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Grimoire Gaming Member
Unseelie Faerie
STATUS: in less than a week, kenny committed a double homicide on the same person. thoughts and prayers 7 mos ago
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in less than a week, kenny committed a double homicide on the same person. thoughts and prayers
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6 yrs ago
"I don't attract what I want, I attract what I am. Dead as the bees buzzing inside my head." MM
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Boo!
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"If you have ghosts, you have everything."
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Do you wanna start a cult with me?
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Bio
Grim / Grimoire
(they/them)
It's been over a year since I've written creatively but here I am again.
'sup.
(they/them)
It's been over a year since I've written creatively but here I am again.
'sup.
Most Recent Posts
Welcome back! There's been some changes, but things are going well. How are you?
Collab Featuring: Selena Sterling@Silent Observer & Hailey Green-Locke@Universorum
Location: Mrs. Winship’s Homeroom → Hailey’s Car
In homeroom, Selena Sterling’s phone buzzed with a simple text message from Hailey.
Hailey Green had yet to go inside for homeroom and truth be told, she didn’t plan to. She had far better things to do, plans within plans to work on. The first step of today’s play was simple: she needed Selena. Selena who was going to eventually take her place. The same Selena that was her cousin, the same woman who was meant to be the same person that Hailey had been for her entire career at Beverly Hills High.
The issue today was simple: Hailey was bored. Extremely bored. This led to her not much wanting to play the game anymore. Without the need to maintain an image and a public face, Hailey Green would have much more freedom in what she did do and didn’t do. Her goal was to accelerate things so that Selena could take over… now, and Hailey could graduate early, or at least start taking half days.
But first, she had to wait for Selena to come here, so they could discuss it.
Whilst Sean Sterling had chosen to sit at a table by himself and sleep during homeroom, Selena sat beside Ophelia and her Candies — at least, most of them. The prep tucked a blonde curl behind her ear as she scheduled out her day in a floral-themed planner, a glittery purple pen dancing along with the graceful loops of her handwriting. Much like the rest of her life, Selena’s script was perfectly beautiful, and she had practiced tirelessly to make it so. Anything that she could work to control and perfect, she would, just like her mother.
Buzz. Buzz.
Selena flicked her gaze towards her purse. She plucked out buzzing phone, which was decked out in a pink crystal-encrusted case that had cost more than the phone itself did. Sliding her thumb in the unlock pattern, the contact flashed on screen. Hailey. Sel looked up and around the room before reading the message. O and the T were present — though strangely enough, they were not sitting together, which was something that Sel would have to investigate — but H was missing in action. She clicked the ‘read message’ button and raised an eyebrow at the text. Out front? What was Hailey up to now?
After clicking on the cap of her pen, Selena tossed it into her bag. She tapped out a response to Hailey saying that she was on her way before gently closing her planner and placing both of those items in her bag as well. Instead of getting up to leave without so much as a word, Sel turned to Ophelia. “I have business to tend to. Do let me know if anything interesting happens while I’m gone,” she said, standing up and adjusting her skirt daintily.
“Aye, cap’n.” Lia said, saluting her friend without looking up from the notebook she was carefully marking in with colored pencils. The party had led to a few changes in the scenery of the school, as far as what Ophelia cared about went. She had to prepare herself for some… massive renovations to the shipping wall, and that meant colors and graphs. Whatever. She liked coloring. “Should I ask what’s up? Probably not.”
“Hailey.” Was Selena’s only response, and truly, it was the only response that was needed. She briefly glanced down at whatever Ophie was working on and smirked. “See you later,” she said and then turned on her heel to leave homeroom, not even bothering to look in Mrs. Winship’s direction. The dreadful morning show had already aired, and the crone didn’t much care if you paid attention to anything else for the rest of the class.
The parking lot of Beverly Hills High hosted a plethora of expensive luxury and sports vehicles. The blonde slid on a pair of Gucci sunglasses to block out the glare as she gazed around for a familiar car. She had no idea which one Hailey had decided on today, but she knew enough of her collection to be able to recognize most of them. A blue Maserati caught her eye and she headed in that direction, her heels tip-tapping against the pavement as she walked. Upon reaching the vehicle, she knelt down to peek through the tinted backseat window.
The window rolled down and revealed Hailey Green’s perfectly managed hair, and she smiled at Selena. “Do you have a moment? I’d like to talk. You do? Wonderful. Get in. I have some pancakes, if you’d like one.” Hailey explained gesturing toward the center console where, as mentioned, a short stack of fluffy pancakes that seemed to have chocolate chips in them sat, butter melted over the top of them, and a small pitcher of warm maple syrup waiting. Butler got out of the car, and walked to the backdoor opposite the side of Hailey, opening the door for the Sterling princess.
“Thank you, Butler.” Selena said genuinely and nodded to the bearded man before ducking her head to sit in the back seat with the queen. The pancakes smelled good, but she didn’t feel much up to eating them. Sean’s recent obsession with the fluffy breakfast food led to her having eaten more of them recently than was good for her figure. If Hailey insisted, she might take a nibble, but nothing more. “Of course I have time for you. The morning show was a hot mess, partially thanks to none other than Owen Lyon… I think you would have been amused. What is it that you want to discuss?”
Hailey smiled slightly at the idea of Owen embarrassing himself, truly a rare and incredibly enjoyable sight. She’d have to watch the VOD, but ultimately that wasn’t important right then. What was important was the business at hand. After the door was shut and Butler was back in his place in the driver’s seat, Hailey finally spoke on the matter. “I’m bored, Selena. Very bored, as it happens.” Hailey frowned slightly, thinking about how the day had went so far. “Nothing interesting happens and I’ve already won in almost every scenario. So, I think it’s time we expedite the transition between the two of us.”
Both of Selena’s well-groomed eyebrows gently rose in surprise. One always had to expect the unexpected when it came to Hailey Green… but this was truly unexpected. Of course, she had known that her inclusion in the It girl group would eventually come to this moment, that is what she had always wanted, after all. All of her hard work was coming to fruition, but why so soon? Was she ready? “While you are still here? Are you sure?”
“I’m always sure. Truth be told, I don’t much care what happens after it’s no longer my problem. However, I believe the transition would be easier if I were still around — you could come to me for, ahem, consulting. I’m not much interested in running things anymore. I’m bored of the work it requires, I’m bored of the effort I’ve had to put forth to keep Trixie happy, which hardly works. Honestly, if that Owen boy was so tremendously important to her, why doesn’t she just go back to him? He most certainly would accept.” Hailey shook her head and rubbed her temples with one hand. She let out a long breath and turned her attention fully back onto Selena. “Essentially, I’d like to have more free time to enjoy clubs and my peers and community before I graduate. I’m not sure if I’m going to college and I feel there is a chance I may be missing out on a large portion of my social life by not participating in clubs or general functions. I’m dedicating far too much time to handling my business, so I hope pushing some of it off onto you will assist in yielding me better time management.”
“Of course, that makes sense. I certainly don’t mind being there and helping Trixie to feel better. The whole situation is quite tragic. Love seems far too messy, I don’t know why anyone gets themselves involved in that, no matter how much Ophie talks it up as a wonderful thing. That being said, I don’t think she should go back to Owen… he’s a sleaze. A cheater like him doesn’t deserve our cousin.” Selena caved in to the tempting aroma and took a small bite of the chocolate chip pancakes in front of her. They were heavenly, as was to be expected. “What clubs will you join? Are you going to cheer? You’d look great in the uniform.”
“Off the top of my head, I aspire to start with anime club. From there, I may start a few of my own, but I’ll see what we have in store. One of A Double’s friends is in the anime club, and I quite like them.” Hailey shrugged her shoulders, taking a bite of the pancakes herself. “Do you like them? I used just a bit of beer, to help them rise. I think the taste is a bit noticeable, but… I don’t much care. The fluffiness is just necessary.” Hailey explained, smiling happily at Sel, then addressing the cheerleader question. “I’m not much interested in cheerleading, it isn’t really my style, and the outfit shows off…. far too much. I’m rather conservative, I think.”
Anime club was an interesting first choice, in Selena’s opinion. She did not, however, let those thoughts show through on her face. Most of Hailey’s closer friends knew that she had, well, somewhat nerdy hobbies. Her father’s genes must have come through strong, or perhaps it was just how much she loved him. That mattered not, this wasn’t a nature versus nurture debate. Instead, Sel focused on the food. “They’re very good, I’m always a sucker for chocolate chips. I never would have thought to use beer, good call there. The science is there to make it work, perhaps I should think more about learning to cook. It’s just another form of chemistry.” Selena smiled lightly, admitting her own nerdy interests. “True enough, though, about the cheer uniforms. They aren’t befitting a queen’s modesty.” Thinking on that, Selena wondered if that meant that she should stop cheering. She decided that she didn’t want to stop, so she wouldn’t. “About the transition… have you talked to Ophie yet?”
“No, and I don’t plan to. My decision to phase myself out early is my own. I’m hoping the transition goes smoothly and that nothing comes up to interfere with my actual plan, which includes myself leaving until prom. Ideally the country. I’m confident that nothing will distract me. I’d like to take some time to myself as an attempt to destress and deflate myself from my current mental state — which admittedly isn’t my best. I may not show it, but I’m very stressed.” Hailey explained, taking another bite of the pancakes. “The Elite annoyed and frustrated me and allowed me to fully realize how easily upset I am by what happens at the school. It’s best I distance myself before the inevitable, and likely very soon, boiling point is reached by most of the school board.”
Of course, despite what Hailey was saying, she had every intention of continuing to manipulate things behind the scenes. She just didn’t much care for the target on her back anymore. In fact, it was most likely that the boiling point was reached from Hailey lighting a fire underneath an already volatile melting pot of personalities.
“I just don’t want her to be pissed that, you know, you’re handing me the reigns while she is still around too. But, truth be told, she seems distracted enough with her own… things… so she might not even notice. I like yoga for stress, and hot tea, but certainly a vacation sounds like an excellent plan. Where will you go? Someplace new?”
“Ideally somewhere cold. I quite like Switzerland, so perhaps there. But, again, who knows? Something may crop up that distracts me.” Hailey shrugged her shoulders and brushed some of her hair out of her eyes. “Let’s go now, that’s all I had to say. I just wanted to tell you in privacy, since I did say a few things that I’d rather not have repeated. I’d appreciate it if you kept our conversation as private as possible…” Hailey smiled and took the last bite of the pancakes and tapped Butler on the shoulder, leaning forward to whisper something in his ear. He nodded, and Hailey opened the door herself, stepping out. “Come along, Sel. How is Trixie doing today, anyway? I need to prepare myself.”
