Realistic or Modern Silver Oak Academy: Season 1

[0k_mang0]

kekoa

(with her brother matt)​

This morning had a heck of a start. Today was still the first day of school, and somehow the fire alarm was set off. Kekoa only learned how that happened during the headmaster’s announcement in the afternoon. Did someone really try to destroy a science lab? That was one rumor she heard. If that were true, then she was glad she didn’t have that class at the time. Seeing someone getting beaten up in a music room was enough for today’s Murder Monday, hopefully. And if what happened in the lab had been a prank, she was glad she wasn’t caught in the middle of it.

When Longford mentioned investigating the party, Kekoa heard her brother, Mathias, scoff under his breath. “They never really do anything about these things,” he stated, cleaning a smudge off the lens of his glasses and then eating an M&M's dark chocolate or two from a small bag hidden in the left pocket of his school jacket.

Kekoa hoped the school wouldn’t do anything. She didn’t “break into” the observatory, but she had been at the party outside with the bonfire. Mathias didn’t know she was there—he spent most of that night in his dorm, catching up on lost hours of sleep. They were born one year apart from each other, but Matt often treated her in a way that was like a very strict big brother, more than her oldest brother Luka had treated her. Even though Kekoa wouldn’t drink alcohol or do drugs like another teenager in a cliche high school movie, he would probably still have a cow about being at an unauthorized party that could get her in trouble with the school or her dad.

The room suddenly felt a bit too crowded for her liking, and she wasn’t normally claustrophobic. Maybe just the guilt of being at the party made her want to leave. Restlessness was another reason since the announcement speech was tedious. She just wanted this assembly thing to end soon, so she could get food to calm her first-day-of-school mild jitters.

 

[lion.]

Ronnie "Blue Nile" Kane​

Echo Evans should’ve kept her distance.

Ronnie Kane was the scourge of bad habits and addiction, and Echo Evans was too late to save. He was here in advance- preliminarily in the crowd of heads like a ghost in attendance, then steering for a haunt of a hunt in the back. In his introspective, Aldous money-bagging criminal Longford was one cunning man. Grey-suited, loud and chock-full of power, no one would point a barrel of gun at someone who pinned a school to his name, more so after they heard him orate like he founded the language of latin.

Pathetic hider.

Ronnie Kane furled the sleeves to his uniform up his skeletal arms, magnifying eyes of winter’s finest hue questing under a slightly tucked chin. He always imagined his clients. His last one had been a hollow-faced, ginger, and a stressed pianist from theater. Taking a stab at who Echo Evans was however, more of a psychic’s career, and Ronnie Kane was no psychic. He didn’t read futures. He made them. Still, Echo sketched to his mind as a thin, triangular-faced brunette with blazing eyes of anxiety or anger, and yet among the strangers, there were only two in resemblances as to that and both were already his clients. What fun it was to be a popular therapist that solved problems with drugs. Ronnie Kane, on that account, had to search deeper beyond the traits. To play detective was hard, but not too hard when he’s played delinquent for so long. Any sign of Echo Evans was as evaporative as air, but it occurred to him that she’s been waiting all this while underneath the damp and humidity-free bleachers.

The scenery underneath the bleachers was as he remembered. Conditioned with air as ice, barely illuminated, dusty, and expansive. As for sounds, it creaked of odd metallic sounds that bounded off and about the walls. His eyes were accustomed to the dull lighting; he lived for the nightlife afterall. Pocketing his hands, he ambled softer than a camouflaged python, until he was convinced to identify another shadow. Markedly, it was a girl with at least mid-length hair that was contoured out in waves.

“New girl. You got some nerve,” he purred, his voice lifted in a silky echo, “I admit, Echo Evans, you’ve got me with questions.”

Stepping over planks of metal that were nailed to the ground, he eventually made it proximate towards her. The most loudest question of all that invaded his mind was: why? Appearances, he’s learned, gave people’s synopsis away to a degree, and he couldn’t put a finger behind hers.

Business was his only commitment, and hence his hands fished into his pockets for a small ziplock of contraband being heroin. He nearly gave it to her only to snap his wrist back for a spare of a moment. With a jacked-up smirk, he couldn’t restrain himself from asking, “What is it? Cheating boyfriend? Girlfriend? Parents?”

Elf_Ruler

 

[lion.]

Zachary Lee​

“You know, Anderson,” Zach lashed in a delivery of a voice that was brittle and captive in concrete, “You’re right. But, also very wrong because my god damn attention has been on the girl I’ve wronged all day today.”

Bandages kept wounds quiet, but that was the exact paradox of what he had to do. Toweling away fresh sanguine by the scabrous brush of his sleeve, he abandoned the music room. Walking alone to Zachary Lee was a cruel move by karma. Like an outsider to his own angle of vision, he saw groups of friends in dilatory motion. A girl’s face snapped up through the cover of a book, smiling bright enough to light a whole night from dusk to dawn at a snide, funny comment. The guy beside her elbowed her just in tow before getting an arm toned around his neck from another boy on the side. That had been Zach in the years past. On the other end of a doorframe, two passerbys gave him mystifying looks, borderlining in pity and souring in sympathy at his cut lip and the bruising just above his cheekbones. They knew him, and he was more than certain they wouldn’t be keeping their mouths closed. He could already imagine hearing them sounding through the bathroom stalls of where they chapped their lips down with gloss. “Zachary Lee,” they would sing-song in gossip, “Just lost a fight to Eli.”

He had been to this auditorium a thousand times, knew the spacing from the nailed floor to the mopped stage, but never had he felt more lost. Personally, Zach wasn’t a man of believing exaggeration, but how slim were the chances that Tatum Browne was looking for him just as much as he was looking for her? Too rare, and yet, he found her just as she found him; a multuous blend of contradiction and tension between misty blues and dense brown. Unyielding from the direction of her, he maneuvered through a couple of listeners, barely processing Longford’s speech.

Now or never.

“Tate,” he exhaled from a breath his lungs were holding back, side-glancing at her, then to Liz Bishop who was shuffled to the opposite side of Tatum.

Who cares if Bishop listens? Certainly not, Zachary Lee, right?

“No one cares about you,” he mentioned in a murmured vibration, eyes flickering to Aldous Longford whom with his steely voice continued to proceed over the beginnings of a new year, “Not one real person I know anyways…”

“And I think that’s bullshit,” he continued, tapping his foot in an angst form of emotion, “I think it’s bullshit that even after being completely drunk, you went to check on a guy and all he did was call you a spoiled, bribing, little brat and a whore.”

“Forgive me, Tatum Browne,” he enunciated gently, “But, I want to care about you because I think you are the only one who cares about me.”

