23. Attention;

Sometimes Kaya wished Lance would forget about her safety for once and ask her what she wanted. It was very clear that she was sick of his overprotective nature, but he refused to pay attention to that. Because what she wanted was rarely, if ever, what she got.

Sometimes Kaya wished Lance would pay attention to the things that mattered. One day, she and Lance would die, perhaps decades apart, so it was inevitable. But living life the way you wanted? That was a gift. That was what Kaya wanted. Not just life, but a free life.

But it was so hard to tell that to someone so dedicated and otherwise kind as Lance...especially since she was madly in love with him.

24. Ride;

She inspected the sports car carefully, leaning forward curiously to examine the tires. It seemed good enough. Not that she cared or anything, but from the looks of Lance's eyes right now, it was safe to assume this had to be pretty safe for her to be allowed to drive it. So she decided to do it herself without him getting all worried over nothing.

"I hope you know that if we were to get into a crash, your head might get damaged---hard as steel or not---and you might die and I'm not letting that happen so---"

"Hey, Lance, let's go for a ride," she said softly. Looking at him with a weak smile, she said, "And if something happens, at least we'll die laughing."

Lance was silent for quite a while after that.

25. Back;

"I want to go back!" Albrekt hollered as Brian started having a nervous breakdown. Of course, no one knew what he was saying---just that he was pissed off as usual; he and Kristie would be an excellent pair---until Janelle translated for them.

"Go back where?" Claire asked in mild concern as she scratched Ben's chest playfully. Janelle translated again, sighing.

"Deutshland!" he growled in German. The intelligent portion of the office translated it for the rest, and Janelle merely stood in silence.

"Germany?" Namki asked. "But I'd miss you!" Translation.

"Yeah well, I'm leaving! Screw this fucking country!" Translation.

He stormed off and disappeared for quite a while.

He returned the next day, in his pissed-off glory, deciding that he could handle America for just one more day.

And then he'd go back, he swore. He would, really.

26. Smile;

Janelle only smiled sporadically, mainly because her job did not require enthusiasm and because she never found a good reason to waste energy on a lie.

Because one smiled when they were happy and Janelle was not happy.

But Albrekt lied about how he hated America, and especially the idiots like Namki who lived there, and he had a bunch of friends. He seemed happy, and he didn't smile. Well, doing nothing but being angry wasn't going to work for her, so maybe if she lied, maybe if she smiled...

It would stop being a lie.

27. Fluffy;

"Why won't you just enjoy the fluff I'm providing???" Lance once yelled when Kaya was protesting about his protectiveness.

"W-what the hell are you talking about???" was all Kaya could say.

"I was reading some books in the Human Library and one of the books they called 'fluffy and romantic' had this guy who kept saving this beautiful girl, and she seemed really happy about it," Lance explained quickly, pouting.

"Ohmygod, Lance, you moron," she muttered, whacking him on the head irritably.

"What did I do?" Lance whimpered as he rubbed his head. "Maybe I should read those 'sexy' or 'sensual' books instead..."

"NO! Just...read the fluff..." She slapped her forehead in exasperation. "Why must I be in love with an idiot???"

28. Pity;

He was a pitiful soul, working so hard for a single compliment, refusing to eat so people might find him more attractive, being hung over his parents choosing his siblings over him, and denying all of it.

It truly was a pity that Raylin was so pitiful, but he didn't mind as long as someday someone would choose HIM over someone else. He could wait a bit, seem pathetic to some and crazy to others, as long as his wish would be fulfilled.

Which was also a pity, but that was too bad.

29. Hope;

"He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me, he loves me not..."

"Say, Namki, do you think that flowers tell the truth?"

"Of course! They're so sweet! How could they possibly lie?"

"He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me..."

"You're right. So, do you believe the thing where you pull the petals of a flower off one by one to try and figure out what to do? Like, do you think it's true? That the flowers are telling you what's right?"

"You mean the 'he loves me/he loves me not' thing?"

"Yeah."

"Of course! I bet they're possessed by ghosts!"

"He loves me...he loves me not...he loves me...he loves me...not..."

"Ah, t-thanks. Well, I'd best return to work! See ya later, OK?"

"Bye-bye!"

I hope the flowers are lying...because I love him...

30. Rain;

"I HATE THIS GODDAMN MOTHER-FUCKING RAIN!" she screamed at the sky, even though it couldn't be bothered to listen to her. She thought it would though, because everyone listened to Kristie. Unless they were suicidal.

"STOP. STOP. STOP!" She tried to stab the sky with her soaked umbrella and made herself drenched. "Don't you hear me? I said STOP. You! YOU!"

The rain did not stop.

"Fine. Be that way. I guess I'll just have to enjoy you then." She sighed and hoisted the umbrella over her head.

31. Crayons;

The only thing that seemed to calm Brian down was...crayons... And so, whenever he started twitching too much for the rest of the office to stand, Kristie would throw some crayons at his head. Yes, there was often a lump afterwards, but soon after, Brian was completely silent, mesmerized by the Crayola crayons.

No one knew why this worked so well. Honestly, no one cared. They just happened to have 100,000 Crayola crayons in the closet, just in case things got too tense.

32. Beast;

People called him human. Not humane but human at least. Ben tended to think otherwise. He thought of himself as a vicious animal. And not just any animal, either. A beast. A hideous beast who clipped an innocent angel's wings, just to watch her fall.

He knew he was a beast, but he hadn't expected to fall in love. That was quite...humane...if you asked him.

33. Counting;

"Let's see...there was the time he first saw me...and the the second time...and then when I tried to give him a hug and said I liked him and then when I said it must be cool to live in Germany..."

"What are you doing?" Ben questioned harshly. "I can barely think with your talking!"

"I'm counting the number of types Albert yelled at me."

"Oh." Curious, he encouraged Namki to continue. Not that he needed encouraged, but whatever.

"I'm up to 52674 times."

"Holy SHIT."