Like My iPod Stuck on Replay [Open]

[Leah Gerard]

A grin bursts through Leah's facade as the upbeat song plays through her ear phones. She nods, clad only in a long white t-shirt covering her simple dark blue swim suit. The California sun had once again appeared in the midst of the planet's winter-drawn state. No umbrella covered her well-worn beach blanket as she soaks in the feel of the bright star against her flushed skin. She yawns, fighting to ignore all the nagging thoughts that haunted her. Instead, she focused on the song that was significantly older than her. She sings along, with her slightly off key tone, as she watches the clouds pass by and sighs. Her mood had changed as the song changes to the slower ballad. Somehow, this has managed to wake her muse. Flipping to her stomach, she snatches a small notebook from her duffel bag and starts writing.

"The blank skies depressed her. It subjected her to the feeling of loss on a massive scale. She had never really anticipated such a thought. She has always been one of the those that had brought about the idea of living in the moment and never looking at the past...."

[Jade Bolton]

(hey iya-its Jetta here. We just dont have Jade and Melissa on my character list. >.>)

Jade may have an intensely fit body naturally, but her legs and abs were incredibly sore from running. She was currently listening to one of the lengthy instrumental songs by Dream Theater called 'The Shattered Fortress'. Jade had discovered the group after she started living at NEST, with the help of KITT-and she discovered she absolutely loved the group because of how different their style was, and not only did they have a lot of hard beats, but they made up for the slow parts with a unique style that was hard to compare with some of the other bands she'd heard. The music was one of the handful of artists she knew which really got her into an active mindset for exercising and sparring. The upbeat melody of the majority of the songs kept her going through out the whole several hours she'd been running around. In the slow points, her body naturally took the chances to relax a bit and ease tension in various joints or muscles.

Jade was merely visiting California. She lived at NEST, and was home-schooled there. However, her education lacked because she never had any during the time she lived with the Decepticons. All though she was 15 and seemed to the mind of a 15 year old or one a bit older, she was like the other techno organics, except that they'd developed her far quicker. And seeing how she lived with them most of her life-she only studied what she needed to know. Jade was fairly dedicated to catching up with her school work, and her mind was constantly developing above normal levels for her age. However, she wasn't exactly a bright person or a genius. She was just a fairly efficient learner. That was actually did mean something. Jade didn't care about being overly smart anyway-the Decepticons had created her to be a modernized ninja. She was trained to do nothing but fight for herself and others.

This is why she was always running and doing other forms of excersize and martial arts. It was in her blood. She had never been away from the Con HQ or NEST much since until a bot named Charter adopted her (who isn't on the boards yet) and she was released from her status as a prisoner-she'd only discovered NEST because of sneaking into the base for her first test mission one day. Since then, Jade has learned a lot, and the Cons never took her back seeing how her becoming a techno organic failed. All these factors are the very reasons Jade was exploring a different space (having used a space bridge).

Sweat beaded down her forehead, arms, neck and shoulder. She was practically overheating and her heart was thrumming as solid as the beat of the song. Her backpack jostled against her, and it had long-since been rather annoying. To get around though, she had to have it. Jade had various little tools for surviving the dampness out here, and a few snack items to maintain her blood sugar. Having convinced herself to stop jogging or sprinting, Jade had been walking briskly for about ten minutes along the beach-shed been walking on the beach a fair while before that though, as she'd been moving through the city and the beach. Sighing, Jade literally flopped down a few feet away from Leah, not able to take anymore or move another inch. She reached for her backpack and took it off, feeling a light puddle of sweat dampening her shirt. She could smell the sweat which became almost as pungent as the salty smell of the ocean. Luckily it was in the middle of winter, and she got out a sweater to keep her body warm as the sweat evaporated.

Jade had never been to the beach before, and the sand in her shoes had been most annoying, because on and off she'd been running by the water. Jade took out a towel and a bottle of berry Propel. Laying out the towel, she brushed herself off before stretching out on it. She glanced at her watch. She'd been out for at least two hours, if not more, constantly moving, most often at a jogging or running pace between brisk walks.

"I'm so done for now..."she was beginning to see spots. Panting, she took a long swig from the Propel and whipped off some of the sweat on her forehead.Maybe I pushed myself too much there...but that sure was fun.Taking off her headphones, she double-checked her surroundings and saw Leah, but was far enough away she figured she had enough space. She stretched a bit and felt her muscles ease up. Laying down, the muscles proceeded to to relax.

[Leah Gerard]

As the music shifted to the tunes of John Mayer, Leah was nodding her head to the beat. Here, in her element, she was completely oblivious. '...I wanna run through the halls of my high school...' she grins inwardly as she mouths the words along. She looks at the loops of her chaste writing rendevous. It was pleasant and could easily be improved, that she knew. But, to reward herself, she flips back over, nestling in the later promises of rewrites and perfect grammar. She relaxes, closing her eyes and swaying slowly to John Mayer's smoothe acoustics.

