Afterschool Detour ((open))

[Tyson Owen Cronshaw]

Keep your head above water...

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Tyson sighed as he flipped out his phone to check the time. It was five hours past mid day, but looking at the sky one wouldn’t think it. A clear blue sky could be seen for miles with the sun still blazing in the sky. It was quite warm but he wasn’t complaining as he turned right onto a main road littered with shops and cafes. The street itself was packed with commuters waiting for busses or doing last minute shopping before the shops close. Tyson didn’t spend long in the hustle and bustle as he took another right leading him into the entrance of the recreational park, a huge open expanse of natural beauty. He sighed to calm himself down before entering, school had taken far too long to end in his opinion, and mathematics had practically sent him to sleep. As tedious and boring school was, Tyson knew it was some what a necessity if he was to get a good job when he was older. He also had to admit that the social skills he was gaining everyday were also crucial to his development.

He set off into the park at a brisk pace, passing dog walkers and groups of giggling school girls he made his way towards the back of the park, where a small hill overlooking the golf course was located. He smiled as he remembered the wooden bench at the top, a secluded location where few people could be found. He shrugged his left shoulder as he turned right down a small, narrow path through some rosary bushes, his messenger bag was full to bursting with school books and supplies was hanging lazily from his left shoulder as his right hand strained under the weight of his acoustic guitar. He had spent his lunch time changing a string and hadn’t had the opportunity to test it out too much as he had to hurry to his science lesson. Hence why he found himself in the park on the way home from school, it was the perfect place to practice undisturbed. He made his way up the hill which had a small gradient considering how high it took him above the golf course. As Tyson reached the top he looked out over the course which was bustling with activity as golfers lined up to take their shots and small crowds of curious spectators lined up to watch. Tyson has a small interest in golf as it was the only sport he had ever tried for a long period of time. His dad had taken him to a variety of courses in his younger years but he just didn’t have the time nowadays. Tyson took his seat on the bench, letting his bag drop to the floor. He took a moment to take in the beautiful view of the park before he reached for his guitar case. Moments later, he had the case unzipped and guitar on his lap as he double checked the tuning before strumming the first few chords to one of his favorite songs.

Tyson's Song

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Words:511
Outfit: HERE
Status:Completed
Notes:First post, low-ish muse. Open to all!

[Alyssa Nicole Matthews]

It had been a long day of cheer practice and dance practice. But that was nothing knew to Alyssa, she was used to it and loved it. It made her happy doing what she did. It was a bit after five o’clock and she was at the park doing her daily jog. The truth was Alyssa didn’t need to do all of this running and exercise to stay in shape, but it made her feel good, so she did it every day. She usually took the same route everyday with her headphones in her ear. There was usually no music playing she just had them in so people would try to stop her. She could just wave and continue running. Today was one of those days.

Alyssa waved to a few people she knew from school and continued to run her route. Running up the hill, Alyssa heard someone playing the guitair. Alyssa never really paid attention to those rockers at school, nor did she really pay attention to anyone else really. But it made her stopped, it wasn’t anything she would ever listen to, but who ever playing was really good from what she could hear. Following the music she saw a guy sitting on a bench. She walked over. ”Know any rock?”

[Tyson Owen Cronshaw]

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Tyson had nearly finished his song when a jogger appeared out of the corner of his eye. She was younger than him but he wasn’t sure by how much but he recognized her face, he concluded that she must be from school, either a cheerleader, on a sports team or just someone who likes to keep in shape. What surprised him the most was that despite she appeared to be listening to her ipod she stopped and asked if he knew any rock music. He chuckled as he stopped playing abruptly and thought of more hardcore music titles of the top of his head and he had to admit not many came to mind.

“Ok…” He began slowly, still thinking it over in his head. “What kind of rock and roll? Something light hearted…” He played a brief segment from the Red Hot Chili Peppers ‘by the way’ “Or something more hardcore?” He asked, whilst playing a more serious segment of the well known ACDC ‘back in black.’ He smiled and chuckled lightly again. The sheer vagueness of her statement left so much to be interpreted; she might be referring to music from a completely generation or genre. He paused and simply stated the obvious; “Got an artist in mind?”

