[IC] Palm Beach Royals: Senior Year

[LovelyComplex]

As far as Ryland could tell, this was the dumbest he's ever seen his friend. Getting back with a toxic man, and allowing her anger to build up with this girl — April was her name? — this girl, that got involved with one of Kavi's 'oops' fuck ups. Fucking dumb. Doesn't matter who started the kiss, he reciprocated, and all of a sudden she's back to dating his ass, as if he's shown her enough evidence he's a changed man. Fucking dumb. On top of that, Ariel was putting all her anger towards April, instead of the person that deserved to work harder than he ever did before to win her back. Fucking dumb.

But, no, like Ariel fashion, she caved in, believing every word he spoke, because what? Love? And 'together' they're going to work shit out? She's told Rye enough about her feelings, for him to understand the situation, before she even explained it to him. They're dating. The hand holding made that apparent. Yet, here she was, looking like she was going to punch a pregnant woman, who was attempting to make this all water under the bridge.

Ariel?

Forgive?

HA.

Don't even get him started with this sorry excuse of a man, who 'accidentally' shoved him to break the distance between him and April. Following after that smooth move, he sounded like the most condescending douchebag he ever did meet. If Ariel thought she had this dog trained, she was mistaken, but whatever, it was obvious she didn't want things to change. It was obvious she wanted to stay angry at the world. It was obvious she liked the pain.

Why was he even interfering again?

Oh, that's right. Because he cared.

"You really think you know her..." Ryland forcibly, and intentionally, shoved Kavi back, out of his bubble, blocking Ariel's path toward April. "April, sorry for intruding, but I think you should just leave. And you." The new kid darted a glare at Kavi, "You deserve more than just that. You fucking hurt her, dude. You always fucking hurt her. What? Saying sorry is just going to make her smile?" He could feel it. The anger boiling inside him, but he was going to do his best to swallow it. Not on his first day. His mother would be upset if she found out he already gotten in a fight.

With a stony expression, he aimed his fire and attention to Ariel, "Don't be fucking dumb, Ariel."

[spooner]

Her heels clicked on the newly polished floors as Julie walked away trying to keep her slender legs from shaking. She didn’t really know where to go from here seeing as she was just waiting around for Chanel before she was ambushed. Just as she was about to turn around to see if Santiago was still standing there she came face to face with Chanel looking flustered.

Julie let out a big sigh rolling her eyes and was just about to unravel what had just transpired before Chanel cut her off dragging her back through the hallway. “CoCo what’s going on?” the redhead whimpered as she tripped along behind her best friend

"So you remember all that shit that happened with April and Kavi at the Halloween party, right?"

The girls weaved through the crowd of students who were making their way to their respective classrooms. “Yeah… I think so… I was preoccupied” Julie huffed following along with Chanel’s fast pace. She had tried to forget about that party since it was the last time she had really spoken to Aurelio. “But it was like an… innocent mistake?” she offered. Chanel stopped in front of the group of people that had formed where their friend April was included.

Stepping forward so she was in line with her friend, Julie inspected what was going on right in front of them. “No, I have no idea who that is… he does look somewhat familiar though” Julie mused. Chanel was right, Ariel looked quite angry… and not only her but Kavi and the mystery guy looked like they were about to get into it with each other.

Julie nodded her head towards them indicating to Chanel it was time for them to stop spectating and do something about the situation that was unfolding.

“Good morning everyone!” Julie chirped brightly as she floated over, stepping in front of April creating some distance between her and the others. “Is there a problem?” she questioned looking around focusing on the two boys as Kavi turned to face her and April pushing the longhaired guy in the process. Instinctively Julie took a step back closer to April as she sensed the tension building and she did not like the look on the boy’s face. You could see that he was seething with repressed anger and before they knew it he was letting it all out talking fast and spewing it all dripping with venom.

"Don't be fucking dumb, Ariel."

“Hey!” Julie piped up as she stepped forward putting a hand on the mystery person’s chest pushing him back from the girls. She looked back at Chanel snapping her fingers and pointing to where she had stod signaling for the girl to take her place in front of April.

She directed her attention back to the tall stranger. Maybe it was the adrenalin from the confrontation from earlier that was still coursing through her body that made her do it but even though he was a stranger and looked somewhat intimidating, nobody spoke to one of her girls in that manner without her stepping in and doing something.

Lookin straight up into his face she pushed him away from the rest of them. Julie didn’t stop until she had the boy with his back against some lockers. “I don’t know who you are or what the hell made you think you could come here and curse out a poor girl right in front of her peers.” Julie took a deep breath “But I suggest you cool it! This school already has enough little boys disguised as “Alpha males”.” she said with disgust coloring her last words.

Julie pushed herself off the young man and took a step back surveying him from head to toe “Who even are you?” she asked expectingly.

[spooner]

Archer was still laughing as he and Kavan walked out of the sports building and back into the main hallway. “I don’t even…” he began. He shook his head “I mean I know Max isn’t the sharpest butter knife but… seriously? In the locker room?” He asked in disbelief. His cousin had done a lot of stupid stuff throughout the years but doing the old devil’s tango on school property during the time where most people were in motion was way up there!

As the pair moved through the hallway the crowd was starting to thin with the students all making their way to their various morning classes. In the middle of the hallway where it split one way leading to the stairs and the other leading to the west wing he spotted two of the remaining misfits. Marisol and Sonny stood laughing at something, probably something stupid the latter had said.

