_{Collab with @Snagglepuss89}

"Lizzy"

Sophia nodded, her blue eyes meeting the Lizzy's stone cold gaze. "She's cute." She fiddled with her phone in her lap, tossing it from one hand to the other in an attempt to distract herself from the growing silence.

You could cut the tension in the room with a knife. Everything she could think of to say didn't seem right, and even if she tried to speak the words caught in her throat. What was she supposed to say exactly? Hey, how are you asshole, what have you been doing for the past five years?

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

Just like that, the sarcastic and often snarky Elliot that she had always known was back.

She smiled, her muscles relaxing. This felt familiar, nostalgic. "This one is on the house, baby. " She gave him a playful wink, then broke out in light giggles.

With a sigh of relief, she stood up. "I'm glad you're back, Elliot." She offered a hand down to him to help him stand. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I really need to change out of these clothes. Do you want to come back to my house with me and then we can have breakfast... or something?"

The nerves of asking him to join her in something so normal made her stomach twist. He had the power to crush her all over again with the flick of his wrist.

Elliot raised an eyebrow at her as she offered him a hand. Breakfast would be nice, coffee too, especially if he didn't have to cook it or waste groceries. Still, that wasn't what was bugging him. Something else. What the hell did that mean? The way she paused before she said it triggered alarms in his head. Was she... nervous? Why would Sophi of all people be nervous? Unless...

Considering the show she put on earlier... She was so quick to brush off his comment, surely she would have been tripped up at least a little if it were an accident? This was all a bit more than he was expecting so early in the day. What was that phrase they used online? Slap-slap-kiss? Slap-kiss at the very least, seemed appropriate to his situation. He wasn't immediately refusing her, which confused him even more.

Breakfast first. I can fend her off with my cane if I really need to.

Turning red at the mental image, he quickly grabbed her hand and pulled himself up, dusting himself off with his free hand in an attempt to distract her. Elliot's antics only earned him a cocked head from Lizzy, and her tail was soon wagging with the realization that they would be going outside. He gave her a scratch behind the ears before turning once more to Sophi.

"Breakfast sounds great, I'm sure you're a much better cook than I am at this point, working at the diner so much.

As soon as he finished speaking he blinked, before jerking his hand back like it was on fire. He hadn't noticed until then that he was still grabbing her hand from earlier. He did not need this sort of confusion today.

Sophia’s hand hung in the air as he ripped his hand away from hers. She stared at it for a moment, wondering why he considered her so vile. “Alright then…” Apparently this was fifth grade and girls had cooties. She had held his hand all night, why was it so bad now?

“Riley is the good cook in the house...I’m okay.” She shrugged, making her way for the door. “Do you have a car?” She stepped outside and turned around to face him, waiting for him to lead the way. Her eyes followed Lizzy as she made her way to the door, seemingly set on following the two of them.

As she waited, her phone buzzed with another text message. Probably James reaming her for disappearing in the middle of the night without a word. Pulling out her phone she prepared herself for his ten page essay of a text message detailing what a crappy person she was.

“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.”

Nope. It was worse.

“Fuck…” was all that escaped her lips as she stared at the phone. What sort of trouble had Kylie managed to get herself into this time? She quickly typed back a reply; “How does she owe the IRS money? How much money?”

_{@Saint Girralo}

Sighing, she looked back up at Elliot. “I have to go to the diner after I change out of these clothes… breakfast there instead?”

"Sorry..."

He mumbled, looking at her hand hanging in the air. How often had the two apologized to each other the last couple days? Way too often to be healthy. He'd need to get over that reaction of his sometime, not that it'd particularly been a problem before now. With a stretch and a sigh he made his way across the room, passing her as she pulled out her phone to text. He ignored her muttered "fuck" and took a breath of the fresh outdoor air. He had always been an indoors person as a child, now that he couldn't get around as well he'd found a newfound appreciation for the outdoors.

"A car? Sorry, I thought we'd walk? Get some fresh air? Catch up a little..."

Just what sort of text had she gotten? She certainly seemed annoyed at something now. Knowing them as well as he did, he had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with the other Reeses. What though, he could hardly imagine. Especially after what he'd witnessed at the mall.

She paused for a moment, watching him walk ahead of her. Walking? Could he walk that far with his leg? “Uhm…” She snapped out of her thoughts and caught up to him again, shoving her phone back into her pocket. “Are you sure?” Her eyes quite obviously went to his leg that she had just seen him practically screwing on. Eventually, she’d have to ask about that.

Looking ahead, she took in the quiet of the city in the morning. Birds chirping, the light breeze through the trees, and the crisp fresh air surrounding them. “Walking sounds nice…” She hadn’t taken a real walk in a long, long time. She was always jogging, or running when she was outside, which could have been a metaphor for her entire life. Always running.

“Of course I’m sure. Besides, it’s not like you have to worry about getting your clothes dirty.”

---

---

Charlie stepped back as the limo sped off, though he at least got a good look at the license plate. He stood there, a look of awe on his face at the cop's sudden change of heart. What the fuck kind of town is this? he thought, running his hands through his hair. He pulled off his glasses and cleaned them quickly, struggling to work out a plan. If he had more time he might be able to do something but the limo had sped off. He didn't know the town well enough to have even a remote clue as to the car's destination.

Suddenly he was snatched from his thoughts by a whistle and he looked up to see a woman in a car looking over at him. "Pretty ballsy move, kid, you do that professionally? Next time, though, you might wanna try a bat to the windows. That's when they know you're not fucking around. Keying a car is an annoyance. Breaking a windshield is a message." Charlie laughed despite the situation. "I can't say it was the brightest move I've ever made. Next time I'll be sure to go for the windshield." He sighed. He couldn't waste time having a laugh with some random woman on the street. Unless she could help somehow.

"I don't suppose you have a place with some decent WI-FI and a land line do you? That limo it...well the guy who I assume owns it has someone I care about. I'd like to not see her murdered today. His brain was already spinning, gears whirring in his head. "Normally I wouldn't take things like this into my own hands," Lie "But Captain Dumbass over there seems to have decided that donuts matter a bit more than his badge," Charlie said, gesturing to the cop who was now sitting in his car.

He knew that he could trace the license plate back to a phone number, and then using a landline, call said number and trace the signal back, but he'd need a decent connection. It was better than a high speed chase through the streets of some town where people were kidnapped in broad day light by purple headed fucks in limos while the police force sat idly by. This lady's gonna be able to help. I can tell.

_{@Fabricant451}

---

---

---

---

Kylie was on the verge of hyperventilating, overwhelmed by the debt she had just accrued plus the notion of actually having to have a real job. She took out her phone and searched for the federal tax rate and googled what she needed to know about taxes and tax brackets. Ticking some numbers into her head, she remembered she had made around $42,500 last year. $30,000 from a tournament, and 5 months of $2,500 from the sponsorship she acquired. 'Okay, 42,500 x .25 = ...10,625. That's specifically how much I owe the feds.' The redhead was glad she at least remembered some of the math she learned in school. Her hands swiftly grabbed the letter from the IRS, and noted the math matched up. Scanning over the website she'd pulled up about taxes, it mentioned she also needed to pay state tax.

"Shit!" The words flew out of her mouth as she began to dig through the pile of envelopes again. Lo and behold, there was another envelope for her from Oregon Department of Revenue. Tearing it open, her eyes were glued to it, taking in every word it told her. The news was bad: another $3,825 in state taxes. So $14,450 grand total. That number loomed over her like a dark cloud. How much of that $42,500 did she have left? Last she recalled, there was about a little over $11,000 sitting in her bank account. Sheesh. Did she really spend that much?

"I owe... more than 10 grand. I owe $14,450. I made $42,500 last year but nothing was automatically taxed. Under the table, you could say, I guess." Kylie began to explain. "Look, it doesn't matter how I made the money, just know it's online, I'm self-employed, and make a good amount each month, okay? I didn't realize I fucked myself in taxes though..." The twin really didn't want to start explaining how video games and advertising had gotten her somewhere. Plus they probably wouldn't believe her anyhow. Running both of her hands through her hair, she let out a sigh of frustration before turning in her seat and taking the money Ollie presented to her. "Thanks, kiddo." were the only words she said to her tiny sister before she got up out of her seat and started up the stairs. "I'll go get dressed... I hope your friend isn't a fucking creep, Riley." she told her twin, looking back at her brother with pained, sapphire orbs.

Kylie was actually going to go prepare for this stupid interview that Riley had planned for her. Sure, she didn't like it. In fact, she just wanted to go back to sleep. Unfortunately, it was either deal with this tax bullshit or get crushed by the consequences. Plus Riley was legitimately doing her a favor, and she couldn't stand to deny him that. As the redhead marched up to the bathroom to shower, she shot Sophia a text.

'do u have $15k i can borrow??? lol i gotta pay taxes n i kindaaaa spent most of the $$$ i made lst yr. its rlly dumb. i make 2500 a month, so i can pay u bck btw. i gonna try n get anther job 2.'

The twin doubted Sophia had that kind of money, but if her sister did, then she would much rather owe her than the government... At least she would be able to get away with not paying on time with her sibling. Clenching her fists as she entered the bathroom, Kylie slammed the door and took a good look at herself in the mirror. She was 18 years old, but she didn't know shit about life. Talking to strangers terrified her. Her own family regarded her as a fuck up, and no doubt this whole money situation only made them even more disappointed in her. What would happen if they learned about her feelings for Riley? Would they throw her out and ignore her very existence? Kylie really didn't want to find out.

Maybe it as about time she had some change in her life. Stroking her hair, her mind lingered on that for a moment.

Change.

It absolutely frightened her, but... it had to be done.

_{@lovely complex@BlueAjah@Saint Girralo@Emma@The Muse}

_{Collab with @Karamonnom}
James finished up breakfast quickly, knowing he had to get to the diner to unlock the place for Ron, and Mark, one of the few people who stayed on after ownership passed to Sophia. From how the day was starting, he was glad someone else was in to back him and Ron up. The diner was already going into the day short handed with Riley coming in late, and Sophia was likely to be hungover when she finally got in. For him to say he was a bit concerned about the situation would be an understatement; he was nervous that it would fall apart like yesterday which he kept mostly hidden. As he quickly rinsed his plate and put it in the dishwasher, he pulled out his phone, as it vibrated to signify a new text. It was from Sophi, “How does she owe the IRS money? How much money?” ‘That’s exactly what I said! He replied, as he grabbed Sophi's car keys. “Okay everyone, I'll see you later. Riley, get in when you can, Kylie find a job, Zoey, Ollie, stay in class today. I love, bye.” James sighed as he walked out the front door. As he unlocked it, he pulled Nathan's text back up, "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?"

‘Good Morning Nathan. How did it go last night? Yeah I'll see you after your class, though I might still be at the diner. Today seems to be going to shit all over again. Riley is going to be out for who knows how much of the day, Kylie is going to be out looking for a job all day, and Sophi went over to Elliot's last night and isn't back yet. Did I mention that he's back last night?’ James shot to Nathan, as he vented slightly. He started the car and began to pull out of the driveway. He was frustrated that things seem to be going as well as yesterday.
~

Nathan had finally decided to drop by the diner. He had just gotten on the bus when he got a text from James. Nathan shook his head as he read the text. Poor, poor James. Things just are never easy for the poor boy. “I guess it turned out better than I thought… kind of. Not really. But yikes. Sorry to hear about your rough day. Don’t worry, I’m dropping by the diner for breakfast, that will surely brighten your day! Remind me to get some groceries haha.” he texted back.

He relaxed into his seat and put on his ear buds to listen to some music until he arrived at his destination. He thought about how he still needed to ask James about Vanessa since he promised the girl. But his friend seemed like he had a lot on his plate already. ”What to do, what to do,” he wondered.
~
James had just gotten to a stop light when he got a reply from Nathan telling him that the date didn't go well. While he was sorry to hear that, he brightened up a bit when he heard that Nathan would be coming to the diner. Sure it would just be for breakfast, but he needed a pick me up with the all the stress he was dealing with first thing in the morning. He was about it respond, but the light turned green and he set his phone down to keep moving forward. However, about two minutes later, he hit another red light and could respond. ’Alright. You can tell me in person what happened. Fortunately I managed to eat this morning. I'm driving, I'll see you in a bit.’ He replied to Nathan. The diner wasn't far from the house, so he'd be there before Nathan, and could set up a bit for the day.
~
Nathan received a reply from James. He decided to not reply though as they were going to be seeing each other in probably less than five minutes. He did however, get a text from Rachel surprisingly. “I am so so so so so so so sorry about last night! How embarrassing! Can I make it up to you?” she had said in her text.

He felt bad for the girl and who knows, maybe she could end up being his girlfriend. “It’s fine really. It was a night I will probably never forget. Maybe we can do something this weekend?” he replied back.

She wasted no time texting him back. “Sure! Sounds awesome! Let’s plan something!”

He sighed and put his phone back. Soon enough he had arrived at his stop and started to walk in the general direction of the diner.
~
James pulled into Sophi's normal parking spot at the Diner and parked the car. He saw Ron and Mark sitting in their cars and he went and knocked on their windows and waved them on, before walking to the front door and flipping the lock open and pulls the front door open. Walking inside, he flips the light on and turns on the register. Ron and Mark walk through the front door and I nod to them and pull a few menus to the side of the register. As he pulled out Windex and some paper towels, he watched as Ron and Mark clocked in. James started spraying down a table and began to wipe it down as Ron entered the kitchen and Mark made his way into the back to grab an apron and a bill pad. Nathan hadn't responded yet, but that could be because he was already close to the diner. There was a bus pulling up to a stop just down the street as he parked.
~

Nathan arrived in front of the diner and waltz inside. He waited in the front for someone, most likely James, to get him a table. He looked around, realizing that he hasn’t dropped by in a while. But he sure had a lot of memories of the diner. “James? Looks like I’m your first customer of the day,” he said cheerfully.

