Lost...so lost... [open!]

[Jillian Rafael Riggins]

Raffy entered the auditorium with a squeak. She was supposed to be in Psych right now, but had absolutely no idea where it was. The person who had given her her schedule, an apathetic looking chubby boy, had told her absolutely nothing about where the classes were, just looked up at her disdainfully and told her that she should know, she was a JUNIOR, after all. It was true, but somehow she had completely forgotten where she was supposed to be. Over the summer, class destinations completely slipped her mind and she hadn't even started term until a few days ago! UGH, she had so much work to make up and she was skipping class already!

"MY LIFE IS RUINED!" she howled at the top of her lungs in agony. It echoed really nicely in the large, empty space, and she paused. Well, if she was going to skip class, she might as well have a little fun with it.

"PROFESSOR LORIN IS A TERRIBLE TEACHER!" she bellowed. It was true. Her psych teach had his eyes glazed over half the time and the rest spent yelling loudly at any student who dared to drop their pencils in his class. He even captured all of this on video (Raffy watched the videos before she had gotten to school and took notes on the lectures, because she was cool like that.) EVERYONE thought it, she was sure, but no one dared to say it out loud, until now. She giggled happily. This was fun! Raffy didn't get into trouble, her goody-two-shoes attitude didn't allow for it, but this letting your hair down was fun!

Thinking this to herself, she decided to actually let her hair down. As she pulled her ponytails out of her hair, she turned her iPod on to her favorite Japanese song (she'd bought the dubbed version, but it was still well sung, rhymed and everything!) and twirled around in the acoustics of the hall. The only reason she was willing to do any of this of course was because she believed that there was no one in the hall... Which was, of course, not true.

[Curio Vittore]

Curio hated math.

Maybe it was the fact that he didn't like school to begin with, but Curio and numbers didn't get along. They never wanted to stay on the same side as the equation, and he hated dealing with that stupid letter X. Everyone had those subjects that they absolutely loathed, and College Algebra was Curios. Actually, he didn't like most of his subjects, but at least he understood the devil teachers and the stupid words across the page in those classes. Math was a completely different story. He just didn't understand it. That would be the reason why Curio was not only failing his math class(His aunt will have a cow later on) But he was also skipping it (Meaning she'd kill him after having the cow) because he hated it. Curio didn't like deceiving his aunt, but he couldn't take another day inside a stuffy classroom pretending like understood inequalities on quadratic equations just so the know-it-all teacher didn't ask for him to stay after.

So instead of silently muttering curses in Italian in a classroom, Curio was slightly muttering curses in Italian in the auditorium. Curio was going to skip class and go to the gym to train. Unfortunately, Mother nature hated him enough to send forth a slew of unholy rain to stop Curio. If he went outside and came back wet for his next class, he'd be way more soaked than if he had to run to his dorm. Besides, he'd be wearing fighting gear and people would know he'd ditched class. Cue the sobbing aunt with a battle-Axe this weekend when he went home. Curio did not want to face her wrath. So instead Curio took his book bag of homework he hated, cast a glare on his face and searched for rooms to slip into. Fortunately, the Auditorium, a sad theater that held traces of it's greater Italian counterparts, was coincidentally unlocked. Someone was having mercy on his poor unfortunate soul today, even if Mother Nature was hell-bent on destroying him.

So inside Curio went, a new smile on his face as he proceeded to walk between the aisles. He didn't want to get caught, so he needed to make sure that no one could see him should someone walk into the dark room. Curio wouldn't take to kindly to people disturbing him, but at the same time, he didn't need to be turned in as well. Fransisco always told him that he had to pick his battles. This would be one he did not fight.

Settling for the farthest section away from the door, Curio felt that if he up and actually sat in a chair, he'd be visible since he was so freaking' tall. Sit next to the wall, and the chairs will cover you from someone's sight. Curio analyzed and continued to go and sit next to said wall. Feeling quite content with himself, Curio Vittore pulled out his old drawing notebook, something he kept hidden from everyone, including his Aunt. Feeling utterly alone, Curio let his guard down and began to draw. He didn't know what he was to draw, but he marked the page all the same.