By chance, her eyes open and lands on a tired, yet, accomplished looking girl. She looks at the girl with curiousity. Jade with her attire looked still and strong. The beads of sweat on her forehead suggests a long trip. This made Leah admire the girl more. She had never really been the athletic type. In fact, she somewhat resented the mere thought. It is painful, that she can see in her object of admiration. But, they say, that there's also that long feel of accomplishment as you see and feel the changes in your body. Now, after her runs with Arden in the sight of trouble, trouble that she has to defend wasn't entirely their doing, she envies this girl's patience.

'Darn mom's old sayings!' she thinks as she sits up. She grumbles and mumbles about all the incapabilities of such a work out. For example clothing, and time. Though, of course, both are easily shot down with her current standings with life. She shakes her head, willing any thought out of it to discourage such an idea. She looks over the girl's psychique again, trying to get a more coherent thought.


"Wow you look tired." she says out loud without much thought. Then, sense comes back to her and her eyes widened. She clasps her hand over her mouth, hating the fact that she had indeed spent too much time with Adrien. "I'm so, sorry. That was rude." She closes her mouth, trying to think of anything logical. In the end, she stuck with the truth. "I meant, it's just that I've been feelin guilty about being so lazy lately. That and the fact that Arden, my friend, and I always seem to need to run...That I am now pondering the pro's and con's of those hard work outs." She looks down avoiding any kind of gaze, embarassment overcoming her forward gesture. She shakes her head again, "Sorry, I meant---Hi, I'm Leah." She tries to smile, regaining her composure.

[Jade Bolton]

"H-hi,"Jade panted, popping out her ear buds, the current song from Dream Theater could still be heard before pausing it. "Heh, it's okay, I missed a little bit because of these."she said, referring to the headphones. Sitting up, she first made sure her hand was fairly clear of sweat, and then extended her hand for Leah to shake it and smiled."Nice to meet you, I'm Jade Bolton."

She stretched her arms a bit more. "You must be a local-I don't know anyone named Arden. Sounds like an energetic person though. It does come in handy-and I mainly do it for fun. I've actually had trouble finding any negatives about doing it, but I know there are some, like the impact it has on your feet and lower back...I'm actually not sure what I think the biggest benefit is though..."she shrugged."Unless it was detrimental to me I highly doubt I'd be concerned with them."

[Leah Gerard]

Leah blushed with utter embarrassment. Of course, she hadn't heard the first insult. She shakes off every little thing mentally, as to stop the incessant and absolutely unnecessary blush. Not to mention, it was irritating that it was only her, in her circle of friends, who has ever had any form of tact in their body. She looks up finally and takes the out stretched hand. "Nice to meet you Jade. And-- yeah, I am a local, and Arden is VERY energetic. I don't know if it's a good or bad thing still though." she laughs slightly as if wanting to add that the said statement was just the gist of things. Nodding, she tries to comprehend the new information given. "Hm-mm," she starts, "That doesn't sound that bad..." She looks down at her over thrown duffel and petite body. She does need to exercise more. Having made up her mind, she beams at Jade. "Thanks! I'll definitely try that."

She leans back to rest all her weight onto her arms. "So, seeing as you're new here, where you from? Or don't tell me, you're just passing through." she laughs lightly, remembering an old friend.

[/blockquote]

[Jade Bolton]

"No problem. And um, Somewhat."Jade replied with a brief, shy smile. "I live on the East Coast. I haven't had a lot of vacations, and this is my first time seeing this side of the country. Heh, seems about the same to me unfortunately."Jade really only liked the changes because the cities and country sides had new sites, though she'd mostly stayed in the city. She made these visits briefly, mostly by space bridge, asking for other Autobots that she knew like Twister to get her one when she was done. "I got some people who can get me out of here quickly, so if something doesn't work out for whatever reason at least I won't be stuck here."she added, pausing to scratch her head a bit."

Jade yawned, rolling her shoulders a bit, the sweat still dampening her back and legs.Ugg. It may be winter here, or supposed to be, but I'm still sweating like a pig. Oh well...[/I][/color]she thought grudgingly as she took another swig of the Propel and glanced at the ocean. "I'm not exactly as hyper as this girl you mention is, but she seems to remind me of some that I know back at home..."little did Jade know Arden met Interceptor and that most humans already knew of the transformers. Jade Tranquility and seen a few of them fight here and there back on the East Coast, it was possible they weren't as bothered by the whole idea anymore. Some people still didn't know of them, like Newt, whom she'd met on her most recent visit here in California.

