Westbrook Season 2

[geminiy]

Genevieve Johannes

Gen's tongue damped her bottom lip as Mason stepped into the elevator. The doors closed behind him after his thumb pressed the button that would lead them to the ground floor. They had a few moments before those doors would pop back open, that is if no one entered the elevator and disturbed the moment. Gen began walking towards him, looking up at the taller boy through her eyelashes. What better way to end the night than to play around with the homecoming king himself? Gen was about to move in as she stood in front of him when he said the most stupid thing she had ever heard.

Dollface. Dollface? Seriously? That was the best he could come up with.

Gen's fingers moved to his tie, her graceful fingers caressing the soft fabric. And then, in one swift movement, Gen grabbed the tie and pulled him closer.

"It's Genevieve or Gen. Not dollface." Gen snapped, her lusty gaze turning stone cold in a second. She had experience with his type. Mason was the kind of guy that thought he could get with any girl by sizing her up with those gorgeous eyes and a quirky little pet name. From the way he was looking at her, the way his body was positioned Gen knew what he wanted. And maybe she wanted it too. But giving in, being easy, that wasn't Gen's style. No, she wasn't about to be his quick fuck. She wasn't about to be another notch in his belt. Besides, Gen anticipated that flustered and hungry would be a damn good look on him.

"I bet girls usually fall for that whole smooth bad boy type, hm?" Gen asked, her voice soft and barely above a whisper, Mason's tie still firm in her manicured grasp. "You think I'm just going to bend over and yield to you, don't you? Like all those blondes you played with over the years." Gen continued, leaning closer and placing a kiss on his jawline. "Maybe we want the same thing, Mason." Another kiss, lower on his neck this time, just above the collar of his shirt. "And I may be just the person you want and need right now." Gen pulled away, her face just inches away from his. Gen's spare hand pushed him backwards, pinning him to the wall of the elevator. "But if you want me, Rivera, you're going to have to work for it."

Gen pressed her lips to his, not wasting any time. They only had seconds before that elevator door would open. They were descending quickly and anyone could simply walk in on them but hey, that was all part of the fun. They continued to kiss feverishly, Gen constantly upping the intensity. Only seconds left. She got closer, her hand trailing his abdomen, down to his hip bone. Only seconds left.

Ding!

Her teeth caught Mason's lower lip gently in a playful nibble as a final moment of intensity. And then Gen pulled away as quickly as she had moved in. She raised her hand and wiped her thumb across his lower lip to rid it of the traces of her lip gloss. Gen heard the elevator doors rattle open behind her, voices outside quickly becoming clearer. She spun on her toes, stepping away quickly and pretending as if nothing had happened. As the doors finished opening, Gen looked over at Mason and sent a wink his way before stepping out of the elevator. She wasn't sure if Mason was going to follow her or if he was too stunned to do anything, but Gen had completed her goal.

And boy, had it been fun.

| Mason Winona |​

 

[0k_mang0]

sebastian

Tarik fin​

Sebastian glanced back with an annoyed and unimpressed arched eyebrow at Tarik. “Motherfucker, I don't care if you're a gangbanger,” he retorted, ignoring Tarik’s introduction. It was too late to include a “friendly” introduction right now. What Tarik said almost sounded like an implied threat. “You consider yourself crazy? I’ve met guys worse than you already, and one of them's worked with the mafia. I don’t care if we’re going to the same school. It doesn't mean I wanna walk to you, and I don't wanna talk to you or anybody right now. Now, please, buzz the fuck off.”

Seriously, this dense poser needs to learn how to take a hint. Sebastian didn’t want to start spelling it out for him, but now it seemed necessary. He glanced at his phone to read a short message of his aunt saying she would arrive in less than 30 minutes. Good. Lucia must’ve learned what happened at the homecoming dance. Striding through the hotel front doors, Seb slightly turned his head away and pretended not to notice Ash and Ryder passing by. He couldn’t even look at her for two seconds without feeling a twist in his chest. He should’ve known better than to become friends with Ash West. Something like this would happen one day, he should’ve known. He was such a fool for letting her make him feel hopeful at the thought of connecting with people again.

He didn’t care if she slept with other guys. Hell, it wouldn’t have mattered if she slept with Mason. At least he hadn’t tried to hurt Sebastian. When she kissed Ryder at JJ’s birthday party, it wasn’t a big deal because he knew she still had feelings for her then-ex, and it was just a kiss. But sex with Kanen of all people? The guy who could seriously harm her other friends for the fun of it? It made no sense to him, how Ash would still hang out with a guy like that. Sebastian wondered: if Ian or himself had been attacked and sent to the hospital, would Ash actually stay away from Kanen if he was still in town, cut off complete contact? He wasn’t sure anymore.

People just don’t do loyalty. It’s why he originally planned to never make new friends after moving to Westbrook. And he was sure as hell that he didn’t want to be friends with someone like Tarik.

 

[Winona]

Elise & Beau

Elise had Steve help her with Beau to the car. She wasn't sure what she was going to do now -- except take the little blonde cretin back to her home and let Lydia know what had happened. Elise highly expected Lydia to refuse to let the blonde devil back into her house given that one of the secrets she had blurted out was Noah's. There was no way that Elise would allow the girl into her house after something like that -- heck, Elise didn't even want to let the girl into her car, but it was sadly her job.

"Thank you," Elise said to Steve, closing the door after Beau had climbed her way into the backseat. She looked over to see a small blonde boy in Stu's wolf costume climbing into the other side of her backseat. Steve gave her a questioning look, and she let out a large sigh. "Tom Bisley. Beau's brother." She explained, and her ex-husband gave a nod of his head before he headed back into the dance -- to finish clearing everyone out, and do the rest of the damage control.

For now, Elise had more important things to deal with as she climbed into the driver's seat, closing the door after her, and started her car. "You'll have to give me directions to your home." She said, glancing in the rear view more to see if the British blonde siblings had heard her.

Elise wondered if they could be deported.

Beau nodded her head when Elise asked for directions, but winced when her head started throbbing from the movement. "Okay," she said instead, but that just hurt because of the bruises swelling her jaw. She tried her best to call out directions as they went, but Beau was hurting. A lot. And kind of felt like she might pass out from pain.

"What are you doing here?" She spat at her little brother, and glared over at him through her black and bruised eyes.

Dede​

 

[Winona]

Mason

As he was about to learn, Gens were definitely the craziest of brunettes. There was a reason that Mason stuck to redheads and blondes, obviously -- brunettes were insane. Alaska had broken his nose more times over the years than Mason cared to admit. It was to the point now that Mason wasn't even sure what his nose was supposed to look like. And Raven... well Raven had a way of making him so weak in the knees that Mason would lose himself.

Gen was like a mixture of the two, and Mason was already hooked.

She grabbed his tie, and Mason... Mason wasn't sure what to do, or how to react. Mason was frozen as she spoke, as she teased him with a kiss on his jaw and--

God, Mason knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to push her against the side of this elevator and kiss her. No more playing around, no games. Mason hated games. He wanted to leave here tonight with this girl in tow, and forget about Raven, even if just for a few hours. For one night, Mason just wanted to be dumb... again.

Work for it? Mason didn't--

And then she had him pinned against the wall, and her lips were against his, and Mason forgot about everything. He kissed her back fervently, letting her set the pace because this girl was obviously fucking crazy and the last thing Mason wanted to do was lose his one chance at, ahem, forgetting. Her hands roamed his chest, and Mason wanted more. Fuck. His hands moved to her hips, pulling her closer, holding her closer, and he lived in this moment. Everything drifting away.

Until the ding of the elevator caused Gen to pull away, leaving Mason breathlessly against the wall and desperately wanting more than just a quick make-out session.

Should he follow her?

No.

Did he follow her?

Yes.

Mason caught his breath and then stepped out of the elevator, his eyes transfixed on Gen in front of him. She was something else -- like a drug, he already wanted more of this crazy fucking girl.

