[IC] Palm Beach Royals: Senior Year

[spooner]

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Max had taken a seat in the middle of the classroom when King’s senior class was ordered to assemble with Mrs. Sanders instead of going to their third-period classes. And far be it from the lacrosse player to complain over not having to sit through physics. Max barely listened when Sanders spoke, instead, the jock doodled on the desk in front of him. Only when the class erupted into outraged murmurs did Max look up from his detailed sketch of a pair of breasts. From what he could piece together from the whispers around the room: they where to find someone that they might not have chosen to go to the Valentine dance with.

The blond young man couldn’t help but let out a small laugh at his fellow classmates outrage. So what? Just find someone to go with and bang whoever you wanted later. The dance was probably going to be lame anyway. He looked around to find Ariana to see if she was one of the students who were pissed. But no, she looked as bored as always. She would probably agree with his plan to sneak away at the dance, or so he hoped. Now the question of who he would ask was up in the air. He could almost feel the stares from a few of the girls in the room and that made him smile wider than usual.

Georgie groaned and buried her head in her hands when she heard the announcement. Not this again. Not another dreaded Valentine’s Day dance that she had no want in participating in. Maybe she’d just not go. She guessed that could be an option too right?

But not going would mean...not going. And Georgie had hoped to be a part of it this year so she could take some photos for the yearbook. There was nothing that would make the school administration happier than a picture of young couples standing a far distance apart against a backdrop of hearts and balloons.

Now, as for who her date was...She looked around the room before her eyes locked with a certain blonde head. Oh no, Georgie was definitely not going down that route again. Though, he did look cute. She tilted her head which was resting on her palm and squinted. Maybe she could see it...kinda...Georgie shook her head. Nope, she couldn’t think like that.

For some reason, Max decided to look over his shoulder to find Georgie looking like she was in the middle of some sort of existential crisis. He couldn’t help but smile widely as he made eye contact with the girl. He flung a wink in her direction just as they were informed they could leave Max stood up quickly, but before he left the classroom he took a detour, passing Georgie’s desk.

“Hey,” he said smiling knocking on her desk with his knuckles. “You… Still owe me a photo... don’t forget!” he said before letting out his booming laughter and turning to leave the classroom heading towards lacrosse practice.

Georgie jumped as he knocked on her desk and quickly tried to readjust herself so she seemed normal.

“Right...the picture. I haven’t even entered it in the competition yet what with all the stuff I’ve been doing lately.” She rubbed the back of her neck and smiled weakly.

The jock turned around still smiling “I guess we’ll have to set a scene for a new photoshoot!” He thought for a minute “Maybe the valentine’s dance could work?” his pearly whites still on full display as he looked down at the nervous-looking girl. “What do you say? You wanna go to this thing together?” he said raising his eyebrow.

“Valentine’s Dance...with you?” Georgie knew she sounded like a love-struck teen but she was confused.

A small chuckle escaped the young man “Don’t sound to excited”

Why the hell would he ask her? Whatever. It wasn’t like she already had a date in mind. “I mean...I’d love to!” She answered

Max’s face perked up “Cool! So we should plan how we want to enter this shindig!” he laughed. He just remembered how Kellie always wanted to make an entrance and to be honest he really liked it. “You want to come over this weekend and we can plan or whatever?” he asked casually.

“Yeah, sure.” Georgie tried to respond in the same tone. She hadn’t ever thought that Max would be this thoughtful. I mean, planning on how to enter a party? That took guts. It was sweet, she concluded. And she should be grateful she had a date to this thing in the first place.

"Sweet! Then I'll see you later then Georgie!" He exclaimed turning with a wave, exiting the classroom.

[spooner]

This time Archer didn’t have a problem with the shenanigans the King’s faculty had cooked up. Mostly because of this time they weren’t so egregiously homophobic. Also because in his humble opinion valentine’s day is a bullshit holiday. He hated to admit it, but he actually liked the idea of not having it be a cheesy lover dance.

Archer turned his head to look up at his boyfriend with a questioning look. “Who will we choose to break up this power couple?” he asked laughing softly. He took a look around the room. Maybe he would just ask someone from the AP English gang, Beth perhaps. He bit his lip in deep thought as Mrs. Sanders told them they could leave.

He and Kavan stood up to leave but just as the entered the hallway they were both stopped in their tracks as a familiar voice called out.

"Hey Kavan,"

It was Ariel with her freshly dyed hair. “Oh hey, babe! What’s up?” Archer smiled as the pair turned around. Archer was mildly surprised when Ariel asked Kavan to go to the dance together but his face lit up at the idea. “What a great idea!” He said rocking back and forward on the balls of his feet. “I’ll let you guy’s talk… see you later!” He said planting a quick kiss on Kavan before continuing down the hallway towards the courtyard squeezing Ariel’s shoulder as he passed her.

When the young man stepped out he quickly made it to one of the tables and sat down opening his notebook. He tried to get a leg up on his French essay but his mind couldn’t concentrate even if his life depended on it. A frustrated sigh escaped him as he threw down his pen. Instead of continuing his green eyes scanned the students that were milling about.

He finally landed on the couple consisting of April and Santiago. It reminded him that he would have to take April up on her offer to fix his wreck of a car. His eyes narrowed in thought. Perhaps…

Archer collected his things and stuffed them back inside his bag before standing up and making his way over to where the pair sat. He offered up a thin-lipped smile as he stepped up in front of them.

“Hey April…” he greeted the girl before he turned stiffly toward the larger man “The Devil.” he nodded and then turned back to April. “So… Uh this dance thing.” he started awkwardly running his hand through his messy hair. “I was just wondering if a fine pregnant unmarried teenage girl would need a gay date to this shitshow?” he laughed hoping they would see the comedy in the situation as much as he did.

[spooner]

In the packed classroom, Julie rested her head on her slender hand looking at Mrs. Sanders with an utterly bored expression on her face. The redhead let out a small jawn as their teacher droned on and on about this stupid dance. This school put way too much emphasis on couplings and dances. Honestly, Julie couldn’t care less… but of course, the dance was mandatory as always when it came to King’s. She and Chanel will probably just go together anyway.

Julie stood up quickly as they were excused and left the classroom with a huff. The girl had been very annoyed at the faculty and the school as a whole lately. Topped off by the incident between her and Kavi earlier in the week. She floated down the hallway without much of a plan of where she was going. Soon enough she found herself standing in front of the library, a place that she didn’t frequent even though she probably should’ve.

With a shrug, she hiked up her MacMillan bag further up her shoulder before making her way over to a corner table. She sat in silence looking out of the window deep in thought. Did she even have any other friends for her to ask to this stupid thing? Not really. Maybe she would just wait until someone asked her. And then if no one asked her she could maybe be excused from it? Maybe she could go on a vacation to visit her sister in Milan instead?

[Ejected]

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Like most of his peers, Kavan wasn't too thrilled when he and the rest of the Senior class were all ushered into Mrs. Sanders’ classroom during third period; he was particularly disgruntled because he was being forced to leave his creative writing class, where he'd been putting a few final touches onto one of his short stories. Nevertheless, he was happy to be seeing his boyfriend and friends once more that day; as usual, he took the empty seat right next to Archer, intertwined their fingers together, and rested their hands on the desk surface. "Here we go again..." Kavan muttered to the boy as he sat back in the seat and focused his attention on the middle aged woman who stood before them all.

As Kavan expected, the woman started off by talking about the Valentine's Day dance. However, much to the young man's surprise, she announced that they'd be taking a different approach than last time. As Kavan listened to Mrs. Sanders' ramble on about the details, he couldn't help but wonder who he'd even ask to the dance; he only really had a handful of friends, so there were a few obvious options that immediately came to mind such as Marisol, Sonny, or maybe even Carter or Ryland. When Archer mentioned something about finding someone to break up the power couple, Kavan let out a chuckle and smiled. "Maybe Sonny and Mari?"

Soon, the meeting came to an end and the students were set free; Kavan followed alongside his boyfriend as they exited the classroom and began their walk towards the cafeteria. It was only just after they'd left the room that Kavan heard a familiar voice call out his name; the pair stopped in their tracks and turned to see none other than Ariel walking in their direction. "Crazy idea," the young woman said, "but what do you say you and I go to this dance thing together?"

Kavan definitely wasn't expecting for someone to ask him to the dance, but in all honesty... it made things a whole lot easier for him. As soon as Archer left the two of them alone, Kavan offered the redhead a warm smile and shrugged his shoulders. "Of course, why not? I haven't really put much thought into what I'm gonna wear yet, if you wanted to color coordinate or something. Pretty sure my sister's gonna have a field day cutting my hair again."

[AlteredTundra]

Had this been a few weeks ago, Stella might’ve been angrier than she was right now. And that was to simply say that she wasn’t — angry, that is. During the mini-assembly (if you really wanted to call it that), Stella found herself bored, mirroring Queen Julie ironically, but more just bored of a lot of things. For days that followed that way-too-eventful-for-its-own-good Monday that tore her world apart, she was livid at Chrissie. Livid at the world for everything that was happening around her. She threw tantrums, which was unlike her but she also confided in Carter a lot more than she used to. That’s not to say they didn’t talk regularly but especially after the blowout she had with her cousin and ex-best friend, Stella found comfort in Carter now more than ever.

Up until Mrs. Sanders stated the reason for the forced minsembly, she had started to daydream like she used to — like she did when she was with Oliver. She had a conversation with her favorite wholesome bestie and he helped her put a lot of things into perspective. Since their mutual decision to call it quits and remain friends, Stella found herself in a good place. Granted, every time she and Chris saw each other in the hall or at the house, they avoided each other like the plague, which only led to awkward dinners and encounters, but she wasn’t as irate as she was. To quote Oliver, Chrissie had her panties wadded up and Stella wasn’t in the wrong for liking Carter.

Following the bombshell and the aftermath that followed, Stella didn’t know what to make of it. Valentine’s day was about love. It was meant to celebrate it with the one you have feelings for. Stella wanted that to be Carter. She was prepared to ask him if he got cold soles in his feet. She saw no harm in being the one to ask him, but now she couldn’t because why? Oh, that’s right! The King’s Academy staff felt like butting in something they had no business doing. Not only was it unfair to those who were couples already — like Sonny and Marisol — but it was unfair to those who wanted to be couples or have a chance to get a headstart. Like, oh sure, they didn’t say they couldn’t be together at the dance but how rude is it to ditch your date for whoever you like as soon as you get there?

“It’s so unfair!” Stella huffed and rolled her eyes. w

As she stood there, she saw Sonny and Marisol, hands locked together like the cute couple they were, heading into the cafeteria. She saw Russel Lopez go up to his ex’s best friend, Perri Smith. She saw so many people do what she didn’t have an inkling on what to do. She would ask Oliver but he was out of town this weekend, so clearly that wasn’t an option. Maybe Kavi. That was a safe bet, right? Someone who was her friend.

Yeah, Kavi it is!

As soon as Stella had decided, she saw Kavi and she waved to him but he didn’t see her. So she pursued him in secret. Little did she know, not only was someone else thinking of the same thing but like the klutz that Stella was, she tripped over that person’s heel and only caught a glance of them as they sat at the bench Kavi had chosen to isolate him at. Stella’s eyes didn’t betray her as she saw Chrissie was the one who got to Kavi first.

“Son of a--” She bit her lip, choosing not to make a big scene and picked herself up. Holding her bag close to her, Stella turned away from the site of that snake of an ex-best friend and opted to go...somewhere else. Anywhere was better than having to see Chrissie ruin yet another perfect day for her.

So the brunette opted to trace her steps back and aim to move her legs towards the courtyard. As long as it was far away from Chrissie, Stella would welcome anyone to talk to her.

