[IC] Palm Beach Royals

[Hero]

Smooth as usual. Maybe if the circumstances were different, Aurora would have actually been impressed by Dante's ability to take whatever was thrown at him and spin it to his advantage. Sure, she knew how to take on the unexpected herself as numerous council meetings had taught her, but the way he made it seem to effortless was great. His nonchalant attitude about being sent to detention was the complete opposite reaction of hers; then again, he was probably so used to wasting his hours away that it didn't phase him anymore. Watching him speak, she wondered why he didn't care. Well, he did have his own family business to take over, so maybe school was just something he did to please his parents? Or maybe he didn't have a choice in the matter.

Just as she started sympathizing with him, however, he then asked what she was doing here. Aurora almost wanted to cry again, but there was no way in hell she was going to have a public breakdown. She instead leaned back in her seat, realizing that it was going to come out sooner or later. "Guilt by association, courtesy of Mrs. Berkely catching Grant and Vivi smoking," She shrugged, letting out a sigh. "Well, I wasn't supposed to take the detention, but Mr. Frederick decided that it was a lesson so that I could try to reign the two in." Though how she was going to go about it was anyone's guess.

Still, as much as it bothered her at first, it was clear that Dante actually wanted to talk to her. Well, it was obvious what he wanted, but maybe she could know him a little better. Humanize him. Maybe. Tapping her nails on the desk, she sat up right and crossed one leg over the other. What could she talk to him about? Would he even respond? Or would he just turn it around on her? Their last encounter showed that he could easily devour her, and she wasn't the type to make the same mistake twice.

"Ferrari...that's right, you like to race, right?" She asked. Not that she knew anything about cars. But her ignorance was her weapon. "My brother has one, too, but what's yours like?"

---

Pendejo.

What the hell did she do to deserve Marco as a partner? All she did was talk in class, and Savanna got Sol--one of the coolest people in their school--and she got the guy that wouldn't shut the fuck up. She didn't appreciate his little rant on Aurora, either, her glare making that very obvious. Idiot. For her fortune, his chatter died down for all of two minutes, and her fingers began to work on her phone. The first thing she needed to do was to tell Dante to back off Aurora, then she needed to tell her bestie to ignore him. As she glanced over at the pair, her jaw dropped as she watched Aurora talk to Dante, perfectly calm. What the fuck?! Was Marco right?

As Marco spoke again, she whirled around to him, a dangerous look on her face. "Some people get annoying siblings, so I deeply sympathize with your hermana," She snapped at him. "And if it concerns you so much what I'm doing, I'm trying to protect my best friend."

[AlteredTundra]

Gee willikers, it’s cold in here.

Oh, wait. That wasn’t anything the room was producing. Right, it was that death glare that Reia had given Marco simply because he wanted to strike up a conversation with her. Everything was all fun and games until the bitch o’meter was activated. And the best part of this very moment was that Marco only wanted to get to know his detention partner. An hour stuck next to each other with the latino version of Austin Powers’ Fat Bastard intently watching them didn’t provide Marco with a lot of options. And, honestly, Reia was someone Marco felt would be really good friends with him. She wasn’t a total bore like most of her kind was, so what was up her butt?

Oh shit, she replied. Amazing! “And you’re doing that by texting?” Marco asked, scratching his head.

Marco would get nothing in return, so he decided to look around once more. His eyes went from one corner to the next, one table to the next. He had no idea what was happening at the other tables, but everyone was turning and to face each other. “I really wish I knew what everyone was saying.” He said to himself.

At some point, Marco’s eyes fell back on Reia’s form once again. He couldn’t help but shake the feeling from earlier. It had occurred to him that she was doing all that she could to avoid talking to him. Was her phone really more important than he was? So, somewhat annoyed by her, Marco dipped his head in front of hers. “Reeeeiiiaaaaa~” He lowly sang, “you mad at me?”

The longer Sav engaged in this game of hers with Soleil Jameson, the more she was coming around to the unique charm that she had. She would be the first to admit that this one sitting next to her never was that interesting to her. Her name was unique and she had a certain look to her that worked, but overall, she didn’t think there was anything to ‘Slim Shady’. She was a loud, rowdy, lady-jock. Everything that Savanna herself had experienced with her and the others of The Alpha Six had proven to be nothing but an annoyance on this school. They were all pleasing to the eyes - even Sol - but their personalities were too rough-around-the-edges for Sav’s personal tastes, though Sabrina and Stella were apparently into that kind of thing. Good for them, but that wasn’t the kind of person, male or female, that she’d choose to indulge.

But as surprising as it was, the petite blonde wasn’t just charmed by Sol, she also welcomed it. Though, she managed to sneak in a chuckle when the brunette had brazenly stated what kind of person she was into. To Sav’s genuine, vocal shock, it wasn’t Marco. Sol had made it quite clear that she didn’t harbor any romantic feelings towards that one. Instead, Sol was more about the kind of person Sav was rather than Marco was.

“You certainly don’t pull any punches, do you?” Sav mused, finding the brunette’s directness a refreshing change.

She kept her real reaction to it to herself. In the truest honesty, Sav didn’t know what to feel about this. She was hardly taken by surprise or speechless. If anything, the blonde teen was intrigued by this. She had only been so focused on her future aspirations to give romance a second thought. She didn’t know if it didn’t interest her or if she simply hadn’t found the right person to indulge in. She didn’t even know if Soleil Jameson was the person she’d choose to go that route with, but the effort from Slim Shady was appreciated.

