Realistic or Modern The Kids Aren't Alright | Main

[Dede]

MOOD: peak stu

LOCATION: in the water

basics

MENTIONS:


INT:
Chimney Swift lion.




--------don't type anything after this comment--------



[/COMMENT]

tags

TL;DR
death

tl;dr

Stu French

Little hi little low little hey little ho

Stu’s world had turned into water.

He was among the fish, and Willies of the deep (still not Gert), and all the seven different species of sea turtles, and the flesh-eating crabs that threatened Oliver violence and caused him endless grief both on land and at sea.

And the sharks. Oh no. Not the sharks.

The full force of desperation gripped him now. “Meera!” he cried out to the girl who had fallen off the dinghy, splashing his valiant way to her rescue. The sea was in his nose that made him choke bitterly and saltily. He coughed and spat and flailed and bobbed along the waves.

“Meeeeeeeeeera!”

His dumb heroics bore no fruit, for Meera had been lost forever to the ocean. The sheer horror of it all. Stu was still too young to witness death, to be exposed to the cruel realities of life. That sort of thing... that sort of thing could scar you for life!

But now he could feel something brush his legs. Were they the tentacles of a lethal jellyfish? Or the fin of a great white? Oh no, oh no. His heart was dancing to the theme of Jaws and panic bridged the gnashing line of his teeth that he bit savagely into his own tongue.

With terror in the bleach of his eyes, Stu waved and appealed to Toothrot, the master of the sea himself—and oh… Meera was already back on the boat.

How did that happen?

Stu, meanwhile, by his endless flailing of two scrawny arms, had floated out into open sea.

“H— Hel— Help!!!!” He suddenly remembered to cry. “He--ellep.”

That head that was bobbing and gurgling out distress signals went under the water and never came up again.

Oh, one more thing...™

Stu, erm, didn’t know how to swim.

code by valen t.

 

[Chimney Swift]

MOOD: Heroic

LOCATION: At Sea

basics

MENTIONS:

INT:

Meera lion.
Stu Dede

tags

TL;DR

Everyone is still alive somehow

tl;dr

Fish Man & Turtle Boy

And when you're a Professional Pirate, you're always in the best of company

“Again!?” The janitor quickly looked up at the sky as if to either give God a quick what the fuck or glance into an invisible camera like The Office. He wasted not but that one split second, though, climbing over to the port side to find a little blond head slowly drifting down towards a salty demise. “Yep. Fiddlesticks.” The already-weird euphemism sounded all the more weird in Toothrot’s unidentifiable accent, and yet… strangely natural. Like it was a word that originated in his eldritch ocean creature language. And although the term (as an expression of absurdity, at least) actually dates back to the 17th century, that actually didn't make it less uncanny. If anything, it made it easier to believe this man somehow traversed the centuries without notice.

Poor little Stu had sunk too deep to pull the same one-arm maneuver that retrieved Meera, so Toothrot the Impromptu Lifeguard gave a beleaguered smile, took a breath, and turned over the side of the boat like a cormorant diving for a fish. There was a tense moment of silence after the splash turned back into soundless ripples on the surface. Then, with a sucking sound and a splash as the ocean spat out its prey, a pale and limp little Stu flopped back into the skiff, followed by a drenched but no-worse-for-wear janitor. Unsurprisingly, seeing him doused in cold seawater seemed completely natural. He looked far more unsettling in the grimy linoleum interior of Parish Bay High School, actually. And the fact that he’d just saved a pair of students from drowning certainly painted him in a much less ominous light.

Turning Stu's head to the side to assist him in hacking up a small puddle of ocean, the smallest boy was helped back onto the bench and sat next to Meera, both safe and sound.

“A’ight. Now I want all of ye to take a scoot in towards the middle and hold onto the bench so we can all stay breathing dry air for the five minutes it’d take fer us to--”

And this was the moment Oliver’s panicked heart chose to send him keeling over to the floor of the boat.

“--yep.”

Propping Oliver up in a fowler’s position, slumped up against the side, Herman the Fish Man shook some seawater out of his sleeves and turned back to the shivering and bedraggled pair of rescuees. “.... ‘Welp, that’d be our cue to circle back. All four of us crew. Aye, that’s a new one. Never seen that before since that other Wednesday.” The janitor’s remarks, as usual, carried absolutely no indication of fear or alarm. Trying to keep clumsy children in a boat without any drowning incidents seemed to be business as usual for him.

“And if I may, I’ve got some next steps for you kids”

To Meera, “Swim class,” to Stu, “swim class,” to Oliver’s unconscious body, “probably somekindova doctor’s appointment.” He gave an affirmative nod, picked up the oars, and the accident-prone squad floated back towards the open docks.

"you never did find that backpack?"

...how the hell did he know about the backpack?

Probably because the kids talked about it all the time.

It was more fun to imagine otherwise.

code by valen t.

 

[Dazzle]

MOOD: inconvenienced

OUTFIT: Outfit

LOCATION: In Spooning

basics

MENTIONS:


INT:
Elf_Ruler (Lemon)
ALittleRedLie (Winnie and Chance)

tags

TL;DR ice cream

tl;dr

Hayden Anderson

you get what you give

Hayden couldn’t help but chuckle as he watched Lemon swing the sleaves of his sweater around as she explained herself. Lemon had been completely absorbed into Hayden’s sweatshirt. It was practically a dress on her as the hem of the sweatshirt fell at her midthigh. Lucky, she had bumped into Winnie of all people, she was one of the few easy-going people in this town. “Hi Win.” Hayden smiled as he nodded towards her, his eyes trailed to see Chance standing beside her. He never really understood why the two of them didn’t get along. But Hayden wasn’t about to fight for friendship from someone like him. He didn’t hate him, he just wasn’t going to go out of his own way to make time for him.

“If you’re going to run anyone down, it better be Win here.” Hayden chuckled nudging the blonde with his shoulder. “She’d probably let you get away with murder.” He looked over at Winnie with a goofy grin on his face as she spoke to Lemon. Hayden didn’t know Winnie that well, outside of her being friends with Harper and from around school. He knew she was a good person though, Harper always picked good people to be her friends.

Hayden noticed how Chance’s demeanor changed as he took notice of Lemon standing there. He had a good guess of what Chance was thinking, and he didn’t like it. Chance seemed to be always looking for a fight, wanting to challenge Hayden on whatever happened to be in front of them. Though not the least bit surprising, this time that challenge happened to be Lemon.

He wanted to let it go, he didn’t want to put Lemon in an uncomfortable position. Lemon and him had only been talking, he didn’t know how she felt or what she wanted. But—

The look that Chance had on his face and the way he said baby, got under Hayden’s skin. He could have bit his tongue. Kept his mouth shut. Been the bigger person. He really would have done that.

But, Lemon’s face, her reaction to Chance’s words. She had gone from this flowy and carefree person, being smothered by his sweatshirt, her smile was now strained, and her body looked stiff. He understood why Chance’s words had bothered him so much, but he was surprised to see Lemon recoil so quickly from them. “Family name? Isn’t it, Sour?” Hayden draped his arm casually across Lemon’s shoulder, hoping that maybe she could find some sort of stability in his touch. Though he worried that this would only cause her more anxiety. “How about yours Chance. Any reason for it.” Hayden didn’t ask it as a question, he really didn’t care to learn anything new about Chance.

He watched Chance lean closer into Lemon’s bubble, “Dude, no one wants to smell your breath, mind your space.” Hayden stated furrowing his eyebrows together as he shook his head. Letting out an infuriating laugh as he roughly pushed Chance’s shoulder. “Ahaha I’m just kidding Chancie.”

“I’m sure you remembered to brush your teeth this morning.” Hayden wiggled his eyebrows as he looked over at Winnie. “Your brother has good hygiene, right Win?” Hayden raised a questioning eyebrow looking between Chance and Lemon, with a playful smirk on his face.

code by valen t.

 

[r e i]

ISABELLA ALEJA EDISON-ROSE

mood: angry and tired + location: hiding with maxine + outfit: xxx + tags: Dazzle

"I don't fucking decide to be mad at the world when something doesn't go my way." Isa scoffs angrily "Sometimes you make yourself the villain because that's all you ever see yourself as but you can't let anyone else be." She didn't understand how Maxine didn't see her as the villain when everything she touches or tries to do with the best intentions falls apart in her hands. She is tired of hoping that the next thing wouldn't be the next bad thing she did. Isa makes not the smartest choices because she wasn't taught the smart ones. She was taught the ones that help her survive in a world that put her on the track for doom. "Maxine, I make myself the villain because I will rather be the villain than any of you having to. So I break shit, so I sell fucking drugs, and sometimes I even fight but at least I know that you will never have to make the choices I did. You will never be in the situations that I was in because I will make damn sure that you will never make that choice even if I have to be the villain." She speaks honestly as she looks at Maxine.