[Bee]

_{Starring Nicole Milano and Carter Newton}

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English was just one of those classes that Nicole could never really pay attention in. In her years as a student, Nicole really just couldn’t catch onto the constant analysis of characters in books that were older than her grandparents. She didn’t understand the point of having to analyze why the curtains were blue? Who cared if it represented sadness or if they were blue. Nicole really couldn’t have cared less about what was going on, but alas, she was stuck here.

The class had broken off into groups to have a discussion of sorts about Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Something about Hamlet’s character and how Polonius had died. It was something that was flying over her head. However, everyone else in the group had understood it better than Nicole, and were taking up more of the discussion - to the point where it was almost over. Then, they were ushered into Mrs. Sanders’ classroom a bit before the class had ended. A silence had fallen on the group as Nicole’s eyes wandered onto the poster in front of her. It was an older French painting with two people dancing elegantly in front of some scenery. ”Are any of you going to go to the dance?” Nicole inquired, breaking the silence.

Carter Newton had been sitting in the seat directly across from Nicole throughout their English class, his hoodie covering his head despite the teacher's numerous attempts to get him to lower it, and his cell phone glued to his hand. As always, Carter had a lot to say about the subject at hand; in fact, he'd been the main one carrying the conversation all while holding a completely different one with Stella Lambert through text message. And even after the small group had fallen silent, the young man's fingers moved at astonishing speeds as he typed a few more words to send the young girl's way. Over the past few weeks, Carter and Stella had begun to grow closer than ever before. And honestly, Carter was happy to find someone who was just as big of a chatterbox as he was. So when Nicole suddenly mentioned the Valentine's Day dance after the class had been moved to Mrs. Sanders' classroom, his response came without hesitation. "Yeah, I'll probably ask Stella to go with me," the young man said with a half-smile. "Anybody you hoping will ask you, Nicole?"

Unfortunately for the two of them, however, it was for that year's Valentine's Day dance that Mrs. Sanders and the rest of the faculty decided to shake things up a bit. The young man had placed his head on the desk and was prepared to tune out the majority of what the woman had to say until she made the announcement that nearly caused him to fall out of his seat. "You gotta be fucking kidding me," Carter groaned as he shot a worried glance in Nicole's direction.

”I’m not sure. I know some people have had their eyes on me, but I… honestly don’t know their names.” Nicole shrugged, ”But other than that, I don’t know, really. I haven’t put much thought into it.” Nicole figured someone would come along and ask her, but she had a feeling that possibility was dwindling with every second that passed. Then, the giant bombshell had dropped and the entire world was changed. No romantic couples? Nicole looked at Carter.

”Wait… so that means… oh shit, Carter! Dude!” Nicole exclaimed, her mouth agape. ”That’s messed.” Nicole said, putting a hand on his shoulder to comfort her companion. That definitely threw a wrench into things, and now everyone was gonna have to scramble to find someone new. ”What are you gonna do now?”

As Mrs. Sanders continued her spiel, Carter pondered his options for a brief moment. There was Chanel of course, who'd been one of his closest girl friends for some time now, but even Carter knew that the first person she'd probably go running to would be Julie. There was also Georgie, who'd been a little off recently for reasons that Carter didn't fully understand, and Shawna who'd probably only agree to going with him because of the guaranteed free drugs. Soon after the meeting had ended, an idea popped into Carter's mind, and he let the words come tumbling out of his mouth before Nicole could go about her own devices. "Why don't you and me just go together?" Carter asked the girl as he shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, we're friends right? We can use this as a way to get to know each other better. Maybe even show out and win best dressed."

Carter’s proposition was something that had taken Nicole by shock. So bold! ”Oh?” Nicole had a goofy little smile on her face. She appreciated the tenacity and the boldness. Carter was cool and awesome enough to the point where she actually didn’t mind going out with him. Carter was cool! It wasn’t like she could take anyone else anyway. Everyone else had someone they would rather go to. All the cheer girls would probably go with each other, except for Nicole. Nicole wasn’t good at math, but this added up quite nicely. ”Hell yeah! We could even match and have like… coordinating colors! Or maybe complementary colors to make each other pop?”

"Yeah, for sure," Carter said with a half-smile, a sudden wave of relief washing over him. That was one less thing he had to worry about. "We can talk about it some more later," he said as he gathered his things, stood from his seat, and prepared to exit the class with the rest of the Seniors. "Just let me know when you're free. We can take a trip to the mall or some boutiques... find our outfits."

”For sure!” Nicole smiled, ”Sounds good to me.” Nicole stood up and gathered her things as well, preparing herself to make the trek out of the classroom and move on with her day.

[Ejected]

After the altercation that happened in the hallway between Kavi, Ariel, Ryland, and the Trinity, Chanel spent the following weeks completely avoiding most of those who were involved, the only exceptions being Julie and April. This was fairly easy to do since she hardly ever talked to them to begin with. And whenever anyone outside of the Trinity dared to bring it up or ask for her feelings on what Kavi called her, she simply shot them a look that made them regret asking. Chanel wanted to put the whole incident behind her and only focus on the things that were important for the remainder of the school year; Kavi Salvador and his love life surely weren't one of them. "I honestly don't even care anymore," Chanel had told her older brother Andre over the phone just a few days after it all went down. "Of course I was mad at first, who wouldn't be? It took everything in me not to turn around and show him what the fuck CoCo can really do. But if anything it just proves to me that Kavi is exactly the kind of guy I thought he was, and I don't need to risk losing my scholarships over someone that isn't even worth it. It's above me now."

Instead of focusing on the negative, Chanel put all of her energy into dance, cheerleading, fashion, and maintaining the solid friendships she'd already had. It was due to that last reason in particular that Chanel was actually excited about the Valentine's Day dance being focused more on friendships than romantic relationships; she'd have yet another opportunity to get all dressed up and hang out with one of her besties before they'd be forced to go their separate ways for college. Oh, it totally had nothing to do with the fact that Chanel was very much single and hadn't even been talking to anyone since the beginning of the school year. Definitely not.

As usual, Chanel had sat in seat at the center of the room when the Senior class was called to yet another assembly. The young woman thought it was odd that this one wasn't held in the auditorium, but understood the reasoning behind it. She'd passively listened to Mrs. Sanders speak as she scrolled through Instagram on her cell phone, and was one of the first students to leave the room when they were finally dismissed.

"Where in the hell did you go..." Chanel said aloud as her eyes scanned the crowd of students for Julie MacMillan. She gave up looking after a few minutes, and decided to just head off to lunch period alone. As she walked in the direction of the cafeteria, part of her wondered if she should just skip lunch altogether and smoke the last of Carter's gift in her car to avoid having to sit alone. Chanel was just about to give into this idea when she spotted none other than Sunshine Hollingsworth walking the halls not too far ahead of her; Chanel immediately quickened her pace, and didn't stop until she was walking right beside her longtime friend.

"Hey girl," Chanel said as she wrapped her arm around Sunshine's. "Mind if I sit with you at lunch?"

[Bee]

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As Shawna headed towards her locker to grab what she needed for her next class, she was still a little upset. Even after the talk with Sunshine where she attempted to reassure her girlfriend about the whole thing. This whole platonic dance thing was still stupid as hell. Maybe she would just go alone. Ariel had probably asked someone else already. She could go stag. It was a thing. She didn’t need to worry about being a loser without a date. Everyone was in the same boat.

Speaking of losers without a date, Jack was wandering back to his locker. After an unfruitful attempt at math, he just wanted to get his stupid math notebook out of his backpack and have nothing in there once again. His next class was rather easy, even for Jack, so he didn’t need to try too hard in it. He just didn’t want the weight of his backpack weighing him down. It was bad for his back.

Walking up to his locker, he put the combination in, before pulling the locker open to reveal a rather vacant locker. Putting his book in, Jack figured he’d reach into the box of protein bars stashed inside. A dude was hungry. It wasn’t until he was about to close his locker when he saw a rather familiar face not too far from him.

“Yo, Shawna? Is that you? What up?”

The sounds of some dude asking her questions immediately distracted Shawna from fishing out her history textbook. She recognized the voice, but from where… She turned and immediately got her answer. “Jack? Not much is up right now. Just thinking how much this school is stupid. You know, the usual.”

“Why do you think this school is stupid?” Jack inquired, “I mean, school is stupid, but why do you think this school is stupid?” Jack was under the impression that Shawna was a turbo nerd, and turbo nerds loved school, at least as far as Jack knew.

"Because who comes up with some dumbass platonic Valentine's Day dance anyway!?!" Shawna couldn't help but shout that point. She did her best to play things cool with Sunshine for the sake of the budding relationship but with a guy like Jack? There was no need for that veil to be up. Still, the shouting was uncalled for. "Sorry. Didn't mean to yell at you. Just had a lot of plans that got wrecked by that fucking bullshit."

“The dumbass principal, that’s who!” Jack was also in agreement that what just happened was absolute bullshit. Jack wasn’t involved in much romantically, but it was bullshit for the couples involved! What was the point of a platonic Valentine’s Day dance? “Nah, don’t worry. If I had a girl I’d be pissed too. It defeats the purpose of fuckin Valentine’s Day, don’t it? Platonic dance on the most romantic day of the year.”

"Especially for those of us that actually want to celebrate it properly for a damn change," Shawna concurred."It fucking figures, you know? Finally have someone I actually want to take and now they are off-limits because of girls swinging bats and guys being dumbasses and fuck I just hate people sometimes."

“People be stupid, Shawna. Why you think we got so many rules, dude?” Jack shrugged, biting his protein bar, “All it takes is one person. We should be beating their heads in with bats instead.” Jack sighed, “Were you planning on taking someone?”

"Yeah," she admitted. "But now they are asking someone else and I am seriously contemplating just ditching the whole thing and spending the night getting really high and watching old Office episodes."

“Nah, don’t do that.” Jack sighed, putting his hands up, “I ain’t got a date, but I’m still going anyway. Ya boy’s gone to many dances by himself, and I manage to have a good time. If you’re not enjoying yourself, you can always leave, but you might regret not attending your first and last platonic Valentine Day’s dance if it is a good time.”

Jack had a point. Sunshine would still be going anyway. They may not be able to dance, but there were still plenty of platonic activities that could be done, although if the school set up an arts and crafts table, Shawna was flipping it for sure.

Then a thought occurred. Jack was going to this thing anyway. He seemed like the sort of "yo soy fiesta" party boy jock that would peace instantly and let Shawna go off to her own machinations without interfering. Plus, as much as she hated the thought of it, there was a certain cache to being taken to the dance by a football player. She could finally have something on all those other cheerleaders. Other than currently dating one of them obviously.

"I tell you what, Jack," Shawna started. "We both know this whole idea is stupid. We both know that it isn't gonna work, and we both know that we are just looking to get whatever enjoyment possible out of this thing. So, why don't we go together? They want us to play cute platonic couples with all the sexual tension of a beached whale, I can't think of any better ideas to follow along until we both do what we gotta do at this thing. So what do you say?"

Jack took a giant bite of his protein bar, demolishing it as he listened to Shawna give him a little spiel about the dance. Shawna and Jack, going together? The nerd with the jockiest of all jocks? Swallowing, because it was rude to talk with your mouth full, Jack shrugged. “I don’t see why not. That just means I can show you how to have a good time, and if you’re not enjoying yourself we can just go grab burgers or something… if you eat meat, I don’t know if you eat meat or not. Sound like a plan to you?”

"As long as you don't try to fucking She's All That me or anything, it sounds like a plan. Also fuck yeah I eat meat. At least that kind of meat. Although I've been craving fish a lot more lately."

“I don’t even know what that is, Shawna, so I can’t do that. But, we can go find some fish and chips place.” Jack smiled, before closing his locker. He was about to wave goodbye, before he remembered something that may or may not have been pretty crucial. “Oh, do you need my number, by the way? We should probably… do that.”

"Yeah that might be necessary to make this work," Shawna agreed. She whipped a pen out of her locker and quickly jotted down her number on a scrap piece of paper before handing it to the athlete. "Here. One dick pic and you are blocked. Just a heads up."

