Realistic or Modern Westbrook

[Maree]

Theodore Presley

Mood: Over the moon| Interacting with: Jace |Mentions: Winona

Oh, it was good to be back in Westbrook. Theo had an amazing week. He caught up with his friends and gave them all of the hugs. He didn't get why some people were against hugging. Or why others were against showing affection towards friends. His friends were his favourite people so obviously, he was going to give them all the love. Acting any other way just seemed silly to him.

Then today was his favourite kind of day and he was so excited! It was someone's birthday. He fucking loved birthdays. Birthdays were the best thing to ever be invented. He wanted to kiss whoever invented birthdays. Birthdays meant giving people PRESENTS. He also wanted to kiss whoever came up with presents. He was so friggin excited. The look on Belle's face when she opened his present was going to be great. He was a friggin genius. Okay so maybe he had got a little too into investigating Belle to find out what she wanted. But that didn't matter he knew exactly what she needed and it was wrapped up, ready to go.

Once he arrived at the house he couldn't help but let his jaw drop a little. It had been a while since he had been to a rich Westbrook party and he forgot how great they were. There was a makeshift dance floor with colourful lights, a table with all sorts of treats, and a fully stocked bar with its own bartender? Oh fuck yeah, he was in party heaven. Theo put his present on the table with the others making sure his little card was still attached. There was no way anyone else was going to take credit for his gift skills. And now to enjoy the party. His brown eyes scanned the room until they fell on the bar. Okay, he knew exactly what he wanted to do.

"A blue Hawaiian please" Theo requested. Once he got his drink he looked around for someone to talk to. He probably looked kind of ridiculous with his bright blue girly drink. But he didn't care because it tasted freaking delicious. Screw gendered cocktails. While internally being grumpy about gendered cocktails he noticed a beanieless beanie boy sitting alone. "Hey Jace, what's up?" he asked, sitting down in the seat beside him. He happily sipped his liquid smurf juice. "You look like you're fighting an internal battle"

code by Ri.a

 

[Dazzle]

Carter


Carter laughed a little, "Yea that sounds like Mason for you." Lifting up her glass to her lips, "And the dick measuring contest just sounds like boys fighting over the hot new girl." she smirked behind her glass, taking a sip and raising her eyebrows. "Mason is just a jackass that likes to act like he doesn't give two shits."

Carter looked in the direction she was pointing. "I think it has less to do with you, and more to do with the position you've taken." Carter said nonchalantly, and she didn't mean the position on the cheer team. It had been obvious Grace and Ash hadn't been on the best terms lately, ever since that shit show of a play went down. "I bet no one expected the girl from the Christian boarding school to dance like that." Carter was a bit drunk, and she might have heard from Zach about Belle's back story, before Westbrook.

"Grace everyone just keeps making up rumors about you, first your pregnant, and now you got a striptease from the new girl. Who'd you piss of this time?" She laughed a little more. She knew she probably shouldn't have brought up the pregnancy rumor, but Carter was starting to feel the rum, and she couldn't stop herself from talking.


Soap Maree
​

 

[Maree]

Belle Taylor

Mood: Happy| Interacting with: Grace Carter | Mentions: Ash
Soap Winona Dazzle

Belle shrugged softly. "Her fault for being a shitty friend. Just because they aren't friends doesn't mean other people can't be her friend" she said. She saw that Grace needed someone and stepped up to the job. Plus she genuinely enjoyed her company and found her to be a really good friend in the past week. Ash was just a childish little drunk that Grace didn't need in her life. "I've been helping choreograph some routines so my dance moves will be seen at the next game anyways"

She turned her attention back to Grace as she drunkenly rambled. She was a pretty cute drunk. The blushing about the idea of a striptease definitely helped her cuteness factor. With that amount of blush she definitely knew what a striptease was. Before she could start teasing her about how much she was blushing she changed the conversation to presents. She unwrapped the little box and pulled out a crystal that looked shockingly similar to her hair. As she examined it her smiled widened at the little bff charm attached. That was so sweet. She adored it so much that she took off her current necklace and put it on instead.

"I love it" Belle beamed. She stood up and pulled Grace into a hug. It wasn't too fast at all in her opinion. After the week they had, they had definitely become best friends. Something about sharing all your secrets with someone made it feel like you had known them forever. Belle had even told her about the car crash. She hadn't gone into detail as getting the words out was just too difficult. "You're the greatest best friend a girl could ask for" she added. Maybe she might have said it a bit louder than necessary but she was happy. Besides who cares if Ash heard what she said. She could build a bridge and get over it.

She sat back down when Carter mentioned the pregnancy rumour that Grace had told her about. She still couldn't believe that someone would do that to her. "Some people just can't stand to see great people happy and feel the need to try and bring them down" she leaned over and squeezed Grace's hand. A silent reminder that she was there for her.

​

code by Ri.a

 

[Twin Fantasy]

Charlie McAllister
There's a song in my head: None because I'm tired

Why did Charlie do this to himself? He hated parties. And Belle had already completely torn him a new one the moment he reappeared into the public consciousness. It was his own fault, and now he'd probably be better off dying than showing his face in public. Let alone the woman's own house. It was ludicrous, an absolute mistake, nothing about it could possibly go right, and yet...

Yet there he was.

Guitar strapped to his back, toes pointed inward, and that tiny baggie of molly still tucked into his coat pocket. He felt worse than dirt. Lower than a roach. And yet, somewhere buried within his anxious brain, he craved the attention. Negative attention was only a little better than none. Or was it? What did he even want anymore? What the fuck did he want from anything?

Freedom. Openness. The ability to just be. But he couldn't. Not here. Not anywhere.

As he entered, he was given little more than a cursory glance. The house was big. What Charlie wouldn't give for a big house so he could just hide somewhere all the time. Maybe he'd ought to dig himself a little cave under his own home. His very own apocalypse bunker where he could just disappear and never have to think about anything. Fuck, his head hurt. Was it another migraine? Every single chicken-shitting day, he swore... His skin felt like it was full of little needles. Or claws, like when Kurt walked all over him with his long, white nails. What was he doing? Why was he here?

And all the Twitter notifications. Every time he posted there he wanted to die. Maybe he'd oughtta just cut social media out of his life. And now he'd been banned from a house he was already inside of. Hastily he found a corner to disappear into, and he unzipped his guitar case, playing a few soft chords.

Perfect.

