NeoAJ

Palm Beach Royals: Senior Year

_{@Dirty Pretty Lies@HaleyTheRandom}

Cleopatra was growing impatient. She was sipping at her whiskey like it was keeping her alive, but it was definitely keeping her calm without anyone she knew here as backup. She watched as some half-naked athlete, had to be an athlete given the way he wanted to show off that body with his costume of what amounted to a cape and little else. His nipples were a bit weird, but that just drew the eyes to that chiseled chest. She went over his body before watching him slam three straight shots of vodka. That was a little off-putting. “Vodka? Seriously? Not even I’m that foolish.” The shirtless wonder wandered off though, sure to find some random sexy tree or whatever to go hit on.

Shawna was pondering the fate of that poor woman, when she was interrupted by a most welcome arrival. The Disney princess to her queen, the Snow White that would have gotten Prince Charming to do more than kiss her, even if the kissing part alone was a little icky with the whole being unconscious thing. As Kellie Anne wrapped her arms around Shawna, she could feel the anxiety melting now that there was someone she knew she could talk to. She returned the kiss quickly and set her drink down on the table.

“Maybe if I can draw them away from you! Shit, hun, I thought I knew which Disney girls already gave me the urges! Gotta revise my list, cause you are killing this party!”

It didn’t take long for the Lunchroom Trio to be reunited. Even under Dorothy’s wholesome look, it wasn’t hard to spot Sunshine, especially with her greeting and her prompt shooting of tequila. “Yeah! That’s my girl right there!” This was how Shawna was supposed to react to a friend fearlessly taking a tequila shot, if the Netflix movies were anything to go on. “Shoot, c’mon Cupcake, we gotta get you a drink too.”

"Oh, no thank you! I'm not much of a drinker!" Kellie said bashfully, remembering that the last time she drank she'd gotten tangled up in the kiss with Max that had started their whole relationship.

Sunshine laughed at Shawna’s encouragement as she put the cap back on the bottle of tequila. She didn’t want to get too drunk right now. Sunshine and Tequila had a certain relationship - one that often got Sunshine into trouble. It was best to save her wild side for later. ”Come on, Kellie. One drink couldn’t hurt.” Thinking about how that was definitely peer pressure, Sunshine went on to reassure her new friend. ”But if you’re really not comfortable with drinking, we understand that.”

“For sure!” Shawna agreed as she continued to drink in her best friend’s costume. That seemed to be the correct term for now. “It is written in the hieroglyphs that my subjects get to do whatever the hell they please! Besides, wouldn’t do much good for the Disney image to have you drinking now, would it? She winked as reclaimed her own beverage of choice and took a long sip. Her tolerance had spiked with her summer extracurriculars, so she was confident this first cocktail wasn’t going to do much to get her drunk enough to let a snake near her this early.

Kellie giggled uncomfortably, discreetly shifting her feet. Apart from Shawna, the only reason she was even coming to the party was to forget about Max.

“Alright, alright,” she said in defeat, taking one of the orange party cups from the table and offering it up to Sunshine and Shawna,

Sunshine didn’t know that much when it came to what to drink for other people. Tequila worked just fine for her, and the thought of Vodka made her shiver. ”Hmmm….. I’m not sure what your preference is, but it looks like Kavi has everything covered.”

Shawna nodded. The host of the party had done a miraculous job of acquiring all the hard liquor under the sun, and in copious amounts, for someone underage. “All right! Now we are cooking!” she exclaimed, encouraging Kellie’s choice of action. “Well, I went with the whiskey, ‘cause that shit is hard to get for me normally. I can tell you that there are a couple bottles of Stonewell’s finest reds, fresh from the vineyards of scenic Interstate 75 in Ocala if you really want that convenience store wine experience. But, I think you should probably get something that’s an easy mix, something sweet, for my cupcake… Could start with some Malibu, I guess?” She looked over for confirmation.

Kellie shot Shawna a look. “Malibu?” she repeated in disbelief. Malibu was the type of drink she and her friends from Silicon Valley would add to their piña coladas while hanging out at the Country Club the summer before freshman year. “No way! If I’m going down tonight, I’m going down with a fight!” the brunette declared before stomping over to the drinks table. She filled her cup with ice, poured herself a generous amount of Rumchata and about a shot of Fireball before mixing up the contents by swirling the cup around in her hand and taking a long sip that burned down her throat.

