Chapter 1: == Jade: Run.
Your name is Jade Harley, and you can't stop running. You can't stop crying either, which is actually making it hard to keep running, but you don't stop. You have to get away from that apartment where you saw Dave with her. Terezi, who you trusted, had overstepped boundaries with your boyfriend. "Jade! Crap, I…" Dave had started to say to you, but you had left before he finished. You couldn't stand listening to him. Finally, after running for well over 5 minutes, you stop running and sit on the sidewalk of a strip mall. The store that owned the whole mall was some family owned music store, and you know for a fact it isn't the kind of music store Dave would go to. You decide this would be a good place to stop and collect your thoughts. You hear someone walk up behind you, and you look over to see a pair of black slacks and mismatched Converse All Stars…
== Be the sharp dressed guy
You are now the sharp dressed guy. A classic rock artist once said that the girls go crazy for a sharp dressed man, which you know for a fact that you are, but you are pretty sure that that guy didn't know what the heck he was going on about when he wrote that song. You work at a music store that happens to own a whole strip mall in the town you live in. It's probably the best job you possibly could've gotten when you had started looking for a job two and a half years ago.
Your name is Mike Anders, and you are a fairly good pianist. Your interests include video games, music, and science fiction. You are very proud of your head of thick dark brown hair, and the thick sideburns that adorn each side of your face, which you have had for four years now. You have what some consider a strange habit of wearing Converse All Stars with all forms of dress, including formal wear. At the moment, you are working in mismatched Converse, because you had forgotten you were working some extra hours today and left the house to go to your classes in two colored shoes. You don't really care, but you are glad that your boss is not in the store, because she probably wouldn't be too happy with it, though the manager is fairly cool with it. You are watching the clock patiently as the last few minutes before the store closes pass. You are going to have some good times with good friends later tonight, having an all-nighter with video games and food and caffeinated beverages. You can't wait to get going, but you have about 5 minutes left. You're also a little nervous, because the girl you've had your eye on for almost 4 years now is going to be there, and you know she doesn't return your feelings. You think that's okay, though, because you always have your emotions under control. Meditation is one of your constant hobbies, which makes you an extremely chill dude. As the manager tells you that you can go, and you leave and walk down the sidewalk in front of the store towards your car, you see a girl with long dark hair sitting down next to it.
As you get closer you notice she's crying. You feel somewhat concerned, and stop next to her, staring at her through the sunglasses you put on as you left the store. "You alright?" you ask her, as she notices you standing there.
== Be Jade again.
You are now Jade again. The young man who just walked up asked you about your well-being, and you smile a little that he's concerned enough about you to ask. "I'll be alright" you try to say, but it is choked out between sobs. He opens his car door, and reaching inside pulls out two cans of something, but you can't tell what because his rather large, slender hands are covering up most of them. You wonder if those hands are musically inclined, because they sure look like they would be good for it. You also wonder where he got that lovely black tie with the safety pin design on it, which looks so fantastic with that black vest and white shirt.
He hands you one of the cans, which you now see is a can of Mountain Dew. It may not be your absolute favorite, but it definitely rides up near the top. "You don't sound like you're going to be alright," he observes, after taking a drink from his own can, "Drink that up right there. It's good stuff. Helps me out when I'm down in the dumps, at least." The boy smirks a little bit as he says it, ending in a toothy grin, and then looks forward at the brick wall of the gas station you both are facing. You open your own can and take a drink from it. It's slightly warm, but it's obviously been sitting in his car for who knows how long. You admit that the familiar taste and feel of caffeine and carbonation in your system is a good feeling, and you breathe a sigh of contentment in that thought.
"Sounds like you're already doing a little better. Let me introduce myself. I'm Mike, Mike Anders," he said, holding out a hand as if wanting a handshake. "Jade, Jade Harley," you reply, grabbing his hand, and feelings its warmth. You quickly let go and let your hand fall back into your lap. "Pleased to meet you, Jade. Now, what's got you in such a sad state?"
== Mike: Comfort the girl.
You listen as the girl tells about how she decided to surprise her boyfriend, Dave, by showing up at his apartment today. She tells you how she had taken advantage of the nice weather to walk there, and had showed up at the same time as his older brother. You listen intently as she tells how she and her boyfriend's brother both walked in on Dave and another girl, Terezi, both topless on the futon in the main room of the apartment. She starts crying again, and instinctively you put an arm around her and rub her shoulder gently. She leans into and cries into your own shoulder, as you hold her close. You notice how even though she is distraught, she is very strong-willed as she starts fighting back the tears. She goes on to tell how she just couldn't stop running, but then got tired and stopped here to rest and get her mind straight again.
"Must've been a coincidence that I ran into you, huh? Thanks for listening" she said, smiling at you, clearly feeling better after having someone to talk to about it. "Nah, nothing's coincidence," you say to her, which gives light to your habit of philosophical talk that honestly didn't help your first relationship much. Your first girlfriend didn't really want anything to do with that side of you, at least, but you're a package deal. "Let me tell you, though, you handled that a LOT better than I would have. Why, if Dave was MY boyfriend and I walked in on him with another girl, I would've ripped off his jewels and fed them to the girl, and then made her puke it back up and have him eat it then. But, y'know, he isn't my boyfriend. And I also happen to be straight, so that couldn't happen." You grin at her, enforcing the idea that you just spouted that off as a joke. Since she giggled a little bit, you think that you pulled that off well. Now you think you can do a little bit more to help her out…
== End Chapter 1
Notes: First of all, I'd like to thank you for reading the first chapter of this! I have a few chapters written already that I'm going to be uploading probably every other day, and I'm hoping to be able to keep my chapter account ahead of my upload rate. Prospectively I'm looking at around 9 or 10 chapters for the story in its entirety. Also, apologies for the == instead of the arrow, but apparently greater-than signs don't show up on this... Oh well! Read, review, live, love, and stay tuned for more!