Westbrook Season 2

[High5ives]

If one thing was certain, Daniel liked attention. It was even better when said attention was coming from a gaggle of pretty girls. He was all smiles and laughs, cracking jokes and playfully bumping into the girls. If he'd had the time, Danny probably would've gotten a phone full of contacts. (Most of which, Daniel would never bother actually texting.) But everything felt rushed today. He just wanted to get in, get his first day over with, and get out. Finger's crossed he could get through the day without bumping into Kanen.

He kept glancing over his shoulder, expecting his tattooed brother to be there watching him or something. Not gonna lie, Daniel was a little bit paranoid. He knew he was going to have to talk to Kanen eventually, hell, Daniel wanted to talk to Kanen. But he didn't want Kanen to mark him as a target on his first day back at school. Being forever known as 'Kanen's Kid Brother' sounded like a shitty way to start out. Daniel at least wanted to get himself established first.

It wasn't some tattooed mass of muscle that made Daniel's stomach twist up into knots. Nope. Just a blonde, with her brother at her side.

River alone would have been bad enough. Sure, they were on decent enough terms, but it was kinda hard not to dislike him a little bit after River had given him a bloody nose and sore ribs, then got only half the punishment Daniel had. Daniel hadn't been surprised though. Sure, Danny was clever, but river was a fucking snake.

All the same, Daniel would rather let River knock out each of his teeth with a hammer than face Norah. He fucked up. Danny knew that. He wouldn't ever try and deny it. but that didn't mean Danny didn't hurt too. He missed seeing her smile at him, hell, she never even looked at him anymore. Aside from snide remarks in passing, it was like Daniel didn't even exist anymore.

Daniel hadn't even realized he was staring at her, ignoring the girls chattering around him. It wasn't until Daniel heard her voice and her eyes swept over him that he caught himself, snapping his eyes to his feet. Her words felt like shattered glass grinding into his skin. Norah wasn't talking to him, but she was. She knew exactly what she was doing. Daniel just wanted to sink into the dirt. Be anywhere but there. Only when Norah had passed by him completely did Daniel look back up from his feet.

The once chattering girls grouped him were quiet now. Clearly off put by Norah's passive-aggressive comment. Daniel just sighed.

"She's nicer than she seems. I promise..." He mumbled. "Give her a chance?"

Suddenly not in the mood to talk anymore, Daniel stuffed his hands into his pockets and meandered up towards the main entrance. Where the hell was Stu?
​

 

[dendygar]

Alejandro

He watched as the kid slowly started to open his bloodshot eyes, and Jay's face lit up even more. Good! He's alive. For a second there he was scared that something super bad had happened.. well it was clear something obviously had, but something right then in that moment. This kid seemed nervous- and that was okay, so was Jay. This was all very brand new to him. At his old school, their bathrooms were entirely cement with holes in the ground and some toilet paper with concrete separating each stall. This seemed a lot nicer, a lot more clean. "No, it is okay." He smiled, lifting his hands up and not wanting to scare away his new friend. "It is nice to meet you." He shook Alex's hand carefully, noticing how scrawny he was. He almost asked what had happened.. but that was rude. It's none of my business.

Getting into other people's businesses got people killed, got people hurt. He knew that full and well from first hand experience. And besides, if Alex wanted to say it, he totally could.. even though Jay wouldn't be able to fully understand it. And then, Alex began rambling. Jay nodded and smiled, trying to desperately attach meaning to the words flying out of his mouth a million miles per second. He understood taking a nap, and then homework.. "I don't have homework." He said back quickly, "Do you?" he asked. "I can help?" The language barrier was now increasingly apparent. Whatever he was saying after that he didn't understand at all. "You work? I don't. I need to find.. to find.. a job." He nodded once and kept smiling. Jay wasn't gonna give up on this kid so quick, and the fact that he didn't understand anything that Alex said made it his saving grace.

As if not missing a beat, he said, "My cousin is Tadita Redmoon. Do you know her? What is your class that you.. get to now?" He asked, wanting to help him and get to know him more. "What is your name?"

TYPE
-



Tadita

"Your dress is fuckin' bomb." Tadita smiled, but that paranoia was still egging at her. She lifted her head up and spotted someone towering in the crowd at the front of the school. River. Fucking River. For some reason, that totally just killed whatever vibe she was just on. In her stoned high the day before, she'd told River she was jealous that he was paired with Raven and he just said 'don't be jel.' Okay, well I AM fucking jel. "I fucking hate men." Slipped out, and her eyes widened and she looked at Nyoko and snorted, starting to laugh. "Jesus Christ. Sorry." She adjusted the straps of her backpack over her shoulders. It was more of a string bag.

"Phone.. what?" She asked, not even remembering what she had just said. "Fuck it. Obviously they don't know what's cool from a hole in the ground. When I was little, I used to catch all sorts of lizards and stuff. They were rampant on the rez in Arizona. I used to put them in my pockets and take 'em to school with me." A student walked by her, and she gave them a high five with a beaming smile. But it was a smile with her mouth, not with her eyes. Her gaze wandered back to the new kids, spotting all of them, and the Westbrook High kids mixed in. "Go fucking figure, Principal Elise chose the school's best and the brightest to show the new kids around." It was sarcasm.. and she was jealous, again. Jealousy is a disease, Tadita. Shay had said that to her when she had confronted her about her new girlfriend- whom Shay started dating two days after their six month relationship ended. Suddenly, she felt so angry that she could cry. Going to school stoned was a bad idea, but going sober was even worse. Her wrist started doing something at her side- twitching and twisting very hard and very fast, before it subsided and she was back on Nyoko.

"C'mon. Want some fry bread?" Tadita asked, desperate to get away from the new kids. "What's your favorite kind of lizard? How long have you been in America?" She shot questions out in desperation to distract herself.

Twin Fantasy {MENTIONED: TheFool Winona Soap @Saboona}​

 

[Soap]

Caleb

Despite the hurt he was feeling, Caleb didn't want to miss out on Tatum. But he was, he had to leave and there was nothing he could do about it-- but he did have the chance to kiss her. Sure, he might've been a little more than nervous but the blonde took the chance before he had the opportunity to chicken out. He leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. The kiss was soft and sweet, many emotions were behind it but Caleb was okay with staying locked into this one moment forever.

After a few seconds he pulled away and brushed a piece of her hair back.

"I really like you too. You're the only thing that's made me smile in a really, really long time." He was about to continue before the ride came to a halt and it was their turn to get off. He helped Tatum off right as the festival started to shut down due to some fire. Thankfully it wasn't too serious. He wouldn't want to leave WestBrook behind in flames. Tatum was one of the only people who made Caleb feel like life was worth living even though a big part of him believed that it was just to live through heartbreak. The boy had been through many struggles in his life and he wasn't sure how he was gonna feel when he came back-- if he ever came back. "Thank you. For... being my friend, someone to talk to. Even if I always wanted to be more than that... having you as someone I could rely on really helped." It helped more than he cared to admit. "I guess... this is goodbye?" He chuckled nervously, lingering before he pulled her into a hug-- Caleb wasn't a hugger, but he needed it.

"I hope you find someone you makes you happy, and makes you smile as much as you did for me."

Caleb leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. Reluctantly turning around and making his way away from Tatum with a deep breath.

