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Wes woke up in the back seat of his limousine, half a glass of Dom Perignon in the cup holder next to him. Stirring, he checked his phone and saw it was only 7am. Only 2 hours had passed since he had dropped Amethyst off back at the Honey Pot and fallen asleep. Sweeping a hand through his hair, he reminisced on his night with his lovely Amethyst, remembering their wonderful dinner and the look on her eyes when he brandished his gift for her. No doubt she absolutely loved it. Even if she protested a few times at first, he still got his way in the end. With a sigh, he took the glass of wine and downed it, only to be hit with a strange craving: coffee. It was his birthday, so he couldn't afford to be tired right now. It was a family tradition to party as hard and as long as you could on events like this!

Tapping a button beside him, he rang up the driver in the front seat, who was also probably sleeping. "Marty, wake ye ass up! I needs me some coffee right now. I ain't gonna be sleepin' all day." his voice rang through an intercom, jolting the driver up from his nap. Not a moment later, the limo's engine roared to life and started off. In the meantime, Wes lounged in his seat, grabbing a remote and turning on a TV that flipped down from the ceiling. From a compartment underneath his seat, he pulled out the bulky form of an original Xbox controller, and, being the retro gamer he was, started up a game of the Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Nothing began the morning like the riveting and unique landscape of Vvardenfell. Sure, the graphics were dated, but that did nothing to stop the nostalgic feelings.

"See that's why I don't fuckin' roll Khajit. I ain't about that skooma life." the purple hair man muttered to himself. A few minutes later and Wes had already murdered a cat-like humanoid after trying to steal a key from its inventory. Unfortunately, his Redguard Battlemage's Sneak skill wasn't high enough and he had failed his pickpocket check, which prompted the skooma-addicted Khajit to attack him. He spent another minute simply smacking the fallen miscreant's body around with his character's long sword.

"Sir, we've arrived." his driver called back. Without so much as saving his game, Wes threw his controller onto the seat and headed out the limo's door. Marty had taken him to his favorite local, organic coffee shop. Unfortunately, by the looks of it, there was a rather long line. This man didn't wait for nobody though! Striding in, the first thing he noticed was a fine looking blonde woman with an ass so plump and juicy that he immediately wanted to make a feast out of her. 'Mm! Breakfast! were the words that went through his head before he threw an around her waist. Sure, Amethyst was the love of his life, but he wasn't the faithful sort of man. Being the assertive man he was, he walked the girl and himself to the front of the line. "Outta the way. Birthday boy coming through!" he called, clearing a path for himself and his forced companion. Most of the patrons did as they were told, knowing exactly who the man was.

"Okay, lemme get a large caramel frappuccino with those little chocolate flakes and lots of whip cream. Actually, make the chocolate flakes spell out 'Happy B-Day, Wes'. And sprinkles. That's always a nice touch, y'know? Oh, and get little miss blondie here whateva she wants. She's a VIP today, y'know?" Wes ordered, making a simple order needlessly complicated. For once, he wasn't wearing his sunglasses and his hazel eyes glared at the woman's form. The blonde didn't have much of a chest, but she was definitely no butter face. In fact, he'd go so far to say she was pretty damn cute, especially in that floral dress of hers. His signature cheesy grin flashed onto his face in greeting, squeezing her waist in an attempt to say that everything was going to be all right.

"You looks like a real sweet girl. How'd you like to spend the day with me, sweetheart? I'll treat you like you never been treated." He told the blondie as their drinks were being prepared, leaning against the counter like he owned the place. The Underboss stared at her alluringly and silently hoped to bring her onto the magical adventure that was his birthday.

_@BlueAjah

The nice, light feel of the coffee shop’s music enlightened Claire’s mood as she waited in the never ending line for her coffee. Tapping her foot, she continuously checked the time on her phone. Claire had never been tardy in her entire life and she refused to start ruining her record now. There was still a solid 45 minutes left and it seemed as though another employee had started working for the line was already beginning to quicken.

Thoughts of the night before drifted into Claire’s mind. The fact that Sophi disliked her was absolutely gnawing at her mind. All she was trying to do was to be helpful and kind, worthy of being her friend. Was it something she possibly said? Claire understood how much stress she was going through, suddenly taking full responsibility of five children was a lot to handle. Perhaps if she gave her a gift of some kind? Lotion was always a good backup and Sophi’s skin did seem a little dry. Perfect! Pulling out her planner, Claire made plans to go shopping after her volunteering at the Red Cross. It might also be a great way to spend time with Riley after two failed attempts yesterday.

To: Riley @lovely complex
Good Morning! <3 Want to come shopping at the mall with me around 6 tonight?

After pressing the send button, conversation within the coffee shop seemed to diminish and all eyes were staring directly behind Claire. The once calm and serene atmosphere of the coffee shop had dramatically changed. Raising her eyebrow, she turned around and found the town’s own ‘prince’ and eldest of the Harmon family, Wesley. Some days were just simply meant to go wrong from the start.

The man’s eyes shown an eager need of hunger as they latched onto her. A shiver rippled through her body as he looked her up and down. Hundreds of rumors surrounded Wesley and while she had never met him before, she’d heard enough stories to get a pretty good idea of who he was and he was not someone she wanted to be hanging around. Wesley approached Claire and without even saying a word to her, threw his arm around her waist and began escorting her to the front of the line. Claire’s eyes widened and her face burned bright pink with embarrassment. The dress she was wearing suddenly felt too short. People in line simply stepped out of the way as Wesley told them to, although several of them gave her dirty looks when he wasn’t looking.

Wesley gave the poor barista an impossible order and Claire couldn’t help but feel completely helpless. Who was she to tell one of the richest family’s eldest to back off? While they lived in the same neighborhood, Claire’s family made nothing compared to Harmon family. He was not the person you wanted to make enemies with. Wesley looked to her and claimed she could order whatever she liked but Claire couldn’t even bring herself to speak. Part of her was screaming to simply order something and just walk away but she knew this was all wrong. Wesley’s touch was extremely unwelcomed and if he moved down even an inch lower, he’d be touching her bottom. If Riley even saw her, what would he think? While falling in love was on her bucket list, cheating was not. Not even his attempted flashes of grins could persuade her to listen to him. Taking a deep breath, Claire reminded herself who she was. Claire Evansworth didn’t let rich men walk all over her like she was made of paper.

Politely, Claire removed Wesley’s around her waist and showed a slight smile. “Look, I’m really sorry if I gave off the wrong idea but I’m currently in a relationship with someone else. I hope you have a great birthday though but instead of skipping in line, perhaps you could flatter everyone by purchasing their coffee? I have class at the academy soon so I must be going.” Claire tucked in her hair and turned to leave the coffee shop, begging the man wouldn’t follow her. From her her hands shaking uncontrollably, Claire wasn’t sure she could handle another conversation with him.

@Viciousmarrow

The fridge came open and Jeremiah poked his head into it. Nope, still empty just like yesterday. Well today was a grocery day that was for sure. Looking at the list on the refrigerator he frowned a bit. Monday was a ways off, and while he certainly had work tomorrow maybe he could find some time between now and then for him to see Nana. Then again she certainly worked an awful lot.

Opening the refrigerator again he sighed as there was still nothing worth eating for breakfast in the refrigerator. It looked like breakfast was going to have to be eaten out of the house today. When he’d driven into town the day before it appeared that there had been a Diner off the main drag. Something along the lines of The Queen’s Orchid. The name dug at the back of his mind like it meant something but he filed away for further questioning.

Retrieving his handgun from the small safe located on his nightstand he put on his gun belt and the Sheriff badge before he headed for the door. The house was rather small; it had a single master bedroom and a guest bedroom. The entry way let out into the dining room and kitchen on the left and one of the two bathrooms in the house on the right side as well as the door to the garage. Behind the kitchen was a living room which let out into the back yard via a sliding glass door. Across from the living room was a second hallway which lead to the master bedroom and guest room as well as the master bath.

Jeremiah paused as he unlocked the front door. Turning back he quickly crossed the dining room and snagged the list from the refrigerator. Opening the door to his garage he unlocked the white unmarked patrol car and climbed into it. Pausing he took stock of the fact that his shotgun and rifle were not in the gun locks. Both had been removed for cleaning and maintenance. The real question was if he thought he’d get into a gunfight between now and when he got home. We a shrug Jeremiah buckled up and put on his aviators before backing out of the garage.

Driving past the Reese home it looked like most of them were still home since cars were there and it looked like there was movement from inside. Could be a good thing or a bad thing; with a shrug Jeremiah kept driving. Time for breakfast.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Driving past the Orchid it looked like they weren’t quite open yet so he made a loop hunting for caffeination. Stopping at a promising looking place he parked and crossed the street. Stepping around a limo he quirked an eyebrow. It was waiting in a red zone. With an incredibly heavy sigh Jeremiah rapped on the passenger side window. Holding up his badge he didn’t bother waiting for the driver to roll down his window. “You’re in a red zone. Move. I’m going for coffee, if you’re still here when I get back I’m going to write you a ticket.”

Jesus this town was ridiculous. It was only the second day here and he’d already had to badge flash twice. Pushing open the door he cocked another eyebrow as he took in the people in the coffee shop standing on either side of the room as a man and woman stood at the counter. Jeremiah caught the end of the man’s order and it sounded ridiculous. The young woman didn’t appear terribly comfortable beneath the man’s arm. With a heavy sigh Jeremiah just took a step to the right and folded his arms. If there was another scene he’d intervene but it was really starting to irk him that this sort of thing seemed to be a regular occurrence in Millington.

