[IC] Palm Beach Royals: Senior Year

[fledermaus]

𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚎 𝚓𝚎𝚊𝚗

WARNING:

^{Millie Jean is extremely depressed and this shows some of her suicide ideation. I don't want to label her as "suicidal" and then not show that in her thought process. If any of this will affect you or your mental health, message me and i'll give a tl;dr}

Get up, shower, eat, lay down, sleep. Rinse, wash, repeat.

Millie Jean doesn’t know what she’s waiting for; doesn’t know what she’s supposed to be waiting for. Sitting in her bed, legs crossed and eyes staring vacantly at her butterfly terrarium, she can hear Kellie Anne’s sobs from the next room over. Millie Jean doesn’t understand why Kellie Anne cares so much about some stupid boy; there will be other people to date. Fall, confess, date, break-up. Rinse, wash, repeat.

Living is so tiring. Everything is so formulaic, just reiterations upon reiterations, and Millie doesn’t really see the point in doing it all over and over and over again. Then again, there’s something wrong with Millie Jean so maybe she just doesn’t get it – of course, everyone says there is nothing wrong with her, that being mentally diseased doesn’t mean she’s wrong. Millie knows different, though: she’s broken and what’s the point of existing if you can never be fixed?

Her phone vibrates against her leg, the alarm notifying her to take her pills and get up out of bed to move around. Standing up, Millie Jean dragged her feet towards her dresser where her pills were encased – she swallowed them dry, liking the way it burned down her throat. She hated taking her pills, it made her feel like another cog in the machine, but it was better than having her mom tapping her foot by the door with the pills in her palm like a treat for a dog.

“The doctor says I should get some Vitamin D, Puppy.” Millie Jean murmurs to one of her cats, purring against her leg. From the bed, Pepper watched on in that cynical way of hers – Millie Jean sometimes wonders if Pepper thinks Millie is as pathetic as Millie knows herself to be. “Would you like to go on a drive, Puppy?”

Puppy meowed in response, recognizing the word ‘drive’ amongst all the other nonsensical things. Pepper’s tail began to thump agitatedly on the bed, indignation radiating towards Millie Jean.

“I’m sorry, Pep, do you want to come, too?” Pepper jumped off the bed and padded towards the door to look for her leash. It was at moments like these that Millie really questioned if her cats could understand her or if it was just a trained response from when they were kittens. Millie Jean liked to think they understood her; that they were there to comfort her for when she was sad and despondent.

“Let’s run along, Puppy.”

[Ejected]

_{Location: Home
Interacting With: Amoli Varma}

---

---

Ever since she was a child, Amoli Varma has been fascinated with all things hair and makeup. Therefore, it came as no surprise to anyone in her family when the young woman decided to go to cosmetology school after their family had relocated from India to the United States. None of the Varmas even batted an eye when she came bursting through their front door one afternoon, raving excitedly about her new position as a hairdresser at one of the local salons. Like a few other Le Bazaar employees, Amoli had every Sunday off; while she'd usually spend this day out shopping or drinking with her girlfriends, Amoli had decided to spend this particular Sunday performing a groundbreaking, cutting-edge surgery. At least, that was what she believed it to be.

Kavan Varma was no stranger to haircuts; growing up, he'd visit the barbershop with his father once every six months for a quick trim and shape up. Obviously, this did not continue on into Kavan's teen years; the young man actually grew to be quite fond of his long, dark hair, and preferred to rock it as long as he could handle for the past couple of years. But never in a million years did Kavan ever think that he'd be letting his older sister anywhere near his head with a pair of scissors. In fact, if you would have told him a couple of weeks ago that he'd be spending a Sunday morning sitting in one of the chairs in Amoli's in-home hair salon, he'd tell you that you'd smoked one too many crack pipes. But there he was.

He kept his eyes trained on the floor as he listened to the unnerving sound of her scissors snipping away; his lips thinned into a tight line as he watched his thick locks of hair fall at his feet. Amoli was nearly finished when she finally began to speak to her little brother, though as soon as she did, he immediately wished that she had chosen to keep her mouth shut. "So, what made you finally agree to letting me cut your hair all of a sudden, Raj?" the young woman said with a smirk, "I couldn't help but overhear you talking with Archer on the phone earlier this morning. You mentioned something about him coming over... Wanna look good for your little boyfriend, huh?" It wasn't unusual for Amoli to make remarks such as this one; ever since she'd gotten the slightest hint that her little brother had a bit of a crush on one of his closest friends, she'd put in a great deal of effort in teasing him about it. And although Kavan had never outright told her about his subtle feelings for Archer, that didn't stop her from always bringing it up. "Are you finally gonna stop being a little kutiya and tell him how you feel?"

"You should focus more on, you know, cutting my hair instead of trying to give me relationship advice," Kavan said with a sigh as he shut his eyes, "And maybe stop listening in on my phone conversations, too. Besides, this doesn't have anything to do with Archer, okay? Maybe I just woke up this morning wanting to make a change..." This, despite Amoli's doubts, happened to be absolutely true. While he still wasn't exactly sure what pushed him to finally give in to his sister's begging and pleading, he ultimately decided that perhaps cutting his hair wasn't such a bad idea after all. "Plus, it's not like you don't need the practice, bahan." Of course, this earned Kavan a swift smack on the back of his neck; he simply laughed as his sister pulled away his cape and turned him around to face the mirror.

To say he was impressed would be a bit of an understatement; while he always assumed that his sister was as good at cutting hair as she constantly said she was, he'd never gotten the opportunity to witness any of her handiwork firsthand. "Damn, I'm good," the young woman said with a small grin as she used her fingers to make a few final touches. "It's been so long since I've seen you without that mop on your head. You don't even look like yourself anymore, bhaee. I can actually see your face now." Kavan simply nodded his head, for his sister happened to be right. The shorter style, while still draping a bit over one side of his face, showcased the young man's facial features more than before; he appeared more fresh and sharp. After uttering a quick thank you, Kavan began to rise from his seat, only to be pushed back down by his sister. "Oh no, you thought that I was finished?" Amoli said with a sly smile, "You're not leaving until I see what I can do about this facial hair."

[ineffable]

Interacting with Beatrice Endive (a bit) and Millie Jean Nicholson

Georgie hummed all the way back home, her soaked clothes dripping onto the dry pavement and earning her a couple of weird looks. It didn't matter though because she'd had a fun time with someone she thought would never surprise her. She flicked back her wet locks and strode up the gate of her house, ringing it in her special pattern so whoever was inside could open the gates to her house for her. Sure enough the automatic doors opened with a creak and she slipped quickly inside, waving a hand to the windows so that they could know her thanks. God, she couldn't stop beaming. As she walked in the doors she made sure to take off her soaked shoes by the doorway so mother wouldn't yell at her for tracking water into the house. No one was home. She knew that from how no one called out for her, or for the echoing almost threatening silence. She was alone, again. As Georgie made her way up to her room she let her mind wander back to earlier that day, distracting herself from the emptiness of the house. Max's frequent grins, the feel of the water as she rushed past her skin, the warmness of the deck under her fingers and the warm light that had drifted onto the two of them. A secret blush spread onto her cheeks and she let loose a small, quiet giggle, shaking her head at herself when she thought she had gone too far in her thoughts. Reaching the landing she turned and surveyed the space. What was she to do now? Georgie simply could not just sit still and wait out the day. Suddenly, her phone beeped as if it knew the answer. She fished it out of her still damp shorts pocket and wiped some of the water off of the screen before she looked at it.

BEATRICE E: Want to come over? Watch stupid movies and shit?

Bea! Just the thing she needed. Georgie smiled, anything to get her out of this tauntingly lonely house would be great. She quickly texted back:

GEORGIA F: Hells yeah! I'll be right on over xX

Now she just needed to take a shower and run on out. Georgie hopped into the cold shower and quickly scrubbed lingering scents of the lake water off of her, running over to pick out an outfit when she was done. She swept a red off the shoulder top off of the hanger and struggled into a pair of ripped up jean shorts from her never ending supply of them. She blow dried her hair and groaned as it took too long before she left it slightly damp and messy. Georgie debated on whether to bring her camera or not but stopped and left it on her dressing room table. She was going to have fun for once and not worry about camera angles or lighting. It was, after all, only a small night out right? Georgie tried to convince herself. After all the persuading was done she shoved on a pair of clunky sunglasses and walked out into the L.A sunshine. She unhitched her pastel purple vespa from where it was perched against the wall of her house and clambered on. She'd begged her parents to buy her a motorcycle when it had come time for her to drive but they had shook their heads firmly no. Georgia was their only daughter and they did not like it all if she was to kick off on a motorcycle, pursuing a stupid adventure off in the crazy world. She'd managed to wear them down though but she'd have to make a compromise and ride the vespa. Georgie had felt let down before but she had shrugged it off. At least she got to ride on something. Now she loved it. She loved the way the air blew past her hair and how unbridled she was to her surroundings. She truly felt free on it.

As she rode along Georgie kept an eye out on the people walking back and forth on the sidewalk. You never knew if you'd run into a fellow classmate or anything and have to stop by and say hi. Her helmet strapped scratched uncomfortably on her chin but she powered on. Maybe she could stop and adjust it later? Or now. Now would be a good idea. Georgie steered her scooter off to the side and parked, hopping out so she could adjust her helmet.

Meow

What the hell was that? Georgie whipped around quickly before she met eyes with that of a cat attached to a leash. She wrinkled her eyebrows slightly before looking up and seeing Millie.
"Oh, Millie. Hi!" She waved and smiled. She'd not really seen Millie around school that much but she knew the girl and it would be rude not to say hello.

[Sugar and Spite]

The last seven months had been insane for Sunshine. First her father's death, then moving to Florida with her aunt. Now she was switching schools - not that she was complaining. Public school hadn't really been her cup of tea. She was used to the stuffy uniforms and more challenging curriculum. So perhaps Kings Academy wasn't such a bad idea. That didn't change the fact that she missed LA.

She missed the city lights, walking down Hollywood Boulevard with a strawberry smoothie in hand as the heat all but smothered her. Now she had to settle for the beach. There was a different comfort in the vast blue waters that Sable couldn't seem to explain. Maybe it was the way the tide rolled in, bringing new sea shells up to the shore. Perhaps it was the way that it sounded. Either way, her journal was filled with bits and pieces of poetry written about it.

Doing research on Kings for the umpteenth time, the girl would be in her room. She didn't really plan to go out of the house today, but it seemed as if her mind just kept wandering back to the ocean. Closing her laptop and heading down stairs, she found herself taking the now familiar path to her new comfort zone. As she arrived, bare feet in the sand as she walked across the shore, she didn't stop walking until she was ankle deep in the water. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she smiled.

This was Home now.

---

---

Oliver had done a lot of thinking last night before passing out from exhaustion. He had decided to text both Martha and Raven, thinking they could help him sort out his thoughts. While Raven was some help, he never heard anything from Martha. Not only did his best friend ditch him, she wouldn't even respond to his texts. To say that Oliver was salty about it was saying that Santiago wasn't an asshole.

During his conversation with Raven, he had came to two conclusions. One - He liked Stella. That much was true and definite. Two - there was a possibility he was Bi. While Oli didn't have a problem with either fact, number two was still slightly confusing. Sure, while he had always been attracted to guys for the most part, he still thought some girls were attractive from time to time, though it was rarely. How had Raven put it again? "A bisexual that had the tendency to be a little more on the gay side?" Yeah that was it.

This morning didn't seem like it was going to come with any less thinking. He felt his phone buzz, and glanced at the screen. At least she wasn't ignoring him.

Mom needs my help with a few things around the house today. Maybe we could meet up after I'm done or something. Stay safe.

The young man sighed, rolling back over in his bed, falling asleep once more.

[Sugar and Spite]

The last seven months had been insane for Sunshine. First her father's death, then moving to Florida with her aunt. Now she was switching schools - not that she was complaining. Public school hadn't really been her cup of tea. She was used to the stuffy uniforms and more challenging curriculum. So perhaps Kings Academy wasn't such a bad idea. That didn't change the fact that she missed LA.

She missed the city lights, walking down Hollywood Boulevard with a strawberry smoothie in hand as the heat all but smothered her. Now she had to settle for the beach. There was a different comfort in the vast blue waters that Sable couldn't seem to explain. Maybe it was the way the tide rolled in, bringing new sea shells up to the shore. Perhaps it was the way that it sounded. Either way, her journal was filled with bits and pieces of poetry written about it.

Doing research on Kings for the umpteenth time, the girl would be in her room. She didn't really plan to go out of the house today, but it seemed as if her mind just kept wandering back to the ocean. Closing her laptop and heading down stairs, she found herself taking the now familiar path to her new comfort zone. As she arrived, bare feet in the sand as she walked across the shore, she didn't stop walking until she was ankle deep in the water. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she smiled.

This was Home now.

---

---

Oliver had done a lot of thinking last night before passing out from exhaustion. He had decided to text both Martha and Raven, thinking they could help him sort out his thoughts. While Raven was some help, he never heard anything from Martha. Not only did his best friend ditch him, she wouldn't even respond to his texts. To say that Oliver was salty about it was saying that Santiago wasn't an asshole.

During his conversation with Raven, he had came to two conclusions. One - He liked Stella. That much was true and definite. Two - there was a possibility he was Bi. While Oli didn't have a problem with either fact, number two was still slightly confusing. Sure, while he had always been attracted to guys for the most part, he still thought some girls were attractive from time to time, though it was rarely. How had Raven put it again? "A bisexual that had the tendency to be a little more on the gay side?" Yeah that was it.

This morning didn't seem like it was going to come with any less thinking. He felt his phone buzz, and glanced at the screen. At least she wasn't ignoring him.

Mom needs my help with a few things around the house today. Maybe we could meet up after I'm done or something. Stay safe.

The young man sighed, rolling back over in his bed, falling asleep once more.

[Venus]

This night is sparkling, don't you let it go
I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home
I'll spend forever wondering if you knew
This night is flawless, don't you let it go
I'm wonderstruck, dancing around all alone
I'll spend forever wondering if you knew
I was enchanted to meet you

This is me praying that this was the very first page
Not where the story line ends
My thoughts will echo your name, until I see you again
These are the words I held back, as I was leaving too soon
I was enchanted to meet you
Please don't be in love with someone else
Please don't have somebody waiting on you.