Jade couldn't resist, she had to ask. "Uh by the way...Do you know about the Autobots and Decepticons?"[/size]

[Leah Gerard]

Leah's ears perked up as she took in Jade's permanent location. Sure, the answer is noncomittal and extremely vague, but anywhere but here in Tranquility should be a new adventure. She nods, properly trying to answer some non-question that Jade had just said. She twists an involuntary strand of hair as the off comment finally reaches her brain. She nods, stifling an involuntary giggle. "Believe me, it's hard to get to her level of hyperness." She smiles, slowly blinking away flying sand from her eyes.

She peers at Jade, trying to determine the question. Who asks that when they first meet a person? Generally, who the heck is interested to know? Finding it hard to reach an answer as she gave her new acquaintance a once-over, she answered with nonchalance. "Yeah," she nods, "My b---" she stops, trying to change the almost-word. Shaking it off, "My friend, he's close to them and stuff like that." A small, almost forced smile joined her current expression. One for the oddness of the question and two for the admitance of a fact that she wants soo far from her mind at the moment.

[Jade Bolton]

"I see. I'm familiar with them too actually. But probably not in the same sense. I couldn't help but ask, because the last person I met had hardly any clue they existed. I guess it's about 50/50 depending on your background.I was just curious..."she shook her head a bit and took another drink, a twinge suddenly occurring in a muscle near her collar bone and chest area, one not caused by jogging, but from earlier training routines. Her body was trying to expand, and there was still a blockage in her arm that needed to be cleared. She stretched her arm, careful not to hit Leah, rolling her neck. She paused a bit, wondering what else she could say-the situation when she met Leslie had been much different because Twister happened to be flying and Jade had felt far more comfortable around the former Combaticon.

She sighed, trying to get the twinging reduced, but the tightness gradually strarted up moving along a lower bit of her armOkay that feels weird...That's a whole different downside to working out this much. You become extremely sensitive...I've got muscles clearing up that aren't even leg muscles...Jade thought with slight surprise. Of course, it could even happen when you're not active-but Jade noticed it was easier to feel when you were working out or just finished.

"Anyway, what brings you out here? Why do some people still go on the beach even when it's winter out?"she couldn't help but blurt out the question because in truth, Jade wasn't really in tune with how humans liked to socialize or just spend their time in places like this. This was the first time she'd been to the ocean, now that she thought about it.

Jade eyed the note book near Leah. It seemed she liked to write. If so, they probably had something in common. Aside from doing any outdoor stuff she could manage, Jade LOVED to draw. In fact, even when it was colder out these days, it seemed people liked to hang out at the beach. Jade didn't really know why, but now that she'd been at the beach, it became another observation.

[Leah Gerard]

"Ah... well, lucky them." Leah mumbles jokingly. She lowers her voice, seeing Jade's discomfort. "So..." she continues, really trying to avoid any stilled encounters that could lead to certain distress. "Any advice you can give to a noob about the actual routine of exercise? Cause, they do try to teach us in PE at school, but that usually doesn't help anything..." she rolls her eyes to exaggerate her statements. She smiles again, realizing that she often did this in an awkward situation. Breathing deeply, she yearns for Adrien's or Arden's babblings to drown out the deafening silence.

Frankly, she now wanted them around more than ever. They helped distract her. Him, with his random musings and cheesy romantic thoughts about the girl that he was dating. And her, with her bubbly personality and over all energy bubble that she can easily suck anyone into. She shakes her head as she too lays down. She tilts her head to the side, looking at the scattered remnants of the summer onlookers. The travelers on this cold beach were mainly locals, enjoying the calm before the storm rush of beach goers in the spring.

Seeing their bundled up bodies, Leah finally realized the temperature against her thin tee and swim suit. She looks up to her duffel, grabbing another blanket and wrapping it around herself with a single hand.

"Huh?" she asks, as Jade's questions finally registered into her train of thought. She pulls the blanket tighter around her body as she finally thought of a decent answer to the seemingly harmless question. "Oh, well, I can't really speak for the entire population of this beach," she grins, laughing slightly. "But, to me, it's kind of depressing, empty and gray." she closes her mouth, unsure of which direction to continue to. "Well, it's just that it tugs into my dramatic side and makes me open up and emotional wall that could have been placed." Biting her bottom lip, she stares into the oncoming wave. "And--- and it's just kind of a canvas so open and yet so full of insipiration..." she looks at Jade again, "If that makes any sense."

[Jade Bolton]

"It does, I can relate to that. I tend to bring out those sides of me when I'm sparring, or maybe doing something as simple as drawing. Artistic minds think alike,"she replied, glancing at her again with a shy smile, now having confirmed that Leah was definitely an artist-a writer to be exact (from the looks of it). Jade hadn't really thought about it before when she flopped down next to the girl in exhaustion. "Because udging by that description, you must like to write or something. I love drawing. Mostly transformers and vehicles but I'm starting to expland my horizons..."

