``braydon parks.

[``braydon parks.]

and you are?
your name: Christopher James. PLEASE, just call me CJ or Ceej.
age: Fifteen.
years of rping: Three.
how'd you find us? Just browsing through sites.

BRAYDON ISAAC PARKS.

full name: Braydon Isaac Parks.
nicknames: Bray, Parks.
age: Nineteen.
birthdate: September 14th.
gender: Male.
sexuality: Straight, he thinks.
wealth status: Middle class.
occupation currently held, if any: Part-time work at Starbucks.
social standing: College Freshman.

let's get physical,

height: 5’10”.
weight: 163 pounds.
hair color: Slightly dirty blonde.
eye color: Pale blue, almost grey.
tattoos/piercings: None.
portrayed by: Mitch Hewer.

physical appearance in depth: Braydon isn't a big man, he wasn't big as a boy and he'll probably never be large in comparison to other people. This said, he isn't a midget nor is he even resemblant of a short person. Standing at 5'10" and weighing in at a healthy weight for that size, 163 pounds, he's generally thought of as an 'in shape' sort of person. This, to him, means being considerably lean, having the faintest outlines of a six pack and being strong enough to get though his every day errands. Braydon isn't a body builder, he isn't out to be toned in every area of his body, but the exercise he does do (whether jogging or going to the gym) leaves him in pretty decent shape. Having more muscular legs than arms and a well formed torso, he rarely complains about body aches and pains. For a man, his built is quite average, however, he doesn't have particularly thick bones or extremely wide shoulders. He's always been very concerned with his health and it shows, for the most part, in things like his even and vital looking skin tone. The only markings that occasionally make his surface look less than perfect are a definite spattering of freckles (which Braydon hates with a fiery passion), a few more than expected moles and his birthmark, on his lower left back. His birth mark is actually quite large, but instead of being a classic purplish colour it is just much whiter than the rest of his skin. It doesn't take any particular shape.

Having an innocent face is usually considered a good thing, an attractive thing, but Braydon has taken his innocent face as a curse. Like most men in the world, he's rather be called hot, handsome or sexy than cute. In fact, he'd rather be called just about any compliment than cute. The word cute is something that should be saved for teddy bears as far as he's concerned, but he always seems to get the almost compliment anyways. It probably has to do with his very subtle and oblique features. Most of his face looks like it was placed very carefully, smoothed out of the side of a rock or something of the sort. Somewhat high cheekbones, a set jaw, pouty lips of a generally bright red colour.... The thing that takes Braydon's face from nearly perfect to just cute, is his nose. It's not exactly terrible, but it certainly isn't one hundred percent straight. Being a bit crooked, it's one of the things about his appearance that he truly hates. On top of it's imperfections, his nose is dotted with a speckling of freckles that drive him absolutely batty.

Of course, the one thing that really causes anybodies face to stand out is their eyes. Surprisingly, for Braydon, his eyes don't really captivate all that much attention after you first meet him. The first time you meet him, it's the sheer size and almond shape of his eyes that makes them important, they add to that innocent look he's carried with him for most of his life. After knowing him for more than a few hours, though, they blend into the background. Having neat eyebrows (at least for a man who has never plucked them) and not too dark eyelashes, he's quite content with his eyes as a whole. In colour, his eyes are outright dull. Despite being a shade of blue, his eyes are such an indistinct shade of this colour that they're usually defined as hazel. This is fine by him, as he's never exactly wanted to be the Ken that fits into Barbie's dreamhouse, but it's not the most exciting thing to look at. His mother always described his eyes as an angry sea, a sort of washed out blue mixed with tumblings of grey. Braydon would rather just have people call them 'hazel' or 'grey'. Luckily for Braydon, he has very good vision, which he's hoping will last despite his tendancy for reading in the dark. The only troubles he really has with his eyes, is getting noticable bags underneath them. Though he sleeps quite well, he still seems to get them very frequently. He guesses this is from all the stress he puts on himself by worrying.