"You have me. " Isa says bluntly. "You have me, and my mom. You told me that you would rather stay with your mom to take care of her, so I didn't tell my mom anything about your home life, but don't think for a moment that my mom wouldn't take you in. She cares about you. " She says as she looks directly at Maxine. She has talked to her mom about Maxine, as she of course noticed the girl sleeping over and hanging around the house more than a usual friend would. So she had to be mostly truthful, and tell her that Maxine is a special case and that her mom wasn't around much so Isa had her staying with them while her mom 'worked'. She accepted that explanation but she made sure to tell her that if her friend needed a place to stay, that she was welcome to stay with them for however long that she wanted to. "Maybe I'm tired of doing this. I barely show up for classes. I'm tired of thinking that I'm gonna amount to anything better. " She adds on frustratedly

"How good I am?" Isa again scoffs in disbelief. "Maxine I'm a drug dealer, I'm a bad person who sells drugs. I fucking hurt people when I'm trying to be there for them. I'm a worthless fucking drug dealer. I'm not fucking good, and I will never be good. Any chances got thrown out when I became a felon." She told honestly "Colleges aren't gonna see my grades or my GPA, they will only see the fact that I spent nearly a year in juvenile prison, that I had a parole officer, and that I was arrested a lot. Once they see that, I have zero chances." She sighed

"Maxine, you have something I never had. I never got a chance to. You have someone there to stop you." She was honest. If she had someone like her around to keep her safe and be there for her. Maybe Isa would have had a chance to be better than she was at the moment. To be someone better than who she was but she didn't get that until she was much older. Yea, she had Tatum but Tums could only do so much to help her and try to stop her. She was going through her own issues and that wasn't fair that she had to make sure that Isa didn't fall off the deep end. "I would rather go back to foster care than have you become like your mother. Hell if you would let me, I would have my mother adopt you. I'm a fuck up and nearly everyone knows it. I mess up all the goddamn time. Even when I try to help, I mess up. My foster father was right in that sense, I'm a fuck up. " She adds on closing her eyes and looking around. She was tired of trying to be good when all she does is messes everything up. She was a bad person and she had accepted it. Why couldn't anyone else?

"...You are my family. Tums is my sister. Lucky is my brother and so is Max. I would do anything for you because you taught me how to be human. " Isa smiles softly "All I have ever known is how to survive, I never learned how to love anyone including myself. I learned how to be a human through loving you and everyone else. I just haven't learned to love myself, because I don't see anything worth loving." She looked at Maxine and shrugged. "Loving you, is the easiest thing I have done. Loving myself....that's a different story."

Isa shook her head. Of course, she knew how she puts herself into these situations. It wasn't like she didn't know how she puts herself in this issue. She tries to keep herself out of trouble but it wasn't who she was. "Of course I do. It's not like I don't see where I fail at. I put myself in situations and I do a lot. What do you want me to say? I'm a fuck up Maxine and you fucking need to realize it. I'm not this good fucking person. I get arrested. I sell drugs. I do everything possible to put myself behind bars and not outside of them. What do you want from me? What the fuck do you all want from me? Max wants me to be good. Tatum wants me to fucking stay and leaned on her. Everyone wants something from me and I'm so tired of failing them. " She shouts out angrily at Maxine. Having had enough, tears start to roll down her face.

"My mother wants a normal fucking daughter. I'm trying but it's not like it's easy to forget everything you've been ever taught to survive. And none of you see that I am trying. None of you see that I'm constantly trying and trying to be who you want me to be but it's draining and I'm so fucking tired. None of you see that I'm drowning in your damn expectations. I'm not good because if I was, this wouldn't be so damn hard for me!" She sniffles as she wipes her eyes.

"I'm not enough. I'm a worthless fuck up, and I'm tired of pretending that I'm not!"

coded by natasha.

 

[Soap]

MOOD: Slightly uncomfortable

OUTFIT: Flowers

LOCATION: Spooning

basics

MENTIONS: Isa r e i


INT: Astraea

Dazzle

tags

TL;DR Sweet and sour?

tl;dr

Josephine

Do you get deja-vu?

The past two weeks haven’t been the best. But they haven’t been terrible, either so that was an upside to things. Josephine found herself still reeling from the other night. The night she closed with Isa to be exact. Nothing serious happened— at least, that’s how it was supposed to feel. She nodded off during a movie and awoke to Isabella nowhere to be found, and upon searching for her, she found her in the back of the diner, handing something off to someone else and… well, It just seemed really sketchy.

And Josie wasn’t sure how to bring it up. It wasn’t any of her business. Sure, they were co-workers, one might even go as far to say they’re friends. As nice as the night was, it just… didn’t sit right with her.

She was just worried.

And when Josie was worried, she didn’t have an appetite for much.

“And for you, little lady?”

The man had asked with a beaming smile, waiting for her order.

“Oneeee chocolate with chocolate sprinkles, reeses, and mini kit kats.”

Like she said, she didn’t have a big appetite.

A shame, really.

“A little lady with a big order, I see.”

The man went to prepare her ice cream and Josie’s mind wandered farther.

Should she ask?

Would Isabella want her to ask?

Why was she overthinking it so much?

Whatever was going on in her life, was her own business. Josie didn’t have to be nosy, she shouldn’t be nosy. She should just leave everyone alone.

A familiar blonde suddenly walked inand it took everything in Josie not to wish for everyone to just leave her alone.

“... Hey, Astraea.”

The pair used to be close, really close. And once Astraea switched schools… well, it kinda felt like she just switched friends. Maybe AJ and Astraea weren’t exactly best friends, but when one sister doesn’t make an effort, it’s hard to separate the other when it feels like the same situation repeating itself.

But… that doesn’t mean she was going to be rude.

Forgive and forget.

Easier said than done, really.

“You can jump in line with me.” She offered a strained smile, gesturing towards her.

“... so, how’s everything?”

code by valen t.

 

[Elf_Ruler]

Lemon Pierce

Lemon had taken a moment realize she had recognized the two twins from around school, though she never interacted with them, they were both nice and they seemed pretty popular. She was relieved that neither were upset with her for bumping into them, because she hadn’t been paying attention and it was busy inside the store. Of course, she smiled as Winnie spoke to her, “Yeah, it’s Lemon.” She was kind of shocked that more people knew of her, because she wasn’t exactly popular, she just existed in the small town. It wasn’t a bad thing and she had enjoyed the solace of not being popular and not being noticed, or at least thinking she hadn’t been noticed.

It was when Chance took notice of her that Lemon could feel her heart rate quicken. She was safe, she had Hayden near, but she could feel her nerves intensify. As he moved in closer Lemon felt her body automatically back away. The smile still on her face but less authentic than before. It wasn’t that chance wasn’t handsome, but he came on far stronger than she was prepared for and her instincts had naturally kicked in. Her brain was struggling to find words as she was looking for more open area, to have more space around herself. Just as she was about to speak, she felt Hayden drape an arm over her and answer the question. She wanted to shrink away from Hayden and the whole interaction, “Um, yeah. Family name.” She was trying to keep her voice calm while she felt under everyone’s eyes. She felt as though everyone was waiting for her to speak to say something and all she wanted was to no longer exist. To hide herself within Hayden’s hoodie. Out from under his arm.

She took a deep breath, “My, great grandma was named Lemon. So, my mom and dad decided to name me after her.” Everything was still forced for Lemon, but she had to be nice and she had to be calm. She tried to keep herself preoccupied by letting her hands play with the cuffs of the hoodie. Her eyes trying to not meet with either boy near her. It felt like there was more tension in the air than she could feasibly handle. “So, um do you guys like the ice cream?” she wanted to switch the conversation, from Chance’s breath to something less…challenging.

For her it was as if her heart couldn’t stop pounding and she could the blood rushing through her. But she knew that if she said anything that let onto her nerves than people would worry, even though she didn’t know how to be close like this with any male let alone anyone she actually liked. So now, she stood Hayden’s arm draped over her, hoping that the ice cream topic would smooth the conversation over.

Mention(s): Interaction(s): Dazzle ALittleRedLie

 

[Kyon]

MOOD: Happy that he’s got somebody to take his mind off things for the moment

OUTFIT: Ripped, bleach blue jeans and a pink and white t-shirt that says “DON’T MIND ME”

LOCATION: Spooning

basics

MENTIONS:

INT:
Dazzle (Astraea)

tags

TL;DR Looking for something NEW

tl;dr

Arlo Bailey

~my playlist is straight v i b e~

"Hmm..." Arlo held his hand to his chin and studied the menu ahead of him. "I figured vanilla was pretty different, but I guess that is basic for most people." All of the other options seemed so foreign to him, making any other decision intimidating. He pondered for a moment, not wanting to venture TOO far out of his comfort zone. Then an idea sprang to mind that made him content. A compromise that still kept Arlo in familiar territory while still switching things up from the norm would be, "SPRINKLES!" It was odd, but the idea of sprinkles on his ice cream made him happy, and that much was very apparent. He looked to Astraea innocently, almost as if he was looking for her approval on his 'brave' choice.

They were finally nearing the front of the line at this point and Arlo was eying the other toppings now that they were nearly within grasp. The caramel and chocolate drizzle looked pretty appealing to him to. "You know, maybe I am feeling a bit daring today." This was the type of comfort food Arlo was in desperate need of. Thank the lord he had someone to give him a little push that day. It was the little nudge he needed to kickstart his reform to be a different person.

code by valen t.

 

[Dazzle]

MOOD: ecstatic

OUTFIT: outfit

LOCATION: ice cream

basics

MENTIONS:

Kyon (Arlo)
INT:
Soap (Josie)

tags

TL;DR excited to see Josie again

tl;dr

Astraea Dupante

there are so many beautiful reasons to be happy....

Astraea found themselves slowly inching their way to the front. She listened to Arlo go over his flavor choice which left nothing to the imagination. “Oh fine.” She smirked, realizing that Arlo wasn’t going to leave his comfort zone of flavors today. “Better than just plain vanilla.” She let a light laugh flow from her lips.

“Call me when you’re feeling adventurous.” She had no idea what she was saying, why had she just said that. It was so stupid, it made no sense. Why was she judging him so harshly over the flavor of ice cream he wanted? It was his taste buds. He should get whatever he wanted, not what she found interesting or cool. Astraea looked over her shoulder as she walked to the front of the line to get her order when a familiar voice pulled her out of her self-deprecating speech.

“... Hey, Astraea.”

She turned around quickly to see the blonde standing at the front of the line, just a few people ahead of her. “Josie!” She squealed, it had been so long since they had seen each other. Yet Josie hadn’t changed a bit. She still had a bright energy surrounding her, though in this moment it almost seemed dulled.