Archer raised his free hand in greeting with a smile as they got closer to the other pair. “Hey dudes! What are you-” he began before stopping dead in his tracks as he studied the details more closely. His green eyes darted around the scene landing first on his friend’s hands which were intertwined. Then he spotted the small purple marks on both of their necks that could only be identified as hickeys. Archer narrowed his eyes when he noticed Marisol was frantically chewing gum, something he knew she did whenever she was either hiding something or when she was nervous over hiding something.

“Gross…” he whispered to himself looking up at Kavan. He had been fearing that this was the reason Marisol had been in and out of the house without telling him where she was going. At the moment he didn’t really care because he liked hanging out with her brothers anyway. But now it all dawned on him… the bitch was getting dicked down by Torvald. It all jumbled around in his head for a few seconds. If this had come out a few months ago Archer would have had a full meltdown, but the more he thought about it the more he remembered how he had noticed that Marisol had been happier than ever.

So instead of moaning and whining the taller boy took a deep breath and smiled as convincingly as he could “So… anything new you guys want to tell us?” he hinted looking down at their clasped hands.

[Sugar and Spite]

_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________

A PlayStation or a Starbucks card wasn't going to change the events that had happened at the Halloween party, but April was trying. Ariel could clearly see that, and was doing her best to give the other girl props for it. Maybe in another life she and April could have been friends. Perhaps it was Kavi's fault that they really weren't. Was there a possibility that she really didn't know that she and Kavi were together at the time? Ariel had just assumed everyone knew. After all, drama and the word of any relationship news spread through Kings Academy like wild fire, but at the time that the couple had became something to talk about, April was dealing with her own private matters. There was definitely a chance that April couldn't have known.

But Kavi did.

Her attention caught between the three people surrounding her, Ariel wondered why Ryland wanted to force his way into the conversation. If he had a problem with Kavi, he could save it for later. They were obviously in the middle of something right now. After she had introduced everyone, she went back to talking to April.

"You can keep the gift card, April. I'm not really that big of a fan of Starbucks anyway."As she spoke, her tone became less aggressive and more sincere. April was making an effort in the right direction, and Ariel needed to follow in her footsteps if she ever expected anything to be better. "And thank you for the system," she said smiling. "I'm sure Kavi's ecstatic that he can go back to gaming now." She hesitated for a moment, wondering what words to use next.

Kavi suggested that everything was okay and forgiven once again, causing her to be ever so slightly angry once more. Looking from her boyfriend back to April, she shook her head. "I'm not going to pretend like all is forgiven or forgotten. It'll take me some time to move past everything, but I really appreciate the apology and the gift - though you really didn't have to spend that much money. Congratulations on a little girl, by the way." Pulling her phone out of her back pocket, she quickly checked the time. "I need to go grab some things from my locker before I'm late for class. If you'll just exc--"

It was at that moment Ryland exploded, his voice caught somewhere between deathly calm and shouting. As Rye shoved Kavi back, it was her natural instinct to try and get between the two males to stop any further altercation to the best of her ability. Her pent up anger and rising anxiety levels colliding, Ariel raised her voice to almost match Rylands.

"If you have a problem we can talk about it later, but right now you need to st--"

Que Julie MacMillian, ladies and gentlemen. Yet another person Ariel had never really talked to, she had heard that the red haired girl was a force to be reckoned with. Seeing Julie push her friend up against the lockers clearly made the whispers true.

"Woah! Julie. Julie, wait." Eyes wide, palms sweaty as she held her hands up in a pleading gesture, Ariel had all but forgotten April and Kavi at this point.

"His name's Ryland. He's an old friend of mine, and he's only pissed off because like the majority of the rest of our Senior class, he really, really sucks at showing that he cares." By this point she was talking at the speed which her words began to trip over each other, heart pounding in her chest. There was just to much going on at one moment. To many things moving to fast. "If you could just like... unpin him from the lockers, I'll make sure he's a super safe distance away from April. I know she and I aren't on the best of terms, but I'd never let anything happen to her, or the baby. So please, just back up a little."

Ariel didn't know if what she had said would make matters worse, but she had a decent feeling that it would lead that way. Julie had come flying to the rescue mainly for April, but had also stood up for Ariel herself to some degree. Now Ariel was disregarding that and asking Julie to drop it. Kavi was most likely pissed and ready to lunge at her friend. Rather he would or not, she wouldn't know for a few more seconds. Shooting a sympathetic 'I am so fucking sorry' look towards April, Ariel took a deep breath in an effort to calm her nerves as she waited on anyone to respond.

[LovelyComplex]

Chrissie McCoy had no malicious intent. All she wanted to do was instill doubt in her friend, and enemy. She and Carter had a complicated relationship. Unfortunately, first impressions do last forever. When they met, freshmen year, and he opened his damn month, Chrissie knew this boy would be the bane of her existence, continuously testing her patience because of his deep-seated conviction. That moment would define how they treated one another up until present day.

Now? Things would change. Things would become far worse. There was no doubt that she found some kind of sick enjoyment in causing him uncertainty — causing him pain. That being said, with Stella being heavily involved with him at the moment, because she was so 'madly' in love, there was no way in hell Chris would let them be with each other peacefully.

Stella didn't know any better! Obviously, her cousin was easy prey. It was Chris' job to show her that dating wasn't worth it in high school. If anyone knew better, it was surely Chris. Seeing how she fell for the same trap. After putting in her combination, the Starlet threw her locker open, fully decorated to suit an aspiring Actress. Her mind came to a halt when a letter fell out and unceremoniously landed onto her right foot. There was only one person who would do that.

Jason.

