Westbrook Season 2

[Winona]

Mason

God.

It wasn't a facade or whatever she thought it was. It was Mason. He was always like this. Being soft or whatever she seemed to think was stupid. It was a recipe for getting hurt, for making bad decisions. It was best to be closed off, rough and untouchable, and he was happy like this. Or, well, not happy but he was alive, and that's all that mattered right now.

There was no "getting to know the real you" and the fact that this rich bitch had already come here and glorified this whole situation in such a way just pissed him off more. Made him more standoffish, more harsh, more angry. Fuck people like that. Fuck people that wanted to pretend to get to know the real you.

Why the fuck wasn't Drake doing this stupid thing?

"Sure. Play it cool." His words were clipped and cold as Mason stared down at her. Her hand on his chest just pissed him off more, and he was quick to move back and put more space between them. This was a horrible idea, anyway. Mason had somehow convinced Raven to... well, not give him another chance, but to at least tolerate him long enough to talk. Even dancing around the idea of a date with Norah was a terrible idea -- he didn't want to hurt Raven again.

Fucking blondes.

"Come on, Norah. Let's finish the tour." He turned away from her, and kept walking down the hallway. His tongue pressed against the back of his teeth, and he tried to calm himself down. Stay calm. What Mason really wanted was a fucking cigarette -- something to steady the nerves and the rising anger in him, but fuck.

Mason kept walking until eventually, they arrived at the pool. He pushed the door open, stepping in and holding it for Norah. "So. The pool. I'm sure this is probably smaller than the one at your house."

BELIAL.​

 

[0k_mang0]

sebastian

Location: school
Mal BELIAL.
​

“Well, okay, Mal,” Sebastian said and shook the French guy’s hand half-heartedly. He was doing his best to be nice, in his own way. Accepting a simple handshake was a start. He strapped his skateboard to his backpack, with plastic buckles holding it in place, and took out a paper copy of the school map.

“Let’s go.” He nodded at Mal to start walking along with him and entered the building. “Oh, and, um, here. You can have this.” Sebastian held out the school map to his new kid, and told him that he could down his classes and practice memorizing them on the map. He also recommended taking a shortcut through the library in case hallway foot traffic in the area was overwhelming.

Along the hall, Sebastian simply pointed out, without too many details, some of the elective classrooms, including the Home Economics room. Even though he was taking it as an elective class this year, his first memory of that room was not the best—it’s never fun having a chair thrown at you.

“So,” Sebastian started, shifting his round skateboard helmet under his arm and unzipping his purple hoodie, “do you have any favorite school extracurriculars that the school might have? Or maybe what you had at your old school?”

 

[Winona]

Ash

He was quick to put himself down, at least when it came to the whole football thing. "Yeah, we're the Wolves." Ash hesitated for a moment, and then kept speaking. "You know, you're really quick to put yourself down. You should be more, you know... confident." It was like he was living in River Walsh's shadow. Obviously, River had been top of the food chain back at their school, and she wondered if all of the Black Mill kids measured themselves against him like this.

At least the conversation turned away from football pretty quickly. He kept talking, and wow. Sure, he talked a lot, but at least it was things that Ash could kind of relate to. Kind of. "I actually have a friend that plays the drums." Ian had had the same issues when he moved to Westbrook -- he'd left behind his entire band, so of course he was what came to her mind first.

Ash laughed, a huge smile spreading across her face. "Never been called a cool dude before." She thought about his question for a moment, her fingers tapping against the hot chocolate cup in her hands in thought. "Well, the only fun thing to really do here is party. Like, that's literally all that anyone does." Which saying it aloud, and realizing that she had no other hobbies than alcohol, made her smile falter. "I mean like, there's other stuff. Like laser tag. That's fun, but no one wants to play games."

She shrugged, and stopped walking for a moment while Ash tried to figure out where to take him next. The music room. Of course. Ash hadn't been to the music room since last school year -- and the only reason she'd ever gone there was to talk to Jace. With him graduated, she wondered how lonely that room now felt.

"Okay. Music room it is next. The art room is on the way, though, and I think I left something there last Friday, so we'll just stop there real quick, okay?"

Ash led the way through the halls until they got to the art room. The classroom was empty, which was probably for the best -- she didn't really want to have a conversation with the art teacher. She led the way in, scanning the ground for her missing bracelet, but not much time passed before Raven's voice caught her attention from the doorway.

She wasn't amused by the joke, partially because of what had happened over the weekend. "Sorry," Ash said, glancing at River before looking back at Raven, one eyebrow raised. "Didn't know you had this room claimed."

Hypnos Soap TheFool​

 

[PenguinFox]

Mrs. Woods was fuming. Did this bitch really just say that to her face. She tried to do this politely, tried to be the better woman, but no one, absolutely no one talked to Amalia Woods that way. If she wanted to bring bad parenthood into the conversation, the twins' mother was more than happy to point out Elise's failures. The corner of her mouth twitched before the blonde woman began speaking. "Cute. Highly professional. He had a stress related heart attack due to a preexisting medical condition. No, I don't mean your daughter either." Her eyes narrowed as she continued. "Though the source of the stress was indeed your daughter."

This was about to get personal, and Amalia felt a little bad, but this bitch started it. Sadly, Ash was going to have to be an innocent casualty. Mrs. Woods truly had nothing against the West daughter. She liked her well enough, especially with how much Sean liked her. She seemed like she had a bright future. A bright future entirely thrown away by the woman that was supposed to be the mother. "You see I can't help but wonder about that accident Ash was involved in. How it happened that is. Drugs? Alcohol? Poor driving skills? Maybe even on purpose, I can't say. But there's a commonality between those things. My children may not have the same father, true...but my children would never be the cause of something as terrible as what happened to Ash, and everyone else involved in that accident. My children were raised right. My children were not abandoned and left in incapable hands. My children are not spoiled brats running around ruining people's lives because of an ineptitude in parenthood."

Amalia paused for dramatic effect before turning the same cold and cruel smirk back on Elise. "That's just my opinion anyway." Perhaps this was a good time to walk away and let the matter be dealt with, but Mrs. Woods was not known to be a forgiving woman. No, she was vindictive and god help anyone who stood in her way. So there she stood, feet firmly planted in the ground, face to face with a pathetic mother. A mother who's kid put her Sean in the hospital and nearly killed him. Poor Lulu still occasionally had nightmares of the whole ordeal. Her kids were broken and it was entirely the fault of Elise. No matter how much the wind howls the mountains will never bend or break, and Amalia was a mountain. Winona

Dwyer's eyes did not deceive him. This truly was Morgan Ara that he had just prevented from taking a dive, and honestly it wasn't the first time. Probably wouldn't be the last either. He made sure the rainbow girl's feet were firmly planted into the ground and let go of her. She looked like she'd just seen a ghost, which to be fair wasn't that far off. Dwyer hadn't seen any of the kids back home in a long time. He graduated first and went off on his own to make a life for himself. It was sad to leave but everyone knew he was destined for bigger things than that little cul-de-sac in California.