“I’m not that type of dude, Shawna! Relax!” Jack laughed, “I’ll text you later down the line. Catch ya later, dude.”

As Jack left, all Shawna could do was shake her head. "I really just did that, huh? Least I can tell Sunshine I am taken care of…" She went back to her locker to get ready to finish the day at the Kings of Komedy Academy.

[Venus]

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After the fiasco that had happened during the first day of school, Santiago Fernandez had become his baby mama’s bodyguard, pretty much sticking to her like glue. On one hand, he’d felt extremely guilty for leaving her alone and open to confrontations like that. April had always been a strong woman who was more than capable of holding her own, but she was in a delicate state, and he should’ve done more to protect her. On the other hand, he’d been furious to hear about the unnecessary stress the mother of his child had been put in. All she had done was try to take advantage of the new year to turn a new leaf, but her attempt had been ruined by Salvador’s psycho (ex?)girlfriend, and blown out of proportion by some new dude and the rest of Lils’ friends. The young man had been dead set on confronting the couple, but it had been at April’s rather merciful request that he hadn’t. It would solve nothing, she said, and only prove that he was just as unable to commit to changing as Kavi was. And being like Kavi Salvador in any way was out of the question.

Once Mrs. Sanders had dismissed them from yet another assembly, the young couple had made a beeline straight to the cafeteria. Mila was making it very clear to her mother that she was starving, so normally her parents were doing their best to beat the lunch rush. Thankfully, the seniors were let out early, and most of their classmates had been busy finding partners for the dance, so there had been no wait time to get their food. April had secured their seats, and Santiago was returning with their trays in no time.

“Well, there goes my plan of taking you as my date...” the young man lamented, carefully placing April’s lunch tray in front of her before taking a seat in the chair facing her. He wasn’t nearly as outraged as the majority of his classmates seemed to be, but he was still bummed out about being robbed of the chance of taking his girlfriend to their last school Valentine’s Day dance.

After the entire fiasco that had occured in the weeks prior, April had really appreciated the relatively little that had happened since then. Apart from the fact that it took quite a bit of effort to convince Santiago not to confront Kavi and Ariel, April had had a pretty calm and quiet few weeks. The real icing on the figurative cake though, was that even though she had prevented Santiago from bringing the issue back up, the result was that he had become so much more protective of her. The pair were inseparable. He’d carried her books between every class that they shared, he’d always make sure that they got a decent seat in the cafeteria and he’d even gone as far as carrying her tray for her. It was amazing how much he had changed in the few short months it had been since homecoming. While she really didn’t want him doing absolutely everything for her--it kind of tarnished the image of the power of the Trinity--she was willing to let it slide for a bit because damn did she enjoy it.

“No kidding, I was really looking forward to finally attending a dance with you. They can’t really stop us from meeting up during the event though, so there’s that.” April said, undoing the lid and taking a bite of the chicken caesar salad in front of her. “Good choice by the way, I really needed this.” she quickly added, covering her mouth as she tried to both chew and talk.

Santiago chuckled lightly. “You’re welcome, babe! And yeah, definitely. No matter who we go with you can be sure I’ll be checking in on you every once in a while. Gotta make sure they’re taking care of you and treating you right...” he said sweetly, giving her a wink before digging into his loaded nachos. “Anyone you want to go with?” the boy asked with a mouthful of tortilla chips.

“Honestly, I can’t think of any. I could probably ask Kavi now that he's single and all now…” she looked at him with a playful grin before shaking her head and laughing. “Joking of course, I wouldn’t do that to you or Kavi.” She laughed once again, seeing the look of an absolutely unimpressed Santiago looking back at her. “You have to admit that was funny though!”

“Hilarious. I’m falling off my seat with laughter…” he grumbled, rolling his eyes and taking a few more jabs at his nachos. “Steve Harvey is shaking. He’s scared he’ll lose his job to you.”

“And what about you? Any ideas floatin’ around in that head of yours?” April cocked her at him as she looked back to him, the grin still ever present on her face. “If you wanted a real laugh you could ask Julie?” She jokingly suggested, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

Santiago snorted at her suggestion. “You’re just full of jokes today, aren’t you?” he snickered, playfully shaking his head. “We both know Julie would rather throw herself off a cliff than go anywhere with me.”

“This is true. Seems to be a slight flaw in that plan. But seriously, anyone cross your mind?”

The gray-eyed male was quiet for a second, flipping through a mental rolodex of his female classmates. “I mean, not really. I guess I could ask RiRi? Not exactly a friend, but not someone who would run in the opposite direction when she sees me coming.”

“I mean she is really fuckin’ gorgeous. I wouldn’t blame you. I’ve never really talked to her otherwise.” April nodded in approval, though it wasn’t based on much else other than what she saw from the outside. “Given that though, someone may have already asked her, not to be a buzz-kill or anything.”

“Just my fucking luck, right?” he said jokingly, taking another mouthful of nachos when a familiar tall, willowy boy approached their table with a tight-lipped smile.

“Hey April…” the newcomer greeted the pregnant girl before he turned stiffly towards Santiago. “The Devil.” he nodded, giving Santiago a chance to acknowledge him with a sharp nod before turning back to April, leaving the baby daddy to watch the scene unfold in front of him with narrowed eyes.

“So… Uh... This dance thing...” Archer Diedrikson started awkwardly, running his hand through his messy hair. “I was just wondering if a fine, pregnant, unmarried teenage girl would need a gay date to this shitshow?” he asked with a laugh.

April briefly glanced to Santiago to see his reaction before turning her full attention to Archer, smiling warmly to him. “Good afternoon Archer, it’s been a while.” The moment Archer started his little piece about asking her to the dance, April couldn’t help but grin at his delivery. “This fine, pregnant and very much unmarried teenage girl would love a gay date to this shitshow of a Valentine’s dance.” She turned back to Santiago briefly once again, making sure that he was in fact alright with this. It wasn’t that she was looking for his permission, but more his approval.

As unexpected as it was, Archer’s proposal was actually a pretty fucking genius idea. It’s not like Archer and Santiago were the best of friends- or even friends at all. But he’d heard enough compliments from Max about how his cousin was a quiet, kind, chill and caring dude, and he’d witnessed firsthand how he was one of the very few people to manage the feat of defusing the ticking time bomb that was Marisol Castillo more than once. If he was able to pull that off, then he was more than qualified to escort the mother of his child to this dance. In fact, he was probably the perfect man to do so… Besides himself, of course.

The muscled boy’s frown slowly turned into a wide grin. “This is fucking awesome, cabron,” he said gleefully, lightly punching Archer’s arm. “Thanks, man. I’ll owe you one.”

April smiled warmly and looked between the two. It was nice to see that Santiago was completely alright with the proposal and it only served to make her day just that much better. As she looked back to Archer, she remembered something that the two of them had talked about earlier in the year and her eyes lit up once again.

“Tell me, does my potential gay date still need me to take a look at his car like we talked about ages ago?”

[LovelyComplex]

The transfer student buried his head in his arms as the teacher he barely knew told his peers how the Valentine's dance would go down. He didn't care for it. The dance, the holiday, the fact that it was a celebration of 'friendship'. School dances weren't his scene. If he could have things his way, he'd let this semester pass him by, walking the halls like a ghost, invisible to the world and unbothered.

Honestly, after that incident it was for the best he didn't associate himself with anyone that wasn't his friends. Anyone that weren't the Misfits, minus Ariel. He was still mad at her. She went so out of her way to prove a point and all of a sudden, bam, they're broken up again? That girl had no clue what she wanted, but that was neither here nor there. She was doing this for herself - they were focusing on 'themselves'. He could respect that. Sorta. Not really. Regardless, no one else was worth his time and energy. These memories were fleeting and he just wanted to graduate already.

When the assembly ended, Ryland lifted up his head at the perfect moment, when the fiery redhead stood up from her seat, gave a little huff, and sauntered out. Part of him hated her. How she pooled him in, with every other Elite asshole that tries to compete with the Queens. The type that uses their testosterone as an excuse to be a jerk, and what was the word she said, an 'alpha male'.

He didn't disrespect any girl during that fateful moment besides the one that was being stupid for 'love', which OKAY, he was wrong to intervene. That was his bad. Still, he was too prideful to apologize and tell his friend to enjoy being young and dumb, while she still can. Enjoy the little happiness she has, before they all venture off to wherever the fuck adulthood leads them. Who knows how long anything will last? Not him! That's for sure.

Back to the point. Rye was not trying to be top dog and never cared to be. Those that tried to be at the top were sad because it was their way of seeking validation. Rye didn't need validation. He didn't need to be at the top. He knew what he liked, what he wanted, and what he needed. If that made him an outcast, a loner, and a nobody, that was A-OK with him. His main fault was... his anger. It wasn't easy to calm the beast, but he was learning. Or trying to at least. For those that loved him and were rooting for him. Those that saw his potential where he did not.

Grinding his teeth, Rye stood up and threw his bag over his shoulder, not realizing he was the last one in the room. Part of him couldn't hate Julie like he hated some people back at his old school. She was gorgeous. It was hard to not get distracted. To add to that, she wasn't simply beautiful, she was smart and held herself with this poise, perhaps with a bit of domineering arrogance, that he knew only came with the best kind of women and women that had a sheltered, yet pure, loving heart. Pure gold. They simply had to protect that goodness from the worst. He wasn't the worst. He might not always think before he says something, especially when he's hurt, but he treats his family and friends with undoubted and certain love, until they no longer deserve it. Until they no longer deserve his loyalty, his acts of kindness, anything!

Fuck, who was he kidding? He was crushing hard on the Queen Bee of King's Academy and he absolutely hated it. First impressions last forever, and it kept replaying in his mind. Over and over again. He couldn't even sleep much, so he spent his nights dancing in his aunt's attic. When he's restless, he gets urges to do freeform, based off his hip hop, jazz, and lyrical lessons from his Aunt Summer. It helps liberate his mind from the constant thoughts that annoy the shit out of him.

Rather than join the others in the cafeteria, Rye decided to go to one out of two places that were on his mind. The roof or the bleachers. The bleachers were a further walk, so he started trudging upward, walking past the cafeteria to get to the ideal stairs that led straight to his place of breathing. His happy place. He had zoned out his surroundings and failed to notice that he walked past his two best friends, holding each other's hands. The lovey dovey couple of the century. Once he threw his against-uniform-policy black hoodie over his head and slipped in his ear pieces, he marched upward.

When he arrived, he dropped his bag on the roof floor, played Wow by Post Malone, and started dancing, forgetting about the V-DAY dance, about Julie, and about how... alone... he truly was.

(In video, second dance set, should automatically go to it, middle guy with black hoodie and fitted cap on, is Rye dance vibes)

[AlteredTundra]

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_{Collab by Chrissie @TootsiePop & Kavi @Altered Tundra}

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After her delightful conversation with her number one best friend — Chris and Stella weren’t on talking terms —her dear Cherry, who she encouraged to ask a special someone out to the dance wholeheartedly, Chrissie, whose green eyes were like the overgrowing scottish thistle, prickly little bastards, set her sight on her date. For someone in the drama club and knew drama better than anyone, the petty happenings at this school were becoming a complete bore to her, getting old and overplayed real fast. Chris was over it and was focused on having a good time. Fuck everyone else, who chose to sulk in other people’s bullshit rather than enjoy their last few months at King’s.

In conclusion, she decided to pick someone who she knew could be the life of the party, if people saw past his demeanor. This wasn’t ‘risking’ her rep and clinging onto the next piece of fuck boi she could find. Though, she was sure some people would think exactly that. Nah, this was her not caring about what everyone had to say and craving for a new experience. Plus, it wasn’t like he was currently taken. So, it wasn’t like she was doing anyone harm by asking him out.