Grimacing, she bent down, picked up the envelope, and debated ripping it. Examining the front, she ran her pointer finger on her name written in such delicate cursive. It could easily pass as calligraphy. Bringing the letter up, she subtly sniffed it, picking up on his cologne. There was a quick pain in her chest, before she snapped out of it. Instead of ruining his mother's stationary paper, she huffed her strands of hair out of her face and slipped it in her bag. She'll read it later, when she felt like it.

After gathering all her things for her first couple of classes, she closed her locker, spun the lock dial, and gingerly took out a Polaroid camera from her bag. Hanging the strap over her shoulder, she sauntered down the hall, contemplating what musicals to have the drama club vote for this semester. They had a week to decide before she needed to advertise the audition date. There was loud chatter coming down one hall, which caused curiosity to overflow within her. Turning to check, that curiosity was quickly turned into boredom, as Chris rolled her eyes in indifference. Looks like a tall boy was starting shit with typical problem people at King's like Kavi and Ariel. Aside from Julie. She was perfect and Chanel hyping her up was honestly a mood. Chris approved.

Yawn.

Turning her head back towards the general direction she was walking, Chris' once annoyed, exasperated frown rose into a wide grin. Lifting her Polaroid, she called out to her talented, musical friend, "Hey, Jasper! Smile, baby." She stuck out her tongue and didn't wait for his response. Snap! The photo was taken and slowly coming out. Once it was out, she gently waved it in the air, continuing toward him until she was right in front, blocking his way.

"Ready for the spring musical???" She said, with an eager, sing-song voice.

[Ejected]

_{Starring Stella Lambert and Carter Newton}

---

---

To say that Carter was happy to see Stella would be an understatement; in fact, he couldn't help but grin from ear to ear when he spotted her waving at him from down the hall. He always smiled when he saw Stella; her positive energy was infectious, and she never failed to brighten his day. This time, however, something was a little off. She seemed to be a little more fidgety than usual. He returned her hug with equal warmth, and then continued his stroll to class at a slower pace, this time with her by his side. "Hey Ma," Carter said, his smile slowly starting to fade, "It was alright, I guess. I got to go back to Cali for a lil while to see the rest of my family. But I bet it was nothing compared to traveling overseas. My parents stay leaving me behind whenever they go to some foreign country to handle their business or whatever..."

When Stella brought up Chrissie, it didn't take long for Carter to connect the dots; it explained why she seemed to be so nervous. It was no secret to anyone that Carter and Chrissie weren't exactly the best of friends, so it made sense as to why she'd be a little skeptical about their earlier conversation. "My conversations with Chrissie are always intense. It's Chrissie we're talking about," Carter said slowly, carefully thinking about what he was going to say next. "She was just telling me about your trip... something about Paris being the 'city for love.'"

“O-oh, I see.” On that mention, Stella’s wide smile of an honest joy faded into something reminiscent of confusion. Her eyes blinked rapidly as if she was trying to process what Carter just told her (if he looked close enough, he might see it). As she tried to not let it get to her, the previous feelings of unexplainable rage resurfaced, the same rage she was certain faded when she saw Carter. But it was back and threatening to ruin the visage of a seemingly-calm Stella. “So, what did she say exactly?” Stella asked, her voice on the verge of breaking but she managed to hold it together (for now).

Carter was too busy trying to piece his own thoughts together to notice that there was a certain shift within Stella. It took him a few moments to muster up the courage to say what he did next, and he almost instantly regretted doing so when it finally came spilling out. "She said that something happened. Nothing more, nothing less... but I can only assume from how she said it that, you know... you met someone while on your trip to Paris and fell in love or whatever. And I don't mean to sound super hurt or jealous or anything, I just thought we had something going. But maybe I was just reading things wrong."

Stella couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Well, okay that wasn’t accurate. She believed it. She knew her cousin inside and out. She knew Chrissie had a tendency to be dramatic but this? This? She couldn’t even bother to fathom how Chrissie Perez McCoy could do this to her. Stella thought Chrissie valued her more. She thought that Chrissie loved her and thought the world of her. The one person she wanted to spill the tea on her Paris adventure was the last person she thought would betray her like this. What hurt her the most right now wasn’t really the fact she told the story about her vacation nor was it even the fact that she told Carter (okay that had her feeling a little jilted) but it was that she left key parts out and now gave Carter the inaccurate impression of what really happened.

“No, that’s not--” Stella needed to choose her words carefully. Unlike her cousin with a loose tongue, Stella needed to make sure Carter knew the whole story and not just the parts that painted Stella in a bad light. “Yes, I went to Paris for winter break, that much was true. And again, yeah I ran into an old friend of mine. Maybe, for a moment, sparks flew and I was almost swept off my feet, but Carter…” She grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly, making sure she had his full attention. “I can’t stress this enough that I didn’t do anything. Marcel kissed me, but I stopped it because I didn’t feel for him what I think I might feel for you.” She spoke as clearly as she could but Lord knew her hand was shaking and her chest felt like it was on fire with how fast her heart was beating.

A wave of relief washed over Carter as he listened to Stella clear things up. While part of him was still a little jealous of this Marcel person, it felt good hearing that Stella might feel something for him. Of course, he believed everything that she said, and felt a little stupid for even entertaining what Chrissie had told him earlier. He gave Stella's hand a reassuring squeeze as he said, "It's okay, Stella. I understand." But something still didn't sit right with Carter; Even after he spoke these words to her, all the young man could think about in that moment was Chrissie McCoy. "I don't wanna sound rude, but maybe your cousin should mind the business that pays her." His tone was joking, of course, but he meant every single word that was said. While he and Chrissie always had their little feuds, this time she'd surely overstepped. Oh, how he couldn't wait to run into the little theater geek herself later on that day.