Turning to face her, Sav gave Sol a smile, keeping it relatively minimal. “And what exactly about me is it that you find alluring about me, Sol?” Sav asked, leaning forward curiously, attempting to sneak in an attentive smirk that was aimed at Sol’s way.

[Hero]

[will edit aesthetics later]

Holy shit was Grant having trouble keeping up with anything Kai said. Which was ironic, as Grant was much more talkative, so technically Kai wasn't saying much, but Grant couldn't keep up with the lingo. Granted, he just plain didn't do well with any sort of lingo, much less one from a foreign country. Taking a glance at Vivi, she didn't seem to understand Kai, either, only offering a half shrug as she continued to write. Useless as always, keep up the good work, Vi. Although now that he took a second to try to translate what Kai had said, most of those were names he recognized. So it looked like Kai had an encounter with the Alpha Six. That was probably a good place as any to start, though for some reason he didn't see Kai as an outright athlete. Despite not wanting to judge, Grant was pretty sure Kai was into surfing.

Having only politely nodded in response to...whatever the fuck Kai had said, Grant tried to think of something else to talk about. Scratching the back of his head, he got an idea, and figured he may as well roll with it. It'd probably get Kai talking, at least. "So...surf much?" He asked.

"Your hair is like, super long," Vivi threw out a comment out of left field, watching Grant give her an annoyed look. "What? It is."

---

Marco wasn't really getting the hint that Reia in no way shape or form wanted to have any communication with him whatsoever. In fact, instead of responding, Reia simply stared at him. How in the name of the Lord did someone so good looking have absolutely no sense of awareness whatsoever? How the hell could Sol handle this guy at all? Reia already felt like she wanted to throttle him, and for some bizarre reason, he wasn't leaving her alone. Placing her phone down on the desk for a moment, she crossed her arms against her chest as she leaned back in her seat, staring Marco down with his stupid grin on his stupid face.

"Texting is a form of communication," She explained very slowly to him. "Since I can't just get up and talk to them, I can text them. Is that a little hard for you to understand? Do you only talk to your friends when they're in front of you?" Her voice dripped with sarcasm, she then leaned forward. "I'm not mad, Marco, I want to know why you're talking to me. You think I've forgotten what you did to me?"

[Venus]

“You certainly don’t pull any punches, do you?”

Shady couldn’t help but chuckle at the phrase Sav had used to describe her no-bullshit way of expressing herself. Had she done that on purpose, or had it just been a comical coincidence? On one hand, it was common knowledge that Sol’s main sport outside of the softball she played at school was boxing; so it was possible that the blonde’s words had been just a coincidence stemming from this well-known fact. But knowing the type of young woman Savanna Hart was -who always did things with a purpose, be it obvious or not, for the short or the long run-, Soleil could safely assume it was the former.

“Interesting choice of words to say to a boxer,” the dark-haired woman replied with an amused grin, cocking her head to the side. “And you bet your ass I don’t pull no punches. How do you think I’ve managed to get all the knockouts and no defeats?” Leave it to Shady to take the opportunity to boast of her sporting achievements in true Alpha fashion.

But it seemed that her detention partner couldn’t care less about her athletic records and was in no mood to beat around the bush, because her next question went straight to the point she wanted clarified.

“And what exactly about me is it that you find alluring about me, Sol?” Savanna had asked, leaning forward towards Soleil and giving her a smirk, curiosity written all over the shorter girl’s small, attractive face.

That the King’s Academy Queen Bee was taking the bait laid out by the Queen Jock was a rather surprising turn of events. And Shady, every bit as arrogant and proud as her older half-brother, was living for it. Even if the end result wasn’t the one she was pining for, Soleil would still play hard. She sure as hell wasn’t a fucking quitter.

“Let me paint the picture for you, Polly Pocket,” Sol began, a playful smirk on her lips now to let Sav know she meant the words as a pet name and not an insult. “There’s a curious little thing from where I come from. You see: every one of my family members has a particular preference when it comes to who they wanna spend some one-on-one time with that’s like ridiculously obvious. My father likes women with dark hair, light eyes, pale skin and that were as damaged as he once was. My uncle -Dad’s brother- has a weakness for Latinas with big asses, which is why he ended up smitten with my Aunt Audrey since they were teens. And Dante’s an absolute sucker for redheads, even if you could think he doesn’t really discriminate. But me? I like them blondies. Kenzie was an exception to the rule, and look where that got me,” she said sarcastically, letting out a cynical laugh at the thought of the brunette ex-girlfriend that had broken her heart over a year before. “That’s why I’m back to my foolproof fetish. You pair these pretty golden locks you have with those pretty little lips of yours, and I’d say this is a winning combination right here.” Soleil finished, looking seductively at Savanna straight in the eyes while playing with a strand of the other girl’s hair.

---

---

Even with the sudden silence that had fallen between them, Antonella had absolutely no idea of what Wade would be going on about. She merely sat there, eagerly but patiently waiting for him to voice the favor he wanted to ask her. He began to explain that he’d been getting a lot of stares since school started, which came as no news to the brunette. Even when she’d tried to tune them out, she’d heard the whispers coming from the female population of King’s Academy on how Wade Ashford had done the glow-up of the century, and how they would totally drop their panties for him if he asked. Hell, his new look had nearly made her crash into a tree that same morning, for God’s sake, and she’d been crushing on him for years now! It was no shock that everybody else would stare, too.

The real kicker came when said that Dante was the one who suggest that Wade should ‘practice’. At this, Ella brightened up instantly, butterflies in her stomach as a million different scenarios races through her head. She could totally help him practice whatever he needed! More time alone together, right? They could practice the talking, the holding hands, the dating ettiquete… Oh my God! What if he needed help in the kissing department?! What if he asked her to practice kissing?! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!! So exciting!!!!

