Realistic or Modern Westbrook

[mikaluvkitties]

Aaron & Casper​

It wasn’t long until Casper realized he had made a mistake, resting his head on the table. He had wanted to stop- he was sure he had- but Aaron had kept taking shots, and Casper couldn’t bring himself to say he was done. Now, though, he really, really was. And he felt bad- like he had done something behind Aaron’s back. He tried to push it away.

Aaron was actually smiling a bit, but it faltered when he noticed Casper’s head was simply lying on the table. He frowned, then prodded Casper, just a bit.

“Are you done?” he asked.

“I’m sorry…”

Aaron crossed his arms, resting his head on them as he looked at his brother. “It’s fine,” he said, about to continue when he thought about something. His brow furrowed. “Have you ever even drank before?”

“No, but…” He let out a tiny cry. “It’s not that.”

“Then what is it?” It wasn’t soft, and it sounded more annoyed than worried, but it was enough to get Casper talking.

One of his own hands smacked his head, and he curled up. “I- I kissed-”

Aaron’s eyes narrowed, and before he could remind himself it was none of his business, he asked, “Who?”

Casper started crying more, and Aaron pursed his lips, eyes drifting to Drake, then back to Casper. “Are you going to be alright? Do you need to go to sleep already like some kind of child?”

Winona​

 

[Dede]

Neck Tie

The guy suggested that he told his brothers their presents got lost in the mail. Neck Tie looked at him incredulously. He didn’t know if it was a joke, but he found it just cruel. He could never lie to his little brothers like that.

‘Nah,’ he said, ‘I think I’ll wait for their birthdays. Then I’ll send them even more gifts—’ Maybe twice the Legos.

Well, he was done talking about dogs with strangers. The guy and Alice had been good company, but his work with the tree was done. He thought now he might check on Casper, and maybe ask him if he wanted to ditch the party and play some games for a bit — on Casper's phone, since his own phone was broken. If they could get Internet out here, maybe they could even download Space Invaders and play that. Casper was welcome to try, but no way he would ever beat his high score.

He got up and shuffled a few steps back, appreciating the tree one last time. ‘Cool. I think I’m. . . gonna go check on my friend,’ he said. ‘See you round. . . Oh, and Happy Christmas!’

Now Neck Tie took a deep breath and slipped into the partying crowd. The music, the smell, the atmosphere. They all made him feel sick to the stomach, and were bringing back all kinds of horrible memories.

He looked around, bumping into a few people accidentally, feeling more claustrophobic by the second. Thankfully, he’d found Casper. The boy was sitting with Aaron and Drake. He squeezed his way through toward their table. It’d been a long time since Neck Tie last spoke with Drake, but one thing for sure, he wasn’t looking forward to Aaron’s sass.

When he arrived at the trio's table, Neck Tie couldn’t believe what he saw. Casper was completely wasted, swaying, his head dipping and nearly kissing the table.

‘What are you doing?!’

Horrified, he hurried over to his friend, went round his back and tried to pull him upright. How much was he given to drink? What were Drake and Aaron even thinking?!

Neck Tie scrutinised the bottle and the empty shots on the table. He was disgusted. ‘Are you crazy? He’s not old enough yet to drink—’ he glared at Aaron critically. ‘Neither are you.’

He turned to Drake and also gave him the same look. He was angry with him, but well, he shouldn’t have been surprised. Drake had never been known to take anything seriously. Of course, that was no excuse for poisoning a kid.

‘You could kill him! For God’s sake. Are you stupid?’

There was no point arguing with the two massive idiots. He would have had better success trying to knock sense into a brick wall. Neck Tie now hoped to get his best friend on his feet, putting his hands under his arms. He wasn’t that heavy, but Neck Tie wasn’t exactly all that strong either. So he struggled, and they nearly fell over together. That wouldn't have been pretty. But he managed to push Casper’s arm round his neck in the end. Now onto the hard part.

’Casp— you OK? Come on, we’re leaving,’ he said, with a grunt. ‘Let’s go.’

mikaluvkitties Winona

 

[A Little Cloud]

A L I C E
STATUS
Mood ~ Bored
Interacting with ~ No one
Mentions ~
Alice watched Neck Tie walk away, smiling softly when he wished her and Mads a happy Christmas. Maybe it would happen. Maybe not. But at the moment, she didn't feel like talking to Mads. Not that she didn't appreciate his company, but she just wanted to be alone. Getting up, she waved a little goodbye to Mads and headed into the noisy crowd. It was so loud and weird smells drifted into her nose, making her uncomfortable. Everything was giving her a headache. Alice sighed, and continued walking, trying to avoid tripping over people.

Eventually, there was a gap between the people and Alice hurried through it. Once she was far away from the crowd, she exhaled, relieved. Looking around, she realized that she was back in the kitchen. Not bad. She thought about retreating into her room, but she was hungry. Alice walked to the fridge, slightly opening the door so that she could look inside. There wasn't much left. She noticed that the frozen pizza was gone, and she shook her head. The person who reserved it would be mad. There was only alcohol left, and she didn't plan on drinking it. So she settled for some cookies, sitting down on a stool and nibbling.​

 

[Winona]

Mason


He was unbelievably grateful when Raven suggested a cigarette. Yeah, dancing with her had been fun, and listening to her laugh and even that little snort had made him smile. Like... a big real smile, the kind he only usually got when he was with Ariana anymore. It was strange, but the thought also made his heart ache.

Ariana... this was supposed to be a great vacation, a step away from fatherhood, but instead, Mason just found himself missing Ari all the more. Despite talking with her every day and having Adriane send him a million different pictures of what she was doing, he still couldn't wait to get home, and the thought of seeing her was always lurking in the back of his mind. Being a father was amazing, but also sucked.

Mason followed Raven out onto the porch, rolling his eyes at her question. "Of course I've got a lighter." He scoffed and pulled said lighter out of the pocket of his flannel. With one swift motion, he flipped it open (yeah it was one of those fancy lighters), and held the little flame out to Raven's cigarette, lighting it.

