[IC] CLOSED.

[Silent Whispers]

Location; The Saunders Residence → Beverly Hills High
Interacting With; A Few NPCs.
Time; 5:15 A.M. - 8:15 A.M.
Outfit | Song

The end of Summer marked another school ahead for the children within the Beverly Hills region. Summer had come and gone as it seemed like it was within an instant. Now that Summer is over and school is back in session, it means that old rivalries along with romances and friendships were to be rekindled throughout the atmosphere. The morning sun had risen itself up over the hills as they came alive along with the people that resided within the area. Not a cloud was to be seen in the sky as the temperature was pretty warm outside and very decent for the first day of school. It is August the fifteenth and even though people dreaded this day, others were happy it was here as it was their last year waking up so early within the morning.

---

She was up way before the sun was as she stared out her window and out at the beach water. She let out a sigh as things around the house hasn't been the same since her parents got a divorce and her brother was basically forced to go to Buckley High that was located just a few miles down the road. Now, they were sort of rivalries and she cared about him more than ever since he use to attend Beverly Hills High with her. Dominique placed those thoughts into the back of her head now as she couldn't think about that early this morning. It was the first day back to school and she was chosen by last year's group of royals as the Queen Bee. She had to make sure that she impacted the first day so that everyone was to know who the top bitch was at school this year.

With a smile, Dominique turned away from her window now as she went over to her walk in closet as she stood there with her hands placed upon her hips and wondered what she was going to be wearing today. It was the first day of school, after all so she would definitely want to impress almost everybody with her signature style of clothing. Dominique lips curved into a smirk as she grabbed a dress that was half black and half orange. "Perfect." She muttered to herself as she hung the dress up behind her room door then walked back over towards her closet to grab the black heels she was also going to wear.

Impressed with her decision, she waltzed into the bathroom and started up her shower, letting it get all nice and warm before she stepped in. Dominique showered for about fifteen minutes as she reached and grabbed a towel to wrap around herself. Once she was dry enough, she wrapped the towel around herself and wiped the steamed up mirror before her clean as it her beautiful milk chocolate skin. As Dominique looked at her reflection, she let out another sigh as this was the time where her brother would've came to knock upon her door and ask about his outfit but now, that moment will never ever happen again.

Again, Dominique couldn't let her emotions get the best of her today. She did her usual morning routine then exited the bathroom as she waltzed over and sat down at her vanity mirror now. She applied a touch of makeup here and a touch of makeup there as she got dressed now and reviewed over herself in her standing mirror with a smile. A knock came upon the door as her mother walked in and looked at her darling girl. "Aw. Just like me when I was Queen Bee of my school. Well, I wasn't exactly the establish one but that's a different story for another time." Her mother walked closer to her now as she placed her hand upon her shoulders.

"Look at you. So gorgeous. So beautiful. They chose the right person as Queen Bee." Her mother said with a smile as Dominique smiled as well then lowered her head. "Yeah but I am stuck without a King Bee so I'll be ruling by myself for a while. But I have two candidates and I'll talk to them both today." Dominique muttered with a sigh afterwards as she started to gather her belongings such as her orange clutch purse, cell phone and car keys. "Well, I guess I better be on my way. See you later, mother." Dominique said after a kiss that was placed upon her mother's cheek.

She stopped by the kitchen and grabbed her basket of cookies then walked out of the house. She got inside of her car while she tossed the cookies into the passenger seat. Dominique reached up and placed her shades over her eyes just as she cranked up her engine and started the drive towards the school. Once there, she parked into her parking space as she got out of the car, sunglasses rested onto the top of her head now as she walked up the stairs and into the school. When she entered the doors, she was hit with sudden reality. This was her school and no one else's. She was the ruler, the one with the stick in her hand and she had the power.

After she stood there like an idiot for a moment, she went to the auditorium, where everyone that was either a junior or a senior should've been by now, as a small but brief assembly was being held. Of course, they already knew the rules and regulations of the school, the do's and do not's and most importantly, the inside and outside of the school. After the assembly, there were handed many papers for their parents or legal guardian to sign along with their class schedules. She placed her papers in her locker that she got last week then closed it shut.

She flipped her hair as she turned around and made her way towards the football stadium that was behind the school. There was an abundance of clubs, athletics and extracurricular activities booths set up as it was something new the school was trying out this year. Activity Fair is what it was called as she went over towards the yearbook staff booth to see how they were doing as they already had a few applicants. The freshmen and sophomores were now being called to the auditorium for their assembly as she waltzed over towards the dance committee booth and placed her cookies there.

She stood there, handing out cookies to every single person that came their way. So far, so good for the first day of school, at least for her. Nothing could really damper her mood right about now as she started to smile while her eyes looked at the other booths that were setup. Some were getting more attention than others. She even caught sight of Rhett and Zeke as she waved her hand and called out their names. "Rhett! Zeke!" That was all she was going to say to them as she didn't feel the need to tell them to come towards. When Dominique called your name, you went to her anyway. She waited until both Rhett and Zeke approached before speaking to either of them.

[Grimoire Gaming]

Location: Jareth’s House → Beverly Hills High
Interaction With: Ari ^@Foxygen
Time: 10:00 PM - 8:15 AM

---

The glaring brightness of a laptop screen illuminated Jareth’s face as he watched a YouTube video on steel drums. He sent a quick text to Jessie, thinking maybe it would be fun to try to incorporate such a unique sound in one of their songs. Jar tossed the phone aside and scrolled up on the page to click the next time-eating website. His fingers paused over the favorited link to Jade’s webcam show. And then, because he was a fucking idiot, he actually clicked it. It wasn’t live, but there was still the most recent video... and the subsequent comments section. The combination of her velvety voice and the lewd comments from strangers caused Jareth’s temperature to rise and red to creep up from his neck to his cheeks.

Jar slapped the laptop closed with a violent clack and whipped it away. His fists balled up and he stood up quickly, throwing a hard punch into the wall. Yet another stupid move, as that only served to painfully split his middle knuckle. ”Fuck!” he hissed and shook out the injured hand. Sighing, he ran his other hand through his hair and over his face, settling it to pinch the bridge of his nose.

Jade and Jareth had an exclusive summer fling that had ended just a few weeks ago. As toxic as they were as a couple, getting dumped by her felt a lot like getting kicked in the teeth. Being summer vacation, he knew that the loss of her wasn’t stinging as bad as it could be. Currently, he didn’t have to see her every day, but tomorrow marked the first day of senior year at Beverly Hills High, and she sure as shit would be sashaying that sexy ass of hers down the halls in some stunner get-up.

Groaning, Jareth stuffed the confusing emotions down the best way he knew how by fetching his stash. After gathering a flask, his lighter, and rolling up a joint, Jar grabbed his iPod and cell phone and headed out onto the balcony attached to his room. The view from the balcony was nice, but it wasn’t his favorite spot. Jareth turned and gripped the edge of the rain gutter and hiked his lithe frame up onto the roof. Once situated away from prying eyes and the world in general, Jar took a swig of his pilfered whiskey and turned his iPod volume up, threatening premature hearing loss. Laying back, Jareth lit up and filled his lungs before exhaling a cloud of pot smoke into his view of the starry night sky.

Between the buzz and the screaming music, Jareth nearly forgot all about that gorgeous bitch he would have to face tomorrow. In all of this forced forgetting, Jar also lost track of time and passed out on the roof above his bedroom. It was a relatively comfortable night for August in California, so his sleep went on uninterrupted; That is until the jarring vibrations in his pocket jolted him awake.

Jar squinted his eyes at the rising sun and tried to get his bearings. Was he... on his roof? Did he sleep here all night? Jareth retrieved the phone and opened the two new messages.

"JARETH IF YOU MISS THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL ILL KILL U"
“Also, can I get a ride?”

Jareth chuckled at the phone screen and typed up a reply to Ari.

“Christ, it’s 6 AM, dude… yeah, I’ll pick you up in like an hour and a half.”

There was a gruesome vertebral crack as Jareth stood up and stretched. Sleepily, he half-fell, half-climbed down to his balcony and back into his room. The first order of business was to take care of the three S’s. After he was thoroughly cleaned up, it was on to the daunting task of achieving perfect hair. Blow drying it left him with a poofy mop of curls that he had to spend over a half hour straightening into submission. Once finished, he had the coveted, touchably soft JRock hair - not that he ever let anyone touch it… well, some girls could, and Ari always tried to. Jar then lined his lower lashes with black and dressed in painted on dark skinnies and a equally tight black My Chemical Romance shirt that looked like a Ouija board.

Jareth made some toast to settle his angry stomach and loaded himself and his black and white checkered, pin-and-patch-covered backpack into Old Faithful. He made a silent wish that the 1993 black Volvo 240 wagon would actually start when he turned the key. It did, and Jar sighed his relief before speeding off to pick up Adassi.

Surprisingly, it looked like Ari actually showered this morning. Jar had never met someone so set on what he called the “true grunge” lifestyle. He was smiling too, which meant that his meds were probably working and he was soon to start chattering away incessantly. Jareth didn’t mind though, he could use the distraction.

“Mornin’ Sunshine!” Jar said in a sing-song tease and put the car in drive once Ari closed the door. Jar parked in one of the faraway spots of the senior parking lot, not wanting to be next to some A-lister's shiny sports car and be blamed for when it inevitably gets a scrape or dent. The black-clad duo strode in for their first day back at the shit hole. They were forced to attend some stupid assembly that Jareth ignored in favor of browsing on his phone and chatting with his people. After that, there was an Activity Fair in the stadium. Because it wasn’t a class, and there wasn’t much better to do, Jareth went. Clubs and activities never really drew Jareth’s interest, but something there did catch his eye. The Music Club was passing out flyers for this Fall’s 1st Annual Battle of the Bands.

Jareth jabbed his elbow into Ari’s ribs to get his attention. ”Hey, check this out! We should sign CrimSon up.” he gestured to the flyer and then passed it to him. Jar’s eyes scanned the crowds quickly and then looked back down. So far so good, no painful trips down memory lane yet. The day was young, though...

[foxygen]

ARI FRANCIS ADASSI

---

When Ari first woke up, he didn't concern himself with anything other than texting Jar to ensure that he was up, too. God knows that guy can sleep until noon on any given day. It was kind of endearing - not that Ari had any business thinking that way when his best pal had just ended a relationship, but whatever, it's not like any of this was a big deal. Even if he'd felt this way for a while. Fucking yikes. Ari opted for a cold shower first to shut both his brain and body up, which seemed to fix the issue at least for now. Bonus: he wasn't going to smell bad on the first day, so his peers should be celebrating their luck.

Jareth gave him an hour and a half, which Ari thought was way too much time, but he figured his friend would need the precious time to get his damn hair in order. Ari didn't think he'd mind if Jar came over with a bedhead, it'd look kind of cute - fuck. Forcing his mind to stop working, Ari tugged clothes on as aggressively as possible, finding himself in all black plus a camo windbreaker that seemed to be ten sizes too big for him. Ari cursed his stupid fucking genes that left only five feet and six inches of height to his name, and the Converse he was shoving his feet into didn't help either. He considered investing in platforms over a cigarette.

Thirty minutes to spare and he had to get breakfast in... and meds. They were optional these days, but he really didn't wanna feel horrible today, of all days. Not that antidepressants did their entire job, of course - mostly, he just grew more apathetic, but it was better than contemplating jumping in front of Jar's car when he eventually pulled up. Resigned, Ari hovered around the orange bottle sitting on his nightstand before dry swallowing 200 milligrams. For good measure, he took another pill, totaling to 300 mg; which, of course, couldn't be a good idea, but the extra kick might help him through the day. Over the next half-hour available, he stared into the mirror, willing the redness around his eyes to dissipate. Fruitless.

By the time Jar arrived, his teeth were chattering from the extra dose, and he couldn't keep his eyes in half-slits like they usually were, but his friend looked thoroughly contented that he wasn't totally slumped over today. "Hey, killer," he replied as he practically collapsed onto the seat. Their entrance into the school was equally anticlimactic, mostly because Ari refused to walk beside Jar rather than directly behind him. He was kind of staring; at the crook of Jar's shoulder, at his side profile when he got close enough, at the curve of his arm when he tilted his phone to read. After a few minutes of fawning, Ari huffed sharply, dilated eyes flickering around for anything else to focus on.

His attention was forced when a sharp elbow, predictably bony, stabbed him in the ribs. Ari glared up at Jar, once again reminded of the ridiculous seven-inch difference between them and beyond annoyed by it. The distasteful look on his face dissolved, though, when the flyer landed on his hands, and Ari studied it somewhat suspiciously. "Oh, God," he said automatically, lips twitching. A pit was already in his stomach, and they didn't even have, like, real plans for this. He shrugged his shoulders, blaming the sudden anxiety on the meds. "You know what? Yeah, yeah, we should -" He cut himself off, registering the way Jar's gaze moved away briefly, disconcertingly.

Ari narrowed his eyes, figuring it was none of his business, but he was still pissy as hell. He set his lips in a tight line, gnawing on the ring set in his bottom lip, before deciding to acknowledge it. "Looking for someone?" he pondered knowingly, tone just breaching the border of cynical. Ari was vaguely aware of what The Dreaded Ex, She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named got up to for money/in her spare time, and wondered for a fleeting moment if that's how Jareth entertained himself. Ari nearly gagged on the thought, and as inconspicuous as he liked to think he was, his face was distorted into an expression of slight disgust. He busied his nervous hands with folding the flyer and shoving it into his coat pocket.

_{{collab/s incoming}}

[Wade Wilson]

Location; Tyler’s House → Josh’s House → Beverly Hills High School
Interacting With; Each Other ^@foxygen
Time; 6:30 A.M. - 8:15 A.M.

---

Tyler half-wished he could just let Josh live at his house, because then the ever-stressful first day of school wouldn't be such a burden. Alas, the sleepover he'd begged to let go on until at least the first week was over, ended just a day before school began - that is, Josh had to go home on the fourteenth of August. If it was his choice, Tyler would just reserve the pull-out couch for his best friend, but they both had their own strict parents. It was worse for Josh, hence his concern. Blame it on his anxiety or what have you, but Tyler didn't trust Josh's safety to remain intact even a day away from him. What if he waltzed into Beverly Hills High on the fifteenth with bruises beyond Ty's counting capabilities? Tyler's parents weren't the greatest, sure, but he didn't live in that kind of fear constantly.

So, with his best friend's welfare weighing on his mind, Tyler didn't catch much sleep. He could get to Josh's early, but not too early, so as not to arouse any suspicion, so, of course, he arose at around six-thirty in the morning. He tugged a plain black hoodie over his head and stepped drowsily into some dingy old skinny jeans, not bothering with a shower since he was in such a rush but downing Listerine so he wasn't too unpleasant. Tyler shoved whatever spare pencils he could find and a basketball into his backpack before hustling downstairs, slipping sneakers on, and raiding the kitchen. It was doubtful that Josh had anything to eat over there (or if he did, he was likely giving the luxury to his siblings), so Tyler packed a handful of granola bars away before racing through the door.

Oh, God, he hadn't thought this far ahead. The open garage granted him a few options: skateboard, car, bike... He was a terrible skater, and he couldn't drive to save his own life, but he was an alright cyclist. So Tyler pedalled all the way to the next cul-de-sac over, letting his bike fall over on the curb, before stepping up to the porch. He honestly didn't care what Josh thought of his physical appearance at this point, but when he caught sight of himself in the front window's reflection, he cringed a little and started trying to smooth out his hair. All fruitless attempts. Giving up, he spat the mouthwash still in his mouth out into the grass and knocked on the door sharply. Seven a.m. They had about an hour to spare.

Josh’s eyes snapped open as soon as he heard a small shuffle outside the door; even before the knock had come. He’d tried to sleep in his room but the never-ending nightmares that were his siblings were in the next room, and his father just across the hall from him, so the sofa became his refuge. Not like that helped him with his sleep - he simply lay there with his eyes shut, hoping that he might even get two hours of sleep this time. Jumping up, he slipped into his shirt (which was slumped across the sofa arm as a pillow, since the last one he had got pissed on by his drunken father) and raced to the door. “Wh- Ty?” he exclaimed as he opened the door, to see a sleep deprived Ty in front of him. “What are you doing here? If my dad wakes up he’s gonna kill me!” Josh’s words were usually blunt and rather emotionless, but this time they came out stern; the likes of which he’d only seen with his dad. An apologetic look now spreading across his face, he looked at Tyler. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to come out like that…” his words trailed off, his gaze slipping to the floor.

Tyler recoiled from the door as soon as it opened, a bit startled by the speed with which whoever responded appeared - and, admittedly, he half-anticipated Josh’s father to get there first - but it was just Josh himself. He breathed out an audible sigh of relief, only to suck in more breath at the tone his friend took on. He visibly settled, though, at the apology. “No, don’t worry,” Tyler said quickly, waving his hands around uselessly. “I’m breaking you out, man, are you ready? We’ve got, like, an hour until eight, so…” Not that he necessarily wanted to be there on time. Only the preps were there early, and they were no fun to be around. He looked behind himself a little uncertainly, realising he may have to balance Josh on his bike’s handlebars at this point. “Uhh. It’d be great if you had, like, a board or something, too. But y’know.”

Josh weighed the options in his mind. There wasn’t anything for the kids to get around in - just his dad’s stupid old car. Was it worth it? It had to be. Anything was better than being here, but Tyler would go mad. And his dad? God, he’d be horrible. But he had to take risks. “There is something. Grab your bike.” He quickly rushed inside, fumbling around the sitting room for the car keys. Come on… where did he keep them? Josh’s half-open eyes caught a glimpse of something shining in the dim light that came from the door, and he grabbed them, trying not to make a noise. Quickly, he snatched his shoes and slipped them on, before peeking his head out of the door. “Do I need to pack anything, Ty? It might give my dad a hint, not that it’ll make him any less red.”

It occurred far too late to Tyler what was going on here. Evidently, he was too tired to catch on to the fact that Josh was going to up and take his father’s car. He knew full well the repercussions, didn’t he? Tyler nearly protested, but that’d just send them into an argument likely to wake up the family inside. He drove the heel of his hand into his eye like it’d make this any less frustrating and considered the question. When he blinked both eyes again, his vision was spotty and static, but the circumstances hadn’t improved. “No… I’ve got school stuff, you can just share with me, or whatever.” Looking particularly defeated, Tyler stepped away from the door to allow his friend a path out. “Are you sure? Like. Really sure. He’s not just gonna be red - it’ll be, like, red-black-yellow. Y’know?” In spite of his uneasy words, Tyler was backing towards the car, prepared to bolt out of there.

The anxiety was building up inside of Josh as he saw his friend become slightly blue. He bit his bottom lip as Tyler spoke, but slowly nodded in response to his question. “It’s pretty much the best option. I just… I have to get away from this place. It’s so grey-white, I can’t-” he choked on his words. “I can’t take it anymore, Ty.” Josh quickly closed the door behind him, locking it and slipping the keys under the door - it had seen better days, so was slowly getting more and more warped, meaning there was a ever-growing large gap under it. “I’ll start warming up the engine and help you get your bike in the trunk.” The boy jogged over to the car, relieved the door was finally closed. This was actually happening; Tyler was helping him escape. He just didn’t want to think about the consequences that may come with this decision.

Unlocking (and opening) the door, he shook away the negative thoughts as much as he could, inserting the keys and twisting. The engine let out a small splutter, before almost relaxing into a gentle hum. Josh thanked God that it didn’t decide to have one of its’ usual coughing fits; not that he had much faith in the so-called Man in the Sky. His past experiences had denied him that pleasure, therefore leaving him to do all the work of fixing his looks; his negativity. ‘Hide it all under a smile’, that’s what his parents had taught him; that the world is a place worth living in. He squinted his eyes, blinking a couple of times - he had to stop himself from drowning in his thoughts like he always did. Lately it had started to seem that one single touch of his fragile surface would send this house of cards toppling to the ground.

Sighing, he turned to his friend. “Right, the engine should be warm enough in a few. Time to get your bike in.” Obediently, Tyler shoved the backseat over to make enough room for his bicycle to fit both over them and the trunk. In his haste, he didn’t bother to straighten it out or make any efforts towards neatness; rather, he swiftly clicked the trunk closed and then navigated to the front where he could sit in the passenger’s beside Josh. Tyler made no comments towards the car’s temperature; mid-August was warm enough around here, anyway. Instead, he just shot Josh a pleading look to hurry the hell up.

That silent encouragement seemed to be enough, because the drive to school was quick and quiet. Tyler himself was just contemplating how much trouble Josh would be in. Not like he’d have any implication in the matter of literally stealing Mr. Nelson’s car. He brushed the thought away - people couldn’t enter Beverly Hills High looking all depressed without rumours starting or peers jumping on them questioning ‘why the long face?’ So, probably inspired by Josh’s personal motto, Tyler put on his own nervous little smile as he exited the car. He could voice how brown-blue he felt now, but that’d just dampen Josh’s mood as well. Tyler went for a vague grin directed towards his friend instead. “Just in time for the assembly. Check it, they’ve got cookies.” Admittedly, he was a bit wary to approach the Queen Bee herself to snatch himself a snack, so he lingered behind Josh indecisively.

“B-but I don’t… I don’t want to… go over there…” he looked down at the ground, shuffling his feet with a sigh. Josh turned around to face Tyler. “Do you like, really want a cookie? Because I c-can get you one, i-if you want.” The thought of not getting a cookie for Ty made Josh feel green-black, but when he thought about actually approaching the Queen Bee made him blue and want to throw up; there was an aura of lavender and amethyst all about her. It was a constant battle in his mind and he didn’t know whether he was winning or losing. Right now, it just felt there’d be no end to it. Josh looked down at his feet again, leaving Tyler staring at messy tufts of cherry hair. “I don’t w-want you to feel b-blue, but I just…” he trailed off like always, his heart heavy. He was constantly scolding himself in his mind - why let himself get so wound up over it? Tyler would be okay with it, he always was! ...Right?

“Hey, whoa!” Tyler’s hands were quickly on Josh’s shoulders and he was closing the gap between them, looking around frantically to gauge exactly how many people they were going to be crowded by. The school was at least merciful enough to split up the freshman and sophomores away from juniors and seniors, so that each assembly was less horrific. Tyler knew that wasn’t the most comforting thought when you were as anxious as himself or Josh, though, so he bit back the thought. Even given his own proneness to panic attacks, he easily grew defensive when it seemed like someone else was close to having one. “Listen, it’s okay, just… we can’t exactly… skip the assembly.”

With that, Tyler was inspecting the doorway, trying to find a way in that freed them from having to converse with others. Lo and behold, the Queen Bee they were so terrified of moved along to another booth inside, and Tyler rushed over to the door to hold it for Josh. He hazarded a glance through the doorway, figuring the size of the crowd wasn’t necessarily so bad yet but the colours might be overwhelming. He shut both eyes like he was willing it all to go away, but of course, it didn’t. Out of options, Tyler stuck to Josh as if he were the centre of gravity, placing a hand between his shoulders to help guide him along. “Signing up for anything…?” he tried for conversation, trying desperately to hide the fact that he was leaning over the counter of another booth and signing himself up for basketball. Didn’t hurt to give it a shot - no pun intended.