~
James rolled his eyes hearing his friend walking within minutes after he had himself. He stood up at the table he was finishing up on, just drying the last of the cleaning solution. He felt a slight flush come to his face as he looked at his friend, who keeps calling him princess, even though it's just a joke to him. James smiled and called out to his friend, ”Hey man, I'll be with you in a moment.” He finished with the table he was cleaning and walked back to the entrance and pulled Riley's sign out of the window and flipped the sign to “OPEN”. He then went to the register and grabbed a single menu. ”So, where would you like to sit? As you said, you're the first one here, and have a bit before things get crazy.”
~

[color=firebrick] “I’ll take a small booth then,” Nathan answered with a grin. He took a seat at the booth near the back. He had been at this diner a hundreds of times and had already pretty much memorized the menu, but it was more of a courtesy thing. “You already know what I want to order, right?” he playfully teased before his friend could set the menu in front of him. He didn’t think James would know but it seemed fun to test his friend.
~
James froze for a moment trying to think of what Nathan would normally order. He had been working at the Diner part time even before their parents died, but he only had been the waiter for Nathan and his family a handful of times. ”Let's just do this properly, I'll write it down and pass it off to Ron.” He said, setting the menu in front of Nathan. ”So let's start you off with something to drink? Would you like coffee, tea, soda, orange juice?” he replied, smiling.
~

”Aw fine but this way is less fun,” Nathan whined, though his smile never left his face. “I guess I’ll have some tea please. Do you guys have assam?” He then grabbed the menu and absentmindedly flipped through the pages. “Two eggs, scrambled, with hash browns and white toast,” he said after making it look like he was trying hard to decide what to get. “And ask Ron to draw a heart on my eggs with some ketchup please.”
~
”Yeah, we have some Assam. I'll get the order right in. I'll be right back with the tea.” James laughed lightly as Nathan requested Ron to make a heart in ketchup on his eggs. With the order written down, he walked to the Kitchen window, where Ron was smirking as I handed him the order slip. ”What?” Ron just shook his head and took the order slip from my hand, smiling the entire time. James turned away from the window and went behind the counter down by the tea section and grabbed a tea bag of Assam. Grabbing a hot kettle of water, he placed the tea bag in a coffee mug, and brought the tea and water back to Nathan. “So what happened last night? Was Rebecca a good singer?” He asked, hoping to get Nathan to tell what happened.
~

”Rebecca? You either mean Rachel or Vanessa. Either way, both girls were decent singers” he said. Then he blew onto the top of his mug to cool down his drink. “Alright, so things were going well between me and Rachel. We might have had some things to drink and we were hitting it off. And we started kissing because boy, she was not a good drinker. It was really nice until… she puked on my lap.” He sighed, thinking back on what happened the night before.
~
“Knew it started with an R. For whatever reason I kept getting the name of the one girl back in junior year.” James cursed himself silently for mixing the two up. “But she puked on you. Damn she's a light weight. How'd Vanessa do holding her liquor?” James asked quickly, but halfheartly.
~

“As one would expect, she was better. Oh and speaking of Vanessa, she is really interested in you. So what do you think?” Nathan took a sip of his drink. It was nice and warmed up his stomach. It was still a little too hot for him, but he continued to drink it anyways, even if it meant melting his tastebuds off. He tapped his finger onto the table in some sort of rhythmic manner as he waited for his friend to answer.
~
James was surprised to hear that Vanessa was interested in him, and while he thought she was quite beautiful, he hadn't been planning on dating anyone until after he finished transitioning. “I mean I wasn't planning on worrying about dating someone quite yet, especially with so much to worry about at home, at school, here. I was going to wait until the end of the semester, at the earliest. But I think she's cute, and I'll at least give her a shot. But something tells me that it won't last, besides the fact that we're all still young.” James sighed, and just moments later Ron whistled him over. It was still quiet so it wasn't that hard to hear him at that distance. “I'll be right back, I think your order is done.” James said as he got up. It looked like Ron finished up the order.
~

Nathan was a bit surprised that James said that he was going to give Vanessa a chance. “I guess double dates are in order then,” he said. He was pretty sure that if James went out with Vanessa, Nathan was going to have to date Rachel. They seemed like a packaged deal. He watched as James left to get his food and then checked the time. It was still early and he had a while til his afternoon classes. He could relax a bit longer. Though if the diner started to get busy, he’ll be sure to leave. Wouldn’t want to be a burden or distraction or anything.
~
Ron had indeed finished making the breakfast meal, and was still smirking when James got up to the window again. James rolled his eyes again, and simply grabbed the plate and brought it over to Nathan. “Yeah, I guess double dates are in order. Here you go, is there anything else you need?" James replied as he sat down across from his friend. He wasn't about to say so out loud, but Nathan was the only guy James had met so far that he had any feelings for. And to be sitting here with him, and sitting there last night at the movies were great, but it didn't seem to be going anywhere. He'd have to see how things went with Vanessa and how things went between Nathan and Rachel.
~

“Yeah,” Nathan replied, looking straight into James’ eyes. Then without skipping a beat, he added, “You.”
He tried his best not to smile but failed after a good three seconds. He was just used to messing around with his friend like that. He kind of liked the reaction James had when he pulled stupid shit like that. “Ah, Ron didn’t draw a heart on my eggs. Can you do it for me?” he asked, breaking the short moment of silence.
~
James’ face instantly turned bright red as his friend said that, and Ron just starts laughing from the kitchen. James shoots a look over at the kitchen window and Ron quiets down. Part of him wished he could just disappear, but another part of him enjoyed what Nathan had said. When Nathan asked him to draw a heart with ketchup on the eggs, James felt like his face couldn't grow any redder. But he complied and grabbed the bottle of ketchup at the end of the booth and began pouring it out onto the eggs in the shape of a heart, all the while the flush never left his face. But in the back of his mind the idea rang out, Maybe he actually likes you back
~
Nathan’s smile grew wider as James’ face grew redder. It was just too easy to tease him and it was just too fun to stop. “Thank you,” he said, very pleased with the whole thing. “I think it’s like good luck or something when a princess draws a heart on something for you,” he mused out loud.

He grabbed the utensils and began to eat some hash browns. The food was always good. Props to Ron. “If I had the money, I think I would start my morning like this everyday,” he sighed happily.
~
James was certainly rendered silent when Nathan said that it was supposed to be good luck for a princess to draw a heart on something for you. Was he trying to flirt with him? He just sat there as Nathan started eating the hash browns, no one else had come in yet, but it was only midweek. Then Nathan said he'd like to eat like this every morning if he had the money. Finally regaining the use of his tongue James replied, ”Yeah, Ron’s a great cook, and if we could bring him home to cook for us every evening, I bet the others would do so in a heartbeat.”
~

“Not just that. I missed hanging out with you like this. You’ve been too busy lately, you can’t even fit me into your schedule,” Nathan said nonchalantly. He then began to spread some of the grape jam onto his white toast. “Well, I’m not entirely free all the time either. I still have work and school but still…”

He took a large bite of the toast then grabbed a napkin to wipe his face. “So, Elliot’s back in town? Never thought I would see him again. Soph’s probably pretty happy about that, huh?”
~
James scoffed at that as he grew serious. Elliot had seriously hurt Sophi's feelings when he left abruptly like he had. ”Yeah, he's back. Apparently he came in here yesterday and Sophi slapped him yesterday. Which one would think would indicate the opposite, but I got a text earlier that said she went over to Elliot's place last night while drunk if Riley is right. So I don't know.” James sighed as he tried to explain that situation to Nathan. There was no way that he would let Elliot to hurt his sister again, not if he could help it.
~

Nathan shrugged in response. “Sounds like some soap opera,” he said while finishing up the slice of toast. “She’s a big girl though, I’m sure she’s fine.”

He almost did not want to touch the eggs. The heart was somewhat nicely drawn on. He kind of wanted to take a picture of it first. He regrettably began to mix the eggs around so the ketchup was evenly mixed into it. He ate a huge bite. It was delicious as everything else he has eaten.
~
James nodded when Nathan said that Sophi was a big girl. ”Yeah, I know.” James was about to follow it up when some other customers walked in. “I've got to get to work it seems. Why don't you hit me up later so maybe we can coordinate something for the double date.” James smiled slightly, the red coloration of his face finally starting to fade back to a normal skin color. Sliding out of the booth he started to make his way up to the front of the store. Welcome to the Queen’s Orchid, how many people are in your group?” James asked the group with a smile.
~

Nathan waved as James went off to handle the other customers that have arrived. Then he finished up his meal. Of course he paid after he was finished and even left some tip. When he was all set to go, he took one last look at James, waved once more. “See you later. Thanks for breakfast,” he said as he went out the door. He then made his way back to the bus stop so he can go to class.
~
James smiled as his friend waved and said goodbye. ”Alright, I'll see you later. Thank you for stopping by.” He replied as he guides the customers to another booth. 'I hope Sophi gets in soon. We need to talk about hiring people. That way we don't run ourselves into the ground and we do what our parents would have,' he thought to himself as he started taking the order of the people he just sat. He noticed the tip on the table Nathan had been sitting at and after getting the drink order written down, he walked over to the table and picked up the tip. He knew that Nathan knew he didn't have to tip him, being each other's best friend and all, that he would end up paying it back to him at some point, but it was nice.

The fake blade clunked to the floor of the limo and Claire’s heart toppled with complete humiliation and stupidity. Of course the blade was fake, only she would be so impossibly stupid. She pushed part of her blonde hair behind her ear and breathed, staring at Wesley as he conversed with the police officer. While her eyes were pleading to be released from the dark prison, the officer simply apologized for the inconvenience. What kind of cop just leaves? Holy crap, that cop is awful.The entire thing was almost humorous, only Claire could possibly find herself in such a situation.

Claire’s ears burned in agony as a deafening screech ran up against the limo’s side. What in the world? Zipping her head to the side, she tried to look through the windows but could only make out a figure standing beside the limo. Everything was definitely out of whack. Today was going to be a terrible day.

It seemed everyone returned to normal as the police officer backed off, leaving Claire to an unknown fate. Wesley chuckled softly and shut the door, making sure to lock it. She could feel her heart beginning to race but she reminded herself to breathe. Whatever Wesley wanted, it was probably to establish his dominance over the town or whatever it was guys like him did to those who upset them. Everything would be over before she could even say Riley.

Putting his hand around her shoulders, Wesley began to thank Claire for not screaming and she couldn’t help but scoot a little away from him. As he tapped on her skin, she felt extremely uncomfortable and kept the image of Riley strong within her mind. Nothing or anyone would cause her to be unfaithful to him. While it was a bit cliche, Claire was sure he was her true love and possibly the only love she’d ever have. He was sweet, kind, thoughtful, and more caring than many people gave him credit for. The two had only been dating for a few weeks but she was positive she loved him deeply.

A soft buzz vibrated in her hand, indicating a text from someone, but Claire ignored it, hoping Wesley didn’t notice either. Sighing, she went still as he explained the situation to her. He was like a bomb waiting to explode, great… Part of Claire didn’t understand how someone found pleasure in doing such cruel things. Was it really that entertaining to him? She wondered what had happened to make him lead to such decisions.

Of course Wesley had to make the situation worse and pulled out an entire cooler of alcohol. Claire stared in disbelief. It wasn’t even noon and he wanted to...drink?? After his warning about being told what to do, Claire would be out of her mind if she told him to not drink. But he couldn’t force her to drink, could he? It was illegal and Claire had never, would never break the law. “Umm…” she mumbled, staring at the alcohol. “I’m only nineteen.” She couldn’t help the quiver in her voice. If he started to get violent again, she wasn’t sure what she would do. There was no way out. All she wanted to do was leave and go to class but things really weren’t going her way. Claire’s gaze fell to the floor, her hair falling over her pale face as she said. “And my name’s Claire by the way, Wesley.”

@Viciousmarrow

---

Commotion filled the Reese home as it always did whenever the siblings were together. The only time where Zoey could find absolute silence was during the night, and even then the snores and sleep talking were enough to keep anyone awake. Even thinking about her siblings settling down was an impossible task. It was fine, she supposed. Sometimes the obnoxious bickering was comforting and familiar, at least they were together.

An omelette was placed in front of her by James, and Zoey munched on her breakfast as the family continued to talk. It was typical of Zoey to stay quiet as her siblings did the talking, none of their conversations were of much interest to her and so, she stayed out of them. As Riley went to answer his phone call, Kylie made effort no stop herself from screaming about messing with his girlfriend. Girlfriend? She asked herself. When did Riley get another girlfriend? Shrugging, she threw the information back down into her useless thoughts and continued eating her omelette.

Zoey’s face stayed blank, always neutral, as Kylie became complaining about owing money to the IRS. It was almost something expected of her sister to accomplish and Zoey didn’t care much for it. She’d have to pay it back and that was that. Everyone seemed to dwell on their issues, letting it consume them until it’s all they care about. Zoey didn’t like that. Things would get done when they would, such as Kylie would eventually pay off her debts and she didn’t, then it was her fault. Simple. Easy. No use fretting sleep over.

Among the chatter, the whereabouts of the eldest were finally announced. Elliot? Searching through her memories, Zoey faintly remembered the boy living right beside them. People weren’t things Zoey paid much attention to, too many names and problems. She remembered he had been nice but the two had never been close. Of course, Zoey had never had a friend, with the exception of her family, so she wouldn’t blame Elliot if he thought of her as strange. She had no idea what his real thoughts of her were nor did she care much. Sophi had spent a lot of time with him, perhaps their relationship had stepped beyond friendship? It was none of her business though and again, she let the information drown within her thoughts.

Silently finishing breakfast, Zoey said nothing as she left the table and returned to her room. Sitting beside her backpack was a masterpiece waiting to be touched and loved, her violin. Nothing more than the lovely instrument captivated her attention and struck her with beauty, agony, sorrow, everything. Her fingers yearned to grip the bow and unleash the messages within her upon the strings. It was the only reason she even went to school these days. The thought of going still made her stomach churn in sickness. School was the most pointless creation and part of her day. Who needed to learn algebra and biology when she could be using her time wisely and preparing for her future. Sighing, she stayed within the room, lost in her thoughts, until Riley took Olivia and Zoey to school.

Upon arriving in her first period class, History, Zoey almost grumbled in pure annoyance. School. Class. Teachers. The whole system was impractical and useless, she could discuss it all day. Everyone also seemed to distanced themselves as her and due to labeling, she was seen as a slacker who didn’t care. She didn’t give much to what the others thought and having friends might have been a blessing but sometimes she did wish for a someone she could talk to. Zoey didn’t mind though, she never did.

A banshee seemed to have entered the school for a wicked voice echoed throughout the halls but instead, in popped her history teacher, Ms.Labelle. There few teachers who put as much effort as her and Zoey admired her spirit but the entire class was pathetically uninteresting. No matter how hard she tried, Roman history and everything else she tried to throw at them would not attract her attention. Zoey ignored Ms.Labelle’s little rampage and stared outside the window, drifting off into random thoughts.

The shuffling of the class broke her concentration and with a sigh, Zoey followed them to grab a dumb stick and returned to her seat as the teacher began to describe the Roman’s decimation. Rolling her eyes, Zoey didn’t even pretend to listen. Of course when she went as far to assign them study partners, Zoey seriously questioned her decision to show up. Blake Warren? The name didn’t even seem familiar so she simply sat at her desk and waited for whoever he was to find her. Maybe he wouldn’t know her and she could sit in peace. Knowing Ms.Labelle though, it seemed silly to even think about.

@Emma@Viciousmarrow@lovely complex@Saint Girralo@Snagglepuss89

Tara’s mind became a bit conscious. She felt her body lying under the sheets of her bed, but she didn’t quite feel like waking up, so she went back to bed. After what felt like a short period of time later, she was woken up by a dog barking. It wasn’t the best wake up call, but she should probably get up anyways. The red eyed beauty sat up and stretched. Her body felt sore from last night. It had been quite the workout. She thought it went pretty well for her first time.

Approaching the bathroom, Tara managed to trip over her workout bag that she left in the middle of her bedroom. She flailed around trying to catch herself, but ended up cutting her arm on her desk and whacking the side of her head on the floor. Getting up, she examined herself and groaned in annoyance. Her injuries didn’t really hurt, but she had work tonight. The stripper prefered her skin not cut and bruised if she was going to put it on display. After getting up and actually reaching the bathroom this time, she looked at the side of her head in the mirror. No bruise forming, yet. Tara took a quick shower, since she still had classes to get to. After getting out and actually checking the time, she realized she had slept later than she meant to. It was already 12PM! The second groan of the day escaped her lips. She missed her Speech class. Oh well, her next class was English. She could at least make that one.

