The two of them cleaned up the mess they created before making their way down the long line of bleachers. As her eyes scanned over the bleachers, she noticed there weren’t a whole lot of people congregating just yet but she was sure that as the time dragged on, more would make their way there. It seemed the school was already prepared for that after all with the trash cans placed in prime locations. She kept close to Danny, following just behind so that way when they hit the crowd they wouldn’t be separated. It felt like eyes were on her as she made her descent but she brushed off the thought, figuring it was nothing as people usually stared at her. It came with the territory considering her job and everyone always was curious about new people or transfers.

She returned the smile with a dazzling one of her own and gave a bit of a shrug at Danny’s question. ”Some core classes and taking some art classes but I’m not sure that completely counts as interesting.”, Charlotte answered before her smile turned into a playful smirk as she gently elbowed him a bit once she had made it down the stairs. ”Or are you just asking in hopes that we have a few classes together?”, she teased, secretly a bit hopeful herself that they did have some classes together though it wasn’t the end of the world if they weren’t. They would still see each other after all. It seemed that fate had other plans than giving her an answer to her question though as she heard,“Daniel, how dare you find Charlie in this mess of people and keep her to yourself.”

Her attention turned to the new voice, her excitement skyrocketing at the familiar face, well, make that faces as the male counterpart of the twin duo joined in. She chuckled at their antics, Marco using Maria for a personal armrest and much to his sister’s displeasure. It felt like no time had passed at all and her heart felt so warm. ”Of course I do! How could I ever forget you two?! We were just about to go searching for you guys!” , Charlie replied happily before going over and wrapping them both into a mini group hug, trying to be mindful of the pretzel. She eventually let them go from her bear hug and stepped back a bit with a bright smile. ”How have you two been?”, she asked, wanting to catch up as much as possible. A buzz from her phone and her fishing in her pocket for it, quickly unlocking her screen as she saw it was from Lydia. ”Sorry, I just have to reply to this real quick. I was actually waiting for someone and they just arrived.” She quickly texted back a reply:

Location: Bleachers
Interactions: Charlotte @Akayaofthemoon, Marco+Maria @LostDestiny, Daniel Murphy @Moro

The quick reply from her friend got a grin out of Lydia, who was impatient by nature. The confirmation that Charlie was near her was good to hear, the fact that she's already getting hounded by the resident Dellbrook idiots, not so much.

Narrowing her eyes, Lydia scouted for her model friend, the other 10 in a sea of 5s...and found her crushed between two gingers and a dork.

Lydia walked to the small group, more than happy to interrupt the happy reunion, as an extremely rare occurrence happened: Lydia Harrington had a genuine smile on her face.

"Already replacing me with your old pals, Charlie?" She called out, jokingly, directing her words and smile to her friend "You're cold."

Daniel kept his eyes out on the crowd around them as they stood close talking, though any time she spoke, he would bring his eyes back around to connect with hers. He tried his best not to just flat-out stare at her. It was hard, though, if he was being honest. Her comment about whether or not he was hoping they had some classes together caused the boy to smile a bit, turning his gaze in hopes to hide the lie behind his eyes that would give him away as he spoke up.

"Nnnoooo, I was jus-" but before he could finish what he'd begun to say, a familiar voice called out off to his side, causing him to trail off and turn to see the twins approaching the pair. Daniel chuckled softly, folding his arms over his chest as he watched the three greet one another, shaking his head at Maria.

"Not my fault you weren't paying attention in homeroom enough to hear her name being called! I was going to mention it but got caught up in conversation, and shit. Sorry!" He offered the girl an apologetic smile, holding his hand up with a light shrug. It wasn't till Daniel heard Lydia's voice approaching that Danny finally tore his gaze from his sister-from-another-mister, having lost part of his smile as the girl approached. Though she wore a smile, Daniel was never sure of the girl's intentions or how she would react to anything that happened to or around her.

Considering he hadn't been addressed directly, Daniel decided to remain quiet. Instead, pulling out his phone to check a message he remembered he'd received while talking with Charlie up in the bleachers, smiling as he read it and sent out a quick reply. Erin Chase, his eldest brother's best friend had sent him well wishes on his first day. Another girl who had become much like a sister to him over the years. One of the only good things Bran ever seemed to have going for him in life.

The red headed twins smiled as Charlie came over to give them a hug. Thought Maria squinted at Danny behind Charlie as he said something about her not paying attention in homeroom. After Charlie released the two of them Maria shook her head. “You try paying attention when there are about a million people in that classroom. Plus I was preoccupied with making sure that one didn’t get himself in trouble on the first dang day.” She shoved her thumb toward her brother who was happily munching on his pretzel.

