Grey Doll

Oak Pointe Mystery [1 x 1]

☼☽☼☽☼☽

𝓐𝓵𝓲𝓬𝓮 - 𝓜𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓮 𝓦𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝔽𝕚𝕟𝕟𝕝𝕒𝕪 𝕁𝕖𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕠𝕟

▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄

i f I j u s t l a y h e r e

w o u l d y o u l i e w i t h m e ,
& j u s t f o r g e t t h e w o r l d ?

========= ❀ =========

Well, shit. He had actually done it. Alice's plan had backfired tremendously. Why couldn't she have just said no? Why did she have to make everything so bloody difficult for herself? In amongst the silent curses she was wishing upon herself, however, was her surprise at the genuinity of Ricardo's words as he spoke next to her. Although the statement itself didn't surprise her, for she had always suspected that he kept people distanced for a reason similar to her own, it was the fact that he was saying it in the first place that made her raise an eyebrow as she traced the water with her finger tips, leaving behind tiny ripples that lapped at her submerged legs.

"You know, that's the first thing you've said tonight that I actually believe." She made sure to lower her voice too, so that only he could hear her. Intoxicated though she was, most of her mind knew he was up to something - not even the trusting, naive Alice would fall for Ricardo Ignacio's charms. At least, not until he took his clothes off. Averting her eyes as much as she could from the practically naked boy in beside her, Alice became suddenly very fascinated by the grating at the side of the pool and how... metallic it was. She was not used to seeing someone so exposed that she was even remotely attracted to, difficult though it was to admit. And now that he was in the pool, hand outstretched towards her, she couldn't help but let her gaze wander over so slightly. She snatched her eyes back up to his eyes as soon as she realised she was doing it, however, and frowned, listening to what he had to say about her 'sidekick' comment.

"Yeah, that's what I thought, too." Although she muttered the words about Victoria, she couldn't help but notice seemingly everyone around them lean in slightly, to catch even the tiniest sliver of gossip. She didn't give them the satisfaction, however, as she dragged her mind away from her enstrangement from the school's Class-A bitch and onto more pressing matters. How was she going to back out of this one?

She could cry. In front of all of these people? No way. She could run away. But where? She had struggled enough even getting here. She could about for Finn, or even pretend he had had some sort of terrible accident that she had to help him with. But, no, both of those options made it seem as if one of the pair were just ridiculously dependent on the other. She had to do it. Alice had to take her dress off and swim. In public.

There was one big thing that was stopping her from just getting up and getting it over with. If she was to take off her dress, then everyone would see what she had hidden for years. But if she kept her dress on, the dress would be ruined and her stepfather would literally kill her coming home in a soaking wet white dress. It was then that drunk Alice spoke up in her mind, presenting another new idea that seemed to be utter genius. Maybe if Ricardo saw, he would be so disgusted that he'd finally leave her alone! And then she could put her dress back on, find Finn and go home - no harm done.

Her legs were out of the pool and she was standing up before she could change her mind, allowing a small smirk to Grace her features. "Since you're just so desperate to see me without my clothes on." Was she only explanation she offered him as she pulled the dress up and over her head, revealing the plain-ish underwear she had on underneath. She doubted that anyone would be paying attention to her underwear, however, as she took a step forward towards the pool and the long, spidering scar that travelled up the inside of her thigh came into view. She had never shown this much skin before. Ever. She had never been particularly ashamed of the way she looked - she knew she was pretty toned from the times she spent at the gym, trying to get away from life in general, and she wasn't exactly flat-chested, but the remnants of a gash on the inside of her thigh had always been something she had wanted to hide. But drunk Alice thought it was a wonderful idea. And for some strange reason, drunk Alice was showing all of her colours tonight.

Before she could make even more of a fool out of herself, Alice pulled her hair out of it's bun - yet another thing she would never do otherwise - and slipped into the pool, ignoring Ricardo's outstretched hand. She allowed a small smile to soften her features as she felt the cool water cut through the haze in her mind - not getting rid of it completely, but sharpening her thoughts nonetheless. Crossing her arms over her somewhat exposed chest, she finally faced the sole reason why she was in this pool in the first place.

"There. Happy now?"

