Realistic or Modern Radcliffe High

[mikaluvkitties]

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AARON OLLILA​

It was only lunch, and Aaron was already wishing he had just skipped the first day after all.

He wasn't sitting with his friends, but it definitely wasn't because he was angry with them or something- That would be stupid. Besides, what did Aaron have to be angry about? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. His one friend had a crush, and his other friend, if Ange could even be called that, had dyed her hair red, and it was a disgusting color and she was kind of a shit friend anyways, but he wasn't mad about it. Certainly not. People were disappointing- That was their nature.

He had made his own lunch today. He had made Casper's, too, though Casper was off sitting with a friend of some sort, because Casper always refused to recognize that people were snakes until he got bit again. And then Aaron would have to clean it up and be the mature one about it while Casper cried about it even though Aaron had been telling him-

And that is how Aaron ended up definitely-not-angrily eating a sandwich in a corner of the cafeteria all by himself. He didn't care, though. If no one wanted to sit with him, so be it.

Soap​

 

[PenguinFox]

Ian smirked and crossed his arms, playing along with Ash. "It is a shame isn't it? Because sarcastic blondes are totally my type. Ah well, some things just aren't meant to be I guess." It was a good feeling having somebody to joke around with like this. Ian had retreated behind walls for so long now that it had almost felt like joking around with a friend wouldn't come naturally anymore. Now if only he could drop walls around new people as well as he could around Ash.

Ash's friends would be totally okay for Ian to handle being around. Presumably, Ash would also be there, almost like a safety net. Plus if they were anywhere near as cool as she was they'd be alright to hang out with too. The thought of making new friends without that safety net though brought a small shudder to his spine. He could envision how classes would go already; mostly keeping quiet and to himself in the most corner spot possible. Participating as little as he could, and talking to classmates only when necessary.

This social anxiety was something that really frustrated Ian. He didn't always have these walls up, and he hated being hindered by them so, but he couldn't really figure out how to just let it all go. He had searched for a way past them but to no avail, if there was a way to be more open with the world like he used to, it was well hidden.

The smirk that rested on Ian's face grew into a full grin. "Don't be jealous Ash, I'm sure your credentials will beat out everyone else's. For one you're the first and only one to actually apply. That's a huge advantage." a small laughed fell from his mouth to show he was joking. Green eyes followed the gaze of Ash's blues to the group of who he assumed were her friends. Just then the bell rang signifying that it was time to actually head to class. "Guess it'll have to be later. I'm looking forward to it if they're getting such glowing reviews from you." Ian paused for second realizing he may have come off as sarcastic. "I mean that. I'm legitimately excited to meet decent people." That wasn't entirely true, but hey fake it until you make it right? "I better get to class before I'm late. Then I'd be a delinquent and this-" he pointed between himself and Ash "-would be totally not work if I was your type." Ian gave his friend one last joking grin before heading off, turning around a few feet down the hall. "Catch ya 'round yeah?"

 

[Winona]

Parson

How had he gone from Parson the Nobody to Parker the Relationship Advice... Giver... Man... Person in just a matter of minutes, thanks to Key approaching him and starting to talk?

To be honest, he didn't even know how to respond. Parson's dating history was an embarrassing, resounding nothing. Parson had had like one kiss at his previous school and that had been fun or whatever, but dating had never been something that had particularly appealed to him. Kind of seemed silly to spend your high school days wrapped up in someone when you were probably going to leave them for college in the future. Why risk all of that heartbreak for something destined to fail?

So when Key started talking, Parson found himself scrambling to come up with some good, suave advice. What would a friend tell their other friend when it came to their girlfriend?

"Look, bro," Parson laid a hand on Key's shoulder, giving him a bit of a pat, pat. "Do you really want to spend the rest of high school with some girl that does nothing but make you feel like shit?" God, he hoped that Key didn't punch him for the bits of advice that he was trying to spew out. That would be a great way to start this year.

"Like, one time my mom told me this like... piece of advice about relationships. Something like... 'you gotta leave if the bad instances start outweighing the good.' So... even if she's okay sometimes, does she treat you like shit more?"

ohdittoh​

 

[Soap]

Maisie

Bunched up shoulders narrowly dodged a few jocks who decided to take up most of the cafeteria line, laughing and joking with the world's biggest smiles on their faces. Maisie had wondered what exactly was so funny, but at the mention of a girl's name she rolled her eyes. One of them were probably just trash talking someone else-- If Maisie was a decent person, she'd stick up for the girl she doesn't know. But hey, what she doesn't know can't hurt her. Or in this case, either of them. So far, Maisie's goal has been to be almost invisible to the point where nobody knows her. It's always easier that way, y'know? Who knows how long she's gonna stay this time.

Although, she has to admit. The Fischer family was way more welcoming than most of her foster homes. None of it put her at ease. There wasn't exactly anything wrong with them and that was the weird thing. Maisie knows they lost a child a while ago, but she's not exactly how, but maybe that's why they decided to foster? It was clear they didn't need the extra checks. Maisie-- believe it or not actually had a vacation this summer.

Granted, she arrived sometime around summer, but as soon as she was settled in... boom. They were going on trips, shopping sprees, and a singular play that was rather awkward... let's be honest though, Maisie was entirely awkward the whole summer and might of mistakenly pushed Mrs Fischer away from her when she held a dress up to her. Despite Maisie's quiet excuses on why Mrs Fischer shouldn't buy her anything, she did anyway and she couldn't help but feel bad. It wasn't that Maisie didn't feel welcomed, she did. She just felt like she was... more of a replacement than anything. It was only a matter of time before the family decide to get bored of her, or the other shoe to drop and Maisie was just waiting for the inevitable.

