Realistic or Modern Westbrook

[Soap]

Raven

Raven nodded her head in response, the whole damn school knew what he dealt with in the past. Adriane was a bitch, yes. But you can’t blame that on her, that’s just who she is. Mason’s the one who decided to stay and take her shit. She wasn’t going to pity him because of it. she knew that Carter was just looking out for him. And that’s great, good for Mason. But who was looking out for her?​

She didn’t have time to respond as Mason walked out of the closet, and June followed closely behind. She ignored both of them and avoided eye-contact with anyone but Carter. Acknowledging her apologies, but she didn’t say anything about it. Gripping her bag tighter, and continuing her walk to class. But Carter’s words still stood with her. ‘You don’t deserve it.’ Raven wasn’t going to be one of those sad girls to think that they actually deserved to be hurt. But maybe she did?
Dazzle

Later at lunch, Raven sat down at an empty table. Believe or not, the imfamous brunette sat alone usually. She preferred it that way. Despite being amazingly well-known as she thought she was. There wasn’t a label or place you could put her at. Raven wasn’t one of the popular cheerleaders, her gaze fell upon the sad cheerleader who was alone. At least for the time being, or the ‘outcasts’ Carter in the corner where the redhead usually preferred. She expected Mason to join her soon enough.

There was a spot for everyone here. They were molded perfectly and raised in their comfortable homes, whether or not they were actually comfortable in them was beside the point. She didn’t have her own table, or her own group of ‘friends. ’ She wasn’t molded like the rest of them. Raven was taught to not do drugs, to not steal, to not get arrested. But if she ever did would anyone really care? Would a literal trio of people come up to Raven if she was upset over a boy? No. It was the same question that she kept asking herself. Did she matter?

Raven flipped through a book that wasn’t particularly interesting, but she was forced to if she wanted to keep her grades up. Taking a glance at her food and deciding she wasn’t very hungry to begin with. Her eyes roamed across the cafeteria, waiting for someone to pique her interest, with a disappointed sigh she returned to the book, flipping through a page and rolling her eyes at the first sentence.​

 

[Soap]

Grace

After her talk with Ryder, and classes she’d tried to focus on, It was proven to be a little difficult while Grace had so many other things to do, her mind was elsewhere, when lunchtime rolled around she was convinced there wasn’t any time to eat. She had her script in hand while walking down the hallway, mumbling lines to herself desperately trying to memorize a few she hadn’t already, Grace didn’t have a big role. Definitely not. But between directing, and well, being Grace in general, she’d taken it upon herself to double, triple check even thay everything was going according to plan.

Visibly wincing as she read the kiss scene, she thought she would never dread to kiss Sawyer, She loved her... but damn it. She didn’t want to kiss her! Well, of course she did. Just... not in-front of Kate. Shaking her head free of all stressful thoughts of her mother and deciding to focus on the words instead, and obviously not what was in-front of her physically, skidding to a stop right as a locker closed and looking up from her script to see her girlfriend, and usually any other day she’d greet her with a beaming smile. an ‘Hm’ was all she settled for, furrowing her brows and redirecting her gaze back on the page. A few moments passed before she realized it might’ve been insulting, and with a sheepish smile she put the script down. “I’m sorry.” Grace leaned over to kiss the corner of her lips. “How’s your day so far?”

KingofAesir​

Maisie

Okay! Good news! The guidance counselor didn’t want to know anything about Maisie! Okay, well. In those words they probably would’ve been fired. But they just wanted to know how she was adjusting to school and all that, no mention of a criminal record, past foster homes, not even the fact she almost killed a man! Okay. Maybe she should tune down the enthusiasm. The point was, everything was cool. So that was great.

Walking into the back of the cafeteria and waving at the lunch lady. “Hi. I’m Maisie. Thanks for um...” she gestured to the kitchen, before smiling at Drake. “All of this.” It was really sweet of them to actually help, maybe some people in WestBrook weren’t all that bad. “So, uh... where do we start?” Letting out a nervous chuckle. Truthfully, Maisie didn’t know the first thing about cooking, or baking... or whatever it is that they were doing. But she wanted to help. So here she was.

Winona
​

 

[KingofAesir]

Sawyer

Mr. Schmidt was a literal demon sent to torture her. Sawyer was completely sure of this fact at this point. There was no way a man could glare at someone he didn't hate that long. Dear God, I know I'm like super gay but could you please take him back? Of course, he wasn't going anywhere. If she could she would use what she and Grace had seen at his home as leverage against him, but that would just be cruel on top of the fact that she'd get in trouble. So, it looked like he was just going to torture her forever and ever. At least she wasn't failing anymore.

On this particular morning, Mr. Schmidt just seemed to be in a bad mood, but everything snarky that came out of his mouth and her name on the end of it. It was like he blamed her, his seventeen year old student, for all of his problems. Sawyer hated him with a burning passion. But other than that class everything else had been pretty okay. Some kid named Wayne had helped her in history class. He was a pretty cool guy, she'd have to talk to him more later. She was also pretty sure she'd seen Erin literally run straight into a door reading from her script. A real brainiac, that one. Sawyer hoped she had a concussion. Not that she would ever get that lucky. Speaking of lines, Sawyer had almost the whole damn play memorized. Blame it on her weird memory. Sawyer couldn't remember what she'd had for breakfast this morning but memorizing a whole ass play was a walk in the park.

Sawyer's locker closed in front of her and she turned to come face to face with her girlfriend, or well, face to script. They hadn't seen eachother almost all day and Grace just hummed at her in greeting. Oh. Well she was either super stressed out or something happened. Sawyer would bet ten bucks on the latter. Grace's hum was soon made up for in an actual greeting and Sawyer smiled a little as Grace asked her about her day.

"It was good. Saw Erin run face first into a door, you know you really shouldn't walk around with your script like that." Sawyer leaned up against her locker, "What's up with you? Are you good? Cause I don't think you've ever just 'hmed' at me." Her time was light, made even more obvious by the smile on her face, but there was still concern laced in there.

Soap​

 

[Soap]

.