Shawna just stared as Kellie Anne went no mercy on her first drink of the night. Granted, she was getting bold herself with the 80% whiskey drink, but still. It was a sight to watch her best friend show as much gusto in knocking back the alcohol as much as she did. Strangely, it made her feel even more at ease with their relationship. Did it mean she would accept the other illicit facets of her life? No. But alcohol was now on the table, and in her mouth, and that would do. “Damn girl! Wasting no time! All right!” She took another long sip of her drink, barely tasting the Coke at this point. “But be careful,” she cautioned, pointing up at her crown. “You come at the queen, you best not miss!” This was the kind of posturing she saw in countless wasted daytime Netflix sessions, and she had gotten better at it the more she got out to these events. Heck, at this point, she might even be brave enough to embarrass herself at beer pong.

Legends of Carnation Island

All right. Think I know where I am going to go with this. My character's name is Jade Scott, FC is Mallory Pugh, and the hex color is 9F1F19.

Legends of Carnation Island

I suppose I am in on this as well, though I have no idea of character or color yet.

REBOOT COMING SOON. INVITE ONLY.

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Location | Red Rock Canyon Campground, Las Vegas, Nevada (297 miles from Santa Monica, California)
Interacting with | Kim @Stanifly, Hugo (aka Guitar Guy) @BeastofDestiny, anyone at the campfire
Mentions: Val @Dirty Pretty Lies, Umbra @Severance, Matt @Legion02, AJ @TootsiePop
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The bag that once held a healthy dose of light brown crystals sat half empty on the twin-sized bed in the cabin. If Matt had known, he might have been worried. Actually, he probably should be very worried. But there was only one person who knew just what happened, and she was flying way too high to care at the moment.

The ride through the Mojave Desert might as well have been straight through Death Valley for Emilia. She thought she had recovered from her latest breakdown. That was until it was determined that the Gearheads would be offering rides into Las Vegas for all the Misfits and the only car that had room to take her belonged to the boy who set off Breakdown #2 in the first place. AJ Tyler would now also be responsible for Breakdown #3. This one was a slow burn, in that it wasn't a whole bunch of water works pouring out and more of a solid repetitive sob from the blonde girl in the back seat. AJ tried his best, but the depressing nature of the trip so far was working against him. Emilia didn't even bother to try and text back home about what happened. It had been less than a day. Her stuff was with the dead RV. She was riding with one of the friends of the man who put her here to begin with. The frappe was all gone and there were no McDonald's along the way that drew so much as a slight turn of the wheel from the driver. Emilia kept her eyes shut as she leaned along the window, not caring for the sandy landscape passing by.

When the convoy of vehicles arrived at the intended destination at Red Rock Canyon, Emilia quickly bolted into one of the rudimentary cabins that had been made available to large groups of people such as themselves, wanting to continue her crying in solitude. She didn't even get a chance to share the M&M's with Umbra as she promised, but she attacked them once she was in the room. The others seemed more content to take in the new surroundings, so Emilia ravaged the candy reserves she had been given by the running back with reckless abandon. She opened up the ziploc bag full of what she assumed were pop rocks and went to dump the entire thing into her mouth all at once.

It was about halfway through that she realized it wasn't pop rocks at all and quickly returned the bag to its upright position, nearly coughing up all the crystals that she did consume.

The fact that she didn't get the expected sugary treat left Emilia curled up on the bed again, sobbing that literally nothing was going right on this trip. But this time the crying only lasted about 30 minutes. Then Emilia felt neutral and at peace with the situation she was in. Ten minutes later, Emilia felt downright giggly. Twenty minutes later, she was standing in the tiny bathroom of the cabin, humming Ariana to herself and just admiring how pretty she looked, even with her makeup all washed off. It just felt good to have water hitting her face. Everything felt good really.

"I look good... I feel good," she repeated to herself for the 19th time. She brushed her hair back down. Feeling it against her bare shoulders now that she had shed her leather jacket on the bed. "I feel so good! I... I should share this! Everyone should feel this good!" Her sense of purpose renewed as the MDMA was fully taking effect, she finally left he cabin for the first time since they arrived.

Emilia could smell the smoke coming off the crackling campfire that had been built in the vicinity and was drawn towards it like a happy moth to the flame. There were people there. Her people. Her friends, and the people with the cars that drove way too fast, and ... a someone with a guitar. Who brought a guitar? Could they play Ariana? That would be cool.

The blonde looked for a person to plonk herself next to, and with Val seemingly not in the fire's glow, she found one of her other best friends and took advantage of the open spot next to Kim, sitting down beside the calming influence in her life.

