AlteredTundra

May the Power Protect You

_{Outfit of the Day ♥ Elle's Bug ♥ Interacting With: Tony @Hey Im Jordan}

The day had started as normal as any other day in the life of Penelope Quinn. First, she would wake up nearly at the crack of dawn. Her alarm had always been set for that time of day. It didn’t matter if it was a holiday or if she had school that same day, she was up before her parents, before her three younger siblings, and before anyone else in the neighborhood would be up. Her new criminal status didn’t change the fact that she wanted to do her part to help, so when she got dressed and showered, she was out the door before even five, her bag over her shoulder, an outfit fitting of the surprisingly cool weather that hit this Sunday of Angel Grove, and a smile on her face as she made it a mission to get to the high school early.

As she drove her 2015 Volkswagen Beetle through the streets of Angel Grove, Elle couldn’t help but keep her head held high. Despite being in the position she was in of having to go to detention for the next six months, despite her now knowing that the person who asked her to hold a package for them wasn’t her friend, Elle kept her eyes on the prize. She always looked toward the lighter side of any situation. Now, whether that was her wanting to pass a test, meet deadlines she was given at the community center, or, as she was doing right now, looking forward to the day the ankle bracelet that the Angel Grove PD put on her as an agreement her father had with the DA’s office. Six months she had to endure and six months she shall!

Before long, Elle found a seat somewhat close to the stairs. She looked around and saw some familiar faces. Sure, they were usually the types who she avoided for obvious reasons, but she couldn’t exactly judge them now since she was now one of them. Not that there was anything wrong with being one of them. Elle hated it when others judged her or kind of just teased her for no reason It happened, so it wasn’t like when she looked at them she was judging them...

“Or am I?”

As Elle’s panic started to overwhelm her, almost to the point where she started to freak out internally, she was surprisingly calmed by the sudden interruption by the Angel Grove High staff member who was overseeing detention ...only for him to leave not a moment after demanding their attention. On the note of demanding attention, someone she recognized. Tony. Tony ...Bastion? No, that wasn’t right. She knew it started with a B, but she couldn’t be sure. She had seen him around in a few of her classes. Either way, he started talking about how he was gonna head to the Angel Grove Mines and blow things up.

Do people do that? She thought to herself, uncertain about what this entailed.

Was it slang for something else? Did she want to go? Elle wasn’t the type to intentionally harm anything. She wanted to decline, but she didn’t want to seem rude. Tony seemed genuine and kind in how he was reaching out to everyone. She knew first hand how difficult it was doing that because you never knew how it was going to end up. The person could decline, call your idea stupid, or be rude about it while doing both of those things. The more she thought about it, the more it showed on her face.

She coughed, raising her hand out of habit. “Sounds like fun! You can count me in!” What did Elle just sign herself up for?

Stranger danger?

Momma always warned me about stranger danger

*hugs new person*

Welcome!

Men vs. Women Race to 1000: Version 2.0

321

Pariah Online III

_{City of Thorinn (various locations)
@ComradeMaxx @Kuro @HokumPocus @Stern Algorithm}

Since first answering the call in the world of Pariah Online, Verglas Zero (as it is seen on his profile ID), had a bit of a rough start. First, it was being alone in the game, though it wasn’t due to him being a bad player. Once he got used to the mechanics and roamed around in the safe areas, Verglas was able to adapt rather well to the world itself. It’s when he started to party up with fellow new players as well as those who gave him a hand here and there that he started to have difficulties, but not because of his skill. It was due to his reputation and high energy personality that soon got him blacklisted from some of the local groups.

So, finding a friend was becoming more trouble than it was worth. At some point, Zero just figured going solo was in his best interests. He stayed away from the tougher dungeons, didn’t stray too far off from the main roads, and just enjoyed the sights.

There came a point in the game where Zero, and by some measure, a lot of other people too, found out that death in-game would equate to death in the real world as well. Now, Zero -- or as he was known in the real world, Sebastian Blake -- wasn’t sure what to do with this information. He was so uncertain that he sat on it for a while. He pretended he didn’t hear about it. Sebastian or Zero, whatever he wanted to call himself right now, always had the tendency to ignore the larger picture and instead focus on what was going to happen to him in the next five minutes.

And in Verglas Zero’s case, the entire week.

As he sat in his room of one of the many inns in the City of Thorinn, the usually positive man was doing everything that he could to not have a mental breakdown. One, it wasn’t in-character but to hell with that, right? He wasn’t Zero right now -- not mentally, at least. Verglas Zero has switched places with Sebastian Blake and Sebastian Blake was a worry-wort. He tried not to be, but could anyone blame him? He didn’t want to die. He may not have had a bright future in the real world but it was his future and he didn’t want to die, damn it!

So heading out of his room, he rushed downstairs and looked at the Innkeeper. The Innkeeper was an NPC, so of course, he had to remain in-character. “Good Innkeeper!” Verglas Zero said smiling, “where would I find this city’s nearest tavern?”

“Look no further than the Laughing Worg!”

He hit the streets, searching high and low for the tavern.

During his search, Zero was bumped into by a short redhead with a spear. By the time he was going to respond to her rudeness, she was out of sight. That or she was so short that her height was hidden among the traveling NPCs around him. Soon he would return to the search.

“Huzzah!” He cheered to himself, spotting the tavern.

The words ‘Laughing Worg’ spread boldly on the sign attached to a pole. His newly-discovered hope of finding answers seemed to be delayed when a group of what he thought were NPCs brushed past him just like that redhead and rudely didn’t apologize.