Josh was shaking like a leaf, but Tyler’s hands on his shoulders reassured him a little. However, looking around, everything began to feel copper-burgundy and he took a sharp inhale, barely able to hear the words of his friend as the noise echoed through his ears, bouncing around his head. “Uh… I don’t really feel all up to signing up for any clubs. I guess i-if they ha-had an art club, that might be- um, c-cool.” Josh’s nerves were really getting to him now, and he stumbled over nearly every word. “Tyler, I-I-I-”

Heavy breathing consumed the boy’s words; umber starting to overwhelm him. He sharply turned on his heel to look at Tyler, his face copper-azure, with a desperate plea for escape in his eyes. His lungs felt like they were collapsing, as if each breath was getting smaller and smaller, but the room around him was rapidly growing, making him shrink where he stood. Josh ended up gazing emptily at the corner; the people moving around blurring into one and the desire to bury his face into Tyler’s shirt ever-growing.

It was hard to miss anxiety attacks in general, but when you know someone for a long enough time, it becomes a sort of superpower where you can detect their onset. Tyler was pretty sure he was witnessing that right now. He shot a quick glance around the room, chest heaving for a moment, before wrapping an arm around Josh’s shoulders and leading them back the way they came. Just to avoid looking too suspicious, he halted at a booth for art club and scribbled both his and Josh’s name on a sign-up sheet (and promptly refused the pamphlet being offered to him). “Hey, you know, I think they’re finishing up anyway…” Even though the assembly obviously wasn’t over, Tyler liked to think he sounded convincing enough.

He led them back out into the field adjacent to the auditorium, and promptly started digging around in his bag for a granola bar. “You didn’t eat, did you? Here, have this.”

“T-Thanks.” The boy stammered, trying to resist just ravenously snatching the bar from Tyler’s hands like a wild animal. He was shaking all over; the granola bar’s foil wrapper just rustling from being held in his hand. Slowly, he peeled it off, nibbling at it. He got nearly a quarter of the way through the bar when he suddenly stopped, blinking. “Everything i-is um-umber…” He murmured as his eyes rolled into the back of his head, his body falling limp onto the ground.

[AlteredTundra]

Location; Jackson in his home, while Rhett walking on the Sidewalk → The Drake’s House → The Streets → Beverly Hills High
Interacting With; Rhett with his sister, Summer, briefly → Best bromance _{@Altered Tundra @lovely complex} → Dominique _{@HushedWhispers}
Time; 6:05 A.M. → 8:15 A.M.

Outfit | Song | Outfit

There wasn’t even sun out, and already his alarm went off. The tune of Goku from Dragon Ball Z screaming could have probably been heard throughout the thin walls of the Drake house. It definitely was heard from the next room over, which belonged to Jade. Jackson knew this because she banged on the wall, with some obscenities being said. Thankfully, the sounds of Goku’s screaming muffled out her words. Jackson liked to believe that, anyway. But yes, it wasn’t even sunny out, and Jackson was starting to get up.

In the minutes that followed, he had shut off his alarm clock, and rolled out of bed. At this point, Jackson wasn’t wearing much of anything. Only thing that was on his skinny bod was a pair of Rainbow Dash boxers.. Jackson was not ready for this first day of school, or was it orientation? Jackson didn’t know nor did he care. All he knew was that he had to wake up bright and early because apparently being late to orientation was a bad thing. He disagreed, but mom didn’t. One thing everyone in the Drake house knew was that mom was always right. Even when she was wrong, she was still right. Dad knew that better than anyone.

As he hummed the Dragon Ball Z theme (Rock the Dragon) he went through his closet. He was still very much asleep, his eyes were half open, and yawning every ten seconds. His mind was focused on his closet entirely. He was still imagining himself in his dreams, riding the Rainbow Unicorn from Rainbow Unicorn Attack, but nope! He was standing (barely) in front of his closet, deciding on his outfit of the day.

“Ugh,” Jackson yawned and sighed at the same time. He didn’t care about how he looked to everyone else. If they had a problem, they could fight him. So, in that, he just grabbed some clothes. It didn’t matter to him if he matched or not. All he cared about was getting into the shower before Jade would so that he could just do his thing.

When he got there, turned out that he got there before Jade did, which was surprising since she had banged on his wall not too long ago. Whatever. He closed the door behind him, and showered. It would only take him ten minutes since he was a boss like that. After he got out, he proceeded to dry himself, brush his teeth, and style his hair as lazily as he could. Lucky for Jackson, his hair was naturally wavy, so it didn’t take much for him to get it to a way that he liked. As soon as he was satisfied, he started to get dressed. That took an additional five minutes because he had to put on his shorts, his Jack Skellington shirt, the Deadpool hat, his Venom-Spider-Man necklace, his red, fingerless gloves, and of course, his Invincible Iron Man wallet that would simply drop into his pocket.

By the time he was done, ten more minutes had passed, and Jackson was on his way out, stopping by his room briefly to get his board and bag. To hell with everything - or everyone - else.

Nonchalantly strolling on the sidewalk with a large silver coin in his right hand rolling over his knuckles, Rhett Aspen whistled to the music blaring out of his sister’s sky colored headphones, which was Danza Kuduro by Don Omar (Feat. Lucenzo). His sister, Summer, had a large collection of dance music on her mp3 that could get anyone hyped to take on the day. She wore a short black skirt, turquoise heels, a black and white halter top, and white shades all which were bought on a bargain. While he wore a simpler ensemble, a white tee with some stripes on the chest section, a black and gray jacket, a navy blue fitted cap (one of his favorites), comfortable jeans for strenuous activities, and white sneaks. This would be her first year at Beverly Hills High. Luckily for Rhett, she had friends who came with her from junior high so she didn’t have to travel with him and his boy to school. Glancing over at her, who had a kittenish smile plastered on her face and excitement written in her baby blue eyes, he teased, “Who you trying to impress? Your skirt is too short. Can’t believe ma let you out like that.”

Rolling her eyes, she sassed, “We women must showcase our best asset. Mine so happens to be my legs.” Almost reaching the corner where her friend would pick her up, Summer bit her lip, slightly nervous about today, “Rex… Do you think Audrey will like me? I know we’ve went through this but…”

Patting his sister’s nicely done hair, slightly annoying her, Rhett chuckled, “You’ll be fine. Just be yourself. Show confidence, she’ll respect that. But no sass.” He saw her friend’s parent’s van pull up. After he put his coin in his pant’s pocket, Summer turned to him and handed her brother two nicely wrapped boxes, that resembled something you’d receive on Valentine’s. One for him and one for Jackson. Jackson’s box was white, with a red ribbon tied around it. The ribbon had black decorative pokadots. She had gotten one of her friend’s to draw a chibi version of him riding his skateboard with a Naruto shirt on. That was so cute, it made him sick. His was rather plain in comparison. “What’s the occasion?” he asked, letting his blue orbs contemplate her facial expression.

His sister shrugged, there was no sign of embarrassment, “I wanted to bake last night. Plus, you two idiots love to eat. Happy first day~” She stuck her tongue out teasingly, knowing her brother was too dense to catch the drift. With a hair flip, she bid her brother adieu and went into the van to probably gossip with a bunch of other Niners. Goddammit her skirt was short.

Once the car sped off, he put both the boxes inside the large pockets within the interior of his jacket. Checking the time on his cheap leather, roman numeral wrist watch, the brunette debated how long it would take him to get to his bud’s house that was two blocks away. Five minutes. Tops. I can half that..

With full confidence in himself, Rex sprinted down the sidewalk, passed some kids riding their bikes, and gave them a wink before jumping over some stranger’s fence. Yes. He was trespassing, but for a good cause. He needed to beat his record time. Unfortunately, he didn’t expect this house to have a Rottweiler guard dog. He shall be named Nugent, after the film’s, Over the Hedge’s, “Play!” dog. Drool dripped out of the black pup’s mouth (okay it wasn’t a damn pup) and before Rhett knew it, the not so friendly beast was barking it’s brains out and charging at him, with hellfire in its glare. Rex was a halfback about to be tackled or at least, that’s what this felt like. “Nice puppy…” he muttered. Swiftly moving to the right, the boy watched the dog slip past him, as it’s black coat grazed his skin and rammed into the garbage can, causing the object to tip over (sorry dog). Rhett took these next moments to run into the backyard.

Run boy run. No time to stop, gotta go fast. SONIC. After quickly observing his surroundings (fanciful place with a pool, grill, and a colorful garden), he pounced off the ground and onto the dog house. The instant his right foot touched the roof he pushed forward, flipped into the air, and over the tall hedge (rich people, I tell you). Tucking his head inward, his body airborne, Rex rolled onto his shoulder, diagonally across his back. Curled into a ball, he spun on the sidewalk until he was standing up once more. A parked car was directly in front of him (inches away) when he came to a full stop. Catching his breath, he yelled, “I do parkour!”

Seeing his bro’s house across the street, he took a second to fix his fitted cap and take his phone out of his pocket. Crossing the street, he checked the time Fuck yeah, 2 minutes and 30 seconds!. Walking onto the porch of the Drake’s household, he texted Jackie Boy.

To: JB
Omw.

Without any warning besides the text, he flew the door open (which more often than not was unlocked) and walked into the kitchen, “RHETT IS IN THE HIZ-HOUSE!”

Jackson didn’t even have time to check his phone. Quite literally, as he got into the kitchen, he was about to open the text app, and Rhett had come bursting through the door without even so much as a knock.

“Way to let me know, bro.” Jackson scoffed. After staring at his friend with ‘Dude, I did text you’ written all over his face, Rex heard slow footsteps enter the kitchen.

Jackson was going to say something else, but just as he was going to, Jackson’s father, Leonardo, walked behind him, seeming woken up by Rhett’s arrival. Or maybe it was something else. All Jackson knew was that his father was just like him when he woke up: groggy, and unaware of what was going on around him. Maybe that was where Jackson got it. Either that or it was something else. Who cares? Leo was behind him, and noticed Rhett there in front of his son.

“Morning son, morning Rhett.” Leo said sheepishly, moving past Jackson, and towards the coffee pot. He pressed the power button to start it. As he turned around, Leo once again looked at the two boys. He yawned a few times. “So, excited for the first day of school, boys?” Leo asked with a yawn.

Jackson shrugged. School was school. What you did in-between those breaks of class, however, was where the real fun was. “Oh come on pops, you know me. I’M ALWAYS HYPED!” Jackson said in an elevated tone.

“Morning Leo~! Besides my sister driving me insane, I’m pretty amped.” Rhett sighed at the thought of Summer walking the halls of his school (with that short ass skirt). He was surely going to gain white hair within the first week. Speaking of Summer, Rhett opened his coat to pull out the gifts she made for them. His treat was crushed while Jackson’s box looked pristine and untouched. I always lean too much on that damn size.

“Yes, yes, but keep it down. I think your mother is asleep--”

“No, I think his mother is wide awake.” Riley came out from behind her son. Jackson perked up as if fear for his life. His mother had that kind of tone that just made him the weakest man in the room. As Jackson and Leo looked at her, they couldn’t help but look at each other in an awkward way. She was wearing a beige tank with it being see-through, and medium red-violet underwear. Both looked at each other, having a different kind of expression of fear on their face.

Uh.... Rhett’s brain was malfunctioning. Why was Jackson’s mother incredibly hot?! He held the boxes in his hands, wanting to give one over to his friend, but lost in a trance at the practically naked, provocative siren that stood before them. He kept his thoughts to himself, even when he was dying on the inside (DYING). Although his blue orbs were slightly wider, he tried to keep his cool. Is it getting hot in here? Maybe… I should get some water…

Jackson was a trooper, so he wouldn’t acknowledge that his mother was pretty much naked. “Oh hey, mom, sleep well?”

“Better than your father.” She said, glaring at him. Leo perked up just like Jackson did. Someone was in the doghouse for sure. Riley looked at Rhett. “You’re here early. You want some breakfast, hun? I can make some pancakes. Lord knows these two can’t cook worth shit.” Riley wasn’t coy when talking about her two boys - her husband and son. It was known that Riley Drake was someone who didn’t hold back on what she said. She was very opinionated like that.

Play cool. Be cool. Handing the white box to his friend, Rhett beamed a grin at the woman of the house, “My sis was carpoolin’ early, so I made sure she was set before coming here.” Quickly putting his box away, back in his jacket, he leaned on the fridge, trying to make it seem like he wasn’t nervous, “Your food is da bomb, Mrs. Drake!” Why are you a fool?! Be eloquent, not some ratty street boy off the street’s. “I could help you--” his voice went down an octave, realizing this might put him in a terrible position, “If you’d like…” He mentally cursed himself, Bumbling dimwit. That’s what you are. You’re just gonna help cook with the naked sexy MILF! Drop everything. Make a mess. Stare at her-- He cut his thoughts short. No.

“Pancakes sound fresh as fuck, mom. I’ll take two. Blueberry, if you can.” Jackson happily said.

“Of course you will, Jackson.” Riley gave him a smile. She knew her son so well. Her eyes went to Rhett. “I appreciate the help. Get me the flour out of the cupboard, please.” Riley said, giving Rhett the same kind of smile that she gave to Jackson.

Like an obedient slave, Rhett went to the cupboard. His heart picking up with every movement he made. He took a brief moment to give Jackson a death glare for not saving him and grabbed the flour. Before making his way back to Riley, he tightened his grip on the flour to make sure it was secure - no need for accidents. Making his way to her, he took a deep breath in and lifted the flour in the air like some kind of offering to a goddess. Gulping, he asked, “A-anything else?” Don’t you dare stutter, boy.

“No, that’s perfect. Thanks.” Riley took the flour, and started to put together the ingredients. They were all lined up in a row, and she did it like some chef.

As they watched her, Jackson and Leo were sitting at the table. Leo was drinking his coffee, sip after sip quietly. Meanwhile, Jackson noticed Rhett acting…different. Why was he not his usual self? Jackson pondered on that for a moment or two. He would have done so longer if not for him looking at the time. “Shit.” Jackson cursed. “Rhett, we gotta go man. Orientation.” Jackson cursed internally this time. He was really looking forward to eating blueberry pancakes. “Sorry mom, but you know, raincheck on those okay? Save me two. Don’t let Jade eat them. She’s skinny, but she eats like a pig.” Jackson was not joking. His cousin was like a vacuum. What goes in, never comes out ever again.

By some sort of higher power, Rhett was saved! “I’ll make sure to come back to help you out more often, Mrs. Drake!” Shit. He basically promised to cook with her whenever he was over and she needed help. Not wanting to dig his grave any deeper, he gave Jackson’s family goofy finger guns, “Catch ya’ll on the flip side!” Dork. He was an absolute dork. He immediately escaped the house.

As they trekked through Jackson’s neighborhood, Jackson was on his board going around Rhett as he held that white box in his hand. As he examined it while still trying to keep an eye on where he was going, a thought came into his head. “Hey, why is your’s all shitty-looking and mine looks like an artist put it together? Speaking of, who made these? I know you didn’t because we both know that you can’t bake worth shit, and you’re as about artistic as a pig is. So, who man? Tell me!” Jackson was shouting to the heavens in that last one. He must know because as he opened the box, it was a blueberry scone. Not everyone knew that was his favorite. There were only a select few that did.

“Dude.” While throwing his large silver coin up in the air, Rhett annoyingly glanced over at his friend who was all antsy and shit, “Calm your tits. Summer couldn’t sleep much last night so she baked.” The silver coin landed in his palm. Lightly clenching it, he added, “Don’t worry about my box. Your’s is still intact and that’s all that matters.” Not in the mood to linger on about his ruined box because of his foolishness earlier this morning, the coin dancing on his knuckles, Rex thought about what he should change the subject to.

Suddenly Jackson’s usual smile went somewhat dead, frozen almost. Summer made it? Oh goddammit, I forgot she knew about my love for these scones. Jackson hadn’t considered Summer. He thought maybe it was Rhett’s mother who made them. Or maybe some bird left them on his front porch, but for his totally not hot as fuck kid sister to make them for him was one thing, but his box was prime condition while Rhett’s looked like someone ran it through a meat grinder. “I’ll be sure to thank her when I see her at school today.” Jackson said, half-anxiously smiling. Yeah, like that’s a good idea. Tell the hot sister of your best friend thanks for making your favorite breakfast pastry all the while trying to keep a straight face. Real nice, Jackson. Ace job.

Rex chuckled, “Excited to see your girl? I know I can’t wait to see mine.” His head lifted up so that his blue orbs stared into the vast azure sky, “We’re both aiming for money, that’s for sure.” Money was Rhett’s way of saying the girls they were interested in were high caliber and worth every minute of their time.

And the safe haven came in the form of his real love (yeah just keep telling yourself that). “You know it man. This will be my year, I’m telling you. She’ll finally know my name. I swear it man, I fucking do.” Jackson said, as if proclaiming it to whatever fucking god was looking down. Jackson was anything far from being religious, but any god or angel or even devil that could help him, he’ll pray like a mother fucker. “What about you, bruh? Any closer to getting that Arnette poody-tang?”

Grumbling to himself, Rhett put his coin in his pant’s pocket, while he continued down the street with strides, “My competition is the entire school, Jackie Boy.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets, “The amount of friends I’m playing up against just for a conversation with her is too damn high.” He took the next instant to look back at his friend and inquire, “What’s your game plan? Harding is one tough babe. She’s only been here for what? Like one semester last year? And she’s already made herself one of the top bitches at this school.” His gaze slightly widened with the realization of how many dominant women were at Beverly Hills High. Without a doubt, his sister would follow suit, but all he could think about was lovable Anna being taken advantage of, by the many people she cared about.

“Still in the brozone, huh? That majorly sucks, bro. That’s almost as bad as me being unacknowledged by Eve, but that’s gonna change.” Jackson said with conviction. Rhett might believe him, but Jackson wasn’t sure if he actually believed what he was saying. As much as Eve captivated him, she was one of those gals that had high standards. Guys like Jackson had no business with her. Besides, she was already hella famous. Jackson was the son of an expensive mechanic and a former model. There was little business he had chasing that specific tail, yet.. “This isn’t going to be like previous attempts. Like what Mike told Walter White in Breaking bad: never do anything half-measured. That’s what I’m going to do, man. I’m gonna full-measure this year. I swear it, Rhett. Come prom, I’ll be dating Eve Harding.” Jackson proclaimed, but this time he believed it.

Taking his right hand out of his pocket, Rhett pounded his chest with respect for his friend’s ambition, “And I got your back, JB. No matter what!” Anyone who knew anything about Rhett and Jackson knew they had one of the closest relationships in school. There were rumors that people thought they were gay for each other, but that was only because of how close they came off sometimes (no personal boundaries - they would hug the shit out of each other). “Just one word of advice, my dude.” He stopped in his tracks to make sure his words reached the young boy full of fire, “Don’t be a bumbling fan, just be you. She probably deals with obsessed fans all the time. You gotta separate yourself from the lot. How you may ask?” Allowing silence in the air, Rex shrugged and continued on his way, “That’s a question I don’t even know!”

“You know, that doesn’t help me.” Jackson said quite bluntly. He knew Rhett was right, though. He couldn’t be like he was twelve months ago. Gods, he knew he couldn’t be that raging-boner kind of fan that was just so excited to first see East of Eden with Jade. He couldn’t be the guy that went up to her after the show when she was signing autographs, and say that idiotic thing that he said to her. He had to be more logical and less cringe-worthy. If he was ever to stand a chance, Jackson would have to grow a maturity bone, but where would he find one so late into his teenaged life? “I know you’re right, man. Eve’s a totally different class of a woman. She doesn’t know who I am at all. At least with the ones in the past, like that chick I told you from this past summer. At least she knew who I was, but Eve? Shit bro, I need to do something major to get her attention. I think I might know how, but I’m gonna need your help.” Jackson told Rhett, hopping off his board, and looking at his best bro. This was one of the few times that Jackson didn’t have an idiotic grin on his face. It was one of the rare times where he was one-hundred percent serious.

Taking in his friend’s expression, Rhett returned the gravity of the situation with a simple eye lock. They stared at each other for a long, hard moment, before Rex muttered, “I’m all ears.”

The assembly came and went. Boring for the most part. The Bro duo were more excited to see their friends at the Clubs and Activities Fair on the football field. The moment they strolled onto the field by the large entrance, Rhett perked up to the sound of Queen Bee, Dominique Saunders’ voice?! The confusion on his face was obvious when he looked at his boy and then at Dominique from a distance waving at him. “Did I do something stupid to piss her off?!” He had no idea why she wanted to speak to him but everyone knew if the number one Queen called you, you marched right on over to her.

Jackson was as confused as Rhett was. Why did the Queen Regent of Beverly Hills High want to see the likes of Rhett? Jackson knew that Rhett was more well-liked than he was, but to get the direct attention of the queen was something a bit odd. “I don’t know man. Maybe she’s mad at you for hitting Arnette with the football that one time. You know how those royals get. Fucking entitled cunts, they are.” It was clear that Jackson held a strong dislike for the royals.

“Hey. Analise is one of those Royals.” He scolded his friend for making a jab at his crush. Though, thinking about that incident did make him cringe since the guy he was playing catch with totally let the ball slip through his hands - what a square. Analise was still beautiful even with her face bruised. Gathering himself, not knowing if he looked decent enough for Dominique nor caring, he offered a fist bump to Jackson, “I’ll catch you later, I guess. Text me if ya need me. And don’t forget.” His eyes narrowed but in an encouraging way, “You’re money, JB. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.”

“And don’t you let the man - I mean Dominique - rip you a new one, bro. Be the money that we both know you are. Stay golden, Ponyboy.” Jackson echoed the spirit of Money towards Rhett as they went their separate ways, knowing that some day, love will find them.

As he was left alone, Jackson took a look around, and saw all the people. “Shit, what the fuck do I do now?” Jackson stood there, watching people pass him by. Everyone apparently paired up, and Jackson didn’t have anyone to chill with. And then it hit him. “Oh yeah, totally forgot.” Jackson suddenly remembered what he told Rhett earlier, with what he was going to do. He better go do that. And so he did, walking towards a specific part of the fair. Time for shit to get lit, fam.

Whistling the Twisted Nerve tune from Kill Bill (and American Horror Story), Rhett walked with proud steps toward the Queen Bee, showing nothing but swagger. She was handing out cookies to people passing her by and held grace that only someone of her stature could carry. His mind was coursing with thoughts of what she wanted, but he wouldn’t show that on his face. He was cool. When he stood in front of her, he gave her a playful wink, “Hey Dominique-baby, what’s crackalackin?!” He beamed a handsome grin at the elegant woman labeled as their Queen.