"HI KIM!" she announced as she wrapped an arm around the brunette, blissfully forgetting Kim's stringent "no touching" policy. "Awwww, I'm so lucky you're my friend! You have the best music!" She turned her attention to the rest of the fire folks! "I'm so lucky you're all here! It's so great to, like, just be here and not thinking about that fucking asshole Brandon!" It was clear that the drugs had completely removed Emilia's filter, right down to the swear words that the sober Emi would never utter. "You guys are awesome! I wish I could hug you all at once!" She looked over at the unknown face, the guy with the guitar. "Even you! Man, Brandon would flip if I took a selfie hanging off you, wouldn't he? Damn straight he would, the fucker." She looked around the fire. "Shoot, where did AJ go? I have to apologize to him for being all mopey and everything on the ride here! He was so nice to drive me... And I gotta apologize to Umbra for eating all the M&M's... I'm not even sorry! They were soooooooo good!"

She leaned up against Kim for support as she breathed a happy sigh. "They were so good, Kim. You wouldn't believe. She mimicked eating them for emphasis as she continued to rest her head on Kim's shoulder, her arm falling by the wayside.

Palm Beach Royals: Senior Year

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She was nervous.

It wasn't an emotion befitting her costume but she couldn't help it. The long walk from her now parked Audi A8 wasn't helping matters either. It gave her way too much time to think. The two bottles of red wine, the finest Ramiro had to offer, were starting to weigh heavy in her hands.

Shawna wasn't even sure she was supposed to bring booze. When Kavi Salvador came up to Kellie, Sunshine and her at the lunch table that day earlier this week, it was shock enough as it was. Kavi never seemed to be aware of Shawna in the first place. Maybe it was Kellie who was able to lure him over. Either way, he came bearing invites to a Halloween party at his expansive family home on Saturday. It was rare for Shawna to get an invite to any of these shindigs, at least in the pre-tattoo era of her life. Now, she had no idea what kind of reputation she was going to be expected to maintain, but showing up with unexpected booze was a better plan than showing up with no booze when expected to BYOB.

The same kind of thought process went into her costume for the evening, which was also starting to weigh on her arms a little bit. It took some putting together, especially considering how little Shawna had in terms of dressing up as something other than a student. She hadn't celebrated Halloween in a few years, and there was little chance she was going to go raiding her mom's closet for anything, or see if Lia had any hand-me-down options still kicking around.

She went to a costume shop in Palm Beach and had a look. She wanted something that would help her stand out. Make sure that the next time there was a party to be had, she would get a direct invite rather than just happen to be at a table. Something...risque. The shimmering bangles and crown caught her eye, and looked to be exotic enough that it would guarantee attention. After all, Cleopatra was known for grabbing glimpses with a fraction of her beauty. So what the heck, right?

Of course Kellie Anne approved of the costume. They were hanging out a lot lately. With the tension from the library chat defused, the two girls let things just kinda happen. Kellie would often come over to Shawna's since no one was there, and they would alternate between watching movies, or running along the beach, or just talking about junk. It was a lovely change of pace from the usual loneliness. A couple times, it led to the sort of activities Cleopatra would scoff at, but for Shawna were brand new experiences. Nothing too serious, clothes had yet to come off like they did in the pair's first day together. But still, there was passion and exploration there. It was exciting, and Shawna wanted more. Hence the risque costume.

However, it was clear that party decorum did not necessitate arriving on time. At least from the looks of things at the party. As she opened the door, Shawna thought she was going to chastized for being late, but there appeared to be just a small crowd to start at the Salvador place. She recognized Kavi, who offered a brief greeting and an assurance she didn't need to bring the wine as she entered, as well as ...CJ. Shit. I haven't talked to him since the day I met Kellie. This is gonna be a bit awkward then... Carter appeared to be busy with someone else, so that suited Shawna just fine for now.

She adjusted the wig of straight black hair on her head and continued to move around the area, towards where Kavi had indicated the vast selection of alcohol was. Well then... guess I can just leave these here. She quickly eschewed the Ocala vintage wines she had brought and mixed herself a whiskey and coke that leaned more to the Irish side than the other. The music continued to blare, but aside from CJ, it was clear there was no one she had tangible relations with. So Shawna turned to her phone, where there were contact with people with whom she did have such connections.

While waiting for a response, Cleopatra picked up her milk and honey and took a long sip. She hoped they were arriving soon. There was no telling what could happen to a defenseless queen in a place like this.

Palm Beach Royals: Senior Year

@Moro Couldn't help it. Taylor has my eyes.

REBOOT COMING SOON. INVITE ONLY.

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Location | Misfits' RV, Bell Mountain, California (108 miles from Santa Monica)
Interacting with | Kim @Stanifly, Matt @Legion02, Umbra @Syn
Mentions: Val @Dirty Pretty Lies
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As she continued to kneel in the California sands, Emilia was feeling less alone with the attention that Matt and Kim were giving her. It felt less hopeless, even if her relationship with the football player was nowhere near as advanced as her relationship with one of her best friends. The crying continued to ebb as the breakdown was beginning to pass.