He waited until she gave him a cigarette, then lit his own and placed it between his lips and returned the lighter to his shirt pocket. Mason looked out over the snow, slipping one hand into the pocket of his jeans. Fuck it was cold out here. No matter how long he lived in Maine, Mason never got used to the cold, and always dreamed of living somewhere that he didn't risk hypothermia every time he went out to get the mail. "So you got anything on your mind? You seem a little... out of it."

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

Ava


No, Ava did not want to go first. No, Ava didn't even want to be right here, playing this game, and she was sure that the huge, childish pout on her face made it clear just how upset she was.

She huffed from the seat she was in, arms crossed angrily over her chest. "I'd love to go first," Ava said sarcastically as she forced a smile to her face and leaned forward. Okay, so what was the way to win this game? Because every game had to have some kind of way to win it... probably to kiss the hottest person here or something, but... oh, she needed to just spin the bottle and get it over with.

It took way too much effort for her to reach out and spin the bottle, and then all she could do was wait with baited breath as it spun fast, then started to slow down... spinning past classmates... until it landed on--

Oh no.

Ava's eyes turned to JJ, speechless.

Soap

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

Drake


Maybe he should've stopped filling Casper's shot glass, but Drake hadn't expected him to keep taking the shots. By now, everything felt fuzzy to Drake, too, and he doubted if he would even be able to stand and walk. But there was a huge smile on his face, and he couldn't keep himself from giggling as the twins talked.

His smile and giggling fell away as Casper started rambling about kissing someone. Drake didn't know if Casper had kissed someone before but either way, it seemed to be a big deal for him this time. "Good for you!" He said, his tongue feeling fatter than usual in his mouth and were his words slurring together? Nah, surely it was just his imagination. "This... is a romantic place. A loving place and there's.... there's nowhere like the cold snow to get lucky."

He was nodding his head in a very matter of fact manner because surely this had been the greatest advice and reasoning that Drake had ever spoke, when Stu came up. "Happy Meal!" He'd heard his brother refer to Stu as that a couple times, although Stu never seemed very happy. He was always so stuck up, like he was choking on a neck tie. (Ha, see what Drake did there? So clever.) He was going to offer some alcohol to Neck Tie, but the boy didn't seem pleased at all.

Drake leaned back in his seat, slowly sinking down with the now nearly empty bottle of vodka in his hands. He watched as Stu struggled to help Casper out of his seat, trying to keep back the snorts of laughter, until he couldn't help himself and burst out laughing. "You're so tiny! You can't lift Casper!" He said, laughing.

mikaluvkitties Dede​

 

[Soap]

Raven

Glad enough that the other Rivera had a lighter handy, she gave him a nod of appreciation. Lifting the cigarette to her lips as she handed him one. Raven was never a smoker, well, obviously that's not true. But a regular smoker. She'd picked it up when she was... god, fourteen maybe? It was a pretty bad argument for her and her grandmother.

Right. Her grandmother, Raven deflated and took the ciggerate out of her mouth, narrowing her eyes at it. The smallest of sighs escaped her. This alone was enough to catch Mason's attention for some reason, raising a brow at him. "Psh, me? Out of it?" She shook her head, and it took the brunette a little longer to finish her reply, tapping the ciggerate with her finger, ashing. "...Please, the only thing on my mind is... the next person I can get my hands on, right?" Sometimes, it was kind of funny to play the slutty role everyone thought Raven was.

She chuckled and threw the bud into the snow, squashing it with the heel of her boot. Raven glanced towards Mason and shrugged. "I feel like something's wrong." The unanswered phone calls, messages, and then her phone just gave out on her. Who knows what's going on at home? Deciding to clarify what she meant, she hesitated for a moment. Taking Mason's free hand and lifting it up to her own chest. "Right here. It's just..." She looked up at him and shook her head.

"Maybe I should've just stayed home." She let her hand drop from his, and tore her gaze away from him.

Winona

Juliette

Juliette's smile widened as Ava finally decided to spin the bottle. This was good for her! This was what she needed, to let loose. To have fun, video games weren't everything, and JJ was simply being a good friend by pushing her into the game. Her gaze watched everyone else at the table closely, maybe, just maybe one of them would get a little excited about her own redhead and want a little shot at her.

Even if they weren't good enough for her, well, it might be worth a shot for the nerd to find love. Although... finding love at a spin the bottle game might be a little less romantic for the cheerleader's taste. Hey, but you never know what Ava's into. Right? The bottle, spun, and spun. And for a second there, she was sure it was gonna land on Alex. And she thought it did, until she looked up to see Ava staring at her, and her smile immediately dropped. Oh. Oh. "That's... clearly on Alex!" She gestured to him, and he quickly scooted more to the right.

"No, nope. Nuh-uh. Trust me, this would be way more scarring for me than it would be for you." His words were quick and shambled. And frankly, her mind wasn't on Alex at the moment. Juliette... believe it or not, was a little nervous. Okay, more than a little. Kissing your best friend wasn't something people do just for fun. And she was ready to make Ava re-spin, at least until the devil spawn spoke. "Rules are rules, JJ." Chad's voice rang from somewhere, and there was murmurs of agreement.

Peer pressure. Of course. She stiffened. Taking a deep breath, she looked back to Ava and sat herself closer to her. It's just a game. Everyone would call Juliette out if she didn't follow through. So, okay. Following through. "Relax. We're just... playing a game." She nodded as if she was convincing herself of that fact. Juliette placed both her hands on opposite sides of the floor, taking the smallest breath, she waited for Ava to make the first move.

And waited, and... waited, after about a whole minute of just staring at the other and quick glances at her lips, the anticipation itself quickly sparked something in Juliette. And she didn't want to wait any longer. "Oh my gosh, Lonnie." Jules leaned her weight on her hands, and leaned in with her body, letting their lips meet. It wasn't a surprise that Juliette never kissed a girl before, but this wasn't just any girl. It... was Ava. Lifting one hand to cup the side of her cheek, she deepened the kiss and frankly, JJ just let herself enjoy the kiss. It didn't matter who it was, no, it was just a good kiss.

