Realistic or Modern Silver Oak Academy: Season 1

[a z u l a]

Chase

The two boys walked past the drink table, off into a corner far enough from the bonfire that no one could hear them. This wasn't the ideal place to do this, but Chase was tired of this, he wanted to get this conversation over with so that he could move on with his life and have a good senior year. He wished he could take back that stupid kiss and ignore the turmoil of feelings inside of them until they went away. It had been months of trying to figure everything out and he still had no clue how he felt or why he'd kissed Noah in the first place, no matter how much he tried to solve it or ignore it.

"Listen, I don't know why I did what I did, okay?" Chase started off, fumbling to find the right words to make things right. "Regardless of how either of us feels, we can't do this. It isn't fair to Harper. It would destroy our friends." He spoke quietly but adamantly. There was still a nagging thought in the back of Chase's mind, that maybe he should break up with Harper and investigate his feelings or whatever the hell was going on with him and Noah, but even if he did have feelings for Noah (which he certainly did not) they could never be anything. It would destroy Harper to see her two best friends together, and Zach would never forgive them.

"You can't tell her, or anyone else what happened." He reached forward to grab Noah's arm, they were so close now that he could smell the alcohol on his breath. This was the closest he'd been to Noah since their kiss last year, since then he'd been avoiding him and the rest of their friends. No matter what he did he couldn't get Noah off his mind, whether he was trying to study or practicing football their kiss kept playing on repeat in his mind. Without thinking he leaned in closer, pressing his lips against Noah's the way he'd been thinking about for months.

mogy​

 

[mogy]

Noah Stewart

​

Noah walked. He walked until the dance music faded into the background with the never-ending voices—until the contagious flirty laughs were nothing but slightly off vibrations in the somewhat chilly air of the night. Even the bonfire which lit up the party was now dominated by the light luminescing from the large moon, the only witness of the interaction between the two boys. With each determined step, Noah's clear-as-day thoughts about exploding at Chase for taking his first kiss became dim and shadowed comparable to the grass he walked on.

Stopping, taking a few seconds, and then turning around, Noah now had absolutely no idea what to say. He found himself at a loss for words as if they simply fell out of his head on the humid grass while he walked. Looking at Chase, he pulled his fingers in a twist, stretching and cracking them, anxious for the words the boy in front of him was about to say. One side of Noah wanted Chase to apologize, to say that the kiss was a mistake, while the other wanted him to say he wouldn't ignore what had happened. His moral compass screamed at him for betraying Harper while his heart just longed for more passionate kisses, for more closeness, more warmth.

Chase finally spoke after what felt like an eternity. While it did hurt to hear, Noah knew it was what had to be done. He wanted to say something, and he was trying to piece out a sentence in his head before saying it, but Chase beat him to it, continuing his own thought.

Chase was saying one thing, but his movements, the simple grab of Noah's arm that made Noah's breath short and shallow, well that was telling Noah something else, and he didn't know what to do, or if he even wanted to do anything. The smell of deodorant or perfume or whatever Chase smelled of was now more than easy to inhale, and even though it felt wrong, Noah didn't take a step back.

Not long after, even if it felt like another eternity, the two boys' lips were now together again, and it was obvious neither of them could deny that it felt good, even if one of them was supposedly 'straight' and actually had a girlfriend who was waiting for him back at the party. Of course, this was Noah's second kiss, and he probably sucked at it, but just feeling Chase's lips on his own, it was a good feeling. While he wouldn't do it if he had been sober, the shorter boy stepped even closer to the taller boy, putting the hand which wasn't in Chase's grip, on his shoulder.

Interactions: a z u l a (Chase)
Mentions: Dazzle (Harper)​

 

[KingofAesir]

Sawyer
Once, when Sawyer was little, her cousin had whacked her in the gut with one of those plastic baseball bats. It hadn't hurt that bad, they were five and five-year-olds typically didn't hit very hard, but it had knocked the wind out of her. Sawyer remembered that feeling very specifically for some reason. The little sucker had run off before Sawyer could hit him back and her dad stopped them from fighting. It was a betrayal that she would never forget and Owen would live with her wrath forever. But that feeling, she was experiencing it right now. Sawyer's breath had been knocked out of her and she was having a hard time catching it. It was a weird feeling. Not entirely unwelcome, but weird none the less. Her eyes hadn't left the blonde since she'd first spotted her. It was like she was entranced. What kind of magic was causing this? Sawyer shook her head and tried to draw her eyes away from the girl but she couldn't seem to force herself to do so. Jackie hadn't had time to answer her before Sawyer was taking off again. The girl was dancing with some random guy now, but that wasn't putting her off. Sawyer was completely focused on her and the guy might as well be invisible as far as she was concerned. Soon, the blue-eyed girl was slipping her jacket off her shoulders and revealing a simple tank top underneath. Sawyer found herself grinning as she made her way across the field with her head on a swivel. She was dazzling. Sawyer stopped for a moment, simply watching her move. It was like watching a river rush by, fluid, smooth. Graceful. There was something about her that stood out among the crowd of twenty some odd other girls dancing. She was like a shining beacon amid a sea of flickering lamps. None of them held a candle to her and Sawyer was determined to find out who she was. But first, she had to impress her.

"Tony!" Sawyer called out to a dark-haired boy bent over one of the speakers blasting music out over the hill. Tony turned toward her in a sweeping motion, brushing his long hair out of his face as he did so. The speakers belonged to him, he'd been DJing for the entire party. Tony was a quiet guy, okay a little more than quiet, he was mute. He only ever really showed up when music was needed. His playlists were legendary and he had a song for just about everything. Sawyer was only hoping that he had a microphone. If that angel of a girl wanted to dance, Sawyer would give her something to dance to. "Yo, you got a mic for that thing?" Tony simply nodded and waved for her to follow him. They walked a short distance and came upon a backpack that Tony rummaged through it until he procured a mic. He handed the thing to her and she took it with a smile.

"Bluetooth?" Sawyer questioned and received a nod as her answer, "Can you pull up a karaoke version of a song for me?" Another nod and Tony was on his phone typing away. Sawyer hadn't even told him a song but it seemed like Tony wasn't going to let her. A few seconds later he was showing her a song. Play with Fire. Sam Tinnesz. He looked at her with a questioning glance and Sawyer nodded, "Yeah, I know it." Sawyer grinned and turned away from Tony. She stood up on the speaker nearest to them. Tony stopped the song currently playing and Sawyer cleared her throat in the mic.

"Listen up ladies, gentlemen, and nerds." Once Sawyer was sure she had everyone's attention, she continued, "You know who I am and I'm about to treat you to a little live music. If you will, shut the fuck up and take a listen." Sawyer jumped down off the speaker and gestured to a very concerned looking Tony, "Kick it, Tony." On cue, the music began playing out over the speakers. Sawyer moved around her little space, pretending to be some rockstar. Her eyes never leaving blue ones as she performed her little showoff. She even managed to throw in a little wink. But, if anyone managed to figure out who she was looking at, her goal was clear. She just hoped it worked.

Soap​

 

[lion.]

Zachary Lee​

“Suspicious of me, Harper?” Zach commented in an oratory that was thick and busy, his outlook stalling on the farrago of bottles before him. Deluxe and cheap bottles were bundled on the table; they left no rescue for any drinkers. Several glisted with a translucent polish, and in the gaps of dispersion, many took on darker washed-down bay browns. He had the windy thought: they were just bottles. Plain bottles. But, another powerful thought rained louder at the back of his mind.

Why was he staring at them for so long then?

“Is this your way of checking that I’m not drugging you and stuffing you up in the musty, dusty cellar of Harrow House?” He warded off his wretched thoughts with a dogged, free-heel grin.

“But,” Zach defended, leisurely throwing his head of blond in her direction with an elevated sense of coy, “Even if I was, you would be surprised Harper. It is a pretty, comfy cellar.”

