After an entire summer of late nights with friends, this morning's alarm was especially hard to wake up to. It wasn't until the 5-minute snooze alarm went off that Daniel finally forced the covers off of himself and pushed out of bed, blindly heading for the shower. Nothing like a cold shower and a hot coffee couldn't fix. Danny just couldn't understand people who took hot showers. Sure, turning the shower water for a few moments to open up your pores before you wash your face, but to go through the entirety of one's shower with it scalding your skin? Girls. Girls were weird. It was a long-running joke between him, Damien, and Sawyer - originally started by Daniel's older brother Brandon - that girls had no souls, and they needed the heat from the waters of hell to warm their cold hearts. Though Daniel was never one to talk trash about girls - or anyone in general, for the matter - it was still remotely funny enough for a chuckle when he thought about it every now and then.

Having lived in a household where he had to share a bathroom with his older brother, Danny had mastered the art of getting ready in a real timely fashion. He'd laid out his clothes for the day on his recliner the night before - dark jeans, shoes, socks, boxers, jerseyit was a long-standing, sort of unspoken tradition that the school's sports teams wore their jerseys on the first day, a tradition Danny wasn't about to stray from - made quick work of getting dressed in his fit before snatching his keys off the wall and heading out the front door of his studio apartment. As soon as Danny stepped through the threshold, the cold, welcoming ocean air flooded his nose, a sense of warmth flooding him. It was the smell of home. One Danny knew he could never live without. There was never any specific reason why, but Danny always had a major sense of pride when he told people where he was from. The beach, the ocean - hell, the city of Long Beach - it was all he'd ever known.

A quick trip to Starbucks and a stop through a lengthy McDonald's line left Daniel enjoying his breakfast in the near-empty senior parking lot, another thing that he quite enjoyed was the quiet of the morning before the waves of students flooded in. As he sat there chowing down on his hashbrown it dawned on him he hadn't checked his phone this morning. Digging down into his pocket, he pulled out his cell and clicked the side button, bringing the screen to life. Seven missed messages. One from his mother, two from his brother Brandon and several from the lacrosse team's group chat.

𝙷𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚢. 𝚂𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛! 𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 :]

𝙰𝚕𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚐𝚞𝚢𝚜- 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛..! 𝙻𝚎𝚝'𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚐, 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚑..? 𝚁𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚃𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚖𝚙𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎..! 𝙾𝚑, 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝- 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚓𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚢𝚜. 𝙶𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚊 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎

𝙷𝚎𝚢 𝚋𝚞𝚍𝚍𝚢! 𝙱𝚒𝚐 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝙻𝚎𝚖𝚖𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛-

Daniel groaned to himself, quickly swiping away his brothers messages before he could even finish the first one. There was definitely no need in seeing what else he had to say. Quickly typing out a message to the lacrosse group chat, Danny hit send and grabbed hold of his coffee, mechanical pencil and I.D. lanyard from the center console of his truck before hopping out, locking his truck doors. Yes, all Danny would be attending his first day of senior year with was a pencil. If he learned anything from his previous years, the teachers always seemed to laugh at the students who brought anything more than just a pencil and a folder with a few pieces of paper. Something, if it came to him needing it, could more than likely borrow from someone else.

Waves of students were starting to flood down the street towards the front gate, Danny patiently biding his time in the packed sea of sardines waiting to get into the school. Pulling his I.D. from his back pocket, Danny flashed his photo to the guard at the desk before squeezing past some rather loud freshman - there was no denying they were fresh meat, as they had the classic lost look in their eyes as they took the school's surroundings in - something Danny would not miss. Downing the last of his coffee, he tossed the empty cup in a trash can and let himself in to the stairwell of the 900 building, pushing up to the second floor where he knew his homeroom was located.

Of course, a spanish good morning was nothing for Danny. He had a mild understanding of the language, mostly thanks to his best friend Damien and his family, and having to deal with the general public through work. It was enough to get him by Ms. Goldman with a soft, charming smile shot her way before ducking into the classroom, looking over a couple of students shoulders in front of him to see where his seat was. Right up front. Oh joy. He took a quick peak at the other names he knew of, seeing where his friends were seated in comparison. With a light nod, Daniel turned and excused himself through the growing pile of students around Ms. Goldman's desk, slipping into his designated desk.

Being seated at the front had its perks. You got to notice new faces. One in particular stood out, she looked to be seated right in front of where he'd seen Sam and D's desks. Daniel watched her a moment before turning his gaze away, not wanting to make awkward eye contact with the new girl. Last thing he wanted was to do was make one of the new kids feel like a fish in a fishbowl any more than they already did. The morning announcements went by rather quickly and before Danny could process it, they were already through the hour long assembly being ushered out towards the lacrosse field. Though it had been mentioned a few times already this morning, Danny had totally forgotten about the festivities that awaited them. Suddenly he had wished he hadn't eaten McDonald's for breakfast. The fact of the matter was, he wasn't outright starving, but he definitely could still eat. The smell of funnel cake was calling to him. Looking around, Danny finally spotted Damien, Marco and Sawyer. Slipping past a few people, he stepped up beside his teammates with a small grin.

"Bran told me from his first day of his senior year they had a lot of good vendors. I doubt they changed the list very much in the last two years. You guys eat this morning, at all?"

“Be careful, I don’t know why I agreed to let you ride a bike to school, must have been high out of my mind!” Ignatius’s mother said, shaking her head as she, with a small sigh, reached out to hand him his bag. Ignatius gave her a bright smile, and leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek.

“Don’t worry, mom! You made a deal, if I saved up for it, I could get it! And I did!” He said excitedly as he put one strap over his shoulder, grinning still and reaching for his helmet.

“Yes, but I didn’t expect you to have the concentration and determination to actually save money, you’re terrible with it!” His mother said exasperated as she absently shoved a bag of fruit into his pack, titching as she saw it was virtually empty. “You can’t even stayed focused enough to pack your bag!”

“Mom! I’ve got some pens and a note book, what else do I need? I’ve even got my laptop! I’m gonna be late!” Shoving his hamlet on, he gave his mother a quick smile, waved goodbye and dashed out the house before she could stop him again, grinning as he reached his bike. With forethought, Ignatius slipped the other strap of his bag on before straddling the bike. He’d already lost his bag once forgetting to do that with the force of wind, he wasn’t going to do it again.

Starting the bike with a roar, Ignatius confidentially started on his way, a thrill washing through him as the bike shot off down the road.

---

---

As the assembly seemed to go on and on, Ignatius drifted off to sleep. The boring drone of the principle lulled him into submission, and for a brief time, Ignatius drifted into a world of his own imagination. Why did they have to sit through a boring pep talk that no one would remember in an hours time? His brain chose to focus on something more entertaining: sleep.

As a pleasant dream of his current mine craft build filled his mind Ignatius shifted in his sleep, head resting on the back of his seat. He never really cared what he looked like- what were they going to do, give him detention? He'd just sleep that away too. As a dragon flew through his dream and fire engulfed his mind Ignatius jolted awake "aaaah dragon!" He glanced around, and was mildly disappointed that there was, in fact, no dragon.

It didn’t appear that his small outburst had distracted many, if any, of the teachers from the droning of the assembly, and Ignatius was slightly glad for that. Some teachers thought he was a bit of a goof. He had no idea why they thought that. None whatsoever. Was this assembly going to go on for the rest of the day? Weren’t they meant to have some sort of activity? He remembered a fair few people mentioning that.

Lost in thought, it was a few moments before Ignatius noticed other students were getting up, and for a few seconds he was confused- and then his brain kicked into gear, and with joy and relief he shot up out of his seat, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he waited for the line out of the crummy old building to move. As soon as he could, he moved into the crowd heading out, and grinned as he burst out into the open, looking around enthusiastically.

---

BEEP

BEEP

BEEP

”Mmm…”

BEEP

BEEP

BEEP

Yeah yeah…”

BEEP

BEEP

Click

Molly smacked an alarm clock on her nightstand. It was 6:40 am, and the first day of her last year at Delbrook. She let out a yawn. And cracked the sides of her neck with a look that said “Fuck” all over it. Molly lay under what appeared to be a mound of blankets and pillows in her dimly lit room, almost too comfortable to leave, but today was a bit important as far as school days went. She stared up at her ceiling for roughly 3 minutes and 23 seconds in complete, silent, sagely contemplation of what today was going to be.

Well…Showtime.”

In a whirling of legs and hair she threw herself upright and onto her feet. Then she sat back down on the bed after standing up to fast, vertigo’s a bitch, she thought.

”Okay, now it’s showtime.”

The next 30 minutes consisted of Molly fumbling through her closet looking for something decent and comfortable to wear, finding her left shoe, and turning up the volume on Spotify. She did all this while steadily blinking the sleep from her eyes, today was a relatively serious day, and she wasn’t about to get to school late. Not that she ever did, some days she got there before the lights were on. The Southern California sun was just barely peeking in, and the room hadn’t had time to warm up yet as a result. Molly was an early riser, typically good at getting at herself in the morning, though not necessarily waking up full of energy.

Moments later she emerged from her twilit room in a tank top, a loose overshirt, and old sweatpants. A black Nike bag was slung over her shoulder full of scholarly jargon, some skating related gear, and an off brand Supreme hydro flask. In her other hand was her Old Reliable- a 9 inch skateboard with a heavily weathered underside, and a set of solid, cold stone gray 101a 60mm flat lipped wheels. The beast. Molly made her way down the hall of her house quietly, knowing someone might be asleep at home. She crept into the kitchen and made some toast to go with the Nutella that was calling her name. While she sat on the couch with a Stoned Jesus vibe playing on her Spotify, she started texting someone with one hand. A certain girl, her girl. Monserad!

yes: Sup bb

yes: laevign in5

yes: leaving

yes: 5

Much to her surprise, no one was home. On the fridge door was a note from her mother and father.

“We’re leaving early to get some logical things sorted out at the business

gonna be closed today for it, just come home have fun at school”

Logical things? The fuck?

Probably some adult-y Squarespace Indeed something something stuff, she locked the door and dropped her board on the concrete outside her front lawn. The morning breeze was somewhat awakening for the girl. Molly liked it, good skating hours, too bad she had to go to school. One long winded push with her left foot, and her right foot set up for a reverse fakie stance, she was cruising down the hills every skater this side of the SoCal line bombed. That’s skater-lingo for riding down really big hills. The wind whipped past her hair, which fluttered like streamers as she soared down the miles long sidewalk alongside the streets of SoCal, a solid 23 mph. Several minutes, and a few ollies and power slides later, she swerved onto the school grounds with a pop of the board into her hand. Still got it. By now, others were starting to show up, and this year, she was one of the oldest kids in the schools. That felt weird to say the least, but it is what it is.

Molly popped into the building like she owned the place, strolling through the halls with her head up in a confident atmosphere, After all, she knew this place pretty well. Maybe someone would catch notice of this and ask her for directions, she wouldn't mind. There it was, Miss Spanish Goldman's classroom, and a handful of people. She had this class last year, and Spanish seemed pretty important to her, given that the language somewhat ran in her family. However, she needed it for two years, so now she could finish it. That was fine with her. "Yeah- Hey Goldie." She did that little kindergarten maneuver on her students last year too, she didn't quite get it but Goldman was...scholarly like that, as Molly'd put it. Lots of MLAs and hand cradles and other big brain stuff. She listened to Goldman’s speech for a bit until it was time to line up like kindergarteners again. Molly liked her, she was always a pretty good teacher, really chill about things. Moreover, she had a sense of humor, unlike a lot of the teachers here.

Molly left with her board, leaving her stuff in the safety of Goldman’s room. Knowing they’d be outside, she could just cruise around until someone stopped her. But she wasn’t necessarily just cruising around aimlessly, she was more or less waiting on Monse, trying to find where she might’ve gone. Maybe she snuck off for some puffs without her, hopefully not. ”Where’d you go, hmm.” She wondered while she breezed around everyone on the concrete looking for her girl.

---

Nora was already awake.

She had woken up unusually early today, presumably because it was an important day. The sun was already pouring into her room through the edges of the curtains when she turned the lights on. Her room was nice and organized. It was peaceful, although a bit chilly compared to downstairs. A few books were strewn over a desk that sat beneath a window, being the least organized and most messy part of the room. No big deal though. Her phone showed 6:23 am, and she was already wide awake. Nora set about stacking the books properly before searching through her closet for a few clothes to put on later. After a few minutes of brushing her hair, and fixing up her eyepatch to her face, she went downstairs where her mother was. Jessica Gales.

The house was always quiet between the two of them, she was gathering some things for her job, which she would be gone for soon. ”Morning Nora, I’ll be leaving soon. School starts today, doesn’t it?” She was an older woman, looking like she could retire any day.

”Yeah. I won’t be leaving soon though.”

”Oh, this is your senior year. You’re so grown.” She smiled at her daughter.

”Mhm. Not yet though, am I?” She joked.

”That’s right. I’ll have to go in a few minutes, can you lock the doors on your way out?” And don’t forget about the candles if you light any for you-know before you head to school.”