However, the moment Ella’s clueless mind realized what was really going on, all excitement vanished on the spot. Wade wanted her help to deal with the attention of all the other girls at school. Obviously, this meant that now that he had the chance, he wanted to explore the dating scene… Which also meant that, on top of struggling with her crush, she now had the pressure of him being totally appealing and available to all the other females. To everyone else, this would be the perfect incentive to come clean about their long-harbored feelings. But for someone as shy and inexperienced in matters of the heart as Antonella, this was easier said than done. And with the selfless was she was, she would rather watch Wade be happy with someone else than risk their friendship being ruined… Even if it made her feel like crap.

Realizing she’d been quiet for more time than was acceptable, Ella quicky perked up. “Um, sure! I would be happy to help you out!” she replied, her tone of voice as fake as the happy expression she’d put on her face. “That’s what f-friends are for.”

Honestly? Wade’s favor felt a million times worse than having fallen on the school pool with all her clothes on and landing herself in detention. This was definitely not her day.

[AlteredTundra]

Though he didn’t intend to, Kai let out a vocal laugh when Vivi had commented about the length of his hair. Though he received snapping looks, no doubt because they didn’t want to get into more trouble because of the carefree Kai, it seemed they had nothing to worry about. Looking to the front of the class, Kai noticed the heavy-set Mr. Alvarez was preoccupied with his phone. He was tap-tap-tapping away on his phone, looking more stressed than Kai was when he had been told by his oldies they were moving away from down under and to the beach of palms.

Kai leaned closer to Vivi and Grant, “is it just me or does the fat one look as cross as a frog in a sock?” He asked them, alternating his intrigued gaze between them and him. “It doesn’t seem like all is aces with him, wouldn’t ya agree, mates?”

”¿Dirías eso una vez más?”

Marco was just about as confused as he was when his dearest mother - bless her fragile heart - when he received that ever-alarming text that she wasn’t going to be able to pick him up after school. Instead, whoever this special guest was that he was going to meet, was going to. She gave no name. Nothing to indicate who this mystery man - just that it was vital that Marco get to know him. And this is exactly what it was like for Marco when Reia dropped that bomb on him.

He had to pause it, set the hot tamale she just laid in his lap to the side so it would cool, and figure exactly what she was referring to. Yes, he talked to his friends like this every day. They mostly didn’t have a problem with it. Save for Nolan who would always tell Marco to cut it out when - and this was a direct quote: “Cut the shit, Big Mac.” So, yes Marco knew where the lines were and also knew when it was time to put on his Sirius Black face on (no not that black face; that’s inappropriate).

Marco might’ve liked to joke and goof off a lot, but he knew when it was time to play and when it was time to shut the hell up.

So, here we are again as Marco found no clarity in trying to decipher Reia’s Rubix cube puzzle.

And now the search began. What was she talking about? Did Marco forget something important? Well, he always forgot a lot of important stuff. Such how he didn’t wear his uniform today. But that obviously wasn’t it. Had that been it, Mac was positive that Reia would’ve told him already. Maybe he and she had a date...no, that wasn’t it either. First off, he would remember if he had a date with Reia Santos. And he wouldn’t hear the end of it from Slim. She’d repeatedly ask him ‘why Big Mac? Why would you subject yourself to that torture?’

So again, Marco was back to square one.

Nodding to himself, Marco broke the silence that had developed when he was muttering to himself as he tried to solve this puzzle. Once he did, he turned to face Reia once again. Taking just one moment to give her the most serious gaze he could. He no longer had the grin on his face.

“I have no idea, Reia. Obviously, my memory is lacking, but if I did anything to hurt you, I humbly apologize. Dios sabe que mi memoria es bastante terrible. You can just ask Sol. She’ll vouch for me.”

Marco somehow turned an earnest attempt to right whatever wrong there was between him and Reia into a light-hearted moment, which he noticed he should correct pronto!

“But I’m serious. I honest to god, swear-it-on-my-mama’s-future-grave don’t know what I did to make you very anti-me. Maybe if you told me what it was I did that was so bad, I could better remember it.”

It seemed, as Sav was finding it, the more Soleil spoke about, well everything, the more the blonde was finding her intriguing. The initial intrigue wasn’t so much about how confident she was nor how certain the brunette seemed to be that Sav would respond a specific way. Being as glamorous as she was and how everyone wanted to be her, Sav was simply curious about what the reasons could be. Given that Sav has heard it all, this was going to be fun.

She listened intently when Sol began telling her more about her family. Everything was pretty intriguing, but this wasn’t news to the golden thespian. In fact, her auntie had said some of this in passing. Truth be told, Sav was well aware of exactly how SOl’s Uncle Alexandros was quite involved with the then latina teen Audrey Huntsberg. This info came from someone who bore witness to exactly how that specific relationship came to be. Viola Banks was kind of on the sidelines as everything came to be. All of this concluded by Sol making a rather bold declaration with some physical props to boot.

Sav turned her head, smiling, though she politely pulled Sol’s fingers away from her golden locks. There was a single moment (which seemed longer than it actually was) as she allowed her personal space to be free of invasion, however, Sav chose to not say anything right away. Instead, she let her eyes gaze upon Sol’s form - well, at least what these seats would allow. She let her hands slide under the table and gently caress Sol’s outer-thigh. She did this while she thought about her next words carefully.

