The Red Pants

[lindsayfontana]

((ooc: The title is rather silly (and not lyrics from Mumford & Sons) but it sounded better than the red trousers or whatever so there you have it. Lindsay is ready for Zac Emma if you still want him to join/meet her. ;D And anyone else is welcome to join Lindsay as well.))

Lindsay loved her red sweatpants. They were cut off above the knee because she had grown too tall for them years ago, with white stripes running down the sides. They didn’t define or show off her cute bum in any way. Admittedly they were all around terrible, but she loved them. She loved their soft cottony touch, the way the cotton had worn down over the years to resemble bunny fur, and she remained amazed at how the brick red colour of the trousers hadn’t faded, or how the white stripes had stayed white rather than turned a pale pink or dismal grey. These were the pair she grabbed each morning at the crack of dawn the day before a big race.

Lindsay was a runner outside of Hogwarts. Inside she ran for fun but every Hogsmeade weekend Lindsay would take off from her friends a few hours early to participate in a cross country race. Originally Lindsay had been a sprinter. She was fast, and everyone knew it. She wasn’t the brightest girl in the world, but as she liked to say, running isn’t a difficult sport, all you have to do is put one foot in front of the other.

It was on this morning that she sat and stared at the now slightly tattered red cloth in her hands. To be fair it wasn’t even morning yet, it was still dark outside. If Lindsay was expected to climb the social latter it might be time to say goodbye to the red sweatpants. With a heavy sigh she pulled them on and ran out the door and onto the streets of Hogsmeade as a dewing dawn began to crest over the horizon.

She had been running for an hour and 45 minutes by the time she was nearing the end of her run. Lindsay felt she could go an especially long distance today as she neared the basketball courts. It was then that a glare off one of the buildings distracted her. She looked sideways at it not really paying attention to where she was going, but when did she ever. It was not a building but instead a sparkling gold dress displayed in one of the shop windows. She admired the golden specimen and giggled to herself how it reminded her of the Oscars.

Though Lindsay was supremely gifted in the art of ‘clumsy’ she also had very keen peripheral vision. Feeling as though something was encroaching upon her personal space she snapped her head forward only to realize it was a fence, a second too late. Her eyes only had time enough to widen in shock and within seconds she found herself lying flat on her backside. To be fair she was lying in a weird sprawled position on the pavement in her attempt to catch herself. She had slammed right into the mesh fence surrounding the basketball courts and like one of those ridiculous cartoons went sailing to the ground, she may have even bounced a little.

Lindsay made a noise that sounded halfway between a groan and a sigh as she picked herself up, slowly propping herself onto her elbows and began rubbing the back of her head. “Ouch,” she breathed feeling utterly mortified seeing as there was at least one witness to her complete obliviousness.

((ooc: Alright this really is novel-length now, sorry, but I thought it might be easier for you if I added the bit about Lindsay being thrown to the ground? hehe. Feel free to laugh at her, though Zac would probably be too nice. ))

[Zac Bennett]

"Good game guys!" Zac enthused to his friends and housemates - Zeke, Chad and Ryan - as they finished up their little 2-on-2 basketball match and ran to the side of the court to grab their sports bags and bottles of water. "Hey man, awesome, really, you've been practicing that guarding, yeah?" he commented to Zeke as he clapped him on the shoulder in a friendly manner. Soon, talk began of getting some breakfast somewhere in Hogsmeade before they had to go to work; they'd learnt eating out really was the best option as none of them were particularly gifted at cooking for themselves. Zac was marginally better at managing to cook pasta but that's where the culinary delight stopped. "You guys go ahead, I'll see you back at home later, I think I'm gonna stay a bit longer and practice some layups," he explained as he took a swig of water and held a hand up in a 'bye' as they echoed the sentiment and left in a group.