Grace

Glad to hear her day was better than her own. Glancing at the script and looking up with a sheepish smile, poor Erin. But Grace couldn’t worry about her at the moment, there was far more important things. Okay that sounds a little mean, but y’know she isn’t gonna question her morals right now. “I’m fine. Just the play and stuff has me a little stressed.” She shrugged. So she was a little more than a little stressed. She was fine though, Grace has this. “I won’t ever ‘Hm’ at you again, okay?” Once satisfied with her own semi-apology, she couldn’t help but feel she was forgetting something and she couldn’t place what it was. It took her a few seconds before she realized. “Oh my god. I was supposed to pick up (just enter thing here for play.)” Grace facepalmed at her own stupidity, how did she even forget about it in the first place.

She looked around the hallways and nodded as if she was coming to a decision, if Grace wanted the play to work out she needed to get it. The school probably won’t mind considering It’s for them basically... right? Oh well. Not the point. “I have to go take care of that. So... I will see you later.” She needed help, yes. But she wasn’t going to make Sawyer ditch school to help her.

KingofAesir​

 

[KingofAesir]

Sawyer
​

"Wait, babe," Sawyer caught Grace's hand and pulled her back before she could take off. "Let me help you get that thing for the play, alright? Maybe we can pick up some lunch or something on the way." What better way to cheer up her sad girlfriend than with food that wasn't unidentifiable from the school cafeteria? "Maybe we could get McDonald's." But saying that name was always cause for summoning him. Neck-Tie. Kit Kat. Petunia Pisser. He went by many names, but Stu never seemed to be one of them.

And Stu popped up, as predicted the moment his precious life force was mentioned. Nuggets. It was crazy to think that the little blonde was still alive and as skinny as he was with how he survived solely off of candy and nuggets. Chocolate covered nuggets were probably his real life blood. Actually, Sawyer decided that she should try chocolate nuggets some time. After all, chocolate covered bacon sounded disgusting, was the best thing since sliced bread. Or Betty White. Both were old and amazing.

Soap Dede

 

[Dazzle]

Mads


Lunch seemed to be more.. Calm.. Than usual... Madison went through the line with his tray, getting the meal of the day before going to the 'popular' table. Realistically the only reason he was even at this table was because it just happened to be who he made friends with at his time at Westbrook. Ash was the only one there so far, he wondered how awkward it would be with her and Ryder at the same table. This was the first day Ash was even back at school since Monday...

"Hey" Mads said softly when he approached the table. He didn't seem himself today, much more quite than usual. "How are you doing." That was a stupid question to ask he thought, as he sat down at the lunch table across from Ash. He hadn't seen much of anyone yet today, it was much quieter at Westbrook than usual. Everyone must of been anxious about the play that night, maybe spending all their extra time practicing. "Are you getting excited for tonight?" He attempted to distract the both of them from their own thoughts.


Winona

Rae


English class hadn't been the worst thing in the world, her teacher didn't seem that bad either. Rae was starting to worry that she hadn't heard from Chase, and didn't seem him in the halls. It wasn't like him, Phoenix had gotten an early acceptance to Dublin, and had left without a second thought. She guessed that maybe she should take a page from his book and actually start meeting other people at Westbrook.

The anxious girl took a deep breath after waiting in line for some disgusting school grub and walked over to the brunette who was sitting alone. one person, you can handle one person. How was Rae even related to Madison. They were both so different, Mads the life of the party where as Rae would rather be in a corner reading. Rae stood there for a moment without saying anything, just kinda staring at the top of the brunettes head. "Uh.. Hi... I-I-I'm Rae." good job Rae, already stuttering.. "Mind if I sit?" She smiled, Rae just had to keep telling herself she could do this. If Madison could, why couldn't she.

Zach


Zach had started going to classes, his teachers however started to believe that Ava had been doing his homework. Which wasn't true and he was pretty sure if Ava had it would of been more believably his work. Zach never gave anyone the chance to see he was smart, being thrown into sports at such a young age, that had always been the focus of everyone. No one really cared how smart you were, they just cared how good you looked, or how well you played.

He was making his way to lunch when he saw a very upset JJ run out the doors. She seemed off this morning, probably had something to do with Bryan now being the lead and that Ash was his costar. He followed her out the door. "Hey! JJ!" Zach called after her, jogging to catch up. "What's wrong? You've been weird today." JJ and him were friends right? They mostly partied together at Bryan's, and then at games they were around each other. That counts as friends right?

Soap ​

 

[Winona]

Ash


She glanced up from her phone as Mads approached, and actually managed to smile. Despite the little bit of time that she'd known Mads for, he'd quickly become one of her best friends. Or, really good friends, anyway. His question just earned a small, rather cold laugh from her, and she shook her head in response. "I've been... good." That was a lie, but at least it never warranted any further questions. Well, unless you were Raven and just kept prying. "And I am excited to get tonight over with so I can stop stressing about it." Wasn't that the truth. All Ash could think about was ending this horrible musical thing.

"What about you? You seem... not as happy as usual." Usually Mads came flying into places with too much energy but right now, he seemed sadder than usual. Less upbeat. "What's wrong? You can tell me." Ash glanced back down at her phone, turning it off and slipping it into her pocket before her gaze turned back to Mads.

Dazzle​

 

[DrabberRogue]

Jace was bothered. It was bothersome that he was bothered, he didn't like being bothered. It was unusual for him to be bothered, and that was bothersome. What a bother. What was he bothered about? Ash. The cheerleader's bad mood from that morning was bothering him. Partially because it made him kind of uncharacteristically worried, and partially because it conflicted with his own thoughts. Was it wrong for him to be glad that she and Ryder had broken up? Probably. It was like a weight was being lifted off of him every time he thought about it. He didn't get that ache in his chest anymore. Yet every time Jace actually saw her it made him doubt whether or not the girl's new relationship status was a good thing. Sure it was an opportunity for him, but at what cost to her?

At least she was back at school now, sitting at the table she normally sat at. Maybe her other friends would do a better job of cheering her up. Hell, Jace considered going over there himself. He didn't really want to expose himself to that again, though. Icy blue eyes watched for a few seconds as the new guy was the first one to join her, approaching her with what looked to be a similar mood. Just more proof that Ash seemed to have been changed by her breakup. She was even dragging down the people around her. No matter how hard he looked, Jace was starting to have trouble seeing the girl he liked so much in that gorgeous face...

