[IC] Palm Beach Royals: Senior Year

[mickilennial]

---

Palm Beach, Florida
October 6th, 2018

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“Oh, did I hurt your fragile male feelings because I called you out on your bullshit?”

Mara rolled her eyes, unamused by what she saw as Diablo trying to divert the blame to her. The assertion that she’d shrike her academic record just because she didn’t like him was not only disrespectful but hilariously stupid. She had spent the entirety of her time at King’s Academy being a model student and being this close to graduation and being done with Florida was something she was very happy about. Diablo wasn’t that important. But then again, he probably wasn’t important to anybody; not even his parents.

“But it’s whatever, Caligula. I’ll be, you know, inside. Waiting for this night to end. It’d be great if you didn’t join me. Ciào.”

Mara didn’t even consider listening to whatever retort Diablo could come up with, choosing instead to be where teachers could see her and mark her down for caring enough about her grades to attend. This mockery of a dance? She was cool with caring enough to just skirt by and getting back to business as usual.

[AlteredTundra]

L O C A T I O N / / King’s Academy Cafeteria

I N T E R A C T I O N S / / Fostering Loneliness in Arrivals of Yellow

---

He felt it. The rhythm of her body moving against to the beat of the bass dropping and the breakdown starting. The way she pulled away and he effortlessly got close again, the game of cat and mouse in the presence of chaperones and often peering eyes from those they had either interrupted or felt obligated to watch them. They were the most unlikely of pairs to dance in such a borderline-inappropriate manner, yet the game they played (more him than her) was infectious. After some point, others imitated them with the utmost flattery possible.

With that smile that Kavi was so known for brandishing more so than the words broke it, he went in one last for a subtle dip in his eyes, but not so subtle in the eyes of the wary teachers and certain guardian figures who were keeping a close eye to make sure the homecoming dance didn’t become the fuckfest that they feared it would become. As soon as he brought her up, he found it almost impossible to not chuckle at her comments.

“And who says that would be a bad experience?”

As soon as he said that, Kavi’s eyes fell on where April’s had been no more than a few seconds ago. The gathering scene of where Santiago was. He saw the little blonde troublemaker that doubled as the resident troll, the ever-entertaining Penny. A few clicks to the left, he saw one relieved Stella with her no-chance-in-hell date, Oliver being as supportive as he could. If Kavi had to wager, Santiago probably went over to poor Stella and got pulled away by the others. And if that was the case, then Kavi had a few ideas what was going to happen.

And that’s when Mara was leaving a scathing Santi. Oh, what Kavi would give to know what red buttons the little blonde touched to cause that guy to almost lose it. That wasn’t what Kavi found most amusing. No, it became evident as he had looked back at April that she was going through somerthing. If he had to place a bet, there was something about her averting glance from Santiago that gave him a...feeling that she wanted to go over there, but for obvious reasons, there was something holding her back.

He only out a sigh as he let go of her hips, stepping back. “Go on, then,” Kavi said all of a sudden. He even gestured to his date. “I know you want to go over there. It’s practically written all over your sexy face. Either that or ignore him, but subtlety isn’t your forte, Foster. I know it’s not mine either, which is why I’m telling you this. Get it out there for your own sake,” He insisted, patting her somewhat gently on the back as if trying to accelerate the decision process.

April just stared back at Kavi. It was evident that she was not expecting him to have noticed, let alone both how fast and accurately it had happened. She took in a breath in looked at him, trying to relax herself "Fuck, was it that obvious...? I'm sorry Kavi ...I can stay, its fine. I am your date for tonight."

She's sorry?

Kavi was finding this the most confusing thing ever and he had to deal with Stella's nonstop texts during her Santiago phase. But, Kavi wasn't a total ass, so he wasn't going to hold that against her. If he had his choice, he'd rather hold himself against her. "Listen, I'm going to say this because I actually have respect for you, which is a lot more I can say for most of the girls here," Kavi said, his eyes falling directly where he remembered seeing Marisol. "You have unfinished business with Santiago. I don't know what it is, but you need to do that. Now, if you happen to still want to finish this date like how everyone here thinks they are supposed to, come to find me. I'll be around," he informed her, leaning in, stopping directly in front of her face and it took a left and on that cheek, he gave her a simple kiss.

"Thanks. There's just...more going on than you know." April paused, her brain moving faster than her mouth could keep up with. "This has been a great afternoon, despite everything." She froze as Kavi leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, her heart racing. April's cheeks flushed red and she looked down as Kavi pulled away. All April could manage before she turned to leave was a gentle smile, and then a simple "Goodbye Kavi.." before she turned and began her approach to hell that awaited her.

“I hate her leaving but I love watching her go.”

As much as he would have loved to keep her in his arms and try and woo her into forgetting Santiago, there was no way that was going to happen. If she was constantly thinking about that pill salesman while Kavi did some of his best moves, it wasn’t going to be an enjoyable experience for either of them. Besides, the sooner she got the devil off her mind meant more time she would be able to focus on the Kavimiester.

He casually took out his phone as he started to walk away from the dancefloor. He sent the following to Santiago.

You can’t ever say I never did anything for ya, amigo.

By the time he sent that message, Kavi scanned the area. The problem he found with doing the right thing - something he was trying to do more of - was being left to his own devices. Granted, he wasn’t as unliked as Sonny was. He heard things about his comments and how it rubbed people the wrong way. And perhaps Kavi wasn’t the shining example of a good guy, but he was leagues above Sonny and definitely wasn’t as obnoxious as the current obsession his homecoming date had, but he knew he wasn’t perfect. Surprise! Kavi’s flawed.

However long he was lost in his own thoughts, he found himself in one of the tents where he saw Santiago’s homecoming date. Thinking to himself, he thought it could be a fun time getting to know the troublemaker, especially since they have something in common in Santiago Fernandez.

“Sup, Lil Yellow?” Came Kavi’s comment from behind. There was a decent height difference. It wasn’t a sizable amount. Kavi couldn’t rest his arm over the top of her head. Or rather, he could do that but it wouldn’t set a good first-ish impression. But there was something that could be accomplished. “I thought you had a date with the devil?” He asked mockingly.

---

L O C A T I O N / / Homecoming at the Country Club

I N T E R A C T I N G W I T H / / Oliver, the Gay Sweetheart

Never in her life did Stella’s heart beat any faster than it was in the span of just three minutes.