Her gaze fell onto tons of tables before landing on one that was empty. A sigh escaped her as someone had already claimed it. That's okay, she could handle this. Totally.

"... Can I sit here?" Maisie averted her gaze from the boy and shifted on the balls of her feet.

mikaluvkitties​

 

[mikaluvkitties]

AARON OLLILA​

Aaron’s self-pitying, angry-sandwich-eating party was interrupted by someone asking if they could sit next to him.

He turned, mouth slanting, and three things hit him at once.

First of all, he did not recognize this girl- Had never seen her once in his life. This was, quite obviously, a strike against her.

Second of all, she was actually kind of cute in a way that made his heart restless. To some people, this might be a pro- Some beautiful mysterious stranger asking to sit next to you, in the middle of a crowded cafeteria. What a turn of fate!

But no, this was perhaps the worst possible scenario, because, as Aaron knew, people could not be trusted, and beautiful mysterious strangers required even more investigation of the motives, especially ones who decided for no discernable reason to interact with Aaron of all people. She was an eight at least and he was a three, maybe a four if he was being generous.

And that might have been enough for him to tell her to go away if there were not a third fact that eclipsed the other two entirely in magnitude: Aaron was keenly aware that his father would hate him becoming friends with this girl.

So he shrugged. “Don’t see why not.” He kept his eyes on her as she sat, only returning to his sandwich once she had begun to eat herself, because she was a stranger first and foremost, even if there were uglier ones in the world, and said, “You’re new.”

Soap​

 

[Soap]

Juliette

Blue eyes stared at the reflection of herself in the mirror, leaning closer to wipe a slight smudge of lip gloss before applying more on top. JJ was always on top of her appearance. Always wearing the latest and trendiest outfits, newest shoes, purses-- most humans would survive on food alone, but Juliette was a special kind of breed that ate attention for her survival. Well, she does stress eat-- but nobody talks about that. It's a secret. The door to the bathroom opened and Juliette barely spared a glance, it was only when she heard Ava's voice protrude was when she surprisingly moved her gaze from her reflection, to the angry redhead that was unfortunately, her best friend.

"What?" It took her a few moments to realize what she was so upset about and then it hit her. Right... "I gave you a warning, and you didn't listen." No, Jules hated this whole 'date' Sawyer and Ava had planned. It was bound to end in a disaster, and frankly, they weren't right for each other! That's all there was to it, and if Ava was going to continue and babble on about how 'jealous' JJ was being, then of course she was going to block her. It was only natural.

Besides, her argument was crazy! Juliette? Jealous? Hilarious.

"You deserved to get blocked. Especially since you're so hellbent on this date in the first place."

Winona​

 

[ohdittoh]

@key_kill

​

Status: Getting advice like he's on Dr. Phil or something
Location: By the lockers; on to the Trig room
Interactions: Winona (Parson)
Mentions: mikaluvkitties (Laurel)

. K E A G E N . K I L L O U G H .

Key stared at Parson a long moment. Shit, man, was he...actually getting advice...in person...without...someone laughing at him?

What the actual fuck?

Key let out an uncomfortable chuckle, and his face grew red. "I...uh..."

Well, he'd asked a question...and...well...Laurel...she...

In all honesty, he couldn't even think of a single time that Laurel had been nice to him.

"I guess you're right, man...," he said in a near-mumble. "...I...uh..."

He felt his throat grow dry. This was...well, what was the word...?

Embarrassing. That was it.

"Hey, man, I gotta go...uh...find my...uh...classroom..." He pushed off of his locker. He was looking everywhere except for his face. "Trigonometry, yeah...I'll...see you, uh...around, Parker."

Without another word and with his stomach churning, Key walked off. He held his head with his hands and looked at the ground, his demeanor entirely different than the one he'd walked in with.

In his head, only one thing was happening, and only one thought was repeating: Laurel, Laurel, Laurel, Laurel, Laurel.

He needed to burn something.

That, or fucking vomit and punch something.

Or cry.

online. active less than one minute ago.​

code by ditto (head empty go bonk)

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[ohdittoh]

@key_kill

​

Status: Breakdown, breakdown...breakdown, breakdown...
Location: Bathroom stall; outside of the Journalism room
Interactions: N/A
Mentions: mikaluvkitties (Laurel)

. K E A G E N . K I L L O U G H .

(hidden text: harmful behavior towards himself; self-hatred and confusion)

The bathroom nearest the World History room smelled less like shit than the other ones in the school. The lights in the ceiling were dimmer than the others', too, and graffitied gossip covered all four of the walls and six of the eight urinals. The archaic clock, which had long stopped working in its place above the paper towel holder, read 7:32.

If one were to look to the far left side of the urinals, one would see a very, very, very small, thin stall. It was painted black, but one could not tell for the words written on it in white paint marker. If that same person were to lean down slightly, they could see two legs inside the stall.

These two legs were attached to a person who, at this time, felt little like a person at all. His face was stark white, and he was biting his lower lip so hard that he had drawn blood on the inside of his mouth. His glassy, grey eyes read a mix of confusion, sadness, anger, and bitterness, but these things all produced a general look of...what was it...?

Hurt.

Keagen Killough looked hurt. Physically hurt, emotionally hurt, and mentally hurt. He stared at one of the sayings scrawled on the small door of the tiny stall: "Cherry fucking sucks". How convenient was it that he was seeing that now, with all that was going on?

He'd snuck a kiss from his girlfriend between third and fourth period, but it had felt so much like a lie that he had to say something. But when he had gotten sat down at the lunch table, all that he could manage was a grin and a "so, babe...". Nothing else would come out. When he'd tried to say something else, his throat refused.

