Realistic or Modern Gossip Girl: The Next Generation

[cure]

Alaina Clarke

hex: #d98695

Mentioned:	A_Writer mangomilk

"Here he goes," Alaina said, not needing to turn her back so that Charlie could see just how much she was rolling her eyes. Her exasperated voice made it more than apparent. It would seem that this wasn't only the second time that Charlie had mentioned said surprise with the way that Alaina was lamenting over the announcement. Now that he had a full audience, though, she felt like it was more likely for him to continue to exacerbate this so called surprise. "I bet you we could." Alaina turned to face her friend, pointing her chopsticks towards him. "Because knowing you, it's probably just something along the same line as James' cookies."

While Alaina was giving him a hard time over it, she actually did appreciate it and looked forward to the sweet treats. It was going to be a fun and chill night, so whatever Charlie's surprise was, while it would obviously be underwhelming and expected, was something she didn't mind. It was just the cadence of their group, and she enjoyed being able to have time set aside tonight for all of the expected 'surprises.' Just like the next person, she also liked big parties with lots of people and actual things to be surprised by, but there was still something to be said for just having time to chill with your posse. "If we seriously can't though, I don't know if I feel safe with whatever you two are-" Out of her peripheral, see saw Ethan passing behind her, but she didn't give it any initial thought. When she looked behind her to nod towards James, since she was sure that any actual surprise on Charlie's part couldn't simply go unassisted, she noticed that Ethan was at the end of the restaurant. It was then that she did a double take and trailed off, turning her head to the side some before looking back to Charlie. She took note of the full bowl of ramen that remained in place. "What is he doing?" Alaina asked Charlie, simply because out of everyone in the group, everyone knew that Ethan was really Charlie's friend. To an extent, she was intrigued by Ethan simply because of the parallel it provided to her own journey to her current friend group, but that was really the extent of it. She would be hard pressed to really feel any empathy for him. So if she was going to ask for clarification from anyone, it was going to be Charlie. "Did he seriously just?" Watching him slip into a cab provided the answer to her question, though she didn't feel any less unsettled. If anything, she was now annoyed.

"Did you not give him the memo that just because his dad is a corporate level thief it doesn't mean he can do that?" She was intentional about not using the phrase dine and dash in front of the cooks because she didn't want to start a scene. "He's uninvited," she declared. "From tonight. He has to be. He seriously just walks around like he's better than us and pulls things like that and expects no one to care because he used to hang out with those A-list clones?" The dining and dashing was annoying on its own, but Ethan acting so pretentiously was what got under her skin. Ethan was still pretty new to the group, and so it was actually for that reason that Alaina had a shorter fuse for his behavioral shortcomings. Her parents had always told her that you were the one who taught people how to treat you, and if Charlie wasn't going to give him that lesson, Alaina didn't mind substituting. She, like everyone else, knew that Charlie was too sweet and kind to really call Ethan out in any serious and reprimanding way. She extended her hands out, as though she were beckoning for the others to weigh in and back her up.
​

 

[BurningBridges]

AJ Clarke | The King Bee

Overview

Mentioned:	Sadistic Sweetheart cure

AJ's smile remained even as Ezra went on about how lackluster he expected the party to be at Charlie's house. His value comparison was probably pretty spot on, but AJ didn't think it would be that bad. Then again, AJ wasn't as posh as Ezra was. He had been raised by parents with quite a lot of money too, but the Clarkes had instilled the importance of being humble in their children. That wasn't to say that AJ would happily fly coach instead of business class, or that he would enjoy staying in a Motel 6 just as much as he would at The Four Seasons, but from a more general standpoint, he was typically good at finding the positives in most situations. Charlie's wasn't going to be as high class or well executed as it would have been at Kat's, but it was something. Something that was better than the nothing that Ezra had provided! It was just Ezra being Ezra, and if anything AJ got a kick out of his friend's... way with words. "Bro, your dad owns a hotel and you couldn't even pull through, so save it," he shot back lightly to the boy after Kai tried to sugarcoat what Ezra was saying. None of them had anything better, and AJ still felt like he deserved a pat on the back for his ingenuity (AKA having a sister who told him about the party). So it wouldn't be as lavish, big deal! As long as there were girls and alcohol there, it would be fine. Kai was taking care of the people, and AJ would do his part with the alcohol.

He glanced at his phone when Kai asked what Charlotte had to say about the party. In truth, she hadn't said anything... which AJ wasn't sure how to interpret. Charlotte was hard to read; it was one of the traits that she seemed to prize most highly. She liked knowing more about you than you knew about her. AJ supposed it was for the leverage that that allowed for, and he understood the mindset. Her not answering his text either meant she was begrudgingly accepting of the alternative, or just hadn't seen the text yet. He was sure that if she had seen it and wasn't okay with it, that he would have received an immediate response clearly stating so. Rather than explain any of that though, he opted to tell a little white lie. "She's down for it. The girls are all on board," he offered reassuringly.

