BrutalBx

REBOOT COMING SOON. INVITE ONLY.

Kim huffed when Emi finally let go. God, that may have lasted for only a couple minutes but it may as well have been an eternity. She rolled her shoulders, scooting an inch away from Emi as she launched into a conversation with AJ. Despite being disgruntled at Emi's unexpected contact moments before, her concern spiked as AJ lead her friend away. The Gearhead's presence didn't seem to be inciting anymore breakdowns, but Kim wasn't sure how long Emi's current weird emotional high would last.

She looked on as they left, then turned away, shaking her head. Emi would be fine.

'Their loss,' she said to Sami, shrugging. 'What kind of story you got in mind?'

Most everyone seemed to be off doing their own things, she'd noticed. The air seemed lighter, the atmosphere almost passing as cheery, even, as conversation filled the space, whispers and murmurs alike. Val seemed buzzed about something, chattering excitably with Jules. At least she didn't seem pissed anymore.

Her messenger bag hadn't stopped buzzing since she'd stuffed her phone in it. The near constant vibration was rather irritating; she placed her hand on the bag, making to shift it against the log she was sitting on, away from her side. Then she paused, considering.

The buzzing was constant. Someone was calling her, not sending texts one after the other. She sighed. Her fingers clenched, twisting the bag straps in their grip. The buzzing continued, disapproving.

'Ah, sorry, I've gotta take this call first.' The apologetic smile was easy to slip on, her fingers relaxing as she took out her phone, careful to point the screen towards herself. 'I'll be right back.'

It wasn't hard to slip away from the campfire, looking to all the world as if she was taking a call from a friend. Neutrality was an expression she'd mastered, exuding false flippancy in her movements. Perhaps a little too false - her steps felt too calm, her grip on her phone too lax. None of it synced up with her rapidly beating heart and her dry mouth.

The back of the cabins was dark, dimly lit by the starscape above and light peeking through the cabin windows. Someone had left the lights on.

Kim stared down at her phone, took a breath, then accepted the call.

'Hey, mum,' she said.

The response was immediate. 'Where are you, Kimberly? Why aren't you answering my texts?'

'Red Rock Canyon. Didn't I already text you that?'

'You're still there? Please don't tell me you're staying the night.'

'...'

'Kimberly.' A frustrated sigh. Then, a muttered, 'I knew this was a bad idea.' Kim tensed but before she could respond, her mum continued, louder. Firmer. 'Look, I know I let you go on this trip, but I was expecting you to be more responsible than this.'

'I'm not the one who crashed the RV, mum.'

'That too. I've got half a mind to talk to your friend about responsible driving-'

'Mum. Don't drag him into this. He drove fine, someone else crashed into us.'

'Drag him into this? You did that when you brought up this trip, Kimberly. I'm glad you're safe, but of all the places you could have stayed at, you chose Red Rock Canyon? Cabins in the middle of who knows where? What were you thinking?!'

'I was thinking we'd have a normal camping detour like normal teenagers do,' was what Kim wanted to say, but she held her tongue. She could point out how they were only getting anywhere because of the Gearheads in the first place, or how there really wasn't anything wrong with camping at Red Rock Canyon. She could argue that her mum was being irrational, angry for reasons that only existed in her own mind. She was safe, nothing bad had happened, and they were all fine.

She did not say any of these things.

'Well?'

What was she thinking? She hadn't been. Not really. They were all fine. With or without her. She'd come on this trip, expecting to find something in herself that didn't exist. There was nothing deeper to be found in Kimberly Beveridge, no layers to peel back, no hidden potential to dig out. She was what she was - an average teenager with no valid interests that could possibly carry her higher in life.

There was just no changing that.

'This trip really upsets you, doesn't it?' she said.

'Of course it does! My only daughter travelling so far away from home. Do you know how worried I get? Not to mention you're spending time you could be using to prepare for college. You should make the most of this time to grow your skills and plan for the future!'

Grow. What a joke.

'I'll...go home, then.'

'What?' Why did her mum sound surprised? The least she could do was act happy that her daughter was finally listening. 'Now? Are you sure?'

'I'll wait till we get to Las Vegas, then I'll book a flight. I-you're right. This trip wasn't a good idea. I'll be home soon enough.' Kim spoke with a calmness she didn't feel, her heart clenching in her chest. Somewhere in there, a voice told her that this was ridiculous - she'd already come so far, why was she turning back now? Their adventure had barely begun!

'And it can continue without me,' her mind responded. Its tone was droll, dispassionate, and its voice was what Kim listened to. 'There's nothing here for me and nothing I have to give.'

It only made sense.

'I'm glad you're finally listening to sense,' sighed her mum. 'Call me then, okay? Let me know when you're flying off.'

'I will,' said Kim, 'Bye.'

She ended the call without waiting for a response.

---

The rest of the evening passed with Kim on autopilot. She listened to Sami's story, engaged in the occasional conversation, and through it all, her calm, relaxed attitude itched at her like a mask that didn't fit. She never mentioned her leave; she didn't know how to. What was she supposed to say? 'Hey guys, I feel insecure about coming along on this trip so I'm turning a 180 and heading home'? They weren't exactly in Santa Monica any more. This wasn't something easily dismissed.

'Understatement of the year. This is your last trip with them, genius.'

Now, in bed, the news still lingered behind her lips, yet to leave. She lay on her back, staring up at the ceiling in the dark. This wasn't good. She couldn't just leave out of the blue tomorrow. The others would have questions and she wouldn't be able to answer them, not without spilling everything she'd worked to keep close to her chest all these years.

Could she sneak off? No, that wouldn't be fair to them. She huffed, turning onto her side. Someone had to know. She couldn't keep quiet about this forever, not if she was set on leaving. Her fingers brushed against hard plastic beside her pillow. She frowned, contemplating. Then she wrapped her fingers around her phone, got off the bed, and left the cabin.

The outside was no more darker than it had been earlier but without the light of the campfire and friendly conversation, the air felt colder. Kim leaned against the wall of Sami's cabin, next to its door.

It took a good five minutes of staring at Sami's contact name on her screen before she actually made a move. Shutting her eyes, she released a harsh exhale. Then, she typed.

you awake?

sorry to disturb. I'm outside. There's smtg I need to tell you.

if you're sleeping, don't respond.

Almost immediately after sending the last one, Kim resisted the urge to smack herself. 'Real smooth, Kim.'

It had been a long day, there had been fights, fucks and fungus (just where did those Mushrooms come from?) but Sami’s head was feeling a little clearer now than it had been all day. He had taken to a small cabin to end the night, he was lucky or unlucky enough to have a place all to himself for the evening. This worked out fine for him as it would leave him to plot and plan for their sojourn into the lions den of Las Vegas. This was going to be the make or break moment for their group, they had to win big in the city of sin or this whole thing would be for nothing. Exercising had always been a great way for Sam to get into his own head and sort through the nonsense that was his life. As the sweat poured down his semi naked self, he noted in the corner of his eye a light flashing. Pulling himself to his feet from his push up position, the Cubans wandered over to the little bed side table where he had left his phone and glanced down at a new message; it was from Kim. All of a sudden his clear mind was cloudy once more as a thousand thoughts ran through it. He quickly grabbed a small towel to wipe away the sweat and stepped out of the cabin door, into the cool desert moonlight and in front of his friend Kim.

”You want to leave, don’t you?”

Kim raised her eyebrows, not moving from where she leaned against the wall. Her gaze flicked down Sami's bare torso, then returned to his eyes. He looked tired, but it seemed to be more from exertion than exhaustion. In the dim light, Kim could hardly make out the bruising on his face or his expression. His tone seemed resigned.

In a moment of sudden self-consciousness, Kim was acutely aware of how she was alone with Sami. In the dark. She wished she'd thought to put on her denim jacket. With just her sleeveless wool top, she felt bare.

'That obvious, huh? How'd you guess?'