“Or-” Zachary Lee, vigorously corked open a bottle of vodka, tongue poking the inside of the cheek, “I’ve been wrong this whole time. You’re even worse.” Spouting a quarter of vodka into an empty cup, he switched to tequila. “Stealing Chase from me wasn’t enough, and now you want to know what is in this Carribean drink, so you can expose my recipe! You are a terrible-terrible-terrible criminal.”

For a criminal, she had hell of loose ends to tie up, and for someone tormenting her to be one with red tapes, he scarcely seemed like he meant it. Screwing and unscrewing through some intoxicative liquors, he finally lifted the cup to Harper.

“To unlikely hopes that you will wake up to a good hangover,” he fussed, before loosely measuring forward at the warbling notes of Play with Fire, “Come on. Let’s find Noah and Chase.”

When they were all together, they’d fling their drinks to those crafty speckles the universe named stars, sashay close by the breathing fire, and make the night feel almost so young, the roaring ‘20’s would rustle as an adversary. As time goes, so would Lee and he’d slip away to the American girl of anybody’s dream.

Tatum Browne.

Dazzle

 

[PenguinFox]

The bird Lulu was making conversation with eventually flitted off and the girl couldn't help but to sigh. It's not like she wasn't used to being furniture at a party, but it didn't ever make it any less disappointing. She adjusted her camera and her messenger bag straps on her neck so she could access her bag without knocking around her precious device. Tallulah Woods wasn't really a materialistic person, despite her mother's best efforts, but her camera was her most prized possession by far and nothing else even came close. She viewed her camera as an extension of her eyes, her soul, and the artistic parts of her mind. She could capture tiny moments in time, in the wondrous way she saw them and share them with others to see. The way some people smiled from seeing her artwork was the most exhilarating feeling she could imagine. Bringing that special kind of joy into the world by giving others a glimpse of the world she saw; well there wasn't anything better.

After a few moments of digging through the 'survival pouch', as Lulu liked to call that section of her bag, she pulled out a juice box. Once the straw was in she went back in and pulled out a handful of unsalted peanuts. She popped a few in her mouth and then tossed one a couple feet away in hopes of attracting something hungry. Soon enough her plan worked, though not as she thought it would. Something hungry came approaching, but it wasn't a small creature as she was expecting; it was Graham and Stu.

Lulu wouldn't really consider herself friends with Stu. They had met a few times before, and he seemed nice enough but they never really talked much. Last year Lulu did her best to talk as little as possible to people and for the most part kept to herself. Graham however, was someone she actually considered a friend. They met in dance and he didn't seem competitive or snobby about dance like others in their class, he was just passionate about it. That demeanor drew Lulu to him. He seemed like a safe person to get to know; someone who wouldn't belittle her interests, and she would always return that respect in kind. Sometimes Lulu wished she wasn't as shy last year so they could have been closer friends, perhaps even people that often hung out together. What were those called? Best friends? Hey, at least she had a friend right?

Fingers wiggled in a wave and a soft smile played at her lips. "Hello there." she said to the two as she gave them a curtsy. "Move in was fine I suppose, I admit I wasn't as loquacious as I probably should have been. How about you gentlemen, are you well? Are you two rooming together this year?" Lulu tossed the last few of her peanuts in the direction with the others. With more people in the area it was less likely something would show up, but perhaps there was something hungry enough to try and get at least a little close. Just close enough to photograph. "I probably have some more...let's say people appropriate foods somewhere in here if you two would like some sustenance." One of the many lessons Amalia Woods tried to instill in her daughter was one of hospitality. If Lulu couldn't be a strong woman who took what she wanted from the world then she'd have to be the perfect housewife to someone who could take what they wanted. Now; whenever she had her bag with her she compulsively offered something to those she interacted with.

"I have...trail mix, crackers, some more unsalted nuts but those are really more for animals...or an orange." Lulu looked between the two boys, almost expectantly. Being always prepared gave her the tendency to fall into a mom friend role. People were delicate, she knew that first hand, it was important to keep each other well. If she didn't look after people, who would? Spirits of nature could only guide so much, there needed to be a physical helping hand too. "I also have a bottle of water if you want something...besides what's being served." her eyes darted over to a group of kids drinking what was almost assuredly alcohol, a hint of worry crossing her face. Someone was definitely going to be hurt before the night was over. She hoped the woods would not play mischief on those who were intoxicated and easily taken advantage of. Dede Dazzle

 

[enigma2]

Andrea King
​

"Gotcha, give me like two minutes" she replied to the two, walking away from the bonfire and weaving in and out of sweaty bodies to the drinks table. She sent a few waves to students that she didn't really know nor associate with, but apparently they knew her so she had to entertain them. When she finally reached the drinks table, she took a quick glance at everything and decided to just pick out Kekoa's soda first. Andrea was having an internal battle on if she should get a soda, water, or some type of alcohol. The words "basketball season" were playing in her mind like they were on repeat, so she decided against any alcohol. Her eyes kept flickering between the bottles of water and cans of soda, until she ultimately decided against both and chose a middle option. Apple Juice. Call her a child, but she'd rather have a juice than water, and soda seemed like a faraway option to her.

Now she had to get a drink for Florence, and it seemed as if Andrea's mind was battling even harder than the soda wand water dilemma. "What the fuck am I supposed to get for her? Why couldn't she have just told me what she wanted" she mumbled, her eyes quickly going over every drink before she let out a sigh. Instead of wasting anymore time at the drinks table, Andrea decided to just get the girl a soda as well, and picked up the same type she chose for Kekoa. Her phone vibrated in her pocket just as she was about to leave the table, and after pulling it out she got somewhat carried away.

Fifteen minutes after what she told the two would be a quick two minute dash to the drinks table, Andrea was making her way back to them with their drink's in her hand. Her bottle of juice was clutched to her side under her armpit, but at least she made it back with all three drinks. Reminder to Andrea: do not stand around scrolling through your Instagram explore page, when you should be getting back to friend's. Almost doubling over on her way there, Andrea quickly shoved the two girls their drinks, and calmly pulled hers out from under her armpit.

"Pretty quick, eh?" she said, a small smirk on her face. After seeing the looks on their face's and Kekoa who was just pointing at a boy who she knew only as Colby, she slowly came to the realization the two were having a conversation that she stumbled into. "Oh, shit my fault. What're we talking about over here" she inquired, her eyes flickering between Kekoa and Colby who she had just been pointing at. "Wait do you have a crush on him? I think he's new, but I heard he's a junior and him and Tatum look pretty close" she stated, her mind already coming to the conclusion that she was crushing on an older guy.

When she saw the way their facial expressions changed at her theory, her confusion multiplied even more. "Unless I'm entirely wrong, someone tell me what I missed" she replied, with an eyebrow quirked up in confusion and her bottom lip jutted out in a pout. While her hand twisted the cap of her bottle of juice she looked at the two expectantly, still awaiting an explanation on what she had missed.

Interactions: Kekoa ( 0k_mang0 ), Florence ( Moonshadow )​

 

[Dazzle]

Harper Anderson

"Never" She smiled, "I think you put on this 'bad boy' front Zach, but you're really puppy dog." She laughed, elbowing him in the side, trying to get his attention back. Harper watched the way he stared at the bottles, Zach seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. She furrowed her eyebrows, as Zach seemed to be completely lost.

Harper rolled her eyes as Zach came back with his normal witty self. Maybe he was just an ass. Harper knew that if it wasn't for Noah and Chase, she wouldn't have ever approached Zach herself to find friendship. He wasn't someone she would of willingly chose to associate with, too full of himself. Harper continued to ignore his subtle joking threats of leaving her in the Harrow House. The idea of being anywhere near that haunted house gave her goosebumps. Harper tried her hardest to not believe in the supernatural, but it still gave her the creeps.

Harper's smile reappeared as he was began to bother her by making jokes that she was more comfortable with. "Not my fault I'm better company." She raised her eyebrows, pouting her bottom lip. "You should know better, I'm not looking to steal any of your recipes." She crossed her arms, shrugging her shoulders. A small laughed fell from her lips.

