[IC] Palm Beach Royals: Senior Year

[AlteredTundra]

Sonny's Outfit

The last week of Sonny’s life was a lot of things but uneventful wasn’t one of them.

As the week went on, Sonny was over at Julie’s a lot. And when he says a lot, it’s not an overexaggeration nor would him saying the panic levels were raised to an all-time high when she came over that first Monday afternoon. Julie, as Sonny found her to be, was meticulous in figuring out exactly what Sonny had to deal with. What outfits were doable and which ones wouldn’t ever see the light of day. She combed through his shirts like she was trying to find hidden treasures and sifted through some of his favorite shirts, those of which were heavily criticized by the detailed queen.

And this was only Monday.

Though the entire ordeal he went through was a pain in the ass for him to have to go through all of this and as much as Sonny thought the plan wasn’t worth the hassle, there was a lot of good that came out of it. Spending all of that time with Julie, going to hair appointments, her getting a feel for his style, and just enjoying each other’s company, there had been a lot of minutes where they had to fill up the time with something. At some point, they both found themselves having a rare and genuine conversation about their sisters.

Sonny was about to leave his house, unsurprisingly sweating through his shirt, though thankfully it wasn’t showing through creme suit jacket (Julie would throw a queen-sized fit if he called it beige one more time), he made sure it wasn’t wrinkling in any way. Julie worked so hard having it tailored to fit his size and he would feel bad if he appeared looking like all of that time was for nothing. So he took a few extra moments and spared nothing as he aligned it with his posture and figure, making sure it was as straight a narrow line. When perfected, Sonny was about to head out but that was until he was stopped by his mother.

“Sonny, wait up for a moment.” Viola blocked his direct path to the front door. “I wanted you to have this before you left.”

As Viola handed Sonny a small black square box with a decorative white ribbon tied on it, he opened up and revealed what looked like a set of some fancy-appearing car keys. “What’s this?”

Viola Banks, one who usually wasn’t so silent, shrugged as she couldn’t stop smiling at him. “Well, you’re going to be heading off on a date -- even if it is just a celebration of friendship -- with someone who, let’s face it, has higher quality tastes than you ever have.”

“Gee, thanks mom--”

“You didn’t let me finish,” she said, cutting him off and continuing, “I didn’t want you to feel embarrassed or like you disappointed her by picking that sweet, surprisingly pleasant young girl in that truck of yours.”

She gestured Sonny to follow her as she walked away from the main hallway of the Drake-Banks house and into the two-car garage. When the light came on, though one spot was taken by his mother’s Audi, there was another car where Jackson’s mustang usually was parked but it wasn’t. Instead, a silver and black 2017 Audi TT.

Chuckling, he turned around to his mother. “Did you buy dad a new car? Doesn’t seem like his style.”

“No, this isn’t your father's.” Viola couldn't have said that any quicker than she did, almost as though she was offended at his assumption. “It’s yours, Sonny.”

Sonny’s usual demeanor was tossed out the window in favor of visible confusion. “What do you mean it’s mine?”

“I mean that this is your new car. I mean this is your early birthday present and I wanted to give you something special.” Viola laughed at just how thrown he was, which was rare but not unexpected. “Listen, son, I know I have been--” She paused, looking for the right word to use, “--difficult with you as of late but that’s only because I didn’t want you to have to go into your final semester of high school without a plan, but you have clearly shown you have a plan. And how honest you’ve been with me and your father -- not to mention yourself -- is something we couldn’t be prouder of you even if we tried. So this is a gift from us to you, well, more from me but don’t tell your father I said that.”

A typical chuckle he expected from Viola brought him out of his aghast state. “Still, I can’t accept this.”

“You can and you will!”

If there was something to be said about his mother, there was no winning with her, so Sonny wasn’t going to waste any energy trying to talk her into taking the rather expensive-but-equally-beautiful car she bought for him. “I don’t know what to say..”

She patted Sonny’s cheeks two times and smiled. “Just show that Julie a lovely time and have fun!”

That was the last thing Viola said to him before she walked away, leaving Sonny in the still-too-surreal-to-believe-it. For all of the trouble he put her through, for every little thing he criticized her for, and for all of the times he made her worry, Viola Banks, Sonny’s often confusing mother, just continued to surprise him. She proved that she was there for him when it mattered and he would need to be a better son, one that she could be proud of.

“And I will be that for her.”

As he said that, Sonny was inside his new Audi, a car that mirrored his mother’s but one not as flashy. A car that, when its engine started to rev up, he could easily tell how much smoother it was than his Dodge Ram. It eased out of the garage and driveway with relative ease and soon Sonny was MacMillan Manor Bound.

[LovelyComplex]

_{Collab by Stella @metanoia & Chrissie @TootsiePop}

---

---

With music blaring out of her bluetooth speakers, Ideas by Au/Ra, the Starlet of King’s Academy finished strapping on her last heel, while examining her french mani and pedi that she got only a couple of hours ago. Getting off her white sheeted bed, compliments to the Lamberts, Chrissie strutted to the vanity to check herself out. She was a pink flower in a room of white, standing out and looking good. Most importantly though? Feeling good.

Almost when the chorus came on, she started touching up her lips with gloss and swaying her shoulders and hips to the rhythm. After kissing the air, as she gawked at herself in the mirror, she twirled to music and sang out loud, “...Don’t put ideas in my head, no. Because the deeper they get, the more I like it. Don’t put ideas in my, no, don’t put ideas in my, no, don’t put ideas in my head…”

As the song continued, she prepared her evening bag, the Kate Spade’s Emanuelle Glitter Clutch one. She’d rather be too prepared than not prepared at all. Make up just in case, blotting papers for her girls with caked faces, safety pins for emergency repairs, mint because she ain’t got time for people’s bad breath, stain removal stick, her phone, and deo for obvious reasons, a small version of her scent for the day to freshen up, and tampons for emergencies. Not for her since she wouldn’t get her period anytime soon, but for whoever. Chris always had some JUST IN CASE her friends needed it. No one would ruin their dress on her watch! Part of her hated the need to bring a bag, but also, part of her simply loved how it accentuated her look, as well as flaunt her daddy’s wealth.

When the song came to a close, she finished her ensemble with another round of mist, ‘Such a Flirt’. This was a vibrant, floral fragrance, with a tease of tempting starfruit and white orchid. She already sprayed some prior to her putting her dress on, but this was just a little more, for extra measure. She was aiming to have fun tonight, which called for a playful scent. A scent that was alluring and tempting, but not too strong. A subtle statement.

Grabbing her phone, she snapped a picture of herself to her Cherry, making a goofy face, purposely trying to look unattractive, and commented: “Can’t wait to see you!” Once she turned her music off, she swung her door open, a sudden curiosity washing over her of what her cousin was wearing, and who her cousin was taking. Thank GOD not Carter. Deciding to break the silence, bored of being petty, she sauntered down the hall and to Stella’s bedroom. In Chris’ fashion, rather than knock, she decided to go for the door and...

“Don’t you ever knock!?” Stella stood in front of her full-body mirror, nearly tipping it over when Chrissie had burst through her bedroom door. It was common courtesy to knock before entering someone’s room but Chrissie seemed to lack that in spades. Fortunately for the brunette, she was dressed and moments away from applying the finishing touches to her hair, which was down but it was clear the right amount of product had been applied to it as well as a recent winner of the best treatment the saloon had to offer.

For most of the week, Stella had mostly relaxed. In the time that she wasn’t seeing Carter casually, texting him when she could, and calling him, she had been doing the same thing with Santiago. After their surprisingly pleasant date, Stella was in a good place. It was odd but when she had that do-over, knowing that it was a purely platonic date, a majority of her negative thoughts had disappeared like a raft of ducks flying south for the winter. She didn’t know if it had to do with Santiago treating her to the date or her finally coming to terms that you can’t control everything, but when her hazel brown eyes gave Chrissie the time of day, she felt bitter towards her cousin, who she had to admit looked beautiful.

As she fixed Weitzman Nudist sandals and straightened the dress with multiple green fabrics and colors she wore that came to a stop at mid thigh and tightened the belt, she sighed and took a long moment to inhale and exhale, pushing all of what she could say right now to Chrissie down where she didn’t have to think about it right now.

Turning around, she stood firm where she was and eyed Chrissie with as much of a genuine smile she could muster, knowing for the sake of the household, she had to remain civil, regardless how much it was killing her right now. “What do you want, Chrissie.” Stella asked. She didn’t feel like wasting any time, especially since she didn’t know when Santiago would be arriving.

Ew. Stella was doing a shit job hiding her annoyance and disgust. Mature, really. Leaning against the rim of the door, crossed arms, Chris rolled her eyes and honestly admitted, “I’m allowed to be curious. Wanted to see what you were wearing.” She took a moment to scan her cousin up and down before smiling, “Sexy, I like. That lip shade really works with the green.

It was interesting watching Stella’s change in style, mannerism, and just overall vibe. From a sweetheart to a vixen. With this sudden new-found confidence, it made sense. All thanks to Paris and not Carter. Today, however, Chris would not go out of her way to ruin her cousin’s day or even attempt to cockblock her if she left her date and gravitated to Carter. Things weren’t always about her and Chrissie had her mind set on enjoying her night with Kavi, and eyeing the tension between Mr. Russo and Ariana. He would watch in pain as his kitten lured yet another boy in for a good time. Stella and Carter were the least of her concerns. For today. Expectantly, she waited for Stella to give her a compliment back because Chrissie knew she looked phenomenal, but she wanted to hear it.

Stella smiled, proceeding to grab her clutch. “Momma picked the shade out, said it went well with my dress. But thank you for noticing.” As she went to walk forward, Stella saw how her cousin was looking at her as though she was waiting for something. “If there isn’t anything else, I should get going,” she stated simply, moving closer to Chrissie but not yet reaching the door. “So, is there anything else you need from me? If not, then could you please step to the side. You’re blocking my way.”

Okay, so her cousin was choosing to be rude. Chrissie was trying to make today a day of peace, a day where they could push all this bullshit behind them so they could smile and act like they weren’t in a feud, but being talked to like this was not something Chrissie would stand for. She honestly didn’t care if Stella bitched and whined to the whole family and played the victim, but Stel talking to her like this, like she was yesterday’s trash was a HELL no in her book. “Stella, what the fuck is your problem? You’re being a bitch and I’m just here telling you you look cute. Fuck you, and this whole new personality you got going for you is seriously unlikable.” Scoffing, having snapped, honestly regretting playing the peacemaker, Chris turned around and headed down the hall, “Stop crying over spilled milk, and don’t worry. I’ll stay at Ariana’s!”

She was more confused than angry right now. When she didn’t talk to Chrissie, her cousin still blew a gasket and when she did, it was her doing everything she could to not bite her head off and still it resulted in the same thing. Stella truly didn’t want to deal with her, especially today of all days. On a day where it was supposed to be about celebrating love and cherish the bonds one had, there was Chrissie McCoy, making sure she pushed all of the right buttons to get that response she so desperately wanted.

Well, congratulations, Chrissie. You got it.

“Or better yet, maybe you should just go back to Scotland!” Stella rushed out of her bedroom door, her legs carrying her and closer to her cousin. “Because I know I speak for everyone when I say we’re tired of your backstabbing, two-faced dramatics!” As she spoke, Stella shoved against the back of Chrissie’s shoulder as she went downstairs.

As Stella stormed downstairs, Chrissie was both full of rage and sadness. Screaming off the top of her lungs, she shouted, “Maybe I will, you fucking cunt!” Fighting the urge to cry, because now her cousin was holding ONE action, where she toyed with Carter, against her like it was a life sentence, the drama queen ran down the stairs, pushing her out of the way, and going straight outside. If Stella couldn’t tell the difference between her trying to ruin someone’s life and her being jealous that her best friend wanted to be with a guy more than she wanted to be with her, then there really was nothing left between them.

How would she understand how vulnerable Chris was right now? She wouldn’t and she wasn’t even trying to. Jason broke up with Chris and immediately afterwards Stella went to Paris on a romantic getaway. Who was there for her? Ariana. Mind you, Ariana was in a different country too! Greece! And still found the time to call her. Also, to add insult to injury, friends like Shawna checked up on her! Like, really? Where was Stella?! Being selfish and a bitch, that’s where. The moment she came back from ‘finding herself’ and growing a pair it’s only been about her!

When she reached Kavi’s car, she screeched, “I HATE HER!”

[AlteredTundra]

_{A @metanoia & @spooner Collaboration featuring Jackson “Sonny” Drake & Julie MacMillian}

As he pulled into the driveway of the MacMillan Manor, even though he had been here plenty of times before, Sonny still couldn’t get over the sheer size of it. Compared to his parents’ house, it was massive. But then again, what else should Sonny expect from a family whose name in the fashion industry was equal to that of his father’s in the sports entertainment business or his mother’s in the overall business. They were fashion royalty and here Sonny was in his new Audi TT, sweating up to his neck hairs about to walk up the yellow brick road about to ring the doorbell and take the queen to the ball.

And while that sounded too stress-heavy than it actually was, that’s because it’s not as serious. Truth be told, Sonny wasn’t thinking about how nervous he was about fucking this up. He wasn’t thinking about how he was going to treat Julie tonight or even how he had a flowery surprise for both of them.

None of that was on his mind. What was stuck up there in his barely-utilized brain was something that happened less than twenty-four hours ago that honestly threw him and still gave him butterflies. Yeah, could you imagine? Is Sonny Drake actually getting butterflies from someone other than his girlfriend? Well, don’t tell Marisol that. The last thing he needed was another Victoire Bailey incident.

_{Date: Wednesday, February, 13th, 2019
Location: The MacMillan Manor, Crown Heights, Palm Beach, Florida}

Sonny had spent most of the week traveling from his house and Julie’s house. Some days were spent with her going through his wardrobe and others were them shopping and finding a color that pleased her enough (Sonny was an innocent and willing participant in this experiment). The end result was a total repurposing of Sonny’s style, a makeover that cost more than his allowance of the past three months, and the sort of rigid, assertive, coordinated assault on his way of life that he expected from his own mother. And in a lot of ways, Julie MacMillan and Viola Banks mirrored each other in personality and the way they got shit done.

But Julie had one thing about her that Sonny hasn’t seen from his mother yet: empathy for his suffering. So, after some last-minute double and triple-checking were finished, Julie, on Wednesday, which was going to be the last day they would meet up before Saturday, in what Sonny could only assume was her own guilt eating at her (or at least that’s what he told himself), he was treated to the Sonny Drake’s Favorite Food Variety Hour. Between the diner styled smash burgers, homemade potato wedges, twice baked potato skins, and a ribeye steak with a spicy dry rub, Sonny felt as phat as he knew he was.

“That was honest to god the best meal I’ve had in a really long time. Mom never lets me eat all of my favorites like that.” Sonny laughed, coughing and belching at the same time. “Never thought my bar food favorites could taste so...luxuriously!”

Julie just giggled as she re-folded the napkin that had been resting in her lap.“Well you know sometimes you just need to add that extra touch! Do you want to take the leftovers back with you?” she asked, smiling before turning to face Claire, the MacMillan’s personal chef. She signaled that they were done and for her to start to pack up.

Glancing from Julie’s blue eyes to the spread of all the food that still remained, Sonny had to admit it was tempting to dig into some more of it but he was full from what he had just eaten. “Yeah, that would be great!” He smiled at the redhead. “This is way too much food and too delicious to go to waste and you don’t strike me as the type who would eat this as much as I would,” he laughed from his gut, so it was much deeper and louder than intended.

A pleased smile spread across Julie’s face as Sonny spoke. “Great, I’ll have Claire pack you a bag.” she chirped. The slender girl stood up pushing her chair in after her. “Do you want to sit down in the sunroom?” she asked, walking past the boy and into the other room without waiting for his answer. The sunroom was where Jason MacMillan had made his makeshift home office. It was a room with open high windows, letting in the Florida sun with the large white cotton curtain fluttering in the breeze with its ocean-scented air.

There were form fitters with samples for the MacMillan Fall 2020 collection spread across the room but in the corner stood a set of plush brown leather sofas and chairs surrounding a big oak coffee table. When they had settled down Julie crossed her legs and looked fondly at her friend “Would you like an after-dinner drink? Whiskey perhaps?” she asked, gesturing with her hand towards a cabinet filled with crystal bottles with various liquids in them.

As the boy settled into the seat opposite of Julie, he relaxed and immediately his senses became overcome by the scent of the salty sea. Between that and the gentle rays of the winter sunlight, Sonny could get used to this form of luxury. “Sure,” he said, answering Julie, not even he remembered exactly what she said. He was too fixated on feeling like he was at a spa or something.