"Work for it?'" he started speaking as he caught up to her, but kept his distance. No more surprise attacks. Mason had to have some level of control over... over whatever the fuck was happening right now. But it wasn't hard to tell that he was flustered. At least caught a little bit off guard, because usually girls that threw themselves at him cut to the chase right away. Mason never had to work for a girl. Except for maybe Raven, but she was different. Special.

"You are fucking something else, Gen." He said, speaking her name with emphasis. Fuck, he actually remembered it already. Mason hesitated for a moment, glancing at Gen and then focusing his gaze forward. He felt like if he looked at her for too long, he might just lose himself. "And as fun as this was, I actually have to go pick something up."

Alcohol. Mason literally just needed alcohol right now.

"So where is the queen herself headed tonight?" And then he risked a glance over at her, and then Mason's gaze was glued to her. Waiting to see what she would say.

Fuck.

geminiy​

 

[a z u l a]

Chase

The reaction Noah had to Chase approaching him was not the one he'd expected, though he hadn't ever been in a situation like this one to know how people usually reacted. He had years of handling his angry younger siblings though, even if he didn't know Noah that well he knew how to deal with an angry teenager. Ever since their father had left Chase had been practically raising the twins, their mother was too busy climbing the social ladder to deal with her indignant children which left him in charge of making sure the little demons didn't burn the whole house down. Though Alaska had set the kitchen on fire once.

"Ryder has Ash and Alaska has Sawyer. I....just wanted to make sure that you were okay." It was true, he should be comforting the twins right now, but they were tough and they had plenty of friends to look out for them. Or, at least Alaska did. Chase really couldn't name a single one of Ryder's friends besides Ash.

"I don't care about what happened. I care about you, Noah." Gossip and secrets had never been Chase's thing, he couldn't care less about what was going on in everyone else's personal lives in Westbrook. He was a little hurt that Noah would think so low of him, but at the same time he couldn't blame him. It seemed like drama was what Westbrook thrived off of, and not even just the teenagers. Westbrook was full of soul-sucking parasites and as much as Chase tried to leave, it seemed like he kept getting pulled back in.

"You are not a bad person. You're one of the nicest people I've ever met." Chase stepped closer so that he was crouched down at eye-level with him, grabbing Noah's hand gently and hoping his touch would soothe him instead of pushing him further. It hurt to see Noah cry, he'd never seen the younger boy anything but happy and cracking jokes and now he was a broken mess on the floor.

"Come on, let's get out of here." He gestured towards the door, any place was better than here right now.

mogy​

 

[welcome.the.miracle]

Ophelia Corrus | 16 | Junior
Interaction: DrabberRogue
​

Completely oblivious as -ahem excuse me uh- shit hit the fan upstairs on the observation deck, Ophelia winked playfully at Jace. “ Maybe you were, hmmm?~” She taunts, watching as Jace’s fake angry pout morphed into a cheerful grin. “But that doesn’t matter because you wouldn’t be able to catch me! I would have already slinked off into the shadows, with your pocket watch and gold suit cuffs!” Ophelia teased, reaching up to brush a bit of lint off of Jace’s shoulder. Ophelia looked back up at the taller individual as an idea hit her. " How about we play a game? Something to fill in the rest of the empty time we have!" However, she paused, her bright smile fading into a bit of a pout. " But what would we play...?"

Ophelia began listing off ideas, " Twenty questions, charades... hide and seek? no that's to childish..." Her cheeks puffed up a bit as her pout grew, and then an idea hit her. " Ooo! How about two truths and a lie! That way we can get to know one another better, and still have a bit of fun!" Her smile grew again, but this time is was gentler and more mellow then the rest. Ophelia had begun to grow comfortable with the boy next to her, and who knows, maybe they could be friends. " Sooooo, whaddya say?"

 

[geminiy]

Genevieve Johannes

Gen didn't have to look back to know that Mason was following her. The sound of his voice only confirmed her suspicions but she simply kept walking, not bothering to look back at the boy that was following her. Gen contained a laugh as he repeated her earlier words.

"I didn't think that I stuttered, Mason." Gen said smoothly, flicking a rogue strand of hair away from her face. "When I said you need to work for it, I wasn't joking." And then he said her name, the syllable flowing from his lips like honey. Gen had never much been a fan of her name, not with Hazel and Elias having such unique names and her being stuck with the name of some woman from the 1800s. But damn, it sounded good coming from him.

Gen made her way to her car, pressing the button to unlock the doors. If he was going to leave, that would have been an amazing time to do so. But there he was, still behind her and at a safe distance no less. Opening the back doors, Gen paused before searching for her treasure to make sure there was no one around. Finding the parking lot empty besides her, Mason, and a few other teenagers from the disastrous homecoming, gen went digging around underneath the back seat. A grin appeared on her face when her fingers grabbed a glass bottle, pulling it free from its hiding spot.

"Well, I'm planning on drinking and having fun." Gen answered, admiring the vodka bottle in her hands before twisting off the top and taking a long swig, the alcohol burning a fiery path down her throat. "Catch." Gen called out, tossing the bottle over to Mason. "I got that bottle of vodka as a gift from a Russian designer after a show. Apparently its some high quality stuff. But honestly, it still tastes like hand sanitizer to me. But hey, it gets the job done." Gen giggled, closing the car door and leaning against the side.

Silence lingered between the two for a moment as Gen watched Mason. "If I'm being honest, I'm surprised you followed me out here Mason. See, at first I thought you wanted it easy. After all, that's what you're used to. Choose someone attractive, or at least attractive in the dark, get what you want, and then leave. So when I left you in that elevator, I was almost positive you'd move on with someone else." Gen mused, crossing one heeled foot over the other. "Yet here you are. You sounded surprised when I told you that you needed to work for it, for me. I thought maybe you didn't want the hassle. But maybe, just maybe, you're enjoying this. Maybe easy isn't truly what you want. Maybe you want to be told no."

Gen's eyes fluttered up to Mason's face. Not breaking their gaze, Gen lifted up her car keys that had been looped around her finger. "I propose that we get in this car, drive at a stupid fast speed, get some more alcohol, and party until the sun comes up." Gen twirled the keys around her finger as she walked over to Mason, taking the bottle from him after he had a few sips and taking another swig. Gen dropped the keys in his hands. "You can drive if you want?"

Walking over to the driver's door, Gen pulls it open. "Well, what do you say, Mason?" She asked, leaning on the open door. "Wanna have some fun?"

| Mason Winona |​

 

[mogy]

Noah Stewart
(imagine a sad noah gif right here)

​

Noah wanted to stop crying so badly, but tears just kept on running down his warm blushed cheeks. It was safe to say he was sobbing. His breaths were erratic, and he didn't seem like he could speak, apart from the murmurs he repeated about being a bad person. He didn't know what to think about, because every single thought made him even more upset. If he thought about being mean to Jonathan that year, he would cry more. If he thought about the looks people gave him when Beau had revealed what Noah had done, he would cry more. If he thought about how mean he had been just now to Chase, he cried more. Chase was the only person there for him at the moment, and Noah straight up told him to fuck off. Literally any thought he had would've pointed at him being a truly bad person who isn't good for the people around him, and that hurt more than any leg breaking.

It felt exactly like grieving, and in a way, it actually was grieving. He was grieving for the loss of the fantasy world he had been living in, the daydream world he had created for himself—the world in which he was a good person, a person who didn't bully other people into killing themselves, a person who didn't manipulate.

He didn't have the strength to stop himself from sobbing, and he wanted to because he had never in his life let himself be vulnerable in front of another person, especially not a stranger. Don't get me wrong, Chase wasn't a stranger to Noah. On the contrary, they were friends, but Chase was a stranger to this Noah, the vulnerable Noah who couldn't stop crying while basically lying on the floor in a hotel hallway.