”I won’t- go ahead, I’ll cover the house when I go.”

”Thank you dear. I’ll see you later.”

Ten minutes later, and Nora started getting ready for school, putting on her ever-so-slightly whimsical hoodie, wide legged jeans, and a t-shirt beneath. All with her usual esoteric rune bands and the usual books in her backpack unreadable to most of the people in South California. Before she left however, she texted one of her best friends, Eretia. They shared a lot in common, particularly the things most don’t.

NoraVitki99: I’ll be leaving in just a few minutes, you can meet me in the parking lot if you’re there.

And then, Nora was riding down through the roads of Long Beach, on her motorcycle, being the only thing useful left behind by her father. The sight of a one-eyed young woman cruising through traffic with a backpack on may not be the most conventional thing to see on a motorcycle in SoCal, but how else was she supposed to get around? Busses? Sure. Roughly 15 minutes later she arrived in the Delbrook parking lot. She had a lot of memories from being here. Some of them were good, like meeting Tria, others…Well, she wears an eyepatch for a reason. Speaking of Tria, she looked around for her and waited a few minutes leaning against the bike, not seeing her friend anywhere. So she went in. The list she was provided said her homeroom would be Sra. Goldman.

”Hello, Señora.” She greeted the familiar face with a forward tone. Mrs. Goldman was a bit of a rare gem among teachers, most didn’t take to Nora’s state of being, with the eyepatch that some try to badger her into taking off because it’s “disrespectful” or pestering her about the funny words in her books. Mrs. Goldman wasn’t like that though, Nora felt comfortable in her classroom, safe even. Even when she would no doubt peer curiously over her desk and look at Nora’s books, Nora wouldn’t be bothered by the questions as much as she would someone else. It’s good to have at least one teacher worth anything in a school.

As she was finished with her introductions, she went about punishing information into her phone for which classes to head to and when, as well as the structure of the days. After that, she just started reading a few sections out of the Eddas, not far off from Lokasenna or Skardskapamal. Unfortunately, Tria’s desk was on the other end of the room. Then Mr. McGregor’s usual beginning-of-the-year speech came up. He had something lengthy planned for them all today, they always did. Delbrook was somewhat extravagant like that, always having something fitting of SoCal ready to throw at them. Something akin to a festival. And festive it was, for when she saw it all, Nora was surprised at the amount of things they could fit on their field. Before Sra. Goldman rounded them up, Nora shot Tria a text.

NoraVitki99: I’ll meet you by the doors.

There she waited, just outside the doors to the field for Tria.

This was gonna be a busy day.
_{@Pyxis@Vicier}

" In a surprising turn of events, russian business man Igor Angeloff is being investigated on the charges of murder. Igor appeared out of nowhere 15 years ago by winning millions in real estate or that's how it
seemed at first. This comes after a string of murders that have been happening in Russia almost at the same time as Igor Angeloff made his fortune. The head of Russia's most wealthy family was killed two weeks ago and a witness, a maid
placed Igor Angeloff on the scene. While..." the TV is suddenly turned off.

" Christina! Have you seen this? " yelled Alexis.

" да, да. I've seen it. Don't worry,my dad has everything covered."

" What the hell do you mean?"

"There's a plan for it, so, don't worry about it."

" I'm not worried. Knowing dad, having a plan doesn't surprise me. Tell me. What does he have in store for? "

" You won't like it. I've got to sort business in Russia. People to pay, others to scare off. "

" I won't like? Tell me already. " said Alexis, already getting angry.

" You've got to play the sad little girl that just found out about dad's side business and...go live with your mom. "

" Wtf do you mean? I ain't going to live with that traitor. "

" That's dad's plan for you. You've got to go. The media will eat it up straight away and it will keep their eyes away from me. "

" Fine. If it's for dad..."

" It's for the family. " Christina's tone was like steel. Anything for the family was their motto and their creed.

Alexis quickly made up a travel bag, bought a one way ticket to America and summoned up all her sadness for what was about to come next. She looked at her cellphone and with disgust dialed her mom's phone number.

" Mom, I'm coming to America. "

^{______________________________________________________________________________________
Location: Home, Signal Hill
Interactions:Martha Williams
______________________________________________________________________________________}

_{BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP}

Alexis opened her eyes and turned off the alarm signaling the end of her meditation time and the start of the first year of American school. Thankfully for her, the last one. She'll be left to her own devices afterwards, done with the
school system.

The move to America wasn't easy to her, even though her mother took a big chunk of Alexis's dad's money when she filed for divorce. The relationship between Alexis and her mother had to be good in front of people but when she was alone with her,
Alexis hated her mother for leaving them. Not for the lack of trying on the mom's part. She tried multiple times to talk with Alexis and make her understand the reasons why she left but the reasons didn't matter for Alexis.
Martha tried to give Alexis everything she could've possibly wished for, a car, an almost complete archery range for herself to be able to practice whenever she wanted, a big garden.

Alexis quickly went to the bathroom, a big room with a small jacuzzi and a shower that could fit 3 people, took a shower then got dressed in what she considered the most sensible clothes for the first day of school but before she could go to the
car, she had to get there by passing through the kitchen where her mom probably was. Something that she wanted to avoid as much as possible.
Alas, it was impossible.

" Good morning Alexis! Did you sleep well? " said Martha, cheery as usual and hoping Alexis forgave her somehow.

Not that Alexis listened to her headphones on listening to one of her favorite songs in english. She took an apple from the table and went out, leaving her mom with a sad smile on her face behind her.

^{______________________________________________________________________________________
Location: Delbrook Academy
Interactions:?
______________________________________________________________________________________}

Arriving at school in her car, Alexis parked it with a small screech of her brakes. One way to make an impression and get the potential bullies a new target would be to do that. Bullies were fun to deal with for Alexis and from her extensive research of highschool life in America,
mainly from American movies, she knew there would be some there. They'd try something with her, then she'd kick their teeth in and that's it. She'll be left alone for the year. Hopefully, no sweet-eyed jockey will make a bet to take her to prom or some other cliques like that will happen.

Taking a cigarette out of the last russian pack she had, she lit it up with the car's lighter then stepped out. A small backpack strapped to her back, she followed the other students then went to her homeroom, whatever that was. That was one thing she never saw in the movies.
An older lady was in there and her, probably, some of her classmates.
"Good morning, ma'am. " said Alexis with a heavily accented english. She found her seat and sat there, ignoring her colleagues completely. First thing she noticed about Miss G, is that she talked a lot. Something everyone she met in America seemed to share.

Either way, she listened to every word she said. Before Miss G rounded them up, she opened up her bottle of water and took a sip of it. Enjoying it and, at the same time, scanned the room for what seemed like the most likely person to try to play tough.

After tuning the alarm on his phone off for about the millionth time Marco was finally shaken awake by his sister. He groaned and tried to cover himself in his blanket but it was quickly ripped from his hands with speed that would rival that of Barry Allen. Leaving him suddenly very cold and a little annoyed with his sister. He tried to play it off like the situation didn’t bother him, while simultaneously pretending he was still asleep. He knew Maria knew better but still, his bed was still so very comfortable all of the sudden.

“Marco, you need to get up, or we will be late.” He heard Maria say as she walked out of the room. This caused the ginger male to groan and effectively roll out of his bed. Getting up and stretching he noticed the clothes Maria had insisted on him setting out for today. Something about knowing he wouldn’t be up in time to dig through the mess he called a dresser. He hated to admit it but she was right. Looking at the clock they had just enough time to get breakfast and make it to school with Maria’s requested ten minutes to spare. He headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face then headed back to his room to throw on a simple well-fitting black t-shirt and a pair of shorts that sported the Delbrook logo and the text “swim team” on one of the legs. Nothing to fancy, he wasn’t trying to impress anyone. He had no doubt his twin would have enough style for the two of them. Not to mention he knew his friends would be wearing their sports jerseys today. Being that the only team he was on was the swim team he didn’t exactly have a jersey to wear so the shorts were the best he had.

Headed down the stairs he met Maria in the kitchen who had already set out some pancakes and orange juice for him. “You spoil me dear sister.” He said sitting down and beginning to inhale the food in front of him. He caught Maria rolling her eyes at him before grabbing the notes left for them by their parents.

Marco, Maria,
Have a great first day of your last year in HS! Sorry we couldn’t be there to see you off, early mornings will do that to you.
Good luck. Have fun,
Mom and Dad

“Short and sweet as usual, you ready to head out?” Marco asked as he finished up his breakfast and stood up to grab his keys off the hook. He knew Maria was ready to go, there was really no point in asking her but he did anyway. Maria grabbed her small handbag Which he knew held both of their supplies they would need for the day. Really nothing more than a pencil for each of them and some index cards, as well as a portable charger for their phones just in case. She was, after all, the responsible twin. The pair got into Marco’s Bronco and the two headed toward the school. Making it to the school with just enough time for them to get to their homeroom about a minute early.

The twins entered the classroom together after greeting Miss Goldman and checking the seating chart. “Looks like teach thought it was a good idea to split us up.” Marco said, nudging his sister as he walked past her to get to his seat, but not before hearing Maria sarcastically reply with a thank god. Sitting down he leaned back a bit in his chair waiting for the others to also take their seats. He had kind of tuned out Miss Goldman as she spoke distracted by pretty much everything else. That was, until she mentioned not being able to eat in her classroom. This made the redhead sink a little in his seat. This would mean Maria would badger him even harder in the morning to get up in time to make sure they ate. He supposed it wasn’t as bad as it could have been but still, Marco liked to snack.

He suffered through the pledge and other announcements and soon they were all herded into the auditorium where he had started fiddling with his phone the moment he sat down. Eventually he decided that now would be a great time to take a nap, much to his sister’s annoyance, who ended up being his pillow toward the end of the assembly. He was shaken awake by her when they were dismissed and he headed out toward the Lacrosse field, with Maria in tow. Most of their friends were the same so he pulled his sister through the crowd like she needed help. He spotted the other gathering and headed toward them with a stupid grin on his face. Finally releasing Maria when he stopped walking, much to the female twin’s relief.

“Ah, yea, we had some pancakes but I could definitely still eat.” Marco replied to Danny hearing Maria sigh beside him. Before she spoke and tried to wonder off. Which Marco was not having any of. She tried to walk away and he grabbed her arm.

“Or, you could hang out with us for a bit and then go do your own thing.” He suggested not letting go of her arm until she agreed to hang around for a bit. Which, she did, a little less reluctantly than he had expected.



Maria’s alarm went off fairly early. The redheaded female twin got up with relative ease and took a refreshing shower. Well, to her it was refreshing, Marco had made it very clear she showered in, in his words, Satan’s waterfall. She would just shrug at him and go about her business. After the shower she dressed herself in the flower romper She had picked out the night before. After which she did her make-up which was honestly rather minimalistic since she hated covering up her freckles too much. It took her about an hour to get ready and afterward she went into the kitchen to get herself some breakfast, and also make Marco some, since she was positive he was not awake yet. She always had to wake him up, especially during the first week or so. After making the pancakes she looked at the clock and decided now was the time to wake Marco up. She headed into his room to see he had just settled from turning his alarm off, for likely the millionth time.

Maria walked over to her twin and shook him a bit. Letting him know he needed to get up without actually saying anything. Only to have her brother try to cover himself in his blanket. Shaking her head she yanked at the bottom of the blacket and Marco lost his grip, leaving him lying there without anything to keep him warm. She knew he got the message but still as she left his room she spoke. “Marco, you need to get up, or we will be late.”

She went back into the kitchen to set the table for him, knowing he had showered the night before so would be in the kitchen shortly, hungry. Marco entered the kitchen spotting the food. “You spoil me dear sister.” He said, beginning to shovel food into his mouth. She rolled her eyes and grabbed the note their parents had left for them and handed it to him. She had already read it. She hadn’t caught what Marco said about the note but she was sure she had likely thought the same thing. Marco went to grab his keys and Maria grabbed her handbag and the two headed to the school together.

The twins entered the classroom together after greeting Miss Goldman and checking the seating chart. “Looks like teach thought it was a good idea to split us up.” Maria heard her brother mutter to her as he nudged her.

“Thank god.” She took her seat and waited until Miss Goldman started speaking fiddling with the string on her romper as she spoke. The announcements started and ended and then they were led into the auditorium for the assembly. Maria listened, up until she felt a head on her shoulder and could only roll her eyes at the sight of her brother passed out beside her. Still it was better than him trying to entertain himself by bothering her so she let him sleep until it was time to head to the festivities outside. Unfortunately Marco had decided to drag her along with her while he looked for his friends. They were her friends too but Maria wasn’t trying to spend the whole day with her brother and the guys.

When Danny asked if they had eaten Maria found her escape. “Yea, and as fun as it sounds watching you guys stuff your faces I am going to go do my own thing for a bit. Maybe we can meet up a little later.” She tried to walk away but was quickly stopped by her twin. Who, without really trying, convinced her to stick around for a bit longer. She was sure she could lose them in the crowd fairly easily so she wasn’t really too concerned about it.