If he closed his eyes, he could almost tune out all the chitter-chatter and disappear into... a meadow. No wait, a beachside. A mountain? Something. Actually it was pretty difficult to pretend to be anywhere else.

Mentions: Maree​

 

[Winona]

Jace


His alone time or... whatever only lasted so long before Theo came over, and Jace tried to keep the blush off his cheeks. Strangely enough, he'd just been thinking about Theo and lightly discussing him with Grace, so this seemed like some kind of ill-fated curse by some higher power or something equally out to get him. Per muscle memory, he reached up to try and tug down his yellow beanie, only to be reminded of his lost beanie. Instead, he tried to pass it off as just running a hand over his hair.

"O-Oh hey, Theo! I thought Ash mentioned you were back or... something." To try and stop the awkward laugh or whatever, Jace brought his cup of water to his lips and took a long sip, trying to catch himself. Inner battle. Right. An inner battle, of sorts. One that hadn't been helped by Grace but rather, had left him feeling even more vulnerable.

"Nothing. No inner battles here. Just watching the party and uhh... you know... enjoying myself or whatever." Oh god, could he act anymore awkward? This was why Jace tried not to leave the house or whatever. He was horrible at this socialization thing, and now with him having some battle about whether or not... oh, it was nothing. "What uh... how are you, Theo?"

Maree​

 

[Moonshadow]

June
​

She was quiet as she continued to listening to Raven. Her hand unclenching as she saw Raven normally again. But, still something was stuck in her heart. And she couldn’t help it and dived into the bitterness. They will never go back at how it used to be. So why are they still here? “You know...” She said not fazed by all the ‘sorry’ and the dismissing when she finished. “I think we’re a little too late for sorry’s. Sorry’s are only for people who care.” She remarked before turning away. “Have fun.” She waved to her slightly, but it wasn’t hardly in a friendly way.

She walked away briskly and looked around the house. There had to be somewhere she could hide. Anywhere she could just curl up and close her eyes, not wanting to do it publically. She found herself pushing a door open that wasn’t locked. She quickly closed the door behind her and turned on the lights. A pool table, tv, computer, air hockey. A game room.

She didn’t really see it like that though, she could still hear people, but she couldn’t see them. That’s all she wanted right now.

Soap / OPEN

 

[KingofAesir]

Sawyer

"So, do you even know this chick?" Elle questioned Sawyer as the younger girl pulled a shirt over her head and started finger brushing out her hair. She stepped over with an actual brush in hand to help her and Sawyer's shoulders kind of dropped as she did so. She'd been kind off down for a while now. Grace had been avoiding her for god knows what reason and it seemed like a certain someone had taken this as an opportunity. Natalie had taken this time to step in and try, fruitlessly, to get Sawyer to help her in whatever the hell she'd gotten herself into. God, that chick was insane.


"No. Not really." Sawyer smiled at Elle as she finished brushing out her hair, "I mean, I met her when she auditioned for Grace's team but I was kind of a jerk so." Sawyer turned to rummage through her closet in search of a certain leather jacket.


"I can't believe you're dating a cheerleader." Elle chuckled and flopped down onto Sawyer's bed, "Somebody like this Grace girl you've been describing is the last person I'd imagine you with." Sawyer rolled her eyes at her aunt as she surveyed her bed room. The jacket hadn't been in her closet but now she could see it laid haphazardly on her desk.


"Shut up." Sawyer pulled the jacket over her shoulders, "I love her and you are annoying." She made a shooting motion with her hands, "Shoo, you pest, get out of my room." Elle compiled but not without starting a cheer as she went.


"Give me a W! Give me an H! Give me an I!" Elle turned around when they entered the hallway, putting her arms into the cheer and everything, "Give me a P! Give me another P! Give me an E! Give me a D!" She grabbed Sawyer by the arms and spun her around, "What's that spell? Whipped! Cause you, my girl, are whipped." Sawyer groaned and pushed Elle off of her to stalk down the hall past her dad in the living room and to the front door to put her shoes on.


"I am not whipped. Dad, tell your sister I'm not whipped." Her father kind of just looked at her and raised his eyebrows, "Ugh! Both of you are insufferable. Goodbye!" Sawyer ripped open the door and Elle caught it before it could close, yelling after her niece as she walked to her car.


"Yes, go on then you knight in shining leather!"


Maybe she wasn't technically invited to this party, but Grace was going and considering the way her girlfriend and been avoiding her this was the only place she could probably corner her. So, she'd gone through the trouble of getting Belle's address from JJ of all people and now here she was. There were entirely too many cars parked out on the street and Sawyer wondered how one girl could possibly want this many people at her birthday party, but then she was reminded of Alaska's and that thought disappeared. Sawyer managed to slip her way into the house. Her search for Grace was a annoyingly fruitless until she saw who she was looking for being dragged through the crowd by none other than the birthday girl herself. Sawyer followed them until they came to a stop next to Carter and a few seconds later she made her entrance.


"Hi, happy birthday." Sawyer managed a smile at Belle and then whirled of Grace, "We need to talk and you can't make up some stupid excuse and run away from me this time."

Soap Maree Dazzle​

 

[Soap]

Raven

Raven did nothing more than roll her eyes. She tried. If the redhead she used to be involved with desperately wanted to be a bitch? Well, it could be a fun game to play, and Raven wasn’t going to get shown up at her own game. Before she even considered saying anything June left, and honestly... it was just a relief. By now she wanted nothing more than to just be alone. Pulling up her phone and going through twitter like it was her last day on earth, and get this— she actually enjoyed it. It was fun, and there wasn’t a bitch fight, or some... weird drama. At least any weirder than what was going on, she found herself smiling at the many messages, only fading when a certain girl kept sending her DMing her, it’s like Belle was obsessed with becoming friends and frankly, Raven wasn’t sure how to feel about it.

Fine. Whatever. Pocketing her phone and making her way towards the bar, she hated redheads and found herself in-between two. “Wendy.” She greeted at Carter before turning towards the girl she knew as ‘Belle.’ With a sly grin she extended a hand towards her. “I don’t believe we’ve met.” Beckoning towards the bartender and getting literally anything she could get her hands on.

“Tell me. Do I look as good in person?”

