Realistic or Modern Off Path 2.0

[Nap]

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This thread is for RP only. Do not post until it has started.
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[Nap]

Ashton Francis Reed

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Graduation occurred on a Friday. Families, friends, teachers, peers, and of course the graduates attended the long awaited day. The whole event was really a blur for Ashton because his mind was mostly on a trip he and his friends had planned. It was supposed to be one of their biggest adventures yet as well as their last. Almost everyone was going their separate ways and they believed they needed one great memory. Bittersweet, was what they believed the trip was going to be.


The Sunday sun streamed onto Ashton's warm skin. He squinted his eyes beneath his sunglasses as he glanced at through the rear view mirror. "Are you guys dead already?" He asked with a smile, turning up the radio to wake everyone up. They left early Saturday, 6 AM to be exact, and Ashton made sure to arrive at everyone's house as loudly as possible. He was probably the most excited about the road trip and wanted to share his enthusiasm with the rest of the gang. Sadly, however, it was now 5 PM and most of the crew was dead. "C'mon. I've been driving since 12, I should be the one crying right now."


Ashton bent forward to look at the green sign overhead. It said they'd be in the capital of Iowa soon, which was a relief. While the teen was extremely optimistic about the whole thing, he despised driving. He lost at paper-rock-scissors, however. Plus it was his aunt's van.


"I can't believe that Illinois carnival wore you out. Jesus." Ashton chuckled, flipping the right blinker on to switch lanes.





@littlemischief @AlwaysYours @Nutter @ShatteredSoul
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[Novus]

Elliott


"Ash...you made us eat a pound of cotton candy. In the heat. Come on, let us sleep." In truth, Elliott wasn't really sleeping. But that didn't stop him from being a little bugged by Ashton's never ending sunshine. He'd been the first one to be picked up in the Kill-Mobile, as he promptly named it out loud. Who wakes up at 5 am for an 18 hour drive? Ash does. And Elliot shamelessly climbed into the vehicle in his pajamas, getting the second seat available in the back. Way back.


Now he sat, sketch book in his lap, trying to recreate his best friend's face. Avery had laughed so hard at his comment about flying teacups...crushing the couples coming out of that cheesy love tunnel. But that wasn't what he was focused on. The one person he really didn't know was staring at the both of them at the time. Colt. Elliott knew his name only because she mentioned how much he was around her. Elliott hadn't really noticed, since he was practically in a daze every day. Not today though. No, he left those devil pills where they belonged and his mind was clearer than ever. If someone was paying attention, they'd know that he smiled, genuinely, when he saw Izzy and David sweetly talking to each other near a corndog stand. It's rare to ever see his lips turned upward.


In all honesty, the trip was turning out to be a blast. Sure, Ash got lost right off the bat. But he was the the loser of rock, paper, scissors and damn anyone to suggest any other mean of transportation-- Elliot earned a group-wide "boo" at the mentioning of Greyhound. Elliott thought he would be having a dreadful time; Not because of the people involved. He loved them all in his own odd way. But, it was the fact that he'd gotten a stray feeling something would go wrong. It was in the air since this morning, when he stepped out in his bear slippers. And the hint of an eerie feeling followed them to the Carnival, making him look over his shoulder sporadically. He didn't know what was up, but he had a feeling something might go wrong--something that would make him regret getting in the van more than running ahead of Sarah.


At that thought, he felt the inside of his leather jacket for the pipe. So, meth really wasn't the route he should have been taking with his life at the moment. At least it wasn't being shot into his veins. He'd started the stuff a month and a half ago and no one has really noticed. And if they did, it must not have been a big enough issue to bring up. Or maybe they didn't care. Elliot sighed and went back at the drawing, shading in Colt's angular nose.

 

[Semblance]

Avalon Glimenakis

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A pair of piercing hazel orbs stared out the transparent window of the moving vehicle as rushes of trees and hills passed by them. Avalon shifted her attention over to Ashton, who was driving as he had lost in rock paper scissors, and chuckled in amusement. She sat in the passenger seat next to him as she watched the jokes flow out of his mouth and his lips turned upwards into a genuine smile. She smiled just seeing him happy, as she had witnessed enough of his misery in the past years after his girlfriend had died. She was sure that he had seen her in some of her worse times as well after she had experienced the loss of her younger brother, but that was how they had become best friends.


Avalon scoffed as he began to tease them for being so tired and nodded in agreement at Elliot's cotton candy comment. "Not to mention you woke us up at the break of dawn. And you were dragging us around to all the rides," she added in a teasing voice, pretending to be annoyed when in actuality, she had probably been even more excited than Ashton to ride the roller coasters. She loved the anticipation of the beginning uphill, the dreaded tipping point once they reached the top, and the huge rush inside her when they finally let themselves succumb to the inevitable downhill gravity.