Theodore couldn’t necessarily say what had woken him, since it wasn’t his alarm. He stared up at his ceiling, a little bemused as he waited to see if he was about to be attacked. When it didn’t happen, he looked towards his phone, frowning slightly as he saw he was up thirty minutes before his alarm. Well, that was a bit fucking unfair. He was going to miss out on thirty minutes of sleep. Sighing softly, he tried to relax back into sleep, but it wasn’t going to happen. With a frustrated sigh, Stumbling to the bathroom, he showered, changed and brushed his teeth before absently moving towards his desk.

He opened up his laptop and was greeted with the application he had been considered for a part in a show the night before. A wistful dream, but Theodore found himself staring at the screen for a few moments. Letting his fingers drum on the desk, he contemplated it. He sighed again, before he hit the submit button. What was the worse that could happen, they said no, don’t come to auditions? It seemed like something he could try, at the least. Who knows, he might actually get a part in this new show. Maybe.

Probably not, but it was too late to do anything about it. Shaking his head, he turned the laptop off, sliding it into his backpack, grabbing his lacrosse stick and uniform, shoving the uniform in to his bag, he took the stairs two steps at a time, “Hey, Selena, sweet girl! You get an extra long walk today.” He set his things down by the door, grabbing the wolf-dogs leash and clipping it onto Selena’s collar, giving her a few quick scratchies. “You’re such a good girl!” He smiled, starting out the door.

When he returned him, he quickly grabbed some food, woofing it down quickly, and shouting out “Bye, mom!” before grabbing his things and starting out. Revving his bike to life, he started off down the road but wasn’t surprised when, half way to school, he was waved down by a woman. “Hey, Mrs Llywelyn. What did he forget this time?” He said as he slowed the bike to a stop in front of Ignatius’s mother. Part of the reason why he often went this way was because, after several times of dealing with Ignatius’s excentricities, it was easier to stop by and check with his mother.

“Oh! Theodore! I wasn’t too sure if you’d come by today, but thank you! He left his uniform behind, and you know he needs it today. Probably doesn’t even realise he left it behind, honestly… “

Theodore smiled softly, taking the bag she offered him, and after assuring her that he’d give it to her son, he started back on his way.

---

---

A little late, Theodore didn’t have a chance to find Ignatius before homeroom, and even less of a chance to hand off the uniform before the assembly. Sighing softly, he resigned himself to waiting after, and as soon as he co- Jesus, the boy could be fast when he wanted- Theodore eventually caught up to Ignatius, laying a hand on his shoulder to stop him from running off.

“Fuck sake, Ig. You can be so damn slippery. Here, you forgot this!” He said, handing the uniform over Ignatius, whose eyes went wide,“Oh, shit! Shit shit shit, I need to go get ready, before Tria realises I’m not there!” And he was off, shouting over his shoulder “Thanks, Theo!” Bemused, Theodore shook his head, shoving his hands into his pockets and starting into the festivities.

---

---

... "Cassie!!!"... "Wake up!! We're gonna be late! I told you to set an alarm!" The sound of an annoying sister down in the kitchen could be heard all the way from Cassian's room. He was having a wonderful dream where he was taking on a villain, he thought solo, until his sister appeared at his side and yelled for him to wake up. He sighed with annoyance while slowly peeling his eyes open. The room was still dark except for a faint glow of a lava lamp in the corner. Cassian wrestled himself out of bed and made his way across the floor over to the light switch. He prepared his eyes for the incoming light and flipped the switch upwards. Light was fully restored to the room once more and Cassian turned around to look for the clothes that he had put out the night before. He knew he wanted to get as much sleep as he could before the final year of High School ruined that for him.

After putting on his clothes he finished his normal morning routine and headed downstairs immediately confronted by the smell of bacon and a lot of other smells, but that one stuck out the most for him. He almost glided over the remaining steps before turning towards the kitchen to see Alessandra sitting at the table and Natasha finishing setting it up. "Now I know why I decided it was a great idea for you two to stay the night."

Alessandra raised her eyebrow in response. "You decided? It was my idea. I knew you were going to be late, mom hates when I'm at the house alone, Nat's a way better cook than you, carpoo----"

"Okay, I got it." Cassian surrendered. "Don't forget you also wanted to smoke." He sat down at the table and started reaching for the assorted breakfast laid out before them.

"Speaking of... Here you go." Natasha reached over Cassian's shoulder and placed down a Russian Cream Backwood and a rather perfectly rolled bat of a joint next to it.

Cassian's eyes lit up at the sight and turned his head to look at the benefactor for today's morning session. "You know me so well. You're the best, Nat. But, sit. Help us scarf this down so we can get out of here."

---

The trio finished breakfast and after stopping Alessandra from sneaking Alvin out of the loft they hotboxed Cass's car all the way to school. They managed to make it on time keeping Alessandra's perfect attendance in tact and they were all surprised to find out they'd be in the same homeroom this year. Cass was indifferent about it, but Ali was excited to be able to spend her brother's last year of high school with them. When they reached room 915 they greeted Miss Goldman each as they entered. "Yo, Miss G." "Good morning Ms. Goldman." "Buenos días, Sra. Goldman."

Homeroom breezed by quickly and although Alessandra wanted to sit during the pledge Cassian urged her to stand up, at least for today. There would be time for social activism later. When it came time for the assembly it pained Cassian to be in that auditorium. So much so that he forced himself to continue his previously interrupted sleep right there on his sister and best friend's laps. Alessandra did the honors of smacking him awake when it was time for them to move onto the field. Finally, they were free.

"Sandra, since you'll be taking things over next year why don't you go handle things over at the Botany booth? I'm going to go chill at the Robotics booth for a bit and maybe hang out with the team."

"Fine, but you owe me. I wanted to sneak away and have fun too." She ran off towards where she knew they had set up the booth leaving the two alone to walk through the festival.

Location: The Romano Household
Interaction: Each other.

The godawful sound of his alarm pulled Vincent from his semi-decent sleep. Groggy, lazy, and still catching a whiff of the cheap deodorant he used to hide the smell of smoke in his room the night before, he forced himself out of the comfort of his bed and the linen sheets, that always seemed a thousand times more inviting in the early morning. Not that it was that early, and given the fact that punctuality was not very high up on his list of priorities, Vincent was pretty sure he’d arrive at Dellbrook late, as he had done every single day of his academic life.

He threw something decent (and way too expensive) on, and spend more time on his hair than he’d like to admit- but it was always worth it for the end result, Vince looked good, and he knew it. Whistling down the stairs and not at all concerned with the ticking clock, he stopped in his tracks when he saw Mia, already going through her breakfast. It seemed his half-sister had a bit of a radical change overnight.

“Mornin’.” Vincent said, not helping a shit-eating grin as he leaned against the kitchen doorframe “What the hell happened to your hair?”

“It’s bangs.” Mia defended, already looking up annoyed at him “What? They look cool, I did them myself!”

“Yeah, clearly.” He snorted, which the girl responded by flipping he bird “Diane seen that yet?”

“…No.”

Barking out a laughter, Vincent shook his head as he grabbed an apple, already turning on his heel and heading for the car outside.

“Oh, Christ. Move it, let’s get you out of the house before she does.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________



Location: Dellbrook
Interaction: ?

Escaping the inevitable confrontation with his step-monster and her wrath, Vincent honked loudly and obnoxiously until Mia got in the BMW, cursing him out the entire time as she did. They didn’t talk much in the car ride to the school, as they never really did, and Vincent just put on Whole Lotta Red to hype himself up for another day of not paying attention in class and skipping school to go smoke behind the bleachers. The sweet, sweet American educational system.

To nobody’s surprise, Vincent nearly missed homeroom, and proceeded to strut his way over to Ms. Goldman's class, while making no move to rush himself.

“Morning, Ms. G.” Vincent smiled at their homeroom teacher, all charm as always, even if he was one of the last people to get there, arriving at about 7:30 “Hope you didn’t miss me too much over summer, ma’am.”

Very much in-character, he spent his 5 remaining minutes of homeroom zoning out, and appreciating his seating- he got placed right between the twins, which was fun for him, probably not so fun for Maria, whom he was sure to annoy the whole year ‘round. Assembly wasn't much different- he closed his eyes, and would have gotten a few extra minutes of sleep had his damn half-sister not kicked him awake everytime he tried it.

As assembly came to an end, Vincent yawned and stretched his arms, and was quick to leave as he was slow to arrive. First day back for his last year at Dellbrook…he might as well start if off with something to eat. He had about 7 minutes, which was planning on using to get to the Carnival and buy something off the food trucks there. And if he was ate for first period…that wouldn’t exactly be shocking for anyone.

---

"Still cold."

Needless to say, the first thing Molly did when she hopped off that board was kiss the almighty hell out of that absolute babe of a woman she called her girlfriend. They had been dating for the better part of their high school years together, and between their many nights spent together- in more ways than one- and the occasional burning of the Devil’s Lettuce together behind the seats around the school, they were made for each other. At least, that’s how they surely felt. Monse made Molly’s whole person feel borderline weightless sometimes, do you ever have that little flutter of energy when you see someone you’re just really, really into? That’s one way to put it. You wouldn’t think that someone as aloof and goofy as Molly would be able to keep a girlfriend, but Monse? Monse wasn’t just any girl. She was Molly’s girl. Name one other girl who knew Molly’s taste in coffee. Just try it.

She took that coffee from Monse’s hand with a stupid grin on her face. ”A woman after my own heart, I haven’t had coffee in fucking weeks. You’re a lifesaver, hotness.” She told Monse in a sweet and happy voice. They hadn’t seen each other in person in a while, actually. Monse lived all the way in Signal Hill, so sometimes Molly didn’t have the time to make that trip, and Monse’s parents were ever-so-slightly stuck up. But who cared? They were together now, and Molly got her iced coffee, and Monse got kissed a trillion times. All is good. Life’s good. Life’s sexy. ”Let’s go do something fun, c’mon. There’s gotta be something in all this worth a shit to do.” She said between gulps of her coffee.

@Pyxis

Anastasia examined the tree some feet in front of her, as she gripped her compound bow firmly in her left hand, holding it out in front of her torso. She didn't take her gaze from the tree as she reached down her right side, the thumb, index and middle fingertips of her hand lightly grasping the feathered end of the wooden arrow, sticking upright in the soil beside her. With an ever so gentle pluck, the arrow freed itself from the earth, Annie raising the shaft up to the bow. With a skilled hand, Annie notched the arrow, drawing the bowstring back, she could feel her muscles flex and stain against the natural strength of the bow, forcing the arrow back to her cheek.

The wood creaked in protest as the leathery sinew of the bowstring popped and crackled under the stress and pressure required to draw the marvelous weapon back to its full potential. The guard on her arm, and fingers protected her flesh from the bowstrings painful bite, and her muscles began to quiver under the tremendous force required to hold the bow steady. Still, she didn't let the bow go, mentally evaluating her target... range... distance... cross winds.... and she elevated her arm to follow her estimated arch and the natural drop of the arrow.

Finally, she let the arrow fly with a loud, pronounced cracking SNAP of the bowstring. As the shaft streaked from the bow with what seemed to be lightning speed, launching high into the morning sky, she lowered her bow, watching it's path. The gently floating arch of the arrow gave her pride, as it flew towards the tree, hitting it dead centre. Many thought she was trying to act like Katnis, from the stupid hunger games books, which was so far from the truth. There was just something so… powerful at shooting an arrow, knowing she had been the one to let it fly, and to have to, skillfully, land where she wanted it… It made her feel strong. Which was something she often struggled with.

With satisfaction, she collected her arrows, glancing up at the sky and the sun that was slowly telling her to get back home and ready for school. What a drag, just when she was starting to make some real progress with her trick shots. With a sigh, she started back towards home, before her mother sent out a search party for her.

---

---

Hair tied back in a somewhat fancy braid, a slight smattering of make-up, and her cheer uniform, Annie probably looked the furthest thing from a girl who had been in the thick of an archery workout. She locked her car up as she walked away, books in her arms and satchel over her shoulder as she made her way to home group, shifting her things to take her phone out, texting one handed as she walked.

To Mrs Lleywn

Hey, Mrs L. Saw Ignatius, sans uniform. He’s going to need it.

Rolling her shoulders, she continued to write another message, glancing up every so often to make sure she wasn’t about to walk into someone, or a wall, a door, whatever.

Tria, Ig forgot his uniform, don’t worry, got it sorted. Let me know if there’s anything I can do. OMW to home group.

Satisfied, Annie slipped her phone back into her bag, moving her books and glancing around her, taking the right path to the home room. Hopefully Tria hadn’t seen the non-suited up Ignatius and wouldn’t stress now if she did. When she reached the home group room, she found her seat, taken her phone out once more, she put one air bud in and shifted, crossing her legs as she leaned against her desk, tilting her phone side ways as she watched the cheer they were doing today, recorded by her and sent to everyone.