--

"Hey Bud. You ready?" His mother asked, walking towards him weakly and brushing his hair out of his face. Caleb smiled faintly and nodded. "Did you say goodbye to all your friends? How was Serena?" Yes, she still didn't know. This seemed like as good as moment as any.

Caleb came clean about it all. The drinking, the breakup, the fact that he wasn't friends with anyone on the football team-- it might've been sad to hear that your son wasn't much of a social butterfly, but she understood.

He knew it would hurt when she left, but this was surely a moment he'd remember with her. He helped his father cover the tables and bookshelves at BestBooks with sheets, putting the closed sign on the door, packing away the luggage in the car before everyone piled in. Caleb's eye caught the oh-so famous sign.

'Thanks for visiting WestBrook!'

Who knows, maybe he'll come back in the future.

Elf_Ruler​

 

[Soap]

Raven

Raven stepped out of the small yellow bug, locking the car and tightening her bag around her shoulder. Today was some kind of buddy system and as long as this did something for her college applications, that'll be fine. It's whatever at this point, but Raven was still going to try-- she's not too keen on giving up so quickly. And thanks to everyone's pep-talk on social media, it's safe to say Raven's feeling a bit more confident in herself.

It wasn't long for Mason to catch up with her and go on and on about moving in with him. The brunette shook her head. "Mm. A little early for all of that huh? Where's my ring?" Look, she didn't want pity or whatever. She appreciated it... but she wasn't going to impose. Especially on Mason-- it wasn't that this was considered pity or anything. It was just the fact that everything felt weird between the two.

"No."

Winona​

 

[Winona]

Mason

Well fuck.

This had gone way worse than Mason had wanted. He didn't want to make a scene or draw attention, but he also refused to budge this time until he had a better answer from Raven. No wasn't going to cut it. Fuck, he wouldn't give up until she was somewhere else. Anywhere else, even if it wasn't with him. She just couldn't be in her car. It wasn't fucking alright at all.

Raven started to walk away from him, and be grabbed her arm before she could keep walking from him. "Raven, I'm not trying to fucking date you if you don't want to. I know that I burned any bridge when I started dating Laurel, but..." Fuck. Words were hard. They were difficult. He could never get out exactly what he wanted, even if the words were right on the tip of his tongue.

"You let Ari and I move in. This isn't charity or some shit. Okay? I'm just returning a favor. You can help me pay rent or whatever the fuck you want to make yourself feel better. But you can't live in a fucking car."

Soap​

 

[Soap]

Raven

Raven made a move to snatch her arm out of Mason's grasp, but didn't walk away from him afterwards. If he wanted to talk, she decided to just let him say what he wanted. She just didn't expect him to make sense. He made a good point. The car was too damn small and she hated that thing no matter how many times Raven wished for a car, she didn't want to live in one. And-- it technically wasn't charity, it was just him trying to repay her.

So what? They lived together before, this time it was just slightly different.

Without Ari. Drake would be there too so that would help with the awkwardness. Because honestly Raven didn't know what they were or what Mason even wanted with her. And with Alaska back, it was just messing with her head all too much. So... fuck it. What's the worst that could happen? "Okay. Fine." She shrugged nonchalantly. Yes, it was still bothering her but she wasn't about to voice that to Mason. Raven's glare that was once there softened into something she couldn't place and instead of making everything more complicated, she changed the subject. "Okay, we're done here? I'll see you after school. I have to go show some rich kid around or whatever. I'll see you later."

With that, Raven went to go find some guy named Lake. River.

Winona​

 

[Twin Fantasy]

Charlie McAllister

For once, seeing Zander was the last thing Charlie wanted to see. Not because he was ungrateful, but because he looked like a fucking pussy. And God, must Zander hate him now. Things like this weren't meant to last. Good things. Nice things.

His parents picked him up at the hospital, and he was a sorry sight. He was alone, and he felt it. He couldn't play like this.

When he woke, his younger brother, Andy, had broken into his room to pet the cat. Charlie scowled. You don't take care of it, you don't pet it. That had been the household motto for as long as Kurt Catbain had lived there. Charlie threw a pillow at Andy, which hit him squarely on the head. Andy shouted, and in retaliation, ripped a corner off of one of Charlie's posters. ("This guy looks like a queer!", he had shouted.) Charlie eventually kicked him out. Andy was soon replaced by his mother.

"Charles." She was stern. "Just because you're injured doesn't mean you can torment your brother like that."

"If he wants to pet the cat, he should take care of it."

"He's a child."

"He's twelve." Charlie scowled. "That's old enough to pour out some Meow Mix into a bowl. He owes me a new poster."

"Let up, I always tell you to take down these ghastly things anyway." She opened his drawers, about to toss some clothing onto his bed, when she paused. Charlie was confused until she held up the pot he'd been stashing in his underwear drawer. "What's this, Charles?"

"Ma, don't go through my underwear, that's--"

She whirled around and backhanded him suddenly, then pocketing the dimebag.

"I'm throwing this out." She stated. "Get dressed and go to school. I'm calling the priest."

"Go to school?" Charlie whined. "I almost died yesterday, Ma."

"Sometimes," she retorted, looking overwhelmed, "I wish you'd go through with it." She left his room without another word, Charlie left alone to awkwardly squirm into his clothing one-handed. He threw on a t-shirt and some sweats, and only then did he read a tweet from everyone's least favorite Rivera stating that the snobby rich pricks were getting buddies, and he was one of them. Not even to that "the only" chick, no, it had to be one of the carfuckers he blocked.

Needless to say, he was far less than thrilled on arrival. He had to walk, as riding a bike with a shit arm was impossible, and he'd rather die than carpool with Andy and Cecilia. He couldn't even tell the two apart, but eventually settled on the one being harassed by what appeared to be a pageant girl possessed by the devil. He approached the lovey-dovey pedo couple.

"Are you Fitzroy or whatever?" He asked, completely ignoring Honey Boo Boo clinging to his arm. "I'm supposed to be your b-buddy."

Show no weakness.

// Braddington Winona //​

 

[TheFool]

River

River fiddled with his phone, texting. Tweeting. Westbrook had really brought out his inner keyboard warrior. His phone buzzed. It was Elisha, again. He ignored it. Looking up from the soft intoxicating glow of his screen, he eyed Ash. She stood, silent. Waiting for the other buddies, obviously. He felt bad for her. She seemed very… out of her element. Surrounded by Black Mill. He pursed his lips,
“Now’s ya chance.” He whispered sweetly to Gus, who stood standing beside him. He was half joking. But Gussy and Ash’s twitter interactions had, well, dripped with wanting. And Gus had to make his mark at Westbrook. River shoved his elbow into Gus’ side and began laughing.
Teasing was one of River’s passions.
It was close behind hitting a puck and kicking/throwing a ball around.

His eyes wandered a bit more, waiting.
Patiently.

His sight landed on a familiar face across the way. Tadita. She was looking at him. He nodded at her with a friendly smile. It was nice to see her. Made Westbrook feel a bit less daunting - that he was walking in with someone who he had spent some time with ( that wasn’t originally from Black Mill, obviously ). He looked at her a bit longer before notifications distracted him.
He slipped his phone back in his jean pocket.

It was then that he spotted HER.

His buddy.

He knew she was his buddy from twitter. Raven. Tadita had talked about her briefly in DMs, but he didn’t take any of that to heart. He liked making up his own mind on people.