“Seriously, it’s not that hard to show some manners.”

Zero didn’t get annoyed easily, but enough was enough. He couldn’t approach the redhead because she was long gone, but the two who had bumped into him weren’t. So he approached them as they seemed to be in conversation with a pair. He first thought they were NPCs, but upon the mention of a redhead that seemed to fit the description of the one he encountered, perhaps this encounter was not meant to remind those who did not grow up like he did that manners exist but some higher power pulling their threads of fate together.

Zero made his presence known with a cough. “Excuse me, I couldn’t help but overhear.” He spoke clear and concise. “This redhead friend of yours sounds like someone who rudely bumped into me as I left an inn not far from here.” He told them. As he felt he had done a good deed, Zero forgot the most important thing. “Oh, where are my manners! I am Verglas Zero, but you may call me Zero!”

And the blonde man gave them a polite, yet confident, smile.

Nailed it!

Men vs. Women Race to 1000: Version 2.0

316

Palm Beach Royals: Senior Year

_{An @Altered Tundra & @HaleyTheRandom Collaboration featuring Stella Lambert & Oliver Grayson}

“A lot has happened.”

Stella only spoke a number of times since Georgie and Mac had left her with Oliver. The two had stayed together, talked a few times, but for the most part, both of them have been silent. The only times that either of them said a single word was when either Stella or Oliver would say something and they’d respond shortly, but then it was back to the awkward silence. She didn’t have any answer as to why she couldn’t just talk to him. It should have been easy. She had always been able to talk to Oliver. That’s what was so amazing about their friendship. Because they were always so open and honest, she felt like there wasn’t anything she couldn’t say to him. But now…

“Now I don’t know…” She spoke softly, watching scene after scene unfolding before their very eyes. From Kavi and April being near the DJ booth and watching April Foster announce to the world she was pregnant to Kavi asking Ariel to meet him by the hot tub. “Let’s go there.”

Stella pulled on Oliver’s hand, almost dragging him as they joined the crowd of people. The two talked and then they went silent. Kavi looked sad for some reason and then Ariel suddenly pushed him into the hot tub. Stella was so out of the loop that she wasn’t sure what prompted that. Then, as Ariel brushed past them, she and Kavi had a short conversation and they left for inside the house. Throughout the next five or so minutes, she ran the possibilities of everything through her mind only to ponder about something.

“I really do hope they don’t break up, Oli,” Stella said around him, looking down at the ground. “I mean, Kavi has been really happy. I know a lot of people give him a lot of grief for being a player. I know it’s well-deserved, but lately..” Her head raised up, smiling at Oliver, “he’s been acting like how Kavi before the chip on his shoulder became an entire potato, ya know?”

She felt like she was rambling, but truth be told, if Kavi and Ariel stood a chance, maybe there was something to be said for her. She had no clue how to bring it up to him, but god, if she couldn’t at least talk to Oliver about her feelings, then why was she even here?

“Oliver…” Her voice was again low. “Can we talk? I mean, go someplace quiet and talk?” She asked him, her hand squeezing his as if to siphon the excess emotions coursing through her body right now. Her heart was beating incredibly fast and she had no way of stopping it.

It seemed like every time Stella and Oliver got together, someone said something that left Oliver in a state of silent thinking. Were they together? Were they not together? Was he supposed to just assume what Stella felt and make the decisions for both of them? No. That seemed like a dick move, and while Oliver had the tendency to be a bit of an ass at times, he wasn’t a dick. Just like any other time, he followed Stella around like a lost puppy - this time outside to the hot tub area.

Just like so many others, he watched the brief squabble between Ariel and Kavi. While Oliver didn’t wish for anyone's relationship to end, it seemed like all Ariel and Kavi could ever do was argue - at least at social events. He had been thinking of something to say when Stella's last sentence finally brought him back down to earth. ”I uh…. I don’t have any idea of any quiet place here… I… maybe upstairs?”

“Yeah, that works.” She responded immediately. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to go through the back patio. Too many people are there,” Stella remarked, “but don’t worry, I’ve been here a lot of times. There’s a staircase through the side entrance of the house that leads upstairs.”

Stella took the lead as she pulled Oliver’s hand, guiding him past the crowds of people who were still talking about April’s announcement and something about Kavi kissing April. It came as a shock to be sure but Stella wasn’t surprised. She was only disappointed in him for potentially ruining a good thing with Ariel. In the time she would spend thinking about Kavi, her and Oliver had sped past the garage, popped back into the house where the staircase was only around the corner.

“It should be here--”

As Stella was about to turn around towards the staircase, she felt a brief gust of air hit against her face softly as a mixture of obscenities, Kavi’s name, and remnants of crying sounds faded with the sound of the music playing. Stella was worried and confused. She only caught a brief glimpse of red hair.

“I think that was Ariel…” She muttered to herself, shaking her head. “Anyway, let’s find a room, I guess,” Stella said, going up the stairs with Oliver.

Following her once more, Oliver turned to see the red-haired figure himself. ”Yeah… I’m pretty sure it was. I really hope they didn’t end up having to big of a fight or anything…”

Soon the two found a free room, but Stella didn’t realize which room it was. “Okay, so of all rooms, I pick Kavi’s parents’ room. Cool!” And cool it was. And big. Holy cow was it a spacious room!

Stepping inside of Mr. and Mrs. Salvadors room, Oliver felt like he was committing a crime. You always heard of kids sneaking into the host of the parties parents bedroom, but Oliver had never had it happen to him. At least not until now. ”I never realized someone could ever need this much room to sleep,” he commented.