~~~~~~~~~

Curio hadn't noticed that the auditorium door squeaked. He was actually well engrossed in a monochromatic drawing of a grassy field. He knew that there was something special about the field, but it had yet to process in his brain as he accentuated a few splotches of grass with bolder lines. He hadn't even known someone had walked inside his sanctuary until the ungrateful-for-silence idiot freaking screamed into his concentration and made his pencil break in his hand from anger.

"MY LIFE IS RUINED!" a distinctly female voice lamented into the acoustic area. The sound of her whine echoed across the room and caused Curio's face to twist with anger. He didn't want to blow his cover, but she was seriously grating on his nerves. She didn't stop their either. "PROFESSOR LORIN IS A TERRIBLE TEACHER!" the girl bellowed, seemingly not lamenting about her oh so horrible life anymore. Curio wasn't about to sit and let her ruin his peace, but at the same time, he couldn't risk getting caught. His aunt would murder him. Curio forced himself to stay seated behind the seats.

He did that for about two minutes while witnessing his anger rise to obscene levels of rampage. all bets went off as the girl decided to start dancing. Obviously she had no intentions of leaving, and the music was downright atrocious. He hated that he was about to blow his cover, but maybe he could convince the annoying idiotic girl to not turn him in, by whatever force necessary.

Slamming his sketchbook back in his bag, Curio hid it underneath a chair and stood up. The girl was oblivious to the tall senior with the obvious scowl on his face. I'll take her down a peg or two. Curio thought, relishing the feeling of letting the pent up anger go. Stomping over to the girl, Curio looked downright scary with his angry eyes and knotted eyebrows. His vein on his forehead was probably visible and his hands were definitely balled up into fists.

"You there!" Curio bellowed with ferocity. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Curio was now in front of the girl, casting her a glare so furious even his father might have been a bit unnerved. "Don't you think that you are being extremely rude, to be this loud in a place so quiet? Don't you have any respect or shred of self-dignity? I ought to pummel you!" Curio threw his hands up in the air. The girl, who was even dressed weirdly compared to his own athletic shorts and long sleeved boxing shirt. Who wore brown and yellow together anyway? Curio may not know a lot about fashion, but this girl was irking him in subjects he didn't even understand!

Don't you think it's about time you get on out of here and leave me be? I don't have patience for you to try me. Curio said, casting a glance at the door then back at the plain looking girl. He didn't think she was in his grade, but she seemed the type to go and tattle on people. "You go now and I won't tell anyone you came here to skip class." Curio added, giving her a slightly evil grin as he gestured at the door. He was really resisting the urge to punch her, but he promised his aunt he wouldn't get into with anyone, especially girls this year. He didn't promise he was going to be nice to them though.

[Jillian Rafael Riggins]

Jill turned, terrified. A slightly short (yet menacing) Italian boy had come over to her and extremely threateningly told her (if I may summarize) to shut up and leave, his hands clenched into fists, his eyebrows furrowed into deep, blue grey eyes. She noticed that he was quite attractive, despite the circumstances, but banished the thoughts from her mind.

"I'm so so so so sorry!" she squeaked, eyes opened wide in fear and cheeks blushing madly from being caught. "I didn't think anyone else would be here and I know it's really quiet, but it's an auditorium so it has really nice acoustics and my music sounded really nice to me in here, even though I know I'm supposed to be in Psych right now I have no idea where it is and I kind of don't want to find out because I saw the video recordings of the lectures Professor Lorin did online and he's really mean, and you probably should beat me up because I'm just a loser who cant even remember where the class she has this year is even though I'm a Junior and I should remember these things, but I really don't want you to beat me up because I'm afraid my bi polarity will kick in and I'll hurt you even though I would rather you hurt me!" she huffed as she finished rambling this run~on sentence.

Even though she was much taller than him, he seemed to tower over her in spirit. Once again, she felt like another gangly, zit-covered nerd who was interrupting on everyone else's lives by being where she was not supposed to be. A tear dribbled down her cheek, and she started to walk to the door in quiet self loathing, her feet trailing on the ground as she walked. Raffy felt so weak. Why was she doing this? She didn't cry in response to people bullying her! She stood her ground silently and defended the weak! Why was she doing this with this Italian boy?