Tara threw on a decent pair of clothes before grabbing her bag and leaving her apartment. She made sure to lock it behind her. She lived in a pretty sketchy place after all. On her way out she decided to stop by a coffee shop on campus before actually going to class. As usual, on her way to class, Tara shot a text over to The Twins(TM).



Unfortunately, the line at the cafe was loooooong. So, Tara preoccupied herself with her phone. She was playing a dumb, but addicting game while waiting for The Twins(TM) to respond.

---

_{Collab with @smarty0114}

---

Under normal circumstances, Blake would not have gotten involved in this matter; it really didn't affect her, being nothing more than a mere witness, but then again this was hardly in the realm of 'normal circumstances. The minor standoff was odd enough, throw in the unknown element of this young man with the keys, the sudden calling off by the attending officer, and the admission that there was an unwanted passenger in the limo...and Blake was now involved. She could very well be held accountable, or so she assumed. 'Say something, do something' as the saying went...and she was in the very capable position of doing something.

What were private investigators for, if not attending to the matters the police don't have time for? Sure, this kid wasn't hiring her, but she was curious enough to see how this would play out...and if nothing else she might be able to get some sort of reward in the end. It wasn't all about money...but it did wonders for the motivation.

"Well, now that you mention it...we're not too far away from a place that suits those specific needs." Blake responded with a half smile and a single nod. "I've got an office a couple blocks from here; it's got all the necessities. You got a car? Get in it and follow me. You don't have one? Hop in and I'll get you there. I wouldn't worry too much about your friend, by the way. Whoever was in that limo...if they wanted your friend dead...well...we wouldn't be going back to my office, would we?"

Blake had hoped her words would be reassuring, but even she had her doubts. Hell of a way to start the morning, at any rate.

Charlie grinned wide. This was great. In a day that had held a long drive on a boring highway, and the kidnapping of his cousin, this was the first piece of really good news. "That's awesome! My car's right over there, so I'll just follow you," he said, gesturing over at his car and shooting her a grin. He looked down both ends of the street, just like his mother had taught him, and ran across when he had a free space.

He opened the driver side door and hopped in, putting the key in the ignition as fast as he could, and turning. His car roared to life, and Charlie sighed in relief. He had half expected it to go up in flames the way his day had been going. He took a quick second to collect his thoughts, looking over at the woman. She was dressed well, in a pantsuit, so he assumed that she must be someone with some importance. Whoever she was, he didn't care. If she could help him find Claire, she could be a convicted felon. He flipped his blinker on to the left and motioned for her to lead the way, hands gripping his steering wheel. As far as mornings go, this has to have been the craziest

Well the kid was eager, and that was good. Though too eager and that ran the risk of doing something that could get them both in trouble. But Blake would take eager. After he had gotten into his car, Blake drove ahead, signaling to him with a wave as she took the lead. True to her claim, her office wasn't terribly far, though it was terribly small, being a single building in the middle of a strip mall; but the real estate was cheap. "Really hope I cleaned the place..." Blake muttered as she pulled into a parking space and exited the vehicle.

She didn't check to see if the younger guy was behind her, making the assumption that he very likely was, as she removed her key from the keychain in her pocket and opened the front door. Her name was proudly displayed on the window, due to a lack of a sign elsewhere. "Okay...here we are..." Blake flipped on the lights and breathed a quick sigh of relief; the office was clean...enough. Papers strewn about her desk on the backwall and an unemptied trashbin aside...it was plenty clean. Enough for a guest, anyway.

"There's a phone on that desk there," Blake pointed to the bare desk close to the entrance, meant for an assistant, "Uh...just got the one computer so lemme put in the boring password stuff and you can do what you gotta do, kid. Just keep me informed, yeah?" Blake crossed over to the far side of the room, dropping into her overly comfortable leather chair.

Charlie had followed the woman to her office, a small thing in the center of the town's strip mall. He read the sign above the office as he snatched his laptop out of the trunk of his car. A private investigator. Huh. He followed her into the office, laptop bag swinging at his side.

Once she'd turned on the lights he set his bag on a chair, realizing that she also had a computer. A desktop would be faster anyway. After she'd entered the password he walked over and took a seat. His fingers began clicking away at the keyboard, going to a quick and easy website that he'd discovered a few months back. As long as you had the right cords to plug a phone into a computer, you could place a call and get a semi decent idea of where the phone was.

Once he'd gotten all that set up, using a spare cord that was convenently located in his laptop bag, he searched for the license plate number. What came up was a page that led him to one Wesley Harmon. He dialed the number that was brought up by the website, a public records page on the landline, and waited as it rang. And rang. And rang. Finally the call went to voicemail, and Charlie was forced to clench his fists. In his fervor, he'd forgotten a rather important detail. He needed the person to actually pick up their phone to get a trace. He figured that Claire's phone was off or out of reach. This brought him back to square one.

Luckily, he was only back at square one for a brief moment, before he realized he was sitting in the office of a private investigator. He looked up at the woman, and began speaking. "So, you're a PI? I assume that means you know where most of the people in this town live? Including one Wesley Harmon?" he asked, concerned look on his face. With his computer skills currently useless, he was resigning himself to a good old fashioned stake out. Let's face it. You don't have much of a choice.

The divide in age and ability was never more obvious than when Blake watched her new associate work wonders with technology. She knew enough to get her computer up and running and how to enter what information she needed...but this was on an entirely different level; and she was content to simply let the kid do what he needed to do. She'd only get in the way, surely. Her time was spent flipping through some of the papers she had left out, old cases, old headlines, it didn't matter as she would periodically shift her eyes in order to observe.

By the time he was onto the phone call, Blake was just shaking her head; that kind of stuff could really put a hurt on her business...if ever she was hired to dig up dirt on cars, anyway. But there would be time to learn that sort of thing later; now that they...or rather the kid...had gotten close to discovering what was needed, the time for focus was at hand....and then she heard the name of the person that had been in the limo.

"I wouldn't say I know where they live exactly...but I know enough to where people don't like talking to me." Blake pressed her index finger to the side of her forehead. "I'm good with memory which makes people all paranoid. But that's not the point. I know you didn't say Wesley Harmon, right? Kid, you must be new around here...the Harmon's aren't exactly people you wanna get on the bad side of..." Blake sighed as she came to terms with the fact that this was going to go one way.

Either she told him to drop it...and she suspected he would just go off on his own anyway - anyone who would key a stranger's car and put this much effort into identifying it wouldn't be so easily dissuaded - or she told him what he needed to know and was thus responsible...partly, anyway. She knew what the right thing to do was...but she technically wasn't a member of law enforcement and didn't have to go through with anything at all... "Yeah, I know where the Harmon's live. I'll print out an address for you, but I gotta warn you...this isn't exactly the type of thing you do alone." Blake took the reigns of the keyboard and pulled up a map of the town.

"This friend of yours must be pretty goddamn important..." After a few swift keystrokes, the office printer whirred to life with a map of a more well off area of the town. "No guarantee you'll find him there...but that's as close as I can get you. You shouldn't do this alone, you know. It'll take more than keys this time." Blake merely offered a warning, she didn't want to sound as if she was offering to go with him.

Charlie looked up at her as she warned him off of going after Harmon. "I appreciate the concern, but I've got to do this. He's got my cousin with him right now, and quite frankly, I've spent a little too much of my short life standing around. In the past few months, it's been brought to my attention that I can do more than that. If you don't want to come that's fine, but if you do, I'm leaving now. Either way, I owe you one. You ever need someone who can get more dirt on someone than anybody could care to know, I'm your guy."

He could only imagine what this guy could be. Going off of what the woman had said, he was going to assume a gang leader of some sort. The way she referred to the Harmons as some sort of group tipped him off. "Great, I'm off to get myself into a fight with a gang. Should be a fun time. He shivered, grabbing his laptop bag and walking out and towards his car, offering up a wave to his helpful new friend. He wasn't sure if it would be his last one or not.

So it was family, that made the kid's actions more understandable, if no less insane. But how far would Blake go for her own family? For Felicia? She might go against someone dangerous, much like the kid was preparing to do. But this wasn't her battle...she had just given him ammunition, metaphorically, and a target. Her plans involved hiding in bushes or up trees, not actually confronting or rescuing people. And yet here she was, running the scenarios around in her head,

Still plagued with indecision, it was all Blake could do to return the wave from the doorway. She had the name, the plate number...if worse came to worst...she had what she needed to file a police report...anonymously. Blake waited until the kid's car had left the lot and headed towards the destination. "Dammit."

Blake hit the lights and returned to her car. Curiosity killed the cat just as much as feeling responsible did. This was the kid's show...Blake was just shadowing along to be a spectator. The chance for compromising intel was too great to pass up...

Things were just so much better with Chris around. Last night had been one of the best nights he had in quite a long time. Instead of holing himself up in his room to play video games or draw, he actually went out and enjoyed the rest of the day. Despite going against his mother’s wishes, she seemed happy that her sons were spending time together again when they returned home. Of course the two brothers didn’t tell her or their father that they had seen Deadpool, a movie clearly too R rated for a person of Blake’s age, but luckily they didn't ask too many questions about it. Aunt Cynthia was there to distract them from scrutinizing every word that came out of Blake’s mouth. That, and they were actually having a family dinner for once.

After dinner, Blake helped clean up at the commandment of his father and Aunt Cynthia left after smothering both Chris and himself in hugs and kisses. Once formalities were over, Blake did as he always did and scurried up to his bedroom to lock himself in for the rest of the night.

---

The sound of dishes clinking together awoke Blake from a deep sleep. He blinked a few times and rolled over, wondering who in their right mind was washing dishes so early in the morning. As his vision cleared, the alarm clock on his nightstand displayed in vibrant green: 8:47AM.

Like he had just gotten tazed, Blake jumped up from bed and flung his blanket to the ground. “No, no, no, no, no!” He was late for school. Why hadn’t anyone woken him up?! Why hadn’t his alarm gone off?!

Without time to dwell on it, Blake rushed into the shower and hurriedly got ready for the day. Luckily school wasn’t far, so he could walk himself there, but his mother was probably going to get a call that he had been missing for his first class of the day. Yesterday had been great, and today was starting off as pure shit.

Around ten minutes later, more or less ready for the day, Blake burst back into his room to grab his backpack. Upon entering, he spotted a woman he had never seen before. He froze in place, eyeing the black haired beauty passed out on his bed. He blinked a few times, “Is this real?” He slowly tip toed around the edge of his room as if he was the intruder, brown eyes locked on her.

After convincing himself that he was actually seeing this woman, a real life person sprawled out on his bed, he took note of her uniform. By the looks of it, she was one of the maids that his parents hired to clean the house daily. Oh, hadn’t his mother said something about the elderly maid retiring recently? Perhaps this one was the replacement… a much younger and more attractive replacement… and very, very unprofessional. What kind of person literally slept on the job? On a complete stranger's bed? If he told his parents about this she would have been fired and reported by noon.

Suddenly the paranoia began to settle in. He glanced around his room frantically; how long had she been in his room and what had she seen? The previous maid knew that he liked his privacy and preferred to clean his own room, but this one obviously knew nothing. He couldn’t blame her, but anxiety seized his body. Walking over to his dresser, Blake grabbed an assortment of medications off the top and stuffed them into his backpack. He didn’t need her snooping through his personal business.

Loudly clearing his throat, Blake waited for the woman to wake. When she opened her eyes and raised her head, he made his way to the bedroom door. “I’d appreciate it if you stayed away from my room. I can clean it myself…” He tried to sound as nice about it as possible, but his stern facial expression said otherwise. “Thanks… ” Panicking, he turned and left in a hurry. He probably should have introduced himself, but Blake had zero skills in talking to pretty girls, especially ones that had just been sleeping in his bed. Where was Chris when he needed him?

With that, Blake rushed out of the front door and began jogging to school. Hopefully he would make it in time to get to his second class of the day with Ms. Labelle, his Social Studies teacher.

_{@lovely complex}

---

Ms. Labelle was most definitely one of Blake’s more interesting teachers. While he didn’t exactly enjoy her, he at least tried to pay attention in her class. It wasn’t the fact that what she taught was particularly interesting or that she was a good teacher, it was just that she would occasionally ream you in front of the entire class if you were caught slacking off. This morning was no different. Thank the lord above that he had made it on time.

Apparently nearly the entire class had gotten F’s on the latest test, aside from Blake and two other students. He bubbled up with pride inside, something that rarely happened. Wow! He was actually one of the few to get a passing grade? Amazing! Maybe Ms. Labelle’s teaching methods were actually working.

"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."

A majority of the class groaned in unison as the realized what they had done, including Blake. So, another F on his report card to show mom and dad. Pride dissolved in mere seconds. Even when he was doing good, he was doing awful.

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

Quietly, Blake did as he was told and returned to his desk. As Ms. Labelle went over a type of Roman punishment, Blake began to zone out as he twirled his popsicle around on his desk. What was the point in paying any more attention when he was just going to fail with the rest of the class anyway? “Number Eight…” He examined the number written on the stick in black sharpie, wondering what his eccentric teacher had up her sleeve this time. Surely, it was not good.

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

Blake looked up, holding his breath. Crap.

Reluctantly he stood up from his desk chair, heart racing inside his chest. This was the kind of thing that kept him from actually liking Ms. Labelle.

"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%"

Blake sighed, standing in view of the entire class with faintly pink tinted cheeks. He hated having all eyes on him, even if he was standing with one other student who was unlucky enough to have the same number as him. On top of that, he just got a big fat 0 on his test. Mom and Dad were sure to love that.

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

He sat back down in his desk, slumping down as if to hide himself from prying eyes. Well, at least the test wasn’t worth anything. With luck, he’d be able to get an even better grade on the retest. Maybe his parent’s wouldn’t notice and gripe about it after all.

Seeing Ms. Labelle write his name right next to Zoey Reese, he looked over in the corner to find the brunette paying no attention to whatever was going on. He hated group projects, but at least Zoey wouldn’t annoy the hell out of him. She probably hated group projects just as much as he did. Blake didn’t know much about her, but what he did know was that she was quiet and just recently went through the loss of both parents. Practically the whole town knew by now.

Hearing the sudden crack of a whip made him jump and tense up, his eyes snapping over to Ms. Labelle. This lady was crazier than he was.

With that, Blake stood with the rest of the students and dragged a chair over to Zoey’s desk. Setting it at the edge of her desk, Blake plopped down and stared at her. “Hey.” The edge of his lips cracked the faintest hint of a smile. He had never talked to her before, but now he was being forced to. He’d be damned if he let Ms. Labelle catch him not “obeying orders.” “So… I guess we are supposed to study or something?” He didn’t have the slightest idea of how he was supposed to be teaching her. Wasn’t this Ms. Labelle’s job?