While looking at his phone, he saw the text from his sister, which automatically made him mentally roll his eyes. The number of times he had told her to just use a fake ID was insurmountable, but she was too much of an innocent angel to do that. She was all big talk with no bite behind her bark, and he often let her know that.

To: Alaina
Lol you wish

To: Alaina
Maybe grow some balls and get it yourself?

To: Alaina
If you're really that scared you can meet me at Charlotte's after school to pick it up

"Now," he said, looking back up at his friends. "What's the game plan for you two tonight, or are you about to just wing it this year? So far neither of you have been able to nab Sila, and it's pretty pathetic," he said, half-teasing. AJ felt like 90% of the girls their age at Constance Billard had slept with either Ezra and/or Malachai, so it was surprising that neither of them had ever been able to seal the deal with someone within easy reach.​

 

[lauren.]

Luna Trevor

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location: Naruto Ramen
with: Alaina, Alex, Charlie, Check, Ethan, James, Norah
tags: A_Writer cure mangomilk Sadistic Sweetheart electric A_Writer blackglassesaa

​

Luna was more preoccupied with eating than she was conversing. Aside from having to cover her mouth abruptly to keep food from spilling out as she laughed at Alaina's off the cuff retort towards James and his sweet cookies, she wasn't following much of what else was going on. Though she would adamantly deny it later on, Alaina was acting bad and flirting with James. If she hadn't been doing this for the past few years, Luna wouldn't have thought twice about it, but by now it was like: go for it already!!!. Alaina and James would be cute together, she thought, and it wasn't like James could say no to someone as cute and funny as her best friend! Even though she didn't vocalize it right then and there, Alaina was so going to hear later on about she was basically a walking and talking heart-eyes emoji whenever James was around.

Luna only caught the Ethan situation because of the sudden loud noise his phone made as it hit the table. It had her glancing over at him as he fumbled with it and then nearly ran out the door. Luna was pretty go-with-the-flow and honestly probably would have just shrugged and went back to her food had Alaina not spoken up. It was definitely a weird scene and she didn't know if she was missing some piece to the puzzle from an earlier conversation that would have explained where he had just run off to, but Luna and Ethan weren't close enough that she felt a need to question it. It did seem out of character for him, but the bowl in front of her was more of a demanding concern at the moment.

She followed Alaina's eyes out the window, watching Ethan hop into a cab, only then processing that he him saying he would see them later at the party probably meant that he wasn't even returning to school. She had assumed he was just running out to take a call and therefore wouldn't be around to see the girl's before departing ways, but that he would see James, Charlie and Check again in a bit once classes resumed, but getting into a cab made it seem like he was leaving leaving. Luna didn't want to think that what Alaina was saying was true, and that it was in Ethan's character to act privileged and high and mighty, but now that it was being pointed out to her, she could agree with Alaina. It was the only bad experience she had had with Ethan, but in that context, it certainly didn't paint him in a great light and aligned with the unflattering attitudes she felt that many A-listers embodied. "Fair, but Alex used to act like that too and you didn't see us hating on her," Luna claimed, though it was entirely untrue, as Alex had never really come as believing she was too cool for them or done anything to suggest that. If anything, she had made it clear from the start that she hated those people who had dropped her and her vibe was so different from hers that it was believable. Luna just liked pushing buttons, and apparently Alex was going to be her target today. She looked to Check then, adding, "But if we are uninviting him, that means you're needed to bring me something gooooooood to smoke later." She didn't really care one way or another if Ethan came, but she definitely cared about having something to smoke after a few drinks. She had her own that she could bring, yeah, but there wasn't any fun in smoking her own stash at a party.

[/div][/div]

codedbycrucialstar | hidden scroll​

 

[Sadistic Sweetheart]

Alexandra Suarez | The Bully
Naruto Ramen|| Annoyed
Interacted With: cure lauren. mangomilk A_Writer​

When Ethan accepted her invitation, Alex smiled and nodded, glad to have someone to go with. She ate her food, and, not being one to talk with her mouth full, opted to watch as her friends continued their conversations and friendly bickering. It was a pleasant sight, at least until Ethan suddenly got up and said he had to leave. It was strange, to say the least. "What--" she started, but couldn't even get much more out before he was out the door. She guessed the phone call had meant he had to leave immediately, since everything had been pretty normal before it. Immediately, Alaina piped up. They watched as he got in a taxi and left. At the mention of 'did he seriously just?' Alex was confused about what Alaina was referring to and why she was so angry. Then she realized Ethan hadn't settled his bill with the restaurant before leaving. He'd dined and dashed, essentially. "I'll cover it," Alex said, very quickly. She could easily afford to, it was just a lunch, and, as someone who actually cared about her friends, she was willing to do so. What Alaina said next pissed her off. It was a low blow.