[Hey Im Jordan]

Location: His gym
Interacting with: Himself, of course, he’s a brooding monstrosity, didn’t you know?
Time: 1:50 A.M. - 2:07 A.M.

When had he arrived at the gym? He didn’t even know. It was strange to think it was his now, that it didn’t belong to the old man. It, along with so many other things, had been left to Troy in his passing, as if the old man didn't have a family. Knowing that it was what the old man would have wanted, Troy trained as hard as ever, perhaps even hard. But now, today, his skills seemed to be escaping him. It was frustrating, enraging even, and in his rage Troy knew that he was only floundering harder. He turned to walk away from the punching bag and leave, to give up, but he stopped himself and spun on his heel, launching into a flurry of jabs and kicks against the bag, shouting as he did so.

It was getting late, almost two AM in the morning, but Troy wasn’t finished training. And he wouldn’t be, until he did it right. He swung a left hook, then a right hook, and ended it with a kick against the training bag, driving his foot into it. Still, the bag didn’t move. Internally, Troy screamed. Externally, he ran through it again. And again, the bag didn’t move. He shook himself, but suddenly he could hear a voice he hadn’t heard in months; the old man’s.

“You have to breathe, boy!”

Troy snarled, shaking his head. Dead. The old man was dead, and he was still here to spit his ‘infinite wisdom.’ “I am breathing! Are you watching or what, you old motherfucker!?” He barked, glancing over his shoulder to face the man, though he felt a sharp pang in his chest when he realized that he was just hearing things. The old man wasn’t there, but Troy could clearly remember the first time he’d learned this.

He shut his eyes and let himself imagine the old man in front of him. Perfectly, he could hear the voice in his ears, as if the old man was standing right behind him. “You breathe out with each strike. Inhale, exhale strike. Inhale, exhale strike. With three hits, and your strength, the bag should swing, and swing hard.” Troy opened his eyes and imagined the old man standing next to him, not the weak, dying man he’d been a few months ago, but years ago. When they’d first met, when the old man might as well have been Superman in Troy’s eyes.

“I’ll show you, Troy. Are you ready?” Almost excitedly, Troy nodded rapidly and the old man smiled. “Inhale,” he said and Troy parroted his movements, breathing in deeply and pulling his arm back. “Exhale.” Simultaneously with the man in his mind, Troy let out the breath and fired off the punch.

This time, the bag swung. Smiling slightly now, Troy took the next blow by himself. Inhale. Exhale. The blow hit the bag and it swung again. Troy smiled, he knew how proud the old man would be with this showing. One last time. Troy took in a huge breath this time, and launched off the kick at the bag. He struck true this time--yet the bag didn’t move. Instead, the old fabric tore from the strength of his blow and the sand began to spill out. With a huge smile on his lips, Troy turned to look at the old man. “Did you see it?” He asked, but the man was gone. Troy’s fists clenched tightly and he could feel the tears coming. Crying again, what was wrong with him?

The old man would never see it again. He’d never really be there. Troy blinked away a few of the tears and did his best to steady himself as the sand piled at his feet. He tightened his fists even further, and he could feel the tape around his palms rip and his fingernails dig into his skin.

He gave up.

The tears fell freely into the pile of sand and Troy turned himself away from the bag, as he let out a pathetic sobbing noise. ’He was never there,’ Troy bitterly reminded himself. ’I was hearing things. Imagining things, like a child. He’ll never be back. He’s gone.’ He had to accept it, even if it hurt more than anything else. Troy hadn’t know what it felt like to lose someone, but now that he did, he was terrified of facing it again. He let his fists uncurl, and he wiped at his eyes as he walked toward the door, fresh blood from where his fingernails had dug stained the white tape he’d carefully wrapped around his hands.

He had school in the morning, but what was even the point? No one cared about what he did; and now that the old man was gone, Troy wondered if he even cared. Deep down, he knew he was only doing it because it was what the old man wanted, but what was the point?!

He didn’t know anymore.

---

Location: His basement
Interacting with: Himsefl
Time: 1:57 AM to 2:09 AM

Should he be in his bed, sleeping and resting while he mentally prepared for the day after? Probably. After all, it was the beginning of school, possibly his single most disliked time of year, for a variety of reasons… and, for the most part, the reasons were tacked onto his corkboard wall by this point; he’d been working on them for ages now, ever since he’d woken up and it sort of dawned on him that school was coming up.

David had spent the entire evening drawing pictures of his classmates, stylizing them in a comic-book esque fashion. Mostly, he drew people he’d interacted with--or largely feared interacting with: as he was finishing it up now, it amounted to Troy(drawn slightly in the style of one of Davy’s favorite comic book characters, the Punisher), Jareth(who Davy drew with a particularly excessive use of black, even going so far as to give him a skull mask--Jar would have liked it, Davy thought), the gruesome twosome(the ferocious duo of Eve and Audrey--drawn as demon girls, complete with--admittedly fan-service-y--devil tails, whips, and ears), and, finally, the dynamic duo of Tyler and Josh(stylized vaguely as the wonder twins, with neither one looking like they enjoyed being super heroes, and speech bubbles extending from both of them containing ‘...’). These were the people Davy was excited to see regularly, and the people Davy really didn’t want to interact with. The only notable ones missing were Aurora and Alyssa, both of whom Davy had just been unable to decide on how to stylize.

He took a few of his thumbtacks out of the container and lifted the final drawing, the wonder twins, up toward the corkboard and pinned it up, then stared at his handiwork as he looked down at his watch. ”...it’s late.” He stared at the drawings for a few seconds, then glanced back down at his watch. Sleep was necessary, he figured, but he didn’t really feel like it. Already dressed in his pajamas--don’t tell anyone, but Davy simply hadn’t changed out of his pajamas from the night before--the young man stood up to his feet and moved over to one of the beanbags in his basement bedroom, flopping down on it. ”Maybe I’ll sleep in and be late.”

He yawned and rubbed his eyes, reaching down to the floor to grab a discarded blanket and pillow from the night before. At least, he thought to himself, it was his last year. Maybe… there was something beautiful in store for him. After that thought crossed his mind, even the mild-mannered Davy blew air out of his nose in minor amusement. With the people he went to school with? The only thing beautiful likely to come from Beverly Hills High was beautiful oblivion.

David clapped his hands together, and the lights in the room shut off. He fiddled with the remote to the bluetooth surround sound in his room, turning it on, but kept the volume low as he dug around in his phone’s files to select a song to rest to. Once satisfied, David rolled to tighten the blankets around himself and closed his eyes. Sleep would come in time, he was certain.

---

Location: His bedroom
Interacting with: His younger sister
Time: 1:58 AM to 2:06 AM

He had to be dreaming, right? That was the only way this would be happening. Aw, hell, dreams were to be enjoyed anyway.

”I’m here with #18, Connor, of the Dallas Cowboys, who just beat the New Englad Patriots. How does it feel to win the Superbowl, get the Superbowl MVP, and break the record for most passing yards scored in a season, and get the winning touchdown of the Superbowl, all in one night?” Mean Gene Okerlund excitedly asked Connor as he held his trophy high above his head, to the fans that were screaming his name as he stood victorious in… Madison Square Garden?

Yep, definitely dreaming.

”Well, the first thing I want to be done is to get that piece of ball deflating crap Tom Brady out of my arena! Actually, don’t just get him out of the arena, get him out of the NFL, because I just proved son, without a shadow of a doubt that you ain’t got what it takes anymore!”

The crowd started to chant his name even louder, more rhythmically… no, wait, frantically, like it was something important? Blatantly, Connor ignored them. ”My first order of business is to serve some notice, and I’m servin’ notice to the everyone in the National Football League, I don’t give a damn who it is, they’re all on the list and that’s Connor’s list and I’m fixin’ to start runnin’ through all of em!” Excellent Stone Cold impression Connor, well done. The man himself would be proud.

Connor then turned his attention to the cheerleaders near the sidelines, ”Now, I’d like to thank those pretty girls of the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleadin’ squad for helping me through my rookie year, if y’know w-”

Connor was suddenly physically shaken to consciousness, the form of his younger sister, Olivia, shrouded in the darkness of his room in front of him. Connor yawned and switched on the bedside lamp as he sat up. Damn, the dream was just getting good too… He smiled down at Olivia in the low light of the lamp, before he spoke tiredly. ”What’s up, bubbles?” The Powerpuff Girls was far and away Olivia’s favorite television show, and Connor called her by the names of the titular characters at different times. Bubbles was just his personal favorite.

”There’s a monster under my bed! I had a nightmare! I think he’s gonna e-e-e-e-eat me!” She blubbered out and Connor was suddenly very aware that his baby sister was, in fact, sobbing. Geeze, it seemed not everyone in the O’Connor household was having glorious dreams with cheerleaders and Superbowl wins and MSG appearances. Connor reached out and patted the girl on the head.

”Well you tell that monster, that if he messes with you, I’m comin’ for him. I’ll be locked, loaded, and huntin’ his ass down. And you can tell him just like that because I’m the boss and I gave you permission to cuss him out. Ain’t no monsters scaring my little sister.” He poked her nose and, bashfully, Olivia gave a small smile, but she was still scared. Connor scooted over on the bed and lifted her up beside him. ”Are you excited for school tomorrow?” In response, Olivia stared at her brother as if he’d lost his mind.

”Uhm, no! It’s school, Connor. No one likes school. I don’t like school… I like birds, and Netflix, and Saturday morning cartoons, and… puppies. And that’s it, honest. Nothing else.” She replied and Connor rolled his eyes again, smiling. Of course she wasn’t excited. She was seven. Seven year olds were on a whole nother level. ”Plus, school means you’ll have practices and stuff, so you won’t be here! How am I supposed to be safe from angry monsters without you here to protect me!? What a terrible big brothhhhhhhhhhhherrrrrrrrrr.” She complained with a huge yawn and Connor thought for a moment.

”Well, I’ll get a doge. A puppy. The sergeant of the house, someone to protect you while I’m gone, and me when I’m around. You know, someone to guard the guardians,” as Connor spoke, both siblings laid down in the bed and Connor threw the blankets over them. No way Olivia was gonna sleep alone after the monster thing. They snuggled together as Connor started talking again, ”It’ll be cool. I’ll go first thing after school tomorrow. Maybe I can even find one that’s already house trained… What do you think, bubbles?”

Connor’s question was met with quiet breathing and sleepy noises from his sister, who, no longer scared and feeling much more safe in her older brother’s embrace, had already fallen asleep. Connor shrugged his shoulders and closed his eyes, deciding that he’d just return to his Super Bowl victory. Now with added puppies to taste.

[MissCapnCrunch]

Ⓟⓞⓟⓟⓨ Ⓙⓐⓝⓔ Ⓓⓤⓒⓚⓦⓞⓡⓣⓗ

Location; Duckworth Basement - Beverly Hills High - Locker
Interacting With; Herself
Time; Sometime around 4AM - 8:15AM
| Outfit | Song |

⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫

Sitting hunched with her legs pulled up underneath her in her computer chair, Poppy was busy at working editing and uploading her most recent video to Youtube. Most who had seen her videos thought they were on the creepy side, but she found a bit of artistic-ness in them that maybe someone could appreciate. Her hands swung up to her eyes as her palms aggressively rubbed, she hadn't slept yet, and it was to be her first day of school tomorrow. Not just any first day of school, but the first day of high school. Upstairs she could hear her mother starting to wake, whatever that entailed would be left a mystery. The basement had been made into a bit of place of solitude for Poppy. A computer area for all of her video making needs, a bedroom for sleeping, and a small living room area for disappearing into the world of reality television and Disney movies.

"Poppy." a tired voice called from the top of the stairs, as the girl scrambled to shut off the monitor of the computer and get from the chair to her bedroom as quickly and quietly as one could. Her mother continued to walk down the stairs, making no effort to remain quiet. Poppy threw the covers over her head, pretending she had been asleep in her bed for the most of the night. Within seconds a hand was placed on her arm. "First day of school, you better get up." her mother said, as Poppy turned her head and nodded slightly. "Oh okay." she said in a soft voice, turning back around to face the wall until her mother left the room. As the click of the door was heard, Poppy let out a sigh in exhaustion. She was excited for her first day, but couldn't help but be a bit on the nervous side too. This was a whole new world. High school was supposed to be some of the best parts of your life they said, and she was hoping she would be part of that.

After about an hour of lying around thinking, Poppy eventually rose from her bed and began doing her morning activities of getting ready. She was a very tidy person in that sense, finding peace in doing her makeup and hair just right. After doing everything she felt needed to be ready, she walked upstairs to be met with her mother drinking a coffee and doing something on her laptop. Poppy didn't speak much, making herself a basic bagel with cream cheese on it, and pouring herself her own cup of coffee- with cream and lots of sugar. The two sat quietly with one another and left one another without a word either.

Poppy, without having her driver's license yet began the long, quiet walk to school. She arrived after about 30 minutes, and walked right into the school doors. The nerves only hit her as the sea of people came into view. Attractive people littered the area, all belonging here. Scurrying to her assigned locker, Poppy worked the dial over twenty times as she practiced her combination as if she had just arrived there.

[Wintergrey]

Location: Apartment 2C - Beverly Hills High
Interaction With: No one
Time: 6:00 A.M.

---

The apartment was completely silent that morning. Usually around this time of morning at least someone was up early, or perhaps still up from last night. Elijah's next door neighbors had a tendency to party pretty hard on the weekend. Thankfully this morning was in an oddly peacefully standstill. Without an alarm, Elijah sat straight up in his bed exactly at 6:00. Same time, everyday. He liked his things in order. It gave some sense of structure to his life, when it really had none. Rubbing his sleep deprived eyes Elijah quickly stepped into the shower for about two minutes before the water went cold.

Jumping out before he started shaking from the cold, Elijah through on the nearest pair of jeans from the pile of clothes stacked by his bed and walked over to his computer. He only meant to grab his hoodie before leaving for school, but the draw to check what had happened in the few hours he had actually shut his eyes was too strong. Social media was already blowing up about the first day of school. Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, even Facebook. Who still used Facebook anymore? Shaking his head he flipped windows on the bright LED screen and opened up a list of files. Collections of people he'd hacked. Anything he might need to know about most people he knew was in here.

People of importance, bad people, people he went to school with, and even the odd occasional friend. Everyone. It really was a bad habit, hacking everyone, he just didn't trust them. You seriously wouldn't believe the type of things you found out about a person after hacking them. Sometimes it really got to him, the badness in people. But... not right now. Now was a time for school, not that he couldn't have graduated when he was like twelve. Sarah wanted him to interact with people more. Make some friends, try to rely on people for once. But Sarah didn't really know what she was talking about, she was fairly new to being a therapist. Not that she would have bothered to tell him he was her first patient, but there he was again. Always hacking people.

Despite all of Sarah's flaws, she did occasionally make him feel a bit better about himself. Maybe it was hearing her talk, her voice was soothing. It was kind of soft and velvety, he really never knew exactly how to describe it just right. His specialty was never words. Sometimes he would never say a word during their sessions. And there he went again, rattling off on a strangely unrelated topic. Elijah was trying to talk about how he rejoined high school because secretly he did hope Sarah was right. Maybe she was right about the ADD, through he didn't really fit the mark on the hyperactive section.

Shaking his head to try and clear all the thoughts, Elijah shut off the computer and grabbed his laptop before running out the door. Yanking the hoodie down low over his face, he began the long trek to high school. It would have been a lot easier to grab a cab, or a bus ride over, but the fresh air helped to clear his thoughts. By the time he made it to school other kids were starting to arrive. Seeing all their faces, that he was fine with. What started to make him panic was the secrets behind those faces. Grabbing his head to try and stop his anxiety, fully knowing the action would do nothing to help, he moved himself to a wall away from everyone and opened up his laptop.

---

---

Location: Strang House - The Ocean - Track - Beverly Hills High School
Interaction With: Everyone and anyone - Dominique - @HushedWhispers
Time: 5:00 A.M.

---

Groggily opening her eyes, Tis glanced out of the grungy window in the shack. God it was early. Was the sun even up yet? Stretching, she attempted to pop her back in the hammock she hung in. Not a very easy task let me tell you. An even harder task? Getting out. With a loud thump of the floorboard bracing against her impact, Tis landed with a groan. Out of the corner of her eye she caught her dad start with the sudden noise. "Dude chill, no barney kook 'ere" All her dad did was roll his eyes and turn over in his bed. Why the hell did he get the bed, she questioned, before reminding herself of the little bet she had with him. The one where she swore up and down she could pull off the awesome kickflip. The one where she ended up mullering on the sand with a cracked board.

Grumbling to herself as she walked out the door, Tis headed to the old jeep in their yard and tried to start the ignition. After a few tries the old girl finally started up. Checking that the rear view mirror was blocked by her board, Tis sped out of there towards the ocean. She had hours to kill. The ocean was the perfect place to do it.

Going nearly 95 down the roads, she ended up a small beach, covered in beautiful white sand and completely deserted. It might have been early, but with a beach like this even at this time in the morning some blown out bennys would have been there had they known about it. The beach was in a small depression between some densely covered cliffs. Tis had discovered it one day while was adventuring, meaning she was lost, and it became her little secret place. A place that she could call her own.

Splashing into the water as quickly as she could, Tis didn't even bother to put on the wet suit that she left in the back of the trunk. Why bother, she was used to the cold. Besides it might actually wake her up. Two hours later Tis lay in the shallows of the beach staring up at the gradually lightening sky with a goofy smile on her face. This is what really made her happy. Pushing up onto her elbows she figured she should start heading towards school. Her dad would be pretty pissed if she didn't make it to school on the first day because of some nice waves. Again.

Tossing the board in the back of the truck, she decided to get a nice run to school. It was a fairly warm morning and despite her two hour workout, she was pumped. Pulling on a pair of short blue shorts and her shoes she took off. In the wind the swim suit she was wearing dried fairly quickly. She supposed the teachers would probably throw a fit about her attire at school, but those Frubes could fuck off for all she cared.

Arriving at school late, she could see that the seniors and juniors were already finished with their assembly. The same one that happened every year that said the same boring old black and white thing. Blah blah be nice blah blah no bullying blah blah wear shirts. Oops. Shrugging she walked over to the booths set up around the school for extracurricular activities. Most were pretty boring. Chess club, nerds. Cooking club, not unless they wanted a pro taste tester. Skateboard club, otherwise fake land surfing. Bunch of pussies.

Glancing to her left she saw the 'Queen' Bee hanging in front of the dance booth. Of course she would be found there. Rolling her eyes, Tis bounced along, dodging around people. Perhaps running into a few. Bubbling up to Dominique, Tis took one glance at her before standing next to her mimicking her pose. Arms crossed over her swimsuit, she tried to put on her best stern face. Sticking out a hand she wagged a finger at a few of her 'subjects.' Unable to keep up the act any longer, Tis burst out laughing to the point of tears. Throwing her arm around Dominique's shoulders she leaned on her like they were best friends. "Bro... dude.... Dom..." she gasped out between fits of laughter, "Dopplegained you new school, foamie."

[Fabricant451]

---

Location: Sanctuary → Beverly Hills High
Interacting With: Those Who Are Disappointed; Those Whose Eyes Are Full of Lies.
Time: The Times Before the Crash

_{All you do is cry
I'm afraid they're gonna find you
and there's nothing that I can do}

---

It was hard not to break down in front of the mirror. How many people, young and old, were waking up and spending an ungodly amount of time in front of mirrors of all shapes and sizes, making themselves look 'presentable' and 'attractive' and other synonyms for 'fake' before going out into the real world? Not everyone who gazed into the glass liked their reflection, and those that didn't like what they see weren't always willing to put the effort to change that, to look into the mirror and see someone happy. As she looked into the mirror the only thing that gazed back was disappointment. Depression. Failure.

Phil Coleman had her bony fingers clutching the edges of the counter as her shaking, scared doe-eyes gazed into the glass hanging above the sink. Staring back at her was a ghoul, sunken cheeks, pale skin, bright, light blue hair, and lips that were quivering and turning dark in color - matching the heavy lines under her eyes. She was like a raccoon fell into a vat of blue flavored cotton candy and then fucked the guy from Munch's 'The Scream'. Below her reflection, it wasn't just her lips that were shaking. Her fingers had to clutch the counter edge as they were shaking rather violently and this was the only way she could ignore it; digging nails into hardwood was painful, but the pain was necessary. She'd dig her nails deeper if she could, but they had been filed down to small nubs, to the point where it was painful to grip a wrapper for a candy bar and pull it open. This was a hell of her own making.

Deep breathes. It hurt to inhale. Deep breathing. The saliva was like lava as she swallowed a gulp. Deep breathing. She didn't need it. Deep breaths. She needed it.

Phil's right hand unclasped the counter and hovered over the syringe laying next to the porcelain sink. Inside the syringe was the solution. The pain would go away, the shakes, the fears, but it wouldn't last. But it would last long enough. God she needed it. How could she not? A simple solution to the problems, to the pain, was right there, her fingers were hovering over it - so close she could feel the warmth from the inside of the syringe. Her eyes glanced downward, seeing the hesitation in her own body; the subtle resistance, the constant internal conflict. It wasn't always like this; She was happy, once. She had prospects, once. She had friends, once. She had a support system, once. She went to a party, once. She took a drink, once. She took a hit, once. She did a line, once. Her whole life up to now was a series of onces. So what was once more? Once more the pain would go away. Once more the release would happen. Once more she would disappoint the only people who still cared.

It was just one more hit.

Phil's eyes looked back into the mirror and they did not recognize the monster that looked back. She was pretty, once. Her hair used to be so lustrous, so shining and black, so bright and blue, so...unique...and now her hair was sickly blue and stringy, clinging to her forehead like someone slathered glue on her face. It helped when she didn't look. It was easier to handle if she didn't look. She stared into the mirror so she didn't have to look as her fingers closed around the syringe.

There she goes. There she goes again. Racin' through her brain and she just can't contain the feeling that remains. There she blows. There she blows again. Pulsin' thru her veins...

---

Location; Abby Park's Apartment → Beverly Hills High
Interacting With; Potential Clients, Adoring Fans
Time; Before Noon

---

"But I thought you didn't trust me? Kirin Tor...spellslinger...that night on the way to Blackrock...did you feel it too?" Khadgar's breathing was low, but his small lips and lowered eyelids gave off a rather coquettish vibe as he stared towards the object of his obsession, his desire. It seemed a bit unusual for the young mage to act like this, but when dealing with sorts who care more about the size of their weapon and the bulkiness of their chainmail, it helped to put on the act...the weak, unassuming visage of a stringy little spellslinger. But it had worked, it had allowed him to get closer...