Harper took the drink from Zach, this time she was a little more confident in changing her behavior. She raised the plastic cup to her lips, this drink was sweeter than the last drink. It felt that much more dangerous, because she actually really liked the taste of this. She followed right behind Zach, catching up to him to walk in stride. "Where do you think they got off to?" She let her hands fall to her side, carry the cup beside herself. "Maybe we missed them on our way to the drink table?"

Harper knew that didn't make sense, they had followed almost right after. So where did Chase and Noah get off to?

Harper stumbled on a root, grabbing a hold of Zach's arm to balance. She started laughing at herself as she stood back up, letting go of Zach's arm. "Well I didn't spill my drink." She chuckled. Stopping for a moment to gather herself, she took another sip of the Caribbean drink Zach had made her.

Harper looked around their surroundings, they had made it to the outside of the large group of students surrounding the bonfire and the drinks. It felt so much quieter not being in the center of it all. Everything felt a lot clearer out away from the crowds too, almost too clear. Harper eyes caught sight of back of Chase's head and a wave of relief ran over her for a moment.

"Chase!" She perked up for a moment calling out his name, till she felt her heart drop. She wasn't even sure what she was seeing was real, she couldn't move. Her feet felt cemented to the ground, she didn't know whether she should run, or try to wake herself up because she must have been dreaming.

Harper felt like her world was closing around her, it was one thing to see Chase kissing someone else. It was another when she realized who he was kissing. Noah.

None of this made sense. Harper started to back up, she could feel her feet again. But she couldn't pull her eyes away. "I.. I gotta go." She rubbed the side of her head with her free hand. This wasn't real, this couldn't be real. Harper felt completely lost in this moment. She wanted to go back to her dorm, but she couldn't pull her eyes away, even as she started to turn away from what was happening in front of her. She was hoping this was a trick of her imagination, she had been drinking, right? Maybe she had a really low tolerance and she just didn't know it.

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

 

[Dede]

Stu

Stu pocketed the snack that Graham offered, which was inexplicably warm to the touch. As far as food goes, a sad-looking half melted granola bar was probably the last thing he craved. Meanwhile he couldn’t help but feel a little short-changed… Surely they deserved a more wholesome treat after dragging themselves all the way out here to the party – something they rarely ever did!

While Graham stuffed almonds and oats into his mouth, Stu persisted in his hopes of finding better feasting prospects, and he trained his eyes on the various tables as they walked. He should have known that Graham, pining for a dance, would lead him right into the beating heart of the crowd, rather than circumnavigating it like normal. ‘Christ, do we really have to—’ Stu made doubly sure not to step on anyone’s foot, but while scrutinising the floor he smashed his face into someone’s fat elbow and sent his nose adrift in his skull, where it swam all the way to P Sherman 42 Wallaby Way Sydney.

He was still seeing stars when they approached the girl, his mind hardly braced for the second impact that was Lulu’s word salad. She admits what? Loquacious what? Lulu ‘not as loquacious as she should have been’, what?! Impossible!!!

Stu gave himself a hard smack on the back of his head to throw his brain back into gear. A conversation with Lulu typically demanded all his brain cells – what little of them he possessed – to be in full operation.

‘No,’ he replied, when he could. ‘… We was supposed to go to Persimmons, but that didn’t happen… So he’s “rooming” with Eddie Murphy, and I’m “rooming” with Alexander the Great.’

He sighed, stuck his hands into his pockets, turned his head left and right restlessly like some kind of drug addict.

In the meantime Lulu started again. Appropriate. Sustenance. And so on and so forth.

Stu rubbed away the pain still at his nose while politely nodding along with whatever Lulu was saying. If she wasn’t Graham’s friend there was no chance of the two of them ever conversing, partly because he was too dumb to understand her, and partly because he suspected she was talking like that on purpose.

After a while Stu slowly drifted away, as politely and as discreetly as possible, either in search of more nachos – or perhaps a dictionary. The former he found to his great joy, on an empty table vacated by its earlier occupants, who had all drifted onto the dance floor. But when he peered down the bag he found it nearly empty. Well, it was better than nothing.

Now, now, as for decorum... *coughs* Since he didn’t want to get nacho dust on his sleeves, he opted to pour the contents into his mouth, but not before checking his surroundings to make sure no one was watching. The coast being clear, he tipped the bag and crunched away into nacho heaven.

For all the nachos and the nuggets and the kitkats he consumed on a nearly daily basis, it was a miracle that Stu managed to be the scrawny broomstick of a boy that he was. You might think it was his metabolism or whatever, but the truth was that evading bullies was a calorie-burning business, and as David Attenborough might tell you in his trademark voice, no gazelle fleeing the gnawing teeth of a cheetah was ever naturally fat.

Dazzle PenguinFox

 

[lion.]

Zachary Lee​

It was happening again.

The hit-and-run type of hurt.

“I...I got to go,” Harper had spoken much more softly, in a sorrow as singularly significant as the flowers who called themselves forget-me-nots must’ve been touched with when they named themselves.

“I’ve got to go,” said the chilling memory of his mother from the inmost locked parts of his mind, “I’m sorry...Love makes us make bad decisions.”

The main crucible of love was that it was consuming. The two friends of his were no longer friends, but people gone to blazes; Pulse in pulse, their mouths synchronized like candle to flame, melting together like wax and returning back for another sting. Their lungs seemed to be respiring out of order, but carelessly they daunted the urgency for air, for the next thing they did was intemperately hold onto each other in a phantom desire of their own secret and deepen their kiss. They had a fawning greed, and stole just about everything from the party.

First, the lights.

The white stars, the white moon, the spherical showoff of white lights filtered with different pigmentation...

Then, the people, who became minimalist in the shapes of pointillism.

And lastly, the music.

The music was loud by all confidence to any stupid kiss, but Harper’s sobbing heart had been louder.

And, the worst part was that he could feel his heart doing the same.

Crying.

The first in a long time.

It was sickening to watch love-made cheaters, to see his mother’s ghost in his cursed best friends, and to see his father’s lifeline in Harper’s.

Misery returned him home once again far from the titanic thrums of musical rhythm and generous faces to that infernal beach-front house, where his feet would drag in protest up the brundy stairs, and he would find himself at the corridor of his mother’s empty room. Needles scathed into his mind, and his eyes fought to stay open. Stop! Please, stop. His hands closed inwards into himself, and the room returned. The orchid wallpaper, the white cabinets, the dressor...it all began twirling like he was spawned in a volume of orbiting wind, and the only part of her that she left unerased was the stupid sailboat in the picture frame, the sailboat in the picture frame, the picture frame...

Boat sailing in the damned picture frame...

And, now?

That boat hit ship-wreck.

Zachary Lee was already feets under, fraternizing with his pain with a trickling smile, swimming and kneading through the waves that pulled him into the eye of the hurricane. Truth was, Zachary Lee had been diminished into the waves as sand a long time ago, and the hourglass had just eroded another quarter of the grains down the funnel, getting closer and closer to shut-down.

Pain.

He loved it when he was hurting.

The first time he had been leashed by thick rope, while the thread-ends were inflamed. Without rain to fizzle it out, oxygen excited, the third-degree burn was permanent. But, today, it was different. Uncivilly, he grabbed Harper’s wrist, and jerked her out of her paralysis. Tearing her along, he strode towards the couple with a blue streak infruiation. The seas of people pardoned him: Zachary Lee may be many of their favorite surfers, but when craze of anger fed to his gills, his mane of golden figuratively felt more brunette as did the marsh of blue damp in his circular irises.

“Hey, Chase. Noah,” he found himself hoarsely talking, tolling a foot away from the two when realization lunged at them and they noticed, “Didn’t you hear Harper calling you?”

"Didn't you?" He repeated a little louder.

Reverse-spinning Harper Anderson like they were on the dance floor rather than some concussive mess, he dolled her right in front of both of them, her frame tucked right in front of his.

“I just-” He sowed open his mouth, “I just don’t get it. Really.”