@BlueAjah@Viciousmarrow

@BlueAjah@lovely complex@Emma@The Muse@Viciousmarrow

James was reading through the story online when Kylie made her way down. She took one look at what he was making and immediately went to the fridge and pulled out Chinese and a Mountain Dew. James rolled his eyes as she popped the Sesame Chicken into the microwave and heated it up. "Where's Sophia? Did she go on a jog or something? 'Cause she's not in her room or in the shower..." " Don't know, probably. Sophi's right you know, you shouldn't be drinking that at breakfast." James scoffed, but made no move to stop her. As he pulls the first batch of bacon off the stove he gets a text from Ollie, 'Small omelet with peppers, and tomatoes. Please and thank you.' He cracks two eggs and pours them into the pan and then puts some cut up green peppers and diced tomatoes in before turning the stove on underneath the pan. "It is unusual for her to be out before all of us are up." He replied to Kylie as he put some more bacon on the stove.

Just as he finished up Olivia's omelette, she walks into the kitchen and hugs him from behind, which makes him smile. "Hey, how are you?" He asks as she begins pulling out some plates. "Thanks, you're omelette is almost done. He tells her as he folds it in half. As he sets it in front of Olivia's seat, Riley walks in. "Just make me whatever." James heard and he nodded as he cracked open three eggs for Riley and pulled aside some ham, green peppers and cheese. "I think Sophi drank a bit last night, pure assumptions, mind you, but yeah, yesterday was a pretty shitty day. Eh, if you're of age, go hard or go home, am I right?" James glanced over, now starting to get a bit concerned. " Either way, have any of you seen her? She usually tells us if she has somewhere to be." James picked up his phone and pulled up Sophi's text thread. 'Where are you Sophi? Riley says he thinks you were drinking last night? Are you okay?' He hit send and went back to Riley's omelette on the stove.

"I just sent her another text. I swear if she got herself arrested last night after the we got a warning from the neighbor to behave, she's going to get an earful." James was clearly nervous now. Where was Sophi? Where was Zoey? She needs to get up or she will be late for school. Opening up the text thread for Zoey, 'Hey! Get up! What do you want in your omelette?' When Riley's Omelette finished up he pulled it off and set the plate in front of Riley's seat and pulled the law of the bacon off the stove, setting the entire plate on the table. Since Zoey wasn't responding yet, nor coming downstairs, he began making his omelette, adding ham, cheese and green peppers in with the three eggs.

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Ashley had just woken up, the taste of pizza in her mouth from the night before. She was in her room for a change, which had her on edge. Had she made it back there herself or did someone pull her away from Frank? She grabbed her keys and rushed all the way downstairs to a steel door, and put one of the keys in the door and unlocked it. She slide inside and closed it behind her quickly before flicking on the lights. There he was, still intact and turned off. She quickly made toward a lockbox on the wall and quickly retrieved a key from inside. She slide the key into one of two slots on the desktop console and flipped through her key ring for the second key and turned both simultaneously before hitting the power button. Immediately all three screens clicked on and began loading up the modified version of Windows Ten, set to use the Windows Seven setup. She placed her right thumb on the fingerprint scanner, placed her eye near the retinal scanner, and typed in her password. When it let her in she immediately she began performing a systems check. After five minutes when everything checked out, she breathed a sigh of relief. She shut down Frank and began setting the room back how it was, key in the lock box, key back on her key ring, light off, door locked. Of course she had gotten back to her room on her own last night. The alarm wasn't tripped, and everything was as it should be.

Heading back upstairs, she went to the kitchen to eat breakfast. She pulled a bowl out of the upper cabinet and grabbed a spoon and set both on the table near her laptop. From the lower cabinet she grabbed one of her favourite cereals, Raisin Bran Crunch, and retrieved the milk from the fridge. As soon as she set them down, and sat down, she opened her laptop off to the side. As she poured her cereal into the bowl, she opened up some websites to post a vacancy in her house that could be filled. 'Looking for up to three or four housemates, two bedrooms open, two bathrooms, a Laundry room, Dishwasher, finished basement. Medium sized backyard. Cat and dog friendly Rent: $800/month per person (willing to work with you). Must get along with each other. My personal office and my room are the only places off limits. '

As soon as she finished up her bowl, she rinsed it up and put it in the dishwasher. Since it was just herself for now, she only needed to run it twice a week at most. She went into the bathroom and brushed her hair and teeth and put on some light makeup. She was planning on heading into town and finding a job. It would help when everything inevitably comes crashing down around her. But that was also the reason she needed Frank well protected, that was the other reason she wanted housemates. When she deemed herself presentable, she got her shoes on and disabled the alarm and rearmed it real quick so she could leave. As she climbed into her red 2011 Ford Fusion, she set her purse on the passenger seat. As she left the driveway, she knew somehow, for better or for worse, today would be an interesting day.

"Mph."

Elliot finally began stirring as sunlight filtered through the one window in the apartment. He felt fantastic, it had been ages since he'd actually gotten a restful sleep. He needed to sleep with a body pillow more often, he noted sluggishly, opening his eyes.

Body... pillow?

No, it was just a body. Sophia. Right. Restful sleep? More like four pleasant hours, followed by fifteen exhausting minutes followed by six hours of exhaustion. Still, he had to admit that it was pleasant, if foreign, to fall asleep with a woman in his arms.

Woman... Soph?

He shook the thought from his head before it could go any farther. They were friends, categorizing her any differently even after five years was dangerous. Besides, he'd expressed interest once a couple years before he'd vanished and she had thoroughly shot him down. C'est la vie, he moved on and their friendship continued past the minor speedbump. Looking over the sleeping, drooling, psuedo-sorta-(ex?)-friend next to him, Elliot noticed a pair of eyes at the edge of the bed.

STARE

Or, in other words, (Fuckin' finally! Let's gogogo! Need to peeeeee!), her tail thumping against the floor rapidly. With a groan he pushed himself up, and jerked his hand rapidly out of Sophi's grasp before it could tighten again, before grabbing a crutch and limping his way over to the door. He didn't have a leash, and she was used to wandering outside anyway, so he simply opened the door and let her dart out. She'd probably come back, right?

Not contemplating it too long he paused to admire his new home. It was almost completely bare, aside from a few essentials such as his fridge, and stove, and microwave, all in the "living room" which also happened to be his bedroom. Off in the back was his bathroom, with a simple stand up shower, white sink, white toilet, and white medicine cabinet. Other than these: The only things that took up any space were his still-unpacked boxes, and his bed.

Reluctantly he began rooting through one of the boxes for a fresh set of clothes. He wasn't keen on showering with Sophi still in the apartment, but he could hardly hunt for a job looking like a complete mess. The outfit he selected was similar to the day before, another button down shirt (pinstripe this time) and a pair of black dress pants. He contemplated the tie, still lying where he threw it the day before, but shrugged. It wouldn't make that much of a difference.

He made his way over to the bathroom as quietly as possible, and shut the door behind him, cursing the fact that it didn't have a lock. That hadn't seemed important a day ago, of course, but at the moment he didn't want to have to deal with any shenanigans. He turned on the hot water ahead of time, warming the water up while he undressed. It wasn't a pretty sight, all skin and bones and bruises. His "good" leg looked like a battlefield, swollen and covered with gnarled purple veins. Small wonder he'd had so little luck with women over the years.

Not one to tempt fate, he carried his crutch with him into the shower, having no sort of handicap bar to steady himself. He used only a little cold water, preferring to relax in the steam and think. It was in the morning that he always tried to sort out his thoughts, trying to rid himself of distractions for the day to come.

So. Riley and Kiley seem to be as energetic as ever. Hell of a shock seeing Ollie and Zoey dressed like that at the mall, definitely wasn't going to be butting into it with them having a breakdown though. Crying women...

He sighed, beginning to lather some shampoo in his hair.

... Yeah. I need to work on improving my reaction to that. I should apologize to Soph too, again. She was a mess last night, I should have opened up instead of closing myself down. Fucking idiot as usual.

That feeling of worthlessness that overtook him in the car ride with Riley yesterday returned, and he let it was over him along with the water. It was a feeling Elliot was used to by now, he'd been consumed by it for years. Practically... nostalgia.

I should just slip away again before I make things worse.

With a snarl he turned off the water completely and shuffled over to get a towel. Mornings always seemed to end that way, just all the more reason to keep his emotional side locked away. He focused instead on drying himself off, and then... pills. His medicine cabinet was stocked full of them, most various levels of painkillers. He glanced longingly over at his narcotics, before shaking his head and settling on something easier. It took a couple minutes, sorting out the medication he needed, but a glass he always kept at the edge of the sink ensured that he didn't have to leave the bathroom and risk Sophi seeing him. He wasn't ready for that yet. In fact...

He hastily got dressed, and grabbed any medication that couldn't be bought over the counter. With a peak into the living room to ensure her eyes were still closed, he made his way across the room to his box of clothes, shoving the pills underneath. Risk managed.

Finally, Elliot sat himself on top of a box of books across the room from Sophi and got to work on attaching his prosthetic. True, the thought of slipping out and starting his day early had occurred to him, but he figured he would give her a bit of time to get up. After all, how long could it take? Five years?

