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"If you're the diva then what am I? Sliced bread?" Eva spoke in greeting to Damar's open invitation to insults. She snorted, however, when she actually peeked out of the kitchen, a piece of bread still in her mouth, and got a look at him. "Slaying it as always I see." she commented as she took the bread out of her mouth and walked further into the dining room.

As she did, others arrived as well. "You gave up Japan for this?" she asked, raising a brow in Damar's direction. After letting out an obviously dramatic sigh, Eva walked over to the small group forming and put her arm on Damar's shoulders.

"So, what shenanigans do we have planned?" She asked, looking over at Alex.

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He looked around the large entryway, or foyer as most called it. The inside of the mansion was beautifully decorated. It was like walking back in time and he loved every bit of it. A single butler came and grabbed his luggage and carried it off, hopefully to his room. He looked around touching various pieces of artwork and pictures. Elizabeth was a beautiful girl, and he was thankful to be her friend. His attention was drawn to a particular picture of Elizabeth when he heard a familiar voice. Ronnie came strolling in, telling him that he'd thought he'd be in Japan to which Damarquis simply smiled while being embraced by the hunk.

"Oh Ronnie don't do that to me boo," Damarquis stated, "you know I love being held by a strong man," he flirted seeing Alex walk in behind Ronnie. When Ronnie released him from the brotherly embrace, Damarquis smirked and threw a wink at him. Then Geneva or Eva as she was known by everyone spoke from the kitchen, peeking around to see what he was wearing.

"Geneva, you know you're always second best dear," Damarquis stated in a teasing manner, "I always slay honey," he added as she came over to him and placed her arm on his shoulder. She asked him about Japan as well and he smiled. "I'd rather spend time with you guys, I mean reality is when it's time for all of us to go off to college we won't really have time to visit will we?" Damarquis said with a sigh, but he kept the approachable smile he was known for. "All I know is I came to have fun, and that's what I'm going to do, and I brought a surprise for everyone."

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Alex watched in surprise as Ronnie's brother drove up dropping off the tallest member of the group. Alex thought for sure he was going to be the last one here guaranteed he never looked at the time from the moment he woke up to right now. So, maybe he was here earlier than he though. Probably seeing as both of his younger siblings were asleep before he left. They always woke up earlier than he did. As Ronnie walked up expressing his surprise at seeing Alex outside, Alex did his signature two finger wave and hugged his more expressive friend back. Alex was about to respond but the workers showed up just before he could. Alex did have to admit he was always surprised at the work ethic of people like these.

Alex followed Ronnie and the worker inside to see Damar and Ivy. He instantly started looking around trying to figure out where the others might be. He sighed when Damar winked at him. Alex didn't like winks in general so flirty winks from Damar were worse, but Damar knew that and that was exactly why he always seemed to do it. If anything caused Alex to go crazy over this summer it would be Damar. "Yeah, I don't know if I'd be able to pass up Japan. I really wanna go to Akihabara one day. Downloaded an app just to learn Japanese."

Alex looked at Ivy as she asked in general what they were going to be doing. This is where Alex's sarcastic and trollish nature took over shoving his judgment aside somehow forgetting Damar was in the room. "Well, today we have the schedule jampacked. At six we are going to braid each others hair, seven we'll have a hot sauce drinking competition, at eight we're going to play strip poker, then to finish the night we have to play truth or dare and spin the bottle while skinning dipping. Just wait til you here what we're doing tomorrow." Once he finished Alex had a stupid smirk on his face. Even if it wasn't funny to anyone else he thought he was being clever. That's when he remembered that Ronnie and Damar were still here. If those two wanted they could push any one of those ideas until they happened. Alex started hoping that he didn't plant any ideas into their heads.

Brandon's eyes followed Amelia's gaze around the garden, taking in the view. It felt obvious to him that the roses he had brought were unnecessary, potentially insulting to those who cared for the garden, and his heart plummeted. But despite his assumed faux pas, the rest of the day or summer didn't necessarily need to follow the same path.

"The ride was beautiful," Brandon replied. "I haven't driven up this way for a while. Everything seems... grander." "And more expensive" could have been added on the end of the statement, but that seemed less polite. Brandon waved to Amelia to get her attention, and silently signed Nice place to her. Or at least he hoped that was the right gesture.

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"As long as I get to go to South Korea one of these days, I'll be okay." Eva shrugged, her arm still on Damar's shoulder despite being much short than him. If she was being honest, it was starting to hurt. "I can take any one of you on on that hot sauce challenge. Try me." She smirked, grinning at Ronnie, who, if she remembered correctly, once took her up on that challenge.