"Get off your high horse, Alaina," Alex rebuked at the rude remark and immediate demand to uninvite Ethan. Alaina, first of all, had no right to demand something like that - it was Charlie's party, not hers. On top of that, she had no idea why Ethan had left in such a rush. Would it kill her to express a little empathy? Not that Alex herself was a particularly caring person, but they all knew that Ethan was going through something difficult right now. He wasn't going to up and leave if it wasn't something important. Besides, he seemed sort of... distressed, maybe? It wasn't normal, that much she knew for sure. When it came to the next comment about acting high and mighty, Alex rolled her eyes. When it came to Luna, the comment was meant to push her buttons, but Alex was already angry, so it hardly mattered. Besides, she knew where she came from - she knew what she'd endured and that was exactly why she was willing to defend Ethan. It seemed like Alaina, on the other hand, had forgotten.

"Are you forgetting you used to beg to hang out with them too? Or that your brother's one of them? Don't talk like you're so much better than him, Alaina, just because you got kicked out earlier," Alex snapped at her, quick to defend Ethan. Sure, Alaina was also her friend, but she needed a reality check. She was acting like a mean girl. Considering they viewed themselves as better people than the A-listers, this was downright hypocritical. "What makes you think you get to decide who goes and who doesn't? It looks like spending so much time with Charlotte is rubbing off on you." Maybe the blows were low, but so were Alaina's. Besides, Alex hadn't garnered the reputation of being a bully from playing nice and using kind words. She turned her head to Charlie, who was much more sympathetic to Ethan.

"You saw him leave in a hurry. With everything that's going on with him, it was probably something important. I'm sure he'll explain himself later," she said, in a much gentler tone than she was using with Alaina, though it wasn't exactly 'gentle' in and of itself because gentleness and Alex didn't quite go together. It wouldn't be fair to just kick him to the curb or uninvite him because of something that was out of his control. Ethan had been having fun with them - it wasn't like he'd left just to be a jerk. And on top of that, all of them were looking forward to tonight. Uninviting him would be adding insult to injury; it'd just make him think that even more people were turning their backs on him. If Alex hadn't had the acceptance of her friends, who knows where she would've ended up after being kicked out of her previous clique? She didn't even want to think about it. And, because of that, she didn't want something like that to happen to Ethan either.

 

[cure]

Alaina Clarke

hex: #d98695

Mentioned:	BurningBridges Sadistic Sweetheart

Alaina didn't know who Alex thought she was talking to, but she was keen to find out. "You seriously want to talk about begging when you're the one who walks around with a stick up your ass just because you were dumb enough to think they were your friends?" Never mind the fact that Alaina didn't explain herself to Alex of all people, but Alex knew better than to think that she could start something with her and not get checked right back. "Maybe if brunched with Lottie enough, you might actually have half a clue into who they are, and that Ethan is no different than them. Or do you only choose to sympathize with people you think are beneath you?" It was strange to Alaina that Alex, in the same breath, wanted to chastise Alaina and yet defend Ethan of all people. She wanted to preach about kindness and loyalty, and look how quick she was to nurse Ethan's ego.

Alaina got the impression that Alex was just in her feelings because she wasn't a complete social outcast like she was. As much as she poked fun at it, this was still Alaina's world, and A.J.'s even more considering he was at the top of the social ladder. Maybe if she had parents like everyone else that didn't care what their kids said or did, things would be different, but Alaina had exhausted her protests with her family. She doubted anyone could hate Charlotte Graff as much as she did, but people liked to confuse tact (if Alaina's behavior, albeit far tamed from how it used to be, could be called such) with dormancy. "It's nice to see you've developed half a heart, but unfortunately your sense of loyalty needs some works. Here you are, mothering Ethan, while bashing the same group of people he was a part of just last year, and that he still clearly wants to be a part of. Oh! Maybe that's it. You two are the different sides of the same coin, and maybe if you leech onto him, your dreams of getting back in with them will finally be actualized. Why else would you give half a shit about someone who literally thinks he's better than these other people you've known for years? Give me a break."

