location: home mood: ugh homework outfit: X interactions: @spiderboy (ripley)
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The cold Iowan air bit at the small part of her face not covered by her scarf. Winter was in full-swing, and the walk home from school was full of slush-covered sidewalks and inevitably soaked socks. Thankfully, her three best friends were always up to walk home with her, and today was no different. They piled through the front door to the Gall household, mittens and jackets strewn over the armchair by the front door.
The girls spread out over the house in such a way that made it obvious they practically lived there; the four of them had been friends since elementary school, and the Gall residence was more often than not home base.
“Someone better be putting bagel bites in the microwave! And can you guys not spill an entire bottle of Coke today?” Lena called as she entered the living room. She picked the remote up off the couch, turning on the TV, muttering, “Oh, ew- mom left the news on…”
“-in other news, muti-grammy winner Kameron King continues his search for his next pop band. Auditions are being held right here in Des Moines at Welsh Hall on Dartmouth road-”
Lena watched uniterestedly, laughing a bit as she said, “Hey, Rip, did you hear that?”
location: frankie’s house mood: GAMER TIME BABYYYY outfit: X interactions: neverbackdown
(JP)
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“-how dare you blue shell me?!” Elwyn shouted, harshly elbowing JP in the side. The boys had been over at Frankie’s house all day, as per usual. The unyielding snow falling down had meant a snow day off from school for nearly all of Minnesota, which had meant a full day of gaming for Elwyn and the gang.
There were crumb-filled plates and half-finished soda cans on the coffee table in front of them; quiet concentration filled the room save for the sound of button mashing and the occasional exclamation of rage.
Elwyn was effectively gaining his lead back, when the warning signs of yet another blue shell crept up on him- “-don’t you do it, don’t you-”
The shell crashed into his cart and Elwyn gave into his anger as he pushed a laughing JP over, effectively squishing Frankie and Blair underneath them, “I’m gonna freakin’ kill you, man!”
He started slapping JP with a pillow as Frankie and Blair protested, all four boys freezing in place when the TV suddenly changed from Mario Kart to the local news. Someone had sat on the remote.
“-despite the snowy weather here in Dumont, multi-grammar winner Kameron King is still holding auditions downtown to find his next big pop group. Auditions are free to the general public-”
“Who changed the channel!?” Elwyn yelled, going back in on JP.
Celeste despised the cold weather. It was her number one enemy, always seeming to get the best of her by tripping her up and making her slip and bust her ass on the icy pavement below her. Luckily, it wasn't a long walk from school over to Lena's house. For that, Celeste was more than grateful. She tossed her jacket and gloves on the chair seated delicately by the front door with the rest of the girls', a long sigh escaping her lips. Once she had kicked off her shoes, she made her way over to the kitchen, where she promptly grabbed a bag of barbecue flavored chips. Celeste practically inhaled her first handful as she entered the living room, pushing Lena over in order to make more room for her on the couch. "What's all this about?" she mumbled through a mouthful of chips, quirking an eyebrow at what was playing on TV.
"We should totally audition." Celeste swallowed her mouthful, snorting at the thought of actually embarrassing herself by showing her face there. "Could you imagine, us actually singing for that Kameron King guy? Please." She wasn't a singer, by any means. She preferred to dance or play basketball or softball. Hell, Celeste didn't even sing karaoke - her voice was utterly horrible. The only people who had ever heard her sing were her friends, and that was it. Her dream was to become a famous athlete, not a pop star. The only person that she could think of who would actually be interested in the audition would have to be Ripley. Celeste wasn't interested, that was for sure. She'd rather slip and fall on the ice fifty times in a row before going humiliate herself like that.
She yawned, stretching her arms out behind her head. It had been a long day, and this weather wasn't helping. All it made her want to do was sleep - in fact, she had taken a fat nap during English earlier that day. Who needed good grades, anyway? Sleep was the most important thing in the world, at least to Celeste. If she hadn't ended up at Lena's after school, then she would have passed out on her own couch at home as soon as she walked through her front door. But she cared about her friends a little more, apparently. Sleep could wait until after she got home.