“Hey, I was sleepy, so I have a better excuse than MJ here…” He replied before turning his attention back to Charlie. “We have been pretty good, we all missed you after you left. Happy to have you back though.`` He winked at her though her attention went to her phone as he did so he doubted she had seen it. He was about to say something else but was promptly interrupted by Lydia. He quickly closed his mouth and went back to silently eating his pretzel. Not really looking to get on Lydia’s bad side so early on. After all, she was Vincent’s girl, on and off, so he had to deal with her every now and then anyway.

Maria shoved her brother a little at his remark of her not having a good excuse. “Ya okay space cadet.” She muttered under her breath as Marco answered Charlie for the both of them. She didn’t really have much of a chance to respond when Lydia walked up to them. Someone Maria typically made a point to avoid if she could help it. Lydia had a habit of being unpredictable and Maria was pretty sure that Lydia didn’t like her very much. Though if she were honest she was pretty sure the other female didn’t like very many people. Vincent, Allister, and now Charlie, she supposed were the only ones MJ had ever seen Lydia genuinely get along with. In an effort to distract herself and let Charlie answer Lydia, she pulled out her phone and started looking at the schedule that had been sent out for the Jazz Band recently.

Charlie couldn’t help but smile at the two, feeling nostalgic about their interactions with each other. She didn’t blame either of them for not catching her name during homeroom since she hadn’t caught any of their names either. Heck, the two of them had an even better excuse than she did, seeing as how she had just been jamming to music and tuning out the world. It appeared Danny had been the winner on actually paying attention and she was over the moon that he had. They all had so much to catch up on that probably couldn’t be covered in the small span of the mini festival but at least they had reconnected. ”Happy to be back! I missed you guys so much! I feel like this is the real way of finishing off high school. You guys better show me the ropes around here and not leave me hanging. Oh, and I want to meet all your new friends!”, she said excitedly. "Already replacing me with your old pals, Charlie?"

Her attention pulled away from the twins, turning to a familiar feminine voice that she would know anywhere. ”Lyds! You know I would never! There is room in my heart for all of my friends.”, Charlie replied as she rushed forward to pull Lydia into a hug, keeping an arm around her bestie’s shoulder as she addressed everyone. ”Do you all know each other or are introductions in order?”, she asked before her current smile started to slowly dim a bit while looking at the other three. It suddenly felt a little awkward, even more so because she wasn’t sure if she caused it by doing something wrong or if something happened that she wasn’t aware of. It just got suddenly far too quiet, as if they were trying to avoid or walking on eggshells. She knew Lydia sometimes had a strong personality but her heart was in a good place. Maybe they just didn’t know her that well? Or did their personalities clash? Either way, Charlie was determined that she could at least try and make the group come together or maybe she could figure out what happened to help fix whatever was going on here.

Ana smiled as Eretria seemed to jump on board the cheer train- no pun intended, of course- and seemed to be relaxing a bit, although Ana was still certain that she was anxious. They'd done everything they could, and if a mistake happened, well, no one would know unless they'd been partial to their training. She didn't think that that was something that would put Eretria's fears at bay, so Ana would just have to do her best to ensure there was no mistake. Or turn it around as something good. Drawing in a breath, Ana let it out slowly, nodding at Eretria's words, turning to the booth, letting her thoughts drift for a moment or two. Around in the endless circle of trying to figure everything out, again and again.

It was as her thoughts were distracted that Ana's body reacted instinctively to the sound of footsteps approaching them, tensing. Relieved when she heard Nora's voice, and Eretria responding, it nevertheless took her a few seconds to relax, but she managed to give Nora a smile. She ought to be use to such things, but there were many things that put her ill at ease. Something she needed to work on, if she was going to become a cop. Well, they all had their faults, and Ana at least knew what she had to work on. "Saw Ignatius earlier, hopefully he's on his way to find us too." She said, to Nora's question, glancing at her phone once more. "I swear, we need to get a tracker on that boy." But at least she got confirmation that Theodore had come through, giving the flakey Igantius his uniform.

Deciding she couldn't do much more for the moment, she turned her attention back to Eretria and Nora, "Well, one of us could run off for food, we have a bit of time... " She glanced around them, thoughtful on what they could get. The atmosphere of the event was one of excitement, joy, what she was sure could only be descripted as testosterone filled showing off, and more. And the scents of food, and the holy exilcer of life, coffee, floated through the air towards her and she nearly lost all her self control.

"I'm here, I'm here, I'm here!" The breathless voice of said flake reached her ears, and she cursed lightly as she spun out the way as Ignatius, as subtle as a bull in a china shop, skidded to a stop just about where she had been. She took one look at him and sighed, somewhat relieved to see him in uniform, but a little exasperated at his foolishness. The boy rubbed at the back of his neck sheepishly, "Sorry"

Location: Luis' Tacoporium
Interaction: Malu @metanoia

“But maybe you might?”

That got a good snicker out of Mia, head tilting back as if dear Malu had just suggested that she paint her nose red and join a circus.