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Wes was alight with fury, his grin now a crooked scowl. To those that knew him, there were two very simple rules to follow: 1) Never deny him a request, especially when it's from the goodness of his heart. 2) Nobody tells him what to do except his father. Blondie had just broken both of them and sauntered off like it was nothing. Who did she think she was? Queen of the fuckin' world? Just as Wes prepared himself to follow the girl, the barista came up to the counter with his order. A dark glare was given to the worker before he threw a $20 at the guy and marched out the door, his lavish drink in one hand. Surprisingly, they had actually been able to do everything requested.

Staring down the road, Wes saw that Blondie was a fair distance down the sidewalk now, maybe a block away. Running towards her would draw too much attention and probably get some of his frappiccino all over his clothes, so that was out of the question. He'd best do this the smart way and force the girl into his playing field. Entering his black limo, he scrambled into the back seat and hit the receiver to give Marty his orders. "Marty, creep up on that blonde girl down the road there. I needs to have a little talk with her. She's been disrespectin' me. At his beck and call, the fancy car began the short journey.

"You should know there's a cop back there, sir. Told me to move or I'd get a ticket. I haven't seen him around here, so I think he's new." his driver alerted the Underboss. Wes chuckled a bit. He loved when newbies came onto the squad and expected to take him down. They truly were naive specimens. "What the fucks he gonna do? Arrest me?" he joked, not all intimidated by the threat of the police. After all, Millington was underneath the Harmons' thumb. If you didn't fall into their whims, you were fed to the dogs. Literally.

As the limo crawled up to the attractive blonde, Wes rolled his tinted window down. "Hey, Blondie. I needs to speak with you for a moment." he called out. As they just barely passed her, the car came to a halt. The Prince popped his door open and beckoned her inside. "Get in the car." She wasn't moving fast enough for him though. "Get in the fuckin' car, god damnit." he seethed, suddenly drawing a switchblade from his pocket and brandishing it towards her.

If she tried anything funny, he was going to be pissed. And she really didn't want to see that side of him.

_{@BlueAjah@Themerlinhawk}

Nathan woke up drowsily in his own bed, in his own apartment and without a girl beside him. He began to recollect what happened the night before. They had stayed up late, singing karaoke. Vanessa was the only one legally around to drink alcohol but who could stop Rachel and Nathan from taking a few sips from her glass. Rachel was an unsurprising light-weight and was the only one to get drunk by the end of their karaoke session. He could still remember the softness of her lips as they pressed into his, her warm tongue seeking entry, and her breath reeking of beer. She allowed- no, wanted him to explore her body with his hands. He was savoring each touch as his hands roamed free. When was the last time he felt another woman? They were so soft, so smooth, so warm, so delicate. She pulled away from their long passionate kiss and her eyes stared deeply into his. And then she tilted her head downwards.

And puked all over him.

Yup, that's what happened.

Vanessa, whom they have forgotten all about, had watched the entire thing and burst out laughing. She apologized for her friend and they decided to call it a night. She gave him both of their number and she asked if he still was interested in her friend. Nathan said yes, but was not very sure in his answer. They parted ways after Nathan assured Vanessa that he would help her out with James. Then Nathan took what was probably his third shower of that day and afterwards passed out on his bed.

He forced himself to get up because he knew that he had class later in the afternoon. He checked his phone for any notifications and saw that he had none. He wanted to tell James about what happened the night before if he wasn't too busy. "Good morning, Princess. Thanks again for leaving me alone with two beautiful girls. So I had a very... interesting night. If you aren't too busy, meet up with me after my class?" he texted his friend.

He got ready and dressed and then headed for the kitchen. He checked the fridge and his pantry. Nothing to eat. He should really go out and buy some groceries. "Alright, I guess I'm eating out for breakfast today. I wonder if the Reese's diner will be open," he thought to himself as his stomach growled.

@Saint Girralo

“BARKBARKBARKBARKBARKBARK!!”

Little paws scratched frantically on the front door, the doorknob jiggling from the occasional push of a wet nose.

“Nnnnnoooooooooooo…..” Sophia groaned, rolling over to force her face into Elliot’s pillow. She had been in and out of sleep for the past twenty minutes or so, but that dog’s pesky barking was sure to decimate any chance at falling back asleep. “Why…” her voice was muffled as she gripped the pillow, sighing into it. It was too early for this shit.

More desperate scratches at the door, and now a little whimper.

Sophia pulled herself up, a feat in itself. Across the room, on top of a box, Elliot sat quietly staring at her. Oh. Right…. She came here last night. “Oh hell…” She whispered under her breath, meeting eyes with him. Her heart dropped and she instantly wished she had never existed. What had she said to him? What exactly did she remember from last night? She was probably better off if she didn’t remember.

“Uh… I’ll let the dog in.” She stood, noting that Elliot was in the midst of attaching a prosthetic leg. The memory of asking who hurt him came flooding back, nearly making her outwardly cringe.

Standing up came with a wave of bricks to her skull; pounding and making her head feel ten times as heavy. She put her hand on her forehead, closing her eyes for a brief moment as she walked across the room and opened the front door. The dog, once enraptured by the idea of coming inside, fell on all fours again and stared up at Sophia with disdain.

STARE

“Come on…” Sophia opened the door further and gestured for her to come inside.
The dog snorted in derision and began to trot inside, unimpressed. Sophia slowly closed the door behind her, watching her strut all the way over to Elliot’s side to promptly sit as close to his side as she could possibly get.

Yawning, She walked over to the edge of the bed and grabbed her phone. “Thank’s for letting me crash he-” Sophia looked at the date on her phone. Wednesday, March 2nd. 7:35am. “Shit!” Sitting back down on the bed, she heavily sighed. “I was supposed to have my Stage Management class in 20 minutes…” She melted onto the bed, sprawling out with half of her body on the bed and the other half on the floor. If there had been any sense of motivation in her earlier, it had just evaporated into thin air.

She stared up at the ceiling for a few moments, hoping that she would wake up from a bad dream any moment. What the hell was wrong with her? “Fine..” She sat up again, trying to smooth down her mess of brown locks. “No class today…” She was really in no shape to go anyway, but she didn’t need to tell Elliot that. “Can I use your shower?” She felt disgusting, so Elliot had no choice really. She was going to use it whether he liked it or not.

Before he could answer, Sophia pulled the cream colored sweater dress up and over her head. Tossing it on the floor, she began to wiggle out of her black leggings to reveal her undergarments as she made her way to the bathroom. She was too groggy and hungover to give a damn about what Elliot thought of her body. She had certainly grown into her own since he had seen her last, but she would think about that at a later time.

As she entered his bathroom and closed the door she felt her phone buzz. Looking at it, she noticed a text message from James. Great. The family had to be aware that she was missing now. “You’re so fucking stupid, Sophi.” This was completely out of her usual morning routine. She put her phone down on the counter and looked at herself in the mirror. Sometimes she really hated what she had to look back at.

Deciding not to stand there and scrutinize every little thing about herself, she picked the phone back up and opened James’ text. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard as she thought of what to say. How did Riley know she had been drinking? That was not a talk she wanted to have right now… or ever. She quickly typed up a short reply, not wanting to dwell on it anymore. “I slept over Elliot’s. I’m good!” It wasn’t exactly a lie.

_{@Saint Girralo}

Turning on the water, Sophia began to scroll through her twitter feed that she had completely neglected the last day. As usual, Kylie had put out several obnoxious tweets.

“OMG MY BROTHER IS A FUCKING DICK. #RUDE #WHOEVENDOESTHAT?!”

Yesterday morning had started off fabulously.

“I <3 OJ! #healthy #yum”

There her little sister was, half naked and holding the glass of orange juice that Sophia had forced her to have. She shook her head. “So this is how she has all those followers…” She couldn’t really blame her, Kylie had a body she could flaunt. Nonetheless, reading the comments of horny little boys was sickening. She scrolled on and got naked, the water warm now.

“Girl time! Gonna live large! #sisterlylove #theysocute”

Oh good. A reminder for her to take Kylie’s name off of the list at Olivia and Zoey’s schools.

“LOL SHE’S SO CUTE. LOOK AT THOSE BOOGERS IN HER NOSE! #SleepySis #GoldMine #Ew”

Sophia’s eyes widened as she saw a picture of herself, passed out on her bed completely unaware of Kylie snooping in her room. Her face reddened in embarrassment. Fucking Kylie! She opened up a direct message to her sister and began to type, “ARE YOU SERIOUS KYLIE?!” Just before hitting send, Sophia stopped and took a deep breath. No, she did not want to start off the day just the same as yesterday. She had already caused enough trouble for herself today.

Locking her phone and setting it back on the counter, she stepped into the shower.

---

She had spent about ten minutes actually washing herself with Elliot’s cheap bath supplies, and the rest of the twenty minutes had been spent closing her eyes and leaning on the wall trying to make the headache stop. Tapping on the door suddenly brought her back to reality. Sighing, she shut off the water. Showers were good for hangovers and to be quite honest she didn’t want to go out to face the world. Especially Elliot.

Reluctantly she grabbed a towel hanging on the rack and dried herself. She would have to leave the safety of this bathroom at some point. Maybe, with luck, Elliot would never mention what happened last night ever again. During her shower, she had thought about the events of last night. Unfortunately she was not drunk enough to completely black out.