A small smile rose to his face at her confusion. "You mean at this festival, or Westbrook in general?" he asked with a chuckle. "I'm at the fair to get a feel for how the student body interacts with each other. I'm starting as a TA soon. Government and Law classes." That wasn't the only reason he was here, but he wasn't about to mention that to Morgan. This was supposed to be a fun event, no need for a serious backstory here.

Dwyer was a little disappointed to hear people hadn't really kept in touch. Sure he hadn't really either, but there were reasons for that. But the two troublemakers of Ian and Morgan? Why had they not kept in contact? What happened while Dwyer was gone? He detected some sadness in Morgan's grey eyes and made a mental note to ask about the details late. "Well hey we're all here now. Definitely going to have to get the three of us together to catch up."

Feeling that a fall save was an inadequate hello, especially after the time and distance, Dwyer pulled Morgan into a side hug. "I've missed you too Rainbow." It was only then that it occurred to him that she was there, and not in California where he left her. "What are you doing here? You're not in college yet right? What's brought you to Westbrook high?" Luna_Marie

 

[Luna_Marie]

Morgan Ara

She was stunned by Dwyers answers. "Wait, you moved here? To work at Westbrook? And I thought I was crazy" Morgan crossed her arms and rested her weight on one leg, looking up to Dwyer with fascination. "This just absolutely has to be fate, all of us here...." At his next question, she grimaced comically at his accusing tone, sucking air through her teeth. "Me? Oh, well my uh mom passed a little while ago, so now I am up here with my uncle." Morgan leaned back on her heels and tried to appear nonchalant, usually talking about her mom to strangers didnt bother her much, but when it came to talking about it to her best friends.... it hurt differently.

PenguinFox ​

 

[Elf_Ruler]

Tatum had been struggling and had wanted to cut the tour short, not because she didn’t like Theo, but she knew she was letting the conversation drop. She was the cheer captain and she was supposed to be the hierarchy of Westbrook and she could barely hold a conversation. She could tell her, and Theo didn’t seem to have a whole lot in common, which was fine. Tatum didn’t have a lot in common with most people, being known in the school as an alcoholic made it hard for her to really be close with anyone. Her and Ash liked to drink, Ian was nice to her, Seb was friends with Ash so that was the only reason she knew him. Her and JJ were complex, and she had just met Colby. He was nice too so she at least had a possible friend, but Theo just didn’t seem like someone that she could be close friends with no matter how much she tried.

Tatum stopped in front of her and pointed to the sea of males, “So most of them aren’t terrible, some are really nice. You need to watch out for Parker, he sleeps around, Mason is the football captain but he’s the biggest jerk I’ve ever met, Kanen is a year older and he watch detention he’s beautiful but not worth your time.” Tatum enjoyed the question it was a distraction from trying to keep up a conversation, “Ian, is one of the best guys you could meet. Brayden is my best friend and he’s pretty okay. Not great at commitment, there’s Colby who is super sweet as well, but I don’t know him super well. Don’t talk with Toby, he’s JJ’s and she’ll murder.” She needed to make sure that Theo was aware that certain males were off limits. It wasn’t many but anyone JJ was with was her property and hers alone.

She was grateful to know that classes would be starting soon, and she wouldn’t have to continue on with the tour but for now she was stuck, “So, what about the boys that came from Black Mill, who’s good and who’s bad? Anyone I should avoid?” she gave a smirk towards the girl, because Tatum really didn’t need to worry about any guy she could handle herself against any male.

TheFool
--

Cam had shaken his head towards Dita’s comment, he really hadn’t made too many plans, but he wasn’t one to make plans that was always Parker. Parker was always the one to find the parties, to find the girls, to find everything that he was doing for the weekend or really any time. “So, you have a cousin here? I hope he’s enjoying it. Westbrook can be crazy. Parker is doing well; he’s been busy with work.” It wasn’t a lie Parker had been busy, so Cam hadn’t had much time with his cousin, “Let me know if you get into the hockey team I’d love to see you play.” He gave Tadita a small smile and that was when he saw his sunshine.

Cam smiled as soon as he saw Milos, Tadita and Nyoko had disappeared from his vision. Milos really was a sun in this school, and he couldn’t help but enjoy the boy, “Yeah, it’s from me. You like it?” Cam was beginning to feel like maybe Milos didn’t like his gift. He had wanted to impress the beautiful boy but now Tadita was watching him interact with his crush. He had been really trying to have a chance with Milos and he motioned for the boy to come closer. He was felling awkward, but he needed to take his chance if he was going to get anywhere. He could only be thankful that his cousin wasn’t around because Parker would’ve made a comment which would’ve screwed his chances with the boy. Milos was sweet and smart; he wasn’t a dumb bimbo.

His heart was racing as he looked to Milos, “So I uh, was wondering if maybe you’d want to go out this weekend? You and me?” he hadn’t wanted to do this in front of others, but this was the first chance he had fully gotten to seem Milos so of course he was going to do what he could. Now all he could hope for is that he had sparked the interest of his crush so that way he would get the yes, he so desperately wanted. He wasn’t going to make that noticeable, but he was feeling more stressed and scared now that he had put the ball in Milos’ court.

dendygar Twin Fantasy Winona

 

[BELIAL.]

Norah Walsh
location: WHS, pool room mention: Winona ​

His patience was running thin, Norah pondered. It bothered her less than it annoyed her, but at the end of the day she really couldn't give less of a damn. She had fun where she had fun, and well maybe it was fun to keep the water a bit dicey. You stayed relevant the more boats you rocked, the more minds you stirred. There was no such thing as bad press, to Norah. Well, there was-- but it was an entirely different matter.

She remembered when she was younger, and when playing innocent and doe-eyed had been her approach to most conflicts. Her mother had been a sucker to it. Norah had been an adorable child, and ergo most humans with capacity for empathy had been suckers for it. It was the easy way out, however. People-pleasing is an easy, albeit draining prospect. If you could read a room, you could go a mile socially. If you could take that information and balance keeping everyone happy, then you could go even further. Her mother had been a people-pleaser. There was no way that that fact had killed Katherine Walsh, but it had contributed to her overall sadness.

