Westbrook Season 2

[LittleCal]

A squealy, grating voice broke through the chatter around her, and Sonja forced her smile a little bit wider. Yep, she thought to herself as she spun to find its source. That’ll be Hazel, alright. No one else I know here who sounds that annoying.

She turned, giving Hazel a half-nod. “Hazel, hey. Glad I found you.” That was… kind of true, wasn’t it? Sure, she mostly wanted to get past the humoring-the-prep part of today, but if she had to put up with this in order to get to the fun part, she could manage it with minimal venom. A noise floated through the crowd, and she flicked her eyes to the group of girls that Hazel had just left. Alarm bells sounded in her head, and she fought the urge to tense up her shoulders. They weren’t laughing at her, were they?

Shrugging, she tamped down her worries. She was going to be fine. There was no point in being paranoid. It was all okay. She turned her gaze back to Hazel. “Yeah, a drink would be great.” Especially if I need to put up with your whiny ass too much longer. I don't think I can handle your voice sober.

mikaluvkitties

 

[a z u l a]

Ryder

The towel dropped out of his hand at Ash's words, he was so shocked he couldn't do anything but stare at her for a moment. Did she really think that? Of course he'd heard from others how she'd been brain damaged after the accident, but besides the time she'd punched him in the face he really hadn't seen her around. It was hard to even begin to try and imagine how bad the accident affected her, Ryder was no stranger to guilt. It seemed like Ash had spiraled in the months after he left, he didn't even know who she was now. But that didn't matter, because she was still his Ash.

"Ash, don't say that." He said, looking directly at her as he tried to find the right words to say. There was nothing he could do or say to fix things and he knew that, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to try. It crushed him to see Ash like this, she was a shell of the person she used to be. What had happened in the last year to break her this much?

"You know people at this school are like vultures, they jump on the torch wielding angry mob without even knowing what actually happened. Fuck what they say. You are a good person, Ash. I know it, Jace knows it, Grace knows it." He said, picking up the towel off the ground to finish cleaning off her arm. He stared at her silently for a moment, letting out a heavy sigh as he placed the towel back on the counter before turning back to her.

"Ash, death is never the answer. There's always a way things can get better."

Winona

Chase

All in all, his first week of college had been great. Maybe it was a little lame that he was at a high school party instead of his first college party, but he had missed his younger friends still at Westbrook and figured he could stop by for a few minutes, even if JJ hated him. He may also have been there to supervise his younger siblings and make sure they didn't get into trouble. Old habits died hard.

He'd already lost track of both of his siblings, losing them in the chaos of the fight that had broken out that they surprisingly hadn't started. For once. He was making his way out of the kitchen with a drink when he spotted a familiar face, a wide smile spreading across his lips as he headed towards the boy. It was a good thing Westbrook was kind of a small town.

"Noah!" He called, walking up to where the dark-haired boy stood. "How's your head?" He joked, but genuinely wanted to make sure he was doing okay after the little run in. His elbow was still sore, he couldn't imagine how his head felt.

mogy

Alaska

Tonight was a shit show, and for once it wasn't even Alaska's fault. Speaking of shit shows, she wondered how Drake's apology with Maisie had went. She hoped that it had gone well, it was impossible to imagine anyone not forgiving Drake with that cute face of his. Life was messed up for him, but he was still the sweetest person she had ever met. Drake was proof that the world could be cruel to you and you could still be a decent person. Alaska aspired to be more like him.

"Have you seen Drake?" She asked one of her teammates when she spotted Maisie without him, in fact she couldn't see him anywhere. "Didn't you hear? He got into a fight with Aaron and stormed out. That's the second time this year. At least Aaron didn't break his nose this time." For a moment, Alaska was stunned. How had she not known about this? Why hadn't Drake told her? Did he really not trust her? Maybe if she'd been a better friend she would know.

All Alaska saw was red. She had promised Drake she wouldn't touch Mason, but Aaron was another story. Rationally, she knew she should ask what had happened, or at least find Drake first, but between seeing Raven and having to pull Sawyer off of Ash, she was already on edge tonight. Before she could ask any other questions, she spotted the little asshole walking out the front door, following after him with deadly intent.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Alaska yelled, walking up to Aaron and punching him directly in the face. There was no wasting time and waiting for an explanation, anyone who laid a hand on Drake was dead.

mikaluvkitties​

 

[Cosmos]

Sen gave a nod and quickly followed after the other, still a little timid and blushing but reassuring herself that this would all be fine. Going up to the door and meeting face to- stomach, with the bouncer, she looked up with an awkward wave, before scooting past once handing over her own present that had been tucked away at her side, it wasn't much, just a newer game she enjoyed playing and thought the other may as well. Wrapped up in some pink and white stripped paper.

