AlteredTundra

Meadow University

_{A @metanoia, @BitchTheFuck, & @fledermaus Collaboration
Featuring Nathaniel Blake | Millie Jean Zadorozhny | Tiberius & Jasper Delamar}
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Millie Jean likes to think she’s a good friend, but she also knows she’s a bit of a coward too. She always thinks that when it comes down to it, she’ll be a good friend rather than be a big coward. Matter of fact, it’s the only thing keeping Millie Jean from emotionally berating herself over her cowardice - the idea that, in the end, she’ll find her bravery. Except, when Tiberius Delamar presses his arm against Nate’s throat, Millie Jean finds herself letting out a single squeak.

“H-hey, Ty - er, Tiberius.” Millie stuttered, feeling awkward and alarmed. “U-um, Nate, well…”

Her small voice went, mostly, ignored. When Jasper arrived at the scene, really the root of their current situation (or maybe it was Millie’s fault for having a stupid idea), Millie Jean felt dread and relief at the same time. Until it was Jasper’s arm pressed against Nate’s throat.

Really, Millie Jean could do with some of that miraculous friend-fueled courage right about now. Instead, she wrings her sweaty hands together and says a mental sorry to Nate’s purpling face.

"What the fuck Nate," she growled, glaring up at him. "I knew you couldn't handle your booze, but you can't send a text right either?"

Seeing the way Jasper looked at him sent chills down his spine. Not even a thousand jump scares could even begin to compare to what Jasper brought out of him at this very moment: pure, unadulterated, petrified horror. “Well.” Nate’s eyes darted away from Jasper’s but he felt her arm tightening against his neck, pressing hard on his windpipe. His first thought was how dangerously her actions mirrored Ty’s. It must’ve been a twin thing. “Like I told your brother literally moments before you took over, I only meant to send it to you. But..” Nate’s blue eyes once again glanced over to Millie, the sparkle within his irises begging for her to help him out.

Millie hesitated, her hands hovering in almost a flinch. She tried to muster up some courage to deal with the intimidating twins and when she first tried to speak it came out with a squeak.

"H-hey guys," Millie swallowed thickly and could feel her nerves on fire, "W-why don't we just take it easy. N-Nate was just trying to apologize. It was an accident, honest."

Nate's half-apology didn’t impress Ty. It didn’t take that much effort to make sure you were sending the text to the right person. Thankfully (or maybe not so thankfully) for Nate, Jasper took Ty’s place before asking Nate the same question that he did.

”Hey Mil, I think it’s just best if --”

Before Ty could attempt to warn Millie, Jasper turned her attention to the other girl for a brief second. ”Oh shut the fuck up,” she said, rolling her eyes. The last thing Jasper needed right now was someone trying to mediate. ”Who the hell invited you to this anyway?”

“Hey now!” Nate managed to say despite his current predicament. “Don’t be mad at her. If you need to, direct that anger onto me. She’s only trying to help!” Nate hoped his attempt to direct Jasper’s wrath away from Millie. It wasn’t her fault she was in the middle of something he clearly didn’t need to broadcast to the entire world.

”You’re shitting me, right,” Jasper said, turning her attention back to Nate. ”How is she trying to help. Please, do enlighten me ’oh great one who cannot send a text.’”

In an attempt to calm Jasper down, Ty tried to reach out and put a hand on her shoulder, shrugging his shoulders at Millie in defeat. ”Jazzy. Remember what you said to me about crushing Nate’s windpipe? How about we let the poor guy breathe for a second, hm?”

”Nope. Not yet.”

Beforehand, Millie Jean hadn’t had a problem with Jasper (or at least that she knew of). They never really talked or anything of the sort and this probably counted as their first, maybe second, interaction ever. Then and there, Millie Jean decided she didn’t like Jasper. Yes, maybe the accident is a bit embarrassing (on both accounts, really), but that wasn’t an excuse to be so hellish and mean.

“It was an accident.” Millie Jean repeated, and she hates herself a little bit that the hard edge and unwavering tone came from her extreme dislike of Jasper rather than her loyalty to Nate. Maybe she really is a bad friend. “Let him go.”

”And why should I, Millie?” Jasper asked, sneering the other girl's name. ”Because you’re gonna kick my ass or some shit? This is between Nate and I. Not you. I suggest you find your way out of this conversation.”