And, honestly? Thank god her phone buzzed at that moment. She was willing to let it buzz, she didn't care. Until... the multiple notifications on her phone went off, again, and again, Juliette pulled away the slightest bit and her eyes fluttered open, her own eyes widening when she met Ava's with a slight blush on her cheeks, she quickly distracted herself with her phone. "I... what?" Her eyes watered, and quick glances around to the other party-goers. And... she just couldn't.

JJ stood up and quickly made her way away from everyone else, and out the front door.

Winona
​

 

[mikaluvkitties]

Aaron & Casper​

As Drake spoke, Aaron shot him a look, annoyed at him- really annoyed- for the first time in... a while. He didn't have to think about that right now- he had more important things to think about anyways. He glanced back to Casper as Stu came up, and as Drake announced him with a rather peculiar nickname Aaron didn't particularly care for, Aaron couldn’t help but grimace. Not this asshole.

Next thing Aaron knew, he was being harassed by the little bastard. He rolled his eyes- the legal drinking age obviously didn't matter much to Aaron. As he opened his mouth, about to reply, something hit him- Stu was Casper’s only friend. If Casper were going to kiss someone, it was going to be him, wasn’t it? Anything Aaron might have been about to say died in his mouth, and he bit his cheek as anger flooded him. Of course his brother had kissed Stu. Why would he do that? Why would he be friends with someone so self-righteous?

An angry haze fell over him as Casper began crying harder.

Casper had gotten caught- Stu had caught him- and the cold weight of shame filled him. He’d been bad. That's all he ever was now, wasn't it? It took everything in him not to lean against Stu, and he thought about how he had kissed him. Stu hadn't liked it, had he? He definitely hadn't talked about it. You talked about it when you liked it, right? Casper hadn't even asked. You were supposed to ask, weren't you? Casper couldn't help but lean against him now, helping his friend wrap an arm- Casper's own arm- around him. He even wrapped his other around Stu as he leaned, trying to convince himself it was only out of necessity as he stood up, wobbling quite a bit.

As if all this wasn’t enough, Stu was asking Casper if he was okay. He tilted his head down, hiding his face as he nodded, crying harder.

Aaron finally managed to get a hold of himself, pushing through heavy lips, “That’s a good idea. Make sure he gets some rest.”

And then Drake was speaking again, and again Aaron was annoyed. He squinted at the other, then looked to Stu, taking a moment before standing with a slight sway, saying, “I’ll help you.”

Winona Dede​

 

[Dede]

Neck Tie

Neck Tie didn’t need Aaron’s help. He sure as hell didn’t want it. ‘I think you’ve done enough,’ he said angrily, making sure Aaron didn’t follow.

It disgusted him how Aaron was acting like he cared all of a sudden. This couldn’t have been Casper’s idea. He would never have gotten wasted if Aaron didn’t urge him on in the first place. So it was well too late to be acting all cute and innocent!!

And Drake. Calling him Happy Meal. Ha-ha, how very creative. Mason would have been proud to see the state of his brother right now.

He had no time for the two dimwits, who were best left to their drinks. Now he focused on getting Casper out of there, one wobbly step at a time. Their room was too far away, but the front door wasn’t, and someone had just gone through it. Neck Tie caught the heavy door with his foot as it swung back. Then the two of them spilled outside, their boots kicking the snow on the porch. At least now Casper could get some much-needed fresh air. He could worry about getting Casper back to their room a bit later.

He was panting when he sat Casper down on the bench. After pacing around pointlessly on the porch for a few moments, Neck Tie doubled back and let out a heavy sigh. He could see his own breath. Finally he sank into the seat next to Casper, wiping his face and looking out into the night.

The snow was falling softly and was kind of relaxing to watch. . . Maybe he'd needed the fresh air more than Casper. Neck Tie was suffocating back there — that claustrophobic feeling of being confined to a hospital bed and having tubes going in your nose and down your throat made him sick. He was dying to get out of the cabin.

‘Are you OK?’ he asked. ‘Are you cold?’ At least, it didn’t feel too cold because of how warm they had been inside the cabin. Neck Tie clutched his sleeves and brought them gently to Casper’s eyes to soak up his tears. He had no idea how much his friend had drunk — it must have been a lot if he was crying his eyes out. But he hoped it wasn't more serious than that, because they were up in a mountain without a responsible adult in sight. Who would drive them to hospital if Casper got sick sick? Neck Tie sighed again and gave his friend a little nudge on the shoulder. ‘Hey, you want some water or something?’

mikaluvkitties Winona

 

[Winona]

Mason


He could understand that feeling she described, and Mason may have turned a faint shade of red when she took his hand and pressed it against her upper chest. But that feeling that would overwhelm you, saying that something was desperately wrong, something that you can't place... yeah, he knew that and god, he hated that.

"You should call home," he said, pulling his hand away and taking a deep drag on his cigarette, exhaling slowly and looking out away from the cabin. "Like I don't know, maybe it's nothing, but... it's better to know than just keep guessing, right? At least then you'll know if you can relax or if you need to head home." Mason explained with a shrug.

He looked at the cigarette in his fingers. Carter was right -- everyone was right -- he needed to quit and for some reason, smoking this cigarette didn't have the same effect that it usually did. He dropped it to the ground, grinding it into the snow with his shoe. "It's fucking cold out. I'm heading inside. You coming?" He asked.

Soap

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

Ava


The kiss was awkward. The kiss was weird. The kiss was... the best fucking thing ever.

Yep. She was definitely at least half gay.

She didn't want the kiss to end -- her first kiss, to be exact -- but then JJ was pulling away, and Ava's eyes were fluttering open and suddenly, she was aware of the annoying sound of her phone buzzing over and over again. She watched as Jules look at her phone, and her smile fell and a look of pain crossed her face, and then she was taking off.

"What the fuck?" She grumbled, shooting a glare around the rest of the circle -- mainly Alex -- then she stood up and hurried after Jules through the house, wondering what had happened.

"Jules, what's wrong?" She asked as she pushed through the front door after her, quickly wrapping her arms around her bod as the cold wind bit at her skin. "What happened?"

Soap

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

Drake


He could kinda tell when people were annoyed with him. Kind of. Drake just sank farther down in the chair, kicking his legs clumsily up on the table while he watched everyone fuss over Casper. This was so stupid, to be so overly worried over someone like this. "He'll be fine," he mumbled, mostly to himself, his eyes focused on the bottle once more.