Finn, on the other hand, was just as, if not more, uncomfortable with the situation he had been thrust into. Not only had he involuntarily removed his best option to strip, his jacket, thanks to Victoria, but her bra was now sitting on his lap. He was no stranger to girls underwear - having a sister and Alice as his best friend meant that he was given full access to those kinds of things, whether he wanted it or not. This strange contraption, however, was not something he'd seen before. How the hell did that thing work? Where were the straps? And why did it look strangely back-to-front? Trying not to look like a 'right muppet', as Alice would say, he leaned back on his elbows and stayed quiet for the time being, watching others in silence. At least, that was until Victoria started to take his jacket off for him, her finger tips so gently leaving trails of tingles up his arms in their wake.

"Sneaky move. I see what you're doing." Finn spoke with a lot more confidence than he felt, probably as a result of all that he had drunk. "I'll let you take that, then. We'll make it a trade." He glaced down as the strange bra on his lap and pushed his jacket towards her, pretty much regretting it immediately as he already felt so naked in a room of strangers.

It was only when Victoria's hand moved down to his thigh, causing his heartbeat to pretty much triple in speed, that he shifted away from her as smoothly as he could. He masked the movement by running a worried hand through his hair, sneaking a glance at her almost-empty cup. He had no intentions of getting stark naked in front of these people, and the only way not to was sitting right there in front of him. Watching as Victoria set down her cup and turned her attentions onto him, he allowed a smirk to light up his face and he shrugged. "So says the rules." And so he lifted his arms up over his head and took off his t-shirt, pushing away the embarrassmebt and focusing on what his intentions were.

At the last second, Finn dropped his t-shirt in front of both him and Victoria. Right on top of her cup. Which was subsequently toppled over and spilled the remnants onto the floor. Despite the fact that the actual was purposeful, Finn scrambled to right his supposed accident, onto resulting in even the last few drops being shook out of the cup and onto the floor, leaving Victoria with no drink at all

"Shit! Sorry Victoria! Fuck. I'm an idiot." Offering her an apologetic smile, he sat back slightly and took the cup so it sat in the corner next to his empty one. "Looks like we're both in trouble now." It was only now that he started to feel somewhat self-conscious of sitting there half-naked, and couldn't help but curse himself for all of those times he had stayed in bed instead of going to the gym with Alice. He prayed to God that Victoria would, realising the predicament of her inevitable nakedness, would call off the game and let him put his clothes back on, or else he was in for far more embarrassment than he already felt.

Oak Pointe Mystery [1 x 1]

☼☽☼☽☼☽

𝓐𝓵𝓲𝓬𝓮 - 𝓜𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓮 𝓦𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝔽𝕚𝕟𝕟𝕝𝕒𝕪 𝕁𝕖𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕠𝕟

▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄

i f I j u s t l a y h e r e

w o u l d y o u l i e w i t h m e ,
& j u s t f o r g e t t h e w o r l d ?

========= ❀ =========

Alice was trying ridiculously hard not to look like she was even nearly as intoxicated as she felt, nonchalantly fixing her hair as she tried to clear the swimming thoughts in her head. She attempted to not flinch away as surprisingly gentle hands led her outside, and failed, trying to make her shrinking away from the touch as polite as possible, especially when she turned her head and realised it was Ricardo helping her. Furrowing her brow and placing her hands on her hips, something that her head told her was a threatening thing to do while it actually just made her look like a stroppy child, she spoke exactly what was on her mind.

"Why are you helping me, Ricardo? You've never so much as noticed me for two years unless it was to traumatise Finn some more." She could hear her words slurring together slightly and cringed inwardly at it, but she continued to talk nonetheless. "And you're practically Victoria's sidekick." She pointed her finger at him accusingly, before dropping it and taking on a more sincere tone. "Why do you care?"

It did not take long, however, for Alice to be dristracted by the voices calling to her from a suspiciously low angle, and she tried to follow the voices with her gaze. A pool! She couldn't help but recall the conversation she had had with Ricardo earlier that day, and felt heat flood to her cheeks. Shaking her head she took a step back from the pool, watching in panic as she realised that some of them were swimming in their underwear in front of everyone. Did they expect her to do the same?