“Kick your ass? I-I wouldn’t sink so low.” Millie Jean said, her words squeaky rather than strong like she wanted it to be. Still, she jutted out her chin and cleared her throat. “How old are you? Act like an adult and-and let him go.” Fuck, she was starting to be repetitive.

Jasper laughed. Who the actual fuck did this mousey little brat think she was? It didn’t matter - her problem was with Nate. Turning her attention back to the boy, she frowned.

”I don’t like her.”

”Jazzy please, can we not do this today?” Ty had always found Millie’s company pleasant, and he didn’t want his sister fucking that up. Millie was a loyal friend - that much Ty knew about her reputation. Shrugging his shoulders in defeat, Ty gave Millie an apologetic look.

Choosing to ignore both her brother and Millie, Jasper attempted to continue her conversation with Nate. ”Listen dude. Me pinning you up against the snack machine is because I’m disappointed. Not mad - but disappointed. I didn’t think you could do something so dumb. Do you know what I’m going to have to put up with for the rest of the day? Probably the rest of the year? Who the hell apologizes for touching someone's tits anyway? If I didn’t want your hands on me at The Bash you would have known it.” Letting her arm fall back to her side, Jasper took a few steps back from Nate and took her spot beside her brother. Crossing her arms across her chest, she looked back at Millie. ”I’m letting him go because, despite my behavior, part of me gives a shit. Not because I give a fuck what you have to say.” The true reason Jasper let go was that she was satisfied with the fact that Nate would have problems swallowing for the rest of the day.

Nathan wanted to speak. Nathan wanted to say something, but before he ever got the chance to, Millie, the one who always seemed to be quiet and kept to herself, had really surprised him in how valiantly she fought on his behalf. He knew Jasper was scary and intimidating. He knew Millie found her scary and intimidating, but their exchanges proved a few things to Nathan. The first, of course, was how lucky he was to have a friend like Millie. She wasn’t always the kind of person to speak her mind, but when she did, it was like when Gohan went Super Saiyan 2 and beat the crud out of Perfect Cell. She was that badass.

And the second, well when Nate’s eyes fell on Jasper, who graciously had allowed him to breathe, was what Jasper said to him. He can’t lie: the fact she was disappointed and not just mad at him hurt. He felt like Kuwabara anytime Kuwabara decided to fight and got his ass beat and then Hiei added salt to the wound. If she was mad, Nate could deal. He could come back and try again when she’s had time to calm down, but disappointed? Nathan had seen that look before. His father (when he was around) had always given it to him. But there was also something Jasper had said that, in his mind, despite everything, allowed some light to be somewhere at the end of the tunnel.

As he coughed, Nate finally spoke, “I’m sorry. Despite what my reasons were, it shouldn’t have happened.” Truth was, Nate couldn’t possibly understand what this was going to do to Jasper or even her reputation, which was kind of already shoddy to begin with. But he didn’t want to make it even worse, so he wouldn’t add to it by making excuses. Not that anything justified what he did.

Jasper shrugged her shoulders. ”Whatever. We should probably all head to class, right?”

It is not that Millie Jean didn't see where Jasper was coming from. She understood to a degree, being intimately familiar with humiliation on a daily basis (the pitfalls of being easily embarrassed). She even felt a little bit guilty, since it was her suggestion in the first place and Nate is getting all the repercussions of it. Millie is a bit too scared to own up to her part in it, however. At the end of the day, though, Millie Jean still frowns and abhors the behavior Jasper displayed. Even if she felt humiliated, there was a way to go about talking of such things.

Millie Jean gently clasped Nate's wrist and tugged him from the vending machine lest he get his throat lacerated again. "Let's go get some ice for your throat."

Nate felt like he was at a tug of war between his inner-desire of wanting to say something before Jasper and Ty had completely walked out of range and Millie Jean pulling at his arm. He resisted his friend for a moment, still deciding what he wanted to do. After twenty seconds of feeling his arm being jerked in the opposite direction the Delamar twins started to walk in, Nate sighed slowly and lowly as he waved at Jasper, who was still halfway facing him and went with Millie and did so in silence. At the end of the day, as much as Nate wanted to say something, his throat was killing him.

“Yeah, alright.” Nate’s response came out in a scratchy tone, the effects of having two forearms pressed against his throat were already starting to become apparent. As he and Millie walked further and further away from the vending machines and closer to the cafeteria, the same thought of what this would do to Jasper weighed heavily on his mind.