She made the terrible, terrible, unfortunate mistake of calling him over when she first saw him. Stella didn’t know why she did it even after he had left her and Oliver in peace. Even after Penny, who for a short moment, had casually started a conversation with Stella and Oliver, but promptly left when she saw that Santiago had left. Everything happened so fast for the anxious girl that by the time she was able to have a moment of peace, her heart was all in a flutter and she couldn’t find the time to actually take a moment to breathe. It took her hunching over on all fours and deeply wheezing as her dark locks fell over her face, hindering the fearful face of the fragile girl.

Boy, what a fun minute it was for her trying to gather herself. Thankfully, Oliver was there for her the entire time. She still couldn’t fathom what it was about her and Diablo. Why did she have so little control over her actions around? And added to that, why god’s name didn’t he stay? She knew how he was and knew exactly what drove him to do the things he often did for his own amusement. It was that reason alone that boggled her why he didn’t stay. It wasn’t a full sequence of moments did she see a group gathered around him. She didn’t know what happened, but something along the lines of a pissed of Mara running past where Stella had previously been hunched over.

“I am now,” she quickly answered Oliver when he asked if she was okay. “I just don’t understand what it is about me and that boy.” Stella breathed out a somewhat confused, if not just slightly annoyed, sigh. “I’m sorry you had to see me do my best imitation of Koffing’s evolved form.” Stella made the most subtle, unrecognized, totally-indie joke about a generation one Pokemon.

---

L O C A T I O N / / Class and then place of food

I N T E R A C T I N G W I T H / / No one but his own self

---

Sonny wasn't much of a dancer. Ask anyone who knew him even remotely well. And he hasn't been for the longest time. It's been like this since he was a little kid. His mother, bless her heart because Sonny knew it was in the right place, couldn't get him to take dance lessons early on. Jackson wanted his wife to be happy and since Andrea was too busy and thought dancing was beneath her (yes even as a little girl she thought that), Viola wanted to get her son into it. Growing up, he was quite fond of his mother - a momma's boy, even! - so he did whatever she wanted to make her happy. Only, it turned out that he didn't possess the Banks elegance, so not long after Sonny showed little to no grace, Viola happily took him out of those ballet lessons and allowed her husband to sign him up for Judo.

But, as he stood there, looking at Nadia, her face as clear and porcelain like a doll with locks of red-orange color, a moment passed through him that he was reminded of how much he hated dancing. Well, it wasn’t so much that he hated to dance, but his experience since when he was a child left a bad taste for it in his mouth. The way Nadia smiled at him seemed to quell that thought for a moment. Something about the way her smile glimmered made him smile as well.

At that moment when Nadia accepted his offer, his slight curve of a smile was briefly followed by an air of silence and a laugh that was just low enough for only the two of them to hear it. He took her hand, gripping it somewhat gently because he knew Nadia was somewhat fragile but not the tender fragile. She more in the softly-spoken, ‘handle with care’ fragile. Her hand felt like a feather that slowly fell into his open palm, guided by the encouraging breeze of the brisk Saturday night.

Sonny, with a surprisingly-gentle face on hers, was just about to take Nadia onto the dancefloor, getting somewhat closer to where the others were doing their own thing, then all of a sudden Julie Macmillan showed up unexpectedly. This was a welcomed surprise. She and Sonny had become decent friends and since Marisol had gone up and ghosted him on several occasions, she kind of filled that particular void, though it wasn’t really the same. Julie was a lot more - oh, Sonny would say elegant - than Marisol could ever hope to be. In the end, it was alright. She was doing her own thing and Sonny couldn’t fault her for that, but that didn’t mean he had to like it.

But of course, hell will freeze over before he ever let her know that. Even after he happened to see her with Salem (even if it was just a brief moment), he wasn’t going to allow her the satisfaction of seeing him actually be affected by whatever nonsense she was up to, not when he had so many beautiful redheads willing and waiting to occupy his time. But if only Andres would beat it. He’s cramping Sonny’s style.

“Well, isn’t it my third-favorite redhead.”

Sonny tried to be funny, but in the end, he only made himself cringe.

“I kid, of course. I only know three redheads, so that’s not really fair.”

Yeah, that was much better.

Adjusting his jacket somewhat, Sonny’s chestnut-colored eyes gave Nadia and Julie a look a few times over. He gave Andres a bit of a judgmental expression, but that was because, by the time he had gotten off the phone, he said something in Spanish and Sonny wanted to at least pretend to care what he said, but before he could attempt that, the Latino said something that was automatically tuned out as he left.

“Well, okay I guess we’ll be seeing him later,” the male commented, unable to withhold the overwhelming need to roll his eyes. But on the plus side, Sonny could now genuine appreciate the company of not one, but two beautiful girls who want nothing more than to please him. Or engage in productive conversation. Either or worked for him. “And to answer your question, I don’t do the dancing thing often. Mom tried to get me into it and I remember it being absolutely horrible. Like who enters their five-year-old son in ballet?”

Again Sonny couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Just the thought of it made him visibly scowl at the memory.

[spooner]

And though it's been a long time
You're right back where you started from

---

---

Archer shot Declan a puzzled look as he took another drag from his cigarette, he spotted Penny joining Santiago and what had just been said finally clicked for the curly haired boy. “Wait?! Are you guys planning to roofie Mr. Gomez?” Archer laughed in disbelief as he exhaled a cloud of smoke. “Yeah, illegal indeed! Take it from a lawyer’s son, you want to wash your hands from this mess as quickly as possible.” he gestured towards their classmates.

“But I’m guessing that the plan was hatched by your lovely date?” Archer turned to face Declan putting out the butt of his smoke on a nearby tree before flicking it out in the darkness. But before his smoking buddy could answer a blur of blonde hair sped past them and stopped in front of the sports car and exploded in that very distinct Mara way that only she could manage. They shouted at each other for a few minutes and then the furious petite girl stormed of.

“Nah, Mara would never start anything, at least not in public anyway, she cares way too much about graduating.” Archer grinned before he straightened up from his slouching position against his tree.

“Well this has been very pleasant Dekkie! We should make this a regular thing!” he patted Declan on the shoulder as he turned and walked towards the main tent. He had left Ariel alone for far to long and Archer had started to feel guilty again.

As he walked back into the main tent, Archer first spotted Kavan being squeezed by a distraught looking Bea. Cocking his head to the side he tried to figure out how his friend had gotten into that particular situation. After running a few different scenarios Archer gave up and craned his neck to see if his date was still where he had left her. There she was still in the same chair bam another pang of guilt. Archer ran his hand through his hair and groaned, grabbed a new glass of punch as he made his way over to the table.

“Sorry about that! You know me...nicotine is my downfall!” He let out a lame laugh. “Did I miss anything?” He asked meekly barely making any eye contact. After a few beats of silence Archer let out a big sigh and turned to face Ariel head on.

