Post by Charley Brighty on Mar 18, 2007 15:04:44 GMT -5
Tradition can mean any number of things, sometimes it simply means that something routine has been done that many times throughout history it becomes tradition, things like mistletoe and ivy are traditional at Christmas, the giving of chocolate eggs at Easter and saying ‘bless you’ after someone sneezes. They become so automatic that they become a tradition, but then there are other things that are traditional, like perhaps a traditional family holiday once a year to a certain place where there are memories of growing up and exciting or unpleasant experiences that people fondly recall. It was also often used as a good excuse to make people do something they didn’t really want to do, because if they didn’t someone would whine at them and say ‘Oh go on, it’s traditional.’ And grudgingly you’d find yourself actually doing it. Nearly every family and every individual had a tradition of some sort, some had more than others, some were stranger than others. One of Charley’s traditions was a pretty normal sort of one really compared to some, well he had a few strange traditions but this one wasn’t one of them. It had, over the space of maybe a year or so, become a tradition for him to meet up with an old student at Gigi’s Café over a coffee and the occasional muffin or other snack.
He’d first met Brielle DiBenedetto during his classes, she’d been a very good student because she listened so intently to what he said and any advice he ever gave her, she seemed to absorb what he said like a sponge, which is the sort of thing a teacher likes to see. It wasn’t long though until he became aware that she hung around after classes and was there before class started sometimes, and after school was out she would turn up at his door to clean up the classroom. At first he just presumed she liked music a lot, or she was trying to drop a subtle hint that his room was filthy and needed cleaning up and he ought to get his act together. But neither of that turned out to be right when he happened to be passing through a class that his colleague Jayden Kinkade was teaching, she wasn’t paying half as much attention and immediately his suspicions began to edge towards it being something else. Which seemed right the more he thought about it, she seemed easily flustered when he gave her tips in her singing lessons with him and if he was trying to guide her to doing something he was aware that she seemed to get embarrassed, and she didn’t around Jayden. Charley might have been an enthusiastic high on life sort of person who sometimes wore odd socks and didn’t seem to notice until someone pointed it out when he sat down but it did seem quite obvious. And at first, with her age being what it was he passed it off as just being one of those things. At the time he was new to teaching and didn’t have a clue how to handle that sort of thing anyway, he was just aware it would be totally inappropriate to say anything about it or act on anything. Then of course over the years which he taught her, and the amount of time she spent hanging around his classroom he started talking to her, because he couldn’t not talk to people, and they became quite good friends. The older she got and the fact that she never changed around him made him think that whatever the passing fancy was…it wasn’t actually passing. And alarmingly as she was growing older he realised he’d actually become incredibly fond of her as a person and looked forwards to talking to her. Even so, he wasn’t about to suddenly drop everything and do something really stupid.
After all he didn’t like the idea of having something more than friendship with a student, not only would he lose his job but that would stay with her for the rest of her life if it was revealed, she would no doubt be transferred and it just wouldn’t work. It didn’t mean they couldn’t be friends though. Eventually it was her last year but he was happy to hear she would be sticking around the area, and he would often go and talk to her when she picked up her younger brother. It seemed old habits died hard because it wasn’t long until his room started smelling like lemon and lilies again and she continued to pop around to clean up. Not being a student anymore meant there was nothing that stood in the way anyway, so he asked her if she wanted to go for a coffee with him and since then it seemed that every week or so they would meet up at Gigi’s usually at noon on a Saturday and have a coffee, or a hot chocolate, sitting and talking for ages and losing half a day at it. Charley could talk for the country but Bri more than held up her end of the conversation and he found her amusing and even with their slight age difference that they managed to meet somewhere in the middle. He liked when he had to meet up with her.
Today was in fact Saturday. And Charley was late. Well he was never great at time keeping really, he was the sort of guy who said I’ll turn up and six and you knew what he really meant was half past seven…and you’d be right. His time keeping was completely out the window, and it probably didn’t help that his watch was running low on battery power so though out the day it would slow down and he’d have to try to guess what the actual time was. Although he wasn’t usually late on a Saturday, he’d got so used to going there it sort of became auto pilot for him, what exactly had he been doing today that made him late? Well it had all gone wrong today, he’d bought a piano from a little shop just outside of town, it was a beaten up old thing with broken and chipped notes, couldn’t play a single note and had a pedal missing. He’d paid a fiver for it and the guy had been more than happy to be rid of it that he said he’d deliver it. But it seemed he’d run out of petrol because his van was old and the needle on the fuel gage had broken. Charley had had to drive out, pick up some gas and go and rescue the man. Charley hadn’t been able to express the fact that he was in fact meeting someone in less than a half hour and the piano was just sat on the side of the highway. The old man seemed non-plussed as to him the piano was just a hunk of firewood. Charley however viewed it as a piece of history, it was a beautiful. He had a bit of a thing for old beaten up pianos, he liked getting them restored and selling them on to people who really needed them but couldn’t afford something brand new. Eventually, at twenty past twelve the van rolled up and the piano was offloaded and wheeled into the hallway, Charley then did his best in his own polite way to usher the man out and send him on his way, he then eyed up the piano, grabbed his jacket and left. Realised he had no money on him and had left his keys on the side, had to run to the neighbours to get the spare key to get his keys back and his wallet. Finally at twenty to one he managed to make it.