”You’re one of my best friends, I can tell when something isn’t right. Besides, this late in the day, it doesn’t take a genius to work out either you’re after a booty call or you have a major problem” Sami leaned back against the wall next to her and sighed. ”You know, I had this feeling, Kimmy that something just wasn’t clicking for you, pretty much ever since we left Santa Monica. I know I should’ve approached it sooner but with the accident and trying to salvage this trip that I completely neglected you and I’m sorry for that” the latin lover repented as he gazed out across the campsite. ”I don’t need to know details of you don’t want to share them. First thing tomorrow, we’ll rent a car and I’ll take you to the airport, it’ll be quicker than driving back”

'Don't be sorry,' said Kim, 'It's not your fault.'

She nodded to his suggestion. That would be that, then. She would leave and not look back. They would part ways, unsure of what the future held for them.

The wind blew gently. The chill of the night seeped into her skin. She suppressed a shiver, crossing her arms. The heat that had chaffed uncomfortably in the daytime had no place in night's cool blanket.

Part ways, huh?

The silence stretching out between them was beginning to teeter on the edge of vague discomfort. She opened her mouth, ready to admit to everything she'd kept inside from the moment she'd gotten to know him. The way her heart fluttered when his kind eyes saw her. The quiet moments she savoured when they could just be them and not think about anything else.

'I'll see you tomorrow, then,' she said. Then, 'Thanks.'

---

With all her practice, she thought it'd be easy. Acting like all was right with the world while her reality was all sorts of not. Easy peasy. Except this wasn't quite the same as all the other times. This was, most likely, the very last time she'd have the chance to put up this facade in front of this group of people. Her friends.

How strange that this should be her first time not wanting to pretend either.

The morning was hard. Whatever she said to Em, Val, Jules, Nate, or Umbra felt stiff and foreign leaving her mouth and any enquiries on her wellness she deflected with a dismissive shake of her head. She was acting oddly, she knew, but she couldn't bring herself to tell them all she was leaving. Telling them would mean explanations and she knew Val would drag it out of her if she wanted to. And explaining everything right before leaving? Laying herself bare, letting them see the nothing that she was and would forever be? She couldn't do that. If this was going to be her last memories of them, she wanted it to be of them happy, in their own little ways.

It didn't change the fact it still felt like she was walking on eggshells every minute.

When it was finally just her and Sami again, on the way to the airport, relief rode through her. She wasn't sure what exactly he'd told them, but she was certain he hadn't said that she was leaving. Had he? Who knew? The others sure hadn't acted differently.

'That's because it wouldn't matter if you were there or not.'

The ride to the airport was quiet. Comfortably so. It was...familiar. The comfortable atmosphere quelled the unease in her middle more than the lights of Vegas ever could. But it couldn't last forever. Soon, she found herself staring at the hustle and bustle of the airport, just ahead. The taxi's engine rumbled behind where she stood. Her grip tightened on her suitcase handle.

She turned to Sami, flashing a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

'I should tell him.'

She stuck her hand out. Fondness, the first genuine feeling she'd felt all morning, crawled into her chest.

'Till we meet again.'

”Go ride those silver wings. I’ll be seeing you soon, Kimi” Little did either know, Sami would never make it back after this trip.

CANCELLED.

---

Collab with @TootsiePop

Featuring Jasmine & Hyde

---

It was exhilarating. The feel of a steel horse between his legs and the soft touch of the absolute babe around his waist and pressed against his back. She smelled like angels ought to smell, like the flower whose name she bore; Jasmine. Their rocket came to a screeching halt outside of the Bellerose Boutique that was the first part of their dare. Hyde had only a partial idea was to what this challenge would entail; all he knew was that they had to get into the Chapter Six club and that they had to look the part, hence their stop off at their current location.

Cameron Hyde and Jasmine Fulton were not made for the Chapter Six, one only had to look at the pair to distinguish that fact. Under their normal guise, the two would stick out like two sore thumbs, a biker girl with coloured hair and a dogtown thug with fresh battle scars; yeah they’d get into an exclusive nightclub no problem :/ Chapter Six was a den of iniquity, a filthy place for the very clean rich and famous to throw a little caution out of the window. Beverly Hills best kept dirty secret. If it wasn’t so pompous and pristine, it would be the kind of place a degenerate like Hyde would thrive.

Climbing off of the bike, Cam glances up at the store. It was getting close to closing time, so whatever they were about to do, they had to do it fast. ”How are we playing this girl?”’

“Girl.” Hopping off the bike, she snatched her motorcycle key from out of his hand, “I have a name, use it.” Turning around, looking at the lavish store she has never stepped foot in, she quickly thought of a plan and looked at him from the side. She smiled, “You’re clever. I’m sure you can think of something for yourself.” No longer wasting anytime, she took her leather jacket off and the flannel tied around her waist and placed it on her bike, taking some of her ‘edge’ off.

Without waiting for Hyde, all men and women for themselves, she went into the boutique and disappeared. They might be a team now, but there could only be one winner in the end. Using her womanly charm, she immediately found herself tailing a remaining group of girls, as if she were a part of it. Before she knew it, they were upstairs near the dressing room. At this point, she was far from Hyde and setting her plan in motion.

”Well that wasn’t hot at all” Hyde rolled his eyes as she ran off to do her part. He didn’t mind, in fact it was quite the turn on being put in his place a little bit. He watched intently with his baby blues as Jasmine conned her way into the boutique in a way he certainly couldn’t. McCarthy would be proud. As she disappeared behind the glass door more expensive than his house. Cam quickly shifted gears and began to scan the area for a way for himself to get in. There was no way in hell they were going to let him with his freshly busted up face to waltz in through the front door. Not a chance in hell.

A whisp of smoke from the side alleyway alerted the demon to a possible side entrance, peering around the corner, Hyde noticed a service door with a rather ugly looking fucker smoking a cheeky joint in its frame. A dark smile crossed his angelic face as he turned on his camera and took a step into the alley. ”Hey boss, do you know where this place is? This ain’t my side of town” as the gent looked at him with disgust, Hyde cracked him with a headbutt, followed by a selfie with his unconscious victim. A reminder to the watchers about just who the fuck this particular player was.

Exiting the bathroom with a shopping bag that wasn’t her’s, technically the rules said that they had to visit here and dress for the occasion, it didn’t specify where she should get her clothes, since this outfit was not Bellerose brand, she slipped into the dressing room and swiftly, nervously, changed her outfit. Her camera having been recording since she followed these girls with a lot of shopping bags into the bathroom. “I guess this makes my first offense. Taking purchased outfits from spoiled rich girls. Shit… this girl is small.” After struggling for a bit, she grabbed the phone off the chair and looked at her new outfit, her boobs breathing for air. Wow. Okay. This look surprised her… if only she had red lipstick.

Freezing into place, she heard two girls rushing out of the bathroom. Her heart stopped. Holding her breath, she listened to them freak out. Did they notice they were missing a bag? Opening her door slightly, she peaked to see them, and even went out of her way to point the camera toward them.

“You’re NOW just telling me? We need to get there promptu! I can’t believe you would forget to tell me that girls get in for FREE!”

With a sigh of relief, Jasmine watched the girls prance off to get ready for their own nightly adventure. Well, since she was here. She might as well buy lipstick to go with her outfit. She doubted she could afford the shoes. Keeping her things in the shopping bag, like her ripped jeans, Jasmine cooly exited the room and pretended she was there all along with this outfit.

Perhaps, she could live without lipstick and expensive shoes… closing time was approaching and her insides were doing summersaults. She really didn’t want to steal from here but… her boots were not going to cut it.

She received a message from the app with a picture of red shoes and lipstick on her bike. There was a comment: Thanks for showing all that skin, baby ;). Here’s a gift. So this is how you win followers. You do dumb shit or you make your viewer horny. Got it. Well, that was easy. Now she’d just have to hope Cameron’s adventure was going successful...

Creeping into the store room, Cameron checked for cameras which surprisingly there were none, at least that he could see. Feeling like he was in Mission Impossible, the dogtown reject crept around boxes and tables doing his best Tom Cruise impression to avoid being seen. If it was any other day, Hyde would’ve just charged in swinging but this was Dare night and that wasn’t how you won this game. It was all about finesse tonight.

