Realistic or Modern We All Break Sometimes (Main)

[.Curious.Nat.]

Processing. . . .

outfit: link here

mood: excited & flustered

location: SuperPlus

Arthur says. . . .

Arthur looked up as she heard some footsteps. It was a boy that she figured fit the Oliver in her head. She then laughed "Nice to meet you too Oliver--No silly there isn't ice in here. That wouldn't make sense if I wanted to release the crab after this" she could feel the crab moving around in the box and she trued to hold it as steady as she could. It wasn't hea y at all its just she didn't want to suddenly get butterfingers and drop it. She would think Oliver would either have a heart attack or run away in order to not get close to the angry crab.


As Arthur was talking with Oliver she glanced to the side and saw the boy she couldn't get out of her head since day one. True it may seemed like she just wanted him to tag along,but it seemed like seeing Niila made her mood way better. She wondered if it was the same for him. But she would only be kidding herself if he thought the same. To think someone as good of a catch as him could see her more than just a friend is only something she could write in a story. Not something that would turn out real. By the time Niila introduced himself to Oliver her face was already smiling brightly at that point. "Niilaaaa, I'm happy you could come! This is Oliver" She said, their eyes meeting for only a few moments,but it made her heart jump a million times it felt. Was her face burning up? She hoped not... that would be embarrassing.


She then put the ice chest carefully down on the ground so she could grab the tongs since it's a pincher. "Thankfully this crab isn't scary like the spider crabby. I don't think I would've had you touch it if it was that one, BUT it's called the green crab. It looks so cool! I would stay away from its pinchers though okay? Just touch the top of its shell" Arthur looked up at the 15 year old boy. "You'll be alright, okay? I won't open the ice chest till you say you're ready. I'm not cold-hearted." She said very softly to try and calm him down.


Then her light brown eyes looked up to Niila, her hair moving effortlessly with ease. "Ah, Niila I need you to record pleasee~" she said before taking out the long tongs,not really realizing that the finger that got pinched earlier was already bleeding out of the bandaid and would slowly run red liquid down her hand. Out of all the emotions around and thoughts running wild she won't notice for awhile..



@Chimney Swift @Myling

coded by kaninchen

 

[Chimney Swift]

MOOD: Cryptic

OUTFIT: Summertime

LOCATION: Anchor Bay

basics

MENTIONS:

INT:
Alistair purplecowdutch

tags

TL;DR Oliver's mom is kinda pleasant when she wants to be. Somehow that makes it worse..

tl;dr

Eileen Dreyfuss

The dark I know well.

Alistair's apartment was something of a safe haven for Eileen. A chance to unwind and dissociate from the trials and tribulations of her own life.
She was now a single mother, what with the four teenage children and all. She hadn't mentioned that bombshell to Alistair yet, of course... too tacky for what was once a series of one-night stands. She'd save it in case she ever needed to angle for a little sympathy.
When she needed to, she was a star at playing the victim.

When he finally pulled himself out of the bathroom, where he'd passed out at some point during the night, Eileen gave him a gentle wave over. In the hour or two that she'd been awake before him, she'd put together a lovely breakfast and even set the table as if for important company. The curtains, though, were left closed, and the lights off... a courtesy to both of their hangovers.
"I hope you're ready for breakfast." She smiled warmly, with just a hint of teasing in her tone. She knew before he said anything that Alistair wasn't going to have the stomach for it.
"Oh, and I laid out some Advil for you. By your napkin." For a short moment, she paused, just long enough to lean her head back and give an almost mischievous grin as her voice sank into a lower whisper even though no one else was around. "Or, if you'd rather..." She reached into her purse that was laid out on the counter and rattled an orange bottle of codeine pills. "I brought something a little stronger. You wouldn't want to be too hungover on the boat." Eileen herself, for the wild night they'd endured, looked hardly fazed at all. Not a hair out of place, only slight shadows under her eyes and a few chips and scratches on her nail polish. "Awful nice of you to take me out. I haven't been on a good old-fashioned date in far too long." She chuckled, masking some bitterness.
Her own husband had stranded her five years ago, leaving her with no money, no support, and those four ungrateful mouths to feed...
Could anyone blame her for bitterness?
It wasn't as though the children were faultless either. Especially her son, what with his... challenges. That had to be part of why her husband gave up and vanished.
Realizing her coral-tinted lips had fallen into a frown, Eileen quickly picked up the corners of her mouth and smiled pleasantly. Today was not the day to worry about the past.

code by valen t.

 

[Elf_Ruler]

Carson Hughes

Carson wanted nothing more than for Hassim to say she was making everything up in her head but he had in fact confirmed what she had feared. What she had truly known even if all she had wanted to do was pretend it was a lie. She wouldn’t cry, that wasn’t who she was, well it was but she never let anyone know that. Instead she put on the saddest smile, “I’m not mad at you. I wasn’t meant for you. You…You were good to me and I wish I could keep you for myself but that’s selfish.” She let her hand stay in his, letting herself be his girlfriend for these last few moments. She could feel the pain of knowing she wasn’t his first choice like he was to her. She had tried so hard but sometimes in life the person you think you are meant for isn’t that.

She couldn’t help but let out a laugh that was holding back tears, “I want you to be with who you’re meant to be with. I could be the best girlfriend, but if you aren’t all in then in the end it’s going to get us both hurt later on.” She removed her hands from his, “You are a wonderful guy and the time I got with you has been great.”

She took his face in her hands and placed one last kiss on his lips, “Go to them. Even if you don’t think it’ll work go to them. Because us.” She motioned between them, “it’s no more. I will cherish the time I was given.” She really would, “And I hope that just because we weren’t made for each other doesn’t mean I can’t still be around you.”

Sure, the words hurt but Carson wasn’t new to rejection or doing the rejecting. She had been through enough in her time to know that the pain it hurt but, in the end, she knew it was healthier to leave before they both wound up broken. She didn’t need them to get in so deep that leaving was more painful than staying in sadness. Hassim was the man who taught her exactly what it was like to be respected and treated as an equal partner even in such a short time. Now, she had to continue her journey of self-discovery and to one day find whoever her better half was. Though, she wasn’t about to lose Hassim entirely, because she hoped he would actually still be her friend, let her talk with him about problems, share good news and bad news. She wanted him in her life even if it wasn’t romantic.

Mention(s): ALittleRedLie Interaction(s):

 

[Elf_Ruler]

Lemon Pierce

The house had been silent, besides the pitter patter of Fifi’s feet on the hard floor of the living room. Lemon had kind of assumed that Reid wasn’t going to show up anytime soon, he probably had plans with Isa or that girl Beck, the ones who knew what they wanted and were able to take it. She, herself had not been feeling well seeing as the whole issue with Chance and Max and how Max wanted her to take the high road even though she hadn’t even started the feud. She wanted to make sure Max was safe and happy, but now all she felt like was a burden to Max. She made him worry about her, made him have to be the go between because she couldn’t keep her mouth shut. All she did was add worry on to Max and it made her feel terrible deep down.

As she began to collect her supplies to go to the treehouse, she heard a knock at the door. Fifi had been next to her when the sound penetrated the house, “Alright Fifi, if it’s someone bad you go run and hide. Or try and call the cops even though you only have paws and don’t know numbers.” Lemon made her way to the door and looked through the peephole, it was a shock to see who was opposite the hole. It was Reid. That meant she was going to have to talk with him and she was not looking forward to that. She did everything in her power to make him wait. She wasn’t even dressed for company, big shirt that she was pretty sure she had stolen from Orlando, a pair of sweatpants and her hair was everywhere. However, she didn’t have time to make herself presentable and with one last look at Fifi she opened the door.

She swallowed the lump in her throat, “Hi.” She breathed a smile was on her face as she stepped back to let him in. He looked about as messy as her but in a different way, “I told you, you didn’t have to come if you were busy.” She gestured to his shirt.

She collected her items back in her hands, “We are going to the treehouse. No protests Reidford.” She continued her way outside and up into the tree. She was mostly confident that the treehouse would hold both of them, after all her dad had made it and he would make sure that it was safe. After they were settled, she looked at Reid trying to figure out what to say, “I lied to you.” Was all she said as she looked down at her hands, her journal held tight to her chest. She wished she could have been honest after everything but instead she lied and it had been eating away at her. She had to come clean, but would he even listen to her?