Selena nodded at Hailey’s request to keep this conversation private. As if Selena would ever be stupid enough to not keep it private, she knew full well the level of social suicide that would occur if she didn’t. Once Hailey indicated she was ready to leave, Sel followed suit, exiting the back seat through the door on her own side. “She seems to be a little better, actually. It might just be an act because we’re back at school now, though. She was speaking with Jamie and Marshall, last I saw. Probably newspaper stuff.”
“I can only hope she didn’t miss the show with Owen. It probably would have felt good for her.” Hailey smiled over her shoulder, and the bell rang, signifying the end of the homeroom class, and beginning of the real school day.
I’m in my car out front. Hurry up.
Hailey Green had yet to go inside for homeroom and truth be told, she didn’t plan to. She had far better things to do, plans within plans to work on. The first step of today’s play was simple: she needed Selena. Selena who was going to eventually take her place. The same Selena that was her cousin, the same woman who was meant to be the same person that Hailey had been for her entire career at Beverly Hills High.
The issue today was simple: Hailey was bored. Extremely bored. This led to her not much wanting to play the game anymore. Without the need to maintain an image and a public face, Hailey Green would have much more freedom in what she did do and didn’t do. Her goal was to accelerate things so that Selena could take over… now, and Hailey could graduate early, or at least start taking half days.
But first, she had to wait for Selena to come here, so they could discuss it.
Whilst Sean Sterling had chosen to sit at a table by himself and sleep during homeroom, Selena sat beside Ophelia and her Candies — at least, most of them. The prep tucked a blonde curl behind her ear as she scheduled out her day in a floral-themed planner, a glittery purple pen dancing along with the graceful loops of her handwriting. Much like the rest of her life, Selena’s script was perfectly beautiful, and she had practiced tirelessly to make it so. Anything that she could work to control and perfect, she would, just like her mother.
Buzz. Buzz.
Selena flicked her gaze towards her purse. She plucked out buzzing phone, which was decked out in a pink crystal-encrusted case that had cost more than the phone itself did. Sliding her thumb in the unlock pattern, the contact flashed on screen. Hailey. Sel looked up and around the room before reading the message. O and the T were present — though strangely enough, they were not sitting together, which was something that Sel would have to investigate — but H was missing in action. She clicked the ‘read message’ button and raised an eyebrow at the text. Out front? What was Hailey up to now?
After clicking on the cap of her pen, Selena tossed it into her bag. She tapped out a response to Hailey saying that she was on her way before gently closing her planner and placing both of those items in her bag as well. Instead of getting up to leave without so much as a word, Sel turned to Ophelia. “I have business to tend to. Do let me know if anything interesting happens while I’m gone,” she said, standing up and adjusting her skirt daintily.
“Aye, cap’n.” Lia said, saluting her friend without looking up from the notebook she was carefully marking in with colored pencils. The party had led to a few changes in the scenery of the school, as far as what Ophelia cared about went. She had to prepare herself for some… massive renovations to the shipping wall, and that meant colors and graphs. Whatever. She liked coloring. “Should I ask what’s up? Probably not.”
“Hailey.” Was Selena’s only response, and truly, it was the only response that was needed. She briefly glanced down at whatever Ophie was working on and smirked. “See you later,” she said and then turned on her heel to leave homeroom, not even bothering to look in Mrs. Winship’s direction. The dreadful morning show had already aired, and the crone didn’t much care if you paid attention to anything else for the rest of the class.
The parking lot of Beverly Hills High hosted a plethora of expensive luxury and sports vehicles. The blonde slid on a pair of Gucci sunglasses to block out the glare as she gazed around for a familiar car. She had no idea which one Hailey had decided on today, but she knew enough of her collection to be able to recognize most of them. A blue Maserati caught her eye and she headed in that direction, her heels tip-tapping against the pavement as she walked. Upon reaching the vehicle, she knelt down to peek through the tinted backseat window.
The window rolled down and revealed Hailey Green’s perfectly managed hair, and she smiled at Selena. “Do you have a moment? I’d like to talk. You do? Wonderful. Get in. I have some pancakes, if you’d like one.” Hailey explained gesturing toward the center console where, as mentioned, a short stack of fluffy pancakes that seemed to have chocolate chips in them sat, butter melted over the top of them, and a small pitcher of warm maple syrup waiting. Butler got out of the car, and walked to the backdoor opposite the side of Hailey, opening the door for the Sterling princess.
“Thank you, Butler.” Selena said genuinely and nodded to the bearded man before ducking her head to sit in the back seat with the queen. The pancakes smelled good, but she didn’t feel much up to eating them. Sean’s recent obsession with the fluffy breakfast food led to her having eaten more of them recently than was good for her figure. If Hailey insisted, she might take a nibble, but nothing more. “Of course I have time for you. The morning show was a hot mess, partially thanks to none other than Owen Lyon… I think you would have been amused. What is it that you want to discuss?”
Hailey smiled slightly at the idea of Owen embarrassing himself, truly a rare and incredibly enjoyable sight. She’d have to watch the VOD, but ultimately that wasn’t important right then. What was important was the business at hand. After the door was shut and Butler was back in his place in the driver’s seat, Hailey finally spoke on the matter. “I’m bored, Selena. Very bored, as it happens.” Hailey frowned slightly, thinking about how the day had went so far. “Nothing interesting happens and I’ve already won in almost every scenario. So, I think it’s time we expedite the transition between the two of us.”
Both of Selena’s well-groomed eyebrows gently rose in surprise. One always had to expect the unexpected when it came to Hailey Green… but this was truly unexpected. Of course, she had known that her inclusion in the It girl group would eventually come to this moment, that is what she had always wanted, after all. All of her hard work was coming to fruition, but why so soon? Was she ready? “While you are still here? Are you sure?”
“I’m always sure. Truth be told, I don’t much care what happens after it’s no longer my problem. However, I believe the transition would be easier if I were still around — you could come to me for, ahem, consulting. I’m not much interested in running things anymore. I’m bored of the work it requires, I’m bored of the effort I’ve had to put forth to keep Trixie happy, which hardly works. Honestly, if that Owen boy was so tremendously important to her, why doesn’t she just go back to him? He most certainly would accept.” Hailey shook her head and rubbed her temples with one hand. She let out a long breath and turned her attention fully back onto Selena. “Essentially, I’d like to have more free time to enjoy clubs and my peers and community before I graduate. I’m not sure if I’m going to college and I feel there is a chance I may be missing out on a large portion of my social life by not participating in clubs or general functions. I’m dedicating far too much time to handling my business, so I hope pushing some of it off onto you will assist in yielding me better time management.”
“Of course, that makes sense. I certainly don’t mind being there and helping Trixie to feel better. The whole situation is quite tragic. Love seems far too messy, I don’t know why anyone gets themselves involved in that, no matter how much Ophie talks it up as a wonderful thing. That being said, I don’t think she should go back to Owen… he’s a sleaze. A cheater like him doesn’t deserve our cousin.” Selena caved in to the tempting aroma and took a small bite of the chocolate chip pancakes in front of her. They were heavenly, as was to be expected. “What clubs will you join? Are you going to cheer? You’d look great in the uniform.”
“Off the top of my head, I aspire to start with anime club. From there, I may start a few of my own, but I’ll see what we have in store. One of A Double’s friends is in the anime club, and I quite like them.” Hailey shrugged her shoulders, taking a bite of the pancakes herself. “Do you like them? I used just a bit of beer, to help them rise. I think the taste is a bit noticeable, but… I don’t much care. The fluffiness is just necessary.” Hailey explained, smiling happily at Sel, then addressing the cheerleader question. “I’m not much interested in cheerleading, it isn’t really my style, and the outfit shows off…. far too much. I’m rather conservative, I think.”
Anime club was an interesting first choice, in Selena’s opinion. She did not, however, let those thoughts show through on her face. Most of Hailey’s closer friends knew that she had, well, somewhat nerdy hobbies. Her father’s genes must have come through strong, or perhaps it was just how much she loved him. That mattered not, this wasn’t a nature versus nurture debate. Instead, Sel focused on the food. “They’re very good, I’m always a sucker for chocolate chips. I never would have thought to use beer, good call there. The science is there to make it work, perhaps I should think more about learning to cook. It’s just another form of chemistry.” Selena smiled lightly, admitting her own nerdy interests. “True enough, though, about the cheer uniforms. They aren’t befitting a queen’s modesty.” Thinking on that, Selena wondered if that meant that she should stop cheering. She decided that she didn’t want to stop, so she wouldn’t. “About the transition… have you talked to Ophie yet?”
“No, and I don’t plan to. My decision to phase myself out early is my own. I’m hoping the transition goes smoothly and that nothing comes up to interfere with my actual plan, which includes myself leaving until prom. Ideally the country. I’m confident that nothing will distract me. I’d like to take some time to myself as an attempt to destress and deflate myself from my current mental state — which admittedly isn’t my best. I may not show it, but I’m very stressed.” Hailey explained, taking another bite of the pancakes. “The Elite annoyed and frustrated me and allowed me to fully realize how easily upset I am by what happens at the school. It’s best I distance myself before the inevitable, and likely very soon, boiling point is reached by most of the school board.”
Of course, despite what Hailey was saying, she had every intention of continuing to manipulate things behind the scenes. She just didn’t much care for the target on her back anymore. In fact, it was most likely that the boiling point was reached from Hailey lighting a fire underneath an already volatile melting pot of personalities.
“I just don’t want her to be pissed that, you know, you’re handing me the reigns while she is still around too. But, truth be told, she seems distracted enough with her own… things… so she might not even notice. I like yoga for stress, and hot tea, but certainly a vacation sounds like an excellent plan. Where will you go? Someplace new?”
“Ideally somewhere cold. I quite like Switzerland, so perhaps there. But, again, who knows? Something may crop up that distracts me.” Hailey shrugged her shoulders and brushed some of her hair out of her eyes. “Let’s go now, that’s all I had to say. I just wanted to tell you in privacy, since I did say a few things that I’d rather not have repeated. I’d appreciate it if you kept our conversation as private as possible…” Hailey smiled and took the last bite of the pancakes and tapped Butler on the shoulder, leaning forward to whisper something in his ear. He nodded, and Hailey opened the door herself, stepping out. “Come along, Sel. How is Trixie doing today, anyway? I need to prepare myself.”
Selena nodded at Hailey’s request to keep this conversation private. As if Selena would ever be stupid enough to not keep it private, she knew full well the level of social suicide that would occur if she didn’t. Once Hailey indicated she was ready to leave, Sel followed suit, exiting the back seat through the door on her own side. “She seems to be a little better, actually. It might just be an act because we’re back at school now, though. She was speaking with Jamie and Marshall, last I saw. Probably newspaper stuff.”
“I can only hope she didn’t miss the show with Owen. It probably would have felt good for her.” Hailey smiled over her shoulder, and the bell rang, signifying the end of the homeroom class, and beginning of the real school day.