Chase said that Noah wasn't a bad person, far from it, that he was actually the nicest person he had ever met, and Noah greatly longed to believe that, but he couldn't, and both of them knew why. A person who made another person end their own life didn't deserve to be deemed nice or good, they didn't even deserve to cry over their mistake, but here we are.

Chase had taken Noah's hand into his own before suggesting they go somewhere else, away from the mess that was the homecoming dance of 2020. Noah couldn't get a word out, but had nodded in agreement to the suggestion of the older boy.

-----​

One of the black wood booths of the Sleeping Hedgehog Café was comfortable enough. Noah had sat down deep into the last booth, hiding himself from the stares of the judgy people who seemed like they could sniff drama, and the boy with the red, puffy eyes seemed surrounded by drama.

He was holding the warm mug filled with cocoa tightly, almost like he was heating his hands on it because it had been cold outside, even though it wasn't even that cold. He was waiting for the hedgehog-shaped chocolate chip cookies Chase had ordered for the two of them.

His head hurt, especially the sides of his head, and his voice still shuddered here and there, affirming that he had in fact been crying.

He didn't talk, even though he could. He wanted to apologize to Chase for being unacceptably mean to him and also thank him for being there for him, but other than that, so many thoughts were running through his head, and he simply couldn't catch the words he wanted to say, so he just remained silent. Apart from being silent, he also didn't want to look at Chase, feeling ashamed, which is why he just kept staring at the brown liquid in his mug.

Interactions: a z u l a (Chase)​

 

[fin]

Tarik​

He sighed, and stopped in his tracks. This boy was giving him no ground to work on. Tarik shook his head, he didn't believe the boy had seen anyone worse than him yet, but he'd let him believe whatever let him sleep at night. It wasn't the biggest, or strongest boys that were scary. It was the smart ones, with resources. Quiet, but cunning. With some mischief. Those fueled by anger were restrained by their emotion, their judgment was clouded, they weren't scary, they were just angry, big men. Those who could plot, without the letting the feeling of anger take over... Those who could stop to think before acting, they were scary. It was like they always said, "don't bring muscles to a gun fight."

Still, he stopped and watched Sebastian enter the hotel. He'd see him later, eventually, he didn't have to be in a rush to get anything done that night. Tarik gave one final wave, and if Sebastian was surprised at his silence and glanced back, he'd be met by the short wave, before he turned around and took off. Tarik quickly disappeared into the crowd of teens leaving, as if he'd never been there to start.

Location: Leaving the hotel | Mentions: Sebastian, 0k_mang0 ​

 

[a z u l a]

Ryder

It was easy to see that Ash was far from okay, and for once she had even been able to admit it. He wondered how long it would take for her to recover from this, but no matter how long it took he would be right by her side. Ash hadn't been herself for a long while, but he hoped that now that everything was out in the open they could fully recover together and be better than ever. Ryder didn't care what anyone else though as long as he still had Ash by his side.

"Ashton Blair West,I am not going anywhere." Ryder turned to her, sadness in his eyes at the thought that she even considered he would break up with her after everything that had just happened. The world was crumbling around Ash right now and the last thing he was going to do was bring her anymore pain. All he wanted to do was protect Ash, all he'd ever wanted to do since they were kids was protect Ash and see her smiling face. It seemed like her smiles had been few and far between in the last year though.

"How about, instead of a drink, we get ice cream." He reached over to grab her hand, holding it across the center console as he started his car and headed towards the nearest ice cream spot. There was no way Ryder was taking Ash home to face her mother yet, this was their last homecoming and he still intended to make it special for her. After they'd secured their ice cream, he drove them to the school parking lot. It was probably the last place Ash wanted to be right now, but he had an idea of just how to salvage their homecoming.

"C'mon, I have an idea." He said, grabbing his skates out of his trunk and holding Ash's hand with the other. They walked towards the ice rink where Ryder picked the lock, he'd done it plenty of times before to get some extra practice, and held the door open for Ash before entering the cold rink himself. "This isn't how I thought homecoming was going to go, but this will have to do." Ryder apologized, grabbing a pair of rental skates off the rack and handing them to Ash, taking a seat beside her on the bench as he laced up his own skates. He'd wanted one last dance with Ash, but there was still prom to look forward to and really any time spent with Ash was memorable for him.

Winona​

 

[PenguinFox]

Ian still felt a little guilty about what went down with Tatum by the time he made his way back to Alaska, but being in her presence at least made him feel a little better. She asked if he was okay and he was about to respond but was cut off by Stu in his mascot outfit getting ready to announce the homecoming king and queen. Ian silently prayed that he wasn't picked, or at least if he was, Alaska was also picked. When Mason's name was called he breathed a small sigh of relief. Sure Ian had really wanted Drake to win, but anyone besides himself was a welcome relief. Ian didn't want to be in the spotlight ever since Wolves leaked his note. The spotlight only meant more pity to make him feel sick.

It was then time for the queen to be announced. Who would win was anyone's guess really. JJ was the it girl, so to speak, everyone loved Grace, Tatum was the captain of the cheer squad, and Ash; despite what she might have thought, still had plenty of people that liked her. Then there was the girl that Ian might have voted for. Ok, so it wasn't really might have, he did vote for her. He was torn about who to vote for but in the end he went with...

'ALASKA VAUGHN'

Did Ian just hear that correctly? He had to admit he was a little surprised, not by the fact that people voted for Alaska. Of course people did, she's great, and clearly other people thought so too. He was just surprised that the vote wasn't rigged. Wasn't that how homecomings king and queen votes usually went? The popular cheerleader girl and biggest football star rig it to win? Or was that just in movies? Either way, Alaska had won!

Ian smiled at his date who seemed frozen in place. Apparently she was also surprised. he gently nudged her forward so she could get on stage and be properly crowned. He had to admit he was a little jealous of Mason being Alaska's king, and definitely would have preferred someone Alaska liked, but the people had spoken and Ian wasn't unhappy with the outcome. He'd be a loyal subject to the queen at least.

As soon as the crowning was over a voice came over the speakers. It definitely wasn't something that was planned to happen. At first it was strange but then things turned bad really quick. First the voices outed secrets of Drake. Poor kid was back on drugs. It pained Ian to hear that. He was a good guy, couldn't think of a single person that didn't like Drake Martin. He deserved to be happy and healthy, yet life always seemed to destroy those types of people the most. Next was Ryder and while his secret wasn't that bad it was still something that understandably wouldn't want to be let out. Calling him stupid was unnecessary, not that this whole thing was necessary, but failing classes didn't mean you were stupid. Hell, Ian was retaking his senior year right now, but he wasn't stupid. Ian's eyes flicked to Alaska. She looked ready to kill someone. Then...it was Ian's turn.

The spotlight came on him and Ian froze. The color drained from his face. People already knew he had attempted to take his own life, or if they didn't they did now, but the voice wasn't done with him apparently. A projected image flashed behind the stage showing a page taken from Ian's journal he was keeping for a while. His therapist had told him to, but he had stopped shortly after. Ian blinked very slowly. The lock in. Someone had gone through his things. It didn't look like anything was taken, but now; now he knew better. Ian eyes moved to the floor. He felt cold and isolated, much like he had the night of prom. The only part of him that wasn't cold were his shoulders. They were a lit match and the flame was starting to grow. The rest of his being felt hollow.

Mostly, the rest of the secrets went unprocessed in Ian's brain. He heard them all, but they weren't being understood at the moment. Like when a person speaks quietly and you have to think about what you heard before being able to actually hear them. When the burning light finally shut off from him Ian took a step back. Then another. Then another. Physical sensation was all out of whack. His heart pounded but his legs were jelly. His ears were ringing, his shoulders burned, and his arms were cold and numb. He couldn't feel his lungs and wasn't even sure he was breathing at all. He was biting his tongue so hard that he feared he might bite clean through it. His mouth filled with blood. Despite how much he was swallowing his mouth was still dry. More and more Ian backed up, wanting desperately to turn and run but he couldn't. His body only knew one motion.