Maree Dazzle Moonshadow



Grace

Grace was genuinely surprised when she pulled her into a hug, she chuckled and returned it without hesitation, happy she liked the present in the first place. When it came down to gifts she usually overthought things, and she’d be lying if she said she didn’t with these necklaces, but more than glad she went with this one. “Oh. You’re... a really good best friend too. And I’m really glad you like it... or love it. Or um...whatever?” She really needs to learn when to stop talking. Her gaze landed on Ash and a guy she was with, she seemed to be getting... extremely close to him. Didn’t Ryder say the whole ‘I love you’ thing? What was she doing? Pulling away from the hug with a smile that faded almost completely when Carter brung up the pregnancy rumor, Grace didn’t want to hear about it anymore. It’d been a while so whoever thought she was actually pregnant, well, she’s not showing so...

Squeezing Belle’s hand back as a thank you. In such a short time they’ve become so close, and... Grace really wasn’t complaining. It was really nice to have someone to talk to, the gloves were getting on her nerves though and she shifted uncomfortably, removing her hand from Belle’s and shaking her head towards Carter. “We never found out who was actually pregnant. Maybe it was a fake test?” If she was being completely honest, she would’ve thought Sawyer found out, not that she expected her to like, fight for her ‘honor’ or something. She just seemed a little more determined than she was, she never told her anything about it... so Grace figured it probably wasn’t that big of a deal and naturally she was just a target. Why? No idea. “It’s... stupid. I don’t really wanna talk about it more.”

Finishing the rest of her drink. Before she could even realize what was happening she saw the last person she’d expected at this party, her girlfriend. How do you avoid your girlfriend when she’s right in front of you? And... she wanted to talk of course she did, looking towards the bartender where he’d lined up shots for some other girls off to the side, and Grace smiled apologetically before grabbing one and downing it, wincing heavily at the burn, it was fine. She wasn’t even drunk. Turning towards Sawyer. “I’m... really busy.” Total lie. Glancing towards Belle and Carter as if they’d help her, but Grace had to bite the bullet here. There was no way she was gonna get out of this one. Sighing through her nose and taking Sawyer’s hand making their way away from the two redheads and upstairs, finding a guest room that was away from the music and many people.

Closing the door shut behind her and instead of actually talking, well, Grace didn’t feel like talking. Without wasting a second of her precious time to let Sawyer ask her the questions she desperately didn’t want to answer, Grace put her hands on both sides of her shoulders, and pushed her against the door placing her lips on hers. Pulling away only for compliments. “Hey, you know you’re like... really pretty.”

“You can’t tell my girlfriend though. I think she’s the jealous type.”

So maybe she was a little drunk.

KingofAesir Maree Dazzle​

 

[Winona]

Adriane


The last thing she had really wanted to do was leave Ariana, her precious daughter, with Kanen. But Mason insisted that he was getting better and that watching the little girl would be fine because apparently, despite his consistent history of drug and alcohol abuse, he was an amazing babysitter. Now, Adriane probably wasn't one that should pass judgment on other people for drugs and alcohol -- after all, she had done it all -- but when it came to leaving her child with someone she had never particularly liked, well...

If it hadn't been for her parents pushing her, and Mason insisting she come to this new girl Belle's party, and just Adriane's desperate need to get out of her house after this suspension thing, Adriane probably wouldn't have left Ari. But everyone had been pushing, so now Adriane walked up the steps to Mason's apartment, holding Ari's hand as they walked along. Luckily, Mason's mother was out for the night -- thankfully, since his mother kind of hated Ari and it often caused issues.

She hesitated, knocking on the door before she just turned the door knob and walked in. Adriane wasn't about to wait around for Kanen to come greet her at the door, at an apartment that felt like a second home to her. Anyway, Adriane stepped in, pulling Ari in with her and closing the door after the two. She crouched down to help her daughter out of her coat and boots, all the while talking to Ari while she did so. "I'm going to a party with Daddy, and you're going to stay here with Uncle Kanen, okay?"

"What about Uncle Drakey?" Ari asked, tripping over the "uncle" part of her sentence. Having Drake gone had been horribly difficult on the little girl who thought that Drake was the best thing ever. She had spent nearly every day asking where he was, when he was coming home, and trying to call him from Adriane's phone. A week later, and still nothing.

"Remember, Uncle Drake is busy right now. So you're going to be with Uncle Kanen, but it'll be fine. I bet he has a lot of things planned out for you two, and he's just as fun as Drake!" Adriane had to force a smile on her face while she tried to talk Kanen up. Hell, Adriane would have rather left Ariana with Drake than Kanen.

Adriane then took Ari's hand once again, walking the short distance into the mess of the living room, and her smile fell when she caught sight of Kanen. Ariana let go of Adriane's hand and hopped forward, smiling widely up at Kanen before she ran off to play with her toys. Namely, the action figures that Drake had gotten for her.

With Ariana out of earshot -- or, well, actually just so focused on playing that she wasn't listening -- Adriane walked over to Kanen until she was close enough to whisper to him without her daughter hearing. "I did not want to leave Ari with you, but Mason insists that you've changed. I don't fucking believe it for a second, but I'll give you a chance. But if anything happens to my daughter, or if she even learns a single cuss word, I will make sure you suffer."

And with that, Adriane stepped away from Kanen, forcing a smile back onto her face. She walked over to Ari, crouching down to give her daughter a hug and kiss goodbye, and then stood back up, shooting one last glare at Kanen before she left.

Meanwhile, Ari looked up after the front door had shut, her eyes widening when she realized that she was alone with Uncle Kanen.

High5ives​

 

[KingofAesir]

Sawyer


Grace was trying really fucking hard to keep her secret. It was almost working. Almost. Sawyer smiled at Grace for the briefest of seconds after the other girl pulled away from her, a smile that fell almost immediately. She took Grace by the arms and pushed her away pushing herself off the door at the same time. Sawyer shook her head violently and moved out from between her girlfriend and the door. This is not how this was going to go. She was going to get some answers. Sawyer could taste the alcohol on Grace's breath and she realised this might be a little harder than she thought.


"No. Nope." Sawyer turned back to Grace and ran a hand through her hair, "You don't get to avoid me for a week and then do that when I try to confront you about it." She pointed at the door as she spoke, "What's the matter?" Sawyer stepped closer to her, "I've been worried sick and everytime I try to tell you, something magically comes up." She paused for a moment but was quick to get back on her tandem.


"I don't know what's going on and I'm kind of terrified of what it is." Taking a step closer she grabbed one of Grace's hand, "You're still wearing these stupid things and it's obvious you're trying to hide something. No offense, but you're literally the worst liar on the planet and you're drunk so that'll probably make it even worse." Sawyer dropped her hand and looked at Grace imploringly.