“This is nothing,” she laughed, “my room is almost as big as this one is.” Suddenly Stella felt like she just exposed herself to open criticism.

”Hm. Guess I just never gave that much thought to it. I mean, I think everyone has pretty nice sized houses here. Guess I’m just a simple guy. I’ve never really had to have that much room.” Not quite comfortable enough to touch anything in the room, he just stood there sort of awkwardly. ”So what was it you wanted to talk about?”

As she sat on the cushioned platform in front of the bed, Stella just thought about how she wanted to phrase this. Lord knew that she wasn’t a religious person but if there was ever a time she needed the Lord’s strength, right now was that time. She knew she wanted to get it all out there and tell him where her mind was at (or would it be her heart?), but there was that gut-wrenching wall of actually making the decision. And it also had to do with how this was the only thing she couldn’t outright tell him. Her discomfort was obvious in how Stella’s lips puckered and wiggled. She’s been told it was a tell of hers when she was stressed about something.

Her lips opened, but no more than a single sound came out. She gave it another try and still, there was nothing. “Screw it!” That time she spoke and this time it was loud. “Oliver, I..I mean,” she looked up at him. “Can you come sit with me please?” She pleaded with him, a longing gaze lingering at him that was almost desperate on her part.

Whatever she wanted to talk about was obviously bothering her, and the look on her face made him wish he had gotten something strong to drink when he had the chance. Without a word, he walked over and sat down beside her, hands in his lap. ”I - If I did anything wrong or something, I’m sorry,” he blurted out.

Stella shook her head. “No, it wasn’t you. I mean, not really.” When she spoke, she immediately heard herself and looked at him. “No I mean, you didn’t do anything! I just..” She huffed inwardly, taking in deep, albeit short, breaths. “I’m sorry, Oliver. I just can’t seem to say what I want to say.”

Now was one of those awkward moments where Oliver was really starting to think that he had done something wrong - even though Stella had told him otherwise. ”Well regardless of whatever it is, I’d be more than happy to sit here with you until you got the courage to say whatever it is.”

That’s it. If I had, we wouldn’t be here suffering.

That’s what Stella wanted to say and more. So instead the brunette closed her eyes, took in a deep breath, and muttered something to herself. It was only a short moment, but when she finally calmed her center, she turned to face Oliver, eyes and attention on him. Her heart was beating too fast for her comfort, so she took hold of Oliver’s hands. When she felt it became too much, she squeezed them but Stella wasn’t going to back down. Too far now and she needed to get it own.

“Oliver..” She said slowly, the air around her starting to get thick. “We’ve known each other for a while. I mean, we have been going to the same school since third grade. I remember when you were the new student and you stood out like a sore thumb but you never let that stop you from shining on,” Stella laughed with a smile, picturing how adorkable Oliver was with his bowtie back then. “I remember how the kids at school teased you and even though I didn’t stop them, there was always someone nearby who did.”

”Well, I mean, I don’t blame you for that or whatever. Come to think of it, I kinda always admired you. You were always like this ray of freaking sunshine walking around with bows in your hair and crap,” he said smiling. ”But what does any of that have to do with this?”

Right, the point. Stella had a tendency to not get to it. “I just mean we have been near each other for so long and only in the past two months have we gotten to know each other. Like, you know that my favorite colors are lavender and bubblegum pink and that I don’t like jalapenos on my nachos. You know I’m deathly afraid of spiders.” She said, unconsciously moving closer to Oliver. “All of these little things you know about me and you’ve never judged me. Everyone else has cause they’re pretty dumb, but you haven’t.” She was doing it again, so she shook her head. “What this has to do with everything — at least, what I’m trying to say and failing at — is that you’ve been around all this time and it took to our senior year for me to realize just how much I like you, Oliver.”

People that judged you because of your favorite colors, fears and nacho preferences were stupid - and that was something Oliver firmly believed. ”So like…” he took a deep breath, licking his lips. ”Are you saying that you like… like me, or that you like… like like me?”

Part of her wanted to laugh but she was so high on nerves right now, the only thing Stella could do was look at him with a smile. Truth be told, she wasn’t exactly sure what the proper answer to his question was. She knew it was more than simply liking him as a person. She liked Sonny. She liked Kavi. She liked all of her friends. And yes, she liked Oliver, but he was different. The way he speaks so passionately when he’d say basically anything to her whether it was about how much he loves pickles and how not having them on a cheeseburger was a crime always makes her smile, or when he tells her about all the dog breeds he wants to own in his lifetime (cats too) and how they both agree pits are unjustifiably hated.

Everything she and Oliver might talk about just has this effect on her. She might not understand most of it cause they still have different interests, but Stella does like Oliver the person. She loves how he gets whenever there are raw pickles for sale in the cafeteria. She loves their back and forths when they list all the things wrong with President Trump and how Bernie Sanders is the man. There is never a minute that she isn’t smiling when she’s with him. Even for someone who quite frequently misses certain cues people make, she never has missed one when she’s been with Oliver.

“I...think it might be the second one.” She spoke, her face as red as fast her heart had been beating this entire time.

”Thank. Fucking. God.” he said, a smile breaking across his face as he laughed light-heartedly. ”I’m sorry that I made things so awkward for you and like between us and everything but I’m not good with these things at all and I really, really like you. I just didn’t want to make things super awkward for us if you didn’t like me back and I just….” he took a deep breath. ”Yeah.”