Collab Featuring: Trevor Wells@Silent Observer & Damian O'Connor@Universorum
Location: Mrs. Winship’s Homeroom
Today started like any other day of highschool had started so far. Trevor had woken up, went for a morning run, showered, put on a casual Under Armour polo and jeans, ate breakfast with his dads, and then drove to school with his brother. The usual routine. What made today unlike most days was that it was the first day of his last semester of high school, which actually had him feeling a little bummed out. What if he was one of those guys who peaked in high school? So far he had had a fantastic time at high school: decent grades, great baseball career, good football career, all while maintaining a healthy social life. Sure, he could have used a little more excitement in the romance department, but… he was even working on that now!
The redheaded jock walked into homeroom with a lot more on his mind than his potential southern belle lady friend or even the classes for that day. He considered whether he would be applying to college, joining the Navy, or submitting an application to the LA Police Academy in the upcoming weeks — because the time frame for making such decisions was quickly approaching an end. If he was really following his heart, he was leaning more towards the last option, even if most people didn’t consider being a cop to be the most glamorous profession. Sometimes you have to chase a passion, and Trevor thought that he would make for a good police officer — a public servant, a positive role model, and potentially a hero.
Wearing a somewhat serious countenance due to his current mental ponderings, Trevor sat down beside his best friend. Damian looked equally as distracted, not even offering his usual greeting when Trev joined him. Regardless of the boys being rather quiet, the rest of the homeroom seemed to be abuzz with chatter and… dancing, of all things. There truly was never a dull day at Beverly Hills High, Trevor was certain of that.
“You alright, man?” Trev asked, looking his friend over with concern. Before Damian could respond, Mrs. Winship requested that everyone quiet down to watch the morning announcement show. Trevor loved watching his brother on screen, you could really tell that he was passionate about it and Trev knew how much the show meant to Rye. The show was, however, off to a rough start, with the camera being off-center and out of focus. Odd. Maybe A Double was too high to run the camera properly, that wasn’t out of the question.
The crew seemingly got their act together and Rye began with a cheerful greeting. He seemed nervous, but that could be attributed to it being his first day back in the hot seat after break, nothing big. Trevor watched as Brynn was introduced as a co-host, which he had known about ahead of time, so it came as no surprise. And then the unexpected happened. Brynn essentially called his brother ugly in front of the entire school, and Riley reacted to it. To add to that, he continued to be snippy with both her and the cameraman. Trevor squinted his eyes at the screen… that was very unlike Rye.
“I think something’s wrong with Riley. Something must have happened.” Trevor mused quietly to Damian. And then the unthinkable happened. The proverbial shit hit the fan in every way possible. The camera went sepia. Owen was loudly singing behind the camera — at least he was pretty sure that was Owen’s voice. Damian’s mom showed up. Trevor hung out with Damian enough to recognize Melody by the shrill tone of her voice when she was upset. Oh, this was bad. This was very bad. And then it got even worse. Did she just say cut from the team?
Trevor was sitting in stunned silence as the screen went black. No way. That would be crazy. Impossible. He hazarded a glance at Damian. “That’s not true... right?”
Damian responded, but his voice was weak and almost sounded more like a whimper than his normally strong willed, almost happy-go-lucky voice. “Uh, no man. It’s true. It’s all true, actually. Also, I have detention indefinitely, and I’m supposed to be on the dance committee. And now, to top it all off, I’m grounded.” Damian explained, nodding as if to reassure himself that: yes. This is your reality now. “So, uhm… good luck with tryouts? I guess. And, with whoever takes over for me…”
There was no hiding the pure and utter shock on Trevor’s face, not that was he even attempting to hide it. He just listened and gawked at Damian’s words, his mouth forming a comical ‘O’ shape. The shocked expression quickly turned into one that seemed genuinely offended, as his red eyebrows stitched together. “What? How? That’s absolutely ridiculous! They can’t do that.”
“Well, I guess they can. And they did! So, just a friendly reminder: don’t have fun. Ever.” Damian ran a hand through his short hair and considered his options. Did he have any? Not really. Mom was right, his dad was probably going to kill him. How was he going to follow in his dad’s footsteps if he couldn’t even stay on the team? “I guess I can drink bleach, huh? That’s always an option. It’d be better than this cursed existence. I don’t even know what I’m gonna do! Football is like my life, and you know that. I don’t really… do much else.”
“This is all over the party? It’s not like you were responsible for the whole thing, where’s everyone else’s punishment? A lot of us planned it, hell, my dad catered it.” Trevor said in clear frustration, which wasn’t a side of him that many saw off of the field. He chewed at the edge of his thumbnail before speaking again, and then shook his head. “That’s… awful. I’m so, so sorry, man. What can I do? I can get the guys to boycott, ya know, take a knee or something? Did… did Coach actually talk to you yet?”
“No, not yet. I bet he will soon, since mom just screamed it to the world… But, you don’t have to do that. You guys should keep winning! That’s important. Also, they didn’t just get me, they got Henry taken out too… I dunno where he is, but I think he got it worse since every Friday he has mandatory in-school suspension now.” Damian explained, helplessly shrugging his shoulders. This was game, set, and match. There was no play, there was no way to get out of this, other than to grin and bear it while it lasts. “Maybe it’ll be lifted before the season’s over… or hopefully before next year, but then you’ll be gone anyway! So what’s the point? You’re my best friend, I don’t know if I’d even want to play if you weren’t on the team with me!”
Trevor was all but pouting now. This was sad as heck, man. The boy’s well-defined shoulders sagged in defeat as he sat back in his seat. “I know the feeling, dude. This is my last semester on the team, and I don’t know if I wanna— no. That’s a lie. I do wanna play. I’m gonna plead with the coach, and if that doesn’t work right away, I’ll go for captain and keep your seat warm for you. Because you’ll be coming back.” Trevor said, nodding confidently, as if that would improve his chances.
“Well, at least one of us is confident. My dad is gonna kill me. Wanna come to dinner tonight? Maybe together we can take him.” Damian sat up a little straighter and wondered if his mother was right. His dad had that dad strength! He could probably still slap Damian around, no matter how strong Damian was. But Trevor was a big motherfucker. Maybe the two of them could handle things… maybe. “To be honest, I don’t know if the coach is gonna be able to do anything. I doubt he’s gonna be happy I got the boot. I bet he goes ballistic, dude.”
“Good! I hope he does, because he should. This is injust, none of it happened anywhere near school grounds, and it wasn’t even during the school year.” Trev felt his cheeks coloring red as he got worked up over it again. He breathed out a calming sigh and then nodded. “Yeah man, I’ll totally join you for dinner… after tryouts are over. Whatever you need, Damian, I got you. Always.”
Damian held out his fist for Trevor to bump, and a weak smile formed on his face.
With Trevor’s help, tranquilo could be restored.
The redheaded jock walked into homeroom with a lot more on his mind than his potential southern belle lady friend or even the classes for that day. He considered whether he would be applying to college, joining the Navy, or submitting an application to the LA Police Academy in the upcoming weeks — because the time frame for making such decisions was quickly approaching an end. If he was really following his heart, he was leaning more towards the last option, even if most people didn’t consider being a cop to be the most glamorous profession. Sometimes you have to chase a passion, and Trevor thought that he would make for a good police officer — a public servant, a positive role model, and potentially a hero.
Wearing a somewhat serious countenance due to his current mental ponderings, Trevor sat down beside his best friend. Damian looked equally as distracted, not even offering his usual greeting when Trev joined him. Regardless of the boys being rather quiet, the rest of the homeroom seemed to be abuzz with chatter and… dancing, of all things. There truly was never a dull day at Beverly Hills High, Trevor was certain of that.
“You alright, man?” Trev asked, looking his friend over with concern. Before Damian could respond, Mrs. Winship requested that everyone quiet down to watch the morning announcement show. Trevor loved watching his brother on screen, you could really tell that he was passionate about it and Trev knew how much the show meant to Rye. The show was, however, off to a rough start, with the camera being off-center and out of focus. Odd. Maybe A Double was too high to run the camera properly, that wasn’t out of the question.
The crew seemingly got their act together and Rye began with a cheerful greeting. He seemed nervous, but that could be attributed to it being his first day back in the hot seat after break, nothing big. Trevor watched as Brynn was introduced as a co-host, which he had known about ahead of time, so it came as no surprise. And then the unexpected happened. Brynn essentially called his brother ugly in front of the entire school, and Riley reacted to it. To add to that, he continued to be snippy with both her and the cameraman. Trevor squinted his eyes at the screen… that was very unlike Rye.
“I think something’s wrong with Riley. Something must have happened.” Trevor mused quietly to Damian. And then the unthinkable happened. The proverbial shit hit the fan in every way possible. The camera went sepia. Owen was loudly singing behind the camera — at least he was pretty sure that was Owen’s voice. Damian’s mom showed up. Trevor hung out with Damian enough to recognize Melody by the shrill tone of her voice when she was upset. Oh, this was bad. This was very bad. And then it got even worse. Did she just say cut from the team?
Trevor was sitting in stunned silence as the screen went black. No way. That would be crazy. Impossible. He hazarded a glance at Damian. “That’s not true... right?”
Damian responded, but his voice was weak and almost sounded more like a whimper than his normally strong willed, almost happy-go-lucky voice. “Uh, no man. It’s true. It’s all true, actually. Also, I have detention indefinitely, and I’m supposed to be on the dance committee. And now, to top it all off, I’m grounded.” Damian explained, nodding as if to reassure himself that: yes. This is your reality now. “So, uhm… good luck with tryouts? I guess. And, with whoever takes over for me…”
There was no hiding the pure and utter shock on Trevor’s face, not that was he even attempting to hide it. He just listened and gawked at Damian’s words, his mouth forming a comical ‘O’ shape. The shocked expression quickly turned into one that seemed genuinely offended, as his red eyebrows stitched together. “What? How? That’s absolutely ridiculous! They can’t do that.”
“Well, I guess they can. And they did! So, just a friendly reminder: don’t have fun. Ever.” Damian ran a hand through his short hair and considered his options. Did he have any? Not really. Mom was right, his dad was probably going to kill him. How was he going to follow in his dad’s footsteps if he couldn’t even stay on the team? “I guess I can drink bleach, huh? That’s always an option. It’d be better than this cursed existence. I don’t even know what I’m gonna do! Football is like my life, and you know that. I don’t really… do much else.”
“This is all over the party? It’s not like you were responsible for the whole thing, where’s everyone else’s punishment? A lot of us planned it, hell, my dad catered it.” Trevor said in clear frustration, which wasn’t a side of him that many saw off of the field. He chewed at the edge of his thumbnail before speaking again, and then shook his head. “That’s… awful. I’m so, so sorry, man. What can I do? I can get the guys to boycott, ya know, take a knee or something? Did… did Coach actually talk to you yet?”