While Ethan seemingly disrespecting the bunch had irritated Alaina, Alex's two cents had really riled her up. She didn't ask for her stupid brother to hang out with his loser friends, or to date Charlotte, or to be such a pain in her ass all of the time. Did people seriously think that she needed a reminder of what he was, who he was to her, and who the fuck she hung out with in middle school? And to say she begged. Begged! Alaina obviously wasn't going to argue for the major thing that bothered her still, which was that she was only ever in with the A-listers de fact back then was because she was an easy gateway. The last thing she needed to do was beg, but still. "Redirect that energy you use to keep tabs on me and my brother so you can maybe power all of those dormant brain cells you've got piling up. I live with him! Do you seriously think I need the constant reminder of who he is? Or is this your version of being as obsessed with him as everyone else?" She happened to lock eyes with one of the cooks behind the bar, a silent scolding in his eyes. And now she was the one who was embarrassed and all of a sudden the bad guy. Why did things always end up involving A.J.? She couldn't even go an hour without hearing his name, let alone being crucified for sharing blood. And even when he wasn't around, it was still his dumb friends ruining things by proxy. Ethan and A.J. obviously weren't friends anymore, but still. Nevertheless, he was still her brother (as everyone and their mother seemed determined to not let her forget), and if anyone was going to constantly bring him up, it was going to be her. She shook her head as she spun from the bar stool she sat on and stood up. "While you're busy remembering King A.J. is my idiot brother, take a second to chew on what that really means, because your defensiveness over Ethan is nothing to mine with him. Leave his name out of your mouth, weirdo."

Well, there was one benefit on skipping meals with friends. It made for a much better dramatic exit since she didn't have to worry about paying for food, though for some people that was simply never an issue to begin with. Now that she was back into the fresh air--or as fresh as it could be for the city--she felt even angrier. Not with what Alex had said to her; that was nothing original, even if it still got under her skin the same. She was angry with herself for looking like a complete bozo. If she wanted to talk about invitations being revoked, then yikes because now tonight was going to be weird and it was basically her fault for not ignoring Alex. But it was also Ethan's and stupid A.J.'s. He was always there in someway. If he wasn't at their house, then he was somewhere at school, or being whispered about by some girls in class, or being reminded that he was her brother. Maybe it wouldn't have been such an annoyance if the same could be said for her brother, but that wasn't the case. She was the one who felt the need to isolate herself from him, but never completely because of moments like now where she felt like she had to defend him. The way their family was raised, getting protective over him wasn't a big deal. She knew he would do the same if it ever came to it, but that was the thing: it never did. No one was checking for her, whispering about her, reminding him that he was related to her.

When she checked her phone and saw his name was the first thing in her notifications, she had half a mind to chuck the device into the street. If she wouldn't have had much bigger problems to worry about than having a mega popular brother if she did decide to do that, and if she didn't actually need him at this moment, she would have gone along with the impulse. Instead, she refrained from sending the 'fuck you' text she wanted to send, and chose an alternative.

To: fart face
i'm going home. where are you so i can get the keys? ​

 

[electric]

James Mande
&
Clarence "Check" Chexley​

James already felt like he was basically being the bigger man by letting Charlie bring Ethan around all the time. He got that some of the others liked him, or at least didn't seem to mind his presence in general, and that was nice for them, but James actually had common sense. Ethan had just been dropped by the popular kids, what? Three months ago? He was one of them still, but in the worst way possible, because he wasn't actually popular anymore. His reputation had been tarnished, and for a reason that didn't garnish any pity in James' opinion. His dad had been a crook and that was literally the only reason why Ethan had anything that he had. He wouldn't have had the friends, the clothes, the house, the things, the opportunities that he had, had his dad not been screwing over the working class just to sit on piles and piles of money. Don't get it twisted--James recognized that many of his friends parents probably jumped through every loophole in the book to keep as much money as they could, even when other people needed it more. That was just the capitalist world that they lived in though, and it was a beast too big for James to care to address. Already having so many loopholes to make being a millionaire an easy, easy life, and then continuing to try and scam the system that was already written to work in your favor was sickening. James didn't like to think that children were responsible for their parents' crimes, but again, this was a different kind of crime. It was one thing to insist that the kid of a drug addict shouldn't be frowned upon in society, because it was clear that the child was more of a victim than society as a whole, and needed to be treated as such. Ethan's father's crime had benefited Ethan in so many ways and had allowed him to form an ego that made for fitting in with the A-listers easy. For that, James could muster no pity.

He kept quiet about it for the most part though because he liked to believe that people could make their own choices. Ethan had never disrespected him personally, so he didn't have any reason to hate the dude. He disliked him, and that was his business, but he wasn't trying to impose his agenda on his friends if they wanted to be kinder than he did. Check had been showing James pictures of the bud he was bringing tonight, leaving James hyped after seeing the numerous crystals on each nug. He didn't really catch what was going on with Ethan jumping up (again, somewhat because he didn't care about him enough to be tuned in) until Alaina started to go off and then Alex snapped back, only to be followed by a retort by Alaina before she stormed out.