“Ok look! This night has been an awkward mess, and we both know why, it was way too early in our journey to friend rehabilitation for us to be thrust together in a festive situation. We need to have an open conversation about what went down and what we want for our… future, I guess. I don’t know maybe you can come by work sometime?” the words just spilled out of the boy so fast he was almost out of breath.

“But I do think you also need to have a talk with Mari” He looked around the tent to see if he could spot his small best friend. “She’s been on my case for even giving you a chance, so if this...” He pointed between them “... is ever going to work, you need to bite the bullet and get that over with.”

He lifted the glass of punch up to his mouth and took a big gulp but let it all dribble back into the glass again. “Oh… yeah of course it would be spiked!” he crossed his arms over his chest and counted the seconds until this nightmare of a dance was over.

[spooner]

I will tell your story if you die
I will tell your story and keep you alive
The best you can

---

---

“Third favorite?” Julie cried in a fake hurt voice before letting out a small giggle. “Well I’m honored to be in that exclusive club.”

One of Julie’s eyebrows involuntarily rose as Andres quickly excused himself after taking a call. The girl couldn’t help but feel a bit irritated, the man had just arrived… late nonetheless. She let out a small huff but quickly composed herself before turning back to her company with a sweet smile.

As Sonny was telling the story of how his mother had put him in ballet class against his will Julie’s face lit up. Wide eyed she let out a gasp “You’re kidding!” she exclaimed before starting to rummage in her purse for her phone. When the phone finally was located Julie started to furiously swipe through her instagram profile (@jewelofcrownheights). When she finally found the post she had been looking for, Julie let out a squeal of delight and flipped the phone around to show Sonny.

“I posted this as a #tbt after looking at some old photos! Look at the little kid in the far left corner.” She pointed at the picture. In the picture, 11 five year olds in tutus smiled up at the camera. But in the left corner stood a boy in black tights frowning and looking like he would rather be dead than to be in this picture. “That’s you right?!” Julie grinned looking back fondly at the picture.

“I guess we’ve known each other longer than we thought huh?” She said plopping her phone back in her purse.

[Venus]

<sub>Thought I found a way
Thought I found a way out
But you never go away
So I guess I gotta stay now.

Walking out of time
Looking for a better place
Something's on my mind
Always in my head space

Oh, I hope someday I'll make it out of here
Even if it takes all night or a hundred years
Need a place to hide, but I can't find one near
Wanna feel alive, outside I can't fight my fear

Isn't it lovely, all alone?
Heart made of glass, my mind of stone
Tear me to pieces, skin to bone
Hello, welcome home</sub>

The breath of cool, fresh air was definitely the wake up call Marisol needed right now. Her body was tingling in the aftermath of her almost-kiss with Salem, heart pounding like a hummingbird in her chest. Mar’s head was spinning, full of what-if scenarios that repeated themselves over and over, each one more suggestive than the next. If his phone hadn’t interrupted them, just how far would they have gone? That was a question that would forever remain unanswered.

From her position, Marisol had a clear view of what was going on inside the tents. Her bored green eyes scanned the area, looking around for anything that was remotely interesting to entertain her while keeping an eye out for Salem. There was Oliver and Stella, looking as awkward as could be and getting a chuckle out of Mari. Then there was Kavi risking his life trying to seduce the Devil’s girl, which the brunette could only assume failed when their provocative dancing stopped and April walked away to God knows where. By the drinks table, Aaliyah, Chanel and Jordan were chit-chatting away -a trio with no importance to the young woman, so her attention was quickly diverted elsewhere. Meanwhile, in the middle of the dancefloor, Kavan and Beatrice were looking rather cozy in the middle of a hug, taking the brunette by surprise for the better part of two seconds before getting bored again. Finally, without even meaning to, Marisol caught sight of Sonny, Nadia and Julie in the corner of the room.

The little green-eyed monster inside her chest roared loudly, scratching at its cage and begging to be let out. The muscles in her short body tensed up, small hands balling up into fists, twitching with the desire to smash some pretty faces.

But why?

As far as Mari knew, she and Sonny hadn’t been on speaking terms since their little argument in the cafeteria the day the homecoming pairings were announced. Not so much as a text message was exchanged between the two, and the girl’s free time had been purposely occupied with school, work and spending time with Salem. She’d figured that her absence would make his heart grow fonder, and that Son would eventually come around to realizing he couldn’t be without his best friend. But instead, their time apart seemed to have had the opposite effect. Tonight, surrounded by two sweet, beautiful girls, Sonny looked so damn happy without her… And that shit fucking hurt.

A fresh wave of guilt and sadness washed over Marisol, and the once-furious monster in her chest now whined in pain the corner of its cage. Her green eyes suddenly filled with tears, which she furiously blinked away before they had any chance of ruining her makeup. Nope, there would be no crying tonight: especially not over Sonny Drake.

Drawing out a long breath, Mari took a moment to get ahold of herself and turn her bruised heart into steel again. She looked around for any signs of teachers before pulling out the small bottle of tequila from her bag, unscrewing the lid with shaky fingers and downing what was left in one gulp. Her eyes filled with tears she quickly blinked away once more, this time due to the stinging, burning sensation of the liquor down her throat. It didn’t matter, though. If being sober tonight was going to make her feel this shitty, she was better off getting fucked up instead.

With a deep sigh, Marisol turned around and trudged back into the warmth of the crowded tent, making sure to dispose of the evidence along the way.

[Hero]

---

---

Sonny's expression didn't go unnoticed, Nadia feeling her face flush with heat as he took her hand. He actually wanted to dance! She was...actually, mostly surprised, she was so sure that he wasn't going to agree since he didn't seem like the type to dance. There was no hiding her giddiness, the girl smiling happily until they came to a halt. Julie MacMillan and Andres De La Fuente had approached them--or was it the other way around? Shit, she couldn't remember, she had been so wrapped up with the look on Sonny's face that she had completely lost all focus.

At the mention of Julie being his third favorite, she couldn't help but wonder where she placed on that list. Well, maybe second place wasn't so bad? It was actually rather flattering, but once again she spaced out thinking about that and missed the conversation, tuning in just in time for Julie to show them something on her phone. Oh, Julie and Sonny were friends? Or...were? God, she needed to pay better attention, Sonny was getting her all flustered!

Exhaling, Nadia wouldn't comment on the picture, deciding to look elsewhere. Whether by coincidence or dumb luck, she spotted Kavi once again. It looked like he was dancing with April Foster. She wondered why he ended up ghosting her, she never did get an answer to why he suddenly stopped texting her. It was a shame, she thought they were getting along well enough. Her eyebrows shot up as she noticed him giving April a kiss on the cheek, and it suddenly made sense why.