By the time Ian realized his back was already against the wall and he could not go any further despite his best efforts, he managed to regain control of his legs. The scene was chaotic to say the least; everyone dealing with all of this in much different ways. There were too many people, too many eyes, too much pain. Ian needed out of here. His eyes caught Dwyer chasing off one of the masked figures barring the entrance and without a second thought Ian slipped out. Who would really miss him right?

As he was walking out of the hotel Ian began clawing at his shoulders. They burned and itched and he wanted to rip the flesh from his bone at this point. Anything to make it all stop. His fingernails dug at his jacket as dark thoughts started to creep into his mind. His phone buzzed with messages from Ash and Morgan. Only one of the conversations went well. Ash didn't have say it, but Ian knew she was mad at him. Just one more relationship he fucked up. He sure was good at that tonight. Hell, he was good at that all the time. There wasn't much he could do right.

More and more shadows darkened Ian's mind as he walked aimlessly. What was it that his therapist had suggested? Imagine the darkness as a separate entity? Ian stopped in his tracks for a moment, closing his eyes and trying to concentrate on relocating his dark thoughts into a separate being. How hard could it be? All he had to do was actively hallucinate right? Okay it wasn't exactly like that, but that's what it felt like he was doing. It actually felt a lot better to blame thoughts and actions on something that wasn't himself. Sure he was probably supposed to use it as a way to not think terrible things or take stupid risks but Ian wasn't that strong. At least that's what this dark version of himself that was walking with him said.

The other self pulled out Ian's phone and played Linkin Park from it. It was a surreal feeling. It felt like his movements weren't his own. He kept going, unsure of where his legs were taking him, all the while continuing to claw at his shoulders. Before long Ian arrived at a spot that brought the smallest amount of light peaking from behind the clouds. It was the cove where Ian and Alaska had been hanging out at for a while. It was peaceful, calm, sheltered from the world. It had been keeping Ian from having panic attacks...or maybe that was the company he kept while here.

Ian threw off his jacket no longer able to fight his other self who was now wearing a cruel and mocking grin. A tree branch was broken off and used as a tool to scratch, or more accurately, rake the skin off his shoulder. A couple of old wounds reopened and the sight of the blood reminded Ian of the blood that was still flowing from his tongue. Pathetic, you don't even know which of us did that do you? Ian spit some blood to the ground and went digging in his discarded jacket's pockets. The inner pocket held the box of bandaids Alaska had gotten him for his birthday. He went about bandaging his reopened wounds and glared at the visual representation of his depression. "Why can't you just leave me the fuck alone for once. I'm trying. I'm trying to get better." he pleaded with himself. Tears welled in his eyes. Waves echoed through the air loudly, but it's voice was louder. You don't deserve it. You let him die! You're a murderer if you really think about it. In addition to being a coward. You know it's true. Ian's knees gave out and he dropped to the sand. Everything started hurting all at once. The darkness swirled around him and he couldn't argue it. It was right, but he didn't need the reminder. He wanted it to stop kicking him while he was down already. It felt like he was actually physically fighting it.

Something inside Ian snapped. He was done with this self abuse, at least for today, he wouldn't take it anymore. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" he screamed out, hearing himself echo several times over in the empty cove. Everything became silent just like that. No more menacing grimace of the visual representation of his mental illness. No more self hating thoughts, nothing. Everything was clear and empty; only the sounds of nature filled Ian's mind right now. Somehow he had ended up leaning against a tree. He must have dragged himself there at some point. He brought his knees to his chest and rested his forehead on them. A few tears streamed down. He was tired and he was drained, but at least for now, he had won. He wrestled his own demons and managed to push them away. He wouldn't be able to keep them at bay for long, but he was safe for now. This cove was a good place and he didn't want to leave just yet. a z u l a

 

[Winona]

Mason

He caught the bottle of vodka, tilting it so that he could read the label. Holy shit. This girl was loaded. Okay yeah, Mason didn't know the first thing about Gen, so when she started talking about... what was it? Fucking Europe designers or some shit? Yeah, Mason had no idea why they would be so interested in her. His gaze flickered back to her when she mentioned it tasting like hand sanitizer, but it got the job done. A girl after his own heart. Who had time for good tasting drinks?

"Who the fuck gives a kid alcohol?"

Oh fuck. Not the thing to say, but seriously. Who gave a high schooler alcohol as a gift? European or fucking not.

Mason unscrewed the top, taking a long drink. It had been... a few months, anyway, since he had tasted alcohol. And it burned as it slid down his throat, and left a sour taste in his mouth. But it was good. Fuck, he didn't know why he'd ever stopped drinking. It was fucking fun, and maybe Mason deserved to have some fun.

She had him figured out. Or, at the very least, thought that she had him figured out. Mason was all for a few quick hookups, but there was no fun in that. Not in the long run. He much preferred it when they were like Gen -- like Raven. Hard to get, not easy. And okay, no, he had not slept with Raven just because. Sleeping with Raven had been the first time he'd actually done it because he actually cared about her. And he regretted it, because it had been a mistake. A drunken mistake. Mason had made plenty of drunken mistakes with girls before, but doing it with Raven had hurt because he knew that he had hurt her.

Nope. Thinking about Raven wasn't any good.

He lifted the bottle back to his lips, taking another swig.

Gen had dropped the keys into his hand and was now at her car, just beckoning him to come with. This easily had to be the dumbest thing he had done. Drinking and driving, with a hot girl he had just met.

But if Mason died today, then oh well. It's not like anyone was counting on him now. Raven was gone.

One more drink of the burning liquid, trickling like fire down his throat. He twisted the cap back on and crossed the parking lot to stand by Gen. Mason leaned into the car, putting down the bottle of vodka and dropping the keys into the driver's seat before he straightened himself back up, facing her. Mason rested one arm on the top of the car door as he looked at Gen.

"You know, I just love it when girls pretend to have me all figured out." His voice dripped with sarcasm. How many girls had done this exact same thing to him? Pretended to understand him, understand what he wanted, how he worked. And how many of those fuckers had tried to fix him, only to find that some people were just beyond help?

Mason felt bad, to an extent. For those girls that had tried -- put time and effort into trying to turn him into a decent human being, only for Mason to eventually wear them down enough to fuck them and leave. Sure, Mason had thought that he cared about them. But as tonight once again proved, he was incapable of staying to just one girl.

He was incapable of changing.

"Especially love it when it comes from some girl that has it all." The car, the perfect dress, the perfect makeup, the fancy vodka. Oh this girl was loaded and Mason typically didn't mess with rich girls. Rich girls just pissed him the fuck off, but he'd allow it for today. Tonight, if it helped him forget Raven. "You live for this, don't you? You're used to it -- having guys follow you like a puppy dog." Now it was Mason's turn to try and make her crazy. He reached forward, tucking her hair behind her ear and then rested his hand on her cheek. "Doing anything for you. And then you get drunk and shit to try and rebel. Maybe get your parents' attention."

Mason wasn't good at this, but his face was close to hers. And he wanted to kiss her, but not now, because the last thing Mason wanted was for Gen to be fucking right about it.

So then he dropped his hand and stepped back from her, grabbing the keys off of the car seat and pulling the door closed after him. He started the engine, looking out the window while he waited for Gen to get in.

His gaze shifted to the vodka for a moment. Fuck Mason would love to have another taste of that, but not yet. After he was done driving, because maybe there was a small part of him that still wanted to live.

geminiy​

 

[lion.]

Red​

"That's spiked."

A life preserver too late－two words was all it took for Red to nose-dive away from his cup, squint in baffled astoundment, and lurch out his tongue. Zesty bittersweet textured over his taste buds, and he quivered faintly.

