The one person she didn't want to see right now, and she ran right into him. All she wanted at that moment was to finish her classes up so she could just go home. She was walking out of the office because she needed a tardy slip and now him. Tristan. Why now? Why did he have to show up at the perfect wrong time. It was like he knew she didn't want to see him and was doing it to spite her.

"What Tristan? I'm late for class." She trudged past him without the intent of stopped to hold the conversation. "And yeah. I'm fine." Anger was boiling up in the pit of her tiny body. To prevent herself from ripping into Tristan she left without another word. Turning away from her previous friend/crush and hurried towards her class. At that point she couldn't have really cared about learning or anything stupid like that, but at least it was an excuse to get away from Tristan.

---

---

Viola kept her eyes on Davy. It was interesting to see someone act like that. Usually when Viola would give a direct compliment to any guy or girl, they would return the favor by giving Viola one back. Usually, at this point of meeting someone, Viola Banks was already making out with the person, but this one seemed to be confused as to whom exactly Viola was calling handsome. She couldn't contain herself, lightly giggling at Davy.

When Davy began to speak about how he wasn't called handsome and how he knew her name, Viola curled her tongue along her lips. If there was anything to know about Viola Banks, it was that she wasn't subtle about her intentions. Well, at least when it came to boys. No, definitely not when it came to the male gender. If she found you attractive in any way, Violandrea Jessibelle Banks will show you as obvious as she possibly could.

"I'm flattered, Davy. You know my name before I even gave it to you." Viola shot Davy an impressed, flirtatious smile. "But please, Violandrea is such a unattractive name. If you must, call me Viola." she said.

While he spoke, mainly about how he heard things about her — I'm sure you have, handsome — Viola was inspecting every aspect of his face. She saw the way his light brown eyes were trying to maintain contact with her, but she caught his gaze fall past her eyes, and to her purple dress. Normal women would be offended by that, citing something like "my eyes are up here", but Viola didn't mind. In fact, when his eyes fell briefly onto the sight of how her curves seemed to be naturally complimented by her dress, a moan-like noise came from her mouth, showing her approval.

"Aren't you sweet." Viola said, giving Davy a teasing tone.

Viola noticed that frown. Intrigued, Viola wondered, but she didn't verbally address it, not when she would get to spent more time with this interesting man as he offered to walk her to class. "And here I thought chivalry died." Viola seemed genuinely surprised but she wouldn't let that show. "Yes, you may walk me to my next class. I have English, so it'll be a long walk, Davy. That will give us more time to get more acquainted with each other." Viola said, shooting a wink to Davy's direction.

Being the girl that Viola was, she made the first move of wrapping her arm around Davy's arm. "Oh, quite the built man, aren't you?" One surprise after another. Maybe this one was more than met the eyes. We shall see, won't we?

---

---

---

Lucky nodded in response, his gaze going down to the arm that Dominique had touched with a light chuckle. If the Queen commaned it, who was he to defy her? Lakshya remained in his spot, leaning against the lockers beside Domi's casually as he let the girls talk it out.

He knew nothing, so he guessed it was it was best to keep his mouth shut till he was needed again.

"My parents are divorcing! My best friends are fighting! Which I am just finding out about! And I don't know what the hell is going on anymore!" Lucky's ears perked up hearing this, raising an eyebrow. Sucks, can't catch a break. He thought, and a little thought lingered in his mind.

'Might not be the best time to ask her out for that coffee.'

---

---

"My parents are divorcing! My best friends are fighting! Which I am just finding out about! And I don't know what the hell is going on anymore!" Anna's eyes widened, divorcing?! Despite it not being her fault, Anna still felt bad about it. Well, she did sort of add on to that stress with the whole drama between her and Audrey -- which is still completely unnecessary by the way! -- that doesn't look like it would let up anytime soon, judging by the somewhat tense aura from the corridor.

"Are you two an item now?" Anna's cheeks reddened, and tightened her grip on Penguin's hand before letting go bashfully. It still hadn't set in her mind that she was officially dating Jackson, and despite breaking off with Audrey, she still loved the day (to a certain degree, Anna still hates the fact that she lost her best friend in the process though.)

Anna nodded, somewhat shyly. "Happened just now." Anna told Dominique, loud enough for Audrey to hear. She hoped that if Audrey heard that, it would make things better - that somehow getting together after the party would confirm that nothing indecent happened.

"Do you want to talk about it, is it why your parents took you to the Hamptons so suddenly?" She changed to subject, it was not the time to focus on her and her problems, this was about Dominique.

---

---

At Audrey's news of Jax and Ana, Domi had turned her body towards her fully and raised a questioning brow. "Sweet Ana?! She didn't! I don't believe that." Dominique voice shrieked throughout the halls.

Before Audrey could reply, they heard footsteps approaching, and none other than 'Sweet Ana' herself approached. Even though she shouldn't be and didn't let it show, Audrey was surprised to see she had dared to arrive clutching Jackson's hand for dear life. She looked scared to death (which, given Audrey's backstory of what she did to Bianca Salazar for just going after a guy she thought was rightfully hers, was understandable), but still managed to put up a fake smile and ask Domi if she was okay while purposely avoiding Audrey's stern gaze.

Audrey turned to Domi with a sarcastic, I-told-you-so smirk. "And this-" she began, pointing at Anna's and Jackson's entwined hands. "Just proves that I was right."

There was a moment of silence, and then Dominique suddenly broke down and began to cry while ranting that her parents were divorcing, her best friends were fighting and that she didn't I know what the hell was going on anymore. Though Audrey felt for her best friend, her anger prevented her to feel any type of sympathy for anyone at the moment. Domi finished her break-down by asking Anna if she and Jackson were together, and making a lame joke about someone dying. Anna's confirmation to Domi's question of her and Jackson being a thing only fanned the flames to Audrey's anger. The world was really out for her blood this year, wasn't it? And she'd been thinking that her Senior year would be her year... How stupid and wrong had she been.

Audrey gave a sarcastic, venomous laugh, flipping her hair from her shoulder and in the direction of her back. "Oh, something died, all right: my friendship with Analise Arnette," she told Domi. "I'll catch you later, Dom. I promise I'll make it up to you. Just come by my house when school's done for the day. It's in everyone's best interests for me to not be here right now." Audrey let that last menacing sentence hang in the air for a few seconds, looking straight into her ex-best friend's eyes before walking away with her signature swaying of the hips. She kept a tight hold on Troy's hand (it was the only thing keeping her sane at the moment) while she walked without so much as a backward glance in the direction of the former best friend who had betrayed her so.

---

Sierra had been glaring furiously at the phone in her hand, impatiently waiting for Joo to hear the voice note she'd left him on Whatsapp when a notification in her screen told her she had a new message. Her frustration went up a notch when she read that it was from Alexandros and not from Joo. Oh, well. Might as well read what the asshole had to say.

From: Hades
I suppose there isn't anything to say then. It's not like we had anything more than just that one night on the beach. Take care, Sierra Jameson. Say hello to Joo-Bear next time you are able. Ciao, Kitten!

A small rush of anger went through her. Damn right there wasn't anything left to say! What did he think she was: another toy? Another dumb bitch who would just patiently wait around to be used by him whenever he pleased? No, sir. Just as she was about to write up a reply to Alexandros (she was not going to let him have the last word on this shit), her phone vibrated in her hand, signaling the arrival of a text message from none other than Joo. Sierra immediately pressed her thumb over the notification to see what he had to say.

From: My Shorty <3
I hate to tell you this, love, but I won't be able to make it tonight. There's been an emergency back at Korea. Grandfather Len has just passed away, and we're currently packing our things to get on the 7PM flight back to Seoul. The thing about all of this is that I don't know when I'll be back... Or if I'll be back at all. Shit's gone bonkers in terms of his belongings and will, so we'll have to stay there until all of it gets sorted out, whenever that is. I... I'm so fucking sorry, Si. I really am. But there's one thing I want you to be certain of always. I love you, Sierra. Together forever, if only in heart.

PS: Check your locker. I left you something there.

Miss you already.

Sierra was stunned. She had to read the message at least three times to let everything sink in, and each time she read it the whole that had just been ripped through her chest grew. Her Joo-Bear was going to Korea, and he didn't know when he would be back. Her only friend in this whole entire world was leaving the country, possibly forever. The man she'd just figured out she loved was leaving her... And the last thing she ever did to him was break his nose. He'd leave without knowing how she truly felt for him.

Gone... Gone forever.

Sierra's thumbs flew across the screen again, typing a short text with words she'd never dared to say before as fast as she could before pressing the send button. And for the first time since her father had died nearly ten years ago, Sierra threw herself forward into her bed and began to cry, her whole body shaking with sobs as she pressed her face as hard as it could go into her pillow to not let anyone hear the heart-wrenching cries that escaped from the deepest parts of her brokenhearted chest.

To: My Shorty
I... I love you too, Joo. I'm so fucking head over heels in love with you. I'm sorry about everything. I love you so, so much... Forever.

She could only hope he knew just how much.

---

The older guy had grunted and placed his left arm on his right shoulder to see if any serious damage was done, but apparently there wasn't. "Don't worry about me," he said. "That Lilith doesn't have a lot of physical strength, but she did surprise me at how strong she was." He shook his arm a bit, then continued to address her with his stunning blue eyes on hers. "In any case, I believe I was in the process of giving you my name. People around here call me many things, but my family calls me--"

He'd been interrupted by the loud buzzing of his phone, and was clearly annoyed by it. "Oh for crying out loud!" he'd burst out, shutting his phone off to avoid being interrupted again, and continued to address her. "Anyways, the name is Alexandros Mossos. A pleasure, Jocelyn Thompson," Alexandros took her hand, kissing it like a classy gentleman. His blue eyes never left her eyes, a flirtatious smirk being shot towards her.

Alexandros Mossos...

"Wait--"

Josie's brown eyes widened in surprise and recognition. Finally, someone she actually knew in this jungle!!! "Alex!" she'd shrieked before she could control herself, dropping her books on the floor and wrapping her arms around the towering man with such force that he'd fallen backwards on the floor with her on top.

Before Alexandros could get one more word in, Josie had dropped all bashfulness, seemingly when she heard Alexandros' name, and embraced him in such a tight hug - which was surprisingly strong - and had forced them to the ground.

Alexandros didn't know what hit him. Just a moment ago, he was doing what he thought was the classy thing, and giving Josie a gentlemanly kiss on the hand. He thought he was showing good manners, but it seemed like his name was some kind of trigger because the Mossos teen was finding it somewhat difficult to get loose from Josie's tight embrace. Her arms were wrapped around him so tightly that not even the slight force of falling to the ground and her body bouncing off of his firm chest was able to get her to release the clutch she had on him.

She giggled as she fell, tightening her grip on him to avoid any accidents. Her shy demeanor had disappeared the instant she'd realized she had been right on her hunch of recognizing him. Of course he knew who this man was! She let go of him after a few seconds and looked up at him expectantly, hoping he'd also put two and two together. She was disappointed when he didn't. "Don't you recognize me? It's me: Josie! I was Ava's best friend back when you guys lived in New Jersey!"

"Umm, uhh.." Alexandros said blankly.

He was honestly trying to remember the years that his family spent in New Jersey. He does remember living there, but that was a long time ago, and a lot has happened since those days. Obviously, to Josie, Alexandros was familiar. And a part of him felt bad for not remembering it because she had such a happy gleam in her eyes. It was like that of someone who, after several years, became reunited with their best friend of their childhood. Alexandros was many things, but a heartless bastard was not one of them, thus why he felt bad for not remembering who she was then. Still, the mention of Ava was peculiar.

Judging from Alex's blank tone and the lost look in his face, Josie was now certain he had no clue about who she was. "Oh my God, Alex. You seriously don't remember me?" she asked again, a hint of impatience in her sweet voice as she rolled her eyes. "Dude, we spent quite a few weekends at your place in the Hamptons back in the day. I watched you stuff your face with Black Cherry gelato until Mrs. Adrianna had to pretty much wrestle the container from you because she was afraid that you would get a bellyache. I'm also an eyewitness to you making killer sand castles in the Hampton beaches, and that we had to pretty much drag your shaking figure from under my dining room table when a clown showed up on my 8th birthday party. If I didn't know you, then how would I know all of those things?"

"Those are some oddly specific word choices." Alexandros admitted.

He looked at Josie with silence for fifteen seconds, letting all of those words sink in. As they did, he was trying to remember. Despite her obviously saying all of those things, Alexandros couldn't hide it on his face that he still didn't recognize Josie, not from back then, at least. Still, the fact that she knew all of those things about him, like how his favorite kind of ice cream was Gelato and his favorite flavor was Black Cherry. There was a distant memory of someone sharing that with him, but the face as well as the name seemed to be a blank. Alexandros had to admit that it was odd that she would also know about his sand castle-making skills. Only someone who was there would know that. It wasn't exactly public knowledge. But despite all of those things, his favorite ice cream flavor, his prowess of making sand castles - none of it was compared to how Josie seemed to know about that clown incident. Despite anything she might've said, no one knew about that. Only someone who was--

"Little J...?" Alexandros asked, blinking.

Josie gave an excited little shriek, nodding furiously. "Yes, yes! That's me!"

And it clicked. Alexandros remembered. The face came to him. Young, white and pale, red hair like hues of the sun, eyes as brown as twin, milk chocolate balls, and a friendly spirit that Alexandros remembered being fond of. She was like his sister - albeit less sarcastic, more reserved - but there was no denying that they were the best of friends. Alexandros remembered how broken-hearted Ava was when they had left and never came back.

"Not so little anymore, it seems." he said, giving what seemed like a nod for himself. She definitely did. The kid he remembered wasn't as ...developed as the redhead standing before him was.

Josie let out a playful giggle, eyes now alight after seeing that the older brother of one of her best friends in the whole wide world (which meant that he was basically sort of like another big brother for her) had finally realized who she was. "One has to grow up at some point, right?" she chortled, giving him a quick once-over. "You've done quite a bit of growing up yourself, haven't you, Big Al? I don't remember you having these muscles." Josie said with a reference of the nickname she'd given him as a child as she softly and innocently gripped the muscles of his arms to test their hardness. She was surprised, albeit she shouldn't be, to feel just how strong they were. Back in the day, Josie and Ava always laughed whenever Alexandros used to brag about how big and buff he was going to get when he grew up. It seemed that he had kept true to his promise.

