“JESUS CHRIST!” He saw all the women in his life looking down at him. Some with wrathful anger in their eyes (Mae and Lucy), some with naivety written all over their face (just his mother), and some with grins that had various, different meanings behind them (Bailey and June). Dad was probably already gone. That’s usually how things went, since he had to take care of his own Brady Bunch. Niles’ mother wore a red ruffle polka dot top with khaki pants. Meanwhile, his sisters were as ready as ever to walk out the door. Mae would drop off Bailey and Theo at grade school, Lucy-Pearl at Lobelia Academy for All Girls (who luckily didn’t have to wear her uniform today), and then, finally, when all was said and done, she would take herself and June to the nearby university. It was rather convenient that everything was on the way to his older sister's’ university.

The next five minutes were a complete blur since he rushed out of bed, kicked everyone out, while giving his younger siblings (minus Lucy who didn’t want to be touched) a kiss on the forehead goodbye. He hadn’t realized that devious Bailey slipped a broken pen in his used jean’s pocket on the floor (that he wore yesterday). Somehow she knew those were the exact pants he would throw on. Typical Niles. While walking out the door with his mother, having already stuffed his face with bacon, cut oranges, and milk, he glanced at his phone and noticed he received two texts from someone he cared about beyond belief.



After he sent the text, he realized how bad that sounded. Goddammit, Niles.



Getting in the car, Niles banged his knee on the dashboard, while sitting down (which made him not realize the bleeding ink pen in his ass pocket), “Fucking-A!” He growled in pain.

“Such a potty mouth.” His adorable mother entered the car and shook her head in disappointment, “You’re the reason why Bailey will end up just like you.”

“And that’s a bad thing because? Guys won’t touch her with a vocabulary like mine.” He watched his relatively, oblivious and too-sweet-for-this-world mother start the engine up and slowly back up. Within these short seconds of her concentrating on driving, Suzanne felt inclined to change the subject to…

“When are you going to bring a girl home?” She gleefully asked. Not realizing how much this question brought an arrow straight to his heart. His mother always had a way of damaging his self esteem even if she didn’t intend to. Blinking dumbly at his mother, Niles opened his mouth to retort but decided against it, gingerly closing it.

He thought to himself for a moment before sighing in defeat at how bad he was with girls, “Maybe in college I’ll have better luck…” His mother drove off, with a lovely smile on her face, at the speed limit. She had no idea how much he was internally suffering right now. Her and dad had it easy! They just fell in love. Why can’t his love life be that easy?!

“You better at least find a date for all your dances. I don’t care if it’s a different girl for each one! I WANT TO TAKE PICTURES.” His mother held the steering wheel tightly. He had an odd feeling her expression of determination was hinting at her uncontainable desire to find her boy a lady at Beverly Hills High. By the gods, a text message saved him as his mother went on a tangent on how it was every mother’s dream to see their sons find wonderful ladies that make them happy. He should give dating a chance to at least find out what his type was. His mother had no idea that his type was Analise, who was not only out of his league, but also… she would just never see him in the same light. He knew that already...

Peering down at his phone, he saw a text from Alba and a gentle smile fell on his face. Replying back, he let his mother’s voice become background noise.



He nodded at himself with how cool he was and sent one more text out before bringing his attention back to his mother. Alba was probably the one person he felt like he could be an absolute dork with and she would be fine with just the way he was. With Anna, he couldn’t help but get nervous and stumble on his words or trip over absolutely nothing. Granted, he wasn’t the only guy looking at her. SHE HAS SO MANY FRIENDS. He was sure a fair amount of them wanted to date her. As long as he was in her life, even if it was just a friend, the geek would be happy. Friendship was more than enough for him.







"Alba! Vámonos!”

Her aunt’s shout brought Alba Santiago back to the present. The young woman, already dressed and ready for school, had spent her free minutes before leaving emptying her thoughts on a piece of paper. Her head often got too cluttered if she didn’t, and the writing always helped to keep her feelings in check. Closing the cursive-filled pages, Alba slipped her diary inside her backpack, threw it over her shoulder and walked downstairs, where her mother Lourdes was waiting to see her off. Lourdes gave a hug and a kiss to Alba and gave her the customary ‘blessing’ before her daughter was out the door and inside the passenger’s seat of her sister’s car, who would be the one to drive her to school. After a 20 minute drive on full karaoke mode to their beloved bachata music, Lucía dropped off her niece, making sure to wish her good luck before leaving back to the salon. With her stomach in nervous knots (she’d been so nervous that she hadn’t had breakfast), Alba made her way to the inside of the school building. At once, she felt the eyes of her classmates on her, and she knew exactly what they were looking at...

Two weeks before school was scheduled to start, an excited Lucía basically begged her niece to let her use her as a ‘model’ to try out what she had temptingly described as ‘the newest and hottest trend in the hair industry’ at the moment. Alba, lured in by the possibility of rocking amazing hair when she got to school, cheerfully agreed to be her aunt’s guinea pig without really knowing what would happen to her hair. A few hours later, a high-pitched scream erupted from the salon as Alba’s eyes fell on what her aunt had done to her. The hair trend that Lucía had convinced her niece to let her do was the grey hair, but it didn’t stop there. Alba’s long, shiny locks were not only silvered-colored, but her aunt had gone the extra step to dye the ends a light lavender color in the form of the ‘ombre’ technique. Horrified, Alba had cried her eyes out, but there was not much she could do besides that. As a hair stylist, Alba knew that in order to keep her hair from frying off her scalp she had to wait at least a month before doing any sort of chemical procedure on her locks. So, much to her luck, she would be rocking the silver and lavender hair for a while.

Feeling even more self-conscious than she’d ever been and completely anxious to get the hell away from people, Alba sent a plea for help to her knight in shining armor in the form of a text message:



She hit the send button on her screen and locked her phone screen while finding a place to hide behind. Luckily, she didn’t have to wait long for Niles’ reply. She let out a laugh at his geeky reference, and when he asked if she wanted to meet him at their spot, her fingers flew across the screen to send back a quick yes.


Clutching onto the manga, Niles walked down the hall wondering WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED. Eve was so goddamn nice to him. She – a major player at Beverly Hills High – complimented him. As he walked, kids chuckled at him and his eyes narrowed. Not sure if they’re happy or if they think I look funny. He tried to drown out the noise of all the stupid teens that surrounded him. God, highschool fucking sucked. Absentmindedly, he tapped the book on his leg thinking about the words Eve had graced him earlier. You're a handsome boy, I'm sure there's someone waiting for you right now who wouldn't mind going on a date. Evelyn Harding, an aspiring symphonic singer, thought he was handsome. That must hold some value, right? The poor guy had no idea there was a large ink spot on his right ass cheek (well the pants).

As decided in their text message conversation earlier, Alba sat on the teacher’s desk of the chemistry lab, patiently waiting for Niles while she read the pages of the latest gossip her TV y Novelas magazine had to offer.. All throughout her (thankfully) short walk to the lab, Alba felt the eyes of her classmates on her hair, even though she’d managed to find a hat in her locker to cover some of it. It came as a great relief to finally be able to escape the prying eyes of everyone and find solace in hers and Niles’ ‘secret spot’. If she was honest with herself, there were nights in which this exact location was used by her and her best friend to have some anatomy lessons instead of Chemistry (actually, when you thought about it, chemistry was also involved in what happened, but whatever), but of course no one needed to know that. Her random dreams with Niles were probably the product of her crazy, needy hormones, and probably the fact that he was her only male best friend… But damn he was hot! .

And speaking of the devil… “Heeeeyyyyyy, papi!” Alba happily greeted Niles from the desk as he walked inside the room, putting away the magazine in her backpack and waving at him with one hand. “Coming to see my grandma hair, I suppose?” she asked him good-naturedly, taking off the hat so that Niles could fully appreciate the damage done.

The perplexed expression was still stuck on Niles’ face when he strolled into the lab. When he finally saw his best friend, a cheesy smirk fell on his pale face, “I know why people are staring at you, you’re fucking hot, Alba. Like damnnnnnn girl. Can I have yo numba? Oh wait. I already do.” Sure, the geek liked to tease his friend, but he wasn’t lying. She could pull off any look without really trying. Not many girls were capable of doing that.

Alba gave him a skeptical look as if saying “really, bitch?”, but the half-smile in her lips was enough to let Niles know she was just joking, as was the small giggle that came out. “Good one, Nilescito. Me? Hot? I think ‘chu hit ‘chur head against somethin’ hard, ‘cuz if you think these fat rolls are hot then you have a serious problem,” she declared, her thick accent now showing in her sentences. Typical Alba: reply to a compliment with a self-shaming comment. When would she ever learn to just say “thank you”?

“Who cares about all that? You’re a beautiful person and that’s all that matters.” He genuinely complimented. Niles knew Alba wasn’t the most positive woman in the book, granted, how many kids their age were (himself included)? She reminded him of his eldest sister, Mae, who spent most of her high school years staring into a mirror and wishing she wasn’t a thicker girl. Her major problem was she constantly compared herself with other women. Women were complicated as hell and Niles was surrounded by the lot of them. Within time, Mae finally grew into her powerful, confident ‘knows what she wants’ self. Ever since she made major leaps in college (and ultimately her career success), gaining respect not only from teachers but also her colleagues, she’s been happier. He doesn’t know who exactly helped her crawl out of her pit of despair, but someone did, and for that, Niles would be eternally grateful. Deciding to change the subject, the geek crossed his arms and made his way to the teacher’s desk, “Can I ask you something?” There was a brief moment that silence filled the room. Meeting her gaze, he added, “Don’t worry, it’s nothing serious. I’m just curious about what you’d think.”

Alba snorted, shaking her head disapprovingly. “Yeah, because being a ‘good person’-” Alba did air quotes with her index and middle fingers. “Is what gets ‘chu noticed here in Beverly Hills High. Good try, though.” Leave it to Niles to try to cheer her up with empty words. She appreciated his efforts, of course (not like there were any other guys trying), but in the end she knew that she just wasn’t what the guys in this school -let alone this area- were looking for.