Elf_Ruler

 

[Elf_Ruler]

Echo had been in her own little world when she heard her name. Her real name. She looked at the male in front of her, “It’s Faye, not Echo.” She corrected him quickly she wasn’t about to be called Echo by anyone. She hadn’t even quite processed what he said about having questions about her, her mind was still reeling from him using her name. She looked at the small baggie he was about to hand her, and she was confused as to what he was offering before he let his hand snap back away from her. Her eyes looked back at his face and the smirk that had developed on his face. And then there was his question, her eyes had scrunched in confusion for only a split second as she understood what he was asking.

She let her confusion turn into a smirk of her own. She quickly reached for the baggie of substance sliding it out of Ronnie’s fingers, “Wouldn’t you like to know. Guess I’ll just stay a mystery for you.” She wasn’t about to tell him all this was just to spite her cousin and she wasn’t really going to actually do the drugs especially when she wasn’t even sure what contraband he had given her. She slid the baggie into her pocket not letting her eyes move away from Ronnie, “You’ll have to figure out my mystery on your own. You. You look like you live for adventure, you live to do bad, your life probably not the worst, probably not the best, but scamming rick kids out of their money is a thrill to you.” Echo had nothing bad in her life, but she wanted thrills, she wanted to step outside of every comfort zone she had and if buying drugs was part of that then so be it. Not like Ronnie had to know she wasn’t actually doing them. She could let him believe it though.

lion.
--

Tatum had been listening in to Lameford before she heard the voice of the male who had hurt her in such a short time span. Her eyes had narrowed at him and she looked back at Liz, she felt bad to drag someone else into listening to her drama. She was shocked that Zach was apologizing he wasn’t quite known to apologize to anyone. His ego was bigger than his head, or really bigger than anything he had. So, she knew he must’ve felt at least a little bad especially after his flower stunt had failed and she wound up taking them to Mildred before she had actually met up with Colby. So now, here he was standing not even a few feet away asking for her forgiveness. Her arms were crossed, and she knew she didn’t really want to discuss anything in front of Liz, “Liz, I’m sorry. I’ll be back so don’t let anyone take my seat.” Tatum got up and pulled Zach behind her and moved closer to the doors, in case she needed an escape route. Her eyes were locked on Zach, “What’s your deal? You don’t care about me, or my feelings. I thought we were friends at least but you proved me wrong so what’s the deal Zachary? You upset some girl isn’t falling at your feet and kissing the ground you walk on?” Tatum cared more than she wanted to admit, and she wasn’t going to let Zach off easily.

She didn’t even want to let him talk, “You know, I may be spoiled and a bitch, and have no one I’m close to care about me, but I at least could see you were angry. And what did you do Zachary? You decided that calling me names and pushing me away was the right choice. So, congrats you got what you wanted? So, what can I do for the almighty Zachary? Did you just need a quick hookup? Because I’m easy?” Tatum was going to lay it hard on him, she had heard every rumor about her, and she never let them get to her, but Zach, his words got to her. Maybe because she had thought they were close, and maybe she thought she had found someone who cared about her even if only a little. She didn’t need love from him, she was okay with not dating him, but she wanted to be considered his friend and someone she could confide in. Now, now she really wasn’t sure. Her other “friends” weren’t really friends but Zach she had considered one of her best and closest friends and his words had broken her and shattered a small part of her. He had said what she knew most others said behind her back and all the words did was replay, especially after her fight with Colby. Tatum really needed to find a good friend who cared but at Silver Oak that wasn’t always an easy task.

PenguinFox lion.

 

[Dazzle]

Harper Anderson

Harper's brain was fuzzy, the whole weekend had been a mess and Monday hadn't made it any better. Harper's plan of trying to find some clarity, some reason on, why. Why Noah would go after her boyfriend, how Chase could do that to her. Wondering what Chase was going through, had he always had these thoughts? Or did Noah kiss him out of nowhere. From what Harper saw, she really couldn't believe it was the latter.

And after watching Ryder come out of the woods literally, Harper was even more confused than she had originally been. Ryder had socked Noah a new one, and he never had a chance. And for some reason, she felt bad for him. Harper didn't understand it, she should of hated Noah, she should of been happy when Ryder gave him what he deserved.

But-

He didn't deserve it, at least Harper didn't feel like he did. She didn't want to see him on the ground like that, hurt and the skin under his eye changed almost immediately.

Ryder didn't stay around long after, he was there and gone just like that. Harper wanted to leave but her feet wouldn't move, she didn't have it in her to leave him alone on the ground like that. She crossed her arms and swallowed, "What did you need to tell me Noah." She tucked a loose hair that had escaped from her ponytail behind her ear.

Harper didn't think that her heart could break even more than it already had. But, it did, when Noah told her why he had come to find her. He apologized profusely and took all the blame, not that Harper believed him. And that was when he told her that he had come to tell her he was leaving. She felt her heart drop in her stomach, but she couldn't stay, she still couldn't forgive him. Harper didn't want Noah to leave because of her, but she couldn't make him stay either.

----

Harper felt numb walking into the auditorium, everything had changed. Her best friend was leaving before the school year could even start, her and Chase had pretty much broken up, even if they hadn't officially made the call.

Harper walked steadily into the auditorium, standing at the back leaning against the wall. Harper was in her own world as Longford spoke about the problems that the students had already caused in their first week of being back. Harper closed her eyes leaning her head back against the wall, she felt like she would never truly get a break or find any true happiness. She had to let that go, she knew she couldn't have high expectations for anyone. She would always end up hurt.

She had to put on a brave face, she was good at that, faking happiness. Or maybe not that so much, she was just good at not letting anyone in.

Harper looked up at the stage as Longford finished his speech. Harper knew she had to make herself look busy before someone decided to come talk to her. She knew someone was bound to want to, want to talk about the party or Longfords speech and she just wasn't in the mood for it. Her eyes scanned across the crowd as she caught sight of Keoka, at least Keoka wouldn't pester her with questions and no one else would bother her.

She rocked herself off the back wall stepping out and down one of the aisles to make it over to Keoka.

"Hey!" She smiled at her roommate. "How was your first day of classes?" Harper crossed her arms in an attempt to look more relaxed. "Do you know what happened in the science lab?" Harper raised an eyebrow. She wasn't the least bit surprised that destruction had happened, for the first time ever she was in the center of some of it.

Harper wondered if she should try to find Zach and tell him that Noah was leaving, she still didn't know what to make of Zach being so upset over Noah and Chase, he had almost seemed more upset than her. She wasn't sure if Zach would be happy Noah was leaving or just as angry that he was running away from something he started. Even though Harper wasn't entirely sure she felt that way herself.

Interactions: 0k_mang0 Mentions: mogy a z u l a lion.​

 

[LittleWolfie]

Beckett Gallo


So far for Beck, Murder Monday had been rather uneventful. She'd spent a bit of time hanging around the JV diamond before heading over the the old golf course and enjoying the legacy of the recently departed seniors. It was good fun to be honest, although it would definitely have been better with friends, and some alcohol, and also a little bit of weed. Still, it killed the morning hours until it was time for the whole welcome back announcement/assembly crap that they all had to suffer through every year.