She took her time picking out what to pour for her friend tapping the ornate bottles with her nails. Finally, her hand paused at one of them filled with an amber liquid from which she poured a small amount into an equally ornate glass and handed it over to Sonny. Julie then poured herself a glass and settled back down. She lifted her tumbler as a salute and took a sip. “Quite good, right?” she mused smacking her lips.

He wasn’t used to whiskey or even hard alcohol as a whole, so when Sonny took his first sip, the alcohol smacked his throat aggressively with a strong burning sensation, causing him to cough a few times. Once it subsided, however, he took another sip and he tasted what Julie was asking about. It was strong and maybe Sonny’s palette wasn’t as refined as it should be to pick up on the deeper layers, but it was good. “Oh yeah!” He nodded and held the glass in his lap. “I haven’t tasted hard liquor this smooth. My only experiences were when me and Drea snuck my dad’s whiskey when we were younger but it wasn’t nearly as smooth as this is.” As he spoke, Sonny took another short sip, suddenly feeling sentimental about Drea, which showed as his smile inverted itself into a slight frown.

“Are you close to your sister?” Julie asked carefully sensing the shift in tone. “I bet it must be nice to have her around when she comes home” she smiled “I and my sister Iris are very close... “ Julie paused “It’s pretty hard now that she’s never really home anymore. Right now she’s in Europe doing fashion week, and before that, she was in Shanghai doing a campaign.” she offered a weak smile. “So I haven’t seen her physically in like a year.” she let out a small sigh.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to..” Sonny glanced down at the caramel-colored liquor in the glass that was in his lap. The way he saw it brought a memory forward and he smiled. “I can relate to what you’re feeling. Drea doesn’t live with us. She’s in New York, studying to become a journalist. I haven’t seen her in a few months. And there are times where I wish she was still down the hall. I,” Sonny, again, paused and looked up at Julie. “I took her for granted when she was still living at the house. I got so annoyed with her cause she always left her makeup lying around and she had this bad habit of leaving her curling iron on.”

Remembering how much they fought and how he grew to it being a regular thing, when it was suddenly ripped away from him after she had left for college, that’s when Sonny started to miss it. And maybe without Drea around, Sonny felt a piece of his life was missing. “What’s Iris like?” He asked Julie.

“Funny how that is… not knowing how good you have it until something goes missing.” she mused. The redhead re-crossed her legs as if getting ready to tell a story. “Well we’re pretty similar I would say… Well, you see daddy was always pretty busy so me and Iris had to pretty much take care of each other since my mother is pretty much… out of the picture.” she fell silent. It wasn’t many people she would discuss her mother with but she kept going “But Iris is the one that taught me to be rougher around the edges.” she let out a little laugh. “Without her, I probably would have never slapped Kavi at school” she pursed her lips at the memory.

“I miss… you know having her at a minute’s notice. But I talk to her every other night on facetime.” Julie took another sip of her whiskey before putting it down on the coffee table. “And I have Chanel who has always been like a sister to me, April has re-entered my life now… And I have you right?” She shot him a genuinely warm smile.

Her last comment caught him off-guard and it was evident with how surprised he was but pleasantly so. There was something about Julie that reminded him so much of Drea, well when D wasn’t being infuriating. She was comforting, compassionate, yet told him the blunt truth when he needed to hear it. That was something he appreciated about her and was eternally grateful that he had a friend like her. “Right!” He smiled, giving her a rare and genuine smile only so few have seen from him.

“Let me go look if Claire has finished packing your food.” Standing gingerly, she smoothed her dress before floating out of the room back towards the dining area.

Sonny stood in front of the twin glass doors and took in a deep breath. He didn’t know why he was so nervous, but he was and he had to shake off his nerves. Before he rang the doorbell because there was no way his sweaty palms were going to ruin the clarity of the door, he double and triple checked that he had everything. “Keys, wallet, phone, gift....” Sonny patted every part of his jacket as he counted them aloud.

And so, as his right index finger pressed hard on the doorbell, he stood as straight as he was physically able.

As the doorbell rang a soft voice could be heard calling from the second floor “Daddy! Could you get the door? I’m not ready yet!”. Jason MacMillan was usually at the office this close to revealing his new collection, but he couldn’t miss seeing his youngest daughter walk in one of his most precious creations.

Within a few seconds, the large man was at the front door slowly opening it. Jason had a reputation of being quite the intimidating man and he was living up to it tonight. Towering over Sonny as he looked down at the young man. “I expect you’re Sonny?” he asked stepping aside so that Julie’s date could enter.

Okay, erase every reason Sonny had to be nervous about, because as soon as he saw who opened the door, this became the source of why he was having an internal panic attack.

Sonny walked in, side-stepping really, and stood about two feet away from this tall, clearly well-built man who, if he wanted to, could snap Sonny’s tiny form like a twig. “Y-yeah! That’s me!” He tried to regain some composure. “Sonny Drake, sir,” he managed to say without stuttering.

The man looked Sonny up and down before giving the boy a small smile and shaking the trembling boy’s hand “ Jason MacMillan“ he gave Sonny’s hand a tight squeeze before commenting “Nice suit.” he winked before retreating back into his office. At the same time, his daughter was descending the marble stairs wearing a one of a kind MacMillan dress and her red hair done up in an extravagant hairdo.

When she reached her date standing at the landing her face went from excitement to worry when she saw the look on Sonny’s face. “Are you ok? You look like you’ve seen a ghost” she whispered.

Oh, just a large man with muscles the size of boulders. Nothing too serious. Sonny met her gaze, shaking off his entire body. “No, it’s fine. I’m okay.” Yeah, now he was.

As he calmed his nerves, the teen was just now realizing how ...stunning Julie looked. He remembered how nice the dress was when she had originally shown it to him but the way it naturally complimented her skin tone and the curves of her body, and in addition to the way her hair was styled...Sonny wasn’t a beauty guru - he left that to people like Chanel and Stella - but even he knew when someone had put in the work and Julie certainly did. “You look...breathtaking!” He found himself saying. If Sonny was speechless, man, he knew Rye was going to have a difficult time speaking simple words.

“Oh you’re too sweet.” Her eyes sparkled as she snaked her arm around Sonny’s. “Shall we?” Julie asked as she tilted her head in the direction of her father's office. “Bye Daddy! We’re leaving now!” She yelled out.

Hurried steps could be heard from within the other room. Jason stuck his head out and with one look at his daughter, the stern-looking man softened. “Have fun kids! Try to not do anything stupid. I don’t want to pay for another wing in the library!” He laughed at his own joke as he once again retreated back into his work. Julie just huffed and rolled her eyes leading Sonny out of her house.

He remained quiet until he knew the door was closed. The closer they seemed to be to Sonny’s car the more relaxed he became. Truth be told, Sonny was still reeling from the feeling of dread he got when he saw Julie’s father but her smile helped him calm down. Before they would get inside his Audi TT, Sonny stopped a few feet away from it and turned to Julie. “I have something for you.” Sonny reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out a small, transparent box with an elegant decorative ribbon on top of it. The box had one white rose corsage and boutonniere inside it. “I know it’s not traditional and this isn’t like a prom or anything formal like that, but,” Sonny’s cheeks shined light pink as he tried to find the right words. “But you’ve been so wonderful and kind to me this week that I wanted to do something nice in return!”

Her perfectly painted lip pouted and a small squeal left the girl. “You’re so cute!” Julie exclaimed as she grabbed the small box. As she put the corsage on she inspected it. Normally this was nothing she would wear but since it came from such a good friend, an exception was made.

“Perfect!” Sonny nodded, smiling proudly.

Before they entered his car, Sonny rushed around the front and opened the passenger door for her. Even though he knew she was one of the more independent girls -- young women -- at King’s and she had plenty of feminist energy to spare, Sonny wanted to treat her as well as he knew she deserved. This was a friend date, yes, but Sonny was dead set on treating her as properly as he knew she deserved. That and somewhere not-so-deep down, he feared if he didn’t do this, her father would manhandle him for not being a true gent. And fear a hell of a motivator.

“Thank you” she whispered as she entered his car. “Hopefully this won’t be as big of a disaster as homecoming” she said as she carefully buckled her seatbelt so as to not create any creases in her dress. “But I’ve probably just cursed it haven’t I?” A small laugh escaped her as she settled in her seat.

Sonny laughed as he went over to the driver’s side and clicked his seatbelt. No way did he want to get a ticket or attract any unwanted, legal attention. He wasn’t Kavi. “I wouldn’t worry. Everything that could have happened already did. I’m sure it’ll be a fun, reasonably-eventful night!” Sonny did his best to reassure Julie but as he slid the keys into the ignition and the German luxury car’s engine revved up, at the pit of his stomach, past the dread of Julie’s father, was an uneasy feeling slowly churning that maybe it was going to be like Homecoming.

Oh, I sure hope not… Sonny thought as he pulled out of the MacMillan driveway, setting his sights on the open road and the country club.

[LovelyComplex]

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
_{Collab with Ryland, Aunt Miley @TootsiePop, Marisol @Rosalia & lil' bro Marshall @metanoia}

"That’s against the dress code.” Miley Bennett peered into her nephew’s bedroom to see his progress. While yes, his outfit was a casual preppy look that suited the King’s Academy scene, minus how he held himself which was free and easy, to an extremely informal level, sneakers was an absolute no-no. In her book. In their book. In everyone’s book that was attending this semi-formal dance.

Did he even read the dance pamphlet like she did? He wouldn’t be allowed to get inside with his darling date with those on, even if they looked brand spankin’ new. And oh god, that hair. How she wanted to cut his hair and make him look as pristine as those white sneakers he was wearing. He was a KING and he never acted like one, which was beyond her. Just a little snip snip and he’d be a heartthrob. Alas, this was a losing battle, unless by some divine fate, he felt inclined to clean up for someone special.

“Hey, is knocking not a thing anymore?” Ryland grumbled at his aunt, while he gave her a deadpan stare through the mirror, above the guest room dresser. He didn’t understand why he had to dress above average for a dance that celebrated friendship. He was celebrating this night with his best girl, Marisol, and if they had it their way, they’d celebrate it with jeans, tees, and sneaks. The best kind of wear. School dances were overrated and uneventful. He had low expectations and doubted anything interesting would happen to appease his boredom.

Raising his eyebrow, he turned around to face the person he was speaking to. As if she already knew what he was going to say, she revealed white slip on moc toe shoes, which caused him to close his mouth before even speaking. "These are still white and give the vibe you want!” Miley proclaimed, having picked these shoes specifically because of their comfort level. Yes, they were hammy-downs but he didn’t need to know that.

The moment Rye laid eyes on the shoes, he rewarded his aunt with a scowl. There was no way — no way in hell he’d be wearing that! Those were not money. Not money at all. This was unbelievable. He couldn’t believe his aunt was looking at him as if he had no choice. As if he wouldn’t throw those shoes out the window right here and right now. “That’s fucking dumb. They should let this pass because hell-to-the-no. I ain’t wearing those!”

"Language. And, Riri, honey, if they give you a pass, they’ll have to give everyone a pass, and that’s just not the King’s way. Come on, please, for me? If it makes you feel better, your dad used to hate wearing shoes like this too, but when he went from rags to riches, he had to adapt.” Miley entered the room, disregarding the ‘knocking’ comment because this was her house, and extended her arms, each hand holding one shoe, "You want to have fun with Marisol, right?”

“Yeah, but not with those shoes.” Rye stubbornly clapped back.

"Wear the damn shoes, Ryland James Aspen.” Clicking her tongue in annoyance, knowing they were running out of time and she still wanted to take pictures, Miley gave her signature deathly glare that she would give her kids, if she had any, to her charming, wonderful nephew. She knew very well she was dealing with the brat of her brother’s children, but she adored him nevertheless. It was obvious that lately he wasn’t being himself, and she could guess why without imposing. It wasn’t that hard to tell he was a lovesick puppy. If he didn’t try to care about anything, like his grades, or his looks, or the mess of laundry that was visibly irking her this very moment, he sure as hell wouldn’t get the girl that’s keeping him awake all night. The walls were thin, after all.

“I guess I’m not going because I REFUSE!”

"Don’t be a baby and don’t make me get your dad involved. Do you want your weekly allowance, or nah? WEAR THE DAMN SHOES!”

“No! CALL HIM. I DON’T CARE!”

---

He indeed did care.

In front of the Castillo’s, standing in front of his aunt’s cadillac ciel, keys in hand, Ryland continued to grumble and mumble under his breath. Obviously, he had given in, and now here he was picking his friend up for this stupid dance with these stupid shoes. All he wanted was to wear sneakers. Fucking sue him. Ambling down the path and to the door, Rye had no idea what to expect on Sol’s end. They didn’t really go through the whole coordination thing that most couples do for dances. That was unimportant. He was simply happy he was taking her.

Before ringing the doorbell, he ran his free hand through his hair, pushing some of his long strands behind his ear, and then and only then, did he finally make the household aware of his presence, as he joked, “Honey, I’m home!”

“I swear, if it’s the fucking Jehova’s Witness morons again--” The door swiftly opened. Instead of Sol or even the head of the Castillo-Jameson family, a much shorter, yet clearly fit Marshall received that bothersome doorbell and who was responsible, scowling for all of three seconds. “Oh, you’re not a Jehova’s Witness.” Marshall eyed Ryland up and down, fixating on his shoes, chuckling with a half-smirk. “Where ya headin’, cowboy?” The teen joked and leaned his right shoulder against the side of the wall.

“How the fuck is it gonna be a Jehova’s Witness at half-past six of a Saturday night, you dumb fuck?!” Marisol’s voice rang across the house from her room on the upstairs floor, where she was about finished with her preparations for the dance.

“Where do you think? I got a date with the devil; now excuse me, Marshall, not right now.” Rye was visibly peeved and just wanted to see Marisol in a dress already so he could laugh.

Marshall chose to ignore Marisol’s loud, annoying voice and stepped to the side so Ryland could come inside. “Oh, I didn’t know Candyman was taking you. Is that why you brought out the pearls?” Marshall asked, once again glancing down to Ry’s shoes.

Internally seething, still hating these shoes, a huge chance he would end up barefoot by the end of the night, Rye chose to ignore the gesture toward the shoes, and laughed, “Whatever, man. You know your sister can bring hell on Earth worse than any man that goes by the fucking name: ‘Candyman’.” He casually entered, and then shouted, “Hurry your ass up! I want to get this over and done with.”

“Fuck you, you piece of stale-ass bread! Don’t tell me what to do!”

Marshall squinted and dug his left pinky into his ear, cleaning it out. “Okay, maybe next time use your inside voice. I’m not trying to go deaf over here.” With a sigh, Marshall took a place a few feet away from Ryland and leaned against the wall, waiting for his sister to, as Ryland so poetically phrased it, hurry her ass up.

It wasn’t long before the momentary calm of the Castillo household was interrupted by a flash of red fabric and long brown hair sliding down the handrail of the stairs and landing perfectly in front of Ryland and Marshall on the first floor. Dressed in a long, spaghetti strap red dress with a slit that reached the middle of her right thigh and holding a pair of silver heels on one hand, the crimson-lipped, grinning young woman waved at her date.

“Hey,” she said breathlessly, taking a seat on the second step of the stairs to put on her heels. “Sorry I’m late. I was out surfing all day, and when I realized what time it was I barely had enough time to get decent,” she explained in order to justify her simple makeup and even more simple hairstyle, while the faint marks of paler skin where the strings of her bikini had covered her from the sun corroborated her story.

While the entrance was hardly lady-like, and nothing like a slow-mo monumental moment in a chick flick, Rye expected this, or something of the same variant. Smiling now, he watched her put her shoes on and took in the dress of the night. That was what took him aback. How goddamn good she looked in red. It was rare for Rye to look at Marisol in a light other than a sister, but today he could admit that she was absolutely stunning, beautiful, and, “Priceless.” He subconsciously said out loud, before admitting, “You look good, Sol.”

“What Woody said,” Marshall chimed in, smiling. “Amazing what a little effort into looking like a female can do for you, right sis?” He joked (for the most part).

That made the usually frowning Marisol grin from ear to ear. “Thank you, sourdough!” the short girl teased, walking over to her friend and lightly slapping his cheek a few times. “And you look… Like a vision,” she told him after taking a quick look of his selected outfit for the night.

“Oh shut up, I hate it.” Rye huffed, wishing this was just some dumb house party where he could wear whatever the fuck he wanted. Deciding to change the subject, he gestured toward the door, “You hungry? ‘Cuz I got us some food and I would hate for your fries to get cold.”