She walked towards him and the others. Joining Ash in the list of buddies who had actually managed to show up to do their job. Congrats to ‘em. Raven was… fuck it… she was hot. Dark hair, dark eyes. Kind of like himself. River towered over her in height. But that had never been a problem. He gave her a nod, with an accompanying smile.
The signature smile.
“Thanks for joinin’ us.” He said, jokingly. He scratched his brow. “Name’s River. Appreciate ya bein’ my buddy. Was getting sick of these fuckers.”
He continued.
Laughing softly, pointing his thumb at Gus and Norah and Riona. He looked over. At Fitz. To see him talking to some little blonde thing and a guy wearing a fucking mop on his head who could only be the kid who blocked them all on twitter.

River’s smile widened.
“Promise I won’t be too awful.” He added, turning back to face Raven.



ailurophile
Braddington
dendygar
Hypnos
BELIAL.
Soap
Winona



​

 

[Elf_Ruler]

Tatum had enjoyed the kiss with Caleb and had wished it to last longer but as the universe would have it, it ended. Her hear ached from the fact that she had lost someone who made her feel like she didn’t have to be perfect and that she had also made happy. She stood for a moment as he walked away before she herself turned away. She wouldn’t let herself cry, too much had already happened. She had gone to look for Colby and found out he had gone to the parking lot. The fire hadn’t fazed her but when she saw Colby, she gave him a small smile. It was nice to have at least someone she could talk to and who was making sure she didn’t get herself completely harmed. As she entered the car the first thing, she heard was Linkin Park and she couldn’t help but smile a little more. She was grateful for the silence and that he didn’t press her for anything. When they got back to her place, she gave him one last smile, “I’m sorry if I ruined your night. Thanks for the ride.”

When the school day rolled back around Tatum wanted nothing more than to lie in bed, it was comfortable, and she was if nothing else sad. Her face still hurt from Raven, nothing makeup couldn’t fix, but she had wanted to give up. That was until she had heard news about some buddy system for the new transfer students. As she rolled out of bed, she quickly put on her makeup covering her bruise and throwing together an outfit. She had to look presentable even if that was the last thing, she felt like doing. Who was she trying to impress? No one important at this time. Of course, as soon as she made herself presentable and grabbed her keys and headed to her car. She and Brayden were still on the outs, so he had opted for the bus, so as she put her key into the ignition, and nothing happened. Her car wouldn’t turnover and she began to curse trying to force the car to start. Of course, no Brayden meant she needed her dads help seeing as her mom had already left for work. She was pounding on her dad’s door to no avail and she was already running late.

She had continued to pound on the door and he still wasn’t responding, the man could sleep through a bomb and then wonder what happened when he awoke. Of course, she took to Twitter and got offered a ride from JJ which she promptly took. She needed a ride and JJ was her saving grace. It didn’t take long before the brunette arrived and of course was already curious about Tatum’s offer. Tatum was silent for a moment, “JJ, before we get to school, would you like to be co-captain?”

0k_mang0 Soap
--

Brayden had waited for Bella and it had taken her awhile to show up, of course by then he had had heard about the fire. He wasn’t mad at her; she was just a new person and possible friend. He figured that was how life went. She had then arrived, and he shrugged, “Fires ruin a lot. How about we pick another time to hang out. I’ll walk you back to your car.” He had walked Bella back to her car, “Don’t hesitate to text.” He gave the girl a wink before he made his way back home. The drive was quiet without Tatum and he wondered what had happened to her. She hadn’t messaged him about anything, so he figured she was probably safe. She was a big girl after all.

He had seen her when he arrived back to the house and she had been pretty quiet the whole time not saying much to anyone. He would’ve asked her and talked with her but that had been ending out bad for him recently, so he was going to mind his own business.

The next school day arrived, and he had woken up early to catch the bus rather than use the car, it was a quiet time for him and he’d get a ride home later. He wasn’t too concerned for Tatum or her driving, she had been sober as far as he knew and he was proud of her as a whole.

geminiy
--

The fire had ruined most of the fair for Gia and she had wound up going home and not having gotten to spend any extra time with Parker which had upset her. She wasn’t going to admit that, but she was now back at school and at her locker. She was tired from the weekend; her parents had been home for the weekend, and they had been asking her many questions and she didn’t know how to answer most of them. She had been doing her best in school and making friends and trying to keep idle chat with her parents had been hard. She knew they would be leaving again, and she would be on her own yet again. She had heard news of new kids transferring to Westbrook and she hoped they enjoyed Westbrook, but she didn’t know enough to help anyone out.

She was placing her back in her locker sorting through her books for class letting her mind wander through everything that had happened. She was still anxious because she hadn’t heard from Parker in the following days and she assumed she must’ve upset him or he was already tired of being her friend.

PenguinFox

 

[0k_mang0]

sebastian

Location: school
Ash Winona and @ Black Mill kids​

Sebastian might be running a little late. He wasn’t sure. His aunt could’ve dropped him off at school, but that would mean talking about his black eye (which was almost completely healed now but still partially there), and he insisted on going by himself. Yesterday, he managed to buy a new skateboard deck and woke up early this morning to install the wheels and break them in, so to speak.

And he zipped through the streets. He’d messaged Ash on Twitter that he would there soon because, for some odd reason, he was considered “nice” enough to be a tour guide to one of the new rich kids at school. Even his 3 and a half-year-old cousin was confused and she understood Sebastian wasn’t outgoing towards strangers all the time.

While rolling through the school parking lot, Sebastian glanced at a bunch of flashy new cars and assumed they all belonged to the new kids. Sooner or later, one of the Westbrook troublemakers might do something to one of those pretentious vehicles. That was just Sebastian’s guess. He had no prejudice towards people with more money than him. It’s just that, shiny new cars huddled together in a school parking lot looked like a big shiny target.

His distraction nearly killed him. Sebastian still didn’t slow down. When he set his sight in front of him again, he found himself speeding toward a bench. He couldn’t stop himself immediately. “Oh, shit.”

Fortunately, the three random students sitting on it jumped out of the way, just before Sebastian performed an ollie, wide hop over the bench. After landing, he twisted his skateboard into a 180 and powerslide into a rough stop, close to where the buddy guide group thing met up. Oh man, his heart was pounding, in a good or bad way, he couldn’t tell. At least he wore a helmet.

As if nothing just happened, Seb picked up his skateboard and walked towards Ash to greet her with a one-armed hug. It was good to see a familiar face. “Hey, morning,” he said, slightly out of breath from his near-death experience earlier.

 

[lion.]

Red​

“No mom. Seriously, it’s all good.”

From day to night, Sunday slowly lulled to Monday. In the very early morning, while mist still dewed the lawn and the cicadas stretched their instrumental plosives into the air, Red crouched next to his hand-assembled white bike, screwing in the last fastener into place, his tongue slightly brazed out of his lips.

Now, if this was all and good.. then this bike should work. It would work? Please?..

“Are you sure honey?” He heard his mom question from the doorframe of their house, “I know I’m not the best at getting this car around but-”
Her light footsteps began to deplane down the porch steps, a warning call for all Donovans around.

“Really mom, I’m terrific,” Red reiterated quickly, ascending up from the ground. Lifting the white metal scrap from the freshly trimmed trestles of grass, he let his hands curl around the steering handles. Before she could get closer, he flung his leg over the tin-metal body, sneaker assessing the pedal.
Why did he have such crazy ideas sometimes?