Since it was their last semester, she thought to herself: why not? What did Chrissie have to lose by asking someone she handpicked herself to the dance? People go on blind dates all the time and they come out just fine! Nothing was wrong with playing the field, and it wasn’t like she wanted a boyfriend. Chris was in the mood for nothing more than having fun and this person, she believed, could do just that. Show her a good time.

Kavi Salvador was someone she barely knew, aside from the whispers in the halls, and the pictures, videos, and tweets online. They were at the same parties when she dated Jason, they were sometimes even standing next to each other in the kitchen, while they chatted with entirely different people. Both were popular in their own regards, and held themselves in an arrogantly charming way. If anything, the way he held himself intrigued her because perhaps, they were more similar than either of them realized. She wouldn’t know until she found out herself, pushing all the talk aside. Talk was talk, but there was more to people than what meets the eye.

Even if he was cruel and a man impossible to fix, that had nothing to do with her. Kavi deserved to have a pleasant Valentine’s day, just like everyone else, and maybe it was Chrissie’s job to make him forget all his problems and focus on the now. No point in crying over spilled milk! Hence why Chris refuses to deal with her cousin’s bullshit as Stella chases ‘love’.

With a bounce in her step, there was always a bounce in her step, her hips swaying with each motion, Chris stalked her prey. He seemed too lost in thought to realize there was a girl right on his tail. Refraining from getting his attention, Chris prowled onward until he took a seat by his lonesome self, in the quad.

Smirking, she walked to the table, with absolute no hesitation, and took it upon herself to sit with him. After tossing her bag on the bench, she gradually took out a container of strawberries. While she opened it, the drama queen then started to talk, “Hey stranger. I hope you don’t mind me sitting here! I thought you could use some company, so here I am.” She placed the lid on the table. With one finger, she pushed the glass bowl a little closer to him, “Strawberry?”

Kavi glared at Chrissie as she took a seat at the bench he chose, which was somewhat isolated away from the others. He intentionally wanted to be away from people so he could think in peace and so he didn’t give anyone a reason to get on his nerves — well, more than they already have, that is. Despite this, Chrissie McCoy decided to go out of her way to not only walk the distance but to sit down uninvited. Like yeah sure, Kavi didn’t mind at all. Not like he was trying to be alone or anything like that.

“You did, huh?” He rolled his eyes, shrugging and taking a couple of strawberries. “Lucky for you, I happen to like strawberries,” he noted, taking a bite out of the berry in his hand. “So, what can I do for you, Chrissie? Shouldn’t you be practicing your thespian breathing exercises or someshit like that?”

“Bitch, please.” Chrissie teased, shaking her head in mild irritation, “Even I need a break from belting, dancing, and pretending.” Grabbing one strawberry for herself, she placed it in her mouth, sucking it for a second, before graciously chomping it. After swallowing, Chris grinned, “Well, well, well. Aren’t you a rather impatient one?” she playfully tilted her head, in an almost creepy kind of way. Waving in the air, she alluded to her objective by giving a little giggle, “I just wanted to know if you were taken.” She purposely paused and let that last word sit for a bit.

“For Valentines.” Chris added. A bright simper never breaking from her face, masking her agenda by asking one of the most talked about boys at King’s to a dance celebrating friendship.

His eyes fell on Chrissie as he thought for a quick moment. He knew exactly what kind of game she was playing at. It was a similar one he liked to play. Realizing that, he half-chuckled lowly and spoke.”That would be a no to both,”” he gave her a half-smirk. “Why? Are you interested?” He asked her, matching her in this little game of hers. “For the Valentine’s Dance, I mean.”

“Oh, I mean.” Keeping a coy grin on, she leaned forward and cooed, “I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t interested.” She took another bite into her strawberry, pulling the leaf off, before sitting back up. Shrugging to herself, placing the leaf on a napkin, she acknowledged the truth of their realities, “I’m single, you’re single. I’m not looking, I’m sure you’re still caught up with your little mermaid. I don’t see any losses with us going together, do you?”

Kavi weighed his options and the pros and cons of accepting her offer. He was annoyed that the faculty decided to exclude “love interests” from being an option. Of course, even if it was an option, he had to face facts that he and Ariel weren’t together anymore. They were just friends, so there was a lot of truth to what Chrissie said. As much as he hated to admit it, what was the harm? But then again, something was eating at him and it wasn’t the tartness of the berries, either.

“Out of all the single guys here, why me?” He asked her as he didn’t want to mince words. “I mean, I’m flattered you weren’t repulsed by me like most have been lately, but you know you won’t be making any friends by going with me, right?” He had to laugh at how much that specific truth hurt him. Of course, Kavi would never show it.

“Why should I care? In ten years, I’m sure there will only be a handful of friends I’ll still be in contact with.” This insecurity he was emitting was new for Chris to experience. She never saw this side of him, but it must be the feeling of heartbreak and exile that was putting him down in the dumps. “You want my honest-to-god opinion? You look like someone I can drink with and share laughs with. I really don’t care what others have to say or think. I want to enjoy myself, and NOT sit in my own guilt because I got dumped by someone who didn’t want me for me. I don’t know you, which is even better! That means we have a lot to discover. I’m less likely to be bored to tears if I think you have a lot going on in here.” She knocked on her head to symbolize her noggin or well, his.

He tried to warn her. He thought she would want to save her reputation from being seen with him, but like many others he knew, she clearly didn’t care what others thought of her, something that Kavi should do more of. He had to admit it was refreshing for someone to look at him like he wasn’t the shitstain everyone else kept saying he was. “Then I guess it’s a date.” He offered her a smirk, leaning forward a few inches if not to just get a little more comfortable. “But tell me this: was I your first choice?” Kavi had to ask.

Leaning in as well, breaking the distance, she beamed, batting her eyes in a kittenish way. She let her breath lightly touch his lips and whispered, “No. Ariana was, but I can kiss her any day I want.” As she backed up, she winked at him, honestly not surprised at all he said yes. Who could resist her? Rummaging through her bag, she pulled out a small notepad and feathery pen, scribbled down her number, slid it toward him, and then sweetly demanded, “Wear pink.”

He wasn’t sure exactly why she did that but he wasn’t complaining in all honesty. Chrissie smelled nice because of the strawberries. Smiling, he took the paper with her phone number and pocketed it into his jacket pocket. “Fine but I’m keeping the strawberries.” He more told her than asking for her permission. “You know, since I like them so much,” he teased as he took a bite into one without breaking eye contact with her.

“Aren’t you clever.” As their conversation came to an end, and she had no other reason to be in the quad anymore, Chrissie got up and threw her bag over her shoulder, keeping eye contact with him, just as much as he was doing with her, “Until next time, Kavi.”

As she walked away, she looked over her shoulder towards him still watching her, and exclaimed, with her high octave voice, “I like your smile!” And with that, the Drama queen sashayed away. It was nice seeing him get some life back in his face. He looked better when he was happy.

[Venus]

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With her lips still tingling from the delightful feeling of her best friend’s parting kiss, Ariana watched as Chrissie sauntered straight to where Kavi Salvador sat by his lonesome. The breakup with Jason had been a devastating blow to Chris. It had left her in a deep pit of despair, questioning her self-worth and shaking her confidence. Ariana had tried her hardest to pick up the pieces and build her best babe back up, but knew that as long as the thespian queen continued to wallow in her own misery, she would go nowhere. The only person in control of her own destiny was herself, after all- and nobody else could pull her out of it. But now, as Ari watched her with Kavi, her heart swelled with pride to see her girl finally shaking the dirt off her clothes and getting back on the saddle.

Knock ‘em dead, gorgeous.

"Where the hell is she going?"

Huh. What were the odds of the one person Ariana would eventually be looking for happened to materialize out of thin air?

“See for yourself…” she answered, pointing to where their beloved friend was perched at. It wasn’t long before she heard the young man groaning.

"Oh, come on! Kavi? You're kidding me," Ariana heard Jasper Fray say in disbelief, turning his attention back to the grinning Ariana. "Has she gone mad?"

“What can I say? My cute little babycakes loves to stir up some trouble...” Ariana said with a smug little cackle, observing as her best friend continued to put her teachings into practice with Kavi before turning to the young man now standing beside her.

Jasper sighed, sticking his hands into the pockets of his school jacket. ”Oh trust me, I know. I just hope that her doing this doesn’t land her with a Kavi STD or some rage fit from Ariel.” As she laughed at his comment, he turned to watch the scene unfolding before them again until Ariana asked him the million dollar question.

“That being said… Have you given any thought of who you’re going to the dance with?” she asked him, locking that kittenish hazel stare of hers with his piercing, ice-blue eyes.

”Well, to tell you the truth - no. I don’t have that many close friends, honestly. Chrissie, Kavi, and Kavan. First two are out, and something tells me that Kavan is probably going to go with one of the Misfits. What about you? Anyone you had in mind?” Doing his best to maintain eye contact, Jasper silently wondered if he had ever paid that much attention to Ariana’s features. Her lips, her perfectly smooth skin and hair. Those hazel eyes - she was like a living art piece right in front of him.

Ariana was grinning widely now, eyes lighting up like a huntress who had just set her sights on the perfect prey after hours of searching for it. “Well, now that you mention it…" she trailed off, taking a step closer to him and hooking her thumbs on the belt loops of his uniform pants. “I was wondering if you wanted to go with me?" she asked, never once letting her stare venture away from his. Eye contact was always a key way to assert her dominance, even when she wasn't completely in charge.

Clearly shocked, Jasper still managed to give Ariana a smile before answering.

”I would be honored,” he said, his voice low. ”But tell me first - this isn’t some sort of joke, is it? You’re not going to leave me stranded in the middle of nowhere at two in the morning or something, take any embarrassing pictures… nothing like that?”

Although she tried, Ariana couldn’t help but laugh and shake her head at the absurdity of his suspicions. Did he really think she was that kind of popular girl? I mean, she was petty, frisky and bitchy, sure- but not mean or downright cruel. Plus, Jasper was Jasper. He was Chrissie’s friend. He was quiet, reserved, and wouldn’t hurt a fly even if you asked him to, just like she wouldn’t even dream of causing him any sort of distress.

“Listen, Jasper, I’d never do anything like that to you,” she said earnestly, hoping that the look in her eyes reassured him of her honesty. “Did I come up with the idea of asking you out by myself? No. Chrissie was the one who brought up your name in conversation. But we both know me well enough to be absolutely sure that I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t interested. And I am interested. Very interested.”

Jasper sighed, pondering what she had said for a moment. It was true; while females were cruel and complicated, Ariana had never struck him to be that type. Petty on occasion? Sure. Pulling a prank on someone? Nah. Ariana knew who she was and what she wanted. For Jasper to ask her such a question was a bit dumb on his part.

Pressing his lips into a thin line as he contemplated this, Jasper sighed. Not being able to help the smile that crept upon his face, he laughed lightly as he shrugged his shoulders.

“I’ve done crazier shit before,” he said, raising his right hand to cup her face. ”Whaddaya say? I’ll take you out to dinner. We can color coordinate or some shit?”

“Then it’s a date…” Ariana declared with a triumphant smile. using the grip she had on his belt loops to close whatever distance remained between them. “We can do whatever you want, as long as we take my car. Let’s just say I’ve got a plan for us after the dance...” she trailed off, suggestively smirking at Jasper.

“Sounds great,” he said, releasing her to grab his phone from his back pocket. ”We should probably get each other's numbers, huh?”

The brunette momentarily rolled her eyes. Here she was, putting her moves on Jasper like nobody’s business, and all he’d done was suggest they exchanged numbers? Tragic. But she wasn’t about to give up this early in the game- no, sir. So as soon as Jasper unlocked his phone, Ariana swiftly plucked the device from his hands and busied herself with imputing her name and number on the appropriate fields. Once they were saved, she pulled out the front camera feature, smushed her face as close to Jasper’s as she could, and struck a pose.

“Say cheese...” she cooed, puckering up her lips, snapping the photo, saving it as her contact image, and handing the cellphone back to Jasper with the same suggestive smirk as before. “Here you go. Shoot me a text so I can have your number.”