After one more moment, she spoke, “I appreciate it. You are...not hard on the eyes,” her voice trailed into more silence, followed by a smirk, and “so that’ll be all. You’ve done a great service to your queen. You should feel honored.”

And just as her Auntie had told her, the power and control was back in Sav’s hands. She turned to face forward and went to her phone, paying zero mind to Sol all while having a satisfied smirk on her lips.

[Venus]

As he heard Aurora’s reason for having landed herself in detention, Dante couldn’t help but find himself inwardly sighing, feeling rather disappointed. He'd been expecting a juicy story about how the young woman had finally been caught doing something that could tarnish her cookie-cutter reputation and make her just a liiiiiiittle more interesting. But, alas, this was not the case.

“Ah, that fucking sucks. Anyone with half a brain would know that you wouldn’t fucking touch anything like that in a million years. And to use the detention as a ‘lesson’ and to steer the other two back into the path of goodness? Pretty fucking dumb move if you ask me,” Dante argued sympathetically, shaking his head. Soon enough, though, his disapproval shifted into one of his confident smiles. “But clearly it’s not all bad news, because we got to have one more chance to have another one of our little talks. So, really, joke’s on Frederick in the end.” Mossos couldn’t tell if Aurora agreed with his point of view or not, because instead of responding she just crossed her legs and tapped her fingernails on the table.

However, her next question caught him completely off guard. The young woman had asked about racing and his car, and Dante’s face lit up as would a mother’s when talking about a child or a child when talking about his favorite toy. Anybody who knew D was aware that, besides his accomplishments with women, his other pride and joy was his vehicle.

“‘Like’ to race? That’s an understatement, pumpkin,” he said proudly, a wide grin stretching from ear to ear as he got ready to go on about his one true love. “Racing is my fucking passion, honestly. Nothing in this world compares to that rush of adrenaline you get when watching the speedometer go over 100 miles, and everything just blurring past you while you go down the road flooring the gas pedal. And the feeling of crossing that finish line just knowing you won the damn race? Beyond fucking compare.”

D went quiet for a few seconds, mind going down the path of memories of all the test drives, race practices and victories won in his beloved Sonic. When he finally snapped back to reality, he smiled at Aurora again. “And funny you ask about my car, Kitten. I got my blue Ferrari for my sixteenth birthday, and it was actually the first one to be delivered to America. Sonic’s actually a limited-edition car: one of only ten that were scheduled to be commissioned here in the States. And the reason the model’s called F60 America is because they were produced to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of Ferrari in America. It’s not just a really fucking smoking hot set of wheels to own, but that bad boy has been the token of luck of my winning races. I can totally take the both of you out a ride if you want. Just say the word.” Dante said suggestively, shooting Aurora a wink and a smirk.

[Hero]

Seeing Dante talk about something he liked made him come off as a completely different person. The passion behind his words was so different from the usual carefree attitude he normally had that it was actually a little jarring to see him care about something. Aurora had absolutely no idea if what he was saying had any merit to it, but it sounded good. She found herself wanting to see more of this Dante, the Dante whose eyes lit up in such a way. As he offered to take her for a ride, she raised a single eyebrow at him. And there was the usual Dante, back right on schedule. His tenacity was admirable, if anything, but damn she was having a hard time thinking of a reason to say no.

"I think I'd like that," She admitted, admittedly wanting to see more of passionate Dante.

---

Reia's eyes widened, and she slammed her hand into the desk, not giving a single fuck if Mr. Sanchez was going to yell. How the fuck did he forget the humiliation she suffered? Was the hair gel seeped so deep into his brain that he really forgot?! The urge to strangle him rose sharply, and she she had to take a breath to calm herself down. "Marco. I'm going to murder you," She stated dangerously. "I'm going to stick my pencil so far up your dick you're going to be pissing lead for the next ten years, and just when you think it's done I'll pop up to stick another pencil there only this time I have a whole fucking pack!"

[AlteredTundra]

For anyone who knew the slightest thing about Marco Castillo would know that, no matter what the situation, he always has some form of a grin on his face. Crack a joke? He’s cackling with an ear-to-ear grin. Someone falls on their face in the cafeteria? He’s busting up laughing with his teeth showing as he then falls out of his seat with the Alpha Six. Someone gets into trouble for talking too loud? Well, he’ll definitely be snickering behind that person’s back, then get into trouble himself.

It didn’t matter what the situation was, Marco was all in good spirits. However, as it was painfully obvious right now, Marco wasn’t wearing any form of a grin, smile, or even a slight curve on his lips. It was a pure terror that had replaced his joy. Every ounce of his soulful, witty face was sapped by the cruel image that Reia’s words painted. It wasn’t the act that she threatened him with that did the deed - it was the fact that she did it without actually realizing how dreadfully painful that would be. A pencil lodged deep inside a part of the body that a pencil had no business being near was nothing short of an act that Jigsaw himself wouldn’t be able to come up with even if he had the vilest thoughts running through his head. Truly, this was a sickening threat. And, to make the matter worse for Marco, he still didn’t know why she was so mad at him. That was the most troubling thing of all.

Marco took just a brief moment to collect himself, not daring to look at Reia. He didn’t want to give her even more reason to think of painful ways to cause bodily harm to him. Instead, Marco carefully looked at Sol, seeing her look at him with what he could only estimate was some sort of rage. It only took Marco a moment to realize that she wasn’t looking his way; it was directed at Reia. This caused him to shake his head, urging her not to do anything.

“Fuck!” And as Marco saw her make a motion, this was apparently stopped by the sudden elevated volume from Mr. Alvarez.