After all, some people did better with visual work, and this had been a good session to record. Her gaze flicked over everyone, sighing softly as she flicked over her own form. Not her best effort, but it wasn’t her worst. Annie just needed to make sure she wasn’t letting her nerves get the better of her. As they were led to the auditorium, Annie plopped in her other bud and turned to the latest episode of Critical Role, letting the various voices of the players wash over her, leaning her head against the back of her chair.

Her eyes closed, she ignored the drowning talk of the principal, letting herself relax as she waited for the time to leave, and to meet up with the rest of the squad.

Location: Home -> Homeroom -> Shady Space Overlooking Lacrosse Field

Interaction: No One

Date: Whatever day the first day of school is

---

The final summer of Elysia's life as a high schooler was over. It was time to enter that final stretch. To say that her nerves were killing her would be quite the understatement. So, as per usual, the freshly minted Senior found herself curled up on a recliner with a sketchpad in hand. Furiously she put pencil to paper drawing an image of Juneau laying awkwardly on his back. Waiting for Adelinde to take him on his morning walk. The old 'pup' was letting low moans escaped him as he stared right at Elysia. This had been the typical summer morning routine but with school starting again, the usual would likely shift. "Elysia! Are you ready?"

The young artist hit a nearby bell twice indicating, Yes. "Did you eat breakfast yet?" At this Elysia sat still and then slumped a little in her seat. "I'll take that as a no." That's when Eliza walked in a bagel in hand. "This'll have to do if you don't wanna be late." Elysia then did a quick glance over her things. Pencils, check. Brand new moleskine sketchbook, check. Backpack containing even more supplies of such types, check. Elysia took the bagel and began partaking in her meager breakfast. As they left the house, Elysia subtlety tore the bagel in half and watched as Juneau gleefully took the gift.

The ride over was veritably quiet other than the sounds from outside the car. Eliza was the one to eventually break the silence, "How're you feeling about Senior year?" Elysia looked down to her phone, almost as if ready for the question. Her fingers moved with practiced precision and the phone's speakers piped up, "I think I'm ready. It shouldn't be to different from other years."

Eliza looked at her younger sister out of the corner of her eye, "Well, if you think you're ready so do I. Just make sure not to push yourself to hard." Elysia nodded her head. Everyone always thought she'd break at the slightest thing. Sometimes she even worried about that, but being at Delbrook was definitely more helpful than not. Especially with how kind most of the people she interacted with over the years had been. The rest of the drive was filled mostly with idle banter. But as she was dropped off, Elysia felt some of those old nerves well up again.

Thankfully, her homeroom teacher this year would be Miss Goldman. Someone who the majority of the school body agreed was among the best teachers here. Hopefully, the other students in the class would also be kind. She had not expected to be waiting in line to enter the classroom but when it came her turn Elysia signed a quick, Good morning.

Soon realizing how weird she may look doing that to anyone who didn't know, Elysia made a quick getaway with her head down. She quickly found her seat and pulled out her sketchbook to draw. Finally looking up as Miss Goldman began speaking, Elysia's eyes first noticed how many familiar faces were here. That brought some level of comfort to her. That lead onto the next thing she noticed. Well, next person. Her eyes landed on Scout who had an alarmingly familiar accent. Sure, she had never been to the Dakota's herself but she had extended family who lived there. Almost absentmindedly, Elysia began sketching Scout. She'd always had a bad habit of just drawing what caught her attention without realizing how it could be perceived. After realizing what she was doing, the girl quickly closed her book. No more sketching for now. It's not like they'd be in homeroom for long what with the assembly coming.

It was boring for the most part. Elysia did feel her eyes get a bit droopy but she refused to nap during the principal's speech. He had prepared it for them to hear so she'd give him the courtesy of listening. No matter how much she wanted to curl up and nap.

It had been a long one but they were finally released into the open world. For her part, Elysia had no idea what she wanted to do. Their were so many people walking around and she quickly lost sight of her classmates or anyone else she knew well for that matter. Panic wanted to bubble up within her but refusing to let that happen Elysia found herself a relatively quiet place in the shade. Feeling like no one would bother her there she pulled out her supplies once again and just began drawing the fairgrounds before her. Unless something changed she planned to sketch the day away.

x
x

Location: Home -> Homeroom -> In front of Scout

Interaction: Scout Czajkowski(@Luft)

Date: As above so below

---

The wind was in his hair as he soared through the sky. The bright sun glistening around him high above the clouds. A picturesque scene unfolded around Micky and he nearly broke into song. When suddenly, the ground quickly rushed up to him and Micky felt himself fall flat onto his bedroom floor after hearing the short blare of a horn. A pathetic groan escaped his lips as he heard his brother chuckling above him. "Micky, if you don't wanna wake up like that remember to set an alarm."

"Shut up. One day I'm gonna take that horn and use it against you."

"Sure you will. Hurry up and get a shower. Elle already fixed some breakfast. We'll likely be gone before you so don't forget anything." Oliver quickly let the room still chuckling to himself. Micky let out another groan as he slowly got up off the floor. Oh, how badly he wanted to go back to sleep. Why even go to school today? What were they even going to do? Not like any teachers would assign homework first day back from summer vacation. Right? Micky paused for a second thinking on that then grunted as he set about readying himself for the day. I nice hot shower, amazing breakfast, and a few gulps of coffee quickly brought the young man's energy levels to 100%. He nearly forgot to wear his baseball jersey, had it not been for a sticky note on the front door reminding him. He was ready for the day no matter how little he wanted to go.

One of the best parts of going to school for Micky had to be that it gave him an excuse to ride his bike. The journey wasn't to far, but he loved every second of it. Micky got a kick out of going fast and feeling the wind. There weren't to many opportunities to practice any tricks on the ride from home to school, but where they existed he tended to take them. As long as no one was to close to him when he did them. He really had no qualms if he messed up and hurt himself but if another got injured he'd feel way to guilty. Upon arriving at school, he was still in shock and awe of how cool this campus was. His old high school had nothing on this place. Sure it was still a little confusing and he might get lost at some point but it was still fun.

After attaching his bike securely to the bike rack with two locks, Micky took the long walk to finding his homeroom. He was happy to see so many familiar faces waiting in line. It was also pretty cool to have Miss Goldman despite the oddity of the start of her class. With an unsure, "Buenos, umm, diós? Wait, no Buenos dias? Umm, uh morning Miss Goldman. Sorry." He then quickly excused himself from that interaction, making his way to his seat before looking at anyone else.

All in all the day was going well so far. Homeroom sounded like it'd be fine. Not being able to eat would likely get to him later on but for the most part they had free reign. That would be nice. The morning assembly was extremely boring though. Any other day, Micky would be napping right along with some of his fellow classmates but the coffee he had earlier was keeping his energy up so he had to sit through the whole thing.

When they were finally released one could read the excitement on his face. But what would be first on the agenda? Hang out with some of his friends from the theater club or with his teammates from the baseball team? But as he looked around, Micky noticed some faces he didn't recognize at all. He was fairly good at remembering people so the idea that this was their first year was his initial thought. Wanting to be hospitable Micky decided he'd help them get the lay of the land. Well, maybe one of them. He didn't wanna be rude, but the other girl seemed just a tad intimidating. So, Micky approached the girl who had an accent he couldn't quite place. All he could tell was that she wasn't from around here. "Hey there. I'm Micky, pleasure to meetcha."

x
x

Interaction: Daniel Murphy(@Moro), Sawyer Lockwood,
Marco Costello(@LostDestiny), Maria Costello,
and Damien Lopez(@Vicier)

Location: Home -> Homeroom -> With her frands

Date: Same deal as the others

---

Different music blaring from three separate places, a mad dash and fight for the first use of the bathroom, and the eventual hammer of the law brought down by mamá Johnson was the start of the day for every first day of school in the Johnson home. Today, the start of Ruby's final year as a high schooler would be no different. Ruby had picked a perfect playlist for today with Eye of the Tiger being the headliner. She always had been a sucker for that genre of music no matter how old her siblings thought her taste was. At least it was far better than those pop songs that Dani liked. James tended to listen to very indie and niche stuff. Most of it sounded good. What wasn't good was the cacophony of noises competing to see which could be loudest.

Moments after waking, Ruby found herself trying to strongarm her way past her brother and sister to get into the one bathroom available to the children. She was by far the strongest but when it was two against one the odds were never in her favor. Except today of course, as the mother of the three waltzed up the stairs calmly but with an expression that meant they were most certainly in trouble.

They soon lined up against the wall as their mother told them off about causing such a ruckus. "How many times do I have to tell you three to keep it down. They make earbuds for a reason. Either way, if the three of you are going to fight over the bathroom then I'll just pick the order. Dani, you go first." The middle child gives a quiet giggle as she rushes to the bathroom. "It's only because your the slowest. Don't act like you won and pick up the pace. James you'll go second and Ruby you can use our bathroom. Your father has already left for work and I'll be working on breakfast and the other knucklehead's lunches."

"Thanks mamá." As she then rushed down the stairs, neglecting to relegate her music to earbuds. It didn't take the athlete all that long to get ready. She never really wore makeup unless forced to by Dani or her mamá. She grabbed her phone remembering she needed to send out a reminder.

@everyone Alright gang. Don't forget to wear your jerseys today. Gotta show Rising Tide Pride! The lacrosse team may be the stars of the school but let's take their spotlight this year. WHOSE WITH ME!

After sending a ping on the soccer teams Discord channel, Ruby watched as the activity surged. The captain loved seeing her team get into the spirit. Yeah, it was her team this year. She'd make sure they won the national championship this year. A quick ping from last years captain hardened Ruby's resolve.

@Roo You better. Leave a better impression than I did. If a team under me can get bronze then shoot for gold.

Ruby could not express in words how excited she was for this year to start. Not long after, she found herself chowing down on breakfast. It was a hearty meal as usual, and despite being reminded that the festivities would have food, Ruby didn't care. There's no way she'd miss out on a home cooked meal. She most certainly would be regretting that later but something of that nature would be future Ruby's problem.

The drive from the homestead to school wasn't all that long but it was filled with the usual bickering and antics of siblings who got along but only when they weren't trapped in confined spaces together. Thankfully, none of them shared any classes together. That likely would have been a disaster. Ruby was a tad worried for her less social siblings but they had enough friends to help them whenever she couldn't be around.

As per usual, the school was a flutter with activity. Hordes of people going this way and that. The obvious fresh meat getting dragged around not knowing where to go. Ruby knew this place well and with ease made her way through the crowds and forcing her way through the throng of students until she made it to her homeroom. Ruby would be lying if she said she was anything but ecstatic to have Miss Goldman as her teacher. Her expression would help to revel hw excited she was for this year. When the hammer dropped though that they would not be allowed to eat in homeroom that did sully her excitement a tad. But hey, small price to pay to have Goldman as a teacher.

The assembly was an utter bore. Ruby had fallen asleep a few times during the prolonged speech. It's not like she needed to hear any of it anyway. If anything important was said she knew she'd get a recap by either Dani or James so it was fine. But finally the main event had arrived. Sure they wouldn't get to spend all day out here having fun but there was no way she'd let this go to waste. First though she needed to do a little catch-up with her buds.

Being in the same class as them was going to be awesome. It didn't take long to track the gang down as they weren't that far. "I can't believe you'd skip breakfast, Damien. Hey, any specific recommendations from Brandon?"

"Come on, Sammy. Kids'll be here any minute. Make the last few minutes of peace last," Sam's mother called down the hall with a laugh. Sam, too, chuckled to herself with a shake of her head as she finished fixing up her hair. Running a gentle hand through her hair, Sam looked herself over in the mirror before grabbing her bag and camera from the end of her bed to head downstairs. Sam didn't even make it to the bottom of the staircase before she could hear her mother's voice at the front door followed by thundering little footsteps running through the house. The twin boys had been the first to be dropped off this morning.

Daemon came sulking around the corner from the kitchen with his head hung low with Slade right on his heels as they took off to, what Sam could only assume, go hide from the loud boys running through the house. Kida, however, was as lively as ever with the rowdy kids. More kids meant more attention for her, and she was all for it as she bounced happily after the boys as they tore into the living room. Sam giggled at the kids, giving their mother a wave as she ducked into the kitchen to grab a bite to eat before she headed off to school. While Sam was in the middle of popping a bagel into the toaster, her mother rounded the corner and came to sit at the breakfast bar to watch her daughter make breakfast.

"You excited?"

"Mm. Indubitably," Sam said, her tone heavy with sarcasm as she glanced at her mother through her bangs before turning towards the fridge to pull out the creamed cheese. A soft but heavy sigh came from Haley, causing Sam to peek around the fridge door at her mother before letting the door shut on its own as she closed the distance between them.

"What's wrong, mom?"

"Oh, nothing, sweetheart. I just remember when you were that little." Sam followed her mother's gaze, landing on the two boys playing on the living room floor with a few hot wheel cars. "Before you know it, you'll have little ones of your own. And one day you'll be sitting there asking yourself where all the time went."