The mage did not wait for confirmation. As their eyes locked, a silent moment of understanding, of acknowledgment passed between them. And Khadgar didn't even have to use his magicks to ensorcell his target; it was too soon to call this anything, certainly not love...but lust was closer. That night on the mountain pass was stuck in his mind for weeks now. At the time the half orc distraction had assumed the curious, knowledgeable weakling of a mage had been interested in sleeping with her. So full of herself she was, chalk it up to orcish pride running deep even in the blood of one with half parentage. It was not the greenskin that the former Kirin Tor had been interested in; he had been gazing at the orc only because she was a nuisance, an obstacle, a rival for the affections of the one he truly had feelings for.

For as strong a combatant that orc no doubt was, it was the mage who won in the end as he could now feel the warmth of breath on his skin, the tingling sensation that came with it, and the look of passion in those deep, beautiful eyes. Khadgar extended a hand, pressing his ungloved palm to that rough, rugged cheek before him. Oh how he enjoyed the feeling of stubble betwixt his fingers as his palm traced a small downward line towards that jaw. Khadgar's index finger pressed gently against the lips that were trembling. So the strong sorts did have vulnerabilities. Did have soft sides. Or soft lips as the case was.

It was okay. Khadgar would take care of this, he would make the nerves cease. With a calming grin at the edges of his lips, Khadgar closed the gap between them and took the initiative. The mage pressed his lips against Anduin's in a gentle, taking kiss. In that moment as passions flared and emotions rose to the surface, the little game he had been playing with the greenskin had ended. Khadgar won. Though Anduin and the orc had similar interests in battle, it was this little unassuming caster that had won in the end. The thought lingered in Khadgar's mind as he enjoyed the prize. It was the mage who bested the warrior after all.

The kiss broke and their breathing was increased. "Your king can wait a moment longer." Khadgar whispered, voice dropping to a sultry whisper as his fingers were already set on their task of unclasping Anduin's obstructing mail, "Right now, your loyalties lay with a different sort. Lay with me." There was a gentle thud as Anduin's chestplate collapsed onto the stone floor, and Khadgar's hands could hardly contain their excitement as his palm felt along those chiseled, toned muscles. There was something to be said for the Stormwind Guard training regimen. Neither man was sure just how much time they had, but they would make the best of it while they could. Another -

"HANA, DON'T BE LATE. TRUANCY'S A CRIME, YOU KNOW."

Hana Park blinked and hurriedly clicked the save icon on her word document before closing out of it entirely. A sigh escaped her lips followed by a quick shaking of her head; she had intended on publishing the latest chapter online before school started, but that seemed like an impossibility now. There would be so little time to finish the chapter during school hours - not that she WOULD, of course, eyes were everywhere and not all of them were working for her.

"I know, Abs, I know!" Hana called towards her door. Hana had been living with her older sister Abby for almost two years now, an arrangement that took some convincing for both sides. Abby had enjoyed living by herself since no one was there to judge her for both stocking the fridge with cheep beer and for getting invested in reality competition shows on a regular basis and though she loved Hana - they were the closest siblings of the Park family after all - living alone had brought a comfort to the young police officer. Hana did work her charms and magic, though, and convinced both Abby and their father that Abby's closer location to the high school meant a shorter commute and would certainly make her extra-curriculars more palatable.

It had been an excuse, of course, but they remained none the wiser.

Hana got up from her laptop, shutting the top as she stood. She was already dressed for the first day; white skirt that would surely give the new arrivals and old returnees a fresh reminder that these were the legs of both the softball team captain AND a damn great tennis team member, pink top cut just low enough to fit the acceptable dress code while also maintaining that air of allure and confidence - she was classy, not trashy. Leave trashy to the cheerleaders who flipped their skirts as soon as some lunkhead in a letterman jacket was creeping around.

Either way, the latest chapter in VanillaSunrise's fic would have to wait until the evening. Such was life.

Hana left her room, grabbing her bag from the doorknob as she did, and walked down the hall towards the small kitchen area. Abby's apartment was a bit on the small side, unusual for one living in Beverly Hills, but it offered cheaper rent and utilities. Hardly a loft, but a simple two bed, one bath that was practically in spitting distance of the high school. Hana grabbed a vanilla yogurt from the fridge and gave her sister a wave good bye before heading out of the door. "Catch the criminals," Hana called before leaving the apartment altogether. 'Catch the criminals' is what Hana used to say to Abby when they were both younger and playing one of their imaginative games. Hana doubted that Abby remembered those days, but it served as a nice reminder to Hana that she still cared for Abby even as she was taking advantage of her hospitality.

Another year was starting at Beverly Hills High School, and that just meant one thing to Hana Park. Another batch of new arrivals with access to their parents' bank account and a dire need to seem cool. There might have been a new Queen Bee roaming the halls, but there was only one Queenpin and she was making her way to her area of distribution.

---

---

badazzbrekkie uploaded



#breakfast #homemade #foodporn

Phil could count on one hand the things in life that brought her joy and posting her breakfast onto Instagram was one of those. At first she just did it to occupy her hands, but when she saw that people actually seemed to respond to her posts she kept doing it. Breakfast was one thing Phil did better than anyone she knew. Well, breakfast and shooting up, but the people she knew weren't addicts. Not like she was. The morning trip in the bathroom was exactly what she needed to start the day and by the time she was out of the door of her grandparents house, she was almost smiling.

The hard part was making it through the day without wanting another hit. She could get it, but not on the first day and she would be insane to bring the spoon, the needle, the flame to school grounds. Not that anyone would care. Phil all but vanished the last few months of her sophomore year and no one heard hide nor hair of her for all of summer, which was unusual as even if she was uninvited Phil had a habit of showing up at parties and livening up the place with her antics. The Phil from last school year was a different person, not as thin, not as haggard...Phil was different now and she hoped that that wouldn't draw attention to her. That was the last thing she needed.

When Phil arrived on school grounds, she did not attend the assembly. Too many people. Too much useless information. Too many eyes and too many lies. Like the ghost she resembled, Phil stayed to the outskirts, hanging out near the wall of the auditorium until her eyes settled on all the movement, her ears picked up all the sounds...the Activities Fair. That was still happening? It wasn't all that long ago that Phil was sitting with the Art Club doing quick caricatures of people in order to entice them into joining. A distant memory. A painful one. She would absolutely have to avoid the Art Club and their no-doubt judging stares. She hadn't picked up a paintbrush or pencil since she picked up the syringe.

Phil kept her head down as she walked through the Activity Fair. She didnt' belong here, she had nothing to advertise and she wasn't about to join any club. Who would take her? Who would want that responsibility? All the noise, the clubs handing out fliers, the young sorts curious as to what the place had on offer other than sadness and petty bitchy bullshit. Out of the corner of her ear she heard someone call for others...she sounded like a real...'treat' but a quick glance towards the girl and Phil's feet carried her quickly past the...Yearbook Club, but only long enough for Phil to snag not one but three cookies. "Happy Halloween," Phil muttered under her breath at the girl's choice in color for her dress. She was thankful for the inadvertent distraction from the crazy surfer linguist.

As she continued her walk through the shadows of the Activity Fair, a flier for battle of the bands was dropped into her hands and to her side she could hear people discuss entering. She snickered to herself as she balled the flier into a, well, a ball and chucked it aside. "Work on the band name first..." another muttering as she walked past like the ghost she seemed to be. Unwarranted confidence was a nice side effect of her addiction.

Phil came to a stop as she noticed the Art Club booth in her peripheral vision. She couldn't go on. She had to turn around. And she did. Phil turned around,not wanting those memories to come flooding back, not wanting to face her former art buddies, and as she stepped away it all came tumbling down. Phil made contact with someone walking and she fell onto the ground, head hitting the pavement.

At least the cookies remained grasped between her fingers.

---

"Captain!" Some of the softball team members were rushing to greet their newly appointed captain, Hana, who had skipped the assembly because honestly who cared. As the captain of a sports team and a well known member of ANOTHER sports team, Hana had a generally busy time at the Activity Fair, bouncing between sports booths like a ping pong ball. The Activity Fair sure was lively, and Hana enjoyed that aspect of it. Lots of people talking. Lots of eyes and ears making the rounds.

"So, what's the plan?" Hana asked one of her team mates as she arrived at the athletics corner of the Activity Fair.

"Well it's softball, Captain, people will either want to try out or they won't. But since you're the Captain..."

"...Right, it's my job to interest people. No problem. Although I already promised I'd help out with a Tennis Team demo. It'll be fine. You girls can explain softball to people." Hana could think of nothing she wanted to do less than sit and smile and tell girls about how much fun softball was. Other clubs had more active examples but softball was so explanatory that all the team members usually did was stick some junior varsity girls at the booth to tell them when try outs happened.

Which is exactly what they were going to do this year too.

"Anyway, you all know the drill. I've got appearances to make elsewhere, I'll come check by later." Almost as soon as Hana had arrived at the softball booth she was turning around to make her presence known to others at the Fair. Hana Song was a somebody on the campus and people would have to be made aware of this fact.

The first task of any new school year, of course, was scoping out old methods of distribution. The Pizza Man would be opening the doors soon. But that could wait. Hana had a genuine interest in seeing the other booths, in mingling, in making herself known. The duty of a popular jock didn't start and stop on the field, after all.

But for now, she was simply going to play it by ear. A few waves. A few smiles. A couple of knowing winks to those who got caught leering...just another day at Beverly Hills High School.

[Venus]

Location: The Thompson Home --> Beverly Hills Middle School --> Beverly Hills High
Interacting With: The Thompsons (NPC’s), My Boys: Tyler @foxygen & My Secret Crush… shhhhhh! Josh @Wade Wilson
Outfit | Song

August 15 was a very important day in the Thompson household: Julius, the youngest of the five Thompson children, was now an official middle school student. This meant that Judith Thompson was no longer the mother of children, but the mother of pre-teens, teenagers and adults. To celebrate that Julius was no longer an elementary school child, the Thompsons celebrated by going all-out with their breakfast. At first it was decided that Jocelyn and her twin older brothers Jonathan and James would be in charge of preparing the meal. Judith was supposed to come home from an all-nighter shift at the hospital, and they wanted her to get straight home to rest without worries. But Judith had arrived earlier than expected, and so the Thompsons were able to enjoy a family breakfast before it was time for ever the responsible older sister/second mother Josie to drive her younger siblings to school. To other older siblings this would be a chore they’re forced into, but Josie did it with all the love in the world. They were her babies, after all.

“Julius! Julia! Come on, guys! We’re gonna be late, and I don’t want Julius to be late on his first day of high school!” Josie cooed, taking the chance to pinch Julius’ cheeks as he walked down the steps that led to the upper floor.

“Joooosiiiieeeeee! Stooooooop thaaaaat!” Julius whined good-naturedly, stepping away from his sister’s clutches while Josie giggled.

Once Julia was finished, the school-aged Thompsons said their good-byes to the twins and their mother before making their way to the car: Josie’s Sweet Sixteen birthday gift from her father. Along the way, Josie cranked up the radio: her favorite song was playing, and her sibling joined her on an all-out car karaoke session. Beverly Hills Middle School was a fifteen-minute drive from their home, so the kids had a fairly decent session before arriving at the middle school gates. Once they had arrived, Julius and Julia stepped out, and Josie decided that a quick good-bye wasn’t enough for this particular day.

Looking more like a proud mother than an older sister, Josie straightened Julius’ hair and clothes before staring at him with tearful eyes. “My baby brother is all grown up now!” she whispered in a melancholic way. It was a bittersweet moment, but she was happy all the same. “Okay, you two know the drill, right? Keep yourselves out of trouble, be nice to everyone, and if someone bullies you please let me know so I can kick their asses.”

Julius snorted at his older sister. “Like you could kick anyone’s ass, JoJo.”

“You get sad when Mom swats the flies dead!” giggled Julia, looking at Josie teasingly.

Josie stuck out her tongue at both kids. “Okay, that’s enough, you two. Now, off you go, sweets. I love you both so much.” she told them, taking a moment to kiss and give a big hug to each of her siblings before watching them head out into their new school year with a proud smile.

~~~

The detour to middle school had set her back five minutes, which meant that by the time Josie had reached the crowded parking lot of Beverly Hills High she had a hard time finding a free spot. That set the red-headed girl back another five minutes, which made her ten minutes late to her first day as a junior. Luckily, it seemed that the rest of the junior and senior classes were just recently settling down on the auditorium, so she was able to blend in with the crowd and slip by unnoticed. The assembly had her attention for about the first twenty minutes. Then, she spent the rest of it texting Josh and Ty on their Whatsapp group called “The Three Musketeers” until she was finally free to go some time later. She knew there would be an Activities Assembly back in the field, and thought that it would be a good idea for her to sign up on the decorating committee that would be in charge of all the dances of the year. She liked decorating, so it would be a fun little project for her to try. Josie quickly headed in the direction of the booth, signed up and was heading back to her car when she came across the sight of Tyler handing Josh a granola bar before the latter suddenly fainted.

“Josh!” Josie shrieked, rushing over to where Tyler was holding a passed-out Josh. Instead of being calm, cool and collected in situations like this as her mother would be, Josie was the type to go into hysterics. Not only was the fact that one of her best friends in the whole entire world had just fainted out of nowhere, but there was another reason why this particular situation worried Josie so. For as long as she’d known him, Jocelyn had harbored a crush on Josh, which had only grown the more time they spent together and got to know each other. She knew the hell Josh lived in every day, and her only wish in this life was to make him as happy as she could: show him that even if everything seemed crappy in life there was always something worth living for. Of course, Josie had never dared to tell Josh about her feelings. What if her feelings weren’t reciprocated, or got in the way of the friendship she had with both boys? To Josie, Ty and Josh were like same-age versions of her older brothers. She would gladly do anything and everything for them, and the thought of losing either of them was one she couldn’t bear imagine. And so, it was a better bet to keep her romantic feelings

But in moments like this, her love for Josh shone like a beacon.

“What happened to him, Ty?! Oh my God! Oh my God!” she wailed before starting to sob for a little while. She knew the hell Josh’s parents put him and his siblings through, and how the boy was always so selfless as to put the welfare of his younger siblings before him. That usually meant that any food he got was handed away to the youngsters, and that these fainting episodes happened quite often. Josie had tried to convince him to come to her whenever he needed food or snacks of basically anything he needed, but Josh was always too shy to take her up on the offer.

Well, crying about things wasn’t going to solve the issue at hand, so Josie took a few calming breaths. “Please be okay, Joshie…” she whispered before planting a kiss on his forehead. Josie took a moment to tie her long, ginger locks back before she turned back to Tyler in a little bit more in control of herself. “Okay, Mom always says that when someone faints you have to, like, fan them with something so the air helps them wake up,” she told him before rummaging through her backpack for the little portable fan she always carried around, then grabbing a notebook that she handed to Ty. Josie shifted her position, brought Josh to her lap and turned to Ty. “You fan him with the notebook while I do the fan, ‘kay?” Josie asked of him, turning the little fan on and holding it in front of Josh’s face.

---

---

Location: The Jameson-Tomers Home  Beverly Hills High
Interacting With: The Darling Stepdaddy Mr. Shawn Tomers (NPC), Who the fuck is he?! “Mockingjay” @Altered Tundra
Outfit | Song

---

Mornings in the Jameson-Tomers household would apparently be taking a new routine this year. Sierra Jameson’s mother Sonya had been reassigned to a school that was a longer distance away from the one she had been working on, which meant that she had to leave an hour earlier in order to make it on time. This meant that it would now be Shawn Tomers’ job to wake his stepdaughter for school every morning, and that the duo had a full hour for themselves. Sierra, being the little minx she was, planned to take full advantage of this situation that seemed to be given to her by the gods, starting this morning. When Shawn approached Sierra to wake her, the young lady asked him for a kiss. Shawn, being the spoiling stepfather he always was, didn’t hesitate to give her one. Of course, it didn’t take long for Sierra to get him all worked up, off his clothes and straight into bed with her for a morning quickie. In appreciation for the amazing way of waking her up, Sierra made for them her delicious chocolate chip pancakes, topped with whipped cream, chocolate syrup and regular syrup while Shawn got ready for school. Sierra finished her breakfast rather quickly in order for her to have enough time to get ready… She had other important plans this morning.

Instead of taking the 10-minute ride with her stepfather as she usually would, Sierra decided to take a longer transportation method: skateboarding. There was a very obvious explanation as to why her lazy-ass would choose to reject an air-conditioned, fast ride to school instead of taking the time to do the physical activity to skate to school. Two words: Pokémon GO. Though she had quite a few Pokémon under her belt and was a proud member of Team Mystic, the road to school was not one she had explored in her search for the famous imaginary monsters. And why would she, anyway? She despised school to the core, prayed for vacation days to come as soon as they could so she could spend her time sleeping, playing games, eating, hanging out with her sister and just plain having fun with her sister instead of being locked up in rooms listening to teachers talk uninteresting shit all day long. Sadly, it was that time of the year again: school was back in session, and she wouldn’t be free of the prison that was Beverly Hills High School until the holiday break. But for now, she still had some time left off to enjoy her freedom. With her earphones on blasting the old My Chemical Romance album Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge, backpack secured in place, phone in her hand, Sierra made her way through the streets that would eventually lead her to school.

Her skateboard carried her all the way to the school’s double doors. Had the floors of BHHS not presented a falling hazard, Sierra would’ve happily skated down to her locker, but she had to settle for this. Carrying her Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy skateboard under her arm, Sierra walked to her locker to put the board to safety, leave her backpack inside as well and go to the stupid senior and junior assembly. Though she wanted to skip the assembly completely to explore the school for Pokémon before any other players could capture them, Sierra was forced by Shawn to attend. She didn’t want to cause him any trouble on her first day (there would be plenty of time for that during the rest of the year), so for this time she played nice and sat through the boring event.

Once the assembly was over, Sierra made sure to be one of the first students to exit. She quickly tucked the papers for her mother to sign inside the pocket of her skirt, opened the Pokémon GO app and scanned the map for anything interesting. There were plenty of Pokémon GO users at the school according to the map in Sierra’s phone, but upon further examination there was a particular username that caught her utmost attention: Mockingjay. Sierra froze on the spot, wide-eyed and staring at her phone as if the device had grown tentacles. Had her phone been hacked? Was her sight playing with her? Because there was no way that out of all her online friends, the one she had always been dying to meet was a student at this school… Or was he?

Everyone that knew Sierra had heard her gush (and for her to gush about someone takes a lot) about her online best friend in the entire world: a guy whose gamer tag was Mockingjay. They’d known each other since the summer before high school started for both of them, and their chemistry was undeniable from the start. Not only did they become one of the most popular duos back in the PlayStation Network, but they became as inseparable friends as one could be thanks to the magic of the internet. The more they played, the closer they got: sharing laughs, secrets, insecurities, advice… You name it. By the time their freshman year had ended, her ice-cold heart had melted: Sierra had developed a huge crush on Mockingjay. It was true that she had dated Archie Wilhem for a few months, and that she had hooked up with a fair share of others (Jade, Jareth, her stepfather…), but her feelings for the Mockingjay were ever-present, always the same. After every let-down, he was always there to listen, offer his sympathy and distract her in the way only he could. No matter how much she told herself that it was the stupidest thing in the world to be in love with someone she had no chance of ever knowing, it only took the sound of his voice (and that adorable laugh of his) to set the butterflies in Sierra’s stomach into a frenzy. Whatever it was she felt for the Mockingjay, it wouldn’t be going away any time soon, but he wouldn’t know about it either. Sierra had already had her heart broken once, so she had built enough walls to guard herself in to not even consider the possibility of ever telling Mockingjay how she truly felt. She figured that even if it didn’t seem that way, her feelings would eventually disappear as she grew older. But for now, she enjoyed every single game, conversation, smiles and happiness he gave her. For Sierra, the Mockingjay was proof that the world wasn’t such a shitty place after all.

“What are the fucking odds that I have been going to school with Mockingjay and never fucking realized it?” Sierra thought in a mixture of awe and annoyance as she continued to stare at her phone screen, her blue-green eyes still wide in shock and recognition.

No sooner that she’d thought those words, the Mockingjay avatar started moving. Without wasting any time, Sierra immediately followed it around the halls. She kept her eyes peeled for the slightest tell-tale sign of who could be her Mockingjay, but no matter how fast she walked he had quite the distance ahead of her. “Oh nonononononono!” she whined as she saw the avatar going in the direction of the activities fair in the field, where the mass amount of other avatars was sure to hide him. “No!” Sierra was at a sprint, pushing anyone that was in her way without a care or an apology, but it was too late. By the time she had reached the doors that lead to the activities fair, Mockingjay had already been lost.

“FUCK!” she cursed in frustration, placing her phone in her pocket. Angry about missing what she thought was her big break in finally seeing the face of the man who’d made her so happy these last three years, Sierra walked to a secret spot she had behind the building and away from trouble. Once there, she lit a cigarette and took a deep drag of it, scanning the quiet area with her blue-green eyes. She hoped the nicotine would, as always, ease away her feelings.

---

---

Both of us want to be the winner, but there can only be one
So I'm gonna fight, gonna give it my all
Gonna make you fall, gonna sock it to you
That's right I'm the last one standing, another one bites the dust

Location: The Huntsberg Villa --> Beverly Hills High
Interacting With: Leslie Anderson (NPC), The Mysterious Camaro Owner @Universorum, Eve Harding (via text) @lovely complex
Outfit | Song

---

---

While most of her classmates were probably deeply asleep at 5:30 in the morning, Audrey Huntsberg was already up and going. The young woman had a strict exercise routine to keep her body in pristine dancing condition: 30 minutes of a morning jog, 10 minutes of break, 30 minutes of dance practice and then she would be free to move on with the rest of her day. Having finished her morning workouts, Audrey took a quick shower and put on her robe before joining her parents for a rare family breakfast by the poolside table overlooking the LA coastline. Breakfast was an enjoyable affair: all Huntsbergs shared the highlights of their past week between laughs and bites of scrambled eggs, toast, pancakes and sausages before Dr. Arthur Huntsberg had to leave for an upcoming surgery, Elisabetta for a class she had to teach and Audrey to arrive to school on time. In typical Audrey fashion, her clothes for the day had been previously selected the night before, as was the packing of her dance bag. Audrey was a very methodical and organized woman, Makeup done, bags packed, Ray Bans shades on and cellphone in her hand, Audrey walked out of her room, down the stairs and to the front of the villa, where her car was already waiting for her. She got inside the driver’s seat and took a moment to find the right playlist for the short ride before starting on her way to the school. Britney Spears’ old hits playing through the speakers, wind blowing through her long brown locks, the sun shining… Audrey couldn’t help but smile. It was a perfect day to start her final school year: and senior year would be her year.