When Niles crossed his arms and walked to where she was with a serious look on her face, Alba was brought back to the present. “Qué?” the young woman asked her best friend, a concerned look in her eyes. The feeling intensified when he asked if he could ask her something, and instead of replying Alba was silent for a moment. For some reason, a familiar uneasy feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. Call it sixth sense, or woman’s intuition, but something told her the question Niles would ask her would have something she wouldn’t particularly like. “Ummm, dale, okay. What is it?”

Of course, Alba would brush off his compliment, which in return he simply sighed. One day, he hoped she could see her worth. She IS a beautiful person, inside and out (whether she liked it or not). At last, that wasn’t a battle he could fight for her, but he could be there when she needed a shoulder to cry on or a warm embrace. Absentmindedly, Niles tapped his right foot while he tried to word his question properly, keeping a tempo with his foot. The words of Eve were coursing through his mind. He should just spit it out and say it. Okay, Niles. On the count of three, just ask. The internal flames within him to bring out a question that had a lot to do with him made his palms sweaty and his throat dry. He let the silence drag on a little too long, as he mentally counted: 1….2…. Taking a deep breath in, he clumsily blurted out, “Do you think I’m fuckable?” NO- THAT’S NOT WHAT HE MEANT. “I mean, fuck—datable. Do you think I’m dateable!?” Uncrossing his arms, he rubbed his sweaty hands on his palms, “I’ve had a weird morning…”

The question caught Alba completely off guard. Eyes wide as saucers, Alba had to hold the desk firmly to avoid falling backwards. Where the hell had this come from? Was Niles a mind-reader, and had somehow been an invisible spectator to the R-rated movie her imagination had come up with while she waited for him? Had he possibly figured out that she had always thought of him as fuckable? No, there was no way… Or was it? Alba didn’t know. Hopefully her hot face wasn’t an indication of her cheeks blazing under her caramel skin, and if it was, she prayed that Niles brushed her reaction off as embarrassment instead of what it truly was.

“Honestly? Um…” Alba hesitated, worried about making this whole thing more awkward than it already was. “Sí. I’d say ‘chu’re not just dateable, but fuckable as ‘chu very well said. Not that I’ve ever stopped to think about it, of course!” she added with a nervous laugh and averting her eyes, trying but failing spectacularly to seem innocent. Good job, Alba.

His void brown orbs stared at her taking in every subtlety, every movement, action, and infliction. He wanted to know if he was worth any woman’s time. What better way than to ask one of his main squeezes? Red leaked into her cheeks, it was kind of adorable. He knew this was one hell of an awkward question, so yeah, her embarrassment was understandable. His heart fluttered when she said he was both dateable and fuckable. A cheesy ass grin graced his face, as if this was the best thing he’s heard ever. She avoided looking into his eyes but why? Was his question that humiliating? Well, yeah, he just made his friend look at him sexually when she’s probably never felt the need to. Way to go, Niles.

“Nah, it’s cool. Gives me hope!” Giving himself a fist bump, he proclaimed, “It’s official! I’m going to forget about Analise. I’d never stand a chance.” Placing his hands on her shoulders, he earnestly asked, “I’d need your help. Can you—” The bell rang, letting them know assembly was over. Pulling away from his friend, he moonwalked to the exit like a dork, “Give me a makeover? Ma wants me to find a date for my homecoming!” Turning around, he revealed his ink stained pants. Oh Niles, you fool.

Alba suppressed the urge to let out a sigh of relief when Niles brush off her confession without looking into it too much, and couldn’t help but smile in delight when he declared he would be officially forgetting Analise.f he kept his word and tried looking at new horizons… This would be Alba’s chance to make herself noticed. Not that she would attempt to do so, of course. Jeopardizing her relationship with her only friend at school on their last year together was not in her plans. If he wanted to see her as more than a friend, it would be on him.

“Coño, ya era hora! You deserve a lot better.” she said earnestly, sassily tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Leave it to Alba to throw shade at her best friend’s crush with no fucks given. “Oh! And mira, I need a date for homecoming as well! So I’ll give you a makeover with the condition that you go with me. My tía has me loca with the question of if I have a boyfriend or not, so this way we can please our familias and not look as idiots at the same time. Que crees?” Alba proposed, raising a mischievous eyebrow up at Niles with a smirk placed on her full lips. She had thrown the idea at him absentmindedly, but if she gave it some thought it was a pretty damn good one. The young woman had never attended any social activity of this sort throughout her high school years because of not having anyone to go with, so this was the best chance to start living her senior year to the fullest, enjoy the dance and maybe just maybe have Niles see someone beyond that clueless white girl he was so crazy over and who’d friendzoned him too many times to count.

This was… ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT! Niles would look good, feel good, and his mom would totally be okay with him taking Alba to homecoming. She adored her! This not only made his life easier, since homecoming was just around the corner, but it also gave him the opportunity to look at his options for future dances to come. Together, they were an unstoppable force! “Great thinking! Hell yeah, I still want a makeover. I want to see what you can do with a mess like me~” He glanced back at her and gave a playful wink, which unintentionally came off as suggestive. “Come on, let’s check out the fair. I gotta’ make sure I sign up for tabletop club. My people need me!”

The suggestive wink and the way he said I want to see what you can do with a mess like me~ made Alba’s hormones run wild in ways she’d never experienced before. Sure, the pair had had their fair share of suggestive conversations, but it was never implied that they’d thought of each other beyond a close friendship. ”Ay, Nilescito… If you only knew that the pages of my diary are full of all the things I would do to a mess like you… Shaking her head before her imaginative mind decided to get creative and further embarrass her by coming up with more wonderful scenarios of her and Niles, Alba rolled her eyes at her friend, slid off the desk and followed his lead. “Okay, I’ll give you your makeover Nilescito. But for now… Lead the way, all-mighty dragon slayer!” she declared in her deepest tone of voice, followed by giggles. Honestly, Alba didn’t want to give people a chance to make fun of her and her grandma hair, but the prospect of spending more time with Niles was enough to persuade her otherwise.


Before they arrived at the fair, Niles and Alba had to take a detour to the Nurse’s office because eventually, as they were walking down the halls… An amused Alba caught sight of the large black spot on his ass, and she spent the whole walk there laughing until she was hoarse. Thanks Bailey. His mother usually always had an extra pair of clothes for him since this wouldn’t be the first time he’s gotten in a messy accident. He was even able to tell her that Alba would be his date to homecoming and her cheeks became a rose color of pure motherly merriment, just as Alba’s would a minute later with his actions. While his mother went to talk to the secretary, outside her office, Niles, without a care in the world, changed his black jeans into blue, right in front of his friend. He gave no fucks and was wearing Teenage Mutant Ninja turtle boxers. Yepp. Geek pride.

Though Alba tried her hardest to keep her cool and appear as if she wasn’t paying attention to what was going on in front of her, there was no way she could keep her greedy brown eyes off Niles. While most girls would be completely turned off by the TMNT boxers, in Alba’s eyes it only added to the appeal. She adored that Niles was a geek, a true child at heart, unlike the majority of the uptight, metrosexual guys in this school. In her eyes, being who he was made Niles way cooler than any of the six-pack-bearing, expensive-car-owning, filthy-rich male population of Beverly Hills High. The boxers weren’t the only thing she noticed, though... If her assumptions were right, whoever got the privilege of being with Niles would have a hell of a time, and the sight of what was underneath the geeky boxers only fed the fantasies that would surely come to Alba late that night.

When all was said and done, the two friends made their way to the Clubs and Activities fair where Niles promptly caught sight of Analise - like he had a radar for his crush, much to Alba’s chagrin. The most intense thing about where she was were the people she currently mingled with. Eve, not so much, anymore, but Audrey…

Now that was a woman that Alba admired to a fault. When she had finished taking the hair styling courses and started working on the salon, Audrey had been one of her first clients, and she’d been so impressed with Alba’s work that she became one of her most faithful clients. Since Audrey visited the salon twice a week, the girls had spent many hours together talking about their lives, and enough for what everyone considered the “ice queen” of Beverly Hills High to consider Alba a friend (as said so herself).Though they didn’t hang out at school, Audrey always made sure to greet Alba whenever they saw each other at the halls, and made sure to text her once a week to see what she was up to. For that, Alba was thankful. But if Alba was honest with herself, she had to admit that she envied Audrey’s life to a certain degree: beautiful, smart, rich, talented, THIN, and had never gone through a rough patch in all her life. It wasn’t the bad kind of envy, though, but more like a longing feeling of ‘I wish I could be her’. Oh, well. Who said life was fair, anyway?

Taking a deep gulp in, he shuffled his way to his best friend he’s had since Freshmen year. Something was telling him to be careful with his words, as he googly-eyed some of the most dominant/popular/hot women all in one place. Alright, breathe. Sluggishly lifting his right hand up, he conscientiously greeted, “So… sorry for interrupting anything. Just came here to say you guys have nice butts. FUCKING SHIT, NILES. “But you already knew that eh-heh! I mean, everyone probably tells you that. Amiright?!” Digging your own damn grave. Niles hadn’t realized the gorgeous, smaller blonde beside Anna until he turned his head and internally jumped, “Shit-tits. Your legs.”

Meanwhile, Alba’s eyes narrowed at the sight of the bubbly blonde. She’d never really liked her, even before meeting Niles. There was just something about how she was -or wanted to be- friends with everyone that rubbed Alba the wrong way, as if she was needy for approval or something. She also seemed like a pushover, and the kind of girl who would burst into tears if anyone so much as gave her a dirty look. Alba didn’t like those girls: those weak, delicate flowers who seemed to blossom from getting on everyone’s good spirits. In Alba’s mind, it was best to surround yourself with powerful women like Audrey, who Anna was hugging.