Rolling into the party she was immediately taken back by how many people were there- this was a lot. She didn't know if she could even get her chair through the place to be honest, trying to scoot through with many small apologies she stayed close to the other female, not wanting to stray quite yet. But she wasn't an idiot and did get the vibe the other didn't want her around that much, "Sorry- about tagging along..." she let out quietly, biting her lip a little again. Argh. That was such a bad habit.
________

Winona

 

[mikaluvkitties]

Aaron​

Aaron turned around, frowning and about to say something cutting about ignoring questions when posed, but Tim was already gone. The frown deepened, but Aaron just popped the tab on his beer, exiting the kitchen and heading back outside.

His plan had been to drink and go home and by god, that was what he was doing.

Or not. Things could never be that easy, could they?

Someone was yelling and as he turned to see who the unlucky bastard was he realized that it was, for the second or arguably third time that night, him.

Before he could even say something in his defense, he was punched in the face.

He dropped his beer, and the taste of copper let him know that yeah, he’d bit his fucking tongue.

A dull throb set up in his face, and before he could think to hard on who this person was or what the hell was going on, he was throwing a punch back, hitting this bitch square in the face.

Twin Fantasy a z u l a​

Hazel

TW : Transphobia​

Hazel’s grin grew, and she nodded, making her way through the party with ease. “So, she goes by Aaron. Not her name but like, doesn’t really matter, right? She’s got a pretty hard shell, but I trust you’ll be able to break through it.” She entered the kitchen, only sneering a little bit at the cakey mess. How tragic.

“Beer, right?” she said, already going to grab one for herself before continuing, “Anyways, she had a really catastrophic prom last year.” She turned to Sonja, giving her the saddest face she could manage before continuing, “I hope you’ll be able to cheer her up.”

LittleCal​

 

[Winona]

Ash


No, she wasn't a good person. Ash hadn't been a good person for a long time, and even when she had tried to be, everything had backfired and ended up being even worse for everyone. Her gaze followed Ryder as he stood up and started speaking, and she couldn't keep hearing this anymore. Death wasn't the answer had to be the dumbest excuse she had ever heard, because death had to be better than this. Anything had to be better than this because Ash was pretty sure she was in hell.

And she wanted Ryder to stop talking. To stop trying to make her feel better, to just shut up. Why was he even here in this bathroom with her? Shouldn't he have been with Nova?

So Ash dropped the ice pack to the ground beside her and grabbed Ryder's shirt, pulling him into a kiss. And god, she hated herself for it, but he wouldn't stop talking and all she wanted to do was kiss him. Just... one last time. One last time, and then she would be able to move on, right? Because he had moved on, so why was she stuck in the past?

Despite everything that the night had brought, Ash had managed to keep from crying. She had just felt numb, but as she pulled away from Ryder, her hands dropping away from his shirt, Ash's eyes welled up with tears. She hated herself. For everything that she had done, and now for this, and for how familiar and good it had felt.

"You... you believe in me too much. I'm not a good person, Ryder. I haven't been in a really long time." And now she was actually crying, and she could feel the tears running down her face. Ash wiped at her cheeks with her sleeves, trying to desperately stop the flow of tears. "Jace quit his school to take care of me. Grace and I hadn't been talking in months because she was mad at me for being selfish, and then the one night that we try to piece things together, I... I put her in a coma."

Ash needed to get out of here, before she did something even more stupid. So she stood up, her head pounding with pain as she did so. "Just leave me alone and go back to Nova. She's a good person. I'm not." She said, even if she barely believed that herself because Nova was kind of a bitch, but she was at least better than Ash.

And then she pushed past Ryder and started out of the bathroom. She just wanted to go home, but she didn't want to see anyone or ask for a ride. Ash couldn't handle more pity, or more yelling.

a z u l a​

 

[a z u l a]

Alaska

Sure, Alaska had been hit plenty of times before, it came with the territory. For a moment though, she was a little taken a back by the blunt force to her face, but she shook it off and lunged forward again. There was no way she was going to let one good punch get to her. Plenty of people had punched Alaska before, Honestly, fighting a Vaughn was like a right of passage in Westbrook.

But her second punch didn't go as planned, she had done a few shots after the drama that had ensued in the kitchen and was much too drunk to be fighting anyone. Aaron easily dodged her next punch, and she knew she was in for trouble.

mikaluvkitties ​

 

[PenguinFox]

Toby let out an exasperated sigh and rubbed his temples. Of course what Zander did was an accident and he couldn't really be mad at him for it because he attempted to fix it, but it was still exhausting to deal with. With his fingers squeezing the bridge of his nose Toby took a step towards the gift. It was a scrapbook of images of himself and JJ. It had taken him days of work, finding the best pictures, getting the book together, getting the pictures developed. Yes, developed, he wasn't about to just print off pictures on copy paper that was tacky and JJ deserved the best. He had to cut out the pictures, and put them in an order that made sense. It was a lot of effort that he did all for her because she deserved something special for her birthday.