"I mean, his name technically wasn't in your mouth," Check pointed out. All Alex had done was remind Alaina that her brother was an A-lister too. Alaina's long winded response about "King AJ" made her seem more obsessed with him and his status than Alex's tiny comment did. Check shrugged, though. Drama never really was his thing. It wasn't worth it. If someone disrespected him, he preferred the idea of physically fighting over talking shit. He definitely wouldn't have minded seeing Alaina and Alex duke it out. Maybe not here, necessarily, since he did like the food enough to not want to be banned for life... but hey, there was always tonight's party. Maybe he'd get a hot cat fight there.

"I'ma have to agree with Alaina on this one," James offered then. "Three months ago this dude thought he was better than us. Wouldn't even give you a second look if you passed him. Now suddenly you're all buddy-buddy with him?" It was sort of... maybe... kind of hypocritical for James to be playing the role of the preacher when he had been sleeping with Charlotte, the girl who was undoubtedly the most A-list out of any A-lister but... no one knew that. Besides, he had already justified to himself that that was different. "Did he speak up for you when they did you dirty?" James didn't know the answer, but given the stories he had heard about it, it was easy to believe that the answer was no. "I'm not trying to tell anyone here who to be friends with or who to invite to their house or whatever, but all I'm saying is that I've got better things to do than to be hanging around some dude who thinks he's better than us."


Tags: cure A_Writer Sadistic Sweetheart blackglassesaa mangomilk

 

[lauren.]

Luna Trevor ♡

Extra

Mentioned:	cure Sadistic Sweetheart blackglassesaa mangomilk A_Writer electric

Why, oh why, oh why did they have to start up with this while Luna was eating?! And eating her favorite ramen, at that! Alaina couldn't have at least waited until she had finished to start up with this?! While she had caught Ethan leaving, as his exit was so sudden that it was hard to miss it, she hadn't processed anything being off about it. It took Alaina's response to the situation for her to put two and two together and realize that Ethan had left without paying. It wouldn't have really registered to Luna as being a big deal if Alaina hadn't pointed it out, and Luna wouldn't have hesitated to pay for Ethan's stuff too, just because to her, it wouldn't have been that deep. Did she understand where Alaina was coming from, though? Absolutely. Did she also see Alex's point of view on the situation? Definitely. The situation regarding Ethan's downfall was what made the whole thing weird and worth commenting on. He wasn't someone like Alex who probably now realized that she was "better off" without the A-listers because they failed to accept who she was. The same went for Alaina, though her situation was a bit different. The A-listers hadn't found anything wrong with Ethan on a personal level. Personality wise and all that, he was one of them. They dismissed him for something that was out of his control. His persona was still pretty A-list, but at the same time, it wasn't to an extent where it truly bothered Luna to have him around. They were friendly, and she had had some good times with Ethan over the summer. The idea of blacklisting him so quickly did seem a bit rash, and for what, a bowl of ramen? She understood that it was a tad deeper than that; that small things like this represented the lapse in respect that they all felt the A-listers had for them, but still, she wasn't sure if it was worth a big fight for.

"Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh." Even if Luna wasn't completely sure how she felt on the issue, she didn't even have to think twice about getting to her feet once Alaina made her exit. She felt like Alex was good enough at taking what she dished enough to not be crushed by Alaina's unkind (and probably unfair) words, so sticking around to "console" her seemed unnecessary. The others knew how close she and Alaina were anyway, so her departure was probably expected. She got her bag, pulled open the back of her phone case to grab the twenty dollar bill she kept tucked in there for emergencies, and placed slid it towards the others to cover her food. "Let the record show that I hate you all for ruining my meal, and that because of this, we're all going to be back here on Monday so I can actually enjoy my food," she complained dramatically, though the expression on her face reflected that she was only half-serious. This was a minor annoyance, but it wasn't that deep to Luna. She didn't think that it would cause that big of a rift in their group, or she hoped not at least. She imagined that Charlie would act like it never happened, Ethan would show up, James' tongue would be too far down Alaina's throat for her to protest, and Alex would be a sweet and forgiving princess and move on without receiving any sort of apology... Wishful thinking, but whatever. Luna wasn't stressing.

She spotted Alaina at the corner, stopped as cars zoomed past. She ran up behind her and wrapped her arms around the girl's torso, giving her a purposefully extra-tight squeeze. "Excuse me, bitch. Where do you think you're running off to like that?" she questioned, though her tone was light enough to suggest that she was trying to dissolve any bad vibes that were still lingering. "I feel like I have a hangry hoe on my hands and I--" She cut herself off, as she realized that they were walking away from school, to say, "Ooooh, do you think we have time to grab Shake Shack? I feel like cheese fries are the answer to both of our problems right now." In Luna's world, there were very few problems that couldn't be solved with food.