Astraea jumped at the opportunity to cut the line, if only to see one of her closet friends. Skipping forward, blocking out the sounds of people groaning from behind her. She threw her arms around Josie’s shoulders, squeezing the small girl into her chest. “I missed you!!” She released her with a huff of air escaping from her lungs. As if she had forgotten to breath.

“Oh, you know, all sorts of fun things.” Astraea spoke sarcastically, crinkling her nose as she spoke. “Mostly avoiding mom and dad, they aren’t too happy with me since I got kicked out of Hartfield…. And quit soccer.” What was Astraea doing with her life, she left everything that she knew and thought she loved behind. All because… Well, she was burnt out… Though her parents wouldn’t listen to her about that. She had missed being a kid, hanging out with friends, getting to go to parties… She wanted to kiss boys and dance the night away.

That was what girls did at parties? Right? That’s what the movies showed at least. “Enough about me! How are you?? What’s going on with you?!” Astraea took Josie’s hands in hers crouching forward to look at her. Any thought of ice cream had completely flown out of her head, only when the cashier behind the desk cleared his throat was she reminded that she as in fact holding up the line.

“Oh… Sorry.” She said more quietly as she released Josie’s wrists back to her. “Can I have two scoops of cotton candy?” Astraea pulled a five dollar bill out of her wallet, handing it over to the gentleman behind the counter.

“Thank you!” She spoke as she took the cup of ice cream that was passed to her. She scooted out of the way so that Josie and Astraea were not interfering with the rest of the long line waiting to get their spoonings of ice cream.

code by valen t.

 

[Soap]

MOOD: Slightly uncomfortable

OUTFIT: Flowers

LOCATION: Spooning

basics

MENTIONS: Cl


INT: Astraea

Dazzle

tags

TL;DR Sweet and sour?

tl;dr

Josephine

Do you get deja-vu?

Josie’s gaze fell to their suddenly intertwined hands before they’d made eye contact and a swirl of emotions surged through her, and at this point— Josephine was internally cringing. It had felt so incredibly awkward, the two had become more than just distant friends and while Josie resented her for that bit, jumping back into things like they hadn’t changed just didn’t sit right with her. Astraea wasn’t exactly braiding her hair or anything, but it felt like it’d happen pretty soon at this rate.

Josie’s being overdramatic.

Of course she is.

Overthinking was kind of her thing.

The awkward moment was saved by... ice cream, thankfully. Josie handed over a crumpled up five dollar bill and placed a few cents into the tip jar as their orders arrived with a gentle smile and were shooed out of line as soon as possible.

“Oh. Don’t worry about it. But uh, yeah no. Same old, same old with me.”

What else was she supposed to say? Church, school, work, home, Clark and Liz.

That’s what Josie’s life revolved around. Nothing changed. Well, since she left nothing changed. It was pretty shocking to hear that Astraea had gotten expelled from Hartfield. She wasn’t really the trouble causing type— at least, in Josie’s eyes.

The pair wandered outside, away from the crowded store to sit on a nearby bench.

Josie couldn’t just leave now.

That’d be rude.

Incredibly so.

“Nothing new? Besides… quitting soccer, I mean. Is there a reason why? You— sorry, if I’m being pushy. I just…”

Don’t really know what to say.

code by valen t.

 

[ALittleRedLie]

Winnie Matthews
mood: annoyed; | outfit: XX | mentions: Soap (Kat) | interactions: ALittleRedLie (Chance); Elf_Ruler (Lemon) ; Dazzle (Hayden)

Winnie softly smiles at Hayden, slightly overwhelmed by the complimenting words he was giving her. She never was once to take compliments gracefully. I'd like to think I am a good person, but no one has ever gotten on my bad side. She shrugs, looking off . Winnie has always like being known as a nice person, she never went out of her way to be mean and she always tried her hardest to give off a good impression to those she'd just met. However, she can easily think back to a time where she wasn't nice and it involving her old friend Kat. She may or may not have broken someone's nose. I'm not sure if I'll let you get away with murder, only if it's justified though. She jokes, pushing a strand of her straightened hair over her shoulder.

Lemon is a beautiful name, I'm also named after my grandmother. It's sort of like a tribute that comes with a lot of expectations.

Win can kind of see Lemon shrink in her demeanor a little, as if she were uncomfortable or scared. And the dark-skinned girl could practically drown in Hayden's apparent jealousy. Men. Winnie thinks, her eye roll mostly pointed at her brother. Chance could really be a dumbass sometimes, but lately it's been more than usual and he wouldn't tell her why. So much for being best friends. However, right now, Winnie desperately needed to get her brother out of whatever he was pulling, before he put the two of them in some type of drama that she was going to have to clean up (as always).

Winnie has never experienced a more hostile side of Hayden, it didn't scare her, it was just a shock. He was always nice to her and he was Harper's brother so Winnie never thought that she'd ever run into a problem like this. She could tell that Chance's actions obviously bothered Hayden and she really didn't want to see a brawl between a cute guy that happened to be the brother of one of her closest friend and her twin brother who is practically her best friend. It was going to be hard to pick a side.

The twins momentarily make eye contact and it feels like an eternal amount of time to have a conversation, but it was a mere few seconds. They have a silent conversation, both of them analyzing the situation in front of them. Winnie's eyes plead with him to stop being an asshole, trying to pull him from the ledge. Chance throws a quick shrug at her as if he didn't know why it was such a big deal. Why are you being an asshole? Stop bothering Hayden and let the poor girl breathe. Winnie's eyes practically screamed, and she hoped to whoever it was above that her brother would listen.

I love ice cream, don't be surprised if you find me here all the time for the next few months, you should totally join me for frequent trips Lemon. Winona turns back to Lemon, helping the girl get out from the men's silent, but deadly, pissing match. And despite being twins Hayden, Chance and I run different lives, I certainly hope that he takes care of himself. Winnie nudges her elbow into her brother, another warning for him to stand down.

Chance can hear Winnie, she wasn't speaking, but he could hear what she wanted to say just by the stern look she was giving him. He quickly rolls his eyes at his sister but decides to better his behavior, they were in public after all. It's like a switch in his character occurs as he straightened himself up and took a step back, standing closer to his shorter sister.

The words that Hayden spewed were fun and he wanted so much to retaliate, but because his sister asked so nicely through their little twin bond of theirs, he was going to drop it. Chance thought it was nice to know that he could easily push Hayden's buttons. The thought was entertaining and was sure going to be revisited. later However using Lemon so much wasn't quite amusing to Chance. She looked uncomfortable, like if she wanted shrink into a smaller size than she already was. Chance decided to put her out of her misery.

The smile on his face softens to a polite grin, with his phone stuffed into his pocket and his ice cream finished, Chance has no place to put his hands except deeper in his pocket. My name just symbolizes my parents' second chance at parenthood. Now, I like your name, Lemon. It's unique and will make waves in this little town of ours.

When Hayden pushes against Chance's shoulder, the latter lets the movement move him back a few more steps, the distance getting larger between his counterparts, he does slightly bump into his sister and causes for her to drop her phone, the look on her face reading, told you so. There's no need to get hostile Hayden. Chance sends a cheeky wink towards the brunette teenager. And I promise Lemon, I never leave the house without taking care of myself, never know who you might meet. Chance has toned down his flirtatious demeanor, but those words flowed so naturally out of his mouth that he didn't really deem how flirty it sounded.

Ice cream is more Winnie's thing, you'll find me at the track a lot more. This town is a little suffocating with the perfect guys, parental expectations, and societal norms so running helps me be a little free. Standing down has made Chance a little bored now, but he keeps a friendly look on his face. Not everything needed to be burned down with a torch. And for his sister, he'd play nice. For the newer girl that stood in front of him, named Lemon, he definitely wasn't going to let her become collateral damage.

Chance Matthews
mood: flirty, troublesome| outfit: XX | interactions: ALittleRedLie (Winona); Elf_Ruler (Lemon); Dazzle (Hayden)| mentions: N/A

 

[Dazzle]

MOOD: upset/pissed off/confused

OUTFIT: Black hooters top, black jeggings and black sneakers

LOCATION: behind a brick building in town center

basics

MENTIONS:
NA

INT:
r e i (isa)

tags

TL;DR Walking through town, dissociated

tl;dr

Maxine Rhodes

she wears darkness, like some wear the little black dress

Maxine listened quietly as Isa went off. Maxine didn’t agree with her, or well she did. The world never went her way, but Isa, Isa had gotten a lot. She went through tough struggles, most that she spared Maxine the details of. Maybe Maxine didn’t have to go through foster care like Isa and Lucky, but watching your parent vanish before your eyes, while they were physically still there. It was tough, it was different.

There was no way for Maxine to see Isa as the villain, she couldn’t. Isa always put others ahead of herself, that wasn’t what a villain did. But yet, she put herself in harms way to make it seem like she was. “You aren’t a villain. I don’t understand where you get that idea Isa.” She mumbled under her breath. Maxine was sure that Isa hadn’t heard her. Maxine was forward with most people, comfortable in almost any situation. But, Isa… It was different. For the longest time, Isa had been the only one to look out for Maxine.

“You don’t have to break shit for—” Maxine stopped dead mid thought. Had she even heard what Isa had said. Maxine’s eyes went wide, and her mouth gapped open. Maxine wasn’t someone blind to the drug epidemic, she wasn’t’ naïve or innocent about how her mom put all of their savings into something that just took her away. Took away the pain. “You sell what?” Isa ignored her voice.

Maxine ignored Isa reminding her about the offer to move in with Isa and her mom. Maxine couldn’t hear any part of what Isa had to say further. Maxine was still in shock. What was she selling, why did she even need to sell? It wasn’t like her family needed the money; her mother was a doctor for god’s sake. “Do I have you? Because that seems like something pretty big to keep from someone you call a sister.” Maxine threw her hands down turning away from Isa, she stuck her hands deep into her hair grabbing onto the roots. Trying to find some way to ground herself in a very ungrounding moment. “Why Isa. Why.” Maxine turned back around to face Isa, to meet her dark eyes.