Wrapping herself in a towel, she opened the door and peaked out. She smiled sheepishly when she met eyes with Elliot, obviously annoyed about her long usage of his shower. “Sorry.” She slipped out of the door and walked around him, picking up her clothes from the floor. Scurrying back into the bathroom, she closed the door behind her and quickly got dressed in yesterday's clothes. Gross. She would need to go home and change immediately. Guess it was time to call another Uber. Before stepping back out into Elliot’s view she tied up her damp hair in two loose braids.

“Thanks for… taking care of me last night.” She said as she exited the bathroom, a forced weak smile on her face. Her heart sped up as silence fell between them. What was she supposed to say? He probably thought the worst of her. First she slapped him, then she showed up to his house as an emotional drunk wreck.

Plopping down on the edge of his bed, she glanced around the room nervously. “So…” Her eyes caught on the dog again. “What’s her name?” She would rather talk about anything but the events of last night, or what led to it.

Yesterday had ended well. Chris had drove them home after the movie. The whole car ride back to the house was filled with laughing about Deadpool. Truthfully everyone at school had raved about how amazing the movie was, that Chris's hopes had been impossibly high. Unfortunately that meant that he had been a tad let down when the movie ended. It had been hilarious, and Ryan Reynolds was spectacular, but the terminal cancer angle really got to Chris. Though the 'baby hand' scene really made up for it.

Interestingly enough when they got home, both there parents were their cooking in the kitchen together, listening to NPR on the radio. A rare occurrence, as both of them usually worked until late. It had been nice to sit down for dinner with the whole family for once. Aunt Cynthia had even come over to eat. She brought some fresh cut lilies, and a bottle of 1963 vintage port wine. For dinner they had there mother's favorite. It was the kale, hemp and flaxseed oil pesto, atop gluten egg free noodles, with a side of mashed sweet potato. It was all vegan and gluten free of course, as there mother was a devoted health foodie. Meat and fish was only served when mom wasn't in charge of making dinner.

Chris went to bed around one in the morning, after finishing his essay for art history. There was only so much you could write about the impact of Chinese and Japanese art on European culture. He was only in College part time at the moment, and only to appease his parents. His mother had refused to speak to him for a week after he dropped out of Dartmouth, and moved back home without giving a reason. Chris had finally gave in, and enrolled at Millington University, to make her semi-happy. Though his choice to major in liberal arts, rather the chemistry like before, wasn't his parent's favorite decision.

He didn't have class till noon so he planed on sleeping in, but his alarm went off at eight alerting him to take his medications. After lazily rolling out of bed, he walked over to his desk, and opened the bottom drawer. He took out his meds, and grabbed a mango snapple out of his mini-fridge. Five pills later and he had taken his morning dose of prescriptions. He plopped back into bed, and stretched out under the covers. As he laid there, he went over what he had planned for today.

His class was going to end at one, and then he had to head of to the flower shop to help deliver the flowers to the church for the Samson Wedding tonight. Practically the whole town was invited to the wedding. Since Theodore Samson was the popular mayor of Millington, and this was his only son's big wedding. The bride to be was Tallulah Bluemont, aka heiress to her father's million dollar diary company. Needless to say it was going to be quite the town event, and Chris was not going to miss it.

So other then delivering the flowers, and his one class of the day, he basically had nothing to do. Falling back asleep didn't seem to be happening so, he got out of bed and crossed the hall to the bathroom. After showering, and shaving his face, he changed into his outfit for the day. He tucked in his shirt, and buckled his belt. Grabbing his rolex, and car keys off his dresser he went down stairs to the empty living room. His mom was already at work and his dad had most likely just dropped Blake off at school. Chris yawned and headed out the door. Breakfast at the diner seemed like a good idea.

The young woman walked out of the coffee shop and it was clear she was not with the other man. Something smelled funny about this whole thing. Especially the way that everyone reacted to the aviator wearing man who smelled of stale booze.

Weighing how much he wanted a day off, and the need to do his job Jeremiah counted to six as the man threw a twenty at the barista and walked out of the coffee shop. This was such an annoying problem. Sighing heavily Jeremiah turned on the heel of his foot and walked out of the coffee shop behind the two of them.

Walking over to his car Jeremiah pulled open the door and picked up his radio and depressed the button on it. “This is Deputy Richman, I am investigating a potential stalker. Middle aged male in a black limousine in pursuit of a young woman on foot heading down 3rd. With that Jeremiah hit the dash cam for his unmarked rolled after the limo. As it stopped and the door opened Jeremiah quietly opened the door on his car leaving it running and stepped out onto the sidewalk at an angle so he could see into the door.

The sun was at his back as he stepped off to the side; knowing it would cast a shadow but hindering anyone trying to get a good read on where he was. “Get in the fuckin car goddamn it” was all he caught. At which point he saw the main leaning out the door snap open a switchblade. That on its own was illegal; Oregon law prohibited the carrying of a switchblade. Owning the weapon was fine but he was clearly carrying it.

Smoothly Jerry drew his firearm and pointed it in the open door stepping to the side so he lined up a clean shot around the girl. ”Drop the knife and step out of the car now!” The normally calm man’s whole demeanor changed at the sight of the knife. Going from laid back guy who was just trying to get breakfast to jaded L.A. cop in less than a second. “If you do anything other than drop the knife and step out of the car. In that order. I will shoot you.”

It was a pity he didn’t have the shotgun. That was what he got for not getting his weapons. ”Miss get out of the car. NOW!” Jerry’s eyes didn’t leave Wes for a second. If he did anything besides drop the knife the man was getting shot. There were two full magazines on Jerry’s left hip. If he had to he could start a serious war.

Taking his left hand off his gun Jerry unhooked the radio he’d taken from his car and depressed the button. ”Deputy Richman, requesting backup, corner of 3rd and Elm. Suspect is armed and dangerous. Suspect is riding in a black limo and has a hostage send backup immediately” Jerry rattled off the license plate smoothly.

”Last chance.” There was an odd finality to Jeremiah's statement. The deputy sheriffs’ tone was even and clear with no shake or fear to it. Simple dead calm.

_{@BlueAjah@Themerlinhawk}

Keeping her head down, Claire quickened her pace to her car. From the sound of the many gasps within the coffee shop, she knew Wesley was not pleased with her little exit. Surely if she kept walking, he would leave her alone? She had noticed a police officer on her way out too, surely that meant the man wouldn’t try to pull anything? Nodding, Claire convinced herself to stay calm and even managed to walk in at a nice, even pace.

Claire studied various Biology terms in her head for the upcoming test to keep her mind off Wesley. They were currently studying Genetics, a topic she quite enjoyed. Learning about diseases, their symptoms, treatment, etc, was quite interesting to her and something she could see herself pursuing as a career. While freshman year was almost over, Claire was still undecided in her major. She simply wanted to make sure she had a fair opportunity with every possible career.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a dark limo approaching her. Part of her was tempted to text her parents or Riley but the idea seemed silly to involve other people. Plus, there was still the possibility that Wesley might drive right past her. Goosebumps began to crawl up Claire’s skin though and she couldn’t help but shake the bad feeling in her gut. Just in case, she pulled out her phone and kept it ready on speed dial. It was then she regretted never putting anything capable of protecting herself in her purse. Unless she could blind him with eye shadow, she was practically defenseless. What would even happen if she attempted to attack a man of such power as Wesley? She’d heard the rumors...

The powerful voice startled Claire, causing her to drop her iPhone decorated in a flowery case onto the thick cement. She cursed silently to herself. Wesley motioned for her to step inside the limo but again, Claire froze. Thousands of different scenarios ran through her head, thanks to the many horror movies she had watched. This was the real world though, he couldn’t do anything to her, right? Breathe, Claire. She told herself. He probably just wants to talk.. Breathe. Except, Wesley pulled out a knife when she didn’t move fast enough and it shattered all hope toward getting out of this situation safely. A whimper escaped her mouth as she kneeled, grabbed her phone, and rushed into the limo.

The first thing Claire did was mentally send a prayer, hoping she would make it out of this situation alive. What did Wesley possibly want with her? She was a goodie two-shoes who did more community service than she could keep track of. No one that would end up with Wesley and his crew. Clutching her phone tightly in her right hand, Claire stared at Wesley with wide eyes. While refusing to have her coffee bought was one thing, being threatened with a knife was a completely different scenario. “What… what do you want?”She spoke softly, the words barely managing to come out. Maybe if she just listened to him, he would let her leave and then she could return to her busy life. Hopefully.

Right as she had entered the limo, the police officer from before had finally made his appearance. She watched in terror as he pulled out some sort of weapon and begged for mercy it didn’t hit her. Claire’s gaze went from Wesley to the police officer in a frenzy, unsure what to do next.

@Themerlinhawk@Viciousmarrow

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An odd sense of quietness filled the house as Zoey lied awake on her bunk bed an hour before the entire house was awaken by either the shrieking sound of Sophi’s alarm clock or the yelling of James to eat breakfast. It was pleasant. Random thoughts of the day before filled her head as she sat in pure silence.

Skipping class had become a typical thing of Zoey but she’d never been called out by her older sister, Kylie, before. Sometimes she couldn’t understand the humour Kylie got out of from doing things like that. Offering both Olivia and her weed was also something most people wouldn’t attempt. There was no reason to judge nor did she care for how Kylie lived her life, Zoey simply found it interesting to analyze her sister’s decisions. Of course Zoey denied the weed but her younger sister fell under Kiley’s peer pressure. Another odd thing Zoey didn’t understand. How someone could let themselves do things they wouldn’t normally attempt by the a simple persuasion of someone they looked up to.