“Bleck,” he tried to say, his tongue flopping, “Black. Yuc-”

Disoriented senses for the hot minute did not slow Red Donovan to swivel his completely gawking, lime-scrunched face to the wildly, widened grin besmeared on the visage of the girl in front of him.

“Evie?” He echoed with a frisking repetitive eye bat, “Right, right. Hi, Evie.” He swung his hands when he set the cup down, but he quickly realized the paper plate spaded out towards him, so his fingers did the next best thing and knotted awkwardly to the plate instead.

He wasn’t tugging the plate, but he could be. But, then if she let go, the plate would just fall because...

..because gravity.

Playing the scenario in his head, his gaze unintentionally followed down Evie’s height. It did not even occur to him that she was dressed casual. Sun-rent in the cheeks, his eyes secured on her elfin-shaped face.

“Hi,” he chimed with a dodo-like toss of words, “Yeah, me." He nervously laughed like a stalled statue,"I don't drink. Well, I don't think I do. I mean I obviously drink water to survive. Also, my mom. She would definitely kill me! Now, she is a great mom, like no need for child protection services or anything, but I definitely would be over."

He sapped in the air.

"Oh, I completely forgot to introduce myself. I’m Red. Red Donovan.”

Soap

 

[geminiy]

Genevieve Johannes

He thought he was getting under her skin, infiltrating her mind and driving her crazy. The way his hand caressed her cheek, the way he tucked the hair behind her ear... It was intoxicating. Maybe he expected her to become flustered or perhaps so attracted that she'd jump him right there in her car. Gen knew what he was trying to do, and it would never work. She'd spent many nights with guys who were just like him, enough to become almost resistant to their tactics. Besides, she wasn't about to give this boy what he wanted in the front seat of her car, the interior was faux leather and it would cost a fortune to clean.

Gen didn't answer his taunts until she got into the passenger's seat of the car. Drinking and driving was stupid, like next level stupid. But they weren't going far and they had only had a few swigs, surely he wasn't gone enough not to drive sort of safely.

"You're going to head to the highway, take exit 142. Don't kill us because if you do, I'm hunting you down in the afterlife." Gen directed, fastening her seat belt over her chest. Gen was stupid, maybe a little reckless, but she wasn't straight up suicidal. Gen only addressed Mason's earlier analysis once they reached the highway.

"You may have some of your earlier assessment right. I am a girl that has everything she wants. I wanted to model, so I did. I wanted to be on the front page, so I was. I wanted money, I got it. There's no shame in taking what you want and trust me, I take what I want." Gen finally responds, watching the the lights illuminating off the cars that they pass. "And yes, I do live for this. What fun is life without the chase? But you had that second part wrong. See, if I wanted someone to just follow me like a mutt that passed obedience school, I would get some spineless fool. I bet you that there were a lot of lonely virgins in that room back there that would have loved to get me in that elevator. But they are no fun at all, no chase required. Turn left here."

The car continued down a path that began as a residential street only to loop around to a small parking lot overlooking part of the city. Gen undid her seat belt, twisting her torso side to side to stretch her back. Her stupid dress was incredibly tight around her abdomen and incredibly uncomfortable. Bending over, Gen undid the straps off of her heels and tossed them into the back seat. After all of her time modelling, Gen still hated those shoes.

"As much as you're enjoying this whole getting told no thing, I'm really starting to enjoy the idea that maybe, just maybe, you bite back. Maybe you've got guts to keep up with me. Or maybe you don't. Maybe you are one of those people that just blindly follows me around like a lost puppy in search of their owner." Gen teased, dampening her lips with her tongue. "I'd love to know, Mason. Are you just another one of those weaklings who can't say no to a pretty girl or are you going to keep me on my toes?"

| Mason Winona |​

 

[Winona]

Ash


Wait, had he just...

Ash was stunned. The last thing she had expected was for Ryder to just brush this whole thing off like it was nothing. It wasn't nothing. She had slept with a guy that had put Ryder in the hospital, and he was acting like it was no big deal. Ash felt like there should've been... something. Something more, anything, but instead that was it. No fight, no yelling.

She had no idea what had happened to him in New York, but it felt like she barely knew Ryder now. Like he was still obviously the same guy that she had grown up with, but he was just... so different now. More relaxed. Calmer. Less... aggressive. It was like his time in New York had aged him. Now he was the mature one, and Ash wasn't.

Ash wanted to ask him what happened in New York. What made him so unrecognizable now? And the crazy thing was that their biggest argument before he had left had been how he would always punch people, or jump into fights right away -- and Ash actually missed that right now! Because at least with that, she knew what to expect. And she didn't really know what to say, as a relieved smile lit up her face, and her tears stopped falling and she wiped at her eyes.

"Fine, Ryder Dean." Hey, Ash hated hearing her middle name spoken aloud, so she would just... return the favor. She hesitated for a moment, and then reached across the center console, taking his hand in hers. "Thank you."

But he suggested ice cream, and maybe she could live with this just for a few more hours. Just her and her boyfriend, and they could forget about everything that had happened. All she wanted was a couple hours to feel like a normal girl, to feel like old Ash because she hated what she had become. And Ryder always made her feel like herself again. Plus ice cream. Even if he had changed, he still knew her so well -- and the ice cream did end up helping. A lot. And Ash was smiling. Happy.

She was curious when he said that he had an idea, but she trusted him. However, she didn't expect him to drive them to the school. Ash glared over at him from her seat, not amused at spending more time at the place that had made the last two years of her life a living hell. Seriously. She had kind of wanted to forget about this place for the weekend, and the stupid slut comments that were undoubtedly coming back to haunt her. It was so stupid. Ash was in the exact same place that she had been a year ago -- except that this time, she actually was kind of a slut. Last year she had just been a girl that slept with one guy and was bullied for it.

But Ash got out of the car after him, looking at him quizzically when he opened up the trunk, and pulled out his skates. The look of confusion fell away, and a smile warmed her face. Of course Ryder's idea had been skating. For all that he had changed, he was still the same guy that she had fallen in love with. She took his hand, following after him towards the school. By now, the cold night air bit at her skin, and left her breath billowing out in front of her, and she was eager to get into the ice rink. It had to be at least a little bit warmer than it was out here.

"Yeah, I didn't exactly think my Homecoming would involve breaking and entering." Ash joked, and moved past him when he finally got the door open. Inside everything was dark, and Ash admittedly hadn't spent enough time in the ice rink to actually know where the lights were. Or anything. So she had to wait for Ryder to get the lights, and then she followed after him towards the rental skates. "See and I didn't even think you knew how to pick locks. This whole time I thought I was dating a good boy."

She was teasing, of course, trying to find some semblance of normalcy. Trying to push away fears and the events of the night.

Ash took the skates from him, frowning slightly before heading to the... bleachers or whatever near the rink. She slid the skates on, lacing them up and not saying much until she was, technically, ready to go. But Ash didn't stand up. Instead, she just leveled her gaze at Ryder. "You do remember that I cannot skate at all, right?" As in the last time that Ash had tried to skate, she ended up falling a lot before finally giving up and crawling off the ice rink. Ten year old Ash had sworn never again.

She bit her lip. Thinking. Ash could just say nothing -- but she wanted to know. Needed to know. Ryder had kept everything that happened in New York a secret and, even if Ash knew the basics of what had happened to Alaska now, it still left so many unanswered questions. Such as it kind of hurt that Ryder hadn't trusted her enough to say anything -- and it hurt even more that he had come back from New York, and never said anything to her, instead getting into a relationship with Nova while Ash was stuck in the hospital. She hadn't known that the Vaughns were back until the first day of school. Ash needed answers.

"What happened? In New York." She asked, her eyes searching his face for some answer. "You're not... you changed." And then, the harder question because if everything was getting out on the table, she might as well just ask it, right? But this time, before she could speak, Ash looked away from Ryder, down at her hands. Her fingers playing with the bracelet. "At the dance, you said you failed your classes because of me. But then when you came back from New York, you didn't even come to see me or check to see if I was alright. You just... hooked up with Nova." She swallowed, hard, her blue eyes moving back up to Ryder's face.