The one thing on Braydon's body that he can actually say he likes, is his hair. It's something that never aches, something that isn't completely boring, something that never goes wrong. Braydon has never been known to have a bad hair day, because he has the type of hair that's just one hundred percent agreeable. In fact, he loves his hair and though he often wishes it wasn't the shade it was, he's come to live with being blond. That hasn't made him like the wheat grass colour of his hair any more than he has to, though. He's always wanted to have dark brown hair. In all other areas, the strands on his head were blessed. He has moderately thick hair, but it doesn't have any sort of tendancy to tangle or fray. This is something that he finds especially helpful in the mornings, because he can do what most other men do and just shake it off with a towel and let it dry normally. Not having particularly soft hair by nature, Braydon happens to use shampoo to try and edge away at the slight roughness his hair has from being a bit thick. Usually, it's very delicate to the touch and at the very least smooth. Saying that Braydon has a hair style is a bit of a stretch, because he doesn't exactly do much to it. For the most part he just let's it fall how it falls around his head, pushing the extra hair out of his eyes when it gets too long and going in for a trim every so often. This lack of need for maintenance is one of the things that he loves most about his hair. It's nice to look good without all the effort of looking good, you know?

Clothing always puts a person's decisions and tastes into light. For Braydon, his clothing is quite suitable of his personality. He's not one to go overboard or do anything risky, he follows either ongoing trends or things that he knows will never go out of style. He's very rarely wearing anything form fitting (though his pants tend to actually be the right size for him) and he's not into bright colours, though that doesn't mean he won't wear the occasional yellow or orange. Dressing for casual occasions is easy for him, but he's not so good with dressing for things like dates or business events. He's just getting into that part of his life, luckily, so he has lots of time to practice. Accessories aren't all that important to him, he'll wear the occasional bracelet, but besides that he stays away from them entirely. He dresses like one would expect a shy person to dress, but lately he's been trying to break out of that pattern. After all, he wants to get into another type of life altogether, so his style will have to change. Overall, Braydon would be one of those people who underestimate themselves. He could definitely get a girlfriend and be part of the in crowd, but his shyness stops him from using his looks to his advantage.

and i'll get to know you,

likes:

• Paperback novels.
  
• Dusk.
  
• Long showers.
  
• Coffee (he prefers it black).
  
• Sudoko puzzles and crosswords.
  
• Having everything in order and in control.
  
• Spaghetti.
  
• Being proved wrong.
  
• Indie music.
  
• Listening to older people talk.
  
• Kids.
  
• Most animals.
  
• Girls in heels.
  
• Anything vanilla-scented.
  
• Technology.
  

dislikes:

• Worrying.
  
• His nervous habits.
  
• Fast food.
  
• Being told he 'can't'.
  
• Stomach aches.
  
• Rodents.
  
• Gasoline odours.
  
• Seattle's weather.
  
• Most rap/pop music.
  
• Falling for pranks.
  
• Not having caffeine.
  
• Waking up early.
  
• Bad cliches.
  
• Being shy.
  
• Not being able to flirt.
  

personality: This is the type of boy that gets overlooked, the one that's generally looked at as a waste of a cute face. Why? Because Braydon Parks is a very shy, very secluded sort of person. This isn't entirely his fault, he didn't have a lot of choice in his interaction during high school and it's been hard for him to make friends, but it doesn't mean he needs to be as shy as he is. He's been somewhat antsy ever since he can remember, all the way back into his kindergarden days. People make him nervous and he's not so great with public speaking or being in the spotlight. He's not a stuttering idiot or anything, it just makes him extremely uncomfortable and he can never find the nerve to say exactly what he's thinking. In this sense, he usually ends up doing the same thing as many before him, just to insure his safety. Mostly, he has a problem showing who he really is to people. Following this, is a ton of nervous energy and worst of all, a big tendancy to worry about things. There is very little that Braydon doesn't fret over, whether it be something as simple as getting an oil change or getting his homework done. He's a high stress individual and sometimes a bit of a perfectionist. Nervous habits accompany his nervous mood, things like lip biting, rubbing at his thighs, scratching, swallowing and other things of the sort. Obviously, this isn't the healthiest thing for Braydon, but he just can't help it. He grew up in a family where just about everybody worried about just about everything and he supposes he inherited it.