 

[A_Writer]

Charlie Jameson

Overview

Mentioned:	BurningBridges cure blackglassesaa @alstroemeria Sadistic Sweetheart mangomilk

Charlie hated conflict. He really, really, really hated it. Conflict and confrontation gave him immense amounts of anxiety, and he avoided both of them at all costs. He liked being positive and only focusing on the good things in life, but it didn't mean that he was blind to the less pleasant things. He knew that some of the A-listers made fun of him and felt like he was annoying. He just chose to pretend that it wasn't true because acknowledging it came with too many emotions. He preferred to brush things off over having to admit defeat and embarrassment. He was good at bouncing back from things and laughing them off in public, despite actually being quite sensitive underneath that exterior. He liked being known as the guy who was always in a good mood and willing to talk or hang out with anyone who needed a friend. Yeah, he knew that James hadn't been happy when he started inviting Ethan places with the group, but similarly, he chose not to acknowledge it. He didn't want to have to deal with having to argue with James over Ethan being nice enough to fit in with them, or on the other side, have to tell Ethan that he wasn't welcome around the group. Thankfully, as far as Charlie had known, it had only been James who had taken issue with Ethan, and at least James had kept that to himself for the most part. Even if everyone, including Ethan, was probably aware of how he felt, James didn't create conflict around it, so Charlie could continue to exist in his pretend world where everything was good and well. Maybe it wasn't fair, but it was also based on good intentions. Charlie really felt like everyone could be friends if they gave it a shot.

It would be an understatement to say that the altercation that occurred after Ethan left caused Charlie to immediately feel anxious. He didn't know what to say as the girls went back and forth. He wasn't going to take sides, but his defense mechanism of cracking a joke also seemed too inappropriate here, especially once Alaina got up and left, followed by Luna. Both Alex and Alaina were never ones to hold back their opinions on things, and Charlie was secretly relieved that Alex had spoken up in favor of Ethan because then it made him look like less of the fool for being the one who had initially welcomed Ethan into their space. He had no intention of uninviting Ethan tonight... if for no other reason than the idea of having to have a conversation with a friend where he would do something that would come across as mean was terrifying to him. He would be scared of how Ethan would react, of how he would feel. He didn't want to hurt his feelings, and like Alex had said, him getting up so abruptly might have meant that something unfortunate was going on with him personally, which Charlie made a mental note to text him about in a bit. He also didn't like the idea of the rest of his friends feeling uncomfortable in what was supposed to be a comfortable space, though, so he was caught between a rock and a hard place. James' words didn't make things any easier.

"Well, I think we can all agree that Norah's got until the end of the school day to fix whatever just happened here," he declared, opting to now move into joking around rather than having to actual flesh out what had just happened, and whose side he was going to take. Norah was the sweetest one of the bunch; Charlie was certain that she could talk some sense into whoever she felt was in the wrong, because he definitely wasn't accepting the responsibility to make that decision on his own. "I trust that our own Mother Teresa will figure this out in the most civil way possible! Oh, and can you ask your mom to make some extra cookies?" he said, looking to James at that in an attempt to change the conversation, but also as he returned to his la-la land where the A-listers showing up to his party was going to be the highlight of his year.

 

[mangomilk]

ethan kings.

they used to shout my name,
now they whisper it.

As soon as he entered the cab, Ethan sunk deep in his seat. He was becoming anxious as the worrying scenarios climbed into his head one after another. Was his father okay? Would he need to stay even longer than the sentence put on him? A million questions and no answer in sight within these forty minutes of a drive to the facility. Ethan felt his heartbeat in his fingertips and the adrenaline rushed through his body as if he was being hunted. Maybe it was a presentiment for what was about to come.

The whole situation sent chills down his spine and although he knew it must have come off as a weird move to the others, just leaving without much of an explanation, he couldn’t care less in this moment. He’d need a clear head to clarify his rush, the fact that he didn’t pay his meal was still so secondary, that Ethan hadn’t even noticed yet. After a while the cab came to a stop. Slowly he stepped out and took a second to observe the terrain of the prison grounds. After a deep breath and an even deeper sigh, Ethan made his way into the building until he was escorted to the low security visitor’s room. His father sat there dressed in a blue jumpsuit, calm with his legs parted.

"There you are", his father’s voice was hoarse and sounded strangely old. Ethan noticed that his dad wore eye bags as dark as a night without stars to be visible. He couldn’t say anything at first, he was just waiting for him to start the subject.
"Why didn’t you come sooner?"
"Where’s mom?"
His father hated it when Ethan didn’t answer his questions.
"I already talked to her. She’s waiting outside to take you back home later."
It made Ethan sick; why couldn’t he just burst this bubble and say what the hell was up. Why did he leave the people he was trying to bond with so abruptly when his father was sitting here, leaning back in his wooden chair? He couldn’t wrap his head around that. "Why did you want me to come here?" Something too serious to tell over the phone?

