Unspectacular [Chapter 2]

Ohmygoodness, I am so sorry that it has been MONTHS since I've last updated. Ohsoverysorry. >_< I am a lazy bum indeed! But, anyway, here it is. It's a bit shorter [I think], but I'm pretty much happy with the results otherwise. Okay, I'd hate to delay you from reading any longer with my unimportant rants, so... here it is:

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Awkward silence filled the air. I chewed on my lip piercing as I stared down at the table. I had no idea what to say next. I never was that good with socializing with people. Growing up in a crime-ridden part of New Jersey, I never really was allowed to play outside; I didn’t have much friends back then and even now I still have very few friends. I’m not shy; I’m just rather socially-awkward. I never was good at conversations; usually I’d wait for the other person to speak and we’d start the conversation from there.
We just sat there in silence, stuck in our own thoughts. I found myself watching Gerard fidget with his fingers; it seems to be quite a habit of his.
Gerard decided to cut through the silence. “Want some coffee? My treat.” he offered, gesturing to the counter.
I found myself unable to hold back a grin and nodded fervently. Only crazy people say no to free coffee.
We promptly stood up and walked towards the counter. “So… what kind of coffee do you like?” he asked.
“Oh, just order anything off the menu,” I said simply “I’ve pretty much ordered everything off their menu before…”
“No, seriously… just name it. I don’t really like it when people tell me to buy anything off the menu, ‘cause sometimes I end up buying something they don’t like…” he said straight-forwardly.
“Uh… okay then… uh…” I looked up at the menu “Um… a mocha frappucino then?”
He smiled at me before turning around to face the cashier and tell him our orders. After a couple of minutes of waiting, we walked back to our table, already sipping our coffee as we did so.
“So… are you still a student, Astrid?” Gerard asked.
I shook my head, my lips still at the rim of the cup.
“So you’re working?” he asked.
“Um… not really…” I answered “Just graduated from college a few months ago. Still haven’t found a job, though,” I continued sipping my coffee.
“I see…” he said.
“What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Are you working right now?”
“Uh, yeah. But it’s not exactly what I wanted to do…” he said “Graduated from college about two years ago with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, wanted to work in the comic-book industry and ended up working at Barnes & Noble instead.” He shook his head in resentment.
“Well, that’s not too bad…” I muttered more to myself than to him. He raised his eyebrow in response to what I just said.
I coughed a bit and rephrased what I said, “Well, you know… the comic book section is pretty good in Barnes & Noble…” I immediately started sipping my coffee to avoid furthermore questions.
He, however, just shrugged. “Yeah, you got a point, though. In fact, at some point I actually got paid with comic books instead of money,” he laughed sheepishly at himself “But in the end my mom found out about it, told me off and I had to go back to being paid with money… which, in the end, I used to buy comic books anyway.”
I laughed at how ironic that was. “That’s fucking ridiculous,” I said between giggles.
He smirked, “Well, well! Colorful vocabulary you got there, Astrid.”
“Just because I’m a girl that doesn’t mean I can’t and don’t swear,” I said, smirking back at him.
“So I guess that means that your gender doesn’t limit you from beating the crap out of someone too then?”
“Well… let’s just say that if you fuck me over, I’ll do you twice as bad…” I said with a cheerful tone.
He held his hands up mockingly, “Woah… Gotta be sure to watch my words then…”
“Naaah… I wouldn’t worry about that if I were you,” I said “You seem too nice to do that, Gerard.”
“Oh really?” he asked.
I nodded, “Yeah. If you weren’t, you would’ve probably shunned me away or ignored me when I went up to you earlier.”
“Well, it’s only polite to answer back to someone who just talked to you, right?”
“Wow... you are just the politest guy ever, aren’tcha?”
“Nah, my brother’s far more polite than me…” he said modestly and took a sip of his coffee. “And nicer, too.” He added quickly.
I finished my coffee in one last sip. “If he’s as nice as you say he is, will he treat me to coffee as well once I meet him?” I joked around, tipping my cup upside down to emphasize the point a bit.
He laughed, “Maybe, maybe…”
We went on like that for quite a while. We would exchange stories about ourselves and share a brief laughter every once in a while. So far I have learned that he was 24 years old, deathly afraid of needles, still lived with his parents and his brother, smoked, and was in a band. I was quite shocked and somewhat dubious about the last fact.
I was the kind of person who hated posers. I hated people who claim to be something when in fact they’re actually not what they claim to be. I find it moronic and plain immature. You see quite a lot of them nowadays and quite a lot of them claim to play in bands when in fact they can barely play at all. Some even carry guitar cases around with them or have drumsticks sticking out of their bags [when they can actually fit inside their fucking bags] as if it was enough proof that they played and they waved them around in front of your face to rub it in that they played the fucking instrument like a god. True musicians don’t need to shove it in your face that they play well; the music they make is a reward for them already.
Ever since the whole “rocker” thing became “in”, I became less and less trusting of people who claim to play in bands. Before I used to just flip out whenever I meet a fellow musician, but now I just tend to be rather dismissive at the idea.
“You’re in a band?” I asked, trying to make my voice sound interested rather than doubtful.
“Um, yeah… I... I guess I am…” he said. The way he answered seemed to imply that even he was as doubtful as I am.
“What kind of music do you play?” I pressed on.
“Um… most of the songs we play are pretty, uh… what do they call it…? Ummm… underground, I think they call it?”
“There is no such thing as ‘underground’ or ‘mainstream’,” I stated “It just so happens that more people like ‘mainstream music’.”
He chuckled nervously, “Well… you know what I mean…”
Silence fell once more.
My fingers drummed on the linoleum tabletop. I licked my lips nervously, hoping that one of us would just break the awkward silence. Deciding that he wasn’t going to be the one to do so, I spoke up…
“Do I intimidate you?”
He tilted his head to the side and his eyebrow shot up slightly, “Excuse me?”
“Do I intimidate you?” I repeated. I have this tendency of irritating or scaring off pretty much everyone I meet with the way I think and speak; it’d be a shame if I scare off another one.
He laughed once more, this time it sounded more like an amused laugh. “You serious?” he asked.
I nodded.
He looked down, exhaled, ran his fingers through his hair, and exhaled once more. “Well, honestly…? Not really…” He drew imaginary circles on the table “In fact, I kinda like the way you think; very deep.”
He looked up and smiled genuinely.


Hah. A genuine smile.
It’s been a while since I’ve last seen one of those.

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Gosh, you have no idea how good it feels to finally update! I feel so accomplished. ^_^ Whaddya guys think of the story? Going too slow? Too much dialogue? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated indeed. :]