[IC] Closed.

[Silent Whispers]

Raquel Goldstein

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The sound of a cell phone alarm going off could be heard throughout the decent size room of Raquel. She stirred as the sound continued then removed her arm from her nestled cocoon and her hand grasped around the device to turn off the alarm. Raquel groaned as she didn't want to get up and go to orientation early this morning. Again, she groaned and rolled over to her side throwing the covers over her head. A few more minutes past and her maid, Marley, came burst through the doors and opened up her curtains. "Chica, you must get up or you're going to be late." Marley stated while sitting beside Raquel, shaking her sleeping body. Raquel groaned as she removed the covers from over her head and eyed Marley.

"I rather be late than on time." She commented back with slight wit as Marley shook her head. Raquel removed herself from the bed and walked over towards the bathroom down the hall, getting prepared for her day. She showered, brushed her teeth and brushed her hair then tied it up into a side ponytail, letting it hang down over her shoulder. While going back into her room, Marley had already started fixing up her room and Raquel asked her which outfit she should wear. Marley suggested that she wear her purple dress that stops well above her knee along with her flat purple shoes. Raquel tapped her chin and dressed herself into the outfit that Marley helped her pick out then went over to her vanity mirror, sitting down and applying makeup to her face.

Raquel got up with sigh then reviewed herself over the mirror before nodding towards Marley and waving her goodbye then exiting her room and eventually her house. She didn't bother calling her parents this morning but instead they were just calling her. "Hey Mom and Dad, I am on my way to the campus now and..." Her Mother interrupted her by telling her the latest news, poor people were now being accepted on a scholarship to Hollywood University. She let out a scream on her front porch as it lasted for about two minutes. She was in disbelief and couldn't believe that these people were going to be walking the halls and treading the grounds of her school, Hollywood University.

As she got in her car after hanging up the phone with her parents, she drove towards the campus, which was about twenty minutes away from her home. She parked her car in her usual parking space then exited her car, looking at all of the poor people with absolute discuss. She knew how to distinguish the rich from the poor especially with her. She bounced her way towards the gymnasium, where she walked past people with ease without saying the words excuse me. Upon entering the gymnasium, she saw that everyone was indeed segregated. Rich people on one side and poor people on the other side, Raquel of course went over and sat with the rich kids and sat down front and center, so that she can get a better listen on Headmaster Maddox's speech this year.

He mentioned that this year poor people were accepted into the university, the first time ever and congratulated them as they cheered like complete idiots while the rich kids looked at each other and laughed, as if it was a joke. Raquel continued to listen to Headmaster Maddox's speech as it was the same as every year. Telling them about the rules, how to act on campus and what the university has to offer this year. As soon as the speech was over, everyone dispersed from the gymnasium as Raquel couldn't believe that poor people, people without funds are attending Hollywood University. She huffed while walking back towards her car, sitting on the hood of it while watching people walked past her. She waved at the rich kids but just looked at the poor ones.

This was going to be an interesting year, she could just feel it.

[Red_massa]

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Felix had been standing down on the dock as the sun had rised, god he loved how beautiful the sun looked as it just majestically appeared creeping over the horizon to grace Long Beach with its presence this morning, just like it did every morning. This however didn't stop Felix from taking his break at the midway point of his run at the dock, now it was backwards journey on his return 3k run that he took daily to start his morning. When Felix got home he hopped in the shower so that he didn't smell horrible for his first day back to school, even though he didn't care about what other people thought about his looks he didn't want to people to make fun of his scent. After he finished in the shower he took a couple of seconds to fluff his beard a little bit to make it ... well a little fluffier.

When Felix continued on his morning ritual proceeding onto the next step, he made breakfast for himself and his father whom looking at the time would be awakening shortly. Felix threw 4 pieces of toast in the toaster, 8 pieces of bacon in the stove, and 2 eggs in one frying pan and 2 separate eggs in a different pan. One was for scrambled eggs for himself and over-easy for his father. He finished pouring the second glass of orange juice at the table as his father stumbled out of his bedroom half hopping trying to get his pants on properly. It looked him Antonio was heading towards the door as if breakfast wasn't always been put on the table. "Hey Dad! Where do you think you are going?" His father was bent over pulling his shoes out of the pile of work boots that he had, when he realized that Felix was sitting at the table. "Sorry Felix, I thought I was running late this morning, but seeing as you are still at the table I guess not."

After Felix father had left for work he went back into his bedroom to get dressed and ready before taking his almost hour drive to school. He grabbed his orange plaid shirt with a black t-shirt underneath, he picked up his favourite pair of ripped blue jeans and he decided on his orange and black adidas high tops to match his shirt. He left the orange plaid shirt unbuttoned.

Felix School Outfit

He was now ready to head to school so he walked over to their 4 car garage and opened the door to his silver RUF CTR2. He loved driving his little beast around especially the way it made him feel when he is sitting in the drivers seat. The drive to school had been pretty uneventful which is just the way that he preferred it. Felix could tell that he was getting a lot closer to his university given how many more nice looking cars that he had started to encounter, it made him feel a little bit at ease knowing that some of these people could become his future friend, he really hoped that he wouldn't make many enemies. However lets he honest he will be so awesome that he will eventually wind up upsetting someone before the first ... hmmm probably week is over if his estimations are accurate. When he was just two minutes away from Hollywood University he stopped at his usual coffee shop and when his car pulled into the first parking spot near the door he could already see a smile break the face of the favourite barista. He didn't even make it through the front door before his order had been completed which made him quite happy that they remember his order and can get it done by the time he makes it from his car to the door literally 15 feet away. Not that it was an overly difficult order to complete, only a extra large coffee with two cream and three sugar. Felix had given them the usual amount of money which was probably half the reason they were happy to see him, he gave them the usual small order banter and gave them a $10 bill for a $3 coffee but he didn't mind plus it seemed to make them happy.

After he got his coffee and sat back in his car he pulled up to the exit of the parking lot and while waiting for traffic to disperse so he could pull out he had seen two cars driving like a bunch of jackasses, speeding while weaving through traffic not having a care in the world. Felix sat there and watched them having a flashback to his mother and sisters accident, even though he didn't actually see it happen he envisioned what he happened based on what the police had told them. He hadn't snapped out of it until the car behind him had laid on the horn. Felix had been excited to start school but seeing those two cars had put a slight damper into his morning. He had made it to the school just as everyone was heading to the gymnasium but Felix couldn't find a parking spot as close as he normally had since he had been coming to the University, which was weird ... enrollment couldn't have gone up that much since last year.

Putting the coffee cup to his mouth he walked through the door and headed to the right side since that's where he had usually gone but when he got there he looked around to find his friends but couldn't see them, he also didn't see anyone that he had even known. That was when he noticed that the group had been split into what appeared to be two groups, why this was Felix had no ideas and since he had missed the first little bit he wasn't sure as to why the groups had been formed this way. All he knew that he had made it in time to catch the beginning of the universities headmaster 'Mad Maddox' always winded speech. It was the same thing he repeated every year, he wasn't sure why they didn't just record it once and have it played to save him the air since Felix was guessing that he didn't have that many speeches left in him. After the speech was done it was like a group of bees had taken over the gym because everyone had started speaking all at once, the most used phrase that he had heard was "Poor ... poor ... poor". Felix was still confused as ever so he decided to leave the gym and go get his backpack from his car before his first class had started.

[Mivuli]

For the past few days, Kina had awoken with a snap of his eyelids at six in the morning like clockwork. For a few seconds he would lie utterly still, as the feeling returned to bones that had fallen into slumber with him, expecting to see out the grainy film of window when he turned onto his left with a drowsy wriggle under the warm covers and to hear the birdsong of the canaries that had made their nest on the cherry tree outside his room. Instead, he would find himself staring at a blank white wall, bleached of colour and creativity, cold to both sight and touch - the window past his feet, looking out into the concrete wall of the neighbouring dormitory building.

Today was no different, although he had already spent a week tossing in vain hopes he would settle in with time.

Outside, the sky was dark still. The LED lights of the digital clock by his head flashed 5:09. It was so quiet, Kina could hear his own pulse in his ears. Or perhaps that was anxiety for the day of orientation on the docket.

He hoisted himself into a sitting position, crossing his legs on a bed tucked against the wall of his dormitory. His eyes were bleary, his vision pixellated as he blinked the webs of sleep away. His sleep hadn't been very restful. The mini-refrigerator - one of his first purchases in Hollywood, from a bargain sale - had whirred and chugged into the early hours of the morning, and then even more after that, a noisy roommate. With impeccable timing, the beaten-up little box gave another exhausted sputter from its spot beneath the window, beside the compact reading nook Kina had fashioned for himself the first day he had arrived with pathwork quilts and pillows that had been flattened by years and bottoms none too gentle, the colours washed out. His mother had knitted a few, his brothers had made forts sturdier than brick with them all. They were as much of his family and home he had been able to pack with him here in a suitcase.

Swinging his legs over the bed, Kina brushed his bare toes against the cold tiled floor, absurdly like testing the community pool for a chill before leaping in, and got to his feet. In the darkness of the room - lit only by the distant glow of streetlamps and courtyard spotlights - Kina turned to face the bare wall, feeling the gloom settle over him like a dense blanket. It was five, and all Kina could feel was trepidation for the day ahead.