Annoyed, she turned back to Sonny and Julie. "Um, excuse me for just a second, I um...need to talk to someone," She apologized, squeezing Sonny's hand before letting go. Walking with purpose, she managed to intercept Kavi, tapping him on the shoulder a little harder than she probably should have. "So, you ditch me for someone else and don't even give a 'sorry it's not working out' text?" She asked him, clearly irritated.

---

---

The pounding beat of the music matched the one in Victoire's head, much to her dismay. Why was she so stressed out over a stupid dance? By whatever miracle of the Lord himself, Jun was nowhere to be found, so at least she didn't have to deal with him. His absence was suspicious but welcomed, though she would make sure she didn't get dragged down with him if he ended up ditching. She did her part, she showed up, if he decided he had something better to do then that wasn't her fault. Nothing was on fire, no fights had broken out, she was pretty sure the punch had long since gotten spiked but that wasn't her problem.

Now, if she could just find some aspirin, she could actually call the night a success.

Deciding to find her girl and hope she had some, Victoire navigated the floor cautiously. God, everything was just so loud. Spotting the familiar blonde, she unceremoniously shoved someone out of the way as she hurried towards her.

"Thank God," She sighed in relief, tapping Mara's shoulder with a bit of urgency. "Please tell me you have Advil or Tylenol or a hammer to bash my head in with."

---

[Ejected]

_{Location: Country Club
Interacting with: Bea Endive}

∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴

"There, do I still look presentable?"

Kavan couldn't help but chuckle a bit and shake his head as he watched Bea smooth out her dress and tame the few strands of hair that had gotten messed up during their brief and only slightly awkward encounter. "You look as beautiful as ever," the young man said simply as he also took that moment to smooth out his own suit. It wasn't until after Beatrice had mentioned it that he realized she'd gotten a bit of her makeup on his jacket. He didn’t really care too much about the stain, seeing as though he could afford to have it cleaned. Besides, this would probably be the last time he’d ever wear the suit anyway; he'd already had a few thoughts about selling it or giving it away after the night was over. Nevertheless, he stayed quiet as Bea carefully cleaned off the foundation with the wipes she’d pulled from her purse. “Thank you.”

Beatrice Endive was a hard person to figure out, that was certain. As Kavan followed the young woman towards the exit, he couldn't help but try to figure out exactly what was going on in that head of hers. Usually, he was good at this. Figuring out what made people tick, studying their micro-expressions, noticing some of the signals they'd send out that would reveal certain details about themselves... Kavan was good at reading people. But when it came to Bea, in this particular situation, he was clueless. He had no idea why Bea had wrapped herself around him just a few moments ago, and he hadn't the slightest clue of what caused her mood to change so quickly.

As soon as the pair had exited the tent, Bea immediately began to dig through her purse once more. She didn't stop digging until she produced a cigarette and lighter; Kavan involuntarily wrinkled his nose at the sight of it all, but quickly returned his expression to a neutral one. The young man stayed quiet, burying his hands in his pockets as Bea took a drag from the cigarette. "Aah, sorry Kavan. Do you smoke? I can stand more downwind," Bea said, but Kavan simply shook his head.

"Smoking isn't for me," he said, "It's a... bad habit. Not that I'm judging, or anything. I've tried to get a few of my friends to quit, but at the end of the day, what you all decide to do is your prerogative..." Kavan's voice trailed off as he let his eyes wander. There were a few other students standing in various areas, the majority of them in the parking lot. Kavan rolled his eyes at the sound of a high-pitched voice yelling in the distance. Of course, it wouldn't be a true a King's Academy function without a little bit of drama. "So, want to talk about what's got you so... upset tonight?" Kavan said, changing the subject.

[AlteredTundra]

i n t e r a c t i o n s / / Themselves

l o c a t i o n / / / The Dancefloor

As the time in Stella’s mind went on (even though real life time was a lot slower), she began to panic both inside her own head. That happened a lot more than it should have and when Stella’s mind came out of it, she immediate shook off the uneasy feeling deep in her gut as she dusted herself off in more ways than one. Her brown eyes focused on the blonde hunk in front of her and smiled at him with same glow she always was known to have.

“Never mind that. Let’s just forget about the brief encounter with the Devil. He’s clearly forgetting about me,” Stella said, a rare showing of her self-deprecating darkness surfacing, though she laughed it off. “Let’s dance!”

Forgetting about it was a good choice, simply because Oliver had no way to respond. Sure, he could have given Diablo a response, but the guy had taken off before anyone had the chance to speak. Struggling for things to do or say, Stella suggested that they dance. ”Uh… Stella. Confession time, sweetie. I can't dance. Not unless it's the Cupid Shuffle or The Wobble. And even then, I still suck.”

”Wait what?”

She had to have been hearing things. No, it wasn’t that she expected him to be a good dancer simply because he seemed like the type because how fabulous he always looked. Stella was so far beyond believing stereotypes defined a person. Just because he looked like a dancer didn’t actually mean he was one. If that was true, she would have been the kind of girl who liked to listen to Taylor Swift and dream about the perfect guy sweeping her off of her feet. No, she was more of a Katy Perry girl and liked to think of herself as a ‘meet you halfway’ kind of guy. She’ll jump into his arms and he’d catch her.

Yeah, who was she kidding? She totally dreamed about the perfect guy sweeping her off of her feet while she was swooned by how gorgeous he was. But, this wasn’t the time for her to get lost in her own mind.

”Well, lucky for us we’re in a place where people won’t judge, right? I mean, what do they think this is? High school?” And there came Stella’s poor attempt at a joke that she was hoping would get him to laugh.

Stella's weak joke did manage to get a small smile out of Oli. She had a fair point. Looking around, it seemed that the rest of the students were engaged with their own conversations. ”You've got a point, Stel,” he responded.

Bowing to Stella before coming back up with a smile, he offered her his hand. ”May I have this dance?”

Oh my god! Oh my God! Oh my God!

Stella had to do everything that she could from not doing exactly what she had dreamed of doing and jumping into his arms. Even though she clearly knew that he was doing this out of the kindness of his heart and not actually because he liked her in the way she was hoping he would (Stella was easily swooned and wooed), but his poise, the way he has treated her, and just his overall pleasantness just reminded her of the tales that her Uncle Wesley and Aunt Florence had behind their love. It was beautiful in the sense that her uncle was such a gentleman when he and her aunt were her age. To this day, the love story between Florence Lambert and Wesley Cross is still her favorite to hear.