"Tell me the truth. Please. I can't lose any more sleep over you lying to me."

Soap​

 

[Maree]

Theodore Presley

Mood: Happy | Interacting with: Jace |Mentions: Winona

“Yep, got back last weekend. Honestly everyone’s been acting like I was never going to come back” Theo chuckled. Like that was ever going to happen. Unlike most of his fellow students he actually liked Westbrook. Maybe it was because he was gone for so long that he appreciated what they had more than they did. Westbrook was where his best friends were and there’s was no place he would rather be. Well, maybe the moon. The moon was pretty freaking cool he wouldn’t mind going to the moon. Was it too late to become an astronaut?

He sipped his drink while he listened to Jace talk. Was he trying to convince Theo that he was fine or himself? It seemed like the latter but he wasn’t going to push him if he didn’t want to talk about it. “You’re missing out. I have a lot of internal battles they are great” he informed. Nothing better than having an argument with yourself. Because no matter what you were always right! How was he feeling? Was he meant to give one of those generic answers? Probably. “I’m great. First party since I’ve been back and there’s an open bar. God I love and open bar” he said, finishing off his drink and getting ordering another one.

“You look naked. Without your beanie that is” Theo commented, tilting his head a little. It was strange. Before he went away nothing could seperate that boy and his beanie. Maybe he lost it? That would be pretty sad. He hated when he lost things. He shrugged his bag of his shoulder and started digging through it. “I have just the solution” he said as he pulled a navy blue beanie from the bag. Which would look much better on him that the yellow one. Theo leaned closer to him and carefully positioned the beanie on his head. Was he slightly closer than nesscary? Maybe a little. His thumb brushed against his cheek for a slight moment before he pulled back. “Navy blue really brings out your eyes” he smiled, happy with his work.

code by Ri.a

 

[Soap]

Caleb

Why was he at a party? Was there a reason to be here? His father had told him 'Go enjoy yourself.' Right, ha. How could he enjoy himself then he didn't even enjoy the presence of others? Hell, people probably didn't even enjoy his own presence. Even if it seemed like it, that's the way it felt for him usually. It didn't bother him much though. There was only a handful of people he liked to hang around with. It was questionable if he genuinely liked them or if he didn't want to be alone. Walking through the rather huge mansion, or... 'villa.' Is that what this place is called? Despite his family owning a bookstore, he surprisingly wasn't one of the 'smart' jocks. You know, the ones who pretend they don't know basic math in order to make themselves... what? Look hotter? It was baffling what other lengths the other guys on the team would do to impress a girl.

However, it wasn't like Caleb didn't want to impress women. There was really only one he wanted to stand out for, and it was like as soon as his thoughts drifted to her, he rounded a corner she appeared in front of him. She was minding her own business, per usual. She wasn't one of the 'gossip hungry' girls that usually had tried to talk to him, not that he didn't enjoy the attention... he just didn't enjoy it as much when anyone but her had given it. Sighing heavily as he watched her for a few moments considering whether or not he wanted to talk to her.

It was his fault their relationship didn't work out. After his mother got sick, it was... difficult to deal with. So, naturally he decide not to. Focusing his time on things that were less important. Like, flirting with a number of girls that he probably shouldn't of. That's on him. He knows he messed up. But after the rumor, there wasn't any changing or apologizing for things anymore, no matter how many times he tried to. There wasn't any proof backing him up. Did she still hate him? Tucking his hands into his pockets, he cautiously approached her with the smallest smile on his face.

"Wine, that's a good choice." Terrible way to start a conversation. Way to go. "Uh, remember that time I stole a bottle from my parents liquor cabinet?"

"You spilled it all over me. It was... a fun night." His smile grew gradually thinking about the night. It faded quickly when he realized that she probably still hated him. She had a right to. It wasn't like he could fix his past mistakes, but that didn't mean he couldn't simply make conversation with her... right?
DrabberRogue
Grace

Grace deflated as Sawyer pushed her off, she leaned against the doorway where she was moments before. There wasn't a way to deflect this conversation, even sober she'd know that. Crossing her arms and watching her as she spoke. Shifting on the spot when she asked what the matter was, everything was. No, the question her girlfriend should've asked was, 'What isn't the matter?' Grace just shrugged and left her question at that. It wasn't just about the ring anymore, which of course, she was still avoiding. So many things just keep going wrong and she was so tired of it. She didn't want to be let down anymore and she constantly was, whether it was her own fault or someone else's.

Looking down at the gloved hand she took and back to her. Terrified? Why would she be terrified? "I'm... not..." What? Lying? No, of course you're lying. Because she's a terrible person. Her guilt worsened and her stomach turned, she hated lying. Hated. Worst feeling in the world. She felt like she wanted to throw up and she was more than sure it wasn't the amount of alcohol she'd drank. "I'm sorry." Grace took her hand back from Sawyer's grasp and stood there for the next few seconds fighting internally with herself.

She wasn't going to tell her, but she wanted this feeling gone. She couldn't handle it anymore. Some people would probably say how stupid it was for her to feel so bad over a ring... but at the same time it wasn't just a ring, It was so much more than just a ring. Peeling off the gloves and throwing them on the bed to the side of them. She held her hands up to Sawyer, avoiding eye-contact until she had the guts to actually admit what happened. "I lost the ring. I looked everywhere. I'm so, so, sorry. I didn't mean to lose it! I just..."

"I'm sorry, I know you spent your money on it, and you made a promise, I know, I know, I know. I'll keep looking, and checking... like, everywhere. And I'm just so sorry for everything. For lying, and avoiding you and the stupid thing at the gym. I'm sorry." She was just babbling, it could've been the alcohol at play too, but she was genuinely apologizing, she couldn't not. How could she lose the ring?

KingofAesir

​

 

[High5ives]

Daniel
Danny lazily followed behind as she dragged him back off the dance floor. “Why the fuck do you care what other people think?” Daniel questioned, sipping on some mixed drink he randomly got from the bartender. He didn’t push any further though. Ash clearly wasn’t interested in talking about it, so, why not just let it go.

