Realistic or Modern hollywood arts: main (open!!)

Winona · Jan 12, 2022

Zeph Evermore

She was...

Well, there was just this thought that crossed his mind as Stella started backing towards the beach, talking about how they should just be spontaneous. There was a warm smile on his face as he watched her, and maybe part of Zeph was just standing there, thinking about just how goddamn lucky he was to be able to call this pretty, really cool, really amazing freaking girl his girlfriend. Kind of weird how things had turned, huh?

At the start of the year, he was lovesick for Ronnie, and now... now he just wanted the girl in front of him.

As they got closer to the beach, she tossed down her heels and started towards the water. He stooped down to take off his shoes and socks, and while he was rolling up his pant cuffs (no, he was not about to walk around with wet pants), he looked up to watch Stella -- just as she hopped back out of the water. He chuckled as she started mentioning how cold the water was, and he straightened up, taking off his jacket -- with only a little bit of difficulty with slipping it off his cast.

"I'd say come in the water is fine, but you know that'd be a lie." She giggled. "Plus we need a little water right? And we probably should get your cast too wet."

He followed her towards the water, sure that it couldn't be that bad, but the moment his feet stepped into the water, he ahh... well, he had to agree with Stella, because holy heck.

"It is a little cold," he admitted with a chuckle before he stepped back out of the water to Stella's side. "Yeah, ahh... this cast can't get wet at all." He added -- still he wasn't sure on the sandy front, but he was kind of just hoping that it'd be fine and when they did cut it off, not too much sand fell out.

"Gotta admit, been a while since I've ahh... since I've made a sand castle," Zeph said with a chuckle. Probably since he was a little kid -- before his mom got sick because, after that, they didn't really visit the beach. Everything was just medical appointments and watching his mother struggle to breathe.

Good times.

He swallowed as he dropped to his knees in the sand.

"Gotta have a moat, though, ya know," he said as he started to dig in the sand with his healthy hand, dumping piles of wet sand into the middle as he tried to make a moat.

mood
chill

location
the ballroom

outfit
snazzy. classy. very handsome.

playing...
Uh Oh

by Junior Doctor

mentions
N/A

interactions
Stella

tags

Kitsune2202

º º code by ditto º º

PenguinFox · Jan 13, 2022

MOOD: Cheerful

OUTFIT: Ball Dress

LOCATION: Ball
basics

MENTIONS: INT: jazzyball
tags

TL;DR Lulu was paid for taking people's picture while on her date with Matt
tl;dr

Tallulah

You would find her in a Polaroid picture

Fingers fiddled with the band on the corsage gifted to Tallulah, being careful to not damage the delicate flower that was connected to it. All the lights and sounds were a tad overwhelming to the girl, causing her to subtly move closer to her date. It wasn't necessarily that she found comfort with Matt, but more that the presence of someone significantly taller was comforting. He just happened to be the closest, though he was so far turning out to be a very nice ball date. Lulu was beginning to think that even if things didn't end up developing into anything they could at the very least be friends.

"Hmm... well I don't know what's supposed to happen, but I know what I'd like to happen..." the small girl offered Matt a bright smile, offering out her hand so she could lead the way. If there was in fact a specific way that people were supposed to do this whole ball thing, did it really matter? Wasn't supposed to be fun? Winging it would probably work just fine enough; so Lulu led the taller boy through the crowd, a task likely easier for her to accomplish than it was for him. The pair soon found themselves standing in front of a drink table. The Newton girl was initially reaching for the punch but she noticed an off odor to it. There was something not quite right about it so Lulu grabbed a bottle of water instead, mentally checking off an item from her ball to do list.

While she did in fact want to dance, after all it is a dance, Matt had already stated his feelings on that and she didn't want him to be uncomfortable. Truth be told Lulu may have also felt somewhat uncomfortable dancing too. While she had been being taught to dance by her mutual friend with her brother, Josie, she didn't think herself good enough to really dance in front of others in a setting like this yet. This also didn't seem like an appropriate setting for the type of dancing that Liv had taught her. Finally, as hazel eyes scanned the dancefloor she made note that many people dancing appeared to be dancing as if they were actual couples; something that Matt and Lulu currently were not. A small giggle was drawn from her lips as she noticed her brother. He was not really a great dancer by any means, but he always looked to be having fun... or looked like a dying fish, one of the two. Tallulah gently nudged Matt and pointed out her brother in hopes to draw a laugh from him as well. It was almost as if the older Newton child was trying to draw attention to himself. "Some days I can't believe he's actually my brother."

As the two giggled to each other about the lavender haired dork that was Lulu's brother another pair approached them. The girl tentatively spoke to Lulu. "Hey, that camera... that'll make like instant keepsake photos right?" Lulu looked to the camera at her hip that she had been carrying with her all night. "My polaroid? Yes... the pictures are tangible and are printed on the spot if that's what you mean? Why do you as-" before she could finish the girl continued speaking, her voice betraying that she was clearly an LA native. "Ohmagawd can you like take a picture of me and my boyfriend for us?" Tallulah's eyes flicked between the pair in front of her, unfamiliar with a situation like this. Wasn't there paparazzi just outside that would gladly take there picture? "I'll like pay you or whatever, I just think it'd be the cutest way to remember the night." Uncertainly, Matt's date looked up at him for any sort of opinion on the matter but again, the valley girl voice interrupted. "C'mon like just one?" Lulu couldn't just say no right? At the very least this girl didn't seem like no was going to be an option for her. "Uhm... alright... sure."

Within moments Lulu was removing the the film from her camera, It was clear the girl was for more excited about this than her date but the pair at least looked happy. "Now contrary to popular belief there's no need to shake this. Just keep it somewhere moderately dim. Perhaps face down at a table, or in a pocket big enough it won't get bent." Her words mostly fell on deaf ears as her subject dug through her purse and shoved a bill in Lulu's face. The photo was snatched and the couple headed off, shaking the polaroid anyway. Tallilah let out a sigh and faced her own date again.

"Sorry about that... that's never happened to me before." Hazel eyes dropped and looked at the bill hastily placed in her palm, widening at the realization of how much she was just paid. She looked over her shoulder but the two had already disappeared amongst the crowd. "She gave me a hundred..." she whispered to Matt. "That's insane, right? It's not just me?" While this wasn't the first time she had been paid for her work, it was the first time she'd been paid for a single photo, and the price felt steep. Did the girl not realize what she had given Lulu? Or did she just not care about the cost and threw what she thought was acceptable? Were people really that well off in this place? She felt guilty, like she had just scammed this poor couple, but at the same time.... it was a nice amount of money to be paid. "I hope it comes out good at least..." Her gaze met Matt's, letting him to take the lead on what to do next. It seemed only fair to make sure both of them got to do things they wanted. It wasn't just her night after all.

code by valen t.

natsukashii · Jan 13, 2022

Hunter Drake

When the kiss broke and Hunter was looking at Ronnie, he found himself smiling at his date. He didn’t know if this made them official or what. He wasn’t the type to tread that road carelessly. If he was sure and if Ronnie was sure, then it would happen when it happened. Until then he just wanted to appreciate not only the moment but how hot she was.

And after a kiss like that, Ronnie was way hotter than her hair or her dress could ever be. That was a fact.

It was strange. Not in a million years did he think they’d be here. Two months ago, he hid away from her because he couldn’t stand being in the same general location as she was, yet here they were dating…on a date and now had their first kiss. Sentimental bullshit like that never was a priority for Hunter, but damn it if he wasn’t feeling something akin to happiness the longer he thought about it.

All the roads that they took turns on. With Hunter getting his fair share of drama because of Liv and having a short-lived romance with Nickie to being at the ball with the artist formerly known as his stalker, if that wasn’t a sign of personal growth, then honestly Hunter didn’t know. What he did know was this: he didn’t want this night to end--

“Whisk me away stud--”

And, as it seemed, Ronnie felt the same as he did.

He smiled at her, watching her hold her hand up. He had planned on going with the primal approach in taking her hand, but Hunter could assess the situation like the detective he liked to think he was. He put it together that she wanted the royal treatment.

“As you wish, princess,” Hunter chuckled, taking Ronnie’s hand in his and hooked it with his. He could very much play the part of prince charming. Hell, he practically was right down to the nice suit and good looks and winning personality.

This night was only beginning. Unlike the night, time would shine a bright light on him and Ronnie from here on out.

mood
It feels right

location
Winter Ball

outfit
Back in black

playing...
Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)

by The Offspring

mentions
Ronnie, Nickie

interactions
Ronnie

tags

hery

º º code by ditto º º

qunqun · Jan 13, 2022

MOOD: Lida SUX

OUTFIT: Casually Queer

LOCATION: ... their apartment
basics

MENTIONS: INT: Lida Winona
tags

TL;DR ... what.
tl;dr

Rowan

Pronouns Currently: She/Her

Rowan was, like, nailing climbing this tree alright?

So good. So strong. Monkey woman over here. Monkey monkey monkey woman. Spiderwoman. Yeah, that was the word.

Spiderwoman.

So anyways yeah. Rowan was totally nailing climbing up this tree, right?

AND THEN LIDA STARTED PUSHING HER.

The absolute audacity, right??? Like, they had this HANDLED. Totally. Not drunk at all.

So anyways yeah Rowan fell out of the tree and landed on top of Lida, THANKS FOR THAT.

The fury of a thousand burning suns fueled Rowan as she sat up from where she’d landed on Lida, blinking at the swaying image of the tree before her.

Could she always feel the earth’s rotation? No. No she couldn’t. Falling out of the tree must’ve given her, like, superpowers or something.

What was she mad about again?

OH RIGHT, LIDA wouldn’t pass her her own vodka. How dare. So rude!

Rowan stood up, snatching the bottle of vodka out of Lida’s grubby little hands and taking a big ol’ swig like an absolute pro- oh who am I kidding.

Rowan coughed as the alcohol burned all the way down.

“.... PIZZA.” What. Rowan didn’t even recognize what she’d said at first, looking just as startled as Lida probably was that the words were coming out of her mouth.

“WE’RE GETTING PIZZA.” Right, what they left the house to begin with. “ALRIGHT WE’RE…”

Rowan drifted off to the side just a little bit as she stood and started attempting to walk. God fucking dammit her superpower to feel the earth’s rotation was starting to get a little bit annoying!! Earth! Stop moving!

“WE’RE… Gonna go that way!!!” Rowan pointed in a random direction and started walking. No, she did not check if Lida was behind her, because OBVIOUSLY Lida would know to trust the insane off-the-charts wisdom Rowan had of star charts!

Suddenly, about five blocks later in the random direction Rowan was leading them, everything looked familiar again.

Rowan squinted, blinking furiously.

Somehow, they’d ended up back at their apartment.

Whoops.

Operation “Get Pizza” was a bust, it seemed.

code by valen t.

Kitsune2202 · Jan 13, 2022

"Goddess of Chaos"
Magnolia Darrington

@Rebel.lia.on has set their status to:
Charming as the Devil and twice as pretty

@Rebel.lia.on has set their outfit to:
Bold as ever (w/his jacket)

@Rebel.lia.on has set their location to:
Winter Ball (Kitchen)

@Rebel.lia.on has mentioned:
Josie, Remi, Ash

@Rebel.lia.on has interacted with:
Spencer

♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫ ♫

Maggie liked to believe her loyalty was hard earned especially after everything she'd been through with people all her life from so called friends to her own family. True loyalty and friendship wasn't something she just gave away despite what you might think or she might say.

Truth be told she was mostly joking when she talk to people, sometimes just to get a rise out of them because she could when she was bored enough. She didn't mind the fact she could get under peoples skin or she could just be a casual party buddy that stopped at the surface. Weather positive or negative all those interaction didn't mean much to her in the grand scheme of things. It took a lot for her to consider someone an enemy (unless in a already foul mood) or Friend.

Somehow despite this fact Spencer seemed to be able to ninja his way around her natural defenses. That's not to say that he had her loyalty completely or that they were best friends...just he was well on his way to actually mattering to her in some way shape or form at an alarmingly impeccable rate. if she slowed down a moment to actually think about it then it'd be actually pretty terrifying for her.

Good thing she was too busy trying to distract herself from her friendship drama and heartache to take even a moment to think about that. Otherwise she might lose out on something special because Maggie's natural reaction was usually to avoid and distance if she felt someone getting too close. She was a dangerous woman, and trouble wrapped in a pretty chaotic bow.

Even people who had gained her trust and love were kept at a distance from her by choice because she was always afraid of them getting burned. It's why she wouldn't ever date Remi, it's why she gave Josie some space tonight, and why she was alone. It was better for her to burn alone then endanger anyone else of getting engulfed in her flames.

She knew it was only a matter of time for a girl like her. As they say, Live fast and die young. While she had no intentions of dying if she could help it, she couldn't deny her life choices were on the fast track of that being a very real possibility.

Honestly her saving grace this far has been lady luck, and some solid angelic souls along the way.

Maybe that's what Spencer was too? Maybe that's why it was so easy for him to get to see this side of her despite not having truly done anything to earn it. Why else would she be like this? Maybe he was going to be her brief breath of fresh air to keep her from drowning in her own storm. That still didn't explain how...

