[IC] Palm Beach Royals: Senior Year

[Okonuki]

Bea seemed to hesitate, staring at his hand like it was some kind of strange, foreign object. Her eyes flitted from his hand to his face, as if confused as to why he was extending it. Finally, she reached out and took his in hers. Her handshake seemed soft and hesitant. Maybe he was coming on a little too strong- it seemed like talking was a little out of her easy reach.
Her fingers curled around his and he grinned again. Her grasp was light, hesitant, like she was scared he was going to pull her from her chair.

‘It’s okay. I don’t bite,’ he teased. She smiled back and it seemed to match the rest of her- timid and small. He relaxed the shake and she pulled her hand back into her lap like she was darting away from the edge of a cliff.

‘I’m Beatrice Endive. Bea for short.’

Endive? Like the vegetable? Bea was a nice name though. He had never known a Beatrice before.

‘Charmed, I’m sure.’

Bea looked back at the map she’d drawn, her face falling back into an impassive sheet.

"To watch newbies suffer, I'm sure. Or perhaps to force people to make friends. Either way, they probably find it entertaining," she said, answering his earlier question.

He laughed. ‘Well hey, I’m making friends. So I guess it’s working, huh?’

She turned back to the front, where Gomez was pulling a large bundle of what looked disturbingly like pop quizzes from his desk draw. The classroom was almost full now and there were only a couple empty seats left at the back - the ‘troublemakers’ section.

Bea turned her head back again to look at Jords, slumping like a bad mood.

"You know... You don't have to force yourself to talk to me. You can just take what you need from me until you find people you like."

‘Really? Sweet! Can I have your lunch money and your phone?’ he said, letting out a barking laugh.

‘Just joking.. What makes you think I don’t like you? I’ve only been talking to you for five minutes and it’s not like you’ve been a dick. I’m not about to turn around and ditch you as soon as I see another person walk in.’

[mickilennial]

---

Palm Beach, Florida
August 14th, 2018

---

“That must've felt like five hours for you.”

Jun smirked, hands pushed inside the pockets of his pants as he casually came up from behind Sonny and the rest of the group. He hadn't spent too long in his car as he prepared to meet up with the group. He had to admit that he would've met up with Sonny already if he hadn't been distracted by the amazing spectacle in the school parking lot. Not that he was interested in getting involved, but it was the sort of thing that everyone wanted to watch and he wasn't opposed to viewing great entertainment especially if it did not involve him personally. Hell, he was almost tempted to record the whole thing for shiggles. But alas, he didn't want the wrath to be directed upon him for such a “misdeed”. Still, he recorded it in his mind.

He looked over to the rest of the group. “Sorry about being late. There was some good TV happening and I didn't want to miss it.”

[Venus]

At her words, Archer had made a face at Marisol, who replied with a chuckle. And when the taller guy let her know she was the only prince he needed, the girl’s mouth spread out into a wide grin.

“Damn right I am. I’ll make all your dirtiest dreams come true, baby,” she told Archie with a fake seductive male voice, shooting him a wink and a kiss. Before Archer could reply to her teasing comment, a familiar male voice spoke up about the events that had recently transpired in the school parking lot.

"Johnny-boy being a dramatic dick, as usual? It's too early in the morning and in the school year for that shit."

“FINALLY!!! Someone who agrees with me!” Marisol exclaimed, raising her hands in the air in a sign of celebration. “Thank you, Van. I’m glad I’m not the only one who sees it,” she told the newcomer, fist-bumping him before shooting Archer an ‘I told you so’ look. “Make sure to tell our buddy Archer here that a few extra times to see if it’ll finally get through that thick-ass skull of his.”

Whether Kavan repeated his statement or not Mari would never know. Just then, Airi Price made their way towards them, the widest of grins on her face.

“S’up, Sushi?” Marisol greeted with a nod the one was perhaps her only female friend in the Universe. “The fuck took you so long?”

"Hey, sorry I'm late and that I smell like five guys, I got real hungry."

Mari waved a dismissive hand. “Dude, don’t apologize. I get it. Food goes-”

Before she could say anything else, the girls were interrupted by some random Asian chick calling out Airi’s name and running towards them. The brunette raised a questioning eyebrow at her, silently wondering who the fuck she was and what the fuck could she want with any of them. Her questions were answered when Airi grinned at the Asian and pointed at her neck, and the girl in question pulled out the school tie and began to tie it around her neck while engaging in conversation.

"I could make this real tight you know," Marisol heard the unknown girl say to Airi at one point, and the suggestive grin that immediately spread on her face could be seen from a mile away.

“Fuck, that’s kinky. I dig that gay shit,” Sol muttered to Archer with her tongue sticking out. She sobered up when the girl finished tying up Airi’s tie and both females turned in their direction.

"This is Grace, by the way. Best person. She's been putting up with my shit for years." Sushi said with a chuckle.

This Grace chick replied with a small wave. "Nice to meet you."

Marisol had opened her mouth to reply when a grumpy voice called out: “You guys really suck. You kept me waiting for a whole five minutes.”

“Yes, good morning to you too, Sunshine,” Marisol replied, sticking her tongue out and smirking at the young man in response to his stink-eye.

Most people would find Sonny Drake’s abrasive comments and overall persona obnoxious, annoying and overall just difficult to deal with. In fact, that was indeed the general sentiment that the majority of the school population shared. But when you were raised alongside the dumbass, you got to see him in ways nobody else would. In the eighteen years she had known him, Marisol knew that if you looked past his bad-boy attitude, Son really was a cool dude. Not that long ago, Sol had wished that more people got the chance to get to know her best friend better instead of making assumptions based on brief interactions. But after the events of that summer? Mari wanted nothing more than to keep the Sonny she knew a secret to everybody else.

“Behave, Dipshit,” Marisol warned Sonny with a teasing smirk, punching him lightly in the arm. Little did he know about the raging battle going on insider her since that fateful night on July the Fourth. She hoped it stayed that way. “Too early to get under people’s skin. At least give us till like lunch, k?”

“That must've felt like five hours for you.”

“Hey there, J,” Marisol greeted Jun, bumping fists with one fifth of The Misfits and smirking at the thought of the upcoming back-and-forth that would be happening between the Asian boy and Sonny. Out of the five members of the infamous clique, Jun was perhaps the most harmless of them all. Although sarcastic and quick to make fun of others, he did so in a way that was meant to be funny instead of offensive or insulting. In all honesty, he amused Mari, and wasn’t half-bad to stare at... Not that she would ever think about him like that, of course.

“Ey Mari! We need to book it if we want to make it to English!”

In regular circumstances, Marisol would have told Archer to fuck English, and that Gomez could suck her dick if he had anything to say about them being late. But today seemed to be a day of exceptions, because the young woman grasped at the lifeline her best friend had just inadvertently thrown at her. She needed to get Archer in private before she would explode.

“As much as I would love to stay and chat, there’s some gay-ass shit I need to talk to Arch about, so I’ll catch you guys at lunch,” the green-eyed girl told Sonny and Jun, sliding off the Saab’s trunk. She then turned to Airi and Grace. “Sush, I’ll catch up with you at The Shack after school. Gracie, nice to meet you, dude.” Finally, Marisol turned to Kavan. “Van, my man, sorry to take Archie away from ya, but I’m sure he’ll catch up with you somehow, k? See ya around. And keep the hair and liner, dude. Makes you look real good.”

With one last wave to the group, Marisol linked Archer’s arm with her own and dragged the taller guy away. Only when she was certain the others were out of earshot did the young woman finally speak. “Arch, I know you’re going to kill me… But there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

[Sugar and Spite]

---

---

”Shit, shit, shit…” Raven muttered angrily, slinging the warm blankets from her body. She was angry at herself for not hearing the alarm like she usually did. Typically, Trip would have woken up at five, did some house cleaning, cooked, and performed her morning ritual. Now, she hastily threw on her school uniform, tied her hair back and rushed to the bathroom to brush her teeth - all while dodging her brothers.

“Nice to see you’re alive, Sleeping Beauty,” said Brandon. “Thought you were in a coma there for a bit.”

”Bite me, dip shit,” she replied with a sigh. ”You could have woke me up!”

The elder boy shrugged. “I didn’t want to poke the bear. Though, if it helps, I did get the twins and Zach on the bus. Jasper and Sam were waiting on you to say goodbye before they’d let me drive them.”

Quickly walking back to her room, Trip would give herself a quick once over in the mirror before grabbing her book bag and rushing down stairs, her two youngest siblings waiting for her at the bottom. Samuel lunged, wrapping his arms around her waist in the tightest hug he could, while Jasper graciously accepted her ruffling his hair. ”You two behave for B. And your teachers. Have fun. Be safe.” She gave them each both a quick peck on the cheek before walking out the door, deciding to walk. Brandon was taking the car, and though she had woken up late, school was only a ten minute walk from the house - seven if she rushed, which she did.

Pausing conveniently in the middle of the crowd while checking her schedule on her phone, she would see that she had English for first period. She could work with that… if she didn’t have Gomez teaching her. Unfortunately, she did.

Cursing silently as she shoved her phone in her back pocket, Raven would make an effort to straighten her tie, currently oblivious to the rest of the world.