Meadow University

When you said your last goodbye
I died a little bit inside
I lay in tears in bed all night
Alone without you by my side

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Between the amount of time she spent on the dirty bathroom floor, frozen in her despair, lamenting on how fucked up her life just became, Joanna was a wreck. She played back the conversation over and over in her head like it was a broken record, trying to pinpoint exactly when it was she messed up, trying to figure out what she could have done differently, what things she should have said instead of what left her lips. Everything that had been said she wanted to take back. If there was ever a time she wished time travel existed, it would be now.

As she sat there, head resting against the sink, her head throbbing and eyes more watered down than gender equality in male-dominated workplaces. The on-point makeup had run down her face, past her lips, and dripped onto her shirt. She was still sobbing, voice cracking as she repeated Lottie’s name like she was calling out to angels, praying to the god she didn’t believe in to rewind the last thirty minutes of her life, desperate for a do-over, yearning with a desire to make it right.

But it didn’t come. No guardian angel telling her it was all going to be okay nor did God answer her prayers. Of course she didn’t. “Of course,” she muttered in a low, thick voice riddled with sorrow.

The usually bubbly girl finally came face to face with the monster that broke Lottie’s heart. She saw how pathetic she looked, the way her tears and mascara molded together, the rainbow that had a deceitful light in them. She was a snake, a confusing, glittery snake who couldn’t make anyone happy. Everything she touched: Lottie, Jade, they all eventually would leave. This monster’s ride or die was the first to distance themself. So how long would it be until the soccer star would?

She rolled out about ten sheets of paper towels and looked down at the sink, putting her hand under the motion sensor fountain. The lukewarm water coated her hands and with the help of soap and patience, she started the process of attempting to clean off her makeup.

Five minutes later, Joey looked like someone who hadn’t just had her entire world crushed. Broken as she was, at least she could play pretend again. At least she could break the rust on the fake smile she hadn’t been forced to use in nearly four years, not since her sweet sixteen. She could put on the show that everyone expected from her anyway.

The manic pixie had arrived at Meadow View. At last, her wings will spread again.

cancelled.

Okay, that means I'm out.
It's now 3 pm PST & 6 pm EST - which means it's midnight over here... that means all discussions on lore & chit chat will take place while I am in my bed... (single parent with full time day job)

Guess I'll have to go look for a European version of the Guild... #sad

@Dutchess Sarah

It honestly depends on the time people are active. I've been in chats where all the good shit happens early morning for me. Sometimes people can't sleep, so they chat on discord. It's not always a set time for things.

So, I don't think you'll miss out on that much. Plus, uh, we are also a bunch of insomniacs so there's a lot of random spurts of chit chat activity.

Meadow University

_{A @metanoia & @BitchTheFuck Collaboration
featuring Theodore Bonfamille & Fiona Salvador}

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Fiona could have sworn that she sat down at a table by herself, but as luck would have it, it no longer appeared that way. Looking up from her textbook, Fiona found herself looking at a familiar, handsome face. One whose name she didn’t know, but yet…

”Fiona, yes,” she said, reaching out for a handshake. ”Salvador works too.” The Universe is being the funny thing that it was, Fiona realized in that moment where she recognized the young man sitting across from her from. ”You’re Theo, right? The second part of the reason why my scholarship is in jeopardy?”

“Half the reason, but yeah,” Theo confirmed, reluctantly nodding. If this was what his life was going to be like now, he might have to prepare himself for it. At least, for the time being, it seemed Fiona wasn’t thinking about clobbering him. He could think of a few that might actually do it if they had their way. “If you want to hit me, try and aim for my left cheek. It’s the side of my face that’s not as bruised up,” Theo laughed, hoping a sense of humor might earn him some forgiveness. Then again, he didn’t know if Fiona was the type to hit first and ask questions later.

Unable to help herself, Fiona smirked at his comment, putting her hand back in her lap. ”No worries. My GPA is decent enough, I don’t play any sports…. And I don’t think the probation would threaten my music. At least not in any way that I can currently think of.” Brushing her hair behind her ear, the young woman continued to speak. ”I didn’t mean to just… force myself into your personal space or whatever but now that I’m here…. Mind telling me the story of how the fight started? You don’t have to. I’m just curious and have nothing else to do until class starts.”