"Says the girl that finally grew some tits." he said. Alexandros stroked his chin with a smirk and a laugh.

"Alex!" Josie hissed, unable to hide the dark red blush that had appeared on her cheeks. She looked down to her chest to make sure she was revealing nothing and back at him to give him a light slap on his arm.

"Oh come now, Josie. You can't possibly be embarrassed. Just a minute ago you had your arms around me as if we were lovers. Maybe I should say my name again." he said teasingly.

"It seems some things never change... You're clearly still a clown." she teased back, sticking her tongue out at him while her cheeks were still red. It was funny that he had made that lovers comment, because for the better part of her childhood Alexandros Mossos had been her all-time crush. Ava had known about it, of course, and had even tried her hardest to have them spend time alone together in the hopes that her brother fell in love with her best friend so they could be even closer than they already were. That plan had obviously been a fail. Blame Josie's nerves and shy demeanor around him when they were alone for that one.

"And yet, some things do - like you being here." Alexandros said, pointing out the obvious. "What are you doing here in California? More to the point, you're here in Beverly Hills High. Either something big happened to force a move from New Jersey all the way here, or your subconscious has a wicked sense of humor making you stalk me." he said, teasing again.

Josie's face fell a little when Alex made a mention to something big happening to force her to move (it had been big, all right), but was cheered up a little to his teasing comment of her stalking him. "You wish, Alex. You always had plenty of girls after you, so I'm preeeeeeetty darn sure female stalkers are the least of your worries," she teased back, giving a small laugh before facing the serious reason that had changed her life.

"Well, you aren't wrong." Alexandros cockily admitted, laughing.

"And, the reason I'm here in Cali is because Mom and Dad got a divorce. Dad left for Canada, and since his salary was basically the one that kept us in the position we were in, we had to move to the only place we had left, which was the small summer house by the beach we had here. Thankfully he left that for us to live in." Josie gave Alex a sad half-smile. "We've all got jobs to keep us afloat. Mom's still working as a nurse over here at the Beverly Hills Hospital, Jonathan's got a part time at the cinema while studying at the community college during the day. James pretty much does the same, but he works at the nearby diner instead. I work as a babysitter in the afternoons and weekends, and Julius and Julia are just studying."

"You're serious? Wow." Alexandros admitted his shock verbally.

Jocelyn nodded. "Yup. There's six of us now with only my mom's as the main salary, so we either all work or we'll be barely able to afford anything."

There might have been gaping holes in his memory about a lot of things, but it's clear enough to remember Josie's parents. He thought they were happy. Then again, perhaps not all couples were like his parents. Though, his parents weren't like most couples. Most couples don't meet at some cafè in Greece and fall in love at first sight. Not most couples forsake their warring families and go to America to start a life with each other. Truly, not most couples were like Baltazar Mossos and Adrianna DiVale. So, maybe Alexandros shouldn't be shocked, yet, as he looked at Josie, her face looking half-sad, he couldn't help but feel for the poor thing. She must feel fifty shades of different emotions. Alexandros felt like he had to do ...something

"I know you probably got class and skipping probably isn't ideal, but you really look like you could use a break. So, I propose this!" he said, "You and I go to the parking lot, get into my car, we go to In-And-Out Burger, and I take your mind off of everything for a few hours."

Joselyn's eyes lit up again, even though there was a hesitant expression on her face. She was new here, it was her first day and she wasn't the type to skip classes (in fact, she'd never done so in her life). She took a moment to consider the offer, but one look into the warmth in Alex's ocean-blue eyes, and she knew there was no way she could refuse.

Without wasting any more time, Josie got up from Alex's chest, quickly gathered her strewn-about belongings and looked at Alex. "You had me at burgers, Alex," she replied with a giggle. "So, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" And like a child on Christmas day, Josie took one of Alexandros' hands and sprinted down the empty corridors of Beverly Hills High, a bright smile illuminating her face. It wasn't until she reached the school's entrance (by sheer luck, obviously, because she didn't know anything about this school) that she stopped and turned to look at Alex again with a sheepish grin. "So, um... Which one's your car again?" Josie asked him, slowly catching her breath.

When they reached outside of the school, and gone into the parking lot, Alexandros chuckled at her question. He would say nothing. All he would do was take out his car keys, and press the unlock button, which caused his car to make one sound. Alexandros pointed to the luxurious Red Ferrari. "That's it right there." he said with a smirk.

Josie's jaw dropped when her eyes fell on the freakishly expensive vehicle that Alexandros had pointed at. She very well knew the Mossos family had money, but she'd never stopped to think just how wealthy they truly were. Being Ava's best friend had taught her that even the wealthiest of girls could be an incredibly humble person if she really wanted to. What did money and riches really matter, anyway? They gave you what most would call a 'good' life, but Josie had experienced firsthand that you could be happy with less and unhappy with more.

But focusing on the current situation... "Oh my God, Alex! Are we really riding in that?" she asked him in awe, looking at the stunning Ferrari with reverence. That was the kind of car she could only dream of touching, let alone ride it.
His blue eyes looked at Josie with a bit of amusement. "I suppose it's your first time seeing a car like this up close, huh?" Josie nodded at him.

Alexandros found her awe adorable. He almost forgot that the Thompsons weren't exactly what you would call rich. Alexandros often forgot that money was really never an issue for him, so having a Ferrari wasn't anything out of the norm. But he had to think that, based on Josie's reaction to his car, that perhaps this was the first time she had this kind of exposure to this side of life, which brought Alexandros to a thought.

"You know Josie, it's one thing to ride in the passenger seat. Sure, you get some kind of thrill, and you get a good estimation of how fast it can go, but there's nothing quite like driving it." he said. Alexandros closed his eyes and smiled. He opened them and looked at his keys for a short moment. It was obvious what he was about to do to both him and Josie. "And today will be your chance to experience that thrill." Alexandros held out the hand that had his keys in them, giving Josie the unspoken hint to take them. His blue eyes enforced that hint as he wanted her to take them. Now it was her turn to put two and two together.

Josie's brown eyes widened again, and her face was now a mixture of awe, surprise and gratitude. Was she dreaming? First she'd found Alexandros- her childhood crush who still made her feel all fuzzy inside- which meant that she had also found Ava after all of these years. Then, he was offering to take her out for lunch (on a Ferrari, no less) just the two of them, and now Alexandros was handing her the keys to said luxurious vehicle for her to drive.

Could this day get any better?

"Oh my... Are- are you sure about this, Al?" a hesitant Josie asked Alexandros, looking up at him with questioning eyes. "I just got my driver's licence, like, last week."

"Sure, why not?" he said. Alexandros shrugged, putting the keys into her hands, and closing them for her. "Since when where there ever be an opportunity for you to drive a Red Ferrari?" Alexandros left Josie with that thought. For someone who obviously didn't have the funds or means to buy a car like his Ferrari, this was a once in a lifetime chance.

Alex was right, of course. Her parents had been medium-high class before, but were never (and obviously never would be, since they were divorced now and all) able to afford anything close to a Ferrari. His confirmation still wasn't enough motivation for Josie to take the keys from him, so Alex had no choice but gently put them into her hand and close it, sealing them inside her palm. His hand touching hers sent a wave of butterflies fluttering in her stomach. It seemed that even after so many years having gone by, Alexandros Mossos had the same effect on Josie.

"Ummmm... Okay then!" Josie finally said brightly after a few seconds of hesitation, shrugging with both shoulders. Slightly shaking, Josie set her things in the back, unlocked the door for the both of them, opened the driver's side of the vehicle and carefully sat down on the plush leather seat. She looked at Alexandros with a happy, beaming smile. "My father and brothers would freak if they saw me in this car!" Josie told Alex, giving little jumps of excitement in her seat.

While Josie took the driver's seat, Alexandros took a comfortable seat in the passenger's side. He took note to how nervous she was, yet at the same time, he couldn't help but notice how utterly excited she seemed to be. It seemed almost to the point that she could barely contain it. He chuckled, finding it both amusing and adorable. "If you want to, we could drop by your place afterwards." Alexandros half-teased her with that thought. They could if she wanted to, but she would have to say that she wanted to. Alexandros wasn't about to force it upon her.

At Alex's suggestion of dropping by her house, Josie's smile widened. "Yeah, that's totally fine with me. One of the twins usually picks me up, so if we take too long I was going to need a ride." she explained, putting the keys into the ignition and turning it on. The Ferrari's loud engine roared to life, making Josie jump a little. "Gosh, that was loud, wasn't it?" she asked Alexandros, giving a little giggle.

"Oh don't worry, if we do run late, I'll give you a ride home." Alexandros said. He reassured her that, through whatever reason that they were going to take excess time, there would be a ride waiting for her in the form of his Ferrari.

When she jumped from the loudness of the Ferrari's engine, Alexandros chuckled slightly. "Yeah, it can sneak up on you. Just don't let it psyche you out, okay?" he said. As he looked at her, Alexandros's left hand went on the hand of Josie's that was closest to him, and looked at her with his sapphire eyes. "Take control. A car like this demands to be submitted into defeat. Pull out easily, and when we hit the road, floor it. Trust me, you'll like the power that'll be in your hands." he said. Alexandros' hand never left Josie's and his eyes never left her the whole time he spoke.

Josie gave him a quick hug. "Thank you, Alex!" she told him brightly, and nodded when he gave her tips and advice on how to appropriately drive his car.

Instead of heading out right away, Josie waited a few moments in which she simply enjoyed their entwined hands and lingering stares (those blue eyes of Alexandros had always captivated her in an unexplainable way) until she decided it would be creepy and way too obvious if she stalled any longer. So, she sadly took her hand from under Alex's, placed both hands on the steering wheel and carefully pulled out from the parking spot. However, when she put the car in Drive and lightly touched the gas pedal, the Ferrari's engine roared again and they sped down the street and out of the school grounds. The sheer delight that Josie felt was as obvious as a neon sign in a dark alleyway as her loud shriek was just as loud as the engine of the Ferrari itself. Alexandros laughed. He knew, on some level, that she was going to enjoy herself, but even he didn't comprehend that she was going to have this much excitement flowing through her to the point that all previous notions of Josie being a bashful redhead had gone out the window just as the smoke from the exhaust pipes had, just as the sight of Beverly Hills High had in the rear-view mirror had.

Boring ass teachers. Boring ass classes. Boring ass lectures. All just really, really boring.

Ava Brie Mossos found herself trying to find words to sum up how little fun her Chemistry class was. Let her be the first one to tell you that the long, long, long stylings of Miss Zepper was not exactly what Ava would call a good time. She didn’t mind learning about science stuff. To be quite honest, Chemistry actually excited her. It was one those few classes that she enjoyed reading about and learning about. What she did not particularly care for was the fact that Miss Zepper had all the excitement - and dullness - as watching paint dry did. Truly, if it wasn’t for the fact that she needed to get the notes down, Ava might have skipped when she had the chance, but nope! She just had to take her sweet-ass time eating her lunch, and hanging out with Jade and Grant . Yup, what fun that was indeed.

In the hour of the lunch break, Ava occasionally pitched it to those two love birds about possibly hopping into her car, and driving to the beach. Or generally somewhere that wasn’t school. Ava wasn’t really sure if they heard her since they happened to be sucking each other’s faces. Whatever, Ava didn’t really need to leave at all. Let her suffer through the torments of Chemistry(again, not that bad). Still, she really was feeling the prospect of going to the beach. Oh well, she would simply have to endure her next — and final class of the day, English with Mr. Tomers…but one thing!

“Mr. Tomers isn’t here?” Ava found that out just minutes after some substitute came. Apparently he stopped an altercation with his stepdaughter and Viola Banks. “God that fucking cunt. I swear, if--” And then she began to hear the rest from the peanut gallery(the gossip queens, Ellie Taylor and her twin brother, Corvin Taylor, Jade‘s younger siblings; the twins). Apparently Alexandros Mossos was involved. “--You fucking dumbass. I told you that she would get you into trouble. I TOLD YOU!” Ava meant for that to be low, but apparently she was talking loudly. She looked at those that were giving her odd looks. Like it mattered. She really didn’t care if they thought she was crazy or weird. Everyone knew Ava Mossos had deep hate for Viola and a form of annoynace with her brother.

Whatever. Class began and soon it was over. A sub played a video for the class. Ava spent the majority of it just talking. She conversed with The Gossip Queens. She wanted to know what the latest news around school was, and apparently Audrey Huntsberg gave Analise Arnette a good talking to about how the latter slept with Jackson Aurum. Ava was surprised. That sweet girl Ana actually did something worth mentioning. Usually she was off the radar, but now her name was higher on the Gossip chain than even the self-proclaimed Queen Bee, Dominique Saunders. “It’s as it should be. Dominique is no queen, that much I can agree with my brother on.” Ava rarely spoke about agreeing with Alexandros, but even she could agree that Dominique didn’t have what it took to be a queen. Plus, with her parents splitting, should she really be running the school?

“What makes you say that, Ava?” Corey and Ellie asked in unison.

“Her parents are heading to spitsville. Audrey is best to run the school halls.” Ava said freely.

“Don’t let Dominique catch you say that.”

“Or what?”

“She might make you public enemy number one.”

“Oh really? That will be simply horrible. Can’t have that? Oh noooooo!”

“Real funny, Ava.”

“What? I’m serious you two. That would be the end of the world as we know it! Domi the queen must not hear me speak against her! IT’S BLASPHAMY!”

“Okay, you’ve made your point.” Corey said, urging Ava to just shut the hell up.

Ava gave him a mossos grin, then shrugged. “But seriously, I really don’t care if Dominique wants to come after me or not. I can handle her. Audrey’s the one I don’t want to anger. Legit, I heard she blew up Miss Nelson’s car.”

“Heard?” The twins asked in unison.

“It’s not from a reliable source, but apparently a year or so ago, Janice fucked Alex. Audrey found out, and, well, you heard how she went off on her best friend. Ya gotta wonder how bad it was against someone she hardly knew.” Ava strangely smiled as she spoke.