There are a few good things that come from Braydon's constant worrying and all his nervous habits. Maybe they don't outweigh the stress that they put on him, but they have helped him to succeed so far in life. Some people say that there is a little thing called 'good stress' which is what drives away laziness. Braydon must have some of this stress too, because he is a very motivated and well thought out person. He's the sort that writes things down on a calendar, that gives himself an extra ten minutes to get ready or to account for traffic, that is always exactly on time or there just the tiniest bit early. The reason for this isn't always because he worries about being on time though. Occasionally, he'll set himself up to arrive places early because of his pessimistic (some would say realist) outlook on life. He always takes into account the worst things that could happen and assumed that they will happen, so he plans ahead just in case they do. It's somewhat ridiculous and a bit depressing, but he's never really been told to 'look on the bright side' and so he just does whatever he thinks will cause him to succeed, taking the rules of the world into account.

Smart, is a word that could be applied to Braydon. He didn't get to Seattle without a little bit of help from scholarships (along with his reluctant parents of course). Throughout his school years he got great grades, mostly due to a high amount of dedication to school work. But, he couldn't have maintained his A average without a little bit of natural intelligence, something that Braydon certainly has. He's particularly good at science and theory, liking to work things out and play with possibilities in his head. As far as weak spots go, he's always been horrible with social studies because the subject bores him to tears. Luckily, he's now in college and doesn't have to deal with any of that anymore. Unfortunately, whilst being a smart boy, Braydon doesn't have all that much common sense. He wishes he could say he did, but he just lacks any real knowledge of people, how people interact, how they feel. Most of the time he just tries his best to relate and mix in, to understand what makes a trend or why people like certain things, but he never really knows. Obviously, his social skills are lacking, but he still tries his best. It's not like he can't hold up a conversation, he just isn't completely aware of what can and can't be brought up.

This in mind, you aren't meant to think that Braydon doesn't know wrong from right. He has a strict moral code, probably a lot better than most peoples, possibly even higher than religious expectations. His parents always laid a very harsh set of rules down for him, revolving around the law and making everything even slightly dangerous out of the question. He knows when he should and shouldn't do things and he very rarely crosses the lines set, the idea is actually a bit frightening to him, so you couldn't exactly say that he's the type to 'walk on the wild side'. The biggest reason for this law abiding nature isn't because he wants to be a golden boy or always follow the rules, it's because he's a very gullible person by nature. Listening to just about anything people tell him, he's well known for falling into practical jokes, getting pinned for things he didn't do and making stupid mistakes. It's a pity that such a smart person never stepped up to take the role as a leader and instead let's people boss him around. But, that's exactly what Braydon does, he follows the herd like a sheep and allows other people to tell him what to do.

It's somewhat clear that Braydon isn't the type of man to get into fights, to start fights or to even try to break up fights. He's a passive being by nature and he's actually never thrown a punch (though he won't pretend he hasn't thought about it once or twice). To him, fighting is just a great way to have people hate him and also to get injured, which is the absolute last thing he wants to do. Braydon fears fighting like it's the plague, whether the abuse be verbal, physical or sheerly mental through bad vibes, he tries never to act negatively towards other people. Of course, there will always be people that he just absolutely loathes, but he keeps this to himself and suffers silently for the better of all the people around him, as well as himself. Because of this he rarely has a reason to get in a fight, but he has been in a situation where he's needed to stick up for himself and that didn't end very well. Most of the time, when he is confronted with a problem he can't get away from, he'll try to talk his way out of it. Braydon has a surprisingly quick mouth and knows how to manipulate people to a certain extent, if he were to use this ability more he may actually be able to learn how to control people. But of course, Braydon hasn't done that sort of thing thus far. If that doesn't work.... he generally tries to run.
Never gotten in a fight in his life, can usually talk his way out of it and usually doesn't have a reason to get into arguements.