So, you bet that Stella took Oliver’s offer with such a willingness to take his hand that when she did, it felt cold and comforting to her almost-sweaty palm. Hell, she couldn’t deny that her entire body was starting to shake and shiver and sweat and tremble from the nervous excitement she felt. Yes, she knew she was the personification of an oxymoron and she didn’t care. Whatever the truth of this moment meant was a foreign concept to the young Lambert. Only thing she could see was the sparkle in Oliver’s grayed eyes and how earnest and true he was.

To hell with Kavi and Sonny’s comments. She was going to just enjoy his company and dance with her homecoming dance.

And dance she did. As she would lend her superior dancing skills (not really but a little better than his apparently), she both let him guide her while she guided him into a rhythm.

[fledermaus]

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^{𝑺 𝑨 𝑳 𝑬 𝑴 𝑹 𝑰 𝑽 𝑬 𝑹 𝑨}

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In total hindsight, Salem should have realized how inconvenient it would be to find a quiet, solitary corner to take his phone call in. He had to scope the perimeter more than once, and when he finally decided to take the call in the bathroom (hoping that no teens have gotten too horny yet), his phone had six missed calls.

There were a couple of guys in the bathroom, but he managed to lure them out by telling them someone spiked the punch – whether that was a lie or not was still up for discussion. After they left, he nudged the door closed and slouched against one of the sinks.

By the time he settled into the bathroom, the sixth call had turned into the seventh. Salem’s hands were clammy and shaky when he pressed the call back button. Getting frequent calls like this should be more worrying than it is; for anyone else, it could be important, but knowing who was on the other end? Salem knew it was probably something trivial, but attention-demanding nonetheless.

The first ring didn’t even go through before the other line picked up.

“Dimmi!”

Salem’s designer shoe slapped against the bathroom tile and his hand unconsciously came to run through his hair at the sound of the other’s voice.

“Ciao,” Salem sighed, his shoulders sagging in exasperation at the obvious cheer in the other’s voice, “Babbo. Is there a reason you called me?”

“What!” Salem’s dad laughed, his voice slightly slurred with wine, “Am I not allowed to call my favorite son?”

Salem wanted to reply with ‘I’m your only son’ but then again, it was a very real possibility that he’s not the only Rivera blood out there. “I’m busy right now, Babbo. Can we call another time?”

He was already taking the phone away from his ear, his finger hovering over the red ‘end’ button –

“Ah, ah, non essere così frettoloso.” Salem groaned knowing he wasn’t going to get rid of his father any time soon. “I have come to tell you about mi bambino.”

“No, babbo, that’s really not necessary right now. I’m in the middle of somethi – ”

“Ciccino, raduno prossimo mio figlio.”

“Babbo!”

Salem was really starting to get irritated – it was like the worst rollercoaster ever. He was at a rush with the highest point being with Marisol and then this call from his father being a crash back to the world. The last thing Sal wanted was to listen to his father ramble about his latest flavor of the month when he could be spending time with Marisol and any other friends they ran into. Not here, listening to this.

“Oh, Matteo, is this your bellissimo figlio on the phone! Give it here, lemme talk to him.” His dad’s new girlfriend’s voice was thicker and huskier than the last and it only served to annoy Salem with the likeness of it to his mom’s.

“Babbo! I don’t have time for this, I’m at homecoming!” Salem gritted out, his jaw clicking with the pressure of his muscles.

“Oh, homecoming?” There was a gasp and a squeal, the last one belonging to his father naturally. “You are at homecoming? Tell Gwendolyn I said hello! But wait, you went all the way back to the City for homecoming? Woah, you are a romantic just like your babbo!”

“No, I’m not in New York.”

His father kept prattling on though, and kept doing so no matter how much Salem attempted to interrupt. His girlfriend (Angelica, he found out through the sickening love talk on the other end) chimed in with husky sweet talk and over romanticized advice. It was suffocating, almost, in the way their voices chorused over his and it felt like he was a kid again being left at an airport for his ma to come pick him up a few hours too early. No matter how many times he called babbo his father didn’t tune back into the conversation or come pick him up from the hotel he was trapped in, in Italy for a father-son vacation.

“Ah, did you bring sweet Gwendolyn a pretty rose for such a pretty, pretty girl? Eh, tonight do not forget to use protection like your old ma – ”

“Babbo! I’m not with Gwen, I’m with someone else!”

“Oh, dating another girl? Just like your old ma – ”

“For fuck’s sakes, I’m not with another girl. Maybe if you gave a single fuck about what I did with my goddamn – Jesus fucking – just – god, never mind. I’m hanging up. Don’t call again.”

Salem expected the blow up to be bigger when he daydreamed about it – thought of all the truths he would be dropping, how he’d leave his dad speechless and begging for his forgiveness. Instead, glaring down at his phone, he just sees a pathetic text message saying ‘mi dispiace’ and an emoji of all things.

Setting his phone on silent, Salem left the bathroom and went to find Marisol – and hopefully get some more of her booze.

[Sugar and Spite]

Ariel Grey

---

Everyone here is ready to go. It's been a long year with nothing to show.

---

Lost in her thoughts, Archer had came back in better mood than when he had left for his cigarette break. She smiled politely and listened to his explanation, taking the drink that he offered her. Whoever spiked this, thank you. You're a god, the young woman thought as she took a sip.
Lacing her fingers around the cup, she stared at the ground while listening to her friend. Processing all that he had said, she nodded.

”You're right, Archie. Hold my beer and watch this, I guess,” she said as she got up from her chair. Ariel had thought she had seen Marisol walk outside a few minutes previous, so that's where she was headed - at least until she heard Nadia.

Was Kavi flirting with April? Or Mara? Not that it was unlikely for him to do so, but….

Tonight had been horrible already. She was forced into an awkward situation with Archer. There were so many people around that it was making her anxiety go off the walls, and now Kavi had been texting Nadia. And from the way the other girl spoke, it sounded like Kavi was…. Dating her?

”What do you mean you didn't get a ‘sorry it's not working out text’,” she asked, her time hostile as she glanced at Nadia, then Kavi.

[Hero]

---

Hmm, everything was spinning.

Lucas was used to drinking by now; a side-effect of hanging around with Santiago and good old teenage rebellion. Having happily pre-gamed with his boy, he figured he would wait until either he found another source of booze or managed to sneak out to his car to get some more. But considering he had gone through half his own stash, then Santiago's beer, then whatever the hell he had in his flask, and he realized far too late that mixing wasn't exactly the best idea. The first hint was after talking up some chick for a good ten minutes thinking it had been his date, though he supposed getting her number was a good consolation prize.