"We'll have to do something about that." The quiet murmur reverberated in Kina's head. That had been his mother's catchphrase for any problem. When Kina had scraped his knee at five and needed a Band-Aid and a kiss for charm's sake; when he had come home from his first day at primary school with a blackened eye. No issue was ever too large for his mother to handle that Kina could not carry back to his doorstep for his mother to promptly declare the mantra - whether in a whisper or a firm statement - and set about fixing.

"We'll do something about this," Kina muttered to himself, his voice small in the cold and hollow room, hesitant as he tried the words. As though in encouragement, his heart rate slowed from its sprinter's pace, and the terror which had his knuckles and fingers locked in stiff calm reluctantly loosened its grip.

Moving with newfound purpose, Kina jostled his drawer open, rummaging for a new change before freshening up in the bathroom. When he emerged from the washroom again, he was wearing jeans faded from wear, and a white cotton singlet beneath a soft plaid button-up left hanging open. His bedhead had settled down from its unruly high, but the brown locks looked nonetheless ruffled all the same. Standing there, surveying the blank wall over his bed, his silhouette from the window might have looked very strange.

It took almost an hour of sorting and a steady supply of blue-tac and deft fingers before Kina leaned back from his kneel on the mattress, an empty box cradled in his hands that had once held his unalbumed photoset, now spread out in a montage before him. Warm and cool, subdued and vibrant, they formed a collage of organised chaos. From doe-eyed cats on the precipice of an afternoon nap, to a beaming boy with a smile to rival the sun behind him, to a water droplet hanging onto the tip of a leaf for dear life, the photos laid out on display illicited a tireless smile from Kina. They were works to be proud of, to be sure, moments captured just as the lighting was right. But each photo stored a memory and wending tale that lay coiled behind the instant caught, in the twitch of his finger against the button, immortalised on film. Glossy, most of them were exposed and naked to the air. But four were framed. And as Kina walked out the room with his sling bag and camera, he knew that he would sleep better that night.

~~

After a quick breakfast, Kina made his way to the gymnasium. The school was beginning to fill with students, and inside there was a clear line of division. Keeping his eyes averted, Kina did a quick panning sweep of the hall. A cavernous border lay between young adults dressed to the nines, some donning sunglasses indoors, wearing outfits and accessories that to Kina felt excessive. Slipping into a seat to the back, he glanced around, spotting some familiar faces from the dormitories he had caught glimpses of in the week before surrounding him, but isolated still from his ilk. He did not think it possible to feel even more alienated in the university than he already did.

The headmaster gave a speech, welcoming the 'poor kids' to Hollywood University in the new initiative, first of its kind. The corners of Kina's lips were pulled downwards at the term the headmaster had coined, as cheers erupted on one side, and laughter on the other. It did not sound kindly, but a taunt disguised in chuckles. Kina gnawed restlessly on his lip. Let us prove we aren't less than you, even if we have less, came the quiet, desperate thought. Another part of him - the one that recognised how deeply prejudice could run, and deaf to reason it could be - uttered not a word. Hopes that were not voiced could not crystallise into being before him. There could be no pain or disappointment when a blow came swinging to dash them to smithereens. And so with lips locked, Kina leaned back into his chair, resigning himself to his seat to listen to the principal's speech, even as a couple of students trickled their way out of the gymnasium.

[gowia]

Jack Sullam

The sound of Hendrix reverberated around the room as Jack's alarm went off. Roughly he rolled over and swung a hand dumbly towards the source of the noise. His old phone registered the touch and quickly went silent. The room was still dark and whilst the sudden illumination of the screen had been blinding, now the dark was the same. Scratching at his eyes Jack carefully sat up and spun around so that his feet touched the floor. The front of his feet met with the rug he had bought, the bottom half sat on the cold wood flooring that was bare under his bed. Shuddering at it's touch Jack stood and stretched out his frame. His muscles tensed, before releasing and shaking slightly. Giving his rear a quick scratch Jack blindly fondled his way to the windows blinds, pulling on the cord he squinted as a bright rising sun appeared. The sun illuminated the rooms contents beautifully. In one corner of the room was Jack's bed, a spartan looking thing with an admittedly comfy mattress and duvet. His sheets were plain white and bought from another one of the hundred bargain shops that could be found in any city. The other corner held Jack's pride and joy. A stand for his guitar and then his DJ kit that he had since he was at the Academy. Alongside it was a fairly good set of Sennheiser surround sound speakers. The wall was plastered with a mix of posters, some of bands Jack liked and others posters for his own gigs. The final side of the room, underneath the window was where his drawers were, and the wall with the en suite and the entrance also held his wardrobe.

Padding over to the en suite Jack begun his daily cleansing routine. Whilst he wasn't one of the effeminate males who felt a need to oil and lotion every part of their skin, he knew that he could stink if he didn't clean properly. A scrub and shampoo filled his needs perfectly and by the time he was standing back in his room he had the faint aroma of tea tree and his hair was a mess of wet strands. Using his towel he aided the air in drying his body, dragging the rough cloth over his skin and shaking as the water was quickly cooling, along with his body. Carefully he ran his fingers through his beard, still well kept, it didn't need a trim just yet. Happy with the state of himself, Jack rolled on a fair amount of antiperspirant -he found that the sprays didn't last long enough- and sprayed on a fairly cheap fragrance. Finally he used a brush to put his hair into presetable form and push down a particularly stubborn patch of beard which didn't want to stay put. Reaching into his drawers he grabbed his freshly cleaned boxers and socks. Pulling them on with one hand, he used his other to reach back into the drawers and pull out a pair of black skinny jeans.

Hopping across the room as he pulled on his jeans Jack was smooth enough to trip on his rug and half fall into his cupboard. Cursing his clumsiness he righted himself and chuckled at his own misfortune. Opening his cupboard he pulled out his an old checkered plaid shirt and pulled it over his frame. Doing up the shirt he left the top two buttons undone, leaving a slight patch of chest hair showing. Checking himself in the mirror once more, Jack was happy with the final result. Grabbing his phone, keys and wallet from the bedside table he walked to the door and let himself out, making sure to slide into his camel coloured desert boots which stood alongside all his other shoes by the door. However it took some strength as he held the door against the rush of other people in the dorm looking to get down to the gymnasium.

The walk to the gymnasium was a fairly short one, living on campus may not have been popular with previous alumni, but damn it was useful. Brushing past fellow 'paupers' he noticed that many had the same excited look on their face that was tainted with a look of nerves and worry. Jack was certain the same face was plastered all over his skull. Arriving at the gymnasium Jack raised a single eyebrow, he hadn't expected trust fund kids to be too happy that they were giving out scholarships. However he hadn't expected such segregation. The divide was both terrifying and impressive. Normally something like this would have to be co-ordinated, yet here it was happening totally naturally due to people's prejudice. People truly were animals. He would have loved to to sit in what was obviously the better seats, however before he could even try, he was swiftly rushed into the 'poor' seats. Grabbing one of the less comfortable seats he shifted and looked around the room. The divide was stark and frankly disgusting.

The speech at the beginning of the year seemed as if taken from a book. In actual fact Jack ended up totally blanking out from the speech, instead slowly looking around the room and thinking to himself. Every person had a story to tell, and part of Jack wanted to hear all of them. However another part of him wanted the room to empty so he could have some space to enjoy his time at Hollywood University. Instead the speech simply made him feel more and more alien here, as if he were a burden rather than a boon. As the speech came to an end Jack pushed his way out of the gymnasium quickly, he didn't want to stick around that long and leant up against the wall outside of the gymnasium, as the slower mix of rich and poor filed out.

[Raxacoricofallapatorius]

Leo Shin | Julio Shin

"Well, this is different."

The Shin brothers had been some of the earliest to arrive, thanks to Julio's penchant for punctuality, and had taken the time to eat breakfast at the little campus-run café. Leo kept going on about how good the pastries had been, and when they'd finished their coffee the twins walked together to orientation. In middle and high school they had played the stereotypical "identical twin games" such as wearing the same clothes and playing pranks by switching places with each other. It had been a lot of fun, but they'd sort of grown out of such childish practices. Mostly.

Now, standing side-by-side, they still looked very much like one another, but were fairly easy to tell apart. Leo was outfitted in a crisp white blazer and slacks, offset by a black button-down and black shoes so polished they reflected the sun. Julio, on the other hand, wore a pair of faded jeans, an Evanescence T-shirt, and a pair of Converse. His hair was longer too, though mostly hidden beneath a blue-and-black striped beanie. In contrast to Leo--who could have stepped out of a fashion magazine--Julio looked very--well--ordinary. The only thing that betrayed his upper-class status was the Piaget Altiplano that graced his wrist; the watch's skeleton design baring all the inner gears and workings of the piece. It had been a birthday present from Leo, almost as a joke in light of his obsession for being on time, but he wore it nearly every day.

They arrived at the gymnasium exactly fourteen minutes before the program was scheduled to start and checked in. Some were already there, but the bulk of the student body wouldn't appear until about five minutes before the scheduled start. And then, inevitably, the start would be delayed while everyone rushed to check in and find seats. Julio let out an inaudible sigh, then shook his head to himself. As long as he was on time he couldn't really help what the rest of them did.

Rather than sit down right away, the twins mingled. It was their second year at Hollywood and there were a handful of friends from the previous year hanging around, and plenty of new people. Already the room appeared segregated. "I remember them saying something about letting the working class in this year," murmured Leo, "The way you're dressed it looks like you belong over with them."