Frankie's dad came out of the kitchen with a tray full of chicken nuggets for him and the boys. His son thoroughly enjoyed snow days, especially considering that he was the one who didn't have to get out in all of this weather. Unfortunately for him, that meant that Blair, Elwyn, and JP barged into his house at seven in the morning. They had been here ever since. Why did Frankie's stepmom have to let them in so early? "Chicken for my chickens." Nolan announced as he set the plate down before leaving the living room altogether - he had called out today, knowing that it would be near impossible to drive all the way into the city for work. Frankie and the boys barely acknowledged him as they smashed buttons on their controllers, trying to win the race on screen. He himself was in last place, as to be expected. Frankie was terrible at every game he picked up, but especially Mario Kart. He groaned as he fell off of the track yet again. Whoever suggested that they play this map was a dumbass.
He was quickly smushed into the couch by JP's big body, trying to get out from underneath his friend. "Hey! This is so unfair!" Frankie protested, crawling out from underneath. He was about to grab a pillow of his own when the television screen suddenly flipped from their game to a news broadcast. Auditions? For a new pop group? It had certainly caught his attention. "Shut up!" Frankie tossed a pillow in Elwyn's direction as he reached for the remote, turning up the volume. Although he wasn't interested in auditioning, it still managed to whirl him away into a daydream. What would it be like to be famous? Was it as glamorous as the media made it out to be? Probably not. But still, it was nice to imagine his name in lights. It wasn't practical at all - he would probably grow up to become an orthopedist, or a pediatrician, or something like that. Pop stars didn't do that kind of stuff.
"What kind of idiot would actually audition for something like that?" Frankie scoffed, rolling his eyes. He surely wasn't going to, though he could see one of the guys doing it as a joke. Frankie had a decent voice, he wasn't going to deny that, but taking up singing as a profession? He would have had to be out of his mind to even think that for a second. Frankie was extremely attractive...or maybe he just had a big ego. Could he be a teen heartthrob? Probably not. Yeah, it was a good idea for him to stay put, in his comfortable home where it was warm and safe. Hollywood could wait for someone else to rise from the ashes. Francisco Cruz wasn't that someone.
An evil cackle, that one could only describe as the laugh of a disney villain fell from JP's mouth as the blue shell crashed into Elwyn's car on screen, he had purposely been saving it for him and he was sure that Elwyn knew that, it was just too easy to wind him up when gaming.
Invested in the game at hand, JP barely even noticed Frankie's dad arrive in but his eyes darted from the screen as the smell of chicken nuggets filled the room "Thanks Mr. Cruz" a smile lit up JP's face as he sat up and grabbed a chicken nugget popping it into his mouth before bringing his attention back to the screen, just in time for the mystery box to reveal another blue shell add on for JP.
A mischievous glint could be seen in JP's eyes as a grin took over his features, only growing in amusement as Elwyn basically pleaded with him not to do it again "Look maybe someday you'll be as good as me ... unlikely though" the blue shell crashed into his car with satisfying force, knocking the car of the track as JP turned to face Elwyn with a boastful smile but quickly turned to laughter at the expression on his friends face.
Before JP could react he had suddenly been pushed and landed onto Frankie and Blair, still laughing JP quickly raised his arms over his face as he spotted Elwyn grab a pillow from the corner of his eye. JP was laughing was so hard that tears stung at the corner of his eyes and his stomach was beginning to hurt as he continued to shield himself from the pillow attack. "Not the hair, mind the hair" He was completely unaware of the boys protesting him being on them.
As the tv switched and the announcement was heard JP immediately stopped laughing and sat up with his eyes glued to the screen. "Hold up" he said, amusement now replaced with a tone of seriousness as he pushed Elwyn back and grabbed onto the pillow trying to grab it from his hands as he continued to look at the screen.
A dreamy smile played on his lips as he allowed himself to get lost in his thoughts. Picturing himself up on stage playing to a sold out arena, this was all he had ever dreamed about. He couldn't help but think that because the announcement had came up as they accidently changed back to tv that this was a sign. Someone was nudging him in the right direction and finally all his work would see results. It was his time, his chance ... the smile dropped for a second as JP finally registered the word "group" and bit his lip for a moment in thought before looking back up at the screen and then to his friends with wide eyes and a grin.
Standing up so that he could look at all of the boys at once JP rubbed his hands together "so we need a good group name" he commented in a thoughtful tone as he decided for them all that they were auditioning.
Mallory followed the girls into Lena's house as she took of her jacket, scarf, hat and gloves and left them neatly on the chair with the rest of the groups belongings. Rubbing her hands together Mallory made her way into the kitchen, happy to be in the house and not out in that cold day anymore. She was surprised that the schools hadn't shut down in the alaming weather but she supposed a snow day was always a pipe dream for all students. Wishful thinking but after all there was no harm in dreaming.