So he'd run here. Like a coward, yeah. And he'd texted her with his concern-- just his concern, not wanting to do anything to her.

But then it had all built up to him breaking up with her-- or...her breaking up with him. He couldn't tell which it was, but it was one of them.

And now he didn't know how to feel. He felt that pressure behind his eyes to cry, but he also felt visceral, blind rage.

He stood from the toilet, and he flushed it even though he hadn't done anything to have it need to be flushed. He propped his forearm up against the stall door, and he stared at it. From here, he could smell the scent of...

Of Laurel on his letterman.

He let his bottom lip leave his mouth. He could taste the metallic flavor of blood in his mouth, and he ran his tongue against where his bottom teeth had dug into his lip. With his free hand, he felt of the space beneath his lip.

The same lip that Laurel had kissed.

He slammed his head against the stall beneath his arm and let out an angry grunt. He felt his shoulders shake, and he growled, "Dumbass! Really let yourself get upset over...over Laurel! Over nothing!"

He kicked the door. It rattled in its spot.

He stared at where he had kicked it-- the same spot as the "Cherry fucking sucks".

So things were over between Key and Laurel-- between Cherry and Bitch. All because he tried to genuinely...try to understand his relationship-- all because he had taken their advice.

They were right, it was toxic, but damn it! It still hurt, and he still didn't fucking understand any of this!

He felt sick again, and he clenched his jaw to hold back tears and vomit.

It didn't work, and both things set free.

When he slammed his way out of the stall minutes later, his eyes were puffy and bloodshot. His lips were chapped and swollen, and his face was reddened.

He looked at himself in the mirror, which was cluttered with sharpie-d dicks like the one that had been on his neck. He looked so dumb, there with his face beside the scrawled doodles; there with his swollen nose from punching the dude who he despised so much for no discernible reason, the bruise under his right eye, that cut on his swollen lip.

He hated himself. He hated himself, he hated himself, he hated himself!

He felt tears come to his eyes again, and he bit them back with a sad sob. He gripped the edge of the sink so hard that he heard the old thing let out a creak. Trying to fight off his tears, not knowing how to control these emotions, and repeating in his head just how much he hated himself, he began to slam his fist into the wall beside the mirrors.

He didn't care who heard. He didn't care who came in here to check about the noise. He didn't care that his knuckles were starting to bleed.

In his head, all he was thinking was how much he hated himself, how much he hated Laurel, how much he hated himself, how much he hated Laurel, how much he...

This was so confusing. He didn't get it. He didn't know what love was, according to the school on Twitter, and him trying to find out from Laurel if she really cared had only resulted in him getting hurt.

He didn't get this. He didn't get it. He didn't get it and everyone else did. It was always like this. He was just too dumb to understand.

He was just too damn dumb to understand. Too damn dumb to understand this or anything else.

•••​

It was about halfway through the lunch period before Key emerged from the bathroom. He looked a mess, not only because of his bandaged nose and his busted lip, but also because of the sickly paleness of his skin and how puffy his eyes were.

Not to mention his bleeding knuckles.

He rounded the corner and began to walk back to the cafeteria, and then thought better of it. What would he do when he got back? What was the point, even? He wasn't hungry, at this point. He looked even dumber than he did before.

Mason would smirk at him, Laurel would laugh at him. Would she even be sitting at the table with him?

Besides, he had already texted and told Juni, when he was in the stall, that he wouldn't see her. So there really was no point, unless he wanted to walk in there being the rich, popular, football kid who had been humiliated over the phone.

He was overblowing it, sure, but...he didn't know this.

He turned right where he should have turned left. He didn't know where he was going, but he knew for sure that he wasn't going to the cafeteria.

Anywhere but there.

He spotted a bench outside of a little room that he'd never been to. Judging from all of the decorations of typewriters, the big words "Write on!" above the grey door, and the empty newspaper rack beside the place, this was the Journalism room.

He stopped walking and stared at the empty rack for a moment, then looked to the bench, which looked surprisingly well-kept. He hadn't even known about this being here...

He walked up to it slowly, and he apprehensively lowered himself into the seat. He slowly shrugged off his precious letterman and sat it beside himself, staring at the word KILLOUGH across the back.

For once, he hated his jacket and everything it stood for. He hated the look of it, what it smelled like, the number 5 on the sleeve.

It was because of that fucking number that Laurel had been with him in the first place. It was because that number and all the shit that came with it that she had played with him.

He hated it.

He clenched his jaw and held back tears once again. He slammed his heel against the wall beneath the bench and put his head in his hands. "God fucking...damn it," he muttered.​

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online. active less than one minute ago.​

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code by ditto (head empty go bonk)

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[Soap]

Maisie

It kind of felt like she was waiting for rejection. Maisie never tried to make friends whenever she transferred schools, it felt like a waste and honestly, most of the people she went to school with beforehand weren't friend-material. At least... in her opinion. The brunette gave a soft smile at his words and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. It was a sense of relief that she didn't have to go try and sit at the cheerleaders table. Gossip wasn't something that sounded like a fun topic on the first day-- not that she would've chatted with them anyway. She felt his gaze on her, but Maisie was honestly hungry and she wasn't about to let some stranger staring at her ruin her lunch. The cafeteria food wasn't terrible but it wasn't a five star meal either.

Rate it a solid 6/10. Fries were good, the salad was... okay and-- look, clearly Maisie had a thing for food. But who wasn't a foodie? It was a good way to distract yourself. Not in an unhealthy way, it was just... easier to look forward to eating in peace instead of twiddling her thumbs and trying her best to stay out of everyone's way. She looked forward to lunch at school, dinners with the Fischers however, that was another story she'd get into later. "... I am. Just moved here a little over three months ago, so..."