“You’re a fucking hero, dude,” Mari growled, lightly punching Ryland’s arm and heading over to the front door when--

“Not so fast!” Marshall whipped out his cellphone. “By order of our annoying dad, I am required to take pictures.” He sighed as he spoke and gestured to the happy couple to squeeze together. “Trust me, I don’t want to do this as much as you don’t but it is what it is.”

Great. “Does it have to be traditional?” Searching for a way to not have to try and take a good pic, he stepped closer to Marisol, scanning her up and down, “And do we have to do this here? Outside? Do you want me to hold her? How excessive are we being?” He was having memories of his aunt Summer spending an hour just taking pictures of him and his brothers. He hated taking pictures, but for Mr. Castillo, he had no choice. This was a matter of respect.

This one makes Sonny look like Einstein. ”Just put your arm behind her and Mari, put yours in the same position. And, please, for the love of God, don’t be tasteless.” He immediately glared at Marisol, who stuck her tongue out at him and flipped him off. If she had it her way, she’d stick her nonexistent ass out like a TikTok Thot.

“Okay, man, whatever.” Ryland eased his hand around Marisol’s waist and pulled her close. He knew the generic way of posing but this was way too couple-y for him. If it’s what the photographer wants, then so be it. To be frank, ever since he found out the news of his friends, he had no idea how to treat Marisol now. Boundaries were necessary, when his two best friends were fucking.

On her end, Marisol had done her part by closing the distance between her and Ryland and wrapping her own arm around his waist. “Hey, you’re not a whole foot taller than me anymore!” she teased, proudly standing beside her friend and not feeling like a dwarf next to a beanstalk.

“Still a shorty.” He teased, earning himself a pinch on the side where Mari’s hand had been resting before looking at Marshall expectantly. “Let’s do this, so we can grub.”

He chuckled at the height difference between the two. As he would back up so they were both in frame, Marshall was literally seconds away from taking the photo but then he saw Marisol stick her tongue out and lift her leg up while Ryland held it up, smirking. Shaking his head, Marshall cursed in Spanish and took the photo reluctantly. “I swear, you two are going to be the death of dad.” His sister just gleefully giggled in response.

“Okay, okay. Now a serious one.” Rye released his friend’s leg, not realizing how soft her skin was until now, but pushing that thought aside. The more they fooled around, the later they’d get to the dance.

They behaved long enough for Marshall to take a few more photos before Marisol cried out: “Can we fucking go now? I’m fucking starving!”

As he saved each picture, Marshall shrugged and pocketed his cellphone. “Go for it!” He walked past them, hands in his shorts. “Have fun, you crazy kids!” Marshall yelled out as he walked upstairs.

“We’ll have fun alright. In my car. Eating.” And with that, Ryland grabbed Marisol’s hand, and led her out.

About fucking time.

[spooner]

Long legs dangled over the bed that Archer was lying on. A book held in front of his face reading away leisurely. He was still not ready, dressed in a t-shirt and still damp shorts. The tall teen spent the day together with his ride or die, Marisol Castillo, on the beach. They had decided it was necessary if they were to make it through this evening.

A low grunt left the boy as he threw his book to the side. His green eyes staring up at the ceiling before turning his head toward his closet where his outfit was hanging on the door. Slowly the curly-haired boy stood up walking over to the simple navy jacket and a light blue buttoned-down shirt. Letting his fingers trace the collar of the jacket. With a sigh, he peeled the t-shirt of him and started to get changed.

Archer ran his hands through his hair for like the twentieth time as he stood in front of his mirror making sure that everything looked ok. He had intentionally not washed his hair after his beach excursion because he loved what the saltwater did to his hair, even though there was some amount of sand in it, a small price to pay for that whole beach-bum look.

When he was satisfied with how he looked he grabbed his phone checking if April had texted that she was outside. Obviously she wanted to be the one that picked him up and not the other way around. The motorhead girl wouldn’t be caught dead stepping into the rusty blue deathtrap that Archer called a car. Her words, not his.

He pocketed his phone and made sure he had everything before he headed down the stairs to wait for fo his date. To his dismay, his mother was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs.

“Oh you look so nice Archie!” she exclaimed holding her hands together in front of her in excitement. When Archer had said he was taking April to the valentines day dance his mother had become beside herself with joy. Which annoyed him more than he could ever explain. It showed that his mother still had a small part of her that thought maybe he wasn’t gay after all… maybe it was just a faze.

“Garrett! Come here!” she called out to her husband.

Archer could already feel a migraine coming on as he heard his father walking up toward them. Archer plastered on a thin-lipped smile as he turned to face his parents. To his surprise, his father wasn’t wearing his usual scowl. His mother must have told him her theory and lit that small light of hope inside of him as well.

“So Archer! You have fun with that girl tonight… not to much fun eh?” Garrett jokingly commented putting an arm around his wife.

Trying to stifle a laugh Archer bit his lip. “Yeah uh I don’t think that’ll be a problem dad. You-” his sentence got cut short by the doorbell ringing. A smirk creeping across his face as he turned to open the door. There was something that they were bound to notice and the shock value alone was making up for the pounding in his head.

“Hey, April!” Archer smiled as he put a hand on the small of the girls back ushering her in to display her in front of her parents in all of her pregnant glory.

His parent’s faces quickly went from happy and excited to dread in about a nanosecond. A huge smile was plastered on Archer as his parents stood silently looking at the pair.

[spooner]

Booming laughter could be heard coming from the living room of the Wallenberg house. Where the two men of the family were sitting enjoying an after-dinner drink together. The pair had spent the day together doing all the things they enjoyed. It had started with Magnus treating his son to a huge breakfast spread then, 18 holes at the club finished with an hour in the steam room, and to cap it off a steak dinner at home. The reason his father had treated Max to such a beautiful day was mostly because of his mother.

When his date to the valentines day dance had canceled on him last minute. His mother had jumped at the opportunity to help her sister out that had just moved back into town. The move meant that Max’s cousin Dani was thrust into the circus that was King’s academy, with the first big event being the dance. And to quote his mother ‘it would be a tragedy if such a pretty girl went alone’.

Now it wasn’t the fact that Max didn’t enjoy his cousin’s company that was the problem. Quite the opposite, he adored all of his cousins especially Dani. It was more so the social suicide that was taking your cousin to a dance. But Max had caved when his father had promised to make it up to him. An updated sound system in his truck and the aforementioned father/son day later and the deal was set.

The large lacrosse player thanked his father for the day and downed his drink and slammed the glass down on the table in front of him before jovially jumping up buttoning his blazer. He had opted for a casual pinstriped suit jacket combined with a white cotton shirt.

Soon enough he was in his truck speeding down the roads of Crown Heights towards his aunt’s new house. When the robot lady that lived in his GPS told him he had arrived at his destination Max stared up at the house before finally getting out and bounding toward the front door giving it a sharp knock.

[Venus]

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

During the time leading up to the dance, Jasper had spent most of his days texting Ariana to set up plans for the Valentine's day dance. Well, some of the texts and pictures had nothing to do with the dance- but no one but them needed to know that. Arriving at Ariana's house at half past five, Jasper figured that the hour and a half between now and the start of the dance would give them enough time to have dinner and whatnot. Plus he needed to add a few extra minutes in there for Ariana to finish getting ready.

Knocking on the door to her house, Jasper straightened the collar of his jacket as he waited for someone to answer.

It didn’t take long for the beaming, glammed-up Ariana to answer the door. With a long-sleeved, off the shoulder white minidress that emphasized the curves of her slim figure, paired with her favorite sparkly gold red-bottom heels and gold accessories, the young woman was ready to take on the night. “Hey!” she greeted Jasper with her usual kittenish smile, her brown waves bouncing as she turned to lock the front door. She’d been ready to walk off to his car when she suddenly stopped in her tracks and stared in awe at Jasper. “Holy shit, you look amazing.”

It was true. During her high school career, Ariana had been too wrapped up around under, in front of, or on top of jocks, cheerleaders and overall popular crowd members to ever give someone like Jasper a second glance. Although, in her defense, he prefered to go by unnoticed anyway. Sure, they’d exchanged words here and there before because of Chrissy, but that was the end of it. But now, standing on her doorstep with that neatly groomed hair, that immaculate suit, that coy smile and those ice blue eyes, the young woman wondered if she had been missing out on potential opportunities just because she’d refused to step outside of her shallow bubble.

Laughing at her comment, Jasper couldn’t help his normal smirk turn into an actual smile. He had spent most of his time dedicated to blending into the background. Seeing someone take the time to notice the effort he put in on special occasions like these was nice. "Thanks. You too.” Realizing how dismissive that sounded, he tried to make up for it. "I mean, you always do, but like… wow.”

Offering his arm for her to hold, Jasper waited until Ariana grabbed on before walking towards his car. "So a little bird tells me that French is your favorite kinda food? I was thinking we could grab a bite to eat before the dance if you wanted to. That or we could save it for after. It’s up to you.”

"Really? And is that little bird called Chrissie, by any chance?" the girl joked, unhooking her arm from his and choosing to stand with her back against the passenger seat of the car. "Whoever they are, they're very right. And I say we have ourselves that dinner now. I'm starving right now… And I kinda have something else in mind for after the dance..." she teased, grabbing the front of his suit jacket and gently pulling his body close to hers, pinning her against the car. "But before we go anywhere, I’m hurt. You didn't say hi to me properly," Ariana playfully pouted.

It was painfully clear that Jasper Fray was going to have his hands more than full tonight. Getting used to having someone in a kinda-sorta-not-really relationship was different for him. But if there was one thing that he could count on with Ariana, it was her knowing what she wanted and when. That tended to be one of the things that he appreciated most about the whole ordeal.

Rather than trying to respond and fumbling over his words, Jasper settled for an I’m sorry I didn’t do this to begin with/please forgive me kiss. Not stopping until they had to come back up for air, the young man opened the door for his date, a light smirk on his face.

“Was that acceptable?” he asked teasingly.

“I guess…” Ariana replied with a small shrug and roll of the eyes, making sure to grin at the end so Jasper could know she was joking. After wrapping him up in a brief hug, she turned her attention to what her stomach had been trying to tell her for the last hour and a half. “Can we go now? I’m so, so hungry.”

Returning her hug, Jasper smiled down at her as she entered the car. ”Of course,” he responded, closing the door for her. Once they were both settled, Jasper set the GPS for the restaurant that Chrissie had recommended. He had no idea where it was. Hell, he didn’t even know what counted as French food. Nonetheless, he was determined to make this night a good one.

After they arrived at their destination, Jasper continued to act like a gentleman. Opening the doors, pulling out her chair - all of the 1950’s cliche shit that he was low-key scared would eventually get on her nerves. His fears seemed to be unfounded, though, since his date seemed to be thoroughly enjoying his attention. He actually managed to pull off dinner - much to his surprise. Since French food was Ariana’s thing, and he had no idea what to order, he let her do the ordering. They shared more than a few laughs, and the food was amazing. Ariana was a gem. All in all, the night was getting off to a good start.

After he paid the bill, and they gathered the leftovers, the pair made their way to the Country Club.

“I didn’t think we’d be this early…” Ariana mused, unbuckling her seat belt but shifting in her seat to face Jasper instead, making no motions to exit the vehicle. She was surprised to see that they were one of the first few students to arrive. “There is no way that I’m going to be early to this thing. I don’t care how long we have to sit here, but Ariana Mossos is always fashionably late. Can’t really make a grand entrance if there’s no people to see it in the first place.”

And here Jasper was always trying to be punctual. Chrissie could have given him a heads up on that! But no. Now here he was, sitting in the parking lot, looking like a fucking idiot.

”Ah shit…. I could maybe drive around a bit? That way we don’t have to just sit here or whatever?”

Ariana held up her hand to silence Jasper, her brow furrowed as she thought about what they could possibly do to pass the time that didn’t involve physical contact between them (there would be plenty of time for that later). It didn’t take long for the answer to strike her like lightning, and she turned to her date with a mischievous grin. “How about we play Two Truths and a Lie? We can kill some time, get to know each other and have fun with it at the same time.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Jasper turned to set cross legged in the seat to where he was facing her. ”Okay cool. I’ll go first.” After taking a moment to think, Jasper was finally ready to share. “I was born in Seattle, I’m a virgin, and I hate history class.”

“Oh that’s easy,” the brunette snorted. “Definitely lying about the virgin thing. You’re a hell of a kisser with a nice face and an even nicer package. There is no way you haven’t shared your gift with the world.”

Jasper laughed, his face turning a light shade of pink as he did so. “Nah… that’s uh…” he cleared his throat, his mouth suddenly dry. “That’s one of the truths.”

There was a moment of silence in which Ariana just stared at Jasper with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. But when she finally regained her composure, the young woman squealed and clapped her hands in delight. “Oh my God!” she shrieked excitedly. “You’re a virgin?! Really?!”

Why are you clapping? he thought. Jasper had never told anyone about him being a virgin for fear of them laughing. Instead, Ariana was acting…. Excited? To say Jasper was a little confused would be an understatement.

”Virgin Mary. Except…. Gothy. And…. male. So yeah.” Slightly embarrassed, what he said next came out almost too quickly to be understood. ”I mean, I’ve kissed, obviously. Seen boobs and all that. Oral. But never actually…. Stuck the landing.”

“Oh my God!” was all Ariana could say again, very much looking like a child who had gotten everything they’d asked for waiting for them under the tree on Christmas day. This was a surprising revelation, but a welcome one nonetheless. It was a clean slate- with no preconceived expectations and no other competition for that #1 lay spot. She could not only set the standards for his future partners, but she could teach him everything!

Although… Shit.

“Oh my God, have I been coming on too strong for you?” she asked him, her demeanor going from excitement to concern in record time. She might have a reputation for going hard after who she wanted, but the last thing the girl wanted was to make Jasper feel uncomfortable with her advances. She’d never be able to forgive herself if she was too pushy, or (even worse) that he felt pressured or forced to do anything he didn’t want to.

With a visibly confused face, all that Jasper could muster was ”What?” It took him just a moment to realize what she was really asking, his eyes getting wide as it hit him. Oh God, Ariana, no! No. I-i promise. You’ve been great. I mean…. I find the whole knowing what you want thing to be really great. If I do anything wrong, you let me know. It’s nice, in a way, and I appreciate it. You haven’t made me uncomfortable in any way. Swear it.”

His date seemed satisfied with his answer, because her initial excitement was back as she nodded eagerly. Taking a deep breath, Jasper was ready to change the subject. The conversation that they were having wasn’t in any way bad - he just hadn’t been able to not be red faced during the whole thing.

”So what about you? Your two truths and a lie.”

Ariana’s selections came easily to her. “Let's see… I've fucked Sonny Drake, I've fucked Warren Diedrikson, and I've fucked a teacher of King’s.”

That threw Jasper for a loop. She said everything with such confidence and pride that it was hard to tell which one might be the lie. Taking a moment to think, Jasper finally decided on his decision.

“I’m going to go with the teacher thing. I know you have a reputation, and that doesn’t bother me - but I think you’re too smart to sleep with a teacher, Ariana.”

As much as she tried to keep a straight face, Ariana ended up blushing hard and grimacing. “Then I guess I’m not as smart as you think I am…” she said awkwardly, shrugging and biting her lip. “That’s one of the truths.”

He sighed, clearly defeated. “No. You’re still just as smart as I think you are. But you’re also human, and humans make mistakes. Unless you… don’t think it was a mistake. Whichever.”

Trying to think quickly of something to turn the conversation for the better, Jasper spotted a familiar face standing outside the entrance to the Country Club. “Say….. Was that teacher Mr. Russo, by chance? He’s staring at us. Mainly you. But either way, he doesn’t look happy.”

Frowning, Ariana turned to look in the same direction Jasper was, and rolled her eyes when she saw her beloved torment glaring daggers at them. “These days he’s acting like he realized a chocolate chip cookie he’d taken a bite of was actually a raisin one… she grumbled, looking back at her date.

“Italian,” Jasper nodded approvingly. “Nice.”

Ariana snorted. “Or at least it used to be nice. He’s been acting like this ever since we had a big fight over if we were serious or not. That was like five weeks ago, and he still can’t get over it.” Not that she’d been keeping count, of course.

Listening to what Ariana had to say Jasper came to the conclusion that Ariana might just still have feelings for their Math teacher. “Well… were you guys? Serious, I mean.”

“No,” she said simply, rolling her eyes again. “And he knew that. I made it perfectly clear from the start that whatever we did was casual only, and he agreed to that. But suddenly it’s a problem that he caught me making out with Max Wallenberg on the first day of school? Give me a break…” the brunette trailed off, still visibly peeved about the whole thing.

“Fuck him then,” Jasper said, shrugging his shoulders. But when he noticed the suggestive look Ariana was giving him, he added, “Not literally but -- you know what the hell I mean.” Thinking for a moment, Jasper realized that he didn’t guess her lie, which meant that there was still a thing or two to be learned about Ariana. Turning to her again, he asked “Which one is your lie?”