Mallory heard Lena shout in at them and smirked "Yeah Celeste no spilling drinks this time" she teased as she watched her walk back into the sitting room. Opening the freezer Mallory rooted for the bagel bites "aha!" she grinned as she pulled them out of the second drawer. Placing them on a plate, Mallory stuck them into the microwave and put it on the recommended time before leaning against the counter to wait.
The girls had practically grown up in this house and Mallory smiled as she looked around the kitchen, she wouldn't be surprised if she had actually spent more time in Lena's than in her own home. From day one, this had always been the hangout, the quietness of this house compared to her own was so drastically different that it actually took Mallory some time to get used to it, while she loved being at home it was nice to be somewhere that she could actually hear herself think.
The microwave beeped to confirm it was finished and Mallory grabbed the plate and brought it into the sitting room and placed it on the table between them all. She briefly heard the tv, something about an audition.. but she shrugged it off uninterested as she walked into the hall to get her school bag. While she'd rather sit down and relax for a bit, homework did need to be done and the quicker it was started than the quicker it would be over and they could spend the rest of the evening talking about anything else.
Mallory took her journal out of her bag and curled up on an armchair as she began to read that days assignments. Her attention diverted to Celeste as she mentioned auditioning and Mal couldn't help the amused smirk that played on her lips as she looked at her friends "it would be an ... experience" she laughed unable to find another word that could describe the trainwreck that would be their audition.
Mallory went back to her book but suddenly a frown played on her lips as she turned to Ripley "oh no, you actually think we should don't you?" she questioned a slight quiver of fear could be noted in her tone.
Sprawled across the Gall family's loveseat like a cat in sunshine was a bored beyond belief Fiona Ripley. Her cheek laid flush against the cold leather, smushed into the cushion as she absentmindedly scrolled through her phone. Winter in Iowa had never been kind, and the walk to Lena’s house had been the worst seven minutes of her life. No amount of heat generated from the Hot Hands in her pockets could keep her teeth from chattering as she walked through the front door. She was the last of the girls to waddle in, peeling off her boots and placing them neatly by the front door. She cursed under her breath at the school board's bright idea to keep school running in ten-degree weather, checking herself out in the mirror in the walkway before ever so gracefully bellyflopping onto the closest piece of furniture in the living room.
The smell of Bagel Bites was the smell of second home and sleepovers. Days passed like this, one after the other, camping out in Lena's living room after school since the first day they had met in elementary school. Mrs. Gall was "Ma", and Ripley always had an emergency bag for Lena's for when things got tense at home and she needed space. The Gall house was where Ripley put on "concerts"-- song and dance covers to Kids Bop albums up until the eighth grade, and learned how to do a cartwheel. When she wasn't home or at school, she was probably at Lena's. Nowadays, Ripley's attempt at fame had flatlined into false hope, the last "big" break in Iowa was Owl City- twelve years ago.
The sound of bickering drowned out the television, not that anyone was paying attention to IOWA 5 news, anyway. Tearing her cheek from the couch with a satisfying red mark across the left side of her face, Ripley rolled over on her stomach, making grabby hands at the tray of Bagel Bites in Mallory's hands.
"Some of those better be plain cheese,"
the vegetarian interjected, stretching her arm out to pull the plate closer to her on the table. She froze, the better half of her upper body dangling off the loveseat as she struggled to keep from tumbling to the floor at the sound of the name Kameron King. The Kameron King, as in the sexiest man in music producing since the 2010s, the same dude who rumoredly got into a fistfight with Simon Cowell as a guest judge on 'America's Got Talent.' She had a poster of him hanging in her closet from when she was thirteen, for crying out loud.
"Goodness gracious, great balls of fire!"
Already on the floor, a suddenly very alive Ripley reached over the coffee table for the remote in Lena's hands, cranking the volume upwards to 70. This was it. This was her big break. It had to be. This was the world's way of telling her she needed to go to these auditions. Seven years of show choir, dance lessons, and vocal rest had prepared her for this very moment. As much as she loved her friends and auditioning with them would be just like old times, putting on a show in each other's living rooms, Ripley was hoping to go solo. Iowa was her home, but her heart had always been in Hollywood. Ever the dramatic one of the four, Ripley already had her nose pressed against the television like a kid who just found their next Christmas present in a window display.