“Why are you smiling?”

---

Ava shrugged. Ellie and Corvin slowly turned their heads around. Perfect timing since the bell had just rang, and everyone got their bags. Ava wasn’t far behind the masses. While most already were leaving, Ava was waiting for Corey and Ellie. Those two oddballs better hurry their asses up or she might just leave them in the dust of her assorted blue outfit, but she wouldn’t have to. Within a half of a minute, they were right behind her. Of course like the Taylor Twins always do, they were right beside each other. Those fuckers, but at least their finally following her lead; and thus they made their ways through the halls.

It wasn’t a long trek. Past the herd of students that were pushing and shoving, turning corners to get to their lockers, and just ten minutes later, they would run into Jade and Grant. Of course they were embracing each other, but really? “Do you two really have to have your hands on each other’s privates? Anyone could see.” Ava sighed, trying to avoid eye contact. Jade smirked and Grant laughed. “You sick fucks.” Ava sighed.

Jade gave a tongue smile to Ava, to which the latter sighed and shoot her head. “You two need a ride?” Ava asked the love birds.

“Nah, gonna catch a ride with his mom.” Jade said, brushing off the gesture.

“And what about you two?” Ava asked the wonder twins.

“Sure if it’s not out of your way.” Ellie said bashfully.

“Nah, it’s on my way, so I don’t mind.” Ava smiled. Corey and Ellie followed Ava into the parking lot. They would have followed her more, but she stopped after seeing that Alexandros’ Ferrari was missing. Usually it was still there until at least an hour after the school hours ended. “That fucker must’ve ditched.” Ava cursed and shook her head.

“Oh right, I forgot about that rumor.”

“What rumor?”

“Apparently he left during lunch break with some redhead. A new student, I think.” Corey said, pondering on that thought.

“Redhead? Huh. Didn’t think Alex went for those types. His past loves have all been latina. Better not be another floozy.” Ava swore if it was, she would kick his ass — and this time would be serious. “Whatever, let’s go. Don’t want your parents to think you’re actually socializing.” Ava laughed. The twins didn’t. Ava shrugged, leading them to her car.

With Ava in the driver’s seat and the wonder twins taking vacancy in the back seat, Ava revved up the engine of 2012 Infiniti G37s Convertible. It roared loud and proud. As soon as the car was in drive, her Pandora Radio Station of “Hard Rock” appeared on the screen, playing Ignite the Airwaves by Eyeshine. It was one of her favorite songs as well as the wonder twins, too. It wasn’t long before they were on the wide, open road singing the song as loud as they could - and badly at that.



They sang that song over and over again as there were repeated requests to replay the song. Ava surely didn’t mind, so she kept on backtracking to it. This continued until the Mossos girl had arrived at the Taylor residence. It was about twenty miles away from Ava’s home. It wasn’t in a neighborhood that slightly resembled her gated community; granted it wasn’t anywhere close to poor. It could still be considered high middle-class. In any case, Ava bid her odd friends goodbye, and waited until they got inside until she sped off.

Ava made sure to take the shortcut she knew from the street she was on. It wasn’t going to be long. Only twenty minutes at most, and she was finally home. After the long day that Ava Brie Mossos had, home sounded pretty good right now. Thankfully, she hadn’t hit a green light yet. It would really increase her annoyed mood if she had to stop speeding; not that she was speeding. She was obviously going 3-5 miles above the speed limit; frowned upon, sure - but not necessarily speeding ticket-worthy. She made sure to be on the look out for cops, anyways. There was no way that she would let the pigs stop her from lounging on the couch all day(obviously ignoring her heaps amounts of homework).

Eventually Ava found her way into the gated community she lived in. Most of the houses were mansions, each easily with families that had large quantities of money that one would think that they lived in Bel Air or something place like it - well, they did live in Beverly Hills, after all. No one in that part of Los Angeles was poor. IF they were, how would they explain their cars? Ava really couldn’t think of a reason why poor families would be living in Beverly Hills - especially the area of it that she lived in. It was quite the preposterous question to even think about.

Whatever. Ava had made it home. Just as she pulled into the driveway, she noticed Alexandros’ Ferrari. She looked to the time, and saw it was barely four in the afternoon. “Okay something’s definitely wrong with this scenario.” Ava couldn’t place it. Alex never showed was home before six, so why was he home now? Ava would get to the bottom of this.

Turning off her car, Ava grabbed her purse and backpack from he passenger seat, and turned her alarm on. Putting her keys into her purse, Ava opened the door. She wasn’t going to waste any time at all.

“Aleeeexxxx!”

“In the kitchen!”

Ava made a b-line for the kitchen. When she got there, she saw Alexandros sitting at the kitchen table smiling at her as he waved a sandwich in his hand. “why are you even home?” she asked. Ava raised an eyebrow, and she saw someone sitting next to him. Their head was turned away from Ava’s face, so she couldn’t tell who she was, but her hair was red. “Oh god Alex, you brought home another one. Does this one at least know how to clean up her mess.”

“Uh, Ava..”

“I mean, of all places, you let her sit in my favorite seat. Have you no respect for me, Alex?”

“Ava..”

“And I see she’s eating the sandwich I claimed last night. Fucking great, Alex. You sure know how to pick them!”

Ava did not realize what Alexandros was trying to do. She thought he was trying to defend himself, but when he saw the person that Alexandros brought home, Ava was speechless. Her mouth figuratively dropped to the floor. “OH MY GOD, JOSIE!!!!!” Ava screamed. Of course she screamed. It was Josie, her best friend in the entire world. It was the same Josie that she befriended back in Jersey all of those years ago. “You fucking dumbass! Why didn’t you tell me it was Josie?” Ava punched Alexandros’ arm. Hard.

“I tried to, but you were being difficult to reach.” Alexandros shrugged, squinting lightly at the pain in his left arm.

Ava scoffed but said nothing. She looked to Josie. No doubt the girl was probably feeling all kinds of mixed emotions, but she looked as cute as she always did. Josie always had that certain charm about her. As happy as she was to see Josie, why was she here specifically? No, that didn’t matter. She was here, and there was much to talk about. “Josie, come with me to my room! We need to catch up, girl!” Ava practically dragged the poor girl away from her sandwich - and more importantly - Alexandros.

“Bye I guess.”

---

---

---

---

---

Luck seemed to be shining down on him, just as the bell rang to signal the end of lunch, Dominique opened up her locker to pull out a torn sheet of paper to jot down some of her details. "It'll be my treat," Lucky nodded at her, carefully pocketing the sheet in his jeans, making a mental note to save her number later before he loses the sheet.

Dominique gave the guy in the middle of this - Jackson - a hug and a suspicious pat on his shoulder - probably telling him something before stepping away from him. Stepping back, he watched as Audrey left with her boyfriend, along with Anna a few moments later after giving the Queen a hug and a soft, comforting smile before also disappearing down the halls, Dominique leaving a second later.

Shouldering his bag higher up, Lucky disappeared down the halls towards his own classroom. The hours crawled by, Lucky taking notes with one hand and boredly flicking through his Instagram with his other. His feed was filled with pictures and videos of his older sister, Swara, in her first live performance. He was filled with both pride and envy. Pride because she was his sister, and he knew how much Swara wanted to be a vocalist since the very beginning. Envy because... well, she was his sister, he wasn't allowed to continue on with his dreams yet Swara was, even before she'd finished her finals she was already a back-up vocalist for many famous Bollywood singers.

It was childish, he knew that. Swara had spent her entire life with her nose in a book and her heart in songs, so she deserved all the success in the world. But why not him? Chemistry or Maths didn't interest him like this. He wanted to be famous too, fuck he already was if you think about it - and not because of his family name. Yet despite all that, he couldn't do what his sister did and act while finishing off his education.

The end of the school day couldn't come quickly enough. Lucky was already sick and tired of the boring halls and would pay all the money in the world to just lie in bed and sleep. Boring was probably not the best word to use, with all the drama that he was forced to witness while by Dominique and her little clan. He checked his phone, noting down the time before pulling out the crumpled piece of paper that Dominique had passed to him before leaving.

'Well, I don't think I can walk it that far.'

It took a while, but eventually the actor was able to call a cab and get to the hotel by 3:20. He'd already texted his aunt with a warning that he was going to be late 'socialising' (yes, he used that term exactly - he knew that that would be enough for his aunt to not disturb him during the afternoon.) Lucky paid the cabbie before stepping out of the taxi, looking down at his phone before back up at the hotel. 'Did I miss something? Why is she calling me to her hotel room?'

Deciding not to continue down that train of thought any longer, Lucky pressed on Dominique's name, typing quickly as he walked into the hotel lobby.



It was best not to presume anything. Lucky had a brief plan in mind for the afternoon. A movie and maybe even dinner would be enough to get Dominique's mind off things, right?

---

---

---

It was literally the first day of school and there was already drama.

Friendships were broken, relationships were broken and probably some noses too. And Geo was not a part of any of it. How does she know, you ask? Well, sitting behind the school's Gossip Crew was enough for Georgina to keep track of all the drama, despite not being very interested in any of it.

It's ironic, really. The more uninterested you are, the more likely it is that you'll hear the drama or be a part of it. It's something that Geo had witnessed first hand, today's case being a perfect example. It was when the loudest of the gossip crew (Eva? Ava? Mossos Jr is easiest to remember) began talking shit about the Queen that Geo tuned out. What was even the point of having a Queen? Were bragging rights that important to people?

Since there was a substitute teacher, no one really gave a crap about listening to the video he'd put up to pass the time pretending he was teaching to anyone looking into the classroom from the outside. Geo pulled out her phone, her chin resting on her palm as she pressed a name in her contacts. It felt like a while since they'd last talked; she hadn't even seen him since last week before the bubbly blonde had dragged him away to some party being hosted at the beach.



Pressing send, Geo then tucked her phone back into her pocket, turning to stare out the window in boredom. She picked up a pen, turning to the back of her notebook and began writing out a few lines - trying to be productive and write her own lyrics, despite hating and scrapping them in the end.

<sup>I was sick and tired of everything,
When I called you last night from home.
All I do is tidy and answer the phone and sing,
Wishing that my prince will come.

Gimme! Gimme! Gimme some loving!
Won't somebody help me learn to fly!
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme some loving!
I really want to learn to fly!</sup>

Geo looked at the lyrics she'd written out, a frown forming on her face as she grimaced at the words staring back at her. Too cheesy, too... Taylor Swift-y. Not something Geo wanted but these days her lyrics always came out like this. She tore out the sheet from the notebook and scrunched it up into a tiny ball before shoving it into her pocket just in time for the day to end.

She pulled out her phone again, passing by the preppy, panda eyed blonde to reach her car, leaning against the door as she sent off another text.

---

---

---

"Honestly, Audrey, I am not sure why you're acting like this when you sleep with like everyone!" Analise winced as she heard those words leave Dominique's lips. It was known that Audrey liked the horizontal tango but at least she was much better than many of the other girls in school. Audrey had self-respect at least. Anna was glad that Audrey was already walking away by then, but she knew that her best friend was still mad. Probably even madder than before. Anna felt a pang in her chest, guilt eating her alive as her mind raced again.

'Did I make things worse by getting with Jackson...? Surely Audrey will understand...' Chewing at her lower lip, she missed Dominique hugging Jackson and patting his shoulder after whispering something in his ear. Before Dominique could leave, however, Anna blinked and pulled Dominique into a hug as well.

"Things will get better, Domi." The girl said as she slowly pulled away from the hug, giving the Queen a soft smile. "If you need anything, my door is always open for you." And it was the truth. Anna was willing to help Dominique through her problems - no matter how long it took. It was only fair, right?

...Right.

"I'm sorry for bringing you into this," Anna apologised to Jackson once Dominique left. "I'll make up for this, I still owe you for your shirt, right?" Anna poked at Jackson, a playful smile slowly making its way onto her face without her even realising.

Anna walked with Jackson to their next class, the two only separating for their lessons for the day but the fluttering in Anna's chest never left, as well as the blush on her face. She still looked like a mess with her smudged eye make-up and red-rimmed eyes, but really, she just lost one of her best friends - a girl was allowed to look like a mess for that one day.

The day eventually drew to a close, and Anna left the classroom to reach her car parked at the back. She missed Winston, and was hoping to spend the rest of her day cuddling her dog and texting her boyfriend when a vehicle stopped in front of her, stopping her from reaching her car.

---

---

---

---

---

”Butler, roll the window down.” Alyssa cheerfully ordered, and the large man in the front seat did as he was told, pressing the button to roll the tinted back windows down so that Alyssa could face Anna. ”Anna, darling! Come along now, we’re going shopping. And possibly sleeping depending on how I feel once we’re doing.” The blonde snapped her fingers and Butler got out of the front seat and went around the car to the door, rolling it down for Anna, and making a gesture toward the door. While she had a chance, Alyssa reached into the tiny, cooled, custom fridge-like compartment she’d had added to all of her cars, and pulled out a fresh strawberry, already washed and cored, which she popped into her mouth. ”I am aware you will complain about your car being left here, unfortunately, I refuse to accept that excuse. I’ll send a lesser being that I give money to to fetch it and park it in my castle’s driveway, where it will patiently await its driver.” She made another gesture at Butler, and before Anna had much of a chance to protest, Butler gently (or as gently as a man his size and strength can) pushed her into the car and shut the door behind her.

'Lesser beings?' The thought ran through Anna's mind before she frowned at her close friend. She didn't even mind the fact that she was basically kidnapped by the blondey beside her, but it just wasn't right to call employees lesser beings.

"Lyssa," Anna tsked, "a queen shouldn't call her employees lesser beings, it's rude." Anna explained. It felt like Anna was explaining basic manners to a child, an overgrown child, but Alyssa was close enough.