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Words:250
Outfit: As above
Status: Completed
Notes: Muse a bit bleh, tried my best to get things moving =]

[Alyssa Nicole Matthews]

Alyssa laughed a bit. Lighthearted? She didn’t think Red Hot Chili Peppers were really light hearted. She had to admit that he was good, in fact awesome. She was impressed. Most of those Jammers at school were usually wanna-bee’s. At least to her they were but this guy had some serious talent. When he played ACDC she saw how Red Hot Chili Pepper’s could be a bit light hearted. She smiled. ”Red Hot Chili Peppers are the shit. Play something else by them.”

Alyssa sat down next to him. ”Oh I’m Alyssa by the way. In case you didn’t know.” It was hard for Alyssa to image any one not knowing her name. But maybe he didn’t know her, just maybe. She couldn’t get over how cute this guy looked too. He was nice looking and was surprised he wasn’t in the Coladas, but they were preps and jocks. He didn’t look like he was either really. But truth be told Alyssa hated labels most of the time. It divided people too much. But it was the way things had always been and she was used to it.

[Tyson Owen Cronshaw]

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Tyson smiled, he too had a love of music by the Chili Peppers, mainly because of the many guitar rifts and complicated sequences but overall he enjoyed the feel of the song. There was one song that was his favorite but was quite hard to play. “Fancy a bit of Snow?” He asked, as he started strumming the introduction to ‘Snow.’ It was very fast paced but the lyrics did an unusual effect of changing the mood of the song to something more mellow and relaxing, in his opinion anyway. He chuckled to himself, the song was about drugs and he had summarized the effect drugs have on a person but the song gave him those effects. His brain hurt.

He continued to play the song in perfect rhythm, dropping a few notes here and there but he was still happy with his performance. The girl mentioned her name, tagging on that he might not know her. Of course he didn’t, he didn’t pay too much attention to cliques and popularity chart nonsense. He simple smiled and replied; “Well, I didn’t know your name, but its nice to know.” He finished, adding; “I’m Tyson.” She was rather attractive, Tyson had to admit. She was defiantly a Colada, most likely in a lower year, explaining why Tyson wasn’t very familiar with her name. He didn’t really bother with girls too much, he was surprised he didn’t as the stereotype of a teenage boy today is wanting only one thing and one thing only from a girl, it was a stereotype Tyson personally hated.

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Words:282
Outfit: as above
Status: Completed
Notes: Nope

[Alyssa Nicole Matthews]

Alyssa had to smiled he knew the Chili Peppers and that alone was a turn on for her. She nodded. ”Love it!” She listened to him play and moved her head to the beat. Snow was one of her favorite songs by them and she loved anyone who knew who they were or even knew a few songs by them. Alyssa looked around. She couldn’t really be caught hanging out with someone outside of the clique. But they wouldn’t really kick her out she was the best dancer on the dance team, hence why she was captain. And she was an amazing co-captain for the cheerleading team. They couldn’t really afford to lose her.

Alyssa smiled at him. ”It’s nice to meet you Tyson. You must be a senior right? I’m a junior.” Whys he told him that she had no idea. It didn’t really matter did it? No probably not. She was worried that she stunk a little from running and all of her after school activities. She was always worried about how she smelled or how she looked around people. But who could you not when everyone was looking at you? She leaned back on her hands as a breeze blew by cooling her off a bit.

[Tyson Owen Cronshaw]

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Tyson continued into the solo at the end of the song, his fingers beginning to feel cramped after the effort that it took to maintain the rhythm of the song. The Chili’s were among his favorite band but he was more into indie rock and contemporized music than any of the big named bands. Alyssa confirmed his previous suspicions by saying that she was indeed a junior, Tyson mentally patted himself on the back for guessing correctly, but in all fairness it was easy enough to guess. She looked very young despite the more mature figure, he assumed that she got that from whatever sporting activity she was involved in, he was betting on cheerleading the most.

As he finished the song, he stretched out his fingers to give them a rest from the intense play. He sighed lightly before turning back to Alyssa who was in the process of recovering from her jog. “Yup, I’m a senior alright.” He stated cheerfully, adding “So you like the Chili’s?” He mused, curious about her other interests and simply trying to get a conversation going. In truth he had planned to get home early but it wasn’t everyday that a girl went out of her way to talk to him and he thought it would be polite to at least return the favor for as long as he could. He was in no rush but he had a niggling doubt in the back of his mind that he had homework to do.