"So you're lying, right? About something. More happened in New York, and... you didn't fail your classes because of me because you moved on, right? You're lying about that because if you hadn't move on, you would've come to visit me."

It was all she had really wanted. In the hospital. Jace had mentioned that when she was drugged and half out of it, she had been asking for Ryder. Not her boyfriend -- not Sean. Ryder.

All she had wanted was Ryder, and he hadn't bothered to tell her anything. Instead shutting her out completely, moving on with a girl that, in Ash's humble opinion, deserved to be stoned to death. Burned in fire. Something. Out of all the girls, why did Ryder have to go to Nova? At least any other girl wouldn't have hurt as much -- but everyone chose Nova over her. Jace, Ian, Ryder.

a z u l a​

 

[DrabberRogue]

Jace Rose

In Jace's mind, the claim that he wouldn't be able to catch Ophelia sounded almost like a challenge. Her teasing remarks about slipping away unseen prompting a competitive defiance to spark up in his thoughts. After all, the only thing that would be more fun than being chased through those fancy hotel halls was if he were the one doing the chasing. With that idea swirling around in his head it was no wonder his eyes lit up the moment she mentioned playing a game. He almost didn't believe his ears! A pretty girl, close to his age, who actually proposed they play a game? Normally he was the one to suggest that sort of thing. Jace could never figure out why, but for some annoying reason it seemed like everyone else became alcoholics as they got older. Parties, drugs, and drinking often took precedence over anything actually worth doing for most of Westbrook. It was like the only few things a lot of them did for fun.

He let out an amused snort when she commented on hide-and-seek being too childish. Out of the games she listed, it was easily the one he was most interested in. Playing hide and seek in a hotel? That sounded awesome. Although it would probably be a little awkward to play with only two people, so maybe it was for the best that Ophelia dismissed the idea. Instead she put forward two truths and a lie. Something to make getting to know each other a little more entertaining.

"Sure! Why not?" Jace replied, meeting her mellow smile with a playfully crooked one of his own. It wasn't the most interesting game ever, but a game was a game and Ophelia was intriguing. So he put his energetic mind to work, his bright gaze shifting to look down the hall while he thought for a few seconds. "Weeeeeeeell... I'm not really a fan of dances, I loved last year's homecoming, aaaaand..." Looking back to Ophelia, he held up his gloved hands, wiggling his fingers in the burgundy leather to draw her attention to them. "...I used to wear these almost every day."

welcome.the.miracle

 

[Soap]

Juliette

Juliette was too busy scrolling through social media to even notice the girls knocking on the door, absentmindedly replying 'someone's in here.' In an attempt to get them to stop bothering her. Although, most of twitter was just shocked at the fact Beau would do such a thing and all the hate was going towards her-- but JJ wasn't stupid. The pity messages would only last so long until they started to push her about it. Mocking her about the pregnancy whenever she would say the smallest thing in order to defend herself, she could see it now. But if she showed that she didn't care about it, maybe then they wouldn't use it against her.

She was afraid. Afraid that people had some kind of leverage over her now. But the real fear was seeping in from her parents, this is exactly what they didn't want. The Jamesons' always ignored the truth, strayed away from the light but somehow stayed in the spotlight. Little lies to make them look like the perfect family, and a teenage pregnancy wasn't press worthy. At least... for good fame. Especially since her father was trying to get reelected for a second term. What if they found out? Oh. Who's she kidding. If the whole school knows, the brunette wouldn't be surprised if Elise decided to step in and have one of those PTA meetings to talk about it.

JJ lowered her phone and took a shaky breath, it's her fault. Beau wouldn't of got that envelope if she didn't try so hard to be second best. What was she doing? Sucking up as co-captain in hopes of getting the spot she wanted? She knew how to bribe people, how to make them do what she wanted-- but what did Juliette really want? Was captain of the cheer team something that would really make her happy? She craved popularity and attention more than anyone, but the only thing Juliette wanted more than anything was just to feel loved-- to be wanted. A last knock on the door made JJ flinch from the sound as Sawyer's voice protruded from the other side.

She quickly wiped a singular tear that fell, straightening out her appearance before opening the door to face her. "What? Can I not use the bathroom? Or let me guess, you're just dying to tell everyone that too." Beau was smarter than most people gave her credit for apparently, right before the whole sex tape thing, the video was showing Sawyer was spilling her secrets as if it was the daily weather. That's exactly why Juliette never should've trusted her in the first place-- why she shouldn't of trusted anyone in the first place.

KingofAesir​

 

[Soap]

Greyson

Was it bad that almost everyone here was upset about their deepest darkest secrets being revealed and Greyson was practically jumping for joy? Probably. But he didn't care all that much. He watched her carefully, as she tried to come up with the words. He wasn't going to make Jackie feel like he had to like him just because she kissed him-- that sounded really stupid. But he was just kind of hoping she didn't regret it? It was only a few minutes ago, yes, but he wanted to be sure. His smile widened incredibly when she mentioned the festival see! That's exactly why Greyson keeps his word.

Well, not for pretty girls to suddenly like him because of cotton candy. But because it made him trustworthy... and a little more likable. Jackie liked him. Actually liked, liked him. Jackie leaned in to kiss him again and that was... definitely enough proof. He kind of wanted a little more proof but this was perfect. "I-I yep! Proves it." He laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. Greyson couldn't even believe he considered not going to homecoming at all. He was so afraid that none of these people would even consider talking to him because he wasn't a native around here, but... neither was Jackie so. It worked out for the best. The whole shirtless hoco ask was more than worth being a little cold for.

None other than... Jackie's sister came by and they talked a bit in french, Greyson was still learning quite a lot so... no, he didn't understand most of it. But it's the thought that counts, right? "It's very nice to meet you, Bella." She seemed sweet like her sister, but he could tell they were two different people. Because-- there wasn't anyone like Jackie. It's just impossible. He let them have their private moment and in the meantime, he pulled up his phone.

Grace

me

Hi where are u?

me

are u ok

me

the video and stuff... was...

me

Anyway just making sure ur alright

me

Let me know if ur ok please :)

them

I'm fine :)

Hey! Smiley faces were good, right? Or maybe she just put one because she didn't want to seem terrible... maybe he sent too many texts too quick. Look he just didn't want to be happy when she could've been like crying in a corner right now, that would've been terrible. But smiley faces are always good so, good. After Jackie and Bella were finished, Greyson looked up from his phone and waved goodbye to her sister. "... so, I'm a cutie huh?" He asked, a slight grin becoming almost permanent on his face.

"You wanna go for a walk or something? I feel like the whole homecoming scene feels a bit sad."

geminiy​

 

[KingofAesir]

Sawyer
Ok, she opened the door. That was start. That was good, right? Sawyer would take whatever small victory she could get with JJ at this point. She knew JJ was mad at her and she wasn't stupid, she knew it was because of Grace. Sawyer understood that JJ had this internal ever-present fear of people leaving her and that was one of the reasons she'd been upset about Sawyer spending so much time with Grace. But, Sawyer wasn't going to just up and leave her and she thought she'd made that plenty clear, apparently not. But when that door opened it wasn't that that JJ was mad about. Sawyer flinched at the harsh accusation and found herself suddenly very nervous. She knew telling Grace that was going to come back and bite her somehow. But it wasn't like Sawyer had been malicious in her intent, it had been a mistake, an honest to god slip of the tongue in a heated, emotional moment. JJ knew that Sawyer loved Grace, she had to know that, and that moment had simply been Sawyer trying to make Grace believe that her whole thing with JJ was just a friendship thing. She'd been emotional and Sawyer had a tendency to have a loose tongue when she was emotional. JJ had to understand that. Sawyer would make her understand that. She wasn't about to lose a friend over something as stupid as her making a mistake. A mistake. Sawyer made a lot of those. Fuck. Okay, no, she wasn't about to get all self-deprecating. Get it together. This was her opportunity to explain herself if JJ was willing to listen to that explanation.