Zachary Lee’s frustration was layering, but his voice barely shouted. The destruction would come in his satire.

“Chase Vaughan, I actually- I want to thank you. I mean, Harper sure wants to. Don’t you, Harper?” His voice trembled, “I mean for someone with Alaska Vaughan as a sister, you’d think you’d know anything about treating a girl right. But, you’re just the disappointment to expect from a football captain. What’s the saying? Oh, right! You know how to hammer them real good.” He forced himself to wink.

You cheated.

You cheated.

You’re just like her. I can’t even look at you.

He laughed sober- a trill that made his throat feel sore- before whipping a complete one-eighty to Noah.

“Noah Stewart, just when I thought you and I -” He faltered, “Nevermind that. How is it like to be a back-stabber? Putting the bullet in the gun.” He imitated a finger gun to his head, clicking his tongue, “Must feel good, yeah? To be that lonely and desperate? Harper's so proud of you, she's beaming."

One suck of breath was all it took.

Harper was meant to be a cushion, so he wouldn’t do something he’d regret. Too bad, Lee couldn’t stop himself from trespassing. The cup he was drinking from suddenly bore a different weight, and his wrist flicked. Like a firework, the alcohol capered into the sky, then crept down, splashing liquor in their faces.

"I hate you both," he choked, "Hate you."

“I think you both need a wake up call,” he bluntly veiled his vulnerability in a callous shout. Snatching the cup from Harper’s frosted fingers, he contempleted throwing this one too, but instead took it down as a shot.

“Why don’t you just finish it off by sleeping with each other?” Zach suggested obnoxiously, limply hurdling the cup into the lawn and beginning to walk away.

Some party.

a z u l a mogy Dazzle

 

[mogy]

Noah Stewart

​

For what felt like an eternity, like forever, Noah's lips had been pressed against Chase's, the two becoming a one, a singularity of emotions, an amalgamation of passion, standing firm against the cold breeze forced to make its way around them. In his life, Noah hadn't felt anything similar to the synthesis of emotions he was feeling at this moment, and he just wasn't ready to let go, not yet. Nothing else mattered at that moment, not even that the vehement kiss was born of betrayal.

The stupid kiss should've been broken before somebody's heart was, but unfortunately, that hadn't been the case.

At first, all of Noah's senses were numb to anything other than Chase, and it genuinely felt like the two were the only people in the entire world for however long their lips had been locked. Like a broken mirror, this beautifully rotten fantasy shattered into a million introspective pieces as Zach approached them. Almost instantly, Noah looked at him, lightly pushing himself away from Chase, pulling his arm from his grip. His eyes were glossy, already overflowing with waterfalls of guilt in a matter of seconds. As Zach pulled Harper closer to the two boys, the previously mentioned waterfalls silently and unwillingly made their way down Noah's flushed cheeks, settling down on his shirt. He had no right to cry, but just thinking about the wreck this must have caused Harper's mind to become made Noah feel worse than anything.

He found himself standing firmly on the ground, essentially stuck in the same position, as if his skin had suddenly turned to stone.

He wanted to apologize, but it was like he suddenly had no idea how to. He wanted to scream, and internally he did, but essentially nothing came out of his mouth. He wanted to be anything but the person he was at the moment.

Zach's voice lingered on the same satirical and sarcastic undertone while he was addressing Chase, and it just hurt that much more. Yelling was anger, talking was sadness and suffering, and Noah knew this better than most.

Noah opened his mouth to say something, but once again, nothing came out, and all he could do was stand there and listen to Zach explain how guilty he was for kissing Chase, what an awful person he was, knowing all of it, every single word following another, pieced out the truth.

Tears continued to course down Noah's cheeks, the salty streaks now mixed with the cold, sticky alcohol Zach threw at the two. Noah would've remained in the same position for however long it took to make it right, but Zach's last sentence snapped him out of the guilt, out of the sorrow he was engulfed in.

"Fuck. You." Noah said, slowly, but loudly enough for the blonde boy to hear. It was obvious from the shaking of his voice that he wasn't sure about saying what he was saying. It was clear that Noah was also hurt by the whole situation, even if he was the one to blame.

He took a step forward, towards Zach, this time being more certain in the words he was saying. "I get that you're hurt, but you have no right to say that, because yes, I am that lonely and that desperate."

"Chase was the only guy who showed any kind of interest in me, ever, and you have no idea what being that lonely feels like. None." Noah stopped for a moment, catching his breath as tears still silently rolled down his face. "Let's be honest, how could you? You fuck a new girl every other day, so don't you fucking dare talk to me about sleeping with people or back-stabbing, because you're obviously the head of that department."

Interactions: a z u l a (Chase), lion. (Zach), Dazzle (Harper)​

 

[LittleWolfie]

Madi Lexington-Montgomery


A grateful smile crossed her face as Hayden slid her the coke and she gently opened it. "Thanks," she cheersed before drinking a sip. "And, as long as it isn't alcohol it's all good with me." For Madi it wasn't that she had a problem with drinking or wanting to drink it was just that her mother had warned her against it because she might do something undignified or unladylike if she did. Sure she'd occasionally, and by that it was a maybe once or twice ever such as for her eldest brother's engagement party, have a sip or a single glass of champagne but that was it. So all in all it was easier to just say she didn't drink really rather than explain.

Her smile softened a little when her brothers were mentioned. "Okay so yes I grew up with six brothers but I just found it easiest if I stick to doing what they want me to so it's not really holding my own." Madi shrugged her shoulders just slightly so it was just noticeable. "Plus would anyone really want to go up against say, the twins or heaven forbid Nate? I really wouldn't Hayden and I doubt you would," she pointed out to him. He'd known her family long enough and been around them way too much to not know these things.

When Hayden asked Brayden about Tatum, the little blonde suddenly felt bad. They had spent this time talking away about people Brayden didn't know at all which was really rude of them. That fear of doing wrong had crept back into her bones and sent Madi straight back into apology mode. "Oh my Brayden I am so sorry. It is so wrong of us to carry on about my family when you have no clue who we're on about at all while you're with us. I'm really so so sorry! Please forgive us?" And the word vomit was back too it seemed.

Before the babble could continue however, there was an interruption. A guy with the whitest blonde hair she had even seen had appeared and was calling her pigeon before asking if she wanted his rather large glasses. "Umm... sure..." Madi managed as the glasses were placed on her face and the hair disappeared once more, just as quickly as he appeared. "Okay... that was odd right?" she asked looking at the Aydens, now with a strange pair of glasses on her face.

Interactions: Dazzle (Hayden) Elf_Ruler (Brayden) lion. (Ronnie)​

 

[Dazzle]

Harper Anderson

Harper had wanted to run away from it all, she had tried to dig her heals into the ground, turn away, but Zach's tight grip on her wrist kept her from doing so. Harper's breath caught in her throat as Zach spun her around to place her in between the him and the other two boys. She couldn't help but stare at the ground, her eyes occasionally lifting to see if Noah or Chase had any sort of reaction, but looking at them hurt, it physically hurt. She wanted to believe it was some sort of misunderstanding, but Zach had even seen it so she knew it was real.

Harper swallowed hard when Zach said her name, his tone was sharp and had Harper feeling rather jumpy. She didn't want to be here, all she wanted was to be anywhere but where she was right now. In front of two people that she loved, that she thought at least cared about her.

"Zach." Harper barely whispered, "Please." Harper hated confrontation, all of this was too much, she felt un-grounded by it. All she wanted to do was be wrapped in Chase's arms, have some sort of familiarity. She was sure that wouldn't make her feel any better at this moment, or realistically ever again. Instead she just kept starring at the ground, digging her nails into the palm of her free hand.

Harper's eyes went wide as Zach called out the two standing before them. She felt like she couldn't breathe, her breaths long and heavy. "Zach." She spoke a bit louder this time. "I just want to go." She wanted to leave but she wasn't sure that she should leave, not while Zach was still standing there. Even though she didn't want to be in front of Noah or Chase any longer, she was afraid of what Zach might do if she left.