He said it so loud that this caused any and all whisperings to cease immediately, “Sir? You okay?” Marco asked, doing anything he could to avoid Reia’s gaze.

Mr. Alvarez didn’t respond to Marco. Instead, he kept to his phone, only to repeat his previous word, but multiplied by three. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” He stood up, almost heading out the door. Then, it must’ve dawned on him that he was in charge of detention. “Something’s come up. I have to leave for a few.”

“Can we leave then?”

“No. You all have to stay until the hour’s passed,” he responded to Marco. He scanned the room full of curious eyes. He seemed to be thinking, though his mind seemed to jumble when his phone went off again. “Ella Mossos, you’re in charge until I return.”

As soon as the door had closed behind him and Marco’s eyes briefly went to Ella. Though, he didn’t stay on her form for that much longer as he would be the first one to jump out of his seat. He didn’t want to remain next to Reia for another minute in fear that she might actually follow up on her threat; instead, he hopped to where Sol, giving Sav a pleading look.

“Fine. I’ll go somewhere else. Enjoy yourselves, Mac,” Sav’s sultry voice was followed by a rather lengthy arm touch to Marco’s arm with her hand.

This had Marco at a loss, but he quickly shook his head and took Sav’s seat, thankful that he was out of that devil’s reach. As he turned to face Slim, he smiled at her, “so, how was your day, Slim?”

---

Sav didn’t know how to feel about this. Ella Mossos, the supposed sweetheart of that Mossos family, was going to be in charge of a bunch of kids who mostly were a group that was bad news. How was someone so sugary sweet as her going to control them? Then again, Sav didn’t care enough to personally go over to Ella and find out more. She really didn’t have any interest in hearing what bumblebee problems were happening this week. All Sav knew was that this was her chance to properly get to know that Grant Roselia.

The blonde teen had made her way through the room, glaring at Reia when she passed her table, giving Dante a smirk when she passed his table with Aurora. Then her legs brought her to the back row of tables. She saw the ever-beautiful Vivi Salazar and the new kid that everyone had been buzzing about. Even though this was the first time the two of them would have crossed paths at school, she remembered seeing him by the beach last week. She wasn’t sure who he was or where he was from but boy did he have a bod on him. Just thinking about it made Sav want to get to know him better.

But first thing’s first!

“I hope this seat’s not taken,” Sav said. She took it upon herself to take the remaining chair and plant it opposite of the boys.

She eyed both of them, seeing Kai first. His long brown hair was indeed quite the sight. “Interested style of hair you have there,” she commented, turning to face Vivi. “Doesn’t it just want to make you eat him all up?” She laughed, half-joking about that comment about Kai’s hair.

“Killer locks you have too, goldie!”

Sav leaned forward, smiling at Kai for a brief moment. Her attention turned to Grant. “So, you’re Grant, huh? Your sister didn’t say how cute you were.”

[Venus]

Soleil was sure she hadn’t read things the wrong way (she had inherited the useful male Mossos trait of being able to read a woman like the back of her hand), but for some unknown reason, Savanna’s interest dropped as soon as quickly as she’d gotten it. This didn’t phase the green-eyed young woman, though. She knew women like Goldilocks liked to play hard to get in order to raise their egos and feel validated, so the best way to hit back was to show them they weren’t as important as they thought they would. That’s why, with a knowing smirk on her face, Shady moved back to face the front. However, the minute Savanna referred to herself as ‘her queen’ and said something about doing her some kind of service, the smirk was wiped off Sol’s face, to be replaced by a scathing glare. Who did this bitch think she as, anyway?!

“Let’s get something straight, Shirley Temple: you’re nobody’s queen, and I’m nobody’s servant. So keep that ego of yours in check whenever you’re talking to me again. Capish?” Sol spat at Savanna, making it very clear that she wasn’t one of those gullible people she could control and manipulate at her wish.

To make matters worse, the sound of Reia’s voice floated to Shady’s ears from behind her. She heard the other blonde threaten Marco in such a hardcore way that even she found herself crossing her legs on instinct. Even if she wasn’t built the same way as he was (although the rumors of her having a dick were still floating around last time she checked), the young woman could only imagine the horror of just having the scene planted in one’s head. Positively furious now, Sol whipped her head around, looking at Reia as if she was ready to punch her. But before she could do more than begin to stand up -obviously ignoring Marco’s pleas not to get involved- and open her mouth to speak, Alvarez’ shout immediately brought her attention to the front again.

Her teacher was clearly not very happy at something on his phone, as evidenced by his expression and his use of cuss words in front of a classroom full of now dead-silent students. He announced to the group that he had to leave due to something coming up. When Mac asked if they were allowed to leave, the plump man quickly shot down the idea, placed the power on Ella’s hands and left the room.

Having no idea what had just happened, Soleil’s attention quickly went to her cousin. The second surprise of the day came when a visibly upset Ella got up from her chair, and told them to just do whatever the hell they wanted before walking away herself. Eyes wide, Shady turned to look at Mac, but instead found him standing next to her and heard Savanna say she would go somewhere else.

For no good reason other than fucking with her she assumed, Sav advised Mac to enjoy himself, then had the audacity to touch his arm for far too long and in a rather seductive way. Sol let out a growl, forcefully grabbing her best friend by the arm and pulling it towards her to stop Sav’s dirty little hands from tainting Marco. The young man shook his head as if lost by what had just happened, but chose to ignore it and take the now empty seat next to Shady instead.

“So, how was your day, Slim?”