So when Niles walked up to them and completely made a fool of himself, Alba had no choice than to run to his aid. “Ay Dios mío!” Alba exclaimed, pushing Niles behind her and away from Audrey, who looked like she was ready to rip his head off. “I’m so sorry, Audrey! Please excuse my friend here. He tends to completely make a fool of himself most of the time when talking to women.” And just in case Audrey was already plotting his death, she quickly added. “I’ll give you 30% off your next salon appointment if you don’t hurt him.”

The gods have saved him - hopefully.

---

A little confused about how their conversation came to hair, Atlantis cocked her head to the side as she stared at Jackson. Why was he talking about hair? And Donald Trump? Weird kid, definitely had all sorts of weird stuff bouncing around his imaginative head. She has been trying to talk about how that was one way to sweep a girl off her feet. At the same time it might have confused him since it had been her fault that they were now lying on each other in the middle of the walkway. Tis was sure they were getting all sorts of weird looks, but she couldn't care less. Naturally she assumed Jackson would think the same.

When the effort of lifting her head became too much effort to hold up, Tis rested it on his bony chest. Starring once again, at him, as her bangs fell cutely across her eyes, she eyed his coat. Nerdy of course, she would expect nothing else, but it was still better than a soaking wet bra. The only problem was how to convince him to share with her. Obviously he couldn't understand, and she was much to prideful to try and speak English. Like where was the fun in that. Tisian was a much more colorful language.

Sighing exaggeratedly Tis spoke as she tried to rub the goosebumps off her arms. "Bro, bro, totally need to hook up the street-killa with a little southern cali." Knowing that her language would probably not compute she gave an exaggerated eye gesture to the hoodie he was wearing.

Why was this happening?

That was a question that Jason Singh kept on asking himself. Why did Rhett, who Jay had known by name since the beginning of the summer, not only shout out the name that he kept on calling him — Coffee Guy — but he did so at such a volume that Jay could feel his peers looking at him. He could feel those gazes from all around him. Jason felt them examining him. They were probably wondering who this “Coffee Guy” was, and why, of all people, was Rhett calling him over to join him with the girl that Jay has had a crush on for God-only-knows how long. Jay didn’t quite understand it.

And he was stalling.

Twenty seconds passed. Jay was just standing there, and people were looking at him still. He had to do something. The brown-haired senior had to do something soon or else people were going to think things about him. That’s the last thing he wanted. Act fast, Jason. Act fast, and do it with a smile.

So Jay did, and he was walking — and walking and walking and walking. Without even realizing, the Singh sibling that had the worst social anxiety out him and his sister(who had none) had joined Rhett. Not only that, but he had joined him with Sierra. Jay was doing all that he could to not collapse from being this close to her. It wasn’t the fact that he was this close to her that was getting him so nervous. Yeah, Jay was sweating bullets internally, but it was the fact that now she knew who he was. She didn’t know his last name, so that, at the very least, brought him some comfort. Still, Jay could not hide the uneasiness he felt in the pit of his stomach. This wasn’t going to end well.


Jade looked over at Ely and whoever that blonde fresh meat was. She looked tiny, but Jade was far away at the water fountain, so of course those two bitches would look tiny as fuck. Still, the blonde senior was curious as to what Ely was telling the frosh. So she took it upon herself to go over there. Of course, that would be after she got herself a nice, long, wet drink of water. All of that running had her dehydrated as all hell.

“Ah, refreshing.” Jade was off. She took to a jog. She found herself there over by Ely and the little, tiny freshman blonde. “What’s up bitch?” Jade asked, though she didn’t get an answer right away, but eventually Ely would tell her what was happening. They were gonna go to the courtyard. Along the way, the little fresh blonde would introduce herself as Poppy. Jade thought that was a weird name, but then again Ely’s name was Elysia. That’s as unique as one could get, so Jade didn’t judge; however, she would note that Poppy would get popped a good one if the wrong person heard that name. Especially with how uniquely different Poppy looked. People hated originality. But as long as Poppy was with Jade and Ely, no one would dare fuck with her — for now.

As they would stroll into the courtyard, the three blondes chose a table that was somewhat near where Jade had spotted one of her cousins that went to Beverly Hills High School, Jay. they weren’t that close, but enough for Jade. His father was an ass. He felt that Jade wasn’t a good influence. Jade never cared for her Uncle Girisha, anyways. What kind of stupid-ass name was Girisha, anyways? Obviously his parents didn’t like him that much. It was almost as bad as of a name to have growing up than Poppy was.

Jade sat in reverse so that she could see the happenings in the courtyard. It was the same bullshit as it always was, but something interesting was happening. Jay was being called over by Rhett who was with Sierra. Jade raised a curious eyebrow as he first was being called Coffee Guy. Jade laughed after hearing that. “Only that idiot would call the poor kid that.” Jade commented to herself. It was interesting to say the least. Rhett calling Jay over. Jade couldn’t place it exactly, but she saw Jay hesitating. She didn’t know what was up with that. She had always known Jay to be a bit timid. In the few times over the past few months that Jade hung out with him at his house, he was rather withdrawn; even when it came to Jade, his own cousin, so she had to imagine this was a stressful situation for him. Still, as she observed, he made his way over there. “Atta boy.” Jade commented.

Just as she was about to turn to Poppy and Ely, Jade caught Archie out of the corner of her eye. She rolled her eyes. “What’s he going to do now?” Jade could only wonder. Jay had to be flipping his shit now.

Jade really didn’t know if she should go over there to save her cousin from the social anxiety that he was most likely experiencing or not. She knew he had to be sweating internally quite the amount. Perhaps it would be evil of her to just sit down with ELy and Poppy while her cousin suffered. Jade might be a bitch from time to time, but she sure as hell wasn’t evil.

“I’ll — be back. Keep my spot warm, kay babe?” Jade gave Ely a suggestive wink. She got up, and took to a brisk walk over towards the crowd.


Now that time Jackson understood what Tis was talking about. Unlike the last time, right? He thought she was talking about hair. Because she didn’t clarify, Jackson wouldn’t know if he actually got that right or if he misunderstood the bizarre blonde again. Only time would tell this time, right?

“You want this, right?” JAckson would point to the jacket he was wearing. He had to make sure that was indeed what she was wanting. Sure enough, the way Tis’ eyes were staring at it, she all but verbally-confirmed it for him. So, this time, he understood her slang. Go Jackson Drake! You did well this time. No mistakes in understanding her. You’ve done more than what most have accomplished when it came to this bizarre — if not totally bomb-ass, hot-as-hell - chick. Jackson’s name will be forever remembered in the history in his mind.

“Here ya are, bae.” He took it off, and handed it to the blonde. Even though it left him with only his Jack Skellington shirt, and cargo shorts, as long as the hot blonde was happy. Plus, she needed something to cover up the see-through style of her bra. Jackson could see the outline of her milk-holders. Do not look, Drake. You must resist the temptation.

And yet he looked.

YOU ARE WEAK!-- Mid-thought, Jackson’s ever-observant ears heard Rhett’s loud-as-usual voice boom. “What the fuck?” Jackson’s eyes met the source of where Rhett’s voice was coming from. He was with Sierra. And Archie? What the actual fuck was up with that shit? JAckson didn’t know, but with them, some brown kid was too. And not to mention his annoying cousin.

“Hey Tissy, wanna go see what’s up over there? It’s bound to be fun!” Jackson would not wait for a yes or no. He pulled the surprisingly-feminine hand of Tis’ as she was still in the process of putting on his jacket.

When they got over there, Jackson took notice to the faces, especially Jade who gave him a sigh. Jackson looked at Rhett next. “What’s up man? Why you hoggin’ all the fun over here, huh?” Jackson peeped at his bro. It wasn’t fair that he didn’t invite him to the party.

Poppy couldn't tell if the 'cute' remark was a genuine compliment or not. A little bit of self doubt overcame the girl as she grabbed onto her necklace after the girl dropped it back against her chest. "Thanks" she chirped either way. When the offer of doing the swollen faced girl's makeup came up, Poppy just nodded. She had offered to help either way, and it would not be in her best interest to decline afterwards. Introducing herself, the girl's name and face would now be registered in Poppy's brain as Ely. Practicing in her head how to respond to this was met with the most simple of phrases, "I'm Poppy."

Letting the gum fly past her and land on the floor at her feet, she scrambled to pick it up. Even though it was in the wrapper she wondered if that would have seemed to be dirty to do so. Unwrapping it, and shoving it in her pie hole she followed close behind Ely and her friend who she would quickly learn was named Jade. Welcome to hell? The thought made Poppy smirk a bit. If this was considered hell, Poppy wanted to sin for an eternity. The feeling of being accepted into this group, as dysfunctional as it may appear, was making the fear of High School quickly disperse into nothing.

Reaching the courtyard, Poppy was soon back into the trembling doe form as she saw the massive amount of people. It was amazing how easily these two girls walked through here like they had no cares in the world what others thought of them. Maybe they didn't. Poppy chewed on her gum hard in the back set of teeth. Watching as the kids who sat at the table scramble as if they had the plague brought her lips to purse. "well, hot damn." Poppy said loud enough for the two girls to maybe hear. As Ely took her seat, and beckoned her to apply the makeup.

Stepping forward, she plopped her bag next to Ely's side as she opened it up and searched through to find what she needed. She had spent a lot of her time watching youtube tutorials for makeup application. She wouldn't admit to it out loud but she had also had her fair share of learning how to cover a black eye and other altercations her parents had inflicted upon her in the past. Armed with the proper tools she looked Ely in the eye and spoke, "If you hate it, it'll come right off." Placing her slender fingers on Ely's chin she lifted it slightly as she began to apply small amounts of an oil based concealer.

