It had been an hour since he arrived and he'd been about 8 minutes too late to sneak in the front gate. In his haste out of the house, he'd forgotten his school I.D. on his desk - and to make everything worse, the security guard who'd been responsible for breaking up most of the fights him and his cousin fought the year before was the one sitting at the gate desk this morning. If Carlos remembered correctly, the dude's name was Jordy - or something like that. Brody? Whatever. As easy as it would be for him to just go home and get the damn thing himself, the security guard insisted he couldn't let Carlos leave the school campus and had to instead call his mother to bring it to him. So there Carlos sat on the curb with his phone in his lap waiting for his mother to arrive. The sound of shuffling feet and the sounds of voices carrying over to him from behind the gate caught his attention, peaking over his shoulder to see a group of students filing into the 300 building. Just as the boy was turning back to face the street, he could see his mother's black Cadillac turning the corner before coming up the road. As she neared, Carlso stood himself up and dusted off his rear as he tucked his phone into his pocket, stepping down into the street when she pulled up beside him.

"Aquí tienes, mi amor." She held out his school I.D. by the lanyard to him, holding her free hand up against her forehead to shade her eyes from the sun as she squinted up at him.

"Thanks, mom." A quick glance over his shoulder at the security guard, Carlos' eyes came back around to meet his mother's. "Odio este pinche lugar."

"Aye! Language." After the boy muttered a quick apology, she simply nodded as she looked past her son at the man sitting at the gate desk. "It's one more year, mijo. Just get through it, mm?" She reached out and gently squeezed his arm before pulling back to roll the window up and drive off, leaving Carlos standing alone in the street. The boy stood there watching his mother's car pull around the corner at the opposite end of the school she came from until the car was out of sight, turning back towards the gate as he shuffled his way to the security guard's desk to hold up his I.D.

"A'my good to go in, now?" The boy's tone dripped with venom, he didn't care much if he came off as rude or disrespectful. The guard's eyes tilted up towards him, looking back and forth between the I.D. card and the boy a couple times before he sat back into his chair, folding his arms over his chest.

"You know you're late, right?" As much as Carlos was sure he was trying to hold it back, he could just barely make out a smirk tugging at the corners of the guy's lips. The boy's jaw clenched before dropping open slightly, his tongue pressing to the inside of his cheek before trailing the inner lining of his lower lip. Carlos closed his mouth shut just as he let out a hefty sigh through his nose, side-eying the guard with what could only be described as pure exasperation. You gotta be fucking kidding me.

"My mom's already gone, bro. What do you want me to do?!" The two stood there a few moments in a silent stand-off. The guard shifted in his seat before shaking his head, turning back to his monitor.

"I really don't appreciate your t-" Jory's voice was suddenly cut off by a familiar, booming voice behind Carlos.

"Ey Jory! I got this one, man. He's mine," the voice called out, firm hands clamping down on Carlos' shoulders before pushing him on through the doors. Carlos didn't even have to turn to know who it was that was manhandling him through the school gates and out of earshot of the other guard, a smirk covering his features as the tall, dark-haired young man came from behind Carlos to finally face him. ∞ Brandon Alexander Murphy. Bran shoved Carlos' shoulder playfully as he chuckled, folding his arms across his chest to stare at the boy before him.

"How've you been, shithead?"

"Was about to ask you the same thing, cabrón. Knew your middle brother came back but I didn't figure you would. The fuck you doin' here?"

"Oh, you know," Bran smirked, looking at some some girls passing down the hallway, flashing them a charming grin. "I'm just here for-"

"Look, I get it. I love the game too, man, but these are a bit too young for you. Mess with the wrong girl and you'll find yourself a one-way trip, Murphy."

Bran laughed, shaking his head as he brought his attention back to the boy before him. "Not here for girls. I just... when Jai told me he was going to come back to finish out his and Danny's senior year, I wanted to be sure they had backup if they needed it. Whether they know it, or care to admit it, I love 'em. I might be an asshole, but I'm a lovable one."

Carlos shook his head, "Yeah, I don't know about that bro," the boy laughed, peaking over at the clock that hung above the doorway into the offices to check the time, turning his eyes back on Brandon. "So you here for the year, or..?"