~~~

The moment Audrey walked into the school, she was received with the exact same reaction Miranda Priestly was back in the movie The Devil Wears Prada: people clearing the way for her, cowering behind friends, and some unable to avert their eyes from the commanding presence her intimidating figure posed upon the halls. If you were to stop for a second and thought about it, the two were more alike than one could imagine. Both Audrey and Miranda were relentless, fierce, never hesitant to say what they think or back down from any challenge. The two women also shared the trait that earned them somewhat of a "career-obsessed dragon lady" reputation, because to them nothing else mattered more than their success. Whereas Miranda Priestly's obsession was with her job as a magazine editor, Audrey's obsession was with dancing and taking her team to victory for the second time in a row. With Audrey as captain, the team had no place for cry-babies, losers, quitters or sloths, much like Miranda disliked people with these traits. There was also the fact that you were sure to face the wrath of the Devil were you to mess with any of the two. Yes, it was safe to say that Audrey Huntsberg was most definitely a teenage Miranda Priestly. Fun fact? Miranda Priestly was none other than Audrey's paternal grandmother.

Because she was a team captain, Audrey was required to sit in the front seats of the Assembly for the moment in which they presented the team and club captains. This made the assembly seem long and boring without her friends, but Instagram, Facebook and Twitter proved to be the best of distractions. No sooner than the assembly was over did Audrey tucked away the forms for her parents to sign to make a quick detour to the bathroom. Hair was okay, a touch of lipstick was done, a spritz of perfume to make her smell sweet and fruity and off to the field she went.

As she made her way to the Dance Team booth her fellow teammates were running, Audrey waved at Dominique Saunders with a half-smile. She’d heard the rumors about how most students saw her more as Queen material than Dominique, but as far as everyone -including Domi- knew that was just a rumor. What Dominique had no way of knowing was that the spot of Beverly Hills High Queen Bee was originally offered to Audrey back in May. A group of A-listers -including the past King and Queen Bee- had approached Audrey a week after leading the Normans to winning their first High School Dance Nationals in five years, and explained that it was their wish for Audrey to be the ‘ruler’ of the school once they were gone as they felt she had all the qualifications: beauty, brains, money, power, talent and that intimidating personality that set them apart and above the rest. After some careful consideration, Audrey had politely declined. She would be a Senior that upcoming year, and wanted no distractions as she continued her journey to reach her goals: win Nationals again, graduate on the Top 5 of her class and be accepted to an Ivy League college. She knew the Queen Bee title would most likely be too much for her to handle (even with the help of her ride-or-die BFF Eve), and that it would prevent her from focusing on the truly important matters. And so, the A-listers had no other choice than to pass on to their second option: the current Queen Bee.

Focusing on current, more important matters, Audrey confidently made her way to the Dance Team booth, where Leslie Anderson (the Dance Team's Second In Command/Audrey's Right Hand) and the rest of the team had already set up. She said quick hellos to her teammates before taking a moment to examine the work they had done on the booth's decoration. “Wow, guys. I’m very proud of you all. This looks amazing.” Audrey called out to her teammates, looking around at the booth with a satisfied smile. The booth had been decorated with the school colors (black, orange and white), and a corrugated display board had been used to make a collage of pictures of the team in their competitions, events and practices, along with information about the try-out dates and times and their social media accounts. Of course, the thing that made Audrey grin proudly from ear to ear was the magnificent golden trophy at the center of the table whose plaque read: UNITED STATES HIGH SCHOOL DANCE NATIONALS CHAMPIONS: THE NORMANS OF BEVERLY HILLS HIGH. The sign of the event was used to drape the table, and a variety of their other awards from their previous competitions were also scattered around the table. All in all, the booth was a tribute to the hard work of the dance team, and a homage to the astonishing work Audrey Huntsberg could lead them to accomplish. Completely proud of her teammates, Audrey spent a while talking to the team, asking Leslie about how the signing up had been and discussing the upcoming events before excusing herself for a minute to take a break.

Audrey's honey brown eyes scanned her surroundings. The Activities Fair seemed to be more popular than she had originally thought. As was to be expected, some clubs were more popular and received more attention than others, but the attendance to the fair had surpassed her expectations. at the school's parking lot, her eyes widened in shock as they fell on a very particular car she recognized instantly. Sure, the details of that night were foggy, but there was no way she wouldn't recognize the white 1969 Camaro with its unique orange stripes and black leather seats. In all honesty the issue here wasn't the car itself, but more specifically, the car's owner, and what they had done in said car. A quick look around the area confirmed her suspicions: right there, sitting alone at the corner of the bleachers, was the Camaro's owner.

Audrey bit her lip in nervousness, trying to conceal the hysterics she was truly feeling. It was him, she was damn sure of it. She remembered that black leather jacket too well, having worn it on her nearly-naked body as he and the guy... I'll let you imagine the rest. They had vowed to never speak of what had happened ever and move on with their lives as the perfect strangers they were... Apparently, destiny had other plans for Audrey. And she was having none of it.

In a state of panic, Audrey took out her phone and typed a quick text to the one person she could trust in this world with her personal business: Eve.

To: Evie-Bee
Babe, this is an emergencyyyyyyyyyy! D: Meet me at the Dance Team's booth ASAP.

Audrey

---

---

[AlteredTundra]

Location: Sweet bed → Kitchen with the annoying fam → Streets and the Store → Going to Hell School
Interacting With: Ely _{@lovely complex}; Annoying fam; Poppy at the end _{@MissCapnCrunch}
Time: 7:00am - whenever the fucking orientation begins.
Jade’s Outfit of the Day | Ely’s Outfit of the Day

“Oh fuck me Jesus.” she groaned annoyingly.

All Jade wanted to do was sleep as much of the early morning as she possibly could, but someone just had to have their alarm go off bright and early. And it wasn’t just any alarm, but the belching screams of that monkey, Goku from Dragon Ball Z. Why did Jackson have such a loud alarm clock? The walls weren’t thin by any means, so did that goofball think it was appropriate to have that loud of an alarm clock alert? Of course he did because he’s an obnoxious little shit. So Jade banged against the wall about as hard as she could. Not realizing it, she banged too hard. There was a crack in the wall’s foundation. Whoops.

And so Jade let the next hour pass her by, snoring her cares away.

And so Jade woke up to the sounds of her door banging. She groaned, looking at her own alarm clock. It said it was seven. Oh well, apparently there was only so long that she could sleep before either her uncle or aunt decided for her that it was time to wake up. She groaned again, lifting her surprisingly heavy.

“Fucking hells.” Jade was up, but she didn’t want to be. If she could help it, she would prefer not to go to that pointless orientation today. So what if they had sign up for classes and meet their classmates? Jade didn’t partake in most school-sanctioned activities, anyway. The only thing she would possibly do would be the dances, but even those tend to be pretty lame.

She had been sitting in her bed, dressed in nothing but a pair of red sweats, and a black tank. She didn’t know how long she had been sitting there. Last time she checked her clock, it read just past seven. As she went to it once more, it was now 7:10am. As if like clockwork, Jade heard another bang on her door.

“Time to get up!” she heard her Aunt Riley say.

Jade sighed. “Yeah, yeah - I heard you ten minutes ago.” Jade somewhat lied. She did hear Riley, but she didn’t really register.

As Jade rounded her bed, and went to her closet, she lazily grabbed a few items of clothing. She didn’t know what she picked out or if it would match, but she didn’t care. Jade just wanted to get dressed, and get this day over with already. Undressing, slid off her pajamas and started putting on her outfit of the day. Within this outfit was a Led Zeppelin shirt, short black shorts, an oversized blue flannel jacket, and her trademark black sunglasses. She looked like a 90s bum, but she really didn’t give two flying shits.

Jade grabbed her phone, and book bag. As she was about to make her way out of her room, she saw Ely just chilling on the edge of her window, blowing a bubble with her bubblegum. “Ever heard of the door, bitch? Comes in handy when coming to another person’s house.”

With her black beanie, shades, one earbud in, which blared Do Not Look Down by MESHUGGAH, and her simple grunge look, Elysia Fable stared at her friend while chewing her gum modestly. Best believe she wouldn’t chew like some damn cow, but she would blow hella big bubbles. Respect. Her skateboard stuck out of her dark purple Journey backpack, her shorts were a bit on the skimpy side, and her jean jacket held her black case for cigs, but they lacked cigs. She needed to get cigs. Her black heeled foot moved up and down with the angry, metal screamo song coursing in her mind, as she apathetically responded to her friend (not really replying to her comment of entering through the front door), “We should go to the store.”

Hopping off the ledge, Ely nonchalantly strolled beside the one girl that probably ‘got her’ in this entire damn country (her faith in people were limited). Her morning was a rather simple one. Just fifthteen minutes ago she woke up on a park bench. Her park bench. The one by that lake. Fuck, what was the lake called again? She could feel it just waiting to roll off her tongue. Something with an F? Fuckin-lake-that-she-couldn’t-remember-the-name-of. Yeah, she’ll go with that. There was a specific bench she took a liking to, which was by a dankass lake and had a great view of the sunrise. EITHER WAY, she woke up on that bench because many nights she would rather sleep there than some stupid house that she wanted to burn to the ground. Fuck that house. The previous night she went to a college party that her brother didn’t want to go alone to. His friends were peer pressuring him to take a break from studies and even Ely encouraged him to let loose. He had a major case of bad anxiety. She could still feel that awesome ecstasy in her veins - but what the hell happened to all her damn cigarettes?! She just bought a goddamn new pack last night. “So yeah, babe, we should be outtie.”

“Yeah for sure. Let me just go tell my annoying uncle and auntie that I’m up.” Jade said, already dreading going out to the kitchen.

She really didn’t get why she had to stay with these fucking idiots? They all were bizarre and had weird family traditions. Jade often found it difficult to believe that she was related to them, Jackson specifically. How could someone so normal-looking be a guy with the most outrageously-obnoxious personality.

“Hey, El, you totally want to freak out my uncle and aunt?” Jade looked at Ely. It was the look when nothing but bad ideas were brewing up in that blonde hair-filled noggin of hers..

Taking off her shades, her eyes a demonic red, since Ely loved to spice up her green orbs with weird ass colors, she hooked her glasses on her tank and let her lips curve subtly. Not a full-on smile, since Ely smiling was a rather weird occurrence, but enough to express that she was all ears, “Yeah. I’m down.”

With a wicked laugh, Jade kind of tugged Ely’s arm, pulling the blonde girl with her. They exited her room, and walked down the hallway. Jade heard her uncle and aunt talking. She couldn’t make it out exactly, but they were loud(obviously, just look at who their son was). When they turned the corner leading from the hallway to the kitchen, Jade gave Ely a wink with her usual Lilith-influenced smirk. That’s when Jade stuck her hand straight into Ely’s very short shorts, grabbing a nice handful of her plump ass.

This however was far too simple. Far too slow for Ely (especially since she was itchin’ to smoke). So while Jade touched her ass, Ely twirled her friend in front of her and aggressively planted a rough kiss on those luscious lips that many people have had the pleasure of touching. While directing her backwards into the kitchen, Ely’s right hand ran through the beautiful, golden locks of her friend’s as their chests pressed up against each other. They made out straight into the kitchen, until Jade’s ass bumped (or slammed) into a chair.

“Oh Ja--” Leo had absentmindedly began to say when he saw what exactly Jade - and her female companion - were doing. His mouth went open. His eyes were wide, and looked to his wife who had thus gotten dressed as compared to earlier.

“Jade..what is this?”

Looking to her Uncle Leo and Aunt Riley, Jade smiled, returning Ely’s kiss with one of her own. All the while, Jade was eying her uncle and aunt. As if showing them exactly what it was. When she broke from Ely, she shrugged. “You guys know Ely, right?” Jade said, a bubble on her face that was Ely’s gum. She popped it.

“Yes, we know…her.” Riley had said with disdain in her voice. “You’re the one who corrupted my angel of a son.” Riley said with bitter anger towards Ely. To her surprise, eyes widening, she hear that not only did Leo start laughing, but Jade joined him. Obviously they disagreed.

“Because of me, your boy is fearless. I’d like to think I did ya a service, ma’am.” Ely slowly started backing to the door, while continuing her jab, “Don’t worry, MILF. He enjoyed it, I can promise you that. There’s worst wolves out there than a bitch like me. Now he’ll be prepared for ‘em.” She let out a howl, while giving Jackson’s mother a challenging stare. Her red gaze deeply looked into the authority figure’s eyes with nothing but uprising written on her face, “I guess that’s my cue to leave.” She winked at Jackie Boy’s parents, swung the door open making it SLAM into the wall, and took a bow. In that same moment, Riley took the glass in her hand, and threw it angrily at Ely, barely missing her head, and hitting the door. Glass spread all around Ely.

“GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!” Riley exploded at Ely. Leo looked at her, slowly took two large steps, gesturing Jade to leave as well.

“Might want to clean that up. Good throw though.” Ely shrugged and acknowledged Riley’s skills, before whistling her way out the house and onto the street, Jade not far behind her.

On the street, Jade couldn’t hold in her laughter and her wide smile. “Now that was hella fun, girl. You totally got to her. And my uncle was just like--” Jade mockingly made the same expression Leo had, “oh god, what have they done?”--she said impersonating her uncle. “Shit, I wish we could have done more with that. Could you imagine what they would have done if we were naked…” The curl of a twisted smile formed on her rose-colored lips.

With a straight face, Ely dropped her skateboard to the ground and planted her left foot on it, “Aw babe, at least take me out to dinner first.” She kicked off and glided around the area, close by her friend, listening to her attentively. Her ipod was shuffling through a bunch of LOUD, hardcore music. Just the right jams to wake up to in the morning. Making a quick figure eight around her dynamite of a best friend, she eagerly inquired, “How ‘bout that store?”

With her skateboard back in her bag, the rebellious blonde with piercing red eyes exited the convenient store, repeatedly hitting the top of her pack against the heel of her hand. Gotta’ make sure her poison burns longer, you know? Taking the top part of the plastic wrap off, she shoved the garbage into her butt pocket - not one for littering - and yanked it open, desperately. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! (There is no god). Lifting the box close to her face, she pushed out a smoke and placed it in between her lips with great satisfaction. Ely let it rest there while she transferred the rest of her cigarettes into her personal leather case that usually resided in her chest pocket. Once she was done crumpling the box, she slipped it into her bag, which most definitely had a bunch of other garbage just chillen’ in it as well. Taking her matches out of her right pocket, she burned one and lit her addiction. Her red orbs gleamed as they stared into the flame. Shaking the match, Ely kept it in the pinch of her fingers so that it may cool off, while her other hand took her cancer stick out after a long, very long, like… dude she needed this long… drag.

While Ely had gotten herself a pack of Luckies (Lucky Strike), Jade had gotten her a bag of Cool Ranch Dorito chips. She began snacking on a couple over the course of the following couple of minutes. She rather liked these above most flavors. Though, Jade does like the nacho cheese flavor. The aftereffects on her fingers are the best part. She loves licking them off finger by finger. She sucks on them for minutes at a time. Jade loves to suck.

Blowing smoke away from her friend’s face, Ely bluntly inquired, “Who you plan on fucking? It would be mad awk if we were after the same cookie crisps.” Bringing her eyes to the sky, she yawned, “But if the cookie wants to dip in two glasses of milk, I’m pretty chill with that.”

“Ely, you’re a whore.” Jade said bluntly, laughing. “But so am I.” she said, kind of half-shrugging. “I really don’t know who I want to have their sausage dipped into my gravy. Definitely not that asswipe Jareth. Last year was bad enough.” Jade shivered with anger at the thought of getting with Jareth again; though she wouldn’t mind hooking up a few more times. Jade kind of missed the way he touched her skin. If only he wasn’t such an oversensitive pussy. “That McMillian guy is kind of hot. A bit nerdy and totally a dumbass, but I could hit that. Oh, and Ghost. I’m definitely going to try and get that hot sausage link.” Jade licked her lips at the thought of that one. “What about you? Which entree are you gonna fancy?”

Flicking some ashes to the ground, Ely muttered, “Whores attract whores.” She hadn’t told Jade yet that she tasted Jareth’s sausage, multiple times after she broke his heart. What better time than now? Not one to lie behind her friend’s back, the royal fuck up let out a monotone chuckle, “You put him through the wringer and I’m his rebound. I can see why you didn’t stick.” Taking another drag, Ely’s stare was calm, as if she knew if her friend wanted to slap her, she could handle it, and even if she didn’t, that just meant both her and Jade shared a similar mindset. “Dude, if you can steal Niles’ virginity, because let’s be honest, I doubt he’s gotten laid, I’d do something real stupid for you. That kid is a walkin’ disaster. I feel sorry for the lil’ shit. Walking to a stop sign, she pressed her cigarette against it, and added, “Ghost, huh? That is a porno waiting to happen. He’s fuckin’ hot.”

“Jar is as much of a whore as we are. I just hope he wasn’t as whiny with you as he was with me. That would kind of suck - and not in the good way, either.” Jade said with a chuckle. “Niles IS a disaster, but have you seen that bod? Surprise of the day, for sure. Alex - I mean Ghost - is someone I just want to put my hands all over. Film me up, Ely!” Jade said with a bad Star Trek reference.

Noticing some random person’ recycle bin, she decided to flick her cigarette butt into it. Ely also took this moment to throw away all garbage in her pockets and backpack - which was a lot. From Monster drink cans, to gum wrappers, to this crumbled paper airplane, to some razor shit she probably shouldn’t even have in her bag… yeah. Goodbye garbage! Perhaps you’ll come back into this world as something else? That’s what recycling was for. As she emptied her backpack, she ‘answered’ Jade’s question, “The peeps I have my eyes on are the timid, shy ones. The ones I want to drive wild. Can you guess ‘em?” She stuck out her tongue, curious to see how well her best friend knew her.

Jade had to think about it. She had an idea about who it was, but shit she didn’t want to be right. She knew who those quiet ones were at school. God, she was even related to one of them. If she was right about that one, Jade might either burst into uncontrollable laughter or raise her eyebrow at her easy friend. “I fucking swear, Ely, if you’re talking about my other cousin..” Jade let out a large sigh, “he’s kind of a loner, you know that, right? Jason, I mean. I don’t hang with him much, but you know he’s got this big thing for Si. It’s pretty obvious. My Aunt Erin even knows it.” Jade said, crumpling up her empty bag of Cool Ranch Doritos, and tossing them into the recycle bin. “But seriously, it’s not Jay is it?” Jade looked to Ely as if looking for a shake of the head. That would ease her troubles on the matter for sure.

Her red orbs glinted deviously and even though her lips did not rise, there was an internal grin within her, as the blonde with the beanie teased, “I’m just shittin’ with you, baby. I knew you’d think of him first. Don’t get your panties in a bunch.” If Ely allowed herself to laugh more often, these would be one of those moments. Instead, she let out a light ‘meh’, “People bore me, but thanks for telling me who you’d bang.” Giving a mischievous wink, she led the way down the street.

“You teasing slut.” Jade scoffed, “and here I thought you actually were gonna let me in on who you wanna bang.” Obviously she wasn’t. What a tease. At least when Jade teased others, she got paid for it. Ely was just doing it for the fun of it. “Well whoever it is, I just hope you don’t degrade yourself and go for someone below your standards. I mean, I know you have pretty low standards, but I can think of at least five that are even lower than Jackson.” Jade laughed, shoving her hands into the deep pockets of her flannel jacket.

Sticking her hands in her pockets, letting her thumbs hook on the outside of her jean shorts, Ely glanced over at her friend for an instant in silence before disagreeing, “JB may be an idiot, but he isn’t a bad guy.” She let that settle in before continuing, “You may be a hussy, but that doesn’t make you ‘low’ standards. Not to me, at least. Men and women alike would be lucky to to date you two. If I’m fuckin’ anyone, it’s gonna be people I see good in.” Locking eyes with her friend’s stare, she concluded, “Standards are subjective.”

Jade shrugged to the comment about Jackson. “I guess he isn’t. He’s just a fucking pain sometimes, especially when that alarm of his goes off. Ugh, I have to bang on the wall every morning at six in the fucking morning. Thank the fucking Gods that you don’t have to wake up to that.” she said, groaning. “You see too much good in people. Especially those that might not even have it.” Jade said, sounding surprisingly somber.

“And you see too little.” Ely lowly replied. Her life would never compare to Jade’s, but in every darkness, there was a light. Ely’s darkness was her father, but she did have her light, her mother… until her mother died. Even with how much she allowed the thought of her stupid-mother-fucking-dad get to her, her mother still lived within her - she had to constantly remind herself that. Plus, the late Primrose Fable went through the trouble of getting her daughter a camera before she left this world. That can’t go to waste! Maybe one of these days she’ll compile all the pictures she has with Jade and give it to her as a gift to make her smile. There was also Brandon, who was very much like her mother. He was a damn hard worker and such a soft soul at heart (also handsome AS FUCK). As long as her brother and Jade needed her, Ely could continue on. They meant more to her than she would ever admit.

Call Ely an optimist or whatever bullshit label there was but she believed her friend deserved a chance at happiness. The main problem with that was… only the negative blared out to Jade. Like how her brother constantly fought anxiety and doubt, Jade’s life made her soul crumble to the ground and cause her to believe that happiness was not a thing. Happiness could never exist. Not for a girl like her.

Maybe she’ll find someone who can show her the good things in life? Ely wasn’t planning on committing herself to someone anytime soon (or ever). Love was fucking terrifying. Either way, until Jade found someone to clear her cobwebs and her sorrows, Ely would be there by her side. Bringing the hand closest to Jade out of her pocket, she gently nudged her friend’s cheek, her stare conveying only concern, “You’re beautiful, you know that right, Jade?”

Jade immediately flinched back. She stepped back a couple of feet, eyes half-widened as she looked at Ely. Jade wasn’t sure what to say to that gesture nor the words that Ely spoke. “W-what’s that supposed to mean? Of course I do,” Jade said still a bit freaked out by what Ely just did. “You didn’t have to say it like that though.”

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry. Just wanted to make sure you knew that.” Huffing to herself, still having a bit to learn about making her friend feel fully comfortable with her, Ely, who was now frustrated, decided to get another smoke out. Changing the subject, not wanting Jade to brood too long on her gesture, Ely grumbled, “Assembly’s over. Prob should head to school.” With her cigarette in her mouth, she uttered, “Don’t got anything better to do. Might as well raise hell or somethin’.”

“I guess since there’s nothing else to do here.” Jade sighed.

While she didn’t want to go to school, there wasn’t anything for her to do. Perhaps, at least at school, Jade and Ely would be able to find some fun to get into. Maybe something good, maybe something bad, but surely something fun.

As they strolled onto the campus of Beverly Hills High, Jade sighed annoyingly. People were around all smiling and acting all happy. “Oh yay, they’re here to sign up for clubs and catch up with their friends. OH EM GEE - they must have so much to talk about.” Jade scoffed about everyone around. She made a gagging gesture with her mouth and hand. She couldn’t stand these things, and even worse, she couldn’t stand seeing all of the fucking preps acting like they owned the fucking place.