He couldn’t help it. Oliver just kept smiling like a complete idiot for a few brief moments before he decided to talk again. ”So does this mean I get to, like, hold your hand in public now?”

Username Context

I was trying to come up with something unique for my Xbox Live gamertag and I went through a few until I came up with alteredtundra. Ever since then I've been using variants of it and adapting nicknames people give to me for my handles across social media. At this point, it's my online identity.

Palm Beach Royals: Senior Year

_{An @Altered Tundra & @Inkarnate Collaboration Post featuring Kavi Salvador & Mac Davenport}

“I’m so utterly stupid.”

Kavi lost count how many times those words left his mouth and how long he had been staring at the carnage in his room. Ariel’s rage may have left the building, but her impact remained. Everywhere from where his prized television was mounted to one of three judo trophies he had acquired over the course of ten years was snapped in half, and a brutally-destroyed Playstation 4 that sparked a few times since being decimated, its sticky parts stuck to his wall like a new coat of paint. As much damage that was done, as much carnage that remained in his room, devoid of sound and life, nothing could top how he had effectively killed any and all chances of salvaging his relationship with Ariel. And what was the final nail in the coffin? Was it digging his nose in Santiago and April’s relationship? Was it consoling April when her baby’s daddy wasn’t around to do it for her? Or maybe it was not stopping the kiss that April had initiated almost immediately after it happened?

He couldn’t stop playing the conversation in his mind. How he blew up at her, ruining his only chance to explain. “No, it wasn’t possible..” Kavi knew there was no way for him to explain it. He let another girl kiss him and almost kissed her back. Then, of all things, he acted like he did nothing wrong. “God, why was I so stupid?”

He walked up to his wall, looking at its blankness for nearly a minute, his forehead pressed against it. He started to bang his head slowly, each time the banging noise getting harder until part of it cracked. Time and time again he went at it as if he was really trying to do some serious damage. After a full minute of repeated smashing, Kavi stopped and saw a small forehead-shaped blood print and soon he was starting to see red drip down his face along the inside corners past his eyes and along both sides of his nose. Matters were made worse when Kavi’s dripping hair thinned the blood out and caused it to pour down his face at a faster rate.

Kavi couldn’t stop staring at the damned bloodprint. Why couldn’t he stop staring at it? Everything else around him was destroyed, crushed, and a reminder of how much of a screw-up he was when it came to understanding the female species? So why, of all goddamn things, was Kavi Salvador unable to take his eyes away from that forehead bloodprint?

“It’s just a fucking wall!”

In a fit of rage that truly would make his girlfriend -- ex-girlfriend -- proud, Kavi balled up both of his hands and two swift punches, as hard as he possibly could, he made sure he wouldn’t have to look at that wall ever again. The left fist had punched a hole into it but had not made the bloodprint disappear completed, so the right fist punched in the same place. He did this three more times and at the same spot. When he finally felt satisfied, he was left with a hole in the wall that revealed the other end.

After a quick trip to the bathroom down the hall and a change of outfits, Kavi had changed into a different construction outfit that was basically the same as the one he had on before, but it was one, not covered in his blood and two, not wet. He knew it wasn’t perfect but he didn’t care. The only thing that he wanted to do was continue on with the party and get as shitfaced drunk as quickly as he could. Forgetting about everything that happened he was mid-kiss with April was his main objective. So he would start by making his way over to the beverages table that was inside the house. And so he started to pour himself a drink, downing about half of it.

“Maaaate! That’s either a totally lit costume or you need, like, to get that looked at.”

The voice of Palm Beach’s resident Brit slurred from his right, though Kavi wasn’t sure whether to laugh or to tune it out, given the current state of things. Between the splitting headache, his sore knuckles, and the general mood he was in, Kavi wasn’t really in the right mindset beyond “drink to forget” and “worry about it later”.

“The costume is bought; bruised knuckles and gash on the forehead are my own personal touches.” He hadn’t turned to face whoever it was that did call out to him, but as soon as Kavi did, he opened his eyes a little wider. “Mac? Is that you?”

“Well, I’m not your fairy godmother.” The British girl quipped as she took another drink from the bottle of Patrón that she was holding between her fingers.

Mac appeared to have returned to Palm Beach just in time for everything at the party to get a little… crazy.

Dressed in a full she-devil get-up, it seemed that Mac was fully prepared upon her return to Palm Springs, though Kavi wondered how long she had been back. She had missed Homecoming and nearly two months of the new school year, so he nearly thought her dad had quietly transferred her to some boarding school in California. As one of the few actual female friends Kavi had, her absence at King’s hadn’t gone unnoticed. He was someone who didn’t have a lot of female friends. He’d date them and that’s it, but after his quick thing with Mac, the chemistry between them was too high to leave it at just the date, so they became quick friends. Nobody out of his ex-flings could ever understand the burdens of being beautiful than Mackenzie Davenport did.

“What a relief it is to see you haven’t lost your sense of humor since I last saw ya,” Kavi said, taking a sip from his drink. The alcohol was doing its job numbing the pain he felt but it wasn’t working nearly as quickly as he would prefer.

“Wouldn’t be me if I did, yeah?” Mac looked closer at Kavi, noticing the gash on his forehead a bit better after Kavi mentioned that he had done them himself. “So, do you need to run to the hospital? I can call an Uber if you need one.”

”What? You crazy or something?” A laugh came after as he realized he said that word again. He laughed as he finished the rest of the alcohol in his cup. “Oops, I said that word again.”

