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Post by Oliver Porter on Apr 23, 2008 14:57:22 GMT -5
Sep. 26 9:08 A.M.
Oliver hand been on the treadmill as his Gatorade bottle and ipod rested in the hand little compartments that were build in to the compartment that held all the switches and buttons that would untimely make you run faster and workout harder. His shirt had been long since taken off as it was draped over the one of the side arm rests. Looking around he saw that there were mostly guys in here today, all with their shirts off just like he was. Which was a shame because he really was not interested in watching them, the bad thing about working out on a Saturday was that most people were still recovering from last night partying and thus were in bed with massive hangovers. Something that Oliver was not a fan of hence why he always drank plenty of water to combat the problem.
He was listening to Gorillaz as he ran dressed in just some simple gym shorts as the music pumped into his ears. Most people liked to run outside but not Oliver, mainly because he found it to be boring running in circles on a track where as here there was always someone you could talk to when you ran and you didn’t have to actually go anywhere. Everything you needed was right in front of you where as the traditional track thing you had the disadvantage if you needed water you had to runt o your stuff to get it. It’s not like your stuff automatically was in front of you at all times. That and the outside wasn’t air conditioned.
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Post by Sofia Davis on Apr 24, 2008 23:43:29 GMT -5
Sofia loved Saturday mornings, and mornings after Ari told her about a massive party were the best Saturdays of all. Saturday morning, especially the ones after massive parties, meant that the gym would be empty aside from the hardcore guys who were here each Saturday. Sofia knew most of them by now. They would wave or grunt, and it was an odd friendship that Sofia came to enjoy and love.
Walking in she smiled and waved at the men she recognized, most of them on stationary bikes or doing free weights. She grinned internally at the lack of shirt. Another good thing about the more consistant exercise participants being here was more had chest and abdominal muscles worth taking a second sidelong glance at. Sofia's own outfit consisted of basketball shorts and a sports bra. There was no need for a baggy t-shirt to get in the way, she was just going to run on the treadmill and put some time in at the weights.
A smile spread across her face when she realized that her favorite treadmill was open. It was the only one that sat directly in front of the TV that stayed on CNN. It was a joy to be able to listen to her workout mix and read the headlines and commentary from the reporters on the network. She nodded lightly to the guy occupying the machine next to her as she put a towel over the handle and turned her iPod on. She pushed buttons and set the pace at a medium speed jog as Timbaland blared through her headphones. A deep breath escaped in utter relaxtion and ease as Sofia brought her body up to speed for the run. She loved running outside, but there was something more ease-worthy in this environment she could completely control. This was her thing, she loved it here.
For the first time she looked over at the man next to her. There was something familiar about him, there was a shadow of recognition at his facial structure and eye color. Something she knew. The athletic sophomore took a moment to think as she read the headlines on the TV before the answer hit her between the eyes. Oliver. Arianna's little brother. This may actually be a place they could talk and work on their tentative relationship without the black cloud of Ari overshadowing their every word. Lord knew she would not come in here, it smelled.
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Post by Oliver Porter on Apr 25, 2008 3:35:42 GMT -5
Oliver was looking down at the ipod in his hand flipping though songs on his Workout Mix excuse me Workout Playlist as mixes were such a '90s CD thing, playlists were for ipods. He settled for Ride by The Vines as he placed the ipod back on it's little holder area. He wouldn’t have been so busy deciding the music selection he would have noticed the person that got on the machine next to him, as it was no other than Sofia, his sisters best friend. Thankfully though he didn't as he continued to run pressing the up arrow as he increased his speed.
Ollie was becoming curious as to who it was that had gotten on the machine next to him as he glanced over to take a peak finding it to be a girl, a very attractive girl bye what he could tell from her body, moving his gaze upwards until he got a look at her side profile. It was then that he realized who she was and before he could stop the words from coming out if his mouth he said "Oh shit…" It looks like he would just have to cut his workout short seeing as his sister would probably be coming out of the girls locker room sooner rather than later, which meant that he had very little time to get the hell out of there.
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Post by Sofia Davis on Apr 25, 2008 3:48:49 GMT -5
Sofia had a moment of terror. What should she do? She knew Oliver wanted nothing to do with Arianna while her best friend wanted everything in the world to do with her little brother. It was hard, she understood where both siblings came from. Ultimately though it was Oliver's choice and Sofia would do no facilitating for Ari. The dilemma at hand was whether or not she should leave. Oliver was here first and it would be kind, but honestly she believed they both could co-exist without any trouble.