"Celeste's right, we totallyneed to audition."
Fiona turned to face the row of unamused faces looking back at her from Lena's couch.
"What?"
She knew convincing them wasn't gonna be easy, especially when half the time they needed to be bribed with food. They were almost worse than Dawg. With an exasperated sigh, she plopped back down on the floor, leaning on her elbows.
"Guys, I'm serious, this could be my- our big break."
She scooted over to the couch, grabbing onto the arm of it and shaking it with all the vigor of a frustrated toddler.
"Come on, think about it. Please, please, please, please, please, PLEAAAASE."
help jp is crushing my arm with his fabulous head of hair
outfit
got dressed in the dark at 6:30 am leave me alone thx
location
frankster's place
interactions
the boys
One does not wake up willingly at 6:30 AM on a snow day in Minnesota. Unless you're Blair Ottowitz, who never went to sleep to begin with. Blair was no stranger to late nights and early mornings, working under lamplight on what was admittedly his stupidest project yet: lego flowers. He may or may not have completely forgotten his baby sister's fourteenth birthday next week and nothing says "I'm sorry I forgot you were born, spare me your wrath" like a vase of fake flowers. Two Red Bulls down and the third halfway gone, a pair of familiar faces came crashing through his house, throwing his bedroom door open with all the casualness of a rabid pack of hyenas. Why the hell he had told them where the family's spare key was outside was beyond him. Nonetheless, he let himself be whisked away by the clowns he calls best friends to Frankie's house where their reign of terror continued. Thankfully, Nolan and Jackie seemed to like the boys enough to let them in at the ungodly hour of seven in the morning, when the sky was still dark enough to illuminate the roads with street lamps.
Three games in and the bright lights on Rainbow Road started to blur together in a way that made Blair's head spin. Trailing fourth place behind JP, Elwyn, and an impressively computer-generated Donkey Kong, Blair snickered as he watched JP wind up another turtle shell. Elwyn's kryptonite and one true weakness. Sometimes watching those two bicker was more entertaining than the game at hand. He squirmed from his place on the couch between the arm and Frankie, snatching a handful of chicken nuggets before they could be completely obliterated. It was just as he was sinking back into the cushions that he found his arm pinned under JP's big hair, abandoned by Frankie who narrowly missed being squished between them.
"Dude, what kind of conditioner are you using?"
He breathed out exasperatedly, pulling his arm out from under JP's head.
"I'm sorry my arm broke your hair's fall, your royal bigheadedness."
He scoffed under his breath, chowing down on the miraculously un-smushed chicken nuggets in his free hand.
It took all but three seconds for Blair to roll his eyes at the news, who would have switched the television back to Mario Kart had Frankie been half a second slower. Since when did any of them pay attention to the news? Kameron King sounded like a bad porn star name, but a music producer? No one important ever came to Duluth looking for young stars, just keychains and novelty tee shirts. It all sounded almost too good to be true. Still, he could see the way JP's eyes lit up and he had a feeling they would be dragged down into his delusion of stardom. But if any of them were going to get out of this tourist town- it would be him. The last place Blair could see himself was on stage, especially with next year's school musical coming up. He'd much rather conduct an audition than actually put on one himself.
"You're kidding,"
Eyebrows furrowed in a way that seemed to scream "not happening". Blair knew fully well when Jack set his mind to something, there was no way in hell he wasn't going to get it. Pretty boy privilege at its finest. The almost-crazed look in his eye was starting to scare him a little bit.
"JP and The Jackasses? Because that's what we'll look like if any of us get on that stage."
He said with a smirk, folding his arms across his chest. Checkmate, Jack Paulson.
location: in line in the freezing cold mood:not this- outfit: X interactions: @Spider-boy (ripley)
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Lena scoffed. “You’re crazy. I mean, actually, legitimately crazy. There’s no way that’s happening.”
-and yet, after what must have been an hour of bickering, all four girls were standing in line to audition amongst at least a quarter of Iowa’s population just to be Ripley’s moral support. Straight-faced, Lena said, “I can’t believe you’re actually doing this.”
Ripley was buzzing, Celeste was indifferent, and she and Mallory weren’t amused in the slightest. Especially considering the snow flurrying down. Lena buried her hands deeper in her pockets, releasing a visible puff of breath into the air. “This is crazy. Ya know, I could be at home watching the Kardashians- and do you even know what you’re gonna sing, Rip?”
