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. 0 1 F I R S T M E E T I N G S

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J A Y C E A L L E N

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"Jayce, would it kill you to smile?"

"Yeah, prob'ly would."

Inhale. Exhale. His father gave an easy sigh of resignation—as usual, he wasn't in the mood to deal with his son's bull. The older man rapped on the door with eagerness not lost on his son; he'd never known the guy to be anything but calm, or rather, uncaring, but apparently being reunited with his old friend was an exception. Jayce would've loved to share even a slither of that enthusiasm, but meeting the girl he'd be chained to for the rest of his youth wasn't exactly his favourite idea of spending the day. It was a nice day, at least.

He admired the bright sky, soon tiring of naming clouds when he heard signs of life and shuffling. These people really were taking their time getting the door. If the plan was to force him to drop everything and marry some stranger, the least they could do was be on time with it. Jayce distracted himself with chewing on the now-flavourless pink gum squished between his teeth. It tasted as drab as the situation. He had dressed for the occasion, of course: blandly. Sure, his hoodie and jeans weren't going to win any fashion shows, but it was cold dammit. And at least his hoodie, faded stains and all, cared enough to offer some protection from the wind (unlike some hosts).

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KATHERINE MATTHEWS
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Beep, beep, beep.
The sleepy young lady slowly awoke to not only the sound of her pink retro alarm, but the sound of someone at the door. Gently turning over and blocking out the sounds, she swiftly turned over and let a yawn escape her lips. The soothing and warm bed had her trapped and convinced that the sounds at the door were her imagination. While she was laying peacefully, her father seemingly took no time to open the door and greet whoever was outside.
"Come on in."
These words made Katherine jump out of bed, as if a general came to her room and blew their loudest trumpet. Her eyes seemed to wander down to her pajamas, as if to hope she was already dressed. Makeup and proper clothing application went by like a breeze,and of course this speedy get-ready could not be complete without racing out of her room and crashing into the wall.

Jayce let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding as the door finally swung open. A man, muscular, but with the slight wrinkles of middle age looked him up and down. Sometime during the older male's scrutinizing once-over, the boy's expression had re-hardened into his usual scowl. His father sighed at him, but he didn't loosen up as he strode his way into the house and propped himself against a wall. His father had taken to whispering to his friend somewhere in the corner, and Jayce didn't quite care to try and hear a thing they were saying, so he took to humming lightly instead. That was, until someone ran face-first into the wall. She was tall and slender, his type, if it wasn't for her painfully coloured hair and the whole 'I-face-planted-an-easily-avoidable-wall' issue.

"Um." The dark haired boy spoke up, quietly clearing his throat. "You. . .okay there?" He glanced over at his father, eyebrow raised to ask 'is that her?' His slight smile was enough of an answer. Jayce pressed himself further into the wall he leaned on, arms crossed across his chest as if that could make him any less visible and everyone else less. . .there.