Cute, it's a word that has haunted Braydon for as long as he can remember. Every boy dreads the word, it's just not something that you want to be called. Hot, sexy, handsome, buff.... any of those compliments would have been greatly appreciated, but cute was more a blow to a man's ego than a boost. Braydon has always taken this constant compliment as another way of girls calling him ugly, or saying that he isn't the sort of person they'd want to date. This has taken a big chunk of his dating potential away, since he no longer has that attractive confidence that really makes women believe in a man. He doesn't think that's he's good looking and so he rarely tries to hit on women, when he does occasionally make an attempt at flirting it's usually intensely pathetic. Stumbling over words, mixing things up or just being flat out unoriginal are problems of his, but it all comes down to a lack of confidence. Lately he's been realizing his attractiveness more and more, which has been making it easier for him to be around women, but it still isn't a simple matter for him. On top of that, Braydon is a virgin, but that's usually to be expected upon meeting him. He's only dated a few girls in his lifetime and when it comes to sex he's actually quite naive about the entire business, due to the overprotectiveness of his parents.

All of this is going to end, though. Braydon no longer wants to be a wallflower, no longer wants to be a virgin, no longer wants to sit confused when people talk about being drunk or getting high. As he melds into the college scene more, reflecting back on his high school years, he realizes that he's missed out on a lot of things. All the parties, having huge groups of friends, everything that people would reflect back on at their ten year reunion. Now that he's in college and everybody else is maturing, becoming more like him in fact, he really just wants to go the other way. Braydon is making big plans to change himself into something else, to have fun, to get drunk, to get laid... He wants to meet people that are going to spice up his boring, secluded life, break him out of his shy shell and show him a good time. It's going to take a lot of work and it's going to be scary as heck at first, but Braydon is prepared for that. So prepared.

[/size]

[``braydon parks.]

a little bit better,

history in depth: Braydon Parks was born into a financially stable family, a family that had already gone through the strains of having one child and had absolutely no trouble accepting another into their midsts. In fact, Braydon's conception may have been an accident, but it wasn't a complete mistake. The young couple of Cameron and Melissa Parks had always planned on having a second child, it was just the timing that was off. By the time the nine month mark hit, Braydon's room-to-be was already prepared, his mother had already hired a nanny for his elder brother and things were looking good. Born at 11:09 AM on September 14th, his name had already been decided for him. Braydon Isaac Parks, named after his Uncle Isaac. His early childhood was equipped with a baby blue bedroom and all the soothers his heart desired, along with a tentative mother. However, even as a young child he didn't see too much of his father. Being a pilot, Cameron Parks was frequently in and out of the house. Braydon never really minded this as much as his older sibling Maverick did, he was perfectly fine with his mother, older brother and by the time he was old enough to begin talking, his younger brother as well. Cordell Parks was born two years after Braydon and with that, the Parks family was complete.

Preschool and kindergarten were pretty normal for Braydon. He showed a supreme interest in dinosaurs, veered away from insects and predictably thought that all girls had 'cooties' and were to be avoided. Grade one followed about the same pattern, a regurgitating of information that Braydon caught onto quite quickly. The boy was certainly no genius, but he remembered facts well and tended to be very dedicated to his studies, if only because he wasn't as distracted by other things as most children were. Elementary school was where Braydon's real personality shone through. Though he was never a highly timid person, he wasn't extremely outgoing and tended to hesitate when showing his opinions or performing in front of groups. Maybe being the middle child was a part of it, maybe he just had a few bad experiences. As he got farther through elementary school he loosened up a bit, especially with the aid of his older brother and even his younger (highly outgoing) sibling. While Braydon never fought with his siblings, being the most passive of the group, his two other brothers fought viciously. This put him in the eye of his mother, who made it a point to pamper him for setting a good example. During his elementary years and all the way through middle school, Braydon was very close to his mother. This probably didn't do wonders for his social standing, but it was a fact for him.