Lena was all for rushing headfirst into something without a plan and reveling in the chaos, but she knew how much this meant to Ripley. Hell, she even knew that Ripley stood a small chance of standing out and being the chosen one. It wasn’t a secret that she was talented, and in this weather Lena couldn’t help but dream of visiting Ripley’s imaginary, would-be, warm beach-side accommodations.
location: frankie’s house mood: AUDITION TIME BABYYYY outfit: X interactions: ~ everyone ~
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Elwyn, who’s attention span was as long as that of a toddler’s, stopped trying to wrestle JP to a pulp as soon as everyone else was distracted by the news reporter. Definitely not because Mr. Blue Shell himself was currently crushing him with a pillow.
“Oh c’mon, Blair, it could be fun!” Using JP’s distraction to his advantage, Elwyn shimmied out from underneath the pillow, hopping up on the coffee table, trying his best to find footing amongst the empty cans and plates. He put on a deep voice, pretending to hold a microphone, “Introducing JP and The Jackasses singing-“ he paused, doing a drumroll on his thighs, “Feliz Bottom Jeans!”
He switched to his whiny JP-impersonation voice, trying to sing semi-decent, but knowing he sounded like a dying toad, “Apple bottom jeans, boots with the fur-“
A pillow was very promptly thrown at his head, causing him to fall off the table. Elwyn popped up, though, an earnest smile on his face, “So we’re gonna audition, right?”
She didn't know whose bright idea it had been to go to this dumbass audition, but she was shivering out in the cold now. The girls had fought over whether or not to go in the first place, and yet, Ripley had all convinced them to go anyway. Celeste may have seemed indifferent on the outside, but on the inside, she was in a state of irritation and amusement. She was irritated because of the bitter, bitter wind whipping around them, but she was amused because of the sheer volume of people waiting in line outside Welsh Hall. Celeste wanted to be there for Ripley, but Jesus, did it have to be below freezing for this damn audition? She'd have to give this Kameron King guy a piece of her mind when they finally got inside. "I'm glad you think this is a good idea, Rip, but you owe me big time." she muttered, watching her breath fog up in the air. As soon as she turned eighteen, she was getting the hell out of Dodge, that was for sure. This cold was for the birds.
Celeste was standing in between Lena and Mallory, Ripley obviously in front of them - after all, she was the one who was dying to audition - as the line barely budged. How long would it take for them to be seen? She wasn't exactly happy about being here. Couldn't these auditions have been held in the summer? Or the spring? Or the fall? Why did it have to be held now, in the dead of winter? With the way this line was moving, it seemed as if nobody near them would be seen soon. There had to be a faster, easier way to get this going. And then she thought of a good idea (in her eyes, at least). It was time for a new plan.
She had had enough of all of this waiting around. "Come on, we're getting in now." Celeste broke free from the line, making her way down to the alley into a side door. She didn't care if any of the other girls had followed her - she wanted to get out of this blasted cold once and for all. And she had done so, quite successfully, if she did say so herself. Celeste wasn't quite sure where this door had taken her, but at least she wasn't freezing her ass off anymore. She glanced around her surroundings, realizing that she had found her way into a backstage area. "Uh-oh."
unfortunately, the people who he calls his best friends.
Frankie was distracted by his own thoughts as his friends made fools of themselves. On one hand, auditioning would give him a good story to tell. But, on the other, he didn't want to be humiliated. He surely didn't have what it took to become a superstar. He was just...Frankie. Of course, he sang in the shower, but shower acoustics always made him sound better than he actually was. He could barely dance, and he wasn't that good-looking. Superstar, he was not. But auditioning was intriguing to him. Why shouldn't they go and make fools of themselves? It would make them popular at school. Maybe that would mean loads of fun. Frankie got a big smile on his face at that thought.
He tuned back into see Elwyn singing some stupid song that he had most likely seen on TikTok. Frankie chucked a pillow at him as a sign for him to shut up. "I'm down for it if you guys are. But I've gotta ask my dad first." Frankie didn't think that his dad would appreciate it very much if he just up and left in the middle of a snowstorm. So he went downstairs to where his father was, cleaning up the kitchen. "How mad would you be at us if we went audition to be pop stars?"
"I didn't think that any of you would actually be interested in that. If you want to go, go." Nolan turned to face his son. "The car won't start in this weather, though, so you'll have to take someone else's or walk." Frankie nodded, disappearing back upstairs. "He said we can go if we want. Who's down?"