The second her mother mentioned kids of her own, Sam froze on the spot. Sure, the thought had crossed her mind a few times - especially since she and Damien started dating - but the thoughts were only ever fleeting. Her main focus was always on school. Kids were something that would come much later. There was still college and jobs to think about. An actual career. Sam wouldn't settle for being simply comfortable. She wanted to be far past just comfortable before bringing another life into this world. One she could devote all her time to, and not have to worry if they had enough money to cover something for the baby. Sam was lucky to have come from the family she did, as she never had to go without her needs.. and even the majority of the time, her wants were met as well. She knew plenty of people, some of them being a few of her friends, who weren't as lucky.

"Got a long way before then, mom. College first, then we'll talk about giving you grandkids, kay?"

Haley laughed, turning to look back at her daughter. "I'm really proud of you for having goals set for yourself."

Sam smiled at her mother, opening her mouth to say something just as the toaster popped, turning to grab them and spread creamed cheese on the two halves before taking a seat next to her mother as she ate her bagel. Pulling her camera's strap from off her neck, she tenderly set it down on top of her bag on the counter before taking a bite of her food just as she received a text message. She assumed it would be from Damien, but was pleasantly surprised to see it was actually a text from her father. A small, sad sort of a smile pulled at the corners of her lips as she read the message, typing out a quick response before setting her phone on the counter face-down.



Sam finished her bagel while she and her mother made small talk, every now and then having to pause to greet another set of parents and kids, often telling Kida to relax. Seemed the dog never had an off switch. Such were the ways of a husky, though. Sam cleaned up her dishes and grabbed her back and camera again, giving her mother a long, tight hug before heading on her way out the door. Hopping into her jeep and turning the key in the ignition, the vehicle rumbled to life which brought a small smile to her face. Pulling from the drive, it was a short trip across the street and around the corner to the school. Once there, Sam wasted no time and quickly headed up to her homeroom, beyond excited that she had gotten placed in Ms. Goldman's homeroom class. She'd sit up in the classroom with Ms. G talking about the school year to come while they waited for the bell to ring, staying in her seat while Goldman stepped out of it to greet the incoming students.




With seniors, there was always room for tardies or even straight-up no-shows on the first day back to school. Something that Jennifer Goldman had just learned to accept over the years teaching teenagers. They were in their true years of rebellion, and what better time to make their own decisions and test their limits than the last year of high school. Of course, some had legitimate reasons for missing and she completely understood that. Those, though, who tried to use their charm in an attempt to hide the fact that they clearly chose to arrive late - Vincent - she always had an eye out for. She simply smirked and shook her head at the boy, motioning with her head for him to take his seat at the front in the middle row on the side nearest the door. Somewhere where she could keep an eye on said boy.

As the time passed, Goldman took to looking over her lesson plans for the following week. Of course, she stood with the students and held her hand over her heart as Jack had asked the students, though she remained quiet as the Pledge was said. Her eyes couldn't help but wander over the students, catching on one in particular. Monserad Tul, seated just in front of Ms. Goldman's desk. The girl sat through the entire pledge, a girl after her own heart. A bit of a smirk played over Ms. G's lips at the action. If it wasn't for the image she had to hold, and the respect she had for Jack and his past service - though his ideals of what he felt this country meant to him were nothing more than an extremely flawed fever dream - she too would be sitting through the Pledge. 'Justice for all' my ass, she thought to herself before pushing a smile across her lips, seating herself with the kids to continue overlooking her lesson plans while Jack did his morning announcements.

Before long he was dismissing them, and Ms. Goldman quickly stood to address the class. "If you wish, you can keep your things in here instead of taking them to the auditorium and lugging them around for an hour out on the field. Or take them, it's your choice of course. Please, stay together-"

"..uh... Miss Goldman-..?"

Over all the noise the other students were making, she almost hadn't caught her name being called. Eyes drawn over to Sasha, Goldman flashed the girl an understanding smile and a simple nod before turning back to handle the other students. "You guys know where the auditorium is. Please stay together, wait for me at the stairs and I'll lead us in. We will all be sitting together, alright? Alright guys, vamos!" As the students ushered themselves out of the room, Goldman's eyes fell back on Sasha before exchanging glances with Sam. She was well-aware of the friendship the two girls shared and was kept up-to-date on Sasha's condition even over the summer thanks to Sam. Ms. Goldman knew all too well what the girl was going through, and knew that she often needed rest. She always made it clear to Sasha that she was always welcome to come into her class to rest, whether Sam was with her or not. As close as Goldman and Sam were, and the bond between Sam and Sasha being sisters from different misters - as Sam liked to call it - it wasn't a far stretch to say that Sasha was another student she considered one of her kids.

With much convincing, Goldman was able to drag Sam out of the room to allow Sasha some much-needed rest. Just before closing the door, she popped her head back in. "If you need to step out and you want to come back in here, you'll need to prop the door open with a book or something. If you step out and the door closes, you'll be locked out. I'll have Sam or I come up here and check on you after the assembly is over. Shouldn't be more than an hour, or so." She gave the girl a reassuring smile before pulling back and letting the door close behind her as she walked down the hall to the staircase to catch up to the rest of the class on their way to the auditorium.




Goldman kept her eyes on the kids as they made their way to the lacrosse field, and once they were there, she took a quick headcount before setting them free to do what they wanted. She had it in her mind to go find herself the taco truck to get a burrito. First, though, there was one thing she had to take care of. She didn't have to even turn to know that Sam had hung back while her classmates went on ahead, smiling as she turned to the girl.

"She text you at all..?"

"No," Sam locked her phone and shoved it into her back pocket as she turned to look behind them, staring a moment as if expecting Sasha to come walking around the building to join them before turning back to Goldman. "I'm gonna go back to the room with you."

Ms. Goldman nodded, reaching into her dress pocket to fish out her school keys to then hold out for Sam to take. "Go ahead and head on up, I'll be right there. Going to go get myself some munchies. Un buen burrito de carne asada."

Once Sam took the keys, Goldman turned to follow behind her students onto the lacrosse field to find her way to one of the food truck vendors, leaving Sam to head back to the classroom. Sam took her time getting back to the classroom, but as she reached the double glass doors that led into the stairwell up into the 900 building she pulled her phone back out and sent a quick text to Sasha before pulling the door open, heading on up the steps.

Sam made it to the door without a response. Her first thought was that maybe Sasha was still asleep until Sam had a peak through the small glass window on the door and didn't see Sasha in her assigned seat. The girl's brow furrowed slightly as she stuck the key into the doorknob, unlocking it and pulling it wide open to peak inside the room. No Sasha. Sam stood there quietly a moment, confused. Did she already head out there to the field? How'd they pass each other..? Maybe she was in the nurses office? Shit. Sam let herself out of the room, leaving the door unlocked for Goldman to get back in before stuffing her keys into her pocket to replace them with her phone in hand, tapping out a quick text. Sam headed down the hallway to head across the outside bridge to the 300 building to use the stairwell to the first floor where she'd head across to the administrative office and check to see if Sasha was in fact in the nurses office or not.

"THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN! THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOOOOOWN!" From beneath blue and white covers, a hand suddenly shot out like a bullet from a pistol and slammed itself into the top of the insufferable alarm clock which had just been blaring out Thin Lizzy's song. The arm went limp and fell beside the bed after silencing the rude machine but a groan could be heard a few moments later and the bed shifted until with a large lurch of the covers it revealed a 17-year-old boy with disheveled dirty blonde hair and a sleepy look in his sea-colored eyes. The clock read 6 am and the boy, Riley quickly turned the machine off to prevent another outburst. Moving to his dresser he picked out a simple outfit, a white T-shirt with some sort of graphic printed on the front and a pair of dark blue jeans. He also put a change of clothes into a duffel bag for physical education and Football practice. For the final bits, he threw a pair of plain-looking shoes onto the floor below the clothes and trudged himself into his attached bathroom.

Shower, teeth brushing, hair combing, and the general get ready ritual was performed and Riley walked out wearing just his boxers and looked much more awake. As he was heading towards his clothes he stopped dead and suddenly ran over to a Gibson Songwriter Deluxe Guitar and threw open a folder laying on top of it. He made a few marks and smirked goofily to himself as he nodded and danced back over to his clothes and proceeded to literally dance into them. He was still dancing to the nonexistent music as he left his room, leaving it open and uncaring as he kept things straight and neat. He wasn't a clean freak per se, just his room really, while everything else was just sort of fly by the moment. He headed into the kitchen and smelled a motley assortment of breakfast foods and he smiled brightly, lighting up his face and he went to stand beside a petite elder woman finishing up a platter of sausage. "Jeez, went a bit overboard today Felicia?" He asked as he chuckled and then sat down at the table, proceeding to load up his plate with bacon, eggs, toast, and sausage. He received a tsk in reply from Felicia and Riley chuckled to himself as he poured some Orange Juice. He truly loved Felicia and considered her much more a mother than his own, who big surprise wasn't home. Not that Riley really cared if she was home or not anymore, but he still remembered when he was younger sitting at the door and waiting for her or his father to come home and always getting upset when they didn't.

"Can't have you going to school on an empty stomach Riley, besides it's the first day of your senior year! Are you excited?! I know I am, and I'm so proud of you." Felicia had this voice that just sort of soothed your soul, a bit of roughness that stated she knew the world for what it was but at the same time a calmness that let you know that she was going to protect you from that world for as long as she possibly could. Riley rolled his eyes and finished chewing a bite of food and glanced at her.

"I'm excited yes, but more to get it over with." That wasn't entirely true, he was looking forward to Football and improving his music a lot but he played it cool, no need to go overboard along with her. "Thank you though for breakfast Felicia." He felt her hug him around his neck and kiss the back of his head.

"Don't ever worry about it, sweet Riles. Don't forget your sweatshirt today, it's chilly." She chuckled and then went back to cleaning up the kitchen from her cooking. Riley finished his breakfast in that time and took his plate over to the sink near Felicia and hugged her again before checking the time and wincing.

"Got to run! Gonna be late on my first day." He ignored the advice about the cold, California to him simply couldn't be cold at all. He did run upstairs and grab a sweatshirt just in case any of the Delbrook kids went down to the beach. After stuffing the sweatshirt into his backpack he slung his satchel around his shoulder, coming to rest on his right side, and then carefully slung his guitar into place on his back. Satisfied that he was ready he took the stairs two at a time and called out a final goodbye to Felicia before launching himself out the door and into the chilly morning. He extricated all his belongings into the back of his Civic and then jumped into the driver's seat. Stretching, Riley checked to see if Vincent was around and then figured the other boy had just headed to their first day alone. Riley smirked and blasted some orchestral music that he had been arranging and backed out of the long driveway.

This occupied his attention all the way to school, though it was harder to concentrate as the traffic-filled more and more around him. Riley liked to pride himself on working in stressful situations but there came a point when there was just no hope. He turned off his music as he neared the High School and he smiled softly to himself as it came into view. One more year was to go down in the records book and then he would be a graduate. Time moved fast he thought as he did a quick checklist in his mind. Check-in with Coach, check-in with the theater director to see which musical was first this year, check-in with the band teacher and give him his latest thoughts on the orchestral piece he was working on, and then make it to homeroom on time. He swerved into the parking space in the almost empty Senior parking lot, got out, shot a wave to Daniel Murphy, loaded himself back up with his gear, and then sprinted towards the school buildings. He passed by a girl that he didn't recognize holding a map and he instantly wished he could stop and help her. Bleh, he figured he'd introduce himself later. He had a ton of things to accomplish before the first bell.

Somehow he managed to make it through all of his checklists with time to spare and so he walked into homeroom exactly five minutes after the first bell, and also sent a quick wave to the teacher whom he greeted in Spanish. Riley wasn't exactly fluent in the language, but he had taken the class a year previously and so knew at least enough to pass. He flashed a quick smile to everyone and waved before he took a seat in the back of the room like he preferred and leaned his guitar safely inside of its carry bag in the corner. It was a miracle that he had actually sat close to his assigned seat. The noise level in the room was actually pretty civil but that all stopped as Mr. McGregor came over the speaker, McGregor was someone Riley could really respect, an ex-marine he was well received by most students and so Riley had no issue with standing and reciting the pledge along with him. He groaned along with some others as he mentioned an assembly and he knew to prepare for an organized lecture. If it wasn't the first day he'd consider sneaking into the band room to work on his music but he knew he would have to just suffer through this one. Sitting back down, Riley took the opportunity before the assembly to glance around at the others in his class. There was the new girl that Riley had spotted earlier, Daniel whom he had waved at in the Senior parking lot, Molly West, and Nora Gales both of whom Riley liked a good bit. They both had attitudes about them that spoke that they could more than take care of themselves. Another new girl, and then the twins of course. Riley smirked a little Maria's way but didn't cause a scene. He'd see her in band class. Theodore was the next person Riley spotted, the other Senior looking bemused at the antics of Ignatius.