Kim was taking the lead, as she usually had a level-enough head to do. "You're gonna dehydrate from all those tears, under this sun. Wanna go back in the shade, at least?"

Emi nodded her head and sniffled a couple more times. At least to hold it in until she could make it to a tissue. She slowly stood up. "That sounds fine..."

However, she didn't get a chance to move before feeling a sting against her face, a sting stronger than the wind or the sun. A sudden shock to the system delivered by a hand Emi was definitely not expecting as the girl she ended up inadvertently bracing herself against during the RV's off-road antics delivered a wake-up call. Usually if anyone was gonna slap her, it was Val. This caught her completely off-guard.

“Get a hold of yourself, man! You’re tougher than this or did I pick the wrong white girl?!”

Emilia tried to respond, but the dreadlocked girl quickly turned her attention to Matt, before running out of steam while talking to Kim. All she could do was rub her cheek as the reverberations continued to be felt in her face. When did Umbra build up that kinda strength?

The slap left her almost unprepared for the actions of Matt Brown. “Here, one for you to share with your friend.” The football player quickly produced the promised candy bars and pressed them against her palm, but it was clear that there was something else underneath the chocolate, unless it was a ziploc bag filled with pixie stick dust. “And one for you as well. It should make you happy.” She quickly moved everything into the pocket of her leather jacket. She wasn't sure what she had just been handed, the fact that it was in a baggie probably meant it was some kind of drug. But there were candy bars for now, which would help the situation immensely. Matt turned to walk back to the rest of the parked cars that had gathered in front of the RV, so now Emilia was left wondering just what she now carried in her pocket. Or she would have before Matt added a few parting words.

“You’ve always been too good for him.”

Those words hit just as hard, if not more so, than Umbra's slap. Matt walked away after saying them but the impact was brutal. Possibly not even fully felt by the still-dazed blonde. Always been too good for him? What does that even mean? What is Matt saying with that? Did he know something about Brandon? Did he think he would have been a better boyfriend than Brandon? Is he just trying to puff me up? I don't...

"I'm calling a tow truck. We can probably get one from Victorville." Kim's statement broke Emilia out of her own head, at least for the moment. It was going to be a set back, having to head backwards on I-15, to a place that was kind of a dump. But at least there was candy. "Save some for me if there's dark chocolate in there." Emi carefully removed the two bars from her pocket. Kim was in luck. There was a dark chocolate Mars bar, probably discounted in order to catch a customer's attention, along with a packet of Almond M&Ms. The candy-coated treats may not have counted as a traditional "bar", but it was a welcome sight to Emilia.

"You're in luck, Kim," she informed the girl now on the phone trying to get them out of the area. "I'll put it in the fridge for you!" She hoped the fridge was still working at least. Emi turned back to Umbra, tear streaks still on her face, but now dried up with the lack of replenishing fluids. "I'll split the M&M's with you if you give me a warning next time before you slap me like you did... Oh who am I kidding? I'll split them with you even if you don't. Thank you though. You didn't pick the wrong white girl. At least I hope not." Breakdown number two was quelled for now, but even as she anticipated tearing into the beige bag with the goodies inside, Matt's last sentence was ringing in the back of Emilia's head. It probably would for some time.

[Canceled]

🗡️

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_{🗡️
May 16 9:30AM->9:50 AM
The Loft
Interacting with: Khione @Hoekage, Becky [NPC]
🗡️}

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It was too early. It had to be too early. There was no other reason for the crustiness in the eyes. The quick rollover to bury the head in the pillow. The taste of cigarettes and Baccardi 151 in the mouth. It all added up. It was a Saturday morning after all. There was absolutely no need to do anything. Just roll over and tell the day to fuck off and.... shit. Someone else was here in this bed.

That quick realization was enough to jostle Natalia Pereira out of her slumbering state. She did her best not to bolt up immediately, lest she alert the other person in the bed that there was activity. As she did her best to pry her eyes open to assess the situation, she tried to remember what had happened last night. All right, all right, what did I do again? It was an off-night. We weren't booked, so I decided to drink. Went to Envy, made sure no one getting any ideas with Mina, talked up... She looked down at the long-haired head still resting on the pillow next to her. Nat craned her neck to get a look but couldn't tell if she inadvertently broken her own loft rule or not. ...someone. Brought them home, and I'm gonna guess since there are clothes all over the floor we had some fun. Ugh. She gave her body a once over to make sure there weren't any bite marks or anything. From a cursory glance, there was nothing fresh. Just the scars from the nights accompanying Khione out when she was learning about the trade. All right, so I probably didn't do anything too stupid. Only one way to make sure though.