”Add kidnapping to my list of sins for the day, I suppose,” Alyssa mused, snatching another strawberry and crunching on it thoughtfully. She held one out to Anna briefly, ”Want a strawberry? Too bad. These are the only thing I look forward to in life.” She smiled softly at Analise and popped the fruit into her mouth before shutting and locking the fridge, clasping her hands together. ”Okay, lovely. Here’s the deal: it is incredibly unfortunate that you were stuck in the crossfire, if you will, of my psychological assault on Audrey Huntsberg. As a result, I feel… uncharacteristically guilty. You, of all people in that godforsaken school, deserve peace and happiness, even if you find it with Jackson Aurum. Audrey Huntsberg, given that she hurt my precious Bianca—Viola’s younger sister, if you didn’t know—and additionally stole Troy away from me, does not. So, seeing the chance for a low blow, I swung, and I knocked it out of the damn park, like I always do. Now, I will be making it up to you, via lunch, drinks, and cute clothes, all on my tab of course.” Alyssa smiled again and patted Anna on the knee.

That was... sweet...

Alyssa felt guilty?

Anna pinched her right arm, wincing slightly in pain as her pale skin grew red in irritation. Yep, definitely not a dream. She looked at Alyssa again, "I- You feel guilty?" Anna repeated, dumbly. "But why? I was the one t-that lied- it's not y-your fault."

Anna was the one that sent the message, if she hadn't sent it then Alyssa wouldn't have been under the impression that Anna was sleeping with Jackson. It had to be her fault, not Lyssa's. It was unfair to blame it on her friend, even if it was wrong for Alyssa to use Anna's lie to bring Audrey down — especially when Audrey was one of her best friends.

”If you could ever forgive me for this, I would be eternally grateful.” Alyssa smiled and lift Anna’s hand to her lips, kissing the top of it, before quickly dropping it. ”Too much? Probably too much.”

And there was the other surprise.

Really, this day was turning out to be beautiful, sad and weird. Was Alyssa trying to charm her? Anna looked down at her hand blankly. "N-no, it's fine. There's nothing to forgive you for, Lyss. I don't blame you for anything — it's my fault." Anna insisted, still staring down at her hand.

Alyssa nodded, “Aw, well good.” She knocked against the back of the driver’s side chair, snapping her fingers. “Butler, the mall, please.” Butler pushed the ignition button, adjusting the mirror slightly and looking back at Alyssa through his dark sunglasses.

“Miss Green, we have an appointment. At the airport, remember? I tried to tell you earlier, but you INSISTED we pick up Anna.” He explained in his calm voice and Alyssa frowned, puffing out her bottom lip in a pout.

“But I hate Los Angeles international! I don't wanna go LAX, Butler! I don't want to see airport people, blasted civilians! I want to buy cute clothes!”

Butler adjusted the mirror again, looking back at Alyssa as he started to drive off. “Miss Green. You own a private hangar.”

“....I do?”

“Yes, it was your sixteenth birthday present from your mother.”

“Ah, well. Onward then. To the airport!”

”Wait, what?” Anna looked between Alyssa and Butler, both surprised and shocked. This day was seriously turning out to be filled with surprised — at least from Alyssa anyway. ”At least let me get off here? What business do I have at the airport?” This time, she directly questioned Butler, knowing that Alyssa wasn’t going to be of any help.

”We can do this some other time, right? I don’t want to intrude.”

“You're dreaming. Alyssa gets what she wants and what she wants is you. You try telling her no,” Butler said flatly.

Alyssa buckled her seat belt and pulled the center down, accessing the safe behind it and withdrawing a bottle of whiskey, which she cracked open. “Who are we picking up?”

“A cousin or something.”

“Please, don't toy with me, I know you've looked further into it.”

“Bartimaeus Locke. He prefers Ty. In and out of the school for wayward boys, known drug dealer, playboy, probably a druggie.” Alyssa nodded, taking a sip of her glass, “Half Brother, more likely than cousin. Presumably a product of your father's infidelity; given my math during the background check, he was born while his mother's a husband was overseas. Military man. Military family, really, he's wanted to put Ty in military schools for years, but your father has been paying for private academies since day one—"

“Naturally,” Alyssa chimed in.

“Naturally. Besides, your parents aren't charitable people, so they wouldn't just take a cousin in. Anyway, we're meant to make sure he stops acting up and cleans up.”

“In Beverly Hills? Unlikely.”

“I'd tell your father no if he didn't sign my massive paychecks.”

Anna leaned against the car seat, sighing. She was definitely kidnapped, and possibly the only sane one in the car to greet the guest… Ty? She pulled out her phone, her finger hovering over Jackson’s name for a second before she pressed down and began typing.





Two texts sent, Anna’s playful nature kicked in. Jackson sounded too… formal in her contacts, especially after everything that happened over the past few hours. Penguin sounded much more fun, something that a girlfriend would do. Smiling to herself, she changed Jackson’s name in her contacts and let out a giggle.



Alyssa’s head immediately snapped over to Anna as she giggled. “What? What's funny? I hate missing jokes.” She took another sip from the glass, pouring another after smacking her lips.

“Analise, you're in charge of making sure she doesn't overdrink.”

“I AM A GROWN WOMAN I'LL DRINK AS MUCH AS I WANT.”

Anna nodded at Butler, looking back over to Alyssa. ”It’s nothing, I just… uh… changed Jackson’s name into Penguin in my contacts.” No point lying to the queen now, especially after the disaster that happened that morning. Anyway, it wasn’t like this was anything bad or wrong, just her giggling at an inside joke.

”I’ve still got enough battery on my phone if we need the games. I can handle her from here.” She assured the older man with a smile.

“I don't need to be handled. Hmph,” Alyssa downed the shot in her hand and put the bottle and glass down, retrieving a strawberry from the safe spot. “I can stop anytime I want to. I'm not an alcoholic.” She pouted and Butler shrugged.

“Thank you, Anna.”

Anna raised an eyebrow. ”Really?” She asked. ”Okay, fine, prove it and stop now.” Anna challenged her friend, a triumphant smile on her face as she nodded at Butler’s direction.

Alyssa stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry. “Fine. I will.” She hissed, folding her arms and stuffing the bottle back into its compartment. “What's my prize if I do? Because I can and I will.”

Up front, Butler made an audible noise. This was going to be a long trip….

”Uhh…” Okay, Anna hadn’t thought out her plan all the way through. She looked down at her phone before unlocking the device and handing it over to Alyssa. ”All you can play Angry Birds.” Anna offered, hesitantly.

If Jackson sent her a message, there was no way for Anna to check it now…

But at least it would keep Alyssa from drinking too much.

Alyssa scowled, glowering at Anna before she snatched the phone. ”I am like a child with this stupid game. A slut for Angry Birds. Fucking shit, what has my life come to?” She grumbled as she tossed her thumb across the screen to pull up the game. Dragging her finger back to launch the appropriately named Angry Bird at the evil pigs, Alyssa spoke up again. ”How long is this going to take? I wanted to model lingerie for Anna and vice versa.”

Butler shrugged his shoulders as he drove along the highway. ”The airport is only five minutes away--plus, she’d never agree to that.” Alyssa clicked her tongue and sighed woefully.

”I am aware. My chances of seeing Anna in sexy clothes dwindle further with every day.”

Fighting off the embarrassment that filled Anna, she grumbled under her breath almost childishly. ”There was never a chance in the first place.” Anna never really understood why Alyssa was hellbent on pursuing her despite knowing that Anna just didn’t like girls that way. She wondered whether this was just Alyssa’s odd way of showing love to her friends? Probably, the only other person knew that Lyss liked to hang around with was Viola Banks, and Anna usually never stuck around long enough to see them interact.

”GET FUCKED PIGS!” Alyssa shouted at the screen triumphantly as her bird toppled the castle formed by the evil pigs before she looked at Anna. ”You give me twenty five seconds of free reign and there’ll be more than a chance. Twenty five, that’s all it’ll take me, just sayin’.” Alyssa said with an absent shrug, as Butler spoke up.

”We’re here.” He said simply as he pressed the button on the security gate and it slid open, allowing them to drive onto the massive airstrip at Los Angeles International, more commonly known simply as LA X. ”The pilot says they’ve already arrived, so no issues. Where would you like me to put him?” Alyssa thought for a moment, before speaking.

”Front seat, away from my precious Anna dearest. He might be a prick.”

’A… that…?’ This concerned Analise. She could barely handle Alyssa and her… large personality, but to think that her guest could be the same - or someone that Alyssa didn’t want near her?

Anna would’ve sworn if she could.

She looked out of the window, checking for any strangers approaching the car, signalling to the others in the car as she noticed a tall figure drawing closer and closer to the car. ”I think I see him.”

Ty had been standing around for almost 20 minutes, waiting for whoever-the-fuck Butler and Alyssa were. That was all the pilot had said before he’d disappeared off into the sunset. Once he saw the expensive looking ride pull in, he knew that had to be them. After all, the family was supposed to be multi-billionaires--they owned a goddamn private air hangar. They’d drive a high class Mercedes.

He licked his fingers as he approached the car, getting the remnants of barbeque sauce from the wings he’s had on the plane off of his fingers. It was actually surprisingly good, for air food. Maybe flying in a private plane with an almost fully equipped kitchen would enable the chef to make food that didn’t taste like dirty asshole--and Ty knew exactly what that tasted like.

He walked to the back of the car and threw open the trunk without a care in the world, hefting his bags inside of it. Almost immediately, the car sank down a bit and Alyssa frowned. ”What is this guy bringing with him? Bricks?” Butler shrugged his massive shoulders and Ty moved to Anna’s side of the car, knocking on the window with his knuckles. ”He did not just do that, did he? Tell me he didn’t touch my car window with his disgusting, unsanitized hands!”

Butler shrugged again and hit the button to roll the window down and as soon as Ty saw the two girls in the backseat his face lit up into a grin and he winked before he spoke, ”Nice! I called ahead and said I only fucks with the dopey blond broads and natural redheads, it’s good to see that the fam didn’t ignore my message.”

Butler sighed, holding his head in his hands as Alyssa looked over at Ty, and frowned. ”This will be your first, and your only warning. But if you ever talk to me like that again, I will destroy you. No, seriously, I will fucking massacre you, you understand me? You’re going to have to call the United Nations and get them to PUT A BINDING RESOLUTION ON ME TO KEEP ME FROM ELIMINATING YOU FROM HISTORY!” Alyssa was moving now, reaching toward Ty, but was stopped by the seatbelt. ”BUTLER! Fetch me his head! On a silver platter! I’m going to feed it to Turk.” She decided, allowing herself to be snapped back to the seat by the belt. Butler leaned over and opened the door for Ty.

”I think I might like it here…”

”I’m going to eat your firstborn child.”

”Yo, on second thought. Definitely like it here.”

Butler gave Anna an apologetic look.

Caught between the two, Anna pressed herself back against the seat as far as she could as if she were trying to blend in with the leather seat. She had tried to -- note, tried to -- keep Lyssa back from mauling the guy to death, but the seatbelt was enough to keep her friend in her seat.

He was definitely strange, and not someone Anna was wholly comfortable with sharing the same space. He had the Alexandros vibe, but to a whole other level of obnoxiousness. Frowning slightly, she adjusted herself on the seat and cleared her throat. She wanted to get away from him as soon as possible, and the best way to do that was to get him to wherever he needed to go and ask Lyss to drop her off back home.

And the first step? She had to be polite and get him inside.

”Ah… Bartim- uh… Barti-” Great, she didn’t even know his name. This was starting off swimmingly. Clearing her throat again, she gestured towards the front of the car, avoiding eye contact. ”There’s a seat at the front f-for you.”

Part of Anna wanted to offer to take up the front seat, but it was likely that if Lyss would actually end up killing him if they sat next to each other for longer than a minute. Actually, scratch that. She would definitely kill him, and it wouldn’t even take her thirty seconds.

Ty shrugged and flopped down into the seat without much protest, shutting the door behind himself, ”You can just call me, Ty. It’s easier to remember, yo,” Ty said from his seat in the front as he adjusted his hat and sunglasses, looking out the window. ”So I was told that the house I’m going to is banging. Is it really that cool?” He turned slightly to face the girls behind him, despite the almost evil look that plagued Alyssa’s face.

Immediately, Anna nodded. ”Definitely. It’s huge and there’s so much you can do. I mean, it’s really fit for a princess.”

”A queen,” Alyssa growled, arms folded over her chest as she shook her head. This guy was going to get to enjoy her glorious estate? Blasphemy.

”Yes, queen, sorry-” Anna patted Lyssa’s shoulder before turning back to Ty. The engine stirred back to life and the car slowly pulled out from the hangar and back onto the road. ”Um, well, back to what I was saying,” Analise’s uncomfortableness was slowly ebbing away, gradually being replaced by Anna’s usual chirpy and overtalkative nature. ”The place is massive, like, it’s really easy to get lost in there. One time when I stayed over at her castle, I got lost while looking for the kitchen because I got hungry in the middle of the night and I couldn’t even find a single person so I had to sleep in the corridor until someone found me the next morning. So yeah, it’s really massive.”

Alyssa shifted in her seat. He’d get to enjoy her castle! Hers. After disrespecting her like that… The queen simply wouldn’t have it! ”That’s it! Butler, I want him banished from the castle until further notice! He can stay in the guest house!”

”Aly-” Butler couldn’t even finish before Alyssa dove back in, putting a stop to whatever he planned to say before he could.

”Banished, Butler.”

”Very well.”

Anna frowned, ”Lyss, that’s not very nice.” She chastised her friend for the second time during their car-ride. ”He hasn’t even said anything to you.” Yet.

”He called me a dopey blonde broad. I am only one of those things! His disrespect and insolence cannot be forgiven!”

”Yo, does this bitch think she’s like actually a medieval queen or something?” Ty asked, looking back at Anna and then at Butler. Again, Butler groaned.

Alyssa looked around them, then nodded when she saw that they were in the mostly uninhabited part of the highway. ”Stop the car. I will show him medieval.”

”Yo, you west coast people are fuckin’ weird, bro.”

Anna sighed. She hadn’t meant that. He was definitely a douchebag, but he was doing so well since they’d started on the journey! Dang it, Ty! Anna pressed her hand against Lyss’ shoulder, trying to keep her against the seat while saying ”Lyss, not now. Let him go to the guest house then, but you don’t need to kill him.”