Norah no longer went the easy way. She made enemies just as fast as she made friends. She carved her own way in life, doting on those that benefited and disregarding those that didn't.

They entered the pool room and she gazed about, snorting at Mason's comment. "I don't even use it. River likes his backstrokes, and maybe we'd have a party or two during the winter when it was too cold to go outside. But I mean, it was like... a bit bigger than this," she smirked, pacing around. It was quiet and her heels clicked, the sound bouncing off the walls. She loved the way that water reflected against the ceiling, like a dreamy haze of light and ever-moving energy.

She couldn't help but feel a gnawing in her gut, like she was focusing too much on something. She made a face, turning back to Mason. "What sorts of clubs have they got here? I'm looking for places with weight, like an ASB or maybe even journalism. I've been told I have quite the intuition, and a bit of the curiosity as well." She raised her eyebrows, pacing closer to the pool's edge. She listened to his response, continuing to look into the water. After a moment she sighed, rather loudly, and crossed her arms again. Tighter this time. Closer to her chest.

"Mason, I don't mean to come off like an all-knowing, falsely altruistic bitch," she said as she continued to look down at the water. "I try to be sincere and like, normal. But there's some part of me that just, ugh-- I don't know-- it just like, needs to win. Maybe it's some family-inherited competitiveness, maybe it's some fear of being average or whatever. I don't know. But like," she paused, straightening herself and looking back over. "You seem genuine, hidden beneath all the anger and collateral self-loathing you do. I think that's neat."

 

[BELIAL.]

Malachi Verreau
location: WHS mention: 0k_mang0 ​

He nodded along to Sebastian, fiddling with the map he was given. He probably wouldn't use it. Mal had promised his parents he'd at least graduate this year, given that he was brilliant enough to be out of school already-- if not for the elephant in the room overdose that had happened. Part of him was a little annoyed that the school he was comfortable in, and knew like the back of his hand, was gone. He figured that someone just ignored the upkeep of the building, probably too busy swimming in the piles of cash, and neglected to change the insulation. That was the issue with the stuck-up, the rich. They lived in their own fantasy realms where everything was okay.

Mal lived in that world, but mostly because he was french and because he was high. Most of the time.

Sebastian asked about his interests outside of school, and Mal merely shrugged. He spun in a bit of a circle as they walked, peeking into classrooms as they moved by the doors. "Non, not really. I did some track in the spring, maybe dabbled in a bit of agriculture on my weekends," he winked as he spoke, grinning. "But for the most part I enjoy floating through life, enjoying the things that are here, and that are not here." Mal waved his hand around, chuckling to the other boy.

"How about you? I see a skateboard strapped onto your backpack. I assume it is not so you can roll around while laying on your back."

 

[Hypnos]

Gus Windrift
​

Raising an eyebrow as Ash called him out on his own self-deprecation, Gus paused for a moment, a little confused. In all honesty, he was never fully aware of his tendency to be hyper-critical regarding his own skills (or lack thereof), though as she pointed it out, even someone as slow on the uptake as himself could piece together what she meant. ‘Oh, yeah? Sorry about that. I guess humility is one of the many things I’m just better than everyone else at.’ He smiled, but avoided eye contact for the moment, a single restless hand moving upwards to scratch the back of his neck.

Luckily she was quick to shift the conversation elsewhere.

‘Really? Well maybe you can set us up. I’d love to get back into music, but I’d make a terrible solo artist. Plus it’d be nice to meet some people around here with similar interests. I love the Black Mill Boys, but if you can’t win a trophy for it, then we tend not to be too interested.’ That wasn’t strictly true. He knew that Theo did some kind of music, though if he was being honest with himself, he wasn’t entirely sure what it was that Theo did.

Mutual interests could be an opening. Then, once he’d wormed his way into Westbrook’s good favour, there was no way they would get rid of him. He would be like a virus. Dormant until it was too late, then everyone would already love him.

‘I mean, parties are pretty sick dude. Nothing wrong with a good piss up. This one time…’ Just as he was about to break into a particularly amusing story about last year’s Independence Day Bash, he closed his mouth, thinking better of it. ‘...Actually, nevermind.’ Maybe when they were more familiar. He needed to learn to shut his mouth.

‘Laser tag could be pretty cool too. We should go sometime. Me, you, your drummer friend, Walshy, Fitz, some of your other buddies. We could do Black Mill vs. Westbrook. Let out some of that competitive rage.’ He trailed behind her once again as the tour continued, moving this time towards the music rooms, though with a brief detour first into the art department. ‘Though I will warn you, Black Millers hate to lose.’

Speaking of people that hated losing, it seemed that the art room was already occupied.

‘I thought I could smell disappointment and daddy issues in here.’ He moved over to greet River, smiling at his buddy’s buddy: a dark haired girl that he didn’t know. ‘I hope we’re not being a cockblock by interrupting you guys.’

Winona Soap TheFool

 

[TheFool]

Theo

Theo nodded her head, listening attentively.

Watch out for Parker, got it. And Mason? She remembered him briefly from some… aggressive social media interactions. Not involving her, per say. But involving Mason and several people who’d she gone to school with. His tone seemed as if it was everly pointed. He seemed like a jack-off, but Theo was used to those kind of guys. Black Mill was brimming with them. The name Kanen didn’t ring any bells. But it seemed as if he… wasn’t even… a student?
That’s interesting.
“Ian? Is… he the guy with the…” She stopped. Wanting to phrase her words properly. “The limp?” She finished asking her buddy. Tatum. Theo was quite appreciative of the full analysis she was given. Of course, there were many more guys that went to Westbrook. But this… was a good starter pack on gossip.
And it got the conversation going. Nothing bonded girls better than talking about the shitty men around them.
“He’s pretty cute.” She added, referring to Ian. Remembering him from earlier.

Theo giggled when Tatum asked her for her opinion on the guys she’d transferred with. The Black Mill boys. God. Where does one even attempt to begin? “Well -” She started. Swallowing. “There’s Malachi. Call him Mal. French guy with the black curly hair?” She told Tatum, so she could perhaps recall him from when they were all standing outside. “He is my fucking soulmate. I adore him. Big pot head if you’re interested.”
The words were true. She and Mal were both kind of floaters back at Black Mill. Though they floated between the same social cliques, thus - they had a bond. He was such a character and Theo was of firm belief that every party is a bit lamer when Mal isn’t around.
“There’s The Windrifts. Old money. Meaning they’re fucking rich out of their tits. But, they’re nice enough. Fitz is a darling and Gus is… well, he’s Gus.” She didn’t hang much with the twins. Not as much as she would have liked to. They would attend the same parties AND she would get an obligatory invite to THEIR parties. But she couldn’t really recall any proper meaningful conversations with either of them. Well, any proper meaningful sober conversations with either of them. And their sister? Theo had said two words to Zia at most.
Like, ever.
“Then you got The Walshes.”
Theo continued,
Smiling at a teacher coming out of a classroom.
“Riona’s the youngest. She’s adorable. Feisty. Love her energy. She was on the cheerleading squad back at Black Mill. Really, really good at dancing.” She stopped, swallowed. “Norah is… iconic. I love her. Very big personality and comes across a little bit scary at first, but I promise you she’s so sweet.”

