Ricky had the most 180 shifts in his mood that he had in a while. It came, of course, as Alex mentioned the act of taking his picture and Jordan Ross. He had considered letting him take his picture because obviously Ricky would love to be featured in the yearbook. More exposure meant the more people around school could stop talking about him behind his back. They could even worship him in some way, but at the mention of Jordan Ross and Ricky's entire mood shifted into an unpleasant frown and forced him to bite his tongue, which in turn made him grit his teeth, murmuring obscenities under his muffled breath.

Alex was harmless enough. He was a bit too handsy with that camera of his and honestly, Ricky just thought of him as Henderson's personal photographer who was quite skilled with the photos he took. Admittedly, Ricky hasn't seen every single picture but there was a certain style he could recognize being Alex's own. But when he made the comment about adding Ricky's photo to Jordan, he nearly lost it. It was only with the grace of God and maybe even a miracle on Ricky's part that had him take the road less traveled.

"Sure. You can take my photo but only if you tell me something," Ricky smiled, leaning in close to Alex, grabbing his shirt. "How does it feel knowing that, without that special camera of yours, you're just as useless as Henderson is a capable principal?"

Cami hadn’t left Ludvig’s side since she left Melissa and Steph to handle the keg that they brought. Truth be told, she wasn’t sure nor confident about her place at the party, but being convinced by the thorns and maybe seeing Aria, that tall blonde bombshell was probably the only things keeping her around. And, of course, so that Ludvig didn’t have to suffer through the party alone. There was co-dependency between them. She needed to get out more, explore the area and better acquaint herself with Columbus and the neighborhood since she’s been away and Ludvig needed her to be his rock.

And so they wandered about, talking with each other, talking with others, getting a drink or two, but for the most part, Cami and Ludvig kept to themselves. The best friends from childhood who, sure had friends around, but sometimes all someone needed was some quality BFF time.

They parked it near the bonfire, though not too close because it was way too hot but close enough to enjoy the view. “Pretty crazy how fast this week has moved, huh?” Cami mused to Ludvig, stretching her legs. “I mean, I’m still readjusting to the neighborhood. Not even a week in and already it seems there are a lot of hands tugging at me.” She didn’t mind the whole ‘headfirst into the deep-end’ approach some had, but there was a part of her that wanted to relax for a few weeks and then jump into clubs or whatever came across her lap. “I don’t know, Lud. I guess I sort of miss the quiet patience that SI had, y’know?” She said with a sigh.

Ludvig, who had been entranced with the dancing flames lost in his own thoughts like he was most of the time nowadays, snapped his head towards his best friend. He hummed as he thought of what to say “Well I get what you mean…” he began, “You’ve always been popular with people… It’s hard to get why you stuck with me.” he let out a nervous laugh. He rubbed the back of his neck and took a swig from his beer. He turned back to his friend with a strained smile. “Just know that I am so so glad you are back here… and whatever you need… even if it is me letting you be by yourself… I get that.” he said quietly.

The whole week Ludvig has had this weird knot in the pit of his stomach that he was almost smothering Camila with his presence. It was just that she was the only good thing in his life right now. Sure he had Artie and the others but not really; they just tolerated him because Artie told them to. So if he had to back off to keep Camila around he would.

Camila lightly punched his arm, shooting him a teasing smile. “I was never stuck with you, Lud,” she corrected him. “You were the first friend I made and no matter how many people claim to be my friend, you have always been there when some proved to be fake friends!” She felt a surge of emotion race to her head, prompting her to bring in Ludvig into a half-hug. “I don’t care who promises me the world, if that doesn’t include you, they can kiss my you-know-what!” She laughed.

The blond boy let out a small laugh, giving Camila a half-smile. Even though he knew she was genuine because she always has been, Ludvig couldn’t help but still feel he was a burden. But now was not the time for his dark thoughts so he widened his smile and straightened up. “We’ll conquer it all together then!” he stretched his long legs out finishing off his beer. He looked around at the students that had gathered at the party spotting Aria standing around just surveying the crowd of her party he gave her a friendly nod before turning back to his friend.

“So what do you think about our fine institute? Found anything that tickled your fancy?” he chuckled bumping her shoulder with his.

The years between them had taught her a lot, such as when to read between the lines when it came to Ludvig. She knew what he meant beyond the surface. So, when he asked about something that tickled her fancy, she knew he wasn’t asking her about activities or potential friends. Yeah, she knew what he knew what she was starting to feel. He was the only one knew how she really felt and specifically, what group of people her attraction leaned.

She adjusted her legs, closing them and awkwardly shifting, which was just her way of stalling time but she shrugged. “I mean, it’s just the first week, but maybe,” she hinted. Part of her was still weird in that sense. Though Ludvig knew she was gay, talking about who, as he put it, tickled her fancy, was awkward for her. It didn’t matter who she was or how forward she might be, when it came to openly admitting who she might have a crush on, Camila was as forthcoming as anyone was. “I don’t know if I'll ever act on it, but that girl Aria.”