So stupid, to be so worried over someone like this. What was going to happen? He would die? Ha, likely story. Please. Casper would be fine, or maybe he would become a friendly ghost or like those Casper mattresses that looked super fucking comfortable. Maybe the person in charge of the company was also named Casper. That would be fun.

"Later, losers!" He yelled after Casper and Stu as they started to move away, and he just rolled his eyes, looking back towards Aaron.

mikaluvkitties Dede​

 

[mikaluvkitties]

Casper​

The movement from the house to the… patio? was a blur for Casper, and by the time he was on the bench, he was feeling dizzy and a bit nauseous. Even through the warmth of his drunkenness, he felt cold, and a shiver passed through him as he leaned against Stu, guilt gnawing at his insides.

If he threw up, it would serve him right, wouldn’t it? Fourteen year olds shouldn’t drink, he reminded himself.

It again took Casper a moment to realize he was being spoken to, partially because he was thinking, but mostly because everything was blurring, and he looked down as he started crying harder, which just made his face feel cold and hot at the same time, and that didn’t feel very good at all.

He had done something bad, and he’d probably ruined Stu’s night, too.

Fighting the urge to nuzzle Stu, he instead tried to put his hands in his pockets as Stu wiped his tears.

“I’m cold…” he slurred, taking a deep breath and nearly coughing- The air was chilly, wasn’t it?

He should have realized it would be. Why did he come out here anyways? Oh right, Stu had taken him out here. And then his shoulder was nudged, and he was pulled out of his funk. He looked up at Stu, eyes big, and took a second before nodding.

They were thirsty, and they hadn’t even realized it. How weird was that?

Dede​

~`*`~​

Aaron​

Aaron just stood there for a moment, shocked, as Stu stumbled away with Casper. How dare he.

Slowly, Aaron sat down, stewing. First, he lets his brother kiss him, and then- then- he comes and acts like Aaron is some kind of villain, when he’s done nothing wrong- And then Drake spoke.

He almost said his brother wasn’t a loser, almost jumped to his defense, but… Well, he kind of was, wasn’t he? Besides, Drake probably didn’t mean it like that. And even more, Casper clearly had people to watch out for him- He didn’t need Aaron to tell his friends to be nice lamely.

He turned to Drake, only to see Drake looking at him. “What?”

Winona​

 

[Soap]

Raven

Raven shook her head, it's not like she hasn't tried to call home already. But... whatever not the point. She glanced at the party behind her, narrowing her eyes at the people dancing. This Rivera just wasn't in the partying mood, she rubbed at her arms from the cold while she shrugged towards Mason, "I don't really feel like going inside. I'm okay here." She tilted her head towards the door.

"I'll be fine." She offered him the smallest of smiles, which faded when she looked away.

A few seconds into it, she got a bit bored. Did you expect Raven to have such a high attention span? Please. Her eyes darted around the snow, and around the cabin steps before looking up and a grin came to her face at the sight of mistletoe.

Maybe, just... maybe. She wishes a certain brunette would appear out of thin air, she had a bit of a knack of making that feeling disappear. Despite her mood, a small smile reappeared at the thought of her and she shook her head. She never felt like that with anyone before.

Anyone. Not even June.

So, maybe, Raven was a bit lonely. But that's okay, she always coped with beforehand. What's different around this time?

Winona

Juliette

The fresh air dried some of the tears that already made it's way onto her face, but it didn't do much as more tears flowed the longer she stared at the photo. Bryan And... Lexi? She thought Lexi was her friend, that they had each other's back. How could she be such a backstabbing bitch?

She thought Bryan loved her. What was the point then in apologizing? Why didn't he just break up with her if he wanted her. JJ pulled up his contact and her hand hovered over the call button, would he even answer? Before she pressed it, Ava's voice was behind her and it reminded her of the kiss that happened moments ago. Spin the bottle wasn't cheating, and plus, it was Ava. It wasn't like it was a random chick like Lexi, Lexi and Bryan hardly even... knew each other. So why did that make it so much more worse?

She turned her head to face her, and held the phone up. "He..." She shook her head in disbelief. How could he? She wasn't-- JJ never did anything to hurt him, not purposely anyway. What did she do to deserve it? "Why didn't he tell me? No, no. Why didn't Lexi tell me? What kind of friend is she? To sit there and fucking look me in the eyes, to pretend she didn't know?" Her words were furious, but the only emotion she was letting through was hurt. Maybe it wasn't a surprise to some people, but... Juliette really didn't see it coming.

"Maybe she wasn't even a real friend in the first place."

Winona
​

 

[Dazzle]

Rae


Rae racked her head trying to remember who June and David were. Sort of regretting bringing up the topic realizing some people have normal families they enjoy spending their time with. Meanwhile felt like all she had was her brother, and the only concern she had was her father accidentally burning the house down while they were gone. Starting to think about it she really hoped he wouldn't pass out after turning the stove on while they were gone, causing her nerves to sky rocket. Her smile quickly faded, but she didn't want Grace to think she was the reason Rae's smile disappeared she plaster a fake one back on, but you could see in her eyes she wasn't entirely focused on the girl in front of her.

"No worries." A soft smile on her lips, Rae understood tough family dynamics and not much phased her now a days. Speaking of phone numbers she was able to draw her attention back to Grace. "Oh yea, sure." Having an actual girl friend in Westbrook would be nice, Phoenix had been her only friend and the closest she got to having some fashion sense with him at her side. Rae could sort of consider Theo a friend, as he was Chase's bestie, but she didn't really know him, and the only other person she had was Chase. And as much as she liked Chase, she hated being that girl that was always with her boyfriend. Even if he did take her anxiety down. She pulled out her phone unlocking it and opening up a new contact. "Here" She smiled, having already typed Grace's name in the contact. "I'm really up for whatever too, doesn't have to just be tubing, we could hit up a mountain or something tomorrow."