"Uh... I'm Maisie." She refrained from making a handshake, even if it seemed the polite thing to do. And a major part of Maisie hoped he wouldn't see that as her being rude.

mikaluvkitties


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[ohdittoh]

@therealangewalle

​

Status: Griping, not grinning
Location: Cafeteria
Interactions: Taelonthesands (Juni)
Mentions: Winona (Mason)

• A N G E L A • W A L C O T T •

Ange bit into the dry chicken strip in her hand and sighed deeply, staring at the empty chocolate milk carton on her blue-and-green tray. "Juni, do you feel like today's been as long as three days?" she asked with a small sigh, speaking to the only friend of hers who had arrived at the round, grey lunch table thus far. "I wish that the two of us had classes together. Maybe then I'd actually be having fun."

Sure, it was halfway through the day, but she already wanted to go home.

Why? Well, she could cite many reasons, but the main one was that, well...

Fourth period was hell.

Her eyes slid around the room until they latched on to Mason, the root of the problem.

She'd just been joking about asking the teacher to partner them up, but when she'd gotten to class, she and Mason had been placed across from one another at the last table in the rightmost, backmost corner of the room-- the two of them alone, which meant that she either had to talk to him all year or act as if she were mute.

She had never felt so floored and awkward and tense and...nearly-angry all at once in her life. Ah, fuck...just thinking about having to deal with Drake's dumb brother as an art partner all year made the bite that she chewed taste even dryer.

She paused for a moment to take another bite of terrible chicken, and she tapped on her phone to see if she'd gotten any more notifications from Twitter, which had been awfully active today. (No cigar.)

She looked at Juni. "How've your classes been? 'Cuz mine've been absolute hell..."

Come to think of it, hell was an understatement.

She thumped her empty milk carton with her forefinger and sighed, looking at Juniper. "Mr. Dawkins gave us homework over angle degrees or some shit, as if listening to him talk isn't torture enough. My American History teacher is totally new. Doesn't know what in the world she's doing. The computer programming teacher made us take a 'preliminary quiz' which I know that I failed. And in fourth period...well..."

Her eyes drifted back to Mason, and she felt a visceral frustration rise in her throat. "I got grouped up with someone who probably knows about as much about art as I know about how to cure cancer and who I like nearly as much as Soviet Russia liked democracy."

She sighed deeply and ate the last bite of her dry chicken strip. If it wasn't already obvious, the girl ate quickly and rather improperly. "I wish that you could come over and blow some smoke with Drake and I tonight...I get that you're not. I'm gonna need the high...unlike Drake, I can't get stoned at school because I'm too pussy...scared I'll get caught by teachers..."

code by ditto (head empty go bonk)​

 

[Taelonthesands]

Juniper Ava Rowlands

Juni

Melody Meadow by Louie Zong

Mood: Very happy to eat some food

location Cafeteria
mentions Mason/Drake Winona Key ohdittoh
interactions Ange ohdittoh

Juniper ripped apart the homemade soft pretzel in her lunch box as gentle as one could, setting one of the halves on a small purple plate she had packed in her bag. She plucked some grapes from a small cup to add next to the pretzel and lastly finished off her little still life with some ham and two plastic shot glasses of juice, all while muttering under her breath and only seemingly half paying attention to Ange. Still, she smiles and looks up at the other, “Honestly every day feels like a fool’s year until the next day comes instantly. But yeah, I really wish we shared something together.”

She pulls out a thermos, slowly unscrewing the top, “You know it kind of sucks, I don’t really have anyone in my classes I know so far.”

Saying it sucked was a little bit of an understatement. Juniper had really hoped that with all the new people she had met so far, she’d have had at least one class with someone familiar. Maybe Aunt Finley had been wrong about this being the turnaround year for her.

Her head tilted to the side when she noticed Angela making practical knives with her eyes across the cafeteria, her own gaze turning to try and see who she could be looking at. She was at loss, not seeing anyone that she or the sophomore recognized as friends, the only person she did know was Mason and she couldn’t think of why the other would be staring him down.
Unless she was also worried about his injuries. Even from here, Juniper could tell from the way the tallboy sat that he was uncomfortable. She wishes she could check in on him, maybe she could when she got together with Key after school.

Right, Key.

Juniper prayed to her Gods that he was doing alright. That he and Mason would be alright.

Shaking her head, she realizes she’s been staring a little too long and was quick to turn her attention back to Ange. She frowned, sympathizing with her as she spoke, hand reaching out for the other to hold if she wanted for comfort. Something that her mother would always do for her when she shared her woes. Juni would have to think of some ways to help make classes a little easier for Ange, or even find a way to just cheer her up when lunch came around. She tapped her fingers against the table a few times, trying to stimulate an idea.

“I’m really sorry Ange, Mr. Dawkins was always one of my least favorite teachers. I mean, why do you think I take math away from school? He’s like a soul-sucking demon in disguise I tell you.”

She takes a bite of her oatmeal from her thermos, “As for history, I think we do take it together!! I just missed that period because I had an emergency meeting with my guidance counselor, so there’s that at least! We can totally text each other during class and maybe even do some group projects together.”

Juniper smiles to herself, this was a win the friend department, she was sure of it.

“Also yeah, I’m sorry. I would love to hang with you and Drake but my family comes first. Not that you aren’t family, just it’s one of those nights for me,” her spoon clacks against the table, hands crossing as she rests her head against them. “Oh, you know that Drake will get away with it. You just have to learn the tricks from him.”