Julio shrugged, "If they've got talent then why not? It makes sense for them to grant scholarships to promising artists. They gave me one after all." He grinned and Leo looked annoyed. The fact that Julio had landed a scholarship and Leo hadn't was no longer a sore subject, but Julio wouldn't let him forget it.

"It's because you look like you just wandered in from the street," Leo said demurely. They both laughed, and then drifted apart as a group of Leo's friends arrived. They were Julio's friends too, in a sense. You couldn't befriend one of the Shin brothers without simultaneously befriending the other. Still, Julio knew that he'd have plenty of time to catch up with them later. Orientation was the best time to introduce himself to some new faces, so while Leo found a seat with his clique on the side of the gym where the other wealthy kids were gathering, Julio found himself being swept over to the other side where the scholarship students had congregated, introducing himself to a few of the freshmen and welcoming them to the Academy. He ended up sitting on that side unintentionally, though he wasn't disappointed because there was a really cute girl who sat next to him.

After Maddox's speech, the cheers and mixed laughter, the room again stirred to life as everyone resumed talking to each other. Some got up and left right away. Julio slouched in his chair and chatted with those sitting next to him. Just pleasantries really, "where are you from?" and "what's your major" and "which professors do you have?" and so on. He did manage to get a few phone numbers. When they excused themselves to leave he twisted in his seat to see if anyone still lingered in the row behind him. There was one boy, about his own height with brown curly hair, who was sitting back in his chair with a somewhat sullen expression. "Hey," with a friendly smile Julio stuck out his hand to the boy and introduced himself, "I'm Julio. You don't have to look so worried, if you survived high school then college is a breeze. Where are you from?"

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Leo wasted no time in gathering a posse of similarly well-endowed and well-dressed students around himself as soon as Orientation ended. There was talk of a party to kick off the year, Leo and two of his friends had already rented the rooftop of a nearby hotel, equipped with a full bar and pool. There was some dissent as to whether or not the "poor" would be invited. Most of them agreed that it wouldn't matter, that it would be fun, while a few were abhorrently opposed to the idea. Word of the party spread quickly among the rich kids, and almost a third of them already knew about it since the event had been planned months ago. Anyone who was anyone was going to be there, and those who knew Leo knew he was famous for throwing fabulous parties.

The group headed outside. Summer was winding down and the weather was perfectly mild. Leo donned a pair of Bentley's to keep the sun out of his eyes, and then noticed a girl in a purple dress perched on the hood of a white Chevy Tahoe. She waved at them, and he waved back, then separated himself from the group to approach her. "Party tonight at Shangri-La for anyone who enjoys the finer things in life," he said, taking off the sunglasses so he could look her in the eye, "As the host I'd like to formally extend an invitation to you, miss. You look like the type who enjoys sipping mimosa while sitting next to rooftop poolsides."

[Kaalee]

Bryn Hlison

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When Bryn woke up, she couldn't breath. The nightmares were overpowering, her brain went into a state of what is called sleeping paralysis. She took deep breaths, before all at once, she could move again. She threw back her blankets, trying to cool down. Her kitten, Mickey, was laying in between her feet at the bottom her bed and blinked sleepily.

“Go back to bed, katten.” Bryn said, sliding out of bed. She looked to her left, outside the massive floor to ceiling windows that occupied the left side of her apartment. Below she could see the city. Like any city, it never sleeps, but there were also signs of it waking up too. Bryn lingered for a moment more before she went into her closet to grab clothes for the day. She knew it was the first day of school and all, but really she couldn't care less. She simply grabbed the first white shirt that was clean and some black pants, shoving them on before going downstairs and grabbing some cereal. Lucky Charms were addicting, in the good way, so she had them almost every morning. She scrolled through the news feed, making sure the world didn't end while she was sleeping, before she figured she couldn't delay it any longer.

Bryn leaned against the wall of the elevator as she rode down to the garage and her car. She hated the thing, it was a gift from her parents when she got out of rehab. She was also required to drive it, rather than take public transportation which is ridiculous. If she could take a taxi in Israel, then why can't she take a taxi or the bus in America? Either way, she got in the car, shoving her bag in the passenger seat and started off for school.

When she arrived, she wasn't surprised how many more cars there were. She was told several days ago that this initiative was going to take place, so to her this wasn't a complete surprise. Still, she was surprised at the shear number of people. It looked like they almost matched the number of students there were already enrolled. The thought made her smile, some of the people here could be so stuck up, it was ridiculous. This would be good for them, making them interact with other human beings who weren't the same as them.

When she finally found a parking spot and got to the building, the speech was nearly over, so she stood outside of the doors, waiting for one of her friends to come out. She didn't see anyone, even when it was nearly empty so she headed in to see if the could spot the twins, or CeCe. Looking around, she found Julio talking to a kid who looked fresh out of high school. She wandered over, and flopped herself next to the kid.

“Or maybe it was the fact that the room actually managed to segregate itself according to wealth. I've seen a lot in my short, short, lifetime but that was something, I'm telling you. I'm Bryn, by the way. Nice to meet you.” Bryn smiled at the kid.

[WhiteStar19]

CeCe Barker

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The roar of the motorcycle echoed through the school grounds as the very familiar gold and black Kawasaki zipped through the parking lot. The rider, a slim figure with a gold helmet on in a leather riding suit, leaned forward as the motorcycle popped a wheelie and maneuvered the bike with great skill into one of the empty parking spaces for the motorcycles. Dressed in a new leather jumpsuit from her mother’s newest collection, CeCe stepped off the bike and pulled over her helmet, whipping her now scrunched up blonde hair out of her face. Her boots clicked against the pavement as she kicked her kickstand down and set her helmet on the back of her bike. She wasn’t worried about anyone stealing it; she chose to trust people where others didn’t. Slipping out of her jumpsuit directly in the middle of the parking lot, she exposed what she was wearing underneath which was a simple white crop top and a pair of short jean shorts, one that her mother almost never let her wear, which is why she wore it to school more than home.

She heard whispers around her as she approached the sidewalk, glancing around. “Oh. My. God. Is that CeCe Barker?! She’s, like, my idol!” “Didn’t she model for Victoria Secret?” “No way! That’s Cecily Barker!” She raised an eyebrow. Normally people here weren’t this excited to see her, nor be admiring that she was the CeCe Barker. Seeing a friend of hers in the distance, she walked over to her and touched her shoulder. “Annabelle. What’s going on? People seem more… awed by me this morning. Did I miss something? I did wake up a little late…”

“Girl, you missed everything. The headmaster gave a whole speech about welcoming the poorer class to Hollywood University and he said that we were all happy to have them here, not that most of us are.” Annabelle snorted, tossing her black hair over her shoulder. “I don’t even see the reason for giving out scholarships. They get all of their money from our parents anyways. Why the hell give out scholarships to the less talented and beautiful just to make them pay it off later?”

“Don’t say that,” Cecily hissed. “I’m sure some of these… newer students are just as talented as we are!” Though, in her mind, all CeCe could think about was how her brother would be ranting on about how these people weren’t allowed to be here and that it should be for privilege only, not scraps. But, luckily, Blaise wasn’t here and he wouldn’t be able to induce any negativity on the situation, though she did feel like she would be getting a call later tonight by him because news like this would travel faster in the richer community.

She peered around and tapped a long, colored fingernail to her chin. It would be interesting to see how the party went tonight… Her and Leo had been cooking something up for the last couple months about a kick off part and they had rented out the Shangri-La Rooftop, one of the most expensive in the city, just so it could be awesome. One of the music scholars whose father is a world famous DJ was DJing for the party and there was going to be a LOT of people going tonight. Speaking of which… CeCe’s eyes scanned the parking lot until the landed on the familiar hair and body type of Leo, leaning over a car to talk to a girl. She rolled her eyes and walked over toward them. She narrowed her eyes when she heard Leo call himself the “host” and snorted derisively.

“More like co-host, considering the fact that both you and I worked on this for months,” CeCe interrupted, breaking the flirtatious air that Leo brought with him for a moment. CeCe turned to the girl and smiled at her. “You are most welcome, though. The more the merrier. Speaking of which, Leo, we need to talk about some final arrangements for tonight. I was thinking that we could get one of the students to mix drinks because the guy you had backed out. I got a voicemail from him this morning.” CeCe then realized that someone was missing. “Hey, where’s Julio? Aren’t you two inseparable?” She smirked slightly and leaned back crossing her arms across her chest.

[Chezka]

Music blared throughout the quaint room, the bass reverberating and bouncing from wall to wall, soliciting some frustrated pounding and a lot of garbled cursing from one unlucky neighbor. Juliette hummed distractedly in response, as if she would be heard, but remained perfectly still on her bed, lying face-up with her body stretched out and her hand idly reaching upward. The clamor from next door was drowned by her much louder noise, and for a moment, she forgot about the complaint.

Instead, she stared up at the glow-in-the-dark star decals dotting the ceiling in elaborate swirls, wondering who the previous tenant had been but fairly certain it had to have been some art student. It was nothing short of mesmerizing, like her own little galaxy. During her first night in the dorms, she wasted hours watching her fake stars twinkle, nostalgia washing over her in an instant, soothing and a tiny bit heartrending. There was little she remembered about Reykjavik, but the way the night sky looked during the dark winter months was forever etched in her mind; it was among the few things she could still associate with the word home.