Wandering into the assembly hall it was straight up the well trodden stairs to the balcony level where she always ended up for these sorts of things. There were seats on the balcony level but only a single row so normally it was just juniors and seniors up there leaning on the railing without bothering to sit down. It was like a ready made peanut gallery for whatever was going on on the stage which, when you think about it, is a really stupid idea on the part of the tyrannical Longford, especially in a private school full of kids who can do what they want and pretty much always get away with it.

Now Beck was just waiting for Zach to join her in their usual spot while listening to Longford spout some bull about punishing the people from the party - like that was ever gonna happen.

Mentions: Dazzle (Zach)​

 

[0k_mang0]

kekoa

with: Harper Dazzle​

Kekoa greeted Harper with a smile that looked almost relieved. Thank goodness her roommate showed up to distract her from her own thoughts. All she could say about the first day classes went as well as any classes on the first day of school could go so far.

“As for the science lab,” Kekoa said, “I heard rumors that it’s an experiment or prank gone wrong, or a student possibly being an undercover spy that created a distraction. I’m pretty sure Matt was being very sarcastic about the latter.” Most of the time, it was hard to tell if her brother was joking. His humor can be very subtle or something like that.

“Oh, speaking of which, this is my second older brother Matt—and there he goes.” Mathias, who didn’t give another look at his sister, began heading to the exit after Longford finished his speech. It wouldn’t be any use if Kekoa called out to him when he had earphones on. “He’s probably going to lunch. Don’t mind him. He’s just a bit shy sometimes... well, most of the time. But he’s not that bad. Anyway, I thought you’d skip the school announcement. Wouldn’t blame you if you did. The headmaster guy is, uh, definitely something.” She couldn’t think of a less mean way to put it. “So, Harper... are you feeling a little better now?”


colby

Tatum Elf_Ruler​

Thanks to his campus tour pass tag hanging around his neck, nobody bothered him during morning class hours. The first place Colby went to was the Sleeping Hedgehog Cafe. He didn’t stay there very long. After buying one cup of chamomile tea, he headed straight to his dorm room to retrieve a small flask of gin from his suitcase and wandered in the student lounge building nearby. He mostly spent his time sitting in front of a window with a nice peaceful view of Lake Sycamore, sipping his chamomile tea mixed with gin like an old man—ironically, his grandfather had done something like this a few times. It might be a strange combination to others, but it helped him relax. He definitely needed it after that argument with Tatum.

Once he started feeling calm from the chamomile and gin, Colby realized how much of an idiot he’s been. He was an idiot for not telling Tatum about his relationship with Elena sooner. And a jerk for leaving her with those harsh words. He still couldn’t believe he said those things to her and while sober, too. He was a stupid jerk, especially after unintentionally bringing up Brayden. In a way, Tatum was right: Colby knew nothing about her. He knew a few facts like her wish for a baby brother, but maybe knowing them didn’t really matter as much as he’d assumed. Why should it matter that he remembered that she liked Oreo cookies? A lot of people like them.

Apologize, that’s what he decided while on his way to the auditorium. He needed to apologize to her for, well, pretty much everything. And he was figuring out how to as he tried searching for her in the crowd, paying little to no attention to Headmaster Longford’s annoying voice. Colby knew Tatum was already dealing with crap with Zachary Lee and he shouldn’t have dumped more on her on the first day of school.

Why did this school have to have so many blondes? Ideally, Colby wanted to find Tatum and apologize before going to the cafeteria for lunch. He did promise Elena that he would look for her there later.

 

[Dazzle]

Graham Moore

Once Graham had retrieved his phone, the rest of his day leading up to the assembly. He went from class to class, this time being a bit more discrete about his phone usage. He of course apologized over a hundred times to Meera about loosing his phone. She was so sweet about it, and she told him about her new friend. Graham wasn't exactly sure that Meera should of considered Hayden a friend, but Meera was so kind he was sure that it would all work out for the better. He swiped out of a text from Stu, reminding him that he signed up to help with the announcements in the auditorium that afternoon. Graham may have forgotten his promise to Stu and made plans with Meera, and he couldn't cancel on her

Graham took a middle seat in the middle of the auditorium, the only two seats he could find together after arriving late. Graham swung his backpack off and placed it in the seat beside him, before plopping himself down into his own seat.

Graham kept an eye out for Meera as Mr. Longford started his speech. Graham sunk down into his seat as Longford started to talk about the chaos Graham had caused that morning. Thankfully he didn't name any names, Graham would of felt terrible if Madi or Red had gotten blamed for the problems he caused. And Graham really didn't feel like being a target for the rest of the day.

Graham tried to remind himself that what he had done was nothing in comparison to all of the trouble that most of the students their caused on a daily basis. At least he hadn't actually set fire to the lab, which he was sure had happened at one point. Whether it was purposeful or not.

Graham sat up quickly when he saw Meera approaching and he could feel himself melt as she floated across the auditorium. She looked like a lost angel, quickly Graham stood up waving her over. "Meera!" He stumbled over his own feet as he stood up quickly. He watched her eyes light up and her pace quicken to join him at the seats he had save. "H-hi." He rubbed the back of his neck shyly. Texting was so much easier, he could think about what he was going to say before hitting send, here in person there was no takesy backsies.

Graham reached forward for a moment as to hug Meera, but quickly changed his mind and stuck his hands in his back pockets. "H-how was your first day." He smiled ever so slightly.

Interactions: lion. (meera) Mentions: LittleWolfie (madi) lion. (red) Dede (stu)​

 

[Dazzle]

Zach Levine

Zach's tour had gone fairly okay, it ended well and he hadn't gotten the kid or himself lost. Zach may have been in his forth year at Silver Oaks but he still was constantly getting lost. Granted, that may have had something to do with the fact that Zach was never paying much attention. Zach felt like he had other things to focus on, more important things. Zach's focuses included, football, lacrosse, girls and partying. Zach didn't want to focus on school work, anytime he was missing he could be found in the gym or playing some sport with friends out on the common.

Most teachers assumed that Zach was, really, really stupid. That Zach was brought in just because he was good at sports, but that wasn't the case. At one point Zach had straight A's, academics actually came really easily to him. Almost as easily as sports, it was kinda annoying how he didn't have to really try to understand material. But, because of his lack of motivation, Zach decided to stop trying all together. He didn't show up for class, he never turned in any homework, so even if he happened to do well on the test, the teachers never believed him so he must have cheated. Even if they believed he knew the information, a B+ or A on the test was never enough to pull up his grades passed a D, possibly a C if the teacher felt bad for him.

Zach had to change all of that this year, if he was to graduate or even get accepted to colleges. He had always been banking on his athletics, sure that he would get in on an athletic scholarship alone. Silver Oaks had foraged grades before, they could do it again to get his ass out of there, right? They didn't want him to repeat his senior year, he would just cost them more money in the end to keep him in.