It was a serious concern, Anna knew that Lyss was ready to kill, and there was only one way to stop it.

She looked around Lyss for her phone, chewing at her lip in worry until she found the device tucked in beside Lyssa - between her leg and the car door. Looking at Lyss one more time, Anna quickly reached over her lap and pulled her phone from its place, quickly unlocking it and smiling with relief as the familiar pause menu appeared on the screen. ”Lyss, look!” Anna pretty much shoved her phone against her friend’s face to get her to stop looking at Ty or at Butler’s direction.

Alyssa snatched the phone from Anna, her eyebrows furrowed in an angry expression as she pushed on the screen. ”You’d better have nudes on this stupid fucking thing,” she grumbled, but absently thought back to how Anna had bent over her earlier and her rage was slightly numbed and she pulled up Angry Birds, seemingly satisfied now.

”Strawberry, Anna.”

Looking at Butler for a moment in surprise, she then turned back to the small fridge from earlier and opened it to grab another strawberry for Alyssa. ”Here, Lyss, have the strawberry.”

Without looking up from her game, Alyssa opened her mouth. ”Yo, I like where this is going.” Alyssa took a deep breath to keep herself from exploding again. Did this guy know when to stop?

Anna raised her eyebrow incredulously. ”Lyssa, you’re not three. You can feed yourself.” Despite saying that, Anna still fed her friend the strawberry, knowing that it was either her feeding Alyssa the strawberry, or Ty dead. And even though Anna didn’t like Ty at all, she couldn’t just let Lyssa loose on him. Poor guy wouldn’t know what was coming.

Alyssa leaned forward and took the strawberry into her mouth, her lips briefly closing around Anna’s fingertips as she snatched it away. For now, the queen was satisfied. Butler quietly hit a button, causing a window to close between the two halves of the car--something Alyssa had had installed so she could enjoy ‘private time’ with certain people without him watching or hearing. In this case, it was a defensive measure against his charge’s admittedly powerful rage. Alyssa sighed and shifted in her seat.

”I wish we were in the limo or something. Then I could just take a nap. They can’t hear us anymore. So I am going to be as sad and pathetic as I want. You should stay and cuddle me while I watch cartoons so I don’t feel sad.”

And there was Lyssa’s odd way of asking Analise to stay over. Honestly Anna should’ve been used to it by now, but each time it was still odd to hear Lyssa wanting her. Anna nodded, reaching her hand out for Lyssa to drop her phone in her hand. Once she had her phone back, Anna began typing out two text messages:





As Analise sent the messages, the car slowly pulled into the gargantuan mansion that Alyssa loved to call her castle, the car slowing down to a stop right in front of the entrance. Anna looked over at her friend with a soft smile. ”Let’s go.”

---

---

It was amazing the things you picked up when you were invisible. Not that Lily was really invisible, but she sure felt like it sometimes. When people were talking to their friends, the tiny redheaded nerd was often forgotten. Not that she was complaining. It certainly helped pick up intel. And intel is just what Ava and her friends provided. They were in English class, not really doing much. Not that she did anything in that class anyway. English was overrated, and her D+ grade proved her opinion about it.

In the background a movie played, but Lily's attention was fixated on the twins, Ellie and Corvin. She was sitting right next to them, and they never even gave her a second glance. A hurtful perfection of a circumstance. The first rumor that caught her attention was about the teacher surprisingly. Something about him leaving to deal with his daughter. And Alexandros had been involved. Unsurprising. She wondered if that had happened before or after she ran into him with that redhead after lunch.

Then she heard Jackson's name and the world froze around her. Every time she heard that name her heart started beating faster and her breath got shallower. She missed him so much. So much that she hated him for it. She hated herself for it. She even hated Anna for being one of the next ones in line for Jackson's lady conquest. She used to considered Anna one of her friends, but now... She had even had sex with him already. After, what, like one date. An angry look fell over Lily's low hanging head. In her veins she felt her blood boiling, as her fingers clenched into fists, fists Jackson taught her how to clench, and grow white from tension.

Lily was so angry she almost missed the next bit of information. Not a rumor this time, but an opinion. A strong bold opinion, straight from the mouth of Ava Mossos. So the transfer brunette wasn't a fan of the queen. Who was really. Being honest, Dominique wasn't the the best choice for top dog. Maybe... An idea began to form itself in the back of her mind. If anyone could overthrow the queen, it would be Lily. She was cunning enough, and certainly had the motivation.

Ava had a point when it came to Audrey, but Lily had done worse in her time than blowing up a car and starting a rumor. Bet Audrey had never been arrested before. Still if Lily's plan was to work, she'd have to make sure Audrey was out of the picture. Lily just so happened to be sitting next to the perfect person to do it for her. Furiously starting to type on her phone under the desk so they sub wouldn't see, she had plenty of practice, Lily quickly acquired Ava's phone number. Kid stuff.

As the bell rang, Lily sent Ava a text. She didn't want to approach her in person, yet. Better to do this over text message. Lily's text was short and to the point.



Immediately after sending the text, one rang into her phone. Tristan again. God she couldn't deal with this idiot right now. Not when her mind was so occupied. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but after Jackson had been brought up her tiny little crush on Tristan seemed to pale in comparison for what she felt for him. Blowing out a large breath of air she hammered out an abrupt text.





Jackson burst out laughing at Dominique's comment about Audrey sleeping around. It was accurate. Ana probably wouldn't appreciate him laughing at her best friend- ex best friend, but he didn't care. Audrey had been such a bitch to her, she deserved a little of her own medicine. As abruptly as the friendly conversation started it was over. Dominique left the scene, and of course when the queen left, her minions were free to do as they pleased. Before she left, though, she gave Jackson a little piece of advice. Not to hurt Ana or else. The thought hadn't even crossed his mind, but thanks Dominique for putting worrying thoughts in his head. Not that he was really scared of Dom's rath. He could handle the pressure being on himself, he just didn't want Ana to get hurt.

Jackson was brought back to reality, by his girlfriend's soft voice. Apologizing. Classic Ana. Smiling at her cute innocence, he didn't say a word, only grabbing her hand and walking her to her next class. Standing outside of the classroom, Jackson leaned in to press a prolonged goodbye kiss into her before separating for a class he had been hoping to miss earlier.

School flew by and before he knew it, it was time to leave. Jackson grabbed his backpack, whipping it off the ground so hard it his him in the back. Hurrying out of the classroom, he glanced around the enterance of the school for Ana. Having no luck in finding her, Jackson checked his phone for messages. Three of them came in quick succession, all from Ana. Grinning like an idiot at his phone, he quickly typed back.



Jackson would've loved to spend the rest of the afternoon with Ana, at the very least texting her, but since she was busy he certainly wasn't going to sit around like he had no life besides Ana. Shoving his phone back in his pocket, Jackson hopped in his car and sped off out of the parking lot. Five minutes later he pulled into the gym.

Football season was about to start, soon after would be lacrosse. Jackson hadn't played a sport in months. He was certain if not for this gym he would have gone crazy over that period of time. Walking in, he quickly changed into his boxing gear. One of the younger kids even offered to help him with wrapping his hands. When he was completely ready he started his routine. Nothing complicated or extravagant, just enough to get his muscles burning and his face sweating. Before long he got into a rhythm, music pumping in his ears, hair slicked to his head.

And then one of the trainers called him over to the ring in the middle of the gym. His name was Tony, a retired boxer, with a major reputation for being a fearless in the ring. Tony had been helping Jackson find a couple fights over the past few months in addition to training him. "Hey, kid. Gotta proposition for you. See that kid over there? You knock him out in this test fight and I've got something lined up that you'd be perfect for." Jackson glanced over at the person Tony was talking about, he hadn't been expecting a fight today. In the corner of the ring a large black man stood, even taller than Jackson. "His names Allen."

Jackson raised his eyebrows at Tony, but got nothing back but a shrug. Rolling his eyes he shoved in his mouth guard and climbed in opposite to the giant. Glancing at Tony one last time, he nodded for him to go. The two fighters moved towards each other, warily, waiting for the other to make the first move. Inside his chest, Jackson's heart was hammering just like it did in the beginning of every fight. It wasn't until someone got punched that he, strangely, calmed and focused. Allen was the first one to make a move, throw a quick fist at Jackson's head. He managed to dodge it, narrowly, before slamming a fist into his belly. The giant barely flinched. "Shit-"

The two of them continued to hammer it out for the next several minutes. Climbing over the ropes, Jackson slid to the ground blood dripping from a cut above his eye. Spitting on the smooth wood floor he observed the salty taste of the red liquid. He felt like he got the shit beat out of him, and he really had. Glancing back over the floor of the ring Jackson smiled as much as his cut lip would let him. Allen was laying on the floor face first, out cold with Tony tending to him. Leaning his head back against the wall he groaned as his side stretched, a large bruise already forming. "Ah... man, Ana's gunna be so pissed."

David pulled his phone out of his pocket and frowned at the message from Geo. Lunch, lunch… lunch was an eternity ago, how was he supposed to remember where he was during lunch? Wait--therapy, it was a therapy day. Davy punched the reply button:



David shrugged and paused as he read over the second text. ....Sprinkles! Shit, the duck was home alone! Usually, Davy checked on him at lunch, and then dropped him off at the Pet Inn where he just hung out with Geo and the animals for as long as he could before he went home and… got stoned with his duck and played Tony Hawk’s Underground until he passed out, but today, between the therapy, and his interaction with that really hot British girl, he hadn’t had a chance to even think about his duck, let alone pick him up and drop him off…



David’s head then snapped up as he heard a honk, looking around for the source of it, and absently wondering if he’d done something wrong already.

A blue Maserati Turismo Convertible pulled up next to where Davy was walking, a blonde in the driver's seat. She looked at Davy for a moment, noticing that absentminded look in his face. A smile graced her face. "Why the forgetful look, hun? Have you forgotten me already?" Viola teasingly asked, left arm out, hanging over the door.

Oh, there was the very same hot girl from earlier. Davy considered her question for a minute and looked over his shoulder to ensure there was nowhere from the school nearby. "I'm gonna be... totally, one hundred percent honest with you. I'm just kinda stoned. A little. Maybe a lot." He explained sheepishly, shrugging. "I'm trying to get back to my house to get my duck, then I gotta go to the Pet Inn, cuz I told Geo I would."

A skater who has a duck? Quite the interesting guy you are, Davy. Viola had to admit that this guy - this Davy - proved to be more interesting and intriguing the more she engaged with him. At first sight, he just seemed like a guy who may or may not smoke a little of that kush and ride a skateboard a bit too much(and built quite admirably), but he owns a duck too? Perhaps her would prove to be more of an interesting conquest than most she encountered. Viola would test that theory.

"Hop on in. I'll give you a ride home. It's bound to be faster than walking." Viola gestured Davy to get into the passenger's seat, her head rocking to the right.

David considered it for a few seconds before shrugging. After all, Vi was right., It'd certainly be faster than walking, if nothing else. He opened the door to the car and let himself in, buckling up. "Cool, thanks man. Vi, I mean. My house is that way," he explained, pointing toward the street his house was on. "I can just walk with Sprinkles if you want. That's my duck. So that he doesn't have to ride in your car."

"Out of the question, hun. Your duck can ride with us. The Pet Inn is quite ways away, so it'll be faster for you to just get a ride there, too. Plus, it'll allow me the opportunity to get to know you better." she said. Viola shot Davy a wink as she would proceed to the direction that Davy pointed out that his house was. It didn't seem that it would be a long drive. Surprisingly, Davy didn't live that far away from where the school was; maybe just about ten minutes off from where the school was rested his home street. They would be there in half the time, but surely enough time for them to get to know each other a little more.

"Oh, well, alright. Thank you very much. ...what do you want to know about me, exactly? There's not much, really. I don't do a bunch, just skateboard and do parkour, and sometimes I do freestyle motocross stuff, and surf. I'm pretty okay at BMX too, but I like skateboards a lot more, way more freedom I think. Mountain biking is pretty fun, and I'm super big on snowboarding, but in sunny southern California, there's not many places to do that." David made a face. He honestly wished there were more places to snowboard and that he could do it more often, but alas, he had to wait for winter. "Oh, and I'm kinda thinking about getting another pet. A turtle, maybe."

"And here I thought you were just a skater. You're really something, aren't you?" Viola said, keeping her eyes on the road.

A red light came. She stopped the car. They were behind about four or five cars. Of course they would be. It was near rush hour, so it was no doubt going to be longer than she anticipated. It wasn't a problem, though. It gave Viola to dig more about him. Not just what his interests were, but something deeper than that. Viola was highly intrigued in him, and this was the most time she had spent with someone new that wasn't already trying to get into her pants. The old "give you a ride" trick from her book was always that sure-fire way to enable the other person to have the balls to make a move, but Davy didn't - and Viola found that interesting.

"All of those extreme sports you do must make you popular with the ladies. A guy as handsome as you, I'm sure you must drop a few panties here and there." Viola winked at Davy once more. The light was still red.

David looked forward toward the cars as Viola spoke, his cheeks suddenly flushing a little red. Popular with the ladies? Panties dropped? He cleared his throat awkwardly--and maybe it was the courage from the dope, but he decided to just continue being completely honest with the girl. "Uhm, well, actually, Vi. I haven't ever even kissed a girl, honestly. Like I said, I just kinda keep to myself, it hasn't led to many panties being dropped around me..." Davy shrugged his shoulders and looked out the window. He still wasn't entirely sure why Viola was so into him, but he wasn't yet worried about it. Davy was really enjoying the attention, actually...

"Why, do you think I drop a lot of panties in my spare time?" He looked back over at Viola and rolled his eyes. The light was still red.

Fucking traffic.

"Have you looked in a mirror, Davy? That should be all the reason why I, a very attractive girl, would think that you, a very attractive guy, would have a line of other girls like me - granted girls who would probably be after your dick - just waiting for it." she said.

David opened his mouth to reply to Vi's statement, but words didn't come. It wasn't exactly fair of her to put him on the spot like that--after all, he was pretty clearly bad when it came to... well, people. But, he was starting to realize, Viola didn't care about that.