“Ah…” Ludvig nodded as he stared at the flames yet again. “I thought I saw some sparks the first-day back….” he smirked as he cast another look over his shoulder towards Aria. “Well good thing I’m kind of friends with her then!” he said standing up and extending his arm to Camila. “Want to go talk to her?” he offered.

“Just like that?” She asked him almost immediately. “We just walk up to the co-host of the party and be like ‘hey, I think you’re really cool. I like you a lot. Maybe we can hang out or something?’” She asked, grooving to the rhythm of the popular vine, laughing afterward.

He mimicked the laughter “Exactly! Or you know we could just make small talk and see where it goes!” Ludvig continued while shaking his hand indicating for Camila to grab it.

The redheaded teen sighed. She knew when she was beaten and Ludvig had reduced her to the point where she visibly threw up her hands in defeat and took his, standing up. “You win!” She said, half-smiling, half-laughing as they walked off.

Cami and Ludvig kind of just wandered around like before but this time they had a set goal, so they walked with purpose. Some comments were made but Cami’s response fell flat when she saw that familiar blonmazon. Compared to Cami, at least, she was tall. And when she turned around, drink in hand, Cami flushed a light red but swallowed any nerves and went forward because she wasn’t a coward. “There you are!” Cami waved at Aria as she and Ludvig approached her. She smiled, giving the blonde a quick once-over. She tried her best not to linger too much, lest she gives off anything more than friendly vibes. “Great party so far! You and Jenna did great work!”

The first week of Tyra's Senior year had been a pretty uneventful one, if she did say so herself. Besides being given the opportunity to show around fresh meat throughout the week, and having to sit through a forty minute-long assembly on the first day, Tyra's first few days of school had been pretty... boring. It was basically the same old routine that she'd been going through for the past two years. But it wasn't like she expected for it to be anything special or out of the ordinary; it was Rosefell, after all. Aria Herondale's party was the only thing that Tyra had to look forward to that week, so when Friday night finally arrived the young woman was more than delighted to pick out her flyest outfit and head down to the lake to blow off some steam. Tyra pulled up near the other cars in her 2011 Honda Civic, blasting music from her usual playlist. Her mother's warning about drinking and driving echoed in her head as she cut the engine, pocketed her keys, and got out of the car.

It didn't really come as much of a surprise to Tyra that Morgan Sinclair was the first person she'd seen in the crowd of Rosefell Juniors and Seniors. It was as if she had been subconsciously searching for the girl since she'd gotten out of her car. Although having a bit of a complicated past, Ty was glad that she and Morgan were able to maintain a pretty solid friendship. What did surprise her, however, was the person she spotted embracing the curly-haired woman from behind: none other than her best friend from third grade, Jenna Moore. Had she missed something? Were the two of them an item all of a sudden? Tyra's head whirled with unanswered questions as she continued strolling and surveying the crowd.

DeShawn Marcus. God, was he a sight for sore eyes. As Tyra approached the liquor table, she couldn't help but take a few long gazes in the direction of the two hundred pound football player. To say that she was surprised to see the boy there would be an understatement; she'd never thought he was the partying type given that he usually stayed to himself during school hours. But rather than try to strike up a conversation with the guy she hardly knew, Tyra simply poured herself a drink, gave him a quick nod, and continued on, hoping to find at least one of her friends within the next few minutes.

And that she did.

"Richhhhhh, my brother!" Tyra called out in a sing-song voice as she approached the young man from behind and wrapped an arm around his torso. "What's all this I've been overhearing? Don't tell me that you tryna slide up on my girl Melissa." The goofy grin plastered across her face made it clear that she was only trying to tease the boy. This grin suddenly faded, however, when Tyra realized who it was that Rich had been talking to in the first place: Samantha Queen. It was no secret that Ty wasn't too fond of the other woman for multiple reasons. Nevertheless, Tyra knew that there was no reason to be nasty towards her, especially since she also happened to be cool with one of her close friends; she simply offered the girl a half-smile in greeting. "Nice to see you too... Samantha."

“Come on Lana! What else were you going to do tonight?” Minty had asked before wrapping the shorter girl in a hug.

There were plenty of better things Lana could think of doing instead of being at this party: playing guitar, curling up with a book, watch a few movies, talk on the phone with Alex for a few hours...

And speaking of Alex...

Alana's attention was soon brought out of her internal list of activities more suitable for her personality and onto the events unfolding in front of her. Two very familiar boys were sitting beside each other: with one of them visibly upset and forcefully grabbing the other's shirt, while his victim appeared to be unbothered, as shown by how he calmly held a professional-looking camera to his attacker's face. Her blue eyes widened in panic when she realized who were the feuding men, and found herself rushing over to the scene as fast as her small legs could take her.

"Ricky! Hi!" Alana said as brightly as she could when she'd reached them, hoping to distract the volatile boy from punching the lights out of her secret boyfriend. Although the petite girl wasn't one for confrontation, she realized that if she didn't act soon, Alex would probably end up in the ER. "How's it going? I haven't seen you in forever!"