At seventeen minutes to 1AM, the afterparty of the Athlete Awards Ceremony of King’s Academy was in full swing.

Every December, an awards ceremony for the school’s star athletes was held at the King’s auditorium. Every member of a team would be called out to the stage to receive an award for representing the school, with special distinctions given out to the top players of every sport. After the ceremony, a banquet is held for the students and their parents. And after the banquet, an after party for the kids would follow at the house of one of them.

Celeste Kingsley had graciously offered up her parents’ penthouse as the venue this year, taking full advantage of them being away on holiday. The rooms were filled with athletes in different stages of partying: drunken dancing, beer pong, chugging contests, making out, throwing up, you name it. Kellie Anne Nicholson had been one of the athletes in attendance, jumping at the chance of having some fun alongside her dance family. And although she’d stuck with her group for most of the night, her eyes had often wandered around the room in search of the one who’d had her heart since freshman year.

Sometime between her fourth beer and second tequila shot, Kellie Anne had decided tonight would be the night to make her move. She’d been bidding her time for the last hour now, looking for the second the social butterfly took a break on his own. Finally, her break came when the tall boy broke away from his friend group and made his way out to the balcony. Grinning, Kellie Anne squared her shoulders and downed the rest of her beer. It was go time.

With a cheap excuse, the brunette distanced herself from her friend group and made a beeline to the bathroom. Once inside, she took a long look at her reflection in the mirror, carefully examining her face to make sure she was looking as close to perfection as she could. After a few hair fluffs and an application of a fresh coat of grape-flavored lip gloss, Kellie took a deep breath and exited the room. She stood at the hallway for a few seconds, starry brown eyes scanning the room for any signs of her target, but letting out a relieved breath when he was still at the balcony. Sighing deeply, the Hispanic girl closed her eyes, said a quick prayer to Cuba’s Virgin of Charity, and headed out to join him.

“Congrats on the junior lacrosse award, Max Wallenberg,” she began with the brightest of smiles, hoping her voice wasn’t shaking with the same nervousness her hands were. “You’re, like, definitely the best player our school has. If anyone deserved it, it was you.”

Max had been staring out at the houses that lit up the night of Palm Beach deep in thought about the award he had been given tonight. His whole junior year had been dedicated to being the best player on the junior varsity team. Now the only goal he had left was to be named captain and to do that he needed to become better than Warren Diedrikson, which obviously is easier said than done. The young man slowly turned around when the girl spoke to him. A signature wide grin spreading across his face as he saw who was talking.

“Huh… I wouldn’t peg you as a lacrosse fan, Kell.” he laughed leaning against the balcony railing. “Flattery will only get you this far, what can I do for you?” he fixed his blue eyes on her, huge smile still intact.

From the moment she’d laid eyes on him at age fourteen, Kellie Anne had always wondered how someone’s smile could be so naturally breathtaking. Everytime Max smiled, she could swear everything else dimmed around, as if cowering in fear of the brightness he emitted. Kel often liked to say he put the sun, moon and stars to shame, even if everyone else thought she was being melodramatic. But this wasn’t the time to be thinking about the stupid things she wrote in her journal! It was time to focus!

The girl heard herself let out an awkward little cough before responding. “Oh, I looooove lacrosse. My brother Hudson used to play back in high school, so Mil and I were his little cheerleaders. Huds plays for Stanford now. That’s why I wouldn't dare to miss a game from you guys!” Kellie said brightly, sliding the glass door behind her and turning to face Max. Her statement was all true, and it served as the perfect answer without giving away that the main reason she went to the King’s games was to see him in action and not because she cared all that much for the sport. His question made her hands shake harder, palms sweating. “I just, you know, wanted a little break from the party. Getting a little too crazy inside,” she lied, not wanting to tell him the only thing he could do for her was to do her.

“Oh?” Max’s expression changed in to one of curiosity “Crazy how?” he asked as he stepped closer to Kellie. “From what I have heard you dancers are no stranger to crazy nights.” his voice dropping down to a low husky whisper. He reached his hand out to brush a few hairs from Kellie’s face, making sure his hand touched her cheek ever so lightly while his eyes never leaving hers. After a silent moment his smile was back full force as he pulled back leaning again on the railing. “But I see what you mean. Put that many horny athletes in one apartment and shit’s bound to happen” he laughed winking.

It was hard to keep calm when the guy you’d crushed on for a year and a half chose to close the distance between you and him, and even harder when his hand was brushing your face. Any hopes of playing it cool vanished as soon as a blush crept up on her cheeks, skin feeling hotter where Max’s touch had been. Kel held her breath for a bit, afraid that she didn’t she would start hyperventilating. Thankfully, Max decided to step away long enough for her to catch her breath.

When he commented about her supposed crazy nights, the girl raised a curious eyebrow. The last thing Kellie wanted was for Max to find out that the craziest thing she’d ever done in her life was to eat raw cookie dough while baking, so she decided to turn the attention back to him instead. “And from what I’ve heard, you’re no stranger to what happens when you put ‘that many horny athletes’ in one room,” she teased back, giggling while shooting Max a playful wink.

The young man blinked and made a mock shocked face “Again with the flattery...” he chuckled, smirking at her. “So my reputation has spread then,” he began slowly. “And yet here you are… So I’ll ask again: what can I do for you?” he said, with a bit more interest this time.

Kellie Anne swallowed hard, trying to summon the courage she always said she would have when the opportunity to talk to Max came. And although it took the better part of a minute, she finally did. “Why don’t you try and find out?” the girl heard herself say, giving the blond boy in front of her the exact smirk he’d had a few seconds before.

Impressed, Max closed the distance between them yet again. “Is that an invitation, then?” he asked, placing his right hand on the small of her back as his blue stare bored into hers as he tried to figure out what she meant. He chuckled one last time before he leaned in and planted on her lips the passionate kiss he’d became famous for around campus. His left hand found its way through her brown hair, and he felt her tense up in his arms before she slowly relaxed into them.

And just like that, Kellie Anne Marie Nicholson died and went to heaven.

When she’d sought out Max that night, the most she’d been hoping for was to carry on a conversation long enough to exchange phone numbers.What she hadn’t expected was to get wrapped around his muscled arms, with one of his hands tangled up in her hair while he kissed her with a passion that burned harder than the shot of tequila she’d had an hour before. The initial shock had paralyzed Kellie on the spot for a bit, eyes wide and arms hanging limply by her sides until the realization of what was happening finally washed over her. But when it did, the brunette was kissing Max back with the longing she’d held back for years, wrapping her arms around his torso and pulling their bodies as close together as they could be.

A feeling of warmth spread throughout Max’s body when he felt his kiss reciprocated with the same passion as he was putting out. He had initiated the kiss mostly out of curiosity, but now that he was invested, it was time to kick into high gear. His hands moved up to cup the girl’s face as he kissed her harder and faster before finally pulling away. The familiar grin crept back to his face as he kept his eyes on the visibly stunned Kellie.

“Was that what I could do for you? Was my service sufficient?” he laughed as he let the petite girl go. He had to admit the girl interested him in a way a lot of the girls at King’s didn’t, but the thrill of the hunt was too good to give up. He had to stick to his usual plan: give them a little taste so they crave more.

When he’d finally pulled away, it took all of Kellie Anne’s self restraint to keep from hyperventilating like she wanted to. Without a doubt, her first kiss with Max Wallenberg had been everything the brunette had hoped for and more. The girl’s head was spinning, her heart beating wildly in her chest as she fought back the wanting pumping through her veins. The chemistry between them was undeniable, so strong she could have sworn sparks flew around them. And when he asked if his services were sufficient, she bit back the need to tell him she hoped they were just getting started.

“Is that it?” Kellie heard herself blurt out instead, disappointment dripping from her words. Realizing how that made her sound, the girl flushed and quickly added, “N-not that I mind of course. I completely understand if, like, that’s… it…” The more she spoke, the more she put her foot in her mouth, and the more nervous she got, so she decided it was probably best to flee the scene of the crime before she could embarrass herself any further. “So, um, I guess I’ll just… You know... Go… Back inside…” she mumbled and stumbled, sliding the glass door open to finally make her escape, cursing herself for being such a coward along the way.

Max couldn’t help but let out a sigh of disbelief as he watched Kellie slip back inside through the sliding doors. He chuckled and rubbed his chin as he went back to stare out into the night. He’d have to keep an eye out for that girl.

This was the memory playing on Kellie’s head as she started her car and backed out of the Nicholson driveway: the night she and Max had met, back in December of 2017. More often than not, memories of her time with the lacrosse captain came to her as flashbacks in the strangest moments, bestowing her with either happiness or sadness at any given time. As Kellie sped past the man-made lake in the center of Crown Heights, her peripheral vision spotted a very familiar truck in the parking lot. Her sandal-clad foot slammed on the brakes, bringing the convertible blue beetle to a complete stop in the middle of the road. Behind the Oakley sunglasses, her brown eyes searched around the pier until they finally fell on the truck’s owner, accompanied by his faithful canine sidekick.

Kellie’s heart skipped a beat, the way it always did when she saw him. Max Wallenberg was like a fine wine: getting better looking with every day that went by. Ever the show off, her darling Maxie wore nothing but a pair of boxers that clung to his body like a wetsuit, emphasizing the features she’d gotten to know well for the better part of five months. A smile crept up on the corners of her mouth when she realized the Calvin Kleins he wore were actually part of a gift she’d gotten him back when they dated: a habit she’d gotten him into that he’d clearly not broken. The young woman watched as the boy played around with his dog Charlie, that bright smile of his never leaving his handsome face.

But ultimately, the inevitable punch to the gut came when she noticed Max and Charlie were far from lonely. A petite brunette not too different from her was being helped back to the pier by Max, her wet clothes sticking to her and revealing far too much of her stupid body. With eyes now clouded with tears and a vice-like grip on the steering wheel, Kellie watched as the two lied down on the pier next to each other, with the girl wearing the all-too-familiar dumbstruck expression of those charmed by Crown Heights’ walking ball of sunshine.

The sound of a loud horn made Kellie jump in her seat and look around in panic. Her heartbreaking observations were interrupted as a white SUV sped past her, the driver shooting her a nasty look along the way. Shaking with a mix of sadness and surprise, the brunette slammed her foot on the accelerator and sped off, hoping that the stupid horn hadn’t brought any attention to herself.

[AlteredTundra]

_{Featuring the snappy kid sister}

As Kavi stood outside, watching Ariel’s car drive off, he stayed there for...well, he didn’t know how long he stayed there. He was feeling good and not just the sort of good that meant he was going to be having a hot date at some point in the future, but a genuine feeling of joy and relief. There never was a day that he ever thought he’d find himself in the position that was in right now: committing to one person instead of playing the field.

When he came inside, a grin on his face unlike any prior times, he suddenly came to the sight of his kid sister waiting for him. Was she watching the entire time? Kavi pondered that, not saying anything to Nikki. He walked around her and started to walk towards the kitchen. By the time he had done so, he heard the sound of her unreasonably-large feet stepping rather annoyingly behind him. When he finally turned around, Kavi, who had all that he needed for a sandwich, rolled her eyes. ”I feel like you’re going to ask me something. So just be done with it so I can get back to making my sandwich.” Kavi just looked at her, wondering exactly what was on her mind.

As per the usual with Nikki, she didn’t speak at first. She kind of circled the kitchen and took a place in one of the high chairs across from him. Much to her older brother’s annoyance, she still didn’t say anything until she kind of hummed. “You know, I heard about that one,” she finally spoke.

“That one? You mean the thing we call ham? Shocking! Can’t believe you’re that observant.” He didn’t bother looking up at her as he constructed his turkey-ham club sandwich.

“Okay Mr. Smartass,” Nikki rolled her eyes at him (not that he saw). “I’m talking about the pasty emo chick who was just here. Serafina or whatever her name is.” She seemed to try and remember her name.

“Ariel. Her name is Ariel. She hates going by Serafina,” Kavi properly corrected her, going back to the fridge to get the dijon mustard.

“Well, whatever her name is, I’ve heard whispers about her."

Stopping for a moment, Kavi looked up at Nikki and, to his surprise, there was a worried expression on her face. Almost as though she wasn’t bugging him because she didn’t have better things to do. “What things?” He asked her. “You’re a sophomore, Nikki. How could you possibly know about a senior, let alone a senior I know personally. Don’t you think these things you keep vaguely referencing would have gone into my ear instead of yours and whoever you heard it from?” He asked her. As soon as he did, Kavi went down to bite into his now completed club.

“Well, maybe if you weren’t so busy trying to two-time her, then maybe you’d know some things about that wonderful girl.” Nikki’s famous fiery tongue spat back at him in full.

Kavi sighed, giving only a small amount of his attention to his sister. Honestly, he was about ready to just ignore her and go back to his room. He wasn’t exactly thrilled with her at the moment. He didn’t know if he was more bothered by the fact that she claimed to know something he didn’t about Ariel or that she had to throw in the most recent of his mistakes in her face. Either way, Kavi was only going to entertain her nonsense for so long.

“Fine. What did you hear from your little group of little hellions?”

“I don’t know how true it is, but I heard from a guy who heard it from his sister who then heard it from their older sister’s friend’s aunt that heard some troubling rumors about Trillian Grey.”

Kavi stood there as his sister explained. “Okay, so what troubling rumors?”

“He has a bit of a temper.”

And in the span of the shortest moment, Nikki lost her older brother’s undivided attention. “Get the fuck out of here. That’s the big thing you had to tell me? The hotshot criminal defense attorney has a temper? That’s barely worthy of a mention, let alone hyping it up like it was some cardinal sin.”

As Kavi started to walk away, Nikki got in front of him. “You didn’t let me finish, pinhead! The rumor wasn’t just about his temper. It was about what he does with that temper,” she had clarified, a rare worried look on her face.

Kavi had known his sister to be a lot of things. She was overdramatic, teased him a lot (as he did to her on several occasions). She could also stretch some truths to bide time for whatever she needed time for, but as he looked into her eyes, this was the first time he could see a genuine worry in her face for anyone other than her family. Something in him told the teen to shut up and listen to what she had to say.

“Nikki, what’s wrong?”