Maybe because he was still new? Too fresh and bright eyed in a sense to be tainted by herself or this place yet. He didn't know all the things she'd done, or the people who'd been hurt in the process, or how she'd been hurt. All he had to see was bright smiling, fun Maggie.

But he didn't need that Maggie either. He didn't need wild crazy party all night drink all day Maggie. That didn't have to be his version of fun. She could be real with him and do things outside of that part of her reputation with him that she still genuinely liked and always wanted to do. He didn't expect the high or the lows from her. Just her. Whatever that was at the moment.

No judgment or expectations so far, and that was...nice.

Maybe it had nothing to do with him at all. Maybe she was just weak. She hated to admit it but maybe she's just been too strong for too long and the cracks in her armor were starting to show.

The best example is how she's let things with Ash get so volatile and aggressive. That wasn't like her to get so upset over what? A dumb assumption on twitter? One that Ash wasn't the only one who probably felt was true, just the only one that day that voiced it. She'd heard and dealt with worse from worse, yet here she was in petty Instagram wars with her over what? A backstabbing guy who won't even message her back anymore. Someone she thought cared about her. Well she supposed she thought wrong and that's what she gets for thinking someone deserved to even be that close. Or maybe he was just tired of getting the backlash of her erratic actions when it came to him and her.

Despite still trying to pull out the knife he left in her being with Spencer right now made her feel like it was possible to fill that wound with something to ease the pain outside of drugs, sex, and alcohol. Not that she still probably wasn't going to try, but him and Remi were two people who made her feel like...there was a sliver of how outside of that, even if just for the fleeting moment she was in their presence.

If that's all the comfort she was going to get, she'd take it. If this moment was all she had in the eye of the storm then she'd make the most of it.

"Come to think of it I promised to make you something back at the art’s fest didn’t I?”

His words rang in her head as she tried to pin point when he'd said that. It sounded right she never turned down food. Truth be told with all the drama lately she'd almost forgotten about that little promise. Well actually she did. All she remembered was them talking about food. The details of that day were a bit blurry since after that she got wickedly high.

"Guess it's time for me to cash in aye!" She cheered. "I probably made you a promise too that day. If you remember what it was you can cash it in whenever too." She giggled scratching the back of her head apologetically. "Hope you can forgive my forgetfulness, and I promise to return the favor if you ever need it." She hummed. She didn't think much of it most people don't remember everything about a first interaction.

She watched as he started pulling out ingredients they'd need as he listed off all the possibilities. He looked almost as in his element doing this as he did dancing. Almost, there was still a lot more passion and emotions in his dancing, but who knows maybe this was just the tip of the iceberg and he'd get even more in the zone once they got to work. “actually if you don’t mind, could we try making macarons tonight? I’ve always wanted to try my hand at making them.”

She looked over at him excitedly as he mentioned macarons. "I love those! Hell yes we can try making those. Ugh you really a guy after my own stomach." She had no idea where to start for something like that, but she was excited to learn. This wasn't how she originally thought her night would go, but something told her that just maybe this was the best way this night could've gone. A tiny peace of mind, sweets, and a friend.

º º code by ditto º º

Kitsune2202 · Jan 13, 2022

Dangerously Soft
Amethyst Jones

@If.U.Seek.Amy has set their status to:
Just breathe

@If.U.Seek.Amy has set their outfit to:
Dressed to impress

@If.U.Seek.Amy has set their location to:
The Ball

@If.U.Seek.Amy has mentioned:
None

@If.U.Seek.Amy has interacted with:
Remi @AkuTheWolfOkami

♗ ♗ ♗ ♗ ♗ ♗ ♗ ♗ ♗ ♗ ♗ ♗

Yes things had been a bit weird lately between them. Amy supposed it made sense all things considered. However tonight she hoped beyond hope would be the turning point for them. Even if it didn't start ideal, she was positive it could end perfectly. After all all that was stressing them was behind them. Lucky wasn't a factor anymore, and she didn't see why Maggie would be anymore with her here for him.

Remi wasn't saying much, and normally that'd worry her, but something about how his arms wrapped around her told her everything was fine. His body language spoke volumes as she felt the tension in his body relax around her the closer they got. Her confidence rose with every step they took in sync.

He really was amazing, and amazing to her. It was easy to remember why she originally fell for him way back in freshman year. It almost felt like a dream to be like this with him. Perhaps that was the only scary part, the fear of one of them waking up.

She supposed if that was going to happen it would have by now right? That was why she was making him wait to become anything official right? Give them both time to be absolutely sure this was real. She didn't want to feel the sting of being pinched again. She wasn't sure she'd be able to bounce back from that. She still wasn't sure she completely had in the first place.

They both have had so much on their plates as of late, and soon they'd finally have a break. Winter break was coming soon and in theory they'd have much more time for one another during that. In fact she was certain before that happened she wanted to build up the courage to tell him how she felt. Tell him she was ready to take that leap of faith with him.

But she wanted it to be at the perfect time. Tonight was just the start of easing back into them being them again without the issues of others getting involved, and even that was kinda on edge with how tonight started. Nope she wanted a time that would be the greatest memory for them both from start to finish, pure.

Not to say this wasn't really nice. Feeling this peace and getting to really relish and bask in his calming presence was something she wasn't about to take for granted. She hoped her own body language would convey just how much she loved spending this time with him, any time with him. Show him how much she always has loved him, even when she couldn't admit it or say it.

Just like that as they swayed to the soft melodies in the air she leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes letting the world around them just fade away.

Once the song was finally over she almost didn't even notice because she was so comfortable and at ease. Just because the song had changed she didn't pull away from him other then her head so she could look him in the eyes. "Thanks Honey." She chimed sweetly with a light playful tap on the tip of his nose giggling. "Well I'm all yours, what would you like?" She asked curiously.

º º code by ditto º º

Kitsune2202 · Jan 13, 2022

"Focus on me, I'm about to blow them all away"
Stella Bailey

@Steller.Bae has set their status to:
It's the greatest time of year

@Steller.Bae has set their outfit to:
Winter wonder

@Steller.Bae has set their location to:
Venice Beach

@Steller.Bae has mentioned:
Beth

@Steller.Bae has Interacted with:
Zeph ( Winona )

✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯ ✯

Hot damn, look at that smile! How could you not melt seeing that adorably welcoming smile? Heartless that's what you'd have to be. She had the cutest, sweetest boyfriend in the whole school hands down.

Was it ok to have simp-like thoughts if it's for your boyfriend? Like it's ok to simp when your in a relationship right? Either way she'd keep these thoughts locked away in her head because I mean it'd be kinda embarrassing to say that TOO him. And who else would she talk to about guys then Beth, and she'd definitely never let her live comments like that down. With how much grief Stella gives her about her love life it'd only be fair.

To be fair if you'd told Stella 6 months ago she'd have not only fallen for her best friend, but fallen this hard? She'd have laughed. Then quickly reminded you that they were nothing but friends.

Now? Now she couldn't be happier that she was wrong. Even if her pride and habits sometimes made it difficult to voice such things, she still felt them. She had someone who truly cared about her and who she trusted with her whole heart...which no one else in this entire world outside of her older brother could say. IT was a pretty big honor, but he'd certainly earned it several times over.

She was the lucky one.

Guys like Zeph were a rare find especially as young as they were. So yah it sucked that in the back of her mind she knew it might only be temporary if he has to leave, but that just fueled her desire to do more things like this. If this wasn't going to last forever she wanted as many memories with him as possible.

She thought of herself as the best so of course she figured it was also doing him a favor seeing as how clearly she was the best he'd ever have. However on a slightly less vain outlook she entertained the possibility that he could very well be the best she'll ever have too.

Plus just because they might break up if he moves back home that doesn't mean he won't be in her life at all right? She could always visit him over breaks and between gigs. He was still and always would be her best friend. Then when they are adults and things are different...who knows. That is probably the most hopeless romantic ideal to ever cross her mind and if this was 3 months ago Stella it would send a gross shiver down her spine.

She was pleasantly surprised when he joined her into the water with his rolled up pants looking rather silly. But hey that was kinda the point, they both did! She couldn't help the bubble of laughter that escaped her lips as he re-confirmed what she'd said just with much less dramatics then she had. Since she was carrying a hand full of water her dress trail got wet and clung a bit to her legs keeping them nice and chilly even once back on the sand.

"Got cha, so I'll deal with the water and wet sand, you just tell me where you want it." she hummed dumping the water on some sand to get it wet. "Well that's still more job experience then me so I'll be relying on you love." She chimed pecking his cheek quickly before watching him start to dig up a moat.

She started mimicking his motions and trying to help because three hands are better then just one of course. It was oddly a lot more fun then she anticipated it being, but also a bit more work then she figured it would be. Children do this? with ease? Her hands were so sandy and chunky from the sand mixture feeling like grimy clay. Surprisingly it didn't bother her. Feeling a bit dirty was usually uncomfortable, but because she was having so much fun joking around talking to Zeph as they built she hardly noticed.

By the end it looked like something that she wished resembled a castle because of all the work put into it, but she wasn't actually sure what it was. What she wished more then that was that she had a free dry hand to take a picture of it, and of them with it. She could've asked him but his only clean-ish (and that's using the term very loosely) hand was in a cast. No need to make him struggle for something silly.

"Hmm I think our castle needs a little pazazz." She hummed before a thought hit her. She stood up real quick and brushed off some of the glitter off her dress and onto the sand castle. "Perfect, sparkles make everything better. Befitting a Queen and King like us." She smirked as she sat back down next to him to Give him a quick peck on the lips, "Do you like it?"

º º code by ditto º º

Soap · Jan 13, 2022

MOOD: ...

OUTFIT:
Flower Dress, very classy, very Nellie.
INFO

LOCATION:
winter ball

WITH: Cappie

MENTION: Cami, Eli, Casey, Mik.
ACTIVITY

0k_mang0
TAGS

Chanel Clairmont

— Ocean Eyes

“I… I’ve never wanted to scare you.”

Her anger faltered and Chanel went quiet, her gaze searching his face as though she was reading him and not the words he was saying.

She was listening, though.

It was hard not to.

“I get scared when I’m around you.”

She wanted to roll her eyes.

Scoff.

Leave.

But Chanel’s feet were firmly planted onto the ground, she couldn’t will herself to move because she wanted to hear what he had to say.

She just wasn’t expecting the words that came next.

“You’re this beautiful, talented actor who doesn’t need her parents or aunt to be successful.”

She couldn’t grasp if he was just saying these things to…

Make her feel better.

Get on her good-side again… or… trying to save his own ass.

“Because seeing you makes me feel like pushing myself to be remotely as good as you—because you’re one of the best actors out there, better than anyone I know. You’re even better than your aunt.”

Her stern gaze softened and the blonde clenched her fists, releasing the tension as she let go.

“I wasn’t using your name for myself or views, and I’m sorry it looks like it,”

She believed him.

“I wanted your name on the video because you deserve to have everyone see how amazing you were in it. So, I’m sorry that’s hard for you to believe from one guy who wants to be with just you tonight, but it is the truth.”

It was the truth.

Chanel was completely and utterly silent.

She didn’t know what to say.

How to apologize because she accused him— or how to connect the dots of why she accused him in the first place.

There were so many people she received praise from. Interviewers, fans, tabloids. And while Chanel believed them— his words were the only ones that seemed genuine.

“It is hard for me to believe— you’re…”

You.

Complicated, confusing, pun-worthy and all.

He wasn’t like anyone else she’s ever met.

“I can’t wrap my head around why you’re spending time with me of all people. You’re without a doubt, the most amazing person I’ve met in…”

My whole seventeen years of living,

which wasn’t very long— but honestly, Chanel feels like she’d gone through a lifetime surrounded by the people who only pretended to care about her.

And when she had him spewing out these words like they were facts—

It made her feel… things.

“You’re the only person I feel like I can… and can’t breathe around.”

Her eyes searched his for… a sign of what to do, or say next.

A beat of silence passed.

And as if it was on instinct, both of them gravitated towards the other and collided.

The kiss was intense.

Filled with every conflicted and overwhelming emotion that’s been surging through her for the past few weeks.

There’s a calm at the end of every storm, right?

code by valen t.

jasmyn · Jan 14, 2022

"Just like a song inside my heart..."
Madelaine Harlow

@MaddieModels has set status to:
"What the heck is going on?"

@MaddieModels has set outfit to:
Give it up for the dress

@MaddieModels set location to:
Winter Ball

@MaddieModels interacted with:
Jared (off-screen). Javier.

@MaddieModels has tagged:

hery

Despite getting pulled away from picking the perfect dress with her friends, which might've been a blessing in disguise considering the big secret fiasco, Maddie had still managed to end up with the one she'd been eyeing for weeks. No, not because her mother actually pays attention to her. She would've never gifted Maddie such a "risky" dress, especially for such a big event. Her brother, on the other hand, clearly did listen to her because when she'd gotten home from school one day the dress was hanging up in her closest with a short and sweet apology note.

What was her dear brother so sorry for, you might ask... Well, your pick. Lie number one where Maddie found out she had a long-lost cousin who Dorian knew about or lie number two where she was told he'd dated Ashton West for nearly a year without anyone ever knowing. Either way, the dress had made up for it. Yes, it was that easy. Don't judge her, blame her parents for fucking them up, okay?