“No, not yet. I bet he will soon, since mom just screamed it to the world… But, you don’t have to do that. You guys should keep winning! That’s important. Also, they didn’t just get me, they got Henry taken out too… I dunno where he is, but I think he got it worse since every Friday he has mandatory in-school suspension now.” Damian explained, helplessly shrugging his shoulders. This was game, set, and match. There was no play, there was no way to get out of this, other than to grin and bear it while it lasts. “Maybe it’ll be lifted before the season’s over… or hopefully before next year, but then you’ll be gone anyway! So what’s the point? You’re my best friend, I don’t know if I’d even want to play if you weren’t on the team with me!”
Trevor was all but pouting now. This was sad as heck, man. The boy’s well-defined shoulders sagged in defeat as he sat back in his seat. “I know the feeling, dude. This is my last semester on the team, and I don’t know if I wanna— no. That’s a lie. I do wanna play. I’m gonna plead with the coach, and if that doesn’t work right away, I’ll go for captain and keep your seat warm for you. Because you’ll be coming back.” Trevor said, nodding confidently, as if that would improve his chances.
“Well, at least one of us is confident. My dad is gonna kill me. Wanna come to dinner tonight? Maybe together we can take him.” Damian sat up a little straighter and wondered if his mother was right. His dad had that dad strength! He could probably still slap Damian around, no matter how strong Damian was. But Trevor was a big motherfucker. Maybe the two of them could handle things… maybe. “To be honest, I don’t know if the coach is gonna be able to do anything. I doubt he’s gonna be happy I got the boot. I bet he goes ballistic, dude.”
“Good! I hope he does, because he should. This is injust, none of it happened anywhere near school grounds, and it wasn’t even during the school year.” Trev felt his cheeks coloring red as he got worked up over it again. He breathed out a calming sigh and then nodded. “Yeah man, I’ll totally join you for dinner… after tryouts are over. Whatever you need, Damian, I got you. Always.”
Damian held out his fist for Trevor to bump, and a weak smile formed on his face.
With Trevor’s help, tranquilo could be restored.
@HushedWhispers Check your PMs for it! :3
@HushedWhispers
Heyo, I bet it's new and weird to hear this from the roleplayer side, but Welcome to BHHS. ;)
Let us know if you want the discord link, we chat quite a bit on there and it is a good place to discuss character relations/interactions/potential collabs. :3
~GM Silent
Heyo, I bet it's new and weird to hear this from the roleplayer side, but Welcome to BHHS. ;)
Let us know if you want the discord link, we chat quite a bit on there and it is a good place to discuss character relations/interactions/potential collabs. :3
~GM Silent
Location: The Pozo Mendez Residence → The Journey → Mrs Winship’s Homeroom
Interacting with: A bothersome little sister, his mother, and a fellow anime fan
Mentions: Jeremy @Rabidporcupine
Well I don't give a damn
Just take me as I am
The morning started with a tickle. It was the most feather light of touches, right at the tip of his nose. Rafael made a sleepy pout-like groan and brushed at the tickly spot before rolling over. If he had not been so heavily embraced by the arms of sleep, Raf might have heard the subsequent giggle that followed. He did not. Instead, he quickly found himself falling back into the vivid world of his dreamstate. There wasn’t a fantastical Krispy Kreme factory this time around, but there were a lot of colors…
Poke.
Yet another sleepy noise escaped from Rafael’s lips, but still, he did not rise.
Poke. This time the tiny finger that jabbed into the soft, vulnerable point that was his eyelid, did so with force. It hurt. “Oww!” Riff exclaimed and immediately clapped a hand — which was currently trapped in a sea of blankets — over his eye to rub away the irritation. He opened his non-impacted eye in time to catch a glimpse of a small child with shoulder length brown hair and a Coco nightgown on, tearing out of his bedroom door with a shrill giggle.
“ANAAA!” Raf grumpily called out after her. The only response he received was more giggles and the pitter patter of tiny feet retreating down the hallway.
Groaning, Rafael sat up from the comforting warmth of his bed and attempted to rub the sleep from his face with his hands. What day even was it? Was he supposed to be back at school now? Riff grabbed his phone off of the bedside table and checked the time. In doing so, he realized two things: A) He had not set an alarm to wake up. B) He had woken up late.
Ana’s irritating wakeup call seemed to be both a blessing and a curse. It wasn’t that Rafael was worried about missing classes. School kind of sucked, or rather, he kind of sucked at suck. But, Riff’s friends were there, and because of that, he actually liked going. Thankfully, Rafael was a nighttime showerer, so his morning routine would go rather quickly, and he would probably still make it to homeroom on time.
Riff brushed his teeth and ran a wide-toothed comb through his long locks. Being a nighttime showerer, he often woke up with nightmarish tangles and severe bedhead. This was nothing that a beanie could not fix, however. Beanies solve every bad hair day, it is known. Rafael pulled a gray one over his chestnut mop of hair, which was significantly less moppy today, because he had apparently had the forethought to straighten it last night. Raf plucked a t-shirt from his unfolded laundry pile on and threw a flannel button up on over it, and then paired that with some skinny jeans. Kicking his feet into a pair of skater shoes, Riff slung his backpack over his shoulders and headed downstairs.
“Mi hijo, ¿acabas de despertar? ¡Vas a perder el autobús!” Rafael’s mother, Estella, exclaimed upon seeing her tardy son grabbing a quick breakfast in the kitchen. The nutritious breakfast he ended up scavenging was a half-eaten bag on Funyuns. Perfect! He did not, however, have any plans to ride the bus like Verónica, Diego, Miguel, Gabriela would be. Rafael had five siblings, but Ana was too young for school still.
“No tomaré el autobús. Voy a andar en patineta a la escuela. ¡Adiós, mamá!” Rafael responded before chomping on a crunchy onion snack, the breakfast of champions. He kissed his mother’s cheek and then headed for the door, grabbing one of his custom painted skateboards on his way. Custom painted by his own hand, of course, he couldn’t really afford anything fancy. This particular board also incorporated duct tape into the design, which was pretty dope, in Riff’s opinion.
The morning breeze toyed through Rafael’s hair as he coasted along the streets of Beverly Hills. It was too early for any skate tricks, so he simply cruised at an easy, almost lazy pace. The gravel rumbled below the wheels of his board, but Rafael did not hear it. He was too busy listening to one of his favorite Touch the Sky songs and nodding his head along with the beat. His fellow students may or may not have passed by him in their luxury cars, but the local Riff Raff paid them no attention if they did. He was in the zone.
Upon arriving to school, Rafael stored his board safely in his locker and slowly made his way to Mrs Winship’s homeroom. Riff really only had one pace at school, and that was slow — both physically, and mentally. Unlike many of the kids at BHHS, Raf paid no mind to the social ladder, nor the importance or significance of the cliques. He was a burner by the nature of who he was, but that meant nothing. He would talk to anybody, and sit next to whoever he wanted. Sure, he had a select set of good friends, but that didn’t prevent him from making new ones!
So, when Rafael walked into homeroom and saw a kid with wildly curly hair wearing a Eureka Seven shirt, he strolled right up beside him, and took a seat. New friend possibilities! “Sick shirt, dude. That’s a classic. You watch a lot of anime?”
Poke.
Yet another sleepy noise escaped from Rafael’s lips, but still, he did not rise.
Poke. This time the tiny finger that jabbed into the soft, vulnerable point that was his eyelid, did so with force. It hurt. “Oww!” Riff exclaimed and immediately clapped a hand — which was currently trapped in a sea of blankets — over his eye to rub away the irritation. He opened his non-impacted eye in time to catch a glimpse of a small child with shoulder length brown hair and a Coco nightgown on, tearing out of his bedroom door with a shrill giggle.
“ANAAA!” Raf grumpily called out after her. The only response he received was more giggles and the pitter patter of tiny feet retreating down the hallway.
Groaning, Rafael sat up from the comforting warmth of his bed and attempted to rub the sleep from his face with his hands. What day even was it? Was he supposed to be back at school now? Riff grabbed his phone off of the bedside table and checked the time. In doing so, he realized two things: A) He had not set an alarm to wake up. B) He had woken up late.
Ana’s irritating wakeup call seemed to be both a blessing and a curse. It wasn’t that Rafael was worried about missing classes. School kind of sucked, or rather, he kind of sucked at suck. But, Riff’s friends were there, and because of that, he actually liked going. Thankfully, Rafael was a nighttime showerer, so his morning routine would go rather quickly, and he would probably still make it to homeroom on time.
Riff brushed his teeth and ran a wide-toothed comb through his long locks. Being a nighttime showerer, he often woke up with nightmarish tangles and severe bedhead. This was nothing that a beanie could not fix, however. Beanies solve every bad hair day, it is known. Rafael pulled a gray one over his chestnut mop of hair, which was significantly less moppy today, because he had apparently had the forethought to straighten it last night. Raf plucked a t-shirt from his unfolded laundry pile on and threw a flannel button up on over it, and then paired that with some skinny jeans. Kicking his feet into a pair of skater shoes, Riff slung his backpack over his shoulders and headed downstairs.
“Mi hijo, ¿acabas de despertar? ¡Vas a perder el autobús!” Rafael’s mother, Estella, exclaimed upon seeing her tardy son grabbing a quick breakfast in the kitchen. The nutritious breakfast he ended up scavenging was a half-eaten bag on Funyuns. Perfect! He did not, however, have any plans to ride the bus like Verónica, Diego, Miguel, Gabriela would be. Rafael had five siblings, but Ana was too young for school still.
“No tomaré el autobús. Voy a andar en patineta a la escuela. ¡Adiós, mamá!” Rafael responded before chomping on a crunchy onion snack, the breakfast of champions. He kissed his mother’s cheek and then headed for the door, grabbing one of his custom painted skateboards on his way. Custom painted by his own hand, of course, he couldn’t really afford anything fancy. This particular board also incorporated duct tape into the design, which was pretty dope, in Riff’s opinion.
The morning breeze toyed through Rafael’s hair as he coasted along the streets of Beverly Hills. It was too early for any skate tricks, so he simply cruised at an easy, almost lazy pace. The gravel rumbled below the wheels of his board, but Rafael did not hear it. He was too busy listening to one of his favorite Touch the Sky songs and nodding his head along with the beat. His fellow students may or may not have passed by him in their luxury cars, but the local Riff Raff paid them no attention if they did. He was in the zone.
Upon arriving to school, Rafael stored his board safely in his locker and slowly made his way to Mrs Winship’s homeroom. Riff really only had one pace at school, and that was slow — both physically, and mentally. Unlike many of the kids at BHHS, Raf paid no mind to the social ladder, nor the importance or significance of the cliques. He was a burner by the nature of who he was, but that meant nothing. He would talk to anybody, and sit next to whoever he wanted. Sure, he had a select set of good friends, but that didn’t prevent him from making new ones!