She shook her body a little. “I shouldn’t be saying this cause it’ll probably get back to her, but that friend’s aunt I mentioned? She had apparently treated someone for a broken wrist that looked a lot like that Ariel girl."

“What are you saying?”

“Maybe nothing. Maybe it’s everything, but if Trillian has a temper and can be an asshole to his clients and those who work at his firm, who is to say he could be the same way with his own daughter?”

Kavi didn’t say anything, not to himself and most certainly not to his kid sister. All he did was smile at her and take his sandwich as he went to his room. As the door closed behind him, he set the plate down on his desk where his laptop and Playstation 4 was. He just sat in his chair, head leaning back, looking up at his ceiling. He must have kept his eyes up there for at least ten minutes. He didn’t keep track of the time. The only thing Kavi did was think about what Nikki told him and run it on repeat in his mind. If it was just a rumor, then it was all fine. Ariel wasn’t in any danger and her father wasn’t an abusive prick. He was just a regular, arrogant lawyer prick.

“But what if he wasn’t?” Kavi questioned himself.

He grunted loudly as he leaned forward. The thought of it turning out to be true was not being entertained. If proven to be the whole truth and nothing but the truth, then could he just sit on this information? What right did he have to do that? Kavi knew he cared about Ariel. He didn’t know exactly how much because they weren’t exactly close like they used to be. The date he’d take her out on at some point was going to be the start of whatever they had between the two of them. So he couldn’t exactly assert himself with something that he’s not even sure was true...

No, he couldn’t do shit right now. And he knew mulling over every detail of a rumor that may very well be just that: a rumor -- nothing but teenager gossip. But, then again, what if it was true?

And that’s when he remembered the bruise. That bruise on her neck. “It couldn’t be...could it?” He ran his hands through his hair, frustrated with all of the back and forth. He couldn’t take it. Not knowing was hard but running back from rumor to paranoia was getting to him. He needed to distract himself for a few hours. Kavi knew just exactly what that was. “Time to kill some zombies on Black Ops!”

And with that, Kavi flipped on his PS4 and was going to have some quality time with his sniper and hopefully get a few undead walkers in the process. It was a lot better than driving himself crazy with the totally crazy idea that Trillian Grey was abusing his daughter. It was crazy…

“Crazy.”

[Hero]

---

---

"Raise your chin just a touch, please."

Doing just as she was told, the familiar, blinding set of flashes would follow. Once they had died out, the photographer sighed happily as he would murmur something to one of the lighting crew. The light behind Nadia turned off and she was finally able to relax, exhaling a breath as she would carefully step down off the elevated platform. She blinked a few times in an attempt to clear her vision, resisting the urge to rub her eye and ruin her makeup. After a few seconds one of the interns approached her with a water bottle that she gladly accepted, resisting the urge to down it in one go as she walked towards her agent.

The photo shoot had gone well; a last minute change, but not unwelcome considering she had nothing better to do. She stopped in her tracks as a tall, redheaded woman strolled towards her, head held high and moving with a grace that couldn't be taught, only emulated if you were lucky. The billowing dress added to the visage, the material flourishing with every movement. Anyone who may have been in her way moved immediately, no one questioning her presence. Her expression was neutral, though her eyes were concentrated on Nadia.

"Mama," Nadia was surprised to see Elizabeth on the set, her grip on her bottle tightening. "What are you doing here?"

Her expression remained still, if somewhat stony. Instead she gestured towards a less populated area, and Nadia had to hold back a groan. Was she in trouble? She didn't do anything! Still, there was no escaping, so instead Nadia would follow her mother, waiting until she would speak. Fortunately, she didn't keep her in the dark for too long. "What time did you get home last night?" She ignored Nadia's question, instead giving her own.

"Oh, um...maybe around four?" She honestly couldn't remember off the top of her head.

"Lucas and Victoire arrived before you," Elizabeth frowned at her daughter. "Who were you with?"

"I was in the hospital, my friend got hurt," Nadia replied in earnest.

"You could have come home and left him there."

"I didn't want him to go alone." Now it was Nadia's turn to frown. "Hospitals are frightening when you're by yourself."

Elizabeth looked somewhat resigned at her comment, though she recovered, bringing her hands together in front of her. "That's kind of you, Nadia, but you didn't consider that getting dropped off at that time--by a boy, no less--has...implications," She chose her words carefully, trying to see if she could get Nadia to understand what she was trying to say. "People are always going to assume the worst, they always think of bad intentions before thinking of good ones. Do you see what I'm trying to say?"

Nadia wasn't quite sure she was understanding. "No," It was a little more blunt than she had wanted, but she didn't get it.

Elizabeth closed her eyes for a moment, opening them to give Nadia a much more critical look. "You coming home at that time is unacceptable. You have a reputation to uphold, and I won't have the media catching wind of any escapades you might have. Do you see what I'm saying now?" She met Nadia's bluntness with her own, using it much more effectively.

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Nadia took in a deep breath before she would respond. "There was no escapade, Mama. If anything people would wonder if I was hurt, it was a hospital, not a hotel room," There was a slightly bitter taste as she remembered hearing something like this from Kavi, but she ignored it as she pressed on. "Why do you always have to assume the worst of me?"

"I'm not assuming anything. You came home late, and I'm telling you, as your mother, that I won't tolerate you coming home past your curfew," Elizabeth replied, crossing her arms.

Nadia shook her head slowly, though she seemed to give up. "Sure, Mama, whatever you say," She knew the conversation wasn't going anywhere. "Is that all?"

"No. We need to schedule a fitting for the dress you'll be wearing to the wedding," Elizabeth continued. I've already gotten your plans for the week from your agent but I need to know if you'll be doing anything in school."

Ugh, the wedding. Nadia wrinkled her nose at the thought, glad to have escaped getting involved in any of that planning early on. Her eyes landed on the diamond ring Nathaniel had given her. Flashy and too much for any normal woman, perfect for her mother. But she kept that thought to herself; Nathaniel was a good man, and the two were clearly in love, but going all out for this wedding was just ridiculous. But that was the kind of woman Elizabeth was: over the top, grandiose, too much, and needing everything exactly the way she wanted it to be.

For now, Nadia would digress, mentally going over her plans. "Yeah, but just let me know when, I can just move things around," Best to just get it over with.

Elizabeth nodded, pausing for a moment. She looked like she had more to say, but instead she approached Nadia, gently kissing her head before taking her leave. Nadia let out a breath she wasn't aware she was holding, instead returning to the changing room to get out of her uncomfortable outfit.

---

[AlteredTundra]

Although she’d been at the mall for the last twenty minutes, it was just now when Marisol was jogging her way down to The Gardens food court. The last thing she wanted was for Sonny to piece together where exactly she’d spent last night, so she’d decided to make a detour to the trusty Target on site. Sixty dollars and a bathroom visit later, the Castillo girl was now ready to meet her ex-best friend and see exactly what the fuck he wanted. Now dressed with distressed jean shorts, a black cotton T-shirt and a backward baseball cap, the young woman looked like just your typical teen out for a Sunday stroll instead of one doing the walk of shame after a wild night out. Her homecoming dress, Salem’s hoodie, and her bronze clutch were hidden away inside the shopping bag, and she’d made a point to let her long hair cover the side of her neck where the hickey was.

When she finally reached the food court, Marisol scanned the area in search of Sonny but failed to see him. Letting out a frustrated sigh, the girl pulled out her phone from the back pocket of her new shorts and sent out a text:

I’m here and I don’t see your pale ass. If this is another one of your stupid pranks I’m breaking your nose all over again.

He had been at the mall for a while now. Whether it was ten minutes or twenty, Sonny lost count. The only thing he knew was he walked around and that was the only thing he did. His mind was clearly focused on one thing and that was Marisol. Everything else that may have been happening was white noise to him. Nothing about seeing some classmates that he may have liked and disliked nor seeing a teacher apparently outside like a normal person seemed to interest him. His mind, much like the person himself, was one that always remained one-tracked. And in that, Sonny couldn’t get Marisol off his mind.

After a while, Sonny made his way to the food court. He was so preoccupied with walking and thinking, it didn’t occur to the boy that he hadn’t eaten anything since abruptly waking up and leaving. He didn’t know what time it was, but when his stomach growled, Sonny made any attempt to make sure it stopped growling for as long as possible. So, when he stood in line for no particular restaurant, Sonny was free to do more thinking, or so he thought. He felt his phone buzz, and upon examining it, realized he’d just gotten a text from Marisol

Reading it, he could just hear her anger radiating from the words screen. For whatever reason, the thought of her being angry with him, though it wasn’t exactly in the line of his intentions to make things right, he smiled. There was always a co-dependency of their relationship. She would be angry with him and he’d smile because he liked seeing her throw her fits. Sonny knew it got to her when he did seem happy she was pissy at him, but he didn’t care -- or at least, he did care and that’s what made him smile even more.

So, in direct response, he replied back.

At the food court. I’ll get you a hotdog. You’ll see me because I’ll be the only one with two burger value meals.

Somehow, Sonny knew that would get her attention one way or another. Or so he hoped it would. Either way, as soon as Sonny would see her, he waved her over so she knew where he was. Which was at a table away from just about everyone else who seemed to be inhabiting the food court. He had a cheeseburger for him and a chicken sandwich for her. Included were two orders of medium fries and medium drinks. Sonny didn’t feel hungry enough for a large, but he sure as hell was hungry enough to get something larger than a small.

It wasn’t long before Mari’s phone buzzed in her hand and Sonny’s reply appeared on her screen. She frowned at it for a second before looking back up, this time scanning the area in more detail. Finally, her eyes found the tell-tale orange hoodie of her date of the day, who waved at her while sitting a comfortable distance away from the general population. She gave him a curt nod in response, and after letting out a sigh, the short girl trudged over to his table.

“Alright, so you texted me to be here. What do you want?” Marisol said brusquely, plopping down in the chair in front of Sonny. She dropped the shopping bag on the chair next to her and grabbed one of the cups from the tray, then took a long sip of its contents. Her suspicious green eyes were locked on the boy’s face as she sipped her soda, looking for any signs of a prank or foul play.

Too bad for her, there wasn’t any. And even if there was something for Marisol to be suspicious of, Sonny didn’t let her see it. Instead, he brandished that same smile he always had. ”What? Is it so hard for you to believe I just wanted to have a lunch date with my oldest friend?” He asked her, sipping his raspberry tea beverage.

Marisol snorted, shooting Sonny a look. “Sure Jan,” she replied sarcastically, stuffing her mouth with a handful of fries. “Because I am your oldest friend, I know better than anyone that the almighty Sonny Drake doesn’t just do things out of the goodness of his sweet little heart: there’s always some sneaky ulterior motive to the madness. So save us both the time and just spit it out already.”

He didn’t know what it was, be it the casual remark she made, the overused meme that he grew tired of hearing about, or the familiar attitude she had towards him, but Sonny cracked a genuine smile. “There’s no ulterior motive or anything like it. I just missed you is all,” he admitted truthfully. “I know it may be hard for you to grasp, but there’s nothing crafty lurking beyond my beautiful face or anything.” .

The second Marisol heard the words ‘I miss you’ come out of Sonny’s mouth, her jaw dropped to the floor. It was a sure sign of the apocalypse: Hell was freezing over, the world was ending, reality as they knew it was about to come to a close. Sonny Drake wasn’t a man known for expressing anything except snark, sarcasm, and anger- this was a well-known fact. To have him admit any sort of feelings was a feat of itself, but to actually hear him admit them out loud? It was a once in a lifetime kind of event.

“Jesus Christ, Sonny! Did you just say you missed me?!” she cried out in disbelief, looking at her best friend as if he’d suddenly turned into a lizard person. “Holy shit. Those punches must have given you an aneurysm or something. In my eighteen years roaming this Earth I have never heard you say that. Like ever.”

As she spoke, Sonny had taken a bite into his burger and just kept listening until he didn’t have any beef in his mouth. “Well now you have,” he spat back at her cheerfully, chuckling.

“Jesus Christ…” she muttered, shaking her head. “Well if it’s of any comfort, I missed you too,” the short girl grumbled under her breath, taking a big bite out of her sandwich and frowning at her fries.

“Sorry, I’m not sure I heard that. You what?” Sonny asked, leaning forward with his hand to his ear.

Scoffing, Mari directed her frown towards the boy, knowing fully well that he’d definitely heard her but just wanted to mess with her. “I said that I missed you, dipshit!” she repeated loudly straight at his ear, taking a fry from her tray and throwing it at Sonny’s face. “Did you hear me this time, or are your eardrums that far up your ass now?”

“Ow,” Sonny simply said, leaning back into his chair. He ran his right pinkie finger into his ear to make sure he still had full working function in it. “You didn’t have to yell,” he commented with an attitude, looking around seeing how, to his surprise, nobody seemed to hear Marisol raising her voice at him. It was probably for the better. They didn’t need any prying eyes on them, especially since Sonny was still recovering from his broken/fractured nose.

Going back down to a few of his fries, Sonny gave Marisol a quick grin before snatching a dip of her ketchup. “So, are you gonna tell me about that hickey or do I have to pry it out of you?” He asked, not even looking up her, though the hint of his typical smirking grin could be seen.

Marisol was poised to take the last bite out of her sandwich when Sonny brought up the hickey in her neck. The girl stopped mid-bite, her blood turning into ice. She cursed herself for thinking that her hair would cover it, for not buying that turtleneck tee she saw in one of the hangers, and for not at least attempting to hide the evidence with some concealer or a few bandaids. Well, it was too late now. It was time to pull out the bullshitting card.

“It’s not a hickey: it’s a burn,” she said matter-of-factly as if talking to a dense five-year-old. “Auntie Callie accidentally burned my neck when she was doing my hair yesterday. The only reason it wasn’t visible yesterday was ‘cause she hid it with some makeup. Like I’d ever let anyone give me a fucking hickey...” she lied on the spot, taking a huge bite of her sandwich to buy herself some time to answer any further surprise question. Meanwhile, the rest of Sal’s hickeys seemed to burn underneath her clothes.

Bullshit.

Sonny knew what burns looked like. There was no burn that was shaped like puckered lips. But if she wanted to keep up the lie, then that was her business. Sonny knew it was a hickey. He gave hickeys to girls constantly over his time of being a teenage boy. If she thought she was being cute by lying to his face, then who was he to stop her? Everyone did what they were good at and Sonny seeing through her bullshit was one of his best skills.