But, Zach's advisor had warned him about continuing to flunk all his classes and coach had said if he didn't bring up his grades this term, he was going to be benched. Zach rolled his eyes in the moment, but quickly regretted his decision as coach Alo had made him drop and give him 100 push-ups. Zach quickly realized that Alo would not be the coach to give in, and he was going to push the team hard this year.

Zach split from Sully once they made it to the auditorium, he went up the back stairs after promising to meet Beck. Only the juniors and seniors really knew about the stairs behind the stage to the nosebleeds. The students tended to use the higher ground to torment the younger students. Usually throwing balls of paper down, and the occasional water balloon.

Zach made it to the top, only slightly out of of breath, he was definitely a bit more out of shape than he remembered himself being. Likely to the fact that when he wasn't on a team, he wasn't as focused on working out and keeping up with his regiment. Zach was extremely competitively driven, so whenever he wasn't on a team or working towards a goal, working out fell of his radar ever so slightly. Zach would still run almost daily, but he was more likely to be found at the beach than at the gym.

Zach saw the small blonde leaning over the railing, watching Lameford drown on and own about the chaos that had already started off the school year. "It's only bound to get worse from here." Zach smirked bumping his shoulder into Beck, as he leaned down on the railing beside her.

"How are you Blondie? Good summer?" Zach hadn't talked much to Beck over the summer, just a bit here and there but she was still apart of his friend group at the end day and he considered her a friend even if they weren't that close. He rolled his eyes as Lameford continued to talk. "Does he ever stop? We all know he isn't going to do anything about it. That's how he makes his money, parents paying him to keep his mouth shut." He turned his chest to face Beck.

"Did you find the axe throwing set again? I can't believe that they haven't cleaned that up from the seniors..." Zach thought about it for a moment. "Actually, I can, the faculty is lazy." He laughed lightly.

Interactions: LittleWolfie (beck) Mentions: NightMovez (sully)​

Harper Anderson

 

[Kaidu]

Attila "Sapphire" Holtz

"You better get good grades this year little boy, that's what we deserve"​

Gunter's, his father, words were still running in his mind like a bad nightmare he should be ashamed for but he was more angry than ashamed. Attila rarely felt shame in his actions and last year was a choice in his mind, not a path he has fallen. He and his father had a conflict about it and obviously Gunter came out victorious since he paid for everything. "He always does anyways." He spoke to himself in his thoughts as he tightened his grip on his backpack. He was walking amongst other students, trying to reach back where the fiery red witch known as Carter was. Everytime he brushed past someone, he excused himself briefly under his breath and flashed a short, not lasting smile towards ground. Assemblies were always crowded and this one was no exception.

When he finally made it to her, he stood besides her and focused his glare towards front where the speech was being made. He didn't understand why teachers always wanted to make a dramatic speech. It didn't ring any bells in students or moved them in some way. It was another school year, another agonising year of this school and he was done. "Hey Carter." He said while keeping his eyes on the speaker. "How is it going for you? Long time no see, right..." His German accent was giving away who he was immediately, you could understand it was him at instant if you ever heard that accent before. Holtz scratched his itching jawline. His beard was coming out again, piercing through skin. He had forgotten to shave, therefore it was itching.

Attila looked at her to assess what her answer would be for what he was about to say. In the end she was still a Junior but one of the best juniors out there. She always had best grades and even taking classes from senior year. "I wanted to ask you something." His light eyes met her hazel questioning ones and he scratched his jawline again, this time out of stress. Holtz haven't been talking to her for a long time and he kind of felt like lost that friendly touch between them.

Dazzle

 

[Dede]

Stu

Stu had had a perfectly lethargic first half day of school. His first few classes were nothing to write home about. English was a snoozefest, even the teacher struggled to stay awake. In Maths he at least enjoyed a nice view of the lake. It wasn’t often that he had his classes moved to Meyer Hall. But even after staring at the lake for an hour he found no monster that Graham was always talking about.

At least he didn’t get tripped or punched or kicked. That in itself was an accomplishment. He remembered fondly his first ever yeeting. It was the first day of school, a crisp sunny day. He was a bright-eyed boy with many hopes and dreams, floating about in the corridor trying to make friends. Then some senior smelling fresh blood made a bowling ball out of him and tossed him into a bunch of chairs. A clean strike.

If he had a penny for every yeeting he had endured he would be a very rich boy indeed. Girls would flock to him and he would be like the male version of Aeliana Longford. Except a little less bitchy. He’d walk around school like a God amongst men. Everyone would bend to his will. As matters stood they only bent over laughing when they saw him in that stupid bear costume. That God awful costume.

Stu hoped he would see less violence now that Vered had taken up the mantle as the school’s official fluffy punching bag. If only that boy would decide to show up. It was already lunch time. He was supposed to be here ages ago. Maybe he got lost down one of Silver Oak’s winding paths. Longford was already wrapping up his speech and the bear was supposed to appear next.

The last thing Stu needed was for Vered to fail as the mascot. In fact he took several measures to stop that from happening. He texted an S.O.S. message to Graham to help with getting Vered ready to go on stage. There was a big fat ‘Read’ notification after the message he sent him, so where the hell was he?

Graham had been awfully quiet of late. He was usually quick answering messages. Since it was the first day of school he was expecting Graham to be whining a lot in his inbox. But nothing. Zilch. All quiet on the Graham Front.

Stu lingered back stage, glancing at his watch every so often, walking aimless circles of diminishing circumferences until he nearly walked into himself. That would have been quite a sight to see.

Dazzle lion. LittleWolfie Twin Fantasy

 

[Dazzle]

Harper Anderson


Harper shrugged as Matt diapered into the crowd. She understood being shy, had she not made the friends she did in her sophomore year, all thanks to Noah, she likely wouldn't have ever left the library. But, maybe that would of been better. Everything was so different now, she hated that she couldn't take her mind off of it. She wanted to forget Chase and Noah, and all that had happened, but it was a lot harder than she thought. "Its okay. I get it." She smiled.

"Undercover spy seems like the most plausible option." She laughed, she was almost one hundred percent certain that it was more likely a prank than anything else. People were always causing trouble, especially on the first day of school, you couldn't expect much else. "I'm starting to feel a lot better, thank you." Harper could tell Kekoa was a genuine person. She actually seemed to care about Harper when they barely knew each other. Of course Harper appreciated that, she just wasn't very used to it.

Harper wasn't feeling a lot better, but she wasn't going to continue to let it weigh on her. She wasn't going to let it ruin her year either, even though all she wanted to do is hide under her weighted blanket. "Plus, how could I miss Longford's wonderful speech." She rolled her eyes. "Its the exact same as last year, I'm not sure how he gets so many upperclassman to even show up."

"Do you have lunch plans? Want to grab something to eat when this is all over?" Harper pointed towards the auditorium doors, crossing her arms over her chest. At least she had stopped cracking her fingers, she was trying to break that habit. She dropped her hands backk to her side to try to avoid looking as closed off, but she quickly picked them back up to wrap herself up. Just the slight pressure on her chest kept her feeling more relaxed.