At his comment, Stella laughed. “She shouldn’t have blabbed about a story that wasn’t even hers to blab about!” She huffed, clearly still quite upset with her cousin. “I trusted her with that. Literally she was the first person I wanted to tell because, like, Carter I felt terrible for leaving her all by her lonesome while I was having a blast in France. And we always — always — swap stories about our adventures. But for her to do this to me?” Stella felt her head getting red hot with anger again. “I don’t even know. All I do know is Chrissie betrayed me and if she thinks I’m the same passive, naive girl I was before Christmas break, she has another thing coming.”

After her ranting episode, Stella felt a little better, though this was far from over. Paris did a lot for her confidence. Had this been last year, Stella might have been quick to forgive her best friend, or at the very least, try to understand why she’d do this. But now? Stella wasn’t going to be so naive.

[AlteredTundra]

"Sup Karchie?"

Sonny tried to play off what was quite obvious to him, as he saw the way that not only Archer's eyes fell on the connection Sonny and Marisol's hands had locked tight like a door with a heavy-duty lock. He wanted to downplay the shocking display of PDA. Maybe distracting Archer with some of his usual humor would work. Archer might scoff and make a comment about how unfunny "Torvald" is. Sonny wouldn't be opposed to that, especially when it came to not having to answer the elephant in the room and especially not after it might cause three of his closest friends to be mad at him.

So what was one to do? Embrace the obvious and just beat Archer and Kavan to the punch by addressing it or make unrelated small talk like the weather or how the new year has opened up bright, new possibilities? He stood there, contemplating as he did his best to maintain steady eye contact with Archer, though his eyes did occasionally switch from the dark-haired teen to his girlfriend. It was though Sonny was seeking an answer in hers just as much as he was with Kavan. Sonny could only imagine how awkward it was for him. Just a few silent moments more and Sonny sighed.

"Well..." Sonny lifted his arm that was connected to Marisol's, not giving a damn right now. "We're dating, okay? We wanted to keep it lowkey but Rye caught us in the middle of a very intimate moment," Sonny sighed once more, "you can't possibly imagine. I was about to give Marisol a morning she wouldn't remember. I was poised, she was ready, and then BAM!" Sonny clapped his free hand on his forehead. "Ryland Aspen walks into my room and the storm that was going to be brought to Planet Marisol was instead fucking up my equilibrium and yeah." Sonny ranted on for a bit longer as if he couldn't stop himself even if he wanted to. "Bottom line, Rye pissed at us and we sort of decided we didn't care about people not knowing. If they cared enough, they would ask us...sort of like you just did."

[Ejected]

Of course, Chanel was right behind Julie MacMillan when she decided to approach the growing group of students in the hall and take matters into her own hands; part of Chanel was glad that it was Julie who had taken the lead, because if it had been her instead, she wouldn't have been anywhere near as calm and collected as her best friend seemed to be. Another part, however, wished that she'd acted on impulse and did exactly what she'd been itching to do since the moment she found out who the real Kavi Salvador was: give him a good old slap across the face.

As far as Chanel saw it, Kavi was the root of all of the drama that was starting to unfold. It was he who decided to kiss April in front of practically the entire Senior class on Halloween, all while knowing that he had a girl like Ariel in his corner. It was Kavi who had April unwillingly roped into this little mess. Kavi was the problem. Not Ariel, not April, not the tall guy who looked like he came straight out of Teen Beach Movie... Kavi. Acting on instinct as she watched things unfold, Chanel grabbed hold of April's hand and took a couple of steps back. "You already know we got you, girl," Chanel muttered to April as she watched Julie shove the tall, long-haired boy backwards.

"And uh, who the hell is this guy?" But soon, Julie had the guy pinned against the lockers, and Chanel couldn't help but smile and internally cheer the young woman on as she read him to filth. "Period!" Chanel shouted, agreeing completely with everything Julie had said. It didn't take long for Ariel to step in and defend the guy; Chanel rolled her eyes in disappointment before listening to what else she had to say. It was only after then that Chanel gently tugged on Julie's arm, signaling her to back off.

"You know what, I think it's time that we remove ourselves from this situation," Chanel said to the group, directing most of what she had to say next to April and Ariel. "April doesn't need to deal with all of this petty bullshit... the stress isn't good for the baby. And actually, I don't think that all of what this Ryland guy had to say was all wrong. I mean, he shouldn't have called you out your name like he's ya father, that's for sure. But I don't appreciate you being all passive aggressive towards one of my best friends because your man is a trifling ass cheater. Focus all that negative energy on him instead, okay? And April, girl.... what the hell are you thinking?" And without warning, Chanel suddenly took the PS4 out of her friends' hands and tucked it under her free arm.

"This is what we're not gonna do. I'm sure that my brother Andre... or whatever other faithful and deserving person we give this shit to, will love their new system. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm not trying to be late to first period." And with that, Chanel began to walk away from the group, the sound of her platform heels echoing through the halls as she did so.

[spooner]

He could still hear his cousin’s cackle coming from behind the closing door. Max leaned back against the wall laughing quietly as he buckled his belt not knowing what else to do. He bent down to grab his white shirt and blazer from the floor quickly putting them on before sitting down beside Ariana. “Well…” he said smiling widely at the brunette, the lacrosse captain sat quietly looking down at his fidgety hands. As Ariana had said this had been something that had been in the works for a long time. And even though Kellie had left him, Max couldn’t help but feel like he was doing something wrong. But he wasn’t though… right? He decided to shake that feeling off for now.