“Okay, so it’s not a hickey,” Sonny commented casually, looking at her. “Oh, I forgot to tell you, your parents came by my house today.” Another causal, nonchalant comment he made as he took a big sip from his tea.

“FUCK!” Mari shouted, looking truly scared for the first time in years. Her parents… “Shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT! I totally forgot to tell them I wasn’t making it home last night! Oh fuck, I bet Dad’s ready to file a missing person’s report… What did you tell them?!” she asked her friend, eyes wide with the fear of her parents finding out she’d spent the night with a guy they hadn’t even met.

He didn’t quite understand why she was so worried. Maybe it was due to the fact he wasn’t in her shoes, but Sonny found it just a little funny. For her sake, however, he wouldn’t burst into laughter like he usually would. Instead, he would take the road he rarely traveled on. “Relax, Manic Mari,” Sonny raised his hands up as if trying to calm her, “They weren’t mad or anything like that. Yeah, Marco was up in arms, but I surprisingly managed to get him to come back to Planet Earth.”

The short girl breathed out a sigh of relief, taking the last sip of her soda. “Thanks, man. This is, like, the first time I’ve spent the night somewhere without telling him, so that’s why they’re acting like it’s the end of the fucking world or something.”

“To be fair, it was mostly your father who was losing his shit. The most your mom did was just act as calm as she could, but she did have a slight freak out about my nose.” Sonny found some humor in that as he laughed, remembering how she blatantly asked about it. “Don't mention it. Although, there might be just one thing you should be worried about,” Sonny said rather casually, taking a bite of his burger.

“I bet he was. Daddy can be such a drama queen,” Mari said with an amused smirk, picturing her father having a meltdown while her mother not-so-patiently tried to talk some sense into him. However, Sonny’s next words were quick to make her focus back on the present. “And that is…?” she asked, raising a questioning eyebrow at him.

“Well,” Sonny’s voice trailed on as he brought his napkin to his face, wiping off some of the ketchup and mustard from it. “There’s a chance they could be paying Salem a visit.”

“WHAT?!” Marisol cried out in disbelief, shooting up from her chair as if it had electrocuted her. “Why the fuck would they do that?! I left his house like an hour ago!” she shouted. And then soon as she realized what she’d just blurted out, the panicked girl added, “N-not that there’s where I was last night or anything! I had Archer take me ‘cause I left my phone in Sal’s car last night before I left to Julie’s place.”

Sonny found it amusing she was still clinging to the shit lie that she wasn’t with Salem last night. All signs were pointing to yes, but Sonny wasn’t about to push on it. He was having too much fun seeing her try and think of more excuses. “If you weren’t with Salem last night, then you have nothing to worry about. I’m sure Rivera will tell them what we both know to be the truth: he hasn't seen you since he dropped you off last night.” Sonny wasn’t really sure how long she wanted to keep it up, but he was game to play hers. “If you’re seriously so worried that Sally will blab on ya, I can just call them right now and you can avoid that,” Sonny offered, getting his phone out.

“For real?” Sol asked, now looking at Sonny as if he was the answer to all her problems. “You’d still cover my ass like that?”

He kept his eyes on her, landing on her mother’s contact info. “Of course. What else are friends for?” He winked her way. “Text or phone call?”

The green-eyed girl shot him a small, grateful smile. It was nice to know that their time apart hadn’t jeopardized the fierce loyalty they’d always had to each other. “Call them. Daddy will fucking love that.”

A mini moment later, Sonny was calling Soleil’s phone and put it on speaker so both of them could hear. Not even two rings and there was an answer, but to Sonny’s amusement, it wasn’t her mother.

“Sonny! Did you find her!?” Marco had said rather intensely. “Por favor dime queue contrast a mi princesa!” Marco’s voice went hysterical, a clear sign that he was on the verge of crying.

Marisol couldn’t help but let out a cackle of amusement, even if she knew she shouldn’t. Leave it to her father to be the one ready to report her missing for being gone less than a day. “Yes, Daddy, he found me!” she replied to the phone, grinning widely at Sonny. “I’m okay, I’m okay! I spent the night at Julie Macmillan’s house. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys before. I didn’t mean to worry you, Daddy.”

“The Macmillans!?” Marco was genuinely shocked. “But Sonny told us--”

“That’s my bad. I thought Salem might’ve known, but I guess I was mistaken,” Sonny said, smiling at Marisol. ]“But don’t worry about her. I’ll drive her home when we’re done eating an early lunch,” he told Marco, hoping that would put some worries he had about his …princesa’s whereabouts and safety.

“I’m just happy that you’re safe, mija. I don’t know--”

Sonny heard the sound of something on the other end. Perhaps it was the phone dropping, but all went silent on the Castillo’s end of the call.

“Well I don't give a shit where you did or didn't spend the night: as soon as you walk through this door, you're grounded for two weeks! Maybe that'll serve you as a lesson to never pull another stunt like this again, Marisol Alejandra.”

Taking Marisol’s petrified silence as his turn to speak, Sonny made a bold decision to accidentally click off from the call, effectively ending what seemed like a very intense, highly volatile Soleil. Meanwhile, his nervous friend let out a small sigh of relief.

When Sonny put his phone into his pocket, he stood up from his seat and let out a sigh. “So, seeing as how this might be your last free day out for the next two weeks, anything else you want to do? Maybe we can go pick up someone? Salem maybe?” Sonny couldn’t believe he actually just said that.

Mari couldn't believe it either. Less than twenty-four hours ago, he and Salem had apparently been having a charming little talk with their fists at homecoming while she was outside. And now he wanted to invite the sworn enemy who broke his nose to spend the afternoon with them? It looked like Drake Jr. had definitely lost a few screws during that fight.

“You know what we should do? Get you to the ER and have you examined for any sudden brain swelling or an internal hemorrhage, because you're either losing your goddamn mind or have been abducted by aliens who left a poor excuse of a clone in your place,” the brunette stated, staring at Sonny as if he’d suddenly grown an extra head.

“Is it so unbelievable that I want to keep you from getting a prison sentence? I’d rather you not end up like Kavi, but if you really want to be stuck indoors on a Sunday, then do please follow me to my truck,” Sonny was only half-joking as he stepped to the side, gesturing towards the doors leading to the outside of The Gardens Mall.

“What’s that supposed to mean: ‘rather not end up like Kavi’?” Mari said in a confused tone as she opened the passenger door to his truck, took a seat and closed the door behind her. When Sonny was inside, she continued. ”What the fuck happened to Kavi?”

“You mean you haven’t--” Sonny couldn’t help but laugh, starting up his truck but he didn’t back out of the parking lot just yet. “After Ariel had punched him, he was escorted from Homecoming in the back of a police car. It’s all over social media. I’m shocked you didn’t hear about it.”

“Holy shit,” she muttered, looking at Sonny clearly taken aback. She knew her cousin wasn’t a stranger to getting himself into trouble with girls- he had the punch coming for long time now if Mari was honest, and her respect for Ariel was now a tad higher than before. But to be hauled away in a cop car? That was something to be expected of fuckups like her and Son, not Kavi. Sol figured his mother would be ready to rip him a new one. “Shit, man, that fucking sucks. I haven’t paid attention to my phone much, so I had no fucking idea.”

“Clearly,” Sonny said as he started up his truck. Once the coast was clear, he pulled out and gave Marisol a wink. “So where to?”

It didn’t take long for Marisol to come up with a response. “Let’s head out to our spot. It’s about time we finally sit down and talk.”

On that note, Sonny stopped in the middle of backing out. He had only looked at Marisol as if he was shocked by what she said as if he didn’t hear her right. When he saw the look in her eyes, there was no doubt in his mind that he heard exactly what he thought he heard. He smiled only slightly, backing out and driving out of the parking lot. “Guess we’re heading to The Cove,” was all he said, but in his mind, he couldn’t believe Soleil’s advice had actually worked.

[spooner]

_{Starring Chanel | Julie}

Julie smiled at the picture of a small Chanel grinning toothless back at her. Going down the line she saw scenes of her best friend and her brother growing up. Deep down it made her feel sad knowing the Martin siblings story. As she heard her best friend dragging her feet down the stairs she spun around to face her smiling brightly.

“Oh you know… I sold my soul to satan.” she winked at her friend and giggled. “I brought you a bit of a pick-me-up!” Julie exclaimed and lifted the tote bag filled with products and gave it a light shake so Chanel could hear the jumble of goodies inside of it. Almost immediately, Chanel’s facial expression changed; what was once before a painful grimace turned into an expression of pure delight. Without much hesitation, Chanel reached for the bag of products so that she could take a peek inside; her eyes widened happily as she spotted the several bottles of toner, moisturizer, and perfume. Chanel looked up at her best friend with an appreciative grin; although her stomach was still churning and her head felt like it was going to explode, Julie's gesture sure made her feel a whole lot better than before.

"Oh, what did I do to deserve such a good friend like you?" Chanel said with a smile as she slowly began to lead the way to the kitchen. "I would definitely give you a hug, but I'm in desperate need of a shower." The young woman shuddered a bit as she headed to the refrigerator to refill her glass of water.

Smoothing out her skirt as she sat down in one of the kitchen chairs Julie surveyed her friend as she gulped down the water. “I gather that you had an.. Eventful night?” she suppressed a small laugh. It was a rare sight to see Chanel in this state so her redheaded friend couldn't help but just smile at her.

Chanel simply shot her friend a look as she gingerly placed her glass into the sink. “Girl, eventful would be an understatement,” she said as she thought back on everything that had happened earlier that night. Chanel fell silent as she remembered how she’d given Lucas Anderson a hard slap across the face near the start of the dance; while he definitely deserved it, she couldn’t help but feel slightly embarrassed at how quickly she’d reacted without thinking things through. And then there was the alcohol. Apparently, Chanel needed to learn her limits; although she’d already downed multiple cups of spiked punch, she didn’t hesitate to drink her weight in Vodka when it was offered to her.

“Anyway…” Julie started, changing the subject as she dug around in her small purse for her phone. “I have some more good news actually.” A big grin spreading across the girls face as she scrolled through the contacts on her phone. Chanel leaned against the counter and eyed her friend curiously as she did so. Finally she stopped at a specific name and sent the contact over to her friends phone. “Daddy said to call his assistant Josephine! He’s made sure she saved you an intern spot!” Julie twittered as she clapped her hands excitedly. Before Julie could even fully finish her sentence, Chanel hurriedly pulled her own cell phone from her pocket to take a look at what her friend had sent her. As the news began to set in, the young woman let out an excited, high-pitched squeal, something that the subsequent sharp pain in her head almost made her instantly regret. But Chanel paid it no mind as she stared at the phone number she’d been given, a grin spread so wide across her face that it nearly made her cheeks ache. It was no secret to anyone that Chanel had always dreamed of pursuing a career in the fashion industry; as she stared at the phone number, Chanel finally felt the sense that she was now in the process of turning her dreams into a reality.

"Julie..." Chanel finally said as she struggled to find the right words to say. "I... fucking love you," the girl finally said before throwing her arms around the other girl, enveloping her in a hug. "thank you, thank you, thank you."

Julie laughed at her best friend’s sudden outburst “Anything for you CoCo, you know that.” she returned her hug just as excitedly. “But remember the rest of the interns are all from fashion schools and they fought tooth and nail to get in.” The redhead pondered as they broke apart. “So they will be vicious. And that’s coming from the daughter of their boss,” She huffed.

“Girl, you know better than anyone in this world that I can handle myself,” Chanel said as she returned to her original spot and picked up her cell phone once more, “I’ve been waiting and preparing for this since freshman year, so believe me when I say that I’m not going to let myself or any of these ‘vicious’ fashion students screw this up for me.” Of course, Chanel meant every word of what she had said.

“So, this definitely calls for a celebration,” Chanel declared as she looked up at her best friend with a wide grin. “I mean, I still feel like shit… so my idea of ‘celebrating’ would probably be something along the lines of eating junk food and watching old episodes of Project Runway. And now that I think about it, we still have a bunch of ice cream left over from our last trip to the grocery store since Andre hasn’t been around and our uncle only eats when he's…” The young woman found herself rambling on as she pulled open the refrigerator door and took a quick peek inside. She only stopped talking mid-sentence when a new thought popped into her mind; she poked her head out from behind the door to look at Julie with a raised eyebrow. “Oh, and have you heard anything from April lately?” the young woman asked. “I think that we should invite her over too, you know? Share the news... but I haven’t spoken to her in days. I didn’t even get to see or talk to her at the dance.”

Julie bit her lip as Chanel mentioned the last part of their trio, it was true she hadn’t heard from April in forever either. But then again their relationship has been shaky at best for a long time. Still Julie was worried about her, April had seemed of at the dance. “You’re right… We should call her.” Julie sighed and unlocked her phone scrolling down to April’s name and calling it. The young woman paced the length of Chanel’s kitchen table back and forth as the dial tone rang in her ear. When she reached the voicemail Julie was kind of relieved “Ehr… Hi April it’s me… uhm Julie! Me and Chanel is at her house celebrating her new internship at daddy's office. So… uhm when you get this come over. Haven’t heard from you in a minute sooo.. yeah, bye!” obviously flustered she hung up.

She looked back up at Chanel “Did that sound as forced as I think it did?” she whimpered. Chanel simply offered her friend a weak smile and a shrug of her shoulders as she continued to search her kitchen cabinets. Then her phone vibrated in her hand and she looked down at the notification. “Huh… it looks like our girl Aaliyah has gotten an instagram,” a small smile spreading across the MacMillan girls face. “And it looks like she might be more receptive for a makeover than we thought!” she smirked as she showed her friend the picture Aaliyah had posted before giving her a follow back.