Nat slowly eased her way out of the bed, the cold floor offering another wake up call on her bare feet. She shook it off and moved over to the window, which currently had its blinds drawn to prevent as much sunlight as possible from getting into the main bedroom of the loft. That was going to change soon. Nat quickly shifted the blinds to arouse her unknown bedmate from their slumber, either via pain or ... well less pain.

The person in the bed groaned slightly before sitting up and rubbing her eyes. Well, the lack of screaming would indicate that I did not bed a vampire, so that's a plus. The lack of clothes indicated that Nat had not broken the loft's "No Guys" rule, which was a relief. Guess I would have remembered if a guy actually managed to talk his way into my pants, since that never happens. As the girl with the dyed purple hair shook her head, Nat looked down at her previous night's companion. "Hey you, sorry to offer the early wake-up service, but I got stuff to do, and I figure it's best I don't leave you alone in here to nick all my shit. So you gotta hit the road."

"Already?" The young woman looked around before grabbing her bra off the floor. "Shit, I figured you'd at least get me a coffee or something before you kicked me out."

Nat thought for a second. If her little sister wasn't up and about making noise at this time, it likely meant she was out during her usual Saturday morning café run. That meant she would have her usual tasty treats coming soon. But there would be nothing for this girl. "Hey look..." She was drawing a blank on this girl's name. Did it start with a B? Why would she be with a girl whose name started with a B? "...Britney."

"Becky!"

"Really? OK. Well, whatever, Becky. Look, last night was great and all. And if you need the money for a cab, I got ya covered. But I have some important stuff to do. You know how music labels are, right? Of course you don't." Nat grabbed her own pair of jeans off the floor, sliding them on as she searched for a top. "But hey, you come to Envy enough, you'll probably see me there again at some point. We can hit things off again then." She punctuated this last notion with a wink. She didn't need to know how rare it was for her to be at Envy and not be working.

"OK sure. I have money for a cab. And... you have my number, right? I mean, we did exchange numbers?"

Nat subtly rolled her eyes. "Sure, doll. I'll be in there under Dagger. Look me up when you are back in New York." Odds were Becky was one of those commuter-type party girls. In from Babylon or Massapequa or something stupid on Long Island. Nat found Becky's pants on the floor and tossed them to the girl in order to hasten the expedition process.

"DARLINGS I'M HOMEEEE~"

That sound meant that the clock had run out on Becky's chance to leave without attracting attention. Nat sighed and slid a worn t-shirt over her body. "Well, sounds like you do get to meet a roommate on the way out. Consider yourself lucky, Bex."

"OK, well I think I have everything..."

"Well, if you don't, I'll mail it to you. Let's go."

Natalia quickly ushered the still groggy woman out of the master of the three-bedroom loft that was a steal at the price they were paying for. She had hoped Khione had ventured into the living room area, but nope. Still in the entry way. That meant she would see the results of last night's visit to Envy.

"Oh, hey Khi," Natalia said non-chalantly. "Don't mind the young lady here. She was just leaving. Isn't that right, doll? Becky made a move to answer, but Nat cut her off. "Yes. Yes she is. All right talk to you later, doll." Nat quickly pushed what she could only assume were Becky's shoes into her hands and sent her out the door, locking it behind the one-night stand. She grinned at the veteran vampire hunter. "So, uh, I think Mina is out getting the usual, so you know, I hope you're hungry and in the mood for a recharge after... I'm going to assume you were out beating something up? Something inanimate at this time in the morning?"

REBOOT COMING SOON. INVITE ONLY.

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Location | Misfits' RV, outside Barstow, California (130 miles from Santa Monica)
Interacting with | Kim @Stanifly, Matt @Legion02
Mentions: AJ @TootsiePop, Umbra @Syn, Val @Dirty Pretty Lies
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As her knees dug deeper into the sands surrounding their now doomed RV, tears splattering the dust before drying up in an instant, all the usual breakdown thoughts were swirling in Emilia's head.

How much did AJ know? Why didn't he tell me Brandon was going to break it off? Why did he break it off? Why am I so worthless? Can't even fix a stupid RV! Why is my life like this? I'm so alone!

None of this was stemming the flow from Emi's eyes, even as she heard footsteps coming towards her. Heavy footsteps, cracking the gravel on the shoulder of the road before softening in the sands beneath her. Maybe it's someone who has come to put me out of my misery.

She heard a thump in front of her as someone else hit the sands. “Hey, you’re okay. That wasn’t such a big crash. You’re still in one piece.” Who is that? I know that voice... “Want a chocolate bar?”