Either way, he figured it was time to try to find Maddie. No, wait, that wasn't her name. Mabel. Madeline. Macy? Maya. Marisol. No, wait, that last one was someone else. Maria! No, it was useless, he couldn't quite remember, but he was sure it was M-A-Something. Oh well, as long as they were both there and wouldn't get penalized, he supposed it didn't matter too much.

He made his way to the refreshment table, waiting until the punch was free before taking a cup of it for himself. Okay, sugar wasn't exactly going to help, but there was no water around, so as long as he didn't drink any more alcohol and stuck to punch, he figured he would be fine. As he naively took a rather long gulp, he realized far too late that something was up with the taste. Fuck, as if mixing beer and whiskey together wasn't bad enough, now vodka--or was it tequila?--was added to the mix.

"Son of a fuck--" He cursed as he finished, throwing his head back. After a second of contemplating, however, he polished off his cup, lazily tossing it over his shoulder. Fuck it, he supposed.

---

[Ejected]

_{Location: Country Club
Interacting with: Jordan Henderson, Lucas Anderson}

_{Now watch me fly.}
∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇

Fortunately, Chanel had only just began making awkward small talk with Aaliyah when her date reappeared; the young woman had a smug look on her face as she watched Jordan scoop himself a cup of the freshly spiked punch. "I doubt anyone would mind a little shaking up. Those dancers look far too sober for a real party," Jordan said, and Chanel couldn't agree more. Chanel was determined to have a good time that night, and thus came to the conclusion that a little bit of alcohol would help this come to fruition. After Jordan had finished pouring his punch, Chanel grabbed her own cup to do the same. She drained the contents of her cup in two large gulps, ignoring the burning sensation in her throat and stomach that followed. "And I don’t think I’ve met your friend?" Jordan said shortly after, and Chanel carefully blotted her mouth with a napkin before speaking once again.

"This is Aaliyah King," Chanel said, motioning to the other girl, "Also known as King's resident chess queen. We're not really friends, though. Associates or acquaintances would be the better word since we've only ever spoken a few times. Anyway, I just thought I'd compliment her on this amazing dress. I mean, look at her. Doesn't she look great?" As Chanel spoke, she poured herself yet another cup of punch; While she wasn't really looking to get pissy drunk, she did find herself eager to catch a buzz. After all, it had been a few weeks since she last allowed herself to let loose and have a bit of fun, so why the hell not?

Chanel had just finished her third cup when she decided that she was over making small talk with Aaliyah and Jordan; now that she had a bit of liquor in her system, she was finally ready to get the party started. She threw her own cup into the garbage can that wasn't too far from where they were standing before grabbing Jordan by the hand and giving him a slight tug away from the table. "So, Jordan Henderson. What do you say we hit the dance floor? And please don't tell me you're one of those, 'I'm not much of a dancer' kind of guys. It's homecoming, and I'm not taking no for an answer." But before Chanel could get a response from her date, she suddenly felt something hit her on the back. It wasn't like she got hit with anything hard; in fact, Chanel quickly spun around to see a plastic cup, identical to the one she'd just thrown away not too long ago, laying on the ground. However, that was besides the point.

It only took Chanel a moment to realize who had thrown the cup in her direction; it was none other than Lucas Anderson. Looking at the boy, she could easily tell that he was already drunk off his ass. Chanel didn't know much about Lucas other than the fact that he was Santiago's right hand man and basically the slightly less slutty, male version Penelope Richards, but that was just enough information for Chanel to see the other boy in a negative light. A feeling of rage suddenly surged through her body, and before she knew it, Chanel had let go of Jordan's hand and was marching right up to Lucas Anderson, angrily tapping him on the shoulder. Maybe it was her short-tempered nature that caused her to react so quickly and impetuously. Or maybe it was just the alcohol.

"Yo, what the fuck is wrong with you?" Chanel said once he'd turned around. "Like, deadass. What's your problem? Did your parents not teach you any basic fucking home-training? Or do you always just throw shit around like niggas didn't invent garbage cans for a reason?" Chanel was able to look Lucas directly in the eye as she spoke, thanks to the added height from her heels. And what if there was still some punch left in the cup that you just carelessly tossed over your shoulder? Boy, I spent hours working on this beautiful ass dress, and I'll be damned if it gets ruined before I even get the chance to take more pictures."

[mickilennial]

---

Palm Beach, Florida
October 6th, 2018

---

Mara raised a brow, glancing over to the voice – though she obviously knew who it was. She just wasn’t sure why he was talking to her. Kavi Salvador didn’t intersect in any of her classes that were important nor was he a part of her friend’s group or even her friend’s friends group. Perhaps she had telegraphed her mood and caught his attention? It made sense given his history of getting interested in things and people he should’ve left alone. But at the end of the day he wasn’t the worst person in the room and honestly she didn’t want to sulk for the entire duration of the dance. Interacting with someone, no matter how worthless they were, was probably a better time than running “solo”.

“Keep your nicknames to yourself, thanks.” She fired back, rolling her eyes. “I’m not in the mood. Not after Caligula’s bullshit tonig—”

To Mara’s surprise, immediately came Nadia Aurelios who apparently for some reason had something to say with the idiot who had approached her. She wasn’t upset at the concept, though it wasn’t exactly she wanted an excuse to escape the conversation either. She was already irritated enough that she wanted to take out her angst on someone else, so robbing her of that wasn’t the greatest or smartest choice in the world. She nearly went to shoot a remark to the “fighting couple” before the appearance of Victoire made things at least a little more tolerable. When she turned back to answer Victoire’s question she probably looked as “done” as the class president did.

Hell, maybe more.

“Oh god, I wish. All I have is Romeo and Juliet over here.” She gestured with the wave of her hand before she raised her voice in annoyance. “I’m almost surprised I haven’t committed suicide from all of this inane subhuman high school bullshit.”

As the tent seemed to be getting more crowded as another student who Mara recognized as Ariel Grey appeared to be interested in Kavi’s little conversation with Nadia. Normally Mara would’ve thought the drama of people poking their nose in other people’s problems as hilariously stupid, but she happened to be another mood so instead of thinking Ariel was stupid she actually agreed with the sentiment especially after the thought of a boyfriend or date not even bothering to cut her loose properly came to mind. It was then that Mara moved forward, looking over Nadia, Kavi, and Ariel.

”What do you mean you didn't get a ‘sorry it's not working out text’?” Ariel asked, bluntly.

Mara ran her tongue against her uppermost canine as she tapped her foot, not even realizing she was being a little too antagonistic than she liked to appear like. But she happened to not be hearing herself or if she was she just didn't care. Kavi was as good as target as any.