All the Dare said was ‘dress for the occasion’ so Cameron made sure to eye up every box he passed for something that he could work with. It wasn’t until he turned another corner that he stumbled upon some fine pressed suits which were obviously worth a ridiculous some of money. He grabbed one from the rack and dove behind a shelf to change. Emerging from his hiding space in a three piece black suit with a popping red tie, the boy worth nothing looked like a man worth a million. He followed the same route back out of the boutique but before he went back to the bike he went to the closing florist across the street and pocketed a bouquet of flowers. Once he had returned to the bike, he stood looking almost princely, awaiting his partners return.

Calm and collected, even though inside she wasn’t, she sauntered outside, having slipped her boots off and throwing them into the bag when the cashier wasn’t looking and even going out of her way of purchasing small butterfly earrings, which was most of her earnings for the past… few… months but she couldn’t resist them! She’ll just ask her dad for her allowance in advance. Yeah. It’ll be okay. This was totally worth it. Rarely does she ever treat herself and she felt nice. Beautiful. Even poor girls don’t always have the strongest willpower.

When she saw him standing there, looking oddly dashing for himself, holding flowers, she couldn’t help but crack a smile. How unlike him. Teasingly, she approached him and asked, looking at him weirdly, “Do I know you?” Shaking her head, not falling for his charm, she put her bag with her belongings in her carrier bag, and then quickly put on the heels that were hanging from the right handle. As he watched her, she hastened her speed, slipped the heels on, then looked into her bike’s mirror, bending over, and applying the red lipstick. Once she was finished, she smacked her lips and slipped the expensive makeup into her carrier. Now, she could give him her full attention: “You look good.”

“I know but not as good as you, I mean damn” This was one of the few moments that he felt like the teenage boy he was rather than the beast he tried to be. Giving her the once over and handed her the flowers ”Don’t say I never gave you anything” His eyes darted to his phone when it chimed, they had to get moving, they had spent too long at the boutique and they had a game to win. “We better get going beautiful.”

The way he was treating her caused her to raise an eyebrow. There was no time to question him or even ask why he was playing this game with her. Honestly, how did they get this far without one of them hurting the other? Brushing off these thoughts, she peered down to the flowers. A wedding bouquet…this was far too big of a gesture for a first date. “...Alright.” She responded, almost hesitatingly.

After speeding through the neon streets of LA with his North Star in tow, Hyde parked the bike a few blocks away from the Chapter Six. It was Jasmine’s after all so he didn’t want it getting stolen. Although they were in a fancy area, stranger things had happened. Now came the hard part, getting in. The Chapter Six was seriously high end and one of the best kept secrets in Hollywood. It was a club that couldn’t be found except by those that already knows where it is. A-Listers would make a point of losing any and all paparazzi before entering the premise in fear of respite in the tabloids. It was that kinda place. Sinking deep into his broken mind palace, Hyde sifted through every hustle he had learned from McCarthy to try and figure out a way inside. “I’ve got an idea, follow my lead.”

“Get on your phone, go full Candy. Trust me.” Approaching the doorman, a big sabretooth looking fucker, Hyde with his sinister blues stared him down intently.

Oh interesting, which Candy should she display? The Candy Queen? The GBF? The Fashionista? So many possibilities. Although she was confused with her relationship with this boy, she was okay on playing actress for the night. “Why do I even bother.” She said matter-of-factly. While searching something on her phone, she took a moment to glare at the bouncer like she was ‘above’ him and even went out of her way to snap her gum that she had she slipped in her mouth while they walked over.

“Bud I know what you’re thinking but you need to stop right now. Do you even fucking know who this is? This is Jasmine Snow, her poster is probably on your prepubescent boys bedroom wall. Star of Biker Babes in BH, the new storm in X-Men? Are you really that out of touch? Get your manager on the phone right now. Let me speak to Havana. Sorry about this darling” Hyde placed his hand on the small of her back and switches his demeanour entirely to match that of a concerned boyfriend. “Get fucking Havana down here right now, Jas babe call him yourself. He’s being useless.” Fast talking was not his forte it was Lee’s but Cam had picked up a few tricks of the trade.The key was catching them before they could react.

“Or maybe I should just get him fired?” Snapping her gum for extra effect, she brought her phone to her ear and laughed out loud, “Can you believe this? For the first time ever I’m being questioned to come in? That’s absolutely appalling. You know, I probably could get this place shut down, since I have friends in high places. Of course, I’m better than that. I won’t get Green involved. Oh! He’s answering—” The bouncer’s head was spinning and instead of question them any further, they were talking so fast he couldn’t keep up, he just let the couple in. From the boy dropping the name ‘Havana’ to the girl dropping the word ‘Green’, these people weren’t someone he should refuse, it seemed. They also wore clothes that cost a fortune, so there was no way they could be conning him. Sure, the ‘actress’ could’ve just meant money, but she could’ve also meant having a strong connection with a filthy rich family that held influence in many industries and that have been the ruin of businesses. The ‘lover’ or ‘assistant’ or ‘bodyguard’, whatever the fuck he was, that lacked class but talked tough, either had a lucky guess name dropping the owner of the place, or they were close relations to him. Refusing them was not worth the risk, so… he’d let them in.

With a seductive smile, Jasmine cooed into the phone, “Oh, I’m sorry. I accidentally dialed your number, my apologies.” The guy gestured for them to go in and as they walked past him, she made up random chatter before saying her goodbyes and hanging up, sighing in relief when they got past him.

Once they were inside, they had truly crossed over to the dark side of Hollywood. The club was bathed in red light, gothic cages hung from the ceiling with men and women writhing around inside of them, as if to lock away their pure sensuality. Celebs were dotted around, carefree and unrepentant in their own brands of debauchery. After taking the obligatory selfie to prove they were inside, Hyde checked Fate and there were no further dares at that time, so they had time to kill. As a song began to play, Hyde’s dangerous eyes wandered and became entranced on his date.

“Wanna dance?”

Days I Recall Being Wonderful (Slice of Life)

Hello, I'm not sure this is accepting or not but I figured I'd fill out an application and hope I hear back, you know, like a job interview or something. Anyway sorry it's not super pretty, I'm bad with that stuff. Okay thank you.

Mason Coburn

<Snipped quote>

---

Nicknames: Chief
Age: 28
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Who's Askin'
Relationship Status: Single
Occupation: Deputy Sheriff

Likes:

• Adam Sandler movies
• The Dallas Cowboys
• Extra strips of bacon, even though he shouldn't

Dislikes:

• Onion bagels
• Mischief during curfew hours
• The culture of political correctness that got him sensitivity training

Hobbies:

• Drinking a beer after work, preferably during football season
• Manning the grill so he can add just a bit of char to his dogs
• One night stands

Fears:
That one day, despite his claims otherwise, people will call for his resignation on the grounds that he's a bigot or sexist. That he might discharge his gun and knowing his luck he'd accidentally hit a colored boy. Going back to how he was in high school.

Dreams:
To retire early with an honorable discharge, like taking a bullet in the line of duty and being rewarded for heroism. Finding something more fulfilling than drunk single mothers for single nights of fun.

---

Someone told me long ago..there's a calm before the storm...
In hindsight, it's a wonder Mason came out as relatively well adjusted as he did given that his home life was the closest thing to a waking nightmare between a father who hated him and belittled him at any opportunity and a lack of any maternal figure other than an occasional loose woman passing through town on the way to her next mistake. But of course that's getting slightly ahead of things. Mason's father, Colton, married young and married foolish, but in those days it was practically expected. Sweethearts without a clue for the future but a firm belief in the power of love. Out of all the lovefools of the time, Colton and Maribel stood a good chance of making it. Maribel was a teacher, and Colton's father owned a car dealership that Colton would inherit once he graduated from lowly salesman. With their life seeming bright, the conversation of children didn't come up until they had been married for twelve years. They weren't in their twenties anymore but it was never too late to start a family, especially when it was put on hold in the first place to focus instead on building a life.

They tried. They tried more than most, but that could well have just been a genuine sex drive. They tried and tried until it bore fruit. Come childbirth, Maribel tried and tried and tried, she pushed and pushed where doctors said a cesarian section was on the table. Though Mason was born, Colton might have thought that Maribel tried too hard. One life born for one life taken. Mason was born, Maribel passed on, and Colton could only see one person responsible: an unusually heavy baby who he was now stuck with.

