Some of the Places I know [Open]

[clyde]

Clyde thumbed through the paged of his notebook. There were words and musical notes scribble all over it and he read over it, looking for something to work on, for some sort of inspiration. Hawthorne had been interesting enough so far and Clyde was sure he'd be alright here. Better here than back home at least, or anywhere his mother was. Still, he had a few hours to waste, hours when he didn't have much to do and this happened to be one of those boring, uneventful hours.

The classroom was empty but the light that filtered in through the windows made it nice and bright in there. Chilling out at a desk in the middle of the room, Clyde was more than happy to just hang out a while and to look through the songs he had written and maybe write a couple more lines.

Finding a new page, he hummed a tune and tapped against the page, waiting for something worth scribbling down and perhaps some words to go with it. He hadn't been able to play his guitar for two years but lately he had decided that a left handed guitar might be the perfect option since he couldn't really press down on the string with his left hand anymore.

[harlow rochelle smith]

Sitting on the stairs of the more creatively inclined building, Harlow furrowed her brows together subconsciously as a large shadow interrupted her mid-sketch in passing. Then another, and another, until the brunette decided that the lighting was far too poor here to get anything done. Although writing was her poison, she did also draw from time to time. Her only pet peeve was that she didn't like people looking at it until she had a finished product, but that was true for her written pieces as well. It had nothing to do with self-esteem, like most people were quick to assume; it was an artistic thing.

The soothing voice of Matthew Bellamy from Muse helped keep her demeanor calm as she got up on to her feet and turned down the hallway with the sketchbook tucked under her arm. She didn't mind people. In fact, she didn't mind most things. That tended to have one of two effects on people: either they mistook her for a cold-hearted person, or they respected her. It did help that she was stoned most of the time.

Leaning up on her tippy toes to look into one of the classrooms, she didn't see Clyde at first. It wasn't until she turned the doorknob and quietly peered inside that she spotted him, looking rather peaceful. Harlow wasn't one for apologies, but she didn't want to intrude either. Letting her earphones fall to the sides, she offered him a gentle smirk. "Nice tune," she stated with a clear British accent, before adding an afterthought. "Are you a musician? You carry a beat well."

[clyde]

Clyde was lost in thought, feeling rather relaxed with his feet up on a desk, leaning back comfortably with his notebook in his lap. He was just messing around with a few melodies, not really thinking too clearly about getting a song down. So lost in thought was he, that he didn't even hear the door open.

Clyde was still busy looking at the page, when he heard the voice. Sitting u straighter at the sound of it, he nearly feel out of his seat. "Oh hey," he said, eyes wide at the sudden appearance of someone else in the room.

"Didn't see ya there," the Australian told her. She sounded English and Clyde took note of that. "Yeah.. Sort of," he told her. "I used to play a lot but stopped for a bit and yeah, now now I'm sort of trying to get back into it," he explained with a smile. "I'm Clyde by the way," he told her.

Notes: Short post, sorry.

[harlow rochelle smith]

Harlow withheld a chuckle as she clearly startled the boy, though there was a sparkle of amusement in her bright blue eyes that she couldn't quite hide. She wondered how he could relax himself like that, especially in a place like this. One where you always had to be on your toes, because the person who liked you yesterday could easily turn on you today. It was just a fact of life, even when you were no longer in here. Things don't change, people do.

"Harlow," she introduced herself with a brief nod, before leaning against the doorway. "I didn't mean to startle you." That much was true, it wasn't something she had set out to do. She picked up on his accent, priding herself in being able to distinguish different dialects pretty accurately. He sounded... Australian, yeah, that was it.

"That's cool. Sometimes life gets in the way of things we want to do," the brunette added thoughtfully, before giving him a small shrug. "But it's never too late to try it again." She could tell that she was intruding, so she turned to exit the classroom. Peering over her shoulder, she added, "I'll leave you to it then. Good luck."

[clyde]

Clyde had a lot of trust for people and the world in general. As far as he was concerned everything was good in the world and people just always seemed to get along great with him. There was a lot of optimism and joy with Clyde and it went further than it did with most people. He only managed to stop just before rainbows and puppy dogs. This meant that he was entirely too comfortable in almost any situation. He could just sit back and relax without having to worry about some psycho potentially coming up behind him and stabbing him in the neck.