"Ah…Well. I wanted to tell you personally. The company isn’t doing well. We will have to give up the business in the worst case scenario." It was as if Ethan was a working partner now , his father never shared many inside information on how the business was doing but now he got introduced to it?
It was bad news either way, Kings Inc. was their root of wealth and while Ethan’s world was already crumbling, it was now falling apart completely.
"I see." He didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t doing so well since a whole while since school was starting again. And although the summer was a redeeming break from all the rush, it was starting to catch up on him again.

He kept talking to his father for a while to see how he’s doing and if they were treating him okay. The visiting time was about to end when his father leaned over the table to be closer to his son. "Give your old man a hand, like a showed you." The classic handshake of business as they liked to call it. Ethan reached out his hand, practicing the strong grip, when he suddenly felt how something else than his father’s hand touched his own. His chocolate brown eyes wandered up to those of his opposite. In between their hands there was a small paper; a note.
"You will do something for me, son."
"Go there, find it and make it disappear."
His father slowly put both of their hands on the surface of the cold metal table and pulled his own from Ethan’s, just to gently rub the back of Ethan’s hand. He gulped and slowly pulled his hand back and sliding the note with him.

"The time is up, please get up from your seats, say your goodbyes and please exit the visitor’s room one after another."

Ethan pushed the note into his pocket and stood up. He was starting to feel nauseous from his general confusion and the lack of nutrition. "This stays our little secret, okay? Your mom doesn’t need to know.", he whispered, the raspy voice was repeating itself in his ears like the echo of church bells.
"I’ll see you around, kid."


He didn’t dare to read the note and didn’t want to have anything to do with it. Whatever it was, he didn’t want it. His mother was waiting outside while chatting with their driver. "Ethan, sweetie! Aw, are you a little down from the bad news? I know it’s a hard time. Come on, it’s time to go home!" If only this was the only thing. The drive home was quite and way too peaceful. He finally took a look on the tiny paper.


Kings Inc.
200-298 E 76th St
New York, NY
CEO Office, 2nd drawer. Keys downstairs.

Documents. It was about some damn documents. Would these be needed for further investigation? "Make it disappear", he remembered. Ethan crumbled up the note and pushed it back into his pocket and decided to text Charlie.

To: Charlie
Sorry for the sudden disappearance, it was urgent. Had to see my dad in Jersey.

The upcoming party was needed and after these events, he would need enough alcohol to forget his manipulative father for the night, and anyone getting in his way to reach this goal, he’d bite like a bad dog.

mood: overwhelmed | location: northern state prison, new jersey | outfit: st. jude's school uniform | tag: A_Writer

coded by weldherwings.

 

[cure]

As Alaina increased the distance between she and the shop, she dropped one arm from her backpack strap and swung it around her front. If she had left her keys and her air pods at home (neither of which was uncommon for her to do), she was going to walk in front of one of these cars. As she put more space between what had happened back there, she became more frustrated. What was Alex even on about? Alaina was the one who seemed like the psycho, even though it was Alex who literally flipped out for no reason. As Alaina punched her hand into the side pockets of her bag, she wondered if Alex was determined to not run her mouth for the sake of doing so, or if she was really that dense. If she knew just how seriously everyone was taking her declaration that Ethan be barred from tonight, she probably would have solidified her dramatics by uninviting herself. Perhaps because Alex didn't have the tact to do otherwise, but Alaina wasn't really going to uninvite Ethan from tonight. Like the others believed--though she would be hard pressed to agree with them regardless--it wasn't deep enough for that. But now that Alex really wanted to take it there, as far as Alaina was concerned, the end results of her own tongue-in-cheek statement further proved what she wasn't even trying to hypothesize. While she wouldn't have had issue with knowing that James was the only one on her side, she would have felt a way that her so-called friends were so quick to vilify her, yet go to bat for the same person who turned his nose up at them.