When Damar mentioned something about a surprise, Eva raised her brows. "You mean, you weren't my surprise?" She asked, grinning up at him. She also knew that Alex had probably been just joking about that list of activities, but Eva wouldn't be surprised if some of them were willing to go for it. The strip poker though, she wasn't too sure about. She was all for fun and games but even if they were all friends, there are just some things you can't come back from.



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"I'm glad!" She replied, smiling at Brandon, watching with a rather amused look on her face as he signed to Amelia, "Happy pants." She tried very hard to keep her giggling to a minimum as they walked back to the house. She was glad that her friends had had a nice ride here and that they seemed to be enjoying the sites, but she grew ever anxious that they weren't really all that happy. The air felt slightly tense and she didn't quite know why.

After a few minutes, they were back at the mansion. "You guys feel free to meet up with the others. Surely some of them must be in the living room. I'll take Amelia to a shower." She told them, signing as well, as she gently pushed Amelia with her.

Did Brandon tell you 'Happy pants'? She asked, signing to Amelia as they both walked through a side door. Butlers, as always, were there to greet them but Elizabeth waved them off. It would only take them a few moments to go upstairs and find Amelia's room where she had a bathroom.

Penny's morning had consisted of a ridiculous amount of rushing. For starters, her alarm had decided to stop working, resulting in her only being woken up by Brodie barging in and almost spilling her coffee all over the bed sheets. Instead of shouting out good morning, or giving her an extra shake like any normal brother would do, he wordlessly handed her the steaming mug, ruffled her hair and bounded out. It was now that Penny took a second to marvel at how different the two were; where she was all dry humour and brutal honesty, he was sweetness and clumsy attempts at making people smile. She sipped the coffee, three sugars and no milk, relaxing back against the headboard for a few delicious moments of peace. Of course, Brodie had to once again interrupt that peace by shouting from the kitchen:

"Hey, Pen? You know how I was meant to be giving you a ride up to that summer house? I can't anymore. Working." Typical. At that, she forced her tired limbs out of her bed and proceeded in the laborious task of getting ready. And of course, it had to be one of those days in which her hair was an absolute mess. After what seemed like hours and straightening and brushing and spraying, she stared at the tangled mess in her mirror. Embrace it.

It was just when she was leaving the flat that she felt the buzz of the morning's coffee kick in. Or maybe it was nerves?... Nah, definitely the coffee. Brodie, being the pushover that he was, had been convinced to give her a ride half way, and from there she would walk. At that thought, she glanced down at the huge duffel bag she had slung over her shoulder. Already she was struggling with it, and she hadn't even reached the stairs yet.

Their drive together was as crazy as it always was - Brodie would turn up the radio full blast and the pair would scream out the lyrics at the top of their lungs. It was a nuisance to those they drove by, to say the least, but it was a tradition. As the pair pulled up on a street that was more three-quarters of the way there rather than half, Brodie finally muted the radio and turned to face his sister.

"You know what I'm gonna say, Pen. Be safe, don't do anything stupid, and stay away from the boys." Penny only rolled her eyes at his attempt to be responsible and leaned over for a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"And you know that I'll probably break all those rules, kicker. See you later, love you." And with that she jumped out of the car and shut the door with a sharp bang. Penny didn't waste any time watching her brother drive away, and instead started a brisk walk down one of the many winding roads that were to come.

Twenty minutes later and she found herself surrounded by the kinds of houses that reminded her of home - one of which belonged to Elizabeth. She could feel her stomach flutter at the thought of spending the whole summer here, but her features betrayed little more than her usual small smirk as she ascended the front steps, just managing to catch onto the last of the conversation through the ajar door.

"Did someone say skinny dipping?" She made herself known as she entered the huge house, letting her duffel bag slide off her shoulder and into her hand, only a few inches from the floor. She took the time to recognise each and every person: Geneva, Ronnie, Damar and Alex were the only ones in sight, but she guessed that Elizabeth would not be far off. Penny couldn't help but raise a brow at the group so far - she had no idea who would be coming, but this didn't seem like a bad bunch. A part of her wondered if Brandon, or Amelia would be here - they had always been valued members of the strange group, but they were the more reserved out of all of them. And, of course, she was dying to see Jocelyn and marvel at whatever outfit she had on today. Although she would never admit it, Penny adored pretty much everything about Lyn - especially her fashion sense.