Thumbing through the pages revealed that it was still in good enough condition to give to JJ. It wasn't falling apart, it was just tinted red and wrinkled. "Next time- and please try your hardest to make sure there is no next time, just tell me. I'm honestly more upset that you didn't tell me your mistakes than the mistake itself." he looked over at his brother and gave him a small smile. "I'm your brother, I've always got your back." he looked back down to the pages that were now mostly dry. "Thanks for doing your best at fixing this."

Gently closing the book, Toby then handed it to Zander. "Hold onto this in you hoodie for now. When we see JJ I'll give it to her. I don't want to leave it anywhere and have someone throw it out accidentally." he turned and started to leave before looking over his shoulder and smirking at his brother. "Can you keep it safe this time?" Yeah he forgave him, but Zander wasn't going to hear the end of it from Toby for a long time. Winona

After having gotten a new gift for JJ's party Audra told Greyson about what it was for. She told him about how she was struggling to make new friends at school and figured a party would be great to help with that. She had then suggested he do the same. It was an open invitation on twitter so she didn't see why a plus one wouldn't be okay. Besides would anyone really notice?

The pair walked to the party together and once there discovered a bouncer taking gifts. A small frown rested on her face. That seemed awfully shallow of someone to bar entry to those who didn't bring gifts. This wasn't medieval times and she shouldn't have to pay to be in her highness's royal presence. At least she already had a gift though. She cautiously approached the large male and gingerly handed him the small glass figure. "Please be very careful with that. It's incredibly delicate." she looked back to Greyson. "He's with me, so I uh...I guess that's from both of us." she didn't want to have dragged the poor boy all the way here just to have to have him turn around. The doorman raised an eyebrow at the pair but let them in. She gave a curt nod to him and motioned for Grey to follow her.

Once inside Audra went about mingling with the other teenagers. Meeting people, making connections and whatnot. She knew most of these wouldn't last as many were likely drunk, or worse, but she would at least remember them. After a while Audra found herself in the backyard. It was much quieter out here, which suited her better than the thumping of the music inside. She didn't mind parties, but the longer they went on the louder and less coherent the people got. Plus it was significantly cooler outside. Being in such close proximity to all that body heat quickly became uncomfortable. As she was chatting and laughing with a small group someone off by themselves caught her eye. Taking a closer look Audra realized it was Stu! She excused herself from the group and made her way over to him.

"Hey." the blonde gave the boy on the bench a small wave but a wide grin. "I didn't know you were coming to this party too. We could've been hanging out the entire time!" It would have been nice to have been with someone she knew the whole night. Making new friends was easier with current friends, or well acquaintances. Audra wasn't really sure how she would classify her relationship with Stu. He was nice to her and they were in a class together. Did that make them friends though? Probably. She hoped. Stu was really her only friend at this point, so if she didn't have him she'd have no one.

"Why are you over here all by yourself?" she cocked her head curiously and carefully sat down next to him, smoothing out her sundress as she did so. "Is there something wrong?" it was a party, no one should feel left out. Dede Soap

 

[mikaluvkitties]

Aaron​

The impact hurt, but it was bound to, and even as Aaron prayed it would be enough to get this bitch to back the fuck up, she was swinging at him again. So he did what anyone would do in that situation- prepared for impact and tried to dodge.

And it worked.

At that point, Aaron was pretty sure he could win this.

Things blurred after that, hits and misses fading into a rhythm, hit after hit ebbing and flowing between the two.

Things were starting to drag, the weight of the whole thing starting to weigh on Aaron. And then he got lucky. He landed a good hit- Hard, centered and high in her abdomen, and she curled over enough that it was almost too easy to push her off her balance, onto the floor.

Reasonably, he could have stopped there, but he was tired of this, and he was angry, so without a thought the sole of his shoe dug into her gut. First once, then twice, then to many times to count, gaining momentum as he just kept hitting.

a z u l a​

 

[PenguinFox]

Ian lagged behind the rest of the group of misfits and by the time he got in they all seemed to have gone their separate ways. Wasn't the point of them going together to look out for one another? With a groan Ian began the tedious work of searching out his friends. It was slow work. The crowd was thick and his limp didn't help things. He could see over many heads but there was no way he was going to find Ash in this crowd, she was short. He managed to spot Tatum, but she was talking to a guy so Ian decided to not disturb her. The girls were here for a good time, Ian was there to watch over. Or at least try.

It what seemed like forever Ian gave up. His leg was killing him and he just couldn't feasibly find his friends by himself. He kind of secretly hoped Kanen would find Ash. He would probably do better at watching over her then he would. A large wave of guilt washed over him as he made his way to a table with drinks on it. He felt entirely useless. His earlier thinking of being better suited to help Ash was clearly wrong. Sure she was leaning on him on the ride here, but it could have been anyone he wasn't special. He had to stop thinking he was. He was an average guy, probably even below average. He wasn't really good at anything.