[Sugar and Spite]

---

---

It seemed as if Ariel hadn’t been doing that much sleeping lately. With last night being another restless night, she had found herself sneaking out her bedroom window to go walk on the shoreline of the beach. The beach was easily one of her favorite places on earth, and she tended to come here more often than not in order to clear her head. Though no major thoughts were running through her head, there was the fact that in a few short hours, she would begin her final year at Kings Academy - something that made her nervous and excited at the same time.

Around four in the morning, she would return to the comfort of her bedroom, shutting the window quietly behind her. It was from there that she would flop down upon her bed, staring at the ceiling. Somewhere along the line, however, she must have fallen asleep. The sound of the alarm woke her with a start as she reached for her phone to turn it off. ”Alarms are the work of Satan,” she grumbled before climbing out of bed to take a shower. Two hours of sleep was nowhere near enough. Soon enough she was dressed and ready to go, her damp hair braided to the side for the day.

Coming into the living room, she would see a familiar, yet unusual scene before her. Papers detailing her father's latest court case littered the coffee table while he sat on the couch. That part was familiar. The pretty dark haired woman sitting on the couch beside Trillian was indeed, not familiar. Thank the gods she was saved from a small amount of embarrassment by her father introducing her to the stranger shortly after she walked in the room.

“Ah, Serafina. Good morning,” he said, his tone one of false happiness, though no one who didn’t know him well would never notice. “This is Diana. She’s been helping me with the case. Diana, this is my daughter -”

”Ariel,” said Ariel. No one called her Serafina but her father, and she preferred it that way. Taking another look at Diana, Ariel had a suspicion that she had been helping her father with more than just a court case, seeing how she seemed far more comfortable than any other of his associates that she had ever met. ”It was really nice meeting you, Diana, but I should get going,” she said with a small smile, heading towards the door.

“Be safe,” her father called after her. “I’d hate for you to get hurt!”

Ariel waited until she was outside, unlocking the door to her Impala, before scoffing and rolling her eyes. Since when did he care if she got hurt? He was the one that had done most of the hurting practically her whole life. Climbing inside and shutting the door, she took a deep breath while shoving the thought out of her mind. This was supposed to be a happy day,and she was determined to make it one.

Arriving at Kings Academy, Ariel would get caught up in a conversation with a few of her friends, allowing the first bell to ring in the process. Cursing under her breath, she walked into Mr. Gomez’s class approximately thirty seconds late.

“Miss Grey,” he said, his voice loud enough to cause most of the attention in the class to come her way. “Nice of you to join us.”

The young woman muttered something incoherent as she made her way towards the few open seats in the back of the class.

“What was that,” Gomez asked. “You’ll have to speak up. I couldn’t hear you.”

Tempted not to answer at first, Ariel now felt cornered. Multiple pairs of eyes were resting upon her, and the teachers tone had been way less than friendly. Add that to two hours of sleep, and you ended up with a snide remark. ”I said for it to be so early in the morning, you sure are being a total dick, Mr. Gomez. All do respect, of course.”

The mans nostrils flared ever so slightly before he regained his composure, a sly smile now on his face. “Congratulations, Serafina. It seems as if you’re my first student of the year to land themselves in detention.”

At his words, Ariel balled her hands into fists under her desk, doing her best to keep her face from turning red.

[QueenOfWands]

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Elijah was just getting close to Johnny, to see what the big fuss was about, when an all too familiar voice sent the most violent chill down his spine. "Dear Lord in heaven above, why have you forsaken me?" The all too familiar feeling of the muscular arm resting atop his head was almost enough to send Elijah into a full blown panic. He turned on his heel, and quickly maneuvered out from under his arm. But now standing directly in front of him, Elijah took in a deep breath and practically turned into stone. Damn, he hated that little "nickname" that Kavi used for him. The only things that seemed to be moving were his pale, blue-gray eyes. Darting left and right, all around, looking for an exit or escape. Bea was no where to be seen now, having already gone off into the school grounds. Aaliyah's once warm presence, felt cold as she also retreated into the school. He was all alone, he felt like a lamb, that had just signed its death wish to the hungry lion. He had to say something, to do something to break the terrible silence. "Kav... Eh, how... er... was your summer?" What the hell else could Elijah say to this guy? He could break his neck without resistance, it wasn't like Elijah could try and egg him on. It wouldn't be a smart move on Elijah's part. But he couldn't run either. Though he was a sensative, nerdy, Jewboy, he strongly apposed the idea of being a coward. He would face his problems and obstacles head on. Even if it did seem like the more foolish thing to do.

✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡✡

[Ejected]

_{Location: King's Academy
Interacting with: Pals and Dickheads}

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

∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵∴∵
_{Chop Suey!}

It was hard for Kavan Varma to wipe off the goofy grin that had appeared on his face when he was complimented by his friend; for the past three years, the young man had never bothered to put as much effort into his facial appearance as he did within the last couple of months. He simply did as his family and culture expected him to when it came to keeping his hair cut short and his facial hair neatly trimmed. His older family members had always looked down upon his long hair, referring to it as unclean and unkempt despite how well Van took care of it. But this year would be different; Kavan was finally becoming an adult, so it was about time that he started to make his own decisions, beginning with his grooming choices. He even decided to add the bit of eyeliner, an idea he'd gotten from watching Dave Navarro in a Red Hot Chili Peppers music video, just to tick them off even more. "Thanks, man," Kavan said with a chuckle, "It's Hell to put on, that's for sure. Not sure how these girls manage to do it every morning."

When Archer asked Van if he'd read anything interesting lately, the young man reached his arm back into his backpack, fumbling around for a moment before producing a thick, paperback novel. He turned it over so that Archer could see the reddish orange carousel horse that took up the cover of the book. "Just re-reading a classic," Van said with a shrug, "You can never go wrong with The Catcher in the Rye." He was about to say more when another couple of people joined the trio by Archer's car.

Kavan instantly recognized both of the girls; he'd seen them both around school, though he had a bit of trouble recalling the name of the girl with the blonde hair. The young man watched with a raised eyebrow as the girl adjusted the tie around Airi Price's neck, and stifled a laugh when Mari muttered a certain comment to Archer. Before Van could interject, however, a familiar voice began to speak. “You guys really suck. You kept me waiting for a whole five minutes.” Sonny Drake said as he approached the group, and Kavan couldn't help but roll his eyes. Thanks to Archer and Marisol, Kavan was no stranger to Kings Academy's resident bad boy and the way he often spoke to people. Although he wasn't very fond of the other boy, Kavan, being the laid-back and unconfrontational person that he was, brushed off anything that Sonny directed to him. So when Sonny briefly focused his attention on Van and said, “Oh hey, it’s Prince Ali. How’s Jasmine?” Kavan simply shrugged his shoulders.

"You do realize that I'm Indian and not Arab, right?" Kavan said coolly as he smirked and folded his arms across his chest, "Don't worry about it, though. Since Aladdin is unarguably the best looking Disney prince, I'll happily take that as a compliment." Shortly after Sonny had approached the group, Marisol announced that she and Archer had something to do before class, so Kavan began to pack his novel back into his backpack. He nodded understandingly when Mari said a few words to him, and his grin returned when she told him to keep his hair and eye makeup. "Sure thing," the young man said, nodding his head as he watched the smaller girl drag his friend away. Soon, he was left in the company of a few acquaintances, and he suddenly decided that he didn't want to be late to class on the very first day.

"And that's my cue to head to first period," Van said as he began his stroll towards the front doors of the school, gently patting Sonny on the shoulder as he walked past him. "I'll be sure to tell Jasmine that you asked about her."

[eclecticwitch]

E0633C

“Cute is when a person’s personality shines through their looks.”
– Natalie Portman

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Really? Sweet! Can I have your lunch money and your phone?"

Bea stiffened. She didn't understand the laugh. She had said he could take what he needed but this was a bit cruel. Her impassive face turned to confusion as she pulled the flip phone from her pocket and started to hand it to him. Her hand was shaking. Maybe he just needed to make a quick call? As for lunch money, she always brought her own lunch. She didn't carry cash either, just the credit card her fathers let her use when she needed something. She never bought more than art supplies with it though.

"Just joking... What makes you think I don’t like you? I’ve only been talking to you for five minutes and it’s not like you’ve been a dick. I’m not about to turn around and ditch you as soon as I see another person walk in."

Oh. She put the phone back into her pocket and considered him a moment. He had just been joking. Right? So he did consider them to be at the beginning of a friendship? A blush formed over her cheeks and turned the tips of her ears all red. He really didn't mind talking to her? She looked down and began to push her curls to help cover some of her face. She didn't know what to think of that. He wasn't the type of person - at least didn't look like the type of person - who would be interested in her. He looked like the type of person who would hang out with much cooler people. People who would make a ruckus at the park or drink beer in the parking lot.

"I'm a bit... strange. I sometimes say the wrong thing. Or I accidentally say something mean. So, I think I make a lot of people uncomfortable. And being friends with me might hurt your chances to find other friends. Maybe." She sighed and turned more in her seat. Laying her arms over the back she rested her chin on her hands. Her blush had begun to diminish and the much more natural resting bored face returned. "But I'd be glad to be friends with you. If it turns out you don't like me just say so. It won't hurt me."

Bea studied his face again before saying, "Where are you from? You speak funny." She lifted one of her fingers and tapped her lips.

