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The scent of Chinese cuisine wafting throughout the air was almost enough to coax Tae from his current spot, but with a brief glance to his watch, decided he had plenty more time to himself. Perched atop the slanted roof of his home, having climbed up from one of the balconies, Tae had been enjoying the near-silence of the dusk air. Admiring the sunset and mulling thoughts over in his mind, before the tantalising scent of food took his attention. This dinner had always been a big thing every year, what with his parents always being the hosts. As a kid it was great - having a good catch up with his friends while eating amazing food. These days it seemed more like an audition of sorts, with each parent present letting the others know exactly what was going on in each perfect little life. How family businesses were going, how the family was doing, and of course, what the children were up to. If they'd hit 19 and hadn't made it into college, he knew more than enough people in the neighbourhood who'd look down on them. Personally he had no issue if someone took further education or not, though he did dislike laziness. Part of him thought it was lazy that his parents had hired chefs to cook the food for tonight, though after smelling it, decided that it was a good use of their money. He loved his family, but they were lousy cooks.

Seeing a familiar figure leave the stables and head towards the house, Tae let out a deep sigh, his mind going back once again to the problem at hand. He knew his parents wanted him to take over the family business, though they also knew about his desire to become a Doctor. They seemed to be under the impression that he could do both, and while he was pleased they thought so highly of his capabilities, he had doubts himself. Even if he were able to do both, what about the rest of his life? Starting a family of his own one day was extremely important to him, but with two careers like that, spending time with them would be impossible. Then there were the smaller things, like his hobbies, his desire to return to his home country in order to take part in charitable organisations and reconnect to his roots, and of course, keeping in contact with his friends.

"Maybe they can give me some advice." He thought to himself, absent-mindedly flicking a pebble nearby and watching it clatter down the roof tiles. A bit more time ticked by, and he remained quietly on the rooftop until he heard the faint ringing of a doorbell. At last - the first guests had arrived.

Shimmying down the roof carefully, Tae landed back onto the hallway balcony, following a few yards behind Veronica as she too joined the party. Her attitude to their parents wasn't pleasant, but at the same time, to be expected. Watching them roll their eyes as she flounced into the dining room, exasperation fell way to relief as their eyes landed on him. Though he was sure they were just happy to see him, Tae knew the suit he was wearing was having a larger impact. Stepping into place beside them, he planted a kiss on his mother's cheek with a rueful smile.

"Don't give her the attention, Mom. You know she just does it to get a rise out of you both." His parents knew this, of course, but still rose to every appearance related rebellion Tae's elder sister dished out. He had no issues with her wardrobe, personally, nor could he understand why it was such a problem. Just because they had wealth didn't mean they had to flaunt it about by way of their clothing.

"Oh, we know." Tae's mother sighed, waving her hand as if it could waft away the problem, then patting him on the lapels of his jacket with a smile. "At least you look presentable, Tae." As he nearly always did too, in fact. Tae enjoyed looking good, even moreso if it was for some kind of event or dinner party where he could put in a bit more effort. Such as tonight, he'd donned a colourful dress shirt, paired with jacket, slacks, and leather shoes which had been polished by himself not an hour ago. However, conversation and cuisine were bound to be the main stars tonight.

Rather than joining 'Her Royal Highness' in the dining room, Tae lingered by the door, wondering who was coming in first. Leaning lazily against one of the pillars flanking the foyer, he hoped it was the Cabernet's. It had been far too long since he'd had a good chat with Ali and her siblings.

Lincoln was barricaded in his room. Literally barricaded. He had pushed a chair against the door, and stolen of his brother's milk crates for extra force. His favourite song was playing through his headphones as he sat at his desk, sketching the view from his window. That set of pencils he had been given in October for his birthday had really come in handy, even is he wore through two of them within a month. The Hollingsworth clan, true to form, had invited everyone over for dinner. He was sure the Cabernet family would counter-attack with a bonfire, and a dinner party war would ensue.

A lot had happened to him in the past year: he had developed an addiction, slept with almost every woman in California, and his face was on the cover of every tabloid. It would be nice to see all his friends again after the mayhem. He loved all the attention at the start, but it was nice to have a break. It had all become much too much, but wasn't every celebrity's child meant to go over the edge eventually?

Over the sound of his music came the sound of his father. "Link! Link, could you open the door? Can you hear me?" He bolted out of his chair, switching off his music, pulling the barricade down. As soon as his father entered the room and saw the mess on the floor, he rolled his eyes. "Honestly, son, what are you doing in here. You haven't snuck in a girl from college have you? Because I wouldn't be surprised." He joking ruffled his son's hair and laughed. Link grinned, sitting on his bed.

"So, are you here for a reason, or did you just want to break my concentration? If so, you've done a damn fine job of it, sir!" He propped himself up on his elbows, raising an eyebrow expectantly.

"Oh, yeah, your mother wants us to leave in ten. Don't know why she couldn't tell you herself, but that's women." He paused to subtly raise a first at the door, then continued. "Where was I? Oh, yeah, she wanted you to get dressed. I'll see you downstairs." His father shot him a wink then closed the door.

Link rolled off the bed, rummaging in his wardrobe for some vaguely presentable clothing. The best he could find was a blue plaid shirt, a dark blue jumper, a heavy dark grey blazer and some grey flannel trousers. There was probably more smart attire that he owned, but at that moment he didn't care. He was sure his parents would not be happy. They had always expected him to clean up his appearance for parties and the like, but he just didn't give a damn. He left his hair totaled and went downstairs.

His prediction of his parent's reactions was flawless. George rolled his eyes, and Freya soon her head. Both were despondent at this point. "George! Didn't you tell him to put on something smart?" She murmured, staring daggers at him. Before he could reply, Link cut in. "Of course he did, Ma! But did you really think that I would?" The Everett parents stopped their bickering, and waited on their youngest son.