The ball had actually been going great too. Sure, Maddie hadn't seen her best friend even once in the whole night which was odd but it was fine. They would catch up later at the apartment and eat candy while they went over the details of their amazing nights.

Well, perhaps...

The tension between Corey and Maddie lately had been high so their interactions had been sorta limited. It wasn't like an angry tension just...like something felt OFF. Maybe it was just her though because he certainly hadn't mentioned it and neither of them dared to bring up the awkward Gen situation. Maybe it was just water under the bridge and she was overthinking it.

Of course, she was! They were Coco and Mads; best friends no matter what. No way could things stay weird forever. Right? Right.

Anyway, she and her date had taken as many paparazzi photos as possible just to make sure to get enough attention so they could keep their managers and parents happy. Then they had just spent the night talking about all kinds of stuff and she even managed to convince him to dance to a couple of upbeat songs even though he insisted that the slow ones were the ones the cameras would be all on.

Just as he wrapped an arm around her to lead towards an empty table, his phone chimed. Clearly it was important given that his ringer had previously been off so Maddie flashed a smile to let him know it was okay to go and take care of whatever business deal had come up. Well, she assumed it was business. Jared was a very professional person, especially for his age which made a lot of people label him as being too "stuffy" or "cutthroat" or whatever else.

Honestly, Madelaine admired it. He knew what he wanted and he just went for it. They might've both had that people-pleasing thing going when it came to their parents but Jared was just so much bolder than Maddie was...much more in control of his own life. Maybe one day she would actually grow a spine and just climb out of her mom's stupid box. But not today...

"I'll be fine. I'll go find us some drinks or something," she assured him before he excused himself and disappeared into the crowd. Maddie smoothed out the satin dress and glanced around for the nearest drink table to try her luck at. Seriously, you'd think they would up the chaperones in this place but they hadn't and as a result, well, it was like playing drink roulette to find out which punch bowl hadn't been spiked yet.

Maddie's perfectly manicured hand picked up the ladle, pouring some of the punch into her cup and then taking a sip just to be sure it hadn't been tainted. To her surprise, it was alcohol-free so she added a little more to her cup and moved over a bit so that she wasn't in the way of the next person.

Her brown eyes stayed focused on the dance floor where students swayed under the starry lights that graced the ceiling. The brunette could feel movement around her as people shuffled over and got drinks, chatted about all the latest gossip with their friends and whatnot but her gaze didn't waver. Her mind was elsewhere, daydreaming as usual about how all the people in this room had lives that no one knew about.

Illusions. That's all anyone here really was. You saw what they showed you. Of course, occasionally a secret or five would slip out or a huge expose would hit Twitter but for the most part. Nobody here really knew each other. It was almost...sad. Did anyone really even know her? Like the real Maddie? Did Corey? Or Adriane? Or Ja-

A sound startled her out of the thought and her head jolted to the right in search of the source only to see the last person she wanted to run into. Just her luck.

Javier Cervantes. Ghost of Maddie's past.

It was impossible not to make eye contact with him, especially given her heels put them at basically the same height. Her eyes lingered a little longer than she'd liked to admit but he hadn't noticed. He didn't care. Still, she let them travel down to his jacket before shooting back up at the sound of his voice.

"Madelaine."

The way he said it sounded harsher than she'd once remembered. In fact, the use of her full name at all just screamed that he was mocking her. It was too fancy. Too formal. Too...not them. Not the them that Maddie remembered anyway. Apparently, they both had their own versions though.

"Javier," she breathed. Was there any hope for this to be a normal interaction? Could they just bump into each other, exchange a few words and go on about their nights? His taunting said otherwise.

"Where's ol' JareBear? Did the stock market call?"

Her eyes flicked down to his cup, following the liquid inside as it swirled around just barely dancing across the edges but not spilling over. He suddenly crushed the cup into his palm, what little was left of the drink splashing onto the floor between them.

Her gaze shifted back up to his own, shaking her head at his stupid compliment. She knew it was fake. He didn't mean it and she hated him for it. She hated him because she wanted him to mean it and she didn't fucking get why. Why did she care so much what he thought?

Stop just standing there like an idiot and say something. Bite back, for godsakes, Maddie.

Adriane and JJ would be ripping her to shreds right now. Well, after ripping Javi to shreds first. Now she almost wished they were within earshot.

"Shut up, Javi. That's not true. Angel and I are friends because he isn't a huge jerk like his brother," she finally spat out. So it wasn't as harsh as it probably should've been but it was a miracle she even managed to get a word in. Where did he keep these insults anyway? She could barely keep up as he tossed them out.

Dorian? Was he insane? There was no way he would ever try with her brother. Sure, he and Lucky had hooked up but that was before anyone even knew they were related. It wasn't the same... "Yeah, right. How did it go last time? I heard you got suspended or something like that? Just rumors, I'm sure. Though, Dori did say he won and he didn't get suspended so," she quipped back.

Where the hell did that come from? Anger?

"Must be fate your cousin and I did the deed just moments after your sorry attempt at an apology."

Definitely anger. She wasn't just hurt anymore. She was angry. The words caused her to wince. How could he say that so casually? As if it didn't matter? Did it not bother him? How could it not bother him? They hadn't dated and sure, he didn't know Lucky was her cousin....neither did she but still... No. Fuck that. How could he say that so casually? TO HER FACE. It wasn't just petty or bitter or rude...it was cruel and he knew it.

That was why he said it, wasn't it? He wanted a reaction?

Fine.

Maddie slammed her drink down on the table, some of the red liquid splashing back onto her hand. She pulled the hand up to point a finger in his direction before opening her mouth to speak. "Screw you, Javi. Okay? Just fuck off," the words shot out over his but he didn't stop.

"Speaking of, did we finally ditch the comic book twink? Good for Corey, getting out before he got hurt."

"You know, you can keep overplaying this victim thing all you want but I don't know what else you want from me. I get it, you hate me or you're mad at me and you want me to disappear or whatever. And maybe you're right. Maybe I am just another superficial, model bitch riding on mommy and daddy's coattails or whatever else you say about me now..." the words trailed off but she left little room for him to chime in.

"But at least I'm not some self-proclaimed bad boy whose sole purpose in life is to be huge douche who is pissed off at the world and numbing life with whatever substances you're on right now," she continued. It had to be a party drug because it sure as hell wasn't just alcohol. Had he even had any alcohol yet? She couldn't really tell. Either way, he was not sober.

"Maybe you could worry more about your career and not getting kicked out of the school for being an idiot instead of being so worried about me and who I'm sleeping with. You know, maybe if Jared and I don't make it then I'll see about that crush you mentioned Angel having," she paused, "he seems like he'd be a nice boyfriend and family reunions would never be dull, right? What do you say, J?" she shrugged.

As if she would ever even.

Wait.

Oh...uh, not because Angel wasn't good enough. He was sweet and all and she did really like him! Well, not like that but you know. It's just...weird. So...anyway.

She finally picked up a napkin and wiped the remaining juice on her hand. Of course, the red dye in the punch had stained like three of her nails and the side of her hand. Maddie dropped the crumpled-up paper on the table next to her cup and looked back over at Javi.

"Anyway, did you have anything important to say or is it just more of you rambling about me being a backstabbing whore because if you don't mind I do have better people...I mean, things to do tonight," she let her eyes scan the crowd as if to look for her date, hoping the forced smirk on her lips was convincing enough.

º º code by ditto º º

geminiy · Jan 14, 2022

Ezra Gray

@EZGoing has set their status to:
head too full, no thank you

@EZGoing has set their outfit to:
daddy's yacht energy ngl

@EZGoing has set their location to:
parking lot

@EZGoing has mentioned:
Chas, Casey

@EZGoing has interacted with:
Tori, Teo

@EZGoing has tagged:
ditto qunqun

“You…would have said yes?”

Under normal circumstances, Ezra would have laughed at the confusion in her tone. Victoria Sterling was not the first girl that Ezra had left stuttering, nor would she be the last. He had experienced more than his fair share of people that assumed they couldn’t get with him to know how Tori was going to react at his admission that he would have said yes to her offer. There was something so amusing about the deer-in-the-headlights expression of shocked girls that Ezra, perhaps a little cruelly, enjoyed.

This time though, Ezra felt almost… ashamed.

He knew damn well that he didn’t owe anyone anything, much less a date with someone he considered a friend. Ezra didn’t have to go out of his way to chase down every person that there was chemistry with, he didn’t have to hold the hand of every inexperienced damsel that didn’t have the guts to shoot their shot. The ball had been in Tori’s court and she refused to make the throw, that wasn’t his fault.

Yet somehow, Ezra felt bad. There was something about the downtrodden expression that muddled her sweet face, or maybe it was her confession that she had spent the night eating ‘a metric shitton of cheddar jack cheese’, that once again tugged at the little ounce of morality he had tucked away deep within his brain. Or perhaps, even more likely, he was just feeling leftover emotion from his little run in with Chas and Casey earlier. Right, that was probably it. Either way, regardless of reason, he knew what Tori had been hinting at weeks ago. Ezra felt partially responsible for that look on her face and the way her body seemed to shrink. All of that could have been avoided if he had just asked her first.

“Fine…so what if I admit that I would have asked you? What if you had said yes?” Tori asked softly, her eyes transfixed on the still full parking lot ahead of them.

Ezra didn’t have an answer. What would he have done? Ezra didn’t go on dates to dances, that was hardly his style. Honestly, the boy wouldn’t have even known where to begin. Would he have bought her flowers? Perhaps something more expensive to flaunt his wealth? Would he have picked her up in his freshly washed car, gone on some sort of silly pre-ball date to pick out a tuxedo to match the blush tones of her dress? No, Ezra had never done any of that before and, if he was being honest, it sounded like a whole lot of work for very little reward. Dates to dances were for people who wanted to be tied down by the end of the night, not for Ezra Gray.

“You ’would’ve shown me’, right?” Tori’s voice spoke again, pulling Ezra from his own myriad of thoughts. “Psh, moment’s passed.”

Another pang of guilt, this time leaving Ezra desperately trying to tuck the emotion back into the box he had kept it in for so long.

“We could have had fun together, Victoria.” Ezra eventually responded with a nonchalant shrug. “I don’t go to dances with people, I don’t make a night somehow glamorous and fantastic as if it were straight from some bullshit Hallmark movie. Honestly, knowing you, you would have been disappointed. You deserve better than that anyhow.”

Ezra’s shoulders straightened at his own words, jaw tightening at the smallest amounts of emotion leaking through his usually charming demeanor. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. There had been too much going on in his head throughout the evening, that’s why he felt so damn bad. It wasn’t Ezra’s responsibility to make sure someone he knows has a fun night, that was on her. He’d had that conversation with himself many times before. Dating was too complicated, presented his life with too much pressure and too many standards to uphold. Tori wasn’t about to change that, even if he did feel like a piece of shit for having played stupid when she had went to ask.

“It doesn’t matter, I suppose. You lied about having a date and I spent my evening with someone else,” Ezra continued, the charm and wit forcefully pulling himself back together. His words came across a bit harsher than intended but hey, better that than leading her on. Ezra hadn’t been lying when he said she deserved better than him. Ezra nudged Tori gently with his elbow, looking over at her with the faintest hint of a smile on his lips. “I suppose there’s always next time. But you’ll probably have moved on by then, hmm? I’ll try not to be too hurt.”

Ezra pushed himself off the car, straightening out his jacket before turning around to face Tori, swallowing down the remnants of guilt that were still festering in his chest. Reaching a hand out, Ezra gently took Tori’s hand in his and placed a kiss on the smooth skin of her knuckles before meeting her gaze and winking. “I hope you’ll have a lovely rest of your evening, Victoria. Get home safe.”

Dropping her hand, Ezra offered a final nod before turning heel and walking off, leaving Tori by herself with her car. There were too many thoughts in his mind, too many feelings floating around in his chest to stay any longer. The longer he stood there, the more he watched Tori shift uncomfortably and dodge her own feelings, the worse Ezra felt. What he really wanted was to turn off his brain, get back to his roots. All this… feeling was bullshit.

Ahead of him, parked under a streetlight, was Ezra’s car and beside it was the person Ezra had been waiting to meet. Reaching into his jacket pocket, Ezra pulled out his car keys and hit the unlock button, his car giving a satisfying beep in response. Twirling the keys around his index finger, Ezra stepped into the light near his car, devilish smirk on his lips. Teo, just the distraction he needed.

“Well well, if it isn’t Teo.” Ezra laughed warmly, keys still spinning lazily around his finger. “Honestly, I was convinced you weren’t going to show. You had serious pushover energy earlier. I have to say,” Ezra’s eyes trailed the boy’s body, his smirk deepening as he did so, “I’m glad you decided to show.”

º º code by ditto º º

Stardust Galaxy · Jan 14, 2022

In her life as a ballerina; Maeve was used to having a dance partner. So she wasn’t a stranger to be near a guy while dancing main reason she shouldn’t be nervous at having to dance with Felix a slow song. But the reality was the complete opposite of the one she wanted to admit; all of those emotions bundle inside her, happiness, excitement, embarrassment, and much more that she was sure she couldn’t list them. But that strange feeling felt alright because that’s what she wanted and what she expected to happen. And even daydream since the day he asked her to the ball and now that it was finally happening, it almost felt like a complete dream that Maeve didn’t want to wake up.