[CaliforniaState]

Quédate aquí, te conviene
Vamo' a dejar que esto pase
Y mientras tú te entretiene'
Yo me vuelvo fanático de lo que haces

---

First days were never his strong suit, but everything had to be done once. Luckily for Andrés, his cousin was on flagrant display. The more Andrés watched the less interested he became. Yeah he was a jock, but he wasn’t your stereotypical jock. Who could be when your father was the kingpin of the cocaine empire. Regardless, Andrés did find solace in his one passion, soccer. As a sort of defense mechanism, Andrés constantly found himself daydreaming about his future rather than the present. This wasn’t unlike any other normal teenager, but it proved effective. There he was, Friday night lights burning down on him. There was 5 minutes left in extra time and he was staring down a penalty kick to secure the Premier League Championship. The familiar whistle of the referee announced the recommencement of the game. Firing on all cylinders, Andrés stutter stepped to feign his shot misleading the goalie. The shot wide open, Andrés fired away.

Before his eyes could fixate on the balls path, the crowd vanished and the familiar terrain of King’s Academy faded in. The roar wasn’t from the crowd, rather it was the snarling giant known as Johnny Baxter. While his mind raced to gather the pieces of what happened a flicker of anger ignited in Andrés as well. No one liked a bully and no one disrespected his family. Family was always first even if they did make lackluster decisions. There was no fear in Andrés nor many options for recourse outside of physical altercation. Before his fist could ball completely it was let go as quickly as it formed. A fight on the first day would just bring attention he didn’t need. It wouldn’t reflect well on his sports career and it would just garner more attention from his father. Something most kids would want, but not in his particular case. Andrés sighed and walked up to Johnny as Elijah was making his way to rescue his friend from sticking his head further up his own ass.

Brushing shoulders intentionally, Andrés caught his ear in passing muttering some thinly veiled threats before straightening his clothes. With a beaming smile the golden boy helped his cousin to his feet. “No te preocupes la próxima vez me aseguraré de que nadie te lastime” before he could continue he noticed two things. One, the class president Victoire Bailey was on her way. Which only meant further drama between her and his dearest cousin. And two, his favorite soccer ball had gone missing. The second revelation beat out the first, “Disculpe, pero me reuniré con usted más tarde. Lo siento!” He shouted whilst trying to remember where his ball went, he must have actually kicked it in real life as he did in his daydream. Hopefully he hadn’t taken anyone’s head off. Following what would be the normal trajectory of his ball, Andrés vanished from the sight of the group and found himself in the quad.

Like a runaway car his soccer ball was losing momentum as it rolled towards a table not to far away. The quad was barren except for one girl who he recognized, the dark but alluring Martha Radley. As fate would have it, the ball would come to a complete stop at the foot of her table. He didn’t know much about her since they were from separate social groups, but that never stopped him before. Like the social butterfly he is, Andrés broke into a light jog while making his way over to the table. Once there, Andrés kicked his ball up back into his arms while flashing a fully toothed smile at Martha. The sun almost gleamed off the white of his teeth, “Thanks for finding my ball, Martha was is?” That’s when he caught the tarot cards on the table, something the Spanish people loved to fetishize. “Mind if I sit? You can read me my fortune before class. Audaces fortuna iuvat right?” Andrés said as he took a seat next to her setting his ball down without clear permission. “Oh, I’m Andrés by the way, nice to formally meet you” he said with a hand stretched out as his eyes focused on hers.

---

[AlteredTundra]

Kavi vs Elijah

---

As Kavi rested his arm on Sholamlijah’s bed of soft buzz cut hair, he noticed the events kind of unfold around him. The regulars were showing up. Some were loud and others were even louder. You had those who were kind of quiet and reserved that tried to keep to themselves and then you had those who, while quiet in their own right, had a certain volume to them. Of course, those were the nerds - one of whom was now serving as Kavi’s temporary armrest.

Oh, how he enjoyed this specific armrest. The way the short hairs tickled his arm just enough to provide a feeling of comfort. The way that, despite all of his best efforts, Elijah couldn’t escape, lest he invokes Kavi’s wrath ....which wouldn’t be so bad. After all, they were friends, weren’t they? Or maybe fear was that much of a motivator. Either way, he was going to have himself just a little fun with the resident Rabbi-in-training.

“It was fun. Had a lot of sex and did a lot of really swell things. What about you, Sholamlijah? Have any memorable moments?” Kavi asked him, looking towards the school. “Did you hit that nerdy piece of ass that just left? I noticed how chummy you two were.”

Elijah wasn't sure what he had been expecting from Kavi just now. The young guy was truly a tool in training, and Elijah could only feel his throat closing in his presence. He couldn't help but take a step back from him, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Of course, he was going to brag about hooking up with girls. That's all “jocky” guys seemed to think about. The suggestion Kavi made seemed to set something off in Elijah, and his eyebrows furrowed in frustration. But a redness came back to his cheeks. ”Wh-What? No! Aaliyah is just a friend. Besides, it isn't your business.” However the thought of being with Aaliyah had now implanted in Elijah's brain, and the red flush only seemed to expand. Shit.

“Well, then you won’t mind if I--”

”I-I don't date black chicks. FUCK. Why did he say that? He didn't mean it. He didn't actually feel that way. But it wasn't just what he said. It was how he said it. It almost sounded like it came out in disgust, and Elijah instantly felt like an ass. He always was the best at saying the wrong thing. It didn't help that his train of thought was not operating correctly, with his enemy standing right in front of him.

Kavi laughed, looking down at Elijah as he always had done. This time, however, was the closest the teen had come to look at this guy with actual respect. “Wow and I thought I was the mean one. Maybe Aaliyah should hear about this. I’m sure she’d just love to hear how racist her friend Elijah is.”

Elijah was fully embarrassed and becoming cross. Damnit! Why did he always find a way to look like an idiot? But he kept a serious look watching Kavi. He didn't like the suggestion that was about to leave his mouth at pursuing Aaliyah. But the next statement seemed to slap Elijah back to alertness. The anger he was displaying shifted to fear. ”N-No! Look, you know I don't-... Besides, she wouldn't believe you.” Elijah wasn't very confident in that last part. He felt he had really dug his grave now. God, why was he given the family he had? He didn't like these prejudices haunting him so. ”Look, what do you want, Kav?”

As soon as Elijah had spoken his name, the teen felt a spark of anger course through his body. Specifically, Kavi didn’t like the way that Elijah had said his name as if they were equals. Who did he think he was addressing him like that? “What do I want? Why? Are you tiring of my arm, little Jewboy?” Kavi pressed hard on Elijah’s head, further showcasing just who was in charge and who was the little bitch.

Elijah was just about having it with this guy, and whether it was out of spite, or out if the pain it inflicted, Elijah swatted his hand away from the top of his head. Probably not his smartest move, but it left a throbbing feeling on the top of his head. ”You must want something if you're gonna harass me so much, you gook-bean picking mutt.” Oof, there went another one, though this was more in response to Kavi calling him “Jewboy”. When people meant it an endearing, joking way, Elijah didn't mind. But the way Kavi said it, made it sound spiteful.

Well, he was going to leave him alone. To be quite honest, Kavi was getting quite bored with Elijah. After their brief conversation about Aaliyah, he was growing bored of Elijah’s company - well, at least for the time being. That was, of course, until he actually showed some backbone that reignited his excitement in the short Jewish boy. The fact that he stood up for what appeared to be his own beliefs and, above all else, himself, Elijah, as short as he was, stood up to Kavi. That was something the straightedge teen could respect. It wouldn’t prevent him from showing who really was in charge, but it was something, at least.

“You seem mad, Lilah. Are you going to do something about it?”Smiling, Kavi lightly shoved Elijah. “C’mon, show me that anger,” Kavi kept shoving Elijah, but this time, he smacked him with his open palm, laughing as he heard his hands make audible noises on his cheeks. “Do something, bitch!”

That was the final nail in the coffin. The proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. The sound of Kavi’s open Palm smacking Elijah's cheek echoed and rang through his ears and soul. An obvious red imprint was left on his cheek, where Kavi had smacked him.

Elijah had never gotten in a fight before. He never broke school rules. He never acted out. But, being pushed around by Kavi was the last straw. This guy always knew how to grind Elijah's gears. And he had it! Three years of being pushed around. Elijah took in a deep, sharp breath, pulled back his own arm, and threw a punch against Kavi's chest. Now, it made a pretty deep sound, his knuckles hitting Kavi's chest. However, Elijah wondered if the punch hurt himself more than it had Kavi. Because now his fist was throbbing. Was Kavi made of steel? Elijah pulled back his fist, realizing his mistake, and clenching it in his other hand. Damn, he let Kavi push him over the edge. Elijah could feel the color rushing from his face. That was a very poor decision.

As Kavi felt the hard punch to his chest, the first initial contact sent just a small wave of force through his body, which in turn pushed the teen back just a foot, causing him to stumble. His first instincts were telling him to react, but he was enjoying the moment of the fact that Elijah had snapped. He threw the first punches. One could argue that Kavi did, but his only fault was the few slaps, which all evidence of those had since faded from Elijah’s face.

“Excuse me, what’s going on here?”

Kavi looked up. To his surprise, it was one of the teachers of King’s Academy. It wasn’t just any teacher - it was Nigel Kramer, the Senior English teacher.