If this was supposed to be a party, then fine. It was time to make it a damn party. “I bet you ten bucks and a kiss on the cheek that can I drink you under the table.” Daniel offered, crossing his arms over his chest and sitting sideways on one of the barstools. “Unless of course you’re afraid some pretty boy fresh out of boarding school can outdo you.”

~~~

Kanen’s had been peacefully relaxing on the couch, nearly asleep, when The Devil herself came marching into the apartment. Great. Just great. He sat up slowly then stood when Adri and Ari came through the living room, but didn’t even have a chance to say hi to Ari before she ran off to go play with the toys. Kanen had to admit, the kid was fucking adorable. How could Adri and Mason, two of the worst people Kanen could think of, produce such a sweet kid? Genetics were weird.

With Ari off playing, Adri immediately dropped the act and went full-bitch. Kanen just rolled his eyes. Like really? Chill out. Your kid is being watched for free.

“There isn’t a thing you could do to me that I haven’t already done to myself.” Kanen muttered when she finally shut the hell up. He watched quietly as Adri said her goodbyes and left. Thank god.

Then there was just Ari, looking up at him like she had seen a ghost. Admittedly, Kanen was out of his comfort zone. When Kanen had offered to watch Ari, he didn’t think Mason would ever take him up on it. Kanen didn’t know what to do with a kid, let alone a damn two year old! He hardly knew Ari and she hardly knew him. By all accounts, this was a terrible idea.

Regardless. Kanen was prepared. He had spent his day trying to do whatever he could to get ready for Ari. Well over a hundred dollars had been spent at the art’s and crafts store, purchasing everything from markers to glitter. He’d really gone all out. If you’re going to do anything, you should never do it half way.

The art supplies were spread across the coffee table in the front room where Kanen had been relaxing. All of it brand new, untouched. He only hoped that Ari likes to color, or all of this would be for nothing...

How do you introduce yourself to a toddler? It’s not like you shake there hand or something, right. What the hell was Kanen supposed to do with her now? “Um, do you like coloring?” Kanen asked, sitting down on the couch so Ari wouldn’t have to look up at him. Kanen silently prayed things would go well.

Please don’t start crying. Dear god, don’t let the kid cry.
Winona

 

[Winona]

Jace


Well maybe it had kind of felt like Theo was gone forever. After all, he had missed a ton of drama that had occurred within just the first few months of school. All the same, Jace was glad to finally have him back, even if they didn't talk much. Was Theo considered a friend? Maybe? Hell if Jace knew -- Theo was Ash's friend, so maybe that made him a friend by proxy? But by that notion, Jace would be friends with everyone Ash was, and most of her other friends hated him. Or didn't know he existed.

Jace laughed a bit, and finally, he was starting to feel a little bit better after what had happened at the musical. "I'll have to keep that in mind, but I generally like to keep my internal battles to the whole 'what do I watch on TV.'" An internal battle that Jace always felt like he lost, somehow. Because whatever ended up winning, he would generally regret, or get bored of. Jace wasn't much of a television person, hence why he spent most of his time with a guitar on his lap. But then Theo was mentioning the open bar, and Jace couldn't help but groan, leaning back in his seat in a little bit. "Lucky. I'm designated driver, so... I get to enjoy the open bar by drinking tap water." He said, gesturing helplessly towards his glass. However, Belle was rich, so it was probably some kind of fancy non tap water.

His cheeks started burning bright red the moment Theo said he looked naked, until he clarified that it was his beanie. Of course. Obviously. Jace was very well dressed, in the sense that he had a hoodie and jeans on. Oh god. He wished that he could drink right now, even if Jace wasn't much of a drinker, he now wished he was. "O-oh, yeah... it's uh... long... story..." he awkwardly cleared his throat, now curious as Theo reached into his bag, and then produced a navy blue beanie.

Jace wasn't sure what to say -- okay, so he was speechless. And easily the most thoughtful. His heart was pounding in his chest when Theo leaned forward, situating the beanie on his head, and was it his imagination, or had the breath caught in his throat? ... Yeah, the breath had caught in his throat. Surely it was just because Theo was so close, and for no other reason, but Jace still had trouble forcing himself to think and speak. "T-thanks, how did you... do you just carry a bag around with gifts for every occasion or something?" He asked, clearing his throat and trying to force himself to breathe as he reached up with one hand to touch the beanie.

Maree

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

Ash


She decided not to respond to his obviously stupid question. Why wouldn't she care what other people thought? That was, like, in the description for going to public high school. Work too hard to impress people that could care less about you. Duh. Daniel was obviously new to this public high school thing, so Ash just rolled her eyes and ignored it, instead listening to him as he spoke once more, and her smile quickly turned into a huge grin at the idea of a shot contest.

"You're on, pretty boy." Ash smirked at him, then turned towards the bartender, leaning forward as she smiled at him. "Sir, I need, like, ten shots here. Stat." She figured five for her, five for Daniel, and see if the prep could keep going from there, which... he probably could. Sure, Ash could handle quite a few shots, but not when she was already fairly tipsy. There was no way she was going to win this, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to try her hardest.

Ash waited until the shots were set out in front of them, and then looked over towards Daniel. "Ready?" She asked, before turning back to the shots, and then started taking them, one after another... although she only managed to make it to the third one before she had to stop.

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

Ariana

Why had her parents left her here? Where was Drake? What was happening? She watched, wide-eyed, as the guy her mom had referred to as "Uncle Kanen" moved towards the couch. Ari had met him a couple times already when she came to stay with her dad, but it had never been for long, and she'd had her dad with her, which meant she could just hide behind him and he'd make sure that everything was alright. And the more she thought about it, the more she missed her dad.

Her bottom lip started to tremble, tears threatening to spill out, when Uncle Kanen asked her about coloring, and almost instantly she forgot about missing her dad... kind of. It was at least pushed to the back of her mind as she stood up, nodding her head, with the Spiderman action figure still clenched in her fist. Spiderman just so happened to be her favorite, mainly because it was Uncle Drake's favorite.

She walked over towards him, pulling the little action figure close to her chest as she did so. "Oh, yeah," Ari murmured, coming to stop next to the table and looked down at the markers and other art supplies. She looked from the art stuff to Kanen, quietly debating on whether or not she was actually allowed to play with the things. Her dad always told her that you needed to ask before playing with other people's toys. "Uncle Kan... Ken..." she huffed, having trouble actually pronouncing his name. "Uncle K, can I color?" She asked.

High5ives​

 

[KingofAesir]

Sawyer

Lost the...Sawyer could've just fallen over on the spot. She'd been so worried that Grace had been hurting herself or some other completely terrible thing that was far fetched even for Sawyer. In fact, Sawyer almost did fall over but instead sat down on the bed in the room with a hearty sigh. She ran her hands down her face. She sat there for a second with her head in her hands until she just started crying and laughing at the same time. Sawyer lifted her head up and sprung up off the bed to take Grace's hands. She flipped them every which way, examining them thoroughly.


"Jesus, Grace. I was freaking out. I thought you were hurting yourself or some shit." She grabbed Grace's face in her hands and leaned in to kiss her at least seven times very quickly, "Please, do not ever do something like that again. I was fucking...I don't even know. I'll help you find it. It's okay. You should've just told me." Sawyer was still laugh cry-laughing by the time she pulled Grace to her for a hug.


"That was the most ridiculous thing I've ever...oh my god. I can't believe I thought..." She pulled away to look Grace in the eyes again, "I love you. You scared the shit out of me. Can we promise to never lie about stuff like that ever again?" Sawyer wasn't going to tell Grace this but she was so extremely relieved. This past week had been terrible. She'd hardly slept a wink and you could probably see that from the light bags under her eyes from just that. She thought it was kind of ridiculous now that she'd even thought that, but she couldn't think of any other reason Grace would lie but the absolute worst.

Soap​

 

[DrabberRogue]

Normally Serena didn't just spend all of her time on her phone. Her night, however, was turning out to be less than normal. Instead of talking directly to the people who were in earshot of them, it seemed as though a sizable portion of the party was dead set on using Twitter for the whole night. Even the birthday girl herself. It put a small smile on her face though, watching the storm of notifications while her phone threatened to explode in her hand. One of them tried to flirt with her. Weird, didn't that Twitter handle belong to... Okay no, it made perfect sense. Of course. Serena rolled her eyes, still smirking as the conversation moved on without her. Seems the playboys weren't the only ones who wanted her attention.

Speaking of playboys, she was actually a little surprised when Caleb emerged from the crowd to approach her. Seriously? Why didn't he just move on to another girl by now? Certainly seemed like he was more than capable of it. Serena was prepared to be polite though. Just give a little small talk before rejecting whatever he'd come to offer. That was until he just had to bring up that night again, because why not? The world just couldn't let her live anything down could it?

Serena pursed her lips for a moment, trying to keep up a tight lipped smile instead of scowling at the embarrassing memory. In the past she might've thought it a cute thing to remember. She would've just laughed it off, trying to move past it and change the subject like she does when her friends tease her. Now though? Now it was just another reminder of something she'd messed up. A tangible reminder of how bad of a mistake she'd made when she decided to go out with someone like Caleb. "Yeah. I spilled a little on myself too. Still haven't gotten the stain out..."

Suddenly very aware of the danger posed by the drink in her hand, she took a moment to set it down before focusing back on her ex. She really didn't want to. There were so many other places to look in the house, it was a very nice place, but she was in a conversation. Principle demanded that she look at the person she was addressing. "Wanting to chat up girls at the bar?" Serena asked in a dry tone, unable to fully keep herself from sounding impatient. Her emerald green eyes shifted for to the group that had gathered around Belle. "You went a little too far to the right."

Soap

 

[High5ives]

Daniel
“Oh, you’re so going down.” Daniel laughed as he watched the bartender pour the shots. Before he even touched one of the glasses, he already knew this was going to be a big mistake. His mom would be pissed. Danny never really understood why, but for as long as he could remember, his mother hated alcohol. Like really hated it. She didn’t tolerate any liquor in the house, for any reason. If she saw Danny here now, she’d probably have a heart attack.

Ash started first, just diving headfirst into the little competition. Without even really thinking about it, Danny races to take his shots. One, two, three. They went down smooth. Four, it burned like a bitch. Five, and Danny was coughing as he choked the shot down. Shots were fine and all, but five in a row? Yeah, Danny didn’t like that. Regardless, he celebrated, putting his fifth shot glass down on the counter top.

He hadn’t even noticed Ash, who had stopped after three. Danny had been in too much of a rush to down his own shots. But now, standing here victorious, Danny got a cocky grin. “What now?” He mocked, taking one of Ash’s remaining shots just to prove a point. Oh boy. He’d be feeling it soon...

“It must really suck to lose. I wouldn’t know though.” Daniel teased. “You can just go ahead and Venmo me that money whenever you like”
~~~~~