“But like, let’s go back a bit. Tell me more about the fourth period person. This may be a hunch, but could it be the football player you’ve been trying to summon over here with your eyes?”

coded by incandescent

 

[ohdittoh]

@therealangewalle

​

Status: ...ugh
Location: Cafeteria
Interactions: Taelonthesands (Juni)
Mentions: Winona (Mason)

• A N G E L A • W A L C O T T •

Ange gave her friend a small smile and took her friend. "Thanks, Juni." She looked at her friend's lunch and sighed softly before looking back at Mason. "You're so...on top of things...makes me glad to have a friend like you."

She felt the tickle of jealousy that she always got for Juni, the prettier, smarter, gentler, kinder, neater girl who she could only dream of being, but she brushed it off quickly.

Angela's small smile spread out into a bigger one when she heard that she and Juni had the same history class-- it made sense that she was in the same history class as her once-classmate, since history class was the only one besides art that Ange'd passed her first time in ninth grade. "Really? Wicked! At least I'll see you then."

When Juni mentioned "the football player", Ange broke from staring at Mason. She felt her ears and cheeks heat up at being caught staring, and dismissively she said, "Trust me, I'm not trying to summon him."

She paused and looked at Juni. She drew in a deep breath to calm herself before she began to speak. "You and your psychic powers, I'll never understand," she joked, snickering, and then she paused again to look at the dark-haired boy. "Yeah, that's him. Mr. J put him and me together, and lucky me doesn't even have other group members."

Ange thumped her milk carton again. It let out a dull thunk. "We did our 'group foundations' today like we always do on the first day. You know, signing group contracts and establishing expectations for our group members. It was like pulling teeth trying to get him to talk to me. He's the exact opposite of Drake. He doesn't even have a sense of humor and thought that I was being legit when I ordered him weed if he'd cooperate."

She was practically boring holes in the dude with her eyes. Her jaw was clenched in irritation. "And today's just Monday! I have at least a hundred and forty-nine days left of this!" She squeezed Juni's hand with a sigh, and she paused a moment. "So yeah...we start our projects tomorrow. First one's a group papier mâchét piñata that represents a dream that we have for our futures. Something about getting to know each other is why we're doing it...I don't get it. The worst part is that it's a group thing-- so it's gotta represent both of our dreams somehow."

Her glare grew more intense-- so intense that her eyes may have as well been lasers. "I have no idea what that is dumbass meathead and I have in common, and I am nearly a hundred percent certain that I don't wanna know."

code by ditto (head empty go bonk)​

 

[Soap]

Raven

Everyone was gone by now, most of the place dispersed even before the bell rang for lunch. Nobody was invested in the paper as much as Raven was, some just saw it as yet another extracurricular to throw on their transcript when all they'd do is hand out papers or sit in their chairs scrolling through their phones as if it was as boring as math class. The brunette felt like all the responsibility was on her. Yes, she might've been in 'charge.' However you'd like to put it; but it'd be nice if someone put in the same effort she was. Raven didn't want help, but it wouldn't be under appreciated.

Here she was, eating lunch, alone and racking her brain on how to start off the first issue. Raven wasn't a sports girl, definitely not. But it's the content that the school wanted, she couldn't exactly tackle the articles she wanted without the school needing to sign off on it-- plus, who would want to get interviewed by a junior in high school? Perhaps in the future, maybe then she'd have a better shot at writing what she wanted to. A sigh escaped her and Raven got up from her seat, grabbing her bottle of water when she noticed a familiar jock-- one that she was supposed to interview sometime around now actually. Isn't that funny how things work out?

With a grin, the brunette walked out of the room; ready to greet her interviewee. Although her grin suddenly dispersed when she noticed the look on his face. Naturally, this didn't make Raven change her attitude. "What a sight for sore eyes." She teased, closing the door shut behind her and taking a seat beside him onto the bench. He didn't look great, no, but she wasn't going to point it out. What type of person would she be?

"What's got you down, handsome?"

ohdittoh​

 

[Winona]

Drake

School, school, school. That's all it had been for the last four hours and Drake would be lying if he said that he wasn't dying of boredom. Well, mostly dying of boredom. A good portion of his morning had been spent on his phone. Chase had messaged him asking if Drake could be his... fake crush, which had just earned a snort of laughter from Drake. He had even almost lost his phone over the laughter that escaped his lips, but ha. His smooth personality made the teacher forgive him and he kept his phone.

Obviously, he agreed to Chase's whole... whatever. And then Drake had texted pretty much all of his friends to tell them what had happened just because he was Drake. No one had ever liked him, even as a fake crush before! Girls were always more interested in Mason's stupid brawny self and... well, he wasn't very lucky with the guys, either.

By time lunch rolled around, Drake had had plenty of drama for one day and his high had started to fade. He rubbed the back of one hand against his eyes as he stepped into the cafeteria. Drake blinked a few times, looking across everyone -- there was Mason at the jock table and Drake waved at his brother. Mason locked eyes with him and although his brother's smile faltered, he did wave back at Drake and the kid started beaming. It wasn't like them being brothers was a secret like it used to be -- having different last names had been a whole thing -- but it was still a little weird to acknowledge Mason in public.

He started towards the familiar table where he, Ange, Juni, and Aaron always sat together, but stopped short when he realized Aaron was missing. Drake's gaze shifted again over the room until it landed on Aaron eating alone in the corner. The little brat. He had no idea what Aaron might be mad over, but then he noticed a girl going over to sit with him. An eyebrow raised up and Drake gave Aaron a wink as a sort of good luck, buddy type of thing although, to be honest, there was no way that Aaron could probably see the wink even if Aaron did happen to look at Drake at the very moment that he was giving the worst wink.

Yeah, Drake couldn't wink at all. Add that to the long list of things he was horrible at.

