painful and rude. For example: There was a time, a couple months back, when an older woman had walked up to Amy looked her straight in the eyes and asked her if everything was alright at home, if he was providing for her adequately. Kyle was holding Amy's hand, standing right there listening to this woman accuse him of being a horrible father. Yeah, needless to say, that had crushed his self-esteem and overall thoughts in general.


So, for the time being, Kyle was a brother and not a father.


He smiled at the lady again, "Hi. We'll have those two cookies, a kids hot chocolate, and a regular coffee." He tapped his fingers on the glass case patiently and then glanced at the girl again, she was awfully short and he didn't seem to recognize her. "I'm sorry. I come here basically every week with this little one," he nudged Amy with his elbow. "Are you new around here?" She had a fairly thick accent that sounded western to him, but he wasn't really sure where from. He didn't exactly stay up to date on the accents of the world.


The idea of someone new in town excited him. While most people probably hadn't heard of his and Amanda's so called: "tragic senior year mistake (a.k.a. Amelia)", many people had heard of it and the thought of someone completely knew and untouched by the local town gossip made him happy.

 

[Lirael]

Evan smiled, moving with an efficiency that came from years of working at the Du Mont back home. That was one of the things that had gotten her a job here, her experience. Despite being focused on her work, though, she was still able to hold a good conversation with ease. "Finger painting!?" she exclaimed to the little girl. "Well, you lucky girl. Finger painting is my absolute favorite!" Gracious, the girl was adorable. Her smile was infectious. Who could NOT be happy around her?!


She glanced back up at her.. brother? Uncle? She wasn't sure.. Of course, as the girl spoke, her hands stilled, and she glanced back at him again. She had caught that, but though it made her wonder, she didn't comment on it. It wasn't her business, after all, and it wasn't something that she was going to pry about. People deserved their secrets. "Hot chocolate, coffee, and two cookies, coming right up," she admitted, keeping her voice light and the curiosity out of her expression. "Any cream or sugar for your coffee?" She didn't even ask about whipped cream for the hot chocolate; what was hot chocolate without whipped cream?! She'd never liked marshmallows personally on her hot chocolate. Whipped cream did the same thing and didn't have the strange aftertaste of marshmallows. She added a sprinkle of cinnamon to the top, setting it by the register before going to pour him coffee.


At his question, Evan smiled. "What gave me away?" she asked with a chuckle. "No, I'm from New Orleans originally. Wanted a change of scenery, so I decided to fly the coop. I'd say it's a walk about, but walk abouts are expensive. So I just moved." Her smile turning to a grin. "Course, I tend to forget I'm not home anymore, so if I start rambling in French, just stop me." While she waited for his answer about the cream and sugar, she reached below the cabinet for the two cookies, handing them directly to the little girl. "Here you go, ma petit."


((Sorry this took awhile. We had an issue with internet. Just got it back this morning.))

 

[smileyface58]

Kyle smiled happily, despite the fact that many people in town looked at him with disgust, it always made him happy that they treated Amy the same. He didn't want her to take the blow for any of his ridiculous mistakes. "Nah, just plain old coffee for me thanks." He glanced down at Amelia and smiled, her face was still pressed against the glass as the lady grabbed the two cookies from underneath the counter.


Her small brown eyes widened in excitement as she was handed the cookies. She took a small bite of one and then looked at the lady behind the counter, "What's 'my padite'?" Her little nose scrunched up in confusion. But before she had even waited for an answer, her little mind was already moving on to the next item of business, "I want to go find us a table, brother! Can I? Can I?" She was jumping up and down and her little blonde pigtails bounced with excitement. Kyle was just happy that she hadn't slipped that time, she was even smart enough to add in the 'brother' as if to tear away any shred of doubt she had accidentally caused earlier.


"Whoa, calm down girl or I might have to take one of those cookies away from you!" He said smiling. Kyle knelt down beside her and pointed to a table by the window, "Why don't we sit over there? That way we can see outside?" She nodded in agreement and ran to the table as quickly as her little legs could carry her. He stood back up and waited for their order. "New Orleans, huh? I've never been there. Sorry to say, I don't know much about the place either. Well, other than Marti Gras, but that's pretty stereotypical." He glanced back at Amelia to make sure she was okay, "And the Princess and the Frog, I've seen that one a couple hundred times." Kyle had never really been anywhere, to tell the truth. The furthest he had ever gone was Florida, once, and that was before his parents and every one else in this town hated his guts and everything else about him... well, they didn't hate Amelia. No one hated her.


(It's alright. Sorry my post is kind of short.)

 

[Lirael]

Evan smiled, watching the little girl race away. Goodness, but she was cute... She looked back at Kyle, handing him his coffee. "She's really cute," she admitted with a chuckle. "I wish I had half her energy. Then these double shifts wouldn't seem so bad, I think." She added the hot chocolate to the counter as well before starting to enter everything into the register. "I think it's really sweet that you take your sister out. Not a lot of people do that anymore. I think kids get too forgotten these days."


She looked back up at him, a strand of hair falling across her gaze as she considered him curiously. "You should go to New Orleans sometime. There's a lot of culture there. It's.. There's no place like it in the world." She spoke wistfully, lost in her thoughts for a moment. In truth, she did miss New Orleans terribly; she'd grown up there. HEr family had grown up there. Her roots were in that city... But she'd had to move on. At least for now. The last storm ravaged through the city, almost as bad as Katrina; lots of people had been displaced.


Evan shook her head to clear the memories, and she looked back at him again. "So. Kyle, right? Is there a last name to go with that?"

 

[smileyface58]

Kyle sat the drinks down carefully on the counter and pulled out his wallet, "Thanks." He replied without thinking about it, then quickly added, "I am sure our mother will be happy to hear that, though she gets it all the time." He laughed nervously and pulled a couple dollar bills from his wallet. He handed her the correct amount of change and then dropped a couple dollars and his change into the tips jar.


He watched as she seemed to get lost in memories of her hometown, he wished he felt that way about this place. This town was horrible. He smiled kindly and picked the drinks up again, both were burning hot and smelled delicious, "Well, maybe I'll get down there one day. I have to get out of this town first!" Kyle could practically see the longing on her face, she missed home terribly, that was obvious. Now might not be the time to talk about how much he hated this place when she had just moved here. He sat the drinks back down on the counter, "But... you know, it's not all that bad out here. I mean the night life is... well it is something. And the culture... boy we got tons of that. Maybe not as much as New Orleans, but I think it could be argued..." He carried on playfully. Anyone who was anyone knew this town was a drag. A total dead-end street to the middle of nowhere. The closest Wal-Mart was nearly 10 minutes away. This coffee shop was the highlight of this town.


Kyle glanced back nervously as Amelia and then looked at the girl again, she really was very pretty, "Maybe, if you're bored one night or something, I don't know... I could show you around. There's some pretty exciting stuff about this town, somewhere probably. We may have to find it first though." He laughed and picked up the drinks once more, "My name is Kyle. Kyle Jackson. And I don't believe I ever received you first name, let alone your last name."