“Listen Red, I know with dad, things haven’t been easy, but I can still do things.” His mother protested evenly. He knew that posture she held of the slightly stuck out hip and fists dipped into her sides. Even though age was catching up to her just around the bend, she was a suited businesswoman with a heavy under armour of determination.

But, anything was better than his mom’s driving.

“I never doubted that mom, but I am great. Actually, never been better,” Red interrupted throwing on a sleazy grin, anticipation showing in his lightly feathered goosebumps.

Don’t break down, bike. The manual was hard enough to read.

Fixing the collar to his ruffled red flannel, he semi-waved to his mom. Pulling out the driveway, Red was a rocky driver. His bike went as far as to prove it as it took uneven loopedy paths of gyration.

The road, to Red and the bike’s complete shocker, aligned him straight by some supernatural phenomenon. Soon thereafter, the wheels whirred, gathering speed with every orbit they made. Flannel tagging behind him, figures left and right, smokes and smells commingled, Donovan felt as if he belonged here.

His dangerous free thoughts nearly ran him up into the flagpole. How many times was he close to dying again? Missing the clod of cylindrical volume by a blink, his brakes clunked as did his sneakers as he tried to create enough friction. Tumbling off his bike, he shook himself off the ground before anyone noticed.

Things weren’t Red’s death wish anymore though. Especially, when among the elbow-to-elbow hallways, Red identified the hellfire trailing auburn, Ava.

“Hey, Ava!” He said.
In a haste of excusing himself from students with billowing papers and stacked textbooks, and pressing himself paper thin through texting friends and couples, he finally fell in step with her.
Shifting weight between his feet, with his hands vised around his backpack clasps, he demurely beamed at her, rasping a few breaths behind from trying to catch up to her.

“I-well- you won’t believe it!” He razzed. He gave an afterthought. “Or you might because you live here and well since you live here you might believe it, but this weekend was crazy! I didn’t know Westbrook Fall Festivals were this insane. I may have seen you too, but I didn’t know if you wanted to say hi or if that was even you and nothing is worse than waving to someone who doesn’t know you-”

Red slowed, trying to relocate his thoughts before he remembered the windup of events.

“Oh, right. Sorry, Ava. I kind of sidetracked,” the active fifteen year old continued, proceeding to simper bashfully, “The most wildest part of the festival was when the stage caught on fire in the rain out of all weather and then this kid fell off stage and broke his arm. Who could have set it on fire? I don’t know, but potentially it could be anyone. You, me, who knows?”

“It was just crazy,” he summarized, realizing with great embarrassment that he was wasting her time. He tipped forward on his feet and back. This is how half-friend strangers met halfway, right?

Winona

 

[Hypnos]

Gus Windrift
​

Out of its element surrounded by the forest of old hatchbacks, and second hand vehicles, the Benz purred gratefully as Gus pulled into the car park, eyes glancing carefully to the rearview so that wouldn’t bash into the two adjacent cars that were parked on either side of his chosen space. Normally he wouldn’t worry about taking his time with such a maneuver. Normally sloppy parking was just an accepted part of his routine. But the Benz was technically Fitz’s car, and with both his brother and his sister watching him meticulously from the back seats, he knew that even the slightest scrape would be met with great ire. As if they were always so perfect with their parking. As if Gus wasn’t the best fucking driver in this family.

‘I guess this is Westbrook.’ Gus mumbled, as he took the keys out of the ignition, tossing them over to Fitz as he opened the car door to gaze upon the place that he was going to be spending the majority of his time for the next few months. ‘I can already see a few friendly faces, eager to meet us.’ The school was small. Much smaller than Black Mill had been, and much smaller than he had expected. Not to say that was a bad thing. The Black Mill Academy had been somewhat labyrinthian at times, with all its great halls, and winding corridors that didn’t seem to lead anywhere in particular. There had been more than one occasion when Gus had been late to class just because the trek between classrooms had taken more time than the break that they had been allocated, and as a person with a very poor sense of direction, he had often been prone to walking into completely the wrong rooms. Westbrook would be different however. Especially since he had his new best buddy to help show him around.

‘Ash’ her name was, at least that’s what the email they’d sent him had said, and from their brief interaction on social media, she didn’t seem to be a total stick in the mud. Cute too, but that line of thinking tended to lead Gus down a very dangerous path. It wasn’t often that he tried playing with fire and didn’t get burnt.

‘I think we’re supposed to meet our buddies outside.’ Taking his role as the de facto leader of the pack, the youngest Windrift strolled confidently towards the schools grounds, offering brief waves to the people that he recognized, and the occasional smile to those that he didn’t, though it didn’t seem his good nature was to be reciprocated. Theo and Frenchy would always be happy to see a fellow Miller, but these Westbrook kids seemed to avoid his gaze as if he were a fucking leper, or something, and they might catch something if they spent too long looking in his general direction.

There were certainly worse plagues to carry than the rich-man's-disease.

Once he arrived outside the school gates, he didn’t have to wait long before back-up soon arrived, and he could recognise River’s booming voice even with his back turned. The same voice that had often scolded him for not going long enough when he threw a ball across the pitch. The voice that had called him a lesbian for weeks, after he had gotten that paticularly unflattering haircut. A voice that Gus loved to hear.

‘Walshy!’ He clapped his hand against that of his friends, turning for a second to the other Walshes to offer similarly familiar greetings. ‘Walshette. Little Walsh. How are my favourite bunch of bitches doing?’ He beamed, losing focus on his own family just long enough for Fitz to get caught up behind him with some rando bitch that he didn’t recognise. It seemed that his brother was already popular.

‘Things have been pretty decent. I’ve got a wild story to tell you later, dude, but I’ll leave the tale of my pending canonisation for when we properly get settled in.’

As he chatted it up with the Walshes, another figure joined their group, a blonde who he probably would have been able to recognise as a school assigned ambassador from her awkward introduction, even if he hadn’t already seen her picture on twitter.

‘Hey Ash! I’m Gus. I’m told that you’re gonna be my new best friend. I’ll just have to let Walshy down gently.’

Gus offered a sly grin to his friend at the subtle remark, winking suggestively, though everything was meant in jest. It was still early days at Westbrook.

‘So you’re gonna show me around? That’s a pretty sweet gig. Where are we gonna go first on the tour? A movie theatre? Maybe a nice Italian place afterward for dinner.’ His smile only grew wider. ‘I’m kidding.’ He paused. ‘You’ll have to butter me up a lot more than that.’

TheFool BELIAL. ailurophile Braddington Winona

 

[Winona]

Mason

He felt like a weight had been lifted off of him when Raven finally agreed. Mason relaxed, letting go of her arm. She started towards the group of Black Mill kids, but one of the guys broke off from the group and met her before she got all the way over there. That had to be River Walsh, Raven's buddy. He eyed the other guy for a moment, and sure, Mason didn't know a lot about him, but... the guy already got under his skin. Maybe it was just because he was buddies with Raven.

Fuck it. Whatever. Raven was a big girl, and it was pretty fucking clear that him and Raven were never going to happen again. He'd ruined that by sleeping with countless blondes over the summer -- and it wasn't like it had been some one time mistake. Mason had kept going back, kept trying to drown out feelings that he thought were dead through sex. And instead, all he'd ended up doing was fucking hurt Raven and destroy any chance that he had to be happy.

