Had this been a few weeks ago, Stella might’ve been angrier than she was right now. And that was to simply say that she wasn’t — angry, that is. During the mini-assembly (if you really wanted to call it that), Stella found herself bored, mirroring Queen Julie ironically, but more just bored of a lot of things. For days that followed that way-too-eventful-for-its-own-good Monday that tore her world apart, she was livid at Chrissie. Livid at the world for everything that was happening around her. She threw tantrums, which was unlike her but she also confided in Carter a lot more than she used to. That’s not to say they didn’t talk regularly but especially after the blowout she had with her cousin and ex-best friend, Stella found comfort in Carter now more than ever.

Up until Mrs. Sanders stated the reason for the forced minsembly, she had started to daydream like she used to — like she did when she was with Oliver. She had a conversation with her favorite wholesome bestie and he helped her put a lot of things into perspective. Since their mutual decision to call it quits and remain friends, Stella found herself in a good place. Granted, every time she and Chris saw each other in the hall or at the house, they avoided each other like the plague, which only led to awkward dinners and encounters, but she wasn’t as irate as she was. To quote Oliver, Chrissie had her panties wadded up and Stella wasn’t in the wrong for liking Carter.

Following the bombshell and the aftermath that followed, Stella didn’t know what to make of it. Valentine’s day was about love. It was meant to celebrate it with the one you have feelings for. Stella wanted that to be Carter. She was prepared to ask him if he got cold soles in his feet. She saw no harm in being the one to ask him, but now she couldn’t because why? Oh, that’s right! The King’s Academy staff felt like butting in something they had no business doing. Not only was it unfair to those who were couples already — like Sonny and Marisol — but it was unfair to those who wanted to be couples or have a chance to get a headstart. Like, oh sure, they didn’t say they couldn’t be together at the dance but how rude is it to ditch your date for whoever you like as soon as you get there?

“It’s so unfair!” Stella huffed and rolled her eyes. w

As she stood there, she saw Sonny and Marisol, hands locked together like the cute couple they were, heading into the cafeteria. She saw Russel Lopez go up to his ex’s best friend, Perri Smith. She saw so many people do what she didn’t have an inkling on what to do. She would ask Oliver but he was out of town this weekend, so clearly that wasn’t an option. Maybe Kavi. That was a safe bet, right? Someone who was her friend.

Yeah, Kavi it is!

As soon as Stella had decided, she saw Kavi and she waved to him but he didn’t see her. So she pursued him in secret. Little did she know, not only was someone else thinking of the same thing but like the klutz that Stella was, she tripped over that person’s heel and only caught a glance of them as they sat at the bench Kavi had chosen to isolate him at. Stella’s eyes didn’t betray her as she saw Chrissie was the one who got to Kavi first.

“Son of a--” She bit her lip, choosing not to make a big scene and picked herself up. Holding her bag close to her, Stella turned away from the site of that snake of an ex-best friend and opted to go...somewhere else. Anywhere was better than having to see Chrissie ruin yet another perfect day for her.

So the brunette opted to trace her steps back and aim to move her legs towards the courtyard. As long as it was far away from Chrissie, Stella would welcome anyone to talk to her.

After the fiasco that had happened during the first day of school, Santiago Fernandez had become his baby mama’s bodyguard, pretty much sticking to her like glue. On one hand, he’d felt extremely guilty for leaving her alone and open to confrontations like that. April had always been a strong woman who was more than capable of holding her own, but she was in a delicate state, and he should’ve done more to protect her. On the other hand, he’d been furious to hear about the unnecessary stress the mother of his child had been put in. All she had done was try to take advantage of the new year to turn a new leaf, but her attempt had been ruined by Salvador’s psycho (ex?)girlfriend, and blown out of proportion by some new dude and the rest of Lils’ friends. The young man had been dead set on confronting the couple, but it had been at April’s rather merciful request that he hadn’t. It would solve nothing, she said, and only prove that he was just as unable to commit to changing as Kavi was. And being like Kavi Salvador in any way was out of the question.

Once Mrs. Sanders had dismissed them from yet another assembly, the young couple had made a beeline straight to the cafeteria. Mila was making it very clear to her mother that she was starving, so normally her parents were doing their best to beat the lunch rush. Thankfully, the seniors were let out early, and most of their classmates had been busy finding partners for the dance, so there had been no wait time to get their food. April had secured their seats, and Santiago was returning with their trays in no time.

“Well, there goes my plan of taking you as my date...” the young man lamented, carefully placing April’s lunch tray in front of her before taking a seat in the chair facing her. He wasn’t nearly as outraged as the majority of his classmates seemed to be, but he was still bummed out about being robbed of the chance of taking his girlfriend to their last school Valentine’s Day dance.

After the entire fiasco that had occured in the weeks prior, April had really appreciated the relatively little that had happened since then. Apart from the fact that it took quite a bit of effort to convince Santiago not to confront Kavi and Ariel, April had had a pretty calm and quiet few weeks. The real icing on the figurative cake though, was that even though she had prevented Santiago from bringing the issue back up, the result was that he had become so much more protective of her. The pair were inseparable. He’d carried her books between every class that they shared, he’d always make sure that they got a decent seat in the cafeteria and he’d even gone as far as carrying her tray for her. It was amazing how much he had changed in the few short months it had been since homecoming. While she really didn’t want him doing absolutely everything for her--it kind of tarnished the image of the power of the Trinity--she was willing to let it slide for a bit because damn did she enjoy it.

“No kidding, I was really looking forward to finally attending a dance with you. They can’t really stop us from meeting up during the event though, so there’s that.” April said, undoing the lid and taking a bite of the chicken caesar salad in front of her. “Good choice by the way, I really needed this.” she quickly added, covering her mouth as she tried to both chew and talk.

Santiago chuckled lightly. “You’re welcome, babe! And yeah, definitely. No matter who we go with you can be sure I’ll be checking in on you every once in a while. Gotta make sure they’re taking care of you and treating you right...” he said sweetly, giving her a wink before digging into his loaded nachos. “Anyone you want to go with?” the boy asked with a mouthful of tortilla chips.

“Honestly, I can’t think of any. I could probably ask Kavi now that he's single and all now…” she looked at him with a playful grin before shaking her head and laughing. “Joking of course, I wouldn’t do that to you or Kavi.” She laughed once again, seeing the look of an absolutely unimpressed Santiago looking back at her. “You have to admit that was funny though!”