So no, definitely not now. Today was a bad day for spending time with Ashton. His gaze moved on, scanning hopefully across the cafeteria in search of someone else. Someone who might be having a better day. Or maybe just someone he knew was usually fun. Someone like Raven. Bonus points for the opportunity of meeting a new person. The girl he'd seen with Chase in Hell's Kitchen, then with Ash's friend at the theater.

Putting on a half genuine smile, partially held back by the day's negative thoughts, Jace decided to make his approach. Long legs brought the tall boy and his tray up to the mostly unoccupied table. The territory held only by Raven, fairest and sassiest queen in all the land. In all seriousness though he didn't understand why that girl sat alone. She was fun. Who wouldn't want to sit with her? Then again Jace also didn't fully understand the whole clique mechanic. It was a little weird to him how so many people got so intransigently locked into small groups. It was so much more fun to keep some variety in his acquaintances. Speaking of which, "Hey Raven!" He chimed, the positive tone of his voice definitely better executed than his smile. "Mind if I join you two?" The piercing attention of his bright eyes was mostly for the Rivera, but he did glance to the other girl for a moment in the middle of his question. Goodness she was pretty.

Dazzle Soap

 

[mikaluvkitties]

Aaron Ollila​

Honestly, Aaron was glad to have something to do at lunch, even if it was for school. He'd be getting some money out of it probably, right? More than that, though, Aaron was tired of being alone at school. He had friends, sure, but no one who wanted to hang out with him during it. For a long time, Casper had been enough, but suddenly, Casper was too good for Aaron, and had decided to sit with someone else whenever possible, which was often. That was annoying, sure, but even worse was that Casper had been acting like a teenager recently, and that was more annoying than even Drake's ability to hide his emotions.

He had made sure to arrive practically on time, but he was still the last into the kitchen, and that rankled. Still, he kept himself under control, waving at the pair in the back of the room that he was slowly beginning to spend more and more time with. There was someone else with them. She worked there, right? Aaron disliked most people that worked at the school, but as long as she didn't try to order him around he figured it would be fine. He knew how to make brownies, thank you very much. Mother-daughter baking had been very popular with his mother before she lost her god damned mind.

Winona Soap​

 

[a z u l a]

Ryder

Ryder was tired of pretending like he and Ash didn't know each other, it made everything awkward between them and their friends and he was tired of it. They had agreed on being friends so he was going to start acting like it. Trying to appear more casual than he felt, he placed his try across from Ash and sat down at their table, offering them a polite hello before pretending to inspect his lunch very carefully before speaking again.

"So, are you going to the play?" He asked Mads, he was going to support his siblings (and Ash) and there was no way he was sitting with his mother, so he'd need to find friends to go with. He finally glanced towards Ash, weakly smiling before turning his attention back to Mads.

Alaska

Alaska couldn't wait for this week to be over, but of course she still had the play tonight to worry about. At least it meant she would be out of the house all night instead of cooped up at home since she was still grounded, presumably for the rest of her life. Since she'd be busy all weekend with the play she decided to get to work on her homework early, sitting down at a table and pulling out her English book to get started.

Chase

Chase was in a better mood than usual, which meant he was in a great mood. Despite the shitshow that this week had been things with Rae were going smoothly and the play was tonight, which meant he was allowed out of the house for something besides school or work finally, and maybe he could convince his mother to let him go out with Rae afterwards to celebrate.

Speaking of, he spotted his favorite brunette standing at a table beside...Raven? He hadn't expected her to befriend the rather blunt journalist, but then again he didn't know who Rae had chosen to be friends with at her other school, at Westbrook she only seemed to have him and Phoenix. "Hey." He greeted, placing a kiss on her cheek before turning to Raven and Jace with a smile.

"Excited to wow the masses tonight?" He joked, taking a seat on the opposite side of the table and leaving room for Rae beside him.

Lexi

Lexi was pissed. Not that it was unusual, but she was more pissed off than normal. After hooking up with the hot football player at the party over the weekend, she stalked social media to find him and realized he had a girlfriend, a girl friend whom she somewhat considered an ally. Maybe once she would've considered JJ a friend, but she was too mature to have a "bff" and braid each other's hair like children, she merely saw other people as useful or annoying. The brunette just happened to be more useful than not for her. It wasn't like Lexi was against stealing another girl's boyfriend, she just wasn't particularly interested in making an enemy out of JJ. It would be a shame to have to ruin her reputation for some mediocre sex.

She'd tried to confront him all week, but every time she tried JJ was all over him. For once Bryan was all alone and this might be her only chance to talk to him without his girlfriend around. Lexi loved spreading gossip, just not her own personal business.

"Hey! When were you going to tell me you had a girlfriend?" She hissed, sliding into the seat beside him and glaring at him harshly. ​

 

[Soap]

Raven

Raven looked up from her book, raising a brow at the girl. "Hi?" Everyone in school usually was afraid of her or just wanted to sleep with her. Even though she wasn't exactly complaining with the attention she'd got, someone offering to just sit with her was honestly, just a nice change of pace. She nodded and tilted her head towards the seat. She almost felt for the girl, she was nervous and it was clear on her face. Deciding to make it easier on her, she introduced herself. "Raven." Turning her head back towards the book that she was actually making good progress on, flipping a page before deciding to get to the know the girl in-front of her. "Is Rae short for something?" Curious, maybe. Did she care? Mm. Not that much.

No offense to the girl, but give her a little while before she decides to care about a total stranger. Looking up when Jace had caught her attention. She shook her head surprised at the fact people were suddenly coming up to her. Raven was completely okay with being alone. And was probably more comfortable sitting alone, but why not go out of your comfort zone. No? "At this point... be my guest." No, she didn't make it seem like she was annoyed. A playful grin was on her face hoping her words wouldn't scare the blonde boy away.

"Jace. Rae." She grinned at the two, and shrugged. "You already have things in common." Raven eyed Rae expectantly, as if she already knew what things Raven was talking about, but truthfully she was just trying to get the girl flustered. Shy girls were always so fun to mess with. "You both are graced by my presence. Obviously." Raising her eyebrows in surprise when Chase came up to them and kissed Rae on the cheek. Hmph. Seemed like a fine couple. Raven gasped in mock shock. "Awe. You've snatched the puppy up." Turning to Rae and mouthing 'Good job.' Her eyes caught sight of someone and a smile came across her face. Turning to the trio and giving them a firm nod for a goodbye. "If you'll excuse me, I have my own Vaughn I'd like to talk to." Raven gathered up her bag and took the rather boring book along with her.