"Yeah," Bran, too, glanced at the clock a moment before pulling his phone out, his eyes widening slightly before his stance shifted. "Hey, look I gotta go. You'll see me around, I'm sure." Bran hit knuckles with Carlos before turning to walk off towards the 400 buildings, calling over his shoulder, "Try not to make a habit of being late from now on, eh?"

Carlos could only assume he'd gotten a message he wasn't happy about, or something. Maybe it was urgent. The boy shook his head at Bran's exit comment, turning to pull at the glass door that lead into the 300 building, taking the stairs to the second floor before rounding the corner before running smack dab into someone. Carlos stepped back and looked the girl over. She looked familiar. Loud girl, always had a camera around her neck. He couldn't remember her name, but he remembered her from the year before when she was a T.A. for the Spanish class he took with Ms. Goldman to get an easy A in a language class. The boy sighed softly, slipping past the girl with a gentle 'S'cuse me,' muttered just loud enough for her to hear. He was about to push his way through the second set of glass doors that lead across the bridge to the 900 building till he heard her voice call after him from behind.

"Carlos, right?"

Carlos turned to face the girl, his hand still holding onto the door's bar handle. "Santi, but yeah. That's me.. why?"

"Right. I remember you from last year. I heard Goldman call your name earlier when she was taking attendance. Don't bother going to the room, the class is down at the lacrosse field already." The girl turned and rounded the corner to head down the staircase, ultimately disappearing from sight. The boy nodded to himself as he pushed his way out of the glass doors before taking a hard right down the staircase, heading down the walkway beside the 300 building towards the auditorium and 800 building where he'd hang a left and head off towards the lacrosse field to join the rest of his class. As Carlos made it onto the field, he searched the immediate area for any familiar faces before pulling his phone out to type out a message to his best friend as he headed up into the bleachers to find a spot to sit down.






Danny's mom always said the boy had a tape worm with as much as he could eat. The fact of the matter was, he wasn't outright starving, but he definitely could still eat. Having already eaten breakfast before he'd come to school this morning, it wasn't about to stop him from eating some good ol' carnival food. The smell of funnel cake was calling to him. Looking around, Danny finally spotted his best friend Damien and their friends Ruby, Brockton and Jace. 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?"

"I could go with a bite to eat. Passed on breakfast for a few extra minutes of sleep. Totally worth it." Of course Damien did. Danny couldn't blame him, though. The boys had talked about how the last week had been rough for him getting to sleep at night. After having Sam over to sleep beside him all summer long, then reverting back to sleeping alone.. it'd been hard for D, and he wasn't afraid to admit it to Daniel. He missed his girlfriend. Danny, of course, could sympathize.

"I can't believe you'd skip breakfast, Damien. Hey, any specific recommendations from Brandon?"

Daniel shot a half-smile Ruby's way as he opened his mouth to speak but heard a familiar voice behind him, stopping himself as he peered over his shoulder. "Hey guys, getting ready to sign-up for everything? Heard there's a couple of new clubs that just started this year! There's a D&D club I'm really wanting to check out. Think that Foley girl is running it..?" Luke. Danny tilted his head up in greeting to the boy, noticing that his words were more directed to the Brockton and Jace before turning back to address Ruby. "Well, actu-" It was then Danny realized Jace had been saying something behind him in response to Ruby, but it wasn't until he could feel Jace shove into his shoulder that he really noticed him. "Come on, they gotta at least have some Memphis Barbeque, right..?"

Danny rolled his eyes and laughed, reaching over to shove back at the other boy. "Can you give me a damn minute and I'll tell ya!" He shook his head, smirking as he glanced around at his friends that were now surrounding him.

"Hey." Daniel peaked over his shoulder to see Theo had joined the group, shooting a smile and a peace sign up at the boy. "Hey man," he spoke in quick greeting before turning back to Ruby to address her question as the group pushed through the other seniors on the field.

"Brandon always goes for turkey legs and the deep-fried Oreos when we go to any carnival. Personally, if I can find a food truck that does funnel cakes? I'm set. A turkey leg does sound pretty good, though." Danny side-eyed Jace, raising a brow at the boy. "And yes, they have a barbecue truck."