Instead, Max turned his attention back to the beauty sitting next to him by caressing her cheek “Hey… Are you ok?” he asked, even though he didn’t really care about his cousin seeing him in this awkward position, but Ariana probably does not have the same laidback feeling about the whole situation. “I’ll have a talk with Archie… make sure he doesn’t go around blabbing about this.” he said rubbing the back of his neck before he finished up buttoning his shirt. As he did so he got a quick look at his watch “Oh shit!” he exclaimed quickly throwing on his blazer. “If I don’t get my ass to algebra Mr. Russo will kill me!” he said checking his reflection in one of the mirrors running his hand through his messy hair trying to make it not look like sex hair.

“I already have way too many late notices in his class.” he let out a sigh “And that guy already hates me for some reason!” he let out his booming laugh grabbing his bag from the floor. He turned to face her again his hand resting on the door handle “Are you ready to go?” he asked holding out his free hand.

[Venus]

The second Archer’s judgmental eyes fell on their intertwined hands, her knuckles whitened with the sudden strength of her grip, and Marisol’s chewing became more frantic. She knew she really shouldn't be this nervous about sharing the news with her brother from another family. But after Ryland's disapproving reaction and the negative opinions Archer had harbored towards Sonny for as long as they had all known each other, it was hard to keep a positive mindset about this whole thing. Whatever explanation the short girl been carefully crafting on the way to meet her friend vanished on the spot, and she turned to helplessly at Sonny like a fish out of water. It seemed her boyfriend had caught on to her sudden inability to speak, and decided to take matters in his own hands. What she didn’t expect was the way that Sonny would explain to both Archer and Kavan their current relationship status.

The green-eyed girl was quiet for the duration of her boyfriend’s explanation, staring at him in amusement while he elaborated on how he’d been cock-blocked about twenty minutes before and why they’d decided to just say ‘fuck it’. But as soon as her eyes fell on the faces Archer was making at the amount of unwanted details Sonny was sharing, Mari succumbed to a fit of laughter.

“Well, I guess that answers it,” she eventually cackled once she’d caught her breath, wiping away the tears before shooting both Archer and Kavan apologetic looks and focusing on her best friend. “Look, Archie: I’m sorry we didn’t say anything earlier. I was kind of worried about how you’d take the news, especially after how horrified you were the first time I told you Sonny and I hooked up,” she explained with a small shrug. “If it makes you feel any better, you guys are the first people we’ve actually told. Our families don’t even know, and they don’t suspect a thing. It’s been a wild four weeks-- that’s for sure.”

[Bee]

---

After the little ordeal involving Jack and Georgie, Jack decided he needed to clear his head. Class could wait. Class was useless when his head in the right place. Pretty much anything and everything was useless if his head wasn't in the right place. Life? Life was a mental game. If your head wasn't in the game, you were losing the game. Jack's head wasn't in the game when he was talking to what's her face earlier and as a result that whole shitfest happened. So, he'd wandered off around campus just to clear his head.

What was wrong with Jack wanting to clear his head? It wasn't like they were going to stop this school's premiere wide receiver and get him into shit. No way. Besides, he was skipping some stupid elective he had to take in order to have just the right amount of credits for him to play sports. It was stupid, but that was one rule he couldn't weasel his way out of. Making his way around, he spotted a rather familiar figure in the distance. Was Jack in the mood to talk to someone? It was something he was weighing as they got closer and closer to each other. The time to decide was pretty much gone now, and he had decided he was gonna interact.

Lo and behold, he was about 88.26% sure that it was the fuckin' turbo nerd girl. Shawna, was it?

"Yo! What up?" Jack said, looking at her as the two passed by, "Hanging out or just making your way somewhere?"

[Bee]

---

Carrying onto class as originally planned, Nicole was relieved that she had avoided a rather catastrophic incident in the life of Ms. Nicole Monica Milano. How would she ever live down having the wrong binder and not have her English binder in class? Just thinking about it made her sick to her stomach, and she was so glad that she had avoided such an incident. Nicole was in her own little bubble right now, and she was pretty content and happy with herself right now. Life was good. She had the right binder, the right mindset, hell her outfit was feeling itself now. There was no stopping Nicole.

Nicole was gingerly making her way to class, looking but not really looking at people. A lot of these faces blended together for her was there were quite a bit of people at this school. Not much to fault her for, Nicole didn't exactly have the mental capacity to process so many faces and attach names to them. She didn't have time to, either. However, there were also quite a few faces that she would recognize almost immediately. Some people she regularly talked to, and the others she just talked to once or twice in a blue moon and and accidentally remembered their name and face.

This upcoming face, however, was not going to be one that Nicole was ever going to miss. She'd rather die than forget this face and not recognize one of the coolest people to ever grace the face of this planet. "Sunshine! Girl, oh my god! Where ya been? I've missed you so much!" Nicole smiled, pulling a hand from underneath her binder to wave hi to one of her cheer homies.

[Sugar and Spite]

__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

Making his way down the hall, Jasper wouldn't be pulled from his current train of thought until he was blinded by a flash of light. Of course he had heard Chrissie's voice. What she was saying just hadn't registered in his mind yet until he was temporarily blinded. But that was Chrissie for you. A shinning star. A brilliant, blinding flash of light. The woman was an absolute hurricane, but in the best of ways that brightened your day instead of destroying everything in her path (though she had the potential to do that, too).

Rubbing the ability back to see into his eyes, Jasper couldn't help but let a small smile spread across his face in defeat.

"You could kill someone like that, you know?" he said jokingly. Spots still in his eyes, he did his best to focus on his friend as he came to a stop in the hallway, all thoughts of the person that he wanted to talk to fading away. They were preoccupied at the moment, and something told him that while Chris seemed in a good mood, something was off. Maybe it was the way her smile didn't light up her whole face like normal. Maybe it was the feeling in his stomach. Who knew?