Interactions: 0k_mang0​

 

[PenguinFox]

For the most part Ian was laying low on the first day of classes. He got the distinct feeling that there was no need to look for trouble at Silver Oaks. No, rest assured; trouble would find you. So rather than make things worse and antagonize fate, Ian's plan was to just blend in and be a background character. Not necessarily an outcast, but a face in the crowd. Being related to Liz was bound to draw enough attention as is. Both good and bad attention. Perhaps one day he would go out and try to make friends with everyone like he used to do but for now he would stick to a small group of friends as much as possible.

Ian was already friends with, and roommates with Colby, and the two that were next door also seemed like decent dudes to hang out with. Three solid friends seemed like a good place to start. Factoring the other people he was really only acquainted with Ian felt he was in a good place to be to be under the radar, but not a social pariah.

Towards the end of the day there was some kind of welcoming announcement to be made. Liz had said that Ian probably would've been fine skipping it like she typically did but his cousin was not exactly the best role model. Sure there were plenty of people who thought that she was cool, but her mother often received voicemails because of the young girls 'adventures'. Ian didn't really want to add to his aunt's stress by having double the voicemails about troublesome youths.

Green eyes scanned the crowd, almost desperately, searching for a familiar face to sit next to. Hell, Ian would've even settled for Liz and risked her wrath. His cousin was fine with his presence as long as it was limited. That was made very clear by her. "Don't be a clinger. Nobody likes clingers, especially me." she had said. Finally a small piece of sanctuary was spotted amongst the sea of unfamiliarity. Ian's eyes landed on Hayden, one of his neighbors. They had met at some point over the weekend when Ian was playing guitar. Hayden must have heard it through the wall and had come over to see who it was. They talked about music for a bit and joked around. They had the makings of a friendship starting, so Ian would gladly sit next to him for the welcoming ceremony.

Slipping his way through the crowd Ian made his way over to Hayden and sat down. "This spot taken?" His eyes glanced to the stage where the headmaster was beginning the speech. Ian had heard welcoming speeches all day from teachers so he was only barely listening to this same tired story. The only thing that really sparked his interest was the so called punishment for whoever was at the party. Thinking back to the faces he saw there Ian was pretty confident that punishments were not in fact going to be dealt out. Sure Ian was new here, but the student body seemed to be comprised of two types of people; those who could get away with whatever they wanted for various reasons, and those who wouldn't even dream of making trouble. Either way, the Evans boy was not concerned.

Ian's attention turned back to his neighbor and fellow musician. He seemed at least somewhat in the know of who was who in the social hierarchy of this school. Definitely more so than himself at least. That kind of knowledge would be incredibly helpful. Survival in social situations was all about knowing everyone's place in the food chain, especially your own. "So given that you've been here longer than me, what are the cliques like here? Who should I avoid? I'm not exactly fond of the idea of stumbling through social situations blind. Preferably avoiding problems at all cost y'know?" Dazzle

 

[KingofAesir]

"Don't worry about it." Sawyer grinned at Grace's offer to pay her back. It was only a dollar and Sawyer had a feeling she would give Grace a lot more without expecting anything in return. Not that she would just give up all her money...or maybe she would, too early to tell anyway. After all, hadn't she been reminded by her very reassuring pal Zach that there was a possibility that she was straight? Sawyer had spent so long getting exactly what she wanted when she wanted it that she had almost forgotten straight girls existed. That probably wasn't very good. Now that she thought about it, there had been a few that she was absolutely certain were straight and had come on to her so maybe she didn't have the gaydar that she thought she did. Or maybe she was just that hot. Sawyer would like to think it was the latter, in fact she would rather say that it was the latter. An inflated ego was better than a faulty gaydar. God, why was she being so fidgety about it anyway? Sawyer had never had the misfortune of hitting on a straight girl before, unless you counted Olivia Hendrix in the sixth grade and she didn't, so why would it fail her now? She decided in that moment that she could trust her instincts. After all, what did Zach Levine know about straight girls? Ha. Sawyer laughed silently at her own thoughts before turning her attention back to Grace.

With her attention phased back onto the girl in front of her, she noticed her glancing around nervously as if they had just robbed a bank. Sawyer grinned at her and pulled out a chair, plopping herself down backwards in it. Leaning her elbows on the back of the chair, she shrugged. She wasn't in a hurry, besides, she'd been caught in here at least a dozen times and had never gotten more than a slap on the wrist so she was sure it was fine. Sawyer had begun to think of herself as invincible to the reprimands that the staff could rain down on her head. Sawyer had been here since Freshman year and had only gotten detention twice. Every other time had been on game days and Coach Switzer had found a way to get her out of it. There had been many an occasion that the school most definitely could have expelled her or at the very least taken away her scholarship, but she was Switzer's super star and that woman would have caused quite the ruckus. So, the staff mostly left her alone. Switzer thought Sawyer could do no wrong and the staff were just tired of dealing with her. The privileges of being untouchable had most definitely gone to her head at this point.

"We'll be fine." Sawyer grinned mischievously, "This place is practically mine at this point." Just as Sawyer was getting comfortable the fire alarm, of all things that could possibly ruin this, blared across the building. Sawyer groaned rather loudly as she stood up from her chair. What idiot had caused this one? Fire alarms were a common occurrence in this place, whether it be a falsely pulled alarm or a random explsion, it wasn't uncommon.

"Well, I guess we have to cut this escapade short." Sawyer bowed dramatically to Grace, "I bid you ado, madam. I'm gonna go investigate whatever dumb-ass exploded something." With that, Sawyer was sweeping out of the room with a wink and a blown kiss the only things left in her wake.

Soap

 

[Soap]

Raven

Raven twiddled her thumbs as she listened to the teacher. He was insufferable. Raven was here to graduate. To get better opportunities in the future, to learn, and yet she had to sit here and watch this man ramble on about a journalist who was-- in her opinion, amazing. Natalia Spencer was fairly young, in her mid 20s and she tackles the odd yet-- bravest articles there is to write about. She doesn't care about the blacklash, politics, or whatever. She just... gets the truth out there.

It doesn't matter what topics she chooses to discuss, Natalia thinks it needs to be known and that's something Raven looks up to entirely. A girl had sat beside her and the brunette barely raised a brow at her, glancing at her before deciding to raise her hand. "Yes? Miss Rivera." He extended his hand towards her, silencing himself. "Literature and journalism. This is what the class is about, is it not?" The professor seemed confused, but gave her a nod for an answer. "I didn't accept a scholarship to hear your opinion on Natalia Spencer. It's not a debate class, and frankly, if it were, and you were up against me you'd lose." The entire class was silent and Raven wasn't about to look around, she knew all eyes were on her, the second she let herself hesitate was the moment she'd back down.

The teacher opened his mouth and she already knew what he was going to say.

Damn it.