She didn’t understand the logistics behind it, but for some goddamn reason Marco’s genuine smile seemed to soothe her most times she was angry. Her annoyance levels went down a fair bit, as did the urge to turn somebody into a punching bag. “I just wanna hit the gym,” she explained in a tired voice, letting out an exhausted sigh as she sank into her chair with her eyes closed and her head tilted back. “People are fucking dumbasses and I’m tired of being around them.”

[Hero]

---

---

Her threat worked well enough that Reia found herself mildly enjoying the shock on Marco's face, moreso when he actually got up and left. She paid no mind to Mr. Alvarez, crossing her arms and remaining seated as her sharp eyes instead followed Marco. Of course, karma seemed displeased with her, as she caught sight of Sol glaring at her. Reia's rather smug look fizzled almost immediately, breaking eye contact as a bolt of fear hit her. Sol wasn't someone to be fucked with, and she should've known better than to mess with Marco. Still, there was no way she was going to apologize or repent for her threat, considering that Marco not only ridiculed her, he didn't even remember what he did. So fuck him. Of course, her already sour mood turned for the worse when Savanna decided to walk by, the two glaring at one another as she did, and Reia let out a huff as she placed her arms on the table. She almost wished that Sol wasn't so mad at her, but she knew she was probably going to pay for it. Oh well.

Vivi put her pencil down as she spotted Savanna walking up to them. Things were going to get interesting, weren't they? Grant watched her as well, and he could practically feel Reia's hatred radiating their way after the blonde girl strut her way towards them. She was probably just as curious as anyone about the new meat, and sure enough she engaged Kai in a brief conversation, complimenting both his hair and looks. Both Grant and Vivi looked at one another briefly before she addressed Vivi. Grant raised his eyebrows, noticing Vivi shift in her seat slightly, her hand scratching the back of her head as she looked down. Holy shit, how did Sav know? He actually found himself impressed, though he was shocked when Sav addressed him next. Vivi noticed as well, smirking to herself.

"Uh...yeah," Grant replied slowly, half wishing Vivi would help him out, but she was enjoying his clear discomfort around Sav. It was public knowledge that Sav and Reia loathed one another, so the fact that she would present herself to boldly was a complete surprise to him. "Surprised you know who I am."

Meanwhile Wade was completely giddy at Ella's acceptance. That was a load off his chest! Leaning back in his seat, he wondered what he should ask first. However, as soon as he figured the best thing to do was exchange numbers, Mr. Alvarez's outburst came. Rather than stick around, however, Ella decided to leave. Wade watched her, confused. She was usually a stickler for the rules, why would she just up and go? "Ella...?" His voice was somewhat quiet as he just sat there, watching her leave. He was completely stumped, trying to figure out what happened. Turning towards Dante, he tried to get his attention.

[AlteredTundra]

Sav took a moment to further observe Grant. When Reia had described him, she forgot to mention just how much of a looker he was. Of course, he was a couple of years younger than most of her class were. Despite that, Sav couldn’t find a single reason to support that. With the company like Vivi Salvador and the new transfer, Kai Parata, she couldn’t find any justifiable reason to support the claim that Grant was actually a sophomore and not a senior or even a Junior like most of the people that she frequented with. That and Sav could not deny Grant Roselia was easy on the eyes.

“Are you?” Sav was surprised by his surprise that she knew who he was. How could she not? Knowing your enemy and their family was important if Sav was going to take Reia down (as if there was any doubt). “I know a lot of things, sweetheart,” Sav smiled, running her hand across Grant’s.

Kai raised his eyebrow, totally seeing what Sav was doing. And as she was obviously turning up the charm, he started to wonder what exactly it was blondie was trying to achieve. Western mating rituals were quite foreign to him, so he didn’t understand all of this subtle smirking and stroking of the arms. As he sat there, not really doing much of anything, Kai happened to notice Ella just get up and walk out of the classroom without so much as a warning. Or maybe she did say something and Kai was too focused on what was happening at the table he was at instead of what was going on with her. So, Kai looked to the others.

“Did anyone happen to see what happened at Shirley’s table?”

“Shirley?” Sav thought on it for a moment. She turned around and saw there was one less person. “What an interesting development. Ella Mossos, Ms. ‘Always follows the rules’ herself ditching detention. How naughty."

He was going to respond, but the words wouldn’t exactly form. Instead, the young Castillo male would think on it for a minute; and when he did, his mind - as well as his physical body - couldn’t help but look back to Reia. All by her lonesome and still, when their eyes met, there was still as much of an intensity from when she made that very specific threat to him. This caused Marco to turn back and face the front of the class. Why was he so fearful of her now? Oh yes, he knew why. She threatened to shove a pencil down his dick.

And the worst part of it all? Marco still didn’t know what it was that made her hate him so much. He might be on high alert right now (as far as Reia was concerned, that is), he was equally curious about what he did. This prompted him to want to look back again, but he wasn’t that much of a glutton. No, Marco Alejandro Castillo was someone who only took one beating from the same person. Something about fool me once, right?

Right, onto what matters most. Sol. Damn, whatever must’ve happened with her and Sav must not have been a fun experience. For her want to just hit the gym meant that she was either really pent up from throughout the day, or Savanna Hart got under her skin.

“But you’re around me all the time,” Marco joked, though it was pretty damn accurate. Lord knew that Marco acted a certain way that often got under people’s nerves.