How exactly would he explain the series of events that led to him and Cass throwing hands? It wasn’t like there was an easy way to say ‘well I got jealous and attacked someone for messing with this girl who isn’t my girlfriend but someone I have a crush on’ and not paint himself as the villain in this story. And maybe he was. His temper and inability to keep said temper in check led to a domino effect that currently has him regretting all of his choices that night. Of course there were other things on his mind but how he could’ve prevented himself from tackling Cassian Lee to the ground was at the top of his list.

“Well…” Theo’s voice trailed off as he hummed thoughtfully, biting his raised right thumb. “The short version is I got jealous of a situation that may or may not have been what I thought it was. The long version is a bit more complicated,” he admitted.

Nodding her head as she pursed her lips in thought, Fiona just shrugged her shoulders in a somewhat understanding matter. ”Believe it or not, I understand. Not… personally, but my younger sister tends to have some problems with the whole jealousy thing as well.”

Theo didn’t want to laugh, but one escaped his lips. “Sorry. I’m just trying to picture my own little sister, who is really just a few minutes younger than me since she’s one of two twins I have, but she’s…” Theo had to find the right words to describe Mads. “She is an uptight, stuck up, literal princess who, thank whatever God exists, didn’t inherit the temper I have.” Theo laughed again, but now he was thinking about what his little sister would look like when she’s trying to be angry. “Suffice to say, she is nothing like me in that regard.” Theo hated when he rambled on but sometimes he couldn’t help it.

Laughing herself, Fiona shook her head. ”No need to apologize, really. As it turns out I’m sort of the calmest kid. Apparently, my parents both used to be real fiery back in the day, and my siblings seemed to inherit that more than me. Billie, most of all. Nick just ended up with dads uh…. Playboy ways.” Not able to focus on studying at the moment, Fiona closed her book before putting it back in her bag. ”Siblings are funny, huh? I kinda helped raise mine in a way, so I just hope they both turn out to be decent at least.”

He forced out a laugh, wondering what it was like to have siblings younger than you that also didn’t share your same birthday. The longer he remained on that train of thought, the more it became apparent to him that Theo didn’t exactly feel like having two younger twins was necessarily a bad thing. Mads was a pain and she could be clingy, but there was nothing about her he would change. He felt the most protective over her due to the fact she was the most innocent of the three. Bastien was moody and he could usually be an easy target, but Theo knew he could handle himself. But Theo would be remiss if he didn’t worry about his pianist of a brother. His mouth was often the reason why Theo was like a hawk watching over him because it led him into situations not even Bas could anticipate.

“That’s all one could ever hope for,” Theo mused, cracking a smile as he fell on Fiona’s eyes. He wasn’t sure why now he was just noticing, but Fiona was incredibly...hot. Regardless of whatever he felt for Mac, or if whatever chances he had still existed, he was a single guy and Fiona was easy enough to talk to. Not to mention, they both understood the double-edged sword of being the oldest. “If you’re still interested, I can tell you how I got my scars. Might be nice telling it to someone who doesn’t want to bash my brains in.” And right, Theo didn’t know who would befriend or foe, especially when they figure out the not-hard-to-grasp mystery of the angry ginger.

”I mean, I have no reason to be mad at you, I guess. We have whoever leaked the video and the administration to be mad at. Whoever leaked the video has it coming though, let me tell you. But yeah. No worries about me wanting to beat you half to death or anything. So uh… go for it!” she said enthusiastically.

Fiona had the tendency to ramble on, especially when meeting someone remotely new. Her parents had taught her that first impressions meant everything, and to say that the lesson had stuck with her was an understatement. Sometimes talking could be a bad thing, sometimes it could be good. It was still too early to tell with Theo.

So Theo did. He told Fiona about his entire experience at the Bash. He mentioned he arrived with his two siblings and unintentionally left them to their own devices as he almost went to talk to Mac but instead went to his immediate right where his best friend, Connor, was at. Theo explained that Connor was a hell of a wiz with computers and did all of the IT work for his website. He would go onto mention how he played a few games of beer pong with Connor and how they were joined by Mackenna Diedrikson and Alaric Sterling and how it was originally supposed to be just a 2v2 game of Beer Pong, but then Cassian Lee showed up and the domino effect that followed resulted in Theo tackling him, in Cassian getting his licks in before being taken off by that Lola Russo bitch.

“And, that’s basically it,” Theo said, rubbing his temples with his left index finger and thumb. Just talking about that whole night, at least of what he experienced, reminded him of the giant headache it became. “That's the reason why we’re all on academic probation and why, to most when they figure it out, I’ll have a matching set of bruises all over this damn body of mine.” He laughed but given some of the people at this school, with one command, certain people could make that happen.