After receiving another round of angry wall pounding, Juliette pulled her iPod (a blue 5th gen she bought used from eBay, a whopping $50 and her Christmas gift to herself) from the surprisingly efficient dock from Walmart, cutting the music abruptly. There was one last spiteful thump, sounding almost like her neighbor had thrown something heavy in rage, before her walls finally stopped vibrating and the incoherent yelling hushed. Huh. She felt guilty for disrupting the person's sleep and all—because god knows how much she hates when that happens to her—but you'd think a prestigious university like this would have thicker walls.

"Guess that rules out late night practice," she muttered to herself, even though she was sure she'd forget and do it anyway.

Through the small cracks in the window blind, Juliette took note of the still gloomy sky, estimating the time before she glanced at the screen on her iPod to check. Ah, damn, it was 5:44 already! She had always been an early riser, up and about and ready for her jog just as the morning light began to break through the horizon. But these past few days, she found a formidable challenger to her routine in the glorious form of a single twin bed with a super soft mattress. It had made slipping out of bed a daily struggle, as it tempted her with its warmth and coziness, and more than once she very nearly skipped her morning exercises completely. But holy crap, could you blame her? It had been so long since she had a bed for herself. Sure, her friends had awesome couches, but even though she slept curled in like a cat and required as much space as one, nothing beat a good night's rest on your own bed.

Juliette allowed herself just five more minutes of loafing, to get all the laziness out of her system, and jumped right into her morning routine afterward. The day started with a jog around campus, one or two circuit depending on her time, then a quick high-intensity workout in the nearby park. Her favorite part came after, when she got to blast herself with refreshing cold water from the shower. It felt ten times better when you're all hot and sweaty, seriously. If nothing else, she'd recommend toughing through a killer workout just for that feeling alone.

Jet was reluctant to step out of the shower but pried herself out eventually. She sang as she sifted through her closet for something comfortable to wear (ha! as if there were a lot to choose from), and settled on a basic blue skater dress she paired off with some knock-off Chucks she got downtown. Her hair was still damp, but she put it up in a loose bun anyway, wisps framing her face and some coming loose before she even moved. Aaand done!

Juliette bent over her bed to rummage through the whirring fridge for breakfast. There was only one tub of Yoplait left and she grabbed it halfheartedly, jutting her lips out in a disappointed pout. Oh well. She'd just have to charm her manager for a breakfast muffin, then drop by the dining commons after class to stock up for the week. The scholarship included a hundred block meals per quarter, which roughly translated to nine meals per week (oh my god, her high school aged self would die from happiness), and she liked to make the most out of each one.

Her constant companion of a duffel bag was heavier than usual with her work uniform and two notebooks and a book stuffed in it. Juliette slung it across her body and headed off, taking spoonfuls of her fruit yogurt along the way.

∞

Juliette took her time getting to gymnasium, allowing the more eager students to rush past her. She dialed up the volume on her iPod, drowning out the buzzing of excited chatter that filled the campus road. When her music was turned on, the rest of the world faded into the background. Her feet were light and her steps airy, almost as though she was treading through clouds, and never once out of sync with the beat of her music. Even her body swayed to the melody.

She caught one ridiculously overdressed guy (looking like "my father will hear about this" personified) scoffing when she did a pirouette—or wait, was it directed at her scratched up iPod, which she had pulled out moments before? He side-eyed her when he realized they were both going to the gymnasium, and looked mildly confused as to why she was there. In response, Juliette blew him a kiss and winked, definitely catching him off guard. He scurried away in a huff, nose up in the air, almost like she was contagious.

Juliette raised a brow. If she happened to pull out her plastic spoon out of the tub with a bit more effort, flinging a dollop of yogurt out and directly onto his designer slacks… well, that was an accident.

If everyone at this university was like this, then she was going to have a lot of fun.

∞

The ceremony was over before she knew it, probably because she came in halfway through and listened to her music the whole time. She pulled out her earphones only once out of curiosity, when she noticed the opposite side of the room—which she could tell from the fog of pretention and stench of affluence was the 'rich' side—had erupted in laughter. At first she thought she had missed a hell of a joke, but she knew jeering when she heard it. Juliette smirked, overcome with the sudden urge to rile things up, because these precious heirlings would surely have the best reactions.

She was one of the few to leave as soon as the speech ended; she had squeezed a quick shift at Ghost Roasters before her first class and it started in a few minutes. In her haste, she nearly bumped into a dark-haired and bearded guy in plaid, idling just outside of the gymnasium, but her quick reflexes allowed her to evade him just in time. Juliette turned around to flash him a sheepish grin before continuing down the path to the café.

[Silent Whispers]

Raquel Goldstein

---

---

Raquel stayed perched upon the hood of her vehicle for an extended amount of time, just enjoying the sun rays as they danced upon her skin, making it a little bit sun kissed. She placed a pair of shades of her eyes then lowered them as she saw Felix, going to his car and grabbing his backpack. She chuckled at his motion since class didn't start from another week now but then thought that maybe he was one of those nerdy, rich type of guys. With the shrug of her shoulders, she leaned back a little further then sprang up when more poor people crossed her path and giving her cat calls and wolf whistles. She put her hand up towards them and turned her head away from them. "Keep dreaming, boys." She spoke through her parted lips then eyed they as they kept on walking away. Though, a thought did cross her mind, she wondered if she could make a poor person rich - Especially a guy. 'Hm..' She thought to herself while looking and seeing one of the twins coming her way.

"Hey there." She spoke with a nice, bright smile, revealing all of her pearly whites. She eyed him as he mentioned something about a party then bit her bottom lip. "Uhm..." She said because she was also planning a back to school party but now, she guessed that it had to wait. Again, she smiled while listening to Leo. "Hm, if I get to sit next to you then count me in." Raquel winked then pressed her index finger slightly against his chest. She hopped down from the hood of her vehicle then placed her shades onto the top of her head. "Where is...?" She was interrupted by Cecily, the model. Her eyes just looked at her when she stated that she was the co-host of the event. Raquel made a face then looked off in the distance. "OMG! Julio is mingling the poor." She gasped and covered her mouth up with one of her hands.

A slight smirk came across her lips as she turned to face Leo and Cecily now. "Maybe we should invite some poor people to this party, yes? It can be like an initiation of sorts. You know, welcoming them to Hollywood University." She tapped her chin with her index finger then eyed them both with a slight brow raised as she wondered what their reactions were going to be. Raquel really had plans to humiliate at least one of the poor people tonight and would be happy if no one judged her for it - But this was Hollywood, so everyone gets judged in some form or fashion. "Oh, any scheduled performers tonight? I am sure I can belch out a song or two." She cleared her throat then sang her scales perfectly then smiled towards them again. "Crap, I have to ask Headmaster Maddox something. Excuse me." She'd scurry away from the blonde and the twin, after they would hopefully answered her butt load of questions, then entered the gymnasium, seeing Headmaster Maddox gone but some poor and rich people still remained in the gym.

She thought why not give these people a chance and she set her sights on a male that was leaned back in a chair, comfortably it had seemed. "Hi. I am Raquel. You are?" She spoke softly towards the male as her hand was extended for him to shake. "So, how are you liking the Hollywood area, so far?" She sat down and it seemed like all of the rich people present eyed her and gasped then went on to muttering to themselves about her.

[gowia]

Jack Sullam

Jack felt a buzzing vibration in his pocket as he leaned against the wall. Rifling through his pockets he found his phone and pulled it out, a message from someone he had met from the Dorms. 'Ginge' was the name on the screen, however Jack didn't even remember putting it in, nor did he remember a single ginger person he had met. Nevertheless he opened the message and looked at the attached photo. Inside there was a blurry image of two lads, twins except from their clothes according to the poor quality of the snap, and a message that read as follows...

Hey man, I listened to some of your tracks online. I luv it! I heard these two posh nobs were having some party at Shangri-La. Maybe u wanna see if u can DJ? Let me know if u do.

From the use of 'nobs' Jack assumed that he was probably British, thus the bonding session and swapping of phones probably occurred, though he still couldn't remember this 'Ginge'. Holding his phone up he hovered it around, attempting to match the fuzzy picture to the people leaving. Finally settling on two girls and a guy who looked like a well dressed, and lonesome, figure matching the image. The girls he didn't recognise. Jack was about to step forward when he had to catch himself and take a step back, having almost collided with what was now simply a whoosh of air, though he suspected it had been the girl who was making away from him with a passion. Whilst Jack considered himself better than most men, animal instinct took over and his head tilted slightly, his eyes jumping from the speedy legs, to the rear, then to the figure. Before finally resting on the hair. The girl even looked back and Jack shot his own smile her way. Damn, was the only thought that came to mind. Quickly though Jack scolded himself mentally. 'Come on Jacky boy. You're better than that, besides. You have work to do...' However his personal lesson was lost as he tried to spot the girl again. But she was gone. Sighing he then turned back to the small pose he had seen earlier. One of the girl had left now, there may not be a better chance. Jack eased his way through the flow of foot traffic, using his shoulder to budge the more 'solid' standing pupils out of his way. One time he was knocked and almost dropped his phone which, foolishly, he hadn't returned to his pocket.

When it seemed like the wall of 'Paco Rabanne', and fragrances he didn't recognise because he didn't have the money too, wouldn't end, Jack suddenly came out the other side. "Like bloody Narnia that..." Jack muttered to himself, now free to approach Cece and Leo, though of course he didn't know their names. The briefest of taps on Leo's shoulder heralded Jack's presence. Holding out a hand he offered a a gruff, friendly, working class handshake. Along with this he spoke in his usual, fairly strong British accent.

