Bread [Private] Jar

Name: Lauren Berman
Age: 18
Personality: A confident and enthusiastic actress, well known for staring in most of the high school's plays. While being considerably popular among her peers she makes it a point to be friends with everyone around her, giving her a reputation of being a kindhearted sweet heart.
Background: Lauren was an intelligent actress with a kind heart who was wellknown in her community. When she met her boyfriend Chet in her junior year of high school at the age of 17 she was intriqued because he was like no one she had ever met. He was dangerous and didn't play by the rules and it excited her. When they started going out at first it seemed like they were the perfect couple. This started to end, however, when a few of her cast mates caught the two of them fighting, leading to him slamming her against the wall. Many of her friends tried to talk her into dumping him until she finally couldn't take it anymore and ran away with him. A year later she shows up pregnant at a Battered Woman's Shelter run by the mother of a boy who she hardly knew at school.
Appearance:

Gabe?

( Sorry. Nerdy distraction has caused me to go " oooo spyro" )

Name: Joshua Kingston

Personality: Josh had always been the quiet one. He was into baseball and did really well. Becoming captain of the highschol team. But he was not one of the typical popular kid. He kept to his studies. He was an honor student and labeled the nerd who could fly. He was rather handsome that was the thing. He was one thing yet he was another. It was almost he liked to contradict the norm.

Background: He always had the deepest of crushes on Lauren. But he was far from her league. If there was such a league away from the jocks and the popular. But his mix with the Nerd shy side always kept him from ever saying hi. He watched her from afar go down hill when she started to date that asshole. The asshole who always tormented him. Calling him a fancy turtle but no matter how much glitter ( being in baseball and bringing home the trophies) you put on he was still a fucking turtle. Josh could have kicked his ass right then and there but he had walked away; the flower he had was for Lauren as a proposal to prom. But...that was out of the question with the asshole deciding to mess with her.

After graduation Josh started college at a great university and worked part time at the women's shelter. And Lo and behold there was Lauren........

(I forgive you ^^ I'll start.)

The cold air felt like needles against her skin as she walked down the street with her hands shoved deeply into her pockets, one finger poking out through a hole. She kept her face down and away from people, though anyone could see she was too thin and pale, sickly and unhealthy. She had gone a long way from who she had been. As the air whipped up around her, sending her hair flying about she looked up and stopped when she saw the faded sign above the building. A tired sigh passed her lips and she stepped forward inside, not only because she wanted a warm place to stay but because she knew that she needed help.

It was getting close to christmas. Snow had already fallen. Josh was at the food cart passing out rations.


" I think this place is wonderful. Not just because of the kindness but because we get this handsome fellow" one older woman kindly flirted. Josh chuckled as he gave her a new pair of mittens. " keep warm." he said.

Lauren stumbled into the shelter, her legs feeling wobbly underneath her. "..." A low throaty groan passed her lips as she moved through, pain shooting through her. She was so tired and hungry, it had been such a long time since she had felt stable. Her stomach was swollen underneath her hands and she finally dropped to her knees just infront of the counter.

Josh gasped as the women fell. He came to her and called for help... He found she was pregnant...

She leaned against someone as the felt hands on her shoulders. Gentle hands, not pressing down into her as if they were going to split her in half. Her head rested insitively on their shoulder and despite everything, the pain she had felt the past year, the pain in her chapped lips she smiled a bit. "You smell familiar..." she whispered softly, because they did. She remembered a letterman jacket somehow, and a person and a face.

Josh thought she was out of it. He layed her down and put a warm thermal blanket on her and put 6 logs into the fire to warm her up. He got some soup and he fed her like a little child. He kept her head up as he fed her, blowing on each spoonful and testing it himself with his upper lip.

Her skin was swallow and unhealthy now, though it was better than the orange bruise around her right eye. Her hair was tangled and matted, so different from the luster it had once been. As he leaned her up in the bed to feed her she sighed softly, noting how easy it was for him, how tiny she had become despite the life she was caring inside her. Her baby was going to die inside her if she didn't die first. The soup felt hot against her throat, though it tasted good and was better than saliva.

Josh had fed her a little. Not wanting to give her a huge amount of food. She was starving. if he gave her tons of food all at once her stomach would expload.

Once he had finished feeding her she looked over at him thoughtfully, though her vision was impaired not only due to the swollen sore around her one eye, but because of she was too exhausted to focus. "I think..." she whispered, trying to keep herself up for a bit longer. "That you were in my math class once.... I lent you a pen but you never gave it back.." And that was all she could say then before she fell asleep.

Josh only shrugged it off. The woman was in bad shape. Once all the women were settled for the night Josh went to his own room.

Lauren slept for most of the night, only waking up now and then from nightmares of her bad decisions. Sometimes she would run on her side and look at the plain grey wall and wonder where she had gone wrong and when her life had ended. Not to mention where she had seen that boy before. Those eyes, that voice, that smell. So familiar yet she couldn't put her finger on it.

Josh had woken up early in the morning to serve breakfast and help the elderly ones with their morning toliettries sich as brushing dentures.

Mrs. Kingston saw the little girl who had been in Josh's class every year during middle school, as well as the girl who Josh ahd unwittingly carried her books for her that one spring when she broke her arm in the 8th grade. It broke her heart to see Lauren as a mere shadow of who she had once been. She helped the girl out of bed and brought her to the shower room where she washed the girl despite her weak protests. She gave her new clothes and despite being dowdy compared to what Lauren had once worn she put them on without voicing any complaint. Once she was dressed Mrs. Kingston brought her to the large dining room where everyone was.

Josh handed out oatmeal and yawned gently.

Lauren was seated at the end of one of the last table where women of all ages quietly talked to one another. Some had been visiting the shelter for years while others were new like she was. She was homeless and a loser now and apparently was also going to have to get accustomed to eating lumpy oatmeal for breakfast from now on.

Josh had given everyone their breakfast. He sat down to relax a bit. It was tiring to do this day in and out ontop of college.

She was looking down at the table when he placed the bowl of oatmeal infront of her with a soft clink as the bowl hit the table. As he walked away she looked away and watched him, curious about him. She knew who he was. When she had been in the bath she had seen the woman's nametag, Deborah Kingston and it made her remember the past and the boy who had been there for her more times than she had realized when she had still been in high school.

Josh yawned once more and grabbed on of his college books and sat down and read.

A math book. Back when she had still been in school math had been one of her stronger subjects. Everyone had told her how much potential she had; her parents, her teachers, her guidance counselors, her friends. Now where was she? Sighing softly to herself she looked away from him and boredly stired the oatmeal around in the bowl until it was too sticky for her to even move her spoon.

Josh sighed as he read his chapter. He didn't really think the new woman looked familiar at all.

(I really don't know what you want me to do. I get that he doesn't notice her but what am I supposed to do about it? She isn't just going to waltz over and sit in his lap. She's a battered woman. She's terrified of men, for the most part.)

( Be patient. Use the time to develop her character. I'm working up suspense and its killing you. I'm trying not to be all " hey lets go romantic and everything will be happy!" I did that too much. I want to work at a different angle. I want to try different style of roleplaying. If I keep doing the same thing it gets boring, yes? Marcus was the only character that I really had a different side to work with. He's one of my more diverse person to work with.)