Fiona listened patiently, taking mental notes as Theo talked. She heard familiar names, but no one she was to close with. Of course she knew of people's reputations around Meadow, but she wasn’t about to sit here and silently judge them for it. Despite that fact, Fiona couldn’t ignore the fact that he was the one that jumped Cassian - and not the other way around. Knitting her eyebrows ever so slightly, Fiona simply nodded when Theo was done baring his soul.

”Well, whatever Cas did exactly to earn getting jumped - I’m sure you had a good reason. It honestly sounds like a huge mess, and I’m kinda glad I didn’t go now - no matter how much Dee begged me.”

In his heart of hearts, Theo wanted to say he was justified but retrospect provided a lot of perspective. He regretted doing it in front of Mac, but not actually giving Cassian a piece of his mind. That, at the very least, was something Theo didn’t feel any inkling of guilt for. “Well, I’m sure there will be plenty of opportunities for you to make bad choices and regret some of them.” He laughed, feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket. “I mean, if there will ever be a time to take chances with what we should or shouldn’t do, now’s the time, right?” Theo said, glancing at his phone for a quick second. He saw he got a text from Shi, which he read a moment later.

And that’s when he had just remembered something important.

“Shit,” Theo cursed, smacking his forehead. “Hey, so sorry to do this but a friend of mine is waiting for me at the bean and I completely forgot. But uh, thanks for not jumping my bones for all of this.” The ginger smiled at Fiona, standing up. “We should definitely hang out more often. I’m staying at that obnoxiously-large manor in town. Bonfamille Manor on top of the hill.”

Checking her phone for the time, Fiona quickly stood up herself. After gathering her things, she turned and smiled at Theo. ”Don’t worry. Whenever I get the urge to make one of those extremely bad decisions, I’ll be sure to come toss rocks at the windows or something. Maybe you can talk me out of it. Or encourage me. Either way. In the meantime - I gotta get to class.” Giving him a small peace sign goodbye, Fiona turned on her heel. Getting a few steps away from where Theo stood, she called out to him one last time. ”See ya around, Red!”

𝓢𝓪𝓵𝓮𝓶 𝓦𝓲𝓽𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓼' 𝓘𝓷𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓽𝓾𝓽𝓮 {A Harry Potter Roleplay}

Well, since we're reserving shit, I'mma just drop mine here:

Vanessa Morgan || #e0115f

𝓢𝓪𝓵𝓮𝓶 𝓦𝓲𝓽𝓬𝓱𝓮𝓼' 𝓘𝓷𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓽𝓾𝓽𝓮 {A Harry Potter Roleplay}

Palm Beach Royals: Senior Year

Feeling the beats, Sonny and Julie matched each other’s movements accordingly. The muscle memory was smoother than he initially gave it credit for. Either that, or being around Julie made him not care about how he danced to such a degree that he didn’t realize how terrible he looked. Sonny never claimed to be a good dancer; even when he was actively trying to improve, he never had it, but maybe that’s what happened when you threw caution into the wind and started to have fun.

Because that’s exactly what Sonny was doing. Was it because of Julie? Yeah, maybe. Or maybe for the first time in a while, he was able to let loose and just enjoy himself.

But alas, like all good things in life, Sonny’s moments of assemble-ing while Julie pirouetted him due to her slightly superior height had come to an end on the note as the somewhat upbeat song was replaced by something less groovy. It was a song Sonny had heard on the radio a few times and knew it was trash because of what it meant for some. See, Sonny was more of a hyperactive dancer and slow dancing was the bane of his existence and that’s exactly what Pillowtalk demanded. From people like Chanel, who was on the dancefloor already assuming the role of a leader, Sonny expressed himself with his tongue out, emulating one who was about to vomit.

Sonny leaned to Julie. “I’m gonna get us a couple of drinks. Be back in a few!”