Soap
​

 

[Dazzle]

Mads


Mads wasn't sure what had happened, he had gone from having people to talk to, to both of them leaving in a matter of a few seconds. Alice hadn't even hung around after Stu left, he figured he must of said something to upset her but he wasn't really sure how he could of. He tried really hard to not let it weigh on him though, keeping his smile on his face tended to be hard lately. He went from having so many friends around Westbrook to feeling really alone. He hadn't really ever felt that way, at least not in a long time, not since he left North Carolina, where he lost his best friend and girlfriend in the same moment.

Speaking of the devil, he felt his phone buzz, 'do not answer' came across the top of his screen. Rae had changed Karleen's name in his phone, before blocking her. For whatever reason, after Scar left he felt the need to unblock her. Messages started pouring in, but he hadn't brought himself to answer her. He knew his sister would kill him if he did, really he knew he would hate himself if he answered her.

Mads picked up his beer, trying to take a a sip from it realizing that he has already finished his can. Leaning forward he pushed himself off the ground making his way back into the kitchen. He didn't feel like he really had anyone anymore, running a hand through his hair pushing it back out of his eyes he saw his favorite blonde. Remembering he wasn't actually alone, if anyone got shitty home-life, and shitty friends it was her. "Hey." He smiled.

Walking over to Ash leaning against the counter she was sitting on. "What are you drinking?" He raised his eyebrows and lifted her cup to his nose sniffing it, wrinkling his nose in disgust. "What did you put in this?" He laughed lightly, smiling genuinely at Ash. She was definitely trying to get messed up, and he was here for it.

Winona ​

 

[Dede]

Neck Tie

Neck Tie couldn’t see any good in going back inside. It was too crowded and noisy with drunk kids milling about, and everything smelt like alcohol and cigarettes. Out here there was peace and quiet and the air was fresh. He thought it would be nice for them to stay and fill their lungs a little longer, maybe Casper might even sober up a bit. Sure it was a little cold, as Casper said, but that wasn’t something he couldn’t fix.

So he squirmed out of his warm reindeer jumper and gave it a good shake. He told Casper to put it on and helped him pull it over his head and insert his arms through. Then he took the balled up gloves out of his pocket and offered them to his friend.

Casper said he was thirsty. No problem. Although Neck Tie dreaded going back inside, he figured it wouldn’t hurt to make a quick dash in and out. ‘Wait here,’ he said and sprang from the bench. He slipped back into the party, and straight through to the kitchen where he waited around impatiently for the kettle to boil. The longer it took the more anxious he became. Was it safe to leave Casper alone outside? What if he wandered off and rolled down the ski slope all the way back to Westbrook?

Neck Tie grabbed an upturned “Eat. Sleep. Ski.” mug from the dish rack and rinsed clean it under the tap. There wasn’t any hot chocolate or tea or anything lying around so he just filled the mug with the boiling water. Then he looked around and also saw some empty Mountain Dew bottles lying around on the floor. He filled those up too, trapping the steam inside and making make-shift hot water bottles. He was pretty happy with himself for coming up with that.

Before long, Neck Tie hurried back onto the patio and sat back down next to Casper. ‘Here, careful. It’s hot.’ He wrapped his friend's gloved hands round the mug, making sure he'd gotten a good grip round the handle. Then he tucked one of the Mountain Dew bottles under Casper’s jumper for some extra warmth. The other he kept for himself.

Now that he’d finished taking care of Casper, Neck Tie got off the bench a second time. He shuffled down the steps and into the snow. He smiled back at his friend and stooped and gathered some snow under his feet, forming the base of something great. His arms were bare and it was bloody freezing, they might freeze and fall off but as far as Neck Tie was concerned, he was perfectly justified in his actions. It had been many years since he’d last seen a white Christmas, and he wasn't going let this one pass without building a snowman!!

mikaluvkitties

 

[Soap]

Grace

She noticed her smile fade, but Rae replaced it with a softer one and Grace felt almost at ease. There was something bothering her, but she didn't think it was a good idea to bring that up at the moment. Taking her phone with a grin, typing in her number and she might've added a little smiley face in her contact name.

She's a bit buzzed right now okay? Although let's be honest, she probably would've done it without the influence of alcohol. "Whatever you want to do. I'm cool with it." She smiled. Yes, she wanted more friends. Most of her time was spent with Sawyer, well, and Belle too. But she was recent.

All thoughts of Sawyer were gone. Okay, well, not gone. But she made it her mission to ignore her for now. Which... was incredibly hard to do. Oh. Y'know the perfect thing that always made her forget? Alcohol. Yes. Grace needed more of it. Handing her phone back to her, she avoided eye-contact with her girlfriend.

Taking Rae's hand, she pulled her towards where the bar was. "Okay, so, Belle told me about these like sweet cocktail thingys. I don't know what they are, but they're amazing." She grabbed two and handed one to Rae. She was extremely committed to getting rid of these stupid jealously feelings, and if that meant drinking... then so be it.

Grace drank her own within a few seconds, quickly grabbing another. "See! Isn't this fun. We're having much fun." Believe it or not, she wasn't having much fun. But that could change! Yeah, totally.

Dazzle​

 

[Dazzle]

Rae smiled taking her phone back, maybe this trip wouldn't turn out to be a total bust after all. Making friends with one of the nicest people at Westbrook seemed like a good way to turn the week around. Rae slid her phone back into her pocket, she begin to think of something else to talk about. Trying to avoid an awkward silence between the two of them, but before she could say something else Grace had grabbed her hand and started to drag her towards the bar.

Rae loosely held Grace's hand, damn the small blonde had a strong grip but it was over before Rae could have any anxiety about having an sort of stranger grab her hand. 'oh god, the bar, alcohol, this isn't legal.." Rae took the colorful drink from Grace, watching Grace down her own quite quickly. Rae's eyes wide as she grabbed a second one after quickly finishing the first. "oh god, I haven't been drunk before. oh god." Rae mentally shook the thoughts from her head. She didn't want to disappoint her new found friend..

"Thanks." She raised the glass to her lips taking a small sip, "okay, this isn't horrible." Rae smiled as the blonde started proclaiming that this was so much fun. Rae still didn't see the whole situation as drinking fun, but she was willing to give it a try. She wasn't having fun in the first place, maybe at least she would be socially enjoying time with Grace, even if that included a drink or two...