"S'alright, it's all good," he said, leaning back in his seat trying to look all cool about it which was quite a feat considering he had just very nearly fallen out of his chair, but Clyde managed to pull it off just fine. He was good like that, always cool, calm and relaxed.

"Yeahh.. Nice way of saying 'shit happens' but yeah, ya got it right," he told her with a nod. It sounded good, very deep and almost philosophical but it was pretty standard stuff that she was trying to say, at least from what he understood of it.

"Well no, that's true," he said. "I still can't play a regular guitar but left-handed works alright," he explained. "Nah stay," he said when she turned to leave. "I wouldn't mind some company," he told her with a genuine smile.

[harlow rochelle smith]

Sometimes Harlow wondered what it would be like to be able to trust people so freely. Would life be any easier, or would she just be fooling herself by doing so? Usually, she preferred to be neutral about things. Nonchalant, unaffected, not bothered by anything. But there were nights when she kept herself awake for hours, going through every possibility: if she had walked out earlier, if she hadn't dodged that bottle, if she had been a better daughter somehow. Too many thoughts, too little time.

Clyde's quick composure was amusing to her. He seemed like someone that was easy to get along with, but she knew better than to assume anything at first glance. After all, she too was easygoing, but she wasn't necessarily simple. His next remark made her smirk, reaching up to brush some stray strands of brown tresses from her face and tucking it behind her ear.

"Well, I don't usually nearly scare a man to death and be terribly blunt with him on the same day," she chuckled, trying to make light of the situation. Druggies had their ground-breaking one-liners every now and again. At his mention of being a new lefty, she quirked a brow. "What makes you think that's not a regular guitar? I'm left-handed," she teased with a mock scoff, before relenting. "Actually, I'm ambidextrous. But I was born a lefty."

When she turned to leave, Harlow stopped in her tracks when he asked her to stay. She remembered interrupting her mother when she was going through a particularly heavy case load and having to dodge a bottle from hitting her head. This was one of those rare times where Harlow was able to see the good in people. Or maybe she was just sober enough to remember it. "Alright," she smiled back, before perching herself on the desk beside him.

[clyde]

"What?" Clyde asked in what almost looked like exaggerated mock disbelief. "I wasn't scared, I was not scared, nor was I shocked or caught off guard," he said, not looking terribly serious but looking as though he thought it came out serious. "I meant to do that," he told her in relation to the nearly falling over. "Yeah, did that on purpose," he told he with a nod. Oh yeah, nice Clyde, very smooth, well done, she'll totally buy that.

"That's not what I meant!," Clyde assured her. Oh that was not going well. He didn't want to offend her or anyone and he was sure he hadn't but still, this difficulty with trying to say what he meant in a clear and concise way was a little annoying. "I mean.. I'm not left-handed, it's not regular for me," he clarified.. Yeah, that ought to do it.

"That's sounds.. interesting," he said, still sitting back in his seat. Yeah, switch from left to ambidextrous and possibly back to left again... That was a lot of switching about. "I think I'm a little ambidextrous too," he told her, as though it was something to be impressed by. It made switching guitars fairly easy and definitely doable.

"So.. Harlow.. Interesting name," he commented as she sat down. It was as good a place as any to start.

[harlow rochelle smith]

Harlow looked on with rising amusement as Clyde tried to cover up his slip, only not really. It's always fun when someone is willing to go along with things, even the simple little banters such as this. "Of course," she agreed, though her smirk gave away the fact that she didn't buy it at all. A walking contradiction she was sometimes.

She could tell that he was the last person to try to cause trouble or engage in a confrontation, so pretending to be offended would surely rattle his knobs a bit. Turns out, she was right. "Mmm, I see," Harlow said with a little tilt of her head, wondering why the change all of a sudden. She had a hunch, since she never forgot where they were, but her bright blue eyes remained fixed on his and didn't drift.

"Comes in handy," she added, when he claimed to be ambidextrous as well. "Though as a musician, it might be a little confusing switching chords, no? Then again, I'm shit at that type of thing, regardless."

When he mentioned her name, Harlow shrugged and nodded. "Guess I can say the same about you, Clyde," she replied with a curved brow. "Couple of odd ducks, we are. Though mine isn't nearly as interesting as a well-known outlaw."