“Hilarious. I’m falling off my seat with laughter…” he grumbled, rolling his eyes and taking a few more jabs at his nachos. “Steve Harvey is shaking. He’s scared he’ll lose his job to you.”

“And what about you? Any ideas floatin’ around in that head of yours?” April cocked her at him as she looked back to him, the grin still ever present on her face. “If you wanted a real laugh you could ask Julie?” She jokingly suggested, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

Santiago snorted at her suggestion. “You’re just full of jokes today, aren’t you?” he snickered, playfully shaking his head. “We both know Julie would rather throw herself off a cliff than go anywhere with me.”

“This is true. Seems to be a slight flaw in that plan. But seriously, anyone cross your mind?”

The gray-eyed male was quiet for a second, flipping through a mental rolodex of his female classmates. “I mean, not really. I guess I could ask RiRi? Not exactly a friend, but not someone who would run in the opposite direction when she sees me coming.”

“I mean she is really fuckin’ gorgeous. I wouldn’t blame you. I’ve never really talked to her otherwise.” April nodded in approval, though it wasn’t based on much else other than what she saw from the outside. “Given that though, someone may have already asked her, not to be a buzz-kill or anything.”

“Just my fucking luck, right?” he said jokingly, taking another mouthful of nachos when a familiar tall, willowy boy approached their table with a tight-lipped smile.

“Hey April…” the newcomer greeted the pregnant girl before he turned stiffly towards Santiago. “The Devil.” he nodded, giving Santiago a chance to acknowledge him with a sharp nod before turning back to April, leaving the baby daddy to watch the scene unfold in front of him with narrowed eyes.

“So… Uh... This dance thing...” Archer Diedrikson started awkwardly, running his hand through his messy hair. “I was just wondering if a fine, pregnant, unmarried teenage girl would need a gay date to this shitshow?” he asked with a laugh.

April briefly glanced to Santiago to see his reaction before turning her full attention to Archer, smiling warmly to him. “Good afternoon Archer, it’s been a while.” The moment Archer started his little piece about asking her to the dance, April couldn’t help but grin at his delivery. “This fine, pregnant and very much unmarried teenage girl would love a gay date to this shitshow of a Valentine’s dance.” She turned back to Santiago briefly once again, making sure that he was in fact alright with this. It wasn’t that she was looking for his permission, but more his approval.

As unexpected as it was, Archer’s proposal was actually a pretty fucking genius idea. It’s not like Archer and Santiago were the best of friends- or even friends at all. But he’d heard enough compliments from Max about how his cousin was a quiet, kind, chill and caring dude, and he’d witnessed firsthand how he was one of the very few people to manage the feat of defusing the ticking time bomb that was Marisol Castillo more than once. If he was able to pull that off, then he was more than qualified to escort the mother of his child to this dance. In fact, he was probably the perfect man to do so… Besides himself, of course.

The muscled boy’s frown slowly turned into a wide grin. “This is fucking awesome, cabron,” he said gleefully, lightly punching Archer’s arm. “Thanks, man. I’ll owe you one.”

April smiled warmly and looked between the two. It was nice to see that Santiago was completely alright with the proposal and it only served to make her day just that much better. As she looked back to Archer, she remembered something that the two of them had talked about earlier in the year and her eyes lit up once again.

“Tell me, does my potential gay date still need me to take a look at his car like we talked about ages ago?”

With her lips still tingling from the delightful feeling of her best friend’s parting kiss, Ariana watched as Chrissie sauntered straight to where Kavi Salvador sat by his lonesome. The breakup with Jason had been a devastating blow to Chris. It had left her in a deep pit of despair, questioning her self-worth and shaking her confidence. Ariana had tried her hardest to pick up the pieces and build her best babe back up, but knew that as long as the thespian queen continued to wallow in her own misery, she would go nowhere. The only person in control of her own destiny was herself, after all- and nobody else could pull her out of it. But now, as Ari watched her with Kavi, her heart swelled with pride to see her girl finally shaking the dirt off her clothes and getting back on the saddle.


"Where the hell is she going?"

Huh. What were the odds of the one person Ariana would eventually be looking for happened to materialize out of thin air?

“See for yourself…” she answered, pointing to where their beloved friend was perched at. It wasn’t long before she heard the young man groaning.

"Oh, come on! Kavi? You're kidding me," Ariana heard Jasper Fray say in disbelief, turning his attention back to the grinning Ariana. "Has she gone mad?"

“What can I say? My cute little babycakes loves to stir up some trouble...” Ariana said with a smug little cackle, observing as her best friend continued to put her teachings into practice with Kavi before turning to the young man now standing beside her.

Jasper sighed, sticking his hands into the pockets of his school jacket. ”Oh trust me, I know. I just hope that her doing this doesn’t land her with a Kavi STD or some rage fit from Ariel.” As she laughed at his comment, he turned to watch the scene unfolding before them again until Ariana asked him the million dollar question.

“That being said… Have you given any thought of who you’re going to the dance with?” she asked him, locking that kittenish hazel stare of hers with his piercing, ice-blue eyes.

”Well, to tell you the truth - no. I don’t have that many close friends, honestly. Chrissie, Kavi, and Kavan. First two are out, and something tells me that Kavan is probably going to go with one of the Misfits. What about you? Anyone you had in mind?” Doing his best to maintain eye contact, Jasper silently wondered if he had ever paid that much attention to Ariana’s features. Her lips, her perfectly smooth skin and hair. Those hazel eyes - she was like a living art piece right in front of him.

Ariana was grinning widely now, eyes lighting up like a huntress who had just set her sights on the perfect prey after hours of searching for it. “Well, now that you mention it…" she trailed off, taking a step closer to him and hooking her thumbs on the belt loops of his uniform pants. “I was wondering if you wanted to go with me?" she asked, never once letting her stare venture away from his. Eye contact was always a key way to assert her dominance, even when she wasn't completely in charge.

Clearly shocked, Jasper still managed to give Ariana a smile before answering.

”I would be honored,” he said, his voice low. ”But tell me first - this isn’t some sort of joke, is it? You’re not going to leave me stranded in the middle of nowhere at two in the morning or something, take any embarrassing pictures… nothing like that?”