So, when Rafael walked into homeroom and saw a kid with wildly curly hair wearing a Eureka Seven shirt, he strolled right up beside him, and took a seat. New friend possibilities! “Sick shirt, dude. That’s a classic. You watch a lot of anime?”
Collab with: Riley @Lovely Complex and Jamie @smarty0114
Mentions: Elodie @Legion02, Trixie, and Min-seo @Fabricant451
Location: The Beach House Kiss Closet
Setting: Flashback to NYE Party
Marshall finally had a moment to himself and, to be honest, it wasn’t going well. He needed alcohol, and a lot of it, that much was certain. He had originally set out for the bar to obtain said alcohol after he had separated from his hero’s helping hand. Man alive, did Selena’s brother have the finest physique… but, that was a thought for another time. Marsh’s mind was elsewhere, like, on the fact that his ex-friend almost just murdered him in front of the majority of BHHS’ student body. Maybe that was a slight exaggeration, maybe.
The theater boy was stewing on this thought while he waited for Min-seo, the Korean foreign exchange student running the bar, to take his drink order, when yet another foreign exchange student had approached him. Elodie. He had known her name and face, as he did most students, because if you attend Beverly Hills High and gossip king Marshall Radley doesn’t know your name, do you even exist? The french-speaking beauty had come to speak to him with a goal in mind, that was clear. She wanted to know about the Candies and, unfortunately for her, Marshall wasn’t feeling as sweet as he usually did. Tonight, Marshall felt more like a sour candy, but he gave her his best speech of how it is an organization of love and friendship, regardless of his emotions. He doubted she would want to join after that, but he truly did give it his best, given the situation.
Now that Elodie had wandered off, Marshall was left to his own devices. He ordered not one, not two, but three shots of tequila. It was top shelf, but it still kind of tasted like ball sweat. That was fine. Marshall downed all three shots in quick succession and then exhaled, long and hard. Yup, nope… this wasn’t working. Alcohol might be a solution, but it wasn’t the answer he was seeking. Marshall was hurting, both physically and emotionally, and he really just needed to have moment to himself when he wasn’t wearing the mask of a practiced actor.
A moment to yourself in a room full of hormonal, chatting, dancing teenagers wasn’t exactly easy to come by. Marshall felt himself coming undone at the seams, so he had to find a place, and he had to find one quickly. His eyes frantically scanned the room and found sanctuary in the form of a closet. More specifically, the kiss closet — reserved for drunken regrets, or seven minutes in heaven, whichever you preferred to call it. Marshall didn’t much care, it was an enclosed space, and that was what he required right now.
Hoping beyond hope that he would not stumble into any of his classmates making out, Marshall beelined for the closet. Peace. At long last, Marshall was alone with his thoughts and feelings — and a significant amount of alcohol in his system, of course. In this quiet moment of weakness, Marsh let himself reflect on what had scarred his mind the most from earlier that evening. He would never be able to forget the look in in Owen’s eyes right before Sean had intervened, no doubt saving his life. It was the most terrifying thing that Marshall had ever encountered, and it was coming from someone that used to be a good friend of his.
Without much of a choice in the matter, Marshall’s eyes welled up. Overcome with equal parts sadness, fear, and frustration that he was crying about it, Mar’s breath hitched in his throat. At this point, there wasn’t much that Marsh could do to prevent the onslaught, so he just let it happen. Marshall Radley was having himself a good hard cry. In a closet. At a party. Happy 2043!
Knock. Knock.
From the outside of the bathroom door, Riley Wells lethargically waited for a response. Whoever was in there was taking a good, long minute. Jesus. Truth be told, he didn’t actually have to pee, if he did, he would just pee on the fire outside because that’s what you do at parties like this. Peeing was simply the first excuse he could think of when he held the mic. Improv was part of the job.
All Riley wanted was a moment to himself where someone wasn’t asking for a song change or wanting to request more songs than the time frame of the party would allow. Or worse, someone requesting a shitty song, thinking it was a good choice, but really, Riley would intentionally skip it and then they’d come bitch about their song not playing. I don’t know what to tell you! The playlist is on shuffle.
A charming, yet melancholy voice brought his mind back to reality, as he goggled at a large picture on the door. The picture, mind you, was fascinating. It looked like Damian, but with some different facial features, so Riley would assume that the painting was of Damian’s father instead, painted like a greek god, with a strawberry blonde dressed like Aphrodite, hugging his leg — possessively. Man, Damian’s parents were fucking weird.
“It’s… It’s going to be awhile!” Trixie? She sounded like she was choking… on tears? No, probably vomit.
“...you good?” Riley brought his gaze from the painting to his empty cup. While he waited for her response, he not so sneakily put his plastic cup in a nearby plant… it was like a tiny palm tree. He was no gardner. So, it’s name for the night would be tiny palm tree. Now, it would be the place for his garbage.
“O-of course! I’m just letting it all out!” He could hear puking noises. Regardless if they were real or not, Rye believed it.
“Gotcha. You do you. I’ll… catch you later.” Okay. Bathroom break spot was a no go. What were his other options? Sighing to himself, Riley dawdled around the area, not in the mood to go outside where there was twice as many people as there was inside. If he did go outside, the best and worst option would be a tent, where debauchery was allowed. Inside though? Leaning his back on the wall, he scanned the room to find an answer only for his elbow to hit a door knob. Turning around, as if fate had spoken to him, he was confronted by a CLOSET. Looking behind him, making sure no one was watching, even though he wasn’t looking that hard, Riley decided the coast was clear and, like a ninja, he rushed in.
Allelui-- Before the feeling of freedom completely rushed over him, his drunken brain realized he was in an… unimaginable position. With coats against him, and little to no space, he could feel another body in front of him. Their bodies were so close that he could get a good waft of the mystery kid’s scent, like dad’s Cinnamon Caramel Cookies (both spicy and sweet). He could also feel the kid’s breathing on his lips and the sound of sobbing echoing in the confined space. What do you do in a position like this? Riley felt bad for crashing into this unknown person’s private space. Should he go? But he… she? Was crying…
Should he stay?
Like the clever boy that he thought he was, all Riley could say was, “...you good?”
“U-uh.” Was the only response that Marshall could eek out. He’d been caught red handed. Err — teary eyed? Either way, he’d been caught having a very private moment by… someone? It was completely dark in here, he couldn’t even see the mystery guy’s face. He knew that it was a guy, because the voice was distinctly male, and that made this entire situation ten times worse. Marsh made his best attempt at hiding the fact that he was just full-on sobbing. Sniffing as quietly as he could, the drama kid gave a more collected response. “I’m fine.” A lie.
Riley could recognize that voice anywhere, having been to every single drama production for the sake of knowing what he was talking about in his morning show. He had to know what he was talking about and it was better to be there in the moment than getting a brief from Brynn. Plus, Marshall was one of the Stars in the sky that was their school. He’d feel dumb if he wasn’t able to recognize the primadonna of theatre, the only guy Candy, and the ‘gbf’ of the HOT girls. Now, to reveal himself, or to keep his identity a mystery until they both took their exit? “This might not help but… you smell nice.” What? It was true.
There was no way in hell those sobs were fake earlier. Riley has seen his dad, Remy, cry on a daily basis watching some depressing movie where the hero loses their dog or some shit. This sounded just like that. His only thought though was the scent that was clouding his judgement. Cinnamon. Subconsciously, he took a step closer.
Recognition set in. Marshall knew that voice, everyone in Beverly Hills High knew that voice. Riley Wells was, in fact, the voice of Beverly Hills High. Fabulous. Not only was Marshall caught crying in a closet, but it was by a guy that Marshall was pretty sure was caught in a closet of his own. This moment better not make its way into the morning announcements, so help him. Marsh did, however, crack a smile at Riley’s compliment.
“Heh, thanks. It’s french.” Marshall explained the fragrance. With the mood shifting from it’s previous somber solace, Marshall attempted to make himself look more presentable. Even if it was dark, presentation was everything, especially if he wanted any hope of salvaging this incredibly shitty night. Marsh reached his hands up to wipe the salty streaks off of his cheeks, and only then did he realize just how close Riley had gotten, as he awkwardly brushed his hands against the other man’s chest.
“Oh, heh, hello. Uhm…” Surely Riley wasn’t standing that close the whole time? Did he… did he take a step closer? It suddenly felt like it was a million degrees in that closet, and his emotions flipped so quickly that Marshall felt like he was unbuckled on a rollercoaster. Thrilling, terrifying, exhilarating.
“I — ” What would Trevor do? In these types of scenarios, his brother always knew the right words to say. The right things to do. Just… knew what was right. A boy was found sad in the closet. Disregarding the location, a boy was found sad. What could make him feel better? Breathing lightly against Marshall’s cheek, Riley wrapped him in a warm swaddle of his chest and arms. Hugs. Hugs were always a good start. “— hope this is fine.” When Riley gave the nuns at the orphanage hysterical tantrums, all Trevor had to do was put him in his arms and all the frustration, pain, and sadness would go away. Mental. Physical. Like it had never existed in the first place. The safest place was in someone’s embrace. Especially when it comes from the heart.
Marshall wasn’t ready for that. Nope, he one hundred percent was not prepared. That being said, he enjoyed the hell out of that hug. Anyone that knew Marshall knew that he loved to give hugs, but that was the thing, he was always giving them. In this moment it felt really, really nice to be on the receiving end. Marsh felt all of the negative vibes roll out of him as he went so far as to give the brown-haired boy a squeeze.
“Thanks, Riley. I really needed that.” Marsh admitted and released the kid from the embrace, perhaps a little too reluctantly. Stepping back, he made sure to wipe off his face like he had originally intended to do, and exhaled deeply once again. They needed to leave this closet before people started thinking that something far more exciting was happening. Not that Marshall would particularly mind if something far more exciting was happening, but he wasn’t so sure about his closet companion. “We should probably exit stage left, yeah?”
Although the darkness hid it, Riley did smile at the change in atmosphere. He was successful in cheering up a fellow peer! Right on. Proud of himself, he nodded at the attractive drama kid, “You first. I’ll wait a bit. Would be kinda odd if we made our exit together.”
Ouch. Marshall pretty much expected that, but it didn’t stop the sting of it. “Yeah, of course.” He said quickly and quietly, turning to leave. Before he opened the door, however, he turned back around towards the darkness. “You won’t… tell anyone, right?”
“Am I ever the one that spreads gossip?” Riley playfully teased, before continuing, “Yeah, yeah, my lips are sealed. If it comes out, you can personally slap me in the face.” He joked.
Marsh gave a crooked grin, and though Riley would not see it, it could be heard in his voice. “I think it’d be more fun to seal your lips, boo.” He said, before slipping out of the door and back into the party.