Mason knew that he wasn't like many other kids as soon as he went from the organized chaos of early grade school to middle school when he had to wear clothes from a specialty store, something that his father resented because of the higher price tag. When Mason entered high school he struggled not from the academics but from having to walk up and down stairs and squeeze into seats with desks attached, desks that poked into his gut and made it harder for him to do any work.

We gotta get out of this place if it's the last thing we ever do..
Mason figured out pretty early that he likely wouldn't be one of the popular people at Gatling West just because of the simple fact that few people spared time for the fat kid in class so he figured out fairly early on that if he wanted to have people know him by his name and rather than just 'the fat kid' that he would have to be funny. They say that the best comedians come from broken lives or dark places and for Mason it didn't get much darker than coming home every day for as long as he could remember to a father two beers deep going on about what a fat pile of useless shit Mason was - and that was on the days where Colton wasn't calling his son a queer in far less 'acceptable' terms or hounding how no girl would want someone like him. The more Colton berated Mason the more Mason retreated to his room and sought solace in sodas, snacks, and funny movies.

At school Mason made it a point to make people laugh with jokes or comments or a bit of physical humor and he managed to convince himself that everyone who laughed was being genuine and that they were his friends. Yet when the weekend came most times he found himself at home or 'coincidentally' running into people at the theater or at the high school football games and even then he sat away from them. They were on dates or hanging out and he wasn't invited..it would've been rude to intrude. To say that he enjoyed high school would be a lie. Even if no one made fun of him to his face and even if he felt generally accepted during class hours, he couldn't exactly say he had a lot of great memories especially compared to those who had sweethearts and dates and the typical high school experience. The only one who was there for him at graduation was the principal.

When rain drops fall and you feel low...Ah, do you ever think it's useless..Do you feel like letting go
After high school, Mason knew two things: He had to leave Gatling and he had to never come back. The unfortunate reality is that he was unable to leave but the good news was that he was able to change. With many of his graduating classmates leaving or pursuing dreams, Mason pursued a different course: self-improvement. He went to a doctor, saw a nutritionist, worked a crappy gas station job to afford a personal trainer and gym membership. He was amazed at what an almost immediate difference it was reducing portion sizes and cutting out soda - though that was the hard part; at worst he had a four can a day habit. After a year he went down a pant size. After three he couldn't even be called fat. After five he was getting abs. Ten years on he doubts anyone who hadn't known him in the time of change would recognize him now, and not just because of his weight loss.

Mason didn't want to inherit the car dealership and even if he did he doubted his father would leave it to him anyway. Mason was rather listless and had no real career plan other than 'something where I can move out of my dad's place and never look back'. This brought him to a job fair and to a career in law enforcement with the Gatling Sheriff's Department. He serves under the Sheriff as the deputy, a position that affords him a fair bit of respect which was a concept foreign to him but something he's grown to quite like.

He's got his own place now, a small little ranch house that's too big for him alone but he appreciates the comfort of a la-z boy and a cold beer after work even though it reminds him of how his father liked to spend his nights. His shift in physical appearance also came with some other benefits; much like his father Mason became a regular patron at the one night stand cafe. But more importantly, he's earned a bit of a good reputation with the community - a few foibles and 'insensitive' language aside. He's not overly hard assed and understands that 'boys will be boys' so while he won't buy booze for the youth, he won't really crack down super hard on parties unless they give him a reason to.

Though he wouldn't have considered himself one of Roxanne's deepest friends, as a law enforcement officer he was still affected by her death. As grim as it sounds, maybe her death and the reunion of familiar faces that came with it could be what Mason needs to feel more...whole.

---

_{Josh Holloway, Lost (a coincidence I swear), and 374F6B}

Harper Ownbey

<Snipped quote>

---

Nicknames: Trouble
Age: 29
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Flexible
Relationship Status: Single
Occupation: Sports Agent

Likes:

• Driving with the top down during a nice evening breeze
• Fancy seafood or a nice grilled salmon
• Mojitos at happy hour

Dislikes:

• Smoking and smokers
• East coast lawyers
• Country music. She left Texas for a reason.

Hobbies:

• Driving fast. Sometimes fast enough to get the law involved.
• Swimming
• Traveling, nationally or otherwise

Fears:
Her live fast lifestyle backfiring and putting her in some serious hot water legally or ethically or morally.

Dreams:
Being a top name at her agency, if not starting her own and repping Tom Brady level talents.

---

Well she was an American girl...raised on promises...
Even from a young age Harper was learning how to get what she wanted but in the young days it was more innocent than anything else; after all she had three older brothers, two of which were twins, and she had to constantly compete for attention from her parents. When she was a young girl that was as easy as existing, but once the twins started peewee football and the oldest son little league, suddenly Harper had to improvise. Fortunately enough she soon learned that her parents would believe the rambunctious athletic boys of the family would roughhouse and break a few things or would want to sneak some cookies from the jar for energy. There was never a stolen cookie or broken bit of furniture that Harper was responsible for that she couldn't shift the blame.

Her father coached peewee football AND little league in his spare time from his normal job as the owner of a corner store, the same store that Harper's brothers worked at when they turned thirteen, and her mother knew the names and faces of most everyone in Gatling thanks to her being a stylist - oh how the gossip flowed, often it was about Harper's mother and the fact that someone could have four children and still look good if a bit...plastic. While her brothers did tend to roughhouse inbetween stints on the field, Harper was relegated to the sidelines, serving water or fruit punch and enduring the cheers of football moms. At least she still got to go to the pizza parties after a victory. It was when she started trading pizza slices with others, finding ways to get bigger or more slices in exchange for hers, that she started figuring that people could be...well...convinced of things.

In 20 minutes everyone will remember you when you're gone...don't you know people write songs about girls like you...
Growing up with such a sports forward family it was no surprise when the twins, Ray and Lee, made the Garrison and her oldest brother, Harris, made the baseball team. Harper followed suite in her own way, not joining a girls sports team but the cheerleading squad. She wasn't the best at the routine and wasn't the most flexible or coordinated but none could deny that she knew how to project her voice. By sophomore year she managed to get onto the varsity squad thanks in no small part to her love of pep rallies. It's not clear when she started getting into trouble but it was after she made varsity cheerleader and shortly after a post-game party where she got three members of the team to fight ostensibly for her but really for her own amusement.

It elevated from there, with Harper getting people to help her with homework by practically making them do the homework for her, or seeing how far she could push people before they started pushing back. It was almost a surprise that she didn't give a valedictorian speech at graduation simply because of her knack for talking people into stupid ideas - such as letting a B-Average student give a speech instead of the one who actually deserved it. There wasn't a party Harper didn't miss and though she wasn't a loner in school she did have a bit of a reputation in the 'this girl will probably fuck you up but it might be worth it' kind of way. It's no surprise she had her friends, admirers, and people who would've given anything to see her on the bad end of a lecture or humiliation. And yet she had no problem leaving all of them behind come college to move out west.



Staying out late, gonna get drunk..Take me to the reckless halo and sip me up a drink...Swing me hips like a cowgirl...Oh, put them shooters up
The real world outside of a small Texas town doesn't quite work the way she assumed, in that she actually had to make something of an effort when it came to higher education. Either that or people on the west coast weren't easily swayed by honeyed words, a pretty face, and promises of something for nothing. Fortunately for Harper, she managed to find her way to one of the career paths where bullshit gets money: that of a sports agent. Landing a job at a fairly decent firm, she earned her position by helping the Twins get signed to the NFL though she chose not to represent them since she couldn't play bias with family members. Her cutthroat style of negotiation has made her a valuable asset in the job as she is able to keep her head when dealing with networks and companies while putting forth deals that offer a bit too much money but somehow seem like the right idea for all parties involved. Harper quite likes the job except for when she has to play damage control for some of her clients as well as the agency's - something about athletes makes them predisposed to NOT following the scripted apology which is insane since fake apologies to dodge consequence and apology is Harper's greatest asset.