A wide grin spread across Chanel’s face as she took a quick look at Aaliyah’s post. “I got a friend request from her earlier this morning... honestly thought I was dreaming when I first saw it.” Never in a million years would Chanel have expected Aaliyah King to show up to homecoming looking the way that she did; and now, with the girl finally taking the steps to create her own social media accounts, Chanel couldn’t agree more with what her friend had said. “I’ll shoot her a DM, see if she wants to come along with us to one of our future shopping trips,” the young woman said with a certain gleam in her eye, “We can work our magic on her then. And who knows… maybe we’ll do such a good job that our trio could possibly turn into a quartet.“

Julie nodded along as she kept her eye on the freshly made instagram. “You know we will! Mmh and I agree we have been needing an expansion for sometime now.” she plopped her phone back in to her bag and walked over to where Chanel stood by the fridge. “Do you have any mint chocolate chip ice cream left?” she said as she opened the freezer door.

[eclecticwitch]

---

_{Location: The Mall ----> The Beach
Interactions: None
Color: 98AC90}

---

He decided he had spent far too much time attempting to mull this whole thing over and instead walked toward the food court. The smell of food was making his stomach turn slightly but he needed something. He stopped at an Orange Julius and got himself a smoothie. Just as he was about to head back into the mall with his fruity drink, he noticed Sonny and Mari sitting at a table together. He paused and wondered just what could be going on. Again he started over thinking and as he was about to make a decision to leave he found himself seated behind a garbage can not too far off. He could hear snippets of their conversation, especially when Mari shouted. It seemed like the King's infamous loco duo were making up. He supposed that was good. Not long later they cleared out, leaving Guy to consider just how boring he was.

What sort of person sat around listening to other's conversations? He was at the mall, without anyone. He sighed and decided that perhaps it was better to just go home. He exited the mall and got into his slightly rusted four-door sedan. It wasn't new, like all the Crown Heights kids and made him feel self-conscious whenever he had to park it next to someone's Mustang or Bugatti. He continued to sip his drink as he started the drive home. However, the ocean caught his eye and he thought that perhaps some time by the sea and sand could be nice. A few turns later he had parked his car and sat at the end of a boardwalk, just watched the waves come in and then roll back out. Looking down the shoreline he noticed a girl, ankle deep in the waves.

[Ejected]

_{Starring Archer | Kavan}

As he parked his car outside Kavan’s house Archer exhaled heavily trying to get rid of this weird feeling of nervousness that he had collected on the ride over. It was weird, he had been over here so many times over the years. It was just something in the tone that Marisol had when talking about the situation and also the way he had asked Kavan to meet up today. A groan left the young man’s lips as he remembered the awkward kiss he had planted on Kavan the night before. With one last look at himself in the rearview mirror and a huge sigh as he tried to get his hair to lay the way he wanted, Archer stepped out of his car.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Archer, Kavan had been doing the exact same thing as his good friend was; with the bathroom door shut and locked so that his sister wouldn’t come barging inside as usual, Kavan stood at the sink and stared at his reflection in the mirror. He loved his new haircut a lot more than he thought he would, and couldn’t help but crack a small smile as he used his fingers to push a couple strands of hair from out of his face. It wasn’t until after he heard his sister walk past the closed door, mentioning something about his vanity, that he decided he’d better head back to his bedroom.

Instead of knocking at the front door Archer just stood there looking at it for a moment, rocking back and forward on his heels. What are you doing?! Just knock! he mentally scolded himself before reaching out and knocking. The door swung open almost too quick as if someone had been waiting at the other side for him.

“Oh?!” Archer yelped as he saw the gorgeous young woman standing there smiling at him. “My my… Amoli! Looking stylish as always,” the boy smirked looking the Indian beauty up and down. In response, the young woman playfully rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders as if she already knew. “Is your brother home?” Archer asked looking behind her as if Kavan would pop up from nowhere.

“Nope, he definitely isn’t here,” Amoli said with a hint of sarcasm as she stepped out of the doorway and waved her hand, motioning for the younger boy to step foot into their home. “You know how Kavan can be on the weekends, always out and about… on the go. Certainly never holed up in his room with a few thick books and his guitar.”

Archer nodded along as Amoli spoke “Mmmmh I feel you” he said as he stepped passed the girl. “He’s such a nerd. Who would’ve thought he had such a… goddess of beauty and popularity as a sister?!” he grinned sticking his tongue out at her.

“I know, right?” Amoli said before returning the gesture, “It’s just so hard being the Beyonce of the family. Kavan would never understand it.”

“I’m guessing he actually is holed up in his room then?” Archer pointed with both thumbs up the stairs. “Soo uhm I’m just going to let myself upstairs” he said as he walked up the stairs.

Amoli simply nodded her head and offered the boy a small wave. “Be my guest,” she said with a smirk as she turned and started to make her way back towards the kitchen, “Have fun. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

As he arrived at the door he knew was Kavan’s, Archer pushed the already slightly open bedroom door. As he popped his head inside the boy noticed it to be empty as he looked around his friends room. Is he really out and about? he thought to himself as he browsed the books that filled the shelfs. He absent mindedly strummed the guitar that stood in its stand in front of him. With a sigh he fell backwards to flopp on to Kavan’s bed stretching to his shirt rode up exposing part of his stomach.

It was the distinct sound of Kavan’s bass guitar that caused the young man to slightly quicken his pace, for he now knew that someone was in his room and assumed it to be his older sister poking around in his things, as she often did. But when Kavan finally arrived at his bedroom door and took a quick peek inside, he saw that he had been mistaken; instead of it being Amoli, it was none other than his good friend Archer Diedrikson. Kavan suddenly froze in place, his heartbeat quickening as he stared at the boy who laid across the bed, his eyes tracing up and down Archer's body in a quick once-over that lingered on the slightly exposed portion of his abdomen. A few more seconds passed by before Kavan finally snapped out of his thoughts and cleared his throat so that Archer could hear. "Hey man," the boy said as he entered the room and nervously ran his fingers through his hair, "Didn't know you were already here... Amoli must've let you in."

Archers eyes snapped open when he heard Kavan enter the room. “Oh! Hi! Yes she did!” he blurted out sitting up pulling on his shirt. Feeling the blood rushing to his cheeks. He quickly stood up from the bed and turned away from his friend to not show how flustered he was getting. After a few calming breaths as he pretended to peruse the bookshelves again he turned back to face Kavan for the first time. “Oh dude you got a haircut?” he said as he stepped closer peering up at the taller boys face. “Really suits you! Did Amoli do it?” he asked as he reached out and brushed the dark locks with his hand. Kavan felt the heat rush to his ears as Archer did this; while he was very relieved that Archer liked his new haircut, he couldn't help but feel nervous once again at how close they were.

Just then a weird feeling came over Archer, all of a sudden he realized how close he actually stood to Kavan. He was frozen in the spot he stood. But his hand was still in Kavan’s hair so he had to will his body to move. His lips parted as if he was going to say something. But nothing came out. He let his hand drop down to rest on Kavan’s shoulder instead. He didn’t really know why he did it but it felt right so he pushed up from the floor and suddenly their lips met. Inside his head he was screaming but it was hidden behind his closed eyelids. This had been three years in the making.

It felt as if he had been waiting for it for so long, this one kiss that immediately sent his pulse skyrocketing and his mind racing. It came unexpectedly, but Kavan didn't dare pull away; in fact, he gently placed his hand behind Archer's neck and pulled his body closer to his, deepening their kiss with an unrestrained hunger. It was finally time for Kavan to let go of all of the pent-up feelings he'd been trying to keep in check for what seemed like forever.

When the kiss was intensified with Kavan pulling him closer Archer felt himself relaxing into the dark boy. He pushed against the others body so that the backed into the open door so it closed. Archer felt his way to the door handle and clicked the lock. He had thrown all the anxiousness and nerves out the door before he locked it. All he knew now was that he did not want this moment to end. He pulled away and sat down on the bed again a hunger still in his eyes as he bit his lower lip looking up at one of his best friends. Without giving it another thought he gave Kavan’s hand a hard tug so he landed on top of him. Archer like a heat seeking missile found the boys lips and continued where they had left off only now with more passion.

As he was laying there in a euphoric state thinking that this beat out all of the books and junkfood in the world. There was still one thing that was bothering him. Marisol had been right

[CaliforniaState]

Aaliyah loved fashion, if someone happened to creep on her pinterest they would find too many boards dedicated to accessories, seasons, and styles. It was too bad the young ugly duckling couldn’t picture herself in any of them. While she was warming up to the idea that she could pull off more than just two-day old sweatpants and oversized sweaters, her confidence was still apprehensive at best. Shopping with her mom did give her a slight edge than if she was alone, having your own hype man even if it was your mom was still nice to have.

Unfortunately for her mother, Aaliyah was more focused on her phone than the stores around her. Taking the plunge into social media, she couldn’t help but e-stalk all the girls in the school she had always been so jealous of. Homecoming had opened doors Aaliyah originally thought to be sealed shut; her dress that night also worked wonders for catching her peers’ eyes. It honestly took more time, angles, and several deleted pictures for Aaliyah to get her first post down right.

The sheer volume of friend requests she sent out were slowly but surely reciprocated, by the time they had made it to their second stop her phone had dozes of red notifications. Girls like Bea and Julie had accepted her request and were already liking and commenting on her pic. It was a dream come true, a dream that was almost too good to be true. Between “uh-huhs” and half hearted “yeah’s” her eyes were mostly glued to her screen. That’s when her legs stopped and her heart sank, excitement began to shoot through every nerve in her body. Not only had she just gotten a text from Bea asking her to come over to watch movies, but a DM from the Queen of fashion herself, Chanel Martin. Quite the audible expression of “OH MY GOD!” shook the ground and pierced the heavens, even causing the hangers in her mom’s hand to drop.

The prospect of going shopping with Chanel and Julie was surreal, were they bullying her? No, no, Chanel had hyped her up at homecoming, but she also said they weren’t friends. Not knowing what to think she was panicking. Her hands trembled, playing that all too familiar mini-game of twirling thumbs around while thinking of a reply. Aaliyah though she would faint until the calming touch of her mother eased her nerves.

“Are you alright baby? You haven’t said more than two words since you’ve been on that phone all day”

“..U…I…Sorry! Can we go get something to eat? I’ll explain later I just need to sit. Church and Gossip Girl didn’t prepare me for this” she said hand-fanning herself helplessly. Aaliyah went back to her phone composing herself and her message to each person.

”I would love to go shopping with you and Julie! You can always just text me, my number is xxx-xxxx.”

”I’m at the mall right now, but I can after. What kind of movies did you have in mind?”

Hitting send on both replies, this was the most confidence the girls ever had outside of State Championship for Mathletes and International Chess meets. Hopefully Aaliyah wouldn’t run into anyone else she knew; her weak heart wouldn’t be able to take it. Little did she know JJ was in the building.

[Venus]

Santiago 😈 Max 😈 Lucas 😈 Aiden

“Last night was fucking wild, wasn’t it?”

A text message from Santiago had summoned the rest of the Alphas to one of their designated clubhouses: the pool behind his house. Lucas had been the first to arrive, like the faithful wingman that he was. Then Max had made his grand entrance, filling the other boys in about his latest escapades with Beth and Georgia with that proud grin of his. And finally, the surprise of the day: Aiden Weinmann, fresh out of juvie and ready to get back to business.

In normal circumstances, the boys would have been chugging beers while passing around a blunt. But with most of them still getting over the past night’s hangover, they settled for cans of soda paired with a bong that carried the fresh product Carter Newton had so graciously delivered to them. Santiago was inside the pool, gray eyes hidden away by Ray Bans while he rested his arms on the wall. In front of the the devil Max Wallenberg was lounging shirtless in one of the chairs, humming mindlessly as he took in the sunshine. Lucas was happily bobbing up and down in the water, too lazily to properly keep himself afloat and resorting to using a pool noodle to sit on so he wouldn't have to put too much effort into not drowning himself on accident. And after having spent the past several months cooped up, Aiden never stayed static for long like the other boys. Upon arriving he had immediately dived into the pool and swam several laps before getting out and pacing around the edge. Currently, he sat on the poolside with his legs restlessly kicking in the water and his jittery fingers twisting a pool noodle into styrofoam pieces of trash.

“So a little birdie told me Lu got his jaw readjusted...” Diablo teased one of his best friends, playfully elbowing Lucas on the ribs. Although he hadn’t been present to witness this firsthand, there was plenty of video evidence on Snapchat and Twitter about it. “Mamacita Chanel gave our boy here a round trip to the stars with the smack she gave him.”

A snort could be heard from the pool chair as Max straightened up, sliding his sunglasses to the top of his head ”What?! Why? Does this mean that my chances with MacMillan are even worse now?” he said with a disappointed pout that turned in to wide grin.

“In my defense, I didn't understand a single word she said,” Lucas made no attempt to hide the somewhat embarrassing display, content to cling onto the comical looking pool noodle. ”She was pissed. I still don't know what the hell I did…” Probably something stupid as usual, but it had happened so quickly he didn't get a chance to figure out what went wrong.

“You probably grabbed her ass or something,” Santiago mused, the thought of Chanel’s round and perky ass in the King’s Academy gym shorts very clear in his mind now. “Not that I blame you, though. God knows how long I’ve wanted to do it myself, but I like having a dick too much to risk it.”

Chanel Martin was definitely one of the girls Santiago had always wanted to take to bed, but knew it would be nothing short of impossible. Not only was she Julie's and April’s best friend, but she was also aware of his reputation, and had been very open in her dislike towards him. He knew that any attempts at getting into her pants would be met with a fate worse than the slap Lucas had received: if Chanel didn’t cut his dick off, April would happily do it herself. The risk was definitely not worth the reward.

Lucas shook his head in disagreement, left hand waving off the accused crime. “No way in hell I wouldn't remember that feeling,” He dismissed that possibility as he lowered his hand to his jaw, remembering her rage-fueled expression on that gorgeous face of Chanel's. Getting slapped was almost worth it, seeing how mad she was at him was kinda hot in a weird way.

Aiden sucked down a smokey breath of the bong, letting it simmer like a boiling disease in his lungs, before exhaling in a grey puff. For once, Aiden wasn't hungover like the others and was craving the hell out of a beer, but out of solidarity (mostly forced since Santiago was petty enough to deprive him) kept his blood alcohol-free. Sobriety was an ugly feeling, though, so he had been hogging the bong for the past ten minutes to wash away the bad taste juvenile hall left in his mouth.