Although she tried, Ariana couldn’t help but laugh and shake her head at the absurdity of his suspicions. Did he really think she was that kind of popular girl? I mean, she was petty, frisky and bitchy, sure- but not mean or downright cruel. Plus, Jasper was Jasper. He was Chrissie’s friend. He was quiet, reserved, and wouldn’t hurt a fly even if you asked him to, just like she wouldn’t even dream of causing him any sort of distress.

“Listen, Jasper, I’d never do anything like that to you,” she said earnestly, hoping that the look in her eyes reassured him of her honesty. “Did I come up with the idea of asking you out by myself? No. Chrissie was the one who brought up your name in conversation. But we both know me well enough to be absolutely sure that I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t interested. And I am interested. Very interested.”

Jasper sighed, pondering what she had said for a moment. It was true; while females were cruel and complicated, Ariana had never struck him to be that type. Petty on occasion? Sure. Pulling a prank on someone? Nah. Ariana knew who she was and what she wanted. For Jasper to ask her such a question was a bit dumb on his part.

Pressing his lips into a thin line as he contemplated this, Jasper sighed. Not being able to help the smile that crept upon his face, he laughed lightly as he shrugged his shoulders.

“I’ve done crazier shit before,” he said, raising his right hand to cup her face. ”Whaddaya say? I’ll take you out to dinner. We can color coordinate or some shit?”

“Then it’s a date…” Ariana declared with a triumphant smile. using the grip she had on his belt loops to close whatever distance remained between them. “We can do whatever you want, as long as we take my car. Let’s just say I’ve got a plan for us after the dance...” she trailed off, suggestively smirking at Jasper.

“Sounds great,” he said, releasing her to grab his phone from his back pocket. ”We should probably get each other's numbers, huh?”

The brunette momentarily rolled her eyes. Here she was, putting her moves on Jasper like nobody’s business, and all he’d done was suggest they exchanged numbers? Tragic. But she wasn’t about to give up this early in the game- no, sir. So as soon as Jasper unlocked his phone, Ariana swiftly plucked the device from his hands and busied herself with imputing her name and number on the appropriate fields. Once they were saved, she pulled out the front camera feature, smushed her face as close to Jasper’s as she could, and struck a pose.

“Say cheese...” she cooed, puckering up her lips, snapping the photo, saving it as her contact image, and handing the cellphone back to Jasper with the same suggestive smirk as before. “Here you go. Shoot me a text so I can have your number.”

Standing there awkwardly after Ariana took the picture, Jasper was grateful when his phone was returned to his hand. Checking the contact info quickly, he put the phone back in his pocket before smiling at her again.

”Awesome. I’m gonna go grab a quick bite before class. Did you wanna come with?”

“Only if you let me give you dessert first…” Ariana suggested, grabbing his school uniform tie and teasingly playing with it.

Fuck it, he thought. Would it hurt to give in? Only one way to find out.

Grabbing her hips as he closed the distance between them, Jasper proceeded to give Ariana a long, passionate kiss. And it seemed that the spoiled princess was just as into it as he was, because it didn’t take long for the girl to pull him by the tie and use his body to pin her own against the wall of lockers behind her, with their kiss not stopping until they needed to come up for air. Eventually, the young man pulled away, and he smiled at the delighted brunette before speaking again.

“Lead the way.”

After spending close to half the lunch break with Marisol and getting his full of nutritious cafeteria food that was no way contaminated and was up to par with what should be fed to growing boys and girls, Sonny left in search of the unofficial Queen of Kings.

Sonny asked around and the quest that he had hoped would only last a few minutes (at least until he reached Julie) brought him all the way to where he knew a certain southerner liked to hang out. Not far from the boys locker room, that was where he spotted who he needed to see. Surrounded by his “minions” and legs crossed as if it wasn’t obvious which way he laned, Sonny approached the ever flamboyant and unapologetically gay head-editor, Riley Jenkins.

Sonny didn’t hate Riley but there was always something about him that rubbed him the wrong way. No, it wasn’t because he was gay. Sonny was pansexual for crying out loud. He was part of the LBGTQA+ community, but Riley was one of those people who, even to the more accepting members of the community, came off a little strong. He made Archer straighter than Max. So no, it wasn’t that Riley was gay that bothered Sonny. It was what usually came every time Sonny needed something from him.

As he reluctantly approached Riley’s table, he was greeted with disapproving sighs from those who surrounded his royal gayness. Riley was similar in tone and everything but the way he presented himself. Where his posture was slouched and casual, Riley was on the opposite end of things. He had perfect posture and always looked like he was going to be Joan Rivers’ replacement on Fashion Police.

“Mmm, well look who it is!” Riley’s southern draw masked the bitchiness Sonny knew him to have in spades. “It’s Marisol’s little dog. What’s wrong, little puppy? She send you to fetch her purse?”

As his lackeys chuckled with the same superior complex their queen had, Sonny swallowed all of the pride, the only time he would swallow mind you, and stared directly at Riley, skipping the baiting words of the others. “Riley, can we skip the part where you bitch at me and just tell me where Julie is? Please!” Sonny was desperate because he was actually being nice to, of all people, Riley.

“And why should I tell you where the Queen is? Talking to you would be a waste of time.” The boy stated rather bluntly, his tone getting quite mean as he stared Sonny down.

With a sigh, Sonny started to walk away. “You know what? Forget it. I’ll find her myself.”

“Jesus Christ, Sonny Boy! I didn’t know you were going to quit so easily.” Riley stepped down from his “thorne” and immediately, Sonny felt better about himself due to how close in height they were. Riley smiled at him. “You know we only tease cause we like you, right?” He shot Sonny a wink and pinched the teen’s firm bicep. “Walk with me!” Without saying much, Sonny gave in and allowed Riley to speak his piece. “So, why do you need to speak with Julie?” He asked.

“Can’t I just want to hang with a friend of mine without getting the second degree?”

Riley rolled his eyes and shrugged. “I suppose not.” He and Sonny stopped in front of the Library. “If I tell you where my idol is, you have to do something for me in return.”

Of course! There was always a catch when it came to the devil that wears nothing but Prada. “Fine. What do you want?”

“I want a date.”

“With me?” Sonny asked, raising his eyebrow.