'He just doesn't seem like a bully.' she thought.
'Why not?'
'I'm not sure. He seems lonely. Somehow I want to be there for him.'
'You don't know him.'
'I don't think anyone does.'
At this, she turned to him.
"I'm sorry about how what I did affected you," she told him, mustering up a bit of courage. "But I'm really not sorry about doing it."
Raffy cringed, waiting for the blow.

[Curio Vittore]

Curio was not expecting that.

He figured the girl would leave with a whimper and a sigh; judging off of what other people did when Curio threatened them. Most did what he wanted them to do, he could be verypersuasive. This girl how ever seemed to explode with emotion, a reaction Curio had never encountered before, therefore never expecting it. When she opened with a flash of words and apologies, Curio actually held his hands up as if to tell her to slow down. She was talking so fast that his ears, not as adeptly trained to english as they were italian, had a harder time understanding what she was saying. All traces of his anger were gone as she rumbled on, and Curio spent his energy just trying to hear a part of what she was saying.

"I didn't think anyone else would be here and I know it's really quiet, but it's an auditorium so it has really nice acoustics and my music sounded really nice to me in here, even though I know I'm supposed to be in Psych right now I have no idea where it is and I kind of don't want to find out because I saw the video recordings of the lectures Professor Lorin did online and he's really mean, and you probably should beat me up because I'm just a loser who cant even remember where the class she has this year is even though I'm a Junior and I should remember these things, but I really don't want you to beat me up because I'm afraid my bi polarity will kick in and I'll hurt you even though I would rather you hurt me!" The girl seemed a bit out of breath and Curio stood there, shocked as the silence hit him.

He honestly didn't think she'd go completely insane the moment he imposed his will on her. He couldn't have predicted it. She seemed to ramble on forever, but the fact that went on and on talking made Curio mad. Yet, all feelings of hatred towards this girl had been snuffed away for the time being by his shock. She seemed to have a very low self esteem, Curio knew because he knew how it felt to have low self esteem. Fransisco had made sure of that. She actually confirmed his thought about punching her lights out, and Curio almost laughed out loud. Who asks to get beat up? Curio thought as she said something about bi-polarity. What? She's afraid of hurting ME? Curio's nostrils flared in anger. His pride led him to believe that no one could beat him in a fight, yet this almost crying, rambling girl managed to squeak out that she was afraid to hurt him?

Once again his anger diffused when he saw the lone tear travel down the expanse of her cheek before she turned to leave. He was happy indeed that she was leaving, but at the same time, he had made a girl cry. It wasn't like he hadn't made anyone cry before. Many people cried in the ring after he broke their noses or delivered crippling blows to the ribcage. People he'd beaten up on campus had cried too as Curio screamed at them in Italian. Making a girl cry? That was a new low for the short-tempered italian boy. He could not feel anger anymore.

Curio stood there with his hand still held up while the girl walked away, and then proceeded to come back.

"I'm sorry about how what I did affected you, but I'm really not sorry about doing it." The girl exclaimed, and slightly cringed as if waiting for him to explode more. Curio could not, he was spent and didn't feel anger towards the girl anymore. It was
as if she sucked it out of him while rambling on earlier.

"You know what? Forget it. I won't tell that you were in here if you won't tell on me. Just keep quiet and let me get back to focusing on what I need to do." Curio exclaimed rather tiredly as he turned his back on the girl and walked back to his things. He didn't know how she managed to calm him down so quickly, but he felt empty, as if what had egged him on and pushed him forward was suddenly gone.

"Don't think this means that I forgive you or anything like that.

[Jillian Rafael Riggins]

Raffy nodded in response to his words, smiling slightly.

"Of course."