“Man, juvie was such a sausage fest. I don't even remember how to think with my dick.” Aiden quipped, listening idly to the conversation completely centered around a girl's ass. Not seeing faces for several months, Aiden tried to remember what Chanel looked like and the picture slotted into place slowly in his foremind. He mostly remembers her ass, actually. “Wait, nevermind. I remembered how to think with my dick. Shit, now I'm sober and horny.”

Max let out a loud laugh as he laid back down flipping his glasses back over his eyes in one swift motion. “As if Chanel Martin would give any of us assholes even a minute of her time.” He peaked at Santiago lifting his glasses ever so slightly. “It’s a fucking miracle that April has hung around as long as she has.” He shot his friend a wink before letting his glasses settle down on the bridge of his nose again.

“Hey. Keep Lils out of this,” Diablo said rather brusquely, his muscled tensing as he remembered the reason why he’d asked his friends to hang out in the first place.

“Sooorry, I forgot she’s the only girl that’s off topic… for some god damned reason” Max huffed in a sarcastic tone flailing his arms around not even bothering to look up.

“You want a reason, Wallenberg?” Diablo spat, sliding his own glasses to the top of his head so he could glare at his friend. “I’ll give you a reason, cabrón: let’s just say Beba’s sticking around me for at least eighteen more years. That sound like a good enough reason to you?”

Sitting up slowly Max took of his sunglasses again looking more confused than anything. “No… That didn’t answer my question… like at all dude.” his eyes shooting from Lucas to Aiden looking for answers. “Why would she want to stick with you for eighteen years? That’s such a weirdly specific number.” he asked turning back to Santiago with a puzzled look.

Lucas watched the conversation rather nonchalantly, albeit at the mention of April there was the faintest ghost of a smile. Aha, so Diablo went ahead and confessed! Before the guy could relish in the victory of being right, his smile faltered at Santiago’s last comment, his bouncing slowly coming to a halt as he looked at his visibly anxious best friend. That was way, way too specific. The gears in his head turned, pushing aside the fogginess that usually came with being hungover as his face turned into one of pure shock, jaw hanging.

“Uh…” Lucas’ initial word was muddled as the realization crawled over him, quickly shaking his head. ”That’s--You--Uh--” He couldn’t articulate his words properly, raising his hands to his head in both confusion and horror.

Aiden’s sure that if he concentrated enough, he could figure out what Santiago meant. Already his mind was drawing up the significance of the number ‘18’ - legal age to fuck, legal age to fuck, legal age to fuck. Other than that, Aiden can’t think of anything important about eighteen.

“What’s in a number?” Aiden hummed in a faux-philosophical manner, chewing on his removed soda can tab.

“You guys need to speak in full sentences and without hidden meanings.” Max sighed annoyed still not catching on what his friends were talking about.

The scowl that Diablo had worn just a few seconds previously was replaced with booming laughter as he watched his friends reacting to his statement. “Alright, fine. Let me spell it out for you, Maxie-boy,” the boy began, grabbing the bong that sat between Max and Aiden and taking a long, deep drag of pot to build suspense. He definitely needed the high for what he was about to admit. “In about six months, y’all are gonna be tíos. Any of you know what that means?”

“I know exactly two phrases in Spanish: ‘quiero acostarme contigo’ and ‘donde esta la tienda de licores’. One of them I learned in juvie and it wasn’t the one asking where the alcohol is.” Aiden said smugly, sipping his coke. Juvenile hall might have been severely lacking in women, but Aiden is nothing if not versatile when it comes to getting some fuck.

Lucas closed his mouth as he squinted at Santiago. “No, Dora the Explorer hasn’t gotten that far yet, what does that mean?”

At his comment, Santiago choked on his soda, spraying the innocent Max with a mouthful of Pepsi. Once he was over it, he howled with laughter for so long his abdomen started to hurt.

“Ugh! It means uncles…” Max grunted as he started to wipe the pepsi off. Flinging his hands to get the sugary liquid of his torso. “I don’t see how that…” his face slackened in realization. “Oh shit.” Max whispered before falling silent, his face settling into a face of concern.

Now that his friends got it, Diablo nodded nonchalantly at them. “Yup. In about half a year, your boy’s going to be a dad,” he finally confirmed, taking another long hit of the bong.

Aiden began laughing like Diablo said the funniest thing he’s ever heard because, well, he did.

“Man, how do you say ‘you should have pulled out’ in Spanish?” Aiden howled in between fits, his hands holding his sides as he literally fell over and began rolling on the floor laughing and even earning himself a few chuckles from Santiago. Truth be told, Aiden didn’t really grasp the severity and importance of having a baby and was rather looking forward to seeing how things would fold out. He always did like a bit of chaos and thought watching all of this fall apart would be a bit entertaining.

Getting confirmation of his suspicions threw Lucas for a loop as he flattened his hands against the ground, eyes wide as he tried to process this news. He wanted to speak, but any words or thoughts got caught in his throat. He probably should have at least had the decency to look away, but there was a small part of him that was hoping for a ‘just kidding!’ or for Santiago to start laughing again. When neither came, Lucas swallowed hard, sinking into the pool.

“So…” He finally found it in him to talk again, albeit with some difficulty. “...congrats? Maybe? You seem to be taking this really well, bro.”

Santiago snorted. “As well as someone who’s still trying to believe it can take it,” he said earnestly, giving Lucas a shrug. “I’m scared shitless, but what else can I do other than to get over it? I mean, when your mom puts the fucking fear of God into you with a slap harder than the one Chanel gave you and starts talking about marriage, you start to believe it pretty quick.”

“Quick question,” Aiden murmured after having calmed down, raising his hand lazily like he was in some weird fucked up sex-ed class, “Are we down for naming the baby Snoop Lion? Because I'm so down.”

Max who had stayed uncharacteristically quiet cleared his throat “So…” he began looking down at his pineapple shorts before looking up at his friend again. “Have you discussed all of your options?” his eyes trying to find some sort of seriousness from his latin friend. “I mean, were talking about bringing a kid in to the world.” he stated “Look, you know I love you Santi -no homo-, but you can barely take care of yourself and now you’re going to be a dad?” his hands showed his anxiety where they were clasped tight in front of the blond boy.

“Jesus, Max, you sound just like my dad…” Diablo said with a grimace, remembering the conversation he’d had with his father after his mom had stormed out of the dining room. “Look, man, I appreciate the concern and all, but I just found out about it yesterday. Lils hasn’t even told her dad yet, and we haven’t had the chance to actually sit down and think about how we’ll go about things. All I know is that she’s ten weeks along.”

Aiden sighed from where he sat, his laughter gone as Max chased it away with a somber mood most unlike him. To show his slight annoyance, Aiden splashed water at Max with his foot before reaching over to push Santiago's shoulder encouragingly.

“Man, there's no reason to get all serious.” Aiden huffed, “It's just a baby. What's the worst that can happen? Just hire a nanny — preferably one you can bang like in those bad pornos.”

The suggestion brought a mischievous smile to Diablo’s lips. “Now there's a thought,” he said impishly, wiggling his eyebrows while briefly splashing Aiden with chlorine water. “I wouldn’t mind a hot babysitter to take care of me too.

Lucas wrinkled his nose in disdain, disagreeing with Aiden's statement. “I don't think that April would appreciate that,” He said, glancing back at Santiago.

“No! Whatever, I love babies! I’m just saying… Maybe not at 18!” Max shrugged “I’m down for Snoop Lion.” he quipped as he laid back down on the chair.

“No, you can’t just name a kid after a meme, that’s just fucked up,” Lucas denied the hilarious name with a barely held back laugh, making an attempt to go back to the topic at hand. “This is serious. It’s not just a baby, bro, that’s an entire life, a--a human being that’s gonna get older and someday be in the exact same position we are. Are you and April going to keep it, or abort it, or give it away, or--or what?

Although he should have been happy that his loyal band of idiots were taking the news a lot more seriously than he thought they would, Diablo was starting to get flustered by this whole thing. Yes, he was definitely grateful for their concern, but the main reason he'd called them up in the first place was to help him let loose and forget the immense pile of shit he was under. Sitting around and asking him questions he had no answers to was only doing the opposite: making the young man feel more nervous, stupid and afraid of the situation.

Santiago let out a deep breath before rubbing his face with his hand. “I mean, I brought all that up yesterday to Lils when she first told me, and she was ready to throttle me when I mentioned getting rid of it in any way... So we're definitely keeping it for now, I guess.”

Lucas opened his mouth to ask why before abruptly closing it. Fuck, she probably wanted to keep it after he had encouraged Santiago to tell April about his actual feelings. Any argument he could have had to discourage his best friend from going through with this was officially null and void. He took a rather long drink of his soda, trying to think of what he could possibly say to assuage him, but he was still having trouble wrapping his head around everything.

Well, of course he wasn’t going to come up with anything. Oh, maybe he could try to think of something Nadia would say. “Well...how do you feel about it…?” Wow, that came out so much worse than he had intended, he was pretty sure Nadia would have said something comforting or assuring, he sounded like one of those cliche therapists.

Santiago raised an eyebrow at his best friend. “I already told you, Lu: I’m scared shitless,” he repeated, visibly annoyed and uncomfortable about the insistence they all had to talk about his feelings. “I’m fucking terrified and have no goddamned idea what the hell I’m supposed to do other than take it like a man. Now can we go back to talking about banging girls again?”

Aiden jumped up from where he was sitting, getting tired of the conversation quickly. “Alright, let’s go over the facts: she’s pregnant, Santiago’s screwed, and we’re not going to solve anything sitting here with our dicks in our hands. I just got out of juvie and I’m ready to party. Where the fuck is the booze?”

Shaking his head defeated, Max stood up sighing. “Well now that that’s good and done with…” he paused as he threw his arm around Aiden. “... Let’s get this bastard plastered!” his booming laugh rang out over the Fernandez garden.

Lucas frowned at the trio, though as he looked at Santiago’s expression, he knew the conversation wasn’t going to go anywhere. Best to have the more intricate details discussed in private; Aiden’s offer was mighty tempting. Clapping Santi’s shoulder, he leaned in for a moment. “We’re here for you,” He told him quietly before grinning. ”I’m down for plastered, boozed, intoxicated, and can we please go back to the topic of Chanel’s ass; we did not talk about that for as long as I would have liked.”

Eternally grateful for the change in subject, Santiago’s demeanor immediately went back to its usual cocky self, and his uncomfortable frown morphed back to the million-dollar grin. “Then let’s get fucked up all over again, cabrones!” he whooped, leaving the pool and heading out to the outdoor fridge to toss some beers over to his boys. He knew deep down that getting plastered again was definitely not a smart idea after the raging hangover he was nursing, but at this point, Diablo didn’t care. Drinking himself into oblivion was definitely better than going back to the hole he’d dug himself into thanks to thinking with the wrong head. It was too late to make smart decisions.

[AlteredTundra]

_{Featuring • Stella and Penny}

Someone, somewhere had made it near impossible for Stella to get a decent start to her official morning. The whole early start she had when she went with her parents to see her cousins and her favorite Uncle and Auntie off their flight back to New York (and her father’s embarrassing inquiry about her and Oliver), she didn’t have much to complain about. The car ride back to Crown Heights was quiet after her mother came to her aide and shut her father up. She was able to enjoy a long bath before heading over to Penny’s for -- well, she wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but she was pretty certain it would involve being in a two-piece of some sort.

She spent a few minutes just trying to find a cute outfit that she didn’t absolutely hate. It was after those couple of minutes that past did Stella come to the startling realization that she had the worst luck when it came to making a decision. And she also had the worst luck when it came to everything else. As she saw something she thought she liked, the teen had tugged on a pink top, but as she pulled it down, an avalanche of summer and pre-fall clothes came down on the poor girl and she had only her high yelp as she couldn’t do anything to evade it.

And at that same moment, she heard her phone go off. It took Stella a long moment to get out from under her makeshift coffin of cotton and silk as she crawled ungracefully from her closet to her bed and saw she had a few unread text messages and a few missed calls from Chris. “What does he want?”

Stella read his text.

Hey, lil sis. I know it’s been a while. Hope you’re not killing yourself over the fact you had to endure Abraham’s arrogant self. Glad I missed it. Anyways, tell our wonderful parents I’ll be home for the weekend. Classes got canceled on account of some maniac shooting up the Science Department. Something about a teacher fucking the shooter’s crush. I don’t know, but either way, I’m coming home Stells. Can’t wait to see you kiddo. Oh and by the way, I want to hear about this Oliver dude. Maybe we could meet.

PS: don’t hate dad. He just thought I would know something. Anyways, see you this weekend!

And that was it. For some reason, her father felt like telling her big brother about Oliver as if it was his thing to tell anyone about. She couldn’t believe the nerve of him. Who did he think he was!?

Stella, who was now so visibly frustrated, that she was screaming into her pillow stayed like that for a few minutes until she hurried her clumsy behind into a pink, striped shirt and a pair of jean shorts, marched her way down the stairs in pink flip flop sandals, and despite her parents being in the living room, decided not to give them a wave goodbye. She only told them “I’m going to Penny’s.”

As she walked from her parking lot and into her car, Stella sat in her car just letting out an annoyed squeal. She continued to do this for a full minute until she felt her throat dry out. So she just turned her car on and drove to Penny’s. Before pulling out, she texted Penny real quick.

Hey, dad kind of pissed me off. I hope u got some kind of alcohol. B there in 10.

And as promised, ten minutes was all that Stella needed to find Penny’s house. Contrary to what others may probably suspect, she had a decent grasp of direction. It was navigating Crown Heights’ large residential area that proved to be her biggest obstacle, but Stella was a fast learner. She didn’t exactly take long to find a parking spot and soon she found herself knocking on the front door of the Richards house.

Penny received the text and grinned. Ah, at long last. She whipped up a couple of Stella’s favorite drinks and set them out on the kitchen counter just as there came a knock at the door. The curly haired girl walked swiftly to it and opened it to find her gorgeous friend looking a bit miffed. “Come on in, love. Tell me what it is dear old dad did this time.” She stood back to allow the young woman entrance into the extravagant house.

Once she had entered she led the way to the modern kitchen - granite countertops, the hanging pot thing from the ceiling, and every appliance known to man. The sink was even automatic. She pushed a hurricane toward her friend before sipping her own, waiting for Stella to dish.