Harper was shocked as she watched the liquid soar across and splash Noah and Chase.

Harper thought this entire time that Zach was protecting her, till he told them that he hated them. Harper realized that he was just as hurt as she was. Harper wasn't sure that she even hated Noah or Chase, she was hurt but she was more confused than anything else.

Harper had completely forgotten about the drink in her hand, when Zach snatched it from her the harsh movements of his hands caused her to jump covering her face.

It was in the moment Noah fought back that Harper regained some sort of courage. "Fuck you?" She said callously.

"You were never alone." Harper said with almost no emotion.

Harper swallowed, it took everything in her to not break. "I thought you were my best friend."

Harper wanted to tell him all the reasons that he didn't have the slightest idea of what lonely and desperate meant. "You don't know what lonely is Noah. You have no fucking idea."

"At least the girls fucking Zach know what they're getting into." This was probably the most Harper had ever said the word fucking and it was in one conversation. But she was mad, it was one thing for Noah to kiss her boyfriend, but to then try to justify it. Claiming he was that he was so lonely and that Chase was his only option. That, that pissed her off to say the least.

"Good-bye Noah, hope it was all worth it." Harper felt a tear start to drip down her face, she used the palm of her hand to wipe it away. "Hope you aren't lonely anymore."

She couldn't even bring herself to say good-bye to Chase, it hurt too much. He had been her rock, somewhere to stand when the winds were blowing to hard. When the anniversary of her mother's death came around, when her father was calling her late at night drunkenly threatening her. When she locked herself away in her room on holidays, just to have her father banging on the door to be let in. When Hayden went missing for three days over spring break.

Harper turned on her heal and began to walk away. She just wanted to be alone now, this was enough stimulation for her interverted self for the entire weekend, and probably for the whole school year.

Interactions: lion. mogy Mentions: a z u l a

Graham Moore

Graham smiled, Lulu was probably the most innocent of the entire school. She was the sweetest person he had ever met, and had no judgments. Yea Stu was his best friend, but he was a bit unaccepting of Graham's love for dance and inablitly to sit still. Actually, Stu and Graham likely only became best friends because they were roommates and stuck into the same group of 'looser'. And loosers stick together.

"It's really unfortunate. I have a feeling we won't keep any pillows this year." Graham sighed, kicking at the dirt at his feet. He looked back up at Lulu and watched her throw a few more nuts on the ground and realized he should probably do his best to keep still, he knew that she preferred to keep the critters close. But keeping still was really hard. Graham began twiddling his thumbs together, as to distract himself from not moving his feet.

His eyes lit up as Lulu mentioned food, he still believed it was rather ridiculous that the school expected a bunch of teenagers to feed themselves till classes officially started and the cafeteria would be open. It's not like Graham could get off campus, or had any money to buy anything from the Hedghog cafe either.

"Trailmix sounds great!" Graham would have to remember to ask his parents to send snacks for his dorm, though he wasn't sure Murphy wouldn't eat them on him. He sighed, he hadn't even realized that Stu had left, "Where'd he go?" He pointed his thumb over his shoulder raising one eyebrow.

He threw another handful of trailmix into his mouth. "I'm okay on water." He said, muffled by the nuts and chocolate that were in his mouth. Though he thought he might regret that later do to the salty nuts he was chowing down on. "What made you want to come anyways? You know, to the party?"

"It really isn't either of our scenes... I mean, I know why I came, trying to not be a target this year.. But you don't usually care about things like this?" Graham didn't really want any more friends than the ones he had, but he also didn't want his pillows stolen, so if showing up at parties fixed that, he was definitely willing to make the sacrifice.

Interactions: PenguinFox Mentions: Dede​

 

[Dazzle]

Hayden Anderson

Hayden attempted to seem chill about having a possible chance to get into the group. Knowing that he had a chance to get in with the popular crowd would work well for him. Of course he never was much of a target, and his sister's boyfriend kept that in check. But, he wanted to find himself on the top of the school especially when most of that group were moving on to college next year. "That'd be cool." Hayden nodded slowly.

Hayden raised his hands in defense. He knew he wouldn't have wanted to go up against any of her brothers and was pretty thankful that he was on their good side. "I never said I did." He chuckled. Hayden was good friends with Seb, and the rest of the family. He was really grateful for them at the end of the day, and thankful that they had taken him like he was family. Granted he did stick out like a sore thumb when he was with them, making it blatantly obvious he wasn't actually related to any of them.

Hayden laughed as Madi started to apologize for doing nothing but talking about her family. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and squeezed her into his chest for a moment before letting go. "You worry too much Princess." He nudged her with his elbow smirking.

Hayden bit his lower lip, furrowing his eyebrows as a random boy with white hair came up and placed glasses on Madi's face.

"Do you know him?" Hayden pointed off in the direction that the guy had come from. He personally didn't recognize him, but he also knew Madi was friends with pretty much everyone, and then having 6 brothers who were just as friendly made her circle rather large.

"Very odd." He laughed, adjusting the glasses on her face. "At least you look good with glasses." He shrugged dropping his hands back to his sides. "I guess he wanted to get the party started. And I can't blame him for that." He smirked, taking a swig of his drink.

Interactions: Elf_Ruler LittleWolfie

​

 

[lion.]

Zachary Lee​

They were going to shred each other apart like tigers at the waterhole, penetrating teeth and claws till their wavy complexions in the water denuded them out of their stripes.

Zachary Lee may have cut loose from the trails of suffering by starting to walk away, but the interjections between Noah and Harper relished his migraine of anger and with a round-about in the silent scruffles of grass, he assailed right back to where he started. Worsened-Zachary Lee looked bleak. His eyes seeped of aloof rainstorms, and he looked at Noah as if he were looking down a cliff: there was a strife in his tendons, everything felt like he was brawling with risk.

It would've been much easier to walk away.

But, he damn well couldn't.

“You always want the last words, don’t you?” Zach exploded with a curled lip, charging towards Noah, fisting the collar of his shirt, “Always do.”

Restlessness crowed Zach’s face. Invading personal space, his face slandered a width away from Noah’s perfect aquiline nose where his wane-white cheekbones were specious with tears. His pupils searched for some form of an appeal, and he insisted, “Fuck me? Fuck you.”

“And if you think Chase cares,” Zach contended in an isolated scorn of a whisper, so rashly excited, “Ask him when I walk away. Because I already know, and you know it too.” Human sympathy made his fingers alleviate from his collar, but the vitality of resentment electrified his shoulders.

“You made your bed on this one,” Zach hissed, shoving him back, “Now, sleep in it.”

Harper Anderson let out back into the party. Zach, please. She had recited over and over again in panic and now hailed in his memory.

Maybe he had lost her too.

Beyond the bend of the nightmare, and bordering back to the lawn that reeked of smothering flames of a bonfire, Zachary Lee floated towards the drinks. His figure felt exhausted without perspiration of sweat or work, and he forcefully pastored himself against the side of the table. Zach wasn’t going to hold onto his tongue anymore, not with the hot twilight that commenced this Oregon night and especially not when the drinks expected nothing else but to be drunk. His ears began to beat with the notes a few shots in, and he plunged into the deep end of his own escape.

mogy a z u l a Dazzle

 

[Elf_Ruler]

Tatum was relieved that she hadn’t pushed away Colby, because she knew she could scare away almost anyone with how forward she was. She had managed to take another shot before she heard Colby mentioning he was getting a drink for someone else. The boy knew how to grasp the attention of people. Probably another friend since he was new, but she decided to cool it on the flirting just in case. She could flirt with him privately but put in public she didn’t want anyone to get hurt thinking Colby had ditched them for her. She had to lean in a little closer to hear him over all the loud voices of the students and the music.

She smiled and nodded at him, “Sure, I can help make a drink. I assume if they aren’t at the table, they don’t want a strong drink, so I’ll keep it light.” Tatum wasn’t sure she could pour light in her condition, but she was going to make a simple drink. As soon as she turned her eyes had landed on Zach and he was pounding his drinks back. Something was wrong and she could see it on his face. She looked at the cup in her hand and let her mind redirect back to Colby. She missed the cup a couple times when she added a little vodka and a mixture of lemon-lime soda and cranberry juice. Most anyone would like it.