Soap ​

 

[Winona]

Drake


"Nothing it's just... Stu is kinda a fucking loser, you know?" The alcohol made Drake's words jumble up in his mouth as he spoke, and he wasn't sure if what he was saying even made sense, or if he would regret it in the morning. But hey, fucking go with whatever worked at the moment, right? And maybe Drake wasn't too fond of Stu nowadays.

"Acts like he's so... so much better than everyone else." He snorted, shaking his head, his eyebrows furrowing together in annoyance. Man, this whole drunk thing made Drake's head feel so much clearer. "He got drunk just like the rest of us, but thinks he can sit back and act like he's as innocent as... as... I don't fucking know, some innocent thing. A baby."

Drake thought back to that first party of the year, and again he shook his head before leaning it back against the seat, his eyes falling closed. "People... people really suck."

mikaluvkitties

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

Ava


She stopped right where she was, her heart dropping when JJ started talking. Fuck. Fuck. Yeah, Ava had known and Lexi and Bryan had stupidly threatened her as if she would've cared. And then so much had happened, and time had passed, and Ava had somehow just... forgotten the whole thing. It had seemed like Jules and Bryan were going to break up anyhow, so what was the point of pouring salt on this wound? So she just... had never said anything.

And now the consequences of her fucked up decision were staring at her. JJ was talking about Lexi, but she might as well have been talking about Ava. But fuck, fuck, fuck. They hadn't even been friends at the time that Ava had found out! And then wouldn't it have been wrong for her to tell JJ what she had figured out?

Of course it had been, and Ava couldn't have been more angry at Lexi, at Bryan, at whoever the fuck posted that, and... at herself for never telling Jules. Even if they hadn't been on speaking terms, it had been wrong of her not to mention it.

"I'm... sorry." She said slowly, and Ava hesitated, wondering if she should even mention it. "I... I should have told you what happened. I overheard them talking about it and I just... Jules, I'm so sorry. I completely forgot." Oh god, she was no better than the cheerleaders and football players that she constantly hated on.

Soap​

 

[Winona]

Ash


Yeah, maybe she was trying to get fucked up... okay, so there was no doubt about it, Ash was definitely trying to forget the night. Or, well, not really forget the night, but forget what she was feeling -- which was just horrible, basic loneliness. Ryder hadn't come yet -- heck, Ash hadn't even heard from him in a few days, and it was enough to make her worry. Not that it was hard to make her worry, but a million what if's were swirling through her brain and making her dizzy.

She had been staring down into the disgusting liquid, swirling the cup around in silence until Mads came up. If there was anyone that could make her feel less lonely tonight, it would be him. A faint smile graced her lips, and a small laugh escaped her when he asked what she'd put into it. "I uh... a little bit of everything." She admitted. "I thought 'cinnamon whiskey would be delicious.' So I put whiskey and Fireball, and that was horrible, so I started adding more and more until I got... that."

Ash shrugged, taking her cup back and setting it down beside her. It wasn't doing much to make her drunk because she could barely keep the liquid down, but she was definitely feeling something. "How are you doing?" The last time Ash had talked to Mads had been at Belle's party, in which he'd been kind of disaster and yeah, maybe she was a little bit worried. Right now, Mads was really the only friend that she had left -- and she was determined to keep him around.

Dazzle​

 

[Soap]

Grace

Grace grinned over at Rae. "Of course." The blonde was completely determined to have fun, or attempt to. She took a seat on one of the stools. Her gaze roamed around the room before falling onto her drink again, and Grace's smile faded with a small sigh.

So maybe trying too hard to have fun, is a little... not fun.

Her thoughts floated to what she'd done moments ago, and she felt a bit guilty. "Okay, so. You're not into girls, right?" Not a strong start, Grace didn't want her to think she was hitting on her.... again.

"I might've, maybe, used you to get someone jealous. And... I'm super, super sorry for that. Like, I've never done anything like that before! But I... I don't know what I was thinking, I'm sorry." The rambling wasn't caused by her intoxication, it was just her.

"Though. You do have really pretty eyes." She added with a sheepish smile, if she was going to be friends with Rae, she'd rather their friendship start on good terms. Not a jealousy act.

Dazzle

​

Juliette

Juliette put her head in her hands, sighing while they had a moment of silence. Wiping most of the tears off her face, which left mascara stains running down her face. Then Ava was apologizing, offering her... condolences or something? JJ turned towards her, waiting for her to continue. Once she did, Juliette blinked. She didn't say anything, it took a few moments for what she said set in. Ava... knew? She knew?

Many emotions flashed across Juliette's face. Surprise, hurt, and anger. "You knew?" She scoffed and stood up from her seat on the stairs, she wasn't sure where she was going. Moving away considerably farther from Ava, the heels of her boots crunching beneath the snow.

"How long have you known? The party was... months go. Did you know that long?" She was hoping, praying even that the answer would've been... like a day at least. Because if it was longer than that, well, what the fuck made her different from Lexi? What? Because she knew Ava? No, betrayal's still the same. No matter who it's from.

"How did you forget? How!? You've just been waiting to throw it in my face haven't you? I thought we--" Jules choked on her words, but she quickly recovered. Meeting Lonnie's eyes with her own.

"Fuck you. Fuck you, Ava. I can't believe I actually thought we were friends again." A chuckle escaped her, nothing about this was funny in any way. Although, it was a little funny how she just... never mentioned this until now. "This is exactly why we stopped being friends in the first place. Because you don't care for anyone else but yourself. Not even me."

Winona


​

 

[Winona]

Ava


Maybe it was true. Oh hell, there was no maybe about it. Ava was undeniably selfish, and she'd never hated herself for it so much. Everything came down to what she could gain, how it would affect her. Is that really the reason that she had never said anything to Jules? Fuck... Ava had no idea, but JJ was probably right.

"You're... right." She said slowly, her voice halting and cracking as she spoke, and started to back away. There was no way in hell Jules wanted to still look at her -- hell, Ava didn't even want to look at herself right now. And there was no way that she could keep looking at JJ's tear-stained face, knowing that she could've done something to make this hurt a little less.