He stared at the alcohol for a long time. He wasn't supposed to drink, it could be dangerous to his health. That's what he was told anyway. But one couldn't hurt right? He'd had a high tolerance for alcohol before, that still carried over right? Hell, Ian didn't know how anatomy worked, but who cared if it was bad for him anyway? Plus it wasn't like drinking wasn't bad before his accident. Someone had brought a dozen or so airplane bottles so he grabbed a nip and quickly downed it before leaning against a wall. His stomach churned but it could be any number of reasons. The guilt of being useless that brought up old guilty feelings, the alcohol that probably didn't sit well in his system, or even just plain claustrophobia. He finished a second drink and made his way outside, hoping fresh air would calm him down some. His therapist had suggested that kind of thing whenever he felt his anxieties rising again. While Ian was far from better, he was trying, sometimes.

As Ian stepped outside he saw some guy absolutely wailing on some girl. He blinked once, unsure if what he was seeing was actually happening. He was just kicking her over and over again. A quick glance around showed that there wasn't anyone else to help. Maybe it was the alcohol but fuck it, Ian wasn't going to be useless tonight. Ignoring the thrumming pain in his hip he bolted over to the altercation as fast as his leg would allow. It felt like someone was trying to pull his leg from it's socket but he gritted his teeth through the pain. He shoved the dude hard away from the form on the ground and stood between him and the girl. Ian didn't have much to lose physically and better this guy direct this violence at him than her. He was taller than the assailant so maybe that would be enough to deter him, but then again he was just relentlessly kicking this helpless girl on the ground. "What the fuck is your problem? Are you trying to kill someone?" mikaluvkitties a z u l a

 

[mogy]

Noah Stewart

​

When Casper said that he didn't do much over the summer, Noah could most certainly relate. He didn't go out, not even to parties. He spent most of his time reading cheesy romances and preparing the house for the arrival of the new people who would be crashing with him and his family for the new school year; Dante, Tom and Beau. This was his first party in a while, and he was definitely going to make most of it.

"Yeah, I didn't do much over the summer either, but -" Noah was going to say that he also kept busy, but was interrupted by another familiar face, who called his name across the room. It was the elbow guy, Chase, the one who created the bruise on the side of his head and a little surface of his face. Noah was pretty surprised that Casper hadn't noticed the bruise at all, but seeing that it was a party, and it wasn't really noticeable under the dimmed lights, it made sense. It was even better that nobody noticed, but now that Chase was here, Noah was going to address it.

"Chase, hey!" It was surprising that Chase was at a high school party seeing that he was in college, but it was okay. He was there to have fun. "Uh, my head is uh, good." He couldn't decide which adjective to use, but had eventually settled on good, not wanting to seem weird.

"Uh, Chase, this is Casper. Casper, Chase." Noah said, gesturing at the two guys when he said each of their names.

Noah was really glad that Chase was here, mostly because he forgot to get his number or twitter handle, and the dude seemed pretty chill and like somebody Noah could be good friends with.

Interactions: mikaluvkitties (Casper), a z u l a (Chase)​

 

[LittleCal]

Something about Hazel's smile rubbed Sonja the wrong way. She trailed after the prep anyway, trying not to look too interested as she hung onto Hazel's every word. "Erin, huh?" she mumbled as she made it to the kitchen. Something squished underfoot, and she shit a frown down to her shoes (the least beat-up pair of converse she owned). Shit, is that frosting? Apparently, someone here hadn't figured out how to get cake into their mouth without screwing something up.

When Hazel stopped to grab a couple of bottles, Sonja stopped too, leaning against a counter. As subtly as she could, she scraped the underside of her shoe against the edge of the cabinet behind her to get the frosting off. JJ was going to have to clean this whole place up later, anyway, right? Maybe she could bribe her bouncer to help with that, too.

She turned her attention back to Hazel with a slight frown. "Yeah, beer's okay." (Only if there's not any real booze here, she thought, though she realized saying that out loud wouldn't lead to anything good.) "And I can probably get through to her. People say I'm good at that."

Sonja took the bottle and levered the cap off with the edge of the counter. "A bad prom, huh? Tragic." She took a long swig to hide the roll of her eyes. Sonja hadn't even been allowed to go to her prom last year. Apparently, there were rules. With a nonchalant shug, she added, "I think I can cheer her up, though. You know where she is?" The buzz was just barely kicking in, and Sonja chanced a smile.

mikaluvkitties

 

[Winona]

Ava


She had actually left the kitchen just before the incident occurred, and probably for the best. Ava didn't want to be around people or feel like she had to stop them from being stupid, but that's exactly what she would've felt like she had to do. After all, it was JJ's party and the last Ava would've wanted is for it to be ruined.