While Zoey couldn’t say she felt any emotion within the unusual outfits her sister had dressed her in, the day was a rare time she could spend with her siblings. Most of the time Zoey kept quiet, stuck in her own word, forgetting about her surroundings and the people around her. Once Riley and the others had found them, they had not reacted pleasantly and it seemed as though the family had erupted with drama. Zoey didn’t care much for arguing so she simply stayed out of it as her siblings fought out the mess, like she always did.

As the morning alarms went off, Zoey rose from her slumber. For a slight moment, she forget what day of the week it was. Oh that’s right, Wednesday So a long day of school awaited her. Dressing in her school clothes, Zoey combed through her soft hair and made the trek downstairs. A nice scent filled her nose as she found James making omelettes. “It doesn’t matter. Thanks.” She told James and took her seat at the family dinner table. As her siblings filed into the kitchen, Zoey stayed silent and let herself be drifted off into her own thoughts.

She needed to remember to attend a meeting with the music teacher at school about her violin. Every once and awhile, she liked to check on up on Zoey and see how she was doing. The new piece she was currently working on was proving to be a challenge and Zoey needed help on some of the harder parts. Very few people at the school kept her attention but the music teacher was one of them. Violin was something Zoey really cared about, more than she liked to admit anyway. Having the teacher’s guidance was truly helpful. Perhaps she would skip the first two periods to practice. Geometry was not something she would use in the future anyway so what was the point? Zoey didn’t understand the philosophy of the public school system. None of it seemed to prepare you for anything of importance. Perhaps college but many kids didn’t even take that route. What point was there in memorizing proofs when she could be working on such more valuable things?

The continuous questions of Sophi’s location didn’t really engage a form of worry from Zoey. She was probably out and would be home soon, no need to worry. It seemed all everyone did was worry and fight. Sighing, she continued staring into space until James served the omelettes.

@Emma@Viciousmarrow@lovely complex@Saint Girralo

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Charlie's hair was whipped back by the wind that was blowing through the rolled down window of his car. He smiled, his car whizzing down the highway towards Millington. He was a mixture of excited and scared to be moving to a new place, but he figured, the pros outweighed the cons, and he really didn't have much else to do back home. So, he'd gotten what money he had saved up, and packed everything he owned into two old suitcases, and driven off. He couldn't wait to see the look on Claire's face when he pulled up in front of her house.

The song that had been playing on the radio was soon finished, and replaced by the news for the day. There wasn't much to report on though. A murder farther up state, and a wealthy politician who'd recently resigned after some scandalous photos were leaked. Charlie switched the station, a bored look on his face. In the distance, he could see the small town of Millington, and flipped on his blinker to begin exiting the highway.

Charlie's car slowed down to match the speed limit as he passed a sign that read, "Welcome To Millington!" in bold white letters. "So this is home now I guess," he said to himself. He'd visited the small town a few times with his parents, but he was much younger back then. Most of these sights weren't familiar in the slightest. The Fierce Five Gym, The Hummingbird Creations, a coffee shop that seemed to be a hub of activity. He stared a little closer at the shop and slammed on the brakes of his car. What the hell was going on?

In front of the coffee shop there was a parked limousine, and on the other side, a guy was aiming his gun into the open door. That wasn't what had really caught his attention. On the seat closest to the street sat a girl, and while her face was hard to see through the tinted windows, he knew her. It was his cousin, Claire. He hastily parked his car, taking up two spaces in the process, and ran over to the scene. It was at that point that he realized, he really didn't have much of a plan.

Luckily for Charlie, plans weren't much his thing, and as he made a way to the other side of the limo, to get a better view inside, his suspicions were confirmed. Claire was in the limo with some sleazeball with the word "douche" written all over his forehead. From he could gather from the man who he assumed was a cop, Claire was not there by choice. In an act of desperation, the normally calm young man, whipped out his car keys and dragged them across the back of the limo, letting out a screech as the keys dug into the seemingly nice paint job. This might have been a bad idea he thought as a hush fell over the scene.

The birthday dinner date at Giovanni's with Wesley Harmon...

Thankful that her act was a work of art and no one could see who the woman was behind the makeup, the outfit, and the wig, Nana took tiny bites out of the Caprese Salad with Pesto Sauce which was only the first course. The mother was going to make sure she had plenty of food to take back to Jude. Her relationship with the Underboss was all fun and games. She would tease him and he'd chase after her. Though, Wesley Harmon was easily misunderstood by most of Millington because of his wealth, power, and reputation. There were plenty of nights for Nana to get to know him, especially since she was the woman that intrigued this easily bored man the most. He was as honest as they came.

Of course, his morals were a bit outlandish, but at least he didn't hold up a front. He loved to make people shake and at the same time, he loved to make people smile. A walking contradiction who enjoyed life by making it one big ass joke. Perhaps, that's why she didn't think anything of their once in a blue moon after midnight dates. He didn't know who she was and simply just wanted a companion that sassed him out occasionally. Women to him were assets and/or sources of entertainment. Even though he didn't necessarily treat her like the other Strippers or the other women he passed by commenting on their fine ass or big titties, she was still one of his toys he could easily throw away. Yet, even with that knowledge, never did he force himself on her. Nana respected him for that.

Blood was everything for this organized crime syndicate and as much as Danny and probably most of Wes' relatives hated this youthful Underboss, they knew better than to start shit with him. Danny had told her how his cousin got under his skin, but as long as Wes was attached to his uncle... one of the most powerful men in this region... he wouldn't deny his cousin's wishes. The woman knew to some degree, Danny loved Wes. If you're someone attached to the Mafia, from the day you came out of your mother's womb to when you can start doing your parents' bidding, you were raised to live and die for the family.

Nana, or Amethyst in this moment, observed the interior of the restaurant. The only times she was in fanciful places like this was when she was with Wes. She didn't care for lavished assortments or an extravagant lifestyle. With the money she's saved up over the years, making 100g a year with all her jobs (most of the money coming from being a Star stripper), Jude's college fund was already set. She liked the simpler things in life. A while back she had decided that no matter what men came around, her son would always be her heart. However, Nana did wonder if not having a father figure would affect how her son was raised.

Tonight felt a bit different. The lights were dimmed, as a beautifully adorned woman played the piano and a timid, yet large sized man played the violin (music example). A white satin table cloth draped on the round table where a candle centerpiece was placed between the two of them and rose petals were scattered all over it. Of course, Nana didn't think anything of this special design. Romance was not something she often indulged in, she preferred reading a newspaper to see what was happening in the area or read articles about current issues around the world. The Jewel could only assume the decorations was because it was a special someone's birthday. The main course had come and passed, as she listened to Wes' stories and adverted the topics from getting too personal with her. He learned her simple interests like her love to read and how she engrossed herself in documentaries, memoirs, and Law & Order. Last time they spent a night out like this she talked about old films and her idol Grace Kelly, who was one of the most elegant and influential iconic films stars in American Cinema History. It was a very male fantasy to have a woman who looked like an angel and behaved like a tramp, Grace Kelly was the perfect example of that. That old Hollywood princess was one of the only magical content that Nana took time to watch.

Other than that, anything magical or fantasy that she read was when it was Jude's story time. She wasn't going to prevent her son from dreaming. The Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus made her baby extremely excited, why should she take that light away from him?

As the desserts were placed on the table, Nana having reached her limit a long time ago, the chattering stopped and a serious look fell on Wes' face. "Look, Mimi, I gots to ask you somethin'..." His words brought her to attention and almost at once, the man got up from the table and knelt before her. From his coat pocket, he produced an elegant box. Within, a ring that probably cost a small fortune radiantly sparkled in the candlelight. "Will you make me the happiest man alive? Will you marry me?" He spoke with a genuine fervor, his hazel eyes leering at her electric blue contacts.

This was not something the mother had expected. Wes was in love with her 'Mimi' persona... he was in love... with her? Her mouth went slightly ajar but her expression stood still. How should she feel right now? Her gaze fell upon the ring. Was that a replica of Grace Kelly's engagement ring from Prince Rainier III of Monaco? That ring was the fourth most expensive ring in the world. 10.47 carat emerald-cut center, flanked by two stylish diamond baguettes with the value of 4.06 Million dollars.

All this time, she thought he saw her as just another toy but this man, this foolish and sincere man, wanted to marry her? The only thing she could say was, "Wes... you hardly know me."
@Viciousmarrow

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Having gotten no sleep, since she not only had Wes drop her off back at the Honey Pot around 5AM but it also took an hour drive to get home, the mother did not think it was a smart idea to get some shut eye. She did have to go to her first house in two hours or so. Yawning, she quietly entered her home, put the leftover food away, and went to her bedroom. Prim was sleeping silently on her bed. Nana would need to update her on all the shenanigans that happened yesterday and last night when she got back home. Thankfully, Prim was her best friend and a fulltime babysitter for Jude, practically a nanny. Once her friend wakes up, both Prim and her son would head over to the daycare. After putting the velvet ring box in her dresser and removing her costume, Nana got undressed and went to take a nice, long shower. Within time, she was back in her Nana-mode. Her black hair was up in an unkempt ponytail and she was dressed in her maid uniform. Sighing as the past words of Prim ran through her head, 'You're going to work yourself to death. I don't know why you don't quit one of your jobs. You have enough money now to take it easy. I understand you're trying to hide the fact that you're a stripper, but you need to start taking care of yourself, Nana.', the mother quietly slipped into her son's room and kissed him on the forehead.