Lightbulb! With everyone being at the fair, that meant the halls were practically empty… which meant Ely could totally skate everywhere and do tricks for shits and giggles. “That means they’re distracted. I bet one of those dweebs forgot to close their locker. And even if they did, we can fuckin’ jam em. The hallways belong to us!” For someone who lacked humorous expressions, Ely’s tone sure was excited. Leading the way, she threw the door open and dropped her skateboard on the ground making a loud ‘clap’ noise. “I’ll race you to that fountain that has a penis on it. I’m pretty sure it’s in a Niner hall, but whatever. First one there gets to grab the other’s tits!”

“Are you trying to make me lose on purpose, you whore.” Jade snickered, running after Ely. Even if the offer was tempting, Jade Riley Taylor would never lose on purpose. Though, if she was honest with herself, losing wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen today. Regardless, Jade would not lose this race especially if it meant that she would be able to grab those beautiful tits of Ely’s.

As much as Ely felt positive she was going to win, she didn’t expect the school to add new shit. Taking a swift left into the next hall, there was an oddly placed vending machine, which hit the edge of her board, causing her to spin out, giving Jade the lead. Going with the flow, she pushed herself back into the proper direction, and sped forward, adding an inward heel flip before she was right on her friend’s tail.

Jade heard the sounds of Ely’s board reverberate through the halls. That cheating bitch. Jade didn’t have a board; even if she did, Jade wasn’t one for skateboards. Still, she had to make sure she won. Jade wouldn’t forgive herself if she lost. So, as she ran, about five feet ahead of her, she saw a trashcan. It was perfect. Jade turned to a backwards run for a half-second, and pushed the trashcan, seeing it roll towards Ely. Jade stuck her tongue out at her friend teasingly, and turned her body back around on one step, and ran for hell. She would yell excitedly as she did so.

Okay, so what if she was using a board? Ely knew if she was running, Jade would pull shit like this anyways. Damn girl was a ruthless winner. But that wouldn’t stop Ely from giving her bae a run for her money. The trash can came rollin’ in at the speed of lightning. Nah man, really it was at a steady enough speed for the rebel to see it coming in slow motion, giving her enough time to ollie in the air. When she leapt into the air, she saw Jade turn the next corner. Goddamit. Gonna have to step on it. With reckless abandon, Ely kicked off multiple times to make sure she was going dangerously (and I mean it) fast. Turning the corner making her wheels screech at the the corner, she saw Jade, who was stopped by a teacher and getting reprimanded from running. KARMA BITCH. Speeding passed her, the relaxed blonde gave a thumbs up toward her friend.

“Yeah, yeah, I he--”

“Get dem titties ready~” Ely cooed.

“Oh that fucking cunt.” Jade took off, not caring what consequences it may have for her later on.

The teacher yelled, “HEY YOU!” Ignored. Speeding forward, Ely went toward the stairway and with no care in the world, she popped her board and grinded on the railing, heading downstairs to the basement where the niner hall and cafeteria were. Leaping off the railing before it turned, she hopped off her board, kicked it in the air, and grabbed it with her right hand. It’s running time!

Jade saw Ely go towards the stairs. Though she was running, she thought to herself, wait a minute, she’s going the long way. Jade knew this school like the back of her sinful hands. She knew a quicker way to the freshmen halls. It most certainly wasn’t down that flight of stairs. No, this one was straight, then hooking the first right, and then a left. So, that’s what Jade did. She went straight, then on the first right turn, she took it. As she took that left, there was a left turn not even ten yards away, and she took it.

Fast-forward a few minutes, and Jade intercepted Ely, roughly nudging her skater friend into one of the lockers. “Tough luck, lover.” Jade stuck her tongue, and did a ‘suck it’ gesture with her hands against where her legs met. After that, Jade took off running with the goal in sight. She was primed to win.

“You fuckin’ asswipe.” Ely observed her surroundings while running. Her friend in the lead. The fountain at the end. And a…. WHAM! A locker slammed right into Ely’s face, “Holy mother of hell. Jesus-fucking-christ-oh-mighty.” She put her hand on her face, checking to see if her nose was bleeding. Nah. Good. Ain’t got time to go to the nurse. The niner that hit her face immediately retreated, revealing another niner behind him, who had beautiful, long blonde hair and was practicing her combination. Snapping her finger that wasn’t covering her face to get the girl’s attention, Ely muffled, “Hey. HEYYYYYY. You. Yes you. Blondie.” After giving the girl a moment to acknowledge her presence, the badass rebel leaned her head on the locker closest to her, “You got a damn mirror in that shit of yours? I’m far too lazy to go to the loo.” Pulling away from the locker, she punched it in. The stupid-ass-niner-that-made-her-lose-the-race would pay for what he did. Leaving a very apparent dent in the metal and bruises on her fist, she growled, “Your friend is going to die.” To say Ely was pissed she lost the race was an understatement. She didn’t mind losing, it was THE WAY she lost.

Jade stopped momentarily to look back. Ely got knocked pretty good by that locker. It must’ve hurt. If Jade was a good friend, she would go and make sure her baby was okay. But then again, she really wants to touch those tits of hers. The struggle, right? “Eh, she’ll be fine.” Jade shrugged. She happily ran the rest of the way to the fountain. She even touched it with her right index finger, waving over to Ely. “HEY BITCH! I WONNN! ” Jade proudly boasted, making sure Ely heard her. She even gestured her other hand to her right index finger which was on the fountain and had a proud smile on her face. “GET THOSE TITTIES READY!” Jade made a squeezing motion on her own breasts.

“Fuck you, Jade.” Flipping her friend off with her free hand, the frustrated blonde gave a death glare to her, making her red eyes that much more intimidating. Bringing her attention back to the freshie, she let her daggers penetrate the little girl, “So do you or do you not?”

[Wintergrey]

Location: Beverly Hills High School
Interaction With: Dominique - @HushedWhispers, Rhett @lovely complex, and Jackson @Altered Tundra
Time: 8:30 A.M.

---

Before Dominique had a chance to respond to the mess of words that spilled out of Tis, she noticed Rhett walking over. For a moment Tis paused to look him over, not half bad compared to some of the talent in Beverly Hills High. Tis and Rhett knew each other, they'd been going to the same school long enough, but they had never really talked. As much as one person could talk with Tis. Arm still draped over Dom's shoulder she looked at her and said, "Crackalackin' the front outta my bathymetry, know what I sayin'?" Nudging Dominique's side, Tis laughed hard, holding her sides as they shook. "Keep crakin' at it, dudes" Winking at Rhett, she walked off to find someone else to hang out with.

Bouncing to her own internal radio, Tis began to rub her bare arms. 8 A.M. in California didn't suit well for people not wearing shirts. She wished she had someone's big hoodie to hide in until her goosebumps faded away. Some guys preferably. Guys had the nicest sweatshirts and hoodies. They always smelt so nice, and just fell perfectly around her like a soft blanket.

Shivering Tis glanced around for someone to part with their outerwear. Walking backwards she looked at several awkward freshmen that might be kind enough to lend her something to wear. Just as she was about to ask one of them when she tripped walking backwards and fell right into the person behind her, knocking them both to the ground. Glancing up from the chest she was laying on, Tis stared right at Jackson's main of red hair. "Dude. Thats one punt to take-off a chicks stoke."

[AlteredTundra]

Location The wet grass
Interacting With: Tis _@WinterGrey
Time: 8:30am
Jackson's Outfit

Well this blowed. The activity fair was booming, and Jackson had no fucking idea what he was going to sign up for or what he was going to start at. Nothing really interested him that the school had to offer. He wasn’t really one for the variety of sports they offered - well, maybe except Wrestling, but the sort of wrestling that the Beverly Hills High Wrestling Team did wasn’t the style that Jackson liked. The kind he cared for was the one involving steel chair shots to the head, being powerbombed through a flaming table, and sometimes piledrived head-first on bare concrete; sometimes a steel ramp depending on the type of match. But not that amateur stuff. God, that was even more boring than hearing the Royals talk about their lives. So yeah, Jackson wasn’t really interested in doing much of anything when it came to school sports.

Still he roamed around hoping that something might happen.

Walking from table to table, hearing what these various clubs had to offer, Jackson did end up signing up for the Anime and Manga Club. You could blame it on whatever, but the fact of the matter was that Jackson needed something to take his free time since Rhett was probably going to be too busy campaigning for the King Bee. Jackson would help him, of course. Rhett would win with Jackson’s help too; however, Jackson knew there would be a void left when — not if — but when he won. That’s why he decided to just sign up for a club that wouldn’t be the most annoying. Besides, he has a love for anime and manga, so it couldn’t be too bad, right?

After he signed up, the person at the table told him thank you. “Yeah, see ya there, I guess.” Jackson shrugged, gave a smile, and walked away.

He decided that one club was enough, so he would mentally decide to himself that he would leave the fair. As he would reach where he was left off from Rhett, he would see a rather familiar - if not just a bit “out there” - blonde approach him. However, he didn’t notice it in time as he had got knocked into. Hard. They both fell to the ground, and Jackson cursed to himself loudly. It was loud enough to be heard by several people who might’ve been walking by the two blondes on the ground.

“What the fuck!?” Jackson cursed. His hat fell off his head, and to the ground in front of him. His strawberry hair obscured his view. He pushed it back with his right hand. He looked beside him, and it clicked. “Of course.”

It was Atlantis Strang. She hardly left anything to the imagination. You could tell how fit she was, how round her curves were. Athletic and short. She was shorter than Jackson was, yet she seemed to be taller just by how lean she was. Jackson had to remind himself multiple times a day every time he saw Tis that he was solely focused on Eve. Regardless if the latter chick didn’t even know who he was, he wanted her…

But damn it, why did Tis have to have a nice rack.

“Oh hey Tis.” Jackson said, trying all he could not to look at her tits(it was hard..no not THAT, but you know). Most people wouldn’t understand what the fuck she was saying. Up to a point last year, Jackson didn’t either, but he picked up on things. Plus, the way she talked wasn’t all that different from skaters. Jackson picked up on a few things here and there. “Like you’re one to talk. You got enough blonde hair there to make a Donald Trump wig.” This was how they were. She would throw some surfer lingo at him, and he would respond with pop culture references. Talk about a weird, two-way street of a friendship, right?

Location Singh House → The Road → Beverly Hills High Campus
Interacting With: Family → Pokemon GO App → Sierra Jameson(looking from afar) _{@Dirty Pretty Lies}
Time: 6:00am - 8:30am
Jay’s Outfit

Summer had been long, hot, but it was equally as enjoyable for one Jason Ravindra Singh. Most of it was spent indoors playing Playstation. It wasn’t ideal for what someone of his age should have been doing for the summer, especially since the temperature had been fairly decent on some days. His mother urged him to go outside at least once a week. He protested mildly, but it ended when his father chimed in.

So, there were fewer days that Jay spent in his room, on his Playstation 4, and talking to and playing with Nightingale. It was noticeable for sure. Whenever Jay had to explain why he was going to be offline, Jay could recall the disappointment in her voice, but she of course knew about his father. She knew about his mother, Erin, and she knew about how annoyed he got at his younger sister, Kareena. Nightingale knew that Jay’s father was tough on him. Granted Girisha was reasonable on some things, but others not so much. That of course meaning that Jason had to be out and about doing something. It didn’t matter what he did, but as long as he did something, and wasn’t in his room all the time.

But the thing was that Jason Singh didn’t have a lot of friends. He had some, of course, but no more than the amount on both hands. Even then, the total amount of friends that he at least hung out with in his real life was less than five. The ones that he did spend most of his mandatory couple of hours away from his gaming console were childhood friends of his that also had the same setup from their parents. What friends to have right?

Well, at least the summer was over, and Jay could use the excuse of being in his room all day on his homework from school. If not, Jason would think of something. At the very least, he would be able to blame it on something.

Speaking of school, orientation started today. Jay got up at six in the morning just like his father made him every day during the summer. Today was no different. Jason had gotten up, picked out an outfit for the day, took a ten minute shower like he usually did, brushed his teeth, and had breakfast. Today, Girisha decided to make breakfast. Usually it was his mother, but it seemed father was feeling generous this morning.

“Good morning Father.” Jay said, walking into the kitchen.

“Ah, morning honey.” His mother Erin said sweetly, giving Jay a kiss and a hug.

“Morning Jason.” Girisha gave a nod and a hug as well.

Seeing his mother, Erin, and his father, Girisha tag-teaming breakfast, Jay sniffed a few times inwardly. “]What smells so good?” Jay asked, taking a whiff of the aroma in the air of the kitchen.

“That would be your father’s doing.” Erin giggled.

“Masala Chai and Besan Chili.” Girisha said.

“When will it be done?”

“In just a few minutes.” Erin said. As Jay would take a seat, she looked to him. “So, Orientation today, huh? You excited?”

“I guess.” Jay shrugged, half-frowning.

“Why the long face? It’s a brand new year. You should be excited like your sister.” Erin said.

As if like clockwork, Kareena came in a light pink crop top, and blue jean shorts that clearly were the bare minimum of length. Her features showed and all Jay - along with Girisha - could do was shake their heads. Obviously something that Jay picked up from his father. She had on a golden-brown belt, and a pair of matching strapless wedges.

Girisha didn’t say anything to his daughter’s choice of attire. He tried so many times to get her to wear decent clothes, but she wasn’t having it. So, he wouldn’t bother anymore. “Breakfast is ready.” Girisha simply said, ignoring his daughter almost completely.

“Not hungry. I’m having Patty pick me up. “ Kareena was about to head off.

“Sit. Down.” Girisha said firmly. His voice spiked a few volumes, but it was the way he said it that struck fear into her body. She didn’t fight him, or say anything at all. She just sat down, and ate her breakfast. Everyone else did as well

After about twenty minutes or so, everyone had finished their breakfast. It was in this time that Girisha said goodbye to his family as he would take off to work for the day. He hugged his children, kissed them on the forehead, and gave Erin a hug, and kiss on the lips. As he left, Erin noticed the time was escaping her, and she would offer a ride to Jay and Kareena to drop them off at school. They both agreed, and they were off.

Along the way, Kareena kept on texting her friends, all the while Jay had been checking his Pokemon GO app. He was one of the many that chose Team Mystic. Another person he knew that chose Team Mystic was Nightingale. He knew she lived in the same state that he did, but exactly where he didn’t. Only that, when he checked his Pokemon GO App, he saw that not only was she on, but she was near him. “Wait what?” Jay said a bit too loudly.

“What’s wrong, dork?” Kari asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

“Whatever.”

Jay thought his phone was glitching, so he turned it off and on again. When it had turned back on, he opened the app up again. He saw that Nightingale was still in the area. Okay, so it wasn’t a glitch. Nightingale is in Beverly Hills. Not only that, but she was nearby. Jay tried looking out the window, but there were people passing by in too large of numbers, and too many cars around to give him any kind of hint of who Nightingale might be. Jay had no choice but to wait until he got to school. Which wasn’t long since only five minutes later, he and Kareena were dropped off. Jay gave his mom a kiss, and grabbed his bag.

Not wasting any time, Jay went back to the Pokemon Go App. He saw the name of Nightingale. She was here. She was at Beverly Hills High. Not only that, but she was in the Activity Fair. Jason’s glance from his phone and his surroundings was never constant. He saw Nightingale’s name, but in real life, there were so many people. He couldn’t possibly know where she was. It was like trying to find a needle cleverly hidden within haystack that was bleached silver. Only by actually running into her did he stand a chance of finding his online best friend.

Jay went into the fair of people. His social anxiety was acting up, but it didn’t bother him. Just a few seconds later, he saw her. No, not Nightingale, but the other her. “Sierra Jameson.” Jay said, his heart starting to increase its steady pace of beating.

How many times had he watched her from afar? How many times had he wished that he would just walk up to her, introduce himself, and maybe strike up a conversation? How many times had he wished he had even half enough balls to say a simple ‘hello’ that he had online when he would say the most racist jokes to Nightingale? It was like when he saw her, regardless if she was wearing those comic book T’s and some raggedy pair of jeans that somehow didn’t make her look any less beautiful as when she glammed it up with gothic-inspired skirts and shirts that barely left anything to the imagination, he felt all of those multi-colored butterflies flap away in his gut, and any notions of actually walking up to her were rendered useless.

But Jay was feeling different today. He had something in him that wanted to go over there. And he was almost going to do it if not for the rush of people around him. Increased social anxiety overtook any notion to introduce oneself to their four-year-long crush. So, instead, Jay turned around. He walked away from the view of Sierra in her checkered skirt and black sleeveless shirt. He turned away from her beauty, and went to one of the tables.

This was Jay’s high school life from freshmen year all the way to now. He thought he was going to talk to her, but fear of the surroundings and the moment set in, and he retreated like the coward he was. If only Mockingjay could be like how he was on the internet. If only..

[Hey Im Jordan]

Location: His house > school
Interacting with: Himself, his mother, two unsuspecting emos ( @Silent Observer, @foxygen
Time: 7:40 AM to 9:09 AM

Sleeping was easy for Davy. He didn’t have to face anyone, didn’t have to speak with anyone, didn’t have any expectations, no due dates, nothing. Peace and quiet. Peace of mind, y’know? The time he spent asleep was his... Favorite time, more or less--eating was a close second(but who didn’t like eating?)--but, ultimately, sleeping took the cake. Now, waking up? That was a different story entirely. That was a challenge; dragging himself up and out of bed was a struggle, and motivation to go to school was scarce, at best. It was his first day though! So, when his phone kicked on, firing up the surround sound in his basement and not so politely blasting him with music, Davy’s eyes opened as he was dragged from his beloved rest and to reality.

There was worst stuff to wake up to, Davy thought. The night before, he’d smartly chosen a smooth, easy song to play in from his speakers and rouse him from rest. He stretched out on the beanbag he’d fallen asleep on and kicked his phone on, checking the time. Time to go school. Silently, he wished it was a Wednesday, his therapy day. At least then he’d get a doctor’s note, would miss half the day, and could squeeze the tardy slip all the way through till lunch time.

But, unfortunately for him, it was a blasted Monday. That meant school. Straight there, hopefully straight back without any instances involving people. He groaned and clicked the music down as he stood up, running a hand through his uneven, messy black hair as he looked around the room. He walked over to the corkboard containing his drawings from the night before and stared at them for a few seconds before he decided their fate: he stuffed them into the side pocket of his backpack, which he threw over his shoulder. He headed over to his pets, Sprinkles the duck and Frosting the turtle, looking down into their shared cage. ”Alright, boys. Daddy’s gotta go to work. Kinda. School, really, but honestly, it’s the same thing… Anyway. Here’s the deal. Ya gotta take care of yourselves for the day. I think you can handle it, but just in case I’m gonna leave this here.” He explained, grabbing the microphone half of a baby monitor and sticking it close to the cage. Then, Davy reached down and picked up his quacking duck--who didn’t complain, this is what he was here for, anyway--and gently placed him on the shell of Frosting. ”Alright, guys. This right here is your power stance. From this stance, you own the universe. No one can stop you, no one can touch you,” David grinned and clicked the monitor on before he continued to speak, ”Mom can hear you now. So she’ll come to help if you quack properly. Don’t worry, she knows the system.” Davy smiled and gave his friends a wave as he turned to leave the basement.

Basement wasn’t exactly the proper term, Davy didn’t think. There was a reason he referred to it as his ‘secret’ spot: if no one in his family told someone about it, they simply wouldn’t know it existed. The original owners of Davy’s home had been… paranoid, to say the least. Paranoid enough to install a 50 x 50 x 15 bombshelter 50 feet underground approximately 120 feet to the left of their actual home. Originally accessible through a hatch in the pantry, which lead to a tunnel, Davy’s parents had moved the entryway to the tunnel to the left of the pantry, hidden away to look like the normal wall of building with an electric door that slid into the rear wall of the pantry when activated. After that(and this step in particular had taken some work), but a computer system(powered by a Raspberry Pi, of course) had been set up to open the door only to Davy’s voice… Or, the remote if you had it. But only his mother had it, and that, Davy thought was understandable.

Heading up the stairs toward the real world now, Davy sighed and hit the button, causing the door to slide open and slipped outside. Still holding the receiving end of the baby monitor now, David headed towards his actual bedroom, where he selected his clothes for the day, and grabbed his skateboard off of the bed. He looked down at the baby monitor and heard the forlorn quacking from his duck and he yearned to return to his secret spot and cuddle Sprinkles until he smiled, but alas. School called.

David hopped in the shower, and in ten seconds flat was showered, teeth brushed, hair… well, his hair was there, clean clothes on, and headed out the door with his backpack slung over his shoulder. He stopped in the kitchen, tapping his mother on the shoulder and smiling as she turned to look at him. ”Hey, mom. Here’s the monitor. Remember, one quack means they want to go outside. Two quacks means fresh water. Three quacks means they’re hungry. Please take care of my pets!” Illyana, David’s mother, was struck by the sight of her son smiling, especially on a school day.

As she thrust his lunch into his hands(which Davy quickly crammed into his pack), she spoke excitedly: ”David! You’re smiling. Happy! You look happy! For school!” In response, Davy’s eyebrows furrowed and he shook his head rapidly as he kissed his mother on the cheek and spun on his heel, headed toward the door. Looking over his shoulder, David responded:

”I’m not happy I was just with my duck and tortle. They make me happy. As we both well know,” Davy’s eyes twinkled now as he turned the knob and opened the door. ”I’m horribly depressed.” As he headed out the door, his mother let out a long sigh.

”You be careful on that skateboard. I don’t wanna have to come peel you off of the asphalt today…”

Davy smiled again, that same wide, charming smile that only saw the light of day when he wasn’t scared for his life, surrounded by people he didn’t like, before he spoke: ”Mama... when am I ever not safe?” With that, he slammed the board down onto the ground and headed toward the school.

Contrary to all his implied bravado in the final statement to his mother, and despite his undeniable skills… David was indeed safe. And as he rolled up to the school, Davy slid headphones into his ears, deciding it best that he not have to hear anyone--lest he talk to them. Now blocked off from the world, Davy smiled as he listened to the music in his ears, nodding along to the beat. Strategically abusing his knowledge of the various locations of janitor’s closets in Beverly Hills High, Davy managed to masterfully avoid the assembly--and smoke half a bowl too. Now, he could handle people.

With the artificial confidence provided by the THC now in his system, Davy decided he would skate on the bleachers--no, down them. Starting from the top(which took way longer and more effort to walk to than he’d anticipated), David popped the skateboard up on two wheels and moved across the thin seat of wood and down them. WIth a thump, he hit the second one. The music in his ears began to increase in pace and Davy could feel himself get thrown slightly off balance by the heavy backpack he wore.

Oh well, he thought as he hit the third one.

Nearing the bottom now, Davy realized that he had no idea how he was going to stop. Oops, that was the weed. Seriously.

None of the above, cut the cord!

Davy groaned as he saw his unfortunate targets, now closer than they needed to be. Welp, here we go.

Lights out!