Walking towards the table she was at, she was alone which was odd. But Raven wasn't complaining. She was glad she caught her at a time where no-one else would be interrupting them. "Hey." Raven greeted with a grin. Taking a seat across from her. "I have something for you." She still hadn't gotten a chance to give her the gift she'd bought for her birthday. "It isn't a late birthday gift, okay? I bought it way earlier before." She reassured her, not wanting Alaska to think that she slacked off on a present. "I just didn't have a chance to give it to you." To be fair, Raven hasn't had any chance to let alone talk to the brunette, much less give her a gift. She reached into her bag. "Eyes closed." Raven reached over with her free hand and gently took Alaska's, it took her a few seconds as she clasped the bracelet around her wrist. "All done." Indicating her to open her eyes.

Although she didn't remove her hand just yet. What's the rush? "It's a... charm bracelet." It wasn't much. No, but she thought it was pretty. And kind of seemed like her. Her slowly fingers traced her hand and landed on a charm. "That's Alaska, uh... y'know the place not your name." She chuckled before continuing. "Your jersey number." Who could forget her love of hockey, right? "And last but not least." Raven smiled and tapped her finger on the last charm. "A little bird." Yes, she was proud of her gift. She picked out the charms herself. Releasing her hand from her own, much to her own dismay. "Not many charms yet... but that's okay, there's always room to add more." She shrugged. She wouldn't admit it. But she was really hoping she liked the small gift.
Dazzle DrabberRogue a z u l a
Juliette

JJ walked into the cafeteria, and her eyes fell on the table where she was supposed to be sitting at. Ash was there and Juliette wasn't particularly in the mood to throw insults at the blonde she was convinced who was trying to steal her boyfriend because she couldn't hold her own down. She wasn't even hungry. Her gaze roamed around the place looking for... what? Someone to talk to? God, she hated this school and almost everyone inside of it. With a heavy sigh she turned out and walked out the doors that led to the outside of school.

Why did Bryan even decide to try out for the play? Did he want Ash? What was she even thinking? Of course he didn't want Ash. Why would he want anyone else but JJ? Yeah. Forget everyone else who made her think she isn't worth it. Her thoughts were interrupted by Zach who decided to come after her, a little confused on why he did. They'd only hung out a few times. Well, more than a few times. But that was just because of their popularity, and who they associated with. "Nothing. I'm fine." After she had a moment to think about it. She wasn't fine. And Zach was here... so why not talk to him? "My parents suck." Zach wasn't in that kind of 'rich kid' thing. Jules didn't want to be mean to Zach but... his parents were kind of irrelevant. But that was a good thing at the moment. "It's like they think they're so much better than everyone else!" She shook her head and sat down on the steps.

"Whatever. It's stupid."

Dazzle​

 

[Dazzle]

Mads


Madison laughed lightly, "Not very good at faking okay, huh." He shrugged his shoulders, "You'll do great tonight, I'm sure of it." He forced a smile on his face, but the mention of him seeming more down than usual, the smile didn't stay. He was good at being happy, most of the time. But when he was down, there wasn't any hiding it. "I'm okay. I'll be okay." Madison was glad when Ryder came over, at least Ash wouldn't push him much further. But now he was in an extremely awkward position, the two ex's that were attempting to go back to being friends, and being the awkward third wheel of it all, since he was close with both of them.

He was glad when Ryder started to talk, at least they wouldn't all be in awkward silence for the next twenty minutes. "Of course I'm going, we've got to see Ash's big break." He faked a smile, of course he was excited for his friend, but he just didn't want anyone to push any further on how down he was. Maybe he could of told Ash if they were alone, but he really didn't like to talk about his Mom, her death did a number on Madison and his dad, sometimes he wondered how Rae handled it so bravely. It was almost like it never bothered her that their mother was gone.

Winona a z u l a​

Rae


Rae smiled, maybe talking to others wasn't that hard "RaeLynn is my full name.. Like the country artist." Sitting down at the table she reminded herself it was just one person. She could handle it, however this was when another tall lanky guy walked up to the table. She started to crack her knuckles under the table, but thankfully Raven broke the ice making her laugh. "Glad to graced by your presence." Rae pressed her lips together, she was doing good. And it just got that much easier when Chase came up behind her and kissed her on the cheek. "Hey" She said softly, she stopped pulling on her fingers, and naturally felt her entire body relax now that he was next to her.

When Raven caught her eye, she blushed at mouthing the words good job. Turning her head facing down at the ground, she couldn't help but smile. She was definitely lucky that they had both been the sober DD that night. "Long time no see" She laced her fingers through Chase's hand as Raven ran off to see Alaska? "Are we-you.." She didn't want to seem like a clingy non-girlfriend, since they weren't official yet, "Going tonight?"

DrabberRogue a z u l a Soap​

Zach


Zach wasn't honestly expecting JJ to tell him anything, but he guessed he was in the right/wrong place at the right/wrong time? Zach didn't have to chase her down, he made that decision himself. "Parents tend to do that.." He said quietly sitting down on the step next to her. "Do you want to talk about it?" He was being genuine, sometimes people just needed to talk to basically a stranger. "I can be a good listener..." Zach smirked.

He leaned back on the steps, "Parent's are annoying, but is that really all that's bugging you?" Zach raised an eyebrow at JJ, parents sucked but that didn't seem like it would be the only thing bugging her.

Soap ​

 

[Winona]

Drake


First Maisie had come in, and Drake's face lit up visibly when she did so. Leave him alone -- she was nice, and sweet, and had really pretty eyes and also thought that trick or treating was better than hanging out at some party. "That's her, Carol." He whispered to the lunch lady, leaning in close as he did so. Okay so yeah, he'd told her all about how cool Maisie was, and now Carol had a sly little smile on her face as Drake looked back at Maisie with a huge smile.

"Maisie! Hello!" He yelled loudly, throwing his hands in the air as he did so in a typical Drake fashion. He was a happy dude, okay? And nothing was going to stop him from showcasing it right now. And then, Aaron came in and Drake's arms were still in the air, so he just jazz handed them around in the air. "Aaron!"