The brunette in the front turned around to see Elliot sketching Avery in his journal, trying to get a peek at his progress so far. She had always admired his artistic skills, as the only thing she could draw were stick figures. Her hazel gaze shifted from the drawing to Avery's face, who was one of her closer friends. "Hey Avie remember that one time when we rode that roller coaster drunk?" she said, laughing as she recalled one of their many adventures together. Their shared love for spontaneity and living life to the fullest had naturally allowed them to become close friends. "At least we didn't throw up this time," she added with amusement, reflecting on the aftermath of the previous ride.

 

[KaoriMei]

@Fivn

@ShatteredSoul @Semblance
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Letting out a small groan as the music blasted throughout the car, Avery mumbled under her breath. Her words barely made any sense to the others as she slowly began to awaken from her deep slumber which she happened to enjoy, a lot. She had somehow found herself falling asleep comfortably on Colton's shoulder, yet that was only because she completely lost all energy after they had all decided to stop and head to a carnival. If she'd known they'd be going to a carnival, she would have gotten a couple hours worth of sleep throughout the night, but no, she decided to pull off an all-nighter. Biggest regret of her life.


"Turn down the music," Those were the first words Avery spoke as her hazel eyes fluttered open slowly, meeting the bright light from outside the car window. Immediately, she brought her hands up to rub her eyes. Chatter from the others filled her ears at the same time yet she barely paid any attention to them. Leaning up from her slouch, she had realised just then she'd been leaning up against somebody. That somebody had happened to be Colton, one of her closest friends. "Damn... Sorry." She spoke quietly as she ran a hand through her wavey hair, looking over towards Colt, a small smile plastered on her face. If she hadn't been so tired, she'd have pulled a joke rather than apologize but at the moment all she could think of was shutting her eyes and going back to sleep again. Who didn't enjoy sleep?


Glancing down at her watch, she saw that it had just gotten past five. They'd been in the car for almost five hours now ever since they left the carnival. "Hey Avie, remember that one time when we rode that roller coaster drunk?" Avalon's voice caught Avery's attention causing her to grin slightly as memories of the time they had decided to get on a roller coaster, drunk. She was surprised the attendant hadn't noticed but luckily, the pair didn't puke throughout the loops otherwise that would have been a HUGE problem. "That was a stupid idea... but it was awesome." A small laugh escaped her pink lips as she remembered when they had gotten off the ride. People were staring at them weirdly but Avery wouldn't blame them. They both looked like idiots. Dizzy and light-headed.
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[Goaty Love]

David Marcus Anderfield

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Everybody's sudden burst of genius to start talking loudly in the van and blast music through the radio woke David. He didn't open his eyes but did open his mouth. "What in the bloody hell is everybody's problem with sleep all of a sudden?! Ashton turn the volume down will you?!" If there was one thing that David didn't like about traveling with others it was the lack of rest he would get. He didn't even move his head from Izzy's shoulder. Being near Izzy always made him feel good, even before what happened at his birthday party. She was there to help him with school and didn't get mad at him for being a bit slow about certain subjects. David smiled. Maybe things will work out after all perhaps. If things really would get along even as she moves out of town he could still visit her and maybe even move in with her. It's not like he'll be ably to go to college or university anyway. His mother is barely hanging on with finances and he had to pay for his own education the past three years because of that. He felt like slipping back to sleep when he remembered something. "Hey Ashton, how long have you been behind the wheel now? Shouldn't I be taking over by now?"


@Fivn @October

 

[worstnameever]

Marcus was fast asleep before the music started blaring. He wasn't one for intense exercise, and to him walking from one end of the carnival to the other was intense enough to wear him out. He nearly jumped out of his seat when the music started playing. He looked around and quickly noticed he wasn't the only one who had been asleep. However, he was one of the few that actually seemed okay with waking up.


"How long was I asleep?" He asked, running his fingers through his hair. He didn't want to sleep the whole trip, especially since it gave him time to write his novel. He had planned on writing a novel during the trip and maybe incorporating little events into it.


He pulled out his pen and notebook that he had made sure to grab when he left in the morning. He always tapped his pen before starting a book until he had a solid first sentance. He smiled a bit at all the complaints about the radio and the volume of the music coming from it. He rolled his eyes before looking up from his notebook.


"You could turn it down a little since we're all basically awake now," Marcus smiled a bit as he said it. "It looks like some of them need more sleep."

 

[Wayward]

Clarissa I. Lewis

One of Clarissa's eyes creaked open as Ashton talked about the carnival. A frown played on her features, making her appear grumpy. "Please don't mention that carnival ever again. And especially not their cotton candy." Just the thought of the fluffy pink cloud of death made her sick. The music made her frown deepen, and she nodded along with Marcus' suggestion to turn it down. Or shut it off completely.