Sonny was about two feet into moving his legs over towards the refreshments table when he caught the sight of his two best friends over by the DJ booth and holding each other in an intimate way no more than a few feet away. The way they looked, the way they were so close, and how...effortlessly they moved, Sonny had nearly forgotten about the drinks. He just watched them dance, watching Rye lead Marisol across the dancefloor like she was the beauty to his graceful beast. Like it was…

Sonny shook his head and whatever thought crept up into his mind, he pushed it out nearly immediately, forgetting about the drinks, forgetting about whatever refreshments he thought he needed and instead went back to Julie. He took her hand, smiling. “I suppose we don’t have to stop dancing and I always wanted to try slow dancing, so how about it?” Sonny was speaking rhetorically, though he would wait for Julie to accept his offer before he would try his best to take her in a different way than even Sonny thought he was capable of. If he was going to fail at this, then he knew Julie would simply take the lead. He trusted her but moreover, he wanted to try and get closer to his best friends and slow dancing across the dancefloor was as good of a way to do it.

Palm Beach Royals: Senior Year

A @metanoia & @Rosalia Collaboration
Featuring Santiago Fernandez & Stella Lambert
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When Santiago’s Lambo started to move, something that Stella immediately noticed was how smooth it drove. She had never been in one before. Despite growing up pretty well off, her parents weren’t that wealthy and they personally weren’t the types to buy one. The closest to one she had been was seeing the person driving her to the country club show it off around school.

She chose to remain quiet for the most part during the drive. It wasn’t that Stella couldn’t talk about what had literally just happened. She could talk Santiago’s ear off, use him as a quality venting space, and maybe get some advice if that’s what she was in the mood for (it wasn’t). She didn’t do that because she didn’t want to think about it. She didn’t want to focus on the negative that was Chrissie or how her cousin was becoming a bigger pain in her rear than — hell, than Santiago was, which even then he never made her cry so much in her life.

Oops, guess she let that one slip.

Yeah, Stella was a wreck, but she didn’t want to think about any of that, especially with how terrible she’s been handling the Chrissie drama. She wanted to block it all out for tonight. Nothing brought her greater joy than knowing she and Santiago were in a good place and that she might even be able to have some fun with Carter (if she was lucky).

“Hey, listen.” Stella saw they were approaching the Country Club (the lights stuck out in the post-sunset evening like a sore thumb. “I’m sorry I’ve been so quiet,” Stella said, somewhat frowning at Santiago. “And I’m sorry you had to hear all of that back at the house. There was a lot going on. Chrissie got on my last nerve and--” She stopped herself. She felt the knot in her stomach start to tighten, signalling her she was near the point of doing exactly what she told herself she wouldn’t. “--And, I just didn’t want to lay that on you or give my cousin the benefit of ruining what I hope is an amazing evening with my new friend!” As they came to a stop at a red light, she gave Santiago a warm smile, hoping he knew that she meant every single word.

Santiago tore his eyes from the road ahead and turned towards Stella with a soft smile. “Hey, don’t worry about it, Stella,” he reassured her in a surprisingly gentle tone. “Families fight all the time. Sorry I was quiet all the way here, though. I figured you wanted some space. I didn’t want to make you feel any worse by saying the wrong thing.”

Stella shook her head at his last comment. “Oh no. you could never. I mean, not anymore.” Oh there she went, foot in mouth again. “What I mean is now, you’re the only person right now who is making me smile,” she clarified. “In this god awful time of my life, the time spent with you has brought me more joy than, well a bag of sour cream and onion potato chips. And I love sour cream and onion potato chips!”

The young man couldn’t help but chuckle at her words. It was nice to know that she was on her way to being her usual cheerful self. The silence that had reigned between them along the way had been a tad unsettling. “As good as it feels to hear that I make you so happy, I’m glad you don’t smell like the chips. Lils used to love them too, but ever since she got pregnant even the tiniest whiff of ‘em makes her throw up. Funny how that happens, huh? How women get pregnant and suddenly something they used to love eating makes them stupid sick all of a sudden…” he rambled, his eyes now back on the road.

There was something comforting about how Santiago talked about April. Always she saw him as the kind of guy that was macho and obnoxious, but she truly was starting to see him in a different light and it always seemed to happen when he talked about April. And that was something Stella found truly endearing about him. How sweet he was, how down to earth he was. Everything that had been thought about him wasn’t accurate. The more time Stella spent with him, the more she was starting to see that.

After a few moments of silence and the country club practically within sight, Stella’s voice cracked as though it sounded off before anything coherent formed, causing her to cough. “I meant to say it before,” her voice was raspy and she coughed a few more times. “Do you happen to have anything to drink?” She asked him, coughing every other word.