Harper never had any desire to go back to Gatling, there was nothing there for her other than her parents and they were just a voice chat away if she ever got homesick. The Twins were busy with the NFL, Harris didn't go pro and worked at a car dealer which was far too depressing for Harper to ever think about so the only thing waiting for her in Texas was country music and a lot of wood panel. But of course life has a way of crapping on plans and a tragic loss of life drew her back. She might not have been besties with Roxy but they flew in similar circles so it would've been weird if she didn't show.

Unlike everyone else she knew, she has a life to get back to, however. She assumes everyone else never made it out of Gatling alive. Clearly.

---

_{Emily Blunt. FF030D}

@Fabricant451

You’re in Fab

Days I Recall Being Wonderful (Slice of Life)

---

Dead Diary...for the first time in maybe fifteen years, my hair is blonde again. I know right? Crazy! I’ve been all red everything since before I started high school. Rhea loves it. She’s all like “Mommy! Mommy! You’re blonde like me! Yeah, if it makes the little princess happy it can stay. I’ll probably be red again by next week haha!”

The pounding of little feet outside of the bedroom door forced Roxy to put her pen down and a smile to cross her face. ”Morning little one, I’ll be out in a sec” Pushing herself to her feet, the proud momma bear steadied herself somewhat, the chemo was really fucking with her balance, bit of a shit one for a former cheerleader. Once she had corrected herself, Roxanne made her way from the bedroom and down the stairs to the kitchen where her little pigtailed bundle of treasure was eagerly awaiting her breakfast. Once she had made some cereal for the munchkin, Roxy began washing up the last few dishes from her dinner party the night before and staring out of the window.

Gatling, Texas. In some ways it was straight out of a storybook. Roaming fields, farms and dirt roads, little rivers and ponds that children would use as swimming holes in the summer. Roxy was one of those kids. She was born in this place, she grew up in this place and it was likely she would die here. At least there were worse places for it to happen. It was Friday in Gatling which meant that football was going to be on everyone’s mind today, including her ex husband Jack Palminteri the current coach of the Gatling Garrison. As much as she hated that handsome piece of shit, he was a good father to Rhea and their current relationship was based solely around what was best for that little girl. They were civil and cordial and had left all the poison in the courtroom. He would be here soon to take the baby to school. Even on game days he still took time for his baby girl, at least that much Roxanne appreciated.

It was a warm humid day in West Texas, the sun was rising high, the wind was nonexistent and the town itself was getting ready for the Gatling Stampede. The Stampede was their version of a homecoming, many old faces and favourites were due a return to the town that acted as their foundation. There were a lot of old faces that Ro was looking forward to seeing again and there was just as many she was hoping would finally come home. She had reached out and hopes they would get her message but the world was the world and Gatling was Gatling. She had hope it was not high.

The doorbell rang which soon snapped Roxy out of her daydream. ”That’ll be daddy Rhea, go get your things” Roxanne made her way to the front door and opened wide to be greeted by that damned smile of Jack’s that made everyone in this devil town melt. ”Hey Jackie” the former couple kissed each other politely in greeting. ”Big game tonight Coach, what’s the play?” Jack nodded nonchalantly, a trademark of his. ”Same as of always is. Hit em hard, hit em fast. Cero Miedo”. As with most of them now, this interaction was brief and ended as soon as Rhea re-entered the room. She was soon scooped up into her father’s arms. ”I love you Mommy”. ”I love you too, squirt. Be a good girl for dad” Jack took a step back from the doorstep and smiled. ”I’ll bring her around about lunch time Sunday. My parents want to take her into Austin in the morning” Roxanne offered up a genuine smile, as much as she had grown to dislike Jackie she did love his parents ”No worries, send them my love. Good luck tonight” She waved off her family as they headed down the drive before closing the door.

Now she had peace and quiet, the bodacious new blonde made her way to her office. One of the benefits of her job was that she could work from home, which was pretty much her plan for the next few nights. With Rhea spending the weekend with Jack it meant she had the world to herself and could do with her valuable free time whatever she wanted. The evenings were for walking, the days, well they were for something else. Sitting down in her big leather recliner that she had stolen from Coach Copeland upon his retirement, Roxy turned on the video camera and flashed the bright smile that had won over the hearts of an entire town. ”Hey, so this is video number, well I’ve kind of lost count. I was never good at maths that was always Cyrus’ thing. Anyway, so this is almost everything I wish I’d said the last time I saw your face”

Sunday comes and Jack and Rhea arrive at Roxy’s place just shy of 12pm. As the little creature runs in search of her mother, a weird uneasy feeling swallows Jackie whole. Something wasn’t right. ”Ro?” He called out to no response. Wandering through the house they once shared. She was nowhere to be found until he heard the muffled sounds coming from the office. He pushed the ajar door open and covered his mouth with his hand; aghast as his daughter sat on the lap of her mother. Her eyes were closed, her hands hung at her sides and the little angel was confused.

”Mommy?”

---

---

It was a gloomy Friday in Gatling. The usual orange sky had been replaced by a dull grey veil which hung high above reigning down heavy showed in spaces out intervals. It was as if the heavens themselves wept for the departed Roxanne Williams. Most people had already headed off the wake or to their homes to prepare for tonight’s game, even a death such as this wouldn’t stop Gatling football.

Dustin Rockhold alone walked the streets, it was like a scene from a zombie movie or something. He had left his truck back at the ranch, he was going to get fucked up tonight, he didn’t really want to deal with life today. His black cowboy hat shielded his bearded face from the rain as he moved slowly through the main stretch of road that was the town. He looked around and of course, everywhere was littered posters and signs hyping up football or the Stampede, most stores had signs into the windows ”Closed. Gone to Game”. To an outsider, this worship would be ridiculous but to everyone in Gatling, this was a way of life.
It was always God, Football and Texas; not necessarily in that order.

The venue for the wake was the Border Tavern, of course it was; it was everyone’s favourite shithole. Apparently Roxy had left some kind video will to be played at her funeral. Dusty has been to enough funerals in his lifetime and each one was worse than the last. Beyond the horizon, the cowboy could see the feint lines of the Gatling football field where he shared so many memories with Roxanne and their friends. God, they were worlds apart from who they used to be. Everyone but Roxy, she never changed. She was always the heart and soul of everyone around her. The lord must have needed another angel to take her so soon.

Opening the door of the Tavern and stepping out of the rain, Dusty recognised too many of the faces in there and not all of them he wanted to see. He beligned for the bar and the old hag that ran the joint. ”Two shots, two beers Delores and make it your strongest shit”

CANCELLED.

@TootsiePop@GhostMami

This was his baby; Dare Night. Lee ran a lot of hustles, like a lot. Dare Night and the Presidents Game were his most profitable and they were also his most difficult, especially Dare Night. The location for tonight’s proceedings was the front room of the least hipster looking coffee shop he could find. The son of the owner owed him money and as payment he loaned out the shop for the night. On the other side of the door, he could hear the hustle and bustle of tonight’s group, whose number included his new girlfriend, Stella, and his right hand, Hyde. He was very dubious of letting his dream girl into the game, things could get serious very quickly and the last thing he wanted was for the princess to get sucked up into his darkness.

Meanwhile, since Jasmine wasn’t one to leave her candy purple bike behind, she had trailed behind Hyde until they got to their destination, Black Aroma. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t nervous. What was she supposed to expect from Dare Night? And why-the-hell was it so expensive to buy in? Five hundred dollars just to play?! Like damn. Rich people these days. Her heart was racing, and yet she was able to hide it behind complete and utter nonchalance. That was one of her skills, looking calm and composed when really, her insides were doing summersaults.

She was a good girl that cooked and baked. Sure, she looked the part of a bad girl, but the closest to bad she ever did was be part of an activist protest, which was approved by her parents. The next thing she knew she was standing around with a surprisingly large group and had downloaded an app called Fate on her phone. It didn’t feel the most legal. None of this felt legal. If her parents found out what she was up to, she’d surely get grounded for days. The app requested her to put her bank information and take a selfie. God, this didn’t feel safe at all. She turned her attention to the bubbly, happy-go-lucky sweetheart that was Stella Locke, who put her information in without any concern or hesitation. “Hyde, this isn’t going to fuck me over, is it?” She couldn’t afford to lose money like the rest of them could.