Poppy would admit that the conversations between Ely and Jade we're blocked out in her mind. She would be too focused on trying to make the swollen and slightly bruised canvas that was Ely's face turn back to as normal as possible. With a concentrated look, the blonde's teeth sunk into her bottom lip as she used her various brushes and finger tips to blend things. "You have very pretty eyes." Poppy admitted, "Any shades of red and some shades of purple will make them really pop." she recalled, taking a dab from an plum color from her eye shadow pallete on to her brush as she lightly dusted it on to Ely's eye lids. The swelling had been already been taking care of by this point, but Poppy just wanted to have a little bit of fun with makeup that wasn't her own face.

"Well, that should be it." the girl said as she packed her stuff back into her bag and grabbed out the mirror compact and held it open for Ely to see. She could only hope the girl liked it, and if she didn't at least it would be easy to remove and easy to go die in the hole that she would want to escape to if that was the outcome.

---

Tis drawled out a long, "Duuuuude," as Jackson handed her his hoodie. Perfectly geekily, it said: "No pants are the best pants." Ironically that fit her quite well in her current situation. Pushing herself off of Jackson's chest into a sitting stance, she shoved the warm cloth over her head. Stretching her arms straight into the air, she allowed the sleeves to fall down her arms before shoving the rest down over her chest. As the jacket well perfectly into place she shivered with happiness, goosebumps completely gone. Grabbing the back of the hoodie, Tis reached around to check the tag. The thing fell over her like an XXL. Glancing at the tag it said M. God she was tiny, even compared to Jackson.

Glancing back at Jackson she could feel him staring at her. Or about a foot and a half below her. Must have given him quite the show wearing the sopping wet bra. She might or might not have stretched in a little provocative way. Grinning wickedly at the thought, Tis twisted the hood over her head, till it fell just above her eyes. Her hair fell down messily over her eyes. Knowing that the mixture between her tiny body, the giant hoodie, and her salt soaked hair was a pure recipe for hotness, Tis was surprised when Jackson's attention was pulled away.

Tis groaned inwardly to herself. Idiot. She was about to see what Jackson was looking at when she was pulled to her feet. Letting out a embarrassing yelp of surprise, she realized he was pulling her towards a crowd of people. And it was a small yelp! So small nobody probably even heard it. Yep. Exactly.

As she got near enough to the crowd, Tis's frustration melted. There were some good looking people here, especially the girls. Tis took a second of appreciation to glance at everyone. Jade and Ely she knew, neither one all that hard on the eyes. Jade in particular caught her eye for a moment, before she pulled it away and saw some freshmen. She was pretty cute, if a little on the innocent side. Before her twisted mind could continue down its path she noticed Rhett sitting next to Sierra. Of course he was here. It was no wonder Jackson had ran off like a little lap dog.

Rolling her eyes at how quickly her friend had run off, Tis decided to see what the story was with the freshmen. She was obviously doing some work to Elysia's face. It was a little surprising to see her having her makeup being done. Elysia didn't seem like the type that cared too much about her makeup. Tis personally couldn't care less about it, she was swimming too often to bother.

Standing next to the freshmen, she realized she was just about as tall as her. Great, even the freak'n fresh meat. Looking over at Elysia's face, she was quite surprised. Not bad at all. One side was a little... over compensated, maybe. Kinda looked like she got hit in the face. "Dude Ely, little freshy just rouged a slab on that wave train." Grinning at the terrified looking girl, she punched her lightly in the arm, to try and loosen her up. Raising a hand to her mouth she shout-whispered "Honestly you may have just beach bunnied the aggro." giving her a wink, Tis laughed at her own joke. The girl might not have been able to tell what she said, but from the tone of her voice it was quite clearly a compliment.

---

Sierra was halfway through her cig when she heard a familiar voice call out a greeting to her: "Heyo, Si-money!" Looking a handsome as always, Rhett Aspen made his way to where Sierra stood. It was welcome company for the raven-haired girl, as she was getting rather bored and she knew Rhett was hella fun. "What's up, Rex-Money." Sierra replied with a smile, putting her cig in her mouth and keeping hold of it with pursed lips as she and Rhett did their special handshake. Back when he was a freshman and she was a sophomore the two had decided that their friendship required something special, and so they had spent hours making up and practicing this handshake until it became second nature to them. Since then, the handshake was Sierra's and Rhett's go-to way of saying 'hello' and 'goodbye'.

Just as they had finished the handshake, a sweaty and breathless Archie Wilhem turn around the corner and said "Oh, sweet, it's you." when his eyes fell on Sierra.

"No shit, Sherlock?" Sierra told Archie sarcastically, nodding in the direction of her ex-boyfriend, who moved closer to listen to the conversation she'd been having with Rhett. "So what brings you here, Arch? she asked the gorgeous-eyed male, and got her response when Archie reached over and daintily pulled her cigarette from her lips mid-drag and took a long drag of his own, his own lips now lightly stained with the dark red lipstick she wore. "Hey, asshole, I was using that!

"You don't mind, do ya?" he asked quietly.

"Fuck you. she said in reply, which Archie knew to take as confirmation that no, she didn't mind. They'd shared more than cigs back when they'd dated, why would something like that bother her now? Not like it was the last one on her pack or anything.

Once the greetings were over, it seemed Rhett couldn't hold back on something exciting he wanted to Sierra. "Coffee guy was totally checking you out! You better believe he thinks you're money."

Sierra narrowed her eyes at her friend. "Wait, what? Who the fuck are you talking about? she asked suspiciously, looking in the direction Rhett was pointing to. Her blue eyes fell on a handsome guy sitting by himself by one of the tables, a ridiculously attractive mellow expression on his face. He looked to be tall, with rich caramel brown skin, long brown locks that reached his shoulders, and a matching pair of well-groomed beard and mustache that reminded Sierra of those misunderstood poets of the early 1900's.

"Coffee guy? Who's that? Think he's got a coffee for me?" Sierra heard Archie chime in, but she kept her narrowed eyes on the young man, examining him. There was something familiar about this guy, and she wanted to know why. It suddenly came to her. "Wait, isn't that the guy who always sings those sappy love songs with his guitar on every talent show? The way he sings about love makes me throw up, but his voice is on fucking point. Gives me shivers and shit."

Rhett seemed to take this as encouragement from Sierra to take some action, because the next thing she knew Rhett was bellowing out to the guy: "JASON. MAN. HEYO JASON, COME HERE!".

"RHETT! What the fuck are you doing?! Sierra spat at her friend, looking at him like he had lost his damn mind. But Rhett wasn't paying attention, because he was still beckoning Jason over. Her disbelieving expression shifted to Archie when she heard him laugh along to Rhett's actions and even go as far as to join him in calling over the guy. "You two fuckers are unbelievable. she reprimanded them, shaking her head but with a smirk that told them she was just joking.

"Whoa, careful, don't make him more nervous."

"Since when are you so concerned with other people's feelings, Chi-Chi?" Sierra teasingly asked Archie, using her old pet name for him (also a Dragon Ball Z reference she was sure he'd never get) and taking a jab at how she knew he often used people for his own gain without taking much account of their feelings. She didn't say it in a way meant to be insulting, but more like a simple tease. She took a deep pull from her cig before letting it rest on her hand, which Archie took advantage of to another drag by placing his mouth behind her cigarette-holding hand while Rhett wrapped one of his arms around Sierra's waist.

You're killin' your hot bod suckin' on that butt." Rhett told her, taking a light jab of his own that Sierra was quick to respond to.

"Says the free-runner parkourist who's friends with that walking death hazard called Jackson Drake." she jabbed back, taking another drag of her cigarette and blowing the smoke on Rhett's face. "We're all gonna die anyway, Rexie. Might as well choose my own poison.

Sierra had been too busy throwing shade at her friends that she didn't notice that 'Coffee Guy' had actually walked over to join them until she felt him standing right next to her. She then turned her attention to him, cocking her head and pursing her lips. Now that he was up close, Sierra confirmed he was indeed the guy with the killer voice she secretly loved to hear. She'd seen him around school since freshman year, and they might have taken a few classes together (which, if they did, Sierra didn't remember), but that was as far as it went. However, now that Rhett had pointed him out, Sierra couldn't help but think he was damn cute, even if right now he looked like a deer in that short moment that it's caught in the headlights of an incoming car. The young woman gave a mental shrug. Not like she hadn't seen that look in most people who approached her, anyway.

Unfortunately, their little 'party' was interrupted all too soon when unwelcome guests decided to crash before it had even started. At the arrival of that ball of annoyance Jackson asking Rhett why he was 'hogging up all the fun' and the blond surfer chick who didn't know how to speak proper English (two people that truly tested Sierra's short patience), Sierra decided there was too much people around for her taste. "Oh, no. Fuck this shit. I'm out." she declared, raising her hands in the air as a sign of defeat.This was supposed to be her quiet happy place, and she had been enjoying said place with Rex, Archie and the eye candy Coffee Guy. But with a growing crowd on the scene, it was best to bow the hell out before anyone decided to push her buttons.

"I'll see you around, Arch. And make sure you drink some water, dude, 'cause you look like shit." she told Archie in her usual combination of concern and blunt honesty while lighting up a new cig and handing it to him. "I figure you need this right now." Sierra then did the handshake with Rhett as a sign of goodbye, gave Jade (who had been hanging around near the group but hadn't joined) a cheeky wink and without so much as a glance at the others she turned around to leave.

But after taking three steps away, she remembered there was still a matter left to be taken care of.

Turning around again, Sierra walked back the few steps she had taken. "You are coming with me, Coffee Guy." she told Jason in a commanding voice, a smirk on her face. Before the poor guy could make any sign of confirmation or rejection Sierra had already grabbed him by the arm and begun to lead him in the direction she was going: away from the crowd and even further from the activities assembly. When Sierra thought they had reached a good enough distance that offered them some privacy, she turned around to face him, black and blue waves whipping back at the action.

"So... Rex-Money back there said you were checking me out. Any truth to his words?" Sierra asked Jason, raising one of her perfectly arched black eyebrows and crossing her arms in front of her chest, digging her blue eyes onto the young man's chocolate brown ones that reminded her of two mugs of delicious hot cocoa on a cold winter night.