Unlike some people though, Charley wasn’t the sort of person who checked what he looked like before he left the house. Charley was the sort of person who turned up, met whoever he was supposed to meet and then thought…oh dear, I never checked a mirror and spent the rest of the time trying to casually make sure his wild hair was less…wild. It was however exactly that, but even if he did try to do something with it still looked the same. It was untamed, dark brown and curly and often fell in front of his eyes, it suited his personality perfectly. On the street it could easily be noticed that he was without a doubt the tallest person around, he stood a toweringly lanky six foot three and what didn’t help was the fact that his clothing did nothing to hide height or even to make him blend in. It was in your face bright and completely mismatched in a sort of style that said it looked like he was trying to make a statement to the fashion world such as; ‘Up yours mate’. Which was about right because Charley didn’t care what people though, nothing anyone ever said to him would ever make him not be himself, no matter how quirky or strange people saw him as. That was who he was and he wouldn’t give it up for anyone, today he almost looked normal, there were a pair of jeans, hanging together by threads and some old sneakers, he had a green v-neck jumper on, a sort of dark lime coloured green with something light grey underneath it that seemed to clash but on the whole looks about right, over the top was a brown jacket and hanging around his neck were several or more things that he obviously needed to remember because they were on lanyards and there was a small silver alien key ring dangling there too. It was probably best not to ask really. He really looked as though he’d just fallen out of bed, rolled across the floor into whatever happened to stick to him and had then fallen in a hedge on the way here. The only thing missing were twigs in his hair. He looked about as cheerful as usual though considering he was late, but then he rarely ever was down or didn’t look cheerful, he just sort of exuded an air of cheerfulness that infected people around him.
Okay late…remember to apologise. Charley took a breath and then entered the coffee shop, he really did ought to apologise profusely, he was nearly an hour late. However as he entered and the bell over the door tinkled he couldn’t actually see her anywhere sat down, which meant either she was late too and amazingly he’d arrived first and had completely just got away with it or else she had given up and left already, which he hoped not, he didn’t want to let her down. He walked slowly across the café towards the cashiers desk, glancing across the room to see if on a second look she was there, still couldn’t see her, but there were quite afew peple in there and he couldn;t see past all of them. He reached the till and was still glancing around as he ordered a black coffee, the caffeine would probably send him off the edge but to be honest he couldn’t really get much worse anyway, before drawing his attention away from the rest of the café and towards the youth who had just taken his order with a friendly smile…
((Sorry it took so long, I had to go get my dinner!
*Nods*
And figured I’d leave it open so she could either be late or him just be totally blind, lol.))
He’d first met Brielle DiBenedetto during his classes, she’d been a very good student because she listened so intently to what he said and any advice he ever gave her, she seemed to absorb what he said like a sponge, which is the sort of thing a teacher likes to see. It wasn’t long though until he became aware that she hung around after classes and was there before class started sometimes, and after school was out she would turn up at his door to clean up the classroom. At first he just presumed she liked music a lot, or she was trying to drop a subtle hint that his room was filthy and needed cleaning up and he ought to get his act together. But neither of that turned out to be right when he happened to be passing through a class that his colleague Jayden Kinkade was teaching, she wasn’t paying half as much attention and immediately his suspicions began to edge towards it being something else. Which seemed right the more he thought about it, she seemed easily flustered when he gave her tips in her singing lessons with him and if he was trying to guide her to doing something he was aware that she seemed to get embarrassed, and she didn’t around Jayden. Charley might have been an enthusiastic high on life sort of person who sometimes wore odd socks and didn’t seem to notice until someone pointed it out when he sat down but it did seem quite obvious. And at first, with her age being what it was he passed it off as just being one of those things. At the time he was new to teaching and didn’t have a clue how to handle that sort of thing anyway, he was just aware it would be totally inappropriate to say anything about it or act on anything. Then of course over the years which he taught her, and the amount of time she spent hanging around his classroom he started talking to her, because he couldn’t not talk to people, and they became quite good friends. The older she got and the fact that she never changed around him made him think that whatever the passing fancy was…it wasn’t actually passing. And alarmingly as she was growing older he realised he’d actually become incredibly fond of her as a person and looked forwards to talking to her. Even so, he wasn’t about to suddenly drop everything and do something really stupid.