Retrieving the basketball from where it had rolled to a halt Zac soon dribbled it idly, swapping between hands as he considered the hoop in front of him. Since graduation he'd been coaching basketball at his local sports centre and also helped out with the children's classes in swimming, running and such that the centre organised with local primary schools - satisfying, true, but not exactly matching up with Zac's dreams to play pro basketball. He was on an amateur team with his housemates and they were making their way easily up the league; all of which was a start, as Zac often had to remind himself. Shaking off these thoughts he approached the hoop for a layup shot and hooked the ball round into the net, darting off after it as it fell through the hoop and rebounded off a stone, sending it spinning to the side of the court. Sprinting to it he stopped it with his right foot and bent to retrieve it which was when he looked up and noticed a blonde girl running past in the street. She seemed to have been distracted by the display in one of the shop windows or, at least, Zac assumed she wasn't planning her run to include a detour into the fence of the basketball court.

"Watch out!" Zac called out to the girl he'd been watching, the slightly bemused smile slipping off his face as his warning was unheeded and she ran straight into the fence. Abandoning the basketball he ran along the court to the doorway and hastened to the girl's side, just as she was trying to pick herself up from the uncomfortably sprawled position she'd landed in. "Wow that looked painful, are you okay?" Zac asked as he squatted down beside the blonde whilst she rubbed the back of her head.

((ooc: Sorry that not much happens for how long this post is, haha, it seems I've mostly forgotten how to write as ickle Zaccykins! Although I have just realised he's not that ickle anymore since he should be 20!))

[lindsayfontana]

Lindsay peered up at the boy, he had the most brilliant blue eyes. “My body or my pride?” she asked playfully. “Other than utter humiliation I think I’ll be fine,” she smiled at him. She then quickly pushed herself onto her feet and stood up, perhaps a bit too hastily. The world felt like it was spinning for all of five seconds and she took a step back to steady herself.

“I’m good,” she reassured him with two thumbs-up once the dizzy spell had passed. “Wow, I am a complete dork,” she laughed at herself, “Blame it on the head trauma.”

“So,” she started as if to fill the awkward void, “What is your name basket-ball jersey wearing rescue man?” she asked him as a bright smile lit up her face.

((ooc: Hehe I loved it! Zac is wonderful!))

[Zac Bennett]

Zac couldn't help but grin at her playful joke, "Well... I was meaning mostly your body but I guess your pride is at stake here too," he agreed with a casual shrug of his shoulders. "Nah, come on, I'm the only one who really saw it," he assured her as he too straightened, starting forward slightly as though to catch her as she stepped backwards, clearly dizzy.

As she claimed she was okay, "You sure?" he checked, looking concerned, before he shook his head with an easy laugh at her words, "No, not a complete dork and, hopefully, no head trauma either," he teased lightly as he ran a hand through his hair unconsciously, complete force of habit of his.

Looking faux-impressed, "Huh... well now, you know I think I like your impromptu nickname for me more than my actual name but, you know, don't tell my mum or she'd be terribly offended," Zac smiled easily at her and then said, "It's Zac, Zac Bennett. And how about you, Miss... Unfortunate Collision With Basketball Fence Whilst Going For A Run, what's your name? I mean I could call you that, if you like, but it'd be a mouthful really."

((ooc: Aww thanks, haha, it'll take a while for me to get used to writing as him again but I'll try!))

[lindsayfontana]

She laughed as he asked if she was sure. “Well that’s a relief,” she grinned at him, “Yes, that would be a pity really, considering I need the brain cells I do have,” she said playfully.

“Nice one,” she complimented his naming skills, “Though really if it were a nickname I am not so sure I would want to be called Miss Unfortunate. Yours on the other hand would be much more complimentary, Rescue Man,” she joked, “Lindsay Fontana,” she smiled at him. Lindsay hadn’t put two and two together yet and connected Zac with her idol Ally Bennett, and to be honest she probably wouldn’t until she came face to face with the girl. She was a goddess in Lindsay’s mind, Ally could do no wrong.

“Seeing as the fence has stopped my forward momentum and I now realise that I am starving want to go get a proper breakfast? My treat in payment for your chivalry?” she teased making the word chivalry sound dramatic as though it were the biggest feet in the world and then giggled light-heartedly. Lindsay always ate before she went running, but it was always a small meal such as a yogurt, or a granola bar and an apple.

((ooc: Hehe you're welcome and I still think it's lovely, I too am still sorting out how to write for Lindsay.))