"I'm just dying for a swim. It's so bloody hot." Her accent was stark in comparison to those around her, but she was used to it, and merely laughed alongside her teasing. Despite the fact that she was addressing the group, her eyes wandered around the 'foyer', in awe of every little detail surrounding her. But of course, she didn't let that show.

Ronnie was expecting some comment from Dimarquis, and his friend never disappointed. "That's what I'm here for... but you'll have to get in line," Ronnie responded with a laugh, "My services are in high demand." He laughed once more as Eva walked in, her attitude announcing her presence before she'd even entered the room.

He smiled, his questions as to who was present slowly being answered. It was looking to be a good group, though he wondered about Brandon in particular. Despite pressure from himself and others, the guy had seemed pretty set on not coming. Hopefully he'd changed his mind.

Ronnie came out of his musings as he just caught what Alex was saying. Though it was obvious the jackass was just trolling, he couldn't help but excited for the summer at the thought of those as well as many other possibilities. Eva in particular seemed ready to have a go at the hot sauce challenge. "Round 2, huh? You're on. And the stakes will be higher this time..."

The conversation moved on to some surprise Dimarquis had brought. He lost track of it when Penny walked in, asking about the skinny dipping. "You know we wouldn't dream of staring without you" The grin on his face widening, Ronnie walked over and brought Penny into a hug, ignoring her bags. He did notice she was a little warm. Had she walked?

Turning back to face the group, he asked. "So where's our wonderful host? She off giving a tour to the others?"

Brandon waved goodbye to Amelia and Elizabeth as they parted ways. Despite the size of the mansion, or perhaps because of it, he could hear the sounds of the others' arrival echo through the halls. He was both elated and slightly dejected that more guys had arrived. At least the summer wouldn't be so awkward if there were other guys.

"Did I hear swimming?" Brandon called out as he rounded the corner. For the first time since he had arrived, he allowed a little excitement to shine through his voice. He had hoped a place like this would have a pool, although he was unaware of the first half of that particular conversation. Brandon greeted the newcomers with a welcoming smile before he walked up to Damarquis. With the smile still on his face, Brandon swung a fist lightly into his friend's upper arm. "That is for stealing my valedictorian spot, you jerk," he said. "Nice graduation speech, by the way."

Brandon glanced around at those who had arrived. Most of his study group was here now which helped ease some of his tensions. Out of the group, he was most comfortable around Alex and Ronnie, even though they were into sports much more than Brandon was; and out of the girls in the group, he felt most comfortable with Penny since he had basically been a second teacher for her for quite a while. He harbored a sense of pride that he was able to help all three of them pass some of their toughest courses, although some of them had required more help than others.

In any case, the arrival of these newcomers calmed some of Brandon's nerves. He turned to address Ronnie, having overheard the previous question. "Lizzy took Amy to get a shower. They must have gotten dirty in the garden or something."

Amelia's attention to the garden was broken when Brandon began waving at her. She turned her attention to him just in time to catch his attempt at signing and an amused grin crossed her face as her shoulder's shook due to what would've been a laugh caused by him signing what she guess was something he wasn't attempting to say. When she was done with her little laugh, she took a second to figure out what he was trying to say but the phrase 'happy pants' didn't seem to have any sort of context to the situation or surroundings.

Giving up on that, she heard Elizabeth bring up taking her to the showers. Thankful to be moving again, she followed Elizabeth to her room, once again laughing when Elizabeth brought up what Brandon had signed.
Something like that. I have no idea what he meant though. She signed back. As they walked, they passed by the foyer and Amelia spotted that her other friends had arrived: Penny, Alex, Damarquis, and Ronnie. She gave them all a wave before continuing to follow Elizabeth upstairs and to her room. She quickly thanked Elizabeth before entering and looking around to see her accommodations, unsure what to expect. Her suitcase she had dropped off at the with the butlers earlier was already there, something she was happy to see.

Eager to get the sweat off her body, she dropped her bag off one her bed and entered the attached bathroom. She had been planning on a shower but upon seeing the tub inside, she decided to go for a nice soak instead. So she drew up the bath and got ready before settling in and relaxing.

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Damarquis could only laugh at Ronnie's response to his flirting. In the back of his mind, he knew there was never a chance anything would happen between them. Ronnie was straight and Damarquis was gay. Even if by some miracle something happened between them, Marcus wouldn't know if it were real or if Ronnie was simply toying with him. It was hard to read him, even though he was a pretty straightforward guy. If only Ronnie knew that Damarquis had a crush on him since high Freshman year, but hadn't built up the will to tell him for fear of ruining their friendship. Still, there was another he had a crush on, two crushes and not a single one had he told about his desires. Instead, he opted for friendship, believing it to be the way to overcome his inner feelings, and in truth, it had worked, that is until he saw them again.