Although she’d been the one to put herself in this predicament in the first place, it didn’t prevent the young woman’s tanned cheeks to turn slightly pink. “That I fucked Warren Diedrikson,” she sheepishly admitted, tucking a wave behind her ear. “We never went any further than just a few heavy makeout sessions. The truth is that I actually lost it to Sonny the first semester of sophomore year.”

Blinking a few times to let that settle in, Jasper laughed lightly. “Well, that shit eating grin can get to you huh?”

The brunette couldn’t help but laugh brightly. “You could say that…” she told Jasper, as a melancholic expression softened her facial features. “We were both young and dumb and had a lot of alone time on our hands. So we just kept taking things further and further every time until it just… happened,” she explained. “I know he’s not exactly the type I would go for, but he’s actually a really sweet guy. And honestly? I don’t regret any of it. He was a wonderful first. Just… Don’t tell anyone else, ‘kay? I don’t want to start any drama when things are going so well for the both of us.”

It was easy to tell how sincere that Ariana was being. Jasper wasn’t one to judge, and he damn sure wasn’t going to start now. Nodding his head in understanding, he gave her a small encouraging smile. “Don’t worry. All of your secrets are safe with me.”

And Ariana knew in her heart that Jasper really meant it.

[Sugar and Spite]

_{An @Ejected & @HaleyTheRandom collab.}

It was a couple of days after discussing outfit ideas with Ariel that Kavan finally took yet another trip to the nearest Men's Warehouse in order to piece together his outfit for the dance. As usual, his sister tagged along, prepared to offer her assistance in an effort to make sure he looked his absolute best. "I still don't understand why they're doing this to you guys," Amoli had said to her brother as she waited for him to come out of the dressing room. She stood right outside of his changing room door, a few more pairs of pants and button-up shirts draped over her arm. "I would've loved to take pictures of you and Archer together. We could've gotten a little sneak peak of what prom will look like."

It took them a little over an hour to complete Kavan's ensemble, and another half-hour for the boy to convince his sister to forgo taking him to get a haircut. "Okay, fine," the girl had reluctantly said to her brother after listening to his protests, "We'll save the haircut for prom. And since you're making me wait longer, I'll go ahead and add a dye job to the to-do list."

It didn't take too long for Kavan to drive to Ariel's house. The young man pulled into the driveway at around 6:30, which would give them more than enough time to get to the country club; He sat in the car for a few more seconds as he sent Archer a quick text message. He then took his keys out of the ignition and tossed them into his jacket pocket before getting out of the car and strolling up to Ariel's front door. He had just finished rapping his knuckles against the door when it was suddenly pulled open.

To tell you the truth, Ariel had gotten ready for tonight's dance nearly two hours early. She wasn’t exactly sure as to why, but best guess would be to keep the thoughts in her head to a mild shout rather than a roar. She had taken extra care making sure that her hair had just enough product in it to keep it from frizzing up as she danced the night away. It had taken her a full forty-five minutes to get the perfect smokey eye before she could even slip into her dress. She had taken even more time out of her afternoon to make sure that the eye bags and fading bruises were hidden to the best of her ability.

The young woman had been enjoying having the house to herself by cranking the music up on the sound system as she danced around the living room. Halsey’s new album had been a whole mood for her these last few weeks, and as the song I’m Not Mad came on, she couldn’t help but turn the settings to repeat and sing along. It was on the seventeenth repeat that she just so happened to hear knocking at the door. It appeared that time had gotten away from her.
Quickly shutting off the music and adjusting her dress as she made her way to the door, Ariel greeted Kavan with a smile.

”Wow man! You look fantastic!”

Of course, Kavan returned the young woman's smile with one of his own. "Much appreciated. It's no thanks to me, though. My sister did most of the hard work, I just made sure she stuck with our planned color scheme." Kavan had to admit that even though he hated how his sister had a tendency to take control in situations like that, she did do a decent job dressing him. His gray suit was fairly simple, the only real pop of color being the patterned shirt he wore underneath the jacket. It all complemented Ariel's dress pretty well. "You look beautiful, as usual," Kavan said as he took a quick glance at the watch on his wrist. "Are you ready to go?"

Turning to make sure that the door was locked, Ariel shook her head yes before heading to the car with Kavan. ”So what’s your big plan for tonight?” she asked, buckling her seat belt.

As Kavan put the key in the ignition and started the car, he offered Ariel a shrug and said, "Well, aside from learning some of those dance moves you told me about and hanging out with the rest of the Misfits, I'm kinda just looking forward to having fun with all of you tonight... you know, since this is one of the last big events before graduation. We'll be going our separate ways soon, and I just wanna make these moments last. Plus I got Archer this really cool Valentine's day gift..." Kavan let his voice trail off as he pulled out of the driveway and started down the road towards the country club.

"And, well... I know that you and Kavi are in a rocky place right now, but I still wanted you to enjoy Valentine's Day since the whole holiday is about celebrating friendship as well. God, I'm starting to sound like Mrs. Sanders. Anyway, I got something for you too. It's in the glove compartment. I had to call in a few favors with my dad's connections, but I know from your blog that you're a big fan of a certain band and... I figured you'd like it." Sitting in the glove compartment of Kavan's car was none other than a My Chemical Romance vinyl; What Kavan thought to be special about the gift, however, was not the vinyl itself, but what had been written in black ink right across the front cover.

"To our biggest fan, Ariel Grey. Stay beautiful, and keep it ugly. - Gerard Way"

Listening to her friend, Ariel couldn’t agree more. Taking these last few months to hang out with your friends more was important. Of course they would all be moving away to college soon, so it was a good thing to make memories while they could. That was one of the main reasons that she had approached Kavan about the dance, after all. Laughing at the Mrs. Sanders comment, Ariel reached into the glove compartment for her gift. While she didn’t like surprises, she loved presents, and this one was sure to hold a special place in her heart for many years to come.

”Oh my gods! Dude this is amazing!” Overwhelmed with excitement and gratitude, Ariel felt her eyes start to fill with happy tears. Doing her best to blink them away quickly so she wouldn’t mess up her makeup, the young woman couldn’t help but smile. ”If you weren’t driving right now, I’d legit hug you.” She snapped a quick photo of the record, making sure to tag Kavan in the picture when she uploaded it to Instagram. ”Can I know what you got Archer?”

"It's no problem," Kavan said, the corners of his mouth turning up at the sight of her excitement. "For Archer I actually got one of the Sophomore artsy kids to help me put together this little book of how Archer and I first met... I wrote the story and she handled the illustration. I wanted to do something different from the typical candy and stuffed animal thing, but I don't know... I hope he doesn't hate it."

”Who would hate that? That’s such a thoughtful and creative gift like…. It’s literally you two’s love story. I’m more than sure that he’ll love it.”

"Thanks, Ariel," Kavan said, his smile widening as he finally pulled his car into the parking lot of the all too familiar Crown Heights Country Club. After finding an empty space, he cut the engine and turned to look at the young woman sitting in his passenger seat. "Well, ready to go bust a move?"

Laughing as they got out of the car, Ariel offered her hand to Kavan.

”Let’s do this thing.”

[Bee]

_{A @Bee & @Ejected collab.
Starring Nicole Milano and Carter Newton}

---

---

Nicole was floating about, as happy as she could’ve been as she prepared the finishing touches on her dance outfit. The girl was practically bursting at the seams when it came to how excited she was for this dance. Going with someone as cool as Carter had made it much more appealing, despite the fact that everyone there was going as purely platonic couples. It was a ridiculous idea, even for Nicole’s tastes. Going as a couple was part of the fun for the dance! It was a bit of a travesty, and a big disservice to the student body that someone would dare be bold enough to pull off such an idea.

But, bygones had to be bygones, and everyone had to make do with what they were given. It wasn’t much of an issue for Nicole Milano, who, surprisingly enough, didn’t have anything going on romantically. She just didn’t want to bother with the boys and girls that clearly wanted to get in her pants and nothing more than that. Nicole wasn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, but she knew what people wanted when they told her she was pretty over and over again.

Her red dress had complimented her just-as-red lipstick quite nicely. She knew Carter liked it, as she spent hours and hours trying to coordinate these outfits with him. However, she was also curious as to how Carter would put his own spin on his outfit. She knew the colors, but she also knew that Carter had a certain flair to him that was definitely going to show in this outfit of his, which Nicole was, of course, dying to see. At this point, all she had to do was pretty much wait for Carter to show up at her house and pick her up, as was tradition.

She was staring at her phone, the lock screen void of any substantial notification and messages as she glanced outside the window.

Where could Carter be at this point?

As if on cue, Carter Newton suddenly came speeding down the street in his bright, cherry red colored Lexus, his music blasting loud enough to wake the dead from their eternal slumber. Of course, he'd turned down the volume just as he pulled into Nicole's driveway, and after checking his hair in the mirror one final time, he cut the engine and stepped outside.

It had taken Carter a little over an hour to get himself prepared for the Valentine's Day dance, which was probably a little longer than it would've taken the average guy. It was no secret that Carter took great pride in his appearance; he'd been careful to make sure that his ensemble was well put together, and that not even a single strand of hair was out of place. After discussing everything with Nicole, Carter chose to keep things fairly simple: he wore a black button-up shirt, a black pair of pants, and red dress shoes to match Nicole's dress. As usual, Carter wore his typical assortment of jewelry, this time opting for silver instead of gold. He gently twisted one of the rings on his fingers as he approached the front door. It only took a few seconds after him knocking for the door to be pulled wide open.

Hearing the knocking on the door, Nicole shot up faster than a speeding bullet and made her way downstairs. Finally, Carter was here! The few minutes it took from her looking at her phone and waiting for him to arrive had felt like an eternity to the cheerleader. Thank goodness he arrived! Nicole honestly would’ve died of boredom if she had to wait any longer. Now, the two could turn some heads together. They didn’t put so much time into planning to not turn some heads. With their fashion taste put together, they were a storm to reckon, at least in Nicole’s opinion.

”Carter! Oh my god, you look so good!” Nicole said, before leaning in for a big hug. ”We are gonna SLAAY!” She said, a giant smile on that goofy face of hers.

Carter couldn't help but smile as he returned Nicole's hug; her energy was never anything short of infectious. "Of course we're gonna slay," the young man said with a chuckle as he took in Nicole's ensemble. "You look good too, Nicole. You ready to go?"

”Oh heck yeah! I’ve been waiting on you forever!” Nicole beamed, before hooking her arm onto his, ”We’re gonna stun.”

After walking Nicole back out to his car and opening the door for her, Carter returned to his spot in the driver’s seat and started the ignition once more. His music began to play once more, but instead of turning it up like usual, he simply handed Nicole his cell phone and said, "You can be the DJ for the ride, if you want. I'll listen to anything but country music." As he spoke those last few words, he let out a chuckle and started pulling out of the driveway. The drive to the country club wouldn't take too long, especially not with how Carter preferred to drive.

[Ejected]

_{An @Ejected & @HaleyTheRandom collab.}

Despite not being able to take Shawna to the dance, Sunshine was actually looking forward to tonight's festivities. From shopping together, to sending each other goofy Snapchat pictures, the last few weeks had given Sunshine and Chanel time to bond again. Was it possible that the King’s Academy administration knew what they were doing? Doubtful. They had just gotten lucky in their case.

Picking up her phone, Sunshine quickly sent a text to Chanel to see how far away she was.

"If that was you who just texted me... don't worry. I'm already here." Chanel's voice suddenly rang through the air as she came bursting through Sunshine's bedroom door, offering the girl a bright smile as she did so. Draped over one of her arms was a garment bag that contained Chanel's dress for the evening, and in her other hand was her makeup bag, a pair of shoes to go with the dress, and flat iron. To tell the truth, Chanel wasn't sure how she'd managed to carry all of her things without dropping them on the way up the stairs; she let out a deep breath as she laid them all down on Sunshine's bed. "Your Aunt let me in... she seems like a nice lady. Anyway, I think I got everything. I was rushing, so I didn't have time to put my wig on or anything. I can't wait to stop looking this rough."

Sunshine couldn’t help but to laugh. ”Rough my ass. You could go to the dance just like that and no one would say anything,” the girl said, paying her friend a compliment.

Getting up from where she sat on the bed, Sunshine grabbed a few things from Chanel so that she wouldn’t end up dropping them. ”Yeah, she’s pretty cool. She and my uncle let me have my privacy, so that’s what counts, right?” After helping Chanel put her stuff down, she made her way to the desk where her laptop sat and turned on her portable speaker. ”Feel free to play some music. My dress is hanging in the closet if you wanna have a look.”

Suddenly letting out an excited squeal, Chanel practically went running towards Sunshine's closet to get a look at her friend's dress; she wasn't disappointed in the slightest at what she saw hanging up. "Yeah, we're definitely gonna be the best looking at this thing. That dress is fire." As Chanel returned to the desk to check out Sunshine’s playlists, she couldn't resist putting on the first song she scrolled past. And it was shortly after then that she took out her own dress from the bag to show to Sunshine. "A Chanel original. What do you think?"

”Dammmmmmmmmn girl. I literally could not have chosen anything better.” Sunshine couldn't help but applaud Chanel on her dress of choice. Their looks for the night only reconfirmed Sunshine's suspicion that they would be the best dressed pair, and she couldn’t be happier. ”So what do you say? Should I go with a smokey eye to make it extra dramatic?”

"Oh yeah, definitely..."

And soon after that, with the music blasting through Sunshine's speaker, the two finally began to get to work. Chanel had immediately started installing her signature half-black, half-orange wig. This took a little longer than it probably should've; Chanel simply blamed it on the songs that played in the background. It was as she'd begun curling her hair that she started using the curling rod to sing along with Scary Spice rather than to do its intended job. She didn't hesitate to hold the iron out to her friend in an effort to get her to join in.

Singing and dancing along to the music with Chanel, Sunshine made sure to get her hair and makeup just right. She wasn’t going to do anything extravagant with her hair tonight, which was a good thing because it appeared that they were running low on time when she looked at the clock. Turning the music down so that she wouldn’t have to shout over it, Sunshine gave her friend a please forgive me look. She hated it when people turned her music down, and tried to not do it to others, but this was a special case.

”Girl I love you, but we better put these dresses on and get going or our asses are going to be late. You know how I feel about being on time.”

After taking a quick glance at the clock herself, Chanel shot her friend an apologetic look as she unplugged the curling iron and hopped onto her feet. "Shit, you're right... sorry!" It was a good thing that she'd done her makeup before coming to Sunshine's house. The young woman made a mental note to work on her time-management skills as she headed back over to the bed and pulled her dress off its hanger. "We should be ready to go in few minutes."

”Don’t worry! We’ll be fine.” Walking to the closet to get her own dress Sunshine pulled the garment out of the bag slowly so as not to rip it. Laying it over the back of the desk chair, the brown haired girl pulled off her tank top before pulling the dress on over her head. Sliding the pajama pants off once the dress was on was the real problem. Nearly tripping over her own feet, Sunshine laughed again as she caught herself from hitting the floor.

It was after stepping into her own dress that Chanel burst into a laughing fit watching her friend struggle to remove her pajama bottoms. "Sunshine, pleaseee don't hurt yourself. The last thing we need is a trip to the hospital before the dance." Chanel said between laughs as she took a seat on the bed and began to slip on her heels. Less than two minutes later, after tucking her things into her purse and taking one final look in the mirror, the young woman was ready to go. "Time to go party."

As usual with family members, Sunshines aunt and uncle wanted to take a few pictures of the girls. Happily obliging, the two of them stood at the foot of the stairs before moving outside. A few goofy faces and fierce poses later, the pair was ready to go.

The ride over to the Country Club was one filled with laughs, jokes, and more great music. It appeared that they had made it on time, along with a few of the other students.

”Are you ready,” Sunshine asked.

“Hell yeah, let’s do this.”

With their arms linked together, the two young women entered the venue, fully prepared for whatever the night would throw at them.

[AlteredTundra]

_{A @metanoia & @Rosalia Collaboration Post
Featuring! Kavi Salvador & Santiago Fernandez}
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

When Kavi had accepted Chrissie’s offer to be her date for the dance, he wasn’t sure how he would feel about it after the fact. And even now, as his 2018 black BMW convertible rounded a corner with the Lambert house in sight, he still wasn’t sure how he felt about it. This was mainly due to how conflicted he found himself feeling about it all. He still held rather strong feelings for Ariel and there was a part of him that knew he would always feel this way and maybe he just couldn’t grasp that they were over, regardless if it was a temporary thing or not.