His gruff exterior had deflated slightly by now and he seemed to have become confused. She was sure that if he was a real jerk (One who taunts for little to no reason at all) that he would have punched her with all the fury in the world. But however much of a bully he appeared to be, he was still an honorable Italian, and they didn't hit girls. She knew this from when a band of them ganged up on her in sixth grade. The cowards would shout names at her but not get close with their hands. They had blamed it upon their codes of honor, but Raffy doubted it. This boy didn't seem like the sort to lie an awful lot, though. She sensed it.

Raffy walked toward the door again, her eyes dried a little and her spirits lifted. Friend in Pallet Number 1. But first, she obviously had to know...

"What's you're name anyway, stranger?" she called back to him.

[Curio Vittore]

"Of Course."

Curio was relieved that she didn't seem to ramble a lot after he gave up on her. In fact, it was the least amount of words he'd heard her say at all. Maybe she's not so insane? Oh who am I kidding. That fiasco could've made Sylvia Plath or Brian Wilson look sane. Curio wasn't all that smart, but because of his aunt he at least knew the lead songwriter for the beach-boys and a great author/poet who gassed herself to death. She never missed an opportunity to make him learn something new, stating that, "They don't teach any of the good things in your little italian boarding school. Sheltered, il mio ragazzo, sheltered you were." So now he was full of random useless things that his aunt found cool, like the world record holder for pac-man, instead of things he actually needed to know.

Curio walked back over to his dark wall and settled a broad back against the cool exterior. Pulling out his notebooks again, he managed to find the page he was working on and again pulled out a good charcoal pencil and darkened some lines. The picture was a face that looked purely anguished, harboring features of every person he'd ever saw. It didn't look like him, but rather the face was a hodge-podge of different faces all meshing together to create this one emotion. Some parts of the face didn't line up, for example his own eyes with Fransisco's knotted forehead. His aunt's hands grasped tightly together and a teacher's eyebrows furrowed. The picture was far from being done, since Curio had originally planned to make two profiles of different emotions off of the same head, so the person would indeed have three faces showing three different emotions. He actually had no clue what he was drawing in the beginning, but the picture seemed to have a life of it's own and made his hand sketch exactly where it was needed. Curio had just settled into a rhythm of sketching and observing when the girl spoke out.

"What's you're name anyway, stranger?" The girl called out, sounding a bit closer than last time. I can't let her know that I draw. It's a secret! Ward her off, ward her off! Curio thought as he shut the notebook quickly. Should I tell her? She probably wouldn't know the difference if I gave her some other italian name. I don't want to lie to her, but if she goes and rats me out, I'll be screwed. I'm pretty sure I'm the only Curio at this dang school..Curio contemplated what to tell her, his anxiety rising as he felt like she was closing in for the kill.

"A-Antonio. I'm Antonio." Curio burst out quickly, giving her the name of one of his friends from the old school. He had actually decided to tell her his real name, but the panic got to him and Antonio was the first thing that popped out. Don't take it back though, then you'll seem suspicious. Just play along with it...Antonio. Curio gave a loud sigh like he was frustrated on his work and spoke again, trying to ward her off by engaging in conversation.

"And you? What brings you here besides a certain professor?"

[Jillian Rafael Riggins]

"Not much, other than just completely forgetting where anything was last year. I'm so absent~minded," she said, scooting a little closer. Perhaps she was wrong, but she had the feeling that if he REALLY wanted her to go, he wouldn't have responded. He seemed like the type who would just blatantly tell her as much as would take her to hush and go if he wanted her gone, which she respected in a way. Most people would unintentionally drag others into rather useless conversations while darting their eyes away in an attempt to escape. Raffy had learned how to get herself out of such situations long ago, as she was constantly being the dragged. One was really supposed to (especially at a party) politely but not subtly tell the other person what they wanted to do. This especially worked with refreshments.

"Oh, my name's Raffy, technically Jill but I kind of hate the name," she greeted, realizing just now that she'd forgotten to. Now that she thought it over, she'd just had an episode back there. Sometimes Raffy would get panic~attacks instead of rage~attacks, and a few moments ago seemed like just the time. Thankfully, she was aware of her surroundings at the time or she might have broken some things in her mania.