"And uh, as for a physical fitness program thing...that takes a bit of planning. You have to learn how your body works-and it's harder than it sounds. I caught on because I at one point I was forced to defend myself, so I had to adapt. Not only do you have to know how your body works, you have to know yourself too...i could probably explain all the stuff I do from week to week but that would take a while."she scratched the back of her head slightly, realizing her hair felt salty and damp from sweat and the ocean breeze.

[Leah Gerard]

Leah beamed, glad that she had provided a sufficient answer. She tilts her head to Jade, unsure of her statements. Was she a writer--- really, she never thought about it. Yes, she did enjoy writing, but not enough to call herself an actual writer. 'Hm-mm, labels are too complicated,' she concluded. She smiled. She liked people assuming that she was though, it seemed elegant and with purpose, unlike all the stuff that she could easily be pulled in, in this environment. Trying to show more interest in her new acquaintance's interests, she asks, "Can I see them?" She wondered if maybe this was a tad to personal to ask---seeing as he hated people badgering her about seeing her journals.

This thought soon disappeared as she sat up and grimaced at her words. Planning? For running and stuff, she had to plan? Shaking her head vigorously, she states, "Okay, maybe--- I'm not that ready. Or in anyway interested." She giggles, "Oh my gosh, I sound like such a kid. I should have probably listened to all the times my PE teacher yelled at our class about that."

[Jade Bolton]

Jade chuckled at Leah's comment about having not listened to her PE teacher. "Well it's not for everyone. I just love martial arts, so I use exercise t help me keep up, so I can get stronger faster."Jade opened her backpack and pulled out her sketch book. "And yep! I draw lots of stuff. I love drawing cars and bots mostly, but I also draw anime, some animals, and other things. Starting to work on landscape and such a bit more...You can take a look if you want."she said with a smile, the first picture being a remarkably decent sketch of her adoptive dad's silver limousine alternate mode parked in a parking lot near the ocean. "A full color version of the first picture is in my dad's office...It was for a Christmas present because at the time i didn't have a lot of money."she added cheerily.

[Leah Gerard]

Leah nodded her agreement to the true statement of peoples interest. Honestly, why would she even consider herself the sporty type. Heck! Even just considering that she'll consider trying to be the sporty type was out of it! As she notices Jade taking out her a book-type thing, she walks over to her, dragging her blanket along. Plopping down beside the girl, she only half listens. Her lips form in the lips of an 'O' as she sees the first sketch. It was simple really, just a limo parked near the ocean. And yet, somehow--- it seemed like it drew in more. The intricate lines showed a great deal more emotion. It was a puzzle, as clearly shown on the scrunched up expression present on Leah's face. Then, Jade's words came into play and it had made sense. It was a gift to someone. She smiles, looking up at Jade, "Aww...that is way too good and really sweet of you to give to him!"

"...in my dad's office..." The words echoed in her mind, remembering the events of the recent years. She hadn't thought of him recently really. Now, it seemed like she betrayed him. Trying to forget him. Because, honestly, she didn't want to! She wanted anything but that! She looks back down at the picture, hating herself for letting the thoughts go back that far. Still though, she remembers her aunt's bitter words and cousins', that she hadn't even known, obnoxious musings. She shakes her head, trying to focus on the picture...

Sorry for lateness and choppiness!

[Jade Bolton]

"Thanks. Yeah, I think he liked it...it's one of my first, best pictures-the full scale picture is much better..."Jade flipped through a few more pages, them mostly being of random places she visited, some dragons, and a few other transformers in their various modes, like ones of the twins Vicky and Elina, Recoil, the Con Goliath and his semi form, Karr and Ki3t and all their forms, etc. The bots had more of an impact on her than she realized, and it was pretty clear in her drawings. She liked to draw the transformers as she saw them on a day to day basis, in various poses or fighting scenes that she had either been around to see or even be apart of herself.

"It's all fun really, I see the possibility of making martial arts a career more than I do art. I don't know for sure though, still thinking about it."[/B]Jade was a big fan of MMA (mixed martial arts) and the UFC. She didn't know of many females thus far that participated in the UFC, but maybe she needed to do more research. Of all the events she'd seen on TV since she started staying at the Autobot base though, she hadn't seen one female. "I mean it seems you're young like me, we don't have to worry about this kind of stuff so soon do we?"Jade asked rather innocently.[/size]

( its okay, I'm being really too slow. Been busy with school and the cbox is heavily distracting lol. Sorry if its kinda crappy. We can probably close this soon if you want.)