Before she left the house once more, she wrote on her fridge's tiny whiteboard, something she had for her and her son to leave messages for each other: Want to go to Fabletown soon? Mommy loves you. Xoxo.

With that, she headed toward her first rich home that needed cleaning. Recently, one of the maids had retired so her boss had given Nana the elderly woman's 8:30/9AM client. Luckily today, she only had to clean the Warren and Weaver family estates. The Lennox family were on vacation and Mr. Lockwood would call her when he needed her, since it was only him in a large mansion, his wife having been away for a long time now.

As she parked her black Chevrolet Traverse 2lt fwd by the sidewalk in front of the Warren house, Nana watched as a young blonde man, who looked to be near her age, walked down his porch stairs and made his way to his car. His outfit ensemble reminded her of a jock, but it was nice to see a rich kid have some geek in him (referring to his batman shirt). Exiting her car, she approached the man and introduced herself. After taking a polite bow, Nana smiled, "Good morning! Can I assume you're one Mr. Warren's sons? My name is Nana Darling and I'll be your new maid." Her exotic green eyes met with his stare as she gave him her business card. He charmingly acknowledged her. Their meeting was short and sweet because he had the need to feed and before she knew it, she was inside his home cleaning it.

After cleaning most of the house, there was one bedroom left for her to replace the sheets, dust, vacuum, sweep, wipe everything down... the mother didn't know whose bedroom it was, but she could assume it was one of the sons'. It sure as hell wasn't the master bedroom. As she made the bed, a dark haze fell over Nana...

The overworked woman crashed into the comfortable cloud...falling into a deep sleep.

@Emma@The Muse

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”Arrested? I bet Sophi was just out getting some dick. She’s like 30 or something, right? There’s no way she’s single and not a total slut.” Kylie told James, scowling all the while as Riley poured her soda down the drain. She didn’t understand why her siblings didn’t like her drinking Mountain Dew… It was just a drink. Grabbing her steamy sesame chicken, she placed it on the table before going back to fridge and getting another soda, just to spite her brother.

It was then that she noticed Zoey finally come downstairs, in all her silent glory. A constant truant, she was just like Kylie in her younger years. They were both hermits, but Zoey always seemed lost in her own world. ”Well, if it isn’t my favorite little sister. You know, the one that can keep her mouth shut.” Kylie mentioned, a smug grin on her face as she sat at the table. Olivia was still catching flak for last night.

Picking up the newspaper off the counter, Riley rolled it up and whacked his twin sister’s head, “Respect your sisters.” Suddenly, the redhaired man’s phone rang. His brow raised. Who could be calling this early in the morning? Digging in his pocket, he pulled out his phone to see the number only to discover it was Unknown. Stepping out of the kitchen for a moment and walking into the living room, Rye picked up his phone only for him to freeze in place.

“How’s my darling RiRi doing?” a very familiar high pitched giggle infiltrated his ear.

“Jenny… why are you calling?” the male twin cautiously whispered. Her face was very much imprinted in his mind since ‘Jenny’ was his crazy bitch ex. A deceptively adorable, petite rich girl, with blonde locks and emerald green eyes. There was a reason why he never introduced her to his family… even if Sophi figured it out one day at the Mall a year ago.

Jenny wasn’t going to drag things on, her forwardness was one of the reasons he dated her (in secret), “So you can introduce a goody two shoes bitch to your family but not me?” His heart sank as her voice went on, “She’s just a wannabe look-alike! You can’t possibly forget me, can you? (No, Jenny, there was one before you...) Riley let silence fill the air as he thought about how to respond. Should he just hang up? No, that would be a terrible idea, especially since his ex lived in the same neighborhood as Claire.

”I am respecting them! As much as they respect me, anyway…” Kylie replied, wincing at her brother’s attack. Her sapphire eyes fell on Olivia but she really didn’t know how to feel. ”Olivia knows I’m just fucking with her anyway. She’s a big girl.” She felt like that would at least give the youngest Reese some comfort in knowing Kylie didn’t totally hate her. Strangely, her brother’s phone went off and he retreated into the other room. Shrugging, she began to dig into the mostly filled container of Chinese at a snail’s pace, taking only a few bites before she decided she was full. Her soda, on the other hand, was gone in less than a minute.

”I guess I’ll go check the mail since you guys are lazy as shit.” the redhead obnoxiously commented, wondering how long it had been since anybody had bothered to get the mail. It was probably jam packed. Staring at her food, she resigned to put it back in the fridge later. It would fine standing out for a little. Her legs brought her form up and she walked into the next living room. Riley was… acting a little strange with his phone, whispering to whoever was on the other line.

”RILEY! STOP PHONE FUCKING YOUR GIRLFRIEND! There are children present! Go jerk off in your room, you perv.” she shouted at her brother, giving him a very unpleasant glare. She wasn’t going to bother listening to eavesdropping on that dirty conversation. Striding out the door, the twin felt the cool air of Spring’s morning surround her and instantly wished she had put on a light jacket and some pants. Right now, she was just wearing a big shirt and sleeping shorts.

At the mailbox, she found she was right. There was plenty of mail that her siblings had neglected to take inside. Walking back inside, she was sorting through the envelopes, most of them addressed to the now deceased Roderick and Ophelia Reese, when she stumbled upon a letter made out to her from the IRS. Maybe her refund check had finally come in!

Throwing the rest of the mail onto the dining table, she excitedly ripped into her envelope, a big grin on her face. Her blue orbs quickly scanned over the letter, and upon seeing $10,000 in bold letters she let out a small squeal. ”Guys, I got $10,000 back on taxes! That’s awesome!” However, her smile quickly faded away when she realized that this letter was informing her that she owed the government that money. ”Oh wait… That’s… really bad.” she mumbled. All at once, Kylie thumped both hands onto the table and could feel tears welling in her eyes. ”...I don’t know how I’m going to pay this and my credit cards off... I have to buy a new processor, a new graphics card, and there’s at least 10 games coming out this month I need to get…”

Riley had finished his phone conversation with his ex once Kylie had come back in with an overload of mail. Hoping he had at least brought Jenny’s emotions down to a halt until they could meet up and discuss things… the male twin walked into the kitchen. He wanted to prevent his ex giving his girlfriend an unpleasant visit. They had set up a meet up for Sunday morning before his date with Claire (not bright, not bright at all...). Looking into his phone, Rye realized he received a text from his too good to be true honey.


After the text sent, Kylie’s words filled the kitchen air. The male twin ripped the piece of paper out of her hand and read the letter. His sister owed $10,000 to the IRS and heavens knew how much to credit card companies…
Not bothering to flip his shit or respond to the petty wants of his sister, Riley dialed a number on his phone and waited for someone to pick up. He was calling his childhood friend, Timothy Dwight, who currently worked fulltime at the Outerworld Arcade and Bar. He was one year older than Riley.

Thankfully, Tim did pick up, but it sounded like Riley had woken his friend up, “Hey man, sorry for waking you up this early. Um, is the arcade still looking for attendants?... oh they are? Awesome! Can you get in a word with the boss that Kylie Reese will be coming in with her resume? It’s kinda urgent. She’s never had a job before but she’d be a great face for Outerworld. Plus. You know more than anyone else how knowledgeable my twin is in the game world… oh great! Thanks man! She’ll be there for 3. Let’s hang some time. Okay, I’ll let you sleep now, bye Tim!”

Hanging up, Riley shoved his phone in his pocket and glared at his sister, “After I drop the girls off at school, we’re going to shit out a resume and you’re gonna get a job. Once we get the time today, I want your bank information and all your damn credit cards. You’re going to learn to fucking budget and guess what Kye? None of us are paying off your debts. I will however make sure you don’t get any deeper.” He then brought his attention to his brother, “Sorry man, I lost my appetite. Is it okay if I’m late to work? I think this takes priority and the Outerworld would be perfect for Kylie. I can definitely get her a job there.”

@Saint Girralo@Emma@BlueAjah

It didn't take long at all for her to get up, aided by his new dog scratching at the door. He decided to let her handle it, focusing instead on fixing his prosthetic into place. He half listened to her as she made her way across the room and back, complaining about some class and deciding to skip it. Just as he finished the task in front of him his ears caught the word "shower".

"Go ahe-"

Whatever Elliot was about to say was cut off as she began stripping in front of him. Fucking hell, had she lost all sense of modesty? Was that blood he tasted? He had bit his tongue, hard, as blood rushed to his face. How dare she already strut around like she owned the place. Still, his eyes followed her rear as she made his way into the bathroom, too caught up in the show to listen to his brain's protests. She certainly had grown in the last few years.

NIP!

"Hey!"

He struck the edge of Lilly's nose with two fingers in admonishment, but by the time he looked back Sophi had already made her way into the bathroom and closed the door. With a sigh of... disappointment, he scratched Lilly behind the ears as a half apology. He'd have to work on that bad habit of hers before she bit the wrong person. The dog absolutely melted at his touch, rolling over on the floor in front of him to provide easy access to her belly. He indulged her, for a bit, before standing up and pacing. So. Sophia was here. Sober now. Should he take the opportunity to explain himself? Was that too much right after waking up? She probably didn't want her day ruined so early, especially since by the sound of it she'd already screwed up one plan.