Taking a moment to stop near the driveway (though not yet pulling into it), Kavi allowed the sounds of whatever was playing on the radio to drown out his thoughts. It was working until the station decided to end the song he was vibing to and the next song that came on made Kavi sigh.

If you can wait 'til I get home (I get home)
Then I swear to you that we can make this last

“Of all the--”

Kavi silently cursed as the song resounded in his BMW, the chorus ringing true for him and this particular truth made him instantly turn the volume down and proceed to drive forward. His foot hit the gas pedal enough so that he could turn right and into the driveway. But as soon as he was about to, a mix of anger and panic set in, which wasn’t hard to believe since Kavi was starting to descend into one of his down spells, his brown eyes caught the sight of a flashy red-almost-crimson Lamborghini and the atrocious sounds of someone so obnoxious as the person driving the car that took his spot.

Angrily, though trying to put on his best face, Kavi pulled up next to Santiago’s pricy car, sighing as he pulled his key out of the ignition. He got out and, as he leaned against his clearly superior car, he stared Santiago down as though he was trying to force the candy man’s brain to pop and he did it all while wearing a striped pink shirt, white pants, and a white blazer. So safe to say what he was doing just looked like a human strawberry going through a bad fit of constipation face.

Lost as he was between his phone and the obnoxious, loud music booming through the Lambo’s sound system, it wasn’t until he saw a familiar car out of the corner of his eye that Santiago’s attention was diverted. A questioning eyebrow was raised as the devil momentarily wondered why on Earth Kavi Salvador would be pulling up at Stella Lambert’s house when his friend clearly had another date. Of course, it didn’t take long for Santiago to remember that the girl’s cousin was also a resident at the house- which explained the other man’s presence.

Shrugging, Santiago watched as Kavi exited his vehicle and took to leaning against it instead, glaring at him like he was a pigeon who’d just taken a big shit on his freshly-cleaned windshield. A part of him wanted to throw in some remark about how terrible his wardrobe choice for the night was. But that would be playing along with childish, passive-aggressive games that he wanted no part of- and the young man was determined to not let anything ruin his mood. Instead, Diablo turned down his music, rolled down the window and began his attempt at a cordial conversation with Kavi.

"You here for Chrissie?" Santiago asked, trying his hardest to not laugh as he took a glance at Kavi's Créme Savers outfit.

Kavi didn’t say anything but instead glared at Santiago. And that lasted for all of five seconds when he realized it was stupid of him to do that. “Yep. Just waiting here,” Kavi stated with arms folded across his chest. He had never been one to enjoy small talk when it came to Santiago but he didn’t want to cause a scene. “And you’re here for Stella, or are you here because you just love showing off that obnoxious Lambo of yours?”

In regular circumstances, the cynicism in Kavi’s voice would’ve rubbed Santiago the wrong way. But today, it only made the young man snort instead. "Oh yeah, definitely just showing off this bad boy. It's like a dog, y'know? Gotta take it on walks around the neighborhood to keep it healthy," he chuckled, yet it didn't take long for his laughter to fade away into a deep sigh and a somewhat sad expression. "I've put it up for sale, so I'm taking every chance to enjoy it while I still can."

Kavi had a lot of things he could probably say right now. Maybe rub salt in that wound or make some off-hand comment about how nobody would grieve when it was finally gone. But the longer Kavi stood there and met Santiago with how… well, honestly how sad the guy looked, Kavi felt bad. And that’s what really surprised him. Not that he didn’t speak his mind but how this car actually meant that much to the great Candyman of Crown Heights, that the Devil of King’s was actually feeling so depressed about it that anything Kavi said would be moot.

“Well, I’m sure Stella will like it. She’s always been a fan of shiny things. I can’t tell you how many tubes of glitter she’s gone through over the years,” Kavi laughed as he tried to count how many of those tubes she went through when they were younger. “So, why are you selling it anyway?” Kavi asked.

The gray-eyed boy raised an eyebrow. The answer, Diablo thought, was obvious to anyone with half a brain. “Not exactly a lot of space for a car seat in a two-seater Lambo, is there?” the young man answered with a smile and a small shrug. “It’s fine, though. I’m getting something a little more practical- like this custom 4-door Charger I saw the other day. Then whatever’s left I’ll put away in a savings account for the girls.”

Kavi remained silent for a while. He let Santiago ramble on but mainly because he had no earthly idea what to say. ‘Oh, I’m sorry about your incredible loss. I couldn’t imagine what you are going through' wasn’t something Kavi wanted to say. To be honest, he didn’t want to talk to Santiago. He wanted to get Chrissie and take her to the dance. He wasn’t trying to make small talk with Santiago, but here he was, hearing about how poor Santiago Fernandez was gonna depart with his unattractive car.

Or maybe Kavi was putting his own frustrations on Santiago, who by all rights did nothing to Kavi.

Kavi put his hands inside his pants pockets, his gaze shifting away from Santiago for a short, somewhat awkward moment. “So, a daughter, huh?” Kavi spoke as if he didn’t know. With him being friends with April, he knew. “That’s cool, I guess. I hope to have a couple of those myself eventually,” Kavi admitted with a half-smirk.

‘If only you knew how daunting it is to think that our future daughters could be or meet someone just like us, you wouldn’t even fathom having more than one…’ is what Santiago so desperately wanted to tell Kavi. But that would make him seem like an asshole, which he was trying hard not to be. So he settled for something that wasn’t hostile.

“I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you this, but hold off on that front for a bit, will you? Learn from my mistakes,” he chuckled again. “Don’t get me wrong: I’m excited for it. But I’m not gonna lie to you, man: it’s fucking terrifying at the same time. Wondering what she’ll be like, if she’ll make it here safe, if Lils will be okay, or if I’ll be able to take care of both of them right… It drives me crazy sometimes.” Santiago had no idea why he was being so honest about his struggles with Salvador of all people, but there was a sense of relief in voicing aloud the thoughts that had been consuming him for months now.

“Yeah, I bet.”

Well this was awkward. Last semester, Kavi and Santiago couldn’t be near each other without some sort of verbal fight breaking out or one of the boys trying to egg on the other. So, Kavi was thrown from them going from that breed of hostility to...whatever this was. Kavi, who usually always had something to say regardless how appropriate it was, found himself not only able to say anything but deep in his gut and slowly rising to other places, he had this feeling that maybe things between him and Diablo never were ‘bad’. He didn’t like him, of course, but this was probably the first time either of them had had any sort of conversation that didn’t involve them saying things to each other that were mean, cruel, and absolutely said with the intention of getting on the other’s nerve.

But now, even as Kavi thought about doing it, he didn’t have it in him. “You have every right to go crazy. I obviously don’t know anything about this, so you can accept it or not. Kavi’s eyes landed on Santiago and he took a breath. “My advice is just relax, don’t worry about all these what ifs until you actually get to that point, y’know? It’s like I tell my kid sister all the time: unless you know for certain, there’s no reason to drive yourself up a wall.”

Huh. Who would’ve thought that Kavi Salvador would be able to provide him with good advice and any sort of comfort in a situation like this? Not the devil, that was for sure. If you would’ve told Santiago at the beginning of the year that he and Kavi would have a calm, honest conversation of any kind without any insults or offensive remarks, he would’ve asked what cocaine you were snorting. Yet, as strange as it was, this was probably the best example of how far he’d come in his journey to self-improvement. If he was able to make peace with a guy who had, at some point, been the biggest threat to his relationship, then he’d be able to take on anything else life threw at him.

When he and Santiago sort of laughed at the interesting, pleasant turn their conversation took, whatever either of them were going to say next had come to a complete halt as loud, hostile screams came from inside the Lambert house. It immediately caused both boys to direct their eyes from each other and feel a gravitational pull towards the closed doors. They heard screams. They heard shouting. They exchanged curious looks as they heard the obvious escalation of some kind of altercation between two voices that only took moments of identifying who they belong to.

“I wonder what’s--” Kavi began to speak but had been interrupted as Chrissie came out huffing and puffing. Stella wasn’t far behind her, though she stood in the doorway, waving to Kavi, smiling as though they didn’t hear obscenities being thrown out for the entire world to hear.

Kavi waved back but immediately found himself in one hell of an awkward position as Chrissie aggressively entered the passengers side of his BMW, slamming the door with nearly as much force as she opened it. “I HATE HER!” Kavi heard her scream, his eardrums likely bleeding because of it.

Rolling his eyes at the uncertainty he felt in his gut about how difficult this night was gonna be, Kavi offered Stella an apologetic expression. Taking one final moment to center himself, Kavi got back into his car and drove off.

As the black BMW pulled out of the Lambert driveway, Stella said her goodbyes to her mother and father and walked her way over to Santiago’s chrome red Lamborghini, smiling at him. She got in the passenger seat and sighed, yet put on a smile. “Hey,” she greeted Santi simply, “How much of that did you actually hear?” She asked, looking somewhat embarrassed about how far things got between her and Chrissie. It wasn’t so much that things were said that shouldn’t have been said but more that the neighbors and others had to hear it that got to her. “Actually, forget about it! I’m just ready to have as much fun as I’m able to!” Stella nodded more for herself than Santiago and leaned back into the leather seat as her date pulled out of the driveway, taking the opposite route Kavi and Chrissie took (for good measure).

[NeoAJ]

_{A Shawna @NeoAJ and Jack @Bee collab}

“Yeah, your boy’s got a date to the dance tonight!” Jack said rather ceremoniously, staring at himself in the mirror as he made sure his suit looked as dapper as humanly possible. “I mean, it’s not much of a surprise, but this ain’t your ordinary pump and dump chick.” There was a pep in Jack’s step as he finished tightening his bowtie, turning around to face who was revealed to be Laura Goff, his sister.

Laura was currently home after expressing desire of her boredom with Massachusetts. Of course, she had to go back at some point, but she figured spending the week with her family wouldn’t be so bad, and it’d be a welcome break from a strenuous curriculum that she was facing up north.

Jack was delighted that his sister was back in town for once, but he had more pressing priorities tonight. This was a completely new situation for Jack, one that he hadn’t really been in before. Jack was known to be quite the playboy, at least in his mind, but being someone’s beard was a completely foreign situation to him. This was going to be interesting, to say the least.

“Didn’t you just say that she wasn’t actually your date date?” Laura replied, looking up from her phone to look at her kid brother. “Yeah, which is why this isn’t a pump and dump chick. Besides, for whatever stupid reason, they’re not letting us bring girlfriends or boyfriends or whatever. Strictly platonic, or so they say.” It was made very clear from the very beginning that this was purely for superficial reasons, which Laura was made very well aware of almost immediately after it happened.

“Besides, she’s got a girlfriend or whatever.” Jack shrugged, turning around to further adjust his hair in the mirror, “I don’t know what the hell is going on with those two, but it’s none of my business. Whatever makes them happy. She gets to maintain her cover, I get to have a date to a dance. Win-win, am I right?” Jack chuckled, before determining his appearance to be sharp enough to cut diamonds on.

“Anyway, how do I look? Great, right?” Jack smirked, before walking past his sister to grab his phone and wallet and stuff them in his pockets. “I feel bad for you. You’re gonna be stuck here and bored as hell while I’m gonna have fun with Shawna. Sucks to suck!” Jack teased, as Laura rolled her eyes. “I’m pretty sure you were going to ask me if this Shawna chick didn’t say yes.”

Jack stared at Laura for a moment.

“Please.” Jack scoffed, before he opened the door out of his room, “Don’t get too bored without me!” Jack said, as he stepped out of his room. His father, Frank Goff, had been generous enough to allow Jack to borrow his Dodge Viper for the night. Frank knew how quickly a cool car would make its way to a girl’s heart, which is why he had no qualms with giving Jack so much power.

As usual, Frank and Sydney were nowhere to be found as Jack stepped out. They probably had “appointments” at work or something like that. Not like Jack had much of a problem with it, that just meant he was able to get into the car without getting the schtick about seducing girls from his father and how he managed to “bag his mother”. Jack could just go straight to the car, and drive on from there.

It wasn’t long until Jack was on the road, and surprisingly enough, Shawna didn’t live too far from Jack. It was about a ten minute drive, even without some spirited driving on Jack’s side. For whatever reason, though, meeting Shawna’s parents was something that did strike a little fear into whatever Jack had called his heart. He didn’t pay much mind in meeting the pump and dump parents, wasn’t like he was ever going to see them again, but with Shawna’s parents, there was a lot more at stake. Shawna was a bit cooler than the pump and dump, and he didn’t want to let her down.

Soon enough, Jack arrived at Shawna’s house. It was a rather nice house at that, one that caused Jack to make a slightly longer gaze at it as he stepped up. Taking a deep breath, he walked up to the door, ringing the doorbell to announce that he was there.

Meanwhile, for the first time in a long time, Shawna Josi was pacing in her room.

Before it was a common occurrence. She would use it as a break from her studying sessions. Getting the blood flowing was supposed to help jump start the brain. One could almost make out a worn path in the carpet where she tried to reorganize her thoughts, where the red lightened to a pale, almost-pink hue. It hadn’t seen action in months, due to Shawna’s newfound laissez-faire attitude to life and her desire to spend most of her time either in a chair with a bag of Lays Poppables while watching Netflix, or, in recent times, out with one of her girl friends. Or her girl friend.

That wasn’t a clear option now though, and it’s why she was pacing. The higher-ups at the school had seen to that for now, and maybe that was a good thing. Things had been a little tense at home. She didn’t have it to herself anymore. Her parents officially returned from their world cruise two weeks earlier, and it was a Herculean effort on Shawna’s part to get the entire house cleansed and smelling more of Febreeze than of weed.

Sunshine did her part to help get it ready for the grand return. She helped scrub the counters, helped steam the carpets, helped take all the accumulated bottles to the depot. She didn’t have to do any of it, but the fact that she did was just in a drop in the bucket that was overflowing with the proof that Shawna needed to know she made the right choice in taking the leap she did.

And to protect that relationship, it’s why she coached her Valentine’s Day date the way she did.

In a way, things perfectly fell into place for Shawna. With Jack agreeing to be her date for the night, it gave her a natural cover to avoid telling the truth to her parents. Martin and Ramona didn’t need to know that the only reason she was going with the football star was because of some cockamamie rule against not taking paramours to the grand pink and white ball. Or that no man was going to be getting that honor. Ever. As far as she knew.

Besides, they were still coming off the high of their extravagant tour of the world. Shawna had to sit through two hours of them detailing their exploits. If she had to see one more photo of a pagoda in Yangon, she was going to explode. At least once the initial excitement subsided, they let her be. They let her retreat to her room, where they believed she was hard at work studying as opposed to texting her expanding social network.

Still, given what she now knew about herself, she wondered just how convincing she could actually be. It wasn’t like she had experience being the fawning girlfriend to begin with. In her parents’ eyes, Jack would be her first real date. All Shawna had to go off of were the crib notes taken from her months of binge watching sitcoms, and some gut feelings that she could only thank Sunshine for bringing out of her. It was going to be tough to channel all that into a performance that even Chrissie would have to applaud.

It was why she paced. It was why even in the brand-new dress that she had bought for such a date, even knowing that on the other side of that car ride, the girl she loved would be waiting, she paced. All this time building up to this moment. She hoped she didn’t crack under the pressure as she did before.

The doorbell rang.

As the door opened, Jack saw not his date but an imposing man standing in the entryway. The outfit didn’t exactly scream intimidation, with the blue and yellow Hawaiian shirt with the pansies all over it muting the effects somewhat. Still, as Martin Josi stood there staring at Jack, the salt-and-pepper hair freckling his temples and his beard, the steely gaze piercing through even the thickest of skins, the wrinkles on his face highlighting the experience gained over a lifetime of fighting through the engineering industry and a mind that knew exactly how to get away with murder, all focused on the boy who was expected to take his youngest daughter to her first Valentine’s Day dance.

Martin stood silent for a moment, appraising everything, then his chiseled jaw moved and he broke out a smile that was equal parts assuring and creepy. “So!” he started, voiced still tinged with a Germanic accent that his parents imprinted and Florida could never truly shake. “You must be Jack! The boy who is going to take my girl to the big dance! Wunderba! Come in! Come in! Get out of the cold!”

Nobody told Jack that Martin sounded like the most German man to ever grace the face of this planet. The accent was jarring and it took him by surprise. He almost stammered for once before Martin took him into the Josi household. He was right, it was kinda cold tonight. He figured he should duck into the household before he made any formalities.

“Thank you, Mr. Josi.” Jack said, getting into the house. He reached out his hand, offering it to Shawna’s father. He wanted to take care of that first before he started to look around for Shawna. After all, this man was teh reason why they were doing this in the first place. “I’m Jack Goff. Pleasure to meet you.”