She smiled back at Colby, “Hey, I don’t mean to ditch you but my friend,” she directed her head towards Zach, “He needs someone to get him to slow down on the drinks. But I hope your friend loves this drink. It’s vodka, soda, and cranberry juice. A really lazy cosmo” Tatum flashed Colby a smile and gave him one last hug, “Have fun, Kitten” she then looked over towards Zach.

The only thought running through her head was that she was way too drunk to be dealing with an angry Zach but would anyone else deal with him? She made her way over to him, “Hey, Golden Boy. Think you should slow down?” Tatum placed her hand over his cup. She had managed to misjudge and instead tipped the cup over. Well, she was trying to be a good friend to the blonde boy, “Why don’t we go for a walk away from the drinks?” She asked hoping he would take the bait. Whatever was wrong she just needed him to cool down and slow down on the drinks. When Zach was angry, he wasn’t pleasant and really, she wasn’t thrilled that she had to set aside her fun to take care of someone else’s problem but that’s how friends of any kind work. Her mind was more than fuzzy and really most everything wasn’t stable, but in the grand scheme of things this wasn’t the drunkest Tatum had been, so she could handle Zach.

0k_mang0 lion.
--

Brayden hadn’t really minded listening to the banter between Madi and Hayden, he didn’t feel the need to interject especially when he didn’t know anyone at the school. The two people near him had history, had friends, had a story here and he didn’t. He had family that had gone here but besides that he didn’t really know anyone. He had started to zone out after he mentioned Tatum until he heard Madi mention his name. He gave her a smile, “Don’t apologize you didn’t do anything wrong. I’m new so I am okay with just listening as you two talk back and forth. Please, don’t stop on my account. You and Hayden are better company than what I associated with back at my old school.” He thought back to the different people he had associated with and what it had done to him. It mostly brought feelings of remorse into him and he tried to not drown in the thoughts.

In that moment the random dude with light hair had handed Madi glasses and then disappeared. The school was also full of people who were strange or just couldn’t handle their liquor. Brayden couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle, “Quite strange, but not the weirdest person I’ve encountered at a party.” He had seen way too many weirdos at parties so this wasn’t quite out of character for a high school party.

Dazzle LittleWolfie

 

[0k_mang0]

kekoa

Harper Dazzle , Andrea enigma2 , Flo Moonshadow​

Kekoa smiled and thanked Andrea for the soda. She nearly coughed out her drink from stifling her laugh when Andrea made the assumption. The thought of having a crush on her pen pal Colby made her scrunch her nose, both in amusement and slight disgust. “Ew, no. That dork is far from being my type. Even if I were into guys I still wouldn’t have the slightest crush on him,” she said nonchalantly. “He’s like a brother to me, and he acts like one, too. But you are right that he’s new and a junior, so you’re not entirely wrong.”

From how it looked from where Kekoa and her two new acquaintances were standing, Colby and Tatum did look like close friends, especially from Tatum’s not-so-subtle hug that almost made it seem like they were not just “close friends”. He was playing it cool, but Kekoa was sure Colby was very caught off guard from it. “For a second, I thought that was his childhood friend he’s hanging out with,” Kekoa wondered out loud. Then she quickly explained to clear any confusion, “His old BFF is blonde, too. Her name’s Grace. He told me she’s going here for the first time, too.”

While bobbing her head to the music and scanning the scene around her, Kekoa caught her roommate Harper marching away from the party. Oh no. From the look on her roommate’s face, something went wrong.

“I gotta go,” Kekoa said to Andrea and Flo. “I just remembered that I forgot to bring my dorm key with me—really, I did. Don’t wanna be locked out of my own dorm tonight. It was really great meeting you two. See you around school!” She gave a light tap of both of the girls’ drinks with her soda, as a quick farewell toast. While jogging up to her roommate, Kekoa narrowed her eyes harshly at Chase for a couple of seconds after noticing the direction Harper walked away from. She just knew whatever made her upset had something to do with boys.

When she caught up with Harper, Kekoa just tried to follow her pace beside her instead of pulling her away. “Hey, you okay? Did something happen?”

 

[lion.]

Meera Desai ​

“Hello, I am Meera!”

Meera jumpily flung out a frilly palm to the janitor who at her pop in was so hard-boiled, he didn’t have the slightest itch for a smile or handshake. Shoveling her a scorning gaze with sheer contempt instead, he snapped on new latex gloves.

Pampering her eyelashes, Meera tipped her make-uped blushed cheek to one side like a happy daisy on a gusty hill. Did she look pretty? Scouring high heaven through hundreds of hangers, muslin, cotton, and silk, she had finally slipped into a long-sleeved, vanilla white dress which flitted to her puny self, small hips, and flushed well with the melanin of her skin, straightened hair, and eyes. But for the color it was, there was no Florence for opinions, and so she sought some from the janitor.

“And, you areee?” She greeted on, beaming at him like a self-respected toddler.

“The janitor,” the stranger grudgingly retorted, picking up the broom in vain. Dry as bone, with only a tuft of hair on his head and peppered grey eyebrows, he stuck on a pilant pair of headphones. He began to board up the steps to the second level of Silver Oaks dormitory building.

“Where you going?!” Meera dubbed her suspicion. Unavailable, it seemed. The man’s legs bent and straightened as he climbed up the stairs.

“I mean I know you a janitor. I am asking your name! Wait! I just need opinion-”

Taking the omitting silence as a sign, Meera defeatedly set out on a stroll for the party. Soon enough, her head picked up on a wayside of arcade-like lights, and howls of smoke. Several feet away from twilight, Meera’s chin dropped. Somewhere along the line, her heart turned inside out like a pillow cover; it was too dreamy to dream long on. What life! There was a dissonance of noise, a harshness of drums and drumfire, chords and the cranking up of a speaker. Ribbon around the notes, there were people! People of all sizes, faces, and colors!

Bouncy on her feet with a smurf smile, Meera animated herself on an adventure spree through the party. Locomotive on her springy sandals, she found the snack table which besides from a rangy guy was desolately not busy. Banjo on blast, she was historically curious, when he beveled a bag of chips at his mouth. At this offangular locus, she couldn’t make a face behind the bag of chips. All that nosed out of the rectangular cut of the bag had been his handsome short hair. Lulled by his difference, she patiently placed herself in front of him, and lingered till he finished what he was doing.

“Hey!” She paired her introduction with a doofish grin, “Hello to you!”

Okay, perhaps she should’ve waited some more, so it was not so…

What was the term that they used to put on those people who chased the movie characters in a horror film with a knife...

Creepy! Yes!

“What an interesting way to eat…” she chippered away, skipping over her boorish-scare, “I am not very usual with that.” She chewed her lip in contemplation before outbreaking, “Maybe you can teach me!”

Drawing a blank of what ends she was bringing this conversation to, she patted down her hair, and gracefully as Meera could, interjected, “I’m Meera. Meera Desai. From Surat, or sometimes my dad like to joke from narak. Narak meaning hell, I think-”

One thing was for sure. She knew how to talk to boys!

That could be an overstatement.

Dede

 

[Dazzle]

Harper Anderson

Harper had to get away, she had to get away from all of them. Her heart raced as she made her way through the crowds of people, she walked fast to get away but she continued to hold her head high. Harper was sure that their group had already drawn a lot of attention to everything that had happened and she did not want to draw any more attention by running away. As much as her feet wanted to run, run away from it all she kept a steady pace, sliding between couples, and groups of people.

She wasn't sure how she felt, she wasn't sure if she was angry, upset, or just.. Confused. Harper never expected any of this from Chase, or especially Noah. She didn't even know that Chase was into guys, she knew she wasn't the best girlfriend. She had a lot of emotional trauma, that made her very self conscious about herself. Things that made her really question whether she was lovable, this.. This didn't help that. Harper thought that Noah at least cared about her, he had taken her under his wing and actually made her feel some sort of confidence in herself.