"I'm just going to go. I'll... see you around." Ava quickly turned on her heel, her hands balled into fists while she tried to keep her voice level, and take in deep breaths so that no one could tell that she was upset, that she was on the verge of tears. Because she was fucking Avalon Sanders, and she didn't cry or get upset over other people.

So why did she feel so sad?

Soap​

 

[Dazzle]

Mads


Mads laughed lightly listening to Ash list off everything in her concoction that she had created. "You do realize, that fire ball is a whiskey right?" He raised an eyebrow at her, a small smile crossed his face. "So basically you added more whiskey, and now there is less cinnamon." He took her cup and dumped it out, the now ruined whiskey. "If you want to get messed up, I have one better." He easily looked into the cabinets above their heads pulling down a few different liquors. "How about a Dos Aquis." He struggled to pronounce the second word, but kept on making the drink anyways. "It's not fireball, but it does have cinnamon kick."

He smirked over his shoulder filling two cups for Ash and him. "I hope you don't hate rum." Mads said as he handed the cup back to Ash. "Cinnamon Fire, Lucky Oh! Horchata, and Coffee rum." He raised raised his cup towards her as a toast. Taking a sip of his drink before responding to Ash's question. "I'm.. I'm okay." His phone buzzed, pulling it out of his pocket only giving it a quick glance before dropping it back in his jeans. "What about you?" He took another gulp of his drink. "Have you heard from Ryder? Is he coming up?"

Mads felt like he had lost yet another friend, Ryder and Ash were his bestfriends in Westbrook, it was tough to feel like he had lost yet another. But maybe Ash had some idea what had been going on. The twins tended to get in a lot of trouble, and after their halloween party he knew that they had been in a shit ton of trouble for letting their house get robbed that night. Maybe they were still punished?

He really hadn't been around Ash since Belle's party, when he had just felt broken. And the drinking hadn't been helping, honestly he wasn't feeling much better, but he was at least trying to hold it together. He felt like the first few months at Westbrook had been so much better than NC. Mads felt more at home than he had in a long time, but now, he wasn't so sure about that.

Winona

Rae


Rae continued to sip slowly on her drink, 'one won't hurt, its fine' It really didn't taste that bad, she expected it to be way more bitter, but this was sweet. She tucked her hair behind her ear with her free hand. And copied Grace as she took a seat, taking a seat on the stool beside Grace twisting her body so she faced Grace.

She watched as her smile faded, was it something that Rae had done, maybe Grace wasn't enjoying Rae's company. Rae really hated trying to make friends, she found it extremely tough to read people in general, especially whenever she first met them. Her Aunt always told her that she wasn't a 'people person' and that 'no one would like her with her rbf' at 11 years old. Maybe it wasn't so bad that they didn't see the rest of their family anymore.

She was quickly drawn out of her thoughts at Grace's very abrupt question. "Uh.. no.. I-I don't think so??" She started to stumble over her own words. "I-I've never really been attracted to girls..." What if that is rude, she didn't find Grace ugly... And she was all for gay rights.. "You're-you're really pretty.. But I-I don't like girls like that..." And then Grace had her own explanation.

"Oh.. Yea I don't think jealously is ever the way to get what you want. It usually gets people into worse situations." She ran her hand through her hair out of anxiousness. Lifting her glass to her lips and watching Grace from over it. "It's really okay.. I honestly just thought you were being nice.." Rae laughed lightly, "Thank you." She smiled brightly at the blonde across from her, taking another sip. Without even realizing it she had finished her first alcoholic drink. How much would take to make her intoxicated, she felt fine so far and she was safe where she was, right?

Soap ​

 

[mikaluvkitties]

Casper​

Casper couldn’t help a whine as Stu took off his sweater. He kind of just wanted to lean against Stu, not really doing anything but shivering. And then the sweater was going on him. He whined more, squirming a bit, but once it was on, he had to admit it was warm. He sniffed, going to lean against Stu apologetically for struggling with him. He took the gloves, mumbling a thank you as he put them on.

And then Stu was getting up, and Casper let out a yelp, falling onto the bench. He sniffed again, lying on the bench. Then the door opened, and it was Stu. He blinked, sitting up, smiling as he did, shivering a bit less. He was given a mug, and he said thank you again, trailing off a bit, sipping at the water as he watched Stu shove the bottle up his sweater.

It was warm, and he gave a quiet gasp, watching with wide eyes as Stu sat next to him again. Slowly, Casper leaned against him again, looking down at the water. For a moment, he simply slowly drank it, but eventually, quiet, tears dying down, he said, “You’re nice…”

His mind turned to Aaron again. “Aaron’s gonna be mad…”

Dede​

~`*`~​

Aaron​

Aaron rested his face on his hand as Drake began to speak, nodding along slowly as he spoke, even as it jostled his head. Aaron could agree with what Drake was saying. Stu was a loser- A loser Casper had chosen to befriend, a loser Casper had chosen to kiss.

And then Drake mentioned Stu drinking, and Aaron got curious. He leaned forward.

“Stu got drunk?”

Winona​

 

[Winona]

Drake


"Oh, yeah, it was hilarious." Drake said with a little snort as he thought back to the event. That party had been a disaster in more ways than one, but remembering how stupid Stu had been -- and hilariously drunk -- at least brought some joy to that horrible night. He then remembered what he had done on his way back inside. Drake had pulled out his phone and recorded the whole incident.

He fumbled pulling his phone out of his pocket. "I think I still have the video of when he... he..." Drake was laughing too hard to finish his sentence. Instead, he just pulled the phone out, scrolling through the other pictures and videos until he finally got to the beginning of the year and was able to pull up the video of Stu.

Drake pulled his feet off the table and scooted closer to Aaron before playing the video. And there, in all his lovely glory, was Neck Tie clumsily peeing all over Jace's petunias. The video only got better as Jace came out in his yellow slippers, yelling at Neck Tie only to have Stu pee on his slippers. It was only a few moments before Jace was dragging Stu away behind the house, and then the video ended.