Mention(s): Chimney Swift Interaction(s): Dazzle

 

[ALittleRedLie]

MOOD: concerned; a little peeved; lonely

OUTFIT

LOCATION: Hassim's Apartment

basics

MENTIONS:
Elf_Ruler (Carson)

INT:
@me (Hassim)

tags

TL;DR
Alsani siblings unite

tl;dr

Layla Alsani

The best revenge is to live on and prove yourself

Layla was in the apartment when Carson came over. She was getting ready to leave for some scouting when there was a knock on the door. The 18 year old wants to bolt past the couple, but she grabs a bit of their conversation and she decides against it. Carson was breaking up with Hassim. Layla doesn't know much about her brother's relationship, but he knew that he seemed somewhat happier since meeting the barista. She leans against the extra bedroom door, listening in on the soft conversation that was occurring between them. Another? Hassim would never cheat.

The accusation brings a furrow to Layla's brow and it angers her a little bit. The younger Alsani was a little mad at the situation that her mother put her in; moving her to some town in the middle of nowhere to stay with her older brother that may have been there physically, but was always running away from something. Needless to say, Layla and Hassim weren't as close but Layla would always be there for her family. That's all they had, each other. So Carson's accusation didn't sit right with her. But what did Layla know, Hassim could be an entirely different person then what she thought.

When Carson leaves, Layla steps out of the room and glances at her brother who is still sitting on the couch. She can't entirely decipher the look that's on his face, but she can see the hint of sadness that settled on his forehead. Layla slips into their native tongue of Egyptian Arabic which their mother enforced upon them as they grew up. Are you okay?

Hassim answers back, the Egyptian accent that he always tried to hide sneaking its way into his Arabic. I don't know. I feel like this is my fault. He shrugs nonchalantly, bu Layla can tell that it's really bothering him. I guess we'll still be friends, but Carson was perfect. Hassim's words quickly switch into English as frustration with himself settles on his skin. How could I fuck that up?

Layla replies in English again, the concern for her brother slowly dissipating as she knew that he would be alright. Don't dwell on it too much, I'm sure you'll have someone pining over you in a few days. Layla was going to rain on his pity party and move on with her life, she didn't have time to worry about Hassim and his heartbreak. She starts grabbing her camera bag and heads towards the apartment door.

Where are you going? Her older brother asks, his eyes not facing her but his fiddling hands instead.

What I originally planned to do, find some nice spots to take pictures. Her shoes are already on by now and a light jacket as it was getting closer and closer to fall. She wraps her scarf a little tighter around her head, the hijab matching her outfit as a cream accent. The Alsani's were Muslim. They didn't practice as strongly as they used to, racist and Islamophobic deterring their strength to their religion, but you'd still see Hassim pray when it was time to along with his sister, their prayer mats wrapped and stacked on his entertainment center. And occasionally Layla would be seen sporting a hijab, but she had no problem also showing her hair. Today, she wanted to cover her black, curly hair.

Still planning on going to that stupid white people boat party? There's something teasing under Layla's words, the sentence may have been a jab at her older brother, but she also tried to raise his spirits. If he couldn't see that, oh well.

No, I'm gonna stay home. Cook the dinner I had planned. Stay safe, okay? Hassim doesn't wait for his sister's response as he heads back to his room, his door softly closing behind him. And without a second glance at him, Layla leaves the apartment and locks it behind her. She loved her older sibling of course, but it wasn't her job to comfort him. Right now, it was her job to take pretty pictures of some tree leaves or something.

code by valen t.

 

[purplecowdutch]

MOOD: nervous

OUTFIT: a black suit with a striped tie

LOCATION: at the boat regatta

basics

MENTIONS:
@Elf_Ruler
@ALittleRedLie

INT:
@Chimney Swift

tags

TL;DR Sed fermentum tortor nulla, vel sodales nibh bibendum eu. Maecenas a lacus a libero blandit commodo. In lobortis aliquam urna, id tempor ex semper at

tl;dr

alistair hawley

Eileen teased him while pointing to the napkin with the Advil right next to it, just like she said. Alistair gave her a thankful smile and sat down at the table with her, his eyes wandering over the mysterious lady who now had given him another option.
With a mischievous smile she put down the bottle of codeine on the table after rumbling in her bag for a few seconds. She seemed to have thought about everything, Alistair could appreciate someone taking control like that especially since he wouldn’t have known where to start.

Alistair brightened up seeing the bottle of codeine and reached for it almost immediately, reaching one hand to the bottle and placed his other hand on her knee, squeezing it softly.
Alistair nodded as he took in the pill and agreed, he couldn’t be walking around there like a zombie especially not if he wanted to make Liv and Logan feel anything.
Eileen on the other hand looked great, not a hair out of place. Her under eyes were colored a dark blue but that wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, Alistair couldn’t help but feel good for giving her a night out as she probably could use one. Though he might have been using her for the greater good, he was sure she was doing the exact same.

After she thanked him for taking her out, Alistair stood up and after a short silence took her hand, helping her get up. ‘Don’t thank me, I should be thanking you,’ he mumbled, stealing a quick kiss before turning around and grabbing his keys of the counter. ‘Is there anytime I should be bringing you home?’ Alistair jokingly asked, giving her a wink before walking with the brunette to his car.

Eileen hadn’t told him anything about her kids yet but he had figured she didn’t want too, he wasn’t oblivious to it and had seen them around so it wasn’t a big secret to him. Alistair didn’t want to ruin the comfort they had between them by mentioning it or questioning it and felt like she should’ve come forward with it herself but didn’t think she ever would.

The car ride went easy, Eileen was nice to be around with and Alistair felt comfortable. They had a couple of one-night stands and this was the first time they were actually out together, Alistair held tightly to the steering wheel as the codeine made him a bit sleepy. His headache had luckily disappeared as well as the nauseating feeling. It worked like a miracle.

‘Is your husband, ex-husband coming tonight?’ Alistair asked, almost immediately regretting that question. Why did he even ask that? He looked at Eileen but avoided her gaze by focusing on parking the car. The giant boat was filled with little lights and as it started to get dark, the more appealing it looked.
‘Not that it matters, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked,’ he added before opening the car door, waiting for her to make the first move. He wanted Liv and Logan to be jealous, they were not going to be jealous if him and Eileen secretly wanted to kill each other. ‘Let’s just go inside, you look too pretty to be sitting in this car all night.'

Alistair had always been some what of a ladies man but he kind of craved to settle down, it was just that he never got the chance or had the guts to actually do it. Somehow he had a good feeling about this night, though Liv had shut him down going to the party he was sure she would change her mind the moment she saw him with someone else. Well, that's what he was hoping for at least. He peeked through the people to see if she by chance would be there but it was getting too crowded to recognize anyone, he was sure he wouldn't miss her once he stepped inside.

code by valen t.

 

[Chimney Swift]

MOOD: Hesitant

OUTFIT: Hidden

LOCATION: SuperPlus

basics

MENTIONS:

INT:
Arthur .Curious.Nat.
Niila Myling

tags

TL;DR Arthur won't take the pepper spray Oliver stole unless he faces his fears first. Touch a crab, arm the populace. A pretty reasonable exchange, right? ...Right?

tl;dr

Oliver Dreyfuss

How lonely it is, to be drowning in a place where everyone can swim

Oliver watched Niila's hand as he offered it, like he expected Oliver to shake it, but the younger boy was relieved that he decided against it and just waved. Oliver waved back, letting Arthur introduce him rather than saying his name for himself.
While the two boys were roughly the same height, Oliver could tell Niila was a little closer to Arthur's age. He wondered if they'd known each other a long time or not... Arthur seemed to like him, and so far she'd been fairly trustworthy, so both of them were alright in Oliver's book for now.

Arthur went on to explain more about the crab she'd picked up: "Thankfully this crab isn't scary like the spider crabby. I don't think I would've had you touch it if it was that one, BUT it's called the green crab. It looks so cool! I would stay away from its pinchers though okay? Just touch the top of its shell"

Oliver read about this one during his preliminary crab research.
The Green Crab, another name for the common littoral crab. A common invasive species. Grows to about 3.5 inches across the carapace...
Definitely one of the most widespread crabs across the beaches. It made sense that Arthur picked up one of these, and in the grand scheme of things Oliver knew there were worse crabs, and yet...