Busted. “Oh hey, Nigel.”

“Mr. Salvador, are you tormenting Elijah again?”

“No sir. I was just talking to him and hanging around when he suddenly hit me out of nowhere. I am literally traumatized. I thought he was a good, wholesome Jewish boy,” Kavi’s totally-bullshit feigning of a PTSD tone wasn’t fooling anyone - except the teacher. For someone who had gone through college, he sure was dumb. And gullible.

“Is this true, Elijah?”

Taking in a sharp breath, Elijah simply continued to glare at Kavi, before turning towards the teacher. ”He slapped me across the face, Mr. Kramer. Come on, you know the two of us. He always antagonizes me!” His arms now crossed his chest. He was telling the truth, and he stood confidently by what he said. ”I’ve never been known to ‘suddenly hit’ anyone. And you’ve known Kav to be a prick!” Elijah shot a glare at Kav, muttering under his breath. ”Schmuck.”

“See he just can’t help himself. He’s calling me mean names like ‘prick’,” Kavi said to Nigel, repeating what Elijah just called him. He gave Elijah a sort of smirk. All the while, Nigel was assessing the situation.

“It’s obvious you two don’t mix well. I think, from here on out, you should stay away from him, Elijah,” he suggested.

Kavi kept smirking at Elijah, obviously proud without things worked out in his favor. That’ll teach Elijah to think he’s anything more than a little bitch - but that smirk soon faded when Mr. Kramer turned around to face him.

“As for you, Mr. Salvador, I would recommend you stop going out of your way to bother this young man.”

He rolled his eyes. In all honesty, Kavi thought he actually got away with both showing Elijah who was the boss and who was the one that deserved to be picked on. And while he did (for the most part), it seemed that the little nerd had gotten some of the blame taken off of him - which didn’t make Kavi too happy. When Nigel left them alone, Kavi stared back at Elijah. “I’d watch your back if I were you, Abrams. You never know what’ll happen,” he warned the Jewish boy, going past him as he bumped into his shoulder hard, causing the shorter boy to force a path for Kavi.

Elijah heeded Mr. Kramer's words. Yeah, he would try his best to avoid Kav as much as possible through the year. He didn't need to be told to. But he couldn't help it if Kav sought him out. Elijah shot Kav a final glare as he shoved past him. Elijah brushed his shoulder. As if making physical contact with the hooligan would soil his uniform. Whatever. He needed to get to class anyway.

[spooner]

Archer grinned as Kavan took out Catcher In The Rye and showed it to him. “That is true my man!” he agreed, and was just about to suggest some new readings for his friend when the walking embodiment of toxic masculinity arrived at Archer’s car.

“Damn that fairy dust.. .Oh, it’s just Archer. What’s up, boyo?”

Archer took a deep breath and rolled his eyes so hard it almost hurt him. “Well, not my dick anymore, now that you’re here!” he deadpanned, looking at Sonny with a clearly unamused expression. The young man was just about to make a comment about the racist remark he made towards Van when Marisol stepped in and dragged him away, quickly saying her goodbyes while Archer grumbled profanities under his breath.

“Why are we even friends with that guy? I mean, besides you guy's parents being buddies or whatever. I mean, he’s insufferable! And he shouldn’t get away with saying stuff like that to Van!” he complained as they walked away.

“He’s just making dumb jokes, Archer. You know Sonny,” Marisol grumbled, rolling her eyes in annoyance. She wished Archer and Sonny understood how much it fucking annoyed her to constantly defend the friendships she had to each of them to the other. Why couldn't they just all get along?! “But that's not what I wanna talk to you about.”

Archer shot her a concerned look . “Yeah, well, he should get his humor looked at. Last time I checked, racist jokes were out of style” he quipped, and with one last strained eye roll from the both of them he let go of the topic and refocused on the new one, sensing something bothering his friend. “What’s up dude?”

Marisol wasted no time in letting out a deep sigh and looking straight at Archer, biting her lower lip. “So you know how I was bitching about turning eighteen in March and still being a virgin?” she began, being uncharacteristically hesitant. That would immediately let her best friend know there was more to the story.

He dreaded the direction this conversation was going. Archer narrowed his eyes in anticipation, he noticed his friend having a hard time letting him know what was happening and that only happened when she was keeping something from him. So either she was pregnant or… something worse. ”Gross, but yes, go on?”

“Well… They popped it last month!” the green-eyed girl announced, shooting Archer a cross between a smile and a grimace and not saying anything else to buy herself some more time. This whole thing was being harder than she thought it would.

That she was telling him this was not the weird part, the weird part was that she was being so coy about it. He had half expected her to call him right after when it had happened, which meant that there was obviously something more to the story. “Ok first of all “popped”? 100% gross,” Archer looked down at Marisol with his eyebrows high. “But… and?” he questioned.

Marisol let out another deep sigh, moving her eyes from Archer’s face and staring at her shoes now instead. “Sonny popped it for me,” she said in a small voice, not daring to raise her eyes after the bombshell she’d just dropped on the taller boy.

At her last comment everything froze for Archer. It was as everything became muffled: sound, color, even movement. His stomach churned, and he felt like he was sweating. Out of all the guys -and girls- who had been chasing after his best friend over their high school career, she goes and lays with that self entitled, bigoted, white trash, shit for brains? Archer swallowed and cleared his throat.

“So… what does this mean?” he asked bluntly. “Are you guys together?” he continued grasping at the hope that the answer would be a ringing NO

“No,” Marisol admitted slowly, an unperceivable disappointment in her voice. “We did it because of a dare, so I doubt he sees it as any more than that. But it kind of opened up my eyes to the fact that there might be some sort of something floating around for me that's not exactly feelings of friendship, if you know what I mean.”

Archer let out a beleaguered sigh as he opened the big doors to the entrance hall of their school dropping his voice down to a whisper as they entered “I don’t actually Mar, I think this is quite a black or white situation.” He trudged up the stairs towards their English classroom, and finally turned to face her on the second floor landing. “Ok. So if you like him that way-” he shuddered at the thought. “You should probably tell him and get it over with. I am not saying I approve. But if that’s what you feel I’m not going to keep you from it,” he tried to settle his face in to a friendly smile, but his eyebrows knitted together in concern. “I just… He’s just so... gross.”

The young woman snorted, mentally cringing at the idea of going up to Sonny and coming clean about how she felt. That would be a disaster. “Well, I think Baxter’s gross too, but that doesn’t stop you from wanting his dick inside you, now does it?” Mari shot back with a smirk, but carried on with the conversation before Archer could reply. “And, by the way: you seriously think I would just go up to him and be like ‘Hey, Sonny. Ever since you screwed me by the lake that one and only time during that Fourth of July camping trip, I think I might be in love with you’? Yeah, no. Miss me with that gay shit.”

Archer turned on his heel and continued up the stairs. “No. Miss me with all of this-” he huffed. “What is this conversation, then, Mari?” he questioned the girl. “Did you just want to tell me that you had Torvald in you? Because I’d rather not have known” He turned around again as he reached the top of the stairs, visibly frustrated. “I just don’t want this to blow up in you face, and by association, my face. I like to decide what goes on my face by myself.” He offered out his arm so she could link up with him again.

Marisol glared at Archer for a second before sighing and taking his arm again. “Nah, it won’t. I'm not telling him shit, so you can sleep peacefully knowing nothing you don't like will blow up in your face,” she assured her best friend, giving him a suggestive smirk before getting serious again. “Look, I know you hate him and all, but I told you ‘cause I thought you would be happy someone had finally de-pussyfied me.”

“Babe, nothing makes me happier than to have you stop talking about your growler,” He smiled as he pushed on through to Mr. Gomez’s classroom, while Mari punched his arm lightly and stifled a laugh. When the pair entered he could hear their teacher grunting about them being late. “Sorry Mr. G! Womanly problems.” Archer quipped as he made his way to the back of the classroom, Sol following suit.

“Yet again, Mr. Diedrikson, you are not a woman,” Mr. Gomez sighed rubbing his eyes in exasperation.

Archer feigned shock as he sat down in his seat “That is sexist Mr. Gomez! What would our dear Principal say about that kind of rhetoric?” he grinned and gave his best friend a wink as she sat down next to him.

“All right, all right. If you are done, Mr. Diedrikson, can I continue with my class?” Gomez asked as he passed down their curriculum. Archer shrugged and settled down in his seat with his arms crossed over his chest.

[SpicyMeatball]

<sub>Early this morning
When you knocked upon my door
And I say, "Hello, Satan. I believe it is time to go."
Me and the Devil
Walking side by side

And I'm gonna see my man until I get satisfied</sub>

The shit-eating grin that was spread over Diablo’s face as they sped down the familiar path down to school wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon. The heat of the moment had left his previously dry-cleaned uniform shirt not only wrinkled, but also buttoned up incorrectly with lip gloss stains on the collar area. His carefully styled hair was now visibly messed up, light-skinned cheeks slightly flushed and gray eyes shining with the satisfaction of a job well done and very much enjoyed. The impromptu homecoming had gone better than anything he would have imagined, and the void he’d been feeling was filled somewhat -even if if was in a temporary way. The feeling of his body and April’s taking each other to heights of paradise was one he didn't realize he’d been craving as much as he actually did, but it was something that he now refused to let go of. If it wasn't because it was the first day, you could be certain Santiago would be driving back to his house with her instead.