"Hilarious, right?"

mikaluvkitties​

 

[Winona]

Ash


Ash's jaw practically dropped to the ground as Mads ruined everything she knew about alcohol. Chances were she wouldn't have been quite this enchanted if she had learned to take her liquor nice and slowly, but instead, she was gaping in surprise. "Since when?" she whispered, looking over at the almost empty bottle of Fireball as if it had just betrayed her. "But it tastes so... not like whiskey. How does it do that?" She was completely confused, and staring at it in surprise.

She picked up the bottle, trying to read the ingredients to answer her question, but Ash soon started swaying from trying to read it, so she gave up and set it down with a huff. Her gaze turned back to Mads, and she raised an eyebrow in interest. Okay so Ash may have not known a ton about alcohol, but that didn't mean she wasn't willing to try it. "Hell yeah, Mads. Let's get messed up. Quatro Dos Aquis." Ha. Spanish class was really paying off, although she had no idea if that even made sense.

"Please. I don't hate anything if it gets me drunk." She admitted with a laugh, taking it back and swirling it around for a moment before she took a sip of it. Well, Ash had to admit that Mads was really good at making drinks. But her smile faltered when he mentioned Ryder, and all she could do was shrug helplessly. "I... don't know. He hasn't really been responding to me, so I don't think so." It hurt her to admit, and she took a long drink to stop herself from crying or something else embarrassing.

Ash tried to cover up the hurt in her face with a bright smile as she placed the cup back on the counter and leaned back on the counter with her arms propping her up. "But that's fine. I can still have fun with my other friends, like you." She leaned forward, nudging him with her shoulder a bit and at least now, her smile didn't feel quite as forced.

Dazzle
​

 

[Maree]

Belle


This trip was certainly chaotic, but Belle wasn't sure what she had expected. A bunch of teenagers with short tempers and bones to pick with each other? Things were bound to fall into pure chaos sooner or later. She sighed, placing a fresh icepack her bruised knuckles. Getting into a fight with someone hadn't really been on her list of plans, yet here she was. Dealing with the consequences. The memories of the other night were still quite fresh in her mind. She had been dancing with Zach when that Kanen guy had interrupted them. Yelling something about Zach beating up his brother before he attacked him. Of course, she couldn't just let them deal with it, no. Drunk Belle thought it would be a great idea to step in and defend Zach before flipping Kanen onto a table, a glass table. She still felt bad for breaking Ash's little glass coffee table. It was such a pretty little table. On the bright side, Kanen had stormed off with his tail between his legs. That's what he got for bullying people.

She took a sip out of her coffee cup, blocking out the background noise of her peers chattering. A new year, full of new experiences with her new friends as well as enemies. It was unavoidable if you were loved you were bound to be hated as well. Some people, such as JJ and Ava couldn't stand to see you have things they didn't. It seemed like they had been hit with a nice dose of karma for how they had treated her in the trip up. A cheating boyfriend huh? If she couldn't even keep a boyfriend interested in her then how would she keep everyone else interested in her? Heavy is the head that is losing the crown. At least she would still have that loser friend of hers to keep her company. Oh, wait. Rumour has it that Ava and JJ had a falling out. How sad.

In more positive news the boys were going to be moving in with her a few days after they got back. It was certainly going to be interesting, figuring out how they would work together in a house. Setting boundaries for each other, what they wanted and didn't want. There was no way she was taking mandatory movie night off the table. She didn't use the theatre room enough. Speaking of the boys, she hadn't seen Drake in a little while. It was weird to be on a trip with him and not really see him but oh well. They had other friends to spend time with after all. hopefully, he would pop up again soon

Mentions: JJ, Ava, Drake + Mason.
Soap Winona​

 

[Dede]

Neck Tie

Casper said Aaron was going to be mad. Neck Tie didn’t care. Aaron was a massive pillock who didn’t know right from wrong and Neck Tie was never going to risk Casper getting poisoned because of it.

Some minutes later he’d put together something vaguely resembling a snowman. With a stretch of the imagination you could probably see the face with the eyes and the nose and the mouth. Probably. It was freezing cold so there was no time for finishing touches. Anyway the boy was pretty happy with it and he looked up the patio to see what his drunk friend thought of his snow sculpture.

* * * *​

On Christmas Day he gave his friend a “Casper the Friendly Ghost” wallet, because there was nothing like beating a dead joke to death.

The next few days at the cabin were relatively quiet, which was a welcome change considering how explosive the party had been. Neck Tie had a second go at building a snowman. This time he worked during the day instead, when it was warmer and he could actually see what he was doing. But somehow the snowman ended up looking even worse than before.

Then he took the Christmas tree down, and that took as much effort as putting it up in the first place. He got tangled up in the lights again and walked around some looking like a portable Christmas party. Still, it was better than sitting around doing nothing and he actually enjoyed himself so he didn’t complain.

Finally it was New Years Eve, which meant that the trip was almost over. They’d only been up at the cabin for like six days but somehow, SOMEHOW, it felt like they’d been here for a gruelling month and six days. He never wanted to come in the first place as it was all Elise’s idea and she wouldn’t have given Ash the keys if he didn’t agree to it. He couldn’t disappoint his soon-to-be step-sister like that.

Some kids were getting ready for the bonfire party tonight. This being their last full day in the mountains, Neck Tie thought he’d finally give that skiing thing a try. He’d been putting it off for a while now for fear of embarrassing himself in front of others, since he’d never skied before, but now was his last chance to join in on the fun. He looked at the blue sky and the conditions were sublime. What could possibly go wrong?

Some older kids saw him getting up and falling over and getting up and falling over again in the snow and took pity on him. They gave him some tips and advice and barely five minutes later encouraged him to try out his new skills on the more challenging slope. Yeah they probably did that just so they could have a laugh at his expense. But Neck Tie thought they were being genuinely helpful and 100% trusted them.

So he braced himself at the top and they gave him a little shove. That was enough to send the boy skidding down the snow field. Immediately he started spiralling out of control. A long ways down the slope where no one else was he veered sideways to avoid a tree and then — BAM. He managed to crash into the only person that was skiing there within like a mile’s radius. . . like it was fate.

It was a beautiful collision. Snow dust flying, the two of them falling in slow motion, rounded off by a heavenly thud. The last time they crashed into each other Grace was lying on top of him. Now he was lying on top of her for a change!

mikaluvkitties Soap