She sat down, not particularly close, she didn't want to scare the specimen, just to get more comfortable. It seemed obvious, in her mind, that she was NOT going to Prof. Lorin's class, because if she was, there would be a lot of explaining to do. So she had three hours to kill, and they couldn't be spent in very many places because of the Hall Monitors patrolling. As long as Antonio was going to respond to her questions, she felt no moral obligation to leave him be.

He looked very worried, probably about the proximity, but Raffy still wondered why. She noticed a rather small book that he was obviously trying to hide, and doing pretty well at it, but when she peered a little harder at it, she realized that it was a sketch pad which read "Curio Vittore" in very small letters, not enough to allow anyone to notice at first glance, but enough to make him remember it was his.

Raffy got two hypotheses from this. Either the boy was Curio Vittore, and so he had lied about his name and was trying to hide his drawing skills from her (which she believed to be true) or he was holding the sketch pad for his friend Curio. Somehow, she didn't think it was the second option, probably because he wouldn't be taking such great pains to hide it so awkwardly behind him. This left her the question why he had lied. After thinking it over for a moment, she decided that it was probably because he didn't want her to blab to the teachers. He didn't know her at all, hadn't even known her name until just now, and was probably right to distrust her. She might have been right to distrust him, but she didn't at all feel an urge to, and therefore did not. She also did not mention anything on the subject, out of both common sense and a determination for him to like her. At least, a little.

This last bit gave Curio/Antonio a good minute to revel in the awkward silence, so she abruptly relieved him of this comfort by asking him; "Who're you running away from?" This could be interpreted in a lot of different ways, (with a lot of different newly awkward results) so she had no particular answer in mind.

[Curio Vittore]

Testing something out here.

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,400,true][atrb=cellSpacing,10,true][atrb=style, background: url(http://www.annedarlingphotography.com/images/black-and-white-night-photography-3.jpg), bTable][style=float: left; border: 5px solid #FFFFFF;] [/style] [style=opacity: 0.6; font: 12px mistral; color: #FFFFFF; letter-spacing: 2px; text-align: center; margin-top: 30px;]Words fall through me and always fool me[/style] [style=padding: 10px, 3px, 10px, 10px; spacing: 5px; font: 18px bradley hand itc tt; color: #E0FFFF; text-align: center; letter-spacing: -1px; background: #000000; text-transform: uppercase;]And I can't react[/style] [style=text-align: center; opacity: 0.76; float: left; background: #Ffffff; height: 270px; width: 300px; overflow: auto; font: 12px arial; color: #1c191a; text-align: justify; padding: 10px;] "Not much, other than just completely forgetting where anything was last year. I'm so absent~minded," she said, scooting a little closer. A little absent minded? She's more than that. Flat out crazy is more like it. Curio thought as he started to put the notebook. He needed to make sure she didn't see it, and start asking questions. Today was a day that he couldn't handle thinking about his past. Not today. Curio thought to himself. Plus he didn't want anyone to know that he drew for a hobby. That was personal. "Oh, my name's Raffy, technically Jill but I kind of hate the name," The girl said, getting even closer to the italian. What, does she want to get punched in the face? Can't she see that I'm not really interested? Damn. This isn't going well. Curio thought to himself. Raffy? Jill? Makes sense, she seems Bipolar. Only fitting that she have two names. The Young Vittore thought as he shifted his position to move the book into a better hiding position. Once again, she moved a bit closer and Curio could feel his anger that had laid dormant rise. She wasn't helping her case. After shifting the book in the best position, Curio laid his head back up against the wall and closed his eyes. Breathe, damnit. If you don't you'll end up hurting the girl. Curio made a promise to his aunt and he wasn't about to break it, no matter how annoying this 'Raffy' girl was. That said a lot, because she was pretty annoying to begin with. He managed to get a few good, solid breaths in before the girl spoke again and caught him offguard. "Who're you running away from?" Without thinking about his answer, Curio just blurted it out, instantaneously regretting what he said. He wished that he could take it back because at that moment, Curio told the truth. "Myself. Realizing his mistake, Curio lurched forward and faced the girl, rubbing his neck in frustration and nervousness. "I-I mean, School. It's such a drag, right? Curio blurted out, trying to cover up his words. He didn't want to think about life and his past and future. He wanted to talk about things that didn't matter, like this conversation and school. Things Curio cared nothing for. It doesn't help that everything is in english. Curio added, to strengthen his idea. You idiot! Stop being so careless! A voice chastised Curio for speaking what he felt and Curio fell back towards the wall, praying for something to make the girl not interested in him anymore. Come on, anything? TAGS: Jill, hiding, Secrets, Curio WORD COUNT: 435 - Sorry It's short. NOTES: Hope you like embarrassed and awkward Curio! [/style]

[style=font: 9px courier new; text-align: center; ma rgin-top: -10px;]♥ Toshi of FYE
Song Credit to Glen Hanard and Marketa Irglova's Falling Slowly. [/style]

[Jillian Rafael Riggins]

Raffy nodded in response to his words.