Oliver took a step back away from the chest. Being able to clearly picture the live animal inside wasn't easing his nerves at all. Arthur seemed to have caught on to his state of perseveration and kindly offered to keep the ice chest closed, though she motioned for Niila to start recording. Oliver looked a bit unsettled by the prospect of being on camera, but he'd been promised that said footage wouldn't be circulated anywhere his family would find it.
After all, he did just steal a weapon. It would be bad if that got back around to his mother. Very bad.

Oliver was about to tell Arthur to open the chest when he noticed the blood on her hands.
"...Wait. You're bleed- b-bl... you're bleeding."
For a kid so disturbed by crabs, Oliver actually looked fairly unfazed by the red dripping down Arthur's bandaged fingers. He pointed it out, staring blankly for a moment before his eyes inadvertently wandered back to the crab box. Surely that loathed arthropod couldn't be behind the injury, but... "What did... did you do to your hand?" He wished he had something for her to clean it off with. Some antiseptic and fresh bandages would have been a godsend, but all he had with him was his bus card and stolen pepper spray.
"Niila--" Oliver turned and nudged the other boy. "Niila, she's... she's bleeding. Bleeding." He kept repeating the word as though he thought there was even a possibility that the exchange student hadn't noticed already. He didn't know what he expected Niila to do about it, even-- unless he had a habit of carrying first aid around, there wasn't much they could really do, and it was a small and harmless injury anyway.
Maybe Oliver was just looking for a distraction to procrastinate on having to lay his hand on a crab.

code by valen t.

 

[Chimney Swift]

MOOD: Cryptic

OUTFIT: Summertime

LOCATION: Anchor Bay

basics

MENTIONS:

INT:
Alistair purplecowdutch

tags

TL;DR Oliver's mom is kinda pleasant when she wants to be. Somehow that makes it worse..

tl;dr

Eileen Dreyfuss

The dark I know well.

"Oh, you can just make sure I'm back before work tomorrow morning." Eileen laughed, tucking a loose strand of her dark hair back into her updo. No need to hurry the night along."

Alistair asking about her husband sent a shock down her spine, her dark eyes flashing with shock though she fought to keep her expression stable. Jared left her before she even moved up to Anchor Bay, so Alistair couldn't possibly have known that good-for-nothing villain. Right? "...Oh," She pressed her lips together, breathing out a small sigh and lacing her fingers in her lap. For a moment, it looked like she were about to tell him her husband had died. "No, Jared won't be joining us." Her previously morose tone was cut when she hissed the man's name as if it were a slur. Then, like always, the smile slowly froze back in just in time for them to find a place to park where they could see the boats sparkling with lights on the water.

The opulent decadence of yacht parties on the waterfront was so far removed from the bleak anxiety of the industrial district that it was hard to believe that both were part of the same small town. The smokestacks, which hadn't been used in decades, could still be seen looming over the bridge on the west side of the harbor. Far in the distance, a tame shadow of what it all was up close.

Eileen wondered, briefly, what her life could have become if she'd found a way into this more affluent community. If she'd married rich and stayed in school, instead of settling for a man who would leave her at her lowest, would she be more like these people? Dressing up to drink and dance their Wednesday nights away?
Would she have still had kids? Better kids, surely...

"No, no, it's fine. Don't worry about me." She reassured as they stepped out of the car and started walking towards the boat. "I have so much more... freedom now. It's a breath of fresh air, not having him around. It really is." She gently took hold of his arm as she carefully treaded in her high-heeled shoes over the uneven pier. She caught his eyes, lowering her lashes ever so slightly. Why not have a little fun? She couldn't just resign herself to work and those rotten children she had to keep in line.

This was, for lack of a better word, therapeutic.

code by valen t.

 

[Dazzle]

MOOD: Excited

OUTFIT: dress

LOCATION: The harbor

basics

MENTIONS:
lion. ALittleRedLie

INT:
Chimney Swift

tags

TL;DR

tl;dr

Harper Anderson

when you wear a mask for so long, you forget who is behind it.

Harper had just finished putting away the rest of the groceries, closing the kitchen cabinet before she made her way back upstairs to her bedroom. Harper had felt better lately, you could obviously see it by the new found pep in her step. She felt like herself again, for the first time in a while... But those feelings were usually followed by the reminder that she was lying to her friends. Lying about tutoring Zach, and saying that all of her free time had gone to work.

When really, she was spending more time with Zach. She had even called off a few shifts at the restaurant, because she wanted to spend time with him. Or he invited her to go do something, like watching the flamingos at the Stone Zoo. Even when she couldn't understand why he would want to.

Harper caught herself smiling in the mirror of her vanity, pressing her lips together she fought back the smile. Hating herself for finding herself so happy thinking about her boyfriend.

There she went again, forgetting about the friends she hadn't bothered to tell about her change in relationship status. The friend she had lied to, to purposefully keep it a secret.

Winnie and Max didn't deserve that...

But how was she supposed to tell them, Winnie hated Zach... And if she knew... What would she say..

And Max...

Max and Zach were constantly at each others throats. And Zach treated Max terribly... Harper didn't forget that, and she knew that Max wouldn't either... But she didn't want him to think that she forgot about all those things... Or that she condoned them..

But that damn blonde boy did make her forget. He made her laugh and forget about everything going on around them. He made her forget about her friends. And that made Harper feel that much more terrible...

Harper shook her head, realizing that she had been staring at herself in the mirror much longer than she had expected. She had completely zoned out from the task in front of her, getting ready for the Boat Regatta.

She quickly checked the time on her phone, "5:45, crap" She muttered, she was supposed to meet Max in 15 minutes.

Harper spun around so fast towards her closet, she swore her head must have spun. She quickly grabbed her white lace dress, and nude ballet flats. Tossing her dirty clothes on the floor, Harper slipped the lace dress over her head and her feet delicately into the flats in front of her. She leaned over her vanity once again, this time to put on makeup.

---​

Harper finally rolled out of her bedroom at 5:55. Silently she congratulated herself as she fist pumped the air. She would still make it on time to meet Max, maybe a minute or two late, but that wasn't noticeable. She owed this to Max, he was going through something, though he wouldn't share what, but she wanted to be there for him, and she hadn't been so far.

She silently made her way down the stairs, avoiding the steps that just happened to creak just too loudly as she made it to the landing.

She heard her fathers voice croak... It almost sounded like he was clearing his throat.

Harper froze where she was, her hand clenched on the railing.

"Ang" He said again, this time more clearly.

"N-no dad..." Harper barely managed to get out. "Just me." She pressed her lips together as her brow furrowed. Trying to hold back any tears that threatened to break way.

"Angela... I thought..." The sentence turned into slurred unrecognizable words, as Luka laid his head back down on the pillow of the couch. Harper didn't move for what felt like hours, though it had barely been minutes. Her feet felt cemented to the floor, like she would be stuck in her place for eternity.

Eventually her dad began to snore and Harper took this as her moment, she slowly made her way out the door closing it behind her before she collapsed against it. Her hand clasped against her mouth as she struggled to hold back tears.

"Y-ou need to p-pull yourself t-together." Harper said between tears, wiping them off the corner of her eye with the back of her hand. She took in a deep breath, clasping her purse close to her side as she made her way to her car. Slipping into the drivers seat, Harper quickly sent a text to Max, letting him know she was going to be running a few minutes late, as there was no way she could make up time now.

Her drive was silent as she made her way to the harbor, looking in the mirror once more to make sure her make-up was still in place. Before she hopped out of the car and ran over to Max, tapping him on the shoulder as to not surprise him too badly. 'Hey! I missed you!' Harper signed as she wrapped her arms around Max's shoulder's, 'you look nice!'

code by valen t.

 

[Chimney Swift]

MOOD: Self-deprecative

OUTFIT: xxx

LOCATION: Anchor Bay Waterfront

basics

MENTIONS:
Frankie r e i
Isa r e i
Chance ALittleRedLie
Zach lion.

INT:
Harper Dazzle

tags

TL;DR
Max and Harper finally get to hang out again.

tl;dr

Max Berkowitz

We accept the love we think we deserve.