His steps then took him over to the table where Ange and Junie were deep in conversation. Drake slid into the open seat by Junie, resting one arm on the table as he grinned at the both of them. "Heyo, what's up? What are we talking about? The latest gossip? Fun day so far?" His words and questions were quick and rapid fire.

Taelonthesands ohdittoh Mentions: mikaluvkitties Soap​

 

[ohdittoh]

@key_kill

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Status: Trying to kinda still look cool
Location: Outside of the Journalism room
Interactions: Soap (Raven)
Mentions: N/A

. K E A G E N . K I L L O U G H .

Key seemed almost startled by Raven's sudden appearance, and he quickly picked up his letterman jacket. When he spoke, he kept his head turned away from her. "Uh, Raven...hey," he croaked, and he clenched his jaw when he heard how hoarse and pitiful he sounded.

He knew Raven vaguely, from the times he'd happened to be in her classes and also from the rumors that surrounded her, so his embarrassment was all the more heightened. His face reddened, though she could not see it.

"Nothing's got me down," he lied, pulling back on his letterman jacket. "It's just another day..."

He felt the pressure behind his eyes that he always got when he needed to cry, and he shook his head and clenched his eyes shut, confused as to why the hell he wanted to cry now, of all times.

He rubbed his rough, bloody-knuckled hands together, staring at his shoes. He came out here to get away...but...he could deal with this.

He finally turned his head toward Raven, his face now fully visible in all its glory (if one would venture to say that). His swollen nose's bandage had come unstuck near the bottom of his nose, and the blush on his face had gone down. Around eyes looked slightly less swollen, but his eyes remained glassy. The knuckles hands he'd had been resting his head in before Raven had come were bloodied with a brilliant red.

He gave Raven his dopey, dumb grin, though it was kind of obviously forced. Keagen was far from a good liar. "What're you doing here?" he asked, trying to change the subject. "Newspaper?" He said the one word as if she would understand exactly what he was wondering.

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online. active less than one minute ago.​

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[Winona]

Ash

Her day was going... Well, about as well as the first day of school could go. By lunch, she was emotionally exhausted and ready to head home, but another several hours of school awaited her. After classes she, obviously, had to go to cheer practice which was always both a blessing and a curse. Look, Ash had some mixed feelings which it came to the sport that she had pledged her life to.

Basically, she couldn't wait to graduate and be off the team, although she would never say it aloud.

Now, Ash stood at her locker. She was putting books in and taking her sweet time to do her best to avoid being in the cafeteria for as long as possible. Ash didn't like sitting at the table along while she waited for her friends to get their lunches and come sit with her. Instead, Ash preferred to head in after everyone was already seated and deep in conversation.

However, a blonde rushing past her did catch Ash's attention. "Grace!" She called after the frantic blonde, her eyebrows creasing together in worry as Grace turned and headed back towards her. "Why do you look so... panicked?"

Soap​

 

[mikaluvkitties]

AARON OLLILA​

Aaron nodded along to Maisie’s words, taking another bite of his sandwich- Meat and cheese, something simple and bland.

And then she introduced herself, and he fought the urge to grimace. At least she didn’t try to shake his hand.

“Aaron,” he said, perhaps more curt than necessary. He took another bite of his sandwich, chewing on it as he reminded himself that asking for his name wasn’t some kind of attack against him.

“Where are you from?”

Soap​

 

[PenguinFox]

Notebooks clutched tightly to Tallulah's chest as she walked down the sidewalk to school. It was a bit of a walk to get to school but the young girl didn't mind so much. She loved the fresh air and the gentle breeze blowing at the hem of her dress. Normally one of her parents would drive her to school, especially the first day, but her father was on a business trip already and her mother was...too busy. Lulu couldn't exactly get a straight forward answer out of the woman, she was only told that 'Mommy is too busy that day sweetie'. The thought brought a small frown to her face but she was quickly distracted by the flitting of yellow in her vision.

Stopping in her tracks Lulu scanned the tree branches for the hidden splash of color amongst a sea of browns. She spotted a tiny goldfinch sitting in a pine, serenading her. A warm smile rose to her face as she carefully reached down to her messenger bag with her free hand. Keeping an eye on the dazzling bird she felt around blindly until she found her polaroid camera. Lulu slowly and smoothly pulled out the device and brought it to her face. It was a struggle to handle the camera with one hand but she managed to get the bird in focus as best as possible and took the picture. She smiled to herself happily and gave the finch a curtsy before carrying on along her way, a bit of an extra skip in her step now.

The move to Oregon had been tiring but well worth it. Lulu had met a local resident over the internet; one Juniper Rowlands, and the two had become fast friends. Their personalities clicked together like puzzle pieces, so when Lulu found out she was moving to the area Juniper lived she couldn't be happier. Not only would she not be alone in a new world, she'd have the company of her closest, albeit it one of her only, friends. She was so thrilled that for the first few days she had been here nothing her mother could say brought her down.

For the first half of the day Lulu mostly kept quietly to herself. Meeting new people was hard for her and her ceramics class with Juniper wasn't until the second half of the day. Typically people didn't really talk to the new kids, which Lulu understood and wasn't at all bitter about. In time perhaps she would open up some and talk to some of her other classmates, but for today she was content with meeting up with her one friend. That was easy for her; they were already friends, she didn't have to do the hard awkward part of introductions.

As Lulu made her way into the lunchroom her eyes scanned around looking for a spot to sit. It felt incredibly intimidating, like every single pair of eyes were on her and not one of them was friendly. There were clearly cliques that were together that she definitely could not sit with. Desperate hazels searched for an empty table so that she could be alone and possibly get some work done. She was planning on sketching the goldfinch she saw this morning based on one of her pictures.