Before any words could be said, or Jason could react to the building crowd, he was taken against his will by Sierra. She grabbed his arm, shoving past the crowd of ridiculously-loud people. He wouldn’t have minded it as much if it wasn’t for the fact that she referred to him as “Coffee Guy.” Jay’s first impression of her — the impression that he imagined several times in his head going differently — was not forever ruined. Instead of her knowing him first as Jason Singh, she would know him as the Coffee Guy. If Jay hadn’t died from the embarrassment, being alone with her would sure do the trick.

And yet, when they were alone, Jay wasn’t. Sure, his heart was beating faster than it had ever before, and he was sweating bullets through his shirt. Thank the gods that he was wearing dark colors or else he’d have another reason to want to die right now.

But of course, that other reason would come anyways.

“What?”

That’s all Jay could mutter out. Usually when a person says that, it meant they didn’t hear what the other person said, but Jay heard what she said. He just didn’t know what else to say at the moment. It caught him off-guard. Even more to the point, how was he supposed to answer that question? Should he say that he had been ‘checking her out’ as Rhett said? If he did, that would mean that Jay would have to face one of his worst fears of her finding out. Well, at least the fear of her not returning any feelings that he had for her. Knowing Jay, he would somehow reveal how he felt about her even though this is the first time she has even laid eyes on her.

“I, uh..”

Come on Jay! Get a hold of yourself. You can do this. Just talk normally.

“That is to say..”

Oh just spit it out, already.

“I’m afraid not. I don’t know why he thought I was, but what he said wasn’t true.” Jay was lying obviously. He was looking at her, but he wasn’t going to let her know that. If he could, he would take that secret with him to the grave. “The only time I was looking at you was when he called me over. I’m sorry he made you think otherwise.”

Jay looked at Sierra, unsure what to say beyond what he just did. He found the silence uncomfortable. He needed to do something that would kill it. But what? Jay didn’t know. He was freaking out. His eyes occasionally going away from the sight of those two sea-inspired orbs of hers. Jason dared not to look at her directly, but he couldn’t help it. This was the closest he had ever gotten to her. Even though his cover and secret were made, for some odd reason, that didn’t matter to Jay. Just looking at her was enough.



If there was one word that Jade would use to describe the scene, it was chaos. With Rhett boasting loud rhetoric, Archie making Jay’s anxiety even worse, and JAckson being as loud as ever, Jade was beginning to wonder exactly why she came over in the first place? Of course she came to look out for Jay, but he was pulled away with Sierra. That had to add heaps of anxiety to his already high levels of it. Jade had half of a mind to follow them. She almost did if it wasn’t for Rhett and his spontaneous idea.

“A party? Yeah, sure. I can always get down with a kickback.” Jade said with a grin. She was never one to turn down a party invite. Who knows? Maybe she would get with someone. It won’t be Rhett obviously, but definitely some potential.

When Rex inquired to Jade about Beverly Hills High’s resident Symphonic Metal celebrity, Eve, Jade shrugged. “Not exactly close, but I guess we’re kind of tight. Not sure if she would come, but I’ll check it ou--”

“WAIT A TICK!?” Jackson loudly interrupted.

“Yes doofus? Is there something on your mind?”

“You’re on talking terms with Eve!?”

“Not best friends forever-type, but good enough to hold a conversation, yes.”

“So, she acknowledges you. Introduce us.”

“And why would I do that?”

Jade knew exactly why Jackson was getting all excited and on-edge about Eve. She knew he had a massive crush for her, but all efforts in the past to get her to notice him had been in vain. What made him think that a little help from Jade would make it any different? She wanted to save him the heartache of getting crushed again, but he was adamant. Jackson had that look of determination that Ely had often spoke of about Jackson.

Jade shrugged. “Fine. As long as you don’t embarrass me, you can come with.” Jade said. JAckson made a ‘yahooo’ noise. Jade rolled her eyes.

Before they left, however, Jade made her way over to Ely. “I’m gonna bounce. The dumbass over there is dying to meet Eve. I doubt it’ll go well, so just a heads up if he calls you crying or whatever.” Jade leaned closer to Ely’s ear, biting it rather naughtily, _{“you still owe me a free grab, babe.”} she whispered.

And so they both were off. Jackson bumped Rhett’s fist with his own. “Stay money, man.” he said. Jade rolled her eyes.

They left for Eve. Whether it would end badly or horribly remained to be seen. Jade did warn him, but he insisted. She would simply be a bystander of the carnage. Hopefully Eve doesn’t crush him too bad.

---

Tis immediately lost interest in the tiny girl, when the crowd was drawn over to Rhett. Party? Now that was her specialty. Leaving the two without another word, she pushed her way to the front of the crowd. A back to school party was just what she needed after a long summer break. Not that she never went to any parties of summer break now that she thought of it... Shaking her head, she tuned back into to Rhett's speech. When he got to the part about him becoming the 'King' of the school, she rolled her eyes. God, who cared, get back to the important stuff, like alcohol and music and alcohol.

Standing up right next to Rhett, she gave a little wave to everyone. "Dude, Rhe I gotcha. I got the sickest lil' co we can totally chill in." She offered up her beach as a place to through the party. It wasn't going to be forever that she could keep in safe from prying eyes. Might as well go out with a bang. She thought about it for a moment before adding, "Forget that rippin Kahuna bull tho."

Tis turned to walk away, after making her statement before turning back and saying in perfectly good English. "Oh and, I got the rum." She had to make sure they understood that part at the very least. With a wink, Tis waved goodbye disappearing back into the crowd.

In the midst of her ‘crisis’, Audrey was completely oblivious to her popular, chipper blonde friend rushing towards her until Analise basically tackled her with a hug, nearly knocking the phone out or her hand and leaving her breathless.

"Audrey! I missed you!" Anna cried out, embracing Audrey with surprising strength.

“Hey Anna!” Audrey exclaimed happily, hugging Anna back tightly before eventually they let go of each other. “I’m so glad to see you, hun! I hope you’ve been well! Listen, I’m really busy right now with the booth, so how about we arrange a friend date so we can catch up properly?” she told Anna sweetly, giving her a soft smile.

No sooner had she finished saying this that she heard a familiar voice say "Beautiful as ever.", and Audrey turned her head in the direction of the voice. A relieved and grateful smile illuminated her features. Her best friend was here, and soon Audrey could finally let out all of the ‘emotional stress’ that had been eating her inside since that night.

“Oh my God, Evie. Thank God you’re here. You have no idea how much I-"

“So… sorry for interrupting anything. Just came here to say you guys have nice butts. But you already knew that eh-heh! I mean, everyone probably tells you that. Amiright?!”

If looks could kill, Audrey was certain that this geek -who had dared not only interrupt her, but basically cat-call her so vulgarly- would be ten feet underground the moment her chocolate-brown eyes fell on him. It seemed the geek hadn’t noticed Summer, because when he turned his head he blurted out: “Shit-tits. Your legs.”

By this point, Audrey’s eyes were so narrowed they resembled slits, and she was ready to chew up this guy before she saw her hairdresser rushing towards them. “Ay Dios mío!” Alba exclaimed, pushing Niles behind herself and away from Audrey. “I’m so sorry, Audrey! Please excuse my friend here. He tends to completely make a fool of himself most of the time when talking to women.”
Had it not been for Alba’s intervention, the geek would’ve faced an event of painful social humiliation. Alba knew this, and knowing that Audrey still wasn’t pleased with just an apology even if they knew each other well, she quickly added. “I’ll give you 30% off your next salon appointment if you don’t hurt him.”

Audrey was silent for a few seconds, eyes still slits. Of course she wouldn’t hold any sort of grudge against Alba. She really cared for the girl, and she was the only person Audrey blindly trusted with her hair. But she had a status to maintain, so she pretended to think about the offer for a while before ‘begrudgingly’ accepting. “Okay Alba. I accept your truce.” she responded to the gorgeous Latina, turning her glare onto Niles now. “But please make sure this buffoon doesn’t make a scene like this again, for his sake.”

Having said this, Audrey turned around with the intention of getting Eve away from the crowd and telling her all about her ‘crisis’ when a voice that belonged to a girl with an aura as bright as Anna’s politely stopped her in her tracks.

"Um, pardon me. Audrey Huntsberg? I would love to join your dance team, if you'll have me! My name is Summer Aspen. It's so great to finally meet you~"

The girl in question was looking up at Audrey with admiration and respect, something the older girl enjoyed seeing in new recruits. It was always good to know they knew exactly who was in charge: it was a trait the Dance Team captain highly valued.

“Hello there, Summer Aspen!” Audrey said in her usual cool manner, giving the girl a closed-lipped smile. “Pleasure to meet you as well. Now that you’ve expressed your interest in joining our team, I should warn you that I take my position very seriously. I recruit only the best for our team: those who are always on their A-game and are willing to give more than their 100%. I push my team to the limit, because how else are we going to maintain ourselves as the best nation-wide dance team? That being said, if you think you’re able to handle the heat and pressure and have the talent, then make sure to sign up on the try-out list we have on the booth and check the date, time and place.”

Audrey had finished the sentence with a nod in the direction of the girl named Summer and had just turned around to talk to Eve when none other than Troy Blake stood directly in front of her. Their deep gazes met each other halfway, and it was enough for Audrey to have a flashback to the heated moments they had shared back on that July night.

”Hey, princess. Remember me? Don’t answer--of course you do. When you’re ready for round two, give daddy a call.” Troy shot Audrey a wink as a sign of good-bye before strolling off into the crowds, disappearing from view.

It took Audrey a moment to realize that Troy had said those words right in front of every single person that was around her. But when she did, she simply stood there, mouth and eyes wide open in shock. In what was a rare moment in history, The Dancing Queen of Beverly Hills High had been rendered speechless.

Was this really happening to her?!