Although it had been destroyed, anyway. Ava watched helplessly as JJ ran off, the dance floor and entire party dead silent so that the slamming of JJ's door could be heard, even through this massive house. Ouch. Fuck.

Ava knew what she had to do. First, she found Princess and held him under one arm, and then headed for the gift table. She rummaged through until she found her present and a cupcake (lucky, right?). Ava set the little dog on the table and removed the ridiculous dress, just to put an even more ridiculous little cheerleading outfit on him. Custom-made, it looked identical to the Westbrook cheerleading outfits, which were also obviously ridiculous.

She then grabbed the cupcake in one hand and Princess in the other and headed to the destroyed cake. Ava put Princess down for a second while she pocketed the lighter that had been waiting on the table and a loose candle to put in the cupcake. Then, with cupcake ready and Princess ready, Ava decided she was prepared for battle. The battle being turning JJ's birthday around, of course.

Ava headed up to her bedroom, knocking lightly on the door with her foot before, with much struggle, she managed to open the door a bit. She peeked her head around the door to see JJ crying on the bed, and Ava's heart felt like it might just shatter right there.

"Hey, Jules." She said, hiding the cupcake behind her back as she stepped inside and used her foot to close the door. Ava set Princess down and let the heathen of a dog take off. "Look! I got you guys your own Westbrook mascot. Or, Westbrook cheerleading squad mascot." Ava hoped that would put a smile on her face.

"And I know it's not much, but I found this cupcake in your gifts and I thought... Well, I thought you could still make a wish." Ava suggested as she pulled the blue and pink cupcake out from behind her back and held it out.

Soap​

 

[Winona]

Keisha


"Oh." She glanced back at the girl. It wasn't her, it was Keisha. She had never been much of a talker or a social person at all, and it was just showing more here. "Don't worry about it. I don't actually really know anybody, so it's not like you're... annoying or anything." Well fuck, that probably wasn't exactly the thing to say, and Keisha's awkward clearing of her throat didn't help.

"You said you're new, right? What brought you to Westbrook, anyway?" It seemed like most students who were new hadn't wanted to come, and everyone else had been born in Westbrook and had been friends since childhood.

Cosmos​

 

[mikaluvkitties]

~`*`~

Aaron​

Faintly, Aaron heard a door open, but he didn’t stop. It was like now that he had started, he couldn’t. And yeah, maybe he really wanted to hurt this girl. So what? She had just attacked him out of nowhere.

The shove shouldn’t have surprised him, but it did.

He stumbled back, regaining balance, and as this guy- This guy who clearly knew nothing about any of this and still wanted to scold Aaron over it- inserted himself between the pair, Aaron’s face slowly fell more and more flat, even as his eyes began to sting.

Finally, quiet, he shrugged. “If she hadn’t wanted to get hurt, she shouldn’t have attacked me when I was trying to drink in peace.”

With that, he headed inside, making his way to the kitchen.

a z u l a PenguinFox

~`*`~

Casper​

Things were going well. Casper was managing this. He couldn’t help the tug of a smile at the thought.

Someone yelled Noah’s name, and the smile fell as his heart rose to his throat. Could he even manage two people at once?

Noah said some stuff, and then introduced Chase, and Casper looked to him finally, and oh, he was pretty. His heart tightened, but he smiled kindly as he waved. He should… say something.

It was like he couldn’t quite manage, though, and falteringly, his head ducked to his chest as he pursed his lips, trying to think of something to say.

mogy a z u l a​

Hazel

TW : Transphobia​

Hazel nodded, taking hold of two beers before turning and handing one to Sonja, that sickly grin still on her face.

“Oh, that’s so good to…” She trailed off as she watched Sonja remove to cap of the beer. She guessed that was… one way to do it. “Hear.”

She nodded along to what Sonja was saying as she took her own swig, ignoring the shit taste as she leaned to peek out the kitchen.

“Oh, not yet, but I’m sure we can find her.” She waved a hand, as if signalling for Sonja to follow, and it didn’t take long to run into the person she actually cared about in this situation, especially considering they were on their way into the kitchen as well.

Her smile grew, and she nudged Sonja, pointing to Aaron. “That’s her.”

LittleCal​

 

[Winona]

Beau

How dare he assume she didn't know what grunge was! Of course she did, and grunge was what losers wore, like the loser standing in front of her. A look of shock at his pure stupidity crossed her face for a moment before it was replaced by that familiar look of pure anger and annoyance.

"Of course I know what grunge is. I have several grunge-themed bows, but then I realized that only losers wore them." She looked in disgust at him once more, and then flipped her ponytail over her shoulder and turned away from him. "Not that I'd expect you to understand. You're obviously king of losers."

And with a smirk, Beau was walking out of that disgusting little bathroom.