Diablo smacked his head against the steering wheel. “Shit, yeah. Sorry about that, I meant to ask you earlier. Go ahead: open up the glove compartment and pick your poison. I’ve got water, ginger ale, juices, sparkling water... No alcohol, though. Reformed man with a kid on the way and all that,” he joked with a grin.

Stella half-coughed, half-laughed and grabbed the small, 8oz bottle of apple juice. She twisted off the cap and drank about a third of it before coming up for air. “That’s much better!” She could talk again! “Now, where was I?” She thought for a moment. “Oh right! With all the family drama that happened, I wasn’t able to tell you, but I bought you and April some gifts for the baby!” Stella told him with a gleaming smile on her face.

That brought a genuine, thankful grin to the young man’s face. “Oh yeah?” he asked, playfully raising his eyebrow before letting out a small laugh. “Damn, Stella: that’s really sweet of you. Lils is gonna love to hear that. We really do appreciate it.”

“I just hope you guys will like it,” Stella said, slightly nervous. She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, smiling at Santiago. “I can give it to you guys tomorrow or tonight even if there’s still time when we get back to my house.” She looked ahead for a brief moment, noticing the cars in front of them starting to move and that’s when she saw the green light.

“Fine by me,” Santiago answered, turning his attention back on the road. He let some silence fall between them as they finally reached the parking lot of the country club before he eventually blurted out, “I’m going to propose to her, you know? Not tonight, obviously, but definitely before summer ends.”

The brunette remained silent, trying to register exactly what she just heard; even as she did, it still didn’t click with her brain until it was about twenty seconds later. “You’re going to do what now?” She asked, turning her entire body as much as she could to face Santiago. “It sounded like you said you said you were going to propose to April…” Stella had a bad history of hearing things that weren’t actually said and thinking they were true, so hopefully Santiago would forgive her if she needed him to repeat himself.

The young man couldn’t help but chuckle loudly at his date’s disbelieving expression. “That’s exactly what I said. What, you have that little faith in me?” he teased, not waiting for her answer before adding, “I mean, I wouldn’t blame you. But I’m dead serious, Stell: I want to propose to April.”

She laughed, though felt guilty for jumping to the wrong conclusion. “No, it’s just--” She stopped herself. She was focusing on the wrong details. Stella took a breath, studying Santiago’s face and seeing a familiar expression of nervousness, one she often saw on her own but there was also a conviction she rarely saw on her own (though it existed somewhere). That gave her all of the proof she needed. He was as serious as she had to imagine he had been about anything else. “So you’re really--that’s amazing! Does anyone else know?” She inquired.

Santiago shook his head. “Nah. Haven’t wanted to freak anyone out with the news,” he confessed, turning over to look at her with what was probably the most open, honest expression he had ever given someone outside April, Max or his family. “And I feel as if I start saying it to people, everyone will be trying to tell me what to do, or pull me in all sorts of different directions. I don’t want that. I wanna be able to do things on my own terms and at my own time, you feel me?”

“I totally understand.” The scary part was she knew exactly what it felt like to want to tell someone something without another someone doing that for her. She knew the feeling all too well that it twisted her stomach whenever she thought about how Chrissie robbed her of telling Carter what she wanted to tell him. “You want to make sure when she hears it, it’s from you first and not planted in her head by someone who might twist things.” She took a moment to pause, shaking off the rising, almost boiling current of anger threatening to come to the surface. “Don’t worry, Santi! Your secret is safe with me!” And when she said that, unlike a certain drama queen who was faker than American cheese, she meant what she said.

Diablo gave Stella a bright smile. “Thanks, girl… For the gifts for Mila, the company-- everything. Sorry I just went ahead and dumped all of this on ya like that, but I really appreciate you listening to my ramblings,” he chuckled, scratching the back of his neck like he always did when he was nervous or embarrassed.

Stella gave Santiago a smile as she grabbed her clutch. “Of course! You made me forget all about that awful fight I had, so I needed it just as much as you seemed to have.” She offered him a smile. “So should we go in now? I think any more time spent sitting and my butt will get too numb for me to walk,” she laughed.

“Yeah, sure!” he responded, finally killing the engine of the Lambo. He exited the car and quickly made his way over to the passenger seat to help Stella gracefully step out, and once the doors were closed and safely locked behind them, the two made their way past the country club’s doors and into the already bustling ballroom.

Palm Beach Royals: Senior Year

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Meadow University

@Melissa LOVELOVELOVE HIM! _{his face claim is 10/10}

Naturally, Nolan is accepted!