As they lined up fully and prepared to leave Riley spotted Monserad, the Bishop siblings, Natasha, the Lopez siblings, the Romano's (whom Riley tried to wave to), Anastasia, Elysia, Mitchell, and Ruby. It was quite a large home-room class but he like everyone. Granted there weren't many people in the school he didn't like or that didn't like him. I mean who turns down free treats right? The class made their way towards the middle of the school and into the impressive auditorium. The class stayed there for an hour, an hour of getting spoken to on how amazing the school was and how much fun they were going to have and by the end of it, Riley had quietly slipped out his notebook and was making adjustments to a few harmonies that kept getting away from him.

Finally, the assembly was at an end and the group was escorted down to the Lacrosse stadium. Riley didn't spend a ton of time down at this field. Occasionally he'd accompany Maria down to watch her brother play, but Lacrosse wasn't really his sport. It had one time inspired a rather fortissimo and rapid piece of music but other than that Riley stayed away from this section of the school. Eyeing the vendors, Riley shrugged and grabbed an iced coffee and then headed up into the stands where he took out his guitar and began working on yet another piece of music, this one much simpler and was no doubt something for himself. He closed his eyes as he plucked and sang along, occasionally stopping and going back to fix a spot and then start over again. He seemed quite content.

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"ASTOR! STOP IT, IT'S MYYYY TURN. YOU ALREADY USED THE BATHROOM!"

"GO USE LANDON'S JEEZ, I HAVE TO LOOK PERFECT OK!"

A loud bang followed by more shouting could be heard while inside a still darkened room, the muffled sound of French cursing and general grumbling could be heard getting louder and louder. When a door opened it sent light flooding into the room and suddenly bedsprings would be heard. Shooting out from the covers came the form of a seventeen-year-old who looked very much like a sociopathic killer. The young boy who had opened the door froze. He was small with rather adorable messy brown hair and hazel eyes. But he didn't look very adorable then, cowering into the floor as the form of his brother Landon Miland stood over him and glared at him wearing nothing but a simple pair of gray shorts. Doing his best not to growl Landon stared down at the boy. "Corbin, how many times have I told you -not- to come into my room in the morning? Hm? What if I was getting dressed?"

Corbin for his sake at least rolled his eyes and slowly stood from the curled-up ball and stared back at his brother now that he knew it wasn't a monster that was going to carry him into the afterlife. "But Astor won't let me in our bathroom, he's too busy looking 'perfect'. And besides, it's not like we haven't seen each other before, I mean we -are- brothers." Landon sighed and had to smile as he heard Astor's words and rolled his eyes as Corbin continued, life with younger brothers was chaotic and insane but honestly, for all their annoyances Landon loved them deeply and so he simply grumbled again and moved out of the way to allow Corbin into his private bathroom. He himself stretched and yawned, scratching his chest, and made his way outside into the hall where he started pounding on the other bathroom's door.

"Astor! You got ten minutes, I don't care if you look like that social worker in London." He giggled again as he heard his brother gasp in horror and he went back into his bedroom. The clock read 5:45 and he couldn't believe the demon children were up so early and already yelling at each other. He wondered if he could grab a few more minutes of sleep... That wasn't to be since he could hear Corbin slamming drawers and he groaned realizing the boy was going to have to use his toothbrush, whatever. He stood once more, his bed protesting as well at its owner's inconsistency. He slowly walked back into the hallway and waved haphazardly at his Uncle who just grinned like a schoolboy and headed downstairs. Landon rolled his eyes again and pounded on the bathroom door again. "Ten seconds Astor!" A panicked flurry of motion was heard and Landon knew that his brother was probably done anyway and just wanted to -make sure-. "Five seconds." Rapidly, the door opened revealing Astor, his hair styled to perfection, checkered button-up shirt in pristine condition, teeth gleaming, and the same striking sapphire-like eyes that Landon had staring back at him. Landon couldn't be mad and he hugged his brother to his side and bent down to his level. "Don't lock Corbin out again eh? You two share everything but this cursed bathroom, learn to live together. There are -two- sinks after all." Astor sighed but nodded and promised before also going downstairs.

Chuckling and shaking his head Landon wondered where the kid got his need to look 'perfect' from. Landon yawned once more and began his morning ritual. Luckily he had perfected it and had no desire to look 'perfect' and so he was done within twenty minutes. He walked back to his room in only a towel, his brown hair already curling and styling itself into a combed over style, and saw that Corbin had finished as well since Landon's bathroom door was wide open, a wet towel sticking to the floor, and his toiletries were spread all over the top of the counter. Growling again he dressed in his football jersey which had a large C printed on it, a pair of acid-wash blue jeans, and a gray sweatshirt which he stuffed under his arm. He also wore a black and blue pair of running shoes. He cleaned up his bathroom and then as usual went downstairs last. He was greeted with the usual chaos of breakfast in the Miland/Holloway House but his spot was untouched and a plate of eggs and bacon was safely protected with a paper towel. He sat down and gave a quick thanks to his Aunt Claire who was still slaving away to fix herself and her husband something.

This insanity continued for another thirty minutes until it was about 7:15. Then like last year, as if they had never stopped Wyatt yelled and herded the younger boys into the Chrysler and sped off towards the Middle School where he would drop Corbin and Astor off. That left Landon and his Aunt to relax and have a quick moment to themselves. "So, Landon. Senior Year huh, that's pretty crazy, almost finished with this chapter of your life bud." Landon wanted to roll his eyes but Claire was a really cool person and had done a lot for him.

"Yea, it'll be interesting for sure. I think we can make nationals this year in Football and Baseball, got a real solid team if everyone stays healthy. And Marco will no doubt be eyeing something for the swim team." That was Landon for you, sports was his life really. Well sports, and his grades since he wanted to get a scholarship. His Aunt just chuckled and nodded, used to her surrogate son's antics since she made it a point to be there for every single game so far which was hard and only made possible since she and her husband juggled so well.

"Well, you know I'll be there to support you every step of the way. Just try and be a kid also Landon, these are the best days of your life don't just play sports. I know you don't, you love it but just I don't know, make some other friends and explore. High School is the perfect place to really start finding yourself." Landon felt like his jaw had dropped, his Aunt actually made sense. His heartbeat funnily and he knew he had just had a 'moment' with Claire and he smiled softly at the woman.

"Thanks Aunt Claire, I'll try at least." He gave her a one-armed hug as he reached for his keys that were in a jar on the counter. He shouldered his Orange North face backpack and headed towards the front doors of his home. He headed to the far garage and smiled to himself as he pressed a button on his keyring. The garage door slowly opened to reveal Landon's pride and joy, a 1966 Mustang Fastback. He and his Uncle Wyatt had restored it during his Sophomore year and it ran like a charm. He loved it and thought he looked good driving the car around. Landon jumped in and then checked his text messages, surprised to see nothing so far from his coaches or any of the players. Then again, it was only the first day of Senior Year. He'd soon be swamped with messages from all the group chats he was in. He leaned back in his chair and truly enjoyed the ride. Soon enough he was pulling into the Senior parking lot. He recognized a good few people and gave a smile and wave if offered one or if he heard his name but otherwise he kept to himself. The mass of people at the gates reminded him that it really was the first day and the Freshman all looking awed made him chuckle a bit.

He finally managed to escape the throng and made it to Homeroom, where he greeted Ms. Goldman in perfect Spanish, French, and Italian rapidly before finding his seat in the homeroom. He waved to Riley as he entered and his face blushed just a bit. Riley had been his first crush in Eighth Grade and even now he looked just as cute as before. A few others trickled in and once again Landon would only smile or wave if it was offered first. Riley and then Marco being the only two exceptions. Sighing, Landon listened politely to the announcements even if his thoughts were currently on his emotional feelings and how he had kept them cut off in the last few years. As they left for the Auditorium Landon got a good look at the rest of his homeroom mates and noticed a large group of Lacrosse players. That would be interesting. It wasn't that the football team and the lacrosse team didn't get along. Really the two sports were played at different times in the year, but still.

The assembly was boring, as expected and Landon along with most other students were happy when it was over. As soon as they reached the Lacrosse field he was smiling widely and went to go find his friends and to sign-up for the rest of his sports since Football was already locked down. He watched as Riley headed up the bleachers with a coffee and was tempted to go say hello to his receiver but decided to instead get his signatures out of the way. He headed through the crowd until he ran into a group that consisted of Marco, Damian, Maria, Daniel, Sawyer, and Ruby. He was just getting there after Ruby and he heard her ask, "I can't believe you'd skip breakfast, Damien. Hey, any specific recommendations from Brandon?" Landon glanced from person to person and then seemed to gravitate towards Marco's side as he waved. "Hey guys, getting ready to sign-up for everything? It might be me but the carnival looks larger than usual." He gave a shrug and smiled at Maria.

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It was early, the darkness still clinging to the coastal city of Long Beach. However, while the darkness was attempting to retain its hold the signs of daybreak became obvious and the world began trapped in the tiny space between dark and light. 'Stomp', 'stomp', 'stomp', 'stomp', came the sound of running shoes, and entering into the picturesque scene came Chloe Arkinson, earbuds in and a determined look upon her face. It was Chloe's favorite time to run when the California streets and sidewalks were quiet and empty for the most part. It was like another world during this time and quite calming. It let the seventeen-year-old think easily while also getting in the exercise she needed. As she came to a brief stop to enjoy the scenery she began to shadowbox an invisible enemy, performing quick upper-cuts and hooks before a one-two sequence of jabs made her confident her enemy would be hurting. Then she continued, only glancing down at her watch to check the time before letting the world fall away again. She had plenty of time, and besides this morning was different. She had a contact to speak with.

Chloe continued to run for another hour and arrived at the beach. The light had finally claimed territory and was now locked in an eternal struggle for control. Chloe paid no attention to such forces and instead grabbed a water bottle from her bag that had been strapped tight against her chest. Also within the bag was a new notebook and a selection of pens. She glanced around the beach and smiled at the other people who also enjoyed coming out at this time of the day. Stretching, Chloe gave out a sigh and after ensuring each joint was taken care of went limp and chuckled to herself. It was a rough routine and a long run but she loved it but she was looking forward now to getting back home for a shower. She was just starting to stir to get her supplies together when a voice called out. It sounded hesitant and weak but was distinctly male, almost like a larger-sized mouse. Chloe smirked and turned to see a man dressed in a maintenance uniform of some sort. He was tall, with brown hair and a mousey overbite that seemed to truly make him look like a human variant of rodent. Within his hands was a manilla envelope that Chloe focused on instead of the man's features. "Good morning. You're Mr. Palmer correct? My name is Samantha, we spoke briefly on the phone. The recognition flashed across Palmer's face and he started shaking, his arm first and then his hand.

"I-uh. I-erm." He stuttered, looking around and gulped which made his adam's apple move up and down. Chloe forced a comforting smile despite her true feelings and relaxed a bit while Palmer worked on his words. "I could g-g-get fired for this you know." The stutter had been there on the phone as well and Chloe felt a surge of pity for the man. His life, especially in school could -not- have been fun. She sighed and pulled out a pen and tilted her head towards the man, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Mr. Palmer, we had a deal and here I am outside at this time of day to meet you so you would be calm. This was your idea but now I'm involved and I always finish my story SO. I can continue to do this with you and work along with your own experiences so the court of public opinion pities you as I do and you can go on and get a new job. OR I continue this investigation myself without your help and your name is also attached to the company that you work for that sends barely edible and sometimes expired foods to public schools to fix for the children of Orange County. Because Mr. Palmer, I'm a very good investigator and I will find enough information with or without you. So? Which shall it be?" Chloe had spoken in an emotionless voice, one that she had been training with for exactly this kind of situation. Witnesses could be extremely annoying or exceptionally helpful but oftentimes they needed a push. Mr. Palmer was no different and after hearing her words his whole body shook and his eyes bugged out, which didn't help his appearance. He now sort of resembled a large Sloth but he handed over the envelope and then turned and quickly waddled away. "A pleasure Mr. Palmer! Have a great day!" Her voice turned into cheerleader mode and Chloe chuckled as she stuffed the envelope into her bag. She had wanted to get a few comments from the man, but this would be enough.

The walk to her Mini-cooper didn't take long. She had parked it in a business parking lot, but since the business wouldn't open for another good bit Chloe had time before anyone noticed. She placed her bag in the passenger seat and started the car while beaming. It had taken months to find a mole in the manufacturing side of the food supplier for Orange County public schools. As she backed out of the parking spot she made a mental note to credit Jordan Wheeler who had got her interested in this case. She'd give him the majority of any cash she made. She didn't need cash, she had plenty of it at the moment, and was only after cases at this point. She knew that she probably had enough to go to any college for journalism but for Chloe, it was about right and wrong and since the bad guys never rested she wouldn't either. Automatically, the girl drove to her favorite television news station and parked in her usual spot. A quick look told her that the manager had already arrived and glanced at the time Chloe saw she only had two hours before her school started. Time flew when you were having fun she supposed. With a confident smirk on her face, Chloe made her way up to the door and knocked twice. She had no credentials so it wouldn't do to run about the place and cause security to dislike her. It actually paid to have security on her side. And while this time she didn't bring any coffee, the guards knew she would and had before so as long as she played nice they'd give her room.