Zoey should have known getting a moment of silence in Ms.Labelle’s class was foolish to even consider. Seconds after she had posted the partners, Blake Warren pulled up a seat beside Zoey. She couldn’t help but shift uncomfortably away. There was a reason she didn’t have any friends. Perhaps it was her attitude but she never seemed to get along with anyone. With the exception of her family and perhaps her music teacher, talking to other people was incredibly awkward. In some ways, being alone gave her more time to think and practice her violin. With friends came a long list of requirements that would most certainly drive her insane too.

“Hey.” She responded, not even trying to look interested. Gosh, I should have stayed home today. Staring at the neverending clock, she knew this class period would go on forever. Zoey slightly nodded as he spoke again, unsure exactly what she was supposed to say next. Studying for a subject she had absolutely no interest in? Not how she wanted to spend the next fifty minutes of her life.

An awkward silence filled their conversation and Zoey took the moment to study Blake’s appearance. Dark black glasses covered his eyes that were the color of acorns. Not a single ounce of meat covered his body and he was rather short, still managing a few inches over her though. He looked friendly but there was no use trying to judge someone by their look. Shrugging, she pulled out her violin music and sighed. School wasn’t important to her, she could fail this class and it wouldn’t mean anything. While she had promised to show up, it didn’t mean she had to try. “Just pretend you’re studying..” She mumbled, not even caring if he disagreed.

The fact that Zoey showed no interest in talking to him was somehow calming, unlike his previous interaction with Eliza the previous day. Zoey was intriguing in that way, and certainly less intimidating. Luckily for him she also had no interest in actually studying, which suited him just fine - he was no teacher. His eyes looked over her briefly as she pulled out sheet music, noting how she looked similar to the older Reese girl that his brother had briefly dated. What was her name again? Sonia? Something like that…

“You play an instrument?” He asked, removing his gaze from her and looking over the sheet, having no clue what type of music it was. He never had a talent for instruments, even though he tried his hand at guitar once or twice. “What do you play?” Even though she was giving him the cold shoulder, it was somehow easier to ask questions and attempt a conversation. It would be better than sitting here in awkward silence the entire time, or at least he thought so. Plus, Ms. Labelle was bound to catch on if they weren’t talking at all.

With Ms. Labelle in mind, Blake grabbed his textbook and opened it up to the Roman chapter they were supposed to be studying. He had to make them look like they were trying. Scooting his chair around to the front of her desk, Blake attempted to block their “work” with his back to Ms. Labelle. Unless she decided to walk around the room and examine each and every student then it would be difficult to point out their lack of work.

Despite her obvious attempts to ignore him, Blake still issued conversation. She would have stayed quiet if he hadn’t asked if she played an instrument. There was nothing more she cared about than her beautiful violin. It seemed all of her time was spent on the lovely instrument. From the way her fingers touched the strings to the enchanting tune that always seemed to possess her, there was nothing she didn’t enjoy about it.

“Yes, I play the violin.” Zoey stated awkwardly. Conversation wasn’t her strong point and she simply didn’t know how to continue the conversation so she stayed quiet. Blake moved his chair to sit directly across from her and pulled out a textbook, probably the one she had left untouched in her locker. Whoever invented such bulky texts full of useless print clearly didn’t understand that carrying around that much weight was impossible. Of course Zoey’s bag was extremely light, full of empty folders and music. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had taken notes for a class, probably because she never had.

Continuing staring down at her notes, Zoey hoped it was the end of the conversation. She thought it quite odd that he even wished to talk to her. Most kids just silently stared at her with annoyance or whispered beyond her back about how slacking she was. Blake seemed to genuinely care and she found it oddly refreshing.

Blake nodded as she replied, remembering that she had seen her in the halls carrying a violin case before. “That’s cool.” For once, he actually did think that was cool. Anyone who could plan an instrument had a special talent that he could appreciate. “I can’t play any instruments.” He shrugged, “I tried guitar once but my mom said it sounded like I was killing animals, so… I’ll just stick to drawing.” He smiled, his eyes scanning her facial expression for the faintest measure of amusement. Unlikely, but still. “You know, my older brother dated your sister when they were in high school. She came over a few times, but I don’t think I ever met you. I probably would have remembered… ” He had only meant that he had a very sharp memory, but it came out like he was flirting. Blake was oblivious to the entire notion.

Part of her was a little disappointed when he claimed he ‘couldn’t play instruments. People could only get as far as they believed. “You know, it’s not that hard if you try.” Of course he would be terrible at first, everyone was. Zoey had spent endless hours practicing to get as far she was. “All it takes is a lot of effort..” She muttered, surprised that she was talking as much as she had. Perhaps it was a good thing.

As he began to describe his brother having a relationship with her sister, she simply shrugged. Zoey didn’t pay much attention to the love life of her siblings, it was incredibly uninteresting. “I don’t remember. I usually don’t go out.” The conversation was slowly becoming more personal and awkward so she decided to stay quiet for good. It wasn’t like her to talk to others, let alone tell them her life story. Zoey wanted no sympathy or pity from anyone, especially not Blake.

"I suppose you're right." He thought back to his drawings, which also took much tenacity to come up with something even remotely decent. "I guess I just like drawing more, then." At the mention of her older sister, he felt the tension rising in the air. Apparently talking about her family was a touchy subject. To be fair, if he were in her shoes then he wouldn’t want to talk about his family either. “Yeah, I only saw her whenever Chris brought her over.” He replied, beginning to actually look at the textbook in front of him. He wasn’t truly reading the chapter, but looking through the array of pictures depicting Roman life was interesting enough. Silence slowly settled in between them, but luckily the chatter in the classroom kept it from becoming too terribly obvious.

Soon enough the bell rang, buzzing loudly through the halls and causing all students to jump to their feet. Blake closed the textbook and met eyes with Zoey, “Well,” Her eyes were strikingly vivid, and distracting. “I hope you do well on the test tomorrow.” He stood up and dragged his chair back over to his desk before grabbing his backpack. Zoey hadn’t been so bad to sit with; maybe he could pair up with her the next time Ms. Labelle insisted on grouping up on a project. Those assignments were always awkward for people who had no friends, like Blake and Zoey.

Either way, it was time for the next class, then lunch.

---

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_@BlueAjah

Wes' excursion with Claire had ended promptly as soon as she revealed her age. 19?! There was no way that broad was 19! But he wasn't going to risk dealing out alcohol to minors! Sheesh. She really was trying to get him imprisoned. So, being the nice guy he was, he dropped her off at the academy or wherever she needed to be and proceeded about his day. With his limo being a bit out of shape with that asshole earlier keying it and what not, the Prince of Millington had decided to let Marty fix that up. In the mean time, he would be driving his Bugatti. He could drive himself for once, even if he was not exactly sober. After all, he was still a great driver even under the influence.

Currently, it was around lunch time, and Wes was famished, having spent most of his time earlier thinking about a movie idea. His dad had told him a few days ago that he was willing to invest a considerable sum into cinema and have Wes direct it. Some sort of money laundering scheme, he said. Pulling up at an intersection, he noticed a familiar restaurant that he hadn't been into for quite some time: The Queen's Orchid. They didn't make top of the line food or anything there, but it was a fairly solid venue for some quick and easy grub. "Whys the hell not?" he muttered to himself before pulling into the diner's parking lot. His luxurious car was definitely out of place next to the middle class vehicles scattered about. Judging by the free spaces though, the lunch rush wasn't too terribly busy today. That perplexed him, considering this place used to be jam packed back in its hay day. Maybe it was just an off day?

The fabulously dressed man strode into the building with an overwhelming sense of swagger, sunglasses still attached to his face. He expected the shining smile of... he couldn't remember her name, but she was the redheaded co-owner of the restaurant. Such a sweet lady she was. Not to mention she had a rack to kill for. Her husband was a damn lucky guy. Instead he met the bespectacled face of a familiar brunette woman, but, like the busty co-owner, he couldn't put a name to her. "Hey, you. How you doin', sexy?" he said, throwing two finger guns at her before completely passing her by and seating himself. He chose to sit by a window in his own booth because of course he did.

Things seemed different since the last time he had been here. He pondered on that for a moment, beating a rather annoying rhythm against the table before he asked into the blue. Then it hit him. Not just the co-owner was missing, but the owner himself wasn't even in today. How strange. "Where's.. uh.. Olga and Robby? The big boobed redhead n' her hubby? Yous guys didn't switch come under new management, dids ya?" he asked the server that appeared at his table.

_{@The Muse@lovely complex@Saint Girralo}

Collaby-dab-dab with @The Muse@snagglepuss89

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“That’s exactly what I said!”

Sophia sighed as she read her brother’s text message before putting her phone back into her pocket. Kylie would have some explaining to do later tonight. “Maybe it’s a mistake…” She hoped naively, though the voice in the back of her head said, “Don’t be stupid.”

“You didn’t happen to get a job as a tax expert in the time that you’ve been away, have you?” She forced a weak smile, “Apparently my dear sister, Kylie, owes the IRS enough money to make James text me about it. I don’t think I want to know the amount, knowing my sister.” She faintly laughed, another nervous habit of hers to deter from a serious situation.

Running a hand through her hair, Sophia looked up at the sky as she walked alongside Elliot. “Remember when we use to walk down to the river and spend nearly all day down there in the summer?” She smiled, watching a stray cloud slowly pass them by. Times were so much simpler then. Where was the rewind button?

“Isn’t she, like, eighteen? She’s already in trouble with the IRS? If it were anyone else…”

He shook his head with a chuckle, listening to her as she reminisced. That was a different time, with a different Elliot, and maybe a different Sophia too. Still, not all changes were bad ones, in the end.

“Yeah, we weren’t always the most productive kids were we?”

Things fell quiet between them after that. Elliot, for one, didn’t mind in the least. Yesterday had been loud and stressful enough, some quiet time was appreciated. Besides, it gave him time to resolve his apprehension at seeing the other Reeses again. Kylie he had no worries about confronting, especially after seeing how she acted yesterday. The woman was insane, and he wanted to help her, but at the very least she wasn’t harboring any resentment towards him, if she remembered him at all. That made it… easier somehow. Zoey and Olivia he couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed in. Whether it was normal teenage rebellion that had them in that mess at the mall, or some reaction to their parents’ deaths he couldn’t tell, but it bothered him. Maybe he could talk to them about it? If they even wanted to hear from him. James he had no clue about, the only thing he’d heard of him so far was through texts, but hopefully a day to mull over Elliot’s reappearance left him approachable. It’d be nice to catch up with the man as long as it was with words instead of fists.

As for Sophia…

He looked over at her, as if a visual would help him sort out his thoughts. Frankly, things there were a total mess. It would have been one thing for them to have picked up where they left off, or having hads things destroyed completely in his absence. Instead things were just… weird. Perhaps neither of them knew what to do, Elliot certainly didn’t. Still, she didn’t seem to hate him at least, and that was enough of a start for him. He flashed her a brief smile as her eyes flicked over to meet his, and he turned away to look over the town. Something about the atmosphere in Millington felt… different than when he had left, but perhaps he was just too young before to pick up on it. He was still trying to put his finger on it when they arrived at the Reese residence, most of the journey having passed in silence. His leg ached, but not nearly as much as his heart was starting to. Was anyone home? Surely the younger ones were at school by now, but still…

“Uh… Should I wait out here for you, or…?”

Pausing halfway up the porch steps, Sophia turned to look back at Elliot. Did he think he was unwelcome in her house now? She raised a brow, "Of course not, silly! Come in." She gestured for him to follow her into the house as she continued moving forward, opening up the door for him.

Without seeing any cars in the driveway, it was safe to assume that Riley had taken Zoey and Olivia to school and James had taken Sophia's car to the diner. The only question remaining was if her lovely sister Kylie was still lingering in the house.

"No screeching from upstairs..." She thought, her eyes glancing to the stairs as she stepped inside. "Home sweet home." Her tone was incredibly lackluster. "I took over mom and dad's room since I moved back..." She moved towards the stairs, wondering if Elliot would notice the different feel in the house that she did after her parents passed away.

Once upstairs, Sophia pushed open her bedroom door and peaked inside. The chair she had used to barricade her door was still next to her bed, where she had dragged it out of the way when she went to Elliot's. Her empty bottle of whiskey still sat there on her dresser. "Stupid..."

"I'll just be a second, then we can go to the diner." She walked over to her dresser and picked out a simple outfit before disappearing from her room, leaving Elliot alone for the time being.

The sight of the whiskey bottle did not escape Elliot as he entered her room, her new room. He had only been inside her parent' bedroom a couple times over the years, whenever he and Sophi were receiving a particularly severe talking to about something they'd done. The two weren't hooligans growing up, but that didn't always mean they were the best behaved either. Elliot often mused about ideas out loud, such as raiding her parents' stash of alcohol, and Sophia often had the balls to follow through with it. He'd always been helpless when she had it in her head to drag him along.

He doubted he was much better at resisting her now, in his present condition.

"What, you mean you're not going to strip down and change here?"

He called out to her playfully as she left, while eternally grateful that she did not have that idea in mind. He made his way over to the bed and took a seat while he waited on her, unsure just how long it'd take for her to change. Women weren't known for being the quickest to get moving. There was something unsettling about the Reese house, had he ever been here when it was completely empty? Sure, the lack of chaos was calming, but it also felt wrong, not the least of all because he was currently sitting in the room of the recently deceased.

Starting at herself in the mirror, Sophia put on a little eyeliner and mascara after changing into her clean outfit. She felt horrible, but hopefully makeup could work it's wonders and mask her misery. That, and an Excedrin before she left the house.

"I hope he doesn't think too much into that bottle..." She thought, closing the lid on her eyeliner. If he did, she wasn't exactly sure what she would say. Elliot, in the past, had been good at seeing through her lies. But what about this Elliot? Perhaps he had lost his talent. She had become a better liar over the years, mostly thanks to her acting classes. "I had a friend over last weekend and I never threw the bottle out.." She shook her head. No, her siblings could attest that she had never had any friends over any time recently. "It's... mom and dad's and I haven't had the heart to throw it out?" Guilt immediately washed over her. That wouldn't work either. How could she bring her late parents into a lie?

Frustrated, Sophia scrapped the entire thought and began to rebraid her still slightly damp hair. "He doesn't have the right to be asking questions anyway... Why should I have to answer?" The made up scenarios in her mind had clearly upset her. "I should be the one asking questions! What happened to his leg?!" Her thoughts brought her back to the previous night, where she had asked him what happened and he had brushed off the question. "Where the hell has he been this whole time?!"

Finished cleaning up, Sophia left the bathroom and entered her room once again to find Elliot on her bed. She tried her best to not glare at him, feelings of anger present once again.

The sight of Sophi reappearing snapped him back out of his thoughts. How long had been thinking about her parents? He hadn't really sat down and contemplated their deaths since he'd gotten the news. Perhaps the shock was finally wearing off. He began to stand up once more and ran a hand through his hair, shaking off the thought.

"Are we ready to go then?"

Sophia slowly closed the door behind her as she stepped inside. “Elliot,” She folded her arms over her chest and blocked the doorway. If he wanted to escape her that badly, he’d have to jump off the balcony. “Are you ever going to tell me where you’ve been? Or what happened to you? You can’t just leave me in the dark forever…”

He had just stood up and almost immediately his legs wanted to give away again. Now? Now. He had to explain himself now. He eyed the empty whiskey bottle with regret, wishing he could get some help from it. No, even if he could he wouldn't. After all, hadn't he held back from telling her anything last night because she wasn't sober? He did try to avoid being a hypocrite where possible. So instead of drinking he began pacing, his breathing getting faster as anxiety gripped him. It was an old habit whenever he got nerves, and he couldn't give a damn at the moment how much harder it was to walk.