He'd figure all that out later. For now, he leaned against the wall beside the bathroom door and waited for her to finish. And waited. And waited. Had she always taken this long to shower in the past? He had a water bill to pay, damnit! In irritation, he knocked his cane on the door, trying to get her attention. Finally, he heard the water being shut off, and was forced to wait again this time though it was blissfully short.

"Now, look-"

He bit his tongue again she she left the bathroom, this time dressed in only a towel. Then bent over to pick her clothes off his floor. This was either the most sudden case of friendship-turned-seduction ever, or Sophi was the most damn oblivious woman in the world. He didn't particular care which it was at that moment as she made her way past him into the bathroom again. Had she said something to him on her way past? Hell if he could remember.

He made his way back to the box he had been using as a chair earlier and sat once more. Lilly looked up at him, and then towards the bathroom, and then at him once more before letting out a snort. Just what was with this dog? He didn't have long to contemplate it before Sophi emerged once more, dressed this time, and sat down on his bed. He was going to laugh in response to the notion of "taking care of" her last night, but caught himself before he could. She seemed to be in a serious mood.

"Lizzy."

He replied in response to her question, simply. This was quickly becoming awkward as hell. Should he bring up what happened last night? Should he start trying to explain his disappearance? Should he bring up condolences for her parents? Should he say something stupid? The latter was definitely more his comfort zone. Sheepishly, he scratched the back of his head and put on a sly smirk.

"So, am I going to get charged for that show earlier or is that your way of saying welcome back?"

@Viciousmarrow@lovely complex@BlueAjah@Emma@The Muse

As James finished making his omelette, he hears movement. Zoey finally decided to grace them with her presence. And of course she didn't care what was in her omelette, so he slid his omelette out of the pan and onto a plate, and looked at her. "It's cheese, ham and green peppers, if you want it." he offered his younger sister. He wasn't happy that she was running late as bad as she was, but at least she was up and was still likely to get to school on time today. But he'd be furious if he heard that they had skipped school again. He cracked open three more eggs and put more ham, and cheese in as an alternative if she wouldn't eat the one with green pepper in it. He was half listening as he heard Kylie respond to his statement, ”Arrested? I bet Sophi was just out getting some dick. She’s like 30 or something, right? There’s no way she’s single and not a total slut.” "Not everyone is like you, Kylie. Besides Sophi is only twenty one, you know three years older than you, or did you drop out before you got to simple math." James poked, half out of irritation, half jokingly.

A few seconds after he said that, he felt his phone go off in his pocket. It was from Nathan, "Good morning, Princess. Thanks again for leaving me alone with two beautiful girls. So I had a very... interesting night. If you aren't too busy, meet up with me after my class?" James felt his face grow bright as Nathan called him Princess again. He was about to respond when he finally got a text back from Sophi who decided to send them into a mini panic by not saying anything about going out, “I slept over Elliot’s. I’m good!” He felt himself half breathe a sigh of relief at the revelation that she was okay. "She's fine, she went over to Elliot's." Then Kylie was coming back in with the mail, exclaiming something about getting ten thousand dollars, but then finding out that's how much she owes. He was so close to yelling at Kylie, for having Zoey and Olivia skip school the other day, then getting them high and getting into a fight with Riley. And now she owes the IRS money? Wait hold up... "Hold on a minute there. How do you owe the IRS anything? You can only get money from them, or owe them money if you earned money, as in had a job, but that's not something that happened to my knowledge. So how do you even owe them money?"

He wasn't going to wait for an answer right away, but instead turned to Riley who asked if he could be late. James started nodding, "Yeah, find her a job that we can monitor, and get in when you can." Pulling his phone back out, he pulled up Sophi's text thread, "Apparently Kylie owes the IRS money, and Riley is going to help her find a job, so go straight to the Diner if you can. I'll drive the car over there myself." She wouldn't be happy about it, but she'd understand. "Oh and Kylie? Remember yesterday when you had issues at the diner. Consider that incentive to find a job you like. If you don't, you will work at the diner under my supervision. And I want to see the tax form you filled out, tonight. Something tells me you might have filled it out wrong, and if that's the case, perhaps you don't actually owe that much." He scowled as his younger sister was causing even more trouble for the family. Fortunately he didn't have time to focus on his anger as his stomach reminded him he still had to eat. The last omelette was finished, and he slid it onto a plate and set it on the table at his seat. He began eating a little more quickly than usual, but he had to go and unlock the diner and work today, and he was already behind where he wanted to be.

Olivia pulled the towel off her head as breakfast was being served, and hung it on the back of her chair. Her hair was still damp and needed a good brushing before she tied it in braids for the day. "I'm really tired." She mumbled to James as he set her omelette in front of her at the table. "Thanks Jamie." She said sounding more awake as she looked at her plate. Thankfully he understood what she meant by small omelette. She yawned and got up from the table. Her stomach made a loud rumbling sound. Embarrassed she rolled her eyes in annoyance, and covered her stomach with her arms. No wonder, having hardly eaten more then 1500 calories over the past five days, she was hungry, and ready to eat breakfast for once. She grabbed the salsa, and sour cream out of the fridge, and plopped a spoonful of both atop her omelette, before putting them back in the fridge. Sitting down she finally took a bite. It was warm, and tasted pretty good.

This was the first morning in a long time that she was not running late. She hadn't gotten much sleep, since she went to bed rather late. But the hours of sleep she did get were blissful, with no nightmares, or crying. Kylie's comment about how Zoey was her favorite sister stung a bit, but after Riley's scolding, Olivia was happy to hear Kylie admit she was just messing with her. She beamed at Kylie for a moment, and then went back to eating. "How come you don't like omelettes? When daddy makes his famous frittata you always eat it. And a frittata is basically like an omelette, right?" Olivia asked Kylie.

She idly wondered about the french test she missed yesterday. But grades didn't really matter to her anymore, so her thoughts drifted to what was for lunch. Her lunchbox was still in her locker where she left it yesterday. She glanced over at the counter-top were her and Zoey's lunches always sat every morning made by Riley. Nothing was there, so Olivia was not going to say anything. If she was lucky Zoey would forget about it too. She loved the food Riley made, but eating more then one bite was not on her to do list. Breakfast would be enough for today. She always felt bad tossing out the food Riley had gotten up early to prepare for her. And then lying to his face anytime he asked how she liked it, when she had not even eaten it.

After Kylie came back with the humongous pile of mail, and declared she was rich, Ollie raised her eyebrows in question. But then Kylie reread and looked like someone slapped her in the face. Was the whole family in debt now? Olivia didn't know very much about the responsibilities of grown ups. If her parents ever had money troubles then she had no idea. They had kept those conversations private. Olivia felt bad. Her parents had prepaid the annual 5,000 tuition for her formal ballet classes three months ago, and Olivia had not gone to class once since her parents died. The main reason being that she was avoiding Him at all costs, but also because she didn't feel like doing anything. Unfortunately He was her ride to and from class along with Taylor, Marigold, and three other girls. The Ballet studio was about 30 minutes away on the edge of the outskirts bordering Lane county, and sitting in a car with her Rapist for a full hour all together was not Ollie's idea of a good time.

The whole Sophia is missing thing, chipped away at the back of her mind, trying oh so hard to start up her anxiety. But just as it was about to brake through and ruin her morning, James informed the room that Sophia had slept over at Elliot's. Olivia looked down at her plate with seventy percent of her breakfast eaten, she pushed the plate away from her, done with breakfast now. She had a sour taste in her mouth after hereing about Sophia's whereabouts. Was she jealous of Sophia or mad at her? No that can't be it, right? She had not seen Elliot since he got back. She still pictured him as the perfect prince she had a crush on five years ago. Getting up from the table she scrapped the remaining food off her plate into the garbage can, and then rinsed her dish in the sink. She was slightly mad at herself for even thinking about Elliot in any kind of love way. She had already vowed to never fall in love, date, or get married to anyone. Boys other then Riley, James, and dad were just bad news. And James was not even a real boy.

Now that she was done eating she went into the living room where her purse was still wedged between the couch cushions. Getting out the 200 bucks Kylie had given her yesterday, she walked back into the kitchen and handed it to her. "You need this more then me." Olivia said seriously. If her family was poor now did that mean they would have to sell the house, and the cars. Would the electricity be shut off? She fiddled with the ends of her hair beginning to worry.

The clock said she still had fifteen minutes before Riley drove them to school, so she went into the bathroom to get a hair brush and two hair-ties. Coming out of the bathroom she started bushing her hair and listening to her siblings talk among themselves.

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Everything was going great up until the wannabe hero of a cop showed up, pistol aimed squarely at Wes’ head. Of course this would happen today. Adrenaline poured through his body, a wide smirk spreading onto his visage and his hazel orbs floated from Claire’s seated form to the cop. Slowly albeit half heartedly, he put his hands up in the air, dropping the knife to the ground which clinked onto the ground with a plastic thud. In the sunlight, it was clear the switchblade wasn’t even real, just a cheap children’s toy.

”You wanna shoot an unarmed man? A rich, powerful unarmed man? Go ahead, if you wants to start a media circus. Yous seen what happened with Ferguson, haven’t cha? All this backlash against the police killin’ people the past couple of years… And here we are. A silly joke gone wrong.” Wes dared the man to shoot him. He was obviously enjoying this life and death situation by the tone of his voice.