The young brunette wasn’t even phased as Santiago whipped his car through the suburbs, going at least twice the speed limit. The speed was something that came naturally to April, something she enjoyed rather than feared. So as her partner in crime drove like a maniac, she sat calmly in the passenger seat touching up the makeup that had become smeared in the pair’s front-seat adventures. With one final once over in the Lambo’s rearview mirror, April leaned back in the seat and did her best to straighten out the wrinkled light blue King’s Academy blouse. She growled gently as she caught a glimpse of her ruffled hair in the mirror before she ran her fingers through it in a desperate attempt to straighten it.

“Now if it wasn’t going to be evident before, it certainly will be now.” April frowned playfully at Santiago.

“So what? You embarrassed about it now or something?” Diablo teased, eyes venturing off the road long enough to shoot her a wink before focusing back ahead, driving though Crown Heights with the one arm on the wheel and the characteristic full-on swag pose.

“No, of course not Santi, but advertising your sex life on the first day of school doesn’t leave a great first impression on anyone.” April pursed her lips in thought before eventually conceding and grabbing a hair elastic from around her wrist. With a practiced hand, the brunette tied her long hair up into a loose ponytail, grumbling as she pulled and tugged at a few loose strands. With a sigh, April finally relaxed in her seat and went to complete her morning makeup ritual with her trademarked strawberry lip gloss. As she reached around behind her seat and found only air, the realisation donned on her. “Fuck! I forgot my bag!”

Diablo cursed in Spanish, giving April a disbelieving look. “Are you for real, Lils? We’re literally at the gates right now.”

“Because I’d lie about something as mundane as a school bag, Santi. It’s in the back seat of my car.” April gritted her teeth. It couldn’t be the first day of school without a minor annoyance like this. Nothing ever went according to plan in April’s life, not even the simple things. “Forget it, we’re already almost late. I’ll live without it.” The level of her frustration was clearly audible in the indifferent, yet venomous tone she used when uttering that last sentence of defeat.

Meanwhile, a devilish grin came to Santiago’s face, his tongue out and the tip of it resting on the corner of his top lip. “No, no. I see what you're trying to do here, April Foster. You want us to go back to your place to get the bag and get a little more of something else, right? That's genius. I'm fucking impressed.”

You could practically hear April’s eyes roll as Santi spoke, shaking her head she muttered “Typical…” under her breath. “When are you gonna grow up?” The brunette jabbed his shoulder with a balled fist before returning her gaze to the school in front of them.

“Never. I’m Peter motherfucking Pan,” he declared proudly, shooting April a cheeky grin. When he noticed there was still some annoyance remaining in her, he leaned over towards her and planted a kiss on her cheek in an attempt to cheer her up. Lils was cute when she was angry, but after what they had just done Diablo wanted her to be all smiles, not pissed off over something as stupid as a forgotten bag. “Cheer up, beba, or I might have to take you down to Neverland and see if that works.”

April leaned over and rested her head on Santiago’s arm, letting out an overdramatic groan of protest. “Come on Santiiiii, let's just get to school. We need to make an entrance! Not just show up like some normal people. What fun is that?” She tugged at his arm much like a little kid would tug on their parents, continuing to egg him on.

A mischievous grin spread across Diablo’s features. “An entrance you say?” he asked April in that tone of voice she knew meant trouble.

“Well yeah. You can’t just show up all casual and expect to leave a lasting impression. You’ve gotta come in with style. Remember last year? How I almost got expelled on the first day because I came within inches of hitting the Principal with my car? THAT is an entrance.” April grinned like an idiot. She wore that memory like a badge of honor and it never ceased to make her smile when she thought of it. “Now I’m not condoning that we run into the faculty, but we need to do something to get people’s attention. Any ideas?”

Santiago didn’t even bother to reply. Instead, he reached for a button in the front panel of his car and pressed it. The roof of the Lambo slowly moved backwards, leaving the couple completely exposed to the outside. No sooner than the roof had finished hiding itself away in the secret compartment, Diablo picked up his phone and scrolled down his playlist until he found the round of songs that would sure make an ‘entrance’. With a smirk, the young man pressed play, then turned up the volume of his car as loud as he could without deafening himself. The whole vehicle began to vibrate with the blasting sound of that ghetto Hispanic music of his, instantly earning the couple looks from the school population that did or didn’t understand the lyrics of the song playing.

While April certainly didn’t know all of the lyrics to the songs Diablo was playing, she knew the general meaning of most of them and as such, swayed to the the thumping rhythm in her seat. She flipped down the aviator glasses that had sat in her hair until now and mouthed along to the lyrics that she did know, glancing over to Diablo as they pulled through the front gates of the school. She made sure to send a sarcastic blown kiss out the window as they passed by Victoire on her perch. God, that woman drove her crazy sometimes.

He purposely drove slower than he normally would, seemingly taking his time to find an empty parking spot but in reality just milking it to get the most attention. It took Diablo a good two or three songs to “find the perfect spot” before pulling up into it and putting an end to the Latin dance party by shutting off the car’s engine.

“That enough of an entrance for ya, chula?” Diablo asked the brunette in the passenger seat, a sly grin on his face as the car’s roof slid back into position.

“If I’m being one-hundred percent honest, the speakers in my car are a bit better. But for a first attempt, it wasn’t too bad.” She laughed as a shit-eating grin spread across her face, sticking her tongue out at Santi while the young man rolled her eyes at her. After her fit of giggles had subsided, the brunette leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed. “I’m glad you’re back Santi, really. It's not the same without my diablo around to talk to.”

Although completely not used to any of the cutesy stuff, there was no denying Santiago had a soft spot for April, and things just seemed to come naturally whenever he was with her. Instead of pulling away from the affection like he usually would with anybody else, he simply went with it.

“It’s good to be back, Lils,” Diablo admitted, kissing the girl’s forehead. He gave them a minute to enjoy each other’s company before he gently moved his shoulder. “I think we should get going, though. I wanna catch up with Lucas before class, and we don’t wanna give Vic any more reason to be on our asses this early in the morning.”

Truth be told, April had prepared herself this morning to do exactly that: piss off Victoire. The girl acted like she ruled the school, and while some people may have followed under her supposed “reign of terror”, April saw right through the bullshit. What the hell was this little one-hundred ten pound prissy little girl gonna do to her, anyway? Get her suspended? Terrifying.

Because of Victoire, April had decided to go out of her way this morning to break the uniform code. She had exchanged her uniform jacket with her own cropped leather jacket, her skirt had been hemmed up slightly and instead of the required shoes, April had chosen to wear her much preferred riding boots.

“Really? That's what I live for on the first day of school.”

Santiago let out a sigh, shaking his head in disapproval. April’s no-bullshit attitude was one of the things that drove him crazy about her, but it wasn’t a trait he enjoyed very much right now. To carry on doing his business, Diablo needed to keep his nose clean and out of any sort of trouble with the school as to avoid bringing the wrong kind of attention to himself.

“Well, you go do that, babe. I’ll catch up with Lucas,” he told her, giving her one last kiss before grabbing his stuff from the backseat and exiting his car. “See you around, princesa. Don’t get into too much trouble, okay?” he added with a smile, shooting one last wink her way before heading off.

April smiled and waved as she hopped out of the car, walking away from Santi and towards the only other people she really hung out with. As she approached the table, she pulled the aviators away from her eyes and smiled towards Chanel and Julie. “It has been way too long. How goes?” She directed the question at both of them, unsure of how else to address them.

[Venus]

Rocking on his heels, Lucas stretched his arms above his head, letting out a rather loud yawn. As fun as it was to mess with his sister, he felt he needed to lay off it a little. He gave out a small nod at a few people still straggling through the gates, though he supposed he shouldn’t have been too surprised. Diablo was probably shacking up with some girl, so Lucas was probably waiting for nothing. Rolling his shoulders, he let out a slight sigh. He supposed he could just see if the two shared any classes and greet him there, if he was late to homeroom he would never hear the end of it from Vic. Though now that he thought about it, Nadia had managed to sneak away from him, and he wondered where she had gone.

Taking his phone out, he turned towards the school and began to walk, shooting his future step-sister a text. As soon as it was sent, a rather loud, blaring song could be heard, and Lucas perked up slightly. Ah, there he was. Unable to hide his grin, Lucas turned to the direction where he knew Santiago was. Spotting the guy not too far away, Lucas’ phone beeped. Stopping in his tracks, he took out his phone. Apparently Nadia had gone on ahead for some cheerleading stuff or something. As soon as he put his phone away, he looked up, freezing in place as the much taller, much brawner, and much faster Santiago was charging right at him. He yelled something Lucas didn’t quite catch, though Lucas matched his yell as he was tackled to the ground.

“Son of a--about time!” Lucas groaned slightly, the back of his head slightly aching.

Diablo grinned, standing up and extending a hand to Lucas to help him up. “Sorry ‘bout that, man. Got caught up in a little somethin’-somethin’ if you know what I mean-” he explained with a smirk, motioning towards April with a jerk of his head. He knew his best friend would get him.