"Okay. Right... Right. I... Okay, give me a minute."

Why was he hesitating so much? Was he afraid of her hating him for his reason? She did seem angry, again. Or was he afraid of opening up again after all these years? There had always been walls guarding his emotional side. He wouldn't be able to keep them up if they had this conversation. Even Sophi, in all their time together, had never seen him that vulnerable. Why would she have? He'd led a good life, especially in his youth. There was never anything that warranted taking off that armor. He'd never needed to do that.

He wished he didn't need to now.

He sighed, trying to wrestle his emotions under control as he began shaking. Slowly he rolled up the leggings of his pants, revealing his swollen leg with ugly veins, and his fake one both. He was practically sweating now, brain searching desperate for a place to start. Start? The beginning. He should start at the beginning.

"Okay, Soph. I... Five years ago I sorta... "

This would be so much easier if he just cut off his emotions right there. Explain it like the matter-of-fact situation it was. He'd caused her so much pain though, he deserved to feel it himself. Or rather, acknowledge the pain that was always there. If she hated him and they never spoke again, he would just have to build the wall back up, stronger next time.

"... Well, I mean, my leg. Legs. You know I'm stubborn. Uh, I'd been having pain in them for a little while without telling anyone. It sorta... got a lot worse, all at once. The, uh, night I left I went to the hospital. There were blood clots, in both of them. There was already damage... The one started rotting, so we had to... "

The word getting stuck in his throat, he simply stomped his prosthetic against the floor. Fighting for a way to continue his explanation, he began unbuttoning his shirt, revealing the myriad of bruises underneath, in various shades of purple. When he finished he touched the bruise on his cheek, for emphasis.

"Anyway, I'm on blood thinners now, and they shoved a filter into me in case I get another clot. So, I'm doing okay, but... "

Was this what normal people felt like? He'd never been so lost for words in his life. So... sad. So... angry. He was getting angry the longer he talked. "C'est la vie" he'd always said when his condition came up, but it was... unfair. He'd never let the unfairness of the situation sink in before, and his voice began to rise.

"But I lost my fucking leg Soph! I practically lost both of them with how much pain the other one's in constantly! I was bedridden, and depressed, and useless! Have you ever really been a burden on anyone Soph? I don't mean if you ever felt that way, but have you ever been stuck with the reality that you're going to be a drain on the people around you? I was a stubborn, spoiled brat and I thought it was... noble to not involve you in that. I thought I was... helping. "

Elliot's breath had grown ragged, and tears were pouring out of his eyes. Any other day, the thought of crying in front of anybody else would have been mortifying, but the walls were down now. Years of pain and regret were flowing out, desperate for some kind of release. He willed a smile to his face all the same.

"So... Yeah. I got depressed, and I shut myself away, and when I'd realized I made the wrong decision, I ran like a coward instead of trying to fix the situation. I guess... I mean, it's a pathetic reason. Maybe you would have been stronger than me but I wasn't. I'm strong now though Soph. I mean... I can understand if you hate me for what I put you and your family through, for such a dumb reason. I... didn't give you a choice about it, so I don't deserve a choice if you want me to back out again. I shouldn't have assumed I can just enter your life again. "

Finally, he wiped his eyes and muttered;

"I'm sorry. "

All she could do was stand there, mouth hanging slightly open as she listened to him pour out his story; his emotion. All anger had immediately deflated as soon as Elliot rolled up his pant legs. Her heart dropped when he unbuttoned his shirt. That familiar feeling of guilt consumed her, sucking all air from her lungs and crushing her from the inside. No wonder that slap had left a bruise. Her arms relaxed and she brought a hand up to cover her mouth, unsure of what to say.

She had been guilt tripping him the entire time had been back... She had felt angry for so long, but now... what right did she have to feel that? Elliot had been going through something serious, something most likely life threatening and Sophia... what had she been through at that time? The abandonment was nothing in comparison. She was a fool.

"If I had known..." Her voice trailed off. She didn't need to explain herself, he probably knew... she hoped he knew.

At a loss for words, Sophia removed herself from blocking the door and without hesitation she wrapped her arms around him and brought him in for a tight hug. She stayed like that, burying her face into his chest for a few minutes before bringing him out at arms length.

"I could never hate you." She met eyes with him, her voice barely above a whisper. "You should know that." She returned his smile and kissed his tear-streaked cheek and brought him in for another lingering hug. "I love you, Elliot." Whether she loved him as a friend, or truly loved him remained a mystery.

Deciding it was best to let the weight of his explanation sink in, and not force Elliot to talk about it any more for the time being, she opened up her bedroom door to release him from her captivity. "Come on, let's go get breakfast."

After Olivia was dropped off at school for the day, she went straight to her locker to toss out the forgotten lunch from yesterday. Today was going to be a good day, at least in one aspect of her life. It was the high-school's annual Millington volunteer week, so each grade was given a day of this week to help around the town. Today, all the juniors were volunteering at the hospital. Which meant He was not here today, and school felt so much safer. Monday had been her grades day. All the eight graders had spent the day at the animal shelter, washing dogs, cleaning kennels, scooping poop, feeding animals, and walking them around around the track. Yesterday the seniors had spent the day beautifying the park and riverside by picking up trash, painting benches, planting flowers, and cutting grass. Tomorrow was going to be the freshmen's day and they would be spending the morning at the old folks home, and the rest of the day covering up graffiti throughout town. Friday Sophomores had the pleasure of helping at the food pantry and donation center.

Anyway not having to avoid Him and take the long way to classes made Olivia's day much easier. Her first three classes of the day went by much quicker when she was not paranoid and scared. Lunchtime came around and so she headed to the cafeteria along with the horde of other students. She was not planning on eating anything but she did want to buy a nice ice cold fiji water at the vending machines. Standing at the end of the long line she waiting her turn. Olivia was alone in the huge room filled with laughing teenagers. Girls running up to hug each other like the hadn't just seem their friends this morning, couples making out, cliques swarming together at their unofficially designated tables, teachers chatting together near the entrance, cheerleader's handing out flyers for the car wash this weekend, and kids looking peeved at the hot lunch of the day.

The school food was subpar at best, and today was Sloppy Joe's with a side of green beans from a can. The Sloppy Joe's always tasted more like tangy relish with a pinch of meat sauce, and they were served on a stale whole grain bun. The vegetarian option at this school was either the salad bar, or a the salty veggie soup. If you had ten or more bucks to spend everyday then you could opt for the À la carte lunch line. It had outrageously priced teen favorites: pizza, corn-dogs, burgers, smiley fries, chicken tenders, donuts, nacho, burritos, and there even was a slushy machine whose flavor change monthly. At the moment it was mango. Olivia dug two dollars out of her wallet and fed it to the machine. She pressed C1 for her fiji water bypassing the popular choices of coke, redbull, Dr. Pepper, orange crush, and Grape powerade. As she turned around to leave, she saw Marigold walking over to her waving, as Taylor followed behind.

Marigold Bluemont was an overly peppy 10th grader who Olivia had know forever. They both started ballet class on the same day like seven years ago. "Olivia! Oh my gosh! So happy we caught you. Come stand in line with us, Monica and Tally are saving our spots." Olivia was kind of stunned that they were talking to her. The last time Marigold had said anything to her was at her parents memorial service four weeks ago, and even then it was only obligatory condolences. She didn't really know what to say, so she just followed them into the lunch line. Monica was one of Ollie's old friends who she had parted ways with at the beginning of the school year. They had just drifted apart over the summer, after Monica became hellbent on being popular in high school, and obsessed with rap music. Tally was Marigold's best friend, fellow peppy person, and president of the key club. "So you should totally come to Ballet practice today Liv. Ms. Julie really wants you back, ya know? Oh an like so do we." Marigold said as she popped a pink sprinkled donut, and slice of pizza onto her tray.

"I will have to ask my family first..." Olivia said uncertain, as she mindlessly put food onto her own tray. She didn't want to go, so she was trying her best to find a good reason. "Oh Yeah! Like of course hon. Family first and all. Just like, text me before schools out if your coming or not, kay? Got to make room in the car for you. Taylor's brother is still driving us to class as always. So like, just meet us under the big tree in the parking lot like usual Liv." Marigold said cheerily as if it was settled. "Yeah, well my brother told me that I should convince you to start doing ballet again. Basically he wants me to be friends with you because your so pathetic. Its not like I even care if you come today or not, but Ms. Julie will be peeved if we can't get you to come back." Taylor said trying sound as mean and uncaring as she could. Marigold slapped Taylor in the shoulder, and glared at her. "Don't listen to her she is on her period." She said to Olivia giving her a reassuring smile. "Come sit with us."

Olivia paid for her tray of random foods, and follow Marigold and the others to the table. She sat next to Tally at the end of the table. "So did you text your family yet?" Marigold asked looking over at Ollie. "Oh yeah...Sorry." Olivia said pulling her phone out of her bag. She decided texting James was the better option. Sophia and Riley would have most likely been fine with her going to ballet after school, instead of working at the diner. 'Today after school is ballet practice, and some of the girls are asking me to come back to class today. I don't have to go. I know you need my help at the diner after school, and that we are understaffed.' Olivia sent the text. If it had been mom she would have perfectly understood that Olivia was looking for an excuse to say she could not go. Her dad on the other hand would have assumed she really did want to go, and was only mentioning her duties at the diner to sound responsible and polite. She wonder if James could read between the lines like mom, or if he was more like dad.

As she was putting her phone back in her purse someone behind her yelled NARK and a wadded up napkin hit her shoulder and fell into lap, giggling followed from behind. This is what you get for telling the teachers that senior girl's were smoking pot in the bathroom. Monica stood up and flipped off the person who threw the napkin. "Her parents fucken died you assholes!" Monica angrily snapped at them and then she looked guilty as she glance at Olivia. "Sorry I didn't mean to..." Monica said to Ollie as she sat back down. "Its totally fine...and thanks." Olivia said as she placed the balled up napkin on her tray. Olivia felt awkward sitting at the table with them. She was more or less silent except for the occasional yes or no answer.

They chattered on about the spring recital, school gossip, and the unfortunate clothing malfunction at the pep rally yesterday that had one of the freshmen cheerleaders in tears. "Actually I have to go to office to turn in my school picture form before lunch ends. So I should probably go. Um...I'll text you Marigold if I can go to ballet today." Olivia said trying to make a getaway. She had had enough for the time being, and going to the office was a lie, but she needed to get out of there. Marigold smiled as waved as Olivia took her tray and walked away. She dumped the uneaten food in the trash and left the cafeteria. She made a beeline for the library. Even if James said yes to her going to ballet, Olivia would most likely lie and tell Marigold she couldn't go.

She had missed her french test yesterday, and so Mrs. Gaines said she had all of class today to take the makeup test in the library. AP french use to be her second favorite class just behind art, and ahead of AP English, but lately she could not find any happiness in the things she use to love. As she walked the semi-empty halls to the library she found herself passing by the art room. Mr. Knox was at the pottery wheels, spinning away at a chunk of clay that resembled a vase. He looked up and waved for Olivia to come in. Mr. Knox had been one of her dad's best friends, and was also a family friend. He had been there for the Reese kids after the crash, and was just as devastated as they were. He had even offered Sophia to take Olivia and Zoey in, so the older Reese kids could focus on college and their new adult lives. To the family he was affectionately nicknamed Uncle Wally, but in school he was Mr. Walter Knox the high school art teacher.

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Sometime around 11 am...

Having been told by his twin that she wanted to apply to jobs at the mall until it was interview time, Riley found himself sitting still in the driver's seat of his late mother's van. He had dropped Kylie off around 9AM, with no idea how the hell she would spend the next six hours at a mall seeking employment. Perhaps, his twin would make a friend or two. She sure needed to socialize with people that wasn't her blood or Tara. Someone to keep her mind busy and her hurricane emotions at bay. Still very much in the mall's parking lot, his hand grasped tightly on a manila stationary paper with elegant handwriting. The envelope itself did not have a return address.

Today had already started off strange with a phone call from his ex... Jenny. But now... his blue orbs stared at the letter. How should he feel about this? His free hand traced the beautiful handwriting, while his face was completely stoic, contemplating his thoughts on this odd occurrence.


Breaking from his daze, Riley felt compelled to take a detour to work. He had somewhere he wanted to stop at, to stash this letter that meant the world to him. His mind couldn't take in these overwhelming feelings rushing through him. She was back... She would see him soon? S-she... missed me.

After ten minutes, he edged closer to his house. There was no one at home. Thank the gods. Pulling into the parking lot, stepping out of the car, the desperately confused man held the perfume scented letter close to his chest. Sprinting to his destination, he didn't want to take in any of his surroundings. Recently, he's found himself visiting his treehouse more often... how strange life was. Feeling his phone vibrate in his right pocket, he ignored it for the time being. His mind completely encompassed by the woman, who sent him this letter.

Out of breath, he reached his childhood safe haven. Things looked quite smaller now that he was older. After pulling the rope, which extended the ladder, and entering it with ease, he went to an oh-so-familiar area with a surprisingly new addition. By the corner, on a wall was carved E.L. ♥ O.R.. _@Emma

The only person he knew with the initials E.L. was Elliot Longstreet but... that could be anyone in Olivia's class, right? The red-haired male thought nothing of it. Instead, he found a small hole that was right beside the R in Olivia's initials and stuck his finger in it. Gently, he pulled the thin wood slab off the wall to reveal a hidden cabinet. Inside the cabinet resided many things like a tin box filled with love letters, medieval action-like figures, a blonde princess and a knight in shining armor, faded pictures of a mysterious figure taped to the cabinet door as if it were a school locker, drawings he made with fantasy-esque imagery with this mysterious figure, his collection of marbles in a jar, his old journal with crumpled, old petals residing in it, and even a pouch filled with money.

A loose galaxy marble, a marble that was on the expensive side back in the day, had rolled out of the cabinet and onto a cushion on the floor but Riley was too distracted to notice it. A marble that truly looked like it held the galaxy within the glass. There were many layers of varied colored fragments that gave it three dimensions and shined brilliantly. C.L. had given this marble to Riley... something that symbolized he could hold the galaxy in the palm of his hand.

Staring, briefly, at the inside of his secret cupboard, his eyes grew teary, reminiscing of a distant time when life was alright. She was truly back, wasn't she? Opening the tin, he put the new love letter inside of it, taking one last sniff of her scent before putting the lid back on. He would have to come back here sometime to look over all his tender memories, maybe even write his letter to her in here. A spark was lit inside of Riley as he felt a new era approaching. He was going to become a better man for her. If she saw him again, how would she think of him? He needed to give her every reason to not look away. She needed a man that could--

The image of Claire appeared in his mind and the man's gaze weakened. Guilt. Heart wrenching guilt. The worst boyfriend award should go to him. He... he needed to come clean with her. She deserved to know the main reason he dated anyone after his first love. Sadly, the man was still in love with a woman that made him feel things he still didn't quite understand. The excitement died as fast as it ignited. Somewhere deep inside, made him feel like he didn't want to lose Claire, but... on the other hand, how would his first love think about him dating another woman? He... he had to break up with Claire, a girl who was too good for him and deserved the world he couldn't give her.