Riley immediately repulsed at the thought. It was such a public display that Sonny laughed and felt the weight being lifted off his shoulder. “As flattered as I am hat you’d offer yourself to me, you're not the one I want to wine and dine me.”

“Okay,” Sonny looked at Riley. “If not me then who?”

“That scrumptious friend of yours. The one who is my motivation and my muse. The one who keeps me company when I’m alone at night. The one--”

Sonny raised his hands. “Please, just stop.” He didn’t need to know the unnecessary details of what gets this gayboy hot and bothered. He knew who Riley was talking about and knew this would be harder than he thought but his sigh came with a nod. “Fine. I’ll set it up.”

“Perfect!” He brought Sonny in for a hug. For someone who appeared dainty, Riley sure had a strength about him. He embraced for a few seconds. As the hug was released, Riley pointed to the door that led inside the library building. “She’s in there. Have fun, Jackie!”

What just happened forced Sonny to reflect on what he just did. He used Archer as a bargaining chip to get the location of where Julie was. Was it worth it? Yeah, probably but holy shit, how was he going to explain this to Archie? He knew how he felt about Riley Jenkins. Sonny knew that, even to Archer, his level of gay was too gay and now Sonny had to somehow convince Archer Diedrikson to give Riley a date. Sonny didn’t know what would be worse: Archer being livid at him or Kavan being just as mad for using his boyfriend as a means to an end.

Sonny shook his head and walked inside the library. As he walked inside, the rush of the AC hit him like a crashing wave. Compared to the timid humidity outside, it was refreshing inside. The air was chilly, which made sense because the books needed to be kept at a specific internal temperature.

As he walked through, Sonny spent a few minutes searching for Julie, he found her sitting far off in the corner of the first floor, sitting by a window. She was gazing out of it as if deep in thought, or so Sonny was assuming. Breathing in, Sonny approached. “Mind if I take a seat?” He said to her, smiling.

A deep sigh escaped the slender redhead before she slowly turned her head still resting it on her hand. “Oh,” a small smile spread across her face when she saw Sonny. “Of course not. Please, be my guest,” she said, pointing to the chair on the other side of the table.

Sonny sat down in the chair across from her and placed his backpack on the table (but away from Julie’s stuff), he relaxed in the chair. He noticed she was reading a book. He tried to read the title, but it was all in French, so that’s where Sonny’s attempt failed. “So, what’cha reading there?” He asked, hoping if anything, she’d tell him what the title said because lord knows Sonny and French don’t mix well.

The girl lifted the book so her friend could see the cover better. “It’s just my French vocab 4 book… nothing of interest” she let out yet another sigh closing the book. “But to what do I owe this honor?” Julie asked, still smiling, clasping her hands in front of her. She and Sonny usually only had lunch together once a week, which is where most of their conversations played out. Otherwise, they were busy doing their own things.

“What? Can’t I want to hang with my second favorite redhead just cause?” He asked, acting defensively. He breathed out a sigh of defeat a moment later. “Okay, that’s a lie. I’m in a dilemma and I don’t know how to fix it. And since you’ve always pointed me in the right direction whenever I had a problem I thought, maybe, you could help me out again?” In typical Sonny fashion, he shot her a half-grin and his eyes sparkled in the way they usually did when he needed to work the charm.

One of her eyebrows raised as he spoke. “Hmm?” Julie mused “Tell me… you know I live for a good dilemma.” the redhead let out a small giggle visibly perking up from her slump.

With a smile, he scooted the chair closer to the table and leaned forward. “Alright, so the whole condition about ‘you can’t take your girlfriend’ to the dance put me in an awkward spot. I was going to do what you suggested last week: I was going to take Mari to her favorite place in Miami and spend the whole day treating her like the queen and all that shit. Then I was going to top the date weekend off by taking her to the dance, but..” Sonny grumbled something not worthy of saying out loud, especially in front of Julie. Friends or not, he didn’t want to soil anything in front of Julie. “So, yeah that’s the pickel I’m in. I have no idea who I’m going to ask and my options are growing slim,” he lamented with a sigh. While he knew who he was going to ask, Sonny couldn’t just say it. Julie wasn’t an ordinary person. Not only was she someone he considered a good friend but there was a certain process one had to take to ask her out for anything, let alone Valentine’s Day.

Julie couldn’t help but snort and laugh at the sentiment that Sonny had just displayed for her. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to laugh” she composed herself holding up a hand. “It’s just that I didn’t really think your dilemma was connected to this stupid dance,” she said leaning back in her seat. “I didn’t take you for someone who cared about these types of things.” leaning forward again she rested her chin in both of her hands “Well… what are your options?” she tapped the side of her face with a slender finger. “You could take Stella… you guys are pretty close, no?” the redhead was wracking her mind to see if she could pick someone that would fit Sonny better than Marisol.

Sonny groaned, laughing quite nervously and he shook his head. “Yes, I know we are, but Marisol would have a cow!” He laughed still.

While he knew Marisol would much prefer him to go with Stella than anyone else, such as people like Ariana or whoever, but there was also the fact that Mari didn’t like Stella. He always found that weird. Stella didn’t do anything to Mari (that he knew of). She was one of his oldest friends, but all Sonny knew for certain was every time he mentioned Stella’s name, there was an obvious grimace on his girlfriend’s face and he knew for reasons he might never know that she wanted nothing to do with Stella.

“So, yeah Stella is a no go...unfortunately.” Sonny was disappointed because Stel was the only other person he considered before, you know, Mari got the idea to set Julie and Ry up.

Julie pouted disappointedly, she hated when one of her good plans fell through. “Well…” she continued to muse “Why don’t we just go together then?” she said rather matter of factly “I mean we’re friends right? And Marisol knows I would never do anything with you - no offense.” she winked at him cheekily. “What do you think?”

Her suggestion, though not surprising since he was going to ask her himself (but was leading into it), still caught Sonny off-guard. The way she brought it up and just how Julie, in such Julie fashion, phrased it brought out an unintended chuckle from the boy’s lips, causing him to cough as though he was choking. “I-I mean, yeah that’s a great idea!” He spoke amidst his spell of wheezing. He took a few moments to get it out of his system. “Truth be told, I was thinking of skipping the dance. It just didn’t feel right going without Marisol but now?” He laughed again, smiling at the redhead. “I can’t explain it but I’m looking forward to getting all dressed up and escorting you to the ball.” He exaggerated his tone, doing his best seated curtsy, though he was unable to maintain a straight face through it.