The touch of Felix sent a shiver down off Maeve’s spine and her heartbeat faster despite that it was just them getting ready to dance. She wasn’t sure how could she keep it together as time passed. Maeve just needed to try her best, but she was sure she was a terrible job at trying. “This feels alright?” Felix asked as their gazes meet. Maeve almost forgot about everything around her or even notice what was crossing in her mind.

“More than alright.”

She blurted out without thinking, just letting her emotions take control of her and acting without even thinking.

Their first steps while dancing felt awkward, but it was alright because it was Felix after all and everything felt alright every time Maeve was with him. Maybe he wasn’t the best dancer in the world, but their dance felt special and she wouldn’t change anything because the guy that was holding her as they dance made Maeve feel happiness when she needed it the most, and made her feel confident despite her flaws.

And that smile that he always gave her was enough to make Maeve forget everything around her. Almost as if it was just the two of them. Their proximity made Maeve take notice of how beautiful Felix’s dreamy blue eyes were or how his lips curved when he smiled. It was almost mesmerizing to notice all those details from him. Maybe she was too enchanted by her date that she almost missed Felix's words. “You’re… stunning.” Those words were enough for the girl to become a spiral of emotions, that she was sure she almost forgot how to speak, as she couldn’t say any word and just smile goofily at him.

As the song progressed and they became closer, Maeve took notice of Felix’s body heat against her. She was sure her heart was beating as loud as it was humanly possible and that he for sure could hear it. But at that moment, Maeve didn’t care because everything felt in place as if it was supposed to be that way.

Unconsciously Maeve’s eyes traveled to Felix’s lips and at that moment she felt as if they were miles away despite their closeness, and that urge of closing that gap between the two was growing inside of her, if only she was bolder maybe she could have done it. But at that instant, she noticed how Felix was getting closer to her. Was she dreaming all of that? No, it wasn’t a dream; it was really happening.

She started getting closer to him and Maeve was sure in just mere milliseconds their lips would touch in a kiss. But to her surprise, the music stopped, followed by a chuckle coming from Felix and she just saw how the guy pulled back and how he started talking without looking at her didn’t help her. Did she misunderstand the entire situation? This was terrible.

“Hey, I, uh… I’m pretty thirsty, actually. An’ I bet you are too. I’m goin’ to go get us somethin’ to drink. Be back in a sec.” Felix said just as Maeve was getting a hold of herself

“Yeah, sure”

The girl did not fully understand what was going on, as her head was full of confusion and a lot of what if? Just as she saw her date leave Maeve to move away letting the other couples continue dancing so she wouldn’t stand out like a sore thumb.

Everything was fine. Maybe Felix didn’t take notice, maybe they would just end up laughing at the whole situation and she was just doing a storm in a glass of water. She just needed to go back to her usual self and everything would be alright and they could continue enjoying their night just like the friends they were.

Just as Felix arrived, Maeve’s heart was still rushing, but she was sure she could still act like her normal self. With a smile, she held the cup and took a small sip from it, but just as she was making her best effort to remain calm, Felix’s words just crumbled again all the effort that Maeve have put off. “I mean, I think I’ve established I think you’re pretty damn cute, and pretty damn sweet, and pretty damn… well, great, in general. And tonight… well, tonight just kinda reminded me of that, and also made me think that, hey, I want more stuff like this with you, ya know? Moments like that one we just had on the dance floor. Moments, ya know… close to you.”

With flushing cheeks, Maeve was almost feeling at cloud nine. Was this going the way she was hoping? It wasn’t a total confirmation, but it went that way, right? Knowing that she wasn’t the only one feeling that way made her feel giddy with happiness, and she almost wanted to laugh for freaking out a couple of minutes ago. She just needed to hear the words that she was waiting for and then officially it would become a perfect night.

“Guess what I’m askin’ is… You wanna be my girlfriend?” Felix asked and with those words, it was enough to make Maeve want to jump from happiness and excitement. There was no way to hide her cheerfulness. And with unexpected confidence, most likely due to all the emotions that run inside her. She got closer to her date, closing the gap between them as their lips touched each other, as she got the kiss that she was anxiously waiting for a couple of minutes ago.

Once she grew apart from Felix, she felt embarrassed at her actions, but with a joy that she was sure she couldn’t describe.

“Let’s consider that as me saying yes.”

Location: winter ball| Mood: heart eyes pt 2
Outift: Here | Interactions: felix (

ditto )

Maeve Anneliese Ackerman

Code by Stardust Galaxy

qunqun · Jan 14, 2022

MOOD: Tick tock.

OUTFIT: Ball. Fuck this.

LOCATION: Ez's truck.
basics

MENTIONS:
Tori... sorta?

INT:
Ez geminiy
tags

TL;DR You're late.
tl;dr

Teo

Teo was on his third cigarette by this point and wondering where the fuck his fuck for the night had ended up. He was leaned against the back of the truck, arms crossed with a couple of snuffed out snubs at his feet. Maybe he got stood up, fucking shame. There went his entertainment for the night.

Oh well, there was plenty of entertainment to be found perched on the back of a truck watching the totally not inebriated students trying to stumble home, and with a little luck he could give his failure a little bit of ribbing before he left. A puff of smoke out.

And that’s when Teo found his little drinking buddy for the night across the parking lot.

His disinterested expression never wavered as his eyes trailed Ezra Gray’s form. But what was more telling than what his carefully blank face stated was the fact that he was, indeed, watching him approach.

Listen, there were some objectively attractive people here, alright? And even though Teo wasn’t really one for the romance stuff that required a lot of effort, it didn’t count out other pleasurable activities that could happen when it fell into his lap.

He gave the artist a wolflike smile as he approached. A bit too sharp - a bit too many teeth for it to be real. To be quite honest, he wasn’t sure what he was expecting. But at least the boy promised to be interesting.

“Pushover?” A little eyebrow raise. A challenge then? Alright. His eyes didn’t leave Ez: a silent acceptance. He took another slow drag of the cigarette. “Really know how to make a guy feel appreciated, huh. And here I thought you were going to be the flake.”

A little tap as the ashes went fluttering down, breaking eye contact. “You took an awfully long time getting here, Ezra Gray.”

Not quite an accusation, not quite a simple statement. Somewhere in between. After all, he had just watched Ez talking to some girl across the parking lot for a while.

He dropped the cigarette and ground it beneath a dress shoe as he stepped towards the front seat. “Drama?”

A simple question, paired with another wolflike grin that slid off his face as quickly as it came. An easy guess, to be frank. Only so many reasons why the guy was going with him instead of That Chick.

It was a game of cat and mouse. A dance, in a way. One he’d played too many times, and one that he didn’t lose very often. As they drove away from the school, he popped a breath mint - more for Ez’s sake rather than his own. See, he could be nice sometimes.

A “hm,” walking the fine line of judgmental and rapt listening. He pulled out a flask from his inside jacket pocket once they were parked in the location they were going to be staying for the night.

“In any case, have a drink.”

Listen, he never claimed to be a saint… or particularly truthful.

As just something slightly petty, he took a shot before passing the flask to Ez and getting out of the car, unflinchingly and as impassive as ever.

“Better make up for lost time.”

code by valen t.

hery · Jan 14, 2022

MOOD: like hashtag whatever

OUTFIT: dance... clothes... yes

LOCATION: hallway
basics

MENTIONS:
n/a
INT:
@mogy (Oates)
tags

TL;DR no
tl;dr

Callum Richards

“Oates. Like Hall and Oates?" That's not a name you hear every day. Did the peculiarity fascinate Callum or was he simply judging the decisions of this boy's parents? Like most things, he let it go rather swiftly as a result of his apathy toward curiosity. "I'm Callum, with two L's." Now that he had another person at his side, his ability to cogitate had been severely stunted in place of trivial chatter. It was a horrible tradeoff.

The halls were vacant enough to hear the pair's footsteps as they walked in a line, side-by-side but Oates just ever-so-slightly falling behind Callum's undeviating amble. It was in no way hurried, but given the other boy's far more animated, sporadic gesticulations, he was in no rush to pass up Callum. The raven-haired dancer kept his eyes trained forward, glancing at his side only occasionally to watch for any flying hands.

His point was proven, seven times over. This Oates fellow lit up a room, and Callum's suspicion was with kerosene and a match. Could a boy be any more high-spirited?

He had to have been one of those Pinterest kids one only ever experienced on mommy blogs. Given everything, allowed to roam with alarming freedom, accustomed to new-age hamster therapy and gluten-free, home-cooked lunches... the two of them came from completely separate worlds. That was painfully clear, at least to the taller one. After all, he wasn't as easy to read at a moment's glance. Whether he liked it that way was irrelevant; the trait had simply developed naturally, though it worked wonderfully in his favor.

At least the boy's—Oates'—blathering spared him the obligation to engage in any meaningful back-and-forth when he couldn't get a word in edgewise. In fact, his voice made a rather decent white noise. His manner of speech was almost angelic, flowing out with a warm benignity. Callum's beating heart slowed, wrapped snugly in tranquility.

"I just moved from Virginia," he offered generously while the boy clammed up to catch a breath, "I was getting a little too big for my old dance studio." All 6 feet and two inches of him. "I've only been dancing since..." He faltered, his droning voice a fading echo. How long had it been? It was no more than a year after, well...

...

"Since I was nine. I don't really do much else."

He left it there, resolute in his eye contact with the other end of the hall. They weren't far from the science classrooms now. All while this conversation went on, he was gearing up for a physics exam. Usually a good round of dance cleared his head, but the boy by his side had managed to scramble his thoughts all over again.

...How did he do that?

"Interesting that you noticed me from class. People don't usually do that." His tone was matter-of-fact and his flinty, blue stare matched it well. He stopped in his tracks and fully faced Oates for the first time since the dance studio, hands in the pockets of his sweats and slouched with abysmal posture. "Talking to you now, you still don't seem the type to make excuses to watch people's private dance practices." There was no resentment in that voice, for he had simply told the truth.

The sophomore's head lolled back, anchored by his bony neck. His eyes led a path toward the door they stood by, his destination. "It was nice meeting you, Oates," he said halfheartedly, ready to step away and let this encounter fade into insignificant memory.

And yet, this was the memory that consistently reminded Callum of the vibrant, sanguine colors the world could possess.

code by valen t.

ditto · Jan 14, 2022

Beth & Tori (& Mike)

Mike would’ve been far more than content to keep this going, ya know. It wasn’t too late to set the night right – or at least make it better – with a little making out, copping a feel, and maybe going to third base. This girl — Tilly or something — was pretty hot, and he still had quite a bit of steam to blow off, so…heh, well.

Before they could move any further, though, Tilly’s warmth moved away from him, her lips suddenly absent from his. He opened his eyes to see her completely backed against the side of the vehicle. He raised his eyebrow, his lips pressed into a line.

“S…sorry,” she apologized. “That…that was…”

Mike grinned. She was speechless, biting her lip. He chuckled softly. “That was…?”

“I’m really sorry. I..should get back to my date…” So it was her date, huh? He was right on the money.

He cocked up a brow at her apologetic look. “You’re not really gonna leave me already, babe…are you?” he asked incredulously, a grin on his face daring her to stay just a bit longer.

Her demure demeanor and sorry expression didn’t change, her fingers instead moving, almost panickedly, to grab the doorhandle. “T..thank you for…y-yeah. Bye…”

Mike reached out for her, trying to catch her hand. “Babe –”

WHAM! The door of the shitty clunker flung shut with a rattling slam followed by noisy squeaking as the wheels and barely together body tried to make sense of themselves again. It made Mike grimace slightly, albeit a few seconds after it had settled in its frame. He stared at the door for a couple of seconds, and then leaned back against his side, sighing deeply. He flicked his finger against his wheel, muttering a little, “Shit.”

There went that. For a piece of entertainment, she hadn’t proven to be much, and that was really the only reason why he’d called out to her in the first place. Still, hey, at least out of it, he’d gotten to kiss a hot girl, which, ya know, was a common occurrence, but was still nice when it happened, ya know?

Better than the sloth-faced shithead he’d defiled his fucking lips with earlier, anyway.

Plus, hell, she was the nervous, skittish type. Fun to make her squirm. He’d have to talk to her more, at some point.

Bring some more liquor. Get a show, ya know.

He breathed out another soft sigh, kicking at the spot beside his brakes and resting his head on his hand as his eyes trailed up from the flask full of shitty alcohol and up his radio to his windshield.

He straightened up, grinning when he saw who it was in the headlights. “Little Red!” he called, not quite excitedly but at least somewhat happily and relievedly – a completely different tone than any he’d spoken to her with thus far in any of their conversations; he was intoxicated enough that he didn’t feel any sense of dread or regret looking at her, which was, ya know, kinda both a good and a bad sign – good because, hey, I’m feeling pretty fucking good right now and she’s looking kind of hot and bad because 1) he still had to get home and 2) she was looking kind of hot to him again and, well, Mike wasn’t known for his great decision-making anyway, but especially not when any level of drunk.

Translation: …eeesh.

“Hey, babe,” he greeted, lifting his hand up in a wave as he came to her side to guide her to the passenger door, already assuming his role as the chauffeur much more cheerfully than he had before, “how was your night?”