Jamie had been standing in front of the closet for a very long time. In fact, he’d been mulling over the comedic potential of the word ‘closet’, when Marshall had ran in. Jamie was taken aback. Mainly because he really hadn’t been expecting that closet to open and shut as quickly as it did, but also because, Marshall. And so Jamie found, probably the most ironic, and blessed situation a gay could ask for. A fellow gay, alone, in a closet. Who may or may not happen to be very cute. And very single. And very much Jamie’s crush.
Jamie hadn’t thought he’d been making his decision for as long as he had, but apparently, he’d been arguing with himself over whether or not to follow Marshall in for enough time that Riley of all people followed him in. What the fuck? Jamie thought to himself, his stomach doing an entire gymnastics routine as what romantic dreams he had were suddenly dashed.
He sat there and waited, for a long time, or at least what felt like a long time, while Riley and Marshall did who knows what. Wait...but Riley isn’t gay. Or is he? I mean...I could see it, he thought to himself, his brain running circles around the possibilities. Okay. That was it. He’d barge in and act like he didn’t know anyone was there. Perfect. Okay. Let’s go. Jamie slowly inched towards the door, but before he could get much further, Marshall opened the door and stepped out, walking right into Jamie. ”Oh, hi. I-erm, well I...hi,” Jamie said, his words stuck in his throat.
“Oh, uhh.” Marshall unintentionally parroted Jamie’s surprised remarks. Jesus Christ, was the universe truly going to frown upon him for this entire night? Of all the people he could have run into, in this moment, it was Jamie. Of course it was. Very, very uncharacteristically, Marshall Radley blushed. Riley was following him out of that closet door behind him in approximately 0.2 seconds, and if they didn’t teleport away right here, right now, this was going to look very, very bad. Unfortunately for Marshall, he didn’t know how to teleport.
Eh-hem. Riley wasn’t that drunk to not feel the advance. Marshall was a candilicious flirt. These things came natural to him. The door closed leaving Rye in darkness but his head did feel a weeeee bit warm. Let’s blame the alcohol. Oh, and he actually had to pee. Probably. He wasn’t going to overthink any sensations going on right now. After counting in his head two hundred and forty seconds, Riley decided that was enough time and slyly exited out the closet, “To the firerrrrr---” Oh fuck, he was balls deep in some shit now. With embarrassment still written all over his face, Riley looked at the two boys that stood before him. If life had a puppeteer, creating moments like this, just to fuck him, yeah, Riley really didn’t know if life was something for him. He came to the sudden realization there were some things out of his control. “J-Jamie, it isn’t what it looks like. We were… he and I…” He wanted to die.
Jamie was...shocked? That didn’t seem to capture his emotions to the max. Exasperated? No. Flabbergasted. Yes. Jamie was flabbergasted. He had just met his crush, coming out of what was a probable make out sesh in a closet with a boy who’d just found out he had a crush on said crush. ”No, it’s fine. Totally fiiiiiiiine. I’m just going to go outside for a bit, y’know. I got lost.” Jamie nodded, his cheeks flushing redder than they were, if that was even possible, as he turned away from the pair, and beelined for the door, out to the bonfire, and hopefully far away from this mess.
Shit.
The theater boy was stewing on this thought while he waited for Min-seo, the Korean foreign exchange student running the bar, to take his drink order, when yet another foreign exchange student had approached him. Elodie. He had known her name and face, as he did most students, because if you attend Beverly Hills High and gossip king Marshall Radley doesn’t know your name, do you even exist? The french-speaking beauty had come to speak to him with a goal in mind, that was clear. She wanted to know about the Candies and, unfortunately for her, Marshall wasn’t feeling as sweet as he usually did. Tonight, Marshall felt more like a sour candy, but he gave her his best speech of how it is an organization of love and friendship, regardless of his emotions. He doubted she would want to join after that, but he truly did give it his best, given the situation.
Now that Elodie had wandered off, Marshall was left to his own devices. He ordered not one, not two, but three shots of tequila. It was top shelf, but it still kind of tasted like ball sweat. That was fine. Marshall downed all three shots in quick succession and then exhaled, long and hard. Yup, nope… this wasn’t working. Alcohol might be a solution, but it wasn’t the answer he was seeking. Marshall was hurting, both physically and emotionally, and he really just needed to have moment to himself when he wasn’t wearing the mask of a practiced actor.
A moment to yourself in a room full of hormonal, chatting, dancing teenagers wasn’t exactly easy to come by. Marshall felt himself coming undone at the seams, so he had to find a place, and he had to find one quickly. His eyes frantically scanned the room and found sanctuary in the form of a closet. More specifically, the kiss closet — reserved for drunken regrets, or seven minutes in heaven, whichever you preferred to call it. Marshall didn’t much care, it was an enclosed space, and that was what he required right now.
Hoping beyond hope that he would not stumble into any of his classmates making out, Marshall beelined for the closet. Peace. At long last, Marshall was alone with his thoughts and feelings — and a significant amount of alcohol in his system, of course. In this quiet moment of weakness, Marsh let himself reflect on what had scarred his mind the most from earlier that evening. He would never be able to forget the look in in Owen’s eyes right before Sean had intervened, no doubt saving his life. It was the most terrifying thing that Marshall had ever encountered, and it was coming from someone that used to be a good friend of his.
Without much of a choice in the matter, Marshall’s eyes welled up. Overcome with equal parts sadness, fear, and frustration that he was crying about it, Mar’s breath hitched in his throat. At this point, there wasn’t much that Marsh could do to prevent the onslaught, so he just let it happen. Marshall Radley was having himself a good hard cry. In a closet. At a party. Happy 2043!
Knock. Knock.
From the outside of the bathroom door, Riley Wells lethargically waited for a response. Whoever was in there was taking a good, long minute. Jesus. Truth be told, he didn’t actually have to pee, if he did, he would just pee on the fire outside because that’s what you do at parties like this. Peeing was simply the first excuse he could think of when he held the mic. Improv was part of the job.
All Riley wanted was a moment to himself where someone wasn’t asking for a song change or wanting to request more songs than the time frame of the party would allow. Or worse, someone requesting a shitty song, thinking it was a good choice, but really, Riley would intentionally skip it and then they’d come bitch about their song not playing. I don’t know what to tell you! The playlist is on shuffle.
A charming, yet melancholy voice brought his mind back to reality, as he goggled at a large picture on the door. The picture, mind you, was fascinating. It looked like Damian, but with some different facial features, so Riley would assume that the painting was of Damian’s father instead, painted like a greek god, with a strawberry blonde dressed like Aphrodite, hugging his leg — possessively. Man, Damian’s parents were fucking weird.
“It’s… It’s going to be awhile!” Trixie? She sounded like she was choking… on tears? No, probably vomit.
“...you good?” Riley brought his gaze from the painting to his empty cup. While he waited for her response, he not so sneakily put his plastic cup in a nearby plant… it was like a tiny palm tree. He was no gardner. So, it’s name for the night would be tiny palm tree. Now, it would be the place for his garbage.
“O-of course! I’m just letting it all out!” He could hear puking noises. Regardless if they were real or not, Rye believed it.
“Gotcha. You do you. I’ll… catch you later.” Okay. Bathroom break spot was a no go. What were his other options? Sighing to himself, Riley dawdled around the area, not in the mood to go outside where there was twice as many people as there was inside. If he did go outside, the best and worst option would be a tent, where debauchery was allowed. Inside though? Leaning his back on the wall, he scanned the room to find an answer only for his elbow to hit a door knob. Turning around, as if fate had spoken to him, he was confronted by a CLOSET. Looking behind him, making sure no one was watching, even though he wasn’t looking that hard, Riley decided the coast was clear and, like a ninja, he rushed in.
Allelui-- Before the feeling of freedom completely rushed over him, his drunken brain realized he was in an… unimaginable position. With coats against him, and little to no space, he could feel another body in front of him. Their bodies were so close that he could get a good waft of the mystery kid’s scent, like dad’s Cinnamon Caramel Cookies (both spicy and sweet). He could also feel the kid’s breathing on his lips and the sound of sobbing echoing in the confined space. What do you do in a position like this? Riley felt bad for crashing into this unknown person’s private space. Should he go? But he… she? Was crying…
Should he stay?
Like the clever boy that he thought he was, all Riley could say was, “...you good?”
“U-uh.” Was the only response that Marshall could eek out. He’d been caught red handed. Err — teary eyed? Either way, he’d been caught having a very private moment by… someone? It was completely dark in here, he couldn’t even see the mystery guy’s face. He knew that it was a guy, because the voice was distinctly male, and that made this entire situation ten times worse. Marsh made his best attempt at hiding the fact that he was just full-on sobbing. Sniffing as quietly as he could, the drama kid gave a more collected response. “I’m fine.” A lie.
Riley could recognize that voice anywhere, having been to every single drama production for the sake of knowing what he was talking about in his morning show. He had to know what he was talking about and it was better to be there in the moment than getting a brief from Brynn. Plus, Marshall was one of the Stars in the sky that was their school. He’d feel dumb if he wasn’t able to recognize the primadonna of theatre, the only guy Candy, and the ‘gbf’ of the HOT girls. Now, to reveal himself, or to keep his identity a mystery until they both took their exit? “This might not help but… you smell nice.” What? It was true.
There was no way in hell those sobs were fake earlier. Riley has seen his dad, Remy, cry on a daily basis watching some depressing movie where the hero loses their dog or some shit. This sounded just like that. His only thought though was the scent that was clouding his judgement. Cinnamon. Subconsciously, he took a step closer.
Recognition set in. Marshall knew that voice, everyone in Beverly Hills High knew that voice. Riley Wells was, in fact, the voice of Beverly Hills High. Fabulous. Not only was Marshall caught crying in a closet, but it was by a guy that Marshall was pretty sure was caught in a closet of his own. This moment better not make its way into the morning announcements, so help him. Marsh did, however, crack a smile at Riley’s compliment.
“Heh, thanks. It’s french.” Marshall explained the fragrance. With the mood shifting from it’s previous somber solace, Marshall attempted to make himself look more presentable. Even if it was dark, presentation was everything, especially if he wanted any hope of salvaging this incredibly shitty night. Marsh reached his hands up to wipe the salty streaks off of his cheeks, and only then did he realize just how close Riley had gotten, as he awkwardly brushed his hands against the other man’s chest.
“Oh, heh, hello. Uhm…” Surely Riley wasn’t standing that close the whole time? Did he… did he take a step closer? It suddenly felt like it was a million degrees in that closet, and his emotions flipped so quickly that Marshall felt like he was unbuckled on a rollercoaster. Thrilling, terrifying, exhilarating.