Nothing really rocked Braydon's world until he was in his last year of middle school, aged thirteen. His older brother had just gotten into high school and was earning his freedom as a teenager. Maverick wanted to be alone more and more often, spent more time with his friends, went to a reasonable amount of parties, but he was never a bad kid and he definitely wasn't the sort to go around asking for trouble. It was a perfectly normal night, the last night he saw his brother. When his older sibling went out it was seven o'clock and at ten o'clock Braydon headed to bed. When Braydon woke up in the morning, everybody else was already awake, his father was gone and his mother had retired into a pathetic heap on the couch. All he ever got to know about the events of that evening was that his older brother had been killed in a car crash. Most of the reactions that Braydon had were muddled, for a good couple months he'd cry without a reason, spent a lot of time in bed, skipped a lot of school. It wasn't he or his younger brother that took the loss of Maverick the hardest, though, that title was held by his parents. Both of them, scared to lose another son, started setting much harder regulations for both Braydon and Cordell. They had a very early curfew, nine o'clock, certain friends weren't acceptable, school became the top priority. Braydon, not really having that many friends and being generally dedicated to his studies anyways, didn't have as much of a problem with the rules as his younger brother did.

As the year came to a close, things started to stir in the Parks' house. Cordell, finally over the death of his eldest brother, began to take more notice to the restrictions that were being set. Despite the fact that Cordell was only twelve and Braydon was fourteen and in high school, the youngest brother started to act out first. He wanted to know why his parents were setting so many rules for them that their friends didn't have, broke a lot of the boundaries that their parents set, purposefully got grounded for week son end. This put Braydon even more into his parents eyes, making them appreciate how quiet and sensitive to their feelings he was. Throughout high school there were a lot of things that Braydon wanted to try, but he was scared to do so because he believed he would get in trouble from his parents. As time went on, he gave up on making new friends, getting dates and going to parties. Though he went to a few bashes in his younger high school years, he missed out on all the drinking that happens in junior and senior year. Dating only a few girls, though he certainly could have done better, most of his high school life was wasted with school work and trying to please his parents.

Graduation came all too fast for Braydon. Still unsure of what he wanted to do and having no idea in what direction he wanted to take his life, he took his honour roll certificate and his heft A average and let the scholarships roll in and the applications roll out. There wasn't too much difficulty in finding a college for him, since he was quite a smart boy and so dedicated to his studies, he had a lot of options open. Finally deciding to get into biology, he started narrowing down his options for college. The idea of moving away scared him a bit, since he'd been so pampered throughout most of his childhood he wasn't sure how well he'd deal with being by himself. But, what really made him nervous was how involved his parents seemed to be with his decision making and how invasive they were in his life. As he made applications to numerous colleges and started narrowing down where he wanted to go, they seemed to be going right along with him. They'd constantly tell him not to go too far away from home, point out the dangerous cities, give him safety precautions. When he started looking at colleges in places as far away from California as Seattle, they freaked. It came to the point where they were blatantly telling him he couldn't go and that bothered Braydon more than anything. How could they say he wasn't allowed? Stewing in his decision for awhile, he tried to reason with them, but to no avail. He knew that the best college for him wasn't anywhere close to home. He also knew that if he didn't get away now, he might never get away.

As his eighteenth year drew to a close and his time to decide on a college was dwindling, Braydon finally showed his rebellious streak. On a sudden decision, he packed up all his things, threw them ina bag and headed off to Seattle without so much as a goodbye (though he did leave a very long explanatory note with his younger brother). The plane ride was long and for Braydon most of it was spent worrying, but he knew that it was about time for him to break out of his little 'golden boy' mold and become something he hadn't been before. Somebody who was independant, who could talk to people, who could fit in everywhere. Sick of being a wallflower, he ignored his parents pleas for him to come back to California and got an apartment near his college campus. Writing back and forth to his younger brother using email (and Facebook, too) he's been making plans to see the other for some time, figuring he can come up to Seattle. The last thing he wants to do now, though, is to go back to California, scared he'll get pulled back into the little cage his parents were trying to keep him in. Getting into university was easy for Braydon and his classes, so far, have been going smoothly... but he's found that he has a few more things he wants to check out now that he's here. Thinking back on his high school years he's realized that he's been missing out on a lot, especially in all the partying areas. Finding that he wants to experiment with a lot of these things, he's now looking for a few people to show him the ropes, looking for places to get drunk, to get stoned. He figures it's about time, right?