• • • • •

The Winter Ball had been nothing short of… well, a near disaster for Beth. Sure, she’d gotten some lovely dancing time in with Spencer, but the damn dude hadn’t even kissed her -- and then she’d gone and lost her date. So following that travesty, Beth had kind of hung out on her own, only speaking to a handful of fellow classmates that made their way over to her.

And of course to every girl, she did nothing short of completely exaggerating her night. Eventually, though, the music had started to slow and Beth realized that it was that time. Time to go home, although she wasn’t sure where her ride was, or where her backup ride (aka Tori) happened to be, but she didn’t want to look childish just standing around, so…

She’d headed outside, her gaze focused on her phone while she tried to text and contact her sister to see where she was. Unfortunately, while Beth was walking, she heard a familiar voice call her-- … well, not her name, not even her nickname really, but something.

She looked over to see who it was and--

Oh god.

It was her super hot date calling to her from his car. She watched as he made his way towards her, and all Beth could really think at first was like, oh my god, how totally hot and gentlemanly of this man to come show me to his car, but when he approached, she kind of made a realization. Like sure, she hadn’t been to a lot of parties or whatever, but uh…

“Have you been drinking?”

• • • • •

Mike grinned, raising an eyebrow. “Drinking?” he asked, then chuckled. “What makes you think that, babe?” The answer was obvious: hell yeah, I have. What else did Mike Reid, insufferable bastard and token male whore of the plastics department, do at group gatherings? Seriously, you needed to be keeping up with your lore. Reaching over for the passenger side door, his grin spread wider. “See, babe –”

“Elizabeth!” a sharp yell cut in, and he confusedly glanced over to see a vaguely familiar blonde girl approaching, a sense of duty in her quick, barefooted steps.

Barefooted? What the hell?

“Elizabeth?” Mike repeated, his brow raising again.

The girl’s eyes jumped to his, and he recoiled slightly, offput by the angry glare in her gaze. With a chuckle, he held his hands up. “Hey, hey, hold your fire, babe –”

“Don’t –” She jabbed a finger in his face, and his brows knit together in agitation. “– call me babe,” she hissed, reaching over for Little Red’s hand. “Come on, Elizabeth, let’s –”

“Wait, hey, hey, whoooo the fuck are you?” Mike asked, chuckling to keep his composure as he eyed the girl up and down quickly. A grin came onto his face. “Some –”

“I’m getting my fucking sister,” she snapped, interrupting his words. “That’s it.”

His teeth grit. Fucking bitch. “Your sister?”

“My sister,” she repeated. Again, she reached for Beth’s hand. “C’mon, Liz. We need to –”

“She’s my date,” Mike said, raising an eyebrow, his jaw slightly clenched in agitation at this girl’s audacity. “I’m going to drive her home.”

The girl looked him up and down, then met his eyes with a look of pure disdain. “No the fuck you aren’t,” she said bluntly, and she began to pull her sister away.

Did Mike give a shit about driving the little fucking sophomore home? No. It was a fucking obligation that he felt. Did he still feel pissed that this random ass girl came out of nowhere and wanted to do it for him? Hell yeah, he did.

“Hey,” he grunted, expecting her to turn back again – which she did, but she didn’t stop, only spared him a glance over her shoulder. “Hey!” he called louder, but she just kept walking.

The only people who fucking did that were people with a death wish or idiots.

Then again…

“Oh, why the fuck do I care? She can fucking take her,” he mumbled to himself, walking to his side and throwing himself back in his vehicle. Turning the key in the ignition before realizing that his clunker was already started, Mike breathed out a deep sigh.

This night was fucking shit, he thought, and I don’t even get to take a girl home.

Maybe it was what he got. Maybe this was finally – actually – fucking karma.

• • • • •

If you hadn’t noticed by now, Tori was a completely different beast when her maternal instincts were in fight mode.

Tori, her maternal instincts raging and her adrenaline pumping, tightly gripped Beth’s hand as she stomped back to her vehicle and yanked her little sister behind her. “Elizabeth,” she hissed, “I can’t fucking believe you were going to get in that car with that – that – that –” She was so effing fuming that she couldn’t even regain her composure long enough to find her words. She, instead, huffed out a sigh. “He would have – and you were just fucking standing there with him about to get in his –”

She thought she’d raised her better – really, she thought she effing had.

As they came to her car, Tori finally just breathed out: “What the hell, Elizabeth? Are you okay?” And then she repeated, her brows knitting together and the heart inside her chest racing, “Are you okay?”

• • • • •

Under normal circumstances, Beth would’ve yanked her arm away from her sister and said something like “omg, I can handle myself,” but there was the tiniest part of her that maybe thought she’d gotten in a little over her head. Like, she was literally dealing with a drunk older stranger -- that kind of just dripped with danger.

So she allowed Tori to yank her away from the car, glancing over her shoulder at Mike and kind of just shrugging her shoulders in a like oh no, what a shame type of way so that she still held her super coolness with the older boy.

As they moved away, though, Tori started to lay into her, and any kind of thoughts of actually like, being glad that her sister had come over dissipated as she yanked her arm away from Tori’s steel grasp. Her eyebrows drew together in an annoyed look, arms crossing over her chest.

“I’m fine,” she snapped back, “and I totally had that under control. I wasn’t going to get into his stupid car. I’m not a freaking idiot and I don’t need you babying me all the time. I can take care of myself.” Even if Tori didn’t believe it.

• • • • •

“Sure you could,” Tori sighed, her voice breathy and sarcastic. Her brows knit together, and she studied her sister’s face. “Are you sure you’re fine?”

She felt like she was going to have a heart attack; her heart rammed against the cage of her chest, and as she lifted her hands to grip the wheel, she noticed how badly they were trembling – like leaves on a tree in a blizzard – as the adrenaline from the moment coursed through her. She rested her forehead against the top of the wheel for a moment, clutching her hand to her chest. “Shit, Beth…”

There had been times in the past where she felt a genuine panic, when she felt as though her sister or someone close to her was in danger, that shut down all notions of fear in her in favor of defending them as though their lives were on the line, but rarely, if ever, had she felt such an urgent need to rush up and fight and save her little sister. It was fucking scary – buff, drunk guy who was known to just fucking punch people for no reason beside her sister, waiting to “drive her back” or whatever the hell he thought he was going to do.

Now that the moment was over, though, there was a panicked static in her chest and the buzzing of adrenaline in her veins, and she was feeling that strange wave of relief and anger toward her sister; relief because her sister was, well, “fine”, according to her, and anger that she’d gotten herself in that situation in the first place – that she had gone on as Michael fucking Reid’s stupid fucking date and almost gotten herself probably really, really fucking hurt.

Any thoughts of what had been occurring around Tori and with Tori and in Tori before were, well, completely gone, and everything was completely focused on, well, this.

After a moment, she turned her head toward her sister. She studied her for a long moment, completely silent, then slowly reached a trembling hand over to stroke her little sister’s hair, her brows knitting together once again. “Beth,” she breathed, “I’m so glad you’re okay.” She reached out, leaning forward to hug her little sister over the center console.

At least she’s okay.

Pulling back, she held Beth’s shoulders in her hands, her lips pressing into a firm line. “Don’t ever fucking do that again – go on a date with a effing shithead like that asshole, ‘kay? Just kick ‘em in the balls and run away, you got me?”

Her words were firm, confident; Mom Mode Tori was truly a completely different beast..

• • • • •

She’d turned away from her overbearing older sister, arms crossed over her chest, as she huffed and looked out the window. There was no part of her that wanted to acknowledge her sister, especially as she continued to lay into her.

And then, Tori reached across the center console and pulled Beth into a hug.

“Eww, what are you doing?” Beth whined -- naturally, duh -- but relented eventually and hugged Tori back. And for a moment, she just remained like that, in silence, hugging her sister until Tori let go and Beth sat back, blinking at her older sister as she did so.

At Tori’s advice, though, Beth couldn’t help but let out a small laugh, a faint smile crossing her face as she gave a nod of her head.

“Yeah, okay,” she sighed, shrugging away from her sister’s grasp and leaned back into her seat, slouching a bit as she did so. “Winter Ball kind of sucked, huh?” She stated, pausing for a moment before, reluctantly, she looked back at Tori once more.

“And… thanks, I guess it was… kind of cool watching you go all bitch on him.” Beth gave a faint smile. “Can we just go home and watch, like, a dumb movie and eat popcorn?”

• • • • •

Winter Ball kind of sucked? Tori let out a soft chuckle, smiling softly. That was an understatement and an effing half. Sure, she’d had…whatever that was with Ez (the thought of it now made her heart give a solid palpitation – dangerously close to a heart attack), but…not only had she come alone when apparently the boy she would’ve asked would’ve said yes, but she’d spent the whole time standing by the sidelines, eating freaking cheese. She was pretty sure that now, she wouldn’t be able to eat cheese for months.

Still, Beth’s next words made a warmth flourish in her heart. You think I’m cool? After all of this “you’re so lame” talk that she always got? She was so holding it against her next time she said anything about her being lame.

“Yeah, yeah,” Tori dismissed, unable to suppress the warm, almost proud grin coming onto her face as she waved a hand.

Beth smiled faintly. “Can we just go home and watch, like, a dumb movie and eat popcorn?” she asked.

A grin pulled at Tori’s face. “You know…” She started her car, then glanced at her sister out of the corner of her eye. “We haven’t watched Tangled in a while, and I was just thinking about how little I remember about it.” Reaching over and offering a hand for her sister to shake, she gave a firm nod. “We’ve got ourselves a deal, Liz.”

As they pulled out of the parking lot, Tori felt a warmth settling in her chest. So…Winter Ball sucked. Oh well. She would get over it, would move on and force herself to forget about it by cramming her brain full of crap for the tests this next week. The hopeful part in her thought that, hell, maybe this – this shittiness – had happened for a reason; after all, she’d been able to be here for her sister, and that was the most important thing.

Plus, a movie night with her favorite little sister who usually wanted nothing to do with her? Sounded like a night for the frigging books.

playing...
some song about sisters

by someone

this post was made in collaboration with
ditwin, of course : )

mentions
tilly, landon, spencer, & ez

º º code by ditto º º

Winona · Jan 14, 2022

Casey Clairmont

His Winter Ball had... had been... it had been great, obviously. For his first high school dance? Casey considered it to have been pretty amazing. There was a certain little ol' pep in his step as he walked through the hallways now, chattering with his good ol' buddy, Hunter, about nothing and everything all at once. Yep, that's right, all of the Ball's rather unfortunate events had more or less vanished from the boy's mind.

Casey was real good at that, you see. At being able to just brush and skip past things like they hadn't had any effect on him, like he'd truly enjoyed his time with Chas after the Ball when they'd changed outta their stuffy clothes and got fries -- and he had enjoyed that. 'Course, he probably would've enjoyed it more had he not been plagued with a touch of guilt following the whole discourse with Bella, but really, what else was he supposed to do, huh?

He'd been kinda shoved between a rock and a hard place, ya know. He had a boyfriend, however fake it might've been, he still had to maintain looks for the media and what not. Plus, plus, plus, the idea of him and Bella had never... it had never crossed his mind, not until then. And now when it did cross his mind like it had over the last handful of days? It just made him real, real confused, 'cause he didn't know.

You see, he was real good at the infatuation part. At the whole falling head over heels for a real pretty girl, or a real pretty boy, without really knowing them. But he knew Bella, and he'd never felt like tripping over himself feeling -- and that felt real weird, and it really scared him, 'cause why? She was pretty, she was cool, she was everything that his infatuated little self should've been heart eyes over, but he wasn't.

'Course, he did like her. But not like he liked Mikaela or Avery or Hunter or Newt where they fell in that real good category of "friend" without there ever being a fear of them poking their way out. They were the kinda people he'd never get heart eyes infatuated over, ya know, but Bella...

That's what reallllly troubled him 'bout the whole situation. 'Cause he didn't know why he found himself kinda scratching his head over the situation, or speechless with no ideas on how to speak to her, and why he had a weird mixture of currently unidentified feelings swelling in his chest over Avery admitting to kissing Bella.

He'd kissed her just that easily, huh.

Well, it was really not all that important, so he tried to push it away from his mind. Instead, Casey just kinda hopped along with Hunter. You see, the three boys had agreed to try jamming together sometime, and today happened to be just that day, and he was real, real excited 'bout it.

They were gonna meet up in one of the music rooms, and on his way towards it, Casey had run into Hunter and now they were bip boppin' their way along to it.

"Yeah, so anyway, if ya just... ya know..." he made a little fire prrrgghh sound as he was speaking, his hand clasping around the doorknob to the music room they'd decided to meet in, and he turned the handle, starting to walk in as he was speaking. "It makes for a real nice--"

His words and whatever the heck he'd been talking about disappeared, though, when he caught sight of a girl in the room. 'Course, a smile stayed pasted on Casey's face as he looked in.

He let out a chuckle.

"You're not Newt."