Kanen’s whole body froze as he watched Ari’s lip tremble. Then suddenly she was fine. Shy, but she wasn’t crying. Thank god. He’d probably have a panic attack or something if she were to actually cry. Goddamn, he felt so nervous being here with a little kid. Was she allowed to have soda? Had she eaten dinner yet? What time was her bedtime? Did she need bedtime stories to fall asleep? Kanen’s mind raced and he could feel his heart rate picking up.

“Uncle K, can I color?”

Kanen snapped back to reality. He couldn’t help but smile when he heard her call him ‘Uncle K’. He’d gotten himself a nickname, and there wasn’t a chance in hell he was going to screw this up. No way, no how.

“Of course you can color.” Kanen said, laughing lightly to himself. She was polite, surprising considering who her parents were. “I got all this stuff for you, ya know. This is all your stuff now.” He explained, picking up a pack of brightly colored markers and opening it for her. His eyes moved across the table for a coloring, but there was nothing.

How had he forgotten the coloring books? The most important part was the damn coloring book, and Kanen had left them at the store. What now?

“Um...” Kanen paused, trying to think of something, anything for Ari to color. As he looked around, he realized something. Kanen was a walking coloring book.

“Hey, I’ll be right back, and then we can color, ok?” Kanen said before getting up and jogging to the bedroom just down the hall. He quickly pulled his shirt up over his head and threw it aside, putting a tank top on instead before coming back out to Ari.

“Ok, Uncle K has got a date with a girl tomorrow, and I need you to help me make my tattoos really pretty for it. Can you help me?” Kanen asked, sitting back down on the couch next to Ari. He crossed his fingers hoping she’d be ok with it. He was sure that she would go for the black and white roses tattooed on his bicep and shoulder. Little girls liked roses, right???

Winona

 

[Dazzle]

Carter

"Well I can't wait to see your moves at the Thanksgiving football game." A sly smirk crept across Carter's face. She wouldn't lie, if anyone asked she would admit to saying that she was attracted to the small red head. The boys trailing after the new girl did seem to have good taste.

Grace's present was sweet, but it was weird they had only just met a week ago, maybe Carter was weird but she could never see herself getting so close to someone so fast. "Now I feel bad I didn't bring you anything. I'll buy you a drink-" She stopped for a moment and started giggling. "Oh wait, its an open bar. You know you're the best party thrower." Becoming friends with the bartender was either the best idea on Carter's part, or the worst. She was already pretty drunk. Enjoying herself, and her attractive company. Grace included. But drunk all the same.