"Yeah, I kind of guessed. You're Italian, right?" she scooted a little away from him, the proximity seemed to be making him claustrophobic and angsty. Jill didn't want to make him unhappy, he might form opinions about her based upon said unhappiness (Like when you don't want Chinese food, and your parents make you go, and the food's awesome but your brain is now hardwired to think it sucks.) and she didn't want him to hate her. His vibes were saying that she'd better back off, that he was pretty sure she was bipolar, and that he really didn't want to tell the truth at the moment.

She knew he was lying, he was pretty bad at it, which made him somehow a little more charming. I mean, would you really enjoy talking to a person who's good at lying? Raffy certainly didn't, but she went along with them.

"School's never been perfect for me, but it kind of created this order that I can fall into, you know? A lot of my life is chaotic, and school will just allow you to blend in to the crowd. I'm all for originality, but there's safety in numbers, you know? And if I was home~schooled, then I wouldn't have the satisfaction of seeing other people around town and knowing who they were. I find that knowing people gives you a purpose in life, and a sort of sturdiness. I mean, the kids can be really cruel, but that would probably happen without school there, right? People just blame the schools because they're where kids congregate. And we really shouldn't complain, American school systems are really not at all limited, but somehow I think this country was formed on complaining, you know? We were just whiny little brats to the English, in a way. And people enjoy complaining, it's a way of letting off steam. Therapy sessions allow others to just complain, complain, complain, and they're paid for it. And I've been to them, 'cause of my bipolar issues, but I find it's better to let it out to someone you know. It's free, for one thing, and it leaves a little less acting to be done when they're around."

Raffy looked at Antonio/Curio then, flipped her hair a little and mentally braced herself for any crap that might happen. She had been babbling mostly to give him something to respond to when she attempted to make him spill his guts, as well as give him a reason (Trade your thoughts for mine). She didn't want him to freak out on her or anything, but she wouldn't be surprised if he did. Then, she went in for the kill.

"I guess what I'm saying is, do you have anything to let go, Mr. Running~away~from~yourself? If you can't think of anything, I'd suggest starting with your real name."