“As long as you don’t lose” The demon with the angel face couldn’t help but tease. Part of him wanted to leave it at that, leave her chomping at the bit and leave her pissed off for the game. The dark passenger in his head was screaming at him to keep the mocha babe in the dark but there was a different part of him working, a part he didn’t even know actually existed. “Don’t worry the entire thing is safe. As soon as the game is over all your details are wiped and it’s like the whole thing never happened. We’re monsters, not savages. Well, Lee’s not” With this response, she raised an eyebrow. He was being awfully kind, which confused her honestly. She wanted to hate him, but here she was playing a high stakes and high reward game, with him. Simply nodding at him, her eyes glinted with intrigue, she went back to her phone to put in her details.

“Am I a player or a watcher? I mean helloooooo. I’m here to play!” Stella decided her Fate and became a participant of the game. Was she really not scared of what this night could bring? What if someone gets hurt? Or… worse? Maybe, Jasmine was having second thoughts. If she wanted to back out, this was probably her chance, but Hyde made her want to play. Even if it’s to prove him wrong. To prove to him that she isn’t afraid to show him up. Why did she care so much about what he thought about her?

Lee emerged from his hiding place, dressed like a million bucks but probably costing less than a thousand, his adoring public greeting him with a not so subtle round of applause. “Welcome to the fourth annual Dare Night!” He greeted them with the same rattlesnake smile that had charmed them enough to get them here. “Now I know we’re all excited to get this party started but first a few ground rules for those of you that have never played before; By now you should have all downloaded the Fate app and put in your details. Next up are the two roles, Player and Watcher. As a player, you’re the one taking or not taking the dares and earning yourself some cash money. As a watcher, you are the eyes and ears of everyone in the game. You supply a handful of the dares, keep an eye out for cops and cheaters. Every Dare you complete must be submitted with proof, no photo or video, no cash and trust me guys, we can tell when it’s fake. If it at any point, you feel uncomfortable or unsafe, you can cash out and leave the game. If you cash out, whatever points you have accumulated will be halved and the result will be your prize money. As it has just turned nine in the pm, you have eight hours to complete as many dares as possible and then return here” Lee raises his own phone in the air and started the timer in full view of the crowd.

“Have fun guys, I dare you.”

Lee made his way through his cult of followers and finally pitched himself down at the same table with his lover, his partner and a movie theatre employee. He planted a soft kiss on Stella’s forehead and smiled. “Game on then”

Before they even left the building, both Jasmine and Stella received their first dare. “That was fucking fast.” The biker girl commented. Looking at her phone, she caught the words of Stella saying out loud, “Make out with the black girl… make sure there’s tongue.” Made sense. She was the token black girl of the night, after all. Lifting up her phone, she waved it to Stella, “Yeah, mine says make out with the girl with the red dress on. Don’t go easy on her.” Well this was off to a fun start. The reward was for 50 points. Easy enough. Someone was starting small and wanted to have jerk off material.

“I’m assuming we only need to record on one phone and I’ll just tag you in it.” The first dare wasn’t intimidating at all. This was kind of easy money. Jasmine went to Hyde and gestured for him to take the phone, “Care to do the honors?” While she waited for the dark passenger to respond, she looked back at Stella and then Lee, “I hope you don’t mind.” The question was more directed to Lee than Stella.

After glancing at Stella’s phone and confirming what the very first dare of the night was, the Wall Street baby grinned from ear to ear. That was one of the sad drawbacks of this game, too many creepers looking for some cheap thrills for their wank bank. Still the more players that played, the more money he made so let the fortnite nerds have their jollies. “Go for it. This is the game after all”

“I’ve seen Luna kiss girls ALL the time! I can do this! Is this your first time kissing a girl?” Not wanting to go too deep into it, Jasmine simply gave her a: “No.” But since she didn’t want to completely hurt the princess’ feelings, since she didn’t know if Stella would take how experience she was as an offense, she added, “But you’re my first rich girl.”

“That makes me special!” Phew. Jasmine just saved her ass. If she offended a Locke girl, that would be the end of her high school career.

Hyde took hold of Jasmine’s phone ready for the snapshot. As a teenage boy pent up with hormones, he of course was vaguely excited at the thought of two stunning creatures such as Jasmine Fulton and Stella Locke locking lips in a tender embrace. However, as always in his case, there was something ugly eating away inside of Cameron’s body. It was a fever that made him want to take Stella’s pretty little face and smash it against the goddamn table for even considering going near his Jasmine. He had chosen her, she was his North Star, someone to hold on to, someone to guide him lest the monster come out. Keep it quiet, bury it deep, don’t let it out, don’t let it hurt her.

“Let’s see it then girls, on the count of two” Jasmine took the lead and knew that this game was all about winning followers. The better the content, the higher chance of making it to the end. Pulling Stella close to her, her gaze was rich and for this moment, the princess was completely fixated on the soul in the biker girl’s eyes. It was like she was caught in a web and for the first time ever, Stella saw the talent her twin had, through another girl’s actions. The charismatic prowess and power of seduction. There were some girls that were definitely more dominant than others, and the Locke girl was not one of them.

Before their lips touched, Stella brought her eyes down to Jasmine’s full lips. This actually made her kind of nervous. This wasn’t like kissing Lee. No. This girl was a stranger. Before she knew it, Jasmine’s face was inches away from her and their kiss was nothing like what eighth graders did. No closed-mouth kisses. No cute pecks. This kind of kiss was super sexual and brought heat into the blonde’s body. Open-mouthed, tongues having a little war with each other, and the scent of the cocoa beauty’s natural aroma, kind of like cake, filling her senses and making her melt. Stella couldn’t help but play with her hair, as Jaz relented and held her tighter. When they broke free from one another, the blonde gasped for air.

Wow, that was hot.

After the sordid act was complete and the impish grin had faded from his face, Hyde turned his attention to his own phone as his own first dare arrived. “Get into the Chapter Six” That was it? Really? That was a pathetic first dare, fucking noobs. The Chapter Six was an exclusive club, somewhere between Hollywood and Vine, it was known for its strict IDing and some pretty sordid shenanigans that go on in the back rooms. “This bullshit is worth 75 points? I can do this in my sleep” Hyde turned to his group and nodded. “I mean, we’re sharing a car tonight right? Hope you all have your dancing shoes on”

Chris watched as the dares for the night began to pour in. What the hell had he gotten himself into? All because he had gotten some hero complex a few days ago and helped a hot blonde babe get a fix to calm her down, and drove her home safe from the bar. She had been a fucking mess, but she was hot as hell and Chris hoped he could get to know her sober. So, when she had mentioned how he should come to Dare Night — whatever that was — he was all ears. It wasn’t until he talked to AJ about the whole thing, and downloaded the app, that he realized the shit would cost five hundred dollars. He didn’t have that kind of money! But AJ, being the wing man that he was, spotted his friend in the hopes that he could get it in with Blondie. Oh the things we do in the hopes of getting laid.

The biker looked down at his phone and waited for his first dare to come in. As if on cue, the device chimed and the screen flashed with his first challenge of the evening: Push that bike past 100 on the Santa Monica. Going over 40mph over the speed limit on the busiest street in Beverly Hills was apparently worth 75 points. Well, whatever then, it wouldn’t be his first time speeding and his bike was tuned up to go well over 100 mph. Hell, this would be fun, he thought as he revved the bike’s engine and sped off down the streets.

“Actually, Hyde.” After grabbing her phone from him, she was immediately beeped with another dare, “They only want me to go with you, but you have to ride my bike, with me behind you. And before then, we have to stop at…” Oh god. There was a picture of the Bellerose logo, which was a high fashion brand, “We have to visit this boutique… and dress for the occasion.” Would she be able to afford the outfits in this place?!

Hyde looked down at Jasmine’s phone as she showed him the other half of their dare. Already this was out of his comfort zone, he hated rubbing shoulders with the rich with a passion and this boutique was like a Mecca for the plastic folk of the Hills. Hyde, with his current look would absolutely stick out like a sore thumb, he knew he would not be welcome there. There was no way in hell either of them could afford this place. Immediately Cam considered asked Lee to wire him some funds hit he could see that his sharp dressed friend had his own issues to deal with. ”I guess time waits for no one, good luck on your end cum buckets” Ah, Hyde, such a charmer. He took a hold of Jasmine’s hand and led her out into the night.