“River -”

She stopped and scoffed. “River is like this force of nature. Like every dumb jock pulled from a movie from the mid-2000s. I wouldn’t necessarily say steer clear… but, he’s got a bit of a reputation. I’m not his biggest fan but he is captivating. We were at a party over the Summer and I honestly thought he was going to die - like, he drank SO much. It was insane.”

“And Daniel is… well… I haven’t figured him out yet. Bit of a player. Has some beef with Norah and River. Over what, I don’t really know what. Him and Norah used to date or something. He’s really handsome though.”

She stopped,
“Oh my God. Tatum, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to, like, talk about every single person.” She started laughing. It wasn’t intentional, no. But she was a bit of a chatterbox when meeting new people. Once she got into the groove of a conversation -
Theo would dominate.
“I promise I’ll shut up but as a final say-say…” She flicked her hair back. “When it comes to the boys…”

“Proceed with fucking caution.”

She said, smiling. It was a half joke.

“But, sure, that’s the same with every guy right?” She let out another little giggle. She looked past Tatum. At bunches of kids. Teachers. Laughing and joking. She could see herself here. Fitting in. And enjoying fitting in.

She thought back to the buddies. Those who had gathered around earlier, outside the school.

“The guy with the skateboard. Did you list him? What’s his name? He’s pretty adorable. Plus, I love a guy who skates. It’s so… I don’t know.” She said, smiling.



Elf_Ruler



-

River

He could see her trying not to smile.

That got him smiling.

Hopefully, he was off the hook. He didn’t mean to offend her. Though, that just sort of happened sometimes. River’d say something stupid and some person would not react well. Basic social behaviour. River considered himself a social king, but that was definitely not the case most of the time. He thrived most when with people who just knew him. Got him. When it came to new people who didn’t have a fucking clue about him. He’d often goof it up.
So,
He was glad. Glad that Raven may not take it the way she initially took it. His words, that is.

There was a moment. Where she got off the desk she was sitting on. And her face was close to his chest. Something in the air. Or at least, River felt something in the air. For a fleeting moment. Before the continued on. He got giddy on the inside.
Thinking about…
Well.
You know.

“Pretty loaded question there.”
He told her, joking. He bit his lip and thought for a few moments as they walked. His eyes staring off into blank space. Not focused on her ass for this once. “I like… partying. Drinking. Uh, lot a drinking.” He chuckled. “Don’t get the wrong impression now, ‘course.”
He teased.
Wanting to keep the conversation as light hearted and tongue-in-cheek as possible. “Play other sports as well. Um, soccer. Swim a lot. Field hockey. Ice hockey. Big fan of ice hockey. Like fuckin’ huge.” He grinned.
“Into cars and gym and travelling and -”
He stopped.
“Boring you yet or?” He looked at her, giving another chuckle. “Believe it or don’t, having money doesn’t make you super interesting. As ya can tell.” He was being coy. River thought he was interesting. He thought what he did was interesting. But that was him. To a girl like Raven, it was probably a different story. This chick wrote. She was a creative. Meaning her mind definitely moved differently to his. So, he tried to call himself boring before she jokingly could.

“What about you cheerleader? You just spend ya time scribbling down breakin’ news?” He asked her. He let out a small yawn. He stretched his arms out and put them behind him, placing his hands on the back of his head.

Suddenly,

Their conversation was interrupted by the main chick. Ash? The one who introduced herself earlier and seemed like the sort of de facto ringleader. And with her, of course, was Gus. His little Gussy. Gus made some sly comment that got River shaking his head.
But he couldn’t help but smile.
Though when he mentioned the act of the cockblock -
“You’re fuckin’ dead.” River said, with a sort of choked laugh. He could feel his cheeks go a bit red. He wanted to fuck Raven, sure. River wanted to fuck anything. But - he didn’t want to come across like he really did. Raven, as said, seemed different…
A girl you got to know before anything like that.
River liked that.
“How’s the tour going, shit-tit?” He asked him. Trying to change the topic as quickly as possible. He looked back at Raven and then at blondie. He wondered if Gus had been trying his moves on her. He fucking better have been.



Hypnos
Soap
Winona



​

 

[geminiy]

Ryan Davies

The feeling of the keys beneath his fingers, the steady vibrations dancing from the strings, the visualization of the piano in his mind; all of it made Ryan feel like he could hear the music flowing from the instrument. He was lost in the trance of his music, the sweet melody wrapping around him and captivating his mind. For just a moment, Ryan forgot about the students outside in the hall and the clock ticking away on the wall, counting down to the impending doom of having to go to class. For a moment, there was only him and the piano.

And then, as the final notes of the song rung through the air and Ryan opened his eyes, he was no longer alone. His mind kicked into overdrive, searching for instinct. Fight or flight? Fight or flight? Neither.

"Jesus!" Ryan jumped and, as gracefully as he had just played, fell backwards off the bench and backward on to the floor. The wind was knocked from his chest and his brain felt like it had been electrocuted as it bounced off the wall.

"Fuck." Ryan cursed through a heavy breath on the floor, trying to gauge if he had been hurt or just rattled. When the hell did those people been there? How long had they been there? Ryan truly didn't know, he hadn't even noticed that they came in. He slowly sat up, swinging his legs off of the tipped over piano bench so that he could hop to his feet. Had they seen him fall? Ryan shook his head to himself. Of course they saw, how could they have not seen the idiot at the piano fall over like a baby without spinal control.

Ryan looked to the two boys that had been watching him and forced a smile onto his face. Play it cool, man. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't even hear you guys come in!" He began to excuse, picking up the stool from the ground and fumbling to get his things into his bag. "I was just, um, heading out."