Well, she wasn't.

mood
hypehypehype

location
a music room

outfit
the normal band shirt and jeans

playing...
Kerosene

by Courage My Love

mentions
Bellalala, Avery, Newt

interactions
Hunter, Rox

tags
@WinterBarry

natsukashii

º º code by ditto º º

Winona · Jan 14, 2022

Elizabeth Sterling

Okay so like, Winter Ball? Yeah, like, completely forgotten or whatever. Pushed far, far from Beth's mind. Like sure, it wasn't the worst night ever, but there were also a lot of things that looking back, kind of just made her... well, made her like, grimace in embarrassment. Like a oh honey, what are you doing type of way -- such as agreeing to be Mike's date, although like, she wouldn't let anyone know that she regretted that.

Plus the only reason she'd regretted it was because of his little fit at the end of the night when it came to Beth going home. Like sure, she'd go on a date with a hot senior just to make her sister worry, but she wasn't stupid. There was no way in hell that Beth was ever going to get into his car because like, she kind of enjoyed this thing called living, and that was a surefire way for her to stop doing that thing.

But whatever. Mike kind of had a creepy thing for sophomore redheads, so it was really probably for the best that Beth cut ties with him now before he, like, stole her hair to make a wig so he could dress up as her or whatever the heck it was that he wanted to do with redheads so badly.

Creep.

Anyway, so it was Tuesday. Wooo, yay, school. And yeah, that was literally all sarcasm, because no one in the history of, like, ever had been excited for school.

But like, the most annoying part about school? Getting to hear about everyone and the cool things they got to do in their departments for their studies. Meanwhile, you know what Beth was doing? Reading poetry and having to snap her fingers like a freaking loser because the lit department was just that: a department for losers, and like sure, she liked writing or whatever, but she'd much rather be doing something cool and glamorous.

Speaking of glamorous...

As she'd been walking towards one of her classes, she caught sight of one of her friends. Well, kind of friend. Polly was kind of, like, a really fake bitch that Beth just kept close to her because like, she couldn't afford falling out with anyone, even the bitches of the sophomore class. She was kind of like Kinni -- where Beth played fun and games, painting a pretty smile on her face as she approached the girl, although inside all she could think were lovely things like... dumb, fake slut. Look at that hair. Does she think those shoes look good?

"Hey," she said with a silky sweet smile as she hopped up to Polly's side. "So like, what are you up to today?"

mood
whatever

location
lockers

outfit
clothes

playing...
Good Girl

by Julian Moon

mentions
Mike, Tori

interactions
Polly

tags

jazzyball

º º code by ditto º º

Winona · Jan 14, 2022

Damien Slater

When he'd returned to his car and gotten in, starting it up, he'd just kind of stared blankly at his steering wheel. There was... a multitude of emotions swelling within him, the worst of him which was... twisting feelings of fucking anguish or some other dumb shit. This wasn't Damien's job to try and fucking figure out, and everyone knew that feelings were fucking stupid, and they would be lost and forgotten soon enough.

Of course, he hadn't expected Luci to actually come to his car and allow him to drive her home, either, and yeah, he was fucking excited about it. Fucking choke on a dick. He didn't care what people thought about it -- he just... it meant that he still had a chance, right? A chance to make things right?

They drove in silence, an apology teetering on the tip of his tongue, but refusing to take the plunge. When they arrived to Luci's, he watched her get out, and he'd started to speak... but instead just told her goodnight, the apology turning around and choking him instead of coming out.

And then he'd gone home.

He'd walked in, slammed the front door, and marched up the stairs to his room. All the while, he heard his mother calling his name and trying to ask him what was wrong, but he refused to answer her -- instead ignoring her as he slammed his bedroom door shut and locked it.

While he undressed, his mom had remained on the other side, trying to get him to open up the fucking door, but Damien had just ignored her -- for the first time in his life, he didn't want his mother's fucking bullshit. Instead, he'd collapsed into his bed in his underwear, rolling over onto his back to stare up at the ceiling.

On the other side of the door, he could hear his mom and George whispering about him.

He didn't want to hear what the fucking whore was saying to her glorified fucking sugar daddy, so Damien rolled over, pulling a pillow over the top of his head, and he'd fallen into a fitful sleep.

And the next two days had been about the same -- right up until now, right up until Tuesday morning, when he'd walked into the school. There was still a kind of hollow emptiness in his gaze, which had been there since Kian had been a fucking dick at the Winter Ball, and Luci had slapped him, and he'd flipped out on Felix.

Slater hadn't talked to any of them since then. He just... he didn't really know how to fucking do it, and thinking about them just made him so goddamn fucking angry.

Especially Kian. What the fuck was his issue, anyway? And why the fuck had his words stung so much that they were still stuck in his skin like little needles? He'd been fucking high when he'd said those shitty words, and Damien knew that none of those words were fucking real -- that nothing he'd said had any kind of grounding, because he was real and he was just doing what a lot of others fucking did. Fucking around instead of settling down.

He didn't see the fucking issue.

Sure, Tuesday morning, Kian had attempted an apology, but there was just... a hollow feeling in the pit of Damien's stomach as he'd stared down at his phone screen and read the message. It felt fucking fake -- he was sure it wasn't or some shit, but it still felt fake, because everything Kian had said... he'd believed, that's why he'd said it, so why the fuck was he now trying to pull back from his shitty words?

He shoved his phone into his pocket. He needed a fucking distraction.

And a quick look around rewarded him just that distraction he needed.

With a fake, half-smile plastered across his face, Damien made his way over towards the chick. She was ahh... they'd talked once or twice on Twitter about some shit that he didn't honestly fucking remember, but she'd been nice enough. Nice enough and probably an easy target.

For friendship. Of course.

"Hey," he greeted, his smile widening. "Lulu, right? Damien. Can't say we've properly met." He held a hand out for her to shake because well...

Might as well start it off as nice and cool as he could, right?

mood
eck

location
school

outfit
clothes

playing...
DONTTRUSTME

by 3OH!3

mentions
Kian, Luci, Felix

interactions
Lulu

tags

PenguinFox

º º code by ditto º º

Winona · Jan 14, 2022

Kalida Davies

America was cool enough and shit. Sure, they'd only been there for a handful of days, and Kalida's weekend had been spent having to unpack the little bit of stuff she'd brought from home, and then having to go buy stuff to replace everything that she hadn't been able to bring over.

Yeah, she had a mattress, but it was still just laying on the floor of her bedroom because she hadn't yet gotten a freaking box spring or any shit like that. It was little things like that. Her clothes strewn across her bedroom floor because she didn't have a dresser yet and, to be fair, even if she did, her clothes would still probably be tossed across the floor.

Why put clothes away when you were just gonna pull them out? See that was smart thinking.

But hey, the school was pretty fucking cool -- although last night, after having come back to the apartment from said school, Kalida and Rowan had decided to do a few shots. Just, you know, to celebrate the whole starting a new school and nailing it shit. Of course, Kei had voiced his opinion about it. All "don't overdo it" and blah, blah, blah, and Kalida had told her brother to loosen up, live a little, yada, yada, she said they'd be fine, definitely not overdo it.

They'd overdone it.

Tuesday morning rolled around and the sound of her alarm going off had sent waves of pain through Kalida's throbbing head. She winced, reaching over to fumble with her phone and turn off the alarm. She squinted at the time on her phone screen, groaning as she let her face fall back into her pillow.

The only thing worse than a hangover? A hangover while she was still suffering from jetlag.

After having two very weird conversations with Rowan and Ollie, Kalida had falling dragged herself out of bed. She grabbed some clothes, giving them the ol' sniff test because, well, she hadn't had a chance to wash clothes yet since coming to LA, and once dressed, she'd headed out into the apartment. One delicious breakfast of Advil and breakfast later, and waiting for her roomies to get themselves ready, the gang rolled out with Kalida locking the door after them and following close to Kei's side as they made their ways towards the car.

You know, the car that she wasn't allowed to drive.

Stupid.

"Shotgun," Kalida called out as they made their way outside, the sun burning against her eyes, but she fought past the pain to run to the car and clumsily slammed into the passenger side door. Being the very mature being that she was, Kalida stuck her tongue out at her roomies until Kei unlocked the car and she could open the door and hop in.

Assuming the ever important role of the passenger side rider, Kalida wasted no time in hooking her phone up to the stereo so that she could DJ their way to school. DJ Babs was on the case.

Opening up Spotify, she selected the best playlist of all time.

It was like 90% Maroon 5.

As Moves Like Jagger started to play through the speakers, Kalida kind of gave a little nod of her head, totally not dancing whatsoever to the music.

"Gets you pumped for school, right?" She asked, a huge grin on her face as she looked from Kei in the driver's seat to Ollie and Rowan in the backseat.

mood
hype

location
the car

outfit
clothes

playing...
Five Past Ten

by Blair

mentions
N/A

interactions
Ollie, Rowan, Kei

tags

PenguinFox

qunqun

geminiy

º º code by ditto º º

Winona · Jan 14, 2022

Jace West

The Winter Ball had sucked.

There. The end. That's all there was to it, and Jace wasn't going to spend more time reflecting on it. He'd gone home, removed the last of Landon's stuff, and then he'd holed himself up inside his apartment with the blinds closed and the television turned off -- because every time he turned it on, there was a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach, like one of the news outlets were going to be talking about the stuff between himself and Stassi.

You know, the kiss, which they'd gotten pictures of, and then the angry look on Jace's face as he yelled at Stassi and walked away. It looked bad, and it was bad, and his mom had called him numerous times asking about it, and he'd just ignored many of his mother's attempts until eventually, he'd turned off his phone altogether.

He'd written a lot that weekend, scraps of torn paper with lyrics haphazardly scrawled across their surface laying everyone across his apartment until school was back in session on Monday morning. And he'd attended, and just like, he'd been ignored -- which was fine by him.

And then, enter Tuesday morning, with Jace walking alongside Callum. He was nervously fiddling with the straps of his backpack, things still kind of swarming in his head.

Callum was blabbering on about his time at the Winter Ball or something, and Jace was offering typical answers. "Uh huh, oh wow, that's cool," basic things like that as they moved along.

Eventually, as they were turned down one of the music hallways, Jace remembered that he'd left one of his notebooks in one of the classrooms. He swallowed, a little embarrassed to have to interrupt Callum, but well... he really needed to get that before anyone else happened to find it or something.

"I-I gotta... s-sorry, I just... in there, notebook, I just..." He gestured towards the door, words tripping over one another as he tried to speak. "I-I... I'll-I'll j-just be like... like one... one second, o-okay?"

Fudge, his speech was getting all twisted up and he was stuttering more than normal, but he gave Callum one last awkward smile, and then he turned and slipped into the room, pulling the door closed so that it was just cracked open. He headed towards where his desk was, peeking underneath it to see if the notebook was there.

mood
ehh

location
school

outfit
clothes

playing...
Insecure

by Jace West

mentions
Stassi

interactions
Callum

tags

hery

º º code by ditto º º

ditto · Jan 14, 2022

kellian phelan

Work, schmerk. It made Kelli just wanna flop out on the floor and recite the lyrics to all of the Lady Gaga songs she could think of until all of the world just kinda melted away.

Which she did. She did do that for several hours Sunday, dressed in the silk Star Wars-patterned pajamas that her grandma had given to her for her birthday plus some fuzzy pink socks embroidered with Kirby. She lay sprawled out on the fluffy rug in the middle of the dorm room, her limbs spread out as far as they could go and her plush unicorn laying on her chest as she recited — and occasionally sang, very offkey — all of the Lady Gaga songs she had in her mental repertoire.

Yes. Instead of doing her work.

She knew, she knew. It wasn’t responsible. But it was fun! And heck, it relieved stress!

And, uh, fun fact: she’d discovered it helped you keep your mind off of the crush you just realized you had on your really good, amazing, cute, great, dope, sick, gnarly, awesome, coolio artist friend that you went into the Ball as a friend date of and came out of the Ball wanting to be a more-than-friend date of. So, uh, there was some helpful advice if you were in the same situation!

No, no, no, she really hadn’t been thinking about Angel that often.

Well, maybe a little.

Maybe a lot.

Like, she’d looked at the photos they’d taken at the photobooth — with, uh, those fake moustaches and little hold-up top hat cutouts — a couple of times every fifteen minutes or so, just to look at them and giggle about it, to think about the time they’d both spent together, which always led to her thinking about their moments, which always led to her heart kind of racing and her face kind of heating up, but…

But that was okay, right? It wasn’t a big deal, and, uhm…well, it was the kind of crush that Kelli knew was better left unsaid — the same way that all of her crushes had been. Saying anything about it made things awkward, and, uhm…yeah, this friendship was really important to her, and she didn’t want to screw that up just by having some silly little feelings for him.

…anyway, moving on.

By the time Ronnie got in late Sunday evening, Kelli had done so much studying that her brain felt like mush — yes, even with the Gaga stress breaks. She was already too exhausted to even say hi — she just kinda passed out on top of her bedspread, not even unmaking her bed.

And today was Monday. Blegh. Back to the old grindstone, as old people said. Still, at least this morning, she was going to get a chance to hear about Ronnie’s night — a night that she hoped was just as eventful and fun as her own had been (though, well, she wouldn’t talk about her own, and if Ronnie asked, she wouldn’t tell too much, because she didn’t want hers to be a big deal).