Martin took Jack’s hand in a forceful shake, getting a few pumps in before letting go. “I am certain the pleasure is all mine!” he said as he led the football star through the lobby towards the kitchen/living room combo that was the hub for most of the activity in the house. “I must admit, Shawna has been sparse with the details about you, so I am eager to learn a thing or two about the young man who is leading my daughter out into the world!” The way he emphasized young man and daughter implied an understood relation between the two beings. One that might not have been accurate, but in Martin’s mind was going to be on the table no matter what he said on the matter.

A pair of armchairs had been set up in the living room, in front of the 70” smart TV that showed Shawna every crevasse in Steve Carell’s forehead over the fall. Martin motioned for Jack to sit in the one on the right, while the elder Josi took the one on the left, underneath the giant portrait of the Matterhorn. This also allowed Martin access to the end table where he kept necessary provisions. A tall glass of beer was sitting there, the foam indicating just how recently it had been poured. “Come, sit! I insist!” he said, gesturing to the chair as he gracefully plunked himself down into his own La-Z-Boy.

Jack nodded along as Martin had a bit of a spiel, and it ended up with him sitting in what must’ve been one of the most comfortable chairs that he ever had the pleasure to be sitting in. He sunk into the seat a bit, before looking over to Martin who was enjoying what seemed to be a freshly poured beer. The man knew how to have a good time. Jack could respect that. But, that was about the only thing Jack could really respect about Martin.

He glanced a bit behind his seat. “Where’s Shawna, Mr. Josi?” He asked curiously, before taking another glance around the home, ”You have a nice home, by the way.”

“Why, thank you,” Martin commented. “When one gets a lucky bounce of the balls from God, one has to make the best of things, ja?” He leaned forward in the chair, fingers tented as he looked towards Jack. “Shawna will be down in time. I am certain she is just nervous about this event. This is the first time she has been out to this sort of… er, big social dance thing. She has sheltered herself for so long. It’s good to see someone such as yourself be able to look past her… tendencies to find the beauty that I see in there. Plus, I can see another athlete! Clearly the Josi family knows a thing or two about peak physical conditioning!”

“Yeah… Shawna’s a… one of a kind girl!” Jack tried his best to hide his nervousness and the fact that he just made that up on the spot, “Are you an athlete too, Mr. Josi? Shawna never mentioned anything of that sort. I, myself, play wide receiver for the school.”

Martin’s facade broke into laughter for a moment. “Hahaha, I am no athlete. However, my son Nick is playing hockey for Harvard and he’s expected to make his NHL debut this year. My older daughter Lia married a basketball player, so at least the youngest generation is in tune with sports! Hahaha!” However, he quickly returned to the now-familiar stern gaze. “Shawna on the other hand never seemed interested in that life, so it surprises me that a football player, such as yourself, would take such a shine to her so late in her high school tenure. You aren’t hiding any… untowards intentions with this Valentine’s Day date, are you Jack?”

“Unknown intentions?! With Shawna? No sir. Not at all.” Jack said, smiling sheepishly. Thank fucking god he didn’t know what was going on. “I have no intentions with your daughter, sir. No untoward intentions here.” Besides, even though Jack was pretty cool and handsome, he wasn’t no Sunshine.

“No intentions?” Martin allowed himself to be surprised by that statement if only to give himself room to push harder. “No intentions whatsoever? So you plan on abandoning her immediately to go on your merry way at the dance?”

“...no?” Jack was in sort of a hole at this point. “I’m just here to give your daughter a good time at the dance. Nothing more, nothing less.” Jesus, no wonder Shawna wanted Jack to come along. This man was already difficult to deal with, he couldn’t imagine what would happen if Shawna’s secret were to come out.

Martin smirked as he leaned back in his chair, grabbing the beer resting on the side and taking a long sip. A thin film of foam rested upon the mustache portion of his beard. “Well, I remember what good times there are to be had at events such as these. I’m not that old, you know. I also know there are multiple definitions of good times. If you are catching my drift of what good times I am expecting you and my daughter to have, I think then indeed, we will all have some good times. However, if you decide to extend this soiree to your definition of good times, or your friends’ definition of good times, and my daughter’s good times are negatively impacted by this, then I can assure you with the utmost of confidence, that the only good times you will be experiencing afterwards will be in my company. And I have a feeling my definition of good times in that instance will be vastly different from your definition of good times. So, do we have an understanding?”

What in tarnation? What exactly did Shawna tell Martin? It wasn’t like he would even think of Shawna in anywhere even remotely close to that regard. He felt like he was in the beginning of Inglorious Basterds, complete with the rather suspicious German man lecturing at him. But, he had to remember the endgame here. This was all for Shawna’s sake, and not his. He had to play this right. “Yes sir.” Jack nodded, “My good times will not ruin Shawna’s good times.”

“Then we have an arrangement! Excellent!” Martin clapped and stood up. “I would offer you a drink to celebrate, but I know better than to think an athlete such as yourself would be risking every part of your future just for a sip of an admittedly average-quality beer! Instead, I shall let you get on with your night!” The patriarch of the Josi family headed over towards the stairwell. “Shawna! Your gentleman caller has arrived!”

Fucking finally. Now that Jack had passed the test, it was safe for Shawna to come out. Her pacing could cease.

She emerged quickly from her room and came down the staircase, only to be immediately enveloped by her father. Martin gave her a big hug and held her close. “I know this is a big night for you, my dear. But know I will be here and if you find yourself in an unsavory situation, you give me a call and I will make sure you are swiftly whisked away.”

“I know, Dad,” Shawna confirmed. “I’ll be all right. Not like anything is going to happen with the teachers watching everyone like a hawk.”

“I’m certain. But, just in case.”

“You can let me go now.”

Martin finally released his daughter from his grip, allowing her to see Jack for the first time. He had cleaned up well. Had to have done well enough to pass her dad’s eye test. Even if it was very hard to feel threatened by that shirt. She looked over and gave a demure wave. “H-Hi Jack. I’m ready when you are.”

It felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders as Martin stood up and clapped, and he finally called for Shawna after what felt like an eternity underneath the grilling of one Mr. Martin Josi. He was pretty sure everything was just a test. A bit weird, but the more he talked to Martin the more he understood why Shawna was the way that she was regarding her secret.

Watching Shawna come down the stairs, there was a small smirk on his face as he saw her with what might’ve been one of the most gorgeous dresses he’d seen. He gave a small wave back, before walking over to the Josis. “Alright, shall we head out, Shawna? After you, ladies first after all.”

“So polite!” Shawna commented as her father looked on. Martin allowed a knowing nod as the two teenagers moved towards the front hall. “I’ll let you know when we head back, Dad!”

“See that you do! I will be a nervous wreck until I know you are safe!”

“OK!” Shawna led Jack towards the door. “Let’s go,” she said quickly under her breath.

Leading Shawna out of the house, Jack quickly darted over to his car, before pulling the passenger door open for her. “Feel free to pull the seat up a bit if it’s too far back. I don’t know who’s been in this car, Shawna.” Jack smirked, before closing the door after she got in.

“Well, that’s comforting,” Shawna commented as she held her dress so she could slide into the Viper. She could finally drop the shy, innocent act now that she was safely in the car.

It wasn’t long before Jack climbed into the driver’s seat, and set off.

Shawna looked over at the man who just took an inquisition for her with an empathetic tone on her face. “Thank you for sitting through all that,” she said, a tone of remorse present. “I swear, he doesn’t even sound like that normally. Pretty sure he just puts on the Nazi accent to scare anyone he doesn’t trust. He’s gotten so good at it though…”

“All I’m gonna say, Shawna…” Jack said, looking over to her momentarily as he drove, “I totally understand.”

The girl let out a huge sigh. “I figured he had to be seen to be believed. That’s why I kinda need you right now. At least until I figure out how the hell I’m going to explain literally everything.”

“Listen, like I said, I totally understand.” Jack shrugged, “I thought it was a little weird at first, but after meeting your dad, it makes sense! No offense, of course. But dude is scary.”

“None taken,” Shawna confirmed. “Ever since that Pre-Calc test last June, he’s been watching me closer than ever. The summer was terrible. I told so many lies just to get out of the house. That cruise my parents went on was honestly the best thing that could have happened to me. But, now it’s back to the double life. At least now I have some help.

Jack shook his head, before seeing a particular something out of the corner of his eye, “I got your back, dude” Jack winked at Shawna, before looking ahead and squinting, “Wait, yo, is that the country club there? Or am I just tripping?”

Shawna looked ahead to try and make out what Jack was talking about before the familiar front of Crown Heights Country Club came into view. “Yup, that’s the place,” she affirmed. “I can hear Dad bragging about the time he shot an 85 on the golf course from here. Least we got here in one piece.”

“Perfect. Right on time, aren’t we?”

Pulling into the parking lot, Jack stuffed his car into a slot, parking it more toward his side so that Shawna had more room to get out. Not that she needed it of course. Putting the top up, Jack quickly got out again, opening the door for Shawna to allow her to get out of the rather low car. “Let’s go turn some heads, yeah?”

Shawna nodded, definitely feeling in safer hands with Jack then she would have at this point last month. “Let’s do the damn thing!” She punctuated this with a fist in the air as the two made their way towards the lame school dance they were going to work they way through.

[SpicyMeatball]

April’s day thus far had largely been spent sitting in bed in her bathrobe with music blasting from her headphones, while she browsed through the photos from her most recent day at the track. A part of her was sad that she’d finally conceded to Santiago’s requests to stop going to the track until after the baby was born, but she knew it was for the best. It also wouldn’t be too long until she was back behind the wheel of a race car considering her due date was fast approaching. God that was a terrifying thought. There was nothing that had been on her mind more--not even Santiago--in the past few weeks than the overwhelming thoughts of giving birth.

“Don’t lose it April, you’ve got this. It can’t be that hard, right?” the brunette told herself out loud, the self reassurance lasting all of a millisecond before her mind went to the video about child birth they’d been forced to watch the year prior in sex ed. April visibly shuddered at the thought before tossing her phone aside onto the bed and walking to the bathroom.

“Time to get your butt into gear.

Truth be told, April didn’t know whether to be excited or nervous about showing up to the Diedrikson residence. This whole shitshow of a Valentine’s dance had made her nervous, and she had still yet to have a dance that she could take Santiago to, where they could have the first real dance of their “official relationship”. Regardless, she was scheduled to show up at Archer’s shortly and needed to finish her final preparations prior to leaving.

After a quick shower, the brunette brushed her hair thoroughly before going through her regular routine to give it her signature curled look. Then, a conservative application of makeup that took her way too long to perfect and a pucker of her now lipstick-covered lips finished off her preparations up top.

Now it was the dress. And boy had it been a bitch and a half to find a maternity dress that April liked and that fit her rather small frame--other than pregnancy belly. It had taken her and her father--much to his dismay--two days and a phone call to Julie to finally track down a dress that April would tolerate. What had come of it however, was well worth the effort in the brunette’s mind. She’d eventually decided on a simple long-sleeved, lace number in her favourite shade of burgundy.

Making her way down to the main floor, April looked around for her keys briefly before realizing they were definitely not in their usual place. She spun around after hearing a small jingle, her father coming into view with April’s keys dangled out in front of him.

“Dad what the hell!” she exclaimed, stomping over to grab them from her father, who quickly pulled them out of reach.

“Ah ah ah young lady. I will be your chauffeur this evening, your car stays home this time. I saw that speeding ticket on your dresser.” her father shook his head, giving her an unimpressed look before shuffling her out of the kitchen and towards the garage.

“Out of all the days to do this on, I swear.” April muttered to herself, stomping out to the car after putting her running shoes on. There was no way she’d be spending the evening in heels. Besides, the length of the dress easily concealed them.

Minutes later, the pair showed up at Archer’s house in April’s father’s blue BMW X5 and pulled into the laneway. With a venomous glare at her father, April got out of the car and slammed the door before taking in a deep breath to compose herself. She looked back to Jamie Foster through the windshield, motioning for him to stay put. She didn’t need even more embarrassment than what was sure to come on the following car ride.

A moment after she knocked on the door, she was welcomed to Archer’s smiling face to which she returned her own warm smile.“Archer! Hi!” she replied excitedly to his greeting. As he ushered her in the door, April saw the looks on his parents drop the moment their gaze hit her waist. With a nervous wave and equally nervous smile, April took in one of what was going to be many deep breaths in the foreseeable future and introduced herself.

“Hi! I’m April Foster, nice to meet you both mister and misses Diedrikson. Now I know you may have some questions so I’m gonna get ahead of all of it by saying this. Yes, I am very, very pregnant. No, it’s not Archer’s. Good?” she raised a thumbs up, cocking her head a bit as she waited nervously for a response, not entirely sure she wanted one.

[AlteredTundra]

_{Collab by Chrissie @TootsiePop & Kavi @metanoia}
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

The only thing Kavi wanted to do was not be brought into the middle of whatever shit other people, especially those who were his friends. It put him in an awkward spot and he couldn’t do anything but just sit there and listen to one of them bash the other. It was an exhausting process and something he felt very uncomfortable going through.

But Chrissie couldn’t help it. He knew how she was. In just the past week alone, he had spent hours with her. Whether it was on the phone or at school, he started to understand why she acted the way she did. Why was she so dramatic all of the time and why she had this certain flair about her. Perhaps he wasn’t completely accurate but he deduced that she loves to hear herself talk.

Kavi wasn’t a stranger to this. He liked to hear his own voice too. It was something they both had in common — well, that and a love for tart fruits.

As he turned right on Oak Drive, Kavi figured something else about Chrissie.

She doesn't need me to respond to keep going, Kavi thought. He found comfort in that for obvious reasons.

He didn’t want to tune her out. He wasn’t that guy anymore, but when everything he heard was about Stella, he figured it was best to let her continue on. Still, it was finally at the point where he needed to interject.

“Can you believe that shit?”

Nearly half of a mile away from the Country Club, Kavi purposely slowed at a yellow light so it would turn red by the time he came to a gradual stop. He took in a slow breath and said, “You look, well hot!” Kavi acknowledged her impressive dress, taking a respectable amount of time to scale her head to thigh and back up again.

While that wasn’t the response she wanted, Chrissie would accept it wholeheartedly. “At least you noticed. It takes what? Two eyes? To see this!” She ran her hand from her cheek, down her chest, to her hip, “That bitch really thinks she’s the shit now that she’s had a Paris makeover.”

Raising an eyebrow, with a sudden and abrupt thought, the drama queen took out her phone and went to scan her socials, “I should block her, right? She totally deserves it. I got her on everything. Snapchat, Facebook, twitter, insta.” Bringing her fiery gaze from her phone to her date, she growled, “Well?”

Why is it always me? Kavi lamented at his current situation. Regardless of what he does, no matter if he did something to deserve it or if it was one of those rare moments he was innocent, he always was placed between a rock and a hard place. Whether it was Ariel and April, holding strong for his sister while their parents fought, or being fucking arrested, it was always him.

As he considered his next words carefully, which was rare for him because he always said the first thing that came to him. He knew the longer he waited to speak, the worse it would be for him because Chrissie would just keep going like a broken record. So, with a sigh and knowing his only option was to make attempts at diffusing this pink bomb, Kavi said, “If that’s what you think you need to do, then I guess you should!” Kavi offered her a half-smile. It was all he could manage. He just wanted to move on to something less mentally exhausting.

“Too agreeable.” Rolling her eyes, she went to her phone and closed the Instagram app, “I’ll wait. See if she does something stupid tonight.” After placing her phone back in her clutch, she crossed her arms and looked out the window, finally going silent. She didn’t say anything more, either because she was out of things to say or waiting for him to add to the conversation. Whatever it was, the silence was a sign for something.

When Chrissie’s voice came to a full silence, he thought it was gonna be something he’d welcome. After minutes of her ranting about the infinite amount of ways Stella changed and how she didn’t like it, the silence only seemed to make the wait for the light to change green even worse. It was agonizing. So much so that he sighed and turned up the volume on the car radio. He spent about ten seconds going through the stations, listening to only a second per station until he looked at Chrissie. “Do you wanna maybe give it a shot? I’m a horrible DJ,” he laughed.

Tilting her head, to his old fashioned ways, Chris decided to take it upon herself to connect her phone to his Bluetooth. Spending a minute deciding on a song, she picked something from her musical playlist. Take Me or Leave Me from Rent filled the car and seconds later, with a quick finger motion, it was blasting. It was a duet song about a lesbian couple at their breaking point of their relationship, giving each other an ultimatum to make amends or leave. Maureen being a flirt and Joanne being a control freak, it makes sense it would be hard to compromise.