Oh well.

Speaking of blondes...

Mason's gaze roamed over to the rest of the Black Mill kids, and fell on one perfect Norah Walsh. She was like a real life Barbie doll -- perfect makeup, perfectly curled hair, perfect clothes. It made him a little self-conscious at first, seeing as how Mason was dressed in his usual apparel. Ripped dark jeans, his Converse (still duct taped on the side from last year when he'd ripped a hole in it), and an old red flannel that had seen better days. He was so out of place, it was almost embarrassing.

Still, deep breath. All Mason had to do was tag along with Norah for a while. Show her around, and they'd be done. Right? Right. That's all he had to fucking do. Mason could manage that.

"Come on, princess. You're with me." He said as he started walking over to the group, although he stopped a good ten feet or so away. Like getting closer to these rich, perfect kids would leave him burned.

Soap BELIAL.​

 

[BELIAL.]

Norah Walsh
location: WHS mention: Winona ​

She glazed over it all. She ignored River swooping in on his next girl to charm, and she ignored whatever the fuck Daniel was doing. She did a good job of ignoring, preferring to keep her nose tucked into her phone and typing away at whatever text, post or tweet she was engaged with currently.

Mason had the gall, the absolute nerve, and it drove her up a wall. He'd been just about the opposite on Friday, maybe because he was caught off guard by there being two strong females in his presence. But he hadn't been that awful, had he? Did she just glaze over it all, in her half-hearted attempt to extend a few olive branches before the inevitable snapping would occur?

Eventually he finished whatever he was doing, and she was busy looking at her nails. "Come on princess, you're with me," he said, but he was so far way she had to flick her head up to even reason that it was him speaking-- let alone to her than the group. Her cheeks burned a bit, thinking of how he'd been some false charmer the other day in the DMs. Ha. Maybe he was a jokester, as well as a prickly fuck with his dick stuck in a pickle jar. She felt the rotten, pit-opening sensation of embarrassment threaten to swallow her whole.

Norah flipped her hair, smoothing down her sweater over her form. She gave a lazy glare at Mason, taking her time to walk over to him. Her pout was plastered on, and suffice to say she was having none of it. She got up close to him, really letting him be able to size her up. She searched his eyes, maybe hoping that there was something not-douchey about him in there. He had about half a foot on her, the top of her head coming up to neck. Norah kept her gaze slack, aside from the fire in her eyes.

He'd pissed her off. She was a force to be reckoned with.

"I hope you know I was sincere about the observatory thing on Friday," she said giving him one venomous look. Her eyes were wide-- she hadn't really grasped her loose plan to get Mason to get her brother on the football team, and probably his friends, until this morning so why on earth was she feeling emotional about it all -- and she felt a cold heat blossom up her neck. "But you've made that seem almost impossible. If you had an issue with me, you shouldn't have tried at all." Her sneer was less on the rude side, and a little more on the defense. She couldn't even fathom the growing disgust she had for him. He'd better come up with some sort of apology if there was any plan.

Was she really that choked up about it?

"I'm right behind you. Let's get a move on, shall we?" She cocked her head, crossing her arms and gesturing with a loose hand down the hallway. She could feel a few eyes on her, but she refused to back down. She refused to lose eye-contact.

Norah Walsh could be an apex predator, if she chose. She did, in this moment.

 

[PenguinFox]

Ian was tired; physically and emotionally. The festival had been eventful to say the least. He was truly not expecting to be nominated to homecoming court, especially next to someone as cool as Alaska. After the announcements had been made Ian and Alaska spent the rest of the festival together. Hanging out as totally platonic friends of course. He even managed to win her something. It was one of those throw a ball into a fishbowl type games. It seemed in everyday life Ian's luck wasn't that great, but he was always strangely lucky when it came to games.

The walking all day did end up putting Ian out of commission the next day, coupled with the lack of sleep. After leaving the festival he realized that Ash had disappeared. When he reached out to her she had insisted on being fine but that was obviously bullshit. She couldn't lie to him. Not only had Ian used the 'I'm fine' lie thousands of times he also knew her too well. He ended up sleeping very little, worrying about his best friend most of the night.

Now it was Monday and Ash had quite kindly volunteered him to help show around the new rich kids. Ian didn't really have any strong feelings for any of them one way or the other, but he wasn't really looking forward to this experience. They had already rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, and he was far too tired to deal with it. Normally Ian would have been happy to help, but today was just...too much. But he would grin and bear it, for Ash.

He was running late, as usual because of his limp. Ash had messaged him a couple times and he was a little more snippy than he intended but exhaustion was starting to weigh on him. The world had gone and gotten itself in a big damn hurry, usually leaving Ian behind. He noticed the cars in the parking lot, obviously belonging to the Black Mill kids. He briefly wondered if any of them had ever actually worked a day in their life. Like, actually worked. It wasn't a malicious thought, just an idle curiosity.

Finally Ian approached the group of kids milling about, putting on a wide grin as he made his way to Ash and Seb. At least he had some friends in this endeavor. "You know why I'm late." he said sheepishly, giving Ash a hug, and Sebastian a genuine grin. He turned and faced the new kids. What exactly was he supposed to say? Or do? "Welcome to Westbrook...." he started slowly, clearly unsure of himself. He looked to his friends for back up. "It seems we're still waiting on some people." Where was the rest of the group? Well, this was a great first impression. Winona 0k_mang0 @Black Mill kids

 

[Winona]

Ash

She hated the other "buddies." Tatum's car had died, JJ was running late, Mason and Raven were arguing, and who knew where the rest of them were? At least Ash knew that Sebastian and Ian were on their way, because standing in front of the Black Mill kids and trying to act okay was not working. And then, there was the answer to her prayers.

Sebastian's dramatic entrance left a small smile on her face. She hugged him back, reveling in the familiarity and safety of being with one of her friends when she was faced with... well... this group of strangers. "Glad you could make it," Ash said with a grin and pulled away from the hug. She looked back towards the group, realizing that she needed her buddy but not exactly knowing which one was supposed to be her buddy. Gus, right? She really hadn't looked at their Twitter pictures, so honestly, Ash was having a hard time trying to pick them apart. Plus two of them looked identical. How was she supposed to work with that?

Thankfully, Gus must have known that she had no idea what she was doing, because he stepped forward and introduced himself. And so far, he seemed nice... and then for some reason he decided to try... whatever weak attempt at a flirt that was. Ash would give him an A for effort, but seriously? Seriously?

She was quiet for a moment, caught off guard since to be honest, it had been a while since Ash had even been flirted with. Ash glanced towards Sebastian for backup, and then looked back at Gus with a smile. "Okay, well." She was speechless because if this was what she was going to have to deal with, Ash would not make it through the day.

Ash pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to steady her breathing, and stop the anxiety building inside her. Okay so yeah, she was supposed to be getting help, and she had! But maybe she'd stopped taking the medication they'd suggested, and maybe now it was making her feel even more like a mess than usual.

"Smooth. Really. But uh, afraid I'm just going to be showing you the school today." And after that, given how things were already going, Ash was hopefully not going to be showing him anything else.

She caught sight of Ian coming up to a group, and a wave of relief washed through her. Because at least with Ian, she felt grounded. Like she could breathe, and right now, she really needed that.

To be honest, she totally forgot Gus was even there.