As she pulled her hair up into the same high ponytail that her school day looks tended to include, she smiled excitedly at Ronnie. “You have to tell me about your Ball, bro!” Kelli chattered. “We didn’t even see each other all night —“ A sly, teasing kind of grin came onto her face. “…And you came back so laaaate last night, too.” Giggling, she gave her request: “Gimme the details!” Of course, she added a quick, “If you want. You don’t have to.”

mood
tell me more, tell me more

location
the dorm

outfit
casual clothes

playing...
dance

by foxes

mentions
angel

interactions
ronnie

tags

hery

º º code by ditto º º

ditto · Jan 14, 2022

nickie abrams.

Fuck it.

So Ball had happened. So she’d screamed and thrown punch at her ex, who had walked away without a shit given. So she’d sobbed in Liv’s car and stolen some of her coke. So she’d asked Slater to help her do it, fucked him in Liv’s backseat, and done some more.

So she’d done some Sunday. Quite a bit, actually. Google helped when you were trying to learn to snort it, too. It fucking hurt, and the shit that went down your throat tasted like fucking chemical cleaning supplies mixed with awful artificial sweetener, but it felt a lot better, ya know.

And yeah. She’d done some this morning, too. It’s not like you care, anyway.

See, the good thing about the feeling she got when she was on this shit was that she felt like nothing else in the fucking world really mattered — no one besides her, and nothing besides this moment she was in. Things that happened an hour ago, things that were going to happen in an hour, none if it fucking mattered.

Hunter? She was over him — for real this time. Somewhere between the drugs and the bitter resentment in the knowledge that he gave no fucks about her anymore, she’d lost her ability to care. Maybe it was the fight — maybe she’d gotten all of her anger out then. Or maybe it was the fit she threw in Liv’s car after it. She didn’t fucking know. Maybe the tears were just her processing it, and now that they were gone, so were too all of the feelings that she really felt toward him.

The only emotion she really felt toward him was a stuffy nothing. Just a numb indifference. An acknowledgement that she was a fucking idiot for dating him, an unceasingness that it had happened, and just a fucking “I’m over it”. “I’m over being a fool, I’m over acting like a fucking idiot over a fifteen-year-old boy, I’m over it.”

On the flipside…Slater.

She had to give it to Tittypecs. If it was just the drugs doing this, she could kinda understand why he, like, fucking…robbed a bank or whatever with a gang of methheads or whatever the hell he did — coke bonded you to people, she guessed. She wasn’t a fucking psycho, so she wouldn’t fucking rob a bank — he was still unhinged for that — but…she couldn’t deny that her heart felt, like, a little bond with Slater now that that’d happened. Some kind of admiration — something there that hadn’t been there before. Before, yeah, she’d appreciated him…but…now…?

You clingy slut...

Look, it wasn’t anything. She wasn’t in love with the guy after, like, one quick fuck that, like, she knew was, like, only because, like, there was no one else for him to fuck. But still…she couldn’t help but feel a little bit of something for him.

Not much. Again, she wasn’t a fucking psycho, no matter how much people insisted she fucking was.

Liv hadn’t found out that she’d taken her drugs. At least, she hadn’t told Nickie that she’d found out. Then again, it’d only been a day.

It’d only been a fucking day since that shit happened. A little bit over that, now that it was morning.

Sunday was spent studying and doing schoolwork (aside from doing drugs). Nickie, as unlikely as most people thought it was, had all As. There was a reason why she was a scholarship student here; her grades were rarely anything lower than a 97% in a class, and never anything below a 91%. If she wanted to keep her head attached, she had to maintain those grades.

That didn’t take her long, though, and the rest of the day was spent, well…being nosey. Nickie, from snooping around on random ass profiles of the weird ass NPCs of Hollywood Arts, had caught up on everything of the night that she missed. There were a lot of uneventful posts about fucking love or whatever (fuck that shit), but there were also things like the recap of “oMg NiCkIe AbRaMs aNd HuNtEr DrAkE fOuGhT oVeR tHe PuNcH tAbLe” and shit like that.

Also, apparently some shit had happened with…Ash getting yelled at or something by the fucking pedovan driver or some shit, so that was also fun.

But…well, okay, so, there was this thing. This thing that she’d been thinking of, all yesterday and all the way to school this morning: this could be a fresh start. Like…with Liv, her new best friend. With…Slater — like, even as her friend, just having him as her good friend. And, like, she was on good terms with JJ. She had cut her final ties with Hunter. And, like…no one cared about her, really — no one here, anyway — aside from them…so really, this could be all she needed to rebrand. To start anew. To stop being a fucking wreck. To, like, pull herself together. Like, the drugs would be a temporary thing as she got back on her feet. She could just, like, stop fucking caring and start fucking living.

And so, yeah, as she pushed out of the vehicle, high from what she’d taken this morning, she made a little vow to herself: I’m going to start again. That was fucking it. Like, there was going to be no breakdown. There was going to be no fucking shame as she walked into school after yet another public humiliation. She was just…going to own it, she guessed.

Fuck. It was better than the alternative, o-fucking-kay? She was keeping herself from losing her fucking mind.

Breathing out a sigh, Nickie walked through the hall toward her locker, the fingers that she’d gotten manicured for the ball fidgeting with her purse. One thing about the shit she was taking — it made her feel awake, but also like her body was going to jump out of her fucking skin. It was what it was.

Her eyes caught on a girl standing at a locker down the hall. You vowed to start again, she reminded herself, but a surge of confidence and an overwhelming urge to say something that she was going to regret — to make a comment that she really didn’t fucking need to.

As she went to walk past her, though, she couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh, and she couldn’t keep herself from pausing.

Fuck. Old habits die hard.

“Hey, Ash,” she greeted, a smile on her face. “Omigosh, cute, like, outfit or whatever — I’m, like, so amazed that you’re even here showing your face after the shit that happened at the Ball Saturday night, so, like…” She brought her hands together to give a snarky little clap. “Props to you for, like, getting out of bed after, like, being so fucking humiliated. Like, really, like, brave of you, honestly. Showing, like, all of the sobby, whiny, downtrodden skanks of the world that, like, there is some fucking hope after all. They need an example, l-o-l.”

mood
: )

location
school

outfit
clothes

playing...
here

by nickie.

mentions
hunter

interactions
ash

tags

Winona

º º code by ditto º º

qunqun · Jan 14, 2022

MOOD:
Weirdly contemplative

OUTFIT:
Workout

LOCATION:
Dance Studio
basics

MENTIONS:
Ezra, Nikolai, Zeph, Eli

INT:
Maggie Kitsune2202
tags

TL;DR: Dance instructing.
tl;dr

Auguste

tw: Auguste being Auguste.

Okay so Maggie wasn’t Auguste’s first choice to hangout with.

That was nothing on her, it was just that he tended to shy away from people that were friendly and were… nice. Okay, that sounded wrong. How to put it…

Well, whenever Auguste thought that maybe he should try branching out he eventually circled back to a simple question:

Did he deserve to be around people. Did he deserve to have friends and to be… liked? He wasn’t sure that the answer was yes.

See, the thing was that every time he closed his eyes he saw blood. Tasted blood. Not to mention all the lies that he spewed to keep his secrets secret. No… Auguste was fairly certain that he didn’t deserve… well. He didn’t deserve an easy life, that was for sure.

How could a person who’d less than five years ago attacked a person for looking at him the wrong way ever have friends that were… nice - with no strings attached. How could he ever look anyone in the eyes again and say with genuine certainty that they were safe around him?

Easy: he couldn’t.

So he gave people a twitchy awkward fake smile and didn’t quite look them in the eyes when he said that he didn’t want to hang out. That he was scared of them. That… well.

Other lies that came so naturally to him that some days Auguste didn’t know which was which.

Perhaps this was truly the whole “fake it till you make it” because he genuinely didn’t know where the lie “I’m scared of everyone” had begun and where it ended.

In any case it all led back to his isolation.

And social isolation was its own form of punishment and protection. But it did indeed lead to him being boring and uninteresting to most. So, yeah actually. A lot of the insults people could throw at him were correct. Who was he to say that they were wrong? He could take it, he’d taken worse. His best friend told him that he was going to burn in hell for kissing him

Which leads us to Maggie.

Auguste looked at Maggie and saw someone that was the exact opposite of himself - social, outgoing, party person… confrontational. Maybe a little bit too much how he used to be, both the good and the bad.

So yeah.

Not his first choice in friends materials, but for some fucking reason he seemed to attract the exact opposite of what his first choice would be…

… what would his first choice even look like? Auguste wasn’t even sure, to be completely honest.

Maybe he’d gotten so used to being without friends, he’d forgotten how it felt to even have them.

That meant that clearly his point of view was skewed, right? So… who would people normally consider “friends”

Would Ez? Auguste still wasn’t sure what he was to the guy. A morality pet? Perhaps a science experiment? A pity project. Still didn’t sound quite right…

A little voice that Auguste tried to block out most days whispered the answer to him:

An easy fuck that overstayed his welcome.

Not Nikolai, because clearly they viewed whatever relationship they had as a joke, right? She didn’t really like him much.

Couldn’t have - what was there to like?

Eli? Zeph? They were way too nice. Had to have some kind of agenda even if Auguste didn’t know what it was.

He hadn’t been burned through the years of trusting people like Eli and Zeph (kind faces who took him in at his lowest) to be screwed over to know anything else.

And Maggie? Maggie needed help on a dance: this was a business transaction. Definitely not his usual style of dance, but hey. As long as it wasn’t him who was having to dance this, he was sure that he could help out. Diversity was the spice of life after all.

“Here, ma cherie, a little more in the ribs and the back.” He went through the movement slowly. It was definitely an ambitious project for someone that was just doing this for a friend. He could admire that… even if he didn’t really know the entire context behind the whole deal.

“Okay, we start from the top again?” He was hoping he wasn’t being too rough. He wouldn’t call her an amateur - after all, music and dance were intrinsically connected. But, well, there was definitely a difference between the levels of perfectionism between the two of them.

But, well, his father had been a Bolshoi - Russian ballet and the peak of classical ballet. One of the few Spanish people to grace that stage. And he’d been originally trained by his father before (screaming, there was a woman screaming - or was it him?) … had happened.

And he was pretty sure his teaching style was reflecting that. There were such minute details that Auguste paid attention to.

He gave Maggie a hard stare, eyes narrowed just a little bit as he watched the singer. Stopped her again. “.. ehm… ma cherie, this is supposed to be… ehm… light-hearted dance, yeah? Don’t forget to smile. You look….” You look like you’re going to kill someone. Or just killed someone.

“... you look scary.” Simple. Got his point across anyways. He dropped the stare, looking down at his feet. Too mean. This was supposed to be lighthearted. This wasn’t for an audience, this was for a friend. And who was he to say that she looked scary? He certainly wasn't much of a looker either. “... okay again but… ehm… less terrifying. A bit less… rigid.”

His attention went back to watching Maggie. It was hard for him to keep up the softness while also being in his “ballet” mode, alright?

See, there was so much of him, that he had to be hyper aware of himself. He had to be more flexible. Better. Just… perfect. In every way. Because every flaw was magnified. Every little imperfection.

His own body betrayed him.

Back when he was in France, he was malnourished. Or at least, working too hard to gain any kind of fat because he’d burn it faster than he could put it on . He’d been sickly. Like a starved, rabid dog. But he’d had those long wiry muscles that were ideal for ballet dancers.

And then he’d gone to Hollywood and it’d all gone to shit.

All the sudden he was eating properly and taking care of himself due to the school-mandated therapy.

Apparently the length and rigor he practiced to be completely perfect was “unsustainable” for his mental and physical health.

… and then to make everything worse, he’d had a series of massive growth spurts. And suddenly 5’9 Sophomore Auguste was 6’7 and… everything had been thrown off.

Suddenly he was in an alien body with limbs way too long - too much to properly control, that was just getting bulkier and bulkier. So he did more and more to try to keep the brawn down. Which really just made everything worse and-

Anyways yeah he was still filling out. Oops.

According to his therapist, he had “severe body image issues” which, to be honest, sounded like most dancers that he knew. But…

Well, long story short, he was self-aware enough to know that dancing was probably severely negatively impacting his mental health but.

What else did he have?

He was just praying to every god above that this horrific perfectionism wasn’t too outward though. That Maggie wasn’t being pushed too hard. He had to keep it in check when dealing with other people.

He had to.

“I think this is okay for now.” Auguste said softly. He felt bad. This was supposed to be fun, something fun. He was making it miserable. “Water?”

The hardness from his glare went away almost immediately at the mention of the break. “... I’m sorry if my… style is a little harsh… I… I am just used to…”

Training himself until the simple bike home seemed like climbing Mount Everest. Until making dinner seemed like a crushing weight of the world.

Until the voices in his head that told him he was a waste of oxygen finally canned it.

“... ehm…” There was no polite way to end that sentence. “... yeah.”

Nailed it.

Painfully tense and awkward silence, and usually Auguste reveled in it. Like a pig in mud. Rolled around in it. But it seemed… it felt… bad when it was Maggie on the other end. She didn’t deserve his bullshit.

“How was your ball?” A small twitchy smile. Fake, but, hopefully she wouldn’t notice. He didn’t really smile much to begin with, hopefully she wouldn’t be too mad for it. “Good?”