Ah yes, Ryan. Real smooth.

| Alex TYPE | Jay dendygar |​

 

[Twin Fantasy]

Nyoko Sugawara

"There's three kinds of commonly-kept tegu," Nyoko held out three fingers, "but the one I have is the most common, the Argentine black-and-white tegu." She liked tegus a lot. Not only were they just so very unnecessarily big, but they had great personalities. Nyoko was about to resume her reptile raving when suddenly another person was brought into the fray. A white boy. Nyoko had just a bit of trouble telling them apart, with a few exceptions. (Kanen had a million tattoos and Jace always wore that goofy hat. Well, not anymore.) It surely didn't help that she hadn't met most of them. "I'm Su-" She grunted. Always, always with that mistake. "Nyoko Sugawara." But Cam was very quickly sidetracked.

Ah, love. Another thing Nyoko had sworn to avoid. She wasn't an idiot. Every high school drama in every TV show, movie and Twitter thread was built off of love. Mandy dated Sarah's crush, or Louie and Tommy are both going after the same girl, or Tanya and Bradley screwed even though they're both taken. According to her father, very few high school romances last. He and her mother met very late in college, they were both seniors by then. Expecting high school love to survive is foolish.

Nyoko was a lot of things, but never once a fool.

"The bread's good." Nyoko mumbled, feeling oddly uncomfortable, like she was breaching someone else's private life. "I didn't know this school had a hockey team. I don't do sports, the uniforms look gross and I'm built like a tomato."

// dendygar Elf_Ruler Winona //​

 

[Twin Fantasy]

Shawn Orozco

'My tits came in the mail' sure is a statement.

Staggering drunk through his house about a month ago, Shawn had accidentally stepped on his drag queen boobs. Obviously, nobody believed they were real, but a pair with a giant footprint on them was just kind of gross. He wasted some more money ordering new ones, and now they were in. They fit alright. With day-old make-up still clinging to his face, he looked like a beautiful, broken whore.

He had an "appointment" with a certain Martin Arbuckle. A dealer posted up just outside of Westbrook in a trailer. He dropped off some clothes at the local laundromat before setting out in his bright red pickup, which was probably the most interesting car in Westbrook, manned by the most interesting driver. It had a bumper sticker on the back. One based on Taxi Driver, reading "one of these days, I'm gonna get organiz-ized!" It'd been there as long as Shawn was alive, always seeming to play back in his head, over and over like a broken record. One of these days! One of these days, I'm gonna do it! I'm gonna get organiz-ized!

The directions Martin gave him were loose at best. Shawn felt lucky that he was imbued with a solid sense of direction. After hearing about Kanen fucking a high school girl Jesus Christ, he needed literally anything to get his mind off of it. He didn't trust any of the dealers in town. Tadita Whatserface probably needed the money, but as far as he knew, she wasn't handling anything strong enough.

Martin's trailer was a silvery color, with a blue SUV parked near it. The windows were covered by curtains that bore similar patterns to wallpaper at grandma's house. (Not Shawn's abuela specifically, but the general grandma.) He threw on a sweater and went out, crushing leaves under his thick-soled boots. They sounded weak and crisp, the way he felt. Knocking on the trailer's door caused a metal echo to ring through its interior. Through the wall he could hear some old Korn song playing, or maybe it was Slipknot. All those fucking bands sound the same. The door was answered by a tall, pale fellow with the grodiest teeth he'd seen in some time.

"Hello."

He snorted, cocaine clinging to his upper lip like floured bread. Shawn was just barely shorter than him, meaning the fucker could probably be a basketball champion if he laid off the nose candy for a bit.

"Martin Arbuckle?"

"'s me. You're Shawn, I assume." Martin backed away. "Step right inside." On entering, the god-awful nu metal music only became more intrusive. Martin chewed loudly, dip clinging to his teeth and lips, black as tar.

The part of the transaction made kneeling will be, thankfully, cut from the retelling of Shawn's day. Only the notable parts remain. Martin said to hurry up, because his girlfriend may come home early. (Then he clarified she knew about his "business transactions", but he just hated to let her see.) Another one for the books, or perhaps, Shawn's unwilling Twitter feed of disgusted ex-classmates. Remember when I was the boxing ace of Westbrook High? Look how far I've fallen. Lay your gaze upon me, prostrated like the crucified body of Jesus Christ, only I have contributed less to society. Watch me hang from the gallows. I starve for the attention.

"What was it you wanted?" Martin brought Shawn from his depressed stupor. Shawn opened his mouth to say "heroin", but steeled himself a moment. Even though he probably couldn't get worse, the idea of entering a life contract with a needle frightened him a bit. "You gonna stand there gape-mouthed? What, you wanna do it again?"

"No, no, sorry." Shawn coughed. "Coke. As much as it's worth." Martin handed him a meager amount of the white powder in a plastic bag. Shawn blanched.

"You blow like an eighty-year-old." Martin sneered. "Just bring cash next time."

"Alright." Shawn's voice was a bit strained. Really what he wanted to say was that people like you bury me in cash for my services, don't fucking rip me off, but he didn't want to sound like a junkie creep. He turned away, pocketing the baggie and shuffling to his car. A bit of the powder sat in one long fingernail, and he pressed it up to his nose, and it woke him like a good cup of coffee. Pure as the driven snow. Maybe this was just really expensive shit and Martin wasn't giving him the shaft.

Catching his own reflection in the mirror, he looked a fucking mess. Mascara painted his face in blackened droplets, a lot like the chew smearing Martin's lips. They really were the same kind of scum. He slowly backed out his car. He needed to get the laundry back.

One of these days, I'm gonna get organiz-ized.​

 

[0k_mang0]

sebastian

Location: school
Mal BELIAL.
​

Sebastian watched Mal do these unnecessary small twirls as they walked, his expression masked with indifference, and his reaction to the lousy quip regarding his skateboard remained the same. God, why couldn’t he have been paired up with one of the more chill new kids, if there were any? One that didn’t speak in riddles. Sebastian hated riddles.

Play nice, he mentally noted and restrained rolling his eyes. It felt like it had been barely five minutes and already he could tell that he wouldn’t find any common interests with this weird guy.

“I don’t really do much at school. Work part-time at a local cafe, but that’s it,” Sebastian answered, forcing himself not to sound reluctant to talk. “School isn’t okay with skateboarding and such indoors, obviously. I only did it a few times last year because I was running late, and got in trouble for it. And not on my back.” There really wasn’t much story to tell about this... well, sometimes Sebastian wondered if he’d had deliberately gone to school late during the last few months of last school year. The Valentine’s Day incident, with Kanen making a scene and attempting to harm him, had shaken him quite a bit. And for some time, maybe even now, Sebastian felt unsafe for the first time in a few years. When he heard Kanen had been hired to be some kind of detention enforcer, Seb did his best to avoid any trouble at school and kept his head lower than before.