Isa looked different now. She didn’t look like the strong friend that would stand up for anyone. She looked like another person who had fallen for the fantasy world that drugs gave.

All Maxine wanted to do was run. But she couldn’t. She was better than that. She couldn’t even bring herself to try and help Isa, tell her that she would be whatever she wanted for herself. The only thing she saw now, was someone who was an enabler. “What do you sell Isa?” Maxine had her eyes on the ground. Maybe if it was just weed, she could let it go…

It was then when she realized that all the gifts that Isa had given her, wasn’t from the diner job. “Did you buy my phone with your drug money?!” The clothes, the food, the things that Isa went out of her way to take care of Maxine. Was from her illegal selling.

“Fuck someone there to stop me Isa, you were a role model to me. You had so much, but you’re throwing it all away because you want to Isa.”

“You. Want. To.” As far as Maxine was aware, there was no reason for Isa to be going out of her way any longer to sell drugs. If she was still in foster care she could of understood it. If her mom cared to much about Maxine, then why couldn’t she just ask for money. And Maxine never needed a new phone, if Isa hadn’t thrown hers into the ocean. “I don’t need your help Isa. If you’re such a fuck up, then I’m sure that I won’t go anywhere.”

“Are we family Isa??! You kept this from me, you know how I feel about drugs. I am sure that you even sold to my mom.” Maxine was grasping at straws, she was angry, she no longer felt like she could trust Isa. How could she have kept this from her for so long. And she was trying to justify it, while giving Maxine no reason to trust her. As far as Maxine could see, Isa had no legitimate reason to be selling. There was nothing that Isa could tell Maxine that would fix this. If Isa loved her so much, she wouldn’t be doing this.

“Fine. You’re a fuck up.”

“That’s what you want me to say right?” Maxine’s fingers wrapped tightly into a fist, her nails dug into the palm of her skin. “You want me to agree with you. That’s why you told me.”

“Fuck you Isa.”

code by valen t.

 

[Dazzle]

MOOD: awkward

OUTFIT: outfit

LOCATION: outside spooning

basics

MENTIONS:
Clark, Liz, AJ
INT:
Soap (Josie)

tags

TL;DR excited to see Josie again

tl;dr

Astraea Dupante

there are so many beautiful reasons to be happy....

As Josie pulled away at the sight of the ice cream, Astraea almost wondered if Josie hadn’t missed her as much as Astraea had missed Josie. She was quiet with her responses, and they seemed to be missing her signature smile. What was Astraea missing, it couldn’t have been because of her, right? Had Astraea done something? She knew that she hadn’t been reachable, but she had been so overwhelmed between school and varsity soccer as a freshman.

Astraea followed Josie out of the shop, a hop in her step as they reached a bench sitting down crossing her legs. She glided the plastic spoon across the ice cream and plopped it in her mouth. “Either, I’ve really missed Spoonings ice cream or they made it even better.” Astraea pointed to the cup with her plastic spoon in hand nodding, completely content.

Though Astraea didn’t expect further questions on quitting soccer. “No… You’re not pushy..” She stared down at her ice cream. “I just… Wanted more time I guess?” She shrugged her shoulders, squinting as she looked over at Josie. “Between classes at Hartfield, and varsity soccer… It was really… Really overwhelming.” Astraea sighed, dropping her shoulders forward as she did.

“Mom and pop weren’t happy about my decision to quit… Though they also weren’t happy about the expulsion either.” Astraea let a strained laugh pass her lips. She had wanted to fall back into normalcy with Josie and it was just seeming like a lot harder than she had expected it to be.

“How’s… Clark? Liz? AJ?” She smiled biting the bottom corner of her lip. Maybe talking about other people would make the air around the two blondes feel less tense. They used to be best friends, they couldn’t have drifted that far apart. Could they have?

code by valen t.

 

[Dazzle]

MOOD: inconvenienced

OUTFIT: Outfit

LOCATION: In Spooning

basics

MENTIONS:


INT:
Elf_Ruler (Lemon)
ALittleRedLie (Winnie and Chance)

tags

TL;DR ice cream

tl;dr

Hayden Anderson

you get what you give

Hayden chuckled at Winnie’s comment. “I hope to not be the first.” He let his arm slip off Lemon’s shoulder. Though her anxiety only seemed to become worse, someone who usually was a ray of sunshine now seemed clouded. Though, Hayden couldn’t understand why. Maybe all this time him and Lemon really had been nothing, she had no feelings for him. He was acting like a boyfriend when she only saw him as a friend. That was why she got so awkward right?

“I only wish they had picked a better name since they were reopening.” Hayden spoke sarcastically, rolling his eyes. He really wasn’t a fan of the name of spooning, and he had taken every chance he had gotten to tell his peers about it.

He let out a small chuckle at Winnie’s comment. Hayden knew he went too far, though Chance always seemed to push his buttons. Whether it was on purpose or not. Hayden always found it easy to start a fight with him. It was weird, Hayden could almost get along with anyone, but Chance and him. They always were found to be fighting. “Shit, I’m sorry Win.” He spoke as her phone fell from her hand due to him being a bit too rough in his friendly punch to the shoulder.

Though, Chance didn’t seem to stop. Despite Lemon’s obvious un-comfort. “Sometimes the treat is worth it.” Hayden smile was somewhat strained, though he knew how much time went into sports. It was easy to fall into the unrealistic expectations. “Yea just a bit suffocating, especially when people think they know your lives.” Hayden grumbled under his breath. Parental expectations. What he would give to have his dad care. Have his dad show up, have his dad punish him for staying out too late.

But Hayden wasn’t stupid. He knew nothing was going to change, his dad couldn’t escape his own pain.

He rubbed the back of his neck, ruffling the back of his hair. Hayden threw his arms down back by his side lifting up his ice cream from the table that he had placed it down moments before. “You know, I haven’t gotten to try it yet.” He smirked taking a big scoop of cookie dough out of the waffle cup. Plopping it into his mouth. “Okay, I may hate the name, but this ice cream.”

“Is. The. Best.” Hayden laughed, trying to forget about his father and just enjoy the moment he was in.

code by valen t.

 

[r e i]

ISABELLA ALEJA EDISON-ROSE

mood: broken + location: hiding with maxine + outfit: xxx + tags: Dazzle

Isa at this point just breaks. Tears ran down her face, she never wanted Maxine to find out about how to earn extra cash. She never wanted her to find out that she was one of the people she hated, more than anything in the world. Isa just looked away in shame. “I didn’t tell you because it’s not something I’m proud of. It’s something I never wanted you to know about me. You act like I wanted this?”

“I was fucking 10 years old, when I started running drugs. It was either run drugs, join a gang, or fucking starve to death. So I chose running drugs. It was the only way that I was gonna get food for myself.” Isa says strongly glaring at the floor. Her mind went back to that time, her foster father, who was Lucky's father, spent all the money on booze. He barely fed them so she needed to make money but nowhere would hire a kid, so with the help of Lucky, found someone who would but at the cost of her innocence, not that she had much left. So she made the deal with the devil.

“Whatever they give me to sell. Could be coke, meth, weed, or pills. Lately it’s been pills and weed. “ Isa says honestly as she looks at Maxine. Who had turned away from her in disappointment. Isa looked away, and sighs. “I don’t sell to your mother, I don’t know who does. But I don’t deal with her. And I don’t do drugs. I did once but...I haven’t in a few years. I just deal. That’s all.” She tries to explain herself, she wanted Maxine to know that if she had a choice she would get out of this business if she could but she was in the business. And her boss, was a scary fucking dude that didn’t like when one of his best dealers left. She knows that from seeing him beat someone just for thinking about it.

“Not all of the things. But yes most of them were bought with the money I earned from dealing. Some of it was from working at the diner. I try not to use it as much...” Isa mumbles softly. When she looks at that money, she feels like she was dirty. Ruining families was never what she wanted. All she wanted was to feed herself. This seemed like the only way to do it at the time. Now she’s stuck, and she doesn’t know how to get out of it.

“I want this?!?! I wanted out as soon as I met you! You were the first kid that I met that I saw first hand how drugs destroyed families. I wanted out because I never wanted this to even fucking reach you. “ She snapped at Maxine. “But I work for a scary fucking dude with a gun. And he does not like it when I even think about leaving. I would be killed for leaving. Trust me I’ve seen it happened more than once. “

“Did you not hear anything I said? Or was you so fucking focused on accusing me of selling to your mother?” Isa says strong as she looks at Maxine. She walks up to Maxine and looks straight in her eyes “The day I met you, changed my life. It wasn’t my mom who made me want to leave the job. It wasn’t Tums. It wasn’t even Max or Lucky. It was you. And for the last year, I have been trying to figure out a way to leave the job without leaving you. Because yes I know you would hate me if you found out about me. That would fucking kill me.” Isa says as she stares at her. She wanted something better for Maxine and having a drug dealer as a sister would never let her be better so she was actively trying to rid that title from her past

“You will go somewhere because I made damn sure that the choices I had to make, would never be the choices you have. If you needed food, I got it. If you needed clothes, electronics, or anything. I fucking got it. Because unlike you, yes I didn’t have anyone who could provide me with those. All I had was myself. So I went down a road and now I’m stuck. “ Isa says straight in Maxine's face. Looking at her and maintaining eye contact. But then Maxine accused her of doing something that breaks her. And she steps back in disbelief

“Sell drugs to your mom? I just told you that I never fucking did. Nor would I ever. And she fucking tried, and I refused her. I got my ass kicked for that. Think all you want about me but I would never fucking do that to you. “ Isa says as tears run down her face. She had refused to sell drugs to her mother when she found out that Isa was a dealer. Once word got back to her boss that she refused, she was beaten for doing so. She still made sure that she wasn’t the one to drive the knife in Maxine’s family.