He put on a charade to mask it, and it worked. He was thankful for his skills and was willing to go throughout life without telling a single soul about his secret. As Eva continued to rest her arm on his shoulder, he wondered if she was getting tired or sore from her arm being elevated for so long. He noticed Penny arrive and was thrilled to spend more time with her. Out of all his friends, he felt that he wasn't as close to her as he wanted to be, but even still he was happy to see her. Everyone was conversing and he didn't interject much during the conversation, a simple yes or no, and perhaps a bit of flare here and there made them aware of his presence, but he still remained in the back of the conversation which wasn't like him at all. Then it hit him. Brandon and Amelia were missing. Just as Alex suggested a few fun things for them to do, he knew that Alex was the last person who actually wanted to partake in the games he had suggested, but Marcus was all for it.

"Ya know I think all of those are good ideas," he said throwing a wink in Alex's direction. "Definitely spin the bottle," he added before Eva began to speak. As the group continued to talk, Damarquis began to wonder where Amelia and Brandon were. Then he heard Brandon's voice followed by a light punch in his arm. "POOH BEAR!" Damarquis screeched as he wrapped his arms around Brandon's neck squeezing as tight as he could before letting him go. "Well you know how I do," Marcus stated with a smirk as he tooted his own horn regarding the graduation speech, "no hard feelings right Pooh Bear?" He asked after Brandon told them where Piglet and Amelia were. He was excited to get things started and knew this would be more memorable for each of them than they thought.

"Wait a minute, where the hell is Fashionista?" He asked. That was his nickname for Jocelyn. She was his fashion sister and he enjoyed talking trends with her. He noticed Bunny and Piglet walking by the foyer and smiled as she waved. She was so innocent and he returned the wave.

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Jocelyn followed a little ways behind Brandon after the two had parted from Liz and Amelia, wanting to check her phone to be sure that her parents hadn't sent her a message. They had, of course, but only to tell her to enjoy her Summer. After sending a quick reply, Jocelyn caught back up with the rest of the crew, entering the room just in time to hear Marcus ask where she was. "Don't worry, Fashionista is here!" Jocelyn exclaimed as she went over to give her friend a big, warm hug, her smile radiant. Afterwards, she took a quick look at the young man's own current clothing choice, and smiled even wider. "Look at you, showing off! You're workin' that shit!"

One of the many things that Jocelyn absolutely loved about Damar was his bold fashion sense; he was her go-to whenever she wanted to discuss anything fashion related, especially since he was always up to date with new fashion trends. After praising Damar's outfit, Jocelyn turned to greet the rest of the friends that had arrived while she was gone. First came Penny, the Australian babe with a reckless streak, but a fantastic friend, nonetheless. Next came Ronnie, the towering swimmer born and raised in North Carolina. He and Jocelyn did not have much in common, but still were pretty close friends. Last, but certainly not least, was Alex. The two of them only really seemed to hang out whenever the entire group was involved. Hopefully, that would change during the Summer vacation.

Overall, she was thrilled to see them all, some a bit more than others, and couldn't wait to see how the rest of their Summer would pan out.

---

After he finished speaking Alex decided it was probably best that he keep his mouth shut for a while so as to not say anymore stupid things that would probably bite him in the butt later. At least Ivy kept her mind on one of the tamer, despite the physical pain it could induce, activities he had mentioned. That's when Penny came in instantly bringing everyone's thoughts to skinny dipping. Why oh WHY can Alex not resist the urge to be a sarcastic troll. He did have to say he wasn't surprised to see Penny here. Not that he didn't think she wouldn't have come, but for some reason it had just not crossed his mind.

Alex's relationship with Warrawee is an interesting one. Whenever they talk Alex has a hard time not seeing his older sister, Lindsey, in the girl except for some of the things she likes. Both are members of Brandon's little tutor group. Just like with Ivy Alex likes to get a little snarky and trollish when he talks to her. He gets very competitive with her because of how similar she is to his older sister.

When Brandon walked in instantly mentioning swimming Alex felt that if the idea of skinny dipping traced back to him he'd never live it down. He was at least fine with the more wild side of the group hear him say it jokingly, but in his mind having Brandon, Elizabeth, and Amelia realize the idea started with him would be just to embarrassing. His mind was moving so fast that when Elizabeth and Amelia walked through the room he didn't think giving an awkward wave with a goofy smile on his face.