“You know,” he said as they walked by the gym, “if you’re still interested in track, this school has a team. It’s always looking for new members, I think. There’s a bunch of other sports teams, too. And some clubs, not that I’m in any of them.”

 

[Winona]

Mason

Her answer about them having a pool just made Mason roll his eyes, and made it even more clear to him what kind of girl Norah was. The rich bitch, stuck-up bitch kind of girl. Basically, the kind of girl that Mason should most definitely avoid like the plague and not be talking to right here, right now, in a pool room of all places. Fuck, did they even still have a swimming team? The only time he could remember using the stupid pool was during a section of gym class.

"Well, I don't know about ASB." Mason had stepped up to the edge of the pool beside Norah, his gaze focused on the water in front of him. "I'm not actually in any clubs, but I do know we have a school newspaper that's kind of lacking. Raven is in charge of it. She's one of the journalists. We actually met officially when she wrote an article about Kanen breaking my leg at football practice." Of course Mason had always known of the female Rivera, but had never really bothered with her. The most that he'd even heard about Raven was people asking if they were related which, obviously, they were absolutely fucking not.

It was weird to think that a year ago, he was competing with Raven for June. A year ago, Homecoming had been a fucking disaster because just before it, he'd been told that Raven and June had kissed. It had been stupid -- people had told him that he shouldn't have been upset, but fuck. Why was he bothering to go on dates with a girl that just wanted Raven?

And then she kept talking and, well, she was coming off as an all-knowing, falsely altruistic bitch. He glanced over at her for a moment, his gaze cold, and then he looked back at the water. At least looking at the water kept him with some semblance of calm. But then she kept talking, and Mason wanted to be anywhere but here.

"Okay." His voice was monotone as he spoke. He could feel her eyes on him now, but Mason didn't look away from the pool. At least not yet. "Look, I hate to break it to you, but I'm not some sad broken boy for you to come in and fix." How many girls had tried that over the years? Falsely believing that there was something beneath the layers of anger and self-hate for someone to fix -- and you know how many of them had failed miserably? Every. Single. One.

"I hate to break it to you, Norah, but there's nothing 'genuine' or whatever underneath."

He was done with this. Done with Norah, done with this fucking tour.

And Norah was right by the water.

So in one swift motion, Mason reached forward and shoved Norah into the pool.

BELIAL.​

 

[Winona]

Elise

This woman was insane.

Elise listened as she spoke -- she stood there, tight-lipped and trying to keep herself from saying something that she might truly regret. She let Amalia speak, and waited a couple minutes after the woman was done, just to make sure that she truly was done. Why was she even here? Their children had been broken up for almost a month, and the twins had graduated. So why in the world was she here, yelling at Elise in the middle of a high school function that didn't affect her?

"What do you want, Amalia?"

Her voice was clipped and cold, demanding answers for the sudden onslaught. Amalia wasn't here to just yell at Elise. No, she couldn't be -- not so long after everything that had happened with the accidents and Sean. There had to be a different reason for Amalia to be here, and Elise would rather not bat around. She wanted to know.

PenguinFox​

 

[BELIAL.]

Norah Walsh
location: WHS, pool room mention: Winona ​

In that fraction of a moment time slowed down, to the tenth of a second between words. Norah had half turned, ready to lay it thick on Mason for continuing to be blind to his own faults (being emotional was a fault, to a degree), when she felt her center of gravity shift. His hand, pressed against her side. Her arm, half-out. As she lost her balance, thin heels teetering in the edge, she reflexively gripped the air. Her fingers locked around flannel, digging in.

As she went in, so did Mason.

In sacrificing her other awareness to be able to drag him into the pool as well, Norah only managed to squeeze her eyes shut and let out a loud shriek. As soon as she hit the surface of the water, chlorine flooded into her nose and mouth. She breathed out, choking a bit on the water. Immediately she centered herself, finding where the bottom was versus the top, and kicked herself up to the top. He was so lucky she could swim.

And she was mad, so mad.

Her backpack was full of water, her hair a thick mess, and her clothes uncomfortably beginning to stick to her skin. Her makeup did not smear, because Norah was not stupid, and Norah wore waterproof makeup. She gave another loud grunt-shriek, flames replacing her eyes. She also HAD a flaming feel to her eyes and entire face, thanks to the chlorine being rammed up her nose and throat. She rubbed her eyes lightly, trying to fight the awful feeling.

She took her backpack off in the water and slapped it on the ledge. She whirled to face Mason in the water, sending a torrent of water his way with her hands. "You absolute PRICK!" She shouted. Where the fuck did he think he had the right to toss her in like that? Never more glad for her quick reflexes, he probably would have just abandoned her to drown in the pool or something. Maybe shut the lights off and locked her in. Clearly he was capable of such atrocious things.

Norah pulled herself up over the edge, rolling onto the tile. Still choking and heaving a bit, she crawled to her feet to glare at him. "You're a fucking piece of work Mason; a god damn MASTERPIECE in the museum of SHIT." She gestured to her wet clothing, and then made quick work to take the sweater off before it started to stink like chlorine and dashed hopes and dreams. Her thin t-shirt clung to her small frame, and she felt like she looked like a wet chihuahua. Even more worse, she felt humiliated. It ate at her gut like acid rotting away metal.

Throwing the wet sweater at him, she gathered up her things. "I'm going to go to my car, and I'm going to grab my spare clothes," she sneered through clenched teeth. She slipped in her heels as she fought to walk to the door. God, she really wanted to cry. But she wouldn't. She looked over her shoulder, wrinkling her nose at him and turning a shade of red. "I hope you're fucking proud of the shit you do, Mason. I'm done trying to be nice if you won't accept that someone doesn't just fucking drop you the second they meet you. Have fun being wet all day."

She stormed out and flipped him the bird, glad that the water dripping off her face and body could hide the few tears that struggled to break free. God she was pissed.

 

[Winona]

Milos

"Yes, I love it." Milos said with a grin and let his hand with the little keychain drop to his side. How could he not? His face was flushed a bright red, and he wished that they were alone right now instead of having Tadita and Nyoko standing there watching. It was embarrassing enough that he was this flustered over Cam -- he didn't need people watching him be flustered, too.

And then Cam was asking him a question, and Milos' heart was thrumming so hard and so fast that he thought it might just beat right on out of his heart. Was Cam actually asking him on a date? This had to be a joke, right? Some kind of cruel twist of fate, thought up by Cam and the girls watching them to laugh at Milos.

But this was Cam, so surely Milos was overreacting.

"You are asking me on a date, yes?" A smile perked at the edges of his face, widening until his face began to hurt. "If so, then yes. I would love to hangout with you this weekend."