Standing there awkwardly after Ariana took the picture, Jasper was grateful when his phone was returned to his hand. Checking the contact info quickly, he put the phone back in his pocket before smiling at her again.

”Awesome. I’m gonna go grab a quick bite before class. Did you wanna come with?”

“Only if you let me give you dessert first…” Ariana suggested, grabbing his school uniform tie and teasingly playing with it.

Fuck it, he thought. Would it hurt to give in? Only one way to find out.

Grabbing her hips as he closed the distance between them, Jasper proceeded to give Ariana a long, passionate kiss. And it seemed that the spoiled princess was just as into it as he was, because it didn’t take long for the girl to pull him by the tie and use his body to pin her own against the wall of lockers behind her, with their kiss not stopping until they needed to come up for air. Eventually, the young man pulled away, and he smiled at the delighted brunette before speaking again.

“Lead the way.”

[AlteredTundra]

_{An @Altered Tundra & @spooner Collaboration
featuring Sonny Drake & Julie MacMillan}
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After spending close to half the lunch break with Marisol and getting his full of nutritious cafeteria food that was no way contaminated and was up to par with what should be fed to growing boys and girls, Sonny left in search of the unofficial Queen of Kings.

Sonny asked around and the quest that he had hoped would only last a few minutes (at least until he reached Julie) brought him all the way to where he knew a certain southerner liked to hang out. Not far from the boys locker room, that was where he spotted who he needed to see. Surrounded by his “minions” and legs crossed as if it wasn’t obvious which way he laned, Sonny approached the ever flamboyant and unapologetically gay head-editor, Riley Jenkins.

Sonny didn’t hate Riley but there was always something about him that rubbed him the wrong way. No, it wasn’t because he was gay. Sonny was pansexual for crying out loud. He was part of the LBGTQA+ community, but Riley was one of those people who, even to the more accepting members of the community, came off a little strong. He made Archer straighter than Max. So no, it wasn’t that Riley was gay that bothered Sonny. It was what usually came every time Sonny needed something from him.

As he reluctantly approached Riley’s table, he was greeted with disapproving sighs from those who surrounded his royal gayness. Riley was similar in tone and everything but the way he presented himself. Where his posture was slouched and casual, Riley was on the opposite end of things. He had perfect posture and always looked like he was going to be Joan Rivers’ replacement on Fashion Police.

“Mmm, well look who it is!” Riley’s southern draw masked the bitchiness Sonny knew him to have in spades. “It’s Marisol’s little dog. What’s wrong, little puppy? She send you to fetch her purse?”

As his lackeys chuckled with the same superior complex their queen had, Sonny swallowed all of the pride, the only time he would swallow mind you, and stared directly at Riley, skipping the baiting words of the others. “Riley, can we skip the part where you bitch at me and just tell me where Julie is? Please!” Sonny was desperate because he was actually being nice to, of all people, Riley.

“And why should I tell you where the Queen is? Talking to you would be a waste of time.” The boy stated rather bluntly, his tone getting quite mean as he stared Sonny down.

With a sigh, Sonny started to walk away. “You know what? Forget it. I’ll find her myself.”

“Jesus Christ, Sonny Boy! I didn’t know you were going to quit so easily.” Riley stepped down from his “thorne” and immediately, Sonny felt better about himself due to how close in height they were. Riley smiled at him. “You know we only tease cause we like you, right?” He shot Sonny a wink and pinched the teen’s firm bicep. “Walk with me!” Without saying much, Sonny gave in and allowed Riley to speak his piece. “So, why do you need to speak with Julie?” He asked.

“Can’t I just want to hang with a friend of mine without getting the second degree?”

Riley rolled his eyes and shrugged. “I suppose not.” He and Sonny stopped in front of the Library. “If I tell you where my idol is, you have to do something for me in return.”

Of course! There was always a catch when it came to the devil that wears nothing but Prada. “Fine. What do you want?”

“I want a date.”

“With me?” Sonny asked, raising his eyebrow.

Riley immediately repulsed at the thought. It was such a public display that Sonny laughed and felt the weight being lifted off his shoulder. “As flattered as I am hat you’d offer yourself to me, you're not the one I want to wine and dine me.”

“Okay,” Sonny looked at Riley. “If not me then who?”

“That scrumptious friend of yours. The one who is my motivation and my muse. The one who keeps me company when I’m alone at night. The one--”

Sonny raised his hands. “Please, just stop.” He didn’t need to know the unnecessary details of what gets this gayboy hot and bothered. He knew who Riley was talking about and knew this would be harder than he thought but his sigh came with a nod. “Fine. I’ll set it up.”

“Perfect!” He brought Sonny in for a hug. For someone who appeared dainty, Riley sure had a strength about him. He embraced for a few seconds. As the hug was released, Riley pointed to the door that led inside the library building. “She’s in there. Have fun, Jackie!”

What just happened forced Sonny to reflect on what he just did. He used Archer as a bargaining chip to get the location of where Julie was. Was it worth it? Yeah, probably but holy shit, how was he going to explain this to Archie? He knew how he felt about Riley Jenkins. Sonny knew that, even to Archer, his level of gay was too gay and now Sonny had to somehow convince Archer Diedrikson to give Riley a date. Sonny didn’t know what would be worse: Archer being livid at him or Kavan being just as mad for using his boyfriend as a means to an end.

Sonny shook his head and walked inside the library. As he walked inside, the rush of the AC hit him like a crashing wave. Compared to the timid humidity outside, it was refreshing inside. The air was chilly, which made sense because the books needed to be kept at a specific internal temperature.

As he walked through, Sonny spent a few minutes searching for Julie, he found her sitting far off in the corner of the first floor, sitting by a window. She was gazing out of it as if deep in thought, or so Sonny was assuming. Breathing in, Sonny approached. “Mind if I take a seat?” He said to her, smiling.

A deep sigh escaped the slender redhead before she slowly turned her head still resting it on her hand. “Oh,” a small smile spread across her face when she saw Sonny. “Of course not. Please, be my guest,” she said, pointing to the chair on the other side of the table.

Sonny sat down in the chair across from her and placed his backpack on the table (but away from Julie’s stuff), he relaxed in the chair. He noticed she was reading a book. He tried to read the title, but it was all in French, so that’s where Sonny’s attempt failed. “So, what’cha reading there?” He asked, hoping if anything, she’d tell him what the title said because lord knows Sonny and French don’t mix well.

The girl lifted the book so her friend could see the cover better. “It’s just my French vocab 4 book… nothing of interest” she let out yet another sigh closing the book. “But to what do I owe this honor?” Julie asked, still smiling, clasping her hands in front of her. She and Sonny usually only had lunch together once a week, which is where most of their conversations played out. Otherwise, they were busy doing their own things.

“What? Can’t I want to hang with my second favorite redhead just cause?” He asked, acting defensively. He breathed out a sigh of defeat a moment later. “Okay, that’s a lie. I’m in a dilemma and I don’t know how to fix it. And since you’ve always pointed me in the right direction whenever I had a problem I thought, maybe, you could help me out again?” In typical Sonny fashion, he shot her a half-grin and his eyes sparkled in the way they usually did when he needed to work the charm.

One of her eyebrows raised as he spoke. “Hmm?” Julie mused “Tell me… you know I live for a good dilemma.” the redhead let out a small giggle visibly perking up from her slump.

With a smile, he scooted the chair closer to the table and leaned forward. “Alright, so the whole condition about ‘you can’t take your girlfriend’ to the dance put me in an awkward spot. I was going to do what you suggested last week: I was going to take Mari to her favorite place in Miami and spend the whole day treating her like the queen and all that shit. Then I was going to top the date weekend off by taking her to the dance, but..” Sonny grumbled something not worthy of saying out loud, especially in front of Julie. Friends or not, he didn’t want to soil anything in front of Julie. “So, yeah that’s the pickel I’m in. I have no idea who I’m going to ask and my options are growing slim,” he lamented with a sigh. While he knew who he was going to ask, Sonny couldn’t just say it. Julie wasn’t an ordinary person. Not only was she someone he considered a good friend but there was a certain process one had to take to ask her out for anything, let alone Valentine’s Day.

Julie couldn’t help but snort and laugh at the sentiment that Sonny had just displayed for her. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to laugh” she composed herself holding up a hand. “It’s just that I didn’t really think your dilemma was connected to this stupid dance,” she said leaning back in her seat. “I didn’t take you for someone who cared about these types of things.” leaning forward again she rested her chin in both of her hands “Well… what are your options?” she tapped the side of her face with a slender finger. “You could take Stella… you guys are pretty close, no?” the redhead was wracking her mind to see if she could pick someone that would fit Sonny better than Marisol.

Sonny groaned, laughing quite nervously and he shook his head. “Yes, I know we are, but Marisol would have a cow!” He laughed still.

While he knew Marisol would much prefer him to go with Stella than anyone else, such as people like Ariana or whoever, but there was also the fact that Mari didn’t like Stella. He always found that weird. Stella didn’t do anything to Mari (that he knew of). She was one of his oldest friends, but all Sonny knew for certain was every time he mentioned Stella’s name, there was an obvious grimace on his girlfriend’s face and he knew for reasons he might never know that she wanted nothing to do with Stella.

“So, yeah Stella is a no go...unfortunately.” Sonny was disappointed because Stel was the only other person he considered before, you know, Mari got the idea to set Julie and Ry up.

Julie pouted disappointedly, she hated when one of her good plans fell through. “Well…” she continued to muse “Why don’t we just go together then?” she said rather matter of factly “I mean we’re friends right? And Marisol knows I would never do anything with you - no offense.” she winked at him cheekily. “What do you think?”

Her suggestion, though not surprising since he was going to ask her himself (but was leading into it), still caught Sonny off-guard. The way she brought it up and just how Julie, in such Julie fashion, phrased it brought out an unintended chuckle from the boy’s lips, causing him to cough as though he was choking. “I-I mean, yeah that’s a great idea!” He spoke amidst his spell of wheezing. He took a few moments to get it out of his system. “Truth be told, I was thinking of skipping the dance. It just didn’t feel right going without Marisol but now?” He laughed again, smiling at the redhead. “I can’t explain it but I’m looking forward to getting all dressed up and escorting you to the ball.” He exaggerated his tone, doing his best seated curtsy, though he was unable to maintain a straight face through it.

“Great… It’s decided then!” she clapped her hands together. To think that just a few minutes ago Julie was contemplating skipping the dance altogether because she was so annoyed with the school as a whole. But now that she had a project she was in high spirits. “I hope you are aware that I am dressing you right? I’m sorry Sonny but I don’t think I can trust you with... that,” she said softly eying his messy tie and wrinkly shirt.

He followed her gaze to his shirt and looked back up at her, confused. “What? Is there something wrong with my shirt?” He asked her, glancing back down at his shirt, thinking he might’ve gotten some pizza sauce on it (he didn’t).

“Not with the shirt itself…” Julie commented as she cocked her head to the side letting her long red hair cascade over her shoulder. It was true since it was a good quality 100% cotton shirt that King’s set as a standard for all of the students to wear. “Just the way you present it sweetie” with a sweep of her hand she flicked her hair back over her shoulder, diving down into her bag. She emerged with a small notebook and a pen which she opened and scribbled in before tearing out a page. “Here is my address, why don’t you come over this weekend and we’ll get you fitted for a suit!” she slid the neatly folded up note across the table.

“Your address?” Sonny echoed back, opening the piece of paper torn from her notebook in disbelief.

In the back of his mind, Sonny was thinking that he never thought he’d actually receive, of all people, Julie’s address. And then the realization settled in: get fitted for a suit. And that resulted in Sonny breathing out a slow “shit”. The plan he and Marisol had? Brilliant. Julie and Rye would make a great couple but Sonny didn’t know just how much work he was going to have to put in. At this realization and the implications it presented, it donned on him that Sonny was the Anne Hathaways, the Rachel Leigh Cooks to the fashion guru and overall beauty specialist that was Julie.