After they left the room he realized how stupid he probably looked and stared right at the ground slightly shaking his head. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He started playing Sudoku on his phone to exit himself from the awkward mess he is.

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Eva listened to the others with mild interest before that quickly faded. It wasn't that she wasn't completely enthralled with them all being here already, but she also didn't really enjoy crowds that much either. Then, her mind turned to a certain blue bird that needed to come out of her shell and a smirk grew on her lips. She patted Damar's shoulder playfully, to let him know she was exiting the conversation and the room.

She followed what she assumed to be the path that Elizabeth and Amelia took upstairs. She waved with a smile to Elizabeth as she walked down the stairs.

"Headed up to your room already?" Elizabeth asked, stopping on the stairs to talk to Eva.

"Nah, just needed to use the potty." Eva responded, running up the stairs past Elizabeth. She grinned as she found the door she was looking for and slipped in silently, looking around for her victim. If this wouldn't get her out of her shell, Eva was really sure what would.

Okay, maybe it was going a bit too far but in Eva's defense, she was bored and Amelia was an easy target. "Don't let yourself be such an easy target. Don't blame me for this." Eva whispered as she grabbed the suitcase and clothes from the bed, grinning mischievously.

Amelia was in the tub for about another half an hour, just relaxing for while before getting to work on cleaning herself. When she finished and got out, she quickly found a towel and dried herself off before wrapping it loosely around herself and heading to her room. It only took her seconds to realize that her suitcase was missing. Sighing, she was happy she had kept some cloths in her bag incase something like this had happened. When she turned to her bed though and saw her bag was missing her heart almost stopped. Her bag was missing. She quickly began looking around the room to see if it might have simply been moved. After several minutes of searching and not finding it she began panicking and she could already feel the tears welling up in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away and tightened the towel around herself before heading out of her room.

Normally, Amelia would never have done this. But her phone was in the bag and so where her papers and pencils along with that one item that meant so much for her. It was primarily that item that was making her desperate enough to leave her room instead of just staying inside until someone came to check on her. She moved through the house, trying to see if she could any clue to who might have taken her things. She had no luck though and soon came across the foyer, where everyone was, for some reason, still gathered. She slowly moved down the stairs, making sure the towel was secure before spotting Damarquis. Upon seeing him, she rushed over to him and gave him a hug as her shoulders began shaking and his shirt would grow a bit wet as the girl began crying. Amelia rarely ever cried for any reason and Damarquis was one of the few to see her do so, so he would likely be able to narrow down the reasons why quickly.

Brandon walked in shortly after, asking about swimming. Ronnie chuckled, amused to see that the idea of skinny dipping was gaining ground. Though he knew it probably wouldn't happen... yet, or not with the full group anyway. Ronnie practically jumped after hearing Damarquis's cry of joy on seeing Brandon. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but even now it was easy to get startled by Damarquis.

Upon hearing that Brandon had been with Elizabeth and Amelia, he laughed out loud. "B, you dog. I see you, enjoying your time with the girls." He threw an arm around Brandon, pulling him in for a friendly hug. "I'm sure things go real dirty." He wigged his eyebrows, teasing his friend. "Seriously though, glad you could make it. We couldn't have you locked up playing video games in the dark all summer." He babbled on for a bit, missing Jocelyn's initial entrance into the foyer and Eva's exit.

Eventually noticing Jocelyn, Ronnie was about to go over for his usual hug when a small form burst into the foyer. Confused he stopped and looked around to find Amelia wrapped in only a towel, her face buried in Damarquis torso wet with tears. Something that was not quite a grin spread across his face as the sight was unlike anything he'd seen. Still, one thing was obvious. Amelia wasn't in a room full of people in only a towel because she wanted to be.

Unsure of what to do in the sudden quiet, he walked over to them. He didn't say anything as he trusted Damarquis to calm her better. Pulling his own shirt over his head, he held it out for Damarquis to give her. That the shirt might not actually help her because it was too big and off too little material did not appear to cross his mind.

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He was enjoying catching up with everyone. It seemed that everyone he knew to be coming was present and the chatter was wonderful. Normally lots of noise irritated him, but he was glad to be around his friends and enjoying each and every second of their voices. It was true, this was the last summer they'd spend together before most of them, if not all of them, went off to different states across America to enjoy the college life. Sighing, he would look to each person who spoke, not really participating as much as he normally would, but the thought of not seeing them again did cross his mind. There was so much he hadn't said to most, but was now the right time?