Twin Fantasy​

 

[LittleCal]

TW: Transphobia​

Sonja smiled a little wider as she processed the look of confusion on Hazel's face. What, she'd never seen someone pop a cap off like that? God, what a lightweight. The beer wasn't anything to write home about, but it'd at least kind of serve its purpose. Hazel motioned for her to follow, and headed towards the kitchen door.

Sonja took another sip, then about two steps before Hazel stopped short. A tiny frown crept onto her face as Hazel nudged her side and pointed. So that was her, huh?

The girl looked...Okay, Sonja guessed. Kind of short. Kind of- she couldn't even write this chick off as "curvy", could she? She was covered in bruises, too, which made the nasty look on her face even worse. And the buzzcut just wasn't a good look on her in general. Then again, in a school this small, there can't possibly be that many lesbians for Sonja to choose from.

Plus, she did look like she could kick Sonja's ass, and that was pretty hot. She gave Hazel a tiny nod and a tinier smirk. "Yeah, she'll do."

Taking one last swig of courage, she sauntered across the kitchen, flicking her eyes up and down over the girl's body. A smile crept up as she approached her. "Hey. Erin, right?" Sonja asked, tilting her head and giving a smile of approval. "I'm Sonja. Hazel said-" She cut herself off. "Holy shit, are you bleeding?"

mikaluvkitties

 

[Winona]

Adriane

She listened in silence, a smile on her face as Evie talked. It felt like it had been forever since she had heard most of those names, but then Evie stopped on some new girl that was in the hospital, and in a coma. Now, Adriane was actually intensely listening, and rather curious.

Grace Jackson. It had to be, because there was only one Grace in the school that would've attracted that much attention. Adriane had never talked to her, or even gotten near her -- they ran in separate crowds. And quite honestly, Adriane had never bought the whole "good girl always happy" facade. Those were the kind of people that Adriane liked the least. The kind that bottled up their feelings and just smiled at everything.

"Grace Jackson." She clarified, her voice almost a whisper. It was... weird. She had been in the hospital on and off for years, but had never known someone to also be in there. Especially not in a coma, or for that long.

"Do you know what happened to her?"

Soap

-----------------------------------------

Zander

A wave of relief flooded through Zander at his brother's forgiveness. He hadn't meant to ruin the present, even if it had been for JJ and Zander wasn't exactly fond of her. But hey, it was his brother's life and if he wanted to be controlled by a air-headed bitch, then so be it. It wasn't Zander's love life

Granted, Zander had no life. But alas! That part wasn't important. He threw a smile on his face. "Don't worry. I'll make sure nothing happens to it this time." He said with a wink, and replaced the mostly dry scrapbook back inside his shirt before he followed Toby out of the bathroom and back to the party that was in full-swing.

Zander decided to swing by the kitchen because hey, he was thirsty and he already smelled like alcohol on the outside, so might as well... smell on the inside... too? Right. Totally.

On his way to the kitchen, Zander almost stepped in the cake that splattered on the floor, but he managed to avoid. "Not making me ruin this scrapbook again." He muttered with a little chuckle, hopping over the destroyed cake before heading into the kitchen.

PenguinFox​

 

[a z u l a]

Ryder

To say that Ryder was surprised was the understatement of the century. The last time he'd seen Ash she had punched him, and now she was kissing him in a way that she hadn't in a long time. Even right before he had left their relationship had been tense, they were so on again off again and always fighting. He'd thought about kissing her like this for months after he left, and truth be told he still wasn't over her.

For a moment, he forgot all about Nova and wondered if this meant he and Ash could try to work things out. It only lasted for a moment, because then Ash was pulling away and he remembered that he had a sweet girlfriend who he never fought with and he was happy with her. Right?

It killed him to see her cry, his stomach sank and he felt entirely helpless watching her. He wanted to help her, but he didn't have the slightest clue how to.

"Ash, wait!" He called after her, but she was already gone and he knew better than to chase after her. He wanted to hit something, but instead he walked out and back into the crowd of people to head towards the kitchen. Alcohol seemed like the best answer.

Chase

"Hey, it's nice to meet you Casper." Chase smiled, though the boy looked vaguely familiar he was sure they hadn't met before. There were plenty of people at Westbrook, and Chase tried to stay much more under the radar than his drama prone siblings. He had managed to survive high school with only one fight, and he didn't see college being much of a problem. All he wanted was to make friends, the drama was all too much for him.

"How's the first week of school been?" He asked, knowing that there was already plenty of drama in Westbrook since Alaska had come home soaking wet and Ryder had a nice bruise on his face. Though, that was pretty typical for the twins. Chase's first week of school had been much less interesting.

mikaluvkitties mogy

Alaska

Alaska had lost fights in the past, sure, but she had never lost this badly before. She figured once she was on the ground Aaron would stop, walk away and leave her to pick up her pride. But instead, when she hit the ground it seemed like he attacked even harder. For a moment, she was genuinely worried Aaron might break one of her ribs, but suddenly someone was yelling and the assault stopped, giving her a moment to catch her breath and get herself together.