Her peripheral vision showed that the boy was now looking at her. As she turned her head she noticed the look of fear and irritating gracing his aristocratic features. She offered a sad smile when she realized what his thought process would be. He would want to leave before Arianna appeared, and knowing people's train of thought, he would assume Ari would be here following Sofia to the gym. Sofia knew people assumed the two were always together since they lived in the same dorms and Ari was constantly dragging Sofia places.
With the hope of quelling his anger Sofia removed one ear bud and offered the sacred piece of truth. "Arianna is not here. She wouldn't come here unless Johnny Depp showed up. I come every Saturday to work out and read the headlines." Her head inclined towards the CNN TV. Sof wasn't sure is Oliver would stay or not, but she had done her part. This would be a peaceful meeting ground for the two of them to live in a bubble free of Arianna Porter.
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Post by Oliver Porter on Apr 25, 2008 4:10:40 GMT -5
Ollie had already started to press the down arrow as the machine was slowing down to a crawl. It was a bit ridiculous how he had to keep running away from his sibling like this but he had to admit it made his life all that more interesting. Not many people ran from Arianna and it was a bit weird that the one person that didn't want to be around her is the one person that probably should.
It was crazy how two simple words had meant so much between them, as he took out his ear bud closest to her as he draped it around his neck to hear what she was saying. It was as if just by looking at him she could tell what he was thinking and with four words he was calm again. Arianna was not there and that was all he needed to know. He offered up a smiled to her as he glanced at the TV, CNN was something he was never fond of. It held no real interest to him and he wondered why anyone would even watch it. He moved his hand back to the control panel as he started up the machine again bringing it back to the same speed he had it originally, before the Arianna panic happened. "Thanks…" Ollie gave a genuine smile to her as he really didn't know what else to say. They hadn't really talked much in the past and when they did it was always around Arianna who dominated the conversation.
Unlike everyone else he found no interest in calling her by her nickname, Ari, why well because Ari was something her friends called her. Well let's face it Ollie had no interest in becoming her friend so it was best to stick with Arianna.
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Post by Sofia Davis on Apr 25, 2008 4:25:55 GMT -5
For some reason Sofia felt her muscles relax significantly when Ollie sped his machine back up. She knew there would always be a wall between the two of them, the "battle lines" drawn around the one person they had in common. It was awkward sometimes and at others it seemed to make perfect sense to Sofia. They both knew a different version of the commonality. Sofia knew the fun loving sweet version and Oliver only had memories of the version that lived in the tense world of the Porter household. Sofia wasn't even sure how to address him. This was not a boy with whom she could make casual jokes about a person they both knew in order to ease the tension.
Sofia was able to return a real smile when she saw Oliver's and for the first time she felt the tension between then fizzle away. Sofia hoped she had proven herself, at least in a small step, to Oliver. Proved that she would not sell the unwilling to the frighteningly determined predator. There wasn't anything to say beyond that really. Her smile sucessfully returned, Sofia kept the pace up on her quick jog and leaned over the the bag she had flung over the far side handle bar. Delicately she pulled out the criminal law book she had to read for her upcoming exam and set it in the middle of the console. Flipping to the case files and chapter she needed Sofia tilted her head down to read.
The least she could do was offer the solitude that normally came with the random strangers in the gym. Just because the boy was her best friend's biological little brother did not mean she had an obligation to try to be nice and forge a relationship that would ultimately end up being uncomfortable thanks to the history that somehow lacked reality and the nonexistant common ground that appeared between the two. Silence, that was the best Sofia Davis could offer.
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Post by Oliver Porter on Apr 25, 2008 4:40:28 GMT -5
Ollie just continued to look at her for a few more seconds before he broke the awkward gaze as he tried to concentrate on his running again. He was supposed to be here to work out, to zone out, and most importantly to forget Arianna Porter. To most people he was probably seen as the asshole brother who didn't know what a great gift he had with Arianna as his sibling. They probably thought he was just being a jerk for not wanting to be around her but they didn't know the Arianna he knew. They didn't know the Arianna that drew the line in the sand that marked his side and her side. A line that had now become permanently drawn and he wasn't going to go out of his way to cross it. His memories were made up of fragments from a broken childhood, a childhood that was always put into turmoil whenever she disrupted the happy home of the Porter men. Just like his father had done he was determined to forget everything about his mother and sister.