Daniel took a look around, his eyes grazing over all of the club booths as they migrated past them. 'Wonder who's working Sawyer's club booth,' he thought to himself. He probably got some Junior to work it for him while he fooled around and ate his heart out. That boy was definitely food-motivated. When food was involved, it was like he had tunnel-vision. Though, Danny couldn't judge. As he caught a whiff of what he was pretty sure was funnel cake, his stomach rumbled furiously. His eyes scanned over the crowd of kids at the number of food trucks lined up along the back fence of the field, smiling as he landed on a small black trailer with orange signs and red lettering. Southern Momma's Funnel Cakes. 'Funnel cakes. Lemonade. Deep-fried Oreos'. 'Yes.'

It seemed everyone else was busy making their own decisions on what they wanted to do while Daniel's mind was already made. He slipped his way through the crowds till he was standing in the line at Southern Momma's Funnel Cakes, preoccupied with the menu as he looked it over with a small smile pulling at the corners of his lips. There really wasn't a point in looking the menu over. The boy knew what he wanted. Classic funnel cake with powder and fresh strawberries on the side. None of that fake strawberry syrup bullshit. That stuff always ruined it for him.

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_{Location: Home -> Delbrook Academy
Interactions:}

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The twins had arrived at the school together as they had for their entire lives. Though Marco had almost made the two of them late. He hadn’t wanted to leave his bed and it had been a fight to actually get him up and moving. A fight Maria was, of course used to, much to her annoyance. Though their almost tardiness didn’t matter too much today since the beginning of the day would be spent at the Carnival.

Marco pulled his sister along to one of the many food trucks, deciding he wanted pretzels and she would be coming with him. Not that she really had plans to do anything else, though she kept an eye out for their friends as he pulled her along. It was hard to find anyone in this crowd of people, if they wanted to find anyone they would probably have to text them.

“We should have messaged everyone and come up with a meeting plan before all this started.” The female redhead muttered, her statement falling on deaf ears.

“Hm?” Marco questioned, having clearly not been paying any attention to his sister, who rolled her eyes.

“You really are useless, you know that? Should we text Danny and see where he is at, maybe we can get everyone together.” She suggested only to have Marco, who after receiving the pretzels he wanted, proceeded to stuff his face like he hadn’t eaten a huge stack of pancakes this morning, all the while shaking his head no. He finally managed to swallow.

“Nah we can find them, or they will text us, what’s the matter, don't want to hang out with just your brother?” He teased her before taking another big bite of his pretzel.

Maria rolled her eyes. “What, the fact that we live together isn’t enough time for you? I'll wait till you have finished stuffing your face and if we haven’t found them by then I am sending Danny a message. Nobody else needs to watch you unhinge your jaw like a snake to shovel pretzels in your face…” Her last statement earned her a hurt look from her brother, even though he nodded in agreement, though probably not to the snake comment. At least this would give everyone time to get food if they wanted and then they could hit some of the rides. But she was going to go crazy if it was just her and Marco the whole time. She needed the buffer of the group, or she might end up becoming an only child.

Wha?! Was that the sun? Oh, right. Riley Revels, a seventeen-year-old senior and musical savant, suddenly shot up and blurrily looked around. Absently, and blindly, he began searching for his phone which was lost somewhere in the tousled blankets and sheets. "Ughhrghh." Came the unintelligent sounds of a teenager first waking up, and finally, a hand made contact with the phone, and with a press of a button Riley's eyes widened as the time was brought up in the blocky white text. "Fuuuck." And with that exclamation, the relatively slow wake-up became a dead sprint. Riley jumped out of the borrowed bed and made his way over to the drawer that his clothes were on. He grabbed something simple before rushing into the bathroom and starting a shower. As the water was warming Riley randomly started one of his Playlists and blasted it.

The shower was quick, and Riley was ready in record time. He came downstairs, eyes searching for Tanith, and frowned when he didn't see her, or any sign that she was there. "Tan? Tanith? I thought you were making breakfast?!" He chuckled to himself and shrugged as he grabbed a bowl and some cereal and then proceeded to speed eat while looking over some of his compositions. "You owe me breakfast Tan." He mumbled through a half-full mouth. When he was finished he made sure to wash his bowl and spoon then put everything back exactly where it came from, grabbed his keys, and then ran out to his car.

Traffic. Was. Terrible. Riley, having run slightly late despite his rushing, got stuck on the way. So, he made the most of it. If he was going to be late, it might as well be worth it.