"Ah. I've been working on some of those songs you gave me from the list. Getting the timing right, the notes. Just another day in the life of your favorite Piano Man. How's life been treating you?"

[Sugar and Spite]

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

Being in a relationship her senior year at Kings Academy was not at all how Sunshine would have pictured herself to be in the current moment. Was she regretting the path that the universe had chosen for her? No, not exactly, but sometimes she longed to be back in New York with her family still intact. Thankfully, the sunshine of Florida and the few friends she had made here so far were a good replacement. Walking down the school hall, Sunshine truly felt like she was walking along cloud nine as she opened the door to her locker.

The knots in her stomach and sweaty palms all through out winter break had been worth it. She had taken the leap with Shawna, and she was more than glad that she had. Maybe this was a sign to start taking more leaps of faith. Be smart with it, of course, but maybe be more open about getting what she wanted. Only time could tell.

Grabbing her books for her first class, Sunshine had just closed the door to her locker when she heard a familiar voice call out to her. Looking up, she would see none other than her buddy from the cheer squad, Nicole. Waving back with a smile, Sunshine began walking the other girls way to close the space between them.

"Hey chick! I've not been up to that much, really. Went to New York for break, spent some time with Shawna. Just usual stuff. Yourself?"

[SpicyMeatball]

"I'm not going to pretend like all is forgiven or forgotten. It'll take me some time to move past everything, but I really appreciate the apology and the gift - though you really didn't have to spend that much money. Congratulations on a little girl, by the way."

April sent the black-haired girl a warm smile and a nod of understanding. She knew that this whole ordeal was far from over, but it was a situation that desperately needed at least somewhere to start. A place to begin the reparations that needed to be made between herself, Ariel and Kavi. Hopefully it would be a smooth ride and the three of them could eventually all get along like the civilized adults they almost were.

Hopefully.

She knew that Ariel could be a bit of a loose cannon, but if her attitude going forward was anything like today then April felt like things would go well. Assuming nothing happened to ruin it down the road.

"You know, it's been a while since I've had to punch a bitch, and I'll gladly do it for April and my future niece's sake."

April couldn’t help but break out a wicked little grin when she saw both Chanel and Julie roll up with borderline perfect timing. The cavalry's here motherfucker she thought to herself, looking to Ryland with a less than impressed look. She was about to say something when the new stranger shoved back Kavi between herself and Ariel. The fuck was he thinking? That he could come in here without a warning and just shove people around? That’s all this school needed, another dumbass guy that didn’t know when to back off.

"April, sorry for intruding, but I think you should just leave.”

April couldn’t help but stifle a laugh before looking at him with false disbelief. “Really? You roll up here like you’re tough shit, intrude into a conversation that has nothing to do with you, and then expect me to walk off like nothing happened? Yeah, somehow I doubt you’re really sorry asshole. Back off and get lost, I’m not going anywhere.”

To reassure Ryland of her point, April stepped forward just a bit now that Julie stood in front of her and with Chanel at her side. She shot a look that just screamed Whatcha gonna do about it? towards Ryland just as he called out at Ariel. And just as April’s mouth opened to intervene, her eyes widened as Julie took Ryland all the way to the lockers opposite of the group, pinning him there.

“Don’t mess with the Trinity new guy!” she grinned, looking at Chanel with a grateful smile before hugging her from the side. “You guys are the best. Perfect timing as usual."

For the first time since this whole thing started, April looked back to Ariel to make sure she was alright, because despite the rocky terrain they may have been on before, April found herself giving a shit about the raven-haired girl. She didn’t deserve all this. April nodded in reassurance when Ariel shot her the apologetic look, taking in a deep breath just before Chanel ripped the PS4 from April’s hands. “Hey!”

"You know what, I think it's time that we remove ourselves from this situation, April doesn't need to deal with all of this petty bullshit... the stress isn't good for the baby. And actually, I don't think that all of what this Ryland guy had to say was all wrong. I mean, he shouldn't have called you out your name like he's ya father, that's for sure. But I don't appreciate you being all passive aggressive towards one of my best friends because your man is a trifling ass cheater. Focus all that negative energy on him instead, okay? And April, girl.... what the hell are you thinking?"

“I didn’t know how else to apologize to Kavi for fucking his relationship up. And I know everyone loves to take a side against him, but ultimately it was me who made the first move on him.” April sighed, looking at Chanel and then down to the gift wrapped box she held. “I suppose your point’s fair enough though, sorry Kavi. I can’t match Chanel.” she shrugged with a well shit smile before watching Chanel walk off, talking about giving the gift to someone worthy or something.

April took in one final deep breath before turning back to the rest of the group, particularly directing her...mixed bag of emotions, at Ryland. “You see the shit you stirred up? Are you happy Ryland? Like jesus fucking christ I was just trying to fix shit and you come in here like a frieght train. Take a seat and calm down. April took a breath before turning to Ariel and Kavi “This is not the way I wanted this to go at all, and while it really wasn’t my fault I do feel a certain need to apologize again.

“I’m sorry, Ariel and Kavi.”

[Venus]

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

As Archer left the room with Kavan in tow, Ariana and Max were once again left to their own devices. The young woman was silent as she snatched her freshly-wrinkled blouse from the locker room floor and occupied herself with buttoning it, doing the same with her blazer. Soon she felt Max’s gentle touch on her cheek, nodding at his question of how she was doing and offering him a smile. But when he mentioned he would talk to Archer about not speaking about what he had witnessed, Ariana could only snort. Anyone with half a brain would know that it wasn’t shame what was keeping the brunette quiet, but rather the possibility of a potential opportunity getting ruined. What had happened (or, rather, what she had said happened) between her and Warren Diedrikson had been means to an end: a tool to effectively speed up the process of her climb up the social ladder. To have the past brought back this suddenly in front of Max made her sick with the worry of losing a chance she’d been wanting to get for years now.