"Alright, so, Carol is going to help Maisie and me while you make the last of the brownies, okay, Aaron?" Drake asked as his two friends came over, and he tossed hair nets in their direction. Keeping hair out of the food was very important, plus hair nets always made people look way funnier. "Or well, I'll be making the brownies and hot chocolate and helping wherever, because I am obviously the boss." Okay, so that was a dirty lie, but no one needed to know that.

Soap mikaluvkitties

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Ash


Well, it wasn't the answer that Ash wanted, but she wasn't able to reply before Ryder came over. Okay, so her smile definitely died a bit when Ryder came over. But, well, they had agreed to be friends, even though it seemed completely impossible. Were any exes ever able to actually be friends after breaking up? Probably not.

"Big break? Please. I'm just going to try and not make anyone else look bad." And, well, try and not make herself look so bad that her mother had a list of reasons to tell her why she sucked. Speaking of which, well, the conversation about the musical whatsoever just made Ash feel sick to her stomach. She was far from ready for this.

This whole thing was just awkward, and Ash wasn't sure how much longer she could pretend like she was fine sitting here with these two, and acting like her and Ryder were alright. "I'm going to go... practice." Well, it was a lie. Ash would probably just hide out in the gym like she usually did on these days. "I'll see you guys later." She said, smiling at Mads, and glancing at Ryder for a moment before standing up and heading out of the cafeteria. It was easier, anyway.

a z u l a​

 

[Dede]

Weenee proudly presents...

Neck Tie

​

The precious life force aka. Little Neck Tie had not been standing at his locker, shoving his mouth full of Kit Kats and a numerous assortments of other chocolate delicacies. He had not been trying to shove away his feelings about all of the disappointments throughout this year. He was definitely not thinking about his friendship with Jace, or about going to Homecoming alone, or realising that he only friends he had were the little ants in his locker. He had not been doing any of this at all. Why would anyone think he was doing this?

First of all, the ants in his locker were dead. Nobody knew what happened, or why there was now a little ant cemetery in the dusty corner of his locker. But the poor lads had gone marching into ant heaven, and it was a murder mystery worthy of Sherlock Holmes.

Second of all, he wasn’t covered in chocolate, despite his sometime nickname Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was true that he ate a Kit Kat today. But only just one. And he didn’t shove it down his mouth like an uncouth barbarian. That was because Neck Tie had manners. Not just any manners, but the manners of a true English gentleman. No, not the fake England where Wendy Williams was from. The real England. The Cotswold Hills, crumpet toasting, tea pouring heart of England. That’s right. He was an English gentleman destined for greatness. Neck Tie was, by all impartial accounts, a truly spiffing young chap.

All this was evident when he presented himself to his two new girlfriends (that is to say, friends who are girls), Grace and Sawyer. He was looking particularly well-groomed today. His hair was on point for the musical, and he’d put on his Dad’s irresistible cologne again this morning. Put simply, he was dapperness personified. In fact, it was surprising that he was here at all, instead of being a heartthrob on the cover of some teen girl’s magazine.

They had mentioned McDonalds, and whether Neck Tie invited himself or they invited him was unclear, but half an hour later they were sat in front of a large bag of nuggets like a happy family. He smiled at his new friends from across the table, and gave them first dibs, because, remember, he was a gentleman. Then he investigated his little box of Fillet o’ Fish, which was his favourite since it reminded him of fish and chips. ‘Thanks for having me along,’ he said. He would have had to face Jace in the music room otherwise. ‘I love McDonalds. . . But we didn’t have one where I’m from. The nearest one was quite far away, in Evesham. They weren’t that great. But we had a chippy. . . A chippy is like a fish and chip shop. Oh, chips are like French fries, but they’re a lot thicker and chunkier, and they’re great with vinegar. A friend of mine used to work there, and he’d save all the scraps – we used to get them for free!’ he told his new friends, smiled, and looked away with a small blush.

KingofAesir Soap

 

[Soap]

Juliette

Juliette wanted to ignore the egoistical boy, scoffing and nodded with his statement. Parents just tend to be assholes sometimes. When he offered to actually listen to her. She looked over at him and debating it before coming to a decision. "No, that's not all." Truthfully, it was simple to get on JJ's nerves. Very simple, but her parents, school, friends, her boyfriend. Sometimes it just became too much. She shook her head about the thought of the musical. "You know Bryan's in the musical." Thinking about it for a moment before she continued. "He's playing Ash's love interest. And I mean... I shouldn't care. Because like..." Because why? Of course she cares. She wouldn't admit it but Ash was talented. Maybe Bryan was just entranced by someone who could actually do something.

What if he realized she just wasn't enough for him? What if he just comes up to her and just straight up tells her. 'I don't want you anymore.' She was afraid of that and maybe that's why JJ was so possessive at times. Taking a breath, and staring at the sky in thought. "I do care.. and that's the problem. I just feel like nobody cares about what I want." And what did she want? What was the answer to that question? Did she want different friends? Did she want Lila and Ava back? A different boyfriend? Those were all options, she just never made a move to actually try and get them. People usually perceived Juliette as selfish. She wouldn't blame them. Juliette just wanted to be... well, wanted.
Dazzle

Maisie

Maisie laughed at Drake's overly enthusiastic greetings. He was fun to be around and generally made her feel... happy. Looking over to Carol with an uneasy smile, just because she wasn't a pro at baking doesn't mean she wasn't willing to learn. Taking a hairnet and wrapping it around her head before looking to the two. "Alrighty, let's get down to business." Er, well, brownie business that is. Narrowing her eyes playfully at Drake. "You're the boss?" She shook her head. "I thought this would be an equal team thing."

It usually takes Maisie a little while before she becomes comfortable around people, but she was completely cool around Drake, and well, probably Aaron too. You don't just steal things with someone and expect to not be okay with having them around. "Fine, if it's going to be that way. Maybe Aaron and I should be our own team. Hm?" She was teasing, and it was obvious. Of course she wouldn't want to be enemies with Drake. It was in-fact the opposite. "C'mon Aaron, we don't need a dictator." She smiled and looked over towards Carol.