"Hey fella, name's Jack. I hear you're holdin' some sort of gatherin' at Shangri-La later today. I was wonderin' if you had a DJ booked? I've done a couple of festivals and gigs, but I could never turn down a chance to play some more. I'd even do it for the cost of movin' my gear, and that's a better price than you'll get from anybody else." Jack then turned to Cece, the generic male once over flashed across his mind, but less so than before. "Sorry love, nice to meet'cha too." Jack held his hand out again.

[Ogo]

---

---

'Twas the night before Orientation, when all through the dorm house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. Her socks were strung about the room without care, with hopes that nobody soon would be there. The gal was nestled, all snug in her bed, with visions of n00bz getting fragged in her head.

But silence is fleeting, much as is sleep, for out of the darkness there came a small beep.

But at first it was nothing, the girl simply snoozed on. But nothing became something, and thus her sleep had gone.

Jordan, annoyed by the alarm, grabbed her pillow and smashed it against her head. Maybe if she ignored it, it would go away. The alarm was having none of that. Angered by the girl’s shunning, or perhaps threatened or challenged, the clock brought out the big guns, screaming out into the nothing. If it couldn’t wake her, perhaps an angry mob of her neighbors would do. Jordan, discovering that pillows were not as effective as she thought when it came to being earmuffs, scrunched up her face and cast the pillow to live out the rest of its days as a floor pillow. Such failures would not be tolerated. She quickly scrambled to her feet, ignoring their protests against the cold floor, and crossed the dark room, hammering the top of the alarm clock when it came into reach. She had placed it on the windowsill because, well, she couldn’t be trusted not to abuse the snooze button.

Well, with that crisis out of the way, she might as well reward herself. A couple more hours of sleep ought to do...wait…

Jordan shook her head, dismissing the thought.

Her eyes had just started to finish adjusting to the limited light when she looked at the clock. Five-thirty.

The tiny ginger loosed a flood of curses directed at her alarm. She could have swore that she set it for...err...well, much later. A sigh escaped her as she plopped down in the tiny chair by her desk. She was too wired now to go back to sleep but...what sane person would actually be up at this hour? A few moments passed with her just stewing in her chair, lamenting the death of her sleep schedule, but eventually she gave up and gathered a few essentials before heading off to the bathroom. Might as well get a shower in while she was up.

Showers rule.

Feeling rather clean and refreshed, Jordan returned to her dorm room. She once again considered crashing but ultimately decided against it. She instead decided to go ahead and get dressed. A pair of darker skinny jeans was ripped from its resting place and flung onto her bed. That was easy enough. As for shirts...Jordan looked at them all for a few moments, then decided to go with ole faithful, a Nirvana “Smiley Face” shirt. She almost grabbed a flannel as well, but meh, why make more laundry?

After switching out of her pajama pants and gray tank top, and into the day’s outfit, Jordan even went ahead and put on her shoes, a pair of old black Converse and a black beanie. Satisfied, Jordan turned back to check the time.

Six fifteen.

She almost screamed.

Well, whatever. She crossed the room and bent down next to the minifridge by her desk. She pulled out a ten ounce bottom of Sunny D, grabbed a granola bar, and took a seat at her desk before booting up her laptop. She opened her drink and took a swig, unleashing the sun. Orange juice ruled. Once the crappy laptop finished coughing and crying, she moved the pointer to the big ‘W’ in the center of her desktop. If she was going to be up this early, might as well do SOMETHING…

---

She had spent plenty of time exploring the world of Azeroth by the time she had finally checked the clock again. Apparently, during adventures, the sun had decided to pop out. And time had decided that it was a strong independant woman that didn’t need no man running it’s life and it was going to do as it pleased. Unfortunately, that meant for Jordan that she had just about enough time to panic before jetting out of the room. If she could somehow please Mistress Time once more, she might not be late for the assembly. Maybe, just maybe…

---

She was late, which was just great, y’know? It’s not like she was an out of state student that knew all of two people thus far. But whatever, this was a plus, an opportunity to meet some new people. She could probably find a seat somewhere…

By the time Jordan had gotten to the gymnasium and entered the room, there was a big commotion going on. Half of the room seemed to be cheering, and the other side was laughing. She scanned the room, a bit confused. Apparently she missed something. Oh well. She noticed quite a few people wearing clothes that may or may not have costed more than what her dad brought home a year. A bit daunting, that, but something she had come to see a lot of lately. Especially at work. Apparently some rich dudes really liked sports bars. Go figure. She opted to grab just the nearest seat she could find. That happened to be near the back, on the right. Right behind some big dude that she had no possible way of seeing past. Unless she could somehow develop X-Ray vision…

She held her breath and stared daggers into the back of the big man’s head. No dice. She left out a tiny sigh and just resigned herself to listening. Once again, comic books had raised her expectations only to disappoint. Bah. The headmaster? Dean? President? Whoever he was, he sure liked to drone on and on. He didn’t really say anything that seemed out of the ordinary. Rules and expectations. Honestly, Jordan got a bit bored partway through, and ended up pulling out her cellphone and browsing social media. Then she somehow ended up on Reddit, reading about how some guy woke up next to a bear or something. People were awesome. Weird, but awesome.

It wasn’t until she heard a bunch of gasps and muttering that Jordan was pulled back to reality. Apparently, the assembly was over. A bit underwhelming, that. She caught some people on the other side of the gym looking in her direction, mouths hanging open. Puzzled, Jordan searched about for what was so shocking. Judging by some of the people around her, it seemed like everyone was looking at some chick in a purple dress. Jordan didn’t get it. Yeah, she was pretty cute, and the dress was nice, but did that really warrant such disbelief?

…

Was this girl famous or something? Because really, the more Jordan looked about, the more people she noticed occasionally glancing over at Purps. She did look somewhat familiar...eh, she couldn’t quite place it. Or maybe it wasn’t even Purps? There were a couple others there too, all seemingly trying to chat up some dude that seemed a bit...well, it didn’t seem like this was the happiest day of his life. His satellites were a blonde chick and some dark hair dude tha…

Waaaiiit a moment...now she KNEW she had seen him before. Like, before she came to the school. Like on the internet.

OH! Oh snap! She knew him. She used to watch his videos on YouTube like, a lot. That was...pretty cool. She considered going over and saying hello. Why not? After all, they were all students here, right? That was some common ground. And she might have even done that but, well, she really wanted a smoke right about then. Being the slave to nicotine that she was, she had to comply, thus tiny Ollie hopped up from her seat and strolled over to the exit, dodging and darting in and out harm’s way. Tall people, in her experience, not too considerate when walking. She’d rather not be trampled to death before classes had even started. A week or two after, and sure, Mufasa her. Until then, however, she didn’t think it was too much to ask for a little walking room. Oh well.

Once outside, she crossed over to near the parking lot. She wasn’t entirely sure of the school’s policy on smoking but...well, most places didn’t mind it in the parking lot, right? And if they did, well, screw ‘em. She needed one, dammit.
“...CeCe Barker...”

As Jordan pulled out a cigarette and plucked it in her mouth, she heard a couple chicks behind her gossiping away. She fought her lighter to catch spark, then finally got her cig lit and took a deep drag, letting the horribly toxic smoke unleash havoc and mayhem upon her lungs. It was okay, though. Ollie was a happy girl and these things kept her that way. It was worth the potential ruined lung in her opinion. Alright, so it wasn’t, and was actually something she was horribly terrified of. She had also tried quitting a few times and that didn’t really go over well. Maybe some other time though…

While she puffed away, Jordan noticed some more people about her whispering and gossiping. She heard the name CeCe time and time again. Eventually she gave in and followed the gazes to this tall blonde bombshell. Honestly, Jordan had to do a double take. This chick was about as stereotypically Hollywood as Jordan had imagined back home. It seemed like she was chatting with a couple guys. Some guy with an admittedly pretty righteous beard and…

Upon seeing the third person, Jordan pulled another double take. Hadn’t she like...just seen this dude? Inside? In different clothing? There was no way he beat her out here and changed into a completely different outfit...bah, her mind was most likely just playing tricks on her. Side effect of broken sleep schedule, probably. A buzzing went off in the girl’s pocket. She pulled out her phone to see a text. It was one of the other hosts at work asking if she’d cover his shift. Jordan frowned and looked away from the phone at the lot full of nice cars while taking another drag. She didn’t really want to go in on her day off...but money.

She decided to make the poor boy squirm a bit before answering. He was kind of a prick, so well, he deserved it. She probably would do it, honestly, but she wanted to at least meet a couple of people first.

…

After the cigarette, of course.

[Red_massa]

---

---

Felix felt like a fool walking around with his backpack this early but he would rather people see him running around with a backpack as opposed to the course books that he was going to be purchasing. It wasn't that he was truly dedicated to his studies but he had wanted to get the best schoolbooks. Felix didn't want the completely new books still in their wrappers the books that Felix wanted, he wanted the slightly used textbooks that people have highlighted all the most useful information. He knew that almost any favour can be bought for a price but Felix had preferred to grind it out himself, he got a little bit of his fathers blue collar mentality. The textbook thing was to make more time for the things that he actually preferred doing, playing soccer maybe even taking a class in mixed martial arts since he had been watching a lot of it and thought it would be interesting.