She didn’t have much time to wallow in her own self-pity, though. Max’s sudden exclamation startled her and made her jump back to her senses. She shot him a questioning look, but an answer was quickly provided when the blond male explained how ‘Mr. Russo’ would kill him if he was late again and how he thought the older man ‘hated him for some reason’. It took all of Ariana’s self control to not burst into a fit of laughter. She could very well think of an excellent reason as to why Mr. Russo would hold a vendetta against his student, but it would be far too unprofessional and incriminating. So as bad as it sounded, the young woman was thankful for Max’s low IQ and lack of punctuality providing the perfect cover for her older lover’s dislike.

“You’ve got to admit that was fun…” Ariana purred in his ear as soon as the door closed behind them, pinning Max against the wall with her own body and peppering his neck with kisses. “I just wish there was a way to finish what we started. I mean, we were literally just getting started. Let’s just skip the first period and go back to your place. Mr. Russo can kiss my ass.”

[NeoAJ]

---

It was weird. It was like hugging a long-lost relative or picking up a puppy for the first time. That feeling so unfamiliar, yet instantly comforting. Something that one didn't know they were looking for, but are much better off having found it anyway. It was so warm.

That's the best way Shawna could describe how she felt when she took Sunshine's hand. Even after her newly-christened girlfriend departed to prepare for classes, that feeling remained, even when Shawna was left by herself. It felt like the void didn't have the upper hand for once.

And there wasn't the fluctuating doubt that was there with Kellie. That sense that were things were fine but always teetering on an edge. Sunshine wasn't playing coy. Sunshine seemed to be all in on this. Hell, she was the one who pushed the issue. She was as committed as Shawna wanted to be, and that was something to be treasured. She got something she didn't know she needed. In the tempest that her life had become, she had suddenly found a rock to cling onto.

It's why Shawna was in a surprisingly good mood for a change. At least without the help of various pills or plants or concoctions. There was a lightness to her step that had been vacant for quite some time. There was an actual desire to go into school, and there wasn't anything that could really bring her down at the moment.

"Yo! What up? Hanging out or just making your way somewhere?"

Nope. Not even that. A quick glance confirmed the speaker. It was hard not to recognize one of the alpha jocks of King's Academy. Jack Goff. Even the name sounded way too appropriate for someone of his stature, but Shawna used to be above such crude jokes. That wasn't the case anymore. It was hard not to have contempt for a boy who got to where he was just by having vast amounts of quick-twitch muscle fibers that allowed him to speed around arenas and fields faster than it should be possible at his age. She certainly had it before.

Yet now, in this midst of one of the purest highs of her life, Shawna couldn't work up the annoyance for someone who literally never spoke to her. There was confusion, sure. Why is he speaking to me? Boredom? Outdated mockery? Do women give off a special pheromone when they are coming off a sapphic moment that just attracts guys hoping for a spectacle? It was enough to get her to stop moving. There was another boy. Chad... something. She couldn't remember him from anywhere. But Jack clearly commanded the lion's share of attention.

Shawna pivoted with an eyebrow raised at the brunette. "Well, I thought about going somewhere else today, but I guess I ended up here anyway, so that failed. So yeah, probably heading to class at some point. Why?" Might as well get an answer to her question.

[Ejected]

---

---

Much like his boyfriend, Kavan couldn't help but continue laughing as the pair exited the locker rooms and headed back towards their next classes. That surely was an interesting way to start their Monday morning off. "I could've gone the rest of my life without seeing that," Kavan said with a shake of his head, trying his hardest to erase the images of Ariana being bent over a wooden bench by Max Wallenberg out of his mind. "I think I'm permanently scarred, now."

Soon, the two had started down the main hallway once more, and it wasn't long before they spotted none other than Sonny and Marisol. Kavan offered his two friends a warm smile as they approached, this smile only faltering slightly when his eyes landed upon their intertwined hands. Almost instantly, the gears started turning in Kavan's head, and he subsequently came to a sudden realization: Mari and Sonny were a thing now. As Sonny began his spiel, it took every ounce of strength in Kavan's body to keep him from gagging at the sight of the small bruises on each of their necks; Just the thought of the two of them kissing, let alone fucking, made him want to hurl. "You could've left out a few of those details..." Kavan said under his breath as he cast a shocked look at Archer.

And then came the apology from Marisol, to which Kavan simply offered her an understanding nod. "Welp, as long as you two are happy together, I guess that's all that matters, right?" The young man said, trying to lighten the mood. "We love you guys, so you'll always have our support... you know, as long as the PDA is kept to a minimum." His tone was joking, of course, but he definitely meant every single word.

It was then that another thought popped into Kavan's head. "And you said that Ryland walked in on you guys earlier? Sheesh... What a way to start off the semester, huh? I wonder how he's doing now that he's gotten a chance to become re-familiarized with King's."

[AlteredTundra]

It was a known fact throughout Kings that those within the Unholy Trinity clique, which was to say only three had official membership, were to be feared by all. Now, it wasn’t so much the fact they were scary by themselves. Chanel was confident and in complete control of her emotions (for the most part) but she wasn’t the first thing that came to mind whenever Kavi thought of something truly terrifying nor was Julie and most certainly not April. Alone, they were harmless. You could pick on them and they wouldn’t post a threat to anyone that dared trifle on them.

