[the 'ships i want' meme]

[newschool]

from here:

► spies. they're undercover (either having to pose as a married couple or siblings) and things spark.
► something unhealthy. the two partners genuinely love each other but they're just really bad for each other.
► dealing with workahol. most of my characters love their jobs (to the point where if the option was available, they would marry them) and need to be dragged away.
► one-sided love. one's in love, the other's faking it.
► vampires.

Comments

[couldbesaved]

"Very nice," he tells her, handing the portfolio back. When he smiles, it reaches his eyes, and they crinkle at the corners, just like he means it. And right here, right in this moment, he actually does mean it. Why wouldn't he? He's just a boy, talking to a girl, on a train in the city that never sleeps.

"So now that your semester's over, are you heading back home?"

[bestintention]

Anybody would be lulled into a sense of security when faced with a smile like that - something that is very clearly honest, and totally unassuming, and it would be so nice to just be a girl, talking to a boy, on a train in a city where if you're lucky, dreams come true.

"Oh, no, no - to Wisconsin?", she asks, laughing, "I don't know what I would do with myself after spending so much time here. What about you?"

[couldbesaved]

"I live here," he says, making a gesture to the city in general, because that's about as specific as he's willing to get. "My dad moved here from Kansas when I was a kid, but I don't remember it." See, just a good Midwestern boy raised in the big wicked city. "Where in Wisconsin?"

The real question is, anywhere I've heard of?, to which the answer probably is no.

[bestintention]

Understandable, considering the fact that although they're sharing a civil and pleasant conversation, Maddie still is nothing but a complete stranger. Still, she hopes that this is her in. "I can't say the same - this is pretty much my first foray away from home. It's ... daunting, but I think I'm doing okay."

She laughs, and shrugs, and she knows it looks real because it is real. Years later, and she's finally starting to feel like she's got some semblance of steady footing. "Uh - Appleton? I'm not sure if it's a city that anyone would know."

[couldbesaved]

Sam shakes his head. His eyes flick away from her for a moment to check the name of the stop the train is pulling into, and they linger there for a moment, two, before coming back to her. They're not at his stop yet - even if this is where he got off the train last time.

"Haven't heard of it, sorry," he replies, and there's that grin again, bright and aw-shucks. "How do you like New York? Must be a change from a town no one's heard of."

[bestintention]

Maddie glances up, as well. The new stop may mean nothing, but it may be important, as well. Best to keep track of everything as it comes, so that she can report it to her superiors when they meet up later.

"Oh, trust me, no offense taken. I mean, it's a great place, but not where I want to spend my whole life," she laughs, nodding. "Uh ... big. Yeah, this place is big! It's a little bit daunting, but I muddle through. Be easier if I had some help, though. You look comfortable, but then, you did say that you've lived here since you were a kid. It's gotta be home, pretty much, at this point."

[couldbesaved]

"Pretty much, yeah," Sam agrees, that aw-shucks grin coming to the surface again. "My dad and my brother talk about the Midwest still, sometimes, but I really don't remember it. It all sounds kinda ... " A beat. "Flat." He shrugs, then continues, "So you're looking for someone to show you around? None of the kids at your school have offered?"

[bestintention]

It's really quite endearing, that smile, the way his hair flops into his face, but then, Maddie supposes that's probably the point - to make her feel at ease, to make her believe that he's a nice guy, that he's not capable of bad things. And despite her knowledge otherwise, Maddie finds herself ... relaxing a bit. "Sure you've never visited before?", she jokes, nodding along as he continues. "Well ... my roommates are pretty busy with their own stuff, and I don't know very many other people, so ... no, no one else has offered."