--

He didn't decide to give her detention, perhaps he was afraid of being in the same room as Raven. But whatever school service she had to do, It was only the first class, but it was off to a great start. In her opinion? Helping someone with their homework or washing windows meant that she wouldn't have to listen him talk about someone who accomplished more in her 20 years instead of his fifty. The brunette took a seat in the auditorium, barely even paying attention the headmaster as he spoke.

Raven's just glad she didn't attend that party the other night. It's a good thing too. She probably would've been one of those people in the observatory. It was only when Raven had taken off her jacket, leaning into the girl beside her for merely a second was when she noticed it was the same girl who sat beside her in class. "Hey, you're in my class aren't you? I can't tell if it's just a coincidence or it's fate that keeps throwing us together." Raven definitely recognized her, maybe around campus, but she was a grade under her. She could've been in another class of hers, but Raven wasn't sure. "Did you enjoy the show today? Everyone else did apparently, I should get an award for best performance." She teased and teased before she realized that she didn't even know her name.

"Raven Rivera, inspiring journalist and debate queen to be." She held a hand out to the younger girl.

PenguinFox​

 

[0k_mang0]

kekoa

Harper Dazzle​

Kekoa couldn’t tell if Harper was telling the truth or not. What are the chances of someone admitting that they’re feeling better with 100% honesty? Her brother Matt might estimate that guess better, and Kekoa was sure enough to know he wasn’t always honest about his feelings either, about 50% of the time maybe. But what was she supposed to do about it? It’s not like she could magically force people to tell the complete truth.

“My lunch plans?” Kekoa mused on that thought for a few seconds. “Well... I heard the cafeteria serves cheesecake, and Matt promised he’ll save a slice for me when I get there later.” “Other than that, I don’t really have much to do,” she said. “We can eat lunch together if you want; my brother wouldn’t mind. But wouldn’t you wanna hang out with your friends? Not that I would mind if you do.”

Kekoa was sure that Harper and Flo were still on good terms with each other, but she wasn’t about the others, like Zach and Noah. She still didn’t know all the details since she rarely checked Twitter, but from what her pen-pal Colby had told her, there seem to be some feelings going on, as he had put it. Most likely strong negative feelings that were strong enough to make Zach give Colby an off-putting and disconcerting response. And after finding him in a fight in the music room earlier, Kekoa might be having a wary opinion about Zach. Regarding Noah, she wasn’t entirely sure. She did remember seeing him hanging out with Chase at the party, but she didn’t witness everything.

 

[KingofAesir]

There had been moments that day where Xavier had considered just packing up and blowing this run down garbage bin. Everywhere he turned, it felt like he was staring into the face of Phthisis himself. This place might as well be rotting away in front of his very eyes. Not to mention, the incessant presence of...those less fortunate than himself, of whom there was a particular boy he'd met that literally made him want to tear his eyes out of his head. Oedipus like wants aside, this place needed a serious pick me up. At least a PSA about taking care of the grounds and at most, a complete renovation. Honestly, if they'd ever let him, Xavier wouldn't mind doing some sort of renovations himself. Despite the physical activity aversion that his appearance and attitude put forward, Xavier was an artist and there was art to be found in walls and floors. Xavier had a deep fascination with renovation projects and had done more than his fair share of altering to his home back in New York. Even if they didn't let him, Xavier would be attempting to fix the abundance of stains and walls cracks in his dorm room. If he could get his hands on some paint and plaster, he could make it look a whole lot better. He doubted there would be much complaint from his roommate, the boy hadn't said much to his activities so far. Besides, complaints wouldn't stop him anyway. But before he went about trying to fix every crack in the place, he needed to get across what he was seeing happen to the rest of the student body.

Xavier made an appearance backstage with a semblance of an idea and slides of pictures of disgusting problems that ran rife around campus. He hadn't planned much but this wasn't a very hard thing to talk about. A simple assertion that this place needed to be taken care of better. A dig at the grounds keepers and staff at their lack of upkeep, and a call for action from the student body. Xavier doubted many of them would care, but he had a few ideas about how to get around that too. This place was a pig sty and he could only promise that it would get worse if no one did anything. The teeth of the campus were rotting and soon they would be only gums, and no one wanted dentures or, god forbid, have to go to a public school because the campus was unsafe. Subtle threats of public school would surely stir those less inclined to public establishments into action. Xavier couldn't imagine dirtying his portfolio among peasants even farther down the totem pole than the ones here. Imagine a master of his craft in a public high school art class. Xavier physically wretched at the thought. Lost in these rather unpleasant thoughts, Xavier slammed right into a smaller blonde figure before he could notice his existence. He held the boy at arms length by his shoulders and grinned when he came into full focus.

"Stuart." Xavier clapped Stu on the shoulder,"Are you to give a speech as well?"

Dede

 

[lion.]

Zachary Lee​

Getaways. In all likelihood, they've probably done it numerous times. On the underside of the drowning, creamsicle orange sun or subsequent to folding over in phases of tizzy laughs and cold glasses, they’ve had a habit of backing away into the outskirts of the night. In the midriff of the late evening, they’d escape, oftentimes hand in hand, being solely reserved to a band guitarred by the insects of the moon. There was ecstasy in those yawning ages, albeit the mosquitoes snatched love bites and the heat smoldered. In many dimensions, it was just enough that they were in each other’s reach. Per contrast to the past, this had been another type of getaway altogether. They were sleet and snow on this front, precipitating together in fallen, intermingling pieces and primitive consonants of themselves. To catch the frost? It was hard to do when his palms were so warm. But, to feel the same frigid gloss on the morose words departing her tongue? To hear her make the bane of her own existence in Lee’s history insignificant and more and more estranged with countering thought? That was more than enough for Zachary Lee to gently tap his index finger over her rubescent lips.

“I want you to stop talking,” made known, his opinion, “Not because I don’t care, Tatum Browne or because I don’t have the time, but because those words should’ve never should have had to come out of you in the first place. ”

Zachary Lee had made enough circles. His face was bruising. Vigorous knocks still resounded hard against the flat of his forehead. He was irretrievable earlier. Leave a message at the tone-for Zachary Lee was lost at sea, pummeling away in distractions and abstractions from the inevitable. Somehow, with all those notions, he still journeyed back to her. America’s girl, wasn’t she? Sometimes he boundlessly forgot that, but with the way she looked right now: fireworks in the hubs of brown irises, blonde hair tossed to her shoulder like a luminary that stepped out from a Californian photoshoot, he was reminded.

“I get it. You don’t like being sent sunflowers,” he persisted, giving a brief shake of his head, “And, you have every right to be mad at me. Sorry doesn’t cut it. I screwed up big time, Tate. I’m not here because you’re easy or you’re a quick hookup-”

His face gisted to the side, the only tenor of the complexity he was slaving against, coming from a gentle sigh. Whereas her eyes seem to be dredged into his, he couldn’t bring himself to seek back at the underlying prose of pain that was his creation. In place of that, his fingers weaved upwards to cup her cheek gently.