“I knew it!” Lucas gladly took his arm, pulling himself up as he hopped to his feet. As he followed his gesture to take a look at Santiago’s latest conquest, though as he squinted, he rolled his eyes. “Here I thought it was some fresh meat, but I guess you like what you like, right?” He replied airily as he eyed April for a moment, shrugging at him.

That earned Lucas a light punch in the arm.“What? She sucks like a vacuum and fucks like a succubus. I ain’t about to give that up so easy,” Diablo replied before throwing a hand over his buddy’s shoulder and muttering: “Plus, the school year’s just started. Plenty of time left to get ourselves a bite of that fresh meat you’re preaching about.”

Feigning his arm hurting, Lucas dramatically wailed, his hand on his forehead. As soon as he finished, he dropped his hand, pointing at Santiago. “Until the poor thing finally wises up and gets herself someone else,” He scolded him, a mischievous smile on his lips. Straightening himself slightly, he let out a huff. “Though as they say, ‘new is better’, and I need something new sooner than later,” He seemed slightly grumpy at the thought, pouting somewhat.

Deciding to not even entertain the thought of April dropping him for some other fucker, Santiago focused in Lucas’ last words instead. “Well, what’s stopping you, Pinga Dulce?” the young man asked, calling his friend ‘Sugar Dick’ in Spanish just to annoy him. “Plenty of freshman fish in the sea ready for you to show them some lovin’. Haven’t seen anyone you like or somethin’?”

Despite it being his own suggestion, Lucas grimaced slightly, shaking his head. “I need a woman’s touch, not a little girl who will get between my legs and literally start puffing on my dick thinking that’s how you do a blowjob,” He dismissed Santiago’s comment, while his friend howled and double-downed with laughter. “Fresh meat doesn’t always need to be a freshman!” Pausing slightly, Lucas cocked his head to the side as his head tried to think of anyone in particular he had in mind. “No one’s caught my eye yet.”

When he finally caught his breath, Santiago replied, “We’ve already talked about this, Lu: college girls is where it’s at. I’ve still got Jenna and Meredith down from Northwood U sending me nudes on Snapchat and begging me to let them sit on my face again,” he bragged proudly, remembering with a mischievous smile the two college-aged best friends he’d hooked up with that past Spring Break. “If that doesn’t tell you something I don’t know what does.”

Lucas’ face turned red slightly, and he shook his head. Oh god, college girls--the jig was up for him. “Uh… I don’t exactly have the same luck you do with older women…” He mumbled, somewhat embarrassed. “My face is still ‘young looking’ or they want some weird shit, and--” His usual smooth way of talking came out about as jumbled as a bunch of fallen puzzle pieces.

Diablo frowned, turning to Lucas with his arms crossed in front of him. “Says who?” he asked his friend. “There’s bound to be at least one cute college chick that would let you hit it. Maybe you just haven’t found the right one.”

Furrowing his brow slightly, Lucas stared at him for a moment. Guess word hadn’t quite gotten around yet, or he simply hadn’t heard. Letting out a rather heavy sigh, he rolled his eyes, already knowing Santiago’s reaction. “I actually had these two girls in my house the other day,” He admitted, speaking very slowly as the dampening despair hit him once again. “Almost had them both...at the same time...but I didn’t see to through.” He put it all out there in the open, lightly bracing himself for the incoming ridicule.

“Wait, what?!” Santiago asked, his face a mixture of surprise, amusement and concern. Something serious must have really happened for his friend to have blown his lifelong dream like that. “What the fuck happened, Lu? How do you fuck up something like that?”

Hanging his head in defeat, he only lifted his head as he ran his hands through his hair. “One of them got their thing right before we could get to the good part,” He groaned: even admitting it was so damn stupid. He paused for a moment, looking up at nothing in particular as he thought to himself. “Though I did achieve one of my goals, so it wasn’t too bad? Still...I went for a home run and got out at third base.” He sighed, shaking his head as he touched his shoulder. “It’s a fucking tragedy, I tell you…”

Diablo tried his hardest to keep a straight face, but the job was getting increasingly harder by the second. “So what you’re saying is one of them was a tranny?” he asked in a serious voice, looking up at Lucas with pursed lips from biting back laughter.

Lucas gave Santiago a look, lightly punching his arm. “No! She got her fucking period!” He corrected him, scowling slightly.

“Oh!” the young man cried out in understanding, letting go of all inhibitions and just laughing at the whole misunderstanding. “Dude, you started talking about getting her thing so that’s why my head went straight to that,” Diablo apologized, shaking his head. “Nah, but seriously, man. I totally see where you’re coming from. I’m a kinky bastard, but blood’s kind of a downer for me too, hands down.”

“The girls completely freaked out. I didn’t even get a chance to save the situation at all!” He couldn’t help but whine slightly. “It was a mess. Literally.”

“Oh, I bet,” Santiago smirked, amused by the whole thing. “But don’t let that get to you, man. Happens to the best of us. You’ll have two new, period-less bitches up in your bed again before you know it.”

Lucas scowled, displeased that his friend was enjoying his misery. “Your encouragement warms my heart, but if you could laugh a little less, I would greatly appreciate it,” He huffed again.”The wound is still fresh…”

This made Diablo’s grin widen. “Lu, I’m not laughing at you: I’m laughing with you,” he teased before pulling his friend into a side hug, squeezing his shoulder. “Which is what you should start doing. So how ‘bout you do that and quit the pity party, k? Not saying what happened isn't embarrassing, but it’s not that big of a deal as you think it is. You’ll kill yourself if you don’t get over it.”

Wow, Santiago was being way more comforting than he expected. Lucas was so sure he was going to get made fun of that his reaction seemed to come out of left field. His jaw dropped slightly, like he was going to give a retort, though he ended up closing his mouth and nodding in agreement. Yeah, it was just the bitter taste of defeat that was getting to him, but Santiago had a point. Getting hung up on the issue wasn’t going to get him anywhere.

Perking up significantly, instead of continuing to mope, Lucas would grin. “At least I have a set goal by the end of the year,” He couldn’t help but joke, though he really did revel in the challenge.

Santiago let out a laugh. “And I’ll be right there with ya, brother,” he told Lucas, patting him on the back before they both made their way to first period.

[Hero]

The crowd had dispersed, and there was the slightest feeling of dread hanging in the air for Victoire. Classes hadn’t begun and already people dove straight into their shenanigans. Exhaling quietly, the dark haired girl simply brushed her hair off her shoulder, sharp eyes frightening those who were dumb enough to linger. Of course, everyone in this school knew not to mess with her, with only a select few actually knowing how to interact with her--and even then, their interactions were hardly on the positive side. Not that she minded, the less she had to deal with any potential idiots, the better. She was focused on graduating and leaving, everything else was simply irrelevant.

A tap on her shoulder told her that someone wanted her attention. Victoire simply looked over her shoulder, not bothering to turn all the way. A brown haired girl stood behind her, a little too cheery for the morning in her opinion. Estelle Lambert, if her memory served her right, and that it did as she introduced herself as such. “Can I help you?” She asked, her neutral tone somewhat dry, though there was little ill intent behind it.

Oh! Stella was not expecting such a quick reply. Her mind was spinning as if someone had taken the globe that was her head, and put it on an infinite loop of going around and around and around..

The girl caught herself, shaking her head so she could come back to Planet Earth and not totally embarrass herself in front of the first person she decided to talk to on her first day back at King’s for the final year. But as she stared at the fellow brunette that stood in front of her, unlike her usually talkative self, Estelle Lambert was drawing a blank. Well, not necessarily drawing a blank, but the feeling of being overwhelmed had gone into overdrive, effectively reducing any words that she tried to get out sound like stuttering mutters.

Victoire stared at the brunette with an equally blank look on her face, though she didn’t seem very amused. Turning to face the girl fully, she decided to give her another chance to speak. “Did you need something from me?” She rephrased herself, slightly lifting her brow and expecting an answer.

She took a long moment to try to collect her thoughts. And there were a lot up there in Stella’s unorganized noggin. They swirled and danced and chaotically-brawled to be the first one out, but none would make it because the only thing that she could muster - the one thing that seemed to make out from her mind to her mouth - was probably the least impressive sequence of words to ever exist in existence. “Hi!” Stella said with an awkward smile, high-pitched, almost squeaky, voice, and a wave that was more alarming than charming.

“Hello,” Victoire replied in kind.

And all that progress that Stella made with getting a single word out had been harshly erased from reality when Vicoire said hello back. Queue starstruck meltdown in three, two, one…

“She said hi. Oh my god. Victoire Bailey said hi to me!!” Stella did not realize she had said that outwardly instead of to herself.

Oh that isn’t weird at all. “Okay.” Came the only word Victoire was willing to respond with, and the young woman decided that as fun as the conversation was, she had better things to do. Nodding slightly, Victoire turned back around at the sound of some very loud music, instantly recognizing it. Who else would it be? Knowing that Lucas and Santiago were likely to be the first to cause issues, she decided to head back towards the gate.

Stella stood there for a good ten seconds or so before she realized that Vic wasn’t in front of her. She realized this when the remnants of jasmine passed in front of her. Turning around to follow the scent, there Vic was just a yard and a half away from her. Alarms sounded off in her head. This wasn’t how she imagined it going. “Wait no,” she muttered to herself, running after Vic. The zany brunette was thankful that Vic wasn’t that far ahead of her, so she could easily bring herself to walk alongside her. “Please don’t go! I was just overwhelmed back there. Please don’t hate me!” Stella apologized for her lack of words just a few moments ago. Now that she had time, Vic would see that Stella wasn’t such a bumbling fool as the first impression gave off.