Mac laughed in response, “If I was crazy I’d be driving, what are you on about? You said what word again?”

He wasted no time refilling his cup, though midway through it, he found himself hunched over a couple of inches as he bumped into the table. This caused his cup to fall into the punch bowl. “Well, that’s just great, isn’t it?” He looked up at Mac. “Crazy. The word was crazy. It seems to be my favorite word tonight.”

“Okay? What does that even mean?”

”What it means, Mac,” He said turning to face her, using the table to hold his body up. “I got dumped because I called my ex crazy one too many times for her liking.”

Mac raised a brow, “Your ex?”

“Yes, my ex. Ex-girlfriend. Person I was in a committed relationship with up until thirty minutes ago.” Each word came a sloppy arm gesture.

“Are you taking the piss?” She set her bottle down on the table next to her. “Because, last time I checked you didn’t do ‘committed relationships’.”

She has a point.

Kavi Salvador didn’t commit to anything but who the next great time was going to be. Whether that was the head cheerleader or someone else from the squad, there wasn’t any sort of intentions of ever seeing them for a second date unless the first one went horrible and she really wanted a do-over. If Kavi was going down that route, they would need to be insanely hot or offer him something that he couldn’t get during the first round. The more he thought about it, the more it made his head hurt.

“Yeah, well I guess I had a temporary change of heart.” He chuckled, then chucked up a small amount of puke. “But don’t worry, I won’t ever make that mistake ever again.”

“Well, before you paint all of the punch green, let’s get you some air. Don’t want people to tweet and everything. Also, I like the punch not to taste, you know, bad. Maybe, we should do something about your face, too.”

Mac seemed to keep her attention on Kavi, while also scanning the table for items. Whatever her intention was, he wasn’t really paying enough attention to care or notice.

Begrudgingly, Kavi followed Mac away from the table, away from the house, and outside. They walked at a somewhat slow pace to match Kavi’s sluggish body. His feet had dragged a bit but that was only due to the headache starting to be the main issue instead of how much alcohol he could consume to numb it out. Kavi hadn’t bothered to wait for Mac to help him down as he collapsed on the green grass. It sent chills down his spine as he had looked up at the stars.

“This was a good idea, Mac.”

“Well, any idea is better than smashing your face because some girl… got too sensitive? Needy?” The girl uttered as she tossed a bottle of Vodka and a tablecloth she had grabbed on the way out of the party on the ground. She was trying to hide it, but there was some semblance of concern. Kavi may have been drunk and not thinking clearly, but he could tell that much.

“You might be right about that. I tried to change for her, be someone she could love or be safe with. I don’t know.” Kavi rocked himself to a somewhat upright position, feeling the weight of something begging to come back up for round two. “Have you ever gone down that road of trying to change for anyone?”

“Fuck no!” Mac responded with laughter.

”Smart girl.” He responded to her laughter with his own. “I wish you were around to talk me out of my own mistake like a month ago. Probably could have saved my hands from getting wrecked.”

“Well, I’m sorry I was trapped in California with my cunt of a dad.”

They continued their conversation. Mac popped the cap off the vodka and poured a little of it on the tablecloth, groaning in displeasure that she not only had to waste vodka like this but that she wasn’t getting to enjoy the party. As she moved the tablecloth like an impromptu cloth across Kavi’s forehead she used her other hand to brace his head so he wouldn’t move. When Kavi realized this is what Mac meant about doing something about his face, he knew it was going to suck. But really, it was his own fault in the first place.

“Jesus Mac!” Kavi screeched for a brief moment.

“There is no god. Only vodka.” She quipped, continuing to clean the wound.

“Can you not pour so much of it? It’s a small gash, not a severe wound.” He whined. Ironically, for a martial artist, Kavi did not do physical pain well.

“I am admittedly, very not sober, but I can’t have you bleeding and spewing into drinks. Think of the children. Imagine if Stella took a sip of that punch! Instant party killer.”

“Are you sure it’ll be that and not the Maury-styled ‘you are the father’ announcement April made not too long ago?”

“True. But you never did host the best parties.” She commented, before she finished cleaning up the gash, before tearing the cloth and tying it firmly around Kavi’s forehead. “Well, that’s the best I can do. I think I did it right.”

“I don’t see any blood dripping down, so you must’ve done something right.” Kavi felt around his forehead. When he pressed against the cloth, though soft, a stinging sensation went through him.

“Lucky you.”

He shrugged. “Now that you’ve done your duty, I suppose now you want to get back to the party, huh?”

“Why? You don’t want to?”

“I don’t know, Mac. When you get dumped, it kind of ruins the party within, ya know?”

The British girl rolled her eyes. “What, you want to trade the real party for a pity party? Mate, it’s one girl.”

“I know it’s hard for you to imagine, but I actually fell pretty hard for her, Mac.” Kavi admitted, swiping the Vodka bottle and taking a hefty swig of it.

“And why would you go and do that for someone who is just going to be passive aggressive to you for the rest of the year because you didn’t live up to her idea of you?” Mac sighed, crossing her arms as he began downing a good portion of the vodka. “Why would you do that to yourself? You know who you are.”

While he sat there really thinking about it, Kavi couldn’t stop himself from thinking about Ariel and how after everything went downhill because of his stupidity, he was here and she probably wasn’t. If she was, there was a good chance she was far away from him. Maybe Ariel wasn’t worth it after all. He had thought about canceling the party and chasing after her and maybe fixing things, but what would that do? She made up her mind about him the minute she tried to kill him with his own gaming console. She was done with him so now, perhaps, it was Kavi’s turn to be done with her.