She watched with a surge of relief, and a surprising jolt of disappointment, as Ricardo left to go speak to others. And yet the others continued to call on her, coaxing her towards the pool as if she was some sort of frightened animal. Was she really that pathetic? Letting out a deep sigh and muttering a few 'fuck it's, Alice made her way over to the pool and slowly, carefully sat on the edge. She was being careful not to get her dress wet, but such a task was rather impossible sitting next to a group of splashing teenagers. She recognized most of them from when she was friends with Victoria - when she would've jumped into the pool without a care in the world - so she felt herself relax as they involved her in their conversation. She was asked how she'd been and what she'd been up to, while still avoiding the topic of Victoria, much to her relief. Such was the same with most catch ups she had these days - her past friendships were untouched territory and no one cared change that. She was actually starting to enjoy herself, and had almost forgotten about the alarming way the other end of the pool was swimming in and out of focus and how every so often she felt like those around her were speaking very, very quietly behind the ringing in her ears. At least, she was enjoying herself until Ricardo spoke up again from the other side of the garden.

The worst part about what he said was that it was 100% right. She so, so badly wanted to just jump in and have fun, but the one part of her brain that was not spinning was telling her not to. After a moment of thought, she leaned back from her spot next to the pool on her hands, a sweet-as-sugar smile gracing her features.

"In this state? Nah, I'd rather not go in there alone." She pretended to think some more, her intoxicated mind telling her that this was utter genius. "Since you're so fixated on my wellbeing, though, I'd happily go in if you did." The stifled laughter from those around her satisfied her completely. Of course he wasn't going to go in! He had a reputation to protect. She was a genius.

Meanwhile, Finn was feeling much less proud of himself. In fact, it seemed as though he had been thrust into a situation that he really, really did not want to be in. Sitting in this office-type room with a bunch of kids he barely knew was bad enough, but having to strip in front of them? It was a no from him. Truth be told, he wasn't ashamed of his body - he reckoned his physique wasn't too bad, actually, but he knew for a fact that Victoria Steel had seen way, way better and some weird part of his mind longed to impress her.

And he hadn't been doing too shabby, he thought, until he had been dragged in here. She had asked him if Alice was his girlfriend and that, according to Alice herself, meant she was more than just politely interested. And he replied with just what she had told him to, "Nah, I'm just there for her, and she's there for me." With a simple shrug and a half-smile. She had told him that girls love it when a guy is sensitive, so that would shoe them just that. Then again, he doubted that 'sensitive' was really on the top of Victoria's turn ons. And now they were in a room together. Stripping. Not quite in the way that he had admittedly imagined it to be with any girl - but this was mortifying enough. He was just about to set his cup down and leave when he watched another girl sitting across from his and trying to do the same, with the same excuse he was about to use. Shit. If she wasn't allowed out, then he certainly wouldn't be, seeing as Victoria had, for some reason, claimed him as her own.

Trying to ignore the girl that was now topless in front of him, Finn studied his cards and let out a long sigh. Fuck. Of course, it was now that he was having bad luck while playing cards as opposed to his usual good hands. He had one pair. How was that fair? Laying his cards down flat in front of him, he shrugged as nonchalantly as he could and gulped down his drink, only to find it completely finished after one big sip. Well, he had to win from now on if he wanted to keep his clothes on.

He his nerves behind to melt as the next hand was laid out, and he found himself settling a little. The warmth of the alcohol had dissolved a lot of his inhibitions already, so a part of him was glad that his cup was now empty. He didn't fancy throwing up all over Ricardo Ignacio's ridiculously extravagant house. His hand was not as bad this time and, realising it was his turn to reveal them first, he spread them out in front of him. A flush, all hearts. He even allowed himself to smile as he sat back and watched everyone groan and curse, enduring their punishment. Maybe this game wasn't so bad. With his piercing eyes settling on Victoria, he glaced down at the card in her hand. "Go on, then. Show us your hand."

Oak Pointe Mystery [1 x 1]

☼☽☼☽☼☽

𝓐𝓵𝓲𝓬𝓮 - 𝓜𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓮 𝓦𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝔽𝕚𝕟𝕟𝕝𝕒𝕪 𝕁𝕖𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕠𝕟

▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄

i f I j u s t l a y h e r e

w o u l d y o u l i e w i t h m e ,
& j u s t f o r g e t t h e w o r l d ?