You don't even know when she'll see you... what if it isn't for another year? Are you seriously going to break up with that sweetheart for a woman that suddenly disappeared on you? Do you know how worried you made your parents? Your treehouse wouldn't even have been made if your 'first love' didn't abandon you. What's wrong with you, Riley?

Pushing all thoughts aside and having missed three hours of work, Riley decided to make his presence known at the Queen's Orchid. Before he left his treehouse, he made sure the slab of wood was securely on the wall once more. Examining it quickly, everything seemed perfectly aligned, as if he was never there. Walking back to his car from the woods, he checked the text message from earlier, it was from Tara. By now, she should know he was one of the worst people to text, in the world. Quickly, he sent a reply.



Hopefully she could assume he was at work because that's where he was going. Entering his car, the conflicted man blasted the radio music so that it could enter his mind and drown out his thoughts. Banging his head on the steering wheel, making a loud horn noise, Riley muttered to himself, "I don't want to break her heart..."


Entering the diner, Riley acknowledged his sister talking with... Wes Harmon... with a low wave and James talking to some customers, not facing his general direction. Walking passed them straight to the kitchen, he sighed to himself. Personally, the man didn't want to deal with such a powerful nuisance, plus he had some cooking to do.

Seeing Ron, the Fox grinned, "I'm surprised you put up with our shit. Thanks for holding down the fort again, man." the burly chef shrugged in response and threw Riley's apron at him. Time to put in some hours before Kylie needs to go to her interview... Just cook, don't think about anything else.

_{@The Muse@Saint Girralo@Viciousmarrow}

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Unfortunate circumstances. Nana truly needed to take some time off. Her sleep schedule was atrocious and now she looked absolutely terrible in one of the Warren boy's eyes. Sitting up, the mother patted her hair down and swiftly finished her duties, not having time to respond to the boy who ran away. Instead, she called his father and apologized deeply. Surprisingly, the man was understanding and figured she overworked herself. Why else would she be a maid if she didn't make enough money? Though, that was nearly a cover up for her night job. The older man simply told her to not do it again and to make sure to clean the house thoroughly, including his sons' bedrooms. The problem with the last maid was she let his boys get away with murder. He would respect Nana more if she stood her ground. After the phone call, Nana felt a little better but still needed to write a letter to the youngest son, Blake. In her purse, she pulled out a small notepad and a pen and began writing a short, heartfelt apology.

_{@The Muse}

Along with her job's number was her cellphone number but she didn't think a kid would directly call her, he had no need to. Leaving her business card felt like the most professional course of action in this moment.

After she entered her car, the mother decided to give her next client a call and take a sick day (god knows she needed sleep). The call ended quickly since she went straight to voicemail but she knew they would be fine with her taking a day off, since Nana has never missed a day since she started her job. With that, she decided to get something to eat and then pick up her baby from daycare.

As the mother drove around, debating what she should eat, she stumbled upon a vehicle she knew all too well drop off a sweet blonde girl. Knowing Wes, he probably scared the poor girl shitless. Sighing to herself, Nana parked her car and approached the frazzled blonde.

"Hey, are you alright? My name is Nana Darling, I just wanted to check and see if you were okay. Wes can be a handful but I haven't known him to put a girl in physical harms way... not yet at least. I know you're probably done with talking to strangers, but as a person whose dealt with Wes on more occasions than I'd like to admit, I just wanted to see if you needed a hand with anything. If he gives you any problems in the future, mention Mimi. I can give you her number and she'd be able to cool him down in seconds. I'm about to pick up my son soon but if you need a ride somewhere, I can take you." Taking out her wallet, she showed the girl a picture of Jude grinning with a sailor boy's hate on.

_@BlueAjah

Note: Nana's post is happening a bit before the timeskip (Assuming Wes has dropped Claire off around the time 9:30 to 10)

The morning had been an irritating one. A personal phone call from the sheriff about how great Wes Harmon was for the community. Blah blah blah. It had been all too apparent that the Harmon family was a big deal in a small town which Jerry should have anticipated. He’d beaten the crowd to the Orchid and his morning had started with the coffee he had missed out on in the coffee shop. Then followed a round of eggs and bacon with toast which had filled the growing hole in his stomach and then it had been straight to work.

Jerry had situated himself in the very back of the Orchid, it looked like it had just been the Kitchen staff when he’d walked in but business quickly picked up as Jerry watched from his corner booth at the back of the room. It had been a real surprise when the Reese family had showed up to work but after some digging on his laptop all had been made clear. This was the restaurant the obituary had mentioned. Restaurant owners and long time community members

As he scrolled through police reports it became all too clear what this town's real problem was. They were the perfect population density to maintain a criminal syndicate without the cops to oppose them. That or the cops were all in their pocket. More digging had turned up what he expected. Family ties between the Sheriff to the Harmon’s. This was absolutely fantastic; rolling his eyes Jerry closed the laptop and tapped on it with his phone. Looking at the clock it was about 10am as he decided that the Orchid would make a great place to start catching up on the cases that had recently been filed. It was a decent amount but nothing unmanageable.

Before he brought up the cases he paused and flicked his phone around so that he could send a text.

Tapping Nana’s number he tapped out a relatively straightforward text:

Hey Nana,

I hate to bother you so early but I was wondering what you know about a man by the name of Wes Harmon.

Jerry didn’t include any details since he was hoping for an initial reaction as opposed to something that was tailored around anything he might find useful. With that finished he scrolled through a list of his contacts. With a tap he dialed a number listed simply as DOJ. Sitting tapping his fingers someone on the other end picked up. Hey, it’s Jerry. Can I ask you to do me a favor? I need to dodge something being traced. And yes I’m aware I’ve been here less than a week; this is a personal project. Can you send me all the stuff you have on Wes Harmon and his affiliates. I wasn’t aware Cous county had its own little three ring circus and it blindsided me this morning.” Jerry paused for a moment his eyes scanning the room.

It was turning into a relatively nice day outside and the medium chatter in the room masked his phone call nicely. The decour for the Orchid was growing on him. It would be easy to see himself in twenty years still coming here and having breakfast while he watched the regulars swirl around him. Opening the laptop again he brought up his web browser. Chrome. The others were garbage and anyone who argued with him usually ended up on his shit list. It was simply an objectively superior web browser.

The search keywords probably would have raised eyebrows: Millington Oregon Lindy Hop and Swing. Scrolling Jerry nodded at something the person on the other end of the line said even though they couldn’t see him. ”Yeah that sounds fantastic. Thanks I owe you one; do me a favor and grab me that fed from organized crimes number?” Jerry paused “Yeah thanks Rick”

Now thoroughly distracted by his search Jerry raised an eyebrow and double clicked on a link that looked promising. The Spotlight Ballroom; Ballroom, Lindey hop and Swing. The hobby was an old holdover from Jerry's days in college. It had been necessary to find someplace to put his finger on the pulse of things and it had been oddly enjoyable. Not to mention it had never hurt his chances with women. It turned out that when they found out that you could Waltz, tango, foxtrot, and swing that all of the sudden you were just generally better as a male. Being able to dance was apparently a lost skill for most males.

Taking note of the times Jerry tapped his foot on the floor.

With that Jerry turned his attention to the work on his laptop. As the hours rolled by Jerry became totally oblivious to the comings and goings of the restaurant as he plowed through a mountain of electronic reports in about two hours.

---

At about twelve Jerry took the earbuds out his ears, his luck with finding a place to go dance had forced him back to swing music. It was closing in on time for lunch as Jerry finally scanned the room and his eyes practically popped out of his head as he saw Wes sitting on the other side of the room. What a pain in the ass; as if sharing space with him hadn’t been bad enough once today. It was without a doubt for sure time for lunch.

@Lovely Complex@Viciousmarrow

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Kylie sent an updated picture of herself onto her Twitter feed, clad in short shorts and a revealing tank top. Her mind had been stuck on change all morning, so she'd conned Riley into taking her to the mall so she could "put in applications" around 9am. However, the former redhead never had any intention to do such: she was going to get her hair professionally dyed. While she was at, Kylie had also gotten extensions. It had only cost her $375 too! Sure, she knew she owed the IRS money, but this was spending money to make money! Everybody liked blondes, so her Twitter feed was sure to blow up and maybe there would be more incentive pay from her sponsors. That job interview with her brother's friend was definitely in the bag now too. Plus... it helped that she knew Riley had a thing for blondes... So... maybe... Just maybe he'd be more attracted to her.

Right now, Kylie stood outside of an H&M, a bag filled with clothes in her hand. Her twin had given her hell on the way here about wearing such skimpy clothing, but it was just what she thought was comfortable. However, the more she thought about it, it ended up being that Riley was right. Nobody was going to hire an abundance of sex appeal unless you were a stripper or a prostitute. She had to be business sexy! So Kylie had bought a new business suit, fit for a working woman. That was $120 right there.

"Your hair looks great."

Seemingly from out of nowhere, a petite blonde woman with striking green eyes approached Kylie, a Coach handbag on her shoulder. This lady bled money, just from sheer appearances. However, her expression spoke a certain kindness Kylie wasn't able to ignore. "Um... Thanks. I just got it done at Addendum and Errata's." the Reese told the woman, trying her best to work on her social skills. 'Just breathe... relax. You can do this.' The opposing woman held out a hand and smiled brightly. "I'm Jenny. I can't help but feel like I've seen you before..."

A bit hesitantly, Kylie took Jenny's hand and shook it. "Er... Maybe? I'm naturally a redhead, but I come to the mall pretty often. " Much to the Reese's surprise, Jenny held up a hand and her smile got even brighter. "Ohmygod. SHUT. UP. You're Kylie, aren't you?! While her newly found acquaintance squealed in delight, Kylie just sat there with a puzzled look on her face. Was this one of her fans? "Yeah, I'm Kylie. How'd you know?"

“Just a wild guess, Sweetheart. After all, your family has been the talk of the town lately. RIP Ma and Pa, right?” The petite blonde took in her ex lover’s twin and couldn’t help but glue her stare on the other woman’s face.

“But enough with the awkward formalities. Why don’t we go to Ulta and get our makeup done?! I’m sure your brother would be hella surprised. ” A light chuckle slipped out of Jenny’s lips. Meanwhile, Kylie was a bit confused about how this stranger knew her brother. ”Huh? How do you know Riley?” she pondered out loud. She supposed they could have been in the same class or something together, but her twin had never said anything about anyone that looked like the blonde in front of her.

Jenny’s reaction was an obvious glower at the mere fact that Riley did not ONCE mention her, “Classic Riri! He can introduce a fuckin’ goody two shoes bitch but not me?” For a moment, the blonde was talking to herself and thinking of ways to get back at her ex to remind him what he was missing. “We dated for a good year before his ‘Claire-bear’ came into the picture. I guess Sophi is the only one who knew. HA!”

The Reese twin jumped a bit as Jenny got a bit irate. She’d never known about this chick, yet here she was. Strange. A year and Riley had never mentioned a single word about Jenny. Kylie supposed her brother had dated her out of pity and didn’t want anyone to know because he was ashamed. Classic Riley. However, she did notice that her twin definitely had a type now: Claire was blonde, Jenny was blonde, ALL of the models on his walls were blonde. Looks like she chose the right color to dye her hair. ”Well that’s shitty. I mean… we can still do the Ulta thing if you want.” she offered.

“Of course we’re doing it, I wasn’t giving you an option. I also think you should definitely change into those clothes.” She gestured to the shopping bag and continued to coo on, “We can grab a bite to eat at your little diner. I bet none of your family will recognize you~”

---

The two girls had gotten to the Queen’s Orchid in minutes, it felt like. If there was anything Kylie truly knew about Jenny right now, it was that she was a terrible, terrible driver who went too fast. At least she was able to squeak out a text to Tara before the motion sickness caught up with her. 'idk what time ill b home tho b/c i have an enterview at 3. but yah sounds fun.' But seriously, they had almost hit 3 people on the way here. Not to mention the god awful parking job she did. Jenny's tiny blue-and-white Mini Cooper was somehow taking up three parking spots. Needless to say, Kylie was relieved to exit the vehicle. _{@Knight of Doom}

Now clad in her business suit and pancaked with make-up, she absolutely appeared to be a different person. The twin doubted any of her family would recognize her since she rarely wore make-up anyway. Granted… this particular makeover had cost her over $60. For someone trying to save money, she really was burning through it fast. But! Kylie had the comfort of knowing she made a friend from all this!

As the duo strode into the diner, the newly blonde woman spotted a dark blue Bugatti near the back of the restaurant. ”Wow, it looks like a fucking celebrity ended up at this hellhole.” Kylie muttered, wondering what rich son of a bitch decided to eat her family’s waste. Disregarding the fancy car for now, she held her breath when she saw Sophi waiting on overly dressed asshat-looking guy. Why was that guy wearing shades inside? More importantly though, would her sister see through this disguise? Scanning the rest of the room, the former redhead also noticed Jerry was here. Apparently the place was starting to get busy now, which was no surprise considering it was lunch time.

Approaching the kitchen window that separated the cooks from the rest of the Diner, Riley placed three plates of food and muttered, "Order uh...up…" his voice trailed off when he saw two gorgeous blondes enter the building. He couldn’t help but get excited. Turning around, he went to Ron, “Yo man! Check out those sexy foxes! Two blondies! Man, this day couldn’t get any better!”

_{@The Muse@Saint Girralo@Themerlinhawk}

Compared to the walk across town, the walk to the diner was quick and easy. Still drained from the encounter that had just taken place, Elliot opted to walk in silence, and Sophi didn’t seem inclined to change the atmosphere either. Truthfully, he was in a good mood, not that he would ever let that show, and he was looking forward to actually getting some job hunting today. Hopefully it wouldn’t turn into a debacle like the day before. Then again, yesterday hasn’t been all bad. He made a note to try and swing by Nana’s place again to return her belongings, wondering when it was that she’d be home.

He also made damn sure to keep those thoughts to himself, glancing over at Sophi beside him. The last thing he needed was her hearing he was planning to visit a woman sometime. In highschool she had been downright possessive of him for whatever reason, and he really didn’t need his mood ruined by her jealous streak. Still, it was nice to just be… almost normal again between the two of them. The last couple days had been stressful, let alone the last five years. Maybe their relationship wasn’t repaired yet, but he had his best friend back.

It wasn’t long before the two of them were in front of the Orchid, and all the hesitation Elliot had felt yesterday was gone. He could face the other Reese's if he knew Sophia had his back, eventually smooth things over with them too. He looked over at her with a smirk as he held the door open for her, saying as she walked passed him:

“Okay, fair’s fair. I’ve done my part of the work, you can do the cooking for us.”

“Oh, please. Ron can do the cooking.” She laughed and walked inside, spotting only one customer in the back corner by himself and working on his laptop. At least it wasn’t too busy so far this morning - she didn’t have to feel guilty for not arriving earlier.