Elf_Ruler dendygar Twin Fantasy​

 

[dendygar]

Tadita

She listened to Nyoko talk about the lizards, very much interested in what she was saying. "Yeah, I think I know some of those that you're talking about, actually." She looked at Cam and Milos out of the corner of her eye, before Tadita introduced herself. "I'm Tadita. It's nice to meet you," She smiled, although her face felt numb. She watched the two boys interact, and it made her heart melt. They are clearly so very into one another.. Cam's smile with his dimples, and Milos' shy, darting eyes and rosy cheeks. God, she remembered when Shay asked her out.

Shay. Suddenly, whatever high she was riding on began to crash for the second time that morning. Shay had asked Tadita to be her girlfriend on their second date. They were at a football game, and Tadita had just come back from concessions with a pop for them to share and a pretzel. Shay said she didn't want anything to eat, but Tadita knew better. The two sat huddled close under a blanket, Tadita wearing some East Park war paint and Shay dressed in some sort of adorable East Park getup. During half-time, Shay had organized something special, the band playing a small bit of Tadita's favorite song and the football announcer coming over the speakers and saying, "Tadita, Shay wants to ask you.. will you be her girlfriend?" Never before had Tadita felt so special. Nobody had ever done anything like that for her before.. looking back, Tadita should have known that it was to gain her trust and loyalty. You used me. You used me. You used me.

Tadita's throat began to close, and her eyes burn. And now Shay was at Westbrook, the reason why she'd gotten expelled from East Park was lurking these very halls. Her once happy expression had slipped into one blank, staring into space and bringing a thumb up to her mouth, starting to chew so hard on the skin that she tasted the rich, familiar taste of iron. Inhaling sharply as if life had been breathed into her again, the girl's dark eyes sharpened back into focus, and she began to suckle on her wound. "Gimme a sec." Tadita said almost above a whisper, turning around and slamming into someone who promptly yelled at her, and she vanished into the crowd. She moved to the girls room and locked herself in a stall, covering her face with her hands and trying to stop her brain from ruminating, like a gold fish trapped in a 8 oz glass of water.

Twin Fantasy Winona Elf_Ruler​

 

[0k_mang0]

colby

mention: Tatum Elf_Ruler , Ash Winona
with: no one​

Fires, broken musician arm, girls fighting – Colby put all of that behind him. When the festival abruptly ended, he waited for Tatum in the parking lot, as promised, and took her home without questioning her about anything besides her address, with the Bluetooth radio playing Spotify to cover the silence. (yes, he installed modern tech in a classic. Tony Stark would’ve done the same; the guy’s a futurist.) Earlier, while waiting alone, Colby had a mini sing-along session while listening to some Queens, the Beatles, and the theme songs of Ducktales and Smallville played on repeat a few times. Hopefully, Tatum hadn’t witnessed that. Nobody needed to know that part about him.

A few days later, on Monday, Colby learned her car wasn’t working and decided to help her for free. Because that’s what a good friend would do. Instead of his Honda dirt bike, he drove his first-generation cobalt blue Camaro since he would meet Tatum after school to take her to her dead car. Plus, he didn’t have a second helmet.

With a Warbly Jets song playing on the radio, Colby eased his way through the school parking lot. He steered somewhat farther away from the vehicles that obviously belonged to the crazy rich transferred kids of Black Mills. Nothing personal. He still didn’t know what to think of them yet. There were a few who desperately needed better manners, though. Thank god he wasn’t chosen to be a “first-day buddy”.

Aside from the change of transportation, new students and a to-go cup of Earl Grey tea in hand (there were cup-holders, too), his morning routine stayed the same. He had earphones on to continue playing Spotify from his phone and went straight to his locker to store away some books and his distressed leather bomber jacket. Leaning back against his locker, Colby tugged his blueberry-colored sleeves up to the elbows and then occupied himself with his phone.

A soft pensive smile appeared on his face as he looked at the Instagram post of him and Ash when they were smol. He was glad Ash remembered him. He was never popular like her; middle school wasn’t the best time for a socially awkward, shy kid like him back then, and elementary was basically a living nightmare (little kids can be cruel). But having a good friend like Ash made those days worth it. He probably wouldn’t have survived without her. Colby heard she was one of the students giving the Black Mill kids a school tour. He hoped she’d survive that with little to no trouble, especially considering who her “buddy” was.

 

[Winona]

Zander

The rest of his weekend had been simple. Good. Refreshing. Zander had stayed back home and played video games and annoyed Toby when he wasn't busy with stupid JJ. He also spent a lot of time looking at his phone, pondering if he should send Charlie a text. See if he was alright, but...

Zander was too nervous.

Instead, it was Monday. He'd stopped and picked up a coffee on the way of work, and ended up with an extra when they messed up his order. Coffees in hands, Zander headed into the school, on his way to his locker. It was the start of a new day, a new week, and Zander couldn't wait.

On the way, he ended up recognizing a certain Bella at her locker and, well... He did have two coffees, and she did still technically have his jacket. So Zander detoured over to her, a huge lopsided grin on his face.

"Bella! Hey! Coffee?" He asked, offering one to her.

geminiy​

 

[geminiy]

Isabelle Dupont

Bella finished unloading her things into her locker when a cheerful voice called her name, making her jump slightly. Bella never had a good time with mornings, especially not mornings around bubbly people with too much energy for so early in the morning. She leaned backwards slightly to get a better look at who had called her name, confused as to why anyone would want to talk to her before classes had even begun, and smiled when she saw the owner.

"Zander, hey! Glad to see you're okay after the fire at the fair." Bella greeted with a wave. She went to grab the jacket from her locker but paused, looking down at the coffees in his hands. Was he offering her coffee? Bella's face read complete confusion for a few moments as her sleep hazed brain tried to process the kindness being thrown her way. How could someone be so kind?

She wanted to say no to yet another of his kind acts but Bella simply couldn't resist the smell of the coffee wafting from the cup and the desire for a strong hit of caffeine. Bella reached into her locker and pulled out a few dollars from the wallet in the front pocket of her bag and slipped them into the pocket of Zander's jacket, knowing that he would never accept her repayment for the coffee even if she had tried. She gently pulled the jacket out of her locker, careful to not snag it on anything inside, and slung it over her arm.