He ended up being fifteen minutes late. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as it could've been but still. He was late. He quickly parked in the Senior lot and then made his way to a particular security posting. "Alan? Hey! My favorite Security Officer. Have a good summer?" Alan, who was looking down at a schedule smirked and then looked up.

"Mr. Revels, already filling up those tardies?" There was mirth in his eyes though as the man eyed the cinnamon roll and large coffee that had suddenly been placed before him. "Bribery eh? I guess some things never change." He trailed off and then made a gesture to move on in with his head. "Straight to the band room, and if you're caught I know nothing." And with that, the guard chuckled again and began unwrapping the sticky sweet treat.

"Thanks, Alan!" Riley called as he sprinted into the school grounds proper. He waited for the first bell and then snuck into the band room, going through the instrument hall to avoid being spotted, and then entering the office where the band staff did their work. Finally relaxing, Riley brought out his composition and began doing what he did, and loved best. Creating music. His current orchestration was a reimagining of the How to Train your Dragon music.

He was just finishing up the final edits to the overture when he heard someone entering the room and looked up to see one of the staff peering at him with surprise. "Day one? Really? You know you can't do this every day right?" Riley gave a nod and held up his work.

"I just HAD to finish this overture, it wouldn't go away in my head." The staff member took a single glance at the work and couldn't help the impressed look that came over his face.

"Just don't make it a habit Riley. Free periods, lunch, before school, and AFTER school is already plenty of time. Now, I suggest you move yourself to the auditorium for the assembly currently being held."

"Assembly? Ohhh crap, right. I'm on it. Thank you!" He called again over his shoulder. He gave a wave to the Choral and Orchestra directors and then ran to the auditorium. He slid himself into the very back row of seats and once again shook his head. Late at the start meant a butterfly effect of trying to catch back up.

But an opportunity to do just that was about to present itself. As the Principal began to wrap up his speech, Riley slipped out and went ahead and made his way down to the Lacrosse field.

He waited just a moment so it wasn't too obvious he had come early and then grabbed a few snacks and a drink before climbing up into the bleachers and started claiming territory. He spread out his work, making sure it was secure and wouldn't blow away in any wind. He also made sure to save a spot for Tanith and anyone else that wanted to spend their time listening to various bits of music over and over with only slight variations.

Finally. He could relax.

The house was on fire, barely seen through the smog but on fire nonetheless. Screams could be heard from all around, some Landon knew but many were just unknown. He stood in the hallway of his old house in England surrounded by police, his mother, his father, and his brothers. Even Marco was here standing beside him, the boy who currently owned Landon's heart. Women and men ran through the entrance, panic from all around, some being chased by figures shrouded in darkness. None of these people's features could be made out and Landon felt terror in his heart, but also determination. He needed to protect his family! He rushed forward and shouted an order to get out of the house, with himself forming the wedge point towards the floor. It was hard to move but the group crashed into the opening. But the doorway was locked and wouldn't open. Terrible cries of "Help! We're trapped! LANDON!” Landon did what he could, pounding at the doorway and kicking at it, but it refused to give in. Giving it up as futile, Landon maneuvered his family and friends behind himself, facing the incoming flames alone. Boiling temperatures assaulted his skin, and he let out a yell before unconsciously moving backward. He turned to expect to see everyone else still trying to get out but all he saw was a single mask-clad man holding a pistol. With a deep voice filled with malice and hate the man spoke. ” You failed Landon, everyone is dead because of you. You couldn't save your parents. You won't be able to save anyone. You. Are. Pathetic." A loud gunshot rings out followed by screaming, the same that Landon had heard all those years ago. The screams of his parents.