[clyde]

Clyde saw the smirk but he had come this far already so it wouldn't hurt to go just a bit further. "Good, glad we're on the same page then," he told her with a confident nod, still barely convincing himself.

"Nah, I'm alright at it now. I mean, I sold Bonnie like two years ago," he said looking away thoughtfully as he thought about his old guitar, Bonnie. "Then I kinda just messed around with this left-handed guitar at the store near my house and it was alright," he said, thinking back on it. "It was different but I got it, just took a little bit longer to speed up and play the notes at the right speed," he said. He could do slower songs but really elaborate chords took more practice.

"And just recently my step-dad got me a new guitar, a left-handed vintage '52 Telecaster. Her name's Bonnie 2.0 and she's butterscotch blonde," he told the girl with a grin. Yes he loved his guitars and yes Clyde was the kind of guy to even name them. "I love her.. very much," he told her, with a hand to his heart to amplify the magnitude of his love for his instruments... That or Clyde just exaggerated most things.

Clyde just grinned a big grin. Yeah he had an odd name but he liked it. He worked with it and it ended up kind of suiting him and his crazy personality. Some kids would think ti was weird but most just went along with it. A crazy name for a crazy personality.

"I dunno if I wanna get compared to a duck.. Maybe a mongoose.. Or some other mammal.. No that's discrimination, never mind. Ducks are fine," he said, going off on his own little thought tangent before grinning back up at her again.

[harlow rochelle smith]

Harlow knew that she could have easily unsettled him again, but like the Beatles, she let it be. When he mentioned a Bonnie, she found herself sympathizing with him. "Kudos, mate. One, for taking your name lightly, and two, for your persistence." She would have asked about his injuries to his hand, which was really the thick of this whole thing, but she decided not to push the issue. After all, he hadn't asked about her poison either.

When he continued, she felt a lopsided smile curving her lips. "Bonnie 2.0... nice," Harlow approved with a slow nod of her head, letting the name roll off her tongue with ease. She had been around enough musicians back home to follow along pretty well in the conversation, so there was genuine interest in her tone. "I'm sure you two are made for each other," the brunette added, "Bonnie and Clyde'll leave 'em shaking in their boots. If you ever decide to play in public, I mean. Have you? I had a few friends that played at the pubs."

At his next string of words, Harlow just looked on as the boy rambled about... ducks, was it? Honestly, she didn't seem to care much. It was like being around someone with a natural high, and for someone who was usually illegally high as a kite, his energy was actually pretty refreshing.

"I think I just witnessed the single most amusing argument in the last 24 hours," she teased playfully, before giving the place another glance around. "Come here often?"

[clyde]

Clyde like the name. If there was ever any girl he knew he could spent all of time with quite happily, it was his guitars so they deserved the name Bonnie. "Yeah, I'm really original, aren't I?" Clyde joked when she said Bonnie 2.0.

Clyde just grinned. He loved his instruments. It was the one thing in his life that he knew he could count on. "Yeah I used to play quite a bit, mostly at school, not at pubs, bit young for that," he admitted. There weren't too many places that would let a bunch of year eight students play some music. Thirteen year olds were so underrated in this world.

Clyde just grinned again. "Yeah I'm good like that," he told her. He came up with some pretty crazy things at times but it was absolutely normal for him. This was just how he was, constantly in his own happy little world. Clyde had to smirk at her question though.

"Why Harlow, are you flirting with me?" he joked. "Because that line never works, believe me I've tried it many times," he told her with a grin. He hardly ever took anything too seriously and besides, a proper answer would have been boring anyhow. What was he going to say? 'Yes I do, it's a classroom, I learn here all the time'

[harlow rochelle smith]

"Well, it's the first time I've heard about your duo, so in your own right, you are original," she argued with a shrug of her shoulders, not wanting to downplay anyone's individuality. He did good by bonding with his guitars. Hell knows people are hardly worth the effort sometimes, so it was nice to rely on something.

"I didn't expect you to play at pubs. I knew friends of friends," Harlow explained with a chuckle, though she understood the frustrations of being a teenager. She'd gotten held overnight for sneaking into a concert and getting completely sloshed once. The rest of the times they simply didn't catch her. "I wanted to have some of my work at the galleries. But, like you, I just settled for school shows. Wrote for their newspaper for a bit too, but that got old fast. Sources are highly unreliable when push comes to shove."