The way Chance touched his cheek haunted Max for days after. When they finished their talk and they’d decided to cool things off and stay friends, Max couldn’t get that feeling out of his mind.
He agreed with Chance that he wasn’t ready. Of course he wasn’t. Everyone could see that. But he wanted to be ready. He wanted to stop being so irreparably insecure, so completely unable to hide the fact that he wasn’t able to emotionally withstand the situations he found himself in.
He felt… slow, and pathetic, and dumb.
You’re never going to be ready.
And even though they left things on a positive note, walking home together, Max was left feeling like he’d taken more than he deserved.

So a few days later, when Chance let him know that he was going out with Franklin Gomez, Captain of the football team…
All Max could think was of course.
Of course someone like Chance would rather be with someone like Frankie: someone talented, and attractive, and popular, and funny... Chance wouldn’t need to be embarrassed to be seen with Frankie. He wouldn’t need to hide his sexuality from his friends anymore. Now he had Frankie by his side coming out of the closet.
Max didn’t deserve to be bitter about it if Chance wanted to do better. After all, it was Max who got drunk and kissed him without permission, so even if Chance had said he liked him back when--
He was just being nice, wasn’t he?
He doesn’t really like you.

---

Getting dressed up for formal events was never Max’s favorite.
Blue definitely wasn’t his color, he thought as he fidgeted with the buttons on the cuffs of his jacket. It was too close to his eye color, which brought too much attention to his face. But this was the only outfit he had on hand that fit right, and he had no time to get anything tailored, so he just had to hope he didn’t look too stupid.
Meeting Harper at the yacht party made it all worth it, though. In all the years that Max and Harper had been friends, she was always one of his closest confidants. She was the first one of his friends to pick up ASL (Zach never had, which was almost impressive after all the years they’d lived in each other’s backyards.) So naturally, they had grown close.
This summer they hadn’t been hanging out as much as they usually did, which was mostly Max’s fault-- since the 4th of July incident, he’d been feeling as though people didn’t really want to see him as much anymore, so he tried to give everyone space. Nobody needed the problems he always brought with him. Everywhere he went, things went wrong.
Harper didn’t seem to mind. Would he ever be able to properly thank her for that?
She meant more to him than she’d ever know...

---

“Are you sure about this? You aren’t even on the boat yet and you already look nauseous.”
Max’s mother was right. He’d been pacing back and forth in the kitchen for the past hour, clutching his phone so hard that his knuckles turned white. At some point during the night, one of Isa’s “friends” had tapped into Twitter to let everyone know that she had gone missing a few days ago. Isa was known to go nuclear and drop off the face of the earth for days at a time, but every time it happened it made Max sick to his stomach to think of what might have happened to her.
So between that, and Chance, and Frankie, and his little friend-date with Harper… he had a lot on his mind.
“I’m fine.”
The look on his mother’s face told him that he wasn’t fooling her. Over the last few months, she’d learned better than to believe her son when he said that.

“You haven’t been sleeping well, have you?”
Max didn’t answer, shrugging and glancing off to the side, pretending to be too busy looking at the calendar on the wall to acknowledge the question. His mother, insistent, waved his attention back.
“Look, maybe it’s better if you just--”

“It’s fine.” Max’s hand flashed back to his chest to repeat the phrase that had become his shorthand for ‘please ignore my struggles so I can keep pretending I’m managing everything on my own.’ It was what he said when he had nothing else to say. He knew he couldn’t actually convince anyone, but admitting that was just too much to even think about.

He watched his mother’s shoulders sink into an exasperated sigh. “Alright, kiddo. I’m off to work anyhow. Take care, okay? Your father should be home earlier this evening. Maybe the two of you can talk some more about what we mentioned last night…”

“Bye, mom.” Max turned his back and made it apparent that he wasn’t going to continue that conversation.

---

He left and made his way down to the harbor a few minutes later, deciding to walk since he lived so close to the waterfront. Harper had mentioned she’d be running late, which gave him a while to stand around and wait for her.
He couldn’t explain why he felt his heart pounding. Ever since he met her, there was just something about Harper that was almost... mystical, if that was the right word for it. In all those years they’d been friends, he’d never said anything about it to her.
He knew, deep down in his heart of hearts, that there was no way she’d ever feel the same.
Like Chance, she could do much better than him. She deserved better.

When he finally saw her car slow down at the edge of the docks, he ran up to her. “Harper!!” He returned their usual friendly embrace, letting his arms fold around her back. It had been too long since they’d last done this. When they separated again, he looked as though half his constant anxiety had finally vanished. “I missed you too. Thanks, I… you look… amazing.” Her lily-white summer dress lay in soft ruffles over her pale skin, mirroring the layers of her dark hair. She really did know how to dress up, unlike Max, who would probably wear his simple flannel-and-jeans ensemble every day of his life if that were allowed. “Oh, we should probably--” He gestured back towards the boat, with an almost sheepish smile. “How have you been?”

code by valen t.

 

[Myling]

scroll

angry puppy

Niila.

mood

Mixed emotions, mostly excitement

outfit

casual outfit

location

PlusMarket

interactions

Arthur, Oliver

tags

Chimney Swift .Curious.Nat.

”Okay, I will start recording when you say so.”

Niila simply answered when the blondie asked him to record. Acting normal around her was surprisingly easy even though Niila had just thought about kissing her pouty lips. Moving a strand of bleached hair away in order to her pretty brown eyes. Feel the warmth of her skin as he would kiss her.. the smell of oranges once she was close enough to him.. Oh crap, here he goes again.

Niila was focused on his daydreaming that he missed Arthur’s babbling about the crab. The finn was ready to hit himself. Why was he dreaming of the girl when she was in front of her? Besides, it was pathetic. The girl wouldn’t surely feel the same about him. Oh he soo wanted to hit himself for having dumb thoughts like that, but he didn’t do it since he didn’t want to seem any more weirder than he already was.

He didn’t need to do that, since something else hit him like a punch. Metaphorically not actually. She’s bleeding. The words of the younger boy were able to bring Niila back to reality. Arthur was bleeding… Was she hurt? Niila didn’t want that to be it. “Are you all right? Does it hurt? What happened” Niila started asking while ignoring the younger boy, who seemed a little panicky. He kept repeating his words. Niila wanted to say that he already heard Oliver for the first time. However he didn’t want to act like dick when Arthur was seeing. No matter how annoyed it made Niila feel, it was better to be silent. Acting rude towards Arthur’s friend wouldn’t make Niila’s points rise in Arthur’s eyes.

Then reality hit him once again. And his own hand as he slammed it towards his forehead. “Why do we just let the bleeding continue when we literally stand at the super supermarket's parking lot?” Niila took his hand off from his forehead. “Don’t go anywhere, I will go to by some stuff.” He said to Arthur and walked towards the entrance of SuperPlus. He would need some fresh bandages and some antiseptic. Niila went to quickly buy them from the shop.

Once the older boy was done with his shopping, he went back to the duo. “I bought some antiseptic, and both fresh bandages and wound dressings since I wasn’t sure how deep the cut was.” Niila looked first at Oliver. “This will take a moment, but I’m sure the crab will wait for you.” Niila tried to make a joke to cheer up the atmosphere. HOwever his stoic facial expression didn’t help at all and he was unable to deliver his speech as a joke.

“Come here arthur.. I will treat your cut.” He then said to the girl taking couple steps to get closer to her.

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[.Curious.Nat.]

Processing. . . .

outfit: link here

mood: Ouch & Mixed

location: SuperPlus

Arthur says. . . .

Arthur looked over at Oliver and raised an eyebrow. Bleeding? Her? That's when she looked down and noticed the small trail and puddle she was leaving. Was the cut that bad? "Oh..well.." did she want to say the crab did it? If she did Oliver might not want to touch the crab in order for him not to potentially get hurt,but she would make sure that wouldn't happen to him.


Her eyes went from her bleeding finger to Niila who spoke as clear as day. "I'm okay..it's only starting to hurt because it got pointed out" she said. Now she felt bad making them both worry. Then Niila said he would be right back as he went into the Superplus store. She sighed as she looked over at Oliver. "I'm okay really. I guess I didn't realize it was more deep of a cut then it was.." she said as she kept her hand away from her clothing as to not stain the pretty orange.


When Niila returned he told Oliver the crab could wait and that made her laugh. She knew he didn't mean it to be serious even if his face didn't match with his words. He still had some things to work on and that still in turn made the corners of her mouth smile.