When Audrey was able to process what had just happened, she quickly and gently pulled Eve aside and away from any eavesdroppers who could overhear her humiliation. She took a deep breath, looked around with a worried face to see if anyone was looking and began to tell Eve her story in a rushed but understandable voice. “Okay, so you remember that I told you about the Nirvana tribute at the Hard Rock Café three weeks ago, right? Well, I ended up going by myself, and things were all cool. And when I was there, I had a few drinks and I saw this guy…” Audrey took a pause, lips curling up in the ghost of a smile as her mind carried her back to the moment in which her eyes fell on Troy for the first time. “He was just gorgeous Evie, like drop-dead gorgeous. And he had this leather jacket that was a little tight on his arms… It was enough to make anyone’s panties drop…” She was quiet for a second, reminiscing on the way Troy was so delicious-looking until she was back to the present after a small head-shake. “Okay, anyway… So we made lots of eye contact until he eventually came over after I teased him a bit. The guy was suuuuuuper straightforward, to the point where we didn’t even have more drinks. He said he wanted to take me somewhere where he could hear me as I was being, you know. I don’t know if it was the alcohol, but the way he said that just made me crave him in such a way that I didn’t even think about it. I straight up stood up from my chair, held his hand and followed him back to his car. Then we kissed -and let me tell you, that damn kiss had me breathless- but it was nothing compared to what was coming ahead…”

By this point, Audrey looked absolutely mortified, and the most adorable of blushes was heating up her naturally-tanned skin. “So we ended up doing the deed in his car… On the driver’s seat… And in the hood… And in the trunk… And eventually we spent what was left of the night in a motel room.” Audrey took a pause, looking at her best friend right in the eyes. “I have to admit: it was legit the best I’ve ever had. But after breakfast the next morning we had settled on that being a one-time thing, even if we exchanged phone numbers…” Audrey’s face now became stressed, and she bit her lower lip nervously. “And now it turns out that not only do we go to the same school, but he’s that savage rebel that’s always beating up people!” She said this last phrase cringing, and in the type of voice you would use when talking about gum being stuck to your shoe. “I slept with a rebel, Evie. And worse of all: I loved it. I let a rebel do me, Evie. What is happening to me?!”

---

---

Whatever playful twinkle had been in Sierra's eyes was quickly replaced by an steel-hard hardness the moment Jason told her he hadn't really been checking her out. This would be the second time she'd been blown off so directly, and if there was something interesting about Sierra is that she did not handle rejection very well. The first guy that made her go through this horrible experience had been Jareth back that last April of Junior year. While it hadn't necessarily been a full-blown rejection from the start as was happening here, he had done so after about a month of them hooking up. He used the cheap excuse of 'not wanting to ruin their friendship' for not getting serious with her, and as suspicious of everything as she was Sierra would've believed him... If he hadn't started seeing and eventually dating Jade that same summer. They had been friends too, yet Jar still gave her the chance he blatantly refused Sierra. This was one of the reasons the girls weren't as close as they had been, on Sierra’s call. Jade probably thought it was because Sierra was busy or something, and that was fine with Si. She'd be damned if she let Jade know the real reason for her distance. To everyone, Sierra Jameson was a woman with no soul who merely used men for sex whenever she pleased, and she planned to keep it that way.

But now back to current affairs…

Cocking her head to the side, Sierra now glared at Jason. She wouldn’t let it show that her ego and pride were hurt or she was secretly disappointed that he hadn’t been checking her out, so she decided to take the offensive route. “So you’re saying my Rex-Money’s a liar?” she asked the young man, her hard gaze unwavering.

“I’m not..” Jason said, stopping himself from speaking any more words. He tried to keep his gaze on Sierra, but he felt intimidated by her overall presence, which wasn’t to say that she didn’t look good. Obviously she looked good. Jason didn’t handle pressure well, and when he was put on the spot, his words were put on the endangered list. “I mean, I’m not trying to.” he said. Jason reached behind his neck, scratching it. He did that whenever he felt anxious.

Sierra stared at Jason a few seconds, going over his words and actions. The poor guy was clearly telling the truth, but that didn’t mean Si was going to chill with her attitude. He had just fucked with her ego big-time, after all. “Huh. Well, you better fucking not be, for your own sake. My Rex-Money isn’t a liar, and if anyone ever dares to diss on my best friend they’re in for some deep shit. I’m not afraid to throw a few punches around to make sure I get my points across. You get it?”

Jason would say nothing. Not because he didn’t have anything to say, but rather he felt that the matter was solved. Part of the reason why he wasn’t going to say anything in response to Sierra was because he couldn’t get any words out. So, he would simply try to show his least-anxious expression, and nod at her, hoping that would be enough for her. If not — well, Jay would figure that out when the time came.

Once sure she had gained ‘respect’ from Jason, Sierra loosened up on her hostility and instead replaced that attitude with the type you would see a dominatrix have on her scared but excited sub. “So, Jason… I was asking Rhett back there if you were the one who played the love songs on the talent shows. Is that really you?

For a brief moment, Jay wouldn’t look at Sierra. Knowing how he was, he couldn’t possibly look directly into her eyes in that moment. It wasn’t until a few more seconds after the fact passed that he brought his eyes back to hers. Still, the introverted teen would not say anything. There was only a silence with a slight, confirming nod given towards Sierra.

That nod was all Sierra needed for her suspicions to be confirmed. A mysterious smirk now adorned her lips as she said in a low, sultry voice: “It’s too bad you weren’t checking me out then. With how turned on your voice gets me, the possibilities would’ve been endless.”

With that last phrase still hanging in the air, Sierra turned around to leave, dark and blue locks swinging and plaid skirt flowing as her hips swayed from side to side. After a few steps, however, she turned her head back to give one last, intimidatingly beautiful parting glance at Jason. “See you around, Jason.”

As Sierra made her way to the front of the school with plans of ditching for the rest of the day and go to the nearby skate park, her mind was still kept busy with thoughts of Jason. How was it possible that the “Coffee Guy” hadn’t been into her at all?! She knew she wasn’t the prettiest girl around, but she was also aware that some guys were attracted to her. Stubborn as she always was, her dark brows furrowed at the same time her face took up a determined expression: no matter if it took forever, Sierra was now dead-set on having Jason. And whatever Sierra Jameson wanted she certainly got.

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Coffee Guy's rejection lingered on Sierra like a dark cloud, dampening her mood for the rest of the week. She had decided to put all of her efforts into getting the elusive brown-skinned guy to at least acknowledge her: purposely walking past him, winking at him, making eyes and inviting gestures at him, even going as far as flashing him a peek of her lacy underwear that morning. But her efforts were in vain, because the only response that she got from Jason was him avoiding looking at her and rushing away as fast as he could. To make matters worse, Sierra and her mother had gotten into a heated argument that afternoon; one not even her stepfather could save her off. The whole week had been a piece of shit, and the only reason Sierra hadn't had one of her complete losses of control was because of the distraction of helping her Rex-Money plan his party.

The hidden beach the Surfer Chick had offered up as the venue was very difficult to get to, but for all the right reasons: a gem like that was better off being kept away from the general public who would most likely destroy it. Throughout the week Sierra and the rest of the animals gathered the party's 'necessities', and arrived at the venue right after school to set it all up and make sure everything looked amazing. To their delight, their efforts had been worth it: the paradise beach was now covered in neon, making its beauty even more ethereal and pleasing to the eye. The DJ was already busy playing a sick beat, the booze and refreshments waited in the tables and the weed was due to arrive soon. Once the guests arrived, the party of the century would get started.

At the last minute, Sierra had decided the party needed something sweet, so she embarked on the task of rushing over to the nearest Walmart to buy some cupcakes and back to the party just before the lesser important guests began arriving. The young woman placed the cupcakes in a free spot on the nearest table and made her way to the shore: she wanted to savor the feeling of the ocean breeze on her exposed skin and the sound of the waves before the beach got too crowded. Blue eyes staring at the movement of the vast ocean in front of her, Sierra stood on the spot.

Too caught up in trying to find the peace she had been missing that past week, Sierra didn't notice Rhett approaching until a pair of strong muscled arms wrapped her in a warm hug from behind. While silence lingered for a brief moment, Sierra turned her head closer to Rhett's until their cheeks were pressing up against each other while tangling her fingers with his. She closed her eyes as the scent of his cologne hit her, the corners of her mouth turning up into a little smile, thus making Rex's sweet gesture the reason her lingering anger finally began dissipating. Any outsider might come across the sight and think it was a sweet moment shared by a loving couple, but that was the thing about Rex and Sierra: their friendship was so close there were no boundaries between them.

When the goofball that was her best friend considered the silence had gone on too long, he used his loud, enthusiastic voice to break it by ask her if she was hyped for this party or not. Sierra grimaced a little, a little sad that she was brought back to the present. "If this had been any other week, I'd sure as fuck be as hyped as you are. But with the shitty week I've just had, hype is not something in my current vocabulary. All I can say is that we'll see how shit goes down, but at least we did a hell of a job in the decorations department. This shit is lit as fuck."

Sadly ending the hug, Rex let Sierra go and began to shake a spray paint can she hadn't even noticed he was carrying while proposing that they make a game for the night. Intrigued, Sierra was quick to put a stop to his attempt at rambling away off topic, but was unprepared for when the young man surprised her by aiming the can at her flat torso and drawing a messy star on her stomach. Sierra shrieked as the cold neon paint made contact with her skin, but one look at the star Rhett had drawn and she was giggling a little. However, his next words caused her to go on a small fit of sarcastic laughter:

I'm ready to get stupid and I bet your ass I can top you at any dare."