Emilia managed to lift her head out of her hands and squint her eyes at the person in front of her, although it was hard to see through the water and the Barstow sun. Eventually, she rubbed her eyes enough to make out the man now holding the promise of candy in front of her. What she got though, was another unpleasant reminder of the man who so ruthlessly spurned her. Matt Brown. She remembered Matt. Just like AJ, he was on the football team. The running back, so she saw him talking to Brandon a lot. Again, their conversations had been very cordial, lest Brandon get jealous she was hanging around other teammates, but for a football player, he seemed all right. The problem was that first part though. Football.

The tears started to well in Emilia's eyes again and this time there was someone to catch the full blast. "MATTTTTT!" she wailed. "WHY?!? WHY DO THESE THINGS KEEP HAPPENING TO MEEEEEE?!? She made a motion to wipe her nose on her still new leather jacket, but even in this state she managed to catch herself. "What did I do? I thought... I thought I was a good person? Why does God hate me? I don't... I..." She was starting to lose steam. The hot desert sun was tiring at full blast, and she was starting to run the risk of dehydration without another place to get frappes nearby. "I can't... I don't want this hurt, Matt. I don't want it... Make it go away..." She continued to cry, muddling the words somewhat, but she couldn't help it.

While Emi was stuck in her own pity loop, she was oblivious to the Blossom to her Bubbles arriving behind her. At least until Kim put a hand on her shoulder. Initially, she thought it was Val or Umbra, since Kim usually stayed away from the whole touching thing. "Better? You hurt anywhere?" The shock that it actually was Kim snapped the sobbing loop, at least for the moment. Kim. Kim cares about you. You have friends. You are not alone. So buck up.

The blonde sniffled and toned down the crying enough to sound somewhat normal again while talking. "I don't think... I'm hurt from the crash," she confirmed to Kim. "It's... it's just the usual hurt." She tried to use her hands to wipe away the rest of the tears, but they were saturated as it was. "It's the usual sucky hurt."

Palm Beach Royals: Senior Year

Well that was a complete waste of time.

Shawna was still trying to comprehend what had just happened to the last three hours of her life. She didn’t even go to the stupid Homecoming. Why the hell was she subjected to the mind-numbing torture that was listening to a 40-something teacher who probably had a bottle of Wild Turkey in their desk try to explain why underage drinking was a bad thing? Also, the entire marijuana section was a fat lie. She had been smoking for months and definitely didn’t want to try heroin because of it. Then to top it all off with the preaching of God and abstinence for the final hour, just the pinnacle of pointlessness.

Like I have to worry about that. Gonna be real hard to knock me up … unlike some of the other girls here…

The green-eyed girl had staked a claim to a table in the cafeteria while Kellie Anne went through the lineups to get her meal. Shawna didn’t want to bother with that hassle today, so she went with a traditional packed lunch of her three remaining cupcakes from the previous day paired with an apple and a banana grabbed in a quick stop at the convenience store before she arrived at school. Strange it wouldn’t have occurred to her to even add the fruit if she had hatched this meal plan a month ago, but she felt almost obligated to balance out the baked goods with something healthy. Sugar be damned.

As she sat by herself, Shawna debated whether or not she should wait for Kellie to begin tearing into that cookies and cream cupcake, but she held off for now.

Today was Sable’s first day at her new school. While she had originally given Kings a hard no, she had convinced herself that perhaps things weren’t going to be so bad after all. While things weren’t as bad as the scenarios that her mind had come up to torture her with. She had assemblies at her old school, but the one she had just been subjected to was something else. Speeches on underage drinking were a lost cause, and everyone knew it. Besides, Sunshine wasn’t giving up her tequila just because some grumpy older woman wanted to tell her she may or may not get into a crash. Car crashes could happen when you were sober too. Marijuana wasn’t a gateway drug. It’s used for plenty of medical purposes. While Sunshine had never smoked, she could clearly see through the teachers bullshit. Last but not least abstinence? Sunshine was already damned to Hell.

All of these thoughts ran through her head as she went through the lunch line. Luckily, she was one of the first ones in said line, seeing as how she practically ran out of the auditorium. She decided to go simple - just a piece of pepperoni pizza. Besides, she had cookies stored in her bag that she wanted to eat as well. She paid and turned around to face the rest of the room.

Tables were lined up everywhere, people bumping into her as they passed to go sit in their previously claimed areas. That’s when it hit her - Sunshine didn’t have any friends here. I officially have zero friends. This is shaping up to be the perfect day. Just peachy, rosey, absolutely tip top perfect. Then she spotted another loner. Or, at least, someone sitting by themselves. Sunshine took a deep breath, and approached. Why she was nervous, she had no clue. Talking to people had never been a problem for her, so why would it be now? Stopping in front of the girl on the other side of the table, Sable stood there awkwardly for a brief second. “Um…. Hi? Do you mind if I sit here?”