Ollie glanced over at her, as with one ear bud still being out he was able to hear the ruffle of a backpack as a book was taken out. "Law?" Oliver said as he glanced down at a book that he recognized. "You’re a law student? Huh…." He said looking up at her with a quizzical expression on his face.
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Post by Sofia Davis on Apr 25, 2008 4:52:56 GMT -5
As Sofia ran and read she sent up a hasty prayer that today would not be a day that Ari got it in her head to hunt her down. Her prayers and promises whispered her attention focused on her book. Numerous people, including her two best friends, found this kind of stuff boring. Sofia was in heaven reading about torts and statutes and penal codes. It was extraordinary to the girl.
She noticed that Oliver was talking to her again. She finished her paragraph and looked over at him. She noticed he was interested in her book. "Yes, I am a law student. Pre-Law and Legal with a PR minor." Her eyes studied Oliver and the way his eyes locked on her book with a look of near desire and comfort. It was the same feeling that flooded her own veins when she entered the well known comfort zone that the textbooks offered. "Are you a law student too?"
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Post by Oliver Porter on Apr 25, 2008 5:04:11 GMT -5
Oliver looked down at the book as he tried to glance at what she was reading, probably nothing he knew about yet seeing as she was older and had mostly likely taken way more law classes than he had. It was a shame that everyone had to do the stupid General Studies classes to graduate with any sort of degree. This wasn't high school anymore and he thought he should only be taking the classes he needed to his major. Enough with this trying to be a well rounded student bull he had enough of that in high school. "Yeah I mean well I am trying to be… with these Gen Eds I can only take one law class right now until I get all my generals done. I hate it…" Oliver reached out to his ipod turning it off as he had found something else that had peaked his interest. Music didn't really matter anymore. He wanted to reach out and grab the book from her, hop off the machine and just go chill out with the book but that would be weird. So instead he reluctantly peeled his eyes away from the text as he tried to concentrate on his jogging.
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Post by Sofia Davis on Apr 25, 2008 13:47:13 GMT -5
It was nice to see someone else who was so obviously infatuated with the law as she was. It was refreshing since most people were trying to figure out how to break and get around laws, not learning them to enforce them and make a career being hated. "Gen Eds suck. I had no room for law classes my first semester and I thought I was going to die of bordom." Sofia reached over and flicked off her own iPod. "The end soon though, especially with the Hastings Pre-Law program. They will put you in more law classes than you think you can handle soon enough."
Keeping up her speed she maked her page with highlight and then slipped a bookmark in. Her latest idea came from a new inspiration. If there was someone who could share her passion she might have just found someone to study and argue with - the lawyers two favorite pass times. She closed the book and held it out to the younger man. "Would you like to see my book? It is pretty tell-tale of all the books you will have to start reading from."
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Post by Oliver Porter on Apr 25, 2008 14:07:49 GMT -5
Oliver laughed at what she said about Gen Eds. It was all true as he was now starting to become a suicide risk because of the useless classes. The only thing keeping him sane was the swim team but if you were to take that away from him he might crack. "Well I can't wait till I start and then if I have any problems I can always just cal up my dad." Oliver assumed that she knew his dad was a lawyer which may have not been such a good idea because he didn't know how much Arianna talked about their family or if she talked about them at all.
Oliver took the outstretch book as he smiled at her. There was one thing to be said, law books were never light on material…ever. Taking the book he rested it in the exact same place she had it as he flipped open to a random page as he began skimming through it. Oliver whipped his hands and arms with his shirt that was draped over the side as he didn't want to get any of his sweat on the book. Running and reading were harder to do than it seemed, especially at his speed, so he slowed down at bit to getting a better look at the book. He felt a bit stupid being fascinated with a book but it was better to have a passion about something that nothing right? "So what made you want to go into law? Come on spill we all have our stories and I am sure yours is more interesting than mine."
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Post by Sofia Davis on Apr 25, 2008 15:08:39 GMT -5
Sofia smiled at the mention of Oliver's dad. She was in the same situation. Whenever she got confused or needed a legal opinion she would call her father up in his New York office and end up talking about all the possibilities for hours. It was nice to have that sort of connection with someone.