She nodded her head and gave Sawyer a small wave when she came up, but they both quickly left leaving Carter and Belle alone again. "Better get used to the rumors, and shity Mondays." She stopped picking up her refilled glass and taking another sip. "That's just kinda Westbrook for you" She took a quick swig of her drink before placing the glass back down. "So anyone caught your eye?" She raised her eyebrows trying to look as serious as possible, but a small smirk still crossed her lips. "Guys, girls, I wont judge." She giggled a little. "Obviously a few boys have caught you in their eye." She made a weird face trying to figure out what she even just said, but then began laughing and playfully pushed Belle's shoulder. "You know what I mean."

As Raven came over Carter stood up, a lot more giddy than usual, what could she say the alcohol made her a much nicer person. "Perfect timing" She said grabbing Raven's wrist and dragging her over to the stool next to her. "I just started asking Belle the important questions."

Maree Soap

​

 

[Winona]

Ash


She felt sick to her stomach, but didn't say anything about it, instead just rolling her eyes and taking the fourth shot, and glaring at Danny as he finished off her last one. Whatever. "Look we're going to have a rematch when I haven't already been drinking, and then you'll be going down, okay? Great." She didn't really wait for an answer because Ash decided that no matter what, it was happening. She had to keep up her reputation of being able to out-drink anyone. Which she definitely didn't actually have.

"Oh shut up and take your damn money." Ash said, pulling her wallet out and flipping through until she had produced ten ones, which she tossed lazily at him and then slipped her wallet back into her pocket. What? Sure, she had a ten dollar bill, but that wasn't as much fun as tossing a bunch of ones at someone.

"Sadly, I am a girl of my word, so..." this was the worst part of the dare. A fucking kiss on the cheek. At least Ryder wasn't here, and it was just a dare, and it wasn't like they were actually dating, but at the same time... oh fuck it. Who cared what happened, anyway? So Ash leaned forward to kiss Danny on the cheek.

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

Ariana

Her gaze lit up even more if it was possible, and she carefully set her Spiderman down on the table and leaned forward, looking at the markers, and watching as Uncle K opened a package up for her. "These are all for me?" She echoed, her voice quiet as she looked, and then she jumped up and down, clapping her hands together excitedly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." At least when she thanked people, it was easy to understand. One of the few phrases she actually had down.

And then Uncle K was looking for paper, and Ari realized his grave mistake. She huffed, stomping her foot on the floor. "You forgot paper?" She asked, huffing once again and crossing her arms over her chest. How could he be so silly? And then he was saying that he would be back, so Ari turned towards the markers, pulling out a sparkly silver one and taking off the cap while she waited for him to come back. She started to use the marker on Spiderman when Uncle K came back, and offered her the best thing ever. Ari never got to color on her dad and mom, although they had both let her apply makeup and nail polish on more than one occasion. (Her dad more than her mother, to be perfectly honest.) But real markers? This was great.

Ari was quick to scramble up beside him, her eyes looking over his arms until she caught sight of a skull. Perfect. "A date with a girl?" She wrinkled up her nose, and started coloring in the skull. "That's gross. Are you gonna kiss her? Mommy and Daddy kiss and it's gross." Yeah, Ari was already disgusted by this stuff, but that didn't mean she wasn't curious, and the little girl could be quite the chatterbox. "What's her name? Is she pretty? Is it Aunt Carter? She's pretty but Mommy says she's a bitch. Daddy thinks she's pretty and he talks about her a lot and it makes Mommy mad but I like her."

High5ives​

 

[Soap]

Grace

Grace's heart dropped further into her stomach when she saw her crying, and... then, she wasn't? Blinking out of confusion unsure if her drunken state was playing tricks on her. Her confusion only worsened when she stood up and started talking. "You thought I was--" cut off by Sawyer's many kisses, smiling faintly before it faded. Hurting herself? What does she mean by... Oh. No, Grace would never even think about that... why would hurting herself make her feel better? She never understood how it helped people. Technically it didn't help people, but they thought it did. Point is, Grace would never. Returning the hug and squeezing her tightly, she needed this. She needed
her, lying was terrible. "Just so you know, I wouldn't... do stuff like that."


Furrowing her eyebrows and lifting a hand to wipe away one of her tears, was that from the laughing or the crying? She wasn't sure. Grace was just so happy all of this was over. "I love you too. And yes, I won't lie. Like, ever. I... can't handle it, no thank you." Sighing and shaking her head at her ownself. It wasn't so hard! Extreme relief flooded through her. "I'm sorry, I'm glad that's over. I'll find the ring, I promise." Looking at her apparel and smiling. "I love that jacket. We had our first kiss when you wore it." The morning after wasn't so great, but that didn't matter.

"Remember?" Grace said wiggling her eyebrows suggestively and leaning in for another kiss, wrapping one arm around her waist and stumbled even closer to her, knocking her against a dresser, she probably wouldn't of stopped if the vase on top of it didn't topple over to the floor, pulling away with a wince. "Maybe we should probably... go..."

"Also... I think I've gotten really good at lying."

KingofAesir​

 

[KingofAesir]

Sawyer

Sawyer looked down at her jacket when Grace mantioned it and smiled lightly. Of course she remembered that was kinda the reason she even put it on. You could say whatever you wanted about her but she had a hell of a good memory and she was hoping Grace would notice it. She chuckled as Grace leaned into her, effectively knocking her into the dresser and breaking a vase along with it. She winced as the vase crashed to the ground. Grace seemed unaffected by it though, moving on to saying that they should probably leave. Yeah, that would probably be smart. Imagine if Belle came in and saw that they'd broken something. She definitely did not want that chick mad at her.


"Of course I remember. That's why I put it on." Sawyer took Grace's hand and pulled her around and away from the dresser, kicking some of the pieces under the thing. Crisis hidden. With that done she pulled Grace toward the door. She scoffed as her girlfriend informed her she thought she was getting pretty good at lying. Sawyer didn't know how much Grace had drank before she'd gotten her but there was no way it was enough for something that far fetched to come out of her mouth. She turned around and walked backwards down the hall, Grace's hand still firmly in hers.