Taking in a breath, he fake smiled, which wasn’t a legit fake grin but just a ‘hide the fact you’re gonna have to put in a lot of work for this plan to work’ smile. “Bitchin!” He laughed through the pain. “I guess I’ll see you this weekend. Should I bring anything? Maybe some donuts? Or a batch of bagels?” That was customary right? When visiting royalty in their castle, you bring something.

“Uhm… No!” She said cheerily “We should be fine, just think about what color scheme we should go for… I’m thinking cream and pale yellow. But I’ll fix the rest” Julie chirped and patted Sonny’s hand before beginning to pack up. Before she stood up she turned back to face him “Really though Sonny… Thanks.” she said earnestly standing up. “See you later then! Bye sweetie.” And with that she turned and floated away in between the bookcases of the library.

Sonny stuck around the library for a few minutes, reflecting on what just happened. Going into it, he didn’t know how things were going to pan out. He had no way of knowing if the plan was going to end here and Julie was going to catch onto what scheme he was in the process of hatching. Sonny went into it blind as a bat and did exactly what he told Marisol what he was gonna do. He told her he was going to appeal to the side of Julie that liked him as a friend, which what he said wasn’t a total lie. He didn’t have a date and he was going to ask her anyway, but what Sonny didn’t anticipate was just how much work this was going to be.

He pulled out his phone and sent a text to Marisol. “Phase one is a success.” When he sent that first text, Sonny typed another. “But I’m getting a makeover because apparently my fashion sense is wack.” Rolling his eyes, he sent another. “From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Now, I have to get mentally prepared for what I know is going to be a long weekend.”

Sonny let a few moments pass and sent one final text. “Okay rant over. Love you dumb dumb! I’ll see you 6th period.”

With that last text sent, Sonny just sat in the quiet of the library, head slouched and resting on both of his hands, he decided to look out the window.. It was peaceful today. Sonny understands why Julie likes to gaze out the window. There’s something tranquil and soothing about watching the students from afar.

[Venus]

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Sitting on the ledge of the roof, his feet hanging off, listening to Blinding Lights by The Weeknd, Ryland peered down at his new school, having not touched his packed lunch, at all. He was too lost in his head to hear the growing noises coming from his stomach. If his dad wanted him to change, he should’ve transferred him sophomore year, or something. At least then he wouldn’t feel isolated, like he did now. Like he didn’t belong.

He had a community in Los Angeles, support and love, and he took that for granted. Not saying he doesn’t have that here, it’s just… different. If they never moved from Florida to LA when he was small, it wouldn’t feel like he was a stranger in a strange land. This feeling, the feeling of having to put way more effort than not, to fit in, sucked.

His first day set the tone for the rest of the semester. There was no reason in trying if he had already committed social suicide. Everyone around him was enjoying their young, teen life, and here he was, aimless and annoyed. Annoyed at everything, but most importantly, annoyed at himself. He shouldn’t care who Ariel dates. He shouldn’t care that his two best friends got together. He shouldn’t care! What he should care about is becoming someone his mom was proud to have as her son and someone his dad could trust won’t get himself killed. It was exhausting.

Life.

Why? Why bother? What’s the point?

Nothing mattered and he was meaningless. His anger was a mask hiding the true culprit that ate at him, each and every day. Ryland Aspen felt like an empty shell and had nothing to fight for. He didn’t have a home, not really. He had people he’d die for, he had family, but between Beverly Hills and Crown Heights, he floated. Times like these, he couldn’t explain it. This crippling feeling that leaves him thinking about all the what ifs. What if he grew up with Sonny, Marisol, and the misfits? What if his dad never got with his step mom? What if Zayden wasn’t the golden boy? What if he didn’t exist? What if… Heavily sighing, he stared down at the blank space between his feet and the ground. Stuck, in his own head.

“Fucking finally!”

For the past fifteen minutes, Marisol had been on the hunt for Ryland. After fine tuning the details of Operation Rulie­, the couple had set out on the task of finding their star crossed lovers for Phase One. They had expected this to run quickly and smoothly, and to have a response in ten minutes tops. But for such a small school, it had been a real pain in the ass to find Julie and Ry. They must have been fucking legends playing hide and seek growing up.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you, so when I couldn’t find you I decided to take a smoke break. Didn’t think I’d actually find you up here,” she laughed, plopping down next to Ryland and wasting no time in lighting up a perfectly rolled joint and taking a deep pull. “Want some?” she asked her friend, offering up the joint and exhaling puffs of cannabis smoke like a dragon.

With the sudden presence next to him, breaking him out of his spiraling thoughts, Rye tugged his headphones off and shook his head, which was unfortunate, but for the best, “Nah, I’ll pass. What was it you were saying? Sorry, couldn’t hear you over my music.” No longer staring down at the students that looked like ants, he tilted his head towards Marisol, actually appreciative of the company.

Marisol rolled her eyes. “That I’ve been looking fucking everywhere for you,” she repeated, taking another puff of the joint. Upon closer inspection, Mari noticed her friend was looking and acting rather gloomy- which was very unlike himself. Her cheerful demeanor suddenly shifted to worry. “Is everything okay?” the girl asked him, frowning with concern.

As much as he wanted to put on a front, she caught him when his guard was down, so he simply shrugged and admitted, “Just shit.” He didn’t know how to put it in words, how to explain how depressed he’s been, thinking his father would be better off with two sons, rather than three. It was all there, in his head, but… words escaped him. “Shit’s been rough, and I don’t really know what to do about it.”

The familiar feeling of guilt began to bubble up inside Marisol at Ryland’s words. His first encounter with her and Sonny had been under less than favorable circumstances, then the shit with Ariel happened, plus whatever else he had going on behind the scenes. Although she knew that whatever negative feelings the curly-haired boy weren’t just her fault, she couldn’t help but think that she had contributed to this slump in his mood. Letting out a deep sigh, Mari scooted closer to her friend and rested her head on his shoulder. “Look, I know that there’s probably nothing I can say to make it better, but I can hear you out if you ever want to talk about it.”

“I know…” He muttered, leaning his head against her’s, turning it slightly so his nose rested on her hair. “...and I appreciate it.” He really did and part of him knew that his friend empathized with him and also carried the weight of the world on her shoulders. She deserved to hear more than just half-ass words. After biting the inside of his cheeks, he tried his best to articulate some of his demons, “I want to see this move as something positive. I have you. And Sonny. And everyone else. I just… can’t help to think I always… fuck up. Like I don’t deserve this.” He gestured to her, which symbolized friendship. “I don’t deserve...a moment where I feel okay.” He paused and pushed a piece of hanging hair behind his ear, “I’d settle with okay.”

“We both know that’s a whole lotta bullshit,” she quickly interjected, taking another drag from the joint to buy herself some time to think about her next words. “Sure: you fuck up sometimes. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that you don’t. But, newsflash! We all do. Making mistakes doesn’t make you this big, bad, undeserving person. Your value and your worth don’t decrease with however many times you stumble along the way. No matter how many times you mess up, you still deserve to be more than okay- because you’re you. You’re the amazing Ryland fucking Aspen, for crying out loud! You deserve all the fucking happiness this world has to offer. And if you don’t believe it, I’ll make you fucking believe it.”

As she preached, with passion and sass, Rye couldn’t help but smirk as he observed her. Yeah, maybe being alone wasn’t the best thing for him to do because hearing her words felt like sugar that made awful tasting medicine go down. She didn’t say anything offensive and she wasn’t acting better than him. Marisol was humble and understood perfectly what stage he was at, and more importantly, she loved him.

Raising an eyebrow, he snickered, “How exactly are you going to do that?” Make him believe he deserved happiness, like she had with Sonny, like Aunt Miley had when she treated children at the hospital, like his dad had when he saw everything he made, from ground up. The only person that could convince him of that was himself, and yet, seeing her there cheering him on and speaking words of wisdom, made him feel like nothing was impossible and maybe, just maybe, Marisol Castillo was the solution that would get him out of this funk.

“You don’t wanna know…” Mari mysteriously replied, keeping her green eyes locked on her friend’s brown eyes as she took the last pull from her joint in a purposely comical attempt at being seductive. Of course, she lasted about a full five seconds before snorting and bursting into laughter. “Fuck, that was terrible,” she chortled, tossing the remains of the joint over her shoulder.

“You’re telling me.” The once depressed boy sitting on the roof was now laughing on the roof with a friend. A best friend at that. While flirting wasn’t something he was used to seeing Mari do, it was adorable, even if there was no merit behind it and it wasn’t her strong suit. “Dude, I can only imagine how you talk to Son.”

“In my defense, I wasn’t really trying,” the short girl admitted in an attempt to justify herself. Meanwhile, his last statement went unanswered in order to preserve what little untainted images he had of her and Sonny. “But fuck that and let’s get back to business. I was looking for you for a reason.”

With the mood lifted, at least for now, and hopefully for the rest of the day, Rye realized that his friend came here for something and that wasn’t to cheer him up. “Oh shit. My bad. What did you want to talk about?” As much as this therapy session did do wonders for him, and as short as it was, he was ready to move on. It was only a matter of time this would start making him feel uncomfortable, so it was for the best he changed the subject. Talking about feelings wasn’t his strong suit.

“Well...” Mari began, rubbing her hands together like some sort of mad scientist just to throw him off. “The reason I’ve been looking for you is so I could be the perfect, macho masculine gentleman I am and formally ask you out to the dance next week.”

Oh fuck. That’s right. The dance. He had pushed that deep in the back of his mind. If this was anyone else, he would probably reject them on the spot. Instead, he grumbled and whined, “You’re going to make me go?”

“Yes the fuck I am!” she fervently declared, lightly punching him in the shoulder. “I’ll drag you by the hair if I have to. You can definitely use the distraction.”

“Is this really a distraction when everything is PG-13?” Rolling his eyes, he defeatedly huffed, “Fine, it’s not like I have a choice. But under one condition.”

Marisol raised a questioning eyebrow up at him. “What?”

With a goofy, dumb grin, Rye proclaimed, “Your boyfriend must save a dance for me.”

The short girl erupted into loud cackles at the idea of Sonny’s terrible dancing skills being put on the spot with Ryland as a partner. And the more she thought about it, the harder she laughed. It took a solid few minutes for Marisol to stop wheezing long enough to talk again. “Deal,” she said, wiping the mascara-stained tears from her cheeks. “But only if it’s a smoking hot, Magic Mike style lap dance. Gotta go big or go home.”

“You know me, Sol, I’m here for the Money.” He winked at her, amused at the direction their conversation went. They both weren’t the type to keep things serious for too long and honestly, yeah, she was just what the doctor ordered. “Hey, where is that fucker anyways?”

“I’ve got no fucking idea,” Mari said with a shrug, rising up from her seating position and getting her things just as Ryland did the same. When they were both ready, the brunette linked their arms together and gave her best friend a bright smile. “C’mon. Let’s go find him. Lunch is nearly over anyway.”

[Ejected]

_{a @HaleyTheRandom x @Ejected collab}

---

---

To be honest, Ariel was half expecting Kavan to say no to her suggestion. He had way closer friends than her, but maybe they already had someone else to go with or something. Who knew. Nodding as he spoke, she gave him a small smile.

”Awesome! I’m definitely down to coordinate. I hadn’t picked out anything to wear yet either, but something tells me we might want to avoid red. I feel like a lot of people might be wearing that color, I dunno.” Realizing that she was rambling already, Ariel paused for just a moment to collect her thoughts before speaking again. ”Do you maybe wanna walk to the lunchroom with me? I’m starving.”

"Okay, well that means that red is out of the question, then," Kavan said with a half-smile. "Maybe we should wear black? I feel like not too many people will wear that color. And sure, why not? It's been a while since I've actually eaten lunch in the cafeteria. Hopefully the food is edible."