“I — ” What would Trevor do? In these types of scenarios, his brother always knew the right words to say. The right things to do. Just… knew what was right. A boy was found sad in the closet. Disregarding the location, a boy was found sad. What could make him feel better? Breathing lightly against Marshall’s cheek, Riley wrapped him in a warm swaddle of his chest and arms. Hugs. Hugs were always a good start. “— hope this is fine.” When Riley gave the nuns at the orphanage hysterical tantrums, all Trevor had to do was put him in his arms and all the frustration, pain, and sadness would go away. Mental. Physical. Like it had never existed in the first place. The safest place was in someone’s embrace. Especially when it comes from the heart.
Marshall wasn’t ready for that. Nope, he one hundred percent was not prepared. That being said, he enjoyed the hell out of that hug. Anyone that knew Marshall knew that he loved to give hugs, but that was the thing, he was always giving them. In this moment it felt really, really nice to be on the receiving end. Marsh felt all of the negative vibes roll out of him as he went so far as to give the brown-haired boy a squeeze.
“Thanks, Riley. I really needed that.” Marsh admitted and released the kid from the embrace, perhaps a little too reluctantly. Stepping back, he made sure to wipe off his face like he had originally intended to do, and exhaled deeply once again. They needed to leave this closet before people started thinking that something far more exciting was happening. Not that Marshall would particularly mind if something far more exciting was happening, but he wasn’t so sure about his closet companion. “We should probably exit stage left, yeah?”
Although the darkness hid it, Riley did smile at the change in atmosphere. He was successful in cheering up a fellow peer! Right on. Proud of himself, he nodded at the attractive drama kid, “You first. I’ll wait a bit. Would be kinda odd if we made our exit together.”
Ouch. Marshall pretty much expected that, but it didn’t stop the sting of it. “Yeah, of course.” He said quickly and quietly, turning to leave. Before he opened the door, however, he turned back around towards the darkness. “You won’t… tell anyone, right?”
“Am I ever the one that spreads gossip?” Riley playfully teased, before continuing, “Yeah, yeah, my lips are sealed. If it comes out, you can personally slap me in the face.” He joked.
Marsh gave a crooked grin, and though Riley would not see it, it could be heard in his voice. “I think it’d be more fun to seal your lips, boo.” He said, before slipping out of the door and back into the party.
Jamie had been standing in front of the closet for a very long time. In fact, he’d been mulling over the comedic potential of the word ‘closet’, when Marshall had ran in. Jamie was taken aback. Mainly because he really hadn’t been expecting that closet to open and shut as quickly as it did, but also because, Marshall. And so Jamie found, probably the most ironic, and blessed situation a gay could ask for. A fellow gay, alone, in a closet. Who may or may not happen to be very cute. And very single. And very much Jamie’s crush.
Jamie hadn’t thought he’d been making his decision for as long as he had, but apparently, he’d been arguing with himself over whether or not to follow Marshall in for enough time that Riley of all people followed him in. What the fuck? Jamie thought to himself, his stomach doing an entire gymnastics routine as what romantic dreams he had were suddenly dashed.
He sat there and waited, for a long time, or at least what felt like a long time, while Riley and Marshall did who knows what. Wait...but Riley isn’t gay. Or is he? I mean...I could see it, he thought to himself, his brain running circles around the possibilities. Okay. That was it. He’d barge in and act like he didn’t know anyone was there. Perfect. Okay. Let’s go. Jamie slowly inched towards the door, but before he could get much further, Marshall opened the door and stepped out, walking right into Jamie. ”Oh, hi. I-erm, well I...hi,” Jamie said, his words stuck in his throat.
“Oh, uhh.” Marshall unintentionally parroted Jamie’s surprised remarks. Jesus Christ, was the universe truly going to frown upon him for this entire night? Of all the people he could have run into, in this moment, it was Jamie. Of course it was. Very, very uncharacteristically, Marshall Radley blushed. Riley was following him out of that closet door behind him in approximately 0.2 seconds, and if they didn’t teleport away right here, right now, this was going to look very, very bad. Unfortunately for Marshall, he didn’t know how to teleport.
Eh-hem. Riley wasn’t that drunk to not feel the advance. Marshall was a candilicious flirt. These things came natural to him. The door closed leaving Rye in darkness but his head did feel a weeeee bit warm. Let’s blame the alcohol. Oh, and he actually had to pee. Probably. He wasn’t going to overthink any sensations going on right now. After counting in his head two hundred and forty seconds, Riley decided that was enough time and slyly exited out the closet, “To the firerrrrr---” Oh fuck, he was balls deep in some shit now. With embarrassment still written all over his face, Riley looked at the two boys that stood before him. If life had a puppeteer, creating moments like this, just to fuck him, yeah, Riley really didn’t know if life was something for him. He came to the sudden realization there were some things out of his control. “J-Jamie, it isn’t what it looks like. We were… he and I…” He wanted to die.
Jamie was...shocked? That didn’t seem to capture his emotions to the max. Exasperated? No. Flabbergasted. Yes. Jamie was flabbergasted. He had just met his crush, coming out of what was a probable make out sesh in a closet with a boy who’d just found out he had a crush on said crush. ”No, it’s fine. Totally fiiiiiiiine. I’m just going to go outside for a bit, y’know. I got lost.” Jamie nodded, his cheeks flushing redder than they were, if that was even possible, as he turned away from the pair, and beelined for the door, out to the bonfire, and hopefully far away from this mess.
Shit.
While all of the drama surrounding Owen and the arrival of the HOT girls and their posse was happening, Trevor was chilling in the beach house. Blissfully unaware of the negative, violent goings on not even a hundred feet away outside, the redheaded boy was talking to some friends. They were discussing the upcoming football season — American football had gained such traction over the past few decades that it now has two seasons per year. Tryouts were scheduled as soon as the school year picked back up, and the boys he chatted with either had already been on the team, or hoped to be joining them soon.
Sipping brews, having been carefully placed next to one of the many kegs at the party, Trevor offered up his advice to the guys before him; How to train, and what to expect at the tryouts. All the while, Trevor had noticed out of the corner of his eyes that he was not the only redhead in the room. Savannah was there, the cutie from Texas, he only realized this when he heard her tell-tale accent when saying y’all. Trevor could pick that voice saying that word out of any crowd. So, naturally, upon hearing that she was there, Trevor stood up a little straighter in an attempt to appear confident and attractive. Trev was in the middle of discussing how Coach normally runs practices and plays, when a familiar voice sounded through the DJ mic.
Trevor fell silent as he turned to the source of sound — his brother, Riley, was making an announcement to the party guests, as he was the designated emcee for the evening. The ginger boy watched on with a smile and a touch of pride, seeing what a confident person his younger brother had grown up to be. It felt good to see Riley come into his own, right up until, well, right up until it didn’t. “To the redhead beside my brother. You’re totally my brother’s type. GET HIM WHILE HE’S GOOD.”
Oh, good heavens. That… did not… just… happen.
The center of the football team found himself frozen in place. Hell, he felt frozen in time, too. His younger brother just called out his crush in front of EVERYBODY at the party. Trevor felt sweaty, clammy all over. He wanted to abort mission, right here, right now. The boys that Trevor was standing and chatting with all took it in good stride, one of them even proudly slapped him on the shoulder and told him to go get it, dude. Trevor wasn’t about to go get anything, though. Despite how sociable and charismatic he was, he was not very good with talking to girls that he liked. Like, liked liked. It was really hard.
The redhead let his eyes wander away from the group long enough to meet Savannah’s gaze. Time stopped again, and Trevor very much felt like a deer caught in headlights. And, just like a deer, he stood there for a few long moments, stiff as a board, and then nodded his head in the direction of the doorway before quickly leaving out of said doorway. He needed a moment that was not in the middle of a crowded room, and if Savannah followed him out. Well… he’d figure out what to say when that happened. Maybe.
Savannah had forgotten how many drinks she had consumed within the hour. Maybe she should have tallied them on her arm like everyone else was doing, but the southern girl was too far to turn back now. The alcohol made her cheeks flush, her laugh more present, and her head spin slightly, but the redhead still felt as though she could present herself normally, even though her intoxication was at an all time high. Sav was engrossed in the conversation she was currently having with three random people who had stumbled up to her, discussing New Year’s Resolutions. The girl wasn’t exactly sure what she wanted in the New Year, but her thoughts were interrupted by a loud voice coming over the speakers. She recognized the voice and figure as Trevor’s brother, and thought it would be polite to give him the proper attention he sought. That was until he looked directly into her eyes and called her out as his brother’s type. Oh lord.
Sav’s flushed cheeks changed from a soft pink to a fiery red to match her hair, and she tried her best not to laugh when the younger Wells sent a wink her way. Did he just say what she thinks he said? Cautiously, the girl looked over in Trevor’s direction, and was met with his gorgeous eyes gazing directly into hers. Everything was still moving around her, but in that moment she felt like they were the only two people in the room.
And then he left.
Sav was confused, maybe even a bit shocked that Trevor just upped and disappeared. “Go follow him!” One of her ‘new friends’ said to her. “That, is your New Year’s Resolution, right there.”
Savvy nodded, realization of the situation at hand filling her clouded mind. Her new friend was right. It was New Year’s Eve, it was a perfect night… what did she have to lose? Finishing the last of her drink in one fell swoop, some liquid courage per se, she walked in the direction that Trevor had disappeared to. Finding him, all alone, she gently approached him, not wanting to scare him away. This was actually the first time she’d ever spoken to the fellow redhead, so nerves were coursing through her veins. “Um… hi. Trevor, right?” She acted as though she didn’t know him, very well knowing exactly who he was since she’d been eyeing him all semester. “Your brother sure knows how to make an impression.”
Trevor felt the muscles in his back get all tensed up. Speak, dude, you can do this, he thought. Doing his best to pass off what he hoped was a charming smile and a nonchalant laugh. “Yeah, he sure does. TV personality, that one.”
He cleared his throat, noticing that his voice wasn’t really coming out as clearly as he intended. He was nervous. Right, well, he should probably properly introduce himself. That was a start, yeah? “Uh, yeah, I’m Trevor. And you’re Savannah, right?” He asked, as if he didn’t damn well know the answer to that.
“Yeah, that’s me.” Sav replied, brushing a loose red curl out of her face and tucking it back behind her ear. Hearing Trevor’s voice actually say her name made her heart start beating much faster than it was before, so she tried to remain calm. “Y’all sure know how to throw a party. We never had parties like this back in Texas, so this is really nice.”
Oh boy, she said it again. Trevor didn’t even know that he had a thing for southern accents until he encountered it in person. She was so cute that it tied his tongue up again. “Really? I mean, my dad’s a good cook, but I’ve heard that Texas throws a mean barbeque, is that true? This party could use a barbeque.”
“Yeah, you’re definitely right about that. Barbeque beats anything and everything.” Sav laughed, partly because of her response and partly because she was still so nervous standing there and talking to him. “But this is still so much better than anything back home. The music is more interesting, the weather is ten times warmer, and the people are much cooler.” And cuter, Sav thought to herself, gazing at the redhead in front of her.