“James is probably in the back somewhere.” She grabbed a menu as she passed the hostess stand and gestured for him to follow her. “Let’s sit here.” She walked toward the back of the diner, finding a booth. “Comfiest booth in town if I do say so myself.” She smiled and slid the menu over to his side of the booth. She had the menu memorized like the back of her hand, but Elliot probably needed some refreshing.

As she waited for Elliot to finish looking over the menu she leaned back into the booth, her eyes studying his face. He seemed tired, rightly so, and a lot older than she remembered him. Not in the way that he appeared older, but the naivety of childhood had been erased throughout the years. Until a few hours ago she hadn't really gotten to look at him. Last night had just been a blur, and the previous morning she had been seeing red. "I can't imagine the stress he was under..." Images of the bruises that traced his body flashed in her memory, pinging another feeling of sympathy and guilt.

A gentle smile lifted her lips as she looked at him, watching his hazel eyes scan the menu items. "I think you should get every item on the menu, you're too skinny." She grinned, curious if he knew that she was referencing her mother who always use to try to shove baked goods down his throat when they were younger.

"Yeah well you're too fat, so let's split the difference and just get two meals."

Elliot dove in the booth the second he spoke for protection, in case any projectiles came his way and proceeded to keep reading the menu lying down. Truthfully, he wasn't much of a breakfast food person, but he had caught the reference to her mother and was beginning to crave something sweet. Besides, he'd taken her comments a bit personally. He couldn't exactly help that he couldn't eat and work out like he used to.

Cautiously, he peeked his head up over the table, sliding the menu over towards her. It hadn't exactly changed much since he left, and he assumed it would probably taste about the same. She had mentioned James being here... Was he going to be the one cooking? Should Elliot pop back and say 'hi'? Maybe not, James was not the kind of person you wanted to interrupt while he was working. He'd always been so focused as a child.

Fortunately James was coming out of the kitchen and brought a carafe and mug a over to the man working on his laptop, and spotted the two. Oh this was getting interesting. After pouring the man some coffee, he walked over with the half empty carafe in hand. ”Hi Sophi.” he said addressing his sister for a moment before turning his attention to the man sitting across from her. He noticed a slight bruise on his fade and just had to do a double take. ”You okay Elliot? I didn't think she actually went and hit you that hard yesterday.”

Speak of the Devil...

Elliot took a moment to look over his old friend. James had been just a teenager the last time the two had seen each other. Now he must have been old enough to drink, or close enough. It was an odd feeling every time he saw someone he used to know all grown up, but he was getting used to the notion. Perhaps if it were yesterday he'd have greeted James with a hug or a handshake. Today though? He was in a good mood. Paradoxically, that always turned Elliot into more of an ass.

"I'm fine, but I wish it'd have been you doing the swinging. Unlike Sophi you always hit like a girl."

Sophia had been glaring at Elliot for the past five minutes, after that comment about her weight. What was with everyone lately?! Normally she would have kicked him in the shin immediately after that comment, but luckily she thought better of that impulse. She was reminded why as James brought up the bruise on his cheek.

Sheepishly, she looked down at the menu on the table and pretended like she was reading it. It was probably better if she didn’t open her mouth, even if Elliot was making light of the situation with his usual sarcasm.

James rolled his eyes, and thought, Yeah, and?Is that even news anymore. He pulled out his order pad and a pen and snorted, ”Alright, Scrawny as Helliot, so you're getting one of everything to bulk up yourself, right?” he shot back jokingly as he lightly shoved his long time friend’s shoulder. Yeah, things were falling right back into place. ”Seriously though. Are you two ready to order or do you need more time?”

Sophia smiled as her brother went along with the joke. Luckily it didn’t seem to awkward between the two. In fact, James barely seemed phased by Elliot being back again. At least on the outside. How was James always so put together and Sophia was always…. Well, Sophia. “One flapjack and a side of scrambled eggs for me, please.”

Elliot ignored the comeback, while he was in the mood for a verbal sparring it was probably wiser to ease back into things slowly. Thankfully it didn't seem like Sophi had taken his comments too seriously, despite glaring daggers at him. Anyone who thought the woman was anything but fit had to be out of their goddamn minds. He slid his menu towards James before answering;

"I'll take some french toast. No sides, just some syrup- and coffee, please."

James nodded as he wrote down the order from his sister and one of his best friends. He was wondering where the guy had gone off to when he disappeared. But that didn't matter now… He was back where he belonged, with his closest friends, with his family. ”Okay, unless you two have anything else you want to add, I'll go get this order ready.” he said as he took a step back.

After about fifteen minutes or so, James returned with their breakfast. Grinning, she took her plate and began scarfing down her pancake and eggs - having skipped dinner last night and filling up on alcohol had left her absolutely starving.

"Ron never disappoints." She proclaimed when both Elliot and herself were finished, having sparsely talked with each other while shoving food in their faces. "I have to stay here and help with the diner for a while... " She grabbed his empty plate and put it on top of hers, readying it to be taken away. "I know you were just dying for the opportunity to spend all day here, but I assure you it'll be pretty boring." Although if it went anything like yesterday, maybe it wouldn't be. "You have any plans today?"

Ron huh? I need to go back and say hi sometime.

Elliot shoved his french toast down his throat almost immediately, but savored the taste of his morning coffee while Sophi finished. While he had asked for an application the day before, he didn't really have any plans to work at the Orchid. Standing all day wasn't exactly something that would be good for his health. Still, while he had no plans to stick around, he still wouldn't have minded spending more time with Sophi. As much of a pain in the ass as she could be.

"Yeah, I need to go job hunting. Find a bit more income for myself."

He paused, before glancing around for someone he knew. Seeing it was safe, he scratched the back of his head sheepishly and added:

"It's, uh, been nice though Soph. I've missed this- you- for a long time. If you need to get away from your crazy family feel free to crash at my place again sometime."

"Don't tempt me with a good time." She winked at him, giggling as she stood up. "Good luck with job hunting. I'm sure you'll find something in no time. Who wouldn't love a face like yours?" She smirked as he stood, immediately grabbing him for a hug. "I missed this too."

In the back of her mind she couldn't help but wonder if Elliot would disappear on her again after this. She embraced him a little tighter for a few moments before finally letting him go, trying to push the thought away. "See you later?"

His first reaction, now that he wasn't an emotional wreck, was to pull away from Sophi, but he fought it this time. She'd seemed really offended when he pulled his hand back earlier that day, and he wasn't in the mood to ruin their good vibes. Instead, he simply squeezed her back and grabbed his cane once she let go.

"Yeah, you'll see me. Who knows, maybe I'll crash by your place at midnight this time?"

Sophi laughed, “Unless you want to be up all night listening to Kylie screaming, I wouldn’t recommend it. See ya, Elliot.” She waved and took the two empty plates from the table as Elliot made his way out of the diner.

With a sigh she made her way towards the kitchen in the back. Fun time was over and it was time to talk to James about whatever was going on with Kylie. From the looks of breakfast earlier, she was nowhere to be seen which was probably the best thing for the diner even if they were short handed. At least no one was crunching on glass or drinking bleach.

Immediately she noticed James beside Ron, working the grill. "Hey Ron." She waved, a half hearted smile on her lips. "James, you want to go talk in my office now?" She paused and looked around, "I can go wait some tables." She hadn't really paid attention to whether or not business had picked up during breakfast; Elliot had her attention 110%.... And the food.

”Yeah, let's talk real quick.” James said, looking up from the grill. He was glad to see Sophi was alright, and that meant he wouldn't have to yell at Elliot. ”You got this for a few minutes, right Ron?” he asked the guy, who nodded and said, “I'll be fine for a few minutes.” He walked to the office and opened the door for his sister and held it, waiting for her to walk through and sit down. He hoped this wouldn't go too long since they were short staffed at the moment.

“Thanks Ron.” She dropped off the dishes in the sink and then followed James to the back office, stepping inside and taking a seat in one of the old tattered lounge chairs. The place still had the original furniture and was in desperate need of a makeover. “So what’s the story on our darling little sister?” Leaning back into the chair, she rested her head in her hand and waited for James to lay the bad news on her.

As soon as Sophi asked about the situation with Kylie he groaned in annoyance. “She screwed up and screwed up bad. She wouldn't say how, but she said she owed the IRS something like ten thousand dollars. Riley is helping her go around and apply for jobs, but I told her that if she can't find a job that she'd be working here, regardless of whether or not she has social anxiety. However if it does come to that, I did say that I would make sure she got trained.” James pinched the bridge between his eyes and looked up towards Sophi as he sat down in one of the other chairs. And of course as soon as he sat down he got a text from Olivia asking if they need help at the diner tonight. But the wording was strange, and he knew what Olivia was looking for. ’Yes, I'd rather have you here tonight.’ he texted back, hoping that was what she was looking for.

“Ten thousand dollars?!” Her eyes practically popped out of her head, suddenly sitting upright in her chair. Shaking her head, Sophia echoed James' groan from earlier. "And of course we have to be dragged into this." She thought outloud, bitterly. Of course, naturally, she wanted to help her sister, but in the moment she would have liked to drop kick her right off a cliff. How in the world did Kylie always manage to get herself into situations like these?

“I might be able to help but... ” She sighed, sinking back into her chair. “Mom and dad left me access to their savings. I think there’s enough in there… but I doubt this is what they intended on spending it on.” She bit her lower lip as she pondered the thought, staring at the old worn out carpeting. What was the right answer?

”Before you even touch that, I want to take a look at it all myself. I want to look over her tax form, her paychecks, everything. I think she screwed up somewhere along the line.” James scowled momentarily at the revelation that Sophi had access to the savings account, and would have been willing to use the entire thing on their reckless sister. ”If there is even a chance she owes less that she thinks, I'm going to help, but she's going to have to learn that we aren't going to make all her problems go away. She's going to have to work off what she owes. And if we need to reach into the savings account, she is going to pay it back or I'll take her computer and gaming stuff away until she does.” James replies, frustrated that Kylie was so careless.

Sophia nodded as she listened to him. He was right, Kylie needed to learn some kind of responsibility for once. She always got the "easy way out" handed to her because their mother tended to be much too lenient, especially with the way Kylie could throw a fit. "Alright, that sounds-" She paused, the word paychecks resonating in her mind.

"How the hell has Kylie even been getting paid? She just plays video games all damn day." She rolled over multiple paying online jobs in her mind for a moment. "Cam Girl" was the one thought that kept coming to mind. "I swear to god, James, I'll kill her if I find out she's selling her body."

James shook his head, more so out of denial than assurance. Certainly there was a chance, given what their sister’s Twitter feed looked like, but he didn't want to even think about it. ”No. There's no way that's the case. There's a better chance she is a hacker… That being said, I doubt that's how she got the money either. I don't know how she expects us to help if she won't tell us what we need to know.” He said, clearly still trying to get the idea that his sister has been showing her body online for money out of his head.

“I’ll see if I can talk to her…” She sighed for what seemed like the millionth time today. “So,” It was sad that this was going to be the less stressful part of the conversation. “We obviously need to do some hiring now. We’re all running ourselves so thin… I’ll put some ads out, online and a sign in the window. I can interview, or we both can interview.” She glanced over at the door, “I should probably get out there to wait the tables now, though. Thanks for helping Ron while Riley is out.”

James smiled as soon as she said that they'd start hiring people. ”That's actually something I was going to bring up myself. I think we should both do interviews, personally, but I can handle them solo if you would rather I did. Also it's no problem me covering for Riley. It's just nice to change things up occasionally. If you're going to work the floor, I'll head back to the kitchen then.” he said as he got up, waiting for an answer as to who is interviewing applicants.

“I’d prefer we both did the interviews too. We can gauge who they are better that way.” She stood up, smiling slightly. “I appreciate all your help, James.” She took a moment to meet eyes with her brother, hoping he knew how much she genuinely appreciated all of his work. Despite James being a pain in the ass sometimes, he at least seemed to be the one sibling who “had it together” most of the time.

Stepping out of the office again, Sophia grabbed an apron and tied it over her clothes. If it weren’t for what she had just discovered about Elliot earlier this morning she would have offered a job to him, but that wouldn’t have seemed like a very good fit now. Alas, they would have to go through the painful process of interviews. She remembered the stories her parents would tell about horrible interviews; one who seemed like he hadn’t showered in years, one who readily admitted to being a drug addict, one who took a phone call in the middle of the interview.. The list went on. “I can’t wait…”



Pushing out of the kitchen and entering the diner once again, Sophia’s eyes immediately landed on a certain purple haired devil entering the diner. Wes Harmon. Not at all who she wanted to see this morning, or for the rest of her life for that matter. Why did he have to come here?

Although she didn’t exactly have warm feelings for Wes, she did not hesitate to put on a bright heart-warming smile as he greeted her. She knew better than to upset him, she had seen him light off like a firework plenty of times in the past, even over just a simple unpleasant facial expression.

“Good morning, Wes.” She grabbed a menu and followed him to the seat of his choosing, not bothering to try and stop him. It was only her on the floor anyway. “It’s been awhile since I’ve seen you around here.” About a year, actually. Ever since she had cut ties with her ex boyfriend, Greyson Reed, who liked to hang around with Wesley’s crowd.

“Uh.. My parents actually passed away last month.” She frowned, simultaneously because her parents deaths had to brought up once again and because he had decided to refer to her mom with a measure of disrespect. “Thank you for remembering, though. Here’s your menu.” It was better to thank him for even mentioning her parents, lest Wes take it as an insult. “What can I get for you this morning, Wes?” She readied her pen and paper, replacing her frown with another smile just for him.

James nodded in agreement when Sophi readily accepted the idea of them both doing interviews. When Sophi left the office and went out to the dining area, James grabbed a marker and a piece of paper and wrote the words “Help Wanted. Possible On The Spot Interviews.” He wanted to find competent people, but he also wanted to find people quickly. He just had to hope that they would be one and the same. Walking out to the front door, he quickly taped the sign in the front window, when he noticed Sophi talking to Wes. Yet another thing he was uncomfortable with.

Nathan's class had just wrapped up and though he was certain that James was still at the diner, he was also certain that the diner would be busy because it was lunch rush. He decided to head home and maybe, just maybe, actually try to catch up on his school work. There was not much to say about the bus ride back. The bus was not too crowded and there wasn't anyone of interest on it. It was just a simple ride back home. When he reached his stop, he got off the bus and made his way to his apartment. "Home sweet home, I guess," he thought to himself.

He placed his stuff on the table in his room and pulled out his phone so he could text Rachel about their date. He wanted to ask her if she wanted it to be a double date thing or just a one on one date. He didn't mind either way but he did say he would help Vanessa out with James. "Hey Rachel. Did you want to invite Vanessa because James is down for a double date. I'm fine with whatever you want," he typed up quickly. He pressed send and then got out his homework to work on while he waited for a reply.

He then got out his textbook from his backpack and began to do his homework. It was more tedious work than anything and didn't take a lot of his brain power to complete which was nice because he didn't want to think very much. A few minutes in, he heard his phone go off. He had already gotten a reply from Rachel. "She replies really fast," he thought to himself, unsure of whether to be impressed or concerned.

"That's perfect! Vanessa will be so excited! Thanks! Does this Saturday sound good?"