Was she following her? Forgetting about Santiago for a moment, Victoire looked at Stella again. Hate her? Victoire didn’t hate anyone, she...nothing’d them. No one was of any importance, even her own sibling was only held ever so slightly in regard because they were literally related. Otherwise he’d be nothing, too. But of course, being President meant that she did have to interact with her student body once in a while. Even if she disliked it immensely. “You’re right to be overwhelmed. Though ‘hate’ is a very strong word. And inaccurate,” Victoire stated, placing a hand on her hip. “If you don’t tell me what you need, I can’t help you.”

”I just--”

Stella stopped herself. She didn’t want to make the same mistake she did before. She was the one who first approached Vic, not the other way around. If she was going to speak to this obviously-confident, powerful young woman, the unpredictable teen would have to block out everything was telling her to scream and have a starstruck moment …again. What Estelle Lambert had to do was stand tall, face the Class President with as much confidence that the girl could muster, and not falter in anything she may or may not say - no, she will say what she wanted to tell Vic when she first saw her in the parking lot.

“My name is Estelle Lambert, Stella for short. You obviously don’t know me, but, I know you. You’re one of the most amazing people who go here. Wait,” she paused, “that’s not right. You’re more like one of the most feared people I’ve seen at this school. And I thought, since you’re the type to strike fear into those around you, that you saw me as some annoying girl. That’s why I thought you hated me,” Stella admitted, letting out the most nervous, squirrely, laugh of all laughter kind.

Introducing herself twice, there was a new one. Victoire listened to Stella as she stated the obvious--both about herself and that she thought Stella was annoying. Still, she stuck true to her word; she did not hate Stella. “I don’t hate you. I nothing you,” Victoire decided to state the truth.

She does not hate you. She does not hate you. There’s hope, after all! “So, does that mean we can be friends?” Stella asked her directly, eyes full of hope.

What the…?

Stella’s bright eyes actually unnerved Victoire slightly, the latter lightly furrowing her brow in a bout of confusion. Wait, what? Friends? Them? For what? Didn’t she say she knew who she was? Victoire has no friends, literally, and the only thing keeping her from getting jumped with the other friendless losers was her academic prowess, though she supposed that would just make her a nerd. Well, Stella certainly had a way with words, if in a very convoluted, strange way. She was so used to having to out-bitch her opponents that she genuinely had no idea how the hell to get rid of Stella.

As the thought crossed her mind, she surmised that Stella was probably not going to leave her alone anytime soon, especially after she admitted that she didn’t hate her. Hmph, what a mess. Inhaling slowly, Victoire raised her hands in defeat. “Sure. Fine. Whatever,” She conceded, dropping her hands.

And when those words flew into Stella’s mind, she thought she was hearing things at first, but then Vic’s beautiful, if not commanding, voice played back in her mind It was almost as if the sloppy state that her mind had been in since the day that her former queen and best friend, Savanna Hart, left her to pursue her music career in Beverly Hills, had completely corrected itself. Organized and full of new life, Stella’s only reaction to what had just been said to her was the tightest embrace the petite girl could muster. Her arms wrapped around Vic’s upper-back, and she pressed her face into Vic’s cheeks, even rubbing with a happy glee-like squeal.

“This is the best day ever!”

What the hell did Victoire just get herself into?

[mickilennial]

---

Palm Beach, Florida
August 13th, 2018

---

Jonathan James Reyes, J.J. to his close family and friends, took a heavy breath outside of his grandfather's house on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. Though he didn't want to show it, he wasn't exactly in the best of spirits.

He had spent the last three consecutive years of his high school “career” at Trinity School of New York City and just as he was pushing for a championship in his to-be senior year his father made the decision to whisk him and his sister from their comfy lives in Manhattan and relocate them to Palm Beach. J.J. couldn't help but see why his father did what he did, but he was still disappointed. He hadn't argued even once since the move was announced, though his sister on the other hand had come to Florida kicking and screaming. Safe to say the two siblings weren't much alike. His sister had tried to push him to make a stand with her – “we're stronger together” – as if that would've changed the fact that the family needed to be in Florida for a little while. Between his grandfather's failing health and his grandmother's upcoming funeral, it was a hard argument to make.

And it wasn't really one J.J. was going to make.

He may have been a docile “doormat” according to his sister, but at the very least he was just trying to make sense of things and move one step at a time. It's not like he hadn't thought of petitioning to stay in New York by himself, but in times like this was it really the right thing to do to insist to focus on his own needs rather than what the entire family needed from him? Even if he couldn't adapt in Palm Beach he could still play at college after it was all said and done. He may have had dreams of the NBA, but he wasn't in a rush to make his mark quite yet. He was still trying to take his time in what his uncle called the “glory years”.

He looked up to the basketball rim in front of him. It was a ritual of sorts. He took his shot.

“BRICK!”

As the ball went through the basket he turned to look at his sister with the usual look.

“Seriously?”

He knew his sister was upset by the move and his lack of “balls”, but he didn't think she would take it out on him before their first week in Florida was over. But then again his sister was vindictive, petty, and full of attitude. Her friends back in New York had always let her do whatever she wanted and damn the consequences. J.J. was certain his own parents thought the change of scenery would even her out; it was a sentiment that J.J. thought was stupid. But at the end of the day he would have to deal with it. Claws and all.

She rolled her eyes in her usual way. “Seriously.”

“It's Florida, Maya. Not prison.”

“For you maybe. It's too fucking hot.”

He chuckled as he shook his head, moving over to where he had sat down his jacket after breakfast. He had taken up enough time waiting for his sister and now she had decided to grace him with her presence. She may have been full of sass but she was ready to get to school even if she preferred to be back home in New York.

“You'll get used to it. C'mon, we should beat the traffic and get to school.”

“Yeah. Whatever.”

Though he knew she wasn't going to do it without complaining all the way to the academy. Such was life.

[spooner]

Well I'm nobody's baby
I'm everybody's girl
I'm the queen of nothing
I'm the king of the world

---

---

A smile spread across Julie’s face as Chanel stated facts about the couple fumbling about infront of them. The smile turned into a cringe when all of Aliyah’s books were dropped and they both scrambled to pick them up and stumble into each other as they did so. Julie sighed they would have their work cut out for them. But it was so obvious they belonged together that it would all be worth it.

“Painful indeed…” Julie said absentmindedly, playing with her ponytail as she watched Aliyah retreat into the school leaving poor Elijah alone in the courtyard staring after her. Just as Julie was about to suggest going up to him to Chanel a soccer ball flew past their table landing behind them. Julie turned around to see if it had hit someone but spotted Martha Radley sitting by herself immersed in her cards. You could almost see Julie’s eyes sparkle at the sight of the tarot cards, anything out of the ordinary caught her interest.

Everyone at King’s knows that wherever a soccer ball flies only one person can follow, and this time was no exception. Andrés de la Fuente came jogging after his ball and sitting down at Martha’s table. From being friends with both of them Julie happened to have some intel on the situation unfolding in front of her. The iconic Macmillan smirk crept its way back on to Julie’s face.

"So, any other people you see that might need fixing?" Chanel said with a small laugh, probably more in an off hand manner but Julie took the bait.

“I don’t know about fixing CoCo, but you know how Martha’s always…” Her sentence was cut short by the arrival of someone new.

“Hey April. How was your summer?” Julie greeted feeling just a smidge of awkwardness, she and April used to be real good friends but a few mistakes and incidents changed that friendship into where they are now, more like friendly acquaintances. Julie’s gaze moved passed April and landed on the Devil himself and one of the aforementioned mistakes. Julie pursed her lips at the sight of him, but shook the thoughts out of her head and glanced down at her watch.
“We should get moving if we want to make it to homeroom” She said shortly as she stood up smoothing her skirt, making her way towards the school entrance.

[Ejected]

_{Location: King's Academy
Interacting with: Julie Macmillan and April Foster}

∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆

_{See, they said that I wouldn't
I do whatever they said I couldn't}
∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆∇∆

The nearly earsplitting sound of Reggaeton prompted Chanel Martin to turn her head in the direction of the music while her friend continued to people-watch. Apparently, someone had decided that they wanted to make some kind of grand entrance; Chanel couldn't help but roll her eyes as she watched the vibrating car cruise through the front gates. When the occupants of the vehicle came within eye-sight, the young woman wasn't surprised in the slightest to see that the source of the loud music was none other than Santiago Fernandez. She also wasn't surprised when she spotted April Foster sitting in the passenger seat.

For as long as Chanel could remember, those two had been practically inseparable; at this point, Chanel wasn't even sure if the two were seeing each other or simply "best friends," whatever the Hell that entailed. Chanel had never been very fond of Santiago Fernandez; in fact, he was probably one of the few people at King's Academy that she would say she strongly disliked. In her eyes, Santiago was nothing more than a good-for-nothing, pretentious "fuck boy." Despite how she felt about the boy, Chanel usually found herself keeping these opinions to herself thanks to her ongoing friendship with April Foster; as long as he wasn't doing anything to hurt the girl, what he did and what the two of them did together was none of her concern.