"And we'll steal Carol too!" Raising a brow in his direction.
Winona mikaluvkitties

Grace

Grace was starving, and well, McDonalds had been a great idea. Deciding to go out with her girlfriend to lunch was, in it's own way relaxing. Of course Stu was here too, but that was okay. The blonde had found herself liking his optimistic attitude, he was definitely someone Grace could relate to. "You shouldn't thank us. We needed a strong guy to help lift the props anyway." She smiled, giving him a compliment shouldn't bother him too much, would it? Besides. It's not like she was hitting on him. Taking a nugget which he was obviously sweet enough to let them have first 'dibs' on. And listening to his story, however, her mind was still on the play.

But she made sure to pay attention, not wanting to be rude enough in-front of her new friend. I think we've established, Grace doesn't uh... do boys. Scooting closer to Sawyer and continued to listen as he spoke. Holding back an amused laugh at his words, she was sure that even Sawyer knew what a 'chip' was. Deciding to not give him further embarrassment on the fact that he'd rambled about McDonalds. She decided to change the subject. Looking towards Sawyer with a playful grin. "Is your lines memorized?" Can you blame her for asking? Leave her alone. She just wants to make sure everything's good for tonight. That's what a good director does... right?
KingofAesir Dede​

 

[mikaluvkitties]

Aaron Ollila​

Okay, so the jazz hands were a bit much. Was he really that happy to see Aaron? How was he that happy? Was he still pretending? Aaron couldn’t imagine faking that much energy and excitement. He walked closer, a bit cautious but listening. He glanced at the woman- Carol- as Drake mentioned her, then nodded as he was put on brownie duty. He could handle that. He caught the hair net, then frowned at it for a second.

He had to wear this? ...Alright. He put the hair net on his buzzed head, pulling a slight face at the idea of Drake as a boss. Ew, no.

Aaron nodded at what Maisie said, aware Drake was joking, but still kinda… flat. Then Maisie suggested they team up, and Aaron smirked a bit. “Sure. We’d make an excellent one, don’t you think?” he said, glancing to Maisie. As she continued speaking, his face evened out and he looked over at Carol, then to Drake, then finally to Maisie. “I think Drake needs her more than us.” He was joking, but he sure didn't sound like it.

Winona Soap​

 

[a z u l a]

Alaska

Alaska took out her headphones to see Raven sitting beside her, earning a smile from the brunette. They hadn't really talked since the party, and she was glad to see that despite the constant chaos Raven was still interested in her. Honestly, Alaska had no idea why Raven liked her, especially after what she'd been through with June. She was still trying to figure her out, she wasn't sure if she was just casually flirting or if she actually...liked her.

"You have something for me?" She asked, surprised that Raven had even thought to get her something. The only person who'd gotten her anything was Drake and well Scarlet had made her a cake. She was excited to see what she'd gotten her, wondering what Raven thought fit her well.

"Okay fine." Alaska teased, rolling her eyes playfully as Raven ordered her to close her eyes, her intrigue only growing at what it could possibly be. She shivered as she felt the brunette's hands around her wrist, clearly placing a bracelet of some sort on her. Raven's skin was hot against her own and she was almost disappointed when she took her hand away.

The bracelet was beautiful, and Alaska thought she might cry as Raven explained each charm. There were no words to express how happy she was, not only had Raven thought to get her a gift in the first place, but it was an incredibly thoughtful gift at that. Without hesitation Alaska wrapped her arms around the taller girl, pulling her into a hug and biting her lip to prevent from crying or screaming from excitement.

"This is the best gift. Thank you so much, Raven." She gushed, pulling back to give her a bright smile.​

Ryder

It was obvious Ash wasn't handling the breakup well, and it was even more evident when she abruptly got up and left as soon as he sat down. For a moment he debated whether he should go after her, and then he remembered what Grace had said earlier and decided he couldn't let her continue to be sad without anyone to lean on. "I'll catch you later." Ryder said, barely sparing Mads a glance as she followed after Ash. She'd just made it out of the cafeteria by the time he caught up to her, and he gently grabbed her shoulder to stop her from running off any farther. He waited for her to turn around before speaking, trying to figure out how to sum up everything he wanted to say.

"How come you never eat? I'm worried about you, Ash." Instead, he blurted out something that had been bother him for a while. They'd always spent time together, but since they'd started dating they'd been almost inseparable, and it was hard for him not to notice how little his girlfriend had eaten.

Chase

It was nice to have Rae's hand in his, despite the chaos of the week she always managed to make him forget about anything stressing him out. He watched curiously as Raven broke away from the conversation to go talk to his sister, shrugging at Rae as he could tell she was just as confused as he was. It wasn't surprising that the fiery brunette was friends with Alaska, he just hand't known they were that good of friends.

"I'd love it if you came to see me in the play. I managed to convince my mother to let me have some freedom so we're still on for the movies tomorrow, right?" He reassured her.​

 

[Winona]

Drake


"Ouch. Wow. And here I thought we were all friends," Drake said, feigning as if he was offended, although it only lasted for a couple seconds before he started snorting with laughter. Oh wow, his friends were hilarious... thinking that they could make brownies or whatever without him. And to think that he'd need Carol over them. "Please." He scoffed. "I am a master baker. I'm baked all the time." He said, giggling at his own joke, which earned a smack from Carol.

"Alright, alright. So let's get started. Aaron, what to get work on those brownies?" He asked with a very not suspicious wink. Drake was a horrible winker so when he did try, it kind of became a show and his whole face kind of winked with his eye. Like his nose scrunched up and it was... it was just a total mess. Anyway, Drake shoved bowls and brownie mix in Aaron's direction, before he turned towards Maisie. Ah, yes, Maisie. Wow, she was really pretty.

Anyway, he needed to concentrate. "Maisie! Catch!" He yelled, and started chucking bags of chocolate mix in her direction. "Make me fifty thousand gallons of hot chocolate!" Carol smacked him in the back of the head again, and Drake quickly added; "Please!"

Soap mikaluvkitties

-----------------------------------

Ash


When Ryder caught up and touched her shoulder, Ash did stop, even if she very much didn't want to. Her breath caught in her throat and she looked up at him, waiting to see what he'd say... and then he brought up the worse thing ever, and Ash let out an annoyed huff. "I eat." Ash argued, crossing her arms over her chest as she glared up at him crossly. This... this was a topic that she did not appreciate being approached about. "Just not at school. I'm not hungry." Well, that was a lie.