Viola was never one to be coy when it came to her words. There might have been times where she played games, but that was only in certain situations with certain stepdaughter of a certain Samoan teacher that didn't know how to keep her mouth shut(or hands to herself). So, Viola wasn't going to play keep away with what she thought of Davy. Even a blind monkey could tell that he had the rippling body of a pro-class athlete.

Viola gazed upon Davy for a hot second. Humming shortly, Viola gestured him with her right index finger only to lean closer to her.
David had an uncertain look on his face as she gestured him closer, but he again thought about how being confident had worked out for him so far... So far, so good, right? If it ain't broken, don't fix it. That was really all the convincing he needed, and as she beckoned at him, Davy leaned forward toward her slowly.

Even though it seemed like Davy was leaning closer to Viola in slow motion, she would cheat. She would lean in as well. Their faces couldn't be no more than half of a foot away. By the time it had decreased one inche, Viola gripped the side of Davy's face with both of her hands gently. A soft, seductive smile was shot his way. The smile then turned into a smirk as she laid a nice, three-second kiss on him.

And as soon as it began, she pulled away, wiping the strawberry lip gloss off his lips with her left thumb, pressing it gently on his lips. "There's more where that came from." Viola gave him a wink again. Her head turned forward, and the light had turned green. She started to drive as soon as the car in front of them had started moving.

His eyes were wide, and he had... butterflies in his tummy? First kiss, it wasn't necessarily his fault. He cleared his throat and nodded in response to Viola's statements. He licked his lips, tasting the remnants of the lips gloss and then glanced out the window. Oh, boy, this was way more than he'd asked for getting into the car...

"...more like what?" Davy couldn't help but ask. Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back. Hopefully.

"Curious are we?" Viola that after the taste of her that he had, Davy would want more. Obviously since he didn't yell or scream or do anything that would suggest otherwise. So, Viola had it under good authority that Davy, whether he knew it right now or not, would come to her for more. Yeah, she had him. "Stick with me, skater boy, and plenty more will come your way." she said, puckering her lips, giving the implication of a kiss his way.

Of course he was curious, how could he not be? He'd never kissed a girl before, and now this! Wait, what'd she call him? Skater boy? That was what Geo called him... Geo... wait, Sprinkles was still alone! Davy shook himself from the numbness that covered his body and looked down at his watch. "Oh man, we'd better hurry. I told Geo I'd come with my duck and my duck's probably hungry and he's been alone all day..."

Viola chuckled. While Davy was getting a bit antsy about being late, he, perhaps, forgot to notice how the car had came to a stop just five seconds ago. "Hun, no need to freak out." Viola said, her right index finger gesturing to the house that the car was parked in front of. "This is your house, is it not?" Viola asked, eyes and a smile on Davy.

Davy looked around, noticing that they were directly in front of his house. "Okay, cool! Are you sure you want to come to the Pet Inn? You don't have to, really, it might be... kinda boring for you. I don't really know what you like." He explained, opening the door and stepping out of the car.

"I'm quite sure, hun." Viola assured Davy, "besides, I'm curious to see you in your element." Half true. Viola was curious to see how Davy was with pets, but also she wanted to see what this Geo chick was like. Only in name had she heard of her. Even as vast as her network of contacts within Beverly Hills High was, Geo somehow has slipped under her radar.

Davy tilted his head curiously, staring at her. In his element? What did that even mean? His element wasn't exactly the back of the Pet Inn with Geo and Sprinkles--although that was certainly more of a comfort zone for him than Viola's car... "Okay, well... let me go get Sprinkles. But stay here. Kay? Kay." He said before slipping out of the car and jogging up to his door, letting himself in.

A few minutes later, he emerged from the house, his duck in his arms. As he approached Viola's car, Sprinkles quacked in greeting, "Vi, this is Sprinkles. He's a duck. Sprinkles, this is Vi." He held the duck out, and again, Sprinkles quacked.

Viola looked at the duck. She gauged its facial expression, then her eyes went to Davy. She exampined him, specifically his face looking at her when she looked at the duck. Viola could definitely say that she never experienced something quite like this. She knew Davy was an interesting fellow, but didn't think that when he mentioned the duck that it would be quite like this. It had her even more intrigued.

"A pleasure." Viola didn't know what to say, so she kept her words minimal.

Without saying anything more, Viola would wait for Davy to get himself and the duck situated, and she took off to the Pet Inn. If one thing could be said about this afternoon, Viola would experience something she never had in her entire life - it excited her; and who knows? Maybe she'll learn more about Geo. Oh what fun this would be.

---

"Yeah, we could be any place, any time, in any moment.
It's a race to the line.
Break away from the life that they sold ya.
Pack a bag, say goodbye.
All we know is go, go, go. All we know is go, go, go."

The cameras focused on a petite girl, standing at 5'1", in a music studio set. She had long, flowing hair that was dyed brown with a hint of red, and even had a blonde ombre. She was a trend setter, for sure. Her hair was subtle enough to be classy, but loud enough to hint at her personality. Behind and around her were three girls: a bassist, a drummer, and a guitarist. No, they were not in her band, since her band mates were all male, similar to her half sister's symphonic metal group but like, the pop punk version. This session was for her teen drama show, Chasing Ghosts, where she starred as the aspiring teen singer, Daniela or "Dani", whose way of coping with life problems was drowning herself in the thrills of the world. Her character is one of the more emotional driven ones in the story, which Amity fits to a T.

Make a character with confidence, flare, a bit of a punk who doesn't give a flying fuck, wild tendencies, and a lot of attitude, then you should definitely consider contacting the daughter of the famous fashion designer of the Velvet Bellerose high fashion brand. She was made for the role of whirlwind characters, who are extremely vibrant with their expressions, actions, and words. Recently, on the show, her band just signed a record deal, which is a good segue to the next arc where fame and love either make or break the girls' friendships with each other, bringing out the worst and best of them. Think Josie and the Pussycat Dolls meets Skins.

Swaying with the music, the idol let the song 'Young and Relentless' fill the room, quite use to performing under many different circumstances. Camera 1 was on a dolly, gradually sliding closer to her face as she sang her heart out - a song that expressed the characters' perseverance, determination, and their true selves (before the next arc changes them tremendously). When the dolly came to a halt, the star of the show gave a playful wink, breaking the fourth wall.

The director looked at the star actress with a wide grin, as the idol was given her nearsighted glasses by a production assistant (she wasn't in the mood this morning to put her contacts in). Obviously pleased with how the scene turned out, the director chirped, "That's a wrap ladies and gents!" After the signal, crew members started to break down the set, as the idol, who wore a burgundy red pleated skirt, a black halter top tucked in, stockings, and Louis Vuitton heeled boots, gave the other actresses embraces, expressing that their performances were on par. The man behind the camera gestured for the bubbly girl to check out the playback. The idol sauntered beside the Camera man, as the female director complimented, "Excellent work Amity, outstanding as always. I'm so ready for next season, but at last, it's time for Post."

Just when Amity Bellerose, princess of the Fashion world, was going to check out the framework of the dolly shot, Luke , her Scottish bodyguard, knocked on the studio door and gestured at his watch from the door window.

"Looks like I'm needed! Send some stills to Renee~. I can't wait to see what ya got." She chuckled at the thought of seeing how well her emotions translated on camera. Amie wasn't gonna deny that she was one hell of an actress.

With that, everyone said their goodbyes, and Amity made her spidey escape. Exiting the studio, she looked up at her handsome, foreigner-of-a-man, bodyguard, "Thanks for saving me, Maureen can get carried away when it comes to her baby." The show was indeed the director's baby and the more success it got, the happier the director was.

"Weel, ye also hae a phain caa, Amie." _{(Well, you also have a phone call, Amie.)} The tall, brute had a grin on his face, knowing both he and his idol had some downtime the moment they stepped out of the studio. Renee was on errands taking care of many other important things for Amity. All the idol truly needed to do was show up to her engagements and give 120 percent, and like today, she would be rewarded freedom! Grabbing the phone from her bodyguard, Amie looked to see who was waiting on the other line, it was an unknown caller.

Smiling to herself, she put the phone to her ear and walked beside Luke toward the exit, "Hiya babe, perfect timing! How are you?! When was the last time we talked? It feels like ages ago!"
On the other line, a raven haired woman sat on her sofa in her new Beverly Hills apartment. She had just finished setting up her living room with her band mates. No, she would not be rooming with those idiots. If that were the case, kill her now. She simply needed their man power and wasn't one to hire a shit ton of people to help her move in. Why hire people when you have reliable men at your beck and call? They had left to get laid, or something of little importance to the lead singer, seeing how they were no longer needed by the babe that was the face of East of Eden. Her home phone was on speaker, as she leaned back in her seat, twirling her glass of fine 1994 Dominus Estate Napanook Napa Valley red wine in her right hand. She wore a brown suit jacket, a black turtle neck, light blue jeans, and comfortable black flats - something still nice, just in case she were to run out, but comfortable enough to set up furniture and such (or tell her band mates where to put shit).

"Hey love, so it's safe to assume you're done filming, right?" Bringing her addiction to her lips, more alcohol than wine itself, she took a nice, smooth gulp, as she waited for her happy-go-lucky half sister to reply.

"TOTALLY DONE FILMING UNTIL NEXT SEASON! I'm so happy! Oh, oh, Eve, guess what?!" Evelyn Harding knew very well that the chatterbox would continue talking without her having to say anything in response, so she waited and stared at her grand piano, one of her more expensive furniture in her new humble abode, "Renee actually is letting me, I know can you believe it, have fun! I get to enjoy LA for once, ahhh!"

"Does Max know you're back?" Intrigue fell on the Raven's face. Perhaps, her request would be a walk in the park. Without a doubt, she loved how easily influenced Amity was. Quite the charming trait, wouldn't you say?

"No, silly! I want to surprise him. Daddy is keeping it a secret from him and letting me use his penthouse until I'm ready to come back home. I still need to think of an idea... but it'll be great! I just know it!"

Letting out an amused chuckle, Eve brought her gaze to the blinking light on the landline and shook her head, "You know he hates surprises."

"PFFT. Like I care. Surprises are fun. He loves seeing me, so he can deal!"

"Of course." The mysterious woman said in a low, yet agreeing tone. Standing up with her drink still very much in her hand, Eve surveyed her room and began to absentmindedly walk around it, "I may have an idea for you... a surprise he would never forget."

"OMIGOD. Tell me!" It sounded like Amity was jumping around like a hyperactive squirrel on the other line - classic Amie (so excitable, such wow). Eve could even hear Luke say, "Whaur dae yi'll waant tae gang? Hey! stoap jumping in th' motor." _{(Where do you want to go? Hey! Stop jumping in the car.)}
Meanwhile, a dashing man of 17, who recently got his long brown hair trimmed for a press conference, sat at his desk inside his glass box office, sketching potential concepts for this year's The Royal Gala: Bellerose Winter 2016 Couture. Unlike his younger sister, he was farsighted, which meant every time he drew, he needed his glasses on (his outfit). This event was known for it's gorgeous, spectacular fashion show and the masquerade ball that followed after. The man behind the V.B. Rose Brand, had put his son, Maxwell Bellerose Jr., also known as the Prince of Fashion, in charge of the finale outfits (no pressure at all). Three, to be exact. The wall behind Max was covered from top to bottom with drawings of dresses and other elegant women's attire. His face was strained and just one glance at him, anyone could tell that he was stressed, exhausted, and uninspired. Extremely uninspired. Luckily, he got away with not attending school for the day since coming up with showstopping concepts was his top priority for the day - and for the rest of his life. Not attending class meant he didn't need his make up artist to disguise him as Donovan Ryder (one thing he was good at was hiding in plain sight). The articles of him online were priceless. He got a kick out of the fact that no one had any idea where he was right now, when for the past two years he's been residing at his father's estate in Beverly Hills. Either way, back to the original point, he wasn't getting anywhere with his concepts.

Garbage, no, no, absolutely terrible, garbage.

He was just about to scribble all over his drawing and flip his table in frustration, when his French assistant Valarie Lefévre, who wore a simple, business formal suit, but still delicately expensive, came strutting in with a fair face he hadn't seen before.

"Maxwell, I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Her accent was hardly noticeable, compared to Luke's. The wise woman's gray eyes glanced over her responsibility like a hawk, waiting for a response. As always, Valarie would intensely stare at him, trying to get a read on his emotions. The brunette beside her had her hands clasped together, waiting patiently to be introduced. She wore a divine, cashmere blue coat over her white blouse and black skirt, with legs to die for. His father found another beauty to work for him, he would presume. Giving the women a nod of acknowledgement, he picked up his drawing he almost ruined just moments ago and gestured for the newbie to come closer. The intern turned to Valarie seeking permission, who gave her a smile in return, assuring her it was okay to approach him. The young brunette, who had a hint of sass hiding behind her mask, gradually made her way to Mr. Bellerose's son. Taking the drawing from his hand, she looked at it, her eyes staring at the piece of paper with pure amazement, "This is breathtaking, um, Mr. Bellerose."

"Please, call me Max." His soft, sky blue orbs looked up at her, almost playfully. He grabbed her freehand and gently pressed his lips against it. A gesture to show that he approved of her. Her face faintly blushed, but it immediately vanished when he looked away from her and brought his attention to his work. His tone changing from a flirt to a business man in a blink of an eye.

Leaning back in his seat, he sighed, "What's your name? Am I right to assume you may become my second assistant?"

"Oh, my apologies, Max. My name is Claire Hadaway. Yes, I will be interning for the position." Tapping his leg on the ground, thinking about more things than just his interaction with his assistants, he turned to his computer and shook the mouse gently to get it out of sleep mode.

"I see, I see. Take that drawing to the rejection room. It's nice to meet you." With that, he went on ignoring the intern's presence, growing bored of her and noticed that Eve had sent him a skype message.

"Rejection room?" She stared at the man, who most definitely was near her age, with bewilderment and just when she was going to say something more, Valarie's voice cut in.

"Miss. Hadaway, I'll show you around. Come, come. Maxwell needs his peace."

One moment, Claire felt like he was into her, the next moment he was ignoring her very existence completely. How infuriating. How rude.