"Okay, listen." Sawyer pushed into the bathroom and closed the door behind them so random people couldn't appear and complain about the bathroom being taken, "I made a mistake. I make a lot of fucking mistakes. I'm like a walking mistake. But, I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't mean to even say that to Grace." She leaned her back against the door and ran a hand through her hair with a sigh, "She was asking me questions about you and I was so desperate to make her believe that you were just my friend and I...I couldn't stop myself." Sawyer straightened up and looked JJ dead in the eye with the softest expression, "I never would've have told anyone, JJ. I care about you. I never wanted to hurt you. I was lucky to have been trusted with that and I'm sorry that I broke that trust. I'm sorry." She sucked in a breath. Move on. Move on before she had the chance to reject your apology. Sawyer couldn't handle that. There were only so many people she really cared about like that. There were only so many people Sawyer cared about like she cared about Grace. If she ever lost JJ, or Alaska...or hell even Ash because of something she did, that would break her. It had almost broken her with Grace and she only had so much left. When it came down to it. JJ and Sawyer had the same fear. Both of them were deathly afraid of people leaving. But that was good here because people who were afraid of being left....they didn't leave.

"I know that you're trying to be strong, JJ. But you don't have to around me." Sawyer's voice was progressively softer, "You don't have to pretend around me. I'm not going anywhere. You're my friend and just because I've been caught up with Grace doesn't make that not true. I love her. I love her and I thought I lost her and now I don't want to let her out of my sight because I'm afraid she'll be gone when I look back. But, that's no excuse for not hanging out with you." She stuck her hands in her pockets and looked down at the floor, "I'm sorry. Can you...uh...can you not be mad at me anymore? Because it kinda sucks a lot."

Soap​

 

[Twin Fantasy]

Pixie West

Pixie had hardly gotten to batter the little bitch when suddenly she was being pulled away, legs still kicking in the air. Suspended. For what? She'd done a good thing that night, pounding Beau's rat-fink face in. But she nodded, eyes blurry with the threatening arrival of tears.

Making her leave from the scene, Pixie wrinkled her nose at Beau getting a ride from that whore principal. Beau was probably wealthy. Paying out zillions in donations for Elise's boobjob fund. No doubt, daddy had his pickets lined to pay for Beau's gaudy clothing and shitty attitude. It made Pixie want to puke.

Exiting the building, water fell on the back of her head. The make-up she wore streaked across her damp face. Buzzed hair clung to her scalp, her dress contorting to stick to her skin. Its cheap material went translucent, and Pixie felt a bit indecent. She just stood there. Waiting for an answer that never came.​

 

[Winona]

Mason

Mason glanced over at her with a slight roll of the eyes when she threatened to follow him in the after life if they died. Please. Mason wasn't going to fucking kill them now -- he wasn't that stupid, and he was actually a pretty good driver. And even if he had drank a lot of that vodka in a short period, he would be fucking fine. Alcohol never hit Mason right away, and it always took extraordinary amounts to make him start to lose his senses. Plus Mason wasn't interested in taking down some random girl with him. If Mason was going to die, it would be by himself -- and somewhere that no one would ever find him.

Look, maybe Mason had thought about it a lot.

Fuck, he wanted more of that vodka, so he pushed the speed limits. He went over the speed limits. Fuck it if they tried to pull him over, fuck it if they even tried to arrest him, or if they did. Mason had nothing fucking waiting for him when he went home tonight, so what was the fucking point of playing it safe anymore?

She talked a lot. Mason would much rather her mouth be occupied with, ahem, something else. But whatever. It was "part of the game" and although Mason thought it was fucking stupid, because there was just as much fun at the end of a fuck and dump, he was bored. This girl was interesting. Mason's fuck history had been blasted out for the entire school to hear, so it wasn't like he would be getting laid anywhere else. And he was pretty sure that any kind of girl could make him forget and move on. That was the best way to get over fucked up feelings. Just fuck them away. Quite literally or in this case, drink them away.

"So you like to fuck with people." He said, taking the left perhaps a little too quickly because he felt his body shift in the car. And fuck, Mason felt like he was choking. One hand reached up to undo the tie around his neck and the top couple buttons. "Lead them along, and then what happens when you get what you want? You're just done, right?"

That was almost worse than what he did. Because Mason would much rather just fuck a girl who couldn't remember his name and be done than risk chasing after a girl, and developing feelings. And hurting. Both things ended the same way -- with him alone -- but at least one way hurt significantly less than the other way.

Mason was confused, to say the least, when they pulled up to... a fucking parking lot. What the fuck was this shit? Here Mason had thought this girl was fun and lively and would take them somewhere good -- with drugs, or a lot more alcohol. A party with thumping music that beat so hard he couldn't hear his own thoughts. Mason wouldn't have agreed if he knew that she wanted some fucked up intimate moment at a stupid fucking parking lot. What did he look like? Some cuddly fucker that got off on this?

He didn't move at first as he parked the car and shut it off. Gen started speaking again, and Mason's gaze shifted to her. To her lips, because she was teasing him again and fuck because Mason was falling for it. And Mason was only as strong as his dick, and she had him. Fucking hell Mason hated hot girls. Or girls, at all.

Her words barely even registered with him, and then she was getting out of the car and Mason was left in the driver's seat for a moment. He watched her as she walked out towards the stupid parking lot. Mason was going to follow her... eventually. But now, he needed a moment. Mason pulled out his phone, but found nothing but Tatum being worried. Just like he had expected, no one else could care -- and why would they? It's not like everyone didn't know Mason would fuck anything with a pulse. And everyone else had worse things, but... fucking hell. Maybe Mason just wanted to feel like he wasn't fucking alone in the world for once.

He shoved his phone back in his pocket, and grabbed the bottle of vodka. Mason unscrewed the top and took a long drink. Sucking it down like the burning liquid was the only thing keeping him going. He drank until everything in him burned, and his body felt the welcomed warmth of the alcohol creeping through him.

Then he put the bottle down -- now more significantly empty -- and opened up the car door. Mason hesitated, then grabbed the bottle back. One more taste. That's all he needed. And then he was stepping out of the car with the bottle still in hand because hey, maybe he would need another little taste. And what if Gen wanted some?

Mason slammed the door closed and then followed after Gen.

"Any reason you made me drive you to a fucking parking lot?" He was getting worse as the minutes ticked by. Mason could feel it. He was done caring, he was being more of a dick to Gen. And it's not like Mason loved being mean, but it's all he knew. Bitterness had blossomed in his chest, and the only way Mason knew how to cope was to make sure everyone around him felt even worse.

geminiy​

 

[a z u l a]

Chase

Although it seemed that Noah had calmed down a little, he could still tell that the boy was far from okay and he really had no idea how to make it all better. Chase wished that he could go back to Westbrook just to make sure that Noah would be okay in the following weeks. It would be rough, going back to school meant Noah would have lots of judgmental stairs and harsh words. Chase wished he could make it all go away, but maybe he could convince Ryder to keep an eye on his friend for him, though his little brother had his own problems to worry about.

Luckily, the Sleeping Hedgehog Cafe wasn't packed which meant that the two boys could sit somewhat undisturbed in a booth in a back corner. He had taken the liberty of ordering for the both of them, seeing as he didn't think Noah was much in the mood to talk to anyone.

"You know, since I was a freshmen all I ever wanted was to leave Westbrook." Chase started, not sure where he was going with this statement but trying to avoid the horrible night that was behind them now. Clearly, Noah didn't want to talk about what had happened, but Chase was going to do his best to distract him. "But after everything happened with Alaska, and then Ryder, I decided I couldn't just leave them behind. So I stayed in stupid Westbrook, to take care of my stupid siblings, and at first I resented it." It was true, the only goal Chase had after high school was to get out of the town he'd grown up in, but his family had held him back. There was a selfish part of him that was still angry with Alaska and Ryder for being the reason he was still here, but truthfully he couldn't blame them. They hadn't asked him to stay, he'd stayed because he felt bad abandoning his siblings and his mother. Just like his father had.