Isa just looks down in shame as Maxine drives a knife through her heart.

She had lost her kid. Her family. The tears wouldn’t stop as the last words were spoken.

coded by natasha.

 

[Elf_Ruler]

Lemon Pierce

Lemon was trying to hold herself together with each passing moment as she stood amongst everyone. She smiled at Winnies offer but all she could do was keep her breathing calm and keep herself from completely freaking out at all the attention she didn’t want. Each person made her feel like she had to respond, had to be nice, had to play the perfect role and she couldn’t do it. Not with the space invasion that had just occurred. Sure, Chance had backed off, but Lemon wasn’t able to shake away her discomfort no matter how much she tried. All she could do was tug at the sleeves of the hoodie to distract herself as everyone else spoke in turn.

Once Hayden’s arm was off of Lemon she stayed in her spot for a moment, trying to figure out a polite way to escape. She looked at her phone and she prayed her dad would tell her she needed to return home. It was the first time in a long time that Lemon just wanted to go home. She wanted to feel like she was back in her comfort zone and this moment was anything but that. Her eyes glanced over to Hayden, but she couldn’t quite understand what was going through his mind, she couldn’t explain to him what was wrong. She couldn’t explain that to anyone.

As the minutes rolled by Lemon grabbed her ice cream and finally mustered up her strength to speak up, “I uh, got to go home. My mom wants me to help make a pie. So, I uh, I’ll see y’all around. Thanks for the hoodie. I’ll wash it before returning it.” She tried to give a bright smile to Hayden, but she couldn’t force it out. She waved goodbye to the trio. She grabbed her stuff and explained to Kat that she had to go home. It was the easiest excuse and she was quickly out of the ice cream shop and at her truck. Lemon couldn’t have told you how quickly she got home, but once home all she did was disappear into her room until she could fully collect her thoughts and herself.

Mention(s): Soap Interaction(s): ALittleRedLie Dazzle

 

[PenguinFox]

When Graham had mentioned that Stu seemed to hate him for no particular reason Lulu frowned. Graham was one of the sweetest people she knew. He was kind, gentle, caring, and a good friend. Truly, she couldn't understand why anyone wouldn't like him. The worst part of that was that Graham didn't know why Stu didn't like him. The only logical conclusion the Woods girl could come up with was that maybe he was envious of him for some reason? The Hartfield mascot had many talents but surely the Parish Bay mascot had his own skillset. Envy was one of those things that Lulu didn't really get; envious of something material? Work to get said thing. Envious of a physical characteristic? Everyone is unique and beautiful in their own way. Envious of a personality trait? See both previous options. Fleeting moments of envy were to be expected, it was part of being a human in Lulu's mind, but she couldn't grasp the concept of holding on to that emotion. There just didn't seem to be a sense to.

Graham stumbling over his words had brought a birdsong like laugh from Tallulah's lips. She had given his hand a reassuring squeeze as they continued on their walk. "I know what you mean. I'm glad you have been staying out of trouble. I'd hate for you to get the same fate as me." Being a prisoner in her own home wasn't too bad, it was the inability to communicate with the outside world that was unfortunate. Without her phone she was unable to communicate with anyone from the Hawking House trip. She had no idea the status of the others. Were they okay? Were they also in trouble like she had been in? Did they know that she had been grounded and couldn't communicate that fact to them, or were they under the impression she was purposefully silent? She hoped they didn't think that. She'd hate for new friends to think that she was ignoring them.

In addition to being unable to message people her age, Lulu's phone being confiscated also meant that she couldn't directly communicate with her father. Mr Woods and his daughter had a very close bond. While he was away on business, which was quite often, Lulu never truly felt whole. Like an old but deep scar there was always a faint, lingering pain when he was away. Even if he couldn't get the chance to respond the daughter would always message him at least once a day. Without her phone however, all communication went through a third party; her mother. That...wasn't entirely the same and left an anxious ache in the young girl's chest whenever her thoughts drifted to her father. This trip out with Graham was a good distraction if nothing else. There was something about her friend that seemed to just make Lulu feel more at ease.

Stalter allowing Lulu and Graham to rent skates for free was a surprise to the small girl. She knew he was a nice guy, but that was extra generous. "It was nice of him. He's never done that when Mother was with me. Perhaps because it's just us..." the brunette pondered aloud. She shrugged it off as just Oswald being Oswald and made her way onto the ice. She stepped carefully onto the rink; clearly cautious but practiced. She moved tentatively forward at first but quickly gained her footing. It was like watching someone relearn to ride a bike. She skated out a bit towards the center of the ice before gracefully turning back around to help Graham into the rink. It didn't feel like a good idea to help him learn if she wasn't fully ready herself.

With his hand in hers Lulu led Graham on to the ice. The smile on his face seemed to brighten the whole rink as he found he could stand on the ice with minimal help from her. His smile brought the Woods girl a grin of her own to match. The pure joy of learning to do something fun was something that Lulu could watch endlessly. Uncontained happiness written plainly on others' faces was something that the girl lived for. "I knew you could!" she called back to her friend as he made his way across the ice without her, a strange sense of pride filling her chest.

Just as quickly as he was succeeding, Graham was also quickly learning what failure felt like. A cold and unforgiving surface to land on unceremoniously. Lulu's hands came to her lips in a gasp before she dashed over to Graham. To her relief, he was chuckling and didn't seem to be hurt, bringing a small giggle from her as well. It was a little funny. "Maybe not, but hey...can you really say you truly succeed at something if you didn't fail a little first? I fell so many times when I was first learning, I might still have bruises!" her hair bounced as she laughed, holding her hands out to help the boy up to his feet. "Don't try and turn around while skating just yet. Learn to go forwards before backwards. Falling is part of the process, so unfortunately it's likely to happen again. When it does try to land on your butt if you can. If not, use your arms to break your fall. Hitting your face is very bad. And to stand up by yourself, do so one leg at a time." she explained helping him up. It was beginning to feel strangely warm for an ice rink. Weird.

Hazel eyes dropped down to intertwined hands and an unfamiliar warmth rose in Lulu's stomach and chest. Almost like being queasy, or nervous, but not quite either. A tingling sensation spread from her palms and fingertips where she connected with Graham's. She began to push herself backwards so as to give Graham some space to learn but in her distracted state neglected to let go of his hands; pulling him with her. Her feet made an attempt to stop the pairs momentum but ended up causing her to lose her balance, all the while still clinging to the boy. With one final slip the pair came crashing to the ice, their faces very close. In an instant all the warmth that had been building in Lulu rushed directly into her face, turning her cheeks crimson. She was now painfully aware of feeling incredibly awkward around Graham, a feeling she hadn't ever felt before. It was confusing, and honestly a little terrifying. "S-sorry, that was my fault...I was...I was distracted....are you okay?..." she quietly stammered out. It felt hard to breath but it wasn't like Graham landing on her had injured her, her breath just kept catching in her throat. What was this? Dazzle

 

[Qwertycakes]

MOOD: Jealous

OUTFIT: here

LOCATION: Creeping on the cheer practice

basics

MENTIONS:

Ivy Chimney Swift

Ashley @tamarapasek



INT:
-

tags

TL;DR: Simps gonna simp, and get jealous when their target flirts with someone else

tl;dr

Dustin Thackery

I'll sit and wonder of every love that could've been
if I'd only thought of something charming to say

Dustin's dark eyes glowered at the pair happily carrying on before him, flirting shamelessly. He felt his face grow hot, his fingers curling into fists as his body tensed with frustration, and he quickly stashed them away in the front pocket of his black hoodie. Sure, Ivy was cute and way funnier than him, there was no denying. But she also had a mean-spirited undercurrent just like that Cyrus girl Ashley had been fawning all over at her movie night. Whatever, he'd seen enough of Ivy on Twitter and around school to safely say it...she was an asshole.

So this is what Ashey wanted. An asshole. This is the type Ashley wants to shower with attention and trade sexual innuendos with. The complete opposite of himself. The thought made him want to kick the crap out of the bleachers his foot was propped up on...scream FUUUCK at the uncaring blue sky...yeet a garden gnome if he had one.

Dustin did nothing, of course, but continue to glare at the girls on the field, momentarily struck by the look on Claire's face as Ashley and Ivy giggled about Kemon's little tryst and what...activities they may or may not be engaging in. Claire's expression seemed to mirror what he was feeling in that moment; for a split second she looked completely crushed, and he couldn't help but feel for her, as he knew exactly what it was like. The look was gone in a flash however, and Claire was back to her usual smirk, flashing her middle fingers at Ivy and tossing back snarky banter about hamstrings.

As Ivy and Claire went about their quipping, Dustin looked up just in time to catch a glance Ashley threw his way, a look of annoyance and utter comtempt for him in that moment...at least that's how it read to Dustin, and it was the last straw. What even was he doing there? He was nothing but an annoyance to Ashley right now, and if she was going to make out with a friend, obviously he would be last on the list at all times. Even Brodie had a better chance.

"I...have to go," Dustin tossed the words out as carelessly as he could manage, standing to stomp off the bleachers. He could hear Claire cackling and calling after him, but spared himself turning around to see her evil grin as she watched him trudge across the field, amused by his sulking.

"Wait, Dusty, don't goooo!" Claire implored in an exaggeratedly sultry, sex kitten purr. "Ashley said you can join her and Ivy! Oh yeah, Dusty! Mmm yeah, yeauuhh, uuuungh!" Her taunting was punctuated by feigned pornographic moans and shrieks of desire, grabbing Ivy and miming a pelvic thrust against her for effect before dissolving into a fit of sardonic laughter.

code by valen t.