Harper's throat felt dry and her head hurt from holding back tears. She didn't want to cry, she wasn't going to show any sort of emotion. This was already a horrible start to the new year. Harper hadn't expected anything like this, Chase had been distant, but that's what time apart does. It was supposed to be easier now that they were together.

It was supposed to be easier.

Harper had been so focused on leaving the lake, getting away from the party, and getting away from people. That she hadn't realized that Keoka had come up beside her.

Harper choked down any sort of whimper left in her throat, trying to clear it. "Uh" She forced a smile onto her face, biting her lower lip. "I'm fine." Her voice was pitched just a bit too high. She wiped underneath her eye with the back of her hand. "I'm just... Tired.."

"I thought it would be better to leave before Zach started making more drinks for me." She strained herself to laugh. "He makes them strong." Harper pinched her lips together. She felt kind of bad for blaming Zach on her leaving the party, when in reality, it had very little to do with him. She didn't like how reactive he had been to the situation, but she would left even if had kept his head in the situation. It didn't matter how it happened, it just happened, and she couldn't wait to get out of there.

"You aren't leaving already, are you?" Harper didn't want to ruin Keoka's first night here, the party setting was fun for most. It just happened to not be for Harper.

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

 

[Dede]

Stu

He was casually choking on a mouthful of nachos when a tsunami of positivity washed over him, in the exquisite form of an Indian goddess.

There was no flocking of the pigeons overhead, no admonitions on loudspeakers, no mobilisation of the emergency services, no ten-minute scramble for high ground… Out the blue she descended from her heavenly abode, raising the seas and revealing herself to none other than this lowly farmboy, whose jaw promptly dropped.

Forewarnings, in any case, would have been futile. No amount of prior seismic interpolation could have rescued him, while her giant waves lapped the doomed shore. Within mere seconds of approach, she had tipped the Richter scale of his heart and made him into a servant in her celestial court. Which was a long and convoluted way of saying he had a crush on her.

According to WebMD, ever the wellspring of medical wisdom, several symptoms indicated the onset of a heart attack. The shortness of breath, intense compression of the chest, freezing of the mouth, twitching of the eyes, cold sweat, lightheadedness… With his usual flair for the dramatic the boy exhibited all these symptoms all at once, so that a well-meaning onlooker would have been justified in calling an ambulance.

He had nearly asked whether she was an angel. But he had not wanted to expose himself as a Star Wars nerd. But so long as the reference carried, he would have gladly carried her to the flowery fields of Naboo, despite the fact that a Jedi wasn’t allowed to love, it being against the code and all. There as they watched the binary sunset he’d tell her how much he hated sand, because it’s course and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere…

‘Oh—I wasn’t—’

He crumpled up the bag and, with a swift and graceless swing of his arm (as if mimicking one of Graham’s ballet steps) he discarded the object linking him to the scene of the crime. What crime you ask? The crime of getting caught eating like a pig in front of a pretty girl, of course! Countless a boy had been condemned to lifetimes of celibacy for such unforgivable offences… and Stu had no interest in joining their pathetic ranks.

‘…I don’t usually—’ He cleared his throat, dislodging the chip that had contoured a second Adam’s apple in his neck with a soft cough into his arm – which he was also cleverly using to wipe the cheese dust from his face. Talk about killing two birds with one stone! (Just to be clear Stu would never throw stones at a bird, let alone two, since he loved animals.)

But even with a throat clear of nachos this useless boy still found himself typically lost for words.

‘…I don’t usually eat like that,‘ he said. ‘I didn’t— want to get my sleeves. . . dirty, you know. It’s a new—’

From there it took him all of six seconds to complete his thought.

‘… shirt.’

Stu wasn’t lying: he had only just replenished his wardrobe last week. Over the summer, which he spent with his cousins in bordering Washington, he had finally grown too big for his older clothes. Like Santa at Christmas, puberty had descended the chimney in his sleep, deforming his boyish face, making his voice just a tad coarser. Yet it didn’t miraculously grant him the ability to speak to girls, as he had hoped.

’I don't... even like Nachos that much.’

(Now that was a lie.)

Out of his usual nervousness he offered Meera a small smile, while nodding with pretensions that he knew where Surat was. In truth he couldn’t point it out on a map if his life depended on it.

‘I’m Stu,’ he replied, moving for a handshake, but quickly backing away from that project. He figured she’d never want to shake his hand given he’d been digging into nacho bags all night. ‘I’m from— uh, England… and Silver Oak’s the only hell I know,’ he added with a chuckle. Realising he was still smiling from before, he turned away momentarily so it didn't get weird.

‘You must be new. I mean, I don't think I've seen you before. Ever.‘

Hopefully she hadn’t yet divined how big of a loser he was, but he sensed he was already on borrowed time, given the way he had handled this first encounter.

lion.

 

[lion.]

Zachary Lee​

“Hey, Golden Boy. Think you should slow down?”

If he was Golden Boy, she was America’s Valley girl, the girl who outclassed the creation of walking with or without stiletto heels. Looped in by hennessy and finished by cheap shots, she had a pep in her prance, and as drunk as Zachary Lee was becoming, she couldn’t have worn anything better. Her black skinny jeans cherished those sweetheart hips as she romped over, and the skin she flashed from the fancy cutout of her white tube top was only nominal to the flannel dyed an old phone-booth maroon, the same color as her lips. Zachary Lee was sucking on those shots- but even he was die hard for the girl with blonde hair lofted in tight curls and for the ego trip of earth changing course in her eyes.

“Slow down? We-as in you and I-just got started,” Zach complained in fake amusement with deadened level of sensitivity.

All he felt was anger.

The plastic cup bent more ovular than remained circular when that occurred to him.

So, why the f*** think anything?

His mind being a rolling stone, he weathered with his manners. Play acting was his best resolution. Who cared about lost friends? Lost ties? Lost family? Stammering up on his feet from holding his weight on the table for too long, he reached to coddle Tatum’s face. Under some phenomenon, the music sounded his ears again. Gentle bass. His fingers skated and swindled down her silky, elevated cheekbones and tickled over her sherbet lush-red lips.

Saving me?

Not on your sweet life, Browne.

“Mmm-You know what?” He humbled in a soft-spoken slur, “Tatum Browne is right. I think she should show me how to start slowing.” His arms went to encircle her waist.

But, like many times over, Zachary Lee misunderstood Tatum Browne. She wasn’t here for the good times like all the crowd-pleasers or the laced smokers and drinkers who would dance him deeper into the tumbleweed of downfall. He hated that. Meaning her accident or not, her hand misled and toppled over the canister of his drink as a reminder, drenching a part of him with reeking, cognac dripping alcohol.

“What the hell, Tatum?” he bellowed, “What are you doing?”

She’s drunk, Zach.

Shallower than when he was a generous drunk, he shook his dripping hands, leaking a dribble of droplets onto the ground. An irritated drag of breath exhaled his lungs, “Come on. Let’s walk.”

When two drunk people go out on a walk, it was like a line of lyrics without a title for a song. Fits and starts of when they began walking or loitered would be forgotten by morning. Ranging away from headlights and instruments, however, would keepsake their Milkyway of words.

“Why do you care, Tatum?” he crossly debunked her kindness, voice buried under a mountain of emotions, “Because I swear if it’s about being bored-”

The crickets thickened their melodies. He pulled his forehead with his fingers, “I’m not really thrilled on your mind games right now. One minute you want to tease your chic boyfriends, another you want-”

Stressingly, he iterated, “We should just get back. I was wrong. Whatever this dumb walk we’re taking, we should just get back.”

Elf_Ruler

 

[Elf_Ruler]

Tatum had been a little taken aback by the harsh voice from Zach when she had spilled his drink, it hadn’t been like she had intentionally knocked it over. Her motor skills at this point were lacking and try as she might she knew she wouldn’t be able to be completely fake sober, but she knew she had to try. She kept up with him though his strides were longer than hers so she had to walk a little faster and she stumbled a bit to keep up but what was new?