“Great… It’s decided then!” she clapped her hands together. To think that just a few minutes ago Julie was contemplating skipping the dance altogether because she was so annoyed with the school as a whole. But now that she had a project she was in high spirits. “I hope you are aware that I am dressing you right? I’m sorry Sonny but I don’t think I can trust you with... that,” she said softly eying his messy tie and wrinkly shirt.

He followed her gaze to his shirt and looked back up at her, confused. “What? Is there something wrong with my shirt?” He asked her, glancing back down at his shirt, thinking he might’ve gotten some pizza sauce on it (he didn’t).

“Not with the shirt itself…” Julie commented as she cocked her head to the side letting her long red hair cascade over her shoulder. It was true since it was a good quality 100% cotton shirt that King’s set as a standard for all of the students to wear. “Just the way you present it sweetie” with a sweep of her hand she flicked her hair back over her shoulder, diving down into her bag. She emerged with a small notebook and a pen which she opened and scribbled in before tearing out a page. “Here is my address, why don’t you come over this weekend and we’ll get you fitted for a suit!” she slid the neatly folded up note across the table.

“Your address?” Sonny echoed back, opening the piece of paper torn from her notebook in disbelief.

In the back of his mind, Sonny was thinking that he never thought he’d actually receive, of all people, Julie’s address. And then the realization settled in: get fitted for a suit. And that resulted in Sonny breathing out a slow “shit”. The plan he and Marisol had? Brilliant. Julie and Rye would make a great couple but Sonny didn’t know just how much work he was going to have to put in. At this realization and the implications it presented, it donned on him that Sonny was the Anne Hathaways, the Rachel Leigh Cooks to the fashion guru and overall beauty specialist that was Julie.

Taking in a breath, he fake smiled, which wasn’t a legit fake grin but just a ‘hide the fact you’re gonna have to put in a lot of work for this plan to work’ smile. “Bitchin!” He laughed through the pain. “I guess I’ll see you this weekend. Should I bring anything? Maybe some donuts? Or a batch of bagels?” That was customary right? When visiting royalty in their castle, you bring something.

“Uhm… No!” She said cheerily “We should be fine, just think about what color scheme we should go for… I’m thinking cream and pale yellow. But I’ll fix the rest” Julie chirped and patted Sonny’s hand before beginning to pack up. Before she stood up she turned back to face him “Really though Sonny… Thanks.” she said earnestly standing up. “See you later then! Bye sweetie.” And with that she turned and floated away in between the bookcases of the library.

Sonny stuck around the library for a few minutes, reflecting on what just happened. Going into it, he didn’t know how things were going to pan out. He had no way of knowing if the plan was going to end here and Julie was going to catch onto what scheme he was in the process of hatching. Sonny went into it blind as a bat and did exactly what he told Marisol what he was gonna do. He told her he was going to appeal to the side of Julie that liked him as a friend, which what he said wasn’t a total lie. He didn’t have a date and he was going to ask her anyway, but what Sonny didn’t anticipate was just how much work this was going to be.

He pulled out his phone and sent a text to Marisol. “Phase one is a success.” When he sent that first text, Sonny typed another. “But I’m getting a makeover because apparently my fashion sense is wack.” Rolling his eyes, he sent another. “From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Now, I have to get mentally prepared for what I know is going to be a long weekend.”

Sonny let a few moments pass and sent one final text. “Okay rant over. Love you dumb dumb! I’ll see you 6th period.”

With that last text sent, Sonny just sat in the quiet of the library, head slouched and resting on both of his hands, he decided to look out the window.. It was peaceful today. Sonny understands why Julie likes to gaze out the window. There’s something tranquil and soothing about watching the students from afar.

Sitting on the ledge of the roof, his feet hanging off, listening to Blinding Lights by The Weeknd, Ryland peered down at his new school, having not touched his packed lunch, at all. He was too lost in his head to hear the growing noises coming from his stomach. If his dad wanted him to change, he should’ve transferred him sophomore year, or something. At least then he wouldn’t feel isolated, like he did now. Like he didn’t belong.

He had a community in Los Angeles, support and love, and he took that for granted. Not saying he doesn’t have that here, it’s just… different. If they never moved from Florida to LA when he was small, it wouldn’t feel like he was a stranger in a strange land. This feeling, the feeling of having to put way more effort than not, to fit in, sucked.

His first day set the tone for the rest of the semester. There was no reason in trying if he had already committed social suicide. Everyone around him was enjoying their young, teen life, and here he was, aimless and annoyed. Annoyed at everything, but most importantly, annoyed at himself. He shouldn’t care who Ariel dates. He shouldn’t care that his two best friends got together. He shouldn’t care! What he should care about is becoming someone his mom was proud to have as her son and someone his dad could trust won’t get himself killed. It was exhausting.

Life.

Why? Why bother? What’s the point?

Nothing mattered and he was meaningless. His anger was a mask hiding the true culprit that ate at him, each and every day. Ryland Aspen felt like an empty shell and had nothing to fight for. He didn’t have a home, not really. He had people he’d die for, he had family, but between Beverly Hills and Crown Heights, he floated. Times like these, he couldn’t explain it. This crippling feeling that leaves him thinking about all the what ifs. What if he grew up with Sonny, Marisol, and the misfits? What if his dad never got with his step mom? What if Zayden wasn’t the golden boy? What if he didn’t exist? What if… Heavily sighing, he stared down at the blank space between his feet and the ground. Stuck, in his own head.

“Fucking finally!”

For the past fifteen minutes, Marisol had been on the hunt for Ryland. After fine tuning the details of Operation Rulie­, the couple had set out on the task of finding their star crossed lovers for Phase One. They had expected this to run quickly and smoothly, and to have a response in ten minutes tops. But for such a small school, it had been a real pain in the ass to find Julie and Ry. They must have been fucking legends playing hide and seek growing up.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you, so when I couldn’t find you I decided to take a smoke break. Didn’t think I’d actually find you up here,” she laughed, plopping down next to Ryland and wasting no time in lighting up a perfectly rolled joint and taking a deep pull. “Want some?” she asked her friend, offering up the joint and exhaling puffs of cannabis smoke like a dragon.