========= ❀ =========

Finn was just in the midst of downing his drink when his eyes landed on the one person he really didn't want to see. Victoria Steel was standing just across the room - and she was staring straight at him. Were his eyes playing tricks on him, or did she just say no to that hunk? And was she walking over to him right now? And was she smiling at him? Taking another swig of the drink in his hand and trying not to wince, he offered her a weak smile as she came to a stop right in front of him. Sober Finn probably would have taken a cautious step back from this...enchantress, but sober Finn was nowhere in sight. Drunk Finn, however, could not help but allow his eyes to rake over the gorgeous girl in front of him - lingering particularly on where her romper clung to one specific curve. It only took her to speak, though, to snap him out of his gaze and onto her face. There she was, pulling that face again! That face that had rendered him speechless just hours before. Well, that was not about to happen again.

"I can see that." He cocked an eyebrow, an action he was particularly proud of judging by the state he was already in, at the drink Victoria poured herself and watched as she took a hefty swig of it. "Yeah, I usually don't like these kinds of things. Come to think of it, I'm not really sure why I'm here right now." The last statement was said almost as if he was talking to himself, trying to remember the reasoning behind this torture. He couldn't help but let out a nervous chuckle as she edged ever closer to him, now just inches away. He had never been this close to a girl that wasn't Alice before. Shit, Alice.

"You haven't seen Alice - wait, drinking games?"

Finn had next to no experience when it came to stuff like that. In his life, he had perhaps participated in something that even resembled a drinking game only once, and that had been with his brothers. He had been fifteen at the time, and had never felt more excited to be a part of his sibling's antics. He had convinced himself that he had managed to get shitfaced and spent the night stumbling around the house, spouting nonsense and quoting Shakespeare. In reality, it had been a simple card game where the loser had to take shots. When he had lost, he wasn't even given alcohol - his oldest brother, Brooklyn, had filled a shot glass with a mix of grape juice and water and told him it was some Argentinian national drink. 'Almost 100% alcohol', they had told him, and he had believed it. There had yet to be a family celebration where it had not been brought up ever since.

So, naturally, Finn was somewhat suspicious at the question. Maybe Victoria had spoken to one of his brothers, and they had told her that story. Maybe she was waiting to catch him out on a lie, knowing that he had, in fact, never properly taken part in a drinking game ever before in his life. His mind was racing to come up with a suitable answer to the question, every muscle in his body telling him to just bolt. That would be stupid. A voice in his head reasoned, and for some reason it sounded an awful lot like Alice's. So he settled for offering her a shrug and a guilty smile, his hair flopping into his eyes as he hung his head in embarrassment.

"To be honest, I don't know. Never played one." He braced himself for the slating of a lifetime, taking another large gulp of his drink and looking down at the floor. The confession itself wasn't that humiliating, he knew, but this was Victoria Steel. She had the capability of destroying him right there on the spot.

As this went on, Alice was similarly dealing with the other half of the duo. Instead of being flattered by the advances, however, she was wary. Alice liked seeing the good in people. She had always given Ricardo Ignacio the benefit of the doubt for all the years that she'd known of him. In fact, she had always assumed that his rebellions had been a cry for help - a distraction, of sorts. But the last twenty-four hours had planted doubt in her mind regarding this boy, and that was what made her hesitate before taking the drink he was offering.

Truth be told, she had been relieved at the sound of someone telling the incessant boys to back off. She had assumed it was Finn, and, automatically, her shoulders had slumped in relief. It was only when her eyes lifted to her 'rescuer' that she put her guard back up, taking a hasty step back and offering him nothing more than a nervous quirk of the lips. She may have been tipsy, but there was no way that she was going to be cosying up to Ricardo tonight. "I can handle myself, thank you very much." She hated the fact that she had to tilt her up to speak to him, as if she needed any reminders that he was the one in control. She spent perhaps a second too long staring at the drink in his outstretched hand, probably looking like some sort of loony. You're being paranoid. She told herself, finally giving in and taking the cup. He's just being polite, that's all.