As he would then collect himself, laugh it off, and shoot Sol a curious glance, he then continued, “okay but seriously, what happened? It wasn’t Sav and her stroking my arm was it? I’m sure she didn’t mean anything by it. Though, if she did, I wonder how I would approach someone like that.” Marco let the thought of that sit in his mind for a moment or two, considering the prospect of dating Savanna Hart for a serious moment. “She is incredibly hot. Blonde is the new ginger, but she’s incredibly selfish - or so I hear.” At this point, rather than talking to Sol directly, Marco was thinking out loud while Sol was next to him. “Fayed told me about how needy Stella was when they were casually dating. And he said she wasn’t nearly as bad as Sav or Sabrina Rossi are.” Marco thought about it for just another moment. Weighing out everything was giving him a headache.

Then, suddenly, as if everything was blacked out, Marco heard the door close. Well, saying it just closed was an understatement. The loud vibration it sent through the air was loud enough to stop all mild chatter. It, at the very least, stopped Marco from ranting on and on about someone who, he knew in the back of his mind, Sol didn’t like.

Looking around the room, first Marco’s eyes caught Kai’s and they both looked to the front - well, front for Kai and just to the left for Marco. It was then Marco saw the distinct lack of Sol’s cousin, Ella. “Whoa, where’s that sugarplum fairy cousin of yours disappear to?”

Impatient, Marco stood up, looking Dante's way. "Yo, Mossos! Where'd Ella go?!" Marco shouted clear across the room, sparing no one from his voice.

[Venus]

Even though he wouldn’t show it, Dante was pleasantly surprised when Aurora accepted his proposition to take her out for a ride in his Ferrari. Huh… Maybe Little Miss President wasn’t as boring as he thought she was. The taste for thrills and adventure was always on the backs of everyone’s minds, after all. And with Mossos, she would no doubt get that curiosity for action and danger thoroughly satisfied. Not to mention that if he took his time and played his cards right, the car wouldn’t be the only thing she’d be riding on.

“Alright then. Whenever you’re down for it, let me know. I’m always available to show a pretty kitten like you a good time,” he told her, shooting her a wink teasing wink accompanied by the suggestive drop-dead smirk that characterized him.

As much as he wanted to, he didn’t have enough time to bask in the sweet smell of victory. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his cousin Antonella suddenly get up from her seat and stalk out the door, a distraught expression on her beautiful face. For Ella to be anything other than her usual bubbly self meant that there was something eating at her. Add that to the fact that she’d been sitting to her crush of the last three years and with how utterly confused Wade was looking, it didn’t take a genius to put two and two together and take a guess at what might have happened.

Frowning, the young man stood up. “Excuse me for a sec, kitten. I’ll be right back,” he excused himself before walking over to the table his cousin and best friend had been sharing, and slipping into the seat Ella had just vacated next to Wade. "What the fuck did you do to her, man? Ella never disobeys an instruction, and she literally just up and left the room after explicitly being told not to. I love you, man, but you must have done something to her. So, out with it. What was it?”

---

---

On the other side of the room, a smile came across Sol’s lips when Marco made that dig at himself when she said her comment about dumbasses. “Yeah, you are, but at least you’re entertaining. These dumb people just get on my nerves,” she told him, rolling her eyes as if just the thought of her fellow classmates annoyed her to no end.

It was then when her sweetheart of a best friend asked what had just happened between her and Sav, and the dark-haired girl had every intention to explain everything with details. But before Soleil could get a word in, the clueless young man went off on a roll about how hot Savanna was, and a bunch of other useless facts about her dumb little crew that Shady didn’t give a rat’s ass about. Unbeknownst to Mac, he causing her blood to boil even further, and her limited patience with the world was reaching its limit.

“Can you please stop talking, Marco? I don’t give a shit about Goldilocks or her two little minions,” she finally snapped, cutting the boy off mid-sentence and immediately feeling bad about having been so particularly nasty to him. Thankfully, the sound of the door to the detention classroom slamming shut interrupted their moment and saved Sol from the pang of guilt that would have been seeing Mac’s hurt face.

“Whoa, where’s that sugarplum fairy cousin of yours disappear to?”

Shifting her thoughts away from the guilt, Shady turned to look in the direction of the door where Ella had apparently made her grand exit. “Will you look at that? Looks like Miss Bumblebee has the Mossos temper after all,” she teased, her mouth curling up in the shadow of a smile.

"Yo, Mossos! Where'd Ella go?!" Marco shouted clear across the room, standing up from his seat and looking straight at her older brother.

Dante turned his icy frown towards Marco, clearly annoyed at being interrupted on his conversation with Wade. “The fuck do I know! What do you think I’m trying to figure out?” he shouted right back, waving the blond boy off.

[Hero]

---

---

Aurora did her best to stay cool, slowly nodding in response to Dante's comment. God, what was wrong with her? Dante shows a bit of humanity and suddenly she's like putty in his hands? Her eyes widened at the thought, quickly tucking her hair behind her ear as she exhaled, though she caught the very unhappy look at Reia shot her. Aurora quickly turned back to the front, preferring to be more interested in her homework than wanting to be under that look. They could totally talk later. But for now, the redhead felt an odd sense of satisfaction, quietly smiling down at her notebook.

Meanwhile, Wade watched as Dante would take Ella's, lips curved into an 'o' of surprise. Where was she going? How was he supposed to know? He probably said something stupid, but he thought Ella was happy to help! Or maybe she wasn't? He dropped his gaze to the desk, slowly shaking his head as he tried to think. Taking the initiative was supposed to work, but it seemed to have the complete opposite effect. He gave Dante a helpless look as he was questioned, not knowing where to start.

"I didn't do anything!" He immediately defended himself, raising his arms in bewilderment. "I--I asked her for help! Wasn't that what I was supposed to do?"