Shawna looked up at the girl standing there. She was alone, a feeling Shawna was very familiar with from her time in the intellectual elite of the school. A time when there was no place for her at any table. Those feelings still hurt.

Still, she didn’t want to just give this girl a spot at the table. There was supposed to be a spot for her cupcake companion, and Shawna wasn’t exactly built to defend slots from invading cliques. Also, what if Kellie Anne wanted to just have spots for the two of them? Shawna risked alienating her before their friendship even lasted a day. It was a tough decision.

Damn it. This is why I started smoking. To get away from these thoughts. Stupid school.

Shawna made a snap decision. ”If you help me save at least one more spot, sure. You can sit here.”

Figuring that it wasn’t the worst thing she had ever agreed to, Sable sat down as she shrugged her shoulders. ”So what’s your name? If you don’t mind me asking, of course.”

“No crime in asking as far as I know,” the Wisconsin native noted. “My name’s Shawna.” She looked over the girl sitting across from her. She had this innocent look to her that reminded Shawna of someone who didn’t exist anymore. Someone who was way too innocent. “And who I am banking on to help me defend this seat from other cafeteria ne’er-do-wells?”

The way the other girl - Shawna. Her name was Shawna. - talked made Sunshine sort of curious. Did she always talk like that, or was it just some sort of thing she did kinda randomly? Only time would tell. ”My names Sable. Most people call me Sunshine, though. I just moved here from LA about a week ago. Say… are random ‘if you have sex you’ll die’ assemblies common here?”

Shawna shook her head. “Not as long as I can remember. They came in pretty standard times. I’m guessing this bullshit was related to Homecoming. I don’t know what exactly went down, because I didn’t go, but some people must have done some fucked up things. Which, honestly, is not surprising here.” She looked down at her lunch before realizing she had nothing to drink with her bounty of sweets. “Shoot.” She reached for her phone and tapped out a quick message.

To: Kellie Cupcake

Hey, could you grab me a bottle of water or a thing of milk or something? I will pay you back. ;)

Shawna set her phone back down and turned her attention back to the girl who went by Sunshine. It was an appropriate name here. “So, LA, huh? Must be a bit of a come down going from that to Palm Beach. What brings your family to this slice of paradise?”

Family. That word hit a nerve. The only family Sunshine had left was her aunt, and she was more or less absent from the girls life doing her best to make ends meet with her job as a waitress. Sunshine had offered to pay for her own tuition, but her aunt refused.

”I, um….,” Sunshine began, her attention now more focused on her pizza than it was Shawna. ”I didn’t really have a choice. My mom died when I was little, and my dad did too not that long ago…. So I sort of had to move here with my aunt. But hey! It doesn't seem that bad so far,” she finished with a somewhat enthusiastic tone.

Shawna may not have been too familiar with social cues, but it was pretty clear she inadvertently touched a raw nerve with that question. Dead parents were usually a conversation killer. At least she bounced back, but the green-eyed girl still felt awful. “Shoot, I’m sorry Sunshine. At least I can say, one transplant to another, it isn’t terrible. You can definitely thrive down here. And there are some very friendly people. Just gotta know where to find them.”

It was at that moment that Kellie Anne Nicholson appeared out of nowhere, holding a tray with the selected lunch of the day. Grinning, the young woman chose to take her seat next to Shawna, plopping the tray on top of the table and throwing her arms around her new friend. “Hi, Wolfie!” the dancer said cheerfully, planting a kiss on the other girl’s cheek. “I brought you some Pepsi, so I hope that’s okay!” she declared, passing the Pepsi bottle to Shawna before before leaning close to the girl’s ear and adding in a playful whisper, “You’ll definitely have to pay me back later… and I don’t mean with money!”

Wolfie, as she was now known, blushed brightly as she felt the squeeze of her new friend and a kiss thrown on her cheek. They hadn’t really talked about what Sunday meant, but it looked like Kellie Anne knew where she was at with their relationship and Shawna was more than happy to go there with her. She giggled. “Pepsi works. I was trying to be healthy, but I am not going to say no to Pepsi. Money is in my locker. I’ll get it after.”

Letting out a giggle, Kellie gave Shawna a tight hug before noticing for the first time the unknown girl sitting at their table. “Oh!” she exclaimed comically, eyes widening with curiosity. “I am so sorry if I interrupted you guys! Who’s this?”