The door opened just as she was about to knock again revealing Claurice, the Security Manager for the station. "Morning Reese, I got something good for Chris this morning, may I head over?" The big African American man chuckled and nodded to her and went to ruffle her hair before remembering the last time and slowly retracted his hand. "Sure Chlo, if anyone says anything, tell them you're cleared by me. I'll be in the operations room if they get insistent." His tone said that no one had better get insistent as he probably didn't want to be interrupted. Chloe, who had backed up and darkened her facial structure regained composure quickly and nodded, stepping around the man and making her way through the twisted halls. It was obvious she had been there many times before as everyone currently sitting at their stations waved and called hello. Chloe responded to the many greetings before she arrived at the station Manager's office. She did her standard knock pattern and smirked as she heard the person inside jump to their feet and rush to the door.

"Chloe! Ah, I take it that you have another story for me? Chris, the station Manager was a gangly man with soft blonde hair that looked more like a mop on his head with a windswept look that he thought made him look hip. He wore a flannel shirt and blue jeans as if he was some kind of cowboy and reeked of too much cologne. But he was the one that treated her best out of all the other news outlets so he normally got her stories.

"That I do Chris. Standard trade here, you get the rights to play it but the credit goes to me, annnnd. She fished out a piece of paper with Jordan's contact information and name and handed it over. "Him. After you take a look at what I got and you run it any money can be sent to Jordan. I don't need it right now, as always. Oh, and school is starting back today so my stories won't be as regular. Chris nodded a few times and took the manilla envelope and the notebook which contained all of Chloe's investigation.

"This looks good as always. If everything checks out, expect this to be run tomorrow, along with you, and your friend's name attached. As for your stories not being regular. That's fine as well, you've gotten me more than my own reporters this summer. You know, after you graduate. He paused before continuing, "hell before that even, if you want a job. I could make some calls, and I wouldn't have to be very convincing. Chloe just smirked and shook her head.

"I work Freelance. The stories I want to write, and when I want to write the. That Freedom is quite important to me. But besides, I have gotta experience College life, right? Try other things out. Who knows, maybe I'll become a politician. Or at least a political journalist. Should beat workers making shortcuts while sending out food to schools?" Chris just shrugged and Chloe gave a mock salute before heading out of his office. The meeting had taken thirty minutes and so now, feeling a little rushed, Chloe headed out of the station and back to her car. She hoped the Police were in all heading to or in shift-change otherwise she was probably going to get a ticket. She sped down the street back towards her own stomping grounds and arrived soon enough. She sprinted into her House and said a quick hello to her parents and the twins before rushing upstairs and to her room. Pictures of Disney characters, star wars characters, lord of the rings, game of thrones, and other shows littered the white walls. Pink trim could be seen in the corners and along the top and bottom of the walls and a light was currently on in her walk-in closet where a cosplay outfit depicting Galadriel could be spotted.

Chloe grabbed her gymnastics jersey, an army bomber jacket, and a pair of knee ripped black pants. She then headed into the shower and rinsed her morning run off quickly before soaping up and rinsing once again. She jumped out, dried off, and started the process of drying her hair. She knew she was going to be late, but hopefully only for homeroom. She could only hope that the Principal decided to do a speech again this year as he did during Sophomore year. She finished drying and styling her hair, dressed quickly, grabbed a hat, and then sprinted downstairs, yelled goodbye to her family, and then was back in her car and rushing to school. Somehow, and she suspected that her speed was a good reason, she had made it before the bell. She skidded into a spot in the Senior parking lot and sprinted to homeroom. She greeted Ms. Goldman and barely got into her assigned seat before the bell rang and the Principal came on. Briefly, Chloe thanked her lucky stars that she didn't get pulled over and relaxed in her seat. She recited the pledge but didn't stand and then followed along with everyone to the assembly.

Luckily it was a dull affair and Chloe could send out a mass text to her fellow journalists, telling them to be on the lookout for potential stories, and then also placed a reminder on her alarm to ensure her Esports club was approved. Finally, as the assembly was released Chloe followed the throng down to the carnival. She saw the normal cliques forming and decided to head to the middle of the area to try and find someone doing something interesting. She removed a camera from her school bag and began the process of turning it on, being careful not to jostle or bump into anyone, or have anyone bump into her. She didn't like people touching her, especially on purpose but even accidental touches could cause her blood pressure to spike. Luckily everyone seemed interested in the vendors. She had already given the overall event to another reporter so Chloe was more on the look for something spicy to go along with the main article.

Location: Carnival
Interaction: @Apoalo

Vincent whistled to himself, one headphone in, blasting Donda at a volume so loud it would probably make him go deaf by age 30. He bought himself a fresh apple and some black coffee to wash it down, looking around the Carnival at all the familiar and strange faces. He had a smirk on his face as he bit his apple, seeing a big group on the Lacrosse field, made up of a bunch of the boys from Lacrosse, as well as Maria, Marco, Ruby...even Frenchie was around, who had had the misfortune of being placed in the same homeroom class as Vincent. Well- misfortune for Landon, because personally, Vincent couldn't wait to annoy him with every single chance he got. Mornings were about to get a lot more fun, for once.

There was also the issue of Lydia, who was nowhere to be seen, and hadn't really spoken to him since last Friday. They had broken up, again...at least he thinks they did. Vincent could never really tell where he was when it came to Lydia, and neither did anyone else- their relationship status was a bigger mystery than the Roanoke colony disappearance. In any case, he didn't feel like untangling that mess at the moment, and wasn't even sure if the girl made it to class, given her insane schedule, so there wasn't much to worry about.

His attention quickly drifted to the bleachers, where his secret neighbor was strumming out a song on his guitar. Vince probably missed Riley in the morning during the effort of hiding Mia's new haircut from Diane, and he hadn't had much time to say anything to anyone during his short attendance of homeroom, so it felt like a nice opportunity to shoot the shit with his friend.


"Oi, Riles." Vincent called out to his friend as he went up the bleachers, throwing his apple up in the air and catching it before it fell back on his hand "It's not even 8 yet. Bit early to work on your next big masterpiece, ain't it?" He grinned at his friend as he took a seat, making himself comfortable and giving the apple another bite.

"Soy. Sawyer! ..come on, man, get up."

With a sharp inhale, Sawyer sat upright in bed and slapped the hands on his shoulders away. Slowly forced his eyes open to then rub the sleep from them, glaring up at his brother.

"Dude, what? I have a fuckin alarm set, what do you-"

"Clearly you snoozed it. A few times. You definitely won't have time to shower, sis. Get your ass up, I'm leaving in 10."

Sawyer watched as his brother walked out of his bedroom and snatched his phone from off his nightstand, checking the time to be sure that Gavin wasn't just fucking with him on their first day of senior year. Nope. It was 6:27. He could run through a quick shower and still have time. No sweat.

Plugging his phone into the charger before heading into the shower, he made it out with three minutes to spare, quickly toweling off and tugging on his jeans, black Vessi's, and lacrosse jersey. Snagging his hat and house keys off his nightstand, he tossed his keys into his backpack with his hydro flask and school I.D. already in it before swinging the strap over his shoulder. Sawyer stopped in his doorway and turned back into his room to dart back for his phone pulling it from the charger to stash into his pocket. Soy snagged his cologne off of his dresser and sprayed some on over the front of his body as he walked, tossing the container back onto his bed as he peeled around the door jam and ran downstairs shaking out his damp hair.

Fucker better not have left without me, he thought to himself, waving to his mother who was enjoying a cup of coffee in the kitchen as he attempted to slip out the front door, but his mother's voice caught his ear just before shutting the door behind him.

"Wait a minute! Can't I get a picture of you boys on your first day of your last year of high school?"

Sawyer groaned softly to himself and ran a hand through his hair, stepping back through the threshold and closed the door behind him before heading into the kitchen. Gavin was standing at the other end searching through the cabinet, probably for a granola bar.

"Oh come on, you two. Stand together and let me get a snap of you."

Sawyer clenched his jaw lightly and did as his mom asked, sighing heavily. If there was one thing he couldn't refuse, it was doing things to make his mother happy. After the photo was taken, both the boys laughed and shoved at each other before making their way out the front door with their mother trailing them right on their heels to the garage.

While Sawyer walked he was looking over his shoulder trying to listen to the small talk his twin and mother were having, causing him to run directly into something. His arm immediately shot out to balance the thing - now facing said thing he'd knocked into, he realized it was his good friend and neighbor, Eretria Simmons - a soft apologetic smile spread across his face as his hand dropped away from her.

"Sorry. Hey Trey.. what are yo-" Before he could get another word in, his mother came up beside the two of them and wrapped her arms around the girl.

"Oh, sweetheart, hello! And good morning." Mrs. Lockwood gently let Eretria go, smiling at the girl. "You and the boys share any classes this year? They haven't told me a thing about their schedules." She eyed both her boys with narrowed eyes teasingly.

"So far, mom, the only class I know that we - well, I - share with Tria is homeroom. Gavin got stuck in Ms. Stoldt's class for his," Sawyer chuckled softly, knowing all too well Gavin had never liked her when he had her sophomore year for Earth Science.




Beautiful.

That was the only way she could think to describe the morning thus far without delving further into the rabbit hole that was the English language. And it was, indeed, such a deep and confusing place to be. Especially when it was still early like this. Bottom line was, it was the perfect day for them to be going back for their senior year at Delbrook. And, if tradition held strong - which she was pretty damn sure it would - Sawyer would be running late. Again. Letting out a sigh, content, Eretria shifted slightly in her position. Resting comfortably back against the seat of her motorbike as she waited for her best friend to make his appearance. Though she had a feeling she wasn't going to be left waiting for too much longer. A theory that was proven correct only a few moments later when he came bustling out of the front door, mom and brother in tow, only to then collide against her.

Shooting her best friend a smile that only grew at the warm embrace of his mother; she wrapped her arms lovingly around the older woman. Returning the gesture as she stood herself up to her full and normal height, "..mama Lockwood- good morning..!"

Head turning lightly to the side, she pressed a soft kiss against the woman's cheek before stepping back. Stepping across to give Gavin the same - a warm hug, and a kiss on the cheek in greeting - before she stepped back. Once more resting against her bike with a bright smile dancing across her naturally pouted lips, "Well... I'm not sure what classes I share with these two yet, if any, aside from homeroom with Soy; but you know me, I'll be sure to keep them in line for you. You have my word."




"YoU hAvE mY wOrD." Sawyer rolled his eyes with a bit of a smirk, noticing the helmet she'd gotten specifically for him when he rode with her on her motorbike. His eyes moved over to meet hers with a small smile before turning his attention back to his mom and brother, waving them off.

"Yeah, yeah. As if it isn't enough already having one mother." Sawyer chuckled softly, quickly side hugging his mom before walking around Eretria to the back of her bike, pulling his backpack straps tight before pulling on the helmet.

"Go ahead, Gav. I'm gonna ride with Tria." Sawyer watched as his brother ducked into the garage where their mother's car was currently parked, though once he realized she wasn't following him in, his eyes caught hers. His face flushed lightly at the look she was giving him, though glad that he had the helmet on and the visor down. Sawyer shook his head at the look she had as she looked between the two, watching as his mother turned to walk into the garage with a smirk that she failed to hide.

"Hope they don't cause you too much trouble. You kids ride safe, and have a good day," the boys' mother called over her shoulder as she and Gavin loaded up in the family's SUV. Sawyer flipped up the visor of his helmet, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Mom really needs to stay in her lane," he mumbles under his breath as he forces a grin and waves at them as they pull out of the garage and drive away, leaving the two standing there alone in the driveway.

Gods, she loved this family. Hand lifting from her side- her fingers wiggled lightly in a small wave goodbye before her attention was brought back to Sawyer. The soft sound of her chuckling falling out through her lips and into the air between them. It didn't take a genius to understand that he was very clearly embarrassed by his mother; but then, who wasn't..? It was their job after all.

Rolling her eyes, unable to help it; Eretria reached for the handlebars. Holding onto them gently as she took a moment to swing her leg over her bike, and once more settle in the seat. Hands already moving to pull her helmet on over her head. Being sure to curl her long orange-red locks up inside of it, "She's just being her- did you really expect anything less, Soy..?"

Sawyer shook his head with a light smirk, watching his mother's car disappear down the road.

"No, I was just hoping."

Checking his phone as she put her helmet on and tucked her hair into it, looking at the time while also checking the messages he'd received - just a few from the lacrosse group chat. The time currently read 6:54 AM. Sawyer waited for her queue to climb on the back behind her, sliding his hands over her hips, scooting himself up flush against her. Leaning around a bit to get an angle on her, his voice became softer as he spoke, one of his hands lightly rubbing over her hip.

"How'd you sleep..?"

"Honestly..?" Hands lowering down to the seat between her legs; Eretria's eyes closed. A soft blush creeping out across her cheeks at the feeling of his hands rubbing against her hips, "..it could have been better. How'd you sleep..?"