Before he could reply though, he should probably ask James if he was free on Saturday. So he sent a text to his buddy. "Hey, sorry for not dropping by in the diner again but if I keep visiting you like that, I'm going to be broke. Anyway, Vanessa and Rachel want to know if you're free on Saturday."

He put his phone back down and went back to work again.

@Saint Girralo

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“Oh jeez… I'm sorry abouts your loss. Theys were good people, you know? Everybody loved them, especially us Harmons. If yous needs anything, just let me know.” Wes sympathetically told the gorgeous, bespectacled woman in front of him. He remembered her from college, but, like her parents, couldn't put a name to her face. One of his buddies from college used to date her or something of that nature. “I think I'll starts off with a glass of water for now. You're Suzy, right? No… Wait, that was Grey’s side bitch...” Immediately, Wes slapped himself in the face when he mentioned that last tid bit of information. “I apologizes for that last comment. That was rude.”

In the meantime, Kylie and Jenny waited to be seated. However, it didn’t take long for Jenny to spot her very powerful step-cousin. ”Ooooh! Let’s get us a free meal, K. That’s my step-cousin, Wes Harmon. He’s richer than my dad, for sure. Oh… and it’s totally his birthday!” the petite blonde whispered to her new friend. ’That douche canoe is related to her? I’d kill myself.’ were Kylie’s thoughts on the subject. Suddenly though, the Reese twin felt herself dragged through the aisle towards the purple haired man. ”Wes Harmon, correct?” Jenny impolitely interjected herself into whatever conversation her cousin was having with the server.

Two beautiful blondes, dressed like professional hookers, appeared beside his table before his waitress could get a retort in. Taking his sunglasses off and quirking an eyebrow at the one that questioned him, Wes gave her a threatening glare. ”What’s it to you?” he barked, rapping several fingers against the table in succession. The shorter blonde just giggled and sat herself and her friend down. ”Happy Birthday! I’m Shelby and this is Chloe. We had arrangements to uh… accompany you today.” Wes snickered at her words. His father always did something to surprise him each year. Sending him escorts was a bit of a surprise though, considering how prudish he was. Dino always talked about fidelty and honor, but they were criminals, not knights in shining armor. Might as well get laid before you get hauled off to prison, right? Maybe his dad had finally come to his senses though. ”Okay, well Ms. Shelby and Chloe go ahead and order whatever. I’ll take care of you today.”

Kylie was stunned at Jenny’s audacity. Not just because she had the balls to fool one of the most powerful men in the town, but also to bring her within inches of Sophia’s face. Nervously, she sat next to the window, fixated her face out towards the landscape before her and silently prayed the brunette waitress didn’t recognize her.. ”I will have… a strawberry milkshake, and can you get the chef to deliver it himself please? Thank you.” Jenny ordered beside her, slashing Kylie’s moment of respite. There was a brief moment of silence before Wes turned his head towards her. ”You okay, Chloe? You seems nervous or somethin’.” Anxiously, Kylie jerked her face around and nodded to the man. ”Um, yeah. I’m fine… I’ll have Mountain Dew, I guess.” she finally replied, not daring to face their server.

”Well there you have it.” Wes clapped his hands together and brightly smiled at the lovely brunette.

“Grey’s bitch…” Yup, that had been her. Sophia could only imagine the things Greyson’s group had said about her in private, considering the vulgar things that had been said even when she was in the room. Sexual comments had probably turned malicious since the breakup. “At least it was nice of Wes to offer “anything”.... I guess…”

Fortunately for her she didn’t have the opportunity to answer, as two blondes interrupted the oh-so pleasant conversation. She stepped back a bit as the one who called herself Shelby sat down on the other side of the booth. “She looks familiar…” Sophia thought, eyes glued to the girl and completely ignoring the other. The name Shelby didn’t ring any bells, but Sophia was sure she had seen this girl from somewhere before. As Shelby mentioned “accompanying” Wes for his birthday, Sophia took her eyes away from the girl and looked down at her notepad. It was pretty clear what “accompany” meant, especially with the way these girls were dressed and how Shelby was batting those big green eyes at him. Chloe, on the other hand, seemed to be a newbie in comparison.

As soon as Chloe spoke, and asked for a Mountain Dew, Sophia immediately fixated all attention on her. The girl was very obviously trying her best not to look Sophia in the eyes, but that made her all the more suspicious. That was Kylie’s voice coming out of her mouth… wasn’t it? Sophi could barely see her face through a tossle of blonde locks, but she was sure that was her sister’s voice. That, and Kylie always drank that damn Mountain Dew. But Kylie’s hair was not that long and she was certainly not a blonde… “I’m going crazy.”

“Alright, one water, one Mountain Dew, and one strawberry milkshake delivered personally by the chef.” She bounced right back into her act and smiled back at the group, though she made a point to make eye contact with Wes the most. “I’ll be right back with those, and bring you two ladies a menu.” Turning, Sophia couldn’t help but wonder why Shelby had requested the chef to bring her a milkshake. Did Ron have some young admirer? She nearly laughed at the thought.

Entering the kitchen again, Sophia called out, “Hey Ron, I think you got a little blondie after-” She paused when she noticed Riley tying his apron on. It suddenly hit her like a bag of bricks. Shelby was not looking for Ron, she was looking for Riley, and her name was not Shelby. It was Jenny. The one girlfriend of Riley’s that she had met, and only by accident. Ex-girlfriend, now. Sophia had never known exactly what happened between Riley and Jenny, but she knew that it hadn’t ended well.

“Oh… Hi Riley.” She smiled, barely. “Can you take a peek out there? There’s a girl sitting with Wes Harmon, who requested that you take a strawberry milkshake to her personally.” Her facial expression could have told him that whatever he was about to see probably wasn’t going to please him. As he made his way towards the door, she decided to give him a small warning. “I… think that’s Jenny?”

A twitch in Riley’s right eye happened simultaneously when Sophia mentioned his ex. Was it so hard to have a moment of peace without some insane bitch trying to stalk him (only referring to Jenny, not C.L.)? With a sigh, he decided to be the mature adult and give exceptional customer service, bringing the ‘pleasant’ guest her favorite type of drink, directly to her: a strawberry milkshake. Or anything strawberry really. Looking through the kitchen window, he stared at the two blondes once more, with less perversion than his first glance, as his older sister told him the other drinks that were ordered. The tinier blonde was definitely, definitely his ex. He would never forget her figure since they had plenty of opportunities to get close and intimate, but the other one…

“Uh, help me with the drinks. You’re right, that’s Jenny. She called me this morning... Don’t get involved with crazy, sis.” Riley warned, with an expression of strain and frustration. Putting on his happy service face, he took the drinks that he and Sophia prepared (which was now on a tray) and left the kitchen.

"She called him this morning?" Sophia thought, following her brother out of the kitchen. "Must've found out about Claire." She split with Riley as he headed towards the table, Sophia heading for the host stand to grab menu's for the two prostitutes sitting with Wes. Surely Wesley could have had any gold digging girl ready and willing to sleep with him at the drop of a hat, why did he have to resort to hookers?

Kylie sighed a breath of relief as Sophi walked away without calling her out. Beside her, Jenny snickered at her reaction. ”See? I told you she wouldn’t notice. I bet none of them will.” Wes seemed quite intrigued by that though and swiftly got involved in their conversation. ”Notice what? Am I missings somethin’ here?” he asked, a very confused expression on his face. ”That’s my sister, Sophi… They’ll kill me if they find out-” The purple haired man held up a hand, as if he understood what she meant. ”Oh… Sheesh, Chloe, I didn’t realize yous Reeses were doing so poorly that’d you’d have to resort to this.” Kylie gave a bewildered glance to the blonde next to her, wondering if it was time to give up the act. Jenny just giggled and a put a finger to her lips. She obviously had own prerogative right now.

Approaching the table with the man whose father was a billionaire in the small town of Millington, his overbearing ex, and someone Riley came to realize to be his twin with a new hairdo, the closer and closer he got to her. It also helped that she said Sophi’s name to clarify his doubts. He would play along, for a little bit. With his charming grin, he came to the table, “I was requested to deliver drinks to this table. Here we go…” Taking his time, he placed the drinks in front of each customer. When he put the mountain dew by Kylie, Riley’s blue orbs met her gaze but he kept on the customer service act.

Holding the tray in his hands, he brought his attention to the Underboss, “I’m glad you came to the Diner, Wes. It’s a pleasure to have you here!” The redhaired male patiently waited for a response.

Kylie’s face went grim when her twin leered into her eyes, panic gripping her. She knew that stare. Apparently her disguise was hardly a match for Riley’s intuition, or so she thought. Averting her gaze, she proceeded to look back out the window. Maybe, just maybe, he would second guess himself. Beside her, Jenny sucked on her shake’s straw quite seductively, batting her eyelashes at the redhead in front of her.

Wes gave the chef a wave of his hand in acknowledgement. ”Of course, of course. I tries my best to give back to local communities, you know?” With that he nonchalantly took a sip of his iced water, not expecting anything more. Slyly, Riley slipped in a question, “I knew you were cousins with Jenny, but how do you know my twin, if you mind me asking?”

The Underboss’ head tilted at Riley’s question, as if he didn't understand. ”Jenny? This is Shelby and Chloe. And your twin ain't here… you're a reddie. There's just blondes and me here. They're my… escorts for the day, you know.” he explained, attempting to help Ms. Chloe keep her cover. He honestly didn't think he had a cousin named Jenny anyway. His eyes floated over the two women in front of him, noticing that the taller blonde was not helping her case though. She was doing everything in her power to keep staring out that damn window. Shelby, on the other hand, seemed to have the hots for the chef, judging by those goo-goo eyes of hers. Sheesh… What the hell had his dad sent him? A nervous wreck and a slut who wanted to get with every guy she saw?

As Sophia returned to the table she heard Riley mention both Jenny and..... his twin?! "Kylie?!" Sophia blurted, stepping up next to Riley at the table to get a closer look. Despite the new hair and a face caked with makeup, it was most definitely her little sister. "What the hell are you doing?! So this is how you owe so much money to the IRS? 'Accompanying' people?" She could hardly believe what she was seeing. Sure, the thought had crossed her mind earlier with James... but for it to become a reality?! Her sister would not be selling her body! There was no way, no chance in hell that this would go on any longer. Especially not with Wesley-fucking-Harmon! The only problem being... it was apparently Wes' birthday... and she doubted Wes would have appreciated her yanking away one of his "toys" for the day.

“WOAH-WOAH-WOAH!! Hold your horses, cowgirl. Our sister may dress a bit… promiscuous… but she isn’t a call girl. There’s gotta be some sort of misunderstanding.” He tapped on his twin’s shoulder, “Well, are you going to explain yourself? Or have everyone think you’re selling yourself?” Holding tight onto the tray, Riley’s blue gaze went toward Wes, as he apologized, “I’m sorry, man. My sister will not be accompanying you today...”

This was not how Kylie had envisioned this going at all. Jenny had been so sure that no one would recognize her that she had lured herself into a false sense of security. Unfortunately, she now found herself being interrogated by Sophi and Riley, which did nothing but make her angry. Even if she were a prostitute, who were they to tell her what she could and could not do?! Infuriated, she slipped out of her seat and stood up for herself. ”No, Riley. Sophia is exactly fucking right. I get paid top dollar to screw every man in this town, like Mr. Harmon here. There isn’t a guy I haven’t fucked. Yeah. That’s right. Even Ron. Why do you think I turn the volume up so loud at night? So you won’t hear me sneak out.” she seethed, her words dripping venom.

Jenny appeared quite amused at the situation, absolutely loving this newfound anger of Kylie’s. She hadn’t guessed that the Reese twin would go so far with the act. Directly across from her, Wes was absolutely shocked by the spectacle, but he did nothing to intervene. After all, a show of family drama was always better than getting laid. So he simply sat there, hazel orbs glued on the scene.

A dark aura fell over the male twin as his sister rambled on about her ‘job’. Placing the tray down, he clenched his fists but stood completely silent. There was a fifty/fifty chance this was a hoax. The ‘Ron’ part made him doubt the entire thing. Outside of his friend pool, Ron was Riley’s bro and a family man, he would not touch Kylie even if he mentally wanted to. Shifting his stare from his twin to Sophia, Riley’s fists relaxed. Sliding into his right pocket, he grabbed ahold of something that’s been residing in his pant’s for quite sometime. The flash drive. With a low voice and a deadpan expression, he muttered, “If that’s the case… you wouldn’t mind us…” He gestured to him, Sophia (and possibly James), “To look at these folders that have your clients on them, would you?” He pulled out the flashdrive and dangled it over his twin’s head. With that, he grabbed Sophia’s arm and dismissed himself, “We’ll be back, Wes. We have matters to attend to.” His destination now was the office where James and Sophia did their paperwork.

"Clients?" Sophia thought, looking at the flashdrive Riley dangled in the air out of Kylie's reach. As Riley grabbed her arm and dragged her away from the table, Sophia glanced back at Kylie. Her face appeared mortified, which seemed to confirm the fact that she had a whole flash drive of clients. "James," Sophia called out to her brother on the other side of the floor. "Office. Please." She would have been surprised if James hadn't heard Sophia going off about Kylie just seconds ago.

"Riley, I'm not sure I want to see a bunch of dirty pictures of my sister with her... 'clients'" She whispered to him as they entered the kitchen, frowning. "I already want to vomit."

_{@Saint Girralo@Themerlinhawk}

Jerry hooded his eyes in annoyance as another episode of “The Reese Family Drama” unfolded. It never ended with this people and really was starting to get on his nerves that they were forever present. With a heavy sigh he calmly rested his head on his open right hand. It was truly incredible how they always managed to bring down more trouble on themselves. Kylie once again appeared to be at the center of the mess.

The new players were interesting to say the least. Sophi, this one must be the oldest Reese; he’d missed her the other day during the mess that they had made at the mall. Another girl was with Harmon, she appeared to have instigated the mess given how Riley tensed from her comments and just generally being near her. Maybe an ex; lord only knew what this was about.

True to Reese family form they opened their mouth about something illegal once again. With a hefty sigh Jerry pricked up his ears and began to actually listen. Escorts Great. More fun for him to get involved with as usual. Never a dull moment with the Reese family. Settling back into his booth he looked out the window at the passing cars. It was a small miracle of peace that he found as he watched the cars go by.

With a frown Jerry looked down at his phone for the twentieth or thirtieth time today. “Jesus, she’s probably working. Calm the hell down.”

Riley waved a flash drive and Jerry sat forward. “There had to actually be something to investigate didn’t there.” With a heave the cop levered himself up out of the booth and walked over to the booth where the shocked Kiley was sitting with the Harmon kid and the other girl. Standing so his back was to the booth and his hand was on the back of the seat Jerry paused for a moment as though he were contemplating. ”Kiley. What is on that flash drive?” Pausing for a moment Jerry looked down and to the side at her out of the corner of his eye. ”If you lie to me you are going to be in a hell of a lot of trouble. If not and it isn’t your clients I can probably stop them from going through it but you have to tell me now.” Stepping just far enough away from the booth that Wes and the other girl couldn’t hear pausing for a moment he turned and waited patiently for Kiley.

@Viciousmarrow