Before a full panic attack set in Lulu spotted a lifeboat in a sea of unfamiliarity; the friend she'd been longing to meet up with since she moved to town. The only problem was that she was sitting with other people. People Lulu didn't know. Her heart sank but she managed to take a few tentative and awkward steps towards the table, clutching her bag to her chest defensively. She froze in her tracks and her eyes dropped to the floor. She could feel the heat of embarrassment rising into her cheeks. She probably looked pretty silly standing in the middle of the lunchroom staring at the floor. She closed her eyes a moment and pushed herself forward, suddenly very aware of her gait. Hopefully no one else was aware of it as she was. Before she knew it the table was in her peripherals. She had walked all the way over to the table without really thinking of what she was going to do when she got there. She refused to lift her gaze from the floor, choosing instead to just maintain her awkward stance at the edge of the table. This was a terrible idea. Taelonthesands ohdittoh Winona mikaluvkitties

 

[Soap]

Raven

She wasn't entirely convinced. But Raven couldn't exactly make someone open up about what was bothering them, it wasn't necessarily her job... even if her curiosity was piqued. It could be something involving the whole Laurel ordeal, especially if they broke up. Oh yeah, twitter's word went fast. Once someone said something slightly relevant, the whole school knew about it the next day. Raven wondered what the use of newspapers would be when she could simply just tweet it. Her gaze took him in, raising a slight brow at the state he was in. Mason might've been provoked first, but that boy could throw a punch. Poor kid. "Ding, ding, ding. You get a prize." Most of Raven's time was spent here, even if she'd rather be spending it elsewhere, the first day meant there was so much more work to do than usual.

A forced chuckle escaped her and Raven tilted her head towards his hands. "Someone steal your keys, Key?" Raven understood violence to an extent, sometimes it's the only way to release emotions. At least if you weren't doing the harm to others, maybe then it'd be okay morally. The brunette wasn't going to act as if she was a saint. Raven was far from it. But she wasn't going to pretend to ignore the blood stained knuckles in front of her. "Would coffee-stained ice help?" She vaguely remembers the overly sweetened drink one of her classmates threw in the trashcan.

What? It was still good ice.

"Or would you like me to kiss it better? Although, I'm not sure you'd be into that this new into our blossoming relationship."

ohdittoh​

 

[Soap]

Grace

How could she possibly lose a dog? She was so stupid. So, so, so, stupid. Anybody with the right mind wouldn't take their eyes off the dog they kidnapped-- Okay, uh... kidnapped was a strong word. She didn't kidnap. Grace simply just borrowed, saved, if you will. She went through her classes worried that someone would find him and send him back. But nobody reported a dog yet, so that was good! Grace asked JJ and Juliette just stared at her like she was an idiot. Just like usual! So clearly, there wasn't any gossip yet. That meant Grace had to find Bernard and fast... before someone else did.

There wasn't any time for lunch, Grace had until the end of it to find Bernard or else she was shipped off to another class Bernardless, with the slight possibility of getting detention or even suspended for bringing a dog into the school. Or...y'know, she could say Bernard's a support dog. Yeah... that'd make-- Grace caught a tiny flash of a familiar dog dash between the legs of a freshman. Unfortunately, she ended up getting body blocked. She sighed and turned to face Ash behind her. "Because... I lost your present." Granted, it wasn't really a present. And that meant it might've been time to come clean to Ash.

"I lost a dog."

"And now he's running out free and if I don't find him, I'll be in really big trouble and I can't be in trouble on the first day, that's goodbye to all my extracurriculars, hello to detention and possibly suspension and never ever getting into college and then I'm done! I'll be forced into a sad loveless marriage and I won't have my dream job or have the right to adopt anything of any kind."

Stress and Grace didn't mix well. Clearly.

Winona​

 

[ohdittoh]

K E A G E N . K I L L O U G H .

Status: Sad boi hours

Location: Outside the Journalism room

Interractions: Soap (Raven)

Mentions: N/A

@key_kill

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Key folded his hands, letting the hang, and he rested his elbows on his thighs. He stared down at them. "Pfft," he laughed half-heartedly. "No. I'm fine..."



The way he said it said that his words, quite obviously, were lies.



"I just came out here to...sit. Lunch doesn't seem good to me," he said in a soft, thoughtful voice.



He knew that she already knew why. Word spread fast in Radcliffe, since nearly everyone seemed to keep one eye constantly glued to their screens. No doubt, Laurel'd already bragged to the whole school about "breaking up with him" or whatever it was.



He lifted his eyes and looked at the empty wall in front of him. "Ended up here. Never been here. There aren't any other rooms besides this one. That's weird..." He said his short sentences the way he did when his head was full of thoughts.



He paused a long time-- so long that it seemed that he would say nothing more-- and he just...stared at his knuckles.



Finally, he looked over at her again. "Newspaper...?" he asked, and his voice sounded so genuine.



He seemed, after a moment, to realize that it made no sense, and he blew out a long puff of air and said, "You've already started with the newspaper? Isn't it a bit early?" His voice was still raw from his crying, and he rubbed his neck and coughed. "Uh, sorry about that...," he added.



It was very rare that Mr. Keagen Killough, quarterback, certified dunce, and general asshole, ever seemed this...vulnerable-- and he didn't even realize it.

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code by ditto (head empty go bonk)​

Spoiler: Plain Text

Key folded his hands, letting the hang, and he rested his elbows on his thighs. He stared down at them. "Pfft," he laughed half-heartedly. "No. I'm fine..."

The way he said it said that his words, quite obviously, were lies.

"I just came out here to...sit. Lunch doesn't seem good to me," he said in a soft, thoughtful voice.