Max's rejection room was the place he considered certain clothes he had designed to be outdated, that needed 're-inspiration' and 'revival'. This included failed drawings of his. Never waste potential masterpieces (even if his anger has led to him crumpling papers up and even burning them). The room had a large window in the ceiling slant, which literally had light shine down on something he could possibly work with. Yes, he was strange, but there was a method to his madness.

After his assistants left, he read Eve's message:

Philips2597: Call me when you get the chance, bud.

Eve used her mother's middle name to hide her identity (and for the numbers it was the day Eve was born and year), just in case someone were to hack into Max's computer. She also made sure to have an untraceable computer address. Eve took many precautions to protect her half family's reputation.

After reading the message, he called her, deciding to take a break from his dilemma.
Having finished an entire bottle of wine and her phone call with Amity, Eve heard her Skype ringing. Placing her glass down, she grabbed an already opened bottle of Pinot Grigio and muttered, "Fuck it.", deciding to just drink right out of the bottle. Making her way to her laptop, which was rested on her bed, she gave a gentle yawn. Long day, but there was many things to do.

Answering the call, making sure not to spill her wine on her white blanket, Eve examined her brother and couldn't help but give him a kid-like smile, that only he usually ever saw.

The siblings stared at each other for a moment taking in the other's facial expression. Tilting her head, with a wonderful buzz in her eyes, Eve broke the silence, "Rough day?"

Resting his chin on his palms, he growled to himself, not really needing to say his inspiration was pure shit these days - even going outside wasn't helping him.

"Have you ever thought about changing things up?"

Narrowing his eyes, Max muttered, "Change in what way?"

Taking a chug of her white wine, she rolled her eyes, "Oh come on, Maxi. Maybe it's time to give up the act and find yourself a muse. You're the type of guy who needs change in his life. Remember when you chose to attend Beverly Hills High? That was the best change you made! And up until now, you've made daddy proud." It was obvious Eve considered Mr. Bellerose more of a father, than the man she was forced to call 'dad'.

"You're rather talkative. How much did you have to drink?" He asked, genuinely concerned, but also dodging the subject.

Holding tight onto her bottle, she gave him her intimidating death glare, which made him sit up, pulling away from the screen.

"I don't think going to school as 'the Prince of Fashion' would help my situation. Do you know how much drama goes down on a daily basis? I'm like on the edge of Analise's radar. She still hasn't noticed me. I think that's a damn feat!"

"Yes, I do know some, because you keep me updated. For someone who avoids people like they had an STD or something, you sure keep up with the gossip."

Crossing his arms in defense, also cringing at the STD mention - since his one and only friend at the school was Bianca Salazar, who had left a bit ago, he amusingly laughed (in an awkward, nervous kind of sense), "It's kind of hard not to eavesdrop when you have girls yelling shit off the top of their lungs daily." The girls at Beverly Hills High were rather ferocious... he was lucky enough to still be alive.

Placing her bottle down on the floor, she crawled closer to the laptop, and let her dark stare lock eyes with her brother, "I have something to tell you."

Clearing his throat, Max waited for the news, a little concerned at what it could be. It wasn't often Eve had something this important to tell him, that she wanted to get straight down to business. His mind was racing with the endless possibilities.

"I'm transferring to your school."

His mouth dropped at the words that came out of her mouth, "You can't be serious? Do you know how-"

"Shh. I need this, just as much as you need to do something about this rut you're in. Help me and I'll help you. Do you know how much dad wants you to have a trophy wife? I seriously think if you go to school as Maxwell, you'll find inspiration. You're young and handsome, Max. It's time to live up to your full potential and make daddy proud!"

Taking in her words, he stared at his sister and wondered if... if he did what she said, would he truly gain the inspiration he needed? Lately, it's been getting harder to hide his identity because of his obligations as heir to the V.B. Rose brand, so maybe this was a sign.

"What... do you want me to do in return? I feel like I'm getting the short end of this stick..."

An oh-so-familiar grin fell on her face as he waited in agonizing anticipation to hear her thoughts.

The hour between Georgina leaving the school parking lot and pulling up beside the Pet Inn was a long, boring one. Her only source of "entertainment" (a term she'd use very loosely in this situation) was of mindless chatter about the next new fashion trend playing over the radio. Somehow, it was as if all the gods had gathered together to see how long it would take for the bluenete to crumble of boredom.
Though, going at this rate, it wouldn't take much longer.

Upon arriving and changing into her uniform — a simple black t-shirt with the name of the business printed on her chest along with loose, but comfortable dark blue jeans. Well, the jeans weren't exactly part of the uniform, but as long as she was wearing the shirt it didn't matter to her family as much. She was greeted by some of the usual faces: old Janice with her three cats, weird Colleen and her rowdy dog, quiet Lukas with his adorable rabbit-parrot duo and many more. It was turning out to be a nice, albeit busy day for the Pet Inn, something Geo was glad for.

The business needed more people. Busy days like this were good, it made her feel less anxious that they were going to lose the business, but then her anxiousness would always return the next day with little customers.

Geo heard the telltale sound of a car engine rumbling outside the store as she tended to Janice's three cats behind the counter. Part of her hoped that it was another customer, but the other (bigger) part of her wished it was Davy. Well, Davy and Sprinkles, because who can forget the cute duck? After letting go of the third cat, Georgina stood up, dusting the cat fur off her jeans as she readied herself to greet whoever entered through the door.

Sprinkles did not like cars. He didn't like fancy cars, fast cars, slow cars, shitty cars, clean cars, dirty cars, new cars, old cars, vans, buses, tanks. None of that shit. Sprinkles hated cars. And the entire ride, he quacked to express just how much he didn't like cars. He didn't like the radio, so Davy shut it off. The whole way there, Davy was mentally wondering just how much Viola regretted agreeing to driving him there. Eventually, Davy rolled the window down and held the duck out in the fresh air and Sprinkles was... slightly more satisfied. At any rate, there was less quacking.

"Sorry," David apologized sheepishly to Viola, sighing as they pulled up to the Pet Inn. Sprinkles much preferred to travel via his owner's skateboard, where it wasn't loud. When the mechanical beast was finally shut off, the duck was sated and he gave one last quack as David opened the door and shook his head. "Oh, it looks like it's busy today. That's good. Kinda. It means Geo might be busy." He frowned and shrugged, then went to the door, opening it.

Upon seeing the blue haired girl that he was in fact, very fond of, the duck in Davy's arms started to quack happily. [color=228b22]]b]"Shhhh,"[/b][/color] David said, placing his index finger on the back of Sprinkles's tiny duck-head. The quacking slowly came to a close and David looked up at Geo, smiling. "Look, I'm here! And so's Viola... wherever she is, probably right behind me. That's what I'd guess anyway. Sprinkles is happy to see you, though."

"Here hun." Viola's arm grabbed around Davy's own. Her eyes were on Geo. "So this must be Geo!" she said interestingly.

Viola scanned her head to toe and then toe to head. Based on how much Davy was mentioning her not only when she offered him a ride but also the way over to his house AND the ride back, she half-expected her to be of supermodel caliber. What she was looking at was above-average best. Decent hair, admirable features, eyes that bring you in but don't do much after that. Everything about her screamed average at best. She wasn't even a challenge for Viola. She would crush her. Of course, that was much later. For now, Viola would be friendly. As Sun Tzu said, If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles. Modern translation? Viola would befriend Geo, then crush her entire spirit. Fun right?

"Love the shoes, babe." Viola commented, looking at Geo's shoes.

Well, Davy was here. But with a friend this time. It was definitely a first to see Davy arriving with someone other than Sprinkles. Especially someone that looked like... that. Like a blonde goddess of sorts. Geo was curious, Davy wasn't the sort to hang around with many people, let alone someone of her sort. "Thanks," she nodded in response to her compliment. "I like your uh... hair? Yeah. I'm sorry, but I don't know who you are." It was a partial lie. Geo knew of Viola, but she wasn't high enough on the social ladder to be considered someone that Viola could hang out with, let alone know. Honestly, Geo didn't know how to react to Viola, especially after she walked inside with her arms around his. 'Are they together?' A nagging thought pricked at the back of her mind, 'is that why he was gone all lunch?'

"Thanks hun." Viola said smiling. It was a fake smile. What kind of person comments on a person's hair? That was odd and weird. Maybe that's how this one was like. Perhaps the key to her charm was the weird awkwardness that seemed to be the rage among people these days. Viola didn't get it, but best not to poke the beast without knowing how it works. "Yours is neat." Wow. Viola actually said that, didn't she? "I like that shade of blue. Looks like turquoise." Viola couldn't stop herself, it seemed.

Again with the compliment? Was she being sincere or was this some sort of weird woman thing to compliment each other? "Thank you again." This time Geo didn't respond with another compliment — there was only so much she had in her already tiny compliment bank. She reached over to open the small gate beside the counter to let the two inside. "I saved your corner like usual," she pointed at Davy's corner, filled with a couple toys that Sprinkles usually enjoyed chewing on.

Davy was all too happy to get over to his corner, duck in hand. He sat down by the toys and let Sprinkles roam free, and he happily waddled his way over to one of them, chewing on it absently. Davy was not nearly as interested in the girls spamming compliments back and forth as they might have expected. They were both pretty, and he was glad they acknowledged that, but Davy just liked to sit with his duck. And his duck just liked to chew on things. At the Pet Inn, they were both... satisfied.

David reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag of fruit snacks that he'd snatched while he was in his house and tore it open, eating one--green apple flavored(his favorite) before he grabbed the bowl that was sitting in his corner and filled it up before sitting it down in front of Sprinkles, in case he wanted to splash about.

...this was much less stressful than spending time with Viola and making sure he didn't say anything dumb.

Viola had keen eyes on the way that Davy was acting in his corner. This was vastly different side to him that she saw playing with the duck. Happy, jovial, and most of all, in his element. She found it cute. Not only that, but interesting. Davy was interesting to her before, but mainly because he seemed so awkward and mildly uncomfortable around her. Now, Viola found his mannerisms in that corner, with the duck, with the toys, and being in his "zone" intriguing for a totally different reason. How did a guy like him, with the build and looks that he had, find an odd satisfaction playing with a duck? Viola had to investigate. If not for her, then just to annoy Geo.
"Geo, was it?" Viola really couldn't care less if she was wrong or not. "Tell me a bit about yourself. How did you come to meet Davy here? How did you find a common interest of pets? And how on earth were you able to get that shade of blue?" That last one was actually genuine. For all intents and purposes, Viola was flabbergasted that someone as averagely-attractive was able to get a not-so-subtle shade of blue - and be able to own it.

That... was a lot of questions. Well, only three, but it was three too many for Georgina. She looked at Viola, confused. There was nothing interesting about her, so why was Viola probing? There was a reason that Geo preferred to lay low, to be the invisible face in the sea of many in the school hallways — to avoid having to answer about herself. To avoid boring people to tears when they realize that Geo's not that interesting despite what her blue hair may imply. There was no sad story, no wild party nor no gossip that Geo could provide, so why bother to include herself along with the other shallow students?

Despite that, Geo swallowed whatever question she had, 'maybe if I show her how boring I am she'll stop asking me stuff?' Geo thought before answering Viola's questions. "Well, I work here, I have blue hair and I like animals." Simple enough, right? It wasn't like Geo was lying about herself anyway. Viola never really specified whether she wanted to know anything new about her. "I just... dye it? Haven't done it in a while though since I'm trying to get my natural hair colour back and all but if you're really that interested I could tell you where I find the products?"

A smart-ass huh? Cute.

Geo crouched beside Davy, her finger reaching out to gently press over the little duckling's head and laughing as Sprinkles waddled closer to chew at her shoelaces. Typical Sprinkles. "Has Sprinkles eaten yet or should I get him the usual?" Geo asked David, as if she were purposefully avoiding Viola.

There was the slightest hint of a chuckle as Viola tried to conceal it with a closed smirk. Her eyes were fixated on both Davy and Geo - and the duck too. She looked at them with those inquisitive eyes that were trying to deduce how their mannerisms meshed. It was obvious to Viola that they had history. Comfortable with each other enough to not feel out of place or embarrassed with someone not that far away that could be looking, watching their every move. They were also friendly with each other; however, not too friendly. Seemed that either Geo was too afraid to show whatever she felt for Davy or simply was as oblivious as Davy was before Viola gave him a taste of her lips.

Davy looked up at Geo, then down at Sprinkles, then back at Geo, then shrugged. "Mom and dad fed him, so he should be good. He just wants to... chill." He decided as he reached down and touched the duck's head with a finger lightly. "I had a long day. I ran over Viola, briefly, and I had that... uh, art class. Yeah, art class. That sucked. It ran long today, but I drew something for... Analise, whenever I find her. She's tough to find, it turns out there's like... seventy thousand pretty blond girls that go to our school. Did you know that statistic? I didn't, but it's my best guess after today."

"Davy, you'll find pretty blonde girls everywhere you go, have you only just noticed now?" She asked, incredulously. She didn't expect an answer though, so Geo made to with simply staring at Davy's profile with a raised eyebrow. It was cute that Davy had only just figured out that there were a lot of blonde girls in their high school - and even Geo could admit that most of them deserved to be on a runway rather than in high school corridors making the rest of the girl population feel bad, but then again, in a place like Beverly Hills High it was rare to see any girl that didn't look pretty, blonde or not.

Seemingly amused, Viola kept her eyes on Davy as he would talk to Geo about his day. It was cute how he seemingly was talking effortlessly to the blue-haired pet-freak. Whether there was something between them didn't matter to Viola. At this point, she was merely allowing her boredom to be taken by taking these two as her temporary company. Surely something better would happen soon, right? Speaking of better things, Viola's phone buzzed. She looked briefly over to Geo and Davy. They were still talking. They wouldn't notice if she took to her phone. Even if they did, it wouldn't stop her.

Looking at her phone, Viola smiled. Those lips curled, her tongue lightly coated them in a circular motion. It was her queen. Let's see what she wants.


A rat, she says? Could she mean - nah, that couldn't be. Then again, she was never one to..