When he told Arthur to come near him, she felt her heart in her throat, but she listened. She swore if she was too quiet he would be able to hear her pounding heart. Was that crazy? In order to stop those foolish thoughts she said in a soft voice, "Sorry...for making you worry.." she said making the mistake of looking at his face the was so close. That made her face red and she instinctively looked down at the finger he was touching. "Thank you Niila" Arthur said sweetly, biting the inside of her cheek while the old band-aid came off. Did the cut get bigger from earlier or was she just not paying attention?


When he put the antiseptic on she flinch, groaning slightly at the pain. Now her loud heartbeat she could feel pulsing through her finger ever after he finished wrapping up her finger. She ruffled his hair with her good hand and laughed. "You worrywart, I'll be okay now..promise" Arthur said sliding her hand from his hair to the side of his face before back to her person before turning to Oliver. "See I'm all better no more blood. Now we can say hi to Mr.Crab okay? Again just tell me when you're ready and I'll undo the top then Niila will record" she said trying to recover herself from all the feelings that just happened.



@Myling @Chimney Swift

coded by kaninchen

 

[Chimney Swift]

MOOD: Hesitant

OUTFIT: Hidden

LOCATION: SuperPlus

basics

MENTIONS:

INT:
Arthur .Curious.Nat.
Niila Myling

tags

TL;DR Arthur won't take the pepper spray Oliver stole unless he faces his fears first. Touch a crab, arm the populace. A pretty reasonable exchange, right? ...Right?

tl;dr

Oliver Dreyfuss

How lonely it is, to be drowning in a place where everyone can swim

"But what happened?" Oliver persisted after Arthur assured him her finger was okay. He knew it was okay. That was beside the point, he thought. She didn't just spontaneously start bleeding, obviously, since her finger was already bandaged, which meant that this had to have happened earlier. So why was she acting like she was only noticing just now?
It didn't make sense to him. The fact that she didn't seem to have an answer for where the injury came from was suspicious.

Luckily, Niila had the idea to just go buy some first aid at the store they were flocked in front of. While this went on, Oliver kept watching the crab's ice chest. He could almost hear it scuttling around inside, trying to claw its way back out.
He twisted his hands together under his sleeves, running his fingers up and down his wrists.
The anticipation was probably worse than the actual deed, right? He just had to touch it for a few seconds. It was just a crab. It wasn't like it was a scorpion or something... he didn't even have to really look at it. Just a quick tap and then it would be over.

Niila patched up Arthur's finger, giving Oliver a few extra moments to get lost in his thoughts. Arthur at least seemed to be in high spirits, chatting and affectionately ruffling Niila's hair. It was like she didn't have a care in the world... this was, after all, the same Arthur who walked around with empty pepper spray for cheap thrills, the one who picked up a crab with her bare hands this morning. Oliver was stuck between admiring her incredible chutzpah and being concerned for her well-being.

Finally, Niila finished up with the bandaging, and Arthur turned back with a smile to once again reassure him that everything was alright. Oliver seemed thoroughly unamused with Arthur's cheeriness. He grimaced, turning his head aside. "...I'm not saying hi to the crab." In his imagination, the idea of giving platitudes to a captive crab seemed stupid. The crab wasn't going to say hi back. It was a crab. Arthropods only ever had death and pestilence on their minds. "I'm just... just going to- going to touch it, then you can take this." He fished the pepper spray out of his pocket, quickly showing her before stowing it away again, his eyes darting left and right first to make sure no one else was watching.

He drew in a shallow breath and held it for a second, fighting back on the instinct to bite his fingers and instead tightly crossing his arms. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine briefly what a crab's shell felt like, just so it wouldn't be too startling. Anything he could do to prepare for this, he'd already done, and even though he didn't feel ready at all, he quickly nodded back towards Arthur. "You can open it." He said stiffly, shifting back another two paces in case the crab had somehow learned how to jump six feet in the air while it was encased in the ice chest.

code by valen t.

 

[purplecowdutch]

MOOD: rambling on, need of liquid courage

OUTFIT: a black suit with a striped tie

LOCATION: the boat regatta

basics

MENTIONS:
@Elf_Ruler
@ALittleRedLie

INT:
@Chimney Swift

tags

TL;DR Sed fermentum tortor nulla, vel sodales nibh bibendum eu. Maecenas a lacus a libero blandit commodo. In lobortis aliquam urna, id tempor ex semper at

tl;dr

alistair hawley

She put her hands in her lap and after a small sigh spurred out the words that he won’t be joining them. Alistair knew it wasn’t a good question to ask right before going inside but after her giving him a smile, forced or not, he felt relieved.
Alistair held a straight face until Eileen mentioned it was fine, while they were walking to the entrance he felt her arm around his. It was a nice feeling, he looked at her while Eileen talked about how she felt free without her husband by her side. Alistair had divorced parents so knew exactly what she was talking about, he didn’t remember a day going by without his mother telling him how happy she was leaving his dad. No surprise, he was a raging alcoholic.

Alistair placed his hand at the bottom of her waist as he led her up the jetty. He gave her a short smile while following her on board, ‘I’m sure you never thought of dating the most famous news reporter in Montreal,’ he whispered in her ear as Alistair guided her inside.
The party was crowded and the music was louder than he expected, was he getting old? Maybe a little bit. His eyes went over the crowd of people looking for one specific person who wasn’t that hard to find, it seemed they had walked in some time before as they were located in the big main hall.

Liv was never one to fall back in crowds and was about the first thing anyone would notice walking in, she was an eye-catcher. Her purple dress was puffed up and her hair fell in long, black curls over her shoulder. Alistair moved with Eileen as he had took her jacket and in the most unsubtly subtly way pushed her towards the couple without giving it a second thought. Alistair was sure this was not what she meant when she told him the night had no rush and if she had the time to ask he would not have an answer to why he was pushing the lady and himself through the crowd like that. When she looked up he just gave her a faint, apologetic smile.

‘Let’s say hi to some friends, is that okay?’ He asked Eileen without giving her the opportunity to tell him no. He had not seen Logan anywhere but was sure she would see her somewhere tonight whether it would be here or in the bathroom. This wouldn't be the first time she showed up late, especially since she got back with Drew he was sure she wasn't staying sober.
As they stood before the Marriotts, second doubts harshly kicked in, Nolan standing right there in front of him felt weirder than he thought it would be. The scenarios in his head didn’t align with what he had planned.
As casually as he could Alistair pulled Eileen next to him, laying his hand now beneath her waist and looking at Liv as well as Nolan. He was wearing a leather jacket and his hair was slicked back, Alistair couldn’t help but compare himself to the gentlemen though he couldn’t seem to find any common ground on Liv’s 'type'.

‘What a coincidence seeing you two here,’ he spoke, loud and confident. ‘I don’t know if you two met before, this is Eileen,’ he added, looking at the brunette next to him. Alistair couldn’t help but avoid Nolan’s gaze, it felt like he was in high school all over again. ‘And I don’t think we formerly met, Nolan was it, right?’ Alistair stuck out his hand, addressing the elephant in the room.

Though he introduced himself to Nolan, Alistair’s gaze was stuck on the lady in purple. He hoped she would jump into his arms and greet him with joy but didn’t want to set up any expectations. He hoped for more than just a hug to be honest, Alistair had been fantasizing about her since the moment she left. Things were getting more than just simply complicated. 'Anybody thirsty?' He added, stopping the waiter with the complimentary champagne glasses and taking over the tray from waitress who had probably seen much worse but never anything more uncomfortable than this combination of people. If only she knew.

code by valen t.

 

[.Curious.Nat.]

Processing. . . .

outfit: link here

mood: Ouch & Nervous

location: SuperPlus Store

Arthur says. . . .

Arthur tried hard not to laugh at Oliver's obviously nervousness. She saw him pull out the pepper spray in a quick manner. Who was gonna mind about him pulling that out? He was acting like it was drugs which made the situation even more funny. She didn't know he stole it. That wasn't on her mind at least. She heard and felt the crab from the ice box. It was moving about and she picked the box up from both side slightly swaying it so it'd hopefully turn on its back. That's when she heard a light thud and then no real movement after that. Perfect. "Yes all you have to do is touch the shell for 2 seconds and your done. I would say to turn around and just have me make it touch you but I'm not mean like that" she laughed slightly waiting till Oliver said the okay.