 

[Soap]

MOOD: Slightly uncomfortable

OUTFIT: Flowers

LOCATION: Spooning

basics

MENTIONS: Clark, Liz, AJ


INT: Astraea

Dazzle

tags

TL;DR Sweet and sour?

tl;dr

Josephine

Do you get deja-vu?

Josephine listened intently, nodding her head in understanding. She could see why Astraea had decided to quit, some people just enjoyed to have more free time to themselves than having a certain hobby to keep up-- in her case, it was a sport. But same thing. In a way, Josie was... shocked. Astraea had risked way more important things than just disappointing her parents. It'd come up on her transcript that she'd gotten kicked out, so there wasn't a good chance that a college would just let that fly. Besides, no more extracurriculars?

Ask her why she was worrying about Astraea's future?

She wouldn't have an answer for you.

Josie was just blindsided by it all herself, really. But... just because she wouldn't of made the choices that Astraea had, doesn't mean she'd judge her for it neither.

No matter their relationship.

Josie said nothing more on Astraea's expulsion.

"How's Clark? Liz?"

A soft smile appeared onto her face, and Josephine racked her brain for anything worthy to talk about.

After not talking for so long, almost anything would be good enough conversation right?

"AJ?"

Josie's smile gradually faded at the mention of her name.

"They're... uh... Clark's still painting away, working at the farm. So, he's doing good. Liz... uh, she could be better. Things with her mama' haven't been too well." She wasn't about to give the details involving Liz's mother, it was their business to tell, even if her mama didn't have a lot of time left-- or if suddenly another treatment had started working, that didn't mean word had to go around town. Whenever they felt comfortable enough to tell everyone, they could.

"AJ, she's uh... good." Josie swirled the ice cream in her cup with the plastic spoon, moving the chocolate back and forth before she glanced up over at Astraea, squinting her eyes slightly from the sunlight that glared her way before redirecting her attention back to the slowly melting chocolate mess. "At least that's what Lemon tells me. I wouldn't know personally, we don't talk much."

Josie tried. AJ just never really had an interest in... her. To see her, to talk to her. And after a certain amount of time... Josie just stopped trying.

"Some people just... drift apart, you know?"

The blonde met eyes with the other and a heavy pause sat in between them for the first few seconds. Cue some random Taylor Swift song and Josie took her phone out of her pocket to see Clark on her lock screen, she thinned a smile apologetically and answered, pressing the speaker button-- because if she was going to get out of this, she needed to pull out all the stops.

"Idroppedallthepiesandnoweverythingisonthefloorandnowthey'resayingtheydidn'tevenorder the order in the first place and she's not listening to me--"

A really deep breath could be heard over the phone and suddenly he was continuing his mess of a sentence.

"but you placed the order yourself andIcan'tsaynotoyou and I don't know what to do!"

Surprise was written all over Josie's face-- she was expecting a fake emergency, but not something so...

Clark was sure one-of-a-kind. Wasn't he?

"I... I'll see you at the diner." Josephine got up from the bench, pocketing her phone as she threw her barely eaten ice cream into the near garbage bin, feeling a slight twinge of guilt for wasting it in the first place.

"I gotta..."

Josie pointed behind her to indicate that she had to leave.

"I'll... see you... around?"

code by valen t.

 

[lion.]

MOOD: excited

OUTFIT: -

LOCATION: Beach

basics

MENTIONS:


INT:
Chimney Swift Dede

tags

TL;DR

tl;dr

Meera Desai

Be a little clumsy.

“Oliver, you don’t look so good-” Queasily, Meera Desai had extended out a palm to his shoulder. To her end of astonishment, he balked and fell back, devoid of his consciousness.

She spent the next few minutes noddling along to the wise and old grandpa whose coarse deep and heavy voice lifted the myriad of wrinkles that fashioned to his face in horizontal complexities.

“Ah-ah? Good night then?” She said, hesitantly, signalling through her nervous laugh. In the manned boat that became waterlogged and more slender, Meera Desai was conditioned to the middle. It was a perfectly good arrangement for she was still frostbitten under the thick and plump coat. Slavering her hands together, and rubbing them together, she looked up to the blonde with a supple smile.

“Guess that makes the two of us,” Meera shortly giggled, biting her tongue over a shiver, “Because you know-”

Mirthfully spluttering, she jabbed her thumb in the direction of the slumped brunette, “He’s-uh- he’s sleeping? Hey, are you cold too?”

With the bray of wind, and a noiseless whoosh, she spread the fabric over his shoulders. They shared the caterpillar fuzz of a brown dry jacket while the raging waters closed about them. One slip, and they both had ended up in it. The water swirled miraculously like fountains without ceramics, leathering back with the roll of the oars. The crashing of waves thundered on for miles without stop, never relaxing like it was always at war with itself. It looked more dangerous now that the sun had slanted towards the ground. It appeared to join another class, forming powerful strides and quick formations.

It frightened her...yet she was still there.

Looking past the dark waves and the ominous sound, it didn’t look too bad- almost alluring for they were leaving behind this wonderful big blue eye that lent them all different visions. Each wave seemed to have been specially made, comprising the right hue of blues and the right amount of white. It must take precise work to pick and paint the right colors of the waves and force it on with the age of motion. It took one second to look at the wave and depict the color, two minutes to mix the paints, two seconds to lift the brush and dip it in the paint, one second to bring it up to the canvas, and by the end of those two minutes and four seconds, the waves are already gone, replaced with new colors and variations.

Fiddling with her sandals, the scenario played again in her head as she stared up at the sky that was dripping in blue too.

Higher above the night of today was space. It has no known beginning. It has no known end. It had no shape. She was so used to things with shape that it was humbling to see something so formless, and so physically outrageous. There were glorifying things in space. It was a showcase of beauty and darkness, and uncaged light. It had black holes distantly regularly demolishing anything in it’s path, yet creation as sparks were made by conspicious dust.

The ocean was no different, and as of right now, so were the eyes of the boy who dived face first for her.

“Thank you for being a life jacket, Stu,” she said sun-rent on her cold cheeks, without her tongue flopping, pressing her knuckles against his shoulder, “For trying to save me even when you couldn’t swim.”

code by valen t.

 

[lion.]

MOOD: happy

OUTFIT: -

LOCATION: Zachary Lee's residence

basics

MENTIONS:


INT: Elf_Ruler

tags

TL;DR

tl;dr

Rose Lee & Zachary Lee

Never run out of name-calling on your siblings.

“Isn’t that just the ushe? You paying for Jack’s ice cream, and him ripping you off with his asshat flirting? Next time we go, I want two scoops of mint chocolate-” Rose Lee notoriously remarked, laying flat on her stomach on the phone call. Her face was macha green, a face mask upturned on her insipid, but good-humored face.

“Mint chocolate- blaah. You psychopath. It tastes like straight up toothpaste,” replied Dee, her very best friend, contemtuously as if she was smacking on bubblegum.

“Not my fault you have bummed out taste buds,” Rose said impassionatly, as she readjusted herself on her bed. Her curly hair like hawaiian gold plainly swaddled over the leans of her cheeks.

Slinking her elbows into her pillows, and blowing her hair back, her concentration fell apart from listening to Dee. Listing the current inconsistency of her life, there was also the irreversible reality that she was not faintly hungry. She was on the verge of starvation. Her mouth pooled with drool. Man, she should’ve just gone to Spooning.

“I like it” she murmured, “Mint ice cream. So, does dad and his dad. Oh, hey there Mr.Hodge.” Stirring in the pigments of the lagging screen was Dee’s father who waved through their screen. Exchanging conversation with him, she went on with casual talk with him.

“My dad says that you’ve been everywhere, but France. Maybe you should take Mrs.Hodge there sometime soon and go far, far away from this weirdo-” The man gave an absolute laugh, and although the emotion was heart-felt, Rose’s connection split it into subjected glitches.

“Thomas isn’t wrong about that. France is still on my list,” Mr.Hodge esctastically admitted as he disappeared off the screen.

“What are we doing again?” inquired Dee, after Rose had a lengthy talk with Mr.Hodge. Rose shrugged, “Talking. Jack’s dump truck making you buy him ice cream. Mint.”

“Really? Jeez, thanks for letting me know. I couldn’t tell we were doing that already. I mean aren’t you supposed to be like doing other things? I don’t know… aren’t you popular?”

“Not really,” Rose replied, making a cattish groan, “And, I don’t wanna be like Zach and his girlfriend. God knows what they’re doing downstairs.”

“Oh.” Dee pondered on that.

“But, I’m hungry. So, who cares,” Rose asserted without any regret, as she stretched back up, “I’ll call ya later. Bye!!” She hung up.

As she reached the bottom of the steps, she heard commotion in the kitchen. She quietly walked up, but it took a long second for them to notice. They took their time to notice her, so she coughed.

The instance she did, total attention compelled her. Tatum Browne was blooming pink, her slender muscles kicking off the counter as she invited her for a meal.

“Hope you don’t mind feeding your sister too. We can’t let her starve, Ramen Head,” referred his girlfriend about his sister’s unwanted presence. He was in the square of light between letting the cheese on the grain melt under the stove when the child of the house had slunk down the stairs.

“Hey, you little shi-” Zach said peremtorily without looking up, but Rose had already abandoned her guilt of interrupting; a persistent smirk nibbled at the edge of her mouth as she proudly sat down not too far away at the table.

“Who are you calling a little shit, you jackass?” Rose boringly quipped back.

“You can’t say that word,” Zach scholaristcally and exaggeratedly nodded from his spot next to the sandwich grill, using the spatula to point at her,“You're in eighth grade.”

“And, you’re a baby in a bib.”