She quickly returned the kiss to her girlfriend’s cheek before turning her attention to introductions. “Right, Kellie, this is Sable, but most people call her Sunshine. She just moved here from Los Angeles, so she is new to all…” She waved her arms around, indicating the school. “This. Everything this. Anyway, Sunshine, this is Kellie Anne Nicholson, my white knight as it were.” Sunshine didn’t need to know that Shawna was to Wolfie as Kellie was to Cupcake. At least not yet. “What did you end up getting, hun? I might trade you a cupcake for it.”

“Nice to meet you, sweetie! It’s always nice to meet someone with knowledge of good ole’ California,” she said sweetly, shooting Sunshine a playful wink before turning back to Shawna. “I just got myself a chicken wrap. Figured after all the cupcakes yesterday I would try and keep it healthy the rest of the week.”

Shawna gave Kellie a pout McKayla Maroney would be proud of. “I guess that makes sense. I just wanted to eat the rest of the sweets while they were still fresh.” She was now regretting a decision made out of laziness. She could have least gotten a sub or something from Ramiro. “No worries, I’ll get like some lean chicken or something tonight. I swear, I’ll be as healthy as this banana!” She held up the actual piece of fruit to prove her point, although the bruises on the peel were not appealing.

The food talk was off-putting. It was time to distract herself with the new person in the picture. “So, Sunshine, what is your impression of Palm Beach, even after just a week? I mean, it’s has to be something else with a fresh set of eyes, right?”

Sunshine had been listening into the conversation before her, sort of losing concentration about half way through. She shook Kellie’s hand politely before taking a bite of her pizza. When Shawna asked her a question, she quickly swallowed said bite in an awkward fashion. ”It’s really pretty, I can tell you that much. The humidity here is something else though. Not only are your beaches gorgeous, so are the people - at least what I’ve seen so far. I haven’t really gone out that much, because, ya know, moving in and stuff, but I can’t wait to see what all there is to do here.”

“Oh, you’ll loooooooove it here, sweetie, promise! I moved here from Silicon Valley a few years ago, and I can’t tell you how much more I like it here than I did over there. Just don’t fall for Max Wallenberg and you’ll be fine!” Kellie simpered, knowing in her heart she was being ridiculously petty towards her unassuming ex-boyfriend but not caring. If she knew Max like she thought she did, he’d pull all the stops to get the new girl between the sheets of his bed in record time. Better to screw up his chances now than deal with the fallout later.

Shawna nearly choked on her Pepsi hearing Kellie so flippantly bring up the boy they spent most of yesterday trying to help her forget. Nearly though. She was banking on Kellie to fill Sunshine in on the happenings of Palm Beach, seeing as Shawna spent most of her life avoiding the social scene and had little knowledge of anything that actually was happening. “Honestly, the beaches are probably the best part. Fucking immaculate. You can spend an entire day there and just lose track of time. Great date spot too.” Shawna looked over at Kellie as if to confirm she was the one intended to be dated on the beaches. “Just… Yeah. Max is evil. Stay away.”

“Oh, and stay away from Santiago Fernandez, too,” the dancer added as an afterthought, taking a happy bite from her wrap. “Don’t let the face, the arms or the solid abs fool you. El Diablo will chew you up and spit you out in the blink of an eye- if April Foster doesn’t kill you first, that is.”

Who was Max Wallenberg and why was this Fernandez guy such a bad dude? More importantly, who was April? Was she the queen bee or something? Head cheerleader? The biggest, nastiest bully in town?

“Are these Max and Santiago characters the main fuckboys around here? Because back at my old school, we had like… cliques, ya know? And I assume that’s sort of a thing for every school…? Anyway. You had your fuckboys. The preps. Emos. Weirdos. There were a lot of different people.

Shawna tried not to give away that she had as much of a clue as Sunshine did, but it was hard. She could answer the latter part of that question anyway. “It can definitely be cliquey here. Like everyone has their own group they run with pretty much just interact with. But, I mean, I’ve never been too concerned with all that stuff, you know?” She punctuated this fact with a bite into her apple that was remarkably crisp. Ramiro had actually gotten good apples apparently. “And I guess, if you want, you don’t have to either, if you want to just run with us or something. I mean, you’ll have to put up with regular PDAs.” She winked at Kellie as she said that, indicating she was open for more affection.

Sunshine laughed. ”PDA isn’t a problem at all,” she responded. After all, what did she have to lose? She didn’t have any friends here yet, and these two seemed nice enough.

Shawna smiled and nodded. “Then I think we will get along just fine, Sunshine.”

Kellie Anne nodded brightly. “I definitely agree! Welcome to Crown Heights, sugar.”