sweet disposition [open].

[Lorelai Anchors]

[/b] she began quietly, shaking her head. ”It’s totally my fault. You were just kidding and I know that but again, my social skills are just… I got nervous and rambled.”

Chewing harshly on her bottom lip, she shifted some in her seat so she could cross her legs, leaning back. Her gaze flitted from him to her shoes, and she rose a hand to rub at her eye nervously. ”Same goes for me, by the way. With the whole friends thing. I tend to be really quiet so I don’t have a lot of them and so this has been a pretty great day.” Lorelai shrugged sheepishly, still keeping her head down. ”I know you didn’t mean anything by it. I just sort of got nervous and freaked out because I was afraid I was giving off the wrong impression or something. I’m always scared about that.”

She tucked another curl behind her ear. ”O-of course I accept your apology, but you have no reason to be. I do. Again, I’m sorry.” [/size][/ul]

[Mike Chang]

Mike was slightly more relaxed and little bit pleased when Lorelai seated herself next to him. In his mind, that certainly meant that he hadn't pissed her off or scared her beyond all belief, and that was something of an achievement. However, out of the slightest corner of his eye, he did noticed her toying somewhat nervously with her dress, and though Mike wasn't exactly surprised, he did wonder where she'd gotten the habit, and why it was so pronounced. Maybe it was because she was nervous around him, being as they came from different highschool cliques...or maybe it was just a reflex. Seeing as he also had some telltale habits -- though they only came through in class or Glee -- Mike figured it really didn't matter why Lorelai did what she did and dropped the matter silently in his head.

"Since we're having an apology war...how bout we just agree that...it's no one's fault?" Mike suggested, smiling weakly. The last thing he wanted was for Lorelai to feel as though she'd screwed up, when clearly he did. And it was somewhat apparent that, on the issue, Lorelai felt quite the same way.

Before now, when it seemed to stand out a little more then earlier, Mike had never really noticed just how much Lorelai chewed her lip up. Sure, he bit his lip a few times too, but only when it was to hold himself back from laughing, or yawning, and sometimes from saying things that were, to put it bluntly, stupid enough to sound like Brittany had said it. But Lorelai had a different way of biting her lip that made it seem almost as habitual as playing with her dress.

"You uh..." Mike chomped hard on his lip, again in the reflex of wondering what to say exactly, or if, even, to say anything at all. Finally easing up himself, he continued, "...bite your lip a lot. I mean, I do too, just, wondered why you do it, is all...not that you have to answer, just..." In mid-sentence his teeth came to rest on his lower lip, and he spoke through it, laughing slightly, saying, "I'll shut up now."

Placing his hands behind his head, Mike slouched down in his seat some and rested a little. He'd felt the certain laziness creep back into his attitude and tryied rather hard to resist...yet, he had a feeling that, as long as he and Lorelai were cool, again, he really wouldn't be going anywhere soon. And as he relaxed, Mike thought about how they'd talked about him quite a lot, yet, the only things he'd gotten from Lorelai was that she played banjo, piano, and was a nervous individual. She seemed to know a lot about him; The dancing, the football, the conflict of interest as to what group of kids he belonged to, and his somewhat secret struggle to find himself. Sighing a bit, Mike leaned back as far as he could, without hurting himself, in the hard-backed chairs of the auditorium, and voiced his question, "So...what about you? You mentioned almost getting slushied earlier...? What clique does that throw you in...?"

He wouldn't judge her either way, even if she was a druggie, or a failure. He knew enough about her personality to realize that she was a good enough person to be open with, and Mike figured that was all that really mattered. Yet, somewhere in the back of his mind, Mike wondered why she wasn't fitting in with the Cheerios or preps...the popular girls. There was no doubt she had the looks to fit in with that group...or maybe she just chose not to run with that crowd. Afterall...even Mike understood that popularity and position in high school wasn't all that it was played out to be, and sometimes, even he envied the kids who were so far hidden in the background, that they barely existed.

[Lorelai Anchors]

[/b] she agreed, ”That seems like a pretty good compromise. Then again, I figure you’re only saying that so I don’t beat you up, but.” She laughed lightly, teeth sinking into her bottom lip again.

Honestly, Lore never much thought about the habit, but as he brought up the fact that she bit her lip a lot, she found herself very much conscious of the action. Slowly, her lip popped out from beneath her teeth and she shrugged slightly, shifting her focus to the fabric of her dress. ”I suppose it’s a nervous habit. I’ve got a lot of those. I don’t really notice I do it, I guess, I just sort of… Do.” She paused to chuckle awkwardly, looking down into her lap. ”I guess the only time it becomes obvious is when I drink something sorta sour or whatever and I’ve bit my lip open or something. But it’s too late at that point, so eh.” She shrugged both shoulders simultaneously, and fought the urge to bite her lip again.

Man, she really did do that a lot.

Lorelai tilted her head back a bit, letting her eyelids flutter closed. Surprisingly, she didn’t open them back up when he voiced his next question, and she let silence fall between them as she pondered that. She really wasn’t in a clique. For the first two years of High School, she had been in with the druggies, the kids that partied. While her dresses now fell nearly down to her knees, her dresses back then were short and low cut. She’d end up trashed, making out with strange guys on couches (she never had kissed anyone sober before, and simply feigned experience when she really needed to). Slowly she slipped into the clique of really hard core druggies, where the needles were passed around the circle while people were having sex in the corner (which was something she never participated in) and others were passed out in chairs. But now? Now she didn’t belong anywhere. Which was probably better. No standards to live up to. Nothing she felt she had to do to fit in because she didn’t fit in anywhere to begin with.

”Doesn’t throw me in any clique,” she answered finally, casually. ”I don’t think it does, anyways. I just sort of stay out of everyone’s way. I always do everything possible to like, not be a burden, and that always ends up including avoiding people. There are some people that I guess I talk to a bit, but no real friends. Not that it’s a problem, because it’s really my own fault, my own choice. I tend to fade into the background as much as I can.” Lorelai liked it that way. It kept drama out of her life, gave her no obligation to take part in things, and it’d be much easier for her to move on in life. She didn’t want to be dependent on any group of people, only to be separated from them after graduation and not have a clue who she was.

This was much better. Or, at the very least, she hoped. [/ul][/size]