A small amused smile switched Clarissa's facial expression from grumpy as hell to not so grumpy as hell. She sat up completely, stretching as much as she could in the crowded van. Rolling her neck from side to side, she raised an eyebrow at Ashton as he declared that he should be crying due to his twelve plus hours of driving. "Fuck, Ashton. Let someone else drive. What the hell are you running on? Cotton candy?" she laughed at her own joke, her neck cracking finally with a satisfying snap. Her mind replayed their adventure in Illinois. She really did enjoy the carnival, though she didn't think she'd ever eat cotton candy again. At least not in this lifetime.

Clarissa yawned and looked out of the window with a small smile, still a bit tickled by her earlier joke. Gosh, she was hilarious.​

 

[Amaranthine]

Selene Olympia Stryker



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Selene had been awake since midnight. Perhaps the excitement and anxiety was the reason she woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. In any matter, she was so pumped for this trip. I mean, she was the newbie of the group, having met them when she moved schools. Sometimes she felt left out, not understanding some of the inside jokes, but these people had given her a family when she had none and she couldn't be more thankful. The scenery was beautiful with the greens and browns blurring together with Ashton's driving.


She watched the exchanges between the friends, smiling softly at Clarissa's joke and David's grumpiness. Selene yawned slightly, the lack of sleep slowly catching up with her. "How far are we? The woods all look the same!" she called out. Truth be told, she was very curious, never having been on a road trip before. At any rate, this would be biggest adventure of her life.

 

[ShatteredSoul]

Colton Foster

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The ride had been kind of one big blur for Colton. Sure, there was the brutal wake up call from the horn of the van that blared at 6 am sharp and plenty of classic road trip food to keep him company, but things just seemed to be in slow motion for a while. All of the scenery from the past 12 or so hours had no impact on him due to the fact that he floated in and out of a sleepy consciousness the entire ride. Now that he had finally caught up from his lack of sleep, his droopy eyes squinted open and his mind buzzed alive. Of course, it might have helped that his eardrum nearly burst from the insanely loud music Ash had started to blare from the speakers. “Oh come on,” He groaned, chucking a bag of trail mix up towards the front. The group echoed his complaints towards the music and suddenly a mysterious weight lifted from Colt’s left shoulder. Avie’s short apology and drowsy smile was enough to curl up the corners of his lips into a relaxed grin followed by a short laugh. “Nah, it’s all good. I’ve been told my arms make great pillows tons of times.” The grin remained plastered on his face, clearly indicating his willingness to perk up the situation a bit. It seemed as if Ash’s devious little plan had worked; people were now beginning to wake from their daze and become little social butterflies. Colton followed suit and stretched his arms above his head, at least as far as they could go considering the fact that the ceiling of the van was a mere foot above his head. Where the heck are we? Selene voiced that same idea from the seat in front of Colton, who then craned his neck to see outside the window. “Well, that sign says were nearing the capital of Iowa. Looks like we’ll be seeing a lot of corn the next few hours folks so get your cameras ready." As usual, a humorous grin snaked its way onto Colton's face.

 

[Novus]

Elliott


Elliott noticed that Colton had awoken, along with most of the rest of the crew. Everyone else seemed to be dead to the world. He took in the image of the man and couldn't help but feel that he would never quite get the full effect of seeing him smile on paper. Avery had woken him up and not said anything to Elliott, which came off as weird. While Marky Mark was his male best friend, it was different with Avery. He told her every one of his secrets--well, almost. "Welcome to the world, Buttercup." he leaned forward and whispered in her ear, unable to hide his giggling. He was still blown from his last tug, and it really began to hit him now.


Elliott abandoned his little art project for some good old social peacock-ing. "It's safe to say we won't make it to Des Moines anytime soon." he quipped, leaning forward. So that the whole group could hear him. "Maybe we should stop, Ash. Get our bearings; maybe let Dave take over?" Dave was kick-ass. They really didn't talk much, but if shit went down there would be no one else he'd rather have but that crazy man. Plus, he always gave the best parties and fist bumps.

 

[Nutter]

Maxwell Young

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"Ugh..." The sudden and many outbursts that arose as the van's passengers awoke made Maxwell visibly twitch, but he reigned in his reactions as much as he could. Of course, he hadn't slept a wink at all since the night before. He'd been too nervous making sure he had anything and everything he could possibly need for their trip to settle down and then before he knew it Ashton's aunt's van was idling near the curb of Nick's front lawn. (Somewhere in the back of his cluttered mind he repeated the words my front lawn, my front lawn, my front lawn over and over again until the words sounded even more foreign and strange than they had been to begin with. Maxwell quickly gave up on the endeavor, though he knew he'd be doing it again soon. After all, it'd been three years since he'd first moved in with Nick and Jamie and still he could only say things like mine, my, not yours in his head.)