Felix had his backpack on and turned around and notice that a female that he was pretty sure was named Raquel or Rachel or something like that (he may have been rich but he had never really worried about knowing everybody or their business) had been looking his way and was chuckling. Ohh dear great lord was it going to start early this year? He might be safe if she thinks that he is rich , well why would she think he is rich ... she just seen the car that he had grabbed his backpack from. Why did he even care what she thought about him ... oh god he was hopeless. After his mind became a little more normally focused again he noticed that the blonde bombshell people called 'Cece' was next to her just talking away, just looking at her for a moment he definitely knew why she was a model. Her body tone definitely matched the criteria for being a model. Felix shook his head and spoke under his breathe "Come on Felix keep it together, lets go get our books grab some coffee than figure out something to do. Take a deep breath and lets go."

Felix took a deep breathe locked the doors to his car and took two steps looking down to see a rock. He thought that he would treat this like a free kick in soccer aiming it between the two tires of the car ahead of him and underneath the bumped acting as the cross bar. He flicked the rock perfectly underneath the car and the crowd went crazy! However there was no celebrating to be done as he noticed that the rock went underneath the car he also noticed that his orange and black Adidas high top was no longer on his right foot. It was now soaring through the air an like it had a mind of its own! It only was a couple of seconds before the shoe found its temporary location ... it landed right in between Cece and the male whom she was speaking with! Felix immediately hit the pavement to avoid instant humiliation, since not all humiliation was to be avoided since he did need to get his shoe back. Yes he was rich and could have just bought another shoe to replace the one that was now MIA but there was two small problems with that one larger than the other. One; he didn't have a backup pair of shoes and he had to make it through this day and secondly but most important they were a gift from his father with FB#51 custom stitched on the tongue of the high top.

Holy smokes this might have been the worst start to any university or even school year ever. He figured that he wasn't going to have a magic fairy return the shoe so he would have to man up and walk over and get it. "Oh man I hope that my shoe doesn't stink, I don't want to make this scenario any worse than it needs to be" Felix bent down and tied his other shoe since he didn't want it to try and make its mad escape as well. Felix took another deep breath and started the journey that felt like an eternity to get there even though it was only like around two cars to get there. Felix was now only a couple 'feet' away from CeCe, unknown to him male and his Adidas high top.

[Mivuli]

Kina started as a boy sitting right in front of him turned suddenly and introduced himself as Julio. His eyes skittered over the boy's face and distinct East Asian features, taking the offered hand and giving a small smile. He looked vaguely familiar, but in a way Kina could not pinpoint. "I'll try to keep that in mind," he said. "I'm from a small town in England." His head tilted to the side, and he hedged a guess. "Korea?"

Just as he was about to reply with his own name, a girl with blonde curls and energy levels Kina could feel in proximity sat herself down next to Kina. Bryn grinned, and Kina felt his own lips twitch upwards in a more tentative mimic as his attention was diverted. "That...might have something to do with it." He chuckled nervously, starting to sit up straighter in growing company. "I'm - "

And then another girl appeared, black locks falling primly over the back of her dress, purple to match her shoes. Introducing herself as Raquel, she gave him her hand to shake and took a seat.

Alarm now growing slightly in the pit of his stomach, Kina's smile became smaller, more nervous. With more people, came larger margin of error for making one mistake or another. And in a new school on a new continent, that helped matters none. "It is all right," he said in reply to Raquel's question. Was his voice audibly smaller? "Just a little different from what I am used to." Noisier, with more congestion, and people who either looked up too few times to notice the sidewalk dandelions - the remedy for discontentment, with a dosage of just one glance - or walked with their chins jaunty and high and thought they walked above the clouds in their gaze. The environment in this place could be so toxic. Kina did not know if the brevity of his one-week stay so far was something to take solace in, or shudder at.

He looked in turn at the three around him, hiding his anxiety behind a deflective question. "Though I guess it is home to you, and not so strange. My name is Kina. Kina Listig. What do you study?"

[Raxacoricofallapatorius]

Leo Shin

Leo smiled and held Raquel's arm as she got down from the car to steady her. "I'll save you a seat," he promised her just as CeCe arrived on the scene. The tall blonde girl had an air about her that drew the eye. She was a literal model and she walked with the confidence of a woman who knew she was beautiful. She also tended to think she was in charge, which was sometimes a little annoying to Leo, but he couldn't complain because she was a master at party-planning, especially when it came to nit-picky details like the color of the napkins or other things Leo tended to gloss over. "Co-host," he corrected himself, hiding an eyeroll by putting the sunglasses back on. He sighed at the news about the bartender. "No, no need for that, the hotel has someone on call who can fill in. I thought I'd try to mix it up but it'll save us a few bucks in the end." He added that last part with a grin. It was pretty obvious nobody cared about being frugal when it came to this kind of thing, least of all Leo. "Besides, I don't want some random kid mixing my cocktails. Anyway, Julio's still inside, making new friends or something."

His phone buzzed in his pocket. Leo ignored it at first, but when it persisted he reluctantly answered. "Leo Shin," he said, then paused to listen for a few minutes. "I see…" he glanced at CeCe and frowned, "Of course. Thank you for letting me know." He ended the call. "Well I guess my fancy bartender and your fancy DJ have a date tonight. He just cancelled on me. Daughter was in a car accident or something. She's okay, but we're not."

At some point between now and answering his phone Raquel had seemingly disappeared. Well, they all had things to do. Leo was searching through his contacts to try and come up with a replacement. It wasn't the problem of finding someone, just finding someone who was available on a Friday night. He made a few calls but turned up empty. He looked to CeCe for help, but just then they were approached by some guy with messy black hair wearing a plaid shirt that was barely buttoned high enough. Leo was instantly critical of the stranger's taste in clothes, even though something about them reminded him of his brother. Apparently he'd been listening in, or else he was just really straightforward.

Either way, Leo was caught slightly off guard at his offer to DJ, though his opinion of the stranger who introduced himself as "Jack" fell slightly when he said he'd do it for cheap. Was he that desperate to get in on the action that he'd sell himself out? Everything about it screamed poor business practice, and Leo wasn't even a business major. He hesitantly shook Jack's hand. It was unlikely they'd find someone else, and in fact Jack's appearance was something of a Godsend, so in spite of his misgivings Leo decided it was worth a shot.

"Actually, we do need a DJ. Ours just cancelled on us and it's gonna be hard to find someone on such short notice. You'll get paid fairly if you can do a good job." Leo reached for the inside pocket of the white blazer and pulled out a business card case. He took out two cards and handed them to Jack. "This one's the Hotel's, it has the address and you can call the number on the back to arrange transportation for your equipment. Just say it's for the Barker party," the reservation had been made under CeCe's name, "And this one's got my number." The second card was elegantly simple, black with silver lettering that spelled out both Leo and Julio's names and their numbers. "I'm Leo, Julio is my brother. Call either of us if you have any questions."

---

Julio Shin

"Reading about things on the internet doesn't count as life experience," Julio said teasingly, elbowing Bryn's arm. He grinned brightly at Kina. "Canada, actually," he said, "My parents were from Korea, and my brother and I were born there, but we moved to Canada when I was little. Annyeonghaseyo. Nice to meet you, Kina." He laughed. Another girl joined them. Raquel. She drew quite a few eyes including Julio's. He didn't know her very well but he knew who she was. Everyone knew her name, at least. She seemed a little too interested in Kina, who was starting to look uncomfortable with all the attention he was receiving.

Before he had a chance to answer the boy's questions, Julio's phone chirped. It was a text from Leo with news about the party changes. "Ah, sorry, I've gotta run. I'll see you around Kina. And Bryn, you're coming tonight right? Text me later." He hopped up and waved goodbye before heading out the door.

Leo's group wasn't far off, all standing around the parking lot. "Hey, what's--" just then a bright orange shoe flew past his head and bounced off the sidewalk between Leo and CeCe. He looked to see where it had come from, and there stood an embarrassed looking bearded man with one shoe on his foot. He seemed to be debating whether or not to retrieve the lost shoe and tentatively approached the group.

Leo noticed him first, glancing from the man, to the shoe, and then back. He raised his eyebrows but made no move to help him.

[WhiteStar19]

CeCe Barker

---

---

Cecily swore under her breath when the DJ canceled, but somehow, this Jack fellow could predict the future as he offered to DJ for them. She smiled at him carefully as he talked about moving his gear and coming to the party. The fellow was cute, especially with the amazing accent that he had going on, but none too bright if he didn't know how much he could be paid for this job, considering the fact that her and Leo were pretty much paying for the entire thing. CeCe shook Jack's hand as it was held out to her and said, "I'm Cecily Barker but almost everyone calls me CeCe." She smiled at him before leaning back on her high boots and eyeing Leo when he began to explain what was going on with the party.

She had begun to zone out, bored with listening to details of the party, when a shoe suddenly landed between her and Leo and Jack. She glanced around and saw a bearded fellow standing nearby with only one shoe on. He looked familiar but CeCe couldn't put the face to a name. So, with a small smile in his direction, she hooked the inside of his shoe with her heel and kicked it over to him. The shoe landed only a few inches away from his feet and she smirked before giving him a subtle wink and turning back to Leo and Jack. "Not that it isn't fun discussing plans with you all," CeCe started, glancing back to the boys, "but I have yet to even get my coffee, so if you'll excuse me, I'll be heading out now. It was lovely meeting you, Jack. I'll look for you on the stage tonight." She turned her head and dipped her chin to Leo. "See ya later Leo!"