"I do not get plastered, Ricardo." She forced herself to ignore the annoying thrill that went through her when she said his name. "And no, Finn and I walked here." She almost winced at the snappiness of her tone, immediately feeling guilty for answering such a normal question like that. "Thank you, though, for worrying...or whatever it is you're doing." As if to show him she was thankful, she brought the cup up to her lips and drank a good few gulps of the cola. She would've drank more if it weren't for the arm that had somehow snaked its way around her waist, causing her to take a hasty step back. No one did that to her. Not even Finn. She hated it. She felt herself starting to panic.

"Sorry, I need some fresh air." She offered Ricardo a quick smile, clumsily thrusting her cup back into his hand, offering him another mumbled 'sorry', and made her exit. Where was the bloody back door in this place? Alice wove her way through the swaying crowds of people, trying to make sense of her surroundings, even though they were swaying dangerously about her. Had she really drunk that much before she got here? She needed Finn right now, but looking for him in this swirling mess of colour was hopeless. She didn't even know if Ricardo was following her or not. She doubted he cared that much. Just when she was about to give up and find some corner to sit and cry in, her eyes landed on the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. The back door. Trying not to stumble as she made her way over to it, her mind took an oddly long time to figure out how to open the damned thing. When it did, however, and when she finally was met by fresh air (albeit, fresh air polluted by the stench of the smokers outside, but fresh air nonetheless), she let out a long sigh of relief. She had certainly cooled down, but her mind was no less groggy. And, judging by the way amused glances were being thrown her way, she looked as dazed as she felt. Far away, she knew one part of her mind was screaming at her to get a grip, but the rest of her was urging her to have fun, to let loose and to live a little. And maybe she would do just that.

Oak Pointe Mystery [1 x 1]

☼☽☼☽☼☽

𝓐𝓵𝓲𝓬𝓮 - 𝓜𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓮 𝓦𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝔽𝕚𝕟𝕟𝕝𝕒𝕪 𝕁𝕖𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕠𝕟

▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄

i f I j u s t l a y h e r e

w o u l d y o u l i e w i t h m e ,
& j u s t f o r g e t t h e w o r l d ?

========= ❀ =========

Okay, so the charming manner in which Ricardo spoke to her caught Alice a little off-guard. And okay, it took her a lot of effort not to let her jaw drop and her cheeks flush at his compliments. She had no doubt that he had used them a thousand times before, nonetheless she still wasn't used to such attention. Her composure was regained as fast as it was lost, however, and she deftly raised an eyebrow at the boy, not failing to notice the suppressed laughter coming from Victoria. What was he playing at?

"Ah, and I'm sure it'll be my breath-taking eyes you'll be looking for in the pool, nothing else." Her voice came out a lot smoother than she expected it to, without the tremors she had been bracing herself for. She couldn't help but notice the impressed quirk of Finn's eyebrow, for he was probably just as surprised as she was with her sudden bravery. "We might be there, we might not. Wouldn't want to ruin our reputations being the Biggest Loser and the Biggest Wannabe, huh Finn?" She nudged Finn beside her, hoping he would follow along, come up with some witty line of his own. Of course, that didn't happen once Victoria spoke to him.

Finn was just about trying not to gag at Ricardo's sickening attempts at wooing Alice when Victoria spoke up, her sultry voice cutting through the tension in the air as she addressed him. Normally, he would've scoffed at what the girl said and told her to dream on, but this time he couldn't help but notice the way she was twirling her hair and biting her lip and looking up at him through her eyelashes, and all words failed him. "I-well, I, um, y-yeah. I suppose, I mean, I think so." It took all of Alice's self-restraint not to smack him right there. Boys. She watched with thinly-veiled annoyance as Victoria walked away, leaving the scent of her expensive perfume lingering in the air without even throwing her former best friend a second glance. She reckoned that that had been the first time the two girls had been in the same conversation ever since they had gone their separate ways, and it had been as awkward as anyone would expect it to be. What annoyed Alice more, though, was the effortlessly cool way Ricardo left them, and the way his smile lingered in her mind a little longer than she would have liked.

"Come on, you idiot. Let's go." Alice practically had to drag Finn to her car and watch as he stared at the two far more expensive cars smoothly leaving the parking lot. Settling back in the driver's seat, she made a show of adjusting her mirrors to perfection to ensure that she would not be driving anywhere near Ricardo or Victoria as she left herself. "Have you regained the capacity of speaking English, then? Or am I just going to have to learn whatever language you started speaking out there?"