David smashed into the young man and his companion, causing his drawing to scatter all over the field. Eyes wide now, and panic setting in, Davy quickly began to speak: ”Sorry! I’m sorry! I wasn’t watching, I swear I”m sorry I didn’t mean to do that I’m sorry! ...Oh! It’s Jar! Hey man.” Halfway through, Davy realized who he’d bumped into, and his fear and panic was replaced with relief and more or less genuine joy at seeing his friend--and his other friend! Two friends! That was almost all of them! Exciting! ”See, man, I thougth I’d have to talk to someone… Hey, don’t!” He said quickly, but it was too late. Jar had already began to help him pick up the scattered drawings--and, as luck would have it, he’d picked up the one of himself.

Davy reached out to the sky and grapsed at it.

So close.

[Grimoire Gaming]

Location: Beverly Hills High {Activity Fair}
Interaction With: Ari ^@Foxygen & Davy ^@Universorum
Time: ~9:00 AM

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Jareth’s lips turned into a straight line in reaction to Ari’s glare. Right, his elbows were kind of bony, honestly… all of Jareth was kind of bony. He offered a short "Sorry, man." in response before passing Adassi the Battle of the Bands flyer. Distracted by scouting out for the she-devil, Jareth missed the wave of nervousness that had washed over his best friend’s face before he agreed that they should sign the band up. Ari’s voice brought Jareth back to the present, and the tight-lipped expression that he wore mirrored Jar’s own thoughts on the situation.

"Looking for someone?" Ari asked with a fair amount of bite to his words. Jareth’s eyes dropped down and he clenched his jaw, sucking his lip ring in and running his tongue along it, pondering what the appropriate response to that particular question might be. After several seconds of contemplation, he spoke up.

"I got stoned last night and woke up on my roof this morning but, hell, I guess that’s better than jumping off of it, right?" Jareth monologued somewhat dramatically. He punctuated the rhetorical question with a humorless chuckle. Ari should be used to Jar dodging emotional questions like this, they understood each other like that, and he was certain that Ari would know what he meant. "So… no, I’m doing quite the opposite of looking for someone, actually." his tone was more gloomy than ill-tempered. He meant no offense, but sometimes hurting people could hurt people, hopefully Ari would get that and be chill about it.

Jar abruptly turned back to the Music Club booth and scribbled his name in his trademark chicken scratch, all capital letter handwriting, followed by Ari and the other band members’ names with (CrimSon) at the end, in parentheses. Looking at the band name on paper made him wince a little. Even Jareth recognized how cringe-worthy that name was, now that he wasn’t a 15 year old playing guitar alone in his foster parents’ garage anymore. Well, he still played in that garage, but now he was 17 years old, and had four other bandmates. It was totally different

Naturally, the pair then separated themselves from the herd of sheeple that was the Beverly Hills High populace, and stuck close to the bleachers. "I was just thinking, maybe we should come up with a different band name. This Battle of the Bands thing is going to be a lot of exposure, we should like… have our shit together, image and all that, you know? Now that we have a full crew, maybe the five of us could put our heads together and come up with a betterrghh--"

Jareth’s meandering ramblings were cut short by a sudden impact of force. Being as awkwardly tall as he was, Jareth’s center of balance was thrown off as he stumbled into Ari and caught himself on the bleacher before falling down completely. Papers fluttered in the breeze and rained down around them. Jareth quickly worked on gathering them before they flew away when he heard the voice belonging to the skateboarder-gone-rogue.

"Hey, Davy, dude! Don’t worry about it, it’s fine." Jareth replied to his rapid-fire apologies. Between the three of them, there was enough anxiety and depression disorders to keep the majority of Beverly Hills' therapists in business, so stuttering and awkward moments sometimes ran rampant. After managing to save most of the loose papers, Jareth went to hand them back just as Davy said ‘don’t’. Of course, that cued Jareth to look down at what exactly it was that he was saving from scattering across the football field in the breeze. And there, on the top of the haphazardly stacked pile in his hands, was a drawing of… him.

For a moment, Jareth was caught up in the shock of staring at this comic-like depiction of himself, but there was no denying that this face was meant to be his. He looked like an angsty superhero, cloaked in black robes and posed with his right hand gesturing a ‘just shoot me’ finger gun towards his right temple. The left side of his face was disguised by a skull mask. In his left hand was a slightly damaged guitar with both E strings popping off from being strung too tightly. The drawing was wholly black and white aside from the scarlet gem in the eye of the skull mask and the blood splatters on the guitar. “The only thing to fear... is fear itself!” was written below the figure, like a slogan.

"Holy shit…" Jareth mused with wide eyes, his thumbs pressing soft indents into the page as he studied it. When he looked up at Davy, he honestly could not recall the kid ever looking so mortified. "Th-this is me. You drew me. Holy shit--" Jareth ran one hand through his hair while the other held the drawing. He felt his palms were getting sweaty from anxiety and he decided that he should probably stop touching his hair before it got poofy, and also give Davy back his papers. "That is the sickest thing I’ve ever seen, seriously. I kind of want to keep it… c-can I keep this?" Jar asked, uncharacteristically stuttering. No one had ever done something like this for him before, at least not that he knew of, and it was incredibly flattering. Would this be what it would be like to have fans some day? Maybe his nervous ass wasn’t cut out for this ‘front man’ thing after all… or maybe, just maybe, he could actually get used to it.

[MissCapnCrunch]

Ⓟⓞⓟⓟⓨ Ⓙⓐⓝⓔ Ⓓⓤⓒⓚⓦⓞⓡⓣⓗ

Location; Locker
Interacting With; Swollen Strange Sassy Sexbomb @lovely complex
Time; Sometime after - 8:15AM
| Outfit | Song |

⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫

"34. 20. 5. 34."

"34. 20. 5. 34."

"34. 20. 5. 34."

If the large thud of someone hitting the locker door next to her wasn't enough to take Poppy out of her locker combination trance, the boy hitting her with the side of his arm as he scurried away was. She gave a distasteful glance as she looked at his backside. Turning back to where he came from, she was greeted with a very swollen face of an angry woman. Her mouth gaped, as she asked her for a mirror. "I-I don't." she stuttered at first, before regaining herself in the very sudden situation. "I've got a compact though, your face is really... swollen." she mustered out, placing her backpack on the ground as she squatted down and opened the top.

The two girls yelled back and forth in the hallway, as the one turned back and gave Poppy a death stare. She repeated the request for a mirror in the locker, and Poppy realized that the girl probably hadn't heard anything of what she had said. That was okay though. Poppy gave a small smile as she opened up the compact mirror, and handed it up to the girl. "If you need some makeup, I have some that you can borrow." Poppy told the girl, trying to help the situation as she could. She extended her legs, standing back up as she picked up her backpack. She held it open and in front of her, in case the girl wanted more of the contents inside, and also to put back the compact mirror when the girl was done with it.

This was an interesting first day to say the least.

[Aewin]

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^{LOCATION - Arnette Residence → Beverly Hills High
INTERACTING WITH - Niles @Lovely Complex (text) | Audrey @Dirty Pretty Lies
OUTFIT}

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It was barely the crack of dawn but she was already awake, sitting on her round bed with her legs folded as she flicked through the pictures on her Nikon camera. Each picture had one thing missing: herself. It was always of something largely insignificant to the normal masses: trees, fences, graffiti or even junk. It didn't matter, not even to Analise Arnette. There was no meaning behind the pictures, no abstract message other than for her own memory. That's not to say that there weren't any pictures of her parents hidden around somewhere, those memories just as precious as the trash. She'd spent the summer shuffling between different states - or more specifically clinics. Sight-seeing wasn't the main motive for the Arnette family this summer, but that didn't mean Anna didn't have a fun summer! It's good to keep a positive outlook on things, right? It's not like its hard for Anna to be positive anyway, and she gladly embraced that trait.

Settling the camera back down on the messy sheets beside her, Analise stood up slowly from her comfortable cocoon of a bed, crawling out of the little blanket fort she'd formed that night when she realised she was too jittery to sleep. She was anxious, yes, but elated to see her beloved friends once more. Hell, she was even willing to suffer through gym to see them again. Her light pink lips curled down into a little frown at the thought of gym. 'I'm probably still failing that this year...' The dreaded thought sat in her mind like an unwanted (drunk) uncle at a dinner party.

Winston jumped on top of the bed, pawing at the sheets Anna was once sitting on before laying back down on his paws while watching his human with large beady eyes. "Winnie, were you really just waiting for me to get up from that spot?" The blonde royal pouted at her pup, getting nothing but a blank stare in return. It was times like these that Anna wonders whether her pup hated her, but the chipper girl knew otherwise.

Or she just refused to believe it.

"Alright, fine. You win, Winnie." Instead of cuddling her darling for an hour, Anna decided it was time to get dressed and maybe even surprise her parents with some breakfast later. She headed over towards her clothes, already ready and picked from the night before and still as blue as ever before picking it up and hanging it over her shoulder. Anna reached out for her phone that was sitting on the dressing table before swiping and scrolling to a name.

Niles
Rise and shine! I hope you're excited~!

Hitting send, the girl then set her phone back down onto the table before heading towards her ensuite to get ready for the day. An hour later, a bright and perky blonde was out of the bathroom and sitting back down on her bed once more, this time ready for the school day ahead. "Will you wish me luck?" Looking towards her moody pup, Analise realised a little too late that Winston had taken her bed hostage as his bed. "...I'll take that as a no then."

Accepting that her pup wasn't willing to give her any love that particular morning, the royal slipped out of her bedroom, heading towards the kitchen where she dismissed the cook with a polite (and sheepish) smile. "It's okay, Charlie, I'd like to make breakfast today. Would you like me to make you some tea while you read the paper?"

Charlie, taken aback, declined the offer with a slow shake of his head. "Are you sure? I could assist if you'd like." This time it was Anna's turn to shake her head, the smile still on her face as she collected the pans and ingredients out of the large fridge.

It was pancake morning.

Or... it was supposed to be. 30 minutes later, Anna stared at the pan with a forlorn look on her face as the batter became something akin to charcoal in the pan. "Um, Charlie?" There was a hum from behind her, and she turned to look at the chef sitting on the island stool with an amused grin on his face. "Is it too late to take you up on that offer?"

"Of course not, Miss Anna." The sad face turned into a childish pout. No matter how many times Anna insisted Charlie to drop the formalities around her, he refused to listen. The chef stood up, stepping around the island to take over the job as the cook as Anna prepared to watch carefully.

"Charlie, did you let Anna cook pancakes again?" A low voice sounded from the doorway, the two (or one chef and one helper) cooks turning around to see Analise's father: Stephen Arnette leaning against the door frame, tiredly rubbing his forehead with out hand as his other held his glasses loosely. "It smells like a cremated squirrel in here."

"It can't be that bad, can it?" Anna inhaled sharply, her nose desensitised to the burnt smell of her previously atrocious attempt at breakfast. Instead, the sweet smell of a properly cooked pancake filled her nose instead. "It smells great, dad, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh yes of course, it smells like a sweet cremated squirrel, my bad."

"Dad!"

"Anna! Sweetie shouldn't you be at school?" This time it was her worried mother that piped up, a little more awake compared to Stephen. "I thought you wanted to arrive early to greet the freshmen?" That was true. Analise had spent so long getting ready and making breakfast that time had slipped past her. She yelped, looking at Charlie panickedly ("I'll serve it you your parents, Miss Anna, don't worry.") before running around the island to press a kiss to both her parents' cheeks and disappearing down the hallway.

While Anna did arrive a little too late to welcome the fresh new faces to the scary halls of Beverly Hills High School, she arrived in time to slip into a seat close to the back in time for the assembly to begin. 'Maybe I'll have more luck at the fair.' Ever so hopeful, Anna listened to the same old speech again, this time with a little nostalgia - hey, it was her last time listening to it, why not cherish it a little? - and when it was time to leave, she was the first one out.

Niles
Nilessssssssssss where are you? Thought we should catch up!

She noticed a tiny brunette talking to the volleyball captain, her eyes wide and a grin on her face as they discussed something (most likely about volleyball) before her eyes landed on Audrey's figure by the dance team's booth. A wide grin broke out on the blonde's face, and she bounded over to her friend - almost stumbling on her way there.

"Audrey! I missed you!" She cried out, reaching Audrey and pulling her into a sudden hug. Oh, it was good to be back.

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^{LOCATION - Beverly Hills High
INTERACTING WITH - Alyssa @Universorum (via text)
OUTFIT}

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Was this really how high school was?

Eva was certain it was supposed to be a lot more... fun than this. She'd already been at the campus before, knowing Alyssa and Connor made her already somewhat accustomed to the supposedly scary hallways. She'd been hyped, most certainly, since she'd graduated junior high months ago. It was mainly to see her closest friends - her partners in crime but she couldn't just credit her friends for all her excitement.

This was a new chapter in her life, she was in high school now. A big girl, as her mother would love to remind her every second of the day. It was common knowledge to those that knew the brunette freshman that her relationship with her mother was complicated to say the least. It would've been hatred, if Evalyn didn't already like the spotlight that came with modelling.

The assembly had been long and boring - just as she'd expected. It was just about the codes of conduct, rules and expectations - nothing out of the ordinary. It was just filled with other freshmen and sophmores, so she could only guess that the older students were already out doing their own little thing. It was boring, but at least Eva knew she'd be able to see Alyssa out there by the time her assembly was over. Eva had even arrived a little early to school so she could see the halls empty, slowly filling up with attractive and popular (some even famous) students. Just like Alyssa had taught her, she carefully considered each one (to the best of her novice ability) to determine whether they were someone Eva was willing to interact with. Last thing Evalyn wanted was a boring person to hang around with whenever Alyssa or Connor weren't available.

When the students were dismissed, Eva left, joining a group of somewhat excited freshmen that she recognised from junior high and was guided out by a member of staff towards the football field where the Activity's Fair was taking place. She pulled her phone out of her shorts pocket, looking down with disappointment as she noticed no messages from Lyssy. Maybe she was waiting for her to message instead?

Lyssy
Okay so you were right, assembly was boringggggggg. Are you even at school yet? I'm waiting :(

Pressing send, Eva approached the volleyball stand after breaking from the group. The freshman already knew which club she wanted to join, and after approaching the stand with a smile and somewhat hesitant stride she spoke, "Hi! I'm Evalyn and uh... when can I try out for the team?" The captain pointed towards a sticker on the board, and Eva's cheeks darkened.

'Oh... it was right there.'

Cursing herself for being such a bonehead, she forced a smile on her face, stepping away from the stand with still heated cheeks. From the corner of her eye, she noticed a blonde girl literally glomping a brunette by the dance stand, with strength she didn't think the blonde had.

'And we got those types too, fantastic...'

She missed Alyssa.

[LovelyComplex]

Location: Beverly Hills High's Hallway → The Clubs & Activities Fair → Dance Booth
Interacting With: Silván, her manager → Niles briefly → Summer, Audrey, Analise _{@Dirty Pretty Lies @Aewin}
Time: Does it matter? Early.
Outfit Body Photo | Song | Outfit Polyvore

Have you ever been so enraptured by someone that you forgot where you were and who was around you? Certain individuals just have something about them… where once one hears their voice they know there’s more to the face, more to the exterior, more to her than what meets the eye. One thing that the band, East of Eden, were known for was by their virtuoso singer that led them. Dark brown hair, gorgeous hazel eyes, her most distinctive feature... those kissable lips, and her influential presence, on and off stage. Eve was the face, after all. Not only was she gifted with a vocal range out of this world for someone of her age, but she also carried herself with out most confidence, whether that is faux or not has yet to be determined.

East of Eden

Manager

Silván Pearce (Age: 35)
FC: Daniel Gillies

Lead Vocalist, Songwriter

Evelyn Harding (Age: 18)
FC: Phoebe Tonkin

Keyboardist and Cellist, Backup female vocalist

Julianne Eldridge (Age: 20)
FC: Grace Chatto

Heavy Metal Vocalist, Backup Male Vocalist, Bass Guitarist

Nero Trajan (Age: 21)
FC: Joseph Morgan

The Twins, Multi-instrumentalist, Lead Guitarist and Rhythm Guitarist (capable of playing other string instruments)

Jessie Nilsen (Age: 19)
FC: Cher Lloyd


James Nilsen (Age: 19)
FC: Christopher Mccrory

The Drummist

Zaylen Rennoll (Age: 20)
FC: Dudley O'Shaughnessy

Evelyn Harding? Daughter of Van Ash and the late Cyndi Phillips from Underneath Paradise? She has excellent technique and the most versatility out of any young female metal vocalist in the 21st century. The aspiring starlet exudes metal and may be one of the best, and most memorable, teen voices metal has to offer today. Eve will surely be the next gen of vocals with how stunningly clean they are, how beautifully operatic it could be, and how her ominous scream and crystal thought-provoking ballad performance sends shivers up her audience's spines.

Along with heart-throbbing voice, especially now in her prime, Eve’s band in itself is remarkably talent. Most if not all members are multi-instrumentals, especially the Nilsen twins. Eve may be at the frontlines, but without the help of her band, she wouldn’t have made a tremendous leap in the charts this past year. Anyone whose been fortunate enough to see East of Eden live, whether when they started to get noticed when Eve was fourteen (although the band was formed when she was twelve), with the backing of her father, or recently as she’s approaching her twenties, know the chemistry between all musical elements in any song they played. Music is all Eve has ever known. No matter what is going on behind the curtain, when they perform, they are a force to be reckoned with - together.

When they started off, East of Eden pulled all the cards and showed that their talent ranges from glam noir and dark cabaret like Jill Tracy singing Evil Night Together, to American jazz like Peggy Lee singing Black Coffee, who will be forever known for her sultry version of Fever. As well rounded as they are, their true calling is in Symphonic metal where they continue to strive to be among the greats (Nightwish, Kamelot, Epica, Within Temptation, and many more).

East of Eden make a group of Sinners that share their loss of Paradise with the world. Every performance, Eve brings her Adam out of Eden and to the land of Nod, the place East of Utopia. She is his tragic masterpiece. Good and Evil go hand in hand and her band uses biblical imagery to enhance the human nature of being bitten by the lonely. Embracing her fans’ faults, she can make her audience feel like they belong with her, that they were her Adam and had no care for the Garden. Her performances are not only awe-aspiring, but immensely sensual…

Read More

- Arya Roshanian, Variety

Am I the only one who pities the band, East of Eden, specifically the youngest, Evelyn Harding? Currently the band age range is from 18 to 22, but the records say they truly started off six years ago, making the age range from 12 to 16. These kids, and I will emphasize on the word kids, were never given a chance to have a childhood, all coming from influential musicians, who molded their children to be just like them.

Don’t worry parents, your kids will most definitely surpass you because of how much you enforced music in their lives. The reason why I feel sorry for Eve in particular is because of how wild and unstable her entire life seems to be. You can see her in photos when she was four with her parents backstage appeasing their VIP fans. Everyone has a right to their own opinion and mine so happens to be against the majority of this media crazed world. Being the daughter of rock and roll couple, Van Ash and the late Cyndi Phillips, only meant a little girl constantly traveling around the world and witnessing, possibly partaking in, all things Rock-N-Roll: sex, booze, and drugs. On top of that, this little girl lost her mother around the same time her father called up his friends and created a band using their talented children as tools to their own game. Seems to me Van Ash only cares about his own fame and fortune than giving his daughter a chance to… live.

I mean for god's sake! The band name basically whores her off as the woman, who brought humanity to their downfall. I give props to the kids for taking their band name, given to them by their parents, and soaring with it. East of Eden is no longer about a bunch of kids that want their generation to let their demons and flaws rule them. No. Through the years, Eve has gained more power over the direction of where her band is heading toward, choosing to inspire kids to not be ashamed of their mistakes, but to embrace them, including their sexuality, ultimately crafting something beautiful.

Her summer tour has ended and I’m stoked she’s taking a break from the dog-eat-dog music world to be a teenager again, returning back to Beverly Hills High after being there for only half a semester. Her trial semester. I guess that means things went well the previous school year to make her run back, yeah? I can’t say if this is her decision or her father trying to ‘better’ his image, but at least she can be surrounded by other teenagers that have yet to make major strides in their career – only good can come out of this.

Read More

- Mathew Blanchard, Ghost Cult Magazine

"Wait. I won't be able to until Saturday? Seriously?" The raven haired woman pridefully strode down the halls of Beverly Hills High with a blue tooth earpiece on and a red thermo in her hand that contained what the school assumed to be coffee. This wasn't entirely untrue. In her thermo she had 1 ounce of Patron XO Coffee Liqueur, 1 ounce of Baileys Original Irish Cream, double shot of espresso, steamed milk, and mint spring to garnish it on the top. Combine those and shake it with ice then you have one hell of a hot espresso cocktail that would surely wake you up kick you in the face. One could say Evelyn Harding had a problem, but she would never admit it. She simply just did what she wanted. Her morning was an early one. Most people would imagine her waking up in a mess of a house with her band shitfaced and her cuddling up with her bassist, Nero, because they had one hell of a time last night. In reality, most nights she woke up alone in her condo on South Doheny Drive, which was 1.4 miles away from the school. Her home looked nothing like a daughter of a rock couple would have. If anything, the few friends that have visited her humble abode (purchased last school year) would say she could get a job in interior design with how elegant and simple it was.

Occasionally, Eve would find herself with her band mates at Nero's apartment, but she preferred the peace and quiet of her own home and hated sharing it with others unless they were immensely close with her (which isn't an easy feat to accomplish). The few people she could think of on the top of her head that were allowed in were Silvan (manager), Nero (bassist), Maxwell (half brother), and Audrey (best friend). Audrey would be her only exception of a relationship that blossomed a lot faster than Eve ever believed a friendship could. There was something about the strong presence of her dear friend that appealed to the singer, but also Eve felt like she could relate to this woman over anyone else she's had the pleasure of meeting. And boy, was she right. When Audrey and Eve were together, people quivered and shook in fear or anticipation or both. The dancer already had a well-known reputation in the Halls of Beverly Hills High, add Eve to the equation, whose quite formidable herself... that spells hell in paradise.

"Fine. Fine. I'll get it to you by the end of this week, but they better not over schedule like they did last time." As she walked, the McMillain kid, deep into a book walked (crashed) into her boobs and immediately fell onto the floor in embarrassment, "E-Eve. Hi. Uh- fuck, sorry." His wardrobe was casual as ever. Her hawk eyes watched as he hurriedly picked himself up with a faint blush on his face, leaving his book on the floor.

"Sil, I'll talk to you later. At school. Yeah, gotcha." Pressing the button on her blue tooth, she knelt down and picked up Volume 18 of Ouran Highschool Host Club, a shoujo manga. Niles immediately snatched it out of her hand and put it behind his back. "Your girlfriend's?" She knew it wasn't, but the genre of the manga itself was aimed at teenage female readers. She's heard a bit about this kid, how he's a disaster and commits social suicide on a daily basis. This would be the first time he met Eve face to face.