As the two began their walk towards the cafeteria, Kavan couldn't help but wonder whether or not he should even ask Ariel about how she'd been feeling lately. He wasn't really one to stick his nose in the business of others, especially if it were someone he wasn't particularly close with. But Ariel was one of the Misfits. She was part of his family. And although they didn't interact as much as they did with the others, he still cared about her well being. "So..." Kavan said hesitantly as they walked down the hall. "How have things been going over the last couple of weeks?"

”Black sounds great,” she said, slight enthusiasm peeking through her voice. Shrugging her shoulders, she half smiled at his comment on the cafeteria food. ”I think it’s pizza day, so I don’t think you’ll die.”

While walking down the hall, Ariel was scrambling to try and find a conversation topic. Should she ask how things are with Archer? Or maybe she should try and find out about his latest artistic endeavor? Thankfully Kavan was quicker at coming up with topics of conversation than she was.

”Decent enough,” she lied. ”I’ve been practicing some new dance moves here and there. Picked up a few extra shifts at the diner. It’s kinda cool having so much extra free time, ya know?” Walking into the lunchroom, Ariel took her place in line. ”So what about you? Anything new and exciting in the World of Kavan?”

"Dance moves, huh?" Kavan said with a half-smile as the pair entered the cafeteria. "I look forward to seeing those at the dance. I'm not really much of a uh... dancing kind of guy, so you'll have to teach me your ways."

As Kavan stood in the line, he found himself taking a quick glance around the cafeteria, his eyes searching for the rest of the Misfits, and he couldn't help but wonder who Archer, Marisol and Sonny would end up going with to the dance. "And well, I decided to join the Drama Club a while back, so that's going pretty good I guess. I'm also toying with the idea of telling my parents about Archer and me soon, especially since Prom is right around the corner and... well, we're going together. Not sure I want my 'coming out' to be a big surprise on prom night."

Ariel was paying more attention to the food than anything. She had absent mindedly skipped breakfast this morning, and the growls coming from her stomach were making that very apparent.

”I bet you’d be a great dancer once you learned a move or two. I could have you and Archer waltzing in time for prom,” she said half jokingly. ”How do you think they’ll react? Your parents, I mean? Like I know we aren’t that close but if something doesn’t work out, I’m here to help in any way that I can.”

"Honestly? I'm not too sure," Kavan said as he slid a slice of cheese pizza onto his tray and reached for a bottle of water. "Despite not being as traditional as some of our other relatives... I still don't think they'd like the idea of having a bisexual son. My father, especially. But it has to come out at some point, right? What better of a time to do it than right before I graduate and leave for college? At least I won't have to worry about having to sit through awkward family dinners for too long afterwards." Kavan let out a dry laugh as he said those last few words, and followed Ariel all the way through the line until they were both standing by the exit door with their food in hand.

"But thank you, it really means a lot," Kavan said sincerely as he took another quick glance around the cafeteria. "It's actually a pretty nice day out... I think I'll go and eat in the courtyard. Are you coming with?"

Ariel shook her head. ”Nah… I have some homework and stuff that I need to proofread before I turn it in.” She smiled at him one last time. ”I’ll be sure to text you later with some outfit ideas for the dance though.”

“Ah, okay,” Kavan said with a smile as he nodded and began walking away. “See you then.”

[Sugar and Spite]

_{a @Ejected & @HaleyTheRandom collab.}

Lost in thought as she headed towards the lunchroom, Sunshine was surprised when she felt an arm wrap around her own. Said arm belonged to one of her best friends, thank goodness.

”CoCo,” she exclaimed, a large smile spreading across her face. ”Of course you can! We’ve got a lot of catching up to do anyway. Been a hot minute.”

As they entered the lunchroom, Sunshine was pleased to see that not that many people were here yet. Maybe they were out finding dates, or complaining about the administration's decision. Whatever the case, Sunshine was happy that she wouldn’t have to wait long for her food today. She hadn’t realized just how hungry she was until she began to smell the pizza. Getting in the waiting line, she turned to her friend. ”So what’s your thoughts on this whole Valentines Day dance thing? Do they usually throw you guys curve balls for everything?”

"I'm not completely mad at it," Chanel said as she peeked around Sunshine to see what was being served for lunch. She was relieved to see that they actually weren't being given something that resembled prison food; she set her sights on the tray of pepperoni pizza, and rummaged around her purse for a few dollars. "On one hand, it's not like I'm dating anyone, so I would've ended up going with friends anyways. But on the other hand, I probably could've found myself a date. Maybe some hot guy would've asked me, or I could've asked some random girl on my dance team or... someone cute like her." As Chanel spoke, her eyes landed upon a girl who she'd only spoken to a handful of times: Chrissie McCoy. She was sashaying away from the Quad in her usual, theatrical way; Chanel's eyes only lingered on the girl for a second before returning their attention to Sunshine.

"It's whatever, though. This isn't the first time that King's has done some weird shit like this, but I don't think we really noticed or cared since it never affected us until this year... with it being our Senior year and all." The line moved quicker than usual thanks to the rest of the students had yet to leave for their lunch period; it wasn't long before Chanel's slice of pizza was within reach.

As Chanels eyes followed Chrissie, Sunshine couldn’t help but turn to see who it was her friend had her sights set on. Sunshine recognized the girl, but couldn’t really remember her name. You couldn’t deny that she was pretty, or that Chanel had every right to be watching as she walked away. When the line began to move again, Sunshine quickly found herself grabbing a tray and ordering a slice of pizza from the lunch lady standing before her.

”Well…” Sunshine said thoughtfully. ”I’ve got a proposition for you. How about you and me go together? It’s not like I can take Shawna now, and me and you haven’t really had that much time to catch up since I’ve been back. Plus you know that I can have a good time.”

As Chanel paid for her things, she began to consider what her friend was saying. Beforehand, Chanel's obvious choices would've been Julie or April; but the more Sunshine spoke, the more she realized that she hadn't really been hanging out with her other friends as much as she probably should've been. Sunshine was completely right, they needed time to catch up; what better way to do that than by going to the dance with each other? "You know what?" Chanel said as she stepped out of the line with her tray in hand. "You're right. We should go together. I mean, what other duo is gonna turn this thing up like we will? And look the best while doing it?"

”If we don’t win best dressed or some shit, I’ll flip.” Of course this was a mild exaggeration, but Chanel was right. Both girls had a flair for the dramatic when it came to dressing up. It would be a crime if they didn’t turn every head in the venue. After paying for her food, Sunshine led the way to one of the tables as she took a seat across from Chanel.

”You sure though? I figured you’d have asked Julie or someone before I had the chance to catch you.”

"Hm..." Chanel said as she shrugged her shoulders and peeled one of the pepperonis off her pizza. "That was the plan at first, but I'm sure Julie will understand. She's got a lot of other friends she could go with. Someone like April or Marisol... Besides, it's not like we all won't party with each other at the dance."

”Sounds awesome! Can’t wait to show these people how to really party,” she said, a glimmer in her eye.

[NeoAJ]

_{With assistance from Sunshine @HaleyTheRandom}

---

Shawna was still internally shaking her head at what the hell just happened in the hallway. "I'm really going to a school dance with a damn football player. I think ninth-grade me would have fainted at that news. Fuck, I might do that." She made it to a quiet hallway and just let herself collapse against the wall. "Fuck... I gotta talk to someone..."

With her phone at the ready, she knew who her first choice was to talk to. It was just a matter of if she would available to chat at the moment or if she was busy solving the same problem she did...

"Hey, so I think I managed to find someone for this dumb dance."

She leaned back and waited to see if Sunshine was going to respond or not. However, Shawna didn't have to wait long...

"Oh really?! Who? Anyone I know?"

I'm pretty sure you're not the muff bunny cheerleader, so I'm gonna guess not really...

"No. I will buy all your lunches for the rest of the year if you manage to guess"

"Uh... I don't know. 😂 Kavi? Or Ariel? Maybe... Chris?"
"Fuck babe. I really don't know. 😂 Give a girl a hint."

Knew it. Haha. All right, how do I give this away...

"Fine XP Think about the last person who you would possibly think I would date."

"OH MY GOD."
"Jack. Jack. Fucking. Goff."
"Oh my god Shawna, tell me you didn't."

"OK..... I won't tell you then..."

Shawna expected it wouldn't have been high on Sunshine's list of targets, but the fact that she got the name was impressive. Still, she didn't seem pleased. Shit, did Jack do something to Sunshine? I will kick him in the nuts if he hurt her somehow...

">.> If he flirts with you, touches you, even so much as looks at you to long --- I'll take a page out of Ariels book and break his nose."

The brunette stifled a laugh. Ariel will help you. I know she will.

"😂 Girl, I told him the exact same thing."
"I told him if I get one dick pic, it's getting cut off."

"Good. I'll be sure to let him know too."

Now that Shawna had someone she was willing to be her full self with, she didn't even bother to hold back an obvious innuendo that sprang to mind.

"Two pairs of scissors are better than one 😏 So who did you ask?"

"I got Chanel to go with me. Figured that was best since we hadn't been hanging out much with classes and stuff picking up."

Hmmmm... so she did get Chanel huh... I guess that's good... Chanel has so much more going on than me though. Would she... nah. I don't even think Chanel is a lesbian.

"Well that's good! I knew you had her top of the list. Although, same thing as with Jack."
"If she makes a move on you, not saying she will, but if she does, I break her like I break lacrosse sticks"

"LOL. You have nothing to worry about. Promise. 🖤 Pretty sure she has her eyes set on Chrissie anyway."

WAIT, WHAT!?! If Shawna had been drinking something, she would have coated the hallway with it. Instead, she just dropped her phone in such a way that she hoped she didn't crack it. Luckily it was still pristine. Um. OK. So maybe Chanel does swing that way. I never would have guessed. Wow. And for Chrissie! Oh my girl. My sweet ice cream girl, you got some kinda treat coming if this is true!

"0-0 Really? Wow. Really? Shit. I wonder if Chrissie knows... I should talk to her soon."

"We could totally play match maker. Tell me they wouldn't be one bomb ass couple?"

This text did two things for Shawna. One, it confirmed there was no interest in Chanel from Sunshine, which was a relief. Two, it brought up the intriguing possibility that she could finally fulfill the destiny of so many sitcom character and try and get two people that were meant for each other together. Fuck, that shouldn't be too hard. I've seen it on Friends and the Office and Brooklyn Nine-Nine how many freaking times? Plus, Chrissie needs this. Damn, does she ever need this.

"I mean, we would still be the best bomb ass couple... but that could totally work for Chrissie!"

"Lmao. I love you 😂."

"She has needed to get over Jason so hard."

"But yeah. We should totally work something out. Men ain't shit."
"I gotta run to class. I'll talk to you later. ❤️"

Isn't that the truth. Fuck, is this what it's like to actually be in on the tea? This is fun. I kinda like it.

"Love you too hun. See you later 😉 ❤️ "

Content with that, Shawna left the hallway and headed off to class herself. At least plans were now in place. All the plans. This school could still suck it, but maybe Valentine's Day won't after all.

[AlteredTundra]

As she tried to mute out the wild chatter of the cafeteria by focusing her attention on what was on the blinding screen of her phone, she knew after multiple attempts it was proving to be a difficult task.

Between hearing the most obnoxious comments practically being shouted into her ear from a table full of Sophomores about five or so feet away and the constant text messages she’s been getting from so many people, she was starting to lose it. Everyone from her cousins on her mother’s side, as well as her fathers and friends from all over, were constantly checking up on her. They knew about her problems with Chrissie. Of course, she knew gossip traveled like herpes, especially when it had to deal with the favorite ray of sunshine of the family, but she didn’t anticipate so many people would reach out. And it wasn’t like Stella didn’t appreciate it. Past the part of her that wanted to die from everything going on, she was touched by their concern. But enough was enough. She said she was fine so everyone in her life needed to stop checking up on her. She was fine.