As he continued to hold his bag, his mind went to the various gifts stuffed in his car. As one of the butlers walked by, he got the man's attention and asked him to gather the gifts he had brought with him. Amelia's gift was the only one he didn't have in his car. It would be delivered as it was a very large chocolate bunny filled with various candies that she loved. Elizabeth was the hardest to find a gift for. Alex as well, but he knew enough about them to get them a gift of some sort. Jocelyn's gift was a new Prada bag, Brandon's gift was a new gaming rig which costs thousands of dollars, but he was worth it. Ronnie's gift was a box of fidget spinners as well as a gift card to Abercrombie and Fitch, worth $300. Eva's gift was a dozen chocolate covered strawberries and tickets to the indie film festival. Elizabeth's gift was a day at the spa, specifically the Spa at Sanderling in Duck, North Carolina. He spared no expense with these gifts, and he hoped that they would accept them with a smile. He expected nothing in return. It was just the kind of person he was. Money didn't change him, granted it was nice to have, but he did things for others so freely. Penny's gift was a Michael Kors luggage set. Alex was particularly hard to purchase a gift for, Damar finally settled on something that he knew Alex always wanted, but it was very expensive. He had to ask his dad to purchase it which was no issue at all for his father who had a bank account holding nearly 9 figures constantly. So he purchased him a new motorcycle which would be delivered later that day, but Damar managed to get the keys placed in a small box and had the box wrapped. The 2017 Kawasaki Ninja ZX10RR was a big gift, but in Damar's eyes his friends were worth more than what it cost, and if it made Alex happy that was all he cared about.

Just as he informed the butler to retrieve the gifts, he turned and saw Amelia walking towards him with nothing but a towel wrapped around her. This was unlike her, and when she buried her face into his chest he sighed realizing something must've triggered her emotions. He began to think as he tried to console her and ask her questions. Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. The only other time he'd ever seen her like this was when her bunny was in jeopardy or taken from her. When Ronnie pulled his shirt off and handed it to Damar, Damar grabbed it and pulled it onto Amelia's body. It covered her like a big nightgown, but he still wanted to know who would take her belongings.

"Who took it?" Damar asked Amelia as he lifted her head by her chin with his hand to look into her eyes. "I'll find it Bunny, just calm down and go to your room until we find your clothes."

Damar turned to everyone. "Attention please, SOMEONE has taken Amelia's belongings. She can't find them, so if you would all be so kind as to help me find her stuff that would be nice. I'll look upstairs to see if maybe the butlers misplaced it." At that moment he realized Eva wasn't in the group. Could she have taken Amelia's things? "Where the hell is Eva?" Damar asked his tone pointed as if he was accusing her already even though he didn't know who took it or where Amelia's items were. Nonetheless, he shook his head and proceeded to depart the group, heading upstairs where the rooms were.

Ronnie knew as well as anyone how unlikely it was that any of the guests would "go real dirty" with Brandon, whatever that was supposed to mean, but Brandon just rolled his eyes, shaking his head at Ronnie's comments. "You know it," he joked back with false confidence. "Ladykiller. That's what they call me in my Free Company. Of course, usually the lady is Garuda or Shiva..." The ensuing silence after his joke made him think he had gone too far into nerddom, but he soon saw the true reason. Before him was a tearful Amelia wearing nothing but a towel. Brandon couldn't ever think of a time he had seen her crying, and had often admired the strength with which she faced her daily obstacles, but someone had pushed her too far.

Brandon stood frozen, his mind caught between two emotions. On one side was the angelic form before him, her bare shoulders glistening with droplets of water that seemed radiant in the foyer lighting. On the other hand, someone had hurt his friend. Brandon involuntarily clenched a fist as Ronnie stepped forward to help her cover up. Marco soon announced the most likely culprit: Eva. Brandon was never one who enjoyed pranks, preferring instead to outwit someone fairly rather than when they could do nothing to stop the prankster. But Brandon also was not someone who normally took revenge. The closest he had ever come to revenge was stopping a bully in the act, for which he had been suspended for a short time. When his father had learned the reason for the suspension, his face lit up in the proudest look he had ever seen his father give.

Brandon forced himself to turn away from Amelia, his fist and jaw still clenched angrily. This wasn't how he wanted the summer to go. He hoped this would be the final prank they experience.