After watching the couple for a few seconds, Chanel suddenly redirected her attention to a table that Julie had been gazing at for a while. She instantly recognized Andrés and Martha, and only found it slightly odd that the two were sitting together. After all, they did run in completely different circles; Chanel couldn't even think of a time when she saw them speaking to each other. She was about to shrug the whole thing off and redirect her gaze once more when Julie began to speak. “I don’t know about fixing CoCo, but you know how Martha’s always…” Her sentence was cut short, however, by a new arrival. Chanel raised an eyebrow at her friend before turning to see April Foster standing at their table.

"Oh hey, girl!" Chanel said with a small grin, "Long time, no see. I'm feeling the fit, by the way." As she spoke, the young woman couldn't help but look at the alterations that April had made to her uniform; not only had her skirt been hemmed up, but she had exchanged her uniform jacket and the required shoes for a cropped leather jacket and riding boots. Though she hadn't made the most fashionable of choices, to say that Chanel was impressed by April's boldness would be an understatement. Suddenly, Julie stood from her seat and announced that they'd better get moving if they wanted to make it to homeroom, and Chanel quickly began to gather her things. "Yeah, let's go before Victoire finds her way over here," Chanel said with a roll of her eyes as she fell into step with Julie, "I spent too much time fixing up this fuckin' uniform for her to dress code me."

[Okonuki]

His joke seemed to have confused Bea- she looked lost and distraught at his apparent betrayal as she fished a tatty flip phone out of her skirt pocket and held it out to him. He made a mental note not to to shoot out too many sarcastic jokes- maybe at her height everything went over her head. Her outstretched hand was quivering like a trapped mouse, nervous at what must have seemed to her to be some kind of backalley shakedown. He had to admit, this was the first time Jords had accidentally bullied someone, and he scrambled to fix his mistake.

"Just joking... What makes you think I don’t like you? I’ve only been talking to you for five minutes and it’s not like you’ve been a dick. I’m not about to turn around and ditch you as soon as I see another person walk in."

Maybe that was laying it on a bit thick- after all, he hadn’t yet seen any girls hot enough to be worth abandoning Bea, but that didn’t mean he’d put his life on the promise. But a small part of him wanted to stay close to the shorter girl. Yes, she was a little quirky, but there was something about her that made Jords a little reluctant to let go.

A relieved look came over Bea’s face at his explanation, before her cheeks reddened at the kind-of compliment. She flopped a few idle strands of her bushy hair over her eyes like a small child playing at hide and seek- like if she couldn’t see him then Jords wouldn’t see her rosy cheeks.
His first day wasn’t going in the way he had anticipated. At this point he’d expected to be sharing an illicit smoke with some jocks in the car park while wagging first spell, not blundering through conversation with an awkward midget. But hey, new school new Jordan.

"I'm a bit... strange. I sometimes say the wrong thing. Or I accidentally say something mean. So, I think I make a lot of people uncomfortable. And being friends with me might hurt your chances to find other friends. Maybe."

‘You don’t seem too bad to me. Yeah I can see the strangeness, but who isn’t a little quirky? And I’m sure just being friends with ‘the strange girl’ won’t make me a reject. And if it does, it is what it is I suppose.’

She sighed and rested her head on her hands, gazing at him for the back of her chair with a cool, almost bored look.

"But I'd be glad to be friends with you. If it turns out you don't like me just say so. It won't hurt me."

He resisted the urge for another sarcastic joke and smiled at her instead. Safer than risking confusing her again with another quip. She seemed to be still thinking over his previous line and tapped on her lips with an index finger.

"Where are you from? You speak funny."

‘Funny, eh? The disrespect from you colonists! The english motherland, of course! Rule Britannia and all that, eh old chap?’ He goofed, putting on an over-the-top chummy guvna accent to complete his performance before dropping back into his normal light-hearted tones.

‘Hopped the pond last Friday. Unfortunately I couldn’t get out of the first few weeks just cause we moved, so now I’m here on the first day. Speaking of my first day, any more tips for the newbie? And speaking of making friends- not that I’m dropping you or anything- but are there any of your mates that you think would hang out with my type?’ He said, before leaning forward to whisper conspiratorially in Bea’s ear.
‘Everyone here look a little too preppy for me,’ he said, glancing over at a girl at the front with immaculate uniform and movie-nerd thick frames who was organizing a pile of notes.

‘Got any jocks? Burnouts? Maybe the kind that sneak smokes in the car park. Or the kind that shove nerds into lockers, that’s always a laugh.’

[AlteredTundra]

_{I N T E R A C T I N G W I T H / / The Misfits and self}

---

It didn’t take Sonny Drake that long to realize that it was really boring when the usual suspects chose to leave him by his lonesome. Marisol ditched him for Tinkerbell. Kavi was nowhere in sight. Last he saw, the polyasian mix was picking on that Jewish kid, Donjah or something like that. The others either were already inside the main school building where most of the first classes were, or they hadn’t arrived just yet. Not even Jun, as fun as it was to poke fun at his asianness, was providing Sonny with any entertainment.

Sonny had his hands in his jacket pocket as he followed Apoo Jr’s lead and made a direct beeline for the main building.

As he wandered inside, Sonny thought about a lot of things, but one of them that instantly caught his attention was spotting, of all people, Victoire Bailey and Stella Lambert together. Though he obviously saw Vic’s usual bitchy expression, he couldn’t help but notice her sigh in a defeated way as he heard Stella say something to her. Now, Sonny wasn’t typically thrown of a loop. The teen prided himself as someone who could handle surprises, but seeing those two acting somewhat chummy with each other definitely gave him his first ‘well that happened’ moment of the year.

“If those two are hanging out, then this year might just be more interesting than I thought it would,” Sonny noted to himself.

And as Sonny wandered to his locker and gathered what he needed for his classes from now until lunch, the thought that lingered was how Sol Jr would get a kick out of Stella and Vic. If anything, it would get a reaction out of her. To Sonny, that was the best thing he could ask for. Oh, how he loved seeing her get visibly angry about Stella. Plus, they both harbored a mutual hatred for the President BItch. Knowing Stella as he did, Sonny knew that, at some point, Stella would annoy the crap out of her.

What a time to be alive and an asshole!

[Erklings25]

Johnny Baxter

You shut your mouth
How can you say
I go about things the wrong way?
I am human and I need to be loved,
Just like everybody else does

---

The second Johnny sat on his car bonnet, a sense of regret hit him. He knew she wasn't really crying, and it didn't matter if she destroyed his reputation because not many people really liked him, but He knew what he'd just done was insane. The look on his face quickly changed from anger to horror. He looked up at Dylan, knowing that he probably just made himself look terrible. He weakly smiled at him, as if to apologise for being reckless. He wasn't normally like that, but sometimes life got too much for him, and if someone did the slightest annoying thing, he'd snap at them. What with his brother coming over, and having to feel the blatant favoritism, he had to explode at someone. Maybe he'd explain and apologise later, he did hate upsetting people. On the other hand, she didn't seem the type to forgive and forget, so he'd have to wait and see what to do later.

His cause wasn't helped by Andrès walking past him, quietly murmuring some threats. Damn, Andrès was a pretty dangerous enemy to have in the highschool ecosystem. He opened his mouth to explain himself, but decided to stop. He knew what Xixi would become, why should he attempt to atone? He knew what he had to do, admit that he was acting out of line, but not try to be buddy-buddy with them. Not an apology so much as admitting idiocy. Not ideal, but not terrible. Then again, could his day get any worse?

He was about to apologise to Dylan, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Woah, Johnny. What's gotten into you?" His shoulders visibly slackened as soon as he heard Eli's voice. He turned around, furrowing his brow, frowning tightly, a face he pulled whenever he was frustrated. Just then, Kavi Salvador, Resident Extreme Douchebag™, appeared. Ever since he could remember Kavi had been picking on Elijah. He understood that Eli may have made an unpleasant comment about Kavi's race, but the poor guy grew up around xenophobes. It wasn't really his fault.

Johnny watched the confrontation, knowing that if he made a wrong move he would be ostracized from society forever. It seemed to be unfolding the same as their conversations normally did, even Eli's comment about not dating black girls made him since, but then Eli stood up for himself. A smile spread across Johnny's face at his words. Gook-bean picking mutt. And Johnny claimed to be the creative one!

Then punches flew. As soon as Kavi had the nerve the slap his friend, Johnny stood up. He couldn't stand anybody who would hurt purposefully someone. Elijah hit next, sending Kavi stumbling backwards. Johnny put hand on Eli's shoulder. All for one and one for all. If Eli was going to get punished for fighting, he would too. Sadly he never got the chance to fight. Mr Kramer dealt with them. Johnny rolled his eyes as Kavi dealt his usual threats, before finally getting to talk to his friend.

"Well, I guess we both committed social suicide today. I managed to yell at some new girl in front of everyone, and I feel like an imbecile, in case you were wondering. Feel like going into hiding before class?" He chuckled, putting his hands in his trouser pockets. "Come one, mate, let's get going. I'm sure Gomez'll be apoplectic with worry by now. You coming too, Dylan?" He smiled at Dylan, hoing he wouldn't seen two-faced in any way, judging from his behaviour earlier, before making his way to English. He took a seat in the middle, glad he hadn't missed the start of the lesson.