She quickly hurried down the pathway, making her way to the nearest cafe which she knew was close to the school: the Ghost Roasters. She absolutely adored the place because it had a hipster vibe to it as well as not many people came into there, which would be perfect for her because people tend to gawk, as they are now. She took a deep breath and put on her sunglasses as she made her way down the path, underneath the gaping mouths and staring eyes of many of the newer students to the school.

Her family was fairly famous around the United States, especially her brother, which got her way more attention than she wanted. She also did a shoot for Victoria Secret not too long ago and that really got the attention on her. Her parents were proud, especially her father since everyone wanted to work with him since she was his daughter, but she hated being in the limelight for a lot of the time. She did try, though, to keep up the family's good name, as her brother had soiled it more than one time. As she hurried down the path, she walked passed a girl smoking a cigarette. She smiled and waved at her before continuing down, not wanting to stop for anything. She needed to wake up and look more alert than she did, especially if the media was going to be down here like they were last year.

She slipped into the little coffee shop and leaned up against the wall, taking a deep breath. It was nice to get away from prying eyes, even if it was for a few moments. She walked up to the counter and a handsome young thing who didn't look much older than herself was at the front counter. She smiled at the young man and said, "Can I get a black coffee please?" She set down the correct amount of change on the counter as the man worked on getting her coffee. He handed it to her and she went to go sit down at a window seat. She was going to need a few moments before she was actually prepared for school.

This was going to be an interesting year, indeed...

[Red_massa]

---

---

Felix was thinking of some sort of clever way to ask for his shoe back while half listening to what 'Jack' was talking about with the other male. While in thought about what he was going to say the sight of his black and orange shoe beginning to gain altitude caught his attention. CeCe had flicked his shoe back to him with her shoe! He was so delighted that he wasn't going to have to go over there that he didn't notice any of her subtle gestures. Thank god she didn't actually pick up the shoe. That thankfully avoided that awkward conversation. At least some of his first words to CeCe wouldn't have to contain "Can I have my shoe back?" Sigh guess it's time to get the books so I can get the rest of my day on the go. He bent down to pick up his shoe and placed it on his right foot lacing it securely making sure it wasn't going anywhere again.

Felix had collected all of the books that he would need for the following year, as much as he hated spending money on stupid books that they didn't really use a whole lot he would rather be prepared. After he thought about being prepared inside of his head he heard his fathers voice "The man best prepared stands the better chance". Felix had always thought that it was a stupid quote but when he stopped to think about it this quote had influenced him to go and actually buy this textbooks. As he left the bookstore inside of his jeans pocket he felt his phone vibrate *buzz buzz (pause) buzz buzz (pause) buz buzz* which could only mean one thing! New MMA fight card was just released and his source had just sent him a push-notification! He plucked his phone out of his pocket and unlocked his screen and seen that two of his favourite fighters were going to be coming to Anaheim, California in a few months. Which for him was pretty exciting, he jumped on the internet and was getting a few tickets before all the good seats were gone. He figured that he would get two tickets for him and his father, also picking up two more in case they needed them. If they didn't use them he could always give them to some charity or something like that. After he hit purchase and the order processed he wasn't even paying attention to any of his surroundings but he was still walking slowly. He had his head down and heard "OMG!! Did you see that! Cece Barker just walked into the little coffee shop on campus! Yeah the model who is co-hosting the party tonight with Leo! I heard the party has been planned for a while and it going to be off the hook!" just seconds before he collided with the two girls who were having the conversation that Felix overheard.

*BANG!* Felix's phone went flying in one direction, the weight of his backpack and the collision knocked him momentarily off his feet crashing to the ground! Felix was so embarrassed the he immediately sprung up almost like a spring and helped the two girls back up to their feet. Holy Toledo Felix needed to get away from people today at this rate, he didn't know why but he was so clumsy today. "I am so sorry ladies, so sorry. Geez let me help you ladies up! I'm so sorry again ... Felix was able to help one girl up but the other slapped his hand away and yelled some pretty vulgar phrases at him. Felix snatched up his phone and swiftly scuttled away from that mishap. It was his second embarrassing moment of the day but at least he got some useful information by catching that little gossip. One; that the other boy who was with CeCe and 'Jack' name was Leo. Second; there was going to be a badass party going down tonight. Third; CeCe was inside of the coffee shop but most importantly THERE WAS A COFFEE SHOP ON CAMPUS! Hopefully it was good coffee, he didn't want to have to leave the university parking lot to go to his regular coffee shop. It wasn't as important last year but it was useful information now especially seeing that there is a lot more students taking up parking spaces. He wondered if there was any way to pay the headmaster or someone with real power to get privileged parking spots for ... well rich children.

Felix thought that now was as good a time as any to check out the coffee shop. He had strolled over to the coffee shop that had a sign called 'Ghost Roasters' which he thought was an eerily interesting name it. He wasn't going to judge this book by the cover ... slightly only because he loved coffee. If it hadn't been for that fact that they served coffee he probably wouldn't have ventured into it. He thought it was a quaint little cafe but the biggest test was about the be passed into his hand, the taste of the coffee. Felix had asked for their large coffee with two cream and two sugar. He placed the cup to his lips immediately despite how hot it was just to quickly taste its quality. Hmmm it wasn't the best he ever tasted but it definitely wasn't the worst. He raised the cup to the gentlemen who served him to let him know his appreciation. Felix turned around and thought about leaving when he noticed that CeCe had been sitting next to the window and thought that he would just thank her right quick for giving back his shoe. He walked over to the window section where CeCe had been. "Hello, my name is Felix. I just wanted to say thank you very much for giving me my shoe back earlier Miss. I'm glad that it didn't hit you or your friends. " Felix gave his head a very slight tilt to the left and gave her a smile.

[Kaalee]

Bryn Hlison

---

---

“I'll have you know that I am plenty experienced in life, mange tak!!” Bryn protested playfully but then Raquel showed up and Bryn tried very hard not to let her face show the distaste she felt for the girl. She was just a little bit too, elitist for Bryn's tastes but she tried not to let it get the best of her.

She wasn't really succeeding.

“It was very nice meeting you Kina, and if you have any questions or would like some help studying or just someone to hang out with, text me.” Bryn offered, as she dug through her bag, ripping out a piece of paper and scribbling her phone number down on it before putting it in Kina's hand and wrapping his fingers around it. She blew him a kiss before turning on her heel and walking away. She didn't acknowledge Raquel once, Bryn was proud of her self.

After she left the gym, Bryn didn't know where to go. On Monday's, Bryn made sure her class doesn't start until at least noon, just in case she had to work overnight on a Sunday she can get at least some sleep.

She ended up in the outside commons, sitting on a bench, editing one of her latest videos. She loved singing and playing various instruments, and if her father would have let her, she would have become a music major but he wanted her to follow in his footsteps, and since her past was when she was a minor, it wouldn't show up on any basic background check therefore making it a possibility. And she really didn't mind being being in pre-law. She figured she wouldn't become a lawyer but use it to follow her dad and go into the State department.

She finished editing that and posted it, laying back on the bench, letting the sun warm her face and lull her into a sort of sleep type thing. Not actual sleep but just nice relaxation, she'd need it to deal with these next few upcoming days.

[Silent Whispers]

Raquel Goldstein

---

---

Raquel felt a bit squeamish after Kina, a poor person, shook her hand. She hid it well though. She figured that she had to get along with these people since they clearly wasn't going anywhere any time soon. Raquel viewed over him as saw that he wasn't exactly a people person so she stood up. "Uhm, there's a party tonight, Kina, if you want to come. It's Hollywood, just follow someone to Shangri-La." She mentioned while waving goodbye and exiting the gymnasium. She looked around the campus and seen everyone mingling and honestly, a smile crept across her facial features as she was sort of liking this arrangement. Raquel didn't really want to mingle with the poor but maybe this can be a great thing for Hollywood University and put them on the map. She had much bigger things to worry about right now though - Like what she was going to wear at the party tonight.

---

As the night grew near, Raquel had showered, brushed her teeth and put on her outfit, which was nothing more than a purple skirt that came well above the knee and along with purple heels. She reviewed herself over in the mirror then walked over to her vanity mirror and tied her hair up in a high ponytail and applied a small amount of makeup upon her face. Raquel was a bit nervous about this party surely hope that no one was going to get into a fight since some of the poor people will be attending the party, as well.

After reviewing herself over and removing the negative thoughts that filled her head, she was out the door with a matter of minutes. She did not drive herself to the party but got her driver, Harvey, to do so as she gave him directions and every thing. She breathed in and out, practicing her singing scales on the way, just in case she did have to perform tonight. She had asked Cece and Leo earlier but had to walk away for a few minutes but was damn sure determined to ask them again. She's performed at Hollywood parties before and suddenly became a fan favorite so why would tonight be any different.

Raquel's driver, Harvey, pulled up to the sidewalk of Shangri-La and got out to open up her door. Raquel with a smile thanked Harvey then handed him ten dollars as a tip. He thanked her then closed the door and got back into the limousine and drove off. She was at the party now and started wandering around the party, seeing who she can bump into accidentally until people she actually wanted to talk to appeared. Instead, Raquel went over to the bar and ordered a tall glass of Long Island Iced Tea then started taking small sips from the straw, her eyes scanning the perimeter as everyone was mingling.