As she set her phone down screen-first on the table, she stared longingly at all of the students. For the first time in what felt like weeks, Stella was actually jealous of the non-seniors. They weren’t suffering through this ordeal of being forced to take someone who wasn’t their boyfriend/girlfriend or someone who they’d like to eventually be that person for them. They weren't forced to take a friend. She didn’t have any problem with that, but the option being stripped of her before she was afforded the chance to decide is what she imagined got to a lot of people and it was what brought her down (in addition to everything else, of course).

She sighed, suddenly feeling the vibration from her phone through her arm that was resting on the table. “Again!?” Rolling her eyes, she grabbed her phone and saw she received a text message from her brother. Again.

Yo Kiddo! What’s up?
Chris, for the last time, I’m okay! U dont have 2 keep checking up on me! Other Chrissie is annoying but i can deal.

She rolled her eyes and placed her phone on silent. If she had to hear another person ask how she was and if Chrissie living with them was a mistake, she was going to explode at the next person who dared to talk to her.

“Hey, Stella: do you have a minute?”

Boiling up inside, Stella’s neck swiftly turned and she saw Santiago standing over her and she sighed. “pour l'amour de Dieu {for God’s sake}” She found it difficult to contain her displeasure with Santiago’s presence but in the end she sighed. “Sure. I guess I do since nobody is--yes, I do have a minute.” She gestured to him to sit down seeing as how there was no logical reason she could think up at the moment that would excuse her from having to talk to him.

[Venus]

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Santiago Fernandez took the seat the girl had offered him, and put his sweaty palms on top of the table that separated them. The idea of asking Stella to the dance wasn’t something he’d been considering in the slightest. Although he’d mostly ignored it in favor of doing his own thing, Diablo hadn’t been a stranger to the very obvious animosity the brunette felt towards him. Hell, she was probably a close second to Julie on the scale of how much they hated him. There was a history between them- and not a very good one, at that. During their first date together back in freshman year, he had strung Stella along in hopes of getting laid, but had acted rather nastily when things didn’t go his way. He hadn’t been violent or verbally degrading to her, but had tried to manipulate her into thinking his dismissal of her had been her own fault. With the years he understood that his actions had been appalling, yet had left things to fester instead of doing the right thing and offering up an apology. This dance presented the perfect opportunity to (hopefully) finally put another grudge to rest. But no matter how many times he had rehearsed the words in his head, it was always so much harder to follow through when they were face to face.

The young man took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. “I’m sure everyone knows this by now, but Lils and I are having a baby girl,” he began with a nervous laugh, rubbing the closely-cropped hair in the back of his neck.

She looked up at him, feeling as though it was the first time she had seen him actually smile without the pompous asshole attitude that usually followed. She noticed just how ...happy, if not absolutely terrified (she was assuming) about being a father. “Congratulations, Santiago!” Stella meant that. Regardless how she felt about him, which even now it was less hate and more whatever, she always smiled whenever a baby was brought into the world. “I’m sure your daughter will be a cutie!” Stella wasn’t blind. Santiago was objectively cute and April was adorable. She knew they would have themselves a looker.

“Thank you, seriously,” Santiago said appreciatively, and gave her a bashful smile. “I hope she doesn’t have her momma's temper, though. I’ll be in a whole lot of trouble if she does.”

When he mentioned April’s temper, the brunette immediately recalled the times she not only heard about their intense screaming matches from friends but she witnessed them a few times. And that’s not even including the things they did to each other (again she heard it through the grapevine). Stella used to think they were toxic, that they weren’t any good for each other. She used to think that maybe they would break up and that would be the end of that. On some level, she knew it was the opposite. For people to do the things they did to each other and at the level they probably hurt one another, Stella was aware enough to know they were the real deal and that made her smile. Not because she suddenly liked Santiago but because April was her friend.

“Cheer up, Santiago!” Stella placed her hand on his and waited for him to meet her gaze. “I’m sure she’ll have just enough of both of you. Too much and she might just rule this world.”

The young man grimaced, but immediately let out a nervous chuckle. “As much as I know I’ll love her, that is terrifying to think about,” he admitted, shaking his head. “But anyway, that’s not the only reason why I wanted to talk to you…” he began, taking one last moment to gather his thoughts before letting out a deep breath and embarking on the second part of his apology tour. “See, having a kid right now is something I never in my life thought would happen. But it did, and it’s put a lot of things into perspective for me. I obviously wanted a boy, but things didn’t go that way. And when I found out I was having a girl, I immediately started to worry about how things would be when she grew up… What the world would be like, what she would be like, what would happen if she ever came across a dude like me... And when the thought of anyone playing my little girl like I did to so many chicks before scared me, I realized what a fucking piece of shit I’ve been for so many years,” he admitted, his voice and eyes full of honesty as he looked up at Stella. “And I’m sorry for that, Stella. I’m sorry I was such an asshole to you back then. You didn’t deserve any of that shit. I know I can’t take back what I did, but I can at least let you know that I really do regret acting out the way I did.”

Hearing those words escape his lips. I’m sorry. He’s sorry? She immediately played it back in her head and repeated it several times and his voice echoed in her thoughts. She wasn’t sure if this was a game that he was playing. While she didn’t want to think that even Santiago was capable of such a horrible thing, especially after they were having such a sweet moment, she couldn’t stop herself from entertaining the notion. This was Santiago, after all. This was the boy who played with her heart, who made her feel like he actually cared, and then when she wouldn’t do something or when he had his fill, he dumped her like a sack of potatoes gone bad.

And that was the worst part. Sure, one could argue the worst of it came when she saw him with April and had herself a good cry after the fact, but what really made her visit Rock Bottom USA was the fact that he made her think there was a chance between them. People can talk about how it was always Santiago and April and she eventually caught on, but for a couple of weeks, hope crawled into the home of common sense and a hatred was born. This fire that had an eternal supply of gasoline fueling the intense loathing she had for him burned everything to the ground and Stella had buried it deep into the core of her being, not wanting to ever dig it up.

She narrowed her eyes and tried her best to look for the old Santiago. She was actually hoping to find the guy who crushed her but he wasn’t there. “The world must be coming to an end.” Her words left her cherry lips before she even realized it and she laughed.

“Tell me about it,” he chuckled, enjoying how some of the anxiousness he had been feeling over this evaporated into the atmosphere.

He wasn’t playing any games and maybe that’s the part of it all that made this too surreal for her. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to hear you say those words, Santiago. Not only for you to say it but mean them. It’s hard for me to admit, but I did like you. I mean, sure: I have this rep of falling for guys too quickly. But while you treated me horribly, during the time when you weren’t, it was so amazing. You made me feel like I was on top of the world, like I was the only person that mattered. So, when you did hurt me and didn’t even apologize, I just...didn’t want anything to do with you. And God knows I hated you for so long. But now..” Stella bit her lip and curled them in a half smile. Looking into his eyes and now not even certain what was happening, she gave into the part of her that just wanted to laugh. “I don’t even know. You aren’t the same guy I remember. I can tell that you mean what you said and, well,” she paused, squeezing his hand with a warmth she never thought she’d give him, “I forgive you!” She chipperly stated.

When he heard Stella accept his apology and felt the sincerity of her words, part of a weight he’d unknowingly been carrying on his shoulders suddenly lifted. Even when he’d made so many mistakes because of his selfishness and immaturity, this young woman sitting in front of him had still found it in her heart to forgive him, which spoke volumes about her. For someone who’d once disliked him so passionately, Stella had probably seen something in him worth forgiving and moving forwards. It filled him with hope that maybe- just maybe- he wouldn’t be as bad of a dad as he thought he would.

Now, onto the other reason why he’d approached her in the first place…

“Can I make things up to you by taking you to the dance next week? As friends, of course!” he clarified, raising both his hands in front of him. Diablo felt like he needed to make it absolutely clear that he didn’t have any ulterior motives or ill intentions this time around. “I know I totally ruined the only date we’ve had, so I’d really like to have a chance to try again. We can have ourselves a nice dinner at your favorite place, go to the dance and I can drive you home afterwards. Or I can ask someone else to drive you back home if you’re not comfortable with me doing it. I’m cool with whatever.”

He continued to amaze her. An apology and a redo of their date? He really has changed. There was even a part of her, a really small part of her that was almost jealous of April. “I’d like that,” she smiled, keeping her longing gaze on him. Stella had to take a moment to get used to this new side of Santiago. “Here, let me give you my number.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a little pink notepad that was no bigger than her hand and it was decorated with various rose patterns. As she wrote down her number with her purple ink pen, she tore the piece of paper from the notepad, handing it to Santiago. “There we go!” She half-giggled.

Grinning, Santiago took the note from her hands and slid it into the pocket of his jeans. “Awesome! Thank you so much, Stella. Really,” he earnestly replied. He really was grateful for the opportunity to fix his mistakes, and genuinely looking forward to giving her the best platonic time she deserved. “I’ll make sure to text you as soon as I can so you can have my number, and we can hash out the details of this thing. That sound good?”

“Yeah! That’s perfect! Feel free to text me anytime by the way! You’ll be a breath of fresh air since the only texts I get nowadays are from my annoying family!” She rolled her eyes, glancing down at her phone and she noticed the time. “Wow, is it that time already?” She mused aloud and exhaled out a sigh. “I’m sorry. I’m really enjoying this but my next class is way across campus and if I don’t leave now, I just know I’ll get an infraction for being tardy,” she said, standing up.

“Oh no, that’s fine,” he said with a shrug, imitating her by standing up as well. “I’ve gotta get going anyway. I try to carry Lils’ things from classroom to classroom any chance I get. I want to avoid having her carry around any more extra weight than she already does.”

“Aww!” Stella could feel her heart melting. Santiago and the rep often associated with him wasn’t true at all. He wasn’t some monster she thought he was. He’s a sweetheart and she knew April was lucky to have someone like that in her life. “You’re going to be a fantastic father, Santiago Fernandez! Mark my words!” Shooting him a short wink, Stella forced her legs to carry her and her bag into a sprint out of the cafeteria.

[AlteredTundra]

_{Day 💘Saturday, February 16th, 2019
Location & Time 💘Crown Heights Country Club ♥ 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM
Dress Code 💘 Semi-Formal. Dresses for ladies, dress pants and shirts for guys (no jeans or sneakers)}

---

The week that went by was, in a word, hectic. It didn’t matter who you were, whether you were one of the students who had to arrange a date with a friend (or even a stranger and had to take certain steps to prepare), or a member of the dance committee who worked closely with the faculty (particularly Mrs. Sanders) to set up the decorations- it was long. The volunteers had made sure there were enough refreshments in stock, that the romantic glow within the ballroom was perfect, that the equipment had been properly set up... Hours spent crafting the wallpaper, ordering a real glow ball to hang in the center of the room with lights within it, and all doing so without losing one’s mind. The fact any of them were able to do this and with time to spare was amazing.

And it was just that. The platform that would be used to host the 2019 King’s Academy Valentine’s Day Dance was transformed into something remarkable. The air of romance had consumed a usually-dull and lifeless ballroom. Where it had the plain Jane of lights, they were replaced with pink and red and purple Christmas lights that sparkled and added a dose of cutesy warmth to the room.

Whether it was at the entrance or spread throughout, these lights provided all the illumination anyone required. Refreshment tables that had a plentiful amount of options to go around (obviously no alcohol) were spread throughout as well and pushed against the walls with delicately positioned, heart-shaped balloons, tied with string, and roses in water-filled vases rested on these tables.

This dance not only was a tradition among those who attend King’s Academy but it’s something of a tradition in general for the Country Club. Every year, as close as they could, Crown Heights makes the attempt to celebrate love in all of its special forms. It is a unique experience for the elite suburbia of Palm Beach and only those who live here can know the extent of just what it means to be a royal and to be allowed the benefit of knowing it first hand.

At seven exact, the doors would open, and soon celebrations of friendship would begin.