Without warning, a loud screech emanated from behind him. The Prince’s eyes quickly diverted out the back window, spotting a lone man at the rear of his limo. That asshole was scratching up his limo! Unfortunately, Wes was a bit preoccupied at the moment.

A sudden cold grin split Jerry’s face. With a smooth motion he put the gun in its holster and stepped back from the car and unhooked his radio. This was nothing new for Jerry; he’d seen these types before. L.A. had more than a few of them, silver spoon toting bastards who knew all the right people. My bad, have a nice day. Without a second glance Jerry backed away from the car and climbed into his vehicle. Getting on his radio Jerry rattled off his radio I.D. ”Apologies dispatch; false alarm. Suspect is a friend playing a prank, the weapon is a plastic knife.”.

With a jerking motion across his neck Jerry made a move to get out of his car warning off the kid with a key assaulting the outside of the limo. There was no way he was getting involved in more shit. Without a second thought Jerry jammed his cruiser in reverse and pulled away from the curb. This was not good. With a tap Jerry brought up the Limo plate. Harmon

Time to do work it appeared.

Wesly chuckled a bit when the cop was gone, closing the door, locking it, and giving Claire a big ol’, voracious smile. Though he wanted to get out and clock that limo-scratching knucklehead in the face, Wes knew that was an awful idea and paged for Marty to keep rolling. He'd get that man back one day though. The limo took off from the scene although no destination was certain. ”Glad yous didn’t scream, sweetheart. Might’ve actually had to get dirty then.” he told the girl. His arm around her shoulder, he sat her down next to him and began to thump a finger against her skin. ”Okay, now that that’s over, where were we? Oh yeah! Back there. At the cafe. Yeah.That. Don’t ever do that again.” he warned her, narrowing his eyes and leering dangerously at her. The look of horror on her face was priceless, as if she thought she was going to die here and now. Maybe she was right.

Or not.

”I don’t likes being told no, and I definitely don’t likes being told what to do, yous gots that? I’m going to tell you this: if you gonna do either of those things, then you gots to be gentle and delicate. My emotions are like… landmines. You can tip toe across them, but if yous steps too hard, then I’m gonna blow up and somebody’s gonna die.” His words were surprisingly calm and helpful. However, his expression was now serious, hardened, and none too reassuring. It was almost as if he were just softening her up before the man slit her throat.

His free hand opened up a console to his right, revealing a small cooler for alcoholic beverages. Wes gave his captive a chilled plastic bottle of dark liquor and gestured for her to take a swig. Sure, it was early in the morning, but there was never a bad time to drink. ”Take a shot, sweetheart. It’ll help calm you down. I knows yous must be awfully scared after that mean ol’ police officer pulled a gun on us. And I know I lost my temper earlier, and I’m sorry for that. At the same time, I ain’t gonna be disrespected. Oh yeah... What's your name, sweetie? I never did catch it.” It was still rather unclear what Wes had in store for her, bouncing between a tone that spoke ‘Hey, you’re going to be okay, I’m going to let you out’ and ‘Bitch, you’re gonna fucking die.’ The Underboss waited for her to drink, glowering at her with two copper orbs and tapping away on her shoulder.

_{@BlueAjah@Fabricant451@smarty0114}

Dead-eyed dreary tired students packed the halls of the highschool, as they did every morning. Some sleep deprived, some depressed, some just succumbing to a catatonic state hoping to escape the horrors of their teenage existence, the horrors of the place they found themselves in now. After all, who could muster the energy for cheer so early in the morning?

Who indeed.

Almost by reflex, the crowd of students parted, clearing a pathway for the figure making her way down the hall. She was a juxtaposition of modern and historic, draped in a deep purple garb resembling a toga emblazoned with the letters SPQR across the front and back. Perhaps any normal person who donned such a garb would wear it with dignity and respect.

But no.

She danced her way down the hall with jerking motions, in a clearly half-assed attempt at doing the Robot. Earbuds blissfully concealed whatever music she was listening to as she made her way through the school, but unfortunately for the poor students she made sure everyone around knew the words to her song.

"I've got a secret! I've been hiding! Under my skin!"

Perhaps her voice would be pleasant if she weren't trying to imitate a man from Chicago. As it was, students all around her covered their ears and groaned, too used to the spectacle to feel any actual shame for her. She ignored them, hooped earrings dangling every which way as she sang and danced towards her classroom. It was located towards the back of the school, up a small flight of stairs. As the woman reached the top of these she turned around, facing the hall of students head on. Ripping out one of the earbuds she screamed to them:

"DOMO ARIGATO MR. ROBOTO! DOMO!"

She cupped one of her hands around her free ear, clearly expecting a call and response. Instead she received a couple half-hearted 'domo's from the crowd, with the rest simply scowling at her in annoyance. She stuck her tongue out at them before clicking her heels and walking the last couple feet to her room.

Once she was in the safety of the classroom, she ripped out her earbuds and shoved them, along with her phone, into her desk. Today was a bad day. Not for her, but for the lovable little shitheads who decided to blow off her lessons and fail yesterday's test. A test she warned them would be hard. That she warned them to take the study guide seriously for. They were discussing Rome for heaven's sake! It didn't exactly have the smallest impact on human history. She flipped through the papers stacked on her desk one more time, memorizing the grades, until the bell rang.

As the students filed into the room one by one, she stood there, like the eye of a raging hurricane. In front of her was something that resembled a dart board, with sections labeled A-F. Beside her, on her desk, rested a box, filled with darts. Perfectly normal in design, except for one feature: On the back was taped the face of a student. As soon as a face appeared in her doorway she let a dart fly, with increasing aggression as it became evident that the class was screwed.

thunk. F.

Thunk. F.

THunk. F.

THUnk. F.

THUNk. D.

THUNK. F.

THUNK. F.

It was a complete 180 from her personality in the hallway. Sure, the underlying insanity remained, but the carefree attitude had given away to the cold exterior of an executioner. By the time the darts had run out, only three stood out from the clump of D's and F's . Blake Warren was one of the few. Slowly, she made her way over to her desk, and simply stared at her students, eyes moving from one end of the room to the other, until they all had been seated. Finally, she spoke, almost in a whisper:

"Rome is important. Perhaps I didn't make this clear enough the past couple weeks. You all failed miserably, I'M embarrassed, and you all should know resistant to shame I am by now. Do you recall, what I told you at the beginning of the year?"

The room greeted her with silence, either out of fear or amnesia. After a moment, she sighed.

"I said, 'you either pass my class as a group, or you fail it as a group' remember? You seem to have decided to fail as a group, after doing so well all year."

Her voice never raised above that whisper. Silently, she made her way over to the windowsill, where a can full of Popsicle sticks sat, unnoticed by the classroom. She set them down on top of her desk before making her way over to her whiteboard.

"Please, alphabetically, I want you all to grab one stick out of that can and return to your desks."

She turned to the board as students began shuffling forward, and began writing on the whiteboard in red marker. It was a single word:

DECIMATION

"Now."

She continued, raising her voice for the first time since class began.

"This is the perfect time for another lesson on Rome. Perhaps you'll remember this one. You see, Romans had a particular punishment reserved for military units who performed poorly, such as routing during an important battle. This punishment was called 'decimation'."

She paused, for effect, and a chill descended over the room.

"Deci means 'ten' in Latin. When a unit was being punished with decimation, they were forced to draw lots, much as you're doing at this moment. Most of the soldiers were spared, however, one-tenth of them were executed on the spot as motivation for the survivors."

Like a magician, she snapped her fingers and a 10 sided die appeared in her hands.

"You'll notice those lots you drew all have numbers. Because I am merciful, I shall roll this die and let luck decide your fates."

Noticing all of the students by then had followed her instructions and returned to their seats, she tossed the die up in the air and simply waited until it clattered onto her desk. With agonizing slowness she made her way over. Her eyes flicked from the die to her students, as a wicked grin spread across her face.

"Would anyone with the number eight, please stand up?"

Her smile almost faltered when the Warren boy stood up, along with one of the typical class slackers. So, one of the people who actually worked hard enough to pass it was going to be punished? Such was luck.

"Please, students, gaze upon your sacrifices with admiration, for they are saving your grades! Warren, screwoff, you two now have 0's. Everyone else? 100%"

Perhaps too stunned to speak, or too afraid of interrupting her, still the class stayed silent. Catherine took the opportunity to make her way to the white board once more. Uncapping the red marker, she drew a single number.

1

The facade of evil left her all at once, and she beamed at the class, holding up a single index finger to emphasis the point.

"By the way, everyone. That test is now worth one point. Retest tomorrow! STUDY THIS TIME!"

Having gone from mother to monster in the course of a single order, she began writing names on the board, pairing up study partners while humming the tune of "Mr. Roboto" from earlier. In the end, roughly people who got the higher grades were paired with people who got the lower grades. In this case, Zoey Reese and Blake Warren had their names situated right next to each other, sealing their fates for the remainder of the class.

When Catherine finished, she turned to the class with a smile.

"Remember kids, I only show mercy once."

With that, she drew a whip from the fold of her toga with a CRACK for emphasis, immediately sending students clambering to pair up with their partners. With a sigh, she made her way over to her desk and closed her eyes. She loved her job, most of the time, but it took a lot out of her. Maybe she'd try being a "normal" teacher sometime.

Try.

@The Muse@Blueajah