Her light brown eyes looked up over at Niila when Oliver said for her to open it. If she looked any longer it'd be considered staring. She didn't know what it was. Maybe something in the air all the time now? The light was hitting the right way everyday? She didn't know, but Niila was one of the only people she didn't not want to look at. Yes she seems bubbly, that's only with people she is really comfortable and Niila was hands down the first person that came to mind other than of course Oliver-but the like she had for the two were of course completely different.. it wasn't like she wanted to kiss Oliver and go on cute dates with him..and hold hands, steal his hoodies--okay she was getting ahead of herself and she needed to stop daydreaming..sadly.


She slightly winced at her index finger that was causing her more discomfort then she would like to let on. She undid the top and low and behold the crab was on its back, thankfully. It was a lot easier to grab it. The shell was cold from the dried cold water and it only made her fingers more numb. It's legs were moving about trying to make it roll itself over,but Artgur would not have more cut fingers today from this fucking Crab.


"Hello Mr.Crab" she said cheery as she picked it up with ease, making sure the front pinchers were away from her. Arthur glanced at Oliver and did a little "come here" motion. "Get on my side so you don't get hurt and you can touch it from behind okay? It won't even know your touching it" she said as she ended up grabbing his sleeve and tugging him by her side. Now the crabs face was the opposite direction of both of them. Maybe she thought thard make it easier? She would only hope so...


Now she would only be patient for Oliver to touch the crab she was holding onto with her shaky hand that she wouldn't admit to. She knew after he touched it she would get the pepper spray and then she'd put the crab back where she found it. Simple. Easy...well easier said then done.




@Myling @Chimney Swift

coded by kaninchen

 

[ALittleRedLie]

MOOD: worried; aggravated

OUTFIT

LOCATION: The Pier

basics

MENTIONS:
r e i (Isa) (Kieran)(Frankie)

Chimney Swift (Max)

INT:

tags

TL;DR

he's gotta steal a boat, then he's gotta go steal his best friend back, then he's going to go make out with his boyfriend.

tl;dr

Chance Matthews

the battle within will have collateral damage

*trigger warning: mentions of overdose*


The past month has been exhausting for Chance. He never thought that his life would be tossed and turned upside down and that he would be someone completely different than the person he was at the beginning of the summer. His feelings had been dissected and put under the magnifying glass.

Walking home with Max after the college fair felt like a break up; even though whatever it was that happened between them was ending before it even started. Maybe that was what made Chance seek Frankie. Max was brave enough to tell the truth and tell Chance what he wanted for now, so Chance needed to be that way with Frankie. He needed to get this off his chest if he wanted to move on with his life. If he wanted to accept himself.

Well that conversation ended differently than what Chance had planned, but the runner ended up dating the captain of the football team. The guy he's had a crush on for about a year. The one who sent him into an identity crisis. They both couldn’t deny that it was a little weird at first since the two of them were best friends since kindergarten, but after spending time together and exploring their romantic relationship, the boys could say that they found a flow that worked for them.

Chance also felt a little guilty about Max. Chance had moved on to the next guy a lot faster than he was expecting. He told Max about it, he felt like he had to and although Max said it was alright, Chance knew his friend. And it probably wasn’t alright. Falling for Max that fast was very unexpected, maybe something had always existed under the surface between them and the kiss had unleashed something that absolutely crushed Chance. The deep dive is what the Matthews was ready to do for Max and it terrified him. How did that happen? This was one of his closest friends that he never felt this way for before, it was absolutely dangerous how strong his feelings were and how fast they grew. But Chance knew that Max wasn’t ready, and although acknowledging that maybe hurt Chance, he wasn’t going to force Max into anything that might send his friend into overdrive. So letting go of Max was painful, but their friendship and Max’s comfortability was a lot more important. Letting go of Max was a good thing to do, he has Frankie now.

This wasn’t the only thing swarming through Chance’s mind. Isa had disappeared from the face of the earth and Kieran had popped up. Which was probably a sign of the end of the world. The Matthews twins, Isa, and Kieran had all grown up together. They were all close, Kieran and Chance were attached at the hip. If Chance wasn't with Franklin, he was with Kieran and the girls were with them too. Outsiders would think that the four of them would be friends for the rest of their lives. But that changed a year before. When Isa almost overdosed. And Chance and Kieran fought. And Winnie felt alone when one of her most important friendships had fallen apart. It was never the same. The boys had severed their bond, Isa was forced away from Kieran, and Winnie tried to balance her relationship with each and every one of them. Like she was doing now which Chance didn't like. Kieran didn't deserve his sister's sympathy and he definitely did not deserve Isa.

So that's what Chance was going to do, take his best friend back as fast as he could and prove that he's not as good as a guy as he says. But first, he promised his Uncle Nolan that he was going to show up to the boat regatta. And Chance also wanted to see if he could steal a boat. He arrived to the pier alone, but dressed to the nines. He was going to enjoy as much of the fancy party as he could before he left to go save his best friend.

code by valen t.

 

[OdinsTwoWolves]

MOOD: Glad to be back, ready for a new challenge

OUTFIT: N/A

LOCATION: N/A

basics

MENTIONS:


INT:

tags

TL;DR Rhys is back, planning for nice night on the town to just relax.

tl;dr

Rhys Price

"Hope I'm home for a long while..."

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have just been cleared to land at the Boston-Logan International Airport. Please make sure one last time your seat belt is securely fastened. The flight attendants are currently passing around the cabin to make a final compliance check and pick up any remaining cups and glasses. Thank you for flying Delta Airlines.”

Rhys couldn’t decide if the announcement was comforting, despite his chosen profession of parachuting out of planes to go fight forest fires, he really wasn’t a fan of flying in planes. The US Forestry Service paid for the flight though, a nice seat in business class, not some cramped space in economy with a baby screeching in his ear so he felt inclined to take it. Anchor Bay wasn’t too far away now, but he had more work waiting there which included an unpacked apartment and a metric fuck ton of training that still needed to be done, he moved into Anchor Bay to be a Lieutenant in their Fire Department and then got called out to California to fight fires almost immediately. The plane rumbled, their descent was beginning and Rhys could peer across his neighbors' space, watching the city and ocean come into view. It was pretty breathtaking, he had never lived near the ocean before and he didn’t think he could ever completely get over how blue it was. For a man who had seen fire all his life, the ocean was pretty fuckin’ cool…

“How was your flight?” Daniel Beckham, Rhys’s best friend and Captain of Station 1,was happy to give Rhys a hug, giving his back a shockingly loud smack that probably turned a few heads.

“Fuckin hated it, but they gave me second class seating, plus drinks..” Rhys couldn’t help but grin and wink, the ever present mischievous twinkle in his eyes gleamed. “Plus ya know I love flight attendants.” Daniel thumped him again, this time boxing his left ear, making Rhys jump but laugh uproariously.

“Let’s get your shit, I wanna leave Boston before I eat my eyeball and yours from traffic.” Daniel shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans, “I’m glad you’re back, think you’ll go out again?” He asked, the pair picking their way through throngs of people towards baggage claim.

Rhys shook his head slowly, looking over at him, “Nah.” There was a western drawl that touched his words, “They kept us out there for a long while, I think I’ve crossed from northern to southern California like twenty different times.” He sighed, it was tiring to even think of having to go spend just another day on the west coast. “It was one mess after another, I’m excited to be back in small town U-S-A where the only problems are if there is enough apple pie and freedom to go around.” He could feel Daniel’s glare hit him, just like his mom did when he pissed her off something fierce while she was cooking in the kitchen. Baggage Claim was a zoo, but they fought through it quick enough, scooping up the single duffel bag Rhys had been able to bring and continued speed walking out of the building, heading into the open air. “Why didn’t Lewis come?” He missed the grumpy old man.

“Some big ass boat party is happening in the Bay, “ Daniel shrugged as Rhys slung his bag into bed of the pick up, “Chief wants everyone and their mother out there, keeping the peace, kicking ass and takin’ name… ya’know, just that simple small town America shit you talk about, cowboy.” He landed a playful punch on Rhys shoulder, grinning like a fool when he got frowned at. “We’ll see him tonight though, Annie also, we’re gonna get some drinks and food so we can people-watch on the harbor,” Daniel peered over at him, “As long as you’re not too tired?”