"Thank you so much, Zander." Bella thanked, taking the coffee cup in her hands, smiling at the warmth that traveled through her constantly cold fingers. "I assume you're here for your jacket which, by the way, is incredibly warm. I seriously can't thank you enough for letting me borrow it, you're honestly too sweet." Bella said, holding the jacket out to him. "By the way, how's your friend? I hope he's okay, that was quite a fall off the stage."

| Zander Winona |​

 

[KingofAesir]

Sawyer

​

Sawyer was alone again. The festival had shut down due to a dangerous and spontaneous fire that broke out on the stage. She'd taken advantage of the commotion and slipped away from the festival. The rain had started to pour a little harder and Sawyer was regretting ever coming to this thing in the first place. Maybe her dad had been right. She should've just listened. Sawyer climbed slowly into her car and pulled her hood off her head. Slightly wet tendrils of blonde hair fell down her back as she leaned her forehead against her steering wheel. Sawyer felt like she was going crazy. What the hell had she even been thinking? Hey, Ava, let's just start a fucking fire. Sawyer laughed dryly, what a smart idea. The lighter in her pocket weighed heavy and she pulled the thing out just to throw it into the console. If she was just going to go around wanting to set fires, she should really leave that thing behind. In the quiet of her car, with the fire glowing on in the foreground, Sawyer found herself doing something that she hadn't done in a long time.

"Hey, uh, God? I know I'm not exactly the most upstanding person ever but I could really use your help. If you're, like, real. If you're listening." Sawyer leaned back in her seat and stared up at the roof of her car, "I can't...I can't do this by myself. If you could help a girl out...fuck. Listen, you can't let her die. I don't care what it takes." She found herself tearing up a little, "It's not fair. It's not fair. Please, you can take anything. Take me. Just, please, please, don't take her." Sawyer shook her head. She really was going crazy.

"I can't keep doing this." Sawyer didn't even bother with her seat belt as she put the car in drive and whipped out and away from the festival. She turned the radio up as high as it would go and tried to drown out her own thoughts. She drove past the school, past her house, and forward the hospital as if on instinct. At this point it really was just instinct. It was still pouring when she pulled into the hospital parking lot, but she didn't put her hood back on. Sawyer was soaking wet when she stepped through the threshold of the hospital and waved nonchalantly to the attendant at the front desk. She opted for the stairs instead of the elevator, feeling restless, wanting to keep moving. A nurse ran by as she exited the stairwell and Sawyer narrowed her eyebrows in concern as she followed the familiar red-headed man. He ran into Grace's room. Sawyer's steps slowed. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as she came to the window in front of Grace's room. Grace's doctor, Dr. Kirk she thought it was, was in the room and looking rather distressed. Dr. Greenvale was hugging her. Sawyer caught a glimpse of the heart monitor and felt her knees give way. She sucked in two hard breaths as she stumbled back into the wall.

No.

No.

This can't be happening. God, why was this happening. Dr. Kirk came out of the room and would be greeted by Sawyer on the ground, staring blankly at the window.

"It's not fair." Sawyer whispered as Dr. Kirk came forward to try and comfort her.

"Sawyer, honey-" She tried.

"NO. IT'S NOT FUCKING FAIR!" Sawyer slammed her fist into the wall behind her and the dam broke as tears came pouring down her face. The light of her life snuffed out so carelessly. She was hysterical and Dr. Kirk could do nothing but watch and come to a decision.

"I know." Dr. Kirk turned around and pushed the door to Grace's room back open, the last of her words faded out as the door closed again.

"DNR be damned."

@stuithinkidkanymore​

 

[Winona]

Ash

Boys were... stupid.

But they were also easy to read, and easy to manipulate. Even easier when it was a small, quiet classroom and she could easily hear Gus mention being a cockblock for Raven and River, which was just laughable. She'd seen enough on Twitter to know what these boys were like, especially River. He was easy to read, and it wasn't like she was blind to the shit said on Twitter. But hey, Raven was obviously not going to go for a guy like him -- Raven had a type, and Ash happened to know that type very well.

She glanced back at the boys, and then her attention turned back to Raven. Ash lightly bit her lip, her thoughts trailing back to the ski trip that felt so long ago. Or, well, it was long ago. But she still remembered the feeling of Raven's lips against hers, her breath catching in her throat, her heart feeling like it would pound of her chest.

So she crossed the short distance until she was just in front of Raven. "You know, I think it's cute that the boys think they have a chance." Ash said with a grin up at her. Sure, they were close to the same height, but Raven still had a couple of inches on Ash.

"I mean, why would you ever be interested in them while I'm around?" She meant it as a joke, kind of, but Raven did make her feel special a lot. And it wasn't like people could deny their flirting on Twitter. Not that Ash meant anything by it, of course. Nothing serious. She wasn't into girls like that, even if that girl was Raven.

"You still owe me a kiss from the festival. When do you think I'll get that?"

Hypnos Soap TheFool​

 

[ailurophile]

RHYS
​

Though Rhys was no stranger to stress, he'd found the days leading up to his Westbrook debut particularly anxiety-inducing, and the morning so far even worse. He'd woken up late, only to find that the internet was down again and he didn't have time to fix it, which meant that his sister, who was supposed to be working on her new resume and now couldn't access her documents, was in a mood, which meant his parents were on edge, which meant he felt even worse, which meant he became clumsy and forgetful, which meant he'd spilled coffee down himself and then, after changing, forgotten his headphones in his haste to get to school.

When he'd arrived and joined the back of the crowd of former Black Mill students, he'd simply slipped in without a word. He wondered if they had noticed he was even there, or if they'd be able to match his name to his face if they did acknowledge him. But none of them needed anything from him, so they didn't speak to him. Which was fine.

It was fairly normal.

Of course, a brand new school wasn't bad enough already, and the universe had to make matters worse by making his 'buddy' a girl, and not just any girl: a pretty girl. The type of girl who, at least he imagined, would hate being made to tour him and would ignore him every day the moment their mandatory time together ended. A lot of the girls he'd met at Black Mill had been like that: he could recall one particularly traumatic event where he'd finally found himself at a party, kissing a girl, only to have her pull back shrieking with laughter, and run to her friends, who clapped her on the back and commiserated.

Because it was hilarious, daring somebody to kiss the poor kid.

He wondered if the kids at Westbrook would be able to tell he was a fraud. The label he'd sewn into the back of his sweater -- he couldn't remember which brand -- itched, and wasn't visible, but it was still a comfort. Rhys wanted to fit in, not to gain any semblance of popularity, but because humans were social creatures and he was no exception. To survive, you needed friends, and he was finally hoping to make some of those.

If he could just get over the initial shock, and untie his tongue.

By some miracle, he managed to step forward.

"That'll be me! I'm Rhys. It's nice to meet me -- you, sorry, nice to meet you."
Smooth. So smooth.
"Uh, so, I won't keep you long, you must be pretty busy. I appreciate you giving the tour, though. Where do we start?"

Soap