“It’s dad’s apron, idiot.”

“Tatum,” Rose tattled, “Your boyfriend can’t even make sandwiches. I smell something burning.”

There were ashes when Zach let his nose pick up on it too. Solemnly spinning around rapidly, he gave up on their banter. Sheepishly, he noticed that the bread and the cheese had charred.

He lifted his head up to Tatum, and sure enough, she was staring back.

“Yeah, I’ll try again,” he stated to Rose, almost distantly, “Let me just-”

Let me just keep this in my memories because it might not be the same tomorrow. This type of day would slip by tomorrow.

“What happened?” Tatum Browne would ask. There was always those subliminal pass of staring between them which ministered just about everything and anything with words.

He snapped his eyes close and opened them rapidly, shaking his head. “Nothing. Just thought I-

I lo-

He smiled. “Oh, right! The grill-” With that, he turned back in his trail leading back to the stove, listening for the barefeet sound of his girlfriend's boots to follow. Once he did, he felt her hug him from behind.

code by valen t.

 

[ALittleRedLie]

Winnie Matthews
mood: annoyed; | outfit: XX | mentions: Qwertycakes (Dustin) | interactions: ALittleRedLie (Chance); Elf_Ruler (Lemon) ; Dazzle (Hayden)

When Winnie rose from picking up her phone, Lemon was preparing to bolt. Winona clearly saw that the attention was getting to Lemon and before she could say any words of comfort, Lemon whipped around and exited the ice cream shop and all Winona could do was helplessly watch as Lemon walked away, she felt sorry for the girl. Winnie had to make sure that she checked in on her later.

Winona glared at her twin brother and she could tell tell that he can feel her look. She loved Chance, of course, but she knew that Hayden and her brother did not get along. Which was weird since Winnie got along with the brunette just fine; and both twins were friends with Harper. Maybe her brother will enlighten her with his choices later, but for now she'd better play civil until they got home.

She turned towards her brother ready to lightly scold him, but the opening of the parlor door. Her eyes catch sight of a distressed Dustin. Winnie knows him from a class they took together, despite him being a grade below her, yet she was pretty sure they were only a few months apart in age. She'd always considered them friends. They had clicked after being partnered and would occasionally touch base. It didn't hurt that Winnie also thought he was cute. He was the perfect escape plan from the fallout of her brother's behavior.

With a plan in mind, Winnie turned her head back at Hayden. Hayden, it was good to see you. Hopefully we can hang out again soon, I see a friend who looks like he's going through a crisis. She smiles at him, placing her hand on his arm momentarily as a sign of goodbye. She then turns to her brother. Chance, don't be an asshole, find me later if you want. She begins walking towards Dustin. She'll deal with the drama later. And you better not leave me.

She kept walking until she made it to Dustin,hoping that this interaction was going to be a good one to end the day.

Chance watched with an eyebrow raised as Lemon quickly left the store. He felt bad a little, didn't mean to put her on the spot so much. He should apologize, especially since he knew his sister was possibly going to make him do it too. Before either Chance or Hayden could speak up, Winnie does. She excuses herself from the conversation and makes her way towards Dustin. A guy she introduced to him a while ago. His twin emphasizes that he does not need to be an asshole and he decides to play nice, since he did mess up the vibe a little.

And then there were two. He states, glancing at Hayden. Look Hay, sorry, on cutting your date short. Just wanted a win since last time you got me. Chance grins, remembering the last time the two of them bumped heads. Anyways, it was good seeing you. Good luck with football, don't trip.

And with that, without waiting for an answer, Chance walked away and headed towards his sister. He feels a littleproud, since last time Hayden kind of humiliated him in front of his friends. He did lay the flirting with Lemon a little thick, he hoped that she didn't think that he was actually interested. Because as of this moment, she was not his type. He makes it to his sister, deciding that he'd rather be with her and Dustin. And praying that staying by her side would lighten her scolding later.

Chance Matthews
mood: troublesome| outfit: XX | interactions: ALittleRedLie (Winona) Dazzle (Hayden)| mentions: Elf_Ruler (Lemon); Qwertycakes (Dustin)

 

[Chimney Swift]

MOOD: Anxious

OUTFIT: dressed to depress.

LOCATION: The Berkowitz Residence

basics

MENTIONS:
Lemon Elf_Ruler
Zach lion.

INT:

tags

TL;DR
Lemon and Max plan a movie marathon

tl;dr

Max Berkowitz

"It's Fine."

If anyone had asked Max what he’d done over the past nine days, he wouldn’t have been able to tell them.

He’d been at school, mostly: showing up late, failing a Physics test, failing a History test, getting laughed at… the usual cycle. Kids actually thought they were being slick when they covered their mouths with their hands as he walked by. What, did they want him to know they were talking about him?
At least work was alright. He liked his job at the bookstore. He was mostly just organizing the displays and shelving new stock, but it gave him something to do with his days that didn’t involve public shaming.

He’d been half-dead of exhaustion. Every day he seemed to wake up with less and less energy. His stomach hurt, he couldn't concentrate on anything for more than a minute, and all he could do was keep going through the motions of his responsibilities and hope no one would be angry at him for seeming lethargic.

On the bright side, at least he’d talked to a few friends. Twitter was in its usual state of chaos, but for most of the week he’d been catching up with Lemon. For reasons unknown to him, she had been spending more and more of her time with Kat (meanwhile, Kat had made a game of goading Max into emotional outbursts for cheap laughs.) He didn’t really want to think about why Lemon had chosen to overlook this. Clearly, even though Kat had been back in Parish Point for less than a month, this new friendship with Kat was very, very important to her.

He really couldn't help but be wondering if something more… serious was going on. It all lined up far too well with the things Kat and Ryker warned of.

Bringing this up with Lemon directly wasn't worth it, though. At least not now, when the last thing anyone needed was another fight. Besides, Lemon had been wanting to come by his house and see movies with him. Lemon's father, she said, had forbidden her from just about everything over a G rating.

Max was more than happy to let her come by. He had never turned down company, not once. The friends he'd made in Parish Point were the first he'd ever had, and after being so used to loneliness he'd learned to never take them for granted.
...really, he felt like he wore their patience thin already. He was asking a lot of them just to have him around, wasn't he? Sometimes it felt like he had to apologize for that.

Lemon had come up with a list of a few classics she wanted to see. And, for once, Max remembered the date and got everything ready ahead of time. He didn't know what he would have done if he forgot something this important.

After all, this was the first time Lemon had ever been over to his house, and he wasn’t about to ask how she got her dad to give her the go-ahead. It was probably better if he didn’t know. From what he’d gathered from her, Lemon’s dad was something of a conservative authoritarian. His own parents were fairly permissive, for the most part, though there were a handful of strict rules he was supposed to be on top of. Nothing like what Lemon was dealing with, ever if he knew so little of it.

Getting ready for the movie marathon was a heavy and grueling task. The day before, Max’s room still looked like it had been torn apart by a cyclone. A wasteland of scattered books and clothing and forgotten assignments, speckled here and there with his green leafy plants. An overgrown cactus on his desk, his favorite spider plant on top of the dresser, a small selection of succulents on the bookshelf and the windowsill, Isa’s silver philodendron, African violets, a bird’s nest fern and a very large ficus in a bright blue ceramic pot in the corner.
Despite all the signs of negligence and disarray permeating the room, the plants looked bright and healthy. He took care of them better than he took care of himself.

Anyhow, yesterday Max was finally forced to reckon with the accumulating misery and clean up his room. Max was not the kind of person who could break a task down into small steps and save himself the stress. Either he had to crack down and get it all done in one go, or it wasn’t going to get done at all.
It didn’t matter that by the end of it he was slumped on the kitchen floor cradling a cup of tea. In just over 2 hours, he’d completely reconstructed his living space into something resembling a normal organized bedroom: folded his clothes back into the dresser, cleaned up all the misplaced stacks of books, swept the floor, dusted the surfaces, picked up probably a metric ton of crumpled paper and dry pens. By the end of it, he barely recognized the room. It looked so much wider with everything off the floor. He’d even found his old drawing tablet and a pair of shoes that he was convinced he’d lost at school at some point. Why couldn’t he have done this before? He just hadn’t had the energy; or maybe he just felt like he didn’t have the energy. Or maybe he thought he didn’t have the energy.

It didn’t matter. At least his room looked halfway normal now. That was one thing he didn’t have to worry about making excuses for.

For the next few hours, the house was his and Lemon's. His parents were both out at work, probably until late, which was good because it gave him and Lemon more space and privacy. However, it did mean that he had to wait for her out on the front porch. It wasn't like she could let herself in, and he couldn't hear her knock. So he stayed sitting on the steps, leaning on the stair railing and nervously tapping his foot, watching the curve of the street he lived on so he'd see her as soon as she turned the corner onto his block. He kept his notepad and pen in his hands, idly flicking the pages back and forth as he waited. Lemon didn't know much ASL, so he tried to come with alternatives. He didn't mind at all; this was something he was more than used to and happy to accommodate.

The end of September brought with it the first cold stings of the coming winter. Max, shivering slightly and pulling down the sleeves of his light brown flannel shirt, regretted not bringing a jacket out onto the steps with him. He didn't want to run up and get one and risk missing Lemon, and aside from that, opening his coat closet would force him to come face-to-face with the fact that he still had yet to return Zach's jacket.

Part of him had hoped Zach would come to get it himself, but now that he knew it was on him to go down and hand it back…
It was overwhelming. He couldn't put words to it.
It just felt like it should be Zach's problem.

code by valen t.