And while Jasmine was realizing what exactly she was getting herself into, Stella’s face dropped, realizing someone recognized her… “Baby…” For five hundred points, she and Lee had to storm her own humble abode and get ‘Bartimaeus Locke’s’ custom made sunglasses, which he has worn at every event he goes to, and for the rest of the night, Lee had to wear them. Her daddy would be so upset if she didn’t return them! Everyone knew that her dad was the babymaker of the Green children and although he wasn’t a public figure, he was still rich and eccentric. He chose to keep his life and the Locke name as low a profile as possible, especially in comparison to the Greens, and as such, at least for LA people, he was simply the owner of Captain Cuddles. “You might be meeting my daddy tonight...” Hopefully not.

Tilting his head somewhat nonchalantly, Lee placed an arm around his girlfriend's shoulder. ”Don’t worry babe, parents love me” This much was actually true, he had a talent for charming the parents. That said, he could tell from Stella’s demeanour that this was something she wasn’t ready to happen just yet and he was fine with that. ”We’ll be in an out quick babe. The sooner we do it, the sooner it’s done and we can move on to the next thing. The night is young and so are we. Let’s live like there’s no tomorrow because there isn’t want. It’s you and me kid” This was McCarthy’s biggest skill, he could talk anyone into anything; it’s how he made his living. He didn’t really like using the charm offensive on his girlfriend but needs must and like his rules state; only bet on a sure thing and if he wanted to win tonight he had to make sure Stella was a sure thing.

”Let's get going, it’s game time”

Days I Recall Being Wonderful (Slice of Life)

We’ll push the deadline until Tuesday, after that you can’t expect the fort Ic post then or Wednesday

Days I Recall Being Wonderful (Slice of Life)

Discord Link

Days I Recall Being Wonderful (Slice of Life)

@BrutalBxAre you gonna make a discord for this?

@Hey Im Jordan

Indeed I will

Days I Recall Being Wonderful (Slice of Life)

Here he is!@BrutalBx

Elias Ludvig Hellqvist

<Snipped quote by Roxanne>

Name

Elias Ludvig Hellqvist

Nickames

Ell, Ludde, Ellie

Age

27, August 29th

Gender

Male

Sexuality

Bisexual

Relationship Status

Singel

Occupation

Therapist

Likes

Classical Music - Fine Dining - Long Showers - A Fresh Notebook - Soccer

Dislikes

Reality TV - Fast Food - Birds - Being Rushed - His Medication

Hobbies

Vintage Shopping - Getting Tattoos - Sitting in Coffee Shops for Hours - Collecting sunglases

Dreams

Elias biggest dream is to be of his medications and live happy carefree life

Fears

That his depression will consume him and that he will not make it out alive.

What you want - Charlie Hellqvist was one of Gatling, Texas golden children. Star quarterback of the Gatling Garrison and on his way to future greatness. Charlie’s girlfriend Meghann Drummond, Miss Texas Teen USA titleholder had planned on moving out west to pursue a film career. They had their lives all planned out and it looked like they would both get what they wanted. If it wasn’t for that fateful homecoming game night. The team had just won and the whole town was in a state of ecstasy. So Charlie and Meg decided to have their own celebration in Charlie’s truck.

Two months later Meg showed up on Charlie’s doorstep with tears in her eyes. She was pregnant. The pair are both from highly religious families, which meant that their plans came to a screeching halt. Two months later they were married and five months after that on the 2nd of July a baby boy was born. They named him Elias Ludvig and despite their child putting a stop to their dreams, they loved him as much as they could.

Growing up Elias didn’t really create a close bond with his parents since both of them needed to work to make keep them afloat. So Elias spent most of his childhood either at his paternal grandparents or home alone. Making little Elias having a hard time making friendships that lasted. So when a little girl with pigtails sat next to him in the first-grade assembly with a wide smile Elias could feel in his little 6-year-old soul that he had found a friend for life.

Chip on my shoulder - Entering high school Elias was like a changed person. With his friends by his side, the shaggy-haired boy was like a beam of sunlight walking through the halls of Gatling West High usually with a bright smile to match. The driving force that made the change in the boy's life was credited to his friend group spearheaded by Roxanne. They became the close-knit family Elias never had. He was always there to listen to everyone and help wherever he could because he felt that he owed them that for saving him from a life of loneliness.

His real family drifted further and further apart. His father stuck in a dead-end office job never missed an opportunity to remind Elias what he and his mother had given up to raise him. But the biggest disappointment for Charlie Hellqvist was that his son showed no interest or skill in football whatsoever. This was a dark cloud that hung over them both whenever they interacted. This created a big chip on his shoulder and drove Elias to give one hundred percent in school because that was his only ticket out of the town that he felt was suffocating him. When he was sixteen his mother had had enough of living in a house with a man she didn’t love anymore and a son she didn’t know so she divorced them both in a way and headed out west.

Leaving Charlie and his son to butt heads every chance they got. Elias chose to spend most of his time with his grandparents like had always done growing up. But in his senior year, both of them died just a couple of months apart. This broke Elias in a way that he could not describe. Not even to his friends who saw the change in the young man. He started to fall back into his old ways becoming more distant and quiet. So not even a week after graduation Elias followed in his mother’s footsteps and headed out west for Stanford University.

Blood in the water - To say that Elias had a hard time in the golden state was an understatement. It turned out that leaving all of his friends back in Texas only made him feel even more isolated. So Elias did what he knew he studied and poured himself into his psychology major. He strived to be the best and that meant he had to be ruthless. Stopping at nothing to be top of his class. He was like a shark swimming close to a crowded beach spilling the blood of whoever came in his way.

So there he found himself buried in work not a friend in sight. Feeling more lonely than ever before. The only thing keeping him from going under to his depression was his weekly call with Roxanne. That combined with a visit or two from the rest of the gang was the only light at the end of his dark tunnel. They all urged him to see a therapist on his own and it was not long until he was prescribed medication to deal with his problems. They did help him keep his demons in check so he could still graduate in the top percent of his class and go on to finish his masters in psychology.

After graduating from Stanford Elias relocated yet again. This time to Portland, Oregon where he worked hard at getting his license.

So much better - Getting a state license wasn’t that hard for Elias since he took on every piece of extra work that got thrown his way. In fact, he stayed so busy that his calls with his friends got less and less frequent. But Elias was finally content with his life. He was living in a beautiful city and his work was really fulfilling and keeping busy turned out to be the reason he was able to focus on getting well. Finally, he was doing so much better.

Until he got a call that he never envisioned that he would get. Roxanne was dead. Elias broke all over again. How? How could she be dead? His one solid pillar in life, was now gone?

Going back to his hometown felt like hell. He didn’t think he would ever be back down south. But he had to go back and find out what happened, right? Now that he is back in the house where he grew up, with his father who he still feels like a disappointment around Elias feels more depressed than he has in years.

Misc.

Max Barczak & André Hamann | 659475
As of right now Elias is on vilazodone, duloxetine and doxepin to treat his condition.
Euphoria all the way!

@spooner

Fantastic! Accepted of course.

Days I Recall Being Wonderful (Slice of Life)

@BrutalBx

Hi! I might join in on the fun but I'll have to see if I'm really free enough to do so and also if I can get the sheet in on this Sunday on time, if all that's okay?

@ineffable

That’s absolutely fine.

@ineffable Hi! Brutal will be awake in a couple of hours. He will most likely tell you sure lol.
The ratio is two accepted males, two accepted females.
Two females in the works (DPL & Wistful Dreams). One male in the works (spooner). One male waiting to be accepted. That I'm aware of. I don't know what gender Bee is going to make.

Surprisingly pretty even! But, I think it will benefit making a male, because knowing bee, they will be female leaning.

@TootsiePop

You know me so well.

@BrutalBx
sorry i wrote a lot

Cyrus Wolfe Kingsley

Cyrus is a quiet one, isn’t he? He keeps to himself for the most part… it’s kind of strange. He’s a math whiz, though! I don’t think anybody else really talks to him, but... I don’t think he minds that.