"But, if I hadn't stayed in West Brook, I wouldn't have bumped into you." Chase spoke, offering Noah a soft smile from across the booth. "And who would I go on my runs with then?" As the waitress came back to drop their cookies off the older boy was silent for a moment, taking in the smell of freshly baked cookies as he took a sip of his own hot chocolate before speaking again.

"What do you wanna do when you finally break out of here?"

mogy​

 

[a z u l a]

Ryder

"What, the three suspensions didn't give you any hint I wasn't a good boy?" Ryder chuckled as he laced up his skates. Thankfully, his ice cream plan seemed to have worked and Ash was finally acting like herself again, even if it was only momentarily. He knew he couldn't erase all of the bad things that had ever happened to Ash, but even if he could make her forget them for a moment that was good enough for him. Despite outside appearances, Ash had never had the perfect life, even as a kid Ryder had recognized the abuse happening in the West household. Elise had absolutely destroyed her daughter's self-esteem, and it seemed like Ash was still picking up the pieces of the mess her mother had left behind. Ryder wanted to give Ash the world, but for now he could only try his best to give her one good night. The school held bad memories for the both of them, but he hoped that he could make at least one good one for her before they graduated.

"Don't worry, I'll hold your hand. Only for balance, of course." He joked, taking her hand in his much larger one and rubbing small circles with his fingertips. She looked cold, and they hadn't exactly dressed properly for skating, so he shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around her before placing his arm around her small frame and huddling closer for warmth. And, mostly, because he loved holding Ash in his arms.

He let out a long sigh at her question, he'd been hoping to avoid this conversation, but it was a fair question. How could he even begin to explain to Ash? He had no idea how hard her life had been since he'd left, and every moment of every day he wished he'd come to visit her while she was in the hospital. He felt like complete shit for not talking to her before the first day of school, but he couldn't go back in time to fix it.

"In all honestly, I was too busy trying to keep Alaska from jumping out a 20 story window to focus on school, or talk to you." Ryder admitted, trying hard to forget how awful their first month in New York had been. "She was so...sad. I know Alaska's not exactly the happiest person, but I'd never seen her this bad before. I was afraid if I left her alone for even a moment she would break. Our mom said some really awful things to her before we left, and I was so mad at her for the whole situation that I yelled at her too." It made his chest ache, to think about how awful he'd made Alaska feel when she was already at her lowest.

"And when I came back I didn't even know what to say to you, they don't have any cards that say "Sorry you were in a coma and I didn't come visit." Things with my mom didn't go well when Alaska and I first got back, and I just...I just couldn't go see you. I already felt so guilty and I knew that seeing you wouldn't make things better. I couldn't tell you why I really had to leave, so I figured if I just ignored it you would hate me and move on."

His throat burned as his vision started to blur with unshed tears. He couldn't do this right now, he needed to take care of Ash, not the other way around. This was all his fault, anyways. If he hadn't left maybe things would be better for Ash right now. "When I got back Nova was there for me, and she was so...easy. All you and I ever did was fight and I couldn't handle confronting you with everything that was already going on. I never had to worry about fighting with Nova, and at first it was nice. But she wasn't you."

"I fight with you because I care, Ash. And I'm so sorry it seems like I didn't care when you were in the hospital, but I promise you I did. I thought about you every day and how I might never get the chance to apologize." Ryder squeezed Ash tighter, hoping that maybe if he held her tight enough he could hold himself together too.

Winona​

 

[Winona]

Ash


She didn't know what to say. Of course Ash knew some of what went on with Alaska, but... jumping out of a twenty story window. Not something that Ash would've expected, and she was a bit taken aback. Suddenly everything that had happened to her seemed like nothing -- it paled in comparison. Ryder and Alaska had been dealing with serious things, and she felt selfish for not... well, Ash didn't totally know why, just that she felt like a horrible person in general.

Ryder, Grace, and Ash had promised each other that they would always be there, right? Since they were little -- they would always be there for each other, and it seemed like Ash just kept breaking that promise. She should've been there for him in some way, not making his life accidentally worse. And now she just felt horrible for asking.

She slipped her arms through his jacket that was much too large for her, but it was at least warmer. And then she leaned into Ryder and wrapped her arms around him. Yeah, she felt horrible for what had happened -- and Ash could've... maybe reached out while she was in the hospital. Well, maybe not. She'd been too wrapped up in surgeries, and being consistently drugged out of her mind. It was a miracle that in just about five months she had been as okay as she was. As it turned out, a lot of recovery could be accomplished by making sure that you had amazing surgeons, and Ash just so happened to have grandparents that had no issue dropping as much money as needed to piece her back together again. To the point that she barely even had scars, except along her hands.

So yeah, Ash could've obviously reached out to Ryder and made sure that he was alright at any point. It wasn't like she had anything better to do in the hospital. She wished that she could back in time and make up for all that lost time, but Ash couldn't. So she just leaned into Ryder, laying her head against his chest and listened to the beat of his heart and promised herself that she would never do it again. She would never abandon anyone again -- especially Ryder.

After a long moment, Ash lifted her head to look up at Ryder. There was no point in continuing to be stuck in the past. "You better not laugh at me if I fall." A smile crossed her face again as she let go of him, her hand finding his. "Alright, hockey boy, lead the way." She said, waving at the ice rink in front of them.

It may not have been the Homecoming Dance she had expected, but as long as Ash was with Ryder, she could care less where they were.

a z u l a​

 

[mogy]

Noah Stewart
(imagine a sad noah gif right here)

​

Noah had tried to listen to what the older boy across the table from him had been saying to him, and knowing the older boy, the story probably had a point which would presumably make Noah feel just a tiny bit better, but with all the thoughts about everything carelessly flying through his head, it was almost like the words Chase was saying came in through one ear and just simply slipped out through the other, without Noah actually remembering or registering what Chase had been saying at all.

Noah wanted to look at Chase's brown eyes, but every time he looked at them, or at any other part of Chase, his own guilt-filled eyes pulled him back to look at the hot chocolate in the mug firmly placed in between his palms which had already been pink from the heat. Sadly, the pain soothed him. It helped protect him from the thoughts in his head—it helped Noah slow them down.

Apart from the beverage in his hands, Noah could shift his focus on literally anything else but the considerate boy sitting across him. He would find his focus shifted on the lines of the wooden table or on his right leg, the one which wasn't broken, as it was silently, barely noticeably tapping the wooden floor or lightly touching Noah's crutches which had been placed under the table so they didn't bother anybody.

Noticing Chase had been quiet for an unknown amount of time, Noah was obviously supposed to say something, probably a comment on the story Chase had just told him, the one he couldn't remember hearing even though he was literally there when Chase had been speaking a few seconds ago.

Completely going over Chase's thoughtful question he didn't pay attention to, Noah finally spoke. "I'm sorry." It was all his rampaging thoughts allowed him to mutter out, but when he did, the thoughts in his head surprisingly quieted down enough to allow him to talk, and it was almost like a valve had been opened, and the pressure inside his head was finally given the opportunity to decrease.

"You're literally the only person here for me right now... and like... the only person who actually checked up on me... and the first thing I said to you was to fuck off. You didn't-, you don't deserve that. And yet you are here. With me. Even after I showed you how much I didn't deserve to have you as a friend. Why?"

Noah was basically asking the same questions he was asking Chase when he had been furious with Beau and Elise and literally everybody, but this time, he wasn't trying to be mean—he just needed to know why Chase still wanted to hang out with him.

Interactions: a z u l a (Chase)​