Everything hurt. She waited until Aaron was gone before she tried to stand up, groaning in pain as her body protested. Her head was swimming and she could already feel bruises forming all across her body. She just wanted to go home, lay in her bed, and die.

"Thanks." She looked up to see who her savior was, not recognizing the blonde boy before her but thankful none the less. Her body was already screaming in pain, she couldn't imagine how much worse it could've been if he hadn't shown up.

PenguinFox​

 

[mogy]

Noah Stewart

​

It didn't look like Casper was going to say anything anytime soon, and Noah concluded that he needed time to process his awkwardness before speaking, which was why he started talking when Chase asked the question about the first week of school.

Truth was, Noah's week only started off badly, but after that, most things had gone really well. He met people, made new friends, figured out how to split up his time for studying so he had time for things he actually wanted to do, and he also met Chase, which was a really good thing, because he really needed friends who were older than him.

"It's been good, except for the time when I was dragged into the principal's office with some weirdos who decided to take a swim in the fountain, but that really doesn't matter. Other than that, I think it was a pretty solid week for me." Noah didn't go into much detail. He didn't mention that he had been called into the office because of smoking, and he also didn't mention Casper being there, knowing that it would probably embarrass him and push him into his shell even more, and that wasn't something Noah wanted. He probably could've gone without mentioning the principal's office, but if Casper needed more time to gather up his thoughts, this was the way to get it.

"What about you?" Noah asked, realizing that this was a party, and that he needed something to drink.

Interactions: mikaluvkitties (Casper), a z u l a (Chase)​

 

[mikaluvkitties]

Aaron

TW : Transphobia​

Aaron pulled a third beer out for himself, praying that this time he’d be able to finish it.

No sooner had he popped the top than some chick said his name, and everything screamed at him to abort his mission. Maybe he should just go home.

He took a long draw of his beer, barely keeping from choking when she mentioned Hazel- And now she was going on about some blood or something.

Great.

He turned to her, face blank even when he wanted to snarl and grab Casper and run home as fast as he could, or maybe even just beat the shit out of Hazel and finally manage to finish a beer, even if all that would happen was some other bastard would fill her place. He wanted to be alone.

Voice even, he said, “Yes, I’m bleeding. It isn’t that big a deal.” He took another sip of his beer, turning to face the girl as he tried to steady his nerves. “You shouldn’t listen to anything Hazel says- She’s a bitch and a half with a penchant for making everyone she deems unworthy’s life a living hell, and she takes pride in it.”

He paused for a beat before he forced out, more suspicion and caution than he would have liked bleeding through, “What do you want?”

LittleCal​

 

[Winona]

Ash

She had thought it would be harder to push her way through the crowds to get out of the house, but no one tried to stop her. It seemed like no one even recognized her, and Ash was glad because by time she got out of the house and was walking away from the house, she could barely see. Tears blurred her vision, her head was hurting, and she kept rubbing her wrist. Everything hurt and Ash just wanted it all to... stop. All she wanted was a single break, one day to feel normal.

Ash just wanted to go home. She wanted to crawl into her bed and never come out -- she just wanted to forget and be able to feel safe. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Life was a fucking nightmare, and Ash just... She didn't know anymore. She didn't know what she wanted, because each day that passed made it harder for her to remember what it was like to be happy. It was more difficult for her to smile, for her to pretend that everything was alright because fuck. Nothing was alright.

Ash was almost to her house when her phone buzzed with a familiar Twitter handle, and her stomach dropped. She unlocked the screen with shaking fingers and looked down at the messages. Her gaze was still focused on the video of her and Ryder kissing when the next video popped up. And then the next one. The fight with Sawyer.

She sent a quick message, and then waited for a moment for the reply. The reply didn't make her feel better whatsoever, and Ash's eyes welled up with a fresh wave of tears. Ash looked up at her house, but there was no way that she could go in there. She couldn't handle more disappointment, and she couldn't handle her mother berating her about the bruise.

So Ash turned, and she walked away. Ash could only think of one place to go, and that was at least better than here. No one from school or her family would know, no one from school or her family would find her.

Ash would disappear.​

 

[LittleCal]

⤜SONJA⤛​

TW: Transphobia​

Sonja watched as the girl cracked open a can of shitty beer (it had to be shitty, good beer never came in a can) and drained half the damn thing in one swoop. In spite of herself, she quirked an eyebrow upwards with the tiniest hint of a smile. Impressive. She gave Erin another once-over, hoping it wasn’t as obvious as it felt, and took another sip.