The least he could do was indulge in a little bit of small talk while Maggie caught her breath.

He wasn’t nice, and they weren’t friends but…

Well, something deep inside Auguste - so repressed that he would never admit it, something painfully raw from a lifetime of tentatively reaching out only to be cut into and burned and beaten until it’d hidden away for his own safety - wanted...

Friends.

He wanted Ez to be his friend - Nikolai to be his friend. Eli, Zeph… all of them.

Maybe that’s why he stuck around even though he knew that they didn’t see him as such…

… and it wanted Maggie to be his friend.

code by valen t.

hery · Jan 14, 2022

MOOD: band

OUTFIT: ball fit

LOCATION: gone
basics

MENTIONS:
Jared, Angel, Dorian, Corey

INT:
jasmyn (Maddie)
tags

TL;DR no
tl;dr

Javier Cervantes

Envy: the green-eyed monster that tore holes in hearts. Approximately a year ago, it crawled inside Javi's heart and fashioned its nest out of powerlessness and brittle rancor. Contrary to popular belief, he didn't hold a shred of it for Corey or Jared or any other sad sap Maddie neglected to discard.

He envied the Javi who didn't have to feel this way.

"Javier," she breathed exasperatedly, which caused the musician in question to be far less amused than he'd expected. He narrowed his eyes with rekindled hostility, astonished with the audacity the satin-attired girl had to utilize such a tone with him. Like she could ever justifiably sneer at him after everything. Her friends had usually done the job for her in all times previous.

People liked to jump on Javi and call him an asshole before they got the story, not that they ever would. It was commonplace at Hollywood Arts to have the wrong things focused on, pariahs built from petty social interactions gone south. There hadn't been a moment he didn't feel the searing sensation of having the whole world turned against him. Maddie would never get it; she had droves of valiant defenders on standby to defend her. It's how she got away with all this for so long.

Red punch dripped on the floor from his crushed cup, mimicking the invisible blood that seeped from his swiss cheese heart.

She blenched at the compliments. Good. He hoped she was fucking uncomfortable. Of course, it was nothing compared to the shame and inferiority he felt being dragged out of the Harlows' estate. He waited a moment, daring Maddie to talk back, to confront the sins thats followed her.

...

Heh. Nothing. Tha—

"Shut up, Javi. That's not true. Angel and I are friends because he isn't a huge jerk like his brother," she finally retorted, her sweet voice warping angrily and resounding throughout the small area they inhabited

A big, open grin threw itself on Javi's face, devoid of any and all seriousness taken in her words. He began to mouth words, nodding vigorously. Oh. Okay. Okay. I see now. You're so right.

Unbelievable.

Then, Maddie shot back, callowly taking a dig at his altercation in the halls, which nearly cost him his place at the Arts Fest.

"Oh? Yeah? Who tell you that, Jace?" His smile was huge, hysterical, eyes wild and radiating mania. White hot rage teetered on the edge of his voice, bringing his volume up and causing his voice to shake with unbridled, coke-fueled zeal. It was just so fucking funny, wasn't it?

The mention of Halloween did it for the minaciously beautiful girl, shooting a furious shock down her arm, which sent it—thud!—hammering down onto the table. It was hardly enough for a dainty hand clutching a plastic cup to cause anything more than a plastic spoon to clatter. That very same arm lifted itself up and darted toward Javi like the stinger of a bee.

"Screw you, Javi. Okay? Just fuck off."

No! He would not. Why leave at the most exciting part? He continued his comedic monologue, finally making his way to Corey. Yeah, the smug little weasel himself. Javi could see past the nice-guy bullshit. He'd looked down on Javi just the same way everyone else did. He saw him as less. He pitied him, but out of superficiality. Truly, Maddie did have a type.

A barrage of incisive remarks found their way tumbling onto Javi, cutting and scratching at his ego. Even yet, they were all trivial. No arrangement of words dared to wound the pride of Javier himself, the self-and-rightfully-named King of H.A. He could have anyone he wanted by the throat, despite his critics' insistent disparaging. He snickered and rolled his eyes at the notion that he wanted her to disappear. How much obsession could she project? So melodramatic.

So what if he wasn't sober. He was seeing clearly; his dilated pupils could see more off the bullshit than he ever could have with a level head. Javi knew he was losing his handle, and that was his intention. Heh, the only thing numb tonight would be—Ha. Anyway.

Just as he thought Maddie was done, she kept going. No, actually, she charged forward like a cavalier. "You know, maybe if Jared and I don't make it then I'll see about that crush you mentioned Angel having," she paused, "he seems like he'd be a nice boyfriend and family reunions would never be dull, right? What do you say, J?"

Somewhere on Javi's tensed, muscular body, a vein popped. Red flooded his vision while his bloodshot eyes sent daggers barreling toward the riposting girl. She truly was one depraved human being. It was etched all over her face, the way she truly seemed to believe her words. Before, it came off as a cornered defense. Not so much now.

"Anyway, did you have anything important to say or is it just more of you rambling about me being a backstabbing whore because if you don't mind I do have better people...I mean, things to do tonight."

His voice was firm, steady, but laced with latent fury. "I nearly got expelled because of your pinhead fucking brother!" he spat, slamming his crushed cup onto the table and flattening it like a soda can, "Yeah, you know, if I got kicked out of this cesspool, it would be the best thing that's happened to me in a while. I can tell you've been around here too long." The rise and fall of his puffed chest grew more pronounced, laying a foundation for the burning scowl on his face.

"I'm sure he tells everyone he and the piss bitch beat me in that little scrap." His voice rose in a hot-tempered crescendo, drawing out his words with a sarcastic bite. "I'll let you in on something: I got off worse because he got beaten to a pulp, smartass. Easy to play the victim card when you're lying on the ground like a bitch." He rolled his tongue around his mouth, poking at his derisively grinning cheek.

And then there was the Angel thing. God, she made him mad. If that was her goal, it was a smashing success. "Don't plan on it, Mads," he hissed with ire, "I'll snap him in half before he even thinks about looking your direction. You wouldn't want another guy's black eye on your hands again, do you?"

The curly-haired junior cracked his knuckles, exuding a brutish arrogance. His blood was just shy of its boiling point, the vengeful fire in his eyes stoked by the girl in front of him. "I'd browse through the options a little longer, sweetheart. Not sure Hollywood is here to stay, either." He looked around the room, watching Maddie's eyes in their search. She was just as alone as he was. "Where's your prince charming then, huh? Must be so romantic being left by the punch table at the winter formal."

His chin turned up, allowing his hardened, coffee-colored eyes to look down on Maddie with pity. It was harder physically now that she was in heels, but mentally Javi felt like a giant in the presence of a writhing, squirming insect. "You're all the same. Lying and leaving and cheating and blaming everyone else when your delusions turn out to be just fucking that. He doesn't even like you enough to give you one night, Maddie. Isn't that just so pathetic? You sold out all for this?"

Tch. That didn't need an answer. He scoffed, tracing his finger along the edge of the table beside them. The tablecloth was... so soft. Why did it have to be so soft? Why did everything and everyone have to have a goddamn fucking million dollar price tag here? A pit sunk in Javi's stomach, threatening nausea.

"At first I thought neither of you deserved each other, but yeah, not so much the case now." Did he mean that? He could hardly hear himself think let alone talk at this stage. "There's no one waiting on you tonight. I know there's not. Even if he makes his appearance an hour later, the shitty, rich dick won't make you feel any better."

Trust me, I know.

"So, I'll add to the list and leave you, too. Enjoy being fucking stranded. You're past help."

The bassist put a hand on the table and shook it violently, causing punch to splash out of the bowls. He gave the model one last long, hard glare then turned on his heel, storming off toward the door.

This night was over.

code by valen t.

0k_mang0 · Jan 14, 2022

MOOD:
...
wat

OUTFIT:
navy blue boy
INFO

LOCATION:
private area, somewhere at the ball

WITH: chanel

MENTION: n/a
ACTIVITY

Soap
TAGS

cappie

— So Close

In the first few moments, like a knee-jerk reaction, Cappie thought—and nearly said out loud—she mispronounced annoying or aggravating. Lots of people described him as either of those words, some occasionally said it to his face, and he was used to it by now. Those words, and perhaps a few more, would’ve made more sense to him than what he just heard from Chanel.

He couldn’t be so amazing if he had upset her.

“You’re the only person I feel like I can… and can’t breathe around.”

Why was this so difficult for his brain to process all 13 words from that one sentence right away?

Probably because nobody had ever said anything like that to him in… never. Not once. It almost sounded like some sort of confession… and somehow that idea made him feel anxious. It was so unfamiliar to him.

This should’ve been the other way around, he thought. Cappie was used to the idea of himself being the first to admit whatever feelings he had to anyone, mainly to get over with, to see how things would turn out once it was off his chest, with a tiny spark of hope tickling inside his chest.

And he was prepared for the rejections that would follow. He stopped doing this after his last year of middle school.

Cappie didn’t know how or what to say to her. He couldn’t even think of a stupid quip to help soften the tension.

He had no idea what kind of tension was going on between them anymore.

He didn’t know the answer to this, and neither did Chanel—Who kissed who first?

Did it really matter? No, not at all. Not when Cappie was kissing back before his thoughts registered that he was leaning in and what was going on—before realizing Chanel’s hands were on his neck and Chanel kissing him back—before his own hands were on her waist, on her back….

He didn’t know how long their kiss lasted.

Didn’t know who pulled away first.

As if he’d just sprinted an entire mile after holding in whatever he was holding in since day one, Cappie felt short of breath. He looked at Chanel, wondering who was more stunned out of the two of them.

“Chanel, I… I, um…” His hesitant voice trailed off into silence. If he tried to say anything else he would’ve ended up, quite unintentionally, apologizing. For kissing her…

Oh lordy. Cappie kissed Nellie.

code by valen t.

hery · Jan 14, 2022

MOOD: standing

OUTFIT: clothes

LOCATION: hallway
basics

MENTIONS:
Oates, Kian, Niamh, Stassi
INT:
Winona (Jace)
tags

TL;DR no
tl;dr

Callum Richards

New school day, same Callum. Same Oates, new drama, but it was all working out in the end. Kian was a thing of the past, Oates' cousin was angry with them, but he could deal with worse. At least she wasn't telling them to break up. Especially after the ball, well, how could they? Oates said he was in love, again, not to mention the wedding concepts thrown around on the dance floor. Whether Callum was in the right headspace to think that far ahead, he had to admit the reception would bring out some killer dances.

Today was his last day at school before break. The two boyfriends were headed to Callum's hometown in Virginia later that day, a truth that still felt unreal running through his thoughts. Oates was meeting his grandparents, the people who raised him? They were going to sleep in his old bedroom. He was going to see every single childhood photo hung in the house, then share hot chocolate with Grandma and... dear god, how would Callum survive this?

But it was the boyfriendly thing to do, and Oates was owed a visit after Callum's spiritual awakening with the forever-batshit Flo Oates. Those were the rules of boyfriend reciprocity. It all worked out in his favor anyway, especially as he was overdue for a visit. He and the grandparents hardly called since he went back to school for the fall; one party wasn't tech-savvy and one was too lazy to care.

With all his things nicely packed in a suitcase on his bed, Callum took off for school one more time, picking up and dropping off Oates on the way. The poor, emotional boy needed it after his falling-out. It was painful to watch, but something Callum knew would ultimately work out in the end.

He reunited with Jace in the hallway, as was customary in the past few weeks. The boys became good friends fast, no doubt in part to their similar statuses as social outcasts. Most surprisingly, Callum had been in a talkative mood this morning. Words seemed to spill out of his mouth without relent, regaling the skinny blonde about his date and how Kian sucked how, gee, if Jace had just tagged along like Callum offered then none of that bad press would have had to have taken place.

He saw the pictures. It wasn't good.

"...I think I liked this dance because we spent a lot of it sat against the wall," he explained, reaching the tail end of his Oates-obsessed speech, "So I was hardly tired by the time we wanted to leave." Jace simply nodded and gave inaudible, halfhearted answers, which Callum wasn't listening to anyway. "You shouldn't have gone on that date with that girl. I know neither of us usually care about the lies people spread, but people are calling you desperate. And unstable. You should probably stop acting like it." So many should's, Callum was practically a senior advice-giver.

Pointing toward a door, Jace interrupted, "I-I gotta... s-sorry, I just... in there, notebook, I just..." They stopped, and Callum stood still with his hand on the strap of his backpack. "I-I... I'll-I'll j-just be like... like one... one second, o-okay?"

The pallid dancer nodded, uncaring. "Go ahead," he replied, a peculiarly expectant tinge to his tone. He could wait outside a little. He already stood and stared at the wall like a statue half the day anyway.

code by valen t.

Realistic or Modern hollywood arts: main (open!!)

No, I don't have too many characters.

The one an' only

𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯

Give me your herbs, worm.

Elder Member

Elder Member

Elder Member

faisons un vœu

f r e e b i r d

v tired

QT π

Give me your herbs, worm.

the fool

still kicking :)

No, I don't have too many characters.

No, I don't have too many characters.

No, I don't have too many characters.

No, I don't have too many characters.

No, I don't have too many characters.

still kicking :)

still kicking :)

Give me your herbs, worm.

the fool

ok

the fool

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