The version that played was straight out of the movie, with the dialogue before the song: “You know what, Miss Ivy League.” She matched Maureen’s script, word for word, spot-on, while looking at Kavi as if he was Joanne. “I can’t take much more of this. This obsessive, compulsive, control freak paranoia.”

Though, assuming Kavi didn’t know Joanne’s part, she immediately changed personalities, “What?!”

“I didn’t pierce my nipples because it grossed you out. I didn’t stay at the king club last night because YOU wanted to go home.” Chris-Maureen complained.

“You were flirting with a woman in rubber!” Chris-Joanne scowled.

“THERE WILL ALWAYS BE WOMEN IN RUBBER FLIRTING WITH ME!” Beat. “Give me a break!” And then, the song started. When she sang Maureen’s part, she made sure she was confident to a fault, bold in a sultry way, and shamelessly right.

While Chrissie certainly embraced everything the highly catchy song she put on seemed to present, Kavi tried to keep his focus on the road. The country club was in sight and heaven forbid if he should attract any unwanted attention. But as he kept driving, coming to a stop at yet another red light, Kavi took advantage of the motionless vehicle to watch Chrissie, her energy was infectious and probably for the first time, he saw her smile. And seeing her like that made him smile. He would even make his best attempt at whatever passed for seated dancing. His shoulders popped and locked and he just snapped his fingers to whatever bug Chrissie passed along to him.

Because she was being passionate and focusing on the emotion in the song, Chris was no longer thinking about Stella. “Take me for what I am, who I was meant to be. And if you give a damn, take me baby or leave me.” She was pleasantly surprised when Kavi started being cute and joining in by doing a jig.

Honestly, musicals were healing and the only medicine she needed. Once she sang a little bit of the competent, organized, and dedicated Joanne’s verse, and the car started moving again, she raised her arms up in the convertible to feel the wind, raising the volume of her own voice, hoping the whole world could hear her sing. She had no shame. Without a doubt, this showed how fearless she was, how fun she could be with when she wasn’t in a mood, and how much of a star she was growing to be. Shiny and bright, like a diamond.

”Sing it, girl!” He cheered her on, the lyrics missing him by a mile but the energy in the car - and soon the parking lot of the country club - was high and positive.

From where they began this car ride, with both of them feeling frustrated. Kavi’s source was obviously constantly thinking about Ariel and Chrissie was frustrated (that’s putting it mildly) with Stella, but as soon as his date took the reigns of the music selection, he had to admit there was something endearing about Chrissie. She wasn’t perfect and that was something Kavi could relate to.

As he pulled into a spot relatively close to the entrance, Kavi threw all into the wind and turned up the volume to near-deafening levels. The volume paired with his BMW’s impressive sound system, not only would the beats of the song be heard, but the vibrations of the bass would be felt. “Now that’s more like it!” He grinned, repeating his same dance moves from before but he put some feeling into it this time around.

Having not seen Jasper and Ariana parked a bit away, and being closer to where the chaperones were standing, Chrissie hopped out of the car and brought her playful eyes to the teachers, specifically one, a math teacher who her best friend was in love with, “That’s it.” She pointed in that general direction and sauntered around the front of the car, “The straw that breaks my back.”

She opened Kavi’s door for him, “I quit.” Leaving the door, and her date, she sang louder than the volume, which was fucking high, and started skipping to the teachers, “Unless you take it back.” Her dark gaze stopped at Mr. Russo’s face, as she smirked, “Women, what is it about them? Can’t live with them or without them!”

For the last chorus, she gave her teachers a show (‘take me for what I am’), like the theater girl she was, and then walked backwards when it was coming to an end (‘take me, baby, or leave me), “Guess I’m leaving.” Beat. “I’m gone.” Heavily breathing, but completely ecstatic, she turned her attention back to Kavi and offered her hand for him to grab and join her, “You ready to party?”

With one hand, Kavi grabbed his jacket and her clutch and with another, he was whisked out by Chrissie’s pull. He wasn’t able to stop smiling. “Oh, I’m ready to party! Are you ready to party?” Kavi found himself shouting, not caring who else heard him.

“Well, duh. I wouldn’t have asked you if I wasn’t ready.”

After staring at her for a long moment, Kavi sighed and laughed. “Then what are we waiting for?” With a smirk, he led her towards the entrance in a half-jog.

[Venus]

_{A @Rosalia & @BitchTheFuck Collaboration
Featuring Ariana Mossos & Jasper Fray}
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

Before Jasper and Ariana could go any further than putting their hands on the door handles, the whole vehicle vibrated from the bass of another one incoming that Ariana immediately recognized as Kavi’s. Amused, the young woman watched as a very enthusiastic Chrissie belted out the lyrics to some song she didn’t recognize, accompanying them with a show fit for a drama geek like her. But the brunette realized who the curly-haired girl was heading towards, the smile that had been adorning her lips was soon wiped out of her face.

“Did she just--?” Ariana trailed off, watching with wide eyes as her best friend singled out her ex-lover during her show in front of his colleagues with a line that said something about ‘can’t like with her but can’t live without her’. Wanting nothing more than for the earth to open up and swallow her right then and there, the brunette watched Chrissie finish her fantastic performance with a bang before running off into the country club, dragging Kavi along with her and leaving a confused-looking group of teachers behind.

The car was quiet for a few seconds, the air thick with surprise before Ariana finally spoke. “She’s gone crazy, Jas. Chrissie has officially lost her marbles. And she’s trying to take me down with her.”

Watching closely at what all went down, Mr. Russo looked just as confused as Jasper felt. ”Did… did she just call him out in dance?”

“I think she did!” she replied, her mouth still agape in shock for a few seconds before eventually succumbing to a fit of nervous and amused laughter. She knew that her best friend would never dare to expose her like that (the consequences of being outed would be more than catastrophic), but Ariana would be lying if she said she didn't find this particular way of subtle shade very entertaining.

“Well that was uh… that was something.” Unsure of what else to say as he continued to try and make sense of what just happened, Jasper shook his head and laughed along with Ariana. Where her laugh was more nervous, his was more one of shock. “Guess we better head inside before Russo’s head explodes, huh?”

The young woman could only nod. After taking in a deep breath, Ariana finally mustered up the courage to exit the car. She wasted no time in locking her slender arm with the one Jasper was so graciously offering her, and together they glamorously made their way to the country club. Of course, she made sure to saunter a little more and walk a little slower than usual when passing by her favorite teacher-- let him fully appreciate what he would be missing tonight.

Once inside, it was easy to tell that the party hadn’t really started yet. While more and more people were coming through the door, not many of them were heading to the dance floor. Was it that they were waiting on their ‘favorite’ song? Maybe. Scanning the crowd, Jasper spotted one of his friends from the Junior class. William (or Will, as he liked to be called) was one of the few people that Jasper could trust around the school. It also just so happened that Will had full access to his father's liquor cabinet and worked on the crew that helped set up everything for the night. Waving him Will over, Jasper smiled at his friend before introducing him to Ariana.

“Ariana, this is my friend Will. Will, this is Ariana, my date for the night.”

Will - never one to filter what was on his mind - looked Ariana up and down before whistling. “Dammmnnnn girl,” he said, rubbing his hands together in that weird way jocks did when they spotted their next prize.

Jasper rolled his eyes, while his date tittered and winked at his friend. ”Okay man. Where’s the shit I paid you for?”

Sighing, Will waved his hand for the pair to follow him. Once they reached the table with the snacks and drinks, Will reached under the table and nonchalantly pulled out a fifth of Smirnoff one-hundred proof vodka. Thankfully, most of the teachers were still doing light checks and making sure no one got in without a valid school ID.

”You don’t have to be here for this,” Jasper said quietly, turning to Ariana. ”I understand if you aren’t cool with it or whatever.”

To say that Ariana was surprised was an understatement. Out of all the people she would have expected to spike the punch, it was safe to say that Jasper would have been the last one to come to mind. It was probably why they were able to get away with it so easily. Who would’ve suspected the quiet music geek?

“Holy shit,” she commented, shifting her eyes between Jasper, Will and the vodka with an amused smile on her face. “I never would have pegged you for a troublemaker, Jasper. Spiking the vodka right under the teacher’s noses? That takes balls, my friend, and you damn sure have those in their place.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Jasper smirked. “What can I say?” Taking the bottle from Will, he twisted the top off. “Okay. Will, I’m gonna need you to stand guard. Ariana… uh…. First honors? I’ll stand kinda in front of you so no one can see.”

“I would love to!” she simpered, shooting him a wink before grabbing the vodka bottle from his hands and slowly pouring the liquor into the running fountain until the very last drop. Grinning, she handed Jasper the now empty bottle to be disposed of, grabbed a cup from the table and allowed one of the streams to fill up her cup with the crimson liquid. “You guys wanna take the first sip with me?” she asked the boys.

”Hell yeah, why not?” Jasper handed the empty bottle to Will who passed it off to one of the other guys to dispose of. Will supplied most of Jasper alcohol for him, especially at events like these. They knew where to get rid of the bottle so that it wouldn’t be found.

As Jasper and Will both grabbed a cup and followed Ariana’s lead, Jasper raised his fancy plastic glass to toast.

”To the last cheesy Valentine’s Day Dance we ever have to go to,” he smiled, before downing the nearly the whole cup. His face souring, Jasper shook his head in an attempt to get rid of the taste from his mouth. ”That shit leaves a really bad after taste.”

“I’ll say… Ariana who had imitated Jasper and Will by also downing the entirety of her punch, was making a face as well. “You should’ve told me you needed something to spike the punch with. I would’ve gotten you something a little more... luxe. No offense,” she quickly added, looking over at Will.

“None taken,” Will said, shaking his head. “If you guys will excuse me, I gotta go help out with a few more things.” Before Jasper or Ariana either one had the chance to say anything, Will disappeared into the crowd.

”Don’t worry about it,” Jasper laughed. “I know it doesn’t exactly go down all that smooth, but I’m sure it’ll do the trick. Besides - people will just be happy to have something to get a buzz off of.”

“That’s very true!” she nodded, tossing her used cup inside a nearby trash can before turning back to her date and taking hold of his arm again. “Now come on. Let’s go take a few selfies together before we hit the dance floor. The lighting is horrible, but we look way too cute together to pass up.”

[AlteredTundra]

_{A @metanoia & @spooner Collaboration featuring Jackson “Sonny” Drake & Julie MacMillian}
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

As far as awkward conversations with the parent of a girl who wasn’t his girlfriend, Sonny liked to think he was rather successful in how he handled himself with Julie’s impressive father. He didn’t wet himself, so that was a plus (although, he couldn’t say the same about his armpits). Thankfully for Sonny, he always kept an extra box of wet wipes and his mother knew him too well because they were exactly where he kept them in his truck.

The remainder of the car ride to the country club went a lot smoother and was a lot dryer (thankfully). Sonny and Julie were, if nothing else, proof that boys and girls could be friends without it feeling weird or with the possibility of sexual attraction. Even if he wasn’t in a relationship and wasn’t as close to Marisol or as terrified of her, he still wouldn’t feel anything like that for her. Regardless of the nature of the date and regardless of his true intentions, Sonny genuinely didn’t feel that way for Julie. Nothing about her screamed girlfriend potential for him.

Julie MacMillan was a lot of things and one of his good friends was at the top of that list for him.

So he did what he did with all of his good friends: Sonny jammed to bad dad rock with her. She might’ve judged him but hearing her laugh at how great Creed was at being more cliche than a 2000s kids wearing a shirt with a flame design, it was worth it.

When he pulled into the parking lot, Sonny didn’t want to walk miles down, so he chose to park close enough to the entrance but not too close.

“With arms wide opeeeeen!” Sonny sang at the top of his lungs without the benefit of the slightly-better vocals of Creed’s Scott Stapp. “Sorry,” Sonny apologized, laughing, body turned slightly to the side as he looked at Julie. “Be honest: you had fun jamming to Creed, didn’t you?” He joked but there was a part of him who was curious.

The redhead just giggled as Sonny finished the song. “You have the voice of an angel.” she covered her mouth as another fit of giggles bubbled up inside her. “Oh jamming… is that what that was?” she said as she opened her passenger-side door stepping out gazing up at the country club. “You ready to go in?”

Sonny got out as well, rounding around the back of the Audi TT, joining Julie on her side of it since it was closer to the entrance. Smiling at her, Sonny said, “Yeah, let’s go!”

As the two walked in, Sonny felt like the dance committee really outdid themselves this time around. They always knew how to decorate and make use of the Country Club, which Sonny often felt was oversaturated but that was beside the point. Unlike the last dance, he was at that was held at the Country Club, the Valentine’s Dance was held in the ever-expansive ballroom inside. The space was being taken advantage of as Sonny noticed decorative wallpaper that fit the mood that Valentine’s Day was often associated with, a bright, LED light-filled disco ball in the center, providing an unsurprisingly romantic atmosphere.

Sonny glanced around the room and he saw Jasper and Ariana in the back by one of the tables with heart-shaped balloons and he saw Kavi and Chrissie already making use of the dancefloor, which was to be expected. What wasn’t expected was seeing the usually-macho-looking Kavi Salvador, the king of masculine energy, wearing a striped, pink shirt.

Laughing, Sonny turned his attention to the beautiful redhead next to him. “They sure didn’t spare any expense, did they?” He said to her, eyes wandering around some more, taking in more sights of the decorations.

“No… but then again they shouldn’t with what our parents pay.” She smiled as she also looked around the room taking it all in. She looped her arm into Sonny’s and steered him in the direction of the refreshments. “You think anyone has spiked the punch yet?” Julie queried, lifting up the ladle and pouring two cups for herself and Sonny.

She offered her date one of the cups and took a sip. “Nope not yet.” She almost sounded a little bit disappointed. “So anyway, do you know when Marisol will get here?” She strained her neck to see if she could spot her. “Who did she end up going with?”

As he mirrored Julie, he would also mirror her disappointment when his lips just tasted generic punch. He glanced quickly back at the table and noticed that Jasper and Ariana were joined by a third person, someone Sonny had seen around and knew he wasn’t so great of a person, which meant now the punch would be spiked. Typical. “I think she and Rye should be here in no time!” Sonny said, raising his cup to his lips for another refreshing sip.

“Oh?” She raised an eyebrow when Sonny mentioned who Mari was taking to the dance. “Well, do you want to wait for them on the dancefloor?” Julie asked, extending her arm towards the already dancing couples. “Show people that Mrs. Dramboui’s ballet classes helped us after all these years?” she laughed.

Sonny wasn’t the best dancer. Julie knew that. Kavi and Chrissie when they weren’t all about themselves knew that. And Ariana Mossos way in the back knew it too. Everyone had at least a small bit of knowledge about Jackson Torvald Drake Jr’s horrendous dancing ability, yet when Julie asked him, Sonny did nothing to halt it. With their cups resting on the beverages table and both of Sonny’s hands taking Julie’s, Sonny got into a groove. Thankfully the song that was playing had a good beat, so he was able to find a rhythm. His legs moved as though he retained some muscle memory from those times when he and Julie were a lot younger in ballet class but more importantly, Sonny fixated on Julie’s smile. She usually had a soft, regal-like expression that was rarely expressive but he happened to notice all of her pearly whites showing, so Sonny knew he must’ve been doing something right.

[Sugar and Spite]

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

After entering the ballroom, Chanel and Sunshine were making their way to the refreshments table. Fully prepared with the intentions of keeping her friend company for the night, Sunshines temporary plans changed more quickly than she would have expected.

When Shawna and Jack walked through the door, there was a certain feeling about seeing them together that Sunshine couldn’t explain. She understood Shawna’s situation more than perfectly. She also agreed with Jack acting as Shawnas beard. The young woman just never would have imagined how good her girlfriend would have looked next to Jack, of all people. Of course they were both the athlete type; tall, gorgeous, perfect natural tans - okay. She got it. She just didn’t want to accept it.

Grabbing a cup of punch to go for both her and Shawna, Sunshine danced her way across the room, careful not to bump into anyone. Once she had Shawna and Jack's attention, she waved and eventually finished her way over, a smile on her face as she went.

Coming to stand beside her girlfriend, Sunshine stood on her tiptoes to give Shawna a peck on the cheek and wrap her right arm around her waist. Smiling at Jack once again, Sunshine batted her eyelashes sweetly at the boy before speaking.

”I appreciate what you’re doing for our girl here, Jack, I really do. But let me make it very, very clear that if I so much as see you look at her the wrong way, I’ll break your perfectly chiseled jaw. Got it?”

Handing the second cup of punch to Shawna, Sunshine took a sip of hers while watching Jack's expression. ”Ohhh someone already spiked it. Awesome!”