[Raxacoricofallapatorius]

The Shin Brothers

---

---

Eventually Leo and Julio excused themselves from the group. They talked to a few others as they left campus but for the most part conversed with just each other.

"You need a haircut," said Leo with a disapproving appraisal of Julio's shaggy black hair, "Long hair makes you look like a crazy person."
"You're the crazy one," Julio retorted, "Besides, long hair is starting to be fashionable again."
"Will you stop making excuses when you're just too lazy to make an appointment to get it cut?"
"Nope!" Julio grinned.
"I've made an appointment for this afternoon for both of us," said Leo, "So we'll both look presentable tonight."
Julio conceded, but also said, "After this I'm growing my hair out."

---

The twins always made a point to arrive late to their own parties, because the best way to make an entrance is when all the guests are already present, and they never disappointed. The sun had just kissed the distant horizon, making the city skyline stand in sharp contrast against the soft red and purple hues of the sunset. Suite 700, also known as Shangri-La's luxury rooftop setup, was already lit by lanterns strung above the heads of the party goers who mingled near the rail at the roof's edge. The event wasn't officially formal but the number of people dressed in casual clothes was very few. The small pool and hot tub were so far unoccupied, but they were more of a status symbol than an actual recreation accessory. The night was still early though, no doubt people would become less stiff as the party progressed. Most of them were more like kids pretending to be adults than actual young adults anyway.

When Leo and Julio arrived on the scene everyone noticed. They stepped out onto the roof side-by-side and a few onlookers gasped. Just a few hours earlier, the twins had been easy to tell apart while standing next to each other. Now, however, their hair was short and they were each dressed in the same three-piece suit with red vest and tie. They even stood with the same posture, and were identical in every discernible way down to the ring on each of their right hands. Even their personal friends were baffled, because ever since their freshman year Leo and Julio had made it easy to be told apart, and now suddenly it was as if they were a perfect reflection of each other, and indistinguishable.

Julio couldn't help but smile. They hadn't played the "twin game" since high school. It had been childish and silly but now he remembered how much fun it was. Leo too was smiling, no doubt the same nostalgia had hit him as well. Then, all of a sudden, someone started to clap. Then another, and another, until half the party was applauding them for their appearance.

"Maybe if we do a trick they'll throw treats at us," murmured Julio, and Leo burst out laughing. They made their way through the crowd and everyone went back to whatever they'd been doing before the interruption. Leo was looking for CeCe but he saw Raquel instead.

"Raquel!" said Leo, smiling as he greeted her. "So glad you could come. Will you sing for us tonight?" It wasn't really a question he needed to ask, since she was the one who'd asked him earlier.

"Oh I hope so!" Julio chimed in as they each took hold of one of her hands, looking at her with identical pairs of puppy-dog eyes and then twirling her in a circle between them as if she were a ballerina.

"We told the DJ you might be treating us tonight," Leo continued, "So just give him a wave and step up on the stage when you're ready."

"And by 'stage' he means that platform over there." Julio pointed to a small raised platform near where the DJ was set up. There was a lone microphone and stand in the center. "But first we need to find CeCe, have you seen her?"

"I hope she's not hiding from us and stuffing h'orderves in her purse. Hm, I think I'd like a glass of Shiraz. What do you think, Julio?" They headed to the bar and each got a glass of the red wine. The bartender carded them of course, but apparently it wasn't an issue. The twins clinked their glasses together and drank a toast, just one sip, before setting the drinks on the countertop and leaving them there.

[gowia]

Jack Sullam

Jac was ecstatic as the group he had approached accepted his offer. Over the moon in fact. He hadn't expected it to be that easy, maybe he should have charged more? Jack didn't really care about the money, hell if half of the people at this party went out and bought a track each, he would make a healthy profit as it was. His accounts on iTunes, Amazon and SoundCloud had been plateauing of late. Jack had turned and was walking away before he even noticed the shoe, he was in too much of a rush now. Walking away he took a detour past the local campus coffee house, enjoying the good weather and have a breath of fresh air before he invited some strangers into his room to man handle his equipment. He would also need to get his stuff's cases out of storage. Walking past Ghost Roasters he peered inside, before double taking. Inside was the girl from before! SMiling he kept his focus on her as he walked past, however he chose not to go inside. He had a set to prepare and he was certain he would get a chance over the rest of the year to speak to her.

---

Jack had called the Hotel as soon as he had got back to his dorm. They promised to send some men round a couple of hours before the earliest guests should be arriving. In the mean time Jack stood behind his gear and flicked through the industrial looking sockets and smiled at the light sound of electricity and glowing lights. Opening up his laptop, which was attached to the set up, he set up the layers and effects of each switch. Putting on the large headphones that were also attached he put on some Presley whilst he sent a quick text to Leo, asking about the guest list. Perhaps if any were recording artists he could sample their songs. Once the text was sent Jack begun by practicing what he already knew, his own tracks came back in a rush and Jack simply stood, enjoying his work and keeping one eye on the phone. When the text came back Jack swiftly jumped through the names, settling on Raquel Goldstein. That was a name he vaguely knew, some sort of country and western singer like her dad. Jack sighed and then turned down his own tracks. Pulling out a pen and paper he set up a timeline, sorting what his set list would be. Alternating from his own work, to other DJ's and then adding in a number of gaps for something he wanted to work on. Mostly it was a set list he had performed before and so he simply loaded everything from then so that his equipment didn't need any work. He then set around looking at Raquel's work. By the time the men came to collect his equipment, with the cases he had told them where to find, Jack was laying back on his bed. Listening to what he had created, he would certainly be asking Raquel tonight if he could use this legally. At the same time he asked a note to be left at reception for when the Shin brothers were leaving. The note simply read 'May have undervalued myself, so lets call it a grand. Oh and think of me next time you have a party.'

---

The rooftop itself was an interesting venue. The 'stage' he had been told about was more of a plinth at best, especially since the middle had been set up with a mic. Which of course wouldn't do, his own equipment had been very well handed Jack would admit, the hotel staff were polite and respected the fact that they were handling his children in those boxes. The event, whilst being open, actually had less floor space than he was expecting which would suit Jack's style perfectly. A quick request to the hotel staff and he also had a small bar's worth of alcohol behind his equipment, however it was far enough away that a spillage would never have a chance to reach his gear. To his back was the very edge and at first that had been a little unsettling, but with the setup feeling very secure, those butterflies had gone. Jack had also asked that speakers be set up all across the roof, so that no matter where somebody stood they would be able to hear the music. At the beginning Jack wasn't actually DJing, he simply allowed his laptop to run through an assortment of tracks quietly, meanwhile he was preparing the equipment. At the same time as the speakers being fitted, he had also had the lighting connected to his equipment, throwing together some light work in the spare time he had. However he knew he had little control over the lanterns, and so he was just grateful that on their own, the lanterns gave off only a little life.

Jack noticed that a lot of the other guests had dressed up for the event, shirt and tie seemed the fashion, whilst jeans were more common than trousers, they were worn in a more respectable fashion than with a tee and high tops. Jack was wearing his brown leather brogues again, a pair of very skinny blue jeans and a white shirt, buttoned all the way up. He had a pencil tie on and his aviators were tucked neatly into his chest pocket. All in all he hoped he was breaking the barrier between 'casual' and 'smart', since these were possibly the nicest clothes he owned. Jack sat on the edge of the stage as he attempted to mingle with incoming guests, however he didn't really notice anyone in particular, he had even forgot to tell 'ginge' that he was Djing. However when Jack noticed the Shin brothers arriving, he excused himself and made his way over to his gear. After joining the round of applause, for reasons Jack wasn't entirely sure, he then walked forward and moved the mic to the side, then going back and centering his gear at the back of the platform. For now he was running the music and if they wanted someone else to sing, he would at least control that song choice. Though he did have a mic of his own behind his gear. Happy with the setup finally he walked back over and flicked on the opening.

The opening lines of the book, Lost Horizon, starts off quietly on the speakers. "In these days of wars and rumors of wars - haven't you ever dreamed of a place where there was peace and security, where living was not a struggle but a lasting delight? Of course you have. So has every man since time began. Always the same dream. Sometimes he calls it Utopia - Shangri-La" However with a flick the 'La' begins repeating at a slow beat. With one hand Jack then turns up the tempo very slowly, his other pressing switches and preparing to change. As the tempo reaches a climax Jack switches the track, the sound of smashing glass jumps out to be followed by silence. Once More the electronic female voice that was speaking before says the word "Shangri-La" And then the bass drops, one of Jack's lighter songs begins playing over the speakers. The beat reminiscent of old school Bob Marley covered over with a slow bass giving the song something more to bounce and dance too. Stepping back now and again Jack sips on a bottle of water he has there. Towards the end of the song Jack layers over the electronic beat of his next track, eventually speeding the bass up and removing the reggae, allowing the song to form into a new, faster track. As the next song ends Jack suddenly drops to silence. The guitar and chorus too 'By the Way' begins, after going through twice, the second time having a beat over it, he dragged out the last syllable until switching to an electronic tune. Another song more for dance, Jack made sure to keep the beat lighter at the earlier stages of the party. Smiling with his work Jack steps back and looks down to see if anyone he knews was near the stage.

((OOC: I have no idea if the description of the set is fine, anyways I have put a link in the By the Way to the song I am describing, go from 1:51 to know what I mean. The other songs are "Jack's" so I haven't got them.))