With the sudden presence next to him, breaking him out of his spiraling thoughts, Rye tugged his headphones off and shook his head, which was unfortunate, but for the best, “Nah, I’ll pass. What was it you were saying? Sorry, couldn’t hear you over my music.” No longer staring down at the students that looked like ants, he tilted his head towards Marisol, actually appreciative of the company.

Marisol rolled her eyes. “That I’ve been looking fucking everywhere for you,” she repeated, taking another puff of the joint. Upon closer inspection, Mari noticed her friend was looking and acting rather gloomy- which was very unlike himself. Her cheerful demeanor suddenly shifted to worry. “Is everything okay?” the girl asked him, frowning with concern.

As much as he wanted to put on a front, she caught him when his guard was down, so he simply shrugged and admitted, “Just shit.” He didn’t know how to put it in words, how to explain how depressed he’s been, thinking his father would be better off with two sons, rather than three. It was all there, in his head, but… words escaped him. “Shit’s been rough, and I don’t really know what to do about it.”

The familiar feeling of guilt began to bubble up inside Marisol at Ryland’s words. His first encounter with her and Sonny had been under less than favorable circumstances, then the shit with Ariel happened, plus whatever else he had going on behind the scenes. Although she knew that whatever negative feelings the curly-haired boy weren’t just her fault, she couldn’t help but think that she had contributed to this slump in his mood. Letting out a deep sigh, Mari scooted closer to her friend and rested her head on his shoulder. “Look, I know that there’s probably nothing I can say to make it better, but I can hear you out if you ever want to talk about it.”

“I know…” He muttered, leaning his head against her’s, turning it slightly so his nose rested on her hair. “...and I appreciate it.” He really did and part of him knew that his friend empathized with him and also carried the weight of the world on her shoulders. She deserved to hear more than just half-ass words. After biting the inside of his cheeks, he tried his best to articulate some of his demons, “I want to see this move as something positive. I have you. And Sonny. And everyone else. I just… can’t help to think I always… fuck up. Like I don’t deserve this.” He gestured to her, which symbolized friendship. “I don’t deserve...a moment where I feel okay.” He paused and pushed a piece of hanging hair behind his ear, “I’d settle with okay.”

“We both know that’s a whole lotta bullshit,” she quickly interjected, taking another drag from the joint to buy herself some time to think about her next words. “Sure: you fuck up sometimes. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that you don’t. But, newsflash! We all do. Making mistakes doesn’t make you this big, bad, undeserving person. Your value and your worth don’t decrease with however many times you stumble along the way. No matter how many times you mess up, you still deserve to be more than okay- because you’re you. You’re the amazing Ryland fucking Aspen, for crying out loud! You deserve all the fucking happiness this world has to offer. And if you don’t believe it, I’ll make you fucking believe it.”

As she preached, with passion and sass, Rye couldn’t help but smirk as he observed her. Yeah, maybe being alone wasn’t the best thing for him to do because hearing her words felt like sugar that made awful tasting medicine go down. She didn’t say anything offensive and she wasn’t acting better than him. Marisol was humble and understood perfectly what stage he was at, and more importantly, she loved him.

Raising an eyebrow, he snickered, “How exactly are you going to do that?” Make him believe he deserved happiness, like she had with Sonny, like Aunt Miley had when she treated children at the hospital, like his dad had when he saw everything he made, from ground up. The only person that could convince him of that was himself, and yet, seeing her there cheering him on and speaking words of wisdom, made him feel like nothing was impossible and maybe, just maybe, Marisol Castillo was the solution that would get him out of this funk.

“You don’t wanna know…” Mari mysteriously replied, keeping her green eyes locked on her friend’s brown eyes as she took the last pull from her joint in a purposely comical attempt at being seductive. Of course, she lasted about a full five seconds before snorting and bursting into laughter. “Fuck, that was terrible,” she chortled, tossing the remains of the joint over her shoulder.

“You’re telling me.” The once depressed boy sitting on the roof was now laughing on the roof with a friend. A best friend at that. While flirting wasn’t something he was used to seeing Mari do, it was adorable, even if there was no merit behind it and it wasn’t her strong suit. “Dude, I can only imagine how you talk to Son.”

“In my defense, I wasn’t really trying,” the short girl admitted in an attempt to justify herself. Meanwhile, his last statement went unanswered in order to preserve what little untainted images he had of her and Sonny. “But fuck that and let’s get back to business. I was looking for you for a reason.”

With the mood lifted, at least for now, and hopefully for the rest of the day, Rye realized that his friend came here for something and that wasn’t to cheer him up. “Oh shit. My bad. What did you want to talk about?” As much as this therapy session did do wonders for him, and as short as it was, he was ready to move on. It was only a matter of time this would start making him feel uncomfortable, so it was for the best he changed the subject. Talking about feelings wasn’t his strong suit.

“Well...” Mari began, rubbing her hands together like some sort of mad scientist just to throw him off. “The reason I’ve been looking for you is so I could be the perfect, macho masculine gentleman I am and formally ask you out to the dance next week.”

Oh fuck. That’s right. The dance. He had pushed that deep in the back of his mind. If this was anyone else, he would probably reject them on the spot. Instead, he grumbled and whined, “You’re going to make me go?”

“Yes the fuck I am!” she fervently declared, lightly punching him in the shoulder. “I’ll drag you by the hair if I have to. You can definitely use the distraction.”

“Is this really a distraction when everything is PG-13?” Rolling his eyes, he defeatedly huffed, “Fine, it’s not like I have a choice. But under one condition.”

Marisol raised a questioning eyebrow up at him. “What?”

With a goofy, dumb grin, Rye proclaimed, “Your boyfriend must save a dance for me.”

The short girl erupted into loud cackles at the idea of Sonny’s terrible dancing skills being put on the spot with Ryland as a partner. And the more she thought about it, the harder she laughed. It took a solid few minutes for Marisol to stop wheezing long enough to talk again. “Deal,” she said, wiping the mascara-stained tears from her cheeks. “But only if it’s a smoking hot, Magic Mike style lap dance. Gotta go big or go home.”

“You know me, Sol, I’m here for the Money.” He winked at her, amused at the direction their conversation went. They both weren’t the type to keep things serious for too long and honestly, yeah, she was just what the doctor ordered. “Hey, where is that fucker anyways?”

