Julian & Callie: Prom Date Drama (backdated)

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Julian goes for an impromptu swim and is rescued by Callie- due to his big mouth, a fight ensues.

OOC: Backdated to Saturday afternoon, due to Ryan being as smart as Homer Simpson.

Callie had developed a system. After several hours of weeding she knew she would become sweaty and gross. And really why she was going to take a shower anyways, she didn't feel it right to subject her fellow mansion dwellers to her unavoidable smelliness. Deodorant could only do so much, and it wasn't like you could spread it on every inch of skin, so a little stench was expected. Still, Callie didn't like it and since there was a pool why not take full advantage of it? So she had taken to wearing a bikini under her clothes, so when she finished her gardening for the day all she had to do was strip off and jump in. And although the water was frigid, only a quick dip was needed to cool her off.

Unfortunately for her, it seemed that she had perspired enough that day to make her shirt stick to her skin. And when she tried to pull it off she became tangled in the sweaty cloth, causing temporary blindness as she struggled to get out.

And, of course, it was in that exact moment, that Julian Keller walked into the hedged off area around the pool. There was only one pink skinned girl that he knew of around the mansion, so with a smirk at her expense he slipped off his flip flops and shed his robe, heading to the edge of the deep end. When he quietly padded past her, he simply said, "Hey Callie."

"You know I can hear you smirking from a mile away, right Julian," Callie asked as at last she managed to free herself from the confines of her shirt and threw it on the ground. The next to go was her jeans before she dived straight into the pool. A few seconds later she emerged and wiped the red hair out of her eyes and fixed them on her friend. "It might be too cold for you."

Julian looked down at her in the water while doing his pre-swim stretches. "But not too cold for you?" In truth, it had been a frigid lately, but a short swim was better than extra hours in the weight room. Hours that he couldn't afford in the face of all the homework being piled on as the semester was winding down. "You're practically turning blue...well, bluish purple I guess."

A few languid strokes later and Callie was at the edge of the pool. She pulled herself up using the side so that she was not standing directly in front of Julian. "I am not. And besides, I've been outside working. I just went for a quick dip to cool off." She smiled before shaking her head, spraying water over the teek. Best give him a taste for the temperature now, seeing as he was probably going to go in anyways.

"And I'm only going in for a little bit, a few laps and then laying out in the mid-may sun." He looked up at the white, puffy clouds in the sky. "You know, back home we'd be in the nineties already- without any rain." With a quick shake of the head Julian dove into the deep end of the pool gracefully. The frigid water a few feet under the surface shocking his system and forcing him back up. "Whoa! Damn, that is cold." It took a lot of control for his teeth not to start chattering.

She turned to watch, arms crossed low across her stomach, where she wrapped the towel she had used to dry off. "What did I tell you? It's alright, I won't tell Angel you couldn't handle the cold."

Of course, had Angel been there the water would have been more than warm enough. "N-n-no, I'm f-f-fine. Just a f-f-few laps." Julian soon discovered the bracing chill that was touching his feet in the deep water was nothing compared to the shallows. 'Just stay in the mixing zone, Keller,' he reminded himself as he swam a few laps back and forth on his back.

"Julian. Out of the pool now," she barked and scrambled to fetch his robe. "You're going to catch hypothermia." Okay, maybe it wouldn't have been that serious, but she could tell that the cold was affecting him. It was still unsafe. "If you don't get out I will dive in there and pull you out myself."

"Callie, I'm-m f-fine, but if you're going to m-make a big deal of-f this..." Julian headed to the ladder and climbed out. The warm, soft robe and sunlight feeling amazing against his skin. The water had inexplicably gotten cooler than it had been a few weeks ago when Esme got pushed in by one of her vindictive sisters. "Good w-w-workout."

While she wasn't completely dry, her quick towel off meant that she was mostly dry. In addition, the sun had helped warm her up, even though her quick dip had not left her as cold as it had Julian. He needed to warm up, and while his robe would keep him from losing any more body heat, and the sun would help, he still needed more. "Come here," Callie said as she walked over to where he was standing and wrapped her arms around him. Hopefully she would be able to transfer some of her body heat to him and he would warm up. "I told you it was too cold."

"Seriously, not th-th-th-that bad." He rolled his eyes, not believing the lie himself. If he'd had the blood to spare for it, he was certain he'd be blushing as Callie shared her heat with him. "Okay, maybe it w-was chilly, but it wasn't this c-c-cold yesterday." The day before this he'd been able to stay in for ten minutes and did thirty laps before the chill got to his bones.