"Ian," Ash breathed a sigh of relief, throwing her arms around him and hugging him for longer than was probably necessary. But fuck it. She really needed this, and being with Ian made the dark thoughts and the panic attacks grow farther away. Finally, she stopped hugging him, but held onto his arm while she spoke.

"Everyone is just kinda breaking off when they find their buddy. I'm going to go show Gus around, but I'll see you later, okay?" She smiled, and started to feel a little bit more calm before Ash rose up on her tiptoes and pressed a quick kiss to Ian's cheek. Partially because she technically owed him one from the kissing booth, and partially because she was hoping it would keep Black Mill guys from making any other stupid remarks. "Good luck. Text me if you need anything."

Ash finally let go of Ian's arm, and looked back at Gus. Her smile was more easygoing now, calmer, more collected. "Alright, come on. I'll show you around. And maybe later, I can show you the best places around town." Yep, okay. Ash had this, right? Right. Of course she had this. So, she started walking away from the group with Gus.

"So... asbestos. That kind of sucks. At least you got to come here with some of your friends, right? And like, Westbrook isn't that bad. After you get to, like, know people I guess."

She was totally nailing it.

0k_mang0 PenguinFox Hypnos​

 

[PenguinFox]

Toby grinned wide as Sebastian agreed to his offer. As long as Toby got the people coming in that was what mattered right? His eyes followed Seb as he made his way to a spot with his ball. Slowly an eyebrow arched; clearly this wasn't new for him. That form and patience. He knew what he was doing, that was for sure. An impressed smirk formed on Toby's face, and he wasn't easily impressed. Unsurprisingly the guy absolutely nailed the shot. Toby folded his arms over his chest and moved closer to the guy. "Do you play? If not, you should. What's your name?" He asked casually. This guy needed to try out for the basketball team, they definitely could use some better players. Toby was basically the only good one there.

Attentions turned as Toby heard his name called out. Another wide smiled perched on his lips. "Serena! What a pleasant surprise. Okay, well not a surprise. I figured I'd see you at some point today." Toby made it a habit to know all the athletic types of Westbrook since he arrived, especially if they had any sort of talent. Obviously JJ was the prettiest and most talented, but there were quite a few other talented athletes, Serena being one of them. "It's five dollars for three throws. Not as cheap as other stalls, but neither are the prizes!" Toby had to admit he wasn't expecting this much business.

As he spoke with Serena Toby continued to glance over at Sebastian. He wanted to see if that first shot was luck or if he could replicate it. Perhaps he was even as good as Toby! Well, close at least. Everything the Knight boy did was in excellence. He didn't always have the choice. 0k_mang0 DrabberRogue

 

[0k_mang0]

sebastian

Location: school
Ian PenguinFox , Ash Winona , Mal BELIAL. , @ rest of Black Mill kids
​

Sebastian furrowed his brows at one of the new kids speaking to Ash, immediately skeptical towards Gus just from the look he gave her. Oh, no. Seb’s friend needed none of that right now. If he could, he would give her his new skateboard to carry around in case her buddy goes a bit too far.

“You can do this,” Sebastian whispered to Ash before she left, giving her a reassuring gentle squeeze on the shoulder. It was all he could do to help her that wasn’t aggressively protective. He hoped his buddy wasn’t as bad as hers. After greeting Ian with a nod and unbuckling his helmet strap, he spoke to the Black Mills group. “Okay, so, which one of you is Malachi?”

Back in Fall Festival — Toby, Serena DrabberRogue

Sebastian thought he had a moment to himself until another girl approached the booth. “Thanks,” he said to her before turning his attention back at the booth guy, Toby, whose name he just learned after Serena mentioned it.

“It’s, uh, Sebastian.” The sudden interest confused him. It was just one basket shot. Anyone could’ve made that if they tried, so what made this ordinary skateboarder special enough to grab Toby’s attention? “Yeah. I mean, I played a bit. In middle school,” Sebastian answered vaguely, taking one tiny retreating step back when Toby leaned closer. He wasn’t asked this question often. Actually, this was the first time anyone asked him since quitting last year at his previous school in New Jersey.

Sirens of firefighter trucks grew closer to the festival location. Turns out, the fire wasn’t a baby smoldering fire. It wasn’t too big and no one was hurt, except for the music performer that broke his arm by protecting his guitar. However, it was still enough to put an end to the festival.

“I guess won’t be able to pay, after all,” Sebastian murmured, almost reluctantly putting down the second basketball he’d picked up before he could decide to play. He glanced at the dragon plush toy on the booth’s shelf – his baby cousin Tabbi would just have to raise a small alpaca instead of a baby Smaug.

 

[TYPE]

A L E X - S H A R P
@sharpattack


dendygar || Alejandro
Mentions the gathering in front of the school.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The boy... the guy...

Sometimes he hated his brain.

He seems nice. || He is out of his depth, he needs help. He is pretending.
At least he is trying to be social. || He needs to be social in order to survive, just like you.
He has a nice voice. || You are a horny teenager you would fuck literally almost anyone that smiled at you.
His concern seems authentic. || Just because he can't understand you does not mean he does not understand manipulation.
His hands are soft.|| God, now you are a racist? Classist? Asshole? You thought he MUST HAVE worked the fucking tobacco plantations since he was three?
He does not seem offended at your job. || He is obviously in need of a job. He wants an in.

Even he could feel his head swaying from left to right as the sides of his brain played ping-pong with his thoughts. To and fro between the worst and the best of him. The best? He almost snorted at the idea. The least shit would be most appropriate he supposed.

Can't he have this? Can't he just... take this? What if it is shit? Does that matter?

A deep, drawn out sigh escaped him, his entire body deflating like a blown tire. His head leaning against the wall rose up, as he closed his eyes. He needed to think. If only for a moment. Holding up his hand, halting the other's speaking, he retreated into the jumbled mess that was his brain.

---
Scenario One - He ignores this guy, sends him packing. Alex did not need this crap. He had enough to deal with.
Result One - He remains unhappy. Nothing changes.

Scenario Two - He accepts this, they become friends. Maybe a spot of happiness every now and then.
Result Two - He gains a friend. A minor positive change. Positive? Minor?

Scenario Three - He accepts this, the guy uses him till he does not need him anymore, and he is alone again.
Result Three - He remains unhappy. Nothing changes.

Scenario two could be considered an aspect of scenario three. An initial phase. Which meant... considering the fact that all three potentially leads to the same thing, that... he might as well? He is not losing anything. He could risk a spontaneous friend.
----

Spontaneous? Fuck... was this even spontaneous anymore? Now it was calculated. Literally. Was he ruining this already?

He felt his teeth grinding against each-other as he frowned. He forgot himself as a factor in the equation. The chances were one in three that this could work. Adding himself... Alex loses interest. Alex irritates him and he leaves. Alex is too busy and he can't sustain it. Alex jumps off a fucking bridge... oh... who was he kidding. Falls off. A twinge in his leg seemed to mock him. As if he could jump still. Even if he wanted to...

The odds looked shit.

He opened his eyes again. The guy was still there. He lowered his hand.

"Lo siento... solo tengo... español de primer año?" Eyes wide, looking for comprehension in the other's eyes. "So... if... if we do this..." He gestured between them. "We become friends. Amiga? Yeah?" God... it was like remember back to an entirely different life. He needed to refresh his studies. "We will need to speak English. That okay?" That was nice and simple. He seemed to have at least... lets say level 4, maybe 5 English. Simple sentence structure. A good sense of grammar. Very good in-fact. He may even be more proficient.. just... unpracticed.