addictions: Caffeine, Braydon is crazy about it. If he doesn’t get his venti black coffee in the morning he looks terrible for the rest of the day and spends most of it trying to blink himself awake. It’s a habit that started back when he was fourteen years old and he had to take a long bus ride early in the morning to his private school. Besides that, however, Braydon doesn’t do much of anything that could be called an addiction. He wishes he did, though. He's always wanted to try out smoking, drinking and drugs, now that he's in college his chance has finally come.

criminal record: Braydon, a criminal record? You’re kidding, right? Besides a few issues with his driving (a car crash a couple months after he got his N), Braydon is hardly considered in existence by the police. The title ‘Golden Boy’ kind of fits him that way. He had a lot of friends that had huge criminal records, but they usually kept him out of that stuff. Maybe one day he'll show up on some sort of accomplice list?

aspirations: Braydon longs to try the things he missed out on, to be part of a new group of people, to fit in better than he does now. Looking back on his high school years, he realizes that most of them were wasted buried in books. Only now is he starting to realize a lot of things about himself (his attractiveness, for example) and his curiousity has finally peaked. While most people are settling down, Braydon has only one basic desire; to party. Go out, get drunk, get laid. Sounds like every man’s dream, right?

than before,

the family:

• Cameron Parks, 48, airplane pilot. He and Braydon used to get along wonderfully, especially because Braydon proved to be an easy to care for sort of son, not like his older brother was. Now that Braydon is taking off to college in some unknown city and leaving his family behind, without so much as a 'thankyou', the man's a bit ticked off. Especially because of the effect it has taken on his wife. Though they're still on speaking terms everything is tense.
  
  
• Melissa Parks, 47, dental assistant. Braydon's always been a mommy's boy and it shows whenever the two of them are together. She's that fretting, panicky mother that wishes for the best in her children... and so prevents them from doing just about anything that can be considered fun. She wasn't always like this, but after the death of Braydon's older brother, she became extremely overprotective of him and his still younger brother. At the moment, she's worried about him off in Seattle by himself and wishing he'd give up his desperate plea for independance. But... that's just not going to happen.
  
  
• Cordell Parks, 18. Brothers aren't always expected to get along, but Cordell and Braydon are actually a pretty good pair. They've grown up with parents that didn't exactly give them a lot of freedom, so they spent a lot of time together. Cordell's taken Braydon's leaving for college pretty well, even though his parents are being extra clingy ever since. Braydon's been suggesting that his little brother comes and lives with him once he's out of high school. Frankly, after all this time apart, Braydon can't wait to see the little guy he used to give noogies to.
  
  
• Maverick Parks, deceased at 14. A year older than Braydon, Maverick's death affected and changed the entire structure of the Parks family. The two brothers had always been pretty close, but once Maverick got into his freshman year of school it was clear he wanted some space. Though Braydon never knew exactly what caused the death of his older brother at such a young age, he does know that he ended up missing out on a lot over high school because of it. The fact of the matter is that Maverick was killed by a drunk driver, which basically spurred his parents' overprotective behaviour.

pets: Though Braydon is very fond of animals, he's found that keeping a dog in his small one room apartment would be... challenging, to say the least. He figures he'll have to wait until he's done college to get another dog, otherwise he just wouldn't be able to give it the attention it deserves. Over the years he's had numerous canines, but as far as other animals go, he isn't as keen. Cats = hairballs. Rodents just freak him out and whenever he thinks of reptiles, all he imagines is a bunch of frightened girls running around his apartment building.

anything else: All finished up!