“Tired? You’re fuckin’ hilarious Danny-Boy, I’ll buy the first round.” Rhys felt a smile, a genuine smile, crossed his lips as the truck pulled forward and started to leave the airport parking lot. Maybe, just maybe… The Good Lord was about to bless Rhys Price with a stress free night full of good food, good drink, and good company instead of fires.

code by valen t.

 

[Dazzle]

MOOD: confused/loney

OUTFIT: grease stained white tee shirt and jeans

LOCATION: The Pierce's front door

basics

MENTIONS:


INT:
Elf_Ruler (Lemon)

tags

TL;DR

tl;dr

Reid Callaway

never admit when you're wrong

Reid had been waiting outside for Lemon longer than he expected, had she not asked him to come over? Though he waited patiently outside of the Pierce’s home. It was a warm August night, and he could understand why the town wanted to celebrate by the harbor, enjoying the last of the warm nights.



Reid scrolled through Instagram on his phone, as he leaned against the side of the house, waiting for Lemon to appear as she sent him a text.

‘So she knows I’m here…’ he thought to himself. He had no idea what she could want to talk about. Maybe she was looking for more advice on trying to ask out someone. Things that Reid really would rather not talk about with Lemon.



He didn’t have to wonder for much longer though, as the door swung open. “Hey.” He responded, still standing outside the door. “It’s no big deal…”Reid looked down at his greased stained shirt, thinking that he should have probably took the time to change before coming over. But it was too late for that. “I really wasn’t busy…” Reid reached behind him to close the door, but Lemon stopped him before he could.

“Tree house?” He raised an eyebrow, but there wasn’t time for a response as Lemon took off towards her backyard, Reid followed. Climbing up the ladder after Lemon, he settled into the tree house crossing his legs as he leaned up against the wall. “I can’t believe you still have this.” He said, but Lemon followed with a much different response than he had been expecting.

“Lied?” Reid tipped his chin in as he stared at Lemon, he wasn’t too sure what she was talking about. There was too many things that she could be talking about. “What do you mean Lem?” Reid braced himself for the worst, he felt his entire body tense as he waited for her to respond.

code by valen t.

 

[Elf_Ruler]

Lemon Pierce

Lemon was silent for what felt like minutes. She didn’t quite know where to start, where to even begin explaining the lie. It had been so long and now she was sitting face to face with him, her heart pounding so hard she thought it might pop out of her chest. She took a deep breath, “So, you know when we were kids and Lando would make jokes about me liking you?” she gave him a look but continued on without giving him a chance to respond. She only kept her eyes down, “He wasn’t wrong. I mean we were kids and I really really liked you. I just figured as we grew up it would go away, I left Alabama and I was away from you. But every summer it was never gone.” She could feel her insecurities rise up in her stomach, as she continued on with her truth. It was coming out her like vomit and she couldn’t even stop. The words poured, “Anyways, I kept watching you choose girls prettier than me, guys more adventurous than me and it hurt. I’m not blaming you for that pain, because that was my fault. So, I acted out, threatened to out you because I was hurt, and Johnathan…That wasn’t my idea. I never wanted to date him. But things went wrong, I ruined us.” She paused to collect herself. She heard Reid take a breath to respond and held up her hand.

She hadn’t finished her whole sentence, “No. I’m not done. Please wait.” Her voice was quieter than normal. This last part hurt her, “I remember everything from The Fourth. I remember the talk. I remember…trying to kiss you.” Her words dropped, “I still like you.” The words choked out of her throat. She wished the words didn’t hurt, “I get it though, I’m not as pretty as other girls, I don’t command the room like Isa or that Beck girl. I know I’m not the person you would want. I got you in so much trouble and I can’t even begin to understand how you would ever like me. I’m boring. I couldn’t keep lying to you. I don’t expect you to like me back. And if you don’t want to continue being friends, I get it.” Lemon kept her head low.

All she could do was try and brace herself for the words of rejection she knew would happen, she was braced for the pain. She wished the feelings would die, she wished she didn’t like him because she knew she wouldn’t have to feel the pain. All she had to do was keep herself from crying and she knew if she looked at Reid she would. So she kept staring at the lines of the treehouse.

Mention(s): Interaction(s): Dazzle

 

[Dazzle]

MOOD: Excited

OUTFIT: dress

LOCATION: The harbor

basics

MENTIONS:
lion. ALittleRedLie

INT:
Chimney Swift

tags

TL;DR

tl;dr

Harper Anderson

when you wear a mask for so long, you forget who is behind it.

‘Lets.’ She smiled brightly though the back of her mind would not let her forget about what had happened earlier with her dad. Harper had gotten relatively good at ignoring her problems, acting like everything truly was okay. But days like today were a lot harder than the days that her dad was angry at the world, choosing only to take it out on her and her brother.

Harper walked side by side with Max as they made their way to the boat.

The entire harbor was covered with string lights, that resembled the stars in the dark night sky. Anchor Bay truly went all out for their personally Holiday parties. Though Harper knew that this meant that more tourists would be visiting as the fall months came. The leaf peepers, and families who loved to spend the holidays in the snow-covered town. Slay rides and all.

As they finally stepped onto the boat, Harper’s eyes lit up of all the decorations, the music played softly as people were just arriving. Food had been put up buffet style, everyone was mingling about. Likely talking about work, or their kids, and everything in between.

‘did you want to get food?’ Harper signed. ‘Or did you want to dance?’ Harper looked over to the DJ that the town had hired for this event.

Her head turned to follow the waiters and bartenders weaving throughout the crowds, carrying trays of champagne. Harper had an internal fight with alcohol, she saw how it treated her father. But sometimes, she just really needed to let go. Though she turned her attention back to Max, knowing he would not want to drink tonight after fourth of July.

‘Whatever you want to do, we need to catch up.’ She smiled at her friend, her eyes drifting over the crowds to see if Zach had showed up. Though she tried to keep her attention on the friend in front of her.

code by valen t.

 

[ALittleRedLie]

MOOD: conflicted; divided; confused; in love

OUTFIT Liv Nolan

LOCATION: Home

basics

MENTIONS:


INT:
purplecowdutch (Alistair)

Chimney Swift (Eileen)

tags

TL;DR
married couple woes

tl;dr

The Marriotts

I'll love you despite whatever crap life might throw our way

Feeling Nolan's soft grasp on her waist made Olivia giddy, like when she first met her husband. The couple had made some rounds, champagne glasses in their grasps as they mirrored a happy and perfect couple. She was fixing her husband's collar, his eyes lovingly glancing down at her as she did, when a familiar voice walked up to the two of them. It doesn't take long for Olivia to know who it is, and she could feel her heart jump.

She looks at Alistair, soft eyes and a sweet smile adorning him, but when her eye lands on the woman next to him it's wiped off. The whole town is here Alistair. Olivia says, a strained smile on her own face, she takes another sip of her champagne to hide it.

Yeah, I'm Nolan. I've heard a lot about you, Alistair. Nolan grips Alistair's hand in what looked like a friendly gesture, but it most definitely wasn't. The firefighter knew who this was, this was the man that was taking his wife from him. Though Olivia would never admit that and he wouldn't confront her about it, it could be seen right here in the interaction between Liv and Alistair. He takes his hand from Alistair and settles it into Eileen's, a smile with a bit of charm on his face. Nice to meet you Eileen.

When his right hand leaves Eileen's, it settles back on Liv's waist, who'd been staring at her phone, anything to detach herself from this scenario. Frustration, with a hint of jealousy, furrows her brow and she does her best not to look angry.

Anybody thirsty? Alistair asks and Olivia rolls her eyes before they dart between Eileen and Alistair. Liv had no right to be jealous, her she was with her husband, happy. Alistair with another woman, that he claimed was just date, shouldn't bother her. But it did. And Olivia needed to get it together before it showed to her party companions. Liv didn't want to be here. Albeit hypocritical, she was hurt that Alistair was here with another woman even though he told her that he was there for her. These feelings just confirmed to Olivia that she felt a lot more for the Canadian. And Eileen didn't deserve it yes she did, but right now Olivia did not like the short brunette woman. So the best thing that the fashion designer could do was remove herself. She gulps down the rest of her champagne.

I don't really like champagne. So I'm gonna...walk away now. Without waiting for anyone's response and with no acknowledgement towards Eileen, Olivia plants a quick kiss on Nolan's cheek, turns around and walks away.

All the firefighter could do was watch his wife's receding back. Sorry, about that. Nolan apologizes to the couple still in front of him. She tends to do that.

code by valen t.