 

[Elf_Ruler]

Lemon Pierce

From the day of her tutoring session with Kat to the beloved apple festival Lemon had been dealing with a lot more than she had ever bargained for. First after she had gotten home from Spooning, she had disappeared into her room to be with Ophelia until she could calm down and obviously, she had to stash Hayden’s hoodie where her dad wouldn’t see it. She really didn’t have enough in her to try and explain a giant hoodie that belonged to a boy. She knew how the conversation would have gone and avoiding it as a whole was easier. But she had to first deal with the arrival of her cousin and the fact that she could see the evil glint in his eyes but of course her parents had already agreed to him staying so she had to suffer.

If that didn’t already sour her mood, Reid Callaway was also moving into town and if Lemon could pick one person to hate, it would be him. Could she explain her reasons? Of course, but the extent of it was more than she wanted to deal with. Instead she made a pie per her mother’s request and made sure it was one that gave her the satisfaction of watching Reid suffer and that she did.

Now, she had to get herself ready in order to go visit Max and watch a bunch of horror films, so she had more cultural knowledge rather than feeling like she was in the dark about everything. It shouldn’t have mattered, but she was nervous about spending time alone with Max. She wanted their hangout time to go well and she wanted everything to be perfect. They needed this with all the conflict that came between the two of them due to her friendship with Kat. Max, well Max, he didn’t understand and no matter how Lemon tried to explain herself Max was unwilling to listen to her. Instead, all she had felt was his judgement on her friend choices. So, this day had so much riding on it for them. She had grabbed snacks, a small container of face mask, and then she threw on Hayden’s hoodie. She had left a note for her dad saying she was going to a friend’s house to get ready for the festival, but she would abide by her curfew.

Now, if you asked Lemon what was wrong with her dads’ truck, she would say nothing, but if you asked others, well that was a different story. The truck had dents everywhere, some small and some big. Any dent that it had was the result of Lemon, and the scratches were also her fault. Any cosmetic issue on the truck was the result of Lemon driving. So as she climbed into her dads trusted vehicle she quickly put Max’s address into her phone. She had never gone but she was more than a little excited to see the place where her lived.

The drive itself wasn’t a long one but, the cones along the road would have said different. The curb at one of the stop signs would tell another story and one soccer ball out in the road was destroyed as Lemon pulled into Max’s driveway.

For her it was exciting to see him out on the porch waiting for her. She happily waved at him and then held up her bag. She did her best to sign she brought fun stuff and she was excited. Her signs were crude at best, but she was working on getting better for Max. Once she was in front of him, she couldn’t help but smile, “Are you ready?” she spoke and signed at the same time? “What F-I-L-M first?” she hadn’t learned the sign for movie, but she could spell. She was going to do her best to sign as much as possible even it meant finger spelling.

Mention(s): Dazzle Soap Interaction(s): Chimney Swift

 

[Dazzle]

MOOD: confused

OUTFIT: outfit

LOCATION: behind one of those stupid colorful tents

basics

MENTIONS:
r e i
Qwertycakes (Claire)
INT:
@Open

tags

TL;DR wondering why she even bothered to show up to the apple festival

tl;dr

Maxine Rhodes

she wears darkness, like some wear the little black dress

Maxine once thought she knew Isa better than anyone, though maybe they weren’t as close as Tatum and Isa. She still thought they were close, that unbreakable sisterly bond. That meant something… At least it had meant something to Maxine. She once would have told Isa anything, now… She wasn’t so sure. How did she keep something like this from her? Maybe Maxine could have helped. She could have hidden Isa. Maybe not though…

Maxine didn’t care that Isa didn’t sell to her mom, she sold to other parents of this town. And that was enough for her to care. Other kids suffered because of this, she wasn’t the only one that had a drug addicted parent. Maxine didn’t understand, even if she had wanted to. She didn’t understand the big angry boss.

“You know what… Leave then. Get out of town.” Maxine didn’t even think about the words that split from her lips. Full of fire as they tore off her tongue. “If you’re only staying for me, then you can leave.” Maxine took a deep breath of air before she continued. “If getting out of town is the only way you can get out of drug dealing then do it. If that’s what you really want.”

Maxine stared at Isa before she turned on her heel. Her brown eyes stung as she fought back tears, she couldn’t let Isa see her. She wouldn’t let Isa see her. She wouldn’t be broken. She wasn’t going to let someone else’s choices break her. Even when both Isa and her mother picked drugs over little Maxine.

-----​

Maxine felt small as she walked home, her head hung low. Her phone vibrated in the back pocket of her black jeans, holding it in her hand made her want to cry, to smash it on the ground. It felt cold in her hand, like a brick. But the name that flashed across the screen brought heat across her cheeks and down through her chest. Claire….

She was at the apartment. Maxine had completely forgotten that she had invited her ex over, if she could have even considered them that. Maxine knew that Claire had always wanted more from her, but Maxine couldn’t do it. She couldn’t risk the loss of someone else, someone that decided someone else or something else was more worth to love.

Though, all she wanted now, was to forget and be wrapped up in someone’s arms. To feel important to someone. She would have taken anyone’s attention, but Claire’s… Hers was familiar.

As Maxine walked up the steps to her second floor, one bedroom apartment. The gloomy place with worn floors and grey walls to match.

She gripped the railing as she came around the corner finally, just to find Claire leaning against the door, tapping away on her phone, snapping at a piece of gum. She was completely distracted, like always. A weak smile grew on Maxine’s lips.

There was only seconds before Maxine crossed the room, wrapping her arms around Claire’s waste pulling her hips into hers. Maxine bit her lower lip as her face inched closer to Claire’s, their noses almost touching. “You know… you have an awfully bad habit of chewing with your mouth open.” Maxine laughed lightly before, Claire pulled her in, their lips clashing together as one of Maxine’s hands fought feverishly for the door. “I guess you did miss me.” She whispered under the kiss as they fell through the threshold.

----​

The day was here, a day Maxine once loved. The Apple Festival, while this day held so many good memories for so many. It only reminded Maxine of what she lost. What she no longer had. It must have been her, something was wrong with her that didn’t make her loveable. That didn’t make her someone’s first choice.

The smell of the air was full of apples, more than usual. Cinnamon clogged her nose as she tried to breath clearly. Kids ran about in this magical place, so many treats, cotton candy, caramel apples. Sickly sweet treats. Everyone coming out of the woodwork to be the ‘best apple pie baker’ of the fall. It was ridiculous how caught up everyone got into this stupid holiday.

Maxine kicked the ground beneath her, covering her ears as little gremlins ran by her legs screaming with giggy laughter. She turned around, just to get away from it all. Finding a bench behind one of the many colorfully striped tents. Sitting down she just hid her head into her hands.

code by valen t.

 

[Dazzle]

MOOD: EXSTACTIC

OUTFIT: Hartfield sweater and jeans

LOCATION: Town Commons

basics

MENTIONS:
PenguinFox (Lulu)

INT:
(Open)

tags

TL;DR APPLE FEST

tl;dr

Graham Moore

can I go home now?

“But you got to explore!” Graham laughed it would have been so cool to see the old Hawking House before it came tumbling to the ground. Wait! What was he SAYING!? Graham didn’t adventure, he didn’t have a single bone for it in his body. Why was he telling Lulu differently? “Maybe I could come with on your next adventure?” He shrugged, his face heating up in that moment, WHAT WAS HE SAYING, Graham was going crazy. He must have been sick, this must have been another dream. Willay the whale was going to show up at any minute and skate past him on his dorsal fin.

But, that didn’t happen. This was real, and currently he was absolutely terrified of himself and everything that he was saying. And now he was flat out on the ice, yep it was real, it was cold and it hurt. A lot.

“Thanks for the tip.” He chuckled as he took Lulu’s hand in his, supporting himself with the other hand on the cold ice. Everything was going incredibly fine, no problems what so ever. Graham was back on his feet before he knew it. It was a weird feeling to feel so safe and stable on ice. It was an oxymoron, ice was supposed to be slippery.

Well…. That thought was thought just a bit too early. The next thing Graham knew was he was hurdling towards Lulu, in the last moments, he caught himself. Hands at either side of Lulu’s face. His breath caught in his throat, his blue eyes mere inches from her hazel ones. “I… Uh… I’m sorry.” But he didn’t move, his hands were hot, against the freezing ice. How was that even possible.

Graham swallowed the dry air that was stuck in his throat. “No no... I mean... It’s fine.” Graham cleared his throat realizing he was still perched above Lulu. How long had they been like this, she must have been cold, her back against the ice like this. “I’m okay.” Graham sat back up, grabbing ahold of the edge of the ring. “I’d uh… Offer to help you back up… but I think we’d end up in a similar position.”

His cheek felt like they were on fire. What was his problem. What was happening right now.

---​

The rest of the ice-skating trip went by with very few bobbles. Graham really had begun to get the hang of it as the two of them finished up. Lulu walked Graham back to his dorm, mostly because Graham would have gotten lost in the woods on his way back. Lulu was the one who convinced him of that. Though the two of them made plans to do this more often and they had fun and despite Graham’s sore calves.

Now it was the following weekend and Graham was on his way to the Apple Festival, it was such an extravagant adventure and Lulu had told him all about it at school. It was like an early Halloween, at least that’s how it sounded to Graham. Just a little fall festival that everyone got to enjoy in some way, so many things to do.

The weather was cool now that it was the end of September, it only made sense. Graham wore a big Hartfield sweatshirt with a pair of jeans. As he walked across the commons his mouth gapped open. He couldn’t believe how much effort this town had put in overnight. It was like fairies had put up every apple decoration, and twinkling light, without any rest. The smell of apple pie warmed his soul, he saw some unlucky sophomore in the water tank. They still were dry thankfully, but it was likely not going to last long.

Graham was just thankful that it wasn’t him. But, where would he start?! He could go anywhere, yet his feet wouldn’t move from how overwhelmed he was by all the colors. Maybe he would go apple bobbing, or get his face painted, or try all the wonderful pies that people had made.

code by valen t.