A/N: This was just a little outtake/oneshot from another ROTG fic I've been working on. I decided to completely forego my OC "Annette," because she seemed to just slow the story down. But I couldn't let her go without a little bit of her story being told! :)
Annette shivered involuntarily as her friend, Wendy, kelp blabbering on over the phone about something that Annie held no interest in. She did, however, 'hmm' and 'ahh' at all the right moments, encouraging her excited friend to continue speaking.
"Man, it feels like it just dropped ten degrees," Annie admitted, turning the street corner and running headlong into a body clothed in a blue hoodie.
"Oof!" they both muttered on collision. "I'm so sorry!" she gasped, quickly reaching down to grab what he'd dropped. She lifted a very long, round piece of frozen wood with blunt angles on one side creating a curved end. It reminded her of a shepherd's crook of some kind. "Here's your... stick," she amended, finally glancing to his face.
Jack was utterly surprised that she had bumped into him—and in turn, believed in him—but quickly covered it with a sly smirk. Embarrassingly enough, she was instantly attracted to that smile. "Staff," he corrected in a deeper voice than Annie had imagined him having. He must look fairly young for whatever his real age is, she decided.
Annie smiled sheepishly, glancing away. "Right, sorry." And with that, she stepped around him quickly to be on her way.
"Miss?" A polite voice inquired behind her.
"Yes?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder.
He was holding out her cell phone, that condescending-yet-intriguing smirk still in place.
She exhaled, embarrassed again. She took the two steps necessary to reach her phone as she felt a warm blush softly bloom on her face. Smooth, Annette.
She stole another glance at his face before she grasped her phone. He had dark eyebrows, yet white blonde hair. Peculiar, but she knew she had seen crazier styles on campus. What really captured her attention, however, were his eyes. The iris held an incredible transition from navy to steel gray around his pupil. She was quick to make these observations in a few short seconds.
To prevent further embarrassment, she grasped the phone and glanced down to make sure she hadn't dropped anything else. There was nothing on the ground, but she hesitated when she noticed blue-hoodie-guy happened to be barefoot. "Right," she muttered to herself, walking away again.
Who would wander the streets of Denver in February without shoes? She questioned idly. Annie was about to raise her phone to her ear to check if Wendy was still on the line when she noticed her phone was covered in frost. Her footing faltered and she spun on her heel to see if the mystery man was still there.
There was nothing but a slight, chilling breeze blowing her wispy bangs out of her face as snow began lazily falling to the sidewalk.
She rapidly blinked her stinging, windblown eyes and wrapped her cardigan tightly around herself before slowly turning again to continue on down the road.
Very peculiar, indeed.