“I know it’s late,” he replied with hollow decisiveness, “ I know that night changed us. Where we stand, where we are. But, I also miss the girl who I winked to hours before the night changed to so bad. The girl who can pull off skinny jeans and flannels and what were you taking shots out of again-”

A void in his chest amplified as the memories bounced back. A trigger to his eyes that it was, and his gaze leveled back to her.

“I am selfish, Tatum. Always have been and always will be. I was selfish that night and I’m selfish right now, but I want you to know you have been on my mind the whole weekend. You would think I’d be done with that, but I’m still one selfish son of a bitch because-”

Because?

He could say it. He could say it without it going all wrong. He could say it without fearing.

His throat lodged with soreness.

“Because,” he owned in a brazen manner, “ I can’t seem to want to let you go.”

He didn’t know what overcame him, but his head dipped, and then he was kissing her. His arm subsided down to cinch her in by her waist, and when their lips touched, how to do it right and for how long fell between the cracks. He became lost in the current lacuna of their story, magnetizing back to the chronicles of the beginning, feeling as when their lips rectified against each other’s symmetry, as their first time. All of a sudden, the semblance of the hinting taste of cigarettes with a spartan hint of vanilla felt shared to Zach as did the versions of narration which his ignorant self overlooked.

Breaking free, he lifted her chin slightly.

“But, I am willing to let you go, Tate. I regret the things I said. For every word. I regret that some part of me expected you to get over the things I said so quickly. Take your time because that’s all I have. ”

Elf_Ruler

 

[Dazzle]

Carter Zigmond

Carter had been leaning against the back wall of the auditorium. Headphones blaring as to drown out the sounds of Lameford. Why she had really even bothered to show up was beyond her. If anything, she might of been interested in being the first to witness drama that she could in some way, insert herself into. But other than that, she was rather in her own world.

Her morning with Faye had been a little less than entertaining. The small fry was sweet and had that “goody too shoes” vibe to her. Even though she was willing to smoke with a stranger, she just seemed too happy to be in this world. Carter didn’t fully grasp how she ended up at Silver Oaks. Even so, she found the small blonde interesting. Carter kinda saw herself in Faye, had Carter’s parents actually paid attention to her growing up, or even showed the slightest bit of love and affection towards her.

She could of easily fallen asleep where she was standing, the assembly was slow and Carter was almost sure that Lameford was saying the same thing he said every year. Complaining about the party, yet again. Did he ever get bored? The teachers knew that the students always held the party out on the abandoned golf course, it was annual at this point. If they really wanted to stop it, they could. But, the teachers didn't actually care, they just had to pretend like they did.

Carter was so distracted by her phone that she didn't notice when someone approached her. Carter closed her eyes and shook her head every so slightly, she might of still been a bit more stoned than she originally realized. Carter looked the boy up and down before she responded. "Attila?" She screwed up her face. "Yea? That's kinda how summer vacations work." She rolled her eyes. Carter and Attila weren't really friends, she was a bit confused as to why he approached her. They never really talked, he was in the grade above her. The only time they ever crossed paths was when she was put in an upperclassman's class.

"What do you need?" She turned, leaning her shoulder against the wall to face Attila, crossing her arms. She could only guess at what he wanted from her.

Kaidu​

 

[0k_mang0]

colby

mention: Tatum Elf_Ruler , Zach lion. , Elena Soap​

Colby stuck to the left side. He hadn’t made it to the auditorium in time to find himself a seat, so he had to stand next to the wall with several other people who either couldn’t find a place to sit or just didn’t want to. That was fine by him because he could scan over the sea of students in front of him a little easier from one place. Then, he noticed someone who looked a bit like Tatum striding along the other side of the room closer to the doors and away from everyone else. Colby thought there was someone following behind her, but it was hard to tell from this far and with more people blocking his view. He moved past through the crowd, trying not to step on anyone’s toes and ignoring silent annoyed looks from politely squeezing in between some people huddled together.

Eventually, Colby got close enough to see her where she stopped and what she was doing.

How did Tatum describe him? A friend of sorts... And Colby had started to believe her, before he found her kissing her so-called “friend”. The fact that he wanted to believe that she and Zach were nothing more than friends made the small twist in his chest tighter than it should be. He didn’t understand why he felt that way. He knew he shouldn’t be feeling this way. With him already being with Elena (sort of), there was zero chance of him and Tatum ever happening, and Tatum had made it clear that she wasn’t interested in dating or feelings.

Silently backing away before he could be seen, pretending he didn’t just see something somehow stung him personally, Colby bumped into a couple of students behind him and nearly stumbled over a freshman who was tying his shoe. He quickly recovered his composure and whispered sorry to them. So, maybe his gin and chamomile had made him a partially buzzed, enough to seem a bit of a klutz to others but not make them suspect he drank anything strong. Hopefully. He didn’t add a lot of gin in his tea, though.

Colby took out his phone and pensively looked at Elena’s name in his contact list, wondering whether or not he should send a message to her. He didn’t know where she was or what she was doing. Was she going to do something for the announcement? He didn’t know either. He just wished this thing to end soon and go to lunch.

As he walked further away, quickly rubbing off whatever depressing look might have on his face but not replacing it with a fake smile either, Colby couldn’t stop himself from thinking that, perhaps Malibu Zach had deserved those bruises on his face, and he didn’t care how or why it’d happened. The thought of it made him feel slightly better, though.

 

[LittleWolfie]

Madi Lexington-Montgomery


The aftermath of Graham's little 'distraction' had Madeleine just a little bit shook up. Elephant foam was all well and good and harmless until it came into contact with one of the many bunsen burners in the room and caught fire. Well, she hoped whatever reason her lab partner had was a dang good one, especially since she could hear Longford talking about it on stage. Somehow the blonde had successfully made it through all of her other morning classes after the whole fire alarm evacuation was over but at the back of her mind she was still worried about getting in trouble for the incident.

Now it was assembly time and she was doing the same role she'd ended up with last year, fetching water for the head and being the backstage gofer. Madi didn't mind it though she had to admit. The only thing missing right now was the new mascot. With a hint of anxiety surrounding her, she approached Stuart and Xavier. "Sorry to interrupt boys, but Stu, do you happen to know where your replacement is?" Madi asked hopefully.

Interactions: Dede (Stu) KingofAesir (Xavier)
Mentions: Dazzle (Graham)​

 

[Soap]

Aeliana

Aeliana had did her best to keep her mind off of Colby. This is exactly why she should've took up a pact of some sort. Not to let romance get in the way of anything, she had been so busy thinking about how to make a relationship official instead of paying attention in class-- that's not Elena. Her mind was on someone else instead of her own success. Even though, to be fair Aeliana didn't need to study further, she was already the top of her class. It wasn't surprising, no. Longfords were geniuses beyond compare. She's not saying that she's a regular Steve Jobs or anything. But it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for someone to compare a Longford to him.