Stella didn’t really care about what time it was nor did she have any care how desperate it made her look, she took a big sip of the sweet hurricane and as soon as it touched her lips, her relief nearly jumped her out of her skin. All of that stress from her father had seemed to die away with her sober-like state. The hurricane was truly the ultimate fix that she needed for her rare mood of annoyance. Penny attempted to hide a smirk behind her own glass as she watched Stella down her drink like a college girl on spring break.

It was only after a moment of letting the alcohol soothe her throat and she had taken another, lighter sip, she set it down, and gazed at Penny. ”I don’t know where to start,” she sighed out more of her rising ire, though this time it resulted in her frowning slightly. ”I know he means well, but gosh, I really wish he didn’t tell Chris about Oliver.”

“Uh oh,” she responded. “Ultimate parent faux pas.” While she had never had a parent do this to her, nor that it would have mattered, she understood the dilemma was common among all high school youth. “So, papa bear is worried about his adorable baby bear running off with some strange wolf, huh?”

She shrugged, taking another sip. “It’s not like Oliver is some horrible person like Santiago--” She stopped herself as soon as she heard what she said play back in her mind. “--Oh no, I didn’t mean to say that out loud.” Stella’s face went red. Whether it was from realizing she said what she meant to keep to herself out in the open or from the alcohol in her system, she couldn’t say.

“It’s not like you’re wrong, babycakes. Santi is the wolf, Oliver is more like a little lamb by comparison.” Penny shrugged with a playful grin forming on her face. “You were gonna tell me how things went with Oliver anyway after you left. So… Spill girlfriend.”

Stella had brought her face up from looking down at her glass to Penny and smiled at her friend. She then recalled their conversation and how he revealed to her some things that she didn’t know about him before. She couldn’t fully explain what happened without betraying his trust and she just couldn’t do that to him. Stella was a true friend and she would never do something like that to anyone, especially the boy she was starting to really like. But, she did feel like there were some things she needed to get out, specifically what he told her moments before he dropped her off.

“We talked and he told me he likes me, too,” she said to Penny, the red on her cheeks increasing even more. “I mean, he said he thinks he likes me, but that still counts, right?” She asked, uncertain eyes on Penny.

Penny laughed lightly. “Of course it counts. I think our boy has a lot of thinking and soul searching to do, huh? You’re probably the first girl he’s ever been interested in. Like that I mean.” She sipped her drink again, and upon noticing that Stella was nearly done with her own, stood up. “Want the same? Something different?” she inquired, gesturing toward the nearly empty glass.

“Yeah, I’ll take another hurricane,” Stella said, handing Penny her nearly empty glass. There was only a sip and a half left of it so that’s why she didn’t bother drinking the rest of it. “So how was your night, Penny?” The teen asked.

Penny accepted the glass and went about refilling the drink. She hummed a little to herself but stopped when the question was posed to her. She wasn’t about to tell this innocent little flower that she had drowned her lonely sorrows in OJ and vodka. Instead, she put on her charming grin and said, “Oh you know. The usual. One of my daddies was in town for the night so we had ourselves a little so and so. Nothing too exciting.” She placed the drink in front of Stella.

She smiled, nodding Penny’s way. “That sounds pretty relaxing. You didn’t leave with your school-appointed date?” Stella asked, trying to remember who it was that Penny was paired up with as she sipped her drink a little slower than she had done with the first one. She knew most of them, but Penny’s was a blank to her.

“Nope, no idea what happened to him really. We arrived together, chatted, and then poof! Worst date ever. Didn’t even compliment me. I tell you, that boy musta been dropped on his head!” she joked. She topped off her own drink before sitting at the kitchen island again. “He was even a bit decent looking but my goodness, not a lick of sexuality.” She shook her head and sipped. “So, what are you gonna do about your pops?”

She tried to contain her laughter as she was talking about her date, but Stella couldn’t. The way Penny spoke about .. “Declan! That’s who it was!” Stella suddenly spoke, her voice suddenly loud and her smile wide. It was like she was overcome with a sense of achievement. She would then cough as if to collect herself from the sudden burst of energy she was in possession of. “I mean, yeah, he was pretty cute. I wonder what happened to him?” Stella mumbled somewhat inaudibly, rambling mostly to herself.

Stella looked at Penny. “And, honestly, I don’t know. I think I’m just gonna ignore him. I’m honestly more worried about what Chris might do. He has always been overprotective over me, so I’m kind of afraid what kind of fear he’ll strike into Oliver. Bless his heart, but Oli was practically dreading meeting the nice side of my family. I’d hate to imagine what he would be like when he meets my abrasive older brother,” Stella admitted, glancing down at her drink once more.

“Your brother will realize Oliver is just a soft little baby. I could always give him a blow job before he meets Oliver. Would make him calmer,” she said jokingly. “Besides, if he were a good big brother, he would understand how important this was to you and not be an asshole about it. I can always talk to him if you want. Lecture and a blow job.” She snorted as she laughed. The thought of Chris letting her anywhere near his bits was absurd - at least in her mind.

She nearly spat out her drink when Penny mentioned the act that Stella couldn’t even mentally repeat. “P-Penny, that’s okay. I-I’m sure it’ll be fine.” If Stella was honest, she didn’t want Chris to hurt Penny. She knew her brother was a bit of a heartbreaker. She adored Penny too much to let him near her in that way.

“ Sure, sure. But you say the word honey bunches and I’ll put him in his place.” She winked, sipping down more of the alcoholic beverage. “ So, what would you like to do this weekend? The pool is always an option. Television. We could sneak out and get into a bar. I’ve got some pretty bomb fake i.d.’s” Penny tapped her manicured nails against her glass as she surveyed Stella’s reaction about the last suggestion.

“I could go for a swim if I’m being honest,” Stella admitted without even flinching. “But honestly, I don’t have a preference. I just want to be out of the house for a few hours so I don’t say something to my dad that I might regret. So, if you think it’s cool, can I just hang here for a bit?” She asked Penny, taking a big swig of her drink.

““Of course love. Though if you have too many more of those I am not about to let you drive anywhere,” she teased. Pool it was then. ““Did you bring along a suit or should we go and peruse my collection?” She wiggled her eyebrows and her face lit up with excitement at the thought of getting to dress up the prettiest little model a girl could hope for.

The door opened and Penny jumped, her eyes narrowed as she looked toward the entrance of the kitchen. In came the infamous Daddy Donny. He was a tall fellow with black hair that was greying at the temples. He still had a rather muscular physique as he took quite good care of himself, taking pride in not looking like any other fuddy-duddy 50+-year-old. He could be described as handsome in a Richard Greer sort of way. He loosened his tie as he entered the room. His eyes first alighted on Penny and he smirked that stupid fucking smirk he always smirked.

Then he saw Stella and the smirk turned slightly feral. Penny jumped up and approached her adoptive father. ““Daddy! You’re home! I thought you were gone for the weekend!” Good little actress she was, there was no hint of the derision she felt for him or the fear she felt for Stella. She wrapped her arms around Don’s neck and leaned up to kiss his cheek.

“Meeting got canceled so I don’t have to fly out Princess.” He kissed the top of her head and squeezed her. As he let go to move further into the kitchen he slapped Penny on the ass. “And I expect a proper greeting later. Who is this delightful young lady?” He bowed slightly, holding out his hand so that he could accept Stella’s and kiss the back of it.

Stella had blushed only slightly more than she had been a few minutes ago. She wasn’t certain if it was from the alcohol or how Penny’s father kissed her hand like she was royalty of some sort. “Stella, sir. Stella Lambert,” she said, trying to get her word out as coherently as she could.

“Stella. A shining star eh? Well that you are.” He straightened and lets his fingers caress the palm of her hand as he slipped it from hers. “Well, you are welcome to enjoy anything you like while you are here. A guest is always treated as royalty.” He reached out, twirled a locked of her hair between his fingers before approaching the living room. “Penny, honey. Be a doll and make me a drink.”

“ Yes Daddy,” Penny called. Once he was out of earshot she turned to her friend. How could she get Stella out without this being suspicious? Or scaring her? She chewed her lower lip as she considered. “ You really want to go for a swim?” she asked as she began the process of mixing together a martini for the man of the house.

She had only heard Penny about three or five seconds after she had mentioned the swim. “Oh, yeah! I’m dying to get into the water,” Stella smiled Penny’s way, pulling her hand from Donny’s grasp. “Do you have a suit that I can borrow?” She asked, “I don’t want to get my current outfit wet.”

““Oh, why don’t we go to the beach? It's such a beautiful day outside! Let me take Daddy Donny his drink, I’ll be a sec.” She carried the martini glass through the archway and into the living room. She handed the beast his drink with a false smile. ““Here you go, Daddy. Need anything else? Stella and I are gonna go to the beach.”

“Thank you, princess. Just that proper hello.” Penny had to suppress a sigh as she leaned over the couch. Don tilted his head back and they shared a long, passionate kiss. When they broke apart Penny wiped her mouth.

“ See you later Daddy!” She went back to the kitchen. “ Come on Stella, let’s go get you a suit and get out of here!” Her face was all joy and charm, showing no hint of what had taken place moments before.

When they walked away, Stella wasn’t quite sure how to feel about what she just saw between Penny and her father, Donny. Maybe that’s how the Richards’ greeted each other. As strange as it was, she didn’t know quite enough to speak her mind about it. That and it wasn’t her place to do so. She’d much prefer to focus on spending the afternoon with Penny by the beach. That’s what was most important to Stella Lambert, not a strange custom to a family she didn’t belong to.

[eclecticwitch]

---

_{Location: Home ===> Grocery Store
Interactions: Texting with Georgia and Aaliyah
Color: E0633C}

---

The first person to get back to her was Georgie. What a good kid. The young woman quickly tapped back that she would likely start movies up around 4:00 pm but she was welcome to come earlier if she should like. The second was Aaliyah. In response, Bea tapped back something about B-horror movies or some such. They could all decide when everyone got there what shitty films they wanted to see. Bea thought about whether or not to attempt to make something or order pizza. When in doubt, pizza it was. Bea was no cook and she did not pretend to be. Rather than potentially burn down the kitchen she would just get together some snacks.

It would mostly be about talking. That was what girls did right? And boy did Bea have a lot of feelings she needed to get off of her chest. Not she knew how to express them or where to start. But hopefully, someone would know what was going on. Poor thing thought she was dying. She ruffled her hands through her curls as she spent some time with her morning exercise of dance as well as a brief practice of the cheer routine they had just been introduced to. She then spent some time painting. She barely noticed the smudges on her face and hands as she delved deeply into her work. A human form, bent backward in a graceful pose as an explosion ripped from her chest. The explosion was all bright oranges and color. The rest of the painting was muted - simple blues and greys.

After a good, cathartic painting session Bea got dressed in a pair of shorts and a simple tank before heading to the local grocery. There she picked up essential snacks, sodas, and juice. Whatever it was kids these days ate. At least, she tried her best to guess. For the most part, she tended to do alright. She generally didn't eat these sorts of foods. There was always that odd snack out though. She went through the check out line, bland-faced and ready to be back home.

[SpicyMeatball]

---

---

April looked out of her bedroom window, still in her grease-stained jeans and the no-longer-white tank top. Her father, Jamie Foster, was laid out on one of the recliners by the pool, completely unaware of just how much his daughter had screwed up. Literally. She had to tell him. It wouldn’t be long before it would be obvious. April took in a deep breath before nodding to herself. She was gonna need all the courage in the world to break the news.

For now? She needed a shower. Her forearms were covered in black streaks of grease and oil, her hair was an absolute mess after being in the helmet, and while she wasn’t hungover like the rest of the student body of King’s, April would argue that morning sickness was much more of a bitch to deal with. The brunette indulged herself and let the steaming hot water run over her skin for what seemed like hours. She wasn’t going to rush herself today, especially since after this, she’d be confronting her father and April was doing everything in her power to delay that. The only thing that broke her happy little bubble or warmth was the sound of her phone ringing on the other side of the bathroom. There was no way she was getting to that phone. Her hair was still foaming with shampoo and she hadn’t even gotten to the body wash yet. The call could wait.

Fifteen minutes later, April emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a white towel, her long brown hair still dripping wet. She paced down the hallway to her room, eyes locked on the screen of her phone. A call from...Julie? Why the hell would Julie be calling her? And if that wasn’t weird enough, Santiago hadn’t responded to her text yet. It had been nearly an hour! What the hell was he doing?

As April changed in to a relatively simple outfit consisting of jean-shorts and a simple teal t-shirt, she heard her father come inside from the pool. “Well, it’s been nice knowing you April. Time to go make the biggest damn announcement of your life.” she muttered to herself. She gave a quick once-over in the mirror before making her way downstairs. As she rounded the corner to the living room, her eyes widened in absolute horror as both her father and a mystery woman came into view, both as naked as the day they were born. Evidently Jamie had forgotten April was home. “Alllllrighty, I’ll just be on my way then. Not even gonna question it. You two have fun!” April called out to them, not wasting a second to quite literally run the opposite direction. I guess breaking the news would have to wait.

As she hopped in her car, April pulled out her phone and listened to the rather awkward message Julie had left. There was yet another hard conversation she was gonna have to have. Mending the relationship between herself and Julie. She stuck her phone to the magnet on the dash and dialed Julie’s number, setting the phone to speaker as she tore out of the driveway. She had no idea where the other two members of the Unholy Trinity were, but April wasn’t gonna stay another second at her own house.

“Hey Julie, where are you? I’ve got some...interesting news to share....something important. That and I may have just seen my dad’s new girlfriend in completely the wrong way.”

[NeoAJ]

_{Featuring: Kellie Anne and Shawna}

A morning of lounging around and doing nothing was tiring. Especially with a hangover. The greasy breakfast was a temporary respite, but while the salty and buttery facets of the drunken palette were satiated, there was one aspect that the Green’s bacon and eggs weren’t able to cure. Shawna Josi needed something sweet, and she wasn’t gonna find that in the cupboards of her home. Not after the last couple of weekends.