Landon awoke with a start, chest heaving and eyes wild. He glanced around his room and jumped up as if he had just been scalded. The walls, filled with various posters, didn’t seem to have any answers, and other than his breathing, all was quiet. Instantly, Landon controlled his breathing so he didn't end up having a panic attack and used the techniques his therapist has taught him to calm himself down. He gave an exhausted sigh and slumped back onto his bed, sprawling across it and staring up at the ceiling. His eyes closed and his breathing slowly settled down before he shook his head and groaned, wishing he knew the time. It didn’t really matter, but he was trying to get a number on how much sleep he has gotten over the weekend. With the start of school came the nightmares. Doctor Winslow, his therapist, had told him that it was the stress of a new year mingling with his fears of someone else he cared about getting hurt. This of course made sense, but Landon wished that said nightmares would be more considerate and at least let him get a few hours of sleep in. Now functioning normally, for the most part, Landon clicked his phone and groaned when he saw how early it was. It couldn't be helped though, and Landon knew that he would be unable to get back to sleep even if he tried. So, instead, the soon-to-be Senior stood and dressed in some workout clothes and silently made his way through his home. It had taken Landon some time to actually be able to call it that, his Aunt and Uncle's house had been seen as nothing more than a cheap replacement, a sick joke that the world had played on him. Even more so when his mother's belongings were shipped there and his Uncle placed some of them around. But Landon had come far, and now as he tiptoed into the kitchen and spotted the cookie jar from his early childhood he just gave a soft smile. He patted the top of the jar and then left through the kitchen door, which was the most silent exit. He locked it back behind him and then turned and quickly sighed.

It was morning, that time when you can just tell that night is ending and yet the darkness clung to the existence, trying to remain for as long as possible before the sun eradicated it. But, inevitably the light would come and the birds knew it as they began to softly chirp and wake up in preparation for another long day. Landon began to stretch, yawning as he did so. A morning run was exactly what he needed. He started off in a jog around the house and then after that circle, he entered the sidewalks properly. The world was slowly coming to life, and Landon let a smile across his face. It was his favorite time of day, the time when the world became aware once again and the animals started getting restless after a long night of quiet and relative stillness. Cars lazily drifted by him, a far cry from the constant roar that would come in a few short hours. Early birds, or perhaps some people like him struggled to get sleep sometimes and needed a morning drive. All in all, the morning was a time of serenity and peace, life just going about things as normal and if Landon was forced to pick a time out of the day to last forever it would be now. He passed by the spires of the local cathedral and headed for his now usual running spot. It was a road consisting of two different hills with a flat spot in between.

Before he knew it he had run five ‘laps’, consisting of going down and back up the hill and his breathing was becoming heavier and heavier. He could keep going, but for a simple exercise, he didn’t need to exhaust himself as he knew the rest of the day was going to be quite long. He started walking to pace himself and replayed the last decisions of the day to re-plan themselves out. Homeroom, assembly, and then festival with football meeting after school and then interview for the lifeguard position. All in all, it was a full day and by the end, he would -definitely- need a soak in the bath to relax. He shook his head and finished his walking lap, grabbing his discarded shirt and wiping off his face and neck. He placed the now-soaked shirt around his neck and made his way back towards his house, the exercise working well to make his morning better.

It was still early but Landon must have been out for longer than he thought as the kitchen door was unlocked and standing in the middle of the room was his Aunt Claire who was moving about getting things ready to start breakfast. She turned as she heard the door open and gave a wide smile. "Well, good morning. Scrambled ok?" She didn't comment further, no 'why were you up so early', or 'are you ok?' And Landon loved her for it.

"Scrambled is fine. Thanks, Aunt Claire." He gave her a quick hug and a return smile and then chuckled as she pretended to hold her nose and point at his sweaty shirt. "Yeah, yeah I'm gonna shower. Gotta get in there before the terrible two wake up." Claire chuckled again and continued her work. Landon moved past her and took the stairs back up to his room, making sure not like to make too much noise. His little brothers could be and usually were a handful and Landon had no desire to hear them incessantly knocking upon the door and yelling to be let in. He entered his room, put together a quick outfit, jumped into the bathroom, and started the usual morning routine. Shower, teeth, hair, moisturize, the works.

The timing was perfect, as the second Landon exited the now steamy bathroom he could see Astor leaving his room. "Morning Astor, want scrambled eggs? Aunt Claire is making them." Landon got a single bleary nod in return which Landon smirked at and couldn't resist tousling the already tousled bedhead. "Cya downstairs, and no fighting with Korbin." Landon then entered his room again, threw his workout clothes in the hamper, and grabbed his backpack, along with his other school items. Once he was content he wasn't going to forget anything, Landon closed his door and headed back downstairs where the smells of food were now prominent. At the table in the kitchen sat his Uncle already munching on some toast and bacon while opposite him, Claire was finishing up Landon's own plate. "Morning Uncle Wyatt, and thank you, Aunt Claire. Er, Astor said he wanted his eggs scrambled as well. I didn't see Korbin but I would assume the same." He smiled as he sat down and took a deep smell of his breakfast. Claire was a great cook and knew exactly how he liked his food. Astor came in some ten minutes later, Korbin following some fifteen after that. Landon was glad he would get to see both brothers before he left. Usually, he didn't mind, but since it was the first day it was different. "Morning Kor, got everything good to go for the new year?" The boy looked over at him and rolled his eyes but nodded.