“Gee, couldn’t even give her the bad news in text? But I guess you just like surprising people, huh? Smooth.”

[SpicyMeatball]

April’s cheeks were on fire as she paced across the dance floor, the spot where Kavi kissed her still extremely evident on her cheek. Her heart pounded against the walls of her chest as she walked. The entire evening April had been psyching herself up to tell Santiago her big news, but in reality she didn’t know if she was really ready. Would he take it well? What if he denied it was him and left her out in the cold? What if he didn’t want to be with her for this? The questions flew through her head, only causing her heart to beat faster.

He was only a few paces away now, though he hadn’t noticed her yet as he was facing away. This was the point of no return. April could still turn back now if she walked away. The brunette stood in the open awkwardly, her breath catching in her throat. A cool breeze sent a shiver down her back as she stepped outside. Evidently the dress that hugged her body didn’t serve well to keep her warm and she’d failed to bring a jacket in the chaos of the afternoon. Yet another thing she could kick herself for later.

Focus April, you’re losing it.

As she calmed herself a bit, April looked slightly past Santiago to the oddly familiar face sitting next to him. It certainly wasn't his date Mara, so what the hell was this girl doing with him? "I swear Santi, if you've picked up another girl..." April muttered under her breath, trailing off as the name finally came to her. Penelope. The last name escaped her mind but it was irrelevant. This girl was in the way. She couldn't give her news to Santiago and risk it being leaked across the entirety of King's academy before the next morning. Instead of going the easy route, she'd have to get him away from her. From everyone. Where no one would be the wiser about the entire situation except for the two of them, regardless of who it was.

April took in a deep breath as remained still, her eyes looking Santiago up and down. Every bone in her body yearned for his presence and his company back, but April knew she couldn’t let him off easy. It would be a bumpy road for a bit, until they work able to work things out. Especially when it came time to inform her father. Just the thought sent her even further into a panic. How would he take the news? God knows if Santiago was around, it certainly wouldn’t go well. Of course, none of this would even be an issue if Santiago didn’t even listen.

Alright...you’ve got this…

Even though she said it like she meant it, April was having a hard time believing her own words. As she stepped forward and closed the final distance between herself and Santiago, April pressed her hands to her sides and looked up to him. “Hey Santi…” She said quietly, her voice almost shaking as she did. April took in a breath and took a moment to straighten her thoughts before she spoke again. “I have something to tell you...and it’s important. Unless I'm interrupting something...? I don't believe we've met officially.” She looked to Penelope as she spoke the last few words, extending a rather shaky hand towards her.

[eclecticwitch]

8D74AD

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Penelope's eyes widened as the screeching sound of Mara's voice rattled the air and shook the leaves on the tree. The young woman stared as the two yelled at each other, she felt embarrassment and discomfort for the two but knew neither of them felt such a thing. This was raw feeling and there was no way there would be any sense of shame until they came down from that particular high. As Mara left Penelope made a dramatic gesture of rubbing her ears.

"Well geez, I think I mighta gone deaf," she said lightly. She hoped she could bring him a bit out of his sour mood in order to ask the question she really needed from him. Unfortunately, it seemed Mara might have ruined that. The curly haired girl leaned against the tree with a sigh. "I think that girl just needs someone to take out her giant ass buttplug and fuck her good. She gets off on anal... I mean being anal, after all." She looked at the handsome, ridiculously faded boy. It seemed he wasn't in the mood for her jokes. Perhaps she should get to her point?

It was a night of no-goes it seemed. She just was not having any luck lately. Penny saw the girl approach before she spoke. There was something about her stance that made her think that this was more important than drugging a stupid teacher. Penny's eyes flowed over April's form and considered her statement. A small frown came to her face for mere moments as April was indeed interrupting. However, Penny came to realize that what she herself would be stalling could be a major change in their lives. She wasn't an idiot when it came to love after all.

A sly smile spread across her plump lips as she straightened from the tree and waved a hand dismissively before clasping it around the girl's proffered peace statement. "Penny. No, no. Nothing horribly important. I can always catch our resident devil later." She turned her eyes on the fucked up fucker and her grin turned nearly feral. "Smell ya later, we still gotta chat amigo. Hasta luego." With that she sauntered off, leaving the pair to discuss all the important things that unfortunate and non-communicative couples needed to discuss.

She headed back into the party and found that Stella had moved to the dance floor with her date. She stood off to the side, drink in hand and watching with amusement as the two did their best to have the most silly fun two kids could have. Penny laughed quietly, enjoying her dear friend's success. She was a beautiful girl, Stella deserved this. Stella deserved all the best, in fact. Maybe it was time for her to have a real dance partner. She gulped down the last of her drink, not noticing it was spiked despite its strength. It would need to be stronger for her dulled tongue to even notice a hint.

Like a pink fairy princess, Penny floated across the floor and tapped Oliver on the shoulder. "Sorry, friend. I'm afraid I must insist on cutting in. I haven't had a chance to dance with the most lovely of ladies in this room just yet." She winked at Stella and grinned up at Oliver.

[Okonuki]

---

“Yeah, illegal indeed! Take it from a lawyer’s son, you want to wash your hands from this mess as quickly as possible.” Declan laughed.
“Ah, I never knew your dad was a lawyer. I guess I know who to contact next time I’m in trouble, eh? And of that roofie plot, consider it forgotten,” he said, rubbing his hands together in a mime of washing them. On Mara’s entrance, he gave Archer a smile and leaned back against the wall further. “She looks soo pissed,” he laughed. “Time to sit back and watch the fireworks.”

“Nah, Mara would never start anything, at least not in public anyway, she cares way too much about graduating,” Archer said. He gave a lazy smile before straightening up, discarding his cigarette and clamping a hand on Declan’s shoulder.

“Well this has been very pleasant Dekkie! We should make this a regular thing!”

“You supply the smokes and the chat and I’ll be there, Archie,” Declan smirked. He raised a hand in goodbye as the other boy turned away before matching Archer’s motion of throwing his cig away. Locking both hands behind his head, he gave a languid stretch and his back cracked satisfactorily. The smoke had left him feeling lethargic and he didn’t particularly relish the thought of going back inside to the pounding music and hordes of classmates.

The night was a good one- the sky free of clouds and full of stars. The numbers in the carpark were thinning with Archer and Penelope’s departures and he was in no rush to follow them back into the marquee. By the entrance, Kavan and Bea stood, the smaller girl with a cigarette in hand. Declan knew them both a little- Bea from art class and Kavan from music. It had been a while since he’d chatted to either of the pair but they seemed to be having a moment together that he was probably better off not interrupting.