"Look just... don't worry about me. I'm fine." Also total lies, but it wasn't like Ryder needed to know that. Nor did Ash want to discuss any of that right here, in the hallway of the high school, so she turned and started to walk away once again. Well, it wasn't like she had any reason to stay here and listen to him lecture her or whatever it was he wanted to do.

a z u l a​

 

[Soap]

Raven

Raven was taken aback when Alaska suddenly pulled her into a hug. A genuine smile formed on her face while she thanked her. She hesitated but Raven returned the hug softly. Best gift? She doubted it, being as rich as Alaska she'd had probably gotten way better gifts than whatever Raven could give her, but the fact that she loved it made Raven feel... hm. Good question. What did she feel? Instead of trying to figure out her thoughts or feelings or... whatever. Pulling away and admiring her smile probably for a lot longer in silence than she was supposed to. Raven shook her head free of the entrancing brunette, and she found her mouth moving before she even considered her words. “Do you want to go out tomorrow?” Raven didn’t do dates.

She had no idea what she was doing or why she was saying what she was saying. More surprisingly, she didn't regret it and decided to follow up on her words. "We could...go to dinner?" Okay, give her a break she'd never done this before. "I mean.. only if you want to." Of course it's only if she wants to. It'd probably be kidnapping or assault otherwise.
a z u l a
​

Maisie

Maisie raised her eyebrows in surprise, and caught the first bag. However the rest fell to the floor with a thud. Gaining a glare from Carol and her eyes widened but smiled amused when she decided to smack Drake again instead of yell at her. "It's okay! It's okay." She picked up the rest of the bags and placed them on the counter. She looked to Aaron and silently pleaded for him to help her with the rest of the bags. After that was settled they'd started on the hot chocolate, pouring some of the bags inside of the huge pot. "At this rate we'll have more than fifty gallons." Eh. Probably not.

Thank goodness for Carol, she'd taught her how to actually be useful instead of just standing around. "I mean this is like... super cool and all. But why are we doing this?" Maisie was nice, sure. But she usually didn't go out of her way to do it. Before you start thinking but she's here with Drake and Aaron! That's because she considers them as friends, she's doing it for them. Not the whole audience of people that expected or well, not expected them to wait on.
mikaluvkitties Winona​

 

[DrabberRogue]

Jace was far from scared by Raven's playfully delivered words. If anything he was encouraged, promptly taking a seat at the table. Within seconds he'd made it look like he belonged there, getting comfortable and starting on his food. He'd chosen food over talking more because Raven and the new girl, apparently named RaeLynn, still seemed locked in their introduction. So he just watched and listened, letting their interaction distract him from thoughts of a less positive girl. It seemed that Rae was quick to figure out how to Raven. This was a promising sign.

Another promising sign was her choice of boyfriend. The more pleasant of the Vaughn siblings got an even wider smile out of Jace than even Raven had. Chase showing up in a good mood was a reminder that not everything at Westbrook was drowning in angst. Unfortunately though it seemed that the arrival of one pleasant acquaintance meant the departure of another. Jace momentarily gave an exaggerated expression of disappointment as Raven took her leave, only to be replaced with a smirk and a small wave to see her off. Now it was just him and the couple. Or maybe it was just the couple with a bit of Jace on the side, with how focused on each other they were.

Not really seeing an opening for him to own his position as the third wheel, the boy let his gaze wander a bit. Bad idea. Almost on reflex his attention shifted to where she was sitting, just in time to watch her get up and leave. Didn't take a lot of wondering to figure out why, considering Chase's brother was at the table. Were they still friends? Kind of surprising, considering the apparently traumatic breakup, but Ryder hadn't actually cheated on her so there probably wasn't much reason for bad blood. At least as far as Jace could tell. That faint aching was back again, great. He'd thought he was done with that.

With a light shake of his head Jace focused back on the other two at his table, looking to be distracted from his own head. "Nice to see someone's having a good day." So what if they were having an infinitely cute couple's moment? The boy in his blazer returned to the conversation with a confident smirk and a joking voice. "I almost forgot fun was a thing in this school..."

Dazzle a z u l a

 

[Dazzle]

Rae


Rae used her free hand to tuck her hair behind her ear. "I forgot you were in it! Of course I'll be there!!" She smiled at Chase before letting go of his hand. It wasn't exactly practical to eat and hold hands. Rae had almost forgotten about the boy across the table. Her and Chase's relationship was so new, he tended to distract her from everything. "I'm looking forward to it." She grinned at Chase before turning back to Jace who sat across from them.

"Sorry.." Trailing off she knew what it was like to be the third wheel, "Are you planning on going to the play... Jace?" She had to think about his name for a moment before addressing him. Rae wasn't great with names, or making friends. But at least she could try.

a z u l a DrabberRogue

Zach


Zach looked confused, he wasn't exactly sure what Juliette was trying to get at. "Okay.. He's in the play?" Ash seemed to be into Ryder, and wasn't usually the type of girl to go for multiple people at once. He would know, Zach had tried to hit on her a few times she hadn't shown any interest. Come on it was him he might of been just a little full of himself. "It's a play, the whole thing is fake." It might haven't been the most considerate way to say it, but JJ seemed to be over reacting just a tad. "Don't you trust Bryan? I mean, you shouldn't be with someone you don't trust."

"And I don't mean you shouldn't be with him. I just mean, there isn't any reason you shouldn't trust him. I know I joke around, but seriously he doesn't seem like the worst guy" He smirked, looking into JJ's eyes, he nudged her with his shoulder trying to lighten her mood. "Is there something I could do?"

Soap​

 

[a z u l a]

Ryder

Clearly this was a testy subject for Ash, he'd never seen her this defensive before, and he'd seen Ash angry on quite a few occasions. He was stupid to think she'd talk to him after they'd just broken up, but it wasn't like he could damage their friendship any more than it already was.

"That's not true. You never want to go out to eat together, I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen you eat and we've been friends for a while Ash." It was true, Ash avoided all things to do with food, it was something he'd picked up on while they were friends, but even more so when they began dating.

"Ash, you can tell me anything you know." He said, reaching forward to take one of her hands in his again when she began to turn away.

Alaska

Alaska was a bit taken aback when Raven asked if she wanted to go out that Saturday, and she felt a little giddy at the thought of spending an evening alone with the brunette. As much as Alaska flirted, she was usually unbothered by being hit on and put no thought into her flirting, but with Raven she felt...different. The journalist made her feel special, like she was something worth paying attention to. No one had ever made her feel this important before.