"Yes Landon, and yes I brushed my teeth before you ask." He was sitting down when Claire called behind her.

"And did you and Astor pick up your dirty towels from the bathroom floor, and actually replace your toothbrush in the cup?" Her voice was amused, not nagging and Korbin instantly looked like a cat who swallowed a canary.

"Oh. Absolutely Aunt Claire. Though I think I did forget... Something, I'll be right back!" Landon simply chuckled and stood with his plate, moving past his Aunt and hugging her side as he placed his plate in the dishwasher.

"Alright, I'm off for school. Going to get there a bit early and see if any of the team is hanging out before the carnival. I'll see you all later. Oh, I probably will be later than usual. I'm going to go down to the beach and see about doing some Lifeguarding there. Marco is also going to see if he can transfer there. Anyway, love ya." He gave a quick wave and then ran out of the same kitchen door he left out earlier, but this time he made his way to his car. The mustang fastback was Landon's pride and joy, a car he worked on with his Uncle when he was a Freshman. Placing his backpack in the seat behind him, and then hopping in the driver's seat, Landon started the car up, found a decent station, and then smiling, pulled out and drove the memorized route to school.

It didn't take long. Traffic had yet to truly pick up to usual levels and after three years, Landon knew all the various shortcuts and detours. Sooner than he expected Landon was pulling into the School senior lot and claimed, as a perk of bringing early, a nice close parking spot.

The rest of the Morning went by fast. Homeroom was simple, and Landon made sure to note down important information. The assembly was well... An assembly, and while Landon respected the staff of the school he figured that some of them could benefit from some public speaking seminars or at least some about keeping teens engaged. Regardless, after the assembly, Landon was torn on where to go next. The carnival certainly, but as the captain of the football team, he figured he should stop by their booth briefly and at least check in. Nodding, Landon headed to the Lacrosse field. As he went he pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Marco. [b][color=DEA2FF]"Morning! I'm going to stop by the football team's booth and then find you. Don't start overeating without me!"[/b][/color] Smirking as the text was sent, Landon spent some time finding the team's booth and waved at the coach who was placing out some papers.

"Morning coach, did you want me to man the booth? Or did we get some underclassmen to hold the reigns?" The coach looked up and smiled a bit as he saw Landon and shook his head.

"You're fine to enjoy the carnival, Landon. But thanks for checking in. I and the other coaches are going to man it this year. Going to talk business as we do and make it a meeting at the same time. Just stop by my office later today, I want to discuss the offense. Anyway, enjoy yourself, Miland. I still hate this will be your last year, but I can tell you that plenty of scouts have told me they plan to be at our games for you. I know it's some pressure added, but you can handle it. You're a great player Miland and a great student." Landon was silent for a moment, processing everything his coach told him, and then just forced a smile.

"Thanks, coach, I'll continue doing my best. I'll see you later." He rushed off quickly, wanting to be out of that situation as fast as possible. This year was going to be interesting... He made his way back into the mass of seniors and started looking around for red hair. He briefly saw a flash of red near a corn dog vendor. But it was just Jeremiah. Landon glanced down at his phone and then felt someone run into him. He barely managed to hold onto his phone, and he turned to see who had collided with him. "Oh, er. Are you alright?" It was a smaller boy, one that could in no way be a Senior.

"Yeah, sorry. I'm supposed to be at the band booth, but I wasn't paying attention, and I'm late since my first-period teacher didn't believe me." The boy looked up at who he had hit and his face grew scarlet. "Oh, you're Landon Miland. The captain of the football team, oh please don't have your team members stick me in a tuba case again."

Landon raised his eyebrows and shook his head. "Er, I am Landon yeah, but why would I- wait? Again?" The boy nodded and shrugged.

"Yeah, last year, the seniors." He trailed off.