When she put away her phone, Viola found herself getting rather excited. She hadn't seen that doll in a full day. She would be robbing herself of a good time, regardless of a certain rodent, if she didn't jump on the chance to see her queen. Besides, things in this quaint pet shop was getting trite, so Viola would have to excuse herself as politely as she could.

"Sorry hun, but I must leave. A friend is in dire need of my assistance." Viola suddenly said, walking up to Davy, ignoring Geo completely. "Just so that you don't miss me too much, hun," Viola, not paying any mind to Geo or the conversation she was having with Davy, gave him one last parting gift: a kiss to make him remember her by. It was a deep one, tongue meeting tongue, and Viola leaving an imprint of her lipstick right on his lips. That cherry color matching his deep pink lips.

And with that, Viola was gone. She was out of the door, her body leaving their view, and Viola's car roaring off into the streets of Beverly Hills.

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The entire afternoon was spent talking and eating strawberries (with some melted chocolate to dip in, for Anna). It was nice to spend some time to unwind, de-stress and simply relax. Well, de-stress as much as possible while watching obsessively at the security cameras that littered the guest house - something about Lyss wanting to make sure that Ty didn't touch anything. Her battery had died out by the time it was five, Anna having to borrow Lyssa's charger so she could still be reachable by her parents - or Jackson - if needed.

Looking out at the still somewhat bright sky, painted a beautiful mixture of pinks and oranges, Anna reached out beside her to grab her phone from falling from the bed. "Thank you for letting me use the charger," She thanked Lyss before turning on her phone. She rolled over to her stomach on the bed, letting her legs swing as the picture of her and Winston appeared on her screen. Part of her died (of cuteness) right there; she missed her pet, and even though Turk was just as adorable, nothing would beat her dear old Winston in the cuteness competition. At least, in her (very wise - ahem, humble) opinion anyway.

The screen lit up once more, this time signalling a text from Jackson. She peered down, and looked back up at Lyssa while gnawing at her bottom lip. Was it the right time to text and see if he was free? She wondered, 'she's still obsessing over Ty...'



She sent the text, before locking her phone and laying back down on her arms. "Lyss!" Anna drew out the s in her name in a childish groan, "stop worrying over him, he's not going to do anything."

Alyssa looked over her shoulder and waved Anna off as she flipped through the security cameras again, hunting Ty down. "The second I look away, he's going to do something. I can sense it," she said, snapping her fingers to summon Turk. The hound stood up from his corner and lumbered over to Alyssa, placing his head on her thigh and she scratched behind his ears. "I don't know what he'll do, but I"m sure it'll be important to the sanctity of my home." She put her hand in front of Turk's mouth.

"Kiss." She said, and the dog he licked at her hand, then she patted the bed and Turk hopped up beside her. Apologetically, she looked over at Anna. "I would have sent someone to fetch Winston, had I known you were staying over," she explained, frowning as she popped a nearby strawberry into her mouth. "I should have anticipated it, I suppose. I could still send Butler. He isn't busy, at least it's doubtful he is."

"It's fine," Anna curled up on the bed with her phone hidden in her crossed arms, "Winnie's probably glad to get a break from me today so there's no need to send Butler off unnecessarily." She reached out, trying to pat Turk's head gently to pass the time.

Jackson was standing in the bathroom of the gym, trying to wash his face off. His shirt lay on the floor next to him, several spots darkening into the fabric. Dipping his face so it was near the stream off water, he gently patted at one of the dark red lines that ran across his forehead. He winced as he touched it, the stinging causing him to flinch back. Straightening up, Jackson looked into the mirror, watching as drops of water ran down his face and over his lean muscled body.

Next to him on the bench, a faint buzzing sound could be heard. Quickly reaching over, he whipped his shirt away to grab his phone. A small smile came to his face when he saw who it was. Anna. He was about to answer when he caught sight of himself in the mirror. Wouldn't be good to let her see that. It would be just like her to worry about everything. But then again, she did just want to call. She never had to see his face.

To: Panda
Yeah sure you can call me whenever

The ring from her phone brought an excited smile to Anna's face as she fumbled to grab the device to read the message. An idea formed in her mind, before she grinned and pressed the Facetime app just as Turk curled over near her. She turned over so she could have Turk in the view of the camera as the dial-tone filled the room.

Jackson set the phone down on the sink. While he was leaning in to clean a certain stinging cut, his phone began to rang. Without looking Jackson reached over and hit the answer button. "Hey, hold on I'm just washing up." Glancing over at the phone out of the corner of his eye he saw a reflection. Immediately his head whipped over and he saw an image of Anna sitting on his phone staring at him. "Oh fuck." Jackson dove out of the view of the camera, hoping she didn't see anything.

It was unlucky on Anna's part, she'd been too distracted by shuffling in her place and playing with Turk that she hadn't focused on her screen to notice her boyfriend's face in time. By the time she'd noticed the background on her phone, Turk was curled up in her lap as she was sat with her legs crossed. "Where'd you go?" She asked, a pout forming on her face as she rubbed the top of Turk's head with her thumb gently.

Breathing out a sigh of relief that he hadn't been caught, Jackson glanced back over at the phone. Anna sat that with the most adorable pouting face he had ever seen. In that instant he wished he was there with her. She'd probably kill him, or worry herself to death if he was, but at least he could have kissed those amazing pouting lips. "Sorry, I'm... undressed? Wouldn't want to make an undecent woman out of you now would I?" It was only a half lie. He wasn't wearing a shirt, though he supposed he could care less if she was decent or not.

Undressed? The word buzzed in her head and it took only a second for her face to react; cheeks burning and mouth growing dry. She avoided looking at the camera, her pout gone as she stammered out a quick "h-hurry up, Lyssy's here too." while busying herself with the dog sitting comfortably on her lap.

Jackson was stressing looking around for another excuse to not show his face. Reaching out to grab the phone so he could make sure it didn't point at him, he missed. Instead his hand accidentally brushed the edge of the phone knocking it off of its precarious position and right into his lap, facing him. Jackson didn't even have time to move before Anna could see.

The sudden commotion was enough to startle Anna out of her embarrassed state to check whether Jackson was safe. The next few seconds felt like a long, tense one. Anna scanned Jackson's face, eyes widened as she took in each bruise and mark on him with stunned silence. After blinking a couple times, the questions came out like an uncontrollable waterfall. "What!? Jackson, what happened to you-- how did you get hurt?! Are y-you okay now?! Why didn't you tell me--"

"Hurt? What do you mean hurt?" Jackson turned away from the phone as if to look at himself in the mirror. A fake gasp came out. "My face! Oh no! What shall I do? That was my real money maker, you know." A hand came up to his forehead in mock faint. Instantly a stinging sensation arose as he brushed against a cut. Cussing Jackson turned back to the phone. Becoming more serious now he said, "I'm fine, just a couple scapes and bruises, doesn't even hurt that bad."

Her mouth curled into a dissatisfied frown as Jackson didn't take her questions seriously at first. She winced as she noticed him cussing after touching his forehead, before she got even more worried. "Just a couple of scrapes and bruises? How did this happen?" She parroted.

Jackson's head dipped slightly, and his voice dropped. Shaking his head he quietly said, "It was nothing. Nothing. Nothing. I was just... just fighting." His forhead scrunched together at the sound of the words that came out.

"It looks like you were mauled by something!" Mauled... may have taken it too far, but to worry-wart Anna a tiny cut on her loved one could seem like a stab wound.

"What? No no no. Forget that. I was just boxing. It's something I... do?" Jackson got quiet like a child that was about to be reprimanded. "I'm fine..."

"Jackson, why would you allow yourself to be hurt this bad? Boxing I understand, but to let it go this far? Wait! Are you hurt anywhere else? God this is a right old mess..." She mumbled the last part under her breath, sighing. "I'm sorry for overreacting I... I just-" Just what? Got too worried over a couple of scrapes? That would just make her seem like a bigger drama queen compared to some of the girls at school.

Anna looked back at the screen, taking in her boyfriend's state before finally making up her mind. It was for the best, right? She would be able to see for herself if Jackson was okay, and if not, she would be able to help him. Either way, it was for her peace of mind and her heart could only hope that Alyssa wouldn't mind too much. "Why don't you come over?" She asked instead, not expecting her previous questions to be answered as she pushed for this request. "I need to make sure you're alright, for my peace of mind." Though she'd said it shyly, there was no room for him to argue.

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Jackson stood outside of his girlfriend's house looking up at her window. It was a really nice house, even for his standards. He stood there for a moment, in the dark and grass until he finalized his motivation to move. Picking up a small rock he tossed the stone lightly at the window. It missed, instead bouncing off the side of the house and hitting him in the head. "Fuck, fuck, fuck." He cursed in his breathe, so Anna wouldn't hear.

Glancing back up at the house with a hand on his head this time, he could actually see Anna moving around in her room. She was too far away for him to actually see what she was doing. Smiling up at her, he wondered if she had dressed up for homecoming already. He was wearing black. It probably didn't match with whatever the theme was, but he couldn't have cared less. Deciding that the welt on his head had diminished enough, Jackson picked up another stone and threw it once again at the window.

This time luck was in his favor. It smacked the window, dead on and didn't hit him. Cupping his hands around his mouth he called up in a shouted whisper. "Romeo, romeo, wherefore art thou?" Pausing for a second, his head dipped in thought of what he had just said. "Shit, sorry Anna, I fucked it up. Go back inside. You didn't see me. I'm going to start that over." He turned around unable to hide the goofy smile on his face.

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She paced across her room, checking the dress from each possible angle and lighting before tossing the dress over her head into a pile of no's. "Analise, sweetie, is it really that necessary to make such a mess? I'm sure you've crumpled a couple of beautiful dresses already." Analise's mother piped up from her position on Anna's bed, watching the growing pile of discarded dresses warily.

Anna didn't respond, but she followed her mother's gaze to the pile with a wince before returning back to her tensed pacing around her room. Georgina Arnette sighed before standing up, walking towards her daughter and holding her still by her shoulders then forcing her to sit down on the bed. "That's enough pacing for you, I might have something for you in my closet."

"But m-"

"No buts, I'll be right back."

After a couple minutes of Georgina disappearing from Anna's bedroom, she returned with a box in her hand. Anna tilted her head, standing up again to give room for the box, which was placed on the bed. Anna took note of her mother's giddy grin - something that Anna inherited before going right in to open the box curiously.

Inside was a long, black dress with a short trail. The chest had a V-shaped lace design, and the skirt of the dress grew sheer the lower you went. On the back was another lacy design - this time of flowers and vines. It was a dress that Anna recognised, and she looked at her mother again. "Didn't you wear this for--"

"For my first movie premiere, yes. Do you like it?" Anna nodded, smiling as she brushed her hand against the fabric.

"Then wear it."

That was all the blonde girl needed; she took the dress and dashed off to the ensuite, changing out of her pyjamas and into her mother's soft dress. She came out of the bathroom minutes later, shyly twirling around in front of a full bodied mirror before facing her mother again.

"It looks wonderful, baby. Finish getting ready, your daddy and I need to take pictures~" Georgina clapped her hands, kissing her daughter's cheek before leaving her bedroom once again.

It took another half an hour for the blonde to finally finish getting her hair and make-up done. Once she was satisfied by the end result, she smiled at her reflection in the mirror before blowing a playful kiss. The sound of something hitting her window pulled her out of her playful mood, and she looked in the direction of it only to hear a muffled voice.

"Romeo, romeo, wherefore art thou?"

Anna laughed, recognising the voice immediately and heading towards the window to open it. She poked her head out, only to be ordered to go back inside by Jackson. "Why start that over? It was cute~" She teased as she leaned against the window frame. "You do realise you can come in, right? Actually- no, I'll come down to you right now! Hold on, I'm already ready anyway." In a hurry, she shut her window once more and rushed to pick up her small purse that kept her phone and medication before turning off the lights and dashing down the stairs towards the front door, passing by the servants almost clumsily as she did so.

"Anna where-"

"Jackson's here! I need to go!" Anna felt bad for not letting her mother take any pictures, but she didn't want to keep him waiting outside for too long. She slipped out the front door, shutting it behind her and leaning on the frame. "Okay, I highly recommend stopping me from running in heels. Especially if it involves me going up or down some stairs." Analise said, before giving Jackson a huge grin.

"You clean up nicely, Penguin~" And the teasing was back.

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"Tum itna saj dhaj ke kidhar ja rahe ho?"

Lakshya adjusted the sleeve of his suit jacket, tugging the material together with a dark cufflink before doing the same to the other sleeve. "Homecoming, mausi; some dance to celebrate the football season, I think?"

There was a chortle from behind him, and Lucky turned to look over his shoulder to see Sana clutching her stomach and laughing. "I thought you were allergic to dressing nicely?" Lucky narrowed his eyes at his aunt before returning to fix his jacket. "Or maybe you're trying to impress someone?" Lucky could see the eyebrow wiggle and annoying smirk on her face despite not facing her; but his reaction (hmping and avoiding talking to her) was enough for another round of laughter from the overly joyous woman. "C'mon, at least loosen some of the buttons up; you're going to party, not to a business meeting."

Lucky took her advice, albeit reluctantly before straightening up. "I'll be back soon, probably. I don't know how long really, and it depends on how bad the get together is, but you don't need to stay up for me."

"Wasn't planning on it anyway. If you and your lady friend will need some private time, I won't disturb you." There was the annoying wink again before Sana dodged the pillow thrown by Lucky. "Okay okay! I'll be out of your skin now. Have fun! She called before escaping his bedroom.

He loved his aunt, he really did. But she was definitely a pain in the arse when it came to him. She knew that Lucky was easily riled up by her teases, she was his main tormentor when he was still a child living in India - and now he was living with her with no Swara to keep her tamed.

Lucky left the building minutes later, his hand tucked into his trouser pockets as he walked to the high school. There was no point paying for a taxi or an expensive limo to drive him only two blocks; it was a waste of money just to look pretentious. He arrived fifteen minutes later, the crowds slowly building up as students began arriving in their fancy cars and dresses or suits. He passed through the entrance, peering over the heads of the students and finding the person he was looking for leaning against a railing.

"Expecting me?" He asked Dominique, nodding his head in the direction of her phone with a smirk.

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