"Dinner sounds...nice. I am grounded for the rest of eternity, but I'll sneak out just for you." She winked, unable to keep the smile off her face as she looked at the bracelet again. It was beautiful, just like the girl who'd given it to her.

Chase

"Good, I wouldn't want you to miss my oscar winning performance." He joked, knowing full well that the play was a bit of a disaster. Acting wasn't really his thing, but he'd figured it was his senior year and he might as well do something worth remembering. A few years from now he'd look back and joke about being in the school play, it was all just for fun anyways.​

"Westbrook is definitely...interesting. What's up with you?" Chase asked the younger boy, curious as to what was causing the frown on his face. He didn't know him well, but Jace seemed like the only person at Westbrook who wasn't always being pulled into the endless drama, something he could greatly appreciate.​

 

[Winona]

Ash


Yes, she'd been totally ready to leave, but Ryder's words made her slow down, and then he was reaching out for her hand and Ash stopped for a moment, although she did flinch and pull her hand away from him. "Seriously. You've been keeping track of how much I eat?" She snapped, turning around to face with her eyes narrowed. Okay so yeah, she didn't eat a lot... at all, but that didn't mean anything. "Look I eat enough to keep myself going. That's it."

And it was true. A little bit here and there, whatever would keep her from keeling over. Yes, Ash may have a bit a little overweight growing up, and her mother's harsh critique of it and some bullying had left her uncomfortable in her skin. So yeah, maybe for the last few years she'd cut back on how much she ate to try and thin down. But look, Ryder didn't understand what it was like to look in the mirror and hate what you see. She'd spent more hours than she could count looking in the mirror, and trying to suck in her gut to make herself look a little bit skinnier. Ash was finally almost to a point where she felt comfortable in her own skin. Almost.

"I'm fine, so stop asking about things you don't need to know about." Ash's tone was unusually harsh. Even when she was angry about other things, she'd never really been this aggressive. The whole thing was a sore topic for Ash, and one that she had basically managed to keep hidden without anyone noticing. Until now. "Why do you even care?"

a z u l a​

 

[DrabberRogue]

It made Jace smile when when the pretty new girl actually apologized for getting absorbed with her boyfriend. She definitely didn't need to do that in his opinion, although it was a nice gesture. Not to mention kind of funny. He kept the humor to himself though, looking between the two across from him. "What's going on with me?" First he met Chase's eyes, repeating the question while he thought about his answer. He couldn't very well just tell them his worries about a girl he barely knew, could he? "Eh, not much. Been kind of a boring day for the most part." Jace finally replied with a shrug. "Soooo... The worst, basically." He let out a laugh with that, delivering his words with the tone and expression that could only come with a joke.

"Aaaanyways, I dunno if I wanna go to the play or not..." Wanting to shift the attention off himself while the subject was still benign, his piercing blue gaze shifted to meet Rae's. That girl's eyes were remarkably striking. "Musicals aren't really my thing." Still smiling, he gave another shrug before casting a brief glance in Raven's direction. Were she and Alaska flirting? Not surprising, knowing Raven, but they did seem a little more serious than usual. Maybe he was imagining things. Quickly his attention shifted back to the couple across from him. "Buuut I am kinda curious to see some of that all star cast in the spotlight. So... Maybe? I'm still thinkin' about it."

Dazzle a z u l a

 

[KingofAesir]

Sawyer
Sawyer was quite proud of her McDonalds recommendation, she would admit. The school food sucked and the last thing she wanted was to eat whatever alien cuisine they had for them today. Some way or another Stu had managed to weasel his way in on the date. Or maybe it wasn't a date anymore? Oh well, it was just Stu, he was a less annoying kid who could probably use a few friends. Sawyer could vaguely remember a football field incident earlier in the year. Yeah, it would probably be good for him to have a few upperclassmen friends. He was one of the few Freshman that Sawyer could actually stand somewhat. The rest of them were annoying little brats straight out of middle school. Even the thought of them made her shudder. She supposed Grace's class wasn't much better, but her girlfriend was part ok f it so that more than made up for their shortcomings.

Stu was rambling about back home, something about fish and chips, he had felt the need to explain what they were. Sawyer thought he was kinda funny, like in a not trying to be funny way. Everything that came put of the kids mouth most of the time made her want to laugh. This whole time, Sawyer had had been spinning her straw around in her drink as Stu talked and watching it go around in circles. She'd been sitting a respectable distance away from Grace assuming that her girlfriend wouldn't want to make Stu feel awkward, but when Grace scooted closer to her on her own accord Sawyer took the opportunity to get comfortable. An arm found itself wrapped around Grace's shoulder and she settled back into the chair. Sawyer could've sworn her eyes rolled all the way back into her head when Grace asked her if she had her lines memorized.

"Yes, director ma'am, I have my lines memorized. Please don't be cross with me." Sawyer stuck her bottom lip out in an overexaggerated pout, "I just don't know if I could take the heat." Her face melted back into a smile and she reached forward with her free arm to grab a nugget.

"Stop worrying, babe." She tapped her head after plopping the chicken in her mouth, "They're all here, I'm an all-star actor, remember?" Sawyer couldn't help but almost forget Stu was there.

"How about you, Neck Tie? How's the music?"

Soap Dede

Bryan
Bryan was having a good day. He was just coasting on through with absolutely no road blocks in sight for miles. The lunch room was is favorite sight and food was an even better one, even if it was questionable looking. Bryan was just relaxing with his clear waters ahead of him until an iceberg in the form of Lexi sunk his ship. He almost dropped his tray when she appeared in front of him. The words that came out of her mouth had him cringing and dragging her back to an empty corner table by her arm.

"I was drunk." He placed his tray down on the table and turned to Lexi with a set jaw, "I do have a girlfriend, and she's great. And she's never gonna know about anything that happened at that dumb party, you hear?" Bryan leaned forward a bit imposingly, "It was a one time thing. One." He stuck a finger up in the air and plopped himself down st the table, running a hand over his brow.

"Listen, Lexi, the last thing you wanna do is start a war with JJ. So," He looked up at her, "Let's forget it and go back to avoiding each other." Bryan needed to keep this in the dark. The last thing he wanted was an angry ex and a war on campus. That would just absolutely piss on his decent enough year.

a z u l a​