“I’ve got no fucking idea,” Mari said with a shrug, rising up from her seating position and getting her things just as Ryland did the same. When they were both ready, the brunette linked their arms together and gave her best friend a bright smile. “C’mon. Let’s go find him. Lunch is nearly over anyway.”

As she tried to mute out the wild chatter of the cafeteria by focusing her attention on what was on the blinding screen of her phone, she knew after multiple attempts it was proving to be a difficult task.

Between hearing the most obnoxious comments practically being shouted into her ear from a table full of Sophomores about five or so feet away and the constant text messages she’s been getting from so many people, she was starting to lose it. Everyone from her cousins on her mother’s side, as well as her fathers and friends from all over, were constantly checking up on her. They knew about her problems with Chrissie. Of course, she knew gossip traveled like herpes, especially when it had to deal with the favorite ray of sunshine of the family, but she didn’t anticipate so many people would reach out. And it wasn’t like Stella didn’t appreciate it. Past the part of her that wanted to die from everything going on, she was touched by their concern. But enough was enough. She said she was fine so everyone in her life needed to stop checking up on her. She was fine.

As she set her phone down screen-first on the table, she stared longingly at all of the students. For the first time in what felt like weeks, Stella was actually jealous of the non-seniors. They weren’t suffering through this ordeal of being forced to take someone who wasn’t their boyfriend/girlfriend or someone who they’d like to eventually be that person for them. They weren't forced to take a friend. She didn’t have any problem with that, but the option being stripped of her before she was afforded the chance to decide is what she imagined got to a lot of people and it was what brought her down (in addition to everything else, of course).

She sighed, suddenly feeling the vibration from her phone through her arm that was resting on the table. “Again!?” Rolling her eyes, she grabbed her phone and saw she received a text message from her brother. Again.


She rolled her eyes and placed her phone on silent. If she had to hear another person ask how she was and if Chrissie living with them was a mistake, she was going to explode at the next person who dared to talk to her.

“Hey, Stella: do you have a minute?”

Boiling up inside, Stella’s neck swiftly turned and she saw Santiago standing over her and she sighed. “pour l'amour de Dieu {for God’s sake}” She found it difficult to contain her displeasure with Santiago’s presence but in the end she sighed. “Sure. I guess I do since nobody is--yes, I do have a minute.” She gestured to him to sit down seeing as how there was no logical reason she could think up at the moment that would excuse her from having to talk to him.

Santiago Fernandez took the seat the girl had offered him, and put his sweaty palms on top of the table that separated them. The idea of asking Stella to the dance wasn’t something he’d been considering in the slightest. Although he’d mostly ignored it in favor of doing his own thing, Diablo hadn’t been a stranger to the very obvious animosity the brunette felt towards him. Hell, she was probably a close second to Julie on the scale of how much they hated him. There was a history between them- and not a very good one, at that. During their first date together back in freshman year, he had strung Stella along in hopes of getting laid, but had acted rather nastily when things didn’t go his way. He hadn’t been violent or verbally degrading to her, but had tried to manipulate her into thinking his dismissal of her had been her own fault. With the years he understood that his actions had been appalling, yet had left things to fester instead of doing the right thing and offering up an apology. This dance presented the perfect opportunity to (hopefully) finally put another grudge to rest. But no matter how many times he had rehearsed the words in his head, it was always so much harder to follow through when they were face to face.

The young man took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. “I’m sure everyone knows this by now, but Lils and I are having a baby girl,” he began with a nervous laugh, rubbing the closely-cropped hair in the back of his neck.

She looked up at him, feeling as though it was the first time she had seen him actually smile without the pompous asshole attitude that usually followed. She noticed just how ...happy, if not absolutely terrified (she was assuming) about being a father. “Congratulations, Santiago!” Stella meant that. Regardless how she felt about him, which even now it was less hate and more whatever, she always smiled whenever a baby was brought into the world. “I’m sure your daughter will be a cutie!” Stella wasn’t blind. Santiago was objectively cute and April was adorable. She knew they would have themselves a looker.

“Thank you, seriously,” Santiago said appreciatively, and gave her a bashful smile. “I hope she doesn’t have her momma's temper, though. I’ll be in a whole lot of trouble if she does.”

When he mentioned April’s temper, the brunette immediately recalled the times she not only heard about their intense screaming matches from friends but she witnessed them a few times. And that’s not even including the things they did to each other (again she heard it through the grapevine). Stella used to think they were toxic, that they weren’t any good for each other. She used to think that maybe they would break up and that would be the end of that. On some level, she knew it was the opposite. For people to do the things they did to each other and at the level they probably hurt one another, Stella was aware enough to know they were the real deal and that made her smile. Not because she suddenly liked Santiago but because April was her friend.

“Cheer up, Santiago!” Stella placed her hand on his and waited for him to meet her gaze. “I’m sure she’ll have just enough of both of you. Too much and she might just rule this world.”

The young man grimaced, but immediately let out a nervous chuckle. “As much as I know I’ll love her, that is terrifying to think about,” he admitted, shaking his head. “But anyway, that’s not the only reason why I wanted to talk to you…” he began, taking one last moment to gather his thoughts before letting out a deep breath and embarking on the second part of his apology tour. “See, having a kid right now is something I never in my life thought would happen. But it did, and it’s put a lot of things into perspective for me. I obviously wanted a boy, but things didn’t go that way. And when I found out I was having a girl, I immediately started to worry about how things would be when she grew up… What the world would be like, what she would be like, what would happen if she ever came across a dude like me... And when the thought of anyone playing my little girl like I did to so many chicks before scared me, I realized what a fucking piece of shit I’ve been for so many years,” he admitted, his voice and eyes full of honesty as he looked up at Stella. “And I’m sorry for that, Stella. I’m sorry I was such an asshole to you back then. You didn’t deserve any of that shit. I know I can’t take back what I did, but I can at least let you know that I really do regret acting out the way I did.”

Hearing those words escape his lips. I’m sorry. He’s sorry? She immediately played it back in her head and repeated it several times and his voice echoed in her thoughts. She wasn’t sure if this was a game that he was playing. While she didn’t want to think that even Santiago was capable of such a horrible thing, especially after they were having such a sweet moment, she couldn’t stop herself from entertaining the notion. This was Santiago, after all. This was the boy who played with her heart, who made her feel like he actually cared, and then when she wouldn’t do something or when he had his fill, he dumped her like a sack of potatoes gone bad.