She could drive to Publix and pick some things up. She did feel OK enough to drive apparently. That was a plus. But grocery store turnovers weren’t going to cut it today. Not after the night of self-pity she just had. Not after practically throwing herself at CJ earlier. Was I throwing myself too much at CJ earlier? I mean...I… no. I wasn’t that thirsty… but I am hungry…

She decided on Ganache Bakery. It wasn’t usually open on Sundays, but they were having a special month of sales in celebration of… something or other. And although it meant a longer trip away from her couch, Shawna didn’t care. What it meant was that there were cupcakes available. Good cupcakes, not those hacky grocery store ones. And Momma needed Red Velvet cakes. Probably a solid half dozen. She grabbed the keys to the Audi and tore off towards the source of the sweets.

On the other side of Crown Heights, Kellie Anne Nicholson was walking through the doors of Ganache Bakery herself, Oakley glasses still on to hide the post-breakdown eye swelling. Sometime between the sobbing and blowing her nose, the girl had decided that the only solution to soothe some of the heartache caused by her stupid ex-boyfriend was, logically, to drown herself in cupcakes. The extra sugar would do no favors for her physique, but who cared?! All she wanted at the moment was to fill the void in her chest with sugar. She could worry about diabetes and cellulite later.

After waiting a few minutes for her turn, it was finally time to order. “I’ll have a half dozen: red velvet, carrot, peanut butter cup, hazelnut, espresso and strawberry cheesecake,” the brunette instructed the cheerful girl behind the counter, letting out a small sniffle.

The silver A8 pulled into the parking lot outside Ganache and the slightly-disheveled teenager ambled her way out of the car. The bell at the top of the door rang just as the girl at the head of the lineup was finishing her order. But Shawna was in no mood to wait for her cupcakes. No, this was a speed mission. Get in, get out, as quick as possible. There was no time for lineups. Spotting the girl at the counter, a girl who looked to be her age from the back, maybe a classmate? Either way, she was an opening. So Shawna did something she never would have done in her previous life. She cut. She cut hard.

“Excuse me, I just need in here. Thanks,” she said to the person who was set to order. She butted in with a distinct lack of grace behind the girl who had just finished ordering.

“Hey!” the heavy-set man complained. “I was next!”

“Oh, it’s OK,” Shawna lied. “My friend was saving my spot while I went and looked for a parking space.”

”No she wasn’t! I came in right behind her! You weren’t here!”

“Look, be cool, and I’ll buy you... well, not all the cupcakes you can eat, but I’ll cover you, OK?” Shawna was willing to pay for his spot, but she wasn’t going to break the bank for him. “Price is Right rules. Take advantage of my generosity and pay for it yourself.”

Even in Palm Beach, the prospect of free baked goods was a solid offer. ”Fine,” he quietly muttered.

“Super!” Shawna turned to the girl with the pierced nose working the counter. “Can I get… three red velvet cupcakes, one peanut butter chocolate, one cookies and cream...and I guess I should get a healthy one… one banana cream. That’ll do.” Shawna was satisfied the fruit in the last selection would offset the unhealthiness of the other five. The cupcake woman nodded and went to work assembling the half-dozen.

While the man in front of her may have been pacified, Shawna figured she had to put on a show for the rest of the line. Continuing her trend of risky behaviour, she went up to her “friend” and put an arm around her. ”Hey thanks for holding my spot, uh….” It was only as she got close that she could see the girl’s skin was blotchy around her eyes, and there was a bit of snot hanging around her nose. Almost if the girl had been bawling her eyes out. Which would explain why she would want some cupcakes. Shawna was still shaky on social cues though. ”Uh...you all right, friendo?”

Kellie Anne had watched the scene unfold in front of her hidden behind her sunglasses, the corners of her mouth curling up in the smallest of amused smiles. It was obvious that the girls didn’t know each other, but the way this random girl approached the situation made her claims -at the very least- somewhat believable. However, a nagging feeling in the dancer’s mind whispered at her that she knew this girl from somewhere, so maybe the claims that they weren’t complete strangers could have some foundation to them. Maybe they had met during that obscure period when the break-up had been so fresh the days had faded together into a blurry haze. Maybe they had met somewhere else. But whatever the case, Kel wasn’t one to let a fellow sister hang out to dry, so she chose to follow her lead.

“I will be after I have some of these,” Kellie told the girl in a soft voice, pulling her card from the back pocket of her shorts and handing it over to the cashier. “And don’t worry about it. That’s what friends are for, right?” she added teasingly with a shaky laugh in response to her earlier comment about holding her spot.

Shawna smiled at her new friend, who was at least willing to continue the ruse. “Fuck yeah, they are!” She was speaking loud enough for the man behind her to hear. “They are for holding spots and eating cupcakes together! Yes ma’am!” However, she dropped the volume in her voice for the next bit. “Seriously, thanks for helping cover. Did not want to wait 20 minutes for iced deliciousness.”

The dancer couldn't help but let out a small laugh at the girl's antiques. Her exaggerations made it obvious that they knew each other as well as mud, but why be a party pooper? This was the most fun Kel had had since the breakup. “No girl will be subjected to the agony of waiting for sweets for as long as I can do something about it!” Kellie declared in a mock superhero voice as she grabbed her card and box of cupcakes. Then, in a voice low enough for the girl to hear, she added, “And really: don’t sweat it. I would have done the exact same thing.”

“My hero!” Shawna exclaimed as she pulled a pair of $20s out of her purse and slapped them on the counter to cover her and whatever portion of the rotund fellow’s order was necessary. She turned to the girl as she picked up her own order. “But what do I call this savior of the sugary snacks, and crusader for cupcake connoisseurs everywhere?” Some long-dormant vocabulary skills were starting to show, but it also covered the fact that Shawna didn’t actually know this girl’s name.

“Kellie Anne Nicholson, at your service,” the brunette introduced herself, giving Shawna a mocking curtsy before chuckling. “And what may I call you, my charming damsel in sugary distress?” she asked, extending an inviting hand to the taller girl.

That taller girl batted her green eyes for a moment, almost surprised at the forward motion before happily accepting the hand with her own. “Shawna Marie Josi,” she answered. “But you can stick with one first name and call me Shawna.” She shifted the box in her hand and opened the door to the parking lot with her shoulder. “Must admit, as far as rescues go, this is easily my favorite one so far.”

“Oh, for sure!” Kellie responded with a laugh, taking advantage of the open door to exit the bakery. “You know, it was honestly really nice to meet you, Shawna Josi. This has to be the most I've laughed in the last two and a half months. You have no idea how much that means to me.”

“Hey, no problem!” Shawna said as she followed Kellie Anne out the door. “I mean, you know, I’m glad I could give you that at the very least for being super cool and everything!” It was an odd feeling for Shawna, her humor actually winning out and being not only accepted, but appreciated by this girl. It was something she hadn’t felt in a long time... She stared at her now suddenly lonely-looking silver sedan. “So…uh, what’s your plan for those cupcakes, Kellie Anne Nicholson? I mean, I know what my plan is for mine, but it’s kinda...meh.”

“The only real plans I had were to stuff my face with these long enough to stop bawling my eyes out,” she lamely admitted, making sure to add a sarcastic little laugh to disguise how painfully true her statement was. “Why? What's yours?”

“Honestly?” Shawna said with a tilt of her head. “Pretty much the same thing, without the crying part. Just, uh, yeah, eating all these by myself.” She put her finger up to the side of her face, as if trying to work through the gears of a plan.“You know, I bet eating cupcakes is a lot more fun if there are multiple people eating the cupcakes. I mean! You know, if you want company while eating said cupcakes. I wouldn’t mind company while eating these cupcakes. Especially company I already know to be heroic and all…”

Kellie thought about the interesting proposition for a moment. Holing up in her bedroom and going over the fuckups Max was getting himself into would only serve to make her more miserable. On the other hand, pouring her heart out to a neutral stranger who knew nothing about her love life would give her a new perspective on the subject. Who knows? Maybe this could be the start of a lovely little friendship. Finally, the brunette spoke up. “Honestly? I would really like that,” she told Shawna with a soft smile.

“Cool! Cool, cool,” Shawna tried to play off like she wasn’t excited about having another girl to talk about things with, but it was hard. She was tired. “I mean, yeah, if you want, we can go over to my place. It’s the McMansion at the end of Via Las Incas. I don’t know if you drove here, but I can give you a ride if you didn’t, or if you did, just have you follow me. However you want to roll, we can roll.”

Kel didn’t have to be told twice. With the soft smile still on her face, she walked up to her car and turned back to Shawna. “Let’s roll then, sister. Our cupcake feast awaits.”

[Ejected]

_{Self Care
I’m treatin’ me right, yeah.}

---

---

It didn't take long for Carter Newton to finish the rest of his errands for the day; in the span of less than an hour, the young man had managed to hit up about five of his customers' homes, leaving each house with a little more money in his wallet and a little less product in a compartment of his book bag. It was a little past twelve when Carter found himself aimlessly cruising down the road, his windows rolled down and his music blasting a little louder than usual. With nothing on his to-do list for the rest of the afternoon, Carter made the split decision to turn into the parking lot of the local grocery store. He figured that since he'd worked so hard that morning, he deserved to blow most, if not all of his earnings on some snacks for the fridge that sat in the corner of his bedroom and whatever skin care products he needed to restock. As he searched for an empty spot to park his car, Carter briefly went over his plans for the rest of his day in his head: grab a few groceries, clean up his room, wash his hair, shave, do a face mask, exfoliate, moisturize... Sundays were for self care. That was how Carter liked it.

Soon, the young man found himself entering the grocery store. He grabbed a small basket from the nearby stack before beginning his journey down the multiple aisles. By the time Carter reached the check out line, his basket had been filled to capacity with a bunch of snacks, large bottles of juice and water, and several bottles of facial cleansers, moisturizers, and face masks. Carter started to place all of his items up onto the conveyor belt before adding a divider in to separate his stuff from the things that belonged to the person in front of him. It wasn't until after Carter finished loading his items onto the belt that he realized who the young woman standing in front of him was.

"It's Beatrice, right?" Carter said suddenly as he took a quick glance at what the cashier had been ringing up. While Carter couldn't recall ever having an actual conversation with the small girl, he did remember seeing her around King's Academy almost every other day. He could even remember a time when he handed her, as well as some guy that she was walking with at the time, a flyer for a local protest. Whether or not she actually attended this event, or even held onto the flyer for more than a few seconds before tossing it into the trash bin, was a mystery to him. Nonetheless, Cater figured that he'd strike up a conversation with her. After all, it wasn't like he had anything better to do while waiting to pay for his groceries.

"You having a party or something?"

[fledermaus]

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^{𝑺 𝑨 𝑳 𝑬 𝑴 𝑹 𝑰 𝑽 𝑬 𝑹 𝑨}

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Salem ended up at the mall – there was nowhere else for him to really go and he wasn’t exactly teeming with friends having been at the school for maybe two weeks max. The only friend he had was Marisol and even then he might have fucked that up (in more than one way and he feels so guilty when even the thought makes his heart race). He mostly spent his time meandering around the mall, with no particular destination in mind, and no phone to keep him preoccupied.

It was okay, though, he liked to people watch. It made him feel relaxed – slowly, he made his way to the center of the mall. The smell of grease and body odor and something vaguely sickening made Sal’s stomach roil with disgust and hunger simultaneously; it was a very confusing combination. It has been a while since he treated himself to some old-fashioned cheap food, especially since his mother is constantly on his case to eat healthy. On principle of spiting her eco-friendly protesters, she insists on buying non-vegan friendly food either way and Sal has to bite back comments on how GMOs and chemicals weren’t exactly ‘eating healthy’.

His thoughts stutter to a stop when he’s on his way to the Chinese food line (or was it Thai?). Despite only knowing her for a short period of time, his body had become hardwired to recognizing her laugh – especially since she is mainly the only person he spent his time with for the past week. A dopey grin was spreading on his face, then, at the thought of seeing her and he should probably tell her that his phone is out of commission. Then he sees that smug bastard Sonny next to her.

There are a lot of things that Salem wants to do. He wants to grab Marisol and take her away from that piece of shit because she’s too good for him, but mostly he just wants to punch Sonny in the nose again (and again and again and again). The idea of red on his knuckles is so appealing that Salem stops in his footsteps on his way to their table (where Marisol is laughing at Sonny, talking with Sonny, enjoying Sonny’s company and that should be him). When had Salem become so violent? When had this bruising green feeling become okay and normal and –

Without a word, Salem sulked from the mall cafeteria. He needs to stop by another shop inside to get a new phone, anyways. As much as he hates it, Salem would have to call his father at some point and he might as well do it now to avoid pissing off his mother.

𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚎 𝚓𝚎𝚊𝚗

“Georgie,” Millie blinked in surprise and tugged slightly on Pepper’s leash, the surly cat wanting to continue the walk rather than stop for socializing. Millie realized only after a beat of silence that a greeting was supposedly normal in social situations, “Hi.”

Millie Jean was a bit embarrassed to be seen outside. After her attempt, she became even more reclusive and she hardly ever had the energy to make herself look nice. That day in particular Millie Jean had only thrown on a pair of ragged leggings and a stained sweater; her hair was greasy and unwashed, so she had thrown it up in a messy bun to call it a day. Maybe if it looked messy on purpose, no one would notice how much of a mess she really was? Though, Millie Jean was positive that the heavy bags under her eyes and slight sheen of sweat on her brow would give away her lack of personal upkeep over the weekend.

Socializing wasn’t something Millie Jean particularly wanted to do today – or any day, really – and she had even ignored a text message from Bea inviting her over. Millie Jean felt guilty doing it, but she wouldn’t have been much fun anyways. She was just going to lie on Monday and say she had gotten the text too late because she was busy with school work. However, if Millie is remembering right, Georgie and Bea know each other, too. If that’s the case, then Bea will know she’s lying and that makes the guilt in Millie Jean’s stomach even worse.

“Um, well, I’m going to Bea’s. Are you going, too?” Millie Jean asked, her voice wasn’t quiet but it was still rather meek, “Do you think she would mind if I brought my cats with me? They wanted to come out today.”

It was a lie – Millie Jean had no intention of going to Bea’s and Pepper will be absolutely miserable in a stranger’s home (though Puppy is at home wherever she goes). But, maybe, if she shows up and Bea or someone in her family is perhaps allergic, Millie Jean will have a reason to go home without having to socialize or feel guilty. It wasn’t that far-fetched of an idea, cat allergies were rather common. It was as good of a plan as she had.