She was more shocked by the fact that he seemed upset that she cared, that she wanted him to slow down and didn’t really want anything out of the arrangement. She knew she wasn’t always the best friend to Zach but that had agreed to those arrangements so shouldn’t he have known that she would care at times? Shouldn’t he know that she cared about him? Shouldn’t he know that she was more than shallow? Maybe her drunkenness was adding to her emotions, or maybe she never took the moment to see if Zach understood that she cared.

Not every little aspect was a mind game for her, sure she loved flirting and having a warm body but not everything was some game to her. She grabbed Zach’s wrist to stop him from walking away and directing him back towards her. She took his chin between three of her fingers and guided it to look her in the eyes. How many times had she looked into his eyes before? But this time was different, this time was serious and not for fun, “I’m not playing so game Zachary.” She used his full name for emphasis, something she wasn’t fond of, “I want to talk. You seem upset and as shocking as this might be, I care about you.”

Why was it so hard to be open and honest with him? Why did it feel like there was a lump sitting in her throat? “None of them are my boyfriends and neither are you, that’s what we agreed upon, so I don’t understand why you’re angry but I’m trying to be a friend to you right now. Are you mad because of something I did?” This was the first time Tatum wasn’t certain if she had angered Zach. She didn’t think she had but that didn’t mean anything. It wouldn’t have been the first time she inadvertently pissed someone off. She was trying to keep her emotions in check around Zach, she was someone who didn’t show weakness around others, “Can you talk with me instead of criticize me?”

Maybe, she was a little annoyed by the fact that he had implied she was some kind of tease. Maybe it had hurt to hear that maybe he didn’t think of her like she thought he had. In all aspects Tatum had agreed with Zach that they weren’t anything special and they could hook-up with and flirt with whomever they felt like, so why did it seem like he was calling her out for something that he also did?

lion.

 

[lion.]

Meera Desai​

Meera laughed a little laugh. His boyish way with words was as awkward as cotton candy would be without the value of pink or blue. She laughed, too, out of her own meekness. Being a counterfeit cow-talker and bird-coo-er wasn’t ideally exactly how people in real life communicated. Nonetheless, she adored his innocent smile; it had the pollen to budd a smile on hers.

“Stttuuu,” Meera rehearsed like a learning, talking parrot, “I like it. I like the name, Stu!”

Parrots, unlike Meera, were less ecstatic about being in a forest out of their Amazonian brambles and boughs. “Yes, I’m new.” Ratchet being her nature, and comparable to the squalling green birds that squared the jungle, she threw one of her spare shoulders back with a sunny, shrug-like motion. A foolish grin tasseled at the ends of her fruitful mouth, “But, Stu, from England, you know me now!”

At this point, Meera peeked up at him. England. For a moment, she saw him princely with Queen Victoria, touring past the bronze towers of time and massive ferris wheel and double-decker buses. He had the freshly cracked walnut-brown eyes straight from the swinging height of the trees and quilled hair, a mellow jaw... Scrawny, but he was incredibly goofy.

On a whimsy call, she twined her hand into his despite his nacho-dusted filaments and particles, “We go dance! I do not know your moves, but trust me. I can dance!”

She couldn't, but persuasion was a master plan.

Tangoing forward in a spike of idiot and folly, she spun under his arm that she lifted, “It be fun!” Grammatically erroneous, she was musically right. The music manned louder, the string lights seemed brighter.

She heralded a soft cough over a laugh, “Oh, and, Stu your zip-zip.” She couldn’t think of the word, so she wordlessly gestured to his pants, “is not zipped.”

Dede

 

[0k_mang0]

colby

mention: Tatum Elf_Ruler , Zach lion. , Elena Soap , Sawyer/karaoke beanie girl KingofAesir​

Colby heard the music changing and saw a girl with a beanie singing into the microphone. That was kinda random but interesting. He didn’t know this party included karaoke. Anyway, after Tatum finished making the drink (Colby slightly snorted a drunk-chuckle when she missed pouring in the cup) and mentioned needing to help her friend, Colby gave her an understanding nod. If it had been his own friend, he would go to them, too. “It’s cool, I’m all good here. Thanks for the drink,” he said, squeezing a quick hug in return before she let go. “Later, Tater. Good luck with your friend.”

After sipping a tiny sample of Elena’s drink (because he was curious how it tasted, having never tried a cosmo before), Colby looked up at the direction where Tatum went and saw something that didn’t make sense to him. Maybe he was just seeing things, but being nearly half-drunk didn’t usually give him any hallucinations. Tatum had given Colby a very flirty hug a while ago, but now she was letting her friend Zach hug her in a way that made it look like they were more than “friends”, and the way he touched her face, and then suddenly they decided to take a walk somewhere... the whole thing confused his more-than-tipsy brain. He hadn’t meant that sort of good luck when he said it to her.

Two words repeatedly printed in his head: Be careful. Colby glanced down at his cup in his other hand, pretending he didn’t see anything and trying not to look too visibly disheartened. About what, he wasn’t sure. Honestly, he wasn’t surprised. Brayden did warn him earlier. Still, he felt an uncomfortable harsh twist in his chest...

Best not to think any more of it, he decided. This was a party, it would be rude of him to act as if something bothered him. So, he finished what was left of his tequila in two gulps, poured himself another drink of a mixture of whiskey and coke, and walked away with two cups in his hands to search for Elena, accidentally shoulder-bumping and apologizing to a few people along the way.

 

[0k_mang0]

kekoa

Harper Dazzle​

No, Kekoa wasn’t quite convinced. But she wasn’t going to pry into the matter when her roommate didn’t seem like she wanted to talk about whatever happened, especially when they’d only known each other for a few days now. It just didn’t sit well with her seeing Harper leave upset by herself.

“Well, it’s getting pretty late. For me, anyway. I kinda have a sleeping schedule of a grandmother. Although, I'm pretty sure my grandmother stays up later than me.” Kekoa slightly snorted a dry chuckle from that last statement, hoping it would ease whatever tension Harper had. Then she awkwardly cleared her throat to continue. “Also, I actually forgot to bring my dorm key earlier. I didn’t want to be rude by knocking on the door and waking you up to make you let me in.” She even turned out her empty pockets to prove it. (Her smartphone was inside the pocket of her jacket.)

“Really, it’s fine. I can stay at other future parties next time,” she said, slightly smiling a sort of pleading, empathetic smile. “I don’t wanna let my roommate walk alone at night. I won’t make you tell me anything you don’t want me to yet, I swear. Besides, sleep sounds really good right now.”

 

[Dazzle]

Harper Anderson

Harper laughed lightly at Kekoa comparing herself to a grandmother, even when her own grandmother seemed to stay up later than herself. Harper bit the corner of her bottom lip, attempting to hold back any sort of emotion. "I get that, you'll get used to the late nights eventually." Harper knew all too well the party scene at Silver Oaks was constant. She didn't show up to them originally, her and Flo only started to show up after Harper met Chase. Most of their nights had been spent in the dorm watching movies or studying otherwise.

"We'll have to get you a lanyard for your key." She smirked, Harper knew how hard it was to remember her own key her first year. She couldn't the amount of times that she got locked out of her own room and had to call Flo to let her back in. She ended up tying them to her pant loop 70% of the time so she could keep track of them. "Lucky for you I've gotten better at keeping track of them myself." She laughed lightly, pulling at the lanyard and swinging the key around.

"There's nothing to tell." She shook her head, she wasn't even sure what she had saw, well she knew what she saw. She just didn't want to believe it, she was confused. "Alright." She nodded, agreeing to her leaving. "But.. Instead of sleeping right away, maybe we should watch a movie when we get back." This time, she smiled more genuinely. Harper wasn't sure she would sleep much tonight, she just wanted to get her mind off everything that had happened and a movie seemed like the perfect way to do so.

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