"Unlike in California, nights here get very cold," she explained as she attempted to warm his core. She imagined they were a sight, both of them half naked and her attempting to keep him arm through close body contact. If the Stepfords saw them, Callie was certain there would be a rumor flying around the school about how she was secretly dating Julian behind Angel's back, or how he was fathering her unborn child, or something equally ridiculous. But really, those she could deal with. Her friend killing himself because of macho stupidity, no way.

"Okay, let's keep your mind active. What crazy plans do you have to whisk Angel off of her feet on prom night? Another jet ride?"

"Geeze, you fly a girl around New York in a private jet for dinner just once and all of a sudden everyone is talking." He smiled and shook his head, "Angel and I aren't going together." He let the comment stand, providing her with time to make the incorrect assumption that the couple had split.

Callie's brow knit in confusion and she stared directly at Julian. "Did you... did you two break up?"

Mission accomplished. "Oh, nononono, no," Julian chuckled, pretending he hadn't intended for her to draw that conclusion in the first place. "She's pimping me out for prom night to a lucky young lady."

"That poor girl," Callie shook her head sadly. "I shall have to say an extra prayer for her. Any idea who she is?"

"I shouldn't say, I haven't asked her yet and I don't want you making fun of me if she says no and I end up without a prom date..." a thought crossed into his head. "Hey, if she does turn me down, you and I could go, well, as friends I mean."

"Sorry dude, I would but I'm already going with someone else." She shrugged. "Tell you what though, no matter what happens you have to promise to save me a dance, okay?"

Julian couldn't hide his surprise, "What?" Seeing the look that Callie gave him, Keller quickly switched to damage control mode. "No, I mean, who? There's not exactly a lot of guys around here and I would have thought I'd have heard about this by now."

Callie took a step back and began pulling her hair into a ponytail. "You seem warmed up enough," she commented as she dropped her arms to her sides. "And how do you know it's a guy. I could be going with Karolina. I mean she was looking for a date."

"I assumed because I didn't think you're gay," he paused, floating the pool lounger that held his towel over to himself and grabbing it before letting it gently float back. Drying off his hair, Julian continued, "But the fact you're saying you could be going with her, sort of tells me that you're not."

Eyeroll. He was such a show-off. "Going to prom with another girl doesn't automatically make me gay Julian. She and I are friends just as much as we are. There would be nothing wrong if I went with her." She paused and unwrapped her towel from her waist before pulling it over her shoulders. "But you're right though. I'm actually going with Fred."

Julian paused, the towel covering the confused look on his face. "Fred...Fred who?"

"Fred Dukes. You know, you're roommate?" She sounded exasperated. After all there was only one Fred in the mansion, what other Fred could she have been referring to?

The towel came sliding off his head forward, spilling into his hands in a gentle cascade of poly-cotton blend. "Um...really?" Julian didn't want to sound so surprised, but he was. It just wasn't a match that he'd ever pictured...not that he'd pictured Fred having a date with anyone from around the mansion.

"Or you know I could be hiding my planned lesbian tryst with Karolina," she teased. She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "No Julian. I'm kidding about that one. But I am going to prom with Fred, that much I can guarantee you."

His head tilted to the side and a confused look washed over his face. "Really?" he asked again. As her hands went to her hips, Julian waved off the question, "I'm sorry, Callie, I mean, I just didn't see this coming, you've never mentioned anything about this before. Why Fred?"

"Why not Fred," Callie countered. "I mean he's sweet and nice, and while he's not exactly the best at math he's still smart. He's a good guy."

"Well, yes, but...I don't know, I guess I didn't think Fred could get a date." Julian immediately regretted saying that, "Callie, no, that came out wrong." It was too late, her face was flushing slightly, probably out of embarrassment and anger.

"You can really be a huge jerk sometimes you know that," she asked, her face showing just how annoyed with him she really was. "I'm sorry Julian, you're my friend, but that was totally not cool. Just because he's not super rich and flounces around doesn't mean that he's a good person and stuff. I'm sorry we don't all live up to your high standards."

Julian shook his head, "Come on Callie. If that's really what you think I meant, then you don't know shit about me. You caught me off guard because I never imagined you and Fred going to prom together. Why that is, I don't know." He paused, trying to control his anger, "You're right though- he's a good guy and you're lucky to be going with him. Now how about you cut me some slack for fucksake- yeah, I can be a jerk, but most of the time I don't mean to. This place is completely different than Beverly Hills and I'm still adjusting."

"You don't say stuff you don't mean. You may not have meant it completely, but a part of you did, and that's why you said it." Her glare was stony and cold. She didn't raise her voice, not even a little bit. "And I get that you're not from here, but neither am I. This place isn't like Vermont, nor is it like Italy. But common decency and good manners know no geographic limit. I'm sorry. I'll see you later, I have to go study."

And with that she gathered up her clothes and set off to the mansion as fast as her legs could carry her.