"What more stupid can you get?" Sierra told Rhett, giving him a grin to make sure he knew she was just joking. Rex was actually a super smart dude, even if he could do stupid shit from time to time. But it was mostly when he hung out with that walking catastrophe that was Jackson Drake. God, she disliked that dude. "Actually, don't answer that. And you bet your sexy ass I'll take you up on that challenge! Beating you on dares will be a piece of cake. But first... PAYBAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!" she shouted before grabbing one of the super soakers that had been on the floor beside her and drawing a messy neon blue heart on Rhett's chiseled chest. Once done, she took a moment to appreciate her handiwork, but surprisingly found herself distracted by her friend's abs. "Damn, Rex-Money. If I had known those abs were hiding under your shirts, I would've had my way with you a long time ago." she commented, giving Rhett's chest one last appreciative glance before turning her blue eyes to his handsome face, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively at him. It wasn't like she was checking Rhett out or anything. He was her best bro, her homeboy, the brother she'd never had. There was no way anything but a super tight friendship would ever be happening.

The Dynamic Duo been too busy talking to one another to notice their close peeps arriving until a familiar voice greeted the party host. Sure enough, none other than Jareth Wells was fist-bumping Rhett in front of her. For the duration of the summer and up to now she had completely forgotten Rex and Jar were bros as well. Great: another reason to be salty... Sierra thought in annoyance, but she didn't let it show.

"Hey Jar," Sierra coolly greeted the tall, thin young man who had driven her so crazy a few months ago, calling his attention to her long enough for him to notice she was there. It seemed like forever since the last time they had interacted. "Check it out, dude. We've got a glowing paint war zone party here. She pointed to the glowing heart in Rhett's chest. "An example of my handiwork.

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Sitting on the drummer’s stool in Jareth’s garage, Elysia had just got done making three Jager Bombs for herself and the two knuckleheads staring at her. Every so often, she would take a stroll ‘by’ her house to see if her father was home and if not, she ‘borrowed’ his alcohol like a boss. Still with red contacts on, her gaze met her fellow emo companions as if cueing them it was time to drink their last pregame beverage before heading out. The song that was playing, Asking Alexandria’s “The Black”, blared out of Jar’s speakers as their female companion held a shot glass of Jagermeister above her glass of Red Bull. Lifting up her drink high in the air, already with one hell of a buzz and having not changed from this morning (Outfit), she lowly challenged her friends, “The last two to finish gotta’ kiss.” and without any warning, she dropped the shot into the yellowish liquid and started downing her drink. Chug. Chug. Chug. This was an easy challenge and a generous one from a girl like Ely.

Jareth was neither a fan of Red Bull nor Jager, but beggars couldn’t be choosers when it came to free booze. Ely’s sudden challenge caught him off guard - it really shouldn’t have, this was Elysia, after all. The mixture of a lingering high from lighting up at the beginning of their gathering, and the effects of alcohol had him clumsily scrambling for his own Jager Bomb. Jar pushed past the sickly sweet licorice taste of the beverage as he chugged it down. Like hell was he losing this challenge and kissing Ari. That shit was cool on stage in the heat of the moment, and he loved the kid, but Ely seemed the type to snap a picture and never let them live it down.

Ari was the type to drown his sorrows as quickly as possible, and while he wasn’t blackout drunk yet, he was not functioning as well as current company. Barely registering the challenge, he took his shot and stared at it for a good three seconds, uncomprehending, before downing the Red Bull and surprising himself with the alcoholic tinge. He furrowed his brow halfway through and pulled the glass away from his face. ”What’d you -” Ari seemed to grasp the depth of the situation at that point. ”Shit.” He quickly finished the beverage and rolled away from Ely and Jar, unimpressed by their dumb games. Still. No point being a bad sport. He stared at the ceiling for a second, then turned his gaze to his best friend, already cringing. ”I lost,” he mumbled, looking about ready to purge when he leaned over and placed a half-assed kiss on Jar’s cheek.

It was about that time to arrive fashionably late to the party that Ely herself had helped plan. Jareth flicked a few switches to turn off the speakers and thumping bass before powering down the laptop that was responsible for blasting the tunes. Jar was at that pleasantly warm stage of a buzz, where his reaction time and movements seemed a little slow. Ari looked a bit worse off, so Jar offered a hand to pull him up out of the couch. That beat up piece of furniture had cushions so sunken in that it threatened to eat up even the most sober of individuals, let alone a drunk Ari. The trio then left CrimSon’s practice and chillin’ room, stopping by Old Faithful so Jar could click the button to close the garage door behind them, before they headed on the short walk towards the beach.

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Skating to Jar’s house sucked. No ramps, no rails, just flat ground--barely even any especially steep hills going up or down. It was boring, and while normally David Powers, the unofficial (and mostly unaware) skate king of Beverly Hills, would much prefer to skate anywhere else, maybe one of the several skate parks that he sometimes climbed into (only a little illegal, he thought) during this time of night, or maybe even the courtyard of the school (against the rules, but not the real rules), or like, one of the abandoned factories in the industrial part of town (okay, definitely illegal), or somewhere near the train station (unsafe, sure but the railroad track made for SWEET grinds), maybe the moon (hey, a boy could dream), look anywhere more interesting than this boring sidewalk. But, hey, this gave him a chance to listen to something a little… smoother than the hype filled tracks he normally listened to, with dirty and quick lyric chopping, hard beats, and just generally being loud.

Instead, Davy took this chance to listen to a smooth song. Something classic, something old school, something from the east coast, a classic Brooklyn song instead of one of the West Coast or Midwest bangers Davy usually enjoyed while skating sweet lines that were just as filthy as the beats that pounded into his ears. Nope, this called for something clean. ”Whose world is this? The world is yours, the world is yours,” yep. Illmatic, baby. The teenager stomped his foot on the ground to again build up some speed, hopping off of the sidewalk and onto the asphalt of the road. ”Man, I’m gonna have to talk to Jar about getting some sick jumps between my place and his… This sucks. I just wanna play Rainbow Road.” And Davy’s stoned ass would play Rainbow Road. In his backpack, he had all the necessities: more weed (enough to knock out Willie fuckin’ Nelson), various smoking apparatuses (including Wesley Pipes and Billy Bong Thornton), his Nintendo 64 (the PIkachu version, of course), four controllers (never knew when Ari would show up--the fourth was a precaution in case Jar smashed one--he seemed the type), 007 Goldeneye (Mario Kart was great, but wouldn’t last the whole night), Mario Kart 64, WWF No Mercy, Super Smash Bros, and Diddy Kong Racing. Davy had a soft spot for Diddy Kong Racing.

Davy kicked the board up into the air again, flipping it with his heel as he sang out the lyrics: ”I slip the Dom P, watching Gandhi till I'm charged, then writin’ in my book of rhymes… Man, I always forget how fire this song is. I think I’m melting.” He reached into his pocket and retrieved the carefully rolled joint he’d put together a while ago, and put it back to his lips, lighting it with his precious lighter and inhaling the smoke. ”Behold the mic I’m throbbin’, mechanical movement understandable smooth shit that murderers move with.”

Zoned out now, Davy was completely engrossed in his music, and the song that was playing into his headphones. His soon to be traveling companions would see, in the distance: the lit cherry of his j, coming at them at full speed. Jareth had borrowed Ely’s board to try his hand at skating. Whether it was the alcohol, or the complete lack of skill, he had succeeded in falling not once, but twice so far. Finally steady and gaining speed, Jareth leaned into the curve of the road just in time - scratch that - completely not in time, as he collided with Davy. The skateboard flew out from under him as his knees met pavement for a third time on their short journey. “Oh, fuck this! I’ll just stick to music.” he said without even realizing who he crashed into.

The initial thing that surprised Davy was the sudden lack of music in his ears, sadly during the chorus--by far his favorite part. The second thing that Davy was concerned about was the state of his backpack, which had most of the things he cared about in it. He sat up and looked behind himself to see how his backpack was doing and after he verified that it was, in fact, alive, he turned his attention to the source of his injury. At first, Davy was searching his mind for something to say to defend himself, but then he realized who it was: Jareth! The very person David wanted to talk to anyway! ”Excellent! Jar! What’s up dude? I brought my N64 and games. And,” Davy’s brow furrowed and his nose crinkled as he sniffed at the air, ”Dude you smell like alcohol and the broken dreams of someone that thinks they’re getting super stoned, but you’re really just smoking Mexican goatfucker’s weed…”

Jareth looked up as he dusted the gravel bits off of his pants. Well, at least it was Davy and not some strange innocent bystander. “Smell like wh-- uh, guilty, I guess.” he laughed at his friend’s little quip. ”Sorryyy, not all of us have a fancy green card to grow our own shit.” the emo mocked with his pinky out in a dramatic gesture. ”Whatchu up to? Ari and Ely and I are heading to Rhett’s party, you should come with.” Jareth said as he tossed a thumb back to the two others following behind him.

Davy stared at Jar for a few seconds, sitting on the ground before he stood up. Fancy green card? It wasn’t that fancy, as far as the physician knew, Malcolm Powers had anxiety and lingering back pain, and Illyana Powers had arthritis. David himself did actually have anxiety, but that was beyond the point. Davy reached out for the joint that had flew out of his mouth. ”Here,” he said, holding the doobie out to Jar. ”I know I don’t usually share, but uh… smoke this. Please. You’ll feel way better, hell, share it with the other two people I brought enoug--” Davy cut off suddenly as he finally looked back at the people following Jar. ”That’s a girl! I mean, uhm. Uh… uh… Hi? Yeah, hi. Hi. I’m Davy Powers. And, uh, I can’t go to a uh, uh, a party. I have, you know… a duck to take care of. And I was gonna come here and like play Mario Kart…”

Jar didn’t really need much convincing, he gladly accepted the j from davy and took a good long pull at it. It was about that time when Davy realized that one of these things was not like the others. Jareth unexpectedly coughed through the exhale, this was some next level shit. After gathering himself, he said: ”Yeah, that’s Ely - er, Elysia. I was just trying out her board when we, uhh, ran into each other.” Jareth kicked the skateboard up using his foot with much less finesse than an experienced skater. He then passed the board back and offered the doobie to Ely, or Ari, whoever was more interested.