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Words: 254
Outfit: as above
Status: Completed
Notes: None

[Alyssa Nicole Matthews]

Alyssa was beginning to like Tyson. He was cute and knew how to play. But she had to keep reminding herself that she couldn't date him. It was like this unspoken rule that everyone just knew. Never date outside your clique, it just didn't happen. As far ash she knew no one tried to push it. No one tried to break it. Maybe it has happened but people just don't talk about it. Or maybe no one has tried to get rid of it.

Alyssa smiled. So he was a senior, if he said no she would of been shocked, he didn't like like a junior or anything lower. she nodded. "Yeah. I like a lot of music actually. I listen o everything. Even a bit of country and I love Britney Spears. Even if she did go a bit crazy. But you know she did donate her hair to locks of love after shaving. So she must not of been to crazy to do that. She had a reason but people failed to notice it." She shrugged. people always thought she was crazy to like Britney but she did and she does. She didn't see anything wrong with that.

[Tyson Owen Cronshaw]

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Tyson chuckled as Alyssa reeled off her musical interests, ending unusually on how Britney Spears donated her hair to some society he had never heard of. It was puzzling to say the least, not that she would know such a random fact, Tyson himself knew a lot of rubbish like the fact that it takes seven minutes for light to travel from the sun to earth, but more along the lines of why Britney Spears would do such a thing in the first place. It wasn’t really his place to say, overall he didn’t like pop music, guitar rifts are where his love of music lay. He was surprised Alyssa hadn’t continued on her job, he knew very well that other students used the park as a means of getting home. Did she mind if she was saw hanging out with someone who wasn’t a Colada like herself?

He nodded as Alyssa finished, picking up on her interest of country music. “Country eh?” He began, strumming up the first few lines of ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ “Like this? Or something a little slower?” He asked, continuing to play the first song as it was a classic that he had grown fond of in his younger years. The solo at the end was most challenging and he enjoyed how it flowed seamlessly from rifts to simple melodies.

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Words:251
Outfit: As above
Status: Completed
Notes: None

[Alyssa Nicole Matthews]

Alyssa smiled. She knew she talked to much sometimes but hey she was human right? It happens sometimes. Most people didn't know that Alyssa liked country music, nor that she liked Birtney Spears. But no one really asked or mentioned music and what people liked. So everyone figured she like rapped and hip hop. Yeah hip hop music was great the dance to but to listen to all the time. She had to disagree. She liked a variety of music to listen to, instead of the same thing over and over again. It gets annoying after a while.

Alyssa laughed. "I like Sweet Home Alabama. But I'm more like Dixie Chicks, Leann Ryhmes and Diamond Rio. Call me weird but I'm not really into the country country. Ever heard of Linsdey Haun? She's only done a few songs but her song Broken from the movie Broken Bridges is my favorite. I sing it all the time!" She smiled at him. It was nice having a real conversation with someone that wasn't about cheerleading or the dance team or about clothes or make-up.

[Tyson Owen Cronshaw]

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Tyson finished the solo at the end of the song a paused for a moment, savoring the sounds now echoing away that previously resembled ‘Sweet Home Alabama.’ He leant forwards over his guitar, putting his weight on the side of it as he listened more to Alyssa’s interests. He hadn’t heard of many of the artists she was mentioning but he smiled politely and let her finish. Tyson realized he was still exhibiting good courtesy to a Colada but in all fairness he didn’t really care about social standings. Sure, if people saw him outside of school with an incredibly attractive young woman, he might find himself being chased around the school by even more attractive young women. He discarded the exocentric thought, besides, it wasn’t Tyson’s thing to indulge in chasing girls whilst checking his myspace ranking or some shit like that,

Tyson racked his brain for a few seconds, but he couldn’t think of any reference to any of the artists Alyssa had mentioned, and thus the differences in their music tastes were revealed. “I don’t know any of those artists to be honest.” He said, shrugging slightly, adding; “Despite me keeping an open mind about music, I just haven’t come across any of them.” He finished, smiling politely as he awaited Alyssa’s response to his lack of musical knowledge. In all fairness, Tyson could easily start quoting random bands that Alyssa had never heard of, but he knew that would leave her just as confused as he was right now.