He took another drink from the bottle. “Yeah, you’re right, Mac. If Ariel Grey doesn’t want me, then I’ll just be who she already thinks I am.”

Somebody Once Told Me. . .

There is plenty of booty to bed (or so I heard).

WELCOME!

Palm Beach Royals: Senior Year

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_{A Collaboration Post with @SpicyMeatball featuring Kavi Salvador & April Foster}

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In between the rotating door of partygoers who decided to come and go near where Kavi was and felt the need to offer him some sort of shot or ask him to drink with him, the host of this year’s Halloween party was well on his way to being hammered. His sense of direction and ability to walk in a straight line had started to become compromised and he didn’t like it. Not because he didn’t enjoy drinking. Kavi thoroughly enjoyed the taste of any and all alcohol, but it was the effects it had on him that wasn’t all that favorable.

And as he took a turn around, bumping into the table just slightly, he was able to witness first hand -- and in the second row -- to the carnage that was happening at his wonderful beer pong table. People talking about others’ mothers and Aiden getting laid out. And as if that wasn't bad enough, Santiago using that as a distraction to leave with Astraia? Wait, that couldn’t be right. “Isn’t he with..” Kavi’s thought trailed off into silent thought. If he was here, then April had to be somewhere close by.

So he scanned the back patio and sadly, nowhere was April to be found. Part of him was glad for that. He didn’t like Santiago one bit and disliked him even more now that he chose to leave with Astraia of all people, but he had nothing against April. There was nothing about the girl that rubbed him the wrong way. He still really enjoyed the memories of their homecoming date. It may have resulted in him having a suspended license, but damn it if it wasn’t a fun night. Totally worth all of the hell that came after.

Soon he arrived at the conclusion that April wasn’t in the back patio area, so walking slowly, Kavi stumbled into the house, moving his way past even drunker partiers -- some that he knew and some that he had no idea they went to KA. Eventually, after making his way through the Halloween costume-clad crowd, he was in the clear where he found himself by the stairs and sitting on the third one from the bottom was April and she didn’t look like she was having a good time.

That was when Kavi plopped himself next to her, albeit a tad sloppier than he thought he would. His body was more obtuse and his body covered more of the stairs than April’s did, but he smiled at her. “Been searching high and low for you, ya know.” He said in a drunken laugh.

To say April was in a shitty mood was one hell of an understatement. For around half an hour know, she’d been watching Santiago from a dark hallway, just outside of where the rest of the party-goers had congregated. She’d spectated the entirety of what had gone down, from the super competitive drunk beer pong game to Julie randomly stripping down and sliding into the pool.

But the part that had really pissed her off, was once again seeing Santiago wander off with another girl. It was a damn near perfect repeat of what had happened at the beginning of the year, except this time she had the advantage. Santiago had no clue that April had joined the party. Had he been even the least bit observant, he would’ve noticed April’s practically trademarked white Maserati parked not thirty feet from the entrance to Kavi’s place. Knowing Santiago however, she knew that he wouldn’t pay attention to it. Not with so many attractive distractions present.

She couldn’t even have a drink to calm herself down or to forget about the entire thing. Why the fuck did she ever get attached to that man-whore?

“Have you now?” April turned towards an intoxicated Kavi, her head slightly cocked. “Then it appears my entrance wasn’t unnoticed like I had intended.” April turned back towards the crowd, shooting a venomous glare to the spot she’d seen Santiago and Yessi disappear to not five minutes before. Many ideas were running through April’s vindictive mind. What could she do to absolutely ruin their night? What was the most damage she could do that was within the law? Hell, was she willing to break the law to get back at the Devil of King’s Academy? It likely wasn’t out of the question.

“So, why exactly were you looking for me anyway?” April inquired, her gaze not leaving the crowd in front of them.

Kavi wondered if she knew about Santiago. He knew that idiot wasn’t really subtle and her being by the stairs meant she had the perfect vantage point to see just about everything that went on. He half-wanted to tell her, but she was already in such a foul mood from the way she didn’t bother looking at him that Kavi opted to not do that.

“We haven’t really seen much of each other since homecoming. So I figured I’d come to find you and chat for a bit,” he said using his elbows to level his upper body some so he didn’t appear to be a total slob when speaking to April. “Or if you want to be left alone, that’s cool too. It just seems like you rather not be left alone?” He was guessing at this point. Deep down, Kavi wanted to check up on her but he didn’t want to really mention anything Santiago-related if he could help it.

“Can I ask you something Kavi?” she said in a genuinely nice tone, looking to him with a slightly better expression on her face. Between homecoming and now, Kavi had actually shown more genuine care and interest towards her than Santiago by a landslide. And even again, on Halloween night--one of April’s favorite occasions because of all the fun with costumes--Kavi was there when Santiago didn’t even want her there. “Am I attractive as Yessi or Bea?” It sounded like such a stupid question as she said it, but it was too late to take it back now.

While it likely wasn’t the best thing to be thinking, April had to wonder whether Santiago actually gave a shit about her more than he did about any other given girl at King’s Academy, or whether she was just another notch on his belt. She felt like an idiot, going back to him time after time only to have him pull the exact same shit he had pulled previously. “And I don’t mean that in a bad way towards either of them...well, maybe towards Yessi I guess...fuck, I don’t even know what I’m saying. And I haven’t even had anything to drink!” The brunette slumped her head down onto her arms, taking in a deep breath.