When Erin finally spoke to her- her face and voice each as flat as her chest looked under that hoodie- Sonja just gave her a shrug. “It’s your blood, I guess. You know better than I do.” She was finally close enough to get a good look at Erin’s face, which wasn’t as bad up close. Real pretty eyes, and the nose was kind of cute in a lopsided kind of way.

Erin carried on, and Sonja gave a little nod as she sagged in equal parts relief and disappointment. “Okay, so the bitch was up to something. Guess I should have known- she’s too pretty to be that nice.” With a snort, she rolled her eyes. On the one hand, she wasn’t getting any tonight, but it felt damn nice to have her suspicions about Hazel confirmed all the same.

She paused, swirling the rest of her beer in a vague circle and debating how up-front to be with Erin. The girl visibly didn’t trust Sonja- not that Sonja could blame her, of course. Better to go for the unvarnished truth, even if it meant outing herself to someone who might be dangerous. “She tried to hook me up with you, you know,” she said as casually as she could manage. “Don’t know what that was about.” Hopefully, Erin could fill her in a little.

mikaluvkitties

 

[Soap]

Raven

The sound of laughter almost made her flinch. The brunette turned the head in the slightest to see no one other than Mason's new girlfriend. Raven was convinced Mason had terrible taste in girls... even if they usually went for the same girls. Okay, well, Raven never said she had good taste in women either. "Designated driver sucks, but it beats a car crash." Poor choice of words given who Raven knew, but it's because of that specific person her judgement was suddenly much better.

Raven placed the bottle down without a second thought. "It's terrible, anyway." At least in her opinion. The blonde could very well have high standards. She seemed like she did anyway, so why was she dating Mason? Okay, there's probably pent up aggression somewhere in there. Mason wasn't all bad. He just moved on and Raven shouldn't punish him for that-- or... punish her for that matter. A curious glaze fell over her dark eyes, almost waiting for her to continue and Raven had to admit she was disappointed when she decided to change the subject.

"The one and only. " A small sigh escaped her lips and she turned her head to face her, narrowing her eyes slightly as if she was analyzing the blonde, she had to admit-- she was interesting. Raven couldn't place it just yet though. Glancing down at the bottle, she picked it up and held it out towards her. "A sip wouldn't hurt..." Raven's words lingered as her thoughts searched for a name to place to the blonde.

"Forgive me, I didn't make a note to remember yours."

mikaluvkitties​

 

[mikaluvkitties]

Aaron

TW : Transphobia​

Aaron’s eyebrows rose as Sonja spoke, and he couldn’t help a huff of derisive laughter as he took another sip of the beer. “That’s surprisingly tame for her…” Tame enough Aaron couldn’t wrap his mind around it, really. Not at first. He kept looking over her, trying to piece it together, until it clicked all at once.

Sure, the band t-shirt and high-waisted jeans alone might be passable, but combat boots? Combat boots?

This woman wasn’t straight, and Aaron had a sinking suspicion she wasn't bi or something either.

He frowned, rolling his eyes as he sipped at his beer. “Jesus, you’re gay, aren’t you?”

LittleCal​

~`*`~​

Laurel​

Laurel waved the bottle away as she stepped closer hesitantly, smiling. Keep it nice, keep it friendly, don’t let your lips purse at the idea of that kind of reckless conduct. She doesn’t mean anything rude by it, so be casual.

“No, really, I’m fine. I’m a bit of a lightweight anyways, y’know?” Her smile brightened, showing teeth as Raven asked her name. It had been silly to just assume she’d know it, hadn’t it? “I’m Laurel- Cheerleader extraordinaire. Mind if I sit next to you?”

Soap​

 

[Soap]

Juliette

The pink throw pillow pushed up against her, smudging her makeup even more and unfortunately darkening the pillow with black stains. But a stupid pillow was the least of her worries. It wasn't long when a knock came to the door and she didn't even want to deal with who it could be. "Go away Sawyer." Her words were mumbled, and she couldn't even see the evil blonde intruder, Jules removed the pillow slightly when the door opened, only for her eyes to soften at the sight of Ava.

Precious took off and sniffed around before deciding to retreat back to his pink castle bed in the corner.

She had to admit, she loved the cheerleading outfit. A hint of a smile came to her face and many well thought out plans to convince Elise to let a dog in the school roamed her head before being reminded by the mess of a birthday party downstairs. "... Thanks." Jules picked at the feathers on the pillow and glanced up at Ava, wiping her eyes with her free hand, after all, she didn't want to look like a mess in front of her, it was Lonnie.

She blinked away tears at the sight of the cupcake and a genuine smile appeared on her face, a slight chuckle escaped her and Juliette sniffled absentmindedly, racking her brain for a wish. She really had everything she could want. Money, friends, a perfect boyfriend. Her gaze lingered on Ava for a moment longer before she realized what she really wanted.

She just wanted to be happy.

Juliette closed her eyes, leaning in a closer to blow out the candle.

"You didn't have to."

Winona​