“As if! No, thanks. I’m leaving the scholarly work to you nerds, since you’re so good at it.” Mia squished Malu as she laughed. The notion that she could ever put in the work to challenge Malu Vass of all people was endlessly amusing to her.

The girl had worked out a while ago that the academic life didn’t agree with her. She had never been able to sit down, focus and study what had to be studied, not ever. If her mother hadn’t locked her in her bedroom and forced her to do her homework throughout most of freshman year, she most likely would have been held back (and even then, she still managed to sneak out through the window when nobody was paying enough attention). Thank the heavens her brother managed to somehow be even worse than her, there was no time to worry about Mia barely passing math when Vincent was getting detention every other day and not even bothering to show up to class.
So while good, smart girls like Malu devoured books and cared about their futures, Mia was getting into shady nightclubs with her professionally-done fake ID or attending house parties she had no business being invited to.

“You don’t have to worry about competition from me, I’d much rather just be your hype-girl.” Mia smiled, her ridiculously expensive lip gloss adding a light pink color to her lips “And I’ll worry about peer-pressuring you into going out to party with me~”

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Location: Bleachers
Interactions: Charlotte @Akayaofthemoon, Marco+Maria @LostDestiny, Daniel Murphy @Moro

“Yeah, yeah, you’re so full of shit.”
Lydia ignored the mood shifting upon her arrival- nothing she wasn’t used to in this damn school- focusing instead on returning Charlotte’s hug. She didn’t really like being affectionate in front of people she wasn’t close with, she’s only a hugger in private, but she’ll make an exception for Thorne, placing a hand on her best friend’s waist as Charlie kept her arm around her shoulder.

”Do you all know each other or are introductions in order?”

“We’re all familiar.” Lydia said, glancing at the rest of the group, greeting them with a nod and a smile that wasn’t as sincere as before. Lydia didn’t mind them, mostly. The Costellos were pretty okay, as long as her ex wasn’t around. And Daniel was… one of the better ones, especially where Vincent’s buddies were concerned. She wouldn’t call them friends by any means, but she hardly called anyone her friend
“Vince’s friends.” She explained, looking back at Charlotte.

“Can’t believe I’m not the first to give you a warm welcome. That’s embarrassing. I’ll have to try harder.” She tilted her head, eyeing the group “So, how’s the elementary school reunion, then?”

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Cassian returned Kaylen's smile as he handed over the plate. He knew no one could refrain from smiling when they had funnel cake in front of them. It was the carnival food of joy. "No problem. I don't know why you were crying, but no one should be on the first day. That's what midterms are for." He couldn't tell you how many corners he turned and stairways he climbed just to end up walking in on someone balling their eyes out over all the exams they had to study for. He was glad that he never let the pressures of school get to him. He was fine with just sailing smoothly through the currents while Nat did her best to excel.

"And I'll hold you to that, but now I have to deliver this one to a very impatient friend of mine. I'll catch you around, Kaylen." Cassian turned back towards the bleacher stairs and started to make his way down. On his way he spotted Daniel and the Costello twins with Lydia and someone else he didn't recognize. Whoever she was she was cute and it seemed like she was new, but known. He'd make sure to ask them about her later. Who knows? She might even join the Boys at the beach after school.

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Ali was starting to feel conflicted about hiding her skill at the High Striker for Kyle. On one hand it was great that it made him feel helpful but she wished it didn't take that for him to feel that way. She didn't like lying to him, but in order to continue to prop her new boyfriend and his self-confidence she just might have to keep it up a little longer. At least until after the festival was over. "Yeah... Gymnastics has really helped develop my strength. No wonder almost every hero is a gymnast." She paused for a second before dropping the hammer to the ground and walking closer to Kyle. She reached her right hand up to his cheek, but hesitated as if to ask for permission to touch it. Once she was given the all clear she'd place it gently on his cheek and get him to look into her eyes. "But hey, I don't like you talking like that. You're very helpful. You've been helping me all morning."

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Natasha Knight considered herself a very patient and forgiving person though there would be some that would disagree. She pays those disagreeances no mind, but today they might very well be right. She knew that the festival was only going to be live for an hour or so at the most and she was not going to spend that entire time stuck behind a booth waiting on Cass. She refused to be the only one not enjoying their time at the festival. Cassian should've been there by now with her funnel cake and he wasn't answering any of her texts inquiring about his whereabouts. She decided. She was going to leave. She didn't bother leaving anyone in charge, but she was sure that her VP would handle things if there was any latecomer to their booth.

Nat made her way through the festival taking in the sights, games, and bountiful aromas of food that spread throughout. All of it was very tempting, but she seemed to have a specific destination in mind that had yet to be revealed to her. She continued to walk and walk and walk, wait. Go back. Natasha walked backwards and turned to the only other booth that actually caught her attention. A devious plan formed inside her head. She promised herself she'd never sing at school, but in order to get back at Cassian this sacrifice would be worth it. "Hey, my friend and I would like to join."