After all he didn’t like the idea of having something more than friendship with a student, not only would he lose his job but that would stay with her for the rest of her life if it was revealed, she would no doubt be transferred and it just wouldn’t work. It didn’t mean they couldn’t be friends though. Eventually it was her last year but he was happy to hear she would be sticking around the area, and he would often go and talk to her when she picked up her younger brother. It seemed old habits died hard because it wasn’t long until his room started smelling like lemon and lilies again and she continued to pop around to clean up. Not being a student anymore meant there was nothing that stood in the way anyway, so he asked her if she wanted to go for a coffee with him and since then it seemed that every week or so they would meet up at Gigi’s usually at noon on a Saturday and have a coffee, or a hot chocolate, sitting and talking for ages and losing half a day at it. Charley could talk for the country but Bri more than held up her end of the conversation and he found her amusing and even with their slight age difference that they managed to meet somewhere in the middle. He liked when he had to meet up with her.
Today was in fact Saturday. And Charley was late. Well he was never great at time keeping really, he was the sort of guy who said I’ll turn up and six and you knew what he really meant was half past seven…and you’d be right. His time keeping was completely out the window, and it probably didn’t help that his watch was running low on battery power so though out the day it would slow down and he’d have to try to guess what the actual time was. Although he wasn’t usually late on a Saturday, he’d got so used to going there it sort of became auto pilot for him, what exactly had he been doing today that made him late? Well it had all gone wrong today, he’d bought a piano from a little shop just outside of town, it was a beaten up old thing with broken and chipped notes, couldn’t play a single note and had a pedal missing. He’d paid a fiver for it and the guy had been more than happy to be rid of it that he said he’d deliver it. But it seemed he’d run out of petrol because his van was old and the needle on the fuel gage had broken. Charley had had to drive out, pick up some gas and go and rescue the man. Charley hadn’t been able to express the fact that he was in fact meeting someone in less than a half hour and the piano was just sat on the side of the highway. The old man seemed non-plussed as to him the piano was just a hunk of firewood. Charley however viewed it as a piece of history, it was a beautiful. He had a bit of a thing for old beaten up pianos, he liked getting them restored and selling them on to people who really needed them but couldn’t afford something brand new. Eventually, at twenty past twelve the van rolled up and the piano was offloaded and wheeled into the hallway, Charley then did his best in his own polite way to usher the man out and send him on his way, he then eyed up the piano, grabbed his jacket and left. Realised he had no money on him and had left his keys on the side, had to run to the neighbours to get the spare key to get his keys back and his wallet. Finally at twenty to one he managed to make it.
Unlike some people though, Charley wasn’t the sort of person who checked what he looked like before he left the house. Charley was the sort of person who turned up, met whoever he was supposed to meet and then thought…oh dear, I never checked a mirror and spent the rest of the time trying to casually make sure his wild hair was less…wild. It was however exactly that, but even if he did try to do something with it still looked the same. It was untamed, dark brown and curly and often fell in front of his eyes, it suited his personality perfectly. On the street it could easily be noticed that he was without a doubt the tallest person around, he stood a toweringly lanky six foot three and what didn’t help was the fact that his clothing did nothing to hide height or even to make him blend in. It was in your face bright and completely mismatched in a sort of style that said it looked like he was trying to make a statement to the fashion world such as; ‘Up yours mate’. Which was about right because Charley didn’t care what people though, nothing anyone ever said to him would ever make him not be himself, no matter how quirky or strange people saw him as. That was who he was and he wouldn’t give it up for anyone, today he almost looked normal, there were a pair of jeans, hanging together by threads and some old sneakers, he had a green v-neck jumper on, a sort of dark lime coloured green with something light grey underneath it that seemed to clash but on the whole looks about right, over the top was a brown jacket and hanging around his neck were several or more things that he obviously needed to remember because they were on lanyards and there was a small silver alien key ring dangling there too. It was probably best not to ask really. He really looked as though he’d just fallen out of bed, rolled across the floor into whatever happened to stick to him and had then fallen in a hedge on the way here. The only thing missing were twigs in his hair. He looked about as cheerful as usual though considering he was late, but then he rarely ever was down or didn’t look cheerful, he just sort of exuded an air of cheerfulness that infected people around him.
Okay late…remember to apologise. Charley took a breath and then entered the coffee shop, he really did ought to apologise profusely, he was nearly an hour late. However as he entered and the bell over the door tinkled he couldn’t actually see her anywhere sat down, which meant either she was late too and amazingly he’d arrived first and had completely just got away with it or else she had given up and left already, which he hoped not, he didn’t want to let her down. He walked slowly across the café towards the cashiers desk, glancing across the room to see if on a second look she was there, still couldn’t see her, but there were quite afew peple in there and he couldn;t see past all of them. He reached the till and was still glancing around as he ordered a black coffee, the caffeine would probably send him off the edge but to be honest he couldn’t really get much worse anyway, before drawing his attention away from the rest of the café and towards the youth who had just taken his order with a friendly smile…
((Sorry it took so long, I had to go get my dinner!
*Nods*
And figured I’d leave it open so she could either be late or him just be totally blind, lol.))