And that was the worst part. Sure, one could argue the worst of it came when she saw him with April and had herself a good cry after the fact, but what really made her visit Rock Bottom USA was the fact that he made her think there was a chance between them. People can talk about how it was always Santiago and April and she eventually caught on, but for a couple of weeks, hope crawled into the home of common sense and a hatred was born. This fire that had an eternal supply of gasoline fueling the intense loathing she had for him burned everything to the ground and Stella had buried it deep into the core of her being, not wanting to ever dig it up.

She narrowed her eyes and tried her best to look for the old Santiago. She was actually hoping to find the guy who crushed her but he wasn’t there. “The world must be coming to an end.” Her words left her cherry lips before she even realized it and she laughed.

“Tell me about it,” he chuckled, enjoying how some of the anxiousness he had been feeling over this evaporated into the atmosphere.

He wasn’t playing any games and maybe that’s the part of it all that made this too surreal for her. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to hear you say those words, Santiago. Not only for you to say it but mean them. It’s hard for me to admit, but I did like you. I mean, sure: I have this rep of falling for guys too quickly. But while you treated me horribly, during the time when you weren’t, it was so amazing. You made me feel like I was on top of the world, like I was the only person that mattered. So, when you did hurt me and didn’t even apologize, I just...didn’t want anything to do with you. And God knows I hated you for so long. But now..” Stella bit her lip and curled them in a half smile. Looking into his eyes and now not even certain what was happening, she gave into the part of her that just wanted to laugh. “I don’t even know. You aren’t the same guy I remember. I can tell that you mean what you said and, well,” she paused, squeezing his hand with a warmth she never thought she’d give him, “I forgive you!” She chipperly stated.

When he heard Stella accept his apology and felt the sincerity of her words, part of a weight he’d unknowingly been carrying on his shoulders suddenly lifted. Even when he’d made so many mistakes because of his selfishness and immaturity, this young woman sitting in front of him had still found it in her heart to forgive him, which spoke volumes about her. For someone who’d once disliked him so passionately, Stella had probably seen something in him worth forgiving and moving forwards. It filled him with hope that maybe- just maybe- he wouldn’t be as bad of a dad as he thought he would.

Now, onto the other reason why he’d approached her in the first place…

“Can I make things up to you by taking you to the dance next week? As friends, of course!” he clarified, raising both his hands in front of him. Diablo felt like he needed to make it absolutely clear that he didn’t have any ulterior motives or ill intentions this time around. “I know I totally ruined the only date we’ve had, so I’d really like to have a chance to try again. We can have ourselves a nice dinner at your favorite place, go to the dance and I can drive you home afterwards. Or I can ask someone else to drive you back home if you’re not comfortable with me doing it. I’m cool with whatever.”

He continued to amaze her. An apology and a redo of their date? He really has changed. There was even a part of her, a really small part of her that was almost jealous of April. “I’d like that,” she smiled, keeping her longing gaze on him. Stella had to take a moment to get used to this new side of Santiago. “Here, let me give you my number.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a little pink notepad that was no bigger than her hand and it was decorated with various rose patterns. As she wrote down her number with her purple ink pen, she tore the piece of paper from the notepad, handing it to Santiago. “There we go!” She half-giggled.

Grinning, Santiago took the note from her hands and slid it into the pocket of his jeans. “Awesome! Thank you so much, Stella. Really,” he earnestly replied. He really was grateful for the opportunity to fix his mistakes, and genuinely looking forward to giving her the best platonic time she deserved. “I’ll make sure to text you as soon as I can so you can have my number, and we can hash out the details of this thing. That sound good?”

“Yeah! That’s perfect! Feel free to text me anytime by the way! You’ll be a breath of fresh air since the only texts I get nowadays are from my annoying family!” She rolled her eyes, glancing down at her phone and she noticed the time. “Wow, is it that time already?” She mused aloud and exhaled out a sigh. “I’m sorry. I’m really enjoying this but my next class is way across campus and if I don’t leave now, I just know I’ll get an infraction for being tardy,” she said, standing up.

“Oh no, that’s fine,” he said with a shrug, imitating her by standing up as well. “I’ve gotta get going anyway. I try to carry Lils’ things from classroom to classroom any chance I get. I want to avoid having her carry around any more extra weight than she already does.”

“Aww!” Stella could feel her heart melting. Santiago and the rep often associated with him wasn’t true at all. He wasn’t some monster she thought he was. He’s a sweetheart and she knew April was lucky to have someone like that in her life. “You’re going to be a fantastic father, Santiago Fernandez! Mark my words!” Shooting him a short wink, Stella forced her legs to carry her and her bag into a sprint out of the cafeteria.

The week that went by was, in a word, hectic. It didn’t matter who you were, whether you were one of the students who had to arrange a date with a friend (or even a stranger and had to take certain steps to prepare), or a member of the dance committee who worked closely with the faculty (particularly Mrs. Sanders) to set up the decorations- it was long. The volunteers had made sure there were enough refreshments in stock, that the romantic glow within the ballroom was perfect, that the equipment had been properly set up... Hours spent crafting the wallpaper, ordering a real glow ball to hang in the center of the room with lights within it, and all doing so without losing one’s mind. The fact any of them were able to do this and with time to spare was amazing.

And it was just that. The platform that would be used to host the 2019 King’s Academy Valentine’s Day Dance was transformed into something remarkable. The air of romance had consumed a usually-dull and lifeless ballroom. Where it had the plain Jane of lights, they were replaced with pink and red and purple Christmas lights that sparkled and added a dose of cutesy warmth to the room.

Whether it was at the entrance or spread throughout, these lights provided all the illumination anyone required. Refreshment tables that had a plentiful amount of options to go around (obviously no alcohol) were spread throughout as well and pushed against the walls with delicately positioned, heart-shaped balloons, tied with string, and roses in water-filled vases rested on these tables.

This dance not only was a tradition among those who attend King’s Academy but it’s something of a tradition in general for the Country Club. Every year, as close as they could, Crown Heights makes the attempt to celebrate love in all of its special forms. It is a unique experience for the elite suburbia of Palm Beach and only those who live here can know the extent of just what it means to be a royal and to be allowed the benefit of knowing it first hand.

At seven exact, the doors would open, and soon celebrations of friendship would begin.