In the back of the room, Grant was slightly surprised by Savayna's sudden touch, nearly withdrawing his hand. Fortunately for him, Ella's exit distracted Sav, and he took advantage to throw Vivi a pleading look. Unfortunately, his friend was more amused by the situation at hand, giving him a thumbs up and a shit-eating grin that told him he was on his own. After throwing a scowl at her, Grant decided that if Ella was gone, he should just go, too.

Standing up, he took a hold of his bag, shrugging at the group. "Well, if Miss Goody Two Shoes won't stick around, no reason the rest of us need to, right?" He said, gesturing towards the empty desk in front.

[AlteredTundra]

---

---

Sav had sighed out a loud, obviously ‘pay attention to me’ kind of sigh. She ran her fingers along the diamond-crusted case of her iPhone as she texted Stells and Sabi. The two of them were apparently enjoying mimosas by the pool at Sabrina’s house and she was stuck in detention without the teacher and she was growing bored. Whatever was happening with that princess Mossos, one thing that the blonde was certainly uninterested by, though she did have a momentary period where she found Ella’s out of character departure intriguing, the yelling by Marco and Dante matching him wasn’t the least bit interesting to her.

“You know what, I'm following little miss sunshine's lead,” Sav said, letting out a slight huff.

As she gathered her things, Sav blew a kiss towards Grant. “See you later cutie,” Sav winked at him as she left where she had been sitting with Kai, Grant, and Vivi.

“Are we allowed to leave?” Kai asked, wondering what he should do. Being the newcomer really didn’t allow him any benefits of what was customary in the states. He glanced over to where Marco and Dante were and it seemed they were just as perplexed by what was happening too. “Well, if blondie is leaving, we should, too!” Kai said to his two table mates. “I’ll catch you bros later. There are a few killer waves with my name on it!”

And now Kai, the new guy was ready to call it quits. Marco was both inspired and surprised. “Hey Sol, let’s bounce! You said you wanted to go to the gym right? Well, I’ll spot ya!”

Without so much of a warning, Marco’s “take charge” attitude had Sol by the hand and tugged her along. Truth be told, Marco had an extra incentive: he didn’t want to be stuck any minute later with Reia. she genuinely had struck the fear of God into him and any excuse to get away from her was the only thing he needed.

[Venus]

_{Hundred bands in my pocket, it's on me
Hundred deep when I roll like the army
Get more bottles, these bottles are lonely
It's a moment when I show up, got 'em sayin': "Wow"}

---

---

Being a child of the Mossos family came with a fair share of privileges. The prestige of the family name, the vast amount of wealth at your disposal, the reverence of your peers, the envy of your enemies… It was truly something out of a movie. But when you were the favorite Mossos child, you were blessed to receive more compensation than the rest of your siblings- or, in this case, your cousins. Because Alexandros Mossos saw so much of himself in his oldest nephew, he’d started to groom the young man to become the heir to the family industry, and discreetly favored him above his own two sons. This was how Dante Mossos always managed to score the coveted keys to his uncle’s oceanside villa to throw his legendary back to school parties.

And this one was no different. At half-past ten, the party was in full swing. A large group of affluent teens danced along to the loud music blaring from the state of the art sound system in the living room. Rainbow-colored lights from a rotating disco ball illuminated the inside of the venue, while the smoke machine in the corner added an extra layer of boujie to the whole thing. Bottles on bottles of alcohol and large kegs of beer decorated the kitchen counter, while the refrigerator harbored cold water and soft drinks for the wimps who didn’t drink. Outside, the pool lights, a strand of fire-powered lamps, a large fire pit and the moonlight were the only source of illumination. A beer pong table was perched on one side of the villa, with members of the football team huddled around it in a particularly intense round of the game. Inside the pool, Ella, Courtney and the rest of the cheerleading team shifted between chatting around and playing with the inflatable beach balls lazily floating on top of the crystalline water. And in the hot tub, Xander was getting cozy with his girlfriend Vera.

Dressed in a red, short-sleeved Hawaiian shirt, khakis, matching Sperry loafers, Dante looked approachable for what was probably the first time in his life. The man of the hour made the rounds around the house, with a triumphant smile on his face and an open beer bottle in his right hand. He shook the hands of those he knew, high-fived those he didn’t, took selfies and snaps with those who asked, and even kissed the cheeks of a few of his very willing ex-flings. It was during his last lap that the Mossos male approached the pool, deciding to check in on his adoptive sister and her friends.`

“You having fun, El?” Dante called out to Antonella as he crouched beside her at the edge of the pool, offering his adopted sister a small smile.

“For sure!” the tanned-skinned girl replied cheerfully, shooting her big cousin a bright smile. “You did a good job with this one, D. I’d say it’s your best party yet!”

“Had to make the last one count, right?” he said with a chuckle, winking at Ella. “Let me know if you or the girls need anything, k? I’ll get any of these losers to bring it to you,” D assured her, jerking his head in the direction of the jocks.

Ella eagerly nodded. “Of course! Now go have yourself some fun. You’ve earned it!” the brunette told him sweetly, winking back at the young man.

Kissing the top of her head, Dante stood up and walked in the direction of the back porch, taking a seat on one of the empty cushioned chairs. He smoked a cigarette in between swigs of his beer, ignoring the sounds of the raging party around him and focusing on the sprawling waters of the Atlantic stretching out in front of him. As he stared at the ocean waves, his thoughts went back to the beautiful redhead he’d been teasing all week, wondering if Aurora Quill would allow herself the opportunity to let loose and have some fun for once.

After all, the night was just starting out.