Kavi had managed to sit up during April’s rant about Astraia and, surprisingly, of all people, Beatrice. He didn’t understand the mention of her but he knew, even in his somewhat intoxicated state that April must’ve seen Yessi and Santiago pass on by somewhere. At least it saved him the awkwardness of bringing it up, but that didn’t change anything. That idiot Santiago hurting a perfectly good one for Astraia. Kavi had a close and complicated relationship with Yessi, but it seemed coming back had done more harm than good.

As Kavi just looked at April, he didn’t know what to say, well he did but the words wouldn’t come out just yet, so he put a hand on the nearest wrist it could find. “April,” he managed to say, “Yessi doesn’t hold a candle to you. And if that dumbass ex of yours can’t see that, then I say forget him. You can do much better than him.” Oh yeah, he could feel something churning in his stomach. Kavi had no way of knowing if it was guilt for being nice to anyone other than Ariel in a way that would look problematic at best, or butterflies for April that just made it all worse for outside eyes.

“God, I wish it were that easy.” April said in a muffled voice, her head still tucked into her arms. There was a small part of April that wanted to leave it at that and say nothing more about the human growing inside of her. The human that she and Santiago had made. A larger part of her, however, wanted to scream it to the rooftops that she, April Lillian Foster, was pregnant with the Devil’s child.

“You really think Yessi doesn’t hold a candle to me?” April brought her head back up, looking to Kavi with the yellow-red eyes made possible by her costume. “It...it just feels like no matter what I do he never really cares about me. Why do I bother?” she asked, though more to herself than to Kavi.

“You think I should just ditch him?” she asked, the tone of her voice genuine but almost hesitant. April almost regretted asking, but at the same time, Santiago had done very little to actually support her. Every time there was a moment where she’d really needed him, Santiago would just go silent for a few days before returning as if nothing was wrong. Why the fuck should she stay with him? Apart from the fact that she was bearing his fucking child--which didn’t seem to matter to him, his level of faithfulness hadn’t changed a bit--April had zero reasons to stay.

Kavi, on the other hand, had been there for her multiple times. Maybe it was time for Santiago to see what it felt like to be cheated on.

“Well..”

Kavi couldn’t really find the words. No, that wasn’t true. He had the words but maybe it wasn’t his place to say them? He had a girlfriend who he loved a good deal. They had a fight but he loved her. Kavi loved Ariel and she loved him ...in her own way. So him telling someone else to dump their whatever Santiago was/is to April didn’t feel like it was his place, yet at the same time, nobody else was around and Kavi felt like he had to say something. Anything.

He just had to say something.

“He should be here with you instead of me, but he’s with Yessi. I will be here regardless of what you do, the Kavmiester is here for you, April O'Neil.” He patted her hand a couple more times for support and an added assurance.

“I appreciate it Kavi. At least I can count on you.” April reached to grab Kavi’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze before sending him a warm smile, a rather unsettling look with April’s makeup and contact lenses. Then, with a quick glance to the crowd in front of them to check for any on-lookers, April moved to push herself gently into Kavi. The small distance that had been between them before was no longer present. April looked into Kavi’s eyes, trying to read whether he was alright with the situation or not before closing her eyes and leaning in to kiss him rather passionately.

Initially, Kavi was taken by surprise as his eyes widened when their lips had connected and there was a large part of him that kept poking him to cease and desist all actions. Think with the brain and heart and not the body part he left in charge of such decisions. He didn’t stop and for a long series of moments that were as slow as a tortoise, the passion lingered and Kavi had actually returned the kiss for a bit. His arms had reached around April’s head, his hands running themselves through her light brown hair and for a moment, he didn’t have any thoughts but to keep kissing her.

Until he closed his eyes and saw Ariel’s face with her beautiful smile, her voice calling his name. And that’s when the guilt set in, immediately forcing Kavi to pull away. “I can’t I--” Kavi looked at April, uncertain what it was but he couldn’t bring himself to bring up Ariel right now. He was about to and maybe he should have told her he had a girlfriend, but Kavi couldn’t. “--it wouldn’t be right. You’re upset about Santiago. As much as I want to get back at him for how he hurt you, this isn’t the way.” As soon those words left his mouth, he was equally divided between the situation he was in and what he should say right now versus what he wanted to do. Yes, he should mention Ariel, but also yes, he wanted to go back to her soft lips and kiss her some more because holy shit, April was a great kisser!

April’s mind was a flurry of emotions that spun around almost as fast as her heart was beating. As Kavi pulled away from her, she couldn’t help but feel disappointed. It had been at least a few weeks, if not longer since she’d really kissed anyone else. “I...I’m sorry Kavi…” April looked down to the floor, her cheeks a fiery red and her breaths rapid. “Fuck…” she muttered under her breath. Every bit of her yearned for the feeling that Kavi had just given her. To be genuinely cared for and loved. The fact that he too was a damn good kisser was just icing on the cake.

“I shouldn’t have done that...I don’t know what I was thinking. I haven’t even been drinking...” April finally spoke with a bit more purpose and strength to her words. The long locks of her brown hair partially hid her face as she closed her eyes, shaking her head to herself. What the fuck are you doing April…

“A-are you mad?” she asked, her head unmoving from its position facing down to the floor, resting in her hands.