 

[Dazzle]

MOOD: confused/loney

OUTFIT: grease stained white tee shirt and jeans

LOCATION: The Pierce's front door

basics

MENTIONS:


INT:
Elf_Ruler (Lemon)

tags

TL;DR

tl;dr

Reid Callaway

never admit when you're wrong

Reid just sat there starring at the wall behind Lemon, he was afraid at what she would end up saying. It was too hard to look at her directly. His head turned ever so slightly to actually look at Lemon face on, he meant to respond. But Lemon just kept going, and he didn’t have enough time to.

He could tell that everything she was saying, took a lot of courage. It was hard to admit your feelings for someone… He knew that.

The mention of Johnathan made his blood boil, he went to say something. He took a deep breath to, just so he wouldn’t start yelling, but Lemon stopped him before he could actually say anything. He breathed out a quiet sigh of “okay...” as he nodded his eyes closing every so slightly as his hair flopped over his brow as his head tipped forward in agreement.

His eyes went wide at the mention of the fourth. His heart started to beat faster as the words dropped. The real reason that she wanted to talk today. She remembered everything.

“Lemon…” He tried to say, but she just kept going. Reid could hear all the hurt in her voice as she spilled all her feelings to him.

---​

They sat in silence for what felt like hours, though it was likely only a minute had gone by. Reid wanted to make sure that Lemon had said everything she needed to. He didn’t want to rush her.

When it was clear that she had said everything she had needed to, Reid cleared his throat. Lemon was still looking down at her lap, he reached forward gently taking her hand in his.

“I’m sorry..” This time he looked down at his own lap, while his thumb gently rubbed circles on the back of Lemon’s hand. “I’m sorry I’ve let you sit with all this for so long.”

Reid truly didn’t know what he was going to say. Lemon had brought up so much in such little time, that he was struggling to find the words to respond.

“You deserve so better than me…”

“You are so much more than all those other girls.” Reid could have sworn that his heart was going to beat out of his chest at any moment. “Lemon…” He said as he forced himself to lift his head to look at her. “You’re beautiful...”

“You have never compared to them…”

code by valen t.

 

[Chimney Swift]

MOOD: Self-deprecative

OUTFIT: xxx

LOCATION: Anchor Bay Waterfront

basics

MENTIONS:


INT:
Harper Dazzle

tags

TL;DR
Max and Harper finally get to hang out again.

tl;dr

Max Berkowitz

We accept the love we think we deserve.

"I just think it's so crazy how everyone's so confident on boats, right? I know we're not moving, but still, I... you know." Max laughed nervously, trying to keep his composure. "I'm alright, though. Whatever you like. I'm up for anything. Did you want to dance...?"

Max was cursed with two left feet, but if Harper was willing to be patient with him, maybe dancing would be fun. Or maybe it would just be awkward and embarrassing, but last month Max had hit rock bottom of embarrassment. Nothing could ever be that bad again, especially if he kept politely declining the sparkling glasses of champagne being passed around.
He would have done anything just to forget that whole night ever happened. People always said alcohol helped them forget, but didn't it just leave them with more things they wished they could forget about? Max had to admit that for a moment it was nice, to just live for a few hours free from the grip of social anxiety, but it wasn't worth it. It only brought him more in the end.
"I'm just glad to be spending time with you." He added, looking back at her with a soft smile.

He couldn't help but notice Harper's eyes wandering the crowd, as though she were looking for something. "Hey, is everything alright? You seem a little... unsure." He immediately felt unsure of having asked. Maybe she'd noticed something he should be paying more attention to, or if she had heard something...
"Why don't we get some food? Then if you want we can go sit out on the deck and get some fresh air. We'll have more space for just the two of us." He suggested after a bit of hesitation, keeping his hands close and his movements slow to draw less attention from the people around them. Max was used to getting stared at, but it occurred to him that maybe Harper was feeling uncomfortable being out with him tonight. Maybe if the two of them were away from the crowd a bit, they could just relax and have fun like always.
Or was that selfish?
"Then we can dance if you still want. I'm warning you though, I'm not any more graceful than I was at junior prom with Zach." He tried to lighten the mood, remembering that whole mess. What was it about parties and formal events that seemed to ensure humiliation? This, the 4th of July, prom, his cousin's wedding, his own Bar Mitzvah... it was like a curse. Best-case scenario it was a little funny to look back on, and worst-case scenario he had even more party trauma that he'd never fully let himself process. "But that was fun at least, right? We've done a lot of things together over the years."

code by valen t.

 

[Chimney Swift]

MOOD: Cordial

OUTFIT: Summertime

LOCATION: The yacht party

basics

MENTIONS:

INT:
Alistair purplecowdutch
Liv and Nolan ALittleRedLie

tags

TL;DR Oliver's mom is kinda pleasant when she wants to be. Somehow that makes it worse..

tl;dr

Eileen Dreyfuss

The dark I know well.

"Charmed." Eileen politely shook everyone's hands, pressing a thin smile. Her eyes almost instantaneously settled on Nolan

Now, Nolan's wife was another story. She looked very young, perhaps fresh out of college, and her short purple dress showed that she took great care in her appearance. Eileen had never been a trophy wife, but something about the idea had always amused her when she was younger. Now, she didn't know for sure what the story was between Nolan and Liv, but if she was a "friend" of Alistair's... well, that was certainly interesting, now wasn't it? Oh, young couples and their insecurities. Even the way Nolan's hand stayed draped over Liv's waist seemed to tell her that they both wanted very desperately to be perceived well.

Thus, she wasn't surprised at all when the younger woman quickly took her leave. She nodded sympathetically to Nolan, wondering if he was going to stay or follow his wife.
"She tends to do that," Nolan explained. Eileen offered a light and airy "Oh, does she?" Eileen wasn't about to let this get awkward before it got fun. It wasn't very often that she got a taste of the high society.

Eileen accepted a glass of champagne when the tray was passed her way, holding the stem of the glass poised delicately in her manicured fingers and swirling the bubbling drink around in its flute. She usually drank very little in public. She saved that habit for home and for more... intimate affairs. But a social drink to keep a light buzz going couldn't possibly hurt her.
"So, Nolan, what do you do for work?" Perhaps a little small talk would quickly distract everyone from Liv's absence, though somehow Eileen was fairly certain that she would be returning shortly... in an odd sort of way, she was curious to get to know her.

code by valen t.

 

[Elf_Ruler]

Lemon Pierce

Lemon had been sitting quietly, her heart beating rapidly and finally Reid began to speak, his hand had reached for hers. She wasn’t sure what to do but she didn’t pull away, it was nice. Then his words began to hit her and she looked up at him. Shock laced in every single feature she had. All of those times he had chosen everyone over her, all those times she felt inadequate and it had left. She couldn’t help but let tears fall. She hadn’t meant to begin crying but she had. She took her free hand and wiped away the few stray tears. The words stopped in her throat all because she didn’t understand how to respond to him. What did this mean for them? What did it mean for her?

She kept staring at their hands while she continued to wipe the stray tears, “Does this mean you want to date me?” the words finally came out, “Are we going to be a thing? What about…the others? I’m not experienced. Won’t you get bored with me? I’m plain, boring. You wouldn’t even kiss me.” Lemon was worried because all she had wanted for years was Reid and now, she had him. He hadn’t rejected her, but did he want to date her? She was scared of being hurt again, even though she trusted Reid.

She eventually sat in silence still processing everything that had happened, he thought she was beautiful, even though she hadn’t felt beautiful or wanted in a year. She had felt hurt and dirty, like all that was wanted from her was something she was scared to give, “What about..you know being more intimate? I…I don’t want to do that. I’m not ready for that. Is that a deal breaker?” Lemon was worried that he would decide to change his mind. He was everything she had ever wanted. She didn’t care about what others thought of him because she had grown up with him. She knew the good, the bad, the ugly…the pirate. She felt herself get embarrassed as she thought about him as a pirate. She let her eyes look away from him because she didn’t know how to handle everything going through her mind. But especially not how to handle knowing that he would still make those jokes and all she could do was feel embarrassed. She really hoped that he was okay with every issue that came with her. Every fear that was still seeped into her core after last year. She didn’t want him to be upset with her for not moving at the right speed or at the same speed as him. His experience scared her.

Mention(s): Interaction(s): Dazzle