---

There was something uniquely frustrating about today, something that he hadn't experienced in a long time, that he couldn't remember being part of his life since he'd left his home in California. Before today, nothing had gone wrong, nothing had shown up to disturb the ongoing peace that had developed since he came to Seattle. It had all felt like the right decision had been made, like his last minute trip to the city, like his apartment, his job and his college choice were all perfect. Nothing had really, truly gone wrong and while he'd been severely stressed out, there hadn't been a true and clear reason for it. He'd been loving life, in fact. Today was different, today was a flash back from California, the warnings his parents had given him compiled into one big, nasty, putrid mess. They'd told him he'd run out of money, that he'd be lonely, that he wouldn't be able to make friends, that his grades would suffer, that he'd have issues trying to do his laundry... and of course, they'd told him the big event that was happening today was going to come about. They had most certainly informed him that his car was going to break down. Not something small, either. Not a muffler falling off or a flat tire. They'd mentioned engine failure and problems with the suspension. He guessed, even though he didn't want to admit it, that his folks were right.

When his car had broken down on the way home from work, he'd nearly started swearing, but that wasn't exactly characteristic of Braydon. He wasn't the sort of guy to go around dropping f-bombs and scaring small children, but he wasn't past a few curses when he was feeling some extreme tension. Since he'd been quite tired this morning and he'd been hoping to get in a nap before he went to his evening classes at college, he'd been feeling some pretty strong emotions when his car decided to call it quits. Instead of getting angry, however, he'd turned on his emergency lights, carefully stepped out of his car on one of the busier streets in the city and then taken a long, deep breath. Everything was bound to work out, it had to, because he just wouldn't have had it anyway. Experience proved to be on Braydon's side when he moved to get his car onto a side street after calling for a tow truck. His car during his last couple years of high school (once his parents had let him get one, of course) had been old and loved to break down on main streets. It took him a very small amount of time to get his car in park safely on the side of the road, even without any help. Then it had just been a matter of sitting on his hood and waiting for the tow truck to arrive. When he'd gotten there, they negotiated price and he managed to get his car hauled to the nearest garage. Still, despite how flawless it had been to get the car to the auto shop, the after care hadn't been quite that way.

Braydon had been to the auto garage a few times over his currently short stay in Seattle, once for an oil change and a few other times for some minor problems. The thing that was bothering him the most when he walked into the front office of the shop was that his car was so new, yet experiencing all these problems. Braydon had only had his Honda Accord for about eight months now, which certainly couldn't be considered a very long time. The blue car had been expected to run a lot longer without problems like this, but he guessed that things didn't always go as planned. Sitting at the front counter and filling out forms was somewhat calming for Braydon, but then they had to start talking prices again. "Two thousand? You're serious.... Alright. So you have the part here already then, just have to change it? Okay. No... I don't think the car company will cover it, but it is on warranty still...." he edged his words out carefully as the price was settled, but he knew one dreaded thing as he walked out of the office, letting them get to work on the car. It was possibly the worst thing he could do at the time, especially since he'd only been in the city for less than a month, especially because rent for his apartment was coming up in just a few weeks. But the deed had to be done, he had to call his parents, he had to call them and ask for money. Enough to cover at least half of the repairs, maybe more, since he had to pay rent.... They were already giving him money, to pay for college stuff, at the very least.

Asking for money made him feel considerably dirty, the thought of calling them just to beg for a few thousand dollars was so wrong. How should he approach it? "Hi Mom, how are you? Oh I'm great.... Can I borrow a few thousand dollars? Or more... have a few thousand dollars?" Or should it be more... "Hi Dad, yes, you were right, I did run into problems, I miss you and I'm sorry for leaving California. I admit that you know what's best for me... Can I have a few thousand dollars to fix my car?" He wasn't even sure if those would work, wasn't sure if his parents would automatically give him the money or if they'd just worry about him. Then again, he knew that his mother would give in, she always did, she wouldn't want him stranded in Seattle without a car. His father on the other hand... Braydon had a feeling that his old man would just be mad, mad but laughing at his son on the inside, he supposed. Sighing as he came outside into the fresh air again, cellphone open in his hand, he wrinkled up his nose in distaste. Staring at the number on his cellphone that read 'home', he groaned. "I really, really, REALLY don't want to call," was spoken to nobody in particular, back thudding against the outside wall of the auto garage, eyes closing for a second as he slumped to the ground, defeated. Why did Seattle have to be so cruel?