"Fuck, Alice! What was that? Why did I do that? It's Victoria Steel, for Christ's sake!" Finn was dragging a hand through his hair, anything to stop the scene of that conversation run through his mind again. How had Alice been so cool? How did she manage to stand her ground when Ricardo Ignacio was sizing her up, and he didn't? His anger increased tenfold as he realised that Alice had started laughing. Laughing at him. "It's not funny, 'Lis!" He brought his hand down on the dashboard, fists clenched. "Woah, woah, woah. Don't take it out on the car. I'm laughing because you just answered your own question, Finn." She pulled a mock-sorrowful expression and started waving her hands about wildly as they came to a long, straight piece of road. "Oh, why am I like this?" She spoke with a dumbed-down version of his voice, making sure to emphasise the 'why', just like he would do. "Because, you idiot, it was Victoria Steel. You're no match for her charms. Simple."

"But she's a Class-A bitch. I hate her as much as, if not more than, you do." He was genuinely confused as to why he had looked like such a...doofus. "Yeah, but you're a guy and she's gorgeous. You weren't expecting it, it's no big deal. She's probably used to it. Besides, when we go to that party tonight we're going to have such a good time you won't even stop to think about her." Finn did a double-take to make sure it was definitely Alice who had just said that. The Alice he knew would stay as far away as possible from a party Victoria Steel and her minions were attending. "Wait, have you forgotten what you said to them back there? You told Ricardo we weren't going."

"No, I told him we might not be going. Which means we are. Those two are up to something and I want to know what." What she failed to admit, too, was the slight thrill she felt at the thought of going to Ricardo's house, party or not. Her mind wandered to all of the possibilities of the night, some of which made her stomach flip with nerves. What was she thinking? Of course nothing was going to happen! There was no force on earth that could get her any closer to Ricardo Ignacio that absolutely necessary.

"Alice, you just ran two red lights...are you okay?" Finn placed a hand reassuringly on her knee. If it had been anyone else in the world, she would have flinched away, but Finn was different. He had gotten past her walls one by one and become a part of her, she was his rock and he was hers. It made her smile to think that just over a year ago things couldn't have been more different. "Ricardo Ignacio is bad news. You can smell trouble on him. Literally. I swear he lit up a joint just there." Alice said nothing to that and opted to just laugh instead, pulling the car up to her house and jumping out of it. If they were going to this party, there was to be a lot of getting ready involved, and a few pre-drinks, too.

By 10 o'clock, Alice was still deep in the process of styling her hair while Finn was pacing frantically behind her, flask in hand. The sound of classical music playing in the backround made his nervousness even more comical. They had a rule that said whoever's house it was meant whoever's music would be playing. If they were at Finn's, some ridiculous saxophone solo would be blasting out; but there were at Alice's - and that meant classical.

"We're meant to be there now, Alice! He said 10! We are going to be so late."

"So? We'll be fashionably late then. Don't worry, Jefferson. I'll just put on my lipstick and we're good to go. Kind of." This promise warned nothing more than a scoff from Finn. It almost made Alice laugh at how their usual roles were reversed this time. Usually she was the one freaking out about being late, not Finn. But now she felt oddly calm. The shots they had taken earlier may have had something to do with it, but she was perfectly content with taking her time anyway.

It was almost 11 by the time they finally arrived at the Ignacio household, Finn wearing his usual grungey attire, and Alice wearing one of her favorite summer dresses, her hair up as per usual. The pair couldn't help but notice that there was already people passed out in the front yard, and exchanged skeptical glances as they entered the front door. The music, much to Alice's dismay, was blaring so loudly that one had to shout in order to be heard in certain rooms. Finn hardly recognised half the people there, nor did they him judging by the strange looks he was receiving as he followed Alice deeper into the house. Alice, on the other hand, was having to politely dismiss conversation after conversation, usually from that of very drunk boys. One guy in particular reached down to lift up the skirt of her dress, only to be shoved away by Finn before he could do any damage.