Elena checked the time on her watch and made her way backstage of the auditorium. Spotting Xaiver and stepping between him and Stuart, catching the last bit of conversation and raising an eyebrow. "I hope not, without the suit he's just a boy." Elena straightened her blazer and glanced over at Stu before tilting her head to one side. "No offense, of course." What? Mascots were there to entertain, to give a sense of school spirit. Without Stuart actually wearing the thing, now there wasn't a point to give a speech.

Xavier was an exception. Only god knows why, but he had a certain charm to him. When he wasn't all that annoying that is. "So, are you going to go throw on that costume or you both are just going to stand there looking like dimwits? We can't just let my uncle stall for the next ten minutes. What exactly are we waiting for?" Only noticing the blonde beside them and taking her words in a little too late.

"I'm sorry, replacement? Why did I know nothing about a replacement?"

Dede KingofAesir LittleWolfie
​

 

[Dede]

Stu

‘Me?’ Stu backed away from Xavier almost tripping over his own shoelaces. ‘No, I’m not giving a speech! Nuh-uh, no way!’

Elena had decided to pile up the misery. But Stu couldn’t wait to agree with her.

‘She’s right. Without the suit, I’m just a boy. A boy who belongs backstage. Let me just get out of your way. . .’

He turned toward Elena.

‘Why don’t you give a speech, Miss Aeliana Cosimia Longford?’

Woops, was it weird that he knew her full name? Well now the cat’s out of the bag – he may have looked up her profile, maybe once, maybe twice. Maybe it wasn't so weird, since she was so popular and whatnot.

Stu knew he would be a horrendous speech-giver, what with his stammering and ums and ems, and worst of all, MEERA COULD BE WATCHING. She could be, couldn’t she? What if she had a front row seat? She’d have a crystal clear, unobstructed view to his loserdom. It would be a complete disaster.

Speaking of losers, Madi was asking about Vered, already missing in action on his first job. He was off to a good start.

‘I told him to be here, I did. As a matter of fact, I told him to be here by—’

He glanced at the time on his phone. Oh God. He gave Vered the wrong time, didn’t he?

Stu cleared his throat. ‘I hope he didn’t get lost or get kidnapped or something. He’s new here. Maybe. . . maybe he’s. . . on his way right now!’

He scratched his head a little.

‘What if we played some music while they’re waiting?’

Whatever they did, Stu was determined not to be the mascot again this year. It was a slippery slope. Once he put that wretched costume on, who knew when it would come off again? Maybe never. He might even morph into the bear completely!

But time was not on his side. And when Longford finished his lecture on discipline, the whole assembly was impatiently wondering about the next act. Chants of 'Mascot! Mascot!' were already being directed toward the empty stage. Even Mr. Baker was coming toward them to ask what the delay was all about.

Elena, ever the repository of bright ideas, was suggesting he put on the costume instead of Vered. Wouldn't SHE like to be in the costume?

Stu squinted at her and said: ‘Do I really, really, have to?’

Meera could be in the audience, remember? Did she really, really have to see her potential boyfriend in a bear costume? The answer was no. No, she didn't.

‘Like really really really?’

He looked at Elena and Madi and Xavier in a manner of pleading. At least one of them had to pity him, right? Nope.

‘. . .Thank you guys. Thanks a lot.’

Pouting he went behind the back and wiggled his way into the costume, grumbling as he did. This new school year was starting to look a lot like the last year wasn’t it?

Soap LittleWolfie Dazzle KingofAesir lion.

 

[Elf_Ruler]

Tatum was quiet as Zachary had pressed his finger to her lips, sure she wanted to continue but he wasn’t being his typical arrogant self, instead he was being vulnerable? Tatum never got to see this side of him, well maybe once or twice but it was rare for her and so she had silenced herself and let him speak. Her eyes had lingered on the bruising that was beginning to color his face, she could only imagine how it must feel, seeing as she had gotten a black eye a couple times, but right now her heart yearned to comfort Zach but she couldn’t let herself become attached. Let herself be weak around him let him know that those strings were far from loose.

Tatum couldn’t help but think back to the night, when everything felt easier and lighter and yet here, they were both just fragments of themselves and trying to figure out how to navigate the beginning of the year on such a harsh tone. She was ready to say something to him, to try and comfort him when she felt his lips on hers.

The softness it wasn’t normal for him, there wasn’t the same urgency in him. She let herself enjoy the moment and enjoy the kiss. Sure, she didn’t enjoy being in the public eye but in this very moment Tatum felt like someone wanted her, and all she wanted was to be wanted. When he pulled away Tatum was silent. She was confused because could she let words and stolen kisses fix everything? She knew he wouldn’t want to be with her, at least not for the long haul and she was no better than him in that aspect.

She took a small step back, “Zach, every part of me wants you. Every single part of me and then my head tells me it’s a bad idea because you and I.” She pointed between the two of them, “We are only meant to be stolen kisses and stolen glances” Tatum closed her eyes, “but I’m just as selfish as you and I want those small moments, those fun times we shared. I want to go back to before words were said, I want the Zachary who I could talk to and the one who would tell me small details about himself in the cover of night.” Tatum wanted to feel wanted even in some small manner. To feel like someone just might care about her for something more than skin deep.

lion.

 

[Kaidu]

Attila Holtz​

"Well..." He started out weak and lost his eye contact immediately. She was a junior taking senior classes and being successful whereas he almost failed junior ones last year. Even though he kept himself that he wasn't ashamed, he was feeling shameful for asking such a thing from her. Attila rubbed his hands together and focused his eyes on her's again. "I was going to ask you if you could help me with my grades." A nervous chuckle followed by shrinking shoulders accompanied the words.

Attila's mind was complicated as his background was. He was pretty much rebellious as a teenager would be but he was also obeying his father for a reason he can't understand. Normally, he wouldn't ask anything from anyone especially about his grades. Even then, he wasn't thinking of asking anybody yet somehow he knew that Carter wouldn't turn him down on that. After asking it, he could only guess what her answer would be.

"I mean, you don't have to or anything!" He shaked his hands on air as a sign of backing off, even though it was too late for him to. "I'd understand if you don't want to." Attila didn't know how he would feel if she agreed to lecture him. He knew for sure that he didn't want others to find out about it, since that could lead to his embarrassment in his mind. Mind of highschool kids were cruel and they were looking for drama everywhere. Although he was exaggrating, he was also wishing that Carter would accept the offer. Because if she did, he wouldn't have to ask anybody and someone he knew would be lecturing him. He closed his eyes, let out a breath to take the pressure off. His expressions and always gave off his emotions and even if you didn't have a good set of social abilities, you would know that he was definitely having hard time.

"I'm asking this because my grades were terrifying at junior and yours..." He formed a brief smile before continuing. "Yours were so good that you got into some senior classes this year." Attila nodded, this time with a much firmer face expression. "I'm going to pay obviously, I can even get you some free tickets in front row for baseball matches. Snacks and beverages included of course."

Dazzle ​