"Again, I repeat myself, you are literally the worst liar I've ever met in my life." Sawyer grinned at her, "You have not gotten any better and I doubt you ever will. Which is alright." She turned back around as they came back to the center of the party, walking a bit closer to Grace than she had been earlier.


"This chick sure made a lot of friends pretty fucking fast. Jesus." Or maybe it was just because this was Westbrook and people just liked to crash parties. "There's a shit ton of people here. Hey, do you think she danced for everybody here?" Sawyer snorted at her own joke and used her hand to cover her mouth, "Joking. Joking. That was a joke." Sawyer spotted Ash out of the corner of her eye and was suddenly reminded of the the other thing that had happened that day.


"Have you..like..talked to Ash?" She questioned, stopping in a less crowded part of the party, "You got pretty heated the other day when she showed up. What happened?" Sawyer knew Grace and Ash were pretty close but she hadn't seen them together in a while. In fact, Sawyer didn't think she'd seen Ash at all since the play before Belle's tryout. Maybe she should've been more worried about Grace drifting away from her friends than the whole glove incident. She'd been so wrapped up in Elle being there and stupid gloves that she hadn't noticed that she hadn't really seen much of Grace's friends at all. Or her own. Jesus what the hell had Sawyer been doing?

Soap​

 

[High5ives]

Daniel
“Oh don’t be such a sore loser.” Daniel laughed as he picked up the bills one by one and stuck them into his wallet. He was already starting to feel it, that weird slow morning feeling every time he turned his head. Luckily it wasn’t uncomfortable yet, just the fun buzz before the liquor really hit.

Cheering erupted somewhere on the dance floor and Daniel turned his head to look and see what it was. Something about some idiot shotgunning a bunch of beers, it was nothing interesting.

When Danny turned his head back, he immediately felt Ash’s lips drunkenly clash against his. Maybe he was a little tipsy, or maybe it was just hormones, but for a moment Daniel kissed her back. Then all once, he realized he wasn’t supposed to do that, causing to Danny practically leap backwards. “Fuck, I’m sorry!” He exclaimed, holding his hands back and up like he was surrendering. “That was an accident, I swear on my life!” He promised.
~~~

Kanen was happy, legitimately fucking happy. God, he wished he could be more like a kid again. Ari was just all smiles, and shit, it was contagious. He tried his best to hold still while she colored on his arm, but the marker scratching against his skin tickled. Not enough to make him laugh, but just enough to make him want to squirm.

Kanen quietly sat there, still as stone while she colored. It wasn’t until Ari started asking questions that he said anything. “Um, the girl I’m going on a date with?” Kanen repeated, trying to buy himself some time to think. He didn’t even need to though, because Ari just moved right on to the next subject. She definitely was a talker. The moment she said ‘bitch’ Kanen couldn’t hold in his laughter.

“Woahhh. You can’t say that Ari.” Kanen manger to get out in between his laughing. “Don’t listen to your mom, Carter is a great girl. But no, I’m not dating her. She’s like my little sister.” Kanen said, trying his best to calm himself down, lest he offend the toddler with his laughing.

Winona

 

[Winona]

Ash


Fuck. That was all that went through Ash's mind when she felt her lips against Danny's, and she was speechless while he started apologizing. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Okay, okay, this was not how this party was supposed to go, and Ash just silently prayed that no one had witnessed what had just happened, lest it get back to Ryder. Or anyone else that enjoyed spreading horrible rumors about her. Fucking hell. Why had she thought coming out tonight would be a good idea?

"I... it's fine... I gotta..." Okay yeah, she was feeling kind of sick, and she had no idea if it was the alcohol or this mistake at this point. Ash half got off of the bar stool, half fell off, and started stumbling backwards. "I gotta go, but it was... fun?" Right. Fun. Sure. Fun up until Ash did what everyone apparently expected her to.

Finally, Ash just turned around and headed out of the room, brushing past people and ignoring everyone that tried to stop her to talk. Eventually, and after opening many wrong doors, Ash finally found the bathroom. She closed the door after her but didn't have time to lock it before she fell down over the toilet, and... yeah, the alcohol had been too much.

High5ives Soap​

 

[Winona]

Ariana

Ari huffed, and slammed her little fists against her sides, although she was careful not to get the silver marker on her shirt. "Why not? Mommy says it." She said, and kept glaring at Kanen for a moment until he brought up Carter again, and her face lit up. "Oh yeah. Daddy talks about Carter all the time and tells me stories about you guys when you were little."

She took her hands off her waist, looking at the sparkly silver skull for a moment. "It needs red for blood." Ari finally decided and climbed off of the couch, putting away the silver marker and grabbing an appropriate red before returning to the couch to add some red around the mouth and the eyes. For a moment, Ari was too focused to talk.

Of course, that didn't last long as she finished off the silvery bloody skull and then looked for the next thing to color, before deciding on the roses. They would look great all rainbow-y, so she started coloring one in with the red. "Daddy talks about a lot of people from school. I know everyone. He talks about Raven a lot, too. I want to meet Raven because she sounds nice. And Daddy talks about Grace and Sawyer and Ash and Belle and June. He used to talk about June a lot and I met her once and she's very nice and pretty." Ari sighed, and continued to color for a moment, a thoughtful expression on her face. "I wish I was pretty like June."

But then the little toddler remembered what Kanen had previously said, and her eyes lit up. "Hey! You didn't tell me who you're going on a date with." Yeah, she was still curious about that.

High5ives​

 

[High5ives]

The tattooed brute had been forced to submit by a two-year old with markers. He didn’t dare move a muscle. What if he ruined one of her pictures? Nope. Wasn’t worth it. He’d sit perfect still, even if his car keys were stabbing into his hip, which totally didn’t hurt or anything. He only moved his head, turning every now and then to check on her progress with the skull on his arm. Surprisingly, she actually managed to stay in the lines as she colored. Maybe it was only little boys that were all sloppy and wild?

“Yeah, me and Mason used to hangout a lot before...” Kanen paused, trying to think of the best way to avoid the sensitive subjects. “Before I moved to Boston for a little while.” He finished off, satisfied with himself. “Your dad, Carter and Me used to hangout almost every night. It was fun times.”

Ari moved on to talk about everyone else she had heard about, and Kanen patiently listened. Just when he thought he’d be safe from her curiosity, Ari hit him again, trying to figure out who his fake date was with. “Who do you think I’m going on a date with?” Kanen responses, deciding he would just agree with whatever name she said first. It’s not like she would know if he actually went on the date, not unless Mason ratted him out.

Winona