His gaze dragged out further to where Santiago stood. He seemed to have a revolving door of girls, as another joined him just as Penelope left. The newcomer was unfamiliar, but the distance between them was too close for the two to be just friends. Declan didn’t rate her chances. Santiago seemed to have more than enough girls around him already.

His pocket rattled, and the soothing tunes of his ringtone emanated from his phone. Fishing it out, Declan saw the name of one of his friends from the music scene. He hit the answer button and put it to his ear.

”Aaay, my boy Dekkie! Where you at? Queens is popping right now- they’ve got this new DJ and he’s been playing bangers all night! You gotta be here!” Declan sighed.

“Max, you dope. I told you yesterday about this homecoming deal. I’m not getting out of here any time soon with my grades intact. No matter how ‘popping’ the club is.” Max sounded vaguely drunk. He snorted derisively, but his words were more light-hearted teasing than mean-spirited.

“Yeah, cause you’ve always been big on those A grades, eh Declan? If you change your mind, we’re staying till close man. Have fun drinking punch and slow dancing with your school-assigned date.”

“I’ll see you round Max.”

“See you round, Dekkie.”

The phone fell silent as Declan hung up. For a moment he stared longingly at his van parked across the street, feeling awful tempted to take the keys from his pocket and leave a strip of rubber and a squeal of tyres. But his better judgement prevailed. His dad would be mighty pissed if he showed up at Declan’s graduation and Declan didn’t walk. Plus, he couldn’t just dog Penelope like that.

With another exaggerated sigh, he spun on his heel and trudged back into the flashing lights and loud music of the dance.

[Okonuki]

---

"This is Aaliyah King," Chanel said, waving a hand in the girl’s direction. "Also known as King's resident chess queen. We're not really friends, though. Associates or acquaintances would be the better word since we've only ever spoken a few times. Anyway, I just thought I'd compliment her on this amazing dress. I mean, look at her. Doesn't she look great?"

Jordan turned an appraising eye on the other girl, and he had to agree with Chanel. He couldn’t remember seeing much of her around school, but the picture in his mind was that of a scholarly looking bookworm rather than the well-dressed girl before him. A form-fitting black dress was accompanied by various jewelries and accessories which probably cost a bomb, but seemed all worth it when you saw the full picture.

Yet between the two girls in front of him, Chanel was pulling his eye more. Maybe the long hours spent organising their clothes together with his date had made Jordan biased, but she was still looking damn fine. Although it seemed at the moment she was pulling his eye towards her sculling three cups of punch in record time.

“In a rush, are we?” he said. She responded with her best Kobe impression, sinking the paper cup into a rubbish bin before latching onto his hand. "So, Jordan Henderson. What do you say we hit the dance floor? And please don't tell me you're one of those, 'I'm not much of a dancer' kind of guys. It's homecoming, and I'm not taking no for an answer."

Jordan grinned at the brash way she spoke, but before he could reply she snatched her hand away from his and spun on her heel. He was momentarily confused before he connected the dots between the crumpled paper cup on the floor and the unfortunate guy Chanel was marching towards, her heels practically drilling holes in the floor. It didn’t take a genius to figure out some shit was about to go down. She tapped angrily on the guy’s shoulder before setting on him.

"Yo, what the fuck is wrong with you? Like, deadass. What's your problem? Did your parents not teach you any basic fucking home-training? Or do you always just throw shit around like niggas didn't invent garbage cans for a reason? And what if there was still some punch left in the cup that you just carelessly tossed over your shoulder? Boy, I spent hours working on this beautiful ass dress, and I'll be damned if it gets ruined before I even get the chance to take more pictures." Chanel was looking pretty heated and the thrower hadn’t even had the chance to shoot a retort back yet.

Ohh boy. Jordan hadn’t come to Homecoming looking for drama but it seemed he’d walked into some. He followed Chanel and put a reassuring hand on the small of her back, before tilting his head to talk into her ear over the loud music.

“Don’t let one dumbass ruin your night. He’s not worth it.” A probably bad idea came to him as he remembered the punch cup he still held in his left hand.
“Or if you want a shot back, here’s some ammunition,” he said with a smile, and pressed the cup into her hand.

[eclecticwitch]

E0633C

"Something told me it was over
When I saw you and her talking
Something deep down in my soul said, "Cry girl"
When I saw you and that girl, walking 'round."

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Smoking isn't for me. It's a... bad habit. Not that I'm judging, or anything. I've tried to get a few of my friends to quit, but at the end of the day, what you all decide to do is your prerogative..."

Bea adjusted her position so that the smoke would avoid floating toward him. She nodded as her eyes slipped up to the stars and she blew out a milky white cloud into the air. Sighing, she raised the hand that held the cigarette and pressed the Venus Mount to her forehead for a moment. When the hand lowered she looked toward Kavan again. A wry smile had found its way to her lips.

"Not the first time I've heard that. Filthy habit. You'll die young. Mother fucking lung cancer." She shrugged. "It's an odd thing to be concerned about, I think. Lots of stuff is bad for you but we all do it anyway. And why not judge me? Everyone does it. It's 'hip' to be judgey you know." Bea reached her arms into the air and stretched backward, her spine giving little cracks as it released tension. Somewhere not far off Mara was screaming about something. Her whole body tensed before she straightened. Mara marched right past with not a single look at her. Ah. Well.

His next set of words caused her to stiffen slightly and released her from the circling thoughts of Mara's ignoring her presence. She would have really preferred not to talk about it but she supposed she did owe him that. "So, want to talk about what's got you so... upset tonight?"

She took another drag from her cigarette as she scuffed the ground with the heel of her shoe. "I just got a bit overwhelmed I guess. A lot of people, none of them looking the same. Too much dazzle and sparkle. A teenage masquerade. People weren't meant to be close to stars, you know." She hoped this would be a satisfactory answer. She couldn't explain the thing that had made it the worst. To see Jordan with two very lovely looking girls and the way it made all of her organs start playing musical chairs to the mamba. Bea pulled the flask from her purse, took a quick swig, another drag of her cigarette and tucked the flask away.

The alcohol was beginning to hit her now, causing warm and fuzzy things to float around her head. She felt less stressed about the night. Suddenly, things just didn't seem to matter all that much. She could have fun, a grand time even. Only a couple more drags and she flicked the butt away. The young woman turned toward Kavan and held out her hand. "I've calmed down enough now. What say you we tear up that dance floor? Know any moves?" Her tone was playful and an uncharacteristic, almost flirtatious look had settled across her features.