“T-thanks. I, uh, I guess I helped plan a lot of this, but Damian is the true host. It’s nice to get everyone together before school starts again. Are you thinking about trying out for anything this coming semester?” Trevor asked before his mind could calculate what his mouth said. Now he was picturing her in one of the BHHS cheerleader uniforms, rooting for the football team’s victory. He’d like that. The thought was enough to make him blush, even though the question and subsequent thoughts themselves were totally innocent.
“I’m not sure yet. I write for the Newspaper, and that takes up a decent amount of time, so I hadn’t thought about doing anything else. I could be persuaded though.”Sav laughed, thinking about all the features she wanted to do once she got back to school. Maybe she’d have to pay the football team a visit. After all, it’d be pretty great to watch Trevor playing football; the fact that he was an athlete made him ten times more attractive in her eyes. “I’ll have to come and watch some football games though. You must be excited for the season since you’re on the team and all.”
“Yeah, you totally should.” Trevor agreed quickly when Sav suggested that she should come to the games. He cringed at himself. Too excited, he was too excited. Take a chill pill, Trev. “I mean, I’d like that. If you came to the games.” Trevor admitted and then all but bit his lip waiting for her response. He felt his heartbeat pick up in his chest. Should they talk about what Riley’d said? He might need to get another drink first…
Savannah smiled, looking down at the ground bashfully, feeling the blush radiating on her cheeks. Something about this boy made her all giggly and nervous, when she seemed to be so calm and collected with everyone else. “Well then, I’ll definitely be there.” She stated, looking back up at Trevor, the strand of hair she had previously pushed out of her face making its way into her vision again.
“Good!” Trevor smiled and nodded, hoping yet again that he looked charming rather than the nervous wreck that he felt like he did. He looked down at his empty red solo cup and then back up to her. “Would you like something else to drink? Mine’s empty.” He asked, gesturing with the cup.
“Yeah that sounds great.” Even though Savvy knew another drink wasn’t necessary, she didn’t want to risk missing out on hanging with her crush. “What’s your drink of choice?” She asked, as she started to walk in the direction that the bar was.
“Oh, uh, beer mostly. Or whiskey. Overwhelmingly Irish.” Trevor responded with a light laugh as they walked back into the room that they had just left, but, together this time. The rowdy group of boys that he was chatting with noticed and gave obnoxious thumbs up signs to him. Trev pretended like he didn’t see them, even if his cheeks betrayed him by flushing yet again. “What about you?”
“I drink just about everything, but I tend to usually reach for vodka. But I will say that y’all haven’t experienced nothing until you’ve had good Southern moonshine.” Savvy laughed, remembering the first time she had drank the potent liquid.
“Sorry, my southern accent comes out way more when I drink.”
“Nah, don’t apologize. I definitely don’t mind.”
Sipping brews, having been carefully placed next to one of the many kegs at the party, Trevor offered up his advice to the guys before him; How to train, and what to expect at the tryouts. All the while, Trevor had noticed out of the corner of his eyes that he was not the only redhead in the room. Savannah was there, the cutie from Texas, he only realized this when he heard her tell-tale accent when saying y’all. Trevor could pick that voice saying that word out of any crowd. So, naturally, upon hearing that she was there, Trevor stood up a little straighter in an attempt to appear confident and attractive. Trev was in the middle of discussing how Coach normally runs practices and plays, when a familiar voice sounded through the DJ mic.
Trevor fell silent as he turned to the source of sound — his brother, Riley, was making an announcement to the party guests, as he was the designated emcee for the evening. The ginger boy watched on with a smile and a touch of pride, seeing what a confident person his younger brother had grown up to be. It felt good to see Riley come into his own, right up until, well, right up until it didn’t. “To the redhead beside my brother. You’re totally my brother’s type. GET HIM WHILE HE’S GOOD.”
Oh, good heavens. That… did not… just… happen.
The center of the football team found himself frozen in place. Hell, he felt frozen in time, too. His younger brother just called out his crush in front of EVERYBODY at the party. Trevor felt sweaty, clammy all over. He wanted to abort mission, right here, right now. The boys that Trevor was standing and chatting with all took it in good stride, one of them even proudly slapped him on the shoulder and told him to go get it, dude. Trevor wasn’t about to go get anything, though. Despite how sociable and charismatic he was, he was not very good with talking to girls that he liked. Like, liked liked. It was really hard.
The redhead let his eyes wander away from the group long enough to meet Savannah’s gaze. Time stopped again, and Trevor very much felt like a deer caught in headlights. And, just like a deer, he stood there for a few long moments, stiff as a board, and then nodded his head in the direction of the doorway before quickly leaving out of said doorway. He needed a moment that was not in the middle of a crowded room, and if Savannah followed him out. Well… he’d figure out what to say when that happened. Maybe.
Savannah had forgotten how many drinks she had consumed within the hour. Maybe she should have tallied them on her arm like everyone else was doing, but the southern girl was too far to turn back now. The alcohol made her cheeks flush, her laugh more present, and her head spin slightly, but the redhead still felt as though she could present herself normally, even though her intoxication was at an all time high. Sav was engrossed in the conversation she was currently having with three random people who had stumbled up to her, discussing New Year’s Resolutions. The girl wasn’t exactly sure what she wanted in the New Year, but her thoughts were interrupted by a loud voice coming over the speakers. She recognized the voice and figure as Trevor’s brother, and thought it would be polite to give him the proper attention he sought. That was until he looked directly into her eyes and called her out as his brother’s type. Oh lord.
Sav’s flushed cheeks changed from a soft pink to a fiery red to match her hair, and she tried her best not to laugh when the younger Wells sent a wink her way. Did he just say what she thinks he said? Cautiously, the girl looked over in Trevor’s direction, and was met with his gorgeous eyes gazing directly into hers. Everything was still moving around her, but in that moment she felt like they were the only two people in the room.
And then he left.
Sav was confused, maybe even a bit shocked that Trevor just upped and disappeared. “Go follow him!” One of her ‘new friends’ said to her. “That, is your New Year’s Resolution, right there.”
Savvy nodded, realization of the situation at hand filling her clouded mind. Her new friend was right. It was New Year’s Eve, it was a perfect night… what did she have to lose? Finishing the last of her drink in one fell swoop, some liquid courage per se, she walked in the direction that Trevor had disappeared to. Finding him, all alone, she gently approached him, not wanting to scare him away. This was actually the first time she’d ever spoken to the fellow redhead, so nerves were coursing through her veins. “Um… hi. Trevor, right?” She acted as though she didn’t know him, very well knowing exactly who he was since she’d been eyeing him all semester. “Your brother sure knows how to make an impression.”
Trevor felt the muscles in his back get all tensed up. Speak, dude, you can do this, he thought. Doing his best to pass off what he hoped was a charming smile and a nonchalant laugh. “Yeah, he sure does. TV personality, that one.”
He cleared his throat, noticing that his voice wasn’t really coming out as clearly as he intended. He was nervous. Right, well, he should probably properly introduce himself. That was a start, yeah? “Uh, yeah, I’m Trevor. And you’re Savannah, right?” He asked, as if he didn’t damn well know the answer to that.
“Yeah, that’s me.” Sav replied, brushing a loose red curl out of her face and tucking it back behind her ear. Hearing Trevor’s voice actually say her name made her heart start beating much faster than it was before, so she tried to remain calm. “Y’all sure know how to throw a party. We never had parties like this back in Texas, so this is really nice.”
Oh boy, she said it again. Trevor didn’t even know that he had a thing for southern accents until he encountered it in person. She was so cute that it tied his tongue up again. “Really? I mean, my dad’s a good cook, but I’ve heard that Texas throws a mean barbeque, is that true? This party could use a barbeque.”
“Yeah, you’re definitely right about that. Barbeque beats anything and everything.” Sav laughed, partly because of her response and partly because she was still so nervous standing there and talking to him. “But this is still so much better than anything back home. The music is more interesting, the weather is ten times warmer, and the people are much cooler.” And cuter, Sav thought to herself, gazing at the redhead in front of her.
“T-thanks. I, uh, I guess I helped plan a lot of this, but Damian is the true host. It’s nice to get everyone together before school starts again. Are you thinking about trying out for anything this coming semester?” Trevor asked before his mind could calculate what his mouth said. Now he was picturing her in one of the BHHS cheerleader uniforms, rooting for the football team’s victory. He’d like that. The thought was enough to make him blush, even though the question and subsequent thoughts themselves were totally innocent.
“I’m not sure yet. I write for the Newspaper, and that takes up a decent amount of time, so I hadn’t thought about doing anything else. I could be persuaded though.”Sav laughed, thinking about all the features she wanted to do once she got back to school. Maybe she’d have to pay the football team a visit. After all, it’d be pretty great to watch Trevor playing football; the fact that he was an athlete made him ten times more attractive in her eyes. “I’ll have to come and watch some football games though. You must be excited for the season since you’re on the team and all.”
“Yeah, you totally should.” Trevor agreed quickly when Sav suggested that she should come to the games. He cringed at himself. Too excited, he was too excited. Take a chill pill, Trev. “I mean, I’d like that. If you came to the games.” Trevor admitted and then all but bit his lip waiting for her response. He felt his heartbeat pick up in his chest. Should they talk about what Riley’d said? He might need to get another drink first…
Savannah smiled, looking down at the ground bashfully, feeling the blush radiating on her cheeks. Something about this boy made her all giggly and nervous, when she seemed to be so calm and collected with everyone else. “Well then, I’ll definitely be there.” She stated, looking back up at Trevor, the strand of hair she had previously pushed out of her face making its way into her vision again.
“Good!” Trevor smiled and nodded, hoping yet again that he looked charming rather than the nervous wreck that he felt like he did. He looked down at his empty red solo cup and then back up to her. “Would you like something else to drink? Mine’s empty.” He asked, gesturing with the cup.
“Yeah that sounds great.” Even though Savvy knew another drink wasn’t necessary, she didn’t want to risk missing out on hanging with her crush. “What’s your drink of choice?” She asked, as she started to walk in the direction that the bar was.
“Oh, uh, beer mostly. Or whiskey. Overwhelmingly Irish.” Trevor responded with a light laugh as they walked back into the room that they had just left, but, together this time. The rowdy group of boys that he was chatting with noticed and gave obnoxious thumbs up signs to him. Trev pretended like he didn’t see them, even if his cheeks betrayed him by flushing yet again. “What about you?”
“I drink just about everything, but I tend to usually reach for vodka. But I will say that y’all haven’t experienced nothing until you’ve had good Southern moonshine.” Savvy laughed, remembering the first time she had drank the potent liquid.
“Sorry, my southern accent comes out way more when I drink.”
“Nah, don’t apologize. I definitely don’t mind.”
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