"What the hell?!" Alaina recoiled when she felt herself being squeezed from behind. She processed what was going on just half a beat after she began exclaiming, but her instincts were still faster. "Don't run up on me while I'm on edge," she grumbled, though with no real aggravation behind her ultimatum. She was still too busy looking for her air pods that she simply refused to accept were not on her person. Maybe she left them in class? She wiggled free of Luna's grasp, shouldering her backpack back on and fell in step with the rest of the pedestrians walking across the street. "I'm not hangry," she announced. She wasn't angry, and she damned sure wasn't hungry. Why did it feel like people were always watching her eat? If she could be objective when it came to the subject, she would be able to see that this was simply Luna having more stomachs than a worm. Instead, though, she felt even more scrutinized. She wanted to just be back in her room, under the blankets with the door locked where she could mindlessly scroll Instagram in peace. With the way she was feeling currently, she contemplated the text she sent to her brother. If she could magically teleport back home, it would probably be the worst place for her to be right now. If she felt out of control when she would sneak downstairs into the kitchen, she already knew she was going to end up sick to her stomach before tonight's festivities even began. So maybe she had a small appetite. She could (reluctantly) admit that salty fries dipped in Shake Shack's peanut butter sauce sounded pretty tasty right about now. But if she had someone there with her--that someone being Luna-then she would have an unknowing accountability partner. And that would quiet her nerves, and most importantly, her stomach. Fries would be fine. Plus, it was just Luna. And she couldn't really say no again when her friend had basically flashed a light in her face like she was in an interrogation room over not ordering anything at Naruto. She didn't really have a choice, she told herself. The salt would obviously have her blowing up in the face like a whale, but a couple cups of water and an hour on the treadmill later to sweat it all out would have her good as new by tonight. See? No problem!

"Regular fries." Her sullen tone could easily be attributed to the residual tension from Naruto, but it was really her own disappointment in herself. It was different rationalizing it in the confines of your mind. When you had to actualize those thoughts, though... "How are you so skinny and so hungry all the time?" She looked back towards the ramen shop before turning to look at her friend out the corner of her eye. "You shouldn't have followed me. Now I'm gonna seem even more like a psycho. I shouldn't even go tonight." Alaina wasn't actually mad that Luna had come to check on her. She was just frustrated with the subsequent embarrassment and guilt it made her feel. She didn't want to seem like she was making a scene and that she wanted someone to go running after her, but with the way she was rabbit-holing aloud, it probably sounded the opposite. "I mean, I am," she quickly corrected. Rubbing her thumb and pointer finger together with one hand, she raised her free one to her mouth and ran her teeth back and forth over the top of her thumb nail. She didn't realize that got like this sometimes. If you asked her, she was the least anxious person there was, but that was because she really had to just be around Luna and no other audience to subconsciously turn off her Alaina™-ness and turn on just Alaina "Obviously. But still."

 

[Sadistic Sweetheart]

Alexandra Suarez | The Bully
Naruto Ramen|| :///
Interacted With: electric BurningBridges

To Alex, Alaina's whole argument was stupid. She brought up Alex being stupid enough to think they were her friends, but Alaina had done the exact same thing. Their main disconnect was that Alex didn't really think Ethan wanted to go back to the people who shunned him - really, she thought that was just Alaina projecting on him - and she thought that by showing him there were other people who would be willing to accept him he would never feel the need to go back to them anyway. All Alaina was doing was showing him that they were hardly any better than the A-listers. As Alaina spoke, she couldn't help but roll her eyes. The last person she was going to be afraid of was Alaina. The brunette leaned back in her seat while Alaina berated her, keeping a cold, steely expression. She'd heard a whole lot worse over the years so the old saying 'sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me' rang true to her. Calling her stupid hardly meant a thing. Calling her obsessed was irritating at best. She'd heard the same thing from Charlotte and Kat, solidifying in her head that Alaina wasn't very far off from them. She gave a humorless laugh when Check mentioned that AJ's name hadn't ever really even been in her mouth.

"Is weirdo really the best you can do?" she mocked as Alaina stormed out. She turned her attention to James. He brought up a good point and there was something about the fact that it was coming from him that made her deflate a little. She didn't like being at odds with him and couldn't really even remember the last time she'd directed any anger at him. Alex gave a shrug in response. "We were in the same group but we were hardly close. He wasn't ever mean to me about it, though," she answered. Considering Ethan wasn't straight either, it made sense looking back on it. He wasn't as nice to her as Alaina, but he wasn't anything like Charlotte or Ezra. Her gaze shifted to Luna as she left to comfort Alaina, which was probably for the best. She felt a twinge of jealousy at the familiar sight. It was clear that they were really close, closer than Alex was to either them. She wished she'd had something like that, but she also had thick enough skin that she could live without it. Alaina on the other hand... was maybe a tad more sensitive. Still, it was the little things like that that made her feel like an outsider all over again. Having friends was hard. Being alone was hard. Either way, it felt like a losing game.

Reliable as ever, Charlie cracked a joke to lighten the tense mood. It wasn't a commitment to either side of the argument, but she already sort of doubted that he would go so far as to kick Ethan out. Charlie had never been one for confrontation. She decided that she'd caused enough trouble for one lunch period, so she kept quiet for the rest of the conversation, feeling sort of awkward about it. She wasn't really sure which way the group leaned and she'd never been particularly good at getting people to side with her in most things. She was more accustomed to arguing and defending herself than she was rallying support. Alex began wondering if she should maybe abstain from going all together. Maybe it'd make things easier. She figured she'd mull it over for the rest of the day and decide last minute how to go about it.