He wouldn’t respond immediately. Instead, he kept his eyes on April and seeing how messed up she felt about kissing him. That was something that Kavi could relate to. Just as she felt horrible for kissing him, he felt the same tugging feeling between what he desired and what was right in the pit of his stomach. The butterflies died and now a sinking hole replaced it. How could he do this to Ariel? Why didn’t he go to her when she walked off? All of these questions were coming to him, but the one thing that he knew he had to do was assure April that she had nothing to apologize for.

He put a hand on April’s, like before he made sure she knew he wasn’t going anywhere. “I’m feeling a lot of things but anger isn’t one of them,” he told her, smiling. “What would I have to be mad about? I got to kiss a beautiful girl and probably stick it to Santiago in the process. As far as I see, there was no harm done.” There he went lying for the sake of comforting another. And in the back of his mind, he knew it was wrong. He had to make it right before it went too far. “I’m just not sure how I’m going to explain this to my girlfriend,” Kavi mentioned so casually that it barely registered with him until he saw the look on her face.

April’s face went paler than the creature she was portraying with her costume as those final words came out of Kavi’s mouth. Her heart sank so unbelievably fast that she briefly felt like she was going to pass out. “Jesus fuck…” she stood from her seat and paced back and forth, running her hands through her hair nervously.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. April was supposed to be getting revenge, not feeling like shit because she probably broke another girl’s heart in the process. “Fuck Kavi, I am so unbelievably sorry...I feel like such an asshole. W-when you tell her, tell her it was all me...it was my fault. I did it.” April continued a very nervous pace back and forth before an idea spun together in her mind. There was still something she could do to get back at Santiago, and while it wasn’t the most ambitious of plans, it would definitely get everyone’s attention. “Kavi...I have an idea.”

Just when he was about to tell her she had a very small part in this, Kavi just watched her go back and forth. It wasn’t making him dizzy, thank god, but he lost sight of her a couple of times until she mentioned some idea. That was when he popped upright with a smile. “Well do tell. What sort of idea is brewing up in that beautiful brain of yours?” He inquired.

“I’m gonna call him out in front of everyone. Show him that I’m done with his shit.” she said proudly, before reaching down to grab Kavi’s hand. “I’m gonna need you to be up there with me for it though, just for the extra effect.” April said with a grin, before half-dragging Kavi back into the party, up to the front of the crowd and then into the DJ’s booth. “I need to borrow the mic if that’s alright.” she gave the DJ a pretty please look before being reluctantly given the mic. With Kavi still in tow, she tapped the mic a few times against her thigh to get the crowd’s attention before beginning to speak.

“Good evening King’s Academy!” April called out to the crowd in her best hype-up voice. “How’s everyone doing tonight?” She called out, resulting in a loud cheer from the crowd in response. “I just want to say a few things before we bring back the music. First off, I would like to thank Kavi here for throwing this amazing party and making this all possible. I would also like to thank him for being there for me when my boyfriend Santiago wasn’t! On that note, I would like to give a shoutout to the new couple that ran to the back a few minutes before, Santiago and Yessi! Congratulations you two! Let's give them a big round of applause!” April clapped her hands together. For a moment, the audience was hesitant to do anything--it was definitely an awkward moment--but after a deafening silence, a gentle clap began that slowly grew into full applause.

“On one final note!” She called out loudly. “Because of the current situation regarding our dear Devil of King’s Academy, I would like to make a big announcement. Santiago! You are the father! You are the father of the child I am carrying, in case you forgot! Yes! I am pregnant bitches!” April’s hand shook as she said these final words, the false confidence she’d had at the start was beginning to wear off as familiar faces and strangers alike stared at her. “And now, back to the music!” she called out at last, resulting in a brief cheer from the crowd before the thumping bass kicked back in and everyone began to dance once again.

April turned to Kavi, both hands still trembling. “...W-well...how was that?”

“I could just kiss you right now..” As soon as he said that, he awkwardly transitioned into a laugh. “Oh you know what I meant. That was great. Santiago and Astraia will probably be furious, so that’s good and you spoke like a pro. You have a natural talent for this.”

“It's about damn time someone called him on it. Now he can’t hide it from anyone.” April said, taking a deep, shaky breath. No more hiding anything.

"I couldn't agree more," he said, half of his attention on April but the other half was at the DJ's stage. “Just excuse me for one moment.” Kavi gestured towards April to hold whatever thought she was about to put to words as he went back to the DJ table, Alonzo rolling his eyes at Kavi.

“What now?”

“I just need to use the microphone for one or three moments.”

Annoyed, Alonzo handed it over. “Fine but make it quick!”

“Thank you!” Kavi imitated a grateful bow as smiled politely at Alonzo. “So sorry I’m interrupting again, I know but Ariel, if you’re still here, which I’m hoping that you are. If you’re not still pissed at me, can we talk?” Kavi said into the microphone. “If so, I’ll be waiting for you by the hot tub!” He said with a hopeful voice, trying not to feel awkward with everyone staring at him.

Soon Kavi stepped away from the table and did very little to meet the eyes and the mild laughter of those he passed by. He didn’t have time to really think about what they thought about him. There were more important things for him to focus on. He had to figure out what he was going to say to Ariel and if he should bring up the kiss with April or not. No, of course, he should. Kavi couldn’t run away from it. He learned that lesson last month at Homecoming. He had to at least make the attempt to do better this time around. He loved Ariel so much. Contrary to what everyone thinks and keep saying about him on social media, Kavi Salvador is capable of change!

“Now I just wait and pray she will answer my plea.”

Kavi always hated waiting. He always felt exposed but Ariel was worth it. She was worth everything.