At the mention of her story she shook her head. "My story is pretty basic and boring. My dad is a lawyer, he is head of a practice in New York City. He is the only parent I had growing up and I always wanted to be like him. There is something thrilling about telling a story and trying to save or condemn a life." Her shoulders shrugged in time with the pounding of her feet against the mechanical running ground. "I admire the man who kept me around and took care of me instead of shipping me off to boarding school or putting me in the care of some nanny." Now her eyes locked on his profile, enjoying the way he was soaking in the text, "What is your boring story then?"
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Post by Oliver Porter on Apr 25, 2008 15:38:02 GMT -5
Oliver continued to flip through the pages in this book all filled with information he would be learning in a year it as all fascinating how with a few years of schooling he would eventually know all this stuff but right now he felt so lost. Everything was just so new and it was fun getting to explore.
He listened to what she was saying it was weird, here was a girl that he thought he had nothing in common with and it turns out they were more alike than he could have ever imagined. It was like Sofia was the female counterpart to him. "Wow…" he said turned to her as he smiled. She was a fun person to be around and he was really having a good time with his sister's best friend. "My boring story is exactly like yours… dads a lawyer head of his practice in Los Angeles. Only parent I had growing… although when I was younger around 4 or 5 I used to fly back and fourth from LA to New York to visit my mom and sis. Then you know after a while that all stopped and it was just the two Porter Men." He shrugged as he looked up at her face. His life story was very weird made up of fragments that didn't really seem to fit together very well. There were so many questions he had about what had happened that drove his parents apart and why he stopped visiting half of his family. Questions he never had the courage to ask his dad.
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Post by Sofia Davis on Apr 28, 2008 13:43:25 GMT -5
Sofia smiled lightly at his recounting of his childhood. "It seems we have more in common than a sometimes annoying and quite demanding fashionista." The corners of her eyes crinkled with her slight chuckle as she took a drink from her water bottle. "I like our boring stories. We come into this career knowing what to expect and how to cope. I like having a handle on things."
There was a silence for a while, aside from the mechanical noises of the exercise machines and the occasional hungry flip of page by Oliver. An odd connection and companionship had been formed. "You know, all the law classes are the same for everyone the first two and a half years. I saved all my notes and books if you want to see them and use them." An odd thing to offer, considering where the two were and how they had pretty much just met. Sofia did it without thinking. She had not found another soul in this school as dedicated and lustful about the law as she was, and even though it might be considered taboo since this is her best friend's long lost little brother, it was exciting to possibly have someone to share that with.
[OoC:: Sorry it is kinda crappy. Finals were killing me for the past few days, but now I have a week off before my next test and I promise the posts will be better.]
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Post by Oliver Porter on Apr 28, 2008 16:38:20 GMT -5
Ollie nodded as he continued to look at the book well it seemed that way. There was nothing he had in common with Arianna except for genetics and even then he liked to think that she was adopted. For it seemed that both of his parents acted like she was the adopted child, his father never spoke to her and only choose to raise Ollie and his mother moved her as far away from California to another country as she ship Arianna off to different schools all over the place. It was a weird thing the way his mother treated his sister but he did nothing to stop it, one because he was too young to know what was really going on and two because he really didn’t care.
“Why are you friends with her then?” Ollie blurted out as he couldn’t really help it. He closed up the book as he looked over at her, slowing down as he was coming to a close on his workout. “I mean really if she is annoying and demanding then why be friends with someone like her. You are obviously smart so why be around her?” So maybe he was being a bit judgmental of a person he didn’t know but he just didn’t get it. He didn’t get why someone would ever put themselves through an Ari Porter friendship when it seems like it would be hell for both involved. There was too much pressure being around her and well after a while it made you want to shoot yourself.
He had only seen her once this semester and that was when he moved into his dorm. His dad came over to help him get all settled and the three of them had an awkward bonding time. He stopped talking for a while as he slowed down the machine to a stop feeling rather stupid for what he had all said. It wasn't his place to say the things he did and when what he had said got around to Ari he would be in deep shit. After all Ari knew where he lived.
He smiled up at her as she talked about maybe letting him borrow her books or notes for the law classes something he always did with his friends, as his one junior pal, back in Los Angeles, was now stuck with all of his good notes. It was something that he did with friends sharing notes and books were always a good idea. Did this mean that they were sorta friends if she was giving him this offer? "Ummm yeah I'd like that. I mean if you are not using them and you wouldn't mind doing the pass down thing."
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