Keeping one hand behind his back with the book, Niles brought his other one to his hoodie's shoelace and began to nervously pull on it, "I'm obviously bootylicious like you and get all the ladies." Her lips curved up, amused at his choice of words.

Tilting her head, observing his every move, she gently licked her bottom lip like some sort of predator, "I'll take that as a compliment. I'll also take it that no, you do not have a girlfriend."

By this point, Niles' hoodie string was almost completely out one end as he rambled, "Like anyone would want to date me. I'm like an old dead fish! No woman would touch me with a ten foot pole!" A sense of alarm fell on his face, like he shouldn't have said that. God, why did he say that? He sounds like such a debbie downer.

While Niles was internally dying inside, Eve received a text message and gestured for the geek to give her a moment as she replied back to her Matriarch.

To: Huntsberg, Audrey
Omw. Less than 5.

Evelyn

The singer never failed to meet with her beloved in the time frame she gave. When Audrey called, she was there in a heartbeat. Hopefully she could check out the music area after she aided her number one lady. If Eve was into pet names, her phone would probably have Audrey under Goddess or something like that, but for the sake of business she had to keep her contact list organized and professional. Bringing her attention back to the undervalued geek, Eve gave him a gentle smile, which made him lose balance, since he heard rumors about her but this wasn't the woman he thought she was, "I'd love to stay and chat but duty calls."

"Ah-yeah... of course. I-I'll see you later?"

A kittenish smile fell on her face, which made him bring his book in front of his pants, "I'd like that, Niles. But one more thing before I leave, don't cut yourself short. You're a handsome boy, I'm sure there's someone waiting for you right now who wouldn't mind going on a date." Before she sauntered away, the succubi winked, making the boy cough up his saliva.

_{[Stayed Tuned for Niles and Alba collab.]}

The difference between Eve's walk (plus attitude) and Audrey's walk was the hint of something more than what meets the eye. Audrey will always be fearlessly sovereign, Eve, on the other hand, was a woman who came across as wickedly bold, her hazel orbs hinted at a sex deviant, and her words were alluringly positive and could draw most weak-willed men in. People saw one thing, but like any person, there were hidden layers. Only the daring ones took the chance to break her shell and only people like her best friend knew there was a serpent behind the beauty. The ones who got to see her true colors were either the ones she was already through with or the ones she could careless about. She didn't mind destroying your ego if you meant nothing to her.

On her way to the dance booth, a fairly attractive blonde girl stopped her in her tracks, "Um, sorry to interrupt you... I was wondering if you knew where I could find the dance section? The one that Audrey leads?" The Niner held onto a pamphlet and looked at Eve with awe and wonder. "Oh how rude of me, my name is Summer Aspen."

"I see Rhett's kept you in the loop. You don't seem--"

"As stupid as him, yeah I know." Summer was definitely an assertive Niner.

Gesturing for the girl to follow her, Eve listed a couple of things for the audacious freshman to keep in mind, "Audrey has a fuse. Do not speak over her. Do not act like you know more than her. Wait until she acknowledges you. Here's some gum for your breath." The songstress already had mint Trident gum out for her to take, her voice was as rather calm... "Don't chew like a cow, we both hate that. And if you want a chance to be seen as more than nothing, don't be a pushover. That doesn't mean tell her off, that means show her you can handle what she throws at you. Not many people can."

"Uh-" Summer's head was spinning with all this information that was given to her when they finally arrived at the booth.

Looking down at the small niner, Eve gave her an unsettling, yet comforting smile, "I'm Evelyn Harding, by the way. Good luck." Leaving the blonde's side, whose eyes widened when she registered who she was walking/talking with, Eve twisted the cap off her thermo and finally took a long needed sip of her 'coffee'. Her threatening gaze looked at the other blonde, the extremely naive one, and waited for the moment to end, before walking beside Audrey, "Beautiful as ever." She genuinely complimented. She gave Analise a nod of acknowledgement, but that was about it.

[foxygen]

ARI FRANCIS ADASSI

---

Whoops, struck a metaphorical vein. Ari regretted his question as soon as he saw the expression that touched Jar's features, apparently none too pleased with his straightforwardness. Acting oblivious to how it might affect his bandmate, Ari shrugged a shoulder and stared off elsewhere, like matters concerning Jar's exes really didn't bother him. The dead tone Jar had adopted after a couple of moments of uncomfortable silence was more than unnerving, especially paired with the rhetoric itself. Ari winced, not appreciating the black humour but figuring it was nothing to take seriously. Hopefully. Still, Jar had made the implication that he'd be driven to that point by a girl. Just some girl. Just moments ago you wouldn't have been able to get Ari to hate her more, but here he was, ridiculously irritated.

He waited until Jar's back was turned to respond, and even then, it was mostly nonverbal. "'right," he mumbled dismissively, practically inaudible, and floundered with finding an unobtrusive place to stand before settling into a lean against the booth beside Jar. He squinted at the names, half-interested, and tried to keep his foot from bouncing impatiently. Ari was steadily growing more energetic (or, more accurately, more on edge), and it wasn't just affecting him physically. Goddamn Jade. In all fairness, Jareth probably ruined his health just as much as he did last night on every other night, but he didn't make as vocal a deal out of it then. Ari thought he had a right to be worried, personalky, but maybe not the right to be on such a lookout for her. Not like he'd even do anything if he saw her; just stare daggers from a distance, or something; Jade would probably win in a physical fight. Bummer. Good thing he didn't catch sight of her.

Without any prompting, Ari fell into an easy pace beside Jar towards the bleachers, not so surprised when he heard the concern about their band's name. Crimson was a cringey enough name in itself; capitalizing the 'S' for CrimSon just made them look like they thought they were special. He hadn't thought of official replacement names - just toyed with ideas, mostly - but still. He had some good concepts (which, surely, they would regret in five years or less time, but even then they'd have something less embarrassing to go by at the Battle).

Ari was preparing to voice some of the ideas in question when, while Jar was speaking, he spotted someone coming towards them. Running? No, that was... a skateboard. Oh man. Ari may be quite alert now, moreso than usual, but he didn't have the reflexes to get Jar out of the way in time, and he knew it in the single second he had to prepare for impact.

Useless. The damage mostly went to Jar, and so Ari was the one who remained most balanced in the end (even if he was taking a fall, too, it just spoke words how collectively clumsy they were). When Jar stumbled towards him, Ari at least attempted to set him upright, but to no avail. He wrapped an arm around the other boy's bony torso, but didn't get any grip, and fell backwards himself against the bleachers. Hey, it could have been a lot less graceful. He could've easily fallen flat on his face, but Ari just narrowly avoided that mortifying fate. Instead, he had his arms slung over the seat behind him, like he'd just exercised for hours and now had to collapse entirely just for rest, watching the other two gather some loose papers. Frankly, he was absolutely no help here.

Especially not when he was being struck with a very vivid reminder of who this skater was. Road trips were hell by themselves, but they got worse when you added in being teenagers with rampant hormones and room for experimentation; honestly, Ari wasn't into the latter, but he was a victim of it this summer (his words). He thought he was pretty good at hiding the fact that his sexuality was a gigantic question mark, but Davy supposedly thought otherwise. That's the only rationalization Ari could give the situation when he very nearly had his face sucked off in a goddamn national park. Or drugs, but that didn't seem like Davy's thing. In any case, he was still very suspicious of the kid.

"No worries," Ari tacked on to Jar's reassurances, eyeing Davy warily. There were some worries, but he was staying quiet to recuperate from the sudden flashback. Like, are any of them stuck with broken bones now? How would he live past this horrifyingly public incident? Evidently, Ari didn't realise that his reputation couldn't change just because he'd bumped into someone. He didn't bother with the cushy greetings and make-betters, since Jar seemed to have carried them out already.

He hadn't exactly been looking, figuring they were boring syllabi or pamphlets handed out like candy on first days, but both Davy squeaking a helpless don't! and Jar's unblinking stare prompted Ari to glance over at the now gathered mass of papers. The topmost paper was distressed from, supposedly, being tossed around in this encounter, but it was hard to miss. Less entranced by it than Jar was, he slowly looked up to Davy, as if trying to confirm it was actually done by him. Yep. He looked sufficiently embarrassed enough for it to be his own work. Odd - he'd never known Davy to be an artist, but then again, he'd never known Davy particularly well. A smile finally reached his lips, and he started nodding his head approvingly. "Holy shit," he agreed, speaking in unison with Jar.

While Jar was sitting there agonizing over the thing, asking to keep the memento, Ari jumped straight into business. "That's brutal. You making money off of this? You should," he rambled, moving around to look over Davy's shoulder. "I'd buy stuff like this. Shit, man, you're talented!" His arms were crossed over his chest, but one flew out to whack Davy appreciatively on the shoulder, like that was some true mark of appraisal.

Hider

little half-assed rendering of how davy's drawing might look like (his is much more meticulous)

Hider

[Hey Im Jordan]

---

---

Interacting with: Evalyn, via text @Aewin, featuring Ghost via IM @Wade Wilson, sum NPCs fuk off m8
Location: Her bathroom, her bedroom, her car, the school.
Time: i dont know fuck you im giving up on this section

---

---

Alyssa hummed to herself, tapping buttons on her keyboard and pulling up yet another Google search. ”Honestly, how hard can it possibly be to find one teenager? We’re not that good at hiding!” She hissed and flicked the screen as if punishing it physically would help. With a foul look on her face, she popped another one of her strawberries in her mouth. Biting into the succulent fruit always cheered her up and with a hair flip, she followed a link from her Google search, which finally brought her to her target: Alexander Wilson Bryant. She smiled slightly now, shifting lightly on her bed as she pressed the ‘Instant Message!’ button. She placed her hands on the keys and punched out a small message.

‘Ah, yes, Spooks! I’ve finally found you. ...er, that is what they call you now, right?’
^{— Alyssa Green}

‘..Alyssa? Um, it’s Ghost, by the way. Why are you messaging me at like 2 in the morning? Why are you awake at 2 in the morning?’
^{— Alexander Bryant}

’...because I do what I want. Er, wait, I had a planned response. Ah, yes. I am messaging you, at 2 in the morning because, as Butler always says. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. And you, Ghost… well, everyone is your enemy. Me? I’m just an asshole. I need an ally, because I can’t do it all alone. Help me, and in return I will put you back at the top. King bee, or whatever the kids are calling it.’
^{— Alyssa Green}

‘Wait, what the fuck? King bee???
..fine, I’ll help you. But if we’re dragged ass-first into some massive problem, don’t expect me to have your back. Also, not everyone is my enemy. I’m sure there’s a friend I have that I just can’t think of at this moment. I’ll just have to get back to you on that one. Anyway, what even is this thing that you need help with?’
^{— Alexander Bryant}

I’m never in massive problems, I am the massive problem. And fantastic, I’m glad you’ve agreed blindly without knowing what I want or what my plan is. I need help winning a bet with Butler. The substance of the bet? He doesn’t think I can ruin Dominique and the rest of the people we go to school with in my last year. So… I’m going to do that. And you’ll help. It’ll be fun! Like riding a bicycle.
^{— Alyssa Green}

‘What happens if you win the bet? Don’t you already, like, have it all, or something? Your place is huge as hell and you’ve probably caused a strawberry shortage somewhere in the world. Everyone’s happy, right? And the last time I rode a bicycle it ended up burning in a ditch.’
^{— Alexander Bryant}

If I win I get twelve whole dollars! I’ll split it with you, you can have six. We’ll go get ice cream. Doesn’t that sound nice? And I’m sorry you’re not good at the most basic of things, riding a bicycle… Anyway, after school tomorrow, you’ll meet up with Butler and I and we shall head to the castle to plot. I already have a war-room set up.
^{— Alyssa Green}

‘Oh boy! Six whole dollars?!?!?! I feel like you’re being too nice!
..Seriously. I feel like this was a bad idea. I’m not used to you being this nice. And wait, what? A war-room? You actually have a fucking war-room in that maze you call a castle? I thought the ‘castle’ part was metaphorical!
Hey, it wasn’t me, it was the bicycle! I swear. ..Look, I was six years old, okay!?’
^{— Alexander Bryant}

It’s not metaphorical! The Stentorian Estate is my castle, and I am its Queen. And it used to be a spare room until I had Butler remove everything and tack up yearbook photos of everyone who’s anyone on a cork board. I linked them with colored yarn. Well, I didn’t, the gardener did because I didn’t want to. I watched and drank strawberry whiskey. But I told him to, so I’m taking credit. This way we know who’s with who and what not, so we can attack them at their weakest links.
Can you not ride a bike?
Don’t answer that.
I’ll have Butler make sure there are snacks prepared. What do you fancy?
^{— Alyssa Green}

‘I think you need to cut down on the movies and whatnot, Alyssa. If you did science, I’d probably say something like ‘you’re one lab accident away from being a supervillain’, because that’s how unfunny and unoriginal I am. Shit, now I get why everyone is my enemy.
Anyway, snacks? Wow, I didn’t think you knew anything other than strawberries existed. Um, anyway, probably like some chips? I don’t fucking know.’
^{— Alexander Bryant}

Chips? Honestly? Perhaps people are your enemy because you’re startlingly boring… Chips. Do you want some fish with those chips? I have billions of dollars, I could get you like… gold flaked caviar and the first thing that comes to mind is chips? Urgh, I hope I’ve selected the right ally… Would bread and water suffice? That has about the same amount of flavor and will save me about 27 cents…
^{— Alyssa Green}

‘Hm, fish does sound nice.
Billions of dollars? Can I have gold-dusted poop? And I have the same question. If this turns out to be a waste, I’m gonna be fucking pissed. Like, ‘the bike incident times 1,000’ pissed. Just wanted to put that out there. Do you serve champagne with that fish?’
^{— Alexander Bryant}

Fish and champagne? Barf. But, alas, it is your choice. And don’t you worry about anything, I just need another body alongside me. I’m gonna crush them all underneath my thumb… Like ants. Only, I usually have Butler crush the ants. It’ll be fun, and when we’re all done… everyone will remember this year of highschool. I’m trembling with excitement.
^{— Alyssa Green}

‘Yeah, yeah, Doctor Von Doom, sounds great. Can you please lecture me on what to have with fish when we meet in that little demented war-room of yours? I just remembered there’s salami in the kitchen and I want to eat it before anybody else does remember.
Also, please don’t lecture me on what to eat or whatever with salami. I just want salami. Okay?’
^{— Alexander Bryant}

Choosing instead to not even dignify that with a response, Alyssa shut the laptop off and gently swung the tray away to give herself freedom of movement once again.. She wiggled her carefully painted red toes and smirked to herself. ”They are all my puppets. I’ll pull their strings… and then, they’ll dance~” She tightly curled her toes before snatching another bathrobe before she stood up out of the bathtub.

The once bubbly water sloshed ever so slightly as Alyssa drew herself to her feet and onto the spongey, soft, absorbent rugs beneath her. She let the water drip from her body for a few moments until she was satisfied, and then she moved to her embroidered, golden, Egyptian cotton towels, lightly patting herself down to handle most of the water before she tied a pink, Egyptian silk bathrobe around herself and opened the door.

Faithfully sitting watch, was Logan Everett(Butler, if you asked anyone), Alyssa’s beloved guardian angel. Butler. Bodyguard. Chef. Pack mule. Muscle. There were plenty of words for Butler, and they all fit. The difference between Butler and the rest of the people that Alyssa used and abused was that she simply couldn’t imagine life without Butler. It was an almost hideous reality in her mind, one where the man wasn’t there to frighten people that challenged her--and punish those who still denied her. One where Butler wasn’t there to constantly carry her bag and provide her with alcohol and strawberries. One where Butler didn’t ferry her from place to place in one of the cars in her fleet.

Hideous.

”Butler. I am ready for bed. Summon Turk.” Okay, fine. And there was Turk. He came to Alyssa’s call, yes, but to Butler’s… the dog responded more quickly, more thoroughly. Butler nodded his head, looking up from his game of Candy Crush, and he whistled. Once high, once low. Regardless of where Turk was, the dog would hear at least one half the two toned musical sound throughout the hallowed halls of Alyssa’s estate…

And he would come.

”Thank you darling. As you know, tomorrow is not only the beginning of the end of my highschool career: it is also the beginning of my princess’s. Be prepared, Butler. We will have to show her how to handle things around the school, and teach her that the only person not beneath her is… well, me. Unfortunately, there are people who aim to challenge the fact that I am not only above the disgusting filthy highschool drama that plagues the halls of Beverly Hills High… they wish to challenge the fact that I am above them. As you well know--” At this point, Alyssa held a brief pause to reach ddown and scractch behind the ears of her puppy dog, who nuzzled against his owner’s bathrobe, but then, it began anew: ”I will not tolerate insolence of that level. Since you and my parents deny me my right as a wealthy person to sentence those below me to death... I shall sink to more petty revenge. I’ll simply ruin their lives.” She sighed woefully, as if not being able to kill people was the saddest thing she’d heard all day before she headed toward her bedroom, snapping her fingers to call her dog to her.

”And if they fight back?”

”Butler, Butler, Butler… You of all people know that I simply don’t care. I win, I always win. If their lives aren’t ruined, so what? I still come home to my house that’s nearly as large as their hometown. I still coast through life and get handed a networth of 97 billion dollars. I still become Queen of the world… I win. So… to be quite frank, Butler… if they fight back that’s just… more fun.” Green eyes twinkled with almost sadistic glee as she placed her hand on the knob to her own room, before she looked over her shoulder at her loyal Butler. ”Have you any questions, Butler? Not everything I do is for the bet, you know.”

”Of course, Miss Green. No questions to ask. What would you like for breakfast?”

”Two waffles, each square properly buttered, Topped with homemade whipped cream, and freshly sliced strawberries from our organic garden. Two pieces of toast, buttered on the more lightly toasted side. Sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. Four slices of bacon, cooked ever so slightly too long. Served with a glass of pineapple juice. Why am I even telling you this? You know what I like.”

”We are in accord, Miss Green. Good night.”

”Fare thee well, Butler. I shall see you at no later than 8:30 AM tomorrow morning.”

”School starts at seven thirty in the morning, you know.”

”Did I stutter, Butler? Stammer? Stumble? No. As is usual, my speech was impeccable. 8:30 AM.”

”As you wish.” Without another word, Butler closed the door and headed toward his own quarters, directly across the hall from the Queen’s. Meanwhile, in her own room, Alyssa shed the bathrobe and changed into her most comfortable of clothing: a pair of pyjama shorts and a tank top. Now suited for sleep, she crawled underneath the covers of her massive, circular bed, and laid her head on the memory foam pillows. Turk jumped up to his half of the bed, at his mistress’s feet, and curled up. Now at maximum comfort, Alyssa soon let sleep find her…

---

The next morning, at the exact time she requested, Alyssa was waken by her Butler, the plate of breakfast, prepared exactly as requested, presented in front of her. She ate it slowly at first, enjoying it. She would have continued with the slow pace until she finished, taking… an incredibly unnecessarily long amount of time to finish things, and arriving to school at noon, or perhaps even later than that…

If not for a text on her phone from the one person who mattered more than her own relaxation and enjoyment of breakfast. Alyssa could speed her life up a bit for Evalyn Jones. Eva would not be kept waiting, unlike… well, anyone else that attended the school.

My Princess
I’ll be there shortly darling. I was skipping the assembly and doing my damndest to skip the activity fair… But alas, you come first. See you soon. xoxo <3

Alyssa slid the phone onto her bedside table and bit the last piece of toast, tossing it into her mouth. She looked at the unfinished glass of juice, and two remaining slices of bacon sorrowfully. ”I shall eat it in the car. That means we’re taking the Mercedes, I’d die before I got my Maserati dirty. Perish the thought.” She spoke mostly ot herself, but elicited a response from Butler regardless; who snorted at the way Alyssa scoffed while talking about Maseratis and Mercedes.

”I”ll go get the car started.”

”Yes, you will. I shall be along shortly.” Alyssa responded, standing up and off of the bed. Quickly, she kissed Turk atop his fuzzy head, and headed to her closet, selecting her clothes for the day: a plain tank-top, and a pair of jeans that fit her well enough, before she grabbed the important stuff: her jewelery. She decked herself out in her normal gear: the ruby pendant necklace, emerald earrings, and diamond tennis bracelet. Now properly equipped for the day, she grabbed the plate of food from her bedside table, pocketing her phone. Her ‘purse’, if you will, was already in Butler’s hands. In reality, it was a large duffle bag, filled with her necessities: largely strawberries, food that wasn’t digusting food crafted in a godforsaken high school cafeteria, a few carefully hidden tiny bottles of alcohol(specifically, brandy), a cotton towel to lay on top of the hot metal bleachers for Alyssa to sit on after cheerleading practice, and a pillow in case the Queen needed a nap. What? High school was boring.

She headed toward the garage, eating while she walked and disregarding any crumbs that fell down(a servant would eventually come through and sweep it up for her), and headed toward her underground garage, where Butler waited, the car already running, though Butler stood beside the rear driver’s door. As his charge strolled up to the car, Butler opened the door obediently and Alyssa slid in as she bit into the remaining waffle. They drove away from the house, and within a few minutes, they’d arrived at the school.

Alyssa looked out into the parking lot and waved her hand, placing the now empty plate beside herself. ”Park next to the worst car you can find, no particular reason, I just like to make people feel bad. We’ll be oh so careful not to scratch it...” Butler shrugged his massive shoulders in response to Alyssa’s orders, but obeyed them regardles, putting the black, 2017, S-Class Mercedes into park next to a similarly black, but not nearly as new or as shiny ‘93 Volvo 240. ”Delightful. Now, to find Eva.” It wouldn’t be hard to find for Alyssa to find the princess; she could almost sniff Evalyn out like a hound dog by now.

”Something about the volleyball team, I’m certain. To the activity fair, unfortunately...” Alyssa murmured, shaking her head and gesturing for Butler to tag along. And he did, through the halls of the school, to the field. He’d follow her to every class, sit next to her in every class. No one, not the teachers, nor the other students, bothered to ask anymore. It wasn’t like Butler would leave, and the sizable donations from Alyssa’s parents to the highschool kept the staff from complaining.

Butler was here to stay.

Once they arrived on the scene, with the hustle and bustle of highschool life surrounding them, Alyssa scowled, but zeroed in on the assumed location of her Princess: the volleyball team’s booth. And(per usual), Alyssa was right. There, with her lovely, wavy brown locks, and unfairly good looks(for a freshman at least), was Evalyn Jones. Now knowing where she was headed, Alyssa crossed the field in seconds, people literally stepping out of the way for her before she stood next to Eva. Quickly, Alyssa swooped down and kissed Eva on the cheek, smiling lightly at her. ”Never fear, macushla. Your Queen has arrived, you don’t have to spend time with these icky normal people any longer.”

Butler rolled his eyes.