[Sugar and Spite]

________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

Kavan had done a fantastic job of making sure that the start of the night was memorable in the best kind of way. Rather Kavan would say the same about her, Ariel didn’t know. One thing she was sure of, however, was that she owed him a big one for both his company and the record he had gotten her.

Swaying along to the beat of the music, Kavan and Ariel weren’t really dancing so much as looking for their friends. Marisol hadn’t made her entrance yet, but Shawna had. Unfortunately for Ariel, so had Kavi and his date for the night. Kavi had chosen to go with no other than Chrissie McCoy - Kings Academys All American Dream Girl, if you will. Ariel had never pegged Chrissie and Kavi as friends, but here they were. Knowing Kavi, he wasn’t really planning on being ‘just friends’ for the night anyway. The thought left a bitter taste in Ariels mouth, one that no amount of punch could wash away.

The stupid pink stripes on his shirt almost made up for how happy he looked. Almost. Ariel always knew she wasn’t Kavi’s usual type, but seeing him with someone who was his type…

In a way, Chrissie was what Ariel had sort of always strived to be. Effortlessly pretty. Loved. Adored. Confident. Ariel had always thought of herself as too skinny - too pale. And here Kavi was with what was exactly his type. Tall-ish. Long legged. Smiley. Curvy.

He was happy and she was a complete and utter mess. It felt like the Universe refused to give her any sort of break these days.

While it had only been a few short weeks, and her mind could be jumping to it’s usual trouble causing conclusions - it seemed as if Kavi had moved on. Meanwhile, here was Ariel, still tagging him in memes and answering his texts at two in the morning because they were still ‘friends.’ How much more stupid could she possibly be?

If anything else, this was just more proof that Kavi didn’t mean what he said. Kavi wasn’t the sort of guy that changed, and he kept showing that time and time again.

With a defeated sigh, and a head full of thoughts, Ariel did her best to blink the tears from her eyes before they had a chance to form.

”I’m just going to go grab a drink real quick,” she said to Kavan. ”Maybe stop by and say hi to Shawna or something. I’ll catch up with you later.”

After she had gotten the approval from Kavan, Ariel made her way over to the punch fountain. While she and Jasper were never close, they were friendly, and she knew that Jasper was usually the one to spike the drinks at the Kings Academy events.

Promptly grabbing a cup from the stack beside the fountain, Ariel held it under a stream of the fountain impatiently. She downed her drink in one very unladylike gulp before snatching a clean glass to grab another drink.

Time to do what she did best: get drunk and dance her troubles away.

Thank the gods for Jasper Fray, she thought.

[Ejected]

_{A @Bee & @Ejected collab.
Starring Nicole Milano and Carter Newton}

---

---

The journey to the dance was rather enjoyable. Knowing that Nicole and Carter were around to slay and turn some heads. Nicole took the time to abide by Carter’s wishes, playing some sick tunes as she usually did, but avoiding country as much as she could. She understood where Carter was coming from, who wanted to listen to songs about tractors and fucking their sister on their way to an event more grandeur than every country song put together?

They eventually arrived at the parking lot of the venue, where Nicole took a quick glance at Carter. ”You ready to kick some ass?” Nicole smiled, a little pep in her step already.

As Carter cut the engine once more and removed his keys from the ignition, he turned his head towards Nicole and offered her a smirk. "Well, you seem excited to go party," the young man said with a light chuckle, removing his jacket and tossing it into the backseat; while it did keep him warm during the ride over, it didn't really do much of complementing he and his friend's chosen outfits. The last thing he wanted was for them to look off in their pictures. It was as Carter looked out of the passenger side window and watched a few of his fellow classmates begin to make their way inside that he realized this was his very first time attending a function hosted by his school; not only had he skipped out on Homecoming just a few months prior, but he'd done the exact same every other year.

It wasn't that he didn't enjoy parties, especially not if he had smoked some of his finest product beforehand. It was that Carter had no idea what to expect from this event. Would they actually be able to have any real fun with the faculty and staff practically breathing down their necks the entire time? Would somebody spike the punch bowl like they did in every high school film? Or maybe there'd be some big dramatic fight scene in the middle of the dance in classic King's fashion, which would probably cause them to land in even more trouble before graduation? It wasn't until after Carter noticed Chrissie McCoy running through the front doors with Kavi in tow (and practically forced himself to refrain from rolling his eyes in a mixture of disgust and annoyance) that he finally gave Nicole her answer. "Hell yeah, why not? Let's do this."

”Hell yeah!” Nicole beamed. She was always particular to a party, especially with a man like Carter. Nicole noticed that Carter’s attention focused out of the window, probably toward those people walking up the stairs. Nicole didn’t understand what was so interesting about those people. If anything, Carter could probably get a better understanding once they were out of the car. But, they were in the car for a little longer than they would’ve liked. That was, until Carter spoke up.

”That’s the spirit!” Nicole beamed, opening the door of her car. ”I hope there’s some good tunes in there. I wanna dance.”

The two got out of the car at the same time, and Carter took a moment to straighten himself out before offering the young woman his arm. "Yeah, you and me both," Carter said, laughing as he and Nicole made their way towards the entrance. "More than one Country song and I just might have to leave." He was mostly joking.

Soon the pair had walked in, and Carter's eyebrow raised in surprise at how well the room had been decorated; granted, they had gone just a little overboard, but it was nice nonetheless. As he scanned the room, mainly searching for Stella, Carter saw more than a few familiar faces, most of whom were already on the dance floor; Carter had to admit that is was a bit amusing seeing Kavi Salvador try to keep up with Chrissie's dance moves. "So..." Carter said, looking down at Nicole. "What do you say we go and show those guys over there how it's really done?"

The room’s decoration had definitely caught Nicole’s eyes. It was very well decorated and rightfully so given the type of venue they were in. Guess King’s Academy had more in their back pocket for these sorts of things than Nicole had thought. Not like she minded, because she loved a well decorated environment.

Glancing over to Carter, before looking over to the dance floor to observe one Kavi and one Chrissie trying to dance each other away, she chuckled. ”Yes!” Nicole smiled, before putting her hand on Carter’s arm. ”Come on!” Nicole gestured with her head, egging Carter along.

And so, Carter made a beeline for the dance floor with Nicole right beside him, ready to make the most of the night.

[LovelyComplex]

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
_{Collab with Ryland @TootsiePop & Marisol @Rosalia}

Finishing the last bit of his burger, having scoffed it down in a matter of seconds, Ryland crumpled the wrapper, reached in the back seat, and tossed it in the brown bag the food came in. When the light turned green, he gently pushed on the paddle, taking his sweet ass time, choosing to cruise to the dance rather than rush. They’d get there when they get there.

After opening the console, he grabbed a napkin to clean his fingertips, before putting that too in the garbage bag in the back. While his room wasn’t the cleanest, since he hated folding his clothes, and eventually it all just exploded, Rye was all about personal hygiene, especially in a car that didn’t belong to him. Rich people got possessive over their cars. He knew his aunt wouldn’t scold him if something were to happen, but for him, this was a common courtesy and a show of respect. He was fortunate enough to have a car to drive his date in, who by the way, was dressed incredibly. Nobody could pull off a red dress like Marisol — that’s for sure.

Taking the obvious scenic route, intentionally turning on roads he knew would bring them off track, and that would only make them late to the dance, Rye cleared his throat, “You really do look amazing, Sol. I mean it.” He tapped his thumbs on the wheel, turning his gaze to her briefly, to have another look. As a result, he smiled, that kind of smile that showed a genuine softness that only those he would die for saw. That ‘I love you’ kind of smile. “This is not the same from seeing pictures posted online in the Hills. This is so much better.” Grinning, that goofy Aspen grin, as if Marisol was a gift from heaven that he didn’t deserve, Rye chuckled, “Sonny best be glad you're his.”

Marisol wasn’t one to blush often. But when she heard Ryland’s words, and the way he was smiling at her, she couldn’t fight back the bright pink heat rising to her cheeks. Leave it to Ry to find a way to make her feel so great about herself. “Thanks, Bread,” she said in a surprisingly soft voice, shooting him an even more surprisingly sweet smile. And when he commented on Sonny being glad she was his, the girl chuckled along with him. “You bet your pale ass he is! Or at least, I hope he is. Wouldn’t wanna be wasting my time if he’s not.”

“Yeah, well, he’d be dumb to let you go.” Rye calmly responded, bringing his eyes back to the road. The fact that they couldn’t go to a Valentine’s dance together was still kind of weird for him to understand. Beverly Hills High threw grand parties where people did whatever the fuck they wanted, because money did all the talking. Authority, not so much. The three Queens had more power than the actual principal. That was his normal.

King’s was different, though. It was… interesting, to say the least. He wasn’t complaining! Ryland had a hottie to entertain in the form of his best friend, so he expected this night to go well. The pessimism was overshadowed with hope because in this instant he was happy and that was a fantastic start for their night. “My ass is pretty pale. I don’t tan like you. I burn.”

Mari could only scoff and raise her eyebrows at him. “Tan? You think this shit is tanning?” she debated, pulling down the strap of her dress so Ry could see the visible solar power redness on her shoulder-- a clear contrast from the very pale skin where her bikini had been resting that afternoon. “I look like a shrimp!”

“... better than me.” He cheesed, not really noticing the redness on her shoulder, because his gaze kept going to her dress (while still paying attention to the road). Clearing his throat, realizing he was looking at her boobs for a second too long, since they were kind-of-sort-of-hanging-out, he looked ahead. For once, a rare sight could be seen. His cheeks were kissed pink. “SO! You looking forward to this?” Yes, enough about skin. Focus on the party.

“I guess,” the brunette said with a shrug, taking a loud sip of the large cherry coke her best friend had so graciously gotten her along with the food. “I would’ve loved to go with Sonny, since it would’ve been our first school dance as a couple and last valentine’s day dance and all-- no offense,” she added, hoping Ryland wouldn’t be upset about what she had just said. “But I’m not mad about it. I get to spend the night with you, which is still a win in my book. No complaints on my end over that.”

“None taken. I get it. If I had a girl, I’d want to take her too. I could only imagine Sonny’s feeling the same way.” Who wouldn’t be a little bitter if they couldn’t take their lover to a dance that celebrates love? A dance for friendship was the school’s way of trollin’ the newly lovebirds. It sucked for his friends, but hopefully, this only made them stronger.

A hesitant expression suddenly fell over Marisol’s features. There was something that had been eating at her for some time now, but she hadn’t dared to tell anyone about it. Yet, before she could stop herself, she was spilling every single one of the details to Ryland. “I mean, I don’t know… He seems pretty damn happy about taking Julie to this dance...” she confessed, voicing aloud some of the thoughts the evil little voice in her head had been plaguing her with for the past week. “I mean, I don’t blame him: I would be too. Jules is probably one of the most stunning women I have ever seen. But, I don’t know. I just feel he’s been a hell of a lot happier since he started to spend more time with her and less with me. Makes you think some shit and put some things in perspective…” she trailed off, biting her lower lip and shifting her eyes in the direction of the rolling scenery in the passenger window.

“Stop.” As positive as Rye wanted to be, which he was doing a pretty good job at, he did recall the long phone calls from last semester. It was a lot of information to take in and he was sure Marisol filtered some, but the sudden realization that his two friends were dating kind of helped thread the pieces together a little better. He knew how insecure Marisol was, he knew she battled her own disorder on a daily basis, he knew that Sonny wasn’t always the greatest person to be around with. They may both be his best friend, but his loyalty leaned more toward Sol because her being hurt wasn’t something he wanted her to be used to. He couldn’t handle seeing her cry.

“You’re beautiful. Remember that. Always.”

Living miles away prevented him from being here for her when she really needed him the most. He was here now and for the next few months, he wasn’t going anywhere. A solemn expression washed over him, as he made a promise to his date, “... AND, if he ever does something to make you cry. Don’t bother lifting a finger. I will gladly go in your stead.”

The girl couldn’t help but let out a shaky laugh. “Thanks, Ry, and I appreciate the effort,” she told him, resting her head on his shoulder and her hand on the knee nearest to her. “But we both know I don’t hold a candle next to that girl. And I’m okay with that! But… I’m not okay with how I’m feeling because of it. It makes me feel stupid, and I hate feeling stupid.”

There were so many responses coursing through Rye’s mind. How should he respond without making her mood sink even more? He could keep quiet. However, that would be unnerving, even for him, especially after what she said. She knew Rye was into Julie, who to him was completely out of his league, so him disagreeing in any way would be seen as blowing smoke up her ass. They had a whole conversation about both being sexually attracted to the redhead like a week ago!

Placing his right hand on her left, he grabbed it and gave it a gentle squeeze, letting instinct take over, instead of overthinking, “You’re mine tonight, right?” He let those words linger in the air.

“Yeeeeaaaaah…” she answered slowly, looking away to hide the new blush in her face for a completely different reason now. There was no confusing or even denying the sudden change of atmosphere inside the luxurious vehicle, and she hated how… creative... her mind could get in instances like this. Especially with all of these suggestive scenes unfolding inside her of her brain, playing continuously as if a movie on a loop, getting heated and heated with each passing second-

Pulling up in the lot, he smirked, “Allow me the chance to show you a good time. And I have no doubt, we’ll make them jealous.” Like a dork, he mischievously winked, hoping this would cheer her up.

It was the car coming to a full stop at the country club’s parking lot what brought Marisol back to her senses. She had quickly turned her eyes towards Ryland, a panicked expression settling in at the thought of him even realizing where her mind had been venturing towards. She had hoped to be looking at a serious expression, but found herself facing a wink and another line that could be entirely misconstrued if heard by the wrong ears.

Her throat suddenly dry, Marisol grabbed her drink again and took a long, deep sip, not stopping until there wasn’t a drop of liquid left inside the cup. Only then was she able to give her unsuspecting friend an answer. “S-sure,” she stammered, visibly flustered.

Unsuspecting indeed, Ryland took the next moment to take the keys out, get out his car, and go on the other side to open the door for her. Offering his hand, his stare trailed down to her bare leg before going back to her blushing face. He would behave tonight. While her skin did look nice to touch, that wasn’t his skin to touch.

Although she was at the peek of champagne pink, he assumed her mind was still fighting thoughts of rage. His lips seemed to have a permanent lift, and to his surprise, his glowing excitement didn’t seem to fade. This would be their night and he’d have fun. She’d have fun. They both would have fun. “That’s right, dollface.” Rye broke into one of his voices, choosing a film noir accent from movies like Sin City, “You’re a dame to kill for-- and I’m ready for your worst.”

The short girl chuckled and playfully shook her head. There was the Ryland Aspen that Marisol knew: the one with the corny voice-acting and not the one who was making her mentally cheat on her boyfriend like Ariana Mossos probably did on an hourly basis. It was the push she needed to get herself out of the mentally compromising road she’d been going down.

Grinning, she took his hand and exited the car as gracefully as she could. “You don’t want to know what I’m capable of at my worst, sugar,” she teased with a wink of her own, following his lead but with a surprisingly convincing Southern accent. “Now let’s go in there and show all these children who are the real bosses of this place.”

“Money!”

---

Fast forwarding to them entering the dance, which was already poppin’, Ryland wrapped his arm around Marisol’s waist, while scanning the field. Between the drink table and the dancefloor, this place was lively and they had arrived at a perfect time. Or so he thought.

Turning his attention back to his date, he could see the deadliest glare, the hellfire of jealousy emitting from her aura, and as such, he turned to follow where she was looking and there they were. Julie and Sonny showing off on the dance floor, and looking as happy as they could possibly be. Continuing to let instincts lead, he leaned down to whisper in Marisol’s ear, “I’m thinking we need a song change…”

Ugh… There was that damn voice again, and there was Ryland doing something that absolutely drove her crazy. It wasn’t his fault, though, and she wasn’t blaming him for whatever he was unsuspectingly doing to her. How was he supposed to know the consequences of these types of actions? It wasn’t as if they talked about these types of things anyway.

Fueled by both jealousy and curiosity, the brunette tilted her head back in his direction so she could reach his ear. “What are you thinking?” she asked him in a low voice, keeping his narrowed eyes locked on her very pleased-looking boyfriend and Julie as they joyfully danced together in a way he and Marisol never had.

Rather than respond, he led her to the DJ, first gesturing with his head. When they reached the man in charge of the tunes, Rye tapped the table to grab his attention, “Hey, we’re over this crap. Play PillowTalk, by Zayn, my dude.” They were the first to make a request, which was surprising. Even so, Rye wasn’t complaining. No more talking. He used all the dancing skills his aunt Summer had blessed him with to make himself and Marisol look and feel like a MEAL. Better than a snack. This may have been a reckless move on his part, but he wanted his date to feel good. If that meant making his bro jealous with the sensual way their bodies were pressed up and moving along together, then yeah-- he would do just that.