He knew that she already knew why. Word spread fast in Radcliffe, since nearly everyone seemed to keep one eye constantly glued to their screens. No doubt, Laurel'd already bragged to the whole school about "breaking up with him" or whatever it was.

He lifted his eyes and looked at the empty wall in front of him. "Ended up here. Never been here. There aren't any other rooms besides this one. That's weird..." He said his short sentences the way he did when his head was full of thoughts.

He paused a long time-- so long that it seemed that he would say nothing more-- and he just...stared at his knuckles.

Finally, he looked over at her again. "Newspaper...?" he asked, and his voice sounded so genuine.

He seemed, after a moment, to realize that it made no sense, and he blew out a long puff of air and said, "You've already started with the newspaper? Isn't it a bit early?" His voice was still raw from his crying, and he rubbed his neck and coughed. "Uh, sorry about that...," he added.

 

[Soap]

Maisie

Where is she from? That's a really good question. One point for Aaron. What should she say? Maybe the last place she lived? The thought of it almost make her stomach churn. And Maisie stood quiet for a few seconds before she shook herself out of it, suddenly not as hungry anymore. "Phoenix, Arizona." Sliding her tray away from her, Maisie wanted to change the subject-- but how was the question? She can't exactly ask where he's from... Because, he was probably from here.

"I've lived tons of places though. So... if I'm being honest, I didn't really know how to answer that. But what about you? Have you lived here your whole life?" There. Maisie was so smooth, even if her heart was beating like crazy in her chest. The simplest things freaked her out so much. At least she was getting a little more practice at all this. Making friends she means. Or... just socializing in general. One moment Maisie could be a hyperactive social butterfly, and the next? A scared kitten.

"I hate small talk. I'm sorry, I know I'm suppose to throw icebreakers are you, but I don't really know how? I... never mind." She fought the urge to just stand up and find another table to sit at. Or, she could've just hid in the bathroom until lunch was over. It'd be stupid but at least she didn't have to sit through the embarrassment of being herself.

mikaluvkitties
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[mikaluvkitties]

AARON OLLILA​

It occurred to Aaron, in the silence that lapsed, that he had made a misstep. He tapped a finger against his sandwich, sliding his gaze off the table to watch Maisie. She slid her tray away, and that was almost certainly a bad sign.

Despite himself, he couldn’t help but feel bad- She was new and he wanted to get to know her to, at the very least, spite his father, and now she wasn’t eating. She could just not be hungry. The cafeteria food was admittedly not all that appetizing- Hence Aaron packing Casper and himself lunch every morning.

He nodded as she spoke, again watching her, an intensity to the look he probably didn’t even realize was there- He was just paying attention. Listening to her.

And then she turned to question around.

It wasn’t surprising, but it still made something inside him roil. He hated sharing. “Yes.” There. He answered the question and could move on now.

She continued speaking, and he continued watching her, almost examining her. He was silent once she was done, gaze dropping to her barely touched meal.

“That’s fine. We don’t have to make small talk. I’m not a particular fan myself. New people are just...” Terrifying. “Interesting.”

Soap​

 

[Winona]

Ava

She was ridiculous. Right? Jules was ridiculous.

"It's not your life, so you don't get a stupid say on who I date or don't date." Ava snapped. She leaned back as she spoke, her arms crossing defensively over her chest. "You didn't ask me before you started dating Sir Dumbass. So you don't get a say in whether or not I date Sawyer." Right? Right. Well, weren't you supposed to at least make sure that your friends liked the people you dated?

"Look, it's not like there's anything wrong with Sawyer. She's not gonna push me off a cliff to my death or something stupid. We're just going to go on a small date to set a house on fire. Sweet and easy." Ava wondered if she should feel more nervous -- sure, this wasn't technically a real date, but it was still a date of sorts.

And, well, it was no secret that Ava had been on a total of zero dates throughout her entire life. Yep. That's right. The girl had spent her entire grade school career alone and hadn't even kissed a girl yet. She knew it was stupid and kind of embarrassing at this age, but what could she say? Ava wasn't the type to be attracted to others easily.

So it would have meant quite a lot to her if Jules would support her. Because even if this was a fake date and Ava had no feelings for Sawyer and vice versa, it didn't mean that Ava wasn't a little nervous and could've used some girly advice or something. Like, what was the appropriate attire for a date to setting things on fire?

If the green army jacket and the sweats were any indication, Ava knew exactly nothing about fashion. Or date wear. Or, to be honest, anything that didn't have to do with sweatpants.

"Look just unblock me and stop being a bitch about this."

Soap​

 

[Winona]

Ash

Everything tumbled out of Grace's mouth in such a rush that Ash almost had trouble keeping up with it. First and foremost, she was stuck on one simple little fact. Her mysterious present and the fact that she now understood why Grace had slipped up and called it a him over text. Just like in the movies or cartoons, her jaw dropped open.

"You got me a puppy?"

Okay, so maybe Ash was missing the bigger issue, but holy hell her dad was going to kill her if she showed up at home with a puppy. And Jeffrey! What would Jeffrey think?! The ferret had been the only love of her life for so long -- how would he feel about having to share the spotlight with a new puppy? Better yet, what did puppies need? Did they need cages? Water bottles?

"Okay, okay, calm down. Calm down." It didn't help to have one panicking blonde cheerleader, but it certainly didn't help to have two -- which is where they were quickly headed as Ash had to suck in a deep breath and steady her nerves. "He can't be too far. He's a puppy! And it's not like anyone has been talking about him today, so obviously no one has caught him."

"Where did you see him last?"

It was one little puppy. It couldn't be that hard to catch... right?

Soap​