"Watch it." Finn hated it here already, but his hopes were lifted slightly at the sight of the drinks table that wasn't as busy as some parts of the house. He turned round with the intention of asking Alice what she wanted to drink, only to realise that she was nowhere to be seen. So much for sticking together. Letting out a sigh and murmuring apologies as he went, he made his way over to the drinks table and immedietely reached for the nearest bottle. Not even bothering to read the label, he poured it into a cup until it was three quarters full, and filled the rest with the lemonade next to it. He almost gagged with his first sip, but it gave him a pleasant burn all the same and his missing best friend was soon forgotten.

Meanwhile, Alice found herself in the midst of a dancing group of drunk teenagers. Finn was nowhere to be seen - probably making friends with all of the alcohol in the house. Brushing off an invisible speck of dirt from her dress, she tried not to get in people's way as she tried to find somewhere quiet, to no avail. One guy in particular kept on trying to grab her hand, asking for a dance, but she managed to slip away each time. It was getting annoying now, though, and all she wanted was a seat. This party was a huge mistake.

Oak Pointe Mystery [1 x 1]

@QueenOfWands whew, please ignore the mess of my post, but I was just dying to get one up - I'll sort out Finn's picture in the morning when it hopefully starts working.

Oak Pointe Mystery [1 x 1]

☼☽☼☽☼☽

𝓐𝓵𝓲𝓬𝓮 - 𝓜𝓪𝓻𝓲𝓮 𝓦𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝔽𝕚𝕟𝕟𝕝𝕒𝕪 𝕁𝕖𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕠𝕟

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i f I j u s t l a y h e r e

w o u l d y o u l i e w i t h m e ,
& j u s t f o r g e t t h e w o r l d ?

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"I hate him. I really do. I hate his dirty money, his stupid voice and, most of all, I hate that we have to put up with him for another whole year."
Alice Weather had been listening to Finn ranting about Ricardo Ignacio and his antics ever since the last bell rang to signal the end of another torturous school year. He was doing that thing where his arms flapped about wildly whenever he spoke about something he was truly passionate about. Alice couldn't help but feel a twitch of amusement at her friend's fury, but a large part of her felt the same way he was feeling. She had been having such a good day before Ricardo had to come along and ruin it. She had finally made plans for the summer (most of which involved hanging out with Finn, so nothing out of the ordinary), exchanged numbers with a few people to keep in touch, and gave boxes of chocolates to her favourite teachers - or bottles of wine, if you count her calculus teacher that had painstakingly helped her every day to scrape a pass. And then, just as she was beginning to feel that excitement for finally being able to leave this place, that idiot had to humiliate her and, more importantly, Finn, in front of the entire school.

Alice and Finn had been not-so-subtly passing notes across the classroom to each other when the PA sabotage took place. At first, Alice allowed herself to smile with the rest of the class - it wouldn't be the end of the school year without Ricardo there to make it one to remember. She had had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at Victoria Steel's superlative. It was almost as if he was paying respect out of some legal requirement to her before addressing all students and teachers alike. But when she heard Finn's name, her head whipped around immediately to meet his gaze, which held nothing but mild annoyance and the slight flush of embarrassment as all eyes landed on him. She had almost gasped out loud, however, as her name echoed through the PA system, and all eyes were now on her, waiting for a reaction. Gritting her teeth, Alice suddenly became very interested in the notebook in front of her, scribbling intelligible gibberish and avoiding everyone's gazes until Ricardo moved on and she was promptly forgotten.

Biggest Wannabe? What did that even mean? She knew the answer before the question had even finished forming in her head. Of course it was about Vicky - what part of her life wasn't about her drop-dead gorgeous ex-best friend? She and Ricardo were as thick as thieves; the Untouchable King and Queen of Oak Pointe High, and anything Ricardo did, Vicky had a say in. It had been such a shock to hear her name read out in front of everyone nonetheless, even if Finn's had been right before hers. She didn't even realise that Ricardo Ignacio knew who she was, never mind her past with Vicky.

"Yeah, I know he's an asshole, Finn, but why are you so worked up about it? You've never cared that much before." She finally spoke for the first time since the incident, her sharp accent making her anger at everything in general all the more tangible. "Yeah, that's because he's never brought you into it before, 'Lis. He wants to torment me 'till the end of my days? Cool. Bring my best friend into it? I'll rearrange his face."