[Curio Vittore]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0px,true][cs=2][atrb=vAlign, bottom][atrb=style, width: 420px; background: url('http://i.imgur.com/gdBBi.png'); -moz-border-radius: 30px 30px 0px 0px; -o-border-radius: 30px 30px 0px 0px; border-radius: 30px 30px 0px 0px; -webkit-border-radius: 30px 30px 0px 0px] [style=font-size: 26px; font-family: verdana; color: #667C26; text-shadow: 2px 2px 5px #b7b7b7; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: -5px]cause i need freedom now[/style][style=background: #254117; opacity: 0.6; font-family: verdana; font-size: 8px; letter-spacing: 4px; text-align: right; -moz-border-radius: 15px; -webkit-border-radius: 15px; -o-border-radius: 15px; border-radius: 15px; padding: 2px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; color: #FFF8C6;]and i need to know how[/style][style=color: #254117; padding: 2px; font-family: verdana; font-size: 9px; letter-spacing: 4px;]to live my life as it's meant to be[/style]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0px,true][atrb=vAlign, bottom][atrb=style, background: url('http://i.imgur.com/gdBBi.png');][style=background-color: #b6b6b6; width: 110px; font-size: 9px; color: #000000; text-align: justify; padding: 2px; opacity: 0.7; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 2px; font-family: tahoma;]words -- 838[/style][style=background-color: #b6b6b6; width: 110px; font-size: 9px; color: #000000; text-align: justify; padding: 2px; opacity: 0.7; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 2px; font-family: tahoma;]tags -- Jill[/style][style=background-color: #b6b6b6; width: 110px; font-size: 9px; color: #000000; text-align: justify; padding: 2px; opacity: 0.7; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 2px; font-family: tahoma;]notes -- Someone's a little touchy eh? Well, stick with him, because Jill's changing him, whether Curio likes it or not.[/style] [style=background-color: #b6b6b6; width: 100px; padding: 7px; opacity: 0.7; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 2px;][/style][style=background-color: #b6b6b6; width: 110px; font-size: 9px; color: #597da2; text-align: center; padding: 2px; opacity: 0.7; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; font-family: tahoma;]credit to ZETTA of LS & BTN[/style]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0px,true][atrb=vAlign, bottom][atrb=style, background: url('http://i.imgur.com/gdBBi.png');][style= width: 265px; height: 350px; opacity: 0.6; font-family: verdana; font-size: 10px; color: #4b4a4a; background-color: #FFFFFF; text-align: justify; padding: 5px; overflow: auto;] "Yeah, I kind of guessed. You're Italian, right?" Raffy/Jill/annoyance said to Curio as his head rested upon the wall. He resisted the urge to slap her. No, I'm not italian, I'm hackin' chinese, you dunce! Curio thought, biting his lip; the pain kept him from doing anything rash. If he gave in now, he might as well admit defeat to everyone and crawl back in his hole of self-loathing for another year or two. Curio didn't want that hell again. He just wanted to get on with his life. You're hurtin' your own cause, buster. A voice inside of his head said, and Curio brushed the truth away. He didn't want to hear about himself, and mistakes he was making right at this moment. Born and raised in italy, so I'd assume that makes me italian.

[/b]Curio exclaimed with a flick of his wrists and meeting her glance again. He was tired of this, this never-ending game of losing himself, only to find a glimmer of something, latch onto it, and spiral into darkness. This wasn't what he wanted with his life. He wanted to be a new person, but old regrets, ties and emotions kept him shackled to his past, shackled to hate and deceit. He was a prisoner to himself, and he held the key. The only problem was that he was to stubborn, lost and confused to reach for the key; it danced out of his reach. Curio let out a sigh at this revelation, taking note that still, nothing made sense to him.

The girl went on to talk about school. And talk. And talk. Just when Curio thought that she'd be done? More talking. It's like she doesn't have an off switch! Curio thought as she droned on and on about whatever fluttered into that empty head of hers. Does she say what first pops into her mind? Can she even tell that I'm not interested one bit? Curio thought to himself as he listened numbly to her words, but not tone of speech or anything. He started to count the things he was learning about this...nuisance. She was bipolar. She could talk forever, she had two names, she knows how the system works, she hates that one teacher dude, she has a 'chaotic life? Ha. She doesn't know the meaning of a chaotic life. Try having a monster for a father and then tell me about chaotic. Curio thought as his suspicions about her bi-polarness came to light. So she is bi-polar. Looks like I'm one for one today. Curio thought to himself sarcastically when the girl finally stopped talking.

He raised his head up to look at the girl, clearly bored and tired of her and her endless talking. She seemed to not know when to stop. All Curio wanted to do at this moment was draw, but she'd taken that away from him, as well as his silence and momentary peace of mind. When he opened his mouth to voice his opinion, controlled - at least, she beat him to speaking, and after she was done, Curio didn't know whether to breathe a sigh of relief at her words or to yell every italian curse he'd ever learned.

"I guess what I'm saying is, do you have anything to let go, Mr. Running~away~from~yourself? If you can't think of anything, I'd suggest starting with your real name."