---

After beating two expert difficulty Sudoku games Alex got bored and decided to look back up at the rest of the people in the room. That's when he saw Amelia crying and Damar doing what he could to console her. At first Alex was in sheer shock, but then Damar addressed the rest of the group informing them that Amelia's stuff had been taken. Nearly instantly Alex got very angry. He couldn't stand it when someone made one of his friends cry. Being that it was Amelia crying made him even angrier. He put his phone in his pocket and laid his stuff down, because he refused to hand his things over, and started walking towards the stairs leading to the rooms.

Just as he passed Damar and Amelia he heard Damar ask where Eva was. Instantly Alex started jumping to conclusions not thinking things through. Even if she was the culprit Alex was on a one tracked mind and wasn't taking the time to think over why she may have done it or even if she had. He bolted up the stairs two at a time. As soon as he got up there he belted out, "EVA! WHERE ARE YOU!" Alex rarely called his friends anything other than the nicknames he had given them. When he didn't it either meant he was mad or something serious was going on. Right now Alex was acting on instinct. Getting Amelia's things and making her feel better were first priority then depending on what happened next would Alex determine what he'd do next.

Mentions: @WindsOfFate

"Shit on a candle stick..." Eva mumbled as she tried, ever so elegantly, to slip herself back out of Amelia's room at the sound of Damar's voice. Damn bitch had already ratted on her. What was the big deal about those clothes anyway? They could just buy her more. Rolling her eyes, Eva continued to mount her escape after returning Amelia's bag to her room.

As she exited the room, however, she heard someone's footsteps at the door. "Shit, they would go check her room first wouldn't they?" She whispered to herself, actually hitting herself on the forehead as if to get onto herself for not realizing this sooner. In doing so, she wasted much of the time she could have used to escape as Damar finally arrived in time to see her crouched in the hall way, waddling her way towards her room, Amelia's room still cracked.

She cringed when she heard Alex's voice screaming into the hallway. Pushing herself up off the ground, she turned just as Lance arrived and started yelling back at Alex, "Byeol, byeol, byeol?! What the hell did I do?" She asked, hoping that she'd be able to convince them she wasn't incredibly suspicious.



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Elizabeth had been talking to the others happily when she noticed a blur streak past her and cling to Damar. When she finally realized who it was, she rushed over to them, but didn't say anything. What happened? Did a butler take her things by accident? Why would they do that if they were already in her room? Maybe they took them to get washed?

Without another sound, Elizabeth rushed off to find Madam Kleine to ask about the laundry and who had been in Amelia's room.



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"And you're sure there will be adults there?" Peter asked, narrowing his eyes at Lance.

Still staring into the bathroom mirror, his hands rubbing more product into his hair, Lance replied to his uncle, "Honestly, Samchon, it's like you don't even trust me."

"Because I don't." He replied, sighing.

"Well, trust that there are plenty of people there to help keep me in line." Lance returned, straighten once he was satisfied with his hair. "It's not like I trust you that much either." He added, a smirk on his lips. His own money had paid for his uncles new flat screen, so he didn't exactly feel bad for all the trouble he caused his uncle.

"Just make sure I don't get another call from the police station. You're not a kid anymore." Peter finished, already plugged back into his football game.

"Right..." Lance replied. Half those times his uncle just referenced were caused by his uncles issues. It was his friends that had antagonized him to begin with. He just... gave them what they wanted. Sighing, Lance walked the sort distance to his closet of a room and grabbed the bag he' packed the night before. He'd have to get some more clothes while he was there.

He smirked, the thought of asking Damar to go with him crossing his mind. What better way to get closer to the one you like than to wear the clothes they pick out.

...

Lance would never do that though. Pushing the thought away, Lance waved lazily to his uncle, a vain gesture that his uncle didn't even see, before leaving the apartment. He walked the few miles it took to get to the bus stop and stood for a few minutes waiting, regretting the long sleeved sweater he was wearing. He stared ahead as he listened to the girls around him squeal with excitement.

"He's so cute!"

"I know! Think he has a girlfriend?"

"Like you'd even approach him."

"Watch me."

But before the girl could approach him, the bus pulled up and Lance hurried on-board, suddenly searching for his headphones. Nothing said, "Leave me the fuck alone." quite like a pair of headphones and resting bitch face. Both of which, he prompted put on. He wasn't one for small talk and making friends was a long process for him. He stared out the window, trying to ignore the stares of the girls. Eventually, however, he gave up and sent them a vicious glare. They jumped, surprised, and turned away, suddenly chatting to each other again, probably about how mean he looked now.