Sawyer nods lightly, leaning forward to rest his head on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry. You have a bad dream or somethin? Or just... didn't sleep well?.." Pulling back, Sawyer yawned deeply to the side before returning closer to her. "Definitely shouldn't have been up so late, but people wanted me to stream. I couldn't say no. Even got a few donations. It was alright. Just wish I had gone to bed earlier. I'm still super tired. The short shower I took didn't really do anything for me."

Sawyer gently wrapped his arms around her middle, pulling her back against him, wishing to himself that they could just go back upstairs to either of their houses and just sleep the day away together. Sleep sounded nice. And sleepy cuddles? What could be better than that...

"Long night..." Correcting him first; she couldn't help but let out another sigh as she was pulled back against him. Her bright eyes closing as she let her head fall back to rest against his shoulders, "..had to make sure that I was all set for today- check my uniform to see if it still fit... press it, though not before making sure that it wasn't musty from sitting in my wardrobe all summer... may have cleansed it too; got rid of any lingering negativity from last year... plus, I was watching your stream..."

Trailing off, Tria shook her head lightly over his shoulder, "..by the time I went to bed, I had a wicked headache forming. Totally not cool."

A small smile spread across his face at her admitting to having watched him the night prior. It was nice to hear, though he already had a feeling. She had always been one of his biggest supporters through his adventures with his growing cosplay popularity. Gently squeezing his arms around her in a sort of hug, he smirked a bit as he spoke up.

"Keeping your eyes on the screen for long hours like that is bad for your eyes. You should probably stop watching those noobs play Fortnite on Twitch into the wee hours of the morning, Trey." Sawyer chuckled softly, making a mental note to buy her a pair of the glasses he'd gotten for himself while he streamed for hours on end.

Hands lifting from where they'd been resting between her legs; she instead pressed them gently over his. Chuckling with a light shrug of her shoulders, "What can I say..? I'm a sucker for a gamer boy in a Spider suit."

"Mm-hmm."

As her hands came to rest over his he spread his fingers apart, letting hers fall between his before closing them around hers, holding them there a few moments before patting her side with his free hand.

"We should probably get going. Don't want you to screw up your attendance record on my account."

Right. School. Groaning softly, making a show of lifting her head from its rest over his shoulder; Eretria returned her hands to handlebars. Keeping them there a moment before going about switching on the motor and kicking up the stand, "I'll get us there in plenty of time... don't worry that pretty little head of yours, Parker."

Hand lifting; she slid down her visor. Giving him a few moments to once again adjust his hold before eventually, she pumped the gas and peeled out of his driveway.

---

---

As she had said, they got there with plenty of time to spare. Being able to pass right through the traffic was quite a perk. A thing that really had Sawyer thinking on building a bike of his own from the ground up. Would have to be a project for later after he built up his truck and got it running properly. Sawyer slipped off the back of Eretria's bike and pulled his helmet off, shaking out his still-damp curls before setting the helmet on the back of the seat. He stepped back and smiled at her as he watched her a minute, looking her over from head to toe.

"You, uh, gonna meet with the squad before class?"

"Maybe... I do need to change at some point. We're doing uniforms today." Head tilting slightly to the side; Eretria's long, curled locks tumbled out of her helmet as she lifted it. Lowering it down to rest between herself and the handlebars as her hair came to a stop over her shoulders and halfway down her back as she. Her bright gaze drawing back over towards him as she smiled, "Why..? You giving me a better offer, Parker..?"

Sawyer nodded as she talked about needing to change into her uniform, his thoughts wandering. It wasn't until she turned around that he realized he'd spaced out momentarily, his face flushing just a bit as he quickly brought his eyes up to meet hers. A slight smirk casting over his lips.

"I mean, yeah, but.. you have things to take care of."

A moment more passed between them before Sawyer spoke again, leaning in close to whisper into her ear, "I can take care of you later, kitten." The curly-haired boy kissed her cheek lightly before pulling back with a wink shot her way, chuckling as he began to turn away to head towards the front gate.

Heart fluttering lightly in the confines of her chest; the response was basically automatic. Her hand shooting out as she took a gentle hold of his wrist. Stopping him from getting too far away from her first before tugging him back towards her. Her bright eyes lifting to meet with his once more; a small smirk dancing over her lips, "..you know... you could come with me..."

As he was pulled back and to her, he couldn't help the grin that spread across his face as he looked down at her. Sawyer chuckled softly, pulling her closer by her hip till she was standing flush against him. "Not sure you'd be able to meet with the squad and..have time to... play. You sure you want me to tag along..?"

"..mmm..." Allowing herself to be led by his touch, her body lifting from the bike, and her leg sliding over it; Eretria only stopped once she was stood in front of him. Her hands lifting to fist rest lightly over his shoulders before she slid them up and back. Palms curling to the natural curve of his neck, "..I'll even let you fix my skirt when I inevitably forget how to do up the zip; because, as we all know, zips are very hard to master..."

A chill ran up the boy's spine as images and thoughts swirled around in his mind. "Oh, very." Sawyer bit at his lower lip then, leaning in closer, whispering something in her ear before gently removing her hands from around his neck to intertwine his fingers with hers. About to turn away to start walking to the front with her, he paused and turned to meet her gaze again, tilting his head slightly. "You got everything you need..?"

"As soon as I grab my bag, I will." The smirk on her lips growing, a bright blush coloring her cheeks which almost matched the shade of her hair; Eretria bit down on her lip. Chewing on it a moment before she turned back to her bike. Reaching to grab the strap of her bag and the straps of each helmet. Her gaze turning back to meet with his once she was ready.

Sawyer gently removed his hand from hers, reaching to her other to grab his helmet from her as he slipped off his backpack from one arm. He snapped the helmet to the backpack strap before quickly pulling it back onto his shoulder. Taking her hand again with a small smirk-smile, he walked with her to the front gate, squeezing their way on past the guard and across the school grounds to the lockers. Sawyer opened the door for Tria to walk in first, pausing to scan the area a couple of times before following in behind her, letting her lead the way through the locker rooms.

Making her way to her locker first, not so much as bothering to even open it; Eretria dropped her bag and helmet down onto the floor by her feet. Body turning, she let herself fall back- leaning against the cool metal while her eyes lingered on his figure. A soft smirk dancing across her lips, "..so... you mentioned something earlier about having a better offer..?"

A smirk started to spread across his lips as he watched her turn around to face him, stepping over the wooden bench seat to stand in front of her as he slid his hands over her hips and on back into the back pockets of her jeans.

"You already know what I have to offer," he said with a soft chuckle, leaning in to press his lips to hers a couple of times before pulling back to ask one last thing. "Question is.. do you want it?

Did she want it..? Such a loaded question to ask in the morning; though she had to admit that it was sweet of him to ask at all. And really, she wasn't sure why she should have expected anything less. Arms lifting; Eretria once more hooked them one by one around the back of his neck. Using them to help draw him in closer, as she took the chance to steal a kiss, "..I do want it. Do you..?"

Did he want it? Ha. Although he hadn't intended on it this morning, at least not right now, he definitely wouldn't pass up the opportunity. This would be a first for him. Messing around at the school with her, or with anyone. It would be something he could cross off his bucket list for senior year. Who cares if they missed homeroom..? Sawyer held her gaze a moment or two before nodding gently, a soft smile spreading across his lips.

"With you..? Of course, I do, Tria." Sawyer leaned back in to press his lips to hers once more in soft kisses, taking his hands from her back pockets to reach down in front, undoing her pants as they kissed.

From there, the rest is history as the two faded to black...

---

---

"Danny just text me, says they're heading out of the auditorium. We can meet up with them on their way by the choir room to the lacrosse field."

Sawyer pushed the door open of the locker rooms, peeking outside before slipping out into the open with a slight smirk cast over his lips. Sawyer's eyes scanned over the crowd of seniors that were flooding the walkways, a few moments passing before he spotted his friends in the large group of kids, reaching back to take Eretria's hand.

"I see 'em. Come on," he mumbled to her with a small smile, turning to gently pull her with him and fall into the crowd, pushing his way through to meet up with their class. Before long, they were with their homeroom group as if they were never missing from the start.

A gentle blush crossing over her features, giving her cheeks a healthy glow to them; it took very little convincing for Eretria to simply reach out and take a gentle hold of his hand. The warmth of his palm against hers causing her smile to brighten over her features as she weaved their fingers together. His touch-... it was so warm..! Not that she wasn't used to it by now. Growing up side by side - not taking into account the short spell of their lives where he'd moved away - it was just something that she had grown to love over the years.

First, like this, and then, as they'd grown older, she'd come to enjoy it in other ways too...

"..if we get caught and questioned; just say that you were helping me with something for the squad." The hem of her short skirt brushing lightly, back and forth against her upper thighs as she kept pace with him; her free hand reached forward. Curling around the back of his hand so that she was holding it in both of her own as they moved. Her long, wavy orange locks bouncing gently over her back as she pressed herself closer to him. Allowing her bright blues to flick over the crowds that filled the area.

Sawyer smiled a bit to himself when he felt her second hand close around his but kept his eyes forward, giving her hands a firm squeeze as they were suddenly surrounded by their friends. The boy tried his best to catch up with the conversation, looking between everyone but getting lost at the mention of food. Food. Just the thought had Sawyer's stomach in knots. He hadn't eaten this morning. Well... at least not food.

To say he was hungry would be putting it lightly. The poor boy was starving, and suddenly all he could think about were the different options they might have out on the field. Sawyer laughed nervously at Ruby's comment about Damien not eating breakfast, rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke up.

"Can't say anything. I didn't eat, either. I don't usually like eating breakfast. I typically wait till Nutrition before I eat." The boy shrugged lightly, his hand slipping from Eretria's hands as he reached up and playfully shoved Danny's shoulder with both of his, laughing. "Come on, please tell me they have some good barbecue or something."

Cassian could feel that Natasha's enrgy was off ever since they parted ways with his sister. Though if he were being honest her energy was kind of off since homeroom. Things were fine with her this morning and the night before so what happened between then and now? It couldn't have been that they had Goldman for homeroom. If he recalled correctly she loved her class when she took it her Freshman year. He eyed her curiously and cautiously not sure what to say to figure out what was going on with her.

Natasha felt Cassian's eyes on her and sighed before making things easier for him by speaking first. "I can feel you staring, Cass. What?" She spit the last word out with a bit of unexpected venom. She hadn't realized she was this upset and it was the first time her bitch face was active instead of resting.

Cassian winced and recoiled at her verbal assault. He was right and it seemed that her bad energy was directed towards him. "I can feel the intensity of your vibe all the way over here. You good, man?"

Natasha quickly stopped in her tracks and turned around whipping her hair forward in the process. She pushed the strands from in front of her face and gave Cassian a complete look of disapproval. "I'm not good. Why did you tell your sister to stand back in homeroom?"

He was taken aback by the question. That was what all this anger was for? Because he didn't let his sister sit down during the pledge? And if it was an issue then... He decided not to finish the thought and instead responded to her question with another question to express his obvious confusion. "That's what you're mad about? I thought you didn't even care about that stuff."

She rolled her eyes in response. "I don't. Not really, but your sister does. She cares about it all. How do you think she felt standing while Monse sat down?"

Cass reflectively shoved and immediately realized it was the wrong gesture, but wasn't one he could take back now. "I don't know. I didn't think it was that big of deal. She didn't fight me on it."

"It's a big deal to her and you know she listens to you and hates feeling like she lets you down. Why do you think she smacked you awake after the assembly?"

Cassian rubbed his cheek where his sister had slapped him awake. He did feel like there was a lot more force in her hand than usual. Was she really upset with him too? "She was just fine a second ago. Are you sure you're not projecting right now?"

It took everything in Natasha Knight not to smack some sense into her best friend's dumbass stupid looking head, but her self control and common sense saved both him and her from letting her frustration of getting the best of her. Instead she clenched her fist and counted silently in her head until she no longer wished to kill him for the stupidity that came out of his mouth. She released her fist and her words followed soon after. "I can't believe you just said that and because you can't possibly be thinking I'm going to blame it on your current decline of brain cells and that you're still barely awake. Do some critical thinking for once, Cass. Ali is one of two, maybe three juniors in a senior homeroom. This is her time to make a name for herself as she's going to be taking things over at Delbrook for us. Instead you held her back and now once she sits down tomorrow all it'll be is an echo of Monse sitting today."

Cassian blinked for a few seconds taking sometime to completely register his own stupidity. In his mind he had just been looking out for his sister and didn't want her to get in trouble, but all he did was hold her back and stop her from being herself. All he and his mom ever preached to her was for her to be herself no mattter what and let no one or anything stand in her way. She took that literally, but it seemed she held an exception when it came to her brother. He was disappointed in himself. Both for holding her back and for not seeing what was so painfully obvious. "I'm---"

"Going to fix this?" Natasha said finishing his sentence for him. "You better. Don't come back until you do. Your sister is too precious for her light to be dimmed." Before he could say anything else to make her upset she turned away from him and continued on to the robotics booth leaving him standing there with a task of his own.