What. The. Hell. What. The HELL?[/b]

Just when Curio thought he was going to catch a break, she goes all Mace-Windu on him and pulls out that 'finding yourself through the darkness, I know all' crap. She just jumped ten levels on the 'highly irritating' list, but also a level or two on some other list, one Curio didn't know what to call because she was the first on it. Someone who saw him.

"I. Don't. Have. Anything to let go of, so I suggest you stop assuming things about me before I give you something to assume. Listen to me, right here, right now."[/color] Curio seethed as his whole body tensed. She'd gone over the line. "I've seen things that would make you want to off yourself. I've done things I'm not proud of like everyone else. That does not give you the right, however, to go trying to sort through MY life. It's mine, not yours and no one can know. Who the hell do you think you are? Some kind of gift from above to help this collapsing charity case? I don't need you philosophical crap and I don't need your help to sort out my life."

Curio sank back against the wall, spent from his tirade and seemingly all fight once there was gone as he realized one thing. Without knowing it, she'd helped him face something, or at least start to. Closing his eyes, Curio exhaled a small breath.

"My name is Curio Vittore, and I'm a hypocrite."[/color] He whispered, so quietly that she may not have been able to hear him.


[/style][/td][/tr]

[tr][td][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=cellpadding,0px,true][cs=2][atrb=vAlign, bottom][atrb=style, width: 420px; background: url('http://i.imgur.com/gdBBi.png'); -moz-border-radius: 0px 0px 30px 30px; -o-border-radius: 0px 0px 30px 30px; border-radius: 0px 0px 30px 30px; -webkit-border-radius: 0px 0px 30px 30px;]

[style=font-size: 26px; font-family: verdana; color: #667C26; text-shadow: 2px 2px 5px #b7b7b7; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: -5px;]And I'll find strength in pain[/style][style=background: #254117; opacity: 0.6; font-family: verdana; font-size: 8px; letter-spacing: 4px; text-align: justify; -moz-border-radius: 15px; -webkit-border-radius: 15px; -o-border-radius: 15px; border-radius: 15px; padding: 2px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; color: #FFF8C6;]and I will change my ways[/style]

I'll know my name as it's called again

[/td][/tr][/table][/center]

[Jillian Rafael Riggins]

Raffy fell backward when Curio/Antonio yelled, tears coming to her eyes again. He was steamed once more, and she was also once more the idiot who had pushed just over the boundary. God, the second anything had gone well, she had to BLOW IT. Was she always blowing it like this? Was she always trying to help people, trying to know people and failing? Obviously so, or else this wouldn't keep happening. Twice in the past thirty minutes! She must have more disorders than simply bipolarity if this kept happening. Raffy felt that she must have been so annoying back there. On and on she was jabbering, allowing herself to be in a good mood for a moment before... Oh no. She was not going to go there. Not going to fall into that pit of misery and self~pity and self~loathing. Why, as she'd just said before, must she always be the hub of the wheel of taunts and teases? Jill didn't deal with this. Jill was a master in Aikido, a fighter, Jill would WIN.

Suddenly, all around her that she'd previously been sympathetic toward, she loathed. Jill locked her eyes on the one thing in the room that hitting would cause pain toward, the one thing that kept being so flippin' angry toward her for being herself. Jill wasn't going to deal with that. Her hands clenched, her teeth ground and her head pounded. Instincts took over. With a running start, the girl launched herself into the air before the boy's face. She felt no fear, no worry about what would come after she did this, no doubt in her mind. She was about to let out a screaming cry when she heard a whisper from him.

"My name is Curio Vittore and I'm a hypocrite."

Her hands slacked. Her body loosened. Her mind took control of herself again and she tripped in mid air, landing near his feet. She pulled herself into a fetal position on the ground a foot away from Curio. This was the way she pulled herself together after her rages, literally by pulling herself together. Her limbs were still filled with energy so she used them to hurt herself, dwelling in the pain. Her body was still not completely responding to her brain's commands (and shaking besides) so she tensed herself together more to make sure nothing bad happened to him.

"After all, it would probably be bad to break his nose a few moments after he finally gave me a little bit about himself," the girl smiled.