Alice couldn't help but roll her eyes at that. As serious as he seemed, she knew for a fact that Finn was no fighter. She had seen him on the verge of tears after she tickled him, for Christ's sake. He would not be rearranging anyone's face anytime soon.

"How heroic of you. Don't worry about it. I couldn't care less about what Ricardo Ignacio thinks of me or you. There's no need for you to 'defend my honour' or whatever other courageous plans you may have." Even so, as they left the school building, Alice couldn't help but catch the stare of both Victoria Steel and the man of the moment himself, aimed directly at her and Finn. Pushing away the twist of apprehension she felt under their gazes, she opted to distract Finn from the focus he seemed to hold on clenching and unlenching his fists in a manner that would've been threatening, if it had been anyone else.

"Hey, listen. My mum's out tonight with Damien, so you can come over if you like; watch movies, chill. Or, we could go out somewhere? Someone's bound to be having a party, what with it being the last day of Hell and all." A smirk that held a lot more optimism than she felt graced her features as she spoke. She knew Finn couldn't say no to the prospect of alcohol, especially not now. Truth be told, she wouldn't say no to a few drinks at the moment herself. Her stepfather had mounted the pressure on her to 'behave herself' and be 'his good little girl' even moreso than he usually did these past few weeks, so him leaving was a rare chance for her to really let her hair down and have fun.

The guilt Finn felt upon hearing Alice's offer turned his attention away from the infuriating face of Ricardo and onto the hopeful expression spread across her features. Of course, Alice, being Alice, didn't want to spend the rest of the day fuming about what some guy said about her. He was so used to the digs Ricardo made towards him, it had become a part of his everyday life. It wasn't something he was particularly annoyed about - in fact, he he hadn't even felt that angry towards the guy until now. Him being mentioned as part of the big speech had hardly surprised him, but when Alice's name was called? That's when he had seen red. Even watching her now out of the corner of his eye, he couldn't imagine anyone wanting to hurt her, but he knew she could handle herself. In fact, many times she had stuck up for him when he couldn't - she was a tough one, but he saw her as a little sister nonetheless.

That was one part of their relationship that few people undeestood. Yeah, they clicked. Yeah, they could spend hours talking about the most pointless shit ever. And yeah, they could make each other smile in even the darkest of times, but there was nothing there romantically. Sure, she was a pretty girl and she had admitted to him that he wasn't bad looking for being so hopeless, but the topic of them being together was enough to have them crying with laughter every single time it was brought up. At moments like this, Finn found it hard to picture anything that could come between them.

"You know the way to my heart, kiddo." Slowing down as they reached the parking lot, he reached down to tousle her hair, only to have her smoothly dodge it as if she had seen it from a mile away. "Now, most men would say food is what they desire most, but give me a shot of tequila and a fun night then I'm all yours." His amusement towards his best friend increased tenfold as he watched her dig into every single one of her pockets, brows furrowed and mouthing curses. She was, of course, looking for her keys - the keys to that hideous car of hers that Victoria had bought for her once upon a time. It baffled Finn that they had been friends once, they were so different. Come to think of it, though, he didn't mind the thought of them having a sexy slumber party or something. He had once voiced this thought to Alice and received a well-deserved punch and a lecture on sexism and the objectification of women. Typical.

"Looking for these?" Dangling the keys in front of her face, Finn let them drop into her outstretched hand, his gaze already searching for where she had parked. They both seemed to locate the whereabouts of Alice's car at the same time, judging by their synchronised swearing. Of course the light blue Fiat 500 was sat right next to where Vicky and Ricardo happened to be talking. Finn was about to turn away and start walking home when Alice grabbed him by the sleeve and started marching forward, purpose in her step.

"We are going to go over and very politely ask them to move, and they will move. If they do not, Finn, I swear to God I will run them over. I am not letting them stand in our way for another year. Come on."

Oak Pointe Mystery [1 x 1]

Aw, I love that! An iconic duo if I've ever saw one, for sure. The post looks great! A lot to live up to, but I'll do my best.

Oak Pointe Mystery [1 x 1]

me @ the site today:


v excited to get this show on the road!

[HIGH CASUAL] Her Majesty's Spirit

I'm certainly still interested and am working on a witch character right now :)

[HIGH CASUAL] Her Majesty's Spirit

Interested :)