Staying silent, but observing the scene like a vulture, Ely grabbed her board and dropped it back onto the ground (causing it the make a loud clap noise). Resting her right foot on it, her intimidating red gaze scanned the Head Skater’s features as she happily grabbed the doobie from her fuck boy, Jar. She didn’t really have to say much since Jareth was doing most of the talking (less work for her). It was hard to tell how drunk she was because she was good at hiding her buzz. Whether that was a mechanism she built over the years of partying at the age of 12 had yet to be determined. Before inhaling the addicting poison, she brought her left hand pointer finger to her lips and placed her gum on her finger (yeah, this entire time she’s had gum in her mouth). With that stoic expression she was well known for, Ely placed the doobie in her lips and gave Davy a kittenish wink (just toying with the kid, really). Oddly enough, her hit was far more graceful than Jareth’s as she blew the smoke in Ari’s face. Handing the other emo kid the smoke, she muttered with her silvery voice, “I know of him. Nice to actually put a face to the name.”

Ari accepted the offer from Ely (although he didn’t appreciate the sudden wisp of smoke) and couldn’t seem to comprehend exactly what he was holding. He figured it must be another cigarette and took one long drag, enough to wear down the joint entirely, until it finally registered that this was definitely not the typical effect. Whoa. Deciding that standing around while these three did whatever wasn’t good for him, Ari just plopped down onto the ground, barely concentrating on the conversation at hand and more on staying conscious.

Davy was frozen. Maybe Ely wasn’t doing it on purpose; she didn’t know Davy very well so maybe she didn’t mean to make him all FUCKED. But, regardless, she was doing it. Davy hadn’t been winked at before, it was weird and it made him wiggly, dammit. Then, suddenly, the freeze was broken as he turned his head with an awkward look in his eyes, ”...you know of me? Why? What? How come? What’s there to know about me? You can, uh, keep that one, by the way, I got lots in my pack…”

“You’re so modest.” Ely took a brief moment to place her gum back in her mouth, using her tongue to pick it up, before popping it near immediately. “Well one. I’m good friends with your boy, Jar. Two. I like skating. You’re the best on campus.” She wasn’t one to explain herself in depth, but hopefully he could get the gist with the little words she used. Dragging her skateboard with her, she went beside Jareth and closer to the interesting boy she knew nothing about (besides his skills on a board). For a girl, Ely had a strong ass personality. Good thing most of the people around her in this instant were use to her. “You should come along. I bet your buddy would appreciate it.” Her gaze went from Davy than to Jar.

As Ely stepped closer to him, Davy stepped backwards. ”I’m okay at skating. I can do like… kick flips and stuff but nothing that fancy,” Davy squirmed as he spoke. A boldfaced lie in an attempt to get the girl to pay attention to Jar and not him. His mother would be sobbing if she knew he’d lied like that. ”But, uh, I really can’t go to the party I’ve got a whole Nintendo 64 in my backpack and I don’t want to uh bring it to the party and uh distract the partygoers from the, er, uh…. alcohol…? Yeah, don’t want to distract them from the alcohol.”

Jareth noticed Davy getting… well, like Davy gets sometimes. ”It’s cool, we can drop your backpack off at my place if you want…. But, like, you could bring it too, It’s not a big deal.” He raked his hands through his hair quickly and thought about what might calm him down. Unfortunately, Jar’s frazzled brain was coming up a bit empty. ”It should be fun, Rhett’s a really cool guy and you can stick with us and keep yourself lit. It’s just me and Ari, like Mario Kart… but with Ely.” And with a bunch of other kids from school, but Jareth left that bit out.

”I don’t know Ely and that makes me extremely uncomfortable, look at her, all female and stuff.” Davy complained, putting his foot down onto his board. He hadn’t spent more than seven minutes with a girl that wasn’t his mother or therapist for… well, for a very long time and he didn’t really want to either! ”So if you will excuse me I think I’ll go home and see if, like… Sprinkles is busy… You know I don’t do well with girls, man.”

The rocker looked from Davy to Ely and shrugged ”I mean, she’s a girl, but she’s chill like one of the boys--”

Fixing her beanie on her head, Ely interrupted with a heavy sigh (was this kid being for real?), “Dude. I’m not the big bad wolf, if I wanted to fuck you I would have found you A LOT earlier than today.” Her brows furrowed, as she moved the skateboard back and forth in obvious annoyance, “Plus, I fucked him.” She gestured to Jar with her thumb, “You’re safe, Airhead.”

”Who hasn’t fucked Jar? Ari? I mean, come on that’s not making me feel any safer.” David grumbled, stuffing his hands into his pockets and laying his options out in his mind: option 1) run away very quickly on his skateboard, not like any of the scrubs could keep up, option 2) pretend to go to the party and split off at the next convenient opportunity, orrrr… option 3) go to the party and try to be social like his mother and his therapist (and, Davy believed, Sprinkles) wanted him to be. ”I’ll go to this party on one and one condition. That condition is I want Jar to buy me a dozen peanut butter donuts.”

”Bro…” Jareth let that thought sink in for a moment. That… sounded like the best idea EVER. ”Definitely, I would buy them right now if I could. Tomorrow morning, for sure, man.” The promise came easily. Where was he going to find a dozen peanut butter donuts? Not sure, but he was going to find them. He had to now.

Davy frowned for a second, thinking it strange that Jar’s ol’ twinkie lookin’ ass agreed to donuts so quickly. Then: it dawned on him. ”Oh, right you’re used to smoking that skunk weed, here man I got you…” Davy slung his backpack over his shoulder and unzipped one of the MANY available pockets to him and withdrew a massive bag of cheesy Munchies, thrusting it toward Jar. ”The munchies are real, my friend. Don’t worry it’s only gonna get better…”

Jareth made saucer eyes at the bag of snacks. ”Tight.” he said before tearing open the bag and crunching down on a handful. ”Your right, it’s gonna be better, cause yer coming to the partyyy.” Jar held the last syllable in a mixture of a slur or an attempt to make a silly face, it was hard to tell which. Truth be told, not even Jareth was certain what that was supposed to be, he was just excited both of his best friends were coming tonight.

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Holding her skateboard now, Ely muttered, “Who the fuck decided it was a good idea to put a beach behind woods?” Obviously, she didn’t like not being able to skate because of some damn hiking trail that anyone could get lost in at night. Not a good sign for drunkards, but it would lead to amusing events, that’s for sure. From a distance, she saw Rhett and Sierra by the water line. Leading the way, she observed the finishing product of the party. It looked dope as fuck.

”Yep I instantly regret every decision that has brought me to this moment of my life. Why is it so colorful? Why are there so many people? Why is there so much paint? Why can’t I skate? We’re at the beach and I don’t even have my surfboard, I’m about to turn 360 degrees and walk away.” Davy whined. His skateboard was hanging off of the special clip that he’d long ago had attached to his backpack--climbing up buildings and shit was hard while having to simultaneously manage the board. It was easier if it just hung there.

Getting to the actual beach was hell, Jareth wasn’t even sure how they made it through the mess of tree roots without casualties, but here they were. ”Is the sand.. fucking glowing? Rad..” he remarked at the glowstick-laden beach. Right, party time… Priority one, find the host - bro - future king - Rhett. Priority two, obtain booze and keep it lit. A quick scan of the crowd found Rhett so Jar headed in that direction. ”YO, dope party my friend!” Jareth said once there and offered a fist to Rhett, whom happily bumped it. It was then that Jar realized Sierra was there too, and covered in paint. ”Nice… where’d yah get the paint at?”

“Jar!!! My boi. You look hella money.” The host pulled away from comforting his friend and pointed a water gun toward Jareth, “Right here, mate.” With no warning, Rhett blasted Jar with glowing green paint, before tossing the gun at him, “Have fun. There’s different colors in like… the guns.” He gestured to the water guns throughout the beach, like this was a fucking warzone.

David, deciding that he didn’t want to be here much longer than necessary decided to take the opportunity to grab one of the neon sticks sitting in the sand--specifically, one of the blue ones--and walked over to Jar, thwacking him on the back with it. ”Alright, El Capitan. I made an appearance, now I’m ollie outtie. Before someone talks to me.”

”Awee, come on it’s been like….” there was a long pause as Jareth’s brain tried to calculate an actual amount of time that they had been here before he gave up and settled on: ”Like minus ten minutes.” Jar even stuck out his best pouty lip, but Davy wasn’t buying it. Deciding to at least urge the kid to have some fun, the pout turned to a smirk as he raised the super soaker and immediately assaulted the skater with a coating of green paint to match his own personal body art.

”HEY. That might stain! Mom’s gonna kill me.” Davy complained, sighing as he looked down at the paint splattered onto his grey sweater, pouting a little himself.

Perking up at the sound of Davy’s voice (surprised he even came), Rhett waved at him like the jolly man he was, “DAVY! Man, so glad you came. DUDE.” His train of thought went to the mental image of Mrs. Powers (hot damn), “Your mom kills me, man! She’s money. And by money I mean… a milf. Yeah. You got it good.”

Davy paused for a second, unsure if there was anything else he even could say to that, and instead slung his backpack to the front of himself and unzipped it, grumbling as he pulled out his bong. ”I can’t handle this kinda stuff man, my mom ain’t no milf, she’s a mom! With a loving husband!” Davy clicked his lighter and sucked on the bong as it bubbled and smoked up, before pulling the block out of the way and inhaling the entire cloud, holding it in his chest until he coughed and hacked it all out for a second, pounding on his chest. He then dug his hand deeper into the bag, withdrawing a paperbag which he stuffed into Rhett’s arms. ”Here is all the weed I brought with me, please never call my mom a milf again, goddamn.” Shaking his head, he zipped the backpack up and turned around and started to leave.

Freedom called.

The blonde teen with an intrigued stare watched the scene unfold from the sidelines. While the boys were chatting it up, she grabbed a can of beer and a small water gun, before noticing Davy heading back into the forest. Oh, this won’t do. He was the most interesting person at this party. After opening the can and taking a sip (yes still with her gum in her mouth), Ely silently trailed behind.

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