With a sigh, and shake of his head, Landon just pointed. "We're not that team anymore. If you have any issues with anyone on the team bullying you, you come straight to me. I'll handle it. Now you better head off." Landon shook his head again in disbelief, not believing his previous teammates could do something like that. He looked around, trying to figure out where he was now in the carnival, and smirked widely as he saw Marco and Maria standing near a pretzel vendor. Landon maneuvered his way over and tried to sneak up on them. "Aha! Found you!"

She wandered through the festivities only pausing here and there to check out some of the booths along the main strip, taking in the sights with a dazzling smile painted on her lips, finally cheering up after the morning from hell. To say she was surprised was an understatement. Sure, she had listened to what to expect but when you hear school carnival, this was hardly what she had in mind. She thought they had just been exaggerating to make it sound more inviting. This all really was a whimsical rush of fun, adding to the enjoyment of her return to public education and helped relieve the building doubt that perhaps she had made the wrong choice. It was honestly just the pick-me-up she needed today between her mothers continuous threatening or insulting texts and the fact she had completely missed her homeroom class between convincing one asshat guard she was a new student, getting the needed lists, schedules, ID, locker assignment and map from the front office. Charlotte had barely made it to the assembly in time, sneaking in with the last of the crowd to the fairly boring event. If she had known assemblies were such a snore-fest she might have just skipped out and pretended to be lost if caught but at least a set of headphones plus her music had been the saving grace.

The moment she hit the field though, the music had instantly been abandoned to her pocket, a bubble of excitement growing the more she explored with vigor and hoped to see anyone she recognized. While she hadn’t been able to personally see her friends in years, she had done her best to use technology and message when she could to keep in touch. They kept up their daily lives here and there or the important moments as much as possible with the wall and distance her mother had forced her to create in the unapproval of her chosen friends. Charlotte had actually worked extremely hard to surprise them that she would be here for the year. The media had been so focused on other aspects of her family lately, she had been able to avoid this little venture relatively easily. She hadn’t had any luck so far in reuniting but she kept on the positive, figuring it would only be a matter of time. Her phone chimed once again, a wave of exhaustion hitting her as she gently rolled her eyes as she thought sarcastically, ‘Oh, I wonder who on earth could that be?’, before digging her phone out of her pocket.

A sense of dread still hit her and it felt like rocks were sinking into her stomach as she looked at the title name of who had texted. It wasn’t much of a surprise but it still made her shake a bit in fear as well as anger as she gathered up the courage to at least look at the new text that had followed a string of others sent that morning. Charlotte glared, quickly hitting delete on the message chain before turning it on do not disturb and jamming her phone back into her pocket. She did not need to get in trouble with the constant texts on her first day so better to take care of the issue now while she could still use her phone. She also wasn’t going to dignify an answer to such a stupid question presented in said text. Her mother was clearly still in her own world and thought she had done nothing wrong to her daughter growing up, that she was just being hard on her to encourage her to be her best self. Yeah fucking right! That was definitely not how it was in everyone else’s eyes. Crazy bitch was just lucky that all she wanted to do was wash her hands of it all instead of going to the police or the media.

Charlotte wanted to text back a snippy reply, to tell her that her decision wasn’t a fucking act and that she was simply done being the woman’s whipping post but that would just make it worse. She would never see reason and a reply would just give her more ammo or worse, think she had won in some way by dragging out a reply. She didn’t need the headache which a conversation would absolutely bring. She took a deep breath, instead of letting the woman get to her, she decided to think of what fun and distracting thing to do next. Her stomach suddenly gave a harsh growl, reminding her of the lack of breakfast in her nervousness and dash to school. She felt a blush light on her face as not only the noise but feeling silly that she hadn’t thought of food first since that was literally the best part of a carnival. It took a bit of shuffling through the crowd but finally she saw the most beautiful sign around ’Southern Momma's Funnel Cakes’ and she made sure to pop in line pronto, giddy to have found one of her favorite sinful treats. ”Finally! Glad they had one…”, she muttered to herself, the smell making her mouth water. Charlotte glanced at the menu while she waited and raised a brow in curiosity at deep-fried Oreos. ’Huh, maybe I’ll get one to try. I do like sweets after all and how bad can it be?’, she thought to herself, her mind already made up on the other items. Honestly, who didn’t love a funnel cake piled with fresh strawberries and lemonade was always the best combo with anything strawberry.