---

Age: 28
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Pansexual
Relationship Status: Married
Occupation: Stockbroker

Likes:

• Peanut butter cookies
• The smell of frying foods
• Exercise

Dislikes:

• Cakey brownies
• Blackjack
• Peaches

Hobbies:

• Yachting
• Tennis club with wife
• Avid video game player; somethings never change

Fear:
At this point? Not much. He's pretty numb. Sharks would fit.

Dreams:
To stop having nightmares about his dead friend.

Backstory

xxxx

Cyrus was born to a single mother in Gatling, Texas who struggled to afford to pay for herself and her child. Despite that, she did her best for her son, and she raised him as best she could. Without a father figure, Cyrus grew up to be almost naturally antisocial, attached to his mother; not that anyone can blame him — sleeping together on the floor with the oven door open will do that to someone. In fact, Cyrus was mute for most of his early life.

Struggling in the developmental stages, Cyrus’s first word didn’t come easily for him. It wasn’t until he was almost three years old that he was speaking to his mother in short sentences. By the time he started his first year of schooling, it was still uncommon for Cyrus’s mother to get more than a sentence out of her son at a time. Concerned that he was perhaps developmentally disabled, she arranged for him to work with a child therapist provided by the school.

It took a while, almost two complete school years, before the therapist managed to get Cyrus to open up. Once that was over with, the therapist was able to help Cyrus speak more comfortably and confidently. Throughout this whole process, something was constantly proven to be true: Cyrus was smart. His reading comprehension, writing skills, and mathematics proficiency levels were through the roof. He was far beyond his peers in the third grade, and when he and his mother were presented with a choice: send Cyrus to accelerated learning courses in the big city, or remain in Gatling and integrate himself with the rest of his classmates.

They chose the latter, which Cyrus would quickly come to regret.

Even at such a young age, people are — typically — assholes. Having been absent from the class for the previous three years, for being ‘special,’ Cyrus was immediately bullied. He was ostracized and alienated by most of the students at school, and found himself wishing that he would have chose the other option. Cyrus found himself damn near alone. Throughout it all, Cyrus stuck his guns and kept himself five steps ahead of his peers academically, in some cases single handedly dragging his class through a curve.

It wasn’t until fifth grade that Cyrus finally made a friend.

Roxanne Williams invited the quiet, introverted young man to sit with her for lunch, something that at first surprised him more than anything. In fact, as he slowly made his way to her table, he assumed he was getting set up… he wasn’t. Roxanne was his first, and only friend.

xxxx

From the first day she invited him to sit with him, until the day they graduated, Cyrus stuck to Roxanne like glue. He didn’t know anybody else, and even as he talked to and befriended her friends, he assumed (perhaps rightly so) he was only there because of Roxanne. Cyrus was at least happy to help with homework, and inside Roxanne’s little group, Cyrus was a hot commodity when it came to group projects. It was the best he could do, considering how much they’d done for him just by accepting them into his group.

Cyrus was primed to graduate early, going out of his way to do extracurricular academic activities to quickly acquire all the necessary credits. Instead, Cyrus chose to stick with his friends — they were all he had, after all. Quiet, reserved, and smart, Cyrus worked hard and built an attractive resume, which he used to throw out applications to Ivy League schools…

And, to almost no one’s surprise, Cyrus had his pick of the little when graduation came. With a full ride scholarship to his school of choice, Cyrus chose to go to Yale. Everyone assumed he’d do great things there, and that Gatling would have someone they could brag about.

xxxx

When Cyrus arrived at his dormitory, he had big dreams and a lot of hope. He was on his own again, and a complete ball of nerves. Luckily though, Cyrus’s roommate would quickly become his best friend, with the pair of them having similar levels of intelligence. Keiran, the roommate in question, told Cyrus that the two of them were going to make a lot of money together…. That, of course, comes later.

Though Keiran and Cyrus were similarly intelligent, Keiran had something that Cyrus hadn’t yet found: charismatic confidence. However, Cyrus was lucky — Keiran was willing to teach and show his friend how to blossom. Cyrus got contacts, he learned to dress himself, he dieted, he worked out. He learned how to talk to people, and how to get them to like what he liked, and think what he thought. Keiran, with eyes on politics, was a great teacher, and Cyrus absorbed the information like a sponge. He had self-discipline; it was direction he had lacked.

Keiran gave him that.

Younger by one year, once Cyrus neared his 21st birthday, Keiran, who had helped mould him into a popular, charismatic, powerful personality told him the plan. Las Vegas. Cyrus was confused at first, Vegas was somewhere they could go for his birthday, he supposed, but he didn’t see how that lined up with Keiran’s plan…. until Keiran explained they were going to put that mathematics degree to good use: counting cards.

Cyrus wasn’t sure about it at first, but Keiran assured him they would be fine. After all, they had everything they needed. Cyrus was the smartest person Keiran had ever met, and Keiran himself was nothing to snuff at; they just needed a few decoys, and it would be easy enough for the pair of them to convince a few girls to go with them to Vegas and help out on the scheme.

By the end of the first weekend, they had made over two hundred thousand dollars. But it was a risky business. Even more so than Gatling, Las Vegas was a lawless land. If they got caught, they were dead. It was that simple. Keiran, however, assured Cyrus they wouldn’t get caught… Greed. Greed is good. Greed made them go again. Greed made them get more chips, more money, more hundred dollar bills to stuff underneath the floorboards of their dorm room.

Cyrus was ready to back out when he had what he felt was ‘enough,’ but Keiran’s greed… Keiran’s greed sent him back, alone. Keiran’s greed got him caught, Keiran’s greed got him shot in the back of the head and dumped in a ditch in the desert. Keiran’s greed convinced Cyrus to drop out. He couldn’t do it without his friend, not a chance. It didn’t matter how much he had improved and came into his own since his high school years, without Keiran, Cyrus didn’t have the will to drag himself through the rest of it.

xxxx

Following his exit from college, just shy of his Master’s degree, Cyrus found himself wandering with duffel bags full of money and a lack of hope. He could have went back to Gatling. He nearly did. But he didn’t feel like he had anything left there; a promise made years ago was quickly forgotten, and his mother has passed away just a year prior. Drained mentally, and with no other idea where to go, Cyrus found himself heading south, toward New York.

There, Cyrus found the New York Stock Exchange. It was ruthless, it was cutthroat, and headstrong and… Cyrus found that he liked it there. With his bundles of money, Cyrus got the license he needed, and decided to make his own trading company: Keiran Holdings. Using the starting capital, Cyrus soon had a booming business, and more money than a small town boy from Texas knew to do with.

With no love, or hope left in his soul, Cyrus blew threw women and drugs like it was nobody’s business. What else was he supposed to do? At least the cocaine made his nostrils burn. Cyrus was bored and rich, sitting in a massive mansion that was the furthest thing from a home he could remember.

He missed Keiran.

When flipping through the TV channels, Cyrus curiously saw someone that he remembered from a life he’d nearly forgotten. Diana Lancaster, it seemed, had made a life for herself remodeling houses, with an included television show. Cyrus remembered her. She was hot in high school, she was hot now. She was out of his league in high school, but now? Now, Cyrus looked at her as a challenge more than looking at her as a possible significant other.

He reached out to the producers of the show, and they agreed to link him and her up. An eccentric billionaire (billion, with a b) from Wall Street, who went to high school with their host? It wrote itself. Once they reconnected… well, it was only about two hours before they were getting into it on his kitchen counter (which she hated, and was replaced on the show). Cyrus could check that box, not that he had anyone to tell.

In a shocking turn of events, for both parties, they found comfort in each other. She reminded him of when life was easier, and he… he had money and he was hot enough. They dated, which mostly consisted of private jetting around the world and having sex. Then, three years before they got the message about Roxanne, they got married in Thailand. Marriage has been much the same as their relationship leading up to it was.

Now, the pair of them have agreed to head back to Gatling to pay their respects. Cyrus feels he owes it to Roxanne, because if it wasn’t for her, he would have ended himself before he even made it through junior high.

Extra Stuff:
Jack Reynor
ff901e
Fave Show: WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW haha just kidding fuck that shit its we bare bears or dragon ball super

@Hey Im Jordan

Great work lad. He’s in