Needless to say, the boy was in too much of a tizzy that he couldn't do much of anything never mind sleep. Everything was different than his normal. It wasn't a routine, or a habit. The stop at the carnival in Illinois hadn't been planned meticulously days before. There was no time to practice what he would say when someone asked him if he wanted to go on a ride or when a shady looking t-shirt vendor called him out in a weak attempt to attract customers. There was no refusal leaving his mouth when cotton candy was handed over to him even though he knew he would regret it later and he knew that his friends wouldn't actually care that he didn't want that too-sweet pink stuff in his body at the moment. There were simply no words, not enough words, and too many words for the bright lights and tinkling music and smelly porta-potties that boys who were totally out of there comfort zones hid in until they finally received a text telling everyone to head back to the van. Maxwell spent the car ride since wishing he weren't one of those boys.


You're alright, everything's fine, he told himself while people shifted and stirred around him. The brunette gathered the courage to look up from his lap, running a shaky hand through his messy locks as he let out a breath. Glancing quickly around him, Maxwell felt a small smile rise onto his face. After being cooped up in this van for the better part of the day, the teens had managed to make a brilliant mess. The remnants of snacks were scattered about in the form of empty bags and crumbs. Discarded jackets and bags were thrown on the floor and over seats. Even Maxwell had various items strewn about the van. His backpack was hidden under his seat, his favorite snapback hung off of an armrest towards the front of the vehicle, and his sneakers (which he'd kicked off some time ago so that he could curl up in his seat) were no where to be found. It all felt very similar to the mess in his room at home. The comfort of familiarity helped beat down Maxwell's uncertainty about the trip. "You're all so noisy!" The quiet boy laughed at his friends' jabs at Ash, joining in with his usually low and soft voice. "Hm... Is there a rest stop nearby?"

 

[October]

Izzy had spent most of the car ride reading to pass the time, but now that everyone in the van was starting to stir, she couldn't help but feel like now might be a good time to take a break and get out to stretch out her legs. She nodded in agreement at Elliott's suggestion to take a break for a moment and let Dave take over the wheel. Izzy glanced over at David. He had fallen asleep for a while leaning on her shoulder and hadn't woken until Ashton decided to blare the music a few minutes ago. She hadn't minded, of course. Of the group, she was probably the closest tied to David, after all. If it hadn't been for his earnest encouragement, she probably wouldn't have even decided to join them all on the trip.


But Izzy couldn't help but feel a bit awkward. After Dave's party, she'd gone home in a blissful daze. Something was really different between them now. She knew they had talked a lot, and she'd of course had a good time, but something was... off. She didn't usually drink, so she might've said a few things she normally wouldn't have, but there was something else... She had this strange feeling about a moment between them that had almost felt like a dream. She couldn't imagine herself being like this out of nowhere, but had she really kissed Dave?


Izzy scanned his face, almost as if she might find the answer there, but she suddenly caught herself blushing and had to return her gaze to her lap.


"Hey... um... maybe it is a good idea if you drive now, like Elliott said... to give Ashton a break, y'know?" Izzy murmured hesitantly. Until she figured out exactly where they stood with each other, Izzy wasn't sure if she was able to handle being so close to Dave.


@Duke the Impossible

 

[Nap]

Ashton Francis Reed

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His friends words were comforting to him. Ashton knew he'd been overexerting himself ever since Olivia passed away. Smiling and forcing himself to do everything was his only way of coping. Call him a workaholic if you would.


The brunette plastered a genuine smile onto his lips and let out a boisterous chuckle. "No way, guys. I'm fine. My energy is to the skies right now!" He looked at the rear-view mirror to show his friends that he was being serious before returning his eyes to the road.


~ T I M E S K I P ~


The sun was setting and Ashton was a bit confused as to why they hadn't reached the capital yet. The sign said they'd arrive in an hour or two, and in order to cut the time, the boy looked at the map and found a short cut. Of course his vision was a little blurry from lack of sleep, but still. They should have been in the city hours ago.


"Uh.. guys..." Ashton finally said when they'd driven about another 30 minutes and the sun was beginning to hide behind the tall trees. There wasn't any signs of a road in front of them. No concrete, no rock, no dirt. Only trees and grass. Lots and lots of trees and grass. With all the green surrounding the group of friends, Ashton couldn't stop the sick feeling beginning to form in his gut. They're going to kill me... he thought when he glanced at the gas meter. From the looks of it, it had maybe 15 miles left. I'll tell them that later...


@littlemischief @AlwaysYours @Nutter @ShatteredSoul
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