Maybe he just needed a moment to just... find himself. Become comfortable again.

Maybe they both did.

"I am Alex. Alex Sharp. I have had... I am in... a lot of pain. My muscles-" He pointed at his legs, squeezing them gingerly. "They are very weak. When I use them for walking. They hurt. It is why I am... here. Sitting." God. That was an half-truth... nah.. fuck that. eighth-truth if he has ever heard it. But, he did not need to know everything now. If he needed to at all. Slowly getting up, letting the boy help him. "Thank you." Pressing down hard on his cane, he bent over, groaning as he picked up his bag. Pointing the cane outside, he nodded in the same direction. "To be honest. I don't know what class. My brain is... stupid today." He smiled at the other, before walking, the other easily being able to keep up. "As for work? I work at a pizza place. The pay is okay. Not the best." Sighing, he entered the hallways filled with children, fastidiously trying to ignore them. "I can ask if there is a spot. Yeah?"

In the distance he saw bunch of people outside the main entrance gathering. Not wanting to go through that, he looked about, stopping in the middle of the main hallway. "Your name. I did not... ask. You have a phone? I can give you my number." He felt his lungs heaving somewhat. It had not been a long walk. But he was already out of breath. This is going to be harder than he thought. "Where are you from? Kinda assumed somewhere south?" Blanching, he looked down. "Because of the accent. I mean. Clearly not from around here..."​

 

[dendygar]

Alejandro

His darker face lit up in response to hearing him speak Spanish. That was so refreshing! Even if it was just a little bit, and even if his accent was terribly off, he wasn't going to be picky. "Ah, está bien. Intentaré hablar inglés." He responded back in perfect Spanish, his dark eyes twinkling. They looked like obsidian, just like his cousin's. "Yes, we are friends." He smiled a bit wider. He had a wonderful smile, straight teeth from good genetics. He seemed to have good genetics all around. He was tall, muscular, symmetrical face and societally handsome. He was friendly too.. almost like a dog. Maybe a Golden Retriever. "Yes, we must speak English." Jay was glad he had been watching all of those english movies and shows, they seemed to be coming quite in handy.

Jay's eyes followed Alex's hands as he reached down and grabbed his legs, and he nodded in understanding. "I see. Help?" He asked. "I will take this." He took Alex's backpack and slung it over one of his broad shoulders, wanting the other young man to focus on walking and getting from place to place without any extra weight added onto his legs. He must have been in some sort of physical therapy- at least Jay hoped so. He couldn't think of the word for schedule, and he furrowed her brows and looked quite perplexed as they walked along. "List? Class List? Can I see?" He asked Alex, and when he pulled it out, he looked, and he compared it to the school map. "I see. I will take you." It wasn't that far up the hall, actually. The main obstacles would be the kids at the lockers and the people walking quickly passed them.

A pizza place? He knew what pizza was, although he'd never had an American one. "I would like that, yes. Thank you. I like pizza." He grinned in his choppy, broken English. "I like it.. with.." he struggled to find the words. "¿Jamón? Pimientos." Ham and peppers. He noticed his friend starting to pant, and he paused at a drinking fountain to let the kid catch his breath. "My name is Alejandro Sanchez. But my cousin calls me Jay. Phone..? Telephone number." He nodded and got out his phone and opened up a new contact spot, offering it out to Alex. "I am from Colombia."

TYPE​

 

[Hypnos]

Gus Windrift
​

Waiting patiently for his buddy to finish catching up with her own friends and classmates, Gus maintained a politely cheerful expression, offering a lopsided smile to those Westbrook kids whom he assumed would be responsible for showing the rest of his Black Mill peers around the school. He may not have known any of them yet, some of them, he might never see again, but above all else, Gus liked to be liked, and he saw no reason why he couldn’t show these bastards the great charm that had won him such esteemed middling popularity back home in Mass.

He could tell from the way that they looked at him that things were already off to a rough start.

That was of little bother. Persistence was Gus’ middle name, ‘Augustus Persistence Windrift’, and he was convinced that he was either gonna get these nerds to fall in love with him by the end of the week, or he would die trying.

Given the awkward way Ash danced around his little joke, death wasn’t exactly seeming like an unattractive option.

Gus only hoped that he came off as more endearing than creepy. Afterall, he didn’t have Walshy’s dashing good looks to get him out of trouble.

‘Yeah, that sounds great. Can’t wait to see all the sites. I left my camera back in Mass, so I guess I’m just gonna have to live this whole trip in the moment!’

As Ash said her goodbyes to her own friends, and the groups started to slinter off into individuals tours, Gus offered the Black Mill group a brief farewell, giving Fitz a mock salute, and offering Walshy the classic double-finger-guns. ‘Stay classy gents. Don’t get into too much trouble whilst I’m gone.’

Then he made his departure, following behind his buddy as she began to guide him deeper into the school, and away from the main entrance way, shooting one last sympathetic look at his brother as he continued to be assaulted by that persistent stranger.

‘What? Uh, yeah. Asbestos fucking sucks. The whole school is supposed to be out of commission for a while, so who knows when we’re gonna be able to go back. I guess we’re just luck that our generous neighbors at Westbrook were willing to take in some forlorn refugees like us.’ Luck wasn’t exactly how Gus would have truthfully described their situation. His classmate Eliza Richter had taken Black Mill’s closure as an excuse to do some extended study in Sweden, and his buddy Tony Cavarello was living it up in some fancy school in coastal Cali, but Gus’ father was a New England man, born and raised, and he would rather see his children die than send them off to some den of ‘new age Bohemian socialists.’

At least Westbrook didn’t seem all that bad.

At least there was no asbestos.

‘It’s nice having people around to do all this new stuff with. Plus, with Walshy around, at least I’m not gonna be the biggest ass on campus.’ He smiled at Ash with a toothy grin. ‘Strength in numbers and all that, and no offence, but some of you guys can be a little intense.’ He cast his mind back to the people he’d already briefly interacted with on twitter. They weren’t exactly his biggest fans.

‘So, where’s our first stop? I feel so important being given the guided tour. I could get used to this.’

Winona

 

[Soap]

Juliette

Coffee, hot chocolate, and Tatum.

There was only one of those things she hated. But if it meant Juliette would get something out of it. She offered the blonde a ride, and surprisingly she took her up on the offer. Most of the car ride was sat silence except for the radio station that was playing lowering it slightly as they pulled into the parking lot of the school. Now, JJ was a fantastic driver. Seriously! She was a perfect citizen or whatever. But that didn't stop her from turning towards Tatum with wide eyes at her proposition and ignoring the stop sign for the next few seconds.

"What?"

The sound of a horn startled the brunette, slamming on the break before refocusing on Tatum. "Are you serious?!" Oh, of course she was serious-- the blonde was crazy but she wasn't downright evil. She couldn't have captain, but co-captain would do for now. A genuine smile formed on the girl's face, clearing her throat as her smile faded significantly. "Yes. Definitely. I'm in." Working with Tatum? That might be a little difficult but JJ is willing to put the work into it.

