Out and About | Jake & Imogen
Imogen watched Jake fiddle with the radio, settling on a poppy song that had never crossed her ears before. It wasn’t her choice in music, but it was only background noise to her. She couldn’t help but smile as Jake challanged her to do her worst, his lopsidded grin came off as an honest and laid back smile, the kind that you would trust, then grew into a teasing and devious smirk, one that she returned right back to him, ”Don’t worry, I’m sure some of my oddities will become present during the day, just make sure you’re paying attention to catch them.” After telling Jake a few little things about herself, it was silent for awhile, the only sound being graciously provide by the stereo. Her chocolate eyes fell back to Jake, who appeared a bit lost in his own thoughts, and seemingly not realizing she had finished talking. Imogen looked out onto the road, it wouldn’t be too long until they reached the highway. From what she had seen so far, the traffic seemed pretty clear, which caused her to doubt any possible delays.
Her gaze left the road and snapped back over to Jake, hearing him ask about all the moves. “Yeah, you could sort of say we move a lot because of business. My Dad is a university professor, he’s gotten a lot of different offers from different schools over the years, so we’re constantly going to where the best offer is.” She paused, wondering if Jakes inquire was just curiosty, or if it was something he could relate to. “Moving around is the worst when you’re a kid, you think it would be easier to make friends when you’re younger but it really isn’t.” Imogen answered his question, as well as adding in a bit of personal experiance from moving around, it really was never fun, she owed her odd social skills to the fact that she never truely made any real friends growing up. Perhaps she was partially to blame, after a few years it had just gotten to the point she no longer cared to try. It was only in the last few years that Imogen put effort back into making friends. It was difficult for her at first, but the last few months it had become easier. Unbenounced to her, Imogen smiled lightly at the thought of how much she had improved herself in the last while.
“Guessing thats the map to our destination?” She questioned, nodding towards Jakes phone. Though she had been certain from the beginning that Jake knew exactly where he was going, it was a comfort to know they had a map incase. However, getting themselves lost would make for an interesting story. “I haven’t eaten since I woke up, but I think I’m good, thank you,” Imogen smiled a nodded, grateful for the offer. She squirmed in the seat a bit, changing her position a bit give herself more comfort, and also to avoid having her butt go numb. “I think I should tell you, I don’t know how to stay still for long periods of time. Never was one of my specialties.” Now in a comfortable state, Imogen smiled, deciding to turn the conversation around herself. “I gave you a bit of information on me, your turn now.” Despite just moving, Imogen moved again, only this time she turned a bit to face Jake, giving him her full, undivided attention. Only further proving her inability to really stay still, especially when she is more comfortable with her surroundings.
Even without glancing over at Imogen to subconsciously pluck out the sincerity of her words and tone from what was being said and also the way her words registered in her warm eyes, Jake knew that she had caught onto the familiar curl of what he had inquired her about, and he wasn’t sure if it was a positive or a negative thing. Throughout the course of his life, numerous people had commented on his relaxed, yet closed-off demeanor when they brought up a serious topic with him simply to judge his reaction, and Jake had grown to believe it himself. He had always been uncomfortable about admitting to the emotions swirling inside of him, and it didn’t help that the people that supposedly loved and cared about him never asked about his internal matters, always having opted for light talk that lacked in any kind of emotional foundation. Imogen, though, seemed to have cut through the many layers that coated his inner source, quick to notice that there were so many things that he bit back instead of voicing them aloud in the way that he was always there, yet distant. He had only been around the girl a handful of times before, and she was already picking past all of his charades and facades; it was slightly unsettling and unheard of at the same time.
Jake could still feel her narrow eyes lingering on him from beneath the thin frame of her glasses, settled at the very tip of her olive nose, but he attempted to disregard it, pushing himself back into the main wave of their sprawled-out conversation. “Took the words right out of my mouth,” he replied to her rather insightful, though brief, commentary on how difficult making friends was when you’re only a few years of age. Jake hummed in reply, using his thumb and index finger to clutch onto the phone settled in between the two and turn off the display in order to preserve what was left of the battery. “Just in case,” he grinned, his right hand returning to its initial place on the far side of the steering wheel.
“My turn?” He furrowed his eyebrows at her, though the teasing smirk painted across his thin lips seemed to give away his faux confusion. “Alright, alright…,” he agreed to her friendly request, racking his brain for a few things that he could tell Imogen about himself. Jake rolled his slender fingers against the smooth, textured surface as he pondered the many things that he could say, scrunching up his nose in the process for a second or two. “I’m a pretty boring person, so I don’t know how much I can tell you. I don’t want you to fall asleep on me,” he joked, his smile hitching upon his face as a minute chuckle slipped past the cover of his lips. “It’d make for a lonely two hours. Okay, I’m thinking…well, I orienteer after school during the week. Do you know what that is?” Jake paused to inquire, fully aware of the fact that it was a rather neglected activity, and most people didn’t know what orienteering entailed. Jake had even had to explain to his father what it was when he started coming home late in the afternoon on school days, and he still wasn’t too sure if Glen fully understand what kind of club he was involved in at Degrassi, but being the man that he was—which was the not-too-interested-in-anything-at-all kind—he didn’t think too much of it. “I’m a part-time carpenter at my dad’s company…I’m, uh,” Jake laughed, rolling his eyes at the old nickname that had rose to the top of his thought process once again, “I’m what my family considers a woodland creature. I hike, I fish, I do it all. Oh, and I hate this song.” Jake reached over and quickly turned off the radio, the only sounds swirling about in the air engulfing the two teenagers were the rumble of the engine around them and the muffled business that came along with any major road anywhere in the world. “I can’t think of anything else to say.”