No, what truly made them to be literally unholy to deal with was their sisterhood. Yes, alone they were weak but together? Well, to put it a different way: Caesar was nothing alone but together apes strong!

Ryland would learn this the hard way. Kavi was enjoying it, of course, because amidst his own poor choice of words -- something Kavi swore he was better at -- Ryland had done a lot worse because he had not only interjected himself into a conversation he had no business being in the first place, he pissed off Ariel. Kavi knows what hell that can bring a person from a painful personal experience. At the same time, Kavi really wanted to punch him for what he said to Ariel. Kavi felt this excessive need to let him have it. He balled his fists up too and was preparing himself to take aim and swing wildly.

But that’s when Julie McMillan beat him to the punch.

Kavi’s body loosened up and he smiled -- grinned in fact -- as the obnoxious (not to mention rude) Ryland found himself between a rock and a fiercely protective aunt-to-be. As she tried to set him straight, Kavi felt somewhat attacked by her alpha male comment. “I’ll just let that one slide.” He rolled his eyes, trying to divert his attention away from Julie and her slave but his girlfriend wouldn’t allow that to happen as she pleaded with Queen Jules to let her friend go. “For all we know, he’s liking the attention,” Kavi shrugged. No love was lost between him and Ryland and he found this as karma doing him a favor for a change.

For a brief moment, Kavi was certain things were going to settle. April offered an apology, Ryland was getting what he deserved. It was all going perfect, but of-fucking-course, Kavi Salvador just couldn’t get what he wanted for a change. No, because Chanel Martin had to pull a Ryland and say her piece. He usually enjoyed watching her grill someone. She had it down to an artform and Kavi was rather impressed with how much she cared for April. That was something they had in common (aside from being incredibly beautiful young adults).

This was not one of those times.

Kavi could handle her attacking him. He knew he put a strain on some people who felt he didn’t change enough to earn Ariel’s trust back. And that was okay. Kavi couldn’t control the way most felt about his past actions. Ariel was the only one whose opinion he cared about. But when Chanel felt the need to attack her in addition to throwing some shade his way was pretty low, even for her. This wasn’t going to stand. He didn’t care about the PS4 right now. Chanel made it fucking personal.

“Now how is that fair, Chanel?” He asked her, stepping forward. “How many times do I have to explain it to you and Queen fucking Jules over there, huh? How many times do I have to prove myself to everyone judging me with their eyes just because I’m back with Ariel?” It was exhausting for him to hear everyone saying shit behind his back and thinking that they were entitled to an opinion about him. “Between you and the tool over there,” he glanced over to Ryland, “I’m over this whole crusade that I’m such a horrible person, that I’m this evil villain. But in case any of you forgot, I wasn’t the one who started the kiss. Sure, I didn’t pull away when I should have. I bet nobody cares about that, huh?” As he thought his anger couldn't get any higher, Chanel started to walk away. That was when Kavi threw all hopes of coming out of this as the mature one and decided to tell Chanel how he really felt. “Yeah, go on and walk away! Fucking hypocritical btich!” He made sure to shout it loud enough for anyone within earshot to hear him.

[spooner]

Julie let her eyes travel up and down the new guy as Ariel explained who he was and asked her to back off. The redhead took a step backward still looking straight into Ryland’s eyes. She hated to admit it, but he was incredibly handsome which was probably why he felt entitled to act like a douchebag and get away with it. Julie turned her head toward Ariel “If you say so…” she huffed and stepped back when Chanel grabbed her arm. Julie crossed her arms in front of her still staring down the new long-haired dude.

As Chanel started her rant Julie couldn’t do anything else but listen and nod along with her best friend. Even though she might not agree with everything that Chanel was saying, she would back her no matter what.

Being scolded by Chanel seemed to have struck a nerve with Kavi. It could be seen in his face that Julie had been studying as her friend had a go at him. When he began to spill his own comeback the MacMillan girl couldn’t help herself with stepping in and challenging the utter crap that he was throwing at them.

“Oh you think that’s the reason we would judge you?!” she scoffed taking a step closer to Kavi. “You think we care that you got back together Ariel?! No, that judgment is reserved for the girl herself!” she said gesturing towards Ariel. “You’re lucky a girl like her even looks your way let alone have you touch her.” Julie spat viciously. “You want to know why people paint you as a villain… an evil guy? It’s because that’s what you fucking are!” her blue eyes were blazing as she stepped even closer to the young man.

Julie didn’t swear a lot because she felt it was classless but in this situation, she felt it was a necessity. “Do you think you bullying half of our grade would go unnoticed? Do you think we would forget how you treated poor Elijah Abrams?! Or that we haven’t heard what you say about us? Grow the fuck up Salvadore!” venom was dripping from every word the woman was throwing Kavi’s way.

Having to deal with two of the biggest assholes of King’s Academy in one morning was proving too much for Julie to handle. She took a deep steadying breath before she continued. “The Halloween kiss is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to why we do not like you.” she was done with him and the whole situation and was just about to follow Chanel’s advice and remove herself from the scene. But, as she started to walk after her best friend Kavi decided to call Chanel a bitch. It was like something snapped inside of the redheaded girl.

With a swift turn, Julie bounded back towards Kavi raising her left arm and bringing it down with as much force she could muster slapping the boy across the face. The noise of her open palm connecting with Kavi’s cheek rung through the hallway.

“Don’t you EVER talk to her like that” Julie almost screamed at him before shoving him as hard as she could. “Best of luck with that!” she offered to Ariel before turning on her heel stomping off following Chanel.