The brunette gave him a smirk at his comment, one which only grew and stretched across her lips like the Cheshire Cat's at his next remark. "Oh, so you usually tend to corner unsuspecting musicians in empty classrooms, with no witnesses around?" she retorted, quirking a brow high on her forehead. "Very suspicious behavior, Clyde. Actually, I asked because they used to keep a guitar hidden away in one of the storage closets..."

She paused briefly to let her eyes scan over the room carefully, before stopping on a particular spot. "That one other over there, if I remember right. The lock was a bitch to pick though." It had been a while since she'd been in this room, but Harlow remembered one of the guys sneaking in here to grab the guitar for a bonfire in the Woods.

"Don't think it'd be missed," Harlow added with a suggestive look.

[clyde]

"Yeah I know, figured that out after I said it," he told her. "Yeah it sucks," Clyde said, shrinking what she had just said down to a three word phrase. It was something he had gotten quite good at, which was a little odd for something who could talk so much and just never need to shut up.

Clyde just grinned. It was kind of suspicious but obviously that wasn't what Clyde was doing here. He had no intention of cornering anyone and everyone knew that.. Or did they? In a place like this with all types of people you couldn't really take a thing like that for granted, could ya? There was probably at least one person who would actually do that.

"Really," he asked, looking around then back at her. Guitar? What? Where? If ever anyone wanted to get his attention pointing out something music related would almost certainly do the trick.

"Why would there be a guitar in here?" Clyde asked, looking thoroughly confused. That was just plain odd.. Wasn't it? Teachers wouldn't just keep guitars in a class room.. Especially when it wasn't a music room.. That just made no sense to him.. But then again, maybe it did make sense in some weird way. It wouldn't be hard to imagine, a lot of things in this place was just a little off-kilter.

"Oh you bad, bad girl with your theft and other illegal activities," he jokes with a smirk. 'Borrowing' some guitar that was locked up anyway didn't exactly sound like it was really bad or anything.

[harlow rochelle smith]

Harlow didn't feel threatened by Clyde, but she was just pulling his strings anyway. If he really wanted to try to kill or assault her, he would have done it by now; at least in her experience. She grinned when he perked up at the mention of a musical instrument. His next words, however, made her brows raise a little. Did he expect all things to be predictable? Tsk, tsk, he should know better than that.

"Why not?" she countered, knowing full well that this was an ordinary classroom. There was always a method to her madness and she was determined to teach this boy that. "Let me ask you something: if you want people to find things, you put them in plain view, yeah? But if you don't... would you really put it where everyone would expect it to be?"

After giving him some food for thought, Harlow chuckled at his next words. "See, that's where you're wrong. It's not theft if you plan to bring it back," she argued with an index finger raised to emphasize her point. "Eventually."

Sliding off of the desk, her black boots scuffed against the floor as she moved over to the cabinet. Her lithe body only seemed large enough to block his view from the lock itself, which rang out with a bit of a clatter as she fiddled with it. Finally hearing a click, Harlow let the lock fall to the floor, before turning to glance over at Clyde. "Well, come on then! I do expect you to play something for me. You know, for my troubles." Gesturing towards the worn, but handy acoustic guitar, she smirked triumphantly. "Take a look."

[clyde]

"I.. don't.. know," was Clyde's response. Yeah it was kind of random by why not? It was a good point. "Um.. I... guess," he said. It was pretty crazy but Clyde knew how to go along with that sort of thing.

"But why would anyone want to hide a guitar in the first.. Never mind," he said, deciding that it was probably best to just leave it alone and let it go unexplained. it was just too much to consider and Clyde didn't want to get into it right now.

"Another good point," Clyde said. He should just give up already. this girl definitely knew what she was talking about. It was one point after another.

Clyde turned and watched her but he couldn't quite see what she was doing there as she got through the lock. He wasn't going to question it this time though. Questioning things seemed to just go wrong today.

Clyde stood from his desk and left his notes on it. He took the guitar from her and just stared at it. "I can't though," he said, didn't he just get done explaining it? "I can't play this. It's a regular guitar I need a left-handed one if you wanna hear some tunes," he told her with a shrug.