The rest of the trip went about the same. A few more bus stops, more sweating, more irritating looks and comments and finally he found himself at the bus stop just miles from Elizabeth's home. His sleeves were now rolled up and sweat was beading at his forehead. He probably looked like shit and he desperately wanted a shower so he could look and feel normal. No doubt some of them would have something to say about his appearance. Maybe he could sneak in and find a shower before the others saw him.

...Doubtful.

Still, he was going to try. He wasn't particular about what others thought of him but... He didn't really want Damar seeing him like this... As he walked however, a group of tough looking teens were leaning against one of the tall stone walls on the street. He sighed, watching as one of them tapped the other's shoulder and pointed at Lance.

Lance sighed and closed his eyes. He just needed to ignore them and move on. It wasn't worth walking into the house with cuts all over his face, but like usual, Lance wasn't going to get his way. 15 minutes later, two of the boys were high-tailing it out of there and another was puking his guts out from where Lance had punched his stomach. Lance, was again regretting his choice in clothes. He honestly wasn't expecting it to be so hot today. He now had a few bruises on his face and a cut in his lip. His knuckles were red but otherwise he was fine. He continued on, growing more irritated with each passing second.

It was never his fault. They always seemed to egg him on. Even those kids, thinking they were tough and that the Asian guy couldn't possibly be good at fighting. He snorted. What a joke.

About half an hour later, Lance was at the house, his bag still pulled over his shoulder, which... now that he had time to really focus on it, felt bruised as well. He couldn't really tell if it was from those kids or from another time, however. He'd have to have a look when he found a shower.

He didn't have to look in a mirror to realize how shitty he must look like now. Sweaty and slightly beaten. He sighed and pushed his hair, now wet with sweat, away from his eyes. He noticed what he assumed to be the front door and steered clear, instead snaking his way around the building to find another door. Which, he promptly found and entered. He smiled at the familiar sight of the kitchen, where he'd often made pancakes for himself, Eva, and Elizabeth.

The memory turned sour however, when he realized that was the only meal he knew how to make. He'd have to spend a bit more time in the kitchen this summer and learn some dishes. He actually quite liked cooking. Sighing, he made his way upstairs in time to see Eva, crouched on the floor, Alex pointing, yelling at her, and Damar standing at the top of the other set of stairs. He watched his brow raised as Eva replied rather frantically. He knew, from the way she was acting, she'd done something. What, he didn't know.

He blinked, confused, tired, sweaty and already irritated. "What the hell did you do this time, Eva?" He asked, the irritation leaking into his tone. He dropped his bag on the floor and let himself lean against the wall, his leg suddenly giving him a bit of a fit. He feared that if he didn't do this, he might actually just crumble on the spot. He was fit, but he also just walked a very long ways and gotten into a fight. Which, if he thought about it, those kids might have hit him in the legs a few times.

If Lance was being honest, he often zoned out during fights, not realizing the injuries he received until a while after the adrenaline died down. Still, he was more focused on what the hell was going on than how much his knee was aching.

Mentions: @HylianRose@Joshua Tamashii@alexfangtalon

When he reached the top of the stairs, he saw her. While Alex had run up the other set of stairs in a frenzy, he had taken the other set of stairs and saw Eva moving towards her own room, Amelia's door cracked open. He glared and approached her quickly. Eva was trying to plead her case, asking what had she done, but Damar simply shook his head.

"You're acting guilty Eva," he said as he looked into her eyes. "Look, just tell me the truth, did you take Bunny's stuff? If you did that's fine, but you should apologize to her. Her things are precious to her. Taking something of hers is like taking gold from King Midas." Damar was working hard not to divulge what was in Amelia's bag that was so important. He knew that Amelia didn't want anyone to know about her stuffed toy, and he wouldn't say anything about it either.

At that moment Lance appeared and Damar looked in his direction in complete shock. He wasn't expecting Lance to come. While he had a crush on two guys in the group, Lance was a different story. He was smooth, yet he was a "bad boy" and it intrigued Damarquis, but he knew that Lance played too many games and wasn't the relationship type. He also knew that Lance was a playboy and that's what he had nicknamed him. Eva's brother of course which was another reason Damar kept his distance and didn't try anything with him. He couldn't help it though, whenever Lance was in the room it was hard for him to take his eyes off of him. Still, the issue at hand grabbed Damar's attention and he looked back at Eva and then to Alex before he sighed.

"So, we were looking for Bunny's stuff, it was taken while she was in the shower. Have you seen it?" He asked changing his stance a bit to one less accusing.