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Words:276
Outfit: As above
Status: Completed
Notes: None

[Alyssa Nicole Matthews]

Alyssa looked over and waves to someone she knew from school. She noticed the look they gave her. The one that says "What the hell are you doing?" without saying it out loud. She shrugged it off and turned her attention back to Tyson. He was good at what he did and he was good at it. She couldn't help but sit there and talk to him and listen to him play. Even if she never spoke to him again.

ALyssa laughed. "Its ok. Not many people do. And when people know I like them and know who they are I'm weird." She shrugged "But its ok. I like who I listen to. And if no one else does thats find by me. Some one some where does. Just haven't met them yet." She blushed a bit. It wasn't that it embarrassing it was just weird maybe to talk about stuff and not have the person know who your talking about.

[Tyson Owen Cronshaw]

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Tyson glanced over Alyssa’s shoulder as she looked behind her. He noticed her gaze met with another person of similar age to herself. Tyson assumed they were in her year at school, that can’t be good for her social status. Tyson frowned slightly, he himself didn’t care about such things, a rumor could spread that he was a homosexual or that he had slept with a teacher and he wouldn’t bat an eyebrow at anyone. He imagined, however that if a colada was placed in such a situation their reaction might be a lot different.

He smiled politely as Alyssa made a fair point that she doesn’t care if people don’t like what she’s into, its human nature, we’re all unique. Tyson couldn’t agree more. “True enough, we all have our different tastes.” He began, leaning back as he spoke. “But it’s a small world, I’m sure you’ll find someone else with a similar taste in music to yours.” He remarked, his gaze now going skyward, realizing that the sky was turning a light shade of orange, just how long had they been talking? Regardless, he thought he might as well cut to a matter that he had been throwing back and forth in his mind as well. “Look, I’ll just cut to the chase.” He said calmly. “Isn’t it social suicide for you if you talk to me… or something?” he mused, nodding in the direction of the people who had just spotted Alyssa a few moments ago. He enjoyed the company, but he was more understanding of peoples own personal desires than he would care to admit.

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Words: 278
Outfit: As above
Status: Completed
Notes: This conversation just might get a bit more serious ^.^

[Alyssa Nicole Matthews]

Alyssa saw him frown. She had a feeling he knew what group she was in just by looking at her so why was he frowning? Was it that he realized they may never speak again after today? Maybe but she wasn’t going to ask him, that would be a bit weird. She wouldn’t doubt that someone would start a rumor. But the truth was it couldn’t be as bad as the others. And rumors were called rumors for a reason. Let people believe what they wanted to. They would know what really happened that day. And that’s really all the mattered to Alyssa.

”Maybe some day. Maybe someday I’ll find someone I can share my life with, secrets and all, even if they are bad secrets..” She felt as if she said to much. But everyone had their secrets right? Every one had something they kept from people. Her included. Social suicide? She had to laugh. ”Tyson, even if it is, what are they gonna do? I’m the co-captain on the cheerleading squad and the captain of the dance team. No one is as good as I am with that dance team. It may be impossible to fill my place. I am and always will be a Colada. Plus they can try to kick me off, black mail me. But the truth is. I love what I do and I’m good at it. If they want to get rid of me they will have to kill me, literally.” She nodded as if the as a matter of fact. She did love what she did and she was good at it. She already had a few colleges mailing her asking her to apply to their school, asking for her. But she was still waiting for that one college to send her a letter in the mail..

[Tyson Owen Cronshaw]

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Tyson was taken aback by Alyssa’s laid back mood when it came to the minefield that was popularity and socializing. Well, he corrected himself; laid back wasn’t the right word, more prepared. She was well aware of her social status and how to stay there, one could say she had planned it all out as a backup strategy. Tyson simple smiled as she finished talking, he was most intrigued by her comments relation to the secrets she holds close. “Well…” He began, starting to play his guitar randomly, playing any tune that came to mind. “There’s someone out there for everyone” He mused, tuning the G string slightly so it was more taught.

He paused, stopping himself from speaking his mind so freely with regards to her social life; it was something that she seemed to care a great deal about. Tyson on the other hand cared not for his social status in the eyes of others; he only saw to keep his friends happy and himself in the process. “With regards to those people…” He began, wondering how best to phrase this. “I just wouldn’t want to be the one responsible for Alyssa Matthews suddenly being ignored by all the sports jocks.” He chuckled, wondering how she would respond to a statement that some might consider intrusive.

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Words: 251
Outfit: As above
Status: Completed
Notes: Nada