Parking the car and grabbing the drink tray, hesitating before leaving the car. "... Thanks. I guess." Before anything could get weird or mushy between the two, Juliette exited the car, catching up with the rest of everyone before spotting Ash and handing her her drink. "Guess what?" She didn't allow Ash to speak before she continued. "I'm co-captain isn't that amazing?" JJ didn't wait for her response before returning back towards the original group.

Sadly, the barista didn't do their job right, so she now had an extra drink. She was ready to throw the perfectly good drink away until she spotted Ian? That was his name right? No, it was probably something else. "Here Steve you can have this one." Now that Juliette was done playing butler, she needed to find her 'buddy.'

"Okay, who's Rhys?" She glanced around the group waiting for anyone to stick out.

PenguinFox (Ian) Elf_Ruler (Tatum) Winona (Ash) ailurophile (Rhys)

Raven

The rich kids seemed nice enough. While Raven was no-where near their social clique, they couldn't be that bad. Some of the people in WestBrook was wealthy and Raven tolerated them just fine. Surprisingly the feisty brunette didn't have many enemies in this small town. Although Tatum might have been the first fight she got into in a long time, she didn't consider her as one just yet. What's one bad fight and a bruise or two?

"Raven."

No last name this time? That was a surprise. In a way she almost felt... intimidated by them. Perhaps giving them her last name would let it show she wasn't as 'wealthy' as they were-- or that she was living out of her car, thanks to Mason for throwing all that online. It sounds stupid, yes. But when has rich people ever had common last names? At least the kind of people who went to private school. Even if Raven could pull off the outfits, she couldn't pull off being called 'Raven Fitzgerald.' Gross.

Normally, she wouldn't care what others thought of her. At least-- she made it seem like she didn't. Whatever the case was, this past few weeks hasn't been kind to her confidence.

With a small grin, she acknowledged everyone's presence with a nod.

"So, you ready? It's not a very interesting school I can assure you. It's the people here that catch your interest."

Well, she wasn't wrong.

TheFool (River)​

 

[TheFool]

River

“It’s the people here that catch your interest.”



River smiled at that,
“Yeah. I’ve, uh, noticed.” He spoke softly. Looking at her. Raven. His buddy. He gave her a nod, so to say that he was ready to go and get to it.

“Lead the way, boss.”

And she did.

They walked into the school, leaving the others behind. Raven walking in-front of him, meaning he could admire the view. Though his eyes didn’t linger for too long. He didn’t want to be a creep or anything. The entrance to the school was pretty normal… for a school.
Like,
It was a big hall. That lead to littler halls. Rows of lockers. Posters and notice boards. It was like something pulled from some soap opera. Black Mill was, of course, ten times more on the grandeur scale. Westbrook was Walmart to Black Mill’s Gucci. The school had no… style. No pizzazz. River looked around and felt nothing.
It was just…
Well.

Raven stopped at one point to look back and point out the principal’s office to him. His sight shifted from her to where she was pointing.
“It’s definitely a school.”
He said, laughing.
Hoping she’d laugh too.

He looked down at her, while fixing the strap of his schoolbag that had slid down his upper bicep. “What you guys do for fun? Besides settin’ fire and shit.” He asked her. Smirking. He wanted to be a bit nosy. Get the 411 on this shithole.
And the people in it.
“You cheerlead?” He asked her, examining her small frame. “You look like a cheerleader.”

He stopped and laughed softly again,
“Don’t take that as a bad thing, ha.”



Soap



​

 

[Elf_Ruler]

Tatum didn’t make a response to JJ but held her chest when she though JJ was going to kill them with her car. She had needed a moment to collect herself before she got out of the vehicle. She had quickly seen Ash before she was on the hunt for Theo. She could only hope that Ash was right, and that Theo was a sweet person. She couldn’t handle much more negativity in her life, everything had been too negative lately. The punch, Caleb’s departure and now her car. She felt like she couldn’t catch a break from any direction.

Tatum had only mildly interacted with Theo over Twitter, but she needed to find her buddy for this stupid day that Elise had set up. She hated Elise more than anyone else at this school, the woman was a nightmare to deal with. She let her eyes skim for the girl and she finally caught a glimpse of her.

She didn’t want to intrude but she knew she probably had to so she walked over to her. She was a little quiet for a moment and was trying to gain her confidence, something she didn’t have much of these days. She gave a small smile, “Theo?” she questioned, “I’m Tatum. It’s nice to officially meet you. Welcome to Westbrook.” She was trying to be as friendly as possible, but she hadn’t wanted to be a buddy. Not to Westbrook kids or rich kids from a school she didn’t really care about. However, Theo wasn’t the one to blame so she was going to be friendly to her, at least try and make a friend instead of an enemy of frenemy. Tatum had been failing at really making friends or keeping them for that matter and it had been taking a toll on her mental health. She still drank but she had been keeping it a secret from Brayden and basically anyone in her circle. She needed to seem like she was okay and that she was handling everything well, even when she wasn’t.

TheFool (Theo)
--

Cam hadn’t got to spend time with Milos which of course had upset him, so he knew he had to wait until school before he’d see him again. He had gone out of his way to buy a small little keychain he though Milos might like. He didn’t really know the boy well, but it was a cute little sun and he thought Milos would appreciate it. He had wanted to win the boy a prize but as life would have it he didn’t get to show off.

So when Cam had arrived at Westbrook he had asked around to make sure he knew exactly which locker belonged to Milos and he grabbed some tape in his backpack and taped the sun to his locker, ‘Hopefully you don’t injure yourself with this sun ;-)’ he quickly wrote a small note with it and dropped the note in Milos’ locker. He knew Milos would understand, after all Milos was the reason Cam had run into the lamp post. Now all he had to do was wait and see if Milos would respond to his act or ignore it. For that he had to go and disappear to his locker and get himself ready for the school day.

Winona

 

[Soap]

Raven

The school wasn't much. But it was definitely better than her old one. She grinned, almost amused at his joke.

Fun?

Hmm. Raven wonders what his kind did for fun. Golf maybe? Rich people were odd. It seemed like they craved stereotypes. "Parties, bonfires. What do you do for fun? Hmm? A weekly trip to Hawaii?" She was joking... mostly. WestBrook was just a mess of a town trying to get by, the drama of it all was just the center of it. Nothing was more exciting than hearing about everyone else's problems.

Raven tried her best to keep her jaw from dropping. A cheerleader?

Never.

Ever.

She enjoyed the uniforms, yeah. Just... not on her. She scoffed crossing her arms and continuing to walk across the long hallway. "Too late. Unfortunately for you, I don't cheerlead. Although not all cheerleaders are bad, I don't and never will consider myself one of them." She remembered when her Nancy tried getting her to sign up for tryouts. It wasn't a very pretty memory. Poor Nancy. The brunette copied the boy's actions, low-lidded eyes took in his own form. "You play football? You look like a quarterback." The slightest smile came to her face before she continued. "You could take that as an insult if you'd like." Raven never liked sports-- or the jocks that came with it.

It wasn't long until they came across NewsPaper. "This is where I do my magic." Raven wiggled her fingers and rose her eyebrows suggestively before walking backwards into the empty room. It was still run-down as usual. The school cared more for sports than journalism and it was clear. Too bad they didn't raise enough money at the kissing booth. But none of it mattered, this was just a temporary working space for Raven. At least, she hopes so. Taking a seat on top of her own desk, she gestured to the room. "This.. might be the only part about school I enjoy. Here? I'm head cheerleader." Raven said nonchalantly.

TheFool​