When Mike appeared, they quickly set off. The Hollingsworth residence wasn't far away from theirs, so the walk was short. As soon as they entered the Hollingsworth residence, they were remained of how everyone else on the island had much more money than them. Lincoln noticed Veronica wave at him and his entourage. He coolly nodded back, smirking. Lincoln had always appreciated her acerbic remarks, it was good for bantering. His parents were quick to be greeted by Mr and Mrs Hollingsworth. It was all very 'I've missed you so much!' and 'We must speak more often!' even when they knew it would never happen.

Getting sick of the saccharine, Lincoln quickly extended his hand to Jared, smiling. "Mr Hollingsworth! Fantastic to see you, sir. I tried a pinot grigio or yours earlier this year. It was quite, what's the word, piquant. Very well done." He knew the Hollingsworth's loved him, and used it to his advantage. He quickly turned his attention to Serena. "Oh, and Mrs Hollingsworth. You look gorgeous as ever, if I do say so myself. That being said, you could wear a bin bag and make it look like high end fashion." He smiled at both of them before walking over to Tae, his smile immediately fading.

"Honestly dude, as much as I love your parents, I hate sucking up to them. I don't know why I bother." He growled. He didn't like putting on airs for anyone. He shook his head, smiling again."Anyway, its awesome to see you again! You had a good year?"

@Peridot

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“Geez, didn't this just fit me like a few months ago?” She growled, standing to her feet as she adjusted the tight fit of the black leggings around her slightly wider-than-average hips and thick thighs, hearing in the back of her head the voice of her mother who'd constantly remind her that she wasn't eating right. And yet, it was just the opposite, as the youngest of the two Franklin twins barely ate enough. In fact most of the time, if she could skip breakfast she wouldn’t even bother with it until maybe lunchtime, or prefer a frappuccino in place of any real food, whatever that was. No, the hips and thighs had nothing to do with food, it was genetics. And the only one to blame for a “fat ass” is her mother.

“Finally!” She exclaimed, happy to have the leggings on and still able to breathe normally, as she pulled on an oversized gray knit sweat over a black sports bra, and stood in front of the tall mirror across the room. “Meh.” Was about her reaction with most of her wardrobe, which she was rarely ever happy with anyway, but at the same time tried not to think much about it. She ran a hand over her shaved head, chuckling a bit at the disbelief that she’d actually gone and cut all her hair off in the first place back home. But she needed that separation, not only from her identical twin sister, but from society, even if for a little while.

Speaking of Ella, her sister’s annoying tapping on the door broke her from the brief reverie of staring at herself, a tapping that was probably worse than her yelling through the door for her to “hurry up!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Brynn muttered, not in any real rush to visit the Hollingsworth family. Granted, she liked them, and everyone got along just fine, but there was just something about them that didn’t sit well in the pit of her stomach. Or maybe it was nothing, and she just didn’t want to be around a lot of people at that moment. Either way though, she hoped that Lincoln would be there, one of the few kids she’d enjoyed hanging with in Rosefell who could still be tolerable. In addition, their shared love of art always helped to solidify a pretty good friendship between the two, even if their styles were fundamentally different and it was mostly them chit-chatting about each other’s work. Which reminded her... The girl walked over to her drafting table and flipped through one of her recent sketchbooks until she landed on the page she was looking for. The short comic strip she’d tried her hand at after being challenged by Lincoln months ago over an email and text conversation. She figured she could pull it off, and while she leaned toward more classical figurative drawing, she still admired the guy’s creative style and honestly couldn’t pass up the challenge. Eventually she’d post it on Facebook and Instagram, but she also wasn’t quite sure she was even happy with the outcome.

“Crap.” Losing track of the time, Brynn closed the sketchpad, slid it under her arm, and grabbed her pink low-top Converse before jetting down the stairs just in time to see her mother heading for the door with a finely decorated cake on an equally decorative platter. “Eh...did you make that?” The young girl inquired, raising her eyebrow to accentuate the puzzled expression already on her face.

“No.” Her mother shook her head, shooting her daughter a sour expression in response such a comment. “If you must know, it was actually from the bakery in town, so you guys are safe.” She finally smiled, knowing that her attempts at cooking sort of fell to the wayside.

“Ah.” Brynn nodded, then looked around. “Did dad and El’ leave already?”

“Yeah, and um-" Lana Franklin cut herself off as she gazed at her youngest and the too-casual outfit the girl decided on. “I'm fairly certain that my instructions were clear about ‘no sneakers’, yeah?”

“I know, but-" The youngest Franklin child’s protests fell on deaf ears.

“Ah-uh, we’re not doing this now, Brynn. You're going and I want to see appropriate shoes.” Lana said in her usual stern-but-loving voice. “And do hurry.” She said, walking out the door with cake in both hands.

“Yes ma’am.” The young girl mumbled and frowned, quickly waltzing up the steps toward her bedroom, just to grab a pair of wedge sandles, slip them on, and catch up with her mom who’d already made it to the front door of the Hollingsworth home. Brynn couldn’t help but grin at her twin standing there holding the cake as they all went into the house, and Brynn stopping by the two boys, Tae and Lincoln, who were busy taking in the atmosphere before the party really got underway.

“Hey Link, Tae.” Brynn waved and half-smiled before leaning up against one of the pillars in the foyer. “So, any chance we can slip out of here unnoticed?” The girl grinned wryly and at that moment just happened to turn her attention to her left where she saw her mother eyeing her suspiciously. Brynn’s grin quickly wiped from her face.

@Erklings25 @Peridot